CHAPTER 12.

by Mary Wollstonecraft

　　ON NATIONAL EDUCATION.The good effects resulting from attention to private education willever be very confined, and the parent who really puts his own handto the plow, will always, in some degree be disappointed, tilleducation becomes a grand national concern. A man cannot retireinto a desert with his child, and if he did, he could not bringhimself back to childhood, and become the proper friend andplay-fellow of an infant or youth. And when children are confinedto the society of men and women, they very soon acquire that kindof premature manhood which stops the growth of every vigorous powerof mind or body. In order to open their faculties they should beexcited to think for themselves; and this can only be done bymixing a number of children together, and making them jointlypursue the same objects.

　　A child very soon contracts a benumbing indolence of mind, which hehas seldom sufficient vigour to shake off, when he only asks aquestion instead of seeking for information, and then reliesimplicitly on the answer he receives. With his equals in age thiscould never be the case, and the subjects of inquiry, though theymight be influenced, would not be entirely under the direction ofmen, who frequently damp, if not destroy abilities, by bringingthem forward too hastily: and too hastily they will infallibly bebrought forward, if the child could be confined to the society of aman, however sagacious that man may be.

　　Besides, in youth the seeds of every affection should be sown, andthe respectful regard, which is felt for a parent, is verydifferent from the social affections that are to constitute thehappiness of life as it advances. Of these, equality is the basis,and an intercourse of sentiments unclogged by that observantseriousness which prevents disputation, though it may not inforcesubmission. Let a child have ever such an affection for hisparent, he will always languish to play and chat with children; andthe very respect he entertains, for filial esteem always has a dashof fear mixed with it, will, if it do not teach him cunning, atleast prevent him from pouring out the little secrets which firstopen the heart to friendship and confidence, gradually leading tomore expansive benevolence. Added to this, he will never acquirethat frank ingenuousness of behaviour, which young people can onlyattain by being frequently in society, where they dare to speakwhat they think; neither afraid of being reproved for theirpresumption, nor laughed at for their folly.

　　Forcibly impressed by the reflections which the sight of schools,as they are at present conducted, naturally suggested, I haveformerly delivered my opinion rather warmly in favour of a privateeducation; but further experience has led me to view the subject ina different light. I still, however, think schools, as they arenow regulated, the hot-beds of vice and folly, and the knowledge ofhuman nature, supposed to be attained there, merely cunningselfishness.

　　At school, boys become gluttons and slovens, and, instead ofcultivating domestic affections, very early rush into thelibertinism which destroys the constitution before it is formed;hardening the heart as it weakens the understanding.

　　I should, in fact, be averse to boarding-schools, if it were for noother reason than the unsettled state of mind which the expectationof the vacations produce. On these the children's thoughts arefixed with eager anticipating hopes, for, at least, to speak withmoderation, half of the time, and when they arrive they are spentin total dissipation and beastly indulgence.

　　But, on the contrary, when they are brought up at home, though theymay pursue a plan of study in a more orderly manner than can beadopted, when near a fourth part of the year is actually spent inidleness, and as much more in regret and anticipation; yet theythere acquire too high an opinion of their own importance, frombeing allowed to tyrannize over servants, and from the anxietyexpressed by most mothers, on the score of manners, who, eager toteach the accomplishments of a gentleman, stifle, in their birth,the virtues of a man. Thus brought into company when they ought tobe seriously employed, and treated like men when they are stillboys, they become vain and effeminate.

　　The only way to avoid two extremes equally injurious to morality,would be to contrive some way of combining a public and privateeducation. Thus to make men citizens, two natural steps might betaken, which seem directly to lead to the desired point; for thedomestic affections, that first open the heart to the variousmodifications of humanity would be cultivated, whilst the childrenwere nevertheless allowed to spend great part of their time, onterms of equality, with other children.

　　I still recollect, with pleasure, the country day school; where aboy trudged in the morning, wet or dry, carrying his books, and hisdinner, if it were at a considerable distance; a servant did notthen lead master by the hand, for, when he had once put on coat andbreeches, he was allowed to shift for himself, and return alone inthe evening to recount the feats of the day close at the parentalknee. His father's house was his home, and was ever after fondlyremembered; nay, I appeal to some superior men who were educated inthis manner, whether the recollection of some shady lane where theyconned their lesson; or, of some stile, where they sat making akite, or mending a bat, has not endeared their country to them?

　　But, what boy ever recollected with pleasure the years he spent inclose confinement, at an academy near London? unless indeed heshould by chance remember the poor scare-crow of an usher whom hetormented; or, the tartman, from whom he caught a cake, to devourit with the cattish appetite of selfishness. At boarding schoolsof every description, the relaxation of the junior boys ismischief; and of the senior, vice. Besides, in great schools whatcan be more prejudicial to the moral character, than the system oftyranny and abject slavery which is established amongst the boys,to say nothing of the slavery to forms, which makes religion worsethan a farce? For what good can be expected from the youth whoreceives the sacrament of the Lord's supper, to avoid forfeitinghalf-a-guinea, which he probably afterwards spends in some sensualmanner? Half the employment of the youths is to elude thenecessity of attending public worship; and well they may, for sucha constant repetition of the same thing must be a very irksomerestraint on their natural vivacity. As these ceremonies have themost fatal effect on their morals, and as a ritual performed by thelips, when the heart and mind are far away, is not now stored up byour church as a bank to draw on for the fees of the poor souls inpurgatory, why should they not be abolished?

　　But the fear of innovation, in this country, extends to everything. This is only a covert fear, the apprehensive timidity ofindolent slugs, who guard, by sliming it over, the snug place,which they consider in the light of an hereditary estate; and eat,drink, and enjoy themselves, instead of fulfilling the duties,excepting a few empty forms, for which it was endowed. These arethe people who most strenuously insist on the will of the founderbeing observed, crying out against all reformation, as if it were aviolation of justice. I am now alluding particularly to therelicks of popery retained in our colleges, where the protestantmembers seem to be such sticklers for the established church; buttheir zeal never makes them lose sight of the spoil of ignorance,which rapacious priests of superstitious memory have scrapedtogether. No, wise in their generation, they venerate theprescriptive right of possession, as a strong hold, and still letthe sluggish bell tingle to prayers, as during the days, when theelevation of the host was supposed to atone for the sins of thepeople, lest one reformation should lead to another, and the spiritkill the letter. These Romish customs have the most baneful effecton the morals of our clergy; for the idle vermin who two or threetimes a day perform, in the most slovenly manner a service whichthey think useless, but call their duty, soon lose a sense of duty.At college, forced to attend or evade public worship, they acquirean habitual contempt for the very service, the performance of whichis to enable them to live in idleness. It is mumbled over as anaffair of business, as a stupid boy repeats his task, andfrequently the college cant escapes from the preacher the momentafter he has left the pulpit, and even whilst he is eating thedinner which he earned in such a dishonest manner.

　　Nothing, indeed, can be more irreverent than the cathedral serviceas it is now performed in this country, neither does it contain aset of weaker men than those who are the slaves of this childishroutine. A disgusting skeleton of the former state is stillexhibited; but all the solemnity, that interested the imagination,if it did not purify the heart, is stripped off. The performanceof high mass on the continent must impress every mind, where aspark of fancy glows, with that awful melancholy, that sublimetenderness, so near a-kin to devotion. I do not say, that thesedevotional feelings are of more use, in a moral sense, than anyother emotion of taste; but I contend, that the theatrical pompwhich gratifies our senses, is to be preferred to the cold paradethat insults the understanding without reaching the heart.

　　Amongst remarks on national education, such observations cannot bemisplaced, especially as the supporters of these establishments,degenerated into puerilities, affect to be the champions ofreligion. Religion, pure source of comfort in this vale of tears!how has thy clear stream been muddied by the dabblers, who havepresumptuously endeavoured to confine in one narrow channel, theliving waters that ever flow toward God— the sublime ocean ofexistence! What would life be without that peace which the love ofGod, when built on humanity, alone can impart? Every earthlyaffection turns back, at intervals, to prey upon the heart thatfeeds it; and the purest effusions of benevolence, often rudelydamped by men, must mount as a free-will offering to Him who gavethem birth, whose bright image they faintly reflect.

　　In public schools, however, religion, confounded with irksomeceremonies and unreasonable restraints, assumes the most ungraciousaspect: not the sober austere one that commands respect whilst itinspires fear; but a ludicrous cast, that serves to point a pun.For, in fact, most of the good stories and smart things whichenliven the spirits that have been concentrated at whist, aremanufactured out of the incidents to which the very men labour togive a droll turn who countenance the abuse to live on the spoil.

　　There is not, perhaps, in the kingdom, a more dogmatical orluxurious set of men, than the pedantic tyrants who reside incolleges and preside at public schools. The vacations are equallyinjurious to the morals of the masters and pupils, and theintercourse, which the former keep up with the nobility, introducesthe same vanity and extravagance into their families, which banishdomestic duties and comforts from the lordly mansion, whose stateis awkwardly aped on a smaller scale. The boys, who live at agreat expence with the masters and assistants, are neverdomesticated, though placed there for that purpose; for, after asilent dinner, they swallow a hasty glass of wine, and retire toplan some mischievous trick, or to ridicule the person or mannersof the very people they have just been cringing to, and whom theyought to consider as the representatives of their parents.

　　Can it then be a matter of surprise, that boys become selfish andvicious who are thus shut out from social converse? or that a mitreoften graces the brow of one of these diligent pastors? The desireof living in the same style, as the rank just above them, infectseach individual and every class of people, and meanness is theconcomitant of this ignoble ambition; but those professions aremost debasing whose ladder is patronage; yet out of one of theseprofessions the tutors of youth are in general chosen. But, canthey be expected to inspire independent sentiments, whose conductmust be regulated by the cautious prudence that is ever on thewatch for preferment?

　　So far, however, from thinking of the morals of boys, I have heardseveral masters of schools argue, that they only undertook to teachLatin and Greek; and that they had fulfilled their duty, by sendingsome good scholars to college.

　　A few good scholars, I grant, may have been formed by emulation anddiscipline; but, to bring forward these clever boys, the health andmorals of a number have been sacrificed.

　　The sons of our gentry and wealthy commoners are mostly educated atthese seminaries, and will any one pretend to assert, that themajority, making every allowance, come under the description oftolerable scholars?

　　It is not for the benefit of society that a few brilliant menshould be brought forward at the expence of the multitude. It istrue, that great men seem to start up, as great revolutions occur,at proper intervals, to restore order, and to blow aside the cloudsthat thicken over the face of truth; but let more reason and virtueprevail in society, and these strong winds would not be necessary.Public education, of every denomination, should be directed to formcitizens; but if you wish to make good citizens, you must firstexercise the affections of a son and a brother. This is the onlyway to expand the heart; for public affections, as well as publicvirtues, must ever grow out of the private character, or they aremerely meteors that shoot athwart a dark sky, and disappear as theyare gazed at and admired.

　　Few, I believe, have had much affection for mankind, who did notfirst love their parents, their brothers, sisters, and even thedomestic brutes, whom they first played with. The exercise ofyouthful sympathies forms the moral temperature; and it is therecollection of these first affections and pursuits, that giveslife to those that are afterwards more under the direction ofreason. In youth, the fondest friendships are formed, the genialjuices mounting at the same time, kindly mix; or, rather the heart,tempered for the reception of friendship, is accustomed to seek forpleasure in something more noble than the churlish gratification ofappetite.

　　In order then to inspire a love of home and domestic pleasures,children ought to be educated at home, for riotous holidays onlymake them fond of home for their own sakes. Yet, the vacations,which do not foster domestic affections, continually disturb thecourse of study, and render any plan of improvement abortive whichincludes temperance; still, were they abolished, children would beentirely separated from their parents, and I question whether theywould become better citizens by sacrificing the preparatoryaffections, by destroying the force of relationships that renderthe marriage state as necessary as respectable. But, if a privateeducation produce self-importance, or insulates a man in hisfamily, the evil is only shifted, not remedied.

　　This train of reasoning brings me back to a subject, on which Imean to dwell, the necessity of establishing proper day-schools.

　　But these should be national establishments, for whilstschool-masters are dependent on the caprice of parents, littleexertion can be expected from them, more than is necessary toplease ignorant people. Indeed, the necessity of a master's givingthe parents some sample of the boy's abilities, which during thevacation, is shown to every visiter, is productive of more mischiefthan would at first be supposed. For they are seldom doneentirely, to speak with moderation, by the child itself; thus themaster countenances falsehoods, or winds the poor machine up tosome extraordinary exertion, that injures the wheels, and stops theprogress of gradual improvement. The memory is loaded withunintelligible words, to make a show of, without theunderstanding's acquiring any distinct ideas: but only thateducation deserves emphatically to be termed cultivation of mind,which teaches young people how to begin to think. The imaginationshould not be allowed to debauch the understanding before it gainedstrength, or vanity will become the forerunner of vice: for everyway of exhibiting the acquirements of a child is injurious to itsmoral character.

　　How much time is lost in teaching them to recite what they do notunderstand! whilst, seated on benches, all in their best array, themammas listen with astonishment to the parrot-like prattle, utteredin solemn cadences, with all the pomp of ignorance and folly. Suchexhibitions only serve to strike the spreading fibres of vanitythrough the whole mind; for they neither teach children to speakfluently, nor behave gracefully. So far from it, that thesefrivolous pursuits might comprehensively be termed the study ofaffectation: for we now rarely see a simple, bashful boy, thoughfew people of taste were ever disgusted by that awkwardsheepishness so natural to the age, which schools and an earlyintroduction into society, have changed into impudence and apishgrimace.

　　Yet, how can these things be remedied whilst schoolmasters dependentirely on parents for a subsistence; and when so many rivalschools hang out their lures to catch the attention of vain fathersand mothers, whose parental affection only leads them to wish, thattheir children should outshine those of their neighbours?

　　Without great good luck, a sensible, conscientious man, wouldstarve before he could raise a school, if he disdained to bubbleweak parents, by practising the secret tricks of the craft.

　　In the best regulated schools, however, where swarms are notcrammed together many bad habits must be acquired; but, at commonschools, the body, heart, and understanding, are equally stunted,for parents are often only in quest of the cheapest school, and themaster could not live, if he did not take a much greater numberthan he could manage himself; nor will the scanty pittance, allowedfor each child, permit him to hire ushers sufficient to assist inthe discharge of the mechanical part of the business. Besides,whatever appearance the house and garden may make, the children donot enjoy the comforts of either, for they are continuallyreminded, by irksome restrictions, that they are not at home, andthe state-rooms, garden, etc. must be kept in order for therecreation of the parents; who, of a Sunday, visit the school, andare impressed by the very parade that renders the situation oftheir children uncomfortable.

　　With what disgust have I heard sensible women, for girls are morerestrained and cowed than boys, speak of the wearisome confinementwhich they endured at school. Not allowed, perhaps, to step out ofone broad walk in a superb garden, and obliged to pace with steadydeportment stupidly backwards and forwards, holding up their heads,and turning out their toes, with shoulders braced back, instead ofbounding, as nature directs to complete her own design, in thevarious attitudes so conducive to health. The pure animal spirits,which make both mind and body shoot out, and unfold the tenderblossoms of hope are turned sour, and vented in vain wishes, orpert repinings, that contract the faculties and spoil the temper;else they mount to the brain and sharpening the understandingbefore it gains proportionable strength, produce that pitifulcunning which disgracefully characterizes the female mind—and Ifear will ever characterize it whilst women remain the slaves ofpower!

　　The little respect which the male world pay to chastity is, I ampersuaded, the grand source of many of the physical and moral evilsthat torment mankind, as well as of the vices and follies thatdegrade and destroy women; yet at school, boys infallibly lose thatdecent bashfulness, which might have ripened into modesty at home.

　　I have already animadverted on the bad habits which females acquirewhen they are shut up together; and I think that the observationmay fairly be extended to the other sex, till the natural inferenceis drawn which I have had in view throughout—that to improve bothsexes they ought, not only in private families, but in publicschools, to be educated together. If marriage be the cement ofsociety, mankind should all be educated after the same model, orthe intercourse of the sexes will never deserve the name offellowship, nor will women ever fulfil the peculiar duties of theirsex, till they become enlightened citizens, till they become free,by being enabled to earn their own subsistence, independent of men;in the same manner, I mean, to prevent misconstruction, as one manis independent of another. Nay, marriage will never be held sacredtill women by being brought up with men, are prepared to be theircompanions, rather than their mistresses; for the mean doublings ofcunning will ever render them contemptible, whilst oppressionrenders them timid. So convinced am I of this truth, that I willventure to predict, that virtue will never prevail in society tillthe virtues of both sexes are founded on reason; and, till theaffection common to both are allowed to gain their due strength bythe discharge of mutual duties.

　　Were boys and girls permitted to pursue the same studies together,those graceful decencies might early be inculcated which producemodesty, without those sexual distinctions that taint the mind.Lessons of politeness, and that formulary of decorum, which treadson the heels of falsehood, would be rendered useless by habitualpropriety of behaviour. Not, indeed put on for visiters like thecourtly robe of politeness, but the sober effect of cleanliness ofmind. Would not this simple elegance of sincerity be a chastehomage paid to domestic affections, far surpassing the meretriciouscompliments that shine with false lustre in the heartlessintercourse of fashionable life? But, till more understandingpreponderate in society, there will ever be a want of heart andtaste, and the harlot's rouge will supply the place of thatcelestial suffusion which only virtuous affections can give to theface. Gallantry, and what is called love, may subsist withoutsimplicity of character; but the main pillars of friendship, arerespect and confidence—esteem is never founded on it cannot tellwhat.

　　A taste for the fine arts requires great cultivation; but not morethan a taste for the virtuous affections: and both suppose thatenlargement of mind which opens so many sources of mental pleasure.Why do people hurry to noisy scenes and crowded circles? I shouldanswer, because they want activity of mind, because they have notcherished the virtues of the heart. They only, therefore, see andfeel in the gross, and continually pine after variety, findingevery thing that is simple, insipid.

　　This argument may be carried further than philosophers are awareof, for if nature destined woman, in particular, for the dischargeof domestic duties, she made her susceptible of the attachedaffections in a great degree. Now women are notoriously fond ofpleasure; and naturally must be so, according to my definition,because they cannot enter into the minutiae of domestic taste;lacking judgment the foundation of all taste. For theunderstanding, in spite of sensual cavillers, reserves to itselfthe privilege of conveying pure joy to the heart.

　　With what a languid yawn have I seen an admirable poem thrown down,that a man of true taste returns to, again and again with rapture;and, whilst melody has almost suspended respiration, a lady hasasked me where I bought my gown. I have seen also an eye glancedcoldly over a most exquisite picture, rest, sparkling withpleasure, on a caricature rudely sketched; and whilst some terrificfeature in nature has spread a sublime stillness through my soul, Ihave been desired to observe the pretty tricks of a lap-dog, thatmy perverse fate forced me to travel with. Is it surprising, thatsuch a tasteless being should rather caress this dog than herchildren? Or, that she should prefer the rant of flattery to thesimple accents of sincerity?

　　To illustrate this remark I must be allowed to observe, that men ofthe first genius, and most cultivated minds, have appeared to havethe highest relish for the simple beauties of nature; and they musthave forcibly felt, what they have so well described, the charm,which natural affections, and unsophisticated feelings spread roundthe human character. It is this power of looking into the heart,and responsively vibrating with each emotion, that enables the poetto personify each passion, and the painter to sketch with a pencilof fire.

　　True taste is ever the work of the understanding employed inobserving natural effects; and till women have more understanding,it is vain to expect them to possess domestic taste. Their livelysenses will ever be at work to harden their hearts, and theemotions struck out of them will continue to be vivid andtransitory, unless a proper education stores their minds withknowledge.

　　It is the want of domestic taste, and not the acquirement ofknowledge, that takes women out of their families, and tears thesmiling babe from the breast that ought to afford it nourishment.Women have been allowed to remain in ignorance, and slavishdependence, many, very many years, and still we hear of nothing buttheir fondness of pleasure and sway, their preference of rakes andsoldiers, their childish attachment to toys, and the vanity thatmakes them value accomplishments more than virtues.

　　History brings forward a fearful catalogue of the crimes whichtheir cunning has produced, when the weak slaves have hadsufficient address to over-reach their masters. In France, and inhow many other countries have men been the luxurious despots, andwomen the crafty ministers? Does this prove that ignorance anddependence domesticate them? Is not their folly the by-word of thelibertines, who relax in their society; and do not men of sensecontinually lament, that an immoderate fondness for dress anddissipation carries the mother of a family for ever from home?Their hearts have not been debauched by knowledge, nor their mindsled astray by scientific pursuits; yet, they do not fulfil thepeculiar duties, which as women they are called upon by nature tofulfil. On the contrary, the state of warfare which subsistsbetween the sexes, makes them employ those wiles, that frustratethe more open designs of force.

　　When, therefore, I call women slaves, I mean in a political andcivil sense; for, indirectly they obtain too much power, and aredebased by their exertions to obtain illicit sway.

　　Let an enlightened nation then try what effect reason would have tobring them back to nature, and their duty; and allowing them toshare the advantages of education and government with man, seewhether they will become better, as they grow wiser and becomefree. They cannot be injured by the experiment; for it is not inthe power of man to render them more insignificant than they are atpresent.

　　To render this practicable, day schools for particular ages shouldbe established by government, in which boys and girls might beeducated together. The school for the younger children, from fiveto nine years of age, ought to be absolutely free and open to allclasses.* A sufficient number of masters should also be chosen bya select committee, in each parish, to whom any complaint ofnegligence, etc. might be made, if signed by six of the children'sparents.

　　(*Footnote. Treating this part of the subject, I have borrowedsome hints from a very sensible pamphlet written by the late bishopof Autun on public Education.)

　　Ushers would then be unnecessary; for, I believe, experience willever prove, that this kind of subordinate authority is particularlyinjurious to the morals of youth. What, indeed, can tend todeprave the character more than outward submission and inwardcontempt? Yet, how can boys be expected to treat an usher withrespect when the master seems to consider him in the light of aservant, and almost to countenance the ridicule which becomes thechief amusement of the boys during the play hours?

　　But nothing of this kind could occur in an elementary day-school,where boys and girls, the rich and poor, should meet together. Andto prevent any of the distinctions of vanity, they should bedressed alike, and all obliged to submit to the same discipline, orleave the school. The school-room ought to be surrounded by alarge piece of ground, in which the children might be usefullyexercised, for at this age they should not be confined to anysedentary employment for more than an hour at a time. But theserelaxations might all be rendered a part of elementary education,for many things improve and amuse the senses, when introduced as akind of show, to the principles of which dryly laid down, childrenwould turn a deaf ear. For instance, botany, mechanics, andastronomy. Reading, writing, arithmetic, natural history, and somesimple experiments in natural philosophy, might fill up the day;but these pursuits should never encroach on gymnastic plays in theopen air. The elements of religion, history, the history of man,and politics, might also be taught by conversations, in thesocratic form.

　　After the age of nine, girls and boys, intended for domesticemployments, or mechanical trades, ought to be removed to otherschools, and receive instruction, in some measure appropriated tothe destination of each individual, the two sexes being stilltogether in the morning; but in the afternoon, the girls shouldattend a school, where plain work, mantua-making, millinery, etc.would be their employment.

　　The young people of superior abilities, or fortune, might now betaught, in another school, the dead and living languages, theelements of science, and continue the study of history andpolitics, on a more extensive scale, which would not exclude politeliterature. Girls and boys still together? I hear some readersask: yes. And I should not fear any other consequence, than thatsome early attachment might take place; which, whilst it had thebest effect on the moral character of the young people, might notperfectly agree with the views of the parents, for it will be along time, I fear, before the world is so enlightened, thatparents, only anxious to render their children virtuous, will letthem choose companions for life themselves.

　　Besides, this would be a sure way to promote early marriages, andfrom early marriages the most salutary physical and moral effectsnaturally flow. What a different character does a married citizenassume from the selfish coxcomb, who lives but for himself, and whois often afraid to marry lest he should not be able to live in acertain style. Great emergencies excepted, which would rarelyoccur in a society of which equality was the basis, a man couldonly be prepared to discharge the duties of public life, by thehabitual practice of those inferior ones which form the man.

　　In this plan of education, the constitution of boys would not beruined by the early debaucheries, which now make men so selfish,nor girls rendered weak and vain, by indolence and frivolouspursuits. But, I presuppose, that such a degree of equality shouldbe established between the sexes as would shut out gallantry andcoquetry, yet allow friendship and love to temper the heart for thedischarge of higher duties.

　　These would be schools of morality—and the happiness of man,allowed to flow from the pure springs of duty and affection, whatadvances might not the human mind make? Society can only be happyand free in proportion as it is virtuous; but the presentdistinctions, established in society, corrode all private, andblast all public virtue.

　　I have already inveighed against the custom of confining girls totheir needle, and shutting them out from all political and civilemployments; for by thus narrowing their minds they are renderedunfit to fulfil the peculiar duties which nature has assigned them.

　　Only employed about the little incidents of the day, theynecessarily grow up cunning. My very soul has often sickened atobserving the sly tricks practised by women to gain some foolishthing on which their silly hearts were set. Not allowed to disposeof money, or call any thing their own, they learn to turn themarket penny; or, should a husband offend, by staying from home, orgive rise to some emotions of jealousy—a new gown, or any prettybauble, smooths Juno's angry brow.

　　But these LITTLENESSES would not degrade their character, if womenwere led to respect themselves, if political and moral subjectswere opened to them; and I will venture to affirm, that this is theonly way to make them properly attentive to their domestic duties.An active mind embraces the whole circle of its duties, and findstime enough for all. It is not, I assert, a bold attempt toemulate masculine virtues; it is not the enchantment of literarypursuits, or the steady investigation of scientific subjects, thatlead women astray from duty. No, it is indolence and vanity —thelove of pleasure and the love of sway, that will reign paramount inan empty mind. I say empty, emphatically, because the educationwhich women now receive scarcely deserves the name. For the littleknowledge they are led to acquire during the important years ofyouth, is merely relative to accomplishments; and accomplishmentswithout a bottom, for unless the understanding be cultivated,superficial and monotonous is every grace. Like the charms of amade-up face, they only strike the senses in a crowd; but at home,wanting mind, they want variety. The consequence is obvious; ingay scenes of dissipation we meet the artificial mind and face, forthose who fly from solitude dread next to solitude, the domesticcircle; not having it in their power to amuse or interest, theyfeel their own insignificance, or find nothing to amuse or interestthemselves.

　　Besides, what can be more indelicate than a girl's coming out inthe fashionable world? Which, in other words, is to bring tomarket a marriageable miss, whose person is taken from one publicplace to another, richly caparisoned. Yet, mixing in the giddycircle under restraint, these butterflies long to flutter at large,for the first affection of their souls is their own persons, towhich their attention has been called with the most sedulous care,whilst they were preparing for the period that decides their fatefor life. Instead of pursuing this idle routine, sighing fortasteless show, and heartless state, with what dignity would theyouths of both sexes form attachments in the schools that I havecursorily pointed out; in which, as life advanced, dancing, music,and drawing, might be admitted as relaxations, for at these schoolsyoung people of fortune ought to remain, more or less, till theywere of age. Those, who were designed for particular professions,might attend, three or four mornings in the week, the schoolsappropriated for their immediate instruction.

　　I only drop these observations at present, as hints; rather, indeedas an outline of the plan I mean, than a digested one; but I mustadd, that I highly approve of one regulation mentioned in thepamphlet already alluded to (The Bishop of Autun), that of makingthe children and youths independent of the masters respectingpunishments. They should be tried by their peers, which would bean admirable method of fixing sound principles of justice in themind, and might have the happiest effect on the temper, which isvery early soured or irritated by tyranny, till it becomespeevishly cunning, or ferociously overbearing.

　　My imagination darts forward with benevolent fervour to greet theseamiable and respectable groups, in spite of the sneering of coldhearts, who are at liberty to utter, with frigid self-importance,the damning epithet— romantic; the force of which I shallendeavour to blunt by repeating the words of an eloquent moralist."I know not whether the allusions of a truly humane heart, whosezeal renders every thing easy, is not preferable to that rough andrepulsing reason, which always finds in indifference for the publicgood, the first obstacle to whatever would promote it."

　　I know that libertines will also exclaim, that woman would beunsexed by acquiring strength of body and mind, and that beauty,soft bewitching beauty! would no longer adorn the daughters of men.I am of a very different opinion, for I think, that, on thecontrary, we should then see dignified beauty, and true grace; toproduce which, many powerful physical and moral causes wouldconcur. Not relaxed beauty, it is true, nor the graces ofhelplessness; but such as appears to make us respect the human bodyas a majestic pile, fit to receive a noble inhabitant, in therelics of antiquity.

　　I do not forget the popular opinion, that the Grecian statues werenot modelled after nature. I mean, not according to theproportions of a particular man; but that beautiful limbs andfeatures were selected from various bodies to form an harmoniouswhole. This might, in some degree, be true. The fine idealpicture of an exalted imagination might be superior to thematerials which the painter found in nature, and thus it might withpropriety be termed rather the model of mankind than of a man. Itwas not, however, the mechanical selection of limbs and features,but the ebullition of an heated fancy that burst forth; and thefine senses and enlarged understanding of the artist selected thesolid matter, which he drew into this glowing focus.

　　I observed that it was not mechanical, because a whole wasproduced—a model of that grand simplicity, of those concurringenergies, which arrest our attention and command our reverence.For only insipid lifeless beauty is produced by a servile copy ofeven beautiful nature. Yet, independent of these observations, Ibelieve, that the human form must have been far more beautiful thanit is at present, because extreme indolence, barbarous ligatures,and many causes, which forcibly act on it, in our luxurious stateof society, did not retard its expansion, or render it deformed.Exercise and cleanliness appear to be not only the surest means ofpreserving health, but of promoting beauty, the physical causesonly considered; yet, this is not sufficient, moral ones mustconcur, or beauty will be merely of that rustic kind which bloomson the innocent, wholesome countenances of some country people,whose minds have not been exercised. To render the person perfect,physical and moral beauty ought to be attained at the same time;each lending and receiving force by the combination. Judgment mustreside on the brow, affection and fancy beam in the eye, andhumanity curve the cheek, or vain is the sparkling of the finesteye or the elegantly turned finish of the fairest features; whilstin every motion that displays the active limbs and well-knitjoints, grace and modesty should appear. But this fair assemblageis not to be brought together by chance; it is the reward ofexertions met to support each other; for judgment can only beacquired by reflection, affection, by the discharge of duties, andhumanity by the exercise of compassion to every living creature.

　　Humanity to animals should be particularly inculcated as a part ofnational education, for it is not at present one of our nationalvirtues. Tenderness for their humble dumb domestics, amongst thelower class, is oftener to be found in a savage than a civilizedstate. For civilization prevents that intercourse which createsaffection in the rude hut, or mud cabin, and leads uncultivatedminds who are only depraved by the refinements which prevail in thesociety, where they are trodden under foot by the rich, to domineerover them to revenge the insults that they are obliged to bear fromtheir superiours.

　　This habitual cruelty is first caught at school, where it is one ofthe rare sports of the boys to torment the miserable brutes thatfall in their way. The transition, as they grow up, from barbarityto brutes to domestic tyranny over wives, children, and servants,is very easy. Justice, or even benevolence, will not be a powerfulspring of action, unless it extend to the whole creation; nay, Ibelieve that it may be delivered as an axiom, that those who cansee pain, unmoved, will soon learn to inflict it.

　　The vulgar are swayed by present feelings, and the habits whichthey have accidentally acquired; but on partial feelings muchdependence cannot be placed, though they be just; for, when theyare not invigorated by reflection, custom weakens them, till theyare scarcely felt. The sympathies of our nature are strengthenedby pondering cogitations, and deadened by thoughtless use.Macbeth's heart smote him more for one murder, the first, than fora hundred subsequent ones, which were necessary to back it. But,when I used the epithet vulgar, I did not mean to confine my remarkto the poor, for partial humanity, founded on present sensations orwhim, is quite as conspicuous, if not more so, amongst the rich.

　　The lady who sheds tears for the bird starved in a snare, andexecrates the devils in the shape of men, who goad to madness thepoor ox, or whip the patient ass, tottering under a burden aboveits strength, will, nevertheless, keep her coachman and horseswhole hours waiting for her, when the sharp frost bites, or therain beats against the well-closed windows which do not admit abreath of air to tell her how roughly the wind blows without. Andshe who takes her dogs to bed, and nurses them with a parade ofsensibility, when sick, will suffer her babes to grow up crooked ina nursery. This illustration of my argument is drawn from a matterof fact. The woman whom I allude to was handsome, reckoned veryhandsome, by those who do not miss the mind when the face is plumpand fair; but her understanding had not been led from female dutiesby literature, nor her innocence debauched by knowledge. No, shewas quite feminine, according to the masculine acceptation of theword; and, so far from loving these spoiled brutes that filled theplace which her children ought to have occupied, she only lispedout a pretty mixture of French and English nonsense, to please themen who flocked round her. The wife, mother, and human creature,were all swallowed up by the factitious character, which animproper education, and the selfish vanity of beauty, had produced.

　　I do not like to make a distinction without a difference, and I ownthat I have been as much disgusted by the fine lady who took herlap-dog to her bosom, instead of her child; as by the ferocity of aman, who, beating his horse, declared, that he knew as well when hedid wrong as a Christian.

　　This brood of folly shows how mistaken they are who, if they allowwomen to leave their harams, do not cultivate their understanding,in order to plant virtues in their hearts. For had they sense,they might acquire that domestic taste which would lead them tolove with reasonable subordination their whole family, from thehusband to the house-dog; nor would they ever insult humanity inthe person of the most menial servant, by paying more attention tothe comfort of a brute, than to that of a fellow-creature.

　　My observations on national education are obviously hints; but Iprincipally wish to enforce the necessity of educating the sexestogether to perfect both, and of making children sleep at home,that they may learn to love home; yet to make private supportinstead of smothering public affections, they should be sent toschool to mix with a number of equals, for only by the jostlings ofequality can we form a just opinion of ourselves.

　　To render mankind more virtuous, and happier of course, both sexesmust act from the same principle; but how can that be expected whenonly one is allowed to see the reasonableness of it? To renderalso the social compact truly equitable, and in order to spreadthose enlightening principles, which alone can meliorate the fateof man, women must be allowed to found their virtue on knowledge,which is scarcely possible unless they be educated by the samepursuits as men. For they are now made so inferiour by ignoranceand low desires, as not to deserve to be ranked with them; or, bythe serpentine wrigglings of cunning they mount the tree ofknowledge and only acquire sufficient to lead men astray.

　　It is plain from the history of all nations, that women cannot beconfined to merely domestic pursuits, for they will not fulfilfamily duties, unless their minds take a wider range, and whilstthey are kept in ignorance, they become in the same proportion, theslaves of pleasure as they are the slaves of man. Nor can they beshut out of great enterprises, though the narrowness of their mindsoften make them mar what they are unable to comprehend.

　　The libertinism, and even the virtues of superior men, will alwaysgive women, of some description, great power over them; and theseweak women, under the influence of childish passions and selfishvanity, will throw a false light over the objects which the verymen view with their eyes, who ought to enlighten their judgment.Men of fancy, and those sanguine characters who mostly hold thehelm of human affairs, in general, relax in the society of women;and surely I need not cite to the most superficial reader ofhistory, the numerous examples of vice and oppression which theprivate intrigues of female favourites have produced; not to dwellon the mischief that naturally arises from the blunderinginterposition of well-meaning folly. For in the transactions ofbusiness it is much better to have to deal with a knave than afool, because a knave adheres to some plan; and any plan of reasonmay be seen through much sooner than a sudden flight of folly. Thepower which vile and foolish women have had over wise men, whopossessed sensibility, is notorious; I shall only mention oneinstance.

　　Whoever drew a more exalted female character than Rousseau? thoughin the lump he constantly endeavoured to degrade the sex. And whywas he thus anxious? Truly to justify to himself the affectionwhich weakness and virtue had made him cherish for that foolTheresa. He could not raise her to the common level of her sex;and therefore he laboured to bring woman down to her's. He foundher a convenient humble companion, and pride made him determine tofind some superior virtues in the being whom he chose to live with;but did not her conduct during his life, and after his death,clearly show how grossly he was mistaken who called her a celestialinnocent. Nay, in the bitterness of his heart, he himself laments,that when his bodily infirmities made him no longer treat her likea woman, she ceased to have an affection for him. And it was verynatural that she should, for having so few sentiments in common,when the sexual tie was broken, what was to hold her? To hold heraffection whose sensibility was confined to one sex, nay, to oneman, it requires sense to turn sensibility into the broad channelof humanity: many women have not mind enough to have an affectionfor a woman, or a friendship for a man. But the sexual weaknessthat makes woman depend on man for a subsistence, produces a kindof cattish affection, which leads a wife to purr about her husband,as she would about any man who fed and caressed her.

　　Men, are however, often gratified by this kind of fondness which isconfined in a beastly manner to themselves, but should they everbecome more virtuous, they will wish to converse at their fire-sidewith a friend, after they cease to play with a mistress. Besides,understanding is necessary to give variety and interest to sensualenjoyments, for low, indeed, in the intellectual scale, is the mindthat can continue to love when neither virtue nor sense give ahuman appearance to an animal appetite. But sense will alwayspreponderate; and if women are not, in general, brought more on alevel with men, some superior women, like the Greek courtezans willassemble the men of abilities around them, and draw from theirfamilies many citizens, who would have stayed at home, had theirwives had more sense, or the graces which result from the exerciseof the understanding and fancy, the legitimate parents of taste. Awoman of talents, if she be not absolutely ugly, will always obtaingreat power, raised by the weakness of her sex; and in proportionas men acquire virtue and delicacy: by the exertion of reason, theywill look for both in women, but they can only acquire them in thesame way that men do.

　　In France or Italy have the women confined themselves to domesticlife? though they have not hitherto had a political existence, yet,have they not illicitly had great sway? corrupting themselves andthe men with whose passions they played? In short, in whateverlight I view the subject, reason and experience convince me, thatthe only method of leading women to fulfil their peculiar duties,is to free them from all restraint by allowing them to participatethe inherent rights of mankind.

　　Make them free, and they will quickly become wise and virtuous, asmen become more so; for the improvement must be mutual, or thejustice which one half of the human race are obliged to submit to,retorting on their oppressors, the virtue of man will be worm-eatenby the insect whom he keeps under his feet.

　　Let men take their choice, man and woman were made for each other,though not to become one being; and if they will not improve women,they will deprave them!

　　I speak of the improvement and emancipation of the whole sex, for Iknow that the behaviour of a few women, who by accident, orfollowing a strong bent of nature, have acquired a portion ofknowledge superior to that of the rest of their sex, has often beenover-bearing; but there have been instances of women who, attainingknowledge, have not discarded modesty, nor have they alwayspedantically appeared to despise the ignorance which they labouredto disperse in their own minds. The exclamations then which anyadvice respecting female learning, commonly produces, especiallyfrom pretty women, often arise from envy. When they chance to seethat even the lustre of their eyes, and the flippant sportivenessof refined coquetry will not always secure them attention, during awhole evening, should a woman of a more cultivated understandingendeavour to give a rational turn to the conversation, the commonsource of consolation is, that such women seldom get husbands.What arts have I not seen silly women use to interrupt byFLIRTATION, (a very significant word to describe such a manoeuvre)a rational conversation, which made the men forget that they werepretty women.

　　But, allowing what is very natural to man—that the possession ofrare abilities is really calculated to excite over-weening pride,disgusting in both men and women—in what a state of inferioritymust the female faculties have rusted when such a small portion ofknowledge as those women attained, who have sneeringly been termedlearned women, could be singular? Sufficiently so to puff up thepossessor, and excite envy in her contemporaries, and some of theother sex. Nay, has not a little rationality exposed many women tothe severest censure? I advert to well known-facts, for I havefrequently heard women ridiculed, and every little weaknessexposed, only because they adopted the advice of some medical men,and deviated from the beaten track in their mode of treating theirinfants. I have actually heard this barbarous aversion toinnovation carried still further, and a sensible woman stigmatizedas an unnatural mother, who has thus been wisely solicitous topreserve the health of her children, when in the midst of her careshe has lost one by some of the casualties of infancy which noprudence can ward off. Her acquaintance have observed, that thiswas the consequence of new-fangled notions—the new-fangled notionsof ease and cleanliness. And those who, pretending to experience,though they have long adhered to prejudices that have, according tothe opinion of the most sagacious physicians, thinned the humanrace, almost rejoiced at the disaster that gave a kind of sanctionto prescription.

　　Indeed, if it were only on this account, the national education ofwomen is of the utmost consequence; for what a number of humansacrifices are made to that moloch, prejudice! And in how manyways are children destroyed by the lasciviousness of man? The wantof natural affection in many women, who are drawn from their dutyby the admiration of men, and the ignorance of others, render theinfancy of man a much more perilous state than that of brutes; yetmen are unwilling to place women in situations proper to enablethem to acquire sufficient understanding to know how even to nursetheir babes.

　　So forcibly does this truth strike me, that I would rest the wholetendency of my reasoning upon it; for whatever tends toincapacitate the maternal character, takes woman out of her sphere.

　　But it is vain to expect the present race of weak mothers either totake that reasonable care of a child's body, which is necessary tolay the foundation of a good constitution, supposing that it do notsuffer for the sins of its fathers; or to manage its temper sojudiciously that the child will not have, as it grows up, to throwoff all that its mother, its first instructor, directly orindirectly taught, and unless the mind have uncommon vigour,womanish follies will stick to the character throughout life. Theweakness of the mother will be visited on the children! And whilstwomen are educated to rely on their husbands for judgment, thismust ever be the consequence, for there is no improving anunderstanding by halves, nor can any being act wisely fromimitation, because in every circumstance of life there is a kind ofindividuality, which requires an exertion of judgment to modifygeneral rules. The being who can think justly in one track, willsoon extend its intellectual empire; and she who has sufficientjudgment to manage her children, will not submit right or wrong, toher husband, or patiently to the social laws which makes anonentity of a wife.

　　In public schools women, to guard against the errors of ignorance,should be taught the elements of anatomy and medicine, not only toenable them to take proper care of their own health, but to makethem rational nurses of their infants, parents, and husbands; forthe bills of mortality are swelled by the blunders of self-willedold women, who give nostrums of their own, without knowing anything of the human frame. It is likewise proper, only in adomestic view, to make women, acquainted with the anatomy of themind, by allowing the sexes to associate together in every pursuit;and by leading them to observe the progress of the humanunderstanding in the improvement of the sciences and arts; neverforgetting the science of morality, nor the study of the politicalhistory of mankind.

　　A man has been termed a microcosm; and every family might also becalled a state. States, it is true, have mostly been governed byarts that disgrace the character of man; and the want of a justconstitution, and equal laws, have so perplexed the notions of theworldly wise, that they more than question the reasonableness ofcontending for the rights of humanity. Thus morality, polluted inthe national reservoir, sends off streams of vice to corrupt theconstituent parts of the body politic; but should more noble, orrather more just principles regulate the laws, which ought to bethe government of society, and not those who execute them, dutymight become the rule of private conduct.

　　Besides, by the exercise of their bodies and minds, women wouldacquire that mental activity so necessary in the maternalcharacter, united with the fortitude that distinguishes steadinessof conduct from the obstinate perverseness of weakness. For it isdangerous to advise the indolent to be steady, because theyinstantly become rigorous, and to save themselves trouble, punishwith severity faults that the patient fortitude of reason mighthave prevented.

　　But fortitude presupposes strength of mind, and is strength of mindto be acquired by indolent acquiescence? By asking advice insteadof exerting the judgment? By obeying through fear, instead ofpractising the forbearance, which we all stand in need ofourselves? The conclusion which I wish to draw is obvious; makewomen rational creatures and free citizens, and they will quicklybecome good wives, and mothers; that is—if men do not neglect theduties of husbands and fathers.

　　Discussing the advantages which a public and private educationcombined, as I have sketched, might rationally be expected toproduce, I have dwelt most on such as are particularly relative tothe female world, because I think the female world oppressed; yetthe gangrene which the vices, engendered by oppression haveproduced, is not confined to the morbid part, but pervades societyat large; so that when I wish to see my sex become more like moralagents, my heart bounds with the anticipation of the generaldiffusion of that sublime contentment which only morality candiffuse.