_intellect of the heart_, if I may so term it, which is the
hidden recess, the secret chamber of the soul, either blessed by the
peaceful presence of humility, or cursed by the baneful restlessness
of worldly ambition or pride.

It is not going too far to say that a woman's mind is in her heart;
it is the source both of the thoughts which ennoble and elevate, and
of those which are selfish and worldly; it is the key to all the
powers of her soul, so that he who becomes the possessor of her heart
is master of her whole being, and can exercise over her a power of
fascination which has no parallel in nature.

God who disposes every being for the end which He proposed to
Himself in creating it has established in woman's heart an abyss
which no human affection can fill nor exhaust when once it has been
filled, because He desired to submerge her whole being in love, and
thus to render easy and necessary to her the noblest sentiments and
the most heroic sacrifices. Such is the agent that He wished to
employ for the culture of charity in society and in the family
circle, as well as of the virtues of tenderness, compassion and
devotedness. He desired that in the family the child should be borne,
so to speak, on woman's heart and man's intelligence, as on the two
arms of one and the same being; He desired that in society the mind
of the one should furnish the light to guide in the way, and the love
of the other should produce that vivifying principle which animates
and quickens man's being: And, thus, that the moral life of humanity
should be the result of these two factors. God endowed the heart of
woman with treasures of tenderness and devotedness, desiring to be
Himself the supreme object of its devotion. To Himself alone has He
reserved the power of calming its fearful agitation and soothing its