OF PIOUS LADIES. 209 in the contrary direction, that we may ascribe those numberless noble and bene- ficial societies at home, which promise to effect a moral change in the condition, not of one country, not of one Continent, but of the whole Globe, and by which we hope finally, through the Divine blessing, " to beat down Satan under our feet." But this has not only been a period for exerting the energies of countries and communities. They have been exerted under different situations by different characters, and to opposite purposes, by individuals ; they have been remarkably exhibited in private persons, in a sex where energy is less expected to break out into fearless action ; in Charlotte Corday, in Madame Roland, and other political enthusiasts abroad, all acting with the spirit of the heroines of pagan Rome, and actuated by a religion much resembling theirs. At home, the best energies of the human mind have been exerted to the best purposes, by private individuals also ;
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