For they are now made so inferiour by ignorance and low desires, as
not to deserve to be ranked with them; or, by the serpentine
wrigglings of cunning they mount the tree of knowledge, and only
acquire sufficient to lead men astray.
It is plain from the history of all nations, that women cannot be
confined to merely domestic pursuits, for they will not fulfil
family duties, unless their minds take a wider range, and whilst
they are kept in ignorance they become in the same proportion the
slaves of pleasure as they are the slaves of man. Nor can they be shut
out if great enterprises, though the narrowness of their minds often
make them mar, what they are unable to comprehend.
The libertinism, and even the virtues of superiour men, will
always give women, of some description, great power over them; and
these weak women, under the influence of childish passions and selfish
vanity, will throw a false light over the objects which the very men
view with their eyes, who ought to enlighten their judgment. Men of
fancy, and those sanguine characters who mostly hold the helm of human
affairs, in general, relax in the society of women; and surely I
need not cite to the most superficial reader of history the numerous
examples of vice and oppression which the private intrigues of
female favourites have produced; not to dwell on the mischief that
naturally arises from the blundering interposition of well-meaning
folly. For in the transactions of business it is much better to have
to deal with a knave than a fool, because a knave adheres to some
plan; and any plan of reason may be seen through much sooner than a
sudden flight of folly.
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