V
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tf
H 0
VINDICATION
OF THE
RIGHTS OF WOMAN,
WITH
STRICTURES
ON
POLITICAL AND MORAL SUBJECTS,
BY MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT,
PHILADELPHIA :
PRINTED FOR M A T H E W CAREY, NO. I I 8, MARKET - STREET,
1794.
\
C O N *f E N f S.
K-
•
j- ' PAGE
INTRODUCTION - 10
Chap. I. The rights and involved duties of mankind
considered - 19
Chap. II. The prevailing opinion of a fexual ch a-
r after difcu/ed 3 1
Chap. III. The fame fubj eft continued - 63
Chap. IV. Qbfervations on the ft ate of degradation
to which ewoman is reduced by various canfes 87
Chap. V. Animadverfions on fome of the writers who have rendered women o&jetfs of pity, bor dering on contempt - - - 132
Chap. VI. The ejfett which an early ajjbciation of
ideas has upon the character 197
Chap. VII. Modefty. — Comprehenfively confideredy
and not as a fexual virtue 207
Chap. VIII. Morality undermined by fexual notions
of the importance of a good reputation 224
Chap. IX. Of the pernicious ejfefls which arife from
the unnatural diftintiions eftablijhed in fociety 240
Chap. X. Parental affedion - 257
Chap. XL Duty to parents 261
Chap. XII. On national education - - 269
Chap. XIII. Some inftances of the folly which the ignorance of women generates y with concluding reflections on the moral improvement that a revo lution in female manners may naturally be ex- peclcd to produce - -307
M508364
T O
M. TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD,
LATE BISHOP OF AUTUN.
AVING read with great pleafure a pamphlet, which you have lately publifhed, on National Education, I de- dicate this volume to you — the firfl dedication that I have ever written, to induce you to read it with atten tion ; and, becaufe I think that you will understand me, which I do not fuppofe many pert witlings will, who may ridicule the arguments they are unable to anfwer. But, Sir, I carry my refpeft for your underilanding frill farther; fo far, that I am confident you will not throw my work afide, and hailily conclude that I am in wrong, beeaufe you did not view the fubjecl in the. fame light yourfelf. — And pardon my frankncfs, but I mu£ obferve, that you treated it in too curfory a manner, con tented to confider it as it had been confidered formerly, when the rights of man, not to advert to woman, were trampled on as chimerical — I call upon you, therefore,
B
IV DEDICATION.
now to weigh what I have advanced refpeding the rrghts of woman, and national education — and I call with the firm tone of humanity. — For my arguments, Sir, are diclated by a difmterefted fpiric — I plead for my fex — not for myfeif. Independence I have long confidered as the grand bleffing of life, the bafis of every virtue — and independence t will ever fecure by contracting my w^nts, 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 fupport what I be lieve to be the caufe of virtue : and the fame motive leads me earneflly to wiih to fee woman placed in a flation in which ihe would advance, inftead of retarding, the pro- grefs of thofe glorious principles that give a fubftance to morality. My opinion, indeed, reflecting the rights and duties of woman, fcems to flow fo naturally from thefe fimple principles, that I think it fcarcely poffible, but that fonie of the enlarged minds who formed your admirable conilitution, will coincide with me.
in Fr;ince, there is undoubtedly a more general dif- funon of knowledge than Li any part of the European world, and I attribute it, in a great meafure, to the fo- cial intercom fe which has long fubfifted between the fexes. It is true, I utter my fentiments with freedom, th-.-.t in Frpr ry eilence of icnliLili y has been e;;-
e : -he voluptuary, and a kind of fentimenu.1 luft h: ed, which, together with the fyitem of
duplicity that the whole tenor of their political and civil government taught, have given a finiftcr fort of ia- gacily to the French character, properly termed fincifr.
DEDICATION. V
and a. polim of manners that injures the fubftance, by hunting fincerity oat of fockty. And, mode-icy, the £..i reft garb of virtue ! has been more grofsiy hifaltedijl France than even in England, till their women iuve treated 2&prudijh th.it attention to decency, which brutes inilinctively obferve.
Manners and morals are fo nearly allied, that they have often been confounded ; but, though the former mould only be the natural -reflection of the latter, yet3 when various caufes have produced factitious and corrupt man ners, which are very early caught, morality becomes an empty name. The perfonal referve, and facred ref '-eft for cleanlinefs and delicacy in domeilic life, which French women almoft defpife, are the graceful pillar: modefly ; but, far from defpifmg them, if the pure •! of patriotifm have reached their bofoms, they ihould labour to improve the morals of their fellow-citizens, by teaching men, not only to refpecl modefly in women > but to acquire it themielves, as the only way to merit their eiteem.
Contending for the rights of woman, my main argu ment is built on this fimple principle, that if fne be not prepared by education to become the companion of man, me will flop the progrefs of knowledge, for truth rnuil be common to all, or it will be inefficacious with refpecl to its influence on general practice. And how can wo man be expected to co-operate, unlefs me know why ihe ought to be virtuous? unlefs freedom ftrengthen her reafon till {lie comprehend her duty, and fee in whit manner it is connected with her real good ? If cliildren B 2
VI DEDICATION.
are to be educated to underiland the true principle of patriotism, their mother muft be a patriot ; and the love of mankind, from which an _ orderly train of virtues fpring, can only be produced by confidering the moral and civil interefl of mankind ; but the education and fltuation of woman, at prefent, fliuts her out from fuch inveitigations.
In this work I have produced many arguments, which to me were conclufive, to prove, that the prevailing no tion refpecting a fexual character was fubverfive of mo rality, and I have contended, that to render the human body and mind more perfect, chaltity muft more univer- fally prevail, and that chalUty will never be refpecled in the male world till the perfon of a woman is not, as it were, idolized when little virtue or fenfe embellifh it with the grand traces of mental beauty, or the intereil- ing firnplicity of affection.
Confider, Sir, difpaffionately, thefe obfervations — for a glimpfe of this truth feemed to open before you when you obierved, ' that to fee one half of the human race ' excluded by the other from all participation of go- ' vcrnment, was a political phoenomenon that, accord- s ing to abftracl principles, it was impoffible to explain.' If fo, on what does your conftitution reft ? If the abilrael rights of man will bear difcuffion and explanation, thofe of women, by a parity of reafoning, will not {brink from the fame teft : though a different opinion prevails in this country, built on the very arguments which you ufe to juicify the oppreffion of woman — prefcription.
Confider, I addrefs you as a legiihtor, whether, when
DEDICATION. VH
men contend for their freedom, and to be allowed to judge for themfelves, refpecting their own happinefs, it be not inconiiftent and unjuft to fubjugate women, even though you firmly believe that you are ading in the manner beft calculated to promote their happinefs ? Who made man the exclusive judge, if woman partake with him the gift of reafbn ?
In this ilyle, argue tyrants of every denomination, from the weak king to the weak father of a family ; they are all eager to crufh reafon ; yet always aiTert that they ufurp its throne only to be ufeful. Do you not act a fimilar part, when you force all women, by denying them civil and political rights, to remain immured in their families groping in the dark? for furely, Sir, you will not affert, that a duty can be binding which is not founded on reafon? If, indeed, this be their deilination, arguments may be drawn from reaibn : and thus auguiK ly fupported, the more undei Handing women acquire, the more they will be attached to their duty — compre hending it—for, unlei's they comprehend it, uniefs their morals be hxed on the fame immutable principles as thofe of man, no authority c^n make chc.'R cLfciiarge it in a virtuous manner. They muy b~- convenient ikves, but iUvery will h.,ve its conitant eifc-cl, degrading tae mailer ^ni me abjecl dependent.
But, if women are to be excluded without having a voice, from a participation of tae natural rights of man- kmd., prove firft, to wurd off the ch irge of injuftice and inconfiftency, that they want region — :i.e this fltw in your N£W CONSTITUTION, tiie firft conilitution
Vlll DEDICATION.
founded on reafon, will ever £hew that man muft, In fome ihape, acl like a tyrant, and tyranny, in whatever part of fociety it rears its brazen front, will ever under mine morality.
I have repeatedly afTerted, and produced what appear ed to me irrefragable arguments drawn fi om matters of fad, to prove my afiertion, that women cannot, by force, b? confmed to domelHc concerns ; for they will, how ever ignorr.nt, intermeddle with more weighty affairs, neglecting private duties only to diilurb, by cunning tricks, the orderly plans of reafon which rife above their comprehenfion.
Befides, whilft they are only made to acquire perfonal accomplishments, men will feek for pleafure in variety, and faithlefs hulbanas will make faithlefs wives ; fuch ignorant beings, indeed, will be very excufable when, not taught to refpecl public good, nor allowed any civil rights, they attempt to do themfelves juftice by reta liation.
The box of mifchief th-us opened in fociety, what is to preferve private virtue, the only fecurity of public freedom and universal happinefs ?
Let there be then no coercion ejlablijbed in fociety, and tlie common law of gravity prevailing, the fexes will fall into their proper places. And, now that more, equit'tble laws ^re forming your citizens, marriage may become more facred ; your young men may choofe wives from motives of affe&ion, and your maidens allow love; to roo1 out vanity.
The father of a family will, not then weaken his con-
DEDICATION. IX
ftitution and debafe his fentiments, by vifiting the har lot, nor forget, in obeying the call of appetite, the pur- pofe for which it was implanted. And, the mother •will not negle£l her children to praclife the arts of co. quetry, when fenfe and modefty fecure her the friendfhip of her hulband.
But, till men become attentive to the duty of a father, it is vain to expecl women to fpend that time in their murfery, which they, '• wife in their generation,' clioofe to fpend at their glafs ; for this exertion of cunning is only an inftinft of nature to enable them to obtain indi rectly a little of that power, of which they are unjuftly denied a mare : for, if women are not permitted to en joy legitimate rights, they will render both men and themfelve.s vicious, to obtain illicit privileges.
I wifh, Sir, to fet fome inveftigations of this kind afloat in France ; and mould they lead to a confirmation of my principles, when your conilitution is revifed, the Rights of Woman may be refpe&ed, if it be fully proved that reafon calls for this refpeft, and loudly demand JUSTICE for one, half of the human race.
I am, Sir,
Your's refpeftfully,
M. W,
INTRODUCTION.
XTLFTER confidering the hifloric page, and viewing the living world with anxious folicitude, the moft me lancholy emotions of ibrrovvful indignation have de- preiicd my fpirks, and I have lighed when obliged to confefs, that either nature has made a great dif ference between man and man, or that the civilization, which ha,s hitherto taken place in the world, has been very partial. I have turned over various book5 writ ten on the iubjecl of education, and patiently obferved the conduct of parents and the management of fchools ; but vviiat has been the refult r — a profound conviction, tliat tiie neglected education of rny fellow- creatures is the grand lource of the miiery I deplore ; and that women in particular, are rendered weak and wretched by a variety of concurring caufes, originating from one haity conclufion. The conducl and manners of women, in facl, evidently prove, that their minds are not in a healthy Hate ; for, like the flowers that are planted in too rich a foil, frrength and uiefulnefs are facrificed to beauty ; and the flaundng leaves, after having pleafed a faftidious eye, fade, difregarded on the ftalk, long be fore .the feafon when they oughjt to have arrived at ma-
INTRODUCTION. XI
turity. One caafe of this barren blooming I attribute to a falfe fyflem of edutdtion, gathered from the books written on this fubjecl: by men, .who, considering females rather as women than human creatures, have been more- anxious to make them alluring miftrefTes than rational wives ; and the underftanding of the fex has been fa bubbled by this fpecious homage, that the civilized women of the prefent century, with a few exceptions, are only anxious to infpire love, when they ought to cherifh a nobler ambition, and by their abilities an 1 virtues exa£l refpeft.
In a treatife, therefore, on female rights and manners, the works which have been particularly written for their improvement muil not be overlooked ; efpecially when it is afierted, in dired terms, that the minds of women are enfeebled by falfe refinement ; that the books of in- ftrucTion, written by men of genius, have had the fame tendency as more frivolous productions ; and that, in the true ftyle of Mahometanifm, they are only confidered as females, and not as a part of the human fpecies, when improvable reafon is allowed to be the dignified dif- tinclion, which raifes men above the brute creation, and puts a natural fceptre in a feeble hand.
Yet, becaufe I am a woman, I would not lead my readers to fuppofe, that I mean violently to agitate the contefled queftion refpefting the equality and inferiority of the fex ; but as the fubjecl: lies in my way, and I cannot pafs it over without fubjecling the main ten dency of my reafoning to mifconftruclipn, I mail ftop a moment to deliver, in a few words, my opinion. — la
Xll INTRODUCTION.
the government of the phylical world, it is obfcrvab!e thut the fe-n.iie, ia gener.ii, is inferior to the nv.le. The male pjrfues, the female yields — :his is the law of nature ; and it does not appear to be fufpenJed or abro gated in favour of woman. This physical iupcriority ci nnot be denied — and it is a noble prerogative ! But not content with this natural pre-eminence, men endea vour to fink us ftill lower, merely to render us alluring objects for a moment; and women, intoxicated by the auoration which men, under the influence of their fenfes, pay them, do not feek to obtain a durable intereft in their hearts, or to become the friends of the fellow- creatures who find amufement in their fociety.
I am aware of an obvious inference : from every quarter have I heard exclamations againft mafculine women; but where are they to be found? If, by this appellation, men mean to inveigh againft their ardour in hunting, mooting, and gaming, I fiuli moft cordially join in the cry; but if it be ugainl the imitation of manly virtues, or, more properly ipeaking, the attain ment of thofe talents and virtues, the exercne of which ennobles the human character, and which raife fe males in the fcale of animal being, when they are com- prehenfively termed mankind — nil thofe who view them with a philosophical eye mud, I mould think, wiilt with me, that they may every day grow more and more mafculine.
This difcuffion naturally divides the fubjeft. I mall 6ril confider women in the grand light of human creatures, who, in common with men, are placed
INTRODUCTION. Xiil
®n this earth to unfjld their faculties ; anl afterwards I mall more particularly point out their peculiar de- fignation.
I wifh alfo to Heer clear of an error, which many re- fjjctable writers have fallen into ; for the inilruftion which has hither been addreffed to women, has rather been applicable to ladies, if the little indirect advice, that is fcattered through Gar.dford and Msrton, be ex- ceptec! ; but, addreiiing my fcx in a linner tone, I pay- particular attention to thjie in th2 middle ciafs, be- caufe they appear to be in the moil natural flate. Perhaps the feeds of fiufe refinement, immorality, and vanity, have ever been Hied by the great. Weak, artificial beings, raifed above the common wants and affections of their race, in a prem-uure unnatural manner, under mine the very foundation of virtue, and fpread corrup tion through the whole rnais of fociety ! As a ckfs of mankind they have the iiron-eil claim to pity ; the education of the rich tends to render them vain and helplefs, and the unfolding mind is not ftrengthened by the practice of thoie duties which dignify the human character. They only live to amufe themfelves, and by the fame law which in nature invariably produces certain effects, they iboa only afford barren •amufement.
But as I purpofe taking a feparateview of the differ ent ranks of fociety, and of the moial cuaracter of wo men, in each, this hint is, for the prefent, fufficient ; and I have o:\ly alluded to the fubjecl, becauie itap jears to n e to be ;he very effbnce of an iu roduclion to give a cur ("cry account of the conteuio of the work it introduces.
XiV INTRODUCTION.
1 My own fex, I hope, will excufe me, if I treat them like rational creatures, inilead of flattering their fafci- nating graces, and viewing them as if they were in a Hate of perpetual childhood, unable to ftand alone. I earneftly wifh to point out in what true dignity and hu man happinefs confifts — I wiih to perfuade women to en deavour to acquire ilrength, both of mind and body, and to convince them, that the foft phrafes, fufceptibility of heart, delicacy of fentiment, and refinement of tafte, are almcft fynonimous with epithets of weaknefs, and that thofe beings who are only the objects of pity and that kind of love, which has been termed its fifter, will foon become objects of contempt.
Difmiffing then thofe pretty feminine phrafes, which the men condescendingly ufe to foften our flaviih de pendence, and defpifing that weak elegancy of mind, exquifite fenfibility, and fweet docility of manners, fup- pofed to be the fexual characterises of the weaker vefTel, I wifh to mow that elegance is inferior to vir tue, that the firft object of laudable ambition is to obtain a character as a human being, regardle-fs of the diftinc- tion of fex ; and that fecondary views mould be brought to this fimple touchflone.
This is a rough fketch of 'my plan ; and mould I ex- prefs my conviction with the energetic emotions that I feel whenever I think of the fubject, the dictates of ex perience and reflexion will be felt by fome of my readers. Animated by this important object, I mall dif- dain to cull my phrafes orpolifh my ftyle — I aim at being ufeful, and fmeerity will .render me unaffected j for,
XV
rather to perfuade by the force of my argu ments, than dazzle by the elegance of my language, I fhall not wafte my time in rounding periods, nor in fa bricating the turgid bombaft of artificial feelings, which, coming from the head, never reach the heart. I mail be employed about things, not words ! — and, anxious to render my fex more refpectable members of fociety, I mall try to avoid that flowery diction which has flided from elTays into novels, and from novels into familiar letters and converfation.
Thefe pretty nothings — thefe caricatures of the real beauty of fenfibiiity, dropping glibly from the tongue, vitiate the tafte, and create a kind of fickly delicacy that turns away from fimple unadorned truth ; and a de luge of falfe fentiments, and overltretched feelings, ftifling the natural emotions of the heart, render the do- meftic pleafures infipid, that ought to fv/eeten the ex- ercife of thofe fevere duties, which educate a rational and immortal being for a nobler field of action.
The education of women has, of late, been more at tended to than formerly ; yet they are ftill reckoned a frivolous fex, and ridiculed or pitied by the writers who endeavour by fatire or inftruction to improve them. It is acknowledged that they fpend many of the firfl years of their lives in acquiring a Shattering of accom- plifhments : meanwhile, ftrength of body and mind arc facrificed to libertine notions of beauty, to the defire of eftablifhing themfelves — the ' only way women can rife in the world — by marriage. And this defire making mere animals of them, when they marry they act as. C
X VI I N T R O D U C T I O NT.
fuch children may be expelled to act : they drefs ; they piint, and nickname God's creatures. Surely thefe weak beings are only fit for the feraglio ! Can they go vern a family, or take care of the poor babes whom they bring into the world ?
If then it can be fairly deduced from the prefent conduct of the fex, from the prevalent fondnefs for pleafure, which takes place of ambition and thofe nobler paffions that open and enlarge the foul j that the inftruc- tion which women have received has only tended, with the conftitution of civil focieiy, to render them irifig- nificant objects of defire ; mere propagators of fools ! if it can be proved, that in aiming to accomplim them, without cultivating their underilandings, they are taken out of their fphere of duties, ?_nd made ridiculous and ufelefs when the mort-lived bloom of beauty is over*, I prefume that rational men will excuie me for endea vouring to perfuade them to become more mafculine and refpeclable.
Indeed the word mafculine is only a bugbear : there is little reafon to fear that women will acquire too much courage or fortitude; for their apparent inferiority with refpect to bodily ilrength, muft render them, in fojne de gree, dependent on men in the various relations of life ; but why mould It be increafed by prejudices that give a fcx to virtue, and confound fimple truths with fenfual reveries ?
Women are, in fact, fo much degraded by miftaken
* A lively writer, I cannot recollefl Us name, a/is Vilat btiftnefe •women turned of furty ba^e to do in the world.
INTRODUCTION. XV11-
notions of female excellence, that I do not mean to add a paradox when I aflert, that this artificial v.-eaknefs produces a propenfity to tyrannize, and gives birth to cunning, the natural opponent of fireiigth, which leads them to play off thofe contemptible infantile airs that undermine eJdeein even wliilft they excite dcfire. Do not fofter thefe prejudices, and they will naturally fall into their fubordinate, yet refpeclable ftation in life.
It feems fcarcely neceffary to fay, that I now fpeak of the fex in general. Many individuals have mere fenfe than their male relatives ; and, as nothing pre ponderates where there is a conftant flruggle for an equilibrium, without it has naturally more gravity, fome women govern their hufbands without degrading themfelves, becaufe intelleft will always gov.cm.
C 2
ADVERT 'IS EM EN1V
r r HEN I began te write this work, I divided it tnto three farts, fuppojlng that one 'volume would contain a full diffusion cf tic arguments which famed to n:e to rife na- fur ally from a few fimple principles s lut frcjh illuft rations occurring as J advanced, I nvw prefent only the frft part ;c tic pullic.
Many fi-.bjeaS} hfrweutr, tvlich I have curforily alluded to, cdi for particular in--veftigaiion, efyeciaUy the lanvs relative to women, axel tbe confederation of their peculiar duties. Tijffe will furnijk ample matter for a fecond vo lume, which in d:te time will le publijhed, to clucidals fane if tl.efeniiments, and complete many cf tie jketckei le^Mi ii the j.rjl.
VINDICATION
OF THE
RIGHTS OF WOMAN.
CHAP, i:
TJie rights and involved duties of mankind confidercd.
IN the prefent {late of. fociety, it appears neceffury to go back to mil principles in fearch of the moH fimple truths, and to difpute with fome prevailing prejudice every inch of ground. To clear my way, I mult be allowed to aik fome plain queftions, and the anfwers will probably appear as unequivocal as the axioms on which reafoning 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 cre ation confift ? The anfwer is as clear as that a half is lefs than the whole ; — In P,eafon.
What acquirement exalts one being above another ?. Virtue ; we fpontaneoufly reply.
For what purpofe were the pafiions implanted ? That
2O VINDICATION OF THE
man by ^Higgling with them might attain a degree of knowledge denied to the brutes ; whifpers Experience.
Cenfequently the perfe&ion of our nature and capa bility of happinefs, muil be eflimated by the degree of reafon, virtue, and knowledge, that diftinguim the indi vidual, and direct the laws which bind fociety : and that from the exercifc of reafon, knowledge and virtue na turally flow, is equally undeniable, if mankind be viewed collectively.
The rights and duties of man thus fimplified, it feems almoft impertinent to attempt to illuftrate truths that appear fo incontrovertible ; yet fuch deeply rooted pre judices have clouded reafon, and fjch fpurious qualities ;i..\i;;;Qumed the name of virtues, that it is neceflary to purlV.c the courfe of reafon as it has been perplexed and involved in error, by various adventitious circumilances, comparing the firnple axiom with cafual deviations.
Men, in general, feem to employ their reafon to juf- tii\ prejudices, v/hich they have imbibed, they cannot IQ.W, rather tlun to root them out. The mind mufl be ftrong that refolutely forms its own principles ; for a kind of intellectual cowardice prevails which makes many men fhrink from the talk, or only do it by halves. Yet the imperfect conclufions thus drawn, are frequently very plaufibie, becaufe they are built on partial experi ence, cti juft, though narrow views.
Going back to fidl principles, vice Ikulks, with all its native deformity, from clcfe inveiligation ; but a fet cfftiallow reafoners are always exclaiming that thefe ar guments proyp koo much, a-nd that a meafure rotten at the core maybe expedient.. Thus expediency is cor^ti-
RIGHTS OF WOMAN, 21
nually contrafted with fimple principles, till truth is loft in a mift of words, virtue in forms, and knowledge ren dered a founding nothing, by^the fpecious prejudices that aflume its name.
That the fociety is formed in the wifefl manner, whofe confutation is founded on the nature of man, {hikes, in the abftraft, every thinking being fo forcibly, that it looks like prefumption to endeavour to bring forward proofs ; though proof muil be brought, or the flrong hold of prefcription will never be forced by reafon ; yet to urge prefcription as an argument to juftify the depriving men (or women) of their natural rights, is one of the abfurd fophifms which daily infult common fenfe.
The civilization of the bulk of the people of Europe, is very partial ; nay, it may be made a queftion, whe ther they have acquired any virtues in exchange for innocence, equivalent to the mifery produced by the vices that have been plaftered over uniightly ignorance, and the freedom which has been bartered for fplendid flavery. The defire of dazzling by riches, the moil certain pre-eminence that man can obtain, the pleaiure of commanding flattering fycophants, and many other complicated low calculations of doting felf-love, have all contributed to overwhelm the mafs of mankind, and make liberty a convenient handle for mock patriotifm. For whilft rank and titles are held of the utmofl im portance, before which Genius (C muft hide its di- rninimed head," it is, with a few exceptions, very un- "&rtunate for a nation when a man of abilities, without
VINDICATION OF THE
rank or property, pufties himfelf forward to notice. Alas ! what unheard of mifery have thoufands fuffered to purchafe a cardinal's hat for an intriguing obfcure adventurer, who longed to be- ranked with princes, or lord it over them by feizing the triple crown !
Such, indeed, has been the wretchednefs that has flowed from hereditary honours, riclies, and monarchy, that men of lively fenfibility have almoft utterec b. .f- phemy in order to juftify the difpenfations of providence. Man has been held out as independent of his power %v:.o made him, or as a lawlefs planet darting from its orbit to ileal the celeflial fire of reafon ; and the vengeance of heaven, lurking in the fubtile flame fuftciently puniflied his temerity, by introducing evil into the world.
Imprefled by this view of the mifery and diforder which pervaded fociety, and fatigued with joiliing sgainft artificial fools, RoufTeau became enamoured of iolitude, and, being at the fame time an optirnift, he labours with uncommon eloquence to prove that man was naturally a folitary animal. Mifled by his rcfpecl: for the good- nefs of God, who certainly — for what man of fenfe and feeling can doubt it ! — gave life only to communi cate happinefs, he confiders evil as pofitive, and the work of man; not aware that he was exalting one at tribute at the expenfe of another, equally neceflkry to divine perfection.
Reared on a falfe hypothecs, his arguments in favour of a flate of nature are plaufible, but unfound. I fay unfound; for to affert that a Hate of nature is preferable.
JR.IGHTS OF WOMAN. 23
to civilization, in all its poffible perfection, is, in other words, to arraign fupreme wifdorn ; and the paradoxical exclamation, that God has made all things right, and that evil has been introduced by the creature, whom he formed, knowing what he formed, is as unphilofophical as impious.
When that wife Being, who created us and placed us here, faw the fair idea, he willed, by allowing it to be fo, that the pafiions fliould unfold our reafon, becaufe he could fee that prefent evil would produce future good. Could the helplefs creature whom he called from nothing, break loofe from his providence, and boldly learn to know good by pradlifing evil, without his permiffion ? No. — How could that energetic advocate for immor* tality argue fo inconfiilently ? Had mankind remained for ever in the brutal ftate of nature, which even his magic pen cannot paint as a ftate in which a fmgle vir tue took root, it would have been clear, though not to the feniitive unreflecting wanderer, that man was born to run the circle of life and death, and adorn God's garden for fome purpofe which could not eafily be re conciled with his attributes.
But if, to crown the whole, there were to be rational creatures produced, allowed to rife in excellence by the exercife of powers implanted for that purpofe ; if be. nignity itfelf thought fit to call into exiflence a crea ture above the brutes*, who could think and improve
* Contrary to the opinion of anatom!J1st *uJjo argue by analogy f the format:on of the te^'(f>) Jlomacb, and intejlinesy 2\o>/JTfiZii iviil filoiu man ta be a carnivorom animal. Andt carried atvayj'rom
rom
nature
24 VINDICATION OF TfiE
himfelf, why mould that ineftirnable gift, for a gift it was, if a man was fo created as to have a capacity to rife above the ftate in which fenfation produced brutal eafe, be called, in direct terms, a curfe ? A curfe it might be reckoned, if all our exigence was bounded by our continuance in this world ; for why mould the gracious fountain of life give us paffions, and the power of re flecting, only to embitter our days, and infpire us with, miftaken notions of dignity ? Why mould he lead us from love of ourfelves to the fublime emotions which the difcovery of his wifdom and goodnefs excites, if thefe feelings were not fet in motion to improve our nature, of which they make a partf, and render us ca pable of enjoying a more godlike portion of happinefs ? Firmly perfuaded that no evil exifb in the world that God did not defign to take place, I build niy belief on the perfection of God.
Rouffeau exerts himfelf to prove, that all was right originally : a crowd of authors that all is now right : and I, that all w/7/ be right.
lyaloveoffyjlsm, be d'-f^utet <iVlet!>er mm be a gregarious animal, tbougl the long and beliefs ftaie of 'infancy fe^mt lo fo'iKt L;tn out at particularly impelled to pair .
\ What ivould you fay fo a mechanic lulom you lad drfircd to male a ivaichto point out the hour of tie L<. '•-' f-'is ingenuity, be added
wheels to mate it a repeater, 1£c that pe) /-'• /'-' mecl.amftn ;
fbould he urge, to c+cufe I'urf. f~ LfiJ j"< noi tout cd a certal>fjfringt you would Lave kr.rtun nothing of tie r.^/.r,', and tuc.t lx Jbovld bavt anufed bimfelf bv making an experiment Tcit'-o>.t tlc'n? yo;i .;/';' harm : ivould ysu not retort fairly upon hi™, by ifiJif>:"->; <•'•' ' 'j '•" ba<* not added tbofe nccdlefs wbtclt and fftiagt, the accident <tul<l not happened.
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 25
But, true to his firil pofition, next to a flatc of na ture, Rouffeau celebrates barbarifm, and, apoftrophizing the made of Fabricius, he forgets that, in conquering the world, the Romans never dreamed of eflablifning their own liberty on a firm bafis, or of extending the reign of virtue. Eager to fupport his fyflem, he ftig- matizes, as vicious, every effort of genius ; and, uttering the apotheofis of favage virtues, he exalts thofe to demi gods, who were fcarcely human — the brutal Spartans, who, in defiance of juftice and gratitude, facriiked in cold blood, the flaves who had mown themfglves men to refcue their oppreiTors.
Difgufled with artificial manners and virtues, the citizen of Geneva, inftead of properly fifting the fub- jeft, threw away the wheat with the chaff, without waiting to inquire whether the evils, which his ardent foul turned from indignantly, were the confequence of civilization, or the vefliges of barbarifm. He faw vice trampling on virtue, and the femblance of goodnefs taking place of the reality ; he faw talents bent by power to fmifter purpofes, and never thought of tracing the gigantic mifchief up to arbitrary power, up to the he reditary diftin&ions that clam with the mental fuperi- ority that naturally raifes a man above his fellows. He did not perceive, that the regal power, in a few gene rations, introduces idiotifm into the noble Item, and holds out baits to render thoufands idle and vicious.
Nothing can fet the regal character in a more con temptible point of view, than the various crimes that have elevated men to the fupreme dignity. Vile in-
26 VINDICATION OF THE
trigues, unnatural crimes, and every vice that degrades our nature, have been the fteps to this diftinguimed eminence ; yet millions of men have fupinely allowed the nervelefs limbs of the pofterity of fuch rapacious prowlers to reft quietly on their enfanguined thrones*. What but a peftilential vapour can hover over fociety, when its chief director is only inftructed in the inven tion of crimes, or the ftupid routine of chil dim ceremo nies ? Will men never be wife ? — will they never ceafe to expect corn from tares, and figs from thiftles ?
It is impolfible for any man, when the moft favour able circumflances concur, to acquire fufficient know ledge and ftrength of mind to difcharge the duties of a king, entrufled with uncontrolled power; how then muft they be violated when his very elevation is an infuperable bar to the attainment of either wifdom or virtue ; when all the feelings of a man are ftifled by flattery, and reflection fhut out by pleafure ! Surely it is madnefs to make the fate of thoufands depend on the caprice of a weak fellow-creature, whofe very ftation finks him necej/arily below the meaneft of his fubjects ! But one power mould not be thrown down to exalt another — for all power intoxicates weak man; and its abufe proves, that the more equality there is eftabliihed among men, the more virtue and happinefs will reign in fociety. But this, and any fimilar maxim deduced from fimple reafon, raifes an outcry — the church or the
* Could there ie a greater infult offered to tie rights of man, tlsn ihe beds of jujlice in Frantc, lulsn an infant was madetht organ oflbt Jeteftablc Dubo'u !
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 2J
ftate is in danger, if faith in the wifdom of antiquity is not implicit ; and they who, roufed by the fight of hu man calamity, dare to attack human authority, are re viled as defpifers of God, and enemies of man. Thefe are bitter calumnies, yet they reached one of the beft of men,* whofe allies flili preach peace, and whofe me mory demands a refpe&ful paufe, when fubje&s are dif- cuffed that lay fo near his heart.
After attacking the facred majelty of Kings, I mall fcarcely excite furprife, by adding my firm perfualion, that every profeffion, in which great fubordination of rank conftitutes its power, is highly injurious to mo rality.
A ftanding army, for inftance, is incompatible with freedom ; becaufe fubordination and rigour are the very {mews of military difcipline ; and defpotifm is neceftary to give vigour to enterprifes that one will directs. A fpirit infpired by romantic notions of honour, a kind of morality founded on the fafliion of the age, can only be felt by a few officers, whilft the main body muft be moved by command, like the waves of the fea ; for the ftrong wind of authority pufhes the crowd of fubalterns forward, they fcarcely know or care why, with headlong fury.
Befides, nothing can be fo prejudicial to the morals of the inhabitants of country towns, as the occasional refidence of a fet of idle fuperftcial young men, whofe only occupation is gallantry, and whofe poliihed man ners render vice more dangerous, by concealing its de-
* Dr. Price.
D
2,8 VINDICATION OF THE
forrrjiy under gay ornamental drapery. An air of fa- fhion, which is but a badge of flavery, and proves that the foul has not a fcrong individual character, awes fim- ple country people into an imitation of the vices, when they cannot catch the flippery graces of politenefs. Every corps is a chain of dcfpots, who, fubmitting and tyrannizing without exerciiing their reafon, become dead weights of vice and folly on the community, A man of rank or fortune, fare of riling by intereft, has nothing to. do but to purfae forne extravagant freak ; v»hiiit the needy gentleman, who is to rife, as the phrafe turns, by his merit, becomes a fervile parafite or vile pander.
Sailors, the naval gentlemen, come under the fame defcription, only their vices affume a different and a grefler care. They are more pofitively indolent, when not difcharging the ceremonials of their ftation ; whilft the infignificant fhttcrirg cf foldiers may be termed ac tive idlcnefs. More confined to the fociety of men, the former acquire a frndnefs for humour and mifchievous tricks ; whilfl the latter, mixing frequently with well- bred \Ycroeiij- catch a fentimental cant. — But mintl is equally out of the queftion, whether they indulge the horfe-laugh. or polite fimper.
May I be allowed to extend the comparifon to a pro- fcflion, where more mind is certain1 y to be found ; for the clergy nave fuperior opportunities cf improvement, tliougb. fubordination almoft equally cramps their facul ties ? The blind fubmiffion impofed at college to forms of belief, ferves as a novitiate to the cura'ce, whomcft ob-
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 2Q
fequioully refpec~l the opinion of his reclor or patron, if he means to rife in his profelRdn. Peirfia^s there cannot be a more forcible contrail tnan between the fervile de pendent gait of a poor curate and the courtly ir.cin of n bifnop. And the refpeft and contempt they infpire render the difcharge of their feperate functions equally ufelefs.
It is of great importance to obferve, that the cho.ra6t.er of every man is, in feme degree, formed by his profel- fion. A man of fenfe may only have a call of counte nance that wears off as you trace his individuality, whiht the weak, common man has fcarcely ever any character, but what belongs to the body ; at leaft, all his opinions have been fo fteeped in the vat confecrated by authority, that the faint fpirit which the gr.ipe of his own vine yields cannot be diilinguifhed.
Society, therefore, as it becomes more enlightened, mould be very careful not to eftablifh bodies of men, who muft neceiTarily be made foolifh or vicious by the very conftitution of their profeilion.
In the infancy of fociety, when men were juft emerg ing out of barbarifm, chiefs and priefb, touching the moft powerful fp rings of favage conduct, hope and fear, mufl have had unbounded iV.iv. An. arillocracy, of courfe, is naturally the firft form oi" govjrnment. But claming in tereftsfoonlofmg their equipoile, a monarchy and hierarchy break out of the confufion of ambitious ftfuggles, and the foundation of both is.fecured by feudal tenures. This appears to be the origin of monarchical and prieftly power, and the dawn of civilization. But
D.2
3© VINDICATION OF THE
fuch combuftibie materials cannot long be pent up ; and, getting vent in foreign wars and inteftine infurre&ions, the people acquire Tome power in the tumult, which obliges their rulers to glofs over their oppreflion with a mew of right. Thus, as wars, agriculture, commerce, and literature expand the mind, defpots are compelled, to make covert corruption hold faft the power which was formerly matched by open force *. And this bane ful lurking gangrene is moil quickly fpread by luxury and fuperftition, the fure dregs of ambition. The in dolent puppet of a court firft becomes a luxurious mon- fter, or fiilidious fenfualift, and then makes the con tagion which his unnatural Hate fpread, the inflrument of tyranny.
It is the peftifarious purple which renders the progrefs of civilization a curfe, and warps the underflanding, till men of fenfibiiity doubt whether the expanfion of intel lect produces a greater portion of happinefs or mifery. But the nature of the poifon points out the antidote ; and had Roufieau mounted one ftep higher in his invef- tigation; or could his eye have pierced through the foggy atmofphere, which he almoil difdained to breathe, his aclive mind would have darted forward to contem plate the perfection of man in the eflablifnment of true civilization, inftead of taking his ferocious flight back to the night of fenfual ignorance.
* JWeu ef abilities fcatter feeds that gt oiv uj>} and have a great in fluence on the firming opinion ; and ivben onct the pftbllc opinion prepon • derates, through the exertion of reafon, tie <fcerthtQ"w of arbitrary foiver is not vet y di/Lint.
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 3!
CHAP. II.
The prevailing opinion of a fexual character difcujjed.
JL O account for, and excufe the tyranny of man, many ingenious arguments have been brought forward to prove, that the two fexes, in the acquirement of vir tue, ought to aim at attaining a very different charac ter: or, to fpeak explicitly, women are not allowed to have fufficient flrength of mind to acquire what really deferves the name of virtue. Yet it fhould feem, allow ing them to have fouls, that there is but one way ap pointed by Providence to lead mankind to either virtue or happinefs.
If then women are not a fvvarm of ephemeron triflers> why mould they be kept in ignorance under the fpe- cious name of innocence ? Men complain, and with reafon, of the follies and caprices of our fex, when they do not keenly fatirize our headHrong palfions and groveling vices. — Behold, I fliould anfwer, the natural effect of ignorance ! The mind will ever be unftable that has only prejudices to reft on, and the current will run. with deftruclive 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 lit tle knowledge of human weaknefs, juftly termed cun ning, foftnefs of temper, outward obedience, and a fcrupulous attention to a puerile kind of propriety, will obtain for them the protection of man; and Ihould they
32 VINDICATION OF THE
be beautiful, every thing elfe is needlefs, for, at leaft, twenty years of their lives.
Thus Milton defcribes our firft frail mother; though when he tells us that women are formed for foftnefs and fvveet attractive grace, 1 cannot comprehend his mean ing, unlefs, in the true Mahometan flrain, he meant to deprive us of fouls, and insinuate that we were beings only defigned by fweet attractive grace, and docile blind obedience, to gratify the fenfes of man when he can no longer foar on the wing of contemplation.
How grofsly do they infult us, who thus advife us only to render ourfelves gentle, domeftic brutes ! For i iftance, the winning foftnefs fo warmly, and frequent ly recommended, that governs by obeying. What childifh expreflions, and how infignificant is the being can it be an immortal one? who will condefcend to govern by fuch fmifter methods ! < Certainly,' fays Lord Bacon, ' man is of kin to the beafts by his body;. • and if he be not of kin to God by his fpirit, he is a ' bafe and ignoble creature!' Men, indeed, appear to rne to aft in a very unphilofophical manner, when they try to fecure the good conduct of women by attempting to keep them always in a ftate of childhood. RoufTeau was more confident when he wifhed to flop the progrefs, of reafon in both fexes, for if men eat of the tree of knowledge, women will come in for a tafle; but, from the imperfect cultivation which their underftan dings now receive, they only attain a knowledge of evil.
Children, I grant, mould be innocent; but when the epithet is applied to mc-n, or women, it is but a civil
RIGHTS OF WOMAN, 33
term for weaknefs. For if it be allowed that women were deftined by Providence to acquire human virtues, and by the exercife of their underilandings, that liabi lity of character which is the firmeft ground to reft our future hopes upon, they muft be permitted to turn to the fountain of light, and not forced to fhape their courfe by the twinkling of a mere fatellite. Miiton, I grant, was of a very different opinion; for he only bends to the indefefible right of beauty, though it would be difficult to render two paffages which I now mean to contrail, confident. But into fimilar inconftft- encies are great men often led by their fenfes,
To iv/jom tlus Eve with perfe<9: beauty adoriid ' : JMy Author and Dijpojert "what tbou bidft Unargucd / obey ; fo God ordains ; God is thy law, thou mine : to know no more Is Wamans happieft knowledge and her praife.'
Thefe are exactly the arguments that I have ufed to children; but I have added, your reafon is now gaining flrength, and, till it arrives at fome degree of maturity, you muft look up to me for advice — then you ought to think, and only rely on God.
Yet in the following lines Milton feems to coincide with me; when he makes Adam thus expoftu-late with his Maker.
JJajl thou not made me here thy fulftittite. And tbefe inferior far beneath me fet ? Among unequals ivbatfociety Can fort, tubat Larmony or true delight ? Wblth mujl be mutual^ in •proportion due
34 VINDICATION OF THE
Giifn and receivd ; tut in difparicy ffht one intenfe^ the other jlill retr.lfi Cannot ivellfuit •with either^ but foon prevf Tedious alike : of fellowfhip I fpeak Such as Ifeek.fit to participate All rational delight — •
In treating, therefore, of the manners of women, let us, difregarding fenfual arguments, trace what we mould endeavour to make them in order to co-operate, if the expreffion be not too bold, with the Supreme Being.
By individual education, I mean, for the fenfe of the word is not precifely defined, fuch an attention to a child as will {lowly fliarpen the fenfes, form the temper, regulate the paflions, as they begin to ferment, and fet the underftanding to work before the body arrives at maturity ; fo that the man may only have to proceed, not to begin, the important tafk of learning to think and reafon.
To prevent any mifconftru&ion, I mult add, that I do not believe that a private education can work the wonders which fome fanguine writers have attributed to it. Men and women muft be educated, in a great de gree, by the opinions and manners of the fociety they live in. In every age there has been a ftream of popu lar 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 fociety be differently conftituted, much cannot be expected from education. It is, however, fufficient for my prefent purpofe to aflert, that, whatever effect circumftances have en the.
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 35
abilities, every being may become virtuous by the exer- cife of its own reafon; for if but one being was created with vicious inclinations, that is pofitively bad, what can fave us from atlieifm? or if we worfhip a God, is not that God a devil?
Confequently, the moft perfect education, in my opinion, is fuch an exercife of the underftanding as is beft calculated to flrengtlien the body and form the heart. Or, in other words, to enable the individual to attain fuch habits of virtue as will render it indepen dent. In faft, it is a farce to call any being virtuous whofe virtues do not refult from the exercife of its own reafon. This was Rouffeau's opinion refpec"Ung men: I extend it to women, and confidently ailert, that they have been drawn out of their fphere by falfe refinement, and not by an endeavour to acquire mafculine qualities. Still the regal homage which they receive is fo intoxicat ing, that till the manners of the times are changed, and formed on more reafonable principles, it may be impoflible to convince them, that the illegitimate power, which they obtain by degrading themfelves, is a curfe, and that they mult return to nature and equality, if they wifh to fecure the placid fatisfa&ion that unfophifticated affections impart. Bat for this epoch we muft wait- wait, perhaps, till kings and nobles, enlightened by reafon, and, preferring the real dignity of man to childiih ftate, throw off their gaudy hereditary trappings: and if then women do no relign the arbitrary power of beauty — they will prove that they have lefs mind than man.
36 VINDICATION OF THE
I may be accufed of arrogance ; ftill I muil declare, what 1 firmly believe, that all the writers who have written on the iuhject of female education and manners, from Rouficau to Dr. Gregory, have contributed to ren der women more artificial, weak characters, than they would otherwife have been; and, confequently, more ufelefs members of ibciety. I might have expreiled this conviction in a lower key; but I am afraid it would have been the whine of affectation, and not the faithful expreflion of my feelings, of the clear refult, which ex perience and reflection have led me to draw. When I come to that divifion of the fubject, I mail advert to the paffages that I more particularly difapprove of, in the works of the authors I have juil alluded to ; but it is firft neceffary to obferve, that my objection extends to the whole purport of thofe books, which tend, in my opinion, to degrade one half of the human fpecies, and render women pleafing at the expence of every folid virtue.
Though, to reafon on Roufteau's ground, if man did attain a degree of perfection of mind when his body ar rived at maturity, it might be proper, in order to make a man and his wife one, that {he mould rely entirely on his underftanding ; and the graceful ivy, clafping the oak that fupported it, would form a whole in which flrength and beauty would be equally confpicuous. But, alas ! hufbands, as well as their helpmates, are often only overgrown children ; nay, thanks to early de bauchery, fcarcely men in their outward form — and if the blind lead the blind, one need not come from hea ven to tell us the confequence.
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 37
Many arc the caufes that, in the prefent corrupt ftate of fociety, contribute to enflave women by cramping their underftandings and fliarpening their fenfes. One, perhaps, that filently does more mifchief than all the reft, is their difregard of order.
To do every thing in an orderly manner, is a moll important precept, which women, who, generally fpeak- ing, receive only a diforderly kind of education, fel- dorn attend, to with that degree of exadnefs that men, who from their infancy are broken into method, ob- ferve. This negligent kind of guefs-work, for what •other epithet can be ufed to point out the random exer tions of a fort of inilindlive common fenfe, never brought to the ted of reafon ? prevents their generalizing mat ters of facl: — fo they do to-day, what they did yefter- day, merely becaufe they did it yefterday.
This contempt of the undemanding in early life has mere baneful coofcqueiices than is commonly Aippofed; for the little knowledge wUich women of ftrong minds attain, is, from various circumiiances, of a more deuil- tory kind than the knowledge of men, and it is acquired more by meer obfe'rvations on real life, than from com paring what has been individually obferved with the re- falts of experience generalized by fpeculation. Led by their dependent fituatbn and domeftic employments more into fociety, what they learn is rather by fnatches; and as learning is with them, in general, only a fecon- dary tiling, they Jo not purfue any one branch with that pcrievcring ardour neccflary to give vigour to the faculties, and clcaraefs to the judgment. In the pre-
3 VINDICATION OF THE
fent ilate of fociety, a little learning is required to fup- port the character of a gentleman; and boys are obliged, to fubmit to a few years of difcipline. But in the edu cation of women, the cultivation of the underftanding is always fubordinate to the acquirement of fome cor poreal accomplifhment ; even while enervated by con finement and falie notions of'modefty, the body is pre vented from attaining that grace and beauty which relaxed half- formed limbs never exhibit. Befides, in youth their faculties are not brought forward by emula tion; and having no ferious fcientific ftudy, if they have natural fagacity it is turned too foon on life and manners. They dwell on effects, and modifications, without tracing them back to caufes ; and complicated rules to adjuft behaviour are a weak fubftitute for fim- ple principles.
As a proof that education gives this appearance of \veaknefs to females, we may initance the example of military men, who are, like them, fent into the world before their minds have been ftored with knowledge or fortified by principles. The confequences are fimilar ; foldiers acquire a little fuperficial knowledge, fnatched from the muddy current of converfation, and, from con tinually mixing with fociety, they gain, what is termed a knowledge of the world; and this acquaintance with manner* and cufloms has frequently been confounded with a knowledge of the human heart. But can the crude fruit of cafual obfervation, never brought to the tcft of judgment, formed by comparing fpeculation and,, experience, defer ve fuch a diftinction? Soldiers, as well
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 39
women, pra&ife the minor virtues with punctilious po- litenefs. Where is then the fexual difference, when the education has been the fame ; All the difference thdt I can difcern, arifes from the fuperior advantage of liber ty, which enables the former to fee more of life.
It is wandering from my prefent fubjedl, perhaps, to make a political remark; but as it was produced natu rally by the train of my reflections, 1 ihall not pafs it fi- lently over.
Standing armies can ever confift of refolute, robuft men ; they may be well difciplined machines, but they will feldom contain men under the influence of itrong paffions, or with very vigorous faculties. And as for any depth of underfcanding, I will venture to affirm, that it is as rarely to be found in the army as amongft wo men ; and the caufe, I maintain, is the fame. It may be further obferved, that officers are alfo particularly at tentive to their perfons, fond of dancing, crowded rooms, adventures, and ridicule* . Like the fair fex, the bufi- nefs of their lives is gallantry — They were taught to pleafe, and they only live to pleafe. Yet they do net lofe their rank in the diftinclion of fexes, for they are ftill reckoned fuperior to women, though in what their fuperiority confifts, beyond what I have juit mentioned, it is difficult to difcover.
The great misfortune is this, that they both acquire
* Why faould lOotnen be ctnfured lulik petulant aci • tJj-y fet.'M to have a pajjion for a fear let coat ? Has nut e tre on a level ultb fddhrs than any ctbcr ciifs cj
E
40 VINDICATION OF THE
manners before morals, and a knowledge of life before they have, from reflection, any acquaintance 'with the grand ideal outline of human nature. The confequence is natural; fatisfied with common nature, they become a prey to prejudices, and tr.king all their opinions on credit, they blindly fubrnit to authority. So that, if they have any fenfe, ic is a kind of inftinctive glance, that catches proportions, and decides with refpect to man ners ; but fails when arguments are to be purfued below the furfaee, or opinions analyzed.
May not the fame remark be applied to women ? Nay, the argument may be carried {till further, for they are both thrown out of a ufeful ilation by the unnatural diilin£tions eUablifned in civilized life. Riches and he reditary honours have made cyphers of women to give conie|uence to the numerical figure ; and idlenefs has produced a mixture of gallantry and defpotifm into fo- ciety, which Isads the very men who are the flaves of their miftreffes, to tyrannize over their fillers, 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 fought for by power, tyrants and fenfjali.ls are in the right when they endeavour to keep women in the dark, becaufe the former only want flaves, and the latter a play-thing. The fenfualift, indeed, has been, the moft dangerous of tyrants, and women have been duped by their lovers, as princes by their mini- flers, -vvhilil dreaming that they reigned over them.
I now principally allude to RouiTeau, for his charac-
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 4!
ter of Sophia, is, undoubtedly, a captivating cr.c, though it appears to me groisly unnatural ; however, it is r,ot the fuperftru&ure, but die foundation or her charter, the principles on which her education was built, u mean to attack j nay, warmly as I admire the genius of that able writer, whofe opinions 1 iliali often have co cafion to cite, indignation always takes place of adnn- ration, and the rigid frown of iniultcd virtue effaces the fmile of complacency, which his eloquent periods are wont to raife, when I read his voluptuous reveries. 3s this the man, who, in his ardour for virtue, would baniih all the foft arts of peace, and aimoft carry us back 10 Spartan difcipiine ? Is this the man who delights to paint the ufeful ftrugglss of pafiion, the triumphs of good difpofitions, and the heroic flights which carry the glowing foul out of itfelf ? — How are thefc mighty fcn- ments lowered when he defcribes the pre::i:y foot and enticing airs of his little favourite ! But, for the p-re- fent, I wave the fubject, and, inflead of fevc-:ely re prehending the traiiiient efFufions of overweening fenfi- bility, I mall only obferve, that whoever has caft a be nevolent eye on fociety, mult often have been gratified by the fight of humble mutual love, not dignified by fentiment, nor ftrengthened by a union in intellectual purfuits. The domeflic trilies of the day have afforded matter for cheerful converfe, and innocent carefTes have foftcned toils which did not require great exercife of mind, or flretch of thought : yet, has not the fight of this moderate felicity excited more tendernels than re- fpecl? An emotion fimilar to what \ve feel when chil- E 2
42 VINDICATION OF THE
dren are playing, or animals fporting*, whilfl the con-. tcmplation of tile noble ftruggles of fufFering merit has i- led admiration, and carried our thoughts to that world where fenfation will give place to leafon.
Women are, therefore, to be confide red either as moral beings, or fo weak that they muft be entirely i.bjededto the fuperior faculties of men.
Let us examine this queftion. RoufTeau declares," that a woman fhculd never, for a moment, feel herfelf inde pendent, that me mould be governed by fear to exer- cixe her natural cunning, and made a coqnetilh flave in order to render her a more alluring object of deiire, z fvosetcr companion to man, whenever he choofes to relax himfeif. He carries the arguments, which he pretends to draw from the indications of nature, ftill further, and infmuates that truth and fortitude, the corner flones of all human virtue, mall be cultivated with certain reltriclicns, becaufe, with refpecl: to the female character, obedience is the grand lefibn which ought to be impreffed v/ith unrelenting rigour.
What nonfenfe I when will a great man arife with fufFicient ftrength of mind to puff away the fumes which pride and* feniuality have thus fpread over the fubjeol !
* SimiLir fedlng* Las Mll'.tn * pleaftng pifiure of faradif:a:al lap' pinefs ever raifid In my mind; yet, in ft cad of envying ile lovely pair, I iWe, 10 :ib cc-r.fc'.ous dignity, or Satanic frittc, turned to hell for fitbl'nr.er oljsfts. In tb'fameftylf^w^en •viewing fame noble incniimtnt of I urn an f faced the etnanallw of the De.'fy in the order I cd^ired, 'ir.v from that p'uL'y L'eigbtt I I'fVC taught myfclf ccntcm- grinitfi of :.-» bKmantfgbts -^f or fancy ^hll^l^d, in reefffi ^r. i,:<ic;.j; uf jet funs, t ifingfuftiicr 1o fnj/'cr. and
OF WOMAN. 43
If women are by nature inferior to men, their virtues muft be the fame in quality, if not in degree, or virtue is a relative idea ; confequently, their conduft mould be founded on the fame principles, and have the fame aim.
Connecled with man as daughters, wives, and mo thers, their moral character may be eilimated by their manner of fulfilling thofe fimple duties ; but the end, the grand end cf their exertions fiiould be to unfold their own faculties, and acquire the dignity of confcious virtue. They may try to render their road pleafant ; but ought never to forget, in common with man, that life yields not the felicity which can fatisfy an im mortal foul. I do not mean to insinuate, that either fex mould be fo loft, in abftract reflections or diitant views, as to forget the affeclions 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 recom mend them, even while I affert, that they afford mo ft fatisfa&ion when they are comlclered in their true fabordinate light.
Probably the prevailing opinion, that woman was created for man, may have taken its rife from Mofes'.s poetical {lory ; yet, as very few it is prefumed, who have bellowed any ferious thought on the fubjecl, ever fuppcfed that Eve was, literally fpeaking, one of Adam's ribs, the deduction muft be allowed to fall to the ground ; or only be fo fir admitted as it proves that man, from the remoteft antiquity, founl it convenient to exert his ftrength to fubjugate his companion, arid his invention to mow that ilie ought to have her neck bent E3
44 VINDICATION OF THE
under the yoke ; becaufe flie, as well the brute creation, was created to do his pleafure.
Let it not be concluded, that I wifli to invert the order of things ; I have already granted, that, from the coniU- tution of their bodies, men feem to be defigned by Pro vidence to attain a greater degree of virtue. I fpeak collectively of the whole fex ; but I fee not the fhadow of a reafcn to conclude that their virtues mould differ in refpedt to their nature. In faft, how can they, if virtue has only one eternal ftanclard ? I muft, there fore, if I reafon confequentially, as fcrenuoufly main- Tain, that they have the fame iimple direction, .as that there is a God.
It follows then, that cunning mould not be oppofed to wifdom, little cares to great exertions, nor infipid foft- nefs, varniihed over with the name of gentlenefs, to that fortitude which grand views alone can infpire.
I mall be told, that woman would then lofe many of her peculiar graces, and the opinion of a well known poet might be quoted to refute my unqualified aflertions. for Pope has foid, in the name of the whole male fex,
' Yet ne'er Co furs oat* bafjlons to create^
* As lubenjke toucl ' d the brink of all we hate?
In what light this fally places men and women, I mail leave to the judicious to determine; meanwhile I mall content myfelf with obferving, that I cannot difcover why, unlefs they are mortal, females mould always be degraded by being made fubfervient to love or luft.
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 45
To fpeak difrefpe&fully of love Is, I know, high treafon againft feritiment and fine feelings ; but I wifti to fpeak the fimple language of truth, and rather to addrefs the head than the heart. To endeavour to rea- fon love out of the world, would be to out Quixote Cervantes, and equally offend againft common fenfe ; but an endeavour to reftrain this tumultuous paffion, and to prove that it fhould not be allowed to de throne fuperior powers, or to ufurp the fceptre which the underftanding mould ever coolly wield, appears lefs wild.
Youth is the feafon for love in both fexes ; but in thofe days of thoughtlefs enjoyment provifion mould be made for the more important years of life, when re flection takes place of fenfation. But RoufTeau, and moil of the male writers who have followed his fteps, have warmly inculcated that the whole tendency of female education ought to be directed to one point — to render them pleafmg.
Let rne reafon with the fupporters 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 pleafe, will foon find that her charms are oblique fun-beams, and that they cannot have much effect on her hufband's heart when they are feen every day, when the fummer is paft and gone. Will me then have fufficient native energy to look into herfelf for comfort, and cultivate her dormant faculties ? or, is it not more rational to expect, that fhe will try to pleafe other men j and,
.46 VINDICATION OF THE
in the emotions raifed by the expectation of new con- quefts, endeavour to forget the mortification her love or pride has received ? When the hufband ceafes to be a lover — and the time will inevitably come, her defire of pleafing will then grow languid, or become a f|xring of bitternefs ; and love, perhaps, the moft eva- nefcbnt of all paffions, gives place to jealoufy or vanity*
I now fpeak of women who are reftrained by princi ple or prejudice ; fuch women, though they would fhrink from an intrigue with real abhorrence, yet, neverthelefs, wim to be convinced by the homage of "gallantry, that they are cruelly neglected by their huf- bands ; or, days and weeks are fpent in dreaming of the happinefs enjoyed by congenial fouls, till the health is undermined and the fpirits broken by difcontent. How then can the great art of pleafing be fuch a neceflkry ftudy ? it is only ufeful to a miftrefs ; the chaile wife, and ferious mother, mould only consider her power to pleafe as the polifhof her virtues, and the affection of her hulband as one of the comforts that render her talk lefs difficult, and her life happier. But, whether me be loved or neglected, her firft wifh mould be to make herfelf refpectable, and not to rely for all her happinefs on a being fubject to like infirmities with herfelf.
The amiable Dr. Gregory fell into a fimilar error. I refpect his heart; but entirely difapnrove of his cele brated Legacy to his Daughters.
He advifes them to cultivate a fondnefs for.drefs, becaufe a fondnefs for drefs, he afferts, is natural to
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 47
them. I am unable to comprehend what either he or Roufleau mean, when they frequently ufe this indefinite term. If they told us, that in a pre-exiftent (late the foul was fond of drefs, and brought this inclination \viih it into a new body, I fliould liften to them with a half fmile, as I often do when I hear a rant about in nate elegance.— —But if he only meant to fay that the exercife of the faculties will produce this fondnefs, I deny it. It is not a natural ; but arifes, like falfe am bition in men, from a love of power.
Dr. Gregory goes much further ; he adlually recom mends diflimulation, and advifes an innocent girl to give the lie to her feelings, and not dance with fpirit' when gaiety of heart would make her feet eloquent* without making her geftures immodefl. In the name of truth and common fenfe, why mould not one woman acknowledge that me can take more exercife than another ? or, in other words, that me has a found con- fUtution ; and why, to damp innocent vivacity, is (lie darkly to be told, that men will draw conclufions which me little thinks of? — Let the libertine draw what in ference he pleafes ; but, I hope, that no fenfible mother will reftrain the natural franknefs of youth, by inftil- ling fuch indecent cautions. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth fpeaketh ; and a wifer than Solomon hath faid, that the heait mould be made clean, and not trivial ceremonies obferved, which it is not very diffi cult to fulfil with fcrupulous exaftnefs when vice reigns in the heart.
Women ought to endeavour to purify their hearts ;
48 VINDICATION OF THE
but can they do fo when their uncultivated underfland- ings make them entirely dependent on their ienles for employment and amufement, when no noble purfuits fets them above the little vanities of the day, or enables them to curb the wild emotions that agitate a reed over which every paffing breeze has power ? To gain the affections of a virtuous man, is affectation neceffary ? Nature has given woman a weaker frame than man ; but, to enfure her hufbana's afieclions, rnuft a wife, who, by the exercife of her mind and body, whillt ihe was difcharging the duties of a daughter, wife, and mother, has allowed her confutation to retain its natural ftrength, and her nerves a healthy tone, is fhe, I fay, to condefcend, to ufe art, and feign a fickly delicacy, in order to fecure her hufband!s affection ? Weaknefs may excite tendernefs, and gratify the arrogant pride of man ; but the lordlefs careffes of a protector will not gratify a noble mind that pants for, and deferves to be refpecled, Fondnefs is a poor fubftitute for friendihip !
In a feraglio, I grant that ail thefe arts are necefiary ; the epicure mud have his palate tickled, or he will fink into apathy; but have women fo little ambition as to be fatisfied with fuch a condition ? Can they fupinely dream life away in the lap of pleafare, or the languor of wearinefs, rather than aiTert their claim to purfue reafonable pleafures, and render themfelves confpicuous, by praclifmg the virtues which dignify mankind ? Surely me has not an immortal foul who can loiter life away, merely employed to adorn her perfon, that me may amufe the languid hours, and foften the cares of a
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 49
fellow-creature who is willing to be enlivened by her fmiles and tricks, when the ferious buiinefs of life is over.
Befides, the woman who ftrengthens her body and exercifes her mind will, by managing her family and pra&ifmg various virtues, become the friend, and not the humble dependent of her hufband, and if me de- fervss his regard by polTelTmg fuch fabftantial qualities, (he will not find it necefTary to conceal her affection, nor to pretend to an unnatural coldnefs of conilitutionto excite her huiband's paffions. In fact, if we revert to hiilory, we ihall iind that the women who have diftin- guifhed themfelves Have neither been ihe moil beautiful nor the mofc gentle or their fax,
Nature, or to fpeak with Uriel propriety God, has made all things rig lit ; but mm hus fought him out many inventions to mar the work. I now allude to that part of Dr. Gregory's treatiie, where he advifes a wife never to let her hulband know the extent of her fenfibi- lity or affection. Voluptuous precaution, and as ineffec tual as abfard. — Love, from its very nature, muft be tranlitory. To feek for a fecret that would render it conflant, would be as wild a iearch as for the philofo- pher's ftone, or the grand panacea ; and the difcovery would be equally u/elefs, or rather pernicious to man kind. The moft holy band of fociety is f/iendfhip. It has been well (aid, by a flirewd fatirift, '* that rare as true love is, true friendmip is iHll rarer"
This is an obvious truth, andthecaufe not lying deep, will not eluck a flight glance of inquiry.
Love, the common pafiion, in which chance and fen-
5<3 VINDICATION OF THE
fation take place of choice and reafon, is, in fome de gree, felt by the mafs of mankind ; for it is not necef- fary to fpeak, at prefent, of the emotions that rife above or fmk below love. This paffion, naturally increafed by fufpenfe and difficulties, draws the mind out of its ac- cuflomed ftate, and exalts the afte&ions ; but the fecu- rity of marriage, allowing the fever of love to fublicle, a healthy temperature i? thought infipid, only by thofe who have not fufficient intellect to fubftitute the calm tendernefs of friendfhip, the confidence of refpeft, in- ftead of blind admiration, and the fenfual emotions of fondnefs.
This is, muft be, the courfe of nature — friendmip or indifference inevitably fucceeds love. — And this confti- tution feems perfectly to harmonize with the fyftem of government which prevails in the moral world. Paf- fions are fours to action, and open the mind; but they fmk into mere appetites, become a perfonal and mo mentary gratification, when the object is gained, and the fatisfied mind refts in enjoyment. The man who had fome virtue whilft he was ftru^gling for a crown, often becomes a voluptuous tyrant when it graces his brow ; and, when the lover is not loft in the hufband, the do tard, a prey to childifh caprices, and fond jealoufies, negleds the ferious duties of life, and the careffes which mould excite confidence in his children are lavifhed on the overgrown child, his wife.
In order to fulfil the duties of life, and to be able to purfue with vigour the various employments which form the moral character, a mailer and jniftrefs of a family
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 51
ought not to continue to love each other with pailion. I mean to fay, that they ought not to indulge thofe emotions which diflurb the order of fociety, and engrofs the thoughts that mould be otherwife employed. The mind that has never been engrofied by one object wants vigour — if it can long be fo, it is weak.
A miilaken education, a narrow, uncultivated mind, and many fexual prejudices, tend to make women more conftant than men; but, for the prefent, I {hall not touch on this branch of the (abject. I will go flill fur ther, and advance, without dreaming of a paradox, that an unhappy marriage is often very advantageous to a fa mily, and that the negle&ed wife is, in general, the bell mother. And this would almeil always be the confe- quence, if the female mind was more enlarged : for, it feems to be the common difpenfation of Providence, that what we gain in prefent enjoyment mould be de- dueled from the treasure of life, experience; and that when we are gathering the flowers of the day and revel ling in pleafure, the folid fruit of toil and wifdom mould not be caught at the fame time. The way lies before us, we muft turn to the right or left; and he who will pafs life away in bounding from one pleafure to another, mull: not complain if he neither acquires wifdom nor re- fpeclability of character.
Suppofing, for a moment, that the foul is not immor tal, aad that man was only created for the prefent fcene, — I think we mould have reufon to complain that love, inf .ntins foninefs, ever grew infipid and palled upon the fenfe. Let us eat, drink, and love, for to-morrow F
52 VINDICATION OF THE
we die, would be, in feel, the language of reafon, the morality of life ; and who but a fool would part with a reality for a fleeting fhadow ? But, if awed by obferving the improvable powers of the mind, we difdain to con fine our w ifhes or thoughts to fuch a comparatively mean field of aclion; that only appears grand and im portant, as it is connected with a boundlefs profpedl and fublime hopes, what neceffity is there for falfehood in condudt, and why muft the facred majefty of truth be violated to detain a deceitful good that faps the very foundation of virtue? Why muft the female mind be tainted by coquetifh arts to gratify the fenfualift, and prevent love from lubliding inco friendfhip, or compaf- ijonate tendeinefs, when there are not qualities on which friendfnip can be built? Let the honell heart mew itfelf, and rcaj'on teach pafiion to fubmit to neceflity; or, let the dignified puriuit of virtue and knowledge raife the mind above taofe emotions which rather imbitter than fweeten the cup of life, when they are not reftrained within due bounds.
I do not meun to allude to the romantic paflion, which is tiie concomitant of genius.— Who can clip its wing? Bat that grand paffion not proportioned to the puny en joyments of life, is only true to the fentiment, and feeds on ufelf. The puiTiuns which have been celebrated for their durability hnve always been unfortunate. They have acquired lirength by ablence and conftitutional i: . 1 nchuiy — The fancy has hovered round a fojnvof bcr.aty dirrly feer — but Lmiliarity might have turned ^ciun mto du^uilj or, at ie«^l, into ijudiiference,
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 53
and allowed the imagination leifure to Hart fVefli game. With perfect propriety, according to this view of things, does RoufTeau make the miftrefs of his foul, Eloifa, love St. Preux, when life was fading before her; but this is no proof of the immortality of the paffion.
Of the fame complexion is Dr. Gregory's advice re- fpefting delicacy of fentiment, which he advifes a wo man not to acquire, if me has determined to marry. This determination, however, perfectly confident with his former advice, he calls indelicate, and earneftly per- fuades his daughters to conceal it, though it may go vern their conducl : as if it were indelicate to have the common appetites of human nature.
Noble morality ! and confident with the cautious pru dence of a little foul that cannot extend its views be yond the prefent minute divifion of exiftence. If all the faculties of woman's mind are only to be cultivated as they refpecl her dependence on man; if, when {he obtains a hulband me has arrived at her goal, and meanly proud, is fatisfied with fuch a paltry crown, let her grovel con tentedly, fcarcely raifed by her employments above the animal kingdom ; but, if me is ftruggling for the prize of her high calling, let her cultivate her underftanding without Hopping to confider what character the huiband may have whom me is deilined to marry. Let her only determine, without being too anxious about prefent hap- pinefs, to acquire the qualities that ennoble a rational being, and a rough inelegant huflxmd may Ihock her taile without deftroying her peace of mind. She wii^ not model her foul to fuit the frailties of her companioisT F 2
54 VINDICATION OF THE
but to bear with them: ms chara&er may be a trial, but not an impediment to virtue.
If Dr. Gregory confined his remark to romantic ex pectations of conftant love and congenial feelings, he Ihould have recollected, that experience will baniih what advice can never make us ceafe to wifh for, when the imagination is kept alive at the expence of reafon.
I own it frequently happens, that women who have foflered a romantic unnatural delicacy of feeling, wafte their* lives in imagining how happy they fhoald have been with a huiband who could love them with a fervid increafmg affeftion every day, and all day. But they might as well pine married as fingle — and would not be a jot more unhappy with a bad huiband than longing for a good one. That a proper education ; or, to fpeak with more preciiion, a well ftored mind, would enable a woman to fupport a fingle life with dignity, I grant; but that ine Ihould avoid cultivating her taile, left her huiband mould occafionally (hock it, is quitting a fub- ilance for a fhadow. To fay the truth, I do not know of what ufe is an improved tafte, if the individual is not rendered more independent of the cafualties of life; if new fources of enjoyment, only dependent on the foli- tary operations of the mind, are not opened. People of tafte, married or fingle, without diflindion, will ever be difgufted by various things that touch not lefs ob- ferving minds. On this conclufion the argument muft not be allowed to hinge; but in the whole furn of en joyment is tafte to be denominated a bleiTmg?
* for example ; the herd of novtlifts.
RIGHTS 'OF WOMAN. 55
The queftion is, whether it procures moft pain or pleafure? The anfwer will decide the propriety of Dr. Gregory's advice, and {hew how abfurd and tyrannic it is thus to lay down a fyflem of flavery ; or to attempt to educate moral beings by any other rules than thofe de duced from pure reafon, which apply to the whole fpecies.
Gentlenefs of manners, forbearance, and long-fuffer- ing, are fuch amiable Godlike qualities, that in Hibiirne poetic ftrains the Deity has been inverted with them ; and, perhaps, no reprefentation of his goodnefs fo ftrongly fattens on the human affections as thofe that represent him abundant in mercy and willing to pardon. Gentlenefs, confidered in this point of view, bears on its front all the charadleriftics of grandeur, combined with the winning graces of condefceniion ; but what a different afpeft it aiTumes when it is the fubmiffive de meanour of dependence, the fupport of weaknefs that loves, becaufe it wants protection; and is forbearing, becaufe it muft filently endure injuries; fmiiing under the lain at which it dare not fnarl. Abjedt as this pic ture appears, it is the portrait of an accomplimed wo man, according to the received opinion of female excel lence, feparated by fpecious reafoners from human ex* cellence. Or, they * kindly reftore the rib, and make, one moral being of a m:m and woman; not forgetting to give her all the e fubmiffive charms.*
How women are to exift in that fbte where there is to be neither mawying nor giving in marriage* we are
* Vidt Roseau i afid Swsilenborg* £3
56 VINDICATION OF THE
not told. For though moralifts have agreed, that the tenor of life feems to prove that man is prepared by vari ous circumrtances for a future Mate, they conftantly con cur in 'advifmg woman only to provide for the prefent. Gentlenefs, docility, and a fpaniel-like affection are, on this ground, confidently recommended as the cardinal virtues of the fex; and, disregarding the arbitrary eco nomy of nature, one writer has declared that it is maf- cuHne for a woman to be melancholy. She was created to be the toy of man, his rattle, and it muft jingle in his ears whenever, difmiffing reafon, he choofes to be amufed.
To recommend gentlenefs, indeed, on a broad bafis is flrictly philosophical. A frail being mould labour to be gentle. But when forbearance confounds right and wrong, it ceafes to be a virtue; and, however conveni ent i't may be found in a companion — that companion will ever be confidered as an inferior, and only infpire a vapid tcndernefs, which eafily degenerates into con tempt. Still, if advice could really make a being gen tle, \vhofe natural difpoiidon admitted not of fuch a fine , fomething towards the advancement of order I be attained ; .but if, as might quickly be demon- frratcd, only affectation be produced by this indifcrimi- nate counfel, which throws a rtumbling-block in the way of gradual improvement, and true melioration of tem per, the fex is not much benefited by facrincing folid virtues to the attainment of fuperiicial^races, though for a few years they may procure the individuals regal fway.
As a philofopher, I read with indignation the plau-
RIGHTS OF WOMAN". 57
fible epithets which men ufe to foften their infults; and, as a moralift, I aik what is meant by fuch heteroge neous aflbciations, as fair defects, amiable weakneffes, &c.? If there is but one criterion of morals, but one arche-type for man, women appear to be fufpended by deAiny, according to the vulgar tale of Mahomet's cof fin ; they have neither the unerring inilinct of brutes, nor are allowed to fix the eye of reafon on a perfect mo del. They were made to be loved, and muil not aim at refpect, left they mould be hunted out of fociety as mafculine.
But to view the fubject in another point of view. Do paflive indolent women make the beft wives? Confining our difcuiTion to the prefent moment of exiflence, let us fee how fuch weak creatures perform their part ? Do the women who., by the attainment of a few fuperficial ac- complifhments, have ftrengthened the prevailing pre judice, merely contribute to the happinefs of their huf- bands? Do they difplay their charms merely to amufe them? And have women, who have early imbibed no tions of paflive obedience, fufficient character to manage a family or educate children? So far from it, that, after furvcying the hifiory of woman, I cannot help, agree ing with the fevereit fatirift, considering the fex as the werAeil as well as the moil opprefled half of the fpecies. What does hiftory difclofe but marks of inferiority, and how few women have emancipated themfelves from the galling yoke of fovereign man? — So few, that the ex ceptions remind me of an ingenious conjecture refpect- ing Newton: that he was probably a being of a fuperior
58 VINDICATION OF THE
order, accidentally caged in a human body. In the fame ftyle I have been led to imagine that the few ex traordinary women who have rulhed in eccentrical di rections out of the orbit prefcribed to their fex, were male fpirited, confined by miftake in a female frame. But if it be not philofophical to think of fex when the foul is mentioned, the inferiority mult depend on the or gans; or the heavenly fire, which is to ferment the clay, is not given in equal portion?.
" ' But avoiding, as I have hitherto done, any direct comparifon of the two fexes colleftively, or frankly ac knowledging the inferiority of woman, according to the prefent appearance of things, I mall only infift, that men have increafed that inferiority till women are almoil funk below the ftandard of rational creatures. Let their faculties have room to unfold, and their virtues to gain flrength, and then determine where the whole fex mull ftand in the intelleclual fc:Je. Yet, Jet it be remem bered, that for a frnall number of diilmguimed women I do not afk a place.
It is difficult for us purblind mortals to fay to what height human discoveries and improvements may arrive, when the gloom of defpotifrn fubfides, which makes us flumble at every Hep ; but when morality mall be fettled on a more folid bails, then, without being gifted with a prophetic fpirit, I will venture to predict, that woman will be either the friend or {lave cf man. We (hall not, as at prefent, dov-n whether ftie is a mortal agent, or the link which unii.es mr.n with brutes. But, mould it then appear, that like the brutes they were principally
RIGHTS OF WOMAN'. 59
created for the ufe of man, he will let them patiently bite the bridle, and not mock diem with empty praife; or, fliould their rationality be proved, he will not im pede their improvement merely to ^.uify his fenfual
appetites. He will not v, ices of rhetoric,
advife them to fabmit imp' landings to
the guidance of man. II~ vvi -en he treats of
the education of women, after t, t;. .Light never
to have the free ufe of reaibn, no: w ..... he recommend cunning an.: ) are acquiring*
in like manner as himfelf, the virtues of humanity.
Surely there can be but one rule of right:, if morality has an eternal foundation, and whoever faoiinces virtue, flriclly fo called, to prefent convenience, or whofe duty it%is to ail in fuch a manner, lives only for the paffing day, and cannot be an accountable creature.
The poet then mould have dropped his fneer when he fays,
' ' If tvcak women go ajlray ,
" Tbeftars are more in fault than tfayi"
For that they are bound by the adamantine chain of def- tiny is moil certain, if it be proved that they are never to exercife their own reafon, never to be independent, never to rife above opinion, or to feel the dignity of a rational will that only bows to God, and often forgets that the univerfe contains any being but itfelf, and the model of perfection to which its ardent gaze is turned, to adore attributes that, foftened into virtues, may be imitated in kind, though the degree overwhelms the enraptured mind.
6O VINDICATION OF THE
If, I fay, for I would not imprefs by declamation when Reafon offers her fober light, if they are really capable of acting like rational creatures, let them not be treated like flaves ; or, like the brutes who are depend ent on the reafon of man, when they affociate with him ; but cultivate their minds, give them the falutary, fub- lime curb of principle, and let them attain confcious dignity by feeling themfelves only dependent on God. Teach them, in common with man, to fubmit to necef- iity, inftead of giving, to render them more pleafmg, a fex to morals.
Further, ftiould experience prove that they cannot att tain the fame degree of itrength of mind, perfeverance, and fortitude, let their virtues be the fame in kind, though they may vainly ftruggle for the fame degree; and the fuperiority of man will be equally clear, if not clearer; and truth, as it is a fimple principle, which ad- mits of no modification, would be common to both. Nay, the order of fociety, as it is at prefent regulated, would not be inverted, for woman would then only have the rank that reafon affigned her, and arts could not be prac- tifed to bring the balance even, much lefs to turn it.
Thefe may be termed Utopian dreams.— Thanks to that Being who imprefied them on my foul, and gave me fufficient ftrength of mind to dare to exert my own reafon, till, becoming dependent only on him for the fupport of my virtue, I view, with indignation, the mif- taken notions that enflave my fex.
I love man as my fellow ; but his fcepter, real or ufurped, extends not to me, unlefs the reafon of an in-
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 6l
dividual demands my homage ; and even then the fub- miffion is to reafon, and not to man. In fad, the con duct of an accountable being muft be regulated* by the operations of its own reafon ; or on what foundation refts the throne of God ?
It appears to me neceflary to dwell on thefe obvious truths, becaufe females have been infulted, as it were ; and, while they have been {tripped of the virtues that ihould clothe humanity, they have been decked with artificial graces, that enable them to exercife a Ihort- lived tyranny. Love, in their bofoms, taking place of every nobler paffion, their fole ambition is to be fair, to raife emotion inftead of infpiring refpect j and this ignoble defire, like the fervility in abfolute monarchies, deftroys all ftrength of character. Liberty is the mother of virtue, and if women are, by their very conftitution, flaves, and not allowed to breathe the fharp invigor ating air of freedom, they muil ever languifh like exotics, and be reckoned beautiful flaws in nature ; — :et it alfo be remembered, that they are the only flaw.
As to the argument refpecting the fubjection in which the fex has ever been held, it retorts on man. The many have always been enthralled by the few ; and, monfters who have fcarcely mown any difcernment of human excellence, have tyrannized over thoufands of their fel low creatures. Why have men of fuperior endowments fubmitted to fuch degradation ? For, is it not univer- fally acknowledged that kings, viewed collectively, have ever been inferior, in abilities and virtue, to the fame number of men taken from the common mafs of
62 VINDICATION OF THE
mankind — yet, have they not, and are they not flill treated with a degree of reverence, that is an infult to reafon ? China is not the only country where a living man has been made a God. Men have fubmitted to fu- perior ftrength, to enjoy with impunity the pleafure of the moment — nuonftn have only done the fame, and therefore till it is proved that the courtier, who fervilely refigns the birthright of a man, is not a moral agent, it cannot be demonftrated that woman is eflentially infe rior to man, becaufe fhe has always been fubjugated.
Brutal force has hitherto governed the world, and that the fcience of politics is in its infancy, is evident from philofophers fcrupJing to give the knowledge molt ufeful to man that determinate diftindlion.
I mall not purfue this argument any further than to eflablifh an obvious inference, that as found politics difFufe liberty, mankind, including woman, will become more wife and virtuous.
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 63
CHAP. Ill,
The fame fubjett continued.
JLJODILY itrength from being the diiUnclion of he roes is now funk into fuch unmerited contempt, that men, as well as women, feem to think it unnocefiary : the latter, as it takes from their feminine graces, and from that lovely weaknefs, the fource of their undue power ; and the former, becaufe it appears inimical with the character of a gentleman.
That they have both by departing from one extreme run into another, may eaiily be proved ; but it firil may be proper to obferve, that a vulgar error has obtained a degree of credit, which has given force to a falfe con- clufion, in which an effect has been miftaken for acaufe.
People of genius have, very frequently, impaired their confutations by ftudy, or carelefs inattention to their health, and the violence of their paffions bearing a proportion to the vigour of their intellects, the fxvord's deflroying the fcabbard has become almoft proverbial, and fuperficial obfervers have inferred from thence, that men of genius have commonly weak, or to ufe a more fafhionable phrafe, delicate conftitutions. Yet the con trary, I believe, will appear to be the facl: ; for, on dili gent inquiry, I find that ftrength of mind has, in moil cafes, been accompanied by fuperior ftrength of body — natural foundnefs of conftitution — not that robuft tone of nerves and vigour of mufcles, which arife from bo- G
64 VINDICATION OF THJ?
dily labour, when the mind is quiefcent, or only directs the hands.
Dr. Prieftley has remarked, in the preface to his bio graphical chart, that the majority of great men have lived beyond forty-five. And, considering the thought- lefs manner in which they have laviflied their ilrength, when invelligating a favourite fcience they have walled the lamp of life, forgetful of the midnight hour ; or, when loll in poetic dreams, fancy has peopled the fcene, and the foul has been difcurbed, till it ihook the confli- tution, by the paffions that meditation had raifed ; whofe objects, the bafelefs fabric of a vifion, faded be fore the exhaufted eye, they muft have had iron frames. Shakefpeare never grafped the airy dagger with a nerve- lefs hand, nor did Milton tremble when he led Satan far from the confines of his dreary prifon . — Thefe were not the ravings of imbecility, the fickly effufions of dif- tempered brains ; but the exuberance of fancy, that 4 in a fine phrenzy' wandering, was not continually re minded of its material fhackles.
I am aware, that this argument would carry me fur ther than it may be fuppofed I wilh to go j but I follow truth, and Hill adhering to my firfl pofition, I will al low that bodily Ilrength feems to give man a natural fu- periority over woman ; and this is the only folid bafis on which the fupericrity of the fex can be built. But I Hill infill, that not only the virtue, but the knowledge of. the two fexes mould be the fame in nature, if not in de gree, and that women, confidered not only as moral, but rational creatures, ought to endeavour to acquire
RIGHTS OF WOMAN.
human virtues (or perfections) by the fame means as men, inftead of being educated like a fanciful kind of half being — one of RouiTeau's wild chimeras.*
* ' Researches Into abflraSl and fpeculative truibs^ th; principles and f axioms of fcicnceSf in Jhot't , every thing ivhicb tends to generalize ctir ' ideas-, is not the proper province of women ; their ftudics Jlould be ' relative to points of praRice , it belong: to them to apply thofe princi-
* pies ivuicb men have discovered \ and it Is their part io make Gltfcrvz-
* tionst "which direft men to the ejlablijbiscitl of general principles. All
* the ideas of women, ivhich have net the immediate tendency to points of duty, Jhould be direffed to the Jludy of wen, end to the aitaiw.tnf. ef thofe agreeable accotnplifatti r.ts ir/!. V/v have t-J:c for their object \
* for as to work; ef gtnius, tLt\ ate l-y,nJ their t*:*>c.:ii-\> .- neither Lav- 1 they fujficient pte;.ifx:n> or pLivsr vf atttitticnt t»fuceeetiznfiitttcff
* wbicL restart. accuracy : and jt i--> ^ ' '• , ,.••-'••-' •'•'-- -' '- •'•,[<•' it t'jofe only <n.;l-o are Kiojl <i£ii"ve, :>~'fi inaitijiiivf ; •
« the greatc/1 variety ef otjsfls : in fart, it. bthngs io i!.<;j^ ...... lave
« the flrongcjl poiv->rs% and ivho c?:erc>fe them inojlt to jxJgv of the 1 relations let-ween fitiftjle ieings ami *".'•<? 'aivs of nature. A ti'e.'yj/- 1 ivbt is naturally weak, and does not carry her ideas to any great ' extent, knows hoyj to judge and m-.iJt-- a proper e Rim ate of tlujn ' movements which JJje fits to work, it: cnlcr to aid Lsr ivcfitfiefs ;
* and thefe movements are the pajjlons of men. The tnechanift:- Jhe
* employs is much more powerful then can ; fir all her l.^crs sr.o'i-:
* the human heart. She tnufl have the Jkill to incline us to Jo ei>t: ^ ' thing which her fex -will not enMc her to do of herfdf, asd liUcf. 1 is necejfary or agreeable to her ; therefore fle ought to Jludy tit ' mind of man thoroughly, not the mind of man in general, abjlraSlfd^ ( but the difpofttions of ihofe men to ivbtm Jbe is fubjtSl, either by the ' laws of her country or by tbe force if opinion. Sle Jboi:ld laarn t» 1 penetrate into their real fentimtnis from ibtir <.L-;:'ac*faliont tbt^ 1 affiant, their looks, and gejlurfS. Sue Jkoa'd alfi have tie art, lij .' her otun con-verfation, aflions, looks, and gflures, ii eommttHtcttli « thofe fcntirnents ivhich are agreeable tt lift,:, vuit&cut f*einin% to in. ' tend it. Men will argue wore philcfophically ui n.i ihe human heart ;
* but -women will real tbe heart of nan Itiitr tf.a.t fley. It lelor.gt
* ts ivoment if I way b; allowed tbe ixpr ?$>,*. >i /'/;/» an txptrimt*t*l
G T,
66 VINDICATION OF TH1
Eut, if ftrength of body be, with fome mow of reaum, the boaft of men, why are women fo infatuated as to be proud of a defe<5t ? Roufieau has furnifhed them with a plaufible excufe, which could only have occurred to a man, whofe imagination "had been allowed to run wild, and refine on the impreffions made by exquifite fenfes — that they might, forfooth, have a pretext for yielding to a natural appetite without violating a romantic fpe- cies of modefty, which gratifies the pride and liberti- nifm of man.
Women, deluded by thefe fentiments, fometimes boaft of their weaknefs, cunningly obtaining power by play ing on the nveaknefs of men ; and they may well glory in their illicit fway, for, like Turkilh bafhaws, they have more real power than their matters : but virtue is facri- ficed to temporary gratifications, and the refpe&ability of life to the triumph of an hour.
Women, as well as defpots, have now, perhaps, more power than they would have, if the world, divided and Subdivided into kingdoms and families, was governed by laws deduced from the exercife of reafon; but in
* K>orrJ';i\y <>nrl ic reduce tht fiudy of man to a fyjttm. Women
* have txflft 1C it, men have tnojl genius \ ivomen obfcrve^ men reafon '
* fiax tic concurrence of both <we derive the cleat eft ligfo and tie ' moll perfect knowledge, ivhhb the human mind is, cf itfelf^ capable ' of attaining. In one ivo<-d, from hence ive acquire the weft inti-
* mate acquaint arce, both iviih ourfcfafs and ethers, of ivb:cb our ' nciure is capable', and it is iLus that art has a ccnfiant tendency t« 'j'erfefl to^fe endotuwents tuhicb nature Lai beffoived — Ive ivorld ' is the Look cf women* RouiT^au's Envl'.us. / hope my readers Atll remember tbtevttifarifont 'ii'bica 2 have brought forward, Letit>cea women end of.].ers.
RIG-HTS OF WOMAN. 67
obtaining it, to carry on the comparifon, their characler is degraded, and licentioufnefs fpread through the whole aggregate of fociety. The many become pedeftal to the few. I, therefore, will venture to affert, that till women are more rationally educated,, the progrefs of human virtue and improvement in knowledge mull re ceive continual checks. And if it be granted, that \vc- mari was not created merely to .gratify the.appetite of man, nor to be the upper fervant, who provides his meals and takes care of his linen, it mull follow, that the iirft care of thofe mothers or fathers, who really attend to the education of females, mould be, if not to flrengthen the body, at lead, not to deftroy the confti- tution by miltaken notions of beauty and female excel lence ; nor mould girls ever be allowed to imbibe the pernicious notion that a defect can, by any chemical procefs of reafoning, become an excellence. In this re - fpeft, I am happy to find, that the author of one of the moft inflruftive books, that our country has produced for children, coincides with me in opinion ; I mall quote his pertinent remarks to give the force of his rcfpeclabj? authority to reafon.*
* ^ rtfpcft&bie old man gives ike fallowing fanjibl* account of tie method he purfucd ivben educating bis daughter . * I endeavoured to give
* both to her mind and body a degree of v?%o.\-, which it [ejdom found ' in the female ftx , Atfoon as fee 'wasfujficicntly advanced in jJrenoifj
* to be capable of tie lighter labours of iiusbandry and gardening, Ijin* 1 ployed hey as my conjiant companion, Selene , for that ivai her nan:e^
* foon acquired a dexterity in all tl.'fff ruftic employments tvhicb I con° , 4 fidered luii-h equal pleafuie and admiration. If ivorr.cn are in gene-
* ral feeble both in body end mind} it ar'tfes Ufifrom nature tbtm'frotu
d? ^
CS VINDICATION OF THE
But mould it be proved that woman is naturally uc. ker than man, from whence does it follow that it is natural for her to labour to become flill weaker than na ture intended her to be ? Arguments of this call are an infult to common fenfe and favour of paffion. The di- ftiiTte right of hufbands, like the divine right of kings, may, it is to be hoped, in this enlightened age, be con ic- ilrd without danger, and though conviction may not ft'ience many boiflerous difputants, yet, when any pre vailing prejudice is attacked, the wife will confider, and bave the narrow-minded to rail with thoughtlefs vehe mence at innovation.
' C'iu'ni:cn. Hrf encourage a vicious indolence ard inactivity, ivhicb lie ' falfe'y call dd'c^cy ; in/lead cf hardening their minds by tbefcverer ''principles of re~fi,n and fbilofophyt tve breed them to i:f clefs arts, ivhicb '":'-'/ and Ccnfuality* In tnojl of the countries ivbicb I '.•'.'.' JT of an higher nature than afeia '.- poftaret of the koJy ; their time is :.'j '.r trif..s. ci.d irif.es become tie only pit rf nits capable AV.V. 1-r'i h'nn io for <reit tLat it is upon the qualities 1 of at our man domtftit comforts and tbe education of
• -.'.. Ar.d lub&t are the comforts or tLe education
' r; ' . "-: •, ccrrvptcd from their infant y. and unacquainted
' •:: /"//'>, are fitted to Ifflciol To touch a nmfical
1 infl, u>T,'~:i with ufilefs fiillt to exhibit their natural or effefled graces, { to t!:e eyes ^f In^o'e.it avd debaucbtd young meniiubo dijfifate their huf- 1 bantli* patrimony in riotous and unnecejjary expe rfes .- ihefe are the < -r.'y of Is. euU:Vi!ted ty WOMCII in mojl cf the foli/bed nations I lad ' Jtea. Jtvd tie cwfti, ; U'ues are uniformly fueb as may be exfetfcd to 1 proceed frtHnjucb / 'Diluted fourccs, private tni/eryt and public ftrr- * *uitude.
' Bat, Si!.:-it'! c,:..( at'on W.TJ rrgulatcd by different views t and con- { du5lt.il upun fe-verer principles ; if that can be called- feverity iL-L'.ib optas the mind to afcnfe cf moral and religious (iuticS) u>:d mojl efTes* tually arms it aoainfi the inevitable evils of life '
Mr. Day's 5?.:.dford and Mcrtor, Vol. III.
RIGHTS OF WOMAN*. 69
The mother, who wifhes to give true dignity of cha racter to her daughter, muft, regardlefs of the fneers of ignorance, proceed on a plan diametrically oppoiite to that which RoufTeau has recommended with all the de luding charms of eloquence and philofophical fophiftry : for his eloquence renders abfurdities plaufible, and his dogmatic conclufions puzzle, without convincing thofe who iiave not ability to refute them.
Throughout the whole animal kingdom every young creature requires almoil continual exercife, and the in fancy of children, conformable to this intimation, mould be paffed in harmlefs gambols, that exercife the feet and hands, without requiring very minute direction from the head, or the conftant attention of a nurfe. In fa£t, the care neceffary for felf-prefervation is the nrft natural exercife of the underflanding, as little inven tions to amufe the prefent moment unfold the imagina tion. But thefe wife deligns of nature are counteracted by miftaken fondnefs or blind zeal. The child is not left a moment to its own direction, particularly a girl, and thus rendered dependent — dependence is called na tural.
To preferve perfonal beauty, woman's glory ! the limbs and faculties are cramped with worfe than Chinefe bands, and the fedentary life which they are condemned to live, whim boys frolic in the open air, weakens the mufcles and relaxes the nerves. — As for Roufieau's re marks, which have fmce been echoed by feveral writers, that they have naturally, that is from their birth, in dependent of education, a fondnefs for dolls, dreiTmg,
70 VINDICATION OF THE
and talking — they are fo puerile as not to merit a feri- ous refutation. That a girl, condemned to fit for hours together liftening to the idle chat of weak nurfes, or to attend at her mother's toilet, will endeavour to join the converfation, is, indeed very natural; and that (he will imitate her mother or aunts, and amufe hsrfelf by adorn ing her lifelefs doll, as they do in drelfmg her, poor innocent babe! is undoubtedly a inoft natural confe- quence. For men of the greateft abilities have feldom had furEcient ftrength to rife above the furrounding at- mofphere; and, if the page of genius has always been blurred by the prejudices of the age, fome allowance fhould be made for a fex, who, like kings, always fee things through a falfe medium.
In this manner may the fondnefs for drefs, confpicu- ous in women, be eafily accounted for, without fuppof- ing it the refult of a defire to pleafe the fex on which they are dependent. The abfurdity, in fhort, of fup- pofmg that a girl is naturally a coquette, and that a de- fire connected with the impulfe of nature to propagate the fpecies, mould appear even before an improper edu cation has, by heating the imagination, called it forth prematurely, is fo unphilofophical, that fuch a fagacious obferver as RoufTeau would not have adopted it, if he had not been accuftomed to make reafon give way to his defire of fingularity, and truth to a favourite paradox.
Yet thus to give a fex to mind was not very confident with the principles of a man who argued fo warmly, and fo well, for the immortality of the foul. — But what a weak barrier is truth when it Hands in the way of an
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. J 1
hypothecs ! RoufTeau refpe&ed — almoft adored virtue — and yet allowed himfef to love with fenfual fondnefs. His imagination conftantly prepared inflammable fewel for his inflammable fenfes ; but, in order to reconcile his refpecl for felf-denial, fortitude, and thofe 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 mifchief, and derogatory to the character of (upreme wifdom.
His ridiculous {lories, which tend to prove that girls are naturally attentive to their perfons, without laying any ftrefs on daily example, are below contempt. And that a little mifs mould have fuch a correct tafte as to negled the pleafing amufement of making O's, merely becaufe ftie perceived that it was an ungraceful attitude, fliould be felecled with the anecdotes of the learned pig*.
I have, probably, had an opportunity of observing more girls in their infancy than J. J. Roufieau — I can recollect my own feelings, and I have looked fteadily around me; yet, fo far from coinciding with him in opinion refpe&ing the firft dawn of the female charac-
* I once kneiu d young pet Con ivho learned to lo^'rle before Jhe learned
' to react, and began to ivrlteiv'th Ler nsedle befurc Jbe iQiild life a pen ;
4 At firjl. Indeed Jbs took it into her bead to make no oiler letter than
* the 0; this letter foe ivas conftantly mak'ng of alljlzcs, and alivays ' tut tvrong ivay. Unluckily one day, as foe tuas, inte.it on iLis etxplay- ' fffftif, Jhe happened toftei>erjc!fintl)elooktng-gldjsi ivben taking a 1 efrjliite to the confi rained attitude in tvbicb ft e fat ivbile writing, /be
* tl.fciv aivay her pen , like another P alias t and determined aga'injt mak~
* inv the 0 any more Her brother ivat alj~9 equally ai>erje to writing? « // was the confinement^ hoivc-vsrt and not the- ccnjlrained attitude, that
* mojl difgitjled him."" RouITcau's Emilius.
72 VINDICATION OF THE
ter, I will venture to affirm, that a girl, whofe fpirits have not been damped by inactivity, or innocence taint ed by falfe fhame, will always be a romp, and the doll will never excite attention unlefs confinement allows her no alternative. Girls and boys, in fhort, would play harmlefs together, if the diilinction of fex was not in culcated long before nature makes any difference. — I will go further, and affirm, as an indifputable fact, that moft of the women, in the circle of my obfervation, who have acted like rational creatures, or fliewn any vigour of intellect, have accidentally been allowed to run wild —as fome of the elegant formers of the fair fex would infiuate.
The baneful confequences which flow from inatten tion to health during infancy, and youth, extend further than is fuppofed — dependence of body naturally pro duces dependence of mind ; and how can me be a good wife or mother, the greater part of whofe time is em ployed to guard agamft or endure ficknefs; Nor can it be expected, that a woman will refolutely endeavour to ftrengthen her conlUtution and abftain from enervating indulgencies, if artificial notions of beauty, and falfc defcriptions of fenfibility, have been early entangled with her motives of action. Moft men are fometimes obliged to bear with bodily inconveniencies, and to endure, occafionly, the inclemency of the elements ; but genteel women are, literally fpeaking, Haves to their bodies, and glory in their fubjection.
I once knew a weak woman of fafhion, who was more than commonly proud of her delicacy and fenfibi-
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 73
Ihy. She thought a diftinguifhing tafte and puny appe tite the height of all human perfection, and aded ac cordingly — 1 have Teen this weak fophiflicated being neglect all the duties of life, yet recline with felf-com- placency on a fofa, and boaft of her want of appetite as a proof of delicacy that extended to, or, perhaps, arofe from her exquinte fenfibility : for it is difficult to ren der intelligible fuch ridiculous jargon. — Yet, at the mo ment, I have feen her infult a worthy old gentlewoman, whom unexpected misfortunes had made dependent on her oftentatious bounty, and who, in better days, had claims on her gratitude. Is it pofiible that a human creature mould have become fuch a weak and depraved being, if, like the Sybarites, diflblved in luxury, every thing like virtue had not been worn away, or never im- preffed by precept, a poor fubilitute it is true, for culti vation of mind, though it ferves as a fence againft vice ?
Such a woman is not a more irrational monfter than fome of the Roman emperors, who were depraved by lawlefs power. Yet, fince kings have been more under the reftraint of law, and the curb, however weak, of honour, the records of hiftory are not filled with fuch unnatural inilances of folly and cruelty, nor does the defpotifm that kills virtue and genius in the bud, hover over Europe with that deftruclive blaft which defolates Turkey, and renders the men, as well as the foil, unfruitful.
Women are every where in this deplorable flate ; for, in order to preferve their innocence, as ignorance is courteoufly termed, truth is hidden from them, and they
74 VINDICATION OF THE
are made to afmme an artificial character before their faculties have acquired any ftrength. Taught from their infancy, that beauty is woman's fceptre, the mind fhapes itfelf to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only feeks to adorn its priibn. Men have various employments andpurfuits which engage their attention, and give a character to the opening mind ; but women, confined to one, and having their thoughts conflantly directed to the molt infignificant part of themfelves, feldom extend their views beyond the triumph of the hour. But was their underflanding once emancipated from the flavery to which the pride and fenfuality of man and their fnort-fighted defire, like that of domi nion in tyrants, of prefent fway, has fubjected them, we mould probably read of their weakneffes with furprife. I muft be allowed to purfue the argument a little farther.
Perhaps, if the exiftence of an evil being was al lowed, who, in the allegorical language of fcripture, went about feeking whom he mould devour, he could not more effectually degrade the c human character than by giving a man abfolute power.
This argument branches into various ramifications. Birth, riches, a.nd every intrinfic advantage that exalt a man above his fellows, without any mental exertion, fink him in reality below them. In proportion to his weaknefs, he is played upon by defigning men, till the bloated monfter has loft all traces of humanity. And that tribes of>men, like flocks of fheep, mould quietly follow fuch a leader, is a folecifm that only a defire of prefent enjoyment and^narrownefs of underftanding can
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 75
iblve, Educated in flaviih dependence, and enervated by luxury and {loth, where (hall we lind men who will fhnd forth to affert the rights of man ; — or claim the privilege of moral beings, who mould have bat one road to excellence ? Slavery to monarchs and minifters, which the world will be long in freeing itfelf from, and whofe deadly grafp Hops the progrefs of the human mind, is not yet abolimed.
Let not men then in the pride of powe/, ufe the fame arguments that tyrannic kings and venal minifters have ufed, and fallacioufly affert, that wormta ought to be fab- jedled becaufe me has always been fo. But, when man, governed by reafonable laws, enjoys his natural free dom, let him defpife woman, if fhe do not mare him ; and, till that glorious period arrives, in d ing on the folly of the fex, let him not overlook his ow.r
Women, it is true, obtaining power by unjufl mearfs by practifing or foilering vice, evidently lofe the rank which reafon would affign them, and they become either abject (laves or capricious tyrants. They lofe all (irsi- plicity, all dignity of fnind, in acquiring power, and act as men are obferved to a£l when they have been exalted by the fame means .
It is time to effect a revolution in female manner:; — time to reftore to them their loft dignity — and make them, as apart of the human fpecies, labour by refc inr>- themfelves to reform the world. It is time to fe-
O
parate unchangeable morals from local manners.— If men be demi-gods — why let us fcrve them ! A .
f the female foul be as difputabls as that or" H
76 VINDICATION OF THE
animals — if their reafon does not afford fufficient light to direcl their conduct whilil unerring inilindt is de nied — they are furely of all creatures the moil mifer- able ! and, bent beneath the iron hand of defliny, muft fubmit to be -if&ir defetl in creation. But to juftify the ways of Providence refpeding them, by pointing out fome irrefragable reafon for thus making fuch a large portion of mankind accountable and not accountable, would puzzle the fubtileft cafuifl.
The only folid foundation for morality appears to be the characler of the Supreme Being ; the harmony of which arifes from a balance of attributes — and, to fpeak with reverence, one attribute feems to imply the necejfity of another. He muft be juft, becaufe he is wife, he mufl be good, becaufe lie is omnipotent. For, to exalt one attribute at the expenfe of another equally noble and necefiary, bears" the flump of the warped reafon of man — the homage of puffion. Man, accaflomed to bow down to power in his favage flate, can feldom diveft himfelf of this barbarous prejudice even when civilization de termines how much fuperior mentaHs to bodily, ftrength ; and his reafon is clouded by thefe crude opinions, even when he thinks of the Deity. His omnipotence is made to fwallow up, or prefide over his other attri butes, and thofe mortals are fuppofed to limit his power irreverently, who think that it mull be regulated by his wiidom.
I difclaim that fpecies of humility which, after invef- tigating nature, Hops at the author. — The High and Lofty One, who inhabiteth eternity, doubtlefs poffeiTes
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 77
many attributes of which we can form no conception ; but reafon tells me they cannot clafh wirh thofe I adore —and I am compelled to 1 liven to her voice.
It feems natur.il for man to fearch for excellence^ and either to trace it in the object that he worihips, or blindly to invert it with perfection as a garment. But what good effect can the latter mode of worQiip have on the moral conduct of a rational boing ? lij bends to power; he adores a d my o.vn ,1
bright profpect to him, or burll in angry, lawlcfs fury on his devoted head — \c knows not why. And, fup- pofmg thtt the D (e c.-f
tndirected
according to rules, d.
difclaims as irreverent. Into tLii d join
enthufiafts and cooler thinkers fallen, when they la boured to free men from the wholefome reitraints which a juft conception of the character of God impofes.
It is not impious thus to fcan the attributes of the Almighty : in fact, who can avoid it that exercifes his faculties ? for to love God as the fountain of wif- dom, goodnefs, and power, appears to be the only wor- fhip ufeful to a being who wifhes to acquire either vir tue or knowledge. A blind unfettled affection may, like human paflions, occupy the mind and warm the heart, whilil, to do jufdce, love mercy, and walk hum bly with our God, is forgotten. I mail purlue this fub- ject ftill further, when I confider religion in a light op- pofite to that recommended by Dr. Gregory, who treats it as a matter of fentiment or tafte. H 2
78 VINDICATION OF THE
To return from this apparent digreffion. It were t» be wifhed, that women would cherifh an affection for their hufbands, founded on the fame principle that de votion ought to reft upon. No other firm bafe is there under heaven — for let them beware of the fallacious light of fentiment ; too often ufed as a fofter phrafe for fenfuality. It follows then, I think, that from their in fancy women ihould either be Ihut up like eaftern princes, or educated in fuch a manner as to be able to think and a£l for themfelves.
Why do men halt between two opinions, and expect impoffibilities ? Why do they expeci: virtue from a flave, from a being whom the conftitution of civil fociety has rendered weak, if not vicious ?
Still I know that it will require a confiderable length of time to eradicated the firmly rooted prejudices which fenfualifls have planted ; it will alfo require fome time to convince women that they aft contrary to their real intereit on an enlarged fcale, when they cherifli or af fect weaknefs under the name of delicacy, and to con vince the world that the poifoned fource^of female vices and follies, if it be necefTary, in compliance with cuf- torn, to ufe fynonymous terms in a lax fenfe, has been the fenfual homage paid to beauty : — to beauty of features ; for it has been fhrewdly obferved by a Ger man writer, that a pretty woman, as an object of defire, is generally allowed to be fo by men of all defcrip- v, hilil a fine woman, who infpires more fublime emotions by displaying intellectual beauty, may be over looked or obferved with indifference, by thofe men
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 79
who find their happinefs in the gratification of their ap petites. I forefee an obvious retori — whiL'c man remains fuch an imperfect being as he appears iiitnerto to ha.ve been, he will, more or lei's, be the flave of his appetites ; and thofe women obtaining moft power who gratify a predominant one, the fex is degraded by a phyfical, if not by a moral neceility.
This objection has, I grant, fome force; but while fuch a (ublime precept exifts, as, * be pure as your hea- ' venly father is p ;re ;' it would feem that the virtues of man are not limited by the Being who alone could limit them ; and that he may prefs forward with out confidering whether he fteps out of liis fphere by indulging fuch a noble ambition. To the wild billows it has been faid, ' thus far malt thou go, and no fur ther ; and here mall thy proud waves be Hayed.' Vain ly then do they beat and foam, retrained by the power that confines the ftruggling planets within their orbits, matter yields to the great governing Spirit. — But an immortal foul, not reilrained by mechanical laws, and ftruggling to free itfelf from the fnackles of matter, contributes to, inftead of difturbing, the order of cre ation, when, co-operating with the Father of fpirits, it tries to govern itfelf by the invariable rule that, in a degree, before which our imagination faints, the uni- verfe is regulated.
Befides, if women are educated for dependence, that is, to ac~l according to the will of another fallible be ing, and fubmit, right or wrong, to power, where are we to Hop ? Are they to be coniidered as vicegerents,
O VINDICATION OF THE
allov.'ed to reign over a final 1 domain, and anfwcrable for their conduct to a higher tribunal, liable to error?
It will not be difficult to prove, that iuch delegates
will act like men fubjected by fear, and make their
1 fervants endure their tyrannical oppref-
fion. As they fubmit without re:;ion, they will, having
no fixed rules to fquare their conduct by, be kind or
j'jil as the whim of the moment directs ; and we
not to wonder if fometimes, galled by their heavy
they take a malignant pleafure in refting it on
,_T moulders.
But, fuopofing a woman, trained up to obedience, ;. rried to a fenilble man, who directs her judg ment, without making her feel the fervility of her fub- jection, to act with as much propriety by this reflected light as can be expected when reafon is taken at ieccnd hand, yet me cannot enfure the life of her protector ; he m:iy 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 fecure their property. But, alas ! me has never thought, much lefs acted for herfelf. She has only learned to pkufe * men, to depend gracefully
* ' In iLe union of the frx.''sf loth fiurfut one eonifKon oljeffi, but
* Kit in tie fame manner From tle-r dii>e>Jii^ in thh particular^
* arifis tie Jirjl determinate dijfcrcnce bt^ueen > be moral relations c/
* each. 17js one jkoiild he atfive and .froag, t e o:hcr fajjivc and ( wettk : it it nectjj-.r^ the one /louitf i •• e Itib the foiier and tht
* will) and that the oike' .•,'/. t:. xt- ttle rffijtancs
* T/jL / rinciple le':n^ cilab'. ''?d, it ,' 76:i'f, that ivoman ivas fx-
* ^y^r-l^ formed 10 plc.'fti ile man t if i - i ''ligaticn bd teetyr«cal alfo^
* a;>d iuc man tugbt to £U> if e in his tuwt it is not fo tw
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 8l
en them; yet, encumbered with children, how is flic to obtain another prote&or — a hufband to fupply the place of reafon ? A rational man, for we are not treading on romantic ground, though he may think her a pleating docile creature, will not choofe 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 eafy prey to fome mean fortune-hunter, who defrauds her children of their paternal inheritance, and renders her miferable ; or becomes the viclira of difcontent and blind indulgence. Unable to educate her fons, or imprefs them with refpecl ; for it is not a play on words to alTert, that people are never refpecT:- ed, though filling an important ftation, who are not refpeclable ; ihq pines under the anguiih of unavailing impotent regret. The ferpent's tooth enters into her
* canje hs is Jlrong* This, I muft confefs, is not one of the refined t maxims of love ; it isy however) one of the Jaivs of nature , prior i to Iwe iifelf.
* If "woman be formed to pleafe and be fubjcftsd to man, it is her
* place., doub'lefs) to render b erf elf agreeable to kirn, inftead of cbal- « knging bis pajfion, TLe -violence of bis dejires defends en her < charms j it is by means of tlefe foe Jbould urge Lim to the exertion
* of tkofc powers ichicb nature bath given him. f£le moft fucceftful
* method of exciting them tty to render fash exertion neceffary by their
* rfftftance \ as, in that cafe, f elf -love is addid to defiret and the one ' triumphs in the vifiory which the other obliged to acquire. Hence t ar'/fe the various modes of attack and defence betiVeen the /exes ; tht ' boldnefs of one fex, and the timidity of the ether ; and, in a ivordj ' that bajhfalnefs anJ modefty ivith "which nature hath attntd the ivea%f
* in order to fubdue the ftrong? Rouffeau's Emilius.
I Jhall make no other comment on this ingenious pajfage^ than juft ft ) that it is the pbilofoghy of lafciviovfneftt
82 VINDICATION OF THE
very foul, and the vices of licentious youth bring her" with forrow, if not with poverty <ufo, to the grave.
This is not an overcharged piclure ; on i.he contrary, it is a very poflible cafe, and fomcthing fimilar muft have fallen unuer every attentive ^e.
I have, however, taken it for granted, that fhe was well-difpofed, though expedience fliews, that the blind may as eaiily be led into a ditch as along the beaten road. But fuppofmg, no very improbable conjecture, that a being oniy taught to ple^fe rr.uil ilill find her happinefs in pleafmg j — what an example of felly, not to fay vice, will fhe be to her innocent daughters ! The mother will be loft in the coquet. e, r.nJ, mfteud of making friends of her daughters, view vhem with eyes aikance, for they are rivals — rivals more cruel than any other, becauie they invite a comp,.riibn , and drive her from the throne of beauty, who nas never thought of a feat on the bench of reafon.
It does not require a lively pencil, or the dlfcrimi- nating outline of a caricature, to Iketch the dornefhc miferies and petty vices which fuch a miflrefs of a fa- . jnily diffufes. Still flie only acts as a woman ought to- act, brought up according to Roufieau's fyitem. She- can never be reproached for being mafcnline, or turn-v ing out of her fphere; nay, fhe ir«y obferve another of his grand rules, and cautioufiy prei'erving her repu- ; tation free from fpot, be reckoned a good kind of woman. Yet in what refpec~l can me be ' . good? She abfcains, it is tine, without ?ny great? ilruggle, from committing grofs crimes j but how does j
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 83
Ihe fulfil her dudes ? Duties ! — in truth fhe has enough to think of to adorn her body and nurfe a weak con- ftitution.
With refpeft to religion, fhe never prefumed to judge for herfelf 5 but conformed, as a dependent crea ture fhould, to the ceremonies of the church which fiie was brought up in, pioufly believing, that wifer heads than her own have fettled that bufmefs : — and not to doubt is her point of perfection. She therefore pays her tythe of mint and cummin — and thanks her God that me is not as other women are. Thefe are the blefled effects of a good education! thefe the virtues of man's helpmate.*
I muft relieve myfelf by drawing a different picture.
Let fancy now prefent a woman with a tolerable un- derftanding, for I do not wilh to leave the line of me diocrity, whofe conftitution, ftrengthened by exercife, has allowed her body to acquire its full vigour j her mind, at the fame time, gradually expanding itfelf to comprehend the moral duties of life, and in what hu man virtue and dignity confift. Formed thus by the relative duties of her ftation, me marries from affec tion, without lofing fight of prudence, and looking be-
* ' 0 fjoiv lovelyj exclaims Roujfcau, fpeakin^ of Sophia, * is her
* Ignorance I Happy is hs ivbo is deftined to infiruft her ! She ivill
* never pretend to be ths tutor of her husband, but will bt content to « be his pupil. Far from attempting to fubjett h'm to her tajle, Jbs
* ivi/l accfinniidale herfelf to /.>.'s. She *will bi- mor c eftimable to himt
* than if foe ivas learned : Le tuill have a pleasure in inftrucling her.'
I jkall content tnyCelf tuitl) fimply askin<r^ bow friendship can fub* f'ft, when loi'c expires t between the mafisr and bis fufil*
84 VINDICATION OF THE
yond matrimonial felicity, me fecures her hufbancTs re- fpecl: before it is necefiary to exert mean arts to pleafe him, and feed a dying flame, which nature doomed to expire when the objedl became familiar, when friend- fhip and forbearance take place of a more ardent af- feclion. This is the natural death of love, and do- meflic peace is not deftroyed by itruggles to prevent its extinction. I alfo fuppofe the huiband to be virtu ous ; or fhe is Hill more in want of independent prm- ciples.
Fate, however, breaks this tie. — She is left a wi dow, perhaps, without a fufficient provision ; but flie is not defolate ! The pang cf nature is felt -, but after time has foftened forrow into melancholy refignadon, her heart turns to her children with redoubled fondnefs, and anxious to provide for them, affeclion gives a fa- cred heroic cr,ft to her maternal duties. She thinks that not only the eye fees her virtuous efforts, from whom all her comfort now muft flow, arid whofe approbation is life ; but her imagination, a little abftracled and exalted by grief, dwells on the fond Jupe, that the eyes which her trembling hand clofcd, may Hili fee how (he fubdues every wayward co fulfil the
double duty of being the father as v s the :
of her children. Knifed to heroifm i sfortunes, .f..e repreflcs the nrft faint d^'V,!,u,'; of a 1 incuii .don,
before it ripens into loyr. th n ot life for
gets her f x — forge fur i awakening
paiTion, which might e be : red and re
turned. — She no longer thinks of p.fuiing, and con-
EIGHTS OF WOMAN.
fcious dignity prevents her from priding herfelf on ac count of the praife which her conduct demands. Her children have her love, and her brighteft hopes are beyond the grave, where her imagination often ftrays.
I think J fee her furrounded by her children, reap ing the reward of her care. The intelligent eye meets her's, whilil health and innocence fmile on their chubby cheeks, and as they grow up the cares of life are lef- fened by their grateful attention. She lives to fee the virtues which me endeavourcd to plant on principles, fixed into habits, to fee her children attain a ftrength of character fufficient to enable them to endure adver- fity, without forgetting their mother's example.
The talk of life thus fulfilled, me calmly waited for the deep of death, and rifmg from the grave, may fay — Behold, thou gave/l me a talent — and here are £ve talents.
I wifh to fum up what I have faid in a few words, for I here throw down my gauntlet, and deny the ex- iftence of lexual virtues, not excepting modefty. For man and woman, truth, if I underfhnd the meaning of the word, rnuft be the fame; yet the fanciful female io prettily drawn by poets and noveliifts, demanding the Sacrifice of truth and fmcerity, virtue becomes a relative idea, having no other foundation than utility, and of that utility men pretend arbitrarily to judge, ill. ping it to their own convenience.
Woiv.ji:, 1 allow, may h.ive different duties to ful fil; bin they are him a;. J ^.ies, and c.ie principles that d regulate the difcJwrge of tiicm, I iturdily main tain, mull be the fame.
g6 VINDICATION OF THE
To become refpeftable, the exercife of their under- flanding is neceflkry ; there is no other foundation for independence of charafter ; I mean explicitly to fay, : that they muft only bow to the authority of reafon, m- ftead of being the modcfl flaves of opinion.
In the fuperior ranks of life how feidom do we meet with a man of fuperior abilities, or even common ac quirements? The reafon appears to me clear ; the ftate they are born in was an unnatural one. The human charafter has ever been formed by the employments the = individual, or clafs, parfues ; and if the faculties are : not fharpened by neceffity, they muft remain obtufe. The argument "may fairly be extended to women; for, feidom occupied by ferious bufmefs, the purfuit of plea, fare gives that infignificancy to their chafer which renders the fociety of the great fo infipid. The fame want of firmnefs, produced by a fimilar caufe, forces them both to fly from themfelves to noify pleafures, and artificial paffions, till vanity takes place of every focial affeftion, and the charaftcriftics of humanity can fcarcely be difcerned. Such are the bleffings of civil governments, as they are at prefent organized, that wealth and female foftnefs equally tend to debafe man kind, and are produced by the fame caufe ; but allow-, ing women to be rational creatures, they mould be in-i cited 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?
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 87
CHAP. IV.
$u>/erevafiofis on the flate of degradation to which is reduced by various cewfes.
JL HAT woman is naturally weak, or degraded by a concurrence of circumftances is, I think, clear. But this pofition I fhall fimply contraft with a conclufion, which I have frequently heard fall from fenfible men in favour of an ariftocracy : that the mafs of mankind cannot be any thing, or the obfequious flaves, who pa tiently allow tfiemfelves to be penned up, would feel their own confequence, and fpurn their chains. Men, they further obferve, fubmit every where to opprefuon> when they have only to lift up their heads to throw off the yoke; yet, inflead of averting their birthright, they quietly lick the duft, and fay, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. Women, I argue from analogy, are degraded by the fame propensity to enjoy the prefent moment ; and, at laft, defpife the freedom which they have not fufficient virtue to ftruggle to at tain. But I muft be more explicit.
With refpea to the culture of the heart, it is una- nimoufly allowed that fex is out of the queflion ; but the line of fubordination in the mental powers is never to be palled over.* Only < abfolute in lovelinefs,' die
* Into ivbat inconfijlencits do men fall -when they argue -without tLe tompafs of principles. Women, -weak -women , are comfartd with an. felt ; yet afuperivr order of beings Jhould bt fuppoftd (« fcftft mtrt
Do VINDICATION OF THE
portion of rationality granted to woman is, indeed, very {canty ; for, denying her genius and judgment, it is fcarcely poilible to divine what remains to charac terize intellect.
The ilamina of immortality, if I may be allowed the phrafe, is the perfectibility of human reafon j for, was man created perfect, or did a flood of knowledge - break in upon him, when he arrived at maturity, that precluded error, I mould doubt whether his exiilence would be continued after the diflblution of the body. But, in the prefent Hate of things, every difficulty in morals, that efcapes from human difcuflion, and equally baffles the iaveiligation of profound thinking, and the lightning glance of genius, is an argument on which I build my belief of the immortality of the foul. Reafon is, confequentially, the fimple power of improvement ; or, more properly fpeaking, of difcern- ing truth. Every individual is in this refpect a world in itfelf. More or lefs may be confpicuous in .one be ing than another ; but the nature of reafon mull be the fame in all, if it be an emanation of divinity, the tie that connects the creature with the Creator ; for, can that foul be {lamped with the heavenly image, that is
inlcllefl than wan ; or in inhat does their fuperiority conjijl ? In tht Jiuxe JTyle, to dro'J the fiieer, they art allotved to pc/Jefs more goodiiefs of heart) piety and benevolence. — / doubt the fafl, though it be c'lur- teoit/ly brought forward, unhfs ignorance be alkiucd to be the mother of devotion ; for I am firmly pcrfuaded^ thatt on an averagey the propoi'- t'if>'i hdivecn virtue and knowledge is more upon a par than is (ommoxly granted.
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 89
not perfected by the exercife of ks o.vn reafonr* Yet outwardly ornamented with re, and fo
adorned to delight man, « that with honour he may ' love,' f the foul of woman is not allowed to have this diftinclion, anJ man, ever placed between her and reafon, flic 'y created to fee
through 'a g . and to I tgs en trull.
But, d. :iful theories, and considering
woman as a whole, let it be what it will, inflcad of a part of man, the inquiry is, whether flic has reafon or not. If file has, which, for a moment, I will take for granted, (he was not created merely to be the folace of man, and the fexual fhould not dsflroy the human character.
Into this error men have, probably, been led by viewing education in a falfe light ; not confidering it as the firft ilep to form a being advancing gradually towards perfection ; J but only as a preparation for life. On this fenfual error, for I muft call it fo, has the falfe fyftem of female manners been reared, which robs the whole fex of its dignity, and claiTes the brown and fair with the fmiling flowers that only adorn the land. This has ever been the language of men, and the fear of" departing from a fuppofed fexual charac.
* The brutes^fays Lo>d MonlodJo, ' rcnain in ih? fiate in ivl'ich « nature bat placed f lent, except in fo far as tlelr natural injl'ncl is ' improved by the culture we befioiu upon ilc;:iC
f Vide Milton.
J This ivor d is not fir icily juft, l:tt I ca"tiot find a Letter »
I 2.
fc> VINDICATION OF THE
t-jr, has made even women of fuperior fenfe adopt the fame fentiments. * Thus underftanding, ftri&ly fpeak- ing, has been denied to woman ; and inflincl, fubli- mated into wit and cunning, for the purpofes of life, has been fubftituted in its flead.
The power of generalizing ideas, of drawing com- preheniive conclufions from individual obfervations, is the only acquirement for an immortal being, that really deferves the name of knowledge. Merely to obferve,
* ' Pleasure's tie portion of t/S inferior kind ; f But glory, virtue, Heaven for man defignd.
After writing thefe lines, loiu tsuld Mrs, Batlaitld "Mriictlc fcl'~ lewing igtivble ccmfarifon ?
* To a Lady with feme painted flowers.'
* flowers io tie fair : to you thefe floiuers I bring,
* Ana. firii>e to greet you ivitb an earlhr Jpring^
* flower si •-?•'•>.? i, andgiv, and delicate like you ;
* Emblems of innocence, and beauty too.
* Wttbf.'jivers the Graces bind their ycHotv lair,
* Andfioivery ivrcatls confenting lovsrs ivear. 1 FloivfiS) ibc fole luxury which nature kxeiv, 1 In Eden's pure and gtiililefs garden greiv.
* To loftier j It ms arc rougher tc-Jks vjjlgrfd, ' Tbefcslteri** oak rt/ijls thcformy ivind : 1 The tougher yci<j repch invading foes,
* And the tall fine for future navies groius ; 4 But this f oft family i to cares unknown,
* \Verc born for picgfure and delig&t alon*.
* (ray ivttbou* toil, and lovely without art,
* 'TbeyJfrittgto'clM&fa.fenJtt and glad the heart, 4 Nor llujb, my fair, to own you copy tlefe ;
1 Tyur left, your fweetefl, empire is — to pleafe.*
5- tbt men tell us : b;:t virtue muf, • l>y rough tti/s, an*
. : -&'..ih worldly carts.
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. QI
Without endeavouring to account for any tiling, may, (in a very incomplete manner) ferve as the common fenfe of life ; but where is the ftore laid up that is to clothe the foul when it leaves the body ?
This power has not only been denied to women ; but writers have infilled that it is inconfifient, with a few exceptions; with their fexual character. L^t men prove this, and I frail grant that woman on!y exift.-i for man. I muit, howevc/ oower
of generalizing ideas, to any great extent, is not very common amongft men or women. Hut this exerciie is the true cultivation of the underfhnding ; and every thing confpires to render the cultivation of the ur.dcr- fian-img more diliicukin the female than
I am naturally led by this afTertion to the m of the prelent chapter, and mail now r. out fome of the cvafes that degrade th vent womcrt from generaliziug t
I mail not go b.ick to t.ie remo'ce a.in.ils of anti quity to trace the hiftory of wjm.n ; J Callow, that me has always been eit . e or a def-
|pot; and to remark, that each of thefe utuitions e
Is the progrefs of reafon. female Lily and vice has ever appeared to r:e to
'Voni narrow.nefs of mind ; and the ve tion of civil governments has put almoft infuperable obftaclca in me way to prevent the cultivation of the female imderftanding : — yet virtue can be built on no other foundation I Yhe fame obfracles are thrown in the way of the rich, and the fame confequences enfue. 13
^2 VINDICATION OF THE
Neceflity has been proverbially termed the mother of invention — the apliorifm may be extended to virtue. It is an acquirement, and an acquirement to which plea- fare mail be ficrificecl — and who facrifices pleafure when it is within the graip, whofe mind has not been opened and ftrengthened by adverfity, or the purfuit of know ledge goaded on by neceflity r — Happy is it when peo ple hive the cares of life to ftruggle with; for thefe lit their becoming a prey to enervating i ..uy from idleness ! But, if from their birth "/omen are placed in a torrid zone, with the •in fun of pleaiure darting diredlly upon them, now can they fufnciently brace their minds to difcharge the duties of life, or even to reliili the affections that carry them cut of themfelves ?
Pleafure is the bufmeis of a woman's life, according to the prefent modification of focie;y, and while it con tinues to be fo, little can be expected from fuch weak beings. Inheriting, in a lineal defcent from the fir ft fair defeft in nature, the fovereignty of beauty, they have, to maintain their power, refign^d the natural rights, which the exercife of reafon might have pro cured them, and chofen rather to be mort-lived queens than labour to attain the fobe*- plea fares that arife from equality. Exalted by their inferiority (this founds like a contradiction) they con.lantly demand homage as wo men, though experience fhould teach them that the men who pride themfelves upon paying this arbitrary info- lent rcfpefl to the fcx, with the rr.oft ftrupulous exaft- nefs, are jr.o.l-inclined to tyrannise over, and defpife
RIGHTS OF WOMAN'. 93
the very weaknefs they cherifh. Often do they repeat Mr. Hume's fentiments ; when, comparing the French and Athenian character, he alludes to women. ' But
* what is more fmgular in this whimfical nation, fay I 1 to the Athenians, is, that a frolic of yours during the 1 Saturnalia, when the naves are ferved by their maf-
* ters, is ferioufly continued by them through the whole
* year, and through the whole courfe of their lives ; 4 accompanied too with fome circumflances, which fcill ' further augment the abfurdity and ridicule. Your.
* fport only elevates for a few days, thofe whom fortune
* has thrown down, and whom me too, in fport, may
* really elevate for ever above you. But this nation
* gravely exalts thofe, whom nature has fubjecled to ' them, and whofe inferiority and infirmities are abfo-
* lutely incurable. The women, though without vir- f tue, are their matters and fovereigns.'
Ah ! why do women, I write with affectionate foli- citude, condeicend to receive a degree of attention and refpetl from Grangers, different from that reciprocation of civility which the dictates of humanity, and the po- litenefs of civilization authorife between man and man ? And why do they not difcover, when f in the noon of beauty's power* that they are treated like queens only to be deluded by hollow refpecl, till they are led to refign, or not afiume, their natural prerogatives ? Con fined then in cages, like the feathered race, they have nothing to do but to plume themfelves, and ihilk with mock-majefty from perch to perch. It is true, they are provided with food and raiment, for which they nei~
94 VINDICATION OF THE
ther toil nor fpin ; but health, liberty, and virtue are given in exchange. But, where, amoRgft mankind has been found fufficient ilrength of* mind to enable a being to refign thefe adventitious prerogatives ; one \v,io, rifing with the calm dignity of reaion abc^re opinion, dared to be proud of the privileges inherent in man ? and it is vain to expect it whilft hereditary power chokes the affections, and nips reafon in the bud.
Trie pillions of men have thus placed women on t 5> .;na, till mankind become more reafon^ble, it
is to le fe.-^ed that women will av.dl themselves of the pou jr which they attain witn the leaft exertion, and wnich is the moft indiiputable. ri hey will fmile — yes, they will imiie, though told that —
* In beauty's empire is no meant
* Ji#divoma», either jlervc or queen*
* Is quickly J corn d fmi en not adoi d.
But the adoration comes firfl, and the fcorn is not an ticipated.
Lewis the XlVth, in particular, fpread factitious manners, and caught in a fpecious way, the whole na tion in his toils ; for eftabiiiliing an artful chain of def- p-ctifm, he niaae it ihe intereft of the people at large, individually to rdpecfc his fiation, and fupport his power. And women, whom he flattered by a puerile attention to the whole lex, obtained in his reign that prince-like diftinction fo fatal to reafon and virtue.
A king is always a king — and a woman always a
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 95
woman : * his authority and her fex, ever ftand between them and rational converfe. With a lover, I grant ihe fhould be fo, and her fenfibility will naturally lead her to endeavour to excite emotion, not to gratify her va nity but her heart. This I do not allow to be coquettry, it is the artlefs impulfe of nature, I only exclaim againfl the fexual defire of conqueft, when, the heart is out of the queftion.
This defire is not confined to women ; ' I have en- ' deavoured, ' fays Lord Chefterfield, 'to gain the hearts t of twenty women, whofe perfons I would not have
given a fig for. ' The libertine, who in a guft of paf- fion, takes advantage of unfufpeding tendernefs, is a faint when compared with this cold-hearted raical ; for I like to ufe fignificant words. Yet only taught to pleafe, women are always on the watch to pleafe, and with true heroic ardour endeavour to gain hearts merely to refign, or fpurn them, when the victory is decided, and confpicuous.
I muit defcend to the minutiae of the fubjeft.
I lament that women are fyftematically degraded by receiving the trivial attentions, which men think it man ly to pay to the fex, when, in fadl, they are infultingly fupporting their own fuperiority. It is not condefcen- fion to bow to an inferior. So ludicrous, in fa&, do thefe ceremonies appear to me that I fcarcely am able to govern my mufcles, when I fee a man ilart with
* And a iv'tt always a ivit, might be added ; for the va.'rn fooleries, tf ivlts and beauties to attain attention^ and make conyuejls J are muck upon a par.
96 VINDICATION OF THE
eager, and ferious folicitude to lift a handkerchief, or fhut a door, when the lady could have done it herfelf, had ihe only moved a pace or two.
A wild wiih has juil flown from my heart to my head, and I will not ftifle it though it may excite a horfe- laugh. — I do earneilly wifh to fee the diflinction of fex confounded in fociety, unlefs where love animates the behaviour. For this diflindion is, I am firmly perfuad- ed, the foundation of the weaknefs of character afcribed to woman; is the caufe why the underftanding is ne glected, whilft accomplishments are acquired with fe- dulouscare: and the fame caufe accounts for their pre ferring the graceful before the heroic virtues.
Mankind, including every defcription, wifh to be loved and refpectedforyc^/>&z#g-; and the common herd will always take the neareft road to the completion of their wiflies. The refpect paid to wealth and beauty is the moft certain and unequivocal; and, of conrfe, will always attract the vulgar eye of common minds. Abi lities and virtues are abfolu^ely neceflary to raife men, from the middle rank of life into notice; and the natu ral confequence is notorious, the middle rank contains moil virtue and abilities. Men have thus, in one ftation, ?.t lead, an opportunity of exerting themfelves with dignity, and of rifmgby the exertions which really im prove a L.tionr:! :reature ; but the whole female fex are, till their character is formed, in the fame condition as the rich : for they a.e born, I now fpeak of a flate of ci vilization, with certain fexual privileges, and v/hilil they are gratuitoufly granted them, few will ever think of
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 97
works of fupererogation, to obtain the efteem of a fmall number of fuperior people.
When do we hear of women, who, ftarting out of obfcurity, boldly claim refpeft on account of their great abilities or daring virtues? Where are they to be found? — e To be obferved, to be attended to, to be taken no- ' tice of with fympathy, complacency, and approbation, * are all the advantages which they feek.' — True ! my male readers will probably exclaim ; but let them, be fore they draw any conclufion, recoiled, that this was not written originally as defcriptive of women, but of the rich. In Dr. Smith's Theoiy of Moral Sentiments, I have found a general character of people of rank and fortune, that, in my opinion, rnighfriwith the greateft propriety be applied to the female fex. I refer the fa- gacious reader to the whole comparifon; but muil be allowed to quote a PalTage to enforce an argument that I mean to infift on, as the one mofl conclufive againft a fexual character. For if, excepting warriors, no great men, of any denomination, have ever appeared amongft the nobility, may it not be fairly inferred, that their local fituation fwallowed up the man, and produced a character fimilar to that of women, who are localized, if I may be allowed the word, by the rank they are placed in, by courtefy? Women, coinironly called La dies, are not to be contradicted in Company, are not allowed to exert any manurl ftrength ; *r-d from them the negative virtues only are expeCled, when any vir tues are expected, patience, docility, good-humour, and flexibility ; virtues incompatible with uny vigorous
98 VINDICATION OF THE
exertion of intellect. Befides, by living more with each other, and being feldom abfolutely alone, they are more under the influence of fentiments than paffions. Solitude and reflection are neceflary to give to wii'hes the force of paffions, and to enable the imagination to enlarge the object, and make it the molt defirable. The fame may be faid of the rich ; they do not fufficiently deal in general ideas, collected by impafiionate think ing, or calm inveftigation, to acquire that ftrength of character, on which great refolves are built. But hear what an acute obferver fays of the great. . f Do the great feem infenfible of the eafy price at
* which they may acquire the public admiration? or 1 do they feem to imagine, that to them, as to other
* men, it muft be the purchafe either of fweat or of ' blood ? By what important accompli Ihments is the
* young nobleman inftructed to fupport the dignity of ' his rank, and to render himfelf worthy of that fupe-
* riority over his fellow citizens, to which the virtue ' of his ancestors had raifed them ? Is it by know- 6 ledge, by induftry, by patience, by felf-denial, or ( by virtue of any kind ? As all his words, as all his ' motions are attended to, he learns an habitual regard
* every circumstance of ordinary behaviour, and Ihi-
* dies to perform all thofe fmall duties with the moft c exact propriety. As he is confcious how much he ' is obferved, and how much mankind are difpofed to
* favour all his inclinations, he acts, upon the moft
* indifferent occafions, with that freedom and elevation ' which the thought of this naturally infpires. His
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 99
air, his manner, his deportment, all mark that elegant and graceful fenfe of his own fuperiority, which thofe who are born to an inferior {ration can hardly ever ar- *: rive at. Thefe are the arts by which he propofes to make mankind more eafily fubmit to his authority, and to govern their inclinations according to his own plea- fure : and in this he is feldom difappointed. Thefe arts, fupported by rank and pre-eminence, are, upon ordinary occafions, fufScient to govern the world. Lewis XIV. during the greater part of his reign, was regarded, not only in France, but over all Eu rope, as the moft perfect model of a great prince. But what were the talents and virtues, by which he acquired this great reputation ? Was it by the fcm- pulous and inflexible juitice of all his undertakings, by the immenfe dangers and difficulties with which they were attended, or by the unwearied and unre lenting application with which he purfued them? Was it by his extenfive knowledge, by his exquifite judgment, or by his heroic valour ? It was by none of thefe qualities. But he was, firfl of all, the moft powerful prince in Europe, and confequently held the highefl rank among kings; and then, fays his hiftorian, " he furpaffed all his courtiers in the grace- ' fulnefs of his mape, and the majeftic beauty of hi* ' features. The found of his voice, noble and afFe£l- 1 ing, gained thofe hearts which his prefence intimi- ' dated. He had a ftep and a deportment, which ' could fuit only him and his rar.k, and which would * have been ridiculous in any other perfon. The em- K
ICO VINDICATION OF THE
<( barra{iment which he occafioned to thofe who fpok«'| ** to him, flattered that fecret fatisfa&icn with which] " he felt his own fuperiority." Thefe frivolous ac-g e .complifhments, fupported by his rank, and, no doubt J * too, by a degree of other talents and virtues, which I « feems, however, not to have been much above medio-J f crity, eftabliihed this prince in the efteem of his own] e age, and have drawn, even from poilerity, a good) ' deal of refpect for his memory. Compared with' ' thefe, in his own times, and in his own prefence, no I ' other virtue, it feems, Appeared to have any merit. 8 ' Knowledge, induliry, valour, and beneficence, trem-j « bling, were abafhed, and loft all dignity before them.H Woman, alfo, thus < in herfelf complete,* by pof~ "fefling all thefe frivolous accomplifhments, fo changes the nature of things,
• ' That what Jie tuilh io do or fay
« Seems iv if if, virtuoufefl, difcreetejl. Left ; ' All higher Imivledge in her prefence falls ' Degraded. TVtfdom in difcourfe "with her ' i, fifes difionntencinc'cl, and like Folly fioius-; 4 Authority and Rfafon on her •wait.1 —
And all this is built on her lovelinefs !
In the middle rank of life, to continue the compan ion, men, in their youth, are prepared for profeflions, and marriage is not confidered as the grand feature in their lives ; whilft women, on the contrary, have no other fcherne to fharpen their faculties. It is not bufi- nefs, extenfive plans, or any of the excurfive flights cf ambition, that engrofs their attention j no, their
RIGHTS OF WOMAN". 101
thoughts are not employed in rearing fuch noble flruc- tures. To rife in the world, and have the liberty of tanning from pleafure to pleafure, they muft marry 'advantageoufly, and to this object their time is facrL ficed, and their perfons often legally proftituted. A man, when he enter any profeilion, has his eye {readily flxed on fome future advantage (and the mind gains great flrength by having all its efforts di reeled to one point) and, full of his bufmefs, pleafure is coniidered as mere relaxation ; whilft women feek .for pleafure z* the main purpofe of exigence. In fact, from the edr. cation which they receive from fociety, the love of plealiire may be faid to govern them ail ; bat does this prove that there is a fex in fouls ? It would be juic as rational to declare, that the courtiers in France, when a deilruclive fyftem of defpotifm had formed their cha racter, were not men, becaufe liberty, virtue, and human ity, were facrificed to pleafure and vanity. — Fatal paf- fions, which have ever domineered over the whole race !
The fame love of pleafure, foftered by the whole tendency of their education, gives a trifling turn to the conduft of women in moil circumftances : for in- ftance, they are ever anxious about fecondary things ; and on the watch for adventures, inftead of being oc cupied by duties.
A man, when he undertakes a journey, has, in ge neral, the end in view ; a woman thinks more of the incidental occurrences, the ftrange things that may poflibly occur on the road; the impreffion that me may make on her fellow-travellers j and, above all, me is Kz.
IO2 VINDICATION OF THE
anxioufly intent on the care of the finery that flic car ries with her, which is more than ever a part of her- < felf, when going to figure on a new fcene ; when, to ufe an apt French tarn of expreflion, flie is going to , produce a fenfation.—Can dignity of mind exift with iuch trivial cares ?
In fhort, women, in general, as well as the rich of both ; fexes, have acquired all the follies and vices of civiliza- i tlon, and miffed the ufeful fruit. It is not necefiary for ; jne always to premife, that I fpeak of the condition of! The whole fex, leaving exceptions out of the queilion.:< Their fenfes are inflamed, and their underftandingg neglected ; confequently they become the prey of their il-nies. delicately termed fenfibility, and are blown xibotit by every momentary guft of feeling. They are, therefore, in a much worfe condition than they would be in, were they in a ftate nearer to nature. Ever relt- lefs and anxious, their ovcr-exercifed fenfibility not only renders them uncomfortable themfelves, but trou- blefome, to ufe a foft phrafe, to others. All their thoughts turn on things calculated to excite emotion; and, feeling, when they mould reafon, their conduct is unftable, and their opinions are wavering — not the i wavering produced by deliberation or progreffive views, but by contradictory emotions. By fits and Harts they are warm in many purfuits; yet this warmth, never concentrated into perfeverance, foon exhaufts itfelf j exhaled by its own heat, or meeting with fome other., fleeting pailion, to which reafon has never given any fpeciiic gravity, neutrality enfues. Mifcrable, indeed,
RIGHTS OF WOMAN.
muft be that being whofe cultivation of mind has only tended to inflame its paffions! A difdnction mould be made between inflaming and ilrengthening them. The paffions thus pampered, whilit the judgment is left un formed, what can be expected to enfue? — Undoubtedly, a mixture of madnefs and folly !
This obfervation mould not be confined to the fair fex ; however, at prefcnt, I only mean to apply it to them.
Novels, mufic, poetry and gallantry, all tend to make women the creatures of 'fenfation, and their character is thus formed during the time they are acquiring accom- plimments, the only improvement they are excited, by their ftation in fociety, to acquire. This overftretched fenfibility naturally relaxes the other powers of the mind, and prevents intellect from attaining that fovereignty which it ought to attain, to render a rational creature ufeful to others, and content with its own ftation : for the exercife of the underflanding, as life advances, is the only method pointed out by nature to calm the paffions.
Satiety has a very different effect, and I have often been forcibly flruck by an emphatical defcription of damnation, — when the fpirit is reprefented as continu ally hovering with abortive eagernefs round the defiled body, unable to enjoy any thing without the organs of fenfe. Yet, to their fenfes, are women made (laves, becaufe it is by their fenfibility that they obtain prefent power.
And will moralifls pretend to afTert, that this is the condition in which one half of the human race fhould be
104 VINDICATION" OF THE
encouraged to remain with liftlefs inactivity and ftupid acquiescence ? Kind inftruftors ! what were we created for ? To remain, it may be faid, innocent ; they mean in a ftate of childhood. — We might as well never have been born, unlefs it were neceffary that we mould be created to enable man to acquire the noble privilege of reafon, the power of difcerning good from evil, whilil we lie down in the duft from whence we were taken, never to rife again. —
It would be an endlefs tafk to trace the variety of meannefles, cares, and forrows, into which women are plunged by the prevailing opinion, that they were created rather to feel than reafon, and that all the power they obtain, mult be obtained by their charms and weaknefs :
' Fine by defett^ and amiably ivcak /'
And, made by this amiable weaknefs entirely dependent, excepting what they gain by illicit fway, en man, not only for protection, but advice, is it furprifmg that, neglecting the duties that reafon alone points out, and (blinking from trials calculated to flrengthen their minds, they only exert themfelves to give their defects a graceful covering, which may ferve to heighten their charms in the eye of the voluptuary, though it fink them below the fcale of moral excellence ?
Fragile in every fenfe of the word, they are obliged to lookup toman for every comfort. In the moil triiiing dangers they cling to their fupport, with parafitical tena- . city, piteoully demanding fuccour; and their natural protector extends his arm,or lifts up his voice, to guard
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 105
the lovely trembler — from what? Perhaps the frown of an old cow, or the jump of a moufe; a rat, would be a ferious danger. In the name of reafon, and even com mon fenfc, what can iave fuch beings from contempt, even though they be foft and fair?
Thefe fears, when not affected, may be very pretty; but they {hew a degree of imbecility, that degrades a rational creature in a way women are not aware of — for love and eileem are very difiind things.
I am fully perfuaded, that we mould hear of none of thefe infantine airs, if girls were allowed to take fuffi- cient exercife, and not confined in clofe rooms till their mufcles are relaxed, and their powers of digeftion de- ftroyed. To carry the remark {till further, if fear in girls, inftead of being cherimed, perhaps, created, was treated in the fame manner as cowardice in boys, we mould quickly fee women with more dignified afpeds. It is true, they could not then with equal propriety be termed the fweet flowers that fmile in the walk of man; but they would be more refpedtable members of fociety, and difcharge the important duties of life by the light of their own reafon. ' Educate women like men,' fays Roufleau, * and the more they refemble our fex the lefs ' power will they have over us.J This is the very point I aim at. I do not wifli them to have power over men; but over themfelves.
In the fame ftrain have I heard men argue againft inftrufting the poor ; for many are the forms that arifto- cracy affumes. * Teach them to read and write,' fay they, ' and you take them out of the flation affigned
IC6 VINDICATION OF THE
e them by nature.' An eloquent Frenchman has an- fwered themj' I will bofrow his fentiments. But they know not, when they make man a brute, that they may expect every inftant to fee him transformed into a feroci ous beaft. \Vithout knowledge there can be no morality !
Ignorance is a frail bafe for virtue ! Yet, that it is the condition for which woman was organized, has been infilled upon by the writers who have mod vehemently argued in favour of the fuperiority of man; a fuperiority not in degree, but effence; though, to foften the argu ment, they hare laboured to prove, with chivalrous generofity, that the fexes ought not to be compared ;. man was made to reafon, woman to feel : and that toge ther, £em and fpirit, they make the moil perfect whole, by blending happily reafon and fenfibility into one character.
And what is fenfibility? ' Quicknefs of fenfation; * quicknefs of perception; delicacy.' Thus it is defined; by Dr. Johnfon; and the definition gives me no other idea than of the moft exquifitely poliihed inftinct. I difcern not a trace of the image of God in eiiher fenfa tion or matter. Refined feventy times feven, they are- ftill material ; intellect dwells not there ; nor will fire ever make lead gold !
I come round to my old argument; if woman be al lowed to have an immortal foul, me muft have, as the employment of life, an underitancling to improve. And, when, to render the prefent flute more complete, though every thing proves it to be but a fraction of a mighty fum, fug is incited by prefent gratification, to forget hv-
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 10;
grand destination, Nature is counteracted, or me was born only to procreate and rot. Or, granting brutes, of every defcription, a foul, though not a reafonable one, the exercife of inftincl and fenfibility may be the ftep, which they are to take, in this life, towards the attain ment of reafon in the next ; fo that through all eternity they will lag behind man, who, why we cannot tell, had the power given him of attaining reafon in his firft mode of exigence. Hg£ m
When I treat of the peculiar duties of .women, as I mould treat of the peculiar duties of a citizen or fa ther, it will be found that I do not mean to infmuate, that they mould be taken out of their families, fpeaking of the majority. ' He that halh wife and children,' fays Lord Bacon, ' hath given hoitages to fortune ; ' for they are impediments to great enterprifes, either ' of virtue or milchief. Certainly the beft works, and ' of greateft merit for the public, have proceeded fnom f the unmarried or ohildlefs men.' I fay the fame of women. But, the welfare of fociety is not built on ex traordinary exertions ; and were it more reafonably or ganized, there would be ftill lefs need of great abilities, or heroic virtues.
In the regulation of a family, in the education of children, imderftanding, in an unfophiiticated fenfe, is particularly required : flrength both of body and mind ; yet the men who, by their writings, have moil: earneftly laboured to domefxicate women, have endeavoured by arguments dictated by a grofs appetite, that fatiety had rendered faflidious, to weaken their bodies and cramp
I08 VINDICATION OF THE
their minds. But, if even by thefe fmifter methods they really perfuaded women, by working on their feelings, to Hay at home, and fulfil the duties of a mother and miftrefs of a family, I mould cautioufly oppofe opinions that led women to right conduct, by prevailing on them to make the difcharge of a duty the bufinefs of life, though reafon were infulted. Yet, and I appeal to ex perience, if by neglecting the underftanding they are as much, nay, more attached from thefe domerKc duties, than they could be by the molt ferious intellectual pur- fuit, though it may be obferved, that the mafs of man kind will never vigoroufly purfue an intellectual ob ject*, I may be allowed to infer, that reafon is abfo- lutely neceffary to enable a woman -to- perform any duty properly, and I muil again repeat, that fenfibility
is not reafon.
The comparifon with the rich ftill occurs to me ;
for, when men neglect the duties of humanity, women will do the fame ; a common ftrcam hurries them both along with thoughtlefs celerity. Riches and honours, prevent a man from enlarging his underitanding, and. enervate all his powers, by reverfing the order of nature, which has ever made trwe pleafure the reward of labour. Pleafure — enervating pleafure is, likewife, within wo men's reach without earning it. But, till hereditary porTeflions are fpread abroad, how can we expect men to be proud of virtue ? And, till they are, women will govern them by the mod direct means, neglecting their
* ¥le m*fs of manhin.d are ratbtr tlejlaves of their agpetitfs tbatt vf tbtir fajTiotn,
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 109
dull domeftic duties, to catch the pleafure that is on the wing of time.
' The power of woman,' fays fome author, ' is her ••' fenfibility ;' and men, not aware of the confequence, do all they can to make this power fwallow up every other, Thofe who conftantly employ their fenfibility will have moft : for example ; poets, painters, and com- pofers,* Yet, when the fenfibility is thus increafed at the expenfe of reafon, and even the imagination, why do philofophical men complain of their ficklenefs ? The fexual attention of man particularly acts on fe male fenfibility, and this fympathy has been exercifed from their youth up. A huiband cannot long pay thofe attentions with the paflion neceflary to excite lively emotions, and the heart, acjcuftomed to lively emotions, turns to a new lover, or pines in fecret, the prey of .virtue or prudence. I mean when the heart has really been rendered fufceptible, and the tafte formed; for J am apt to conclude, from what I have feen in fafhion- able life, that vanity is oftener foftered than fenfibility by the mode of education, and the intercourfe between the fexes, which I have reprobated ; and that conquet- try more frequently proceeds from vanity than from that inconftancy, which overtrained fenfibility naturally produces.
Another argument that has had a great weight with
* JVTtn oftbefe defcriptions pour it into their compactions, to amalga mate iLi grofs materials \ and^ moulding them <witb pajfiont give to tbi ine>< body afoul; but , in ivomati's imagination, love tlont concentrates • ' creal l/eams.
IIO TINDICATJON OF THE
me, mufl, I think, have fome force with every confide- rate, benevolent heart. Girls who have been thus weakly educated, are often cruelly left by their parents without any provifion ; and, of courfe, are dependent on, not only the reafon, but the bounty of their bro thers. Thefe brothers are, to view the faireft fide of the queflon, good fort of men, and give as a favour, what children of the fame parents had an equal right to, In i his equivoca1 humiliating fituation, a docile female may remain fome time, with a tolerable degree of com- fo.t. But, when the brother marries, a probable cir- cumftance, frcm being confidered as the miftrefs of the family, me is viewed with averted looks as an intruder, an unneaflary burden on the benevolence of the maf- ter of the houfe, and his new partner,
Whoc.-.n recount themifery, which many unfortunate beings, whofe minds and bodies are equally weak, fuf- fer in fuch iicuations — unable to work, and amamed to beg ? The wife, a cold-hearted, narrow-minded woman, and this is not an unfair fuppofition ; for the prefent mode of education does not tend to enlarge the heart any more than the underftanding, is jealous of the little kindnefs which her hufband mows to his relations ; and her ft-nfibiiity not rifmg to humanity, me is difpleafed at feeing the property of her children lavimed on an helplefs fifcer.
Thefe are matters of facl,. which have come under my eye again and again. The confequence is obvious, the wife has recourfe to cunning to undermine the ha bitual affection, which flie is afraid openly to oppofe ;
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. HI
and neither tears nor careiTes are fpared till the fpy is worked out of her home, and thrown on the world^ unprepared for its difficulties ; or fent, as a great ef fort of generofity, or from fome regard to propriety, with a fmall ftipsnd, and an uncultivated mind into joy- lefs folitude.
Thefe two women may be much upon a par, with refpe£l to reafon and humanity ; and changing fitua- tions, might have acted juft the fame felfifh part ; but kid they been differently educated, the cafe would aifo have been very different. The wife would not have had that fenfibility, of which felf is the centre, and reafon might have taught her not to expect, and not even to be flattered by the affection of her hufband, if it led him to violate prior duties. She would wifh not to love him, merely becaufe he loved her, but on account of his virtues ; arid the fifter might have been able to ftruggle for herfelf, inilead of eating the bitter bread of dependence.
I am, indeed, perfuaded that the heart, as well as the underftanding, is opened by cultivation ; and by, which may not appear fo clear, ftrengthening the organs ; I am not now talking of momentary ilaflies of fenfibility, but of affections. And, perhaps, in the education, of both fexes, the moll difficult talk is fo to adjuft inftruc- tion as not to narrow the underftandmg, wliilit I'K- heart is warmed by the generous juices of fpring, jail raifed by the electric fermentation of the feafon ; nor to dry up the feelings by employing the mind in. tigations remote from life.
L
112 VINDICATION OF THE
With refpeft to women, when they receive a careful education, they are either made fine ladies, brimful of fenfibility, and teeming with capricious fancies ; or mere notable women. The latter are often friendly, honeit creatures, and have a fhrevvd kind of good fenfe joined with worldly prudence, that often render them more ufeful members of fociety than the fine fentimental lady, though they pofTefs neither greatnefs of mind nor uite. The intellectual world is fhut againil them ; take them out of their family or neighbourhood, and they ftand ftiil ; the mind finding no employment, for literature affords a fund of amufement, winch they have never fought to reliih, but frequently to delpife. The fentiments and tafte of more cultivated minds appear ridiculous, even in thofe whom chance and family con nections have led them to love , but in mere acquaint ance they think it all affectation.
A man of fenie can only love fuch a woman on ac count of her fex, and refpecl her, becaufe me is a trufty fervant. He lets her, to preferve his own peace, icold the fervants, and go to church in clothes made of the very belt materials. A man of her own fize of under- flanding would, probably, not agree fo well with her ; for he might wii'h to encroach on her prerogative, and manage fome "\domeftic concerns himfelf. Yet women, whofe minds are not enlarged by cultivation, or the natural felfiflinefs of fenfibility expanded by rejection, are very unfit to manage a family ; for, by an undue flretch cf power, thjy are always tyrannizing to 1 a fj-criorlty that only re Us on the arbitrary diltifidion
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 113
cf fortune. The evil is fometimes more ferious, and domeflics are deprived of innocent induigencies, and made to work beyond their flrength, in order to enable the notable woman to keep a better table, and outfhine her neighbours in finery and parade. If fiie attend to her children, it is, in general, to drefs them in a cofily manner — and, whether, this attention arifes from vanity. or fonJnefs, it is equally pernicious.
BefideSj how many women of this description pafs their days, or, at leaft their evenings, difcontentedly. Their hufbands acknowledge that they are good rr.a- nigers, and ch^fce wives; but leave home to feek for more agreeable, may 1 be allowed to ufe a fignificant French word, piquant fociety ; and the patient drudge, who fulfils her talk, like a blind horfe in a mill, is de frauded of her juft reward ; for the wages due to her are the carefles of her huiband ; and women who have fo few refources in themfelves, 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 me has only been incited to acquire accomplifh- ments that rife a degree above fenfe ; for even corporeal accompliftiments cannot be acquired with any degree of precifion, unlefs the underftanding has been ftrength- ened by exercife. Without a foundation of principles taile is fuperficial ; and grace mull arife from fomething deeper than imitation. The imagination, however, is Cheated, and the feelings rendered faflidious, if not fo- phifticated ; or, a counterpoife of judgment is not ac- Lz
1 14 VINDICATION OF THE
quired, when the heart ftill remains artlefs, though it becomes too tender.
Thefe women are often amiable ; and their hearts are really more fenfiblc to general benevolence, more alive to the fentiments that civilize life, thun the fqunre- elbowed family drudge ; b:.it, wanting a due propor tion 'of reflection and felf-governn .ent, they only infpire love ; and are the miftreffes of their hulbands, w hilft they have any lu.ld < n tl^ir ;.:ffeciions ; an.! the platonic friends of his n ale acquaintance. Thefe are the defects in nature ; Lie women who appear to be created not to enjoy the fellowfhip of man, but to fare him fromfinkihg in'.o ahfolute brutality, by rubbing off the rough angles of his character, and by playful dal liance to give feme dignity to the appetite that draws him to them. Gracious Creator of the whole human race. ! hail thou created fuch a being as woman, who can trace thy wifdcm in thy works, and feel that thou alone art by thy nature, exalted above her — for no bet- tiv purpcfe ? — Can me believe that Ihe was onl^ made to fubniit to man her equal ; a being, who, like her, was il:nt into the world to acquire virtue ? — Can me con- lent to be occupied merely to pleafe him ; merely to u.iorn the earth, when her foul is capable of rifmg to thee ;— And can flic reft fnpinely dependent on man for '.n, when flie ought to mount with him the arduous
of knowledge ; —
Yet, if love be the fupreme good, let women be only
to infpire it, and let every charm be polifhed
the fenfec ; but, if they are moral beings,
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 115
let them have a chance to become intelligent ; and let love to man be only a part of that glowing flame of univerfal love, which, after encircling humanity, mounts in grateful incenfe to God.
To fulfil domellic duties much refolution isnecef&ry, and a ferious kind of perfeverance that requires a more firm fupport than emotions, however lively and true to nature. To give an example of order, the foul of vir tue, fome aufterity of behaviour mull pfc»e adopted, fcarcely to be expected from a being who, from its in fancy, has been made the weathercock of its own fenfa- tions. Whoever rationally means to be ufeful, muii have a plan of conduct ; and, in the diicharge of ths fimpleft duty, we are often obliged to act contrary to the prefent impulfe of tendernefs or cornpaiTioii. Seve rity is frequently the moft certain, as weU as the moil fublime proof of afFeclion: and the want of this power over the feelings, and of that lofty, dignified affedion, which makes a perfon prefer the future good of the beloved objec~l to a prefent gratification, is the reafon why fo many fond mothers fpoil their children, and his made it questionable, whether negligence or indulgence is more hurtful : but I am inclined to think, that the latter has done moft harm.
Mankind feem to agree, that children fhould be left under the management of women during their child hood. Now, from all the obfervation that i have been able to make, women of fenfibiiity are the moft unfit for this tafk, becaufe they will infallibly, carried away by their feelings, fpoil a child's temper. The manage- L 3
Il6 VINDICATION OF THE
merit of the temper, the firft and moil important branch of education, requires the fober fteady eye of reafon ; a plan of conduct equally diftant from tyranny and in- d-Igence: yet thefe are the extremes that people of fen- iibhity alternately fall into; always mooting beyond the mark. I have followed this train of reafoning much fur ther, till I have concluded, that a perfon of genius is .the moll improper perfon to be employed in education, public cr private. Minds of this rare fpecies fee things too much in rnaffes, and feldom, if ever, have a good temper. That habitual cheerfulnefs, termed good hu mour, is, perhaps, as feldorn united with great mental powers, as with ftrcng feelings. And thofe people who follow, with interefi and admiration, the flights of ge nius; or, with cooler approbation fuck in the inilruclion, which has been elaborately prepared for them by the profound thinker, ought not to be difgufted, if they £nd the former choleric, and the Utter morofe ; becaufe live- linefs of fancy, and a tenacious comprehenfion of mind, are fcurcely compatible wilh that pliant urbanity which leads a man, at leait, to bend to the opinions and preju dices of others, indead of roughly confronting them.
But, treating of education or manners, minds of a fuperior clafs are not to be considered, they may be left to chance; it is the multitude, with moderate abilities, who call for inilruclion, and catch the colour of the at- mofphcre they breathe. This refpeftable concourfe, I -contend, men and women, mould not have their fenfa- tions heierh-'ened in the hot-bed of luxurious indolence,
o
at the exjpencc of their underftanding; for, unlefs there.
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 1 17
be a ballad of underftanding, they will never become either virtuous or free: an ariltocracy, founded on pro- .perty, or ilerling talents, will ever fweep before it, the alternately timid and ferocious flaves of feeling.
Numberlefs are the arguments, to take another view of the fubject, brought forward with a Ihew of reafon ; becaufe fuppofed to be deduced from nature, that men have ufed morally and phyiically, to degrade the fex, I muft notice a few.
The female underftanding has often been fpoken of with contempt, as arriving fooner at maturity than the male. I [hall not anfwer this argument by alluding to the early proofs of reafon, 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 ac quire the fame precocity. So notorious is this facl, that the bare mentioning of it muft bring before people,- who at all mix in the world, the idea of a number of fwaggering apes of men, whofe underllandings are nar rowed by being brought into the fociety of men when they ought to have been fpinning a top or twirling a hoop.
It has alfo been afferted, by fome naturalifts, that men do not attain their full growth and ftrength till thirty; but that women arrive at maturity by twenty. I appre hend that they reafon on falfe ground, led aftray by the male prejudice, which deems beauty' the perfection of woman — mere beauty of features and complexion, the
* Many other names might be added.
Il8 VINDICATION OF THE
vulgar acceptation of the world, whiift male beauty is allowed to have fome connection With the mind. Strength of body, and tli .. c-aiuaaer of countenance, which the French term a pfVjio.-tonue, wuiucn do not ac quire before thirty, any more tii ,n men. The little art-' lefs tricks of chiidicn, it is true, are particularly pleaf- ing and atu..u..e; yet, when the pretty freihnefs of youth is wo, • off, thefe artlels graces become iludied airs, and dilguft every perfon of tafle. In the counte- \,t ncc of girls \ve only look for vivacity and bafhful mo- but, the fpringtide of life over, we look for fo- b fef Teafe in the face, and for traces of paffion, inftead of the dimples of animal fpirits; expecting to fee indivi duality of character, the only faftener of the affections* f We then wifn to conveile, not to fondle; to give fcope to our imaginations as well as to the fenfations of our hearts.
At twenty the beauty of both fexes is equal; but the libertinifm of man leads him to make the difrinction, and fuperannuated coquettes are commonly of the fame opinion; for, when they can no longer infpire love, they pay for the vigour and vivacity of youth. The French who admit more of mhid into their notions of beauty, give the preference to women of thirty. I mean to fay that they allow women to be in their mofl perfect ftate \vhen vivacity gives place to reafon, and to that majeit ferioufnefs of character, which marks maturity; — or, the
h,
»
;
* TbefrengtJj of an afeflion is, generally, in tie fame proportion, as tie cbaraffer of the ffecies in the oljeSl beloved, it lojl in ibat of tbt individual*
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. Iig
Tcfcing point. In youth, till twenty, the body {hoots out; till thirty the folids are attaining a degree of den- fity ; and the flexible mufcles, 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 obferve, that animals who arrive {lowly at maturity, are the longeft lived, and of the nobleit fpecies. Men cannot, however, claim any natural fu- periority from the grandeur of longevity; for in this refpecl nature has not diflinguimed the male.
Polygamy is another phyfical degradation; and a plaufible argument for a cuftom, that blells every do- melUc virtue, is drawn from the well-attefted fad, that in the countries where it is eftablifhed, more females arc born than males. This appears to be an indication of nature, and to nature, apparently reafonable fpecula- tions mull yield. A further conclufion obvioufly pre- fented itfelf; if polygamy be necenliry, woman muft be inferior to rran, and made for him.
With refpect to the formation of the fetus in the womb, we are very ignorant; but it appears to me pro bable, that an accidental phyfical caufe may account for this phenomenon, and prove it not to be a law of nature, I have met with fome pertinent obfervations on the fub- jecl in Forfter's Account of the Ifles of the South-Sea, that will explain my meaning. After obferving, that of the two fexes amongft animals, the moft vigorous and hotteft conilitution always prevails, and produces its
120 VINDICATION OF THE
kind; he adds, — ' If this be applied to the inhabitants ' of Africa, it is evident, that the men there, accuftomecr f to polygamy, are enervated by the ufe of fo many wo-j ' men, and there fare iels vigorous; the women, on the; ' contrary, are of a hotter conftitution, not only on! ' account of their more irritable nerves, more ienfible^ ' organization, and more lively f.ncy ; but likewise be-^
* caufe they are deprived in their matrimony of that
* mare of pliyfical love which, in a monogamous condi- ' tion, would all be theirs; and thus, for the above rea- ' ions, tiie generality of children ire born females.'
' In the greater part of Europe it has been proved
* by the moft accurate lifls of mortality, that the pro- ' 1 portion of men t3 women i" nearly equal, or, if any ' difference takes places, the males born are more nu- ' merous, in the proportion or 105 to 100.'
The neceffity of polygamy, therefore, does not ap pear; yet when a mm fe daces a woman, it mould, I think, be termed a left-handed marriage, and the man • mould be legally obliged to maintain the woman and "her children, unlefs adultery, a natural divorcement, abro gated the law. And this law mould remain in force as long as the weaknefs of women caufed the word feduc- tion to be ufed as an excufe for &j*£ir frailty and want of principle ; nay, while they depend on man for a fubfift- ence, inilead of earning it by the exercife of their own hands or heads. But thefe women ihould not, in the full meaning of the relationflrip, be termed wives, or the ; very purpofe of marriage would be fubverted, and all thofe endearing charities that flow from perfonal fide*
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. J2l
«Hty, and give a fancliity to the tie, when neither love [nor friendmip unites the hearts, would melt into felfim- >nefs. The woman who is fu infill to the father of her children demands reipeft, and mould not be treated like [a proilitute ; though i readily grant, that if it be necef- ifary for a man and woman to live together in order to
f O
| bring up their offspring, nature never intended that a (man mould have more Uian one wife.
Still, highly as I refpedt marriage, as the foundation of almoft every ibcial virtue, I cannot avoid feeling the moft lively compaifion for thofe unfortunate females u-no are broken olr from fociety, and by one error torn from all thofe affections and relationmips that improve tne heart and mind. It does not frequently even deserve the name of error; for many innocent girls become the dupes of afmcere, affectionate heart, and ftill 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. Afylums and M igcialens are not the proper remedies for thefe abufes. it is jaftice, not charity, that is wanting in the world !
A woman who has loft her honour, imagines that me cannot fall lower, and as i\>T recovering her former fta- tion, if is impoflibie; no edition c^n warn this ft -.In aw«;X Lofing thus every ipur. and having no other means of fupport, proiuiacion becomes her only retire, and the character is quickly depraved by circum .ances over whkli the poor wretcii has little power, unlefs ilie poiTefi'es an uncommon portion of Lnfe and ioftlneis of
122 VINDICATION OF THE
fpirit. Necefiity never makes proftitution the bufmefs : of men's lives; though numberlefs are the women who are thus rendered fyflematically vicious. This, how ever, arifes, in a great degree, from the ftate of idlenefs in which women are educated, who are always taught to look up to man for a maintenance, and to confider their peribns as the proper return for his exertions to fupport them. Meretricious airs, and the whole fcience of wantonnefs, has then a more powerful ftimulus than either appetite or vanity; and this remark gives force to the prevailing opinion, that with chaftity all is loft that is refpeclable in woman. Her character depends on the obiervance of one virtue, though the only pafiion fofter- ed in her heart — is love. Nay, the honour of a woman is not made even to depend on her will.
When Richardfon* makes vlariffa tell Lovelace that he had robbed her of her honour, he muft have had flrange notions of honour and virtue. For, miferable beyond all names of mifery is the condition of a being, who could be degraded without its own confent ! This excefs of ftriclnefs I have heard vindicated as a falutary error. I mail anfwer in the words of Leibnitz — * Errors are often ufeful; but it is commonly to remedy other errors,
Moft of the evils of life arife from a defire of prefent enjoyment that outruns itfeif. The obedience required of women in the marriage ftate comes under this defcrip- tion; the mind, naturally weakened by depending on
* Dr Young fitpports the fame opinion, in Lit plays , ^vhsn he talks of tJ}e misfortune, that fh tinned the light of tie day, _
RIGHTS OF WOMAN. 123
authority, never exerts itj own powers, and the obedient wife is thus rendered a weak indolent mother. Or, fup- pofmg that this is not always the confequence, a future ft.ite of exiftence is fcarceiy taken into the reckoning when only negative virtues are cultivated. For, in treat ing of morals, particularly when women, are alluded to, writers have too often confidered virtue in a very limit ed fenie, and made the foundation of it folely worldly utility; nay, a ftill more fragile bafe hr.s been given to this flupendous fabric, and the wayward fluctuating feel ings of men have been made the ftandard of virtue. Yes, virtue as well -as religion, has been fubjected to the decifions of tsfle.
It would almoft provoke a fmile of contempt, if the vain abfurdities of man did not iirike us on ail fides, to obferve, how eager men are to degrade the ie:: from whom they pretend to receive the chief pleafuie of life; and I have frequently, with full conviction, retorted Pope's farcafm on them; or, to fpeak explicitly, it has appeared to me applicable to the whole human race. A love of pleafure or f.vay fccms to divide mankind, and the hulband .who lords.it in his little ha ram, thinks only of his pleafiire or his convenience. To iuch lengths, in deed, does an intemperate love of pleaiure carry fonie prudent men, or worn-ovit libertines, who marry to have e hed-fdiow, that they feduce their own wives. — es modefty, and chafte love takes its flight. e, confidered as an animal appetite, cannot long feed on itfelf without expiring. And this extinction, in it.j own flame, may be termed Uie violent death of M
J24 VINDICATION OF THi
love. But the wife who has thus been rendered licen tious, will probably endeavour to fill the void left by the lofs of Jier hufband's attentions; for (he cannot content edly become merely an upper fervant after having been treated like a goddefs. She is flill handfome, and, in- llead of transferring her fondnefs to her children, fne only dreams of enjoying the funfhine of life. Befides, tjiere are many hufbands fo devoid of fenfe and parental affection, that during the firft effervefcence of volup tuous fondnefs, they refufe to let their wives fuckle their children. They are only to drefs and live to pleafe them : and love — even innocent love, foon finks into lafcivi- oufnefs when the exercife of a duty is facrificed to its indulgence.
Perfonal attachment is a very happy foundation for friendfnip; yet; when even two virtuous young people marry, it would, perhaps, be happy if fome circumftance checked their pallion; if the recollection of fome prior attachment, or difappointed affection, made it on one fide, at leaft, rather a match founded on efteem. In that call they would look beyond the prefent moment, and try to render the whole of life refpeclable, by forming a plan to regulate a friendfhip which only death ought to diflblve.
Friendmip is a ferious affection; the moft fublime of nil affections, becaufe it is founded on principle, and cemented by time. The very reverfe may be faid cf Jove. In a great degree, love and friendfhip cannot fubfiit in the fame bofom ; even when infpired by dif ferent objects they weaken or dcilroy each other, and
^vjnic, wr WOMAN. J 25
for the fame obj:£l can only be felt in fuccefllon, The vain fears and fond jealoaiies, thui winds which fan the flame of love, when judicioufly or arUully tendered, *re both incompatible with . .e tender confidence ancl fin^e e reipe>_ o ch-nJLuip.
I ^, iuca as the glowing pen of genius has traced, exi/^ nut on earth, or only refidcs in thofe exalted, ferviu. imagina.ions that have L. etched iuch dangerous pidures. D. ngerpus, becaufe they not only afford a plaufible excufe to the voluptuary, v\ ho difguifes iheer fenfuality under a fentimental veil ; but as they fpread ane&ation, and take fiom the dignity of virtue. Vir tue, as the very word imports, ihowld have an appear ance of {erioulnefs, if not aufterity ; and to endeavour to trick her out in the garb of pleafure, becauie the epithet has been ufed as another name for beauty, is to exalt her on a quickiand ; a moil infidious attempt to haften her fall by apparent reipe&. Virtue and plea- fure are not, in fact, fo nearly allied in this life as •fome eloquent writers have laboured to prov^(*!Plea- fure prepares the fading wreath, and mixes the intoxi cating cup ; but the fruit which virtue gives, is the re- compence of toil: and, gradually feen as it ripens, only affords calm fatisfa&ion ; nay, appearing to be the refult of the natural tendency of things, it is fcarcely obferved. Bread, the common food of life, feldom thought ©f as a blefling, fupports the conftitu- tion, and preferves health ; ftiU feafls delight the heart of man, though difeafe and even death lurk in the cup or dainty that elevates the fpirits or tickles the palate. M z
126 VINDICATION OF THE
The lively heated imagination, in the fame ftyle, draws the pi&ure of love, as it draws every other piclure, with thofe glowing colours, which the daring hand will fteal 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 puriuing what it acknowledges to be a- fleeting dream. An imagination of this vigorous caft can give exiilencej to infubftantial forms, and (lability to the lhadowy ;J reveries which tiie mind naturally falls into when re- ties are found vapid. It can then depict love withjjj celeftial charms, and dote on the grand ideal objecV- «•• it can imagine a degree of mutual affection that fhalll refine the foul, and not expire when it has ferved as a j ' fcale to heavenly;' and, like devotion, make it ab-| forb every meaner affection and defire. In each other's .'. rrnns, as in a temple, with its fummit loft in the clouds, * the world is to be fhut out, and every thought andj \vimr that do not nurture pure affection and permanent £ virtues-Permanent virtue ! alas ! Roufleau, refpeclable vifionary ! thy paradife would foon be violated by the entrance of fome unexpected gueft. Like Milton's, it would only contain angels, or men funk below the dig nity of rational creatures, Happinefs is not material,! it cannot be feen or felt ! Yet the eager purfuit of the'i good which every one fhapes to his own fancy, pro- 1 claims man the lord of this lower world, and to be an intelligential creature, who is not to receive, bi» acquire happinefs. They, therefore, who complain of the delufioas of paflion, do not recoiled that they ai-e
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exclaiming againil a ilrong proof of the immortality of the foul.
But, leaving fuperior minds to correct themfelves, and pay dearly for their experience, it is neceffary to obferve, that it is not againfl ftrong, perfevering paf- iions, but romantic, wavering feelings, that I wifli to guard the female heart by exercifmg the underftanding ; for thefe paradifiacal reveries are oftener the effect of- idlencfs than of a lively fancy.
Women have feldom fufficient ferious employment to filence their feelings ; a round of little cares, or vain purfuits, frittering away all ftrength of mind and or gans, they become naturally only objects of fenfe. — In fliort, the whole tenor of female education (the educa tion of fociety) tends to render the beft difpofed ror mantic and inconftant; and the remainder vain and mean. In the prefent ftate of fociety, this evil can fcarcely be remedied, I am afraid, in the flighteft de gree ; mould a more laudable ambition ever gain ground, they may be brought nearer to nature and reafon ; and become more virtuous and ufeful as they grow more refpectable..
But I will venture to afTert, that their reafon will- never acquire fufficient ftrength to enable it to regulate their conduct, whilft the making an appearance in the world is the firil wifh of the majority of mankind. To this weak wilh the natural affections and the molt ufe ful virtues are facrificed. Girls marry merely to better tbemfelvest to borrow a fignificant vulgar phrafe, and have fuch perfect power over their hearts as not to M 3
128 VINDICATION OF THE
permit themfelves to fall in love till a man with a fuperior fortune offers. On this fubject I mean to en large in a future chapter ; it is only neceffary to drop a hint at prcfent, becaufe women are fo often degraded by faffering the felnlh prudence of age to chill the' ardour of youth.
From the fame fource 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 chofen for them, by confining their thoughts to their perfons. Men order their clothes to be made, and have done with the fubjeft ; women make their own clothes, ne- ceiTary or ornamental, and are continually talking about them ; and their thoughts follow their handj. It is not indeed the making of neceiTaries that weakens the mind ; but the frippery of drefs. For when a woman in the lower rank of life makes her hufband's and chil dren's clothes, fhe does her duty, this is part of her buiinefs ; but when women work only to drefs better than they could other wife afford, it is worfe than fheer lofs of time. To render the poor virtuous, they muft be employed, and women in the middle rank of life, did they not ape the famions of the nobility, without catching their eafe, might employ them, whilfl they themfelves mamged their families, inftrufted their chil dren, and exercifed their own minds. Gardening, ex perimental philofophy, and literature, would afford them fubj efts to think of, and matter for converfatiom that in forne degree would exercife their underftand-
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ings. The converfation of French women, who are not fo rigidly nailed to their chairs, to twift lappets, and knot ribands, is frequently fuperficial ; but, I con tend, th.it it is not half To infipid as that of thofe Englifh women, whofe time is fpent in making caps, bonnets, and the whole mifchief of trimmings, not to mention mopping, bargain-hunting, &c. &c. and it is the decent, prudent women, who are mofl degraded by thefe practices ; for their motive is fimply vanity. The wanton, who exercifes her taile to render her per- fon alluring, has fomething more in view.
Thefe obfervations all branch out of a general one, which I have before made, and which cannot be too often infilled upon, for, fpeaking of men, women, or profeffions, it will be found, that the employment of the thoughts fhapes the character both generally and indivi dually. The thoughts of women ever hover around their perfons, and is it farprifing that their perfons are rec koned moft valuable ? Yet fome degree of liberty of mind is neceffary even to form the perfon ; and this may be one reafon why fome gentle wives have fo few attractions befide that of fex. Add to this, fedentary employments render the majority of women fickly— — and filfe 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 feldom do any of the manual part of their drefs, confequently only their tafte is exercifed, and they acquire, by thinking lefs of the finery, when
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the bufmefs of their toilet is over, that eafe, which fel-- dom appears in the deportment of women, who drefs merely for the fake of dreffing. In fa&, the obferva- tion with refpedl to the middle rank, the one in which talents thrive bell, extends not to women; for thofe of the fuperior clafs, by catching, at leafl, a fmattering of literature, and converfmg more with men, on general topics, acquire more knowledge than the women who ape their fafhions and faults without fharing their ad vantages. With refpeft to virtue, to ufe the word in", a comprehenfive fenfe, I have feen moil in low life.* Many poor women maintain their children