"I am ignorant of any one quality that is amiable in a woman, which
is not equally so in a man. I do not except even modesty and
gentleness of nature; nor do I know one vice or folly which is not
equally detestable in both."

Mrs. Jameson, in her delightful "Commonplace Book," illustrates this
admirably by one or two test cases. She takes, for instance, from one of
Humboldt's letters a much-admired passage on manly character:--

"Masculine independence of mind I hold to be in reality the first
requisite for the formation of a character of real manly worth. The
man who allows himself to be deceived and carried away by his own
weakness may be a very amiable person in other respects, but cannot
be called a good man: such beings should not find favor in the eyes
of a woman, for a truly beautiful and purely feminine nature should
be attracted only by what is highest and noblest in the character of
man."

"Take now this same bit of moral philosophy," she says, "and apply it to
the feminine character, and it reads quite as well:--

"'Feminine independence of mind I hold to be in reality the first
requisite for the formation of a character of real feminine worth.
The woman who allows herself to be deceived and carried away by her
own weakness may be a very amiable person in other respects, but
cannot be called a good woman; such beings should not find favor in
the eyes of a man, for a truly beautiful and purely manly nature
should be attracted only by what is highest and noblest in the
character of woman.'"