1S23.] Mr. Prior on ihe true Application of the Term Lady. 



309 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



THERE is a wide difference be- 

 tween tbc title lady, and a lady 

 in bcr person : tlie one descends in 

 lineal right of succession, or is inbe- 

 rited by matrimonial alliance; the 

 other is gained by the softer excellen- 

 cies, and shown through tbe medium 

 of amiable and truly valuable qua- 

 lities. 



Nothing is more common, or more 

 abused, than the appellative Lady. 

 The adjectives young and old, tine 

 and rich, pretty and good, alike in 

 turn convey opinion, or rather custom, 

 of the diversified classes and condi- 

 tion of the fair sex. Wlicn taken 

 plurally, and used collectively, as the 

 ladieis, every masculine breast glows 

 with ardour, wilh natural attachment 

 and pride, and assumes at once the 

 chivalrous heroism of knighthood for 

 their welfare and security. But defi- 

 nitively speaking, then the test is tiied 

 either by truth or courtesy. Does one 

 presume that any of the heroines in 

 sacred or prophane history, in the 

 Augustan or archive eras, were equal 

 to the beautiful ladies of our happy 

 time? This is courtesy. VV^e have 

 only read of those ladies who rode 

 their milk-white steeds, and teazed 

 their lords from their higli watch- 

 towers and fascinated dwellings. 



The past is not equal to the present. 

 We see our ladies breathe in loveli- 

 ness, and witness their captivation to 

 our hearts' endearments. Negatively, 

 a lady by title may visit rouffe et noir, 

 and prove herself to have a title with- 

 out being strictly a lady. She may 

 ride in an equipage at her tradesman's 

 expense ; and they, in exchange, may 

 walk into a prison at her's. 



A young lady is a term nearly as 

 much abused as it is used: I often 

 hear of young ladies at fifty. I speak 

 of the inapplicability of the term, not 

 imputable to either class as disrespect- 

 fully. A young lady conveys at once 

 a sense of respectable import; hence 

 its application .so indiscriminalcly from 

 the greengrocer's lioyden to tbe baro- 

 net's mincing heiress. An old lady Ls 

 more easily definable: her dress be- 

 speaks her to have been once in 

 fashion's favour, and her habits prove 

 her now to be in comfortable <;ircuin- 

 slanees. 'I'herc arc very few plHces, 

 perhaps, without Lady Townlejs, Tea- 

 zels, and Malai)rops; but Ladies 



Russell, of many shades, are residents 

 in them likewise. A truly rich lady 

 is not the ostentatious woman, given 

 to flirtation, whose chariot-wheels rat- 

 tle through spacious squares ; not the 

 present favourite child of capricious 

 fortune, that denominates her such in 

 the usual consideration of the money- 

 loving and selfish world. I conceive 

 a rich lady is a woman that is precious 

 in virtue : a pattern of all ages, and 

 for all time. It is the good doing and 

 done to her inferiors and equals, 

 which constitutes the bright essence 

 of a rich lady. Her precepts form her 

 morals ; her morals her manners : her 

 manners give her amusements grace- 

 ful and profitable example. A suscep- 

 tible heart, whose sluices are opened 

 to the voice of pity ; — a consistent 

 deportment, that is regulated by active 

 discernment and practical utility ; — a 

 personal interest in the happiness of 

 mankind ; — prompt in cmeri;ency, ex- 

 hibiting energy and fortitude, yet 

 applying the balsam ofaH'ection to the 

 wounded and broken s|)irit; — strongly 

 impressed witii a sense of duty when 

 suppliants call ; — devoutly duteous, 

 siie strews her cultivated blossoms in 

 her sphere with the hand of genius and 

 beneficence, and sheds a sunshine to 

 Jight the gloom of care, and calm life's 

 disastrous voyage, to her own final 

 resting-])Iace, with the breath of mercy 

 in the spirit of love. 



Islington, J. R. Prior. 



To the Editor oftlie Monthly Mayazine. 

 ?iR, 



THE general interest created by 

 the late trial in the west,* grow- 

 ing out of that belief in witchcraft 

 which is still entertained by the mass 

 of uneducated people, will perhaps 

 render acceptable a few observations 

 on the equally absurd faith of the edu- 

 cated, or of the classes among us un- 

 deservedly called enlightened. 



Every one who ascribes a cause to 

 an effect which has not connnensurate 

 or analogous power to produce it, — 

 every one who believes that a body 

 can act where it is not, — every one 

 who considers that a material pheno- 

 menon can take place v\ithout a mate- 

 rial cause, or combination of material 

 causes, — every one who considers that 

 any force or power exists which is not 

 essentially the multiple of some matter 



See our Somersetshire News. 



into 



