“It breathes a pure and elevated spirit, and has many thoughts which will commend themselves sympathetically to the followers of all Christian faiths.”—_New York Independent._ “The most marked literary production of the season.”—_San Francisco Bulletin._ “A beautifully written volume.”—_Chicago Tribune._ “Here is thought on a noble theme, crystallized in beautiful, bright, and lasting gems. It adorns, exalts, and etherealizes double-sexed humanity, and endues marriage with supernal purity.”—_New Orleans Bulletin._ “A work of sustained elegance of style. Whatever may be said of its opinions, Dr. Holcombe’s essay must be credited with unexceptionable purity and refinement. Its tone is religious and its theology orthodox, accepting fully the supremacy of scriptural authority.”—_Lippincott’s Magazine._ “Rarely, if ever, has the marriage state been lifted into so lofty and elevating, so spiritualized, yet so sweetly human, an ideal.”—_New Orleans Picayune._ “It is treated morally, religiously, and philosophically, and the result is a good and valuable book among the piles of trash now being uttered and written on the subject of woman.”—_St. Louis Republican._ TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE The following changes have been made to the text: page 5, missing “I.” added page 10, “melanancholy” changed to “melancholy” page 71, period added after “closely” page 82, “thorroughly” changed to “thoroughly” page 89, “paralizing” changed to “paralyzing” page 99, period added after “gallery” page 156, “Demeritus” changed to “Demetrius” page 172, “impresssions” changed to “impressions” page 176, “beaaty” changed to “beauty” page 219, period added after “race” page 222, “maddess” changed to “madness” page 226, “indvidual” changed to “individual” page 236, missing “XX.” added page 252, “impossibilties” changed to “impossibilities” page 302, double “when” removed page 315, exclamation mark added after “terrible” page 316, “ampitheatre” changed to “amphitheatre” page 320, period added after “AGAIN” page 339, “Euphonbus” changed to “Euphorbus” page 367, “embarrased” changed to “embarrassed” Additionally, quote marks have been normalized in many places. Variations in hyphenation (e.g. “childlike”, “child-like”; “rosebud”, “rose-bud”) and spelling (e.g. “Æschylus”, “Eschylus”; “syren”, “siren”; “secrecy”, “secresy”) have not been changed.