CHAPTER 1.

by Mary Wollstonecraft

　　THE RIGHTS AND INVOLVED DUTIES OF MANKIND CONSIDERED.In the present state of society, it appears necessary to go back tofirst principles in search of the most simple truths, and todispute with some prevailing prejudice every inch of ground. Toclear my way, I must be allowed to ask some plain questions, andthe answers will probably appear as unequivocal as the axioms onwhich reasoning is built; though, when entangled with variousmotives of action, they are formally contradicted, either by thewords or conduct of men.

　　In what does man's pre-eminence over the brute creation consist?

　　The answer is as clear as that a half is less than the whole; in

　　Reason.

　　What acquirement exalts one being above another? Virtue; wespontaneously reply.

　　For what purpose were the passions implanted? That man bystruggling with them might attain a degree of knowledge denied tothe brutes: whispers Experience.

　　Consequently the perfection of our nature and capability ofhappiness, must be estimated by the degree of reason, virtue, andknowledge, that distinguish the individual, and direct the lawswhich bind society: and that from the exercise of reason,knowledge and virtue naturally flow, is equally undeniable, ifmankind be viewed collectively.

　　The rights and duties of man thus simplified, it seems almostimpertinent to attempt to illustrate truths that appear soincontrovertible: yet such deeply rooted prejudices have cloudedreason, and such spurious qualities have assumed the name ofvirtues, that it is necessary to pursue the course of reason as ithas been perplexed and involved in error, by various adventitiouscircumstances, comparing the simple axiom with casual deviations.

　　Men, in general, seem to employ their reason to justify prejudices,which they have imbibed, they cannot trace how, rather than to rootthem out. The mind must be strong that resolutely forms its ownprinciples; for a kind of intellectual cowardice prevails whichmakes many men shrink from the task, or only do it by halves. Yetthe imperfect conclusions thus drawn, are frequently veryplausible, because they are built on partial experience, on just,though narrow, views.

　　Going back to first principles, vice skulks, with all its nativedeformity, from close investigation; but a set of shallow reasonersare always exclaiming that these arguments prove too much, and thata measure rotten at the core may be expedient. Thus expediency iscontinually contrasted with simple principles, till truth is lostin a mist of words, virtue in forms, and knowledge rendered asounding nothing, by the specious prejudices that assume its name.

　　That the society is formed in the wisest manner, whose constitutionis founded on the nature of man, strikes, in the abstract, everythinking being so forcibly, that it looks like presumption toendeavour to bring forward proofs; though proof must be brought, orthe strong hold of prescription will never be forced by reason; yetto urge prescription as an argument to justify the depriving men(or women) of their natural rights, is one of the absurd sophismswhich daily insult common sense.

　　The civilization of the bulk of the people of Europe, is verypartial; nay, it may be made a question, whether they have acquiredany virtues in exchange for innocence, equivalent to the miseryproduced by the vices that have been plastered over unsightlyignorance, and the freedom which has been bartered for splendidslavery. The desire of dazzling by riches, the most certainpre-eminence that man can obtain, the pleasure of commandingflattering sycophants, and many other complicated low calculationsof doting self-love, have all contributed to overwhelm the mass ofmankind, and make liberty a convenient handle for mock patriotism.For whilst rank and titles are held of the utmost importance,before which Genius "must hide its diminished head," it is, with afew exceptions, very unfortunate for a nation when a man ofabilities, without rank or property, pushes himself forward tonotice. Alas! what unheard of misery have thousands suffered topurchase a cardinal's hat for an intriguing obscure adventurer, wholonged to be ranked with princes, or lord it over them by seizingthe triple crown!

　　Such, indeed, has been the wretchedness that has flowed fromhereditary honours, riches, and monarchy, that men of livelysensibility have almost uttered blasphemy in order to justify thedispensations of providence. Man has been held out as independentof his power who made him, or as a lawless planet darting from itsorbit to steal the celestial fire of reason; and the vengeance ofheaven, lurking in the subtile flame, sufficiently punished histemerity, by introducing evil into the world.

　　Impressed by this view of the misery and disorder which pervadedsociety, and fatigued with jostling against artificial fools,Rousseau became enamoured of solitude, and, being at the same timean optimist, he labours with uncommon eloquence to prove that manwas naturally a solitary animal. Misled by his respect for thegoodness of God, who certainly for what man of sense and feelingcan doubt it! gave life only to communicate happiness, he considersevil as positive, and the work of man; not aware that he wasexalting one attribute at the expense of another, equally necessaryto divine perfection.

　　Reared on a false hypothesis, his arguments in favour of a state ofnature are plausible, but unsound. I say unsound; for to assertthat a state of nature is preferable to civilization in all itspossible perfection, is, in other words, to arraign supreme wisdom;and the paradoxical exclamation, that God has made all thingsright, and that evil has been introduced by the creature whom heformed, knowing what he formed, is as unphilosophical as impious.

　　When that wise Being, who created us and placed us here, saw thefair idea, he willed, by allowing it to be so, that the passionsshould unfold our reason, because he could see that present evilwould produce future good. Could the helpless creature whom hecalled from nothing, break loose from his providence, and boldlylearn to know good by practising evil without his permission? No.How could that energetic advocate for immortality argue soinconsistently? Had mankind remained for ever in the brutal stateof nature, which even his magic pen cannot paint as a state inwhich a single virtue took root, it would have been clear, thoughnot to the sensitive unreflecting wanderer, that man was born torun the circle of life and death, and adorn God's garden for somepurpose which could not easily be reconciled with his attributes.

　　But if, to crown the whole, there were to be rational creaturesproduced, allowed to rise in excellency by the exercise of powersimplanted for that purpose; if benignity itself thought fit to callinto existence a creature above the brutes, who could think andimprove himself, why should that inestimable gift, for a gift itwas, if a man was so created as to have a capacity to rise abovethe state in which sensation produced brutal ease, be called, indirect terms, a curse? A curse it might be reckoned, if all ourexistence was bounded by our continuance in this world; for whyshould the gracious fountain of life give us passions, and thepower of reflecting, only to embitter our days, and inspire us withmistaken notions of dignity? Why should he lead us from love ofourselves to the sublime emotions which the discovery of his wisdomand goodness excites, if these feelings were not set in motion toimprove our nature, of which they make a part, and render uscapable of enjoying a more godlike portion of happiness? Firmlypersuaded that no evil exists in the world that God did not designto take place, I build my belief on the perfection of God.

　　Rousseau exerts himself to prove, that all WAS right originally: acrowd of authors that all IS now right: and I, that all WILL BEright.

　　But, true to his first position, next to a state of nature,Rousseau celebrates barbarism, and, apostrophizing the shade ofFabricius, he forgets that, in conquering the world, the Romansnever dreamed of establishing their own liberty on a firm basis, orof extending the reign of virtue. Eager to support his system, hestigmatizes, as vicious, every effort of genius; and uttering theapotheosis of savage virtues, he exalts those to demigods, who werescarcely human—the brutal Spartans, who in defiance of justice andgratitude, sacrificed, in cold blood, the slaves that had shownthemselves men to rescue their oppressors.

　　Disgusted with artificial manners and virtues, the citizen ofGeneva, instead of properly sifting the subject, threw away thewheat with the chaff, without waiting to inquire whether the evils,which his ardent soul turned from indignantly, were the consequenceof civilization, or the vestiges of barbarism. He saw vicetrampling on virtue, and the semblance of goodness taking place ofthe reality; he saw talents bent by power to sinister purposes, andnever thought of tracing the gigantic mischief up to arbitrarypower, up to the hereditary distinctions that clash with the mentalsuperiority that naturally raises a man above his fellows. He didnot perceive, that the regal power, in a few generations,introduces idiotism into the noble stem, and holds out baits torender thousands idle and vicious.

　　Nothing can set the regal character in a more contemptible point ofview, than the various crimes that have elevated men to the supremedignity. Vile intrigues, unnatural crimes, and every vice thatdegrades our nature, have been the steps to this distinguishedeminence; yet millions of men have supinely allowed the nervelesslimbs of the posterity of such rapacious prowlers, to rest quietlyon their ensanguined thrones.

　　What but a pestilential vapour can hover over society, when itschief director is only instructed in the invention of crimes, orthe stupid routine of childish ceremonies? Will men never be wise?will they never cease to expect corn from tares, and figs fromthistles?

　　It is impossible for any man, when the most favourablecircumstances concur, to acquire sufficient knowledge and strengthof mind to discharge the duties of a king, entrusted withuncontrolled power; how then must they be violated when his veryelevation is an insuperable bar to the attainment of either wisdomor virtue; when all the feelings of a man are stifled by flattery,and reflection shut out by pleasure! Surely it is madness to makethe fate of thousands depend on the caprice of a weak fellowcreature, whose very station sinks him NECESSARILY below themeanest of his subjects! But one power should not be thrown downto exalt another—for all power intoxicates weak man; and its abuseproves, that the more equality there is established among men, themore virtue and happiness will reign in society. But this, and anysimilar maxim deduced from simple reason, raises an outcry—thechurch or the state is in danger, if faith in the wisdom ofantiquity is not implicit; and they who, roused by the sight ofhuman calamity, dare to attack human authority, are reviled asdespisers of God, and enemies of man. These are bitter calumnies,yet they reached one of the best of men, (Dr. Price.) whose ashesstill preach peace, and whose memory demands a respectful pause,when subjects are discussed that lay so near his heart.

　　After attacking the sacred majesty of kings, I shall scarcelyexcite surprise, by adding my firm persuasion, that everyprofession, in which great subordination of rank constitutes itspower, is highly injurious to morality.

　　A standing army, for instance, is incompatible with freedom;because subordination and rigour are the very sinews of militarydiscipline; and despotism is necessary to give vigour toenterprises that one will directs. A spirit inspired by romanticnotions of honour, a kind of morality founded on the fashion of theage, can only be felt by a few officers, whilst the main body mustbe moved by command, like the waves of the sea; for the strong windof authority pushes the crowd of subalterns forward, they scarcelyknow or care why, with headlong fury.

　　Besides, nothing can be so prejudicial to the morals of theinhabitants of country towns, as the occasional residence of a setof idle superficial young men, whose only occupation is gallantry,and whose polished manners render vice more dangerous, byconcealing its deformity under gay ornamental drapery. An air offashion, which is but a badge of slavery, and proves that the soulhas not a strong individual character, awes simple country peopleinto an imitation of the vices, when they cannot catch the slipperygraces of politeness. Every corps is a chain of despots, who,submitting and tyrannizing without exercising their reason, becomedead weights of vice and folly on the community. A man of rank orfortune, sure of rising by interest, has nothing to do but topursue some extravagant freak; whilst the needy GENTLEMAN, who isto rise, as the phrase turns, by his merit, becomes a servileparasite or vile pander.

　　Sailors, the naval gentlemen, come under the same description, onlytheir vices assume a different and a grosser cast. They are morepositively indolent, when not discharging the ceremonials of theirstation; whilst the insignificant fluttering of soldiers may betermed active idleness. More confined to the society of men, theformer acquire a fondness for humour and mischievous tricks; whilstthe latter, mixing frequently with well-bred women, catch asentimental cant. But mind is equally out of the question, whetherthey indulge the horse-laugh or polite simper.

　　May I be allowed to extend the comparison to a profession wheremore mind is certainly to be found; for the clergy have superioropportunities of improvement, though subordination almost equallycramps their faculties? The blind submission imposed at college toforms of belief, serves as a noviciate to the curate who mostobsequiously respects the opinion of his rector or patron, if hemeans to rise in his profession. Perhaps there cannot be a moreforcible contrast than between the servile, dependent gait of apoor curate, and the courtly mien of a bishop. And the respect andcontempt they inspire render the discharge of their separatefunctions equally useless.

　　It is of great importance to observe, that the character of everyman is, in some degree, formed by his profession. A man of sensemay only have a cast of countenance that wears off as you trace hisindividuality, whilst the weak, common man, has scarcely ever anycharacter, but what belongs to the body; at least, all his opinionshave been so steeped in the vat consecrated by authority, that thefaint spirit which the grape of his own vine yields cannot bedistinguished.

　　Society, therefore, as it becomes more enlightened, should be verycareful not to establish bodies of men who must necessarily be madefoolish or vicious by the very constitution of their profession.

　　In the infancy of society, when men were just emerging out ofbarbarism, chiefs and priests, touching the most powerful springsof savage conduct—hope and fear—must have had unbounded sway. Anaristocracy, of course, is naturally the first form of government.But clashing interests soon losing their equipoise, a monarchy andhierarchy break out of the confusion of ambitious struggles, andthe foundation of both is secured by feudal tenures. This appearsto be the origin of monarchial and priestly power, and the dawn ofcivilization. But such combustible materials cannot long be pentup; and getting vent in foreign wars and intestine insurrections,the people acquire some power in the tumult, which obliges theirrulers to gloss over their oppression with a show of right. Thus,as wars, agriculture, commerce, and literature, expands the mind,despots are compelled, to make covert corruption hold fast thepower which was formerly snatched by open force.* And this banefullurking gangrene is most quickly spread by luxury and superstition,the sure dregs of ambition. The indolent puppet of a court firstbecomes a luxurious monster, or fastidious sensualist, and thenmakes the contagion which his unnatural state spreads, theinstrument of tyranny.

　　(*Footnote. Men of abilities scatter seeds that grow up, and havea great influence on the forming opinion; and when once the publicopinion preponderates, through the exertion of reason, theoverthrow of arbitrary power is not very distant.)

　　It is the pestiferous purple which renders the progress ofcivilization a curse, and warps the understanding, till men ofsensibility doubt whether the expansion of intellect produces agreater portion of happiness or misery. But the nature of thepoison points out the antidote; and had Rousseau mounted one stephigher in his investigation; or could his eye have pierced throughthe foggy atmosphere, which he almost disdained to breathe, hisactive mind would have darted forward to contemplate the perfectionof man in the establishment of true civilization, instead of takinghis ferocious flight back to the night of sensual ignorance.