\VOMAN, in Hebrew 1-VN, which is the femi nine form of as among the ancient Romans vira (found still in virago) from vir ; and in Greek dvSpis from cluhp : like our own term woman, the Hebrew is used of married and unmarried females. The derivation of the word thus shows that accord ing to the conception of the ancient Israelites woman was man in a modified form—one of the same race, the same genus, as man ; a kind of female man. How slightly modified that form is, how little in original stnicture woman differs from man, physio logy has made abundantly clear. Different in make as man and woman are, they differ still more in character ; and yet the great features of their hearts and minds so closely resemble each other, that it requires no depth of vision to see that these twain are one ! This most important fact is characteristically set forth in the Bible in the account given of the formation of woman out of one of Adam's ribs : a representation to which currency may have the more easily been given, from the apparent space there is between the lowest rib and the bones on which the trunk is supported. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.' An immediate and natural inference is forthwith made touching the intimacy of the marria,ge-bond : Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh ' (Gen. ii. 2t -24). Those who have been pleased to make free with this simple narrative, may well be required to sbow how a rude age could more effectually have been taught the essential unity of man and woman—a unity of nature which demands, and is perfected only in, a unity of soul. The conception of the Biblical writer goes beyond even this, but does not extend farther than science and experience unite to justify. There was solid reason why it was not good for Adam to be alone.' Without an help-meet he would have been an im• perfect being. The genus homo consists of man and woman. Both are necessary to the idea ot man. The one supplements the qualities of the 11 other. They are not two, but one flesh, and as one body so one soul.
The entire ahn, then, of the narrative in Genesis was, by setting forth certain great physical facts, to show the essential unity of man and woman, yet the dependence of the latter on the former ; and so to encourage and foster the tenderest and most considerate love between the two, founded on the peculiar qualities of each—pre-eminence, strength, intellectual power, and wisdom on the one side ; relian,ce, softness, grace, and beauty on the other, —at the same time that the one set of excellences lose all their worth unless as existing in the posses sion of the other.
It will at once be seen that under the influence of a religion, at the bottom of which lay those ideas concerning the relations of the sexes one to another, slavery on the part of the woman was impossible. This fact is the more noticeable, and it speaks tbe more loudly in favour of the divine origin of the religion of the Bible, because the East has in all times, down to the present day, kept woman everywhere, save in those places in which Judaism and Christianity have prevailed, in a state of low, even in some cases gilded, bondage, making her the mere toy, plaything, and instrument of man. Nothing can be more painful to contemplate than the humiliating con dition in which Islamism still holds its so-called free women—a condition of perpetual childhood —childhood of mind, while the passions receive constant incense ; leaving the fine endowments of woman's soul undeveloped and inert, or crushing them when in any case they may happen to germi nate ; and converting man into a self-willed haughty idol, for whose will and pleasure the other sex lives and suffers.
It will assist the reader in forming a just con ception of Hebrew women in the Biblical periods, if we add a few details respecting the actual condi tion of women in Syria. Mr. Bartlett (Walks about yerusalem, p. 194 sq.) visited the house of a rich Jew in the metropolis of the holy land. We give the substance of his observations : On. entering his dwelling we found him seated on the low divan, fondling his youngest child ; and on our expressin,g a wisb to draw the costume of the female members of his family, he commanded their attendance, but it was some time before they would come forward ; when however tbey did pre sent themselves, it was with no sort of reserve whatever. Their costume is chastely elegant. The prominent fig,ure in the room was the married daughter, whose little husband, a boy of fourteen or fifteen as he seemed, wanted nearly a head of the stature of his wife, but was already chargeable with the onerous duties of a father. An oval head dress of peculiar shape, from which was slung a long veil of embroidered muslin, admirably set off the brow and eyes ; the neck was ornamented with bracelets, and the bosom with a profusion of gold coins, partly concealed by folds of muslin ; a graceful robe of striped silk, with long open sleeves, half-laced under the bosom, invested the whole person, over which is worn a jacket of green silk with short sleeves, leaving the white arm and braceleted hand at liberty. An elderly person sat
on the sofa, the mother, whose dress was more grave, her turban less oval, and of blue shawl, and the breast covered entirely to the neck, with a kind of ornamented gold tissue ; and over all was seen a jacket of fur : she was engaged in knitting, while her younger daughter bent over her in conversa tion ; Iler dress was similar to that of her sistcr, but with no gold coins, or light muslin folds, and instead of large ear-rings, the vermilion blossom of the pomegranate formed an exquisite pendant, reflecting its glow upon the dazzling whiteness of her skin. We were surprised at the'fairness and delicacy of their complexion, and the vivacity of their manner. Unlike the wives of Oriental Chris tians, who respectfully attend at a distance till in vited to approach, these pretty Jewesses seemed on a perfect footing of equality, and chatted and laughed away without intermission. Many of the daughters of Judah, here and at Hebron, are re markable for thcir attractions. Mr. Wolff describes one of them with enthusiasm, and no small un conscious poetry--` the beautiful Sarah,' whom his lady met at a 1` wedding-feast." She was scarcely seated when she felt a hand ttpon hers, and heard a kind greeting. She turned to the voice and saw a most beautiful Jewess, whom I also afterwards saw, and I never beheld a more beautiful and well-be haved lady in my life, except the beautiful girl in the valley of Cashmere ; she looked like a queen in Israel. A lovely lady she was ; tall, of a fair com plexion and blue eyes, and around her forehead and cheeks she wore several roses. No queen had a finer deportment than that Jewess had.' Mr. Bartlett was also admitted into the abode of a Christian family in Jerusalem, of whom Ile thus speaks (pp. 195-6) :---` The interior of their houses is similar to those of the Jews. In our intercourse with them we were received with more ceremony than among the former. The mistress of the family is in attendance with her children anti servants, and besides pipes and coffee, the guest is presented with saucers of sweetmeats and small glasses of aniseed ; which, when dcine with, are taken from him by his fair hostess or her servant, who kiss his hand as they receive them. They are more reserved, often standing during the visit. Their dress is more gorgeous than that of the Jew ish v;omen, but not so chastely elegant ; it suits well with the languor of their air, their dusky com plexion, and large black eyes. The head-dress has a fantastic air, like that of a May-day queen in England, and the bust is a little in the style of 'Beauties by Sir Peter Lely, Whose drapery hints we may admire freely.' A heavy shawl is gracefully wreathed round the figure, and the dress, when open, displays long loose trousers of muslin and small slippers. The ensemble, it must be admitted, is very fascinating, when its wearer is young and lovely.' We now pass to the peasantry, and take from Lamartine a sketch of the Syrian women as seen by him at the foot of Lebanon, on a Sunday, after having with their families attended divine service, when the families return to their houses to enjoy a repast somewhat more sumptuous than on ordinary days : the women and girls, adorned in their richest clothes, their hair plaited, and all strewed with orange-flowers, scarlet wall-flowers, and carnations, seat themselves on mats before the doors of their dwellings, with their friends and neighbours. It is impossible to describe with the pen the groups, so redolent of the picturesque, from the richness of their costume and their beauty-, hich these females then compose in the landscape. I see amongst them daily such countenances as Raphael had not beheld, even in his dreams as an artist. It is more than the Italian or Greek beauty ; there is the nicety of shape, the delicacy of outline, in a word, all that Greelc and Roman art has left us as the most finished model ; but it is rendered more be witching still, by a primitive artlessness of expres sion, by- a serene and voluptuous languor, by, a heavenly clearness, which the glances from the blue eyes, fringed with black eyelids, cast over the features, and by a smiling archness, a harmony of proportions, a rich whiteness of skin, an indescrib able transparency of tint, a metallic gloss 1113011 the hair, a gracefulness of movement, a novelty in the attitudes, and a vibrating silvery tone of voice, which render the young, Syrian girl the very houri of the visual paradise. Such admirable and varied beauty is also very common ; I never go into the country for an hour without meeting several such females going to the fountains or returning, with their Etruscan urns upon their shoulders, and their naked leas clasped with rings of silver.' The or6dinary dress of the women of Palestine is not perhaps much fitted to enhance their natural charms, and yct it admits of ease and dignity in the carriage. Dr. Olin thus describes the custo mary appearance of both male and female : 'The people wear neither hats, bonnets, nor stockings ; both sexes appear in loose flowing dresses, and red or yellow slippers ; the metr.wear red caps with or without turbans, the women are concealed by white veils, with the exception of the eyes' (vol. ii.