'
But the adoration comes first, and the scorn is not anticipated.
Lewis the XIVth, in particular, spread factitious manners, and
caught, in a specious way, the whole nation in his toils; for,
establishing an artful chain of despotism, he made it the interest
of the people at large, individually to respect his station and
support his power. And women, whom he flattered by a puerile attention
to the whole sex, obtained in his reign that prince-like distinction
so fatal to reason and virtue.
A king is always a king- and a woman always a woman:* his
authority and her sex, ever stand between them and rational
converse. With a lover, I grant, she should be so, and her sensibility
will naturally lead her to endeavour to excite emotion, not to gratify
her vanity, but her heart. This I do not allow to be coquetry, it is
the artless impulse of nature, I only exclaim against the sexual
desire of conquest when the heart is out of the question.
* And a wit, always a wit, might be added; for the vain fooleries of
wits and beauties to obtain attention, and make conquests, are much
upon a par.
This desire is not confined to women; 'I have endeavoured,' says
Lord Chesterfield, 'to gain the hearts of twenty women, whose
persons I would not have given a fig for.' The libertine, who, in a
gust of passion, takes advantage of unsuspecting tenderness, is a
saint when compared with this cold-hearted rascal; for I like to use
significant words. Yet only taught to please, women are always on
the watch to please, and with true heroic ardour endeavour to gain
hearts merely to resign or spurn them, when the victory is decided,
and conspicuous.
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