A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
{"WorkMasterId":6708,"WpPageId":284399,"ParentWpPageId":193813,"Slug":"a-vindication-of-the-rights-of-woman","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/mary-wollstonecraft/a-vindication-of-the-rights-of-woman/","RelativeUrl":"theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/mary-wollstonecraft/a-vindication-of-the-rights-of-woman/","HasFullText":true,"RawHtmlLength":627723,"CleanHtmlLength":571613,"Kicker":"Philosophy Work","Title":"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman","Deck":"Wollstonecraft argues that women are rational beings entitled to education, independence, civic dignity, and equal moral development, rejecting artificial gendered virtue.","BackLink":{"Text":"Back to Mary Wollstonecraft","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/mary-wollstonecraft/"},"AuthorCard":{"Label":"Author","Title":"Mary Wollstonecraft","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/mary-wollstonecraft/","MediaHref":"","ImageSrc":"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/mary-wollstonecraft-01-wollstonecraft-c-1797.jpg","ImageAlt":"Mary Wollstonecraft by John Opie, c. 1797, National Portrait Gallery","FilterTerra":"Western Europe","ClickText":"Mary Wollstonecraft","ClickHref":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/mary-wollstonecraft/","Copies":["1759 CE – 1797 CE","Spitalfields, London","English Enlightenment feminist philosopher, republican political writer, educator, novelist, translator, historian, and advocate of women\u0027s rational education, civic dignity, and moral independence."]},"ContextCards":[{"Label":"Period","Key":"Period:3","Title":"Early Modern History","DateText":"1500 CE – 1799 CE","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/eras-of-thought/philosophers-of-early-modern-history/"},{"Label":"Era","Key":"Era:9","Title":"Enlightenment and Proto-Industrial","DateText":"1700 CE – 1799 CE","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/eras-of-thought/philosophers-of-early-modern-history/philosophers-of-the-enlightenment-and-proto-industrial/"},{"Label":"Composition","Title":"1792 CE","Url":"","DateText":""}],"DateNote":"Displayed as 1792 for first publication; notes preserve 1791 composition, British Library first-edition evidence, and later editions.","GeoCards":[{"Label":"Region","Key":"Region:1"},{"Label":"Terra Avita","Key":"TerraAvita:1"},{"Label":"Terra Avita Region","Key":"TerraAvitaRegion:2"},{"Label":"Modern Country","Key":"Country:GBR:1"}],"OriginalTitle":"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman","Language":"English","DisciplineCards":[{"Label":"Primary Discipline","Key":"Discipline:political-philosophy"},{"Label":"Secondary Discipline","Key":"Discipline:ethics"}],"Tradition":"Enlightenment feminism; republican political philosophy; educational theory; moral philosophy; rational religion; literary and historical criticism","FullText":{"Title":"Full Text","Copy":"Public-domain full text from Project Gutenberg eBook #3420 .","Url":"","Label":"","Kicker":"","Cards":[]},"CoreThesis":["Wollstonecraft argues that women are rational beings entitled to education, independence, civic dignity, and equal moral development, rejecting artificial gendered virtue."],"Classification":{"AlternateTitles":"Rights of Woman; 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THE RIGHTS AND INVOLVED DUTIES OF MANKIND CONSIDERED.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 2. THE PREVAILING OPINION OF A SEXUAL CHARACTER DISCUSSED.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 3. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 4. OBSERVATIONS ON THE STATE OF DEGRADATION TO WHICH WOMAN\u003cbr /\u003eIS REDUCED BY VARIOUS CAUSES.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 5. ANIMADVERSIONS ON SOME OF THE WRITERS WHO HAVE RENDERED\u003cbr /\u003eWOMEN OBJECTS OF PITY, BORDERING ON CONTEMPT.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 6. THE EFFECT WHICH AN EARLY ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS HAS UPON\u003cbr /\u003eTHE CHARACTER.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 7. MODESTY. COMPREHENSIVELY CONSIDERED, AND NOT AS A\u003cbr /\u003eSEXUAL VIRTUE.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 8. MORALITY UNDERMINED BY SEXUAL NOTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE\u003cbr /\u003eOF A GOOD REPUTATION\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 9. OF THE PERNICIOUS EFFECTS WHICH ARISE FROM THE UNNATURAL\u003cbr /\u003eDISTINCTIONS ESTABLISHED IN SOCIETY.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 10. PARENTAL AFFECTION.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 11. DUTY TO PARENTS\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 12. ON NATIONAL EDUCATION\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 13. SOME INSTANCES OF THE FOLLY WHICH THE IGNORANCE OF\u003cbr /\u003eWOMEN GENERATES; WITH CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS ON THE MORAL\u003cbr /\u003eIMPROVEMENT THAT A REVOLUTION IN FEMALE MANNERS MAY NATURALLY BE\u003cbr /\u003eEXPECTED TO PRODUCE.\u003cbr /\u003e8 April, 2001\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eM. Wollstonecraft was born in 1759. Her father was so great a\u003cbr /\u003ewanderer, that the place of her birth is uncertain; she supposed,\u003cbr /\u003ehowever, it was London, or Epping Forest: at the latter place she\u003cbr /\u003espent the first five years of her life. In early youth she\u003cbr /\u003eexhibited traces of exquisite sensibility, soundness of\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, and decision of character; but her father being a\u003cbr /\u003edespot in his family, and her mother one of his subjects, Mary,\u003cbr /\u003ederived little benefit from their parental training. She received\u003cbr /\u003eno literary instructions but such as were to be had in ordinary day\u003cbr /\u003eschools. Before her sixteenth year she became acquainted with Mr.\u003cbr /\u003eClare a clergyman, and Miss Frances Blood; the latter, two years\u003cbr /\u003eolder than herself; who possessing good taste and some knowledge of\u003cbr /\u003ethe fine arts, seems to have given the first impulse to the\u003cbr /\u003eformation of her character. At the age of nineteen, she left her\u003cbr /\u003eparents, and resided with a Mrs. Dawson for two years; when she\u003cbr /\u003ereturned to the parental roof to give attention to her mother,\u003cbr /\u003ewhose ill health made her presence necessary. On the death of her\u003cbr /\u003emother, Mary bade a final adieu to her father\u0026#39;s house, and became\u003cbr /\u003ethe inmate of F. Blood; thus situated, their intimacy increased,\u003cbr /\u003eand a strong attachment was reciprocated. In 1783 she commenced a\u003cbr /\u003eday school at Newington green, in conjunction with her friend, F.\u003cbr /\u003eBlood. At this place she became acquainted with Dr. Price, to whom\u003cbr /\u003eshe became strongly attached; the regard was mutual.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is said that she became a teacher from motives of benevolence,\u003cbr /\u003eor rather philanthropy, and during the time she continued in the\u003cbr /\u003eprofession, she gave proof of superior qualification for the\u003cbr /\u003eperformance of its arduous and important duties. Her friend and\u003cbr /\u003ecoadjutor married and removed to Lisbon, in Portugal, where she\u003cbr /\u003edied of a pulmonary disease; the symptoms of which were visible\u003cbr /\u003ebefore her marriage. So true was Mary\u0026#39;s attachment to her, that\u003cbr /\u003eshe entrusted her school to the care of others, for the purpose of\u003cbr /\u003eattending Frances in her closing scene. She aided, as did Dr.\u003cbr /\u003eYoung, in \u0026quot;Stealing Narcissa a grave.\u0026quot; Her mind was expanded by\u003cbr /\u003ethis residence in a foreign country, and though clear of religious\u003cbr /\u003ebigotry before, she took some instructive lessons on the evils of\u003cbr /\u003esuperstition, and intolerance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn her return she found the school had suffered by her absence, and\u003cbr /\u003ehaving previously decided to apply herself to literature, she now\u003cbr /\u003eresolved to commence. In 1787 she made, or received, proposals\u003cbr /\u003efrom Johnson, a publisher in London, who was already acquainted\u003cbr /\u003ewith her talents as an author. During the three subsequent years,\u003cbr /\u003eshe was actively engaged, more in translating, condensing, and\u003cbr /\u003ecompiling, than in the production of original works. At this time\u003cbr /\u003eshe laboured under much depression of spirits, for the loss of her\u003cbr /\u003efriend; this rather increased, perhaps, by the publication of\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;Mary, a novel,\u0026quot; which was mostly composed of incidents and\u003cbr /\u003ereflections connected with their intimacy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe pecuniary concerns of her father becoming embarrassed, Mary\u003cbr /\u003epractised a rigid economy in her expenditures, and with her savings\u003cbr /\u003ewas enabled to procure her sisters and brothers situations, to\u003cbr /\u003ewhich without her aid, they could not have had access; her father\u003cbr /\u003ewas sustained at length from her funds; she even found means to\u003cbr /\u003etake under her protection an orphan child.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShe had acquired a facility in the arrangement and expression of\u003cbr /\u003ethoughts, in her avocation of translator, and compiler, which was\u003cbr /\u003eno doubt of great use to her afterward. It was not long until she\u003cbr /\u003ehad occasion for them. The eminent Burke produced his celebrated\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;Reflections on the Revolution in France.\u0026quot; Mary full of sentiments\u003cbr /\u003eof liberty, and indignant at what she thought subversive of it,\u003cbr /\u003eseized her pen and produced the first attack upon that famous work.\u003cbr /\u003eIt succeeded well, for though intemperate and contemptuous, it was\u003cbr /\u003evehemently and impetuously eloquent; and though Burke was beloved\u003cbr /\u003eby the enlightened friends of freedom, they were dissatisfied and\u003cbr /\u003edisgusted with what they deemed an outrage upon it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is said that Mary, had not wanted confidence in her own powers\u003cbr /\u003ebefore, but the reception this work met from the public, gave her\u003cbr /\u003ean opportunity of judging what those powers were, in the estimation\u003cbr /\u003eof others. It was shortly after this, that she commenced the work\u003cbr /\u003eto which these remarks are prefixed. What are its merits will be\u003cbr /\u003edecided in the judgment of each reader; suffice it to say she\u003cbr /\u003eappears to have stept forth boldly, and singly, in defence of that\u003cbr /\u003ehalf of the human race, which by the usages of all society, whether\u003cbr /\u003esavage or civilized, have been kept from attaining their proper\u003cbr /\u003edignity–their equal rank as rational beings. It would appear that\u003cbr /\u003ethe disguise used in placing on woman the silken fetters which\u003cbr /\u003ebribed her into endurance, and even love of slavery, but increased\u003cbr /\u003ethe opposition of our authoress: she would have had more patience\u003cbr /\u003ewith rude, brute coercion, than with that imposing gallantry,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich, while it affects to consider woman as the pride, and\u003cbr /\u003eornament of creation, degrades her to a toy–an appendage–a\u003cbr /\u003ecypher. The work was much reprehended, and as might well be\u003cbr /\u003eexpected, found its greatest enemies in the pretty soft\u003cbr /\u003ecreatures–the spoiled children of her own sex. She accomplished\u003cbr /\u003eit in six weeks.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1792 she removed to Paris, where she became acquainted with\u003cbr /\u003eGilbert Imlay, of the United States. And from this acquaintance\u003cbr /\u003egrew an attachment, which brought the parties together, without\u003cbr /\u003elegal formalities, to which she objected on account of some family\u003cbr /\u003eembarrassments, in which he would thereby become involved. The\u003cbr /\u003eengagement was however considered by her of the most sacred nature,\u003cbr /\u003eand they formed the plan of emigrating to America, where they\u003cbr /\u003eshould be enabled to accomplish it. These were the days of\u003cbr /\u003eRobespierrean cruelty, and Imlay left Paris for Havre, whither\u003cbr /\u003eafter a time Mary followed him. They continued to reside there,\u003cbr /\u003euntil he left Havre for London, under pretence of business, and\u003cbr /\u003ewith a promise of rejoining her soon at Paris, which however he did\u003cbr /\u003enot, but in 1795 sent for her to London. In the mean time she had\u003cbr /\u003ebecome the mother of a female child, whom she called Frances in\u003cbr /\u003ecommemoration of her early friendship.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBefore she went to England, she had some gloomy forebodings that\u003cbr /\u003ethe affections of Imlay, had waned, if they were not estranged from\u003cbr /\u003eher; on her arrival, those forebodings were sorrowfully confirmed.\u003cbr /\u003eHis attentions were too formal and constrained to pass unobserved\u003cbr /\u003eby her penetration, and though he ascribed his manner, and his\u003cbr /\u003eabsence, to business duties, she saw his affection for her was only\u003cbr /\u003esomething to be remembered. To use her own expression, \u0026quot;Love, dear\u003cbr /\u003edelusion! Rigorous reason has forced me to resign; and now my\u003cbr /\u003erational prospects are blasted, just as I have learned to be\u003cbr /\u003econtented with rational enjoyments.\u0026quot; To pretend to depict her\u003cbr /\u003emisery at this time would be futile; the best idea can be formed of\u003cbr /\u003eit from the fact that she had planned her own destruction, from\u003cbr /\u003ewhich Imlay prevented her. She conceived the idea of suicide a\u003cbr /\u003esecond time, and threw herself into the Thames; she remained in the\u003cbr /\u003ewater, until consciousness forsook her, but she was taken up and\u003cbr /\u003eresuscitated. After divers attempts to revive the affections of\u003cbr /\u003eImlay, with sundry explanations and professions on his part,\u003cbr /\u003ethrough the lapse of two years, she resolved finally to forgo all\u003cbr /\u003ehope of reclaiming him, and endeavour to think of him no more in\u003cbr /\u003econnexion with her future prospects. In this she succeeded so\u003cbr /\u003ewell, that she afterwards had a private interview with him, which\u003cbr /\u003edid not produce any painful emotions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1796 she revived or improved an acquaintance which commenced\u003cbr /\u003eyears before with Wm. Godwin, author of \u0026quot;Political Justice,\u0026quot; and\u003cbr /\u003eother works of great notoriety. Though they had not been\u003cbr /\u003efavourably impressed with each other on their former acquaintance,\u003cbr /\u003ethey now met under circumstances which permitted a mutual and just\u003cbr /\u003eappreciation of character. Their intimacy increased by regular and\u003cbr /\u003ealmost imperceptible degrees. The partiality they conceived for\u003cbr /\u003eeach other was, according to her biographer, \u0026quot;In the most refined\u003cbr /\u003estyle of love. It grew with equal advances in the mind of each.\u003cbr /\u003eIt would have been impossible for the most minute observer to have\u003cbr /\u003esaid who was before, or who after. One sex did not take the\u003cbr /\u003epriority which long established custom has awarded it, nor the\u003cbr /\u003eother overstep that delicacy which is so severely imposed. Neither\u003cbr /\u003eparty could assume to have been the agent or the patient, the\u003cbr /\u003etoil-spreader or the prey in the affair. When in the course of\u003cbr /\u003ethings the disclosure came, there was nothing in a manner for\u003cbr /\u003eeither to disclose to the other.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMary lived but a few months after her marriage, and died in\u003cbr /\u003echild-bed; having given birth to a daughter who is now known to the\u003cbr /\u003eliterary world as Mrs. Shelly, the widow of Percy Bysche Shelly.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWe can scarcely avoid regret that one of such splendid talents, and\u003cbr /\u003ehigh toned feelings, should, after the former seemed to have been\u003cbr /\u003efully developed, and the latter had found an object in whom they\u003cbr /\u003emight repose, after their eccentric and painful efforts to find a\u003cbr /\u003eresting place–that such an one should at such a time, be cut off\u003cbr /\u003efrom life is something which we cannot contemplate without feeling\u003cbr /\u003eregret; we can scarcely repress the murmur that she had not been\u003cbr /\u003eremoved ere clouds darkened her horizon, or that she had remained\u003cbr /\u003eto witness the brightness and serenity which might have succeeded.\u003cbr /\u003eBut thus it is; we may trace the cause to anti-social arrangements;\u003cbr /\u003eit is not individuals but society which must change it, and that\u003cbr /\u003enot by enactments, but by a change in public opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe authoress of the \u0026quot;Rights of Woman,\u0026quot; was born April 1759, died\u003cbr /\u003eSeptember 1797.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat there may be no doubt regarding the facts in this sketch, they\u003cbr /\u003eare taken from a memoir written by her afflicted husband. In\u003cbr /\u003eaddition to many kind things he has said of her, (he was not\u003cbr /\u003eblinded to imperfections in her character) is, that she was \u0026quot;Lovely\u003cbr /\u003ein her person, and in the best and most engaging sense feminine in\u003cbr /\u003eher manners.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTO\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eM. TALLEYRAND PERIGORD,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLATE BISHOP OF AUTUN.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSir:–\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHaving read with great pleasure a pamphlet, which you have lately\u003cbr /\u003epublished, on National Education, I dedicate this volume to you,\u003cbr /\u003ethe first dedication that I have ever written, to induce you to\u003cbr /\u003eread it with attention; and, because I think that you will\u003cbr /\u003eunderstand me, which I do not suppose many pert witlings will, who\u003cbr /\u003emay ridicule the arguments they are unable to answer. But, sir, I\u003cbr /\u003ecarry my respect for your understanding still farther: so far,\u003cbr /\u003ethat I am confident you will not throw my work aside, and hastily\u003cbr /\u003econclude that I am in the wrong because you did not view the\u003cbr /\u003esubject in the same light yourself. And pardon my frankness, but I\u003cbr /\u003emust observe, that you treated it in too cursory a manner,\u003cbr /\u003econtented to consider it as it had been considered formerly, when\u003cbr /\u003ethe rights of man, not to advert to woman, were trampled on as\u003cbr /\u003echimerical. I call upon you, therefore, now to weigh what I have\u003cbr /\u003eadvanced respecting the rights of woman, and national education;\u003cbr /\u003eand I call with the firm tone of humanity. For my arguments, sir,\u003cbr /\u003eare dictated by a disinterested spirit: I plead for my sex, not\u003cbr /\u003efor myself. Independence I have long considered as the grand\u003cbr /\u003eblessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I\u003cbr /\u003ewill ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on\u003cbr /\u003ea barren heath.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is, then, an affection for the whole human race that makes my\u003cbr /\u003epen dart rapidly along to support what I believe to be the cause of\u003cbr /\u003evirtue: and the same motive leads me earnestly to wish to see\u003cbr /\u003ewoman placed in a station in which she would advance, instead of\u003cbr /\u003eretarding, the progress of those glorious principles that give a\u003cbr /\u003esubstance to morality. My opinion, indeed, respecting the rights\u003cbr /\u003eand duties of woman, seems to flow so naturally from these simple\u003cbr /\u003eprinciples, that I think it scarcely possible, but that some of the\u003cbr /\u003eenlarged minds who formed your admirable constitution, will\u003cbr /\u003ecoincide with me.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn France, there is undoubtedly a more general diffusion of\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge than in any part of the European world, and I attribute\u003cbr /\u003eit, in a great measure, to the social intercourse which has long\u003cbr /\u003esubsisted between the sexes. It is true, I utter my sentiments\u003cbr /\u003ewith freedom, that in France the very essence of sensuality has\u003cbr /\u003ebeen extracted to regale the voluptuary, and a kind of sentimental\u003cbr /\u003elust has prevailed, which, together with the system of duplicity\u003cbr /\u003ethat the whole tenor of their political and civil government\u003cbr /\u003etaught, have given a sinister sort of sagacity to the French\u003cbr /\u003echaracter, properly termed finesse; and a polish of manners that\u003cbr /\u003einjures the substance, by hunting sincerity out of society. And,\u003cbr /\u003emodesty, the fairest garb of virtue has been more grossly insulted\u003cbr /\u003ein France than even in England, till their women have treated as\u003cbr /\u003ePRUDISH that attention to decency which brutes instinctively\u003cbr /\u003eobserve.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eManners and morals are so nearly allied, that they have often been\u003cbr /\u003econfounded; but, though the former should only be the natural\u003cbr /\u003ereflection of the latter, yet, when various causes have produced\u003cbr /\u003efactitious and corrupt manners, which are very early caught,\u003cbr /\u003emorality becomes an empty name. The personal reserve, and sacred\u003cbr /\u003erespect for cleanliness and delicacy in domestic life, which French\u003cbr /\u003ewomen almost despise, are the graceful pillars of modesty; but, far\u003cbr /\u003efrom despising them, if the pure flame of patriotism have reached\u003cbr /\u003etheir bosoms, they should labour to improve the morals of their\u003cbr /\u003efellow-citizens, by teaching men, not only to respect modesty in\u003cbr /\u003ewomen, but to acquire it themselves, as the only way to merit their\u003cbr /\u003eesteem.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eContending for the rights of women, my main argument is built on\u003cbr /\u003ethis simple principle, that if she be not prepared by education to\u003cbr /\u003ebecome the companion of man, she will stop the progress of\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge, for truth must be common to all, or it will be\u003cbr /\u003einefficacious with respect to its influence on general practice.\u003cbr /\u003eAnd how can woman be expected to co-operate, unless she know why\u003cbr /\u003eshe ought to be virtuous? Unless freedom strengthen her reason\u003cbr /\u003etill she comprehend her duty, and see in what manner it is\u003cbr /\u003econnected with her real good? If children are to be educated to\u003cbr /\u003eunderstand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a\u003cbr /\u003epatriot; and the love of mankind, from which an orderly train of\u003cbr /\u003evirtues spring, can only be produced by considering the moral and\u003cbr /\u003ecivil interest of mankind; but the education and situation of\u003cbr /\u003ewoman, at present, shuts her out from such investigations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this work I have produced many arguments, which to me were\u003cbr /\u003econclusive, to prove, that the prevailing notion respecting a\u003cbr /\u003esexual character was subversive of morality, and I have contended,\u003cbr /\u003ethat to render the human body and mind more perfect, chastity must\u003cbr /\u003emore universally prevail, and that chastity will never be respected\u003cbr /\u003ein the male world till the person of a woman is not, as it were,\u003cbr /\u003eidolized when little virtue or sense embellish it with the grand\u003cbr /\u003etraces of mental beauty, or the interesting simplicity of\u003cbr /\u003eaffection.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConsider, Sir, dispassionately, these observations, for a glimpse\u003cbr /\u003eof this truth seemed to open before you when you observed, \u0026quot;that to\u003cbr /\u003esee one half of the human race excluded by the other from all\u003cbr /\u003eparticipation of government, was a political phenomenon that,\u003cbr /\u003eaccording to abstract principles, it was impossible to explain.\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003eIf so, on what does your constitution rest? If the abstract rights\u003cbr /\u003eof man will bear discussion and explanation, those of woman, by a\u003cbr /\u003eparity of reasoning, will not shrink from the same test: though a\u003cbr /\u003edifferent opinion prevails in this country, built on the very\u003cbr /\u003earguments which you use to justify the oppression of woman,\u003cbr /\u003eprescription.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConsider, I address you as a legislator, whether, when men contend\u003cbr /\u003efor their freedom, and to be allowed to judge for themselves,\u003cbr /\u003erespecting their own happiness, it be not inconsistent and unjust\u003cbr /\u003eto subjugate women, even though you firmly believe that you are\u003cbr /\u003eacting in the manner best calculated to promote their happiness?\u003cbr /\u003eWho made man the exclusive judge, if woman partake with him the\u003cbr /\u003egift of reason?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this style, argue tyrants of every denomination from the weak\u003cbr /\u003eking to the weak father of a family; they are all eager to crush\u003cbr /\u003ereason; yet always assert that they usurp its throne only to be\u003cbr /\u003euseful. Do you not act a similar part, when you FORCE all women,\u003cbr /\u003eby denying them civil and political rights, to remain immured in\u003cbr /\u003etheir families groping in the dark? For surely, sir, you will not\u003cbr /\u003eassert, that a duty can be binding which is not founded on reason?\u003cbr /\u003eIf, indeed, this be their destination, arguments may be drawn from\u003cbr /\u003ereason; and thus augustly supported, the more understanding women\u003cbr /\u003eacquire, the more they will be attached to their duty,\u003cbr /\u003ecomprehending it, for unless they comprehend it, unless their\u003cbr /\u003emorals be fixed on the same immutable principles as those of man,\u003cbr /\u003eno authority can make them discharge it in a virtuous manner. They\u003cbr /\u003emay be convenient slaves, but slavery will have its constant\u003cbr /\u003eeffect, degrading the master and the abject dependent.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, if women are to be excluded, without having a voice, from a\u003cbr /\u003eparticipation of the natural rights of mankind, prove first, to\u003cbr /\u003eward off the charge of injustice and inconsistency, that they want\u003cbr /\u003ereason, else this flaw in your NEW CONSTITUTION, the first\u003cbr /\u003econstitution founded on reason, will ever show that man must, in\u003cbr /\u003esome shape, act like a tyrant, and tyranny, in whatever part of\u003cbr /\u003esociety it rears its brazen front, will ever undermine morality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have repeatedly asserted, and produced what appeared to me\u003cbr /\u003eirrefragable arguments drawn from matters of fact, to prove my\u003cbr /\u003eassertion, that women cannot, by force, be confined to domestic\u003cbr /\u003econcerns; for they will however ignorant, intermeddle with more\u003cbr /\u003eweighty affairs, neglecting private duties only to disturb, by\u003cbr /\u003ecunning tricks, the orderly plans of reason which rise above their\u003cbr /\u003ecomprehension.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, whilst they are only made to acquire personal\u003cbr /\u003eaccomplishments, men will seek for pleasure in variety, and\u003cbr /\u003efaithless husbands will make faithless wives; such ignorant beings,\u003cbr /\u003eindeed, will be very excusable when, not taught to respect public\u003cbr /\u003egood, nor allowed any civil right, they attempt to do themselves\u003cbr /\u003ejustice by retaliation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe box of mischief thus opened in society, what is to preserve\u003cbr /\u003eprivate virtue, the only security of public freedom and universal\u003cbr /\u003ehappiness?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet there be then no coercion ESTABLISHED in society, and the\u003cbr /\u003ecommon law of gravity prevailing, the sexes will fall into their\u003cbr /\u003eproper places. And, now that more equitable laws are forming your\u003cbr /\u003ecitizens, marriage may become more sacred; your young men may\u003cbr /\u003echoose wives from motives of affection, and your maidens allow love\u003cbr /\u003eto root out vanity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe father of a family will not then weaken his constitution and\u003cbr /\u003edebase his sentiments, by visiting the harlot, nor forget, in\u003cbr /\u003eobeying the call of appetite, the purpose for which it was\u003cbr /\u003eimplanted; and the mother will not neglect her children to practise\u003cbr /\u003ethe arts of coquetry, when sense and modesty secure her the\u003cbr /\u003efriendship of her husband.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, till men become attentive to the duty of a father, it is vain\u003cbr /\u003eto expect women to spend that time in their nursery which they,\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;wise in their generation,\u0026quot; choose to spend at their glass; for\u003cbr /\u003ethis exertion of cunning is only an instinct of nature to enable\u003cbr /\u003ethem to obtain indirectly a little of that power of which they are\u003cbr /\u003eunjustly denied a share; for, if women are not permitted to enjoy\u003cbr /\u003elegitimate rights, they will render both men and themselves\u003cbr /\u003evicious, to obtain illicit privileges.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI wish, sir, to set some investigations of this kind afloat in\u003cbr /\u003eFrance; and should they lead to a confirmation of my principles,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen your constitution is revised, the rights of woman may be\u003cbr /\u003erespected, if it be fully proved that reason calls for this\u003cbr /\u003erespect, and loudly demands JUSTICE for one half of the human race.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI am, sir,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYours respectfully,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eM. W.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eINTRODUCTION.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter considering the historic page, and viewing the living world\u003cbr /\u003ewith anxious solicitude, the most melancholy emotions of sorrowful\u003cbr /\u003eindignation have depressed my spirits, and I have sighed when\u003cbr /\u003eobliged to confess, that either nature has made a great difference\u003cbr /\u003ebetween man and man, or that the civilization, which has hitherto\u003cbr /\u003etaken place in the world, has been very partial. I have turned\u003cbr /\u003eover various books written on the subject of education, and\u003cbr /\u003epatiently observed the conduct of parents and the management of\u003cbr /\u003eschools; but what has been the result? a profound conviction, that\u003cbr /\u003ethe neglected education of my fellow creatures is the grand source\u003cbr /\u003eof the misery I deplore; and that women in particular, are rendered\u003cbr /\u003eweak and wretched by a variety of concurring causes, originating\u003cbr /\u003efrom one hasty conclusion. The conduct and manners of women, in\u003cbr /\u003efact, evidently prove, that their minds are not in a healthy state;\u003cbr /\u003efor, like the flowers that are planted in too rich a soil,\u003cbr /\u003estrength and usefulness are sacrificed to beauty; and the flaunting\u003cbr /\u003eleaves, after having pleased a fastidious eye, fade, disregarded on\u003cbr /\u003ethe stalk, long before the season when they ought to have arrived\u003cbr /\u003eat maturity. One cause of this barren blooming I attribute to a\u003cbr /\u003efalse system of education, gathered from the books written on this\u003cbr /\u003esubject by men, who, considering females rather as women than human\u003cbr /\u003ecreatures, have been more anxious to make them alluring mistresses\u003cbr /\u003ethan rational wives; and the understanding of the sex has been so\u003cbr /\u003ebubbled by this specious homage, that the civilized women of the\u003cbr /\u003epresent century, with a few exceptions, are only anxious to inspire\u003cbr /\u003elove, when they ought to cherish a nobler ambition, and by their\u003cbr /\u003eabilities and virtues exact respect.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn a treatise, therefore, on female rights and manners, the works\u003cbr /\u003ewhich have been particularly written for their improvement must not\u003cbr /\u003ebe overlooked; especially when it is asserted, in direct terms,\u003cbr /\u003ethat the minds of women are enfeebled by false refinement; that the\u003cbr /\u003ebooks of instruction, written by men of genius, have had the same\u003cbr /\u003etendency as more frivolous productions; and that, in the true style\u003cbr /\u003eof Mahometanism, they are only considered as females, and not as a\u003cbr /\u003epart of the human species, when improvable reason is allowed to be\u003cbr /\u003ethe dignified distinction, which raises men above the brute\u003cbr /\u003ecreation, and puts a natural sceptre in a feeble hand.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYet, because I am a woman, I would not lead my readers to suppose,\u003cbr /\u003ethat I mean violently to agitate the contested question respecting\u003cbr /\u003ethe equality and inferiority of the sex; but as the subject lies in\u003cbr /\u003emy way, and I cannot pass it over without subjecting the main\u003cbr /\u003etendency of my reasoning to misconstruction, I shall stop a moment\u003cbr /\u003eto deliver, in a few words, my opinion. In the government of the\u003cbr /\u003ephysical world, it is observable that the female, in general, is\u003cbr /\u003einferior to the male. The male pursues, the female yields–this is\u003cbr /\u003ethe law of nature; and it does not appear to be suspended or\u003cbr /\u003eabrogated in favour of woman. This physical superiority cannot be\u003cbr /\u003edenied–and it is a noble prerogative! But not content with this\u003cbr /\u003enatural pre-eminence, men endeavour to sink us still lower, merely\u003cbr /\u003eto render us alluring objects for a moment; and women, intoxicated\u003cbr /\u003eby the adoration which men, under the influence of their senses,\u003cbr /\u003epay them, do not seek to obtain a durable interest in their hearts,\u003cbr /\u003eor to become the friends of the fellow creatures who find amusement\u003cbr /\u003ein their society.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI am aware of an obvious inference: from every quarter have I heard\u003cbr /\u003eexclamations against masculine women; but where are they to be\u003cbr /\u003efound? If, by this appellation, men mean to inveigh against their\u003cbr /\u003eardour in hunting, shooting, and gaming, I shall most cordially\u003cbr /\u003ejoin in the cry; but if it be, against the imitation of manly\u003cbr /\u003evirtues, or, more properly speaking, the attainment of those\u003cbr /\u003etalents and virtues, the exercise of which ennobles the human\u003cbr /\u003echaracter, and which raise females in the scale of animal being,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen they are comprehensively termed mankind–all those who view\u003cbr /\u003ethem with a philosophical eye must, I should think, wish with me,\u003cbr /\u003ethat they may every day grow more and more masculine.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis discussion naturally divides the subject. I shall first\u003cbr /\u003econsider women in the grand light of human creatures, who, in\u003cbr /\u003ecommon with men, are placed on this earth to unfold their\u003cbr /\u003efaculties; and afterwards I shall more particularly point out their\u003cbr /\u003epeculiar designation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI wish also to steer clear of an error, which many respectable\u003cbr /\u003ewriters have fallen into; for the instruction which has hitherto\u003cbr /\u003ebeen addressed to women, has rather been applicable to LADIES, if\u003cbr /\u003ethe little indirect advice, that is scattered through Sandford and\u003cbr /\u003eMerton, be excepted; but, addressing my sex in a firmer tone, I pay\u003cbr /\u003eparticular attention to those in the middle class, because they\u003cbr /\u003eappear to be in the most natural state. Perhaps the seeds of false\u003cbr /\u003erefinement, immorality, and vanity have ever been shed by the\u003cbr /\u003egreat. Weak, artificial beings raised above the common wants and\u003cbr /\u003eaffections of their race, in a premature unnatural manner,\u003cbr /\u003eundermine the very foundation of virtue, and spread corruption\u003cbr /\u003ethrough the whole mass of society! As a class of mankind they have\u003cbr /\u003ethe strongest claim to pity! the education of the rich tends to\u003cbr /\u003erender them vain and helpless, and the unfolding mind is not\u003cbr /\u003estrengthened by the practice of those duties which dignify the\u003cbr /\u003ehuman character. They only live to amuse themselves, and by the\u003cbr /\u003esame law which in nature invariably produces certain effects, they\u003cbr /\u003esoon only afford barren amusement.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut as I purpose taking a separate view of the different ranks of\u003cbr /\u003esociety, and of the moral character of women, in each, this hint\u003cbr /\u003eis, for the present, sufficient; and I have only alluded to the\u003cbr /\u003esubject, because it appears to me to be the very essence of an\u003cbr /\u003eintroduction to give a cursory account of the contents of the work\u003cbr /\u003eit introduces.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them like rational\u003cbr /\u003ecreatures, instead of flattering their FASCINATING graces, and\u003cbr /\u003eviewing them as if they were in a state of perpetual childhood,\u003cbr /\u003eunable to stand alone. I earnestly wish to point out in what true\u003cbr /\u003edignity and human happiness consists–I wish to persuade women to\u003cbr /\u003eendeavour to acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to\u003cbr /\u003econvince them, that the soft phrases, susceptibility of heart,\u003cbr /\u003edelicacy of sentiment, and refinement of taste, are almost\u003cbr /\u003esynonymous with epithets of weakness, and that those beings who are\u003cbr /\u003eonly the objects of pity and that kind of love, which has been\u003cbr /\u003etermed its sister, will soon become objects of contempt.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDismissing then those pretty feminine phrases, which the men\u003cbr /\u003econdescendingly use to soften our slavish dependence, and despising\u003cbr /\u003ethat weak elegancy of mind, exquisite sensibility, and sweet\u003cbr /\u003edocility of manners, supposed to be the sexual characteristics of\u003cbr /\u003ethe weaker vessel, I wish to show that elegance is inferior to\u003cbr /\u003evirtue, that the first object of laudable ambition is to obtain a\u003cbr /\u003echaracter as a human being, regardless of the distinction of sex;\u003cbr /\u003eand that secondary views should be brought to this simple\u003cbr /\u003etouchstone.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a rough sketch of my plan; and should I express my\u003cbr /\u003econviction with the energetic emotions that I feel whenever I think\u003cbr /\u003eof the subject, the dictates of experience and reflection will be\u003cbr /\u003efelt by some of my readers. Animated by this important object, I\u003cbr /\u003eshall disdain to cull my phrases or polish my style–I aim at being\u003cbr /\u003euseful, and sincerity will render me unaffected; for wishing rather\u003cbr /\u003eto persuade by the force of my arguments, than dazzle by the\u003cbr /\u003eelegance of my language, I shall not waste my time in rounding\u003cbr /\u003eperiods, nor in fabricating the turgid bombast of artificial\u003cbr /\u003efeelings, which, coming from the head, never reach the heart. I\u003cbr /\u003eshall be employed about things, not words! and, anxious to render\u003cbr /\u003emy sex more respectable members of society, I shall try to avoid\u003cbr /\u003ethat flowery diction which has slided from essays into novels, and\u003cbr /\u003efrom novels into familiar letters and conversation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese pretty nothings, these caricatures of the real beauty of\u003cbr /\u003esensibility, dropping glibly from the tongue, vitiate the taste,\u003cbr /\u003eand create a kind of sickly delicacy that turns away from simple\u003cbr /\u003eunadorned truth; and a deluge of false sentiments and\u003cbr /\u003eover-stretched feelings, stifling the natural emotions of the\u003cbr /\u003eheart, render the domestic pleasures insipid, that ought to sweeten\u003cbr /\u003ethe exercise of those severe duties, which educate a rational and\u003cbr /\u003eimmortal being for a nobler field of action.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe education of women has, of late, been more attended to than\u003cbr /\u003eformerly; yet they are still reckoned a frivolous sex, and\u003cbr /\u003eridiculed or pitied by the writers who endeavour by satire or\u003cbr /\u003einstruction to improve them. It is acknowledged that they spend\u003cbr /\u003emany of the first years of their lives in acquiring a smattering of\u003cbr /\u003eaccomplishments: meanwhile, strength of body and mind are\u003cbr /\u003esacrificed to libertine notions of beauty, to the desire of\u003cbr /\u003eestablishing themselves, the only way women can rise in the\u003cbr /\u003eworld–by marriage. And this desire making mere animals of them,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen they marry, they act as such children may be expected to act:\u003cbr /\u003ethey dress; they paint, and nickname God\u0026#39;s creatures. Surely these\u003cbr /\u003eweak beings are only fit for the seraglio! Can they govern a\u003cbr /\u003efamily, or take care of the poor babes whom they bring into the\u003cbr /\u003eworld?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf then it can be fairly deduced from the present conduct of the\u003cbr /\u003esex, from the prevalent fondness for pleasure, which takes place of\u003cbr /\u003eambition and those nobler passions that open and enlarge the soul;\u003cbr /\u003ethat the instruction which women have received has only tended,\u003cbr /\u003ewith the constitution of civil society, to render them\u003cbr /\u003einsignificant objects of desire; mere propagators of fools! if it\u003cbr /\u003ecan be proved, that in aiming to accomplish them, without\u003cbr /\u003ecultivating their understandings, they are taken out of their\u003cbr /\u003esphere of duties, and made ridiculous and useless when the short\u003cbr /\u003elived bloom of beauty is over*, I presume that RATIONAL men will\u003cbr /\u003eexcuse me for endeavouring to persuade them to become more\u003cbr /\u003emasculine and respectable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. A lively writer, I cannot recollect his name, asks\u003cbr /\u003ewhat business women turned of forty have to do in the world.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIndeed the word masculine is only a bugbear: there is little\u003cbr /\u003ereason to fear that women will acquire too much courage or\u003cbr /\u003efortitude; for their apparent inferiority with respect to bodily\u003cbr /\u003estrength, must render them, in some degree, dependent on men in the\u003cbr /\u003evarious relations of life; but why should it be increased by\u003cbr /\u003eprejudices that give a sex to virtue, and confound simple truths\u003cbr /\u003ewith sensual reveries?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen are, in fact, so much degraded by mistaken notions of female\u003cbr /\u003eexcellence, that I do not mean to add a paradox when I assert, that\u003cbr /\u003ethis artificial weakness produces a propensity to tyrannize, and\u003cbr /\u003egives birth to cunning, the natural opponent of strength, which\u003cbr /\u003eleads them to play off those contemptible infantile airs that\u003cbr /\u003eundermine esteem even whilst they excite desire. Do not foster\u003cbr /\u003ethese prejudices, and they will naturally fall into their\u003cbr /\u003esubordinate, yet respectable station in life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt seems scarcely necessary to say, that I now speak of the sex in\u003cbr /\u003egeneral. Many individuals have more sense than their male\u003cbr /\u003erelatives; and, as nothing preponderates where there is a constant\u003cbr /\u003estruggle for an equilibrium, without it has naturally more gravity,\u003cbr /\u003esome women govern their husbands without degrading themselves,\u003cbr /\u003ebecause intellect will always govern.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eVINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 1.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTHE RIGHTS AND INVOLVED DUTIES OF MANKIND CONSIDERED.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the present state of society, it appears necessary to go back to\u003cbr /\u003efirst principles in search of the most simple truths, and to\u003cbr /\u003edispute with some prevailing prejudice every inch of ground. To\u003cbr /\u003eclear my way, I must be allowed to ask some plain questions, and\u003cbr /\u003ethe answers will probably appear as unequivocal as the axioms on\u003cbr /\u003ewhich reasoning is built; though, when entangled with various\u003cbr /\u003emotives of action, they are formally contradicted, either by the\u003cbr /\u003ewords or conduct of men.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn what does man\u0026#39;s pre-eminence over the brute creation consist?\u003cbr /\u003eThe answer is as clear as that a half is less than the whole; in\u003cbr /\u003eReason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat acquirement exalts one being above another? Virtue; we\u003cbr /\u003espontaneously reply.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor what purpose were the passions implanted? That man by\u003cbr /\u003estruggling with them might attain a degree of knowledge denied to\u003cbr /\u003ethe brutes: whispers Experience.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConsequently the perfection of our nature and capability of\u003cbr /\u003ehappiness, must be estimated by the degree of reason, virtue, and\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge, that distinguish the individual, and direct the laws\u003cbr /\u003ewhich bind society: and that from the exercise of reason,\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge and virtue naturally flow, is equally undeniable, if\u003cbr /\u003emankind be viewed collectively.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe rights and duties of man thus simplified, it seems almost\u003cbr /\u003eimpertinent to attempt to illustrate truths that appear so\u003cbr /\u003eincontrovertible: yet such deeply rooted prejudices have clouded\u003cbr /\u003ereason, and such spurious qualities have assumed the name of\u003cbr /\u003evirtues, that it is necessary to pursue the course of reason as it\u003cbr /\u003ehas been perplexed and involved in error, by various adventitious\u003cbr /\u003ecircumstances, comparing the simple axiom with casual deviations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMen, in general, seem to employ their reason to justify prejudices,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich they have imbibed, they cannot trace how, rather than to root\u003cbr /\u003ethem out. The mind must be strong that resolutely forms its own\u003cbr /\u003eprinciples; for a kind of intellectual cowardice prevails which\u003cbr /\u003emakes many men shrink from the task, or only do it by halves. Yet\u003cbr /\u003ethe imperfect conclusions thus drawn, are frequently very\u003cbr /\u003eplausible, because they are built on partial experience, on just,\u003cbr /\u003ethough narrow, views.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGoing back to first principles, vice skulks, with all its native\u003cbr /\u003edeformity, from close investigation; but a set of shallow reasoners\u003cbr /\u003eare always exclaiming that these arguments prove too much, and that\u003cbr /\u003ea measure rotten at the core may be expedient. Thus expediency is\u003cbr /\u003econtinually contrasted with simple principles, till truth is lost\u003cbr /\u003ein a mist of words, virtue in forms, and knowledge rendered a\u003cbr /\u003esounding nothing, by the specious prejudices that assume its name.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat the society is formed in the wisest manner, whose constitution\u003cbr /\u003eis founded on the nature of man, strikes, in the abstract, every\u003cbr /\u003ethinking being so forcibly, that it looks like presumption to\u003cbr /\u003eendeavour to bring forward proofs; though proof must be brought, or\u003cbr /\u003ethe strong hold of prescription will never be forced by reason; yet\u003cbr /\u003eto urge prescription as an argument to justify the depriving men\u003cbr /\u003e(or women) of their natural rights, is one of the absurd sophisms\u003cbr /\u003ewhich daily insult common sense.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe civilization of the bulk of the people of Europe, is very\u003cbr /\u003epartial; nay, it may be made a question, whether they have acquired\u003cbr /\u003eany virtues in exchange for innocence, equivalent to the misery\u003cbr /\u003eproduced by the vices that have been plastered over unsightly\u003cbr /\u003eignorance, and the freedom which has been bartered for splendid\u003cbr /\u003eslavery. The desire of dazzling by riches, the most certain\u003cbr /\u003epre-eminence that man can obtain, the pleasure of commanding\u003cbr /\u003eflattering sycophants, and many other complicated low calculations\u003cbr /\u003eof doting self-love, have all contributed to overwhelm the mass of\u003cbr /\u003emankind, and make liberty a convenient handle for mock patriotism.\u003cbr /\u003eFor whilst rank and titles are held of the utmost importance,\u003cbr /\u003ebefore which Genius \u0026quot;must hide its diminished head,\u0026quot; it is, with a\u003cbr /\u003efew exceptions, very unfortunate for a nation when a man of\u003cbr /\u003eabilities, without rank or property, pushes himself forward to\u003cbr /\u003enotice. Alas! what unheard of misery have thousands suffered to\u003cbr /\u003epurchase a cardinal\u0026#39;s hat for an intriguing obscure adventurer, who\u003cbr /\u003elonged to be ranked with princes, or lord it over them by seizing\u003cbr /\u003ethe triple crown!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSuch, indeed, has been the wretchedness that has flowed from\u003cbr /\u003ehereditary honours, riches, and monarchy, that men of lively\u003cbr /\u003esensibility have almost uttered blasphemy in order to justify the\u003cbr /\u003edispensations of providence. Man has been held out as independent\u003cbr /\u003eof his power who made him, or as a lawless planet darting from its\u003cbr /\u003eorbit to steal the celestial fire of reason; and the vengeance of\u003cbr /\u003eheaven, lurking in the subtile flame, sufficiently punished his\u003cbr /\u003etemerity, by introducing evil into the world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eImpressed by this view of the misery and disorder which pervaded\u003cbr /\u003esociety, and fatigued with jostling against artificial fools,\u003cbr /\u003eRousseau became enamoured of solitude, and, being at the same time\u003cbr /\u003ean optimist, he labours with uncommon eloquence to prove that man\u003cbr /\u003ewas naturally a solitary animal. Misled by his respect for the\u003cbr /\u003egoodness of God, who certainly for what man of sense and feeling\u003cbr /\u003ecan doubt it! gave life only to communicate happiness, he considers\u003cbr /\u003eevil as positive, and the work of man; not aware that he was\u003cbr /\u003eexalting one attribute at the expense of another, equally necessary\u003cbr /\u003eto divine perfection.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eReared on a false hypothesis, his arguments in favour of a state of\u003cbr /\u003enature are plausible, but unsound. I say unsound; for to assert\u003cbr /\u003ethat a state of nature is preferable to civilization in all its\u003cbr /\u003epossible perfection, is, in other words, to arraign supreme wisdom;\u003cbr /\u003eand the paradoxical exclamation, that God has made all things\u003cbr /\u003eright, and that evil has been introduced by the creature whom he\u003cbr /\u003eformed, knowing what he formed, is as unphilosophical as impious.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen that wise Being, who created us and placed us here, saw the\u003cbr /\u003efair idea, he willed, by allowing it to be so, that the passions\u003cbr /\u003eshould unfold our reason, because he could see that present evil\u003cbr /\u003ewould produce future good. Could the helpless creature whom he\u003cbr /\u003ecalled from nothing, break loose from his providence, and boldly\u003cbr /\u003elearn to know good by practising evil without his permission? No.\u003cbr /\u003eHow could that energetic advocate for immortality argue so\u003cbr /\u003einconsistently? Had mankind remained for ever in the brutal state\u003cbr /\u003eof nature, which even his magic pen cannot paint as a state in\u003cbr /\u003ewhich a single virtue took root, it would have been clear, though\u003cbr /\u003enot to the sensitive unreflecting wanderer, that man was born to\u003cbr /\u003erun the circle of life and death, and adorn God\u0026#39;s garden for some\u003cbr /\u003epurpose which could not easily be reconciled with his attributes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut if, to crown the whole, there were to be rational creatures\u003cbr /\u003eproduced, allowed to rise in excellency by the exercise of powers\u003cbr /\u003eimplanted for that purpose; if benignity itself thought fit to call\u003cbr /\u003einto existence a creature above the brutes, who could think and\u003cbr /\u003eimprove himself, why should that inestimable gift, for a gift it\u003cbr /\u003ewas, if a man was so created as to have a capacity to rise above\u003cbr /\u003ethe state in which sensation produced brutal ease, be called, in\u003cbr /\u003edirect terms, a curse? A curse it might be reckoned, if all our\u003cbr /\u003eexistence was bounded by our continuance in this world; for why\u003cbr /\u003eshould the gracious fountain of life give us passions, and the\u003cbr /\u003epower of reflecting, only to embitter our days, and inspire us with\u003cbr /\u003emistaken notions of dignity? Why should he lead us from love of\u003cbr /\u003eourselves to the sublime emotions which the discovery of his wisdom\u003cbr /\u003eand goodness excites, if these feelings were not set in motion to\u003cbr /\u003eimprove our nature, of which they make a part, and render us\u003cbr /\u003ecapable of enjoying a more godlike portion of happiness? Firmly\u003cbr /\u003epersuaded that no evil exists in the world that God did not design\u003cbr /\u003eto take place, I build my belief on the perfection of God.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRousseau exerts himself to prove, that all WAS right originally: a\u003cbr /\u003ecrowd of authors that all IS now right: and I, that all WILL BE\u003cbr /\u003eright.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, true to his first position, next to a state of nature,\u003cbr /\u003eRousseau celebrates barbarism, and, apostrophizing the shade of\u003cbr /\u003eFabricius, he forgets that, in conquering the world, the Romans\u003cbr /\u003enever dreamed of establishing their own liberty on a firm basis, or\u003cbr /\u003eof extending the reign of virtue. Eager to support his system, he\u003cbr /\u003estigmatizes, as vicious, every effort of genius; and uttering the\u003cbr /\u003eapotheosis of savage virtues, he exalts those to demigods, who were\u003cbr /\u003escarcely human–the brutal Spartans, who in defiance of justice and\u003cbr /\u003egratitude, sacrificed, in cold blood, the slaves that had shown\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves men to rescue their oppressors.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDisgusted with artificial manners and virtues, the citizen of\u003cbr /\u003eGeneva, instead of properly sifting the subject, threw away the\u003cbr /\u003ewheat with the chaff, without waiting to inquire whether the evils,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich his ardent soul turned from indignantly, were the consequence\u003cbr /\u003eof civilization, or the vestiges of barbarism. He saw vice\u003cbr /\u003etrampling on virtue, and the semblance of goodness taking place of\u003cbr /\u003ethe reality; he saw talents bent by power to sinister purposes, and\u003cbr /\u003enever thought of tracing the gigantic mischief up to arbitrary\u003cbr /\u003epower, up to the hereditary distinctions that clash with the mental\u003cbr /\u003esuperiority that naturally raises a man above his fellows. He did\u003cbr /\u003enot perceive, that the regal power, in a few generations,\u003cbr /\u003eintroduces idiotism into the noble stem, and holds out baits to\u003cbr /\u003erender thousands idle and vicious.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNothing can set the regal character in a more contemptible point of\u003cbr /\u003eview, than the various crimes that have elevated men to the supreme\u003cbr /\u003edignity. Vile intrigues, unnatural crimes, and every vice that\u003cbr /\u003edegrades our nature, have been the steps to this distinguished\u003cbr /\u003eeminence; yet millions of men have supinely allowed the nerveless\u003cbr /\u003elimbs of the posterity of such rapacious prowlers, to rest quietly\u003cbr /\u003eon their ensanguined thrones.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat but a pestilential vapour can hover over society, when its\u003cbr /\u003echief director is only instructed in the invention of crimes, or\u003cbr /\u003ethe stupid routine of childish ceremonies? Will men never be wise?\u003cbr /\u003ewill they never cease to expect corn from tares, and figs from\u003cbr /\u003ethistles?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is impossible for any man, when the most favourable\u003cbr /\u003ecircumstances concur, to acquire sufficient knowledge and strength\u003cbr /\u003eof mind to discharge the duties of a king, entrusted with\u003cbr /\u003euncontrolled power; how then must they be violated when his very\u003cbr /\u003eelevation is an insuperable bar to the attainment of either wisdom\u003cbr /\u003eor virtue; when all the feelings of a man are stifled by flattery,\u003cbr /\u003eand reflection shut out by pleasure! Surely it is madness to make\u003cbr /\u003ethe fate of thousands depend on the caprice of a weak fellow\u003cbr /\u003ecreature, whose very station sinks him NECESSARILY below the\u003cbr /\u003emeanest of his subjects! But one power should not be thrown down\u003cbr /\u003eto exalt another–for all power intoxicates weak man; and its abuse\u003cbr /\u003eproves, that the more equality there is established among men, the\u003cbr /\u003emore virtue and happiness will reign in society. But this, and any\u003cbr /\u003esimilar maxim deduced from simple reason, raises an outcry–the\u003cbr /\u003echurch or the state is in danger, if faith in the wisdom of\u003cbr /\u003eantiquity is not implicit; and they who, roused by the sight of\u003cbr /\u003ehuman calamity, dare to attack human authority, are reviled as\u003cbr /\u003edespisers of God, and enemies of man. These are bitter calumnies,\u003cbr /\u003eyet they reached one of the best of men, (Dr. Price.) whose ashes\u003cbr /\u003estill preach peace, and whose memory demands a respectful pause,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen subjects are discussed that lay so near his heart.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter attacking the sacred majesty of kings, I shall scarcely\u003cbr /\u003eexcite surprise, by adding my firm persuasion, that every\u003cbr /\u003eprofession, in which great subordination of rank constitutes its\u003cbr /\u003epower, is highly injurious to morality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA standing army, for instance, is incompatible with freedom;\u003cbr /\u003ebecause subordination and rigour are the very sinews of military\u003cbr /\u003ediscipline; and despotism is necessary to give vigour to\u003cbr /\u003eenterprises that one will directs. A spirit inspired by romantic\u003cbr /\u003enotions of honour, a kind of morality founded on the fashion of the\u003cbr /\u003eage, can only be felt by a few officers, whilst the main body must\u003cbr /\u003ebe moved by command, like the waves of the sea; for the strong wind\u003cbr /\u003eof authority pushes the crowd of subalterns forward, they scarcely\u003cbr /\u003eknow or care why, with headlong fury.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, nothing can be so prejudicial to the morals of the\u003cbr /\u003einhabitants of country towns, as the occasional residence of a set\u003cbr /\u003eof idle superficial young men, whose only occupation is gallantry,\u003cbr /\u003eand whose polished manners render vice more dangerous, by\u003cbr /\u003econcealing its deformity under gay ornamental drapery. An air of\u003cbr /\u003efashion, which is but a badge of slavery, and proves that the soul\u003cbr /\u003ehas not a strong individual character, awes simple country people\u003cbr /\u003einto an imitation of the vices, when they cannot catch the slippery\u003cbr /\u003egraces of politeness. Every corps is a chain of despots, who,\u003cbr /\u003esubmitting and tyrannizing without exercising their reason, become\u003cbr /\u003edead weights of vice and folly on the community. A man of rank or\u003cbr /\u003efortune, sure of rising by interest, has nothing to do but to\u003cbr /\u003epursue some extravagant freak; whilst the needy GENTLEMAN, who is\u003cbr /\u003eto rise, as the phrase turns, by his merit, becomes a servile\u003cbr /\u003eparasite or vile pander.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSailors, the naval gentlemen, come under the same description, only\u003cbr /\u003etheir vices assume a different and a grosser cast. They are more\u003cbr /\u003epositively indolent, when not discharging the ceremonials of their\u003cbr /\u003estation; whilst the insignificant fluttering of soldiers may be\u003cbr /\u003etermed active idleness. More confined to the society of men, the\u003cbr /\u003eformer acquire a fondness for humour and mischievous tricks; whilst\u003cbr /\u003ethe latter, mixing frequently with well-bred women, catch a\u003cbr /\u003esentimental cant. But mind is equally out of the question, whether\u003cbr /\u003ethey indulge the horse-laugh or polite simper.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMay I be allowed to extend the comparison to a profession where\u003cbr /\u003emore mind is certainly to be found; for the clergy have superior\u003cbr /\u003eopportunities of improvement, though subordination almost equally\u003cbr /\u003ecramps their faculties? The blind submission imposed at college to\u003cbr /\u003eforms of belief, serves as a noviciate to the curate who most\u003cbr /\u003eobsequiously respects the opinion of his rector or patron, if he\u003cbr /\u003emeans to rise in his profession. Perhaps there cannot be a more\u003cbr /\u003eforcible contrast than between the servile, dependent gait of a\u003cbr /\u003epoor curate, and the courtly mien of a bishop. And the respect and\u003cbr /\u003econtempt they inspire render the discharge of their separate\u003cbr /\u003efunctions equally useless.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is of great importance to observe, that the character of every\u003cbr /\u003eman is, in some degree, formed by his profession. A man of sense\u003cbr /\u003emay only have a cast of countenance that wears off as you trace his\u003cbr /\u003eindividuality, whilst the weak, common man, has scarcely ever any\u003cbr /\u003echaracter, but what belongs to the body; at least, all his opinions\u003cbr /\u003ehave been so steeped in the vat consecrated by authority, that the\u003cbr /\u003efaint spirit which the grape of his own vine yields cannot be\u003cbr /\u003edistinguished.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSociety, therefore, as it becomes more enlightened, should be very\u003cbr /\u003ecareful not to establish bodies of men who must necessarily be made\u003cbr /\u003efoolish or vicious by the very constitution of their profession.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the infancy of society, when men were just emerging out of\u003cbr /\u003ebarbarism, chiefs and priests, touching the most powerful springs\u003cbr /\u003eof savage conduct–hope and fear–must have had unbounded sway. An\u003cbr /\u003earistocracy, of course, is naturally the first form of government.\u003cbr /\u003eBut clashing interests soon losing their equipoise, a monarchy and\u003cbr /\u003ehierarchy break out of the confusion of ambitious struggles, and\u003cbr /\u003ethe foundation of both is secured by feudal tenures. This appears\u003cbr /\u003eto be the origin of monarchial and priestly power, and the dawn of\u003cbr /\u003ecivilization. But such combustible materials cannot long be pent\u003cbr /\u003eup; and getting vent in foreign wars and intestine insurrections,\u003cbr /\u003ethe people acquire some power in the tumult, which obliges their\u003cbr /\u003erulers to gloss over their oppression with a show of right. Thus,\u003cbr /\u003eas wars, agriculture, commerce, and literature, expands the mind,\u003cbr /\u003edespots are compelled, to make covert corruption hold fast the\u003cbr /\u003epower which was formerly snatched by open force.* And this baneful\u003cbr /\u003elurking gangrene is most quickly spread by luxury and superstition,\u003cbr /\u003ethe sure dregs of ambition. The indolent puppet of a court first\u003cbr /\u003ebecomes a luxurious monster, or fastidious sensualist, and then\u003cbr /\u003emakes the contagion which his unnatural state spreads, the\u003cbr /\u003einstrument of tyranny.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. Men of abilities scatter seeds that grow up, and have\u003cbr /\u003ea great influence on the forming opinion; and when once the public\u003cbr /\u003eopinion preponderates, through the exertion of reason, the\u003cbr /\u003eoverthrow of arbitrary power is not very distant.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the pestiferous purple which renders the progress of\u003cbr /\u003ecivilization a curse, and warps the understanding, till men of\u003cbr /\u003esensibility doubt whether the expansion of intellect produces a\u003cbr /\u003egreater portion of happiness or misery. But the nature of the\u003cbr /\u003epoison points out the antidote; and had Rousseau mounted one step\u003cbr /\u003ehigher in his investigation; or could his eye have pierced through\u003cbr /\u003ethe foggy atmosphere, which he almost disdained to breathe, his\u003cbr /\u003eactive mind would have darted forward to contemplate the perfection\u003cbr /\u003eof man in the establishment of true civilization, instead of taking\u003cbr /\u003ehis ferocious flight back to the night of sensual ignorance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 2.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTHE PREVAILING OPINION OF A SEXUAL CHARACTER DISCUSSED.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo account for, and excuse the tyranny of man, many ingenious\u003cbr /\u003earguments have been brought forward to prove, that the two sexes,\u003cbr /\u003ein the acquirement of virtue, ought to aim at attaining a very\u003cbr /\u003edifferent character: or, to speak explicitly, women are not\u003cbr /\u003eallowed to have sufficient strength of mind to acquire what really\u003cbr /\u003edeserves the name of virtue. Yet it should seem, allowing them to\u003cbr /\u003ehave souls, that there is but one way appointed by providence to\u003cbr /\u003elead MANKIND to either virtue or happiness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf then women are not a swarm of ephemeron triflers, why should\u003cbr /\u003ethey be kept in ignorance under the specious name of innocence?\u003cbr /\u003eMen complain, and with reason, of the follies and caprices of our\u003cbr /\u003esex, when they do not keenly satirize our headstrong passions and\u003cbr /\u003egroveling vices. Behold, I should answer, the natural effect of\u003cbr /\u003eignorance! The mind will ever be unstable that has only prejudices\u003cbr /\u003eto rest on, and the current will run with destructive fury when\u003cbr /\u003ethere are no barriers to break its force. Women are told from\u003cbr /\u003etheir infancy, and taught by the example of their mothers, that a\u003cbr /\u003elittle knowledge of human weakness, justly termed cunning, softness\u003cbr /\u003eof temper, OUTWARD obedience, and a scrupulous attention to a\u003cbr /\u003epuerile kind of propriety, will obtain for them the protection of\u003cbr /\u003eman; and should they be beautiful, every thing else is needless,\u003cbr /\u003efor at least twenty years of their lives.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus Milton describes our first frail mother; though when he tells\u003cbr /\u003eus that women are formed for softness and sweet attractive grace, I\u003cbr /\u003ecannot comprehend his meaning, unless, in the true Mahometan\u003cbr /\u003estrain, he meant to deprive us of souls, and insinuate that we were\u003cbr /\u003ebeings only designed by sweet attractive grace, and docile blind\u003cbr /\u003eobedience, to gratify the senses of man when he can no longer soar\u003cbr /\u003eon the wing of contemplation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHow grossly do they insult us, who thus advise us only to render\u003cbr /\u003eourselves gentle, domestic brutes! For instance, the winning\u003cbr /\u003esoftness, so warmly, and frequently recommended, that governs by\u003cbr /\u003eobeying. What childish expressions, and how insignificant is the\u003cbr /\u003ebeing–can it be an immortal one? who will condescend to govern by\u003cbr /\u003esuch sinister methods! \u0026quot;Certainly,\u0026quot; says Lord Bacon, \u0026quot;man is of\u003cbr /\u003ekin to the beasts by his body: and if he be not of kin to God by\u003cbr /\u003ehis spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature!\u0026quot; Men, indeed,\u003cbr /\u003eappear to me to act in a very unphilosophical manner, when they try\u003cbr /\u003eto secure the good conduct of women by attempting to keep them\u003cbr /\u003ealways in a state of childhood. Rousseau was more consistent when\u003cbr /\u003ehe wished to stop the progress of reason in both sexes; for if men\u003cbr /\u003eeat of the tree of knowledge, women will come in for a taste: but,\u003cbr /\u003efrom the imperfect cultivation which their understandings now\u003cbr /\u003ereceive, they only attain a knowledge of evil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eChildren, I grant, should be innocent; but when the epithet is\u003cbr /\u003eapplied to men, or women, it is but a civil term for weakness. For\u003cbr /\u003eif it be allowed that women were destined by Providence to acquire\u003cbr /\u003ehuman virtues, and by the exercise of their understandings, that\u003cbr /\u003estability of character which is the firmest ground to rest our\u003cbr /\u003efuture hopes upon, they must be permitted to turn to the fountain\u003cbr /\u003eof light, and not forced to shape their course by the twinkling of\u003cbr /\u003ea mere satellite. Milton, I grant, was of a very different\u003cbr /\u003eopinion; for he only bends to the indefeasible right of beauty,\u003cbr /\u003ethough it would be difficult to render two passages, which I now\u003cbr /\u003emean to contrast, consistent: but into similar inconsistencies are\u003cbr /\u003egreat men often led by their senses:–\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;To whom thus Eve with perfect beauty adorned:\u003cbr /\u003eMy author and disposer, what thou bidst\u003cbr /\u003eUnargued I obey; so God ordains;\u003cbr /\u003eGod is thy law, thou mine; to know no more\u003cbr /\u003eIs woman\u0026#39;s happiest knowledge and her praise.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese are exactly the arguments that I have used to children; but I\u003cbr /\u003ehave added, \u0026quot;Your reason is now gaining strength, and, till it\u003cbr /\u003earrives at some degree of maturity, you must look up to me for\u003cbr /\u003eadvice: then you ought to THINK, and only rely on God.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYet, in the following lines, Milton seems to coincide with me, when\u003cbr /\u003ehe makes Adam thus expostulate with his Maker:–\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Hast thou not made me here thy substitute,\u003cbr /\u003eAnd these inferior far beneath me set?\u003cbr /\u003eAmong unequals what society\u003cbr /\u003eCan sort, what harmony or delight?\u003cbr /\u003eWhich must be mutual, in proportion due\u003cbr /\u003eGiven and received; but in disparity\u003cbr /\u003eThe one intense, the other still remiss\u003cbr /\u003eCannot well suit with either, but soon prove\u003cbr /\u003eTedious alike: of fellowship I speak\u003cbr /\u003eSuch as I seek fit to participate\u003cbr /\u003eAll rational delight.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn treating, therefore, of the manners of women, let us,\u003cbr /\u003edisregarding sensual arguments, trace what we should endeavour to\u003cbr /\u003emake them in order to co-operate, if the expression be not too\u003cbr /\u003ebold, with the Supreme Being.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy individual education, I mean–for the sense of the word is not\u003cbr /\u003eprecisely defined–such an attention to a child as will slowly\u003cbr /\u003esharpen the senses, form the temper, regulate the passions, as they\u003cbr /\u003ebegin to ferment, and set the understanding to work before the body\u003cbr /\u003earrives at maturity; so that the man may only have to proceed, not\u003cbr /\u003eto begin, the important task of learning to think and reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo prevent any misconstruction, I must add, that I do not believe\u003cbr /\u003ethat a private education can work the wonders which some sanguine\u003cbr /\u003ewriters have attributed to it. Men and women must be educated, in\u003cbr /\u003ea great degree, by the opinions and manners of the society they\u003cbr /\u003elive in. In every age there has been a stream of popular opinion\u003cbr /\u003ethat has carried all before it, and given a family character, as it\u003cbr /\u003ewere, to the century. It may then fairly be inferred, that, till\u003cbr /\u003esociety be differently constituted, much cannot be expected from\u003cbr /\u003eeducation. It is, however, sufficient for my present purpose to\u003cbr /\u003eassert, that, whatever effect circumstances have on the abilities,\u003cbr /\u003eevery being may become virtuous by the exercise of its own reason;\u003cbr /\u003efor if but one being was created with vicious inclinations–that\u003cbr /\u003eis, positively bad– what can save us from atheism? or if we\u003cbr /\u003eworship a God, is not that God a devil?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConsequently, the most perfect education, in my opinion, is such an\u003cbr /\u003eexercise of the understanding as is best calculated to strengthen\u003cbr /\u003ethe body and form the heart; or, in other words, to enable the\u003cbr /\u003eindividual to attain such habits of virtue as will render it\u003cbr /\u003eindependent. In fact, it is a farce to call any being virtuous\u003cbr /\u003ewhose virtues do not result from the exercise of its own reason.\u003cbr /\u003eThis was Rousseau\u0026#39;s opinion respecting men: I extend it to women,\u003cbr /\u003eand confidently assert that they have been drawn out of their\u003cbr /\u003esphere by false refinement, and not by an endeavour to acquire\u003cbr /\u003emasculine qualities. Still the regal homage which they receive is\u003cbr /\u003eso intoxicating, that, till the manners of the times are changed,\u003cbr /\u003eand formed on more reasonable principles, it may be impossible to\u003cbr /\u003econvince them that the illegitimate power, which they obtain by\u003cbr /\u003edegrading themselves, is a curse, and that they must return to\u003cbr /\u003enature and equality, if they wish to secure the placid satisfaction\u003cbr /\u003ethat unsophisticated affections impart. But for this epoch we must\u003cbr /\u003ewait–wait, perhaps, till kings and nobles, enlightened by reason,\u003cbr /\u003eand, preferring the real dignity of man to childish state, throw\u003cbr /\u003eoff their gaudy hereditary trappings; and if then women do not\u003cbr /\u003eresign the arbitrary power of beauty, they will prove that they\u003cbr /\u003ehave LESS mind than man. I may be accused of arrogance; still I\u003cbr /\u003emust declare, what I firmly believe, that all the writers who have\u003cbr /\u003ewritten on the subject of female education and manners, from\u003cbr /\u003eRousseau to Dr. Gregory, have contributed to render women more\u003cbr /\u003eartificial, weaker characters, than they would otherwise have been;\u003cbr /\u003eand, consequently, more useless members of society. I might have\u003cbr /\u003eexpressed this conviction in a lower key; but I am afraid it would\u003cbr /\u003ehave been the whine of affectation, and not the faithful expression\u003cbr /\u003eof my feelings, of the clear result, which experience and\u003cbr /\u003ereflection have led me to draw. When I come to that division of\u003cbr /\u003ethe subject, I shall advert to the passages that I more\u003cbr /\u003eparticularly disapprove of, in the works of the authors I have just\u003cbr /\u003ealluded to; but it is first necessary to observe, that my objection\u003cbr /\u003eextends to the whole purport of those books, which tend, in my\u003cbr /\u003eopinion, to degrade one half of the human species, and render women\u003cbr /\u003epleasing at the expense of every solid virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThough to reason on Rousseau\u0026#39;s ground, if man did attain a degree\u003cbr /\u003eof perfection of mind when his body arrived at maturity, it might\u003cbr /\u003ebe proper in order to make a man and his wife ONE, that she should\u003cbr /\u003erely entirely on his understanding; and the graceful ivy, clasping\u003cbr /\u003ethe oak that supported it, would form a whole in which strength and\u003cbr /\u003ebeauty would be equally conspicuous. But, alas! husbands, as well\u003cbr /\u003eas their helpmates, are often only overgrown children; nay, thanks\u003cbr /\u003eto early debauchery, scarcely men in their outward form, and if the\u003cbr /\u003eblind lead the blind, one need not come from heaven to tell us the\u003cbr /\u003econsequence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMany are the causes that, in the present corrupt state of society,\u003cbr /\u003econtribute to enslave women by cramping their understandings and\u003cbr /\u003esharpening their senses. One, perhaps, that silently does more\u003cbr /\u003emischief than all the rest, is their disregard of order.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo do every thing in an orderly manner, is a most important\u003cbr /\u003eprecept, which women, who, generally speaking, receive only a\u003cbr /\u003edisorderly kind of education, seldom attend to with that degree of\u003cbr /\u003eexactness that men, who from their infancy are broken into method,\u003cbr /\u003eobserve. This negligent kind of guesswork, for what other epithet\u003cbr /\u003ecan be used to point out the random exertions of a sort of\u003cbr /\u003einstinctive common sense, never brought to the test of reason?\u003cbr /\u003eprevents their generalizing matters of fact, so they do to-day,\u003cbr /\u003ewhat they did yesterday, merely because they did it yesterday.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis contempt of the understanding in early life has more baneful\u003cbr /\u003econsequences than is commonly supposed; for the little knowledge\u003cbr /\u003ewhich women of strong minds attain, is, from various circumstances,\u003cbr /\u003eof a more desultory kind than the knowledge of men, and it is\u003cbr /\u003eacquired more by sheer observations on real life, than from\u003cbr /\u003ecomparing what has been individually observed with the results of\u003cbr /\u003eexperience generalized by speculation. Led by their dependent\u003cbr /\u003esituation and domestic employments more into society, what they\u003cbr /\u003elearn is rather by snatches; and as learning is with them, in\u003cbr /\u003egeneral, only a secondary thing, they do not pursue any one branch\u003cbr /\u003ewith that persevering ardour necessary to give vigour to the\u003cbr /\u003efaculties, and clearness to the judgment. In the present state of\u003cbr /\u003esociety, a little learning is required to support the character of\u003cbr /\u003ea gentleman; and boys are obliged to submit to a few years of\u003cbr /\u003ediscipline. But in the education of women the cultivation of the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding is always subordinate to the acquirement of some\u003cbr /\u003ecorporeal accomplishment; even while enervated by confinement and\u003cbr /\u003efalse notions of modesty, the body is prevented from attaining that\u003cbr /\u003egrace and beauty which relaxed half-formed limbs never exhibit.\u003cbr /\u003eBesides, in youth their faculties are not brought forward by\u003cbr /\u003eemulation; and having no serious scientific study, if they have\u003cbr /\u003enatural sagacity it is turned too soon on life and manners. They\u003cbr /\u003edwell on effects, and modifications, without tracing them back to\u003cbr /\u003ecauses; and complicated rules to adjust behaviour are a weak\u003cbr /\u003esubstitute for simple principles.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs a proof that education gives this appearance of weakness to\u003cbr /\u003efemales, we may instance the example of military men, who are, like\u003cbr /\u003ethem, sent into the world before their minds have been stored with\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge or fortified by principles. The consequences are\u003cbr /\u003esimilar; soldiers acquire a little superficial knowledge, snatched\u003cbr /\u003efrom the muddy current of conversation, and, from continually\u003cbr /\u003emixing with society, they gain, what is termed a knowledge of the\u003cbr /\u003eworld; and this acquaintance with manners and customs has\u003cbr /\u003efrequently been confounded with a knowledge of the human heart.\u003cbr /\u003eBut can the crude fruit of casual observation, never brought to the\u003cbr /\u003etest of judgment, formed by comparing speculation and experience,\u003cbr /\u003edeserve such a distinction? Soldiers, as well as women, practice\u003cbr /\u003ethe minor virtues with punctilious politeness. Where is then the\u003cbr /\u003esexual difference, when the education has been the same; all the\u003cbr /\u003edifference that I can discern, arises from the superior advantage\u003cbr /\u003eof liberty which enables the former to see more of life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is wandering from my present subject, perhaps, to make a\u003cbr /\u003epolitical remark; but as it was produced naturally by the train of\u003cbr /\u003emy reflections, I shall not pass it silently over.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eStanding armies can never consist of resolute, robust men; they may\u003cbr /\u003ebe well disciplined machines, but they will seldom contain men\u003cbr /\u003eunder the influence of strong passions or with very vigorous\u003cbr /\u003efaculties. And as for any depth of understanding, I will venture\u003cbr /\u003eto affirm, that it is as rarely to be found in the army as amongst\u003cbr /\u003ewomen; and the cause, I maintain, is the same. It may be further\u003cbr /\u003eobserved, that officers are also particularly attentive to their\u003cbr /\u003epersons, fond of dancing, crowded rooms, adventures, and ridicule.\u003cbr /\u003eLike the FAIR sex, the business of their lives is gallantry. They\u003cbr /\u003ewere taught to please, and they only live to please. Yet they do\u003cbr /\u003enot lose their rank in the distinction of sexes, for they are still\u003cbr /\u003ereckoned superior to women, though in what their superiority\u003cbr /\u003econsists, beyond what I have just mentioned, it is difficult to\u003cbr /\u003ediscover.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe great misfortune is this, that they both acquire manners before\u003cbr /\u003emorals, and a knowledge of life before they have from reflection,\u003cbr /\u003eany acquaintance with the grand ideal outline of human nature. The\u003cbr /\u003econsequence is natural; satisfied with common nature, they become a\u003cbr /\u003eprey to prejudices, and taking all their opinions on credit, they\u003cbr /\u003eblindly submit to authority. So that if they have any sense, it is\u003cbr /\u003ea kind of instinctive glance, that catches proportions, and decides\u003cbr /\u003ewith respect to manners; but fails when arguments are to be pursued\u003cbr /\u003ebelow the surface, or opinions analyzed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMay not the same remark be applied to women? Nay, the argument may\u003cbr /\u003ebe carried still further, for they are both thrown out of a useful\u003cbr /\u003estation by the unnatural distinctions established in civilized\u003cbr /\u003elife. Riches and hereditary honours have made cyphers of women to\u003cbr /\u003egive consequence to the numerical figure; and idleness has produced\u003cbr /\u003ea mixture of gallantry and despotism in society, which leads the\u003cbr /\u003every men who are the slaves of their mistresses, to tyrannize over\u003cbr /\u003etheir sisters, wives, and daughters. This is only keeping them in\u003cbr /\u003erank and file, it is true. Strengthen the female mind by enlarging\u003cbr /\u003eit, and there will be an end to blind obedience; but, as blind\u003cbr /\u003eobedience is ever sought for by power, tyrants and sensualists are\u003cbr /\u003ein the right when they endeavour to keep women in the dark, because\u003cbr /\u003ethe former only want slaves, and the latter a play-thing. The\u003cbr /\u003esensualist, indeed, has been the most dangerous of tyrants, and\u003cbr /\u003ewomen have been duped by their lovers, as princes by their\u003cbr /\u003eministers, whilst dreaming that they reigned over them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI now principally allude to Rousseau, for his character of Sophia\u003cbr /\u003eis, undoubtedly, a captivating one, though it appears to me grossly\u003cbr /\u003eunnatural; however, it is not the superstructure, but the\u003cbr /\u003efoundation of her character, the principles on which her education\u003cbr /\u003ewas built, that I mean to attack; nay, warmly as I admire the\u003cbr /\u003egenius of that able writer, whose opinions I shall often have\u003cbr /\u003eoccasion to cite, indignation always takes place of admiration, and\u003cbr /\u003ethe rigid frown of insulted virtue effaces the smile of\u003cbr /\u003ecomplacency, which his eloquent periods are wont to raise, when I\u003cbr /\u003eread his voluptuous reveries. Is this the man, who, in his ardour\u003cbr /\u003efor virtue, would banish all the soft arts of peace, and almost\u003cbr /\u003ecarry us back to Spartan discipline? Is this the man who delights\u003cbr /\u003eto paint the useful struggles of passion, the triumphs of good\u003cbr /\u003edispositions, and the heroic flights which carry the glowing soul\u003cbr /\u003eout of itself? How are these mighty sentiments lowered when he\u003cbr /\u003edescribes the prettyfoot and enticing airs of his little favourite!\u003cbr /\u003eBut, for the present, I waive the subject, and, instead of severely\u003cbr /\u003ereprehending the transient effusions of overweening sensibility, I\u003cbr /\u003eshall only observe, that whoever has cast a benevolent eye on\u003cbr /\u003esociety, must often have been gratified by the sight of humble\u003cbr /\u003emutual love, not dignified by sentiment, nor strengthened by a\u003cbr /\u003eunion in intellectual pursuits. The domestic trifles of the day\u003cbr /\u003ehave afforded matter for cheerful converse, and innocent caresses\u003cbr /\u003ehave softened toils which did not require great exercise of mind,\u003cbr /\u003eor stretch of thought: yet, has not the sight of this moderate\u003cbr /\u003efelicity excited more tenderness than respect? An emotion similar\u003cbr /\u003eto what we feel when children are playing, or animals sporting,\u003cbr /\u003ewhilst the contemplation of the noble struggles of suffering merit\u003cbr /\u003ehas raised admiration, and carried our thoughts to that world where\u003cbr /\u003esensation will give place to reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen are, therefore, to be considered either as moral beings, or\u003cbr /\u003eso weak that they must be entirely subjected to the superior\u003cbr /\u003efaculties of men.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet us examine this question. Rousseau declares, that a woman\u003cbr /\u003eshould never, for a moment feel herself independent, that she\u003cbr /\u003eshould be governed by fear to exercise her NATURAL cunning, and\u003cbr /\u003emade a coquetish slave in order to render her a more alluring\u003cbr /\u003eobject of desire, a SWEETER companion to man, whenever he chooses\u003cbr /\u003eto relax himself. He carries the arguments, which he pretends to\u003cbr /\u003edraw from the indications of nature, still further, and insinuates\u003cbr /\u003ethat truth and fortitude the corner stones of all human virtue,\u003cbr /\u003eshall be cultivated with certain restrictions, because with respect\u003cbr /\u003eto the female character, obedience is the grand lesson which ought\u003cbr /\u003eto be impressed with unrelenting rigour.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhat nonsense! When will a great man arise with sufficient\u003cbr /\u003estrength of mind to puff away the fumes which pride and sensuality\u003cbr /\u003ehave thus spread over the subject! If women are by nature inferior\u003cbr /\u003eto men, their virtues must be the same in quality, if not in\u003cbr /\u003edegree, or virtue is a relative idea; consequently, their conduct\u003cbr /\u003eshould be founded on the same principles, and have the same aim.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eConnected with man as daughters, wives, and mothers, their moral\u003cbr /\u003echaracter may be estimated by their manner of fulfilling those\u003cbr /\u003esimple duties; but the end, the grand end of their exertions should\u003cbr /\u003ebe to unfold their own faculties, and acquire the dignity of\u003cbr /\u003econscious virtue. They may try to render their road pleasant; but\u003cbr /\u003eought never to forget, in common with man, that life yields not the\u003cbr /\u003efelicity which can satisfy an immortal soul. I do not mean to\u003cbr /\u003einsinuate, that either sex should be so lost, in abstract\u003cbr /\u003ereflections or distant views, as to forget the affections and\u003cbr /\u003eduties that lie before them, and are, in truth, the means appointed\u003cbr /\u003eto produce the fruit of life; on the contrary, I would warmly\u003cbr /\u003erecommend them, even while I assert, that they afford most\u003cbr /\u003esatisfaction when they are considered in their true subordinate\u003cbr /\u003elight.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eProbably the prevailing opinion, that woman was created for man,\u003cbr /\u003emay have taken its rise from Moses\u0026#39;s poetical story; yet, as very\u003cbr /\u003efew it is presumed, who have bestowed any serious thought on the\u003cbr /\u003esubject, ever supposed that Eve was, literally speaking, one of\u003cbr /\u003eAdam\u0026#39;s ribs, the deduction must be allowed to fall to the ground;\u003cbr /\u003eor, only be so far admitted as it proves that man, from the\u003cbr /\u003eremotest antiquity, found it convenient to exert his strength to\u003cbr /\u003esubjugate his companion, and his invention to show that she ought\u003cbr /\u003eto have her neck bent under the yoke; because she as well as the\u003cbr /\u003ebrute creation, was created to do his pleasure.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet it not be concluded, that I wish to invert the order of things;\u003cbr /\u003eI have already granted, that, from the constitution of their\u003cbr /\u003ebodies, men seem to be designed by Providence to attain a greater\u003cbr /\u003edegree of virtue. I speak collectively of the whole sex; but I see\u003cbr /\u003enot the shadow of a reason to conclude that their virtues should\u003cbr /\u003ediffer in respect to their nature. In fact, how can they, if\u003cbr /\u003evirtue has only one eternal standard? I must, therefore, if I\u003cbr /\u003ereason consequentially, as strenuously maintain, that they have the\u003cbr /\u003esame simple direction, as that there is a God.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt follows then, that cunning should not be opposed to wisdom,\u003cbr /\u003elittle cares to great exertions, nor insipid softness, varnished\u003cbr /\u003eover with the name of gentleness, to that fortitude which grand\u003cbr /\u003eviews alone can inspire.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI shall be told, that woman would then lose many of her peculiar\u003cbr /\u003egraces, and the opinion of a well known poet might be quoted to\u003cbr /\u003erefute my unqualified assertions. For Pope has said, in the name\u003cbr /\u003eof the whole male sex,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Yet ne\u0026#39;er so sure our passions to create,\u003cbr /\u003eAs when she touch\u0026#39;d the brink of all we hate.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn what light this sally places men and women, I shall leave to the\u003cbr /\u003ejudicious to determine; meanwhile I shall content myself with\u003cbr /\u003eobserving, that I cannot discover why, unless they are mortal,\u003cbr /\u003efemales should always be degraded by being made subservient to love\u003cbr /\u003eor lust.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo speak disrespectfully of love is, I know, high treason against\u003cbr /\u003esentiment and fine feelings; but I wish to speak the simple\u003cbr /\u003elanguage of truth, and rather to address the head than the heart.\u003cbr /\u003eTo endeavour to reason love out of the world, would be to out\u003cbr /\u003eQuixote Cervantes, and equally offend against common sense; but an\u003cbr /\u003eendeavour to restrain this tumultuous passion, and to prove that it\u003cbr /\u003eshould not be allowed to dethrone superior powers, or to usurp the\u003cbr /\u003esceptre which the understanding should ever coolly wield, appears\u003cbr /\u003eless wild.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYouth is the season for love in both sexes; but in those days of\u003cbr /\u003ethoughtless enjoyment, provision should be made for the more\u003cbr /\u003eimportant years of life, when reflection takes place of sensation.\u003cbr /\u003eBut Rousseau, and most of the male writers who have followed his\u003cbr /\u003esteps, have warmly inculcated that the whole tendency of female\u003cbr /\u003eeducation ought to be directed to one point to render them\u003cbr /\u003epleasing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet me reason with the supporters of this opinion, who have any\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge of human nature, do they imagine that marriage can\u003cbr /\u003eeradicate the habitude of life? The woman who has only been taught\u003cbr /\u003eto please, will soon find that her charms are oblique sun-beams,\u003cbr /\u003eand that they cannot have much effect on her husband\u0026#39;s heart when\u003cbr /\u003ethey are seen every day, when the summer is past and gone. Will\u003cbr /\u003eshe then have sufficient native energy to look into herself for\u003cbr /\u003ecomfort, and cultivate her dormant faculties? or, is it not more\u003cbr /\u003erational to expect, that she will try to please other men; and, in\u003cbr /\u003ethe emotions raised by the expectation of new conquests, endeavour\u003cbr /\u003eto forget the mortification her love or pride has received? When\u003cbr /\u003ethe husband ceases to be a lover–and the time will inevitably\u003cbr /\u003ecome, her desire of pleasing will then grow languid, or become a\u003cbr /\u003espring of bitterness; and love, perhaps, the most evanescent of all\u003cbr /\u003epassions, gives place to jealousy or vanity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI now speak of women who are restrained by principle or prejudice;\u003cbr /\u003esuch women though they would shrink from an intrigue with real\u003cbr /\u003eabhorrence, yet, nevertheless, wish to be convinced by the homage\u003cbr /\u003eof gallantry, that they are cruelly neglected by their husbands;\u003cbr /\u003eor, days and weeks are spent in dreaming of the happiness enjoyed\u003cbr /\u003eby congenial souls, till the health is undermined and the spirits\u003cbr /\u003ebroken by discontent. How then can the great art of pleasing be\u003cbr /\u003esuch a necessary study? it is only useful to a mistress; the chaste\u003cbr /\u003ewife, and serious mother, should only consider her power to please\u003cbr /\u003eas the polish of her virtues, and the affection of her husband as\u003cbr /\u003eone of the comforts that render her task less difficult, and her\u003cbr /\u003elife happier. But, whether she be loved or neglected, her first\u003cbr /\u003ewish should be to make herself respectable, and not rely for all\u003cbr /\u003eher happiness on a being subject to like infirmities with herself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe amiable Dr. Gregory fell into a similar error. I respect his\u003cbr /\u003eheart; but entirely disapprove of his celebrated Legacy to his\u003cbr /\u003eDaughters.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe advises them to cultivate a fondness for dress, because a\u003cbr /\u003efondness for dress, he asserts, is natural to them. I am unable to\u003cbr /\u003ecomprehend what either he or Rousseau mean, when they frequently\u003cbr /\u003euse this indefinite term. If they told us, that in a pre-existent\u003cbr /\u003estate the soul was fond of dress, and brought this inclination with\u003cbr /\u003eit into a new body, I should listen to them with a half smile, as I\u003cbr /\u003eoften do when I hear a rant about innate elegance. But if he only\u003cbr /\u003emeant to say that the exercise of the faculties will produce this\u003cbr /\u003efondness, I deny it. It is not natural; but arises, like false\u003cbr /\u003eambition in men, from a love of power.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDr. Gregory goes much further; he actually recommends\u003cbr /\u003edissimulation, and advises an innocent girl to give the lie to her\u003cbr /\u003efeelings, and not dance with spirit, when gaiety of heart would\u003cbr /\u003emake her feet eloquent, without making her gestures immodest. In\u003cbr /\u003ethe name of truth and common sense, why should not one woman\u003cbr /\u003eacknowledge that she can take more exercise than another? or, in\u003cbr /\u003eother words, that she has a sound constitution; and why to damp\u003cbr /\u003einnocent vivacity, is she darkly to be told, that men will draw\u003cbr /\u003econclusions which she little thinks of? Let the libertine draw\u003cbr /\u003ewhat inference he pleases; but, I hope, that no sensible mother\u003cbr /\u003ewill restrain the natural frankness of youth, by instilling such\u003cbr /\u003eindecent cautions. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth\u003cbr /\u003espeaketh; and a wiser than Solomon hath said, that the heart should\u003cbr /\u003ebe made clean, and not trivial ceremonies observed, which it is not\u003cbr /\u003every difficult to fulfill with scrupulous exactness when vice\u003cbr /\u003ereigns in the heart.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen ought to endeavour to purify their hearts; but can they do so\u003cbr /\u003ewhen their uncultivated understandings make them entirely dependent\u003cbr /\u003eon their senses for employment and amusement, when no noble pursuit\u003cbr /\u003esets them above the little vanities of the day, or enables them to\u003cbr /\u003ecurb the wild emotions that agitate a reed over which every passing\u003cbr /\u003ebreeze has power? To gain the affections of a virtuous man, is\u003cbr /\u003eaffectation necessary?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNature has given woman a weaker frame than man; but, to ensure her\u003cbr /\u003ehusband\u0026#39;s affections, must a wife, who, by the exercise of her mind\u003cbr /\u003eand body, whilst she was discharging the duties of a daughter,\u003cbr /\u003ewife, and mother, has allowed her constitution to retain its\u003cbr /\u003enatural strength, and her nerves a healthy tone, is she, I say, to\u003cbr /\u003econdescend, to use art, and feign a sickly delicacy, in order to\u003cbr /\u003esecure her husband\u0026#39;s affection? Weakness may excite tenderness, and\u003cbr /\u003egratify the arrogant pride of man; but the lordly caresses of a\u003cbr /\u003eprotector will not gratify a noble mind that pants for and deserves\u003cbr /\u003eto be respected. Fondness is a poor substitute for friendship!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn a seraglio, I grant, that all these arts are necessary; the\u003cbr /\u003eepicure must have his palate tickled, or he will sink into apathy;\u003cbr /\u003ebut have women so little ambition as to be satisfied with such a\u003cbr /\u003econdition? Can they supinely dream life away in the lap of\u003cbr /\u003epleasure, or in the languor of weariness, rather than assert their\u003cbr /\u003eclaim to pursue reasonable pleasures, and render themselves\u003cbr /\u003econspicuous, by practising the virtues which dignify mankind?\u003cbr /\u003eSurely she has not an immortal soul who can loiter life away,\u003cbr /\u003emerely employed to adorn her person, that she may amuse the languid\u003cbr /\u003ehours, and soften the cares of a fellow-creature who is willing to\u003cbr /\u003ebe enlivened by her smiles and tricks, when the serious business of\u003cbr /\u003elife is over.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, the woman who strengthens her body and exercises her mind\u003cbr /\u003ewill, by managing her family and practising various virtues, become\u003cbr /\u003ethe friend, and not the humble dependent of her husband; and if she\u003cbr /\u003edeserves his regard by possessing such substantial qualities, she\u003cbr /\u003ewill not find it necessary to conceal her affection, nor to pretend\u003cbr /\u003eto an unnatural coldness of constitution to excite her husband\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003epassions. In fact, if we revert to history, we shall find that the\u003cbr /\u003ewomen who have distinguished themselves have neither been the most\u003cbr /\u003ebeautiful nor the most gentle of their sex.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNature, or to speak with strict propriety God, has made all things\u003cbr /\u003eright; but man has sought him out many inventions to mar the work.\u003cbr /\u003eI now allude to that part of Dr. Gregory\u0026#39;s treatise, where he\u003cbr /\u003eadvises a wife never to let her husband know the extent of her\u003cbr /\u003esensibility or affection. Voluptuous precaution; and as\u003cbr /\u003eineffectual as absurd. Love, from its very nature, must be\u003cbr /\u003etransitory. To seek for a secret that would render it constant,\u003cbr /\u003ewould be as wild a search as for the philosopher\u0026#39;s stone, or the\u003cbr /\u003egrand panacea; and the discovery would be equally useless, or\u003cbr /\u003erather pernicious to mankind. The most holy band of society is\u003cbr /\u003efriendship. It has been well said, by a shrewd satirist, \u0026quot;that\u003cbr /\u003erare as true love is, true friendship is still rarer.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is an obvious truth, and the cause not lying deep, will not\u003cbr /\u003eelude a slight glance of inquiry.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLove, the common passion, in which chance and sensation take place\u003cbr /\u003eof choice and reason, is in some degree, felt by the mass of\u003cbr /\u003emankind; for it is not necessary to speak, at present, of the\u003cbr /\u003eemotions that rise above or sink below love. This passion,\u003cbr /\u003enaturally increased by suspense and difficulties, draws the mind\u003cbr /\u003eout of its accustomed state, and exalts the affections; but the\u003cbr /\u003esecurity of marriage, allowing the fever of love to subside, a\u003cbr /\u003ehealthy temperature is thought insipid, only by those who have not\u003cbr /\u003esufficient intellect to substitute the calm tenderness of\u003cbr /\u003efriendship, the confidence of respect, instead of blind admiration,\u003cbr /\u003eand the sensual emotions of fondness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is, must be, the course of nature–friendship or indifference\u003cbr /\u003einevitably succeeds love. And this constitution seems perfectly to\u003cbr /\u003eharmonize with the system of government which prevails in the moral\u003cbr /\u003eworld. Passions are spurs to action, and open the mind; but they\u003cbr /\u003esink into mere appetites, become a personal momentary\u003cbr /\u003egratification, when the object is gained, and the satisfied mind\u003cbr /\u003erests in enjoyment. The man who had some virtue whilst he was\u003cbr /\u003estruggling for a crown, often becomes a voluptuous tyrant when it\u003cbr /\u003egraces his brow; and, when the lover is not lost in the husband,\u003cbr /\u003ethe dotard a prey to childish caprices, and fond jealousies,\u003cbr /\u003eneglects the serious duties of life, and the caresses which should\u003cbr /\u003eexcite confidence in his children are lavished on the overgrown\u003cbr /\u003echild, his wife.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn order to fulfil the duties of life, and to be able to pursue\u003cbr /\u003ewith vigour the various employments which form the moral character,\u003cbr /\u003ea master and mistress of a family ought not to continue to love\u003cbr /\u003eeach other with passion. I mean to say, that they ought not to\u003cbr /\u003eindulge those emotions which disturb the order of society, and\u003cbr /\u003eengross the thoughts that should be otherwise employed. The mind\u003cbr /\u003ethat has never been engrossed by one object wants vigour–if it can\u003cbr /\u003elong be so, it is weak.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA mistaken education, a narrow, uncultivated mind, and many sexual\u003cbr /\u003eprejudices, tend to make women more constant than men; but, for the\u003cbr /\u003epresent, I shall not touch on this branch of the subject. I will\u003cbr /\u003ego still further, and advance, without dreaming of a paradox, that\u003cbr /\u003ean unhappy marriage is often very advantageous to a family, and\u003cbr /\u003ethat the neglected wife is, in general, the best mother. And this\u003cbr /\u003ewould almost always be the consequence, if the female mind was more\u003cbr /\u003eenlarged; for, it seems to be the common dispensation of\u003cbr /\u003eProvidence, that what we gain in present enjoyment should be\u003cbr /\u003ededucted from the treasure of life, experience; and that when we\u003cbr /\u003eare gathering the flowers of the day and revelling in pleasure, the\u003cbr /\u003esolid fruit of toil and wisdom should not be caught at the same\u003cbr /\u003etime. The way lies before us, we must turn to the right or left;\u003cbr /\u003eand he who will pass life away in bounding from one pleasure to\u003cbr /\u003eanother, must not complain if he neither acquires wisdom nor\u003cbr /\u003erespectability of character.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSupposing for a moment, that the soul is not immortal, and that man\u003cbr /\u003ewas only created for the present scene; I think we should have\u003cbr /\u003ereason to complain that love, infantine fondness, ever grew insipid\u003cbr /\u003eand palled upon the sense. Let us eat, drink, and love, for\u003cbr /\u003eto-morrow we die, would be in fact the language of reason, the\u003cbr /\u003emorality of life; and who but a fool would part with a reality for\u003cbr /\u003ea fleeting shadow? But, if awed by observing the improvable powers\u003cbr /\u003eof the mind, we disdain to confine our wishes or thoughts to such a\u003cbr /\u003ecomparatively mean field of action; that only appears grand and\u003cbr /\u003eimportant as it is connected with a boundless prospect and sublime\u003cbr /\u003ehopes; what necessity is there for falsehood in conduct, and why\u003cbr /\u003emust the sacred majesty of truth be violated to detain a deceitful\u003cbr /\u003egood that saps the very foundation of virtue? Why must the female\u003cbr /\u003emind be tainted by coquetish arts to gratify the sensualist, and\u003cbr /\u003eprevent love from subsiding into friendship or compassionate\u003cbr /\u003etenderness, when there are not qualities on which friendship can be\u003cbr /\u003ebuilt? Let the honest heart show itself, and REASON teach passion\u003cbr /\u003eto submit to necessity; or, let the dignified pursuit of virtue and\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge raise the mind above those emotions which rather imbitter\u003cbr /\u003ethan sweeten the cup of life, when they are not restrained within\u003cbr /\u003edue bounds.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI do not mean to allude to the romantic passion, which is the\u003cbr /\u003econcomitant of genius. Who can clip its wings? But that grand\u003cbr /\u003epassion not proportioned to the puny enjoyments of life, is only\u003cbr /\u003etrue to the sentiment, and feeds on itself. The passions which\u003cbr /\u003ehave been celebrated for their durability have always been\u003cbr /\u003eunfortunate. They have acquired strength by absence and\u003cbr /\u003econstitutional melancholy. The fancy has hovered round a form of\u003cbr /\u003ebeauty dimly seen–but familiarity might have turned admiration\u003cbr /\u003einto disgust; or, at least, into indifference, and allowed the\u003cbr /\u003eimagination leisure to start fresh game. With perfect propriety,\u003cbr /\u003eaccording to this view of things, does Rousseau make the mistress\u003cbr /\u003eof his soul, Eloisa, love St. Preux, when life was fading before\u003cbr /\u003eher; but this is no proof of the immortality of the passion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf the same complexion is Dr. Gregory\u0026#39;s advice respecting delicacy\u003cbr /\u003eof sentiment, which he advises a woman not to acquire, if she has\u003cbr /\u003edetermined to marry. This determination, however, perfectly\u003cbr /\u003econsistent with his former advice, he calls INDELICATE, and\u003cbr /\u003eearnestly persuades his daughters to conceal it, though it may\u003cbr /\u003egovern their conduct: as if it were indelicate to have the common\u003cbr /\u003eappetites of human nature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNoble morality! and consistent with the cautious prudence of a\u003cbr /\u003elittle soul that cannot extend its views beyond the present minute\u003cbr /\u003edivision of existence. If all the faculties of woman\u0026#39;s mind are\u003cbr /\u003eonly to be cultivated as they respect her dependence on man; if,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen she obtains a husband she has arrived at her goal, and meanly\u003cbr /\u003eproud, is satisfied with such a paltry crown, let her grovel\u003cbr /\u003econtentedly, scarcely raised by her employments above the animal\u003cbr /\u003ekingdom; but, if she is struggling for the prize of her high\u003cbr /\u003ecalling, let her cultivate her understanding without stopping to\u003cbr /\u003econsider what character the husband may have whom she is destined\u003cbr /\u003eto marry. Let her only determine, without being too anxious about\u003cbr /\u003epresent happiness, to acquire the qualities that ennoble a rational\u003cbr /\u003ebeing, and a rough, inelegant husband may shock her taste without\u003cbr /\u003edestroying her peace of mind. She will not model her soul to suit\u003cbr /\u003ethe frailties of her companion, but to bear with them: his\u003cbr /\u003echaracter may be a trial, but not an impediment to virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf Dr. Gregory confined his remark to romantic expectations of\u003cbr /\u003econstant love and congenial feelings, he should have recollected,\u003cbr /\u003ethat experience will banish what advice can never make us cease to\u003cbr /\u003ewish for, when the imagination is kept alive at the expence of\u003cbr /\u003ereason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI own it frequently happens, that women who have fostered a\u003cbr /\u003eromantic unnatural delicacy of feeling, waste their lives in\u003cbr /\u003eIMAGINING how happy they should have been with a husband who could\u003cbr /\u003elove them with a fervid increasing affection every day, and all\u003cbr /\u003eday. But they might as well pine married as single, and would not\u003cbr /\u003ebe a jot more unhappy with a bad husband than longing for a good\u003cbr /\u003eone. That a proper education; or, to speak with more precision, a\u003cbr /\u003ewell stored mind, would enable a woman to support a single life\u003cbr /\u003ewith dignity, I grant; but that she should avoid cultivating her\u003cbr /\u003etaste, lest her husband should occasionally shock it, is quitting a\u003cbr /\u003esubstance for a shadow. To say the truth, I do not know of what\u003cbr /\u003euse is an improved taste, if the individual be not rendered more\u003cbr /\u003eindependent of the casualties of life; if new sources of enjoyment,\u003cbr /\u003eonly dependent on the solitary operations of the mind, are not\u003cbr /\u003eopened. People of taste, married or single, without distinction,\u003cbr /\u003ewill ever be disgusted by various things that touch not less\u003cbr /\u003eobserving minds. On this conclusion the argument must not be\u003cbr /\u003eallowed to hinge; but in the whole sum of enjoyment is taste to be\u003cbr /\u003edenominated a blessing?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe question is, whether it procures most pain or pleasure? The\u003cbr /\u003eanswer will decide the propriety of Dr. Gregory\u0026#39;s advice, and show\u003cbr /\u003ehow absurd and tyrannic it is thus to lay down a system of slavery;\u003cbr /\u003eor to attempt to educate moral beings by any other rules than those\u003cbr /\u003ededuced from pure reason, which apply to the whole species.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGentleness of manners, forbearance, and long suffering, are such\u003cbr /\u003eamiable godlike qualities, that in sublime poetic strains the Deity\u003cbr /\u003ehas been invested with them; and, perhaps, no representation of his\u003cbr /\u003egoodness so strongly fastens on the human affections as those that\u003cbr /\u003erepresent him abundant in mercy and willing to pardon. Gentleness,\u003cbr /\u003econsidered in this point of view, bears on its front all the\u003cbr /\u003echaracteristics of grandeur, combined with the winning graces of\u003cbr /\u003econdescension; but what a different aspect it assumes when it is\u003cbr /\u003ethe submissive demeanour of dependence, the support of weakness\u003cbr /\u003ethat loves, because it wants protection; and is forbearing, because\u003cbr /\u003eit must silently endure injuries; smiling under the lash at which\u003cbr /\u003eit dare not snarl. Abject as this picture appears, it is the\u003cbr /\u003eportrait of an accomplished woman, according to the received\u003cbr /\u003eopinion of female excellence, separated by specious reasoners from\u003cbr /\u003ehuman excellence. Or, they (Vide Rousseau, and Swedenborg) kindly\u003cbr /\u003erestore the rib, and make one moral being of a man and woman; not\u003cbr /\u003eforgetting to give her all the \u0026quot;submissive charms.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHow women are to exist in that state where there is to be neither\u003cbr /\u003emarrying nor giving in marriage, we are not told. For though\u003cbr /\u003emoralists have agreed, that the tenor of life seems to prove that\u003cbr /\u003eMAN is prepared by various circumstances for a future state, they\u003cbr /\u003econstantly concur in advising WOMAN only to provide for the\u003cbr /\u003epresent. Gentleness, docility, and a spaniel-like affection are,\u003cbr /\u003eon this ground, consistently recommended as the cardinal virtues of\u003cbr /\u003ethe sex; and, disregarding the arbitrary economy of nature, one\u003cbr /\u003ewriter has declared that it is masculine for a woman to be\u003cbr /\u003emelancholy. She was created to be the toy of man, his rattle, and\u003cbr /\u003eit must jingle in his ears, whenever, dismissing reason, he chooses\u003cbr /\u003eto be amused.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo recommend gentleness, indeed, on a broad basis is strictly\u003cbr /\u003ephilosophical. A frail being should labour to be gentle. But when\u003cbr /\u003eforbearance confounds right and wrong, it ceases to be a virtue;\u003cbr /\u003eand, however convenient it may be found in a companion, that\u003cbr /\u003ecompanion will ever be considered as an inferior, and only inspire\u003cbr /\u003ea vapid tenderness, which easily degenerates into contempt. Still,\u003cbr /\u003eif advice could really make a being gentle, whose natural\u003cbr /\u003edisposition admitted not of such a fine polish, something toward\u003cbr /\u003ethe advancement of order would be attained; but if, as might\u003cbr /\u003equickly be demonstrated, only affectation be produced by this\u003cbr /\u003eindiscriminate counsel, which throws a stumbling block in the way\u003cbr /\u003eof gradual improvement, and true melioration of temper, the sex is\u003cbr /\u003enot much benefited by sacrificing solid virtues to the attainment\u003cbr /\u003eof superficial graces, though for a few years they may procure the\u003cbr /\u003eindividual\u0026#39;s regal sway.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs a philosopher, I read with indignation the plausible epithets\u003cbr /\u003ewhich men use to soften their insults; and, as a moralist, I ask\u003cbr /\u003ewhat is meant by such heterogeneous associations, as fair defects,\u003cbr /\u003eamiable weaknesses, etc.? If there is but one criterion of morals,\u003cbr /\u003ebut one archetype for man, women appear to be suspended by destiny,\u003cbr /\u003eaccording to the vulgar tale of Mahomet\u0026#39;s coffin; they have neither\u003cbr /\u003ethe unerring instinct of brutes, nor are allowed to fix the eye of\u003cbr /\u003ereason on a perfect model. They were made to be loved, and must\u003cbr /\u003enot aim at respect, lest they should be hunted out of society as\u003cbr /\u003emasculine.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut to view the subject in another point of view. Do passive\u003cbr /\u003eindolent women make the best wives? Confining our discussion to\u003cbr /\u003ethe present moment of existence, let us see how such weak creatures\u003cbr /\u003eperform their part? Do the women who, by the attainment of a few\u003cbr /\u003esuperficial accomplishments, have strengthened the prevailing\u003cbr /\u003eprejudice, merely contribute to the happiness of their husbands?\u003cbr /\u003eDo they display their charms merely to amuse them? And have women,\u003cbr /\u003ewho have early imbibed notions of passive obedience, sufficient\u003cbr /\u003echaracter to manage a family or educate children? So far from it,\u003cbr /\u003ethat, after surveying the history of woman, I cannot help agreeing\u003cbr /\u003ewith the severest satirist, considering the sex as the weakest as\u003cbr /\u003ewell as the most oppressed half of the species. What does history\u003cbr /\u003edisclose but marks of inferiority, and how few women have\u003cbr /\u003eemancipated themselves from the galling yoke of sovereign man? So\u003cbr /\u003efew, that the exceptions remind me of an ingenious conjecture\u003cbr /\u003erespecting Newton: that he was probably a being of a superior\u003cbr /\u003eorder, accidentally caged in a human body. In the same style I\u003cbr /\u003ehave been led to imagine that the few extraordinary women who have\u003cbr /\u003erushed in eccentrical directions out of the orbit prescribed to\u003cbr /\u003etheir sex, were MALE spirits, confined by mistake in a female\u003cbr /\u003eframe. But if it be not philosophical to think of sex when the\u003cbr /\u003esoul is mentioned, the inferiority must depend on the organs; or\u003cbr /\u003ethe heavenly fire, which is to ferment the clay, is not given in\u003cbr /\u003eequal portions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut avoiding, as I have hitherto done, any direct comparison of the\u003cbr /\u003etwo sexes collectively, or frankly acknowledging the inferiority of\u003cbr /\u003ewoman, according to the present appearance of things, I shall only\u003cbr /\u003einsist, that men have increased that inferiority till women are\u003cbr /\u003ealmost sunk below the standard of rational creatures. Let their\u003cbr /\u003efaculties have room to unfold, and their virtues to gain strength,\u003cbr /\u003eand then determine where the whole sex must stand in the\u003cbr /\u003eintellectual scale. Yet, let it be remembered, that for a small\u003cbr /\u003enumber of distinguished women I do not ask a place.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is difficult for us purblind mortals to say to what height human\u003cbr /\u003ediscoveries and improvements may arrive, when the gloom of\u003cbr /\u003edespotism subsides, which makes us stumble at every step; but, when\u003cbr /\u003emorality shall be settled on a more solid basis, then, without\u003cbr /\u003ebeing gifted with a prophetic spirit, I will venture to predict,\u003cbr /\u003ethat woman will be either the friend or slave of man. We shall\u003cbr /\u003enot, as at present, doubt whether she is a moral agent, or the link\u003cbr /\u003ewhich unites man with brutes. But, should it then appear, that\u003cbr /\u003elike the brutes they were principally created for the use of man,\u003cbr /\u003ehe will let them patiently bite the bridle, and not mock them with\u003cbr /\u003eempty praise; or, should their rationality be proved, he will not\u003cbr /\u003eimpede their improvement merely to gratify his sensual appetites.\u003cbr /\u003eHe will not with all the graces of rhetoric, advise them to submit\u003cbr /\u003eimplicitly their understandings to the guidance of man. He will\u003cbr /\u003enot, when he treats of the education of women, assert, that they\u003cbr /\u003eought never to have the free use of reason, nor would he recommend\u003cbr /\u003ecunning and dissimulation to beings who are acquiring, in like\u003cbr /\u003emanner as himself, the virtues of humanity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSurely there can be but one rule of right, if morality has an\u003cbr /\u003eeternal foundation, and whoever sacrifices virtue, strictly so\u003cbr /\u003ecalled, to present convenience, or whose DUTY it is to act in such\u003cbr /\u003ea manner, lives only for the passing day, and cannot be an\u003cbr /\u003eaccountable creature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe poet then should have dropped his sneer when he says,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;If weak women go astray,\u003cbr /\u003eThe stars are more in fault than they.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor that they are bound by the adamantine chain of destiny is most\u003cbr /\u003ecertain, if it be proved that they are never to exercise their own\u003cbr /\u003ereason, never to be independent, never to rise above opinion, or to\u003cbr /\u003efeel the dignity of a rational will that only bows to God, and\u003cbr /\u003eoften forgets that the universe contains any being but itself, and\u003cbr /\u003ethe model of perfection to which its ardent gaze is turned, to\u003cbr /\u003eadore attributes that, softened into virtues, may be imitated in\u003cbr /\u003ekind, though the degree overwhelms the enraptured mind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf, I say, for I would not impress by declamation when reason\u003cbr /\u003eoffers her sober light, if they are really capable of acting like\u003cbr /\u003erational creatures, let them not be treated like slaves; or, like\u003cbr /\u003ethe brutes who are dependent on the reason of man, when they\u003cbr /\u003eassociate with him; but cultivate their minds, give them the\u003cbr /\u003esalutary, sublime curb of principle, and let them attain conscious\u003cbr /\u003edignity by feeling themselves only dependent on God. Teach them,\u003cbr /\u003ein common with man, to submit to necessity, instead of giving, to\u003cbr /\u003erender them more pleasing, a sex to morals.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFurther, should experience prove that they cannot attain the same\u003cbr /\u003edegree of strength of mind, perseverance and fortitude, let their\u003cbr /\u003evirtues be the same in kind, though they may vainly struggle for\u003cbr /\u003ethe same degree; and the superiority of man will be equally clear,\u003cbr /\u003eif not clearer; and truth, as it is a simple principle, which\u003cbr /\u003eadmits of no modification, would be common to both. Nay, the order\u003cbr /\u003eof society, as it is at present regulated, would not be inverted,\u003cbr /\u003efor woman would then only have the rank that reason assigned her,\u003cbr /\u003eand arts could not be practised to bring the balance even, much\u003cbr /\u003eless to turn it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese may be termed Utopian dreams. Thanks to that Being who\u003cbr /\u003eimpressed them on my soul, and gave me sufficient strength of mind\u003cbr /\u003eto dare to exert my own reason, till becoming dependent only on him\u003cbr /\u003efor the support of my virtue, I view with indignation, the mistaken\u003cbr /\u003enotions that enslave my sex.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI love man as my fellow; but his sceptre real or usurped, extends\u003cbr /\u003enot to me, unless the reason of an individual demands my homage;\u003cbr /\u003eand even then the submission is to reason, and not to man. In\u003cbr /\u003efact, the conduct of an accountable being must be regulated by the\u003cbr /\u003eoperations of its own reason; or on what foundation rests the\u003cbr /\u003ethrone of God?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt appears to me necessary to dwell on these obvious truths,\u003cbr /\u003ebecause females have been insulted, as it were; and while they have\u003cbr /\u003ebeen stripped of the virtues that should clothe humanity, they have\u003cbr /\u003ebeen decked with artificial graces, that enable them to exercise a\u003cbr /\u003eshort lived tyranny. Love, in their bosoms, taking place of every\u003cbr /\u003enobler passion, their sole ambition is to be fair, to raise emotion\u003cbr /\u003einstead of inspiring respect; and this ignoble desire, like the\u003cbr /\u003eservility in absolute monarchies, destroys all strength of\u003cbr /\u003echaracter. Liberty is the mother of virtue, and if women are, by\u003cbr /\u003etheir very constitution, slaves, and not allowed to breathe the\u003cbr /\u003esharp invigorating air of freedom, they must ever languish like\u003cbr /\u003eexotics, and be reckoned beautiful flaws in nature; let it also be\u003cbr /\u003eremembered, that they are the only flaw.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs to the argument respecting the subjection in which the sex has\u003cbr /\u003eever been held, it retorts on man. The many have always been\u003cbr /\u003eenthralled by the few; and, monsters who have scarcely shown any\u003cbr /\u003ediscernment of human excellence, have tyrannized over thousands of\u003cbr /\u003etheir fellow creatures. Why have men of superior endowments\u003cbr /\u003esubmitted to such degradation? For, is it not universally\u003cbr /\u003eacknowledged that kings, viewed collectively, have ever been\u003cbr /\u003einferior, in abilities and virtue, to the same number of men taken\u003cbr /\u003efrom the common mass of mankind–yet, have they not, and are they\u003cbr /\u003enot still treated with a degree of reverence, that is an insult to\u003cbr /\u003ereason? China is not the only country where a living man has been\u003cbr /\u003emade a God. MEN have submitted to superior strength, to enjoy with\u003cbr /\u003eimpunity the pleasure of the moment–WOMEN have only done the same,\u003cbr /\u003eand therefore till it is proved that the courtier, who servilely\u003cbr /\u003eresigns the birthright of a man, is not a moral agent, it cannot be\u003cbr /\u003edemonstrated that woman is essentially inferior to man, because she\u003cbr /\u003ehas always been subjugated.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBrutal force has hitherto governed the world, and that the science\u003cbr /\u003eof politics is in its infancy, is evident from philosophers\u003cbr /\u003escrupling to give the knowledge most useful to man that determinate\u003cbr /\u003edistinction.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI shall not pursue this argument any further than to establish an\u003cbr /\u003eobvious inference, that as sound politics diffuse liberty, mankind,\u003cbr /\u003eincluding woman, will become more wise and virtuous.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 3.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTHE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBodily strength from being the distinction of heroes is now sunk\u003cbr /\u003einto such unmerited contempt, that men as well as women, seem to\u003cbr /\u003ethink it unnecessary: the latter, as it takes from their feminine\u003cbr /\u003egraces, and from that lovely weakness, the source of their undue\u003cbr /\u003epower; and the former, because it appears inimical with the\u003cbr /\u003echaracter of a gentleman.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat they have both by departing from one extreme run into another,\u003cbr /\u003emay easily be proved; but it first may be proper to observe, that a\u003cbr /\u003evulgar error has obtained a degree of credit, which has given force\u003cbr /\u003eto a false conclusion, in which an effect has been mistaken for a\u003cbr /\u003ecause.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePeople of genius have, very frequently, impaired their\u003cbr /\u003econstitutions by study, or careless inattention to their health,\u003cbr /\u003eand the violence of their passions bearing a proportion to the\u003cbr /\u003evigour of their intellects, the sword\u0026#39;s destroying the scabbard has\u003cbr /\u003ebecome almost proverbial, and superficial observers have inferred\u003cbr /\u003efrom thence, that men of genius have commonly weak, or to use a\u003cbr /\u003emore fashionable phrase, delicate constitutions. Yet the contrary,\u003cbr /\u003eI believe, will appear to be the fact; for, on diligent inquiry, I\u003cbr /\u003efind that strength of mind has, in most cases, been accompanied by\u003cbr /\u003esuperior strength of body, natural soundness of constitution, not\u003cbr /\u003ethat robust tone of nerves and vigour of muscles, which arise from\u003cbr /\u003ebodily labour, when the mind is quiescent, or only directs the\u003cbr /\u003ehands.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDr. Priestley has remarked, in the preface to his biographical\u003cbr /\u003echart, that the majority of great men have lived beyond forty-five.\u003cbr /\u003eAnd, considering the thoughtless manner in which they lavished\u003cbr /\u003etheir strength, when investigating a favourite science, they have\u003cbr /\u003ewasted the lamp of life, forgetful of the midnight hour; or, when,\u003cbr /\u003elost in poetic dreams, fancy has peopled the scene, and the soul\u003cbr /\u003ehas been disturbed, till it shook the constitution, by the passions\u003cbr /\u003ethat meditation had raised; whose objects, the baseless fabric of a\u003cbr /\u003evision, faded before the exhausted eye, they must have had iron\u003cbr /\u003eframes. Shakespeare never grasped the airy dagger with a nerveless\u003cbr /\u003ehand, nor did Milton tremble when he led Satan far from the\u003cbr /\u003econfines of his dreary prison. These were not the ravings of\u003cbr /\u003eimbecility, the sickly effusions of distempered brains; but the\u003cbr /\u003eexuberance of fancy, that \u0026quot;in a fine phrenzy\u0026quot; wandering, was not\u003cbr /\u003econtinually reminded of its material shackles.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI am aware, that this argument would carry me further than it may\u003cbr /\u003ebe supposed I wish to go; but I follow truth, and still adhering to\u003cbr /\u003emy first position, I will allow that bodily strength seems to give\u003cbr /\u003eman a natural superiority over woman; and this is the only solid\u003cbr /\u003ebasis on which the superiority of the sex can be built. But I\u003cbr /\u003estill insist, that not only the virtue, but the KNOWLEDGE of the\u003cbr /\u003etwo sexes should be the same in nature, if not in degree, and that\u003cbr /\u003ewomen, considered not only as moral, but rational creatures, ought\u003cbr /\u003eto endeavour to acquire human virtues (or perfections) by the SAME\u003cbr /\u003emeans as men, instead of being educated like a fanciful kind of\u003cbr /\u003eHALF being, one of Rousseau\u0026#39;s wild chimeras.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, if strength of body be, with some show of reason, the boast of\u003cbr /\u003emen, why are women so infatuated as to be proud of a defect?\u003cbr /\u003eRousseau has furnished them with a plausible excuse, which could\u003cbr /\u003eonly have occurred to a man, whose imagination had been allowed to\u003cbr /\u003erun wild, and refine on the impressions made by exquisite senses,\u003cbr /\u003ethat they might, forsooth have a pretext for yielding to a natural\u003cbr /\u003eappetite without violating a romantic species of modesty, which\u003cbr /\u003egratifies the pride and libertinism of man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen deluded by these sentiments, sometimes boast of their\u003cbr /\u003eweakness, cunningly obtaining power by playing on the WEAKNESS of\u003cbr /\u003emen; and they may well glory in their illicit sway, for, like\u003cbr /\u003eTurkish bashaws, they have more real power than their masters: but\u003cbr /\u003evirtue is sacrificed to temporary gratifications, and the\u003cbr /\u003erespectability of life to the triumph of an hour.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen, as well as despots, have now, perhaps, more power than they\u003cbr /\u003ewould have, if the world, divided and subdivided into kingdoms and\u003cbr /\u003efamilies, was governed by laws deduced from the exercise of reason;\u003cbr /\u003ebut in obtaining it, to carry on the comparison, their character is\u003cbr /\u003edegraded, and licentiousness spread through the whole aggregate of\u003cbr /\u003esociety. The many become pedestal to the few. I, therefore will\u003cbr /\u003eventure to assert, that till women are more rationally educated,\u003cbr /\u003ethe progress of human virtue and improvement in knowledge must\u003cbr /\u003ereceive continual checks. And if it be granted, that woman was not\u003cbr /\u003ecreated merely to gratify the appetite of man, nor to be the upper\u003cbr /\u003eservant, who provides his meals and takes care of his linen, it\u003cbr /\u003emust follow, that the first care of those mothers or fathers, who\u003cbr /\u003ereally attend to the education of females, should be, if not to\u003cbr /\u003estrengthen the body, at least, not to destroy the constitution by\u003cbr /\u003emistaken notions of beauty and female excellence; nor should girls\u003cbr /\u003eever be allowed to imbibe the pernicious notion that a defect can,\u003cbr /\u003eby any chemical process of reasoning become an excellence. In this\u003cbr /\u003erespect, I am happy to find, that the author of one of the most\u003cbr /\u003einstructive books, that our country has produced for children,\u003cbr /\u003ecoincides with me in opinion; I shall quote his pertinent remarks\u003cbr /\u003eto give the force of his respectable authority to reason.*\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. A respectable old man gives the following sensible\u003cbr /\u003eaccount of the method he pursued when educating his daughter. \u0026quot;I\u003cbr /\u003eendeavoured to give both to her mind and body a degree of vigour,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich is seldom found in the female sex. As soon as she was\u003cbr /\u003esufficiently advanced in strength to be capable of the lighter\u003cbr /\u003elabours of husbandry and gardening, I employed her as my constant\u003cbr /\u003ecompanion. Selene, for that was her name, soon acquired a\u003cbr /\u003edexterity in all these rustic employments which I considered with\u003cbr /\u003eequal pleasure and admiration. If women are in general feeble both\u003cbr /\u003ein body and mind, it arises less from nature than from education.\u003cbr /\u003eWe encourage a vicious indolence and inactivity, which we falsely\u003cbr /\u003ecall delicacy; instead of hardening their minds by the severer\u003cbr /\u003eprinciples of reason and philosophy, we breed them to useless arts,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich terminate in vanity and sensuality. In most of the countries\u003cbr /\u003ewhich I had visited, they are taught nothing of an higher nature\u003cbr /\u003ethan a few modulations of the voice, or useless postures of the\u003cbr /\u003ebody; their time is consumed in sloth or trifles, and trifles\u003cbr /\u003ebecome the only pursuits capable of interesting them. We seem to\u003cbr /\u003eforget, that it is upon the qualities of the female sex, that our\u003cbr /\u003eown domestic comforts and the education of our children must\u003cbr /\u003edepend. And what are the comforts or the education which a race of\u003cbr /\u003ebeings corrupted from their infancy, and unacquainted with all the\u003cbr /\u003eduties of life, are fitted to bestow? To touch a musical\u003cbr /\u003einstrument with useless skill, to exhibit their natural or affected\u003cbr /\u003egraces, to the eyes of indolent and debauched young men, who\u003cbr /\u003edissipate their husbands\u0026#39; patrimony in riotous and unnecessary\u003cbr /\u003eexpenses: these are the only arts cultivated by women in most of\u003cbr /\u003ethe polished nations I had seen. And the consequences are\u003cbr /\u003euniformly such as may be expected to proceed from such polluted\u003cbr /\u003esources, private misery, and public servitude.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;But, Selene\u0026#39;s education was regulated by different views, and\u003cbr /\u003econducted upon severer principles; if that can be called severity\u003cbr /\u003ewhich opens the mind to a sense of moral and religious duties, and\u003cbr /\u003emost effectually arms it against the inevitable evils of\u003cbr /\u003elife.\u0026quot;–Mr. Day\u0026#39;s \u0026quot;Sandford and Merton,\u0026quot; Volume 3.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut should it be proved that woman is naturally weaker than man,\u003cbr /\u003efrom whence does it follow that it is natural for her to labour to\u003cbr /\u003ebecome still weaker than nature intended her to be? Arguments of\u003cbr /\u003ethis cast are an insult to common sense, and savour of passion.\u003cbr /\u003eThe DIVINE RIGHT of husbands, like the divine right of kings, may,\u003cbr /\u003eit is to be hoped, in this enlightened age, be contested without\u003cbr /\u003edanger, and though conviction may not silence many boisterous\u003cbr /\u003edisputants, yet, when any prevailing prejudice is attacked, the\u003cbr /\u003ewise will consider, and leave the narrow-minded to rail with\u003cbr /\u003ethoughtless vehemence at innovation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe mother, who wishes to give true dignity of character to her\u003cbr /\u003edaughter, must, regardless of the sneers of ignorance, proceed on a\u003cbr /\u003eplan diametrically opposite to that which Rousseau has recommended\u003cbr /\u003ewith all the deluding charms of eloquence and philosophical\u003cbr /\u003esophistry: for his eloquence renders absurdities plausible, and\u003cbr /\u003ehis dogmatic conclusions puzzle, without convincing those who have\u003cbr /\u003enot ability to refute them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout the whole animal kingdom every young creature requires\u003cbr /\u003ealmost continual exercise, and the infancy of children, conformable\u003cbr /\u003eto this intimation, should be passed in harmless gambols, that\u003cbr /\u003eexercise the feet and hands, without requiring very minute\u003cbr /\u003edirection from the head, or the constant attention of a nurse. In\u003cbr /\u003efact, the care necessary for self-preservation is the first natural\u003cbr /\u003eexercise of the understanding, as little inventions to amuse the\u003cbr /\u003epresent moment unfold the imagination. But these wise designs of\u003cbr /\u003enature are counteracted by mistaken fondness or blind zeal. The\u003cbr /\u003echild is not left a moment to its own direction, particularly a\u003cbr /\u003egirl, and thus rendered dependent–dependence is called natural.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo preserve personal beauty, woman\u0026#39;s glory! the limbs and faculties\u003cbr /\u003eare cramped with worse than Chinese bands, and the sedentary life\u003cbr /\u003ewhich they are condemned to live, whilst boys frolic in the open\u003cbr /\u003eair, weakens the muscles and relaxes the nerves. As for Rousseau\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003eremarks, which have since been echoed by several writers, that they\u003cbr /\u003ehave naturally, that is from their birth, independent of education,\u003cbr /\u003ea fondness for dolls, dressing, and talking, they are so puerile as\u003cbr /\u003enot to merit a serious refutation. That a girl, condemned to sit\u003cbr /\u003efor hours together listening to the idle chat of weak nurses or to\u003cbr /\u003eattend at her mother\u0026#39;s toilet, will endeavour to join the\u003cbr /\u003econversation, is, indeed very natural; and that she will imitate\u003cbr /\u003eher mother or aunts, and amuse herself by adorning her lifeless\u003cbr /\u003edoll, as they do in dressing her, poor innocent babe! is\u003cbr /\u003eundoubtedly a most natural consequence. For men of the greatest\u003cbr /\u003eabilities have seldom had sufficient strength to rise above the\u003cbr /\u003esurrounding atmosphere; and, if the page of genius has always been\u003cbr /\u003eblurred by the prejudices of the age, some allowance should be made\u003cbr /\u003efor a sex, who, like kings, always see things through a false\u003cbr /\u003emedium.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this manner may the fondness for dress, conspicuous in women, be\u003cbr /\u003eeasily accounted for, without supposing it the result of a desire\u003cbr /\u003eto please the sex on which they are dependent. The absurdity, in\u003cbr /\u003eshort, of supposing that a girl is naturally a coquette, and that a\u003cbr /\u003edesire connected with the impulse of nature to propagate the\u003cbr /\u003especies, should appear even before an improper education has, by\u003cbr /\u003eheating the imagination, called it forth prematurely, is so\u003cbr /\u003eunphilosophical, that such a sagacious observer as Rousseau would\u003cbr /\u003enot have adopted it, if he had not been accustomed to make reason\u003cbr /\u003egive way to his desire of singularity, and truth to a favourite\u003cbr /\u003eparadox.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYet thus to give a sex to mind was not very consistent with the\u003cbr /\u003eprinciples of a man who argued so warmly, and so well, for the\u003cbr /\u003eimmortality of the soul. But what a weak barrier is truth when it\u003cbr /\u003estands in the way of an hypothesis! Rousseau respected–almost\u003cbr /\u003eadored virtue–and yet allowed himself to love with sensual\u003cbr /\u003efondness. His imagination constantly prepared inflammable fuel for\u003cbr /\u003ehis inflammable senses; but, in order to reconcile his respect for\u003cbr /\u003eself-denial, fortitude and those heroic virtues, which a mind like\u003cbr /\u003ehis could not coolly admire, he labours to invert the law of\u003cbr /\u003enature, and broaches a doctrine pregnant with mischief, and\u003cbr /\u003ederogatory to the character of supreme wisdom.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis ridiculous stories, which tend to prove that girls are\u003cbr /\u003eNATURALLY attentive to their persons, without laying any stress on\u003cbr /\u003edaily example, are below contempt. And that a little miss should\u003cbr /\u003ehave such a correct taste as to neglect the pleasing amusement of\u003cbr /\u003emaking O\u0026#39;s, merely because she perceived that it was an ungraceful\u003cbr /\u003eattitude, should be selected with the anecdotes of the learned\u003cbr /\u003epig.*\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. \u0026quot;I once knew a young person who learned to write\u003cbr /\u003ebefore she learned to read, and began to write with her needle\u003cbr /\u003ebefore she could use a pen. At first indeed, she took it into her\u003cbr /\u003ehead to make no other letter than the O: this letter she was\u003cbr /\u003econstantly making of all sizes, and always the wrong way.\u003cbr /\u003eUnluckily one day, as she was intent on this employment, she\u003cbr /\u003ehappened to see herself in the looking glass; when, taking a\u003cbr /\u003edislike to the constrained attitude in which she sat while writing,\u003cbr /\u003eshe threw away her pen, like another Pallas, and determined against\u003cbr /\u003emaking the O any more. Her brother was also equally averse to\u003cbr /\u003ewriting: it was the confinement, however, and not the constrained\u003cbr /\u003eattitude, that most disgusted him.\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003eRousseau\u0026#39;s \u0026quot;Emilius.\u0026quot;)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have, probably, had an opportunity of observing more girls in\u003cbr /\u003etheir infancy than J. J. Rousseau. I can recollect my own\u003cbr /\u003efeelings, and I have looked steadily around me; yet, so far from\u003cbr /\u003ecoinciding with him in opinion respecting the first dawn of the\u003cbr /\u003efemale character, I will venture to affirm, that a girl, whose\u003cbr /\u003espirits have not been damped by inactivity, or innocence tainted by\u003cbr /\u003efalse shame, will always be a romp, and the doll will never excite\u003cbr /\u003eattention unless confinement allows her no alternative. Girls and\u003cbr /\u003eboys, in short, would play harmless together, if the distinction of\u003cbr /\u003esex was not inculcated long before nature makes any difference. I\u003cbr /\u003ewill, go further, and affirm, as an indisputable fact, that most of\u003cbr /\u003ethe women, in the circle of my observation, who have acted like\u003cbr /\u003erational creatures, or shown any vigour of intellect, have\u003cbr /\u003eaccidentally been allowed to run wild, as some of the elegant\u003cbr /\u003eformers of the fair sex would insinuate.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe baneful consequences which flow from inattention to health\u003cbr /\u003eduring infancy, and youth, extend further than is supposed,\u003cbr /\u003edependence of body naturally produces dependence of mind; and how\u003cbr /\u003ecan she be a good wife or mother, the greater part of whose time is\u003cbr /\u003eemployed to guard against or endure sickness; nor can it be\u003cbr /\u003eexpected, that a woman will resolutely endeavour to strengthen her\u003cbr /\u003econstitution and abstain from enervating indulgences, if artificial\u003cbr /\u003enotions of beauty, and false descriptions of sensibility, have been\u003cbr /\u003eearly entangled with her motives of action. Most men are sometimes\u003cbr /\u003eobliged to bear with bodily inconveniences, and to endure,\u003cbr /\u003eoccasionally, the inclemency of the elements; but genteel women\u003cbr /\u003eare, literally speaking, slaves to their bodies, and glory in their\u003cbr /\u003esubjection.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI once knew a weak woman of fashion, who was more than commonly\u003cbr /\u003eproud of her delicacy and sensibility. She thought a\u003cbr /\u003edistinguishing taste and puny appetite the height of all human\u003cbr /\u003eperfection, and acted accordingly. I have seen this weak\u003cbr /\u003esophisticated being neglect all the duties of life, yet recline\u003cbr /\u003ewith self-complacency on a sofa, and boast of her want of appetite\u003cbr /\u003eas a proof of delicacy that extended to, or, perhaps, arose from,\u003cbr /\u003eher exquisite sensibility: for it is difficult to render\u003cbr /\u003eintelligible such ridiculous jargon. Yet, at the moment, I have\u003cbr /\u003eseen her insult a worthy old gentlewoman, whom unexpected\u003cbr /\u003emisfortunes had made dependent on her ostentatious bounty, and who,\u003cbr /\u003ein better days, had claims on her gratitude. Is it possible that a\u003cbr /\u003ehuman creature should have become such a weak and depraved being,\u003cbr /\u003eif, like the Sybarites, dissolved in luxury, every thing like\u003cbr /\u003evirtue had not been worn away, or never impressed by precept, a\u003cbr /\u003epoor substitute it is true, for cultivation of mind, though it\u003cbr /\u003eserves as a fence against vice?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSuch a woman is not a more irrational monster than some of the\u003cbr /\u003eRoman emperors, who were depraved by lawless power. Yet, since\u003cbr /\u003ekings have been more under the restraint of law, and the curb,\u003cbr /\u003ehowever weak, of honour, the records of history are not filled with\u003cbr /\u003esuch unnatural instances of folly and cruelty, nor does the\u003cbr /\u003edespotism that kills virtue and genius in the bud, hover over\u003cbr /\u003eEurope with that destructive blast which desolates Turkey, and\u003cbr /\u003erenders the men, as well as the soil unfruitful.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen are every where in this deplorable state; for, in order to\u003cbr /\u003epreserve their innocence, as ignorance is courteously termed, truth\u003cbr /\u003eis hidden from them, and they are made to assume an artificial\u003cbr /\u003echaracter before their faculties have acquired any strength.\u003cbr /\u003eTaught from their infancy, that beauty is woman\u0026#39;s sceptre, the mind\u003cbr /\u003eshapes itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only\u003cbr /\u003eseeks to adorn its prison. Men have various employments and\u003cbr /\u003epursuits which engage their attention, and give a character to the\u003cbr /\u003eopening mind; but women, confined to one, and having their thoughts\u003cbr /\u003econstantly directed to the most insignificant part of themselves,\u003cbr /\u003eseldom extend their views beyond the triumph of the hour. But was\u003cbr /\u003etheir understanding once emancipated from the slavery to which the\u003cbr /\u003epride and sensuality of man and their short sighted desire, like\u003cbr /\u003ethat of dominion in tyrants, of present sway, has subjected them,\u003cbr /\u003ewe should probably read of their weaknesses with surprise. I must\u003cbr /\u003ebe allowed to pursue the argument a little farther.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePerhaps, if the existence of an evil being was allowed, who, in the\u003cbr /\u003eallegorical language of scripture, went about seeking whom he\u003cbr /\u003eshould devour, he could not more effectually degrade the human\u003cbr /\u003echaracter than by giving a man absolute power.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis argument branches into various ramifications. Birth, riches,\u003cbr /\u003eand every intrinsic advantage that exalt a man above his fellows,\u003cbr /\u003ewithout any mental exertion, sink him in reality below them. In\u003cbr /\u003eproportion to his weakness, he is played upon by designing men,\u003cbr /\u003etill the bloated monster has lost all traces of humanity. And that\u003cbr /\u003etribes of men, like flocks of sheep, should quietly follow such a\u003cbr /\u003eleader, is a solecism that only a desire of present enjoyment and\u003cbr /\u003enarrowness of understanding can solve. Educated in slavish\u003cbr /\u003edependence, and enervated by luxury and sloth, where shall we find\u003cbr /\u003emen who will stand forth to assert the rights of man; or claim the\u003cbr /\u003eprivilege of moral beings, who should have but one road to\u003cbr /\u003eexcellence? Slavery to monarchs and ministers, which the world will\u003cbr /\u003ebe long in freeing itself from, and whose deadly grasp stops the\u003cbr /\u003eprogress of the human mind, is not yet abolished.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet not men then in the pride of power, use the same arguments that\u003cbr /\u003etyrannic kings and venal ministers have used, and fallaciously\u003cbr /\u003eassert, that woman ought to be subjected because she has always\u003cbr /\u003ebeen so. But, when man, governed by reasonable laws, enjoys his\u003cbr /\u003enatural freedom, let him despise woman, if she do not share it with\u003cbr /\u003ehim; and, till that glorious period arrives, in descanting on the\u003cbr /\u003efolly of the sex, let him not overlook his own.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen, it is true, obtaining power by unjust means, by practising\u003cbr /\u003eor fostering vice, evidently lose the rank which reason would\u003cbr /\u003eassign them, and they become either abject slaves or capricious\u003cbr /\u003etyrants. They lose all simplicity, all dignity of mind, in\u003cbr /\u003eacquiring power, and act as men are observed to act when they have\u003cbr /\u003ebeen exalted by the same means.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is time to effect a revolution in female manners, time to\u003cbr /\u003erestore to them their lost dignity, and make them, as a part of the\u003cbr /\u003ehuman species, labour by reforming themselves to reform the world.\u003cbr /\u003eIt is time to separate unchangeable morals from local manners. If\u003cbr /\u003emen be demi-gods, why let us serve them! And if the dignity of the\u003cbr /\u003efemale soul be as disputable as that of animals, if their reason\u003cbr /\u003edoes not afford sufficient light to direct their conduct whilst\u003cbr /\u003eunerring instinct is denied, they are surely of all creatures the\u003cbr /\u003emost miserable and, bent beneath the iron hand of destiny, must\u003cbr /\u003esubmit to be a FAIR DEFECT in creation. But to justify the ways of\u003cbr /\u003eprovidence respecting them, by pointing out some irrefragable\u003cbr /\u003ereason for thus making such a large portion of mankind accountable\u003cbr /\u003eand not accountable, would puzzle the subtlest casuist.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe only solid foundation for morality appears to be the character\u003cbr /\u003eof the Supreme Being; the harmony of which arises from a balance of\u003cbr /\u003eattributes; and, to speak with reverence, one attribute seems to\u003cbr /\u003eimply the NECESSITY of another. He must be just, because he is\u003cbr /\u003ewise, he must be good, because he is omnipotent. For, to exalt one\u003cbr /\u003eattribute at the expense of another equally noble and necessary,\u003cbr /\u003ebears the stamp of the warped reason of man, the homage of passion.\u003cbr /\u003eMan, accustomed to bow down to power in his savage state, can\u003cbr /\u003eseldom divest himself of this barbarous prejudice even when\u003cbr /\u003ecivilization determines how much superior mental is to bodily\u003cbr /\u003estrength; and his reason is clouded by these crude opinions, even\u003cbr /\u003ewhen he thinks of the Deity. His omnipotence is made to swallow\u003cbr /\u003eup, or preside over his other attributes, and those mortals are\u003cbr /\u003esupposed to limit his power irreverently, who think that it must be\u003cbr /\u003eregulated by his wisdom.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI disclaim that species of humility which, after investigating\u003cbr /\u003enature, stops at the author. The high and lofty One, who\u003cbr /\u003einhabiteth eternity, doubtless possesses many attributes of which\u003cbr /\u003ewe can form no conception; but reason tells me that they cannot\u003cbr /\u003eclash with those I adore, and I am compelled to listen to her\u003cbr /\u003evoice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt seems natural for man to search for excellence, and either to\u003cbr /\u003etrace it in the object that he worships, or blindly to invest it\u003cbr /\u003ewith perfection as a garment. But what good effect can the latter\u003cbr /\u003emode of worship have on the moral conduct of a rational being? He\u003cbr /\u003ebends to power; he adores a dark cloud, which may open a bright\u003cbr /\u003eprospect to him, or burst in angry, lawless fury on his devoted\u003cbr /\u003ehead, he knows not why. And, supposing that the Deity acts from\u003cbr /\u003ethe vague impulse of an undirected will, man must also follow his\u003cbr /\u003eown, or act according to rules, deduced from principles which he\u003cbr /\u003edisclaims as irreverent. Into this dilemma have both enthusiasts\u003cbr /\u003eand cooler thinkers fallen, when they laboured to free men from the\u003cbr /\u003ewholesome restraints which a just conception of the character of\u003cbr /\u003eGod imposes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not impious thus to scan the attributes of the Almighty: in\u003cbr /\u003efact, who can avoid it that exercises his faculties? for to love\u003cbr /\u003eGod as the fountain of wisdom, goodness, and power, appears to be\u003cbr /\u003ethe only worship useful to a being who wishes to acquire either\u003cbr /\u003evirtue or knowledge. A blind unsettled affection may, like human\u003cbr /\u003epassions, occupy the mind and warm the heart, whilst, to do\u003cbr /\u003ejustice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God, is forgotten. I\u003cbr /\u003eshall pursue this subject still further, when I consider religion\u003cbr /\u003ein a light opposite to that recommended by Dr. Gregory, who treats\u003cbr /\u003eit as a matter of sentiment or taste.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo return from this apparent digression. It were to be wished,\u003cbr /\u003ethat women would cherish an affection for their husbands, founded\u003cbr /\u003eon the same principle that devotion ought to rest upon. No other\u003cbr /\u003efirm base is there under heaven, for let them beware of the\u003cbr /\u003efallacious light of sentiment; too often used as a softer phrase\u003cbr /\u003efor sensuality. It follows then, I think, that from their infancy\u003cbr /\u003ewomen should either be shut up like eastern princes, or educated in\u003cbr /\u003esuch a manner as to be able to think and act for themselves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhy do men halt between two opinions, and expect impossibilities?\u003cbr /\u003eWhy do they expect virtue from a slave, or from a being whom the\u003cbr /\u003econstitution of civil society has rendered weak, if not vicious?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eStill I know that it will require a considerable length of time to\u003cbr /\u003eeradicate the firmly rooted prejudices which sensualists have\u003cbr /\u003eplanted; it will also require some time to convince women that they\u003cbr /\u003eact contrary to their real interest on an enlarged scale, when they\u003cbr /\u003echerish or affect weakness under the name of delicacy, and to\u003cbr /\u003econvince the world that the poisoned source of female vices and\u003cbr /\u003efollies, if it be necessary, in compliance with custom, to use\u003cbr /\u003esynonymous terms in a lax sense, has been the sensual homage paid\u003cbr /\u003eto beauty: to beauty of features; for it has been shrewdly\u003cbr /\u003eobserved by a German writer, that a pretty woman, as an object of\u003cbr /\u003edesire, is generally allowed to be so by men of all descriptions;\u003cbr /\u003ewhilst a fine woman, who inspires more sublime emotions by\u003cbr /\u003edisplaying intellectual beauty, may be overlooked or observed with\u003cbr /\u003eindifference, by those men who find their happiness in the\u003cbr /\u003egratification of their appetites. I foresee an obvious retort;\u003cbr /\u003ewhilst man remains such an imperfect being as he appears hitherto\u003cbr /\u003eto have been, he will, more or less, be the slave of his appetites;\u003cbr /\u003eand those women obtaining most power who gratify a predominant one,\u003cbr /\u003ethe sex is degraded by a physical, if not by a moral necessity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis objection has, I grant, some force; but while such a sublime\u003cbr /\u003eprecept exists, as, \u0026quot;be pure as your heavenly father is pure;\u0026quot; it\u003cbr /\u003ewould seem that the virtues of man are not limited by the Being who\u003cbr /\u003ealone could limit them; and that he may press forward without\u003cbr /\u003econsidering whether he steps out of his sphere by indulging such a\u003cbr /\u003enoble ambition. To the wild billows it has been said, \u0026quot;thus far\u003cbr /\u003eshalt thou go, and no further; and here shall thy proud waves be\u003cbr /\u003estayed.\u0026quot; Vainly then do they beat and foam, restrained by the\u003cbr /\u003epower that confines the struggling planets within their orbits,\u003cbr /\u003ematter yields to the great governing Spirit. But an immortal soul,\u003cbr /\u003enot restrained by mechanical laws, and struggling to free itself\u003cbr /\u003efrom the shackles of matter, contributes to, instead of disturbing,\u003cbr /\u003ethe order of creation, when, co-operating with the Father of\u003cbr /\u003espirits, it tries to govern itself by the invariable rule that, in\u003cbr /\u003ea degree, before which our imagination faints, the universe is\u003cbr /\u003eregulated.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, if women are educated for dependence, that is, to act\u003cbr /\u003eaccording to the will of another fallible being, and submit, right\u003cbr /\u003eor wrong, to power, where are we to stop? Are they to be\u003cbr /\u003econsidered as viceregents, allowed to reign over a small domain,\u003cbr /\u003eand answerable for their conduct to a higher tribunal, liable to\u003cbr /\u003eerror?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt will not be difficult to prove, that such delegates will act\u003cbr /\u003elike men subjected by fear, and make their children and servants\u003cbr /\u003eendure their tyrannical oppression. As they submit without reason,\u003cbr /\u003ethey will, having no fixed rules to square their conduct by, be\u003cbr /\u003ekind or cruel, just as the whim of the moment directs; and we ought\u003cbr /\u003enot to wonder if sometimes, galled by their heavy yoke, they take a\u003cbr /\u003emalignant pleasure in resting it on weaker shoulders.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, supposing a woman, trained up to obedience, be married to a\u003cbr /\u003esensible man, who directs her judgment, without making her feel the\u003cbr /\u003eservility of her subjection, to act with as much propriety by this\u003cbr /\u003ereflected light as can be expected when reason is taken at second\u003cbr /\u003ehand, yet she cannot ensure the life of her protector; he may die\u003cbr /\u003eand leave her with a large family.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA double duty devolves on her; to educate them in the character of\u003cbr /\u003eboth father and mother; to form their principles and secure their\u003cbr /\u003eproperty. But, alas! she has never thought, much less acted for\u003cbr /\u003eherself. She has only learned to please men, to depend gracefully\u003cbr /\u003eon them; yet, encumbered with children, how is she to obtain\u003cbr /\u003eanother protector; a husband to supply the place of reason? A\u003cbr /\u003erational man, for we are not treading on romantic ground, though he\u003cbr /\u003emay think her a pleasing docile creature, will not choose to marry\u003cbr /\u003ea FAMILY for love, when the world contains many more pretty\u003cbr /\u003ecreatures. What is then to become of her? She either falls an\u003cbr /\u003eeasy prey to some mean fortune hunter, who defrauds her children of\u003cbr /\u003etheir paternal inheritance, and renders her miserable; or becomes\u003cbr /\u003ethe victim of discontent and blind indulgence. Unable to educate\u003cbr /\u003eher sons, or impress them with respect; for it is not a play on\u003cbr /\u003ewords to assert, that people are never respected, though filling an\u003cbr /\u003eimportant station, who are not respectable; she pines under the\u003cbr /\u003eanguish of unavailing impotent regret. The serpent\u0026#39;s tooth enters\u003cbr /\u003einto her very soul, and the vices of licentious youth bring her\u003cbr /\u003ewith sorrow, if not with poverty also, to the grave.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is not an overcharged picture; on the contrary, it is a very\u003cbr /\u003epossible case, and something similar must have fallen under every\u003cbr /\u003eattentive eye.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have, however, taken it for granted, that she was well disposed,\u003cbr /\u003ethough experience shows, that the blind may as easily be led into a\u003cbr /\u003editch as along the beaten road. But supposing, no very improbable\u003cbr /\u003econjecture, that a being only taught to please must still find her\u003cbr /\u003ehappiness in pleasing; what an example of folly, not to say vice,\u003cbr /\u003ewill she be to her innocent daughters! The mother will be lost in\u003cbr /\u003ethe coquette, and, instead of making friends of her daughters, view\u003cbr /\u003ethem with eyes askance, for they are rivals–rivals more cruel than\u003cbr /\u003eany other, because they invite a comparison, and drive her from the\u003cbr /\u003ethrone of beauty, who has never thought of a seat on the bench of\u003cbr /\u003ereason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt does not require a lively pencil, or the discriminating outline\u003cbr /\u003eof a caricature, to sketch the domestic miseries and petty vices\u003cbr /\u003ewhich such a mistress of a family diffuses. Still she only acts as\u003cbr /\u003ea woman ought to act, brought up according to Rousseau\u0026#39;s system.\u003cbr /\u003eShe can never be reproached for being masculine, or turning out of\u003cbr /\u003eher sphere; nay, she may observe another of his grand rules, and,\u003cbr /\u003ecautiously preserving her reputation free from spot, be reckoned a\u003cbr /\u003egood kind of woman. Yet in what respect can she be termed good?\u003cbr /\u003eShe abstains, it is true, without any great struggle, from\u003cbr /\u003ecommitting gross crimes; but how does she fulfil her duties?\u003cbr /\u003eDuties!–in truth she has enough to think of to adorn her body and\u003cbr /\u003enurse a weak constitution.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith respect to religion, she never presumed to judge for herself;\u003cbr /\u003ebut conformed, as a dependent creature should, to the ceremonies of\u003cbr /\u003ethe church which she was brought up in, piously believing, that\u003cbr /\u003ewiser heads than her own have settled that business: and not to\u003cbr /\u003edoubt is her point of perfection. She therefore pays her tythe of\u003cbr /\u003emint and cummin, and thanks her God that she is not as other women\u003cbr /\u003eare. These are the blessed effects of a good education! these the\u003cbr /\u003evirtues of man\u0026#39;s helpmate. I must relieve myself by drawing a\u003cbr /\u003edifferent picture.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet fancy now present a woman with a tolerable understanding, for I\u003cbr /\u003edo not wish to leave the line of mediocrity, whose constitution,\u003cbr /\u003estrengthened by exercise, has allowed her body to acquire its full\u003cbr /\u003evigour; her mind, at the same time, gradually expanding itself to\u003cbr /\u003ecomprehend the moral duties of life, and in what human virtue and\u003cbr /\u003edignity consist. Formed thus by the relative duties of her\u003cbr /\u003estation, she marries from affection, without losing sight of\u003cbr /\u003eprudence, and looking beyond matrimonial felicity, she secures her\u003cbr /\u003ehusband\u0026#39;s respect before it is necessary to exert mean arts to\u003cbr /\u003eplease him, and feed a dying flame, which nature doomed to expire\u003cbr /\u003ewhen the object became familiar, when friendship and forbearance\u003cbr /\u003etake place of a more ardent affection. This is the natural death\u003cbr /\u003eof love, and domestic peace is not destroyed by struggles to\u003cbr /\u003eprevent its extinction. I also suppose the husband to be virtuous;\u003cbr /\u003eor she is still more in want of independent principles.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFate, however, breaks this tie. She is left a widow, perhaps,\u003cbr /\u003ewithout a sufficient provision: but she is not desolate! The pang\u003cbr /\u003eof nature is felt; but after time has softened sorrow into\u003cbr /\u003emelancholy resignation, her heart turns to her children with\u003cbr /\u003eredoubled fondness, and anxious to provide for them, affection\u003cbr /\u003egives a sacred heroic cast to her maternal duties. She thinks that\u003cbr /\u003enot only the eye sees her virtuous efforts, from whom all her\u003cbr /\u003ecomfort now must flow, and whose approbation is life; but her\u003cbr /\u003eimagination, a little abstracted and exalted by grief, dwells on\u003cbr /\u003ethe fond hope, that the eyes which her trembling hand closed, may\u003cbr /\u003estill see how she subdues every wayward passion to fulfil the\u003cbr /\u003edouble duty of being the father as well as the mother of her\u003cbr /\u003echildren. Raised to heroism by misfortunes, she represses the\u003cbr /\u003efirst faint dawning of a natural inclination, before it ripens into\u003cbr /\u003elove, and in the bloom of life forgets her sex–forgets the\u003cbr /\u003epleasure of an awakening passion, which might again have been\u003cbr /\u003einspired and returned. She no longer thinks of pleasing, and\u003cbr /\u003econscious dignity prevents her from priding herself on account of\u003cbr /\u003ethe praise which her conduct demands. Her children have her love,\u003cbr /\u003eand her brightest hopes are beyond the grave, where her imagination\u003cbr /\u003eoften strays.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI think I see her surrounded by her children, reaping the reward of\u003cbr /\u003eher care. The intelligent eye meets her\u0026#39;s, whilst health and\u003cbr /\u003einnocence smile on their chubby cheeks, and as they grow up the\u003cbr /\u003ecares of life are lessened by their grateful attention. She lives\u003cbr /\u003eto see the virtues which she endeavoured to plant on principles,\u003cbr /\u003efixed into habits, to see her children attain a strength of\u003cbr /\u003echaracter sufficient to enable them to endure adversity without\u003cbr /\u003eforgetting their mother\u0026#39;s example.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe task of life thus fulfilled, she calmly waits for the sleep of\u003cbr /\u003edeath, and rising from the grave may say, behold, thou gavest me a\u003cbr /\u003etalent, and here are five talents.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI wish to sum up what I have said in a few words, for I here throw\u003cbr /\u003edown my gauntlet, and deny the existence of sexual virtues, not\u003cbr /\u003eexcepting modesty. For man and woman, truth, if I understand the\u003cbr /\u003emeaning of the word, must be the same; yet the fanciful female\u003cbr /\u003echaracter, so prettily drawn by poets and novelists, demanding the\u003cbr /\u003esacrifice of truth and sincerity, virtue becomes a relative idea,\u003cbr /\u003ehaving no other foundation than utility, and of that utility men\u003cbr /\u003epretend arbitrarily to judge, shaping it to their own convenience.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen, I allow, may have different duties to fulfil; but they are\u003cbr /\u003eHUMAN duties, and the principles that should regulate the discharge\u003cbr /\u003eof them, I sturdily maintain, must be the same.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo become respectable, the exercise of their understanding is\u003cbr /\u003enecessary, there is no other foundation for independence of\u003cbr /\u003echaracter; I mean explicitly to say, that they must only bow to the\u003cbr /\u003eauthority of reason, instead of being the MODEST slaves of opinion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the superior ranks of life how seldom do we meet with a man of\u003cbr /\u003esuperior abilities, or even common acquirements? The reason\u003cbr /\u003eappears to me clear; the state they are born in was an unnatural\u003cbr /\u003eone. The human character has ever been formed by the employments\u003cbr /\u003ethe individual, or class pursues; and if the faculties are not\u003cbr /\u003esharpened by necessity, they must remain obtuse. The argument may\u003cbr /\u003efairly be extended to women; for seldom occupied by serious\u003cbr /\u003ebusiness, the pursuit of pleasure gives that insignificancy to\u003cbr /\u003etheir character which renders the society of the GREAT so insipid.\u003cbr /\u003eThe same want of firmness, produced by a similar cause, forces them\u003cbr /\u003eboth to fly from themselves to noisy pleasures, and artificial\u003cbr /\u003epassions, till vanity takes place of every social affection, and\u003cbr /\u003ethe characteristics of humanity can scarcely be discerned. Such\u003cbr /\u003eare the blessings of civil governments, as they are at present\u003cbr /\u003eorganized, that wealth and female softness equally tend to debase\u003cbr /\u003emankind, and are produced by the same cause; but allowing women to\u003cbr /\u003ebe rational creatures they should be incited to acquire virtues\u003cbr /\u003ewhich they may call their own, for how can a rational being be\u003cbr /\u003eennobled by any thing that is not obtained by its OWN exertions?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 4.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOBSERVATIONS ON THE STATE OF DEGRADATION TO WHICH WOMAN IS REDUCED\u003cbr /\u003eBY VARIOUS CAUSES.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat woman is naturally weak, or degraded by a concurrence of\u003cbr /\u003ecircumstances is, I think, clear. But this position I shall simply\u003cbr /\u003econtrast with a conclusion, which I have frequently heard fall from\u003cbr /\u003esensible men in favour of an aristocracy: that the mass of mankind\u003cbr /\u003ecannot be any thing, or the obsequious slaves, who patiently allow\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves to be penned up, would feel their own consequence, and\u003cbr /\u003espurn their chains. Men, they further observe, submit every where\u003cbr /\u003eto oppression, when they have only to lift up their heads to throw\u003cbr /\u003eoff the yoke; yet, instead of asserting their birthright, they\u003cbr /\u003equietly lick the dust, and say, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow\u003cbr /\u003ewe die. Women, I argue from analogy, are degraded by the same\u003cbr /\u003epropensity to enjoy the present moment; and, at last, despise the\u003cbr /\u003efreedom which they have not sufficient virtue to struggle to\u003cbr /\u003eattain. But I must be more explicit.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith respect to the culture of the heart, it is unanimously allowed\u003cbr /\u003ethat sex is out of the question; but the line of subordination in\u003cbr /\u003ethe mental powers is never to be passed over. Only \u0026quot;absolute in\u003cbr /\u003eloveliness,\u0026quot; the portion of rationality granted to woman is,\u003cbr /\u003eindeed, very scanty; for, denying her genius and judgment, it is\u003cbr /\u003escarcely possible to divine what remains to characterize intellect.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe stamina of immortality, if I may be allowed the phrase, is the\u003cbr /\u003eperfectibility of human reason; for, was man created perfect, or\u003cbr /\u003edid a flood of knowledge break in upon him, when he arrived at\u003cbr /\u003ematurity, that precluded error, I should doubt whether his\u003cbr /\u003eexistence would be continued after the dissolution of the body.\u003cbr /\u003eBut in the present state of things, every difficulty in morals,\u003cbr /\u003ethat escapes from human discussion, and equally baffles the\u003cbr /\u003einvestigation of profound thinking, and the lightning glance of\u003cbr /\u003egenius, is an argument on which I build my belief of the\u003cbr /\u003eimmortality of the soul. Reason is, consequentially, the simple\u003cbr /\u003epower of improvement; or, more properly speaking, of discerning\u003cbr /\u003etruth. Every individual is in this respect a world in itself.\u003cbr /\u003eMore or less may be conspicuous in one being than other; but the\u003cbr /\u003enature of reason must be the same in all, if it be an emanation of\u003cbr /\u003edivinity, the tie that connects the creature with the Creator; for,\u003cbr /\u003ecan that soul be stamped with the heavenly image, that is not\u003cbr /\u003eperfected by the exercise of its own reason? Yet outwardly\u003cbr /\u003eornamented with elaborate care, and so adorned to delight man,\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;that with honour he may love,\u0026quot; (Vide Milton) the soul of woman is\u003cbr /\u003enot allowed to have this distinction, and man, ever placed between\u003cbr /\u003eher and reason, she is always represented as only created to see\u003cbr /\u003ethrough a gross medium, and to take things on trust. But,\u003cbr /\u003edismissing these fanciful theories, and considering woman as a\u003cbr /\u003ewhole, let it be what it will, instead of a part of man, the\u003cbr /\u003einquiry is, whether she has reason or not. If she has, which, for\u003cbr /\u003ea moment, I will take for granted, she was not created merely to be\u003cbr /\u003ethe solace of man, and the sexual should not destroy the human\u003cbr /\u003echaracter.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eInto this error men have, probably, been led by viewing education\u003cbr /\u003ein a false light; not considering it as the first step to form a\u003cbr /\u003ebeing advancing gradually toward perfection; (This word is not\u003cbr /\u003estrictly just, but I cannot find a better.) but only as a\u003cbr /\u003epreparation for life. On this sensual error, for I must call it\u003cbr /\u003eso, has the false system of female manners been reared, which robs\u003cbr /\u003ethe whole sex of its dignity, and classes the brown and fair with\u003cbr /\u003ethe smiling flowers that only adorn the land. This has ever been\u003cbr /\u003ethe language of men, and the fear of departing from a supposed\u003cbr /\u003esexual character, has made even women of superior sense adopt the\u003cbr /\u003esame sentiments. Thus understanding, strictly speaking, has been\u003cbr /\u003edenied to woman; and instinct, sublimated into wit and cunning, for\u003cbr /\u003ethe purposes of life, has been substituted in its stead.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe power of generalizing ideas, of drawing comprehensive\u003cbr /\u003econclusions from individual observations, is the only acquirement\u003cbr /\u003efor an immortal being, that really deserves the name of knowledge.\u003cbr /\u003eMerely to observe, without endeavouring to account for any thing,\u003cbr /\u003emay, (in a very incomplete manner) serve as the common sense of\u003cbr /\u003elife; but where is the store laid up that is to clothe the soul\u003cbr /\u003ewhen it leaves the body?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis power has not only been denied to women; but writers have\u003cbr /\u003einsisted that it is inconsistent, with a few exceptions, with their\u003cbr /\u003esexual character. Let men prove this, and I shall grant that woman\u003cbr /\u003eonly exists for man. I must, however, previously remark, that the\u003cbr /\u003epower of generalizing ideas, to any great extent, is not very\u003cbr /\u003ecommon amongst men or women. But this exercise is the true\u003cbr /\u003ecultivation of the understanding; and every thing conspires to\u003cbr /\u003erender the cultivation of the understanding more difficult in the\u003cbr /\u003efemale than the male world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI am naturally led by this assertion to the main subject of the\u003cbr /\u003epresent chapter, and shall now attempt to point out some of the\u003cbr /\u003ecauses that degrade the sex, and prevent women from generalizing\u003cbr /\u003etheir observations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI shall not go back to the remote annals of antiquity to trace the\u003cbr /\u003ehistory of woman; it is sufficient to allow, that she has always\u003cbr /\u003ebeen either a slave or a despot, and to remark, that each of these\u003cbr /\u003esituations equally retards the progress of reason. The grand\u003cbr /\u003esource of female folly and vice has ever appeared to me to arise\u003cbr /\u003efrom narrowness of mind; and the very constitution of civil\u003cbr /\u003egovernments has put almost insuperable obstacles in the way to\u003cbr /\u003eprevent the cultivation of the female understanding: yet virtue\u003cbr /\u003ecan be built on no other foundation! The same obstacles are thrown\u003cbr /\u003ein the way of the rich, and the same consequences ensue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNecessity has been proverbially termed the mother of invention; the\u003cbr /\u003eaphorism may be extended to virtue. It is an acquirement, and an\u003cbr /\u003eacquirement to which pleasure must be sacrificed, and who\u003cbr /\u003esacrifices pleasure when it is within the grasp, whose mind has not\u003cbr /\u003ebeen opened and strengthened by adversity, or the pursuit of\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge goaded on by necessity? Happy is it when people have the\u003cbr /\u003ecares of life to struggle with; for these struggles prevent their\u003cbr /\u003ebecoming a prey to enervating vices, merely from idleness! But, if\u003cbr /\u003efrom their birth men and women are placed in a torrid zone, with\u003cbr /\u003ethe meridian sun of pleasure darting directly upon them, how can\u003cbr /\u003ethey sufficiently brace their minds to discharge the duties of\u003cbr /\u003elife, or even to relish the affections that carry them out of\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePleasure is the business of a woman\u0026#39;s life, according to the\u003cbr /\u003epresent modification of society, and while it continues to be so,\u003cbr /\u003elittle can be expected from such weak beings. Inheriting, in a\u003cbr /\u003elineal descent from the first fair defect in nature, the\u003cbr /\u003esovereignty of beauty, they have, to maintain their power, resigned\u003cbr /\u003etheir natural rights, which the exercise of reason, might have\u003cbr /\u003eprocured them, and chosen rather to be short-lived queens than\u003cbr /\u003elabour to attain the sober pleasures that arise from equality.\u003cbr /\u003eExalted by their inferiority (this sounds like a contradiction)\u003cbr /\u003ethey constantly demand homage as women, though experience should\u003cbr /\u003eteach them that the men who pride themselves upon paying this\u003cbr /\u003earbitrary insolent respect to the sex, with the most scrupulous\u003cbr /\u003eexactness, are most inclined to tyrannize over, and despise the\u003cbr /\u003every weakness they cherish. Often do they repeat Mr. Hume\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003esentiments; when comparing the French and Athenian character, he\u003cbr /\u003ealludes to women. \u0026quot;But what is more singular in this whimsical\u003cbr /\u003enation, say I to the Athenians, is, that a frolic of yours during\u003cbr /\u003ethe Saturnalia, when the slaves are served by their masters, is\u003cbr /\u003eseriously continued by them through the whole year, and through the\u003cbr /\u003ewhole course of their lives; accompanied too with some\u003cbr /\u003ecircumstances, which still further augment the absurdity and\u003cbr /\u003eridicule. Your sport only elevates for a few days, those whom\u003cbr /\u003efortune has thrown down, and whom she too, in sport, may really\u003cbr /\u003eelevate forever above you. But this nation gravely exalts those,\u003cbr /\u003ewhom nature has subjected to them, and whose inferiority and\u003cbr /\u003einfirmities are absolutely incurable. The women, though without\u003cbr /\u003evirtue, are their masters and sovereigns.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAh! why do women, I write with affectionate solicitude, condescend\u003cbr /\u003eto receive a degree of attention and respect from strangers,\u003cbr /\u003edifferent from that reciprocation of civility which the dictates of\u003cbr /\u003ehumanity, and the politeness of civilization authorise between man\u003cbr /\u003eand man? And why do they not discover, when \u0026quot;in the noon of\u003cbr /\u003ebeauty\u0026#39;s power,\u0026quot; that they are treated like queens only to be\u003cbr /\u003edeluded by hollow respect, till they are led to resign, or not\u003cbr /\u003eassume, their natural prerogatives? Confined then in cages, like\u003cbr /\u003ethe feathered race, they have nothing to do but to plume\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves, and stalk with mock-majesty from perch to perch. It is\u003cbr /\u003etrue, they are provided with food and raiment, for which they\u003cbr /\u003eneither toil nor spin; but health, liberty, and virtue are given in\u003cbr /\u003eexchange. But, where, amongst mankind has been found sufficient\u003cbr /\u003estrength of mind to enable a being to resign these adventitious\u003cbr /\u003eprerogatives; one who rising with the calm dignity of reason above\u003cbr /\u003eopinion, dared to be proud of the privileges inherent in man? and\u003cbr /\u003eit is vain to expect it whilst hereditary power chokes the\u003cbr /\u003eaffections, and nips reason in the bud.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe passions of men have thus placed women on thrones; and, till\u003cbr /\u003emankind become more reasonable, it is to be feared that women will\u003cbr /\u003eavail themselves of the power which they attain with the least\u003cbr /\u003eexertion, and which is the most indisputable. They will smile,\u003cbr /\u003eyes, they will smile, though told that–\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;In beauty\u0026#39;s empire is no mean,\u003cbr /\u003eAnd woman either slave or queen,\u003cbr /\u003eIs quickly scorn\u0026#39;d when not ador\u0026#39;d.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut the adoration comes first, and the scorn is not anticipated.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLewis the XIVth, in particular, spread factitious manners, and\u003cbr /\u003ecaught in a specious way, the whole nation in his toils; for\u003cbr /\u003eestablishing an artful chain of despotism, he made it the interest\u003cbr /\u003eof the people at large, individually to respect his station, and\u003cbr /\u003esupport his power. And women, whom he flattered by a puerile\u003cbr /\u003eattention to the whole sex, obtained in his reign that prince-like\u003cbr /\u003edistinction so fatal to reason and virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA king is always a king, and a woman always a woman: (And a wit,\u003cbr /\u003ealways a wit, might be added; for the vain fooleries of wits and\u003cbr /\u003ebeauties to obtain attention, and make conquests, are much upon a\u003cbr /\u003epar.) his authority and her sex, ever stand between them and\u003cbr /\u003erational converse. With a lover, I grant she should be so, and her\u003cbr /\u003esensibility will naturally lead her to endeavour to excite emotion,\u003cbr /\u003enot to gratify her vanity but her heart. This I do not allow to be\u003cbr /\u003ecoquetry, it is the artless impulse of nature, I only exclaim\u003cbr /\u003eagainst the sexual desire of conquest, when the heart is out of the\u003cbr /\u003equestion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis desire is not confined to women; \u0026quot;I have endeavoured,\u0026quot; says\u003cbr /\u003eLord Chesterfield, \u0026quot;to gain the hearts of twenty women, whose\u003cbr /\u003epersons I would not have given a fig for.\u0026quot; The libertine who in a\u003cbr /\u003egust of passion, takes advantage of unsuspecting tenderness, is a\u003cbr /\u003esaint when compared with this cold-hearted rascal; for I like to\u003cbr /\u003euse significant words. Yet only taught to please, women are always\u003cbr /\u003eon the watch to please, and with true heroic ardour endeavour to\u003cbr /\u003egain hearts merely to resign, or spurn them, when the victory is\u003cbr /\u003edecided, and conspicuous.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI must descend to the minutiae of the subject.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI lament that women are systematically degraded by receiving the\u003cbr /\u003etrivial attentions, which men think it manly to pay to the sex,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen, in fact, they are insultingly supporting their own\u003cbr /\u003esuperiority. It is not condescension to bow to an inferior. So\u003cbr /\u003eludicrous, in fact, do these ceremonies appear to me, that I\u003cbr /\u003escarcely am able to govern my muscles, when I see a man start with\u003cbr /\u003eeager, and serious solicitude to lift a handkerchief, or shut a\u003cbr /\u003edoor, when the LADY could have done it herself, had she only moved\u003cbr /\u003ea pace or two.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA wild wish has just flown from my heart to my head, and I will not\u003cbr /\u003estifle it though it may excite a horse laugh. I do earnestly wish\u003cbr /\u003eto see the distinction of sex confounded in society, unless where\u003cbr /\u003elove animates the behaviour. For this distinction is, I am firmly\u003cbr /\u003epersuaded, the foundation of the weakness of character ascribed to\u003cbr /\u003ewoman; is the cause why the understanding is neglected, whilst\u003cbr /\u003eaccomplishments are acquired with sedulous care: and the same\u003cbr /\u003ecause accounts for their preferring the graceful before the heroic\u003cbr /\u003evirtues.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMankind, including every description, wish to be loved and\u003cbr /\u003erespected for SOMETHING; and the common herd will always take the\u003cbr /\u003enearest road to the completion of their wishes. The respect paid\u003cbr /\u003eto wealth and beauty is the most certain and unequivocal; and of\u003cbr /\u003ecourse, will always attract the vulgar eye of common minds.\u003cbr /\u003eAbilities and virtues are absolutely necessary to raise men from\u003cbr /\u003ethe middle rank of life into notice; and the natural consequence is\u003cbr /\u003enotorious, the middle rank contains most virtue and abilities. Men\u003cbr /\u003ehave thus, in one station, at least, an opportunity of exerting\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves with dignity, and of rising by the exertions which\u003cbr /\u003ereally improve a rational creature; but the whole female sex are,\u003cbr /\u003etill their character is formed, in the same condition as the rich:\u003cbr /\u003efor they are born, I now speak of a state of civilization, with\u003cbr /\u003ecertain sexual privileges, and whilst they are gratuitously granted\u003cbr /\u003ethem, few will ever think of works of supererogation, to obtain the\u003cbr /\u003eesteem of a small number of superior people.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen do we hear of women, who starting out of obscurity, boldly\u003cbr /\u003eclaim respect on account of their great abilities or daring\u003cbr /\u003evirtues? Where are they to be found? \u0026quot;To be observed, to be\u003cbr /\u003eattended to, to be taken notice of with sympathy, complacency, and\u003cbr /\u003eapprobation, are all the advantages which they seek.\u0026quot; True! my\u003cbr /\u003emale readers will probably exclaim; but let them, before they draw\u003cbr /\u003eany conclusion, recollect, that this was not written originally as\u003cbr /\u003edescriptive of women, but of the rich. In Dr. Smith\u0026#39;s Theory of\u003cbr /\u003eMoral Sentiments, I have found a general character of people of\u003cbr /\u003erank and fortune, that in my opinion, might with the greatest\u003cbr /\u003epropriety be applied to the female sex. I refer the sagacious\u003cbr /\u003ereader to the whole comparison; but must be allowed to quote a\u003cbr /\u003epassage to enforce an argument that I mean to insist on, as the one\u003cbr /\u003emost conclusive against a sexual character. For if, excepting\u003cbr /\u003ewarriors, no great men of any denomination, have ever appeared\u003cbr /\u003eamongst the nobility, may it not be fairly inferred, that their\u003cbr /\u003elocal situation swallowed up the man, and produced a character\u003cbr /\u003esimilar to that of women, who are LOCALIZED, if I may be allowed\u003cbr /\u003ethe word, by the rank they are placed in, by COURTESY? Women,\u003cbr /\u003ecommonly called Ladies, are not to be contradicted in company, are\u003cbr /\u003enot allowed to exert any manual strength; and from them the\u003cbr /\u003enegative virtues only are expected, when any virtues are expected,\u003cbr /\u003epatience, docility, good-humour, and flexibility; virtues\u003cbr /\u003eincompatible with any vigorous exertion of intellect. Besides by\u003cbr /\u003eliving more with each other, and to being seldom absolutely alone,\u003cbr /\u003ethey are more under the influence of sentiments than passions.\u003cbr /\u003eSolitude and reflection are necessary to give to wishes the force\u003cbr /\u003eof passions, and enable the imagination to enlarge the object and\u003cbr /\u003emake it the most desirable. The same may be said of the rich; they\u003cbr /\u003edo not sufficiently deal in general ideas, collected by\u003cbr /\u003eimpassionate thinking, or calm investigation, to acquire that\u003cbr /\u003estrength of character, on which great resolves are built. But hear\u003cbr /\u003ewhat an acute observer says of the great.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Do the great seem insensible of the easy price at which they may\u003cbr /\u003eacquire the public admiration? or do they seem to imagine, that to\u003cbr /\u003ethem, as to other men, it must be the purchase either of sweat or\u003cbr /\u003eof blood? By what important accomplishments is the young nobleman\u003cbr /\u003einstructed to support the dignity of his rank, and to render\u003cbr /\u003ehimself worthy of that superiority over his fellow citizens, to\u003cbr /\u003ewhich the virtue of his ancestors had raised them? Is it by\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge, by industry, by patience, by self-denial, or by virtue\u003cbr /\u003eof any kind? As all his words, as all his motions are attended to,\u003cbr /\u003ehe learns an habitual regard for every circumstance of ordinary\u003cbr /\u003ebehaviour, and studies to perform all those small duties with the\u003cbr /\u003emost exact propriety. As he is conscious how much he is observed,\u003cbr /\u003eand how much mankind are disposed to favour all his inclinations,\u003cbr /\u003ehe acts, upon the most indifferent occasions, with that freedom and\u003cbr /\u003eelevation which the thought of this naturally inspires. His air,\u003cbr /\u003ehis manner, his deportment all mark that elegant and graceful sense\u003cbr /\u003eof his own superiority, which those who are born to an inferior\u003cbr /\u003estation can hardly ever arrive at. These are the arts by which he\u003cbr /\u003eproposes to make mankind more easily submit to his authority, and\u003cbr /\u003eto govern their inclinations according to his own pleasure: and in\u003cbr /\u003ethis he is seldom disappointed. These arts, supported by rank and\u003cbr /\u003epre-eminence, are, upon ordinary occasions, sufficient to govern\u003cbr /\u003ethe world. Lewis XIV. during the greater part of his reign, was\u003cbr /\u003eregarded, not only in France, but over all Europe, as the most\u003cbr /\u003eperfect model of a great prince. But what were the talents and\u003cbr /\u003evirtues, by which he acquired this great reputation? Was it by the\u003cbr /\u003escrupulous and inflexible justice of all his undertakings, by the\u003cbr /\u003eimmense dangers and difficulties with which they were attended, or\u003cbr /\u003eby the unwearied and unrelenting application with which he pursued\u003cbr /\u003ethem? Was it by his extensive knowledge, by his exquisite\u003cbr /\u003ejudgment, or by his heroic valour? It was by none of these\u003cbr /\u003equalities. But he was, first of all, the most powerful prince in\u003cbr /\u003eEurope, and consequently held the highest rank among kings; and\u003cbr /\u003ethen, says his historian, \u0026#39;he surpassed all his courtiers in the\u003cbr /\u003egracefulness of his shape, and the majestic beauty of his features.\u003cbr /\u003eThe sound of his voice noble and affecting, gained those hearts\u003cbr /\u003ewhich his presence intimidated. He had a step and a deportment,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich could suit only him and his rank, and which would have been\u003cbr /\u003eridiculous in any other person. The embarrassment which he\u003cbr /\u003eoccasioned to those who spoke to him, flattered that secret\u003cbr /\u003esatisfaction with which he felt his own superiority.\u0026#39; These\u003cbr /\u003efrivolous accomplishments, supported by his rank, and, no doubt,\u003cbr /\u003etoo, by a degree of other talents and virtues, which seems,\u003cbr /\u003ehowever, not to have been much above mediocrity, established this\u003cbr /\u003eprince in the esteem of his own age, and have drawn even from\u003cbr /\u003eposterity, a good deal of respect for his memory. Compared with\u003cbr /\u003ethese, in his own times, and in his own presence, no other virtue,\u003cbr /\u003eit seems, appeared to have any merit. Knowledge, industry, valour,\u003cbr /\u003eand beneficence, trembling, were abashed, and lost all dignity\u003cbr /\u003ebefore them.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWoman, also, thus \u0026quot;in herself complete,\u0026quot; by possessing all these\u003cbr /\u003eFRIVOLOUS accomplishments, so changes the nature of things,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e–\u0026quot;That what she wills to do or say\u003cbr /\u003eSeems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best;\u003cbr /\u003eAll higher knowledge in HER PRESENCE falls\u003cbr /\u003eDegraded. Wisdom in discourse with her\u003cbr /\u003eLoses discountenanc\u0026#39;d, and like folly shows;\u003cbr /\u003eAuthority and reason on her wait.\u0026quot;–\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd all this is built on her loveliness!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the middle rank of life, to continue the comparison, men, in\u003cbr /\u003etheir youth, are prepared for professions, and marriage is not\u003cbr /\u003econsidered as the grand feature in their lives; whilst women, on\u003cbr /\u003ethe contrary, have no other scheme to sharpen their faculties. It\u003cbr /\u003eis not business, extensive plans, or any of the excursive flights\u003cbr /\u003eof ambition, that engross their attention; no, their thoughts are\u003cbr /\u003enot employed in rearing such noble structures. To rise in the\u003cbr /\u003eworld, and have the liberty of running from pleasure to pleasure,\u003cbr /\u003ethey must marry advantageously, and to this object their time is\u003cbr /\u003esacrificed, and their persons often legally prostituted. A man,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen he enters any profession, has his eye steadily fixed on some\u003cbr /\u003efuture advantage (and the mind gains great strength by having all\u003cbr /\u003eits efforts directed to one point) and, full of his business,\u003cbr /\u003epleasure is considered as mere relaxation; whilst women seek for\u003cbr /\u003epleasure as the main purpose of existence. In fact, from the\u003cbr /\u003eeducation which they receive from society, the love of pleasure may\u003cbr /\u003ebe said to govern them all; but does this prove that there is a sex\u003cbr /\u003ein souls? It would be just as rational to declare, that the\u003cbr /\u003ecourtiers in France, when a destructive system of despotism had\u003cbr /\u003eformed their character, were not men, because liberty, virtue, and\u003cbr /\u003ehumanity, were sacrificed to pleasure and vanity. Fatal passions,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich have ever domineered over the WHOLE race!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe same love of pleasure, fostered by the whole tendency of their\u003cbr /\u003eeducation, gives a trifling turn to the conduct of women in most\u003cbr /\u003ecircumstances: for instance, they are ever anxious about secondary\u003cbr /\u003ethings; and on the watch for adventures, instead of being occupied\u003cbr /\u003eby duties.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA man, when he undertakes a journey, has, in general the end in\u003cbr /\u003eview; a woman thinks more of the incidental occurrences, the\u003cbr /\u003estrange things that may possibly occur on the road; the impression\u003cbr /\u003ethat she may make on her fellow travellers; and, above all, she is\u003cbr /\u003eanxiously intent on the care of the finery that she carries with\u003cbr /\u003eher, which is more than ever a part of herself, when going to\u003cbr /\u003efigure on a new scene; when, to use an apt French turn of\u003cbr /\u003eexpression, she is going to produce a sensation. Can dignity of\u003cbr /\u003emind exist with such trivial cares?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn short, women, in general, as well as the rich of both sexes,\u003cbr /\u003ehave acquired all the follies and vices of civilization, and missed\u003cbr /\u003ethe useful fruit. It is not necessary for me always to premise,\u003cbr /\u003ethat I speak of the condition of the whole sex, leaving exceptions\u003cbr /\u003eout of the question. Their senses are inflamed, and their\u003cbr /\u003eunderstandings neglected; consequently they become the prey of\u003cbr /\u003etheir senses, delicately termed sensibility, and are blown about by\u003cbr /\u003eevery momentary gust of feeling. They are, therefore, in a much\u003cbr /\u003eworse condition than they would be in, were they in a state nearer\u003cbr /\u003eto nature. Ever restless and anxious, their over exercised\u003cbr /\u003esensibility not only renders them uncomfortable themselves, but\u003cbr /\u003etroublesome, to use a soft phrase, to others. All their thoughts\u003cbr /\u003eturn on things calculated to excite emotion; and, feeling, when\u003cbr /\u003ethey should reason, their conduct is unstable, and their opinions\u003cbr /\u003eare wavering, not the wavering produced by deliberation or\u003cbr /\u003eprogressive views, but by contradictory emotions. By fits and\u003cbr /\u003estarts they are warm in many pursuits; yet this warmth, never\u003cbr /\u003econcentrated into perseverance, soon exhausts itself; exhaled by\u003cbr /\u003eits own heat, or meeting with some other fleeting passion, to which\u003cbr /\u003ereason has never given any specific gravity, neutrality ensues.\u003cbr /\u003eMiserable, indeed, must be that being whose cultivation of mind has\u003cbr /\u003eonly tended to inflame its passions! A distinction should be made\u003cbr /\u003ebetween inflaming and strengthening them. The passions thus\u003cbr /\u003epampered, whilst the judgment is left unformed, what can be\u003cbr /\u003eexpected to ensue? Undoubtedly, a mixture of madness and folly!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis observation should not be confined to the FAIR sex; however,\u003cbr /\u003eat present, I only mean to apply it to them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNovels, music, poetry and gallantry, all tend to make women the\u003cbr /\u003ecreatures of sensation, and their character is thus formed during\u003cbr /\u003ethe time they are acquiring accomplishments, the only improvement\u003cbr /\u003ethey are excited, by their station in society, to acquire. This\u003cbr /\u003eoverstretched sensibility naturally relaxes the other powers of the\u003cbr /\u003emind, and prevents intellect from attaining that sovereignty which\u003cbr /\u003eit ought to attain, to render a rational creature useful to others,\u003cbr /\u003eand content with its own station; for the exercise of the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, as life advances, is the only method pointed out by\u003cbr /\u003enature to calm the passions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSatiety has a very different effect, and I have often been forcibly\u003cbr /\u003estruck by an emphatical description of damnation, when the spirit\u003cbr /\u003eis represented as continually hovering with abortive eagerness\u003cbr /\u003eround the defiled body, unable to enjoy any thing without the\u003cbr /\u003eorgans of sense. Yet, to their senses, are women made slaves,\u003cbr /\u003ebecause it is by their sensibility that they obtain present power.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd will moralists pretend to assert, that this is the condition in\u003cbr /\u003ewhich one half of the human race should be encouraged to remain\u003cbr /\u003ewith listless inactivity and stupid acquiescence? Kind\u003cbr /\u003einstructors! what were we created for? To remain, it may be said,\u003cbr /\u003einnocent; they mean in a state of childhood. We might as well\u003cbr /\u003enever have been born, unless it were necessary that we should be\u003cbr /\u003ecreated to enable man to acquire the noble privilege of reason, the\u003cbr /\u003epower of discerning good from evil, whilst we lie down in the dust\u003cbr /\u003efrom whence we were taken, never to rise again.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt would be an endless task to trace the variety of meannesses,\u003cbr /\u003ecares, and sorrows, into which women are plunged by the prevailing\u003cbr /\u003eopinion, that they were created rather to feel than reason, and\u003cbr /\u003ethat all the power they obtain, must be obtained by their charms\u003cbr /\u003eand weakness;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Fine by defect, and amiably weak!\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd, made by this amiable weakness entirely dependent, excepting\u003cbr /\u003ewhat they gain by illicit sway, on man, not only for protection,\u003cbr /\u003ebut advice, is it surprising that, neglecting the duties that\u003cbr /\u003ereason alone points out, and shrinking from trials calculated to\u003cbr /\u003estrengthen their minds, they only exert themselves to give their\u003cbr /\u003edefects a graceful covering, which may serve to heighten their\u003cbr /\u003echarms in the eye of the voluptuary, though it sink them below the\u003cbr /\u003escale of moral excellence?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFragile in every sense of the word, they are obliged to look up to\u003cbr /\u003eman for every comfort. In the most trifling dangers they cling to\u003cbr /\u003etheir support, with parasitical tenacity, piteously demanding\u003cbr /\u003esuccour; and their NATURAL protector extends his arm, or lifts up\u003cbr /\u003ehis voice, to guard the lovely trembler–from what? Perhaps the\u003cbr /\u003efrown of an old cow, or the jump of a mouse; a rat, would be a\u003cbr /\u003eserious danger. In the name of reason, and even common sense, what\u003cbr /\u003ecan save such beings from contempt; even though they be soft and\u003cbr /\u003efair?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese fears, when not affected, may be very pretty; but they shew a\u003cbr /\u003edegree of imbecility, that degrades a rational creature in a way\u003cbr /\u003ewomen are not aware of–for love and esteem are very distinct\u003cbr /\u003ethings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI am fully persuaded, that we should hear of none of these\u003cbr /\u003einfantine airs, if girls were allowed to take sufficient exercise\u003cbr /\u003eand not confined in close rooms till their muscles are relaxed and\u003cbr /\u003etheir powers of digestion destroyed. To carry the remark still\u003cbr /\u003efurther, if fear in girls, instead of being cherished, perhaps,\u003cbr /\u003ecreated, were treated in the same manner as cowardice in boys, we\u003cbr /\u003eshould quickly see women with more dignified aspects. It is true,\u003cbr /\u003ethey could not then with equal propriety be termed the sweet\u003cbr /\u003eflowers that smile in the walk of man; but they would be more\u003cbr /\u003erespectable members of society, and discharge the important duties\u003cbr /\u003eof life by the light of their own reason. \u0026quot;Educate women like\u003cbr /\u003emen,\u0026quot; says Rousseau, \u0026quot;and the more they resemble our sex the less\u003cbr /\u003epower will they have over us.\u0026quot; This is the very point I aim at. I\u003cbr /\u003edo not wish them to have power over men; but over themselves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the same strain have I heard men argue against instructing the\u003cbr /\u003epoor; for many are the forms that aristocracy assumes. \u0026quot;Teach them\u003cbr /\u003eto read and write,\u0026quot; say they, \u0026quot;and you take them out of the station\u003cbr /\u003eassigned them by nature.\u0026quot; An eloquent Frenchman, has answered\u003cbr /\u003ethem; I will borrow his sentiments. But they know not, when they\u003cbr /\u003emake man a brute, that they may expect every instant to see him\u003cbr /\u003etransformed into a ferocious beast. Without knowledge there can be\u003cbr /\u003eno morality!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIgnorance is a frail base for virtue! Yet, that it is the\u003cbr /\u003econdition for which woman was organized, has been insisted upon by\u003cbr /\u003ethe writers who have most vehemently argued in favour of the\u003cbr /\u003esuperiority of man; a superiority not in degree, but essence;\u003cbr /\u003ethough, to soften the argument, they have laboured to prove, with\u003cbr /\u003echivalrous generosity, that the sexes ought not to be compared; man\u003cbr /\u003ewas made to reason, woman to feel: and that together, flesh and\u003cbr /\u003espirit, they make the most perfect whole, by blending happily\u003cbr /\u003ereason and sensibility into one character.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd what is sensibility? \u0026quot;Quickness of sensation; quickness of\u003cbr /\u003eperception; delicacy.\u0026quot; Thus is it defined by Dr. Johnson; and the\u003cbr /\u003edefinition gives me no other idea than of the most exquisitely\u003cbr /\u003epolished instinct. I discern not a trace of the image of God in\u003cbr /\u003eeither sensation or matter. Refined seventy times seven, they are\u003cbr /\u003estill material; intellect dwells not there; nor will fire ever make\u003cbr /\u003elead gold!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI come round to my old argument; if woman be allowed to have an\u003cbr /\u003eimmortal soul, she must have as the employment of life, an\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding to improve. And when, to render the present state\u003cbr /\u003emore complete, though every thing proves it to be but a fraction of\u003cbr /\u003ea mighty sum, she is incited by present gratification to forget her\u003cbr /\u003egrand destination. Nature is counteracted, or she was born only to\u003cbr /\u003eprocreate and rot. Or, granting brutes, of every description, a\u003cbr /\u003esoul, though not a reasonable one, the exercise of instinct and\u003cbr /\u003esensibility may be the step, which they are to take, in this life,\u003cbr /\u003etowards the attainment of reason in the next; so that through all\u003cbr /\u003eeternity they will lag behind man, who, why we cannot tell, had the\u003cbr /\u003epower given him of attaining reason in his first mode of existence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen I treat of the peculiar duties of women, as I should treat of\u003cbr /\u003ethe peculiar duties of a citizen or father, it will be found that I\u003cbr /\u003edo not mean to insinuate, that they should be taken out of their\u003cbr /\u003efamilies, speaking of the majority. \u0026quot;He that hath wife and\u003cbr /\u003echildren,\u0026quot; says Lord Bacon, \u0026quot;hath given hostages to fortune; for\u003cbr /\u003ethey are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or\u003cbr /\u003emischief. Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the\u003cbr /\u003epublic, have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men.\u0026quot; I say\u003cbr /\u003ethe same of women. But, the welfare of society is not built on\u003cbr /\u003eextraordinary exertions; and were it more reasonably organized,\u003cbr /\u003ethere would be still less need of great abilities, or heroic\u003cbr /\u003evirtues. In the regulation of a family, in the education of\u003cbr /\u003echildren, understanding, in an unsophisticated sense, is\u003cbr /\u003eparticularly required: strength both of body and mind; yet the men\u003cbr /\u003ewho, by their writings, have most earnestly laboured to domesticate\u003cbr /\u003ewomen, have endeavoured by arguments dictated by a gross appetite,\u003cbr /\u003ethat satiety had rendered fastidious, to weaken their bodies and\u003cbr /\u003ecramp their minds. But, if even by these sinister methods they\u003cbr /\u003ereally PERSUADED women, by working on their feelings, to stay at\u003cbr /\u003ehome, and fulfil the duties of a mother and mistress of a family, I\u003cbr /\u003eshould cautiously oppose opinions that led women to right conduct,\u003cbr /\u003eby prevailing on them to make the discharge of a duty the business\u003cbr /\u003eof life, though reason were insulted. Yet, and I appeal to\u003cbr /\u003eexperience, if by neglecting the understanding they are as much,\u003cbr /\u003enay, more attached from these domestic duties, than they could be\u003cbr /\u003eby the most serious intellectual pursuit, though it may be\u003cbr /\u003eobserved, that the mass of mankind will never vigorously pursue an\u003cbr /\u003eintellectual object, I may be allowed to infer, that reason is\u003cbr /\u003eabsolutely necessary to enable a woman to perform any duty\u003cbr /\u003eproperly, and I must again repeat, that sensibility is not reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe comparison with the rich still occurs to me; for, when men\u003cbr /\u003eneglect the duties of humanity, women will do the same; a common\u003cbr /\u003estream hurries them both along with thoughtless celerity. Riches\u003cbr /\u003eand honours prevent a man from enlarging his understanding, and\u003cbr /\u003eenervate all his powers, by reversing the order of nature, which\u003cbr /\u003ehas ever made true pleasure the reward of labour.\u003cbr /\u003ePleasure–enervating pleasure is, likewise, within woman\u0026#39;s reach\u003cbr /\u003ewithout earning it. But, till hereditary possessions are spread\u003cbr /\u003eabroad, how can we expect men to be proud of virtue? And, till\u003cbr /\u003ethey are, women will govern them by the most direct means,\u003cbr /\u003eneglecting their dull domestic duties, to catch the pleasure that\u003cbr /\u003eis on the wing of time.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;The power of women,\u0026quot; says some author, \u0026quot;is her sensibility;\u0026quot; and\u003cbr /\u003emen not aware of the consequence, do all they can to make this\u003cbr /\u003epower swallow up every other. Those who constantly employ their\u003cbr /\u003esensibility will have most: for example; poets, painters, and\u003cbr /\u003ecomposers. Yet, when the sensibility is thus increased at the\u003cbr /\u003eexpense of reason, and even the imagination, why do philosophical\u003cbr /\u003emen complain of their fickleness? The sexual attention of man\u003cbr /\u003eparticularly acts on female sensibility, and this sympathy has been\u003cbr /\u003eexercised from their youth up. A husband cannot long pay those\u003cbr /\u003eattentions with the passion necessary to excite lively emotions,\u003cbr /\u003eand the heart, accustomed to lively emotions, turns to a new lover,\u003cbr /\u003eor pines in secret, the prey of virtue or prudence. I mean when\u003cbr /\u003ethe heart has really been rendered susceptible, and the taste\u003cbr /\u003eformed; for I am apt to conclude, from what I have seen in\u003cbr /\u003efashionable life, that vanity is oftener fostered than sensibility\u003cbr /\u003eby the mode of education, and the intercourse between the sexes,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich I have reprobated; and that coquetry more frequently proceeds\u003cbr /\u003efrom vanity than from that inconstancy, which overstrained\u003cbr /\u003esensibility naturally produces.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnother argument that has had a great weight with me, must, I\u003cbr /\u003ethink, have some force with every considerate benevolent heart.\u003cbr /\u003eGirls, who have been thus weakly educated, are often cruelly left\u003cbr /\u003eby their parents without any provision; and, of course, are\u003cbr /\u003edependent on, not only the reason, but the bounty of their\u003cbr /\u003ebrothers. These brothers are, to view the fairest side of the\u003cbr /\u003equestion, good sort of men, and give as a favour, what children of\u003cbr /\u003ethe same parents had an equal right to. In this equivocal\u003cbr /\u003ehumiliating situation, a docile female may remain some time, with a\u003cbr /\u003etolerable degree of comfort. But, when the brother marries, a\u003cbr /\u003eprobable circumstance, from being considered as the mistress of the\u003cbr /\u003efamily, she is viewed with averted looks as an intruder, an\u003cbr /\u003eunnecessary burden on the benevolence of the master of the house,\u003cbr /\u003eand his new partner.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWho can recount the misery, which many unfortunate beings, whose\u003cbr /\u003eminds and bodies are equally weak, suffer in such\u003cbr /\u003esituations–unable to work and ashamed to beg? The wife, a\u003cbr /\u003ecold-hearted, narrow-minded woman, and this is not an unfair\u003cbr /\u003esupposition; for the present mode of education does not tend to\u003cbr /\u003eenlarge the heart any more than the understanding, is jealous of\u003cbr /\u003ethe little kindness which her husband shows to his relations; and\u003cbr /\u003eher sensibility not rising to humanity, she is displeased at seeing\u003cbr /\u003ethe property of HER children lavished on an helpless sister.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese are matters of fact, which have come under my eye again and\u003cbr /\u003eagain. The consequence is obvious, the wife has recourse to\u003cbr /\u003ecunning to undermine the habitual affection, which she is afraid\u003cbr /\u003eopenly to oppose; and neither tears nor caresses are spared till\u003cbr /\u003ethe spy is worked out of her home, and thrown on the world,\u003cbr /\u003eunprepared for its difficulties; or sent, as a great effort of\u003cbr /\u003egenerosity, or from some regard to propriety, with a small stipend,\u003cbr /\u003eand an uncultivated mind into joyless solitude.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese two women may be much upon a par, with respect to reason and\u003cbr /\u003ehumanity; and changing situations, might have acted just the same\u003cbr /\u003eselfish part; but had they been differently educated, the case\u003cbr /\u003ewould also have been very different. The wife would not have had\u003cbr /\u003ethat sensibility, of which self is the centre, and reason might\u003cbr /\u003ehave taught her not to expect, and not even to be flattered by the\u003cbr /\u003eaffection of her husband, if it led him to violate prior duties.\u003cbr /\u003eShe would wish not to love him, merely because he loved her, but on\u003cbr /\u003eaccount of his virtues; and the sister might have been able to\u003cbr /\u003estruggle for herself, instead of eating the bitter bread of\u003cbr /\u003edependence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI am, indeed, persuaded that the heart, as well as the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, is opened by cultivation; and by, which may not\u003cbr /\u003eappear so clear, strengthening the organs; I am not now talking of\u003cbr /\u003emomentary flashes of sensibility, but of affections. And, perhaps,\u003cbr /\u003ein the education of both sexes, the most difficult task is so to\u003cbr /\u003eadjust instruction as not to narrow the understanding, whilst the\u003cbr /\u003eheart is warmed by the generous juices of spring, just raised by\u003cbr /\u003ethe electric fermentation of the season; nor to dry up the feelings\u003cbr /\u003eby employing the mind in investigations remote from life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith respect to women, when they receive a careful education, they\u003cbr /\u003eare either made fine ladies, brimful of sensibility, and teeming\u003cbr /\u003ewith capricious fancies; or mere notable women. The latter are\u003cbr /\u003eoften friendly, honest creatures, and have a shrewd kind of good\u003cbr /\u003esense joined with worldly prudence, that often render them more\u003cbr /\u003euseful members of society than the fine sentimental lady, though\u003cbr /\u003ethey possess neither greatness of mind nor taste. The intellectual\u003cbr /\u003eworld is shut against them; take them out of their family or\u003cbr /\u003eneighbourhood, and they stand still; the mind finding no\u003cbr /\u003eemployment, for literature affords a fund of amusement, which they\u003cbr /\u003ehave never sought to relish, but frequently to despise. The\u003cbr /\u003esentiments and taste of more cultivated minds appear ridiculous,\u003cbr /\u003eeven in those whom chance and family connexions have led them to\u003cbr /\u003elove; but in mere acquaintance they think it all affectation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA man of sense can only love such a woman on account of her sex,\u003cbr /\u003eand respect her, because she is a trusty servant. He lets her, to\u003cbr /\u003epreserve his own peace, scold the servants, and go to church in\u003cbr /\u003eclothes made of the very best materials. A man of her own size of\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding would, probably, not agree so well with her; for he\u003cbr /\u003emight wish to encroach on her prerogative, and manage some domestic\u003cbr /\u003econcerns himself. Yet women, whose minds are not enlarged by\u003cbr /\u003ecultivation, or the natural selfishness of sensibility expanded by\u003cbr /\u003ereflection, are very unfit to manage a family; for by an undue\u003cbr /\u003estretch of power, they are always tyrannizing to support a\u003cbr /\u003esuperiority that only rests on the arbitrary distinction of\u003cbr /\u003efortune. The evil is sometimes more serious, and domestics are\u003cbr /\u003edeprived of innocent indulgences, and made to work beyond their\u003cbr /\u003estrength, in order to enable the notable woman to keep a better\u003cbr /\u003etable, and outshine her neighbours in finery and parade. If she\u003cbr /\u003eattend to her children, it is, in general, to dress them in a\u003cbr /\u003ecostly manner–and, whether, this attention arises from vanity or\u003cbr /\u003efondness, it is equally pernicious.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, how many women of this description pass their days, or, at\u003cbr /\u003eleast their evenings, discontentedly. Their husbands acknowledge\u003cbr /\u003ethat they are good managers, and chaste wives; but leave home to\u003cbr /\u003eseek for more agreeable, may I be allowed to use a significant\u003cbr /\u003eFrench word, piquant society; and the patient drudge, who fulfils\u003cbr /\u003eher task, like a blind horse in a mill, is defrauded of her just\u003cbr /\u003ereward; for the wages due to her are the caresses of her husband;\u003cbr /\u003eand women who have so few resources in themselves, do not very\u003cbr /\u003epatiently bear this privation of a natural right.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA fine lady, on the contrary, has been taught to look down with\u003cbr /\u003econtempt on the vulgar employments of life; though she has only\u003cbr /\u003ebeen incited to acquire accomplishments that rise a degree above\u003cbr /\u003esense; for even corporeal accomplishments cannot be acquired with\u003cbr /\u003eany degree of precision, unless the understanding has been\u003cbr /\u003estrengthened by exercise. Without a foundation of principles taste\u003cbr /\u003eis superficial; and grace must arise from something deeper than\u003cbr /\u003eimitation. The imagination, however, is heated, and the feelings\u003cbr /\u003erendered fastidious, if not sophisticated; or, a counterpoise of\u003cbr /\u003ejudgment is not acquired, when the heart still remains artless,\u003cbr /\u003ethough it becomes too tender.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese women are often amiable; and their hearts are really more\u003cbr /\u003esensible to general benevolence, more alive to the sentiments that\u003cbr /\u003ecivilize life, than the square elbowed family drudge; but, wanting\u003cbr /\u003ea due proportion of reflection and self-government, they only\u003cbr /\u003einspire love; and are the mistresses of their husbands, whilst they\u003cbr /\u003ehave any hold on their affections; and the platonic friends of his\u003cbr /\u003emale acquaintance. These are the fair defects in nature; the women\u003cbr /\u003ewho appear to be created not to enjoy the fellowship of man, but to\u003cbr /\u003esave him from sinking into absolute brutality, by rubbing off the\u003cbr /\u003erough angles of his character; and by playful dalliance to give\u003cbr /\u003esome dignity to the appetite that draws him to them. Gracious\u003cbr /\u003eCreator of the whole human race! hast thou created such a being as\u003cbr /\u003ewoman, who can trace thy wisdom in thy works, and feel that thou\u003cbr /\u003ealone art by thy nature, exalted above her–for no better purpose?\u003cbr /\u003eCan she believe that she was only made to submit to man her equal;\u003cbr /\u003ea being, who, like her, was sent into the world to acquire virtue?\u003cbr /\u003eCan she consent to be occupied merely to please him; merely to\u003cbr /\u003eadorn the earth, when her soul is capable of rising to thee? And\u003cbr /\u003ecan she rest supinely dependent on man for reason, when she ought\u003cbr /\u003eto mount with him the arduous steeps of knowledge?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYet, if love be the supreme good, let women be only educated to\u003cbr /\u003einspire it, and let every charm be polished to intoxicate the\u003cbr /\u003esenses; but, if they are moral beings, let them have a chance to\u003cbr /\u003ebecome intelligent; and let love to man be only a part of that\u003cbr /\u003eglowing flame of universal love, which, after encircling humanity,\u003cbr /\u003emounts in grateful incense to God.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo fulfil domestic duties much resolution is necessary, and a\u003cbr /\u003eserious kind of perseverance that requires a more firm support than\u003cbr /\u003eemotions, however lively and true to nature. To give an example of\u003cbr /\u003eorder, the soul of virtue, some austerity of behaviour must be\u003cbr /\u003eadopted, scarcely to be expected from a being who, from its\u003cbr /\u003einfancy, has been made the weathercock of its own sensations.\u003cbr /\u003eWhoever rationally means to be useful, must have a plan of conduct;\u003cbr /\u003eand, in the discharge of the simplest duty, we are often obliged to\u003cbr /\u003eact contrary to the present impulse of tenderness or compassion.\u003cbr /\u003eSeverity is frequently the most certain, as well as the most\u003cbr /\u003esublime proof of affection; and the want of this power over the\u003cbr /\u003efeelings, and of that lofty, dignified affection, which makes a\u003cbr /\u003eperson prefer the future good of the beloved object to a present\u003cbr /\u003egratification, is the reason why so many fond mothers spoil their\u003cbr /\u003echildren, and has made it questionable, whether negligence or\u003cbr /\u003eindulgence is most hurtful: but I am inclined to think, that the\u003cbr /\u003elatter has done most harm.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMankind seem to agree, that children should be left under the\u003cbr /\u003emanagement of women during their childhood. Now, from all the\u003cbr /\u003eobservation that I have been able to make, women of sensibility are\u003cbr /\u003ethe most unfit for this task, because they will infallibly, carried\u003cbr /\u003eaway by their feelings, spoil a child\u0026#39;s temper. The management of\u003cbr /\u003ethe temper, the first and most important branch of education,\u003cbr /\u003erequires the sober steady eye of reason; a plan of conduct equally\u003cbr /\u003edistant from tyranny and indulgence; yet these are the extremes\u003cbr /\u003ethat people of sensibility alternately fall into; always shooting\u003cbr /\u003ebeyond the mark. I have followed this train of reasoning much\u003cbr /\u003efurther, till I have concluded, that a person of genius is the most\u003cbr /\u003eimproper person to be employed in education, public or private.\u003cbr /\u003eMinds of this rare species see things too much in masses, and\u003cbr /\u003eseldom, if ever, have a good temper. That habitual cheerfulness,\u003cbr /\u003etermed good humour, is, perhaps, as seldom united with great mental\u003cbr /\u003epowers, as with strong feelings. And those people who follow, with\u003cbr /\u003einterest and admiration, the flights of genius; or, with cooler\u003cbr /\u003eapprobation suck in the instruction, which has been elaborately\u003cbr /\u003eprepared for them by the profound thinker, ought not to be\u003cbr /\u003edisgusted, if they find the former choleric, and the latter morose;\u003cbr /\u003ebecause liveliness of fancy, and a tenacious comprehension of mind,\u003cbr /\u003eare scarcely compatible with that pliant urbanity which leads a\u003cbr /\u003eman, at least to bend to the opinions and prejudices of others,\u003cbr /\u003einstead of roughly confronting them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, treating of education or manners, minds of a superior class\u003cbr /\u003eare not to be considered, they may be left to chance; it is the\u003cbr /\u003emultitude, with moderate abilities, who call for instruction, and\u003cbr /\u003ecatch the colour of the atmosphere they breathe. This respectable\u003cbr /\u003econcourse, I contend, men and women, should not have their\u003cbr /\u003esensations heightened in the hot-bed of luxurious indolence, at the\u003cbr /\u003eexpence of their understanding; for, unless there be a ballast of\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, they will never become either virtuous or free: an\u003cbr /\u003earistocracy, founded on property, or sterling talents, will ever\u003cbr /\u003esweep before it, the alternately timid and ferocious slaves of\u003cbr /\u003efeeling.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNumberless are the arguments, to take another view of the subject,\u003cbr /\u003ebrought forward with a show of reason; because supposed to be\u003cbr /\u003ededuced from nature, that men have used morally and physically to\u003cbr /\u003edegrade the sex. I must notice a few.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe female understanding has often been spoken of with contempt, as\u003cbr /\u003earriving sooner at maturity than the male. I shall not answer this\u003cbr /\u003eargument by alluding to the early proofs of reason, as well as\u003cbr /\u003egenius, in Cowley, Milton, and Pope, (Many other names might be\u003cbr /\u003eadded.) but only appeal to experience to decide whether young men,\u003cbr /\u003ewho are early introduced into company (and examples now abound) do\u003cbr /\u003enot acquire the same precocity. So notorious is this fact, that\u003cbr /\u003ethe bare mentioning of it must bring before people, who at all mix\u003cbr /\u003ein the world, the idea of a number of swaggering apes of men whose\u003cbr /\u003eunderstandings are narrowed by being brought into the society of\u003cbr /\u003emen when they ought to have been spinning a top or twirling a hoop.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt has also been asserted, by some naturalists, that men do not\u003cbr /\u003eattain their full growth and strength till thirty; but that women\u003cbr /\u003earrive at maturity by twenty. I apprehend that they reason on\u003cbr /\u003efalse ground, led astray by the male prejudice, which deems beauty\u003cbr /\u003ethe perfection of woman–mere beauty of features and complexion,\u003cbr /\u003ethe vulgar acceptation of the world, whilst male beauty is allowed\u003cbr /\u003eto have some connexion with the mind. Strength of body, and that\u003cbr /\u003echaracter of countenance, which the French term a physionomie,\u003cbr /\u003ewomen do not acquire before thirty, any more than men. The little\u003cbr /\u003eartless tricks of children, it is true, are particularly pleasing\u003cbr /\u003eand attractive; yet, when the pretty freshness of youth is worn\u003cbr /\u003eoff, these artless graces become studied airs, and disgust every\u003cbr /\u003eperson of taste. In the countenance of girls we only look for\u003cbr /\u003evivacity and bashful modesty; but, the springtide of life over, we\u003cbr /\u003elook for soberer sense in the face, and for traces of passion,\u003cbr /\u003einstead of the dimples of animal spirits; expecting to see\u003cbr /\u003eindividuality of character, the only fastener of the affections.\u003cbr /\u003eWe then wish to converse, not to fondle; to give scope to our\u003cbr /\u003eimaginations, as well as to the sensations of our hearts.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAt twenty the beauty of both sexes is equal; but the libertinism of\u003cbr /\u003eman leads him to make the distinction, and superannuated coquettes\u003cbr /\u003eare commonly of the same opinion; for when they can no longer\u003cbr /\u003einspire love, they pay for the vigour and vivacity of youth. The\u003cbr /\u003eFrench who admit more of mind into their notions of beauty, give\u003cbr /\u003ethe preference to women of thirty. I mean to say, that they allow\u003cbr /\u003ewomen to be in their most perfect state, when vivacity gives place\u003cbr /\u003eto reason, and to that majestic seriousness of character, which\u003cbr /\u003emarks maturity; or, the resting point. In youth, till twenty the\u003cbr /\u003ebody shoots out; till thirty the solids are attaining a degree of\u003cbr /\u003edensity; and the flexible muscles, growing daily more rigid, give\u003cbr /\u003echaracter to the countenance; that is, they trace the operations of\u003cbr /\u003ethe mind with the iron pen of fate, and tell us not only what\u003cbr /\u003epowers are within, but how they have been employed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is proper to observe, that animals who arrive slowly at\u003cbr /\u003ematurity, are the longest lived, and of the noblest species. Men\u003cbr /\u003ecannot, however, claim any natural superiority from the grandeur of\u003cbr /\u003elongevity; for in this respect nature has not distinguished the\u003cbr /\u003emale.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePolygamy is another physical degradation; and a plausible argument\u003cbr /\u003efor a custom, that blasts every domestic virtue, is drawn from the\u003cbr /\u003ewell-attested fact, that in the countries where it is established,\u003cbr /\u003emore females are born than males. This appears to be an indication\u003cbr /\u003eof nature, and to nature apparently reasonable speculations must\u003cbr /\u003eyield. A further conclusion obviously presents itself; if polygamy\u003cbr /\u003ebe necessary, woman must be inferior to man, and made for him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith respect to the formation of the foetus in the womb, we are\u003cbr /\u003every ignorant; but it appears to me probable, that an accidental\u003cbr /\u003ephysical cause may account for this phenomenon, and prove it not to\u003cbr /\u003ebe a law of nature. I have met with some pertinent observations on\u003cbr /\u003ethe subject in Forster\u0026#39;s Account of the Isles of the South Sea,\u003cbr /\u003ethat will explain my meaning. After observing that of the two\u003cbr /\u003esexes amongst animals, the most vigorous and hottest constitution\u003cbr /\u003ealways prevails, and produces its kind; he adds,–\u0026quot;If this be\u003cbr /\u003eapplied to the inhabitants of Africa, it is evident that the men\u003cbr /\u003ethere, accustomed to polygamy, are enervated by the use of so many\u003cbr /\u003ewomen, and therefore less vigorous; the women on the contrary, are\u003cbr /\u003eof a hotter constitution, not only on account of their more\u003cbr /\u003eirritable nerves, more sensitive organization, and more lively\u003cbr /\u003efancy; but likewise because they are deprived in their matrimony of\u003cbr /\u003ethat share of physical love which in a monogamous condition, would\u003cbr /\u003eall be theirs; and thus for the above reasons, the generality of\u003cbr /\u003echildren are born females.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;In the greater part of Europe it has been proved by the most\u003cbr /\u003eaccurate lists of mortality, that the proportion of men to women is\u003cbr /\u003enearly equal, or, if any difference takes place, the males born are\u003cbr /\u003emore numerous, in the proportion of 105 to 100.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe necessity of polygamy, therefore, does not appear; yet when a\u003cbr /\u003eman seduces a woman, it should I think, be termed a LEFT-HANDED\u003cbr /\u003emarriage, and the man should be LEGALLY obliged to maintain the\u003cbr /\u003ewoman and her children, unless adultery, a natural divorcement,\u003cbr /\u003eabrogated the law. And this law should remain in force as long as\u003cbr /\u003ethe weakness of women caused the word seduction to be used as an\u003cbr /\u003eexcuse for their frailty and want of principle; nay, while they\u003cbr /\u003edepend on man for a subsistence, instead of earning it by the\u003cbr /\u003eexercise of their own hands or heads. But these women should not\u003cbr /\u003ein the full meaning of the relationship, be termed wives, or the\u003cbr /\u003every purpose of marriage would be subverted, and all those\u003cbr /\u003eendearing charities that flow from personal fidelity, and give a\u003cbr /\u003esanctity to the tie, when neither love nor friendship unites the\u003cbr /\u003ehearts, would melt into selfishness. The woman who is faithful to\u003cbr /\u003ethe father of her children demands respect, and should not be\u003cbr /\u003etreated like a prostitute; though I readily grant, that if it be\u003cbr /\u003enecessary for a man and woman to live together in order to bring up\u003cbr /\u003etheir offspring, nature never intended that a man should have more\u003cbr /\u003ethan one wife.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eStill, highly as I respect marriage, as the foundation of almost\u003cbr /\u003eevery social virtue, I cannot avoid feeling the most lively\u003cbr /\u003ecompassion for those unfortunate females who are broken off from\u003cbr /\u003esociety, and by one error torn from all those affections and\u003cbr /\u003erelationships that improve the heart and mind. It does not\u003cbr /\u003efrequently even deserve the name of error; for many innocent girls\u003cbr /\u003ebecome the dupes of a sincere affectionate heart, and still more\u003cbr /\u003eare, as it may emphatically be termed, RUINED before they know the\u003cbr /\u003edifference between virtue and vice: and thus prepared by their\u003cbr /\u003eeducation for infamy, they become infamous. Asylums and Magdalens\u003cbr /\u003eare not the proper remedies for these abuses. It is justice, not\u003cbr /\u003echarity, that is wanting in the world!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA woman who has lost her honour, imagines that she cannot fall\u003cbr /\u003elower, and as for recovering her former station, it is impossible;\u003cbr /\u003eno exertion can wash this stain away. Losing thus every spur, and\u003cbr /\u003ehaving no other means of support, prostitution becomes her only\u003cbr /\u003erefuge, and the character is quickly depraved by circumstances over\u003cbr /\u003ewhich the poor wretch has little power, unless she possesses an\u003cbr /\u003euncommon portion of sense and loftiness of spirit. Necessity never\u003cbr /\u003emakes prostitution the business of men\u0026#39;s lives; though numberless\u003cbr /\u003eare the women who are thus rendered systematically vicious. This,\u003cbr /\u003ehowever, arises, in a great degree, from the state of idleness in\u003cbr /\u003ewhich women are educated, who are always taught to look up to man\u003cbr /\u003efor a maintenance, and to consider their persons as the proper\u003cbr /\u003ereturn for his exertions to support them. Meretricious airs, and\u003cbr /\u003ethe whole science of wantonness, has then a more powerful stimulus\u003cbr /\u003ethan either appetite or vanity; and this remark gives force to the\u003cbr /\u003eprevailing opinion, that with chastity all is lost that is\u003cbr /\u003erespectable in woman. Her character depends on the observance of\u003cbr /\u003eone virtue, though the only passion fostered in her heart–is love.\u003cbr /\u003eNay the honour of a woman is not made even to depend on her will.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Richardson makes Clarissa tell Lovelace that he had robbed her\u003cbr /\u003eof her honour, he must have had strange notions of honour and\u003cbr /\u003evirtue. For, miserable beyond all names of misery is the condition\u003cbr /\u003eof a being, who could be degraded without its own consent! This\u003cbr /\u003eexcess of strictness I have heard vindicated as a salutary error.\u003cbr /\u003eI shall answer in the words of Leibnitz–\u0026quot;Errors are often useful;\u003cbr /\u003ebut it is commonly to remedy other errors.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMost of the evils of life arise from a desire of present enjoyment\u003cbr /\u003ethat outruns itself. The obedience required of women in the\u003cbr /\u003emarriage state, comes under this description; the mind, naturally\u003cbr /\u003eweakened by depending on authority, never exerts its own powers,\u003cbr /\u003eand the obedient wife is thus rendered a weak indolent mother. Or,\u003cbr /\u003esupposing that this is not always the consequence, a future state\u003cbr /\u003eof existence is scarcely taken into the reckoning when only\u003cbr /\u003enegative virtues are cultivated. For in treating of morals,\u003cbr /\u003eparticularly when women are alluded to, writers have too often\u003cbr /\u003econsidered virtue in a very limited sense, and made the foundation\u003cbr /\u003eof it SOLELY worldly utility; nay, a still more fragile base has\u003cbr /\u003ebeen given to this stupendous fabric, and the wayward fluctuating\u003cbr /\u003efeelings of men have been made the standard of virtue. Yes, virtue\u003cbr /\u003eas well as religion, has been subjected to the decisions of taste.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt would almost provoke a smile of contempt, if the vain\u003cbr /\u003eabsurdities of man did not strike us on all sides, to observe, how\u003cbr /\u003eeager men are to degrade the sex from whom they pretend to receive\u003cbr /\u003ethe chief pleasure of life; and I have frequently, with full\u003cbr /\u003econviction, retorted Pope\u0026#39;s sarcasm on them; or, to speak\u003cbr /\u003eexplicitly, it has appeared to me applicable to the whole human\u003cbr /\u003erace. A love of pleasure or sway seems to divide mankind, and the\u003cbr /\u003ehusband who lords it in his little harem, thinks only of his\u003cbr /\u003epleasure or his convenience. To such lengths, indeed, does an\u003cbr /\u003eintemperate love of pleasure carry some prudent men, or worn out\u003cbr /\u003elibertines, who marry to have a safe companion, that they seduce\u003cbr /\u003etheir own wives. Hymen banishes modesty, and chaste love takes its\u003cbr /\u003eflight.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLove, considered as an animal appetite, cannot long feed on itself\u003cbr /\u003ewithout expiring. And this extinction, in its own flame, may be\u003cbr /\u003etermed the violent death of love. But the wife who has thus been\u003cbr /\u003erendered licentious, will probably endeavour to fill the void left\u003cbr /\u003eby the loss of her husband\u0026#39;s attentions; for she cannot contentedly\u003cbr /\u003ebecome merely an upper servant after having been treated like a\u003cbr /\u003egoddess. She is still handsome, and, instead of transferring her\u003cbr /\u003efondness to her children, she only dreams of enjoying the sunshine\u003cbr /\u003eof life. Besides, there are many husbands so devoid of sense and\u003cbr /\u003eparental affection, that during the first effervescence of\u003cbr /\u003evoluptuous fondness, they refuse to let their wives suckle their\u003cbr /\u003echildren. They are only to dress and live to please them: and\u003cbr /\u003elove, even innocent love, soon sinks into lasciviousness when the\u003cbr /\u003eexercise of a duty is sacrificed to its indulgence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePersonal attachment is a very happy foundation for friendship; yet,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen even two virtuous young people marry, it would, perhaps, be\u003cbr /\u003ehappy if some circumstance checked their passion; if the\u003cbr /\u003erecollection of some prior attachment, or disappointed affection,\u003cbr /\u003emade it on one side, at least, rather a match founded on esteem.\u003cbr /\u003eIn that case they would look beyond the present moment, and try to\u003cbr /\u003erender the whole of life respectable, by forming a plan to regulate\u003cbr /\u003ea friendship which only death ought to dissolve.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFriendship is a serious affection; the most sublime of all\u003cbr /\u003eaffections, because it is founded on principle, and cemented by\u003cbr /\u003etime. The very reverse may be said of love. In a great degree,\u003cbr /\u003elove and friendship cannot subsist in the same bosom; even when\u003cbr /\u003einspired by different objects they weaken or destroy each other,\u003cbr /\u003eand for the same object can only be felt in succession. The vain\u003cbr /\u003efears and fond jealousies, the winds which fan the flame of love,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen judiciously or artfully tempered, are both incompatible with\u003cbr /\u003ethe tender confidence and sincere respect of friendship.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLove, such as the glowing pen of genius has traced, exists not on\u003cbr /\u003eearth, or only resides in those exalted, fervid imaginations that\u003cbr /\u003ehave sketched such dangerous pictures. Dangerous, because they not\u003cbr /\u003eonly afford a plausible excuse to the voluptuary, who disguises\u003cbr /\u003esheer sensuality under a sentimental veil; but as they spread\u003cbr /\u003eaffectation, and take from the dignity of virtue. Virtue, as the\u003cbr /\u003every word imports, should have an appearance of seriousness, if not\u003cbr /\u003eausterity; and to endeavour to trick her out in the garb of\u003cbr /\u003epleasure, because the epithet has been used as another name for\u003cbr /\u003ebeauty, is to exalt her on a quicksand; a most insidious attempt to\u003cbr /\u003ehasten her fall by apparent respect. Virtue, and pleasure are not,\u003cbr /\u003ein fact, so nearly allied in this life as some eloquent writers\u003cbr /\u003ehave laboured to prove. Pleasure prepares the fading wreath, and\u003cbr /\u003emixes the intoxicating cup; but the fruit which virtue gives, is\u003cbr /\u003ethe recompence of toil: and, gradually seen as it ripens, only\u003cbr /\u003eaffords calm satisfaction; nay, appearing to be the result of the\u003cbr /\u003enatural tendency of things, it is scarcely observed. Bread, the\u003cbr /\u003ecommon food of life, seldom thought of as a blessing, supports the\u003cbr /\u003econstitution, and preserves health; still feasts delight the heart\u003cbr /\u003eof man, though disease and even death lurk in the cup or dainty\u003cbr /\u003ethat elevates the spirits or tickles the palate. The lively heated\u003cbr /\u003eimagination in the same style, draws the picture of love, as it\u003cbr /\u003edraws every other picture, with those glowing colours, which the\u003cbr /\u003edaring hand will steal from the rainbow that is directed by a mind,\u003cbr /\u003econdemned, in a world like this, to prove its noble origin, by\u003cbr /\u003epanting after unattainable perfection; ever pursuing what it\u003cbr /\u003eacknowledges to be a fleeting dream. An imagination of this\u003cbr /\u003evigorous cast can give existence to insubstantial forms, and\u003cbr /\u003estability to the shadowy reveries which the mind naturally falls\u003cbr /\u003einto when realities are found vapid. It can then depict love with\u003cbr /\u003ecelestial charms, and dote on the grand ideal object; it can\u003cbr /\u003eimagine a degree of mutual affection that shall refine the soul,\u003cbr /\u003eand not expire when it has served as a \u0026quot;scale to heavenly;\u0026quot; and,\u003cbr /\u003elike devotion, make it absorb every meaner affection and desire.\u003cbr /\u003eIn each other\u0026#39;s arms, as in a temple, with its summit lost in the\u003cbr /\u003eclouds, the world is to be shut out, and every thought and wish,\u003cbr /\u003ethat do not nurture pure affection and permanent virtue. Permanent\u003cbr /\u003evirtue! alas! Rousseau, respectable visionary! thy paradise would\u003cbr /\u003esoon be violated by the entrance of some unexpected guest. Like\u003cbr /\u003eMilton\u0026#39;s, it would only contain angels, or men sunk below the\u003cbr /\u003edignity of rational creatures. Happiness is not material, it\u003cbr /\u003ecannot be seen or felt! Yet the eager pursuit of the good which\u003cbr /\u003eevery one shapes to his own fancy, proclaims man the lord of this\u003cbr /\u003elower world, and to be an intelligential creature, who is not to\u003cbr /\u003ereceive, but acquire happiness. They, therefore, who complain of\u003cbr /\u003ethe delusions of passion, do not recollect that they are exclaiming\u003cbr /\u003eagainst a strong proof of the immortality of the soul.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, leaving superior minds to correct themselves, and pay dearly\u003cbr /\u003efor their experience, it is necessary to observe, that it is not\u003cbr /\u003eagainst strong, persevering passions; but romantic, wavering\u003cbr /\u003efeelings, that I wish to guard the female heart by exercising the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding; for these paradisiacal reveries are oftener the\u003cbr /\u003eeffect of idleness than of a lively fancy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen have seldom sufficient serious employment to silence their\u003cbr /\u003efeelings; a round of little cares, or vain pursuits, frittering\u003cbr /\u003eaway all strength of mind and organs, they become naturally only\u003cbr /\u003eobjects of sense. In short, the whole tenor of female education\u003cbr /\u003e(the education of society) tends to render the best disposed,\u003cbr /\u003eromantic and inconstant; and the remainder vain and mean. In the\u003cbr /\u003epresent state of society, this evil can scarcely be remedied, I am\u003cbr /\u003eafraid, in the slightest degree; should a more laudable ambition\u003cbr /\u003eever gain ground, they may be brought nearer to nature and reason,\u003cbr /\u003eand become more virtuous and useful as they grow more respectable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut I will venture to assert, that their reason will never acquire\u003cbr /\u003esufficient strength to enable it to regulate their conduct, whilst\u003cbr /\u003ethe making an appearance in the world is the first wish of the\u003cbr /\u003emajority of mankind. To this weak wish the natural affections and\u003cbr /\u003ethe most useful virtues are sacrificed. Girls marry merely to\u003cbr /\u003eBETTER THEMSELVES, to borrow a significant vulgar phrase, and have\u003cbr /\u003esuch perfect power over their hearts as not to permit themselves to\u003cbr /\u003eFALL IN LOVE till a man with a superior fortune offers. On this\u003cbr /\u003esubject I mean to enlarge in a future chapter; it is only necessary\u003cbr /\u003eto drop a hint at present, because women are so often degraded by\u003cbr /\u003esuffering the selfish prudence of age to chill the ardour of youth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;From the same source flows an opinion that young girls ought to\u003cbr /\u003ededicate great part of their time to needle work; yet, this\u003cbr /\u003eemployment contracts their faculties more than any other that could\u003cbr /\u003ehave been chosen for them, by confining their thoughts to their\u003cbr /\u003epersons. Men order their clothes to be made, and have done with\u003cbr /\u003ethe subject; women make their own clothes, necessary or ornamental,\u003cbr /\u003eand are continually talking about them; and their thoughts follow\u003cbr /\u003etheir hands. It is not indeed the making of necessaries that\u003cbr /\u003eweakens the mind; but the frippery of dress. For when a woman in\u003cbr /\u003ethe lower rank of life makes her husband\u0026#39;s and children\u0026#39;s clothes,\u003cbr /\u003eshe does her duty, this is part of her business; but when women\u003cbr /\u003ework only to dress better than they could otherwise afford, it is\u003cbr /\u003eworse than sheer loss of time. To render the poor virtuous, they\u003cbr /\u003emust be employed, and women in the middle rank of life did they not\u003cbr /\u003eape the fashions of the nobility, without catching their ease,\u003cbr /\u003emight employ them, whilst they themselves managed their families,\u003cbr /\u003einstructed their children, and exercised their own minds.\u003cbr /\u003eGardening, experimental philosophy, and literature, would afford\u003cbr /\u003ethem subjects to think of, and matter for conversation, that in\u003cbr /\u003esome degree would exercise their understandings. The conversation\u003cbr /\u003eof French women, who are not so rigidly nailed to their chairs, to\u003cbr /\u003etwist lappets, and knot ribbands, is frequently superficial; but, I\u003cbr /\u003econtend, that it is not half so insipid as that of those English\u003cbr /\u003ewomen, whose time is spent in making caps, bonnets, and the whole\u003cbr /\u003emischief of trimmings, not to mention shopping, bargain-hunting,\u003cbr /\u003eetc. etc.: and it is the decent, prudent women, who are most\u003cbr /\u003edegraded by these practices; for their motive is simply vanity.\u003cbr /\u003eThe wanton, who exercises her taste to render her person alluring,\u003cbr /\u003ehas something more in view.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese observations all branch out of a general one, which I have\u003cbr /\u003ebefore made, and which cannot be too often insisted upon, for,\u003cbr /\u003espeaking of men, women, or professions, it will be found, that the\u003cbr /\u003eemployment of the thoughts shapes the character both generally and\u003cbr /\u003eindividually. The thoughts of women ever hover around their\u003cbr /\u003epersons, and is it surprising that their persons are reckoned most\u003cbr /\u003evaluable? Yet some degree of liberty of mind is necessary even to\u003cbr /\u003eform the person; and this may be one reason why some gentle wives\u003cbr /\u003ehave so few attractions beside that of sex. Add to this, sedentary\u003cbr /\u003eemployments render the majority of women sickly, and false notions\u003cbr /\u003eof female excellence make them proud of this delicacy, though it be\u003cbr /\u003eanother fetter, that by calling the attention continually to the\u003cbr /\u003ebody, cramps the activity of the mind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen of quality seldom do any of the manual part of their dress,\u003cbr /\u003econsequently only their taste is exercised, and they acquire, by\u003cbr /\u003ethinking less of the finery, when the business of their toilet is\u003cbr /\u003eover, that ease, which seldom appears in the deportment of women,\u003cbr /\u003ewho dress merely for the sake of dressing. In fact, the\u003cbr /\u003eobservation with respect to the middle rank, the one in which\u003cbr /\u003etalents thrive best, extends not to women; for those of the\u003cbr /\u003esuperior class, by catching, at least a smattering of literature,\u003cbr /\u003eand conversing more with men, on general topics, acquire more\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge than the women who ape their fashions and faults without\u003cbr /\u003esharing their advantages. With respect to virtue, to use the word\u003cbr /\u003ein a comprehensive sense, I have seen most in low life. Many poor\u003cbr /\u003ewomen maintain their children by the sweat of their brow, and keep\u003cbr /\u003etogether families that the vices of the fathers would have\u003cbr /\u003escattered abroad; but gentlewomen are too indolent to be actively\u003cbr /\u003evirtuous, and are softened rather than refined by civilization.\u003cbr /\u003eIndeed the good sense which I have met with among the poor women\u003cbr /\u003ewho have had few advantages of education, and yet have acted\u003cbr /\u003eheroically, strongly confirmed me in the opinion, that trifling\u003cbr /\u003eemployments have rendered women a trifler. Men, taking her (\u0026#39;I\u003cbr /\u003etake her body,\u0026#39; says Ranger.) body, the mind is left to rust; so\u003cbr /\u003ethat while physical love enervates man, as being his favourite\u003cbr /\u003erecreation, he will endeavour to enslave woman: and who can tell\u003cbr /\u003ehow many generations may be necessary to give vigour to the virtue\u003cbr /\u003eand talents of the freed posterity of abject slaves? (\u0026#39;Supposing\u003cbr /\u003ethat women are voluntary slaves–slavery of any kind is\u003cbr /\u003eunfavourable to human happiness and improvement.\u0026#39;–\u0026#39;Knox\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003eEssays\u0026#39;.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn tracing the causes that in my opinion, have degraded woman, I\u003cbr /\u003ehave confined my observations to such as universally act upon the\u003cbr /\u003emorals and manners of the whole sex, and to me it appears clear,\u003cbr /\u003ethat they all spring from want of understanding. Whether this\u003cbr /\u003earises from a physical or accidental weakness of faculties, time\u003cbr /\u003ealone can determine; for I shall not lay any great stress upon the\u003cbr /\u003eexample of a few women (Sappho, Eloisa, Mrs. Macaulay, the Empress\u003cbr /\u003eof Russia, Madame d\u0026#39;Eon, etc. These, and many more, may be\u003cbr /\u003ereckoned exceptions; and, are not all heroes, as well as heroines,\u003cbr /\u003eexceptions to general rules? I wish to see women neither heroines\u003cbr /\u003enor brutes; but reasonable creatures.) who, from having received a\u003cbr /\u003emasculine education, have acquired courage and resolution; I only\u003cbr /\u003econtend that the men who have been placed in similar situations\u003cbr /\u003ehave acquired a similar character, I speak of bodies of men, and\u003cbr /\u003ethat men of genius and talents have started out of a class, in\u003cbr /\u003ewhich women have never yet been placed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 5.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eANIMADVERSIONS ON SOME OF THE WRITERS WHO HAVE RENDERED WOMEN\u003cbr /\u003eOBJECTS OF PITY, BORDERING ON CONTEMPT.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe opinions speciously supported, in some modern publications on\u003cbr /\u003ethe female character, and education, which have given the tone to\u003cbr /\u003emost of the observations made, in a more cursory manner, on the\u003cbr /\u003esex, remain now to be examined.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 5.1.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI shall begin with Rousseau, and give a sketch of the character of\u003cbr /\u003ewomen in his own words, interspersing comments and reflections. My\u003cbr /\u003ecomments, it is true, will all spring from a few simple principles,\u003cbr /\u003eand might have been deduced from what I have already said; but the\u003cbr /\u003eartificial structure has been raised with so much ingenuity, that\u003cbr /\u003eit seems necessary to attack it in a more circumstantial manner,\u003cbr /\u003eand make the application myself.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSophia, says Rousseau, should be as perfect a woman as Emilius is a\u003cbr /\u003eman, and to render her so, it is necessary to examine the character\u003cbr /\u003ewhich nature has given to the sex.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe then proceeds to prove, that women ought to be weak and passive,\u003cbr /\u003ebecause she has less bodily strength than man; and from hence\u003cbr /\u003einfers, that she was formed to please and to be subject to him; and\u003cbr /\u003ethat it is her duty to render herself AGREEABLE to her master–this\u003cbr /\u003ebeing the grand end of her existence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSupposing women to have been formed only to please, and be subject\u003cbr /\u003eto man, the conclusion is just, she ought to sacrifice every other\u003cbr /\u003econsideration to render herself agreeable to him: and let this\u003cbr /\u003ebrutal desire of self-preservation be the grand spring of all her\u003cbr /\u003eactions, when it is proved to be the iron bed of fate, to fit\u003cbr /\u003ewhich, her character should be stretched or contracted, regardless\u003cbr /\u003eof all moral or physical distinctions. But if, as I think may be\u003cbr /\u003edemonstrated, the purposes of even this life, viewing the whole,\u003cbr /\u003eare subverted by practical rules built upon this ignoble base, I\u003cbr /\u003emay be allowed to doubt whether woman was created for man: and\u003cbr /\u003ethough the cry of irreligion, or even atheism be raised against me,\u003cbr /\u003eI will simply declare, that were an angel from heaven to tell me\u003cbr /\u003ethat Moses\u0026#39;s beautiful, poetical cosmogony, and the account of the\u003cbr /\u003efall of man, were literally true, I could not believe what my\u003cbr /\u003ereason told me was derogatory to the character of the Supreme\u003cbr /\u003eBeing: and, having no fear of the devil before mine eyes, I\u003cbr /\u003eventure to call this a suggestion of reason, instead of resting my\u003cbr /\u003eweakness on the broad shoulders of the first seducer of my frail\u003cbr /\u003esex.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;It being once demonstrated,\u0026quot; continues Rousseau, \u0026quot;that man and\u003cbr /\u003ewoman are not, nor ought to be, constituted alike in temperament\u003cbr /\u003eand character, it follows of course, that they should not be\u003cbr /\u003eeducated in the same manner. In pursuing the directions of nature,\u003cbr /\u003ethey ought indeed to act in concert, but they should not be engaged\u003cbr /\u003ein the same employments: the end of their pursuits should be the\u003cbr /\u003esame, but the means they should take to accomplish them, and, of\u003cbr /\u003econsequence, their tastes and inclinations should be different.\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003e(Rousseau\u0026#39;s \u0026#39;Emilius\u0026#39;, Volume 3 page 176.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Girls are from their earliest infancy fond of dress. Not content\u003cbr /\u003ewith being pretty, they are desirous of being thought so; we see,\u003cbr /\u003eby all their little airs, that this thought engages their\u003cbr /\u003eattention; and they are hardly capable of understanding what is\u003cbr /\u003esaid to them, before they are to be governed by talking to them of\u003cbr /\u003ewhat people will think of their behaviour. The same motive,\u003cbr /\u003ehowever, indiscreetly made use of with boys, has not the same\u003cbr /\u003eeffect: provided they are let to pursue their amusements at\u003cbr /\u003epleasure, they care very little what people think of them. Time\u003cbr /\u003eand pains are necessary to subject boys to this motive.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Whencesoever girls derive this first lesson it is a very good one.\u003cbr /\u003eAs the body is born, in a manner before the soul, our first concern\u003cbr /\u003eshould be to cultivate the former; this order is common to both\u003cbr /\u003esexes, but the object of that cultivation is different. In the one\u003cbr /\u003esex it is the developement of corporeal powers; in the other, that\u003cbr /\u003eof personal charms: not that either the quality of strength or\u003cbr /\u003ebeauty ought to be confined exclusively to one sex; but only that\u003cbr /\u003ethe order of the cultivation of both is in that respect reversed.\u003cbr /\u003eWomen certainly require as much strength as to enable them to move\u003cbr /\u003eand act gracefully, and men as much address as to qualify them to\u003cbr /\u003eact with ease.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e* * * * * * * * * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Children of both sexes have a great many amusements in common; and\u003cbr /\u003eso they ought; have they not also many such when they are grown up?\u003cbr /\u003eEach sex has also its peculiar taste to distinguish in this\u003cbr /\u003eparticular. Boys love sports of noise and activity; to beat the\u003cbr /\u003edrum, to whip the top, and to drag about their little carts:\u003cbr /\u003egirls, on the other hand, are fonder of things of show and\u003cbr /\u003eornament; such as mirrors, trinkets, and dolls; the doll is the\u003cbr /\u003epeculiar amusement of the females; from whence we see their taste\u003cbr /\u003eplainly adapted to their destination. The physical part of the art\u003cbr /\u003eof pleasing lies in dress; and this is all which children are\u003cbr /\u003ecapacitated to cultivate of that art.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e* * * * * * * * * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Here then we see a primary propensity firmly established, which\u003cbr /\u003eyou need only to pursue and regulate. The little creature will\u003cbr /\u003edoubtless be very desirous to know how to dress up her doll, to\u003cbr /\u003emake its sleeve knots, its flounces, its head dress, etc., she is\u003cbr /\u003eobliged to have so much recourse to the people about her, for their\u003cbr /\u003eassistance in these articles, that it would be much more agreeable\u003cbr /\u003eto her to owe them all to her own industry. Hence we have a good\u003cbr /\u003ereason for the first lessons which are usually taught these young\u003cbr /\u003efemales: in which we do not appear to be setting them a task, but\u003cbr /\u003eobliging them, by instructing them in what is immediately useful to\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves. And, in fact, almost all of them learn with reluctance\u003cbr /\u003eto read and write; but very readily apply themselves to the use of\u003cbr /\u003etheir needles. They imagine themselves already grown up, and think\u003cbr /\u003ewith pleasure that such qualifications will enable them to decorate\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is certainly only an education of the body; but Rousseau is\u003cbr /\u003enot the only man who has indirectly said that merely the person of\u003cbr /\u003ea young woman, without any mind, unless animal spirits come under\u003cbr /\u003ethat description, is very pleasing. To render it weak, and what\u003cbr /\u003esome may call beautiful, the understanding is neglected, and girls\u003cbr /\u003eforced to sit still, play with dolls, and listen to foolish\u003cbr /\u003econversations; the effect of habit is insisted upon as an undoubted\u003cbr /\u003eindication of nature. I know it was Rousseau\u0026#39;s opinion that the\u003cbr /\u003efirst years of youth should be employed to form the body, though in\u003cbr /\u003eeducating Emilius he deviates from this plan; yet the difference\u003cbr /\u003ebetween strengthening the body, on which strength of mind in a\u003cbr /\u003egreat measure depends, and only giving it an easy motion, is very\u003cbr /\u003ewide.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRousseau\u0026#39;s observations, it is proper to remark, were made in a\u003cbr /\u003ecountry where the art of pleasing was refined only to extract the\u003cbr /\u003egrossness of vice. He did not go back to nature, or his ruling\u003cbr /\u003eappetite disturbed the operations of reason, else he would not have\u003cbr /\u003edrawn these crude inferences.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn France, boys and girls, particularly the latter, are only\u003cbr /\u003eeducated to please, to manage their persons, and regulate their\u003cbr /\u003eexterior behaviour; and their minds are corrupted at a very early\u003cbr /\u003eage, by the worldly and pious cautions they receive, to guard them\u003cbr /\u003eagainst immodesty. I speak of past times. The very confessions\u003cbr /\u003ewhich mere children are obliged to make, and the questions asked by\u003cbr /\u003ethe holy men I assert these facts on good authority, were\u003cbr /\u003esufficient to impress a sexual character; and the education of\u003cbr /\u003esociety was a school of coquetry and art. At the age of ten or\u003cbr /\u003eeleven; nay, often much sooner, girls began to coquet, and talked,\u003cbr /\u003eunreproved, of establishing themselves in the world by marriage.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn short, they were made women, almost from their very birth, and\u003cbr /\u003ecompliments were listened to instead of instruction. These,\u003cbr /\u003eweakening the mind, Nature was supposed to have acted like a\u003cbr /\u003estep-mother, when she formed this after-thought of creation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNot allowing them understanding, however, it was but consistent to\u003cbr /\u003esubject them to authority, independent of reason; and to prepare\u003cbr /\u003ethem for this subjection, he gives the following advice:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Girls ought to be active and diligent; nor is that all; they\u003cbr /\u003eshould also be early subjected to restraint. This misfortune, if\u003cbr /\u003eit really be one, is inseparable from their sex; nor do they ever\u003cbr /\u003ethrow it off but to suffer more cruel evils. They must be subject,\u003cbr /\u003eall their lives, to the most constant and severe restraint, which\u003cbr /\u003eis that of decorum: it is, therefore, necessary to accustom them\u003cbr /\u003eearly to such confinement, that it may not afterward cost them too\u003cbr /\u003edear; and to the suppression of their caprices, that they may the\u003cbr /\u003emore readily submit to the will of others. If, indeed, they are\u003cbr /\u003efond of being always at work, they should be sometimes compelled to\u003cbr /\u003elay it aside. Dissipation, levity, and inconstancy, are faults\u003cbr /\u003ethat readily spring up from their first propensities, when\u003cbr /\u003ecorrupted or perverted by too much indulgence. To prevent this\u003cbr /\u003eabuse, we should learn them, above all things, to lay a due\u003cbr /\u003erestraint on themselves. The life of a modest woman is reduced, by\u003cbr /\u003eour absurd institutions, to a perpetual conflict with herself: not\u003cbr /\u003ebut it is just that this sex should partake of the sufferings which\u003cbr /\u003earise from those evils it hath caused us.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd why is the life of a modest woman a perpetual conflict? I\u003cbr /\u003eshould answer, that this very system of education makes it so.\u003cbr /\u003eModesty, temperance, and self-denial, are the sober offspring of\u003cbr /\u003ereason; but when sensibility is nurtured at the expense of the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, such weak beings must be restrained by arbitrary\u003cbr /\u003emeans, and be subjected to continual conflicts; but give their\u003cbr /\u003eactivity of mind a wider range, and nobler passions and motives\u003cbr /\u003ewill govern their appetites and sentiments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;The common attachment and regard of a mother, nay, mere habit,\u003cbr /\u003ewill make her beloved by her children, if she does nothing to incur\u003cbr /\u003etheir hate. Even the restraint she lays them under, if well\u003cbr /\u003edirected, will increase their affection, instead of lessening it;\u003cbr /\u003ebecause a state of dependence being natural to the sex, they\u003cbr /\u003eperceive themselves formed for obedience.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is begging the question; for servitude not only debases the\u003cbr /\u003eindividual, but its effects seem to be transmitted to posterity.\u003cbr /\u003eConsidering the length of time that women have been dependent, is\u003cbr /\u003eit surprising that some of them hug their chains, and fawn like the\u003cbr /\u003espaniel? \u0026quot;These dogs,\u0026quot; observes a naturalist, \u0026quot;at first kept their\u003cbr /\u003eears erect; but custom has superseded nature, and a token of fear\u003cbr /\u003eis become a beauty.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;For the same reason,\u0026quot; adds Rousseau, \u0026quot;women have or ought to have,\u003cbr /\u003ebut little liberty; they are apt to indulge themselves excessively\u003cbr /\u003ein what is allowed them. Addicted in every thing to extremes, they\u003cbr /\u003eare even more transported at their diversions than boys.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe answer to this is very simple. Slaves and mobs have always\u003cbr /\u003eindulged themselves in the same excesses, when once they broke\u003cbr /\u003eloose from authority. The bent bow recoils with violence, when the\u003cbr /\u003ehand is suddenly relaxed that forcibly held it: and sensibility,\u003cbr /\u003ethe plaything of outward circumstances, must be subjected to\u003cbr /\u003eauthority, or moderated by reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;There results,\u0026quot; he continues, \u0026quot;from this habitual restraint, a\u003cbr /\u003etractableness which the women have occasion for during their whole\u003cbr /\u003elives, as they constantly remain either under subjection to the\u003cbr /\u003emen, or to the opinions of mankind; and are never permitted to set\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves above those opinions. The first and most important\u003cbr /\u003equalification in a woman is good-nature or sweetness of temper;\u003cbr /\u003eformed to obey a being so imperfect as man, often full of vices,\u003cbr /\u003eand always full of faults, she ought to learn betimes even to\u003cbr /\u003esuffer injustice, and to bear the insults of a husband without\u003cbr /\u003ecomplaint; it is not for his sake, but her own, that she should be\u003cbr /\u003eof a mild disposition. The perverseness and ill-nature of the\u003cbr /\u003ewomen only serve to aggravate their own misfortunes, and the\u003cbr /\u003emisconduct of their husbands; they might plainly perceive that such\u003cbr /\u003eare not the arms by which they gain the superiority.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFormed to live with such an imperfect being as man, they ought to\u003cbr /\u003elearn from the exercise of their faculties the necessity of\u003cbr /\u003eforbearance; but all the sacred rights of humanity are violated by\u003cbr /\u003einsisting on blind obedience; or, the most sacred rights belong\u003cbr /\u003eONLY to man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe being who patiently endures injustice, and silently bears\u003cbr /\u003einsults, will soon become unjust, or unable to discern right from\u003cbr /\u003ewrong. Besides, I deny the fact, this is not the true way to form\u003cbr /\u003eor meliorate the temper; for, as a sex, men have better tempers\u003cbr /\u003ethan women, because they are occupied by pursuits that interest the\u003cbr /\u003ehead as well as the heart; and the steadiness of the head gives a\u003cbr /\u003ehealthy temperature to the heart. People of sensibility have\u003cbr /\u003eseldom good tempers. The formation of the temper is the cool work\u003cbr /\u003eof reason, when, as life advances, she mixes with happy art,\u003cbr /\u003ejarring elements. I never knew a weak or ignorant person who had a\u003cbr /\u003egood temper, though that constitutional good humour, and that\u003cbr /\u003edocility, which fear stamps on the behaviour, often obtains the\u003cbr /\u003ename. I say behaviour, for genuine meekness never reached the\u003cbr /\u003eheart or mind, unless as the effect of reflection; and, that simple\u003cbr /\u003erestraint produces a number of peccant humours in domestic life,\u003cbr /\u003emany sensible men will allow, who find some of these gentle\u003cbr /\u003eirritable creatures, very troublesome companions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Each sex,\u0026quot; he further argues, \u0026quot;should preserve its peculiar tone\u003cbr /\u003eand manner: a meek husband may make a wife impertinent; but\u003cbr /\u003emildness of disposition on the woman\u0026#39;s side will always bring a man\u003cbr /\u003eback to reason, at least if he be not absolutely a brute, and will\u003cbr /\u003esooner or later triumph over him.\u0026quot; True, the mildness of reason;\u003cbr /\u003ebut abject fear always inspires contempt; and tears are only\u003cbr /\u003eeloquent when they flow down fair cheeks.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOf what materials can that heart be composed, which can melt when\u003cbr /\u003einsulted, and instead of revolting at injustice, kiss the rod? Is\u003cbr /\u003eit unfair to infer, that her virtue is built on narrow views and\u003cbr /\u003eselfishness, who can caress a man, with true feminine softness, the\u003cbr /\u003every moment when he treats her tyrannically? Nature never dictated\u003cbr /\u003esuch insincerity; and though prudence of this sort be termed a\u003cbr /\u003evirtue, morality becomes vague when any part is supposed to rest on\u003cbr /\u003efalsehood. These are mere expedients, and expedients are only\u003cbr /\u003euseful for the moment.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet the husband beware of trusting too implicitly to this servile\u003cbr /\u003eobedience; for if his wife can with winning sweetness caress him\u003cbr /\u003ewhen angry, and when she ought to be angry, unless contempt had\u003cbr /\u003estifled a natural effervescence, she may do the same after parting\u003cbr /\u003ewith a lover. These are all preparations for adultery; or, should\u003cbr /\u003ethe fear of the world, or of hell, restrain her desire of pleasing\u003cbr /\u003eother men, when she can no longer please her husband, what\u003cbr /\u003esubstitute can be found by a being who was only formed by nature\u003cbr /\u003eand art to please man? what can make her amends for this\u003cbr /\u003eprivation, or where is she to seek for a fresh employment? where\u003cbr /\u003efind sufficient strength of mind to determine to begin the search,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen her habits are fixed, and vanity has long ruled her chaotic\u003cbr /\u003emind?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut this partial moralist recommends cunning systematically and\u003cbr /\u003eplausibly.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Daughters should be always submissive; their mothers, however,\u003cbr /\u003eshould not be inexorable. To make a young person tractable, she\u003cbr /\u003eought not to be made unhappy; to make her modest she ought not to\u003cbr /\u003ebe rendered stupid. On the contrary, I should not be displeased at\u003cbr /\u003eher being permitted to use some art, not to elude punishment in\u003cbr /\u003ecase of disobedience, but to exempt herself from the necessity of\u003cbr /\u003eobeying. It is not necessary to make her dependence burdensome,\u003cbr /\u003ebut only to let her feel it. Subtilty is a talent natural to the\u003cbr /\u003esex; and as I am persuaded, all our natural inclinations are right\u003cbr /\u003eand good in themselves, I am of opinion this should be cultivated\u003cbr /\u003eas well as the others: it is requisite for us only to prevent its\u003cbr /\u003eabuse.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Whatever is, is right,\u0026quot; he then proceeds triumphantly to infer.\u003cbr /\u003eGranted; yet, perhaps, no aphorism ever contained a more\u003cbr /\u003eparadoxical assertion. It is a solemn truth with respect to God.\u003cbr /\u003eHe, reverentially I speak, sees the whole at once, and saw its just\u003cbr /\u003eproportions in the womb of time; but man, who can only inspect\u003cbr /\u003edisjointed parts, finds many things wrong; and it is a part of the\u003cbr /\u003esystem, and therefore right, that he should endeavour to alter what\u003cbr /\u003eappears to him to be so, even while he bows to the wisdom of his\u003cbr /\u003eCreator, and respects the darkness he labours to disperse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe inference that follows is just, supposing the principle to be\u003cbr /\u003esound: \u0026quot;The superiority of address, peculiar to the female sex, is\u003cbr /\u003ea very equitable indemnification for their inferiority in point of\u003cbr /\u003estrength: without this, woman would not be the companion of man;\u003cbr /\u003ebut his slave: it is by her superiour art and ingenuity that she\u003cbr /\u003epreserves her equality, and governs him while she affects to obey.\u003cbr /\u003eWoman has every thing against her, as well our faults as her own\u003cbr /\u003etimidity and weakness: she has nothing in her favour, but her\u003cbr /\u003esubtilty and her beauty. Is it not very reasonable, therefore, she\u003cbr /\u003eshould cultivate both?\u0026quot; Greatness of mind can never dwell with\u003cbr /\u003ecunning or address; for I shall not boggle about words, when their\u003cbr /\u003edirect signification is insincerity and falsehood; but content\u003cbr /\u003emyself with observing, that if any class of mankind be so created\u003cbr /\u003ethat it must necessarily be educated by rules, not strictly\u003cbr /\u003ededucible from truth, virtue is an affair of convention. How could\u003cbr /\u003eRousseau dare to assert, after giving this advice, that in the\u003cbr /\u003egrand end of existence, the object of both sexes should be the\u003cbr /\u003esame, when he well knew, that the mind formed by its pursuits, is\u003cbr /\u003eexpanded by great views swallowing up little ones, or that it\u003cbr /\u003ebecomes itself little?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMen have superiour strength of body; but were it not for mistaken\u003cbr /\u003enotions of beauty, women would acquire sufficient to enable them to\u003cbr /\u003eearn their own subsistence, the true definition of independence;\u003cbr /\u003eand to bear those bodily inconveniences and exertions that are\u003cbr /\u003erequisite to strengthen the mind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet us then, by being allowed to take the same exercise as boys,\u003cbr /\u003enot only during infancy, but youth, arrive at perfection of body,\u003cbr /\u003ethat we may know how far the natural superiority of man extends.\u003cbr /\u003eFor what reason or virtue can be expected from a creature when the\u003cbr /\u003eseed-time of life is neglected? None–did not the winds of heaven\u003cbr /\u003ecasually scatter many useful seeds in the fallow ground.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Beauty cannot be acquired by dress, and coquetry is an art not so\u003cbr /\u003eearly and speedily attained. While girls are yet young, however,\u003cbr /\u003ethey are in a capacity to study agreeable gesture, a pleasing\u003cbr /\u003emodulation of voice, an easy carriage and behaviour; as well as to\u003cbr /\u003etake the advantage of gracefully adapting their looks and attitudes\u003cbr /\u003eto time, place, and occasion. Their application, therefore, should\u003cbr /\u003enot be solely confined to the arts of industry and the needle, when\u003cbr /\u003ethey come to display other talents, whose utility is already\u003cbr /\u003eapparent.\u0026quot; \u0026quot;For my part I would have a young Englishwoman cultivate\u003cbr /\u003eher agreeable talents, in order to please her future husband, with\u003cbr /\u003eas much care and assiduity as a young Circassian cultivates her\u0026#39;s,\u003cbr /\u003eto fit her for the Haram of an Eastern bashaw.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo render women completely insignificant, he adds,–\u0026quot;The tongues of\u003cbr /\u003ewomen are very voluble; they speak earlier, more readily, and more\u003cbr /\u003eagreeably than the men; they are accused also of speaking much\u003cbr /\u003emore: but so it ought to be, and I should be very ready to convert\u003cbr /\u003ethis reproach into a compliment; their lips and eyes have the same\u003cbr /\u003eactivity, and for the same reason. A man speaks of what he knows,\u003cbr /\u003ea woman of what pleases her; the one requires knowledge, the other\u003cbr /\u003etaste; the principal object of a man\u0026#39;s discourse should be what is\u003cbr /\u003euseful, that of a woman\u0026#39;s what is agreeable. There ought to be\u003cbr /\u003enothing in common between their different conversation but truth.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;We ought not, therefore, to restrain the prattle of girls, in the\u003cbr /\u003esame manner as we should that of boys, with that severe question,\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026#39;To what purpose are you talking?\u0026#39; but by another, which is no less\u003cbr /\u003edifficult to answer, \u0026#39;How will your discourse be received?\u0026#39; In\u003cbr /\u003einfancy, while they are as yet incapable to discern good from evil,\u003cbr /\u003ethey ought to observe it as a law, never to say any thing\u003cbr /\u003edisagreeable to those whom they are speaking to: what will render\u003cbr /\u003ethe practice of this rule also the more difficult, is, that it must\u003cbr /\u003eever be subordinate to the former, of never speaking falsely or\u003cbr /\u003etelling an untruth.\u0026quot; To govern the tongue in this manner must\u003cbr /\u003erequire great address indeed; and it is too much practised both by\u003cbr /\u003emen and women. Out of the abundance of the heart how few speak!\u003cbr /\u003eSo few, that I, who love simplicity, would gladly give up\u003cbr /\u003epoliteness for a quarter of the virtue that has been sacrificed to\u003cbr /\u003ean equivocal quality, which, at best, should only be the polish of\u003cbr /\u003evirtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut to complete the sketch. \u0026quot;It is easy to be conceived, that if\u003cbr /\u003emale children be not in a capacity to form any true notions of\u003cbr /\u003ereligion, those ideas must be greatly above the conception of the\u003cbr /\u003efemales: it is for this very reason, I would begin to speak to\u003cbr /\u003ethem the earlier on this subject; for if we were to wait till they\u003cbr /\u003ewere in a capacity to discuss methodically such profound questions,\u003cbr /\u003ewe should run a risk of never speaking to them on this subject as\u003cbr /\u003elong as they lived. Reason in women is a practical reason,\u003cbr /\u003ecapacitating them artfully to discover the means of attaining a\u003cbr /\u003eknown end, but which would never enable them to discover that end\u003cbr /\u003eitself. The social relations of the sexes are indeed truly\u003cbr /\u003eadmirable: from their union there results a moral person, of which\u003cbr /\u003ewoman may be termed the eyes, and man the hand, with this\u003cbr /\u003edependence on each other, that it is from the man that the woman is\u003cbr /\u003eto learn what she is to see, and it is of the woman that man is to\u003cbr /\u003elearn what he ought to do. If woman could recur to the first\u003cbr /\u003eprinciples of things as well as man, and man was capacitated to\u003cbr /\u003eenter into their minutae as well as woman, always independent of\u003cbr /\u003eeach other, they would live in perpetual discord, and their union\u003cbr /\u003ecould not subsist. But in the present harmony which naturally\u003cbr /\u003esubsists between them, their different faculties tend to one common\u003cbr /\u003eend; it is difficult to say which of them conduces the most to it:\u003cbr /\u003eeach follows the impulse of the other; each is obedient, and both\u003cbr /\u003eare masters.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;As the conduct of a woman is subservient to the public opinion,\u003cbr /\u003eher faith in matters of religion, should for that very reason, be\u003cbr /\u003esubject to authority. \u0026#39;Every daughter ought to be of the same\u003cbr /\u003ereligion as her mother, and every wife to be of the same religion\u003cbr /\u003eas her husband: for, though such religion should be false, that\u003cbr /\u003edocility which induces the mother and daughter to submit to the\u003cbr /\u003eorder of nature, takes away, in the sight of God, the criminality\u003cbr /\u003eof their error\u0026#39;.* As they are not in a capacity to judge for\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves, they ought to abide by the decision of their fathers\u003cbr /\u003eand husbands as confidently as by that of the church.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. What is to be the consequence, if the mother\u0026#39;s and\u003cbr /\u003ehusband\u0026#39;s opinion should chance not to agree? An ignorant person\u003cbr /\u003ecannot be reasoned out of an error, and when persuaded to give up\u003cbr /\u003eone prejudice for another the mind is unsettled. Indeed, the\u003cbr /\u003ehusband may not have any religion to teach her though in such a\u003cbr /\u003esituation she will be in great want of a support to her virtue,\u003cbr /\u003eindependent of worldly considerations.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;As authority ought to regulate the religion of the women, it is\u003cbr /\u003enot so needful to explain to them the reasons for their belief, as\u003cbr /\u003eto lay down precisely the tenets they are to believe: for the\u003cbr /\u003ecreed, which presents only obscure ideas to the mind, is the source\u003cbr /\u003eof fanaticism; and that which presents absurdities, leads to\u003cbr /\u003einfidelity.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAbsolute, uncontroverted authority, it seems, must subsist\u003cbr /\u003esomewhere: but is not this a direct and exclusive appropriation of\u003cbr /\u003ereason? The RIGHTS of humanity have been thus confined to the male\u003cbr /\u003eline from Adam downwards. Rousseau would carry his male\u003cbr /\u003earistocracy still further, for he insinuates, that he should not\u003cbr /\u003eblame those, who contend for leaving woman in a state of the most\u003cbr /\u003eprofound ignorance, if it were not necessary, in order to preserve\u003cbr /\u003eher chastity, and justify the man\u0026#39;s choice in the eyes of the\u003cbr /\u003eworld, to give her a little knowledge of men, and the customs\u003cbr /\u003eproduced by human passions; else she might propagate at home\u003cbr /\u003ewithout being rendered less voluptuous and innocent by the exercise\u003cbr /\u003eof her understanding: excepting, indeed, during the first year of\u003cbr /\u003emarriage, when she might employ it to dress, like Sophia. \u0026quot;Her\u003cbr /\u003edress is extremely modest in appearance, and yet very coquettish in\u003cbr /\u003efact: she does not make a display of her charms, she conceals\u003cbr /\u003ethem; but, in concealing them, she knows how to affect your\u003cbr /\u003eimagination. Every one who sees her, will say, There is a modest\u003cbr /\u003eand discreet girl; but while you are near her, your eyes and\u003cbr /\u003eaffections wander all over her person, so that you cannot withdraw\u003cbr /\u003ethem; and you would conclude that every part of her dress, simple\u003cbr /\u003eas it seems, was only put in its proper order to be taken to pieces\u003cbr /\u003eby the imagination.\u0026quot; Is this modesty? Is this a preparation for\u003cbr /\u003eimmortality? Again. What opinion are we to form of a system of\u003cbr /\u003eeducation, when the author says of his heroine, \u0026quot;that with her,\u003cbr /\u003edoing things well is but a SECONDARY concern; her principal concern\u003cbr /\u003eis to do them NEATLY.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSecondary, in fact, are all her virtues and qualities, for,\u003cbr /\u003erespecting religion, he makes her parents thus address her,\u003cbr /\u003eaccustomed to submission–\u0026quot;Your husband will instruct you in good\u003cbr /\u003etime.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter thus cramping a woman\u0026#39;s mind, if, in order to keep it fair,\u003cbr /\u003ehe has not made it quite a blank, he advises her to reflect, that a\u003cbr /\u003ereflecting man may not yawn in her company, when he is tired of\u003cbr /\u003ecaressing her. What has she to reflect about, who must obey? and\u003cbr /\u003ewould it not be a refinement on cruelty only to open her mind to\u003cbr /\u003emake the darkness and misery of her fate VISIBLE? Yet these are\u003cbr /\u003ehis sensible remarks; how consistent with what I have already been\u003cbr /\u003eobliged to quote, to give a fair view of the subject, the reader\u003cbr /\u003emay determine.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;They who pass their whole lives in working for their daily bread,\u003cbr /\u003ehave no ideas beyond their business or their interest, and all\u003cbr /\u003etheir understanding seems to lie in their fingers\u0026#39; ends. This\u003cbr /\u003eignorance is neither prejudicial to their integrity nor their\u003cbr /\u003emorals; it is often of service to them. Sometimes, by means of\u003cbr /\u003ereflection, we are led to compound with our duty, and we conclude,\u003cbr /\u003eby substituting a jargon of words, in the room of things. Our own\u003cbr /\u003econscience is the most enlightened philosopher. There is no need\u003cbr /\u003eof being acquainted with Tully\u0026#39;s offices, to make a man of probity:\u003cbr /\u003eand perhaps the most virtuous woman in the world is the least\u003cbr /\u003eacquainted with the definition of virtue. But it is no less true,\u003cbr /\u003ethan an improved understanding only can render society agreeable;\u003cbr /\u003eand it is a melancholy thing for a father of a family, who is fond\u003cbr /\u003eof home, to be obliged to be always wrapped up in himself, and to\u003cbr /\u003ehave nobody about him to whom he can impart his sentiments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Besides, how should a woman void of reflection be capable of\u003cbr /\u003eeducating her children? How should she discern what is proper for\u003cbr /\u003ethem? How should she incline them to those virtues she is\u003cbr /\u003eunacquainted with, or to that merit of which she has no idea? She\u003cbr /\u003ecan only sooth or chide them; render them insolent or timid; she\u003cbr /\u003ewill make them formal coxcombs, or ignorant blockheads; but will\u003cbr /\u003enever make them sensible or amiable.\u0026quot; How indeed should she, when\u003cbr /\u003eher husband is not always at hand to lend her his reason –when\u003cbr /\u003ethey both together make but one moral being? A blind will, \u0026quot;eyes\u003cbr /\u003ewithout hands,\u0026quot; would go a very little way; and perchance his\u003cbr /\u003eabstract reason, that should concentrate the scattered beams of her\u003cbr /\u003epractical reason, may be employed in judging of the flavour of\u003cbr /\u003ewine, discanting on the sauces most proper for turtle; or, more\u003cbr /\u003eprofoundly intent at a card-table, he may be generalizing his ideas\u003cbr /\u003eas he bets away his fortune, leaving all the minutiae of education\u003cbr /\u003eto his helpmate or chance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, granting that woman ought to be beautiful, innocent, and\u003cbr /\u003esilly, to render her a more alluring and indulgent companion–what\u003cbr /\u003eis her understanding sacrificed for? And why is all this\u003cbr /\u003epreparation necessary only, according to Rousseau\u0026#39;s own account, to\u003cbr /\u003emake her the mistress of her husband, a very short time? For no\u003cbr /\u003eman ever insisted more on the transient nature of love. Thus\u003cbr /\u003espeaks the philosopher. \u0026quot;Sensual pleasures are transient. The\u003cbr /\u003ehabitual state of the affections always loses by their\u003cbr /\u003egratification. The imagination, which decks the object of our\u003cbr /\u003edesires, is lost in fruition. Excepting the Supreme Being, who is\u003cbr /\u003eself-existent, there is nothing beautiful but what is ideal.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut he returns to his unintelligible paradoxes again, when he thus\u003cbr /\u003eaddresses Sophia. \u0026quot;Emilius, in becoming your husband, is become\u003cbr /\u003eyour master, and claims your obedience. Such is the order of\u003cbr /\u003enature. When a man is married, however, to such a wife as Sophia,\u003cbr /\u003eit is proper he should be directed by her: this is also agreeable\u003cbr /\u003eto the order of nature: it is, therefore, to give you as much\u003cbr /\u003eauthority over his heart as his sex gives him over your person,\u003cbr /\u003ethat I have made you the arbiter of his pleasures. It may cost\u003cbr /\u003eyou, perhaps, some disagreeable self-denial; but you will be\u003cbr /\u003ecertain of maintaining your empire over him, if you can preserve it\u003cbr /\u003eover yourself; what I have already observed, also shows me, that\u003cbr /\u003ethis difficult attempt does not surpass your courage.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Would you have your husband constantly at your feet? keep him at\u003cbr /\u003esome distance from your person. You will long maintain the\u003cbr /\u003eauthority of love, if you know but how to render your favours rare\u003cbr /\u003eand valuable. It is thus you may employ even the arts of coquetry\u003cbr /\u003ein the service of virtue, and those of love in that of reason.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI shall close my extracts with a just description of a comfortable\u003cbr /\u003ecouple. \u0026quot;And yet you must not imagine, that even such management\u003cbr /\u003ewill always suffice. Whatever precaution be taken, enjoyment will,\u003cbr /\u003eby degrees, take off the edge of passion. But when love hath\u003cbr /\u003elasted as long as possible, a pleasing habitude supplies its place,\u003cbr /\u003eand the attachment of a mutual confidence succeeds to the\u003cbr /\u003etransports of passion. Children often form a more agreeable and\u003cbr /\u003epermanent connexion between married people than even love itself.\u003cbr /\u003eWhen you cease to be the mistress of Emilius, you will continue to\u003cbr /\u003ebe his wife and friend; you will be the mother of his children.\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003e(Rousseau\u0026#39;s Emilius.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eChildren, he truly observes, form a much more permanent connexion\u003cbr /\u003ebetween married people than love. Beauty he declares will not be\u003cbr /\u003evalued, or even seen, after a couple have lived six months\u003cbr /\u003etogether; artificial graces and coquetry will likewise pall on the\u003cbr /\u003esenses: why then does he say, that a girl should be educated for\u003cbr /\u003eher husband with the same care as for an eastern haram?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI now appeal from the reveries of fancy and refined licentiousness\u003cbr /\u003eto the good sense of mankind, whether, if the object of education\u003cbr /\u003ebe to prepare women to become chaste wives and sensible mothers,\u003cbr /\u003ethe method so plausibly recommended in the foregoing sketch, be the\u003cbr /\u003eone best calculated to produce those ends? Will it be allowed that\u003cbr /\u003ethe surest way to make a wife chaste, is to teach her to practise\u003cbr /\u003ethe wanton arts of a mistress, termed virtuous coquetry by the\u003cbr /\u003esensualist who can no longer relish the artless charms of\u003cbr /\u003esincerity, or taste the pleasure arising from a tender intimacy,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen confidence is unchecked by suspicion, and rendered interesting\u003cbr /\u003eby sense?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe man who can be contented to live with a pretty useful companion\u003cbr /\u003ewithout a mind, has lost in voluptuous gratifications a taste for\u003cbr /\u003emore refined enjoyments; he has never felt the calm satisfaction\u003cbr /\u003ethat refreshes the parched heart, like the silent dew of heaven–of\u003cbr /\u003ebeing beloved by one who could understand him. In the society of\u003cbr /\u003ehis wife he is still alone, unless when the man is sunk in the\u003cbr /\u003ebrute. \u0026quot;The charm of life,\u0026quot; says a grave philosophical reasoner,\u003cbr /\u003eis \u0026quot;sympathy; nothing pleases us more than to observe in other men\u003cbr /\u003ea fellow-feeling with all the emotions of our own breast.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, according to the tenor of reasoning by which women are kept\u003cbr /\u003efrom the tree of knowledge, the important years of youth, the\u003cbr /\u003eusefulness of age, and the rational hopes of futurity, are all to\u003cbr /\u003ebe sacrificed, to render woman an object of desire for a short\u003cbr /\u003etime. Besides, how could Rousseau expect them to be virtuous and\u003cbr /\u003econstant when reason is neither allowed to be the foundation of\u003cbr /\u003etheir virtue, nor truth the object of their inquiries?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut all Rousseau\u0026#39;s errors in reasoning arose from sensibility, and\u003cbr /\u003esensibility to their charms women are very ready to forgive! When\u003cbr /\u003ehe should have reasoned he became impassioned, and reflection\u003cbr /\u003einflamed his imagination, instead of enlightening his\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding. Even his virtues also led him farther astray; for,\u003cbr /\u003eborn with a warm constitution and lively fancy, nature carried him\u003cbr /\u003etoward the other sex with such eager fondness, that he soon became\u003cbr /\u003elascivious. Had he given way to these desires, the fire would have\u003cbr /\u003eextinguished itself in a natural manner, but virtue, and a romantic\u003cbr /\u003ekind of delicacy, made him practise self-denial; yet, when fear,\u003cbr /\u003edelicacy, or virtue restrained him, he debauched his imagination;\u003cbr /\u003eand reflecting on the sensations to which fancy gave force, he\u003cbr /\u003etraced them in the most glowing colours, and sunk them deep into\u003cbr /\u003ehis soul.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe then sought for solitude, not to sleep with the man of nature;\u003cbr /\u003eor calmly investigate the causes of things under the shade where\u003cbr /\u003eSir Isaac Newton indulged contemplation, but merely to indulge his\u003cbr /\u003efeelings. And so warmly has he painted what he forcibly felt,\u003cbr /\u003ethat, interesting the heart and inflaming the imagination of his\u003cbr /\u003ereaders; in proportion to the strength of their fancy, they imagine\u003cbr /\u003ethat their understanding is convinced, when they only sympathize\u003cbr /\u003ewith a poetic writer, who skilfully exhibits the objects of sense,\u003cbr /\u003emost voluptuously shadowed, or gracefully veiled; and thus making\u003cbr /\u003eus feel, whilst dreaming that we reason, erroneous conclusions are\u003cbr /\u003eleft in the mind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhy was Rousseau\u0026#39;s life divided between ecstasy and misery? Can\u003cbr /\u003eany other answer be given than this, that the effervescence of his\u003cbr /\u003eimagination produced both; but, had his fancy been allowed to cool,\u003cbr /\u003eit is possible that he might have acquired more strength of mind.\u003cbr /\u003eStill, if the purpose of life be to educate the intellectual part\u003cbr /\u003eof man, all with respect to him was right; yet, had not death led\u003cbr /\u003eto a nobler scene of action, it is probable that he would have\u003cbr /\u003eenjoyed more equal happiness on earth, and have felt the calm\u003cbr /\u003esensations of the man of nature, instead of being prepared for\u003cbr /\u003eanother stage of existence by nourishing the passions which agitate\u003cbr /\u003ethe civilized man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut peace to his manes! I war not with his ashes, but his\u003cbr /\u003eopinions. I war only with the sensibility that led him to degrade\u003cbr /\u003ewoman by making her the slave of love.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e….\u0026quot;Curs\u0026#39;d vassalage,\u003cbr /\u003eFirst idoliz\u0026#39;d till love\u0026#39;s hot fire be o\u0026#39;er,\u003cbr /\u003eThen slaves to those who courted us before.\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003eDryden.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe pernicious tendency of those books, in which the writers\u003cbr /\u003einsidiously degrade the sex, whilst they are prostrate before their\u003cbr /\u003epersonal charms, cannot be too often or too severely exposed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet us, my dear contemporaries, arise above such narrow prejudices!\u003cbr /\u003eIf wisdom is desirable on its own account, if virtue, to deserve\u003cbr /\u003ethe name, must be founded on knowledge; let us endeavour to\u003cbr /\u003estrengthen our minds by reflection, till our heads become a balance\u003cbr /\u003efor our hearts; let us not confine all our thoughts to the petty\u003cbr /\u003eoccurrences of the day, nor our knowledge to an acquaintance with\u003cbr /\u003eour lovers\u0026#39; or husbands\u0026#39; hearts; but let the practice of every duty\u003cbr /\u003ebe subordinate to the grand one of improving our minds, and\u003cbr /\u003epreparing our affections for a more exalted state!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBeware then, my friends, of suffering the heart to be moved by\u003cbr /\u003eevery trivial incident: the reed is shaken by a breeze, and\u003cbr /\u003eannually dies, but the oak stands firm, and for ages braves the\u003cbr /\u003estorm.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWere we, indeed, only created to flutter our hour out and die–why\u003cbr /\u003elet us then indulge sensibility, and laugh at the severity of\u003cbr /\u003ereason. Yet, alas! even then we should want strength of body and\u003cbr /\u003emind, and life would be lost in feverish pleasures or wearisome\u003cbr /\u003elanguor.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut the system of education, which I earnestly wish to see\u003cbr /\u003eexploded, seems to presuppose, what ought never to be taken for\u003cbr /\u003egranted, that virtue shields us from the casualties of life; and\u003cbr /\u003ethat fortune, slipping off her bandage, will smile on a\u003cbr /\u003ewell-educated female, and bring in her hand an Emilius or a\u003cbr /\u003eTelemachus. Whilst, on the contrary, the reward which virtue\u003cbr /\u003epromises to her votaries is confined, it is clear, to their own\u003cbr /\u003ebosoms; and often must they contend with the most vexatious worldly\u003cbr /\u003ecares, and bear with the vices and humours of relations for whom\u003cbr /\u003ethey can never feel a friendship.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere have been many women in the world who, instead of being\u003cbr /\u003esupported by the reason and virtue of their fathers and brothers,\u003cbr /\u003ehave strengthened their own minds by struggling with their vices\u003cbr /\u003eand follies; yet have never met with a hero, in the shape of a\u003cbr /\u003ehusband; who, paying the debt that mankind owed them, might chance\u003cbr /\u003eto bring back their reason to its natural dependent state, and\u003cbr /\u003erestore the usurped prerogative, of rising above opinion, to man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 5.2.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDr. Fordyce\u0026#39;s sermons have long made a part of a young woman\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003elibrary; nay, girls at school are allowed to read them; but I\u003cbr /\u003eshould instantly dismiss them from my pupil\u0026#39;s, if I wished to\u003cbr /\u003estrengthen her understanding, by leading her to form sound\u003cbr /\u003eprinciples on a broad basis; or, were I only anxious to cultivate\u003cbr /\u003eher taste; though they must be allowed to contain many sensible\u003cbr /\u003eobservations.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDr. Fordyce may have had a very laudable end in view; but these\u003cbr /\u003ediscourses are written in such an affected style, that were it only\u003cbr /\u003eon that account, and had I nothing to object against his\u003cbr /\u003eMELLIFLUOUS precepts, I should not allow girls to peruse them,\u003cbr /\u003eunless I designed to hunt every spark of nature out of their\u003cbr /\u003ecomposition, melting every human quality into female weakness and\u003cbr /\u003eartificial grace. I say artificial, for true grace arises from\u003cbr /\u003esome kind of independence of mind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eChildren, careless of pleasing, and only anxious to amuse\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves, are often very graceful; and the nobility who have\u003cbr /\u003emostly lived with inferiors, and always had the command of money,\u003cbr /\u003eacquire a graceful ease of deportment, which should rather be\u003cbr /\u003etermed habitual grace of body, than that superiour gracefulness\u003cbr /\u003ewhich is truly the expression of the mind. This mental grace, not\u003cbr /\u003enoticed by vulgar eyes, often flashes across a rough countenance,\u003cbr /\u003eand irradiating every feature, shows simplicity and independence of\u003cbr /\u003emind. It is then we read characters of immortality in the eye, and\u003cbr /\u003esee the soul in every gesture, though when at rest, neither the\u003cbr /\u003eface nor limbs may have much beauty to recommend them; or the\u003cbr /\u003ebehaviour, any thing peculiar to attract universal attention. The\u003cbr /\u003emass of mankind, however, look for more TANGIBLE beauty; yet\u003cbr /\u003esimplicity is, in general, admired, when people do not consider\u003cbr /\u003ewhat they admire; and can there be simplicity without sincerity?\u003cbr /\u003ebut, to have done with remarks that are in some measure desultory,\u003cbr /\u003ethough naturally excited by the subject.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn declamatory periods Dr. Fordyce spins out Rousseau\u0026#39;s eloquence;\u003cbr /\u003eand in most sentimental rant, details his opinions respecting the\u003cbr /\u003efemale character, and the behaviour which woman ought to assume to\u003cbr /\u003erender her lovely.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHe shall speak for himself, for thus he makes nature address man.\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;Behold these smiling innocents, whom I have graced with my fairest\u003cbr /\u003egifts, and committed to your protection; behold them with love and\u003cbr /\u003erespect; treat them with tenderness and honour. They are timid and\u003cbr /\u003ewant to be defended. They are frail; O do not take advantage of\u003cbr /\u003etheir weakness! Let their fears and blushes endear them. Let\u003cbr /\u003etheir confidence in you never be abused. But is it possible, that\u003cbr /\u003eany of you can be such barbarians, so supremely wicked, as to abuse\u003cbr /\u003eit? Can you find in your hearts* to despoil the gentle, trusting\u003cbr /\u003ecreatures of their treasure, or do any thing to strip them of their\u003cbr /\u003enative robe of virtue? Curst be the impious hand that would dare\u003cbr /\u003eto violate the unblemished form of Chastity! Thou wretch! thou\u003cbr /\u003eruffian! forbear; nor venture to provoke heaven\u0026#39;s fiercest\u003cbr /\u003evengeance.\u0026quot; I know not any comment that can be made seriously on\u003cbr /\u003ethis curious passage, and I could produce many similar ones; and\u003cbr /\u003esome, so very sentimental, that I have heard rational men use the\u003cbr /\u003eword indecent, when they mentioned them with disgust.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. Can you?–Can you? would be the most emphatical\u003cbr /\u003ecomment, were it drawled out in a whining voice.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout there is a display of cold, artificial feelings, and\u003cbr /\u003ethat parade of sensibility which boys and girls should be taught to\u003cbr /\u003edespise as the sure mark of a little vain mind. Florid appeals are\u003cbr /\u003emade to heaven, and to the BEAUTEOUS INNOCENTS, the fairest images\u003cbr /\u003eof heaven here below, whilst sober sense is left far behind. This\u003cbr /\u003eis not the language of the heart, nor will it ever reach it, though\u003cbr /\u003ethe ear may be tickled.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI shall be told, perhaps, that the public have been pleased with\u003cbr /\u003ethese volumes. True–and Hervey\u0026#39;s Meditations are still read,\u003cbr /\u003ethough he equally sinned against sense and taste.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI particularly object to the lover-like phrases of pumped up\u003cbr /\u003epassion, which are every where interspersed. If women be ever\u003cbr /\u003eallowed to walk without leading-strings, why must they be cajoled\u003cbr /\u003einto virtue by artful flattery and sexual compliments? Speak to\u003cbr /\u003ethem the language of truth and soberness, and away with the lullaby\u003cbr /\u003estrains of condescending endearment! Let them be taught to respect\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves as rational creatures, and not led to have a passion for\u003cbr /\u003etheir own insipid persons. It moves my gall to hear a preacher\u003cbr /\u003edescanting on dress and needle-work; and still more, to hear him\u003cbr /\u003eaddress the \u0026#39;British fair, the fairest of the fair\u0026#39;, as if they had\u003cbr /\u003eonly feelings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEven recommending piety he uses the following argument. \u0026quot;Never,\u003cbr /\u003eperhaps, does a fine woman strike more deeply, than when, composed\u003cbr /\u003einto pious recollection, and possessed with the noblest\u003cbr /\u003econsiderations, she assumes, without knowing it, superiour dignity\u003cbr /\u003eand new graces; so that the beauties of holiness seem to radiate\u003cbr /\u003eabout her, and the by-standers are almost induced to fancy her\u003cbr /\u003ealready worshipping amongst her kindred angels!\u0026quot; Why are women to\u003cbr /\u003ebe thus bred up with a desire of conquest? the very epithet, used\u003cbr /\u003ein this sense, gives me a sickly qualm! Does religion and virtue\u003cbr /\u003eoffer no stronger motives, no brighter reward? Must they always be\u003cbr /\u003edebased by being made to consider the sex of their companions?\u003cbr /\u003eMust they be taught always to be pleasing? And when levelling\u003cbr /\u003etheir small artillery at the heart of man, is it necessary to tell\u003cbr /\u003ethem that a little sense is sufficient to render their attention\u003cbr /\u003eINCREDIBLY SOOTHING? \u0026quot;As a small degree of knowledge entertains in\u003cbr /\u003ea woman, so from a woman, though for a different reason, a small\u003cbr /\u003eexpression of kindness delights, particularly if she have beauty!\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003eI should have supposed for the same reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhy are girls to be told that they resemble angels; but to sink\u003cbr /\u003ethem below women? Or, that a gentle, innocent female is an object\u003cbr /\u003ethat comes nearer to the idea which we have formed of angels than\u003cbr /\u003eany other. Yet they are told, at the same time, that they are only\u003cbr /\u003elike angels when they are young and beautiful; consequently, it is\u003cbr /\u003etheir persons, not their virtues, that procure them this homage.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIdle empty words! what can such delusive flattery lead to, but\u003cbr /\u003evanity and folly? The lover, it is true, has a poetic licence to\u003cbr /\u003eexalt his mistress; his reason is the bubble of his passion, and he\u003cbr /\u003edoes not utter a falsehood when he borrows the language of\u003cbr /\u003eadoration. His imagination may raise the idol of his heart,\u003cbr /\u003eunblamed, above humanity; and happy would it be for women, if they\u003cbr /\u003ewere only flattered by the men who loved them; I mean, who love the\u003cbr /\u003eindividual, not the sex; but should a grave preacher interlard his\u003cbr /\u003ediscourses with such fooleries?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn sermons or novels, however, voluptuousness is always true to its\u003cbr /\u003etext. Men are allowed by moralists to cultivate, as nature\u003cbr /\u003edirects, different qualities, and assume the different characters,\u003cbr /\u003ethat the same passions, modified almost to infinity, give to each\u003cbr /\u003eindividual. A virtuous man may have a choleric or a sanguine\u003cbr /\u003econstitution, be gay or grave, unreproved; be firm till be is\u003cbr /\u003ealmost over-bearing, or, weakly submissive, have no will or opinion\u003cbr /\u003eof his own; but all women are to be levelled, by meekness and\u003cbr /\u003edocility, into one character of yielding softness and gentle\u003cbr /\u003ecompliance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI will use the preacher\u0026#39;s own words. \u0026quot;Let it be observed, that in\u003cbr /\u003eyour sex manly exercises are never graceful; that in them a tone\u003cbr /\u003eand figure, as well as an air and deportment, of the masculine\u003cbr /\u003ekind, are always forbidding; and that men of sensibility desire in\u003cbr /\u003eevery woman soft features, and a flowing voice, a form not robust,\u003cbr /\u003eand demeanour delicate and gentle.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs not the following portrait–the portrait of a house slave? \u0026quot;I\u003cbr /\u003eam astonished at the folly of many women, who are still reproaching\u003cbr /\u003etheir husbands for leaving them alone, for preferring this or that\u003cbr /\u003ecompany to theirs, for treating them with this and the other mark\u003cbr /\u003eof disregard or indifference; when, to speak the truth, they have\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves in a great measure to blame. Not that I would justify\u003cbr /\u003ethe men in any thing wrong on their part. But had you behaved to\u003cbr /\u003ethem with more RESPECTFUL OBSERVANCE, and a more EQUAL TENDERNESS;\u003cbr /\u003eSTUDYING THEIR HUMOURS, OVERLOOKING THEIR MISTAKES, SUBMITTING TO\u003cbr /\u003eTHEIR OPINIONS in matters indifferent, passing by little instances\u003cbr /\u003eof unevenness, caprice, or passion, giving SOFT answers to hasty\u003cbr /\u003ewords, complaining as seldom as possible, and making it your daily\u003cbr /\u003ecare to relieve their anxieties and prevent their wishes, to\u003cbr /\u003eenliven the hour of dulness, and call up the ideas of felicity:\u003cbr /\u003ehad you pursued this conduct, I doubt not but you would have\u003cbr /\u003emaintained and even increased their esteem, so far as to have\u003cbr /\u003esecured every degree of influence that could conduce to their\u003cbr /\u003evirtue, or your mutual satisfaction; and your house might at this\u003cbr /\u003eday have been the abode of domestic bliss.\u0026quot; Such a woman ought to\u003cbr /\u003ebe an angel–or she is an ass–for I discern not a trace of the\u003cbr /\u003ehuman character, neither reason nor passion in this domestic\u003cbr /\u003edrudge, whose being is absorbed in that of a tyrant\u0026#39;s.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eStill Dr. Fordyce must have very little acquaintance with the human\u003cbr /\u003eheart, if he really supposed that such conduct would bring back\u003cbr /\u003ewandering love, instead of exciting contempt. No, beauty,\u003cbr /\u003egentleness, etc. etc. may gain a heart; but esteem, the only\u003cbr /\u003elasting affection, can alone be obtained by virtue supported by\u003cbr /\u003ereason. It is respect for the understanding that keeps alive\u003cbr /\u003etenderness for the person.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs these volumes are so frequently put into the hands of young\u003cbr /\u003epeople, I have taken more notice of them than strictly speaking,\u003cbr /\u003ethey deserve; but as they have contributed to vitiate the taste,\u003cbr /\u003eand enervate the understanding of many of my fellow-creatures, I\u003cbr /\u003ecould not pass them silently over.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 5.3.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSuch paternal solicitude pervades Dr. Gregory\u0026#39;s Legacy to his\u003cbr /\u003edaughters, that I enter on the task of criticism with affectionate\u003cbr /\u003erespect; but as this little volume has many attractions to\u003cbr /\u003erecommend it to the notice of the most respectable part of my sex,\u003cbr /\u003eI cannot silently pass over arguments that so speciously support\u003cbr /\u003eopinions which, I think, have had the most baneful effect on the\u003cbr /\u003emorals and manners of the female world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHis easy familiar style is particularly suited to the tenor of his\u003cbr /\u003eadvice, and the melancholy tenderness which his respect for the\u003cbr /\u003ememory of a beloved wife diffuses through the whole work, renders\u003cbr /\u003eit very interesting; yet there is a degree of concise elegance\u003cbr /\u003econspicuous in many passages, that disturbs this sympathy; and we\u003cbr /\u003epop on the author, when we only expected to meet the–father.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, having two objects in view, he seldom adhered steadily to\u003cbr /\u003eeither; for, wishing to make his daughters amiable, and fearing\u003cbr /\u003elest unhappiness should only be the consequence, of instilling\u003cbr /\u003esentiments, that might draw them out of the track of common life,\u003cbr /\u003ewithout enabling them to act with consonant independence and\u003cbr /\u003edignity, he checks the natural flow of his thoughts, and neither\u003cbr /\u003eadvises one thing nor the other.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the preface he tells them a mournful truth, \u0026quot;that they will\u003cbr /\u003ehear, at least once in their lives, the genuine sentiments of a\u003cbr /\u003eman, who has no interest in deceiving them.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHapless woman! what can be expected from thee, when the beings on\u003cbr /\u003ewhom thou art said naturally to depend for reason and support, have\u003cbr /\u003eall an interest in deceiving thee! This is the root of the evil\u003cbr /\u003ethat has shed a corroding mildew on all thy virtues; and blighting\u003cbr /\u003ein the bud thy opening faculties, has rendered thee the weak thing\u003cbr /\u003ethou art! It is this separate interest– this insidious state of\u003cbr /\u003ewarfare, that undermines morality, and divides mankind!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf love has made some women wretched–how many more has the cold\u003cbr /\u003eunmeaning intercourse of gallantry rendered vain and useless! yet\u003cbr /\u003ethis heartless attention to the sex is reckoned so manly, so\u003cbr /\u003epolite, that till society is very differently organized, I fear,\u003cbr /\u003ethis vestige of gothic manners will not be done away by a more\u003cbr /\u003ereasonable and affectionate mode of conduct. Besides, to strip it\u003cbr /\u003eof its imaginary dignity, I must observe, that in the most\u003cbr /\u003ecivilized European states, this lip-service prevails in a very\u003cbr /\u003egreat degree, accompanied with extreme dissoluteness of morals. In\u003cbr /\u003ePortugal, the country that I particularly allude to, it takes place\u003cbr /\u003eof the most serious moral obligations; for a man is seldom\u003cbr /\u003eassassinated when in the company of a woman. The savage hand of\u003cbr /\u003erapine is unnerved by this chivalrous spirit; and, if the stroke of\u003cbr /\u003evengeance cannot be stayed–the lady is entreated to pardon the\u003cbr /\u003erudeness and depart in peace, though sprinkled, perhaps, with her\u003cbr /\u003ehusband\u0026#39;s or brother\u0026#39;s blood.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI shall pass over his strictures on religion, because I mean to\u003cbr /\u003ediscuss that subject in a separate chapter.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe remarks relative to behaviour, though many of them very\u003cbr /\u003esensible, I entirely disapprove of, because it appears to me to be\u003cbr /\u003ebeginning, as it were at the wrong end. A cultivated\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, and an affectionate heart, will never want starched\u003cbr /\u003erules of decorum, something more substantial than seemliness will\u003cbr /\u003ebe the result; and, without understanding, the behaviour here\u003cbr /\u003erecommended, would be rank affectation. Decorum, indeed, is the\u003cbr /\u003eone thing needful! decorum is to supplant nature, and banish all\u003cbr /\u003esimplicity and variety of character out of the female world. Yet\u003cbr /\u003ewhat good end can all this superficial counsel produce? It is,\u003cbr /\u003ehowever, much easier to point out this or that mode of behaviour,\u003cbr /\u003ethan to set the reason to work; but, when the mind has been stored\u003cbr /\u003ewith useful knowledge, and strengthened by being employed, the\u003cbr /\u003eregulation of the behaviour may safely be left to its guidance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhy, for instance, should the following caution be given, when art\u003cbr /\u003eof every kind must contaminate the mind; and why entangle the grand\u003cbr /\u003emotives of action, which reason and religion equally combine to\u003cbr /\u003eenforce, with pitiful worldly shifts and slight of hand tricks to\u003cbr /\u003egain the applause of gaping tasteless fools? \u0026quot;Be even cautious in\u003cbr /\u003edisplaying your good sense.* It will be thought you assume a\u003cbr /\u003esuperiority over the rest of the company– But if you happen to\u003cbr /\u003ehave any learning keep it a profound secret, especially from the\u003cbr /\u003emen, who generally look with a jealous and malignant eye on a woman\u003cbr /\u003eof great parts, and a cultivated understanding.\u0026quot; If men of real\u003cbr /\u003emerit, as he afterwards observes, are superior to this meanness,\u003cbr /\u003ewhere is the necessity that the behaviour of the whole sex should\u003cbr /\u003ebe modulated to please fools, or men, who having little claim to\u003cbr /\u003erespect as individuals, choose to keep close in their phalanx.\u003cbr /\u003eMen, indeed, who insist on their common superiority, having only\u003cbr /\u003ethis sexual superiority, are certainly very excusable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. Let women once acquire good sense–and if it deserve\u003cbr /\u003ethe name, it will teach them; or, of what use will it be how to\u003cbr /\u003eemploy it.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere would be no end to rules for behaviour, if it be proper\u003cbr /\u003ealways to adopt the tone of the company; for thus, for ever varying\u003cbr /\u003ethe key, a FLAT would often pass for a NATURAL note.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSurely it would have been wiser to have advised women to improve\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves till they rose above the fumes of vanity; and then to\u003cbr /\u003elet the public opinion come round–for where are rules of\u003cbr /\u003eaccommodation to stop? The narrow path of truth and virtue\u003cbr /\u003einclines neither to the right nor left, it is a straight-forward\u003cbr /\u003ebusiness, and they who are earnestly pursuing their road, may bound\u003cbr /\u003eover many decorous prejudices, without leaving modesty behind.\u003cbr /\u003eMake the heart clean, and give the head employment, and I will\u003cbr /\u003eventure to predict that there will be nothing offensive in the\u003cbr /\u003ebehaviour.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe air of fashion, which many young people are so eager to attain,\u003cbr /\u003ealways strikes me like the studied attitudes of some modern prints,\u003cbr /\u003ecopied with tasteless servility after the antiques; the soul is\u003cbr /\u003eleft out, and none of the parts are tied together by what may\u003cbr /\u003eproperly be termed character. This varnish of fashion, which\u003cbr /\u003eseldom sticks very close to sense, may dazzle the weak; but leave\u003cbr /\u003enature to itself, and it will seldom disgust the wise. Besides,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen a woman has sufficient sense not to pretend to any thing which\u003cbr /\u003eshe does not understand in some degree, there is no need of\u003cbr /\u003edetermining to hide her talents under a bushel. Let things take\u003cbr /\u003etheir natural course, and all will be well.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is this system of dissimulation, throughout the volume, that I\u003cbr /\u003edespise. Women are always to SEEM to be this and that–yet virtue\u003cbr /\u003emight apostrophize them, in the words of Hamlet–Seems! I know not\u003cbr /\u003eseems!–Have that within that passeth show!–\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eStill the same tone occurs; for in another place, after\u003cbr /\u003erecommending, (without sufficiently discriminating) delicacy, he\u003cbr /\u003eadds, \u0026quot;The men will complain of your reserve. They will assure you\u003cbr /\u003ethat a franker behaviour would make you more amiable. But, trust\u003cbr /\u003eme, they are not sincere when they tell you so. I acknowledge that\u003cbr /\u003eon some occasions it might render you more agreeable as companions,\u003cbr /\u003ebut it would make you less amiable as women: an important\u003cbr /\u003edistinction, which many of your sex are not aware of.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis desire of being always women, is the very consciousness that\u003cbr /\u003edegrades the sex. Excepting with a lover, I must repeat with\u003cbr /\u003eemphasis, a former observation–it would be well if they were only\u003cbr /\u003eagreeable or rational companions. But in this respect his advice\u003cbr /\u003eis even inconsistent with a passage which I mean to quote with the\u003cbr /\u003emost marked approbation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;The sentiment, that a woman may allow all innocent freedoms,\u003cbr /\u003eprovided her virtue is secure, is both grossly indelicate and\u003cbr /\u003edangerous, and has proved fatal to many of your sex.\u0026quot; With this\u003cbr /\u003eopinion I perfectly coincide. A man, or a woman, of any feeling\u003cbr /\u003emust always wish to convince a beloved object that it is the\u003cbr /\u003ecaresses of the individual, not the sex, that is received and\u003cbr /\u003ereturned with pleasure; and, that the heart, rather than the\u003cbr /\u003esenses, is moved. Without this natural delicacy, love becomes a\u003cbr /\u003eselfish personal gratification that soon degrades the character.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI carry this sentiment still further. Affection, when love is out\u003cbr /\u003eof the question, authorises many personal endearments, that\u003cbr /\u003enaturally flowing from an innocent heart give life to the\u003cbr /\u003ebehaviour; but the personal intercourse of appetite, gallantry, or\u003cbr /\u003evanity, is despicable. When a man squeezes the hand of a pretty\u003cbr /\u003ewoman, handing her to a carriage, whom he has never seen before,\u003cbr /\u003eshe will consider such an impertinent freedom in the light of an\u003cbr /\u003einsult, if she have any true delicacy, instead of being flattered\u003cbr /\u003eby this unmeaning homage to beauty. These are the privileges of\u003cbr /\u003efriendship, or the momentary homage which the heart pays to virtue,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen it flashes suddenly on the notice–mere animal spirits have no\u003cbr /\u003eclaim to the kindnesses of affection.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWishing to feed the affections with what is now the food of vanity,\u003cbr /\u003eI would fain persuade my sex to act from simpler principles. Let\u003cbr /\u003ethem merit love, and they will obtain it, though they may never be\u003cbr /\u003etold that: \u0026quot;The power of a fine woman over the hearts of men, of\u003cbr /\u003emen of the finest parts, is even beyond what she conceives.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have already noticed the narrow cautions with respect to\u003cbr /\u003eduplicity, female softness, delicacy of constitution; for these are\u003cbr /\u003ethe changes which he rings round without ceasing, in a more\u003cbr /\u003edecorous manner, it is true, than Rousseau; but it all comes home\u003cbr /\u003eto the same point, and whoever is at the trouble to analyze these\u003cbr /\u003esentiments, will find the first principles not quite so delicate as\u003cbr /\u003ethe superstructure.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe subject of amusements is treated in too cursory a manner; but\u003cbr /\u003ewith the same spirit.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen I treat of friendship, love, and marriage, it will be found\u003cbr /\u003ethat we materially differ in opinion; I shall not then forestall\u003cbr /\u003ewhat I have to observe on these important subjects; but confine my\u003cbr /\u003eremarks to the general tenor of them, to that cautious family\u003cbr /\u003eprudence, to those confined views of partial unenlightened\u003cbr /\u003eaffection, which exclude pleasure and improvement, by vainly\u003cbr /\u003ewishing to ward off sorrow and error–and by thus guarding the\u003cbr /\u003eheart and mind, destroy also all their energy. It is far better to\u003cbr /\u003ebe often deceived than never to trust; to be disappointed in love,\u003cbr /\u003ethan never to love; to lose a husband\u0026#39;s fondness, than forfeit his\u003cbr /\u003eesteem.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHappy would it be for the world, and for individuals, of course, if\u003cbr /\u003eall this unavailing solicitude to attain worldly happiness, on a\u003cbr /\u003econfined plan, were turned into an anxious desire to improve the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding. \u0026quot;Wisdom is the principal thing: THEREFORE get\u003cbr /\u003ewisdom; and with all thy gettings get understanding.\u0026quot; \u0026quot;How long ye\u003cbr /\u003esimple ones, will ye love simplicity, and hate knowledge?\u0026quot; Saith\u003cbr /\u003eWisdom to the daughters of men!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 5.4.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI do not mean to allude to all the writers who have written on the\u003cbr /\u003esubject of female manners–it would in fact be only beating over\u003cbr /\u003ethe old ground, for they have, in general, written in the same\u003cbr /\u003estrain; but attacking the boasted prerogative of man–the\u003cbr /\u003eprerogative that may emphatically be called the iron sceptre of\u003cbr /\u003etyranny, the original sin of tyrants, I declare against all power\u003cbr /\u003ebuilt on prejudices, however hoary.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf the submission demanded be founded on justice–there is no\u003cbr /\u003eappealing to a higher power–for God is justice itself. Let us\u003cbr /\u003ethen, as children of the same parent, if not bastardized by being\u003cbr /\u003ethe younger born, reason together, and learn to submit to the\u003cbr /\u003eauthority of reason when her voice is distinctly heard. But, if it\u003cbr /\u003ebe proved that this throne of prerogative only rests on a chaotic\u003cbr /\u003emass of prejudices, that have no inherent principle of order to\u003cbr /\u003ekeep them together, or on an elephant, tortoise, or even the mighty\u003cbr /\u003eshoulders of a son of the earth, they may escape, who dare to brave\u003cbr /\u003ethe consequence without any breach of duty, without sinning against\u003cbr /\u003ethe order of things.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhilst reason raises man above the brutal herd, and death is big\u003cbr /\u003ewith promises, they alone are subject to blind authority who have\u003cbr /\u003eno reliance on their own strength. \u0026quot;They are free who will be\u003cbr /\u003efree!\u0026quot;*\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. \u0026quot;He is the free man, whom TRUTH makes free!\u0026quot; Cowper.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe being who can govern itself, has nothing to fear in life; but\u003cbr /\u003eif any thing is dearer than its own respect, the price must be paid\u003cbr /\u003eto the last farthing. Virtue, like every thing valuable, must be\u003cbr /\u003eloved for herself alone; or she will not take up her abode with us.\u003cbr /\u003eShe will not impart that peace, \u0026quot;which passeth understanding,\u0026quot; when\u003cbr /\u003eshe is merely made the stilts of reputation and respected with\u003cbr /\u003epharisaical exactness, because \u0026quot;honesty is the best policy.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat the plan of life which enables us to carry some knowledge and\u003cbr /\u003evirtue into another world, is the one best calculated to ensure\u003cbr /\u003econtent in this, cannot be denied; yet few people act according to\u003cbr /\u003ethis principle, though it be universally allowed that it admits not\u003cbr /\u003eof dispute. Present pleasure, or present power, carry before it\u003cbr /\u003ethese sober convictions; and it is for the day, not for life, that\u003cbr /\u003eman bargains with happiness. How few! how very few! have\u003cbr /\u003esufficient foresight or resolution, to endure a small evil at the\u003cbr /\u003emoment, to avoid a greater hereafter.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWoman in particular, whose virtue* is built on mutual prejudices,\u003cbr /\u003eseldom attains to this greatness of mind; so that, becoming the\u003cbr /\u003eslave of her own feelings, she is easily subjugated by those of\u003cbr /\u003eothers. Thus degraded, her reason, her misty reason! is employed\u003cbr /\u003erather to burnish than to snap her chains.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. I mean to use a word that comprehends more than\u003cbr /\u003echastity, the sexual virtue.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIndignantly have I heard women argue in the same track as men, and\u003cbr /\u003eadopt the sentiments that brutalize them with all the pertinacity\u003cbr /\u003eof ignorance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI must illustrate my assertion by a few examples. Mrs. Piozzi, who\u003cbr /\u003eoften repeated by rote, what she did not understand, comes forward\u003cbr /\u003ewith Johnsonian periods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Seek not for happiness in singularity; and dread a refinement of\u003cbr /\u003ewisdom as a deviation into folly.\u0026quot; Thus she dogmatically addresses\u003cbr /\u003ea new married man; and to elucidate this pompous exordium, she\u003cbr /\u003eadds, \u0026quot;I said that the person of your lady would not grow more\u003cbr /\u003epleasing to you, but pray let her never suspect that it grows less\u003cbr /\u003eso: that a woman will pardon an affront to her understanding much\u003cbr /\u003esooner than one to her person, is well known; nor will any of us\u003cbr /\u003econtradict the assertion. All our attainments, all our arts, are\u003cbr /\u003eemployed to gain and keep the heart of man; and what mortification\u003cbr /\u003ecan exceed the disappointment, if the end be not obtained: There is\u003cbr /\u003eno reproof however pointed, no punishment however severe, that a\u003cbr /\u003ewoman of spirit will not prefer to neglect; and if she can endure\u003cbr /\u003eit without complaint, it only proves that she means to make herself\u003cbr /\u003eamends by the attention of others for the slights of her husband!\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese are true masculine sentiments. \u0026quot;All our ARTS are employed to\u003cbr /\u003egain and keep the heart of man:\u0026quot;–and what is the inference?–if\u003cbr /\u003eher person, and was there ever a person, though formed with\u003cbr /\u003eMedicisan symmetry, that was not slighted? be neglected, she will\u003cbr /\u003emake herself amends by endeavouring to please other men. Noble\u003cbr /\u003emorality! But thus is the understanding of the whole sex\u003cbr /\u003eaffronted, and their virtue deprived of the common basis of virtue.\u003cbr /\u003eA woman must know, that her person cannot be as pleasing to her\u003cbr /\u003ehusband as it was to her lover, and if she be offended with him for\u003cbr /\u003ebeing a human creature, she may as well whine about the loss of his\u003cbr /\u003eheart as about any other foolish thing. And this very want of\u003cbr /\u003ediscernment or unreasonable anger, proves that he could not change\u003cbr /\u003ehis fondness for her person into affection for her virtues or\u003cbr /\u003erespect for her understanding.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhilst women avow, and act up to such opinions, their\u003cbr /\u003eunderstandings, at least, deserve the contempt and obloquy that\u003cbr /\u003emen, WHO NEVER insult their persons, have pointedly levelled at the\u003cbr /\u003efemale mind. And it is the sentiments of these polite men, who do\u003cbr /\u003enot wish to be encumbered with mind, that vain women thoughtlessly\u003cbr /\u003eadopt. Yet they should know, that insulted reason alone can spread\u003cbr /\u003ethat SACRED reserve about the persons which renders human\u003cbr /\u003eaffections, for human affections have always some base alloy, as\u003cbr /\u003epermanent as is consistent with the grand end of existence–the\u003cbr /\u003eattainment of virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe Baroness de Stael speaks the same language as the lady just\u003cbr /\u003ecited, with more enthusiasm. Her eulogium on Rousseau was\u003cbr /\u003eaccidentally put into my hands, and her sentiments, the sentiments\u003cbr /\u003eof too many of my sex, may serve as the text for a few comments.\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;Though Rousseau,\u0026quot; she observes, \u0026quot;has endeavoured to prevent women\u003cbr /\u003efrom interfering in public affairs, and acting a brilliant part in\u003cbr /\u003ethe theatre of politics; yet, in speaking of them, how much has he\u003cbr /\u003edone it to their satisfaction! If he wished to deprive them of\u003cbr /\u003esome rights, foreign to their sex, how has he for ever restored to\u003cbr /\u003ethem all those to which it has a claim! And in attempting to\u003cbr /\u003ediminish their influence over the deliberations of men, how\u003cbr /\u003esacredly has he established the empire they have over their\u003cbr /\u003ehappiness! In aiding them to descend from an usurped throne, he\u003cbr /\u003ehas firmly seated them upon that to which they were destined by\u003cbr /\u003enature; and though he be full of indignation against them when they\u003cbr /\u003eendeavour to resemble men, yet when they come before him with all\u003cbr /\u003eTHE CHARMS WEAKNESSES, VIRTUES, and ERRORS, OF their sex, his\u003cbr /\u003erespect for their PERSONS amounts almost to adoration.\u0026quot; True!–For\u003cbr /\u003enever was there a sensualist who paid more fervent adoration at the\u003cbr /\u003eshrine of beauty. So devout, indeed, was his respect for the\u003cbr /\u003eperson, that excepting the virtue of chastity, for obvious reasons,\u003cbr /\u003ehe only wished to see it embellished by charms, weaknesses, and\u003cbr /\u003eerrors. He was afraid lest the austerity of reason should disturb\u003cbr /\u003ethe soft playfulness of love. The master wished to have a\u003cbr /\u003emeretricious slave to fondle, entirely dependent on his reason and\u003cbr /\u003ebounty; he did not want a companion, whom he should be compelled to\u003cbr /\u003eesteem, or a friend to whom he could confide the care of his\u003cbr /\u003echildren\u0026#39;s education, should death deprive them of their father,\u003cbr /\u003ebefore he had fulfilled the sacred task. He denies woman reason,\u003cbr /\u003eshuts her out from knowledge, and turns her aside from truth; yet\u003cbr /\u003ehis pardon is granted, because, \u0026quot;he admits the passion of love.\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003eIt would require some ingenuity to show why women were to be under\u003cbr /\u003esuch an obligation to him for thus admitting love; when it is clear\u003cbr /\u003ethat he admits it only for the relaxation of men, and to perpetuate\u003cbr /\u003ethe species; but he talked with passion, and that powerful spell\u003cbr /\u003eworked on the sensibility of a young encomiast. \u0026quot;What signifies\u003cbr /\u003eit,\u0026quot; pursues this rhapsodist, \u0026quot;to women, that his reason disputes\u003cbr /\u003ewith them the empire, when his heart is devotedly theirs.\u0026quot; It is\u003cbr /\u003enot empire–but equality, that they should contend for. Yet, if\u003cbr /\u003ethey only wished to lengthen out their sway, they should not\u003cbr /\u003eentirely trust to their persons, for though beauty may gain a\u003cbr /\u003eheart, it cannot keep it, even while the beauty is in full bloom,\u003cbr /\u003eunless the mind lend, at least, some graces.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen women are once sufficiently enlightened to discover their real\u003cbr /\u003einterest, on a grand scale, they will, I am persuaded, be very\u003cbr /\u003eready to resign all the prerogatives of love, that are not mutual,\u003cbr /\u003e(speaking of them as lasting prerogatives,) for the calm\u003cbr /\u003esatisfaction of friendship, and the tender confidence of habitual\u003cbr /\u003eesteem. Before marriage they will not assume any insolent airs,\u003cbr /\u003enor afterward abjectly submit; but, endeavouring to act like\u003cbr /\u003ereasonable creatures, in both situations, they will not be tumbled\u003cbr /\u003efrom a throne to a stool.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMadame Genlis has written several entertaining books for children;\u003cbr /\u003eand her letters on Education afford many useful hints, that\u003cbr /\u003esensible parents will certainly avail themselves of; but her views\u003cbr /\u003eare narrow, and her prejudices as unreasonable as strong.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI shall pass over her vehement argument in favour of the eternity\u003cbr /\u003eof future punishments, because I blush to think that a human being\u003cbr /\u003eshould ever argue vehemently in such a cause, and only make a few\u003cbr /\u003eremarks on her absurd manner of making the parental authority\u003cbr /\u003esupplant reason. For every where does she inculcate not only BLIND\u003cbr /\u003esubmission to parents; but to the opinion of the world.*\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. A person is not to act in this or that way, though\u003cbr /\u003econvinced they are right in so doing, because some equivocal\u003cbr /\u003ecircumstances may lead the world to SUSPECT that they acted from\u003cbr /\u003edifferent motives. This is sacrificing the substance for a shadow.\u003cbr /\u003eLet people but watch their own hearts, and act rightly as far as\u003cbr /\u003ethey can judge, and they may patiently wait till the opinion of the\u003cbr /\u003eworld comes round. It is best to be directed by a simple\u003cbr /\u003emotive–for justice has too often been sacrificed to\u003cbr /\u003epropriety;–another word for convenience.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShe tells a story of a young man engaged by his father\u0026#39;s express\u003cbr /\u003edesire to a girl of fortune. Before the marriage could take place\u003cbr /\u003eshe is deprived of her fortune, and thrown friendless on the world.\u003cbr /\u003eThe father practises the most infamous arts to separate his son\u003cbr /\u003efrom her, and when the son detects his villany, and, following the\u003cbr /\u003edictates of honour, marries the girl, nothing but misery ensues,\u003cbr /\u003ebecause forsooth he married WITHOUT his father\u0026#39;s consent. On what\u003cbr /\u003eground can religion or morality rest, when justice is thus set at\u003cbr /\u003edefiance? In the same style she represents an accomplished young\u003cbr /\u003ewoman, as ready to marry any body that her MAMMA pleased to\u003cbr /\u003erecommend; and, as actually marrying the young man of her own\u003cbr /\u003echoice, without feeling any emotions of passion, because that a\u003cbr /\u003ewell educated girl had not time to be in love. Is it possible to\u003cbr /\u003ehave much respect for a system of education that thus insults\u003cbr /\u003ereason and nature?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMany similar opinions occur in her writings, mixed with sentiments\u003cbr /\u003ethat do honour to her head and heart. Yet so much superstition is\u003cbr /\u003emixed with her religion, and so much worldly wisdom with her\u003cbr /\u003emorality, that I should not let a young person read her works,\u003cbr /\u003eunless I could afterwards converse on the subjects, and point out\u003cbr /\u003ethe contradictions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMrs. Chapone\u0026#39;s Letters are written with such good sense, and\u003cbr /\u003eunaffected humility, and contain so many useful observations, that\u003cbr /\u003eI only mention them to pay the worthy writer this tribute of\u003cbr /\u003erespect. I cannot, it is true, always coincide in opinion with\u003cbr /\u003eher; but I always respect her.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe very word respect brings Mrs. Macaulay to my remembrance. The\u003cbr /\u003ewoman of the greatest abilities, undoubtedly, that this country has\u003cbr /\u003eever produced. And yet this woman has been suffered to die without\u003cbr /\u003esufficient respect being paid to her memory.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePosterity, however, will be more just; and remember that Catharine\u003cbr /\u003eMacaulay was an example of intellectual acquirements supposed to be\u003cbr /\u003eincompatible with the weakness of her sex. In her style of\u003cbr /\u003ewriting, indeed, no sex appears, for it is like the sense it\u003cbr /\u003econveys, strong and clear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI will not call her\u0026#39;s a masculine understanding, because I admit\u003cbr /\u003enot of such an arrogant assumption of reason; but I contend that it\u003cbr /\u003ewas a sound one, and that her judgment, the matured fruit of\u003cbr /\u003eprofound thinking, was a proof that a woman can acquire judgment,\u003cbr /\u003ein the full extent of the word. Possessing more penetration than\u003cbr /\u003esagacity, more understanding than fancy, she writes with sober\u003cbr /\u003eenergy, and argumentative closeness; yet sympathy and benevolence\u003cbr /\u003egive an interest to her sentiments, and that vital heat to\u003cbr /\u003earguments, which forces the reader to weigh them.*\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. Coinciding in opinion with Mrs. Macaulay relative to\u003cbr /\u003emany branches of education, I refer to her valuable work, instead\u003cbr /\u003eof quoting her sentiments to support my own.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen I first thought of writing these strictures I anticipated Mrs.\u003cbr /\u003eMacaulay\u0026#39;s approbation with a little of that sanguine ardour which\u003cbr /\u003eit has been the business of my life to depress; but soon heard with\u003cbr /\u003ethe sickly qualm of disappointed hope, and the still seriousness of\u003cbr /\u003eregret–that she was no more!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 5.5.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTaking a view of the different works which have been written on\u003cbr /\u003eeducation, Lord Chesterfield\u0026#39;s Letters must not be silently passed\u003cbr /\u003eover. Not that I mean to analyze his unmanly, immoral system, or\u003cbr /\u003eeven to cull any of the useful shrewd remarks which occur in his\u003cbr /\u003efrivolous correspondence–No, I only mean to make a few reflections\u003cbr /\u003eon the avowed tendency of them–the art of acquiring an early\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge of the world. An art, I will venture to assert, that\u003cbr /\u003epreys secretly, like the worm in the bud, on the expanding powers,\u003cbr /\u003eand turns to poison the generous juices which should mount with\u003cbr /\u003evigour in the youthful frame, inspiring warm affections and great\u003cbr /\u003eresolves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor every thing, saith the wise man, there is reason; and who would\u003cbr /\u003elook for the fruits of autumn during the genial months of spring?\u003cbr /\u003eBut this is mere declamation, and I mean to reason with those\u003cbr /\u003eworldly-wise instructors, who, instead of cultivating the judgment,\u003cbr /\u003einstil prejudices, and render hard the heart that gradual\u003cbr /\u003eexperience would only have cooled. An early acquaintance with\u003cbr /\u003ehuman infirmities; or, what is termed knowledge of the world, is\u003cbr /\u003ethe surest way, in my opinion, to contract the heart and damp the\u003cbr /\u003enatural youthful ardour which produces not only great talents, but\u003cbr /\u003egreat virtues. For the vain attempt to bring forth the fruit of\u003cbr /\u003eexperience, before the sapling has thrown out its leaves, only\u003cbr /\u003eexhausts its strength, and prevents its assuming a natural form;\u003cbr /\u003ejust as the form and strength of subsiding metals are injured when\u003cbr /\u003ethe attraction of cohesion is disturbed. Tell me, ye who have\u003cbr /\u003estudied the human mind, is it not a strange way to fix principles\u003cbr /\u003eby showing young people that they are seldom stable? And how can\u003cbr /\u003ethey be fortified by habits when they are proved to be fallacious\u003cbr /\u003eby example? Why is the ardour of youth thus to be damped, and the\u003cbr /\u003eluxuriancy of fancy cut to the quick? This dry caution may, it is\u003cbr /\u003etrue, guard a character from worldly mischances; but will\u003cbr /\u003einfallibly preclude excellence in either virtue or knowledge. The\u003cbr /\u003estumbling-block thrown across every path by suspicion, will prevent\u003cbr /\u003eany vigorous exertions of genius or benevolence, and life will be\u003cbr /\u003estripped of its most alluring charm long before its calm evening,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen man should retire to contemplation for comfort and support.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA young man who has been bred up with domestic friends, and led to\u003cbr /\u003estore his mind with as much speculative knowledge as can be\u003cbr /\u003eacquired by reading and the natural reflections which youthful\u003cbr /\u003eebullitions of animal spirits and instinctive feelings inspire,\u003cbr /\u003ewill enter the world with warm and erroneous expectations. But\u003cbr /\u003ethis appears to be the course of nature; and in morals, as well as\u003cbr /\u003ein works of taste, we should be observant of her sacred\u003cbr /\u003eindications, and not presume to lead when we ought obsequiously to\u003cbr /\u003efollow.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the world few people act from principle; present feelings, and\u003cbr /\u003eearly habits, are the grand springs: but how would the former be\u003cbr /\u003edeadened, and the latter rendered iron corroding fetters, if the\u003cbr /\u003eworld were shown to young people just as it is; when no knowledge\u003cbr /\u003eof mankind or their own hearts, slowly obtained by experience\u003cbr /\u003erendered them forbearing? Their fellow creatures would not then be\u003cbr /\u003eviewed as frail beings; like themselves, condemned to struggle with\u003cbr /\u003ehuman infirmities, and sometimes displaying the light and sometimes\u003cbr /\u003ethe dark side of their character; extorting alternate feelings of\u003cbr /\u003elove and disgust; but guarded against as beasts of prey, till every\u003cbr /\u003eenlarged social feeling, in a word–humanity, was eradicated.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn life, on the contrary, as we gradually discover the\u003cbr /\u003eimperfections of our nature, we discover virtues, and various\u003cbr /\u003ecircumstances attach us to our fellow creatures, when we mix with\u003cbr /\u003ethem, and view the same objects, that are never thought of in\u003cbr /\u003eacquiring a hasty unnatural knowledge of the world. We see a folly\u003cbr /\u003eswell into a vice, by almost imperceptible degrees, and pity while\u003cbr /\u003ewe blame; but, if the hideous monster burst suddenly on our sight,\u003cbr /\u003efear and disgust rendering us more severe than man ought to be,\u003cbr /\u003emight lead us with blind zeal to usurp the character of\u003cbr /\u003eomnipotence, and denounce damnation on our fellow mortals,\u003cbr /\u003eforgetting that we cannot read the heart, and that we have seeds of\u003cbr /\u003ethe same vices lurking in our own.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have already remarked, that we expect more from instruction, than\u003cbr /\u003emere instruction can produce: for, instead of preparing young\u003cbr /\u003epeople to encounter the evils of life with dignity, and to acquire\u003cbr /\u003ewisdom and virtue by the exercise of their own faculties, precepts\u003cbr /\u003eare heaped upon precepts, and blind obedience required, when\u003cbr /\u003econviction should be brought home to reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSuppose, for instance, that a young person in the first ardour of\u003cbr /\u003efriendship deifies the beloved object–what harm can arise from\u003cbr /\u003ethis mistaken enthusiastic attachment? Perhaps it is necessary for\u003cbr /\u003evirtue first to appear in a human form to impress youthful hearts;\u003cbr /\u003ethe ideal model, which a more matured and exalted mind looks up to,\u003cbr /\u003eand shapes for itself, would elude their sight. He who loves not\u003cbr /\u003ehis brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God? asked the\u003cbr /\u003ewisest of men.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is natural for youth to adorn the first object of its affection\u003cbr /\u003ewith every good quality, and the emulation produced by ignorance,\u003cbr /\u003eor, to speak with more propriety, by inexperience, brings forward\u003cbr /\u003ethe mind capable of forming such an affection, and when, in the\u003cbr /\u003elapse of time, perfection is found not to be within the reach of\u003cbr /\u003emortals, virtue, abstractly, is thought beautiful, and wisdom\u003cbr /\u003esublime. Admiration then gives place to friendship, properly so\u003cbr /\u003ecalled, because it is cemented by esteem; and the being walks alone\u003cbr /\u003eonly dependent on heaven for that emulous panting after perfection\u003cbr /\u003ewhich ever glows in a noble mind. But this knowledge a man must\u003cbr /\u003egain by the exertion of his own faculties; and this is surely the\u003cbr /\u003eblessed fruit of disappointed hope! for He who delighteth to\u003cbr /\u003ediffuse happiness and show mercy to the weak creatures, who are\u003cbr /\u003elearning to know him, never implanted a good propensity to be a\u003cbr /\u003etormenting ignis fatuus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOur trees are now allowed to spread with wild luxuriance, nor do we\u003cbr /\u003eexpect by force to combine the majestic marks of time with youthful\u003cbr /\u003egraces; but wait patiently till they have struck deep their root,\u003cbr /\u003eand braved many a storm. Is the mind then, which, in proportion to\u003cbr /\u003eits dignity advances more slowly towards perfection, to be treated\u003cbr /\u003ewith less respect? To argue from analogy, every thing around us is\u003cbr /\u003ein a progressive state; and when an unwelcome knowledge of life\u003cbr /\u003eproduces almost a satiety of life, and we discover by the natural\u003cbr /\u003ecourse of things that all that is done under the sun is vanity, we\u003cbr /\u003eare drawing near the awful close of the drama. The days of\u003cbr /\u003eactivity and hope are over, and the opportunities which the first\u003cbr /\u003estage of existence has afforded of advancing in the scale of\u003cbr /\u003eintelligence, must soon be summed up. A knowledge at this period\u003cbr /\u003eof the futility of life, or earlier, if obtained by experience, is\u003cbr /\u003every useful, because it is natural; but when a frail being is shown\u003cbr /\u003ethe follies and vices of man, that he may be taught prudently to\u003cbr /\u003eguard against the common casualties of life by sacrificing his\u003cbr /\u003eheart–surely it is not speaking harshly to call it the wisdom of\u003cbr /\u003ethis world, contrasted with the nobler fruit of piety and\u003cbr /\u003eexperience.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI will venture a paradox, and deliver my opinion without reserve;\u003cbr /\u003eif men were only born to form a circle of life and death, it would\u003cbr /\u003ebe wise to take every step that foresight could suggest to render\u003cbr /\u003elife happy. Moderation in every pursuit would then be supreme\u003cbr /\u003ewisdom; and the prudent voluptuary might enjoy a degree of content,\u003cbr /\u003ethough he neither cultivated his understanding nor kept his heart\u003cbr /\u003epure. Prudence, supposing we were mortal, would be true wisdom,\u003cbr /\u003eor, to be more explicit, would procure the greatest portion of\u003cbr /\u003ehappiness, considering the whole of life; but knowledge beyond the\u003cbr /\u003econveniences of life would be a curse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhy should we injure our health by close study? The exalted\u003cbr /\u003epleasure which intellectual pursuits afford would scarcely be\u003cbr /\u003eequivalent to the hours of languor that follow; especially, if it\u003cbr /\u003ebe necessary to take into the reckoning the doubts and\u003cbr /\u003edisappointments that cloud our researches. Vanity and vexation\u003cbr /\u003eclose every inquiry: for the cause which we particularly wished to\u003cbr /\u003ediscover flies like the horizon before us as we advance. The\u003cbr /\u003eignorant, on the contrary, resemble children, and suppose, that if\u003cbr /\u003ethey could walk straight forward they should at last arrive where\u003cbr /\u003ethe earth and clouds meet. Yet, disappointed as we are in our\u003cbr /\u003eresearches, the mind gains strength by the exercise, sufficient,\u003cbr /\u003eperhaps, to comprehend the answers which, in another step of\u003cbr /\u003eexistence, it may receive to the anxious questions it asked, when\u003cbr /\u003ethe understanding with feeble wing was fluttering round the visible\u003cbr /\u003eeffects to dive into the hidden cause.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe passions also, the winds of life, would be useless, if not\u003cbr /\u003einjurious, did the substance which composes our thinking being,\u003cbr /\u003eafter we have thought in vain, only become the support of vegetable\u003cbr /\u003elife, and invigorate a cabbage, or blush in a rose. The appetites\u003cbr /\u003ewould answer every earthly purpose, and produce more moderate and\u003cbr /\u003epermanent happiness. But the powers of the soul that are of little\u003cbr /\u003euse here, and, probably, disturb our animal enjoyments, even while\u003cbr /\u003econscious dignity makes us glory in possessing them, prove that\u003cbr /\u003elife is merely an education, a state of infancy, of which the only\u003cbr /\u003ehopes worth cherishing should not be sacrificed. I mean, therefore\u003cbr /\u003eto infer, that we ought to have a precise idea of what we wish to\u003cbr /\u003eattain by education, for the immortality of the soul is\u003cbr /\u003econtradicted by the actions of many people, who firmly profess the\u003cbr /\u003ebelief.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf you mean to secure ease and prosperity on earth as the first\u003cbr /\u003econsideration, and leave futurity to provide for itself, you act\u003cbr /\u003eprudently in giving your child an early insight into the weaknesses\u003cbr /\u003eof his nature. You may not, it is true, make an Inkle of him; but\u003cbr /\u003edo not imagine that he will stick to more than the letter of the\u003cbr /\u003elaw, who has very early imbibed a mean opinion of human nature; nor\u003cbr /\u003ewill he think it necessary to rise much above the common standard.\u003cbr /\u003eHe may avoid gross vices, because honesty is the best policy; but\u003cbr /\u003ehe will never aim at attaining great virtues. The example of\u003cbr /\u003ewriters and artists will illustrate this remark.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI must therefore venture to doubt, whether what has been thought an\u003cbr /\u003eaxiom in morals, may not have been a dogmatical assertion made by\u003cbr /\u003emen who have coolly seen mankind through the medium of books, and\u003cbr /\u003esay, in direct contradiction to them, that the regulation of the\u003cbr /\u003epassions is not always wisdom. On the contrary, it should seem,\u003cbr /\u003ethat one reason why men have superiour judgment and more fortitude\u003cbr /\u003ethan women, is undoubtedly this, that they give a freer scope to\u003cbr /\u003ethe grand passions, and by more frequently going astray, enlarge\u003cbr /\u003etheir minds. If then by the exercise of their own reason, they fix\u003cbr /\u003eon some stable principle, they have probably to thank the force of\u003cbr /\u003etheir passions, nourished by FALSE views of life, and permitted to\u003cbr /\u003eoverleap the boundary that secures content. But if, in the dawn of\u003cbr /\u003elife, we could soberly survey the scenes before us as in\u003cbr /\u003eperspective, and see every thing in its true colours, how could the\u003cbr /\u003epassions gain sufficient strength to unfold the faculties?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet me now, as from an eminence, survey the world stripped of all\u003cbr /\u003eits false delusive charms. The clear atmosphere enables me to see\u003cbr /\u003eeach object in its true point of view, while my heart is still. I\u003cbr /\u003eam calm as the prospect in a morning when the mists, slowly\u003cbr /\u003edispersing, silently unveil the beauties of nature, refreshed by\u003cbr /\u003erest.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn what light will the world now appear? I rub my eyes and think,\u003cbr /\u003eperchance, that I am just awaking from a lively dream.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI see the sons and daughters of men pursuing shadows, and anxiously\u003cbr /\u003ewasting their powers to feed passions which have no adequate\u003cbr /\u003eobject–if the very excess of these blind impulses pampered by that\u003cbr /\u003elying, yet constantly-trusted guide, the imagination, did not, by\u003cbr /\u003epreparing them for some other state, render short sighted mortals\u003cbr /\u003ewiser without their own concurrence; or, what comes to the same\u003cbr /\u003ething, when they were pursuing some imaginary present good.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter viewing objects in this light, it would not be very fanciful\u003cbr /\u003eto imagine, that this world was a stage on which a pantomime is\u003cbr /\u003edaily performed for the amusement of superiour beings. How would\u003cbr /\u003ethey be diverted to see the ambitious man consuming himself by\u003cbr /\u003erunning after a phantom, and, pursuing the bubble fame in \u0026quot;the\u003cbr /\u003ecannon\u0026#39;s mouth\u0026quot; that was to blow him to nothing: for when\u003cbr /\u003econsciousness is lost, it matters not whether we mount in a\u003cbr /\u003ewhirlwind or descend in rain. And should they compassionately\u003cbr /\u003einvigorate his sight, and show him the thorny path which led to\u003cbr /\u003eeminence, that like a quicksand sinks as he ascends, disappointing\u003cbr /\u003ehis hopes when almost within his grasp, would he not leave to\u003cbr /\u003eothers the honour of amusing them, and labour to secure the present\u003cbr /\u003emoment, though from the constitution of his nature he would not\u003cbr /\u003efind it very easy to catch the flying stream? Such slaves are we\u003cbr /\u003eto hope and fear!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, vain as the ambitious man\u0026#39;s pursuit would be, he is often\u003cbr /\u003estriving for something more substantial than fame–that indeed\u003cbr /\u003ewould be the veriest meteor, the wildest fire that could lure a man\u003cbr /\u003eto ruin. What! renounce the most trifling gratification to be\u003cbr /\u003eapplauded when he should be no more! Wherefore this struggle,\u003cbr /\u003ewhether man is mortal or immortal, if that noble passion did not\u003cbr /\u003ereally raise the being above his fellows?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd love! What diverting scenes would it produce–Pantaloon\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003etricks must yield to more egregious folly. To see a mortal adorn\u003cbr /\u003ean object with imaginary charms, and then fall down and worship the\u003cbr /\u003eidol which he had himself set up–how ridiculous! But what serious\u003cbr /\u003econsequences ensue to rob man of that portion of happiness, which\u003cbr /\u003ethe Deity by calling him into existence has (or, on what can his\u003cbr /\u003eattributes rest?) indubitably promised; would not all the purposes\u003cbr /\u003eof life have been much better fulfilled if he had only felt what\u003cbr /\u003ehas been termed physical love? And, would not the sight of the\u003cbr /\u003eobject, not seen through the medium of the imagination, soon reduce\u003cbr /\u003ethe passion to an appetite, if reflection, the noble distinction of\u003cbr /\u003eman, did not give it force, and make it an instrument to raise him\u003cbr /\u003eabove this earthy dross, by teaching him to love the centre of all\u003cbr /\u003eperfection! whose wisdom appears clearer and clearer in the works\u003cbr /\u003eof nature, in proportion as reason is illuminated and exalted by\u003cbr /\u003econtemplation, and by acquiring that love of order which the\u003cbr /\u003estruggles of passion produce?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe habit of reflection, and the knowledge attained by fostering\u003cbr /\u003eany passion, might be shown to be equally useful though the object\u003cbr /\u003ebe proved equally fallacious; for they would all appear in the same\u003cbr /\u003elight, if they were not magnified by the governing passion\u003cbr /\u003eimplanted in us by the Author of all good, to call forth and\u003cbr /\u003estrengthen the faculties of each individual, and enable it to\u003cbr /\u003eattain all the experience that an infant can obtain, who does\u003cbr /\u003ecertain things, it cannot tell why.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI descend from my height, and mixing with my fellow creatures, feel\u003cbr /\u003emyself hurried along the common stream; ambition, love, hope, and\u003cbr /\u003efear, exert their wonted power, though we be convinced by reason\u003cbr /\u003ethat their present and most attractive promises are only lying\u003cbr /\u003edreams; but had the cold hand of circumspection damped each\u003cbr /\u003egenerous feeling before it had left any permanent character, or\u003cbr /\u003efixed some habit, what could be expected, but selfish prudence and\u003cbr /\u003ereason just rising above instinct? Who that has read Dean Swift\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003edisgusting description of the Yahoos, and insipid one of Houyhnhnm\u003cbr /\u003ewith a philosophical eye, can avoid seeing the futility of\u003cbr /\u003edegrading the passions, or making man rest in contentment?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe youth should ACT; for had he the experience of a grey head, he\u003cbr /\u003ewould be fitter for death than life, though his virtues, rather\u003cbr /\u003eresiding in his head than his heart could produce nothing great,\u003cbr /\u003eand his understanding prepared for this world, would not, by its\u003cbr /\u003enoble flights, prove that it had a title to a better.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, it is not possible to give a young person a just view of\u003cbr /\u003elife; he must have struggled with his own passions before he can\u003cbr /\u003eestimate the force of the temptation which betrayed his brother\u003cbr /\u003einto vice. Those who are entering life, and those who are\u003cbr /\u003edeparting, see the world from such very different points of view,\u003cbr /\u003ethat they can seldom think alike, unless the unfledged reason of\u003cbr /\u003ethe former never attempted a solitary flight.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen we hear of some daring crime–it comes full upon us in the\u003cbr /\u003edeepest shade of turpitude, and raises indignation; but the eye\u003cbr /\u003ethat gradually saw the darkness thicken, must observe it with more\u003cbr /\u003ecompassionate forbearance. The world cannot be seen by an unmoved\u003cbr /\u003espectator, we must mix in the throng, and feel as men feel before\u003cbr /\u003ewe can judge of their feelings. If we mean, in short, to live in\u003cbr /\u003ethe world to grow wiser and better, and not merely to enjoy the\u003cbr /\u003egood things of life, we must attain a knowledge of others at the\u003cbr /\u003esame time that we become acquainted with ourselves– knowledge\u003cbr /\u003eacquired any other way only hardens the heart and perplexes the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI may be told, that the knowledge thus acquired, is sometimes\u003cbr /\u003epurchased at too dear a rate. I can only answer, that I very much\u003cbr /\u003edoubt whether any knowledge can be attained without labour and\u003cbr /\u003esorrow; and those who wish to spare their children both, should not\u003cbr /\u003ecomplain if they are neither wise nor virtuous. They only aimed at\u003cbr /\u003emaking them prudent; and prudence, early in life, is but the\u003cbr /\u003ecautious craft of ignorant self-love. I have observed, that young\u003cbr /\u003epeople, to whose education particular attention has been paid,\u003cbr /\u003ehave, in general, been very superficial and conceited, and far from\u003cbr /\u003epleasing in any respect, because they had neither the unsuspecting\u003cbr /\u003ewarmth of youth, nor the cool depth of age. I cannot help imputing\u003cbr /\u003ethis unnatural appearance principally to that hasty premature\u003cbr /\u003einstruction, which leads them presumptuously to repeat all the\u003cbr /\u003ecrude notions they have taken upon trust, so that the careful\u003cbr /\u003eeducation which they received, makes them all their lives the\u003cbr /\u003eslaves of prejudices.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMental as well as bodily exertion is, at first, irksome; so much\u003cbr /\u003eso, that the many would fain let others both work and think for\u003cbr /\u003ethem. An observation which I have often made will illustrate my\u003cbr /\u003emeaning. When in a circle of strangers, or acquaintances, a person\u003cbr /\u003eof moderate abilities, asserts an opinion with heat, I will venture\u003cbr /\u003eto affirm, for I have traced this fact home, very often, that it is\u003cbr /\u003ea prejudice. These echoes have a high respect for the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding of some relation or friend, and without fully\u003cbr /\u003ecomprehending the opinions, which they are so eager to retail, they\u003cbr /\u003emaintain them with a degree of obstinacy, that would surprise even\u003cbr /\u003ethe person who concocted them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI know that a kind of fashion now prevails of respecting\u003cbr /\u003eprejudices; and when any one dares to face them, though actuated by\u003cbr /\u003ehumanity and armed by reason, he is superciliously asked, whether\u003cbr /\u003ehis ancestors were fools. No, I should reply; opinions, at first,\u003cbr /\u003eof every description, were all, probably, considered, and therefore\u003cbr /\u003ewere founded on some reason; yet not unfrequently, of course, it\u003cbr /\u003ewas rather a local expedient than a fundamental principle, that\u003cbr /\u003ewould be reasonable at all times. But, moss-covered opinions\u003cbr /\u003eassume the disproportioned form of prejudices, when they are\u003cbr /\u003eindolently adopted only because age has given them a venerable\u003cbr /\u003easpect, though the reason on which they were built ceases to be a\u003cbr /\u003ereason, or cannot be traced. Why are we to love prejudices, merely\u003cbr /\u003ebecause they are prejudices? A prejudice is a fond obstinate\u003cbr /\u003epersuasion, for which we can give no reason; for the moment a\u003cbr /\u003ereason can be given for an opinion, it ceases to be a prejudice,\u003cbr /\u003ethough it may be an error in judgment: and are we then advised to\u003cbr /\u003echerish opinions only to set reason at defiance? This mode of\u003cbr /\u003earguing, if arguing it may be called, reminds me of what is\u003cbr /\u003evulgarly termed a woman\u0026#39;s reason. For women sometimes declare that\u003cbr /\u003ethey love, or believe certain things, BECAUSE they love, or believe\u003cbr /\u003ethem.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is impossible to converse with people to any purpose, who, in\u003cbr /\u003ethis style, only use affirmatives and negatives. Before you can\u003cbr /\u003ebring them to a point, to start fairly from, you must go back to\u003cbr /\u003ethe simple principles that were antecedent to the prejudices\u003cbr /\u003ebroached by power; and it is ten to one but you are stopped by the\u003cbr /\u003ephilosophical assertion, that certain principles are as practically\u003cbr /\u003efalse as they are abstractly true. Nay, it may be inferred, that\u003cbr /\u003ereason has whispered some doubts, for it generally happens that\u003cbr /\u003epeople assert their opinions with the greatest heat when they begin\u003cbr /\u003eto waver; striving to drive out their own doubts by convincing\u003cbr /\u003etheir opponent, they grow angry when those gnawing doubts are\u003cbr /\u003ethrown back to prey on themselves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe fact is, that men expect from education, what education cannot\u003cbr /\u003egive. A sagacious parent or tutor may strengthen the body and\u003cbr /\u003esharpen the instruments by which the child is to gather knowledge;\u003cbr /\u003ebut the honey must be the reward of the individual\u0026#39;s own industry.\u003cbr /\u003eIt is almost as absurd to attempt to make a youth wise by the\u003cbr /\u003eexperience of another, as to expect the body to grow strong by the\u003cbr /\u003eexercise which is only talked of, or seen.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMany of those children whose conduct has been most narrowly\u003cbr /\u003ewatched, become the weakest men, because their instructors only\u003cbr /\u003einstill certain notions into their minds, that have no other\u003cbr /\u003efoundation than their authority; and if they are loved or\u003cbr /\u003erespected, the mind is cramped in its exertions and wavering in its\u003cbr /\u003eadvances. The business of education in this case, is only to\u003cbr /\u003econduct the shooting tendrils to a proper pole; yet after laying\u003cbr /\u003eprecept upon precept, without allowing a child to acquire judgment\u003cbr /\u003eitself, parents expect them to act in the same manner by this\u003cbr /\u003eborrowed fallacious light, as if they had illuminated it\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves; and be, when they enter life, what their parents are at\u003cbr /\u003ethe close. They do not consider that the tree, and even the human\u003cbr /\u003ebody, does not strengthen its fibres till it has reached its full\u003cbr /\u003egrowth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere appears to be something analogous in the mind. The senses\u003cbr /\u003eand the imagination give a form to the character, during childhood\u003cbr /\u003eand youth; and the understanding as life advances, gives firmness\u003cbr /\u003eto the first fair purposes of sensibility–till virtue, arising\u003cbr /\u003erather from the clear conviction of reason than the impulse of the\u003cbr /\u003eheart, morality is made to rest on a rock against which the storms\u003cbr /\u003eof passion vainly beat.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI hope I shall not be misunderstood when I say, that religion will\u003cbr /\u003enot have this condensing energy, unless it be founded on reason.\u003cbr /\u003eIf it be merely the refuge of weakness or wild fanaticism, and not\u003cbr /\u003ea governing principle of conduct, drawn from self-knowledge, and a\u003cbr /\u003erational opinion respecting the attributes of God, what can it be\u003cbr /\u003eexpected to produce? The religion which consists in warming the\u003cbr /\u003eaffections, and exalting the imagination, is only the poetical\u003cbr /\u003epart, and may afford the individual pleasure without rendering it a\u003cbr /\u003emore moral being. It may be a substitute for worldly pursuits; yet\u003cbr /\u003enarrow instead of enlarging the heart: but virtue must be loved as\u003cbr /\u003ein itself sublime and excellent, and not for the advantages it\u003cbr /\u003eprocures or the evils it averts, if any great degree of excellence\u003cbr /\u003ebe expected. Men will not become moral when they only build airy\u003cbr /\u003ecastles in a future world to compensate for the disappointments\u003cbr /\u003ewhich they meet with in this; if they turn their thoughts from\u003cbr /\u003erelative duties to religious reveries.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMost prospects in life are marred by the shuffling worldly wisdom\u003cbr /\u003eof men, who, forgetting that they cannot serve God and mammon,\u003cbr /\u003eendeavour to blend contradictory things. If you wish to make your\u003cbr /\u003eson rich, pursue one course –if you are only anxious to make him\u003cbr /\u003evirtuous, you must take another; but do not imagine that you can\u003cbr /\u003ebound from one road to the other without losing your way.*\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. See an excellent essay on this subject by Mrs.\u003cbr /\u003eBarbauld, in Miscellaneous pieces in Prose.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 6.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTHE EFFECT WHICH AN EARLY ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS HAS UPON THE\u003cbr /\u003eCHARACTER.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEducated in the enervating style recommended by the writers on whom\u003cbr /\u003eI have been animadverting; and not having a chance, from their\u003cbr /\u003esubordinate state in society, to recover their lost ground, is it\u003cbr /\u003esurprising that women every where appear a defect in nature? Is it\u003cbr /\u003esurprising, when we consider what a determinate effect an early\u003cbr /\u003eassociation of ideas has on the character, that they neglect their\u003cbr /\u003eunderstandings, and turn all their attention to their persons?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe great advantages which naturally result from storing the mind\u003cbr /\u003ewith knowledge, are obvious from the following considerations. The\u003cbr /\u003eassociation of our ideas is either habitual or instantaneous; and\u003cbr /\u003ethe latter mode seems rather to depend on the original temperature\u003cbr /\u003eof the mind than on the will. When the ideas, and matters of fact,\u003cbr /\u003eare once taken in, they lie by for use, till some fortuitous\u003cbr /\u003ecircumstance makes the information dart into the mind with\u003cbr /\u003eillustrative force, that has been received at very different\u003cbr /\u003eperiods of our lives. Like the lightning\u0026#39;s flash are many\u003cbr /\u003erecollections; one idea assimilating and explaining another, with\u003cbr /\u003eastonishing rapidity. I do not now allude to that quick perception\u003cbr /\u003eof truth, which is so intuitive that it baffles research, and makes\u003cbr /\u003eus at a loss to determine whether it is reminiscence or\u003cbr /\u003eratiocination, lost sight of in its celerity, that opens the dark\u003cbr /\u003ecloud. Over those instantaneous associations we have little power;\u003cbr /\u003efor when the mind is once enlarged by excursive flights, or\u003cbr /\u003eprofound reflection, the raw materials, will, in some degree,\u003cbr /\u003earrange themselves. The understanding, it is true, may keep us\u003cbr /\u003efrom going out of drawing when we group our thoughts, or transcribe\u003cbr /\u003efrom the imagination the warm sketches of fancy; but the animal\u003cbr /\u003espirits, the individual character give the colouring. Over this\u003cbr /\u003esubtile electric fluid,* how little power do we possess, and over\u003cbr /\u003eit how little power can reason obtain! These fine intractable\u003cbr /\u003espirits appear to be the essence of genius, and beaming in its\u003cbr /\u003eeagle eye, produce in the most eminent degree the happy energy of\u003cbr /\u003eassociating thoughts that surprise, delight, and instruct. These\u003cbr /\u003eare the glowing minds that concentrate pictures for their\u003cbr /\u003efellow-creatures; forcing them to view with interest the objects\u003cbr /\u003ereflected from the impassioned imagination, which they passed over\u003cbr /\u003ein nature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. I have sometimes, when inclined to laugh at\u003cbr /\u003ematerialists, asked whether, as the most powerful effects in nature\u003cbr /\u003eare apparently produced by fluids, the magnetic, etc. the passions\u003cbr /\u003emight not be fine volatile fluids that embraced humanity, keeping\u003cbr /\u003ethe more refractory elementary parts together–or whether they were\u003cbr /\u003esimply a liquid fire that pervaded the more sluggish materials\u003cbr /\u003egiving them life and heat?)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI must be allowed to explain myself. The generality of people\u003cbr /\u003ecannot see or feel poetically, they want fancy, and therefore fly\u003cbr /\u003efrom solitude in search of sensible objects; but when an author\u003cbr /\u003elends them his eyes, they can see as he saw, and be amused by\u003cbr /\u003eimages they could not select, though lying before them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEducation thus only supplies the man of genius with knowledge to\u003cbr /\u003egive variety and contrast to his associations; but there is an\u003cbr /\u003ehabitual association of ideas, that grows \u0026quot;with our growth,\u0026quot; which\u003cbr /\u003ehas a great effect on the moral character of mankind; and by which\u003cbr /\u003ea turn is given to the mind, that commonly remains throughout life.\u003cbr /\u003eSo ductile is the understanding, and yet so stubborn, that the\u003cbr /\u003eassociations which depend on adventitious circumstances, during the\u003cbr /\u003eperiod that the body takes to arrive at maturity, can seldom be\u003cbr /\u003edisentangled by reason. One idea calls up another, its old\u003cbr /\u003eassociate, and memory, faithful to the first impressions,\u003cbr /\u003eparticularly when the intellectual powers are not employed to cool\u003cbr /\u003eour sensations, retraces them with mechanical exactness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis habitual slavery, to first impressions, has a more baneful\u003cbr /\u003eeffect on the female than the male character, because business and\u003cbr /\u003eother dry employments of the understanding, tend to deaden the\u003cbr /\u003efeelings and break associations that do violence to reason. But\u003cbr /\u003efemales, who are made women of when they are mere children, and\u003cbr /\u003ebrought back to childhood when they ought to leave the go-cart\u003cbr /\u003eforever, have not sufficient strength of mind to efface the\u003cbr /\u003esuperinductions of art that have smothered nature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eEvery thing that they see or hear serves to fix impressions, call\u003cbr /\u003eforth emotions, and associate ideas, that give a sexual character\u003cbr /\u003eto the mind. False notions of beauty and delicacy stop the growth\u003cbr /\u003eof their limbs and produce a sickly soreness, rather than delicacy\u003cbr /\u003eof organs; and thus weakened by being employed in unfolding instead\u003cbr /\u003eof examining the first associations, forced on them by every\u003cbr /\u003esurrounding object, how can they attain the vigour necessary to\u003cbr /\u003eenable them to throw off their factitious character?–where find\u003cbr /\u003estrength to recur to reason and rise superior to a system of\u003cbr /\u003eoppression, that blasts the fair promises of spring? This cruel\u003cbr /\u003eassociation of ideas, which every thing conspires to twist into all\u003cbr /\u003etheir habits of thinking, or, to speak with more precision, of\u003cbr /\u003efeeling, receives new force when they begin to act a little for\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves; for they then perceive, that it is only through their\u003cbr /\u003eaddress to excite emotions in men, that pleasure and power are to\u003cbr /\u003ebe obtained. Besides, all the books professedly written for their\u003cbr /\u003einstruction, which make the first impression on their minds, all\u003cbr /\u003einculcate the same opinions. Educated in worse than Egyptian\u003cbr /\u003ebondage, it is unreasonable, as well as cruel, to upbraid them with\u003cbr /\u003efaults that can scarcely be avoided, unless a degree of native\u003cbr /\u003evigour be supposed, that falls to the lot of very few amongst\u003cbr /\u003emankind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFor instance, the severest sarcasms have been levelled against the\u003cbr /\u003esex, and they have been ridiculed for repeating \u0026quot;a set of phrases\u003cbr /\u003elearnt by rote,\u0026quot; when nothing could be more natural, considering\u003cbr /\u003ethe education they receive, and that their \u0026quot;highest praise is to\u003cbr /\u003eobey, unargued\u0026quot;–the will of man. If they are not allowed to have\u003cbr /\u003ereason sufficient to govern their own conduct–why, all they\u003cbr /\u003elearn–must be learned by rote! And when all their ingenuity is\u003cbr /\u003ecalled forth to adjust their dress, \u0026quot;a passion for a scarlet coat,\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003eis so natural, that it never surprised me; and, allowing Pope\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003esummary of their character to be just, \u0026quot;that every woman is at\u003cbr /\u003eheart a rake,\u0026quot; why should they be bitterly censured for seeking a\u003cbr /\u003econgenial mind, and preferring a rake to a man of sense?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eRakes know how to work on their sensibility, whilst the modest\u003cbr /\u003emerit of reasonable men has, of course, less effect on their\u003cbr /\u003efeelings, and they cannot reach the heart by the way of the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, because they have few sentiments in common.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt seems a little absurd to expect women to be more reasonable than\u003cbr /\u003emen in their LIKINGS, and still to deny them the uncontroled use of\u003cbr /\u003ereason. When do men FALL IN LOVE with sense? When do they, with\u003cbr /\u003etheir superior powers and advantages, turn from the person to the\u003cbr /\u003emind? And how can they then expect women, who are only taught to\u003cbr /\u003eobserve behaviour, and acquire manners rather than morals, to\u003cbr /\u003edespise what they have been all their lives labouring to attain?\u003cbr /\u003eWhere are they suddenly to find judgment enough to weigh patiently\u003cbr /\u003ethe sense of an awkward virtuous man, when his manners, of which\u003cbr /\u003ethey are made critical judges, are rebuffing, and his conversation\u003cbr /\u003ecold and dull, because it does not consist of pretty repartees, or\u003cbr /\u003ewell-turned compliments? In order to admire or esteem any thing\u003cbr /\u003efor a continuance, we must, at least, have our curiosity excited by\u003cbr /\u003eknowing, in some degree, what we admire; for we are unable to\u003cbr /\u003eestimate the value of qualities and virtues above our\u003cbr /\u003ecomprehension. Such a respect, when it is felt, may be very\u003cbr /\u003esublime; and the confused consciousness of humility may render the\u003cbr /\u003edependent creature an interesting object, in some points of view;\u003cbr /\u003ebut human love must have grosser ingredients; and the person very\u003cbr /\u003enaturally will come in for its share–and, an ample share it mostly\u003cbr /\u003ehas!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLove is, in a great degree, an arbitrary passion, and will reign\u003cbr /\u003elike some other stalking mischiefs, by its own authority, without\u003cbr /\u003edeigning to reason; and it may also be easily distinguished from\u003cbr /\u003eesteem, the foundation of friendship, because it is often excited\u003cbr /\u003eby evanescent beauties and graces, though to give an energy to the\u003cbr /\u003esentiment something more solid must deepen their impression and set\u003cbr /\u003ethe imagination to work, to make the most fair– the first good.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCommon passions are excited by common qualities. Men look for\u003cbr /\u003ebeauty and the simper of good humoured docility: women are\u003cbr /\u003ecaptivated by easy manners: a gentleman-like man seldom fails to\u003cbr /\u003eplease them, and their thirsty ears eagerly drink the insinuating\u003cbr /\u003enothings of politeness, whilst they turn from the unintelligible\u003cbr /\u003esounds of the charmer–reason, charm he never so wisely. With\u003cbr /\u003erespect to superficial accomplishments, the rake certainly has the\u003cbr /\u003eadvantage; and of these, females can form an opinion, for it is\u003cbr /\u003etheir own ground. Rendered gay and giddy by the whole tenor of\u003cbr /\u003etheir lives, the very aspect of wisdom, or the severe graces of\u003cbr /\u003evirtue must have a lugubrious appearance to them; and produce a\u003cbr /\u003ekind of restraint from which they and love, sportive child,\u003cbr /\u003enaturally revolt. Without taste, excepting of the lighter kind,\u003cbr /\u003efor taste is the offspring of judgment, how can they discover, that\u003cbr /\u003etrue beauty and grace must arise from the play of the mind? and how\u003cbr /\u003ecan they be expected to relish in a lover what they do not, or very\u003cbr /\u003eimperfectly, possess themselves? The sympathy that unites hearts,\u003cbr /\u003eand invites to confidence, in them is so very faint, that it cannot\u003cbr /\u003etake fire, and thus mount to passion. No, I repeat it, the love\u003cbr /\u003echerished by such minds, must have grosser fuel!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe inference is obvious; till women are led to exercise their\u003cbr /\u003eunderstandings, they should not be satirized for their attachment\u003cbr /\u003eto rakes; nor even for being rakes at heart, when it appears to be\u003cbr /\u003ethe inevitable consequence of their education. They who live to\u003cbr /\u003eplease must find their enjoyments, their happiness, in pleasure!\u003cbr /\u003eIt is a trite, yet true remark, that we never do any thing well,\u003cbr /\u003eunless we love it for its own sake.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSupposing, however, for a moment, that women were, in some future\u003cbr /\u003erevolution of time, to become, what I sincerely wish them to be,\u003cbr /\u003eeven love would acquire more serious dignity, and be purified in\u003cbr /\u003eits own fires; and virtue giving true delicacy to their affections,\u003cbr /\u003ethey would turn with disgust from a rake. Reasoning then, as well\u003cbr /\u003eas feeling, the only province of woman, at present, they might\u003cbr /\u003eeasily guard against exterior graces, and quickly learn to despise\u003cbr /\u003ethe sensibility that had been excited and hackneyed in the ways of\u003cbr /\u003ewomen, whose trade was vice; and allurement\u0026#39;s wanton airs. They\u003cbr /\u003ewould recollect that the flame, (one must use appropriate\u003cbr /\u003eexpressions,) which they wished to light up, had been exhausted by\u003cbr /\u003elust, and that the sated appetite, losing all relish for pure and\u003cbr /\u003esimple pleasures, could only be roused by licentious arts of\u003cbr /\u003evariety. What satisfaction could a woman of delicacy promise\u003cbr /\u003eherself in a union with such a man, when the very artlessness of\u003cbr /\u003eher affection might appear insipid? Thus does Dryden describe the\u003cbr /\u003esituation:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Where love is duty on the female side,\u003cbr /\u003eOn theirs mere sensual gust, and sought with surly pride.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut one grand truth women have yet to learn, though much it imports\u003cbr /\u003ethem to act accordingly. In the choice of a husband they should\u003cbr /\u003enot be led astray by the qualities of a lover–for a lover the\u003cbr /\u003ehusband, even supposing him to be wise and virtuous, cannot long\u003cbr /\u003eremain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWere women more rationally educated, could they take a more\u003cbr /\u003ecomprehensive view of things, they would be contented to love but\u003cbr /\u003eonce in their lives; and after marriage calmly let passion subside\u003cbr /\u003einto friendship–into that tender intimacy, which is the best\u003cbr /\u003erefuge from care; yet is built on such pure, still affections, that\u003cbr /\u003eidle jealousies would not be allowed to disturb the discharge of\u003cbr /\u003ethe sober duties of life, nor to engross the thoughts that ought to\u003cbr /\u003ebe otherwise employed. This is a state in which many men live; but\u003cbr /\u003efew, very few women. And the difference may easily be accounted\u003cbr /\u003efor, without recurring to a sexual character. Men, for whom we are\u003cbr /\u003etold women are made, have too much occupied the thoughts of women;\u003cbr /\u003eand this association has so entangled love, with all their motives\u003cbr /\u003eof action; and, to harp a little on an old string, having been\u003cbr /\u003esolely employed either to prepare themselves to excite love, or\u003cbr /\u003eactually putting their lessons in practice, they cannot live\u003cbr /\u003ewithout love. But, when a sense of duty, or fear of shame, obliges\u003cbr /\u003ethem to restrain this pampered desire of pleasing beyond certain\u003cbr /\u003elengths, too far for delicacy, it is true, though far from\u003cbr /\u003ecriminality, they obstinately determine to love, I speak of their\u003cbr /\u003epassion, their husbands to the end of the chapter–and then acting\u003cbr /\u003ethe part which they foolishly exacted from their lovers, they\u003cbr /\u003ebecome abject wooers, and fond slaves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMen of wit and fancy are often rakes; and fancy is the food of\u003cbr /\u003elove. Such men will inspire passion. Half the sex, in its present\u003cbr /\u003einfantine state, would pine for a Lovelace; a man so witty, so\u003cbr /\u003egraceful, and so valiant; and can they DESERVE blame for acting\u003cbr /\u003eaccording to principles so constantly inculcated? They want a\u003cbr /\u003elover and protector: and behold him kneeling before them–bravery\u003cbr /\u003eprostrate to beauty! The virtues of a husband are thus thrown by\u003cbr /\u003elove into the background, and gay hopes, or lively emotions, banish\u003cbr /\u003ereflection till the day of reckoning comes; and come it surely\u003cbr /\u003ewill, to turn the sprightly lover into a surly suspicious tyrant,\u003cbr /\u003ewho contemptuously insults the very weakness he fostered. Or,\u003cbr /\u003esupposing the rake reformed, he cannot quickly get rid of old\u003cbr /\u003ehabits. When a man of abilities is first carried away by his\u003cbr /\u003epassions, it is necessary that sentiment and taste varnish the\u003cbr /\u003eenormities of vice, and give a zest to brutal indulgences: but when\u003cbr /\u003ethe gloss of novelty is worn off, and pleasure palls upon the\u003cbr /\u003esense, lasciviousness becomes barefaced, and enjoyment only the\u003cbr /\u003edesperate effort of weakness flying from reflection as from a\u003cbr /\u003elegion of devils. Oh! virtue, thou art not an empty name! All\u003cbr /\u003ethat life can give– thou givest!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf much comfort cannot be expected from the friendship of a\u003cbr /\u003ereformed rake of superior abilities, what is the consequence when\u003cbr /\u003ehe lacketh sense, as well as principles? Verily misery in its most\u003cbr /\u003ehideous shape. When the habits of weak people are consolidated by\u003cbr /\u003etime, a reformation is barely possible; and actually makes the\u003cbr /\u003ebeings miserable who have not sufficient mind to be amused by\u003cbr /\u003einnocent pleasure; like the tradesman who retires from the hurry of\u003cbr /\u003ebusiness, nature presents to them only a universal blank; and the\u003cbr /\u003erestless thoughts prey on the damped spirits. Their reformation as\u003cbr /\u003ewell as his retirement actually makes them wretched, because it\u003cbr /\u003edeprives them of all employment, by quenching the hopes and fears\u003cbr /\u003ethat set in motion their sluggish minds.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf such be the force of habit; if such be the bondage of folly, how\u003cbr /\u003ecarefully ought we to guard the mind from storing up vicious\u003cbr /\u003eassociations; and equally careful should we be to cultivate the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, to save the poor wight from the weak dependent state\u003cbr /\u003eof even harmless ignorance. For it is the right use of reason\u003cbr /\u003ealone which makes us independent of every thing–excepting the\u003cbr /\u003eunclouded Reason–\u0026quot;Whose service is perfect freedom.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 7.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMODESTY COMPREHENSIVELY CONSIDERED AND NOT AS A SEXUAL VIRTUE.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eModesty! Sacred offspring of sensibility and reason! true delicacy\u003cbr /\u003eof mind! may I unblamed presume to investigate thy nature, and\u003cbr /\u003etrace to its covert the mild charm, that mellowing each harsh\u003cbr /\u003efeature of a character, renders what would otherwise only inspire\u003cbr /\u003ecold admiration–lovely! Thou that smoothest the wrinkles of\u003cbr /\u003ewisdom, and softenest the tone of the more sublime virtues till\u003cbr /\u003ethey all melt into humanity! thou that spreadest the ethereal cloud\u003cbr /\u003ethat surrounding love heightens every beauty, it half shades,\u003cbr /\u003ebreathing those coy sweets that steal into the heart, and charm the\u003cbr /\u003esenses–modulate for me the language of persuasive reason, till I\u003cbr /\u003erouse my sex from the flowery bed, on which they supinely sleep\u003cbr /\u003elife away!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn speaking of the association of our ideas, I have noticed two\u003cbr /\u003edistinct modes; and in defining modesty, it appears to me equally\u003cbr /\u003eproper to discriminate that purity of mind, which is the effect of\u003cbr /\u003echastity, from a simplicity of character that leads us to form a\u003cbr /\u003ejust opinion of ourselves, equally distant from vanity or\u003cbr /\u003epresumption, though by no means incompatible with a lofty\u003cbr /\u003econsciousness of our own dignity. Modesty in the latter\u003cbr /\u003esignification of the term, is that soberness of mind which teaches\u003cbr /\u003ea man not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think,\u003cbr /\u003eand should be distinguished from humility, because humility is a\u003cbr /\u003ekind of self-abasement. A modest man often conceives a great plan,\u003cbr /\u003eand tenaciously adheres to it, conscious of his own strength, till\u003cbr /\u003esuccess gives it a sanction that determines its character. Milton\u003cbr /\u003ewas not arrogant when he suffered a suggestion of judgment to\u003cbr /\u003eescape him that proved a prophesy; nor was General Washington when\u003cbr /\u003ehe accepted of the command of the American forces. The latter has\u003cbr /\u003ealways been characterized as a modest man; but had he been merely\u003cbr /\u003ehumble, he would probably have shrunk back irresolute, afraid of\u003cbr /\u003etrusting to himself the direction of an enterprise on which so much\u003cbr /\u003edepended.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA modest man is steady, an humble man timid, and a vain one\u003cbr /\u003epresumptuous; this is the judgment, which the observation of many\u003cbr /\u003echaracters, has led me to form. Jesus Christ was modest, Moses was\u003cbr /\u003ehumble, and Peter vain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThus discriminating modesty from humility in one case, I do not\u003cbr /\u003emean to confound it with bashfulness in the other. Bashfulness, in\u003cbr /\u003efact, is so distinct from modesty, that the most bashful lass, or\u003cbr /\u003eraw country lout, often becomes the most impudent; for their\u003cbr /\u003ebashfulness being merely the instinctive timidity of ignorance,\u003cbr /\u003ecustom soon changes it into assurance.*\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. \u0026quot;Such is the country-maiden\u0026#39;s fright,\u003cbr /\u003eWhen first a red-coat is in sight;\u003cbr /\u003eBehind the door she hides her face,\u003cbr /\u003eNext time at distance eyes the lace:\u003cbr /\u003eShe now can all his terrors stand,\u003cbr /\u003eNor from his squeeze withdraws her hand,\u003cbr /\u003eShe plays familiar in his arms,\u003cbr /\u003eAnd every soldier hath his charms;\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026gt;From tent to tent she spreads her flame;\u003cbr /\u003eFor custom conquers fear and shame.\u0026quot;)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe shameless behaviour of the prostitutes who infest the streets\u003cbr /\u003eof London, raising alternate emotions of pity and disgust, may\u003cbr /\u003eserve to illustrate this remark. They trample on virgin\u003cbr /\u003ebashfulness with a sort of bravado, and glorying in their shame,\u003cbr /\u003ebecome more audaciously lewd than men, however depraved, to whom\u003cbr /\u003ethe sexual quality has not been gratuitously granted, ever appear\u003cbr /\u003eto be. But these poor ignorant wretches never had any modesty to\u003cbr /\u003elose, when they consigned themselves to infamy; for modesty is a\u003cbr /\u003evirtue not a quality. No, they were only bashful, shame-faced\u003cbr /\u003einnocents; and losing their innocence, their shame-facedness was\u003cbr /\u003erudely brushed off; a virtue would have left some vestiges in the\u003cbr /\u003emind, had it been sacrificed to passion, to make us respect the\u003cbr /\u003egrand ruin.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePurity of mind, or that genuine delicacy, which is the only\u003cbr /\u003evirtuous support of chastity, is near a-kin to that refinement of\u003cbr /\u003ehumanity, which never resides in any but cultivated minds. It is\u003cbr /\u003esomething nobler than innocence; it is the delicacy of reflection,\u003cbr /\u003eand not the coyness of ignorance. The reserve of reason, which\u003cbr /\u003elike habitual cleanliness, is seldom seen in any great degree,\u003cbr /\u003eunless the soul is active, may easily be distinguished from rustic\u003cbr /\u003eshyness or wanton skittishness; and so far from being incompatible\u003cbr /\u003ewith knowledge, it is its fairest fruit. What a gross idea of\u003cbr /\u003emodesty had the writer of the following remark! \u0026quot;The lady who\u003cbr /\u003easked the question whether women may be instructed in the modern\u003cbr /\u003esystem of botany, consistently with female delicacy?\u0026quot; was accused\u003cbr /\u003eof ridiculous prudery: nevertheless, if she had proposed the\u003cbr /\u003equestion to me, I should certainly have answered–They cannot.\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003eThus is the fair book of knowledge to be shut with an everlasting\u003cbr /\u003eseal! On reading similar passages I have reverentially lifted up\u003cbr /\u003emy eyes and heart to Him who liveth for ever and ever, and said, O\u003cbr /\u003emy Father, hast Thou by the very constitution of her nature forbid\u003cbr /\u003eThy child to seek Thee in the fair forms of truth? And, can her\u003cbr /\u003esoul be sullied by the knowledge that awfully calls her to Thee?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have then philosophically pursued these reflections till I\u003cbr /\u003einferred, that those women who have most improved their reason must\u003cbr /\u003ehave the most modesty –though a dignified sedateness of deportment\u003cbr /\u003emay have succeeded the playful, bewitching bashfulness of youth.*\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. Modesty, is the graceful calm virtue of maturity;\u003cbr /\u003ebashfulness, the charm of vivacious youth.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd thus have I argued. To render chastity the virtue from which\u003cbr /\u003eunsophisticated modesty will naturally flow, the attention should\u003cbr /\u003ebe called away from employments, which only exercise the\u003cbr /\u003esensibility; and the heart made to beat time to humanity, rather\u003cbr /\u003ethan to throb with love. The woman who has dedicated a\u003cbr /\u003econsiderable portion of her time to pursuits purely intellectual,\u003cbr /\u003eand whose affections have been exercised by humane plans of\u003cbr /\u003eusefulness, must have more purity of mind, as a natural\u003cbr /\u003econsequence, than the ignorant beings whose time and thoughts have\u003cbr /\u003ebeen occupied by gay pleasures or schemes to conquer hearts. The\u003cbr /\u003eregulation of the behaviour is not modesty, though those who study\u003cbr /\u003erules of decorum, are, in general termed modest women. Make the\u003cbr /\u003eheart clean, let it expand and feel for all that is human, instead\u003cbr /\u003eof being narrowed by selfish passions; and let the mind frequently\u003cbr /\u003econtemplate subjects that exercise the understanding, without\u003cbr /\u003eheating the imagination, and artless modesty will give the\u003cbr /\u003efinishing touches to the picture.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eShe who can discern the dawn of immortality, in the streaks that\u003cbr /\u003eshoot athwart the misty night of ignorance, promising a clearer\u003cbr /\u003eday, will respect, as a sacred temple, the body that enshrines such\u003cbr /\u003ean improvable soul. True love, likewise, spreads this kind of\u003cbr /\u003emysterious sanctity round the beloved object, making the lover most\u003cbr /\u003emodest when in her presence. So reserved is affection, that,\u003cbr /\u003ereceiving or returning personal endearments, it wishes, not only to\u003cbr /\u003eshun the human eye, as a kind of profanation; but to diffuse an\u003cbr /\u003eencircling cloudy obscurity to shut out even the saucy sparkling\u003cbr /\u003esunbeams. Yet, that affection does not deserve the epithet of\u003cbr /\u003echaste which does not receive a sublime gloom of tender melancholy,\u003cbr /\u003ethat allows the mind for a moment to stand still and enjoy the\u003cbr /\u003epresent satisfaction, when a consciousness of the Divine presence\u003cbr /\u003eis felt–for this must ever be the food of joy!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs I have always been fond of tracing to its source in nature any\u003cbr /\u003eprevailing custom, I have frequently thought that it was a\u003cbr /\u003esentiment of affection for whatever had touched the person of an\u003cbr /\u003eabsent or lost friend, which gave birth to that respect for relics,\u003cbr /\u003eso much abused by selfish priests. Devotion, or love, may be\u003cbr /\u003eallowed to hallow the garments as well as the person; for the lover\u003cbr /\u003emust want fancy, who has not a sort of sacred respect for the glove\u003cbr /\u003eor slipper of his mistress. He could not confound them with vulgar\u003cbr /\u003ethings of the same kind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis fine sentiment, perhaps, would not bear to be analyzed by the\u003cbr /\u003eexperimental philosopher–but of such stuff is human rapture made\u003cbr /\u003eup!– A shadowy phantom glides before us, obscuring every other\u003cbr /\u003eobject; yet when the soft cloud is grasped, the form melts into\u003cbr /\u003ecommon air, leaving a solitary void, or sweet perfume, stolen from\u003cbr /\u003ethe violet, that memory long holds dear. But, I have tripped\u003cbr /\u003eunawares on fairy ground, feeling the balmy gale of spring stealing\u003cbr /\u003eon me, though November frowns.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs a sex, women are more chaste than men, and as modesty is the\u003cbr /\u003eeffect of chastity, they may deserve to have this virtue ascribed\u003cbr /\u003eto them in rather an appropriated sense; yet, I must be allowed to\u003cbr /\u003eadd an hesitating if:– for I doubt, whether chastity will produce\u003cbr /\u003emodesty, though it may propriety of conduct, when it is merely a\u003cbr /\u003erespect for the opinion of the world, and when coquetry and the\u003cbr /\u003elovelorn tales of novelists employ the thoughts. Nay, from\u003cbr /\u003eexperience, and reason, I should be lead to expect to meet with\u003cbr /\u003emore modesty amongst men than women, simply because men exercise\u003cbr /\u003etheir understandings more than women.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, with respect to propriety of behaviour, excepting one class of\u003cbr /\u003efemales, women have evidently the advantage. What can be more\u003cbr /\u003edisgusting than that impudent dross of gallantry, thought so manly,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich makes many men stare insultingly at every female they meet?\u003cbr /\u003eIs this respect for the sex? This loose behaviour shows such\u003cbr /\u003ehabitual depravity, such weakness of mind, that it is vain to\u003cbr /\u003eexpect much public or private virtue, till both men and women grow\u003cbr /\u003emore modest–till men, curbing a sensual fondness for the sex, or\u003cbr /\u003ean affectation of manly assurance, more properly speaking,\u003cbr /\u003eimpudence, treat each other with respect–unless appetite or\u003cbr /\u003epassion gives the tone, peculiar to it, to their behaviour. I mean\u003cbr /\u003eeven personal respect–the modest respect of humanity, and\u003cbr /\u003efellow-feeling; not the libidinous mockery of gallantry, nor the\u003cbr /\u003einsolent condescension of protectorship.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo carry the observation still further, modesty must heartily\u003cbr /\u003edisclaim, and refuse to dwell with that debauchery of mind, which\u003cbr /\u003eleads a man coolly to bring forward, without a blush, indecent\u003cbr /\u003eallusions, or obscene witticisms, in the presence of a fellow\u003cbr /\u003ecreature; women are now out of the question, for then it is\u003cbr /\u003ebrutality. Respect for man, as man is the foundation of every\u003cbr /\u003enoble sentiment. How much more modest is the libertine who obeys\u003cbr /\u003ethe call of appetite or fancy, than the lewd joker who sets the\u003cbr /\u003etable in a roar.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is one of the many instances in which the sexual distinction\u003cbr /\u003erespecting modesty has proved fatal to virtue and happiness. It\u003cbr /\u003eis, however, carried still further, and woman, weak woman! made by\u003cbr /\u003eher education the slave of sensibility, is required, on the most\u003cbr /\u003etrying occasions, to resist that sensibility. \u0026quot;Can any thing,\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003esays Knox, be more absurd than keeping women in a state of\u003cbr /\u003eignorance, and yet so vehemently to insist on their resisting\u003cbr /\u003etemptation? Thus when virtue or honour make it proper to check a\u003cbr /\u003epassion, the burden is thrown on the weaker shoulders, contrary to\u003cbr /\u003ereason and true modesty, which, at least, should render the\u003cbr /\u003eself-denial mutual, to say nothing of the generosity of bravery,\u003cbr /\u003esupposed to be a manly virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the same strain runs Rousseau\u0026#39;s and Dr. Gregory\u0026#39;s advice\u003cbr /\u003erespecting modesty, strangely miscalled! for they both desire a\u003cbr /\u003ewife to leave it in doubt, whether sensibility or weakness led her\u003cbr /\u003eto her husband\u0026#39;s arms. The woman is immodest who can let the\u003cbr /\u003eshadow of such a doubt remain on her husband\u0026#39;s mind a moment.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut to state the subject in a different light. The want of\u003cbr /\u003emodesty, which I principally deplore as subversive of morality,\u003cbr /\u003earises from the state of warfare so strenuously supported by\u003cbr /\u003evoluptuous men as the very essence of modesty, though, in fact, its\u003cbr /\u003ebane; because it is a refinement on sensual desire, that men fall\u003cbr /\u003einto who have not sufficient virtue to relish the innocent\u003cbr /\u003epleasures of love. A man of delicacy carries his notions of\u003cbr /\u003emodesty still further, for neither weakness nor sensibility will\u003cbr /\u003egratify him–he looks for affection.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAgain; men boast of their triumphs over women, what do they boast\u003cbr /\u003eof? Truly the creature of sensibility was surprised by her\u003cbr /\u003esensibility into folly–into vice;* and the dreadful reckoning\u003cbr /\u003efalls heavily on her own weak head, when reason wakes. For where\u003cbr /\u003eart thou to find comfort, forlorn and disconsolate one? He who\u003cbr /\u003eought to have directed thy reason, and supported thy weakness, has\u003cbr /\u003ebetrayed thee! In a dream of passion thou consentedst to wander\u003cbr /\u003ethrough flowery lawns, and heedlessly stepping over the precipice\u003cbr /\u003eto which thy guide, instead of guarding, lured thee, thou startest\u003cbr /\u003efrom thy dream only to face a sneering, frowning world, and to find\u003cbr /\u003ethyself alone in a waste, for he that triumphed in thy weakness is\u003cbr /\u003enow pursuing new conquests; but for thee–there is no redemption on\u003cbr /\u003ethis side the grave! And what resource hast thou in an enervated\u003cbr /\u003emind to raise a sinking heart?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. The poor moth fluttering round a candle, burns its\u003cbr /\u003ewings.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, if the sexes be really to live in a state of warfare, if\u003cbr /\u003enature has pointed it out, let men act nobly, or let pride whisper\u003cbr /\u003eto them, that the victory is mean when they merely vanquish\u003cbr /\u003esensibility. The real conquest is that over affection not taken by\u003cbr /\u003esurprise–when, like Heloisa, a woman gives up all the world,\u003cbr /\u003edeliberately, for love. I do not now consider the wisdom or virtue\u003cbr /\u003eof such a sacrifice, I only contend that it was a sacrifice to\u003cbr /\u003eaffection, and not merely to sensibility, though she had her share.\u003cbr /\u003eAnd I must be allowed to call her a modest woman, before I dismiss\u003cbr /\u003ethis part of the subject, by saying, that till men are more chaste,\u003cbr /\u003ewomen will be immodest. Where, indeed, could modest women find\u003cbr /\u003ehusbands from whom they would not continually turn with disgust?\u003cbr /\u003eModesty must be equally cultivated by both sexes, or it will ever\u003cbr /\u003eremain a sickly hot-house plant, whilst the affectation of it, the\u003cbr /\u003efig leaf borrowed by wantonness, may give a zest to voluptuous\u003cbr /\u003eenjoyments.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMen will probably still insist that woman ought to have more\u003cbr /\u003emodesty than man; but it is not dispassionate reasoners who will\u003cbr /\u003emost earnestly oppose my opinion. No, they are the men of fancy,\u003cbr /\u003ethe favourites of the sex, who outwardly respect, and inwardly\u003cbr /\u003edespise the weak creatures whom they thus sport with. They cannot\u003cbr /\u003esubmit to resign the highest sensual gratification, nor even to\u003cbr /\u003erelish the epicurism of virtue–self-denial.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo take another view of the subject, confining my remarks to women.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe ridiculous falsities which are told to children, from mistaken\u003cbr /\u003enotions of modesty, tend very early to inflame their imaginations\u003cbr /\u003eand set their little minds to work, respecting subjects, which\u003cbr /\u003enature never intended they should think of, till the body arrived\u003cbr /\u003eat some degree of maturity; then the passions naturally begin to\u003cbr /\u003etake place of the senses, as instruments to unfold the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, and form the moral character.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn nurseries, and boarding schools, I fear, girls are first\u003cbr /\u003espoiled; particularly in the latter. A number of girls sleep in\u003cbr /\u003ethe same room, and wash together. And, though I should be sorry to\u003cbr /\u003econtaminate an innocent creature\u0026#39;s mind by instilling false\u003cbr /\u003edelicacy, or those indecent prudish notions, which early cautions\u003cbr /\u003erespecting the other sex naturally engender, I should be very\u003cbr /\u003eanxious to prevent their acquiring indelicate, or immodest habits;\u003cbr /\u003eand as many girls have learned very indelicate tricks, from\u003cbr /\u003eignorant servants, the mixing them thus indiscriminately together,\u003cbr /\u003eis very improper.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo say the truth, women are, in general, too familiar with each\u003cbr /\u003eother, which leads to that gross degree of familiarity that so\u003cbr /\u003efrequently renders the marriage state unhappy. Why in the name of\u003cbr /\u003edecency are sisters, female intimates, or ladies and their waiting\u003cbr /\u003ewomen, to be so grossly familiar as to forget the respect which one\u003cbr /\u003ehuman creature owes to another? That squeamish delicacy which\u003cbr /\u003eshrinks from the most disgusting offices when affection or humanity\u003cbr /\u003elead us to watch at a sick pillow, is despicable. But, why women\u003cbr /\u003ein health should be more familiar with each other than men are,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen they boast of their superiour delicacy, is a solecism in\u003cbr /\u003emanners which I could never solve.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn order to preserve health and beauty, I should earnestly\u003cbr /\u003erecommend frequent ablutions, to dignify my advice that it may not\u003cbr /\u003eoffend the fastidious ear; and, by example, girls ought to be\u003cbr /\u003etaught to wash and dress alone, without any distinction of rank;\u003cbr /\u003eand if custom should make them require some little assistance, let\u003cbr /\u003ethem not require it till that part of the business is over which\u003cbr /\u003eought never to be done before a fellow-creature; because it is an\u003cbr /\u003einsult to the majesty of human nature. Not on the score of\u003cbr /\u003emodesty, but decency; for the care which some modest women take,\u003cbr /\u003emaking at the same time a display of that care, not to let their\u003cbr /\u003elegs be seen, is as childish as immodest.*\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. I remember to have met with a sentence, in a book of\u003cbr /\u003eeducation that made me smile. \u0026quot;It would be needless to caution you\u003cbr /\u003eagainst putting your hand, by chance, under your neck-handkerchief;\u003cbr /\u003efor a modest woman never did so!\u0026quot;)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI could proceed still further, till I animadverted on some still\u003cbr /\u003emore indelicate customs, which men never fall into. Secrets are\u003cbr /\u003etold–where silence ought to reign; and that regard to cleanliness,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich some religious sects have, perhaps, carried too far,\u003cbr /\u003eespecially the Essenes, amongst the Jews, by making that an insult\u003cbr /\u003eto God which is only an insult to humanity, is violated in a brutal\u003cbr /\u003emanner. How can DELICATE women obtrude on notice that part of the\u003cbr /\u003eanimal economy, which is so very disgusting? And is it not very\u003cbr /\u003erational to conclude, that the women who have not been taught to\u003cbr /\u003erespect the human nature of their own sex, in these particulars,\u003cbr /\u003ewill not long respect the mere difference of sex, in their\u003cbr /\u003ehusbands? After their maidenish bashfulness is once lost, I, in\u003cbr /\u003efact, have generally observed, that women fall into old habits; and\u003cbr /\u003etreat their husbands as they did their sisters or female\u003cbr /\u003eacquaintance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, women from necessity, because their minds are not\u003cbr /\u003ecultivated, have recourse very often, to what I familiarly term\u003cbr /\u003ebodily wit; and their intimacies are of the same kind. In short,\u003cbr /\u003ewith respect to both mind and body, they are too intimate. That\u003cbr /\u003edecent personal reserve, which is the foundation of dignity of\u003cbr /\u003echaracter, must be kept up between women, or their minds will never\u003cbr /\u003egain strength or modesty.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOn this account also, I object to many females being shut up\u003cbr /\u003etogether in nurseries, schools, or convents. I cannot recollect\u003cbr /\u003ewithout indignation, the jokes and hoiden tricks, which knots of\u003cbr /\u003eyoung women indulged themselves in, when in my youth accident threw\u003cbr /\u003eme, an awkward rustic, in their way. They were almost on a par\u003cbr /\u003ewith the double meanings, which shake the convivial table when the\u003cbr /\u003eglass has circulated freely. But it is vain to attempt to keep the\u003cbr /\u003eheart pure, unless the head is furnished with ideas, and set to\u003cbr /\u003ework to compare them, in order, to acquire judgment, by\u003cbr /\u003egeneralizing simple ones; and modesty by making the understanding\u003cbr /\u003edamp the sensibility.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt may be thought that I lay too great a stress on personal\u003cbr /\u003ereserve; but it is ever the hand-maid of modesty. So that were I\u003cbr /\u003eto name the graces that ought to adorn beauty, I should instantly\u003cbr /\u003eexclaim, cleanliness, neatness, and personal reserve. It is\u003cbr /\u003eobvious, I suppose, that the reserve I mean, has nothing sexual in\u003cbr /\u003eit, and that I think it EQUALLY necessary in both sexes. So\u003cbr /\u003enecessary indeed, is that reserve and cleanliness which indolent\u003cbr /\u003ewomen too often neglect, that I will venture to affirm, that when\u003cbr /\u003etwo or three women live in the same house, the one will be most\u003cbr /\u003erespected by the male part of the family, who reside with them,\u003cbr /\u003eleaving love entirely out of the question, who pays this kind of\u003cbr /\u003ehabitual respect to her person.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen domestic friends meet in a morning, there will naturally\u003cbr /\u003eprevail an affectionate seriousness, especially, if each look\u003cbr /\u003eforward to the discharge of daily duties; and it may be reckoned\u003cbr /\u003efanciful, but this sentiment has frequently risen spontaneously in\u003cbr /\u003emy mind. I have been pleased after breathing the sweet bracing\u003cbr /\u003emorning air, to see the same kind of freshness in the countenances\u003cbr /\u003eI particularly loved; I was glad to see them braced, as it were,\u003cbr /\u003efor the day, and ready to run their course with the sun. The\u003cbr /\u003egreetings of affection in the morning are by these means more\u003cbr /\u003erespectful, than the familiar tenderness which frequently prolongs\u003cbr /\u003ethe evening talk. Nay, I have often felt hurt, not to say\u003cbr /\u003edisgusted, when a friend has appeared, whom I parted with full\u003cbr /\u003edressed the evening before, with her clothes huddled on, because\u003cbr /\u003eshe chose to indulge herself in bed till the last moment.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDomestic affection can only be kept alive by these neglected\u003cbr /\u003eattentions; yet if men and women took half as much pains to dress\u003cbr /\u003ehabitually neat, as they do to ornament, or rather to disfigure\u003cbr /\u003etheir persons, much would be done towards the attainment of purity\u003cbr /\u003eof mind. But women only dress to gratify men of gallantry; for the\u003cbr /\u003elover is always best pleased with the simple garb that sits close\u003cbr /\u003eto the shape. There is an impertinence in ornaments that rebuffs\u003cbr /\u003eaffection; because love always clings round the idea of home.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs a sex, women are habitually indolent; and every thing tends to\u003cbr /\u003emake them so. I do not forget the starts of activity which\u003cbr /\u003esensibility produces; but as these flights of feeling only increase\u003cbr /\u003ethe evil, they are not to be confounded with the slow, orderly walk\u003cbr /\u003eof reason. So great, in reality, is their mental and bodily\u003cbr /\u003eindolence, that till their body be strengthened and their\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding enlarged by active exertions, there is little reason\u003cbr /\u003eto expect that modesty will take place of bashfulness. They may\u003cbr /\u003efind it prudent to assume its semblance; but the fair veil will\u003cbr /\u003eonly be worn on gala days.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePerhaps there is not a virtue that mixes so kindly with every other\u003cbr /\u003eas modesty. It is the pale moon-beam that renders more interesting\u003cbr /\u003eevery virtue it softens, giving mild grandeur to the contracted\u003cbr /\u003ehorizon. Nothing can be more beautiful than the poetical fiction,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich makes Diana with her silver crescent, the goddess of\u003cbr /\u003echastity. I have sometimes thought, that wandering with sedate\u003cbr /\u003estep in some lonely recess, a modest dame of antiquity must have\u003cbr /\u003efelt a glow of conscious dignity, when, after contemplating the\u003cbr /\u003esoft shadowy landscape, she has invited with placid fervour the\u003cbr /\u003emild reflection of her sister\u0026#39;s beams to turn to her chaste bosom.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA Christian has still nobler motives to incite her to preserve her\u003cbr /\u003echastity and acquire modesty, for her body has been called the\u003cbr /\u003eTemple of the living God; of that God who requires more than\u003cbr /\u003emodesty of mien. His eye searcheth the heart; and let her\u003cbr /\u003eremember, that if she hopeth to find favour in the sight of purity\u003cbr /\u003eitself, her chastity must be founded on modesty, and not on worldly\u003cbr /\u003eprudence; or verily a good reputation will be her only reward; for\u003cbr /\u003ethat awful intercourse, that sacred communion, which virtue\u003cbr /\u003eestablishes between man and his Maker, must give rise to the wish\u003cbr /\u003eof being pure as he is pure!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the foregoing remarks, it is almost superfluous to add, that\u003cbr /\u003eI consider all those feminine airs of maturity, which succeed\u003cbr /\u003ebashfulness, to which truth is sacrificed, to secure the heart of a\u003cbr /\u003ehusband, or rather to force him to be still a lover when nature\u003cbr /\u003ewould, had she not been interrupted in her operations, have made\u003cbr /\u003elove give place to friendship, as immodest. The tenderness which a\u003cbr /\u003eman will feel for the mother of his children is an excellent\u003cbr /\u003esubstitute for the ardour of unsatisfied passion; but to prolong\u003cbr /\u003ethat ardour it is indelicate, not to say immodest, for women to\u003cbr /\u003efeign an unnatural coldness of constitution. Women as well as men\u003cbr /\u003eought to have the common appetites and passions of their nature,\u003cbr /\u003ethey are only brutal when unchecked by reason: but the obligation\u003cbr /\u003eto check them is the duty of mankind, not a sexual duty. Nature,\u003cbr /\u003ein these respects, may safely be left to herself; let women only\u003cbr /\u003eacquire knowledge and humanity, and love will teach them modesty.\u003cbr /\u003eThere is no need of falsehoods, disgusting as futile, for studied\u003cbr /\u003erules of behaviour only impose on shallow observers; a man of sense\u003cbr /\u003esoon sees through, and despises the affectation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe behaviour of young people, to each other, as men and women, is\u003cbr /\u003ethe last thing that should be thought of in education. In fact,\u003cbr /\u003ebehaviour in most circumstances is now so much thought of, that\u003cbr /\u003esimplicity of character is rarely to be seen; yet, if men were\u003cbr /\u003eonly anxious to cultivate each virtue, and let it take root firmly\u003cbr /\u003ein the mind, the grace resulting from it, its natural exteriour\u003cbr /\u003emark, would soon strip affectation of its flaunting plumes;\u003cbr /\u003ebecause, fallacious as unstable, is the conduct that is not founded\u003cbr /\u003eupon truth!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(Footnote. The behaviour of many newly married women has often\u003cbr /\u003edisgusted me. They seem anxious never to let their husbands forget\u003cbr /\u003ethe privilege of marriage, and to find no pleasure in his society\u003cbr /\u003eunless he is acting the lover. Short, indeed, must be the reign of\u003cbr /\u003elove, when the flame is thus constantly blown up, without its\u003cbr /\u003ereceiving any solid fuel.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWould ye, O my sisters, really possess modesty, ye must remember\u003cbr /\u003ethat the possession of virtue, of any denomination, is incompatible\u003cbr /\u003ewith ignorance and vanity! ye must acquire that soberness of mind,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich the exercise of duties, and the pursuit of knowledge, alone\u003cbr /\u003einspire, or ye will still remain in a doubtful dependent situation,\u003cbr /\u003eand only be loved whilst ye are fair! the downcast eye, the rosy\u003cbr /\u003eblush, the retiring grace, are all proper in their season; but\u003cbr /\u003emodesty, being the child of reason, cannot long exist with the\u003cbr /\u003esensibility that is not tempered by reflection. Besides, when\u003cbr /\u003elove, even innocent love, is the whole employ of your lives, your\u003cbr /\u003ehearts will be too soft to afford modesty that tranquil retreat,\u003cbr /\u003ewhere she delights to dwell, in close union with humanity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 8.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMORALITY UNDERMINED BY SEXUAL NOTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD\u003cbr /\u003eREPUTATION.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt has long since occurred to me, that advice respecting behaviour,\u003cbr /\u003eand all the various modes of preserving a good reputation, which\u003cbr /\u003ehave been so strenuously inculcated on the female world, were\u003cbr /\u003especious poisons, that incrusting morality eat away the substance.\u003cbr /\u003eAnd, that this measuring of shadows produced a false calculation,\u003cbr /\u003ebecause their length depends so much on the height of the sun, and\u003cbr /\u003eother adventitious circumstances.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;From whence arises the easy fallacious behaviour of a courtier?\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026gt;From this situation, undoubtedly: for standing in need of\u003cbr /\u003edependents, he is obliged to learn the art of denying without\u003cbr /\u003egiving offence, and, of evasively feeding hope with the chameleon\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003efood; thus does politeness sport with truth, and eating away the\u003cbr /\u003esincerity and humanity natural to man, produce the fine gentleman.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen in the same way acquire, from a supposed necessity, an\u003cbr /\u003eequally artificial mode of behaviour. Yet truth is not with\u003cbr /\u003eimpunity to be sported with, for the practised dissembler, at last,\u003cbr /\u003ebecomes the dupe of his own arts, loses that sagacity which has\u003cbr /\u003ebeen justly termed common sense; namely, a quick perception of\u003cbr /\u003ecommon truths: which are constantly received as such by the\u003cbr /\u003eunsophisticated mind, though it might not have had sufficient\u003cbr /\u003eenergy to discover them itself, when obscured by local prejudices.\u003cbr /\u003eThe greater number of people take their opinions on trust, to avoid\u003cbr /\u003ethe trouble of exercising their own minds, and these indolent\u003cbr /\u003ebeings naturally adhere to the letter, rather than the spirit of a\u003cbr /\u003elaw, divine or human. \u0026quot;Women,\u0026quot; says some author, I cannot\u003cbr /\u003erecollect who, \u0026quot;mind not what only heaven sees.\u0026quot; Why, indeed\u003cbr /\u003eshould they? it is the eye of man that they have been taught to\u003cbr /\u003edread–and if they can lull their Argus to sleep, they seldom think\u003cbr /\u003eof heaven or themselves, because their reputation is safe; and it\u003cbr /\u003eis reputation not chastity and all its fair train, that they are\u003cbr /\u003eemployed to keep free from spot, not as a virtue, but to preserve\u003cbr /\u003etheir station in the world.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo prove the truth of this remark, I need only advert to the\u003cbr /\u003eintrigues of married women, particularly in high life, and in\u003cbr /\u003ecountries where women are suitably married, according to their\u003cbr /\u003erespective ranks by their parents. If an innocent girl become a\u003cbr /\u003eprey to love, she is degraded forever, though her mind was not\u003cbr /\u003epolluted by the arts which married women, under the convenient\u003cbr /\u003ecloak of marriage, practise; nor has she violated any duty–but the\u003cbr /\u003eduty of respecting herself. The married woman, on the contrary,\u003cbr /\u003ebreaks a most sacred engagement, and becomes a cruel mother when\u003cbr /\u003eshe is a false and faithless wife. If her husband has still an\u003cbr /\u003eaffection for her, the arts which she must practise to deceive him,\u003cbr /\u003ewill render her the most contemptible of human beings; and at any\u003cbr /\u003erate, the contrivances necessary to preserve appearances, will keep\u003cbr /\u003eher mind in that childish or vicious tumult which destroys all its\u003cbr /\u003eenergy. Besides, in time, like those people who habitually take\u003cbr /\u003ecordials to raise their spirits, she will want an intrigue to give\u003cbr /\u003elife to her thoughts, having lost all relish for pleasures that are\u003cbr /\u003enot highly seasoned by hope or fear.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSometimes married women act still more audaciously; I will mention\u003cbr /\u003ean instance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA woman of quality, notorious for her gallantries, though as she\u003cbr /\u003estill lived with her husband, nobody chose to place her in the\u003cbr /\u003eclass where she ought to have been placed, made a point of treating\u003cbr /\u003ewith the most insulting contempt a poor timid creature, abashed by\u003cbr /\u003ea sense of her former weakness, whom a neighbouring gentleman had\u003cbr /\u003eseduced and afterwards married. This woman had actually confounded\u003cbr /\u003evirtue with reputation; and, I do believe, valued herself on the\u003cbr /\u003epropriety of her behaviour before marriage, though when once\u003cbr /\u003esettled, to the satisfaction of her family, she and her lord were\u003cbr /\u003eequally faithless–so that the half alive heir to an immense estate\u003cbr /\u003ecame from heaven knows where!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo view this subject in another light.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have known a number of women who, if they did not love their\u003cbr /\u003ehusbands, loved nobody else, giving themselves entirely up to\u003cbr /\u003evanity and dissipation, neglecting every domestic duty; nay, even\u003cbr /\u003esquandering away all the money which should have been saved for\u003cbr /\u003etheir helpless younger children, yet have plumed themselves on\u003cbr /\u003etheir unsullied reputation, as if the whole compass of their duty\u003cbr /\u003eas wives and mothers was only to preserve it. Whilst other\u003cbr /\u003eindolent women, neglecting every personal duty, have thought that\u003cbr /\u003ethey deserved their husband\u0026#39;s affection, because they acted in this\u003cbr /\u003erespect with propriety.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWeak minds are always fond of resting in the ceremonials of duty,\u003cbr /\u003ebut morality offers much simpler motives; and it were to be wished\u003cbr /\u003ethat superficial moralists had said less respecting behaviour, and\u003cbr /\u003eoutward observances, for unless virtue, of any kind, is built on\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge, it will only produce a kind of insipid decency. Respect\u003cbr /\u003efor the opinion of the world, has, however, been termed the\u003cbr /\u003eprincipal duty of woman in the most express words, for Rousseau\u003cbr /\u003edeclares, \u0026quot;that reputation is no less indispensable than chastity.\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;A man,\u0026quot; adds he, \u0026quot;secure in his own good conduct, depends only on\u003cbr /\u003ehimself, and may brave the public opinion; but a woman, in behaving\u003cbr /\u003ewell, performs but half her duty; as what is thought of her, is as\u003cbr /\u003eimportant to her as what she really is. It follows hence, that the\u003cbr /\u003esystem of a woman\u0026#39;s education should, in this respect, be directly\u003cbr /\u003econtrary to that of ours. Opinion is the grave of virtue among the\u003cbr /\u003emen; but its throne among women.\u0026quot; It is strictly logical to infer,\u003cbr /\u003ethat the virtue that rests on opinion is merely worldly, and that\u003cbr /\u003eit is the virtue of a being to whom reason has been denied. But,\u003cbr /\u003eeven with respect to the opinion of the world, I am convinced, that\u003cbr /\u003ethis class of reasoners are mistaken.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis regard for reputation, independent of its being one of the\u003cbr /\u003enatural rewards of virtue, however, took its rise from a cause that\u003cbr /\u003eI have already deplored as the grand source of female depravity,\u003cbr /\u003ethe impossibility of regaining respectability by a return to\u003cbr /\u003evirtue, though men preserve theirs during the indulgence of vice.\u003cbr /\u003eIt was natural for women then to endeavour to preserve what once\u003cbr /\u003elost–was lost for ever, till this care swallowing up every other\u003cbr /\u003ecare, reputation for chastity, became the one thing needful to the\u003cbr /\u003esex. But vain is the scrupulosity of ignorance, for neither\u003cbr /\u003ereligion nor virtue, when they reside in the heart, require such a\u003cbr /\u003epuerile attention to mere ceremonies, because the behaviour must,\u003cbr /\u003eupon the whole be proper, when the motive is pure.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo support my opinion I can produce very respectable authority; and\u003cbr /\u003ethe authority of a cool reasoner ought to have weight to enforce\u003cbr /\u003econsideration, though not to establish a sentiment. Speaking of\u003cbr /\u003ethe general laws of morality, Dr. Smith observes–\u0026quot;That by some\u003cbr /\u003every extraordinary and unlucky circumstance, a good man may come to\u003cbr /\u003ebe suspected of a crime of which he was altogether incapable, and\u003cbr /\u003eupon that account be most unjustly exposed for the remaining part\u003cbr /\u003eof his life to the horror and aversion of mankind. By an accident\u003cbr /\u003eof this kind he may be said to lose his all, notwithstanding his\u003cbr /\u003eintegrity and justice, in the same manner as a cautious man,\u003cbr /\u003enotwithstanding his utmost circumspection, may be ruined by an\u003cbr /\u003eearthquake or an inundation. Accidents of the first kind, however,\u003cbr /\u003eare perhaps still more rare, and still more contrary to the common\u003cbr /\u003ecourse of things than those of the second; and it still remains\u003cbr /\u003etrue, that the practice of truth, justice and humanity, is a\u003cbr /\u003ecertain and almost infallible method of acquiring what those\u003cbr /\u003evirtues chiefly aim at, the confidence and love of those we live\u003cbr /\u003ewith. A person may be easily misrepresented with regard to a\u003cbr /\u003eparticular action; but it is scarcely possible that he should be so\u003cbr /\u003ewith regard to the general tenor of his conduct. An innocent man\u003cbr /\u003emay be believed to have done wrong: this, however, will rarely\u003cbr /\u003ehappen. On the contrary, the established opinion of the innocence\u003cbr /\u003eof his manners will often lead us to absolve him where he has\u003cbr /\u003ereally been in the fault, notwithstanding very strong\u003cbr /\u003epresumptions.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI perfectly coincide in opinion with this writer, for I verily\u003cbr /\u003ebelieve, that few of either sex were ever despised for certain\u003cbr /\u003evices without deserving to be despised. I speak not of the calumny\u003cbr /\u003eof the moment, which hangs over a character, like one of the dense\u003cbr /\u003efogs of November over this metropolis, till it gradually subsides\u003cbr /\u003ebefore the common light of day, I only contend, that the daily\u003cbr /\u003econduct of the majority prevails to stamp their character with the\u003cbr /\u003eimpression of truth. Quietly does the clear light, shining day\u003cbr /\u003eafter day, refute the ignorant surmise, or malicious tale, which\u003cbr /\u003ehas thrown dirt on a pure character. A false light distorted, for\u003cbr /\u003ea short time, its shadow–reputation; but it seldom fails to become\u003cbr /\u003ejust when the cloud is dispersed that produced the mistake in\u003cbr /\u003evision.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMany people, undoubtedly in several respects, obtain a better\u003cbr /\u003ereputation than, strictly speaking, they deserve, for unremitting\u003cbr /\u003eindustry will mostly reach its goal in all races. They who only\u003cbr /\u003estrive for this paltry prize, like the Pharisees, who prayed at the\u003cbr /\u003ecorners of streets, to be seen of men, verily obtain the reward\u003cbr /\u003ethey seek; for the heart of man cannot be read by man! Still the\u003cbr /\u003efair fame that is naturally reflected by good actions, when the man\u003cbr /\u003eis only employed to direct his steps aright, regardless of the\u003cbr /\u003elookers-on, is in general, not only more true but more sure.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere are, it is true, trials when the good man must appeal to God\u003cbr /\u003efrom the injustice of man; and amidst the whining candour or\u003cbr /\u003ehissing of envy, erect a pavilion in his own mind to retire to,\u003cbr /\u003etill the rumour be overpast; nay, the darts of undeserved censure\u003cbr /\u003emay pierce an innocent tender bosom through with many sorrows; but\u003cbr /\u003ethese are all exceptions to general rules. And it is according to\u003cbr /\u003ethese common laws that human behaviour ought to be regulated. The\u003cbr /\u003eeccentric orbit of the comet never influences astronomical\u003cbr /\u003ecalculations respecting the invariable order established in the\u003cbr /\u003emotion of the principal bodies of the solar system.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI will then venture to affirm, that after a man has arrived at\u003cbr /\u003ematurity, the general outline of his character in the world is\u003cbr /\u003ejust, allowing for the before mentioned exceptions to the rule. I\u003cbr /\u003edo not say, that a prudent, worldly-wise man, with only negative\u003cbr /\u003evirtues and qualities, may not sometimes obtain a smoother\u003cbr /\u003ereputation than a wiser or a better man. So far from it, that I am\u003cbr /\u003eapt to conclude from experience, that where the virtue of two\u003cbr /\u003epeople is nearly equal, the most negative character will be liked\u003cbr /\u003ebest by the world at large, whilst the other may have more friends\u003cbr /\u003ein private life. But the hills and dales, clouds and sunshine,\u003cbr /\u003econspicuous in the virtues of great men, set off each other; and\u003cbr /\u003ethough they afford envious weakness a fairer mark to shoot at, the\u003cbr /\u003ereal character will still work its way to light, though bespattered\u003cbr /\u003eby weak affection, or ingenious malice.*\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. I allude to various biographical writings, but\u003cbr /\u003eparticularly to Boswell\u0026#39;s Life of Johnson.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith respect to that anxiety to preserve a reputation hardly\u003cbr /\u003eearned, which leads sagacious people to analyze it, I shall not\u003cbr /\u003emake the obvious comment; but I am afraid that morality is very\u003cbr /\u003einsidiously undermined, in the female world, by the attention being\u003cbr /\u003eturned to the show instead of the substance. A simple thing is\u003cbr /\u003ethus made strangely complicated; nay, sometimes virtue and its\u003cbr /\u003eshadow are set at variance. We should never, perhaps, have heard\u003cbr /\u003eof Lucretia, had she died to preserve her chastity instead of her\u003cbr /\u003ereputation. If we really deserve our own good opinion, we shall\u003cbr /\u003ecommonly be respected in the world; but if we pant after higher\u003cbr /\u003eimprovement and higher attainments, it is not sufficient to view\u003cbr /\u003eourselves as we suppose that we are viewed by others, though this\u003cbr /\u003ehas been ingeniously argued as the foundation of our moral\u003cbr /\u003esentiments. (Smith.) Because each bystander may have his own\u003cbr /\u003eprejudices, besides the prejudices of his age or country. We\u003cbr /\u003eshould rather endeavour to view ourselves, as we suppose that Being\u003cbr /\u003eviews us, who seeth each thought ripen into action, and whose\u003cbr /\u003ejudgment never swerves from the eternal rule of right. Righteous\u003cbr /\u003eare all his judgments–just, as merciful!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe humble mind that seeketh to find favour in His sight, and\u003cbr /\u003ecalmly examines its conduct when only His presence is felt, will\u003cbr /\u003eseldom form a very erroneous opinion of its own virtues. During\u003cbr /\u003ethe still hour of self-collection, the angry brow of offended\u003cbr /\u003ejustice will be fearfully deprecated, or the tie which draws man to\u003cbr /\u003ethe Deity will be recognized in the pure sentiment of reverential\u003cbr /\u003eadoration, that swells the heart without exciting any tumultuous\u003cbr /\u003eemotions. In these solemn moments man discovers the germ of those\u003cbr /\u003evices, which like the Java tree shed a pestiferous vapour\u003cbr /\u003earound–death is in the shade! and he perceives them without\u003cbr /\u003eabhorrence, because he feels himself drawn by some cord of love to\u003cbr /\u003eall his fellow creatures, for whose follies he is anxious to find\u003cbr /\u003eevery extenuation in their nature–in himself. If I, he may thus\u003cbr /\u003eargue, who exercise my own mind, and have been refined by\u003cbr /\u003etribulation, find the serpent\u0026#39;s egg in some fold of my heart, and\u003cbr /\u003ecrush it with difficulty, shall not I pity those who are stamped\u003cbr /\u003ewith less vigour, or who have heedlessly nurtured the insidious\u003cbr /\u003ereptile till it poisoned the vital stream it sucked? Can I,\u003cbr /\u003econscious of my secret sins, throw off my fellow creatures, and\u003cbr /\u003ecalmly see them drop into the chasm of perdition, that yawns to\u003cbr /\u003ereceive them. No! no! The agonized heart will cry with\u003cbr /\u003esuffocating impatience–I too am a man! and have vices, hid,\u003cbr /\u003eperhaps, from human eye, that bend me to the dust before God, and\u003cbr /\u003eloudly tell me when all is mute, that we are formed of the same\u003cbr /\u003eearth, and breathe the same element. Humanity thus rises naturally\u003cbr /\u003eout of humility, and twists the cords of love that in various\u003cbr /\u003econvolutions entangle the heart.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis sympathy extends still further, till a man well pleased\u003cbr /\u003eobserves force in arguments that do not carry conviction to his own\u003cbr /\u003ebosom, and he gladly places in the fairest light to himself, the\u003cbr /\u003eshows of reason that have led others astray, rejoiced to find some\u003cbr /\u003ereason in all the errors of man; though before convinced that he\u003cbr /\u003ewho rules the day makes his sun to shine on all. Yet, shaking\u003cbr /\u003ehands thus, as it were, with corruption, one foot on earth, the\u003cbr /\u003eother with bold strides mounts to heaven, and claims kindred with\u003cbr /\u003esuperiour natures. Virtues, unobserved by men, drop their balmy\u003cbr /\u003efragrance at this cool hour, and the thirsty land, refreshed by the\u003cbr /\u003epure streams of comfort that suddenly gush out, is crowned with\u003cbr /\u003esmiling verdure; this is the living green on which that eye may\u003cbr /\u003elook with complacency that is too pure to behold iniquity! But my\u003cbr /\u003espirits flag; and I must silently indulge the reverie these\u003cbr /\u003ereflections lead to, unable to describe the sentiments that have\u003cbr /\u003ecalmed my soul, when watching the rising sun, a soft shower\u003cbr /\u003edrizzling through the leaves of neighbouring trees, seemed to fall\u003cbr /\u003eon my languid, yet tranquil spirits, to cool the heart that had\u003cbr /\u003ebeen heated by the passions which reason laboured to tame.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe leading principles which run through all my disquisitions,\u003cbr /\u003ewould render it unnecessary to enlarge on this subject, if a\u003cbr /\u003econstant attention to keep the varnish of the character fresh, and\u003cbr /\u003ein good condition, were not often inculcated as the sum total of\u003cbr /\u003efemale duty; if rules to regulate the behaviour, and to preserve\u003cbr /\u003ethe reputation, did not too frequently supersede moral obligations.\u003cbr /\u003eBut, with respect to reputation, the attention is confined to a\u003cbr /\u003esingle virtue–chastity. If the honour of a woman, as it is\u003cbr /\u003eabsurdly called, is safe, she may neglect every social duty; nay,\u003cbr /\u003eruin her family by gaming and extravagance; yet still present a\u003cbr /\u003eshameless front –for truly she is an honourable woman!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMrs. Macaulay has justly observed, that \u0026quot;there is but one fault\u003cbr /\u003ewhich a woman of honour may not commit with impunity.\u0026quot; She then\u003cbr /\u003ejustly and humanely adds–This has given rise to the trite and\u003cbr /\u003efoolish observation, that the first fault against chastity in woman\u003cbr /\u003ehas a radical power to deprave the character. But no such frail\u003cbr /\u003ebeings come out of the hands of nature. The human mind is built of\u003cbr /\u003enobler materials than to be so easily corrupted; and with all their\u003cbr /\u003edisadvantages of situation and education, women seldom become\u003cbr /\u003eentirely abandoned till they are thrown into a state of\u003cbr /\u003edesperation, by the venomous rancour of their own sex.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, in proportion as this regard for the reputation of chastity is\u003cbr /\u003eprized by women, it is despised by men: and the two extremes are\u003cbr /\u003eequally destructive to morality.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMen are certainly more under the influence of their appetites than\u003cbr /\u003ewomen; and their appetites are more depraved by unbridled\u003cbr /\u003eindulgence, and the fastidious contrivances of satiety. Luxury has\u003cbr /\u003eintroduced a refinement in eating that destroys the constitution;\u003cbr /\u003eand, a degree of gluttony which is so beastly, that a perception of\u003cbr /\u003eseemliness of behaviour must be worn out before one being could eat\u003cbr /\u003eimmoderately in the presence of another, and afterwards complain of\u003cbr /\u003ethe oppression that his intemperance naturally produced. Some\u003cbr /\u003ewomen, particularly French women, have also lost a sense of decency\u003cbr /\u003ein this respect; for they will talk very calmly of an indigestion.\u003cbr /\u003eIt were to be wished, that idleness was not allowed to generate, on\u003cbr /\u003ethe rank soil of wealth, those swarms of summer insects that feed\u003cbr /\u003eon putrefaction; we should not then be disgusted by the sight of\u003cbr /\u003esuch brutal excesses.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is one rule relative to behaviour that, I think, ought to\u003cbr /\u003eregulate every other; and it is simply to cherish such an habitual\u003cbr /\u003erespect for mankind, as may prevent us from disgusting a fellow\u003cbr /\u003ecreature for the sake of a present indulgence. The shameful\u003cbr /\u003eindolence of many married women, and others a little advanced in\u003cbr /\u003elife, frequently leads them to sin against delicacy. For, though\u003cbr /\u003econvinced that the person is the band of union between the sexes,\u003cbr /\u003eyet, how often do they from sheer indolence, or to enjoy some\u003cbr /\u003etrifling indulgence, disgust?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe depravity of the appetite, which brings the sexes together, has\u003cbr /\u003ehad a still more fatal effect. Nature must ever be the standard of\u003cbr /\u003etaste, the guage of appetite–yet how grossly is nature insulted by\u003cbr /\u003ethe voluptuary. Leaving the refinements of love out of the\u003cbr /\u003equestion; nature, by making the gratification of an appetite, in\u003cbr /\u003ethis respect, as well as every other, a natural and imperious law\u003cbr /\u003eto preserve the species, exalts the appetite, and mixes a little\u003cbr /\u003emind and affection with a sensual gust. The feelings of a parent\u003cbr /\u003emingling with an instinct merely animal, give it dignity; and the\u003cbr /\u003eman and woman often meeting on account of the child, a mutual\u003cbr /\u003einterest and affection is excited by the exercise of a common\u003cbr /\u003esympathy. Women then having necessarily some duty to fulfil, more\u003cbr /\u003enoble than to adorn their persons, would not contentedly be the\u003cbr /\u003eslaves of casual appetite, which is now the situation of a very\u003cbr /\u003econsiderable number who are, literally speaking, standing dishes to\u003cbr /\u003ewhich every glutton may have access.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI may be told, that great as this enormity is, it only affects a\u003cbr /\u003edevoted part of the sex–devoted for the salvation of the rest.\u003cbr /\u003eBut, false as every assertion might easily be proved, that\u003cbr /\u003erecommends the sanctioning a small evil to produce a greater good;\u003cbr /\u003ethe mischief does not stop here, for the moral character, and peace\u003cbr /\u003eof mind, of the chaster part of the sex, is undermined by the\u003cbr /\u003econduct of the very women to whom they allow no refuge from guilt:\u003cbr /\u003ewhom they inexorably consign to the exercise of arts that lure\u003cbr /\u003etheir husbands from them, debauch their sons and force them, let\u003cbr /\u003enot modest women start, to assume, in some degree, the same\u003cbr /\u003echaracter themselves. For I will venture to assert, that all the\u003cbr /\u003ecauses of female weakness, as well as depravity, which I have\u003cbr /\u003ealready enlarged on, branch out of one grand cause–want of\u003cbr /\u003echastity in men.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis intemperance, so prevalent, depraves the appetite to such a\u003cbr /\u003edegree, that a wanton stimulus is necessary to rouse it; but the\u003cbr /\u003eparental design of nature is forgotten, and the mere person, and\u003cbr /\u003ethat, for a moment, alone engrosses the thoughts. So voluptuous,\u003cbr /\u003eindeed, often grows the lustful prowler, that he refines on female\u003cbr /\u003esoftness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo satisfy this genius of men, women are made systematically\u003cbr /\u003evoluptuous, and though they may not all carry their libertinism to\u003cbr /\u003ethe same height, yet this heartless intercourse with the sex, which\u003cbr /\u003ethey allow themselves, depraves both sexes, because the taste of\u003cbr /\u003emen is vitiated; and women, of all classes, naturally square their\u003cbr /\u003ebehaviour to gratify the taste by which they obtain pleasure and\u003cbr /\u003epower. Women becoming, consequently weaker, in mind and body, than\u003cbr /\u003ethey ought to be, were one of the grand ends of their being taken\u003cbr /\u003einto the account, that of bearing and nursing children, have not\u003cbr /\u003esufficient strength to discharge the first duty of a mother; and\u003cbr /\u003esacrificing to lasciviousness the parental affection, that ennobles\u003cbr /\u003einstinct, either destroy the embryo in the womb, or cast it off\u003cbr /\u003ewhen born. Nature in every thing demands respect, and those who\u003cbr /\u003eviolate her laws seldom violate them with impunity. The weak\u003cbr /\u003eenervated women who particularly catch the attention of libertines,\u003cbr /\u003eare unfit to be mothers, though they may conceive; so that the rich\u003cbr /\u003esensualist, who has rioted among women, spreading depravity and\u003cbr /\u003emisery, when he wishes to perpetuate his name, receives from his\u003cbr /\u003ewife only an half-formed being that inherits both its father\u0026#39;s and\u003cbr /\u003emother\u0026#39;s weakness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eContrasting the humanity of the present age with the barbarism of\u003cbr /\u003eantiquity, great stress has been laid on the savage custom of\u003cbr /\u003eexposing the children whom their parents could not maintain; whilst\u003cbr /\u003ethe man of sensibility, who thus, perhaps, complains, by his\u003cbr /\u003epromiscuous amours produces a most destructive barrenness and\u003cbr /\u003econtagious flagitiousness of manners. Surely nature never intended\u003cbr /\u003ethat women, by satisfying an appetite, should frustrate the very\u003cbr /\u003epurpose for which it was implanted?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have before observed, that men ought to maintain the women whom\u003cbr /\u003ethey have seduced; this would be one means of reforming female\u003cbr /\u003emanners, and stopping an abuse that has an equally fatal effect on\u003cbr /\u003epopulation and morals. Another, no less obvious, would be to turn\u003cbr /\u003ethe attention of woman to the real virtue of chastity; for to\u003cbr /\u003elittle respect has that woman a claim, on the score of modesty,\u003cbr /\u003ethough her reputation may be white as the driven snow, who smiles\u003cbr /\u003eon the libertine whilst she spurns the victims of his lawless\u003cbr /\u003eappetites and their own folly.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, she has a taint of the same folly, pure as she esteems\u003cbr /\u003eherself, when she studiously adorns her person only to be seen by\u003cbr /\u003emen, to excite respectful sighs, and all the idle homage of what is\u003cbr /\u003ecalled innocent gallantry. Did women really respect virtue for its\u003cbr /\u003eown sake, they would not seek for a compensation in vanity, for the\u003cbr /\u003eself-denial which they are obliged to practise to preserve their\u003cbr /\u003ereputation, nor would they associate with men who set reputation at\u003cbr /\u003edefiance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe two sexes mutually corrupt and improve each other. This I\u003cbr /\u003ebelieve to be an indisputable truth, extending it to every virtue.\u003cbr /\u003eChastity, modesty, public spirit, and all the noble train of\u003cbr /\u003evirtues, on which social virtue and happiness are built, should be\u003cbr /\u003eunderstood and cultivated by all mankind, or they will be\u003cbr /\u003ecultivated to little effect. And, instead of furnishing the\u003cbr /\u003evicious or idle with a pretext for violating some sacred duty, by\u003cbr /\u003eterming it a sexual one, it would be wiser to show, that nature has\u003cbr /\u003enot made any difference, for that the unchaste man doubly defeats\u003cbr /\u003ethe purpose of nature by rendering women barren, and destroying his\u003cbr /\u003eown constitution, though he avoids the shame that pursues the crime\u003cbr /\u003ein the other sex. These are the physical consequences, the moral\u003cbr /\u003eare still more alarming; for virtue is only a nominal distinction\u003cbr /\u003ewhen the duties of citizens, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and\u003cbr /\u003edirectors of families, become merely the selfish ties of\u003cbr /\u003econvenience.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhy then do philosophers look for public spirit? Public spirit\u003cbr /\u003emust be nurtured by private virtue, or it will resemble the\u003cbr /\u003efactitious sentiment which makes women careful to preserve their\u003cbr /\u003ereputation, and men their honour. A sentiment that often exists\u003cbr /\u003eunsupported by virtue, unsupported by that sublime morality which\u003cbr /\u003emakes the habitual breach of one duty a breach of the whole moral\u003cbr /\u003elaw.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 9.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOF THE PERNICIOUS EFFECTS WHICH ARISE FROM THE UNNATURAL\u003cbr /\u003eDISTINCTIONS ESTABLISHED IN SOCIETY.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;From the respect paid to property flow, as from a poisoned\u003cbr /\u003efountain, most of the evils and vices which render this world such\u003cbr /\u003ea dreary scene to the contemplative mind. For it is in the most\u003cbr /\u003epolished society that noisome reptiles and venomous serpents lurk\u003cbr /\u003eunder the rank herbage; and there is voluptuousness pampered by the\u003cbr /\u003estill sultry air, which relaxes every good disposition before it\u003cbr /\u003eripens into virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOne class presses on another; for all are aiming to procure respect\u003cbr /\u003eon account of their property: and property, once gained, will\u003cbr /\u003eprocure the respect due only to talents and virtue. Men neglect\u003cbr /\u003ethe duties incumbent on man, yet are treated like demi-gods;\u003cbr /\u003ereligion is also separated from morality by a ceremonial veil, yet\u003cbr /\u003emen wonder that the world is almost, literally speaking, a den of\u003cbr /\u003esharpers or oppressors.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a homely proverb, which speaks a shrewd truth, that\u003cbr /\u003ewhoever the devil finds idle he will employ. And what but habitual\u003cbr /\u003eidleness can hereditary wealth and titles produce? For man is so\u003cbr /\u003econstituted that he can only attain a proper use of his faculties\u003cbr /\u003eby exercising them, and will not exercise them unless necessity, of\u003cbr /\u003esome kind, first set the wheels in motion. Virtue likewise can\u003cbr /\u003eonly be acquired by the discharge of relative duties; but the\u003cbr /\u003eimportance of these sacred duties will scarcely be felt by the\u003cbr /\u003ebeing who is cajoled out of his humanity by the flattery of\u003cbr /\u003esycophants. There must be more equality established in society, or\u003cbr /\u003emorality will never gain ground, and this virtuous equality will\u003cbr /\u003enot rest firmly even when founded on a rock, if one half of mankind\u003cbr /\u003eare chained to its bottom by fate, for they will be continually\u003cbr /\u003eundermining it through ignorance or pride. It is vain to expect\u003cbr /\u003evirtue from women till they are, in some degree, independent of\u003cbr /\u003emen; nay, it is vain to expect that strength of natural affection,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich would make them good wives and good mothers. Whilst they are\u003cbr /\u003eabsolutely dependent on their husbands, they will be cunning, mean,\u003cbr /\u003eand selfish, and the men who can be gratified by the fawning\u003cbr /\u003efondness, of spaniel-like affection, have not much delicacy, for\u003cbr /\u003elove is not to be bought, in any sense of the word, its silken\u003cbr /\u003ewings are instantly shrivelled up when any thing beside a return in\u003cbr /\u003ekind is sought. Yet whilst wealth enervates men; and women live,\u003cbr /\u003eas it were, by their personal charms, how, can we expect them to\u003cbr /\u003edischarge those ennobling duties which equally require exertion and\u003cbr /\u003eself-denial. Hereditary property sophisticates the mind, and the\u003cbr /\u003eunfortunate victims to it, if I may so express myself, swathed from\u003cbr /\u003etheir birth, seldom exert the locomotive faculty of body or mind;\u003cbr /\u003eand, thus viewing every thing through one medium, and that a false\u003cbr /\u003eone, they are unable to discern in what true merit and happiness\u003cbr /\u003econsist. False, indeed, must be the light when the drapery of\u003cbr /\u003esituation hides the man, and makes him stalk in masquerade,\u003cbr /\u003edragging from one scene of dissipation to another the nerveless\u003cbr /\u003elimbs that hang with stupid listlessness, and rolling round the\u003cbr /\u003evacant eye which plainly tells us that there is no mind at home.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI mean, therefore, to infer, that the society is not properly\u003cbr /\u003eorganized which does not compel men and women to discharge their\u003cbr /\u003erespective duties, by making it the only way to acquire that\u003cbr /\u003ecountenance from their fellow creatures, which every human being\u003cbr /\u003ewishes some way to attain. The respect, consequently, which is\u003cbr /\u003epaid to wealth and mere personal charms, is a true north-east\u003cbr /\u003eblast, that blights the tender blossoms of affection and virtue.\u003cbr /\u003eNature has wisely attached affections to duties, to sweeten toil,\u003cbr /\u003eand to give that vigour to the exertions of reason which only the\u003cbr /\u003eheart can give. But, the affection which is put on merely because\u003cbr /\u003eit is the appropriated insignia of a certain character, when its\u003cbr /\u003eduties are not fulfilled is one of the empty compliments which vice\u003cbr /\u003eand folly are obliged to pay to virtue and the real nature of\u003cbr /\u003ethings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo illustrate my opinion, I need only observe, that when a woman is\u003cbr /\u003eadmired for her beauty, and suffers herself to be so far\u003cbr /\u003eintoxicated by the admiration she receives, as to neglect to\u003cbr /\u003edischarge the indispensable duty of a mother, she sins against\u003cbr /\u003eherself by neglecting to cultivate an affection that would equally\u003cbr /\u003etend to make her useful and happy. True happiness, I mean all the\u003cbr /\u003econtentment, and virtuous satisfaction that can be snatched in this\u003cbr /\u003eimperfect state, must arise from well regulated affections; and an\u003cbr /\u003eaffection includes a duty. Men are not aware of the misery they\u003cbr /\u003ecause, and the vicious weakness they cherish, by only inciting\u003cbr /\u003ewomen to render themselves pleasing; they do not consider, that\u003cbr /\u003ethey thus make natural and artificial duties clash, by sacrificing\u003cbr /\u003ethe comfort and respectability of a woman\u0026#39;s life to voluptuous\u003cbr /\u003enotions of beauty, when in nature they all harmonize.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCold would be the heart of a husband, were he not rendered\u003cbr /\u003eunnatural by early debauchery, who did not feel more delight at\u003cbr /\u003eseeing his child suckled by its mother, than the most artful wanton\u003cbr /\u003etricks could ever raise; yet this natural way of cementing the\u003cbr /\u003ematrimonial tie, and twisting esteem with fonder recollections,\u003cbr /\u003ewealth leads women to spurn. To preserve their beauty, and wear\u003cbr /\u003ethe flowery crown of the day, that gives them a kind of right to\u003cbr /\u003ereign for a short time over the sex, they neglect to stamp\u003cbr /\u003eimpressions on their husbands\u0026#39; hearts, that would be remembered\u003cbr /\u003ewith more tenderness when the snow on the head began to chill the\u003cbr /\u003ebosom, than even their virgin charms. The maternal solicitude of a\u003cbr /\u003ereasonable affectionate woman is very interesting, and the\u003cbr /\u003echastened dignity with which a mother returns the caresses that she\u003cbr /\u003eand her child receive from a father who has been fulfilling the\u003cbr /\u003eserious duties of his station, is not only a respectable, but a\u003cbr /\u003ebeautiful sight. So singular, indeed, are my feelings, and I have\u003cbr /\u003eendeavoured not to catch factitious ones, that after having been\u003cbr /\u003efatigued with the sight of insipid grandeur and the slavish\u003cbr /\u003eceremonies that with cumberous pomp supplied the place of domestic\u003cbr /\u003eaffections, I have turned to some other scene to relieve my eye, by\u003cbr /\u003eresting it on the refreshing green every where scattered by nature.\u003cbr /\u003eI have then viewed with pleasure a woman nursing her children, and\u003cbr /\u003edischarging the duties of her station with, perhaps, merely a\u003cbr /\u003eservant made to take off her hands the servile part of the\u003cbr /\u003ehousehold business. I have seen her prepare herself and children,\u003cbr /\u003ewith only the luxury of cleanliness, to receive her husband, who\u003cbr /\u003ereturning weary home in the evening, found smiling babes and a\u003cbr /\u003eclean hearth. My heart has loitered in the midst of the group, and\u003cbr /\u003ehas even throbbed with sympathetic emotion, when the scraping of\u003cbr /\u003ethe well known foot has raised a pleasing tumult.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhilst my benevolence has been gratified by contemplating this\u003cbr /\u003eartless picture, I have thought that a couple of this description,\u003cbr /\u003eequally necessary and independent of each other, because each\u003cbr /\u003efulfilled the respective duties of their station, possessed all\u003cbr /\u003ethat life could give. Raised sufficiently above abject poverty not\u003cbr /\u003eto be obliged to weigh the consequence of every farthing they\u003cbr /\u003espend, and having sufficient to prevent their attending to a frigid\u003cbr /\u003esystem of economy which narrows both heart and mind. I declare, so\u003cbr /\u003evulgar are my conceptions, that I know not what is wanted to render\u003cbr /\u003ethis the happiest as well as the most respectable situation in the\u003cbr /\u003eworld, but a taste for literature, to throw a little variety and\u003cbr /\u003einterest into social converse, and some superfluous money to give\u003cbr /\u003eto the needy, and to buy books. For it is not pleasant when the\u003cbr /\u003eheart is opened by compassion, and the head active in arranging\u003cbr /\u003eplans of usefulness, to have a prim urchin continually twitching\u003cbr /\u003eback the elbow to prevent the hand from drawing out an almost empty\u003cbr /\u003epurse, whispering at the same time some prudential maxim about the\u003cbr /\u003epriority of justice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDestructive, however, as riches and inherited honours are to the\u003cbr /\u003ehuman character, women are more debased and cramped, if possible by\u003cbr /\u003ethem, than men, because men may still, in some degree, unfold their\u003cbr /\u003efaculties by becoming soldiers and statesmen.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs soldiers, I grant, they can now only gather, for the most part,\u003cbr /\u003evainglorious laurels, whilst they adjust to a hair the European\u003cbr /\u003ebalance, taking especial care that no bleak northern nook or sound\u003cbr /\u003eincline the beam. But the days of true heroism are over, when a\u003cbr /\u003ecitizen fought for his country like a Fabricius or a Washington,\u003cbr /\u003eand then returned to his farm to let his virtuous fervour run in a\u003cbr /\u003emore placid, but not a less salutary stream. No, our British\u003cbr /\u003eheroes are oftener sent from the gaming table than from the plough;\u003cbr /\u003eand their passions have been rather inflamed by hanging with dumb\u003cbr /\u003esuspense on the turn of a die, than sublimated by panting after the\u003cbr /\u003eadventurous march of virtue in the historic page.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe statesman, it is true, might with more propriety quit the Faro\u003cbr /\u003eBank, or card-table, to guide the helm, for he has still but to\u003cbr /\u003eshuffle and trick. The whole system of British politics, if system\u003cbr /\u003eit may courteously be called, consisting in multiplying dependents\u003cbr /\u003eand contriving taxes which grind the poor to pamper the rich; thus\u003cbr /\u003ea war, or any wild goose chace is, as the vulgar use the phrase, a\u003cbr /\u003elucky turn-up of patronage for the minister, whose chief merit is\u003cbr /\u003ethe art of keeping himself in place.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not necessary then that he should have bowels for the poor,\u003cbr /\u003eso he can secure for his family the odd trick. Or should some show\u003cbr /\u003eof respect, for what is termed with ignorant ostentation an\u003cbr /\u003eEnglishman\u0026#39;s birth-right, be expedient to bubble the gruff mastiff\u003cbr /\u003ethat he has to lead by the nose, he can make an empty show, very\u003cbr /\u003esafely, by giving his single voice, and suffering his light\u003cbr /\u003esquadron to file off to the other side. And when a question of\u003cbr /\u003ehumanity is agitated, he may dip a sop in the milk of human\u003cbr /\u003ekindness, to silence Cerberus, and talk of the interest which his\u003cbr /\u003eheart takes in an attempt to make the earth no longer cry for\u003cbr /\u003evengeance as it sucks in its children\u0026#39;s blood, though his cold hand\u003cbr /\u003emay at the very moment rivet their chains, by sanctioning the\u003cbr /\u003eabominable traffick. A minister is no longer a minister than while\u003cbr /\u003ehe can carry a point, which he is determined to carry. Yet it is\u003cbr /\u003enot necessary that a minister should feel like a man, when a bold\u003cbr /\u003epush might shake his seat.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, to have done with these episodical observations, let me return\u003cbr /\u003eto the more specious slavery which chains the very soul of woman,\u003cbr /\u003ekeeping her for ever under the bondage of ignorance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe preposterous distinctions of rank, which render civilization a\u003cbr /\u003ecurse, by dividing the world between voluptuous tyrants, and\u003cbr /\u003ecunning envious dependents, corrupt, almost equally, every class of\u003cbr /\u003epeople, because respectability is not attached to the discharge of\u003cbr /\u003ethe relative duties of life, but to the station, and when the\u003cbr /\u003eduties are not fulfilled, the affections cannot gain sufficient\u003cbr /\u003estrength to fortify the virtue of which they are the natural\u003cbr /\u003ereward. Still there are some loop-holes out of which a man may\u003cbr /\u003ecreep, and dare to think and act for himself; but for a woman it is\u003cbr /\u003ean herculean task, because she has difficulties peculiar to her sex\u003cbr /\u003eto overcome, which require almost super-human powers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA truly benevolent legislator always endeavours to make it the\u003cbr /\u003einterest of each individual to be virtuous; and thus private virtue\u003cbr /\u003ebecoming the cement of public happiness, an orderly whole is\u003cbr /\u003econsolidated by the tendency of all the parts towards a common\u003cbr /\u003ecentre. But, the private or public virtue of women is very\u003cbr /\u003eproblematical; for Rousseau, and a numerous list of male writers,\u003cbr /\u003einsist that she should all her life, be subjected to a severe\u003cbr /\u003erestraint, that of propriety. Why subject her to propriety–blind\u003cbr /\u003epropriety, if she be capable of acting from a nobler spring, if she\u003cbr /\u003ebe an heir of immortality? Is sugar always to be produced by vital\u003cbr /\u003eblood? Is one half of the human species, like the poor African\u003cbr /\u003eslaves, to be subject to prejudices that brutalize them, when\u003cbr /\u003eprinciples would be a surer guard only to sweeten the cup of man?\u003cbr /\u003eIs not this indirectly to deny women reason? for a gift is a\u003cbr /\u003emockery, if it be unfit for use.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen are in common with men, rendered weak and luxurious by the\u003cbr /\u003erelaxing pleasures which wealth procures; but added to this, they\u003cbr /\u003eare made slaves to their persons, and must render them alluring,\u003cbr /\u003ethat man may lend them his reason to guide their tottering steps\u003cbr /\u003earight. Or should they be ambitious, they must govern their\u003cbr /\u003etyrants by sinister tricks, for without rights there cannot be any\u003cbr /\u003eincumbent duties. The laws respecting woman, which I mean to\u003cbr /\u003ediscuss in a future part, make an absurd unit of a man and his\u003cbr /\u003ewife; and then, by the easy transition of only considering him as\u003cbr /\u003eresponsible, she is reduced to a mere cypher.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe being who discharges the duties of its station, is independent;\u003cbr /\u003eand, speaking of women at large, their first duty is to themselves\u003cbr /\u003eas rational creatures, and the next, in point of importance, as\u003cbr /\u003ecitizens, is that, which includes so many, of a mother. The rank\u003cbr /\u003ein life which dispenses with their fulfilling this duty,\u003cbr /\u003enecessarily degrades them by making them mere dolls. Or, should\u003cbr /\u003ethey turn to something more important than merely fitting drapery\u003cbr /\u003eupon a smooth block, their minds are only occupied by some soft\u003cbr /\u003eplatonic attachment; or, the actual management of an intrigue may\u003cbr /\u003ekeep their thoughts in motion; for when they neglect domestic\u003cbr /\u003eduties, they have it not in their power to take the field and march\u003cbr /\u003eand counter-march like soldiers, or wrangle in the senate to keep\u003cbr /\u003etheir faculties from rusting.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI know, that as a proof of the inferiority of the sex, Rousseau has\u003cbr /\u003eexultingly exclaimed, How can they leave the nursery for the camp!\u003cbr /\u003eAnd the camp has by some moralists been termed the school of the\u003cbr /\u003emost heroic virtues; though, I think, it would puzzle a keen\u003cbr /\u003ecasuist to prove the reasonableness of the greater number of wars,\u003cbr /\u003ethat have dubbed heroes. I do not mean to consider this question\u003cbr /\u003ecritically; because, having frequently viewed these freaks of\u003cbr /\u003eambition as the first natural mode of civilization, when the ground\u003cbr /\u003emust be torn up, and the woods cleared by fire and sword, I do not\u003cbr /\u003echoose to call them pests; but surely the present system of war,\u003cbr /\u003ehas little connection with virtue of any denomination, being rather\u003cbr /\u003ethe school of FINESSE and effeminacy, than of fortitude.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYet, if defensive war, the only justifiable war, in the present\u003cbr /\u003eadvanced state of society, where virtue can show its face and ripen\u003cbr /\u003eamidst the rigours which purify the air on the mountain\u0026#39;s top, were\u003cbr /\u003ealone to be adopted as just and glorious, the true heroism of\u003cbr /\u003eantiquity might again animate female bosoms. But fair and softly,\u003cbr /\u003egentle reader, male or female, do not alarm thyself, for though I\u003cbr /\u003ehave contrasted the character of a modern soldier with that of a\u003cbr /\u003ecivilized woman, I am not going to advise them to turn their\u003cbr /\u003edistaff into a musket, though I sincerely wish to see the bayonet\u003cbr /\u003econverted into a pruning hook. I only recreated an imagination,\u003cbr /\u003efatigued by contemplating the vices and follies which all proceed\u003cbr /\u003efrom a feculent stream of wealth that has muddied the pure rills of\u003cbr /\u003enatural affection, by supposing that society will some time or\u003cbr /\u003eother be so constituted, that man must necessarily fulfil the\u003cbr /\u003eduties of a citizen, or be despised, and that while he was employed\u003cbr /\u003ein any of the departments of civil life, his wife, also an active\u003cbr /\u003ecitizen, should be equally intent to manage her family, educate her\u003cbr /\u003echildren, and assist her neighbours.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, to render her really virtuous and useful, she must not, if she\u003cbr /\u003edischarge her civil duties, want, individually, the protection of\u003cbr /\u003ecivil laws; she must not be dependent on her husband\u0026#39;s bounty for\u003cbr /\u003eher subsistence during his life, or support after his death–for\u003cbr /\u003ehow can a being be generous who has nothing of its own? or,\u003cbr /\u003evirtuous, who is not free? The wife, in the present state of\u003cbr /\u003ethings, who is faithful to her husband, and neither suckles nor\u003cbr /\u003eeducates her children, scarcely deserves the name of a wife, and\u003cbr /\u003ehas no right to that of a citizen. But take away natural rights,\u003cbr /\u003eand there is of course an end of duties.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen thus infallibly become only the wanton solace of men, when\u003cbr /\u003ethey are so weak in mind and body, that they cannot exert\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves, unless to pursue some frothy pleasure, or to invent\u003cbr /\u003esome frivolous fashion. What can be a more melancholy sight to a\u003cbr /\u003ethinking mind, than to look into the numerous carriages that drive\u003cbr /\u003ehelter-skelter about this metropolis in a morning, full of\u003cbr /\u003epale-faced creatures who are flying from themselves. I have often\u003cbr /\u003ewished, with Dr. Johnson, to place some of them in a little shop,\u003cbr /\u003ewith half a dozen children looking up to their languid countenances\u003cbr /\u003efor support. I am much mistaken, if some latent vigour would not\u003cbr /\u003esoon give health and spirit to their eyes, and some lines drawn by\u003cbr /\u003ethe exercise of reason on the blank cheeks, which before were only\u003cbr /\u003eundulated by dimples, might restore lost dignity to the character,\u003cbr /\u003eor rather enable it to attain the true dignity of its nature.\u003cbr /\u003eVirtue is not to be acquired even by speculation, much less by the\u003cbr /\u003enegative supineness that wealth naturally generates.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, when poverty is more disgraceful than even vice, is not\u003cbr /\u003emorality cut to the quick? Still to avoid misconstruction, though\u003cbr /\u003eI consider that women in the common walks of life are called to\u003cbr /\u003efulfil the duties of wives and mothers, by religion and reason, I\u003cbr /\u003ecannot help lamenting that women of a superiour cast have not a\u003cbr /\u003eroad open by which they can pursue more extensive plans of\u003cbr /\u003eusefulness and independence. I may excite laughter, by dropping an\u003cbr /\u003ehint, which I mean to pursue, some future time, for I really think\u003cbr /\u003ethat women ought to have representatives, instead of being\u003cbr /\u003earbitrarily governed without having any direct share allowed them\u003cbr /\u003ein the deliberations of government.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, as the whole system of representation is now, in this country,\u003cbr /\u003eonly a convenient handle for despotism, they need not complain, for\u003cbr /\u003ethey are as well represented as a numerous class of hard working\u003cbr /\u003emechanics, who pay for the support of royality when they can\u003cbr /\u003escarcely stop their children\u0026#39;s mouths with bread. How are they\u003cbr /\u003erepresented, whose very sweat supports the splendid stud of an heir\u003cbr /\u003eapparent, or varnishes the chariot of some female favourite who\u003cbr /\u003elooks down on shame? Taxes on the very necessaries of life, enable\u003cbr /\u003ean endless tribe of idle princes and princesses to pass with stupid\u003cbr /\u003epomp before a gaping crowd, who almost worship the very parade\u003cbr /\u003ewhich costs them so dear. This is mere gothic grandeur, something\u003cbr /\u003elike the barbarous, useless parade of having sentinels on horseback\u003cbr /\u003eat Whitehall, which I could never view without a mixture of\u003cbr /\u003econtempt and indignation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHow strangely must the mind be sophisticated when this sort of\u003cbr /\u003estate impresses it! But till these monuments of folly are levelled\u003cbr /\u003eby virtue, similar follies will leaven the whole mass. For the\u003cbr /\u003esame character, in some degree, will prevail in the aggregate of\u003cbr /\u003esociety: and the refinements of luxury, or the vicious repinings\u003cbr /\u003eof envious poverty, will equally banish virtue from society,\u003cbr /\u003econsidered as the characteristic of that society, or only allow it\u003cbr /\u003eto appear as one of the stripes of the harlequin coat, worn by the\u003cbr /\u003ecivilized man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the superiour ranks of life, every duty is done by deputies, as\u003cbr /\u003eif duties could ever be waved, and the vain pleasures which\u003cbr /\u003econsequent idleness forces the rich to pursue, appear so enticing\u003cbr /\u003eto the next rank, that the numerous scramblers for wealth sacrifice\u003cbr /\u003eevery thing to tread on their heels. The most sacred trusts are\u003cbr /\u003ethen considered as sinecures, because they were procured by\u003cbr /\u003einterest, and only sought to enable a man to keep GOOD COMPANY.\u003cbr /\u003eWomen, in particular, all want to be ladies. Which is simply to\u003cbr /\u003ehave nothing to do, but listlessly to go they scarcely care where,\u003cbr /\u003efor they cannot tell what.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut what have women to do in society? I may be asked, but to\u003cbr /\u003eloiter with easy grace; surely you would not condemn them all to\u003cbr /\u003esuckle fools, and chronicle small beer! No. Women might certainly\u003cbr /\u003estudy the art of healing, and be physicians as well as nurses. And\u003cbr /\u003emidwifery, decency seems to allot to them, though I am afraid the\u003cbr /\u003eword midwife, in our dictionaries, will soon give place to\u003cbr /\u003eaccoucheur, and one proof of the former delicacy of the sex be\u003cbr /\u003eeffaced from the language.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThey might, also study politics, and settle their benevolence on\u003cbr /\u003ethe broadest basis; for the reading of history will scarcely be\u003cbr /\u003emore useful than the perusal of romances, if read as mere\u003cbr /\u003ebiography; if the character of the times, the political\u003cbr /\u003eimprovements, arts, etc. be not observed. In short, if it be not\u003cbr /\u003econsidered as the history of man; and not of particular men, who\u003cbr /\u003efilled a niche in the temple of fame, and dropped into the black\u003cbr /\u003erolling stream of time, that silently sweeps all before it, into\u003cbr /\u003ethe shapeless void called eternity. For shape can it be called,\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;that shape hath none?\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBusiness of various kinds, they might likewise pursue, if they were\u003cbr /\u003eeducated in a more orderly manner, which might save many from\u003cbr /\u003ecommon and legal prostitution. Women would not then marry for a\u003cbr /\u003esupport, as men accept of places under government, and neglect the\u003cbr /\u003eimplied duties; nor would an attempt to earn their own subsistence,\u003cbr /\u003ea most laudable one! sink them almost to the level of those poor\u003cbr /\u003eabandoned creatures who live by prostitution. For are not\u003cbr /\u003emilliners and mantuamakers reckoned the next class? The few\u003cbr /\u003eemployments open to women, so far from being liberal, are menial;\u003cbr /\u003eand when a superior education enables them to take charge of the\u003cbr /\u003eeducation of children as governesses, they are not treated like the\u003cbr /\u003etutors of sons, though even clerical tutors are not always treated\u003cbr /\u003ein a manner calculated to render them respectable in the eyes of\u003cbr /\u003etheir pupils, to say nothing of the private comfort of the\u003cbr /\u003eindividual. But as women educated like gentlewomen, are never\u003cbr /\u003edesigned for the humiliating situation which necessity sometimes\u003cbr /\u003eforces them to fill; these situations are considered in the light\u003cbr /\u003eof a degradation; and they know little of the human heart, who need\u003cbr /\u003eto be told, that nothing so painfully sharpens the sensibility as\u003cbr /\u003esuch a fall in life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSome of these women might be restrained from marrying by a proper\u003cbr /\u003espirit or delicacy, and others may not have had it in their power\u003cbr /\u003eto escape in this pitiful way from servitude; is not that\u003cbr /\u003egovernment then very defective, and very unmindful of the happiness\u003cbr /\u003eof one half of its members, that does not provide for honest,\u003cbr /\u003eindependent women, by encouraging them to fill respectable\u003cbr /\u003estations? But in order to render their private virtue a public\u003cbr /\u003ebenefit, they must have a civil existence in the state, married or\u003cbr /\u003esingle; else we shall continually see some worthy woman, whose\u003cbr /\u003esensibility has been rendered painfully acute by undeserved\u003cbr /\u003econtempt, droop like \u0026quot;the lily broken down by a plough share.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a melancholy truth; yet such is the blessed effects of\u003cbr /\u003ecivilization! the most respectable women are the most oppressed;\u003cbr /\u003eand, unless they have understandings far superiour to the common\u003cbr /\u003erun of understandings, taking in both sexes, they must, from being\u003cbr /\u003etreated like contemptible beings, become contemptible. How many\u003cbr /\u003ewomen thus waste life away, the prey of discontent, who might have\u003cbr /\u003epractised as physicians, regulated a farm, managed a shop, and\u003cbr /\u003estood erect, supported by their own industry, instead of hanging\u003cbr /\u003etheir heads surcharged with the dew of sensibility, that consumes\u003cbr /\u003ethe beauty to which it at first gave lustre; nay, I doubt whether\u003cbr /\u003epity and love are so near a-kin as poets feign, for I have seldom\u003cbr /\u003eseen much compassion excited by the helplessness of females, unless\u003cbr /\u003ethey were fair; then, perhaps, pity was the soft handmaid of love,\u003cbr /\u003eor the harbinger of lust.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHow much more respectable is the woman who earns her own bread by\u003cbr /\u003efulfilling any duty, than the most accomplished beauty! beauty did\u003cbr /\u003eI say? so sensible am I of the beauty of moral loveliness, or the\u003cbr /\u003eharmonious propriety that attunes the passions of a well-regulated\u003cbr /\u003emind, that I blush at making the comparison; yet I sigh to think\u003cbr /\u003ehow few women aim at attaining this respectability, by withdrawing\u003cbr /\u003efrom the giddy whirl of pleasure, or the indolent calm that\u003cbr /\u003estupifies the good sort of women it sucks in.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eProud of their weakness, however, they must always be protected,\u003cbr /\u003eguarded from care, and all the rough toils that dignify the mind.\u003cbr /\u003eIf this be the fiat of fate, if they will make themselves\u003cbr /\u003einsignificant and contemptible, sweetly to waste \u0026quot;life away,\u0026quot; let\u003cbr /\u003ethem not expect to be valued when their beauty fades, for it is the\u003cbr /\u003efate of the fairest flowers to be admired and pulled to pieces by\u003cbr /\u003ethe careless hand that plucked them. In how many ways do I wish,\u003cbr /\u003efrom the purest benevolence, to impress this truth on my sex; yet I\u003cbr /\u003efear that they will not listen to a truth, that dear-bought\u003cbr /\u003eexperience has brought home to many an agitated bosom, nor\u003cbr /\u003ewillingly resign the privileges of rank and sex for the privileges\u003cbr /\u003eof humanity, to which those have no claim who do not discharge its\u003cbr /\u003eduties.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThose writers are particularly useful, in my opinion, who make man\u003cbr /\u003efeel for man, independent of the station he fills, or the drapery\u003cbr /\u003eof factitious sentiments. I then would fain convince reasonable\u003cbr /\u003emen of the importance of some of my remarks and prevail on them to\u003cbr /\u003eweigh dispassionately the whole tenor of my observations. I appeal\u003cbr /\u003eto their understandings; and, as a fellow-creature claim, in the\u003cbr /\u003ename of my sex, some interest in their hearts. I entreat them to\u003cbr /\u003eassist to emancipate their companion to make her a help meet for\u003cbr /\u003ethem!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWould men but generously snap our chains, and be content with\u003cbr /\u003erational fellowship, instead of slavish obedience, they would find\u003cbr /\u003eus more observant daughters, more affectionate sisters, more\u003cbr /\u003efaithful wives, more reasonable mothers–in a word, better\u003cbr /\u003ecitizens. We should then love them with true affection, because we\u003cbr /\u003eshould learn to respect ourselves; and the peace of mind of a\u003cbr /\u003eworthy man would not be interrupted by the idle vanity of his wife,\u003cbr /\u003enor his babes sent to nestle in a strange bosom, having never found\u003cbr /\u003ea home in their mother\u0026#39;s.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 10.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePARENTAL AFFECTION.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eParental affection is, perhaps, the blindest modification of\u003cbr /\u003eperverse self-love; for we have not, like the French two terms\u003cbr /\u003e(L\u0026#39;amour propre, L\u0026#39;amour de soi meme) to distinguish the pursuit of\u003cbr /\u003ea natural and reasonable desire, from the ignorant calculations of\u003cbr /\u003eweakness. Parents often love their children in the most brutal\u003cbr /\u003emanner, and sacrifice every relative duty to promote their\u003cbr /\u003eadvancement in the world. To promote, such is the perversity of\u003cbr /\u003eunprincipled prejudices, the future welfare of the very beings\u003cbr /\u003ewhose present existence they imbitter by the most despotic stretch\u003cbr /\u003eof power. Power, in fact, is ever true to its vital principle, for\u003cbr /\u003ein every shape it would reign without controul or inquiry. Its\u003cbr /\u003ethrone is built across a dark abyss, which no eye must dare to\u003cbr /\u003eexplore, lest the baseless fabric should totter under\u003cbr /\u003einvestigation. Obedience, unconditional obedience, is the\u003cbr /\u003ecatch-word of tyrants of every description, and to render\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;assurance doubly sure,\u0026quot; one kind of despotism supports another.\u003cbr /\u003eTyrants would have cause to tremble if reason were to become the\u003cbr /\u003erule of duty in any of the relations of life, for the light might\u003cbr /\u003espread till perfect day appeared. And when it did appear, how\u003cbr /\u003ewould men smile at the sight of the bugbears at which they started\u003cbr /\u003eduring the night of ignorance, or the twilight of timid inquiry.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eParental affection, indeed, in many minds, is but a pretext to\u003cbr /\u003etyrannize where it can be done with impunity, for only good and\u003cbr /\u003ewise men are content with the respect that will bear discussion.\u003cbr /\u003eConvinced that they have a right to what they insist on, they do\u003cbr /\u003enot fear reason, or dread the sifting of subjects that recur to\u003cbr /\u003enatural justice: because they firmly believe, that the more\u003cbr /\u003eenlightened the human mind becomes, the deeper root will just and\u003cbr /\u003esimple principles take. They do not rest in expedients, or grant\u003cbr /\u003ethat what is metaphysically true can be practically false; but\u003cbr /\u003edisdaining the shifts of the moment they calmly wait till time,\u003cbr /\u003esanctioning innovation, silences the hiss of selfishness or envy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIf the power of reflecting on the past, and darting the keen eye of\u003cbr /\u003econtemplation into futurity, be the grand privilege of man, it must\u003cbr /\u003ebe granted that some people enjoy this prerogative in a very\u003cbr /\u003elimited degree. Every thing now appears to them wrong; and not\u003cbr /\u003eable to distinguish the possible from the monstrous, they fear\u003cbr /\u003ewhere no fear should find a place, running from the light of reason\u003cbr /\u003eas if it were a firebrand; yet the limits of the possible have\u003cbr /\u003enever been defined to stop the sturdy innovator\u0026#39;s hand.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWoman, however, a slave in every situation to prejudice seldom\u003cbr /\u003eexerts enlightened maternal affection; for she either neglects her\u003cbr /\u003echildren, or spoils them by improper indulgence. Besides, the\u003cbr /\u003eaffection of some women for their children is, as I have before\u003cbr /\u003etermed it, frequently very brutish; for it eradicates every spark\u003cbr /\u003eof humanity. Justice, truth, every thing is sacrificed by these\u003cbr /\u003eRebekahs, and for the sake of their own children they violate the\u003cbr /\u003emost sacred duties, forgetting the common relationship that binds\u003cbr /\u003ethe whole family on earth together. Yet, reason seems to say, that\u003cbr /\u003ethey who suffer one duty, or affection to swallow up the rest, have\u003cbr /\u003enot sufficient heart or mind to fulfil that one conscientiously.\u003cbr /\u003eIt then loses the venerable aspect of a duty, and assumes the\u003cbr /\u003efantastic form of a whim.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs the care of children in their infancy is one of the grand duties\u003cbr /\u003eannexed to the female character by nature, this duty would afford\u003cbr /\u003emany forcible arguments for strengthening the female understanding,\u003cbr /\u003eif it were properly considered.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe formation of the mind must be begun very early, and the temper,\u003cbr /\u003ein particular, requires the most judicious attention–an attention\u003cbr /\u003ewhich women cannot pay who only love their children because they\u003cbr /\u003eare their children, and seek no further for the foundation of their\u003cbr /\u003eduty, than in the feelings of the moment. It is this want of\u003cbr /\u003ereason in their affections which makes women so often run into\u003cbr /\u003eextremes, and either be the most fond, or most careless and\u003cbr /\u003eunnatural mothers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo be a good mother–a woman must have sense, and that independence\u003cbr /\u003eof mind which few women possess who are taught to depend entirely\u003cbr /\u003eon their husbands. Meek wives are, in general, foolish mothers;\u003cbr /\u003ewanting their children to love them best, and take their part, in\u003cbr /\u003esecret, against the father, who is held up as a scarecrow. If they\u003cbr /\u003eare to be punished, though they have offended the mother, the\u003cbr /\u003efather must inflict the punishment; he must be the judge in all\u003cbr /\u003edisputes: but I shall more fully discuss this subject when I treat\u003cbr /\u003eof private education, I now only mean to insist, that unless the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding of woman be enlarged, and her character rendered more\u003cbr /\u003efirm, by being allowed to govern her own conduct, she will never\u003cbr /\u003ehave sufficient sense or command of temper to manage her children\u003cbr /\u003eproperly. Her parental affection, indeed, scarcely deserves the\u003cbr /\u003ename, when it does not lead her to suckle her children, because the\u003cbr /\u003edischarge of this duty is equally calculated to inspire maternal\u003cbr /\u003eand filial affection; and it is the indispensable duty of men and\u003cbr /\u003ewomen to fulfil the duties which give birth to affections that are\u003cbr /\u003ethe surest preservatives against vice. Natural affection, as it is\u003cbr /\u003etermed, I believe to be a very weak tie, affections must grow out\u003cbr /\u003eof the habitual exercise of a mutual sympathy; and what sympathy\u003cbr /\u003edoes a mother exercise who sends her babe to a nurse, and only\u003cbr /\u003etakes it from a nurse to send it to a school?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the exercise of their natural feelings, providence has furnished\u003cbr /\u003ewomen with a natural substitute for love, when the lover becomes\u003cbr /\u003eonly a friend and mutual confidence takes place of overstrained\u003cbr /\u003eadmiration–a child then gently twists the relaxing cord, and a\u003cbr /\u003emutual care produces a new mutual sympathy. But a child, though a\u003cbr /\u003epledge of affection, will not enliven it, if both father and mother\u003cbr /\u003eare content to transfer the charge to hirelings; for they who do\u003cbr /\u003etheir duty by proxy should not murmur if they miss the reward of\u003cbr /\u003eduty–parental affection produces filial duty.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 11.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDUTY TO PARENTS.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere seems to be an indolent propensity in man to make\u003cbr /\u003eprescription always take place of reason, and to place every duty\u003cbr /\u003eon an arbitrary foundation. The rights of kings are deduced in a\u003cbr /\u003edirect line from the King of kings; and that of parents from our\u003cbr /\u003efirst parent.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhy do we thus go back for principles that should always rest on\u003cbr /\u003ethe same base, and have the same weight to-day that they had a\u003cbr /\u003ethousand years ago–and not a jot more? If parents discharge their\u003cbr /\u003eduty they have a strong hold and sacred claim on the gratitude of\u003cbr /\u003etheir children; but few parents are willing to receive the\u003cbr /\u003erespectful affection of their offspring on such terms. They demand\u003cbr /\u003eblind obedience, because they do not merit a reasonable service:\u003cbr /\u003eand to render these demands of weakness and ignorance more binding,\u003cbr /\u003ea mysterious sanctity is spread round the most arbitrary principle;\u003cbr /\u003efor what other name can be given to the blind duty of obeying\u003cbr /\u003evicious or weak beings, merely because they obeyed a powerful\u003cbr /\u003einstinct? The simple definition of the reciprocal duty, which\u003cbr /\u003enaturally subsists between parent and child, may be given in a few\u003cbr /\u003ewords: The parent who pays proper attention to helpless infancy\u003cbr /\u003ehas a right to require the same attention when the feebleness of\u003cbr /\u003eage comes upon him. But to subjugate a rational being to the mere\u003cbr /\u003ewill of another, after he is of age to answer to society for his\u003cbr /\u003eown conduct, is a most cruel and undue stretch of power; and\u003cbr /\u003eperhaps as injurious to morality, as those religious systems which\u003cbr /\u003edo not allow right and wrong to have any existence, but in the\u003cbr /\u003eDivine will.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI never knew a parent who had paid more than common attention to\u003cbr /\u003ehis children, disregarded (Dr. Johnson makes the same\u003cbr /\u003eobservation.); on the contrary, the early habit of relying almost\u003cbr /\u003eimplicitly on the opinion of a respected parent is not easily\u003cbr /\u003eshaken, even when matured reason convinces the child that his\u003cbr /\u003efather is not the wisest man in the world. This weakness, for a\u003cbr /\u003eweakness it is, though the epithet AMIABLE may be tacked to it, a\u003cbr /\u003ereasonable man must steel himself against; for the absurd duty, too\u003cbr /\u003eoften inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being\u003cbr /\u003ea parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it for a slavish\u003cbr /\u003esubmission to any power but reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI distinguish between the natural and accidental duty due to\u003cbr /\u003eparents.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe parent who sedulously endeavours to form the heart and enlarge\u003cbr /\u003ethe understanding of his child, has given that dignity to the\u003cbr /\u003edischarge of a duty, common to the whole animal world, that only\u003cbr /\u003ereason can give. This is the parental affection of humanity, and\u003cbr /\u003eleaves instinctive natural affection far behind. Such a parent\u003cbr /\u003eacquires all the rights of the most sacred friendship, and his\u003cbr /\u003eadvice, even when his child is advanced in life, demands serious\u003cbr /\u003econsideration.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith respect to marriage, though after one and twenty a parent\u003cbr /\u003eseems to have no right to withhold his consent on any account; yet\u003cbr /\u003etwenty years of solicitude call for a return, and the son ought, at\u003cbr /\u003eleast, to promise not to marry for two or three years, should the\u003cbr /\u003eobject of his choice not entirely meet with the approbation of his\u003cbr /\u003efirst friend.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, respect for parents is, generally speaking, a much more\u003cbr /\u003edebasing principle; it is only a selfish respect for property. The\u003cbr /\u003efather who is blindly obeyed, is obeyed from sheer weakness, or\u003cbr /\u003efrom motives that degrade the human character.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA great proportion of the misery that wanders, in hideous forms\u003cbr /\u003earound the world, is allowed to rise from the negligence of\u003cbr /\u003eparents; and still these are the people who are most tenacious of\u003cbr /\u003ewhat they term a natural right, though it be subversive of the\u003cbr /\u003ebirth right of man, the right of acting according to the direction\u003cbr /\u003eof his own reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have already very frequently had occasion to observe, that\u003cbr /\u003evicious or indolent people are always eager to profit by enforcing\u003cbr /\u003earbitrary privileges; and generally in the same proportion as they\u003cbr /\u003eneglect the discharge of the duties which alone render the\u003cbr /\u003eprivileges reasonable. This is at the bottom, a dictate of common\u003cbr /\u003esense, or the instinct of self-defence, peculiar to ignorant\u003cbr /\u003eweakness; resembling that instinct, which makes a fish muddy the\u003cbr /\u003ewater it swims in to elude its enemy, instead of boldly facing it\u003cbr /\u003ein the clear stream.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;From the clear stream of argument, indeed, the supporters of\u003cbr /\u003eprescription, of every denomination, fly: and taking refuge in the\u003cbr /\u003edarkness, which, in the language of sublime poetry, has been\u003cbr /\u003esupposed to surround the throne of Omnipotence, they dare to demand\u003cbr /\u003ethat implicit respect which is only due to His unsearchable ways.\u003cbr /\u003eBut, let me not be thought presumptuous, the darkness which hides\u003cbr /\u003eour God from us, only respects speculative truths– it never\u003cbr /\u003eobscures moral ones, they shine clearly, for God is light, and\u003cbr /\u003enever, by the constitution of our nature, requires the discharge of\u003cbr /\u003ea duty, the reasonableness of which does not beam on us when we\u003cbr /\u003eopen our eyes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe indolent parent of high rank may, it is true, extort a show of\u003cbr /\u003erespect from his child, and females on the continent are\u003cbr /\u003eparticularly subject to the views of their families, who never\u003cbr /\u003ethink of consulting their inclination, or providing for the comfort\u003cbr /\u003eof the poor victims of their pride. The consequence is notorious;\u003cbr /\u003ethese dutiful daughters become adulteresses, and neglect the\u003cbr /\u003eeducation of their children, from whom they, in their turn, exact\u003cbr /\u003ethe same kind of obedience.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFemales, it is true, in all countries, are too much under the\u003cbr /\u003edominion of their parents; and few parents think of addressing\u003cbr /\u003etheir children in the following manner, though it is in this\u003cbr /\u003ereasonable way that Heaven seems to command the whole human race.\u003cbr /\u003eIt is your interest to obey me till you can judge for yourself; and\u003cbr /\u003ethe Almighty Father of all has implanted an affection in me to\u003cbr /\u003eserve as a guard to you whilst your reason is unfolding; but when\u003cbr /\u003eyour mind arrives at maturity, you must only obey me, or rather\u003cbr /\u003erespect my opinions, so far as they coincide with the light that is\u003cbr /\u003ebreaking in on your own mind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA slavish bondage to parents cramps every faculty of the mind; and\u003cbr /\u003eMr. Locke very judiciously observes, that \u0026quot;if the mind be curbed\u003cbr /\u003eand humbled too much in children; if their spirits be abased and\u003cbr /\u003ebroken much by too strict an hand over them; they lose all their\u003cbr /\u003evigour and industry.\u0026quot; This strict hand may, in some degree,\u003cbr /\u003eaccount for the weakness of women; for girls, from various causes,\u003cbr /\u003eare more kept down by their parents, in every sense of the word,\u003cbr /\u003ethan boys. The duty expected from them is, like all the duties\u003cbr /\u003earbitrarily imposed on women, more from a sense of propriety, more\u003cbr /\u003eout of respect for decorum, than reason; and thus taught slavishly\u003cbr /\u003eto submit to their parents, they are prepared for the slavery of\u003cbr /\u003emarriage. I may be told that a number of women are not slaves in\u003cbr /\u003ethe marriage state. True, but they then become tyrants; for it is\u003cbr /\u003enot rational freedom, but a lawless kind of power, resembling the\u003cbr /\u003eauthority exercised by the favourites of absolute monarchs, which\u003cbr /\u003ethey obtain by debasing means. I do not, likewise, dream of\u003cbr /\u003einsinuating that either boys or girls are always slaves, I only\u003cbr /\u003einsist, that when they are obliged to submit to authority blindly,\u003cbr /\u003etheir faculties are weakened, and their tempers rendered imperious\u003cbr /\u003eor abject. I also lament, that parents, indolently availing\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves of a supposed privilege, damp the first faint glimmering\u003cbr /\u003eof reason rendering at the same time the duty, which they are so\u003cbr /\u003eanxious to enforce, an empty name; because they will not let it\u003cbr /\u003erest on the only basis on which a duty can rest securely: for,\u003cbr /\u003eunless it be founded on knowledge, it cannot gain sufficient\u003cbr /\u003estrength to resist the squalls of passion, or the silent sapping of\u003cbr /\u003eself-love. But it is not the parents who have given the surest\u003cbr /\u003eproof of their affection for their children, (or, to speak more\u003cbr /\u003eproperly, who by fulfilling their duty, have allowed a natural\u003cbr /\u003eparental affection to take root in their hearts, the child of\u003cbr /\u003eexercised sympathy and reason, and not the over-weening offspring\u003cbr /\u003eof selfish pride,) who most vehemently insist on their children\u003cbr /\u003esubmitting to their will, merely because it is their will. On the\u003cbr /\u003econtrary, the parent who sets a good example, patiently lets that\u003cbr /\u003eexample work; and it seldom fails to produce its natural\u003cbr /\u003eeffect–filial respect.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eChildren cannot be taught too early to submit to reason, the true\u003cbr /\u003edefinition of that necessity, which Rousseau insisted on, without\u003cbr /\u003edefining it; for to submit to reason, is to submit to the nature of\u003cbr /\u003ethings, and to that God who formed them so, to promote our real\u003cbr /\u003einterest.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhy should the minds of children be warped as they just begin to\u003cbr /\u003eexpand, only to favour the indolence of parents, who insist on a\u003cbr /\u003eprivilege without being willing to pay the price fixed by nature?\u003cbr /\u003eI have before had occasion to observe, that a right always includes\u003cbr /\u003ea duty, and I think it may, likewise fairly be inferred, that they\u003cbr /\u003eforfeit the right, who do not fulfil the duty.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is easier, I grant, to command than reason; but it does not\u003cbr /\u003efollow from hence, that children cannot comprehend the reason why\u003cbr /\u003ethey are made to do certain things habitually; for, from a steady\u003cbr /\u003eadherence to a few simple principles of conduct flows that salutary\u003cbr /\u003epower, which a judicious parent gradually gains over a child\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003emind. And this power becomes strong indeed, if tempered by an even\u003cbr /\u003edisplay of affection brought home to the child\u0026#39;s heart. For, I\u003cbr /\u003ebelieve, as a general rule, it must be allowed, that the affection\u003cbr /\u003ewhich we inspire always resembles that we cultivate; so that\u003cbr /\u003enatural affections, which have been supposed almost distinct from\u003cbr /\u003ereason, may be found more nearly connected with judgment than is\u003cbr /\u003ecommonly allowed. Nay, as another proof of the necessity of\u003cbr /\u003ecultivating the female understanding, it is but just to observe,\u003cbr /\u003ethat the affections seem to have a kind of animal capriciousness\u003cbr /\u003ewhen they merely reside in the heart.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the irregular exercise of parental authority that first\u003cbr /\u003einjures the mind, and to these irregularities girls are more\u003cbr /\u003esubject than boys. The will of those who never allow their will to\u003cbr /\u003ebe disputed, unless they happen to be in a good humour, when they\u003cbr /\u003erelax proportionally, is almost always unreasonable. To elude this\u003cbr /\u003earbitrary authority, girls very early learn the lessons which they\u003cbr /\u003eafterwards practise on their husbands; for I have frequently seen a\u003cbr /\u003elittle sharp-faced miss rule a whole family, excepting that now and\u003cbr /\u003ethen mamma\u0026#39;s anger will burst out of some accidental cloud– either\u003cbr /\u003eher hair was ill-dressed,* or she had lost more money at cards, the\u003cbr /\u003enight before, than she was willing to own to her husband; or some\u003cbr /\u003esuch moral cause of anger.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. I myself heard a little girl once say to a servant,\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;My mamma has been scolding me finely this morning, because her\u003cbr /\u003ehair was not dressed to please her.\u0026quot; Though this remark was pert,\u003cbr /\u003eit was just. And what respect could a girl acquire for such a\u003cbr /\u003eparent, without doing violence to reason?)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter observing sallies of this kind, I have been led into a\u003cbr /\u003emelancholy train of reflection respecting females, concluding that\u003cbr /\u003ewhen their first affection must lead them astray, or make their\u003cbr /\u003eduties clash till they rest on mere whims and customs, little can\u003cbr /\u003ebe expected from them as they advance in life. How, indeed, can an\u003cbr /\u003einstructor remedy this evil? for to teach them virtue on any solid\u003cbr /\u003eprinciple is to teach them to despise their parents. Children\u003cbr /\u003ecannot, ought not to be taught to make allowance for the faults of\u003cbr /\u003etheir parents, because every such allowance weakens the force of\u003cbr /\u003ereason in their minds, and makes them still more indulgent to their\u003cbr /\u003eown. It is one of the most sublime virtues of maturity that leads\u003cbr /\u003eus to be severe with respect to ourselves, and forbearing to\u003cbr /\u003eothers; but children should only be taught the simple virtues, for\u003cbr /\u003eif they begin too early to make allowance for human passions and\u003cbr /\u003emanners, they wear off the fine edge of the criterion by which they\u003cbr /\u003eshould regulate their own, and become unjust in the same proportion\u003cbr /\u003eas they grow indulgent.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe affections of children, and weak people, are always selfish;\u003cbr /\u003ethey love others, because others love them, and not on account of\u003cbr /\u003etheir virtues. Yet, till esteem and love are blended together in\u003cbr /\u003ethe first affection, and reason made the foundation of the first\u003cbr /\u003eduty, morality will stumble at the threshold. But, till society is\u003cbr /\u003every differently constituted, parents, I fear, will still insist on\u003cbr /\u003ebeing obeyed, because they will be obeyed, and constantly endeavour\u003cbr /\u003eto settle that power on a Divine right, which will not bear the\u003cbr /\u003einvestigation of reason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 12.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eON NATIONAL EDUCATION.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe good effects resulting from attention to private education will\u003cbr /\u003eever be very confined, and the parent who really puts his own hand\u003cbr /\u003eto the plow, will always, in some degree be disappointed, till\u003cbr /\u003eeducation becomes a grand national concern. A man cannot retire\u003cbr /\u003einto a desert with his child, and if he did, he could not bring\u003cbr /\u003ehimself back to childhood, and become the proper friend and\u003cbr /\u003eplay-fellow of an infant or youth. And when children are confined\u003cbr /\u003eto the society of men and women, they very soon acquire that kind\u003cbr /\u003eof premature manhood which stops the growth of every vigorous power\u003cbr /\u003eof mind or body. In order to open their faculties they should be\u003cbr /\u003eexcited to think for themselves; and this can only be done by\u003cbr /\u003emixing a number of children together, and making them jointly\u003cbr /\u003epursue the same objects.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA child very soon contracts a benumbing indolence of mind, which he\u003cbr /\u003ehas seldom sufficient vigour to shake off, when he only asks a\u003cbr /\u003equestion instead of seeking for information, and then relies\u003cbr /\u003eimplicitly on the answer he receives. With his equals in age this\u003cbr /\u003ecould never be the case, and the subjects of inquiry, though they\u003cbr /\u003emight be influenced, would not be entirely under the direction of\u003cbr /\u003emen, who frequently damp, if not destroy abilities, by bringing\u003cbr /\u003ethem forward too hastily: and too hastily they will infallibly be\u003cbr /\u003ebrought forward, if the child could be confined to the society of a\u003cbr /\u003eman, however sagacious that man may be.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, in youth the seeds of every affection should be sown, and\u003cbr /\u003ethe respectful regard, which is felt for a parent, is very\u003cbr /\u003edifferent from the social affections that are to constitute the\u003cbr /\u003ehappiness of life as it advances. Of these, equality is the basis,\u003cbr /\u003eand an intercourse of sentiments unclogged by that observant\u003cbr /\u003eseriousness which prevents disputation, though it may not inforce\u003cbr /\u003esubmission. Let a child have ever such an affection for his\u003cbr /\u003eparent, he will always languish to play and chat with children; and\u003cbr /\u003ethe very respect he entertains, for filial esteem always has a dash\u003cbr /\u003eof fear mixed with it, will, if it do not teach him cunning, at\u003cbr /\u003eleast prevent him from pouring out the little secrets which first\u003cbr /\u003eopen the heart to friendship and confidence, gradually leading to\u003cbr /\u003emore expansive benevolence. Added to this, he will never acquire\u003cbr /\u003ethat frank ingenuousness of behaviour, which young people can only\u003cbr /\u003eattain by being frequently in society, where they dare to speak\u003cbr /\u003ewhat they think; neither afraid of being reproved for their\u003cbr /\u003epresumption, nor laughed at for their folly.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eForcibly impressed by the reflections which the sight of schools,\u003cbr /\u003eas they are at present conducted, naturally suggested, I have\u003cbr /\u003eformerly delivered my opinion rather warmly in favour of a private\u003cbr /\u003eeducation; but further experience has led me to view the subject in\u003cbr /\u003ea different light. I still, however, think schools, as they are\u003cbr /\u003enow regulated, the hot-beds of vice and folly, and the knowledge of\u003cbr /\u003ehuman nature, supposed to be attained there, merely cunning\u003cbr /\u003eselfishness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAt school, boys become gluttons and slovens, and, instead of\u003cbr /\u003ecultivating domestic affections, very early rush into the\u003cbr /\u003elibertinism which destroys the constitution before it is formed;\u003cbr /\u003ehardening the heart as it weakens the understanding.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI should, in fact, be averse to boarding-schools, if it were for no\u003cbr /\u003eother reason than the unsettled state of mind which the expectation\u003cbr /\u003eof the vacations produce. On these the children\u0026#39;s thoughts are\u003cbr /\u003efixed with eager anticipating hopes, for, at least, to speak with\u003cbr /\u003emoderation, half of the time, and when they arrive they are spent\u003cbr /\u003ein total dissipation and beastly indulgence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, on the contrary, when they are brought up at home, though they\u003cbr /\u003emay pursue a plan of study in a more orderly manner than can be\u003cbr /\u003eadopted, when near a fourth part of the year is actually spent in\u003cbr /\u003eidleness, and as much more in regret and anticipation; yet they\u003cbr /\u003ethere acquire too high an opinion of their own importance, from\u003cbr /\u003ebeing allowed to tyrannize over servants, and from the anxiety\u003cbr /\u003eexpressed by most mothers, on the score of manners, who, eager to\u003cbr /\u003eteach the accomplishments of a gentleman, stifle, in their birth,\u003cbr /\u003ethe virtues of a man. Thus brought into company when they ought to\u003cbr /\u003ebe seriously employed, and treated like men when they are still\u003cbr /\u003eboys, they become vain and effeminate.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe only way to avoid two extremes equally injurious to morality,\u003cbr /\u003ewould be to contrive some way of combining a public and private\u003cbr /\u003eeducation. Thus to make men citizens, two natural steps might be\u003cbr /\u003etaken, which seem directly to lead to the desired point; for the\u003cbr /\u003edomestic affections, that first open the heart to the various\u003cbr /\u003emodifications of humanity would be cultivated, whilst the children\u003cbr /\u003ewere nevertheless allowed to spend great part of their time, on\u003cbr /\u003eterms of equality, with other children.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI still recollect, with pleasure, the country day school; where a\u003cbr /\u003eboy trudged in the morning, wet or dry, carrying his books, and his\u003cbr /\u003edinner, if it were at a considerable distance; a servant did not\u003cbr /\u003ethen lead master by the hand, for, when he had once put on coat and\u003cbr /\u003ebreeches, he was allowed to shift for himself, and return alone in\u003cbr /\u003ethe evening to recount the feats of the day close at the parental\u003cbr /\u003eknee. His father\u0026#39;s house was his home, and was ever after fondly\u003cbr /\u003eremembered; nay, I appeal to some superior men who were educated in\u003cbr /\u003ethis manner, whether the recollection of some shady lane where they\u003cbr /\u003econned their lesson; or, of some stile, where they sat making a\u003cbr /\u003ekite, or mending a bat, has not endeared their country to them?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, what boy ever recollected with pleasure the years he spent in\u003cbr /\u003eclose confinement, at an academy near London? unless indeed he\u003cbr /\u003eshould by chance remember the poor scare-crow of an usher whom he\u003cbr /\u003etormented; or, the tartman, from whom he caught a cake, to devour\u003cbr /\u003eit with the cattish appetite of selfishness. At boarding schools\u003cbr /\u003eof every description, the relaxation of the junior boys is\u003cbr /\u003emischief; and of the senior, vice. Besides, in great schools what\u003cbr /\u003ecan be more prejudicial to the moral character, than the system of\u003cbr /\u003etyranny and abject slavery which is established amongst the boys,\u003cbr /\u003eto say nothing of the slavery to forms, which makes religion worse\u003cbr /\u003ethan a farce? For what good can be expected from the youth who\u003cbr /\u003ereceives the sacrament of the Lord\u0026#39;s supper, to avoid forfeiting\u003cbr /\u003ehalf-a-guinea, which he probably afterwards spends in some sensual\u003cbr /\u003emanner? Half the employment of the youths is to elude the\u003cbr /\u003enecessity of attending public worship; and well they may, for such\u003cbr /\u003ea constant repetition of the same thing must be a very irksome\u003cbr /\u003erestraint on their natural vivacity. As these ceremonies have the\u003cbr /\u003emost fatal effect on their morals, and as a ritual performed by the\u003cbr /\u003elips, when the heart and mind are far away, is not now stored up by\u003cbr /\u003eour church as a bank to draw on for the fees of the poor souls in\u003cbr /\u003epurgatory, why should they not be abolished?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut the fear of innovation, in this country, extends to every\u003cbr /\u003ething. This is only a covert fear, the apprehensive timidity of\u003cbr /\u003eindolent slugs, who guard, by sliming it over, the snug place,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich they consider in the light of an hereditary estate; and eat,\u003cbr /\u003edrink, and enjoy themselves, instead of fulfilling the duties,\u003cbr /\u003eexcepting a few empty forms, for which it was endowed. These are\u003cbr /\u003ethe people who most strenuously insist on the will of the founder\u003cbr /\u003ebeing observed, crying out against all reformation, as if it were a\u003cbr /\u003eviolation of justice. I am now alluding particularly to the\u003cbr /\u003erelicks of popery retained in our colleges, where the protestant\u003cbr /\u003emembers seem to be such sticklers for the established church; but\u003cbr /\u003etheir zeal never makes them lose sight of the spoil of ignorance,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich rapacious priests of superstitious memory have scraped\u003cbr /\u003etogether. No, wise in their generation, they venerate the\u003cbr /\u003eprescriptive right of possession, as a strong hold, and still let\u003cbr /\u003ethe sluggish bell tingle to prayers, as during the days, when the\u003cbr /\u003eelevation of the host was supposed to atone for the sins of the\u003cbr /\u003epeople, lest one reformation should lead to another, and the spirit\u003cbr /\u003ekill the letter. These Romish customs have the most baneful effect\u003cbr /\u003eon the morals of our clergy; for the idle vermin who two or three\u003cbr /\u003etimes a day perform, in the most slovenly manner a service which\u003cbr /\u003ethey think useless, but call their duty, soon lose a sense of duty.\u003cbr /\u003eAt college, forced to attend or evade public worship, they acquire\u003cbr /\u003ean habitual contempt for the very service, the performance of which\u003cbr /\u003eis to enable them to live in idleness. It is mumbled over as an\u003cbr /\u003eaffair of business, as a stupid boy repeats his task, and\u003cbr /\u003efrequently the college cant escapes from the preacher the moment\u003cbr /\u003eafter he has left the pulpit, and even whilst he is eating the\u003cbr /\u003edinner which he earned in such a dishonest manner.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eNothing, indeed, can be more irreverent than the cathedral service\u003cbr /\u003eas it is now performed in this country, neither does it contain a\u003cbr /\u003eset of weaker men than those who are the slaves of this childish\u003cbr /\u003eroutine. A disgusting skeleton of the former state is still\u003cbr /\u003eexhibited; but all the solemnity, that interested the imagination,\u003cbr /\u003eif it did not purify the heart, is stripped off. The performance\u003cbr /\u003eof high mass on the continent must impress every mind, where a\u003cbr /\u003espark of fancy glows, with that awful melancholy, that sublime\u003cbr /\u003etenderness, so near a-kin to devotion. I do not say, that these\u003cbr /\u003edevotional feelings are of more use, in a moral sense, than any\u003cbr /\u003eother emotion of taste; but I contend, that the theatrical pomp\u003cbr /\u003ewhich gratifies our senses, is to be preferred to the cold parade\u003cbr /\u003ethat insults the understanding without reaching the heart.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAmongst remarks on national education, such observations cannot be\u003cbr /\u003emisplaced, especially as the supporters of these establishments,\u003cbr /\u003edegenerated into puerilities, affect to be the champions of\u003cbr /\u003ereligion. Religion, pure source of comfort in this vale of tears!\u003cbr /\u003ehow has thy clear stream been muddied by the dabblers, who have\u003cbr /\u003epresumptuously endeavoured to confine in one narrow channel, the\u003cbr /\u003eliving waters that ever flow toward God– the sublime ocean of\u003cbr /\u003eexistence! What would life be without that peace which the love of\u003cbr /\u003eGod, when built on humanity, alone can impart? Every earthly\u003cbr /\u003eaffection turns back, at intervals, to prey upon the heart that\u003cbr /\u003efeeds it; and the purest effusions of benevolence, often rudely\u003cbr /\u003edamped by men, must mount as a free-will offering to Him who gave\u003cbr /\u003ethem birth, whose bright image they faintly reflect.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn public schools, however, religion, confounded with irksome\u003cbr /\u003eceremonies and unreasonable restraints, assumes the most ungracious\u003cbr /\u003easpect: not the sober austere one that commands respect whilst it\u003cbr /\u003einspires fear; but a ludicrous cast, that serves to point a pun.\u003cbr /\u003eFor, in fact, most of the good stories and smart things which\u003cbr /\u003eenliven the spirits that have been concentrated at whist, are\u003cbr /\u003emanufactured out of the incidents to which the very men labour to\u003cbr /\u003egive a droll turn who countenance the abuse to live on the spoil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere is not, perhaps, in the kingdom, a more dogmatical or\u003cbr /\u003eluxurious set of men, than the pedantic tyrants who reside in\u003cbr /\u003ecolleges and preside at public schools. The vacations are equally\u003cbr /\u003einjurious to the morals of the masters and pupils, and the\u003cbr /\u003eintercourse, which the former keep up with the nobility, introduces\u003cbr /\u003ethe same vanity and extravagance into their families, which banish\u003cbr /\u003edomestic duties and comforts from the lordly mansion, whose state\u003cbr /\u003eis awkwardly aped on a smaller scale. The boys, who live at a\u003cbr /\u003egreat expence with the masters and assistants, are never\u003cbr /\u003edomesticated, though placed there for that purpose; for, after a\u003cbr /\u003esilent dinner, they swallow a hasty glass of wine, and retire to\u003cbr /\u003eplan some mischievous trick, or to ridicule the person or manners\u003cbr /\u003eof the very people they have just been cringing to, and whom they\u003cbr /\u003eought to consider as the representatives of their parents.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCan it then be a matter of surprise, that boys become selfish and\u003cbr /\u003evicious who are thus shut out from social converse? or that a mitre\u003cbr /\u003eoften graces the brow of one of these diligent pastors? The desire\u003cbr /\u003eof living in the same style, as the rank just above them, infects\u003cbr /\u003eeach individual and every class of people, and meanness is the\u003cbr /\u003econcomitant of this ignoble ambition; but those professions are\u003cbr /\u003emost debasing whose ladder is patronage; yet out of one of these\u003cbr /\u003eprofessions the tutors of youth are in general chosen. But, can\u003cbr /\u003ethey be expected to inspire independent sentiments, whose conduct\u003cbr /\u003emust be regulated by the cautious prudence that is ever on the\u003cbr /\u003ewatch for preferment?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo far, however, from thinking of the morals of boys, I have heard\u003cbr /\u003eseveral masters of schools argue, that they only undertook to teach\u003cbr /\u003eLatin and Greek; and that they had fulfilled their duty, by sending\u003cbr /\u003esome good scholars to college.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA few good scholars, I grant, may have been formed by emulation and\u003cbr /\u003ediscipline; but, to bring forward these clever boys, the health and\u003cbr /\u003emorals of a number have been sacrificed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe sons of our gentry and wealthy commoners are mostly educated at\u003cbr /\u003ethese seminaries, and will any one pretend to assert, that the\u003cbr /\u003emajority, making every allowance, come under the description of\u003cbr /\u003etolerable scholars?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not for the benefit of society that a few brilliant men\u003cbr /\u003eshould be brought forward at the expence of the multitude. It is\u003cbr /\u003etrue, that great men seem to start up, as great revolutions occur,\u003cbr /\u003eat proper intervals, to restore order, and to blow aside the clouds\u003cbr /\u003ethat thicken over the face of truth; but let more reason and virtue\u003cbr /\u003eprevail in society, and these strong winds would not be necessary.\u003cbr /\u003ePublic education, of every denomination, should be directed to form\u003cbr /\u003ecitizens; but if you wish to make good citizens, you must first\u003cbr /\u003eexercise the affections of a son and a brother. This is the only\u003cbr /\u003eway to expand the heart; for public affections, as well as public\u003cbr /\u003evirtues, must ever grow out of the private character, or they are\u003cbr /\u003emerely meteors that shoot athwart a dark sky, and disappear as they\u003cbr /\u003eare gazed at and admired.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFew, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who did not\u003cbr /\u003efirst love their parents, their brothers, sisters, and even the\u003cbr /\u003edomestic brutes, whom they first played with. The exercise of\u003cbr /\u003eyouthful sympathies forms the moral temperature; and it is the\u003cbr /\u003erecollection of these first affections and pursuits, that gives\u003cbr /\u003elife to those that are afterwards more under the direction of\u003cbr /\u003ereason. In youth, the fondest friendships are formed, the genial\u003cbr /\u003ejuices mounting at the same time, kindly mix; or, rather the heart,\u003cbr /\u003etempered for the reception of friendship, is accustomed to seek for\u003cbr /\u003epleasure in something more noble than the churlish gratification of\u003cbr /\u003eappetite.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn order then to inspire a love of home and domestic pleasures,\u003cbr /\u003echildren ought to be educated at home, for riotous holidays only\u003cbr /\u003emake them fond of home for their own sakes. Yet, the vacations,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich do not foster domestic affections, continually disturb the\u003cbr /\u003ecourse of study, and render any plan of improvement abortive which\u003cbr /\u003eincludes temperance; still, were they abolished, children would be\u003cbr /\u003eentirely separated from their parents, and I question whether they\u003cbr /\u003ewould become better citizens by sacrificing the preparatory\u003cbr /\u003eaffections, by destroying the force of relationships that render\u003cbr /\u003ethe marriage state as necessary as respectable. But, if a private\u003cbr /\u003eeducation produce self-importance, or insulates a man in his\u003cbr /\u003efamily, the evil is only shifted, not remedied.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis train of reasoning brings me back to a subject, on which I\u003cbr /\u003emean to dwell, the necessity of establishing proper day-schools.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut these should be national establishments, for whilst\u003cbr /\u003eschool-masters are dependent on the caprice of parents, little\u003cbr /\u003eexertion can be expected from them, more than is necessary to\u003cbr /\u003eplease ignorant people. Indeed, the necessity of a master\u0026#39;s giving\u003cbr /\u003ethe parents some sample of the boy\u0026#39;s abilities, which during the\u003cbr /\u003evacation, is shown to every visiter, is productive of more mischief\u003cbr /\u003ethan would at first be supposed. For they are seldom done\u003cbr /\u003eentirely, to speak with moderation, by the child itself; thus the\u003cbr /\u003emaster countenances falsehoods, or winds the poor machine up to\u003cbr /\u003esome extraordinary exertion, that injures the wheels, and stops the\u003cbr /\u003eprogress of gradual improvement. The memory is loaded with\u003cbr /\u003eunintelligible words, to make a show of, without the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding\u0026#39;s acquiring any distinct ideas: but only that\u003cbr /\u003eeducation deserves emphatically to be termed cultivation of mind,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich teaches young people how to begin to think. The imagination\u003cbr /\u003eshould not be allowed to debauch the understanding before it gained\u003cbr /\u003estrength, or vanity will become the forerunner of vice: for every\u003cbr /\u003eway of exhibiting the acquirements of a child is injurious to its\u003cbr /\u003emoral character.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHow much time is lost in teaching them to recite what they do not\u003cbr /\u003eunderstand! whilst, seated on benches, all in their best array, the\u003cbr /\u003emammas listen with astonishment to the parrot-like prattle, uttered\u003cbr /\u003ein solemn cadences, with all the pomp of ignorance and folly. Such\u003cbr /\u003eexhibitions only serve to strike the spreading fibres of vanity\u003cbr /\u003ethrough the whole mind; for they neither teach children to speak\u003cbr /\u003efluently, nor behave gracefully. So far from it, that these\u003cbr /\u003efrivolous pursuits might comprehensively be termed the study of\u003cbr /\u003eaffectation: for we now rarely see a simple, bashful boy, though\u003cbr /\u003efew people of taste were ever disgusted by that awkward\u003cbr /\u003esheepishness so natural to the age, which schools and an early\u003cbr /\u003eintroduction into society, have changed into impudence and apish\u003cbr /\u003egrimace.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYet, how can these things be remedied whilst schoolmasters depend\u003cbr /\u003eentirely on parents for a subsistence; and when so many rival\u003cbr /\u003eschools hang out their lures to catch the attention of vain fathers\u003cbr /\u003eand mothers, whose parental affection only leads them to wish, that\u003cbr /\u003etheir children should outshine those of their neighbours?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWithout great good luck, a sensible, conscientious man, would\u003cbr /\u003estarve before he could raise a school, if he disdained to bubble\u003cbr /\u003eweak parents, by practising the secret tricks of the craft.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn the best regulated schools, however, where swarms are not\u003cbr /\u003ecrammed together many bad habits must be acquired; but, at common\u003cbr /\u003eschools, the body, heart, and understanding, are equally stunted,\u003cbr /\u003efor parents are often only in quest of the cheapest school, and the\u003cbr /\u003emaster could not live, if he did not take a much greater number\u003cbr /\u003ethan he could manage himself; nor will the scanty pittance, allowed\u003cbr /\u003efor each child, permit him to hire ushers sufficient to assist in\u003cbr /\u003ethe discharge of the mechanical part of the business. Besides,\u003cbr /\u003ewhatever appearance the house and garden may make, the children do\u003cbr /\u003enot enjoy the comforts of either, for they are continually\u003cbr /\u003ereminded, by irksome restrictions, that they are not at home, and\u003cbr /\u003ethe state-rooms, garden, etc. must be kept in order for the\u003cbr /\u003erecreation of the parents; who, of a Sunday, visit the school, and\u003cbr /\u003eare impressed by the very parade that renders the situation of\u003cbr /\u003etheir children uncomfortable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith what disgust have I heard sensible women, for girls are more\u003cbr /\u003erestrained and cowed than boys, speak of the wearisome confinement\u003cbr /\u003ewhich they endured at school. Not allowed, perhaps, to step out of\u003cbr /\u003eone broad walk in a superb garden, and obliged to pace with steady\u003cbr /\u003edeportment stupidly backwards and forwards, holding up their heads,\u003cbr /\u003eand turning out their toes, with shoulders braced back, instead of\u003cbr /\u003ebounding, as nature directs to complete her own design, in the\u003cbr /\u003evarious attitudes so conducive to health. The pure animal spirits,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich make both mind and body shoot out, and unfold the tender\u003cbr /\u003eblossoms of hope are turned sour, and vented in vain wishes, or\u003cbr /\u003epert repinings, that contract the faculties and spoil the temper;\u003cbr /\u003eelse they mount to the brain and sharpening the understanding\u003cbr /\u003ebefore it gains proportionable strength, produce that pitiful\u003cbr /\u003ecunning which disgracefully characterizes the female mind–and I\u003cbr /\u003efear will ever characterize it whilst women remain the slaves of\u003cbr /\u003epower!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe little respect which the male world pay to chastity is, I am\u003cbr /\u003epersuaded, the grand source of many of the physical and moral evils\u003cbr /\u003ethat torment mankind, as well as of the vices and follies that\u003cbr /\u003edegrade and destroy women; yet at school, boys infallibly lose that\u003cbr /\u003edecent bashfulness, which might have ripened into modesty at home.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have already animadverted on the bad habits which females acquire\u003cbr /\u003ewhen they are shut up together; and I think that the observation\u003cbr /\u003emay fairly be extended to the other sex, till the natural inference\u003cbr /\u003eis drawn which I have had in view throughout–that to improve both\u003cbr /\u003esexes they ought, not only in private families, but in public\u003cbr /\u003eschools, to be educated together. If marriage be the cement of\u003cbr /\u003esociety, mankind should all be educated after the same model, or\u003cbr /\u003ethe intercourse of the sexes will never deserve the name of\u003cbr /\u003efellowship, nor will women ever fulfil the peculiar duties of their\u003cbr /\u003esex, till they become enlightened citizens, till they become free,\u003cbr /\u003eby being enabled to earn their own subsistence, independent of men;\u003cbr /\u003ein the same manner, I mean, to prevent misconstruction, as one man\u003cbr /\u003eis independent of another. Nay, marriage will never be held sacred\u003cbr /\u003etill women by being brought up with men, are prepared to be their\u003cbr /\u003ecompanions, rather than their mistresses; for the mean doublings of\u003cbr /\u003ecunning will ever render them contemptible, whilst oppression\u003cbr /\u003erenders them timid. So convinced am I of this truth, that I will\u003cbr /\u003eventure to predict, that virtue will never prevail in society till\u003cbr /\u003ethe virtues of both sexes are founded on reason; and, till the\u003cbr /\u003eaffection common to both are allowed to gain their due strength by\u003cbr /\u003ethe discharge of mutual duties.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWere boys and girls permitted to pursue the same studies together,\u003cbr /\u003ethose graceful decencies might early be inculcated which produce\u003cbr /\u003emodesty, without those sexual distinctions that taint the mind.\u003cbr /\u003eLessons of politeness, and that formulary of decorum, which treads\u003cbr /\u003eon the heels of falsehood, would be rendered useless by habitual\u003cbr /\u003epropriety of behaviour. Not, indeed put on for visiters like the\u003cbr /\u003ecourtly robe of politeness, but the sober effect of cleanliness of\u003cbr /\u003emind. Would not this simple elegance of sincerity be a chaste\u003cbr /\u003ehomage paid to domestic affections, far surpassing the meretricious\u003cbr /\u003ecompliments that shine with false lustre in the heartless\u003cbr /\u003eintercourse of fashionable life? But, till more understanding\u003cbr /\u003epreponderate in society, there will ever be a want of heart and\u003cbr /\u003etaste, and the harlot\u0026#39;s rouge will supply the place of that\u003cbr /\u003ecelestial suffusion which only virtuous affections can give to the\u003cbr /\u003eface. Gallantry, and what is called love, may subsist without\u003cbr /\u003esimplicity of character; but the main pillars of friendship, are\u003cbr /\u003erespect and confidence–esteem is never founded on it cannot tell\u003cbr /\u003ewhat.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA taste for the fine arts requires great cultivation; but not more\u003cbr /\u003ethan a taste for the virtuous affections: and both suppose that\u003cbr /\u003eenlargement of mind which opens so many sources of mental pleasure.\u003cbr /\u003eWhy do people hurry to noisy scenes and crowded circles? I should\u003cbr /\u003eanswer, because they want activity of mind, because they have not\u003cbr /\u003echerished the virtues of the heart. They only, therefore, see and\u003cbr /\u003efeel in the gross, and continually pine after variety, finding\u003cbr /\u003eevery thing that is simple, insipid.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis argument may be carried further than philosophers are aware\u003cbr /\u003eof, for if nature destined woman, in particular, for the discharge\u003cbr /\u003eof domestic duties, she made her susceptible of the attached\u003cbr /\u003eaffections in a great degree. Now women are notoriously fond of\u003cbr /\u003epleasure; and naturally must be so, according to my definition,\u003cbr /\u003ebecause they cannot enter into the minutiae of domestic taste;\u003cbr /\u003elacking judgment the foundation of all taste. For the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, in spite of sensual cavillers, reserves to itself\u003cbr /\u003ethe privilege of conveying pure joy to the heart.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith what a languid yawn have I seen an admirable poem thrown down,\u003cbr /\u003ethat a man of true taste returns to, again and again with rapture;\u003cbr /\u003eand, whilst melody has almost suspended respiration, a lady has\u003cbr /\u003easked me where I bought my gown. I have seen also an eye glanced\u003cbr /\u003ecoldly over a most exquisite picture, rest, sparkling with\u003cbr /\u003epleasure, on a caricature rudely sketched; and whilst some terrific\u003cbr /\u003efeature in nature has spread a sublime stillness through my soul, I\u003cbr /\u003ehave been desired to observe the pretty tricks of a lap-dog, that\u003cbr /\u003emy perverse fate forced me to travel with. Is it surprising, that\u003cbr /\u003esuch a tasteless being should rather caress this dog than her\u003cbr /\u003echildren? Or, that she should prefer the rant of flattery to the\u003cbr /\u003esimple accents of sincerity?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo illustrate this remark I must be allowed to observe, that men of\u003cbr /\u003ethe first genius, and most cultivated minds, have appeared to have\u003cbr /\u003ethe highest relish for the simple beauties of nature; and they must\u003cbr /\u003ehave forcibly felt, what they have so well described, the charm,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich natural affections, and unsophisticated feelings spread round\u003cbr /\u003ethe human character. It is this power of looking into the heart,\u003cbr /\u003eand responsively vibrating with each emotion, that enables the poet\u003cbr /\u003eto personify each passion, and the painter to sketch with a pencil\u003cbr /\u003eof fire.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTrue taste is ever the work of the understanding employed in\u003cbr /\u003eobserving natural effects; and till women have more understanding,\u003cbr /\u003eit is vain to expect them to possess domestic taste. Their lively\u003cbr /\u003esenses will ever be at work to harden their hearts, and the\u003cbr /\u003eemotions struck out of them will continue to be vivid and\u003cbr /\u003etransitory, unless a proper education stores their minds with\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the want of domestic taste, and not the acquirement of\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge, that takes women out of their families, and tears the\u003cbr /\u003esmiling babe from the breast that ought to afford it nourishment.\u003cbr /\u003eWomen have been allowed to remain in ignorance, and slavish\u003cbr /\u003edependence, many, very many years, and still we hear of nothing but\u003cbr /\u003etheir fondness of pleasure and sway, their preference of rakes and\u003cbr /\u003esoldiers, their childish attachment to toys, and the vanity that\u003cbr /\u003emakes them value accomplishments more than virtues.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHistory brings forward a fearful catalogue of the crimes which\u003cbr /\u003etheir cunning has produced, when the weak slaves have had\u003cbr /\u003esufficient address to over-reach their masters. In France, and in\u003cbr /\u003ehow many other countries have men been the luxurious despots, and\u003cbr /\u003ewomen the crafty ministers? Does this prove that ignorance and\u003cbr /\u003edependence domesticate them? Is not their folly the by-word of the\u003cbr /\u003elibertines, who relax in their society; and do not men of sense\u003cbr /\u003econtinually lament, that an immoderate fondness for dress and\u003cbr /\u003edissipation carries the mother of a family for ever from home?\u003cbr /\u003eTheir hearts have not been debauched by knowledge, nor their minds\u003cbr /\u003eled astray by scientific pursuits; yet, they do not fulfil the\u003cbr /\u003epeculiar duties, which as women they are called upon by nature to\u003cbr /\u003efulfil. On the contrary, the state of warfare which subsists\u003cbr /\u003ebetween the sexes, makes them employ those wiles, that frustrate\u003cbr /\u003ethe more open designs of force.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen, therefore, I call women slaves, I mean in a political and\u003cbr /\u003ecivil sense; for, indirectly they obtain too much power, and are\u003cbr /\u003edebased by their exertions to obtain illicit sway.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet an enlightened nation then try what effect reason would have to\u003cbr /\u003ebring them back to nature, and their duty; and allowing them to\u003cbr /\u003eshare the advantages of education and government with man, see\u003cbr /\u003ewhether they will become better, as they grow wiser and become\u003cbr /\u003efree. They cannot be injured by the experiment; for it is not in\u003cbr /\u003ethe power of man to render them more insignificant than they are at\u003cbr /\u003epresent.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo render this practicable, day schools for particular ages should\u003cbr /\u003ebe established by government, in which boys and girls might be\u003cbr /\u003eeducated together. The school for the younger children, from five\u003cbr /\u003eto nine years of age, ought to be absolutely free and open to all\u003cbr /\u003eclasses.* A sufficient number of masters should also be chosen by\u003cbr /\u003ea select committee, in each parish, to whom any complaint of\u003cbr /\u003enegligence, etc. might be made, if signed by six of the children\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003eparents.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. Treating this part of the subject, I have borrowed\u003cbr /\u003esome hints from a very sensible pamphlet written by the late bishop\u003cbr /\u003eof Autun on public Education.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eUshers would then be unnecessary; for, I believe, experience will\u003cbr /\u003eever prove, that this kind of subordinate authority is particularly\u003cbr /\u003einjurious to the morals of youth. What, indeed, can tend to\u003cbr /\u003edeprave the character more than outward submission and inward\u003cbr /\u003econtempt? Yet, how can boys be expected to treat an usher with\u003cbr /\u003erespect when the master seems to consider him in the light of a\u003cbr /\u003eservant, and almost to countenance the ridicule which becomes the\u003cbr /\u003echief amusement of the boys during the play hours?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut nothing of this kind could occur in an elementary day-school,\u003cbr /\u003ewhere boys and girls, the rich and poor, should meet together. And\u003cbr /\u003eto prevent any of the distinctions of vanity, they should be\u003cbr /\u003edressed alike, and all obliged to submit to the same discipline, or\u003cbr /\u003eleave the school. The school-room ought to be surrounded by a\u003cbr /\u003elarge piece of ground, in which the children might be usefully\u003cbr /\u003eexercised, for at this age they should not be confined to any\u003cbr /\u003esedentary employment for more than an hour at a time. But these\u003cbr /\u003erelaxations might all be rendered a part of elementary education,\u003cbr /\u003efor many things improve and amuse the senses, when introduced as a\u003cbr /\u003ekind of show, to the principles of which dryly laid down, children\u003cbr /\u003ewould turn a deaf ear. For instance, botany, mechanics, and\u003cbr /\u003eastronomy. Reading, writing, arithmetic, natural history, and some\u003cbr /\u003esimple experiments in natural philosophy, might fill up the day;\u003cbr /\u003ebut these pursuits should never encroach on gymnastic plays in the\u003cbr /\u003eopen air. The elements of religion, history, the history of man,\u003cbr /\u003eand politics, might also be taught by conversations, in the\u003cbr /\u003esocratic form.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the age of nine, girls and boys, intended for domestic\u003cbr /\u003eemployments, or mechanical trades, ought to be removed to other\u003cbr /\u003eschools, and receive instruction, in some measure appropriated to\u003cbr /\u003ethe destination of each individual, the two sexes being still\u003cbr /\u003etogether in the morning; but in the afternoon, the girls should\u003cbr /\u003eattend a school, where plain work, mantua-making, millinery, etc.\u003cbr /\u003ewould be their employment.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe young people of superior abilities, or fortune, might now be\u003cbr /\u003etaught, in another school, the dead and living languages, the\u003cbr /\u003eelements of science, and continue the study of history and\u003cbr /\u003epolitics, on a more extensive scale, which would not exclude polite\u003cbr /\u003eliterature. Girls and boys still together? I hear some readers\u003cbr /\u003eask: yes. And I should not fear any other consequence, than that\u003cbr /\u003esome early attachment might take place; which, whilst it had the\u003cbr /\u003ebest effect on the moral character of the young people, might not\u003cbr /\u003eperfectly agree with the views of the parents, for it will be a\u003cbr /\u003elong time, I fear, before the world is so enlightened, that\u003cbr /\u003eparents, only anxious to render their children virtuous, will let\u003cbr /\u003ethem choose companions for life themselves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, this would be a sure way to promote early marriages, and\u003cbr /\u003efrom early marriages the most salutary physical and moral effects\u003cbr /\u003enaturally flow. What a different character does a married citizen\u003cbr /\u003eassume from the selfish coxcomb, who lives but for himself, and who\u003cbr /\u003eis often afraid to marry lest he should not be able to live in a\u003cbr /\u003ecertain style. Great emergencies excepted, which would rarely\u003cbr /\u003eoccur in a society of which equality was the basis, a man could\u003cbr /\u003eonly be prepared to discharge the duties of public life, by the\u003cbr /\u003ehabitual practice of those inferior ones which form the man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this plan of education, the constitution of boys would not be\u003cbr /\u003eruined by the early debaucheries, which now make men so selfish,\u003cbr /\u003enor girls rendered weak and vain, by indolence and frivolous\u003cbr /\u003epursuits. But, I presuppose, that such a degree of equality should\u003cbr /\u003ebe established between the sexes as would shut out gallantry and\u003cbr /\u003ecoquetry, yet allow friendship and love to temper the heart for the\u003cbr /\u003edischarge of higher duties.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese would be schools of morality–and the happiness of man,\u003cbr /\u003eallowed to flow from the pure springs of duty and affection, what\u003cbr /\u003eadvances might not the human mind make? Society can only be happy\u003cbr /\u003eand free in proportion as it is virtuous; but the present\u003cbr /\u003edistinctions, established in society, corrode all private, and\u003cbr /\u003eblast all public virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have already inveighed against the custom of confining girls to\u003cbr /\u003etheir needle, and shutting them out from all political and civil\u003cbr /\u003eemployments; for by thus narrowing their minds they are rendered\u003cbr /\u003eunfit to fulfil the peculiar duties which nature has assigned them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOnly employed about the little incidents of the day, they\u003cbr /\u003enecessarily grow up cunning. My very soul has often sickened at\u003cbr /\u003eobserving the sly tricks practised by women to gain some foolish\u003cbr /\u003ething on which their silly hearts were set. Not allowed to dispose\u003cbr /\u003eof money, or call any thing their own, they learn to turn the\u003cbr /\u003emarket penny; or, should a husband offend, by staying from home, or\u003cbr /\u003egive rise to some emotions of jealousy–a new gown, or any pretty\u003cbr /\u003ebauble, smooths Juno\u0026#39;s angry brow.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut these LITTLENESSES would not degrade their character, if women\u003cbr /\u003ewere led to respect themselves, if political and moral subjects\u003cbr /\u003ewere opened to them; and I will venture to affirm, that this is the\u003cbr /\u003eonly way to make them properly attentive to their domestic duties.\u003cbr /\u003eAn active mind embraces the whole circle of its duties, and finds\u003cbr /\u003etime enough for all. It is not, I assert, a bold attempt to\u003cbr /\u003eemulate masculine virtues; it is not the enchantment of literary\u003cbr /\u003epursuits, or the steady investigation of scientific subjects, that\u003cbr /\u003elead women astray from duty. No, it is indolence and vanity –the\u003cbr /\u003elove of pleasure and the love of sway, that will reign paramount in\u003cbr /\u003ean empty mind. I say empty, emphatically, because the education\u003cbr /\u003ewhich women now receive scarcely deserves the name. For the little\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge they are led to acquire during the important years of\u003cbr /\u003eyouth, is merely relative to accomplishments; and accomplishments\u003cbr /\u003ewithout a bottom, for unless the understanding be cultivated,\u003cbr /\u003esuperficial and monotonous is every grace. Like the charms of a\u003cbr /\u003emade-up face, they only strike the senses in a crowd; but at home,\u003cbr /\u003ewanting mind, they want variety. The consequence is obvious; in\u003cbr /\u003egay scenes of dissipation we meet the artificial mind and face, for\u003cbr /\u003ethose who fly from solitude dread next to solitude, the domestic\u003cbr /\u003ecircle; not having it in their power to amuse or interest, they\u003cbr /\u003efeel their own insignificance, or find nothing to amuse or interest\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, what can be more indelicate than a girl\u0026#39;s coming out in\u003cbr /\u003ethe fashionable world? Which, in other words, is to bring to\u003cbr /\u003emarket a marriageable miss, whose person is taken from one public\u003cbr /\u003eplace to another, richly caparisoned. Yet, mixing in the giddy\u003cbr /\u003ecircle under restraint, these butterflies long to flutter at large,\u003cbr /\u003efor the first affection of their souls is their own persons, to\u003cbr /\u003ewhich their attention has been called with the most sedulous care,\u003cbr /\u003ewhilst they were preparing for the period that decides their fate\u003cbr /\u003efor life. Instead of pursuing this idle routine, sighing for\u003cbr /\u003etasteless show, and heartless state, with what dignity would the\u003cbr /\u003eyouths of both sexes form attachments in the schools that I have\u003cbr /\u003ecursorily pointed out; in which, as life advanced, dancing, music,\u003cbr /\u003eand drawing, might be admitted as relaxations, for at these schools\u003cbr /\u003eyoung people of fortune ought to remain, more or less, till they\u003cbr /\u003ewere of age. Those, who were designed for particular professions,\u003cbr /\u003emight attend, three or four mornings in the week, the schools\u003cbr /\u003eappropriated for their immediate instruction.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI only drop these observations at present, as hints; rather, indeed\u003cbr /\u003eas an outline of the plan I mean, than a digested one; but I must\u003cbr /\u003eadd, that I highly approve of one regulation mentioned in the\u003cbr /\u003epamphlet already alluded to (The Bishop of Autun), that of making\u003cbr /\u003ethe children and youths independent of the masters respecting\u003cbr /\u003epunishments. They should be tried by their peers, which would be\u003cbr /\u003ean admirable method of fixing sound principles of justice in the\u003cbr /\u003emind, and might have the happiest effect on the temper, which is\u003cbr /\u003every early soured or irritated by tyranny, till it becomes\u003cbr /\u003epeevishly cunning, or ferociously overbearing.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy imagination darts forward with benevolent fervour to greet these\u003cbr /\u003eamiable and respectable groups, in spite of the sneering of cold\u003cbr /\u003ehearts, who are at liberty to utter, with frigid self-importance,\u003cbr /\u003ethe damning epithet– romantic; the force of which I shall\u003cbr /\u003eendeavour to blunt by repeating the words of an eloquent moralist.\u003cbr /\u003e\u0026quot;I know not whether the allusions of a truly humane heart, whose\u003cbr /\u003ezeal renders every thing easy, is not preferable to that rough and\u003cbr /\u003erepulsing reason, which always finds in indifference for the public\u003cbr /\u003egood, the first obstacle to whatever would promote it.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI know that libertines will also exclaim, that woman would be\u003cbr /\u003eunsexed by acquiring strength of body and mind, and that beauty,\u003cbr /\u003esoft bewitching beauty! would no longer adorn the daughters of men.\u003cbr /\u003eI am of a very different opinion, for I think, that, on the\u003cbr /\u003econtrary, we should then see dignified beauty, and true grace; to\u003cbr /\u003eproduce which, many powerful physical and moral causes would\u003cbr /\u003econcur. Not relaxed beauty, it is true, nor the graces of\u003cbr /\u003ehelplessness; but such as appears to make us respect the human body\u003cbr /\u003eas a majestic pile, fit to receive a noble inhabitant, in the\u003cbr /\u003erelics of antiquity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI do not forget the popular opinion, that the Grecian statues were\u003cbr /\u003enot modelled after nature. I mean, not according to the\u003cbr /\u003eproportions of a particular man; but that beautiful limbs and\u003cbr /\u003efeatures were selected from various bodies to form an harmonious\u003cbr /\u003ewhole. This might, in some degree, be true. The fine ideal\u003cbr /\u003epicture of an exalted imagination might be superior to the\u003cbr /\u003ematerials which the painter found in nature, and thus it might with\u003cbr /\u003epropriety be termed rather the model of mankind than of a man. It\u003cbr /\u003ewas not, however, the mechanical selection of limbs and features,\u003cbr /\u003ebut the ebullition of an heated fancy that burst forth; and the\u003cbr /\u003efine senses and enlarged understanding of the artist selected the\u003cbr /\u003esolid matter, which he drew into this glowing focus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI observed that it was not mechanical, because a whole was\u003cbr /\u003eproduced–a model of that grand simplicity, of those concurring\u003cbr /\u003eenergies, which arrest our attention and command our reverence.\u003cbr /\u003eFor only insipid lifeless beauty is produced by a servile copy of\u003cbr /\u003eeven beautiful nature. Yet, independent of these observations, I\u003cbr /\u003ebelieve, that the human form must have been far more beautiful than\u003cbr /\u003eit is at present, because extreme indolence, barbarous ligatures,\u003cbr /\u003eand many causes, which forcibly act on it, in our luxurious state\u003cbr /\u003eof society, did not retard its expansion, or render it deformed.\u003cbr /\u003eExercise and cleanliness appear to be not only the surest means of\u003cbr /\u003epreserving health, but of promoting beauty, the physical causes\u003cbr /\u003eonly considered; yet, this is not sufficient, moral ones must\u003cbr /\u003econcur, or beauty will be merely of that rustic kind which blooms\u003cbr /\u003eon the innocent, wholesome countenances of some country people,\u003cbr /\u003ewhose minds have not been exercised. To render the person perfect,\u003cbr /\u003ephysical and moral beauty ought to be attained at the same time;\u003cbr /\u003eeach lending and receiving force by the combination. Judgment must\u003cbr /\u003ereside on the brow, affection and fancy beam in the eye, and\u003cbr /\u003ehumanity curve the cheek, or vain is the sparkling of the finest\u003cbr /\u003eeye or the elegantly turned finish of the fairest features; whilst\u003cbr /\u003ein every motion that displays the active limbs and well-knit\u003cbr /\u003ejoints, grace and modesty should appear. But this fair assemblage\u003cbr /\u003eis not to be brought together by chance; it is the reward of\u003cbr /\u003eexertions met to support each other; for judgment can only be\u003cbr /\u003eacquired by reflection, affection, by the discharge of duties, and\u003cbr /\u003ehumanity by the exercise of compassion to every living creature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHumanity to animals should be particularly inculcated as a part of\u003cbr /\u003enational education, for it is not at present one of our national\u003cbr /\u003evirtues. Tenderness for their humble dumb domestics, amongst the\u003cbr /\u003elower class, is oftener to be found in a savage than a civilized\u003cbr /\u003estate. For civilization prevents that intercourse which creates\u003cbr /\u003eaffection in the rude hut, or mud cabin, and leads uncultivated\u003cbr /\u003eminds who are only depraved by the refinements which prevail in the\u003cbr /\u003esociety, where they are trodden under foot by the rich, to domineer\u003cbr /\u003eover them to revenge the insults that they are obliged to bear from\u003cbr /\u003etheir superiours.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis habitual cruelty is first caught at school, where it is one of\u003cbr /\u003ethe rare sports of the boys to torment the miserable brutes that\u003cbr /\u003efall in their way. The transition, as they grow up, from barbarity\u003cbr /\u003eto brutes to domestic tyranny over wives, children, and servants,\u003cbr /\u003eis very easy. Justice, or even benevolence, will not be a powerful\u003cbr /\u003espring of action, unless it extend to the whole creation; nay, I\u003cbr /\u003ebelieve that it may be delivered as an axiom, that those who can\u003cbr /\u003esee pain, unmoved, will soon learn to inflict it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe vulgar are swayed by present feelings, and the habits which\u003cbr /\u003ethey have accidentally acquired; but on partial feelings much\u003cbr /\u003edependence cannot be placed, though they be just; for, when they\u003cbr /\u003eare not invigorated by reflection, custom weakens them, till they\u003cbr /\u003eare scarcely felt. The sympathies of our nature are strengthened\u003cbr /\u003eby pondering cogitations, and deadened by thoughtless use.\u003cbr /\u003eMacbeth\u0026#39;s heart smote him more for one murder, the first, than for\u003cbr /\u003ea hundred subsequent ones, which were necessary to back it. But,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen I used the epithet vulgar, I did not mean to confine my remark\u003cbr /\u003eto the poor, for partial humanity, founded on present sensations or\u003cbr /\u003ewhim, is quite as conspicuous, if not more so, amongst the rich.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe lady who sheds tears for the bird starved in a snare, and\u003cbr /\u003eexecrates the devils in the shape of men, who goad to madness the\u003cbr /\u003epoor ox, or whip the patient ass, tottering under a burden above\u003cbr /\u003eits strength, will, nevertheless, keep her coachman and horses\u003cbr /\u003ewhole hours waiting for her, when the sharp frost bites, or the\u003cbr /\u003erain beats against the well-closed windows which do not admit a\u003cbr /\u003ebreath of air to tell her how roughly the wind blows without. And\u003cbr /\u003eshe who takes her dogs to bed, and nurses them with a parade of\u003cbr /\u003esensibility, when sick, will suffer her babes to grow up crooked in\u003cbr /\u003ea nursery. This illustration of my argument is drawn from a matter\u003cbr /\u003eof fact. The woman whom I allude to was handsome, reckoned very\u003cbr /\u003ehandsome, by those who do not miss the mind when the face is plump\u003cbr /\u003eand fair; but her understanding had not been led from female duties\u003cbr /\u003eby literature, nor her innocence debauched by knowledge. No, she\u003cbr /\u003ewas quite feminine, according to the masculine acceptation of the\u003cbr /\u003eword; and, so far from loving these spoiled brutes that filled the\u003cbr /\u003eplace which her children ought to have occupied, she only lisped\u003cbr /\u003eout a pretty mixture of French and English nonsense, to please the\u003cbr /\u003emen who flocked round her. The wife, mother, and human creature,\u003cbr /\u003ewere all swallowed up by the factitious character, which an\u003cbr /\u003eimproper education, and the selfish vanity of beauty, had produced.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI do not like to make a distinction without a difference, and I own\u003cbr /\u003ethat I have been as much disgusted by the fine lady who took her\u003cbr /\u003elap-dog to her bosom, instead of her child; as by the ferocity of a\u003cbr /\u003eman, who, beating his horse, declared, that he knew as well when he\u003cbr /\u003edid wrong as a Christian.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis brood of folly shows how mistaken they are who, if they allow\u003cbr /\u003ewomen to leave their harams, do not cultivate their understanding,\u003cbr /\u003ein order to plant virtues in their hearts. For had they sense,\u003cbr /\u003ethey might acquire that domestic taste which would lead them to\u003cbr /\u003elove with reasonable subordination their whole family, from the\u003cbr /\u003ehusband to the house-dog; nor would they ever insult humanity in\u003cbr /\u003ethe person of the most menial servant, by paying more attention to\u003cbr /\u003ethe comfort of a brute, than to that of a fellow-creature.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMy observations on national education are obviously hints; but I\u003cbr /\u003eprincipally wish to enforce the necessity of educating the sexes\u003cbr /\u003etogether to perfect both, and of making children sleep at home,\u003cbr /\u003ethat they may learn to love home; yet to make private support\u003cbr /\u003einstead of smothering public affections, they should be sent to\u003cbr /\u003eschool to mix with a number of equals, for only by the jostlings of\u003cbr /\u003eequality can we form a just opinion of ourselves.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo render mankind more virtuous, and happier of course, both sexes\u003cbr /\u003emust act from the same principle; but how can that be expected when\u003cbr /\u003eonly one is allowed to see the reasonableness of it? To render\u003cbr /\u003ealso the social compact truly equitable, and in order to spread\u003cbr /\u003ethose enlightening principles, which alone can meliorate the fate\u003cbr /\u003eof man, women must be allowed to found their virtue on knowledge,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich is scarcely possible unless they be educated by the same\u003cbr /\u003epursuits as men. For they are now made so inferiour by ignorance\u003cbr /\u003eand low desires, as not to deserve to be ranked with them; or, by\u003cbr /\u003ethe serpentine wrigglings of cunning they mount the tree of\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge and only acquire sufficient to lead men astray.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is plain from the history of all nations, that women cannot be\u003cbr /\u003econfined to merely domestic pursuits, for they will not fulfil\u003cbr /\u003efamily duties, unless their minds take a wider range, and whilst\u003cbr /\u003ethey are kept in ignorance, they become in the same proportion, the\u003cbr /\u003eslaves of pleasure as they are the slaves of man. Nor can they be\u003cbr /\u003eshut out of great enterprises, though the narrowness of their minds\u003cbr /\u003eoften make them mar what they are unable to comprehend.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe libertinism, and even the virtues of superior men, will always\u003cbr /\u003egive women, of some description, great power over them; and these\u003cbr /\u003eweak women, under the influence of childish passions and selfish\u003cbr /\u003evanity, will throw a false light over the objects which the very\u003cbr /\u003emen view with their eyes, who ought to enlighten their judgment.\u003cbr /\u003eMen of fancy, and those sanguine characters who mostly hold the\u003cbr /\u003ehelm of human affairs, in general, relax in the society of women;\u003cbr /\u003eand surely I need not cite to the most superficial reader of\u003cbr /\u003ehistory, the numerous examples of vice and oppression which the\u003cbr /\u003eprivate intrigues of female favourites have produced; not to dwell\u003cbr /\u003eon the mischief that naturally arises from the blundering\u003cbr /\u003einterposition of well-meaning folly. For in the transactions of\u003cbr /\u003ebusiness it is much better to have to deal with a knave than a\u003cbr /\u003efool, because a knave adheres to some plan; and any plan of reason\u003cbr /\u003emay be seen through much sooner than a sudden flight of folly. The\u003cbr /\u003epower which vile and foolish women have had over wise men, who\u003cbr /\u003epossessed sensibility, is notorious; I shall only mention one\u003cbr /\u003einstance.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhoever drew a more exalted female character than Rousseau? though\u003cbr /\u003ein the lump he constantly endeavoured to degrade the sex. And why\u003cbr /\u003ewas he thus anxious? Truly to justify to himself the affection\u003cbr /\u003ewhich weakness and virtue had made him cherish for that fool\u003cbr /\u003eTheresa. He could not raise her to the common level of her sex;\u003cbr /\u003eand therefore he laboured to bring woman down to her\u0026#39;s. He found\u003cbr /\u003eher a convenient humble companion, and pride made him determine to\u003cbr /\u003efind some superior virtues in the being whom he chose to live with;\u003cbr /\u003ebut did not her conduct during his life, and after his death,\u003cbr /\u003eclearly show how grossly he was mistaken who called her a celestial\u003cbr /\u003einnocent. Nay, in the bitterness of his heart, he himself laments,\u003cbr /\u003ethat when his bodily infirmities made him no longer treat her like\u003cbr /\u003ea woman, she ceased to have an affection for him. And it was very\u003cbr /\u003enatural that she should, for having so few sentiments in common,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen the sexual tie was broken, what was to hold her? To hold her\u003cbr /\u003eaffection whose sensibility was confined to one sex, nay, to one\u003cbr /\u003eman, it requires sense to turn sensibility into the broad channel\u003cbr /\u003eof humanity: many women have not mind enough to have an affection\u003cbr /\u003efor a woman, or a friendship for a man. But the sexual weakness\u003cbr /\u003ethat makes woman depend on man for a subsistence, produces a kind\u003cbr /\u003eof cattish affection, which leads a wife to purr about her husband,\u003cbr /\u003eas she would about any man who fed and caressed her.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMen, are however, often gratified by this kind of fondness which is\u003cbr /\u003econfined in a beastly manner to themselves, but should they ever\u003cbr /\u003ebecome more virtuous, they will wish to converse at their fire-side\u003cbr /\u003ewith a friend, after they cease to play with a mistress. Besides,\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding is necessary to give variety and interest to sensual\u003cbr /\u003eenjoyments, for low, indeed, in the intellectual scale, is the mind\u003cbr /\u003ethat can continue to love when neither virtue nor sense give a\u003cbr /\u003ehuman appearance to an animal appetite. But sense will always\u003cbr /\u003epreponderate; and if women are not, in general, brought more on a\u003cbr /\u003elevel with men, some superior women, like the Greek courtezans will\u003cbr /\u003eassemble the men of abilities around them, and draw from their\u003cbr /\u003efamilies many citizens, who would have stayed at home, had their\u003cbr /\u003ewives had more sense, or the graces which result from the exercise\u003cbr /\u003eof the understanding and fancy, the legitimate parents of taste. A\u003cbr /\u003ewoman of talents, if she be not absolutely ugly, will always obtain\u003cbr /\u003egreat power, raised by the weakness of her sex; and in proportion\u003cbr /\u003eas men acquire virtue and delicacy: by the exertion of reason, they\u003cbr /\u003ewill look for both in women, but they can only acquire them in the\u003cbr /\u003esame way that men do.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn France or Italy have the women confined themselves to domestic\u003cbr /\u003elife? though they have not hitherto had a political existence, yet,\u003cbr /\u003ehave they not illicitly had great sway? corrupting themselves and\u003cbr /\u003ethe men with whose passions they played? In short, in whatever\u003cbr /\u003elight I view the subject, reason and experience convince me, that\u003cbr /\u003ethe only method of leading women to fulfil their peculiar duties,\u003cbr /\u003eis to free them from all restraint by allowing them to participate\u003cbr /\u003ethe inherent rights of mankind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMake them free, and they will quickly become wise and virtuous, as\u003cbr /\u003emen become more so; for the improvement must be mutual, or the\u003cbr /\u003ejustice which one half of the human race are obliged to submit to,\u003cbr /\u003eretorting on their oppressors, the virtue of man will be worm-eaten\u003cbr /\u003eby the insect whom he keeps under his feet.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet men take their choice, man and woman were made for each other,\u003cbr /\u003ethough not to become one being; and if they will not improve women,\u003cbr /\u003ethey will deprave them!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI speak of the improvement and emancipation of the whole sex, for I\u003cbr /\u003eknow that the behaviour of a few women, who by accident, or\u003cbr /\u003efollowing a strong bent of nature, have acquired a portion of\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge superior to that of the rest of their sex, has often been\u003cbr /\u003eover-bearing; but there have been instances of women who, attaining\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge, have not discarded modesty, nor have they always\u003cbr /\u003epedantically appeared to despise the ignorance which they laboured\u003cbr /\u003eto disperse in their own minds. The exclamations then which any\u003cbr /\u003eadvice respecting female learning, commonly produces, especially\u003cbr /\u003efrom pretty women, often arise from envy. When they chance to see\u003cbr /\u003ethat even the lustre of their eyes, and the flippant sportiveness\u003cbr /\u003eof refined coquetry will not always secure them attention, during a\u003cbr /\u003ewhole evening, should a woman of a more cultivated understanding\u003cbr /\u003eendeavour to give a rational turn to the conversation, the common\u003cbr /\u003esource of consolation is, that such women seldom get husbands.\u003cbr /\u003eWhat arts have I not seen silly women use to interrupt by\u003cbr /\u003eFLIRTATION, (a very significant word to describe such a manoeuvre)\u003cbr /\u003ea rational conversation, which made the men forget that they were\u003cbr /\u003epretty women.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, allowing what is very natural to man–that the possession of\u003cbr /\u003erare abilities is really calculated to excite over-weening pride,\u003cbr /\u003edisgusting in both men and women–in what a state of inferiority\u003cbr /\u003emust the female faculties have rusted when such a small portion of\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge as those women attained, who have sneeringly been termed\u003cbr /\u003elearned women, could be singular? Sufficiently so to puff up the\u003cbr /\u003epossessor, and excite envy in her contemporaries, and some of the\u003cbr /\u003eother sex. Nay, has not a little rationality exposed many women to\u003cbr /\u003ethe severest censure? I advert to well known-facts, for I have\u003cbr /\u003efrequently heard women ridiculed, and every little weakness\u003cbr /\u003eexposed, only because they adopted the advice of some medical men,\u003cbr /\u003eand deviated from the beaten track in their mode of treating their\u003cbr /\u003einfants. I have actually heard this barbarous aversion to\u003cbr /\u003einnovation carried still further, and a sensible woman stigmatized\u003cbr /\u003eas an unnatural mother, who has thus been wisely solicitous to\u003cbr /\u003epreserve the health of her children, when in the midst of her care\u003cbr /\u003eshe has lost one by some of the casualties of infancy which no\u003cbr /\u003eprudence can ward off. Her acquaintance have observed, that this\u003cbr /\u003ewas the consequence of new-fangled notions–the new-fangled notions\u003cbr /\u003eof ease and cleanliness. And those who, pretending to experience,\u003cbr /\u003ethough they have long adhered to prejudices that have, according to\u003cbr /\u003ethe opinion of the most sagacious physicians, thinned the human\u003cbr /\u003erace, almost rejoiced at the disaster that gave a kind of sanction\u003cbr /\u003eto prescription.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIndeed, if it were only on this account, the national education of\u003cbr /\u003ewomen is of the utmost consequence; for what a number of human\u003cbr /\u003esacrifices are made to that moloch, prejudice! And in how many\u003cbr /\u003eways are children destroyed by the lasciviousness of man? The want\u003cbr /\u003eof natural affection in many women, who are drawn from their duty\u003cbr /\u003eby the admiration of men, and the ignorance of others, render the\u003cbr /\u003einfancy of man a much more perilous state than that of brutes; yet\u003cbr /\u003emen are unwilling to place women in situations proper to enable\u003cbr /\u003ethem to acquire sufficient understanding to know how even to nurse\u003cbr /\u003etheir babes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo forcibly does this truth strike me, that I would rest the whole\u003cbr /\u003etendency of my reasoning upon it; for whatever tends to\u003cbr /\u003eincapacitate the maternal character, takes woman out of her sphere.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut it is vain to expect the present race of weak mothers either to\u003cbr /\u003etake that reasonable care of a child\u0026#39;s body, which is necessary to\u003cbr /\u003elay the foundation of a good constitution, supposing that it do not\u003cbr /\u003esuffer for the sins of its fathers; or to manage its temper so\u003cbr /\u003ejudiciously that the child will not have, as it grows up, to throw\u003cbr /\u003eoff all that its mother, its first instructor, directly or\u003cbr /\u003eindirectly taught, and unless the mind have uncommon vigour,\u003cbr /\u003ewomanish follies will stick to the character throughout life. The\u003cbr /\u003eweakness of the mother will be visited on the children! And whilst\u003cbr /\u003ewomen are educated to rely on their husbands for judgment, this\u003cbr /\u003emust ever be the consequence, for there is no improving an\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding by halves, nor can any being act wisely from\u003cbr /\u003eimitation, because in every circumstance of life there is a kind of\u003cbr /\u003eindividuality, which requires an exertion of judgment to modify\u003cbr /\u003egeneral rules. The being who can think justly in one track, will\u003cbr /\u003esoon extend its intellectual empire; and she who has sufficient\u003cbr /\u003ejudgment to manage her children, will not submit right or wrong, to\u003cbr /\u003eher husband, or patiently to the social laws which makes a\u003cbr /\u003enonentity of a wife.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn public schools women, to guard against the errors of ignorance,\u003cbr /\u003eshould be taught the elements of anatomy and medicine, not only to\u003cbr /\u003eenable them to take proper care of their own health, but to make\u003cbr /\u003ethem rational nurses of their infants, parents, and husbands; for\u003cbr /\u003ethe bills of mortality are swelled by the blunders of self-willed\u003cbr /\u003eold women, who give nostrums of their own, without knowing any\u003cbr /\u003ething of the human frame. It is likewise proper, only in a\u003cbr /\u003edomestic view, to make women, acquainted with the anatomy of the\u003cbr /\u003emind, by allowing the sexes to associate together in every pursuit;\u003cbr /\u003eand by leading them to observe the progress of the human\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding in the improvement of the sciences and arts; never\u003cbr /\u003eforgetting the science of morality, nor the study of the political\u003cbr /\u003ehistory of mankind.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA man has been termed a microcosm; and every family might also be\u003cbr /\u003ecalled a state. States, it is true, have mostly been governed by\u003cbr /\u003earts that disgrace the character of man; and the want of a just\u003cbr /\u003econstitution, and equal laws, have so perplexed the notions of the\u003cbr /\u003eworldly wise, that they more than question the reasonableness of\u003cbr /\u003econtending for the rights of humanity. Thus morality, polluted in\u003cbr /\u003ethe national reservoir, sends off streams of vice to corrupt the\u003cbr /\u003econstituent parts of the body politic; but should more noble, or\u003cbr /\u003erather more just principles regulate the laws, which ought to be\u003cbr /\u003ethe government of society, and not those who execute them, duty\u003cbr /\u003emight become the rule of private conduct.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, by the exercise of their bodies and minds, women would\u003cbr /\u003eacquire that mental activity so necessary in the maternal\u003cbr /\u003echaracter, united with the fortitude that distinguishes steadiness\u003cbr /\u003eof conduct from the obstinate perverseness of weakness. For it is\u003cbr /\u003edangerous to advise the indolent to be steady, because they\u003cbr /\u003einstantly become rigorous, and to save themselves trouble, punish\u003cbr /\u003ewith severity faults that the patient fortitude of reason might\u003cbr /\u003ehave prevented.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut fortitude presupposes strength of mind, and is strength of mind\u003cbr /\u003eto be acquired by indolent acquiescence? By asking advice instead\u003cbr /\u003eof exerting the judgment? By obeying through fear, instead of\u003cbr /\u003epractising the forbearance, which we all stand in need of\u003cbr /\u003eourselves? The conclusion which I wish to draw is obvious; make\u003cbr /\u003ewomen rational creatures and free citizens, and they will quickly\u003cbr /\u003ebecome good wives, and mothers; that is–if men do not neglect the\u003cbr /\u003eduties of husbands and fathers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDiscussing the advantages which a public and private education\u003cbr /\u003ecombined, as I have sketched, might rationally be expected to\u003cbr /\u003eproduce, I have dwelt most on such as are particularly relative to\u003cbr /\u003ethe female world, because I think the female world oppressed; yet\u003cbr /\u003ethe gangrene which the vices, engendered by oppression have\u003cbr /\u003eproduced, is not confined to the morbid part, but pervades society\u003cbr /\u003eat large; so that when I wish to see my sex become more like moral\u003cbr /\u003eagents, my heart bounds with the anticipation of the general\u003cbr /\u003ediffusion of that sublime contentment which only morality can\u003cbr /\u003ediffuse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCHAPTER 13.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSOME INSTANCES OF THE FOLLY WHICH THE IGNORANCE OF WOMEN GENERATES;\u003cbr /\u003eWITH CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS ON THE MORAL IMPROVEMENT THAT A\u003cbr /\u003eREVOLUTION IN FEMALE MANNERS MIGHT NATURALLY BE EXPECTED TO\u003cbr /\u003ePRODUCE.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThere are many follies, in some degree, peculiar to women: sins\u003cbr /\u003eagainst reason, of commission, as well as of omission; but all\u003cbr /\u003eflowing from ignorance or prejudice, I shall only point out such as\u003cbr /\u003eappear to be injurious to their moral character. And in\u003cbr /\u003eanimadverting on them, I wish especially to prove, that the\u003cbr /\u003eweakness of mind and body, which men have endeavoured by various\u003cbr /\u003emotives to perpetuate, prevents their discharging the peculiar duty\u003cbr /\u003eof their sex: for when weakness of body will not permit them to\u003cbr /\u003esuckle their children, and weakness of mind makes them spoil their\u003cbr /\u003etempers–is woman in a natural state?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 13.1.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOne glaring instance of the weakness which proceeds from ignorance,\u003cbr /\u003efirst claims attention, and calls for severe reproof.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn this metropolis a number of lurking leeches infamously gain a\u003cbr /\u003esubsistence by practising on the credulity of women, pretending to\u003cbr /\u003ecast nativities, to use the technical phrase; and many females who,\u003cbr /\u003eproud of their rank and fortune, look down on the vulgar with\u003cbr /\u003esovereign contempt, show by this credulity, that the distinction is\u003cbr /\u003earbitrary, and that they have not sufficiently cultivated their\u003cbr /\u003eminds to rise above vulgar prejudices. Women, because they have\u003cbr /\u003enot been led to consider the knowledge of their duty as the one\u003cbr /\u003ething necessary to know, or, to live in the present moment by the\u003cbr /\u003edischarge of it, are very anxious to peep into futurity, to learn\u003cbr /\u003ewhat they have to expect to render life interesting, and to break\u003cbr /\u003ethe vacuum of ignorance. I must be allowed to expostulate\u003cbr /\u003eseriously with the ladies, who follow these idle inventions; for\u003cbr /\u003eladies, mistresses of families, are not ashamed to drive in their\u003cbr /\u003eown carriages to the door of the cunning man. And if any of them\u003cbr /\u003eshould peruse this work, I entreat them to answer to their own\u003cbr /\u003ehearts the following questions, not forgetting that they are in the\u003cbr /\u003epresence of God.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you believe that there is but one God, and that he is powerful,\u003cbr /\u003ewise, and good?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you believe that all things were created by him, and that all\u003cbr /\u003ebeings are dependent on him?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you rely on his wisdom, so conspicuous in his works, and in your\u003cbr /\u003eown frame, and are you convinced, that he has ordered all things\u003cbr /\u003ewhich do not come under the cognizance of your senses, in the same\u003cbr /\u003eperfect harmony, to fulfil his designs?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you acknowledge that the power of looking into futurity and\u003cbr /\u003eseeing things that are not, as if they were, is an attribute of the\u003cbr /\u003eCreator? And should he, by an impression on the minds of his\u003cbr /\u003ecreatures, think fit to impart to them some event hid in the shades\u003cbr /\u003eof time, yet unborn, to whom would the secret be revealed by\u003cbr /\u003eimmediate inspiration? The opinion of ages will answer this\u003cbr /\u003equestion–to reverend old men, to people distinguished for eminent\u003cbr /\u003epiety.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe oracles of old were thus delivered by priests dedicated to the\u003cbr /\u003eservice of the God, who was supposed to inspire them. The glare of\u003cbr /\u003eworldly pomp which surrounded these impostors, and the respect paid\u003cbr /\u003eto them by artful politicians, who knew how to avail themselves of\u003cbr /\u003ethis useful engine to bend the necks of the strong under the\u003cbr /\u003edominion of the cunning, spread a sacred mysterious veil of\u003cbr /\u003esanctity over their lies and abominations. Impressed by such\u003cbr /\u003esolemn devotional parade, a Greek or Roman lady might be excused,\u003cbr /\u003eif she inquired of the oracle, when she was anxious to pry into\u003cbr /\u003efuturity, or inquire about some dubious event: and her inquiries,\u003cbr /\u003ehowever contrary to reason, could not be reckoned impious. But,\u003cbr /\u003ecan the professors of Christianity ward off that imputation? Can a\u003cbr /\u003eChristian suppose, that the favourites of the most High, the highly\u003cbr /\u003efavoured would be obliged to lurk in disguise, and practise the\u003cbr /\u003emost dishonest tricks to cheat silly women out of the money, which\u003cbr /\u003ethe poor cry for in vain?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSay not that such questions are an insult to common sense for it is\u003cbr /\u003eyour own conduct, O ye foolish women! which throws an odium on your\u003cbr /\u003esex! And these reflections should make you shudder at your\u003cbr /\u003ethoughtlessness, and irrational devotion, for I do not suppose that\u003cbr /\u003eall of you laid aside your religion, such as it is, when you\u003cbr /\u003eentered those mysterious dwellings. Yet, as I have throughout\u003cbr /\u003esupposed myself talking to ignorant women, for ignorant ye are in\u003cbr /\u003ethe most emphatical sense of the word, it would be absurd to reason\u003cbr /\u003ewith you on the egregious folly of desiring to know what the\u003cbr /\u003eSupreme Wisdom has concealed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eProbably you would not understand me, were I to attempt to show you\u003cbr /\u003ethat it would be absolutely inconsistent with the grand purpose of\u003cbr /\u003elife, that of rendering human creatures wise and virtuous: and\u003cbr /\u003ethat, were it sanctioned by God, it would disturb the order\u003cbr /\u003eestablished in creation; and if it be not sanctioned by God, do you\u003cbr /\u003eexpect to hear truth? Can events be foretold, events which have\u003cbr /\u003enot yet assumed a body to become subject to mortal inspection, can\u003cbr /\u003ethey be foreseen by a vicious worldling, who pampers his appetites\u003cbr /\u003eby preying on the foolish ones?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePerhaps, however, you devoutly believe in the devil, and imagine,\u003cbr /\u003eto shift the question, that he may assist his votaries? but if\u003cbr /\u003ereally respecting the power of such a being, an enemy to goodness\u003cbr /\u003eand to God, can you go to church after having been under such an\u003cbr /\u003eobligation to him. From these delusions to those still more\u003cbr /\u003efashionable deceptions, practised by the whole tribe of\u003cbr /\u003emagnetisers, the transition is very natural. With respect to them,\u003cbr /\u003eit is equally proper to ask women a few questions.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you know any thing of the construction of the human frame? If\u003cbr /\u003enot, it is proper that you should be told, what every child ought\u003cbr /\u003eto know, that when its admirable economy has been disturbed by\u003cbr /\u003eintemperance or indolence, I speak not of violent disorders, but of\u003cbr /\u003echronical diseases, it must be brought into a healthy state again\u003cbr /\u003eby slow degrees, and if the functions of life have not been\u003cbr /\u003ematerially injured, regimen, another word for temperance, air,\u003cbr /\u003eexercise, and a few medicines prescribed by persons who have\u003cbr /\u003estudied the human body, are the only human means, yet discovered,\u003cbr /\u003eof recovering that inestimable blessing health, that will bear\u003cbr /\u003einvestigation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo you then believe, that these magnetisers, who, by hocus pocus\u003cbr /\u003etricks, pretend, to work a miracle, are delegated by God, or\u003cbr /\u003eassisted by the solver of all these kind of difficulties–the\u003cbr /\u003edevil.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDo they, when they put to flight, as it is said, disorders that\u003cbr /\u003ehave baffled the powers of medicine, work in conformity to the\u003cbr /\u003elight of reason? Or do they effect these wonderful cures by\u003cbr /\u003esupernatural aid?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBy a communication, an adept may answer, with the world of spirits.\u003cbr /\u003eA noble privilege, it must be allowed. Some of the ancients\u003cbr /\u003emention familiar demons, who guarded them from danger, by kindly\u003cbr /\u003eintimating (we cannot guess in what manner,) when any danger was\u003cbr /\u003enigh; or pointed out what they ought to undertake. Yet the men who\u003cbr /\u003elaid claim to this privilege, out of the order of nature, insisted,\u003cbr /\u003ethat it was the reward or consequence of superior temperance and\u003cbr /\u003epiety. But the present workers of wonders are not raised above\u003cbr /\u003etheir fellows by superior temperance or sanctity. They do not cure\u003cbr /\u003efor the love of God, but money. These are the priests of quackery,\u003cbr /\u003ethough it be true they have not the convenient expedient of selling\u003cbr /\u003emasses for souls in purgatory, nor churches, where they can display\u003cbr /\u003ecrutches, and models of limbs made sound by a touch or a word.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI am not conversant with the technical terms, nor initiated into\u003cbr /\u003ethe arcana, therefore I may speak improperly; but it is clear, that\u003cbr /\u003emen who will not conform to the law of reason, and earn a\u003cbr /\u003esubsistence in an honest way, by degrees, are very fortunate in\u003cbr /\u003ebecoming acquainted with such obliging spirits. We cannot, indeed,\u003cbr /\u003egive them credit for either great sagacity or goodness, else they\u003cbr /\u003ewould have chosen more noble instruments, when they wished to show\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves the benevolent friends of man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is, however, little short of blasphemy to pretend to such power.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;From the whole tenor of the dispensations of Providence, it appears\u003cbr /\u003eevident to sober reason, that certain vices produce certain\u003cbr /\u003eeffects: and can any one so grossly insult the wisdom of God, as to\u003cbr /\u003esuppose, that a miracle will be allowed to disturb his general\u003cbr /\u003elaws, to restore to health the intemperate and vicious, merely to\u003cbr /\u003eenable them to pursue the same course with impunity? Be whole, and\u003cbr /\u003esin no more, said Jesus. And are greater miracles to be performed\u003cbr /\u003eby those who do not follow his footsteps, who healed the body to\u003cbr /\u003ereach the mind?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe mentioning of the name of Christ, after such vile impostors may\u003cbr /\u003edisplease some of my readers–I respect their warmth; but let them\u003cbr /\u003enot forget, that the followers of these delusions bear his name,\u003cbr /\u003eand profess to be the disciples of him, who said, by their works we\u003cbr /\u003eshould know who were the children of God or the servants of sin. I\u003cbr /\u003eallow that it is easier to touch the body of a saint, or to be\u003cbr /\u003emagnetised, than to restrain our appetites or govern our passions;\u003cbr /\u003ebut health of body or mind can only be recovered by these means, or\u003cbr /\u003ewe make the Supreme Judge partial and revengeful.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs he a man, that he should change, or punish out of resentment?\u003cbr /\u003eHe–the common father, wounds but to heal, says reason, and our\u003cbr /\u003eirregularities producing certain consequences, we are forcibly\u003cbr /\u003eshown the nature of vice; that thus learning to know good from\u003cbr /\u003eevil, by experience, we may hate one and love the other, in\u003cbr /\u003eproportion to the wisdom which we attain. The poison contains the\u003cbr /\u003eantidote; and we either reform our evil habits, and cease to sin\u003cbr /\u003eagainst our own bodies, to use the forcible language of scripture,\u003cbr /\u003eor a premature death, the punishment of sin, snaps the thread of\u003cbr /\u003elife.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHere an awful stop is put to our inquiries. But, why should I\u003cbr /\u003econceal my sentiments? Considering the attributes of God, I\u003cbr /\u003ebelieve, that whatever punishment may follow, will tend, like the\u003cbr /\u003eanguish of disease, to show the malignity of vice, for the purpose\u003cbr /\u003eof reformation. Positive punishment appears so contrary to the\u003cbr /\u003enature of God, discoverable in all his works, and in our own\u003cbr /\u003ereason, that I could sooner believe that the Deity paid no\u003cbr /\u003eattention to the conduct of men, than that he punished without the\u003cbr /\u003ebenevolent design of reforming.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo suppose only, that an all-wise and powerful Being, as good as he\u003cbr /\u003eis great, should create a being, foreseeing, that after fifty or\u003cbr /\u003esixty years of feverish existence, it would be plunged into never\u003cbr /\u003eending woe–is blasphemy. On what will the worm feed that is never\u003cbr /\u003eto die? On folly, on ignorance, say ye–I should blush indignantly\u003cbr /\u003eat drawing the natural conclusion, could I insert it, and wish to\u003cbr /\u003ewithdraw myself from the wing of my God! On such a supposition, I\u003cbr /\u003espeak with reverence, he would be a consuming fire. We should\u003cbr /\u003ewish, though vainly, to fly from his presence when fear absorbed\u003cbr /\u003elove, and darkness involved all his counsels.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI know that many devout people boast of submitting to the Will of\u003cbr /\u003eGod blindly, as to an arbitrary sceptre or rod, on the same\u003cbr /\u003eprinciple as the Indians worship the devil. In other words, like\u003cbr /\u003epeople in the common concerns of life, they do homage to power, and\u003cbr /\u003ecringe under the foot that can crush them. Rational religion, on\u003cbr /\u003ethe contrary, is a submission to the will of a being so perfectly\u003cbr /\u003ewise, that all he wills must be directed by the proper motive–must\u003cbr /\u003ebe reasonable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnd, if thus we respect God, can we give credit to the mysterious\u003cbr /\u003einsinuations which insult his laws? Can we believe, though it\u003cbr /\u003eshould stare us in the face, that he would work a miracle to\u003cbr /\u003eauthorize confusion by sanctioning an error? Yet we must either\u003cbr /\u003eallow these impious conclusions, or treat with contempt every\u003cbr /\u003epromise to restore health to a diseased body by supernatural means,\u003cbr /\u003eor to foretell, the incidents that can only be foreseen by God.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 13.2.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAnother instance of that feminine weakness of character, often\u003cbr /\u003eproduced by a confined education, is a romantic twist of the mind,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich has been very properly termed SENTIMENTAL.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen, subjected by ignorance to their sensations, and only taught\u003cbr /\u003eto look for happiness in love, refine on sensual feelings, and\u003cbr /\u003eadopt metaphysical notions respecting that passion, which lead them\u003cbr /\u003eshamefully to neglect the duties of life, and frequently in the\u003cbr /\u003emidst of these sublime refinements they plunge into actual vice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThese are the women who are amused by the reveries of the stupid\u003cbr /\u003enovelists, who, knowing little of human nature, work up stale\u003cbr /\u003etales, and describe meretricious scenes, all retailed in a\u003cbr /\u003esentimental jargon, which equally tend to corrupt the taste, and\u003cbr /\u003edraw the heart aside from its daily duties. I do not mention the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding, because never having been exercised, its slumbering\u003cbr /\u003eenergies rest inactive, like the lurking particles of fire which\u003cbr /\u003eare supposed universally to pervade matter.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFemales, in fact, denied all political privileges, and not allowed,\u003cbr /\u003eas married women, excepting in criminal cases, a civil existence,\u003cbr /\u003ehave their attention naturally drawn from the interest of the whole\u003cbr /\u003ecommunity to that of the minute parts, though the private duty of\u003cbr /\u003eany member of society must be very imperfectly performed, when not\u003cbr /\u003econnected with the general good. The mighty business of female\u003cbr /\u003elife is to please, and, restrained from entering into more\u003cbr /\u003eimportant concerns by political and civil oppression, sentiments\u003cbr /\u003ebecome events, and reflection deepens what it should, and would\u003cbr /\u003ehave effaced, if the understanding had been allowed to take a wider\u003cbr /\u003erange.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, confined to trifling employments, they naturally imbibe\u003cbr /\u003eopinions which the only kind of reading calculated to interest an\u003cbr /\u003einnocent frivolous mind, inspires. Unable to grasp any thing\u003cbr /\u003egreat, is it surprising that they find the reading of history a\u003cbr /\u003every dry task, and disquisitions addressed to the understanding,\u003cbr /\u003eintolerably tedious, and almost unintelligible? Thus are they\u003cbr /\u003enecessarily dependent on the novelist for amusement. Yet, when I\u003cbr /\u003eexclaim against novels, I mean when contrasted with those works\u003cbr /\u003ewhich exercise the understanding and regulate the imagination. For\u003cbr /\u003eany kind of reading I think better than leaving a blank still a\u003cbr /\u003eblank, because the mind must receive a degree of enlargement, and\u003cbr /\u003eobtain a little strength by a slight exertion of its thinking\u003cbr /\u003epowers; besides, even the productions that are only addressed to\u003cbr /\u003ethe imagination, raise the reader a little above the gross\u003cbr /\u003egratification of appetites, to which the mind has not given a shade\u003cbr /\u003eof delicacy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis observation is the result of experience; for I have known\u003cbr /\u003eseveral notable women, and one in particular, who was a very good\u003cbr /\u003ewoman–as good as such a narrow mind would allow her to be, who\u003cbr /\u003etook care that her daughters (three in number) should never see a\u003cbr /\u003enovel. As she was a woman of fortune and fashion, they had various\u003cbr /\u003emasters to attend them, and a sort of menial governess to watch\u003cbr /\u003etheir footsteps. From their masters they learned how tables,\u003cbr /\u003echairs, etc. were called in French and Italian; but as the few\u003cbr /\u003ebooks thrown in their way were far above their capacities, or\u003cbr /\u003edevotional, they neither acquired ideas nor sentiments, and passed\u003cbr /\u003etheir time, when not compelled to repeat WORDS, in dressing,\u003cbr /\u003equarrelling with each other, or conversing with their maids by\u003cbr /\u003estealth, till they were brought into company as marriageable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTheir mother, a widow, was busy in the mean time in keeping up her\u003cbr /\u003econnexions, as she termed a numerous acquaintance lest her girls\u003cbr /\u003eshould want a proper introduction into the great world. And these\u003cbr /\u003eyoung ladies, with minds vulgar in every sense of the word, and\u003cbr /\u003espoiled tempers, entered life puffed up with notions of their own\u003cbr /\u003econsequence, and looking down with contempt on those who could not\u003cbr /\u003evie with them in dress and parade.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith respect to love, nature, or their nurses, had taken care to\u003cbr /\u003eteach them the physical meaning of the word; and, as they had few\u003cbr /\u003etopics of conversation, and fewer refinements of sentiment, they\u003cbr /\u003eexpressed their gross wishes not in very delicate phrases, when\u003cbr /\u003ethey spoke freely, talking of matrimony.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eCould these girls have been injured by the perusal of novels? I\u003cbr /\u003ealmost forgot a shade in the character of one of them; she affected\u003cbr /\u003ea simplicity bordering on folly, and with a simper would utter the\u003cbr /\u003emost immodest remarks and questions, the full meaning of which she\u003cbr /\u003ehad learned whilst secluded from the world, and afraid to speak in\u003cbr /\u003eher mother\u0026#39;s presence, who governed with a high hand; they were\u003cbr /\u003eall educated, as she prided herself, in a most exemplary manner;\u003cbr /\u003eand read their chapters and psalms before breakfast, never touching\u003cbr /\u003ea silly novel.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis is only one instance; but I recollect many other women who,\u003cbr /\u003enot led by degrees to proper studies, and not permitted to choose\u003cbr /\u003efor themselves, have indeed been overgrown children; or have\u003cbr /\u003eobtained, by mixing in the world, a little of what is termed common\u003cbr /\u003esense; that is, a distinct manner of seeing common occurrences, as\u003cbr /\u003ethey stand detached: but what deserves the name of intellect, the\u003cbr /\u003epower of gaining general or abstract ideas, or even intermediate\u003cbr /\u003eones, was out of the question. Their minds were quiescent, and\u003cbr /\u003ewhen they were not roused by sensible objects and employments of\u003cbr /\u003ethat kind, they were low-spirited, would cry, or go to sleep.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWhen, therefore, I advise my sex not to read such flimsy works, it\u003cbr /\u003eis to induce them to read something superior; for I coincide in\u003cbr /\u003eopinion with a sagacious man, who, having a daughter and niece\u003cbr /\u003eunder his care, pursued a very different plan with each.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe niece, who had considerable abilities, had, before she was left\u003cbr /\u003eto his guardianship, been indulged in desultory reading. Her he\u003cbr /\u003eendeavoured to lead, and did lead, to history and moral essays; but\u003cbr /\u003ehis daughter whom a fond weak mother had indulged, and who\u003cbr /\u003econsequently was averse to every thing like application, he allowed\u003cbr /\u003eto read novels; and used to justify his conduct by saying, that if\u003cbr /\u003eshe ever attained a relish for reading them, he should have some\u003cbr /\u003efoundation to work upon; and that erroneous opinions were better\u003cbr /\u003ethan none at all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn fact, the female mind has been so totally neglected, that\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge was only to be acquired from this muddy source, till from\u003cbr /\u003ereading novels some women of superior talents learned to despise\u003cbr /\u003ethem.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe best method, I believe, that can be adopted to correct a\u003cbr /\u003efondness for novels is to ridicule them; not indiscriminately, for\u003cbr /\u003ethen it would have little effect; but, if a judicious person, with\u003cbr /\u003esome turn for humour, would read several to a young girl, and point\u003cbr /\u003eout, both by tones and apt comparisons with pathetic incidents and\u003cbr /\u003eheroic characters in history, how foolishly and ridiculously they\u003cbr /\u003ecaricatured human nature, just opinions might be substituted\u003cbr /\u003einstead of romantic sentiments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn one respect, however, the majority of both sexes resemble, and\u003cbr /\u003eequally show a want of taste and modesty. Ignorant women, forced\u003cbr /\u003eto be chaste to preserve their reputation, allow their imagination\u003cbr /\u003eto revel in the unnatural and meretricious scenes sketched by the\u003cbr /\u003enovel writers of the day, slighting as insipid the sober dignity\u003cbr /\u003eand matronly grace of history,* whilst men carry the same vitiated\u003cbr /\u003etaste into life, and fly for amusement to the wanton, from the\u003cbr /\u003eunsophisticated charms of virtue, and the grave respectability of\u003cbr /\u003esense.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e(*Footnote. I am not now alluding to that superiority of mind\u003cbr /\u003ewhich leads to the creation of ideal beauty, when life surveyed\u003cbr /\u003ewith a penetrating eye, appears a tragi-comedy, in which little can\u003cbr /\u003ebe seen to satisfy the heart without the help of fancy.)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, the reading of novels makes women, and particularly ladies\u003cbr /\u003eof fashion, very fond of using strong expressions and superlatives\u003cbr /\u003ein conversation; and, though the dissipated artificial life which\u003cbr /\u003ethey lead prevents their cherishing any strong legitimate passion,\u003cbr /\u003ethe language of passion in affected tones slips for ever from their\u003cbr /\u003eglib tongues, and every trifle produces those phosphoric bursts\u003cbr /\u003ewhich only mimick in the dark the flame of passion.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 13.3.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIgnorance and the mistaken cunning that nature sharpens in weak\u003cbr /\u003eheads, as a principle of self-preservation, render women very fond\u003cbr /\u003eof dress, and produce all the vanity which such a fondness may\u003cbr /\u003enaturally be expected to generate, to the exclusion of emulation\u003cbr /\u003eand magnanimity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI agree with Rousseau, that the physical part of the art of\u003cbr /\u003epleasing consists in ornaments, and for that very reason I should\u003cbr /\u003eguard girls against the contagious fondness for dress so common to\u003cbr /\u003eweak women, that they may not rest in the physical part. Yet, weak\u003cbr /\u003eare the women who imagine that they can long please without the aid\u003cbr /\u003eof the mind; or, in other words, without the moral art of pleasing.\u003cbr /\u003eBut the moral art, if it be not a profanation to use the word art,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen alluding to the grace which is an effect of virtue, and not\u003cbr /\u003ethe motive of action, is never to be found with ignorance; the\u003cbr /\u003esportiveness of innocence, so pleasing to refined libertines of\u003cbr /\u003eboth sexes, is widely different in its essence from this superior\u003cbr /\u003egracefulness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eA strong inclination for external ornaments ever appears in\u003cbr /\u003ebarbarous states, only the men not the women adorn themselves; for\u003cbr /\u003ewhere women are allowed to be so far on a level with men, society\u003cbr /\u003ehas advanced at least one step in civilization.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe attention to dress, therefore, which has been thought a sexual\u003cbr /\u003epropensity, I think natural to mankind. But I ought to express\u003cbr /\u003emyself with more precision. When the mind is not sufficiently\u003cbr /\u003eopened to take pleasure in reflection, the body will be adorned\u003cbr /\u003ewith sedulous care; and ambition will appear in tattooing or\u003cbr /\u003epainting it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSo far is the first inclination carried, that even the hellish yoke\u003cbr /\u003eof slavery cannot stifle the savage desire of admiration which the\u003cbr /\u003eblack heroes inherit from both their parents, for all the\u003cbr /\u003ehardly-earned savings of a slave are commonly expended in a little\u003cbr /\u003etawdry finery. And I have seldom known a good male or female\u003cbr /\u003eservant that was not particularly fond of dress. Their clothes\u003cbr /\u003ewere their riches; and I argue from analogy, that the fondness for\u003cbr /\u003edress, so extravagant in females, arises from the same cause–want\u003cbr /\u003eof cultivation of mind. When men meet they converse about\u003cbr /\u003ebusiness, politics, or literature; but, says Swift, \u0026quot;how naturally\u003cbr /\u003edo women apply their hands to each others lappets and ruffles.\u0026quot;\u003cbr /\u003eAnd very natural it is–for they have not any business to interest\u003cbr /\u003ethem, have not a taste for literature, and they find politics dry,\u003cbr /\u003ebecause they have not acquired a love for mankind by turning their\u003cbr /\u003ethoughts to the grand pursuits that exalt the human race and\u003cbr /\u003epromote general happiness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, various are the paths to power and fame, which by accident\u003cbr /\u003eor choice men pursue, and though they jostle against each other,\u003cbr /\u003efor men of the same profession are seldom friends, yet there is a\u003cbr /\u003emuch greater number of their fellow-creatures with whom they never\u003cbr /\u003eclash. But women are very differently situated with respect to\u003cbr /\u003eeach other–for they are all rivals.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBefore marriage it is their business to please men; and after, with\u003cbr /\u003ea few exceptions, they follow the same scent, with all the\u003cbr /\u003epersevering pertinacity of instinct. Even virtuous women never\u003cbr /\u003eforget their sex in company, for they are for ever trying to make\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves AGREEABLE. A female beauty and a male wit, appear to be\u003cbr /\u003eequally anxious to draw the attention of the company to themselves;\u003cbr /\u003eand the animosity of contemporary wits is proverbial.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIs it then surprising, that when the sole ambition of woman centres\u003cbr /\u003ein beauty, and interest gives vanity additional force, perpetual\u003cbr /\u003erivalships should ensue? They are all running the same race, and\u003cbr /\u003ewould rise above the virtue of mortals if they did not view each\u003cbr /\u003eother with a suspicious and even envious eye.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAn immoderate fondness for dress, for pleasure and for sway, are\u003cbr /\u003ethe passions of savages; the passions that occupy those uncivilized\u003cbr /\u003ebeings who have not yet extended the dominion of the mind, or even\u003cbr /\u003elearned to think with the energy necessary to concatenate that\u003cbr /\u003eabstract train of thought which produces principles. And that\u003cbr /\u003ewomen, from their education and the present state of civilized\u003cbr /\u003elife, are in the same condition, cannot, I think, be controverted.\u003cbr /\u003eTo laugh at them then, or satirize the follies of a being who is\u003cbr /\u003enever to be allowed to act freely from the light of her own reason,\u003cbr /\u003eis as absurd as cruel; for that they who are taught blindly to obey\u003cbr /\u003eauthority, will endeavour cunningly to elude it, is most natural\u003cbr /\u003eand certain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eYet let it be proved, that they ought to obey man implicitly, and I\u003cbr /\u003eshall immediately agree that it is woman\u0026#39;s duty to cultivate a\u003cbr /\u003efondness for dress, in order to please, and a propensity to cunning\u003cbr /\u003efor her own preservation.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe virtues, however, which are supported by ignorance, must ever\u003cbr /\u003ebe wavering–the house built on sand could not endure a storm. It\u003cbr /\u003eis almost unnecessary to draw the inference. If women are to be\u003cbr /\u003emade virtuous by authority, which is a contradiction in terms, let\u003cbr /\u003ethem be immured in seraglios and watched with a jealous eye. Fear\u003cbr /\u003enot that the iron will enter into their souls–for the souls that\u003cbr /\u003ecan bear such treatment are made of yielding materials, just\u003cbr /\u003eanimated enough to give life to the body.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;Matter too soft a lasting mark to bear,\u003cbr /\u003eAnd best distinguish\u0026#39;d by black, brown, or fair.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe most cruel wounds will of course soon heal, and they may still\u003cbr /\u003epeople the world, and dress to please man–all the purposes which\u003cbr /\u003ecertain celebrated writers have allowed that they were created to\u003cbr /\u003efill.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 13.4.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eWomen are supposed to possess more sensibility, and even humanity,\u003cbr /\u003ethan men, and their strong attachments and instantaneous emotions\u003cbr /\u003eof compassion are given as proofs; but the clinging affection of\u003cbr /\u003eignorance has seldom any thing noble in it, and may mostly be\u003cbr /\u003eresolved into selfishness, as well as the affection of children and\u003cbr /\u003ebrutes. I have known many weak women whose sensibility was\u003cbr /\u003eentirely engrossed by their husbands; and as for their humanity, it\u003cbr /\u003ewas very faint indeed, or rather it was only a transient emotion of\u003cbr /\u003ecompassion, \u0026quot;Humanity does not consist in a squeamish ear,\u0026quot; says\u003cbr /\u003ean eminent orator. \u0026quot;It belongs to the mind as well as the nerves.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut this kind of exclusive affection, though it degrade the\u003cbr /\u003eindividual, should not be brought forward as a proof of the\u003cbr /\u003einferiority of the sex, because it is the natural consequence of\u003cbr /\u003econfined views: for even women of superior sense, having their\u003cbr /\u003eattention turned to little employments, and private plans, rarely\u003cbr /\u003erise to heroism, unless when spurred on by love; and love as an\u003cbr /\u003eheroic passion, like genius, appears but once in an age. I\u003cbr /\u003etherefore agree with the moralist who asserts, \u0026quot;that women have\u003cbr /\u003eseldom so much generosity as men;\u0026quot; and that their narrow\u003cbr /\u003eaffections, to which justice and humanity are often sacrificed,\u003cbr /\u003erender the sex apparently inferior, especially as they are commonly\u003cbr /\u003einspired by men; but I contend, that the heart would expand as the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding gained strength, if women were not depressed from\u003cbr /\u003etheir cradles.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI know that a little sensibility and great weakness will produce a\u003cbr /\u003estrong sexual attachment, and that reason must cement friendship;\u003cbr /\u003econsequently I allow, that more friendship is to be found in the\u003cbr /\u003emale than the female world, and that men have a higher sense of\u003cbr /\u003ejustice. The exclusive affections of women seem indeed to resemble\u003cbr /\u003eCato\u0026#39;s most unjust love for his country. He wished to crush\u003cbr /\u003eCarthage, not to save Rome, but to promote its vain glory; and in\u003cbr /\u003egeneral, it is to similar principles that humanity is sacrificed,\u003cbr /\u003efor genuine duties support each other.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBesides, how can women be just or generous, when they are the\u003cbr /\u003eslaves of injustice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 13.5.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs the rearing of children, that is, the laying a foundation of\u003cbr /\u003esound health both of body and mind in the rising generation, has\u003cbr /\u003ejustly been insisted on as the peculiar destination of woman, the\u003cbr /\u003eignorance that incapacitates them must be contrary to the order of\u003cbr /\u003ethings. And I contend, that their minds can take in much more, and\u003cbr /\u003eought to do so, or they will never become sensible mothers. Many\u003cbr /\u003emen attend to the breeding of horses, and overlook the management\u003cbr /\u003eof the stable, who would, strange want of sense and feeling! think\u003cbr /\u003ethemselves degraded by paying any attention to the nursery; yet,\u003cbr /\u003ehow many children are absolutely murdered by the ignorance of\u003cbr /\u003ewomen! But when they escape, and are neither destroyed by\u003cbr /\u003eunnatural negligence nor blind fondness, how few are managed\u003cbr /\u003eproperly with respect to the infant mind! So that to break the\u003cbr /\u003espirit, allowed to become vicious at home, a child is sent to\u003cbr /\u003eschool; and the methods taken there, which must be taken to keep a\u003cbr /\u003enumber of children in order, scatter the seeds of almost every vice\u003cbr /\u003ein the soil thus forcibly torn up.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have sometimes compared the struggles of these poor children who\u003cbr /\u003eought never to have felt restraint, nor would, had they been always\u003cbr /\u003eheld in with an even hand, to the despairing plunges of a spirited\u003cbr /\u003efilly, which I have seen breaking on a strand; its feet sinking\u003cbr /\u003edeeper and deeper in the sand every time it endeavoured to throw\u003cbr /\u003eits rider, till at last it sullenly submitted.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eI have always found horses, an animal I am attached to, very\u003cbr /\u003etractable when treated with humanity and steadiness, so that I\u003cbr /\u003edoubt whether the violent methods taken to break them, do not\u003cbr /\u003eessentially injure them; I am, however, certain that a child should\u003cbr /\u003enever be thus forcibly tamed after it has injudiciously been\u003cbr /\u003eallowed to run wild; for every violation of justice and reason, in\u003cbr /\u003ethe treatment of children, weakens their reason. And, so early do\u003cbr /\u003ethey catch a character, that the base of the moral character,\u003cbr /\u003eexperience leads me to infer, is fixed before their seventh year,\u003cbr /\u003ethe period during which women are allowed the sole management of\u003cbr /\u003echildren. Afterwards it too often happens that half the business\u003cbr /\u003eof education is to correct, and very imperfectly is it done, if\u003cbr /\u003edone hastily, the faults, which they would never have acquired if\u003cbr /\u003etheir mothers had had more understanding.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eOne striking instance of the folly of women must not be omitted.\u003cbr /\u003eThe manner in which they treat servants in the presence of\u003cbr /\u003echildren, permitting them to suppose, that they ought to wait on\u003cbr /\u003ethem, and bear their humours. A child should always be made to\u003cbr /\u003ereceive assistance from a man or woman as a favour; and, as the\u003cbr /\u003efirst lesson of independence, they should practically be taught, by\u003cbr /\u003ethe example of their mother, not to require that personal\u003cbr /\u003eattendance which it is an insult to humanity to require, when in\u003cbr /\u003ehealth; and instead of being led to assume airs of consequence, a\u003cbr /\u003esense of their own weakness should first make them feel the natural\u003cbr /\u003eequality of man. Yet, how frequently have I indignantly heard\u003cbr /\u003eservants imperiously called to put children to bed, and sent away\u003cbr /\u003eagain and again, because master or miss hung about mamma, to stay a\u003cbr /\u003elittle longer. Thus made slavishly to attend the little idol, all\u003cbr /\u003ethose most disgusting humours were exhibited which characterize a\u003cbr /\u003espoiled child.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn short, speaking of the majority of mothers, they leave their\u003cbr /\u003echildren entirely to the care of servants: or, because they are\u003cbr /\u003etheir children, treat them as if they were little demi-gods, though\u003cbr /\u003eI have always observed, that the women who thus idolize their\u003cbr /\u003echildren, seldom show common humanity to servants, or feel the\u003cbr /\u003eleast tenderness for any children but their own.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is, however, these exclusive affections, and an individual\u003cbr /\u003emanner of seeing things, produced by ignorance, which keep women\u003cbr /\u003efor ever at a stand, with respect to improvement, and make many of\u003cbr /\u003ethem dedicate their lives to their children only to weaken their\u003cbr /\u003ebodies and spoil their tempers, frustrating also any plan of\u003cbr /\u003eeducation that a more rational father may adopt; for unless a\u003cbr /\u003emother concurs, the father who restrains will ever be considered as\u003cbr /\u003ea tyrant.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, fulfilling the duties of a mother, a woman with a sound\u003cbr /\u003econstitution, may still keep her person scrupulously neat, and\u003cbr /\u003eassist to maintain her family, if necessary, or by reading and\u003cbr /\u003econversations with both sexes, indiscriminately, improve her mind.\u003cbr /\u003eFor nature has so wisely ordered things, that did women suckle\u003cbr /\u003etheir children, they would preserve their own health, and there\u003cbr /\u003ewould be such an interval between the birth of each child, that we\u003cbr /\u003eshould seldom see a house full of babes. And did they pursue a\u003cbr /\u003eplan of conduct, and not waste their time in following the\u003cbr /\u003efashionable vagaries of dress, the management of their household\u003cbr /\u003eand children need not shut them out from literature, nor prevent\u003cbr /\u003etheir attaching themselves to a science, with that steady eye which\u003cbr /\u003estrengthens the mind, or practising one of the fine arts that\u003cbr /\u003ecultivate the taste.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, visiting to display finery, card playing, and balls, not to\u003cbr /\u003emention the idle bustle of morning trifling, draw women from their\u003cbr /\u003eduty, to render them insignificant, to render them pleasing,\u003cbr /\u003eaccording to the present acceptation of the word, to every man, but\u003cbr /\u003etheir husband. For a round of pleasures in which the affections\u003cbr /\u003eare not exercised, cannot be said to improve the understanding,\u003cbr /\u003ethough it be erroneously called seeing the world; yet the heart is\u003cbr /\u003erendered cold and averse to duty, by such a senseless intercourse,\u003cbr /\u003ewhich becomes necessary from habit, even when it has ceased to\u003cbr /\u003eamuse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBut, till more equality be established in society, till ranks are\u003cbr /\u003econfounded and women freed, we shall not see that dignified\u003cbr /\u003edomestic happiness, the simple grandeur of which cannot be relished\u003cbr /\u003eby ignorant or vitiated minds; nor will the important task of\u003cbr /\u003eeducation ever be properly begun till the person of a woman is no\u003cbr /\u003elonger preferred to her mind. For it would be as wise to expect\u003cbr /\u003ecorn from tares, or figs from thistles, as that a foolish ignorant\u003cbr /\u003ewoman should be a good mother.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSECTION 13.6.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not necessary to inform the sagacious reader, now I enter on\u003cbr /\u003emy concluding reflections, that the discussion of this subject\u003cbr /\u003emerely consists in opening a few simple principles, and clearing\u003cbr /\u003eaway the rubbish which obscured them. But, as all readers are not\u003cbr /\u003esagacious, I must be allowed to add some explanatory remarks to\u003cbr /\u003ebring the subject home to reason–to that sluggish reason, which\u003cbr /\u003esupinely takes opinions on trust, and obstinately supports them to\u003cbr /\u003espare itself the labour of thinking.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eMoralists have unanimously agreed, that unless virtue be nursed by\u003cbr /\u003eliberty, it will never attain due strength–and what they say of\u003cbr /\u003eman I extend to mankind, insisting, that in all cases morals must\u003cbr /\u003ebe fixed on immutable principles; and that the being cannot be\u003cbr /\u003etermed rational or virtuous, who obeys any authority but that of\u003cbr /\u003ereason.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eTo render women truly useful members of society, I argue, that they\u003cbr /\u003eshould be led, by having their understandings cultivated on a large\u003cbr /\u003escale, to acquire a rational affection for their country, founded\u003cbr /\u003eon knowledge, because it is obvious, that we are little interested\u003cbr /\u003eabout what we do not understand. And to render this general\u003cbr /\u003eknowledge of due importance, I have endeavoured to show that\u003cbr /\u003eprivate duties are never properly fulfilled, unless the\u003cbr /\u003eunderstanding enlarges the heart; and that public virtue is only an\u003cbr /\u003eaggregate of private. But, the distinctions established in society\u003cbr /\u003eundermine both, by beating out the solid gold of virtue, till it\u003cbr /\u003ebecomes only the tinsel-covering of vice; for, whilst wealth\u003cbr /\u003erenders a man more respectable than virtue, wealth will be sought\u003cbr /\u003ebefore virtue; and, whilst women\u0026#39;s persons are caressed, when a\u003cbr /\u003echildish simper shows an absence of mind–the mind will lie fallow.\u003cbr /\u003eYet, true voluptuousness must proceed from the mind–for what can\u003cbr /\u003eequal the sensations produced by mutual affection, supported by\u003cbr /\u003emutual respect? What are the cold or feverish caresses of\u003cbr /\u003eappetite, but sin embracing death, compared with the modest\u003cbr /\u003eoverflowings of a pure heart and exalted imagination? Yes, let me\u003cbr /\u003etell the libertine of fancy when he despises understanding in\u003cbr /\u003ewoman–that the mind, which he disregards, gives life to the\u003cbr /\u003eenthusiastic affection from which rapture, short-lived as it is,\u003cbr /\u003ealone can flow! And, that, without virtue, a sexual attachment\u003cbr /\u003emust expire, like a tallow candle in the socket, creating\u003cbr /\u003eintolerable disgust. To prove this, I need only observe, that men\u003cbr /\u003ewho have wasted great part of their lives with women, and with whom\u003cbr /\u003ethey have sought for pleasure with eager thirst, entertain the\u003cbr /\u003emeanest opinion of the sex. Virtue, true refiner of joy! if\u003cbr /\u003efoolish men were to fright thee from earth, in order to give loose\u003cbr /\u003eto all their appetites without a check–some sensual wight of taste\u003cbr /\u003ewould scale the heavens to invite thee back, to give a zest to\u003cbr /\u003epleasure!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThat women at present are by ignorance rendered foolish or vicious,\u003cbr /\u003eis, I think, not to be disputed; and, that the most salutary\u003cbr /\u003eeffects tending to improve mankind, might be expected from a\u003cbr /\u003eREVOLUTION in female manners, appears at least, with a face of\u003cbr /\u003eprobability, to rise out of the observation. For as marriage has\u003cbr /\u003ebeen termed the parent of those endearing charities, which draw man\u003cbr /\u003efrom the brutal herd, the corrupting intercourse that wealth,\u003cbr /\u003eidleness, and folly produce between the sexes, is more universally\u003cbr /\u003einjurious to morality, than all the other vices of mankind\u003cbr /\u003ecollectively considered. To adulterous lust the most sacred duties\u003cbr /\u003eare sacrificed, because, before marriage, men, by a promiscuous\u003cbr /\u003eintimacy with women, learned to consider love as a selfish\u003cbr /\u003egratification–learned to separate it not only from esteem, but\u003cbr /\u003efrom the affection merely built on habit, which mixes a little\u003cbr /\u003ehumanity with it. Justice and friendship are also set at defiance,\u003cbr /\u003eand that purity of taste is vitiated, which would naturally lead a\u003cbr /\u003eman to relish an artless display of affection, rather than affected\u003cbr /\u003eairs. But that noble simplicity of affection, which dares to\u003cbr /\u003eappear unadorned, has few attractions for the libertine, though it\u003cbr /\u003ebe the charm, which, by cementing the matrimonial tie, secures to\u003cbr /\u003ethe pledges of a warmer passion the necessary parental attention;\u003cbr /\u003efor children will never be properly educated till friendship\u003cbr /\u003esubsists between parents. Virtue flies from a house divided\u003cbr /\u003eagainst itself–and a whole legion of devils take up their\u003cbr /\u003eresidence there.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe affection of husbands and wives cannot be pure when they have\u003cbr /\u003eso few sentiments in common, and when so little confidence is\u003cbr /\u003eestablished at home, as must be the case when their pursuits are so\u003cbr /\u003edifferent. That intimacy from which tenderness should flow, will\u003cbr /\u003enot, cannot subsist between the vicious.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eContending, therefore, that the sexual distinction, which men have\u003cbr /\u003eso warmly insisted upon, is arbitrary, I have dwelt on an\u003cbr /\u003eobservation, that several sensible men, with whom I have conversed\u003cbr /\u003eon the subject, allowed to be well founded; and it is simply this,\u003cbr /\u003ethat the little chastity to be found amongst men, and consequent\u003cbr /\u003edisregard of modesty, tend to degrade both sexes; and further, that\u003cbr /\u003ethe modesty of women, characterized as such, will often be only the\u003cbr /\u003eartful veil of wantonness, instead of being the natural reflection\u003cbr /\u003eof purity, till modesty be universally respected.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;From the tyranny of man, I firmly believe, the greater number of\u003cbr /\u003efemale follies proceed; and the cunning, which I allow, makes at\u003cbr /\u003epresent a part of their character, I likewise have repeatedly\u003cbr /\u003eendeavoured to prove, is produced by oppression. Were not\u003cbr /\u003edissenters, for instance, a class of people, with strict truth\u003cbr /\u003echaracterized as cunning? And may I not lay some stress on this\u003cbr /\u003efact to prove, that when any power but reason curbs the free spirit\u003cbr /\u003eof man, dissimulation is practised, and the various shifts of art\u003cbr /\u003eare naturally called forth? Great attention to decorum, which was\u003cbr /\u003ecarried to a degree of scrupulosity, and all that puerile bustle\u003cbr /\u003eabout trifles and consequential solemnity, which Butler\u0026#39;s\u003cbr /\u003ecaricature of a dissenter brings before the imagination, shaped\u003cbr /\u003etheir persons as well as their minds in the mould of prim\u003cbr /\u003elittleness. I speak collectively, for I know how many ornaments to\u003cbr /\u003ehuman nature have been enrolled amongst sectaries; yet, I assert,\u003cbr /\u003ethat the same narrow prejudice for their sect, which women have for\u003cbr /\u003etheir families, prevailed in the dissenting part of the community,\u003cbr /\u003ehowever worthy in other respects; and also that the same timid\u003cbr /\u003eprudence, or headstrong efforts, often disgraced the exertions of\u003cbr /\u003eboth. Oppression thus formed many of the features of their\u003cbr /\u003echaracter perfectly to coincide with that of the oppressed half of\u003cbr /\u003emankind; for is it not notorious, that dissenters were like women,\u003cbr /\u003efond of deliberating together, and asking advice of each other,\u003cbr /\u003etill by a complication of little contrivances, some little end was\u003cbr /\u003ebrought about? A similar attention to preserve their reputation\u003cbr /\u003ewas conspicuous in the dissenting and female world, and was\u003cbr /\u003eproduced by a similar cause.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAsserting the rights which women in common with men ought to\u003cbr /\u003econtend for, I have not attempted to extenuate their faults; but to\u003cbr /\u003eprove them to be the natural consequence of their education and\u003cbr /\u003estation in society. If so, it is reasonable to suppose, that they\u003cbr /\u003ewill change their character, and correct their vices and follies,\u003cbr /\u003ewhen they are allowed to be free in a physical, moral, and civil\u003cbr /\u003esense.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLet woman share the rights, and she will emulate the virtues of\u003cbr /\u003eman; for she must grow more perfect when emancipated, or justify\u003cbr /\u003ethe authority that chains such a weak being to her duty. If the\u003cbr /\u003elatter, it will be expedient to open a fresh trade with Russia for\u003cbr /\u003ewhips; a present which a father should always make to his\u003cbr /\u003eson-in-law on his wedding day, that a husband may keep his whole\u003cbr /\u003efamily in order by the same means; and without any violation of\u003cbr /\u003ejustice reign, wielding this sceptre, sole master of his house,\u003cbr /\u003ebecause he is the only being in it who has reason; the divine,\u003cbr /\u003eindefeasible, earthly sovereignty breathed into man by the Master\u003cbr /\u003eof the universe. Allowing this position, women have not any\u003cbr /\u003einherent rights to claim; and, by the same rule their duties\u003cbr /\u003evanish, for rights and duties are inseparable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBe just then, O ye men of understanding! and mark not more severely\u003cbr /\u003ewhat women do amiss, than the vicious tricks of the horse or the\u003cbr /\u003eass for whom ye provide provender, and allow her the privileges of\u003cbr /\u003eignorance, to whom ye deny the rights of reason, or ye will be\u003cbr /\u003eworse than Egyptian task-masters, expecting virtue where nature has\u003cbr /\u003enot given understanding!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/article\u003e"}],"SectionSequence":["Back Link","Work Title","Deck","Author","Period","Era","Composition","Date Note","Region","Terra Avita","Terra Avita Region","Modern Country","Original Title","Language","Primary Discipline","Secondary Discipline","Tradition","Full Versions","Core Thesis","Classification","Arguments","Influence","Significance","Evidence Note","Full Text"],"Counts":{"ContextCards":3,"GeoCards":4,"DisciplineCards":2,"Links":11,"Sections":25,"Styles":3,"Scripts":1}}