ABSTRACT
Men, seeking knowl edge, long must st rive, And over many volum es pore : But favour ed women all th eir lore,
Unsought, from nature's grace deriv e.
Maluzbluzratct xiii. 2236 ff [I have above and elsewhere quoted from this great poem
passages ill which the fair sex is cordially eulogized, directly or indirectly. The following picture, though in some respects it is flat tering to women, as testifying to their great cleverness and powers of allurement , is otherwise far from laudatory, The fair sex, however, need not be vindicated against th is representation. As the names of the Indi an sophists referred to in these lines are not familiar to the English reader, I have substituted that of Macchiavelli.]
D eep stee ped in Macchiavellian wiles, W ith th ose t hat smile a woman smiles, With those tha t weep dissolves in tears , The sad with words of comfor t chee rs, By loving tones the hostil e ga ins, And thus firm hold on men attains,- Her act ion suiting well to all 'I'h' occasions that can e'er befall. As words of truth she praises lies, As arrant falsehood truth decries, And, mistress of deceptive sleight, Treats right as wrong, and wrong as right. All powers which wizard demons old, Of whom such wondrous tales are told, Displayed the gods themselves to cheat,
