ANIMADVERSIONS ON SOME OF THE WRITERS WHO HAVE RENDERED WOMENOBJECTS OF PITY, BORDERING ON CONTEMPT.The opinions speciously supported, in some modern publications onthe female character, and education, which have given the tone tomost of the observations made, in a more cursory manner, on thesex, remain now to be examined.
SECTION 5.1.I shall begin with Rousseau, and give a sketch of the character ofwomen in his own words, interspersing comments and reflections. Mycomments, it is true, will all spring from a few simple principles,and might have been deduced from what I have already said; but theartificial structure has been raised with so much ingenuity, thatit seems necessary to attack it in a more circumstantial manner,and make the application myself.
Sophia, says Rousseau, should be as perfect a woman as Emilius is aman, and to render her so, it is necessary to examine the characterwhich nature has given to the sex.
He then proceeds to prove, that women ought to be weak and passive,because she has less bodily strength than man; and from henceinfers, that she was formed to please and to be subject to him; andthat it is her duty to render herself AGREEABLE to her master—thisbeing the grand end of her existence.
Supposing women to have been formed only to please, and be subjectto man, the conclusion is just, she ought to sacrifice every otherconsideration to render herself agreeable to him: and let thisbrutal desire of self-preservation be the grand spring of all heractions, when it is proved to be the iron bed of fate, to fitwhich, her character should be stretched or contracted, regardlessof all moral or physical distinctions. But if, as I think may bedemonstrated, the purposes of even this life, viewing the whole,are subverted by practical rules built upon this ignoble base, Imay be allowed to doubt whether woman was created for man: andthough the cry of irreligion, or even atheism be raised against me,I will simply declare, that were an angel from heaven to tell methat Moses's beautiful, poetical cosmogony, and the account of thefall of man, were literally true, I could not believe what myreason told me was derogatory to the character of the SupremeBeing: and, having no fear of the devil before mine eyes, Iventure to call this a suggestion of reason, instead of resting myweakness on the broad shoulders of the first seducer of my frailsex.
"It being once demonstrated," continues Rousseau, "that man andwoman are not, nor ought to be, constituted alike in temperamentand character, it follows of course, that they should not beeducated in the same manner. In pursuing the directions of nature,they ought indeed to act in concert, but they should not be engagedin the same employments: the end of their pursuits should be thesame, but the means they should take to accomplish them, and, ofconsequence, their tastes and inclinations should be different."(Rousseau's 'Emilius', Volume 3 page 176.)
"Girls are from their earliest infancy fond of dress. Not contentwith being pretty, they are desirous of being thought so; we see,by all their little airs, that this thought engages theirattention; and they are hardly capable of understanding what issaid to them, before they are to be governed by talking to them ofwhat people will think of their behaviour. The same motive,however, indiscreetly made use of with boys, has not the sameeffect: provided they are let to pursue their amusements atpleasure, they care very little what people think of them. Timeand pains are necessary to subject boys to this motive.
"Whencesoever girls derive this first lesson it is a very good one.As the body is born, in a manner before the soul, our first concernshould be to cultivate the former; this order is common to bothsexes, but the object of that cultivation is different. In the onesex it is the developement of corporeal powers; in the other, thatof personal charms: not that either the quality of strength orbeauty ought to be confined exclusively to one sex; but only thatthe order of the cultivation of both is in that respect reversed.Women certainly require as much strength as to enable them to moveand act gracefully, and men as much address as to qualify them toact with ease."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Children of both sexes have a great many amusements in common; andso they ought; have they not also many such when they are grown up?Each sex has also its peculiar taste to distinguish in thisparticular. Boys love sports of noise and activity; to beat thedrum, to whip the top, and to drag about their little carts:girls, on the other hand, are fonder of things of show andornament; such as mirrors, trinkets, and dolls; the doll is thepeculiar amusement of the females; from whence we see their tasteplainly adapted to their destination. The physical part of the artof pleasing lies in dress; and this is all which children arecapacitated to cultivate of that art."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Here then we see a primary propensity firmly established, whichyou need only to pursue and regulate. The little creature willdoubtless be very desirous to know how to dress up her doll, tomake its sleeve knots, its flounces, its head dress, etc., she isobliged to have so much recourse to the people about her, for theirassistance in these articles, that it would be much more agreeableto her to owe them all to her own industry. Hence we have a goodreason for the first lessons which are usually taught these youngfemales: in which we do not appear to be setting them a task, butobliging them, by instructing them in what is immediately useful tothemselves. And, in fact, almost all of them learn with reluctanceto read and write; but very readily apply themselves to the use oftheir needles. They imagine themselves already grown up, and thinkwith pleasure that such qualifications will enable them to decoratethemselves."
This is certainly only an education of the body; but Rousseau isnot the only man who has indirectly said that merely the person ofa young woman, without any mind, unless animal spirits come underthat description, is very pleasing. To render it weak, and whatsome may call beautiful, the understanding is neglected, and girlsforced to sit still, play with dolls, and listen to foolishconversations; the effect of habit is insisted upon as an undoubtedindication of nature. I know it was Rousseau's opinion that thefirst years of youth should be employed to form the body, though ineducating Emilius he deviates from this plan; yet the differencebetween strengthening the body, on which strength of mind in agreat measure depends, and only giving it an easy motion, is verywide.
Rousseau's observations, it is proper to remark, were made in acountry where the art of pleasing was refined only to extract thegrossness of vice. He did not go back to nature, or his rulingappetite disturbed the operations of reason, else he would not havedrawn these crude inferences.
In France, boys and girls, particularly the latter, are onlyeducated to please, to manage their persons, and regulate theirexterior behaviour; and their minds are corrupted at a very earlyage, by the worldly and pious cautions they receive, to guard themagainst immodesty. I speak of past times. The very confessionswhich mere children are obliged to make, and the questions asked bythe holy men I assert these facts on good authority, weresufficient to impress a sexual character; and the education ofsociety was a school of coquetry and art. At the age of ten oreleven; nay, often much sooner, girls began to coquet, and talked,unreproved, of establishing themselves in the world by marriage.
In short, they were made women, almost from their very birth, andcompliments were listened to instead of instruction. These,weakening the mind, Nature was supposed to have acted like astep-mother, when she formed this after-thought of creation.
Not allowing them understanding, however, it was but consistent tosubject them to authority, independent of reason; and to preparethem for this subjection, he gives the following advice:
"Girls ought to be active and diligent; nor is that all; theyshould also be early subjected to restraint. This misfortune, ifit really be one, is inseparable from their sex; nor do they everthrow it off but to suffer more cruel evils. They must be subject,all their lives, to the most constant and severe restraint, whichis that of decorum: it is, therefore, necessary to accustom themearly to such confinement, that it may not afterward cost them toodear; and to the suppression of their caprices, that they may themore readily submit to the will of others. If, indeed, they arefond of being always at work, they should be sometimes compelled tolay it aside. Dissipation, levity, and inconstancy, are faultsthat readily spring up from their first propensities, whencorrupted or perverted by too much indulgence. To prevent thisabuse, we should learn them, above all things, to lay a duerestraint on themselves. The life of a modest woman is reduced, byour absurd institutions, to a perpetual conflict with herself: notbut it is just that this sex should partake of the sufferings whicharise from those evils it hath caused us."
And why is the life of a modest woman a perpetual conflict? Ishould answer, that this very system of education makes it so.Modesty, temperance, and self-denial, are the sober offspring ofreason; but when sensibility is nurtured at the expense of theunderstanding, such weak beings must be restrained by arbitrarymeans, and be subjected to continual conflicts; but give theiractivity of mind a wider range, and nobler passions and motiveswill govern their appetites and sentiments.
"The common attachment and regard of a mother, nay, mere habit,will make her beloved by her children, if she does nothing to incurtheir hate. Even the restraint she lays them under, if welldirected, will increase their affection, instead of lessening it;because a state of dependence being natural to the sex, theyperceive themselves formed for obedience."
This is begging the question; for servitude not only debases theindividual, but its effects seem to be transmitted to posterity.Considering the length of time that women have been dependent, isit surprising that some of them hug their chains, and fawn like thespaniel? "These dogs," observes a naturalist, "at first kept theirears erect; but custom has superseded nature, and a token of fearis become a beauty."
"For the same reason," adds Rousseau, "women have or ought to have,but little liberty; they are apt to indulge themselves excessivelyin what is allowed them. Addicted in every thing to extremes, theyare even more transported at their diversions than boys."
The answer to this is very simple. Slaves and mobs have alwaysindulged themselves in the same excesses, when once they brokeloose from authority. The bent bow recoils with violence, when thehand is suddenly relaxed that forcibly held it: and sensibility,the plaything of outward circumstances, must be subjected toauthority, or moderated by reason.
"There results," he continues, "from this habitual restraint, atractableness which the women have occasion for during their wholelives, as they constantly remain either under subjection to themen, or to the opinions of mankind; and are never permitted to setthemselves above those opinions. The first and most importantqualification in a woman is good-nature or sweetness of temper;formed to obey a being so imperfect as man, often full of vices,and always full of faults, she ought to learn betimes even tosuffer injustice, and to bear the insults of a husband withoutcomplaint; it is not for his sake, but her own, that she should beof a mild disposition. The perverseness and ill-nature of thewomen only serve to aggravate their own misfortunes, and themisconduct of their husbands; they might plainly perceive that suchare not the arms by which they gain the superiority."
Formed to live with such an imperfect being as man, they ought tolearn from the exercise of their faculties the necessity offorbearance; but all the sacred rights of humanity are violated byinsisting on blind obedience; or, the most sacred rights belongONLY to man.
The being who patiently endures injustice, and silently bearsinsults, will soon become unjust, or unable to discern right fromwrong. Besides, I deny the fact, this is not the true way to formor meliorate the temper; for, as a sex, men have better tempersthan women, because they are occupied by pursuits that interest thehead as well as the heart; and the steadiness of the head gives ahealthy temperature to the heart. People of sensibility haveseldom good tempers. The formation of the temper is the cool workof reason, when, as life advances, she mixes with happy art,jarring elements. I never knew a weak or ignorant person who had agood temper, though that constitutional good humour, and thatdocility, which fear stamps on the behaviour, often obtains thename. I say behaviour, for genuine meekness never reached theheart or mind, unless as the effect of reflection; and, that simplerestraint produces a number of peccant humours in domestic life,many sensible men will allow, who find some of these gentleirritable creatures, very troublesome companions.
"Each sex," he further argues, "should preserve its peculiar toneand manner: a meek husband may make a wife impertinent; butmildness of disposition on the woman's side will always bring a manback to reason, at least if he be not absolutely a brute, and willsooner or later triumph over him." True, the mildness of reason;but abject fear always inspires contempt; and tears are onlyeloquent when they flow down fair cheeks.
Of what materials can that heart be composed, which can melt wheninsulted, and instead of revolting at injustice, kiss the rod? Isit unfair to infer, that her virtue is built on narrow views andselfishness, who can caress a man, with true feminine softness, thevery moment when he treats her tyrannically? Nature never dictatedsuch insincerity; and though prudence of this sort be termed avirtue, morality becomes vague when any part is supposed to rest onfalsehood. These are mere expedients, and expedients are onlyuseful for the moment.
Let the husband beware of trusting too implicitly to this servileobedience; for if his wife can with winning sweetness caress himwhen angry, and when she ought to be angry, unless contempt hadstifled a natural effervescence, she may do the same after partingwith a lover. These are all preparations for adultery; or, shouldthe fear of the world, or of hell, restrain her desire of pleasingother men, when she can no longer please her husband, whatsubstitute can be found by a being who was only formed by natureand art to please man? what can make her amends for thisprivation, or where is she to seek for a fresh employment? wherefind sufficient strength of mind to determine to begin the search,when her habits are fixed, and vanity has long ruled her chaoticmind?
But this partial moralist recommends cunning systematically andplausibly.
"Daughters should be always submissive; their mothers, however,should not be inexorable. To make a young person tractable, sheought not to be made unhappy; to make her modest she ought not tobe rendered stupid. On the contrary, I should not be displeased ather being permitted to use some art, not to elude punishment incase of disobedience, but to exempt herself from the necessity ofobeying. It is not necessary to make her dependence burdensome,but only to let her feel it. Subtilty is a talent natural to thesex; and as I am persuaded, all our natural inclinations are rightand good in themselves, I am of opinion this should be cultivatedas well as the others: it is requisite for us only to prevent itsabuse."
"Whatever is, is right," he then proceeds triumphantly to infer.Granted; yet, perhaps, no aphorism ever contained a moreparadoxical assertion. It is a solemn truth with respect to God.He, reverentially I speak, sees the whole at once, and saw its justproportions in the womb of time; but man, who can only inspectdisjointed parts, finds many things wrong; and it is a part of thesystem, and therefore right, that he should endeavour to alter whatappears to him to be so, even while he bows to the wisdom of hisCreator, and respects the darkness he labours to disperse.
The inference that follows is just, supposing the principle to besound: "The superiority of address, peculiar to the female sex, isa very equitable indemnification for their inferiority in point ofstrength: without this, woman would not be the companion of man;but his slave: it is by her superiour art and ingenuity that shepreserves her equality, and governs him while she affects to obey.Woman has every thing against her, as well our faults as her owntimidity and weakness: she has nothing in her favour, but hersubtilty and her beauty. Is it not very reasonable, therefore, sheshould cultivate both?" Greatness of mind can never dwell withcunning or address; for I shall not boggle about words, when theirdirect signification is insincerity and falsehood; but contentmyself with observing, that if any class of mankind be so createdthat it must necessarily be educated by rules, not strictlydeducible from truth, virtue is an affair of convention. How couldRousseau dare to assert, after giving this advice, that in thegrand end of existence, the object of both sexes should be thesame, when he well knew, that the mind formed by its pursuits, isexpanded by great views swallowing up little ones, or that itbecomes itself little?
Men have superiour strength of body; but were it not for mistakennotions of beauty, women would acquire sufficient to enable them toearn their own subsistence, the true definition of independence;and to bear those bodily inconveniences and exertions that arerequisite to strengthen the mind.
Let us then, by being allowed to take the same exercise as boys,not only during infancy, but youth, arrive at perfection of body,that we may know how far the natural superiority of man extends.For what reason or virtue can be expected from a creature when theseed-time of life is neglected? None—did not the winds of heavencasually scatter many useful seeds in the fallow ground.
"Beauty cannot be acquired by dress, and coquetry is an art not soearly and speedily attained. While girls are yet young, however,they are in a capacity to study agreeable gesture, a pleasingmodulation of voice, an easy carriage and behaviour; as well as totake the advantage of gracefully adapting their looks and attitudesto time, place, and occasion. Their application, therefore, shouldnot be solely confined to the arts of industry and the needle, whenthey come to display other talents, whose utility is alreadyapparent." "For my part I would have a young Englishwoman cultivateher agreeable talents, in order to please her future husband, withas much care and assiduity as a young Circassian cultivates her's,to fit her for the Haram of an Eastern bashaw."
To render women completely insignificant, he adds,—"The tongues ofwomen are very voluble; they speak earlier, more readily, and moreagreeably than the men; they are accused also of speaking muchmore: but so it ought to be, and I should be very ready to convertthis reproach into a compliment; their lips and eyes have the sameactivity, and for the same reason. A man speaks of what he knows,a woman of what pleases her; the one requires knowledge, the othertaste; the principal object of a man's discourse should be what isuseful, that of a woman's what is agreeable. There ought to benothing in common between their different conversation but truth."
"We ought not, therefore, to restrain the prattle of girls, in thesame manner as we should that of boys, with that severe question,'To what purpose are you talking?' but by another, which is no lessdifficult to answer, 'How will your discourse be received?' Ininfancy, while they are as yet incapable to discern good from evil,they ought to observe it as a law, never to say any thingdisagreeable to those whom they are speaking to: what will renderthe practice of this rule also the more difficult, is, that it mustever be subordinate to the former, of never speaking falsely ortelling an untruth." To govern the tongue in this manner mustrequire great address indeed; and it is too much practised both bymen and women. Out of the abundance of the heart how few speak!So few, that I, who love simplicity, would gladly give uppoliteness for a quarter of the virtue that has been sacrificed toan equivocal quality, which, at best, should only be the polish ofvirtue.
But to complete the sketch. "It is easy to be conceived, that ifmale children be not in a capacity to form any true notions ofreligion, those ideas must be greatly above the conception of thefemales: it is for this very reason, I would begin to speak tothem the earlier on this subject; for if we were to wait till theywere in a capacity to discuss methodically such profound questions,we should run a risk of never speaking to them on this subject aslong as they lived. Reason in women is a practical reason,capacitating them artfully to discover the means of attaining aknown end, but which would never enable them to discover that enditself. The social relations of the sexes are indeed trulyadmirable: from their union there results a moral person, of whichwoman may be termed the eyes, and man the hand, with thisdependence on each other, that it is from the man that the woman isto learn what she is to see, and it is of the woman that man is tolearn what he ought to do. If woman could recur to the firstprinciples of things as well as man, and man was capacitated toenter into their minutae as well as woman, always independent ofeach other, they would live in perpetual discord, and their unioncould not subsist. But in the present harmony which naturallysubsists between them, their different faculties tend to one commonend; it is difficult to say which of them conduces the most to it:each follows the impulse of the other; each is obedient, and bothare masters."
"As the conduct of a woman is subservient to the public opinion,her faith in matters of religion, should for that very reason, besubject to authority. 'Every daughter ought to be of the samereligion as her mother, and every wife to be of the same religionas her husband: for, though such religion should be false, thatdocility which induces the mother and daughter to submit to theorder of nature, takes away, in the sight of God, the criminalityof their error'.* As they are not in a capacity to judge forthemselves, they ought to abide by the decision of their fathersand husbands as confidently as by that of the church."
(*Footnote. What is to be the consequence, if the mother's andhusband's opinion should chance not to agree? An ignorant personcannot be reasoned out of an error, and when persuaded to give upone prejudice for another the mind is unsettled. Indeed, thehusband may not have any religion to teach her though in such asituation she will be in great want of a support to her virtue,independent of worldly considerations.)
"As authority ought to regulate the religion of the women, it isnot so needful to explain to them the reasons for their belief, asto lay down precisely the tenets they are to believe: for thecreed, which presents only obscure ideas to the mind, is the sourceof fanaticism; and that which presents absurdities, leads toinfidelity."
Absolute, uncontroverted authority, it seems, must subsistsomewhere: but is not this a direct and exclusive appropriation ofreason? The RIGHTS of humanity have been thus confined to the maleline from Adam downwards. Rousseau would carry his malearistocracy still further, for he insinuates, that he should notblame those, who contend for leaving woman in a state of the mostprofound ignorance, if it were not necessary, in order to preserveher chastity, and justify the man's choice in the eyes of theworld, to give her a little knowledge of men, and the customsproduced by human passions; else she might propagate at homewithout being rendered less voluptuous and innocent by the exerciseof her understanding: excepting, indeed, during the first year ofmarriage, when she might employ it to dress, like Sophia. "Herdress is extremely modest in appearance, and yet very coquettish infact: she does not make a display of her charms, she concealsthem; but, in concealing them, she knows how to affect yourimagination. Every one who sees her, will say, There is a modestand discreet girl; but while you are near her, your eyes andaffections wander all over her person, so that you cannot withdrawthem; and you would conclude that every part of her dress, simpleas it seems, was only put in its proper order to be taken to piecesby the imagination." Is this modesty? Is this a preparation forimmortality? Again. What opinion are we to form of a system ofeducation, when the author says of his heroine, "that with her,doing things well is but a SECONDARY concern; her principal concernis to do them NEATLY."
Secondary, in fact, are all her virtues and qualities, for,respecting religion, he makes her parents thus address her,accustomed to submission—"Your husband will instruct you in goodtime."
After thus cramping a woman's mind, if, in order to keep it fair,he has not made it quite a blank, he advises her to reflect, that areflecting man may not yawn in her company, when he is tired ofcaressing her. What has she to reflect about, who must obey? andwould it not be a refinement on cruelty only to open her mind tomake the darkness and misery of her fate VISIBLE? Yet these arehis sensible remarks; how consistent with what I have already beenobliged to quote, to give a fair view of the subject, the readermay determine.
"They who pass their whole lives in working for their daily bread,have no ideas beyond their business or their interest, and alltheir understanding seems to lie in their fingers' ends. Thisignorance is neither prejudicial to their integrity nor theirmorals; it is often of service to them. Sometimes, by means ofreflection, we are led to compound with our duty, and we conclude,by substituting a jargon of words, in the room of things. Our ownconscience is the most enlightened philosopher. There is no needof being acquainted with Tully's offices, to make a man of probity:and perhaps the most virtuous woman in the world is the leastacquainted with the definition of virtue. But it is no less true,than an improved understanding only can render society agreeable;and it is a melancholy thing for a father of a family, who is fondof home, to be obliged to be always wrapped up in himself, and tohave nobody about him to whom he can impart his sentiments.
"Besides, how should a woman void of reflection be capable ofeducating her children? How should she discern what is proper forthem? How should she incline them to those virtues she isunacquainted with, or to that merit of which she has no idea? Shecan only sooth or chide them; render them insolent or timid; shewill make them formal coxcombs, or ignorant blockheads; but willnever make them sensible or amiable." How indeed should she, whenher husband is not always at hand to lend her his reason —whenthey both together make but one moral being? A blind will, "eyeswithout hands," would go a very little way; and perchance hisabstract reason, that should concentrate the scattered beams of herpractical reason, may be employed in judging of the flavour ofwine, discanting on the sauces most proper for turtle; or, moreprofoundly intent at a card-table, he may be generalizing his ideasas he bets away his fortune, leaving all the minutiae of educationto his helpmate or chance.
But, granting that woman ought to be beautiful, innocent, andsilly, to render her a more alluring and indulgent companion—whatis her understanding sacrificed for? And why is all thispreparation necessary only, according to Rousseau's own account, tomake her the mistress of her husband, a very short time? For noman ever insisted more on the transient nature of love. Thusspeaks the philosopher. "Sensual pleasures are transient. Thehabitual state of the affections always loses by theirgratification. The imagination, which decks the object of ourdesires, is lost in fruition. Excepting the Supreme Being, who isself-existent, there is nothing beautiful but what is ideal."
But he returns to his unintelligible paradoxes again, when he thusaddresses Sophia. "Emilius, in becoming your husband, is becomeyour master, and claims your obedience. Such is the order ofnature. When a man is married, however, to such a wife as Sophia,it is proper he should be directed by her: this is also agreeableto the order of nature: it is, therefore, to give you as muchauthority over his heart as his sex gives him over your person,that I have made you the arbiter of his pleasures. It may costyou, perhaps, some disagreeable self-denial; but you will becertain of maintaining your empire over him, if you can preserve itover yourself; what I have already observed, also shows me, thatthis difficult attempt does not surpass your courage.
"Would you have your husband constantly at your feet? keep him atsome distance from your person. You will long maintain theauthority of love, if you know but how to render your favours rareand valuable. It is thus you may employ even the arts of coquetryin the service of virtue, and those of love in that of reason."
I shall close my extracts with a just description of a comfortablecouple. "And yet you must not imagine, that even such managementwill always suffice. Whatever precaution be taken, enjoyment will,by degrees, take off the edge of passion. But when love hathlasted as long as possible, a pleasing habitude supplies its place,and the attachment of a mutual confidence succeeds to thetransports of passion. Children often form a more agreeable andpermanent connexion between married people than even love itself.When you cease to be the mistress of Emilius, you will continue tobe his wife and friend; you will be the mother of his children."(Rousseau's Emilius.)
Children, he truly observes, form a much more permanent connexionbetween married people than love. Beauty he declares will not bevalued, or even seen, after a couple have lived six monthstogether; artificial graces and coquetry will likewise pall on thesenses: why then does he say, that a girl should be educated forher husband with the same care as for an eastern haram?
I now appeal from the reveries of fancy and refined licentiousnessto the good sense of mankind, whether, if the object of educationbe to prepare women to become chaste wives and sensible mothers,the method so plausibly recommended in the foregoing sketch, be theone best calculated to produce those ends? Will it be allowed thatthe surest way to make a wife chaste, is to teach her to practisethe wanton arts of a mistress, termed virtuous coquetry by thesensualist who can no longer relish the artless charms ofsincerity, or taste the pleasure arising from a tender intimacy,when confidence is unchecked by suspicion, and rendered interestingby sense?
The man who can be contented to live with a pretty useful companionwithout a mind, has lost in voluptuous gratifications a taste formore refined enjoyments; he has never felt the calm satisfactionthat refreshes the parched heart, like the silent dew of heaven—ofbeing beloved by one who could understand him. In the society ofhis wife he is still alone, unless when the man is sunk in thebrute. "The charm of life," says a grave philosophical reasoner,is "sympathy; nothing pleases us more than to observe in other mena fellow-feeling with all the emotions of our own breast."
But, according to the tenor of reasoning by which women are keptfrom the tree of knowledge, the important years of youth, theusefulness of age, and the rational hopes of futurity, are all tobe sacrificed, to render woman an object of desire for a shorttime. Besides, how could Rousseau expect them to be virtuous andconstant when reason is neither allowed to be the foundation oftheir virtue, nor truth the object of their inquiries?
But all Rousseau's errors in reasoning arose from sensibility, andsensibility to their charms women are very ready to forgive! Whenhe should have reasoned he became impassioned, and reflectioninflamed his imagination, instead of enlightening hisunderstanding. Even his virtues also led him farther astray; for,born with a warm constitution and lively fancy, nature carried himtoward the other sex with such eager fondness, that he soon becamelascivious. Had he given way to these desires, the fire would haveextinguished itself in a natural manner, but virtue, and a romantickind of delicacy, made him practise self-denial; yet, when fear,delicacy, or virtue restrained him, he debauched his imagination;and reflecting on the sensations to which fancy gave force, hetraced them in the most glowing colours, and sunk them deep intohis soul.
He then sought for solitude, not to sleep with the man of nature;or calmly investigate the causes of things under the shade whereSir Isaac Newton indulged contemplation, but merely to indulge hisfeelings. And so warmly has he painted what he forcibly felt,that, interesting the heart and inflaming the imagination of hisreaders; in proportion to the strength of their fancy, they imaginethat their understanding is convinced, when they only sympathizewith a poetic writer, who skilfully exhibits the objects of sense,most voluptuously shadowed, or gracefully veiled; and thus makingus feel, whilst dreaming that we reason, erroneous conclusions areleft in the mind.
Why was Rousseau's life divided between ecstasy and misery? Canany other answer be given than this, that the effervescence of hisimagination produced both; but, had his fancy been allowed to cool,it is possible that he might have acquired more strength of mind.Still, if the purpose of life be to educate the intellectual partof man, all with respect to him was right; yet, had not death ledto a nobler scene of action, it is probable that he would haveenjoyed more equal happiness on earth, and have felt the calmsensations of the man of nature, instead of being prepared foranother stage of existence by nourishing the passions which agitatethe civilized man.
But peace to his manes! I war not with his ashes, but hisopinions. I war only with the sensibility that led him to degradewoman by making her the slave of love.
…."Curs'd vassalage,
First idoliz'd till love's hot fire be o'er,
Then slaves to those who courted us before."
Dryden.
The pernicious tendency of those books, in which the writersinsidiously degrade the sex, whilst they are prostrate before theirpersonal charms, cannot be too often or too severely exposed.
Let us, my dear contemporaries, arise above such narrow prejudices!If wisdom is desirable on its own account, if virtue, to deservethe name, must be founded on knowledge; let us endeavour tostrengthen our minds by reflection, till our heads become a balancefor our hearts; let us not confine all our thoughts to the pettyoccurrences of the day, nor our knowledge to an acquaintance withour lovers' or husbands' hearts; but let the practice of every dutybe subordinate to the grand one of improving our minds, andpreparing our affections for a more exalted state!
Beware then, my friends, of suffering the heart to be moved byevery trivial incident: the reed is shaken by a breeze, andannually dies, but the oak stands firm, and for ages braves thestorm.
Were we, indeed, only created to flutter our hour out and die—whylet us then indulge sensibility, and laugh at the severity ofreason. Yet, alas! even then we should want strength of body andmind, and life would be lost in feverish pleasures or wearisomelanguor.
But the system of education, which I earnestly wish to seeexploded, seems to presuppose, what ought never to be taken forgranted, that virtue shields us from the casualties of life; andthat fortune, slipping off her bandage, will smile on awell-educated female, and bring in her hand an Emilius or aTelemachus. Whilst, on the contrary, the reward which virtuepromises to her votaries is confined, it is clear, to their ownbosoms; and often must they contend with the most vexatious worldlycares, and bear with the vices and humours of relations for whomthey can never feel a friendship.
There have been many women in the world who, instead of beingsupported by the reason and virtue of their fathers and brothers,have strengthened their own minds by struggling with their vicesand follies; yet have never met with a hero, in the shape of ahusband; who, paying the debt that mankind owed them, might chanceto bring back their reason to its natural dependent state, andrestore the usurped prerogative, of rising above opinion, to man.
SECTION 5.2.Dr. Fordyce's sermons have long made a part of a young woman'slibrary; nay, girls at school are allowed to read them; but Ishould instantly dismiss them from my pupil's, if I wished tostrengthen her understanding, by leading her to form soundprinciples on a broad basis; or, were I only anxious to cultivateher taste; though they must be allowed to contain many sensibleobservations.
Dr. Fordyce may have had a very laudable end in view; but thesediscourses are written in such an affected style, that were it onlyon that account, and had I nothing to object against hisMELLIFLUOUS precepts, I should not allow girls to peruse them,unless I designed to hunt every spark of nature out of theircomposition, melting every human quality into female weakness andartificial grace. I say artificial, for true grace arises fromsome kind of independence of mind.
Children, careless of pleasing, and only anxious to amusethemselves, are often very graceful; and the nobility who havemostly lived with inferiors, and always had the command of money,acquire a graceful ease of deportment, which should rather betermed habitual grace of body, than that superiour gracefulnesswhich is truly the expression of the mind. This mental grace, notnoticed by vulgar eyes, often flashes across a rough countenance,and irradiating every feature, shows simplicity and independence ofmind. It is then we read characters of immortality in the eye, andsee the soul in every gesture, though when at rest, neither theface nor limbs may have much beauty to recommend them; or thebehaviour, any thing peculiar to attract universal attention. Themass of mankind, however, look for more TANGIBLE beauty; yetsimplicity is, in general, admired, when people do not considerwhat they admire; and can there be simplicity without sincerity?but, to have done with remarks that are in some measure desultory,though naturally excited by the subject.
In declamatory periods Dr. Fordyce spins out Rousseau's eloquence;and in most sentimental rant, details his opinions respecting thefemale character, and the behaviour which woman ought to assume torender her lovely.
He shall speak for himself, for thus he makes nature address man."Behold these smiling innocents, whom I have graced with my fairestgifts, and committed to your protection; behold them with love andrespect; treat them with tenderness and honour. They are timid andwant to be defended. They are frail; O do not take advantage oftheir weakness! Let their fears and blushes endear them. Lettheir confidence in you never be abused. But is it possible, thatany of you can be such barbarians, so supremely wicked, as to abuseit? Can you find in your hearts* to despoil the gentle, trustingcreatures of their treasure, or do any thing to strip them of theirnative robe of virtue? Curst be the impious hand that would dareto violate the unblemished form of Chastity! Thou wretch! thouruffian! forbear; nor venture to provoke heaven's fiercestvengeance." I know not any comment that can be made seriously onthis curious passage, and I could produce many similar ones; andsome, so very sentimental, that I have heard rational men use theword indecent, when they mentioned them with disgust.
(*Footnote. Can you?—Can you? would be the most emphaticalcomment, were it drawled out in a whining voice.)
Throughout there is a display of cold, artificial feelings, andthat parade of sensibility which boys and girls should be taught todespise as the sure mark of a little vain mind. Florid appeals aremade to heaven, and to the BEAUTEOUS INNOCENTS, the fairest imagesof heaven here below, whilst sober sense is left far behind. Thisis not the language of the heart, nor will it ever reach it, thoughthe ear may be tickled.
I shall be told, perhaps, that the public have been pleased withthese volumes. True—and Hervey's Meditations are still read,though he equally sinned against sense and taste.
I particularly object to the lover-like phrases of pumped uppassion, which are every where interspersed. If women be everallowed to walk without leading-strings, why must they be cajoledinto virtue by artful flattery and sexual compliments? Speak tothem the language of truth and soberness, and away with the lullabystrains of condescending endearment! Let them be taught to respectthemselves as rational creatures, and not led to have a passion fortheir own insipid persons. It moves my gall to hear a preacherdescanting on dress and needle-work; and still more, to hear himaddress the 'British fair, the fairest of the fair', as if they hadonly feelings.
Even recommending piety he uses the following argument. "Never,perhaps, does a fine woman strike more deeply, than when, composedinto pious recollection, and possessed with the noblestconsiderations, she assumes, without knowing it, superiour dignityand new graces; so that the beauties of holiness seem to radiateabout her, and the by-standers are almost induced to fancy heralready worshipping amongst her kindred angels!" Why are women tobe thus bred up with a desire of conquest? the very epithet, usedin this sense, gives me a sickly qualm! Does religion and virtueoffer no stronger motives, no brighter reward? Must they always bedebased by being made to consider the sex of their companions?Must they be taught always to be pleasing? And when levellingtheir small artillery at the heart of man, is it necessary to tellthem that a little sense is sufficient to render their attentionINCREDIBLY SOOTHING? "As a small degree of knowledge entertains ina woman, so from a woman, though for a different reason, a smallexpression of kindness delights, particularly if she have beauty!"I should have supposed for the same reason.
Why are girls to be told that they resemble angels; but to sinkthem below women? Or, that a gentle, innocent female is an objectthat comes nearer to the idea which we have formed of angels thanany other. Yet they are told, at the same time, that they are onlylike angels when they are young and beautiful; consequently, it istheir persons, not their virtues, that procure them this homage.
Idle empty words! what can such delusive flattery lead to, butvanity and folly? The lover, it is true, has a poetic licence toexalt his mistress; his reason is the bubble of his passion, and hedoes not utter a falsehood when he borrows the language ofadoration. His imagination may raise the idol of his heart,unblamed, above humanity; and happy would it be for women, if theywere only flattered by the men who loved them; I mean, who love theindividual, not the sex; but should a grave preacher interlard hisdiscourses with such fooleries?
In sermons or novels, however, voluptuousness is always true to itstext. Men are allowed by moralists to cultivate, as naturedirects, different qualities, and assume the different characters,that the same passions, modified almost to infinity, give to eachindividual. A virtuous man may have a choleric or a sanguineconstitution, be gay or grave, unreproved; be firm till be isalmost over-bearing, or, weakly submissive, have no will or opinionof his own; but all women are to be levelled, by meekness anddocility, into one character of yielding softness and gentlecompliance.
I will use the preacher's own words. "Let it be observed, that inyour sex manly exercises are never graceful; that in them a toneand figure, as well as an air and deportment, of the masculinekind, are always forbidding; and that men of sensibility desire inevery woman soft features, and a flowing voice, a form not robust,and demeanour delicate and gentle."
Is not the following portrait—the portrait of a house slave? "Iam astonished at the folly of many women, who are still reproachingtheir husbands for leaving them alone, for preferring this or thatcompany to theirs, for treating them with this and the other markof disregard or indifference; when, to speak the truth, they havethemselves in a great measure to blame. Not that I would justifythe men in any thing wrong on their part. But had you behaved tothem with more RESPECTFUL OBSERVANCE, and a more EQUAL TENDERNESS;STUDYING THEIR HUMOURS, OVERLOOKING THEIR MISTAKES, SUBMITTING TOTHEIR OPINIONS in matters indifferent, passing by little instancesof unevenness, caprice, or passion, giving SOFT answers to hastywords, complaining as seldom as possible, and making it your dailycare to relieve their anxieties and prevent their wishes, toenliven the hour of dulness, and call up the ideas of felicity:had you pursued this conduct, I doubt not but you would havemaintained and even increased their esteem, so far as to havesecured every degree of influence that could conduce to theirvirtue, or your mutual satisfaction; and your house might at thisday have been the abode of domestic bliss." Such a woman ought tobe an angel—or she is an ass—for I discern not a trace of thehuman character, neither reason nor passion in this domesticdrudge, whose being is absorbed in that of a tyrant's.
Still Dr. Fordyce must have very little acquaintance with the humanheart, if he really supposed that such conduct would bring backwandering love, instead of exciting contempt. No, beauty,gentleness, etc. etc. may gain a heart; but esteem, the onlylasting affection, can alone be obtained by virtue supported byreason. It is respect for the understanding that keeps alivetenderness for the person.
As these volumes are so frequently put into the hands of youngpeople, I have taken more notice of them than strictly speaking,they deserve; but as they have contributed to vitiate the taste,and enervate the understanding of many of my fellow-creatures, Icould not pass them silently over.
SECTION 5.3.Such paternal solicitude pervades Dr. Gregory's Legacy to hisdaughters, that I enter on the task of criticism with affectionaterespect; but as this little volume has many attractions torecommend it to the notice of the most respectable part of my sex,I cannot silently pass over arguments that so speciously supportopinions which, I think, have had the most baneful effect on themorals and manners of the female world.
His easy familiar style is particularly suited to the tenor of hisadvice, and the melancholy tenderness which his respect for thememory of a beloved wife diffuses through the whole work, rendersit very interesting; yet there is a degree of concise eleganceconspicuous in many passages, that disturbs this sympathy; and wepop on the author, when we only expected to meet the—father.
Besides, having two objects in view, he seldom adhered steadily toeither; for, wishing to make his daughters amiable, and fearinglest unhappiness should only be the consequence, of instillingsentiments, that might draw them out of the track of common life,without enabling them to act with consonant independence anddignity, he checks the natural flow of his thoughts, and neitheradvises one thing nor the other.
In the preface he tells them a mournful truth, "that they willhear, at least once in their lives, the genuine sentiments of aman, who has no interest in deceiving them."
Hapless woman! what can be expected from thee, when the beings onwhom thou art said naturally to depend for reason and support, haveall an interest in deceiving thee! This is the root of the evilthat has shed a corroding mildew on all thy virtues; and blightingin the bud thy opening faculties, has rendered thee the weak thingthou art! It is this separate interest— this insidious state ofwarfare, that undermines morality, and divides mankind!
If love has made some women wretched—how many more has the coldunmeaning intercourse of gallantry rendered vain and useless! yetthis heartless attention to the sex is reckoned so manly, sopolite, that till society is very differently organized, I fear,this vestige of gothic manners will not be done away by a morereasonable and affectionate mode of conduct. Besides, to strip itof its imaginary dignity, I must observe, that in the mostcivilized European states, this lip-service prevails in a verygreat degree, accompanied with extreme dissoluteness of morals. InPortugal, the country that I particularly allude to, it takes placeof the most serious moral obligations; for a man is seldomassassinated when in the company of a woman. The savage hand ofrapine is unnerved by this chivalrous spirit; and, if the stroke ofvengeance cannot be stayed—the lady is entreated to pardon therudeness and depart in peace, though sprinkled, perhaps, with herhusband's or brother's blood.
I shall pass over his strictures on religion, because I mean todiscuss that subject in a separate chapter.
The remarks relative to behaviour, though many of them verysensible, I entirely disapprove of, because it appears to me to bebeginning, as it were at the wrong end. A cultivatedunderstanding, and an affectionate heart, will never want starchedrules of decorum, something more substantial than seemliness willbe the result; and, without understanding, the behaviour hererecommended, would be rank affectation. Decorum, indeed, is theone thing needful! decorum is to supplant nature, and banish allsimplicity and variety of character out of the female world. Yetwhat good end can all this superficial counsel produce? It is,however, much easier to point out this or that mode of behaviour,than to set the reason to work; but, when the mind has been storedwith useful knowledge, and strengthened by being employed, theregulation of the behaviour may safely be left to its guidance.
Why, for instance, should the following caution be given, when artof every kind must contaminate the mind; and why entangle the grandmotives of action, which reason and religion equally combine toenforce, with pitiful worldly shifts and slight of hand tricks togain the applause of gaping tasteless fools? "Be even cautious indisplaying your good sense.* It will be thought you assume asuperiority over the rest of the company— But if you happen tohave any learning keep it a profound secret, especially from themen, who generally look with a jealous and malignant eye on a womanof great parts, and a cultivated understanding." If men of realmerit, as he afterwards observes, are superior to this meanness,where is the necessity that the behaviour of the whole sex shouldbe modulated to please fools, or men, who having little claim torespect as individuals, choose to keep close in their phalanx.Men, indeed, who insist on their common superiority, having onlythis sexual superiority, are certainly very excusable.
(*Footnote. Let women once acquire good sense—and if it deservethe name, it will teach them; or, of what use will it be how toemploy it.)
There would be no end to rules for behaviour, if it be properalways to adopt the tone of the company; for thus, for ever varyingthe key, a FLAT would often pass for a NATURAL note.
Surely it would have been wiser to have advised women to improvethemselves till they rose above the fumes of vanity; and then tolet the public opinion come round—for where are rules ofaccommodation to stop? The narrow path of truth and virtueinclines neither to the right nor left, it is a straight-forwardbusiness, and they who are earnestly pursuing their road, may boundover many decorous prejudices, without leaving modesty behind.Make the heart clean, and give the head employment, and I willventure to predict that there will be nothing offensive in thebehaviour.
The air of fashion, which many young people are so eager to attain,always strikes me like the studied attitudes of some modern prints,copied with tasteless servility after the antiques; the soul isleft out, and none of the parts are tied together by what mayproperly be termed character. This varnish of fashion, whichseldom sticks very close to sense, may dazzle the weak; but leavenature to itself, and it will seldom disgust the wise. Besides,when a woman has sufficient sense not to pretend to any thing whichshe does not understand in some degree, there is no need ofdetermining to hide her talents under a bushel. Let things taketheir natural course, and all will be well.
It is this system of dissimulation, throughout the volume, that Idespise. Women are always to SEEM to be this and that—yet virtuemight apostrophize them, in the words of Hamlet—Seems! I know notseems!—Have that within that passeth show!—
Still the same tone occurs; for in another place, afterrecommending, (without sufficiently discriminating) delicacy, headds, "The men will complain of your reserve. They will assure youthat a franker behaviour would make you more amiable. But, trustme, they are not sincere when they tell you so. I acknowledge thaton some occasions it might render you more agreeable as companions,but it would make you less amiable as women: an importantdistinction, which many of your sex are not aware of."
This desire of being always women, is the very consciousness thatdegrades the sex. Excepting with a lover, I must repeat withemphasis, a former observation—it would be well if they were onlyagreeable or rational companions. But in this respect his adviceis even inconsistent with a passage which I mean to quote with themost marked approbation.
"The sentiment, that a woman may allow all innocent freedoms,provided her virtue is secure, is both grossly indelicate anddangerous, and has proved fatal to many of your sex." With thisopinion I perfectly coincide. A man, or a woman, of any feelingmust always wish to convince a beloved object that it is thecaresses of the individual, not the sex, that is received andreturned with pleasure; and, that the heart, rather than thesenses, is moved. Without this natural delicacy, love becomes aselfish personal gratification that soon degrades the character.
I carry this sentiment still further. Affection, when love is outof the question, authorises many personal endearments, thatnaturally flowing from an innocent heart give life to thebehaviour; but the personal intercourse of appetite, gallantry, orvanity, is despicable. When a man squeezes the hand of a prettywoman, handing her to a carriage, whom he has never seen before,she will consider such an impertinent freedom in the light of aninsult, if she have any true delicacy, instead of being flatteredby this unmeaning homage to beauty. These are the privileges offriendship, or the momentary homage which the heart pays to virtue,when it flashes suddenly on the notice—mere animal spirits have noclaim to the kindnesses of affection.
Wishing to feed the affections with what is now the food of vanity,I would fain persuade my sex to act from simpler principles. Letthem merit love, and they will obtain it, though they may never betold that: "The power of a fine woman over the hearts of men, ofmen of the finest parts, is even beyond what she conceives."
I have already noticed the narrow cautions with respect toduplicity, female softness, delicacy of constitution; for these arethe changes which he rings round without ceasing, in a moredecorous manner, it is true, than Rousseau; but it all comes hometo the same point, and whoever is at the trouble to analyze thesesentiments, will find the first principles not quite so delicate asthe superstructure.
The subject of amusements is treated in too cursory a manner; butwith the same spirit.
When I treat of friendship, love, and marriage, it will be foundthat we materially differ in opinion; I shall not then forestallwhat I have to observe on these important subjects; but confine myremarks to the general tenor of them, to that cautious familyprudence, to those confined views of partial unenlightenedaffection, which exclude pleasure and improvement, by vainlywishing to ward off sorrow and error—and by thus guarding theheart and mind, destroy also all their energy. It is far better tobe often deceived than never to trust; to be disappointed in love,than never to love; to lose a husband's fondness, than forfeit hisesteem.
Happy would it be for the world, and for individuals, of course, ifall this unavailing solicitude to attain worldly happiness, on aconfined plan, were turned into an anxious desire to improve theunderstanding. "Wisdom is the principal thing: THEREFORE getwisdom; and with all thy gettings get understanding." "How long yesimple ones, will ye love simplicity, and hate knowledge?" SaithWisdom to the daughters of men!
SECTION 5.4.I do not mean to allude to all the writers who have written on thesubject of female manners—it would in fact be only beating overthe old ground, for they have, in general, written in the samestrain; but attacking the boasted prerogative of man—theprerogative that may emphatically be called the iron sceptre oftyranny, the original sin of tyrants, I declare against all powerbuilt on prejudices, however hoary.
If the submission demanded be founded on justice—there is noappealing to a higher power—for God is justice itself. Let usthen, as children of the same parent, if not bastardized by beingthe younger born, reason together, and learn to submit to theauthority of reason when her voice is distinctly heard. But, if itbe proved that this throne of prerogative only rests on a chaoticmass of prejudices, that have no inherent principle of order tokeep them together, or on an elephant, tortoise, or even the mightyshoulders of a son of the earth, they may escape, who dare to bravethe consequence without any breach of duty, without sinning againstthe order of things.
Whilst reason raises man above the brutal herd, and death is bigwith promises, they alone are subject to blind authority who haveno reliance on their own strength. "They are free who will befree!"*
(*Footnote. "He is the free man, whom TRUTH makes free!" Cowper.)
The being who can govern itself, has nothing to fear in life; butif any thing is dearer than its own respect, the price must be paidto the last farthing. Virtue, like every thing valuable, must beloved for herself alone; or she will not take up her abode with us.She will not impart that peace, "which passeth understanding," whenshe is merely made the stilts of reputation and respected withpharisaical exactness, because "honesty is the best policy."
That the plan of life which enables us to carry some knowledge andvirtue into another world, is the one best calculated to ensurecontent in this, cannot be denied; yet few people act according tothis principle, though it be universally allowed that it admits notof dispute. Present pleasure, or present power, carry before itthese sober convictions; and it is for the day, not for life, thatman bargains with happiness. How few! how very few! havesufficient foresight or resolution, to endure a small evil at themoment, to avoid a greater hereafter.
Woman in particular, whose virtue* is built on mutual prejudices,seldom attains to this greatness of mind; so that, becoming theslave of her own feelings, she is easily subjugated by those ofothers. Thus degraded, her reason, her misty reason! is employedrather to burnish than to snap her chains.
(*Footnote. I mean to use a word that comprehends more thanchastity, the sexual virtue.)
Indignantly have I heard women argue in the same track as men, andadopt the sentiments that brutalize them with all the pertinacityof ignorance.
I must illustrate my assertion by a few examples. Mrs. Piozzi, whooften repeated by rote, what she did not understand, comes forwardwith Johnsonian periods.
"Seek not for happiness in singularity; and dread a refinement ofwisdom as a deviation into folly." Thus she dogmatically addressesa new married man; and to elucidate this pompous exordium, sheadds, "I said that the person of your lady would not grow morepleasing to you, but pray let her never suspect that it grows lessso: that a woman will pardon an affront to her understanding muchsooner than one to her person, is well known; nor will any of uscontradict the assertion. All our attainments, all our arts, areemployed to gain and keep the heart of man; and what mortificationcan exceed the disappointment, if the end be not obtained: There isno reproof however pointed, no punishment however severe, that awoman of spirit will not prefer to neglect; and if she can endureit without complaint, it only proves that she means to make herselfamends by the attention of others for the slights of her husband!"
These are true masculine sentiments. "All our ARTS are employed togain and keep the heart of man:"—and what is the inference?—ifher person, and was there ever a person, though formed withMedicisan symmetry, that was not slighted? be neglected, she willmake herself amends by endeavouring to please other men. Noblemorality! But thus is the understanding of the whole sexaffronted, and their virtue deprived of the common basis of virtue.A woman must know, that her person cannot be as pleasing to herhusband as it was to her lover, and if she be offended with him forbeing a human creature, she may as well whine about the loss of hisheart as about any other foolish thing. And this very want ofdiscernment or unreasonable anger, proves that he could not changehis fondness for her person into affection for her virtues orrespect for her understanding.
Whilst women avow, and act up to such opinions, theirunderstandings, at least, deserve the contempt and obloquy thatmen, WHO NEVER insult their persons, have pointedly levelled at thefemale mind. And it is the sentiments of these polite men, who donot wish to be encumbered with mind, that vain women thoughtlesslyadopt. Yet they should know, that insulted reason alone can spreadthat SACRED reserve about the persons which renders humanaffections, for human affections have always some base alloy, aspermanent as is consistent with the grand end of existence—theattainment of virtue.
The Baroness de Stael speaks the same language as the lady justcited, with more enthusiasm. Her eulogium on Rousseau wasaccidentally put into my hands, and her sentiments, the sentimentsof too many of my sex, may serve as the text for a few comments."Though Rousseau," she observes, "has endeavoured to prevent womenfrom interfering in public affairs, and acting a brilliant part inthe theatre of politics; yet, in speaking of them, how much has hedone it to their satisfaction! If he wished to deprive them ofsome rights, foreign to their sex, how has he for ever restored tothem all those to which it has a claim! And in attempting todiminish their influence over the deliberations of men, howsacredly has he established the empire they have over theirhappiness! In aiding them to descend from an usurped throne, hehas firmly seated them upon that to which they were destined bynature; and though he be full of indignation against them when theyendeavour to resemble men, yet when they come before him with allTHE CHARMS WEAKNESSES, VIRTUES, and ERRORS, OF their sex, hisrespect for their PERSONS amounts almost to adoration." True!—Fornever was there a sensualist who paid more fervent adoration at theshrine of beauty. So devout, indeed, was his respect for theperson, that excepting the virtue of chastity, for obvious reasons,he only wished to see it embellished by charms, weaknesses, anderrors. He was afraid lest the austerity of reason should disturbthe soft playfulness of love. The master wished to have ameretricious slave to fondle, entirely dependent on his reason andbounty; he did not want a companion, whom he should be compelled toesteem, or a friend to whom he could confide the care of hischildren's education, should death deprive them of their father,before he had fulfilled the sacred task. He denies woman reason,shuts her out from knowledge, and turns her aside from truth; yethis pardon is granted, because, "he admits the passion of love."It would require some ingenuity to show why women were to be undersuch an obligation to him for thus admitting love; when it is clearthat he admits it only for the relaxation of men, and to perpetuatethe species; but he talked with passion, and that powerful spellworked on the sensibility of a young encomiast. "What signifiesit," pursues this rhapsodist, "to women, that his reason disputeswith them the empire, when his heart is devotedly theirs." It isnot empire—but equality, that they should contend for. Yet, ifthey only wished to lengthen out their sway, they should notentirely trust to their persons, for though beauty may gain aheart, it cannot keep it, even while the beauty is in full bloom,unless the mind lend, at least, some graces.
When women are once sufficiently enlightened to discover their realinterest, on a grand scale, they will, I am persuaded, be veryready to resign all the prerogatives of love, that are not mutual,(speaking of them as lasting prerogatives,) for the calmsatisfaction of friendship, and the tender confidence of habitualesteem. Before marriage they will not assume any insolent airs,nor afterward abjectly submit; but, endeavouring to act likereasonable creatures, in both situations, they will not be tumbledfrom a throne to a stool.
Madame Genlis has written several entertaining books for children;and her letters on Education afford many useful hints, thatsensible parents will certainly avail themselves of; but her viewsare narrow, and her prejudices as unreasonable as strong.
I shall pass over her vehement argument in favour of the eternityof future punishments, because I blush to think that a human beingshould ever argue vehemently in such a cause, and only make a fewremarks on her absurd manner of making the parental authoritysupplant reason. For every where does she inculcate not only BLINDsubmission to parents; but to the opinion of the world.*
(*Footnote. A person is not to act in this or that way, thoughconvinced they are right in so doing, because some equivocalcircumstances may lead the world to SUSPECT that they acted fromdifferent motives. This is sacrificing the substance for a shadow.Let people but watch their own hearts, and act rightly as far asthey can judge, and they may patiently wait till the opinion of theworld comes round. It is best to be directed by a simplemotive—for justice has too often been sacrificed topropriety;—another word for convenience.)
She tells a story of a young man engaged by his father's expressdesire to a girl of fortune. Before the marriage could take placeshe is deprived of her fortune, and thrown friendless on the world.The father practises the most infamous arts to separate his sonfrom her, and when the son detects his villany, and, following thedictates of honour, marries the girl, nothing but misery ensues,because forsooth he married WITHOUT his father's consent. On whatground can religion or morality rest, when justice is thus set atdefiance? In the same style she represents an accomplished youngwoman, as ready to marry any body that her MAMMA pleased torecommend; and, as actually marrying the young man of her ownchoice, without feeling any emotions of passion, because that awell educated girl had not time to be in love. Is it possible tohave much respect for a system of education that thus insultsreason and nature?
Many similar opinions occur in her writings, mixed with sentimentsthat do honour to her head and heart. Yet so much superstition ismixed with her religion, and so much worldly wisdom with hermorality, that I should not let a young person read her works,unless I could afterwards converse on the subjects, and point outthe contradictions.
Mrs. Chapone's Letters are written with such good sense, andunaffected humility, and contain so many useful observations, thatI only mention them to pay the worthy writer this tribute ofrespect. I cannot, it is true, always coincide in opinion withher; but I always respect her.
The very word respect brings Mrs. Macaulay to my remembrance. Thewoman of the greatest abilities, undoubtedly, that this country hasever produced. And yet this woman has been suffered to die withoutsufficient respect being paid to her memory.
Posterity, however, will be more just; and remember that CatharineMacaulay was an example of intellectual acquirements supposed to beincompatible with the weakness of her sex. In her style ofwriting, indeed, no sex appears, for it is like the sense itconveys, strong and clear.
I will not call her's a masculine understanding, because I admitnot of such an arrogant assumption of reason; but I contend that itwas a sound one, and that her judgment, the matured fruit ofprofound thinking, was a proof that a woman can acquire judgment,in the full extent of the word. Possessing more penetration thansagacity, more understanding than fancy, she writes with soberenergy, and argumentative closeness; yet sympathy and benevolencegive an interest to her sentiments, and that vital heat toarguments, which forces the reader to weigh them.*
(*Footnote. Coinciding in opinion with Mrs. Macaulay relative tomany branches of education, I refer to her valuable work, insteadof quoting her sentiments to support my own.)
When I first thought of writing these strictures I anticipated Mrs.Macaulay's approbation with a little of that sanguine ardour whichit has been the business of my life to depress; but soon heard withthe sickly qualm of disappointed hope, and the still seriousness ofregret—that she was no more!
SECTION 5.5.Taking a view of the different works which have been written oneducation, Lord Chesterfield's Letters must not be silently passedover. Not that I mean to analyze his unmanly, immoral system, oreven to cull any of the useful shrewd remarks which occur in hisfrivolous correspondence—No, I only mean to make a few reflectionson the avowed tendency of them—the art of acquiring an earlyknowledge of the world. An art, I will venture to assert, thatpreys secretly, like the worm in the bud, on the expanding powers,and turns to poison the generous juices which should mount withvigour in the youthful frame, inspiring warm affections and greatresolves.
For every thing, saith the wise man, there is reason; and who wouldlook for the fruits of autumn during the genial months of spring?But this is mere declamation, and I mean to reason with thoseworldly-wise instructors, who, instead of cultivating the judgment,instil prejudices, and render hard the heart that gradualexperience would only have cooled. An early acquaintance withhuman infirmities; or, what is termed knowledge of the world, isthe surest way, in my opinion, to contract the heart and damp thenatural youthful ardour which produces not only great talents, butgreat virtues. For the vain attempt to bring forth the fruit ofexperience, before the sapling has thrown out its leaves, onlyexhausts its strength, and prevents its assuming a natural form;just as the form and strength of subsiding metals are injured whenthe attraction of cohesion is disturbed. Tell me, ye who havestudied the human mind, is it not a strange way to fix principlesby showing young people that they are seldom stable? And how canthey be fortified by habits when they are proved to be fallaciousby example? Why is the ardour of youth thus to be damped, and theluxuriancy of fancy cut to the quick? This dry caution may, it istrue, guard a character from worldly mischances; but willinfallibly preclude excellence in either virtue or knowledge. Thestumbling-block thrown across every path by suspicion, will preventany vigorous exertions of genius or benevolence, and life will bestripped of its most alluring charm long before its calm evening,when man should retire to contemplation for comfort and support.
A young man who has been bred up with domestic friends, and led tostore his mind with as much speculative knowledge as can beacquired by reading and the natural reflections which youthfulebullitions of animal spirits and instinctive feelings inspire,will enter the world with warm and erroneous expectations. Butthis appears to be the course of nature; and in morals, as well asin works of taste, we should be observant of her sacredindications, and not presume to lead when we ought obsequiously tofollow.
In the world few people act from principle; present feelings, andearly habits, are the grand springs: but how would the former bedeadened, and the latter rendered iron corroding fetters, if theworld were shown to young people just as it is; when no knowledgeof mankind or their own hearts, slowly obtained by experiencerendered them forbearing? Their fellow creatures would not then beviewed as frail beings; like themselves, condemned to struggle withhuman infirmities, and sometimes displaying the light and sometimesthe dark side of their character; extorting alternate feelings oflove and disgust; but guarded against as beasts of prey, till everyenlarged social feeling, in a word—humanity, was eradicated.
In life, on the contrary, as we gradually discover theimperfections of our nature, we discover virtues, and variouscircumstances attach us to our fellow creatures, when we mix withthem, and view the same objects, that are never thought of inacquiring a hasty unnatural knowledge of the world. We see a follyswell into a vice, by almost imperceptible degrees, and pity whilewe blame; but, if the hideous monster burst suddenly on our sight,fear and disgust rendering us more severe than man ought to be,might lead us with blind zeal to usurp the character ofomnipotence, and denounce damnation on our fellow mortals,forgetting that we cannot read the heart, and that we have seeds ofthe same vices lurking in our own.
I have already remarked, that we expect more from instruction, thanmere instruction can produce: for, instead of preparing youngpeople to encounter the evils of life with dignity, and to acquirewisdom and virtue by the exercise of their own faculties, preceptsare heaped upon precepts, and blind obedience required, whenconviction should be brought home to reason.
Suppose, for instance, that a young person in the first ardour offriendship deifies the beloved object—what harm can arise fromthis mistaken enthusiastic attachment? Perhaps it is necessary forvirtue first to appear in a human form to impress youthful hearts;the ideal model, which a more matured and exalted mind looks up to,and shapes for itself, would elude their sight. He who loves nothis brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God? asked thewisest of men.
It is natural for youth to adorn the first object of its affectionwith every good quality, and the emulation produced by ignorance,or, to speak with more propriety, by inexperience, brings forwardthe mind capable of forming such an affection, and when, in thelapse of time, perfection is found not to be within the reach ofmortals, virtue, abstractly, is thought beautiful, and wisdomsublime. Admiration then gives place to friendship, properly socalled, because it is cemented by esteem; and the being walks aloneonly dependent on heaven for that emulous panting after perfectionwhich ever glows in a noble mind. But this knowledge a man mustgain by the exertion of his own faculties; and this is surely theblessed fruit of disappointed hope! for He who delighteth todiffuse happiness and show mercy to the weak creatures, who arelearning to know him, never implanted a good propensity to be atormenting ignis fatuus.
Our trees are now allowed to spread with wild luxuriance, nor do weexpect by force to combine the majestic marks of time with youthfulgraces; but wait patiently till they have struck deep their root,and braved many a storm. Is the mind then, which, in proportion toits dignity advances more slowly towards perfection, to be treatedwith less respect? To argue from analogy, every thing around us isin a progressive state; and when an unwelcome knowledge of lifeproduces almost a satiety of life, and we discover by the naturalcourse of things that all that is done under the sun is vanity, weare drawing near the awful close of the drama. The days ofactivity and hope are over, and the opportunities which the firststage of existence has afforded of advancing in the scale ofintelligence, must soon be summed up. A knowledge at this periodof the futility of life, or earlier, if obtained by experience, isvery useful, because it is natural; but when a frail being is shownthe follies and vices of man, that he may be taught prudently toguard against the common casualties of life by sacrificing hisheart—surely it is not speaking harshly to call it the wisdom ofthis world, contrasted with the nobler fruit of piety andexperience.
I will venture a paradox, and deliver my opinion without reserve;if men were only born to form a circle of life and death, it wouldbe wise to take every step that foresight could suggest to renderlife happy. Moderation in every pursuit would then be supremewisdom; and the prudent voluptuary might enjoy a degree of content,though he neither cultivated his understanding nor kept his heartpure. Prudence, supposing we were mortal, would be true wisdom,or, to be more explicit, would procure the greatest portion ofhappiness, considering the whole of life; but knowledge beyond theconveniences of life would be a curse.
Why should we injure our health by close study? The exaltedpleasure which intellectual pursuits afford would scarcely beequivalent to the hours of languor that follow; especially, if itbe necessary to take into the reckoning the doubts anddisappointments that cloud our researches. Vanity and vexationclose every inquiry: for the cause which we particularly wished todiscover flies like the horizon before us as we advance. Theignorant, on the contrary, resemble children, and suppose, that ifthey could walk straight forward they should at last arrive wherethe earth and clouds meet. Yet, disappointed as we are in ourresearches, the mind gains strength by the exercise, sufficient,perhaps, to comprehend the answers which, in another step ofexistence, it may receive to the anxious questions it asked, whenthe understanding with feeble wing was fluttering round the visibleeffects to dive into the hidden cause.
The passions also, the winds of life, would be useless, if notinjurious, did the substance which composes our thinking being,after we have thought in vain, only become the support of vegetablelife, and invigorate a cabbage, or blush in a rose. The appetiteswould answer every earthly purpose, and produce more moderate andpermanent happiness. But the powers of the soul that are of littleuse here, and, probably, disturb our animal enjoyments, even whileconscious dignity makes us glory in possessing them, prove thatlife is merely an education, a state of infancy, of which the onlyhopes worth cherishing should not be sacrificed. I mean, thereforeto infer, that we ought to have a precise idea of what we wish toattain by education, for the immortality of the soul iscontradicted by the actions of many people, who firmly profess thebelief.
If you mean to secure ease and prosperity on earth as the firstconsideration, and leave futurity to provide for itself, you actprudently in giving your child an early insight into the weaknessesof his nature. You may not, it is true, make an Inkle of him; butdo not imagine that he will stick to more than the letter of thelaw, who has very early imbibed a mean opinion of human nature; norwill he think it necessary to rise much above the common standard.He may avoid gross vices, because honesty is the best policy; buthe will never aim at attaining great virtues. The example ofwriters and artists will illustrate this remark.
I must therefore venture to doubt, whether what has been thought anaxiom in morals, may not have been a dogmatical assertion made bymen who have coolly seen mankind through the medium of books, andsay, in direct contradiction to them, that the regulation of thepassions is not always wisdom. On the contrary, it should seem,that one reason why men have superiour judgment and more fortitudethan women, is undoubtedly this, that they give a freer scope tothe grand passions, and by more frequently going astray, enlargetheir minds. If then by the exercise of their own reason, they fixon some stable principle, they have probably to thank the force oftheir passions, nourished by FALSE views of life, and permitted tooverleap the boundary that secures content. But if, in the dawn oflife, we could soberly survey the scenes before us as inperspective, and see every thing in its true colours, how could thepassions gain sufficient strength to unfold the faculties?
Let me now, as from an eminence, survey the world stripped of allits false delusive charms. The clear atmosphere enables me to seeeach object in its true point of view, while my heart is still. Iam calm as the prospect in a morning when the mists, slowlydispersing, silently unveil the beauties of nature, refreshed byrest.
In what light will the world now appear? I rub my eyes and think,perchance, that I am just awaking from a lively dream.
I see the sons and daughters of men pursuing shadows, and anxiouslywasting their powers to feed passions which have no adequateobject—if the very excess of these blind impulses pampered by thatlying, yet constantly-trusted guide, the imagination, did not, bypreparing them for some other state, render short sighted mortalswiser without their own concurrence; or, what comes to the samething, when they were pursuing some imaginary present good.
After viewing objects in this light, it would not be very fancifulto imagine, that this world was a stage on which a pantomime isdaily performed for the amusement of superiour beings. How wouldthey be diverted to see the ambitious man consuming himself byrunning after a phantom, and, pursuing the bubble fame in "thecannon's mouth" that was to blow him to nothing: for whenconsciousness is lost, it matters not whether we mount in awhirlwind or descend in rain. And should they compassionatelyinvigorate his sight, and show him the thorny path which led toeminence, that like a quicksand sinks as he ascends, disappointinghis hopes when almost within his grasp, would he not leave toothers the honour of amusing them, and labour to secure the presentmoment, though from the constitution of his nature he would notfind it very easy to catch the flying stream? Such slaves are weto hope and fear!
But, vain as the ambitious man's pursuit would be, he is oftenstriving for something more substantial than fame—that indeedwould be the veriest meteor, the wildest fire that could lure a manto ruin. What! renounce the most trifling gratification to beapplauded when he should be no more! Wherefore this struggle,whether man is mortal or immortal, if that noble passion did notreally raise the being above his fellows?
And love! What diverting scenes would it produce—Pantaloon'stricks must yield to more egregious folly. To see a mortal adornan object with imaginary charms, and then fall down and worship theidol which he had himself set up—how ridiculous! But what seriousconsequences ensue to rob man of that portion of happiness, whichthe Deity by calling him into existence has (or, on what can hisattributes rest?) indubitably promised; would not all the purposesof life have been much better fulfilled if he had only felt whathas been termed physical love? And, would not the sight of theobject, not seen through the medium of the imagination, soon reducethe passion to an appetite, if reflection, the noble distinction ofman, did not give it force, and make it an instrument to raise himabove this earthy dross, by teaching him to love the centre of allperfection! whose wisdom appears clearer and clearer in the worksof nature, in proportion as reason is illuminated and exalted bycontemplation, and by acquiring that love of order which thestruggles of passion produce?
The habit of reflection, and the knowledge attained by fosteringany passion, might be shown to be equally useful though the objectbe proved equally fallacious; for they would all appear in the samelight, if they were not magnified by the governing passionimplanted in us by the Author of all good, to call forth andstrengthen the faculties of each individual, and enable it toattain all the experience that an infant can obtain, who doescertain things, it cannot tell why.
I descend from my height, and mixing with my fellow creatures, feelmyself hurried along the common stream; ambition, love, hope, andfear, exert their wonted power, though we be convinced by reasonthat their present and most attractive promises are only lyingdreams; but had the cold hand of circumspection damped eachgenerous feeling before it had left any permanent character, orfixed some habit, what could be expected, but selfish prudence andreason just rising above instinct? Who that has read Dean Swift'sdisgusting description of the Yahoos, and insipid one of Houyhnhnmwith a philosophical eye, can avoid seeing the futility ofdegrading the passions, or making man rest in contentment?
The youth should ACT; for had he the experience of a grey head, hewould be fitter for death than life, though his virtues, ratherresiding in his head than his heart could produce nothing great,and his understanding prepared for this world, would not, by itsnoble flights, prove that it had a title to a better.
Besides, it is not possible to give a young person a just view oflife; he must have struggled with his own passions before he canestimate the force of the temptation which betrayed his brotherinto vice. Those who are entering life, and those who aredeparting, see the world from such very different points of view,that they can seldom think alike, unless the unfledged reason ofthe former never attempted a solitary flight.
When we hear of some daring crime—it comes full upon us in thedeepest shade of turpitude, and raises indignation; but the eyethat gradually saw the darkness thicken, must observe it with morecompassionate forbearance. The world cannot be seen by an unmovedspectator, we must mix in the throng, and feel as men feel beforewe can judge of their feelings. If we mean, in short, to live inthe world to grow wiser and better, and not merely to enjoy thegood things of life, we must attain a knowledge of others at thesame time that we become acquainted with ourselves— knowledgeacquired any other way only hardens the heart and perplexes theunderstanding.
I may be told, that the knowledge thus acquired, is sometimespurchased at too dear a rate. I can only answer, that I very muchdoubt whether any knowledge can be attained without labour andsorrow; and those who wish to spare their children both, should notcomplain if they are neither wise nor virtuous. They only aimed atmaking them prudent; and prudence, early in life, is but thecautious craft of ignorant self-love. I have observed, that youngpeople, to whose education particular attention has been paid,have, in general, been very superficial and conceited, and far frompleasing in any respect, because they had neither the unsuspectingwarmth of youth, nor the cool depth of age. I cannot help imputingthis unnatural appearance principally to that hasty prematureinstruction, which leads them presumptuously to repeat all thecrude notions they have taken upon trust, so that the carefuleducation which they received, makes them all their lives theslaves of prejudices.
Mental as well as bodily exertion is, at first, irksome; so muchso, that the many would fain let others both work and think forthem. An observation which I have often made will illustrate mymeaning. When in a circle of strangers, or acquaintances, a personof moderate abilities, asserts an opinion with heat, I will ventureto affirm, for I have traced this fact home, very often, that it isa prejudice. These echoes have a high respect for theunderstanding of some relation or friend, and without fullycomprehending the opinions, which they are so eager to retail, theymaintain them with a degree of obstinacy, that would surprise eventhe person who concocted them.
I know that a kind of fashion now prevails of respectingprejudices; and when any one dares to face them, though actuated byhumanity and armed by reason, he is superciliously asked, whetherhis ancestors were fools. No, I should reply; opinions, at first,of every description, were all, probably, considered, and thereforewere founded on some reason; yet not unfrequently, of course, itwas rather a local expedient than a fundamental principle, thatwould be reasonable at all times. But, moss-covered opinionsassume the disproportioned form of prejudices, when they areindolently adopted only because age has given them a venerableaspect, though the reason on which they were built ceases to be areason, or cannot be traced. Why are we to love prejudices, merelybecause they are prejudices? A prejudice is a fond obstinatepersuasion, for which we can give no reason; for the moment areason can be given for an opinion, it ceases to be a prejudice,though it may be an error in judgment: and are we then advised tocherish opinions only to set reason at defiance? This mode ofarguing, if arguing it may be called, reminds me of what isvulgarly termed a woman's reason. For women sometimes declare thatthey love, or believe certain things, BECAUSE they love, or believethem.
It is impossible to converse with people to any purpose, who, inthis style, only use affirmatives and negatives. Before you canbring them to a point, to start fairly from, you must go back tothe simple principles that were antecedent to the prejudicesbroached by power; and it is ten to one but you are stopped by thephilosophical assertion, that certain principles are as practicallyfalse as they are abstractly true. Nay, it may be inferred, thatreason has whispered some doubts, for it generally happens thatpeople assert their opinions with the greatest heat when they beginto waver; striving to drive out their own doubts by convincingtheir opponent, they grow angry when those gnawing doubts arethrown back to prey on themselves.
The fact is, that men expect from education, what education cannotgive. A sagacious parent or tutor may strengthen the body andsharpen the instruments by which the child is to gather knowledge;but the honey must be the reward of the individual's own industry.It is almost as absurd to attempt to make a youth wise by theexperience of another, as to expect the body to grow strong by theexercise which is only talked of, or seen.
Many of those children whose conduct has been most narrowlywatched, become the weakest men, because their instructors onlyinstill certain notions into their minds, that have no otherfoundation than their authority; and if they are loved orrespected, the mind is cramped in its exertions and wavering in itsadvances. The business of education in this case, is only toconduct the shooting tendrils to a proper pole; yet after layingprecept upon precept, without allowing a child to acquire judgmentitself, parents expect them to act in the same manner by thisborrowed fallacious light, as if they had illuminated itthemselves; and be, when they enter life, what their parents are atthe close. They do not consider that the tree, and even the humanbody, does not strengthen its fibres till it has reached its fullgrowth.
There appears to be something analogous in the mind. The sensesand the imagination give a form to the character, during childhoodand youth; and the understanding as life advances, gives firmnessto the first fair purposes of sensibility—till virtue, arisingrather from the clear conviction of reason than the impulse of theheart, morality is made to rest on a rock against which the stormsof passion vainly beat.
I hope I shall not be misunderstood when I say, that religion willnot have this condensing energy, unless it be founded on reason.If it be merely the refuge of weakness or wild fanaticism, and nota governing principle of conduct, drawn from self-knowledge, and arational opinion respecting the attributes of God, what can it beexpected to produce? The religion which consists in warming theaffections, and exalting the imagination, is only the poeticalpart, and may afford the individual pleasure without rendering it amore moral being. It may be a substitute for worldly pursuits; yetnarrow instead of enlarging the heart: but virtue must be loved asin itself sublime and excellent, and not for the advantages itprocures or the evils it averts, if any great degree of excellencebe expected. Men will not become moral when they only build airycastles in a future world to compensate for the disappointmentswhich they meet with in this; if they turn their thoughts fromrelative duties to religious reveries.
Most prospects in life are marred by the shuffling worldly wisdomof men, who, forgetting that they cannot serve God and mammon,endeavour to blend contradictory things. If you wish to make yourson rich, pursue one course —if you are only anxious to make himvirtuous, you must take another; but do not imagine that you canbound from one road to the other without losing your way.*
(*Footnote. See an excellent essay on this subject by Mrs.
Barbauld, in Miscellaneous pieces in Prose.)
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