Is it
possible that a human creature could have become such a weak and
depraved being, if, like the Sybarites, dissolved in luxury every
thing like virtue had not been worn away, or never impressed by
precept, a poor substitute, it is true, for cultivation of mind,
though it serves as a fence against vice?
Such a woman is not a more irrational monster than some of the Roman
emperors, who were depraved by lawless power. Yet, since kings have
been more under the restraint of law, and the curb, however weak, of
honour, the records of history are not filled with such unnatural
instances of folly and cruelty, nor does the despotism that kills
virtue and genius in the bud, hover over Europe with that
destructive blast which desolates Turkey, and renders the men, as well
as the soil, unfruitful.
Women are every where in this deplorable state; for, in order to
preserve their innocence, as ignorance is courteously termed, truth is
hidden from them, and they are made to assume an artificial
character before their faculties have acquired any strength. Taught
from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes
itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to
adorn its prison. Men have various employments and pursuits which
engage their attention, and give a character to the opening mind;
but women, confined to one, and having their thoughts constantly
directed to the most insignificant part of themselves, seldom extend
their views beyond the triumph of the hour.
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