affectionately. But Chelonis could not be persuaded. She followed her husband into banishment.

Such was the character of Spartan women in the earlier periods of their history; but in later times their boldness and immodesty increased to such a degree that they became a by-word and a reproach throughout Greece.

In Grecian mythology, the goddesses are about as numerous and important as the gods. That Beauty, Health, and Majesty should be represented as female deities, is by no means remarkable; but, considering the estimation in which women were held, it is somewhat singular that Wisdom should have been a goddess, and that sister muses should have presided over history, epic poetry, dramatic poetry, and astronomy. The tradition that Ceres first taught the use of laws does not probably imply that legislation was invented by a woman; but that as men left a wandering life, and devoted themselves to agricul ture, (of which Ceres was the personification,) they began to perceive the necessity of laws for mutual defence and protection.

In the earliest and best days of Rome, the first magistrates and generals of armies ploughed their own fields, and threshed their own grain. Integrity, industry, and simplicity, were the prevailing virtues of the times; and the character of women was, as it always must be, in accordance with that of men. Columella says: "Roman husbands, having completed the labors of the day, entered their houses, free

from all care, and there enjoyed perfect repose. There reigned union, and concord, and industry, supported by mutual affection. The most beautiful woman depended for distinction only on her economy, and endeavors to assist in crowning her husband's diligence with prosperity. All was in common between them; nothing was thought to belong more to one than another. The wife, by her assiduity and activity within doors, equalled and seconded the industry and labor of her husband."

It was common for sons to marry and bring home their wives to the paternal estate. Plutarch says: "There were not fewer than sixteen of the Elian family and name, who had only a small house and one farm among them; and in this house they all lived, with their wives and many children. Here dwelt the daughter of Æmilius, who had been twice consul, and had triumphed twice; not ashamed of her husband's poverty, but admiring that virtue which kept him poor."

Tanaquil, wife of Tarquin the First, one of the best kings of Rome, was noted for her industry and ingenuity, as well as energy and ambition. Her distaff was hung up in the temple of Hercules, and her girdle, with a robe she embroidered for her son-inlaw, were long preserved with the utmost veneration. Her political influence seems to have been great, and her liberality munificent. Her husband was origi nally a private citizen of Tarquinia; but her knowledge of augury led her to predict that an uncommon destiny awaited him at Rome, and she persuaded

him to go thither. After his death, she succeeded in raising her son-in-law, Servius Tullius, to the throne. Lucretia, a young matron of high rank, was found busy among her maidens, assisting their spinning and weaving, and preparation of wool, when her husband arrived with his guests, late in the evening. The high value placed upon a stainless reputation may be inferred from the fact that Lucretia would not survive dishonor, though she had been the blameless victim of another's vices.

Cornelia, the daughter of Scipio Africanus, was courted by a monarch, but preferred being the wife of Sempronius Gracchus, a Roman citizen. After the death of her husband, she took the entire management of his estate, and the education of her sons. She was distinguished for virtue, learning, and good sense. She wrote and spoke with uncommon elegance and purity. Cicero and Quintilian bestow high praise upon her letters. The eloquence of her children was attributed to her careful superintendence. When a Campanian lady ostentatiously displayed a profusion of jewels, and begged Cornelia to show hers, she exhibited her boys, just returned from school, saying: "These are my jewels; the only ornaments of which I can boast." During her lifetime, a statue was erected in honor of her character, bearing this inscription: "Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi."

The rigid decorum of Roman manners may be inferred from the circumstance that Cato expelled a senator, merely because he kissed his wife in the

presence of his daughter. "For my own part," said he, "my wife never embraces me except when it thunders terribly;" adding, by way of joke, "I am a very happy man when Jove is pleased to thunder."

The superior condition of Roman women, in comparison with the Greeks, may in a great measure be attributed to an event that occurred in the very beginning of their history.

Romulus, being unable to obtain wives for the citizens of his new commonwealth, celebrated public games, to which people of neighboring nations were invited. In the midst of the entertainment he and his soldiers seized a large number of women, principally Sabines, and carried them off to his camp. Their restitution was demanded and refused; but the warlike husbands, anxious to conciliate the affections of wives obtained in a manner so violent, treated them with such tenderness, that the women were themselves unwilling to return to their relatives. This led to a war with the Sabines, and Romulus was closely besicged in his citadel. At this crisis, Hersilia, his wife, asked and obtained an audience with the senate, in which she told them that the women had formed a design of acting as mediators between their husbands and fathers. A decree was immediately passed in favor of the proposition. Every woman was required to leave one of her children, as a hostage of her return; the others they carried in their arms, to soften the feelings of their parents. They pro. ceeded to the Sabine camp, dressed in deep mourn. ing, and knelt at the feet of their relatives. Hersilia

described the kindness of their husbands, and their own reluctance to be torn from their families, in a manner so eloquent and pathetic, that an honorable and friendly alliance was soon agreed upon.

In consideration of this important service, the Romans conferred peculiar privileges on women. In capital cases, they were exempted from the jurisdiction of ordinary judges; no immodest language or behavior was allowed in their presence; every one was ordered to give way to them in the street; and a festival was instituted in their honor, called Matronalia, during which they served their slaves at table, and received presents from their husbands.

Three kinds of marriage were in use among the Romans, called confarreatio, coemptio, and usus. The first was established by Romulus, and was the most solemn, as well as the most ancient. A priest, in the presence of at least ten witnesses, pronounced certain words, and sacrificed to the gods a cake made of salt, water, and wheat-flour. The bride and bridegroom ate of this cake, to signify the union which ought to bind them. This manner of celebrating marriage made a wife the partner of all her husband's substance, and gave her a right to share in the peculiar sacred rites attached to his family. If he died intestate, and without children, she inherited his whole fortune, as a daughter; if he left children, she shared equally with them. If she committed any fault, the husband judged of it in presence of her relations, and punished her at pleasure. Sometimes when women were publicly condemned by law, the