Character, in a woman, as in a man, will always be found the best safeguard of virtue, the best nurse of religion, the best corrective of Time.

Personal beauty soon passes; but beauty of mind and character increases in attractiveness the older it grows.
Ben Jonson gives a striking portraiture of a noble woman in these lines:-- "I meant she should be courteous, facile, sweet, Free from that solemn vice of greatness, pride; I meant each softed virtue there should meet, Fit in that softer bosom to abide.
Only a learned and a manly soul, I purposed her, that should with even powers, The rock, the spindle, and the shears control Of destiny, and spin her own free hours." The courage of woman is not the less true because it is for the most part passive.

It is not encouraged by the cheers of the world, for it is mostly exhibited in the recesses of private life.

Yet there are cases of heroic patience and endurance on the part of women which occasionally come to the light of day.

One of the most celebrated instances in history is that of Gertrude Von der Wart.