460 POSITION OF THE FEMALE SEX. 



great difficulty in almost every case. Divorces are, in 

 consequence, much more frequent than with us. 



It cannot fail to strike the reader as something 

 strange, that a grave legislative body should have so 

 readily made a State matter of the case of Mrs Laurence, 

 to which I have alluded. But it is accounted for, in great 

 measure, by the more unrestricted freedom of action, 

 general influence, and visible power conceded to the 

 female sex in the United States. This the European 

 perceives soon after he lands in the Atlantic States, but 

 it becomes more perceptible as he proceeds towards the 

 west. There female conventions are occasionally held 

 for the purpose of upholding the rights of women, and 

 of demanding an equality in all matters with the male sex. 



At first sight it appears difficult to account for this 

 greater forwardness of the sex we are accustomed to 

 defer to as the weaker and gentler and more amiable, 

 as well as more loving and beautiful ; and yet it is not 

 an unnatural state of things in any new country like this. 



For two hundred years a tide of emigration, more or 

 less powerful, cliiejly of the, male sex, has been flowing 

 from Europe to America. As soon as they are settled, 

 these men look out for wives ; and, as females are 

 scarce, they are highly prized, much sought after, 

 courted, indulged, and, it may be, ultimately spoiled. 

 Even at this day, when the facilities for crossing the 

 sea are so much greater, and emigration by families so 

 much more frequent than formerly, the disproportion 

 between the males and the females is very great. Thus, 

 the immigration into the United States, during the three 

 last years, consisted of males and females respectively 



1847. 1848. 1849. Total. 



Males, 138,939 136,128 179,253 454,320 



Females, 99,357 92,892 119,915 312,164 



Difference, 38,582 43,236 59,338 142,156 



