ly lady-like, modest, and
unassuming, and her name is beyond reproach. She is a Protestant of
the Lutheran order; exemplary in all her religious duties, and
unaffectedly pious and benevolent.

She is, as you are doubtless aware, a practical agriculturist. The
entire business of her farm is conducted by herself, and she has been
eminently successful. She has proved the capacity of woman for
business pursuits. Her success in this vocation is a practical
argument worth a thousand theories. I find no difficulty with her
because she dresses like a man. Her dress has not changed her nature.
Those who censure her for abandoning the female dress, make up their
judgment without proper reflection. She has violated no custom of her
own country, and has merely acted according to the honest dictates of
her mind--"_Honi soit qui mal y pense._"

Miss Weber is now about twenty-five years of age. She is a ripe
scholar, and has a perfect command of the English language. I am
decidedly of the opinion that her visit among us will do a vast deal
of good to our cause, and we ought to give her a hearty welcome when
she comes. I can assure our most rigid friends that they will all be
reconciled to her attire on five minutes' acquaintance....

I remain, dear madam, yours sincerely,
MILDRED A. SPOFORD.

_Extract from a Letter of_ H. M. WEBER.

LA PELOUSE, _August 8, 1850_.

.... Circumstances place it out of my power to visit America during
the present season.... The newspapers, both of England and America,
have done me great injustice. While they have described my apparel
with the minute accuracy of professional tailors, they have seen fit
to charge me with a disposition to undervalue the female sex, and to
identify myself with the other. Such calumnies are annoying to me. I
have never wished to be an Iphis--never for a moment affected to be
anything but a woman. I do not think any one ever mistook me for a
man, unless it may have been some stranger who slightly glanced at me
while passing along the street or the highway. I adopted male attire
as a measure of convenience in my business, and not through any wish
to appear eccentric or to pass for one of the male sex; and it has
ever been my rule to dress with the least possible ostentation
consistent with due neatness. I have never had cause to regret my
adoption of male attire, an