sex and the consequent dependence of the weaker. Man, too, half animal, half spirit as he is, verifies in himself this universal law. His body mirrors Nature as faithfully as his soul reflects the image of God. But besides her bodily inaptitude, there is in woman's character a certain lack of force — a certain narrowness of mind and natural timidity — which, though in her legitimate sphere they be her fairest ornaments, must still ever render her unfit for the sterner duties of life. The demon tempter of our first parents by his artful methods betrayed his keen insight into woman's instability, for not directly but through woman's weakness was he enabled to accomplish the fall of man. Even the Creator Himself gives testimony of this truth. Having told in the first chapter of Genesis of man's creation as lord of the earth, He in the second chapter, and as it were, by an afterthought adds: " It is not good for man to be alone. Let us make for him a companion and helpmeet."
Nevertheless there is no rule without its exceptions. Not to mention the living examples in modern society, we find in the pages of history conspicuous instances of women, eminent in every branch of human activity — in literature, in the arts and sciences, in the council-chamber, on the throne, and even on the battlefield. The lives of such women as St. Catherine of Alexandria, of Queen Isabella of Spain, of Queen Catherine the Great of Russia, and of the immortal Maid of Orleans, all go to prove, if proof were necessary, how true it is that God frequently chooses the weak things of this world to conquer the strong.
