/- fy THE HISTORY O F WOMEN, FROM THE EARLIEST ANTIQUITY, TO THE PRESENT TIMEj GIVING Some Account of almoft every interefting Particular concerning that Sex, among all Nations, ancient and modern. By WILLIAM ALEXANDER, M. D. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED lOR \V. STRAHAN; AND T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND. MDCCLXXIX. i77q ^ ■ A ^7J^ ADVERTISEMENT. As the following Work was compofed folely for the amufement and inftrudlion of the Fair Sex; and as their education is in general lefs extenfive than that of the men ; in order to render it the more intel- ligible, we have ftudied the utmoft plainnefs and fim- plicity of language; have not only totally excluded almoft every word that is not Enolifh, but even, as much as poffible, avoided every technical term. As we perfuade ourfelves, that nothing could be more perplexing to the fex, or to which they would pay lefs attention, than a long lift of authors 'on the margin, to fliew from whence we have derived our in- formation, and as a great part of fuch lift would refer to books in other languages, we have entirely omitted it, and contented ourfelves with fometimes interweaving into our text, the names and fentiments of fuch authors as have more peculiarly elucidated the fubje(n:s we were inveftigating. A 2 We ANTUfiO-SOC. ADVERTISEMENT. We have not vanity enough to recommend our Work to the learned, they mufl: have met witli every anecdote related in it ; but as the generality of the fair fex, whofe reading is more confined, now fpcnd many of their idle hours in poring over novels and romances, which greatly tend to miflead the undeiflanding and corrupt the heart, we cannot help exprefling a vvifh, that they would fpare a part of this time to look into the hiflory of their own Sex ; a hiflory, which we flatter ourfelves will afford them no irrational amufement, and which will more gratify the curiofity of the female mind in whatever relates to themfelvcs, than any thing that has hitherto been publillied. We do not mean by this to praife ourfelves; we fub- mit with the utmofi: diffidence to the judgment of the Public. If we have any merit, it is only in coUedling together, and prefcnting in one view, a variety of aneC'- dotcs concerning the (ex, which lay fcattered in a great number of author?, ancient and modern, and not with- in the reading of the Sex themfelves ; recourfe to larger libraries mi^ht have made thefe anecdotes more nume- rous, and better judgments would have feleded them more judicioufly ; on thcfe accounts, none can be more fcnfible of the imperfedions of the Work than we » are, ADVERTISEMENT. are, but we hope our candid Readers will make fome allowances for our having trod a path which has never been attempted before ; and the Ladies, we flatter our- felves, will treat us with ibme indulgence, when we afTure them, that we have exerted our utmoft abilities to put their hiflory into the mofl engaging drefs, and to mingle pleafure with inftrudlion. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. Introduction, Page i CHAP. I. AJhort Sketch of the Antediluvian Hijiory of Women. 19 CHAP. II. Of female Education, 24 CHAP. III. Of the Employments and Anmfements of Women. * 59 CHAP. IV. The fame SubjeSl continued. 76 CHAP. V. Of the Treatment and Condition of Women, and the ifarious Advan- tages and Difadvantages of their Sex, infavage and civil Life. 102 CHAP. Vi. The fame SubjeSt continued. 128 CHAP. VII. The fame Subjecl continued. 1 47 CONTENTS. CHAP. VIII. The fame Suhje^ continued. Page 169 CHAP. IX. The fame SubjeB continued. 198 CHAP. X. Of the CharaEler and Condu^ of Women. - .. 218 CHAP. XI. The fame SuhjeH continued. 237 CHAP. XII. The fame Subjefl continued. 259 CHAP. XIII. The fame SubjeB continued. 292 CHAP. XIV. Of the Influence of female Society. 314 C H A P. XV. Sketches of Ceremonies and Cufloms, for the tnofl part obferved only by Women, 338 INTRO- INTRODUCTION. ALTHOUGH there is nothing in nature that fo much en- gages our attention, fo forcibly draws our inclinations, or with which our interefts are fo intimately blended, as with the other fex, yet fo ftrong is our partiality to ourfelves, that we have never in any period, nor in any country, fufficiently attended to the happinefs and interefts of thofe beings, whom in every pe- riod, and in every country, we have profefled to love and to adore: and while the charms which they pofTefs, have every where ex- torted from us the tribute of love, they have only in a few places extorted from us good ufage. Almost every man is full of complaints againft the fex, but Complaints hardly do we meet with any one who ferioufly endeavours to rec- kx!'^ tify the evils againft which he exclaims fo bitterly. He who con- fiders women only as objedts of his love, and of his pleafure ; complains, that in his connedions with them, he finds them in- conftant, unfaithful, and ever open to flattery and fedudion. The philofopher, who would wifli to mingle the joys of friend- fhip and of converfation with thofe of love, complains that they are deftitute of every idea, but thofe that flow from gallantry and felf-admiration ; and confequently incapable of giving or receiv- B ing i INTRODUCTION. ing any of the more refined and intelledual pleafures. The man of bufinefs complains, that they are giddy and thoughtlcfs, and want the plodding head, and the faving hand, fo neccffary to- wards thriving in the world. And almort every man complains, of their idlenefs, extravagance, difregard to every kind of admo- nition, and negledl of the duties of domeftic and focial life. Cnufcscf WiTHouT^examining how far tlicfe general complaints are well pJaints. or ill founded, we fhall only oblerve, that in cafes where they are well founded, when we trace them to their fource, we find the blame ultimately fall on ourfelves. Does not the man of love and gallantry commonly fet the example of infidelity and incon- ftancy to the females with whom he is connected ? And do not men in general, but too obvioufly, chalk out to the other fex, the way that leads to every levity and folly ? What made the philofopher fo fufceptible of the rational and the intelleiftual plea- fures? doubtlefs, the education beflowed upon him; and the fame education might have given his wife or his daughter, an equal, or even a fuperior relifh for them ; it is folly in him therefore to expe(fl the fruit without the culture necefiary to bring it to per- fedion. The plodding and fteadinefs of the man of bufinefs, he has acquired in his early years; and they are augmented by his being lole mafter of what he can amafs, and having a power to fpend or difpofe of it as he thinks proper. But his wife was brought up in no fuch fchool, and has no fuch motives to induf- try; for fhould fhe even toil with the utmoft affiduity, £he can- not appropriate to herfelf what (he acquires; nor lay out any part of it without leave of her hufband. Nor is the idlenefs, extrava- gance, and negiedt of domeftic duties, which we fo commonly charge upon the fex, fo much the fault of nature as of education. Can I we INTRODUCTION. we expe£t that the girl whom we train up in every fafhlonable levity and folly, whom we ufe our utmoft efforts to flatter and to amufe, fliall, the moment of her marriage, totally change her plan, and become the fober and ceconomical houfewife ? as well might we fow weeds and expecH: to reap corn. If this be, as we perfuade ourfelves it is, a candid and impar- tial ftate of the fource of female folly and of female wcaknefs; if the whole may be traced either to the total want of, or to an im- proper education; and if the power of negleding this education altogether, or beftowing it improperly, be lodged in our hands, as having the fole management and diredion of the fex; then it will follow, that we fhould a£t a much better and more becoming part, in trying to amend their faults by a more judicious inftruc- tion, than to leave them ignorant, and complain that they are fo; or teach them folly, and rail at them for having learned what we taught them. But inftead of doing this, in every age, and in every country, while the men have been partial to the perfons of the fair, they have either left their minds altogether without cul- ture, or biafled them by a culture of a fpurious and improper na- ture; fufpicious, perhaps, that a more rational one would have opened their eyes, fhewn them their real condition, and prompted them to affert the rights of nature ; rights, of which the men have perpetually, more or lefs, deprived them. But we do not only negled the fex, or mifiead them in point of education ; while youth and beauty is on their fide, the fcene which we open to them is all delufion, flattery, and falfehood ; for while we take every opportunity of telling them when pre- fent, that their perfons arc all beauty, and their fentiments and B 2 adions S 4 INTRODUCTION. acllons all perfcdioii ; when abfent, we laugh at the credulity of their n^inds, and fplenetically fatirife and exhibit to view every fault and every folly. Nor is it till they have become wives, or till the wrii.klcs have furrowed their brows, that the other fex hear the voice of truth from ours. Satirifts, how NoR are the follies and foibles of the fex, only the fubjecfl of thev have treaied the Verbal fneer, and of verbal criticifm ; fucli of our fex as have' lex. been foured by difappointments of any kind, and more particu- larly thofe who have been unfortunate in the purfuit of lawful, and Aill more fo, in that of unlawful love ; like cowards who attack every one who, they are affured, vi'ill make no refiftance, have in all ages dipped their pens in gall, and for the fuppofed faults of a few, illiberally vomited out fpleen and ill-nature againft the whole fex. Among the earlieft of thefe kind of writers we may juftly reckon Solomon, who fated with licentious love, cloyed with ve- nal charms, and perhaps fhattered in conflitution, took almoft every opportunity to exclaim againft the flaves of his feraglio, and the whole fex ; becaufe they could afford him no new pleafure, and becaufe they were not equal in mental qualifications to the men ; a thing which Solomon might eafily have found to be im- polTiblc, had he attended to the method in which they were edu- cated, and in which they were confined. Some alfo of the Apo- cryphal writers are nothing behind i-olomon in fpleen, and greatly exceed h\r.\ in ill-nature and coarfenefs of expreffion. But it feems to have been the genius of the Eafl to praife all women for their perfonal graces, and at the fame time to fuppofe them entirely di- vefted of every got^d quality of the mind ; for we find the fame ideas which were entertained by Solomon, difFufed among the Hindoos even in an earlier period of the world, and venting them- felves rNTRODUCTION. i^lves alfo in their facred writings even with an additional degree of acrimony. " The luft of a woman (fays the Pundits) is never " fatisfied, no more than fire is fatisfied with fuel, or the main " ocean with receiving the rivers, or the empire of death with " the dying of men and animals." And again, '' Women have " fix qualities : the firft, an inordinate defire for jewels and fine *' furniture, handfome clothes, and nice viduals ; the fecond, " immoderate luft; the third, violent anger ; the fourth, deep *' refentment, no perfon knowing the fentiments concealed in *• their heart; the fifth, another perfon's good appears evil in '• their eyes ; the fixth, they commit bad adions." With fuch invedives of the eafterns we could fill a whole volume ; but we have only feleded thefe, to fhew that their opinions were not fupported by any argument, nor tindured with any wit; and that on thefe accounts we may fuppofe them only mere effufions of the fpleen. Nor were the Greek and Roman writers more re- fined in their fentiments, or delicate in their expreflions. The language ufed by fome of the Greek writers, as well as by Juve- nal, Martial, and Horace, is too coarfe and unpolifhed for a people juft emerged from barbarity, and conveys to us a mean idea of Greek and Roman politenefs. After women had been the fubjed of fatlrlcal wit and of fple- Favourable netic temper for upwards of three thoufand years, an inftitution conViljonV at lafl: arofe in Europe, known by the name of chivalry, which '""^ ^''^' for fome time totally changed the fentiments and writings of mankind, and placing the iex hardly beneath celeftial beings, made it fom.ething mure than treafon to maltreat, and fcarcely lefs than bla;phc-my to fpeak evil of them. 1 he times, however, in which chi\alry fiouriOied in its greatefl perfection, were not thofe ;e!, and joined fide to fide ; thut God improving on his original plan, fepa- rited the male from the female part, where they had been joined together, and made thenv into two diilincl beings ; and that from hence arofe the perpetual inclination of the fexes to join themfelves together again. Da of 20 THE HISTORY CHAP, of maintaining the fuperioritjr of women pretend, that from this circumftance of having been made of double refined matter, they have derived their fuperior beauty and excellence. Not long after the creation, the deception of the firft woman by the ferpent, and the fatal confcquences arifing from that de- ception, furnifh the moft interefting ftory in the whole hlftory of the fex. But as that ftory is already fo well known, we fliall pafe over it in filence, and proceed to relate thofe few anecdotes which have been handed down to us concerning the antediluvian women. Caufe of ihe In the facred hiftory we are told, that when Cain and Abel, the diiputebe- j^q fons of Adam, brought their offerings to the Lord, the offcr- tiveen Cain . ami Abel. ing of Cain was rejeded, and that of Abel accepted ; a circum- ftance for which Mofes does not affign any reafon. If tradition, however, defcrves any credit, an oriental tradition fupplies this defed ; and informs us, that Cain and Abel having each of them a twin fifter, when they were all become marriageable, Adam propofed to them, that Cain fhould marry the twin fifter of Abel, and Abel the twin fifter of Cain ; alleging as his reafon for this propofal, that as their circumftances obliged them to marry their fifters, it was proper that they fhould marry thofe that were feemingly the leaft related to them. To this propofal Cain would not agree, and infifted on having his own twin fifter, becaufe fhe was fairer than the other. Adam, difpleafed at this ad: of difo- bedience, referred the difpute to the decifion of the Lord ; order- ed his fons to bring each an offering before him ; and told them, that the offering which had the preference, would be a declaration in favour of him who prefented it. On the offerings being 6 brought. O F W O M E N. ai brought, and that of Abel accepted, Cain, ftimulated by refent- chap. ment and love, began to revolve in his mind how he might get < -^-mj rid of fo dangerous a rival, and not being able to fix upon any other method than his deftruction, as foon as they were come down from the Mount where they had been facrificin^, fell upon him and flew him. And thus a woman became the caufe not only of the firft quarrel, but of the firft introduction of death. Cain and his pofterity being, for this barbarous deed, feparated Debauchery of the race of and exiled from the reft of the human race, began to abandon Ca«. themfelves to every fpecies of wickednefs ; and it is fuppofed were, on that account, at length denominated Sons and Daugh- ters of Men; while the pofterity of Seth, under the care and tui- tion of Adam, having as remarkably diftinguifhed themfelves for virtue, and a regard to the divine precepts, at length alfo acquired the appellation of Sons and Daughters of God. This family o£ Seth, according to the oriental writers, fixed its habitation on the mountain where Adam their progenitor was buried ; and from the facred duft depofited there, called it the Holy Mountain : while Cain and his pofterity inhabited the valley below *, and there conftantly rioted in every fpecies of lewdnefs and debau- chery. In the time of Jared, when the family of Seth was much increafed, one hundred and twenty of the fons of that family, or as they were called, the Sons of God, hearing the found of mufic, and the noife of feftivity in the valley belovp^, agreed for once to defcend from their mountain, and partake of the amufement. On their arrival, they were fo delighted with the novelty of the fcene, and fo captivated with the beauty of the women, who ap- peared naked, that they yielded to their charms, and defiled * This tradicion does not agree with the banilhinent of Cain, as memioned hy Mofes, Ihem- 22 T H E H I S T O R Y themfeWes with them : having gone this length, it was not likely they fl\ould ftop on the very threfhold of pleafure: ac- cordingly, returning from time to time to vifit thefc women, they at laft ventured to intermarry with them ; and hence, proba- bly, arofe the ftory of the commerce between the Sons of God, and the Daughters of Men : a ftory which gave birth to an opi- nion, that by the Sons of God were meant Angels, who had (o far deviated from the dignity of their incorporeal and celeftial na- ture, as to debafe themfelves by a carnal knowledge of terreftrial womtn. To this abfurd and ridiculous notion, no little ftrcngth has been added by a forgery, called the Prophecy of Enoch ; a prophecy, which, like too many others, is long obfcure and un- intelligible*; evident marks of its not having been didated by that divine fpirit, who is light and perfplcuity. But though we cannot pofitively afcertain the precife meaning' of Mofes, when he fays, the Sons of God defiled themfelves with the Daughters of Men, we may venture to affirm, that the expref- • The general purport of this long and ill connefled prophecy, is. That in thofe timej, women v\ere fo exceedingly beautiful and tempting, that the Egregarii, or guardian angels, who were fet to watch over and attend thein, being conllantly expofed to the whole art'ilery of their charms, at laft fell fo violently in !o\c with them, that they difclofed the fecret to each other, and entered into an agreement, to take to themfelves, fiom among them, wives of thofc that were faireft in their eyes. That accordingly, in the year of the world 1170, fhey began ihe execution of their projtfl ; and in the nioft daring and flagitious manner con- tinued it to the time of the delugr. That in thofe day?, were born to the angels who had thus married, giant;, who devoured human fitlh, of which they were fo fond, that the race of man began thereby gte.itiy to decreafe; that many complaints on this fubjeti ha»ing been made to God, he fent four archangels, who bcund ihefe ante!?, who had joined rhcnifclves to women, an.l produced ihis monlUous progeny, threw them into the great abyfs, and afterward fcnt Gabriel, another archangel, tq root out and dertroy the giant.'.— Oiher oriental traditions relate, (hat it was the rebel angels, who had taken arms againit Omnipotence, that firft began this infamous converfc with mortsl women, from ivhence fprung a lace of monfters and dzmoos inin'jcal to virtue and :o rain ; and wiio, by tliLir continued crimes, at laft provoked the Al- mighiy to fwctp thcsi from the face of tlieesrih by an univerfal deluge. C lion OF W O M E N. 2 o C U A P. 1. fion was made ufe of to charadeilfe fome peculiar fpccles of wick- ednefs, which, with other debaucheries, had become fo enormous, that the Author of Nature is faid to have repented that he had made man ; ahnoft the whole race of whom he was obliged to de-* ftroy by the flood, in order that he might raife up a new and more perfed generation; which could not have been done, had the wicked been left to have mixed with and contaminated the righteous. FrOxM the flood, there is a chafm in the hiftory of women till Chafm in th« liiftory of ibe the time of the patriarch Abraham, when they began to be more (ex. frequently introduced into the facred ftory, feveral of their actions to be recorded ; the laws, cuftoms, and ufages by which they were governed to be exhibited : all of which, joined to fome anecdotes of their public and private life, enable us to give a more perfe(5t account of the ancient Ifraelitifh women, than can be given of thofe of any other nation, till we come to the Greeks. In exhibiting this account, we have, however, judged it proper, not to take the incidents in the order in which they are related, but to reduce them under different heads, for the fake of method *nd regularity. CHAP. 24. T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP. II. Of Female Education. IF we can form any Idea of the general ftate of mankind in the- infancy of the world, from the ftate in which they appear in the infancy of every nation, we may fuppofe that they were ori- ginally deftitute of every thing which depends on civilization and fociety, and of almoft every fpecies of knowledge, but that of procuring a precarious fubfiftence from the rivers and forefts around them. Obftruflions NECESSARILY impelled to employ the greateft part of their in the early" ^1"^^ i" ^^^^ manner, they would have but little leifure, and per- '^"' haps lefs inclination, to cultivate their minds. The inhabitants of the woods, and of the waves, were only to be caught by force or fraud : in either of which ways, ftrong exertions, or long and painful watchings, were requifite ; and to thefe exertions, and other efforts, the conftant calls of nature for fuftenance kept up an unremitted attention : hence it would be long before the human mind began to extend its ideas beyond that circle which had been formed by neceffity, and continued by cuftom ; that courfe of ftudy and of difcipline, that application to various lan- guages and arts, which we now call education, was then totally unknown; and in after ages only fprung up by degrees, accord- ing as incidents gave occafion to thinking on new projeds, and aQing in new employments. A CON- O F W O M E N. 25 A CONSIDERABLE part of education is the ftudy of languages ; but as all mankind fpoke originally the fame, this laborious part Source of had then no exiftence. When a diveruty of tongues were intro- education. duced, what little communication and commerce was then carried on, could not be properly managed unlefs the parties undcrftood one another : and hence the firft efforts to ftudy languages. In fome of the milder climates of Afia, the earth fpontaneoufly yielded as much food as fimple unpampered nature required ; and the in- habitants fupinely enjoyed her gifts, without troubling themfelves with painful exertions of mind or of body: but when the human race had multiplied fo much, that they were obliged to difperfe themfelves into climates lefs indulgent, exertion became neceflary to procure food, and invention to remedy the inconveniencies, and provide againft the accidents, of climate and fituation : thus in Egypt, the annual inundations of the Nile obliged them to raife houfes on pillars, and to apply to Aftronomy, that they might know the feafons when thefe inundations were to come upon them. The rigour of feafons, in places more remote from the fun, obliged them to cover themfelves with {kins, and to build houfes : and the fame caufe, perhaps, at firft, gave birth to the ufe of fire. Were we thus to trace almoft every human in- vention to its fource, we fliould generally find that fource to have been neceflity. In the patriarchal ages, and fome lime after, even among peo- Progrcfs of - . education and pie coniiderably removed from barbarity, we have hardly the leaft arts. veftige of education among the men*, and would therefore in vain look for it among the women. In climates where the fpon- • Schools where men were taught the arts of prophefying and of magic, were, probably, the firft that were iniUiutcd ; the former appear to have been ereded by the Ifraelitcs, the latter by the Egyptians or Phoenicians. Vol. I. E taneous 35 T H E II I S T O R Y C HA P, taneous productions of the earth were few, and where men were ' V ' become too numerous to be maintained by hunting and (ilhing, neceflity would Simulate to pafturage, and perhaps to feme rude efforts in agricuhure ; but as thcfc could not be carried on without feme kind of inftruments, it was poffibly to furnifli fuch, that Tubal Cain began firft to work in iron and in brafs. Such rude inflruments as he at firft conftruded, might upon trial fuggeft tQ him the improvements neceffary for making others more adapted to the purpofe : and thefe again, might lead on to works of fancy, which were probably the firft exercifcs which opened and ex- panded the powers of the human mind, giving birth to carving and gilding, and feveral other works of tafte, which the Ifraelites had carried to no inconfiderable degree of perfection in the time of Solomon ; and even to chymiftry, of which Mofes muft have had no incompetent Ikill to enable him to ftamp the golden calf to powder. Into fuch exercifes and trades, were the men, in the times we are fpeaking of, initiated ; but it is in vain that we en- deavour to difcover what was taught to the women : whether they were regularly inftrudted in any thing, or left to learn what they could from nature, or from chance ; which laft we are inclined to think was the cafe, as writing and reading were not then in- vented; as the fciences were but few, and thefe few only in their infancy ; and as women were not valued for any mental qualifica- tions, but only for their perfonal charms. OfthcEgyp- Of all the nations which prefent themfelves in the periods we are confidering, the Egyptians moft defervedly claim our atten- tion ; as it was from them that we derived the firft principles of all our arts, fciences, and cultivation. It was the Egyptians who firft taught the rude and uninftru^ed Greeks : the Greeks tranf- mitted tians. O F W O M E N. 27 mitted their knowledge to the Romans:- and the Romans carried c h^a p. their knowledge, and their chains, over half the globe. In what- ' ^; ' ever light we view the Egyptians, they do more honour to hu- man nature than any of the ancients, as they excelled them all in laws, in arts, and in government; fciences in which they be- lieved, or pretended to believe, they had been improving them- felves during a period of no lefs than one hundred thoufand years ; though this muft imdoubtedly appear fabulous, it is certain that they were allowed by moft of the ancients, to have been one of the firft people who were civilized and formed into a nation governed by laws, moftly founded on equity and wifdom ; in fhort they were, even in the diftant periods we are fpeaking of, a people not much inferior to many of thofe which in our times make no tlefpicable figure in the prefent civilized fyftem of Europe, It is among the Egyptians only, that, in the periods under re- view, we meet with any thing refembling a fyftem of ftudy and education; their magicians, in whom moft of their learning cen- tered, ftudied, and taught, fuch fciences as were then known ; the moft diftinguiftied of which was Aftronomy, from which, it appears, that v^'omen were not altogether excluded ; for we are told that Athyrte, the daughter of Sefoftris, encouraged her father to undertake his chimerical fcheme of conquering the world, by affuring him of fuccefs, from her divinations, from her dreams in the temples, and from the prodigies fhe had feen in the air. Almoft every writer on ancient Egypt mentions, that the women managed the greateft part of fuch bufinefs as was tranfadted with- out doors, and that the commerce of the nation was peculiarly allotted to them ; it is therefore highly probable, that they were taught the ufe of numbers and figures, as far as they were then E 3 known: THE HISTORY known : a fcience without the ufe of which trade mud have been exceedingly impcrfed and irregular. As writing alfo was known at an early period in Egypt, and as it is hardly lefs necefTary in commerce than the ufe of figures, it is probable alfo, that the women were taught the writing then in ufe. As the foftnefs and fentimcntal feelings of the female heart feem excellently adapted to the foothing drains of mufic, mufic has therefore been a part of the education of the fex from the remoteft ages of antiquity : Mofes frequently mentions finging men and finging women, and we Hiall afterwards meet with finging women among a variety of the nations we fhall have occafion to mention. The Egyptians, however, were in this refpedl fingular ; the fame rcafon which de- termined other nations to teach women tliat pleafing art, deter- mined the Egyptians to debar them from it * ; becaufe, faid they, it foftens and relaxes the mind. But when we recolledl what we juft now related of the employment of women, it will in a great meafure elucidate this fingularity : it was probably the opinion of the legiflature, that too much foftnefs and delicacy would difqua- lify them for managing the affairs of trade and commerce ; and that though a certain foftnefs of the fex was encouraged in all other countries, it would but ill have fuited the Egyptian women, who were generally occupied in fuch employments as were every where elfe deftined to the men. However this be, when we furvey the accounts given us by the ancients, of the arts, fciences, laws; and, above all, of the culture, and wifdom of the Egyp- tians; when we confider the high eftimation, in which women were held, and the powers with which they were inverted ; when, to thefe, we add the literary fame of the nation, we have the • Herodotus, and fome other authorj, doubt whether the Egyptians prohibited their wo- msn fiom learning muf:c. ftrongeft OF WOMEN. 29 ilrongeft reafons to conclude, that though we are at this period CHAP. unacquainted with their fyftem of female education, it certainly ' , ' was fuch as fuited the dignity of fo wife a people, and of a fex fo loved and refpedlcd. It is not eafy to determine whether the Phoenicians at firft OfthePhcs- nicians. borrowed their learning from the Egyptians, but, however that be, they were in the times we are confidering, little behind them in knowledge. They cultivated Arithmetic and Aftrono- my, and applied them to the purpofes of trade and navigation. Mofchus, a Sydonian, before the Trojan war, taught the philo- fophical dodrine of Atoms; and Abdomeneus of Tyre undertook to difpute with Solomon, king of Ifrael; in thofe days reckoned the mofl: redoubtable champion of learning and of wifdom. Tyre and Sydon were at this time renowned for the fciences and for philofophy. Man, in his rude and'uncultivated ftate, forms his connections- with woman from a regard to the beauty of her perfon only ;. when he becomes civilized, he regards the qualities of her mind, as well as the charms of her body. We can hardly therefore- fuppofe, that the Phcenicians; a people, who in commerce and. navigation excelled all others, and were fecond to none in polite- nefs and learning; would totally negle£t to inftil into the minds of their women, any of that knowledge which was in fo much. national efteem and veneration ; but we only offer this as conjec- ture, as the hiftory of thefe people is entirely filent on the fub- jed: and indeed hiftory in general throws but a faint gleam of light on the ages under review ; which, among many other rea- fons, may in part be owing to that peace and quiet which we may fuppofe 30 T H E II I S T O R Y CHAP, fiippofe the world then enjoyed for many ages; for hiftory »—— V ' pafTes in filence over whole centuries of peace, and taices notice only of wars, conquefts, and revolutions; as if nothing were worthy of the ear of poflcrity, but the crimes and follies of their anceflors. Anc'ent (late Wii A T wc have obfcrved of the Phoenicians, may, in a great meafure, be equally applied to the Babylonians ; they are ac- knowledged by all antiquity, to have been the firft who made ufe of writing in their public and judicial a£ts ; but though the exafl period in which they began this invention is not known, we are neverthelefs certain, that they were early diftinguifhed for their politenefs and learning. We (hall have occafion afterwards, to relate the care and pains they took in adorning the perfons of their women ; from which we may conclude, that they did not leave their minds without cultivation and improvement. The nations which were contemporary with, or for feveral ages fuc- ceeded to thofe we have now mentioned, were, when compared to them, as the reft of the world now is, when compared to Europe; hardly juft entering on the threfliold of knowledge : and Europe, which now appears with fuch diftinguifhed luftre, was then involved in ignorance and barbarity ; nor had its fcattered and wretched inhabitants difcovered any fymptoms of that ge- nius which now eclipfes all other countries. It was by fome colonies from Afia, that the fciences were firft introduced among them. And fuch is the fate of human affairs, that from the time thefe fciences were firft tranfplanted, they feemed to abandon their native foil, and attach themfelves entirely to Europe. The Afi- atics either loft their tafte for them, or, in profecuting them, had already exhaufted their utmoft powers ; the Europeans acquired that ancient aa- OF V/ O M EN. 31 that tafte, and continue ftill to cultivate and extend it, by ftretches ^ ha p. of genius and invention, to which no limits can be fixed. < ^— / i When, from Europe, we again return to the Eaft, we cannot OfromeotKer . . ancier'"" help lamenting, that antiquity has hardly left us any traces of tions. the manner in which their women were educated ; and it is from fcattered hints only, that we can difcover any thing concerning them. One of thefe hints informs us, that fome of the nations whom Cyrus conquered had taught their women mufic ; for Cyrus gave two female muficians, who were his captives, as a prefent to his uncle Cyaxares ; and female as well as male muficians were in thole times frequently retained by the great to amufe them in theit hours of relaxation and feftivity, by their fkill in playing upon fuch inftruments as were then in ufe, by the melody of their voices, and by the various geftures which they pradlifed in dancing. If, in the times we are confidering, the plan of female education comprehended any thing farther, we may fuppofe that it took in only fuch other arts of attradion as the eaftern women have always been famous for, and which the men have always regarded as their principal qualification. In a few cafes, however, it is probable, they were inflru£ted in fome of the ufcful learning of the times ; for the education of the children of the kings of the Medes and Perfians was for many ages committed to the women. Dejoces, their firft king, began the cuftom ; and it was continued till fome ages after the reign of- Cyrus, and is at this day pra£tifed in many places of the Eaft. As thefe young monarchs were entirely en- trufted to the care of women till the age of fifteen or fixteen, one would naturally conclude, that the women muft have been capa- ble of teaching, at leafl: a part of, the fafhionable learning of the times : but if it was the fame among the ancient Medes and Per- fians, 32 THE HISTORY ^ ^ir'^ ^' ^^"5' ^5 ^^ ^5 '^°^' arnoDg their defccndants, they were not capable V - >-.-/ of doing fo ; for the education which tlie young eaflern princes at prefcnt receive from their women, is little elfe than the firft principles of effeminacy and debauchery, with hardly even a fmall tindlure of that learning beflowed on their fubjeds : and hence fo many of the eaflern monarchs dedicate their lives to cruelty and debauchery. Even Cyrus himfelf, though trained up in a better manner, and almoft in every refped fuperior to the herd of eaflern monarchs, flained his memory with the foulefl infamy, by perverting the education of the Lydians, for no other crime than endeavouring to regain their liberty, of which he had unjuflly de- prived them. Cyrus had inlrufted the gold which he had found in the treafury of Croefus king of Lydia,. to Padlyas, one of his favourites ; who feeing himfelf mafler of fo much wealth, thought he could not better employ it, than in infligating the Lydians to place him At their head, and fhake off the yoke of the conqueror. Cyrus, in revenge, determined to carry off the whole of the peo- ple, and fell them for flaves ; a refolution which he made known to Croefus, his prifoner ; who fearing the utter deflrudion of his country, advifed Cyrus only to take vengeance on Padyas ; and in order to prevent any future attempt of the fame nature, to forbid the Lydians the ufe of arms, and oblige them to be educated in the moft debauched and effeminate manner. Cyrus followed this ad- vice, and the Lydians foon became the moft infamous and abandoned people in the world. Iliflory affords but too many examples of monarchs, and of parents, having winked at the improper edu- cation of their fubjeds and children : this is the only infiance where the fource of every virtue was avowedly contaminated by public authority ; an inftance in which we are at a lofs to deter- 6 mine. O F W M E N. S3 mine, whether the charader of Cyrus, or of Crocfus, appears ^ H' A P. the mofl: defpicable and infamous. < •>- ■> Were we to indulge in idle fpeculation ; were we to form con- jedtures without proper authority to fupport them ; we might re- late many plaufible opinions concerning the education of women among the ancients ; but as the fubjeit, from the time of the Egyptians and fome other nations we have mentioned, to thofe of Greece and Rome, is involved in the gloom of obfcurity, we ra- ther chufe to pafs over it in filence, than to hazard opinions, when we are uncertain whether the fcale of probability preponderates for or againft them. We fhall fee afterward, when we come to treat of the rank and Of the Greet women, condition of women, that in Greece, even in its moft flourifhing and cultivated ftate, they were little better than flaves : nor indeed was it poffible, that they could in any place ever arrive at that importance feemingly defigned them by nature, while their genius was not cultivated, nor their latent qualities called forth into view. Oiher qualities, fuch as beauty, and the art of fhewing it to advantage, may, in thefe moments when the heart is foftened by love, or the fpirits elevated by wine, give to the women a temporary afcendency over the men, and enable them to bend them at pleafure ; as in the cafe of Thais and Alexander. Such an afcendency, however, is commonly but fleeting and tranfientj cool reafon foon refumes the place which pafTion had ufurped, and the empire which had been built on pafllon, tumbles like the bafelefs fabric of a vifion ; while that which is fupported by edu- cation and fenfe, ftands the teft of time, and the various incidents of life. It is, however, to be lamented, that a proper education has feldom fallen to the lot of women j even in the politefl coun- VoL. I. F tries, 34 THE HISTORY Idueation of ancient wo- men not cal- culated to cultivate their sninds. tries, it is cither too much ncgleded, or conduced on a frivo- lous and miftaken plan. The education of the Greek women, during what are called the heroic ages *, fecms to have been of this nature ; for we find Peleus, in the Andromache of Euripides, reproaching Menelaus, father of the famous Helen, for being the occafion of the diflblute condu£l of that lady, by the bad educa- tion he had given her : nor have we reafon to believe, that in thofe times bad education was confined to this fingle inftance only, but rather that it was a general evil, and never after properly re- medied ; a conjedure which the fubfequent hiftory of Greece will but too amply verify. There is not a fubjed which ancient hiftory takes lefs notice of, than that of education, and particularly of the education of Women. In early periods, and among uncultivated people, the fex do not feem to have been of confequence enough to employ the attention of the public, nor the pen of the hiftorian : a few Iketches of the plan of education fettled by Solon, the famous Athenian lawgiver, are the moft ancient that have been handed down to our times; and they ferve to corroborate an opinion, which we have always entertained, that the education of the an- cients was more directed to improve the body than the mind. Solon ordained, that youth in general fhould be firft taught to fwim, and to imbibe the rudiments of literature ; that the poor fhould be inftruded in trades, mechanic arts, and agriculture ; but that fuch as could afford a genteel education fhould learn to play on mufical inftruments, to ride, to hunt, and be expert in every kind of exercife ; to all which they were to add the ftudy of • Several of the firrt ages, during the infancy of the Grecian flates, were called heroic ; becaufe then the mea dedica'.cd almoll the whole of ibcir time to fcacs of hcioifm and of arms. philo- OF WOMEN. BS ^hilofophy. Such was his fyftem of male education ; a fyftem ^ ^ A P* more calculated to ftrengthen the body than to cultivate the mind. Such gleanings of his female fyftem as have readied our times, are ftill more extraordinary : young women were ordered to exercife themfelves in running, wreftling, throwing quoits, darts, and other mafculine amufements ; which mufl: have tended in the flrongefl; manner to deftroy every feed of delicacy that nature had implanted in the female mind ; and which, in all probability, gave birth to that boldnefs and effrontery, for which the Athenian women at lafl: were fo remarkable. If Solon, in his fcheme of legiflation, inftituted that any culture fhould be beftowed on the female mind, fuch inftitutions have not reached to our times : and when we confider how the Greek women were treated, and that healthful and robufl: bodies were reckoned theirchief qualification, as enabling them to giveftrong and health- ful children to the flate ; we have reafon to believe, that no fuchin- ilitutions ever exifted. Lycurgus, the no lefs famous Spartan legiflator, feems to have thought women almoft below his notice : nor need we wonder at this, when we confider, that his fole in- tention, and the conftant fcope of all his laws, was to divefl: man- kind of all that was implanted in them by nature ; and, upon the principles of art, to form a race of heroes, who fliould be infen- fible to every feeling but the love of their country. Women, he found, were but ill calculated for this purpofe : patriotifm is a principle feldom fo ftrong in them as in men, and humanity is generally much fti-ongcr : the acutenefs of their feelings made them lefs able to bear all the pains and difficulties of eradicating whatever is natural, and the weaknefs of their bodies difqnalified thf m for becoming heroines : they were therefore unfit fubjeds for carrying the ideas of Lycurgus into execution ; and on that ac- i" s count. 36 THEHISTORY CHAP, count, it feems probable, he gave himfelf little other trouble- * M "* about them, than to take care that their company fhould neither effeminate nor debauch his men. Their minds That the Grecian women had not the leaft tin£l:ure of polite Bcgieded. education, even in the moft flourifliing periods of their ftates, ap- pears from the refped and efteem, which public proftitutes acquired, merely by having the advantage over them in this accomplifhment. We fliall have occafion to mention this fubjeft afterwards; and therefore at prefentfhall only obferve, that many of the greateft of their philofophers publicly vifited thefe proftitutes, and even fome- times carried their wives to be inftrudted by their leflbns. Befides what we have already mentioned, we find that a few of the Greek women were inftruded in raufic ; and that fuch only were ad- mitted to fome of their public feafts ; their mothers, or other fe- male relations, alfo taught them the common female employ- ments and cuftoms of their country, and inftilled into the minds, of fuch as would receive it, a tindure of tha.t Stoical pride and heroifm for which their men were fo much renowned: in every thing elfe, they were miferably deficient, and their conftant con- finement, to their want of education, added want of knowledge- of the world ; fo that on the whole, never were women found fo; ignorant in a nation fo much famed for knowledge. nan women. Of the Ro- ^f we except the Egyptians, the whole hiftory of antiquity ex- hibits to us a fcene in which we find women groaning under the hard hand of oppreffion, deprived of many of the rights of na- ture; and till we arrive at the Romans, never attaining to any natural or political confequence. In Rome, however, we find, them not only emerging from flavery, but flarting up at once into 8 real O F W O M E N. 37 real importance. In the earlier periods of this great republic, the Romans had but few laws, and no intercourfe but with rude and ferocious neighbours like themfelves : hence the only education of men was that of war, rigid ceconomy, and inflexible patri- otifm ; which are all virtues of neceffity in the infancy of almofl every (late. The education of the women confifted in learning the duties and employments of domeftic life ; fuch as cookery, fpinning, weaving, and fewing; which were taught them by their mothers or relations. In thofe days, children were not fuckled in the hut of a mercenary nurfe, but by the chafte mother ■who bore them ; their education, during nonage, was in her hands ; and it was her chief care to inftil into them every virtuous principle: in her prefence, every loofe word, or improper a£lion, were ftridly prohibited ; fhe fuperintended not only their ferious fludies, but even their amufements, which were always condudcd with decency and moderation. But by degrees, as the Romans became rich with the plunder of their neighbours, as the tafte for the arts and fciences became more general, the education of the wo- men began to be extended on a larger fcale ; and to the domeftic duties, taught them by their mothers, were added fuch parts of polite education, as were thought neceflary for cultivating their minds : this education we know, from the ftory of Virginea, they, received at public fchools ; where fciences and literature, no longer^ confined to rigid philofophers only, began to alTume a fofter form,, and to fuit themfelves to female talents and genius. It has long been alleged by the men, that the women, when learned, are generally pedants ; how far this opinion is juft, we Ihall not pretend to determine; but fhould it really be (o, we may-- naturally enough account for it : the knowledge of women, in; general^. j8 T H E H I S T O R Y c H A r. general, is much lefs extenfive than that of the men ; on this ac- count, when any individual among them finds that (he is poireHcd of a confiderable fliare of knowledge, flie confiders herfelf as thereby fo much elevated above the reft of her feK, that flie can- not help taking every opportunity of fhevving this elevation. Juvenal exhibits fome of the Roman ladies of his time in this light: " They fall, fays he, on the praifes of Virgil; they *' weigh in the fame balance the merit of that poet and of Ho- " mer; they find excufes for Dido's having ftabbed herfelf, and " determine of the beautiful, and of the fovereign good.'' Whe- ther the fatire here exhibited be true or falfe, it affords a proof, that, in the days of this poet, learning was not neglected by the women of Rome : but this is not the only proof we can bring to fupport this fad ; others are frequently to be met with in the Roman hiftory. Cicero mentions, with encomiums, feveral la- dies, whofe tafte in eloquence and philofophy did honour to their fex; and Quintilian, with no fmall applaufe, has quoted fome of the letters of Cornelia ; befides which, we have fortunately a fpeech of Hortenfia preferved by Appian ; which for elegance of language, and juftnefs of thought, would have done honour to a Cicero, or a Demofthenes *. What gave occafion to the fpeech was, • The unhappy women you fee here imploring your juflice and bounty, would never have prefumed to appear in this place, had they not firll made ufe of all other means, which their natural m-^dcfty could fuggell to them. Though our appearing here may feem contrary to the rules of decency prtTcribed to our fex, which we have hitherto obierved with all ftrift- nefs; yet the lofs of our father's children, brothers, and hull)ands, may fuf5ciently excufe uf, efpecially when their unhappy deaths are made a pretence for our further misfortunes: yoil pretend that they had offended and provoked you, but what injury have we women done, that we niurt be impoverifhed ? if we arc blameable as the men, why do you not profcribe us too? have we declared you enemies to your country ? have we fuborncd your foldiers? taifed troops agsinll you.or oppofed you in the purfuits of thofe honours and offices which you claim? O F W O M E N. 39 was, the Triumvirs of Rome wanting a large fum of money for carrying on a war, and having met with great difficuhies in raifing it, they drew up a lift of fourteen hundred of the richeft of the ladies, whom they intended to tax. Thefe ladies, after having in vain tried every method to evade fo great an innovation, at laft having chofen Hortenfia for their fpeaker, went along with her to the market-place, where flie addreifed the Triumvirs, while they were adminiftering juftice. The Triumvirs being offended at the boldnefs of the women, ordered them to be driven away ; , but the populace growing tumultuous, they were afraid of an in- furredion; and reduced the lift of women to be taxed to four hundred. As we do not propofe to write the hiftory of learned women, but only to give a general detail of the care beftowed on the edu- cation of that fex ; we return to obferve, that the Romans were at great pains in teaching their young men. Thofe who could affoid it, commonly kept in their own houfes preceptors to inftru£t them; thofe who could not, fent them to public fchools, where claim ? We pretend not to govern the republic, ror is it our ambition which has drann the prefen: misfortune on our heads; empire, dignities, and honours are not for us; why fhould we then contribute to a war in which we have no manner of intereli ? It is true, indeed, that in the Carthaginian^ war, bur mothers aOiflcd the republic, which was, at that time, reduced to the utmoll dillrefs j but neither their houfes, their lands, nor their moveables, uce f Id for that fervice ; feme rings and a few jewels furnilhed the fupply ; nor was it condraint, nor violence, that forced theie from them: what they contribured was the vo'.anxary offering of genercfity. What danger at prefent threatens Rome ? If the Gauls, or Parthians, were en- camped on the banks of the Tiber, or the Ario, you (hould find us not lefs zealouN in the de- fei.ce of our country than our mothers were beiore us ; but it becomes not U5, and we are rc- fjlved that we will net be any way co-icerned in civil war. Neither iVlarius, nor Csfar, nor Pompey, ever thought of obliging us to take part in the domeftic troubles which their ambi- tion had railed ; nay, nor did even Svl!a himfelf, who firft let uo tyranny in Rome; and yet you aflume the glorious title of Reformers of the State ! a -iile which will turn to your eter- nal infamy; if, without the leaft regard to the laws oi equity, you perfid in your wicked re- folution of plundering thofe of their lives and fortunes, who have given you no jull caufc ofofience. they 40 THE HISTORY they were generally inQruded by Grecian mafters : befidcs thcfc methods, fuch fathers as were capable, taught their own children, not only the literature of the times, but alfo morality, and their duty to their country. Cato inftruded his fon in fuch a variety of arts and exercifes, as feem almofl; improbable; and Auguftus, though fovereign of the world, taught his grandchildren to write. When fuch were the teachers, when fuch the love of learning, we may afTure ourfelves that women, who had now attained no fmall im- portance, were not negleded: and it is probable, from that great- nefs of mind, which many of them in a variety of inftances dif- played, that their education had always a tendency, not only to infpire them with fentiments of morality, but likewife with that inflexible conftancy and firmnefs of mind, fo exceedingly neccf- fary in a flate, whofe agitations and convulfions were fo frequent, that every member flood in need of the utmoft fortitude to fuftaia the fhock. Such a mode of education, however, we imagine, was coun- terading nature, and robbing the fex of that foftnefs, and timi- dity, in which confills half their charms ; and fuch, though in a few inflances it fucceeded, never had any general influence ; for the Roman women, though they boafted while in fecurity of all ihe hcroifm of their hufbands, were in fuch a confternation when Hannibal approached the gates of Rome, that they were forbid to appear in the flreets, left their cries fliould difpirit the foldiers, and fpread a general panic through the city. As we are able only to give fo imperfed an account of the female education of the Romans, a people whofe hiftory we are almoft as well acquainted with, as with that of our own times ; it O F W O M E N. 4f it is not to be expeQed that we can throw much light upon that CHAP. fubjedl, among the nations that were contemporary with them, ' r——' as they were in a ftate of too much ignorance to have any hiftori- cal records ; and as we have no complete detail of their manners and cuftoms, but only fome fketches in Tacitus, and a few of the other Roman writers. V If by education we mean the culture of letters, of arts, and of Women of faiences ; in vain will we look for it among the ancient inhabi- r,a!io°s,' how tants of the North. The Scandinavians, and other tribes, who, *'^""**'' in thofe times, pofleffed the greateft part of Europe, were hardly acquainted with the flighted rudiments of literature, or of fcience *. In the favage ftate in which they were, no ideas arc entertained of the neceffity, or utility, of any thing but what im- mediately contributes to the fuftenance or clothing of the body ; no honour to procuring thefe, by any other methods, than rapine and plunder ; hence their men were trained to gaining their fub- fiftance by feats of arms, and wafting it in thoughtlefs feftivity. Their women, who frequently accompanied the men in their plundering expeditions, and who befides had every labour and drudgery to perform, could not have much time for attaining knowledge ; as they were not, however, always of thcfe parties, but fometimes left at home; if there was any glimmerings of knowledge; if there was any wifdom, it was moftly to be found among them ; and they acquired it, not by a laborious courfe of education, but by experience and refledion upon the contin- gencies which happened in thefe hours of folitude, when the human mind is moft fufceptible of inftrudion. • Such is the cafe at this time with the Drufes ; they reckon learning one of ihofe low and contemptible acquifitioiis only fit for women. Vol. I. G What 42 THEHISTORY What they had thus learned, of arts, of improvements, or ccconomy, they taught to their daughters ; hence women were generally more enlightened than men } and hence alfo they ac- quired an extraordinary degree of eftecm, and were often con- fulted as oracles. Defides the few arts and domeftic occupations known among a people fo rude and fimple, the mothers alfo ex- erted themfelves in teaching their daughters the virtues of pru- dence and chaftity; which they did no lefs by example than by precept ; and both being united, had fo happy an efFe£l, that the ancient Scandinavian women were not only among the firft who attained to that efteem due to their fex, but who laid the foundation of that honour and regard, which Europe at prefent pays as a tribute to beauty and merit. EfFefls of During the long and fuccefsful reign of chivalry in Europe; « '^'^y- as women were the conftant objedl of romantic heroifm and ex- travagant adoration, we may naturally conclude, that their edu- cation tended chiefly to enable them to flievv themfelves in luch a manner, as to excite heroes to fight for, and lovers to adore them. Even fo late as the beginning of the fourteenth century, there was hardly any learning among the men ; the Greek was fo entirely negleded, that the celebrated Petrarch could not in Italy, nor France, find one perfon capable of inftruding him in it : the Latin was known in a rude and imperfe£l manner only to a few; and hardly was there to be found a woman, who could read the lan- guage of her own country; and if fuch a one was here and there to be met with, (he was reckoned a kind of prodigy. When the men, who before had fpent their days in tourna- ments and feats of arms, began to turn their attention towards the arts O F W O M E N. 43 arts of peace, the women were likewife laid under the neceflity of varying their mode of education ; as they found that the fame arts which efFedually captivated a knight clad in armour and ignorance, were in vain pradifed upon the enlightened fcholar and philofopher. Ambitious ftill to retain the power they already poflefled, and confcious that the way to pleafe the men was to feem fond of what they approved of, and diflike what they dif- liked J they applied themfelves to letters and to philofophy, hop- ing to keep pofTefTion by their talents, of what they had gained by their charms. Though thefe meafures were not calculated to infpire love, and attradl the heart, and confequently did not pro- duce the effects which the ladies intended, yet they raifed them in that period to a pitch of learning, unknown in any other. They preached in public, fupported controverfies, publifhed and de- fended Thefes's, filled the chairs of philofophy and law, haran- gued the popes in Latin, wrote Greek, and read Hebrew : nuns became poetefTes, women of quality divines, and young girls, with a foftnefs of eloquent enthufiafm, publicly exhorted the Chri- flian princes to take up arms for the recovery of the Holy Land. The learned languages were now confidered as indifpenfably ne- ceflary ; they were taught not only to men, but to women of al- moft all ranks and conditions ; who, not content with Latin only, often read the Old Tedament in Hebrew, and the New in Greek. In this manner was female genius turned into a wrong channel; it was diverted from the duties of domcftic life; it was either foured by ftudy, or rendered petulant by learning ; and while it acquired empty words and falfe philofophy, it loft much of its native fprightlinefs, and became daily more an objed of admira- tion, and lefs an objed of love. G 2 It 44 T H E H I S T O R Y^ It has been often obfcrved, l;hat violent exertions of roind, at well as of body, conftantly leave a languor behind them, in pro- Reverie of . thispiduie. portion to the efforts that have been made. This vsas remarkably the cafe with female literature ; every mental power had been for a long time ovcr-ftretched, anid the greateft relaxation foon fol- lowed of confequence : from their knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; from their fkill in the empty difputations of Ariflote- lian philofophy, and of divinity, women began at laft to difcover, that they acquired only an empty fame ; and, that in proportion as they gained the efteem of the head, they became lefs objeds of the heart. On this difcovery, it was ncceQ'ary for them to change their plan ; they therefore began by degrees to abandon learning, and attach themfelves again to thofe female arts, which were more likely to be produdive of love, than of fame and applaufe. Further re- While this change of female manners was taking place, tlie greateft part of Europe exhibited a fcene of fecming inconfiflency ; enthufiafm and gallantry, religion and licentioufnefs, were con- ftantly pradifed by the fame perfons, and feemed as if perfedly reconciled to each other. Learning, however, declined fo faft, that in a ftiort time women became as famous for ignorance of their own language, as they had been formerly for their know- ledge of others; infomuch, that during a great part of the fix- teenth and feventeenth centuries, there was hardly a woman to be found in the politeft countries of Europe, who could didtate a tolerable letter in her own tongue, or fpell it with decent pro- priety: the only little reading which they at this period com- monly concerned themfelves with, was a few receipts in cookery to bring on, and a few receipts in phyfic to take off difeafes ; together O F W O M E N. 45 together with the wrangling and unintelligible theology of the times; a fcience to which women of all ages and countries have been peculiarly addidted, as it greatly interefts their paflions; and, perhaps, confoles them in the many folitary moments in which they are left alone, and as it were excluded from bufinefs and from the world. But even thefe favourite ftudies, and every other part of female amufement and oeconomy, not being fuffi- cient to fill up all their vacant hours, they now applied themfelves afliduoufly to various kinds of needle-vvork ; and many women of the firft rank were themfelves taught, and inflruded their daughters in, the arts of flowering and embroidery ; which they pradifed fo well in their leifure hours, that much of the furni- ture of their houfes was decorated in this manner with their own hands. AFTERthe difcovery and conqueft of America, immenfe treaJ- fures had been conftantly imported from thence into Europe! From the trade carried on to the Eaft and Weft Indies, to Africa, and other parts of the globe, perhaps ftill greater wealth had been accumulated; thefe at laft beginning to operate, turned the minds of the greateft part of Europe from that fober and ceconomical plan of life, to which their poverty and imperfect knowledge of trade and agriculture had fubjeded them; and fubftituted in its place, gaiety, expence, and parade. Numbers of people, who, perhaps, not in the moft rigid paths of juftice, had acquired im- menfe fortunes in the Eaft, tranfported themfelves back to Eu- rope, bringing along with them all the arrogance of wealth, effe- minacy of manners, and love of pageantry and fhow, for which the eaftern nations have ever been remarkable. Thefe, and feve- ral other caufes combining together, totally changed the manners of 46 THEHISTORY C HA P. of Europe; and inftead of fober frugality, and other domeftic V- — , — ^ virtues of the women, introduced luxury and dilTipation; with a tafte for all the tinfcl glare of uufubftantial trifles. The French, who have always been remarkably diftinguifhcd for vivacity and fhow, took the lead in this new mode of life, and foon difleminated it all over Europe ; which, for at leaft thcfe two centuries paft, has aukwardly imitated every light fafliion and frippery of that volatile people, with little better fuccefs than a Bear dances a hornpipe, or a Monkey puts on the gravity of an alderman. French ladles, In France, were women firft Introduced to court; their educa- tioB. tion, 5\hich before that introdua:ion, confided in reading their own language, in learning needle-work, and the offices of do- meftic life, was then by degrees changed to vocal and inftrumen- tal mufic, drawing, dancing, and dreffing in the moft fafliionablc manner; to which we may add, the art of captivating and go- verning their men. This flimfy pattern was copied by every other nation : feme ftrokes of Improvement were from time to time added by the French ; till at laft almoft every thing ufeful was boldly ftruck out from the plan of female education ; and the women of the prefent age thereby robbed of more than half their native excellence, and rendered objeds more fought after to divert a melancholy hour, or fatisfy a lawlefs paflion, than to become the focial partners of a life directed by reafon and religion. We muft, however, allow, that the French ladies are not all fo much devoted to fafhion and pleafure, as to neglcdl every thing elfe. France has produced feveral women diftinguifhed for their judg- ment and learning ; and even in the prefent diflipated age, while 7 female O F \V O M E N. 47 female coteries commonly meet for diverfion, or for gaming, there are in Paris focieties of women, which meet at ftated times to de- termine the merit of every new work ; and happy is the author who meets their approbation ; the French being too polite to fet themfelves in open oppofition to the judgment of their ladies, whether they may think it right or wrong. Should this imperfe(£l attempt, to write the Hiftory of the Fair, Prefent n-.ode furvive the prefent, and be read in any future generation, when education. this frivolous mode of female education fhall have given place to a better, that our readers may then have fome idea of what it was towards the clofe of the eighteenth century, we fhall juft fketch the outlines of it as now pradifed in the politeft countries of Eu- rope. Among the firfl: leflbns, which a mother teaches her daugh- ter, is that important article, according to the modern phrafe, of holding up her head, and learning a proper carriage : this be- gins to be inculcated at the age of three or four at lateft; and is flrenuoufly infifted on for many years afterward. When the young lady has learned imperfedly to read her own language, and fometimes even fooner, fhe is fent to a boarding-fchool, where flie is inftruded in the moft flimfy and ufelefs parts of needle- work; while of thofe, which fhe mud need, if ever fhe enters into domeftlc life, fhe is left entirely ignorant. While fhe is here, fome part of her time is alfo allotted to learning to read either her own language, or the languages of fome of the neighbouring kingdoms; all of which are too frequently taught without a pro- per attention to Grammar or Orthography. Writing, and Arith- metic, likewife employ a part of her time; but thefe, particularly the laft, are only confidered as auxiliary accompliOiments, which are 48 THE HISTORY CHAP, are not to be carried into life, and confequently defence but little attention ; the grand effort is generally made to teach the girl what the woman will relinquifh ; fuch as drawing, mufic, and dancing ; thefe, as they are arts agreeable to youthful fprightli- nefs, often engage the young lady fo much, as to make her ne- glect, or forget every thing elfe. To thefe are added, the modes of dreffing in fafhion, the pundlilios of behaving in company ; and we are forry to fay, that into fome fchools have been intro- duced mafters to teach the fashionable games at cards; a diflipa- tion, if not a, vice, which already prevails too much among both fexes, and may perhaps ftill gain ground by this early initiation. Such, in general, is the education of female boarding-fchools ; in fome, indeed, there may be a few other things taught befides thofe we have mentioned; but whatever be taught, or however they be condu(fled, it is too true, that the girl, after having been there fome years, comes home to her parents quite a modern fine lady; with her head full of fcraps of French, names of great peo- ple^ and quotations from romances and plays ; and quite difgufted at the antiquated virtues of fober frugality, order, or oeconomy. We cannot caft our eyes on the pidure we have now drawn, with- out a fecrct wifh, that it were lefs juft; nor fhall we drop the curtain before it, without mentioning with pleafure, that fome parents adopt a better plan; and that fome young ladies, even thus educated, have had underftanding enough to lay afide the greateft part of the abovementioned frippery, and cultivate fuch knowledge, and fuch virtues, as were ornamental to fociety, and ufeful to themfelves. « - Such OF W O M E N. 49 Such, with a few trifling variations, is the common courfe of ^ H^A p. European education: a courfe, which feems almoft entirely calcu- ,^---~ ' *^ Reflcaions lated to cultivate the perfonal graces, while the care of the head, on it. and of the heart, is little, if at all, attended to ; and the ufeful duties of domeftic life, but too often turned into ridicule, as the obfolete employments of fuch filly women as lived a century or two ago, unacquainted with fafhion and with pleafure. Women fo educated, may be fought after to help in trifling away an idle hour; but whatever progrefs their perfonal charms may make oa the paflions, when the hours of trifling and of paffion are over, they muft infallibly be negleded, if not defpifed. With the fop and the beau, creatures ftill more infignificant than themfelves, they may perhaps expedl a better fate ; but let them confider, how little pleafure they generally take in the company and converfa- tion of their own fex ; and that the fop, and the beau, are only women in breeches. Let fuch alfo, as never entertained an idea but of conquefts and admirers, confider, that when youth and beauty fhall be no more, when the crowd of flatterers and ad- mirers fhall have ceafed to attend, fomething will then be necef- fary to fill up the void, and prevent the peeviflinefs and difguft which it fo often occafions ; that the natural fource of this fome- thing, is frlendfl:iip ; and that friendflilp cannot exift, unlefs it is built upon the foundation of reafon and of fenfe. If the hiflory of the education of women in Europe, where OfthcEafttrn w nrn how they are objeds fo interefting, and fo much efteemed by the men, educated, has given but little pleafure in the recital, it will give ftill lefs in Afia, Africa, and America, where they are commonly either enOaved or difregarded: in both which cafes nothing is fo necef- fary as ignorance ; nor would any thing fo efFcdually fpoil them Vol. I. H for so T H E H I S T O R Y ^ ^ir'^ ^' ^^^ ^^"''^ flavery, as education and knowledge; which, by open- ' k— — ' wg and expanding their minds, would foon difcover to them, that our fox aflumed a power not founded in nature; and treated them with a feverity inconfiftent with gentlenefs and humanity : for thefe reafons, it is the intereft of the men, that almoft no cul- ture fhould be beftowed on their minds, left it fliould teach them to aflert the rights of nature, and refufe to fubmit to the yoke of bondage. In feveral of the warmer regions of Alia and Africa, where women are confidered merely as inftruments of animal pleafure, the little education beftowed upon them, is entirely calculated to debauch their minds, and give additional charms to their perfons. They are inftrutled in fuch graces, and alluring arts, as tend to inflame the paflions ; they are taught vocal and inftrumental mufic, which they accompany with dances, in which every move- ment, and every gefture, is exprefTively indecent : but they re- ceive no moral inftrudtion; for it would teach them that they were doing wrong: no improvement; for it would fhew them, that they were degrading themfelves, by being only trained up to fatisfy the pleafures of fenfe. This, however, is not the prac- tice of all parts of Afia and Africa: the women of Hindoftan are educated more decently ; they are not allowed to learn mufic or dancing ; which are only reckoned accomplifhments fit for ladies of pleafure : they are, notwithftanding, taught all the perfonal graces ; and particular care is taken to inftrud them in the art of converfing with elegance and vivacity: fome of them are alfo taught to write, and the generality to read, that they may be able to read the Koran ; inflead of which, they more frequently dedicate themfelves to tales and romances ; which, painted in all the OF W O M E N. 51 the lively imagery of the Eaft, feldom fail to corrupt the minds ^ ^^ ^ ^■ of creatures fliut up from the world, and confequently forming to > -/—^ themfelves extravagant and romantic notions of all that is tranf- adted in it. In well regulated families, women are taught by heart fome prayers in Arabic, which at certain hours they affemble in a hall to repeat ; never being allowed the liberty of going to the public mofque. They are enjoined always to wafh themfelves before praying; and, indeed, the virtues of cleanlinefs, of chaftity, and obedience, are fo ftrongly and conftantly inculcated on their minds, that, in fpite of their general debauchery of manners, there are not a few among them, who, in their common deportment, do credit to the inftrudlions beftowed upon them ; nor is this much to be wondered at, when we confider the tempting recompence that is held out to them; they are, in paradife, to flourifh for ever, in the vigour of youth and beauty ; and however old, or ugly, when they depart this life, are there to be immediately transformed into all that is fair, and all that is graceful. In China, where education is in greater efteem than in any part of the world; where it is almoft the only road to preferment, and where the men are confequently at the greateft pains to ac- quire it, we might naturally expedl, that as their women poflefs a confiderable Ihare of efteem and regard, they alfo fhould not be uegleded in their education : but whether ihey are even taught to read or write their own language, which is a work of many years, we are not informed by any of the voyages and travels which luve fallen within our obfervation ; as the tafk of learning to read or to write the Chinefe language is fo long and laborious.; antl as H 2 among 52 T II E II I S T O R Y C HA P. among the men it fccms chicfiy confined to fuch as afpirc after ' , -u— .-J employments of ftate, we are of opinion, that women arc fcldom or never Inflruded in it. We are told, however, that fuch as are rich learn mufic, the modes of behaviour, and ceremonial purnfli- lios of the country ; which laft they cannot polfibly be without ; as a failure in the leaft circumftance, as the number of bows to a fuperior, or manner of making them, would infallibly flamp the mark of ignorance on the perfon fo failing : women are in general alfo taught a bafhfulnefs and modefly of behaviour, not to be met with in any other country: this, however, is too often but a fem- blance ; a mere outfide of virtue, which the wearer can occafion- ally put on, or Ihake off, as fhe has occafion to appear virtuous, or to yield to the temptations of vice. African wo- SuCH, with very little variation, is the education of women men, their education. over all Afia. When we turn towards Africa, we find the men flill more brutifh and ignorant, and the women confequently more abufed and neglected. But however ignorant and brutifh the pre- fent inhabitants of Africa are, their country was, in the time of the Roman empire, the feat of the fciences, and produced no fmall number of fcholars, as well as heroes. The African love of learn- ing was then fo great, that in Egypt a library was colle£ted ; which, for its number of books, equalled almoft any of our mo- dern times ; and, for coftlinefs, much excelled all that we arc now acquainted with ; being moft of them wrote in letters of gold, by diflblving it in fome liquid, which, among them, is a peculiar fecret, and writing with the folution as we do with ink. When the Turks made themfelves matters of Egypt, this famous library was, by fuperftition, condemned to the flames ; avarice, how- ever, a palfion much lefs dellrudive, faved a part of what fuper- ftition O F W O M EN." 53 ftition had devoted to ruin: the Sultan had ordered all the books to be burned, but fuch as treated of Mahomedifm ; the minifter, who executed his orders, burned only all that were old and in bad order, faving all the new and elegant, which he privately fold among the officers of the court. Since this period, the faith of Mahomet has fpread itfelf over the greateft part of Africa; litera- ture has daily declined, and, at the prefenttime, almoft the whole of its people, of whatever religion, have hardly any veftige of learning, of arts, or of fciences left among them. Agriculture is configned entirely to the women, and managed in the moft rude and flovenly manner ; the few trades and arts pradifed among them, are only the refult of neceffity, and carried on with a flownefs and want of invention, which flrongly marks their deficiency of genius. Among people, in fuch a condition, it would be in vain to ex- peft any female learning; all the care that is taken to inftrudl that miferable fex, is only in teaching them to bear the load of oppref- fion laid on their fhoulders by their lazy and imperious mailers, which we ftiall afterward have occafion to mention ; while, from one another, they learn the tawdry modes of dreffing and orna- menting themfelves as praiEtifed in their country. This flavery of the perfons of women, and total negledl of their minds, natu- rally excites our indignation; but to account for it, we muft con- fider, that it has been a cuftom from the earlieft antiquity in thefe regions ; and that cuflom is ftronger than reafon and huma- nity joined together; that the Africans, and even the Mahome- dans in Afia and in Europe, never make companions of their wo- men, nor affociate with them, but in the moments dedicated to love and dalliance; hence the women have no opportunity of pradlifmg 54 THEHISTORY *" ^]j^ ^' pradifing upon the men thofe arts, by which, in other countries, < „- .^ they gain an afcendancy over the heart, and intereft even reafon, as well as humanity, in their favour. Of the Ame- Tn E cducation of the various tribes of favages, who inhabit the jican women. n • r a • /- • van continent of America, feems in general better adapted to their mode of life than that of Europe ; the whole fcope of it being well calculated to make them patient of every poflible evil and fuffer- ing, which may bcfal them in the courfe of a life deftined almoft to one continued fccne of dangers and fatigues : nor is this plan of education confined to boys only ; it is extended to girls alfo, who are taught to bear the rigors of the climate, the fatigues of labour, the, cravings of extreme hunger, and other vicifTitudes of fortune, not only with patience, but with refolution and fortitude. In a great part of North America, it is a fundamental rule in edu- cation, never to beat their children of either fex ; which, fay they, would only weaken and difpirit their minds, without pro- ducing any good efFeds ; and, therefore, whenever a mother fees her daughter behave ill, inftead of having recourfe to the rod, fhe falls a crying ; the daughter naturally enquires the caufe ; the mother anfwers, becanfe you difgraceme; a reproach which fel- dom fails to produce an amendment ; but, fliould it happen other- wife, the mother, as a lafl: refource, throws a little water on her face; a difgrace with which fhe is commonly fo much affedled, that fhe feldom ventures to do any thing that may fubjcifl her to a repetition of it. In Japan, the fame genllencfy muft be ufcd in the education of children; the punifhments inflided in moft other nations, only make them more ftubborn and rcfradory,; and fometimes there, 2 as OF WOMEN. as well as in America, have drove them to commit fuicide; a crime to which the Japanefe are addidied on the moft trifling affront; and which the Americans coolly and deliberately perpe- trate, when tired of life. This ftubbornnefs of temper is not pecu- liar to Japan, or to America; it feems either to depend on favagenefs of manners, or perhaps to be peculiar to fome diftind kinds of the human race ; as we may find it alfo in Greenland, and feveral other places ; even where the people have but little refemblance to each other in manners, cuftoms, or difpofition. Of all the ancient inhabitants of America, the Peruvians feem to have been the moft enlightened ; it has been fuppofed, that this was owing to their firft Inca being an European, accidentally fliipwrecked on their coaft. However this be, it is certain, that they greatly furpaffed all their countrymen in arts, in manners, and even in learning ; their Virgins of the Sun, in particular, were brought up in the temple dedicated to that luminary, with great care; and inftrudled by v/omen, appointed for the purpofe, in every female art and accomplishment known among them; and in the pradlice of the virtues of chaftity, honefly, and bene- volence ; virtues for which the ancient Peruvians were eminently diftlnguifhed. In Mexico, alfo, their young women of quality were educated by matrons, who overlooked their condud, with great circumfpe£tion. From thefe inftances it appears, that in South America, where they enjoy a milder climate, whofe fpon- taneous produdlions preclude the neceility of procuring fubfiflence by the perilous occupations of fifliing and hunting, their educa- tion too, is of a fofter nature than in North America; where ten- dernefs would effedually dilquaiify them for bearing the fa- tigues of their occupation, and the feverities of their climate. But while CHAP. II. 5^ T li E II I S T O R Y while the North Americans educate their young women in the hardy manner we have mentioned, they feem at the fame time to blend this education in fuch a manner, as if they would wifli to throw into the female compofition, fome of that foftucfs of manners and perfon, which men in all ages and nations have at leaf): had fome faint ideas of in the other fex. While their male children are young, they lay them on the fkins of panthers, that they may thereby acquire the ftrength, cunning, and agility of that animal. Their females they lay on the fkins of fawns, and other mild animals, that, like them, they may become foft, gea- tle, and engaging. Rea,!aions When wc take a retrofpedtive view of thefe (ketches of the on the edu- cation of wo- education of women, it affords matter of aftonifhment, that a fex, mcn» who are the fharers of our nature, and deflined to be the compa- nions of our lives, fliould have been conflantly either fhamefully negleded, or perverted by what was meant to ferve as inflrudion. In Europe, their education feems only calculated to infpire them with love of admiration, of trifling, and of amufcment. In moft other places of the globe, it goes a flep farther ; it tends to . adi- cate every moral fentiment, and introduce vice dreffed up in the garb of voluptuous refinement. Scarcely has there ever appeared in any period, or in any nation, a legiflator, who has made it the fubjedt of his ferious attention ; and the men in general, who are greatly interefled, that women fhould be fenfible and virtuous, feem, by their condud towards that fex, to have entered into a confpiracy to render them otherways. When fuch is the hard fate of women, we cannot wonder that the want of literary knowledge has in all ages marked the female 4 charader : O F W O M E N. 57 chara(3:er: there has, however, in all ages, and among all nations, been fome particular women, who either by being endowed with more genius, or by turning it into another channel, have ac- quired no incompetent (hare of the learning of the times in which they lived ; thus, though we have already feen that the Greek women were in general extremely ignorant, there were fome ex- ceptions to that common charadler. Arete, the daughter of Ari- ftippus, taught philofophy, and the fciences, to her fon ; who, on that account, was called Metrodidados ; i. e. taught by his mo- ther. Corinna, a Theban poetefs, no lefs than five times bore away the palm in triumph from the celebrated Pindar ; and Afpafia, a noble Milefian lady, inflruQed Pericles, the famous Athenian philofopher. We have already mentioned fome of the learned Roman ladies. France and England have had a Dacier, a Carter, and many others too tedious to mention. In Italy, where poets, a few centuries ago, were revered as divinities, feveral wo- men have arrived at no mean degree of reputation in that art ; and pur own times have feen the ceremony of a poetefs being folemnly crowned with laurel at Rome. These particular inftances, however, have no influence on the women in general. A genius of either fex, will infallibly foar above the common level ; but the herd of mankind, who feel not the fame impulfe, nor are aduated by the fame fire, will ftill jog on in the ordinary track; while our warmefl: wifhes are, that female education were an objed more confidered by the legiflature, and better planned by parents and guardians. We would not have it underftood as our opinion, that women fliould pore out their fair eyes ia becoming adepts in literature. Nature feems not Vol. I. I to 58 THEHISTORY to have intended them for the more intenfe and fevere ftudies ; befides, fhould they proceed (o far as to rival, or even to equal us in learning, we fliould perhaps grudge them the laurels of fame, as much as we do the breeches : and the gaining of thefe laurels would rob their brows of many of thofe charms, which to them are more valuable, as they are by us more efteemed. We pre- tend not to chalk out the plan in which women fliould be edu- cated ; only, this we venture to affirm, that it fliould, if poffible, be fuch as to avoid ignorance on the one hand, and pedantry on the other: ignorance makes a female companion contemptible, pedantry makes her ridiculous ; nor is it eafy to fay which of the two are mod difgufting. CHAP. OF WOMEN. CHAP. III. Of the Employments and Amufements of Women. IN every country, where civilization and culture have begun to CHAP, take place, and where the inhabitants are not obliged to be ^"' continually employed in procuring the neceffaries of life, women are confidered, not fo much as the partners of our toil and labour, as the fweetners of our pleafures and enjoyments : while we exert ourfelves abroad, in cultivating the fields, carrying on trades, and working at manufadures, we leave them at home to enjoy the fruits of our induftry ; when we return, we lay thefe fruits at their feet, happy ourlelves, if we can contribute to their hap- pinefs. Women, being thus exempted from the labour of procuring their fubfiftence, have a great deal of time upon their hands, which the domeftic duties that fall to their fhare are not fufEcient to fill up ; fuch is human nature, efpecially where the fpirits are adlive, and the imagination lively, that time of this kind is of all others the moft difagreeable : in order, therefore, to fill up this blank, as well as to vary the fcene of human life, a variety of lit- tle employments, diverfions, and amufements, have been con- trived ; many of them adapted to both fexcs, and fome of them to the fair fex only. In ftates of the moft favage barbarity, or in thefe but a few degrees removed from it, women being confidered only as the I 2 flaves 50 6o THEHISTORY CHAP, flaves and drudges of the men, and as the means of perpetuating; 111. . . *— V ' their race, are deAined only to labour in their fields, or in their houfes, and to bring up their children. Thus, conftantly em- ployed, they have but little time; and conftantly deprefled, they have but little inclination for amuferaent: in fuch ftates and con- ditions of human nature, we fliall therefore meet with few female diverfions, and thefe too, only fuch as feem to Ijave arifcn from nature, or from chance, and not from any exertion of genius or refinement in the purfult of pleafure. In the Eaft, where women are exempted from labour ; not becaufe they are efteemed and regarded, but becaufe it would render them lefs delicate inftruments of thefe voluptuous jileafures in which the Eafterns place their chiefeft happincfs ; they are confined to feraglios and harams, where neither their employ- ments nor araufements can admit of much variety; and where a large portion of their time is confumed in regret, or flumbered away in that foft indolence and relaxation of body and mind, which the inhabitants of the banks of the Ganges reckon the higheft felicity that can be attained in this world, and the chief, ingredient in the beatitude of that which is to come. Diverfois As the neceflities of nature muft be fatisfied before any other ments, the appetite can be formed, or objeft fixed upon, employments mufl wMtofidle- therefore have been every where prior to amufements, which could only come in as fecondary confiderations. Accordingly we advance many centuries into the hiftory of the world, before we have any account of amufements, and many of the firft ages of barbarity; the fubfequent ones of care and fimplicity, after the firft foundation of Hates, generally pafs away, before they have time. OF \V O M E N. 6i time to think of, or inclination to almofl: any dlverfion or amiife- ^ ^^^'^ ^^ ment. Private and trifling dlverfions may arife from merrinefs of > — -v— — / heart ; public ones are only founded on idlenefs and affluence. In the earlier ages of antiquity, it was not inconfiflent with women of the higheft dignity, to a€t in what we would reckon the meaneft en!ployed.°^ of menial employments. Gideon and Arunah affifted in the va- rious labours of hufbandry. Abraham went and brought a calf from the flock, i2:inned it, and gave it to his wife, who drefl"ed it : then he himfelf took butter and milk, and the calf which he had dreflTed ; fet them before the angels, and flood by them under a tree ; a cuftom to this day continued among many of the eaflern nations, elpcciallyin thel/evant; where nothing is more common than to fee their princes fetch home from their flocks, and klU, whatever they hive pitched upon for the ufe of their families ; while the princeflcs their wives, or daughters, prepare a fire, and perform the office of an European cook-maid. We fhall have occafion to fee afterward, that fuch employments were not peca^ liar to the people, nor to the ages we are confidering. Another part of female employment in the earlier ages, wa& grinding of corn : the ancients had not, and in many countries they ftill have not, mills fo conftruded as to go by wind or water : theirs were only two fmall ftones. the uppermoft of which was turned by the hand, a taflj. generally performed by two women. Such were ufed in Egypt in the time of Pharaoh ; for Mofes, in the relation of the plagues which infefted that country on account of the Ifraelites, favs, that the firft-born throughout all the land died, from the firfl:-born of Pharaoh who was upon the throne, to the firfl:-born of the maid-fervant that was behind the mill. They were ufed in the time of our Saviour, who fays, "two "" womea. C2 THEHISTORY C n ^ P, "■ ^;^'omen (liall be grinding at the mill ; the one (hall be taken, V ,-' ■■ " and the other left." They are iifcd at this day, all over the Levant, and even in the north of Scotland ; where the women who turn them, have a particular fong which they then fing, in- tended perhaps to divert them from thinking on the feverity of their labour. When the women had grinded the corn into meal, it was likewife their province to make it into bread. Sarah was ordered by her hufband, when he entertained the angels, to make cakes for them. Cakes, among many of the ancients, were offered on the altars of their gods, from which cuftom even the Ifraelites did not altogether abftain ; as the fcriptures frequently inform us, that their women baked cakes to the Queen of Heaven. Pasturage was almofl: the only method of fubfiftence in the times we are fpeaking of; and the women of every rank and con- dition, as well as the men, were not exempted from attending on the flocks, drawing water for them to drink, and doing all the other offices which the nature of fuch an employment required. Pafturage obliged the ancient Ifraelites, arid other inhabitants of the Eaft, to embrace a wandering life, that they might procure frcfh food for their flocks. Inftead, therefore, of dwelling in houfes, as we do, they ereded only tents, for the convenience of frequent removals : thefe tents were made of camel's hair and wool, the fpinning and weaving of which was a part of the oc- cupation of iheir women; and from the time that cloth was fub- flitutcd as a covering for the body, inflead of the fkins of ani- mals, the whole operation of making it devolved alfo on the women, who weavcd it in the moft fimple manner, by condudl- ing the woof with their fingers, inftead of a fhuttle. In O F W O M E N. 6j In countries where the arts are but in their infancy, every man is generally his own artificer. The men make the various inflru- ments which they employ in their work, and the women make the cloth for covering themfelves and their families : but in the days of Mofes, the Ifraelitcs feem to have been advanced a few degrees beyond this ftate. Metallurgy feems to have made a con- fiderable progrefs : even in the time of Abraham, they had in- ftruments, probably of fteel, for fheerlng their flieep : Abraham had a fabre, which he drew to facrifice his fon Ifaac. And they had even arrived to works of tafte in gold and in filver : they muft therefore have been at this period more advanced in the arts, than the Greeks at the time of the fiege of Troy, whofe arms and fhields were only made of copper ; or than many favage na- tions at this time, whofe arms are only hardened wood, fom.e- times pointed with flints, or bones of animals. Such only is the imperfed account we are enabled to give of Amufementa female employments in the patriarchal ages. Their amufements oflnVq^ay'^ and diverfions, if they had any, are ftill involved in deeper ob- knoJ^"n'^ fcurity. Almoft in every period, and among every people, how- ever wild and uncultivated, we find fome rudiments of finging and dancing : poems, containing the principal circumftances of the hif- tory of their country, and the praife of their gods and heroes, were in ufe among the ancient Phoenicians, Arabians, Chinefe, Greeks, Mexicans, "&c. It is probable, therefore, that the ancient Ifrael- itifti women amufed themfelves with llnging the fongs of their poets; which, among them as well as among their neighbours, were chiefly compofed either in praife of the Deity, to thank him for fome remarkable deliverance, or to celebrate fome martial at- chievement of themfelves or their anceftors. And that thefe poems 8 were 64 THEHISTORY were not always compofed, nor always fung, by the men only, ap- pears evident from the fong of Barak and Deborah, handed down to us by Mofes. Jubal, the brother of Tubal Cain, had long before this time invented mufical inftruments : it is not therefore impro- bable, that the Ifraelitifli women accompanied their fongs with in- ftrumentalmufic ; a cuftom we often meet with in early ages, and among uncultivated people. Besides the recital of fongs and poems, we may reckon dancing among the female diverfions of the times we are reviewing. David danced before the ark of the Lord ; and we find old Bar- zilai bewailing his incapacity for that exercife, in a manner that lliewed how much it was the favourite, and perhaps the religious, diverfion of the times in which he lived. As women are gene- rally at all times, and particularly while in the bloom of youth and beauty, more cheerful, light-hearted, and given to the fportive amufemeats, than men ; it is highly probable, that they did not fit inadive fpec^ators of a diverfion'fo much in ufe : and on fome feftival occafions, efpecially flieep-fheering, we have the ftrongeft reafons to believe, that there were promifcuous meetings, where both fexes rejoiced, made merry, and perhaps danced together. Dancing is perhaps not lefs ancient than fongs, nor lefs pradtifed by favage nations, over whom mufic has commonly a power, to which even the moft delicate Italian ear is a ftranger. It elevates them to cxtacy, and often prompts them to exert themfelves till they fall down breathlcfs. Even the wretches who, in America, fmart under the rod of European flavery, though fo difpirited, as in appearance to have bid an eternal farewell to happinefs and pleafure, ftart up at the power of mufic, and dance as if their bodies were ftrangers to pain, and their hearts to forrow. In O F W O M E N. 65 In the times we are confidering, games of chance were not known ; and even in the days of Solomon, who with an unheard- . I'liji-rir- Theatricalen- cf degree of magnificence and hbertinifm had indulged himfelf tenainment^ in every vanity, and in every delight, neither games nor theatri- chance'n"t cal entertainments feem to have been introduced. If we may ''°°*^"- credit the commentators on the Talmud, all kinds of games and fpedlacles were not only forbid, butabhorredby every goodlfraelite, on account of the judgments which had fallen upon fuch as had ventured to be prefent at them among the neighbouring nations. The comment on the book of Ruth introduces old Naomi difluad- ing her daughter-in-law from returning into the land of Ifrael, becaufe women were not there allowed to go to the theatres, as among the Gentiles. The Jewifh comment on the Lamentations of Jeremiah, introduces the church of that people expoftulating with God, that fhe had never indulged herfelf in entering into fuch prophane places ; and the Talmud itfelf exprefsly forbidsi that they fhould enter them on any confideration whatever. On this, and fome other accounts, it would feem, that the amufements of the women, in the times we are fpeaking of, were but few and fimple. Perhaps one of the moft common was, regaling themfelves in the open air, as the fcripture exprefl'es it, *' every one under his own vine, and under his own fig-tree ;" a cuftom as ancient as Abraham, and at this day almofl: the only amufement pradlifed in the Eaft ; where the heat of the climate difpofes more to relaxation in the fliade, than to the fportive diver- fions ufed by the adlive inhabitants of colder regions. We are informed by Herodotus, that in Egypt the employments of the women, like moft of the other cuftoms of that people, Vol. I. K were 66 T ir E H I S T O R Y T^ere totally different from what they were in other countries. We have already mentioned, that the Egyptian women were occu- pied abroad in trade, merchandife, and agriculture; and we now add, that, according to this author, they left all the domeftic em- ployments and cares to their men. Wc arc, however, rather of opinion, that this was not ftridlly the cafe : the mercantile cara- vans, which travelled in places fo rude and unhofpitable as the neighbourhood of Egypt, were probably not compofed of women; the fine linen, for which Egypt was fo remarkable, was probably not fpun by men, who feem by nature to have an abhorrence at the diftaff. 13ut as the divifion of the employments of life be- tween the two fcxes, in this country, is by the difagreement of au- thors involved in fo much doubt and obfcurity, at a period fo dif- tant, we cannot pretend to throw any light upon the fubjedl. Fpyptianwo- From the faint glimmerings of ancient hiftory it would feem, amofements. that the public amufements and diverfions of the Egyptians were only a kind of religious feflivals, which they celebrated with finging, dancing, feafling, and pompous proceflions ; in which the women bore a great part, and being adorned with a variety of flowers and garlands, carried in their hands things fymbolical of the feftival they were celebrating. Befides the joining in thefe public proceflions, women of dirtindion ufed to keep their birth- days with feafling and rejoicing. On the birth-day of a queen, or of a daughter of Egypt, the whole court was treated in a mag- nificent manner, and paid their compliments to the lady on whofe account they were afl'embled. Great men followed the example of their prince, called together their friends and dependents, and fpent the birth-days of their wives and daughters in mirth and feftivity. With regard to the private amufements of the Egyp- tian natioi s. O F \V O M E N. 6y tian women, hiftory is entirely filent. It is probable, however, chap. that among a people fo highly cultivated, they were not altogether «_ -.- _p without fome of thefe fportivedivcrfions, which tend to invigorate the body by unbending the mind. From the Egyptians till we come to the heroic arres, we only E.mp!oymen's <^-' ' D ' J of toe women meet with a few fcattcred hints concerning the manner in which of 'o""e other women employed or amufed themfelves. The Phoenician women, whofe hufbands were famous for trade and navigation, are faid to have fpent much of their time in writing and keeping of thefe accounts, without which trade cannot be properly managed. The Lybian women, warlike as their hufbands, dedicated a great part of their time to feats of arms, and to the chace : even their amufements were fome of them calculated to inftil a martial fpirit : one tribe, in their country, annually celebrated a feftival in honour of Minerva, in which the young women divided into two parties, and fought with fticks and flones, till one of the parties was de- feated. As this annual conflidt was fought in honour of the god- defs, they imagined that all the wounds received in it were under her peculiar care ; and that (lie interefted herfelf fo much in their cure, that flie fuffered none to die of them, but fuch as had for- feited their title to her favour by the lofs of their virginity. It is probable, that thefe wounds were feldom of confequence enough to become mortal ; and when they were, it was eafy to fix this fligma of female levity on the unhappy fufTerer, who could not rife from the dead to vindicate her injured reputation. Thus, though we can confider the inftitution in no other light than a piece of ftate policy, it was excellently calculated to prefervc chaftity : not to join in the engageqient was a tacit acknowledg- ment of unchaftity ; to be wounded in it, was coafidered as cer- K 2 tain 68 THEHISTORY tain death to her who was fo. Few women, therefore, would rifque themfelves, who were confcious of being guihy ; few wo- men would dare to be guilty, when it was reckoned fo impoffible to avoid a difcovery. In what manner the women of the Syrians, Babylonians,. Medes, and Perfians, who are almoft the only nations which make any figure in the periods we are reviewing, were employed, is nearly all conjecture. We may, however, venture to affirm, that among the opulent they were not put to any fervile or laborious tafks ; as fuch would have been altogether inconfiftent with the delicacy in which they were brought up, and the extraordinary finery with which they were decorated. As the Babylonians were famous for their manufa£lures of rich embroidery, fumptuous veftments, fine linen, magnificent carpets and hangings ; and as weaving, embroidery, and other works of the like nature, were a principal part of the occupation of women, in the periods we are confidering, we may reafonably conjcdure, that they were employed in fabricating of thefc, as well as in preparing that finery with which they ornamented their perfons. We have rea- fon alfo to fuppofe, that in nations fo rich and luxurious as thofe we have mentioned, where women were brought up in the lap of eafe and indulgence, they would have feveral public as well as private amufements ; but what thefe were, or how conduced, it is in vain for us at this period to attempt to difcover. We are informed, that the Babylonians had a great variety of mufical in- ftruments ; and as mufic is a recreation well adapted to the fenti- mental feelings of the female heart, it is probable, their women did not negledl it. The Medes and Perfians were alfo famous for mufic and dancing. Mufic, among them, was called in to heighten -7 the. O F W O M E N. 69 C FI A P. the pleafure of the feftive board ; at which they fung, and played upon inftruments, the monarchs themfelves fometimes taking a part in this, as well as in every other thing which promoted mirth and jollity. We are inclined to believe, that it was among the Medes and Perfians that the cuftom was firft introduced of bring- ing in finging and dancing women, in order to divert a company. Among the nations which have been hitherto mentioned, we orruhfequent periods. could do little more than obferve in general, that fuch was the employment, and fuch the amufement of the fair fex. Defcend- ing to periods lefs remote, we meet with defcripiions more parti- cular. In the Lefler Afia, where it would feem that women were far from being fo much defpifed and neglected, as in many other parts of the world, even thofe of the firft quality were not afhamed to perform the office of a waflierwoman. We fhall af- terwards have occafion to take notice of the fame cuftom in Greece. The Grecian wives and daughters, of whatever quality, were not, in the heroic ages, brought up in idlenefs. Penelope, queen of the famous Ulyfres, is fo frequently introduced by Homer at her loom, that almoft every one has heard the ftory of Penelope's web ; a ftory which has been frequently applied to the flow and thriftlefs operations of the women of our modern times. The famous Helen, while confined by the befiegers of Troy, employed herfelf in an extraordinary piece of embroidery, which reprefented moft of the battles fought between the Greeks and Trojans : and Andromache, when fhe heard of the death of Hedor, embroidered a repre- fentation of that tragical fcene, and adorned it with flowers. But fuch foft employments, fuch works of tafte, were not the fole oc- cupations of the women in the times we are delineating. The fame Andromache, who with her needle painted the fall of the hero- 70 TH£ HISTORY CHAP. Jiero of her country, was not afhan^ed to feed, and take care of, V— — >, — J the horfes of that hero when living. BtsiuF.s the arts of weaving and embroidery, which were not unknown to the women in the times of Mofes, the Grecian fair ones employed themfelves in fpinning, which they performed {landing, and in every other branch of the manufa£ture of cloth ; a cuflom which was not obliterated even in the moft poliflied times of their ftates. Alexander the Great, and many others of their heroes and flatcfmcn, wore garments, fpun and woven by their wives and fiflers : and this appears to have been the practice of the earlicfl antiquity, as we find Solomon, in his praifes of a vir- tuous woman, enumerating, among her other qualities, that of clothing her hufband in purple and fcarlet. The Greek women had particular rooms allotted to their work, near the apartments where they lodged. When they were refpeded by their hufbands, and not given to intriguing, the provifion and management of all neceflaries within doors were committed to them. Of the Greek As the Greek ladies were almofl; conflantly employed, and as women. voluntary employment often banifties even every wifh of pleafure and diffipation, we have reafon to believe that they had few, if any, private diverllons or amufements ; which are generally the offspring of idlenefs, as appears plainly from the difference, in this refpcdl, between the women and the men ; the former, as we have obfcrvcd, being fully employed, had no need of amufements ; the latter being frequently, and, in Sparta, even by law obliged to be conflantly idle, were thereby induced to have recourfe to games and fports of various kinds to fill up their vacant hours, and prevent that uncomfortable tedium which fo conflantly at- .•? tends OF W O M E N. 71 tends idlenefs : to fome of thefe public fports the women were admitted, and from others excluded by the fevereft penalties. Their legiflator pofTibly imagined, that fhould they be indifcrimi- natcly admitted to all the amufements of the men, they would ac- quire an unfuitablc boldnefs, and negled the feveral duties and offices required of them at home. To what we have here obferved the Spartan women are, however, an objedlion : we have already feen, that they amufed themfelves with the mafculine exercifes of wreftling, throwing darts, &c. But this is not all : they were obliged to appear naked at fome of their folemn feafts and facri- fices, and to dance and fing, while the young men ftood in a cir- cle around them ; an amufement highly indelicate, or, if a reli- gious ceremony, only worthy of the Cyprian goddefs. In the earlier periods, while the Greeks found abundance of employment in procuring fubfiftence, in plundering their neigh- bours, or avenging their own quarrels ; they had but few gods, and, hardly, perhaps, any feftivals befides that of the vintage, when they ufed to make merry together with the fruits they had gathered. In the latter, when they became idle, by devolving all their labour upon flaves, and their gods had increafed almoft to the number of their men, the feftivals celebrated in honour of them became alfo nearly innumerable, and were many of them accompanied with dancings, revcllings, pompous proceffions, and other oftentatious ceremonies : into ahnoft all of them the women were not only admitted, but in feveral of them aded a principal part, as fingers, dancers, prieftefles, &c. When, therefore, the inftitutions of a religion are in this manner more calculated to. attract the eye, than to amend the heart ; when, inftead of focial and moral duties, they prcfcribe gaudy proceflions, and oftenta- tious. 72 THE HISTORY tlous ceremonies ; thefe in a great meafure fupply, and are actu- ally turned into public diverfions and amufements. This fceins to have been remarkably the cafe in Greece ; where, though every one of their numerous feftivals vcas inftituted in honour of fome god, or in commemoration of fomeihing which they fancied was conneded with religion, they often loft fight of the original infli- tution amid the glare of oftentatious ceremony with which it was celebrated. Another caufe, which contributed to make the religious fefti- vals of the Greeks be confidered as amufements and diverfions, was that ridiculous buffoonery which conftituted fo great a part of them: it would be tedious to enumerate one half of thefe buf- fooneries ; let a few fcrve as a fpccimen. At a feftival held in ■honour of Bacchus, the women ran about for a long time feeking the god, who, they pretended, had run away from them : this done, they pafled their time in propofing riddles and queftions to each other, and laughing at fuch as could not anfwer them ; and at laft often clofed the fcene with fuch enormous exceffes, that at one of thefe feftivals, the daughters of Minya, having in their madnefs killed Hippafus, had him drefled and ferved up to table as a rarity. At another, kept in honour of Venus and Adonis, they beat their breafts, tore their hair, and mimicked all the figns of the moft extravagant grief, with which they fuppofed thegod- defs to have been affeded on the death of her favourite paramour. At another, in honour of the nymph Cotys, they addreffed her as the goddefs of wantonnefs with many myfterious rites and cere- monies. At Corinth, thefe rites and ceremonies, being perhaps thought inconfiftent with the charadcr of modeft women, this feftival was only celebrated by harlots. Athenxus mentions a feftival, O F W O M E N. 73 feftlval, at which the women laid hold on all the old bachelors ^ ^^^ P. they could find, and dragged them round an altar; beating them ' y ■',. / all the time with their fills, as punifliment for their negled of the fex. We fhall only mention two more ; at one of which, after the aflembly had met in the temple of Ceres, the women fhut out all the men and dogs, themfelves and the bitches remaining in the temple all night : in the morning, the men were let in, and the time was fpent in laughing together at the frolic. At the other, in honour of Bacchus, they counterfeited frenzy and madnefs ; and to make this madnefs appear the more real, they ufed to eat the raw and bloody entrails of goats newly flaughtered. And, in- deed, the whole of the feftivals of Bacchus, a deity much wor- fliipped in Greece, were celebrated with rites either ridiculous, obfcene, or madly extravagant. There were others, however, in honour of the other gods and goddefles, which were more de- cent, and had more the appearance of religious folemnity, though even in thefe, the women drefled out in all their finery; and adorned with flowers and garlands, either formed fplendid procef- lions, or aflifted in performing ceremonies; the general tendency of which was to amufe rather than inftrud. Wherever women are advanced a few degrees above the mofl Roman wc- abjedt flavery, nothing is more natural to them than a conflant employed, endeavour to attrad the attention of our fex, by a difplay of their native charms, fet off to the befl: advantage by drefs and ornament. But it is only in ftates polifhed to excefs, that they have imagined, that to drefs, to ornament themfelves, and difplay all their charms, are the only things with which they have any bufinefs or concern in this world. Such, as we have now feen, were not the ancient Creeks, nor fuch were the Romans in the early periods of their Vol. I. L empire. 74 T II E li I S T O R Y *- HA p. empire. Taiiaquil, the queen of Tarquin, one of the firfl and bed ^— ,^- — ' kings of Rome, was admitted to public honours on account of the ufe fhe had made of her diftaff ; and Lucretia, whofe tragical ftory is fo well known in the Roman liiftory, when her hnfband and fome friends with him, unexpededly arrived from the army in the middle of the night, was found with her maids fpinning and working in wool ; and the general practice of this period, as well among the Romans as the Greeks and other nations, was, that the women manufadured all the cloaths ufed by their hufbands and families ; not thinking the ufeful and necefTary arts of life fo in- compatible with elegance and grandeur as they began to do after- wards, and as they unfortunately do ftill in our modern times : but while their hufbands and relations were labouring for, or de- fending them abroad, they at home were providing them with cloaths and other neceffaries, according to their rank, and the fafhion of their country, and thus mutually forwarding one com- mon intereft; but in fubfequent periods, when luxury, with its numerous train of attending evils, had crept into Rome, the wo- men became by degrees lefs ufeful, and ceaied to be employed ia proportion as they were diverted and amufed. History, fo far as we know, has not acquainted us, whe- ther the Roman ladies had any private diverfions : their public ones were fuch as were common to both fexes ; as bathing, thea- trical reprcfentations, horfe-races, fliows of wild beaRs, fighting with one another; and fometimes with men, whom the emperorft in the plenitude of their defpotic power ordered to engage them ; naval battles, and gladiators hacking one another to pieces. The Romans, of both fexes, fpent a great deal of time at the baths j which at firft, perhaps, were interwoven with their religion, at hft,. O F W O M E N. 7S lafV, were only confidered as refinements in luxury ; they were ^ '^j^j^ ''" places of public refort, where all the news of the times were to be v—— .^— ' heard, where people met with their acquaintances and friends, where public libraries were kept for fuch as chofe to read, and where poets recited their works to fuch as would hear. In the earlier periods of Rome, feparate baths were appropriated to each fex ; but luxury beginning by degrees to thruft out decency, they at laft came to bathe promifcuoufly together; the men, however, being drefled and undrefled by the men; and the women, follow- ing the example, by thofe of their own fex alfo. The emperor Adrian prohibited this indecent manner of bathing, and re-efta- blifhed the feparate baths ; inclination, by degrees, overcame the prohibition, and Marcus Aurelius renewed it. Heliogabalus, the patron of gluttony and indecorum, formally abolifhed it ; and it was again renewed under Alexander Severus. But debauchery was by this time become too powerful to be reftrained bylaw; and in fpite of every effort, promifcuous bathing continued till the timeof Conftantine ; who finally annulled it, by adding the pre- cepts of Chriftianity to the legiflative authority. There were likewife at Rome public walks, planted on each fide with rows of trees, as in modern times; to which both fexes reforted in the evenings, to walk and amufe themfelves. The emperors fome- times alfo gave lotteries ; in which the women had tickets, that entitled them to prizes. In fliort, fo much did the Roman women recede from the cuftom of antiquity, in mixiag themfelves with the men, that at laft there was hardly an amufement, a bufinefs, or debauchery, in which they v»'ere not engaged, either as par- ties or fpedators. L * CHAP. 76 THEHISTORY CHAP. IV. The fame Sithjecl continued. MEN, though in many refpeds exaclly fimilar in all ages and countries, in others are fo dlffimilar, that they can hardly be confidcred as the fame kind of beings ; their fimilarity is in all times and places the effe£l of nature; their diffimilarity the effedl of art, and of the habits and cuftoms which have arifen from it. Thefe every where govern and dire£t more than one half of their thoughts and actions, lay them under obligations ftronger than the laws of their country; and in many cafes obliterate even the laws of nature. Such was the cafe with the Roman women at the public baths ; fuch is the cafe at prefent in Rufiia, and many other parts of the world ; where female modefly not only gives place to cuftom, but, by cuflom, is in time entirely eradicated. As the other articles, which we mentioned in the lift of diver- fions and amufements of the Roman ladies, are already fo well known, we fhall not enter into a particular detail of them. When from the Romans we turn our eyes towards thefe nations, who afterwards overturned their empire, we find them, though by the Romans denominated barbarians, in many circumftances, lefs de- ferving of that contemptible epithet th.in thefe infolent depopula- tors of the world. We find their women placing no fmall fliare of female excellence in the exercife of the domefiic, and ftill more in that of the conjugal virtues: we find that their mothers had early in- ftilled O F W O M E N. -j-j Hilled into their minds that modefly, which more than any orna- ^ ^^^ P* ments adorned ; and that frugality and induftry, which in a bar- ren climate, and alinoft unaflifted by the men, maintained them. Their employment was not only to take care of, and jnanage all the douefiic concerns ot the family, hut alfo to provide what- ever could be obtained by peaceful induftry ; for their hufbands, inclined only to occupy themfelves in war and hunting, left every thing elfe to the conduct and diredion of their wives. The Celtcs, Gauls, Germans, and perhaps every other north- ern people, deemed agriculture an ignoble profeffionj only fit forflaves and women: even the Vifigoths, on the coafts of Spain, devolved the care of their flocks and their fields on their women, and encouraged them to fupport the fatigue of managing them, by eftablifhing annual affemblies, in which thofe women who had moft diftinguiftied themfelves in agriculture received public ap- plaufe. The men, In all the nations we have mentioned, counted it only glorious to live by the fword and the bow, and confe- quently, when not engaged in war, or in the chafe, funk into flothful indolence; and could only be faid to live, becaufe they ate, drank, and flept. Every neceflary work being thus left to the women, they were perhaps fo fully employed as to have no time for any thing elfe ; if they had any diverfions or amufe- ments, as they had no hiftorians, and as thofe of other nations were but imperfeClly acquainted with their manners, we have no account of them. We {hall afterwards have occafion to relate, that the far greater Enftemwo- c \ c 1 r • /I r A r • ia • • n men, ho« em- part or the temale lex in Alia, Africa, and America, are in a itate pioyeJ. of the mud abjedt flavery, and employed only in the execution of every 78 T II E II I S T O R Y every flavifli and laborious taflc. We fliall not therefore now take up the difmal tale, but content ourfelves with mentioning a few particulars only, and thefe chiefly fuch as relare to women, who are the leaft cxpofcd to feel the oppreflive effedls of defpotifm. The Hindoo women, the Mahommedans of Bengal, Naugaracut, Labor, and feveral other places of the Eaft, are, in general, not fo much opprefled by flavery, as in many parts of Africa and America ; becaufe, in the former places, they are confidered only as an article of delicacy and pleafure i in the latter, only as the Haves of their lords, and the breeders of children. To the women of Hindoftan, we owe a great part of thefe works of tafle fo elegantly executed on the manufadlures of the Eaft ; the beautiful colourings and exquifitc defignings of their printed cottons ; all the embroidery, and a part of that filligree work, which fo much exceeds any thing in Europe. The deficiency of tafte therefore, with which we fo commonly charge them, does not feem to be fo much a defedt of nature as of education: brought up in luxurious indolence, ex- cluded from all the bufy fcenes of life, and like children provided with all thofe things, the acquifition of which calls forth the powers of the mind and body, they feldom have any motive to exert themfelves ; but when fuch a motive exifls, they have of- ten exhibited the moft convincing proofs of their ability. Mher- ul-Nilfa, who v?as afterward the favourite Sultana of Jehangire, emperor of Hindoftan, being, with feveral female flaves, at firft fhut up in a defpicable apartment of the feraglio, on the comfort- lefs allowance of two fhillings per day, in order to raifc her own reputation, and to fupport herfelf and flaves in a better manner than that fcanty pittance would admit of, began to call forth the powers of tafte and invention, which had hitherto lain dormant : jQie produced feme admirable pieces of tapeftry and embroidery, 6 painted O F \V O M E N. 79 painted filks, with the moft exquifite delicacy; and invented a chap. variety of female ornaments, fuperior to thofe in common ufe ; <- — ^~,»^ thefe being bought up with avidity over all the city of Delhi, made her ^o famous, that the Sultan paid her a vifit ; and capti- vated with her fenfe and her charms, from that moment became her flave. Such are the female employments of the Eaft; they are nearly the fame among the Turks now fettled in Europe; every Turkifh feraglio or haram has a garden adjoining to it, and in the middle of this garden a large room, more or lefs decorated, according to the weahh of the proprietor ; here the ladies fpend moft of their time with their attendant nymphs around them, employed at their mufic, embroidery, or loom ; nor (hould we wonder, if in thefe retreats they find more real pleafure and enjoyment, than in the unbounded freedom of Europe, where love, intereft, and ambi- tion, fo often deftroy their peace ; and where fcandal, with her envenomed {hafts, too often ftrikes equally at guilt and inno- cence. So little do the writers of voyages and travellers know what Luxurious palTes in the penetralia of the harams of the Eaft, and fo private are thefe recedes kept even from the eye of fpeculative intrufion, that our knowledge of what is going forward within them is ex- ceedingly imperfect : this only in general feems certain, that the ladies of the great, fpend their time lolling on filken fophas, bath- ing in rofe water, perfuming themfelves with coftly eflences, and adorning their perfons, folicitous by every method to attradl the attention, and obtain the greateft fl^are of the conjugal favour . ©f their Lord. PubUc amufementsthey have none ; as thefe would neceflarily 8o T H E H I S T O R Y ^ ^ ^^ P- ncccfrarlly expofe them to be feen ; a thing which, through ciif- *— — V — — ' torn, the women ihemfclves feeni little lefs afraid of than the jea- lous tyrants who confine them. In the empire of the Mogul, the women are often called into the apartments of the men after flipper, where they fpend the remain- der of the evening in regaling themfelves with betel *, with a few of the liquors of the country, and in converfation ; but inthefe cafes they are conflantly veiled ; and to offer to unveil, or even to touch one of them, would be confidercd as the greatcfl: rudcncfs; and perhaps puniflied with immediate ftabbing. At court they arc frequently admitted into a gallery, with a curtain before them» through which, without being feen, they can fee and hear what- ever pafles. It has fometimes happened, that the throne has been occupied by a woman, who never appearing in open court, ifTued her imperial mandates from behind this curtain ; like an invifible being producing the greateft effeds, while the caufe of them was wrapt in darknefs and obfcurity. Dancng, an At Conftantinople, where the inhabitants ftill retain the man- amtifsinent in r i r ■ i • n i /- > *r many places, ners of the Afiatics, and m moll places of the Levant, the Turks, who love indolent amufements, chufe out in the evening a green fpot, in fome thick fhade, in which they fpread a carpet; and fitting down crofs-legged together, men and women upon it, divert themfelves with drinking coffee and fherbet, while their female flaves attend round them to play, fing, or dance, as they fhall diredl; the miftrefs, or lady, of the firft quality in the party, often leading the dance, in the fame manner as Diana is faid to • Betel is a root, which ihe Earterns make ufe of as the Europeans do tobacco; it is chewed by all ranks, and by men, women, and children. 7 have OF WO M EN. 8] have done with her Nymphs on the banks of the Eurotas. But ^ ^ J^ ^• though women of rank, at Conftantinople, may lead off a dance, fuch does not feem to be the general pra£tice of the Afiatics, from whom ihey are defccndcd ; at leafi, they do not dance for amufe- ment; it is true, the Mogul emperors often make their wives and concubines dance before them, and the other great men imitate their example; but this is not a voluntary a£l of the women; it is what they are obliged to by the command of a fuperior; and when this fuperior retires, they exercife the fame authority over their own flaves, who are alfo obliged to dance for their amufe- ment. We have already feen, in the beginning of this chapter, that dancing was pradifed in an early period in the Eaft ; and we find that it fcill prevails among all nations, rude and cultivated ; only with this difference, that the rude dance to fliew their ftrength and agility; the cultivated for exercife, and to fhevv the gracefulnefs of their perfons and motions ; and fo much are man- kind almofl; every where delighted with dancing, that the indigent in many places have converted it into a trade, from which they derive no uncomfortable fubfifl:ence. In the neighbourhood of Surat, the Hindoos have many mag- nificent temples; and in every temple are a number of Bramlns or prlefts, dedicated to the fervice of the god there worfliipped. A part of that fervice confifts in dancing on religious affemblics, and other folemn occafions ; and thefe dances are performed by young women, the mofi: handfome and beautiful in the country *. Thefe refide in the temple, and are by the Bramins carefully col- * When Mamood firft took the magnificent temple of Samnat, he found there five hun- dred dancing girls, and three hundred muficians. Vol. I. M leded 82 THEHISTORY Ie«n.ed from every place, where their own influence, or the vene- ration of their temple reaches. In order to induce them to enter into this fervicc, hefides the immenfe rewards held out to them in the world to come, they have fome peculiar privileges in this. They may leave the temple when they pleafe ; and being accounted holy, they are then eagerly fought after in marriage, and have the pre- ference in this refpelic aflcmblies. Thefc beautiful girls are conftantly followed by an old deformed mufi- cian, vpho beats time with a brazen inflrument, called' a Tom; and continually at every ftroke repeats the word Tom with fuch vociferation, that he foon works himfelf into a kind of phrenzy ; the Balliaderes, at the fame time eager to pleafe, and intoxicated with the mufic, and the fmell of the effences with which they are perfumed, foon after begin to be in the fame ftate : their dances are in. general exprefTive of the paflion of love, and they manage them fo as to give, even the moft ignorant, tolerable ideas of that paflion in all its difi^erent fituations and circumflances j and fo great O F \V O M E N. 83 IV. great is their beauty, fo voluptuous their figure, fo rich and in- ^ 'J '^ ^' genioufly contrived their drefs, that they feldom perform. without drawing together a numerous croud of fpeclators. Strolling female dancers, who live by that profefTion, are not, however, peculiar to the Eaft Indies ; they have of late been met with in Otaheite, and feveral other places ; but befides their ftrolling dancers in Otaheite, they have a dance called Timoradee, which the young girls perform, whenever eight or ten of them can be got together; it confifls in every motion, gefture, and tone of voice that is truly lafcivious;' and being brought up to it from their childhood, in every motion, and in every gefture, they keep time with an exadtnefs fcarcely excelled by the moft expert ftage- dancers of Europe. But though this diverfion is allowed to the virgin, it is prohibited to the wife ; who, from the moment of marriage, muft abftain from it for ever. That fuch women as have rather been the outcafts of fortune, and are confequently obliged to exert themfelves, in order to gain a fuhfiftence, fhould make dancing a profeflion, and exhibit their performances for money, has nothing in it extraordinary ; but that both men and women, who reckon themfelves fo far above want, as to be afhamed to perform for hire, fhould become ftroll- ing dancers from choice, in fome degree excites our aftonifhment, as being perfedly inconfiftent with the ideas which we entertain in Europe. Such, however, in the ifland of Ulietea, were met with by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, who have given the follow- ing defcription of them : " In the courfe of our walk, we met " with a company of ftrolling dancers, who detained us two hours; " and during all that time afforded us great entertainment ; the M 2 " company 84 T II E II 1 S T O R Y " company confiRed of two women dancers, and (\k men, with " three drums: they were fome of the moR confiderable people of *' the ifland ; and though they were continually going from place *' to place, they did not, like the flrolling companies of Otaheite, " take any gratuity from the fpcflators. The women had upon " their heads a confiderable quantity of plaited hair, which was *' brought feveral times round their head, and adorned in many " parts with the flowers of the Cape JefTamine, which were fluck " in with much tafle, and made a head-drefs truly elegant; their ** necks, flioulders, and arms, were naked; fo were their breafts, " as low as the parting of the arm; below that they were covered '^^ withblack cloth, which fat clofe to the body; at the fide of each " breaft, next the arm, was placed a fmall plume of black feathers ; *' upon their hips refted a quantity of cloth, plaited very full ; " it reached up to the breafl, and fell down below into long- *' petticoatij; thefe quite concealed their feet; which they ma- " naged with as much dexterity as our opera-dancers could have- " done ; the plaits above the waift were brown and white alter- " nately, the petticoats below were all white. " In this drefs they advanced fideways, in a meafured ftep, " keeping excellent time to the drums, which beat brifkly and " loud; foon after they began to fliake their hips, giving the " folds of cloth that lay upon them a very quick motion, which " was in fome degree continued through the whole dance ; though " the body was thrown into various poftures, fometimes ftanding, *' fometimes fitting, and fometimes refting on their knees and " elbows ; the fingers alfo being moved, at the fame time, with a " quicknefs fcarcely to be imagined. Much of the dexterity of " thq. dancers, however, and the entertainment of the fpedators, " confifted \? O F W O M E N. 3s " confifted in the wantonnefs of their attitudes, and geftures ; ^ HA P. *' which was indeed fuch as exceeds all defcription." ' ^ ' From the earliefl: ages, dancing appears to have been either a Thoughts on religious or an imitative exercife ; David danced before the ark of " ' the Lord, the Philiftines danced before Dagon, many of the contemporary nations frequently danced at their folemn meetings, in their groves, and on their high places ; the Greeks did the fame at fome of the feftivals celebrated in honour of their gods ; and the travellers of our own times give us numberlefs accounts of the dancings of the favages before their idols. So different, however, are the ideas we have formed of religion, that we are apt to conUder dancing as altogether inconfiftent with its folem- nity ; but, perhaps, thofe who thought otherwife, introduced if as a fign of gratitude and thankfulnefs, for health, vigour, and agility ; and, to fhow the gods, that they were cheerful and happy in the enjoyment of their bleffings, and under the admi- niftration of their government; and proceeding from fuch fenti* ments in the worfhippers, it could not be to the gods an unac- ceptable fervice. It has likewife been much ufed in an imitative or fymbolical manner. The Indians dance their v/ar-dance, to fhew the fxrength, the agility, and ferocity they can exert in battle; and the women we have mentioned indecently dance, what may be called their love-dance, to Ihew how well they are qualified for the rapturous enjoyments of that paflion ; and it is only in the polite countries of Europe that we dance purely for the fake of dancing. If rude and barbarous nations make their dances expreflive of their employments and their feelings ; it is worth confidcring, whether we might not improve on the plan, and: 86 T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP, and add Icntiment and exprefTion to what we at prefcnt only look V ^ ' upon as frolic and amufement. Bathing, an BESIDES dancing, which does not as in Europe feem an amufe- theVair"' " nient voluntarily pradifed by all ranks and conditions of women ; in the Eaft they have the diverfion of bathing, which is fo clofcly interwoven with their religion as well as with their paftime, that we can hardly fay to which of them it belongs. In warm countries, where cleanlinefs is fo abfolutely neceflary to the health and fweetncfs of the body, as almoft to deferve a place among the moral virtues; there is fcarcely a religious fyftem into which frequent bathing has not been introduced, as a ceremony without ■which the gods would not accept the prayers and facrifices of men, and hence both fexes are more accuftomed to bathe than among us, who by religion are not enjoined any fuch duty. But there are in the Eaft other caufes, which perhaps even more forcibly prompt to the ufe of the bath than religion itfelf. The firft is inclination, which muft operate in the ftrongeft manner in climates fcorched by a vertical fun; to give us feme idea of the ftrength of this inclination in fuch climates, we need only refledl on what we fometimes feel in the fcorching fumnier months on entering into a cool fliade, or viewing a pool of water ; the fccond is the love of liberty, every bathing-place fct apart for the ufe of the women is a kind of public rendezvous, where the fex in general meet to talk over the nev^s, the fcandal, and the faOiions ; it is a facred afylum, where no man dare enter, and where women are confequently free from the tyranny of their hufbands and guardians ; and befules, in going to and coming from it, they fometimes manage fo as to be fcen by their lovers, or make an 5 affignation O F W O M E N. Sj afTignatlon with their gallants : on all thefe accounts, we are not ^ ^ A p. to wonder that bathing is fo much pradtifed in the Eafti and ' >, ' efpecially by the fair fex, who have hardly any other liberty than that which they enjoy on this occafion. We have already mentioned the indecent manner in which the Romans of both fexes bathed promifcuoufly together ; the Greeks in the heroic ages did the fame, with this difference only, that the places they ufed were not fo confined, being com- monly fome river, or the fea itfelf. To the indelicacy of thefe two nations, fo famous in hiftory, we fhall oppofe the pradice of the Turkilh Ladies at Adrianople, as related by lady Mary Wortley Montague. " I went, fays fhe, to the bagnio about " ten o'clock ; it was already full of women, 1 was in my " travelling habit, which is a riding-drefs, and certainly ap- " peared very extraordinary to them, yet there was not one of *' them that fhewed the leaft furprife or impertinent curiofity, " but received me with all the obliging civility poflible. I know " no European court where the ladies would have behaved *' themfelves in fo polite a manner to fuch a ftranger : I believe " there were two hundred women, and yet none of tliofe dif- " dainful fmiles and fatirical whifpers that never fail in our " aflTembHes, when any body appears that is not dreffed exadtly in *^ the faftiion ; they repeated over and over to me, charming, " very charming ; the firft fophas were covered with cufliions and ** rich carpets, on which fat the ladies, and on the fecond their **■ flaves, behind them, but without any diftindion of rank by *' their drefs, all being in the ftate of nature; that is, in plain " Englifli, ftark naked, without any beauty or defecl concealed ; " yet there was not the leaft wanton fmile, or immodeft gefture among: 8S T II E H I S T O R Y ^ ^\v^ ^' '* '^'^°"S t^cni. They walked and moved with the fame majcftic ^— ^ — -" *• grace which Mihon defcribes our general mother with ; there " were many among them as exa(flly proportioned as ever any *' goddefs was drawn by the pencil of a Guido or a Titian — and " moil; of their fkins ihiningly white, only adorned by their " beautiful hair divided into many trefles, hanging on their " flioulders, braided, either with pearl or ribbon, perfectly repre- " Tenting tlie figures of the graces. *' I was here convinced of the truth of a refledlion I have *' often made, that if it were the fafhion to go naked the face " would be hardly obferved. I perceived that the ladies of the •' moft delicate fkins and fineft fhapes had the greatefl: fliarc of *' my admiration, though their faces were fometimes lefs beauti- " ful than thofe of their companions ; to tell you the truth, I '' had wlckednefs enough to wifli fecretly that Mr. Gervais could " have been there invifible ', I fancy it would have much im- " proved his art, to fee fo many fine women naked, in different '• poftures, fome in converfation, fome working, others drink- •' ing coffee or flierbet ; and many, negligently lying on their •' cufliions, while their flaves (generally pretty girls of feventeen " or eighteen) were employed in braiding their hair in feveral *' pretty fancies. — They generally take this diverfion once a *' week, and ftay there at lead four or five hours without getting *' cold, by immediate coming out of the hot bath into the cool *• room. — I was charmed with their. civility and beauty, and fliould " have been very glad to pafs more time with them, but was in " hafte to fee the ruins of Juftinian's church, which did not ♦' afford me fo agreeable a profped as I had left, being little more " than a heap of ftones." 8 As Of turopeaa women. OF WO M E N. 89 As we have hitherto met with but Uttle diverfity in the em- ployments of women, as their amufements have not been nume- rous in the countries we have furveyed, we now proceed to take a view of Europe ; where, though we may not perhaps be able to find the fcene of female employments enlarged according to our wifhes, we (hall at leaft find a long and ample lift of female diverfions and amufements. — -If by employment we underftand being occupied in fuch things as are ufeful to fociety, in that cafe women of rank and quality, in moft of the polite countries of Europe, may be ftruck entirely out, as having no employment at all ; and fliould we even admit works of fancy and tan;e into our lift of ufeful employments, fuch is the love of diffipation, that even few of thefe are at prcfent executed by ladies of fafliion. Defcending from the moft elevated ranks of female life, to thofe placed in a middle ftation, who neither have reafon to be up- ^y^ lifted with the pride of wealth, made giddy with the glare of preferment, nor depreffed by the pinching hand of poverty; fuch we fhould naturally expe£l to find employed fo as to be ufeful to themfelves and to their families ; and fuch we could heartily wifh the impartiality of hiftorians would allow us to paint them. But even in this moft eligible of all human conditions, where their time is not devoured by the giddy vortex of pomp and ceremony, where it is not wrcfted from them by the labours neceflary to procure daily bread ; to what is it dedicated ? feldom ! we are afraid, to ufeful purpofes ; but, rather to copying the examples of the fuperior ranks, and to gadding abroad after every fafhionable folly and amufcment : ^or in faying this have we adted the part of declaimers; the portrait we have drawn is only too faithful a reprefentation of the times, and ndturaliy points out to us that we arc to look for the ufeful and the beiie- VoL. I. . . N ficial, 90 T H E n I S T O R Y C H A P. ficlal, only among fuch women as are obliged to gain a fubfift— < , J ence for themfelves, and perhaps for their children, by their own- induftry. The whole human race is perhaps naturally averfe to labour. From this general view of women, it would fecm that they are particularly fo, efpecially in Europe, where the foftncis of their frame, of their education, and the common indulgence they meet with from our fex, teach them to look up to us as to beings not only obliged to fupply all their wants, but even to minifter to all their pleafures, feldom confidering how far fuch a minlftration is agreeable to our inclination; and even fometimes infifting on running the giddy round of amufcment, when con- fcious that it is out of our power to fupply the means of its ufelefs extravagance. But this is not all ; in many companies, efpecially of the politer fort of women, we have heard the incon- fiderate afTembly, as with one voice, exclaim againft the mar- riages of fuch as were poor, why, fay they, fliould fuch people marry ? they can only fill the country with beggars ! never recollefting, that if fuch only were to marry as could afford to bring up their children in idlenefs, they themfelves would want fervants to do for them thofe offices they think fo much beneath their dignity, and that the flrength of a hive does not confift in the drones that devour, but in the bees that colledl the honey. But to return to our ladies of rank and fafliion, there are ftill to be found among them feveral, who beftow no inconfiderable fhare of time and attention on the concerns of their families, as alfo upon the cultivation of fome of the fine arts, as mufic, painting, drawing, &c. To run through the long and varied lift of occupations, in which women of the middling and lower conditions of life employ themfelves, for pleafure, or for profit, would OF W O M E N. 91 would be tedious to our female readers, who know them much chap. J. V • better than we do ; we fhall therefore only obferve in general, ' — -v— f that, in all the polite countries of Europe, the proper office of women of middling fortune is the care, infpctSlion, and manage- ment of every thing belonging to the family, while that of the men is to provide by their labour and induftry what the women are to manage with care and frugality. When we defcend to the lower and more ufeful clafles of women, who not having been caft into the lap of fortune, are obliged to work that they may live ; we find their employments various and extenfive : moft of the manufactures in Europe, which do not depend Co much upon ftrength as upon delicacy, are in a great meafure carried on by women, and many of thofe which are even of a rougher kind receive a lafl: polifh from their fofter touch. It is to their patient induftry and dudtile hands that we owe our fineft linens, cambrics, and lawns ; it is to them alfo that we are indebted for a great part of our gold and filver laces, our em- broideries, and a variety of other works of tafte and elegance, too tedious to mention. Another part of them, whofe lot is caft in a diff"erent, though not lefs ufeful manner, employ themfelves in affifting the hufbandman in a variety of the lefs laborious branches of agriculture ; and, not a few there are, who even toil in reaping and gathering in the harveft : but what we ought to value above every thing, is that cleannefs, which by their means we enjoy in our houfes and cloaths ; benefits which we could hardly, or at leaft aukwardly, procure for ourfeves. It may perhaps be thought ftrange, that in defcrlbing the Nufmgof various employments of women, we have not hitherto mentioned na!ura^"em-* that which of all others is their moft natural and common office, P'^y^^ntof ' women. N a the 92 THEHISTORY ^ ^y^ ^' ^^^^ nurfing and bringing up of children ; a fubjefl; which we * w ' have referved entirely for this place, that we might not be under the neceflity of fo frequent a repetition, as we fliould have been otherwife led to by its occurring in every period, and in every country we have had occafion to mention. The moft tender care and anxious folicitude for their infant offspring is an innate idea throughout the wide extent of animal nature, much more flrongly imprinted on the minds of females than of males : a wife inflitution of Providence, for which various ' reafons will eafily occur to the intelligent reader, and which we need not therefore take the trouble of pointing out. A LITTLE attention to the nature and oeconomy of the brute animals will convince us, that the care of their young is an innate principle, and not the effedl of reafoning ; but we fliall be ftill more convinced of this, if we attentively confider the females of the human genus, in favage and in civil life ; a confideration that will uniformly point out to us, that this innate care and anxious folicitude diminifh gradually, in proportion as women advance more toward that perfedion, or rather imperfec- tion of politenefs, to which fcveral nations have now arifen ; where folly, fafliion, and the love of pleafure, have fo much engroffed their affedlion, as in moft cafes greatly to weaken, and in fome totally to obliterate, a paffion hardly lefs natural than that of felf prefervation. « Confidera- That women were, as well as other animals, intended by tionson nature to nurfe and bring up their own children, is a truth nurfing. . which we prefume nobody will deny ; hence rigid philofophers, in dogmatizing on this fubjem every freedom might be ufed, as we learn from the ftory of Megabyfus, one of the governors of Darius; who having fent fome Perfian noblemen to Amintas, king of Macedon, to require, him to do homage to his mafler, Amintas having complied with the requeft, gave them a fplendid entertainment. Towards the conclufion of it chey defired that, according to the cuftom of their country, the women might be brought in, to which, though contrary to the cul^om o!" ihe Greeks, the king confentcd. The Perfians heated with wine, and thinking they might behave to the Grecian princefles as to the women of Perfia, began to take fome indecent freedoms ; the fon of Amintas, affronted at the 126 THEHISTORY the treatment of his fifters, told the Perfians, that if they would allow the women, in compliance with the cuftom of Greece, to retire and habit themfelves in a loofe manner, they w^ould then return, and every one might chufe his partner for the night. The Per- fians gladly confented to this propofal, the women retired, the prince dreffed fome of the moft comely of his young warriors in locfe female habits, with poinards under their cloaths, and brought them into the room inftead of the women, as foon as the Per- fians had each fixed upon his partner, on a fignal from the prince, every one drew his poinard, and flaughtered the whole of them on the fpot. Of the Syba- BEFORE we take leave of thefe dark and unenlightened periods, "'*'• we have been running over, where the hiftoric page hardly af- fords even the glimmering of a taper to direcfl us on our way, we muft obferve, that there are many other ancient people and na- tions whom we might have mentioned, but have paffed over them in filence, becaufe we are hardly acquainted with any thing but their names ; or, at moft, with a few of their warlike exploits and remarkable revolutions. We cannot help, however, making a few obfervations on the Sybarites, the moft remarkable people of anti- quity. The Sybarites, from the imperfedl accounts we have of them, placed the whole of their happinefs in indolence, eating, finery, and women. Their bodies were fo much relaxed with floth, and their minds with voluptuoufnefs, that the greateft affront that could be offered to any one, was to call him a Sybarite, an ap- pellation, which comprehended in it almoft every human crime, and every human folly. In grottoes, cooled with fountains, their youth O F W O M E N. . 127 youth fpent a great part of their time in fcenes of debauchery, ^ ^ A ?• amid women, either elegantly adorned by art, or fometimes re- duced to a ftate of nature. Women of the firft quality, though not difpofed of by auftion, were treated in a manner fomewhat fimilar ; they were given as a reward to him who, in contending for them, fhewed the greateft fplendour and magnificence. When any great entertainment was defigned, the women, who were to make a part of the company, were invited a year before, that they might have time to appear in all the luftre of beauty and of drefs ; a circumftance which plainly proves that they did not, as fome other nations, value the fex only as objedts of fenfual plea- fure, but as obje£ts which added elegance to their fcenes of mag- nificence and grandeur ; and, perhaps, becaufe they excelled the men in foftnefs and effeminacy, qualities upon which they fet the greateft value, and cultivated with the utmoft affiduity. — Thefe people, after having been for many centuries the contempt of the univerfe, were at laft (hamefully driven from their country, and entirely difperfed by the Crotonians. Voi^ I. R 4 'CHAP. ,»8 THEHISTORY Of the Greek women. CHAP. VT. The fame Suhje5l continued. N the lad chapter we finifhed the few curfory obfervations we could make on thofe ages which He hid in the darknefs of the moft remote antiquity, we now come to thefe of the Greeks; a people whofe fame has been fo much trumpeted, that we are apt to annex the idea of every virtue to their name, to con- fider them as highly polifhed and civilized, and confequently to expe£t that, amongft them, the fair fex were treated with that in- dulgence, and raifed to that dignity, which they commonly en- joy in nations the fartheft advanced in the arts of culture and re- finement : But here we fliall be much miftaken ; for though the Greeks were a people feverely virtuous in whatever regarded their country, they were far from being tender and humane, and hardly knew any of thofe foft blandifliments which fmooth the afperity of rugged male nature ; and which, while they render us more agreeable to the women, are only to be acquired in their com- pany. It is obferved by an able panegyrlft for the fair, that one of the greatefl: proofs of their intrinfic worth and excellence is, that the greateft efteem and refped has always been paid them by the wifeft and beft of nations. Granting this to be a fadt, it follows, that the Greeks forfeited one great claim to that wifdom which has always been attributed to them ; for we have good reafon to believe that they regarded their women only as inflrumcnts of raifing O F W O M E N. 129 ralfing up members to the ftate : confidering them in the fame cool, difpaflionate, and we may add, unfocial light, as they con- fidered their fields which produced the corn whereby the members of that ftate were fed. But left we fhould be fufpedted of partia- lity, let us attend to fome of the proofs of what we have ad- vanced. The animal appetite towards the other fex, is Implanted in Confined to *' '■ their aparl- ours by nature, and arifes at fight ; but in order to efteem, to re- ments. gard women, we muft do more than fee, we muft, by focial in- tercourfe and a mutual reciprocation of good offices, become ac- "-"*■ * r o ^ Privileges of Greek women : though we nowh re find that they were ever the Greek . . women. admitted to public authority, nor even to fliare, as in lome coun- tries, the rank and power of their hufbands ; yet, in the earlier ages, they had a vote in the public aflemblles, which was after- wards taken from them. They fucceeded equally with brothers to the inheritance of their fathers ; and to the whole of that in- heritance, if they had no brothers. But to this laft privilege was always annexed a clog, which mufl have been extremely diiagree- able to every woman of fentiment and feeling; an heirefs was obliged, by the laws of Greece, to marry her neareft relation, that the eftate might not go out of the family ; and this relation, in cafe of her refufal, had a right to fue for the delivery of her perfon, as we do for goods and chattels : but, on the other fide, as it fometimes happened that this claimant was old or impotent, it was provided by law, that if he did not, in a convenient time, impregnate his wife, fhe might apply to any one fhe pleafed for that purpofe. He who divorced his wife, was obliged either to return her dowry, or pay her fo much per month by way of maintenance. He who raviflied a free woman, was conftrained in fome ftates to marry her, in others to pay a hundred, and in others again, a thoufand drachmas. But what refledts more honour on the Greeks than any thing wc find in their behaviour toward women, is the care they took of female orphans. " He who is the next " in blood (fays their law) to an orphan virgin, who hath no for- " tune, fhall marry her himfelf, or fettle a fortune upon her, ac- " cording to his quality ; if there be many relations, all equally " alUed, J",6 THE HISTORY '' allied, all of them, according to their feveral qualities, fhall " contribute fomething towards her fortune." After all, when we impartially confider the good and ill treatment of the Grecian women, we find that the balance was much againfl them, and may therefore conclude, that though the Greeks weie emi- nent in arts, though they were illuftrious in arms, in politencfs, and elegance of manners, the higheft pitch to which they ever arrived, was only a few degrees above favage barbarity. Cf the Ro- In the more early periods of the Roman republic, as in the in- fancy of almoft all the ancient nations, we find every thing in- volved in fable and abfurdity ; immortality and mortality hardly diftinguifhable from each other ; heroes, demigods, and goddcfles, performing almoft every adlion, and refiding in every grove. Such ridiculous notions, wherever we meet with them, afford the moft infallible proofs of ignorance and barbarity, and conflantly vanifh in proportion to the increafe of reafoning and knowledge. Agreeably to this ohfcrvation, the earlieft accounts of the Romans exhibit a rude and uncultivated people, but little ac- quainted with decency, and entire ftrangers to that delicacy which takes place between the two fexes in nations tolerably advanced in civilization and fociety. Their firft appearance, as an indepen- dent ftate, was as an handful of robbers, or banditti ; and one of the firft of their memorable adtions, was the capture of fome young women, to enable them to raife up members to the ftate they had ereded : to thefe women, however, they behaved in a manner that we have feldom an opportunity of obferving among a people fo little cultivated. They treated them with i'o much kindnefs, and had the addrefs fo to plcafe them, that they abfo- luteiy O F V/ O M E N. 737 lutely refufed to be refcued from their ravifliers ; but as many of C fj a \\ our female readers may not be acquainted with this hiftory, we » — —».-—» fhall give them a fhort fketch of it. When Romulus, the founder of Rome, had formed his infant Rape of the Sabine Vii- republic, finding that he had no women, and that none of the gin?, neighbouring nations would give their daughters in marriage to men whom they confidered as a fet of lawlefs banditti ; he was obliged by ftratagem to procure for his citizens, what he could not obtain for them by intreaty. Accordingly, having proclaimed a folemn feaft, and an exhibition of games in honour of Equef- trian Neptune, and by that means gathered a great number of people together; on a fignal given, the Romans, with drawn fwords in their hands, rufhed among the ftrangers, and forcibly carried away a great number of their daughters to Rome. The next day Romulus himfelf diftributed them as wives to thofe of his citizens, who had thus by violence carried them away *. From fo rude a beginning, and among a people fo fevere and inflexible as the Romans, it is not unnatural for the reader to expe£l to find, that women were treated in the fame indignant, if not in a worfe manner, than they were among the nations we have already men- tioned. In this, however, he will be miftaken ; it was the Ro- mans who firft gave to the fex public liberty, who firfl properly cultivated their minds, and thought it as neceflary as to adorn their bodies : among them were they firft fitted for fociety, and for becoming rational companions; and among them, was it firft demonftrated to the world, that they were capable of great adions, and deferved a better fate than to be ftiut up in feraglios, and kept • This is what we frtquenlly find mentioned in hiftory, by the name of the Rape of the Sabine Virgins. Vol. I. T only 138 T H E H I S T O R Y ^ 'vi'^ ^' ^"^y ^^ ^^^ pageants of grandeur, or Inftrumcnts of fatlsfying illi- cit love; truths which the fequel of the hiftory of the Sabine wo- men will aiiiply confirm. The violent capture of thcfc young vpomen by the Romans, was highly rcfcntcd by all the neighbouring nations, and cfpcci- ally by the Sabines, to whom the greatefl. part of them belonged ; they fent to demand rediiution of their daughters, promifing, at the fame time, an alliance, and liberty of intermarrying with the Romans, fhould the demand be complied with. But Romulus not thinking it expedient to part with the only poffible means he had of raifing future citizens, inflcad of granting what they afked, demanded of the Sabines, that they fliould confirm the marriages of their daughters with the Romans. Thefe conferences, at laft, produced a treaty of peace; and that, like many others of the fame nature, ended in a more inveterate war. The Romans having in this gained fome advantages, the Sabines retired ; and having breathed a while, fent a fecond embafly to demand their daughters, were again refufed, and again commenced hoflilities. Being this time more fuccefsful, they befiegcd Romulus in his citadel of Rome, and threatened immediate deftrudion to him and all his people, unlefs their daughters were reftored. In this alarming fituation, Herfilia, wife of Romulus, demanded an audience of' the fenate, and laid before them a defign, which the women had' formed among themfelves, without the knowledge of their huf- bands, which was, to a£l the part of mediators between the con- tending parties. The propofal being approved, a decree was im- mediately paffed, permitting the women to go on the propofed ncgociation ; and only requiring, that each of them fliould leave one of her children as a fecurity that fhe would return; the reft, they . O F W O M E N. 139 they were all allowed to carry with them, as obje^ls which might ^ ^^^ ^■ more efFedtually move the compalfion of their fathers and rela- i. — » — ^ tions. Thus authorized, the women laid afide their ornaments, put on mourning, and carrying their children in their arms, ad- vanced to the camp of the Sabines, and threw themfelves at the feet of their fathers. The Sabine king, having afTembled his chief officers, ordered the women to declare for what purpofe they were come; which Herfilia did in fo pathetic a manner, that fhe brought on a conference between the chiefs of the two nations, arjd this conference, by her mediation, and that of the other wo- men, foon ended in an amicable alliance* As a reward for this moft important fervice of the Sabine Piivilegetof r iTi- • '''^ Roman women, feveral privileges and honourable marks of diUinaion women. were granted them by the fenate ; all immodeft and licentious difcourfes were forbid in their prefence, and no indecent objedts were to be brought before them ; every one was ordered to give way to them in the ftreet. In capital cafes, they were exempted from the jurifdidion of the ordinary judges. And laftly, their children were allowed to wear a golden ball hanging at their breafl, and to be clothed with a particular robe, called Pretexta. But all thefe honours and privileges not being thought fufficient, fome time after a feftival was inftltuted, and called Matronalia, in honour of the Sabine matrons. During this feftival, the Ro- man matrons ferved their flaves at table, and received prefents from their hufbands ; facri flees were then alfo offered to Juno Lucina, to induce her to affift them in child-bearing. From a fervice fo fignal, conferred by women on an infant Laws and republic, and from the peculiar notice taken of that fervice, we Uraining their T a would ^''^"'^'' J 40 THE HISTORY would naturally conclude that the Romans were then a cultivated people, and that their women were treated with all that foftncfs and indulgence due to the tendernefs of their fcx. Such aconclu- fion, however, would be erroneous, for the Romans were at this period ftrangers to every foftnefs and refinement of manners, and the honours beftowed on the Sabine women were only fudden and indigefted efFufions of gratitude, which did not operate uniformly on the whole of their condudl towards a fex that nature and obligation ought to have rendered dear to them. The Roman women, as well as the Greeks, were under per- petual guardianfhip, and at no age, nor in any condition, were ever truftcd with the management of their own fortunes ; they were in cafe of wills, and perhaps in other cafes, not admitted as evidence ; every father had a power of life and death over his daughters ; but this power was not reftridted to females only, it extended to fons as well as daughters. Sumptuary laws, gene- rally more grievous to women than to men, as they reflrain their moft darling paflions, were long in force at Rome: the Oppian law prohibited them from having more than half an ounce of gold employed in ornamenting their perfons, from wearing cloaths of divers colours, and from riding in chariots either in the city or a thoufand paces around it. They were ftridly forbid the ufe of wine, or even to have in their poireffion the key of any place where it was kept, for either of which faults they were liable to be divorced by their hufbands ; and fo careful were the Romans in reftraining their women from wine, that they are fuppofed to have firft introduced the cuftom of faluting their female rela- tions and acquaintance, on entering into the houfe of a friend or a a neighbour, OF WOMEN. I4t a neighbour, that they might difcover by their breath whether chap. they had tafted any of that liquor. This ftridtnefs, however, began in time to be relaxed, till at laft luxury and debauchery becoming too ftrong for every law, the women indulged themfelves in equal liberties with the men. But fuch was not the cafe in the earlier ages of Rome, Romulus even permitted hufbands to kill their wives if they found them drinking wine; and if we may believe Valerius ^Maximus, Egnatlus Metellus, having detected his wife drinking wine out of a caflc, actually made ufe of this permiffion, and was by Romulus acquitted. And Fabius PiiStor relates, that a Roman lady having picked the lock of a cheft, in order to come at the key of a place where fome wine was kept, her parents fhut her up and ftarved her to death. Women were liable to be divorced by their hufbands almoft at pleafure, provided the portion was returned which they had brought along with them. They were alfo liable to be divorced for barren nefs, which, if it could be conftrued into a fault, was at leaft the fault of nature, and might fometimes be that of the hufband. Such were the difadvantages attending the Roman women, but they were not all that they laboured under; a few fumptuary laws, a fubordination to the men, and a total want of authority, do not fo remarkably affedt the fex, as to be coldly and indelicately treated by their hufbands and lovers. Such a treatment is touching them in the tendereft part ; but fuch, how- ever, we have reafon to believe, they often met with from the Romans, who had not yet learned, as in modern times, to blend the feverities of the patriot, and roughnefs of the warrior, with that foft and indulging behaviour, fo confplcuous in our modern patriots and heroes. But hufbands not only themfelves behaved roughly to J42 THE HISTORY ..mea CHAP, to ti^eir wives, they even fometinies permitted their fervants and L ■-, - ._■ (laves to do the fame ; the principal Eunuch of Juftinian the Second, threatened to chaftife the Emprefs, his mafter's wife, in the manner that children are chaftifcd at fchool, if fhe did not obey his orders. But to dvpell no. longer on the grievances of the Roman \vo- xnen. We have already mentioned fome of their honours and privileges ; and the following, -which we fhall add, will fhew, that, upon the whole, their condition was much preferable to that of the women of any other people we have hitherto mentioned. Honours con- Im endeavouring to point out fome of the particular honours Roman"wo-* Conferred on the Roman ladies, in periods pofterior to thefe we have already run over, we fliall not introduce the ftory of Lucretia, whofc tragical exit was produdivc of fo much blood and devaftation ; nor of Virginea, whofe end, if poffible, ftill more tragical, almoft overturned the empire of Rome. Thefe effeds were, perhaps, more the refult of an honefl: indignation againfl: ravifhers and murderers, than proofs of general regard paid to the fex. Beauty in every country has had a power of commanding love, and private friendfliips between individuals of the different fcxes have every where been produiftive of regard ; biit when public honours and privileges are granted to the fex by aleglflatlve body, not under the influence of beauty nor the controul of paflion, as was the cafe with the fenate of Rome, they are the ftrongeft proofs which can poflibly be adduced of female merit. The public honours conferred on the Sabine women we have already mentioned ; but the Romans did not confine honorary 6 rewards OF WO M E N. 143 rewards to them only, but indifcriminately beftovsred them on ^ H A p. the fex ■whenever merited. They hung up the diftafF of Tana- quil, the contort of Tarquin, in the temple of Hercules; not onl^ as a public reward for the proper ufe fhe had made of it, but alfo to encourage others to follow fo laudable an example. When Coriolanus, in revenge for fome affront offered him at Romei was ready at the head of a victorious army of the Volfci to lay that city in afhes ; when the tears and prayers of his friends, of the nobility, and even of the venerable fenate, were infufficient to divert the ftorm ; Veturia his mother, by the perfuafion of the Roman matrons, having prevailed on him to lay afide his refent- ment ; the fenate defired that the women engaged in this affair fhould afk any favour they thought proper ; when, unambitious- of rewards, they only begged that they might be allowed to> build, at their own expence, a temple to the fortune of women. The fenate, furprifed at fb much difintereflednefs, ordered the' temple to be immediately built on the very fpot where Coriolanus had been prevailed upon to facrifice hiS' refentment to the love of his country ; which being completed, Veturia was confecrated prieftefs. A Didtator of Rome having vowed to dedicate a golden vafe of a certain weight to Apollo, and the fenate not being able to procure a fufficient quantity of gold to make it, the ladies voluntarily parted with many of their trinkets for that purpofe. The fenate, ftruck with the unfolicited generofity, de- creed that funeral orations fhould thenceforth be made for the women as well as for the men, and that they Ihould be allowed to ride in chariots at the public games. The facred fundion of miniflering at the altars of the gods has, in moft countries, been wholly refefved for the men; but tills. 144 THE HISTORY this was not the cafe at Rome, they had priefteflcs as well as priefts, who officiated in feveral of their temples. Befides thefe, they had a peculiar order of priefteffes, called Veftals, who refided in the temple of Vefta, and whofe office was to keep the palla- dium*, which was confidered as the fecurity of the empire, and to preferve the facred fire of the goddefs in perpetual vigour. The prerogatives of this order demonflrate not only the confidence which the Romans had in their women, but alfo the regard they paid to their religion. When the principal magiftrates, even though confuls, met a veftal, they gave way to her; any infult offered to a veflal was punifhed with death ; if any of the order happened to meet a criminal carrying to execution, he was im- mediately releafed, provided the veflal affirmed the meeting was accidental. They were the only women whofe evidence was received in courts of juftice ; they were the umpires of the differences which happened between perfons of the firfl rank j they were allowed the liberty of being interred in the city, a liberty feldom granted even to their greateft heroes ; and in their hands, as in an inviolable afylum, weredepofitcd the wills and tefla- ments of fuch as were afraid that frauds and forgeries might be committed by their relations. When the deification of emperors and of heroes became fafhionable at Rome, the women foon alfo infinuated ttiemfelves into this fpecies of honour; their ftatues were fet up in the temples, and public facrifices were offered to, and incenfe burnt before them. The higheff honour that could be conferred on a Roman hero, who had been flain in the defence of his country, was to be buried in the field of Mars ; an honour * The ftatue of Pallas, which the Romans believed would fecure their city from being ' taken fo long as it remained there. which, 1.4^ \ OF WO M EN. which, in length of time, came alfo to be (haied by ilhjftrious women. Among the Romans, women generally ate and drank with the men, and in later times were even admitted to their convivial meetings ; liberties, whigh in fo full an extent we have not hitherto found them enjoying ; they alfo fhared the honours' and even titles of their hufbands, and at one period honours of a nature not ufually bellowed on the fex were inftitu^ed fpr-jbecpi; only*'. , . -' .••-■:■,,( But amid all thefe honours, and all thefe public teftimonies Romans cruel of approbation, we have reafon to believe that the Romans facri- 0° conquwed* ficed more to merit than to love ; and that while their women ''^"o"'- fliared with them almoft every honour and every privilege, they were in general treated at home rather with the cool efteem of friendfhip, than with the warm indulgence of tendernefs and affection. If the whole tenor of their condudl gives us reafon to think that fuch was their behaviour to their own women, we have but too many undoubted proofs to affure us, that their cap- tives of the fair fex were oftea treated'evcn with the moft horrid barbarity ; their political virtue was fo rigid and fevere, that it never fuffered humanity in the leaft to interfere where the in- tereft of their country was concerned. Hence, in order to aggran- dize the Roman name, and ftrlke terror into conquered nations, they often dragged beauty and grandeur at the wheels of their triumphal chariots, and expofed queens and princefTes, without regard of rank or of fex, to degradations, and to tortures that even a favage would blufh for. Not contented with ravilhing, they alfo • Heliogabalus gave his mother a feat and vote in the fenate of Rome, and feme time after inftituted a female fenate, and placed her at the head of it. The bufinefs of this fenate was ro regulate the important affairs of drefs and falhion ; but this inftilulion did not long furvive its dcfpicable founder : foon after his death it was diflblved j nor did sny fuccted.ng emperor ever afterward attempt to re-eftabl^fli it. Vol. I. U fcourged 146 THEHISTORY fcourged the daughters of the Britifh queen Boadicea. After they had overcome the army of the Ambrones, their women being in a fortified camp, for fome time defended themfelves ; but finding they could not be able to hold out, defired to capitu- late, and required no other condition than that their chaftity Ihould not be violated ; but even this fingle condition was not granted by the cruel and libidinous Romans. But we will not proceed to blacken the hiftoric page with a lift of fuch enor- mous crimes. CHAP. O F W O M E N. 147 CHAP. VII. The fame StihjeSl contmtied. THE Celtes, Gauls, Germans, and other northern nations, CHAP, upon whom Tacitus and his contemporary writers fo libe- > rally beflow the epithet of Barbarians, were, in feveral refpedts, lefs fo than the Romans, who, at that time, thought themfelves the only polifhed people upon the globe ; the greater part of thefe nations treated their women, if not with a politenefs, at leafl: with a regard fuperior to that of thofe very Romans who gave them fo horrid an appellation. In Germany, when the regal dignity defcended to a wo- man, they allowed her to enjoy it, and women often govern- ed with a fleadinefs and fagacity which did honour to the fex, and excited the admiration of the neighbouring nations ; the greateft heroes neither difdained to fight under their ban- ners, nor be regulated by their councils, as they imagined them to be endowed with a kind of oracular wifdom, and a prudence more than human. In their treaties with one another, female hoftages were given by the ancient Germans ; and by thefe they reckoned themfelves more firmly engaged than bv an equal, or even a fuperior number of the other fex. In their warlike excurfions, they carried their women along with them, and fometimes even to the field of battle, where their cries and fhouts ferved to intimidate their enemies, and to animate their friends with martial ardour ; and even fometimes to inflame and U 2 fupport / 148 THEHISTORY CHAP, fupport them, when ready to yield to fuperior numbers, or more fleady difcipline. The approbation of the fair they efleemed as the moft honourable reward of their bravery, and for them, as being what they valued moft, they fought with the moft deter- mined refolution. When they had turned their backs on the enemy, their wives often painted fo pathetically the horrors of captivity, that they were prevailed upon, with double fury, to return to the charge, rather than fubmit themfelves to fuch indignity. A civil war having once arifen among the Gauls, to decide tlie quarrel, two armies were drawn out into the field, extended front to front, and juft ready to commence a dreadful carnage, wh^n the women with difhevelled hair rufhing in between them, put a ftop to the work of deftrucflion, and had the addrefs to reconcile them to each other. From that time forward, the Gauls admitted the women to their councils, when peace or war was to be de-^ bated", and from -that time alio, fuch difrerences as arofe b.etyv,een them and their allies were terminated by female negocialion ; and, agreeably to this cuftom, we find it ftipiilated in their treaty with 'Hannibal, that ftiould the 'Gauls have any complaint againft the ■Carthaginians,, the matter fhould be fettled by the Carihaginiaa general ; but fhould the 'Carthaginians have any complaint againft the Gauls, it flioUld be referred to the Gaulifli wx>men» The Gotlis obliged him who debauched a virgin to marry her, ^ (he was equal v- -J we fhall add, that they confidered them as having fomething facred in their character, as endowed with a forelight of future events, as interpreters of the Divine will in this world, and as a part of the reward of the bleffed in the next. " The •' Cimbri,'' fays Strabo, " when they took the field, were ac- *' companied by venerable hoary-headcd prophetefTes, clothed " in long white linen robes." *' A crowd of beautiful virgins,'* fays the Edda *, " wait on the heroes in the hall of Odin, and *' fill their cups as faft as they empty them." It is worth remark- ing in this place, that many of the ancient eaftern religions, and Mahometifin, which was copied from them, taught, that a great part of the joys of Paradife confifted in beautiful women. But then they were to enjoy them as fuch ; whereas the North- erns were fatisfied with having their cups quickly repleniftied by them : a circumftance, which plainly {hews, that the predominant paflion- of the Eaft was love ; that of the North, drinking. The ancient Britons appear not to have been behind any of Ancient Bn- - , • , ... . , , . , ti'h women the other northern nations in the veneration and regard paid to iiow treated. their women; they had tamely f^ibmitted to every reiterated evil, and to every fpecies of oppreffion which .the eruel and avaricious Romans had laid upon them ; but when thefe lawlefs deftroycrs fcourged their queen, and raviflied her daughters, their ret'ent- ment was kindled, they arofe to revenge the caufe of the fe.K j and had their difcipline been equal to their valour, they would at that time have put an end to the Roman infults, and extirpated them from the Britifli ifles. • The ^ddais the faercJ bppk of the ancient Scandinavians and pther nonhern natioos. Though 1^0 THE HISTORY CHAP.' Though it appears from what has been related, that the aii- ' •^ -' cient inhabitants of the North valued and efteemed their women, other noithern 7^^ their condudt towards them was far from being all of a piece; nations. v>^hile they revered them as beings infpired with a ray of the Divi- nity, according to the cuftom of Afia, from whence they origi- nally caine, they at the fame time treated them as fervants, or rather as flaves. The wives and children were not allowed to eat with the hufbands, but waited upon them at their meals, and af- terward ate up what they had left. Among the ancient Danes, and feveral of their northern neighbours, convivial feafting was more frequent than perhaps among any other people; almoft every oc- currence and bufinefs was productive of a fcaft, where eating and drinking was carried to the moft abominable excefs. But to fuch feafts, we have reafon to believe, the women were only admitted as fervants ; and that they ftood behind their hulbands and friends, fupplying them with meat and drink, and took care of them at laft when their drunkennefs had rendered them incapable of do- ing any thing for themfelves. The German women, like thofe of the Greeks and Romans, were under perpetual guardianfhip ; but it was generally to the care of fome perfon of prudence and ex- perience they were committed, and not to their own fons, as in Greece. When any perfon was murdered, the laws of their ftates took no notice of it ; the ideas of civil fociety were not then fo much perfeQed, as toconfider every individual as, in fome degree, the property of the community ; the relations of the party mur- dered were only fuppofed to have fuftained a lofs, and, therefore, to the relations only it belonged to revenge the death, or to agree with the murderer for a fum of money by way of compenfation. Neither of thefe privileges were, however, vefted in the women ; they were not allowed to take vengeance^ becaufe, perhaps, cruelty and OF WOMEN. 151 and bloodfhed did not fuit with the foftnefs of their nature; ^ %„ ^* they were not to take the compenfation, becaufe they were con- fidered as too weak and feeble to extort it. In general, the women of the North feem not to have been indulged with much property. The Vifigoths were bound by a law not to give more to a wife than the tenth part of their fub- ftance. The German women anciently fucceeded not to any inherit- ance, though afterwards they were permitted to fucceed after the males of the fame degree of kindred. But the moft fubordinate of all female conditions feems among them to have been that of a wife to her hufband. The hufband of an adulterefs was allowed to aflemble her relations, in their prefence to cut off her hair, ftrip her naked, turn her out of his houfe, and whip her from one end of the village to the other. A woman thus publicly ex- pofed could never wipe away the ftain of fo foul an infamy ; the moft clrcumfpe£t behaviour could never call back her loft cha- ra a man had faid any thing that refledted diQionour on a woman, or accufed her of a crime, fhe was not obliged to fight him to prove her innocence; the combat would have been unequal; nor was fhe obliged to fubmit to the ordeal trial ; it was inconfiftent with the delicacy of the female charader and conflitutioo ; but fl:e might chufe a champion to fight in her caufe, or expofe himfelf to the horrid trial, in order to clear her reputation : fuch champions were generally feleded from her lovers or friends ; but if fhe fixed upon any other, fo high was the fpirit of martial glory, and fb- eager the thirft of defending the weak and helplefs fex, that ^e meet with no iafiance of a champion ever having refufed to 6 fight; O F W O M E N. i6 o fight for, or undergo whatever cuftom required in defence of the C H A P. lady who had honoured him with the appointment. To this we may add another motive; he who had refufed, mufl; inevitably have been branded with the name of coward ; and fo defpicable was the condition of a coward, in thefe times of general heroifm, that death itfelf appeared the moft preferable choice ; nay, fuch was the rage of fighting for women, that it became cuftomary for thofe, who could not be honoured with the decifion of their real quarrels, to create fidlitious ones concerning them, in order to create alfo a neceffity of fighting. Thus when, from its primi- tive laudable intention, of fuccouringthediftreffed, chivalry had de- generated to a kind of finical fighting madnefs, it was no uncom- mon thing for a knight to poft himfelf in fome public place, and there, by his doughty weapons, and formidable appearance, force every paflenger, either to acknowledge the fuperior charms of his Dulcinea, or fight him on the fpot. The latter of which feldom happened, unlefs, perchance, he met with fome perfon as mad as himfelf. However much this may have the air and appearance of ro- mantic fiction, it is, neverthelefs, verified by a number of hifto- rical fads. Nor was fighting for the ladies confined to fingle inftances, crouds of gallants entered the lifts againft each other; and even kings called out their fubjeds, at the commands of their miftrefles, to fhew their love to them, by cutting the throats of their neighbours, who had not in the leaft offended them. In the fourteenth century, when the countefs of Blois, and the widow of Montfort, were at war againft each other, a conference had been agreed on, upon pretence of fettling a peace, but in reality to appoint a combat, for deciding which of the two ladies was the Y 2 moft 1^4 THE HISTORY mofl handfome : inftcad of negoclating, they foon challenged each other; and Beaumanoir, who was at the head of the Britons, pub- licly declared, that they fought from no other motive than to fee by the vidory, who had the faireft miftrefs. In the fifteenth century, we find an anecdote of this kind ftill more extraordinary. John duke de Bourbonnois publifhed a declaration, that he would go over to England, with fixteen knights, and there fight it out, in order to avoid idlenefs, and merit the good graces of his miftrefs: and, to crown all, James IV. of Scotland having, in all tourna- ments, profefTcd himfelf knight to queen Anne of France, fhe fummoned him to prove himfelf her true and valorous champion, by taking the field in her defence, againft; his brother-in-law, Henry VIII. of England. He obeyed the romantic mandate; and the two nations bled to feed the vanity of a woman. Warriors, when ready to engage, even invoked the aid of their miftreftes, as poets do that of the IMufes. If they fought valiantly, it refledted honour on the Dulcincas they adored ; but if daftardly, they turned their backs on their enemies; the poor ladies were dishonoured for ever. However different in their natures are love and fight- ing, the former was then the moft prevailing motive to the latter. The famous Gafton de Foix, who commanded the French troops at the battle of R,avenna, took advantage of this foible of his army ; he rode from rank to rank, calling by name his officers,' and even fome of his private men, recommending to them their country, and their honour ; and, above all, to flicw what they could do for the love of their miftrefl'es. The fame fpirit which led the men to fo extravagant an adoration of the women, when in happinefs and profperity, didated to them, that even their punifhments, when abfolutely neceflary, fliould not offend againft decency. In the ninth century, women, by the laws of Ken- 5 neth. OF WOMEN. i6s neth, king of Scots, were punifhed by drowning, or burying C ha p. alive. v—-,- _> From what has been now related, many of our fair readers Rfve.-fe of may, perhaps, imagine, that in the times we have been dehne- ating, women were more completely happy, than in any other period of the world ; but this -v^'as not in reality the cafe; cuftom, which governs all things with the mofl: abfolute fway, had, through a long fucceflion of years, given her fandion to fuch combats as were undertaken, either to defend the innocence, or difplay the beauty of women. Cuftom, therefore, either obliged a man to fight for a woman who defired him, or marked the re- fufal with eternal infamy ; but cuftom did not oblige him in every other part of his deportment, to behave to this woman, or to the fex in general, with that refpedt and politenefs, which have hap- pily diftinguiftied the charader of more modern times. The fame man, who, in the middle ages, would at the command, or for the defence of a woman, have encountered giants, or gigantic difiicul- ties, had but little idea of adding to her happinefs, by fupplying her with the comforts and elegancies of life ; and would have thought himfelf affronted, had flie afl<:ed him to ftoop and eafe her of a part of that domeftic flavery, which almoft in every coun- try falls to the lot of women. But, befidcs, men had in thofe ages nothing but that kind of romantic gallantry to recommend ihem ; ignorant of letters, of arts, fciences, and of every thing that refines human-nature, they were in every thing, where gallantry was not concerned, rough and unpolifhed in their man- ners and behaviour : their time was fpent in drinking, war, gal- lantry, and idlenefs ; and in their hours of relaxation, they were but little in company with their women; and when they were, the i66 T H E H I S T O R Y C ^ ,f ''■ the indelicacies of the caroufal, or the cruelties of the field, were almoft the only fubjeds they had to talk of. Hence they could •not be proper companions for a fcx, who, fhrinking with relu£l- ance from indelicacy and barbarity, generally turn their thoughts to foftcr fubjcds. In the fixth century, while the perfons and characters cf wo- men were defended with a romantic enthufiafm, incredible in our days, they were, at the fame time, confidered as beings contami- nated with a certain degree of pollution ; which, at particular periods, was fo great, that it rendered every thing unclean which they approached ; hindered the operation of medicines, the effedls of churning and brewing, and even flopped the growth of vege- tables. The fureft road to paradife was to abftain from women ; they were not fuffered to approach the altar, nor to touch the pall which covered it, unlefs when, by the priefls, it was delivered to them to be waflied. The eucharift was too holy to be touched by their naked hands ; they were, therefore, ordered by the canons of the church, to have a white linen glove upon the hand into which they received it. From the fubverfion of the Roman empire, to the fourteenth or fifteenth century, women fpent moft of their time alone; almoft entire ftrangers to the joys of focial life ; they feldom went abroad, but to be fpeflators of fuch public diverfions and amufements as the fafhion of the times countenanced. Francis the Firft was the firft who introduced women on public days to court; before his time, nothing was to be feen at any of the courts of Europe, but long-bearded politicians, plotting the de- ftrudlion of the rights and liberties of mankind ; and warriors clad in OF \V O M E N. 167 fii complete armour, ready to put their plots in execution. In the C HA P, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, elegance had fcarcely any ex- iftence, and even cleanlinefs was hardly confidered as laudable. The ufe of linen was not known ; and the moft delicate of the fair fex wore woollen fliifts. In Paris, they had meat only three times a week; and one hundred livres (about five pounds) was a large portion for a young lady. The better fort of citizens ufcd fplin- ters of wood, and rags dipped in oil, inftead of candles ; which, in thofe days, were a rarity hardly to be met with. Wine was only to be had at the fhops of the apothecaries, where it was fold as a cordial ; and'to ride in a two-wheeled cart, along the dirty rugged ftreets, was reckoned a grandeur of fo enviable a nature, that Philip the Fair, prohibited the wives of citizens from enjoy- ing it. In the time of Henry VIII. of England, the peers of the realm carried their wives behind them on horfeback, when they went to London ; and, in the fame manner, took them back to their ccuntry-feats, v/ith hoods of waxed linen over their heads, and wrapped in mantles of cloth to fecure them from the cold. Many of thofe things, we now fuppofe, muft have been hard and difagreeable to the delicacy of female nature. Cuftom, however, muft have reconciled them to what would appear to us almoft in- tolerable. But there was one misfortune, even beyond the power of cuftom to alleviate; they were in perpetual danger of being., accufcd of witchcraft, and fuffering all the cruelties and indigni- ties of a mob, inftigated by fuperftition and enthufiafm ; or being condemned by laws, which were at once a difgrace to humanity and to fenfe; even the bloom of youth and beauty, could not fave from torture, and from death; but when age and wrinkles at- tacked a woman, if any thing uncommon happened in her neigh- - bourhoodj!. i68 THEHISTORY CHAP, bourhood, flie was alraofl; fure of atoning with her life, for a crime which fhe never committed. When we take a retrofpedive viewof thcfe fkctches, when we compare the times in which women were only treated with ro- mantic gallantry, and ftrangers almoft to every enjoyment which did not flow from that fource ; with thefe, in which they fliare our fricndfhip, and partake of almoft all our joys, we cannot hefitate a moment to declare, that the prefent condition of the fair fex, every thing impartially confidered, is greatly preferable to what it was while they were approached as demigoddeflcs, and in the fcale of political fociety treated as cyphers. CHAP. OF WOMEN, 169 I CHAP. Vill, 'The fame SubjeSl continued. N the laft chapter, we traced the condition of women down CHAP, almoft to our own times, and fhall now reiume the fubje£t, by endeavouring to give fome account of the prefent rank and confe- quence of the fex. But as it would be a tafk much ton tedious, and fubje£l us to many ufelefs repetitions, to confider this fubje<3: in every particular ftate and kingdom of the world, we fhall di- vide it into three dif\in£l heads. In the firft, we fhall treat of the mofl favage and uncultivated ftates of human life. In the next, of thofe holding a middle degree between barbarity and cultivation. And in the lafl, of thofe where civil fociety is arrived to the greatefl perfection. Man, in that rude and uncultivated ftate in which he origi- nally appears in all countries, before he has been formed by fociety, and inftrudted by experience, is an animal, differing but little from the wild beafts that furround him; like them, lb great a part of his time is employed in procuring food, that he has but little left for any other purpofe; and like them too, his ideas fel- dom extend farther than to a few fenfual gratifications, in which he Indulges without reafon, and without oeconomy : rhoughtlefs' of the wants and hardfhips of to-morrow, nnd, confequently, but ill provided againft them. Among his few fenfual gratifications, Vol. I. Z we 170 THE HISTORY c HA P. ^e niiay reckon the pleafiire arifuig from his commerce with the C-— >r~.^ Other fcx : if, in favage life, we can call fuch commerce a pleafure, where, entire ftrangers to every reciprocal affcdion, and intellec- tual feeling arifing therefrom, men are totally indifferent what fentimcnts their female partners entertain of ihem, provided they fubmit tamely to fatisfying their appetites; and where women re- gard the men as lords and matters, whom, in all things, they are obliged implicitly to obey. Of women As women are, by nature, weaker than men, their rank and condition muft every where be invariably regulated, by the efteem and regard of that fex. The efteem and regard of the men muft be founded on their own fufceptibility of nature; and that fuf- ceptibility muft be called forth into aiStion, by the mental quali- fications and perfonal beauties of the women. In favage life, un- lefs when urged by revenge, or delighted with the chace, men are dull, phlegmatic, and almoft deftitute of fufceptibility : wo- men have hardly any mental qualifications ; nurfed in dirt and flovenlinefs, with but little ornament, and ftill lefs art in difpofing of it ; burnt with the fun, and bedaubed with greafe, they are objects rather of difguft than defire ; hence they are not the ob- jedls of love, but of animal appetite only; are feldom admitted to any diftinguifhing rank, and as feldom exempted from any diftin- guifhing flavery. As in favage ftates, where hunting, fifhing, and war are the only employments, vigorous exertions of ftrcngth and courage are neceflary : were women fufficiently endowed with thefe, they might fupply every deficiency, and greatly enhance their value in the eyes of the men. By thefe, however, they can conciliate no 3 afi'edion, OF WOMEN. 171 afFedion, nor arife to any confequence ; they are qualities ^viiL^' denied them by nature, and they cannot reap the fruit of what fhe has not planted. In civilized countries, women have a thoufand arts to fupply this deficiency of ftrength and courage, and maintain a balance of power againft the men ; arts which, with a tolerable afTiftance from nature, they have brought to fuch perfection, that they can often engage the heart in their favour, while the head is againft them : but in favage life, caft as it were in the lap of naked nature, expofed to every hardfhip, with every bleak wind of heaven blowing on their head, their forms are but little engaging; with nothing that can be called culture, their latent qualities, if they have any, are like the diamond while inclofed in the rough flint, incapable of fhewing any luftre : thus deftitute of every thing by which they can excite love, or acquire efteem ; deftitute of beauty to charm, or art to footh, the tyrant man ; they are by him deftined to perform every mean and fervile office, a fate which conftantly at- tends the weak, where power and not reafon didates the law. In this the American and other favage women differ widely from thofe of Afia, who, if they are deftitute of the qualifications necefTary to gain efteem, have beauty, ornament, and the art of exciting love. Among the brute animals all are equal, and fuperior ftrength only can acquire fuperior power : thus the bull or the ftag who has beaten the whole herd, in confequence becomes their leader. Exadly the fame thing takes place among favages j he who has given the moft fignal proofs of his courage and ftrength, aftumes the right of being chief of the warriors of his own tribe or nation ; a fiiuation in which he is often not diftinguiflied by perlbnal ornaments, or by that pageantry and fhew, in Europe Z 2 and i7« THE HISTORY CHAP, and Afia reckoned fo neceffary an appendage of authority, but ^_ -^- J by the authority itfelf. But this right, however firmly he was eftablllhed in it, does not defcend to any of his family : if his fon afpires at it, he muft acquire it in the fame manner as his father. Their women, as we have hinted above, being by nature difqualified from arriving at fuperior eminence in war, are, confe- quently, for ever debarred from arriving at fuperior rank or power. In civilized countries, a woman acquires fome power by being the mother of a numerous family, who obey her maternal autho- rity, and defend her honour and her life. But even as a mo- ther, a female favage gains little; her children daily accuf- tomed to fee their father treat her nearly as a flave, foon begin to imitate his example, and either pay little regard to her autho- rity, or fhake it off altogether. Of this the young Hottentots afford a remarkable proof; the boys are brought up by their mo- thers till about the age of puberty, when they are taken from them, and with feveial ceremonies initiated into the fociety of the men; after which it is reckoned manly for them to take the earlicft opportunity of returning to the hut of their mother, and beating her in the moft barbarous manneri, to fhew that they are now out of her jurifdidion : nor is this a private aft, for (hould the mother complain to the men of the Kraal, they would only applaud the boy, for fhewing fo laudable a contempt of the fociety and authority of women. siaviih con- To fupport this fingle evidence of the wretched condition of »age women, women in favage life, we have unhappily too "many collateral proofs. The moft rude and barbarous flates of human exiftence, are thcfe employed wholly in fiftiing, hunting, and war ; and wherever we find the men altogether employed in this manner, ■we find the women either totally negleded, or deftined to every flavifh, a F W O M E N. 17 1 llavifh, and to every laborious office. In the Brazils, women are ^ v,,f ^* obliged to follow their hufbands to war, and, fupplying the place of hearts of burden, to carry their children, provifions, hammocks, and every thing wanted in the field, on their backs. And in the ifthmus of Darien, they fend their women along with warriors and travellers, to anfwer every purpofe of our baggag;e-horfes. In every defpotic ftate flavery is a chain ; the prince at the. head of it oppreffes his courtiers, they opprefs the inferior officers, iJie inferior officers opprefs the whole of the fubjeds, and every- fubjedt oppreffes the women ; and fo contemptible is the fex, in' fome countries, that even an alliance with the firfl defpot of it confers on them neither dignity nor privilege. The fovereign of Giaga in Africa does not exempt his own wives from the flavifh cufloms of the country j one carries his bow, another his arrows, a third his provifions, &c. j and when he eats or drinks, they are obliged all to fall down on their knees in token of refpecSt. The wives and daughters of his fubjeds are condemned in the. fields to toil along with the flaves, while the men, not lefs cruel' than idle, many times to flimulate them to labour, beftow arr equal degree of corredion upon both. Mamood the Second, emperor of Hindoftan, at that time one of the richefl and moft extenfive monarchies oa the globe, contrary to the cuflom of his country, had only one wife, whom he obliged to do every part of his houfehokl drudgery. One day having complained, that fhe had burnt her fingers in baking his bread, and defired that he would allow her a maid to affift her, " I am," faid he, " only a *' truftee for the flaie, and determined not to burden it with " needlefs expcnces ;" a fpeech more adapted to the patriotic pride of a Greek or Pvoman, than to the luxurious effeminacy of the 174 THEHISTORY CHAP, xh^ Eafl: ; as it demonftrated, that every fpark of love, and even ^— ^ ' of Iiumanity, were loft in attention to his country. The fondnefs of a woman for her offspring is fo remarkable, that in Scripture it is reprefented as the moft powerful of all hu- man feelings : " Can a woman forget her fucking child ?" Yet, to fuch a degree is the illufage of the fex carried in fome favage countries, that it even obliterates this feeling, and induces them to deftroy the female children of their own body, that they may thereby fave them from that wretchednefs to which they themfelves are fubje£t. Father Jofcph Gumilla, reproving one of the female in- habitants of the banks of the Oronooka, for this inhuman crime, received the following anfwer : " I wifli to God, Father, I wifli *' to God, that my mother had, by my death, prevented the ma- " nifold diftreffes I have endured, and have yet to endure " as long as I live ; had fhe kindly ftifled me in my birth, I " fl\ould not have felt the pain of death, nor the numberlefs " other pains to which life has fubjeded me. Confider, Father, " our deplorable condition, our hufljands go to hunt with their " bows and arrows, and trouble themfelves no farther ; we are '• dragged along with one infant at our breaft, and another in a " bafket : they return in the evening without any burden, wc *' return with the burden of our children; and though tired with " long walking, are not allowed to fleep, but muft labour the " whole night in grinding maize to make chica for them : they " get drunk, and in their drunkennefs beat us, draw us by the " hair of the head, and tread us under foot : and what have we " to comfort us for flavery, perhaps of twenty years ? — A young " wife is brought in upon us, and permitted to abufe us and our " children. Can human nature endure fuch tyranny .? — What " kindnefs OF \V O M E N. i7> " kindnefs can we fhew to our female children, equal to that of chap. . vni. " relieving them from fuch fervitude, more bitter a thoufand v__— ., > " times than death ? I repeat again, Would to God, my mo- " ther had put me under ground the moment I was born * !" Perhaps this complaint may be a little exaggerated ; but fhould even the great outlines of it be true, they fully evince the deplo- rable condition of favage women : and that they may be true, ap- pears from many fimilar inftanccs among barbarous nations. The Greenlanders, who live moftly upon feals, think it fufE- cient to catch and bring them on fhore, and would rather almoft fubmit to ftarve, than affift their women in dragging the cumbrous animals home, in {kinning, or in drefling them. In fome parts of America, when the men kill any game in the woods, they fix a mark to'' a tree, at the root of which they lay it, and travelling • Shocking as this defeription may appear, it is greatly exceeded by two others exhibited by the Abbe Riynal, in his Hiftory of the European Settlements ; the one by the Spaniards, and the other by the French and Englifh. We have -thought proper to mention them in a rote, as ihey are praftifed by people whom we do not clafs among favages, and therefore we cannot, wiih fo much propriety, infert them in the text. Speaking of the firft fettlement of St. Domingo, " The natives, fays he, were indifcriminately chained together like beads ; thofe who funk under their burdens, were compelled to rife by blows. No intercourfe pa/fed be- tween the ftfxes but by Health ; the men periflied in the mines, and the women in the fields, which they cultivated with their weak hands. Their cooftitutions, already exhaufted wiih exceHive labour, were ft ill further impaired by an unwholefome and fcanty diet; the mo- thers expired with hunger and fatigue, preffing ihcir dead or dying infants to their breads, flirivelled and contrafttd for want of a proper fupply of milk. The fathers either poifoned themfelve-, or hanged themfelves on thofe very trees on which they had jull feen their wiies and their children expire. The whole race became extinft." In another place, fpeaking of the flaves of tiie Europeans in general, he obferves, " That fuch bard labour is required of negroe women, both before and after their pregnancy, that their children are either abortive, or live but a (hort time after delivery; mothers, rendered defperate by the punilhments which the wcaknefs of their condition occaCons ;hem, fnatch fometimes their children from the cradle, in order to llrangle them in their arms, and facriBce them with a fury mingled with , a fpirit of revenge and companion, that they may not become the property of their cruel mailers." many 1/6 THE HISTORY c H A P. tnany miles home, fend their women to bring it to their habita- < ^^-^ tion ; a taflc which tlieir own lazinefs and pride equally forbid. Among many of the tribes of wandering Arabs, the women arc not only obliged to do every domeftic and every rural work ; but alfo, to take care of the liorfes, which they are obliged to feed, to drefs, to bridle and faddle, for the life of their hufbands. The MoorilTi women, befides being obliged to do all the fame kinds of drudgery, have alfo fome few fields to cultivate; the whole of that labour likewife falls upon them, while their hufbands ftand idle fpedtators of the toil, or Ileep inglorious beneath a neighbouring fhade. In few favage countries are women admitted to the honour of eating and drinking with the men ; but are obliged to ftand and wait upon them while at meals, to ferve them with whatever they call for, and, after all, to fit down themfelves and eat up the refufe of what they have left ; which, unlefs in times of great plenty, is commonly but a penurious repaft. In Madura, the huf- band generally fpeaks to his wife in the moft imperious and contemptuous tone ; while flie, with fear and trembling, ap- proaches him, and pronounces not his name, but with the addi- tion of every dignity and title fhe can devife ; while, in return for all this fubmifllon, he frequently beats and abufes her in the moft barbarous manner. Being afked the reafon of fuch a beha- viour, one of them anfwered, " As our wives are fo much our ** inferiors, why fhould we allow them to eat and drink with " us? If they commit faults, why fliould they not fuffer corrcc- *• tion ? It is their bufincfs only to bring up our children, pound *' our rice, make our oil, and do every other kind of drudgery, *' purpofes to which only their low and inferior natures arc " adapted." Among O F \V O M E N. 177 Among fome of the negroes on the coafl of Guinea, a wife is ^ ^ j^ p* never allowed to appear before her hufband, nor to receive any thing from his hand, but in a kneeling pofture. In fome parts of America women are not allowed to be prefent at their temples, or join in their religious aflemblies ; and in the houfes where the chiefs meet to confult on affairs of ftate, they are only furfered to enter and feat themfelves on the floor, on each fide of the paf- fage. In Hindoftan they are not allowed to give evidence in any court ; and fo difficult is it to Ihake off the cuftoms of barbarity, that this privilege was but lately granted them in Scotland. Some of the Caribs, who are remarkable for the flavery of their women, being alked, why they held them in fubjedion ? " We fubjed *• our women," faid they, " becaufe they are weaker than us, •* while in Europe a whole nation of you fubmit to one man, " who is perhaps not fo flrong as any of you ; and even fome- *' times, we are told, to one woman, a thing of which we have *• no idea." In the kingdom of Potany, fo low is the condition of women, that numbers of female flaves are kept by the great, not to fatisfy the appetite of their mafler, nor to do his neceffary bufinefs, but to be hired out to ftrangers for the purpofes of prof- titution. Moft of our readers, we prefume, are not ignorant of the Circaffian cuflom of breeding young girls on purpofe to be fold in the public market to the higheft bidder. But we decline the fubjedt, afraid that if the matter be fcrupuloufly examined into, it will be found, that women are in fome degree bought and fold in every county whether favage or civilized. To all thefe indignities offered to the fex, we may add the general cuflom in many favage countries, of prefenting their wives and young women indifcriminately to ftrangers for hire; Vol. I. A a of 173 T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP, of making thenl dance naked before them; and of divorcing, and even in feme places of Tartary *, of deftroying their wives almoft at pleafure. Such, in general, is the picture of favage life; more particular figures might eafily be added to the group of which it is compofcd, but we arc afraid that it is already fuffi- ciently difgufting to our fair readers, and would not willingly make it more fo. Women fo opprefled with (lavery, and irritated by ill ufage, can have no afFedion for their hufbands, and but little for their children ; and when an opportunity of fliaking off the yoke is offered, it is no wonder that they betray the one, and leave to fortune, or trample upon, the other. This was veri- fied in the women of South America. When the Spaniards firft atrived in thefe regions, the fex foon difcovered that they treated them in a very different manner from that of the natives, and while the unfortunate remains of the men were endeavouring to feparate themfelves from the fword that purfued them, by im- menfe deferts and almoft impenetrable forefts ; the women ran in crowds over the bodies of their murdered hufbands and chil- dren, to enjoy a confequence and kindnefs in the arms of the Spaniards, which fo much the more delighted them, as they had never been accuflomed to it. To the attachment of thefe wo- men we may, in a great meafure, afcribe the conquefl of the New World ; they ufually ferved the Spaniards as guides, fre- • Of this Dr. Cook relates a recent example, " Some young men belonging to my " hofpital," fays he, " returning home one evening, and having been overtaken with liquor, " as they palTed by the Kalmuck tents lliey v;cnt in and gave a woman liquor to intoxicate " her; the hiifband not beir.j prefent gave them opportunities of ufing what liberties they " pleafed ; in (hort, it was fiid fhe was caught by her hufband in the very afl. He dif nilfcd " her gucfts without quarrelling with them, put his wife to death, and, next morning, I, " with others, faw him dragging the dead body towards a bridge, from the middle of wtich " he threw it ints the river." quently O F W O M E N, 179 quently procured them fubfiftence, and fometima« betrayed the ^ h^ a p. confpiracies formed againft them. ' v— — ' Although fuch in general is the behaviour of favages toward Some in- their women, yet, like all other human adions, that beha- ter ufagc viour is not fo uniformly of a piece, as not to admit, now and then, of being chequered with fomething which has more the appearance of foftnefs and of humanity. This inconfiftency of behaviour, more or lefs, takes place in all nations, and is an in- conteftible proof that manners and cuftoms are everywhere more the offspring of chance, than of fyftematic arrangement. Among the Hurons, and Iroquois, though women are in every other refped treated as flaves, fuch is the power of matrons over their own families, that they can prevail upon them to go to war, or defift from it, as they pleafe ; and, if a matron even vpifhes to engage in a war party, any one who is not conneded with her, either with a view to appeafe the ghofts of any of her flain relations, or to procure prifoners to fupply their places, fhe has only to make him a prefent of a collar, or a necklace of fhells, which operates as the mandate of a fair lady did in the times of chivalry, and feldom fails of engaging the champion to take up the hatchet in her favour. When the Iroquois return from war, if they have taken any prifoners, they conftantly fet apart fome of them for the ufe of the public, and thefe the council of the nation difpofe of as they think proper. But fuch, in this particular, is the power of the mothers of families, that they may, if they pleafe, invalidate this determination of the council, and difpofe of the prifoners otherwife, or become fole arbitreffes of the life or death of fuch A a 2 as iSo THEHISTORY CHAP, as have been abfolved or condemned by it. We have already VHI. . '_ .- _i' obferved that the dignity of a chief among favages, depending upon perfonal prowefs, is commonly eledllve. Among the Hu- rons it is, however, not only hereditary, but defcends in the female line, fo that it is not the fon of the chief, but his fifter's fon who fucceeds him ; and if this whole line be extind, then the fole power of chufing another chief is vefted in the noblefl: matron. Every Huron chief is aflifted by a council, and one of this council muft be chofen out of every diftinguiflied family; this choice too is the prerogative of the women, and they may, and even fometimes do, appoint one of their own fex. It is farther related by fome authors, that every thing among this people is tranfaded in the name of the women ; but thofe who have had the heft opportunities of being acquainted with their politics affure us, that this authority is no more than nominal, and that the men acquaint the women only with fuch affairs as they think proper, and make ufe of their names as in other countries one does the feal of an oli"ce. Privileges Among the Natchcs the fupreme authority is alfo hereditary, >i"a°^es. 2.nd defcends not only in the female line, but feems to devolve equally on a male and female of that line ; the male is called the man chief, and the female the woman chief. The woman chief is not the wife, but the fifter, or other neareft female relation of the man chief. She is attended by as numerous a retinue, and has the fame authority, deference, and refpeft, as the man chief; but thefe are not all, (he has, befides, the moft fingular female privilege that hiftory gives any account of: when fhe dies, not only her hufband, but even all her retinue, are obliged to follow Iier into the other world, that fhe may there be ferved and attended O F W O M E N. i8r attended upon by them, in the fame manner as in this. We ^ " a p. fhall have occafion to mention afterward, that In the Eaft it has < j » been a cuftom time immemorial, for wives to burn themfelves on the funeral pile of their deceafed hufbands, and for the flaves, and even horfes of the great, to be burled with them, in order to ferve them in the other world j but this is the only Inftance we find of a hufband being obliged to facrifice himfelf to the manes of his wife ; and even this inftance will not fo much ex- cite our amazement, when we confider that the Natches worfhip the fun, and that the woman chief is by them held as a defcendant of that luminary ; while the man to whom fhc is married is but a common, and generally an inferior mortal, that fhe may the more eafily govern and enflave him in life, as well as at death» and in the world to come. Something fimilar to this is pradifed by the Africans about Zaara, where birth and rank impart to fome women a right of chufing a hufband, whom they keep in extreme fubjedlion, and even condemn to the moft ab- ject flavery, when diflatisfied with his conduct or condefcen- fion. The fifters of the Grand Seignior are alfo generally married to the officers of that tyrant, whom they govern with the moft abfolute fway. From this honour and deference paid to the woman chief among the Natches, we would naturally imagine that the condition of their women fhould be in general preferable to what it is among other favages ; and we meet with a few anec- dotes in their hiftory, which feem to hint that fome other females, befides the great woman chief, have particular privileges and honours conferred on them ; but however this be, it is certain that the fex are in general condemned to the fame flavery as ia other parts of America. Among i82 THEHISTORY C rt A p. Among the few female privileges which glimmer through the < ^ 1 horrid fcene of favage life, that of perfonal liberty is undoubtedly berty enjoyed the grcateft ; thc love of favages is feldom directed fo much to ya avagej. jj^y individual as to the fex in general; hence they have little jealoufy, at lead not enough to prompt them to confine their women : but, though in many favage countries they are fo far from being jealous of, that they will even offer their wives to ftrangers ; in others, they feem tenacious of the rights of the hufband, and afraid of every ftrange invader. Captain Wallis, in his paflage through the ftreights of Magellan, having fent out a boat to go on fhore, fome of the natives who were on board his ftiip leaped into their canoes and paddled after her, fhouting and making a great noife ; the people in the fhip could not under- ftand the meaning of this, thofe in the boat were as much at a lofs, till they approached the fhore, when they difcovered fome women gathering mufcles among the rocks, who, on hearing the alarm from their countrymen, ran away as fafl they could fcour. No people feem more rude and barbarous than the inhabitants of this coaft, and yet, from this fear, it feems they are not entirely ftrangers to jealoufy ; a pafTion, which, though far from being the general chara£teriftic of favages, is yet in feveral other places to be found among them. But then, it is commonly the pa- roxyfm of an hour which rages violently and again fubfides, till a new occafion call it forth, and not that fettled and cautious fufpicion of warmer regions, and half civilized people, to whom, . trifles light as air, Arc confirmations ftrong, and proofs as holy writ. Savage wo- That womcn fhould have much property, among a people litiie pro- ^'^o hardly poflcfs any thing but the provifions of the prefent ^"'^'- 2 hour, O F W O M E N. 183 hour, and the empty walls of a miferable hut, is not to be ex- CHAP. VIII. pedtcd ; of what little there is, they have, however, commonly a fhare ; but the clothes, arms, and utenfils belonging to favages, being often buried along with them, and the land, for the moft part, the property of the community, there is feldom any thing to inherit that is worth tranfmitting from one generation to another. Dignity is hereditary only among the Hurons and Natches ; in al- moft every other barbarous country it is but imperfedly known. Authority is derived folely from perfonal flrength and courage, and hardly attended with any badges of diftindlon. In polite coun- tries, women fhare in fome degree the authority, and generally the honour of their hufbands ; in favage life they fhare in neither. It is, however, of fome little advantage to be married to a war chief, and in fome places to be the mother of a numerous family, who can provide for, or defend them when neceffary. The privilege of precedency, which in Europe has the power of fafci- nating almoft every female mind, does not difturb the peace of favages, nor kindles up a fpark of envy in their breafts. What we formerly obferved of the women of the ancient Germans, Celtes, and Gauls, may be equally applied to the favage wo- men of the prefent times ; they are commonly their only phyfi- cians and furgeons, and, in fome cafes, are poflefled of fecrets, by which they have cured difeafes that have baffled the fkill of expert European phyficians. This fometimes procures them a little more regard, and gives them a greater confequence than they would otherwife enjoy, but they derive ftill a greater degree of confequence from a fuperftitious fource; many of them are fuppofed to be endowed with a fupernatural, or magical power of curing difeafes, and making difcoveries in futurity ; ignorance often applies to thefe, to recover what it his loft, or to procure wliat i8^ THEHISTORY CHAP, what it defires ; and, however they may be treated at other u »v-.»/ times, they are fure, on thefe occafions, to have the liberty of doing and directing as they pleafe. From thefe rude fcenes of uncultivated nature, v?here the ills that attend on female life are fo numerous, and its privileges fo few ; let us now turn our eyes towards fuch people as, in their progreffive ftate, have fliook off the rudenefs of the moft favage barbarity, and are beginning to advance to a focial and civil condition. Condition of The firft ftep which a people funk in brutality of manners nioTg"peopie commonly make towards cultivation, is by beginning to beftow advancing f ^g attention on the future, as well as on the prefent hour, and from rudt-nels *^ tociviiiza- to provide againft thofe times of fcarcity, whofe feverity their own negled and inattention has brought upon them fo often, and with fuch accumulated mifery ; this, a little confideration eafily points out to them to be moft readily accomplifhed, by turning from the predatory to the paftoral ftate ; and fo having conftantly in their pofteflion a ftock of tame animals, any of which they can take and ufe at fuch times and feafons when they cannot find a fupply of provifions in the rivers and forefts around them. In this ftate are the greatcft part of the wander- ing hordes of Tartars and Arabs, who, by pafturage alone, pro- cure to themfelves no uncomfortable fubfiftence. As this is but one ftep in the progrefs from favage to civil life, the progrefs of female improvement has among them advanced but one ftep alfo; the paffion for drefs, a paflion fo natural to the fex, wherever they meet with the leaft kind indulgence, begins to ftiew itfelf ; while among the rudeft favages, it is reprelTed by unkindnefs, and tion. OF W O M E N. 185- and often obliterated by bppreflion. Women only drefs to give an additional luftre to their charms, and only willi to be charm- ing to pleafe the men ; but, where the love of the men is direded more to the fex than the individual, a woman has no motive to excite even a wifh of being fuperiorly beautiful. On the con- trary, where love is direfted more to the individual than to the fex, where the men diflinguifh by a peculiar attention and regard her, who has the art, by ornament and drefs, to appear more charm- ing than her companions, who are not lefs beholden to nature ; there, the moft powerful motive to appear beautiful is held out. The paflion for ornament among the Tartars and Arabs proceeds from this fource : the men are fond of feeing their wives loaded with finery, and will undergo any hardship, or part almoft with any thing but their horfes, to procure it for them. There are a variety of places in Africa, and even fome in Afia, where, although the inhabitants have arrived at the paftoral ftate, they appear but a little removed from the barbarity of the mere fiftier and hunter; but, where they have carried the ideas of aflbciation and civilization fo far, as to apply themfelves to agriculture, they are in general fomewhat more humane, and the efreds of that humanity (hew themfelves, in fome parts of their behaviour, to the fair fex ; we are not, however, to imagine that this rule is general, but, like all others, liable to many exceptions. On fome parts of the coaft of Guinea, the women are even (o far diftinguifhed as to have a vote in their public aflemblies ; while in many others, their condition is wretched beyond our imagination. On the banks of the Niger, the women are gene- rally handfome, if beauty can confift in fymmetry of features, Vo L. I. B b and i86 T H E H I S T O R Y C HA P. and not In colour; they are modeft, affable, and faithful, and an air of innocence appears in their looks and in their language, which is inexpreffibly fofc ; their men, not infenfible of thefe perfedions, treat them with a friendfhip, and a foftnefs of love beyond the reach of the frigid ideas of a northern. When we ap- proach more towards the Eaft, the complexion and charadter of the Africans become worfe. Situated in an ungrateful foil, hardly improvable by culture, they are obliged to fubfift moftly upon the produce of their bow and of their hook ; their women have not the amiable modefty, nor engaging beauty of thofe on the banks of the Niger ; their language, like the foil they inhabit, is harfh and difagreeable ; and they are to the men objeQs of but little love> and have almoft no political confequence. In the ifland of Formofa, and among fome tribes of the Peruvians, daughters are more regarded than fons, becaufe, as foon as a woman is married, contrary to the cuflom of other countries, fhe brings her hufband home with her to her father's houfe, and he becomes one of the family ; fo that parents derive fupport and faniily-ftrength from the marriage of a daughter ; whereas fons, on their marriage, leave the family for ever. Be- fides the inhabitants of the banks of the Niger, there are feveral other people in Africa who do not treat their women with that rudenefs and barbarity, which we fliould naturally expedt from a people fo little cultivated. In particular there is one tribe diftin- guiflied by the name of Pholeys, whofe conftant maxim is, if poffible, to live in peace ; who are no indifferent proficients in fome of the arts of civil life ; and, perhaps, fecond to no people on earth in benevolence and humanity : their women have all the advantages of fociety, and all the indulgence of frieudfhip and of love. Though O F W O M E N. 187 Though pafturagc, agriculture, and every thing that brings ^ H a r. mankind into fociety, is generally in favour of women ; yet the i , — _» firfl; efforts of a people in agriculture commonly lay an additional load of labour on the fhoulders of that fex ; fo that they lofe, at firft, by an inftitution, which afterwards turns greatly to their advantage. This is the cafe in many parts of Afia and Africa ; imperfedly acquainted with the cultivation of the ground, it yields them but an indifferent increafe ; to cultivate it is, therefore, con- fidered as an employment not worthy of the time of men, but only fit for women, who cannot in any other thing employ themfelves to greater advantage. Hence, to all the labours to which they had formerly been accuftomed, is added thofe of digging the ground, fowing the feed, and reaping the harveft; toils which, in a fultry climate, muft be exceedingly difagreeable to the delicate conftitu- tions of a fex, which nature feems to have formed for fofter pur- pofes. But we have already had occafion to enumerate too many of the evils to which that fex are fubjeded ; we (hall therefore now rather trace their improvement towards that ftate in which we find them in pollfhed fociety, than backwards to that favage one, over which, for the fake of humanity, we would wifh to throw a veil. Though politenefs teaches us to confider the confinement of Of tKe con- women as an unlawful exertion of fuperior power, and to fhudder women. at it as an unmerited feverity ; yet we find it pradifed almofl: all over Afia, Africa, and even in fome parts of Europe : but what feems rather extraordinary, is, that wherever it takes place, it affords a demonftrative proof of the inhabitants being arrived fome degrees farther in civilization than mere favages, who have hardly any love, and, confequently, as little jealoufy; who, not regarding B b 2 their i88 T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP, their women fo much as to be folicitous about their good behaviour, VIII. give the loofe to their freedom, and are unconcerned about their condudl. This confinement of the fex, which we (hall have occafion to difcufs more fully afterward, does not appear to be extremely rigid in the empire of the Mogul; it is, perhaps, lefs fo in China, and in Japan hardly exifts. In the dominions of the Grand Sig- nior, women are more ftridtly guarded; and in Perfia have, time immemorial, hardly enjoyed the leaft degree of liberty; fo power- ful is the rage of jealoufy, and fo rooted the opinion of female frailty. But though women are confined in the Turkifh empire, they experience every other indulgence ; they are allowed, at ftated times, to go to the public baths ; their apartments are richly, if not elegantly furniflied ; they have a train of female flaves to ferve and amufe them ; and their perfons are adorned with every coftly ornament, which their fathers or hufbands can afford : in ftiort, their fituation, upon the whole, feems fo eligible, that lady Mon- tague fcruples not to affirm, that they are the only free and happy women on the globe ; though we rather fufpecS, that her ladyfhip would not have changed her Englifla freedom for all the finery and gloom of the firft Haram, or even of the feraglio of Conftantinople. Notwithftanding the ftridnefs of confinement in Perfia, their women are treated with fevcral indulgences ; perhaps to divert their attention from brooding on the wretched- nefs«of their fiftuation, they are loaded with the rineft filks, and ornamented Vvith the jewels of the Eaft; but all thefe trappings, however elegant, or however gilded, are only like the golden chains fometimes made ufe of to bind a royal prifoner. The O F W O M E N. 189 The Mahomedan women, in the empire of the Mogul, are ^ ^,f^ P* rather of more confequence than either in Turkey or in Perfia. Among the lower and middling ranks, they are not ftridly con- fined ; and in the feraglio, they fometiraes acquirp no fmall in- fluence over the defpot, at whofe frown fo extenfive an empire trembles. Noor-Jehan, whom we formerly mentioned by the name of Mher-ul-Nifla, having become the favourite wife of the emperor Jehangire, foon afterward placed her own relations in almofl all the principal employments of the empire, introduced fuch luxury and magnificence, that to ufe the words of an orien- tal writer, " expenfive pageants, and fumptuous entertainments, *' became the whole bufinefs of the court; the voice of mufic never " ceafed by day in the ftreet, and the fky was enlightened at night *' with fireworks and illuminations ; her name was joined with *' that of the emperor on the current coin ; fhe was the fpring " which moved the machine of the ftate ; her family took *• rank immediately after the princes of the blood, and were ad- " mitted even to the moft fecret apartments of the feraglio." Such, however, was only the influence of fuperior beauty, and fuperior fenfe : it was not common for women to govern in this manner; though they frequently moved in degrees of inferior confe- quence. The feraglios of people of rank are guarded with a flri£ter feverity than thofe of the lower order ; fuch people, every where, have a mixture of pride and jealoufy, which far furpafles the fimple feelings of the clown: befides the difagreeablenefs-of perfidy in his women, the grandee adds to it, the ftain which his honour would fuffer, fhould any of them be corrupted by one of inferior quality ; and even the women themfelves are faid to glory in their confinement, as it conceals them from vulgar eyes; and there have been inftances, where they rather chofe to be burned 5 to igo T H E H 1 S T O R Y CHAP, to death, when their apartments had accidentally" taken fire, than <- — .-- _> fubmit to the indelicacy of being expofed to public view. Powerofhuf- Where fo great a number of wives and concubines are al- bands io ihe Haram. lowed, an almoft unlimited power is ncceilary to reftrain them from the utmoft diforder and confufion. This power is the fame defpotifm in miniature, which prevails in the ftate ; and has the fame eflFe ^" account ftrangely chequered with good and evil, but in which the evil, for the moft part, greatly predominates, may be materially different from the ideas conceived of it by our fair readers, who have formed their opinions from eaftern tales and romances; which, if not contradidled by fadts, would impofe upon us a belief, that their women were the moft beautiful, and the mofl happy beings in the creation ; becaufe the men con- ftantly approach them in the mofl fubmiffive manner, while every flowery epithet, for which the eaftern language is fo remarkable, 4 bangs O F W O M E N. J95 hangs upon their tongue; and every promife they make, is to lad chap. for life, or for eternity. But the reverfe of the pidure (hews us, that they keep in the crueleft fubjeflion and confinement, the be- ings they feem to adore ; and while they appear to humble them- felves at their feet, are adually the jailors who confine, and the tyrants who enflave them. Even among the Chinefe, whom we may reckon the politeft of the Afiatics, wives are fometimes ftrangled at the death of their hu{bands, that they may go and ferve them in the other world. Such as we have defcribed, is the condition of women, among many of thofe people who hold a kind of middle rank, between favage barbarity and civilization ; but as the culture of manners, and of the focial principle among mankind, does not always pro- ceed upon an uniform plan, but is varied, according to the ge- nius, to the neceffities, and to a thoufand other circumftances, we find one nation often excelling another in one or two points of refinement, while in every other point of the fame kind, it is greatly behind it. Thus, in Otaheite, an ifland lately difcovered in the South Sea, the inhabitants, though hitherto unacquainted with any part of the globe, but a few more iflands fcattered around them; though fons of pure nature, and almoft entirely fed and clothed by her hand; though without the leaft knowledge of art, or glimmering of fcience, are, neverthelefs, focial among themfelves, civil and polite to the fair fex, allowing them every rank and dignity, and even the fupreme authority of the ifland, when it is their birthright ; treating them with a deference and indulgence, which the weaknefs and foftnefs of their nature feems to require ; and yet, though they have carried their politenefs C c 2 thus 196 THEHISTORY C HA P. tj^ug far J though the two fexes conftantly live together In pro- mifcuous fociety ; at meals, which bring the people of polite na- tions together, thp fexes in Otaheite are feparated. The women fometimes ferve the men at their repafts; but never eat with them, or in their company; (o that it is prefumable, the adion of eating or drinking is, in this idand, ranked among the number of female indelicacies: w.e, who are conftantly ufed to other manners and cuftoms, reckon it extraordinary that women fhould refufe to eat in the prefence of men ; but it is lliil more extraordinary, that fome of the chiefs of this people, either from a principle of pride, or for fome other reafon that we are not acquainted with, will not deign to put any thing into their own mouths, but, like children, muft be conftantly fed by their women. Perhaps the fame caufe, which induces the Otaheitean to this flabbering dignity, operating in Europe, would induce a man to be ferved in plate, or to ride in his coach; in the Eaft, to burn coftly perfumes, add more beau- ties to thofe already languifhing in his feraglio, and more flavcs to thofe who attend on his perfon ; and, in America, to hang more of the ghaftly fpoils of war round his body, and add to the natural ferocity of his vifage, by painting himfelf frightful. It is fomewhat remarkable, that over the greateft part of America, which, at prefent, may be called the native country of favage barbarifm, the men have in general but one wife ; while in Afia and Africa, where they are commonly a little more ci- vilized, an unreftrained polygamy fhould ftill take place ; and that, while in many other refpeds they treat their women better, this cuftom, which gives them their rivals for their infeparable com- panions, fliould not have been aboliflied. But fo permanent and 3, unalter-=- OF W O M E N. 197 Tinalterable are the curtoms of the Eaft, and particularly this of a ^ ^ A p. plurality of wives, that, in all probability, it will be among the ' j • • ' laft of the chains of female flavery that will be broken ; and if we can believe many of the mifhonaries, who were fent to propagate Chriftianity among them, there were none of the precepts of that religion, which they found fo much difficulty of making them conform to, as that of confining themfelves to one wife ; a thing which they thought fo abfurd and unreafonable, that they could not believe it to be agreeable to the will of the great Lord o£ the univerfe. CHAP. 198 T H E ri I S T O R Y CHAP. IX. The fame SubjeH continued. IN thefe Imperfeft fketches, -which we have already given of the rank and condition of ancient and modern women, we are forry to fay, that it was long before we found them getting into poffeffion of the common rights of mankind ; that at prefent, in more than one quarter of the globe, they are the moft abjedt flaves ; and in much more than another, perpetual prifoners : while in that little corner of it, called Kurope, they only poflefs the confequence to which they feem entitled by nature, in the fcale of intelligent beings. It is, therefore, with pleafure we now arrive at that part of our hiftory, which leads us to confider their condition in polifhed and civil fociety ; which, in other words, is confidering it only in Europe ; after having feen it in a light, which does fo little honour to our fex, and adds fo much wretchednefs to theirs, in every other part of the globe. Treatment of BuT though the fair fex are, in Europe, commonly treated with women in rr • • • 1 Europe. an aftedlion and indulgence, which m other parts they are either quite ftrangers to, or only enjoy on particular occafions; yet, as all Europe is not equally cultivated in manners, the condition of ^ women is not in every part of it equally eligible. Russia, OF WO M E N. 199 Russia, which we confider as an European nation, though com- ^ ^^ J^ ^' prehending in its dominions a part of Afia, has only begun a few > ' Difadvant- years ago to affume the polifli of the Europeans; and is as yet ages of the far from having attained that foftnefs of behaviour, which muft n,en. diftinguifh every people before they can treat, with propriety, a lex, whofe acute feelings, both of body and of mind, demand lenity and indulgence. The condition of women in Ruffia is, therefore, much lefs defirable than it is in England, France, or Italy. A late emprefs of Ruffia, as a punifhrnent for fome female frailties, ordered a moft beautiful young lady of family to be publicly knouted, in a manner which was hardly lefs indelicate than fevere. The fame emprefs, at another time, allowed feveral ladies of the firft quality to fufFer the punifhment of the knout publicly, and afterwards to have their tongues cut out'; while thefe cruel fentences were executing, they were expofed on the backs of men, with no covering, but a fcanty petticoat. Such were the Ruffians only a few years ago; when in every other part of Europe, and even among people whom we call barba- rians, the law, when neceflarily obliged to inflift punifhment on female delinquents, never violated the rules of decency. It has been aflerted by manv travellers, that a Ruffian bride, on her wed- ding-night prefented the bridegroom with a whip of her own- making, in token of her fubjedfion ; and thought herfelf much flighted, if he did not immediately make a trial of it upon her per- fon. Later travellers, however, alTure us, that if ever fuch a cuftom did exift, they could find no remaining traces of it af prefent. Though the wom^n at Peteriburgh are not confined to their apartments, they go little abroad, being but jufl: emerging from> a flat a-- 200 THE HISTORY CHAP, a fiate of barbarity. In their converfation, and their a£lions, ■ -,- __f there is hardly any thing of that foftnefs and delicacy which dif- tinguiflics the fex in other parts of Europe; even their exercifes and diverfions have more of the mafculine than the feminine. The prefent emprefe, with the ladles of her court, fometimes divert themfelves by fhooting at a mark. Drunkennefs, the vice of al- moft every cold climate, they are fo little afhamcd of, that not many years ago, a lady would have returned to the houfe of lier friend the next day, to thank her for doing her the pleafure of making her drunk the day before ; nor is it long fince the regu- lations for the aflcmblies, at the court of Peterfburgh, contained this remarkable article ; an article which, perhaps, is flill ex- tant : " And it is further ordered, that ladies fhall not get *' drunk upon any ^iretence whatever, nor gentlemen before " nine o'clock." Their advan- HowEVER unfavourable this account of the Ruffian women may *'^"' appear, their condition is far from being fo defpicable, as we might from thence naturally imagine. They fhare the rank and fplendour of the families of which they are fprung, and of the hufbands with whom they marry ; and even the fiipreme authority; which at prefent is enjoyed by an emprefs, whofe head does honour to her nation and to her fex; although on fome occafions the virtues of her heart have been much fufpeded. In the military, the widows and daughters, as well as fons of officers, are provided for by government ; the widows, if young, are allowed one year's pay, according to the rank of their hufbands, by way of a portion; if old, they have a fourth of the pay of their hufbands during life, and their daughters have the fame till the age of fif- teen ; when they arc fuppofed to be fit to marry, or otherwifc to provide OF WOMEN. 20I provide for themfelves. In civil life, the fex are protc£led from ^ ^ /^ P- infult by feveral falutary laws, and, except among the peafants, >^-..sr— ~/ are exempted from every kind of toil and flavery, enjoy fuch por- tions as are given them, or fall to their fhare by heritage ; and, upon the whole, feem approaching fafl: to the enjoyment of that confequence to which they have already arrived in feveral parts of Europe. In the other northern countries of Europe, the ftate of women Their condi- r o 1 1 •! 1 T T 1 1 tion in fome IS, in many relpecls, but mean and contemptible. In Lapland, o-.hers of ihe Norway, and Poland, they have hardly even feparate apartments, countries. except in fome houfes of their firft nobility. Eftates, as well thole that are acquired, as thofe that are hereditary, defcend to the children in the following proportions : in Poland, a fon has always two fhares, and a daughter one; nor can a father difpofc of his fortune otherwife, without a judicial fentence to enable him fo to do. In Denmark, women may fucceed as heirs to any inheritance, but no female, of whatever rank or condition, can fell, difpofe of, or in any other manner alienate any land, but muft leave it to the heir at law, who on her demife is empowered to take pofTefFion of it ; notwithftanding any devife, bargain, or fale that (he may have made in her lifetime to the contrary. In Britain, daughters are excluded from inheriting hereditary eftates fo long as there are any fons alive; but fuch eftates as the fathers have acquired, they may give to their daughters, or leave to them by will, though they have fons at the fame time living. In Piedmont, females cannot inherit a fief as long as any of the male line are alive. Though the Britifli ladies feldom enjoy titles or honours in their own right, yet they conftantly fhare in thofe of their hufbands, wives of bifhops and judges only excepted ; Vol. I. D d and 202 T H E H I S T O R Y ^ ^^Y^ ^' 3"'' further, a man of the higheft quality, by marrying a woman ^ ■>.— ■* from the very loweft of the people, confers upon her the fame rank and quality as he enjoys himfclf ; whereas no man, how- ever mean, can again altogether reduce her to her original ftate ; the title flie had once acquired by her noble hufband flie retains, by the complaifance of her acquaintance, till death, though flie fliould again be married to the meanefl: plebeian. Englifh wo- men have never had any power conferred on them to ennoble their hufbands, but of late it has not been uncommon to beftow titles and honours on women, in their own right, with a power of tranfmitting them to their male pofterity. In Germany, female honours run in a channel fomething different from that of Bri- tain, they are only the property of birth, or attainable by mar- riage, and on the deceafe of a hufband the wife, if (he was his inferior, defcends to that rank in life which fhe occupied before marriage. Some writers on the Germanic conftitution have alleged that this is a political inftitution to encourage matrimony among the great ; but, as women are feldom averfe to this flate, to place the lofs of being unmarried on their fide, is putting the weight into the wrong fcale. Property, A's being veftcd with the management and difpofal of property, how far verted ,i- i n /-•!• • ••! <- in women. whether in goods or eltates or inheritance, is a privilege from which women, in moft ages and countries, have either been en- tirely debarred, or enjoyed under a great variety of limitations and reftridions ; and as this privilege is one of thofe which confers the greatefl power and dignity, and upon which man- kind fet the greatefl; value, we fhall endeavour to give our readers fome idea how far it ha^ been granted or denied to the fex, whofe hiftory we are now confidering. 3 To O F W O M E N. 303 To give portions to women at the time of their marriage was chap. an ancient cuftom among fome nations ; Pharaoh gave the city of Gazer as a portion to his daughter when (he became the wife of Solomon, king of Ifrael ; but we have great reafon to believe that, in fuch early times, neither the management nor difpofal of the portions fo given were vefted in the perfon of the wife, but that fhe, and the dowry which came along with her, were almoft equally confidered as the property of the hufband. Almoft the whole hiftory of remote antiquity prefents us with a fcene, in which women appear too inconfiderable to have acquired any of the goods of fortune, or to have been trufted with them when acquired by their parents or relations. Among the ancient inha- bitants of Chaldea and Arabia, we are told, that women could not hold the pofleffion of any inheritance; and the decifion of this matter by Mofes, fliews that, in his time, no precedent had cxifted of females having any fuch privilege. The daughters of Zelophehad brought before Mofes, the priefts, the princes, and the congregation, a petition, fetting forth, that their father, after having always demeaned himfelf properly, had died in the wilder- nefs, having no fons ; on which account they thought themfelves entitled to a polTeffion among the brethren of their father, which Mofes, by the commandment of the Lord, not only granted them, but alfo ordained, that in future, when a man died, having no fons, his inheritance fliould become the property of his daugh- ters. A decifion, which feems to be the bafis on which the fuc- ceflion of women is, in many countries, founded at this day. As the Egyptians had the greateft efleem and veneration for their women, and even in many things fubmitred themfelves to their direilion, we have great realon to believe that they allowed D d 2 them 204 THEHISTORY ^ ^Y*^ ''■ ^^^"^ property, and the fucceflion to the eftates of their anceftors ; ^ M ' efpecially when we confider that the Greeks, who were originally a colony from Egypt, were, befides the Hebrews, the only people of antiquity, whom we find indulging them with this privilege. The ancient Romans, trained up to war and to arms, to take by conqueft the land of their neiglibours, and to retain by force what they had thus conquered, had no idea that women fliould inherit what they could neither conquer nor defend ; but fathers, in time, thinking it hard that their fons fhould be rich in pofleflions, while their daughters had none ; and tluit more diftant male relations fhould take the eftates as heirs at law, con- trived to make fuch provilions for their daughters, as rendered the eftates lo taken of little value. The people, irritated at this proceeding, and convinced from the relics of barbarity ftill lurk- ing in^ their minds, that women ought not to have any inherit- ance, pafled the Voconian law, by which it was ordained, That no woman ftiould be left heirefs to an eftate, even though an only child ; a law, which continued in force till the Romans be- came more refined and foftened in their fentiments, when a regard to the weaker fex broke through the unjufl: reftraint laid upon them, and granted them a right of fuccefTion, after the death of brothers, both in moveables and in land. Barbarity of manners is almoft everywhere produdive of the fame cuftoms. So Utile did the Lombards think women qualified, to inherit eftates, that, by their law, even the natural children, diftant male relations, and the public treafury, might ftiare the inheritance with daughters. This law was foftened among the Saxons, where the father and mother were bound to leave their eftate to their fons, and to their daughters if they had G no OF WOMEN. 205 nofon. Among the Burgundians, daughters were neither allow- CHAP. ed to be heirs in conjundion with fons, nor to fucceed to the ,- • crown. The Salique lands among the Franks feem to have been of a tenure fimilar to thofe in the times oF the feodal fyftem, held under a lord, for which the tenant was to perform military fervice; women were not admitted as inheritors, or tenants of fuch lands, for a plain reafon, becaufc they were not qualified to perform the military fervice by which they were held ; but methods were afterwards difcovered to elude this prohibition ; he who wanted to make his daughter equal to his fon, carried her before the commiflary, and faid, " My dear child, an ancient and impious *' cuftom bars a young woman from fucceeding to her father ; " but as all my children are equally given me by God, I ought " to love them equally; therefore, my dear child, my will is, ** that my cfFedts fliall be fhared equally between you and your *^ brethren." This Salique law, which in modern France feems little if at all regarded by the fubject, is ftill in force with regard to the crown, no woman ever being allowed to inherit it. But though the French will not fuffer a woman to fway their fcepter, they cannot hinder her from ruling the monarch which holds it; a cafe which has fo often happened, that, in fpite of their Salique law, they have been more under the dire£lion of women tharj any of the neighbouring kingdoms. The laws which preclude females from enjoying property and inheritance have, perhaps, in every other country, befide France, been confined to the fubje -■ .; at prefent anticipate that part of our lubjet^. In thofe ftages of human fociety that intervene between the Love, page- mofl uncuhivated ftate of nature and a tafte for elegance and (how,' the re.iincment of manners, pageantry and £how feem to employ the Jomen." utmofl: attention, and to be confidered as the only proper appen- dages of grandeur, ftrong proofs of which are afforded us by almoft all the nations of the Eafl:, and by Poland in the North ; the Polifh women of fafhion feidom go to vifit one another with- out being attended by the moft numerous train of fervants, carriages, and flambeaus they can mufter ; but when we follow them home, we meet with nothing adequate to this parade; their apartments are but poorly furnifhed, and but hardly clean, and themfelves are the mean and fawning flaves of their hufbands. who, c.Kcept in the articles of equipage and drefs, fcarcely treat them as rational beings. In Germany, where the tafte is ia general lefs formed, the women are more fond of family pageantry, and more crammed with family pride than in France or England. In Italy, of a warmer temperament, they aim more at captivating the heart than the eyes, and have there, as well as in France, attained almoft to an abfolute dominion over the men ; a prerogative which in Portugal Teems much on the decline; for though, in the time of Alphonfo, when the Portuguefe were an honour to human nature, the man who infulted a woman, or broke any promife he had made to her, was degraded from what- ever rank he enjoyed ; at prefent, the falfe gallantry introduced, authorifes him to commit every perfidy of that nature with impunity. In -o8 T H E II I S T O R Y In Englantl, France, Italy, and thofe other parts of Europe wliicli have arrived nearly at the fame degree of politenefs ; with^indur prompted by a mixture of humanity and love, the men have ^'^""' entirely exempted the women from every fpecies of labour, except what is abfolutely neceflary among the poor for obtaining their daily bread ; and even there, it is with pleafure we often obferve the ruftic clown, while he wipes the fweat from his brow, endeavouring to lighten the burden and alleviate the taflc of the fun-burnt daughter of labour who toils by his fide. So extenfive are the efFedls of politenefs in Europe, that it has not only foftened the actions and manners of him who, tutored in the lap of eafe, has received the polilh of a good education ; but of him alfo who, left to nature, has nothing to boafl; of but what he received from her hand. This fpirit of fympathetic indulgence, or of polite gallantry, does not flop at endeavouring to eafe the load of female toil, or to mitigate the feverity of that labour for which their natural weaknefs feems to have incapacitated the fex; it expands itfelf to every part of the condu£l of the men which has any relation to them. We give to a woman, even though of inferior quality, the right hand, (hew her every token of refpcd, and place her in every fituation of honour. We lavifli our fubftance upon orna- ments for our wives and daughters, and reckon, that when they appear in elegance and tafte, they refled a luftre and credit upon us. We are hurt when they behave improperly, and on the con- trary, perfuade ourfelves that their good condut!! adds a dignity to our character and reputation. In fhort, we are fo deeply in- terefted in every thing that relates to them, that they may be confidered as the arbiters of our fate, and the fpring which fets in motion, and continues to diredl:, almoft every adion of our lives ; O F W O M E N. 209 lives ; fiich is the indulgence we fhew them, and fuch the power ^ HA P. we put into their hands, that a proverbial faying has from thence ' ^— — ' arifen, that England is the heaven of women, and the hell of horfes. In France, Italy, and Spain, the deference paid to women is ftill greater than in England, and generally proceeds from dif- ferent motives ; here, the honours we confer upon them flow from a mixture of love for their perfons, and efteem of their virtues ; there, it arifes, for the moft part, only from a kind of cuftomary gallantry, which feems direded more to the fex than the individual. A Frenchman, the moment he is in the com- pany of a woman, whether young or old, beautiful or otherwife, declares himfelf her admirer, talks of flames and darts, and pays her a thoufand compliments on her beauty. An Italian, when he is introduced to a lady, approaches her in the moft humble and fubmiflive manner, kifles her hand, and if fhe is handfome, and of quality, confiders her as a fublime being, an angel in a human form, and confequently never to be approached but with the greateft reverence. The Spaniard goes yet a flep farther, the whole fex is to him an objedt of little lefs than adoration ; he retains ftilla lindure of the fpirit of knight-errantry in every thing relating to women, and will readily venture his life to faveany of them from trouble or from danger ; the objedt of his love is never lefs than a goddefs, whom he always mentions with all the extravagance that metaphor and hyperbola can di(ftate and to a woman, above the rank of a peafaot, he never prefcnts any thing but in a kneeling pofture. These improvements, in the condition of the fair fex of ConHdera- Europe, feem naturally to point out to us, that they are there |re"!,°c"fit'of . Vol. I. E e the '"' "'• 2IO THEHISTORY CHAP. o^Q nioft happy, as well as the moft deferving of beings ; but the w — .-. .^ external appearance of things is but an unfaithful mirrour, whofc reprefentation we cannot altogether depend on. Women arc in fome degree every where the flaves of fuperior power ; in Afia, imprifoned, and conftantly reduced to a£t by the impulfe of another, without any will or any inclination which they can gratify, their triumphs lafting only a few moments ; their rivalry, animofities, and confinement, till death. In Africa and America, the mere drudges of their proud tyrants, they labour to procure fubfiftence for themfelves and hufbands, and when they have done, are treated little better than our dogs; they receive only chaftifement and crumbs. In Europe, for the moft part, but improperly, or flightly educated ; and at all times kept in a ftate of dependence, by the reftridions of a fevere legiflation, which, in the management and difpofal of what property is allowed them, commonly cramps the freedom of their will, Dlflionoured and difgraced beyond all poflibility of redemption, by the commif- fllon of faults, which in the men are hardly confidered as any thing but a£ls of gallantry ; and even in the ftate of matrimony, a ftate to which they naturally afpire, more indlflblubly bound than their hufbands. The law affords them no relief, unlefs the cruel partner to whom they are tied, has attempted to take away their life; and while he may riot with impunity in adulterous amtours, if the wife retaliates, by copying his example, he immediately procures a divorce, and may turn her out without fubfiftence, to the fcorn and contempt of her own fex, who, in fuch cafes, feldom look with pity even on a repenting finner. Caufcsofthe THOUGH wc have marked, as we came along, feveral of the frcatm"nt of caufcs of the good and ill-treatment of women, yet we flatter women. OUlfelveS O F W O M E N. 211 ourfelves it may not be improper to conclude this chapter with a more accurate view of them. Were we on this fubjeft to reafon from analogy, we fliould not hefitate to fay, that there is in na- ture a principle, which ftrongly prompts us to behave with lenity and indulgence to the fair fex ; as almoft the whole of the irra- tional creation prefents us with a pidure of fuch behaviour : the cock, when he has found any provifion, calls his hens together to partake of it; and the males of all the feathered kind, for the moft part, provide for the females while hatching. Among quadrupedes, though there appears lefs indulgence, and even lefs affiftance on the part of the male, yet the former is in many cafes very diftinguifhable, and the latter not altogether unknown to the diligent obfervers of nature. No male of any fpecies of animals we are acquainted with, will fight vrith, or ufe a female of the fame fpecies rudely, unlefs highly provoked; and even then, he will corred her with lenity and feeming reludance. But while we reafon on this fubjedt, if we truft to analogy, it will certainly miflead us. And when we turn ourfelves from reafoning upon principles, to the obfervation of fads, a flight fur- vey of man, in his favage ftate, will foon convince us, that he has no natural propenfity, nor inftind, which determines him to ufe the females of his fpecies with tendernefs and indulgence ; or if he has, it is, like many other natural inftinds, totally oblite- rated in his youth by habit and education. We are told, indeed, by Charlevoix, that fome of the favages of North America will, by no means, be prevailed upon to ftrike, and hardly even to de- fend themfelves againft a woman ; but fhould this be true, it is only a local cuftom ; for we are aflured almoft by every traveller, that favages, in a variety of parts of the world, on the E e 2 moft 212 THEHISTORY CHAP, mofl: trifllnc occafions, beat and abufe their women without IX. ^ mercy. We have ah-eady obferved, that power, when not influenced by humanity, is commonly made ufe of only to enflave. On this principle, we may aflert, that the moft general and extenfive caufe of the ill treatment of women, is the imbecillity of their conftitutions, and the impoflibility of aflerting the rights of na- ture againft a fex fo much their fupcriors in ftrength. The next caufe, is the infenfibility of the men, or that favagenefs of dif- pofition, which not only eradicates humanity, but prompts only to animal appetite, inftead of the fentimental feelings of love; a caufe which, more or lefs, prevails in almoft every country, and particularly in thofe, where fociety and the various refinements thereon depending, are but little and imperfedly known. Men conftantly accuftomed to gain their fubliftence by fifhing and hunting, are trained up in the exercife of every cruelty againft the brute creation ; hence, in their wars, the fame cruelty dif- fufes itfelf upon their antagonifts and prifoners ; and hence too, even the tender and inoffending fair fex are fubjeds upon which they exercife that ferocious and unfeeling temper, which, from their carlieft infancy, has been nouriflied by their employments and their difficulties; and which neither religion, admonition, nor ex-_ ample, have ever confpired to reflrain; nor the fympatheiic feel- ings of the heart revolted againft, as barbarous and inhuman. Whatever be the original difference in the feelings of the human heart, we know they are capable of being altered, and made better or worfe by education and example ; an inconteftible proof of which arifes from the behaviour of the genteel, and commoa 4 people O F W O M E N. 213 people of England, who muft be nearly alike by nature; and yet chap. by education, the employments of life, and the example of low company, the latter are often brutal and ferocious in their man- ners, while the former are diftinguifhed for humanity, and the more exalted feelings of the foul. A THIRD caufe of the ill-treatment of the fex is, their gene- ral want of proper education and inftrudion. In favage life, without any engaging qualification of mind, and deftitute of every ornament of body, except only a few things which render them more dlfagreeable, they have nothing but fex to engage the atten- tion, and foften the rugged nature of the male. In countries a little more cultivated, as in Afia, though they lavifh every orna- ment on their perfons, their minds commonly prefent a blank ; fcarcely even here and there fhaded with the outlines of know- ledge and fenfibility. In moderate climates, women acquire fenfe and experience, as their charms and beauty expand. In Afia, if they ever become fenfible and intelligent, it is at an age when their fliort and fleeting beauty, which commonly begins to fade at eighteen, is all over. This is one of the ftrongeft reafons why the women of the Eaft are fo little efteemed. In countries, where the manners are finilhed by the lafl: touches of polifh and refine- ment ; the levities, expenfive follies, and irreftrainable propen- fity to pleafure and admiration, frequently procure to the foftcr fex ill-treatment from ours ; and force us even to defpife and con-- demn the heart, which is lodged in the form we adore. A FOURTH caufe of the ill-treatment of women is, often, their taking too little care to make themfelves agreeable. This is com- monly the cafe in favage life, where, if nature has denied them charms, 214 THE HISTORY CH A P. charms, they have no other way of attracting the heart; and < n ' where, if (he has not denied them, the pofleflbrs have not learned to fet a proper vakie upon them, nor to improve their power by correfpondent qualifications of the mind. But this is not a cafe only to be met with in favage countries; in the moft cultivated dates of fociety, we often meet the carelefs flattern, who difgufts us with her indelicacy; the conceited beauty, who, trufting to the favours fhe has received from nature, exa£ts from us the tri- bute iTie thinks due to them, with a petulant prefumption, which fruftrates all its own intentions ; and the haplefs wanderer from the paths of virtue, who, loft to honour and to fhame, lays afide every thing pleafing in the manners of the beft of her own fex, and adopts every thing difgufting in the worft of ours. To thefe chara(Sers we may add the unthinking wife; who, as foon as fhe has ftepped over the threftiold of matrimony, leaves behind her every delicacy, and every foft and engaging art, by which flie attraded the lover. In polite countries, women reckon themfelves ill-treated, if they are not beloved, accofted with refpcdt, and even their wifhes prevented by all the namelefs little offices of good-breeding : ac- cuftomed to be conftantly approached, with an air of fubmifTion that borders on adoration, to be conftantly flattered, on actount of their beauty and accompliftiments, and wanting fagacity to diftinguilli mere gallantry from the real fentiments of the heart, they at laft become pert and affuming, and often rude and ill- natured to fuch as they think do not offer a fufficient quantity of the incenfe of praife at the ftirine of their beauty : having arrived this length, they foon become obje , ' that the Greek women were, in the heroic ages, far from being famous for any of the moral virtues. The greateft part of the Grecian princes who affembled at the fiege of Troy, were guilty of many of the moft enormous crimes, while their wives, not lefs flagitious, murdered almoft the whole of them after their return; a thing nearly incredible, when we confider that in thofe times cuftom had condemned the wife who had loft a hufband to per- petual widowhood ; but even cuftom, though often more regarded than all the laws of heaven and earth, mull in time yield to a general corruption of manners. BtJT to proceed to times of which we are better informed. The" Laws in ■women of other nations were indecent through the ftrength of vourab.'e to their ungovernable paflions ; fome of the Greek women were nunners!'^° ' obliged to be indecent by law. In Sparta, what virtue, what decorum can we expeft, when even the ftrongeft temptations to vice had the public fandion. of the legiOature ? In the heroic- ages, while ignorance and brutality of manners prevailed, we are not much furprifed to find the women conduifting the men to the baths, undreffing them, and attending to drefs and rub them when they came out ; but in Sparta, famed for its falutary laws, and when Greece was in its moft poliihed condition, we arc amazed to find that both fexes reforted to, and bathed together in the public baths. And this amazement is ftill heightened, when we are affured that here alfo plays were a£ted by order of the legiflator, where young people of both fexes were obliged to fight, and to dance naked on the ftage, that the men, according to his idea?, might be thereby excited to matrimony. What A were 2 40 THE HISTORY CHAP, were the confequences of the indecencies we have now men- XI. v_ -, 1 tioned .'' The intention of Lycurgus, if he really had any fuch intention, was but little attended to, and it is agreed on all hands, that both fexes went to thofe plays only for the fake of debauchery ; and further, that, difgufted by this fhamelcfs expo- fure, the men paid lefs regard to the women, and the women became lefs virtuous, and at laft grew diflblute to fuch a degree as to be thereby diftinguifhed from all the other women of Greece. Euripides, and fome others of the Greek authors, be- ftow upon them epithets which decency will not allow us to tranllate, nor were thefe epithets the overflowings of the gall of fatyric poets and violent declaimers only, but the cool and con- fiderate refledions of the impartial hiftorian ; but we would not be underftood as altogether confining diflblutenefs and debauchery to the women of Sparta, thofe of many of the other ftates were little inferior to them. In Thracia and Boeotia they every third year held a feftival in memory of the expedition of Bacchus into India, at which both married women and virgins, with javelins in their hands and didievelled hair, ran about like furies bellow- ing the praifes of the god, and committing every diforder fuggefted by madnefs and folly. Deference fliewn to courtezans. Wherever public proftitution becomes fo fafhionable that it is attended with no difgrace in the opinion of the male, and with exceedingly little in that of the female fex, there, we may aflure ourfelves, the morals of the women are highly contaminated ; a circumftance of which Athens afforded the mofl glaring proof. In that city courtezans were not only kept in a public manner by moft of the young men of fafhion, but greatly countenanced, and even publicly vilited by Solon their lawgiver, who applauded % fuch O F W O M E N. 241 fuch young men as were found in the ftews, becaufc their going to ^ ^\ ^ P- thefe places rendered them lefs apt to attempt the virtue of modeft ' . > women. But Athenian courtezans were not only vifited by their great lawgiver, but alfo by the celebrated Socrates, and moft of their other philofophers, who, not content with going frequently to fee them themfelves, even foraetimes carried their wives and daughters along with them ; a circumftance of which we do not recolledt to have heard in any other country, and which could not but tend to give thefe wives a mean opinion of virtue, when they faw the prefe- rence that was given to vice ; and when fuch of their own fex as thus publicly deviated from the paths of chaftity were fo openly efteemed and regarded, it was natural for thofe of a different cha- rader to pay the lefs regard to that chaftity, the pradifing of which gained them no fuperior privilege nor advantage. The whole hiftory of ancient Greece prefents us with courte- Caufesofthii , , _ deference. zans enjoymg uncommon reputation and honour ; to account for this, we muft lay it down as a fundamental principle, that our fex has a natural inclination to the company and converfation of the other. Now, in Greece, modeft women were all fo ftridly confined, that none were allowed to fee or converfe with them but their neareft relations ; and from this confinement it naturally followed, that they were uncultivated, and ignorant of learning, and of almoft every thing that was tranfadling in the world ; they were, therefore, but ill qualified to entertain or amufe the men with their converfation. The Grecians had a natural tafte for the beautiful, a tafte which was greatly improved by their ftatuaries and painters ; but the beauties of their modeft women were rendered invifible by veils, and unengaging by aukwardnefs. The very reverie was the cafe with the courtezans, they improved Vol. I. I i their 242 THE HISTORY their charms by every art, (hewed thcra unveiled in every public place, and all had accefs to their conii)any and to their houfes. Not ignorant of the difadvantages that other women laboured under, they availed themfclves of, and improved, their own more happy fituation ; they dedicated a great part of their time to the arts and fciences, to the knowledge of public affairs, to fpeaking with elegance and propriety, and, above all, to the arts of pleafing, which, whenever properly managed by women of beauty, have an afcendency over us that they them- felves feem but half acquainted with. Hence it is not difficult to fee how the Grecian proftitutes crept into fuch confequence; they had art and nature on their fide, and modeft women being all imprifoned, they had no rivals to contend with. Prcfent ir ha- bitants of Greece like their an- cedors. The prefent inhabitants of Greece feem to have pretty nearly copied the pattern of antiquity ; unchaftity, with them, and everi' the trade of proftitution, are confidered but as very trifling affairs, which any woman may be guilty of without lofing her charader. A Greek girl will agree with a Frank for any limited lime he pleafes : the Subafci will as eafily grant them a licence to live to- gether for that time; and fhould any one be caught with her, during the continuance of it, they would both be fined, and ex- hibited through the nearefl city, mounted together on an afs. At Venice, the courtezans of the prefent time feem nearly on a foot- ing with thofe of ancient Greece. By the ftrongeft fumptuary laws, the Venetian nobility are reftrained from fpending their money almoft on any thing but their miftreffes; and while the modeft women feel their inclinations curbed in almoft every article of luxury and expence by thefe laws, the courtezans, either above or below their notice, evade them altogether. As OF WOMEN. 243 As the female form is of a fofter and more delicate nature than ^ ^^ A p. XI. that of the male, fo their minds are generally more finely attuned * — r'^—— ' to the gentler feelings of tendernefs and humanity; but the Gre- men deftitute cian women, either by nature, or more probably by cultom, were nefs of their in this rcfpedl miferably deficient. At an annual feftival, cele- ^''' brated in honour of Diana, all the children of Sparta were whipt till the blood ran down on the altar of the goddefs. Under this cruel ceremony, which was inflidled, as they pretended, to accuf- tom them to bear pain without murmuring, fome, almoft every year, expired. The inhuman barbarity was performed in the prefence of the whole city; the fathers, and what our female readers will hardly credit, even the mothers, beholding their chil- dren bathed in blood, and ready to expire with pain, ftood ex- horting them to fuffer the number of ladies affigned them, with- out a groan or a complaint. It may be alleged here, that women being fpedtators and encouragers of a cruel ceremony, is no proof of their want of proper feelings, but only an inftance of the power of cuftom. A dodrine to which we cannot altogether aflcnt, being perfuaded, that there are many of the fair-fex, of a compofition fo humane and tender, that even cuftom could not reconcile them to barbarity ; but allowing it to have that power, what folly were the men guilty of in inflituting fuch a ceremony ? they were robbing the women of every thing valuable in the female mind, and labouring to make them what they were not intended to be by nature. But this inhuman cuflom was not the only proof that the Greek women were diverted of that female tendernefs which we fo much admire in the fcx. There was in Greece a cuflom, if pofTible, ftill more barbarous ; as foon as a boy was born at Sparta, I i 2 he $44 T H E H I S T O R Y he was vifited by a deputation of the elders of each tribe; If lie appeared to be of a weakly conftitution, and not likely to become a flout and healthful member of their ftatc, they judged him not to be worth the trouble of rearing; and therefore ordered him to be thrown into a quagmire, at the bottom of the Mountain Tay- geta. This was valuing human beings, exatflly as we would do an ox or an afs ; and entirely fctting afide all the moral turpitude of murder. It was only, however, pradifed at Sparta.; and we fliould have hoped, that, even there, it was contrary to the inclination, and without the confent, of the women; were we not afl'ured by a variety of authors, that the Spartan dames, in every circum- ftance, almoft entirely governed their hufbands. To the barbarous cuftoms, now mentioned, we fhall add only one more. To fo weak and expiring a ftate was the paternal inftincl of nature re- duced among the Greeks, that they frequently, as we have al- ready related, expofed fuch children as they were not able, or did not chufe, to maintain*. A barbarity which, more or Icfs, pre- vailed in all the Grecian flates; except at Thebes, a city, where, to the immortal honour of the inhabitants it was fo much abhor- red, that, by their laws, it was capitally punifhed. We fhall finifh this fubjeft, by obferving, that the Spartan matrons re- ceived the news of their fons having been flain in battle, not only without any figns of grief, but even with an appearance of extra- vagant joy and fatisfadlion, which they took the mofl: early oppor- tunity of fliewing in public. Thofe fame women, however, who pretended to have imbibed fo much heroifm, that they were ftrangers to every fear, but fuch as arofe on account of their country, when they faw Epamlnondas, after the battle of Leuftra, • Though the Grceki might ixpok iafaots, they could not fell a daughter, or a fjflcr, un- IcTs (he became a whore. march- OF WOMEN. 245 marching his vidorious army towards Sparta, teftlfied by their beha- CHAP. Aj. viour, that they werefubjcdt to fears of another nature; and that ' . ' all their joys and forrows arofe not folely from the profperity or adverfity of their country. They ran up and down the ftreets in terror and defpaix*, filling the air with fhrieks, and transfufing their own timidity into the men, caufed more diforder than the approach of the vidtorious army. When we come to the hiftory of the matrimonial compad, we Othenicesof fhall fee how the Grecian women behaved to their hufbands ; and women? fliall at prefent fum up the reft of their charader, by obferving, that at Athens, even drunkennefs appears to have been among the number of their vices ; as is evident by a law of Solon, in which it is enaded, that no woman fliall be attended by more than one fervant when flie goes abroad, unlefs when flie is drunk. It would feem that the Athenian women alfo made ufe of the dark- nefs of the night to fcreen them in their intrigues ; for another law of Solon ordains, that no woman fliall walk abroad at night, unlefs flie intends to play the whore ; and from feveral other ordi- nances of this legiflator, it plainly appears, that to keep women within the bounds of that decorum proper to their fex, was a matter of no fmall difficulty ; for, to the laws we have juft now mentioned, he was obliged to add others, which fliew that the fex were only to be governed by coercive meafures. He ordained, that no woman fliuuld go out of the city with more provifions than could be purchafed for an obolus, nor with a baflcet higher than a cubit; and if a woman went abroad at night, fhe was to be carried in a waggon, preceded by a flambeau : from all which it feems evident, that the defign of Solon was to make the Athe- nian women decent and virtuous. ]f Lycurgus had the fame in- g tention 2,6 THE HISTORY CHAP, tcntion in the laws that he eave the Lacedemonians, we cannot XI. * « ' help thinking that he had but ill ftudicd human nature ; for, as a learned author of" the prefent age has obfervcd, though nakcdncfi of both fexcs is no incentive to lufl, and though the inhabitants of countries where no clothes are ufed, are not on this account lefs virtuous than their neighbours, wJiere they are ufed, yet there may be modes of clothing which more powerfully excite the paflions, than the moft abfolute nakednefs. Of this kind, in our opinion, was the drefs of Sparta. We fliall have occafion after- ward to defcribe it, and at prefent fliall only obferve, that it has been exclaimed againft by a variety of the writers of antiquity. Of iheRo- Though fuch is the general character of the Greeks, we have man women. . - happily no inftance of a corruption of manners having fpread itfelf over a whole nation, in fuch a manner as to leave nobody free from the contagion. In the midfl: of licentioufnefs and bar- barity, at leaft in thefe periods, that were fubfecjuent to the ficge of Troy, the Grecian women afford us feveral inftanccs of chaftity, conjugal fidelity, and maternal affedlion. In the heroic ages, or thofe periods when their ftates were in their infancy, they appear to have been abandoned almoft to every fpecies of wickednefs ; but when we turn to the Romans, we find the cafe quite otherwife. In the earlier periods of the Roman republic, before the wealth poured in from in- numerable conqueftshad introduced luxury and diffipation, no wo- men were more famous for their virtues, none more infamous after- ward for their vices. The whole hiftory of Rome, for fevcral ages after its foundation, bears teftimony to the tendernefs, frugality, and chaftity of her women. Of this nothing can be a ftronger proof, than the long period that intervened between the founda- tion of the republic and the firfl divorce ; a period of five hun- 4 drcd OF W O M E N. 247 dred and twenty years, though the men had a power of divorcing their wives ahnofl at pleafure. To this proof we could add a great variety of others, but (hall only mention the ftory of the rape of Lucretia, which in the ftrongefl: manner demonftrates the value which the Roman women fet upon the moft unfpotted chaflity. Lucretia, being violated in fecret, could not have found the fmalleft difficulty in concealing what had happen- ed ; and befides, fhould it have been difcovered, the fraud and force made ufe of againft her were fufficient to have quieted her confcience, and exculpated her to her hufband and the public from every imputation of criminality : yet, fo exalted were her ideas of chaftity, that fhe was refolved not to give back to the arms of her hufband, a body even involuntarily polluted, nor to furvive the guiltlefs ftain which her honour had fuffered ; but calling toge- ther her friends, in the prefence of her hufband, flie revealed to them the fecret of the rape that had been committed upon her; and while conjuring them to revenge her injured name, fhe ftabbed herfelf in the bread with a dagger fhe had concealed under her garments for that purpofe. The care taken by women to preferve their chaRity will always be in proportion to the value fet upon it by the men. When the women find that the men pay but little regard to this virtue, that they are as much carefled, and have as good a chance for a huf- band after they have trefpaffed the rules of it as before ; the ftrongefl obligation laid upon them to preferve it, is then taken off. In the earlier periods of the Roman republic, this feems to have been the caufe of fuch inviolable chaftity : the men had the higheft regard for it ; they not only avoided faying any thing in- confiftent; 24$ THEHISTORY CHAP, confiftent with purity of manners, any thing that could give ofTence to modefty, in their ferious hours ; but even in their gay and fportive humours, when the watch is apt to flip afide from the door of the lips, never tranfgrefled the bounds of decency, nor indulged in frolic and dalliance, even with their own wives, before a third perfon : they flighted and defpifed the woman who had voluntarily yielded herfelf to an unlawful embrace ; nor did any thing hurt their honour fo much, as to have a wife or a daughter violated ; and methods of the mofl: extraordinary nature were often taken to prevent or revenge fuch infults. Husbands and fathers, valuing chaftity more than life, feve- ral times killed their wives and daughters, when they had no other means of preventing them from being raviflied ; and women themfelves, fired by this example, not unfrequently facrificed their lives to preferve their honour. Virgineus, when he had tried every method to fave his haplefs daughter Virginea from the tyrant Claudius, who, under pretence of claiming her for his flave, wanted only to have her in his own power, that he might de- bauch her ; having obtained leave to fpeak to her before fhe fhould be delivered to the tyrant by the judgment of the court, took her in his arms, and wiping the tears from her eyes, drew near to fome butchers fliops, which ftood in the Forum, where caufes were publicly tried, and where Virginea had juft been ad- judged the property of Claudius. There, fnatching up a knife, and turning to his daughter, " My dear child (faid he), this is " the only way left to fave thy liberty and thy honour. Go, Vir- '* ginea! go to thy anceftors whilft thou art yet free and unde- " filed !" Thus faying, he plunged the fatal knife into her breaft; ■ and O F W O M E N. 249 and fuch was the regard of the Romans to chaftity, that almoft the ^ ^5, ^ P- whole of the people rofe in arms, to revenge the injured father, u.. - w- -' and the murdered daughter. Could any thing more forcibly demonftrate the manner in which the Romans exerted themfelves to preferve the delicacy, as well as thehonour of their women, itwould be the following circumftances. Manlius, a patrician and fenator of Rome, having inadvertently faluted his wife in the prefence of his daughter, and being by the Cenfors accufed of an indecency ; the Senate, after folemnly con- fidering the matter, ftruck him off the lift of their order. Julius Cxfar, having heard forae indecent reports of his wife, immedi- ately divorced her, without enquiring whether fhe was guilty or innocent ; and being afked the reafon of fo fevere a treatment, " I would not (anfwered he) have the wife of Csefar even fuf- " peded.'' When feveral of the Veftal virgins had been at one time corrupted, the Romans reared a temple to Venus Verticor- dia, or the turner of hearts; and worfliipped her with fuch cere- monies, as they imagined would incline her to turn the hearts of the Roman women to that chaftity which they were in danger of forlaking. When fuch were the private, fuch the public inftances of the regard {hewn to chaftity by the men ; when the women forfeited every thing that was dear and interefting to their fex ; if they deviated from it, can we wonder, that the Roman ladies, while this was the cafe, were remarkable beyond any thing that hiftory has handed down to us, for this moft exalted of female virtues ? ,SucH was the ftate of chaftity in Rome, till the Romans ex- Charoeintbc tended their conquefts into Afia ; and returning, brought along "he"Ro"° lan Vol. I. K k with *'°"''"- 250 T H E H 1 S T O R Y C HA P. xv'ah them the amazing wealth, as well as voluptuous manner?, v_— v—— ^ of the nations they had plundered; when all the boafted patriot- ifm of the one fex began to give way to the moft fhameful vena- lity, and all the chaftity of the other, to the force of the fafliion- able vices juft introduced among them. This venality of the men was whetted by the now luxurious manner of living, and extra- vagant tafte for pageantry and fliow, and gratified by getting into ofEces of the itate, and plundering the provinces, or felling the intercfls of their country. Women too, not lefs fond of being publicly confpicuous, had no other method of acquiring money to become fo, than proftitution. Such an innovation of manners altogether overturned every fober plan of frugal ceconomy, and turned the ideas of both fcxes entirely upon riches, and the parade of the public fhews and diverfions, which thefe enabled them to give and to attend. This immoderate defire of fhews brought a low and fliamelefs freedom into fafhion, and women contended with each other, who ftioukl bribe highefl to obtain the favours of a player. Debauchery reduced fertility ; but as fertility was not their wifh, they learned to procure abortions, that their pleafures might fuflPer the lefs interruption ; at laft, jaded even with thefe pleafures, which they had tried the moft unnatural means to vary, their lewdnefs became too powerful to be reftrained by law, and bore down every obftacle that oppofed its courfc. The men, tinged with the licentious manners of Afia, and contami- nated with every crime, now paid nearly the fame refpefl to her who had forfeited her title to chaftity, as to her who had not. Hence lewdnefs and debauchery, neither afraid of fhame nor of punifhment, became fafhionable among every rank and condition of women, while chaftity was confidered only as an antiquated virtue. Courts OF WOMEN. 251 Courts are but too frequently the feminaries of vice. This was evidently the cafe at Rome. The Emprefles generally took the lead in lawlefs indulgence : the example of the great is com- monly followed by the little : from the court, a fcene of the moft fhamelefs libertinifm, hardly to be paralleled in hiftory, diflemi- nated itfelf all over Rome. Women danced naked on the ftage, bathed promifcuoufly with the men, and, with more than mafcu- line effrontery, committed every fort of irregularity. By the un- bounded licence thus given to unlawful pleafures, matrimony be- came unfafhionable, and was confidered as a confinement and a burden, not confident with Roman freedom and independence. To thefe ideas alfo the condudl of the married women did not a little contribute, and raifed in the hufbands fuch a difguft at mar- riage, that even Metellus the Cenfor, who ought to have been the proteftor of that inftitution, made the following fpeech to the peo- ple againft it : " If it were poffible for us to do without wives, " we {hould deliver ourfelves from this evil ; but as nature has " ordained, that we cannot live very happily with them, nor " without them, we ought to have more regard to our own pre- *' fervation, than to tranfient gratifications." Rome is the only place that ever furnifhed an inftance of a general confpiracy among the married women to poifon their hufbands. A VARIETY of laws were from time to time devifed by the Lwsoftha Romans to ftop the progrefs of public proftitution. Among others re°!^in'thi's it was ordained, that all courtezans fhould take out a licence from ''"°"°"^"'^'^' the court of the iEdiles ; which they fliould renew once every year, and without which they fliould not be allowed to carry on their trade ; that their names, and the price of their favours, fliould be wrote upon the doors of their houfes. Thefe, one would have K k 2 imagined, 252 T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP, imagined, were fuch conditions as no woman who had the leafl re- < r~~-t maining fpark of fenfibility would have agreed to. But the torrent of vice was not to be ftopped lb eafily : women, who were wives and daughters to Roman knights, were not afliamed to apply for fuch licences; and the infetStion was even reaching higher. Viftilla, a lady of a Praetorian family, with an unparalleled effrontery appeared in public court before the yEdiles, and declaring hcrlelf a proftitute, demanded a licence to enable her to excrcife her trade. Debauched as the Romans then were, under a prince fo difTolute as Tiberius, their fears were alarmed ; and the fenate enabled fe- veral laws to rcftraln at leafl: women of rank from degrading themfelves and families by a conduft fo infamous : they ordained, that no woman whofe father, grandfather, or hufband, was a Roman knight, or of any higher quality, fliould be allowed to take upon her the trade of proftitution. The debauchery of the women was. alfo the occafion of the Voconian law, which we have already mentioned : but when corruption had interwoven itfclf [o dcxleroufly into the manners and cuftoms of the Romans, laws became too feeble to bring on a reformation. The emperor Ti- tus prohibited all public ftews : the prohibition was but little re- garded. When Severus mounted the throne, he found on the roll of caufes to be tried, no lefs than three thoufand profecutions for adultery : he had formed a fcheme of reformation ; from that moment he abandoned it as impoflible. Religion of BuT it was not the manners and cuftoms of the Romans only, in fome cafes that wcrc tinged with debauchery : that vice at laft infinuated it- fligacy." ^^°' ^^'^ ^"^^^ \^\t\i religious ceremonies alfo. Fond of imitating the Greeks, the Bacchanalian myfteries, which they celebrated, were at length introduced into Rome, and filled the city with a fcene of horror OF WOMEN. 253 horror and profligacy, as appears from Livy, hardly equalled in the annals of any country. " An obfcure Greek (fays he) came from " Etruria, but brought with him none of thofe arts which that moft " accomplifhed people have introduced, to improve our minds and " perfons; a little paltry prieft and fortune-teller, not one that ^ {hocked the minds of the people, by publicly profeffing to make " a gain and trade of fome religious ceremonies which he openly *' taught, but he was the minifter of fecret rites ; he had his *• myfteries, in which but few were at firft initiated, but which ** were afterwards communicated to men as well as women, with- ^' out diftindlion or reftraint. To thefe rites an entertainment " of the fineft wines and moft exquifite dainties was added, to ** entice the greater numbers to become members of the fociety. *' When drinking had deprived them of their fenfes, and when " the night, with the mixed company of young and old, and of " men and women, had put an end to all modefty, every fort of " vice began at once to be pra6tifed, as every one found the means *• of thofe lufts at hand, to which he was by nature moft addided. " Nor were thefe^crimcs confined to one fpecies only, the promif- " cuous debauchery of men and women of rank and family ; but ^ from thence iuued falfe witneflcs, falfe feals, falfe oaths, and •' falfe deeds ; and even poifons, and aftaffinations, fo fecret, that " they could not fometimes find the bodies to bury them. Many " crimes were perpetrated by fraud, many by force, which no « perfon knew of ; for amid fuch a fcene of debauchery and. •' flaughter, attended with the bowlings of the people, and the " noife of the trumpets and cymbals, it was impofTible to hear " the cries of thofe who were calling for affiftance. At firft, the " extent of the city, and a willingnefs to endure an evil of this 3 " fort, 254 THEHISTORY CHAP. « fort, made it pafs unnoticed ; but Poflhuinus the Conful was at *' lad informed of it. " At firft their chapel was appropriated to women only, no " man being on any account admitted into it : there were three *' days fet apart in each year for initiation into the Bacchanalian " myflcries ; and the women, in their turn, were ufually created " pricflefles. PacuUa Minia Campana altered every thing, as if " directed by the gods fo to do: (he firft initiated men, Menius " and Herennius, her own fons ; and inftcad of confining the " time of initiation to three days in the year, fhe extended it to •' five times every month, and fixed the time in the night. I3y " this means the facred rites became common, the men and women " made but one company, and the darknefs increafed their licen- " tioufnefs : no wickednefs, no abomination, was left unpradifed. " If there was any one who refented their infults, or came behind *' them in wickednefs, he was facrificcd as a vidim ; nor did they ** blufh to glory in this as the height of their religion. *' The men prophefied with fanatical toflTmg of their bodies, as *' if they were poflefled ; and the women, with their hair diflie- *' veiled, and dreffed after the manner of Bacchanals, ran to the " Tyber with burning torches, which they plunged into the wa- " ter, and drew out dill in a flame. Whoever refufed to join *' with them, or partake of their guilt, or fubmit to their inde- " cencies, they bound on a machine, and hurried out of fight to *' fome unfrequented wood, pretending that the gods had taken " him. There were among them many of the firft quality of " both fexes ; and after two years thfy made a rule, that no per- " fon fliould be initiated who was more than twenty years of age; " j^jJg'ng, OF W O M E N. ^SS ''judging, that fuch were mod likely to be feduced to their CHAP. *' errors, and lubmit to their debaucheries." ^ -.—,_/ To all ihefe inftances of the flagitious charader of the Roman Courtezans women, we may add, that they appear to have been the firft who Z"^^azets^' pradlifed the trade of proftitution in their own country ; it feems to have been a cuftom from the earlieft antiquity, that the profti- tutes of every nation, were women who reforted to them from other nations, and were called ftrangers; hence a ftrange woman, and an harlot, generally fignlfy the fame thing in fcripture ; and hence the repeated injundions which Solomon laid upon his foa, not to give his ftrength to ftrange women. This cuftom of women betaking themfelves to another country when they became pro- ftitutes, we have reafon to believe, was univerfal among the an- cients; whether it was, that every people, willing to have it be- lieved that their own women were more virtuous than thofe of their neighbours, would not fuffer them to proftitute themfelves at home ; or whether fuch women as took upon them this fhame- ful trade, were inftigated by feme little remains of modefty, to leave their own country and pradife it among ftrangers ; we fhall not take upon us to determine : but we are aflured, that the Greeks, however debauched and licentious, commonly adhered to this cuftom, while the Romans, who broke through every reftraiat, paid no regard to it. But lewdnefs and debauchery were not the only vices of the Cruelty of the Rom women. Roman women ; through the whole of their exiftence as a na- ' ^ """^ tion, the Romans were remarkable for their cruelty. Several of their laws, as that which gave to fathers a power of life and death over their children, and to huftjands a power hardly lels extenfive over their wives, are a proof of this : but it appears in a ftill 256 T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP, a fllll Wronger light, vphen we confider the barbarous treatment ^_ -,' , _ ■ of their flaves, by whips and tortures; and the deluges of blood which were fhed almofl; by every ufurper of the empire, fome- timcs from fufpicion, oftener perhaps from mere wantonncfs and barbarity of nature, the fpedtacles of wihl hearts, tearing crimi- nals and captives to pieces, and gladiators hacking one another down for the amufement of the public ; and laft of all, their be- haviour towards thefe unhappy nations who were conquered by their arms. Nor was Roman cruelty only a male vice, the fofter fex were far from being proof againft the contagion. In the two hundred and twentieth year of Rome, Tullia, the daughter of Severus, then king of the Romans, having, with her hufband Tarquin, confpired to aflafTinate her father, and place themfelves on the throne in his dead ; the order for the atrocious deed being given in a tumult of the people, the infamous Tullia, mounted her chariot with an air of triumph to return to her houfe; in the ftreet through which fhe was drove, the murderers had juft left the king's body bleeding and hardly breathlcfs ; the difmal fpec- tacle ftruck the charioteer with horror, he checked his horfes, and petrefied with amazement, could not proceed ! Why do not you go on; cries Tullia, what ftops you? Alas! faid he, turning about to her as he fpoke, That is the body of the king, your fa- ther ! At thefe words, fnatching up a ftool that was in the cha- riot, and throwing it at his head, Go on, cried (he, and do not be afraid of driving over a dead body. The driver obeyed, and the blood of the father is faid to have ftained the chariot and the cloaths of the inhuman daughter. Antony having ordered Cicero to be beheaded, and the head to be brought to him, when it arrived, his wife, Fulvia, laid hold of it, ftruck it on the face, uttered many bitter execrations, and placing it between her knees, drew out the tongue, and pierced it with a bodkin. To thefe we might OF W O M E N. 257 might eafily add many more inftances of the cruelty of the Roman chap. women, but we drop a fubjedl fo difagrceable. After the Romans became acquainted withAfia, in whatever light we view their women, they fcarcely exhibit any amiable qualities, except fome imperfect relics of their ancient patriotifm, a virtue, which unlefs exercifed with the greateft moderation, fcarcely ever adorns the female character. As wives, we have feen that the Roman matrons were frequently unchafte ; as mothers, not lefs frequently carelefs and unnatural, luxurious and extravagant be- yond meafure; at laft, they became almoft entirely the creatures of ambition, and of pleafure; even religion, which almoft in every age and country, feems to have been more devoutly culti- vated by the women than the men, does not appear at Rome to have had any fuperior power over the female heart ; their women attended at proceffions, when any public calamity was to be averted, and were fometimes made prieftefles of certain temples j but we read of few peculiar ads of their piety, and of few facrifices which they offered to propitiate the gods of their country. Such is the general charader of the Roman women; were we to defcend to more particulars, we might give inftances almoft without end of their depravity, and not a few of their virtue. Before the Republic was contaminated with the riches, which from every quarter of the plundered globe flowed to Rome, they were in general the beft of wives, of mothers, and of citizens ; having by their mediation, advice, and money, feveral times faved the finking ftate ; and it is with pleafure we remark, that even amid the general depravity we have been delineating, there Vol. I. LI ftiU THE HISTORY ftill appeared many amiable and virtuous characters, who bravely ftemmed the tide of popular corruption, and in ages overrun with every vice, flood forth the advocates of virtue, of maternal ten- dernefs, and of conjugal fidelity ; preferving their children and hufbands, from falling victims to the horrid profcriptions of 06ta- vius, Antony, Lepidus, Nero, and many others, who, with a barbarity which can hardly be equalled in hiftory, caufed to be murdered in cool blood one half of the nobility of Rome. CHAP. L O F W O M E N. 259 CHAP. XII. The fame fuhje£i continued. EAVING the Romans, and proceeding in our enquiry, chap, we again defcend into the regions of hiftorical obfcurity, ^^'' where we are prefentcd with a group of nations and people, now hardly diftinguifhable from each other, and of many of whom, we fcarcely know any thing but the names. Of fuch people it would be vain, as well as ridiculous, to attempt a minute and cir- cumftantial chara taught by example as well as by precept, gave himfelf up to lewdnefs, and publicly kept often a variety of loofe women about him, what can we expe£l from the people ? When the priefts and the people were licentious, the women could not efcape the conta- gion ; every rank was whirled into the vortex of lewdnefs, and the rudeft vulgarity of manners. The queen of Navarre pub- lifhed a volume of Tales, almoft too indelicate for the ear of a courtezan. Queen Elizabeth of England was not only much ad- dicted to fwearing, but even to the mod: vulgar and familiar kind of oaths, which flae uttered in a vulgar and indelicate manner. About her time, however, the manners of Europe were beginning to aflume that chaftity and elegance for which we are now fo happily diftinguifhed. But before we furvey the character and condudl of the prefent European women, it is neceflary for us to take a view of the other parts of the globe, and proceed gradually from thofe ftates approaching the neareft to na- ture, to thofe where the human fpecies has received the higheft polifh from art. Ch (lit litile '^"^ nearer that mankind approach to a favage ftate, the lefs valued in fa- difference in every age and in every country is perceivable among them : in this ftate, their obfervations, their purfuits, are narrow and limited ; their attachments few, but ftrong ; and their re- fentments lafting and implacable. Beyond thefc, their condition admits of little variation ; confequently their charadler, which in polifhed nations is formed and influenced by a thoufand different circumftances and fituations, having but few of thefe to operate upon it, is marked with much ftronger, though fewer and more uniform appearances. _ In OF W O M E N. 26x ■} In favage life, female delicacy has no exiftence : the mofl: abfo- CHAP, lute nakednefs railes not a blufh ; nor can any adion excite the v^ „-—u idea of fhame : and as chaftity itfelf has not, in many places, the feir.ale fava- fame value ftamped upon it as in civil foclety, deviations from it ^"' are either confidered as no fault, or at moft as a fault of a very trifling nature, which neither draws down on a delinquent the ri- dicule and contempt of her own fex, nor the negledl and defertion of ours. The inftances we could give of this would be almoft endlefs. Among the Natches, hufbands voluntarily lend their wives to each other, and married as well as unmarried women, without the leaft ceremony, offer themfelves to ftrangers ; nay, in fome places, they even complain to their countrymen, and de- fire them to revenge the indignity they have fuffered, when refufed by a ftranger. In the dlftrid of the Hurons, not the leafl: degree of criminality is fixed upon her who offers herfelf to proflitution : it is a pradice, into which girls are early initiated by their parents, and in v^'hich the cuftom of their country continues them through life. In many parts of South America, fo little reftraint is laid on the commerce of thefexes, that it plainly appears to be confidered as an objed not worthy of legiflation. Don Ulloa reports, that the ancient Peruvians did not knowingly marry fuch women as were virgins, and if on trial they found them fuch, were highly affronted at being impofed upon : and it is faid, that in the king- dom of Thibet, no woman who has not been deflowered is rec- koned fit for matrimony. The Brazilian women are fo far from paying any regard to chaftity, that they even violate every principle of decency ; not being in the leaft aftiamed to prepare and adminifter to the men ftimulating potions, to create or increafe their natural defires ; Vol. I, M m which 266 THE HISTORY CHAP, ■which when they wifli to raife to an extravagant height, the po- ^ : i tions fometimes prove mortal. At Mindanao, as foon as a ftranger arrives, the natives flock about him, and eagerly invite him to their houfes : the perfon whofe invitation he accepts, is fure to offer him a female companion, whom he is obliged to accept, and to return a genteel prefent for the unfolicited fa- vour. This cuftom, which, befides implying an abfolute and difpofing power in the male, likewife fuppofes female unchaftity to be a matter of no confideratlon, is obferved at Palo Condorc, Pe- gu, Siam, Cochin-China, Cambodia, in fome places of the Eaft- Indies, and on the coaft of Guinea. In Otaheite, chaftity does not feem to be confidered as one of the virtues, nor is the moft public violation of it looked upon either as criminal or indecent. The women not only readily and openly trafficked with the Eng- liQi failors for perfonal favours, but were brought by their fathers and brothers for that purpofe, as to a market ; and thofe who brought them were always abundantly confcious of the fuperior value of youth and beauty. Savage wo- BESIDES a ftrltlt regard to chaftity, there is in the female cha- o/foftnefs"'* radter a certain foftnefs of temper and difpofition, mixed with a kind of timidity and inclination to pity, which may vie with deli- cacy, beauty, and even with modefty itfelf, in rendering a woman amiable in the eyes of every beholder. But of this quality favage women in every climate are almoft entirely deftitute. Brought up amid the ftorms of rough and unhofpitable climates ; expofed to the vicifTitudes of hunger and of cold ; obliged to procure moft of their food by carnage and deftrudion ; and conftantly accuftomed to fcenes of cruelty ; their hearts are fteeled againft every foft fenfation ; and pity, one of the moft engaging ornaments of the female 5 OF WOMEN. 267 female mind, reckoned a weaknefs, which it Is incumbent on them ^ ^^^^ p. to fubdue. We have therefore no reafon to expe men : and when the prifoners are afterward finally condemned, when they are led out to fulFer, fuch a fcene of torture as the hiftory of no other people ever yet paralleled, and which we think too fliocklng to defcribe, the women are the principal exe- cutioners, or rather relentlefs fiends, who inflidl tortures that everv hell might flaudder at. To thofe accuflomed to foftcr manners, and to nations lefs ful- lied by fuch inhuman crimes, this female barbarity muft appear as unaccountable as it is fhocking : but it muft be ftill more fo, when we inform our readers, that captive women, though they have not taken up the hatchet, nor come out in an hoftile manner, are treated with the fame indifcriminate rage of cruelty as the men, and fall at laft victims to the lingering tortures inflided by their own fex. Cruelty to S'JCH is the ftatc of chaftity, fuch that of humanity, among the rec'uTiarto" favagc women of North America. But from thefe unpromifing .America. fpecimens we are not rafhly to conclude, that they are deftitute of every virtue, and of every excellence. Their inhumanity is not fo much the efFe£l of nature, as of education. Revenge is a prin- ciple, which, from the earlieft periods of antiquity, has operated ftrongly on every ignorant and unlettered people. The Ifraclites hardly treated their captives with lefs cruelty than the Americans ; they made them pafs through the brick-kilns, and under faws and harrows of iron. The pradice of almoft all the ancients was nearly the fame : every country had its tutelar deities ; and it was imagined, that a more acceptable fervice could not be rendered to ihefe, than to llain their altars with the blood of the enemies of that O F W O M E N. 269 that country which they patronifed ; thus, cruehy to captives CHAP. ^ All* was almoft in every country a religious ceremony, which took v_ — ^->^ fuch hold of the human mind, that the thoughts of the fuflPerings of the vidims, were totally abforbed in thofe of the fervice done to the deity. But, befides this, there was among the ancients another principle, which powerfully urged them to inflid vari- ous torments on their captives ; the manes, or ghofts, of thofe who had fallen in battle, were fuppofed to roam about in a kind of melancholy mood, till their blood was avenged on their ene- mies; and, they were even fometimes fuppofed to appear to, and iblicit their furviving friends to this vengeance; which was the more fully accomplifhed, the more horrid the tortures that were inflidled. Strongly excited by the latter, if not alfo by the former of thefe motives, we difcover that an exuberance of friendfhip to their deceafed relations, is the fource from whence arifes that va- riety of torments with which they execute their enemies. Were this horrid barbarity of the American women congenial Caufes of this to their nature, or what they delighted in from mere wantonnefs, "^^^^' we fhould reckon them the mofl; execrable of all human beings ; but we pity them, when we confider it as the efFedt of the mofl unbounded, though miftakcn friendlTiip ; and indeed, of all the marks which moft peculiarly charadlerife favage life, friendfhip and hatred are the ftrongeft. As an injury done to a favage, is never to be forgiven ; fo a good adion is held in everlafting re- membrance, and commonly attaches him to you in a friendfhip, which adverfity cannot fhake, which danger cannot terrify, nor even death itfelf turn afide from your intereft. In places where chaftity Is required of the fex, this quality makes them the mofl faithful and inviolable of all wives. Where chaftity is not re- quired, 270 THE HISTORY CHAP, quiretl, if they are but tolerably well ufed by their hufbands, it binds them in an attachment to their interefts and perfons, far fui- pafling any thing that we ever meet with in civil fociety. As to their other qualities, they are fubniiffive and obedient to their hufbands ; patient fufTerers of hunger, cold, pain, and all that variety of wretchednefs to which their lives are daily expofed; ftrenuous exerters of their powers, when ftimulated by want, but feldom bleded with a talent for unremitting induftry ; and ftill fel- domer, perhaps, with forefight enough to be produdlive of oecono- my. Like all other ignorant people, the moft abfolute dupes of fuperftition, by which conftantly deceived themfelves, they con- ftantly deceive one another, and ftill more deceive their men, who take the ravings of a diftempered female brain, for the in- fallible fuggeftions of the Great Spirit. In afcending from thefe fcenes, where we are prefented with nature in her moft rude and uncultivated fhape, to thofe where fhe is juft beginning to put on an appearance fomething lefs dif- gufting, we naturally turn our eyes from the frozen regions and tracklefs waftes of North America, to the more indulgent climates of Africa and Afia; though we are forry to fay, that, even in many parts of thefe, we find the progrefs of civil fociety and cul- tivation of manners, to have advanced but a very few degrees be- yond the Americans. Of Africa. In travelling over the vaft peninfula of Africa, we naturally expecfi to find, among fo many different people, a great diverfity of manners and of chara(5ler ; in this, however, we are much dif- appointed, for notwithftandlng of the great variety of climates that the Africans inhabit, and different forms of government to which O F W O M E N. 271 which they are fubje£led, they are every where nearly the fame ^ ^.f^ ^- * All* kind of people ; a general famenefs and uniformity of fentiments and ufages, running through the whole of thofe immenfc regions they poffefs, with feme trifling difference only in the degrees of the fame qualities ; and with this remarkable coincidence of the whole, that thefe qualities are commonly the worft of thofe which have difgraced human nature ; infomuch that among their neigh- bours it is a proverb, that all the inhabitants of the globe have a mixture of good and evil in them, except the Africans. When we take a furvey of the ancient, and the prefent Afri- cans, it is with fome furprife, that while we find their manners and cuftoms to be nearly the fame, we difcover at the fame time, that every fpark of genius, and every idea of moral redltude, feem almoft entirely diffipated from among them. The names of Hannibal, of Afdrubal, and Terence, fliew that they were for- merly famous for heroes, and for poets ; and after the introduc- tion of the Chriftian religion among them, the names of Cyprian, Auguftine, and TertuUian, do credit to their divinity ; they were in old time renowned for their induftry in cultivating the ground, for their trade, navigation, caravans, and ufeful arts ; at prefent they are infamous for their idlenefs, ignorance, fuperftition, treachery ; and above all, for their lawlefs methods of robbing and murdering all the other inhabitant^ of the globe, as the pira- tical ftates of Tunis and Algiers every day demonftrate. It would feem, that loft as they are to almoft every virtue, they ftill retain fome fenfe of their own flagitioufnefs of character ; but as they do not chufe to amend, their priefts, or Marabouts, en- deavour to juftlfy them by the following ftory: " Noah, fay " they. 2^^ T H E H I S T O R Y *" Yii^ '*' " *^^y» ^^^^ "o fooner dead, than his three fons, the firft of < ,— -.» " whom was white, the fecond tawny, and the third black, *' agreed upon dividing among them his goods and poflTefTions : af- " ter having come to this refolution, the greateft part of the day ** was fpent in forting that variety of goods which their father had " left, fo that they were obliged to adjourn the divifion of them " till the next morning : having fupped, and fmoked a friendly " pipe together, they all went to rert, each In his own tent. Af- " ter a few hours fleep, the white brother got up, feizcd on the *' gold, filver, precious ftoncs, and other things of the greateft *' value, loaded the heft horfes with them, and rode away to that " country where his white pofterity have been fettled ever fmce. " The tawny awaking foon after, and with the fame criminal in- " tention, was furprifed when he came to the ftorehoufe, to find '* that his brother had been before-hand with him, but refolving " to make the beft of a bad bargain, haflily fecured the reft of the " horfes and camels, and loading them with the beft carpets, " cloaths, and other remaining goods, direded his route to an- " other part of the world, leaving behind him only a few of the '* coarfeft of the goods, and fome provifions of little value. When " the third, or black brother, came next morning, in the honefty '* of his heart, to make the propofcd divifion, and could neither " find his brethren, nor any of the valuable commodities, he *• eafily judged that they had tricked him, and were by that time '• fled beyond any poftibility of a difcovery. In this moft affliding *' fituation, he took his pipe, and fet him down to confidcr on '• the moft cffcdual means of retrieving his lofs, and being re- *' venged on his perfidious brothers. After revolving a variety of ** fchemcs in his mind, he at laft fixed upon watching every op- " portunity of making reprifals on them, and laying hold of, and 3 " carrying O F W O M E N. 273 *' carrying away their property as often as it fliould fall in his C H a p. *' way, in revenge for the lofs of that patrimony of which they had v — ,- u " fo unjuftly deprived him : having come to this refolution, he not *' only continued in the pradtice of it all his life, but on his death- " bed laid the ftrongeft injundicns on his defcendants to do fo to " the end of the world," From this fhort (ketch of the general charader of the Africans, Female cha- the profpedt before us, when we defcend to particulars, is but un- rent parts of' promifing, though in fome places the gloomy fcene is here and "'^'* there chequered with a few of the virtues. Some of the tribes of wandering Arabs are remarkable for fidelity, when they have en- gaged themfelves in the prote£tion of a ftranger. Many of them, are confpicuous for their temperance and hofpitality, and their women, upon the whole, are far from being indelicate or unchafte. In Egypt, they never appear unveiled, and at public aflemblies fit alfo behind a curtain, that they may not be feen by the men. Among the Hottentots, though they have no claim to delicacy, they are fimple and inoffenfive, chaftc and fubmiffive to their huf- bands. On the banks of the Niger, they are tolerably induftri- ous, have a confiderable (hare of vivacity, and, at the fame time, a female referve, which would do no difcredit to a politer country: they are modeft, affable, and faithful, and an air of innocence appears in their looks, in their language, and gives a beauty to their whole deportment. When from the Niger, we approach toward the eaft, the African women degenerate in ftature, complexion, and fenfibility, as well as in chaftity, that chief of the female virtues; even their language, like their fea- tures, and like the foil they inhabit, is harfh and difagreeable, and their pleafures refemble more the tranfports of fury, than the Vol. I. N n gentle 274 THE HISTORY "■entle emotions communicated by agreeable fenfations. Upon the weftern coafts of Africa, are extended for a confiderable way, a people called Zafe Ibrahims, or offspring of Abraham ; they have long flowing hair, and are much fairer than any other of the Africans ; but what is moft remarkable, they are not like the reft of their countrymen, addidcd to plundering, nor to murder, be- ing of a free, liberal, and hofpitable fpirit, much given to dan- cing and to fongs, of which love is conflantly the fubjecfl; and while in many other parts of Africa, both men and women paint in fuch a manner as to add to their deformity, the women here paint after nature, and improve the charms fhe has given, by fuch colours as have the neareft refemblance to her in her moft beautiful appearance : to all this we may add, that they are ftridt- ly taken care of by their parents, and on that account difficult of accels to ftrangers. One peculiar cuftom of this people, though not properly be- longing to our fubje^t, we cannot help mentioning : none but the chief lords of their country have the privilege of killing any ani- mal, which they always do with a great deal of ceremony; nor would any of the people, though urged by the ftrongeft neceffity, eat that which was killed by any other perfon. Another cuftoni hardly lefs fingular is, that all children born on Tuefdays, Thurf- days, and Fridays, are reckoned accurfed, and expofed in the woods to die of cold and hunger, or meet with a more merciful death from the jaws of the wild hearts ; but fo compaflionate are the women, that in fplte of the puniQiments threatened againft them by the men, and of the more tremendous terrors held over them by fuperftition, they frequently fteal, and bring up thefc children privately at the hazard of their own lives. On the banks of the Gambia, O F W O M E N. 275 Gambia, this female charadler Is reverfed ; though they put on ^ ^^ ^- an appearance of modefty, it is in fad nothing but an appearance, ' ^— ' and when opportunity offers, they will very readily grant any favour for a little coral, a filk handkerchief, or fome trifle of a fimilar nature. Besides the places now mentioned, feveral of which we have only lame and imperfedt accounts of, there are in Africa many others, of which we know little more than the names. Ethiopia, Lybia, Zanguebar, and fome others, have hitherto been almoft impervious to European travellers ; and the only people who have dared to enter them, have been Jefuits ; whofe relations, where- ever religion or intereft were concerned, have gained no great credit among mankind ; and mercantile adventurers, fo hot in the purfuit of gain, that they never examined any thing which had not a relation to that fubjedt. Beyond the river Volta, in the country of Benin, and almoft every where upon the Gold Coaft, the women, though far from being famous for any of the virtues, would not be difagreeable in their looks, were it not for the abominable cuftom of marking their faces with fears, for the fame purpofes as our European ladies lay on paint. Though in few refpedts better than favages, there is a particular opinion over all this country, which tends to humanife the mind ; this is a firm perfuafion, that to whatever place they remove themfelves, or are by any accident removed, they fliall after death return to their own country, which they confider as the moft delightful in the univerfe. This fond delufive hope not only foftens the flavery to which they are often con- demned in other countries, but alfo induces them to treat fuch N n 2 ftrangers 27G T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP, flrangers as come among them with much civility; being per- ' . _r fuaded, that they are come there to enjoy paradifc, and re- ceive the reward of virtuous adlions done in other bodies. The people who border upon Zaara are the mofl peaceable and good- natured of the Africans ; their food is fimple, and they beftow little labour in procuring it ; they fpend a great deal of their time in public amufements ; but neither to thefe, nor to any other places of common refort, are the women ever admitted ; affem- bled together in houfes by themfelves, they fpend the time in female employments and amufements, and no men are ever admitted into their fociety. This confinement, though not of fo {lri(5l a nature as in many places of the world, has the efFedt that confinement generally has upon beings who ought to be free, it renders them lefs virtuous. Refleaions. As wc Cannot give a minute and circumftantial charadler of the African women, we fliall conclude what we have to fay on that fubje£t, by obferving, that when we look back upon this general and particular character we have drawn, we find the former, which, like all national charaders, is drawn from the men, much • worfe than the latter, which we have chiefly taken from the women ; and perhaps even that former is not fo bad as it is repre- fented, being Iketched out almoft entirely, either by declaiming priefts of their own nation, or. by Europeans, who are ftrongly prejudiced agalnft the Africans, on account of the lofles they have fuftained by their plunderings and depredations. Thefe things, no doubt, juftly excite our indignation, and extort from us every un- gracious epithet ; but were we to have the charafter of the Euro- peans drawn by an African, would he have more reafon to be in- dulgent to us ? No J he might treat us with dill greater feverity ; 1 what OF WOMEN. 277 what a horrid fcene would he probably paint ? he would delineate a people, who profefs a religion, the precepts of which breathe no- thing but gentlenefs and humanity, in fpite of nature, and in fpite of that religion, carrying away by fraud and force, every year, thoufands of his helplefs countrymen into flavery ; he would tell how their mercilefs mailers exadl from them a labour fuperior to their ftrength, and even fufFer that ftrength to fail for want of fuftenance; he would tell of the whips, the tortures, and the deaths inflided on his countrymen, fhould they ever happen to confider themfelves as human beings, or venture to aflert the rights of nature and of humanity ! — he would tell — but we defift from the difmal tale, as we feel ourfelves almoft transformed into Africans while we relate it. In cur progrefs from America to Africa, we meet with but General cha- little improvement in the manners and character of the people ; AGatics. and when from Africa we pafs into Afia, we find that they have only left the Africans a very few degrees behind them, almoft in every thing but peacefulnefs of difpofition and gentlenefs of man- ners. While the African, like the tyger of his forefts, lies in wait to plunder and deftroy ; the Afiatic, contented with a little rice, and fome of the fimpleft productions of nature, reclines be- neath the fhade, and gives labour and luxury to the winds ; let him but enjoy his rice, his women, and his eafe, and he afks no more. The beautiful fcenes which prefent themfelves on the banks of the Ganges, and along the plains of Hindoftan, are almoft beyond defcrlption; the air is perfumed at fome feafons with the moft de- licious fragrance, arifing from a variety of flowers, and no lefs a number. 278 T H E H I S T O R Y number of fruits, wliich yield a wholefome and rcfrcfliing nou- rifliment. The trees form a (hade impenetrable to the rays of the fun : here bountiful Nature has left the Afiatic nothing to purfue but pleafure ; and hardly any thing elfe do the Hindoos, who are the ancient inhabitants of the country, purfue. Relaxed by the climate, more than half of this pleafure confifts in eafe and indo- lence ; which has taken fuch hold of them, that a faying from one of their favourite authors is frequently in their mouths : '' It is " better to fit ftill than to walk; better to fleep than to awake; " but death is bed of all." If we may credit fome modern tra- vellers, fo extravagant is their love of reft, that the women of Allahabad can hardly be prevailed upon to reach out their hands to fave their own children, when in danger of being trod to death by carriages paffing along the ftreet. Such is the pidure of the Hindoos. The Mahommedans have more aQivity, ftronger paf- fions, and a cruelty and ambition which are hardly to be reftrain- ed within any bounds. Sketches of In confidering the charader of the Afiatic women, there are two things which claim our utmoft attention. The firft is, that the narrow and limited fphcre in v?hich they move, altnoft entirely diverts them of every thing that arifcs from liberty and fociety, and confequently of much of their chara6"terirt;ic diflindion. The fecond, that they arc fo clofely fhut up from the obferv^tion of all Europeans, that our accounts of them are extremely mutilated and imperfed, as well as in many points falfe and ridiculous. Y/e may, however, obferve of them in general, that as a fpring bent by an external force is conftantly endeavouring to reftore itfelf ; {(J they, unjuflly deprived of their liberty, are conftantly exerting 2 all the cbarafler of their wo- men. O F W O M E N. 279 all the cunning they are mafters of, in order to deceive the tyrants CHAP. TV ho have fecluded them from the world and the fweets of fociety ; and by long cuftom, affifted by nature, and urged by necelBty, they are become great adepts in thofe arts of deception, which tend to procure them a temporary liberty, or favour an intrigue. Chastity and unchaftity are almoft the only things that can charaderife the women of the Eaft. Shut up for ever in impene- trable Harams, they can hardly be called creatures of the worlds having no intercourfe with it, and no ufe for the focial and cecono- mical virtues which adorn its citizens. If being good wives con- fiftsin care, frugality and induftry, thefeare all things entirely out of their power: if being fuch, confifts in loving their hufbands, and tendernefs to their children; the firft of thefe is alfo ren- dered next to impofhble by the behaviour of thofe tyrants who ftyle themfelves hufbands ; and the laft is much weakened by transferring upon the children fome part of that diflike they have to the father. To the joys of friendfhip they are, perhaps, entire flrangers : the men treat them in fuch a manner, that it is impof- fible they can efteem them ; the women are their conftant rivals. The only virtues, then, which the Afiatic fair can put in prac- tice, are fuch as relate to their religion, and their chaftity; but even in the exercife of religion they are circumfcribed. As they are not allowed to attend on the public worlhip of the gods of their country, they can have no other religion than the filent ado- ration of the heart ; and as to chaftity, the manner in which they are difpofed of to, or forcibly taken by hufbands, and the beha- viour of thefe hufbands to them through life, are the moft unlikely methods in the world to make them famous for that virtue. But 28o THE HISTORY C H A P. Xll. Braminical women, tlicir condufl. But though thefe obfervations may be pretty generally applied to the Afiatic women, there are feme exceptions. The Bramins, or priefts of India, though they confine their women like the reft of their countrymen, yet, by treating them with lenity and in- dulgence, they fecure their virtue by attaching their hearts. Married to each other in their infancy, they have the greateft vene- ration for the nuptial tie : their mutual fondnefs increafes with their ftrength ; and in riper years, all the glory of the women confifts in pieafing their hufbands ; a duty which they confi- der as one of the moft facred of their holy religion, and which the gods will not fuffer them to neglect with impunity. While the reft of the Hindoo women take every opportunity to elude their keepers, thefe voluntarily confine themfelves, at leaft from the company and converfation of all ftrangers, and in every refped copy that fimpliclty of life and manners, for which their hufbands are fo remarkable. Mo Jelly of the Chinefe women. If we except thefe we have now mentioned, of all the other Afiatics the Chinefe have perhaps the beft title to modefty. Even the men wrap themfelves clofely up in their garments, and reckon it indecent to difcover any more of their arms and legs than is neceflary : the women, ftill more clofely wrapped up, never difcover a naked hand even to their neareft relations, if they can poflibly avoid it. Every part of their drefs, every part of their behaviour, is calculated to preferve decency, and infpire rcfped ; and what adds the greateft luftre to their charms, is that uncom- mon modefty which appears in every look, and in every adion. Charmed, no doubt, with fo engaging a demeanour, the men be- have to them in a reciprocal manner ; and that their virtue may not OF WO M E N. 281 not be contaminated by the neighbourhood of vice, the Icgiflature ^ ^ a p. takes care that no proftitutes fhall lodge within the walls of any ' , ' of the great towns in China. Such are the Chinefe women repre- fented by fome travellers ; but it is by others doubted, whether this femblance of modefty be any thing elfe than the cuftom of the country; and alleged, that notwithftanding of fo much feem- ing decency and decorum, they have their peculiar modes of in- triguing, and embrace every pofllble opportunity of putting them in pradice ; and that, in thefe intrigues, they frequently fcruple not to ftab the paramour they had invited to their arms, as the fureft method of preventing detedion and lofs of charader. A few, perhaps, of the moft flagitious may be guilty of fuch enor- mous crimes ; but we perfuade ourfelves, that they are only very few ; and we are happy in having it in our power to inform our fair readers, that fuch relations are not to be found in any of our modern travellers, whofe veracity is moft to be relied on. So different over all the world are the feds of faints, as well as Of the Fa- of finners, that befides the Bramins, a fet of innocent and reli- gious priefts, who have rendered their women virtuous by treating them with kindnefs and humanity, there are another fed of reli- gio-philofophical drones, called Fakiers, who contribute as much as they can to debauch the fex, under a pretence of fuperior fanc- tity. Thefe hypocritical faints, like fome of the ridiculous feds which formerly exifled in Europe, wear no clothes ; confidering them only as proper appendages to finners, who are aftiamed, be- caufe they are fenfible of guilt ; while they, being free from every ftain of pollution, have no fliaoie to cover. In this original ftate of nature, thefe idle and pretended devotees, aflemble toge- ther fometimes in armies of ten or twelve thoufand, and under a Vol. I. O o pretence iS'2 T II E II I S T O II Y C H A P. pretence of going in pilgrimage to certain temples, like locufts dc- *-^ — k ' vour every thing on their way ; the men flying before them, and carrying all that they can out of the reach of their depreda- tions ; while the women, not in the leaft afraid of a naked army of lufly faints, throw themfelves in their way, or remain quietly at home to receive them. It has long been an opinion, well eftablifhed all over India;, that there is not in nature fo powerful a remedy for removing the flerility of women, as the prayers of thefe fturdy naked faints. On this account, barren women conflantly apply to them for alfifl:- ance; which when the good-natured Fakier has an inclination to grant, he leaves his flipper, or his ftaff, at the door of the lady's apartment with whom he is praying ; a fymbol fo facred, that it effedlually prevents any one from violating the fecrecy of their de- votion : but, ftiould he forget this fignal, and at the fame time be diRant from the protection of his brethren, a found drubbing is frequently the reward of his pious endeavours. But though they will venture fometimes, in Hindoftan, to treat a Fakier in this un- holy manner ; in other parts of Afia and Africa, fuch is the vene- ration in which thefe lufty faints are held, that they not only have accefs when they pleafe, to perform private devotions with barren women, but are accounted fo holy, that they may at any time, in public or in private, confer a perfonal favour upon a woman, with- out bringing upon her either fliame or guilt; and no woman dare refufe to gratify their paflion. Nor, indeed, has any one an incli- nation of this kind ; becaufe flie, upon whom this perfonal favour has been conferred, is confidered by herfelf, and by all the people, &s having been fandified and made more holy by the adion. 6 So O F W O M E N. 383 V So much concerning the condud of the Fakiers, in debauching ^ ^^^^ ^• \vofnen, feems certain. But it is by fome travellers further re- v ^^-^ lated, that wherever they find a woman who i»-exceedingly hand- fome, they carry her off privately to one of their temples ; but in fuch a manner, as to make her and the people believe, that fhewas carried away by the god who is there worfliipped ; who, being vio- lently in love with her, took that method to procure her for his T\-ife. This done, they perform a nuptial ceremony, and make her further believe, that flie is married to the god ; when, in rea- lity, fhe is only married to one of the Fakiers who perfonates him. AVomen who are treated in this manner are revered by the people as the wives of the gods, and by that ftratagem fecured folely to the Fakiers, who have cunning enough to impofe themfelves as gods upon fome of thefe women, through the whole of their lives. Jn countries where reafon is ftronger than fuperflition, we almofl think this impoflible : where the contrary is the cafe, there is no- thing too hard to be credited. Something like this was done by the priefls of ancient Greece and Rome ; and a few centuries ago, tricks of the fame nature were pradifed by the monks, and other libertines, upon fome of the vifionary and enthufiaftic wo- men of Europe. Hence we need not think it ftrange, if the Fa- kiers generally fucceed in attempts of this nature; when we con- fider, that they only have to deceive a people brought up in the moft confummate ignorance ; and that nothing can be a more flat- tering diftindion to female vanity, than for a woman to fuppofe herfelf fuch a peculiar favourite of the divinity ihe worfhips, as to be chofen, from all her companions, to the honour of being ad- mitted to his embraces ; a favour, which her felf-admiration will •ilifpofe her more readily to believe than examine. O o a Besides 284 T H E H I S T O R Y C H A P. Resides this method of decoying women into the temples, for N >J. ; the fake of debauchery, there are other temples, where they are made fubftr- fupplied With thcmin a more open manner ; being voluntarily of- fliluuon ^'° fered by their parents, and dedicated by the priefts while infants, with great pomp and folemnity, to the fervice of their gods; they dance and fing before the chief idol on folemn feftivals, with all the wantonnefs of venal charms, and temptation of loofe attire, in order to attraft the fpe(£lators, to whom they afterwards profti- tute themfelves for the benefit of the temple to which they be- long ; and at the expcnce of which they were brought up. When fuch is the religion of the Eaft, when fuch are the deities there worfhipped, can we expe£t chaftity to be a virtue much regarded among the women, or that the men can fecure it by any other methods than locks, bars, and eunuchs? But it is not the religion of the Hindoos only, that is un- favourable to chaftity ; that of Mahomet, which now prevails over a great part of India, is unfavourable to it likewife, Ma- homedifm every where indulges the men with a plurality of wives, while it ties down the women to the ftrideft conjugal fide- lity ; hence, while the men riot in unlimited variety, the women are in great numbers confined to fhare among them the fcanty favours of one man only. This unnatural and impolitic condu(fl induces them to feek by art and intrigue, what they are denied by the laws of their prophet. As polygamy prevails over all Afia, this art and intrigue follow as the confequence of it ; fome have ima- gined, that it is the refult of climate, but it rather appears to be the refult of the injuftice which women fufFer by polygamy; for it feems to reign as much in Conftantinople, and in every other place OF WOMEN. 285 place where polygamy is in fafhion, as it does on the banks of C H A P. the Ganges, or the Indus. The famous Montefquieu, whofe * v-— ' fyftem was, that the pafTions are entirely regulated by the climate, brings as a proof of this fyftem, a ftory from the collection of voyages for the eftabliftiment of an Eaft India Company, in which it is faid, that at Patan, " the wanton defires of the women are ** fo outrageous, that the men are obliged to make ufe of a certain " apparel to fhelter them from their defigns." Were this ftory really true, it would be but a partial proof of the e9[e^ of climate, for why fhould the burning funs of Patan only influence the paf- fions of the fair ? Why fhould they there tranfport that fex be- yond decency, which in all other climates is the moft decent ? and leave in fo cool and defenfive a ftate, that fex, which in all other climates is apt to be the moft ofFenfive and indecent ? To what- ever length the fpirit of intrigue may be carried in Afia and Africa, however the paffions of the women may prompt them to excite defire, and to throw themfelves in the way of gratification, we have the flirongeft reafons to reprobate all thefe ftories, which would make us believe, that they are fo loft to decency as to at- tack the other fex ; fuch a fyftem would be overturning nature, and inverting the eftablifhed laws by which fhe governs the world. In Otaheite, an ifland lately difcovered in the great Southern Women of Ocean, we are prefented with women of a fingular charader. As far as we can recoiled, we think it is a pretty general rule, that wherever the fex are accuftomed to be conftantly clothed, they are aftiamed to appear naked : thofe of Otaheite feem how- ever to be an exception to this rule ; to (hew themfelves in public, with £86 T H E H I S T O R Y C H A P. XII. with or without clothing, appears to be to them a matter of equal indifference, and the expofition of any part of their bodies, is noc attended with the lead backwardnefs or reludance; circumflanccs from which we may reafonably infer, that, among them, clothes were not originally invented to cover ftiame, but either as orna- ments, or as a defence againft the cold. But a ftill more ftriking fmgularity in the charadler of thcfe women, and which diftin- guiflies them not only from the females of all other nations, but likewife from thofe of almoft all other animals, is, their per- forming in public thofe rites, which in every other part of the globe, and almoft among all animals, are performed in privacy and retirement : whether this is the effeCt of innocence, or of a diflblutcnefs of manners to which no other people have yet arriv- ed, remains ftill to be difcovered ; that they are diflblute, even beyond any tiling we have hitherto recorded, is but too certain. As polygamy is not allowed among them, to fatisfy the luft of variety, they have a fociety called Arrcoy, in which every woman is common to every man ; and w hen any of thefe wom.en happens to have a child, it is fmothered in the moment of its birth, that it may not interrupt the pleafures of its infamous mother ; but in this jundure, fhould nature relent at fo horrid a deed, even then the mother is not allowed to fave her child, unlefs fhe can find a man who will patronife it as a father; in which cafe, the man is confidered as having appropriated the woman to himfelf, and fhe is accordingly extruded from this hopeful fociety. Thcfe few anecdotes fufiiciently charaiflerife the women of this ifland. In fome of the adjacent ones, which were vifited by his Majefty's fliips upon this difcovery, if the women were not lefs unchafte, they were at leaft lefs flagitious and indelicate. cbatafter. OF W O M E N. 2S7 As thsTuiks, who now inhabit a part of Europe, were oiiginal- CHAP. All, fy Afiatics, and ftill retain the manners and cuftoms which they ' j , , - , , . , . Turkid, la- brought from that country, their women are much given to dies, their fecret gallantry and intrigue; vices which feem however to be the worft part of their charader : when we view them in the other departments of female life, we fee many amiable qualities confpir- ing to adorn them, fuch as benevolence, charity, and a tendernefs of feeling, and foftnefs of difpofition, to which they have hardly ever reached in the moft poliflied parts of the Chriftian world. In Lady Montague's defcripticn of the vifit fhe made to the lady of the Grand Vizer of Conftantinople, her humility, meeknefs, and charity, are delineated in a manner which does honour to the fex. In her vifit to the fair Fatima, while we find the perfon of an angel, engaged in all the tender offices of a mother, we muil be infenfible to every feeling, if our hearts do not glow with the defcription. We are indeed. but too apt to throw a veil over every virtue which appears in a people profeffing a religion fo different from our own, and which we have always been taught to confider with partiality, and to look upon with horror ; than which, nothing can more certainly indicate weaknefs of mind and want of urbanity. People of all religions have in them a mix- ture of vice and virtue ; and, on a ftrivSt enquiry, we fiiall find, that vice oftener flows from a bad education and improper cuf- toms, than from a bad religion : but fliould the Mahometans, or any other people, with a religion lefs pure and holy than that of the Chriftians, be found to excel them in many of the moral vir- tues, they certainly on that account deferve the more praife, and we the more reprehenfion; efpecially when it is confidered what they would probably have done, had they been in our fituation. When 2S8 T H E H I S T O R Y C U A P. XII. When wc take a rctrofpedive view of tlicfe lmpcrfe£l fketches of the charadter of the American, African, and Afiatic R< fieflicns 0.1 1 1- 1 n the coiidua women, when we fee ahnofl: the whole of it comprifed in unremit- peans^. " ' ^^^ endcavours to fatisfy a voluptuous appetite, when we fee the fex every where abufcd by flavery or confinement, we cannot help breathing a wiHi, that both the one and the other were redlified ; and from the intercourfe that has long fubfifted between Europe and many of the countries we have been confidering, fome amend- ment in the condition, and reformation in the manners of the women might reafonably have been expelled. But the Euro- peans who have gone abroad, inftcad of carrying along with them that fpirit of moral reditude, taught by the religion of Jefus, which ought to have demonftrated their fupcrior virtue as well as fuperior knowledge, feem in general, the moment they left their own country, to have thrown afide every principle, and every idea, but that of amafTing wealth, though at the expence of probity, and of confcience ; and inftead of introducing more order and regu- larity among the ignorant people they vifited, have but too often given a loofe to every voluptuous appetite, and outdone in every fpecies of debauchery, thofe who were neither retrained by their laws, nor their religion ; nor has this flagitious condudt been pe- culiar to one European nation only, all thofe who have planted colonies, and extended their commerce, have been almofl; equally infamous for cruelty, oppreflion, and debauchery. Soon after the Portuguefe had conquered India, laying afide that martial fpirit for which they were then fo famous, they gave themfelves up to all thofe exceffes which render the human race odious, and became fuch monRers, that poifon, conflagration, and afl'aflination, with every other crime, grew familiar to them. I They OF W O M E N. 289 They maflacred the natives ; they deftroyed one another ; and while they raifcd the hatred of thefe natives, they loft the courage to make themfelves feared. In the illand of Amboyna, a Portu- guefe had, at a public feftival, feized upon a beautiful woman, and regardlefs of decency, proceeded to offer her the greateft out- rage. One of the iflanders, highly refenting fuch a conduct, firft armed his fellow-citizens, and afterward calling together the Por- tuguefe, addreffed them in the following manner: " To revenge " affronts of fo cruel a nature as thefe we have received from " you, would require adiions, not words ; yet we will fpeak to " you. You preach to us a Deity, who delights, you fay, in ge- ** nerous adtions ; but theft, murder, obfcenity, and drunkennefs, " are your common practices. Your hearts are inflamed with *' every vice ; our manners can never agree with yours. Nature " forefaw this, when fhe feparated us by immenfe oceans, but *' ye have overleaped her barriers: this audacity, of which you " are not afhamed to boaft, is a proof of the corruption of your *' hearts. Take my advice, leave to their repofe thefe nations *' that refemble you fo little : go, fix your habitations among thofe " who are brutal as yourfelves. An intercourfe with you would " be more fatal to us, than all the evils which it is in the power " of your god to inflift upon us. We renounce your alliance for " ever. Your arms are fuperior to ours, but we are more juft than *' you, and we do not fear you ; the Itons are from this day your *' enemies, fly from their country, and beware how you approach " it any more." Such were the fentiments of one whom we call a favage, on the behaviour of the Portuguefe. When a governor of fenfe and humanity happened to prefide over their colonies, he endeavoured Vol. I. P p ' to CHAP. XII. 290 T H E H I S T O R Y to reform the manners, and reftrain the rapacity, of his countrymen ; but his finglc virtue was always feeble and una- vailing, when oppofed to the vices of a contaminated people. The Spaniards, who in many places fucceeded them, not only copied, but even in time fairly exceeded, the original ex- ample. Few of our readers can be ftrangcrs to the cruelties and debaucheries they committed in Mexico and Peru, where they built churches, endeavoured to explain the myfteries of the Chrif- tian religion to the natives, in a language of which they did not underftand one word ; and afterward pioufly flaughtered them as heretics, for not believing what had been fo clearly demonftrated to them. When they had conquered the ifland of Hifpaniola, they made peace with the natives, on condition that they fhould cultivate all the land for their ufe, and furnifh them with a certain quantity of gold every month. The poor wretches, finding the tafk infup- portable, as well as impoflible, took fhelter in their mountains, where they hoped to maintain themfelves till the Spaniards {hould be obliged by famine to evacuate their ifland. But the Spaniards, in the mean time receiving a fupply of provifions from Europe, purfucd them to their faftnefles ; to revenge, as they faid, the in- juftice they had fufFered ; trained their dogs to hunt and deftroy them, in places which to themfelves were inacceflible ; and, fired with fuperftition and a thirft of blood, fome of them made a vow to deftroy twelve Indians every day, in honour of the twelve Apoftles. What uneafinefs would it have given to men fo mild and benevolent, had they thought that their names would have been proftituted to fuch infamous purpofes ! Humanity recoils at this difmal recital, and fincerely wiflies, that the other powers who have ufurped a right in the Indies could 2 be O F W O M E N. 291 be abfolved from fimilar crimes; but the immenfe plunder lately c h^a p. brought to England from the plains of Hindoftan and banks of *— — ^—^ the Ganges, are but too evident proofs of what our countrymen have there committed. Such loads of treafure are not the produce of the paths of peace, nor even of the fields ftained with blood, and disfigured by the horrors of war j unlefs that war, like a deluge, indifcriminately levels friend and enemy as it goes along. Avarice, fordid avarice, feems alone to have occupied the breafts of the greateft part of thefe who have travelled from Eu- rope to the Indies ; and from fo fruitful a fource has fprung up almoft every other crime. An Englifliman who was {hipwrecked on the coaft of Africa, being taken and condemned to death by the natives, was faved by a woman of fome diftindtion in the country j who, on a promife that he would marry her, contrived to efcape along with him. The wretch had no fooner arrived in an European fettlement, than he fold his deliverer for a flave, and abandoned her for ever. But the vices are not folely attached to the men who have left Europe in purfuit of gain : evea the wo- men who have accompanied them, leaving behind them the gen- tlenefs of European manners and of female nature, have been often hardly lefs diftinguifhed for debauchery and cruelty than the men. A virago of this fort in the Eaft or Weft- Indies, feldom meeting with any oppofition to her whim and caprice, aflumes at laft a fpirit of prefumption and tyranny ; and loft to feeling and humanity, wields the whip with fuch dexterity, as to fetch at every ftroke blood from the back of the naked and unrefifting flave ; whofe only fault was, that he did not anticipate the wiflies of his miftrefs, or becaufe he let fall fome hints, that he was a creature of the fame genus as herfelf. P p 8 CHAP. 291 THEHISTORY CHAP. XIII. The fame Stihje6l continued. CHAP. AFTER having traced the charadler of the fair fex through . ^"^' , xV fo many countries, where we have found the vicious and' the difagreeable too frequently to be predominant ; we now with the utmoft pleafure turn towards Europe, where the beauties of their character, Hke thofe of their perfons, will not only engage our attention, but alfo attract our hearts. We cannot, however, extend our plan fo far as to hold up to view every beauty and every blemifh, which gives a luftre or a deformity to the fair, through all the different countries of Europe ; we fhall therefore only endeavour to draw the outlines of characters, too various and complicated for us to finifh with any tolerable degree of pre- cifion. General We have already obferved, that chaftity has, in all polifhed ' charaaerof nations, been ever efteemed the principal ornament of the female ^uropeanwo- ^.j^jj^^^^gj. . ^^d we now aver, that this was never more remarkably the cafe, in any part of the world, than at prefent in Europe. Here we worfhip no deities that delight in debauchery, as among the ancients; nor fuch as, regardlefs of moral good and evil, con- cern not themfelves about human actions, as, in fome parts of the world, among the moderns. Hence the condudt of our women, befides being influenced by the fuperior regard paid to chafbity among us, is ftill further influenced by a veneration for that purity of O F W O M E N. 293 of manners and of charader, fo flrongly inculcated by the pre- ^ ^ ^^' cepts of the Chriftian religion ; and hence, though declaimers u— «— ». and fatirifts in every nation of Europe paint their own women as the moft lewd and abandoned in the world, we boldly affirm, that Europe in general is more famous for the chaftity and other good qualities of its women, than any other part of the globe ; for the truth of which we need only appeal to the perfonal experience of the traveller, and to the reading, of the hiftorian j both of which afford an ample demonftration of our affertion. We mull, how- ever, obferve here, that the virtues of modefty and chaftity do not flourifh moft, where they are endeavoured to be forced upon the women by locks, bolts, and gouvernantes, as in Spain ; nor where unreftrained liberty and politenefs are carried to the greateft length, as in France and Italy ; but rather, where, with no other curb on their perfonal freedom than what decency requires, they have not carried the refinements of politenefs to fuch an excefs, as to reckon every reftraint upon inclination a mark of ruftication and . ill-breeding. In endeavouring to fketch fome rude draughts of the charader of the European women, we fhall take a view of them as they appear in the principal nations of which it is compofed ; and as the French reckon themfelves of all other people the moft confpi- cuous, we fhall begin with them ; a diftindion to which we rec- kon them juftly entitled, as they are the fruitful fource of half the fafhions that embellifh, and perhaps of more than half the foi- bles that difgrace, Europe. As chaftity is a virtue which does not feem to flourifh in a foil, oftheFrench where too much or too little culture is beftowed upon it, we muft *^°'"^''' not . 294 THE HISTORY CHAP, not expcdt to find it remarkably vigorous among the Trencli, < X * where politenefs is the firft of all the virtues, and where chaftity would hardly be entitled to a place as the fecond. When travel- lers, who have always been accuftomed to countries where women are much on the referve, enter France, where the very reverfe in almoft every particular is the cafe ; before they have coolly confi- dered the cuftoms of different countries, they are apt to conclude that the French have no decency and no chaftity among them. Such conclufions are, however, by much too hafty: we muft not be led by appearances : a French woman of the moft unblemiflied reputation will, in compliance with the cuftoms of her country, ad with a levity and freedom, both of words and adions, which in England would be almoft an infallible indication of a ftrumpet; while in France it only indicates, that a woman has feen the world. We would not, however, infinuate from this, that chaftity is among the French a prevailing virtue : the number of miftrefles kept by the married as well as the fingle ; the little difcredit thrown on the profeflion of a proftitute, efpecially if fhe is an Opera girl, are proofs of this ; and we may add, the general defire of intrigue among the women, and the little notice taken of it by the men ; both of which have at length eftabliftied it as a fafliion; and in France, not to be fafliionable, is a condition much more dreaded, than not to be virtuous. In every country in the world, women haye always a little to do, and a great deal to fay. In France, notwithftanding of the Salique law, they didate almoft every thing that is faid, and dired every thing that is done : they are the moft reftlcfs fet of beings in the world ; ever in the hurry of adion, either about their own affairs, or thofe of other people ; and equally bufy and folicitous about O F W O M E N. 295 about fettling the affairs of the nation, or fticking a pin in its pro- ^ ha p. per place : to fold her hands in idlenefs and impofe filence on her tongue, would be to a French-woman worfe than death ; the fole joy of her life is to be engaged in the profccution of fome fcheme, the more intricate and arduous the better ; and fo much the better ftill, if fafhion, ambition, or love be the fubje(5l. Nor is their a£li- vity confined to the gay and the pleafant, they even enter fome- times into the moft ferious and momentous concerns of life ; the profoundeft depths of politics are not hid from them, and the moft folemn councils have often been fummoned, and affairs of the utmoft confequence debated, when the decifion had been previoufly fettled by their addrefs and artifices. Among the rich and opulent, they are entirely the votaries of pleafure, which they purfue through all her labyrinths, at the expence of fortune, reputation, and health. Giddy and extravagant to the laft degree, they leave to their huf- bands ceconomy and care, which would only fpoil their com- plexions, and furrow their brows. When 'we defcend to tradef- men and mechanics, the cafe is reverfed ; the wife manages every thing in the houfe and fhop, while the hufband lounges in the back-fhop an idle fpe£tator, or flruts about in his fword and bag- wig. Matrimony is in France a thing entirely different from what it is in all other parts of Europe; it does not there fubjeA the helplefs female to obedience, to duty, or even to fidelity, but gives her a right to an unbounded liberty and the fortune of her hufband, while it confers on the hufband hardly any right but that of calling her his wife. In fafhionable life, and indeed among all ranks, as all afpire at being tafliionable, it feems to be a bargain entered into by a male and female to bear the fame name, live in the fame houfe, and purfue their feparate pleafures without 296 OF WOMEN. e II A I', without rcftralnt or controul : and fo rcHgioufly Is (his part of the bargain kept, that both parties fhape their courfe exa£tly as con- venience or inchnation may dictate, fpurning the joys of friend- fhip at home, and contemning the cenfure of the world abroad ; they live in the fame houfe, but feldom fee each other, having dif- ferent apartments, different fets of acquaintance, different fervants, a different equipage, and different tables. Jealoufy is not to be expeded here, it is a monfler which fprings from love ; but as a French couple come together without love, they live without jealoufy, and commonly jog through life together, enjoying but little happinefs, and feeling perhaps no mifery on account of each other. Learning of In the midfl of every levity and fafhionable folly, there is no part of the world where literature is more cultivated by the fair fex than in France, nor any part where the company of men of letters is by them more coveted j a circumflance, which, while it diffufes knowledge among the women, gives an elegance and cheerfulnefs to the men, and renders them men of the world as well as of letters ; and a circumflance, which has taught many of the French-women the valuable fecret of reconciling pleafure to improvement : but a fecret fo valuable, and fo rare in the female world, is not entirely owing to this circumflance, educa- tion alfo has a fhare in it; brought up for the moft part in con- vents, books are often the only means they have of beguiling the tedious hours of ina61;ivity and filence, and a fondnefs for them once contraded, the habit frequently remains for life. Such is female influence over literature, as well as over every other thing in France, that by much the greatefl; part of the produdions of the prefs are calculated for their capacity ; and happy is the I author the Frinch women. OF WOMEN. 297 author who meets with their general approbation, it is the ladder ^ ha p. by which he mufl: climb to fame, and the fountain which will " . afliiredly yield him profit. It is the property of real and unafFeded politencfs to banifli all Eafs and the fliffnefs, and throw afide thofe airs of referve, which in every Frcnch°wo * country appear more confpicuous as the inhabitants approach ""*"' more towards barbarlfm; in no country does this politenefs ma- nifcft itfelf more than in France, where the company of the wo- men is acceflible to every man who can recommend himfelf by his drefs, and by his addrefs. To afl"c, ' is able to drink at the ftream of pleafure, fhe is generally an atheift ; as her tafte for that diminiflies, flie becomes gradually religious, and when fhe has loft it altogether, is the moft bigotted devotee. Maternal afFedion muft not interrupt the bufinefs of pleafure. Few women in France, who can aff"ord to do otherwife, nurfe, or take much care of their children when young; but for this neglect they make feme reparation, by foli- citoufly ufing all their intereft to provide for them when they become capable of entering into the army or the church. But to conclude, on comparing the different accounts of the French females with each other, we are of opinion, that they rather fa- crifice too much of their delicacy to wit, and of their chaftity to good-breeding ; that they pay too little regard to character, and too much to a ridiculous opinion, that fafhionable people are above it; that in fine, they are too much the creatures of art, and have almoft difcarded nature as much from their feelings as from their faces. If chaftity is none of the moft flilning virtues of the French, or the Italian it is ftill lefs fo of the Italians. Almoft all the travellers who *'''"^"' have vifited Italy, agree in defcribing it as the moft aban- doned of all the countries of Europe. At ^'cnice, at Naples, and indeed in almoft every part of Italy, women are taught from their infancy, the various arts of alluring to their arms the young and unwary, and of obtaining from them, while heated by love or wine, every thing that flattery and falfe fmiles can obtain in thefe unguarded moments ; and (0 little infamous is the trade of proftitution, and fo venal the women, that hardly any rank or Qjq 2 condition Soo T H E II I S T O R Y ^ vin ^' condition fcts them above being bribed to it, nay they are even- A I if* ^— V— .-/ frequently afTifted by their male friends and acquaintances to drive a good bargain ; nor does their career of debauchery finifli with their unmarried ftate: the vows of fidelity which they make at the altar, are like the vows and oaths made upon too many other occafions, only confidered as nugatory forms, which law has obliged them to take, but cuftom abfolved them from performing. They even claim and enjoy greater liberties after marriage than- before; every married woman has a cicifbio, or gallant, wha attends her to all public places, hands her in and out of her car- riage, picks up her gloves or fan, and a ihoufand other little offices of the fame nature ; but this is only his public employ- ment, as a reward for which, he is entitled to have the lady as often as he pleafes at a place of retirement facred to themfelves, where no perfon, not even the moft intrufive hufoand muft enters to be witnefs of what pafles between them. This has been con- fidered by people of all other nations, as a cuftom not altogether confiftent with chaftity and purity of manners ; the Italians themfelves, however, endeavour to juftify it in their couverfations with ftrangers, and Baretti has of late years publiflied a formal vindication of it to the world. In this vindication he has not only deduced the original of it from pure Platonic love, but would willingly perluade us that it is ftill continued upon the fame mental principles ; a dodrine which the world will hardly be credulous enough to fwallow, even though he fliould offer more convincing arguments to fupport it than he has already done. If the French women are remarkable for a national pride, which induces them to look with a mixture of pity and contempt upon every O F W O M E N. 301 every female who is unfortunate enough to belong to any other ^ ^^^ p. country, the Italians are not lefs remarkable for a family pride, v^ -w— ■> which inftigates them to defpife, as beings beneath their notice, every one who cannot reckon up a long line of illuftrious ancef- tors ; and indeed they often behave as if they were perfuaded, that a defcent of this kind conferred upon them a dignity and worth, which all their own worthlefs infignificance could not pofli- bly ftain or deflroy. The Spaniards carry this family pride even farther than the Italians, and the Germans, perhaps, ftill farther than they. It is a remainder of Gothic barbarity, wherever we meet with it, and one of the rnofl: certain appendages of narrow and little minds. Viewing it in this light, fome have confined it aimoft entirely to the female fex : but its limits are not fo circum- fcribed ; in almofl: every country, it difFufes itfelf in a greater or lefs degree even among the men ; but it reigns triumphant in the ideas of the women, fupplies the want of perfonal merit, and too often betrays Itfelf in every look and in every aQion of their lives. In other refpedts the women of Italy approach nearer to the French, than thofe of any of the European kingdoms ; they are not quite fo gay and volatile, nor do they fo much excite the or- gans of rifibility ; but by the foftnefs of their language, and their manner, they more forcibly engage the heart : they are not fo much the cameleon or the weathercock, but have fome decent degree of permanency in their connexions, whether of love or friendfhip ; not, like the French, carelefs and diverted of jealoufy, bu: often fuffering it to tranfport them to the mofl unwarrantable aflions. As we have almofl in every other particular charaderlfed the Spani(hwo« women of Italy, in our Iketches of thofe of France, weihall now chlraaw.' pafe 3<32 T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP, yafs on to Spain; a country which, though almoft In our neigh- bourhood, we are Icfs acquainted with, and lefs able to give the proper charader of its inhabitants, than of the Hottentots, or Indians on the banks of the Ganges ; a circumflance owing to the Spaniards having formerly almoft totally (hut up their country from the intrufion of ftrangers; and from the genius of fomc of the moft modern travellers, who, in paffing through it, have hardly deigned to take notice of any thing that was not ftamped at leaft with the ruft of a thoufand years. From the little, however, which we Icara of the travellers who have vifited Spain, that peo- ple have no great reafon to boaft of the fecurlty in which they fuppofe they have placed the chaftity of their women, by the af- fiftance of locks, bars, and old duennas. Chaftity cannot be pro- perly fccured but by virtue, and virtue never yet was inftilled by force. The Spaniards have at laft attained fcnfibility enough to fee this : their locks and bars are falling into difufe, and their wo- men do not become lefs chafte ; and whatever may be the conduct of particulars, when we view them as a nation, they rank much higher in this refpeft than either the French or Italians, though not fo high as fome of the other nations of Europe. A Spanlfh lady of rank difcourfing with fome of her countrymen on gallantry, faid, that (he would heartily defpife the man, who, having a proper opportunity, did not flrenuoufly folicit every favour flie could grant. Every Spanilh woman reckons this a tribute due to her charms ; and though (he has no inclination to grant all the favours that a man can alk of her, (he is not the lefs affronted if he does not afk them. There is in the Spaniards a native dignity and pride, which far furpalR's that of any other nation ; which, though the fource S of OF WOMEN. ;)^J XII', of many inconvenlencles, has neverthelefs this falutary effed, that Chap. it fets them above almoft every fpecies of meannefs and infidelity. Nor is this a quality peculiar to the men ; it diffufes itfelf in a great meafure among the women alfo ; and its efFe£is are vifible, both in their conftancy in love and in friendfliip, in which refpeds they are the very reverfe of the French women. Their affedions are not to be gained by a bit of fparkling lace, or a tawdry fet of liveries; nor are they to be lofl by the appearance of ftill finer. Their deportment is rather grave and referved j and, on the whole, they have much more of the prude than the coquette in their com- pofition. Being more confined at home, and lefs engaged in bu- finefs and in pleafure, they take more care of their offspring than the French, and have a becoming tendernefs in their difpofition to every thing but heretics. The Spaniards are indulgent almoft beyond meafure to their women, and there are feveral fituations in which they take every advantage of this indulgence. A kept miftrefs has, by indifputable cuftom, a right to a new fuit of clothes, according to the quality of her keeper, as often as fhe is blooded ; and it is only feigning a flight illnefs, and being on a proper footing with the Dodtor, to procure this as often as fhe pleafes. A lady to whom a Cavallero pays his addrefl'es, is fole miftrefs of his time and money ; and {hould he refufe her any requeft, reafonable or capricious, it would refle£l eternal diftionour upon him among the men, and not only ruin his fuit, but make him the deteftation of all the women. But in no fituation does their charadler appear fo whimfical, or their power fo confpicuous, as when they are breeding. In this cafe, whatever they long for, whatever they afk, or whatever they have an inclination to do, they rauft be indulged in. Some even of the. loweft 304 THEHISTORY CHAP. Xdl. women. loweft flation have taken it into their heads to fee the king, have fcnt to him, and he has gratified their curiofity. But this whiin- fical indulgence is fometimes ufed improperly ; for it has been known, that young men who could not gain admittance to the wives of others, whom they wanted to debauch, have drefled themfelves like women with child, and in this difguife carried on their intrigues unfufpeded. General ob- It would greatly exceed the limits we have prefcribcd to our- the'El°ope'aH ^'^'vcs. Were wc to givc a minute detail of the charader and coa- dudt of the women in every country of Europe ; we fhall there- fore confine our fubjef the wo- men of this century arrived to a pitch unknown and unheard-of in former times ? Is not the courfe which you fteer in life, almoft entirely directed by vanity and fafhion ? And are there not too tnany of you, who, throwing afide reafon and good condudi, and defpifing the counfel of your friends and relutions, feem deter- mined to follow the mode of the world, hov^ever it may favour of folly, and however it may be mixed with vice ? Do not the gene- rality of you drefs, and appear, above your ftation, and are not many of you afhamed to be feen performing the duties of it ? To fum up alJ, do not too, too many of you a<3: as if you thought the care of a family, and the other domeftic virtues, beneath your at- tention, and that the fole end for which you were fent into the world, was to pleafe and divert yourfelves, at the expence of thofe poor wretches the men, whom you confider as obliged to Aipport you in every kind of idlenefs and extravagance ? While fuch is your condudt, and while the contagion is every day increafing, you are not to be furprifed if the men, ftill fond of you as play- things, in the hours of mirth and revelry, fhun every ferious con- nection with you ; and while they wifh to be poflefled of your chaims, are io much afraid of your manners and condu(St, that they O F W O M E N. 309 they prefer the cheerlefs ftate of a batchelor, to the numberlefs chap. evils arifing from being tied to a modern wife. "We fhall conclude this chapter with a few general obfervations Difference .f,...~ f. between the on the charaaeriftic differences of the part and prefent ages of part and pre- the world. Such, among many, is the proclivity to admiring whatever is paft, and defpifing whatever is prefent, that every thing ftamped with the ruft of remote antiquity muft infallibly be all good and virtuous, and every thing of a modern date as un- queftioii.'bly be vice and folly. According to fuch, the times of the patriarchs were the bert: and happieft periods of the world, even fo much fo, that they werediftinguifhed by thefplendid title of golden age, while our modern times are branded with the epithet of the age of iron. To give us fome idea of this golden age, many authors of confiderable merit have laboured to perfuade us, that the earth brought forth her fruit fpontaneoufly, that the lion and the tyger were harmlefs as the lamb, and that mankind, free from pride, ambition, avarice, and all the vicious and tumultuous paflions of the mind, lived in the moft happy fecurity and fimplicity; and fome have even gone fo far as to reprefent thefe times as ex- empted from thofe infirmities to which nature, folly, and climate, have always fubjedled humanity. Thefe and other fables of the like nature, though they may do credit to the fong of the poet, difgrace the record of the hiftorian ; but in forming our judg- ment of paft events, we are not to be direded by the poet, the declalmer, the panegyrift, nor the fatirift ; we muft liften to fads only, and we muft alfo confider the general complexion of the times in which they happened. Such 310 THEHISTORY CHAP. Such authors as we have mentioned would make us believe, that avarice and ambition were unknown to the happy beings they have placed in the firft ages of the world ; but all that remains of the hiftory of thefe ages, teaches quite another do£lrine, and demon- ftrates that, almoft from the remoteft antiquity, there were wars, entered into with the moft flagrant injuftice, and carried on with the moft fhocking inhumanity ; murders and robberies conftantly com- mitted, and the moft wanton cruelties often executed without any provocation ; that brother cheated in the moft folemn manner his brother ; that the fair fex were maltreated and abufed ; and in fine, that a favage barbarity of manners fubjedled every thing to fupe- rior ftrength. They would likewife perfuade us, that pomp and luxury were then altogether unknown ; but thefe are only com- parative, not abfolute terms ; as what might well deferve the name of luxury in one period, would be the utmoft fimplicity in another. We grant indeed, that thofe elegant pleafures which are the refult of knowledge, induftry, and a perfedion of the arts, had then no exiftence ; but they had a pomp and a luxury proportioned to their powers, and the means they had of fliewing them, and in thefe they exerted, nay even overftretched them- felves perhaps as much as in our modern times, as we fhall fee more fully in the fequel of this work. Let us then no longer continue to afcribe fo many chimerical virtues to thofe ages, when the plainncfs and fimplicity of manners which then prevailed, was evidently owing more to their rude and uncultivated ftate,than to their belter principles ; and when the virtues for which they are celebrated, were more of the negative than the pofitive kind. Those abandoned cities which were confumed by fire from heaven, need not be brought as examples of the total corruption of OF WOMEN. 311 of ancient manners. We have unhappily too many other proofs chap. of it, and of thefe the diffidence that every one then entertained of his neighbour, is not the weakeft. Abriham and Ifaac, both apprehended that they fhould be flain for the fake of their wives; and it was no uncommon thing for a man to require an oath of his neighbour that he would do him no harm. The ftories of Judah and Tamar, his daughter-in-law, and of the rape of Dinah, give us fome idea of the debauchery and injuftice which then reigned upon the earth. Judah condemned Tamar to fufFer death for the crime that he had committed with her, and the perfidious fons of Jacob flew the Sechemites after they had ratified a treaty of peace with them in the moft folemn manner. Nor were fide- lity and honour more refpej- io')e. of the company of the fair, life fs deprived of more than half its joys, we turn ourfelves to Europe, we eafily difcover, that in proportion to the time fpent in the converfatlon of their women, the people are polifhed and refined; and lefs fo, in proportion as they ncgle£t or dcfpife them. Tlie Ruifians, Poles, and even the Dutch, pay lefs attention to their females than any of their neigh- bours, and arc of confequence lefs diftinguiftied for the graces of their perfons, and the feelings of their hearts. The Spaniards, when they formerly had not the benefits of female fociety, were remarkable for their cruelties : at this period, when locks, bars, and duennas arc becoming unfafhionable, and women mixing among them, they are faft affuming the culture and humanity of the neighbouring nations. So powerful, in fliort, is the company and converfation of the fair, in difl'ufing happinefs and hilarity, that even the cloud which hangs on the thoughtful brow of an Englifhman begins in the prefent age to brighten, by his devoting to the ladies a larger fhare of time than was formerly done by his anceftors. But if we would contemplate the influence of female fociety in its greateft perfedion, we muft take a view of the Italians and French ; in the laft of which, we are conftantly prefented with tempers fo gay and cheerful, that we are almoft tempted to think them fuperior to all the ills and accidents of life : among them only we find happinefs fmiling amid want and poverty, and pleafure and amufement, with all their fportive train, not only attending on the rich and affluent, but on the humble villager, and dancing around the ruftlc cot. For this fortitude of the French in fupporting their fpirits through all the adverfe circum- ftances of this world, for their vivacity and cheerfulnefs of tem- per. O F W O M E N. 321 per, various reafons have been afligned, as the lightnefs of their chap, food, and falubrity of their air ; caufes to which a great deal may be juftly attributed, but which are undoubtedly much aflifted in their operations by the conftant mixture of the young and old, and by the levity and fprightlinefs of female converfation ; for we fcruple not to aflert, that this vivacity of the French ladies, and the conftant attendance paid them by the men, are the chief caufes why the cares and ills of life fit lighter on the fhoulders of thn^; fantaftic people, than on thofe of any other country in the world. In all other countries, the men make excurfions, and form par- ties of pleafure, by themfelves : The French reckon that an ex- curfion is dull, and that a party of pleafure cannot deferve that name, without a mixture of both fexes join to compofe it. The French women do not even withdraw from the table after meals ; nor do the men difcover that propenfity to have them difmiffed, which we fo often meet with in England, and which is a certain indication, that they either want to debauch themfelves with li- quor, or indulge in thofe indecencies of difcourfe, which the com- pany of women always reftrains. It is alleged by thofe who have no relifh for the converfation of the fair fex, that their company curbs the freedom of fpeech, and reftrains the jollity of mirth ; but if the converfation and the mirth are decent, and the company are capable of relifhing any thing but wine, the very reverfe is the cafe ; at leaft, it is always remarkably fo among the French : nor is any thing more natural ; for, the fair fex in general being lefs difturbed by the cares and anxieties of life, are not only themfelves more cheerful, but more eager to promote mirth and feftiv ity. Vol. I, T t But 322 T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP. ]3yj. [[^Q advantages of female fociety are not altogether con- ' . ^ fined to the circumftances we have now related ; they extend of lemaic fc- themfelves much farther, and fpread their inlluence over almoft "*'^* every cuftom and every adlion of focial life. It is to the focial in- tercourfe with women, that the men are indebted for every effort they make to pleafe and be agreeable ; and it is to the ambition of pleafing they owe all their elegance of manners, as well as all the neatnefs and ornaments of drefs. It is to the fame caufe, alfo, that they frequently owe their fobriety and temperance, and con- fequently their health ; for to drunkennefs and irregularity nothing is fo effe£tual a check, as the company of modeft women ; info- much that it is but feldom we find a man fo loft to fhamc, as to get drunk when he is in, or to go into their company. To them we are not lefs frequently indebted for the calming of violent dif- putes, and preventing of quarrels, which, with every other fpe- cies of rudenefs, are happily reckoned fo indecent in their pre- fence, that we often poftpone them till another opportunity ; and in the interim, reafon refumes the rein which paflion had ufurped. But this is not all: many difputes and quarrels, already begun, have been amicably fettled by the inter pofition of their good offices, or, at leaft, the fatal effeds of them prevented by their tears and mediation. Fond of the fofter fcenes of peace, they have often had the addrefs to prevent, by their arguments and interceCTion, the direful effeds of war ; and, afraid of lofing their bufbands and relations, they have fometimes ruflied between two hoftile armies ready to engage, and turned the horrid fcenes of deflruQion into thofe of friendfliip and fcftivity. In our fex, there is a kind of conftituiional or mafculine pride, which hinders us from yielding, in points of knowledge or of honour. O F W O M E N. 323 honour, to each other. Though this may be defigned by nature ^ H A P, for feveral ufeful purpofes, yet it is often the fource alfo of a vari- ety of evils, the mofl dangerous to the peace of fociety : but we lay it entirely afide in our connedions with women, and wiih pleafure fubmit to fuch didates and behaviour from their fex, as from our own would call up every irafcible particle of our blood, and inflame every ungovernable pafTion. This accuftomed fub- miffion gives a new and lefs imperious turn to our ideas, teaches us to obey where we were ufed to command, and to reafon where we ufed to be in a paflion ; to confider as only good-breeding and complaifance, that which before we looked upon as the mofl; abjedt and unbecoming meannefs : and thus the ftern feverity of the male is foftened and rendered agreeable by the gentlenefs peculiar to the female nature. Hence we may reft aflTured, that it is the con- verfation of virtuous and fenfible women only, that can properly fit us for fociety; and that, by abating the ferocity of our more irafcible paflions, can lead us on to that gentlenefs of deportment, diftinguifhed by the name of humanity. The tendernefs we have for them foftens the ruggednefs of our nature; and the virtues we affume, in order to make a better figure in their eyes, fome- times become fo habitual to us, that we never afterward lay them afide. We are aware, that in this country it is too much the fafliion to fuppofe that books, and the company of men only, are necef- fary to furnifh every qualification requifite for the fcholar and the gentleman ; but we would defire fuch as are of this opinion to compare the generality of the gentlemen of this country, to thofe of France and Italy, and they will find, that though we perhaps excel them in deepnefs of thought and folidity of judg- T t 2 ment, 324 T H E H I S T O R Y C HA P. nicnt, we arc greatly their inferiors in urbanity, in addrefs, and knowledge of the world: for though books may furnifli proper ideas, and experience improve the underftanding, it is only the company and acquaintance of the ladjes, which can beftow that eafinefs of addrefs by which the fine gentleman is diftinguiflied from the mere fcholar, and man of bufinefs. The French and Italians educate their nobility in the drawing-room, at the toi- lette, and places of public amufement, where they are conftantly in the company of women. The Englifh educate theirs at the college, and at Newmarket, where books, grooms, and jockies, are their only companions: the former are often the mofl; fan- taftical of beings ; the latter, the moft ignorant, imperious, and furly: fomething between thefe two extremes of education, while it preferved the dignity and firmnefs of the man, might infufe a proper quantity of the foftnefs and addrefs of the woman. When we look a few centuries backward to thefe periods, when, even in Europe, there was but little intercourfe between the two fexes, we find that the men were hardly ruder in their manners than in their pcrfons ; they wore long beards, which totally covered the chin, and often hung a great way down the breaft. Beards are the work of nature, and however troublefome and uncouth, had no moral turpitude, nor tendency to debauch the manners; but the men had, in thofe times, other modes of drefling which violated every idea of decency. As the ladies be- gan to have more influence, beards were mutilated down to muftachoes, though the learned exclaimed againft the horrid in- novation, as difcovering a tafte which tended more to gratify the women, than to keep up the dignity of the mafculine counte- nance j and though the church confidercd the mutilaiioii as little fhort OF W O M E N. 325 fhort of apoftacy, becaufe Mofes and Jefus were always painted CHAP. with long beards. As the gentlemen found that the ladies had no great relith for muftachoes, which were the relics of a beard, they cut and curled them into various fafliions, to render them more agreeable ; and at laft finding that fuch labour was in vain, gave them up altogether. But as the gentlemen of the three learned profefTions were fuppofed to be endowed with, or at leaft to ftand in need of, more wifdom than other people, and as the longeft beard had always been fuppofed to fprout from the wifeft chin, to fupply this mark of diftindion, which they had loft, they contrived to fmother up their heads in enormous quantities of frizzled hair, that they might bear the greater refemblance to an owl, the bird fa- cred to wifdom and Minerva. Such profeffional wigs, however, were long an objed of the ridicule of wits, and the diflike of the women, who, to the honour of their tafte and influence, have, in the prefent age, banifhed by far the greater part of them. Man, fecluded from the company of women, is not only a rough and uncultivated, but a dangerous, animal to fociety ; for, in fuch a fituation, the animal appetite is daily gathering ftrength, till at laft it becomes almoft quite ungovernable; a fadl well known to the inhabitants of fea-ports, who have too frequent opportunities of feeing the force of that ungovernable paflion, with which failors returned from a long voyage, commonly dedi- cate themfelves to the worthlefs women who attend on account of their money. And a faft which alfo appears evident from the condud of the men in all countries, where women are kept as the mifer does his gold: \a fuch countries, the paflions of the men are fo raifed by partial glances, and by brooding over the thoughts of ideal beauty, and ideal happinefs, in the enjoyment of it, andfo in- flamed 326 T H E li I S T O R Y ^ ^v/v^* fl^"^^'^ w**'i almoft infurmountable obftaclcs to that enjoyment, *— V ' that if tlicy ever happen to find a woman alone, they attack her in the moft furious and licentious manner ; nor have the women here fuch a power of refidance as they have in countries where they are accuftomed to the company of the men ; fecluded from them by a barbarous cuflom, they naturally form notions of the happinefs they would derive from them, of the mo(l wild and romantic nature : thefe notions difarm their virtue, and make them fall an eafy prey to the firfl rude invader. From this caufe it happens, that, in fpite of cautious parents, and jealous hufbands, and of locks, bars, and eunuchs, the chaftity of the women is lefs fecure in fuch countries, than where the fcxes live free and eafy together : wc may therefore aflfert, that the benefits of mixed fociety are not confined to the men alone, but extend to the women alfo ; infufe into their minds a power of checking the attacks of info- lencc, and by making man the objedt of their daily converfe, make him lefs valuable, and confequently lefs dangerous, either to their virtue or ♦^heir happinefs ; and we may further aver, that this fociety teaches the men to regulate and govern their pafllons with greater propriety, as nothing can be more certain, than that rape, adultery, and every evil that follow them, are more common in countries where thefexes live feparate, than where they enjoy the company of each other. There is nothing by which the happinefs of individuals and of fociety is (o much promoted, as by conftant efforts to pleafe ; and thefe efforts are in a great meafure only produced by the com- pany of women ; for men, by ihemfelves, relax in almoft every particular of good-breeding and complaifance, and appear the creatures of mere nature : but no fooner does a woman appear, than O F W O M E N. 327 than the fccne is changed, and they become emulous to (hew all C h a p. their good qualifications. It is by the arts of pleafing only, that women can attain to any degree of confequence or of power ; and it is by pleafing only, that they can hope to become objedts of love and affettion ; attainments which, as they are of all others the moft dear to them, prompt them to cultivate moft afliduoufly the arts of pleafing ; arts for which they are well qualified by nature. In their forms lovely, in their manners foft and en- gaging, fiich are they by nature and by art, that they can infufe by their fmiles, by their air and addrefs, a thoufand namelefs fweets into fociety, which without them would be infipid, and barren of fentiment and of feeling. But to enjoy any pleafure in perfedtion, we muft never be fatiated with it ; and therefore it requires more than common prudence in a woman, to be much in company, and ftill retain that deference and relpedl which we would voluntarily pay to her, were we feldomer indulged with her prefence A few centuries ago, women were rarely acceflible, but, fhut up in houfes and caflles, lived retired from the buftle of the world. When they deigned to fliew themfelves, they were approached as divinities ; a tranfient view of them often fet the heart on fire; and their fmiles conferred a happinefs, and raifed an enthufiaftic ardour, of which at this period we can hardly form any idea. Ly degrees, as manners became more free, and the fexes mixed together with lefs ceremony, women began to be feen with lefs trepidation, approached with lefs deference, and funk in their value as they became objedls of greater familiarity. Nor was this peculiar to the times we are delineating: the fame effedt always has, and always will happen from the fame caufe ; let the other fex, therefore, learn this inftrudive lefTon from it, that half the efteem and veneration we fhew them, is owing to 4 their 328 THEHISTORY CHAP. tUe'ir modefty and referve, and that a contrary conduct may make the mofl: enchanting goddefs degenerate in our eyes to a mere woman, with all the frailties of mortality about her. The for- ward beauty, whofe face is known in every walk, and in every public place, may be given as a toaft, and have her name infcribed on the windows of a tavern, but fhe rarely ever becomes an ob- je6t of efteem, or is folicited to be a companion for life. We (hall conclude what we had to fay on the advantages of female fociety, by obferving, that it feems not only to be thecaufe of the rife and progrefs of polite manners, and of fentimental feel- ings, but alfo of the fine arts. When we view the countries where women are confined, we find the inhabitants of them diftinguiflied for barbarity of manners; when we view the fame countries in the periods when the women begin to have their liberty, we im- mediately perceive the manners begin to foften and improve. In no country can this be more ftrongly exemplified than in Spain ; they had formerly lefs communication with the fair fex than any other people of Europe, and were confequently greatly behind all of them in politenefs and elegance of manners ; but fince their women have been under lefs reftraint, the progrefs of manners has been fo rapid, that they are hardly behind any of their neigh- bours. To the fociety of women we are indebted for the emula- tion of pleafing, and conferring happinefs on others ; and to this emulation we certainly owe the greater part, if not the, whole of the fine arts. If any one doubts of this, let him confider the con- dition of thefe countries, where men have no fuch motive of emu- lation, and let him there difcover the fine arts if he can ; he may indeed fay, that in the Eaft he finds fome of thofe arts in as great perfedtion as in Europe; but he difcovers alfo, that the/ have 3 exifted OF WOMEN. 329 exifted there time immemorial, without the leaft advance or im- chap. XIV. provement ; and why? becaufe the Eaftern has no motive to < n— y-n^ render him emulous of pleafing ; has he a rival in love, he is under no obligation to fucceed in preference to him by flievving preferable accomplilhments; does he court a coy fair, who fhews relu£lance in accepting of him, he is not defirous to gain her affedions by good offices, and by inventions to render her life eafy and comfortable, but at once buys her of her fordid parents or relations. Widely different is the cafe in Europe ; women of fenfe judge of the men by the elegance of their peffons, of their manners, and by thejr intelledlual faculties ; hence the men have conftantly occafion to fhew all thefe to the beft advantage, and hence, even the fine arts, which we cultivate to pleafe and to ren- der us amiable, may be rationally confidered as an effed of fe- male fociety and of love. Were we inclined to write the panegyric, inftead of the hiftory Difadvan- of the fair fex, we might enumerate feveral other advantages male fociety. arifing from their company and converfation ; but, contenting ourfelves with what we have already related on this head, we fhall now mention fome of the difadvantages ariiing from our inter- courfewith them. By the learned and ftudious, it has often been objeded to female company, that it fo enervates and relaxes the mind, and gives it fuch a turn for trifling, levity, and dilTipation, as renders it altogether unfit for that application which is necef- fary in order to become eminent in any of the fciences. In proof of this they allege, that the greateft philofophers feldom or never were men who enjoyed, or were fit for the company or conver- fation of women. Sir Ifaac Newton hardly ever converf^d with any of the fex, and it is believed, died at laft as much a ftranger Vol. I. U u to 330 THEHISTORY CHAP, to the Joys of love, as he had lived a ftranger to the fair obje<5ls Ui -,- —> that awaken it in the heart ; Bacon, Boyle, Des Cartes, and a variety of others, confpicuous for their learning and appli- cation, were but indifferent companions to the fair. Whether thefe, and many more inftances of the fame nature which might be adduced, are fufficient to eftablifli a general rule, we pretend not to determine. Nothing however feems more certain, than that the youth who devotes his whole time and attention to female converfation and the little offices of gallantry, never diftinguifhes himfelf in the literary world ; but without the fatigue and appli- cation of fevere ftudy, fuch a man often obtains by female in- tereft, what is denied to the merited improvements acquired by the labour of many years. But befides this idlenefs and negled of ftudy, fo much com- plained of as a confequence of the company of women, fuch company alfo often leads the men into a fcene of expenfive amufements, into a love of finery and oftentatious fhovv, which they are not able to afford ; while regardlefs of every thing but to pleafe the giddy and unthinking fair, they rulh forward with thoughtlefs unconcern on the ruin of their fortunes, and awake not from their dream of folly till they find themfelves plunged into poverty, become the jeft of their acquaintances, and even per- haps fneered at by the very females who led them into the fnare. Againft fuch weaknefs we fincerely wifh to caution the young and unexperienced part of our fex, and we advife them to be careful how they aflbciate with any of the other, who are not endowed with fenfe as well as virtue ; for it is not always to vicious, but frequently to gay and thoughtlefs women, that men owe their ruin. Such OF WOMEN. 331 Such as are enthufiaftically zealous for the liberties of man- chap. xiv. kind, have imagined that the only way to continue a brave, free, and independent people, is to avoid as much as poflible the company of women, the foft drains of mufic, and all the luxuries of the table and of drefs; and as a proof of their opinion, they tell us, that the Lydians, the Sybarites, and even the hardy Ro- mans themfelves, were debauched, and at length loft their liberty by their attention to women. That all thefe people were greatly debauched in their manners, hiftory has left us no room to doubt ; but that the company of wo- men was the caufe of this debauchery, is far from being certain; at leaft if we take a view of the world as it exifts in the prefent pe- riod, it teaches us a different leflbn; it points out to us, in the moft clear and diftlndl manner, that liberty and independence, the moft ineftimable bleflings of mankind, are no where at fo low an ebb, as in the countries where the women have no political influence, and where the men keep almoft no company with them : it ftiews us, that the men of fuch countries, inftead of being the braveft and moft independent, are the moft daftardly and enflaved of the human race ; and that on the contrary, in the wilds of America, where liberty and independence exift in the moft extenfive fenfe of the words, the freedom which the women enjoy in mixing with, and in fome places even of governing along with the men, has not in the leaft contributed to deftroy thefe native rights of mankind. That in Europe, where liberty is generally founded on focial and rational principles, calculated for the good of the community, the company of the women has not hitherto fo enervated the men as to induce them to part with it, rather than rouze themfelves from the lap of indolence and eafe. About two U u 2 hun- 03- THE HISTORY hundred and fifty years ago, when Francis the Firfl had not Intro- duced wenien to court, the French were not half fo much in the company of their women as at prefent, and yet were not then a more free and independent people ; on the contrary, though we fuppofe them to have been finlcing in effeminacy ever fince that period, we have feen them at different times make fuch efforts againft arbitrary power as have rather increafed than diminifhed their privileges. Were the Italians lefs flaves to their princes, and to the fee of Rome in former times, when they were fcarcely employed in any thing but arts of fuperftitious devotion, than at prefent, when they almofl. entirely refign themfelves to mufic and to women ? Or were the Spaniards more free under the gloomy reign of Philip the Second, when, from motives of jealoufy and religion, their women were conftantly locked up, than they are at prefent when they converfe with them ? In fliort, wherever we meet with a nation of flaves, other caufes befides the com- pany of their women muft have contributed to bring them into, and to continue them in, that defpicable ftate. Inflaenceof SucH are the general influences of female fociety; the particu- part!cuiar j^^, i^jfiyg^ce which evcry woman of an agreeable perfon, and a to- lerable fliare of good fenfe, has over every man, we cannot pretend minutely to defcribe; a tafkof this kind would be better executed by fome female, verfant in the exercife of fuch a power. When we confider the two fexes into which the human genus are di- vided, it appears in the moft confpicuous manner, that the Author of nature has placed the balance of power on the fide of the male, by giving him not only a body more large and robuft, but alfo a mind endowed with greater refolution, and a more extenfive reach. But are thefe qualities altogether without their counter- poife ? O F W O M E N. 333 poife ? Are women left without any thing on theit fide to balance this fuperiority of our nature ? Have they no powers to exert, whereby they can reduce this feeming fuperiority to a more equal footing ? If they have not, they may juftly complain of the partiality of nature, and the feverity of their lot. But let us at- tentively confider this matter, and we fhall find, that the Author of our being is no fuch partial parent: we fhall difcover, that to each fex he has given its different qualifications; and that thefe, upon the whole, when properly cultivated and exerted, put men and women nearly on an equal footing with each other, and fliare the advantages and difadvantages of life impartially between- them. To bend the haughty ftubbornnefs of man, he has given to woman beauty, and to that beauty has added an inexpreffible foftnefs and perfuafive force both of words and adtions, which but few of the fex themfelves know the extent of, and which flill fewer of ours have the power of refitting. Thus, an infinuating word, a kind look, or even a fmile, often conquered Alexander, fubdued Caefar, and decided the fate of empires and of kingdoms; thus the interceffion of the mother of Coriolanus faved the city of Rome from impending deftrudion, and in one hour brought about a happy event, which the fenate and people had defpaired of ever feeing accomplished. This power of the women, in bend- ing the ftronger fex to their will, is no doubt greatly augmented when they have youth and beauty on their fide : but even with the lofs of thefe it is not always extinguilhed ; of which this laft circumftance is an indubitable proof. But this power of the women does not altogether confift in fmiles, words, and actions ; it often effeds its purpofes by means lefs vifible, and impoffible to be defcribed : but thefe means muft &_ conftantly CHAP. XIV, 334 THE HISTORY XIV C H A P. conftantly have for their bafis foftncfs and good-nature ; they mud ever be fuch as throw a veil over the pride of our fuppofed fuperi- ority, and make us believe, that we are exerting that fovereign power, which we confider as our right, when in reality we arc -yielding it up. The leaft appearance of the contrary alarms our pride ; and (he who difcovers to us her intention to govern by her power, or by her ill-temper, produces an efFedl on us the other fex are not fufficiently aware of, by raifing adifguft, which all our efforts can never conquer, befides, for the moft part, failing in her attempt. In fhort, fuch a condu£t in a woman is the fame thing as it would be in a lion to fight with his hinder legs, or for a hare to face about, and defy the teeth of the purfuing pack ; it is ncg- leding to make ufe of what nature has furnilhed, and endeavour- ing to ufe what fhe thought proper to deny. We could point out here, were it neceffary, a great variety of inflances, where women have governed men by the influence of good-nature and infmuating manners ; but we defy hiftory to fur- nifh one fingle inftance of this afcendency having ever been ob- tained over a man of fenfe, by brawling, ill-humour, and a vifi- ble conteft for fuperiority. No man of feeling is proof againft the fofter arts of a fenfible woman : fuch arts are armed with an irre- fiftible power. Every man, almoft, is proof againft her open at- tacks ; they are the attacks of a bee without a fting. The daughter of Sefoftris prevailed upon him by the arts of perfuafion to under- take the conqueft of the world : AttofTa, the wife of Darius, by the fame means engaged him to carry an expedition he had planned againft the Scythians, into Greece. In the empire of the Mogul, where women have in general but little influence, Noor-Je- han, a favourite Sultana, prevailed on the emperor her huflaand to I delegate O F W O M E N. 33S dielegate almoft the whole of the fovereign power into her hands. But a much more noble inftance of the exertion of female influ- ence occurs in the queen of Pythius, a prince of Lydia ; who, cruel and avaricious beyond meafure, kept the greater part of his fubjeds fo conftantly employed digging in the gold mines, that they had no time for agriculture, and were confequently in dan- ger of perifhing by famine. OpprefTed by this tyranny, they took an opportunity of his being abroad, and aflembled in great numbers, with tears in their eyes, to lay their complaints before his queen ; who, commiferating their condition, after much re- volving in her mind how to relieve them, bethought herfelf of the following method. On the return of her hufband, fhe ordered a magnificent entertainment to be ferved up to him ; but to his great furprife, when he uncovered the difhes, none of them contained any thing but gold. Senfible at once of his mifcondud:, and ftruck with the propriety of the method his wife had made ufe of, in order to open his eyes, that he might fee his folly, and fully convinced that gold could not fatisfy his own hunger, nor fave his fubjedls from famine, he immediately gave orders that, in future, no more than one- fifth part of them fhould be employed in pro- curing gold from the mines, and that the other four parts fhould betake themfelves to agriculture and the ufeful arts. It would be eafy to multiply inftances, both ancient and mo" dern, of this afcendency which women of fenfe have gained over men of feeling ; but we Ihall confine ourfclves to a few. Among thefe, the emprefs Livia may juftly claim the firft notice ; having attained fuch an influence over her hufl^and Auguftus, that there was hardly any thing he could refufe her. Many of the married ladies of Rome being anxious to know the means that flie had ufed to CHAP. XIV. • 36 THE HISTORY c H A P. to attain this end, one of them at laft venturing to aflc her, flic replied, " I3y being obedient to all his commands ; by not endea- *' vouring to difcover his fecrets; and by concealing my know- " ledge of his amours." Henry the Fourth of France, one of the grcateft and moft amiable of princes, affords a moft remarkable inftance of the power women may, by gentle methods, acquire over the men. Tender and compaflionate in his nature, he could hardly refufe any thing to foftncfs, intreaties, and tears : fenfible at the fame time, and jealous of his honour and power, there was hardly any thing he would grant, when attempted to be forced from him by different methods. Hence he was conftantly governed by his miftrefTes, and at variance with his wives. The Salique law or- dains, that the crown of France fliall never fall to the diftaff: but the French women have amply revenged themfelves for this affront; by contriving to govern almofl, every monarch, they have conftantly governed that great kingdom, from the apparent management of which the law had fo pofitively excluded them. From fcripture, and from education, almofl every man has imbibed an idea of the fuperiority of his own fex ; he is therefore zealous to maintain that fuperiority, and jealous of every attack made upon it ; but he is at the fame time endowed with a fenti- mental tendernefs for the other fcx, and a flrong inclination to promote their happinefs ; which, with regard to them, may be called his weak fide, and which women of fenfe eafily difcover, and as eafily take the advantage of. This being the ffate of things between the two fexes, nothing feems more plain, than that though men govern by law, women may almofl always govern by the arts of gentlencfs and fofi perfuafion. " The empire of wo- *' man (fays a French author) is an empire of fwcetnefs, addrefs, "and OF WOMEN. 337 ** and complalfance : her commands are carefles ; her menaces are chap. ^ XIV. ** tears ;" tind we may add, that the power of fuch commands and of fuch menaces is like that of faith, which can remove moun- tains : it is a power wjiich has nature on its fide ; the principle by her implanted within us, pleads in favour of the fex, and more than half performs the tafk of making us obey all the commands they lay upon us, when they are laid with gentlenefs of manners, and an infinuating behaviour. But though men of fenfibility and good-nature may infallibly be governed by foftnefs and ad- drefs, there are others caft in a rougher mould, whofe hearts are Grangers to the finer fenfations, and whofe ftubborn feelings bend not even to prayers and intreaties. Women joined to fuch may fit down in filence and deplore their misfortune; a misfortune which it is beyond their power to remedy ; for we have but too good reafon to affirm, that the temper, upon which gentlenefs and good-nature are loft, can never be mended by ill-nature. Men of fenfe will often, for the fake of peace, fubmit to be ill-treated by a woman ; men deftitute of fenfe will retort that treatment with double violence. Vol. I. X X CHAP. 338 T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP. XV. Sketches of Ceremonies and Cujloms, for ilx mojl pari obferved only, by Women, CHAP. /V ^ ^^^ manners and cuftoms of a nation, befides being the • . X X mofl entertaining part of its hillory, ferve alfo to charac- tcrife and diftinguifh it from all others, by pointing out the various purfuits to which the genius of its people are diredted; the whims and caprices which climate, chance, or neceffity has introduced ; the force that the intelledual powers have exerted, in contriving or adopting ceremonies and cufloms agreeable to reafon ; in refill- ing fuperftition, and difcarding whatever is ridiculous in manners, unbecoming in religion, or tyrannical in government ; fo the cuf- toms more peculiar to women, were we enabled by hiftory to give a particular detail of them, on comparing them with thofe of the men, would greatly afhft us in forming a judgment of the com- parative merit of the two fexes, in difcovering the folid and the flimfy of each, and pointing out which is mofl directed, in its va- rious purfuits and pleafures, by reafon ; and which raoft follows the didlates of cuftom, or fuggeflions of fancy. obfcurity of But, unhappily, of all other parts of the female hiftory, that of their manners and cuftoms is involved in the greateft obfcu- rity : almoft all the writers of antiquity have either pafled over them in filence, or blended them fo intimately with the ceremo- 6 nies OF WOMEN. 339 n'les and cuftoms of the men, that we are generally at a lofs to C H A P, A V • difcover, with any degree of certainty, what is peculiar to each. <^ii..,— t Nor is the fubjedt much better elucidated by the moderns, who, in their voyages and travels, for the moft part, only inform us of the drefs, complexion, and behaviour of the women in the countries they have vifited ; which, indeed, is commonly all that is in their power ; for their ignorance of the language of the people they are defcribing, precludes them from every fpccies of information, but what they receive by their eyes. The jealoufy of the men, in many places, hinders them from all accefs to their women; and the fhort ftay made by a traveller affords not the neceflary time for information. Hence, among the prefent inhabitants of the globe, we have but imperfed fketches of what is peculiar to the one fex, and what to the other. It has been obferved by all who have attentively confidered hu- Both fexes . . equally fub- man nature, that fafhion and cultom are powers which exercife the jea lo the mofl extenfive authority over weak and little minds, either bccaufe tom. fuch are not properly qualified to examine the caufes from which they arife, nor the effedls of which they are produdlive ; or be- caufe, after having examined and found them ridiculous, they have not fortitude enough to prefer fingularity to cuftom, though the former be founded on reafon, and the latter on folly or caprice : and as women in all ages have been fuppofed to be more the flaves of fafhion, ceremony, and cuflom, than men, this flavery has con- ftantly been made ufe of to prove the weaknefs and inferiority of their underftandings. We allow, indeed, that if the fad were efta- blifhed, the proof would be undeniable : but we think it is far from being eftablifhed ; for we challenge any man of fenfe and impartiality to look around him into the fafliions and cufloms of X X 2 Europe, 340 THE HISTORY Europe, nnd to fay whether thofe of our fex are not as whimfical and ridiculous as thofe of the other, and whether our whole de- portment does not declare, that we are as inviolably attached to them. As the fubje£l of female ceremonies and cuftoms is of the moft delicate nature, and requires to be touched by the fofteft pencil, it may on that account have been the more generally paflcd over in filence ; and on that account, alfo, we find ourfelves obliged to run over it moreflightly than is confiftent with the nature of hifto- rical information. Rut we lay it down as a rule, that we would rather flop fomethlng fliort of the information we could give, than offend the mofl delicate ear. As the fubjed of ceremonies anc. cuftoms is fo intimately conneded with feveral of thofe of which we have already treated, and fhalh hereafter have occafion to treat in the courfe of this work, we fliall here only mention a few of thofe which appear the mofl remarkable, and which are either al- together, or for the mofl part, pradifed only by women. Eewailingof ^^^ °^ ^^^ carlicfl ccremonies peculiar to the fex, which we virginity. meet with in hifl:ory, is the bewailing of virginity. This was pradlifed among the Ifraelites, Phoenicians, and feveral of the neighbouring nations, by all women who were obliged to relin" qulfh life before they had entered into the flate of wedlock ; or who, by any particular vow being devoted to perpetual celibacy, were, in confequence of that vow, cut off from all hopes of en- joying the fweets of love, or of raifing up poflerity. Thefc lafl not only continued through life, at flared times, to deplore the unhappinefs of their own fate, but, on fome occafions, afTcmbled their female friends and relations, to afTift them in performing the mournful Adonis. OF WOMEN. 341 mournful ceremony. It is fuppofed, that the reafon why the chap. Ifraelitifh virgins bewailed their virginity, was, becaufe every wo- t_ -,-' _<■ man flattered herlelf with the hope of being mother to the Mef- fiah that was to come : but among the neighbouring nations, the cuftom muft have originated from other caufes ; but what thefe were, it is impoffible for us now to difcover : we can only con- jecture, that as a numerous pofterity was reckoned, among the ancients, one of the greateft blefTings, and a particular mark of the divine favour, that (he who was excluded from a poflibility of this blefling, and of this diftinguilhing favour, might on thefe accounts fuppofe herfelf peculiarly wretched. Besides this ceremony of bewailing virginity, there is another, Ceremony of perhaps not lefs ancient, which was likewife pradlifed by the wo- thedeathof men of Ifrael, of Phoenicia, and alfo by thofe of Greece and of fome other nations : this was the annual lamentation for the death of Adonis,' or, as the fcrlpture calls him, Thammuz, performed by the Phoenician women, on the banks of the river Adonis, and by thofe of other nations, in their cities and houfes : but before we proceed to defcribe this ceremony, we think it neceflary to give fome account of its origin. Adonis, according to fome of the ancients, was a moft beauti- ful boy; Venus on this account admired him fo much from his earlieft infancy, that flie wifhed to have him educated according to her own mind, and therefore committed the care of him to Proferpine. When he was grown up to a man, Venus demanded "him as her right, but Proferpine, who by this time had alfo be- come fond of him, refufed the demand ; upon which a violent difpute arofe between the two goddefles, which, after long alter- cation, 342 T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP, cation, was at laft referred to the declfion of Tiinlter. On hcarinff XV. ' -^ ^ ^ both parlies, Jupiter decreed, that he fliould fpend one-third of every year with Proferpine, another with Venus, and during the remaining third, fhould difpofe of himfclf according to his own inclination. Adonis, having fpent his portion of the year with Proferpine, went to Venus, and being greatly captivated with her charms, fhe had the addrefs to detain him the whole remaining part of it; upon which Diana, who was alfo defperately in love with him, and had flattered herfelf that he would come and live with her that third part of the year in which he was at liberty, being highly affronted at the preference he had given to Venus, ia the firfl tranfport of her refentment, fent a wild boar to deflroy him. According toothers, Adonis being an incefluous child, begot by Cynarus king of Cyprus on his own daughter, was on that ac- count expofed on the mountains, and nourilhed by the nymphs, where Venus accidentally feeing him, fell fo much in love with him, that Mars, jealous of the growing connexion, transformed himfelf into a wild boar and flew him. Others again fay, that ■while he was hunting in the Idalian grove, a boar which he was purfuing, turned upon him, and tore him to pieces ; that Venus, commiferating his fate, transformed him into a flower of a bloody colour, and called it by his name ; or that being unfpeakabljr grieved for the Icxfs of her paramour, and refolving that flbe would not tamely relinquifli her hopes, fhe followed him to the fhades be- low, and, demanding him of Proferpine, at length fo far fucceeded, as to prevail on her infernal majefty to allow him to return and fpend one half of every year with her upon earth ; which having .accomplLIhed, (he joyfully afcended from the fliades,and relating her fuccefii OF WOMEN. 343 i^iccefs to her companions, inftltuted a feftlval in memory of ^ ^^ • having brought back from the regions of the dead, the fwaia ' ^ ' whom fhe adored. Such are the ftorles related of Adonis, and fuch is faid to have been the inflitution of the ceremonies with which he was ho- noured. But though the occafion of this inftitution, as well as every other thing that has been handed down to us concerning him, bears the raofl indubitable marks of fable ; yet that there was fuch a perfon as Adonis, and that ceremonies were performed by the women of feveral nations, to commemorate his untimely death, and extraordinary reftitution to life, the facred and pro' fane hiftory of antiquity have equally contributed to confirm. The Phoenician women performed the ceremonies facred to- Adonis in the following manner. Through their country runs the river of Adonis, the channel of which is, for many miles to- wards its fource, a kind of red earth ; this earth tinges its waters of a bloody colour, as often as it is wafhed down from its banks and the adjacent country by the rain. Superftition, inRead of attributing this to the natural caufe, fuppofed that the waters were at thefe times tinged with the blood of Adonis, or rather that they put on that bloody appearance, to exprefs their forrow for the tragical exit he made upon their banks. This appearance was therefore reckoned a fignal by the gods, appointing the proper time for the celebration of the rites inftituted to call to remem- brance that exit. Accordingly the women, at this fignal, affembled on the banks of the river, and began their lamentation?, which were of the loudeft and moft lugubrious nature, and fuch as they commonly uttered upon the lofs of their moft near and dear rela- tions. 344 T H E H I S T O R Y ^ xv\ ^' ^'°"®' '^'^^ lamentations ended, they difjiplined themfelves with whips, then offered a facrifice, and on the day following, pre- tending that Adonis was revived, and had afcended through the air to the upper regions, they flioutcd for joy, (haved their heads, and obliged all who would not comply with this cuflom to proflitute themfelves in the temple of Venus, as a recompence to that goddefs, for having negledled a part of the ceremony facred to the memory of her beloved paramour. The women of Byblus alfo performed the firft part of this ceremony with mourning and lamentation, during which the priefts of Ofiris in Egypt wrote to them that they had found the god whom they were feeking, fent the letter in a fmall ark made of papyrus, which is faid to have gone by fea of its own accord, and performed its voyage in feven days. As foon as it arrived in the port, the women who were met together to mourn and to la- ment, changed the fcene to dancing, feafting, and rejoicing, becaufe he was found alive w-hom they had mourned as being dead. The Ifraelltifh women alfo celebrated thefe rites ; for Ezekiel tells us, that on being brought to -he door of the Lord's houfe, he faw their women weeping for Thammuz. They are fuppofcd to haveobferved them in the following manner. They laid an image of Adonis on a bed, and having for fome time lamented over it, a light was brought in by the prieft, who anointed the mouths of the mourners, and whifpercd to them that falvation was come, that deliverance was brought to pafs ; upon which the image was taken as from a fepulchre, and they rejoiced at its reftituiion to life, with a joy no lefs extravagant than their forrow had been on ac- count of its death. 4 These O F W O M E N. 345 These myfteries were alfo celebrated by the Greeks, In the following manner : All their cities put ihemfelves into mourn- ing, coffins were expofed at every door, the ftatues of Venus and Adonis were carried in proceffion, with all the pomp and cere- mony pra£lifed at funerals, the women tore their hair, beat their breafts, and counterfeited all the adions and geftures ufual in la- menting the dead. Along with the proceffion were carried fhells filled with earth, in which were raifed feveral forts of herbs, efpe- cially lettuces, in memory of Adonis being laid out by Venus upon a bed of lettuces. After this a facrifice was offered, and the fol- lowing day fpent in expreffing their joy, that Proferpine, at the folicitation of Venus, had confented to allow Adonis to return from the fhades to the regions above. Ceremonies and cuftoms, even though they are of a religious nature, like all other things, are frequently obliterated by de- vouring time ; fuch, however, is not the fate of that we have been now defcribing. It is faid that it ftill exifts in fome places of the Levant, with little variation from the manner in which it was pradifed by the ancient Greeks. Deities, whether they were fuppofed to be of the mafculine Goodgoddefs or feminine gender, were generally worffiipped indifcriminately only by^'wo- by both fexes ; but to this rule there were fome few exceptions. '°*"" Among the Syrians there was a female deity called the great Syrian goddefs, who feems chiefly to have been worffiipped by priefts, who had emafculated themfelves, to render them fit for her fervlce, and by frantic women. In fpite of every pretenfion to the contrary, we muft all be fometimes fenfible of a natural partiality to that fex to which we belong, and feel ourfelves prone Vol. I. Y y to 346 THEHISTORY ^ xv^ ^ *° excufe its faults and pity its infirmities, as incidents to which we ourfelves are more liable. Among people therefore, who fuppofe that their deities, like themfelves, arc of different fexes, it will be impoffible not to fuppofe them alfo fufceptible of the different propenfities and feelings of thofe fexes: hence nothing could be more natural than for women to addrefs themfelves to, and imagine they would be more readily heard by, a female deity than a male ; and hence arofe among that fex, the peculiar wor- fhip and adoration they paid to fome of the goddeffes, Juno, otherwife called Lucina, who had herfelf felt the pains of child- bearing, and was on that account fuppofed to be more fufceptible of feeling for thofe in a like condition, was conftituted the pa- tronefs of lying-in women, and by them conftantly invoked to procure a fafe and eafy delivery. V'efta, becaufe (he had always retained her virginity, was on that account fuppofed to be a pro- per patronefs for chaftity, and therefore worfliipped in a temple at Rome, and in fome other countries by virgins only. But of alt the kinds of adoration paid by women to a female deity, that of the Roman ladies to the good goddefs, feems the moft unaccountable and extraordinary, as it originated, fo far as we know, from no particular caufe, and tended to no particular purjwfe, as it was condudcd with the utmoft fecrecy, and fcrupuloufly concealed from the eyes of every thing of the mafculine gender. As early as the birth of the Roman republic, it had been cuf- tomary for the women, at the expiration of every confular year, to celebrate, in the houfeof the conful or prjetor, certain religious rites and ceremonies in honour of the good goddefs; but what ihefe ceremonies were, or how conduded, we can give no ac- count, as no man was ever allowed to be prefent at them, and no maa OF W O M E N. 347 man was ever made acquainted with their nature and tendency. All we can fay is, that when the time appointed for celebrating thefe rites came, the Veftal virgins repaired to the houfe appointed for that purpofe, and offered facrifices to the good goddefs; but the faci'ifices offered, and the manner of offering them, were fecrets which to this day remain impenetrable, and ftrongly con- tradid the common opinion, that no fecret is fafe in, the breaft of a woman. Our own times furnifh us with an inflance of a ceremony from which all women are carefully excluded * ; but the Roman ladies, in performing the rites facred to the good goddefs, were even more afraid of the men than our mafons are of women ; for we are told by fome authors, that fo cautious were they of con- cealment, that even the ftatues and pictures of men and other male animals were hoodwinked with a thick veil. The houfe of the conful, though commonly fo Urge that they might have been perfed:ly fecured againft all intrufion in fome remote apartment of it, was obliged to be evacuated by all male animals, and even the conful himfelf was not fuffered to remain in it. Before they began their ceremonies, every corner and lurking-place in the houfe was carefully fearched, and no caution omitted to prevent all poffibility of being difcovered by impertinent curiofity, or difturbed by prefumptive intrufion. But thefe cautions were not all the guard that was placed around them ; the laws of the Romans made it death for any man to be prefent at the folem- nity. • Mafonry. Y y 2 Such C H A P. XV. 548 THE HISTORY Such being the precautions, and fuch the penalties for infurlng the fecrecy of this ceremony, it was only once attempted to be (hipVrs in- violated, though it exifted from the foundation of the Roman b"cio!j[us" empire till the introdudion of Chriltianity ; and this attempt was made, not fo much perhaps with a view to be prefent at the cere- mony, as to fulfil an aflignation with a miftrefs. Pompeia, the wife of Cxfar, having been fufpeded of a criminal correfpondonce with Clodius, and fo clofely watched that fhe could find no op- portunity of gratifying her paffion, at laft, by the means of a female flave, fettled an aflfignation with him at the celebration of the rites of the good goddcfs. Clodius was direded to come ia the habit of a finging-glrl, a charader he could eafily perfonate, being young and of a fair complexion. As foon as the flave faw him enter, fhe ran to inform her miftrefs. The miftrefs, eager to meet her lover, immediately left the company, and threw her- felf into his arms, but could not be prevailed upon by him to re- turn fo foon as he thought necefl'ary for their mutual fafety; upon which he left her, and began to take a walk through the rooms, always avoiding the light as much as poffible. While he was thus walking by himfelf, a maid-fervant accofted him, and defired him to fing ; he took no notice of her, but fhe followed ' and urged him fo clofely, that at laft he was obliged to fpeak. His voice immediately betrayed his fex ; the maid-fervant Ihrieked, and running into the room where the rites were per- forming, told that a man was in the houfe. The women, in the utmoft confternation, threw a veil over the myfteries, ordered the doors to be fecured, and with lights in their hands, ran about the houfe fearching for the facrilegious intruder. They found him in the apartment of the flave who had admitted him, 5 drove O F W O M E N. 349 drove him out with ignominy, and, though it was the middla CHAP. A, V • of the night, immediately difpcrfed, to give an account to their hufbands of what had happened. Clodius was foon after accufed of having profaned the holy rites ; but the populace declaring in his favour, the judges, fearing an infurrcdtion, were obliged to acquit him. In a country where the women were lefs regarded than at Rome, and where lefs confidence was repofed in their probity and honour, the men would probably have fuppofed, that ceremonies fo care- fully concealed from their knowledge were either inimical to vir- tue, or to the ftate. But that no fuch fufpicions were entertained by the Romans, we learn from Cicero, who, fpeaking of thefe myfteries, fays, " What facrifice is there fo ancient, as that which ** has been handed down to us from our firfl: kings, and is coeval •' with Rome herfelf ? What facrifice is there fo private and fecret, *' as that which is concealed, not only from the eyes of the curious " and inquifitive, but from the fight of all men, and where neither *' the moft profligate wickednefs nor impudence ever yet prefumed *' to enter ? I'his facrifice no man except Clodius was ever fo im- " pious as to violate ; no man but Clodius ever thought, without ** the utmoft horror, of affifting at it. This facrifice, which is " performed by the Veftal virgins, which is performed for the '* profperity of the Roman people, which is performed in the *' houfe of the chief magiftrate, celebrated with unknown ccre- " monies, and in honour of a goddefs, whofe very name to knov? " is facrilege ; this facrifice Clodius prophaned." In fubfequent periods, it has been alleged by fome, that whatever opinion the Romans themfelves entertained of the rites and cere- monies 350 T H K II I S T O R Y C HA 1*. monies performed in honour of this good goddefs, they miifl have », — ^-.,^ been at leafl: of an indelicate nature; clfe why all this care and folicitude of the women to conceal them from the men ? But we think it is more natural, as well as charitable, to fuppofe, that as the Romans had a deity to prefide almoft over every particular circumftance and adtion, this good goddefs muft either have been confidered as the patronefs of the fex in general, or the particular patronefs of fome of their affairs and concerns ; and that on this account the women imagined nothing could be fo accept- able to her, as rites and ceremonies performed only by that fex, and for the profperity of thofe affairs which flie patro- nifed. This being probably the cafe, we have the ftrongeft reafon to fuppofe, that the worfliip of this goddefs was not in the leaft in- confiftent with decency of manners, or modefty of charader. But this was not the cafe every where ; in other countries, there were rites performed by the women incompatible with either ; fuch were thofe of the women in the temple of Venus, thofe of the priefts and priefteffes of Cybele. Such were the mad and licentious re- velries in honour of Bacchus ; fuch are the frantic gefticulations and bowlings of the women of California, while facrificing to their idols ; and fuch alfo are the dances of the women of modern Egypt, and of fome other places which we have already de- fcribed. Ceremonies In ^^^^ religion of the modern Jews, there are fome ceremonies cif thcjc^vith peculiar to their women, at the commencement of their fabbath, which is on the Friday evening at half an hour before the fun fets. Every confcientious Jew muft have a lamp lighted in his I houfe. O F W O M E N. 331 h'oufe, even though he fhould horrow the oil of his neighbour. ^ H A p. The lighting of thefe lamps is a kind of religious rite, invariably w— ^— ^ afligned to the women, in order to recal to their memory the crime by which their original mother firfl; extinguifhed the lamp of righteoufnefs, and to teach them, that they ought to do every thing in their power to atone for that crime, by rekindling it. Inftead of the fcape-goaf, which this people formerly loaded with their fins, and fent into the wildernefs, they now fubftitute a fowl. Every father of a family takes a white cock, and the mother of the family a white hen, which flie ftrikes upon the head, repeating at every ftroke, " Let this hen atone for my fins ; fhe fhall die, " but I fhall live." This done, fhe twifts her neck, and cuts her throat, to fignlfy, that without fhedding of blood there is no r&* miffion of fin. If a woman, however, happens to be pregnant at the time of this ceremony, as flie cannot afcertain whether the in- fant is a male or a female, that its fins, of whatever gender it be; may not be unexpiated, fhe takes both a hen and a cock, that fhe may be afTured of having performed the ceremony as required by their law. In the religions of the prefcnt times, and particularly that of chriftianity, which teaches us, that the Supreme Being is the com- mon and impartial father and governor of both fexes, there are but few ceremonies peculiar either to the men or to the women ; we fhall therefore only take notice of one more, which is practifed by the women of Chinefe Tartary, affifted by their Bonzes, or priefts, who turn the credulity of the fex to their own emolument. In many places of this country, there are affemblies of women, who, to the number of ten or fifteen, meet together at ftated times, and out of this number annually elect a diredrefs of their fociety. An C H A XV. THE HISTORY An aged Bonze prefides at the meeting, and fings anthems in praife of the god Fo. On their more folemn days, they adorn the houfe where they meet with many images and grotefque paintings, re- prefenting the miferies and torments of the damned. Thefc meet- ings continue for fevcn days, during which they employ them- felvcs in laying up treafure for the world to come : this confifts of a little paper houfe, which having painted and gilded, they fill with a great number of paper boxes varniflied and painted ; in thefe they dcpofit pieces of paper formed into the fliape of ingots, and done over with gold or filver leaf i of which feveral hundreds are fuppofed nccellary to redeem the foul from the cruelties and tortures which Gen-vang, the king of hell, inflids on thofe who have nothing to bribe him into lenity. The reft, as well as the houfe which contains them, are defigned to procure the foul a comfortable lodging, with fuch viduals and drink as are neceflary in the other world. Every thing thus prepared, to the doors of thefe paper houfes the women faften paper padlocks, and lock them with i)aper keys; and when the lady who was at the expence of building that def- tined for herfelf dies, the furvivors meet, and with great folem- nity burn the whole; imagining in the next world fhe (hall find, that from its aflies her houfe has arifen with every thing in it for her ufe ; only the paper ingots, inflead of remaining what they were, turned into gold or filver, according to the metal with which they were gilded. Ceremonies WHEREVER politcnefs has ftamped a real value upon beauty of ' ea!iiar"to^ features and elegance of perfon, there is hardly any circumftance powerful enough to induce the fair fex to injure, or even for a time women. O F W O M E N. 3J3 time to fubmit to have the luftre of either the one or the other eclipfed : but where thefe natural advantages fcarcely entitle the pofleffor to any fuperior attention or regard, they are of confe- quence cuhivated with lefs afliduity, and preferred with lefs foli- citudc. Women, in the politer countries of Europe, even when obliged to drefs themfelves in the weeds of forrovv and affliction, never lofe fight of the idea of appearing lovely, and ufually con- trive matters fo, as that even their weeds may add fomething to their charms, by giving them a languifhing and melancholy air ; circumftances which often render beauty more irrefiftible, than when it is arrayed in all the tinfel glare of fliow, and frippery of fafliion. The women in the ruder ages of antiquity, and thofe of many modern nations, into vvhofe plan of life elegance and po- litenefs have not yet entered, in the melancholy moments dedi- cated to mourning, regardlefs of every thing but the cuftom of their country, or rather, perhaps, of the irapulfes of their heart, not only eclipfe the prefent luftre of their charms, but, by the wounds and flaflies which they make upon their bodies, cruelly deface them for ever. It was throughout all antiquity a prevailing opinion, that no Origin ofwo- offended deity would grant forglvenefs without blood ; hence al- {"^'"hem" " moft every people upon earth ftained the altars of their eods with '^'^"'" the blood of human or of more ignoble vidims. But blood was not only neceflary to appeafe a god when offended, it was alfo the moft effedual means of rendering him propitious, and pro- curing from him any favour ; and hence, almoft in every nation, thofe who approached a deity to afk any particular favour of him, mangled and tore their own flefti, as the iureft method of obtain- ing their requsft. Nor was it their deities alone, which the an- VoL. I. Z z cicnts 354 T H E H 1 S T O R Y CHAP, clcnts fuppofed were delighted with blood; the ghofte, alfo, of y -,— _' their deceafcd relations approaching in their feparate flate nearer to the nature of thefe deities, likcwife rcfcmblcd them in this par- ticular. It is therefore not improbable, that the cuftom of wound- ing and tearing the flefli in mourning, was firft introduced to ap- peafe the ghofts of deceafed friends ; to fupplicate them for fome particular favour ; to fhew them how much they were loved and lamented by thofe whom they had left behind them on earth ; or to feaft them with human blood, upon which they were fuppofed by the Greeks and fome of the neighbouring nations to regale ihemfelves with a peculiar pleafure. But from whatever caufe this cuftom proceeded, we are well afTured that the women of Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, Greece, and perhaps of many other na- tions, mangled and disfigured themfelves by wounds, on the death of their friends and relations.. But this cuflom was not peculiar to antiquity ; it has beea handed down even to our times. In Otaheite, and in feveral of the other iflands around it, the women, either in compliance with the cuftom of their country, or rather, perhaps, when the idea of fome departed friend ftole into their memory, though in the height of a fit of jollity and mirth, immediately affumed the appearance of the deepeft forrow, wounded their heads with the tooth of a, (hark, till the blood ran down their faces ; and as foon as the cere- mony was ended, or perhaps the idea of the departed friend drove out by another of a more pleafureable nature, the tranfition from, forrow to joy was as inftantaneous as it had before been from joy. to forrow. This O F W O M E N. 1^^^ This ceremony, however, of our modern favages, although chap. cruel in its nature, and unavailing in its confequences, is only of a fhort duration, and gives but little interruption to the more cheerful fenfations. But the mourning of the Grecian women was long, and, while it lafted, ftruck out of exiftence every thing that could be called joyous or amufing. They not only beat their breads, and tore their faces with their nails, but alfo divefted them- felves of all their ornaments, laid afide their jewels, their gold, and whatever was rich and precious in apparel, fequeflered them- felves from company, and refufed all the comforts and convenien- cies of life, fliunned the light as odious, and courted dark fhades and melancholy retirement : they alfo tore or cut off their hair, and either caft it into the funeral pile, to be confumed along with the body of the perfon for whom they mourned, or into the tomb, to be buried along with it. Cutting off the hair was not, however, an invariable cuftom. Some ran about with it diflievelled, clothing themfelves in the coarfefl: garments, throwing duff upon their heads and faces, and even fometimes proflrating themfelves upon the earth, and rolling in the duft; cuftoms which feem to have been pra£tifed from the earlieft antiquity, as expreffive of the deepeil forrow and afflidtion. Besides the ceremonies already mentioned, the women in an- cient times, as direded by fancy or inftigated by regard, decked the tombs of their deceafed friends ; they hung lamps upon them, and adorned them with a variety of herbs and flowers ; a cuftom at this time obferved by the inhabitants of Conftantinople and its neighbourhood, who not only adorn the tombs of their dead, but plant their burying-grounds with rofemary, cyprefs, and other odo- fiferous (hrubs and flowers ; but whether with a view to pleafe the Z z 2 manes 356 THEHISTORY CHAP, manes of the dead, orprcferve the heahh of the living, is uncer- >,..,/ . / tain. There were other ornaments befides thefe we liave now mentioned, ufed by the women of antiquity to deck the tombs. Among the Greeks, the tomb of a deceafed lover was frequently hung round with locks of the hair of his miftrefs. They like- wife made offerings, and poured out libations to the ghofts, whom they fuppofed to fmell, to eat, and to drink as they did while upon earth. This was not only a prevailing opinion among the an- cients, but has not as yet been totally obliterated. It is ftill be- lieved by the Chiriguanes; and at Narva, one of the principal towns of Livonia, they celebrate a remarkable feflival lacred to the manes of the dead. On the eve of Whitfuntide, the women aflemble in the church-yard, and fpreading napkins on the graves and tombftoncs, cover them with a variety of difhes of broiled and fried fifh, cuftards, and painted eggs ; and to render them more agreeable to the ghofls, the prieft, while he is praying over them, perfumes them with frankincenfe, the women all the time howling and lamenting in the moft difmal manner, and the intelligent clerk not lefs afliduoufly employed in defrauding the ghofls, by gathering up all the viands for the ufe of the prieft. inrtances of There are few, if any cuftoms that have been more generally \hT"ead!°^ diiFufed among mankind, than that of mourning for the dead ; and there are few nations where the women have not, either from cuftom or the tendernefs of their nature, aded a principal part in thefe mournings. There are, however, fome nations, who, in- ftead of reckoning death a fubje£t of lamentation, rejoice at it, as a happy deliverance from pain and advcrfity j and others, who, though they commonly mourn at the death of their friends and relations, rejoice at it when attended with particular circumftances. Thus women. OF WOMEN. 257 Thus the Greek and Roman fathers, and, what is more extraor- ^ ^^ ^ ^• X\'. dinary, even the mothers, rejoiced when their fons fell in the de- * « ' fence of their country ; and thus the Chrillians, in feveral periods and countries, rejoiced when their friends, being put to death by perfecutors, were numbered among thofe who were reckoned worthy of the crown of martyrdom. Thus alfo the women of modern Egypt, though on other occafions they lament over the dead with the moft difmal outcries, when a Sheick departs this life, demondrate the moft extravagant joy and fatisfadion, be- caufe, fay they, a Sheick muft, at death, infallibly enter into the paradife of the blefled. Besides thefe ceremonies of religion and of mourning which Sexual cere- the women have appropriated to themfelves, there are others ob- """""^ ° ferved by them, which, arifing from their nature, and the circum- ftances attending it, may, for that reafon, be denominated fexual. In Chirigua, when a girl arrives at a certain age, her female rela- tions inclofe her in a hammoc, and fufpend it at the end of her cottage. Having remained in this hammoc for one month, they let it down half way, and at the end of another month, the neighbouring women aflemble, and having armed themfelves with clubs and ftaves, enter the cottage in a frantic manner, ftriking furloufly upon every thing within it. Having adcd this farce for fome time, one of them declares that fhe has killed the ferpent which had flung the girl, upon which fhe is liberated from her confinement, the women rejoice for fome time together, and then depart every one to her own home. Among fome of the Tarta- rian tribes, when a girl arrives at the fame period of life, they fhut her up for fome days, and afterward hang a fignal on the top of her tent, to let the young men know that flie is become mar- I riageable. 558 T H E H I S T O R Y CHAP, riageable. Among others of thefe tribes the parents of the girl make a feaft on this occafion, and having invited tlieir neigh- bours, and treated them with milk and horfe flefli, they declare that their daughter is become marriageable, and that they are ready to difpofe of her as foon as a proper opportunity fliall offer. In Circaflia and Georgia, where parents are fometimes obliged to marry their daughters while infants, to prevent their being vio- lently taken from them by the rich and powerful, the circum- ftance of a girl being arrived at the time of puberty, is frequently concealed for fome time, as the hufband has then a right to de- mand her, and the parents perhaps think her too young for the matrimonial ftatc. Among the circumflanccs which give rife to thefe cufloms ^•hich we have called fexual, child-bearing is one of the mofl particular. As in child-bearing fome little afliftancehas generally been necefiary in almoft all countries ; to afford this afTiftance, the women have commonly employed midwives of their own fex. The Athenians were the only people of antiquity who did other- wife. They had a law which prohibited women and flaves from pradifing phyfic : as midwifery was accounted one of the branches of this art, many lives had been loft, becaufe the deli- cacy of the women would not fubmit to be delivered by a man, A woman called Agnodlce, in order to refcue her country- women from this difhculty, drcflcd herfelf in the habit of a man, and having fludicd the art of phyfic, revealed herfelf to the women, who all agreed to employ no other. Upon this the reft of the phyficians, enraged that fhe fhould monopolize all the bufinefs, arraigned her before the court of Areopagus, as Laving only obtained the preference to them by corrupting the chaftity O F \V O M E N. 359 ofiaflity of the wives whom fhe delivered. This obliging her to difcover her fex, the phyficians then profecuted her for violating the laws of her country. The principal matrons of the city, now finding her in fuch danger, aflembled together, came into the court, and petitioned the judges in her favour. The petition of the matrons was fo powerful, and the reafons which they urged for having employed her, fo conducive to the preferva- tion of female delicacy, that a law was made, allowing women to praiflife midwifery. The fex availed themfelves of this law, and the affiftance of the men foon became quite unfafluonable. Among the Romans, and the Arabians, who after them culti- vated the fcience of medicine with great afliduity, the women, in cafes of difficulty, fometimes fiibmitted to be delivered by a man ; . but this was far from being a matter of choice or a general prac- tice : nor was it till the latter end of the laft century, and begin- ning of this, when excefs of politenefs in France and Italy had begun to eradicate delicacy, that the fex began to give fo much, into the mode of being delivered by male pradlitioners ; a mode which now fo commonly prevails, that there is fcarcely to be found in Europe, a woman fo unfafhionable as to be delivered by one of her 6wn fex, if (he can afford to pay for the affiftance of a man. — How far the women may be fafer in this fafliionable way than in the other, we fliall not take upon us to determine, but of this we. are aflu red, that the cuftom is lefs confident with deli- cacy. In ages unenlightened by fcience and philofophy, in moments- {6 perilous to the fex as thofe of child-bearing, we are not fur-' prifed to find them ufing feveral ridiculous and unavailing me- 6 thods-- •N T n E H I S T O R Y thods to fccure thcmfelves from danger; but our aftonlfhmcnt i* excited when we find that, in our own times, they are ftill the dupes of others not lefs inconfiftent with rcafon and expe- rience. The Greek and Roman women imagined that the pahn-tree poiTefled a power of eafing pain and facilitating labour ; they therefore at thefe times grafped palm branches in their hands, and devoutly fupplicated the goddefs Lucina, The ancient Ger- mans, deftitute of more rational methods, placed all their hopes in magical girdles, which they tied about their women, and which, according to them, had the virtues of procuring immediate eafe, and promoting a fpecdy delivery. But the power of thefe girdles did not terminate here, it extended even to the child as well as to tlie mother ; and a fon, born by their affiftance, was undoubtedly to be brave, and a daughter to be chaftej hence fuch girdles were carefully kept in the repofitories of kings and of other great per- fonages. Till within thefe few years, feme of them were to be met with in the families of the chieftains in Scotland. They were marked with many myftical figures, and the ceremony of binding them about the women in labour, attended with certain myftical words and geftures, which only fome particular women were fuppofed to underftand ; a circumftance by which it appeared that their pretended utility depended more upon magic, than on their intrinfic virtues. Every age and country has its peculiar follies and abfurdities; ours has many noftrums to prevent the pain neceflarily attendant on child-bearing, and they are juft as well calculated to perform an impofllbility, as the methods we have been now defcribing. In OF W O M E N. 361 In fome climates, where the conftitution is relaxed by the heat, CHAP. XV. and at the fame time not vitiated by thefe habits which in politer nations deftroy mankind, women are faid to be delivered with but little pain, and freid. Bacchanalian myfteries introduced intoRome 252 Baffrians, their women incorrigibly licen- tious 236 Balhadera, or dancing girls, defcription of their perfons and performances 82 Bardsf their extravagance in the praife of women 6 ■ it becomes fafliionable for all people to praife them ibid. Bathings an amufement of the women of the ealt 86 — — part of their religious fyftem in almoft every warm country ihid, • place of the women a facred afylum, where no man dare enter ibid, -' how pra£iifed at Adrianople 87 Behaviour, what kind of it makes the women be well tiCdtedbyihe men 217 Boafled heroii'm of the Roman women belied by their condudl 40 Brtimins, their wives better treated than the other women of Afia 280 Brazil an women fupply the place of beafts ofburden 173 » give Aimulating potions to their men 266 Britijh women how treated in ancient times 149 cannot, by our laws, inherit entailed cftates, while any of the heirs male arc alive 201 may be raifed by marriage from the lowcit to the highcll rank 202 — — cannot ennoble their hufbands, but have fometim.s a power to enoble their chil- dren ibid. Burial, of what confequcnce it was among the ancients 225 C^rrepudiates his wife on mere fufpicion 240 Cairo, women allowed their liberty theie on the birth day of Mahomet 368 Card-p'aying, a fafhionable amufement 95 reflc'