They are written in the roll of fame; they are
handed down from age to age. They are the song of the poet, and the
favourite theme of the servants of the Gods. By whom were they
exhibited, or with whom did they originate? With woman, charming woman?
Well have justice and rectitude been represented under a female form,
for without the softer sex, all had been anarchy and confusion; every
man had preyed upon his neighbour; men, like beasts, had devoured each
other, and virtue fled affrighted to her native skies. This is the
source of all that is good and all that is excellent; of all that is
beautiful and all that is sublime: woman, charming woman!"
At this place the chorus ceased for a moment, and the attendants
observing, that Imogen was standing, intreated her to seat herself. She
was rendered weak and languid by the unexperienced anxieties and terrors
she had undergone, and she did not refuse their request. There was no
seat in the centre of the hall, or nearer than the sumptuous throne that
was placed at the upper end. Thither therefore they led her. Imogen had
been unused to the distinctions of rank and precedence. Among the
shepherds of the valley, every one, except the bards and the priests,
seated himself promiscuously; none sought to take the upper hand of his
neighbour; age was not distinguished by priority of place; and youth
thought not of ceding the _pas_.
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