The Heroines of history; . Josephine. &S 268 JOSEPHINE. Though crowned an empress, she never lost thesweetness and simplicity of character that her lively girlhood, in the quiet at disappointments and afflictions, so far from em-bittering her nature, served to chasten and fortify her^spirit for the gentle endurance of sterner griefs. Greatin prosperity, she was greater in adversity. She is anexample of humane sympathy, of calm reason, of loftymagnanimity, thorough integrity and unfaltering devo-tion to the objects of her affection. She was one of thecountless insta
The Heroines of history; . Josephine. &S 268 JOSEPHINE. Though crowned an empress, she never lost thesweetness and simplicity of character that her lively girlhood, in the quiet at disappointments and afflictions, so far from em-bittering her nature, served to chasten and fortify her^spirit for the gentle endurance of sterner griefs. Greatin prosperity, she was greater in adversity. She is anexample of humane sympathy, of calm reason, of loftymagnanimity, thorough integrity and unfaltering devo-tion to the objects of her affection. She was one of thecountless instances of womanly tenderness repeatedlysacrificed to worldly schemes of the base and crafty ;and she is an illustrious evidence of the higher policyof a frank and straight-forward rectitude. Hers wasthat simple wisdom of a true heart which transcendsthe most dazzling genius of man. And as one ofearths true souls, she will enlist the warm admirationof all who have an earnestness akin to hers, so long asthe world Cifythttjf if Cttgktii 0, she lias an iron wilL *An axe-like edge unturnable, our Head,The Princess.—Tennyson. Here vanity assumes her pert grimace.—Goldsmith. Elizabeth of England is a heroine of history, not asa crowned and vain woman, but as one who, in early life,captivated all hearts by her youthful graces and ac-quirements, sustained many trials with fortitude, andescaped repeated dangers by her precocious sagacity andself-command. To her own wisdom, more than to anyother mortal means, she owed her preservation, herpopularity and firm establishment on the throne ofEngland. Her subsequent course presents little to beadmired. Lord Bacon has been called the wisest,brightest, meanest of mankind. Elizabeth, in whosereign Bacon flourished, may be called the wisest,brightest and meanest of women, if her reputationfor extraordinary intellect is to be trusted as readily asthe evidences of her odious character. That she was shrewd, learned and energetic, cannot 2
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectwomen, bookyear1851
