textfiles/etext/NONFICTION/rights

                                      1792
                       VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN
                             by Mary Wollstonecraft
DEDICATION
                           To
                  M. Talleyrand-Perigord,
                   Late Bishop Of Autun.

  Sir,
  Having read with great pleasure a pamphlet which you have lately
published, I dedicate this volume to you; to induce you to reconsider
the subject, and maturely weigh what I have advanced respecting the
rights of woman and national education: and I call with the firm tone
of humanity; for my arguments, Sir, are dictated by a disinterested
spirit- I plead for my sex- not for myself. Independence I have long
considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue-
and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though
I were to live on a barren heath.
  It is then an affection for the whole human race that makes my pen
dart rapidly along to support what I believe to be the cause of
virtue: and the same motive leads me earnestly to wish to see woman
placed in a station in which she would advance, instead of retarding,
the progress of those glorious principles that give a substance to
morality. My opinion, indeed, respecting the rights and duties of
woman, seems to flow so naturally from these simple principles, that
I think it scarcely possible, but that some of the enlarged minds who
formed your admirable constitution, will coincide with me.
  In France there is undoubtedly a more general diffusion of knowledge
than in any part of the European world, and I attribute it, in a great
measure, to the social intercourse which has long subsisted between
the sexes. It is true, I utter my sentiments with freedom, that in
France the very essence of sensuality has been extracted to regale the
voluptuary, and a kind of sentimental lust has prevailed, which,
together with the system of duplicity that the whole tenour of their
political and civil government taught, have given a sinister sort of
sagacity to the French character, properly termed finesse; from
which naturally flow a polish of manners that injures the substance,
by hunting sincerity out of society.- And, modesty, the fairest garb
of virtue! has been more grossly insulted in France than even in
England, till their women have treated as prudish that attention to
decency, which brutes instinctively observe.
  Manners and morals are so nearly allied that they have often been
confounded; but, though the former should only be the natural
reflection of the latter, yet, when various causes have produced
factitious and corrupt manners, which are very early caught, morality
becomes an empty name. The personal reserve, and sacred respect for
cleanliness and delicacy in domestic life, which French women almost
despise, are the graceful pillars of modesty; but, far from despising
them, if the pure flame of patriotism have reached their bosoms, they
should labour to improve the morals of their fellow-citizens, by
teaching men, not only to respect modesty in women, but to acquire it
themselves, as the only way to merit their esteem.
  Contending for the rights of woman, my main argument is built on
this simple principle, that if she be not prepared by education to
become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of knowledge
and virtue; for truth must be common to all, or it will be
inefficacious with respect to its influence on general practice. And
how can woman be expected to co-operate unless she know why she
ought to be virtuous? unless freedom strengthen her reason till she
comprehend her duty, and see in what manner it is connected with her
real good? If children are to be educated to understand the true
principle of patriotism, their mother must be a patriot; and the
love of mankind, from which an orderly train of virtues spring, can
only be produced by considering the moral and civil interest of
mankind; but the education and situation of woman, at present, shuts
her out from such investigations.
  In this work I have produced many arguments, which to me were
conclusive, to prove that the prevailing notion respecting a sexual
character was subversive of morality, and I have contended, that to
render the human body and mind more perfect, chastity must more
universally prevail, and that chastity will never be respected in
the male world till the person of a woman is not, as it were,
idolized, when little virtue or sense embellish it with the grand
traces of mental beauty, or the interesting simplicity of affection.
  Consider, Sir, dispassionately, these observations-  for a glimpse
of this truth seemed to open before you when you observed, 'that to
see one half of the human race excluded by the other from all
participation of government, was a political phaenomenon that,
according to abstract principles, it was impossible to explain.' If
so, on what does your constitution rest? If the abstract rights of man
will bear discussion and explanation, those of woman, by a parity of
reasoning, will not shrink from the same test: though a different
opinion prevails in this country, built on the very arguments which
you use to justify the oppression of woman- prescription.
  Consider, I address you as a legislator, whether, when men contend
for their freedom, and to be allowed to judge for themselves
respecting their own happiness, it be not inconsistent and unjust to
subjugate women, even though you firmly believe that you are acting in
the manner best calculated to promote their happiness? Who made man
the exclusive judge, if woman partake with him the gift of reason?
  In this style, argue tyrants of every denomination, from the weak
king to the weak father of a family; they are all eager to crush
reason; yet always assert that they usurp its throne only to be
useful. Do you not act a similar part, when you force all women, by
denying them civil and political rights, to remain immured in their
families groping in the dark? for surely, Sir, you will not assert,
that a duty can be binding which is not founded on reason? If indeed
this be their destination, arguments may be drawn from reason: and
thus augustly supported, the more understanding women acquire, the
more they will be attached to their duty- comprehending it- for unless
they comprehend it, unless their morals be fixed on the same immutable
principle as those of man, no authority can make them discharge it
in a virtuous manner. They may be convenient slaves, but slavery
will have its constant effect, degrading the master and the abject
dependent.
  But, if women are to be excluded, without having a voice, from a
participation of the natural rights of mankind, prove first, to ward
off the charge of injustice and inconsistency, that they want
reason- else this flaw in your NEW CONSTITUTION will ever shew that
man must, in some shape, act like a tyrant, and tyranny, in whatever
part of society it rears its brazen front, will ever undermine
morality.
  I have repeatedly asserted, and produced what appeared to me
irrefragable arguments drawn from matters of fact, to prove my
assertion, that women cannot, by force, be confined to domestic
concerns; for they will, however ignorant, intermeddle with more
weighty affairs, neglecting private duties only to disturb, by cunning
tricks, the orderly plans of reason which rise above their
comprehension.
  Besides, whilst they are only made to acquire personal
accomplishments, men will seek for pleasure in variety, and
faithless husbands will make faithless wives; such ignorant beings,
indeed, will be very excusable when, not taught to respect public
good, nor allowed any civil rights, they attempt to do themselves
justice by retaliation.
  The box of mischief thus opened in society, what is to preserve
private virtue, the only security of public freedom and universal
happiness?
  Let there be then no coercion established in society, and the common
law of gravity prevailing, the sexes will fall into their proper
places. And, now that more equitable laws are forming your citizens,
marriage may become more sacred: your young men may choose wives
from motives of affection, and your maidens allow love to root out
vanity.
  The father of a family will not then weaken his constitution and
debase his sentiments, by visiting the harlot, nor forget, in
obeying the call of appetite, the purpose for which it was
implanted. And, the mother will not neglect her children to practise
the arts of coquetry, when sense and modesty secure her the friendship
of her husband.
  But, till men become attentive to the duty of a father, it is vain
to expect women to spend that time in their nursery which they,
'wise in their generation,' choose to spend at their glass; for this
exertion of cunning is only an instinct of nature to enable them to
obtain indirectly a little of that power of which they are unjustly
denied a share: for, if women are not permitted to enjoy legitimate
rights, they will render both men and themselves vicious, to obtain
illicit privileges.
  I wish, Sir, to set some investigations of this kind afloat in
France; and should they lead to a confirmation of my principles,
when your constitution is revised the Rights of Woman may be
respected, if it be fully proved that reason calls for this respect,
and loudly demands JUSTICE for one half of the human race.
                                             I am Sir,
                                                 Your's respectfully,
                                                                M. W.
ADVERTISEMENT
                     Advertisement.

  When I began to write this work, I divided it into three parts,
supposing that one volume would contain a full discussion of the
arguments which seemed to me to rise naturally from a few simple
principles; but fresh illustrations occurring as I advanced, I now
present only the first part to the public.
  Many subjects, however, which I have cursorily alluded to, call
for particular investigation, especially the laws relative to women,
and the consideration of their peculiar duties. These will furnish
ample matter for a second volume,* which in due time will be
published, to elucidate some of the sentiments, and complete many of
the sketches begun in the first.

  * The second volume was never published, and so far as is known,
it was never written.- Ed.
INTRODUCTION
                     Introduction.

  After considering the historic page, and viewing the living world
with anxious solicitude, the most melancholy emotions of sorrowful
indignation have depressed my spirits, and I have sighed when
obliged to confess, that either nature has made a great difference
between man and man, or that the civilization which has hitherto taken
place in the world has been very partial. I have turned over various
books written on the subject of education, and patiently observed
the conduct of parents and the management of schools; but what has
been the result?- a profound conviction that the neglected education
of my fellow-creatures is the grand source of the misery I deplore;
and that women, in particular, are rendered weak and wretched by a
variety of concurring causes, originating from one hasty conclusion.
The conduct and manners of women, in fact, evidently prove that
their minds are not in a healthy state; for, like the flowers which
are planted in too rich a soil, strength and usefulness are sacrificed
to beauty; and the flaunting leaves, after having pleased a fastidious
eye, fade, disregarded on the stalk, long before the season when
they ought to have arrived at maturity.- One cause of this barren
blooming I attribute to a false system of education, gathered from the
books written on this subject by men who, considering females rather
as women than human creatures, have been more anxious to make them
alluring mistresses than affectionate wives and rational mothers;
and the understanding of the sex has been so bubbled by this
specious homage, that the civilized women of the present century, with
a few exceptions, are only anxious to inspire love, when they ought to
cherish a nobler ambition, and by their abilities and virtues exact
respect.
  In a treatise, therefore, on female rights and manners, the works
which have been particularly written for their improvement must not be
overlooked; especially when it is asserted, in direct terms, that
the minds of women are enfeebled by false refinement; that the books
of instruction, written by men of genius, have had the same tendency
as more frivolous productions; and that, in the true style of
Mahometanism, they are treated as a kind of subordinate beings, and
not as a part of the human species, when improveable reason is allowed
to be the dignified distinction which raises men above the brute
creation, and puts a natural sceptre in a feeble hand.
  Yet, because I am a woman, I would not lead my readers to suppose
that I mean violently to agitate the contested question respecting the
equality or inferiority of the sex; but as the subject lies in my way,
and I cannot pass it over without subjecting the main tendency of my
reasoning to misconstruction, I shall stop a moment to deliver, in a
few words, my opinion.- In the government of the physical world it
is observable that the female in point of strength is, in general,
inferior to the male. This is the law of nature; and it does not
appear to be suspended or abrogated in favour of woman. A degree of
physical superiority cannot, therefore, be denied- and it is a noble
prerogative! But not content with this natural pre-eminence, men
endeavour to sink us still lower, merely to render us alluring objects
for a moment; and women, intoxicated by the adoration which men, under
the influence of their senses, pay them, do not seek to obtain a
durable interest in their hearts, or to become the friends of the
fellow creatures who find amusement in their society.
  I am aware of an obvious inference:- from every quarter have I heard
exclamations against masculine women; but where are they to be
found? If by this appellation men mean to inveigh against their ardour
in hunting, shooting, and gaming, I shall most cordially join in the
cry; but if it be against the imitation of manly virtues, or, more
properly speaking, the attainment of those talents and virtues, the
exercise of which ennobles the human character, and which raise
females in the scale of animal being, when they are comprehensively
termed mankind;- all those who view them with a philosophic eye
must, I should think, wish with me, that they may every day grow
more and more masculine.
  This discussion naturally divides the subject. I shall first
consider women in the grand light of human creatures, who, in common
with men, are placed on this earth to unfold their faculties; and
afterwards I shall more particularly point out their peculiar
designation.
  I wish also to steer clear of an error which many respectable
writers have fallen into; for the instruction which has hitherto
been addressed to women, has rather been applicable to ladies, if
the little indirect advice, that is scattered through Sandford and
Merton, be excepted; but, addressing my sex in a firmer tone, I pay
particular attention to those in the middle class, because they appear
to be in the most natural state. Perhaps the seeds of
false-refinement, immorality, and vanity, have ever been shed by the
great. Weak, artificial beings, raised above the common wants and
affections of their race, in a premature unnatural manner, undermine
the very foundation of virtue, and spread corruption through the whole
mass of society! As a class of mankind they have the strongest claim
to pity; the education of the rich tends to render them vain and
helpless, and the unfolding mind is not strengthened by the practice
of those duties which dignify the human character.- They only live
to amuse themselves, and by the same law which in nature invariably
produces certain effects, they soon only afford barren amusement.
  But as I purpose taking a separate view of the different ranks of
society, and of the moral character of women, in each, this hint is,
for the present, sufficient; and I have only alluded to the subject,
because it appears to me to be the very essence of an introduction
to give a cursory account of the contents of the work it introduces.
  My own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them like rational
creatures, instead of flattering their fascinating graces, and viewing
them as if they were in a state of perpetual childhood, unable to
stand alone. I earnestly wish to point out in what true dignity and
human happiness consists- I wish to persuade women to endeavour to
acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to convince them that the
soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and
refinement of taste, are almost synonymous with epithets of
weakness, and that those beings who are only the objects of pity and
that kind of love, which has been termed its sister, will soon
become objects of contempt.
  Dismissing then those pretty feminine phrases, which the men
condescendingly use to soften our slavish dependence, and despising
that weak elegancy of mind, exquisite sensibility, and sweet
docility of manners, supposed to be the sexual characteristics of
the weaker vessel, I wish to shew that elegance is inferior to virtue,
that the first object of laudable ambition is to obtain a character as
a human being, regardless of the distinction of sex; and that
secondary views should be brought to this simple touchstone.
  This is a rough sketch of my plan; and should I express my
conviction with the energetic emotions that I feel whenever I think of
the subject, the dictates of experience and reflection will be felt by
some of my readers. Animated by this important object, I shall disdain
to cull my phrases or polish my style;- I aim at being useful, and
sincerity will render me unaffected; for, wishing rather to persuade
by the force of my arguments, than dazzle by the elegance of my
language, I shall not waste my time in rounding periods, or in
fabricating the turgid bombast of artificial feelings, which, coming
from the head, never reach the heart.- I shall be employed about
things, not words!- and, anxious to render my sex more respectable
members of society, I shall try to avoid that flowery diction which
has slided from essays into novels, and from novels into familiar
letters and conversation.
  These pretty superlatives, dropping glibly from the tongue,
vitiate the taste, and create a kind of sickly delicacy that turns
away from simple unadorned truth; and a deluge of false sentiments and
over-stretched feelings, stifling the natural emotions of the heart,
render the domestic pleasures insipid, that ought to sweeten the
exercise of those severe duties, which educate a rational and immortal
being for a nobler field of action.
  The education of women has, of late, been more attended to than
formerly; yet they are still reckoned a frivolous sex, and ridiculed
or pitied by the writers who endeavour by satire or instruction to
improve them. It is acknowledged that they spend many of the first
years of their lives in acquiring a smattering of accomplishments;
meanwhile strength of body and mind are sacrificed to libertine
notions of beauty, to the desire of establishing themselves,- the only
way women can rise in the world,- by marriage. And this desire
making mere animals of them, when they marry they act as such children
may be expected to act:- they dress; they paint, and nickname God's
creatures.- Surely these weak beings are only fit for a seraglio!- Can
they be expected to govern a family with judgment, or take care of the
poor babes whom they bring into the world?
  If then it can be fairly deduced from the present conduct of the
sex, from the prevalent fondness for pleasure which takes place of
ambition and those nobler passions that open and enlarge the soul;
that the instruction which women have hitherto received has only
tended, with the constitution of civil society, to render them
insignificant objects of desire- mere propagators of fools!- if it can
be proved that in aiming to accomplish them, without cultivating their
understandings, they are taken out of their sphere of duties, and made
ridiculous and useless when the short-lived bloom of beauty is
over,* I presume that rational men will excuse me for endeavouring
to persuade them to become more masculine and respectable.

  * A lively writer, I cannot recollect his name, asks what business
women turned of forty have to do in the world?

  Indeed the word masculine is only a bugbear: there is little
reason to fear that women will acquire too much courage or
fortitude; for their apparent inferiority with respect to bodily
strength, must render them, in some degree, dependent on men in the
various relations of life; but why should it be increased by
prejudices that give a sex to virtue, and confound simple truths
with sensual reveries?
  Women are, in fact, so much degraded by mistaken notions of female
excellence, that I do not mean to add a paradox when I assert, that
this artificial weakness produces a propensity to tyrannize, and gives
birth to cunning, the natural opponent of strength, which leads them
to play off those contemptible infantine airs that undermine esteem
even whilst they excite desire. Let men become more chaste and modest,
and if women do not grow wiser in the same ratio, it will be clear
that they have weaker understandings. It seems scarcely necessary to
say, that I now speak of the sex in general. Many individuals have
more sense than their male relatives; and, as nothing preponderates
where there is a constant struggle for an equilibrium, without it
has naturally more gravity, some women govern their husbands without
degrading themselves, because intellect will always govern.
                        Chap. I.
    The Rights and Involved Duties of Mankind Considered.

  In the present state of society it appears necessary to go back to
first principles in search of the most simple truths, and to dispute
with some prevailing prejudice every inch of ground. To clear my
way, I must be allowed to ask some plain questions, and the answers
will probably appear as unequivocal as the axioms on which reasoning
is built; though, when entangled with various motives of action,
they are formally contradicted, either by the words or conduct of men.
  In what does man's pre-eminence over the brute creation consist? The
answer is as clear as that a half is less than the whole; in Reason.
  What acquirement exalts one being above another? Virtue; we
spontaneously reply.
  For what purpose were the passions implanted? That man by struggling
with them might attain a degree of knowledge denied to the brutes;
whispers Experience.
  Consequently the perfection of our nature and capability of
happiness, must be estimated by the degree of reason, virtue, and
knowledge, that distinguish the individual, and direct the laws
which bind society: and that from the exercise of reason, knowledge
and virtue naturally flow, is equally undeniable, if mankind be viewed
collectively.
  The rights and duties of man thus simplified, it seems almost
impertinent to attempt to illustrate truths that appear so
incontrovertible; yet such deeply rooted prejudices have clouded
reason, and such spurious qualities have assumed the name of
virtues, that it is necessary to pursue the course of reason as it has
been perplexed and involved in error, by various adventitious
circumstances, comparing the simple axiom with casual deviations.
  Men, in general, seem to employ their reason to justify
prejudices, which they have imbibed, they can scarcely trace how,
rather than to root them out. The mind must be strong that
resolutely forms its own principles; for a kind of intellectual
cowardice prevails which makes many men shrink from the task, or
only do it by halves. Yet the imperfect conclusions thus drawn, are
frequently very plausible, because they are built on partial
experience, on just, though narrow, views.
  Going back to first principles, vice skulks, with all its native
deformity, from close investigation; but a set of shallow reasoners
are always exclaiming that these arguments prove too much, and that
a measure rotten at the core may be expedient. Thus expediency is
continually contrasted with simple principles, till truth is lost in a
mist of words, virtue, in forms, and knowledge rendered a sounding
nothing, by the specious prejudices that assume its name.
  That the society is formed in the wisest manner, whose
constitution is founded on the nature of man, strikes, in the
abstract, every thinking being so forcibly, that it looks like
presumption to endeavour to bring forward proofs; though proof must be
brought, or the strong hold of prescription will never be forced by
reason; yet to urge prescription as an argument to justify the
depriving men (or women) of their natural rights, is one of the absurd
sophisms which daily insult common sense.
  The civilization of the bulk of the people of Europe is very
partial; nay, it may be made a question, whether they have acquired
any virtues in exchange for innocence, equivalent to the misery
produced by the vices that have been plastered over unsightly
ignorance, and the freedom which has been bartered for splendid
slavery. The desire of dazzling by riches, the most certain
pre-eminence that man can obtain, the pleasure of commanding
flattering sycophants, and many other complicated low calculations
of doting self-love, have all contributed to overwhelm the mass of
mankind, and make liberty a convenient handle for mock patriotism. For
whilst rank and titles are held of the utmost importance, before which
Genius "must hide its diminished head," it is, with a few
exceptions, very unfortunate for a nation when a man of abilities,
without rank or property, pushes himself forward to notice.- Alas!
what unheard of misery have thousands suffered to purchase a
cardinal's hat for an intriguing obscure adventurer, who longed to
be ranked with princes, or lord it over them by seizing the triple
crown!
  Such, indeed, has been the wretchedness that has flowed from
hereditary honours, riches, and monarchy, that men of lively
sensibility have almost uttered blasphemy in order to justify the
dispensations of providence. Man has been held out as independent of
his power who made him, or as a lawless planet darting from its
orbit to steal the celestial fire of reason; and the vengeance of
heaven, lurking in the subtile flame, like Pandora's pent up
mischiefs, sufficiently punished his temerity, by introducing evil
into the world.
  Impressed by this view of the misery and disorder which pervaded
society, and fatigued with jostling against artificial fools, Rousseau
became enamoured of solitude, and, being at the same time an optimist,
he labours with uncommon eloquence to prove that man was naturally a
solitary animal. Misled by his respect for the goodness of God, who
certainly- for what man of sense and feeling can doubt it!- gave
life only to communicate happiness, he considers evil as positive, and
the work of man; not aware that he was exalting one attribute at the
expence of another, equally necessary to divine perfection.
  Reared on a false hypothesis his arguments in favour of a state of
nature are plausible, but unsound. I say unsound; for to assert that a
state of nature is preferable to civilization, in all its possible
perfection, is, in other words, to arraign supreme wisdom; and the
paradoxical exclamation, that God has made all things right, and
that error has been introduced by the creature, whom he formed,
knowing what he formed, is as unphilosophical as impious.
  When that wise Being who created us and placed us here, saw the fair
idea, he willed, by allowing it to be so, that the passions should
unfold our reason, because he could see that present evil would
produce future good. Could the helpless creature whom he called from
nothing break loose from his providence, and boldly learn to know good
by practising evil, without his permission? No.- How could that
energetic advocate for immortality argue so inconsistently? Had
mankind remained for ever in the brutal state of nature, which even
his magic pen cannot paint as a state in which a single virtue took
root, it would have been clear, though not to the sensitive
unreflecting wanderer, that man was born to run the circle of life and
death, and adorn God's garden for some purpose which could not
easily be reconciled with his attributes.
  But if, to crown the whole, there were to be rational creatures
produced, allowed to rise in excellence by the exercise of powers
implanted for that purpose; if benignity itself thought fit to call
into existence a creature above the brutes,* who could think and
improve himself, why should that inestimable gift, for a gift it
was, if man was so created as to have a capacity to rise above the
state in which sensation produced brutal ease, be called, in direct
terms, a curse? A curse it might be reckoned, if the whole of our
existence were bounded by our continuance in this world; for why
should the gracious fountain of life give us passions, and the power
of reflecting, only to imbitter our days and inspire us with
mistaken notions of dignity? Why should he lead us from love of
ourselves to the sublime emotions which the discovery of his wisdom
and goodness excites, if these feelings were not set in motion to
improve our nature, of which they make a part,*(2) and render us
capable of enjoying a more godlike portion of happiness? Firmly
persuaded that no evil exists in the world that God did not design
to take place, I build my belief on the perfection of God.

  * Contrary to the opinion of anatomists, who argue by analogy from
the formation of the teeth, stomach, and intestines, Rousseau will not
allow a man to be a carnivorous animal. And, carried away from
nature by a love of system, he disputes whether man be a gregarious
animal, though the long and helpless state of infancy seems to point
him out as particularly impelled to pair, the first step towards
herding.
  *(2) What would you say to a mechanic whom you had desired to make a
watch to point out the hour of the day, if, to show his ingenuity,
he added wheels to make it a repeater, &c. that perplexed the simple
mechanism; should he urge, to excuse himself- had you not touched a
certain spring, you would have known nothing of the matter, and that
he should have amused himself by making an experiment without doing
you any harm: would you not retort fairly upon him, by insisting
that if he had not added those needless wheels and springs, the
accident could not have happened?

  Rousseau exerts himself to prove that all was right originally: a
crowd of authors that all is now right: and I, that all will be right.
  But, true to his first position, next to a state of nature, Rousseau
celebrates barbarism, and apostrophizing the shade of Fabricius, he
forgets that, in conquering the world, the Romans never dreamed of
establishing their own liberty on a firm basis, or of extending the
reign of virtue. Eager to support his system, he stigmatizes, as
vicious, every effort of genius; and, uttering the apotheosis of
savage virtues, he exalts those to demi-gods, who were scarcely human-
the brutal Spartans, who, in defiance of justice and gratitude,
sacrificed, in cold blood, the slaves who had shewn themselves
heroes to rescue their oppressors.
  Disgusted with artificial manners and virtues, the citizen of
Geneva, instead of properly sifting the subject, threw away the
wheat with the chaff, without waiting to inquire whether the evils
which his ardent soul turned from indignantly, were the consequence of
civilization or the vestiges of barbarism. He saw vice tramping on
virtue, and the semblance of goodness taking place of the reality;
he saw talents bent by power to sinister purposes, and never thought
of tracing the gigantic mischief up to arbitrary power, up to the
hereditary distinctions that clash with the mental superiority that
naturally raises a man above his fellows. He did not perceive that
regal power, in a few generations, introduces idiotism into the
noble stem, and holds out baits to render thousands idle and vicious.
  Nothing can set the regal character in a more contemptible point
of view, than the various crimes that have elevated men to the supreme
dignity.- Vile intrigues, unnatural crimes, and every vice that
degrades our nature, have been the steps to this distinguished
eminence; yet millions of men have supinely allowed the nerveless
limbs of the posterity of such rapacious prowlers to rest quietly on
their ensanguined thrones.*

  * Could there be a greater insult offered to the rights of man
than the beds of justice in France, when an infant was made the
organ of the detestable Dubois!

  What but a pestilential vapour can hover over society when its chief
director is only instructed in the invention of crimes, or the
stupid routine of childish ceremonies? Will men never be wise?- will
they never cease to expect corn from tares, and figs from thistles?
  It is impossible for any man, when the most favourable circumstances
concur, to acquire sufficient knowledge and strength of mind to
discharge the duties of a king, entrusted with uncontrouled power; how
then must they be violated when his very elevation is an insuperable
bar to the attainment of either wisdom or virtue; when all the
feelings of a man are stifled by flattery, and reflection shut out
by pleasure! Surely it is madness to make the fate of thousands depend
on the caprice of a weak fellow creature, whose very station sinks him
necessarily below the meanest of his subjects! But one power should
not be thrown down to exalt another- for all power inebriates weak
man; and its abuse proves that the more equality there is
established among men, the more virtue and happiness will reign in
society. But this and any similar maxim deduced from simple reason,
raises an outcry- the church or the state is in danger, if faith in
the wisdom of antiquity is not implicit; and they who, roused by the
sight of human calamity, dare to attack human authority, are reviled
as despisers of God, and enemies of man. These are bitter calumnies,
yet they reached one of the best of men,* whose ashes still preach
peace, and whose memory demands a respectful pause, when subjects
are discussed that lay so near his heart-

  * Dr. [Richard] Price.

  After attacking the sacred majesty of Kings, I shall scarcely excite
surprise by adding my firm persuasion that every profession, in
which great subordination of rank constitutes its power, is highly
injurious to morality.
  A standing army, for instance, is incompatible with freedom; because
subordination and rigour are the very sinews of military discipline;
and despotism is necessary to give vigour to enterprizes that one will
directs. A spirit inspired by romantic notions of honour, a kind of
morality founded on the fashion of the age, can only be felt by a
few officers, whilst the main body must be moved by command, like
the waves of the sea; for the strong wind of authority pushes the
crowd of subalterns forward, they scarcely know or care why, with
headlong fury.
  Besides, nothing can be so prejudicial to the morals of the
inhabitants of country towns as the occasional residence of a set of
idle superficial young men, whose only occupation is gallantry, and
whose polished manners render vice more dangerous, by concealing its
deformity under gay ornamental drapery. An air of fashion, which is
but a badge of slavery, and proves that the soul has not a strong
individual character, awes simple country people into an imitation
of the vices, when they cannot catch the slippery graces, of
politeness. Every corps is a chain of despots, who, submitting and
tyrannizing without exercising their reason, become dead weights of
vice and folly on the community. A man of rank or fortune, sure of
rising by interest, has nothing to do but to pursue some extravagant
freak; whilst the needy gentleman, who is to rise, as the phrase
turns, by his merit, becomes a servile parasite or vile pander.
  Sailors, the naval gentlemen, come under the same description,
only their vices assume a different and a grosser cast. They are
more positively indolent, when not discharging the ceremonials of
their station; whilst the insignificant fluttering of soldiers may
be termed active idleness. More confined to the society of men, the
former acquire a fondness for humour and mischievous tricks; whilst
the latter, mixing frequently with well-bred women, catch a
sentimental cant.- But mind is equally out of the question, whether
they indulge the horse-laugh, or polite simper.
  May I be allowed to extend the comparison to a profession where more
mind is certainly to be found; for the clergy have superior
opportunities of improvement, though subordination almost equally
cramps their faculties? The blind submission imposed at college to
forms of belief serves as a novitiate to the curate, who must
obsequiously respect the opinion of his rector or patron, if he mean
to rise in his profession. Perhaps there cannot be a more forcible
contrast than between the servile dependent gait of a poor curate
and the courtly mien of a bishop. And the respect and contempt they
inspire render the discharge of their separate functions equally
useless.
  It is of great importance to observe that the character of every man
is, in some degree, formed by his profession. A man of sense may
only have a cast of countenance that wears off as you trace his
individuality, whilst the weak, common man has scarcely ever any
character, but what belongs to the body; at least, all his opinions
have been so steeped in the vat consecrated by authority, that the
faint spirit which the grape of his own vine yields cannot be
distinguished.
  Society, therefore, as it becomes more enlightened, should be very
careful not to establish bodies of men who must necessarily be made
foolish or vicious by the very constitution of their profession.
  In the infancy of society, when men were just emerging out of
barbarism, chiefs and priests, touching the most powerful springs of
savage conduct, hope and fear, must have had unbounded sway. An
aristocracy, of course, is naturally the first form of government.
But, clashing interests soon losing their equipoise, a monarchy and
hierarchy break out of the confusion of ambitious struggles, and the
foundation of both is secured by feudal tenures. This appears to be
the origin of monarchical and priestly power, and the dawn of
civilization. But such combustible materials cannot long be pent up;
and, getting vent in foreign wars and intestine insurrections, the
people acquire some power in tumult, which obliges their rulers to
gloss over their oppression with a shew of right. Thus, as wars,
agriculture, commerce, and literature, expand the mind, despots are
compelled, to make covert corruption hold fast the power which was
formerly snatched by open force.* And this baneful lurking gangrene is
most quickly spread by luxury and superstition, the sure dregs of
ambition. The indolent puppet of a court first becomes a luxurious
monster, or fastidious sensualist, and then makes the contagion
which his unnatural state spread, the instrument of tyranny.

  * Men of abilities scatter seeds that grow up and have a great
influence on the forming opinion; and when once the public opinion
preponderates, through the exertion of reason, the overthrow of
arbitrary power is not very distant.

  It is the pestiferous purple which renders the progress of
civilization a curse, and warps the understanding, till men of
sensibility doubt whether the expansion of intellect produces a
greater portion of happiness or misery. But the nature of the poison
points out the antidote; and had Rousseau mounted one step higher in
his investigation, or could his eye have pierced through the foggy
atmosphere, which he almost disdained to breathe, his active mind
would have darted forward to contemplate the perfection of man in
the establishment of true civilization, instead of taking his
ferocious flight back to the night of sensual ignorance.
                        Chap. II.
    The Prevailing Opinion of a Sexual Character Discussed.

  To account for, and excuse the tyranny of man, many ingenious
arguments have been brought forward to prove, that the two sexes, in
the acquirement of virtue, ought to aim at attaining a very
different character: or, to speak explicitly, women are not allowed to
have sufficient strength of mind to acquire what really deserves the
name of virtue. Yet it should seem, allowing them to have souls,
that there is but one way appointed by Providence to lead mankind to
either virtue or happiness.
  If then women are not a swarm of ephemeron triflers, why should they
be kept in ignorance under the specious name of innocence? Men
complain, and with reason, of the follies and caprices of our sex,
when they do not keenly satirize our headstrong passions and groveling
vices.- Behold, I should answer, the natural effect of ignorance!
The mind will ever be unstable that has only prejudices to rest on,
and the current will run with destructive fury when there are no
barriers to break its force. Women are told from their infancy, and
taught by the example of their mothers, that a little knowledge of
human weakness, justly termed cunning, softness of temper, outward
obedience, and a scrupulous attention to a puerile kind of
propriety, will obtain for them the protection of man; and should they
be beautiful, every thing else is needless, for, at least, twenty
years of their lives.
  Thus Milton describes our first frail mother; though when he tells
us that women are formed for softness and sweet attractive grace, I
cannot comprehend his meaning, unless, in the true Mahometan strain,
he meant to deprive us of souls, and insinuate that we were beings
only designed by sweet attractive grace, and docile blind obedience,
to gratify the senses of man when he can no longer soar on the wing of
contemplation.
  How grossly do they insult us who thus advise us only to render
ourselves gentle, domestic brutes! For instance, the winning
softness so warmly, and frequently, recommended, that governs by
obeying. What childish expressions, and how insignificant is the
being- can it be an immortal one? who will condescend to govern by
such sinister methods! 'Certainly,' says Lord Bacon, 'man is of kin to
the beasts by his body; and if he be not of kin to God by his
spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature!' Men, indeed, appear to
me to act in a very unphilosophical manner when they try to secure the
good conduct of women by attempting to keep them always in a state
of childhood. Rousseau was more consistent when he wished to stop
the progress of reason in both sexes, for if men eat of the tree of
knowledge, women will come in for a taste; but, from the imperfect
cultivation which their understandings now receive, they only attain a
knowledge of evil.
  Children, I grant, should be innocent; but when the epithet is
applied to men, or women, it is but a civil term for weakness. For
if it be allowed that women were destined by Providence to acquire
human virtues, and by the exercise of their understandings, that
stability of character which is the firmest ground to rest our
future hopes upon, they must be permitted to turn to the fountain of
light, and not forced to shape their course by the twinkling of a mere
satellite. Milton, I grant, was of a very different opinion; for he
only bends to the indefeasible right of beauty, though it would be
difficult to render two passages which I now mean to contrast,
consistent. But into similar inconsistencies are great men often led
by their senses.

        'To whom thus Eve with perfect beauty adorn'd.
        'My Author and Disposer, what thou bidst
        'Unargued I obey; So God ordains;
        'God is thy law, thou mine: to know no more
        'Is Woman's happiest knowledge and her Praise.'

  These are exactly the arguments that I have used to children; but
I have added, your reason is now gaining strength, and, till it
arrives at some degree of maturity, you must look up to me for advice-
then you ought to think, and only rely on God.
  Yet in the following lines Milton seems to coincide with me; when he
makes Adam thus expostulate with his Maker.

        'Hast thou not made me here thy substitute,
        'And these inferior far beneath me set?
        'Among unequals what society
        'Can sort, what harmony or true delight?
        'Which must be mutual, in proportion due
        'Giv'n and receiv'd; but in disparity
        'The one intense, the other still remiss
        'Cannot well suit with either, but soon prove
        'Tedious alike: of fellowship I speak
        'Such as I seek, fit to participate
        'All rational delight-

  In treating, therefore, of the manners of women, let us,
disregarding sensual arguments, trace what we should endeavour to make
them in order to co-operate, if the expression be not too bold, with
the supreme Being.
  By individual education, I mean, for the sense of the word is not
precisely defined, such an attention to a child as will slowly sharpen
the senses, form the temper, regulate the passions as they begin to
ferment, and set the understanding to work before the body arrives
at maturity; so that the man may only have to proceed, not to begin,
the important task of learning to think and reason.
  To prevent any misconstruction, I must add, that I do not believe
that a private education can work the wonders which some sanguine
writers have attributed to it. Men and women must be educated, in a
great degree, by the opinions and manners of the society they live in.
In every age there has been a stream of popular opinion that has
carried all before it, and given a family character, as it were, to
the century. It may then fairly be inferred, that, till society be
differently constituted, much cannot be expected from education. It
is, however, sufficient for my present purpose to assert, that,
whatever effect circumstances have on the abilities, every being may
become virtuous by the exercise of its own reason; for if but one
being was created with vicious inclinations, that is positively bad,
what can save us from atheism? or if we worship a God, is not that God
a devil?
  Consequently, the most perfect education, in my opinion, is such
an exercise of the understanding as is best calculated to strengthen
the body and form the heart. Or, in other words, to enable the
individual to attain such habits of virtue as will render it
independent. In fact, it is a farce to call any being virtuous whose
virtues do not result from the exercise of its own reason. This was
Rousseau's opinion respecting men: I extend it to women, and
confidently assert that they have been drawn out of their sphere by
false refinement, and not by an endeavour to acquire masculine
qualities. Still the regal homage which they receive is so
intoxicating, that till the manners of the times are changed, and
formed on more reasonable principles, it may be impossible to convince
them that the illegitimate power, which they obtain, by degrading
themselves, is a curse, and that they must return to nature and
equality, if they wish to secure the placid satisfaction that
unsophisticated affections impart. But for this epoch we must wait-
wait, perhaps, till kings and nobles, enlightened by reason, and,
preferring the real dignity of man to childish state, throw off
their gaudy hereditary trappings: and if then women do not resign
the arbitrary power of beauty- they will prove that they have less
mind than man.
  I may be accused of arrogance; still I must declare what I firmly
believe, that all the writers who have written on the subject of
female education and manners from Rousseau to Dr. Gregory, have
contributed to render women more artificial, weak characters, than
they would otherwise have been; and, consequently, more useless
members of society. I might have expressed this conviction in a
lower key; but I am afraid it would have been the whine of
affectation, and not the faithful expression of my feelings, of the
clear result, which experience and reflection have led me to draw.
When I come to that division of the subject, I shall advert to the
passages that I more particularly disapprove of, in the works of the
authors I have just alluded to; but it is first necessary to
observe, that my objection extends to the whole purport of those
books, which tend, in my opinion, to degrade one half of the human
species, and render women pleasing at the expense of every solid
virtue.
  Though, to reason on Rousseau's ground, if man did attain a degree
of perfection of mind when his body arrived at maturity, it might be
proper, in order to make a man and his wife one, that she should
rely entirely on his understanding; and the graceful ivy, clasping the
oak that supported it, would form a whole in which strength and beauty
would be equally conspicuous. But, alas! husbands, as well as their
helpmates, are often only overgrown children; nay, thanks to early
debauchery, scarcely men in their outward form and if the blind lead
the blind, one need not come from heaven to tell us the consequence.
  Many are the causes that, in the present corrupt state of society,
contribute to enslave women by cramping their understandings and
sharpening their senses. One, perhaps, that silently does more
mischief than all the rest, is their disregard of order.
  To do every thing in an orderly manner, is a most important precept,
which women, who, generally speaking, receive only a disorderly kind
of education, seldom attend to with that degree of exactness that men,
who from their infancy are broken into method, observe. This negligent
kind of guess-work, for what other epithet can be used to point out
the random exertions of a sort of instinctive common sense, never
brought to the test of reason? prevents their generalizing matters
of fact- so they do to-day, what they did yesterday, merely because
they did it yesterday.
  This contempt of the understanding in early life has more baneful
consequences than is commonly supposed; for the little knowledge which
women of strong minds attain, is, from various circumstances, of a
more desultory kind than the knowledge of men, and it is acquired more
by sheer observations on real life, than from comparing what has
been individually observed with the results of experience
generalized by speculation. Led by their dependent situation and
domestic employments more into society, what they learn is rather by
snatches; and as learning is with them, in general, only a secondary
thing, they do not pursue any one branch with that persevering
ardour necessary to give vigour to the faculties, and clearness to the
judgment. In the present state of society, a little learning is
required to support the character of a gentleman; and boys are obliged
to submit to a few years of discipline. But in the education of women,
the cultivation of the understanding is always subordinate to the
acquirement of some corporeal accomplishment; even while enervated
by confinement and false notions of modesty, the body is prevented
from attaining that grace and beauty which relaxed half-formed limbs
never exhibit. Besides, in youth their faculties are not brought
forward by emulation; and having no serious scientific study, if
they have natural sagacity it is turned too soon on life and
manners. They dwell on effects, and modifications, without tracing
them back to causes; and complicated rules to adjust behaviour are a
weak substitute for simple principles.
  As a proof that education gives this appearance of weakness to
females, we may instance the example of military men, who are, like
them, sent into the world before their minds have been stored with
knowledge or fortified by principles. The consequences are similar;
soldiers acquire a little superficial knowledge, snatched from the
muddy current of conversation, and, from continually mixing with
society, they gain, what is termed a knowledge of the world; and
this acquaintance with manners and customs has frequently been
confounded with a knowledge of the human heart. But can the crude
fruit of casual observation, never brought to the test of judgment,
formed by comparing speculation and experience, deserve such a
distinction? Soldiers, as well as women, practice the minor virtues
with punctilious politeness. Where is then the sexual difference, when
the education has been the same? All the difference that I can
discern, arises from the superior advantage of liberty, which
enables the former to see more of life.
  It is wandering from my present subject, perhaps, to make a
political remark; but, as it was produced naturally by the train of my
reflections, I shall not pass it silently over.
  Standing armies can never consist of resolute, robust men; they
may be well disciplined machines, but they will seldom contain men
under the influence of strong passions, or with very vigorous
faculties. And as for any depth of understanding, I will venture to
affirm, that it is as rarely to be found in the army as amongst women;
and the cause, I maintain, is the same. It may be further observed,
that officers are also particularly attentive to their persons, fond
of dancing, crowded rooms, adventures, and ridicule.* Like the fair
sex, the business of their lives is gallantry.- They were taught to
please, and they only live to please. Yet they do not lose their
rank in the distinction of sexes, for they are still reckoned superior
to women, though in what their superiority consists, beyond what I
have just mentioned, it is difficult to discover.

  * Why should women be censured with petulant acrimony, because
they seem to have a passion for a scarlet coat? Has not education
placed them more on a level with soldiers than any other class of men?

  The great misfortune is this, that they both acquire manners
before morals, and a knowledge of life before they have, from
reflection, any acquaintance with the grand ideal outline of human
nature. The consequence is natural; satisfied with common nature, they
become a prey to prejudices, and taking all their opinions on
credit, they blindly submit to authority. So that, if they have any
sense, it is a kind of instinctive glance, that catches proportions,
and decides with respect to manners; but fails when arguments are to
be pursued below the surface, or opinions analyzed.
  May not the same remark be applied to women? Nay, the argument may
be carried still further, for they are both thrown out of a useful
station by the unnatural distinctions established in civilized life.
Riches and hereditary honours have made cyphers of women to give
consequence to the numerical figure; and idleness has produced a
mixture of gallantry and despotism into society, which leads the
very men who are the slaves of their mistresses to tyrannize over
their sisters, wives, and daughters. This is only keeping them in rank
and file, it is true. Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it,
and there will be an end to blind obedience; but, as blind obedience
is ever sought for by power, tyrants and sensualists are in the
right when they endeavour to keep women in the dark, because the
former only want slaves, and the latter a play-thing. The
sensualist, indeed, has been the most dangerous of tyrants, and
women have been duped by their lovers, as princes by their
ministers, whilst dreaming that they reigned over them.
  I now principally allude to Rousseau, for his character of Sophia
is, undoubtedly, a captivating one, though it appears to me grossly
unnatural; however it is not the superstructure, but the foundation of
her character, the principles on which her education was built, that I
mean to attack; nay, warmly as I admire the genius of that able
writer, whose opinions I shall often have occasion to cite,
indignation always takes place of admiration, and the rigid frown of
insulted virtue effaces the smile of complacency which his eloquent
periods are wont to raise, when I read his voluptuous reveries. Is
this the man, who, in his ardour for virtue, would banish all the soft
arts of peace, and almost carry us back to Spartan discipline? Is this
the man who delights to paint the useful struggles of passion, the
triumphs of good dispositions, and the heroic flights which carry
the glowing soul out of itself?- How are these mighty sentiments
lowered when he describes the pretty foot and enticing airs of his
little favourite! But, for the present, I wave the subject, and,
instead of severely reprehending the transient effusions of
overweening sensibility, I shall only observe, that whoever has cast a
benevolent eye on society, must often have been gratified by the sight
of a humble mutual love, not dignified by sentiment, or strengthened
by a union in intellectual pursuits. The domestic trifles of the day
have afforded matters for cheerful converse, and innocent caresses
have softened toils which did not require great exercise of mind or
stretch of thought: yet, has not the sight of this moderate felicity
excited more tenderness than respect? An emotion similar to what we
feel when children are playing, or animals sporting,* whilst the
contemplation of the noble struggles of suffering merit has raised
admiration, and carried our thoughts to that world where sensation
will give place to reason.

  * Similar feelings has Milton's pleasing picture of paradisiacal
happiness ever raised in my mind; yet, instead of envying the lovely
pair, I have, with conscious dignity, or Satanic pride, turned to hell
for sublimer objects. In the same style, when viewing some noble
monument of human art, I have traced the emanation of the Deity in the
order I admired, till, descending from that giddy height, I have
caught myself contemplating the grandest of all human sights,- for
fancy quickly placed, in some solitary recess, an outcast of
fortune, rising superior to passion and discontent.

  Women are, therefore, to be considered either as moral beings, or so
weak that they must be entirely subjected to the superior faculties of
men.
  Let us examine this question. Rousseau declares that a woman
should never, for a moment, feel herself independent, that she
should be governed by fear to exercise her natural cunning, and made a
coquetish slave in order to render her a more alluring object of
desire, a sweeter companion to man, whenever he chooses to relax
himself. He carries the arguments, which he pretends to draw from
the indications of nature, still further, and insinuates that truth
and fortitude, the corner stones of all human virtue, should be
cultivated with certain restrictions, because, with respect to the
female character, obedience is the grand lesson which ought to be
impressed with unrelenting rigour.
  What nonsense! When will a great man arise with sufficient
strength of mind to puff away the fumes which pride and sensuality
have thus spread over the subject! If women are by nature inferior
to men, their virtues must be the same in quality, if not in degree,
or virtue is a relative idea; consequently, their conduct should be
founded on the same principles, and have the same aim.
  Connected with man as daughters, wives, and mothers, their moral
character may be estimated by their manner of fulfilling those
simple duties; but the end, the grand end of their exertions should be
to unfold their own faculties and acquire the dignity of conscious
virtue. They may try to render their road pleasant; but ought never to
forget, in common with man, that life yields not the felicity which
can satisfy an immortal soul. I do not mean to insinuate, that
either sex should be so lost in abstract reflections or distant views,
as to forget the affections and duties that lie before them, and
are, in truth, the means appointed to produce the fruit of life; on
the contrary, I would warmly recommend them, even while I assert, that
they afford most satisfaction when they are considered in their
true, sober light.
  Probably the prevailing opinion, that woman was created for man, may
have taken its rise from Moses's poetical story; yet, as very few,
it is presumed, who have bestowed any serious thought on the
subject, ever supposed that Eve was, literally speaking, one of Adam's
ribs, the deduction must be allowed to fall to the ground; or, only be
so far admitted as it proves that man, from the remotest antiquity,
found it convenient to exert his strength to subjugate his
companion, and his invention to shew that she ought to have her neck
bent under the yoke, because the whole creation was only created for
his convenience or pleasure.
  Let it not be concluded that I wish to invert the order of things; I
have already granted, that, from the constitution of their bodies, men
seem to be designed by Providence to attain a greater degree of
virtue. I speak collectively of the whole sex; but I see not the
shadow of a reason to conclude that their virtues should differ in
respect to their nature. In fact, how can they, if virtue has only one
eternal standard? I must therefore, if I reason consequentially, as
strenuously maintain that they have the same simple direction, as that
there is a God.
  It follows then that cunning should not be opposed to wisdom, little
cares to great exertions, or insipid softness, varnished over with the
name of gentleness, to that fortitude which grand views alone can
inspire.
  I shall be told that woman would then lose many of her peculiar
graces, and the opinion of a well known poet might be quoted to refute
my unqualified assertion. For Pope has said, in the name of the
whole male sex,

        'Yet ne'er so sure our passion to create,
        'As when she touch'd the brink of all we hate.'

  In what light this sally places men and women, I shall leave to
the judicious to determine; meanwhile I shall content myself with
observing, that I cannot discover why, unless they are mortal, females
should always be degraded by being made subservient to love or lust.
  To speak disrespectfully of love is, I know, high treason against
sentiment and fine feelings; but I wish to speak the simple language
of truth, and rather to address the head than the heart. To
endeavour to reason love out of the world, would be to out Quixote
Cervantes, and equally offend against common sense; but an endeavour
to restrain this tumultuous passion, and to prove that it should not
be allowed to dethrone superior powers, or to usurp the sceptre
which the understanding should ever coolly wield, appears less wild.
  Youth is the season for love in both sexes; but in those days of
thoughtless enjoyment provision should be made for the more
important years of life, when reflection takes place of sensation. But
Rousseau, and most of the male writers who have followed his steps,
have warmly inculcated that the whole tendency of female education
ought to be directed to one point:- to render them pleasing.
  Let me reason with the supporters of this opinion who have any
knowledge of human nature, do they imagine that marriage can eradicate
the habitude of life? The woman who has only been taught to please
will soon find that her charms are oblique sunbeams, and that they
cannot have much effect on her husband's heart when they are seen
every day, when the summer is passed and gone. Will she then have
sufficient native energy to look into herself for comfort, and
cultivate her dormant faculties? or, is it not more rational to expect
that she will try to please other men; and, in the emotions raised
by the expectation of new conquests, endeavour to forget the
mortification her love or pride has received? When the husband
ceases to be a lover- and the time will inevitably come, her desire of
pleasing will then grow languid, or become a spring of bitterness; and
love, perhaps, the most evanescent of all passions, gives place to
jealousy or vanity.
  I now speak of women who are restrained by principle or prejudice;
such women, though they would shrink from an intrigue with real
abhorrence, yet, nevertheless, wish to be convinced by the homage of
gallantry that they are cruelly neglected by their husbands; or,
days and weeks are spent in dreaming of the happiness enjoyed by
congenial souls till their health is undermined and their spirits
broken by discontent. How then can the great art of pleasing be such a
necessary study? it is only useful to a mistress; the chaste wife, and
serious mother, should only consider her power to please as the polish
of her virtues, and the affection of her husband as one of the
comforts that render her task less difficult and her life happier.-
But, whether she be loved or neglected, her first wish should be to
make herself respectable, and not to rely for all her happiness on a
being subject to like infirmities with herself.
  The worthy Dr. Gregory fell into a similar error. I respect his
heart; but entirely disapprove of his celebrated Legacy to his
Daughters.
  He advises them to cultivate a fondness for dress, because a
fondness for dress, he asserts, is natural to them. I am unable to
comprehend what either he or Rousseau mean, when they frequently use
this indefinite term. If they told us that in a pre-existent state the
soul was fond of dress, and brought this inclination with it into a
new body, I should listen to them with a half smile, as I often do
when I hear a rant about innate elegance.- But if he only meant to say
that the exercise of the faculties will produce this fondness- I
deny it.- It is not natural; but arises, like false ambition in men,
from a love of power.
  Dr. Gregory goes much further; he actually recommends dissimulation,
and advises an innocent girl to give the lie to her feelings, and
not dance with spirit, when gaiety of heart would make her feel
eloquent without making her gestures immodest. In the name of truth
and common sense, why should not one woman acknowledge that she can
take more exercise than another? or, in other words, that she has a
sound constitution; and why, to damp innocent vivacity, is she
darkly to be told that men will draw conclusions which she little
thinks of?- Let the libertine draw what inference he pleases; but, I
hope, that no sensible mother will restrain the natural frankness of
youth by instilling such indecent cautions. Out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth speaketh; and a wiser than Solomon hath said, that
the heart should be made clean, and not trivial ceremonies observed,
which it is not very difficult to fulfill with scrupulous exactness
when vice reigns in the heart.
  Women ought to endeavour to purify their heart; but can they do so
when their uncultivated understandings make them entirely dependent on
their senses for employment and amusement, when no noble pursuit
sets them above the little vanities of the day, or enables them to
curb the wild emotions that agitate a reed over which every passing
breeze has power? To gain the affections of a virtuous man is
affectation necessary? Nature has given woman a weaker frame than man;
but, to ensure her husband's affections, must a wife, who by the
exercise of her mind and body whilst she was discharging the duties of
a daughter, wife, and mother, has allowed her constitution to retain
its natural strength, and her nerves a healthy tone, is she, I say, to
condescend to use art and feign a sickly delicacy in order to secure
her husband's affection? Weakness may excite tenderness, and gratify
the arrogant pride of man; but the lordly caresses of a protector will
not gratify a noble mind that pants for, and deserves to be respected.
Fondness is a poor substitute for friendship!
  In a seraglio, I grant, that all these arts are necessary; the
epicure must have his palate tickled, or he will sink into apathy; but
have women so little ambition as to be satisfied with such a
condition? Can they supinely dream life away in the lap of pleasure,
or the languor of weariness, rather than assert their claim to
pursue reasonable pleasures and render themselves conspicuous by
practising the virtues which dignify mankind? Surely she has not an
immortal soul who can loiter life away merely employed to adorn her
person, that she may amuse the languid hours, and soften the cares
of a fellow-creature who is willing to be enlivened by her smiles
and tricks, when the serious business of life is over.
  Besides, the woman who strengthens her body and exercises her mind
will, by managing her family and practising various virtues, become
the friend, and not the humble dependent of her husband; and if she,
by possessing such substantial qualities, merit his regard, she will
not find it necessary to conceal her affection, nor to pretend to an
unnatural coldness of constitution to excite her husband's passions.
In fact, if we revert to history, we shall find that the women who
have distinguished themselves have neither been the most beautiful nor
the most gentle of their sex.
  Nature, or, to speak with strict propriety, God, has made all things
right; but man has sought him out many inventions to mar the work. I
now allude to that part of Dr. Gregory's treatise, where he advises
a wife never to let her husband know the extent of her sensibility
or affection. Voluptuous precaution, and as ineffectual as absurd.-
Love, from its very nature, must be transitory. To seek for a secret
that would render it constant, would be as wild a search as for the
philosopher's stone, or the grand panacea: and the discovery would
be equally useless, or rather pernicious to mankind. The most holy
band of society is friendship. It has been well said, by a shrewd
satirist, "that rare as true love is, true friendship is still rarer."
  This is an obvious truth, and the cause not lying deep, will not
elude a slight glance of inquiry.
  Love, the common passion, in which chance and sensation take place
of choice and reason, is, in some degree, felt by the mass of mankind;
for it is not necessary to speak, at present, of the emotions that
rise above or sink below love. This passion, naturally increased by
suspense and difficulties, draws the mind out of its accustomed state,
and exalts the affections; but the security of marriage, allowing
the fever of love to subside, a healthy temperature is thought
insipid, only by those who have not sufficient intellect to substitute
the calm tenderness of friendship, the confidence of respect,
instead of blind admiration, and the sensual emotions of fondness.
  This is, must be, the course of nature.- Friendship or
indifference inevitably succeeds love.- And this constitution seems
perfectly to harmonize with the system of government which prevails in
the moral world. Passions are spurs to action, and open the mind;
but they sink into mere appetites, become a personal and momentary
gratification, when the object is gained, and the satisfied mind rests
in enjoyment. The man who had some virtue whilst he was struggling for
a crown, often becomes a voluptuous tyrant when it graces his brow;
and, when the lover is not lost in the husband, the dotard, a prey
to childish caprices, and fond jealousies, neglects the serious duties
of life, and the caresses which should excite confidence in his
children are lavished on the overgrown child, his wife.
  In order to fulfil the duties of life, and to be able to pursue with
vigour the various employments which form the moral character, a
master and mistress of a family ought not to continue to love each
other with passion. I mean to say that they ought not to indulge those
emotions which disturb the order of society, and engross the
thoughts that should be otherwise employed. The mind that has never
been engrossed by one object wants vigour- if it can long be so, it is
weak.
  A mistaken education, a narrow, uncultivated mind, and many sexual
prejudices, tend to make women more constant than men; but, for the
present, I shall not touch on this branch of the subject. I will go
still further, and advance, without dreaming of a paradox, that an
unhappy marriage is often very advantageous to a family, and that
the neglected wife is, in general, the best mother. And this would
almost always be the consequence if the female mind were more
enlarged: for, it seems to be the common dispensation of Providence,
that what we gain in present enjoyment should be deducted from the
treasure of life, experience; and that when we are gathering the
flowers of the day and revelling in pleasure, the solid fruit of
toil and wisdom should not be caught at the same time. The way lies
before us, we must turn to the right or left; and he who will pass
life away in bounding from one pleasure to another, must not
complain if he acquire neither wisdom nor respectability of character.
  Supposing, for a moment, that the soul is not immortal, and that man
was only created for the present scene,- I think we should have reason
to complain that love, infantine fondness, ever grew insipid and
palled upon the sense. Let us eat, drink, and love, for to-morrow we
die, would be, in fact, the language of reason, the morality of
life; and who but a fool would part with a reality for a fleeting
shadow? But, if awed by observing the improbable powers of the mind,
we disdain to confine our wishes or thoughts to such a comparatively
mean field of action; that only appears grand and important, as it
is connected with a boundless prospect and sublime hopes, what
necessity is there for falsehood in conduct, and why must the sacred
majesty of truth be violated to detain a deceitful good that saps
the very foundation of virtue? Why must the female mind be tainted
by coquetish arts to gratify the sensualist, and prevent love from
subsiding into friendship, or compassionate tenderness, when there are
not qualities on which friendship can be built? Let the honest heart
shew itself, and reason teach passion to submit to necessity; or,
let the dignified pursuit of virtue and knowledge raise the mind above
those emotions which rather imbitter than sweeten the cup of life,
when they are not restrained within due bounds.
  I do not mean to allude to the romantic passion, which is the
concomitant of genius.- Who can clip its wing? But that grand
passion not proportioned to the puny enjoyments of life, is only
true to the sentiment, and feeds on itself. The passions which have
been celebrated for their durability have always been unfortunate.
They have acquired strength by absence and constitutional melancholy.-
The fancy has hovered round a form of beauty dimly seen- but
familiarity might have turned admiration into disgust; or, at least,
into indifference, and allowed the imagination leisure to start
fresh game. With perfect propriety, according to this view of
things, does Rousseau make the mistress of his soul, Eloisa, love
St. Preux, when life was fading before her; but this is no proof of
the immortality of the passion.
  Of the same complexion is Dr. Gregory's advice respecting delicacy
of sentiment, which he advises a woman not to acquire, if she have
determined to marry. This determination, however, perfectly consistent
with his former advice, he calls indelicate, and earnestly persuades
his daughters to conceal it, though it may govern their conduct;- as
if it were indelicate to have the common appetites of human nature.
  Noble morality! and consistent with the cautious prudence of a
little soul that cannot extend its views beyond the present minute
division of existence. If all the faculties of woman's mind are only
to be cultivated as they respect her dependence on man; if, when a
husband be obtained, she have arrived at her goal, and meanly proud
rests satisfied with such a paltry crown, let her grovel
contentedly, scarcely raised by her employments above the animal
kingdom; but, if, struggling for the prize of her high calling, she
look beyond the present scene, let her cultivate her understanding
without stopping to consider what character the husband may have
whom she is destined to marry. Let her only determine, without being
too anxious about present happiness, to acquire the qualities that
ennoble a rational being, and a rough inelegant husband may shock
her taste without destroying her peace of mind. She will not model her
soul to suit the frailties of her companion, but to bear with them:
his character may be a trial, but not an impediment to virtue.
  If Dr. Gregory confined his remark to romantic expectations of
constant love and congenial feelings, he should have recollected
that experience will banish what advice can never make us cease to
wish for, when the imagination is kept alive at the expence of reason.
  I own it frequently happens that women who have fostered a
romantic unnatural delicacy of feeling, waste their* lives in
imagining how happy they should have been with a husband who could
love them with a fervid increasing affection every day, and all day.
But they might as well pine married as single- and would not be a
jot more unhappy with a bad husband than longing for a good one.
That a proper education; or, to speak with more precision, a well
stored mind, would enable a woman to support a single life with
dignity, I grant; but that she should avoid cultivating her taste,
lest her husband should occasionally shock it, is quitting a substance
for a shadow. To say the truth, I do not know of what use is an
improved taste, if the individual be not rendered more independent
of the casualties of life; if new sources of enjoyment, only dependent
on the solitary operations of the mind, are not opened. People of
taste, married or single, without distinction, will ever be
disgusted by various things that touch not less observing minds. On
this conclusion the argument must not be allowed to hinge; but in
the whole sum of enjoyment is taste to be denominated a blessing?

  * For example, the herd of Novelists.

  The question is, whether it procures most pain or pleasure? The
answer will decide the propriety of Dr. Gregory's advice, and shew how
absurd and tyrannic it is thus to lay down a system of slavery; or
to attempt to educate moral beings by any other rules than those
deduced from pure reason, which apply to the whole species.
  Gentleness of manners, forbearance and long-suffering, are such
amiable Godlike qualities, that in sublime poetic strains the Deity
has been invested with them; and, perhaps, no representation of his
goodness so strongly fastens on the human affections as those that
represent him abundant in mercy and willing to pardon. Gentleness,
considered in this point of view, bears on its front all the
characteristics of grandeur, combined with the winning graces of
condescension; but what a different aspect it assumes when it is the
submissive demeanour of dependence, the support of weakness that
loves, because it wants protection; and is forbearing, because it must
silently endure injuries; smiling under the lash at which it dare
not snarl. Abject as this picture appears, it is the portrait of an
accomplished woman, according to the received opinion of female
excellence, separated by specious reasoners from human excellence. Or,
they* kindly restore the rib, and make one moral being of a man and
woman; not forgetting to give her all the 'submissive charms.'

  * Vide Rousseau, and Swedenborg.

  How women are to exist in that state where there is to be neither
marrying nor giving in marriage, we are not told. For though moralists
have agreed that the tenor of life seems to prove that man is prepared
by various circumstances for a future state, they constantly concur in
advising woman only to provide for the present. Gentleness,
docility, and a spaniel-like affection are, on this ground,
consistently recommended as the cardinal virtues of the sex; and,
disregarding the arbitrary economy of nature, one writer has
declared that it is masculine for a woman to be melancholy. She was
created to be the toy of man, his rattle, and it must jingle in his
ears whenever, dismissing reason, he chooses to be amused.
  To recommend gentleness, indeed, on a broad basis is strictly
philosophical. A frail being should labour to be gentle. But when
forbearance confounds right and wrong, it ceases to be a virtue;
and, however convenient it may be found in a companion- that companion
will ever be considered as an inferior, and only inspire a vapid
tenderness, which easily degenerates into contempt. Still, if advice
could really make a being gentle, whose natural disposition admitted
not of such a fine polish, something towards the advancement of
order would be attained; but if, as might quickly be demonstrated,
only affectation be produced by this indiscriminate counsel, which
throws a stumbling-block in the way of gradual improvement, and true
melioration of temper, the sex is not much benefited by sacrificing
solid virtues to the attainment of superficial graces, though for a
few years they may procure the individuals regal sway.
  As a philosopher, I read with indignation the plausible epithets
which men use to soften their insults; and, as a moralist, I ask
what is meant by such heterogeneous associations, as fair defects,
amiable weaknesses, &c.? If there be but one criterion of morals,
but one archetype for man, women appear to be suspended by destiny,
according to the vulgar tale of Mahomet's coffin; they have neither
the unerring instinct of brutes, nor are allowed to fix the eye of
reason on a perfect model. They were made to be loved, and must not
aim at respect, lest they should be hunted out of society as
masculine.
  But to view the subject in another point of view. Do passive
indolent women make the best wives? Confining our discussion to the
present moment of existence, let us see how such weak creatures
perform their part? Do the women who, by the attainment of a few
superficial accomplishments, have strengthened the prevailing
prejudice, merely contribute to the happiness of their husbands? Do
they display their charms merely to amuse them? And have women, who
have early imbibed notions of passive obedience, sufficient
character to manage a family or educate children? So far from it,
that, after surveying the history of woman, I cannot help, agreeing
with the severest satirist, considering the sex as the weakest as well
as the most oppressed half of the species. What does history
disclose but marks of inferiority, and how few women have
emancipated themselves from the galling yoke of sovereign man?- So
few, that the exceptions remind me of an ingenious conjecture
respecting Newton: that he was probably a being of a superior order,
accidentally caged in a human body. Following the same train of
thinking, I have been led to imagine that the few extraordinary
women who have rushed in eccentrical directions out of the orbit
prescribed to their sex, were male spirits, confined by mistake in
female frames. But if it be not philosophical to think of sex when the
soul is mentioned, the inferiority must depend on the organs; or the
heavenly fire, which is to ferment the clay, is not given in equal
portions.
  But avoiding, as I have hitherto done, any direct comparison of
the two sexes collectively, or frankly acknowledging the inferiority
of woman, according to the present appearance of things, I shall
only insist that men have increased that inferiority till women are
almost sunk below the standard of rational creatures. Let their
faculties have room to unfold, and their virtues to gain strength, and
then determine where the whole sex must stand in the intellectual
scale. Yet let it be remembered, that for a small number of
distinguished women I do not ask a place.
  It is difficult for us purblind mortals to say to what height
human discoveries and improvements may arrive when the gloom of
despotism subsides, which makes us stumble at every step; but, when
morality shall be settled on a more solid basis, then, without being
gifted with a prophetic spirit, I will venture to predict that woman
will be either the friend or slave of man. We shall not, as at
present, doubt whether she is a moral agent, or the link which
unites man with brutes. But, should it then appear, that like the
brutes they were principally created for the use of man, he will let
them patiently bite the bridle, and not mock them with empty praise;
or, should their rationality be proved, he will not impede their
improvement merely to gratify his sensual appetites. He will not, with
all the graces of rhetoric, advise them to submit implicitly their
understanding to the guidance of man. He will not, when he treats of
the education of women, assert that they ought never to have the
free use of reason, nor would he recommend cunning and dissimulation
to beings who are acquiring, in like manner as himself, the virtues of
humanity.
  Surely there can be but one rule of right, if morality has an
eternal foundation, and whoever sacrifices virtue, strictly so called,
to present convenience, or whose duty it is to act in such a manner,
lives only for the passing day, and cannot be an accountable creature.
  The poet then should have dropped his sneer when he says,

        'If weak women go astray,
        'The stars are more in fault than they.'

For that they are bound by the adamantine chain of destiny is most
certain, if it be proved that they are never to exercise their own
reason, never to be independent, never to rise above opinion, or to
feel the dignity of a rational will that only bows to God, and often
forgets that the universe contains any being but itself and the
model of perfection to which its ardent gaze is turned, to adore
attributes that, softened into virtues, may be imitated in kind,
though the degree overwhelms the enraptured mind.
  If, I say, for I would not impress by declamation when Reason offers
her sober light, if they be really capable of acting like rational
creatures, let them not be treated like slaves; or, like the brutes
who are dependent on the reason of man, when they associate with
him; but cultivate their minds, give them the salutary, sublime curb
of principle, and let them attain conscious dignity by feeling
themselves only dependent on God. Teach them, in common with man, to
submit to necessity instead of giving, to render them more pleasing, a
sex to morals.
  Further, should experience prove that they cannot attain the same
degree of strength of mind, perseverance, and fortitude, let their
virtues be the same in kind, though they may vainly struggle for the
same degree; and the superiority of man will be equally clear, if
not clearer; and truth, as it is a simple principle, which admits of
no modification, would be common to both. Nay, the order of society as
it is at present regulated would not be inverted, for woman would then
only have the rank that reason assigned her, and arts could not be
practised to bring the balance even, much less to turn it.
  These may be termed Utopian dreams.- Thanks to that Being who
impressed them on my soul, and gave me sufficient strength of mind
to dare to exert my own reason, till, becoming dependent only on him
for the support of my virtue, I view, with indignation, the mistaken
notions that enslave my sex.
  I love man as my fellow; but his scepter, real, or usurped,
extends not to me, unless the reason of an individual demands my
homage; and even then the submission is to reason, and not to man.
In fact, the conduct of an accountable being must be regulated by
the operations of its own reason; or on what foundation rests the
throne of God?
  It appears to me necessary to dwell on these obvious truths, because
females have been insulated, as it were; and, while they have been
stripped of the virtues that should clothe humanity, they have been
decked with artificial graces that enable them to exercise a
short-lived tyranny. Love, in their bosoms, taking place of every
nobler passion, their sole ambition is to be fair, to raise emotion
instead of inspiring respect; and this ignoble desire, like the
servility in absolute monarchies, destroys all strength of
character. Liberty is the mother of virtue, and if women be, by
their very constitution, slaves, and not allowed to breathe the
sharp invigorating air of freedom, they must ever languish like
exotics, and be reckoned beautiful flaws in nature.
  As to the argument respecting the subjection in which the sex has
ever been held, it retorts on man. The many have always been
enthralled by the few; and monsters, who scarcely have shewn any
discernment of human excellence, have tyrannized over thousands of
their fellow-creatures. Why have men of superiour endowments submitted
to such degradation? For, is it not universally acknowledged that
kings, viewed collectively, have ever been inferior, in abilities
and virtue, to the same number of men taken from the common mass of
mankind- yet, have they not, and are they not still treated with a
degree of reverence that is an insult to reason? China is not the only
country where a living man has been made a God. Men have submitted
to superior strength to enjoy with impunity the pleasure of the
moment- women have only done the same, and therefore till it is proved
that the courtier, who servilely resigns the birthright of a man, is
not a moral agent, it cannot be demonstrated that woman is essentially
inferior to man because she has always been subjugated.
  Brutal force has hitherto governed the world, and that the science
of politics is in its infancy, is evident from philosophers
scrupling to give the knowledge most useful to man that determinate
distinction.
  I shall not pursue this argument any further than to establish an
obvious inference, that as sound politics diffuse liberty, mankind,
including woman, will become more wise and virtuous.
                       Chap. III.
               The Same Subject Continued.

  Bodily strength from being the distinction of heroes is now sunk
into such unmerited contempt that men, as well as women, seem to think
it unnecessary: the latter, as it takes from their feminine graces,
and from that lovely weakness the source of their undue power; and the
former, because it appears inimical to the character of a gentleman.
  That they have both by departing from one extreme run into
another, may easily be proved; but first it may be proper to
observe, that a vulgar error has obtained a degree of credit, which
has given force to a false conclusion, in which an effect has been
mistaken for a cause.
  People of genius have, very frequently, impaired their constitutions
by study or careless inattention to their health, and the violence
of their passions bearing a proportion to the vigour of their
intellects, the sword's destroying the scabbard has become almost
proverbial, and superficial observers have inferred from thence,
that men of genius have commonly weak, or, to use a more fashionable
phrase, delicate constitutions. Yet the contrary, I believe, will
appear to be the fact; for, on diligent inquiry, I find that
strength of mind has, in most cases, been accompanied by superior
strength of body,- natural soundness of constitution,- not that robust
tone of nerves and vigour of muscles, which arise from bodily
labour, when the mind is quiescent, or only directs the hands.
  Dr. Priestley has remarked, in the preface to his biographical
chart, that the majority of great men have lived beyond forty-five.
And, considering the thoughtless manner in which they have lavished
their strength, when investigating a favourite science they have
wasted the lamp of life, forgetful of the midnight hour; or, when,
lost in poetic dreams, fancy has peopled the scene, and the soul has
been disturbed, till it shook the constitution, by the passions that
meditation had raised; whose objects, the baseless fabric of a vision,
faded before the exhausted eye, they must have had iron frames.
Shakspeare never grasped the airy dagger with a nerveless hand, nor
did Milton tremble when he led Satan far from the confines of his
dreary prison.- These were not the ravings of imbecility, the sickly
effusions of distempered brains; but the exuberance of fancy, that 'in
a fine phrenzy' wandering, was not continually reminded of its
material shackles.
  I am aware that this argument would carry me further than it may
be supposed I wish to go; but I follow truth, and, still adhering to
my first position, I will allow that bodily strength seems to give man
a natural superiority over woman; and this is the only solid basis
on which the superiority of the sex can be built. But I still
insist, that not only the virtue, but the knowledge of the two sexes
should be the same in nature, if not in degree, and that women,
considered not only as moral, but rational creatures, ought to
endeavour to acquire human virtues (or perfections) by the same
means as men, instead of being educated like a fanciful kind of half
being- one of Rousseau's wild chimeras.*

  * 'Researches into abstract and speculative truths, the principles
and axioms of sciences, in short, every thing which tends to
generalize our ideas, is not the proper province of women; their
studies should be relative to points of practice; it belongs to them
to apply those principles which men have discovered; and it is their
part to make observations, which direct men to the establishment of
general principles. All the ideas of women, which have not the
immediate tendency to points of duty, should be directed to the
study of men, and to the attainment of those agreeable accomplishments
which have taste for their object; for as to works of genius, they are
beyond their capacity; neither have they sufficient precision or power
of attention to succeed in sciences which require accuracy: and as
to physical knowledge, it belongs to those only who are most active,
most inquisitive; who comprehend the greatest variety of objects: in
short, it belongs to those who have the strongest powers, and who
exercise them most, to judge of the relations between sensible
beings and the laws of nature. A woman who is naturally weak, and does
not carry her ideas to any great extent, knows how to judge and make a
proper estimate of those movements which she sets to work, in order to
aid her weakness; and these movements are the passions of men. The
mechanism she employs is much more powerful than ours; for all her
levers move the human heart. She must have the skill to incline us
to do every thing which her sex will not enable her to do herself, and
which is necessary or agreeable to her; therefore she ought to study
the mind of man thoroughly, not the mind of man in general,
abstractedly, but the dispositions of those men to whom she is
subject, either by the laws of her country or by the force of opinion.
She should learn to penetrate into their real sentiments from their
conversation, their actions, their looks, and gestures. She should
also have the art, by her own conversation, actions, looks, and
gestures, to communicate those sentiments which are agreeable to them,
without seeming to intend it. Men will argue more philosophically
about the human heart; but women will read the heart of man better
than they. It belongs to women, if I may be allowed the expression, to
form an experimental morality, and to reduce the study of man to a
system. Women have most wit, men have most genius; women observe,
men reason: from the concurrence of both we derive the clearest
light and the most perfect knowledge, which the human mind is, of
itself, capable of attaining. In one word, from hence we acquire the
most intimate acquaintance, both with ourselves and others, of which
our nature is capable; and it is thus that art has a constant tendency
to perfect those endowments which nature has bestowed,- The world is
the book of women.'- Rousseau's Emilius.
  I hope my readers still remember the comparison, which I have
brought forward, between women and officers.

  But, if strength of body be, with some shew of reason, the boast
of men, why are women so infatuated as to be proud of a defect?
Rousseau has furnished them with a plausible excuse, which could
only have occurred to a man, whose imagination had been allowed to run
wild, and refine on the impressions made by exquisite senses;- that
they might, forsooth, have a pretext for yielding to a natural
appetite without violating a romantic species of modesty, which
gratifies the pride and libertinism of man.
  Women, deluded by these sentiments, sometimes boast of their
weakness, cunningly obtaining power by playing on the weakness of men;
and they may well glory in their illicit sway, for, like Turkish
bashaws, they have more real power than their masters: but virtue is
sacrificed to temporary gratifications, and the respectability of life
to the triumph of an hour.
  Women, as well as despots, have now, perhaps, more power than they
would have if the world, divided and subdivided into kingdoms and
families, were governed by laws deduced from the exercise of reason;
but in obtaining it, to carry on the comparison, their character is
degraded, and licentiousness spread through the whole aggregate of
society. The many become pedestal to the few. I, therefore, will
venture to assert, that till women are more rationally educated, the
progress of human virtue and improvement in knowledge must receive
continual checks. And if it be granted that woman was not created
merely to gratify the appetite of man, or to be the upper servant, who
provides his meals and takes care of his linen, it must follow, that
the first care of those mothers or fathers, who really attend to the
education of females, should be, if not to strengthen the body, at
least, not to destroy the constitution by mistaken notions of beauty
and female excellence; nor should girls ever be allowed to imbibe
the pernicious notion that a defect can, by any chemical process of
reasoning, become an excellence. In this respect, I am happy to
find, that the author of one of the most instructive books, that our
country has produced for children, coincides with me in opinion; I
shall quote his pertinent remarks to give the force of his respectable
authority to reason.*

  * 'A respectable old man gives the following sensible account of the
method he pursued when educating his daughter. "I endeavoured to
give both to her mind and body a degree of vigour, which is seldom
found in the female sex. As soon as she was sufficiently advanced in
strength to be capable of the lighter labours of husbandry and
gardening, I employed her as my constant companion. Selene, for that
was her name, soon acquired a dexterity in all these rustic
employments, which I considered with equal pleasure and admiration. If
women are in general feeble both in body and mind, it arises less from
nature than from education. We encourage a vicious indolence and
inactivity, which we falsely call delicacy; instead of hardening their
minds by the severer principles of reason and philosophy, we breed
them to useless arts, which terminate in vanity and sensuality. In
most of the countries which I had visited, they are taught nothing
of an higher nature than a few modulations of the voice, or useless
postures of the body; their time is consumed in sloth or trifles,
and trifles become the only pursuits capable of interesting them. We
seem to forget, that it is upon the qualities of the female sex that
our own domestic comforts and the education of our children must
depend. And what are the comforts or the education which a race of
beings, corrupted from their infancy, and unacquainted with all the
duties of life are fitted to bestow? To touch a musical instrument
with useless skill, to exhibit their natural or affected graces to the
eyes of indolent and debauched young men, to dissipate their husband's
patrimony in riotous and unnecessary expences, these are the only arts
cultivated by women in most of the polished nations I had seen. And
the consequences are uniformly such as may be expected to proceed from
such polluted sources, private misery and public servitude.
  '"But Selene's education was regulated by different views, and
conducted upon severer principles; if that can be called severity
which opens the mind to a sense of moral and religious duties, and
most effectually arms it against the inevitable evils of life."' Mr.
Day's Sandford and Merton, Vol. III.

  But should it be proved that woman is naturally weaker than man,
whence does it follow that it is natural for her to labour to become
still weaker than nature intended her to be? Arguments of this cast
are an insult to common sense, and savour of passion. The divine right
of husbands, like the divine right of kings, may, it is to be hoped,
in this enlightened age, be contested without danger, and, though
conviction may not silence many boisterous disputants, yet, when
any, prevailing prejudice is attacked, the wise will consider, and
leave the narrow-minded to rail with thoughtless vehemence at
innovation.
  The mother, who wishes to give true dignity of character to her
daughter, must, regardless of the sneers of ignorance, proceed on a
plan diametrically opposite to that which Rousseau has recommended
with all the deluding charms of eloquence and philosophical sophistry:
for his eloquence renders absurdities plausible, and his dogmatic
conclusions puzzle, without convincing, those who have not ability
to refute them.
  Throughout the whole animal kingdom every young creature requires
almost continual exercise, and the infancy of children, conformable to
this intimation, should be passed in harmless gambols, that exercise
the feet and hands, without requiring very minute direction from the
head, or the constant attention of a nurse. In fact, the care
necessary for self-preservation is the first natural exercise of the
understanding, as little inventions to amuse the present moment unfold
the imagination. But these wise designs of nature are counteracted
by mistaken fondness or blind zeal. The child is not left a moment
to its own direction, particularly a girl, and thus rendered
dependent- dependence is called natural.
  To preserve personal beauty, woman's glory! the limbs and
faculties are cramped with worse than Chinese bands, and the sedentary
life which they are condemned to live, whilst boys frolic in the
open air, weakens the muscles and relaxes the nerves.- As for
Rousseau's remarks, which have since been echoed by several writers,
that they have naturally, that is from their birth, independent of
education, a fondness for dolls, dressing, and talking- they are so
puerile as not to merit a serious refutation. That a girl, condemned
to sit for hours together listening to the idle chat of weak nurses,
or to attend at her mother's toilet, will endeavour to join the
conversation, is, indeed, very natural; and that she will imitate
her mother or aunts, and amuse herself by adorning her lifeless
doll, as they do in dressing her, poor innocent babe! is undoubtedly a
most natural consequence. For men of the greatest abilities have
seldom had sufficient strength to rise above the surrounding
atmosphere; and, if the page of genius have always been blurred by the
prejudices of the age, some allowance should be made for a sex, who,
like kings, always see things through a false medium.
  Pursuing these reflections, the fondness for dress, conspicuous in
women, may be easily accounted for, without supposing it the result of
a desire to please the sex on which they are dependent. The absurdity,
in short, of supposing that a girl is naturally a coquette, and that a
desire connected with the impulse of nature to propagate the
species, should appear even before an improper education has, by
heating the imagination, called it forth prematurely, is so
unphilosophical, that such a sagacious observer as Rousseau would
not have adopted it, if he had not been accustomed to make reason give
way to his desire of singularity, and truth to a favourite paradox.
  Yet thus to give a sex to mind was not very consistent with the
principles of a man who argued so warmly, and so well, for the
immortality of the soul.- But what a weak barrier is truth when it
stands in the way of an hypothesis! Rousseau respected- almost
adored virtue- and yet he allowed himself to love with sensual
fondness. His imagination constantly prepared inflammable fewel for
his inflammable senses; but, in order to reconcile his respect for
self-denial, fortitude, and those heroic virtues, which a mind like
his could not coolly admire, he labours to invert the law of nature,
and broaches a doctrine pregnant with mischief and derogatory to the
character of supreme wisdom.
  His ridiculous stories, which tend to prove that girls are naturally
attentive to their persons, without laying any stress on daily
example, are below contempt.- And that a little miss should have
such a correct taste as to neglect the pleasing amusement of making
O's, merely because she perceived that it was an ungraceful
attitude, should be selected with the anecdotes of the learned pig.*

  * 'I once knew a young person who learned to write before she
learned to read, and began to write with her needle before she could
use a pen. At first, indeed, she took it into her head to make no
other letter than the O: this letter she was constantly making of
all sizes, and always the wrong way. Unluckily, one day, as she was
intent on this employment, she happened to see herself in the
looking-glass; when, taking a dislike to the constrained attitude in
which she sat while writing, she threw away her pen, like another
Pallas, and determined against making the O any more. Her brother
was also equally adverse to writing: it was the confinement,
however, and not the constrained attitude, that most disgusted
him.'- Rousseau's Emilius.

  I have, probably, had an opportunity of observing more girls in
their infancy than J. J. Rousseau- I can recollect my own feelings,
and I have looked steadily around me; yet, so far from coinciding with
him in opinion respecting the first dawn of the female character, I
will venture to affirm, that a girl, whose spirits have not been
damped by inactivity, or innocence tainted by false shame, will always
be a romp, and the doll will never excite attention unless confinement
allows her no alternative. Girls and boys, in short, would play
harmlessly together, if the distinction of sex was not inculcated long
before nature makes any difference.- I will go further, and affirm, as
an indisputable fact, that most of the women, in the circle of my
observation, who have acted like rational creatures, or shewn any
vigour of intellect, have accidentally been allowed to run wild- as
some of the elegant formers of the fair sex would insinuate.
  The baneful consequences which flow from inattention to health
during infancy, and youth, extend further than is supposed- dependence
of body naturally produces dependence of mind; and how can she be a
good wife or mother, the greater part of whose time is employed to
guard against or endure sickness? Nor can it be expected that a
woman will resolutely endeavour to strengthen her constitution and
abstain from enervating indulgencies, if artificial notions of beauty,
and false descriptions of sensibility, have been early entangled
with her motives of action. Most men are sometimes obliged to bear
with bodily inconveniencies, and to endure, occasionally, the
inclemency of the elements; but genteel women are, literally speaking,
slaves to their bodies, and glory in their subjection.
  I once knew a weak woman of fashion, who was more than commonly
proud of her delicacy and sensibility. She thought a distinguishing
taste and puny appetite the height of all human perfection, and
acted accordingly.- I have seen this weak sophisticated being
neglect all the duties of life, yet recline with self-complacency on a
sofa, and boast of her want of appetite as a proof of delicacy that
extended to, or, perhaps, arose from, her exquisite sensibility: for
it is difficult to render intelligible such ridiculous jargon.- Yet,
at the moment, I have seen her insult a worthy old gentlewoman, whom
unexpected misfortunes had made dependent on her ostentatious
bounty, and who, in better days, had claims on her gratitude. Is it
possible that a human creature could have become such a weak and
depraved being, if, like the Sybarites, dissolved in luxury every
thing like virtue had not been worn away, or never impressed by
precept, a poor substitute, it is true, for cultivation of mind,
though it serves as a fence against vice?
  Such a woman is not a more irrational monster than some of the Roman
emperors, who were depraved by lawless power. Yet, since kings have
been more under the restraint of law, and the curb, however weak, of
honour, the records of history are not filled with such unnatural
instances of folly and cruelty, nor does the despotism that kills
virtue and genius in the bud, hover over Europe with that
destructive blast which desolates Turkey, and renders the men, as well
as the soil, unfruitful.
  Women are every where in this deplorable state; for, in order to
preserve their innocence, as ignorance is courteously termed, truth is
hidden from them, and they are made to assume an artificial
character before their faculties have acquired any strength. Taught
from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes
itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to
adorn its prison. Men have various employments and pursuits which
engage their attention, and give a character to the opening mind;
but women, confined to one, and having their thoughts constantly
directed to the most insignificant part of themselves, seldom extend
their views beyond the triumph of the hour. But were their
understanding once emancipated from the slavery to which the pride and
sensuality of man and their short-sighted desire, like that of
dominion in tyrants, of present sway, has subjected them, we should
probably read of their weaknesses with surprise. I must be allowed
to pursue the argument a little farther.
  Perhaps, if the existence of an evil being were allowed, who, in the
allegorical language of scripture, went about seeking whom he should
devour, he could not more effectually degrade the human character than
by giving a man absolute power.
  This argument branches into various ramifications.- Birth, riches,
and every extrinsic advantage that exalt a man above his fellows,
without any mental exertion, sink him in reality below them. In
proportion to his weakness, he is played upon by designing men, till
the bloated monster has lost all traces of humanity. And that tribes
of men, like flocks of sheep, should quietly follow such a leader,
is a solecism that only a desire of present enjoyment and narrowness
of understanding can solve. Educated in slavish dependence, and
enervated by luxury and sloth, where shall we find men who will
stand forth to assert the rights of man;- or claim the privilege of
moral beings, who should have but one road to excellence? Slavery to
monarchs and ministers, which the world will be long in freeing itself
from, and whose deadly grasp stops the progress of the human mind,
is not yet abolished.
  Let not men then in the pride of power, use the same arguments
that tyrannic kings and venal ministers have used, and fallaciously
assert that woman ought to be subjected because she has always been
so.- But, when man, governed by reasonable laws, enjoys his natural
freedom, let him despise woman, if she do not share it with him;
and, till that glorious period arrives, in descanting on the folly
of the sex, let him not overlook his own.
  Women, it is true, obtaining power by unjust means, by practising or
fostering vice, evidently lose the rank which reason would assign
them, and they become either abject slaves or capricious tyrants. They
lose all simplicity, all dignity of mind, in acquiring power, and
act as men are observed to act when they have been exalted by the same
means.
  It is time to effect a revolution in female manners- time to restore
to them their lost dignity- and make them, as a part of the human
species, labour by reforming themselves to reform the world. It is
time to separate unchangeable morals from local manners.- If men be
demi-gods- why let us serve them! And if the dignity of the female
soul be as disputable as that of animals- if their reason does not
afford sufficient light to direct their conduct whilst unerring
instinct is denied- they are surely of all creatures the most
miserable! and, bent beneath the iron hand of destiny, must submit
to be a fair defect in creation. But to justify the ways of Providence
respecting them, by pointing out some irrefragable reason for thus
making such a large portion of mankind accountable and not
accountable, would puzzle the subtilest casuist.
  The only solid foundation for morality appears to be the character
of the supreme Being; the harmony of which arises from a balance of
attributes;- and, to speak with reverence, one attribute seems to
imply the necessity of another. He must be just, because he is wise,
he must be good, because be is omnipotent. For to exalt one
attribute at the expence of another equally noble and necessary, bears
the stamp of the warped reason of man- the homage of passion. Man,
accustomed to bow down to power in his savage state, can seldom divest
himself of this barbarous prejudice, even when civilization determines
how much superior mental is to bodily strength; and his reason is
clouded by these crude opinions, even when he thinks of the Deity.-
His omnipotence is made to swallow up, or preside over his other
attributes, and those mortals are supposed to limit his power
irreverently, who think that it must be regulated by his wisdom.
  I disclaim that specious humility which, after investigating nature,
stops at the author.- The High and Lofty One, who inhabiteth eternity,
doubtless possesses many attributes of which we can form no
conception; but reason tells me that they cannot clash with those I
adore- and I am compelled to listen to her voice.
  It seems natural for man to search for excellence, and either to
trace it in the object that he worships, or blindly to invest it
with perfection, as a garment. But what good effect can the latter
mode of worship have on the moral conduct of a rational being? He
bends to power; he adores a dark cloud, which may open a bright
prospect to him, or burst in angry, lawless fury, on his devoted
head he knows not why. And, supposing that the Deity acts from the
vague impulse of an undirected will, man must also follow his own,
or act according to rules, deduced from principles which he
disclaims as irreverent. Into this dilemma have both enthusiasts and
cooler thinkers fallen, when they laboured to free men from the
wholesome restraints which a just conception of the character of God
imposes.
  It is not impious thus to scan the attributes of the Almighty: in
fact, who can avoid it that exercises his faculties? For to love God
as the fountain of wisdom, goodness, and power, appears to be the only
worship useful to a being who wishes to acquire either virtue or
knowledge. A blind unsettled affection may, like human passions,
occupy the mind and warm the heart, whilst, to do justice, love mercy,
and walk humbly with our God, is forgotten. I shall pursue this
subject still further, when I consider religion in a light opposite to
that recommended by Dr. Gregory, who treats it as a matter of
sentiment or taste.
  To return from this apparent digression. It were to be wished that
women would cherish an affection for their husbands, founded on the
same principle that devotion ought to rest upon. No other firm base is
there under heaven- for let them beware of the fallacious light of
sentiment; too often used as a softer phrase for sensuality. It
follows then, I think, that from their infancy women should either
be shut up like eastern princes, or educated in such a manner as to be
able to think and act for themselves.
  Why do men halt between two opinions, and expect impossibilities?
Why do they expect virtue from a slave, from a being whom the
constitution of civil society has rendered weak, if not vicious?
  Still I know that it will require a considerable length of time to
eradicate the firmly rooted prejudices which sensualists have planted;
it will also require some time to convince women that they act
contrary to their real interest on an enlarged scale, when they
cherish or affect weakness under the name of delicacy, and to convince
the world that the poisoned source of female vices and follies, if
it be necessary, in compliance with custom, to use synonymous terms in
a lax sense, has been the sensual homage paid to beauty:- to beauty of
features; for it has been shrewdly observed by a German writer, that a
pretty woman, as an object of desire, is generally allowed to be so by
men of all descriptions; whilst a fine woman, who inspires more
sublime emotions by displaying intellectual beauty, may be
overlooked or observed with indifference, by those men who find
their happiness in the gratification of their appetites. I foresee
an obvious retort- whilst man remains such an imperfect being as he
appears hitherto to have been, he will, more or less, be the slave
of his appetites; and those women obtaining most power who gratify a
predominant one, the sex is degraded by a physical, if not by a
moral necessity.
  This objection has, I grant, some force; but while such a sublime
precept exists, as, 'be pure as your heavenly Father is pure;' it
would seem that the virtues of man are not limited by the Being who
alone could limit them; and that be may press forward without
considering whether he steps out of his sphere by indulging such a
noble ambition. To the wild billows it has been said, 'thus far
shalt thou go, and no further; and here shall thy proud waves be
stayed.' Vainly then do they beat and foam, restrained by the power
that confines the struggling planets in their orbits, matter yields to
the great governing Spirit.- But an immortal soul, not restrained by
mechanical laws and struggling to free itself from the shackles of
matter, contributes to, instead of disturbing, the order of
creation, when, co-operating with the Father of spirits, it tries to
govern itself by the invariable rule that, in a degree, before which
our imagination faints, regulates the universe.
  Besides, if women be educated for dependence; that is, to act
according to the will of another fallible being, and submit, right
or wrong, to power, where are we to stop? Are they to be considered as
viceregents allowed to reign over a small domain, and answerable for
their conduct to a higher tribunal, liable to error?
  It will not be difficult to prove that such delegates will act
like men subjected by fear, and make their children and servants
endure their tyrannical oppression. As they submit without reason,
they will, having no fixed rules to square their conduct by, be
kind, or cruel, just as the whim of the moment directs; and we ought
not to wonder if sometimes, galled by their heavy yoke, they take a
malignant pleasure in resting it on weaker shoulders.
  But, supposing a woman, trained up to obedience, be married to a
sensible man, who directs her judgment without making her feel the
servility of her subjection, to act with as much propriety by this
reflected light as can be expected when reason is taken at second
hand, yet she cannot ensure the life of her protector; he may die
and leave her with a large family.
  A double duty devolves on her; to educate them in the character of
both father and mother; to form their principles and secure their
property. But, alas! she has never thought, much less acted for
herself. She has only learned to please* men, to depend gracefully
on them; yet, encumbered with children, how is she to obtain another
protector- a husband to supply the place of reason? A rational man,
for we are not treading on romantic ground, though he may think her
a pleasing docile creature, will not choose to marry a family for
love, when the world contains many more pretty creatures. What is then
to become of her? She either falls an easy prey to some mean
fortune-hunter, who defrauds her children of their paternal
inheritance, and renders her miserable; or becomes the victim of
discontent and blind indulgence. Unable to educate her sons, or
impress them with respect; for it is not a play on words to assert,
that people are never respected, though filling an important
station, who are not respectable; she pines under the anguish of
unavailing impotent regret. The serpent's tooth enters into her very
soul, and the vices of licentious youth bring her with sorrow, if
not with poverty also, to the grave.

  * 'In the union of the sexes, both pursue one common object, but not
in the same manner. From their diversity in this particular, arises
the first determinate difference between the moral relations of
each. The one should be active and strong, the other passive and weak:
it is necessary the one should have both the power and the will, and
that the other should make little resistance.
  'This principle being established, it follows that woman is
expressly formed to please the man: if the obligation be reciprocal
also, and the man ought to please in his turn, it is not so
immediately necessary: his great merit is in his power, and he pleases
merely because he is strong. This, I must confess, is not one of the
refined maxims of love; it is, however, one of the laws of nature,
prior to love itself.
  'If woman be formed to please and be subjected to man, it is her
place, doubtless, to render herself agreeable to him, instead of
challenging his passion, The violence of his desires depends on her
charms; it is by means of these she should urge him to the exertion of
those powers which nature hath given him. The most successful method
of exciting them, is, to render such exertion necessary by resistance;
as, in that case, self-love is added to desire, and the one triumphs
in the victory which the other obliged to acquire. Hence arise the
various modes of attack and defence between the sexes; the boldness of
one sex and the timidity of the other; and, in a word, that
bashfulness and modesty with which nature hath armed the weak, in
order to subdue the strong.'- Rousseau's Emilius.
  I shall make no other comment on this ingenious passage, than just
to observe, that it is the philosophy of lasciviousness.

  This is not an overcharged picture; on the contrary, it is a very
possible case, and something similar must have fallen under every
attentive eye.
  I have, however, taken it for granted, that she was well-disposed,
though experience shews, that the blind may as easily be led into a
ditch as along the beaten road. But supposing, no very improbable
conjecture, that a being only taught to please must still find her
happiness in pleasing;- what an example of folly, not to say vice,
will she be to her innocent daughters! The mother will be lost in
the coquette, and, instead of making friends of her daughters, view
them with eyes askance, for they are rivals- rivals more cruel than
any other, because they invite a comparison, and drive her from the
throne of beauty, who has never thought of a seat on the bench of
reason.
  It does not require a lively pencil, or the discriminating outline
of a caricature, to sketch the domestic miseries and petty vices which
such a mistress of a family diffuses. Still she only acts as a woman
ought to act, brought up according to Rousseau's system. She can never
be reproached for being masculine, or turning out of her sphere;
nay, she may observe another of his grand rules, and, cautiously
preserving her reputation free from spot, be reckoned a good kind of
woman. Yet in what respect can she be termed good? She abstains, it is
true, without any great struggle, from committing gross crimes; but
how does she fulfil her duties? Duties!- in truth she has enough to
think of to adorn her body and nurse a weak constitution.
  With respect to religion, she never presumed to judge for herself;
but conformed, as a dependent creature should, to the ceremonies of
the church which she was brought up in, piously believing that wiser
heads than her own have settled that business:- and not to doubt is
her point of perfection. She therefore pays her tythe of mint and
cummin- and thanks her God that she is not as other women are. These
are the blessed effects of a good education! These the virtues of
man's help-mate!*

  * 'O how lovely,' exclaims Rousseau, speaking of Sophia, 'is her
ignorance! Happy is he who is destined to instruct her! She will never
pretend to be the tutor of her husband, but will be content to be
his pupil. Far from attempting to subject him to her taste, she will
accommodate herself to his. She will be more estimable to him, than if
she was learned: he will have a pleasure in instructing her.'-
Rousseau's Emilius.
  I shall content myself with simply asking, how friendship can
subsist, when love expires, between the master and his pupil?

  I must relieve myself by drawing a different picture.
  Let fancy now present a woman with a tolerable understanding, for
I do not wish to leave the line of mediocrity, whose constitution,
strengthened by exercise, has allowed her body to acquire its full
vigour; her mind, at the same time, gradually expanding itself to
comprehend the moral duties of life, and in what human virtue and
dignity consist.
  Formed thus by the discharge of the relative duties of her
station, she marries from affection, without losing sight of prudence,
and looking beyond matrimonial felicity, she secures her husband's
respect before it is necessary to exert mean arts to please him and
feed a dying flame, which nature doomed to expire when the object
became familiar, when friendship and forbearance take place of a
more ardent affection.- This is the natural death of love, and
domestic peace is not destroyed by struggles to prevent its
extinction. I also suppose the husband to be virtuous; or she is still
more in want of independent principles.
  Fate, however, breaks this tie.- She is left a widow, perhaps,
without a sufficient provision; but she is not desolate! The pang of
nature is felt; but after time has softened sorrow into melancholy
resignation, her heart turns to her children with redoubled
fondness, and anxious to provide for them, affection gives a sacred
heroic cast to her maternal duties. She thinks that not only the eye
sees her virtuous efforts from whom all her comfort now must flow, and
whose approbation is life; but her imagination, a little abstracted
and exalted by grief, dwells on the fond hope that the eyes which
her trembling hand closed, may still see how she subdues every wayward
passion to fulfil the double duty of being the father as well as the
mother of her children. Raised to heroism by misfortunes, she
represses the first faint dawning of a natural inclination, before
it ripens into love, and in the bloom of life forgets her sex- forgets
the pleasure of an awakening passion, which might again have been
inspired and returned. She no longer thinks of pleasing, and conscious
dignity prevents her from priding herself on account of the praise
which her conduct demands. Her children have her love, and her
brightest hopes are beyond the grave, where her imagination often
strays.
  I think I see her surrounded by her children, reaping the reward
of her care. The intelligent eye meets hers, whilst health and
innocence smile on their chubby cheeks, and as they grow up the
cares of life are lessened by their grateful attention. She lives to
see the virtues which she endeavoured to plant on principles, fixed
into habits, to see her children attain a strength of character
sufficient to enable them to endure adversity without forgetting their
mother's example.
  The task of life thus fulfilled, she calmly waits for the sleep of
death, and rising from the grave, may say- Behold, thou gavest me a
talent- and here are five talents.

  I wish to sum up what I have said in a few words, for I here throw
down my gauntlet, and deny the existence of sexual virtues, not
excepting modesty. For man and woman, truth, if I understand the
meaning of the word, must be the same; yet the fanciful female
character, so prettily drawn by poets and novelists, demanding the
sacrifice of truth and sincerity, virtue becomes a relative idea,
having no other foundation than utility, and of that utility men
pretend arbitrarily to judge, shaping it to their own convenience.
  Women, I allow, may have different duties to fulfil; but they are
human duties, and the principles that should regulate the discharge of
them, I sturdily maintain, must be the same.
  To become respectable, the exercise of their understanding is
necessary, there is no other foundation for independence of character;
I mean explicitly to say that they must only bow to the authority of
reason, instead of being the modest slaves of opinion.
  In the superior ranks of life how seldom do we meet with a man of
superior abilities, or even common acquirements? The reason appears to
me clear, the state they are born in was an unnatural one. The human
character has ever been formed by the employments the individual, or
class, pursues; and if the faculties are not sharpened by necessity,
they must remain obtuse. The argument may fairly be extended to women;
for, seldom occupied by serious business, the pursuit of pleasure
gives that insignificancy to their character which renders the society
of the great so insipid. The same want of firmness, produced by a
similar cause, forces them both to fly from themselves to noisy
pleasures, and artificial passions, till vanity takes place of every
social affection, and the characteristics of humanity can scarcely
be discerned. Such are the blessings of civil governments, as they are
at present organized, that wealth and female softness equally tend
to debase mankind, and are produced by the same cause; but allowing
women to be rational creatures, they should be incited to acquire
virtues which they may call their own, for how can a rational being be
ennobled by any thing that is not obtained by its own exertions?
                        Chap. IV.
    Observations on the State of Degradation to Which Woman
               Is Reduced by Various Causes.

  That woman is naturally weak, or degraded by a concurrence of
circumstances, is, I think, clear. But this position I shall simply
contrast with a conclusion, which I have frequently heard fall from
sensible men in favour of an aristocracy: that the mass of mankind
cannot be anything, or the obsequious slaves, who patiently allow
themselves to be driven forward, would feel their own consequence, and
spurn their chains. Men, they further observe, submit every where to
oppression, when they have only to lift up their heads to throw off
the yoke; yet, instead of asserting their birthright, they quietly
lick the dust, and say, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
Women, I argue from analogy, are degraded by the same propensity to
enjoy the present moment; and, at last, despise the freedom which they
have not sufficient virtue to struggle to attain. But I must be more
explicit.
  With respect to the culture of the heart, it is unanimously
allowed that sex is out of the question; but the line of subordination
in the mental powers is never to be passed over.* Only 'absolute in
loveliness,' the portion of rationality granted to woman, is,
indeed, very scanty; for, denying her genius and judgment, it is
scarcely possible to divine what remains to characterize intellect.

  * Into what inconsistencies do men fall when they argue without
the compass of principles. Women, weak women, are compared with
angels; yet, a superiour order of beings should be supposed to possess
more intellect than man; or, in what does their superiority consist?
In the same strain, to drop the sneer, they are allowed to possess
more goodness of heart, piety, and benevolence.- I doubt the fact,
though it be courteously brought forward, unless ignorance be
allowed to be the mother of devotion; for I am firmly persuaded
that, on an average, the proportion between virtue and knowledge, is
more upon a par than is commonly granted.

  The stamen of immortality, if I may be allowed the phrase, is the
perfectibility of human reason; for, were man created perfect, or
did a flood of knowledge break in upon him, when he arrived at
maturity, that precluded error, I should doubt whether his existence
would be continued after the dissolution of the body. But, in the
present state of things, every difficulty in morals that escapes
from human discussion, and equally baffles the investigation of
profound thinking, and the lightning glance of genius, is an
argument on which I build my belief of the immortality of the soul.
Reason is, consequentially, the simple power of improvement; or,
more properly speaking, of discerning truth. Every individual is in
this respect a world in itself. More or less may be conspicuous in one
being than another; but the nature of reason must be the same in
all, if it be an emanation of divinity, the tie that connects the
creature with the Creator; for, can that soul be stamped with the
heavenly image, that is not perfected by the exercise of its own
reason?* Yet outwardly ornamented with elaborate care, and so
adorned to delight man, 'that with honour he may love,'*(2) the soul
of woman is not allowed to have this distinction, and man, ever placed
between her and reason, she is always represented as only created to
see through a gross medium, and to take things on trust. But
dismissing these fanciful theories, and considering woman as a
whole, let it be what it will, instead of a part of man, the inquiry
is whether she have reason or not. If she have, which, for a moment, I
will take for granted, she was not created merely to be the solace
of man, and the sexual should not destroy the human character.

  * 'The brutes,' says Lord Monboddo, 'remain in the state in which
nature has placed them, except in so far as their natural instinct
is improved by the culture we bestow upon them.'
  *(2) Vide Milton.

  Into this error men have, probably, been led by viewing education in
a false light; not considering it as the first step to form a being
advancing gradually towards perfection;* but only as a preparation for
life. On this sensual error, for I must call it so, has the false
system of female manners been reared, which robs the whole sex of
its dignity, and classes the brown and fair with the smiling flowers
that only adorn the land. This has ever been the language of men,
and the fear of departing from a supposed sexual character, has made
even women of superiour sense adopt the same sentiments.*(2) Thus
understanding, strictly speaking, has been denied to woman; and
instinct, sublimated into wit and cunning, for the purposes of life,
has been substituted in its stead.

  * This word is not strictly just, but I cannot find a better.
  *(2) 'Pleasure's the potion of th' inferior kind;
        But glory, virtue, Heaven for man design'd.'
  After writing these lines, how could Mrs. [Anna Letitia] Barbauld
write the following ignoble comparison?

        'To a Lady, with some painted flowers.
        'Flowers to the fair: to you these flowers I bring,
         And strive to greet you with an earlier spring.
         Flowers SWEET, and gay, and DELICATE LIKE YOU;
         Emblems of innocence, and beauty too.
         With flowers the Graces bind their yellow hair,
         And flowery wreaths consenting lovers wear.
         Flowers, the sole luxury which nature knew,
         In Eden's pure and guiltless garden grew.
         To loftier forms are rougher tasks assign'd;
         The sheltering oak resists the stormy wind,
         The tougher yew repels invading foes,
         And the tall pine for future navies grows;
         But this soft family, to cares unknown,
         Were born for pleasure and delight ALONE.
         Gay without toil, and lovely without art,
         They spring to CHEER the sense, and GLAD the  heart.
         Nor blush, my fair, to own you copy these;
         Your BEST, your SWEETEST empire is- TO PLEASE.'

  So the men tell us; but virtue, says reason, must be acquired by
rough toils, and useful struggles with worldly cares.

  The power of generalizing ideas, of drawing comprehensive
conclusions from individual observations, is the only acquirement, for
an immortal being, that really deserves the name of knowledge.
Merely to observe, without endeavouring to account for any thing,
may (in a very incomplete manner) serve as the common sense of life;
but where is the store laid up that is to clothe the soul when it
leaves the body?
  This power has not only been denied to women; but writers have
insisted that it is inconsistent, with a few exceptions, with their
sexual character. Let men prove this, and I shall grant that woman
only exists for man. I must, however, previously remark, that the
power of generalizing ideas, to any great extent, is not very common
amongst men or women. But this exercise is the true cultivation of the
understanding; and every thing conspires to render the cultivation
of the understanding more difficult in the female than the male world.
  I am naturally led by this assertion to the main subject of the
present chapter, and shall now attempt to point out some of the causes
that degrade the sex, and prevent women from generalizing their
observations.
  I shall not go back to the remote annals of antiquity to trace the
history of woman; it is sufficient to allow that she has always been
either a slave, or a despot, and to remark, that each of these
situations equally retards the progress of reason. The grand source of
female folly and vice has ever appeared to me to arise from narrowness
of mind; and the very constitution of civil governments has put almost
insuperable obstacles in the way to prevent the cultivation of the
female understanding:- yet virtue can be built on no other foundation!
The same obstacles are thrown in the way of the rich, and the same
consequences ensue.
  Necessity has been proverbially termed the mother of invention-
the aphorism may be extended to virtue. It is an acquirement, and an
acquirement to which pleasure must be sacrificed- and who sacrifices
pleasure when it is within the grasp, whose mind has not been opened
and strengthened by adversity, or the pursuit of knowledge goaded on
by necessity?- Happy is it when people have the cares of life to
struggle with; for these struggles prevent their becoming a prey to
enervating vices, merely from idleness! But, if from their birth men
and women be placed in a torrid zone, with the meridian sun of
pleasure darting directly upon them, how can they sufficiently brace
their minds to discharge the duties of life, or even to relish the
affections that carry them out of themselves?
  Pleasure is the business of woman's life, according to the present
modification of society, and while it continues to be so, little can
be expected from such weak beings. Inheriting, in a lineal descent
from the first fair defect in nature, the sovereignty of beauty,
they have, to maintain their power, resigned the natural rights, which
the exercise of reason might have procured them, and chosen rather
to be short-lived queens than labour to obtain the sober pleasures
that arise from equality. Exalted by their inferiority (this sounds
like a contradiction), they constantly demand homage as women,
though experience should teach them that the men who pride
themselves upon paying this arbitrary insolent respect to the sex,
with the most scrupulous exactness, are most inclined to tyrannize
over, and despise, the very weakness they cherish. Often do they
repeat Mr. Hume's sentiments; when, comparing the French and
Athenian character, he alludes to women. 'But what is more singular in
this whimsical nation, say I to the Athenians, is, that a frolick of
yours during the Saturnalia, when the slaves are served by their
masters, is seriously continued by them through the whole year, and
through the whole course and through the whole course of their
lives; accompanied too with some circumstances, which still further
augment the absurdity and ridicule. Your sport only elevates for a few
days those whom fortune has thrown down, and whom she too, in sport,
may really elevate for ever above you. But this nation gravely
exalts those, whom nature has subjected to them, and whose inferiority
and infirmities are absolutely incurable. The women, though without
virtue, are their masters and sovereigns.'
  Ah! why do women, I write with affectionate solicitude, condescend
to receive a degree of attention and respect from strangers, different
from that reciprocation of civility which the dictates of humanity and
the politeness of civilization authorise between man and man? And, why
do they not discover, when 'in the noon of beauty's power,' that
they are treated like queens only to be deluded by hollow respect,
till they are led to resign, or not assume, their natural
prerogatives? Confined then in cages like the feathered race, they
have nothing to do but to plume themselves, and stalk with mock
majesty from perch to perch. It is true they are provided with food
and raiment, for which they neither toil nor spin; but health,
liberty, and virtue, are given in exchange. But, where, amongst
mankind, has been found sufficient strength of mind to enable a
being to resign these adventitious prerogatives; one who, rising
with the calm dignity of reason above opinion, dared to be proud of
the privileges inherent in man? And it is vain to expect it whilst
hereditary power chokes the affections and nips reason in the bud.
  The passions of men have thus placed women on thrones, and, till
mankind become more reasonable, it is to be feared that women will
avail themselves of the power which they attain with the least
exertion, and which is the most indisputable. They will smile,- yes,
they will smile, though told that-

           'In beauty's empire is no mean,
           'And woman, either slave or queen,
           'Is quickly scorn'd when not ador'd.'

But the adoration comes first, and the scorn is not anticipated.
  Lewis the XIVth, in particular, spread factitious manners, and
caught, in a specious way, the whole nation in his toils; for,
establishing an artful chain of despotism, he made it the interest
of the people at large, individually to respect his station and
support his power. And women, whom he flattered by a puerile attention
to the whole sex, obtained in his reign that prince-like distinction
so fatal to reason and virtue.
  A king is always a king- and a woman always a woman:* his
authority and her sex, ever stand between them and rational
converse. With a lover, I grant, she should be so, and her sensibility
will naturally lead her to endeavour to excite emotion, not to gratify
her vanity, but her heart. This I do not allow to be coquetry, it is
the artless impulse of nature, I only exclaim against the sexual
desire of conquest when the heart is out of the question.

  * And a wit, always a wit, might be added; for the vain fooleries of
wits and beauties to obtain attention, and make conquests, are much
upon a par.

  This desire is not confined to women; 'I have endeavoured,' says
Lord Chesterfield, 'to gain the hearts of twenty women, whose
persons I would not have given a fig for.' The libertine, who, in a
gust of passion, takes advantage of unsuspecting tenderness, is a
saint when compared with this cold-hearted rascal; for I like to use
significant words. Yet only taught to please, women are always on
the watch to please, and with true heroic ardour endeavour to gain
hearts merely to resign or spurn them, when the victory is decided,
and conspicuous.
  I must descend to the minutiae of the subject.
  I lament that women are systematically degraded by receiving the
trivial attentions, which men think it manly to pay to the sex,
when, in fact, they are insultingly supporting their own
superiority. It is not condescension to bow to an inferior. So
ludicrous, in fact, do these ceremonies appear to me, that I
scarcely am able to govern my muscles, when I see a man start with
eager, and serious solicitude, to lift a handkerchief, or shut a door,
when the lady could have done it herself, had she only moved a pace or
two.
  A wild wish has just flown from my heart to my head, and I will
not stifle it though it may excite a horse-laugh.- I do earnestly wish
to see the distinction of sex confounded in society, unless where love
animates the behaviour. For this distinction is, I am firmly
persuaded, the foundation of the weakness of character ascribed to
woman; is the cause why the understanding is neglected, whilst
accomplishments are acquired with sedulous care: and the same cause
accounts for their preferring the graceful before the heroic virtues.
  Mankind, including every description, wish to be loved and respected
by something; and the common herd will always take the nearest road to
the completion of their wishes. The respect paid to wealth and
beauty is the most certain, and unequivocal; and, of course, will
always attract the vulgar eye of common minds. Abilities and virtues
are absolutely necessary to raise men from the middle rank of life
into notice; and the natural consequence is notorious, the middle rank
contains most virtue and abilities. Men have thus, in one station,
at least an opportunity of exerting themselves with dignity, and of
rising by the exertions which really improve a rational creature;
but the whole female sex are, till their character is formed, in the
same condition as the rich: for they are born, I now speak of a
state of civilization, with certain sexual privileges, and whilst they
are gratuitously granted them, few will ever think of works of
supererogation, to obtain the esteem of a small number of superiour
people.
  When do we hear of women who, starting out of obscurity, boldly
claim respect on account of their great abilities or daring virtues?
Where are they to be found?- 'To be observed, to be attended to, to be
taken notice of with sympathy, complacency, and approbation, are all
the advantages which they seek.'- True! my male readers will
probably exclaim; but let them, before they draw any conclusion,
recollect that this was not written originally as descriptive of
women, but of the rich. In Dr. Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, I
have found a general character of people of rank and fortune, that, in
my opinion, might with the greatest propriety be applied to the female
sex. I refer the sagacious reader to the whole comparison; but must be
allowed to quote a passage to enforce an argument that I mean to
insist on, as the one most conclusive against a sexual character.
For if, excepting warriors, no great men, of any denomination, have
ever appeared amongst the nobility, may it not be fairly inferred that
their local situation swallowed up the man, and produced a character
similar to that of women, who are localized, if I may be allowed the
word, by the rank they are placed in, by courtesy? Women, commonly
called Ladies, are not to be contradicted in company, are not
allowed to exert any manual strength; and from them the negative
virtues only are expected, when any virtues are expected, patience,
docility, good-humour, and flexibility; virtues incompatible with
any vigorous exertion of intellect. Besides, by living more with
each other, and being seldom absolutely alone, they are more under the
influence of sentiments than passions. Solitude and reflection are
necessary to give to wishes the force of passions, and to enable the
imagination to enlarge the object, and make it the most desirable. The
same may be said of the rich; they do not sufficiently deal in general
ideas, collected by impassioned thinking, or calm investigation, to
acquire that strength of character on which great resolves are
built. But hear what an acute observer says of the great.
  'Do the great seem insensible of the easy price at which they may
acquire the publick admiration; or do they seem to imagine that to
them, as to other men, it must be the purchase either of sweat or of
blood? By what important accomplishments is the young nobleman
instructed to support the dignity of his rank, and to render himself
worthy of that superiority over his fellow-citizens, to which the
virtue of his ancestors had raised them? Is it by knowledge, by
industry, by patience, by self-denial, or by virtue of any kind? As
all his words, as all his motions are attended to, he learns an
habitual regard to every circumstance of ordinary behaviour, and
studies to perform all those small duties with the most exact
propriety. As he is conscious how much he is observed, and how much
mankind are disposed to favour all his inclinations, he acts, upon the
most indifferent occasions, with that freedom and elevation which
the thought of this naturally inspires. His air, his manner, his
deportment, all mark that elegant and graceful sense of his own
superiority, which those who are born to inferior station can hardly
ever arrive at. These are the arts by which he proposes to make
mankind more easily submit to his authority, and to govern their
inclinations according to his own pleasure: and in this he is seldom
disappointed. These arts, supported by rank and pre-eminence, are,
upon ordinary occasions, sufficient to govern the world. Lewis XIV
during the greater part of his reign, was regarded, not only in
France, but over all Europe, as the most perfect model of a great
prince. But what were the talents and virtues by which he acquired
this great reputation? Was it by the scrupulous and inflexible justice
of all his undertakings, by the immense dangers and difficulties
with which they were attended, or by the unwearied and unrelenting
application with which he pursued them? Was it by his extensive
knowledge, by his exquisite judgment, or by his heroic valour? It
was by none of these qualities. But he was, first of all, the most
powerful prince in Europe, and consequently held the highest rank
among kings; and then, says his historian, "he surpassed all his
courtiers in the gracefulness of his shape, and the majestic beauty of
his features. The sound of his voice, noble and affecting, gained
those hearts which his presence intimidated. He had a step and a
deportment which could suit only him and his rank, and which would
have been ridiculous in any other person. The embarrassment which he
occasioned to those who spoke to him, flattered that secret
satisfaction with which he felt his own superiority." These
frivolous accomplishments, supported by his rank, and, no doubt too,
by a degree of other talents and virtues, which seems, however, not to
have been much above mediocrity, established this prince in the esteem
of his own age, and have drawn, even from posterity, a good deal of
respect for his memory. Compared with these, in his own times, and
in his own presence, no other virtue, it seems, appeared to have any
merit. Knowledge, industry, valour, and beneficence, trembled, were
abashed, and lost all dignity before them.'
  Woman also thus 'in herself complete,' by possessing all these
frivolous accomplishments, so changes the nature of things

                   -'That what she wills to do or say
        'Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best;
        'All higher knowledge in her presence falls
        'Degraded. Wisdom in discourse with her
        'Loses discountenanc'd, and, like Folly, shows;
        'Authority and Reason on her wait.'

And all this is built on her loveliness!
  In the middle rank of life, to continue the comparison, men, in
their youth, are prepared for professions, and marriage is not
considered as the grand feature in their lives; whilst women, on the
contrary, have no other scheme to sharpen their faculties. It is not
business, extensive plans, or any of the excursive flights of
ambition, that engross their attention; no, their thoughts are not
employed in rearing such noble structures. To rise in the world, and
have the liberty of running from pleasure to pleasure, they must marry
advantageously, and to this object their time is sacrificed, and their
persons often legally prostituted. A man when he enters any profession
has his eye steadily fixed on some future advantage (and the mind
gains great strength by having all its efforts directed to one point),
and, full of his business, pleasure is considered as mere
relaxation; whilst women seek for pleasure as the main purpose of
existence. In fact, from the education, which they receive from
society, the love of pleasure may be said to govern them all; but does
this prove that there is a sex in souls? It would be just as
rational to declare that the courtiers in France, when a destructive
system of despotism had formed their character, were not men,
because liberty, virtue, and humanity, were sacrificed to pleasure and
vanity.- Fatal passions, which have ever domineered over the whole
race!
  The same love of pleasure, fostered by the whole tendency of their
education, gives a trifling turn to the conduct of women in most
circumstances: for instance, they are ever anxious about secondary
things; and on the watch for adventures, instead of being occupied
by duties.
  A man, when he undertakes a journey, has, in general, the end in
view; a woman thinks more of the incidental occurrences, the strange
things that may possibly occur on the road; the impression that she
may make on her fellow-travellers; and, above all, she is anxiously
intent on the care of the finery that she carries with her, which is
more than ever a part of herself, when going to figure on a new scene;
when, to use an apt French turn of expression, she is going to produce
a sensation.- Can dignity of mind exist with such trivial cares?
  In short, women, in general, as well as the rich of both sexes, have
acquired all the follies and vices of civilization, and missed the
useful fruit. It is not necessary for me always to premise, that I
speak of the condition of the whole sex, leaving exceptions out of the
question. Their senses are inflamed, and their understandings
neglected, consequently they become the prey of their senses,
delicately termed sensibility and are blown about by every momentary
gust of feeling. Civilized women are, therefore, so weakened by
false refinement, that, respecting morals, their condition is much
below what it would be were they left in a state nearer to nature.
Ever restless and anxious, their over exercised sensibility not only
renders them uncomfortable themselves, but troublesome, to use a
soft phrase, to others. All their thoughts turn on things calculated
to excite emotion; and feeling, when they should reason, their conduct
is unstable, and their opinions are wavering- not the wavering
produced by deliberation or progressive views, but by contradictory
emotions. By fits and starts they are warm in many pursuits; yet
this warmth, never concentrated into perseverance, soon exhausts
itself; exhaled by its own heat, or meeting with some other fleeting
passion, to which reason has never given any specific gravity,
neutrality ensues. Miserable, indeed, must be that being whose
cultivation of mind has only tended to inflame its passions! A
distinction should be made between inflaming and strengthening them.
The passions thus pampered, whilst the judgment is left unformed, what
can be expected to ensue?- Undoubtedly, a mixture of madness and
folly!
  This observation should not be confined to the fair sex; however, at
present, I only mean to apply it to them.
  Novels, music, poetry, and gallantry, all tend to make women the
creatures of sensation, and their character is thus formed in the
mould of folly during the time they are acquiring accomplishments, the
only improvement they are excited, by their station in society, to
acquire. This overstretched sensibility naturally relaxes the other
powers of the mind, and prevents intellect from attaining that
sovereignty which it ought to attain to render a rational creature
useful to others, and content with its own station: for the exercise
of the understanding, as life advances, is the only method pointed out
by nature to calm the passions.
  Satiety has a very different effect, and I have often been
forcibly struck by an emphatical description of damnation:- when the
spirit is represented as continually hovering with abortive
eagerness round the defiled body, unable to enjoy any thing without
the organs of sense. Yet, to their senses, are women made slaves,
because it is by their sensibility that they obtain present power.
  And will moralists pretend to assert, that this is the condition
in which one half of the human race should be encouraged to remain
with listless inactivity and stupid acquiescence? Kind instructors!
what were we created for? To remain, it may be said, innocent; they
mean in a state of childhood.- We might as well never have been
born, unless it were necessary that we should be created to enable man
to acquire the noble privilege of reason, the power of discerning good
from evil, whilst we lie down in the dust from whence we were taken,
never to rise again.-
  It would be an endless task to trace the variety of meannesses,
cares, and sorrows, into which women are plunged by the prevailing
opinion, that they were created rather to feel than reason, and that
all the power they obtain, must be obtained by their charms and
weakness:

             'Fine by defect, and amiably weak!'

And, made by this amiable weakness entirely dependent, excepting
what they gain by illicit sway, on man, not only for protection, but
advice, is it surprising that, neglecting the duties that reason alone
points out, and shrinking from trials calculated to strengthen their
minds, they only exert themselves to give their defects a graceful
covering, which may serve to heighten their charms in the eye of the
voluptuary, though it sink them below the scale of moral excellence?
  Fragile in every sense of the word, they are obliged to look up to
man for every comfort. In the most trifling dangers they cling to
their support, with parasitical tenacity, piteously demanding succour;
and their natural protector extends his arm, or lifts up his voice, to
guard the lovely trembler- from what? Perhaps the frown of an old cow,
or the jump of a mouse; a rat, would be a serious danger. In the
name of reason, and even common sense, what can save such beings
from contempt; even though they be soft and fair?
  These fears, when not affected, may produce some pretty attitudes;
but they shew a degree of imbecility which degrades a rational
creature in a way women are not aware of- for love and esteem are very
distinct things.
  I am fully persuaded that we should hear of none of these
infantine airs, if girls were allowed to take sufficient exercise, and
not confined in close rooms till their muscles are relaxed, and
their powers of digestion destroyed. To carry the remark still
further, if fear in girls, instead of being cherished, perhaps,
created, were treated in the same manner as cowardice in boys, we
should quickly see women with more dignified aspects. It is true, they
could not then with equal propriety be termed the sweet flowers that
smile in the walk of man; but they would be more respectable members
of society, and discharge the important duties of life by the light of
their own reason. 'Educate women like men,' says Rousseau, 'and the
more they resemble our sex the less power will they have over us.'
This is the very point I aim at. I do not wish them to have power over
men; but over themselves.
  In the same strain have I heard men argue against instructing the
poor; for many are the forms that aristocracy assumes. 'Teach them
to read and write,' say they, 'and you take them out of the station
assigned them by nature.' An eloquent Frenchman has answered them, I
will borrow his sentiments. But they know not, when they make man a
brute, that they may expect every instant to see him transformed
into a ferocious beast. Without knowledge there can be no morality!
  Ignorance is a frail base for virtue! Yet, that it is the
condition for which woman was organized, has been insisted upon by the
writers who have most vehemently argued in favour of the superiority
of man; a superiority not in degree, but essence; though, to soften
the argument, they have laboured to prove, with chivalrous generosity,
that the sexes ought not to be compared; man was made to reason, woman
to feel: and that together, flesh and spirit, they make the most
perfect whole, by blending happily reason and sensibility into one
character.
  And what is sensibility? 'Quickness of sensation; quickness of
perception; delicacy.' Thus is it defined by Dr. Johnson; and the
definition gives me no other idea than of the most exquisitely
polished instinct. I discern not a trace of the image of God in either
sensation or matter. Refined seventy times seven, they are still
material; intellect dwells not there; nor will fire ever make lead
gold!
  I come round to my old argument; if woman be allowed to have an
immortal soul, she must have, as the employment of life, an
understanding to improve. And when, to render the present state more
complete, though every thing proves it to be but a fraction of a
mighty sum, she is incited by present gratification to forget her
grand destination, nature is counteracted, or she was born only to
procreate and rot. Or, granting brutes, of every description, a
soul, though not a reasonable one, the exercise of instinct and
sensibility may be the step, which they are to take, in this life,
towards the attainment of reason in the next; so that through all
eternity they will lag behind man, who, why we cannot tell, had the
power given him of attaining reason in his first mode of existence.
  When I treat of the peculiar duties of women, as I should treat of
the peculiar duties of a citizen or father, it will be found that I do
not mean to insinuate that they should be taken out of their families,
speaking of the majority. 'He that hath wife and children,' says
Lord Bacon, 'hath given hostages to fortune; for they are
impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.
Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have
proceeded from the unmarried or childless men.' I say the same of
women. But, the welfare of society is not built on extraordinary
exertions; and were it more reasonably organized, there would be still
less need of great abilities, or heroic virtues.
  In the regulation of a family, in the education of children,
understanding, in an unsophisticated sense, is particularly
required: strength both of body and mind; yet the men who, by their
writings, have most earnestly laboured to domesticate women, have
endeavoured, by arguments dictated by a gross appetite, which
satiety had rendered fastidious, to weaken their bodies and cramp
their minds. But, if even by these sinister methods they really
persuaded women, by working on their feelings, to stay at home, and
fulfil the duties of a mother and mistress of a family, I should
cautiously oppose opinions that led women to right conduct, by
prevailing on them to make the discharge of such important duties
the main business of life, though reason were insulted. Yet, and I
appeal to experience, if by neglecting the understanding they be as
much, nay, more detached from these domestic employments, than they
could be by the most serious intellectual pursuit, though it may be
observed, that the mass of mankind will never vigorously pursue an
intellectual object,* I may be allowed to infer that reason is
absolutely necessary to enable a woman to perform any duty properly,
and I must again repeat, that sensibility is not reason.

  * The mass of mankind are rather the slaves of their appetites
than of their passions.

  The comparison with the rich still occurs to me; for, when men
neglect the duties of humanity, women will follow their example; a
common stream hurries them both along with thoughtless celerity.
Riches and honours prevent a man from enlarging his understanding, and
enervate all his powers by reversing the order of nature, which has
ever made true pleasure the reward of labour. Pleasure- enervating
pleasure is, likewise, within women's reach without earning it. But,
till hereditary possessions are spread abroad, how can we expect men
to be proud of virtue? And, till they are, women will govern them by
the most direct means, neglecting their dull domestic duties to
catch the pleasure that sits lightly on the wing of time.
  'The power of the woman,' says some author, 'is her sensibility;'
and men, not aware of the consequence, do all they can to make this
power swallow up every other. Those who constantly employ their
sensibility will have most: for example; poets, painters, and
composers.* Yet, when the sensibility is thus increased at the expence
of reason, and even the imagination, why do philosophical men complain
of their fickleness? The sexual attention of man particularly acts
on female sensibility, and this sympathy has been exercised from their
youth up. A husband cannot long pay those attentions with the
passion necessary to excite lively emotions, and the heart, accustomed
to lively emotions, turns to a new lover, or pines in secret, the prey
of virtue or prudence. I mean when the heart has really been
rendered susceptible, and the taste formed; for I am apt to
conclude, from what I have seen in fashionable life, that vanity is
oftener fostered than sensibility by the mode of education, and the
intercourse between the sexes, which I have reprobated; and that
coquetry more frequently proceeds from vanity than from that
inconstancy, which overstrained sensibility naturally produces.

  * Men of these descriptions pour it into their compositions, to
amalgamate the gross materials; and, moulding them with passion,
give to the inert body a soul; but, in woman's imagination, love alone
concentrates these ethereal beams.

  Another argument that has had great weight with me, must, I think,
have some force with every considerate benevolent heart. Girls who
have been thus weakly educated, are often cruelly left by their
parents without any provision; and, of course, are dependent on, not
only the reason, but the bounty of their brothers. These brothers are,
to view the fairest side of the question, good sort of men, and give
as a favour, what children of the same parents had an equal right
to. In this equivocal humiliating situation, a docile female may
remain some time, with a tolerable degree of comfort. But, when the
brother marries, a probable circumstance, from being considered as the
mistress of the family, she is viewed with averted looks as an
intruder, an unnecessary burden on the benevolence of the master of
the house, and his new partner.
  Who can recount the misery, which many unfortunate beings, whose
minds and bodies are equally weak, suffer in such situations- unable
to work, and ashamed to beg? The wife, a cold-hearted,
narrow-minded, woman, and this is not an unfair supposition; for the
present mode of education does not tend to enlarge the heart any
more than the understanding, is jealous of the little kindness which
her husband shews to his relations; and her sensibility not rising
to humanity, she is displeased at seeing the property of her
children lavished on an helpless sister.
  These are matters of fact, which have come under my eye again and
again. The consequence is obvious, the wife has recourse to cunning to
undermine the habitual affection, which she is afraid openly to
oppose; and neither tears nor caresses are spared till the spy is
worked out of her home, and thrown on the world, unprepared for its
difficulties; or sent, as a great effort of generosity, or from some
regard to propriety, with a small stipend, and an uncultivated mind,
into joyless solitude.
  These two women may be much upon a par, with respect to reason and
humanity; and changing situations, might have acted just the same
selfish part; but had they been differently educated, the case would
also have been very different. The wife would not have had that
sensibility, of which self is the centre, and reason might have taught
her not to expect, and not even to be flattered by, the affection of
her husband, if it led him to violate prior duties. She would wish not
to love him merely because he loved her, but on account of his
virtues; and the sister might have been able to struggle for herself
instead of eating the bitter bread of dependence.
  I am, indeed, persuaded that the heart, as well as the
understanding, is opened by cultivation; and by, which may not
appear so clear, strengthening the organs; I am not now talking of
momentary flashes of sensibility, but of affections. And, perhaps,
in the education of both sexes, the most difficult task is so to
adjust instruction as not to narrow the understanding, whilst the
heart is warmed by the generous juices of spring, just raised by the
electric fermentation of the season; nor to dry up the feelings by
employing the mind in investigations remote from life.
  With respect to women, when they receive a careful education, they
are either made fine ladies, brimful of sensibility, and teeming
with capricious fancies; or mere notable women. The latter are often
friendly, honest creatures, and have a shrewd kind of good sense
joined with worldly prudence, that often render them more useful
members of society than the fine sentimental lady, though they possess
neither greatness of mind nor taste. The intellectual world is shut
against them; take them out of their family or neighbourhood, and they
stand still; the mind finding no employment, for literature affords
a fund of amusement which they have never sought to relish, but
frequently to despise. The sentiments and taste of more cultivated
minds appear ridiculous, even in those whom chance and family
connections have led them to love; but in mere acquaintance they think
it all affectation.
  A man of sense can only love such a woman on account of her sex, and
respect her, because she is a trusty servant. He lets her, to preserve
his own peace, scold the servants, and go to church in clothes made of
the very best materials. A man of her own size of understanding would,
probably, not agree so well with her; for he might wish to encroach on
her prerogative, and manage some domestic concerns himself. Yet women,
whose minds are not enlarged by cultivation, or the natural
selfishness of sensibility expanded by reflection, are very unfit to
manage a family; for, by an undue stretch of power, they are always
tyrannizing to support a superiority that only rests on the
arbitrary distinction of fortune. The evil is sometimes more
serious, and domestics are deprived of innocent indulgences, and
made to work beyond their strength, in order to enable the notable
woman to keep a better table, and outshine her neighbours in finery
and parade. If she attend to her children, it is, in general, to dress
them in a costly manner- and, whether this attention arise from vanity
or fondness, it is equally pernicious.
  Besides, how many women of this description pass their days; or,
at least, their evenings, discontentedly. Their husbands acknowledge
that they are good managers, and chaste wives; but leave home to
seek for more agreeable, may I be allowed to use a significant
French word, piquant society; and the patient drudge, who fulfils
her task, like a blind horse in a mill, is defrauded of her just
reward; for the wages due to her are the caresses of her husband;
and women who have so few resources in themselves, do not very
patiently bear this privation of a natural right.
  A fine lady, on the contrary, has been taught to look down with
contempt on the vulgar employments of life; though she has only been
incited to acquire accomplishments that rise a degree above sense; for
even corporeal accomplishments cannot be acquired with any degree of
precision unless the understanding has been strengthened by
exercise. Without a foundation of principles taste is superficial,
grace must arise from something deeper than imitation. The
imagination, however, is heated, and the feelings rendered fastidious,
if not sophisticated; or, a counterpoise of judgment is not
acquired, when the heart still remains artless, though it becomes
too tender.
  These women are often amiable; and their hearts are really more
sensible to general benevolence, more alive to the sentiments that
civilize life, than the square-elbowed family drudge; but, wanting a
due proportion of reflection and self-government, they only inspire
love; and are the mistresses of their husbands, whilst they have any
hold on their affections; and the platonic friends of his male
acquaintance. These are the fair defects in nature; the women who
appear to be created not to enjoy the fellowship of man, but to save
him from sinking into absolute brutality, by rubbing off the rough
angles of his character; and by playful dalliance to give some dignity
to the appetite that draws him to them.- Gracious Creator of the whole
human race! hast thou created such a being as woman, who can trace thy
wisdom in thy works, and feel that thou alone art by thy nature
exalted above her,- for no better purpose?- Can she believe that she
was only made to submit to man, her equal, a being, who, like her, was
sent into the world to acquire virtue?- Can she consent to be occupied
merely to please him; merely to adorn the earth, when her soul is
capable of rising to thee?- And can she rest supinely dependent on man
for reason, when she ought to mount with him the arduous steeps of
knowledge?-
  Yet, if love be the supreme good, let women be only educated to
inspire it, and let every charm be polished to intoxicate the
senses; but, if they be moral beings, let them have a chance to become
intelligent; and let love to man be only a part of that glowing
flame of universal love, which, after encircling humanity, mounts in
grateful incense to God.
  To fulfil domestic duties much resolution is necessary, and a
serious kind of perseverance that requires a more firm support than
emotions, however lively and true to nature. To give an example of
order, the soul of virtue, some austerity of behaviour must be
adopted, scarcely to be expected from a being who, from its infancy,
has been made the weathercock of its own sensations. Whoever
rationally means to be useful must have a plan of conduct; and, in the
discharge of the simplest duty, we are often obliged to act contrary
to the present impulse of tenderness or compassion. Severity is
frequently the most certain, as well as the most sublime proof of
affection; and the want of this power over the feelings, and of that
lofty, dignified affection, which makes a person prefer the future
good of the beloved object to a present gratification, is the reason
why so many fond mothers spoil their children, and has made it
questionable whether negligence or indulgence be most hurtful, but I
am inclined to think, that the latter has done most harm.
  Mankind seem to agree that children should be left under the
management of women during their childhood. Now, from all the
observation that I have been able to make, women of sensibility are
the most unfit for this task, because they will infallibly, carried
away by their feelings, spoil a child's temper. The management of
the temper, the first, and most important branch of education,
requires the sober steady eye of reason; a plan of conduct equally
distant from tyranny and indulgence: yet these are the extremes that
people of sensibility alternately fall into; always shooting beyond
the mark. I have followed this train of reasoning much further, till I
have concluded, that a person of genius is the most improper person to
be employed in education, public or private. Minds of this rare
species see things too much in masses, and seldom, if ever, have a
good temper. That habitual cheerfulness, termed good-humour, is,
perhaps, as seldom united with great mental powers, as with strong
feelings. And those people who follow, with interest and admiration,
the flights of genius; or, with cooler approbation suck in the
instruction which has been elaborately prepared for them by the
profound thinker, ought not to be disgusted, if they find the former
choleric, and the latter morose; because liveliness of fancy, and a
tenacious comprehension of mind, are scarcely compatible with that
pliant urbanity which leads a man, at least, to bend to the opinions
and prejudices of others, instead of roughly confronting them.
  But, treating of education or manners, minds of a superior class are
not to be considered, they may be left to chance; it is the multitude,
with moderate abilities, who call for instruction, and catch the
colour of the atmosphere they breathe. This respectable concourse, I
contend, men and women, should not have their sensations heightened in
the hot-bed of luxurious indolence, at the expence of their
understanding; for, unless there be a ballast of understanding, they
will never become either virtuous or free: an aristocracy, founded
on property, or sterling talents, will ever sweep before it, the
alternately timid, and ferocious, slaves of feeling.
  Numberless are the arguments, to take another view of the subject,
brought forward with a shew of reason, because supposed to be
deduced from nature, that men have used morally and physically, to
degrade the sex. I must notice a few.
  The female understanding has often been spoken of with contempt,
as arriving sooner at maturity than the male. I shall not answer
this argument by alluding to the early proofs of reason, as well as
genius, in Cowley, Milton, and Pope,* but only appeal to experience to
decide whether young men, who are early introduced into company (and
examples now abound), do not acquire the same precocity. So
notorious is this fact, that the bare mentioning of it must bring
before people, who at all mix in the world, the idea of a number of
swaggering apes of men, whose understandings are narrowed by being
brought into the society of men when they ought to have been
spinning a top or twirling a hoop.

  * Many other names might be added.

  It has also been asserted, by some naturalists, that men do not
attain their full growth and strength till thirty; but that women
arrive at maturity by twenty. I apprehend that they reason on false
ground, led astray by the male prejudice, which deems beauty the
perfection of woman- mere beauty of features and complexion, the
vulgar acceptation of the word, whilst male beauty is allowed to
have some connection with the mind. Strength of body, and that
character of countenance, which the French term a physionomie, women
do not acquire before thirty, any more than men. The little artless
tricks of children, it is true, are particularly pleasing and
attractive; yet, when the pretty freshness of youth is worn off, these
artless graces become studied airs, and disgust every person of taste.
In the countenance of girls we only look for vivacity and bashful
modesty; but, the spring-tide of life over, we look for soberer
sense in the face, and for traces of passion, instead of the dimples
of animal spirits; expecting to see individuality of character, the
only fastener of the affections.* We then wish to converse, not to
fondle; to give scope to our imaginations as well as to the sensations
of our hearts.

  * The strength of an affection is, generally, in the same proportion
as the character of the species in the object beloved.

  At twenty the beauty of both sexes is equal; but the libertinism
of man leads him to make the distinction, and superannuated
coquettes are commonly of the same opinion; for, when they can no
longer inspire love, they pay for the vigour and vivacity of youth.
The French, who admit more of mind into their notions of beauty,
give the preference to women of thirty. I mean to say that they
allow women to be in their most perfect state, when vivacity gives
place to reason, and to that majestic seriousness of character,
which marks maturity;- or, the resting point. In youth, till twenty,
the body shoots out, till thirty the solids are attaining a degree
of density; and the flexible muscles, growing daily more rigid, give
character to the countenance; that is, they trace the operations of
the mind with the iron pen of fate, and tell us not only what powers
are within, but how they have been employed.
  It is proper to observe, that animals who arrive slowly at maturity,
are the longest lived, and of the noblest species. Men cannot,
however, claim any natural superiority from the grandeur of longevity;
for in this respect nature has not distinguished the male.
  Polygamy is another physical degradation; and a plausible argument
for a custom, that blasts every domestic virtue, is drawn from the
well-attested fact, that in the countries where it is established,
more females are born than males. This appears to be an indication
of nature, and to nature, apparently reasonable speculations must
yield. A further conclusion obviously presented itself; if polygamy be
necessary, woman must be inferior to man, and made for him.
  With respect to the formation of the fetus in the womb, we are
very ignorant; but it appears to me probable, that an accidental
physical cause may account for this phenomenon, and prove it not to be
a law of nature. I have met with some pertinent observations on the
subject in Forster's Account of the Isles of the South-Sea, that
will explain my meaning. After observing that of the two sexes amongst
animals, the most vigorous and hottest constitution always prevails,
and produces its kind; he adds,- 'If this be applied to the
inhabitants of Africa, it is evident that the men there, accustomed to
polygamy, are enervated by the use of so many women, and therefore
less vigorous; the women, on the contrary, are of a hotter
constitution, not only on account of their more irritable nerves, more
sensible organization, and more lively fancy; but likewise because
they are deprived in their matrimony of that share of physical love
which, in a monogamous condition, would all be theirs; and thus, for
the above reasons, the generality of children are born females.
  'In the greater part of Europe it has been proved by the most
accurate lists of mortality, that the proportion of men to women is
nearly equal, or, if any difference takes place, the males born are
more numerous, in the proportion of 105 to 100.'
  The necessity of polygamy, therefore, does not appear; yet when a
man seduces a woman, it should, I think, be termed a left-handed
marriage, and the man should be legally obliged to maintain the
woman and her children, unless adultery, a natural divorcement,
abrogated the law. And this law should remain in force as long as
the weakness of women caused the word seduction to be used as an
excuse for their frailty and want of principle; nay, while they depend
on man for a subsistence, instead of earning it by the exertion of
their own hands or heads. But these women should not, in the full
meaning of the relationship, be termed wives, or the very purpose of
marriage would be subverted, and all those endearing charities that
flow from personal fidelity, and give a sanctity to the tie, when
neither love nor friendship unites the hearts, would melt into
selfishness. The woman who is faithful to the father of her children
demands respect, and should not be treated like a prostitute; though I
readily grant that if it be necessary for a man and woman to live
together in order to bring up their offspring, nature never intended
that a man should have more than one wife.
  Still, highly as I respect marriage, as the foundation of almost
every social virtue, I cannot avoid feeling the most lively compassion
for those unfortunate females who are broken off from society, and
by one error torn from all those affections and relationships that
improve the heart and mind. It does not frequently even deserve the
name of error; for many innocent girls become the dupes of a
sincere, affectionate heart, and still more are, as it may
emphatically be termed, ruined before they know the difference between
virtue and vice:- and thus prepared by their education for infamy,
they become infamous. Asylums and Magdalenes are not the proper
remedies for these abuses. It is justice, not charity, that is wanting
in the world!
  A woman who has lost her honour, imagines that she cannot fall
lower, and as for recovering her former station, it is impossible;
no exertion can wash this stain away. Losing thus every spur, and
having no other means of support, prostitution becomes her only
refuge, and the character is quickly depraved by circumstances over
which the poor wretch has little power, unless she possesses an
uncommon portion of sense and loftiness of spirit. Necessity never
makes prostitution the business of men's lives; though numberless
are the women who are thus rendered systematically vicious. This,
however, arises, in a great degree, from the state of idleness in
which women are educated, who are always taught to look up to man
for a maintenance, and to consider their persons as the proper
return for his exertions to support them. Meretricious airs, and the
whole science of wantonness, have then a more powerful stimulus than
either appetite or vanity; and this remark gives force to the
prevailing opinion, that with chastity all is lost that is respectable
in woman. Her character depends on the observance of one virtue,
though the only passion fostered in her heart- is love. Nay, the
honour of a woman is not made even to depend on her will.
  When Richardson* makes Clarissa tell Lovelace that he had robbed her
of her honour, he must have had strange notions of honour and
virtue. For, miserable beyond all names of misery is the condition
of a being, who could be degraded without its own consent! This excess
of strictness I have heard vindicated as a salutary error. I shall
answer in the words of Leibnitz- 'Errors are often useful; but it is
commonly to remedy other errors.'

  * Dr. Young supports the same opinion, in his plays, when he talks
of the misfortune that shunned the light of day.

  Most of the evils of life arise from a desire of present enjoyment
that outruns itself. The obedience required of women in the marriage
state comes under this description; the mind, naturally weakened by
depending on authority, never exerts its own powers, and the
obedient wife is thus rendered a weak indolent mother. Or, supposing
that this is not always the consequence, a future state of existence
is scarcely taken into the reckoning when only negative virtues are
cultivated. For, in treating of morals, particularly when women are
alluded to, writers have too often considered virtue in a very limited
sense, and made the foundation of it solely worldly utility; nay, a
still more fragile base has been given to this stupendous fabric,
and the wayward fluctuating feelings of men have been made the
standard of virtue. Yes, virtue as well as religion, has been
subjected to the decisions of taste.
  It would almost provoke a smile of contempt, if the vain absurdities
of man did not strike us on all sides, to observe, how eager men are
to degrade the sex from whom they pretend to receive the chief
pleasure of life; and I have frequently with full conviction
retorted Pope's sarcasm on them; or to speak explicitly, it has
appeared to me applicable to the whole human race. A love of
pleasure or sway seems to divide mankind, and the husband who lords it
in his little haram thinks only of his pleasure or his convenience. To
such lengths, indeed, does an intemperate love of pleasure carry
some prudent men, or worn out libertines, who marry to have a safe
bed-fellow, that they seduce their own wives.- Hymen banishes modesty,
and chaste love takes its flight.
  Love, considered as an animal appetite, cannot long feed on itself
without expiring. And this extinction in its own flame, may be
termed the violent death of love. But the wife who has thus been
rendered licentious, will probably endeavour to fill the void left
by the loss of her husband's attentions; for she cannot contentedly
become merely an upper servant after having been treated like a
goddess. She is still handsome, and, instead of transferring her
fondness to her children, she only dreams of enjoying the sunshine
of life. Besides, there are many husbands so devoid of sense and
parental affection, that during the first effervescence of
voluptuous fondness they refuse to let their wives suckle their
children. They are only to dress and live to please them: and love-
even innocent love, soon sinks into lasciviousness when the exercise
of a duty is sacrificed to its indulgence.
  Personal attachment is a very happy foundation for friendship;
yet, when even two virtuous young people marry, it would, perhaps,
be happy if some circumstances checked their passion; if the
recollection of some prior attachment, or disappointed affection, made
it on one side, at least, rather a match founded on esteem. In that
case they would look beyond the present moment, and try to render
the whole of life respectable, by forming a plan to regulate a
friendship which only death ought to dissolve.
  Friendship is a serious affection; the most sublime of all
affections, because it is founded on principle, and cemented by
time. The very reverse may be said of love. In a great degree, love
and friendship cannot subsist in the same bosom; even when inspired by
different objects they weaken or destroy each other, and for the
same object can only be felt in succession. The vain fears and fond
jealousies, the winds which fan the flame of love, when judiciously or
artfully tempered, are both incompatible with the tender confidence
and sincere respect of friendship.
  Love, such as the glowing pen of genius has traced, exists not on
earth, or only resides in those exalted, fervid imaginations that have
sketched such dangerous pictures. Dangerous, because they not only
afford a plausible excuse, to the voluptuary who disguises sheer
sensuality under a sentimental veil; but as they spread affectation,
and take from the dignity of virtue. Virtue, as the very word imports,
should have an appearance of seriousness, if not of austerity; and
to endeavour to trick her out in the garb of pleasure, because the
epithet has been used as another name for beauty, is to exalt her on a
quicksand; a most insidious attempt to hasten her fall by apparent
respect. Virtue and pleasure are not, in fact, so nearly allied in
this life as some eloquent writers have laboured to prove. Pleasure
prepares the fading wreath, and mixes the intoxicating cup; but the
fruit which virtue gives, is the recompence of toil: and, gradually
seen as it ripens, only affords calm satisfaction; nay, appearing to
be the result of the natural tendency of things, it is scarcely
observed. Bread, the common food of life, seldom thought of as a
blessing, supports the constitution and preserves health; still feasts
delight the heart of man, though disease and even death lurk in the
cup or dainty that elevates the spirits or tickles the palate. The
lively heated imagination likewise, to apply the comparison, draws the
picture of love, as it draws every other picture, with those glowing
colours, which the daring hand will steal from the rainbow that is
directed by a mind, condemned in a world like this, to prove its noble
origin by panting after unattainable perfection; ever pursuing what it
acknowledges to be a fleeting dream. An imagination of this vigorous
cast can give existence to insubstantial forms, and stability to the
shadowy reveries which the mind naturally falls into when realities
are found vapid. It can then depict love with celestial charms, and
dote on the grand ideal object- it can imagine a degree of mutual
affection that shall refine the soul, and not expire when it has
served as a 'scale to heavenly;' and, like devotion, make it absorb
every meaner affection and desire. In each others arms, as in a
temple, with its summit lost in the clouds, the world is to be shut
out, and every thought and wish, that do not nurture pure affection
and permanent virtue.- Permanent virtue! alas! Rousseau, respectable
visionary! thy paradise would soon be violated by the entrance of some
unexpected guest. Like Milton's it would only contain angels, or men
sunk below the dignity of rational creatures. Happiness is not
material, it cannot be seen or felt! Yet the eager pursuit of the good
which every one shapes to his own fancy, proclaims man the lord of
this lower world, and to be an intelligential creature, who is not
to receive, but acquire happiness. They, therefore, who complain of
the delusions of passion, do not recollect that they are exclaiming
against a strong proof of the immortality of the soul.
  But leaving superior minds to correct themselves, and pay dearly for
their experience, it is necessary to observe, that it is not against
strong, persevering passions; but romantic wavering feelings that I
wish to guard the female heart by exercising the understanding: for
these paradisiacal reveries are oftener the effect of idleness than of
a lively fancy.
  Women have seldom sufficient serious employment to silence their
feelings; a round of little cares, or vain pursuits frittering away
all strength of mind and organs, they become naturally only objects of
sense.- In short, the whole tenour of female education (the
education of society) tends to render the best disposed romantic and
inconstant; and the remainder vain and mean. In the present state of
society this evil can scarcely be remedied, I am afraid, in the
slightest degree; should a more laudable ambition ever gain ground
they may be brought nearer to nature and reason, and become more
virtuous and useful as they grow more respectable.
  But, I will venture to assert that their reason will never acquire
sufficient strength to enable it to regulate their conduct, whilst the
making an appearance in the world is the first wish of the majority of
mankind. To this weak wish the natural affections, and the most useful
virtues are sacrificed. Girls marry merely to better themselves, to
borrow a significant vulgar phrase, and have such perfect power over
their hearts as not to permit themselves to fall in love till a man
with a superiour fortune offers. On this subject I mean to enlarge
in a future chapter; it is only necessary to drop a hint at present,
because women are so often degraded by suffering the selfish
prudence of age to chill the ardour of youth.
  From the same source flows an opinion that young girls ought to
dedicate great part of their time to needle-work; yet, this employment
contracts their faculties more than any other that could have been
chosen for them, by confining their thoughts to their persons. Men
order their thoughts to be made, and have done with the subject; women
make their own clothes, necessary or ornamental, and are continually
talking about them; and their thoughts follow their hands. It is not
indeed the making of necessaries that weakens the mind; but the
frippery of dress. For when a woman in the lower rank of life makes
her husband's and children's clothes, she does her duty, this is her
part of the family business; but when women work only to dress
better than they could otherwise afford, it is worse than sheer loss
of time. To render the poor virtuous they must be employed, and
women in the middle rank of life, did they not ape the fashions of the
nobility, without catching their ease, might employ them, whilst
they themselves managed their families, instructed their children, and
exercised their own minds. Gardening, experimental philosophy, and
literature, would afford them subjects to think of and matter for
conversation, that in some degree would exercise their understandings.
The conversation of French women, who are not so rigidly nailed to
their chairs to twist lappets, and knot ribands, is frequently
superficial; but, I contend, that it is not half so insipid as that of
those English women whose time is spent in making caps, bonnets, and
the whole mischief of trimmings, not to mention shopping,
bargain-hunting, &c. &c.: and it is the decent, prudent women, who are
most degraded by these practices; for their motive is simply vanity.
The wanton who exercises her taste to render her passion alluring, has
something more in view.
  These observations all branch out of a general one, which I have
before made, and which cannot be too often insisted upon, for,
speaking of men, women, or professions, it will be found that the
employment of the thoughts shapes the character both generally and
individually. The thoughts of women ever hover round their persons,
and is it surprising that their persons are reckoned most valuable?
Yet sonic degree of liberty of mind is necessary even to form the
person; and this may be one reason why some gentle wives have so few
attractions beside that of sex. Add to this, sedentary employments
render the majority of women sickly- and false notions of female
excellence make them proud of this delicacy though it be another
fetter, that by calling the attention continually to the body,
cramps the activity of the mind.
  Women of quality seldom do any of the manual part of their dress,
consequently only their taste is exercised, and they acquire, by
thinking less of the finery, when the business of their toilet is
over, that ease, which seldom appears in the deportment of women,
who dress merely for the sake of dressing. In fact, the observation
with respect to the middle rank, the one in which talents thrive best,
extends not to women; for those of the superior class, by catching, at
least, a smattering of literature, and conversing more with men, on
general topics, acquire more knowledge than the women who ape their
fashions and faults without sharing their advantages. With respect
to virtue, to use the word in a comprehensive sense, I have seen
most in low life. Many poor women maintain their children by the sweat
of their brow, and keep together families that the vices of the
fathers would have scattered abroad; but gentlewomen are too
indolent to be actively virtuous, and are softened rather than refined
by civilization. Indeed, the good sense which I have met with, among
the poor women who have had few advantages of education, and yet
have acted heroically, strongly confirmed me in the opinion that
trifling employments have rendered woman a trifler. Man, taking her*
body the mind is left to rust; so that while physical love enervates
man, as being his favourite recreation, he will endeavour to enslave
woman:- and, who can tell, how many generations may be necessary to
give vigour to the virtue and talents of the freed posterity of abject
slaves?*(2)

  * 'I take her body,' says Ranger.
  *(2) 'Supposing that women are voluntary slaves- slavery of any kind
is unfavourable to human happiness and improvement.'- Knox's Essays.

  In tracing the causes that, in my opinion, have degraded woman, I
have confined my observations to such as universally act upon the
morals and manners of the whole sex, and to me it appears clear that
they all spring from want of understanding. Whether this arise from
a physical or accidental weakness of faculties, time alone can
determine; for I shall not lay any great stress on the example of a
few women* who, from having received a masculine education, have
acquired courage and resolution; I only contend that the men who
have been placed in similar situations, have acquired a similar
character- I speak of bodies of men, and that men of genius and
talents have started out of a class, in which women have never yet
been placed.

  * Sappho, Eloisa, Mrs. Macaulay, the Empress of Russia, Madame
d'Eon, &c. These, and many more, may be reckoned exceptions; and,
are not all heroes, as well as heroines, exceptions to general
rules? I wish to see women neither heroines nor brutes; but reasonable
creatures.
                        Chap. V.
     Animadversions on Some of the Writers Who Have Rendered
         Women Objects of Pity, Bordering on Contempt

  The opinions speciously supported, in some modern publications on
the female character and education, which have given the tone to
most of the observations made, in a more cursory manner, on the sex,
remain now to be examined.

                        SECT. I.

  I shall begin with Rousseau, and give a sketch of his character of
woman, in his own words, interspersing comments and reflections. My
comments, it is true, will all spring from a few simple principles,
and might have been deduced from what I have already said; but the
artificial structure has been raised with so much ingenuity, that it
seems necessary to attack it in a more circumstantial manner, and make
the application myself.
  Sophia, says Rousseau, should be as perfect a woman as Emilius is
a man, and to render her so, it is necessary to examine the
character which nature has given to the sex.
  He then proceeds to prove that woman ought to be weak and passive,
because she has less bodily strength than man; and hence infers,
that she was formed to please and to be subject to him; and that it is
her duty to render herself agreeable to her master- this being the
grand end of her existence.* Still, however, to give a little mock
dignity to lust, he insists that man should not exert his strength,
but depend on the will of the woman, when he seeks for pleasure with
her.

  * I have already inserted the passage, [see note to fifth
paragraph in chapter iii.].

  'Hence we deduce a third consequence from the different
constitutions of the sexes; which is, that the strongest should be
master in appearance, and be dependent in fact on the weakest; and
that not from any frivolous practice of gallantry or vanity of
protectorship, but from an invariable law of nature, which, furnishing
woman with a greater facility to excite desires than she has given man
to satisfy them, makes the latter dependent on the good pleasure of
the former, and compels him to endeavour to please in his turn, in
order to obtain her consent that he should be strongest.* On these
occasions, the most delightful circumstance a man finds in his victory
is, to doubt whether it was the woman's weakness that yielded to his
superior strength, or whether her inclinations spoke in his favour:
the females are also generally artful enough to leave this matter in
doubt. The understanding of women answers in this respect perfectly to
their constitution: so far from being ashamed of their weakness,
they glory in it; their tender muscles make no resistance; they affect
to be incapable of lifting the smallest burthens, and would blush to
be thought robust and strong. To what purpose is all this? Not
merely for the sake of appearing delicate, but through an artful
precaution: it is thus they provide an excuse beforehand, and a
right to be feeble when they think it expedient.'

  * What nonsense!

  I have quoted this passage, lest my readers should suspect that I
warped the author's reasoning to support my own arguments. I have
already asserted that in educating women these fundamental
principles lead to a system of cunning and lasciviousness.
  Supposing woman to have been formed only to please, and be subject
to man, the conclusion is just, she ought to sacrifice every other
consideration to render herself agreeable to him: and let this
brutal desire of self-preservation be the grand spring of all her
actions, when it is proved to be the iron bed of fate, to fit which
her character should be stretched or contracted, regardless of all
moral or physical distinctions. But, if, as I think, may be
demonstrated, the purposes, of even this life, viewing the whole, be
subverted by practical rules built upon this ignoble base, I may be
allowed to doubt whether woman was created for man: and, though the
cry of irreligion, or even atheism, be raised against me, I will
simply declare, that were an angel from heaven to tell me that Moses's
beautiful, poetical cosmogony, and the account of the fall of man,
were literally true, I could not believe what my reason told me was
derogatory to the character of the Supreme Being: and, having no
fear of the devil before mine eyes, I venture to call this a
suggestion of reason, instead of resting my weakness on the broad
shoulders of the first seducer of my frail sex.
  'It being once demonstrated,' continues Rousseau, 'that man and
woman are not, nor ought to be, constituted alike in temperament and
character, it follows of course that they should not be educated in
the same manner. In pursuing the directions of nature, they ought
indeed to act in concert, but they should not be engaged in the same
employments: the end of their pursuits should be the same, but the
means they should take to accomplish them, and of consequence their
tastes and inclinations, should be different.'

  'Whether I consider the peculiar destination of the sex, observe
their inclinations, or remark their duties, all things equally
concur to point out the peculiar method of education best adapted to
them. Woman and man were made for each other; but their mutual
dependence is not the same. The men depend on the women only on
account of their desires; the women on the men both on account of
their desires and their necessities: we could subsist better without
them than they without us.'

  'For this reason, the education of the women should be always
relative to the men. To please, to be useful to us, to make us love
and esteem them, to educate us when young, and take care of us when
grown up, to advise, to console us, to render our lives easy and
agreeable: these are the duties of women at all times, and what they
should be taught in their infancy. So long as we fail to recur to this
principle, we run wide of the mark, and all the precepts which are
given them contribute neither to their happiness nor our own.'

  'Girls are from their earliest infancy fond of dress. Not content
with being pretty, they are desirous of being thought so; we see, by
all their little airs, that this thought engages their attention;
and they are hardly capable of understanding what is said to them,
before they are to be governed by talking to them of what people
will think of their behaviour. The same motive, however,
indiscreetly made use of with boys, has not the same effect:
provided they are let pursue their amusements at pleasure, they care
very little what people think of them. Time and pains are necessary to
subject boys to this motive.
  'Whencesoever girls derive this first lesson, it is a very good one.
As the body is born, in a manner, before the soul, our first concern
should be to cultivate the former; this order is common to both sexes,
but the object of that cultivation is different. In the one sex it
is the developement of corporeal powers; in the other, that of
personal charms: not that either the quality of strength or beauty
ought to be confined exclusively to one sex; but only that the order
of the cultivation of both is in that respect reversed. Women
certainly require as much strength as to enable them to move and act
gracefully, and men as much address as to qualify them to act with
ease.'

  'Children of both sexes have a great many amusements in common;
and so they ought; have they not also many such when they are grown
up? Each sex has also its peculiar taste to distinguish in this
particular. Boys love sports of noise and activity; to beat the
drum, to whip the top, and to drag about their little carts: girls, on
the other hand, are fonder of things of show and ornament; such as
mirrours, trinkets, and dolls: the doll is the peculiar amusement of
the females; from whence we see their taste plainly adapted to their
destination. The physical part of the art of pleasing lies in dress;
and this is all which children are capacitated to cultivate of that
art.'

  'Here then we see a primary propensity firmly established, which you
need only to pursue and regulate. The little creature will doubtless
be very desirous to know how to dress up her doll, to make its
sleeve-knots, its flounces, its head-dress, &c. she is obliged to have
so much recourse to the people about her, for their assistance in
these articles, that it would be much more agreeable to her to owe
them all to her own industry. Hence we have a good reason for the
first lessons that are usually taught these young females: in which we
do not appear to be setting them a task, but obliging them, by
instructing them in what is immediately useful to themselves. And,
in fact, almost all of them learn with reluctance to read and write;
but very readily apply themselves to the use of their needles. They
imagine themselves already grown up, and think with pleasure that such
qualifications will enable them to decorate themselves.'
  This is certainly only an education of the body; but Rousseau is not
the only man who has indirectly said that merely the person of a young
woman, without any mind, unless animal spirits come under that
description, is very pleasing. To render it weak, and what some may
call beautiful, the understanding is neglected, and girls forced to
sit still, play with dolls and listen to foolish conversations;- the
effect of habit is insisted upon as an undoubted indication of nature.
I know it was Rousseau's opinion that the first years of youth
should be employed to form the body, though in educating Emilius he
deviates from this plan; yet, the difference between strengthening the
body, on which strength of mind in a great measure depends, and only
giving it an easy motion, is very wide.
  Rousseau's observations, it is proper to remark, were made in a
country where the art of pleasing was refined only to extract the
grossness of vice. He did not go back to nature, or his ruling
appetite disturbed the operations of reason, else he would not have
drawn these crude inferences.
  In France boys and girls, particularly the latter, are only educated
to please, to manage their persons, and regulate their exterior
behaviour; and their minds are corrupted, at a very early age, by
the wordly and pious cautions they receive to guard them against
immodesty. I speak of past times. The very confessions which mere
children were obliged to make, and the questions asked by the holy
men, I assert these facts on good authority, were sufficient to
impress a sexual character; and the education of society was a
school of coquetry and art. At the age of ten or eleven; nay, often
much sooner, girls began to coquet, and talked, unreproved, of
establishing themselves in the world by marriage.
  In short, they were treated like women, almost from their very
birth, and compliments were listened to instead of instruction. These,
weakening the mind, Nature was supposed to have acted like a
step-mother, when she formed this after-thought of creation.
  Not allowing them understanding, however, it was but consistent to
subject them to authority independent of reason; and to prepare them
for this subjection, he gives the following advice:
  'Girls ought to be active and diligent; nor is that all; they should
also be early subjected to restraint. This misfortune, if it really be
one, is inseparable from their sex; nor do they ever throw it off
but to suffer more cruel evils. They must be subject, all their lives,
to the most constant and severe restraint, which is that of decorum:
it is, therefore, necessary to accustom them early to such
confinement, that it may not afterwards cost them too dear; and to the
suppression of their caprices, that they may the more readily submit
to the will of others. If, indeed, they be fond of being always at
work, they should be sometimes compelled to lay it aside. Dissipation,
levity, and inconstancy, are faults that readily spring up from
their first propensities, when corrupted or perverted by too much
indulgence. To prevent this abuse, we should teach them, above all
things, to lay a due restraint on themselves. The life of a modest
woman is reduced, by our absurd institutions, to a perpetual
conflict with herself: not but it is just that this sex should partake
of the sufferings which arise from those evils it hath caused us.'
  And why is the life of a modest woman a perpetual conflict? I should
answer, that this very system of education makes it so. Modesty,
temperance, and self-denial, are the sober offspring of reason; but
when sensibility is nurtured at the expence of the understanding, such
weak beings must be restrained by arbitrary means, and be subjected to
continual conflicts; but give their activity of mind a wider range,
and nobler passions and motives will govern their appetites and
sentiments.
  'The common attachment and regard of a mother, nay, mere habit, will
make her beloved by her children, if she do nothing to incur their
hate. Even the constraint she lays them under, if well directed,
will increase their affection, instead of lessening it; because a
state of dependence being natural to the sex, they perceive themselves
formed for obedience.'
  This is begging the question; for servitude not only debases the
individual, but its effects seem to be transmitted to posterity.
Considering the length of time that women have been dependent, is it
surprising that some of them hug their chains, and fawn like the
spaniel? 'These dogs,' observes a naturalist, 'at first kept their
ears erect; but custom has superseded nature, and a token of fear is
become a beauty.'
  'For the same reason,' adds Rousseau, 'women have, or ought to have,
but little liberty; they are apt to indulge themselves excessively
in what is allowed them. Addicted in every thing to extremes, they are
even more transported at their diversions than boys.'
  The answer to this is very simple. Slaves and mobs have always
indulged themselves in the same excesses, when once they broke loose
from authority.- The bent bow recoils with violence, when the hand
is suddenly relaxed that forcibly held it; and sensibility, the
play-thing of outward circumstances, must be subjected to authority,
or moderated by reason.
  'There results,' he continues, 'from this habitual restraint a
tractableness which women have occasion for during their whole
lives, as they constantly remain either under subjection to the men,
or to the opinions of mankind; and are never permitted to set
themselves above those opinions. The first and most important
qualification in a woman is good-nature or sweetness of temper: formed
to obey a being so imperfect as man, often full of vices, and always
full of faults, she ought to learn betimes even to suffer injustice,
and to bear the insults of a husband without complaint; it is not
for his sake, but her own, that she should be of a mild disposition.
The perverseness and ill-nature of the women only serve to aggravate
their own misfortunes, and the misconduct of their husbands; they
might plainly perceive that such are not the arms by which they gain
the superiority.'
  Formed to live with such an imperfect being as man, they ought to
learn from the exercise of their faculties the necessity of
forbearance; but all the sacred rights of humanity are violated by
insisting on blind obedience; or, the most sacred rights belong only
to man.
  The being who patiently endures injustice, and silently bears
insults, will soon become unjust, or unable to discern right from
wrong. Besides, I deny the fact, this is not the true way to form or
meliorate the temper; for, as a sex, men have better tempers than
women, because they are occupied by pursuits that interest the head as
well as the heart; and the steadiness of the head gives a healthy
temperature to the heart. People of sensibility have seldom good
tempers. The formation of the temper is the cool work of reason, when,
as life advances, she mixes with happy art, jarring elements. I
never knew a weak or ignorant person who had a good temper, though
that constitutional good humour, and that docility, which fear
stamps on the behaviour, often obtains the name. I say behaviour,
for genuine meekness never reached the heart or mind, unless as the
effect of reflection; and that simple restraint produces a number of
peccant humours in domestic life, many sensible men will allow, who
find some of these gentle irritable creatures, very troublesome
companions.
  'Each sex,' he further argues, 'should preserve its peculiar tone
and manner; a meek husband may make a wife impertinent; but mildness
of disposition on the woman's side will always bring a man back to
reason, at least if he be not absolutely a brute, and will sooner or
later triumph over him.' Perhaps the mildness of reason might
sometimes have this effect; but abject fear always inspires
contempt; and tears are only eloquent when they flow down fair cheeks.
  Of what materials can that heart be composed, which can melt when
insulted, and instead of revolting at injustice, kiss the rod? Is it
unfair to infer that her virtue is built on narrow views and
selfishness, who can caress a man, with true feminine softness, the
very moment when he treats her tyrannically? Nature never dictated
such insincerity;- and, though prudence of this sort be termed a
virtue, morality becomes vague when any part is supposed to rest on
falsehood. These are mere expedients, and expedients are only useful
for the moment.
  Let the husband beware of trusting too implicitly to this servile
obedience; for if his wife can with winning sweetness caress him
when angry, and when she ought to be angry, unless contempt had
stifled a natural effervescence, she may do the same after parting
with a lover. These are all preparations for adultery; or, should
the fear of the world, or of hell, restrain her desire of pleasing
other men, when she can no longer please her husband, what
substitute can be found by a being who was only formed, by nature
and art, to please man? what can make her amends for this privation,
or where is she to seek for a fresh employment? where find
sufficient strength of mind to determine to begin the search, when her
habits are fixed, and vanity has long ruled her chaotic mind?
  But this partial moralist recommends cunning systematically and
Plausibly.
  'Daughters should be always submissive; their mothers, however,
should not be inexorable. To make a young person tractable, she
ought not to be made unhappy, to make her modest she ought not to be
rendered stupid. On the contrary, I should not be displeased at her
being permitted to use some art, not to elude punishment in case of
disobedience, but to exempt herself from the necessity of obeying.
It is not necessary to make her dependence burdensome, but only to let
her feel it. Subtilty is a talent natural to the sex; and, as I am
persuaded, all our natural inclinations are right and good in
themselves, I am of opinion this should be cultivated as well as the
others: it is requisite for us only to prevent its abuse.'
  'Whatever is, is right,' he then proceeds triumphantly to infer.
Granted;- yet, perhaps, no aphorism ever contained a more
paradoxical assertion. It is a solemn truth with respect to God. He,
reverentially I speak, sees the whole at once, and saw its just
proportions in the womb of time; but man, who can only inspect
disjointed parts, finds many things wrong; and it is a part of the
system, and therefore right, that he should endeavour to alter what
appears to him to be so, even while he bows to the Wisdom of his
Creator, and respects the darkness he labours to disperse.
  The inference that follows is just, supposing the principle to be
sound. 'The superiority of address, peculiar to the female sex, is a
very equitable indemnification for their inferiority in point of
strength: without this, woman would not be the companion of man; but
his slave: it is by her superiour art and ingenuity that she preserves
her equality, and governs him while she affects to obey. Woman has
every thing against her, as well our faults, as her own timidity and
weakness; she has nothing in her favour, but her subtilty and her
beauty. Is it not very reasonable, therefore, she should cultivate
both?' Greatness of mind can never dwell with cunning, or address; for
I shall not boggle about words, when their direct signification is
insincerity and falsehood, but content myself with observing, that
if any class of mankind be so created that it must necessarily be
educated by rules not strictly deducible from truth, virtue is an
affair of convention. How could Rousseau dare to assert, after
giving this advice, that in the grand end of existence the object of
both sexes should be the same, when he well knew that the mind, formed
by its pursuits, is expanded by great views swallowing up little ones,
or that it becomes itself little?
  Men have superiour strength of body; but were it not for mistaken
notions of beauty, women would acquire sufficient to enable them to
earn their own subsistence, the true definition of independence; and
to bear those bodily inconveniencies and exertions that are
requisite to strengthen the mind.
  Let us then, by being allowed to take the same exercise as boys, not
only during infancy, but youth, arrive at perfection of body, that
we may know how far the natural superiority of man extends. For what
reason or virtue can be expected from a creature when the seed-time of
life is neglected? None- did not the winds of heaven casually
scatter many useful seeds in the fallow ground.
  'Beauty cannot be acquired by dress, and coquetry is an art not so
early and speedily attained. While girls are yet young, however,
they are in a capacity to study agreeable gesture, a pleasing
modulation of voice, an easy carriage and behaviour; as well as to
take the advantage of gracefully adapting their looks and attitudes to
time, place, and occasion. Their application, therefore, should not be
solely confined to the arts of industry and the needle, when they come
to display other talents, whose utility is already apparent.'
  'For my part, I would have a young Englishwoman cultivate her
agreeable talents, in order to please her future husband, with as much
care and assiduity as a young Circassian cultivates her's, to fit
her for the Haram of an Eastern bashaw.'
  To render women completely insignificant, he adds- 'The tongues of
women are very voluble; they speak earlier, more readily, and more
agreeably, than the men; they are accused also of speaking much
more: but so it ought to be, and I should be very ready to convert
this reproach into a compliment; their lips and eyes have the same
activity, and for the same reason. A man speaks of what he knows, a
woman of what pleases her; the one requires knowledge, the other
taste; the principal object of a man's discourse should be what is
useful, that of a woman's what is agreeable. There ought to be nothing
in common between their different conversation but truth.
  'We ought not, therefore, to restrain the prattle of girls, in the
same manner as we should that of boys, with that severe question; To
what purpose are you talking? but by another, which is no less
difficult to answer, How will your discourse be received? In
infancy, while they are as yet incapable to discern good from evil,
they ought to observe it, as a law, never to say any thing
disagreeable to those whom they are speaking to: what will render
the practice of this rule also the more difficult, is, that it must
ever be subordinate to the former, of never speaking falsely or
telling an untruth.' To govern the tongue in this manner must
require great address indeed; and it is too much practised both by men
and women.- Out of the abundance of the heart how few speak! So few,
that I, who love simplicity, would gladly give up politeness for a
quarter of the virtue that has been sacrificed to an equivocal quality
which at best should only be the polish of virtue.
  But, to complete the sketch. 'It is easy to be conceived, that if
male children be not in a capacity to form any true notions of
religion, those ideas must be greatly above the conception of the
females: it is for this very reason, I would begin to speak to them
the earlier on this subject; for if we were to wait till they were
in a capacity to discuss methodically such profound questions, we
should run a risk of never speaking to them on this subject as long as
they lived. Reason in women is a practical reason, capacitating them
artfully to discover the means of attaining a known end, but which
would never enable them to discover that end itself. The social
relations of the sexes are indeed truly admirable: from their union
there results a moral person, of which woman may be termed the eyes,
and man the hand, with this dependence on each other, that it is
from the man that the woman is to learn what she is to see, and it
is of the woman that man is to learn what he ought to do. If woman
could recur to the first principles of things as well as man, and
man was capacitated to enter into their minutae as well as woman,
always independent of each other, they would live in perpetual
discord, and their union could not subsist. But in the present harmony
which naturally subsists between them, their different faculties
tend to one common end; it is difficult to say which of them
conduces the most to it: each follows the impulse of the other; each
is obedient, and both are masters.
  'As the conduct of a woman is subservient to the public opinion, her
faith in matters of religion should, for that very reason, be
subject to authority. Every daughter ought to be of the same
religion as her mother, and every wife to be of the same religion as
her husband: for, though such religion should be false, that
docility which induces the mother and daughter to submit to the
order of nature, takes away, in the sight of God, the criminality of
their error.* As they are not in a capacity to judge for themselves,
they ought to abide by the decision of their fathers and husbands as
confidently as by that of the church.

  * What is to be the consequence, if the mother's and husband's
opinion should chance to not agree? An ignorant person cannot be
reasoned out of an error- and when persuaded to give up one
prejudice for another the mind is unsettled. Indeed, the husband may
not have any religion to teach her, though in such a situation she
will be in great want of a support to her virtue, independent of
worldly considerations.

  'As authority ought to regulate the religion of the women, it is not
so needful to explain to them the reasons for their belief, as to
lay down precisely the tenets they are to believe: for the creed,
which presents only obscure ideas to the mind, is the source of
fanaticism; and that which presents absurdities, leads to infidelity.'
  Absolute, uncontroverted authority, it seems, must subsist
somewhere: but is not this a direct and exclusive appropriation of
reason? The rights of humanity have been thus confined to the male
line from Adam downwards. Rousseau would carry his male aristocracy
still further, for he insinuates, that he should not blame those,
who contend for leaving woman in a state of the most profound
ignorance, if it were not necessary in order to preserve her
chastity and justify the man's choice, in the eyes of the world, to
give her a little knowledge of men, and the customs produced by
human passions; else she might propagate at home without being
rendered less voluptuous and innocent by the exercise of her
understanding: excepting, indeed, during the first year of marriage,
when she might employ it to dress like Sophia. 'Her dress is extremely
modest in appearance, and yet very coquettish in fact: she does not
make a display of her charms, she conceals them; but in concealing
them, she knows how to affect your imagination. Every one who sees her
will say, There is a modest and discreet girl; but while you are
near her, your eyes and affections wander all over her person, so that
you cannot withdraw them; and you would conclude, that every part of
her dress, simple as it seems, was only put in its proper order to
be taken to pieces by the imagination.' Is this modesty? Is this a
preparation for immortality? Again.- What opinion are we to form of
a system of education, when the author says of his heroine, 'that with
her, doing things well, is but a secondary concern; her principal
concern is to do them neatly.'
  Secondary, in fact, are all her virtues and qualities, for,
respecting religion, he makes her parents thus address her, accustomed
to submission- 'Your husband will instruct you in good time.'
  After thus cramping a woman's mind, if, in order to keep it fair, he
have not made it quite a blank, he advises her to reflect, that a
reflecting man may not yawn in her company, when he is tired of
caressing her.- What has she to reflect about who must obey? and would
it not be a refinement on cruelty only to open her mind to make the
darkness and misery of her fate visible? Yet, these are his sensible
remarks; how consistent with what I have already been obliged to
quote, to give a fair view of the subject, the reader may determine.
  'They who pass their whole lives in working for their daily bread,
have no ideas beyond their business or their interest, and all their
understanding seems to lie in their fingers' ends. This ignorance is
neither prejudicial to their integrity nor their morals; it is often
of service to them. Sometimes, by means of reflection, we are led to
compound with our duty, and we conclude by substituting a jargon of
words, in the room of things. Our own conscience is the most
enlightened philosopher. There is no need to be acquainted with
Tully's offices, to make a man of probity: and perhaps the most
virtuous woman in the world, is the least acquainted with the
definition of virtue. But it is no less true, that an improved
understanding only can render society agreeable; and it is a
melancholy thing for a father of a family, who is fond of home, to
be obliged to be always wrapped up in himself, and to have nobody
about him to whom he can impart his sentiments.
  'Besides, how should a woman void of reflection be capable of
educating her children? How should she discern what is proper for
them? How should she incline them to those virtues she is unacquainted
with, or to that merit of which she has no idea? She can only sooth or
chide them; render them insolent or timid; she will make them formal
coxcombs, or ignorant blockheads; but will never make them sensible or
amiable.' How indeed should she, when her husband is not always at
hand to lend her his reason?- when they both together make but one
moral being. A blind will, 'eyes without hands,' would go a very
little way; and perchance his abstract reason, that should concentrate
the scattered beams of her practical reason, may be employed in
judging of the flavour of wine, descanting on the sauces most proper
for turtle; or, more profoundly intent at a card-table, he may be
generalizing his ideas as he bets away his fortune, leaving all the
minutae of education to his helpmate, or to chance.
  But, granting that woman ought to be beautiful, innocent, and silly,
to render her a more alluring and indulgent companion;- what is her
understanding sacrificed for? And why is all this preparation
necessary only, according to Rousseau's own account, to make her the
mistress of her husband, a very short time? For no man ever insisted
more on the transient nature of love. Thus speaks the philosopher.
'Sensual pleasures are transient. The habitual state of the affections
always loses by their gratification. The imagination, which decks
the object of our desires, is lost in fruition. Excepting the
Supreme Being, who is self-existent, there is nothing beautiful but
what is ideal.'
  But he returns to his unintelligible paradoxes again, when he thus
addresses Sophia. 'Emilius, in becoming your husband, is become your
master; and claims your obedience. Such is the order of nature. When a
man is married, however, to such a wife as Sophia, it is proper he
should be directed by her: this is also agreeable to the order of
nature: it is, therefore, to give you as much authority over his heart
as his sex gives him over your person, that I have made you the
arbiter of his pleasures. It may cost you, perhaps, some
disagreeable self-denial; but you will be certain of maintaining
your empire over him, if you can preserve it over yourself- what I
have already observed, also, shows me, that this difficult attempt
does not surpass your courage.
  'Would you have your husband constantly at your feet? keep him at
some distance from your person. You will long maintain the authority
in love, if you know but how to render your favours rare and valuable.
It is thus you may employ even the arts of coquetry in the service
of virtue, and those of love in that of reason.'
  I shall close my extracts with a just description of a comfortable
couple. 'And yet you must not imagine, that even such management
will always suffice. Whatever precaution be taken, enjoyment will,
by degrees, take off the edge of passion. But when love hath lasted as
long as possible, a pleasing habitude supplies its place, and the
attachment of a mutual confidence succeeds to the transports of
passion. Children often form a more agreeable and permanent connection
between married people than even love itself. When you cease to be the
mistress of Emilius, you will continue to be his wife and friend,
you will be the mother of his children.'*

  * Rousseau's Emilius.

  Children, he truly observes, form a much more permanent connexion
between married people than love. Beauty, he declares, will not be
valued, or even seen after a couple have lived six months together;
artificial graces and coquetry will likewise pall on the senses: why
then does he say that a girl should be educated for her husband with
the same care as for an eastern haram?
  I now appeal from the reveries of fancy and refined licentiousness
to the good sense of mankind, whether, if the object of education be
to prepare women to become chaste wives and sensible mothers, the
method so plausibly recommended in the foregoing sketch, be the one
best calculated to produce those ends? Will it be allowed that the
surest way to make a wife chaste, is to teach her to practise the
wanton arts of a mistress, termed virtuous coquetry, by the sensualist
who can no longer relish the artless charms of sincerity, or taste the
pleasure arising from a tender intimacy, when confidence is
unchecked by suspicion, and rendered interesting by sense?
  The man who can be contented to live with a pretty, useful
companion, without a mind, has lost in voluptuous gratifications a
taste for more refined enjoyments; he has never felt the calm
satisfaction, that refreshes the parched heart, like the silent dew of
heaven,- of being beloved by one who could understand him.- In the
society of his wife he is still alone, unless when the man is sunk
in the brute. 'The charm of life,' says a grave philosophical
reasoner, is 'sympathy; nothing pleases us more than to observe in
other men a fellow-feeling with all the emotions of our own breast.'
  But, according to the tenour of reasoning, by which women are kept
from the tree of knowledge, the important years of youth, the
usefulness of age, and the rational hopes of futurity, are all to be
sacrificed to render women an object of desire for a short time.
Besides, how could Rousseau expect them to be virtuous and constant
when reason is neither allowed to be the foundation of their virtue,
nor truth the object of their inquiries?
  But all Rousseau's errors in reasoning arose from sensibility, and
sensibility to their charms women are very ready to forgive! When he
should have reasoned he became impassioned, and reflection inflamed
his imagination instead of enlightening his understanding. Even his
virtues also led him farther astray; for, born with a warm
constitution and lively fancy, nature carried him toward the other sex
with such eager fondness, that he soon became lascivious. Had he given
way to these desires, the fire would have extinguished itself in a
natural manner; but virtue, and a romantic kind of delicacy, made
him practise self-denial; yet, when fear, delicacy, or virtue,
restrained him, he debauched his imagination, and reflecting on the
sensations to which fancy gave force, he traced them in the most
glowing colours, and sunk them deep into his soul.
  He then sought for solitude, not to sleep with the man of nature; or
calmly investigate the causes of things under the shade where Sir
Isaac Newton indulged contemplation, but merely to indulge his
feelings. And so warmly has he painted, what he forcibly felt, that,
interesting the heart and inflaming the imagination of his readers; in
proportion to the strength of their fancy, they imagine that their
understanding is convinced when they only sympathize with a poetic
writer, who skilfully exhibits the objects of sense, most voluptuously
shadowed or gracefully veiled- And thus making us feel whilst dreaming
that we reason, erroneous conclusions are left in the mind.
  Why was Rousseau's life divided between ecstasy and misery? Can
any other answer be given than this, that the effervescence of his
imagination produced both; but, had his fancy been allowed to cool, it
is possible that he might have acquired more strength of mind.
Still, if the purpose of life be to educate the intellectual part of
man, all with respect to him was right; yet, had not death led to a
nobler scene of action, it is probable that he would have enjoyed more
equal happiness on earth, and have felt the calm sensations of the man
of nature instead of being prepared for another stage of existence
by nourishing the passions which agitate the civilized man.
  But peace to his manes! I war not with his ashes, but his
opinions. I war only with the sensibility that led him to degrade
woman by making her the slave of love.

                           -'Curs'd vassalage,
        'First idoliz'd till love's hot fire be o'er,
        'Then slaves to those who courted us before.'
                                                              Dryden.

  The pernicious tendency of those books, in which the writers
insidiously degrade the sex whilst they are prostrate before their
personal charms, cannot be too often or too severely exposed.
  Let us, my dear contemporaries, arise above such narrow
prejudices! If wisdom be desirable on its own account, if virtue, to
deserve the name, must be founded on knowledge; let us endeavour to
strengthen our minds by reflection, till our heads become a balance
for our hearts; let us not confine all our thoughts to the petty
occurrences of the day, or our knowledge to an acquaintance with our
lovers' or husbands' hearts; but let the practice of every duty be
subordinate to the grand one of improving our minds, and preparing our
affections for a more exalted state!
  Beware then, my friends, of suffering the heart to be moved by every
trivial incident: the reed is shaken by a breeze, and annually dies,
but the oak stands firm, and for ages braves the storm!
  Were we, indeed, only created to flutter our hour out and die- why
let us then indulge sensibility, and laugh at the severity of reason.-
Yet, alas! even then we should want strength of body and mind, and
life would be lost in feverish pleasures or wearisome languor.
  But the system of education, which I earnestly wish to see exploded,
seems to presuppose what ought never to be taken for granted, that
virtue shields us from the casualties of life; and that fortune,
slipping off her bandage, will smile on a well-educated female, and
bring in her hand an Emilius or a Telemachus. Whilst, on the contrary,
the reward which virtue promises to her votaries is confined, it seems
clear, to their own bosoms; and often must they contend with the
most vexatious worldly cares, and bear with the vices and humours of
relations for whom they can never feel a friendship.
  There have been many women in the world who, instead of being
supported by the reason and virtue of their fathers and brothers, have
strengthened their own minds by struggling with their vices and
follies; yet have never met with a hero, in the shape of a husband;
who, paying the debt that mankind owed them, might chance to bring
back their reason to its natural dependent state, and restore the
usurped prerogative, of rising above opinion, to man.

                        SECT. II.

  Dr. Fordyce's sermons have long made a part of a young woman's
library; nay, girls at school are allowed to read them; but I should
instantly dismiss them from my pupil's, if I wished to strengthen
her understanding, by leading her to form sound principles on a
broad basis; or, were I only anxious to cultivate her taste; though
they must be allowed to contain many sensible observations.
  Dr. Fordyce may have had a very laudable end in view; but these
discourses are written in such an affected style, that were it only on
that account, and had I nothing to object against his mellifluous
precepts, I should not allow girls to peruse them, unless I designed
to hunt every spark of nature out of their composition, melting
every human quality into female meekness and artificial grace. I say
artificial, for true grace arises from some kind of independence of
mind.
  Children, careless of pleasing, and only anxious to amuse
themselves, are often very graceful; and the nobility who have
mostly lived with inferiours, and always had the command of money,
acquire a graceful case of deportment, which should rather be termed
habitual grace of body, than that superiour gracefulness which is
truly the expression of the mind. This mental grace, not noticed by
vulgar eyes, often flashes across a rough countenance, and irradiating
every feature, shows simplicity and independence of mind.- It is
then we read characters of immortality in the eye, and see the soul in
every gesture, though when at rest, neither the face nor limbs may
have much beauty to recommend them; or the behaviour, any thing
peculiar to attract universal attention. The mass of mankind, however,
look for more tangible beauty; yet simplicity is, in general, admired,
when people do not consider what they admire; and can there be
simplicity without sincerity? But, to have done with remarks that
are in some measure desultory, though naturally excited by the
subject-
  In declamatory periods Dr. Fordyce spins out Rousseau's eloquence;
and in most sentimental rant, details his opinions respecting the
female character, and the behaviour which woman ought to assume to
render her lovely.
  He shall speak for himself, for thus he makes Nature address man.
'Behold these smiling innocents, whom I have graced with my fairest
gifts, and committed to your protection; behold them with love and
respect; treat them with tenderness and honour. They are timid and
want to be defended. They are frail; O do not take advantage of
their weakness! Let their fears and blushes endear them. Let their
confidence in you never be abused.- But is it possible, that any of
you can be such barbarians, so supremely wicked, as to abuse it? Can
you find in your hearts* to despoil the gentle, trusting creatures
of their treasure, or do any thing to strip them of their native
robe of virtue? Curst be the impious hand that would dare to violate
the unblemished form of Chastity! Thou wretch! thou ruffian!
forbear; nor venture to provoke heaven's fiercest vengeance.' I know
not any comment that can be made seriously on this curious passage,
and I could produce many similar ones; and some, so very
sentimental, that I have heard rational men use the word indecent,
when they mentioned them with disgust.

  * Can you?- Can you? would be the most emphatical comment, were it
drawled out in a whining voice.

  Throughout there is a display of cold artificial feelings, and
that parade of sensibility which boys and girls should be taught to
despise as the sure mark of a little vain mind. Florid appeals are
made to heaven, and to the beauteous innocents, the fairest images
of heaven here below, whilst sober sense is left far behind.- This
is not the language of the heart, nor will it ever reach it, though
the ear may be tickled.
  I shall be told, perhaps, that the public have been pleased with
these volumes.- True- and Hervey's Meditations are still read,
though he equally sinned against sense and taste.
  I particularly object to the lover-like phrases of pumped up
passion, which are every where interspersed. If women be ever
allowed to walk without leading-strings, why must they be cajoled into
virtue by artful flattery and sexual compliments?- Speak to them the
language of truth and soberness, and away with the lullaby strains
of condescending endearment! Let them be taught to respect
themselves as rational creatures, and not led to have a passion for
their own insipid persons. It moves my gall to hear a preacher
descanting on dress and needle-work; and still more, to hear him
address the British fair, the fairest of the fair, as if they had only
feelings.
  Even recommending piety he uses the following argument. 'Never,
perhaps, does a fine woman strike more deeply, than when, composed
into pious recollection, and possessed with the noblest
considerations, she assumes, without knowing it, superiour dignity and
new graces; so that the beauties of holiness seem to radiate about
her, and the by-standers are almost induced to fancy her already
worshipping amongst her kindred angels!' Why are women to be thus bred
up with a desire of conquest? the very word, used in this sense. gives
me a sickly qualm! Do religion and virtue offer no stronger motives,
no brighter reward? Must they always be debased by being made to
consider the sex of their companions? Must they be taught always to be
pleasing? And when levelling their small artillery at the heart of
man, is it necessary to tell them that a little sense is sufficient to
render their attention incredibly soothing? 'As a small degree of
knowledge entertains in a woman, so from a woman, though for a
different reason, a small expression of kindness delights,
particularly if she have beauty!" I should have supposed for the
same reason.
  Why are girls to be told that they resemble angels; but to sink them
below women? Or, that a gentle innocent female is an object that comes
nearer to the idea which we have formed of angels than any other.
Yet they are told, at the same time, that they are only like angels
when they are young and beautiful; consequently, it is their
persons, not their virtues, that procure them this homage.
  Idle empty words! What can such delusive flattery lead to, but
vanity and folly? The lover, it is true, has a poetic licence to exalt
his mistress; his reason is the bubble of his passion, and he does not
utter a falsehood when he borrows the language of adoration. His
imagination may raise the idol of his heart, unblamed, above humanity;
and happy would it be for women, if they were only flattered by the
men who loved them; I mean, who love the individual, not the sex;
but should a grave preacher interlard his discourses with such
fooleries?
  In sermons or novels, however, voluptuousness is always true to
its text. Men are allowed by moralists to cultivate, as Nature
directs, different qualities, and assume the different characters,
that the same passions, modified almost to infinity, give to each
individual. A virtuous man may have a choleric or a sanguine
constitution, be gay or grave, unreproved; be firm till be is almost
over-bearing, or, weakly submissive, have no will or opinion of his
own; but all women are to be levelled, by meekness and docility,
into one character of yielding softness and gentle compliance.
  I will use the preacher's own words. 'Let it be observed, that in
your sex manly exercises are never graceful; that in them a tone and
figure, as well as an air and deportment, of the masculine kind, are
always forbidding; and that men of sensibility desire in every woman
soft features, and a flowing voice, a form, not robust, and
demeanour delicate and gentle.'
  Is not the following portrait- the portrait of a house slave? 'I
am astonished at the folly of many women, who are still reproaching
their husbands for leaving them alone, for preferring this or that
company to theirs, for treating them with this and the other mark of
disregard or indifference; when, to speak the truth, they have
themselves in a great measure to blame. Not that I would justify the
men in any thing wrong on their part. But had you behaved to them with
more respectful observance, and a more equal tenderness; studying
their humours, overlooking their mistakes, submitting to their
opinions in matters indifferent, passing by little instances of
unevenness, caprice, or passion, giving soft answers to hasty words,
complaining as seldom as possible, and making it your daily care to
relieve their anxieties and prevent their wishes, to enliven the
hour of dulness, and call up the ideas of felicity: had you pursued
this conduct, I doubt not but you would have maintained and even
increased their esteem, so far as to have secured every degree of
influence that could conduce to their virtue, or your mutual
satisfaction; and your house might at this day have been the abode
of domestic bliss.' Such a woman ought to be an angel- or she is an
ass- for I discern not a trace of the human character, neither
reason nor passion in this domestic drudge, whose being is absorbed in
that of a tyrant's.
  Still Dr. Fordyce must have very little acquaintance with the
human heart, if he really supposed that such conduct would bring
back wandering love, instead of exciting contempt. No, beauty,
gentleness, &c. &c. may gain a heart; but esteem, the only lasting
affection, can alone be obtained by virtue supported by reason. It
is respect for the understanding that keeps alive tenderness for the
person.
  As these volumes are so frequently put into the hands of young
people, I have taken more notice of them than, strictly speaking, they
deserve; but as they have contributed to vitiate the taste, and
enervate the understanding of many of my fellow-creatures, I could not
pass them silently over.

                       SECT. III.

  Such paternal solicitude pervades Dr. Gregory's Legacy to his
Daughters, that I enter on the task of criticism with affectionate
respect; but as this little volume has many attractions to recommend
it to the notice of the most respectable part of my sex, I cannot
silently pass over arguments that so speciously support opinions
which, I think, have had the most baneful effect on the morals and
manners of the female world.
  His easy familiar style is particularly suited to the tenor of his
advice, and the melancholy tenderness which his respect for the memory
of a beloved wife, diffuses through the whole work, renders it very
interesting; yet there is a degree of concise elegance conspicuous
in many passages that disturbs this sympathy; and we pop on the
author, when we only expected to meet the- father.
  Besides, having two objects in view, he seldom adhered steadily to
either; for wishing to make his daughters amiable, and fearing lest
unhappiness should only be the consequence, of instilling sentiments
that might draw them out of the track of common life without
enabling them to act with consonant independence and dignity, he
checks the natural flow of his thoughts, and neither advises one thing
nor the other.
  In the preface he tells them a mournful truth, 'that they will hear,
at least once in their lives, the genuine sentiments of a man who
has no interest in deceiving them.'
  Hapless woman! what can be expected from thee when the beings on
whom thou art said naturally to depend for reason and support, have
all an interest in deceiving thee! This is the root of the evil that
has shed a corroding mildew on all thy virtues; and blighting in the
bud thy opening faculties, has rendered thee the weak thing thou
art! It is this separate interest- this insidious state of warfare,
that undermines morality, and divides mankind!
  If love have made some women wretched- how many more has the cold
unmeaning intercourse of gallantry rendered vain and useless! yet this
heartless attention to the sex is reckoned so manly, so polite that,
till society is very differently organized, I fear, this vestige of
gothic manners will not be done away by a more reasonable and
affectionate mode of conduct. Besides, to strip it of its imaginary
dignity, I must observe, that in the most uncivilized European
states this lip-service prevails in a very great degree, accompanied
with extreme dissoluteness of morals. In Portugal, the country that
I particularly allude to, it takes place of the most serious moral
obligations; for a man is seldom assassinated when in the company of a
woman. The savage hand of rapine is unnerved by this chivalrous
spirit; and, if the stroke of vengeance cannot be stayed- the lady
is entreated to pardon the rudeness and depart in peace, though
sprinkled, perhaps, with her husband's or brother's blood.
  I shall pass over his strictures on religion, because I mean to
discuss that subject in a separate chapter.
  The remarks relative to behaviour, though many of them very
sensible, I entirely disapprove of, because it appears to me to be
beginning, as it were, at the wrong end. A cultivated understanding,
and an affectionate heart, will never want starched rules of
decorum- something more substantial than seemliness will be the
result; and, without understanding the behaviour here recommended,
would be rank affectation. Decorum, indeed, is the one thing needful!-
decorum is to supplant nature, and banish all simplicity and variety
of character out of the female world. Yet what good end can all this
superficial counsel produce? It is, however, much easier to point
out this or that mode of behaviour, than to set the reason to work;
but, when the mind has been stored with useful knowledge, and
strengthened by being employed, the regulation of the behaviour may
safely be left to its guidance.
  Why, for instance, should the following caution be given when art of
every kind must contaminate the mind; and why entangle the grand
motives of action, which reason and religion equally combine to
enforce, with pitiful worldly shifts and slight of hand tricks to gain
the applause of gaping tasteless fools? 'Be even cautious in
displaying your good sense.* It will be thought you assume a
superiority over the rest of the company- But if you happen to have
any learning, keep it a profound secret, especially from the men who
generally look with a jealous and malignant eye on a woman of great
parts, and a cultivated understanding.' If men of real merit, as he
afterwards observes, be superior to this meanness, where is the
necessity that the behaviour of the whole sex should be modulated to
please fools, or men, who having little claim to respect as
individuals, choose to keep close in their phalanx. Men, indeed, who
insist on their common superiority, having only this sexual
superiority, are certainly very excusable.

  * Let women once acquire good sense- and if it deserve the name,
it will teach them; or, of what use will it be? how to employ it.

  There would be no end to rules for behaviour, if it be proper always
to adopt the tone of the company; for thus, for ever varying the
key, a flat would often pass for a natural note.
  Surely it would have been wiser to have advised women to improve
themselves till they rose above the fumes of vanity; and then to let
the public opinion come round- for where are rules of accommodation to
stop? The narrow path of truth and virtue inclines neither to the
right nor left- it is a straightforward business, and they who are
earnestly pursuing their road, may bound over many decorous
prejudices, without leaving modesty behind. Make the heart clean,
and give the head employment, and I will venture to predict that there
will be nothing offensive in the behaviour.
  The air of fashion, which many young people are so eager to
attain, always strikes me like the studied attitudes of some modern
pictures, copied with tasteless servility after the antiques;- the
soul is left out, and none of the parts are tied together by what
may properly be termed character. This varnish of fashion, which
seldom sticks very close to sense, may dazzle the weak; but leave
nature to itself, and it will seldom disgust the wise. Besides, when a
woman has sufficient sense not to pretend to any thing which she
does not understand in some degree, there is no need of determining to
hide her talents under a bushel. Let things take their natural course,
and all will be well.
  It is this system of dissimulation, throughout the volume, that I
despise. Women are always to seem to be this and that- yet virtue
might apostrophize them, in the words of Hamlet- Seems! I know not
seems!- Have that within that passeth show!-
  Still the same tone occurs; for in another place, after
recommending, without sufficiently discriminating delicacy, he adds,
'The men will complain of your reserve. They will assure you that a
franker behaviour would make you more amiable. But, trust me, they are
not sincere when they tell you so.- I acknowledge that on some
occasions it might render you more agreeable as companions, but it
would make you less amiable as women: an important distinction,
which many of your sex are not aware of.'-
  This desire of being always women, is the very consciousness that
degrades the sex. Excepting with a lover, I must repeat with emphasis,
a former observation,- it would be well if they were only agreeable or
rational companions.- But in this respect his advice is even
inconsistent with a passage which I mean to quote with the most marked
approbation.
  'The sentiment, that a woman may allow all innocent freedoms,
provided her virtue is secure, is both grossly indelicate and
dangerous, and has proved fatal to many of your sex.' With this
opinion I perfectly coincide. A man, or a woman, of any feeling,
must always wish to convince a beloved object that it is the
caresses of the individual, not the sex, that are received and
returned with pleasure; and, that the heart, rather than the senses,
is moved. Without this natural delicacy, love becomes a selfish
personal gratification that soon degrades the character.
  I carry this sentiment still further. Affection, when love is out of
the question, authorises many personal endearments, that naturally,
flowing from an innocent heart, give life to the behaviour; but the
personal intercourse of appetite, gallantry, or vanity, is despicable.
When a man squeezes the hand of a pretty woman, handing her to a
carriage, whom he has never seen before, she will consider such an
impertinent freedom in the light of an insult, if she have any true
delicacy, instead of being flattered by this unmeaning homage to
beauty. These are the privileges of friendship, or the momentary
homage which the heart pays to virtue, when it flashes suddenly on the
notice- mere animal spirits have no claim to the kindnesses of
affection!
  Wishing to feed the affections with what is now the food of
vanity, I would fain persuade my sex to act from simpler principles.
Let them merit love, and they will obtain it, though they may never be
told that- 'The power of a fine woman over the hearts of men, of men
of the finest parts, is even beyond what she conceives.'
  I have already noticed the narrow cautions with respect to
duplicity, female softness, delicacy of constitution; for these are
the changes which he rings round without ceasing- in a more decorous
manner, it is true, than Rousseau; but it all comes home to the same
point, and whoever is at the trouble to analyze these sentiments, will
find the first principles not quite so delicate as the superstructure.
  The subject of amusements is treated in too cursory a manner, but
with the same spirit.
  When I treat of friendship, love, and marriage, it will be found
that we materially differ in opinion; I shall not then forestall
what I have to observe on these important subjects; but confine my
remarks to the general tenor of them, to that cautious family
prudence, to those confined views of partial unenlightened
affection, which exclude pleasure and improvement, by vainly wishing
to ward off sorrow and error- and by thus guarding the heart and mind,
destroy also all their energy.- It is far better to be often
deceived than never to trust; to be disappointed in love than never to
love; to lose a husband's fondness than forfeit his esteem.
  Happy would it be for the world, and for individuals, of course,
if all this unavailing solicitude to attain worldly happiness, on a
confined plan, were turned into an anxious desire to improve the
understanding.- 'Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get
wisdom; and with all thy gettings get understanding.'- 'How long, ye
simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and hate knowledge?' Saith
Wisdom to the daughters of men!-

                        SECT. IV.

  I do not mean to allude to all the writers who have written on the
subject of female manners- it would, in fact, be only beating over the
old ground, for they have, in general, written in the same strain; but
attacking the boasted prerogative of man- the prerogative that may
emphatically be called the iron sceptre of tyranny, the original sin
of tyrants, I declare against all power built on prejudices, however
hoary.
  If the submission demanded be founded on justice- there is no
appealing to a higher power- for God is justice itself. Let us then,
as children of the same parent, if not bastardized by being the
younger born, reason together, and learn to submit to the authority of
reason- when her voice is distinctly heard. But, if it be proved, that
this throne of prerogative only rests on a chaotic mass of prejudices,
that have no inherent principle of order to keep them together, or
on an elephant, tortoise, or even the mighty shoulders of a son of the
earth, they may escape, who dare to brave the consequence, without any
breach of duty, without sinning against the order of things.
  Whilst reason raises man above the brutal herd, and death is big
with promises, they alone are subject to blind authority who have no
reliance on their own strength. 'They are free- who will be free!'-*

  * 'He is the true man, whom truth makes free!'- Cowper.

  The being who can govern itself has nothing to fear in life; but
if any thing be dearer than its own respect, the price must be paid to
the last farthing. Virtue, like every thing valuable, must be loved
for herself alone; or she will not take up her abode with us. She will
not impart that peace, 'which passeth understanding,' when she is
merely made the stilts of reputation; and respected, with
pharisaical exactness, because 'honesty is the best policy.'
  That the plan of life which enables us to carry some knowledge and
virtue into another world, is the one best calculated to ensure
content in this, cannot be denied; yet few people act according to
this principle, though it be universally allowed that it admits not of
dispute. Present pleasure, or present power, carry before it these
sober convictions; and it is for the day, not for life, that man
bargains with happiness. How few!- how very few! have sufficient
foresight, or resolution, to endure a small evil at the moment, to
avoid a greater hereafter.
  Woman in particular, whose virtue* is built on mutable prejudices,
seldom attains to this greatness of mind; so that, becoming the
slave of her own feelings, she is easily subjugated by those of
others. Thus degraded, her reason, her misty reason! is employed
rather to burnish than to snap her chains.

  * I mean to use a word that comprehends more than chastity, the
sexual virtue.

  Indignantly have I heard women argue in the same track as men, and
adopt the sentiments that brutalize them, with all the pertinacity
of ignorance.
  I must illustrate my assertion by a few examples. Mrs. Piozzi, who
often repeated by rote, what she did not understand, comes forward
with Johnsonian periods.
  'Seek not for happiness in singularity; and dread a refinement of
wisdom as a deviation into folly.' Thus she dogmatically addresses a
new married man; and to elucidate this pompous exordium, she adds,
'I said that the person of your lady would not grow more pleasing to
you, but pray let her never suspect that it grows less so: that a
woman will pardon an affront to her understanding much sooner than one
to her person, is well known; nor will any of us contradict the
assertion. All our attainments, all our arts, are employed to gain and
keep the heart of man; and what mortification can exceed the
disappointment, if the end be not obtained? There is no reproof
however pointed, no punishment however severe, that a woman of
spirit will not prefer to neglect; and if she can endure it without
complaint, it only proves that she means to make herself amends by the
attention of others for the slights of her husband!'
  These are truly masculine sentiments.- 'All our arts are employed to
gain and keep the heart of man:'- and what is the inference?- if her
person, and was there ever a person, though formed with Medicean
Symmetry, that was not slighted? be neglected, she will make herself
amends by endeavouring to please other men. Noble morality! But thus
is the understanding of the whole sex affronted, and their virtue
deprived of the common basis of virtue. A woman must know, that her
person cannot be as pleasing to her husband as it was to her lover,
and if she be offended with him for being a human creature, she may as
well whine about the loss of his heart as about any other foolish
thing.- And this very want of discernment or unreasonable anger,
proves that he could not change his fondness for her person into
affection for her virtues or respect for her understanding.
  Whilst women avow, and act up to such opinions, their
understandings, at least, deserve the contempt and obloquy that men,
who never insult their persons, have pointedly levelled at the
female mind. And it is the sentiments of these polite men, who do
not wish to be encumbered with mind, that vain women thoughtlessly
adopt. Yet they should know, that insulted reason alone can spread
that sacred reserve about the person, which renders human
affections, for human affections have always some base alloy, as
permanent as is consistent with the grand end of existence- the
attainment of virtue.
  The Baroness de Stael speaks the same language as the lady just
cited, with more enthusiasm. Her eulogium on Rousseau was accidentally
put into my hands, and her sentiments, the sentiments of too many of
my sex, may serve as the text for a few comments. 'Though Rousseau,'
she observes, 'has endeavoured to prevent women from interfering in
public affairs, and acting a brilliant part in the theatre of
politics; yet in speaking of them, how much has he done it to their
satisfaction! If he wished to deprive them of some rights foreign to
their sex, how has he for ever restored to them all those to which
it has a claim! And in attempting to diminish their influence over the
deliberations of men, how sacredly has he established the empire
they have over their happiness! In aiding them to descend from an
usurped throne, he has firmly seated them upon that to which they were
destined by nature; and though he be full of indignation against
them when they endeavour to resemble men, yet when they come before
him with all the charms, weaknesses, virtues and errors, of their sex,
his respect for their persons amounts almost to adoration.' True!- For
never was there a sensualist who paid more fervent adoration at the
shrine of beauty. So devout, indeed, was his respect for the person,
that excepting the virtue of chastity, for obvious reasons, he only
wished to see it embellished by charms, weaknesses, and errors. He was
afraid lest the austerity of reason should disturb the soft
playfulness of love. The master wished to have a meretricious slave to
fondle, entirely dependent on his reason and bounty; he did not want a
companion, whom he should be compelled to esteem, or a friend to
whom he could confide the care of his children's education, should
death deprive them of their father, before he had fulfilled the sacred
task. He denies woman reason, shuts her out from knowledge, and
turns her aside from truth; yet his pardon is granted, because 'he
admits the passion of love.' It would require some ingenuity to shew
why women were to be under such an obligation to him for thus
admitting love; when it is clear that he admits it only for the
relaxation of men, and to perpetuate the species; but he talked with
passion, and that powerful spell worked on the sensibility of a
young encomiast. 'What signifies it,' pursues this rhapsodist, 'to
women, that his reason disputes with them the empire, when his heart
is devotedly theirs.' It is not empire,- but equality, that they
should contend for. Yet, if they only wished to lengthen out their
sway, they should not entirely trust to their persons, for though
beauty may gain a heart, it cannot keep it, even while the beauty is
in full bloom, unless the mind lend, at least, some graces.
  When women are once sufficiently enlightened to discover their
real interest, on a grand scale, they will, I am persuaded, be very
ready to resign all the prerogatives of love, that are not mutual,
speaking of them as lasting prerogatives, for the calm satisfaction of
friendship, and the tender confidence of habitual esteem. Before
marriage they will not assume any insolent airs, or afterwards
abjectly submit; but endeavouring to act like reasonable creatures, in
both situations, they will not be tumbled from a throne to a stool.
  Madame Genlis has written several entertaining books for children;
and her Letters on Education afford many useful hints, that sensible
parents will certainly avail themselves of; but her views are
narrow, and her prejudices as unreasonable as strong.
  I shall pass over her vehement argument in favour of the eternity of
future punishments, because I blush to think that a human being should
ever argue vehemently in such a cause, and only make a few remarks
on her absurd manner of making the parental authority supplant reason.
For every where does she inculcate not only blind submission to
parents; but to the opinion of the world.*

  * A person is not to act in this or that way, though convinced
they are right in so doing, because some equivocal circumstances may
lead the world to suspect that they acted from different motives.-
This is sacrificing the substance for a shadow. Let people but watch
their own hearts, and act rightly, as far as they can judge, and
they may patiently wait till the opinion of the world comes round.
It is best to be directed by a simple motive- for justice has too
often been sacrificed to propriety;- another word for convenience.

  She tells a story of a young man engaged by his father's express
desire to a girl of fortune. Before the marriage could take place, she
is deprived of her fortune, and thrown friendless on the world. The
father practises the most infamous arts to separate his son from
her, and when the son detects his villany, and following the
dictates of honour marries the girl, nothing but misery ensues,
because forsooth he married without his father's consent. On what
ground can religion or morality rest when justice is thus set as
defiance? With the same view she represents an accomplished young
woman, as ready to marry any body that her mama pleased to
recommend; and, as actually marrying the young man of her own
choice, without feeling any emotions of passion, because that a well
educated girl had not time to be in love. Is it possible to have
much respect for a system of education that thus insults reason and
nature?
  Many similar opinions occur in her writings, mixed with sentiments
that do honour to her head and heart. Yet so much superstition is
mixed with her religion, and so much worldly wisdom with her morality,
that I should not let a young person read her works, unless I could
afterwards converse on the subjects, and point out the contradictions.
  Mrs. Chapone's Letters are written with such good sense, and
unaffected humility, and contain so many useful observations, that I
only mention them to pay the worthy writer this tribute of respect.
I cannot, it is true, always coincide in opinion with her; but I
always respect her.
  The very word respect brings Mrs. Macaulay to my remembrance. The
woman of the greatest abilities, undoubtedly, that this country has
ever produced.- And yet this woman has been suffered to die without
sufficient respect being paid to her memory.
  Posterity, however, will be more just; and remember that Catharine
Macaulay was an example of intellectual acquirements supposed to be
incompatible with the weakness of her sex. In her style of writing,
indeed, no sex appears, for it is like the sense it conveys, strong
and clear.
  I will not call hers a masculine understanding, because I admit
not of such an arrogant assumption of reason; but I contend that it
was a sound one, and that her judgment, the matured fruit of
profound thinking, was a proof that a woman can acquire judgment, in
the full extent of the word. Possessing more penetration than
sagacity, more understanding than fancy, she writes with sober
energy and argumentative closeness; yet sympathy and benevolence
give an interest to her sentiments, and that vital heat to
arguments, which forces the reader to weigh them.*

  * Coinciding in opinion with Mrs. Macaulay relative to many branches
of education, I refer to her valuable work, instead of quoting her
sentiments to support my own.

  When I first thought of writing these strictures I anticipated
Mrs. Macaulay's approbation, with a little of that sanguine ardour,
which it has been the business of my life to depress; but soon heard
with the sickly qualm of disappointed hope; and the still
seriousness of regret- that she was no more!

                        SECT. V.

  Taking a view of the different works which have been written on
education, Lord Chesterfield's Letters must not be silently passed
over. Not that I mean to analyze his unmanly, immoral system, or
even to cull any of the useful, shrewd remarks which occur in his
epistles- No, I only mean to make a few reflections on the avowed
tendency of them- the art of acquiring an early knowledge of the
world. An art, I will venture to assert, that preys secretly, like the
worm in the bud, on the expanding powers, and turns to poison the
generous juices which should mount with vigour in the youthful
frame, inspiring warm affections and great resolves.*

  * That children ought to be constantly guarded against the vices and
follies of the world, appears, to me, a very mistaken opinion; for
in the course of experience, and my eyes have looked abroad, I never
knew a youth educated in this manner, who had early imbibed these
chilling suspicions, and repeated by rote the hesitating if of age,
that did not prove a selfish character.

  For every thing, saith the wise man, there is a season;- and who
would look for the fruits of autumn during the genial months of
spring? But this is mere declamation, and I mean to reason with
those worldly-wise instructors, who, instead of cultivating the
judgment, instill prejudices, and render hard the heart that gradual
experience would only have cooled. An early acquaintance with human
infirmities; or, what is termed knowledge of the world, is the
surest way, in my opinion, to contract the heart and damp the
natural youthful ardour which produces not only great talents, but
great virtues. For the vain attempt to bring forth the fruit of
experience, before the sapling has thrown out its leaves, only
exhausts its strength, and prevents its assuming a natural form;
just as the form and strength of subsiding metals are injured when the
attraction of cohesion is disturbed.
  Tell me, ye who have studied the human mind, is it not a strange way
to fix principles by showing young people that they are seldom stable?
And how can they be fortified by habits when they are proved to be
fallacious by example? Why is the ardour of youth thus to be damped,
and the luxuriancy of fancy cut to the quick? This dry caution may, it
is true, guard a character from worldly mischances; but will
infallibly preclude excellence in either virtue or knowledge.* The
stumbling-block thrown across every path by suspicion, will prevent
any vigorous exertions of genius or benevolence, and life will be
stripped of its most alluring charm long before its calm evening, when
man should retire to contemplation for comfort and support.

  * I have already observed that an early knowledge of the world,
obtained in a natural way, by mixing in the world, has the same
effect: instancing officers and women.

  A young man who has been bred up with domestic friends, and led to
store his mind with as much speculative knowledge as can be acquired
by reading and the natural reflections which youthful ebullitions of
animal spirits and instinctive feelings inspire, will enter the
world with warm and erroneous expectations. But this appears to be the
course of nature; and in morals, as well as in works of taste, we
should be observant of her sacred indications, and not presume to lead
when we ought obsequiously to follow.
  In the world few people act from principle; present feelings, and
early habits, are the grand springs: but how would the former be
deadened, and the latter rendered iron corroding fetters, if the world
were shewn to young people just as it is; when no knowledge of mankind
or their own hearts, slowly obtained by experience, rendered them
forbearing? Their fellow creatures would not then be viewed as frail
beings; like themselves, condemned to struggle with human infirmities,
and sometimes displaying the light, and sometimes the dark side of
their character; extorting alternate feelings of love and disgust; but
guarded against as beasts of prey, till every enlarged social feeling,
in a word,- humanity, was eradicated.
  In life, on the contrary, as we gradually discover the imperfections
of our nature, we discover virtues, and various circumstances attach
us to our fellow creatures, when we mix with them, and view the same
objects, that are never thought of in acquiring a hasty unnatural
knowledge of the world. We see a folly swell into a vice, by almost
imperceptible degrees, and pity while we blame; but, if the hideous
monster burst suddenly on our sight, fear and disgust rendering us
more severe than man ought to be, might lead us with blind zeal to
usurp the character of omnipotence, and denounce damnation on our
fellow mortals, forgetting that we cannot read the heart, and that
we have seeds of the same vices lurking in our own.
  I have already remarked that we expect more from instruction, than
mere instruction can produce: for, instead of preparing young people
to encounter the evils of life with dignity and to acquire wisdom
and virtue by the exercise of their own faculties, precepts are heaped
upon precepts, and blind obedience required, when conviction should be
brought home to reason.
  Suppose, for instance, that a young person in the first ardour of
friendship deifies the beloved object- what harm can arise from this
mistaken enthusiastic attachment? Perhaps it is necessary for virtue
first to appear in a human form to impress youthful hearts; the
ideal model, which a more matured and exalted mind looks up to, and
shapes for itself, would elude their sight. He who loves not his
brother whom be hath seen, how can he love God? asked the wisest of
men.
  It is natural for youth to adorn the first object of its affection
with every good quality, and the emulation produced by ignorance,
or, to speak with more propriety, by inexperience, brings forward
the mind capable of forming such an affection, and when, in the
lapse of time, perfection is found not to be within the reach of
mortals, virtue, abstractedly, is thought beautiful, and wisdom
sublime. Admiration then gives place to friendship, properly so
called, because it is cemented by esteem; and the being walks alone
only dependent on heaven for that emulous panting after perfection
which ever glows in a noble mind. But this knowledge a man must gain
by the exertion of his own faculties; and this is surely the blessed
fruit of disappointed hope! for He who delighteth to diffuse happiness
and shew mercy to the weak creatures, who are learning to know him,
never implanted a good propensity to be a tormenting ignis fatuus.
  Our trees are now allowed to spread with wild luxuriance, nor do
we expect by force to combine the majestic marks of time with youthful
graces; but wait patiently till they have struck deep their root,
and braved many a storm.- Is the mind then, which, in proportion to
its dignity, advances more slowly towards perfection, to be treated
with less respect? To argue from analogy, every thing around us is
in a progressive state; and when an unwelcome knowledge of life
produces almost a satiety of life, and we discover by the natural
course of things that all that is done under the sun is vanity, we are
drawing near the awful close of the drama. The days of activity and
hope are over, and the opportunities which the first stage of
existence has afforded of advancing in the scale of intelligence, must
soon be summed up.- A knowledge at this period of the futility of
life, or earlier, if obtained by experience, is very useful, because
it is natural; but when a frail being is shewn the follies and vices
of man, that be may be taught prudently to guard against the common
casualties of life by sacrificing his heart- surely it is not speaking
harshly to call it the wisdom of this world, contrasted with the
nobler fruit of piety and experience.
  I will venture a paradox, and deliver my opinion without reserve; if
men were only born to form a circle of life and death, it would be
wise to take every step that foresight could suggest to render life
happy. Moderation in every pursuit would then be supreme wisdom; and
the prudent voluptuary might enjoy a degree of content, though he
neither cultivated his understanding nor kept his heart pure.
Prudence, supposing we were mortal, would be true wisdom, or, to be
more explicit, would procure the greatest portion of happiness,
considering the whole of life, but knowledge beyond the conveniences
of life would be a curse.
  Why should we injure our health by close study? The exalted pleasure
which intellectual pursuits afford would scarcely be equivalent to the
hours of languor that follow; especially, if it be necessary to take
into the reckoning the doubts and disappointments that cloud our
researches. Vanity and vexation close every inquiry: for the cause
which we particularly wished to discover flies like the horizon before
us as we advance. The ignorant, on the contrary, resemble children,
and suppose, that if they could walk straight forward they should at
last arrive where the earth and clouds meet. Yet, disappointed as we
are in our researches, the mind gains strength by the exercise,
sufficient, perhaps, to comprehend the answers which, in another
step of existence, it may receive to the anxious questions it asked,
when the understanding with feeble wing was fluttering round the
visible effects to dive into the hidden cause.
  The passions also, the winds of life, would be useless, if not
injurious, did the substance which composes our thinking being,
after we have thought in vain, only become the support of vegetable
life, and invigorate a cabbage, or blush in a rose. The appetites
would answer every earthly purpose, and produce more moderate and
permanent happiness. But the powers of the soul that are of little use
here, and, probably, disturb our animal enjoyments, even while
conscious dignity makes us glory in possessing them, prove that life
is merely an education, a state of infancy, to which the only hopes
worth cherishing should not be sacrificed. I mean, therefore, to
infer, that we ought to have a precise idea of what we wish to
attain by education, for the immortality of the soul is contradicted
by the actions of many people who firmly profess the belief.
  If you mean to secure ease and prosperity on earth as the first
consideration, and leave futurity to provide for itself; you act
prudently in giving your child an early insight into the weaknesses of
his nature. You may not, it is true, make an Inkle of him; but do
not imagine that he will stick to more than the letter of the law, who
has very early imbibed a mean opinion of human nature; nor will he
think it necessary to rise much above the common standard. He may
avoid gross vices, because honesty is the best policy; but he will
never aim at attaining great virtues. The example of writers and
artists will illustrate this remark.
  I must therefore venture to doubt whether what has been thought an
axiom in morals may not have been a dogmatical assertion made by men
who have coolly seen mankind through the medium of books, and say,
in direct contradiction to them, that the regulation of the passions
is not, always, wisdom.- On the contrary, it should seem, that one
reason why men have superiour judgment, and more fortitude than women,
is undoubtedly this, that they give a freer scope to the grand
passions, and by more frequently going astray enlarge their minds.
If then by the exercise of their own* reason they fix on some stable
principle, they have probably to thank the force of their passions,
nourished by false views of life, and permitted to overleap the
boundary that secures content. But if, in the dawn of life, we could
soberly survey the scenes before as in perspective, and see every
thing in its true colours, how could the passions gain sufficient
strength to unfold the faculties?

  * 'I find that all is but lip-wisdom which wants experience,' says
Sidney.

  Let me now as from an eminence survey the world stripped of all
its false delusive charms. The clear atmosphere enables me to see each
object in its true point of view, while my heart is still. I am calm
as the prospect in a morning when the mists, slowly dispersing,
silently unveil the beauties of nature, refreshed by rest.
  In what light will the world now appear?- I rub my eyes and think,
perchance, that I am just awaking from a lively dream.
  I see the sons and daughters of men pursuing shadows, and
anxiously wasting their powers to feed passions which have no adequate
object- if the very excess of these blind impulses, pampered by that
lying, yet constantly trusted guide, the imagination, did not, by
preparing them for some other state, render short-sighted mortals
wiser without their own concurrence; or, what comes to the same thing,
when they were pursuing some imaginary present good.
  After viewing objects in this light, it would not be very fanciful
to imagine that this world was a stage on which a pantomime is daily
performed for the amusement of superiour beings. How would they be
diverted to see the ambitious man consuming himself by running after a
phantom, and, 'pursuing the bubble fame in the cannon's mouth' that
was to blow him to nothing: for when consciousness is lost, it matters
not whether we mount in a whirlwind or descend in rain. And should
they compassionately invigorate his sight and shew him the thorny path
which led to eminence, that like a quicksand sinks as he ascends,
disappointing his hopes when almost within his grasp, would he not
leave to others the honour of amusing them, and labour to secure the
present moment, though from the constitution of his nature he would
not find it very easy to catch the flying stream? Such slaves are we
to hope and fear!
  But, vain as the ambitious man's pursuits would be, he is often
striving for something more substantial than fame- that indeed would
be the veriest meteor, the wildest fire that could lure a man to
ruin.- What! renounce the most trifling gratification to be
applauded when he should be no more! Wherefore this struggle,
whether man be mortal or immortal, if that noble passion did not
really raise the being above his fellows?-
  And love! What diverting scenes would it produce- Pantaloon's tricks
must yield to more egregious folly. To see a mortal adorn an object
with imaginary charms, and then fall down and worship the idol which
he had himself set up- how ridiculous! But what serious consequences
ensue to rob man of that portion of happiness, which the Deity by
calling him into existence has (or, on what can his attributes
rest?) indubitably promised: would not all the purposes of life have
been much better fulfilled if he had only felt what had been termed
physical love? And, would not the sight of the object, not seen
through the medium of the imagination, soon reduce the passion to an
appetite, if reflection, the noble distinction of man, did not give it
force, and make it an instrument to raise him above this earthy dross,
by teaching him to love the centre of all perfection; whose wisdom
appears clearer and clearer in the works of nature, in proportion as
reason is illuminated and exalted by contemplation, and by acquiring
that love of order which the struggles of passion produce?
  The habit of reflection, and the knowledge attained by fostering any
passion, might be shewn to be equally useful, though the object be
proved equally fallacious; for they would all appear in the same
light, if they were not magnified by the governing passion implanted
in us by the Author of all good, to call forth and strengthen the
faculties of each individual, and enable it to attain all the
experience that an infant can obtain, who does certain things, it
cannot tell why.
  I descend from my height, and mixing with my fellow-creatures,
feel myself hurried along the common stream; ambition, love, hope, and
fear, exert their wonted power, though we be convinced by reason
that their present and most attractive promises are only lying dreams;
but had the cold hand of circumspection damped each generous feeling
before it had left any permanent character, or fixed some habit,
what could be expected, but selfish prudence and reason just rising
above instinct? Who that has read Dean Swift's disgusting
description of the Yahoos, and insipid one of Houyhnhnm with a
philosophical eye, can avoid seeing the futility of degrading the
passions, or making man rest in contentment?
  The youth should act; for had he the experience of a grey head he
would be fitter for death than life, though his virtues, rather
residing in his head than his heart, could produce nothing great,
and his understanding, prepared for this world, would not, by its
noble flights, prove that it had a title to a better.
  Besides, it is not possible to give a young person a just view of
life; he must have struggled with his own passions before he can
estimate the force of the temptation which betrayed his brother into
vice. Those who are entering life, and those who are departing, see
the world from such very different points of view, that they can
seldom think alike, unless the unfledged reason of the former never
attempted a solitary flight.
  When we hear of some daring crime- it comes full on us in the
deepest shade of turpitude, and raises indignation; but the eye that
gradually saw the darkness thicken, must observe it with more
compassionate forbearance. The world cannot be seen by an unmoved
spectator, we must mix in the throng, and feel as men feel before we
can judge of their feelings. If we mean, in short, to live in the
world to grow wiser and better, and not merely to enjoy the good
things of life, we must attain a knowledge of others at the same
time that we become acquainted with ourselves- knowledge acquired
any other way only hardens the heart and perplexes the understanding.
  I may be told, that the knowledge thus acquired, is sometimes
purchased at too dear a rate. I can only answer that I very much doubt
whether any knowledge can be attained without labour and sorrow; and
those who wish to spare their children both, should not complain, if
they are neither wise nor virtuous. They only aimed at making them
prudent; and prudence, early in life, is but the cautious craft of
ignorant self-love.
  I have observed that young people, to whose education particular
attention has been paid, have, in general, been very superficial and
conceited, and far from pleasing in any respect, because they had
neither the unsuspecting warmth of youth, nor the cool depth of age. I
cannot help imputing this unnatural appearance principally to that
hasty premature instruction, which leads them presumptuously to repeat
all the crude notions they have taken upon trust, so that the
careful education which they received, makes them all their lives
the slaves of prejudices.
  Mental as well as bodily exertion is, at first, irksome; so much so,
that the many would fain let others both work and think for them. An
observation which I have often made will illustrate my meaning. When
in a circle of strangers, or acquaintances, a person of moderate
abilities asserts an opinion with heat, I will venture to affirm,
for I have traced this fact home, very often, that it is a
prejudice. These echoes have a high respect for the understanding of
some relation or friend, and without fully comprehending the opinions,
which they are so eager to retail, they maintain them with a degree of
obstinacy, that would surprise even the person who concocted them.
  I know that a kind of fashion now prevails of respecting prejudices;
and when any one dares to face them, though actuated by humanity and
armed by reason, be is superciliously asked whether his ancestors were
fools. No, I should reply; opinions, at first, of every description,
were all, probably, considered, and therefore were founded on some
reason; yet not unfrequently, of course, it was rather a local
expedient than a fundamental principle, that would be reasonable at
all times. But, moss-covered opinions assume the disproportioned
form of prejudices, when they are indolently adopted only because
age has given them a venerable aspect, though the reason on which they
were built ceases to be a reason, or cannot be traced. Why are we to
love prejudices, merely because they are prejudices?* A prejudice is a
fond obstinate persuasion for which we can give no reason; for the
moment a reason can be given for an opinion, it ceases to be a
prejudice, though it may be an error in judgment: and are we then
advised to cherish opinions only to set reason at defiance? This
mode of arguing, if arguing it may be called, reminds me of what is
vulgarly termed a woman's reason. For women sometimes declare that
they love, or believe, certain things, because they love, or believe
them.

  * Vide Mr. Burke.

  It is impossible to converse with people to any purpose, who only
use affirmatives and negatives. Before you can bring them to a
point, to start fairly from, you must go back to the simple principles
that were antecedent to the prejudices broached by power; and it is
ten to one but you are stopped by the philosophical assertion, that
certain principles are as practically false as they are abstractly
true.* Nay, it may be inferred, that reason has whispered some doubts,
for it generally happens that people assert their opinions with the
greatest heat when they begin to waver; striving to drive out their
own doubts by convincing their opponent, they grow angry when those
gnawing doubts are thrown back to prey on themselves.

  * 'Convince a man against his will,
     He's of the same opinion still.'

  The fact is, that men expect from education, what education cannot
give. A sagacious parent or tutor may strengthen the body and
sharpen the instruments by which the child is to gather knowledge; but
the honey must be the reward of the individual's own industry. It is
almost as absurd to attempt to make a youth wise by the experience
of another, as to expect the body to grow strong by the exercise which
is only talked of, or seen.* Many of those children whose conduct
has been most narrowly watched, become the weakest men, because
their instructors only instill certain notions into their minds,
that have no other foundation than their authority; and if they be
loved or respected, the mind is cramped in its exertions and
wavering in its advances. The business of education in this case, is
only to conduct the shooting tendrils to a proper pole; yet after
laying precept upon precept, without allowing a child to acquire
judgment itself, parents expect them to act in the same manner by this
borrowed fallacious light, as if they had illuminated it themselves;
and be, when they enter life, what their parents are at the close.
They do not consider that the tree, and even the human body, does
not strengthen its fibres till it has reached its full growth.

  * 'One sees nothing when one is content to contemplate only; it is
necessary to act oneself to be able to see how others act.'- Rousseau.

  There appears to be something analogous in the mind. The senses
and the imagination give a form to the character, during childhood and
youth; and the understanding, as life advances, gives firmness to
the first fair purposes of sensibility- till virtue, arising rather
from the clear conviction of reason than the impulse of the heart,
morality is made to rest on a rock against which the storms of passion
vainly beat.
  I hope I shall not be misunderstood when I say, that religion will
not have this condensing energy, unless it be founded on reason. If it
be merely the refuge of weakness or wild fanaticism, and not a
governing principle of conduct, drawn from self-knowledge, and a
rational opinion respecting the attributes of God, what can it be
expected to produce? The religion which consists in warming the
affections, and exalting the imagination, is only the poetical part,
and may afford the individual pleasure without rendering it a more
moral being. It may be a substitute for worldly pursuits; yet
narrow, instead of enlarging the heart: but virtue must be loved as in
itself sublime and excellent, and not for the advantages it procures
or the evils it averts, if any great degree of excellence be expected.
Men will not become moral when they only build airy castles in a
future world to compensate for the disappointments which they meet
with in this; if they turn their thoughts from relative duties to
religious reveries.
  Most prospects in life are marred by the shuffling worldly wisdom of
men, who, forgetting that they cannot serve God and mammon,
endeavour to blend contradictory things.- If you wish to make your son
rich, pursue one course- if you are only anxious to make him virtuous,
you must take another; but do not imagine that you can bound from
one road to the other without losing your way.*

  * See an excellent essay on this subject by Mrs. Barbauld, in
Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose.
                        Chap. VI.
    The Effect Which an Early Association of Ideas Has upon
                      the Character.

  Educated in the enervating style recommended by the writers on
whom I have been animadverting; and not having a chance, from their
subordinate state in society, to recover their lost ground, is it
surprising that women every where appear a defect in nature? Is it
surprising, when we consider what a determinate effect an early
association of ideas has on the character, that they neglect their
understandings, and turn all their attention to their persons?
  The great advantages which naturally result from storing the mind
with knowledge, are obvious from the following considerations. The
association of our ideas is either habitual or instantaneous; and
the latter mode seems rather to depend on the original temperature
of the mind than on the will. When the ideas, and matters of fact, are
once taken in, they lie by for use, till some fortuitous
circumstance makes the information dart into the mind with
illustrative force, that has been received at very different periods
of our lives. Like the lightning's flash are many recollections; one
idea assimilating and explaining another, with astonishing rapidity. I
do not now allude to that quick perception of truth, which is so
intuitive that it baffles research, and makes us at a loss to
determine whether it is reminiscence or ratiocination, lost sight of
in its celerity, that opens the dark cloud. Over those instantaneous
associations we have little power; for when the mind is once
enlarged by excursive flights, or profound reflection, the raw
materials will, in some degree, arrange themselves. The understanding,
it is true, may keep us from going out of drawing when we group our
thoughts, or transcribe from the imagination the warm sketches of
fancy; but the animal spirits, the individual character, give the
colouring. Over this subtile electric fluid,* how little power do we
possess, and over it how little power can reason obtain! These fine
intractable spirits appear to be the essence of genius, and beaming in
its eagle eye, produce in the most eminent degree the happy energy
of associating thoughts that surprise, delight, and instruct. These
are the glowing minds that concentrate pictures for their
fellow-creatures; forcing them to view with interest the objects
reflected from the impassioned imagination, which they passed over
in nature.

  * I have sometimes, when inclined to laugh at materialists, asked
whether, as the most powerful effects in nature are apparently
produced by fluids, the magnetic, &c. the passions might not be fine
volatile fluids that embraced humanity, keeping the more refractory
elementary parts together- or whether they were simply a liquid fire
that pervaded the more sluggish materials, giving them life and heat?

  I must be allowed to explain myself. The generality of people cannot
see or feel poetically, they want fancy, and therefore fly from
solitude in search of sensible objects; but when an author lends
them his eyes they can see as he saw, and be amused by images they
could not select, though lying before them.
  Education thus only supplies the man of genius with knowledge to
give variety and contrast to his associations; but there is an
habitual association of ideas, that grows 'with our growth,' which has
a great effect on the moral character of mankind; and by which a
turn is given to the mind that commonly remains throughout life. So
ductile is the understanding, and yet so stubborn, that the
associations which depend on adventitious circumstances, during the
period that the body takes to arrive at maturity, can seldom be
disentangled by reason. One idea calls up another, its old
associate, and memory, faithful to the first impressions, particularly
when the intellectual powers are not employed to cool our
sensations, retraces them with mechanical exactness.
  This habitual slavery, to first impressions, has a more baneful
effect on the female than the male character, because business and
other dry employments of the understanding, tend to deaden the
feelings and break associations that do violence to reason. But
females, who are made women of when they are mere children, and
brought back to childhood when they ought to leave the go-cart
forever, have not sufficient strength of mind to efface the
superinductions of art that have smothered nature.
  Every thing that they see or hear serves to fix impressions, call
forth emotions, and associate ideas, that give a sexual character to
the mind. False notions of beauty and delicacy stop the growth of
their limbs and produce a sickly soreness, rather than delicacy of
organs; and thus weakened by being employed in unfolding instead of
examining the first associations, forced on them by every
surrounding object, how can they attain the vigour necessary to enable
them to throw off their factitious character?- where find strength
to recur to reason and rise superiour to a system of oppression,
that blasts the fair promises of spring? This cruel association of
ideas, which every thing conspires to twist into all their habits of
thinking, or, to speak with more precision, of feeling, receives new
force when they begin to act a little for themselves; for they then
perceive that it is only through their address to excite emotions in
men, that pleasure and power are to be obtained. Besides, the books
professedly written for their instruction, which make the first
impression on their minds, all inculcate the same opinions. Educated
then in worse than Egyptian bondage, it is unreasonable, as well as
cruel, to upbraid them with faults that can scarcely be avoided,
unless a degree of native vigour be supposed, that falls to the lot of
very few amongst mankind.
  For instance, the severest sarcasms have been levelled against the
sex, and they have been ridiculed for repeating 'a set of phrases
learnt by rote,' when nothing could be more natural, considering the
education they receive, and that their 'highest praise is to obey,
unargued'- the will of man. If they be not allowed to have reason
sufficient to govern their own conduct- why, all they learn- must be
learned by rote! And when all their ingenuity is called forth to
adjust their dress, 'a passion for a scarlet coat,' is so natural,
that it never surprised me; and, allowing Pope's summary of their
character to be just, 'that every woman is at heart a rake,' why
should they be bitterly censured for seeking a congenial mind, and
preferring a rake to a man of sense?
  Rakes know how to work on their sensibility, whilst the modest merit
of reasonable men has, of course, less effect on their feelings, and
they cannot reach the heart by the way of the understanding, because
they have few sentiments in common.
  It seems a little absurd to expect women to be more reasonable
than men in their likings, and still to deny them the uncontrouled use
of reason. When do men fall-in-love with sense? When do they, with
their superiour powers and advantages, turn from the person to the
mind? And how can they then expect women, who are only taught to
observe behaviour, and acquire manners rather than morals, to
despise what they have been all their lives labouring to attain? Where
are they suddenly to find judgment enough to weigh patiently the sense
of an awkward virtuous man, when his manners, of which they are made
critical judges, are rebuffing, and his conversation cold and dull,
because it does not consist of pretty repartees, or well turned
compliments? In order to admire or esteem any thing for a continuance,
we must, at least, have our curiosity excited by knowing, in some
degree, what we admire; for we are unable to estimate the value of
qualities and virtues above our comprehension. Such a respect, when it
is felt, may be very sublime; and the confused consciousness of
humility may render the dependent creature an interesting object, in
some points of view; but human love must have grosser ingredients; and
the person very naturally will come in for its share- and, an ample
share it mostly has!
  Love is, in a great degree, an arbitrary passion, and will reign,
like some other stalking mischiefs, by its own authority, without
deigning to reason; and it may also be easily distinguished from
esteem, the foundation of friendship, because it is often excited by
evanescent beauties and graces, though, to give an energy to the
sentiment, something more solid must deepen their impression and set
the imagination to work, to make the most fair- the first good.
  Common passions are excited by common qualities.- Men look for
beauty and the simper of good-humoured docility: women are
captivated by easy manners; a gentleman-like man seldom fails to
please them, and their thirsty ears eagerly drink the insinuating
nothings of politeness, whilst they turn from the unintelligible
sounds of the charmer- reason, charm he never so wisely. With
respect to superficial accomplishments, the rake certainly has the
advantage; and of these females can form an opinion, for it is their
own ground. Rendered gay and giddy by the whole tenor of their
lives, the very aspect of wisdom, or the severe graces of virtue, must
have a lugubrious appearance to them; and produce a kind of
restraint from which they and love, sportive child, naturally
revolt. Without taste, excepting of the lighter kind, for taste is the
offspring of judgment, how can they discover that true beauty and
grace must arise from the play of the mind? and how can they be
expected to relish in a lover what they do not, or very imperfectly,
possess themselves? The sympathy that unites hearts, and invites to
confidence, in them is so very faint, that it cannot take fire, and
thus mount to passion. No, I repeat it, the love cherished by such
minds, must have grosser fewel!
  The inference is obvious; till women are led to exercise their
understandings, they should not be satirized for their attachment to
rakes; or even for being rakes at heart, when it appears to be the
inevitable consequence of their education. They who live to please-
must find their enjoyments, their happiness, in pleasure! It is a
trite, yet true remark, that we never do any thing well, unless we
love it for its own sake.
  Supposing, however, for a moment, that women were, in some future
revolution of time, to become, what I sincerely wish them to be,
even love would acquire more serious dignity, and be purified in its
own fires; and virtue giving true delicacy to their affections, they
would turn with disgust from a rake. Reasoning then, as well as
feeling, the only province of woman, at present, they might easily
guard against exteriour graces, and quickly learn to despise the
sensibility that had been excited and hackneyed in the ways of
women, whose trade was vice; and allurements, wanton airs. They
would recollect that the flame, one must use appropriated expressions,
which they wished to light up, had been exhausted by lust, and that
the sated appetite, losing all relish for pure and simple pleasures,
could only be roused by licentious arts or variety. What
satisfaction could a woman of delicacy promise herself in a union with
such a man, when the very artlessness of her affection might appear
insipid? Thus does Dryden describe the situation,

                    -'Where love is duty, on the female side,
    'On theirs mere sensual gust, and sought with surly pride.'

  But one grand truth women have yet to learn, though much it
imports them to act accordingly. In the choice of a husband, they
should not be led astray by the qualities of a lover- for a lover
the husband, even supposing him to be wise and virtuous, cannot long
remain.
  Were women more rationally educated, could they take a more
comprehensive view of things, they would be contented to love but once
in their lives; and after marriage calmly let passion subside into
friendship- into that tender intimacy, which is the best refuge from
care; yet is built on such pure, still affections, that idle
jealousies would not be allowed to disturb the discharge of the
sober duties of life, or to engross the thoughts that ought to be
otherwise employed. This is a state in which many men live; but few,
very few women. And the difference may easily be accounted for,
without recurring to a sexual character. Men, for whom we are told
women were made, have too much occupied the thoughts of women; and
this association has so entangled love with all their motives of
action; and, to harp a little on an old string, having been solely
employed either to prepare themselves to excite love, or actually
putting their lessons in practice, they cannot live without love. But,
when a sense of duty, or fear of shame, obliges them to restrain
this pampered desire of pleasing beyond certain lengths, too far for
delicacy, it is true, though far from criminality, they obstinately
determine to love, I speak of the passion, their husbands to the end
of the chapter- and then acting the part which they foolishly
exacted from their lovers, they become abject wooers, and fond slaves.
  Men of wit and fancy are often rakes; and fancy is the food of love.
Such men will inspire passion. Half the sex, in its present
infantine state, would pine for a Lovelace; a man so witty, so
graceful, and so valiant: and can they deserve blame for acting
according to principles so constantly inculcated? They want a lover,
and protector; and behold him kneeling before them- bravery
prostrate to beauty! The virtues of a husband are thus thrown by
love into the background, and gay hopes, or lively emotions, banish
reflection till the day of reckoning comes; and come it surely will,
to turn the sprightly lover into a surly suspicious tyrant, who
contemptuously insults the very weakness he fostered. Or, supposing
the rake reformed, he cannot quickly get rid of old habits. When a man
of abilities is first carried away by his passions, it is necessary
that sentiment and taste varnish the enormities of vice, and give a
zest to brutal indulgences; but when the gloss of novelty is worn off,
and pleasure palls upon the sense, lasciviousness becomes barefaced,
and enjoyment only the desperate effort of weakness flying from
reflection as from a legion of devils. Oh! virtue, thou art not an
empty name! All that life can give- thou givest!
  If much comfort cannot be expected from the friendship of a reformed
rake of superiour abilities, what is the consequence when he lacketh
sense, as well as principles? Verily misery, in its most hideous
shape. When the habits of weak people are consolidated by time, a
reformation is barely possible; and actually makes the beings
miserable who have not sufficient mind to be amused by innocent
pleasure; like the tradesman who retires from the hurry of business,
nature presents to them only a universal blank; and the restless
thoughts prey on the damped spirits.* Their reformation, as well as
his retirement, actually makes them wretched because it deprives
them of all employment, by quenching the hopes and fears that set in
motion their sluggish minds.

  * I have frequently seen this exemplified in women whose beauty
could no longer be repaired. They have retired from the noisy scenes
of dissipation; but, unless they became methodists, the solitude of
the select society of their family connections or acquaintance, has
presented only a fearful void; consequently, nervous complaints, and
all the vapourish train of idleness, rendered them quite as useless,
and far more unhappy, than when they joined the giddy throng.

  If such be the force of habit; if such be the bondage of folly,
how carefully ought we to guard the mind from storing up vicious
associations; and equally careful should we be to cultivate the
understanding, to save the poor wight from the weak dependent state of
even harmless ignorance. For it is the right use of reason alone which
makes us independent of every thing- excepting the unclouded Reason-
'Whose service is perfect freedom.'
                       Chap. VII.
     Modesty.- Comprehensively Considered, and Not as a
                      Sexual Virtue.

  Modesty! Sacred offspring of sensibility and reason!- true
delicacy of mind!- may I unblamed presume to investigate thy nature,
and trace to its covert the mild charm, that mellowing each harsh
feature of a character, renders what would otherwise only inspire cold
admiration- lovely!- Thou that smoothest the wrinkles of wisdom, and
softenest the tone of the sublimest virtues till they all melt into
humanity;- thou that spreadest the ethereal cloud that, surrounding
love, heightens every beauty, it half shades, breathing those coy
sweets that steal into the heart, and charm the senses- modulate for
me the language of persuasive reason, till I rouse my sex from the
flowery bed, on which they supinely sleep life away!
  In speaking of the association of our ideas, I have noticed two
distinct modes; and in defining modesty, it appears to me equally
proper to discriminate that purity of mind, which is the effect of
chastity, from a simplicity of character that leads us to form a
just opinion of ourselves, equally distant from vanity or presumption,
though by no means incompatible with a lofty consciousness of our
own dignity. Modesty, in the latter signification of the term, is,
that soberness of mind which teaches a man not to think more highly of
himself than he ought to think, and should be distinguished from
humility, because humility is a kind of self-abasement.
  A modest man often conceives a great plan, and tenaciously adheres
to it, conscious of his own strength, till success gives it a sanction
that determines its character. Milton was not arrogant when he
suffered a suggestion of judgment to escape him that proved a
prophesy; nor was General Washington when he accepted of the command
of the American forces. The latter has always been characterized as
a modest man; but had he been merely humble, he would probably have
shrunk back irresolute, afraid of trusting to himself the direction of
an enterprise, on which so much depended.
  A modest man is steady, an humble man timid, and a vain one
presumptuous:- this is the judgment, which the observation of many
characters, has led me to form. Jesus Christ was modest, Moses was
humble, and Peter vain.
  Thus, discriminating modesty from humility in one case, I do not
mean to confound it with bashfulness in the other. Bashfulness, in
fact, is so distinct from modesty, that the most bashful lass, or
raw country lout, often become the most impudent; for their
bashfulness being merely the instinctive timidity of ignorance, custom
soon changes it into assurance.*

      * 'Such is the country-maiden's fright,
         When first a red-coat is in sight;
         Behind the door she hides her face;
         Next time at distance eyes the lace:
         She now can all his terrors stand,
         Nor from his squeeze withdraws her hand,
         She plays familiar in his arms,
         And every soldier hath his charms;
         From tent to tent she spreads her flame;
         For custom conquers fear and shame.'- [John] Gay.

  The shameless behaviour of the prostitutes, who infest the streets
of this metropolis, raising alternate emotions of pity and disgust,
may serve to illustrate this remark. They trample on virgin
bashfulness with a sort of bravado, and glorying in their shame,
become more audaciously lewd than men, however depraved, to whom
this sexual quality has not been gratuitously granted, ever appear
to be. But these poor ignorant wretches never had any modesty to lose,
when they consigned themselves to infamy; for modesty is a virtue, not
a quality. No, they were only bashful, shame-faced innocents; and
losing their innocence, their shame-facedness was rudely brushed
off; a virtue would have left some vestiges in the mind, had it been
sacrificed to passion, to make us respect the grand ruin.
  Purity of mind, or that genuine delicacy, which is the only virtuous
support of chastity, is near akin to that refinement of humanity,
which never resides in any but cultivated minds. It is something
nobler than innocence, it is the delicacy of reflections, and not
the coyness of ignorance. The reserve of reason, which, like
habitual cleanliness, is seldom seen in any great degree, unless the
soul is active, may easily be distinguished from rustic shyness or
wanton skittishness; and, so far from being incompatible with
knowledge, it is its fairest fruit. What a gross idea of modesty had
the writer of the following remark! 'The lady who asked the question
whether women may be instructed in the modern system of botany,
consistently with female delicacy?- was accused of ridiculous prudery:
nevertheless, if she had proposed the question to me, I should
certainly have answered- They cannot.' Thus is the fair book of
knowledge to be shut with an everlasting seal! On reading similar
passages I have reverentially lifted up my eyes and heart to Him who
liveth for ever and ever, and said, O my Father, hast Thou by the very
constitution of her nature forbid Thy child to seek Thee in the fair
forms of truth? And, can her soul be sullied by the knowledge that
awfully calls her to Thee?
  I have then philosophically pursued these reflections till I
inferred that those women who have most improved their reason must
have the most modesty- though a dignified sedateness of deportment may
have succeeded the playful, bewitching bashfulness of youth.*

  * Modesty, is the graceful calm virtue of maturity; bashfulness, the
charm of vivacious youth.

  And thus have I argued. To render chastity the virtue from which
unsophisticated modesty will naturally flow, the attention should be
called away from employments which only exercise the sensibility;
and the heart made to beat time to humanity, rather than to throb with
love. The woman who has dedicated a considerable portion of her time
to pursuits purely intellectual, and whose affections have been
exercised by humane plans of usefulness, must have more purity of
mind, as a natural consequence, than the ignorant beings whose time
and thoughts have been occupied by gay pleasures or schemes to conquer
hearts.* The regulation of the behaviour is not modesty, though
those who study rules of decorum are, in general, termed modest women.
Make the heart clean, let it expand and feel for all that is human,
instead of being narrowed by selfish passions; and let the mind
frequently contemplate subjects that exercise the understanding,
without heating the imagination, and artless modesty will give the
finishing touches to the picture.

  * I have considered, as man with man, with medical men, on
anatomical subjects; and compared the proportions of the human body
with artists- yet such modesty did I meet with, that I was never
reminded by word or look of my sex, of the absurd rules which make
modesty a pharisaical cloak of weakness. And I am persuaded that in
the pursuit of knowledge women would never be insulted by sensible
men, and rarely by men of any description, if they did not by mock
modesty remind them that they were women; actuated by the same
spirit as the Portugueze ladies, who would think their charms insulted
if, when left alone with a man, he did not, at least, attempt to be
grossly familiar with their persons. Men are not always men in the
company of women, nor would women always remember that they are women,
if they were allowed to acquire more understanding.

  She who can discern the dawn of immortality, in the streaks that
shoot athwart the misty night of ignorance, promising a clearer day,
will respect, as a sacred temple, the body that enshrines such an
improvable soul. True love, likewise, spreads this kind of
mysterious sanctity round the beloved object, making the lover most
modest when in her presence.* So reserved is affection that, receiving
or returning personal endearments, it wishes, not only to shun the
human eye, as a kind of profanation; but to diffuse an encircling
cloudy obscurity to shut out even the saucy sparkling sunbeams. Yet,
that affection does not deserve the epithet of chaste, which does
not receive a sublime gloom of tender melancholy, that allows the mind
for a moment to stand still and enjoy the present satisfaction, when a
consciousness of the Divine presence is felt- for this must ever be
the food of joy!

  * Male or female, for the world contains many modest men.

  As I have always been fond of tracing to its source in nature any
prevailing custom, I have frequently thought that it was a sentiment
of affection for whatever had touched the person of an absent or
lost friend, which gave birth to that respect for relicks, so much
abused by selfish priests. Devotion, or love, may be allowed to hallow
the garments as well as the person; for the lover must want fancy
who has not a sort of sacred respect for the glove or slipper of his
mistress. He could not confound them with vulgar things of the same
kind. This fine sentiment, perhaps, would not bear to be analyzed by
the experimental philosopher- but of such stuff is human rapture
made up!- A shadowy phantom glides before us, obscuring every other
object; yet when the soft cloud is grasped, the form melts into common
air, leaving a solitary void, or sweet perfume, stolen from the
violet, that memory long holds dear. But, I have tripped unawares on
fairy ground, feeling the balmy gale of spring stealing on me,
though november frowns.
  As a sex, women are more chaste than men, and as modesty is the
effect of chastity, they may deserve to have this virtue ascribed to
them in rather an appropriated sense; yet, I must be allowed to add an
hesitating if:- for I doubt whether chastity will produce modesty,
though it may propriety of conduct, when it is merely a respect for
the opinion of the world,* and when coquetry and the lovelorn tales of
novelists employ the thoughts. Nay, from experience, and reason, I
should be led to expect to meet with more modesty amongst men than
women, simply because men exercise their understandings more than
women.

  * The immodest behaviour of many married women, who are nevertheless
faithful to their husbands' beds, will illustrate this remark.

  But, with respect to propriety of behaviour, excepting one class
of females, women have evidently the advantage. What can be more
disgusting than that impudent dross of gallantry, thought so manly,
which makes many men stare insultingly at every female they meet?
Can it be termed respect for the sex? No, this loose behaviour shews
such habitual depravity, such weakness of mind, that it is vain to
expect much public or private virtue, till both men and women grow
more modest- till men, curbing a sensual fondness for the sex, or an
affectation of manly assurance, more properly speaking, impudence,
treat each other with respect- unless appetite or passion give the
tone, peculiar to it, to their behaviour. I mean even personal
respect- the modest respect of humanity, and fellow-feeling- not the
libidinous mockery of gallantry, nor the insolent condescension of
protectorship.
  To carry the observation still further, modesty must heartily
disclaim, and refuse to dwell with that debauchery of mind, which
leads a man coolly to bring forward, without a blush, indecent
allusions, or obscene witticisms, in the presence of a fellow
creature; women are now out of the question, for then it is brutality.
Respect for man, as man, is the foundation of every noble sentiment.
How much more modest is the libertine who obeys the call of appetite
or fancy, than the lewd joker who sets the table in a roar!
  This is one of the many instances in which the sexual distinction
respecting modesty has proved fatal to virtue and happiness. It is,
however, carried still further, and woman, weak woman! made by her
education the slave of sensibility, is required, on the most trying
occasions, to resist that sensibility. 'Can any thing,' says Knox, 'be
more absurd than keeping women in a state of ignorance, and yet so
vehemently to insist on their resisting temptation?'- Thus when virtue
or honour make it proper to check a passion, the burden is thrown on
the weaker shoulders, contrary to reason and true modesty, which, at
least, should render the self-denial mutual, to say nothing of the
generosity of bravery, supposed to be a manly virtue.
  In the same strain runs Rousseau's and Dr. Gregory's advice
respecting modesty, strangely miscalled! for they both desire a wife
to leave it in doubt whether sensibility or weakness led her to her
husband's arms.- The woman is immodest who can let the shadow of
such a doubt remain in her husband's mind a moment.
  But to state the subject in a different light.- The want of modesty,
which I principally deplore as subversive of morality, arises from the
state of warfare so strenuously supported by voluptuous men as the
very essence of modesty, though, in fact, its bane; because it is a
refinement on lust, that men fall into who have not sufficient
virtue to relish the innocent pleasures of love. A man of delicacy
carries his notions of modesty still further, for neither weakness nor
sensibility will gratify him- he looks for affection.
  Again; men boast of their triumphs over women, what do they boast
of? Truly the creature of sensibility was surprised by her sensibility
into folly- into vice;* and the dreadful reckoning falls heavily on
her own weak head, when reason wakes. For where art thou to find
comfort, forlorn and disconsolate one? He who ought to have directed
thy reason, and supported thy weakness, has betrayed thee! In a
dream of passion thou consented to wander through flowery lawns, and
heedlessly stepping over the precipice to which thy guide, instead
of guarding, lured thee, thou startest from thy dream only to face a
sneering, frowning world, and to find thyself alone in a waste, for he
that triumphed in thy weakness is now pursuing new conquests; but
for thee- there is no redemption on this side the grave!- And what
resource hast thou in an enervated mind to raise a sinking heart?

  * The poor moth fluttering round a candle, burns its wings.

  But, if the sexes be really to live in a state of warfare, if nature
have pointed it out, let them act nobly, or let pride whisper to them,
that the victory is mean when they merely vanquish sensibility. The
real conquest is that over affection not taken by surprise- when, like
Heloisa, a woman gives up all the world, deliberately, for love. I
do not now consider the wisdom or virtue of such a sacrifice, I only
contend that it was a sacrifice to affection, and not merely to
sensibility, though she had her share.- And I must be allowed to
call her a modest woman, before I dismiss this part of the subject, by
saying, that till men are more chaste women will be immodest. Where,
indeed, could modest women find husbands from whom they would not
continually turn with disgust? Modesty must be equally cultivated by
both sexes, or it will ever remain a sickly hot-house plant, whilst
the affectation of it, the fig leaf borrowed by wantonness, may give a
zest to voluptuous enjoyments.
  Men will probably still insist that woman ought to have more modesty
than man; but it is not dispassionate reasoners who will most
earnestly oppose my opinion. No, they are the men of fancy, the
favourites of the sex, who outwardly respect and inwardly despise
the weak creatures whom they thus sport with. They cannot submit to
resign the highest sensual gratification, nor even to relish the
epicurism of virtue- self-denial.
  To take another view of the subject, confining my remarks to women.
  The ridiculous falsities* which are told to children, from
mistaken notions of modesty, tend very early to inflame their
imaginations and set their little minds to work, respecting
subjects, which nature never intended they should think of till the
body arrived at some degree of maturity; then the passions naturally
begin to take place of the senses, as instruments to unfold the
understanding, and form the moral character.

  * Children very early see cats with their kittens, birds with
their young ones, &c. Why then, are they not to be told that their
mothers carry and nourish them in the same way? As there would then be
no appearance of mystery they would never think of the subject more.
Truth may always be told to children, if it be told gravely; but it is
the immodesty of affected modesty, that does all the mischief, and
this smoke heats the imagination by vainly endeavouring to obscure
certain objects. If, indeed, children could be kept entirely from
improper company, we should never allude to any such subjects; but
as this is impossible, it is best to tell the truth, especially as
such information, not interesting them, will make no impression on
their imagination.

  In nurseries, and boarding-schools, I fear, girls are first spoiled;
particularly in the latter. A number of girls sleep in the same
room, and wash together. And, though I should be sorry to
contaminate an innocent creature's mind by instilling false
delicacy, or those indecent prudish notions, which early cautions
respecting the other sex naturally engender, I should be very
anxious to prevent their acquiring nasty, or immodest habits; and as
many girls have learned very nasty tricks, from ignorant servants, the
mixing them thus indiscriminately together, is very improper.
  To say the truth women are, in general, too familiar with each
other, which leads to that gross degree of familiarity that so
frequently renders the marriage state unhappy. Why in the name of
decency are sisters, female intimates, or ladies and their
waiting-women, to be so grossly familiar as to forget the respect
which one human creature owes to another? That squeamish delicacy
which shrinks from the most disgusting offices when affection* or
humanity lead us to watch at a sick pillow, is despicable. But, why
women in health should be more familiar with each other than men
are, when they boast of their superiour delicacy, is a solecism in
manners which I could never solve.

  * Affection would rather make one choose to perform these offices,
to spare the delicacy of a friend, by still keeping a veil over
them, for the personal helplessness, produced by sickness, is of an
humbling nature.

  In order to preserve health and beauty, I should earnestly recommend
frequent ablutions, to dignify my advice that it may not offend the
fastidious ear; and, by example, girls ought to be taught to wash
and dress alone, without any distinction of rank; and if custom should
make them require some little assistance, let them not require it till
that part of the business is over which ought never to be done
before a fellow-creature; because it is an insult to the majesty of
human nature. Not on the score of modesty, but decency; for the care
which some modest women take, making at the same time a display of
that care, not to let their legs be seen, is as childish as immodest.*

  * I remember to have met with a sentence, in a book of education,
that made me smile: 'It would be needless to caution you against
putting your hand, by chance, under your neck-handkerchief, for a
modest woman never did so!'

  I could proceed still further, till I animadverted on some still
more nasty customs, which men never fall into. Secrets are told- where
silence ought to reign; and that regard to cleanliness, which some
religious sects have, perhaps, carried too far, especially the
Essenes, amongst the Jews, by making that an insult to God which is
only an insult to humanity, is violated in a beastly manner. How can
delicate women obtrude on notice that part of the animal oeconomy,
which is so very disgusting? And is it not very rational to
conclude, that the women who have not been taught to respect the human
nature of their own sex, in these particulars, will not long respect
the mere difference of sex in their husbands? After their maidenish
bashfulness is once lost, I, in fact, have generally observed, that
women fall into old habits; and treat their husbands as they did their
sisters or female acquaintance.
  Besides, women from necessity, because their minds are not
cultivated, have recourse very often to what I familiarly term
bodily wit; and their intimacies are of the same kind. In short,
with respect to both mind and body, there are too intimate. That
decent personal reserve which is the foundation of dignity of
character, must be kept up between woman and woman, or their minds
will never gain strength or modesty.
  On this account also, I object to many females being shut up
together in nurseries, schools, or convents. I cannot recollect
without indignation, the jokes and hoyden tricks, which knots of young
women indulge themselves in, when in my youth accident threw me, an
awkward rustic, in their way. They were almost on a par with the
double meanings, which shake the convivial table when the glass has
circulated freely. But, it is vain to attempt to keep the heart
pure, unless the head is furnished with ideas, and set to work to
compare them, in order to acquire judgment, by generalizing simple
ones; and modesty, by making the understanding damp the sensibility.
  It may be thought that I lay too great a stress on personal reserve;
but it is ever the handmaid of modesty. So that were I to name the
graces that ought to adorn beauty, I should instantly exclaim,
cleanliness, neatness, and personal reserve. It is obvious, I suppose,
that the reserve I mean, has nothing sexual in it, and that I think it
equally necessary in both sexes. So necessary, indeed, is that reserve
and cleanliness which indolent women too often neglect, that I will
venture to affirm that when two or three women live in the same house,
the one will be most respected by the male part of the family, who
reside with them, leaving love entirely out of the question, who
pays this kind of habitual respect to her person.
  When domestic friends meet in a morning, there will naturally
prevail an affectionate seriousness, especially, if each look
forward to the discharge of daily duties; and it may be reckoned
fanciful, but this sentiment has frequently risen spontaneously in
my mind, I have been pleased after breathing the sweet-bracing morning
air, to see the same kind of freshness in the countenances I
particularly loved; I was glad to see them braced, as it were, for the
day, and ready to run their course with the sun. The greetings of
affection in the morning are by these means more respectful than the
familiar tenderness which frequently prolongs the evening talk. Nay, I
have often felt hurt, not to say disgusted, when a friend has
appeared, whom I parted with full dressed the evening before, with her
clothes huddled on, because she chose to indulge herself in bed till
the last moment.
  Domestic affection can only be kept alive by these neglected
attentions; yet if men and women took half as much pains to dress
habitually neat, as they do to ornament, or rather to disfigure, their
persons, much would be done towards the attainment of purity of
mind. But women only dress to gratify men of gallantry; for the
lover is always best pleased with the simple garb that fits close to
the shape. There is an impertinence in ornaments that rebuffs
affection; because love always clings round the idea of home.
  As a sex, women are habitually indolent; and every thing tends to
make them so. I do not forget the spurts of activity which sensibility
produces; but as these flights of feelings only increase the evil,
they are not to be confounded with the slow, orderly walk of reason.
So great in reality is their mental and bodily indolence, that till
their body be strengthened and their understanding enlarged by
active exertions, there is little reason to expect that modesty will
take place of bashfulness. They may find it prudent to assume its
semblance; but the fair veil will only be worn on gala days.
  Perhaps, there is not a virtue that mixes so kindly with every other
as modesty.- It is the pale moon-beam that renders more interesting
every virtue it softens, giving mild grandeur to the contracted
horizon. Nothing can be more beautiful than the poetical fiction,
which makes Diana with her silver crescent, the goddess of chastity. I
have sometimes thought, that wandering with sedate step in some lonely
recess, a modest dame of antiquity must have felt a glow of
conscious dignity when, after contemplating the soft shadowy
landscape, she has invited with placid fervour the mild reflection
of her sister's beams to turn to her chaste bosom.
  A Christian has still nobler motives to incite her to preserve her
chastity and acquire modesty, for her body has been called the
Temple of the living God; of that God who requires more than modesty
of mien. His eye searcheth the heart; and let her remember, that if
she hope to find favour in the sight of purity itself, her chastity
must be founded on modesty, and not on worldly prudence; or verily a
good reputation will be her only reward; for that awful intercourse,
that sacred communication, which virtue establishes between man and
his Maker, must give rise to the wish of being pure as he is pure!
  After the foregoing remarks, it is almost superfluous to add, that I
consider all those feminine airs of maturity, which succeed
bashfulness, to which truth is sacrificed, to secure the heart of a
husband, or rather to force him to be still a lover when nature would,
had she not been interrupted in her operations, have made love give
place to friendship, as immodest. The tenderness which a man will feel
for the mother of his children is an excellent substitute for the
ardour of unsatisfied passion; but to prolong that ardour it is
indelicate, not to say immodest, for women to feign an unnatural
coldness of constitution. Women as well as men ought to have the
common appetites and passions of their nature, they are only brutal
when unchecked by reason: but the obligation to check them is the duty
of mankind, not a sexual duty. Nature, in these respects, may safely
be left to herself; let women only acquire knowledge and humanity, and
love will teach them modesty.* There is no need of falsehoods,
disgusting as futile, for studied rules of behaviour only impose on
shallow observers; a man of sense soon sees through, and despises
the affectation.

  * The behaviour of many newly married women has often disgusted
me. The seem anxious never to let their husbands forget the
privilege of marriage; and to find no pleasure in his society unless
he is acting the lover. Short, indeed, must be the reign of love, when
the flame is thus constantly blown up, without its receiving any solid
fewel!

  The behaviour of young people, to each other, as men and women, is
the last thing that should be thought of in education. In fact,
behaviour in most circumstances is now so much thought of, that
simplicity of character is rarely to be seen: yet, if men were only
anxious to cultivate each virtue, and let it take root firmly in the
mind, the grace resulting from it, its natural exteriour mark, would
soon strip affectation of its flaunting plumes; because, fallacious as
unstable, is the conduct that is not founded upon truth!
  Would ye, O my sisters, really possess modesty, ye must remember
that the possession of virtue, of any denomination, is incompatible
with ignorance and vanity! ye must acquire that soberness of mind,
which the exercise of duties, and the pursuit of knowledge, alone
inspire, or ye will still remain in a doubtful dependent situation,
and only be loved whilst ye are fair! The downcast eye, the rosy
blush, the retiring grace, are all proper in their season; but
modesty, being the child of reason, cannot long exist with the
sensibility that is not tempered by reflection. Besides, when love,
even innocent love, is the whole employ of your lives, your hearts
will be too soft to afford modesty that tranquil retreat, where she
delights to dwell, in close union with humanity.
                       Chap. VIII.
   Morality Undermined by Sexual Notions of the Importance of
                    a Good Reputation.

  It has long since occurred to me that advice respecting behaviour,
and all the various modes of preserving a good reputation, which
have been so strenuously inculcated on the female world, were specious
poisons, that incrusting morality eat away the substance. And, that
this measuring of shadows produced a false calculation, because
their length depends so much on the height of the sun, and other
adventitious circumstances.
  Whence arises the easy fallacious behaviour of a courtier? From
his situation, undoubtedly: for standing in need of dependents, he
is obliged to learn the art of denying without giving offence, and, of
evasively feeding hope with the chameleon's food: thus does politeness
sport with truth, and eating away the sincerity and humanity natural
to man, produce the fine gentleman.
  Women likewise acquire, from a supposed necessity, an equally
artificial mode of behaviour. Yet truth is not with impunity to be
sported with, for the practised dissembler, at last, becomes the
dupe of his own arts, loses that sagacity, which has been justly
termed common sense; namely, a quick perception of common truths:
which are constantly received as such by the unsophisticated mind,
though it might not have had sufficient energy to discover them
itself, when obscured by local prejudices. The greater number of
people take their opinions on trust to avoid the trouble of exercising
their own minds, and these indolent beings naturally adhere to the
letter, rather than the spirit of a law, divine or human. 'Women,'
says some author, I cannot recollect who, 'mind not what only heaven
sees.' Why, indeed, should they? it is the eye of man that they have
been taught to dread- and if they can lull their Argus to sleep,
they seldom think of heaven or themselves, because their reputation is
safe; and it is reputation, not chastity and all its fair train,
that they are employed to keep free from spot, not as a virtue, but to
preserve their station in the world.
  To prove the truth of this remark, I need only advert to the
intrigues of married women, particularly in high life, and in
countries where women are suitably married, according to their
respective ranks, by their parents. If an innocent girl become a
prey to love, she is degraded for ever, though her mind was not
polluted by the arts which married women, under the convenient cloak
of marriage, practise; nor has she violated any duty- but the duty
of respecting herself. The married woman, on the contrary, breaks a
most sacred engagement, and becomes a cruel mother when she is a false
and faithless wife. If her husband have still an affection for her,
the arts which she must practise to deceive him, will render her the
most contemptible of human beings; and, at any rate, the
contrivances necessary to preserve appearances, will keep her mind
in that childish, or vicious, tumult, which destroys all its energy.
Besides, in time, like those people who habitually take cordials to
raise their spirits, she will want an intrigue to give life to her
thoughts, having lost all relish for pleasures that are not highly
seasoned by hope or fear.
  Sometimes married women act still more audaciously; I will mention
an instance.
  A woman of quality, notorious for her gallantries, though as she
still lived with her husband, nobody chose to place her in the class
where she ought to have been placed, made a point of treating with the
most insulting contempt a poor timid creature, abashed by a sense of
her former weakness, whom a neighbouring gentleman had seduced and
afterwards married. This woman had actually confounded virtue with
reputation; and, I do believe, valued herself on the propriety of
her behaviour before marriage, though when once settled to the
satisfaction of her family, she and her lord were equally
faithless,- so that the half alive heir to an immense estate came from
heaven knows where!
  To view this subject in another light.
  I have known a number of women who, if they did not love their
husbands, loved nobody else, give themselves entirely up to vanity and
dissipation, neglecting every domestic duty; nay, even squandering
away all the money which should have been saved for their helpless
younger children, yet have plumed themselves on their unsullied
reputation, as if the whole compass of their duty as wives and mothers
was only to preserve it. Whilst other indolent women, neglecting every
personal duty, have thought that they deserved their husbands'
affection, because, forsooth, they acted in this respect with
propriety.
  Weak minds are always fond of resting in the ceremonials of duty,
but morality offers much simpler motives; and it were to be wished
that superficial moralists had said less respecting behaviour, and
outward observances, for unless virtue, of any kind, be built on
knowledge, it will only produce a kind of insipid decency. Respect for
the opinion of the world, has, however, been termed the principal duty
of woman in the most express words, for Rousseau declares, 'that
reputation is no less indispensable than chastity.' 'A man,' adds
he, 'secure in his own good conduct, depends only on himself, and
may brave the public opinion: but a woman, in behaving well,
performs but half her duty; as what is thought of her, is as important
to her as what she really is. It follows hence, that the system of a
woman's education should, in this respect, be directly contrary to
that of ours. Opinion is the grave of virtue among the men; but its
throne among women.' It is strictly logical to infer that the virtue
that rests on opinion is merely worldly, and that it is the virtue
of a being to whom reason has been denied. But, even with respect to
the opinion of the world, I am convinced that this class of
reasoners are mistaken.
  This regard for reputation, independent of its being one of the
natural rewards of virtue, however, took its rise from a cause that
I have already deplored as the grand source of female depravity, the
impossibility of regaining respectability by a return to virtue,
though men preserve theirs during the indulgence of vice. It was
natural for women then to endeavour to preserve what once lost- was
lost for ever, till this care swallowing up every other care,
reputation for chastity, became the one thing needful to the sex.
But vain is the scrupulosity of ignorance, for neither religion nor
virtue, when they reside in the heart, require such a puerile
attention to mere ceremonies, because the behaviour must, upon the
whole, be proper, when the motive is pure.
  To support my opinion I can produce very respectable authority;
and the authority of a cool reasoner ought to have weight to enforce
consideration, though not to establish a sentiment. Speaking of the
general laws of morality, Dr. Smith observes,- 'That by some very
extraordinary and unlucky circumstance, a good man may come to be
suspected of a crime of which he was altogether incapable, and upon
that account be most unjustly exposed for the remaining part of his
life to the horror and aversion of mankind. By an accident of this
kind he may be said to lose his all, notwithstanding his integrity and
justice, in the same manner as a cautious man, notwithstanding his
utmost circumspection, may be ruined by an earthquake or an
inundation. Accidents of the first kind, however, are perhaps still
more rare, and still more contrary to the common course of things than
those of the second; and it still remains true, that the practice of
truth, justice, and humanity, is a certain and almost infallible
method of acquiring what those virtues chiefly aim at, the
confidence and love of those we live with. A person may be easily
misrepresented with regard to a particular action; but it is scarce
possible that he should be so with regard to the general tenor of
his conduct. An innocent man may be believed to have done wrong: this,
however, will rarely happen. On the contrary, the established
opinion of the innocence of his manners will often lead us to
absolve him where he has really been in the fault, notwithstanding
very strong presumptions.'
  I perfectly coincide in opinion with this writer, for I verily
believe that few of either sex were ever despised for certain vices
without deserving to be despised. I speak not of the calumny of the
moment, which hovers over a character, like one of the dense morning
fogs of November, over this metropolis, till it gradually subsides
before the common light of day, I only contend that the daily
conduct of the majority prevails to stamp their character with the
impression of truth. Quietly does the clear light, shining day after
day, refute the ignorant surmise, or malicious tale, which has
thrown dirt on a pure character. A false light distorted, for a
short time, its shadow- reputation; but it seldom fails to become just
when the cloud is dispersed that produced the mistake in vision.
  Many people, undoubtedly, in several respects obtain a better
reputation than, strictly speaking, they deserve; for unremitting
industry will mostly reach its goal in all races. They who only strive
for this paltry prize, like the Pharisees, who prayed at the corners
of streets, to be seen of men, verily obtain the reward they seek; for
the heart of man cannot be read by man! Still the fair fame that is
naturally reflected by good actions, when the man is only employed
to direct his steps aright, regardless of the lookers-on, is, in
general, not only more true, but more sure.
  There are, it is true, trials when the good man must appeal to God
from the injustice of man; and amidst the whining candour or
hissings of envy, erect a pavilion in his own mind to retire to till
the rumour be overpast; nay, the darts of undeserved censure may
pierce an innocent tender bosom through with many sorrows; but these
are all exceptions to general rules. And it is according to common
laws that human behaviour ought to be regulated. The eccentric orbit
of the comet never influences astronomical calculations respecting the
invariable order established in the motion of the principal bodies
of the solar system.
  I will then venture to affirm, that after a man is arrived at
maturity, the general outline of his character in the world is just,
allowing for the before-mentioned exceptions to the rule. I do not say
that a prudent, worldly-wise man, with only negative virtues and
qualities, may not sometimes obtain a smoother reputation than a wiser
or a better man. So far from it, that I am apt to conclude from
experience, that where the virtue of two people is nearly equal, the
most negative character will be liked best by the world at large,
whilst the other may have more friends in private life. But the
hills and dales, clouds and sunshine, conspicuous in the virtues of
great men, set off each other; and though they afford envious weakness
a fairer mark to shoot at, the real character will still work its
way to light, though bespattered by weak affection, or ingenious
malice.*

  * I allude to various biographical writings, but particularly to
Boswell's Life of Johnson.

  With respect to that anxiety to preserve a reputation hardly earned,
which leads sagacious people to analyze it, I shall not make the
obvious comment; but I am afraid that morality is very insidiously
undermined, in the female world, by the attention being turned to
the shew instead of the substance. A simple thing is thus made
strangely complicated; nay, sometimes virtue and its shadow are set at
variance. We should never, perhaps, have heard of Lucretia, had she
died to preserve her chastity instead of her reputation. If we
really deserve our own good opinion we shall commonly be respected
in the world; but if we pant after higher improvement and higher
attainments, it is not sufficient to view ourselves as we suppose that
we are viewed by others, though this has been ingeniously argued, as
the foundation of our moral sentiments.* Because each by-stander may
have his own prejudices, beside the prejudices of his age or
country. We should rather endeavour to view ourselves as we suppose
that Being views us who seeth each thought ripen into action, and
whose judgment never swerves from the eternal rule of right. Righteous
are all his judgments- just as merciful!

  * Smith.

  The humble mind that seeketh to find favour in His sight, and calmly
examines its conduct when only His presence is felt, will seldom
form a very erroneous opinion of its own virtues. During the still
hour of self-collection the angry brow of offended justice will be
fearfully deprecated, or the tie which draws man to the Deity will
be recognized in the pure sentiment of reverential adoration, that
swells the heart without exciting any tumultuous emotions. In these
solemn moments man discovers the germ of those vices, which like the
Java tree shed a pestiferous vapour around- death is in the shade! and
he perceives them without abhorrence, because he feels himself drawn
by some cord of love to all his fellow-creatures, for whose follies he
is anxious to find every extenuation in their nature- in himself. If
I, he may thus argue, who exercise my own mind, and have been
refined by tribulation, find the serpent's egg in some fold of my
heart, and crush it with difficulty, shall not I pity those who have
stamped with less vigour, or who have heedlessly nurtured the
insidious reptile till it poisoned the vital stream it sucked? Can
I, conscious of my secret sins, throw off my fellow-creatures, and
calmly see them drop into the chasm of perdition, that yawns to
receive them.- No! no! The agonized heart will cry with suffocating
impatience- I too am a man! and have vices, hid, perhaps, from human
eye, that bend me to the dust before God, and loudly tell me, when all
is mute, that we are formed of the same earth, and breathe the same
element. Humanity thus rises naturally out of humility, and twists the
cords of love that in various convolutions entangle the heart.
  This sympathy extends still further, till a man well pleased
observes force in arguments that do not carry conviction to his own
bosom, and he gladly places in the fairest light, to himself, the
shews of reason that have led others astray, rejoiced to find some
reason in all the errors of man; though before convinced that he who
rules the day makes his sun to shine on all. Yet, shaking hands thus
as it were with corruption, one foot on earth, the other with bold
stride mounts to heaven, and claims kindred with superiour natures.
Virtues, unobserved by man, drop their balmy fragrance at this cool
hour, and the thirsty land, refreshed by the pure streams of comfort
that suddenly gush out, is crowned with smiling verdure; this is the
living green on which that eye may look with complacency that is too
pure to behold iniquity!
  But my spirits flag; and I must silently indulge the reverie these
reflections lead to, unable to describe the sentiments, that have
calmed my soul, when watching the rising sun, a soft shower
drizzling through the leaves of neighbouring trees, seemed to fall
on my languid, yet tranquil spirits, to cool the heart that had been
heated by the passions which reason laboured to tame.
  The leading principles which run through all my disquisitions, would
render it unnecessary to enlarge on this subject, if a constant
attention to keep the varnish of the character fresh, and in good
condition, were not often inculcated as the sum total of female
duty; if rules to regulate the behaviour, and to preserve the
reputation, did not too frequently supersede moral obligations. But,
with respect to reputation, the attention is confined to a single
virtue- chastity. If the honour of a woman, as it is absurdly
called, be safe, she may neglect every social duty; nay, ruin her
family by gaming and extravagance; yet still present a shameless
front- for truly she is an honourable woman!
  Mrs. Macaulay has justly observed, that 'there is but one fault
which a woman of honour may not commit with impunity.' She then justly
and humanely adds- 'This has given rise to the trite and foolish
observation, that the first fault against chastity in woman has a
radical power to deprave the character. But no such frail beings
come out of the hands of nature. The human mind is built of nobler
materials than to be easily corrupted; and with all their
disadvantages of situation and education, women seldom become entirely
abandoned till they are thrown into a state of desperation, by the
venomous rancour of their own sex.'
  But, in proportion as this regard for the reputation of chastity
is prized by women, it is despised by men: and the two extremes are
equally destructive to morality.
  Men are certainly more under the influence of their appetites than
women; and their appetites are more depraved by unbridled indulgence
and the fastidious contrivances of satiety. Luxury has introduced a
refinement in eating, that destroys the constitution; and, a degree of
gluttony which is so beastly, that a perception of seemliness of
behaviour must be worn out before one being could eat immoderately
in the presence of another, and afterwards complain of the
oppression that his intemperance naturally produced. Some women,
particularly French women, have also lost a sense of decency in this
respect; for they will talk very calmly of an indigestion. It were
to be wished that idleness was not allowed to generate, on the rank
soil of wealth, those swarms of summer insects that feed on
putrefaction, we should not then be disgusted by the sight of such
brutal excesses.
  There is one rule relative to behaviour that, I think, ought to
regulate every other; and it is simply to cherish such an habitual
respect for mankind as may prevent us from disgusting a
fellow-creature for the sake of a present indulgence. The shameful
indolence of many married women, and others a little advanced in life,
frequently leads them to sin against delicacy. For, though convinced
that the person is the band of union between the sexes, yet, how often
do they from sheer indolence, or, to enjoy some trifling indulgence,
disgust?
  The depravity of the appetite which brings the sexes together, has
had a still more fatal effect. Nature must ever be the standard of
taste, the gauge of appetite- yet how grossly is nature insulted by
the voluptuary. Leaving the refinements of love out of the question;
nature, by making the gratification of an appetite, in this respect,
as well as every other, a natural and imperious law to preserve the
species, exalts the appetite, and mixes a little mind and affection
with a sensual gust. The feelings of a parent mingling with an
instinct merely animal, give it dignity; and the man and woman often
meeting on account of the child, a mutual interest and affection is
excited by the exercise of a common sympathy. Women then having
necessarily some duty to fulfil, more noble than to adorn their
persons, would not contentedly be the slaves of casual lust; which
is now the situation of a very considerable number who are,
literally speaking, standing dishes to which every glutton may have
access.
  I may be told that great as this enormity is, it only affects a
devoted part of the sex- devoted for the salvation of the rest. But,
false as every assertion might easily be proved, that recommends the
sanctioning a small evil to produce a greater good; the mischief
does not stop here, for the moral character, and peace of mind, of the
chaster part of the sex, is undermined by the conduct of the very
women to whom they allow no refuge from guilt: whom they inexorably
consign to the exercise of arts that lure their husbands from them,
debauch their sons, and force them, let not modest women start, to
assume, in some degree, the same character themselves. For I will
venture to assert, that all the causes of female weakness, as well
as depravity, which I have already enlarged on, branch out of one
grand cause- want of chastity in men.
  This intemperance, so prevalent, depraves the appetite to such a
degree, that a wanton stimulus is necessary to rouse it; but the
parental design of nature is forgotten, and the mere person, and
that for a moment, alone engrosses the thoughts. So voluptuous,
indeed, often grows the lustful prowler, that he refines on female
softness. Something more soft than woman is then sought for; till,
in Italy, and Portugal, men attend the levees of equivocal beings,
to sigh for more than female languor.
  To satisfy this genus of men, women are made systematically
voluptuous, and though they may not all carry their libertinism to the
same height, yet this heartless intercourse with the sex, which they
allow themselves, depraves both sexes, because the taste of men is
vitiated; and women, of all classes, naturally square their
behaviour to gratify the taste by which they obtain pleasure and
power. Women becoming, consequently, weaker, in mind and body, than
they ought to be, were one of the grand ends of their being taken into
the account, that of bearing and nursing children, have not sufficient
strength to discharge the first duty of a mother; and sacrificing to
lasciviousness the parental affection, that ennobles instinct,
either destroy the embryo in the womb, or cast it off when born.
Nature in every thing demands respect, and those who violate her
laws seldom violate them with impunity. The weak enervated women who
particularly catch the attention of libertines, are unfit to be
mothers, though they may conceive; so that the rich sensualist, who
has rioted among women, spreading depravity and misery, when he wishes
to perpetuate his name, receives from his wife only an half-formed
being that inherits both its father's and mother's weakness.
  Contrasting the humanity of the present age with the barbarism of
antiquity, great stress has been laid on the savage custom of exposing
the children whom their parents could not maintain; whilst the man
of sensibility, who thus, perhaps, complains, by his promiscuous
amours produces a most destructive barrenness and contagious
flagitiousness of manners. Surely nature never intended that women, by
satisfying an appetite, should frustrate the very purpose for which it
was implanted?
  I have before observed, that men ought to maintain the women whom
they have seduced; this would be one means of reforming female
manners, and stopping an abuse that has an equally fatal effect on
population and morals. Another, no less obvious, would be to turn
the attention of woman to the real virtue of chastity; for to little
respect has that woman a claim, on the score of modesty, though her
reputation may be white as the driven snow, who smiles on the
libertine whilst she spurns the victims of his lawless appetites and
their own folly.
  Besides, she has a taint of the same folly, pure as she esteems
herself, when she studiously adorns her person only to be seen by men,
to excite respectful sighs, and all the idle homage of what is
called innocent gallantry. Did women really respect virtue for its own
sake, they would not seek for a compensation in vanity, for the
self-denial which they are obliged to practise to preserve their
reputation, nor would they associate with men who set reputation at
defiance.
  The two sexes mutually corrupt and improve each other. This I
believe to be an indisputable truth, extending it to every virtue.
Chastity, modesty, public spirit, and all the noble train of
virtues, on which social virtue and happiness are built, should be
understood and cultivated by all mankind, or they will be cultivated
to little effect. And, instead of furnishing the vicious or idle
with a pretext for violating some sacred duty, by terming it a
sexual one, it would be wiser to shew that nature has not made any
difference, for that the unchaste man doubly defeats the purpose of
nature, by rendering women barren, and destroying his own
constitution, though he avoids the shame that pursues the crime in the
other sex. These are the physical consequences, the moral are still
more alarming; for virtue is only a nominal distinction when the
duties of citizens, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and directors
of families, become merely the selfish ties of convenience.
  Why then do philosophers look for public spirit? Public spirit
must be nurtured by private virtue, or it will resemble the factitious
sentiment which makes women careful to preserve their reputation,
and men their honour. A sentiment that often exists unsupported by
virtue, unsupported by that sublime morality which makes the
habitual breach of one duty a breach of the whole moral law.
                        Chap. IX.
     Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural
             Distinctions Established in Society.

  From the respect paid to property flow, as from a poisoned fountain,
most of the evils and vices which render this world such a dreary
scene to the contemplative mind. For it is in the most polished
society that noisome reptiles and venomous serpents lurk under the
rank herbage; and there is voluptuousness pampered by the still sultry
air, which relaxes every good disposition before it ripens into
virtue.
  One class presses on another; for all are aiming to procure
respect on account of their property: and property, once gained,
will procure the respect due only to talents and virtue. Men neglect
the duties incumbent on man, yet are treated like demi-gods;
religion is also separated from morality by a ceremonial veil, yet men
wonder that the world is almost, literally speaking, a den of sharpers
or oppressors.
  There is a homely proverb, which speaks a shrewd truth, that whoever
the devil finds idle he will employ. And what but habitual idleness
can hereditary wealth and titles produce? For man is so constituted
that he can only attain a proper use of his faculties by exercising
them, and will not exercise them unless necessity, of some kind, first
set the wheels in motion. Virtue likewise can only be acquired by
the discharge of relative duties; but the importance of these sacred
duties will scarcely be felt by the being who is cajoled out of his
humanity by the flattery of sycophants. There must be more equality
established in society, or morality will never gain ground, and this
virtuous equality will not rest firmly even when founded on a rock, if
one half of mankind be chained to its bottom by fate, for they will be
continually undermining it through ignorance or pride.
  It is vain to expect virtue from women till they are, in some
degree, independent of men; nay, it is vain to expect that strength of
natural affection, which would make them good wives and mothers.
Whilst they are absolutely dependent on their husbands they will be
cunning, mean, and selfish, and the men who can be gratified by the
fawning fondness of spaniel-like affection, have not much delicacy,
for love is not to be bought, in any sense of the words, its silken
wings are instantly shrivelled up when any thing beside a return in
kind is sought. Yet whilst wealth enervates men; and women live, as it
were, by their personal charms, how can we expect them to discharge
those ennobling duties which equally require exertion and self-denial.
Hereditary property sophisticates the mind, and the unfortunate
victims to it, if I may so express myself, swathed from their birth,
seldom exert the locomotive faculty of body or mind; and, thus viewing
every thing through one medium, and that a false one, they are
unable to discern in what true merit and happiness consist. False,
indeed, must be the light when the drapery of situation hides the man,
and makes him stalk in masquerade, dragging from one scene of
dissipation to another the nerveless limbs that hang with stupid
listlessness, and rolling round the vacant eye which plainly tells
us that there is no mind at home.
  I mean, therefore, to infer that the society is not properly
organized which does not compel men and women to discharge their
respective duties, by making it the only way to acquire that
countenance from their fellow-creatures, which every human being
wishes some way to attain. The respect, consequently, which is paid to
wealth and mere personal charms, is a true north-east blast, that
blights the tender blossoms of affection and virtue. Nature has wisely
attached affections to duties, to sweeten toil, and to give that
vigour to the exertions of reason which only the heart can give.
But, the affection which is put on merely because it is the
appropriated insignia of a certain character, when its duties are
not fulfilled, is one of the empty compliments which vice and folly
are obliged to pay to virtue and the real nature of things.
  To illustrate my opinion, I need only observe, that when a woman
is admired for her beauty, and suffers herself to be so far
intoxicated by the admiration she receives, as to neglect to discharge
the indispensable duty of a mother, she sins against herself by
neglecting to cultivate an affection that would equally tend to make
her useful and happy. True happiness, I mean all the contentment,
and virtuous satisfaction, that can be snatched in this imperfect
state, must arise from well regulated affections; and an affection
includes a duty. Men are not aware of the misery they cause, and the
vicious weakness they cherish, by only inciting women to render
themselves pleasing; they do not consider that they thus make
natural and artificial duties clash, by sacrificing the comfort and
respectability of a woman's life to voluptuous notions of beauty, when
in nature they all harmonize.
  Cold would be the heart of a husband, were he not rendered unnatural
by early debauchery, who did not feel more delight at seeing his child
suckled by its mother, than the most artful wanton tricks could ever
raise; yet this natural way of cementing the matrimonial tie, and
twisting esteem with fonder recollections, wealth leads women to
spurn. To preserve their beauty, and wear the flowery crown of the
day, which gives them a kind of right to reign for a short time over
the sex, they neglect to stamp impressions on their husbands'
hearts, that would be remembered with more tenderness when the snow on
the head began to chill the bosom, than even their virgin charms.
The maternal solicitude of a reasonable affectionate woman is very
interesting, and the chastened dignity with which a mother returns the
caresses that she and her child receive from a father who has been
fulfilling the serious duties of his station, is not only a
respectable, but a beautiful sight. So singular, indeed, are my
feelings, and I have endeavoured not to catch factitious ones, that
after having been fatigued with the sight of insipid grandeur and
the slavish ceremonies that with cumberous pomp supplied the place
of domestic affections, I have turned to some other scene to relieve
my eye by resting it on the refreshing green every where scattered
by nature. I have then viewed with pleasure a woman nursing her
children, and discharging the duties of her station with, perhaps,
merely a servant maid to take off her hands the servile part of the
household business. I have seen her prepare herself and children, with
only the luxury of cleanliness, to receive her husband, who
returning weary home in the evening found smiling babes and a clean
hearth. My heart has loitered in the midst of the group, and has
even throbbed with sympathetic emotion, when the scraping of the
well known foot has raised a pleasing tumult.
  Whilst my benevolence has been gratified by contemplating this
artless picture, I have thought that a couple of this description,
equally necessary and independent of each other, because each
fulfilled the respective duties of their station, possessed all that
life could give.- Raised sufficiently above abject poverty not to be
obliged to weigh the consequence of every farthing they spend, and
having sufficient to prevent their attending to a frigid system of
oeconomy, which narrows both heart and mind. I declare, so vulgar
are my conceptions, that I know not what is wanted to render this
the happiest as well as the most respectable situation in the world,
but a taste for literature, to throw a little variety and interest
into social converse, and some superfluous money to give to the
needy and to buy books. For it is not pleasant when the heart is
opened by compassion and the head active in arranging plans of
usefulness, to have a prim urchin continually twitching back the elbow
to prevent the hand from drawing out an almost empty purse, whispering
at the same time some prudential maxim about the priority of justice.
  Destructive, however, as riches and inherited honours are to the
human character, women are more debased and cramped, if possible, by
them, than men, because men may still, in some degree, unfold their
faculties by becoming soldiers and statesmen.
  As soldiers, I grant, they can now only gather, for the most part,
vain glorious laurels, whilst they adjust to a hair the European
balance, taking especial care that no bleak northern nook or sound
incline the beam. But the days of true heroism are over, when a
citizen fought for his country like a Fabricius or a Washington, and
then returned to his farm to let his virtuous fervour run in a more
placid, but not a less salutary, stream. No, our British heroes are
oftener sent from the gaming table than from the plow; and their
passions have been rather inflamed by hanging with dumb suspense on
the turn of a die, than sublimated by panting after the adventurous
march of virtue in the historic page.
  The statesman, it is true, might with more propriety quit the Faro
Bank, or card-table, to guide the helm, for he has still but to
shuffle and trick. The whole system of British politics, if system
it may courteously be called, consisting in multiplying dependents and
contriving taxes which grind the poor to pamper the rich; thus a
war. or any wild goose chace, is, as the vulgar use the phrase, a
lucky turn-up of patronage for the minister, whose chief merit is
the art of keeping himself in place. It is not necessary then that
he should have bowels for the poor, so he can secure for his family
the odd trick. Or should some shew of respect, for what is termed with
ignorant ostentation an Englishman's birth-right, be expedient to
bubble the gruff mastiff that he has to lead by the nose, he can
make an empty shew, very safely, by giving his single voice, and
suffering his light squadron to file off to the other side. And when a
question of humanity is agitated he may dip a sop in the milk of human
kindness, to silence Cerberus, and talk of the interest which his
heart takes in an attempt to make the earth no longer cry for
vengeance as it sucks in its children's blood, though his cold hand
may at the very moment rivet their chains, by sanctioning the
abominable traffick. A minister is no longer a minister, than while he
can carry a point, which he is determined to carry.- Yet it is not
necessary that a minister should feel like a man, when a bold push
might shake his seat.
  But, to have done with these episodical observations, let me
return to the more specious slavery which chains the very soul of
woman, keeping her for ever under the bondage of ignorance.
  The preposterous distinctions of rank, which render civilization a
curse, by dividing the world between voluptuous tyrants, and cunning
envious dependents, corrupt, almost equally, every class of people,
because respectability is not attached to the discharge of the
relative duties of life, but to the station, and when the duties are
not fulfilled the affections cannot gain sufficient strength to
fortify the virtue of which they are the natural reward. Still there
are some loop-holes out of which a man may creep, and dare to think
and act for himself; but for a woman it is an herculean task,
because she has difficulties peculiar to her sex to overcome, which
require almost superhuman powers.
  A truly benevolent legislator always endeavours to make it the
interest of each individual to be virtuous; and thus private virtue
becoming the cement of public happiness, an orderly whole is
consolidated by the tendency of all the parts towards a common centre.
But, the private or public virtue of woman is very problematical;
for Rousseau, and a numerous list of male writers, insist that she
should all her life be subjected to a severe restraint, that of
propriety. Why subject her to propriety- blind propriety, if she be
capable of acting from a nobler spring, if she be an heir of
immortality? Is sugar always to be produced by vital blood? Is one
half of the human species, like the poor African slaves, to be subject
to prejudices that brutalize them, when principles would be a surer
guard, only to sweeten the cup of man? Is not this indirectly to
deny woman reason? for a gift is a mockery, if it be unfit for use.
  Women are, in common with men, rendered weak and luxurious by the
relaxing pleasures which wealth procures; but added to this they are
made slaves to their persons, and must render them alluring that man
may lend them his reason to guide their tottering steps aright. Or
should they be ambitious, they must govern their tyrants by sinister
tricks, for without rights there cannot be any incumbent duties. The
laws respecting woman, which I mean to discuss in a future part,
make an absurd unit of a man and his wife; and then, by the easy
transition of only considering him as responsible, she is reduced to a
mere cypher.
  The being who discharges the duties of its station is independent;
and, speaking of women at large, their first duty is to themselves
as rational creatures, and the next, in point of importance, as
citizens, is that, which includes so many, of a mother. The rank in
life which dispenses with their fulfilling this duty, necessarily
degrades them by making them mere dolls. Or, should they turn to
something more important than merely fitting drapery upon a smooth
block, their minds are only occupied by some soft platonic attachment;
or, the actual management of an intrigue may keep their thoughts in
motion; for when they neglect domestic duties, they have it not in
their power to take the field and march and counter-march like
soldiers, or wrangle in the senate to keep their faculties from
rusting.
  I know that, as a proof of the inferiority of the sex, Rousseau
has exultingly exclaimed, How can they leave the nursery for the
camp!- And the camp has by some moralists been termed the school of
the most heroic virtues; though, I think, it would puzzle a keen
casuist to prove the reasonableness of the greater number of wars that
have dubbed heroes. I do not mean to consider this question
critically; because, having frequently viewed these freaks of ambition
as the first natural mode of civilization, when the ground must be
torn up, and the woods cleared by fire and sword, I do not choose to
call them pests; but surely the present system of war has little
connection with virtue of any denomination, being rather the school of
finesse and effeminacy, than of fortitude.
  Yet, if defensive war, the only justifiable war, in the present
advanced state of society, where virtue can shew its face and ripen
amidst the rigours which purify the air on the mountain's top, were
alone to be adopted as just and glorious, the true heroism of
antiquity might again animate female bosoms.- But fair and softly,
gentle reader, male or female, do not alarm thyself, for though I have
compared the character of a modern soldier with that of a civilized
woman, I am not going to advise them to turn their distaff into a
musket, though I sincerely wish to see the bayonet converted into a
pruning-hook. I only recreated an imagination, fatigued by
contemplating the vices and follies which all proceed from a
feculent stream of wealth that has muddied the pure rills of natural
affection, by supposing that society will some time or other be so
constituted, that man must necessarily fulfil the duties of a citizen,
or be despised, and that while he was employed in any of the
departments of civil life, his wife, also an active citizen, should be
equally intent to manage her family, educate her children, and
assist her neighbours.
  But, to render her really virtuous and useful, she must not, if
she discharge her civil duties, want, individually, the protection
of civil laws; she must not be dependent on her husband's bounty for
her subsistence during his life, or support after his death- for how
can a being be generous who has nothing of its own? or, virtuous,
who is not free? The wife, in the present state of things, who is
faithful to her husband, and neither suckles nor educates her
children, scarcely deserves the name of a wife, and has no right to
that of a citizen. But take away natural rights, and duties become
null.
  Women then must be considered as only the wanton solace of men, when
they become so weak in mind and body, that they cannot exert
themselves, unless to pursue some frothy pleasure, or to invent some
frivolous fashion. What can be a more melancholy sight to a thinking
mind, than to look into the numerous carriages that drive
helter-skelter about this metropolis in a morning full of pale-faced
creatures who are flying from themselves. I have often wished, with
Dr. Johnson, to place some of them in a little shop with half a
dozen children looking up to their languid countenances for support. I
am much mistaken, if some latent vigour would not soon give health and
spirit to their eyes, and some lines drawn by the exercise of reason
on the blank cheeks, which before were only undulated by dimples,
might restore lost dignity to the character, or rather enable it to
attain the true dignity of its nature. Virtue is not to be acquired
even by speculation, much less by the negative supineness that
wealth naturally generates.
  Besides, when poverty is more disgraceful than even vice, is not
morality cut to the quick? Still to avoid misconstruction, though I
consider that women in the common walks of life are called to fulfil
the duties of wives and mothers, by religion and reason, I cannot help
lamenting that women of a superiour cast have not a road open by which
they can pursue more extensive plans of usefulness and independence. I
may excite laughter, by dropping an hint, which I mean to pursue, some
future time, for I really think that women ought to have
representatives, instead of being arbitrarily governed without
having any direct share allowed them in the deliberations of
government.
  But, as the whole system of representation is now, in this
country, only a convenient handle for despotism, they need not
complain, for they are as well represented as a numerous class of hard
working mechanics, who pay for the support of royalty when they can
scarcely stop their children's mouths with bread. How are they
represented whose very sweat supports the splendid stud of an heir
apparent, or varnishes the chariot of some female favourite who
looks down on shame? Taxes on the very necessaries of life, enable
an endless tribe of idle princes and princesses to pass with stupid
pomp before a gaping crowd, who almost worship the very parade which
costs them so dear. This is mere gothic grandeur, something like the
barbarous useless parade of having sentinels on horseback at
Whitehall, which I could never view without a mixture of contempt
and indignation.
  How strangely must the mind be sophisticated when this sort of state
impresses it! But, till these monuments of folly are levelled by
virtue, similar follies will leaven the whole mass. For the same
character, in some degree, will prevail in the aggregate of society:
and the refinements of luxury, or the vicious repinings of envious
poverty, will equally banish virtue from society, considered as the
characteristic of that society, or only allow it to appear as one of
the stripes of the harlequin coat, worn by the civilized man.
  In the superiour ranks of life, every duty is done by deputies, as
if duties could ever be waved, and the vain pleasures which consequent
idleness forces the rich to pursue, appear so enticing to the next
rank, that the numerous scramblers for wealth sacrifice every thing to
tread on their heels. The most sacred trusts are then considered as
sinecures, because they were procured by interest, and only sought
to enable a man to keep good company. Women, in particular, all want
to be ladies. Which is simply to have nothing to do, but listlessly to
go they scarcely care where, for they cannot tell what.
  But what have women to do in society? I may be asked, but to
loiter with easy grace; surely you would not condemn them all to
suckle fools and chronicle small beer! No. Women might certainly study
the art of healing, and be physicians as well as nurses. And
midwifery, decency seems to allot to them, though I am afraid the word
midwife, in our dictionaries, will soon give place to accoucheur,
and one proof of the former delicacy of the sex be effaced from the
language.
  They might, also, study politics, and settle their benevolence on
the broadest basis; for the reading of history will scarcely be more
useful than the perusal of romances, if read as mere biography; if the
character of the times, the political improvements, arts, &c. be not
observed. In short, if it be not considered as the history of man; and
not of particular men, who filled a niche in the temple of fame, and
dropped into the black rolling stream of time, that silently sweeps
all before it, into the shapeless void called- eternity.- For shape,
can it be called, 'that shape hath none?'
  Business of various kinds, they might likewise pursue, if they
were educated in a more orderly manner, which might save many from
common and legal prostitution. Women would not then marry for a
support, as men accept of places under government, and neglect the
implied duties; nor would an attempt to earn their own subsistence,
a most laudable one! sink them almost to the level of those poor
abandoned creatures who live by prostitution. For are not milliners
and mantua-makers reckoned the next class? The few employments open to
women, so far from being liberal, are menial; and when a superiour
education enables them to take charge of the education of children
as governesses, they are not treated like the tutors of sons, though
even clerical tutors are not always treated in a manner calculated
to render them respectable in the eyes of their pupils, to say nothing
of the private comfort of the individual. But as women educated like
gentlewomen, are never designed for the humiliating situation which
necessity sometimes forces them to fill; these situations are
considered in the light of a degradation; and they know little of
the human heart, who need to be told, that nothing so painfully
sharpens sensibility as such a fall in life.
  Some of these women might be restrained from marrying by a proper
spirit or delicacy, and others may not have had it in their power to
escape in this pitiful way from servitude; is not that government then
very defective, and very unmindful of the happiness of one half of its
members, that does not provide for honest, independent women, by
encouraging them to fill respectable stations? But in order to
render their private virtue a public benefit, they must have a civil
existence in the state, married or single; else we shall continually
see some worthy woman, whose sensibility has been rendered painfully
acute by undeserved contempt, droop like 'the lily broken down by a
plow-share.'
  It is a melancholy truth; yet such is the blessed effect of
civilization! the most respectable women are the most oppressed;
and, unless they have understandings far superiour to the common run
of understandings, taking in both sexes, they must, from being treated
like contemptible beings, become contemptible. How many women thus
waste life away the prey of discontent, who might have practised as
physicians, regulated a farm, managed a shop, and stood erect,
supported by their own industry, instead of hanging their heads
surcharged with the dew of sensibility, that consumes the beauty to
which it at first gave lustre; nay, I doubt whether pity and love
are so near akin as poets feign, for I have seldom seen much
compassion excited by the helplessness of females, unless they were
fair; then, perhaps, pity was the soft handmaid of love, or the
harbinger of lust.
  How much more respectable is the woman who earns her own bread by
fulfilling any duty, than the most accomplished beauty!- beauty did
I say?- so sensible am I of the beauty of moral loveliness, or the
harmonious propriety that attunes the passions of a well-regulated
mind, that I blush at making the comparison; yet I sigh to think how
few women aim at attaining this respectability by withdrawing from the
giddy whirl of pleasure, or the indolent calm that stupifies the
good sort of women it sucks in.
  Proud of their weakness, however, they must always be protected,
guarded from care, and all the rough toils that dignify the mind.-
If this be the fiat of fate, if they will make themselves
insignificant and contemptible, sweetly to waste 'life away,' let them
not expect to be valued when their beauty fades, for it is the fate of
the fairest flowers to be admired and pulled to pieces by the careless
hand that plucked them. In how many ways do I wish, from the purest
benevolence, to impress this truth on my sex; yet I fear that they
will not listen to a truth that dear bought experience has brought
home to many an agitated bosom, nor willingly resign the privileges of
rank and sex for the privileges of humanity, to which those have no
claim who do not discharge its duties.
  Those writers are particularly useful, in my opinion, who make man
feel for man, independent of the station he fills, or the drapery of
factitious sentiments. I then would fain convince reasonable men of
the importance of some of my remarks, and prevail on them to weigh
dispassionately the whole tenor of my observations.- I appeal to their
understandings; and, as a fellow-creature, claim, in the name of my
sex, some interest in their hearts. I entreat them to assist to
emancipate their companion, to make her a help meet for them!
  Would men but generously snap our chains, and be content with
rational fellowship instead of slavish obedience, they would find us
more observant daughters, more affectionate sisters, more faithful
wives, more reasonable mothers- in a word, better citizens. We
should then love them with true affection, because we should learn
to respect ourselves; and the peace of mind of a worthy man would
not be interrupted by the idle vanity of his wife, nor the babes
sent to nestle in a strange bosom, having never found a home in
their mother's.
                        Chap. X.
                    Parental Affection.

  Parental affection is, perhaps, the blindest modification of
perverse self-love; for we have not, like the French* two terms to
distinguish the pursuit of a natural and reasonable desire, from the
ignorant calculations of weakness. Parents often love their children
in the most brutal manner, and sacrifice every relative duty to
promote their advancement in the world.- To promote, such is the
perversity of unprincipled prejudices, the future welfare of the
very beings whose present existence they imbitter by the most despotic
stretch of power. Power, in fact, is ever true to its vital principle,
for in every shape it would reign without controul or inquiry. Its
throne is built across a dark abyss, which no eye must dare to
explore, lest the baseless fabric should totter under investigation.
Obedience, unconditional obedience, is the catch-word of tyrants of
every description, and to render 'assurance doubly sure,' one kind
of despotism supports another. Tyrants would have cause to tremble
if reason were to become the rule of duty in any of the relations of
life, for the light might spread till perfect day appeared. And when
it did appear, how would men smile at the sight of the bugbears at
which they started during the night of ignorance, or the twilight of
timid inquiry.

  * L'amour propre. L'amour de soi meme.

  Parental affection, indeed, in many minds, is but a pretext to
tyrannize where it can be done with impunity, for only good and wise
men are content with the respect that will bear discussion.
Convinced that they have a right to what they insist on, they do not
fear reason, or dread the sifting of subjects that recur to natural
justice: because they firmly believe that the more enlightened the
human mind becomes the deeper root will just and simple principles
take. They do not rest in expedients, or grant that what is
metaphysically true can be practically false; but disdaining the
shifts of the moment they calmly wait till time, sanctioning
innovation, silences the hiss of selfishness or envy.
  If the power of reflecting on the past, and darting the keen eye
of contemplation into futurity, be the grand privilege of man, it must
be granted that some people enjoy this prerogative in a very limited
degree. Every thing new appears to them wrong; and not able to
distinguish the possible from the monstrous, they fear where no fear
should find a place, running from the light of reason, as if it were a
firebrand; yet the limits of the possible have never been defined to
stop the sturdy innovator's hand.
  Woman, however, a slave in every situation to prejudice, seldom
exerts enlightened maternal affection; for she either neglects her
children, or spoils them by improper indulgence. Besides, the
affection of some women for their children is, as I have before termed
it, frequently very brutish: for it eradicates every spark of
humanity. Justice, truth, every thing is sacrificed by these
Rebekah's, and for the sake of their own children they violate the
most sacred duties, forgetting the common relationship that binds
the whole family on earth together. Yet, reason seems to say, that
they who suffer one duty, or affection, to swallow up the rest, have
not sufficient heart or mind to fulfil that one conscientiously. It
then loses the venerable aspect of a duty, and assumes the fantastic
form of a whim.
  As the care of children in their infancy is one of the grand
duties annexed to the female character by nature, this duty would
afford many forcible arguments for strengthening the female
understanding, if it were properly considered.
  The formation of the mind must be begun very early, and the
temper, in particular, requires the most judicious attention- an
attention which women cannot pay who only love their children
because they are their children, and seek no further for the
foundation of their duty, than in the feelings of the moment. It is
this want of reason in their affections which makes women so often run
into extremes, and either be the most fond or most careless and
unnatural mothers.
  To be a good mother- a woman must have sense, and that
independence of mind which few women possess who are taught to
depend entirely on their husbands. Meek wives are, in general, foolish
mothers; wanting their children to love them best, and take their
part, in secret, against the father, who is held up as a scarecrow.
When chastisement is necessary, though they have offended the
mother, the father must inflict the punishment; he must be the judge
in all disputes: but I shall more fully discuss this subject when I
treat of private education, I now only mean to insist, that unless the
understanding of woman be enlarged, and her character rendered more
firm, by being allowed to govern her own conduct, she will never
have sufficient sense or command of temper to manage her children
properly. Her parental affection, indeed, scarcely deserves the
name, when it does not lead her to suckle her children, because the
discharge of this duty is equally calculated to inspire maternal and
filial affection: and it is the indispensable duty of men and women to
fulfil the duties which give birth to affections that are the surest
preservatives against vice. Natural affection, as it is termed, I
believe to be a very faint tie, affections must grow out of the
habitual exercise of a mutual sympathy; and what sympathy does a
mother exercise who sends her babe to a nurse, and only takes it
from a nurse to send it to a school?
  In the exercise of their maternal feelings providence has
furnished women with a natural substitute for love, when the lover
becomes only a friend, and mutual confidence takes place of
overstrained admiration- a child then gently twists the relaxing cord,
and a mutual care produces a new mutual sympathy.- But a child, though
a pledge of affection, will not enliven it, if both father and
mother be content to transfer the charge to hirelings; for they who do
their duty by proxy should not murmur if they miss the reward of duty-
parental affection produces filial duty.
                        Chap. XI.
                     Duty to Parents.

  There seems to be an indolent propensity in man to make prescription
always take place of reason, and to place every duty on an arbitrary
foundation. The rights of kings are deduced in a direct line from
the King of kings; and that of parents from our first parent.
  Why do we thus go back for principles that should always rest on the
same base, and have the same weight to-day that they had a thousand
years ago- and not a jot more? If parents discharge their duty they
have a strong hold and sacred claim on the gratitude of their
children; but few parents are willing to receive the respectful
affection of their offspring on such terms. They demand blind
obedience, because they do not merit a reasonable service: and to
render these demands of weakness and ignorance more binding, a
mysterious sanctity is spread round the most arbitrary principle;
for what other name can be given to the blind duty of obeying
vicious or weak beings merely because they obeyed a powerful instinct?
  The simple definition of the reciprocal duty, which naturally
subsists between parent and child, may be given in a few words: The
parent who pays proper attention to helpless infancy has a right to
require the same attention when the feebleness of age comes upon
him. But to subjugate a rational being to the mere will of another,
after he is of age to answer to society for his own conduct, is a most
cruel and undue stretch of power; and, perhaps, as injurious to
morality as those religious systems which do not allow right and wrong
to have any existence, but in the Divine will.
  I never knew a parent who had paid more than common attention to his
children, disregarded; * on the contrary, the early habit of relying
almost implicitly on the opinion of a respected parent is not easily
shook, even when matured reason convinces the child that his father is
not the wisest man in the world. This weakness, for a weakness it
is, though the epithet amiable may be tacked to it, a reasonable man
must steel himself against; for the absurd duty, too often inculcated,
of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles
the mind, and prepares it for a slavish submission to any power but
reason.

  * Dr. Johnson makes the same observation.

  I distinguish between the natural and accidental duty due to
parents.
  The parent who sedulously endeavours to form the heart and enlarge
the understanding of his child, has given that dignity to the
discharge of a duty, common to the whole animal world, that only
reason can give. This is the parental affection of humanity, and
leaves instinctive natural affection far behind. Such a parent
acquires all the rights of the most sacred friendship, and his advice,
even when his child is advanced in life, demands serious
consideration.
  With respect to marriage, though after one and twenty a parent seems
to have no right to withhold his consent on any account; yet twenty
years of solicitude call for a return, and the son ought, at least, to
promise not to marry for two or three years, should the object of
his choice not entirely meet with the approbation of his first friend.
  But, respect for parents is, generally speaking, a much more
debasing principle; it is only a selfish respect for property. The
father who is blindly obeyed, is obeyed from sheer weakness, or from
motives that degrade the human character.
  A great proportion of the misery that wanders, in hideous forms,
around the world, is allowed to rise from the negligence of parents;
and still these are the people who are most tenacious of what they
term a natural right, though it be subversive of the birth-right of
man, the right of acting according to the direction of his own reason.
  I have already very frequently had occasion to observe, that vicious
or indolent people are always eager to profit by enforcing arbitrary
privileges; and, generally, in the same proportion as they neglect the
discharge of the duties which alone render the privileges
reasonable. This is at the bottom a dictate of common sense, or the
instinct of self-defence, peculiar to ignorant weakness; resembling
that instinct, which makes a fish muddy the water it swims in to elude
its enemy, instead of boldly facing it in the clear stream.
  From the clear stream of argument, indeed, the supporters of
prescription, of every denomination, fly; and, taking refuge in the
darkness, which, in the language of sublime poetry, has been
supposed to surround the throne of Omnipotence, they dare to demand
that implicit respect which is only due to His unsearchable ways. But,
let me not be thought presumptuous, the darkness which bides our God
from us, only respects speculative truths- it never obscures moral
ones, they shine clearly, for God is light, and never, by the
constitution of our nature, requires the discharge of a duty, the
reasonableness of which does not beam on us when we open our eyes.
  The indolent parent of high rank may, it is true, extort a shew of
respect from his child, and females on the continent are
particularly subject to the views of their families, who never think
of consulting their inclination, or providing for the comfort of the
poor victims of their pride. The consequence is notorious; these
dutiful daughters become adulteresses, and neglect the education of
their children, from whom they, in their turn, exact the same kind
of obedience.
  Females, it is true, in all countries, are too much under the
dominion of their parents; and few parents think of addressing their
children in the following manner, though it is in this reasonable
way that Heaven seems to command the whole human race. It is your
interest to obey me till you can judge for yourself; and the
Almighty Father of all has implanted an affection in me to serve as
a guard to you whilst your reason is unfolding; but when your mind
arrives at maturity, you must only obey me, or rather respect my
opinions, so far as they coincide with the light that is breaking in
on your own mind.
  A slavish bondage to parents cramps every faculty of the mind; and
Mr. Locke very judiciously observes, that 'if the mind be curbed and
humbled too much in children; if their spirits be abased and broken
much by too strict an hand over them; they lose all their vigour and
industry.' This strict hand may in some degree account for the
weakness of women; for girls, from various causes, are more kept
down by their parents, in every sense of the word, than boys. The duty
expected from them is, like all the duties arbitrarily imposed on
women, more from a sense of propriety, more out of respect for
decorum, than reason; and thus taught slavishly to submit to their
parents, they are prepared for the slavery of marriage. I may be
told that a number of women are not slaves in the marriage state.
True, but they then become tyrants; for it is not rational freedom,
but a lawless kind of power resembling the authority exercised by
the favourites of absolute monarchs, which they obtain by debasing
means. I do not, likewise, dream of insinuating that either boys or
girls are always slaves, I only insist that when they are obliged to
submit to authority blindly, their faculties are weakened, and their
tempers rendered imperious or abject. I also lament that parents,
indolently availing themselves of a supposed privilege, damp the first
faint glimmering of reason, rendering at the same time the duty, which
they are so anxious to enforce, an empty name; because they will not
let it rest on the only basis on which a duty can rest securely: for
unless it be founded on knowledge, it cannot gain sufficient
strength to resist the squalls of passion, or the silent sapping of
self-love. But it is not the parents who have given the surest proof
of their affection for their children, or, to speak more properly, who
by fulfilling their duty, have allowed a natural parental affection to
take root in their hearts, the child of exercised sympathy and reason,
and not the over-weening offspring of selfish pride, who most
vehemently insist on their children submitting to their will merely
because it is their will. On the contrary, the parent, who sets a good
example, patiently lets that example work; and it seldom fails to
produce its natural effect- filial reverence.
  Children cannot be taught too early to submit to reason, the true
definition of that necessity, which Rousseau insisted on, without
defining it; for to submit to reason is to submit to the nature of
things, and to that God, who formed them so, to promote our real
interest.
  Why should the minds of children be warped as they just begin to
expand, only to favour the indolence of parents, who insist on a
privilege without being willing to pay the price fixed by nature? I
have before had occasion to observe, that a right always includes a
duty, and I think it may, likewise, fairly be inferred, that they
forfeit the right, who do not fulfil the duty.
  It is easier, I grant, to command than reason; but it does not
follow from hence that children cannot comprehend the reason why
they are made to do certain things habitually: for, from a steady
adherence to a few simple principles of conduct flows that salutary
power which a judicious parent gradually gains over a child's mind.
And this power becomes strong indeed, if tempered by an even display
of affection brought home to the child's heart. For, I believe, as a
general rule, it must be allowed that the affection which we inspire
always resembles that we cultivate; so that natural affections,
which have been supposed almost distinct from reason, may be found
more nearly connected with judgment than is commonly allowed. Nay,
as another proof of the necessity of cultivating the female
understanding, it is but just to observe, that the affections seem
to have a kind of animal capriciousness when they merely reside in the
heart.
  It is the irregular exercise of parental authority that first
injures the mind, and to these irregularities girls are more subject
than boys. The will of those who never allow their will to be
disputed, unless they happen to be in a good humour, when they relax
proportionally, is almost always unreasonable. To elude this arbitrary
authority girls very early learn the lessons which they afterwards
practise on their husbands; for I have frequently seen a little
sharp-faced miss rule a whole family, excepting that now and then
mamma's angry will burst out of some accidental cloud;- either her
hair was ill dressed,* or she had lost more money at cards, the
night before, than she was willing to own to her husband; or some such
moral cause of anger.

  * I myself heard a little girl once say to a servant, 'My mama has
been scolding me finely this morning, because her hair was not dressed
to please her.' Though this remark was pert, it was just. And what
respect could a girl acquire for such a parent without doing
violence to reason?

  After observing sallies of this kind, I have been led into a
melancholy train of reflection respecting females, concluding that
when their first affection must lead them astray, or make their duties
clash till they rest on mere whims and customs, little can be expected
from them as they advance in life. How indeed can an instructor remedy
this evil? for to teach them virtue on any solid principle is to teach
them to despise their parents. Children cannot, ought not, to be
taught to make allowance for the faults of their parents, because
every such allowance weakens the force of their parents, because every
such allowance weakens the force of reason in their minds, and makes
them still more indulgent to their own. It is one of the most
sublime virtues of maturity that leads us to be severe with respect to
ourselves, and forbearing to others; but children should only be
taught the simple virtues, for if they begin too early to make
allowance for human passions and manners, they wear off the fine
edge of the criterion by which they should regulate their own, and
become unjust in the same proportion as they grow indulgent.
  The affections of children, and weak people, are always selfish;
they love their relatives, because they are beloved by them, and not
on account of their virtues. Yet, till esteem and love are blended
together in the first affection, and reason made the foundation of the
first duty, morality will stumble at the threshold. But, till
society is very differently constituted, parents, I fear, will still
insist on being obeyed, because they will be obeyed, and constantly
endeavour to settle that power on a Divine right which will not bear
the investigation of reason.
                       Chap. XII.
                  On National Education.

  The good effects resulting from attention to private education
will ever be very confined, and the parent who really puts his own
hand to the plow, will always, in some degree, be disappointed, till
education becomes a grand national concern. A man cannot retire into a
desert with his child, and if he did he could not bring himself back
to childhood, and become the proper friend and play-fellow of an
infant or youth. And when children are confined to the society of
men and women, they very soon acquire that kind of premature manhood
which stops the growth of every vigorous power of mind or body. In
order to open their faculties they should be excited to think for
themselves; and this can only be done by mixing a number of children
together, and making them jointly pursue the same objects.
  A child very soon contracts a benumbing indolence of mind, which
he has seldom sufficient vigour afterwards to shake off, when he
only asks a question instead of seeking for information, and then
relies implicitly on the answer he receives. With his equals in age
this could never be the case, and the subjects of inquiry, though they
might be influenced, would not be entirely under the direction of men,
who frequently damp, if not destroy, abilities, by bringing them
forward too hastily: and too hastily they will infallibly be brought
forward, if the child could be confined to the society of a man,
however sagacious that man may be.
  Besides, in youth the seeds of every affection should be sown, and
the respectful regard, which is felt for a parent, is very different
from the social affections that are to constitute the happiness of
life as it advances. Of these equality is the basis, and an
intercourse of sentiments unclogged by that observant seriousness
which prevents disputation, though it may not inforce submission.
Let a child have ever such an affection for his parent, he will always
languish to play and prattle with children; and the very respect he
feels, for filial esteem always has a dash of fear mixed with it,
will, if it do not teach him cunning, at least prevent him from
pouring out the little secrets which first open the heart to
friendship and confidence, gradually leading to more expansive
benevolence. Added to this, he will never acquire that frank
ingenuousness of behaviour, which young people can only attain by
being frequently in society where they dare to speak what they
think; neither afraid of being reproved for their presumption, nor
laughed at for their folly.
  Forcibly impressed by the reflections which the sight of schools, as
they are at present conducted, naturally suggested, I have formerly
delivered my opinion rather warmly in favour of a private education;
but further experience has led me to view the subject in a different
light. I still, however, think schools, as they are now regulated, the
hot-beds of vice and folly, and the knowledge of human nature,
supposed to be attained there, merely cunning selfishness.
  At school boys become gluttons and slovens, and, instead of
cultivating domestic affections, very early rush into the
libertinism which destroys the constitution before it is formed;
hardening the heart as it weakens the understanding.
  I should, in fact, be averse to boarding-schools, if it were for
no other reason than the unsettled state of mind which the expectation
of the vacations produce. On these the children's thoughts are fixed
with eager anticipating hopes, for, at least, to speak with
moderation, half of the time, and when they arrive they are spent in
total dissipation and beastly indulgence.
  But, on the contrary, when they are brought up at home, though
they may pursue a plan of study in a more orderly manner than can be
adopted when near a fourth part of the year is actually spent in
idleness, and as much more in regret and anticipation; yet they
there acquire too high an opinion of their own importance, from
being allowed to tyrannize over servants, and from the anxiety
expressed by most mothers, on the score of manners, who, eager to
teach the accomplishments of a gentleman, stifle, in their birth,
the virtues of a man. Thus brought into company when they ought to
be seriously employed, and treated like men when they are still
boys, they become vain and effeminate.
  The only way to avoid two extremes equally injurious to morality,
would be to contrive some way of combining a public and private
education. Thus to make men citizens two natural steps might be taken,
which seem directly to lead to the desired point; for the domestic
affections, that first open the heart to the various modifications
of humanity, would be cultivated, whilst the children were
nevertheless allowed to spend great part of their time, on terms of
equality, with other children.
  I still recollect, with pleasure, the country day school; where a
boy trudged in the morning, wet or dry, carrying his books, and his
dinner, if it were at a considerable distance; a servant did not
then lead master by the hand, for, when he had once put on coat and
breeches, he was allowed to shift for himself, and return alone in the
evening to recount the feats of the day close at the parental knee.
His father's house was his home, and was ever after fondly remembered;
nay, I appeal to many superiour men, who were educated in this manner,
whether the recollection of some shady lane where they conned their
lesson; or, of some stile, where they sat making a kite, or mending
a bat, has not endeared their country to them?
  But, what boy ever recollected with pleasure the years he spent in
close confinement, at an academy near London? unless, indeed, he
should, by chance, remember the poor scare-crow of an usher, whom he
tormented; or, the tartman, from whom he caught a cake, to devour it
with a cattish appetite of selfishness. At boarding-schools of every
description, the relaxation of the junior boys is mischief; and of the
senior, vice. Besides, in great schools, what can be more
prejudicial to the moral character than the system of tyranny and
abject slavery which is established amongst the boys, to say nothing
of the slavery to forms, which makes religion worse than a farce?
For what good can be expected from the youth who receives the
sacrament of the Lord's supper, to avoid forfeiting half a guinea,
which he probably afterwards spends in some sensual manner? Half the
employment of the youths is to elude the necessity of attending public
worship; and well they may, for such a constant repetition of the same
thing must be a very irksome restraint on their natural vivacity. As
these ceremonies have the most fatal effect on their morals, and as
a ritual performed by the lips, when the heart and mind are far
away, is not now stored up by our church as a bank to draw on for
the fees of the poor souls in purgatory, why should they not be
abolished?
  But the fear of innovation, in this country, extends to every
thing.- This is only a covert fear, the apprehensive timidity of
indolent slugs, who guard, by sliming it over, the snug place, which
they consider in the light of an hereditary estate; and eat, drink,
and enjoy themselves, instead of fulfilling the duties, excepting a
few empty forms, for which it was endowed. These are the people who
most strenuously insist on the will of the founder being observed,
crying out against all reformation, as if it were a violation of
justice. I am now alluding particularly to the relicks of popery
retained in our colleges, when the protestant members seem to be
such sticklers for the established church; but their zeal never
makes them lose sight of the spoil of ignorance, which rapacious
priests of superstitious memory have scraped together. No, wise in
their generation, they venerate the prescriptive right of
possession, as a strong hold, and still let the sluggish bell tinkle
to prayers, as during the days when the elevation of the host was
supposed to atone for the sins of the people, lest one reformation
should lead to another, and the spirit kill the letter. These Romish
customs have the most baneful effect on the morals of our clergy;
for the idle vermin who two or three times a day perform in the most
slovenly manner a service which they think useless, but call their
duty, soon lose a sense of duty. At college, forced to attend or evade
public worship, they acquire an habitual contempt for the very
service, the performance of which is to enable them to live in
idleness. It is mumbled over as an affair of business, as a stupid boy
repeats his task, and frequently the college cant escapes from the
preacher the moment after he has left the pulpit, and even whilst he
is eating the dinner which he earned in such a dishonest manner.
  Nothing, indeed, can be more irreverent than the cathedral service
as it is now performed in this country, neither does it contain a
set of weaker men than those who are the slaves of this childish
routine. A disgusting skeleton of the former state is still exhibited;
but all the solemnity that interested the imagination, if it did not
purify the heart, is stripped off. The performance of high mass on the
continent must impress every mind, where a spark of fancy glows,
with that awful melancholy, that sublime tenderness, so near akin to
devotion. I do not say that these devotional feelings are of more use,
in a moral sense, than any other emotion of taste; but I contend
that the theatrical pomp which gratifies our senses, is to be
preferred to the cold parade that insults the understanding without
reaching the heart.
  Amongst remarks on national education, such observations cannot be
misplaced, especially as the supporters of these establishments,
degenerated into puerilities, affect to be the champions of religion.-
Religion, pure source of comfort in this vale of tears! how has thy
clear stream been muddied by the dabblers, who have presumptuously
endeavoured to confine in one narrow channel, the living waters that
ever flow towards God- the sublime ocean of existence! What would life
be without that peace which the love of God, when built on humanity,
alone can impart? Every earthly affection turns back, at intervals, to
prey upon the heart that feeds it; and the purest effusions of
benevolence, often rudely damped by man, must mount as a free-will
offering to Him who gave them birth, whose bright image they faintly
reflect.
  In public schools, however, religion, confounded with irksome
ceremonies and unreasonable restraints, assumes the most ungracious
aspect: not the sober austere one that commands respect whilst it
inspires fear; but a ludicrous cast, that serves to point a pun.
For, in fact, most of the good stories and smart things which
enliven the spirits that have been concentrated at whist, are
manufactured out of the incidents to which the very men labour to give
a droll turn who countenance the abuse to live on the spoil.
  There is not, perhaps, in the kingdom, a more dogmatical, or
luxurious set of men, than the pedantic tyrants who reside in colleges
and preside at public schools. The vacations are equally injurious
to the morals of the masters and pupils, and the intercourse, which
the former keep up with the nobility, introduces the same vanity and
extravagance into their families, which banish domestic duties and
comforts from the lordly mansion, whose state is awkwardly aped. The
boys, who live at a great expence with the masters and assistants, are
never domesticated, though placed there for that purpose; for, after a
silent dinner, they swallow a hasty glass of wine, and retire to
plan some mischievous trick, or to ridicule the person or manners of
the very people they have just been cringing to, and whom they ought
to consider as the representatives of their parents.
  Can it then be a matter of surprise that boys become selfish and
vicious who are thus shut out from social converse? or that a mitre
often graces the brow of one of these diligent pastors?
  The desire of living in the same style, as the rank just above them,
infects each individual and every class of people, and meanness is the
concomitant of this ignoble ambition; but those professions are most
debasing whose ladder is patronage; yet, out of one of these
professions the tutors of youth are, in general, chosen. But, can they
be expected to inspire independent sentiments, whose conduct must be
regulated by the cautious prudence that is ever on the watch for
preferment?
  So far, however, from thinking of the morals of boys, I have heard
several masters of schools argue, that they only undertook to teach
Latin and Greek; and that they had fulfilled their duty, by sending
some good scholars to college.
  A few good scholars, I grant, may have been formed by emulation
and discipline; but, to bring forward these clever boys, the health
and morals of a number have been sacrificed. The sons of our gentry
and wealthy commoners are mostly educated at these seminaries, and
will any one pretend to assert that the majority, making every
allowance, come under the description of tolerable scholars?
  It is not for the benefit of society that a few brilliant men should
be brought forward at the expence of the multitude. It is true, that
great men seem to start up, as great revolutions occur, at proper
intervals, to restore order, and to blow aside the clouds that thicken
over the face of truth; but let more reason and virtue prevail in
society, and these strong winds would not be necessary. Public
education, of every denomination, should be directed to form citizens;
but if you wish to make good citizens, you must first exercise the
affections of a son and a brother. This is the only way to expand
the heart; for public affections, as well as public virtues, must ever
grow out of the private character, or they are merely meteors that
shoot athwart a dark sky, and disappear as they are gazed at and
admired.
  Few, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who did not
first love their parents, their brothers, sisters, and even the
domestic brutes, whom they first played with. The exercise of youthful
sympathies forms the moral temperature; and it is the recollection
of these first affections and pursuits that gives life to those that
are afterwards more under the direction of reason. In youth, the
fondest friendships are formed, the genial juices mounting at the same
time, kindly mix; or, rather the heart, tempered for the reception
of friendship, is accustomed to seek for pleasure in something more
noble than the churlish gratification of appetite.
  In order then to inspire a love of home and domestic pleasures,
children ought to be educated at home, for riotous holidays only
make them fond of home for their own sakes. Yet, the vacations,
which do not foster domestic affections, continually disturb the
course of study, and render any plan of improvement abortive which
includes temperance; still, were they abolished, children would be
entirely separated from their parents, and I question whether they
would become better citizens by sacrificing the preparatory
affections, by destroying the force of relationships that render the
marriage state as necessary as respectable. But, if a private
education produce self-importance, or insulate a man in his family,
the evil is only shifted, not remedied.
  This train of reasoning brings me back to a subject, on which I mean
to dwell, the necessity of establishing proper day-schools.
  But, these should be national establishments, for whilst
schoolmasters are dependent on the caprice of parents, little exertion
can be expected from them, more than is necessary to please ignorant
people. Indeed, the necessity of a master's giving the parents some
sample of the boys abilities, which during the vacation is shewn to
every visitor,* is productive of more mischief than would at first
be supposed. For it is seldom done entirely to speak with
moderation, by the child itself; thus the master countenances
falsehood, or winds the poor machine up to some extraordinary
exertion, that injures the wheels, and stops the progress of gradual
improvement. The memory is loaded with unintelligible words, to make a
shew of, without the understanding's acquiring any distinct ideas; but
only that education deserves emphatically to be termed cultivation
of mind, which teaches young people how to begin to think. The
imagination should not be allowed to debauch the understanding
before it gained strength, or vanity will become the forerunner of
vice: for every way of exhibiting the acquirements of a child is
injurious to its moral character.

  * I now particularly allude to the numerous academies in and about
London, and to the behaviour of the trading part of this great city.

  How much time is lost in teaching them to recite what they do not
understand? whilst, seated on benches, all in their best array, the
mammas listen with astonishment to the parrot-like prattle, uttered in
solemn cadences, with all the pomp of ignorance and folly. Such
exhibitions only serve to strike the spreading fibres of vanity
through the whole mind; for they neither teach children to speak
fluently, nor behave gracefully. So far from it, that these
frivolous pursuits might comprehensively be termed the study of
affectation; for we now rarely see a simple, bashful boy, though few
people of taste were ever disgusted by that awkward sheepishness so
natural to the age, which schools and an early introduction into
society, have changed into impudence and apish grimace.
  Yet, how can these things be remedied whilst school-masters depend
entirely on parents for a subsistence; and, when so many rival schools
hang out their lures, to catch the attention of vain fathers and
mothers, whose parental affection only leads them to wish that their
children should outshine those of their neighbours?
  Without great good luck, a sensible, conscientious man, would starve
before he could raise a school, if he disdained to bubble weak parents
by practising the secret tricks of the craft.
  In the best regulated schools, however, where swarms are not crammed
together, many bad habits must be acquired; but, at common schools,
the body, heart, and understanding, are equally stunted, for parents
are often only in quest of the cheapest school, and the master could
not live, if he did not take a much greater number than he could
manage himself; nor will the scanty pittance, allowed for each
child, permit him to hire ushers sufficient to assist in the discharge
of the mechanical part of the business. Besides, whatever appearance
the house and garden may make, the children do not enjoy the comfort
of either, for they are continually reminded by irksome restrictions
that they are not at home, and the state-rooms, garden, &c. must be
kept in order for the recreation of the parents; who, of a Sunday,
visit the school, and are impressed by the very parade that renders
the situation of their children uncomfortable.
  With what disgust have I heard sensible women, for girls are more
restrained and cowed than boys, speak of the wearisome confinement,
which they endured at school. Not allowed, perhaps, to step out of one
broad walk in a superb garden, and obliged to pace with steady
deportment stupidly backwards and forwards, holding up their heads and
turning out their toes, with shoulders braced back, instead of
bounding, as nature directs to complete her own design, in the various
attitudes so conducive to health.* The pure animal spirits, which make
both mind and body shoot out, and unfold the tender blossoms of
hope, are turned sour, and vented in vain wishes or pert repinings,
that contract the faculties and spoil the temper; else they mount to
the brain, and sharpening the understanding before it gains
proportionable strength, produce that pitiful cunning which
disgracefully characterizes the female mind- and I fear will ever
characterize it whilst women remain the slaves of power!

  * I remember a circumstance that once came under my own observation,
and raised my indignation. I went to visit a little boy at a school
where young children were prepared for a larger one. The master took
me into the school-room, &c. but whilst I walked down a broad gravel
walk, I could not help observing that the grass grew very
luxuriantly on each side of me. I immediately asked the child some
questions, and found that the poor boys were not allowed to stir off
the walk, and that the master sometimes permitted sheep to be turned
in to crop the untrodden grass. The tyrant of this domain used to
sit by a window that overlooked the prison yard, and one nook
turning from it, where the unfortunate babes could sport freely, he
enclosed, and planted it with potatoes. The wife likewise was
equally anxious to keep the children in order, lest they should
dirty or tear their clothes.

  The little respect paid to chastity in the male world is, I am
persuaded, the grand source of many of the physical and moral evils
that torment mankind, as well as of the vices and follies that degrade
and destroy women; yet at school, boys infallibly lose that decent
bashfulness, which might have ripened into modesty, at home.
  And what nasty indecent tricks do they not also learn from each
other, when a number of them pig together in the same bedchamber,
not to speak of the vices, which render the body weak, whilst they
effectually prevent the acquisition of any delicacy of mind. The
little attention paid to the cultivation of modesty, amongst men,
produces great depravity in all the relationships of society; for,
to purify the heart, and first call forth all the youthful powers,
to prepare the man to discharge the benevolent duties of life, is
sacrificed to premature lust; but, all the social affections are
deadened by the selfish gratifications, which very early pollute the
mind, and dry up the generous juices of the heart. In what an
unnatural manner is innocence often violated; and what serious
consequences ensue to render private vices a public pest. Besides,
an habit of personal order, which has more effect on the moral
character, than is, in general, supposed, can only be acquired at
home, where that respectable reserve is kept up which checks the
familiarity, that sinking into beastliness, undermines the affection
it insults.
  I have already animadverted on the bad habits which females
acquire when they are shut up together; and, I think, that the
observation may fairly be extended to the other sex, till the
natural inference is drawn which I have had in view throughout- that
to improve both sexes they ought, not only in private families, but in
public schools, to be educated together. If marriage be the cement
of society, mankind should all be educated after the same model, or
the intercourse of the sexes will never deserve the name of
fellowship, nor will women ever fulfil the peculiar duties of their
sex, till they become enlightened citizens, till they become free by
being enabled to earn their own subsistence, independent of men; in
the same manner, I mean, to prevent misconstruction, as one man is
independent of another. Nay, marriage will never be held sacred till
women, by being brought up with men, are prepared to be their
companions rather than their mistresses; for the mean doublings of
cunning will ever render them contemptible, whilst oppression
renders them timid. So convinced am I of this truth, that I will
venture to predict that virtue will never prevail in society till
the virtues of both sexes are founded on reason; and, till the
affections common to both are allowed to gain their due strength by
the discharge of mutual duties.
  Were boys and girls permitted to pursue the same studies together,
those graceful decencies might early be inculcated which produce
modesty without those sexual distinctions that taint the mind. Lessons
of politeness, and that formulary of decorum, which treads on the
heels of falsehood, would be rendered useless by habitual propriety of
behaviour. Not, indeed, put on for visitors like the courtly robe of
politeness, but the sober effect of cleanliness of mind. Would not
this simple elegance of sincerity be a chaste homage paid to
domestic affections, far surpassing the meretricious compliments
that shine with false lustre in the heartless intercourse of
fashionable life? But, till more understanding preponderates in
society there will ever be a want of heart and taste, and the harlot's
rouge will supply the place of that celestial suffusion which only
virtuous affections can give to the face. Gallantry, and what is
called love, may subsist without simplicity of character; but the main
pillars of friendship, are respect and confidence- esteem is never
founded on it cannot tell what!
  A taste for the fine arts requires great cultivation; but not more
than a taste for the virtuous affections; and both suppose that
enlargement of mind which opens so many sources of mental pleasure.
Why do people hurry to noisy scenes, and crowded circles? I should
answer, because they want activity of mind, because they have not
cherished the virtues of the heart. They only, therefore, see and feel
in the gross, and continually pine after variety, finding every
thing that is simple insipid.
  This argument may be carried further than philosophers are aware of,
for if nature destined woman, in particular, for the discharge of
domestic duties, she made her susceptible of the attached affections
in a great degree. Now women are notoriously fond of pleasure; and,
naturally must be so according to my definition, because they cannot
enter into the minutiae of domestic taste; lacking judgment, the
foundation of all taste. For the understanding, in spite of sensual
cavillers, reserves to itself the privilege of conveying pure joy to
the heart.
  With what a languid yawn have I seen an admirable poem thrown
down, that a man of true taste returns to, again and again with
rapture; and, whilst melody has almost suspended respiration, a lady
has asked me where I bought my gown. I have seen also an eye glanced
coldly over a most exquisite picture, rest, sparkling with pleasure,
on a caricature rudely sketched; and whilst some terrific feature in
nature has spread a sublime stillness through my soul, I have been
desired to observe the pretty tricks of a lap-dog, that my perverse
fate forced me to travel with. Is it surprising that such a
tasteless being should rather caress this dog than her children? Or,
that she should prefer the rant of flattery to the simple accents of
sincerity?
  To illustrate this remark, I must be allowed to observe, that men of
the first genius, and most cultivated minds, have appeared to have the
highest relish for the simple beauties of nature; and they must have
forcibly felt, what they have so well described, the charm which
natural affections, and unsophisticated feelings spread round the
human character. It is this power of looking into the heart, and
responsively vibrating with each emotion, that enables the poet to
personify each passion, and the painter to sketch with a pencil of
fire.
  True taste is ever the work of the understanding employed in
observing natural effects; and till women have more understanding,
it is vain to expect them to possess domestic taste. Their lively
senses will ever be at work to harden their hearts, and the emotions
struck out of them will continue to be vivid and transitory, unless
a proper education store their mind with knowledge.
  It is the want of domestic taste, and not the acquirement of
knowledge, that takes women out of their families, and tears the
smiling babe from the breast that ought to afford it nourishment.
Women have been allowed to remain in ignorance, and slavish
dependence, many, very many years, and still we hear of nothing but
their fondness of pleasure and sway, their preference of rakes and
soldiers, their childish attachment to toys, and the vanity that makes
them value accomplishments more than virtues.
  History brings forward a fearful catalogue of the crimes which their
cunning has produced, when the weak slaves have had sufficient address
to over-reach their masters. In France, and in how many other
countries, have men been the luxurious despots, and women the crafty
ministers?- Does this prove that ignorance and dependence
domesticate them? Is not their folly the by-word of the libertines,
who relax in their society; and do not men of sense continually lament
that an immoderate fondness for dress and dissipation carries the
mother of a family for ever from home? Their hearts have not been
debauched by knowledge, or their minds led astray by scientific
pursuits; yet, they do not fulfil the peculiar duties which as women
they are called upon by nature to fulfil. On the contrary, the state
of warfare which subsists between the sexes, makes them employ those
wiles, that often frustrate the more open designs of force.
  When, therefore, I call women slaves, I mean in a political and
civil sense; for, indirectly they obtain too much power, and are
debased by their exertions to obtain illicit sway.
  Let an enlightened nation* then try what effect reason would have to
bring them back to nature, and their duty; and allowing them to
share the advantages of education and government with man, see whether
they will become better, as they grow wiser and become free. They
cannot be injured by the experiment; for it is not in the power of man
to render them more insignificant than they are at present.

  * France.

  To render this practicable, day schools, for particular ages, should
be established by government, in which boys and girls might be
educated together. The school for the younger children, from five to
nine years of age, ought to be absolutely free and open to all
classes.* A sufficient number of masters should also be chosen by a
select committee, in each parish, to whom any complaint of negligence,
&c. might be made, if signed by six of the children's parents.

  * Treating this part of the subject, I have borrowed some hints from
a very sensible pamphlet, written by the late bishop of Autun on
Public Education.

  Ushers would then be unnecessary; for I believe experience will ever
prove that this kind of subordinate authority is particularly
injurious to the morals of youth. What, indeed, can tend to deprave
the character more than outward submission and inward contempt? Yet
how can boys be expected to treat an usher with respect, when the
master seems to consider him in the light of a servant, and almost
to countenance the ridicule which becomes the chief amusement of the
boys during the play hours?
  But nothing of this kind could occur in an elementary day-school,
where boys and girls, the rich and poor, should meet together. And
to prevent any of the distinctions of vanity, they should be dressed
alike, and all obliged to submit to the same discipline, or leave
the school. The school-room ought to be surrounded by a large piece of
ground, in which the children might be usefully exercised, for at this
age they should not be confined to any sedentary employment for more
than an hour at a time. But these relaxations might all be rendered
a part of elementary education, for many things improve and amuse
the senses, when introduced as a kind of show, to the principles of
which, dryly laid down, children would turn a deaf ear. For
instance, botany, mechanics, and astronomy. Reading, writing,
arithmetic, natural history, and some simple experiments in natural
philosophy, might fill up the day; but these pursuits should never
encroach on gymnastic plays in the open air. The elements of religion,
history, the history of man, and politics, might also be taught by
conversations, in the socratic form.
  After the age of nine, girls and boys, intended for domestic
employments, or mechanical trades, ought to be removed to other
schools, and receive instruction, in some measure appropriated to
the destination of each individual, the two sexes being still together
in the morning; but in the afternoon, the girls should attend a
school, where plain-work, mantua-making, millinery, &c. would be their
employment.
  The young people of superior abilities, or fortune, might now be
taught, in another school, the dead and living languages, the elements
of science, and continue the study of history and politics, on a
more extensive scale, which would not exclude polite literature.
  Girls and boys still together? I hear some readers ask: yes. And I
should not fear any other consequence than that some early
attachment might take place; which, whilst it had the best effect on
the moral character of the young people, might not perfectly agree
with the views of the parents, for it will be a long time, I fear,
before the world will be so far enlightened that parents, only anxious
to render their children virtuous, shall allow them to choose
companions for life themselves.
  Besides, this would be a sure way to promote early marriages, and
from early marriages the most salutary physical and moral effects
naturally flow. What a different character does a married citizen
assume from the selfish coxcomb, who lives, but for himself, and who
is often afraid to marry lest he should not be able to live in a
certain style. Great emergencies excepted, which would rarely occur in
a society of which equality was the basis, a man can only be
prepared to discharge the duties of public life, by the habitual
practice of those inferiour ones which form the man.
  In this plan of education the constitution of boys would not be
ruined by the early debaucheries, which now make men so selfish, or
girls rendered weak and vain, by indolence, and frivolous pursuits.
But, I presuppose, that such a degree of equality should be
established between the sexes as would shut out gallantry and
coquetry, yet allow friendship and love to temper the heart for the
discharge of higher duties.
  These would be schools of morality- and the happiness of man,
allowed to flow from the pure springs of duty and affection, what
advances might not the human mind make? Society can only be happy
and free in proportion as it is virtuous; but the present
distinctions, established in society, corrode all private, and blast
all public virtue.
  I have already inveighed against the custom of confining girls to
their needle, and shutting them out from all political and civil
employments; for by thus narrowing their minds they are rendered unfit
to fulfil the peculiar duties which nature has assigned them.
  Only employed about the little incidents of the day, they
necessarily grow up cunning. My very soul has often sickened at
observing the sly tricks practised by women to gain some foolish thing
on which their silly hearts were set. Not allowed to dispose of money,
or call any thing their own, they learn to turn the market penny;
or, should a husband offend, by staying from home, or give rise to
some emotions of jealousy- a new gown, or any pretty bawble, smooths
Juno's angry brow.
  But these littlenesses would not degrade their character, if women
were led to respect themselves, if political and moral subjects were
opened to them; and, I will venture to affirm, that this is the only
way to make them properly attentive to their domestic duties.- An
active mind embraces the whole circle of its duties, and finds time
enough for all. It is not, I assert, a bold attempt to emulate
masculine virtues; it is not the enchantment of literary pursuits,
or the steady investigation of scientific subjects, that leads women
astray from duty. No, it is indolence and vanity- the love of pleasure
and the love of sway, that will reign paramount in an empty mind. I
say empty emphatically, because the education which women now
receive scarcely deserves the name. For the little knowledge that they
are led to acquire, during the important years of youth, is merely
relative to accomplishments; and accomplishments without a bottom, for
unless the understanding be cultivated, superficial and monotonous
is every grace. Like the charms of a made up face, they only strike
the senses in a crowd; but at home, wanting mind, they want variety.
The consequence is obvious; in gay scenes of dissipation we meet the
artificial mind and face, for those who fly from solitude dread,
next to solitude, the domestic circle; not having it in their power to
amuse or interest, they feel their own insignificance, or find nothing
to amuse or interest themselves.
  Besides, what can be more indelicate than a girl's coming out in the
fashionable world? Which, in other words, is to bring to market a
marriageable miss, whose person is taken from one public place to
another, richly caparisoned. Yet, mixing in the giddy. circle under
restraint, these butterflies long to flutter at large, for the first
affection of their souls is their own persons, to which their
attention has been called with the most sedulous care whilst they were
preparing for the period that decides their fate for life. Instead
of pursuing this idle routine, sighing for tasteless shew, and
heartless state, with what dignity would the youths of both sexes form
attachments in the schools that I have cursorily pointed out; in
which, as life advanced, dancing, music, and drawing, might be
admitted as relaxations, for at these schools young people of
fortune ought to remain, more or less, till they were of age. Those,
who were designed for particular professions, might attend, three or
four mornings in the week, the schools appropriated for their
immediate instruction.
  I only drop these observations at present, as hints; rather, indeed,
as an outline of the plan I mean, than a digested one; but I must add,
that I highly approve of one regulation mentioned in the pamphlet*
already alluded to, that of making the children and youths independent
of the masters respecting punishments. They should be tried by their
peers, which would be an admirable method of fixing sound principles
of justice in the mind, and might have the happiest effect on the
temper, which is very early soured or irritated by tyranny, till it
becomes peevishly cunning, or ferociously overbearing.

  * The Bishop of Autun's.

  My imagination darts forward with benevolent fervour to greet
these amiable and respectable groups, in spite of the sneering of cold
hearts, who are at liberty to utter, with frigid self-importance,
the damning epithet- romantic; the force of which I shall endeavour to
blunt by repeating the words of an eloquent moralist.- 'I know not
whether the allusions of a truly humane heart, whose zeal renders
every thing easy, be not preferable to that rough and repulsing
reason, which always finds in indifference for the public good, the
first obstacle to whatever would promote it.'
  I know that libertines will also exclaim, that woman would be
unsexed by acquiring strength of body and mind, and that beauty,
soft bewitching beauty! would no longer adorn the daughters of men.
I am of a very different opinion, for I think that, on the contrary,
we should then see dignified beauty, and true grace; to produce which,
many powerful physical and moral causes would concur.- Not relaxed
beauty, it is true, or the graces of helplessness; but such as appears
to make us respect the human body as a majestic pile fit to receive
a noble inhabitant, in the relics of antiquity.
  I do not forget the popular opinion that the Grecian statues were
not modelled after nature. I mean, not according to the proportions of
a particular man; but that beautiful limbs and features were
selected from various bodies to form an harmonious whole. This
might, in some degree, be true. The fine ideal picture of an exalted
imagination might be superiour to the materials which the statuary
found in nature, and thus it might with propriety be termed rather the
model of mankind than of a man. It was not, however, the mechanical
selection of limbs and features; but the ebullition of an heated fancy
that burst forth, and the fine senses and enlarged understanding of
the artist selected the solid matter, which he drew into this
glowing focus.
  I observed that it was not mechanical, because a whole was produced-
a model of that grand simplicity, of those concurring energies,
which arrest our attention and command our reverence. For only insipid
lifeless beauty is produced by a servile copy of even beautiful
nature. Yet, independent of these observations, I believe that the
human form must have been far more beautiful than it is at present,
because extreme indolence, barbarous ligatures, and many causes, which
forcibly act on it, in our luxurious state of society, did not
retard its expansion, or render it deformed. Exercise and
cleanliness appear to be not only the surest means of preserving
health, but of promoting beauty, the physical causes only
considered; yet, this is not sufficient, moral ones must concur, or
beauty will be merely of that rustic kind which blooms on the
innocent, wholesome, countenances of some country people, whose
minds have not been exercised. To render the person perfect,
physical and moral beauty ought to be attained at the same time;
each lending and receiving force by the combination. Judgment must
reside on the brow, affection and fancy beam in the eye, and
humanity curve the cheek, or vain is the sparkling of the finest eye
or the elegantly turned finish of the fairest features: whilst in
every motion that displays the active limbs and well-knit joints,
grace and modesty should appear. But this fair assemblage is not to be
brought together by chance; it is the reward of exertions calculated
to support each other; for judgment can only be acquired by
reflection, affection by the discharge of duties, and humanity by
the exercise of compassion to every living creature.
  Humanity to animals should be particularly inculcated as a part of
national education, for it is not at present one of our national
virtues. Tenderness for their humble dumb domestics, amongst the lower
class, is oftener to be found in a savage than a civilized state.
For civilization prevents that intercourse which creates affection
in the rude hut, or mud hovel, and leads uncultivated minds who are
only depraved by the refinements which prevail in the society, where
they are trodden under foot by the rich, to domineer over them to
revenge the insults that they are obliged to bear from their
superiours.
  This habitual cruelty is first caught at school, where it is one
of the rare sports of the boys to torment the miserable brutes that
fall in their way. The transition, as they grow up, from barbarity
to brutes to domestic tyranny over wives, children, and servants, is
very easy. Justice, or even benevolence, will not be a powerful spring
of action unless it extend to the whole creation; nay, I believe
that it may be delivered as an axiom, that those who can see pain,
unmoved, will soon learn to inflict it.
  The vulgar are swayed by present feelings, and the habits which they
have accidentally acquired; but on partial feelings much dependence
cannot be placed, though they be just; for, when they are not
invigorated by reflection, custom weakens them, till they are scarcely
perceptible. The sympathies of our nature are strengthened by
pondering cogitations, and deadened by thoughtless use. Macbeth's
heart smote him more for one murder, the first, than for a hundred
subsequent ones, which were necessary to back it. But, when I used the
epithet vulgar, I did not mean to confine my remark to the poor, for
partial humanity, founded on present sensations, or whim, is quite
as conspicuous, if not more so, amongst the rich.
  The lady who sheds tears for the bird starved in a snare, and
execrates the devils in the shape of men, who goad to madness the poor
ox, or whip the patient ass, tottering under a burden above its
strength, will, nevertheless, keep her coachman and horses whole hours
waiting for her, when the sharp frost bites, or the rain beats against
the well-closed windows which do not admit a breath of air to tell her
how roughly the wind blows without. And she who takes her dogs to bed,
and nurses them with a parade of sensibility, when sick, will suffer
her babes to grow up crooked in a nursery. This illustration of my
argument is drawn from a matter of fact. The woman whom I allude to
was handsome, reckoned very handsome, by those who do not miss the
mind when the face is plump and fair; but her understanding had not
been led from female duties by literature, nor her innocence debauched
by knowledge. No, she was quite feminine, according to the masculine
acceptation of the word; and, so far from loving these spoiled
brutes that filled the place which her children ought to have
occupied, she only lisped out a pretty mixture of French and English
nonsense, to please the men who flocked round her. The wife, mother,
and human creature, were all swallowed up by the factitious
character which an improper education and the selfish vanity of beauty
had produced.
  I do not like to make a distinction without a difference, and I
own that I have been as much disgusted by the fine lady who took her
lap-dog to her bosom instead of her child; as by the ferocity of a
man, who, beating his horse, declared, that he knew as well when he
did wrong, as a Christian.
  This brood of folly shews how mistaken they are who, if they allow
women to leave their harams, do not cultivate their understandings, in
order to plant virtues in their hearts. For had they sense, they might
acquire that domestic taste which would lead them to love with
reasonable subordination their whole family, from their husband to the
house-dog; nor would they ever insult humanity in the person of the
most menial servant by paying more attention to the comfort of a
brute, than to that of a fellow-creature.
  My observations on national education are obviously hints; but I
principally wish to enforce the necessity of educating the sexes
together to perfect both, and of making children sleep at home that
they may learn to love home; yet to make private support, instead of
smothering, public affections, they should be sent to school to mix
with a number of equals, for only by the jostlings of equality can
we form a just opinion of ourselves.
  To render mankind more virtuous, and happier of course, both sexes
must act from the same principle; but how can that be expected when
only one is allowed to see the reasonableness of it? To render also
the social compact truly equitable, and in order to spread those
enlightening principles, which alone can meliorate the fate of man,
women must be allowed to found their virtue on knowledge, which is
scarcely possible unless they be educated by the same pursuits as men.
For they are now made so inferiour by ignorance and low desires, as
not to deserve to be ranked with them; or, by the serpentine
wrigglings of cunning they mount the tree of knowledge, and only
acquire sufficient to lead men astray.
  It is plain from the history of all nations, that women cannot be
confined to merely domestic pursuits, for they will not fulfil
family duties, unless their minds take a wider range, and whilst
they are kept in ignorance they become in the same proportion the
slaves of pleasure as they are the slaves of man. Nor can they be shut
out if great enterprises, though the narrowness of their minds often
make them mar, what they are unable to comprehend.
  The libertinism, and even the virtues of superiour men, will
always give women, of some description, great power over them; and
these weak women, under the influence of childish passions and selfish
vanity, will throw a false light over the objects which the very men
view with their eyes, who ought to enlighten their judgment. Men of
fancy, and those sanguine characters who mostly hold the helm of human
affairs, in general, relax in the society of women; and surely I
need not cite to the most superficial reader of history the numerous
examples of vice and oppression which the private intrigues of
female favourites have produced; not to dwell on the mischief that
naturally arises from the blundering interposition of well-meaning
folly. For in the transactions of business it is much better to have
to deal with a knave than a fool, because a knave adheres to some
plan; and any plan of reason may be seen through much sooner than a
sudden flight of folly. The power which vile and foolish women have
had over wise men, who possessed sensibility, is notorious; I shall
only mention one instance.
  Who ever drew a more exalted female character than Rousseau?
though in the lump he constantly endeavoured to degrade the sex. And
why was he thus anxious? Truly to justify to himself the affection
which weakness and virtue had made him cherish for that fool
Theresa. He could not raise her to the common level of her sex; and
therefore he laboured to bring woman down to her's. He found her a
convenient humble companion, and pride made him determine to find some
superiour virtues in the being whom he chose to live with; but did not
her conduct during his life, and after his death, clearly shew how
grossly he was mistaken who called her a celestial innocent. Nay, in
the bitterness of his heart, he himself laments, that when his
bodily infirmities made him no longer treat her like a woman, she
ceased to have an affection for him. And it was very natural that
she should, for having so few sentiments in common, when the sexual
tie was broken, what was to hold her? To hold her affection whose
sensibility was confined to one sex, nay, to one man, it requires
sense to turn sensibility into the broad channel of humanity; many
women have not mind enough to have an affection for a woman, or a
friendship for a man. But the sexual weakness that makes woman
depend on man for a subsistence, produces a kind of cattish
affection which leads a wife to purr about her husband as she would
about any man who fed and caressed her.
  Men are, however, often gratified by this kind of fondness, which is
confined in a beastly manner to themselves; but should they ever
become more virtuous, they will wish to converse at their fire-side
with a friend, after they cease to play with a mistress.
  Besides, understanding is necessary to give variety and interest
to sensual enjoyments, for low, indeed, in the intellectual scale,
is the mind that can continue to love when neither virtue nor sense
give a human appearance to an animal appetite. But sense will always
preponderate; and if women be not, in general, brought more on a level
with men, some superiour woman, like the Greek courtezans, will
assemble the men of abilities around them, and draw from their
families many citizens, who would have stayed at home had their
wives had more sense, or the graces which result from the exercise
of the understanding and fancy, the legitimate parents of taste. A
woman of talents, if she be not absolutely ugly, will always obtain
great power, raised by the weakness of her sex; and in proportion as
men acquire virtue and delicacy, by the exertion of reason, they
will look for both in women, but they can only acquire them in the
same way that men do.
  In France or Italy, have the women confined themselves to domestic
life? though they have not hitherto had a political existence, yet,
have they not illicitly had great sway? corrupting themselves and
the men with whose passions they played. In short, in whatever light I
view the subject, reason and experience convince me that the only
method of leading women to fulfil their peculiar duties, is to free
them from all restraint by allowing them to participate in the
inherent rights of mankind.
  Make them free, and they will quickly become wise and virtuous, as
men become more so; for the improvement must be mutual, or the
injustice which one half of the human race are obliged to submit to,
retorting on their oppressors, the virtue of men will be worm-eaten by
the insect whom he keeps under his feet.
  Let men take their choice, man and woman were made for each other,
though not to become one being; and if they will not improve women,
they will deprave them!
  I speak of the improvement and emancipation of the whole sex, for
I know that the behaviour of a few women, who, by accident, or
following a strong bent of nature, have acquired a portion of
knowledge superiour to that of the rest of their sex, has often been
over-bearing; but there have been instances of women who, attaining
knowledge, have not discarded modesty, nor have they always
pedantically appeared to despise the ignorance which they laboured
to disperse in their own minds. The exclamations then which any advice
respecting female learning, commonly produces, especially from
pretty women, often arise from envy. When they chance to see that even
the lustre of their eyes, and the flippant sportiveness of refined
coquetry will not always secure them attention, during a whole
evening, should a woman of a more cultivated understanding endeavour
to give a rational turn to the conversation, the common source of
consolation is, that such women seldom get husbands. What arts have
I not seen silly women use to interrupt by flirtation, a very
significant word to describe such a manoeuvre, a rational conversation
which made the men forget that they were pretty women.
  But, allowing what is very natural to man, that the possession of
rare abilities is really calculated to excite over-weening pride,
disgusting in both men and women- in what a state of inferiority
must the female faculties have rusted when such a small portion of
knowledge as those women attained, who have sneeringly been termed
learned women, could be singular?- Sufficiently so to puff up the
possessor, and excite envy in her contemporaries, and some of the
other sex. Nay, has not a little rationality exposed many women to the
severest censure? I advert to well known facts, for I have
frequently heard women ridiculed, and every little weakness exposed,
only because they adopted the advice of some medical men, and deviated
from the beaten track in their mode of treating their infants. I
have actually heard this barbarous aversion to innovation carried
still further, and a sensible woman stigmatized as an unnatural
mother, who has thus been wisely solicitous to preserve the health
of her children, when in the midst of her care she has lost one by
some of the casualties of infancy, which no prudence can ward off. Her
acquaintance have observed, that this was the consequence of
new-fangled notions- the new-fangled notions of ease and
cleanliness. And those who pretending to experience, though they
have long adhered to prejudices that have, according to the opinion of
the most sagacious physicians, thinned the human race, almost rejoiced
at the disaster that gave a kind of sanction to prescription.
  Indeed, if it were only on this account, the national education of
women is of the utmost consequence, for what a number of human
sacrifices are made to that moloch prejudice! And in how many ways are
children destroyed by the lasciviousness of man? The want of natural
affection, in many women, who are drawn from their duty by the
admiration of men, and the ignorance of others, render the infancy
of man a much more perilous state than that of brutes; yet men are
unwilling to place women in situations proper to enable them to
acquire sufficient understanding to know how even to nurse their
babes.
  So forcibly does this truth strike me, that I would rest the whole
tendency of my reasoning upon it, for whatever tends to incapacitate
the maternal character, takes woman out of her sphere.
  But it is vain to expect the present race of weak mothers either
to take that reasonable care of a child's body, which is necessary
to lay the foundation of a good constitution, supposing that it do not
suffer for the sins of its fathers; or, to manage its temper so
judiciously that the child will not have, as it grows up, to throw off
all that its mother, its first instructor, directly or indirectly
taught; and unless the mind have uncommon vigour, womanish follies
will stick to the character throughout life. The weakness of the
mother will be visited on the children! And whilst women are
educated to rely on their husbands for judgment, this must ever be the
consequence, for there is no improving an understanding by halves, nor
can any being act wisely from imitation, because in every circumstance
of life there is a kind of individuality, which requires an exertion
of judgment to modify general rules. The being who can think justly in
one track, will soon extend its intellectual empire; and she who has
sufficient judgment to manage her children, will not submit, right
or wrong, to her husband, or patiently to the social laws which make a
nonentity of a wife.
  In public schools women, to guard against the errors of ignorance,
should be taught the elements of anatomy and medicine, not only to
enable them to take proper care of their own health, but to make
them rational nurses of their infants, parents, and husbands; for
the bills of mortality are swelled by the blunders of self-willed
old women, who give nostrums of them own without knowing any thing
of the human frame. It is likewise proper only in a domestic view,
to make women acquainted with the anatomy of the mind, by allowing the
sexes to associate together in every pursuit; and by leading them to
observe the progress of the human understanding in the improvement
of the sciences and arts; never forgetting the science of morality, or
the study of the political history of mankind.
  A man has been termed a microcosm; and every family might also be
called a state. States, it is true, have mostly been governed by
arts that disgrace the character of man; and the want of a just
constitution, and equal laws, have so perplexed the notions of the
worldly wise, that they more than question the reasonableness of
contending for the rights of humanity. Thus morality, polluted in
the national reservoir, sends off streams of vice to corrupt the
constituent parts of the body politic; but should more noble, or
rather, more just principles regulate the laws, which ought to be
the government of society, and not those who execute them, duty
might become the rule of private conduct.
  Besides, by the exercise of their bodies and minds women would
acquire that mental activity so necessary in the maternal character,
united with the fortitude that distinguishes steadiness of conduct
from the obstinate perverseness of weakness. For it is dangerous to
advise the indolent to be steady, because they instantly become
rigorous, and to save themselves trouble, punish with severity
faults that the patient fortitude of reason might have prevented.
  But fortitude presupposes strength of mind; and is strength of
mind to be acquired by indolent acquiescence? by asking advice instead
of exerting the judgment? by obeying through fear, instead of
practising the forbearance, which we all stand in need of
ourselves?- The conclusion which I wish to draw, is obvious; make
women rational creatures, and free citizens, and they will quickly
become good wives, and mothers; that is- if men do not neglect the
duties of husbands and fathers.
  Discussing the advantages which a public and private education
combined, as I have sketched, might rationally be expected to produce,
I have dwelt most on such as are particularly relative to the female
world, because I think the female world oppressed; yet the gangrene,
which the vices engendered by oppression have produced, is not
confined to the morbid part, but pervades society at large: so that
when I wish to see my sex become more like moral agents, my heart
bounds with the anticipation of the general diffusion of that
sublime contentment which only morality can diffuse.
                       Chap. XIII.
     Some Instances of the Folly Which the Ignorance of Women
   Generates; with Concluding Reflections on the Moral Improvement
     That a Revolution in Female Manners Might Naturally Be
                    Expected to Produce.

  There are many follies, in some degree, peculiar to women: sins
against reason of commission as well as of omission; but all flowing
from ignorance or prejudice, I shall only point out such as appear
to be particularly injurious to their moral character. And in
animadverting on them, I wish especially to prove, that the weakness
of mind and body, which men have endeavoured, impelled by various
motives, to perpetuate, prevents their discharging the peculiar duty
of their sex: for when weakness of body will not permit them to suckle
their children, and weakness of mind makes them spoil their tempers-
is woman in a natural state?

                        SECT. I.

  One glaring instance of the weakness which proceeds from
ignorance, first claims attention, and calls for severe reproof.
  In this metropolis a number of lurking leeches infamously gain a
subsistence by practising on the credulity of women, pretending to
cast nativities, to use the technical phrase; and many females who,
proud of their rank and fortune, look down on the vulgar with
sovereign contempt, shew by this credulity, that the distinction is
arbitrary, and that they have not sufficiently cultivated their
minds to rise above vulgar prejudices. Women, because they have not
been led to consider the knowledge of their duty as the one thing
necessary to know, or, to live in the present moment by the
discharge of it, are very anxious to peep into futurity, to learn what
they have to expect to render life interesting, and to break the
vacuum of ignorance.
  I must be allowed to expostulate seriously with the ladies who
follow these idle inventions; for ladies, mistresses of families,
are not ashamed to drive in their own carriages to the door of the
cunning man.* And if any of them should peruse this work, I entreat
them to answer to their own hearts the following questions, not
forgetting that they are in the presence of God.

  * I once lived in the neighbourhood of one of these men, a
handsome man, and saw with surprise and indignation, women, whose
appearance and attendance bespoke that rank in which females are
supposed to receive a superiour education, flock to his door.

  Do you believe that there is but one God, and that he is powerful,
wise, and good?
  Do you believe that all things were created by him, and that all
beings are dependent on him?
  Do you rely on his wisdom, so conspicuous in his works, and in
your own frame, and are you convinced that he has ordered all things
which do not come under the cognizance of your senses, in the same
perfect harmony, to fulfil his designs?
  Do you acknowledge that the power of looking into futurity, and
seeing things that are not, as if they were, is an attribute of the
Creator? And should he, by an impression on the minds of his
creatures, think fit to impart to them some event hid in the shades of
time yet unborn, to whom would the secret be revealed by immediate
inspiration? The opinion of ages will answer this question- to
reverend old men, to people distinguished for eminent piety.
  The oracles of old were thus delivered by priests dedicated to the
service of the God who was supposed to inspire them. The glare of
worldly pomp which surrounded these impostors, and the respect paid to
them by artful politicians, who knew how to avail themselves of this
useful engine to bend the necks of the strong under the dominion of
the cunning, spread a sacred mysterious veil of sanctity over their
lies and abominations. Impressed by such solemn devotional parade, a
Greek, or Roman lady might be excused, if she inquired of the
oracle, when she was anxious to pry into futurity, or inquire about
some dubious event: and her inquiries, however contrary to reason,
could not be reckoned impious.- But, can the professors of
Christianity ward off that imputation? Can a Christian suppose that
the favourites of the most High, the highly favoured, would be obliged
to lurk in disguise, and practise the most dishonest tricks to cheat
silly women out of the money- which the poor cry for in vain?
  Say not that such questions are an insult to common sense- for it is
your own conduct, O ye foolish women! which throws an odium on your
sex! And these reflections should make you shudder at your
thoughtlessness, and irrational devotion.- For I do not suppose that
all of you laid aside your religion, such as it is, when you entered
those mysterious dwellings. Yet, as I have throughout supposed
myself talking to ignorant women, for ignorant ye are in the most
emphatical sense of the word, it would be absurd to reason with you on
the egregious folly of desiring to know what the Supreme Wisdom has
concealed.
  Probably you would not understand me, were I to attempt to shew
you that it would be absolutely inconsistent with the grand purpose of
life, that of rendering human creatures wise and virtuous: and that,
were it sanctioned by God, it would disturb the order established in
creation; and if it be not sanctioned by God, do you expect to hear
truth? Can events be foretold, events which have not yet assumed a
body to become subject to mortal inspection, can they be foreseen by a
vicious worldling, who pampers his appetites by preying on the foolish
ones?
  Perhaps, however, you devoutly believe in the devil, and imagine, to
shift the question, that he may assist his votaries; but, if really
respecting the power of such a being, an enemy to goodness and to God,
can you go to church after having been under such an obligation to
him?
  From these delusions to those still more fashionable deceptions,
practised by the whole tribe of magnetisers, the transition is very
natural. With respect to them, it is equally proper to ask women a few
questions.
  Do you know any thing of the construction of the human frame? If
not, it is proper that you should be told what every child ought to
know, that when its admirable oeconomy has been disturbed by
intemperance or indolence, I speak not of violent disorders, but of
chronical diseases, it must be brought into a healthy state again,
by slow degrees, and if the functions of life have not been materially
injured, regimen, another word for temperance, air, exercise, and a
few medicines, prescribed by persons who have studied the human
body, are the only human means, yet discovered, of recovering that
inestimable blessing health, that will bear investigation.
  Do you then believe that these magnetisers, who, by hocus pocus
tricks, pretend to work a miracle, are delegated by God, or assisted
by the solver of all these kind of difficulties- the devil?
  Do they, when they put to flight, as it is said, disorders that have
baffled the powers of medicine, work in conformity to the light of
reason? or, do they effect these wonderful cures by supernatural aid?
  By a communication, an adept may answer, with the world of
spirits. A noble privilege, it must be allowed. Some of the ancients
mention familiar daemons, who guarded them from danger by kindly
intimating, we cannot guess in what manner, when any danger was
nigh; or, pointed out what they ought to undertake. Yet the men who
laid claim to this privilege, out of the order of nature, insisted
that it was the reward, or consequence, of superiour temperance and
piety. But the present workers of wonders are not raised above their
fellows by superiour temperance or sanctity. They do not cure for
the love of God, but money. These are the priests of quackery,
though it is true they have not the convenient expedient of selling
masses for souls in purgatory, or churches where they can display
crutches, and models of limbs made sound by a touch or a word.
  I am not conversant with the technical terms, or initiated into
the arcana, therefore, I may speak improperly; but it is clear that
men who will not conform to the law of reason, and earn a
subsistence in an honest way, by degrees, are very fortunate in
becoming acquainted with such obliging spirits. We cannot, indeed,
give them credit for either great sagacity or goodness, else they
would have chosen more noble instruments, when they wished to shew
themselves the benevolent friends of man.
  It is, however, little short of blasphemy to pretend to such powers!
  From the whole tenour of the dispensations of Providence, it appears
evident to sober reason, that certain vices produce certain effects;
and can any one so grossly insult the wisdom of God, as to suppose
that a miracle will be allowed to disturb his general laws, to restore
to health the intemperate and vicious, merely to enable them to pursue
the same course with impunity? Be whole, and sin no more, said
Jesus. And, are greater miracles to be performed by those who do not
follow his footsteps, who healed the body to reach the mind?
  The mentioning of the name of Christ, after such vile impostors, may
displease some of my readers- I respect their warmth; but let them not
forget that the followers of these delusions bear his name, and
profess to be the disciples of him, who said, by their works we should
know who were the children of God or the servants of sin. I allow that
it is easier to touch the body of a saint, or to be magnetised, than
to restrain our appetites or govern our passions; but health of body
or mind can only be recovered by these means, or we make the Supreme
Judge partial and revengeful.
  Is he a man that he should change, or punish out of resentment?
He- the common father, wounds but to heal, says reason, and our
irregularities producing certain consequences, we are forcibly shewn
the nature of vice; that thus learning to know good from evil, by
experience, we may hate one and love the other, in proportion to the
wisdom which we attain. The poison contains the antidote; and we
either reform our evil habits and cease to sin against our own bodies,
to use the forcible language of scripture, or a premature death, the
punishment of sin, snaps the thread of life.
  Here an awful stop is put to our inquiries.- But, why should I
conceal my sentiments? Considering the attributes of God, I believe
that whatever punishment may follow, will tend, like the anguish of
disease, to shew the malignity of vice, for the purpose of
reformation. Positive punishment appears so contrary to the nature
of God, discoverable in all his works, and in our own reason, that I
could sooner believe that the Deity paid no attention to the conduct
of men, than that he punished without the benevolent design of
reforming.
  To suppose only that an all-wise and powerful Being, as good as he
is great, should create a being foreseeing, that after fifty or
sixty years of feverish existence, it would be plunged into never
ending woe- is blasphemy. On what will the worm feed that is never
to die? On folly, on ignorance, say ye- I should blush indignantly
at drawing the natural conclusion could I insert it, and wish to
withdraw myself from the wing of my God! On such a supposition, I
speak with reverence, he would be a consuming fire. We should wish,
though vainly, to fly from his presence when fear absorbed love, and
darkness involved all his counsels!
  I know that many devout people boast of submitting to the Will of
God blindly, as to an arbitrary sceptre or rod, on the same
principle as the Indians worship the devil. In other words, like
people in the common concerns of life, they do homage to power, and
cringe under the foot that can crush them. Rational religion, on the
contrary, is a submission to the will of a being so perfectly wise,
that all he wills must be directed by the proper motive- must be
reasonable.
  And, if thus we respect God, can we give credit to the mysterious
insinuations, which insult his laws? can we believe, though it
should stare us in the face, that he would work a miracle to authorize
confusion by sanctioning an error? Yet we must either allow these
impious conclusions, or treat with contempt every promise to restore
health to a diseased body by supernatural means, or to foretell the
incidents that can only be foreseen by God.

                        SECT. II.

  Another instance of that feminine weakness of character, often
produced by a confined education, is a romantic twist of the mind,
which has been very properly termed sentimental.
  Women subjected by ignorance to their sensations, and only taught to
look for happiness in love, refine on sensual feelings, and adopt
metaphysical notions respecting that passion, which lead them
shamefully to neglect the duties of life, and frequently in the
midst of these sublime refinements they plump into actual vice.
  These are the women who are amused by the reveries of the stupid
novelists, who, knowing little of human nature, work up stale tales,
and describe meretricious scenes, all retailed in a sentimental
jargon, which equally tend to corrupt the taste, and draw the heart
aside from its daily duties. I do not mention the understanding,
because never having been exercised, its slumbering energies rest
inactive, like the lurking particles of fire which are supposed
universally to pervade matter.
  Females, in fact, denied all political privileges, and not
allowed, as married women, excepting in criminal cases, a civil
existence, have their attention naturally drawn from the interest of
the whole community to that of the minute parts, though the private
duty of any member of society must be very imperfectly performed
when not connected with the general good. The mighty business of
female life is to please, and restrained from entering into more
important concerns by political and civil oppression, sentiments
become events, and reflection deepens what it should, and would have
effaced, if the understanding had been allowed to take a wider range.
  But, confined to trifling employments, they naturally imbibe
opinions which the only kind of reading calculated to interest an
innocent frivolous mind, inspires. Unable to grasp any thing great, is
it surprising that they find the reading of history a very dry task,
and disquisitions addressed to the understanding intolerably
tedious, and almost unintelligible? Thus are they necessarily
dependent on the novelist for amusement. Yet, when I exclaim against
novels, I mean when contrasted with those works which exercise the
understanding and regulate the imagination.- For any kind of reading I
think better than leaving a blank still a blank, because the mind must
receive a degree of enlargement and obtain a little strength by a
slight exertion of its thinking powers; besides, even the
productions that are only addressed to the imagination, raise the
reader a little above the gross gratification of appetites, to which
the mind has not given a shade of delicacy.
  This observation is the result of experience; for I have known
several notable women, and one in particular, who was a very good
woman- as good as such a narrow mind would allow her to be, who took
care that her daughters (three in number) should never see a novel. As
she was a woman of fortune and fashion, they had various masters to
attend them, and a sort of menial governess to watch their
footsteps. From their masters they learned how tables, chairs, &c.
were called in French and Italian; but as the few books thrown in
their way were far above their capacities, or devotional, they neither
acquired ideas nor sentiments, and passed their time, when not
compelled to repeat words, in dressing, quarrelling with each other,
or conversing with their maids by stealth, till they were brought into
company as marriageable.
  Their mother, a widow, was busy in the mean time in keeping up her
connections, as she termed a numerous acquaintance, lest her girls
should want a proper introduction into the great world. And these
young ladies, with minds vulgar in every sense of the word, and
spoiled tempers, entered life puffed up with notions of their own
consequence, and looking down with contempt on those who could not vie
with them in dress and parade.
  With respect to love, nature, or their nurses, had taken care to
teach them the physical meaning of the word; and, as they had few
topics of conversation, and fewer refinements of sentiment, they
expressed their gross wishes not in very delicate phrases, when they
spoke freely, talking of matrimony.
  Could these girls have been injured by the perusal of novels? I
almost forgot a shade in the character of one of them; she affected
a simplicity bordering on folly, and with a simper would utter the
most immodest remarks and questions, the full meaning of which she had
learned whilst secluded from the world, and afraid to speak in her
mother's presence, who governed with a high hand: they were all
educated, as she prided herself, in a most exemplary, manner; and read
their chapters and psalms before breakfast, never touching a silly
novel.
  This is only one instance; but I recollect many other women who, not
led by degrees to proper studies, and not permitted to choose for
themselves, have indeed been overgrown children; or have obtained,
by mixing in the world, a little of what is termed common sense:
that is, a distinct manner of seeing common occurrences, as they stand
detached: but what deserves the name of intellect, the power of
gaining general or abstract ideas, or even intermediate ones, was
out of the question. Their minds were quiescent, and when they were
not roused by sensible objects and employments of that kind, they were
low-spirited, would cry, or go to sleep.
  When, therefore, I advise my sex not to read such flimsy works, it
is to induce them to read something superiour; for I coincide in
opinion with a sagacious man, who, having a daughter and niece under
his care, pursued a very different plan with each.
  The niece, who had considerable abilities, had, before she was
left to his guardianship, been indulged in desultory reading. Her he
endeavoured to lead, and did lead to history and moral essays; but his
daughter, whom a fond weak mother had indulged, and who consequently
was averse to every thing like application, he allowed to read novels:
and used to justify his conduct by saying, that if she ever attained a
relish for reading them, he should have some foundation to work
upon; and that erroneous opinions were better than none at all.
  In fact the female mind has been so totally neglected, that
knowledge was only to be acquired from this muddy source, till from
reading novels some women of superiour talents learned to despise
them.
  The best method, I believe, that can be adopted to correct a
fondness for novels is to ridicule them: not indiscriminately, for
then it would have little effect; but, if a judicious person, with
some turn for humour, would read several to a young girl, and point
out both by tones, and apt comparisons with pathetic incidents and
heroic characters in history, how foolishly and ridiculously they
caricatured human nature, just opinions might be substituted instead
of romantic sentiments.
  In one respect, however, the majority of both sexes resemble, and
equally shew a want of taste and modesty. Ignorant women, forced to be
chaste to preserve their reputation, allow their imagination to
revel in the unnatural and meretricious scenes sketched by the novel
writers of the day, slighting as insipid the sober dignity and
matron graces of history,* whilst men carry the same vitiated taste
into life, and fly for amusement to the wanton, from the
unsophisticated charms of virtue, and the grave respectability of
sense.

  * I am not now alluding to that superiority of mind which leads to
the creation of ideal beauty, when he, surveyed with a penetrating
eye, appears a tragicomedy, in which little can be seen to satisfy the
heart without the help of fancy.

  Besides, the reading of novels makes women, and particularly
ladies of fashion, very fond of using strong expressions and
superlatives in conversation; and, though the dissipated artificial
life which they lead prevents their cherishing any strong legitimate
passion, the language of passion in affected tones slips for ever from
their glib tongues, and every trifle produces those phosphoric
bursts which only mimick in the dark the flame of passion.

                        SECT. III.

  Ignorance and the mistaken cunning that nature sharpens in weak
heads as a principle of self-preservation, render women very fond of
dress, and produce all the vanity which such a fondness may
naturally be expected to generate, to the exclusion of emulation and
magnanimity.
  I agree with Rousseau that the physical part of the art of
pleasing consists in ornaments, and for that very reason I should
guard girls against the contagious fondness for dress so common to
weak women, that they may not rest in the physical part. Yet, weak are
the women who imagine that they can long please without the aid of the
mind, or, in other words, without the moral art of pleasing. But the
moral art, if it be not a profanation to use the word art, when
alluding to the grace which is an effect of virtue, and not the motive
of action, is never to be found with ignorance; the sportiveness of
innocence, so pleasing to refined libertines of both sexes, is
widely different in its essence from this superiour gracefulness.
  A strong inclination for external ornaments ever appears in
barbarous states, only the men not the women adorn themselves; for
where women are allowed to be so far on a level with men, society
has advanced, at least, one step in civilization.
  The attention to dress, therefore, which has been thought a sexual
propensity, I think natural to mankind. But I ought to express
myself with more precision. When the mind is not sufficiently opened
to take pleasure in reflection, the body will be adorned with sedulous
care; and ambition will appear in tattooing or painting it.
  So far is this first inclination carried, that even the hellish yoke
of slavery cannot stifle the savage desire of admiration which the
black heroes inherit from both their parents, for all the hardly
earned savings of a slave are commonly expended in a little tawdry
finery. And I have seldom known a good male or female servant that was
not particularly fond of dress. Their clothes were their riches;
and, I argue from analogy, that the fondness for dress, so extravagant
in females, arises from the same cause- want of cultivation of mind.
When men meet they converse about business, politics, or literature;
but, says Swift, 'how naturally do women apply their hands to each
others lappets and ruffles.' And very natural is it- for they have not
any business to interest them, have not a taste for literature, and
they find politics dry, because they have not acquired a love for
mankind by turning their thoughts to the grand pursuits that exalt the
human race, and promote general happiness.
  Besides, various are the paths to power and fame which by accident
or choice men pursue, and though they jostle against each other, for
men of the same profession are seldom friends, yet there is a much
greater number of their fellow-creatures with whom they never clash.
But women are very differently situated with respect to each other-
for they are all rivals.
  Before marriage it is their business to please men; and after,
with a few exceptions, they follow the same scent with all the
persevering pertinacity of instinct. Even virtuous women never
forget their sex in company, for they are for ever trying to make
themselves agreeable. A female beauty, and a male wit, appear to be
equally anxious to draw the attention of the company to themselves;
and the animosity of contemporary wits is proverbial.
  Is it then surprising that when the sole ambition of woman centres
in beauty, and interest gives vanity additional force, perpetual
rivalships should ensue? They are all running the same race, and would
rise above the virtue of mortals, if they did not view each other with
a suspicious and even envious eye.
  An immoderate fondness for dress, for pleasure, and for sway, are
the passions of savages; the passions that occupy those uncivilized
beings who have not yet extended the dominion of the mind, or even
learned to think with the energy necessary to concatenate that
abstract train of thought which produces principles. And that women
from their education and the present state of civilized life, are in
the same condition, cannot, I think, be controverted. To laugh at them
then, or satirize the follies of a being who is never to be allowed to
act freely from the light of her own reason, is as absurd as cruel;
for, that they who are taught blindly to obey authority, will
endeavour cunningly to elude it, is most natural and certain.
  Yet let it be proved that they ought to obey man implicitly, and I
shall immediately agree that it is woman's duty to cultivate a
fondness for dress, in order to please, and a propensity to cunning
for her own preservation.
  The virtues, however, which are supported by ignorance must ever
be wavering- the house built on sand could not endure a storm. It is
almost unnecessary to draw the inference.- If women are to be made
virtuous by authority, which is a contradiction in terms, let them
be immured in seraglios and watched with a jealous eye.- Fear not that
the iron will enter into their souls- for the souls that can bear such
treatment are made of yielding materials, just animated enough to give
life to the body.

        'Matter too soft a lasting mark to bear,
        'And best distinguish'd by black, brown, or fair.'

The most cruel wounds will of course soon heal, and they may still
people the world, and dress to please man- all the purposes which
certain celebrated writers have allowed that they were created to
fulfil.

                        SECT. IV.

  Women are supposed to possess more sensibility, and even humanity,
than men, and their strong attachments and instantaneous emotions of
compassion are given as proofs; but the clinging affection of
ignorance has seldom any thing noble in it, and may mostly be resolved
into selfishness, as well as the affection of children and brutes. I
have known many weak women whose sensibility was entirely engrossed by
their husbands; and as for their humanity, it was very faint indeed,
or rather it was only a transient emotion of compassion. Humanity does
not consist 'in a squeamish ear,' says an eminent orator. 'It
belongs to the mind as well as the nerves.'
  But this kind of exclusive affection, though it degrades the
individual, should not be brought forward as a proof of the
inferiority of the sex, because it is the natural consequence of
confined views: for even women of superior sense, having their
attention turned to little employments, and private plans, rarely rise
to heroism, unless when spurred on by love! and love, as an heroic
passion, like genius, appears but once in an age. I therefore agree
with the moralist who asserts, 'that women have seldom so much
generosity as men;' and that their narrow affections, to which justice
and humanity are often sacrificed, render the sex apparently inferior,
especially, as they are commonly inspired by men; but I contend that
the heart would expand as the understanding gained strength, if
women were not depressed from their cradles.
  I know that a little sensibility, and great weakness, will produce a
strong sexual attachment, and that reason must cement friendship;
consequently, I allow that more friendship is to be found in the
male than the female world, and that men have a higher sense of
justice. The exclusive affections of women seem indeed to resemble
Cato's most unjust love for his country. He wished to crush
Carthage, not to save Rome, but to promote its vain-glory; and, in
general, it is to similar principles that humanity is sacrificed,
for genuine duties support each other.
  Besides, how can women be just or generous, when they are the slaves
of injustice?

                        SECT. V.

  As the rearing of children, that is, the laying a foundation of
sound health both of body and mind in the rising generation, has
justly been insisted on as the peculiar destination of woman, the
ignorance that incapacitates them must be contrary to the order of
things. And I contend that their minds can take in much more, and
ought to do so, or they will never become sensible mothers. Many men
attend to the breeding of horses, and overlook the management of the
stable, who would, strange want of sense and feeling! think themselves
degraded by paying any attention to the nursery; yet, how many
children are absolutely murdered by the ignorance of women! But when
they escape, and are destroyed neither by unnatural negligence nor
blind fondness, how few are managed properly with respect to the
infant mind! So that to break the spirit, allowed to become vicious at
home, a child is sent to school; and the methods taken there, which
must be taken to keep a number of children in order, scatter the seeds
of almost every vice in the soil thus forcibly torn up.
  I have sometimes compared the struggles of these poor children,
who ought never to have felt restraint, nor would, had they been
always held in with an even hand, to the despairing plunges of a
spirited filly, which I have seen breaking on a strand: its feet
sinking deeper and deeper in the sand every time it endeavoured to
throw its rider, till at last it sullenly submitted.
  I have always found horses, animals I am attached to, very tractable
when treated with humanity and steadiness, so that I doubt whether the
violent methods taken to break them, do not essentially injure them; I
am, however, certain that a child should never be thus forcibly
tamed after it has injudiciously been allowed to run wild; for every
violation of justice and reason, in the treatment of children, weakens
their reason. And, so early do they catch a character, that the base
of the moral character, experience leads me to infer, is fixed
before their seventh year, the period during which women are allowed
the sole management of children. Afterwards it too often happens
that half the business of education is to correct, and very
imperfectly is it done, if done hastily, the faults, which they
would never have acquired if their mothers had had more understanding.
  One striking instance of the folly of women must not be omitted.-
The manner in which they treat servants in the presence of children,
permitting them to suppose that they ought to wait on them, and bear
their humours. A child should always be made to receive assistance
from a man or woman as a favour; and, as the first lesson of
independence, they should practically be taught, by the example of
their mother, not to require that personal attendance, which it is
an insult to humanity to require, when in health; and instead of being
led to assume airs of consequence, a sense of their own weakness
should first make them feel the natural equality of man. Yet, how
frequently have I indignantly heard servants imperiously called to put
children to bed, and sent away again and again, because master or miss
hung about mamma, to stay a little longer. Thus made slavishly to
attend the little idol, all those most disgusting humours were
exhibited which characterize a spoiled child.
  In short, speaking of the majority of mothers, they leave their
children entirely to the care of servants; or, because they are
their children, treat them as if they were little demi-gods, though
I have always observed, that the women who thus idolize their
children, seldom shew common humanity to servants, or feel the least
tenderness for any children but their own.
  It is, however, these exclusive affections, and an individual manner
of seeing things, produced by ignorance, which keep women for ever
at a stand, with respect to improvement, and make many of them
dedicate their lives to their children only to weaken their bodies and
spoil their tempers, frustrating also any plan of education that a
more rational father may adopt; for unless a mother concur, the father
who restrains will ever be considered as a tyrant.
  But, fulfilling the duties of a mother, a woman with a sound
constitution, may still keep her person scrupulously neat, and
assist to maintain her family, if necessary, or by reading and
conversations with both sexes, indiscriminately, improve her mind. For
nature has so wisely ordered things, that did women suckle their
children, they would preserve their own health, and there would be
such an interval between the birth of each child, that we should
seldom see a houseful of babes. And did they pursue a plan of conduct,
and not waste their time in following the fashionable vagaries of
dress, the management of their household and children need not shut
them out from literature, or prevent their attaching themselves to a
science, with that steady eye which strengthens the mind, or
practising one of the fine arts that cultivate the taste.
  But, visiting to display finery, card-playing, and balls, not to
mention the idle bustle of morning trifling, draw women from their
duty to render them insignificant, to render them pleasing,
according to the present acceptation of the word, to every man, but
their husband. For a round of pleasures in which the affections are
not exercised, cannot be said to improve the understanding, though
it be erroneously called seeing the world; yet the heart is rendered
cold and averse to duty, by such a senseless intercourse, which
becomes necessary from habit even when it has ceased to amuse.
  But, we shall not see women affectionate till more equality be
established in society, till ranks are confounded and women freed,
neither shall we see that dignified domestic happiness, the simple
grandeur of which cannot be relished by ignorant or vitiated minds;
nor will the important task of education ever be properly begun till
the person of a woman is no longer preferred to her mind. For it would
be as wise to expect corn from tares, or figs from thistles, as that a
foolish ignorant woman should be a good mother.

                        SECT. VI.

  It is not necessary to inform the sagacious reader, now I enter on
my concluding reflections, that the discussion of this subject
merely consists in opening a few simple principles, and clearing
away the rubbish which obscured them. But, as all readers are not
sagacious, I must be allowed to add some explanatory remarks to
bring the subject home to reason- to that sluggish reason, which
supinely takes opinions on trust, and obstinately supports them to
spare itself the labour of thinking.
  Moralists have unanimously agreed, that unless virtue be nursed by
liberty, it will never attain due strength- and what they say of man I
extend to mankind, insisting that in all cases morals must be fixed on
immutable principles; and, that the being cannot be termed rational or
virtuous, who obeys any authority, but that of reason.
  To render women truly useful members of society, I argue that they
should be led, by having their understandings cultivated on a large
scale, to acquire a rational affection for their country, founded on
knowledge, because it is obvious that we are little interested about
what we do not understand. And to render this general knowledge of due
importance, I have endeavoured to shew that private duties are never
properly fulfilled unless the understanding enlarges the heart; and
that public virtue is only an aggregate of private. But, the
distinctions established in society undermine both, by beating out the
solid gold of virtue, till it becomes only the tinsel-covering of
vice; for whilst wealth renders a man more respectable than virtue,
wealth will be sought before virtue; and, whilst women's persons are
caressed, when a childish simper shews an absence of mind- the mind
will lie fallow. Yet, true voluptuousness must proceed from the
mind- for what can equal the sensations produced by mutual
affection, supported by mutual respect? What are the cold, or feverish
caresses of appetite, but sin embracing death, compared with the
modest overflowings of a pure heart and exalted imagination? Yes,
let me tell the libertine of fancy when he despises understanding in
woman- that the mind, which he disregards, gives life to the
enthusiastic affection from which rapture, short-lived as it is, alone
can flow! And, that, without virtue, a sexual attachment must
expire, like a tallow candle in the socket, creating intolerable
disgust. To prove this, I need only observe, that men who have
wasted great part of their lives with women, and with whom they have
sought for pleasure with eager thirst, entertain the meanest opinion
of the sex.- Virtue, true refiner of joy!- if foolish men were to
fright thee from earth, in order to give loose to all their
appetites without a check- some sensual wight of taste would scale the
heavens to invite thee back, to give a zest to pleasure!
  That women at present are by ignorance rendered foolish or
vicious, is, I think, not to be disputed; and, that the most
salutary effects tending to improve mankind might be expected from a
REVOLUTION in female manners, appears, at least, with a face of
probability, to rise out of the observation. For as marriage has
been termed the parent of those endearing charities which draw man
from the brutal herd, the corrupting intercourse that wealth,
idleness, and folly, produce between the sexes, is more universally
injurious to morality than all the other vices of mankind collectively
considered. To adulterous lust the most sacred duties are
sacrificed, because before marriage, men, by a promiscuous intimacy
with women, learned to consider love as a selfish gratification-
learned to separate it not only from esteem, but from the affection
merely built on habit, which mixes a little humanity with it.
Justice and friendship are also set at defiance, and that purity of
taste is vitiated which would naturally lead a man to relish an
artless display of affection rather than affected airs. But that noble
simplicity of affection, which dares to appear unadorned, has few
attractions for the libertine, though it be the charm, which by
cementing the matrimonial tie, secures to the pledges of a warmer
passion the necessary parental attention; for children will never be
properly educated till friendship subsists between parents. Virtue
flies from a house divided against itself- and a whole legion of
devils take up their residence there.
  The affection of husbands and wives cannot be pure when they have so
few sentiments in common, and when so little confidence is established
at home, as must be the case when their pursuits are so different.
That intimacy from which tenderness should flow, will not, cannot
subsist between the vicious.
  Contending, therefore, that the sexual distinction which men have so
warmly insisted upon, is arbitrary, I have dwelt on an observation,
that several sensible men, with whom I have conversed on the
subject, allowed to be well founded; and it is simply this, that the
little chastity to be found amongst men, and consequent disregard of
modesty, tend to degrade both sexes; and further, that the modesty
of women, characterized as such, will often be only the artful veil of
wantonness instead of being the natural reflection of purity, till
modesty be universally respected.
  From the tyranny of man, I firmly believe, the greater number of
female follies proceed; and the cunning, which I allow makes at
present a part of their character, I likewise have repeatedly
endeavoured to prove, is produced by oppression.
  Were not dissenters, for instance, a class of people, with strict
truth, characterized as cunning? And may I not lay some stress on this
fact to prove, that when any power but reason curbs the free spirit of
man, dissimulation is practised, and the various shifts of art are
naturally called forth? Great attention to decorum, which was
carried to a degree of scrupulosity, and all that puerile bustle about
trifles and consequential solemnity, which Butler's caricature of a
dissenter, brings before the imagination, shaped their persons as well
as their minds in the mould of prim littleness. I speak
collectively, for I know how many ornaments to human nature have
been enrolled amongst sectaries; yet, I assert, that the same narrow
prejudice for their sect, which women have for their families,
prevailed in the dissenting part of the community, however worthy in
other respects; and also that the same timid prudence, or headstrong
efforts, often disgraced the exertions of both. Oppression thus formed
many of the features of their character perfectly to coincide with
that of the oppressed half of mankind; or is it not notorious that
dissenters were, like women, fond of deliberating together, and asking
advice of each other, till by a complication of little contrivances,
some little end was brought about? A similar attention to preserve
their reputation was conspicuous in the dissenting and female world,
and was produced by a similar cause.
  Asserting the rights which women in common with men ought to contend
for, I have not attempted to extenuate their faults; but to prove them
to be the natural consequence of their education and station in
society. If so, it is reasonable to suppose that they will change
their character, and correct their vices and follies, when they are
allowed to be free in a physical, moral, and civil sense.*

  * I had further enlarged on the advantages which might reasonably be
expected to result from an improvement in female manners, towards
the general reformation of society; but it appeared to me that such
reflections would more properly close the last volume.

  Let woman share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of
man; for she must grow more perfect when emancipated, or justify the
authority that chains such a weak being to her duty.- If the latter,
it will be expedient to open a fresh trade with Russia for whips; a
present which a father should always make to his son-in-law on his
wedding day, that a husband may keep his whole family in order by
the same means; and without any violation of justice reign, wielding
this sceptre, sole master of his house, because he is the only being
in it who has reason:- the divine, indefeasible earthly sovereignty
breathed into man by the Master of the universe. Allowing this
position, women have not any inherent rights to claim; and, by the
same rule, their duties vanish, for rights and duties are inseparable.
  Be just then, O ye men of understanding! and mark not more
severely what women do amiss, than the vicious tricks of the horse
or the ass for whom ye provide provender- and allow her the privileges
of ignorance, to whom ye deny the rights of reason, or ye will be
worse than Egyptian task-masters, expecting virtue where nature has
not given understanding!


                        THE END