There are some statesmen, as well as other persons, both in this country and in Europe, who are earnestly engaged in agitating the question of extending the right of suffrage to women, on the ground that women are citizens, and often own taxable property, and consequently have the same interest as men in securing and maintaining a just and proper administration of the government under which they live. While this is true, it is equally true that men are endowed by nature with more physical, if not more mental, strength than women, and have a higher regard for the diviner sex than they have for themselves, and consequently were created to be their protectors and guardians. In fact, the two sexes are but counterparts of each other. In Nature's arithmetic, the two count but one, and should be but one in heart and in life. But somehow or other, many of these counterparts get strangely mismatched, or are never matched at all. This is not a fault of Nature, but a defect in our social system. If it were considered as proper for women as for men to be the first to propose marriage, it would doubtless lead to the happiest results. But taking things as they are, the thought has occurred to me that it would be wise for the State to limit the right of suffrage to married men, for the reason that such men would naturally feel the deepest interest in sustaining a good government. Let the right to vote and to hold office depend on marriage, let the honors of State and of society be conferred on none but those who have honored themselves by assuming the duties and responsibilities of wedded life, and I doubt not that all marriageable bachelors would aspire to the honors of full citizenship, while marriageable women would soon find their proper places in their proper sphere, and the government become what it should be,--pure in its principles and just in its administration. America is in a transition state, and will in all probability continue to trust in the success of untried experiment, rather than rely on her past experience. But still there survives within the American breast a popular sentiment, which, like the magnetic needle, ever points to an unerring polar star. It is only amid clouds and storms that dangers arise, or become alarming. It is therefore important that the ship of State should be intrusted to none but skilful mariners. The pilot should appreciate the dignity of his position, and comprehend the extent of his responsibilities. Whether the "golden age" of America terminated with the outbreak of her great Civil Rebellion, or commenced at the date of its final suppression, remains, perhaps, an undecided question; yet there are thousands who believe that her golden age has passed, never to return. This may or may not be true.