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    table , which served rather to make the darkness palpable than to enlighten it . The light fell on the sheets of white paper , and on the faces of the President and a few conspirators nearest him , but otherwise the room , which was lofty and broad , was enveloped in shadows . In breathless silence they received Armand , known to most of them as the hope of the Republican party , but known , also , as a man sternly resisting bloodshed , and unwilling to compromise his party by an ineffectual resistance . His appearance here to-night was an astonishment to all who knew him ; for almost every one present was aware that the meeting was convoked with sinister intentions .

    Yet his appearance , though a mistake , is easily explained . Blaneau—the man who invited him—was himself ignorant of the precise feeling which animated the majority of those who were to meet . He was invited himself , because known to be thoroughly reckless , and was told to bring any one on whom he could rely . He invited Armand , believing him to be capable of any extremity in the Republican cause . Renaudot whispered to those nearest him his suspicions that Armand was not their man ; but one of his friends overruled the objection by saying that now was the time to make him there—to force him to compromise himself to their party . This being agreed upon , Armand was invited to take his seat .

    Rising , the President cleared his throat , and twisted his moustache for a few seconds , and began : — " M . de Fayol , and you , brothers and friends , it is time to begin business . We are met here to-night—as you are aware—to deliberate on the disastrous condition of the Republican party , every day becoming worse and worse , persecuted in its members , its press gagged , its clubs broken up , its societies destroyed . Having deliberated , we propose to act . We are all men , I believe , careless of our lives . What we resolve to do we will do . Is it not

    so ? Still , as we cannot be too cautious how we proceed , I begin by asking this one question : —Is their any man present not prepared to risk his head in the Republican cause ?—You are silent ; I expected as much . But be sure you understand me . Conspiracy , revolution , and all that , can only succeed by energy , by courage . If any man feels his convictions dubious : if he feels that he is not willing at any moment , now this very night , to risk his life for the good of his cause , let him say so at once , frankly ; there can be no dishonour in saying so now , there will be dishonour and our vengeance in faltering hereafter ! Does any one speak ? "

    By gestures and defiant looks , they all cast aside the imputation of fear . " Then let the deliberations begin , " said the President , seating himself . Various orators depicted the misery of France , and the growing insolence of tyranny , in powerful and impassioned language . That the Republican party would be crushed if it did not strike some decisive blow , seemed to be the general conclusion . Then began the discussion as to the blow to be struck—a plan prearranged by several of the leaders—and the time and means of striking it .

    By this time the assembly had lashed itself into fury , drunk with its own eloquence , maddened with its own enthusiasm ; the restless eyes of Renaudot were bloodshot , his voice was husky , his nostrils dilated , and his hands trembled : his excitement communicated itself to the others . Armand alone was calm . The insane fury of the speeches he had heard made him almost ashamed of his own cause ; the brutal excitement he witnessed around him , so different from the enthusiasm he was accustomed to in The Brothers , instead of exciting , cooled him ; he could not be earnest amidst this caricature of earnestness .

    He was , therefore , more disgusted than surprised , when Renaudot , after a wild scream—it could not be called a speech—proposed as the only remedy to assassinate the King . The proposition was received by tumultuous applause from all those who were in the secret , and by a shudder from those who heard it for the first time . But , as always happens , the most vehement carried the day ; the daring recklessness of the few overpowered the timid scruples of the rest . One by one , like sheep , jumping where the others jump , they wound up their speeches with the same horrible phrase—Death to the King !

    It was now Armand ' s turn . He was the last . All eyes were fixed on him , all hearts beat expectantly , as he rose , pale , cold , and dignified , to protest against the iniquity and absurdity of assassination . He protested by argument , he protested by ridicule , he protested by elo « cjuence . He showed the futility of such an act ; showed how the King was but a man not a system , and that the oppression they complained of was the oppression of a system ; he pointed out the inevitable consequences of such an act in violently turning the current of national feeling in favour of the victim , and against the party which had employed such means , how the

    universal conscience of mankind revolted against assassination as cowardly and iniquitous , and how that universal verdict was in itself a condemnation of the act . Murmurs rising into yells interrupted him , but he continued undaunted . Ilenaudot snatched up a pistol and bade him cease such miserable sophistry or he would blow his brains out j others threatened him with wild gestures , but Armand ' s voice rose above the tumult , his frame swelled with the passion of the moment , he answered the defiances with glances of contempt , and pursued his daring protest . Some of the timid began to waver and to applaud what he said . This exasperated the conspirators so much that they attempted to howl him down .

    Renaudot was nervously fingering his pistol , while shouting in husky tones his command of " silence !" The uproar became indescribable when Armand , perceiving the effect he

    was making upon three or four of the less resolute , turned and apostrophised them . Renaudot in a fury raised the pistol—and fired . " Ruffian ! " exclaimed Armand , unhurt , springing upon him , and striking him to the ground . But in a few moments he was overpowered ; a handkerchief was tied over his mouth ; his hands and legs were firmly bound . He was at their mercy . The mercy of such a set of men may be easily appreciated . The angry terror of some and wavering timidity of others left him but little chance . Believing their lives to be in his power , they had but one thought , and that was expressed in the deep growl of Renaudot , who , reseating himself in his president ' s chair , said : —

    " Now , comrades , how shall we get rid of this difficulty ? My notion is that he must share the fate of his excellent friend the King . " A savage laugh announced that the proposition met with entire approval .

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    ADVICE . Men should get them brains of steel , Hearts that not too keenly feel ; Men should learn betimes to bear Blinding cold and burning air . Men should cast aside their books , Sun themselves in Nature ' s looks , Feel the beating heart of things , Hunt the rivers to their springs . He that has a great intent Must not falter nor repent ; God is with him , God shall bless , His brave efforts with success . Crime is folly ; all the roads To the still august abodes Are with . Wisdom ; Love and Truth Are her friends , her playmate , Youth . M .

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    CLEVER WOMEN . So Florian pretends he has unmasked me ! Me ! As if I wore a mask ! as if I were not the sincerest and most transparent of men , noted among all men for my modesty , my silence , my agreeable adoration of the sex , and unimpeachable veracity of expression ! But I will not be gagged . The truth shall be spoken ; for , as the Latin grammar profoundly remarks , •* Truth is great and will prevail . " I will not , therefore , be bullied into silence by twenty Florians ! I know him . I should like to expose him ... but he is gross and muscular ; and if his style is heavy so unhappily is his hand : il tape dur !

    Leaving him to the contempt of all refined intellects , I mean to-day to be explicit upon that delicate topic—Clever Women . It is idle—it is worse—it is malicious to say we men dislike clever women . But it is unquestionable that we regard certain attainments with the smallest possible fondness . We do not adore " strongminded " females . We are not prone to worship female statists . We are but slightly susceptible to the charms of " information ; " nor does the differential calculus greatly enhance a woman ' s fascination . For myself , I rather shrink from those who read the " Chronicles , " and have misgivings respecting those who read Malthus and Ricardo . It may be wretched taste in me , but the

    women whose society I most covet do not belong to any of the above classes . But on the contrary the women whose minds are stored with writings of poets , moralists , and historians , who have thought upon the questions which affect tho inner life of man , who have observed and analyzed the passions , watched society traced the operation of moral laws—and all this in the most desultory unpre-, tending manner—those women I find to be not only adored by their humble servant , but admired and courted even by the stupidest of men . Then , as to that cleverness which is superior to all the rest , —the motherwit , the sagacity , the finesse , the goodsense , the lively perception of the ludicrous , the grace and tact of intellect which some women have in perfection , do we not all acknowledge

    and admire that ? I know , my dear Madam , you think we object to the strongminded woman because she is dictatorial , and to the learned woman because she is pedantic ; but there is something more in it : I object to these two women , for while the one is big and bony , both are ugly . It is my weakness , but I never think so meanly of my own sex as when I see it reflected in the other . I mean in , masculine women . Then observe : there is knowledge which is a means , and knowledge which is an end i the one an instrument used by the mind to conquer the world , —the other , an elargement of the capacities of the mind enabling it to understand human nature and itself . Information may be very useful , " but no amount of it will strengthen our capacities ; it will not make us wiser or better . It is an instrument which no more enlarges the mind of him who uses it than a chisel enlarges the mind of a sculptor . #

    I notice that men do not value so much in women the possession of one knowledge as of the other . Men , the workers , need instruments ; but they do not like to see women in the workshop . Therefore , dear Madam , be as clever us you can—you cannot be otherwise than charming with your cleverness , if you don ' t let it take the wrong course . Remember your lips are better at kitsing than at pronouncing the technical jargon of our workshops ; and when I lay may head upon your lap , looking up into your eyes as into Heaven , don ' t—pray don't—as you smooth the straying curl from off my manly brow , disenchant mo bv anv allusion to Conic Sections ! Do but consider this . I can learn from

    J _ » _ - _ ., • • _ 1 . 11 '_• a . _ .. !•„ . 1 * . . *__ . 1 books all about cuneiform inscriptions , Eleusinian mysteries , aerolites , supply and demand , and feudal institutions—better , indeed , than you can teach me , seeingthat they taught you ; but I cannot learn from books that which makes you a real teacher - " your own experience and observation of life . I honestly n .-suru jou that , thouyhin the course or a studious youth I have read through some very formidable ' volumes on the gravest of all mutters , and by the profoundest of intellects , yet the knowledge I most value was gained from women—and , what is more , from women who were by no means strong-minded , learned , nor mathematical . Vivian .

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    June 1 , 1850 . ] ® f ) * 3 LI afrit * 237

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 1, 1850, page 237, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1841/page/19/