/- 
 
 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
 
 <jS INTRODUCTION. 
 
 thofe of writing ; but when it began to decline, and letters to mix 
 with gallantry, the effufions of wit took another diredion, and 
 the men, inftcad of ftriving againft each other who fliould moft 
 vilify the fex, entered the lifts with another intention, that of 
 fhewing their fuperior merit, and even of perfuading the world, 
 that of all the joys we can experience" in the prefent, or hope for 
 in the life to come, love is the only one worth our care and 
 folicitude. 
 
 Anciently the bards had only been employed to fing the ex- 
 ploits of heroes, or of the rich who entertained them in their 
 train. In the decline of chivalry, they began alfo to fing the 
 praifes of beauty, and the fweets of love. In the praife of beauty 
 they were to the laft degree extravagant and hyperbolical : not 
 fatisfied with comparing their mlftreftcs, as in modern times, to 
 angels and other inferior celeftial beings ; they were not afhamed 
 to compare them to, and even to exalt them above the Supreme 
 Being himfelf. In celebrating the enjoyments of love, they were 
 not lefs wild and romantic, and imagined that even paradife with- 
 out it would be joylefs and infipld. Boccace, in the moft: ferious 
 manner, claffcd together God and the ladies, and thanked them for 
 their mutual aftiftance in defending him againft his enemies ; and 
 Petrarch no lefs ferioufly compares Laura, his miftrefs, to Jefus 
 Chrift. Deudcs de Prade, a prieft and poet, who ufed to fing the 
 praifes of women, fays, that he would not wifh to enter into 
 heaven, but on condition of making love to her whom he adored. 
 
 Topraiiethe We are not much furprifed to find the poets, or troubadours, 
 
 iifliionable. who were retained by the rich and the beautiful, and paid for 
 
 their fongs, flattering grcatnefs and extolling beauty. But they 
 
 were 

 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 were not the only fet of men who thus employed themfelves : 
 the humour became general ; poets, pricfts, gentlemen, all dedi- 
 cated their literary talents to the praife of women ; and it became 
 at laft unneceflary for them to hire poets, when all ranks of peo- 
 ple voluntarily inlifted themfelves in their fervice. 
 
 BocCACE feems to have been the firfl who ftarted the idea of 
 writing any thing larger than a fong or fonnet in praife of the 
 fex. He publiflied a Latin treatife, intitled " Of illuftrious 
 '* Women ;" and in fearch of them he ranfacked the whole cir- 
 cuit of fable, of the facred, and of the Greek and Roman hifto- 
 ries. The idea was too happily adapted to the tafte of the times, 
 to be allowed to fink into oblivion ; it was foon, therefore, taken 
 up by a numerous herd of imitators. Francis Sordonati improv- 
 ing upon it, collected from every polifhed and from every barba- 
 rous nation to the number of one hundred and twenty, the names 
 of fuch as had efcaped Boccace. This mode of writing now be- 
 came fafhionable, in a few years not lefs than twenty authors had 
 publiflied in praife of women. The heroine, the religiofa, and 
 the learned flood foremofl: in the catalogue. But the inferior vir- 
 tues did not pafs unnoticed ; and at laft, even the making of an 
 excellent pudding, and every other fpecies of culinary merit, 
 came to be the fubjed of panegyric : and in fpite of all their na- 
 tural phlegm, even the Dutch felt the enthufiafm, and contri- 
 buted their mite to the praife of the fex. 
 
 Subjects of writing upon, like modes of drefs, have their 
 tarns of being fafluonable : this was the period in which the fa- 
 fhionable topic was to extol all the virtues, and to varnifh over all 
 the vices of women. Much had already been faid and wrote on 
 
 the
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the fubjed : but Hilario da Cofta, a monk, refolving to exceed aH 
 who had gone before him, publifhed two quarto volumes, of eight 
 hundred pages each ; containing, according to his account, the 
 panegyrics of all the women of the fifteenth and fixteenth cen- 
 turies, who had diftinguifiied themfelves by any remarkable ta- 
 lents or virtues. But as if no talent nor any virtue could exifl: 
 without the pale of the catholic church, the partial ecclefiaftic 
 pafles in filence over every woman of other principles ; and while 
 he loudly praifes the virtues of Mary queen of England, whofe 
 memory fucceeding ages have held in contempt ; of her fifter 
 Elizabeth, whom her country ftill remembers with gratitude, he 
 makes no mention. The eulogies of this monk amount to one 
 hundred and feventy. But who can enfure to himfelf, in this de- 
 lufory world, the fummit of greatnefs or of fame ? The volumi- 
 nous labours of our monk were foon after greatly furpafled by 
 Paul de Ribera, who was delivered of a monftrous work, which 
 he called " The Triumphs and heroic Enterprizes of eight hua- 
 " dred Women." 
 
 On reading thefe accounts a reflcdion naturally arifes, that 
 either the women of thefe times muft have been very remarkable 
 for their virtues and good qualities, or the men mufl; have bafely 
 proftituted their talents to adulation and flattery. The truth 
 feems to be, that both were in fome mcafure the cafe : the Tubjedf, 
 as we have juft now remarked, was fafliionable, and it intitled the 
 writer to the fmiles and approbation of the fair ; and their fmilcs 
 and approbation, befides flattering his vanity, were the road to 
 honour and to preferment. Nor was the fpirit of chivalry as yet 
 fo far evaporated, as to leave the men at liberty to confider the Tex 
 in a calm and difpaflionate light, or to write any thing concerning 
 
 them
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 them that did not fet them fomething above the level of mortality. 
 The women too, emulous of glory and of praifc, were, by thefe 
 writings, ftimulatcd to great and to virtuous actions ; they ia- 
 fpired the oien to afcribe to them noble deeds and fcntimentf, 
 and they adled and thought nobly, that they might not falfify 
 the opinions entertained of them ; hence thefe times produced 
 more extraordinary women, than have ever at any other period 
 appeared in Europe. 
 
 When this kind of gallantry, which taught every man to con- The fen ti- 
 
 /-1 I'lrr •!• ,'. • ^ .^ nients of the 
 
 lider every woman as a kmd 01 luperior bemg, had wore itfelf out men take an 
 "by the moft extravagant exertions, the minds of men took an op- ri^ufn? ^'' 
 pofite direction, and began to confider the fex, either in a dimi- 
 nutive, or contumelious light ; looking upon them, either as the 
 play-things of a fportive hour, or the mere inftruments of animal 
 pleafure ; diverting them of almoft all fentiment, and avoiding 
 almoft all ferious conne£lion with them. In England, the libcr- 
 tinifm of the court of Charles the Second firft debauched the mo- 
 rals of almoft all the women, and then taught the men to dcfpife 
 them for the want of what they themfelves had robbed them of. 
 Things having taken this turn, it foon became as fafhionable to 
 ■write againft the women, as it had been before to write in their 
 favour. The earl of Rochefter fet the example, and it was foon 
 followed by Pope, Swift, Young, and a variety of other inferior 
 fcriblers ; all of whom afTert, that their intention was thereby to 
 reclaim a fex, which, in the profecution of vice and folly, had re- 
 fifted every other effort. But if fuch really was their intention, 
 which there are fome reafons to doubt ; the event has fhewn how 
 ill it was adapted to the purpofes intended ; the praifes beAowed 
 on women in former times, fired them with a great and a virtuous 
 Vol. I. C emulation;
 
 xo INTRODUCTION. 
 
 emulation ; the fatire thrown out againfl them hj the writers we 
 have mentioned, has only incited their indignation, inflead of 
 amending their heart. 
 
 Such have been the modes of writing concerning the fex, and 
 fuch have been the efFe£ls of thefe writings. Let us now take a 
 fhort view of the revolutions which have happened to their cha- 
 rader and manners in Europe, from the deftru«^ion of the Roman 
 empire to the prefent time. 
 
 When the ancient Germans fallied from their woods and 
 caverns, to give laws and cuftoms to all Europe, their women, as 
 we fliall fee afterward, were, in many refpeifis, of equal, and 
 fometimes even of greater, confideration and confequence than 
 their men. When thefe Germans had fettled themfelves in almofl: 
 every country, and when, from that mixture of religion, gallan- 
 try, and war, for which they were confpicuous, had arifen that 
 fpecies of romantic heroifm, called chivalry, we have the flrongeft 
 reafon to believe, that the value which it ftamped on their wo- 
 men, communicated to them a dignity and pride, which contri- 
 buted to render them as virtuous as perhaps the women of any 
 country or period have ever been. 
 
 Caofesoftius BuT when chivalry began to degenerate, and when knight- 
 fentimenf hood, the chief of its honours, inftead of being eagerly courted, 
 and only attained by a long feries of valorous and meritorious 
 actions, came to be annexed to the pofleflion of a certain quan- 
 tity of land ; proflituted to every one who defired, and even to 
 ferve the purpofes of the great; forcibly obtruded on thofe who 
 fcduloufly avoided it; the public honour of the men began to de- 
 cline, their behaviour to the women became lefs refpedtful ; the 
 
 women:
 
 INTRODUCTION. ii 
 
 women loft much of their dignity, and with it no fmall (hare of 
 their virtue. The hiftory of all the European nations now ex- 
 hibited a, pidture the moft fadly reverfed from what it was be- 
 fore; the men had loft all their deference for the fex, and the 
 women had loft all the chaftity that infpired it; the coarfeft fa- 
 miliarity of manners, and the moft fcandalous profligacy of cha- 
 radter in both fexes enfued. 
 
 In France, inftead of approaching the women with that refped- 
 ful deference, to which they had been accuftomed, and which is 
 a tribute due to modefty, it now became fafhionable for the men 
 to intrude themfelves upon them every where, with the moft in- 
 decent familiarity. The fex might eafily have difcouraged this, 
 but they rather gave it countenance ; and the confequence was, 
 that all fexual decorum being nearly extinguifhed, the familiarity 
 allowed to the men, in time, began to be productive of contempt ; 
 and the grofleft debauchery fucceeded the moft fentimental love. 
 Even the name of delicacy was almoft loft. Women of all ranks 
 and conditions admitted their male vifitors with the fame indif- 
 ference, while in bed in their chamber, as to the fide of their 
 parlour fire; councils of ftate were frequently held in the bed- 
 chambers of ladies while in bed, who often determined by their 
 voice, but more commonly by promifes of fccret favours, the 
 refolutions that were taken. 
 
 NoR were the manners of the Engllfh ladies much more re- 
 ferved, or their characters more facred than thofe of the French. 
 The fame indecent familiarity marked their public, and the fame 
 licentioufnefs, their private, behaviour : during the Chriftmas 
 holidays, almoft every nobleman entertained his vaflals of both 
 
 C 2 kxes.
 
 12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 fexes, a neighbouring clergyman was generally chofen by hint, 
 to prefide over this riotous mirth and indecent fcftivity, who, 
 from the nature of his office, was commonly called by the name 
 of the Abbot of Mifrule. In the houfes of the great, were gene- 
 rally apartments deflined for the women, who were employed 
 in embroidery, and other kinds of needle-work ; and the name 
 given to thefe apartments, in confequencc of the ufe that was 
 made of them, came in time to be fynonymous to that of a bro- 
 thel. Nay, fo loft to public decency were all ranks of men, that 
 even the clergy were not afhamed to have infcriptions over the 
 doors of thefe apartments, fignifying the ufe to which they were 
 appropriated *. Nor did gentlemen of confiderable property 
 bluQi, to hold lands by, and bear commiflions, for being marfhal 
 of the king's whores. 
 
 Femaledeli- SoME time previous to the reign of queen Elizabeth, the deli- 
 10 revive. cacy and decency of the female character had begun to revive: 
 from her time, to that of the Protestor, their manners were ftill 
 refining; but during his adminiftration, fandtimonioufly enthu- 
 fiaftic, devotion ftruggled hard to exclude nature, and flovenli- 
 nefs and fuperftition to fubftitute themfelves for religion. The 
 Reftoration turned again the channel of their manners, and gave 
 it a diredion only to pleafure and licentious love; the diftrac- 
 tions, during the reign of James II , abated a little that fervour 
 for pleafure; and the fettled fituation of affairs that took place 
 under William III., together with the difapprobatioa fliewn by 
 the court to unlawful gallantry, gave to the female charafter that 
 turn towards the decency and pblitenefs of manners, in which it 
 
 • The celebrated Cardinal Wolfey, over a door of a particular part of his palace, liaJ 
 tliefe words in Latin : " The hout of the whores of my lord the Cardinal." 
 
 has
 
 INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 has now made fo confiderable a progrefs. We cannot help taking 
 notice here, that if we may credit the declaimer, the fatirift, and 
 the preacher, the female virtues are at prefent on the decline. 
 For our parts, we pretend not to decide on fo delicate a point j 
 and cnly exprefs our hopes, that the condud of our fair country- 
 women will in this particular contribute to give the lie to the fa- 
 tirift, the declaimer, and even to the preacher himfelf. 
 
 women. 
 
 While the manners and the charader oT the European women Of theeaftera 
 have been held out in fuch a variety of different lights ; while they 
 have been liable to fo many mutations, from the changes of 
 fafhion, of government, and religion ; the women of the Eaft 
 have exhibited always the fame appearance : their manners, cuf- 
 toms, and fafliions, like their rocks, have flood unaltered the teft 
 of many revolving ages ; and though the kingdoms of which they 
 are a part, have often changed mafters, and yielded to the victo- 
 rious arms of a conqueror ; yet the laws by which they are go- 
 verned and enflaved, have never been revifed nor amended. 
 
 Such being the cafe, in taking an introdudory view of the 
 eaftern women, we are, like the man, who, from an eminence fur- 
 veying the furface of a placid ocean, looks out in vain for variety 
 or diverfity. The Hindoo women, who inhabit .the greateft part 
 of the Eaft Indies, have been time immemorial almoft in every 
 refped the fame as at prefent : and even the religion of Mahomet, 
 which gave to the women who profeffed it, no lefs an advantage 
 over the difciples of Brama, than an exemption from burning on 
 the funeral piles of their deceafed hufbands, could never induce 
 one fingle Hindoo to become Mahomedan, nor ever made the 
 fmalleft change in their condition, or in the leaft altered their cuf- 
 
 toms,.
 
 14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 toms. This exemption, however, was the only advantage intro- 
 duced by the religion of Mahomet among the women of the Eaft. 
 It abated not the rigour of their confinement, nor conferred upon 
 them any more confequence. 
 
 As Afia was formerly the feat of learning, and is now that of 
 ignorance, we are better acquainted with the ideas which the 
 Afiatics entertained of their women many years ago, than we arc 
 at prefent ; and have a^feady feen, that thefe ideas, bcfidcs their 
 being unfavourable, were often exprelTed in the mod coarfe and 
 indelicate manner. Had the manners and cuftoms of their women 
 been fubjedt to the fame changes as they are in Europe, we might 
 have expeded the fime changes in the fentiments and writings of 
 their men : but as this is not the cafe, we have reafon to prefume, 
 that the fame fentiments entertained by Solomon, by fome of the 
 apocryphal writers, and by the ancient Pundits *, are the fenti- 
 ments of this day : and in this opinion we are the more con- 
 firmed, when we confider, that, in the treatment of the fex, no 
 alteration for the better has ever yet taken place ; which mufl: un- 
 doubtedly have been the cafe, had the fentiments of the men 
 concerning them been more favourable. 
 
 But while fuch are the fentiments of the Afiatics, while fuch 
 is the manner in which they treat their women, their tongues, in 
 the utmoft diflbnance to thefe fentiments, conftantly utter a lan- 
 guage to which their hearts are entirely ftrangers, and the whole 
 of their adlions flatly contradict their words : while, in the abfence 
 of the fex, they feem to defplfe and treat them with contempt ; 
 in their prefence, when inftigated by animal love, they not only 
 
 • Pundits are the Braroinical cxpofuors of ihe laws of the Hindoos.
 
 INTRODUCTION. ij 
 
 pay them the greateft deference, but even accoft them as fome- 
 thing more than mortal : when the love fit is over, though their 
 tongues may ftill retain the fame language, they vfill amid all 
 this ahufe and proftitution of words, chaftife with fcveriiy for 
 the flighteft offence, her whom they feemed to adore ; will, with- 
 out any offence whatever, keep her fhut up from fociety, and 
 almoft from the light of heaven, a perpetual prifoner; and, if 
 jcaloufy fliould arife in their breafts, confign her to expire amid 
 the nioft cruel tortures, while themfelves glory and exult in her 
 fufferings. 
 
 Such, with little alteration, has been, from the remoteft anti- 
 quity, the condition of the weaker fex, over the greater part of 
 Afia and Africa ; and fuch it will probably continue, as long as 
 the men continue the flaves of a defpot, and perhaps the ftill 
 greater flaves of ignorance and barbarity. 
 
 When Vefpucius difcovered America, he opened a field for the 9'^'*'^ ■'^'"^' 
 
 . c t n r 1 • c J ^ 1 rican »omen, 
 
 ambition of the nateiman, the avarice of the trader, and the con- 
 templation of the philofopher. He found that vaft continent 
 peopled by a race, or rather divers races of mortals, fcarcely lefs 
 diftinift in their perfons, than in their manners and cufloms, from 
 thefe of the Old World ; and when compared to them, only mere 
 children in all the arts which render life comfortable, and diftin- 
 guifh man from the beafls of the field. Such were both fexes : 
 the women were but little diftinguifhed from the men by their 
 drefs, where any drefs was made ufe of; nor were they much in- 
 ferior to them in badily ftrength, and hardly lefs patient of cold, 
 hunger, thirft, or lefs qualified to hunt and to fifh for their fub- 
 
 5 fiftence.
 
 i^ INTRODUCTION- 
 
 fi/lence. But notwitliftandlng of this natural equality, the men 
 had completely endavcd them, and thrown upon their fliould^rs 
 all that could be called labour, either in the houfc or in the field, 
 while they themfelves were above undertaking any thing but the 
 fports of the chace, or the depredations of war. Thus opprefTcd 
 and difheartened, the fair fex were entire ftrangers to the friend- 
 ihip of the men, and not much the obje<St of their love. They 
 palled through life almoft without tafting any of its pleafures, 
 and could hardly be faid to enjoy one privilege befide per Tonal 
 liberty. 
 
 But this was not the cafe in every part of America. Among 
 fomc tribes the women enjoyed almoft the whole, and among 
 others a great fliare of the legiflative authority. The condition of 
 the fex was not, however, properly adjufted to any medium : they 
 ■were every where either exalted to a degree far beyond thedi£lates 
 of good policy, and vefted with powers and privileges of the moft 
 exorbitant nature, or funk to a level with the hearts, and dc- 
 preflcd by the moft abjedl flavery. 
 
 Such was the ftate in which they were found by the firft difco- 
 verers of America ; a flatc, from which it was natural to fuppofe 
 they would foon have been rcfcued by European politenefs and 
 humanity : but the cafe was far otherwife ; our fordid love of 
 their gold overcame our politenefs, banifhed humanity from our 
 breafts ; and inftead of abolifliing the flavery of the women, 
 made us with a more than favage barbarity, wherever our power 
 could reach, extend it to the men alfo. 
 
 In
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In the condition we have now defcribed had the women of Ame- 
 rica, in all probability, been for time immemorial : but as they 
 had not the art of writing, and confequently no hiftorical re- 
 cords, we know not whether their ftates ever fuffered any revo- 
 lution, or whether they ever altered or improved their manners 
 and cuftoms. It is pretended, indeed, that the Mexicans had a 
 kind of hiftorical records, compofed of what they called Qui- 
 pos, or Chords, fo knotted and twifted, as to be able to relate 
 the whole feries of paft events, with the fame clearnefs and pre- 
 cifion as our books : but the little that was ever learned concern- 
 ing the ancient ftate of America, feems to demonftrate the falfity. 
 of this opinion. 
 
 17 
 
 Vot.K D THE
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 W O MEN. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 AJhort jketch of the Antediluvian Hlfiory of Women. 
 
 BY the Mofaic hiftory of the creation it appears, that the 
 males and females of all the other animals, except man, 
 were formed, not only of the fame materials, and in the 
 fame manner, but alfo at the fame time. When the facred hifto- 
 rian, however, defcribes the creation of the human genus ; he 
 informs us, that the female was diftingulfiied from the male by 
 being formed not of the duft of the earth, as he was, but of a 
 part of the body of the male himfelf *. Such as have been fond 
 
 * Various and ridiculous ars the fables related by oriental writers concerning the creation of 
 die firft pair. We fhall only mention a few of thefe propagated by the Jewifh Rabbles, whofe 
 ancient legends equal, if not furpafs, in abfurdity even thofe of more modem ages. — God^ 
 fay they, at firrt created .Adam with a long tail ; but afterward, on confidering him attentive- 
 Jy, he tho'jght he would look better without it: refolving, however, not to lofe any thing 
 that he had made, he cut it off, and formed it into a woman : and hence the fex derive their 
 low and inferior nature. Oihers of them tell as, that the fitft human being was created dou- 
 ble, of both fe>;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 refpe<Sl to all other women. While in the temples, 
 they are entirely under the direQion of the Bramins; and it is by 
 many fuppofed, that they are alfo entirely appropriated to their 
 pleafures; but however this be, they are hardly ever allowed, like 
 the other female dancers of the country, to perform for the amufe- 
 ment of the public. 
 
 Dancing girls, BESIDES thefe religious dancers, there is almoft in every large 
 tion. city, companies of dancing girls, called Balliaderes; v.'ho, in the 
 
 manner of our ftrolling players, go about for the amufement of the 
 public; and who will exhibit their performances at the houfe of 
 any perfon, who- is able to pay. what they demand; or may be 
 feen by any one for a trifle at their puJ>lic 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 fubje<n;, have as ufual (liewn their cynical 
 
 morofenefs,
 
 OF WOMEN. 
 
 morofenefs, by branding fuch of the fex as did otherwife, with 
 every indignant epithet ; never confidering that ill-humour, par- 
 ticularly when exerted againft a woman, feldom lerves to reclaim ; 
 nor that nature in many cafes feems to have left fomething in 
 fuch a fitualion that art might have room to improve it; nor 
 that they themfelves, while they are railing from their ftudies 
 at the women for deviating from nature, are at the fame time 
 deviating mofl: widely from her in almofl: every aition of their 
 lives. But let us confider the matter a little more attentively, 
 and we fliall find that nature gave to horfes tails : convenience 
 direds us to cut them : flie gave to men hair and beards, but 
 we reckon it no crime to crop the one and fhave the other : flie 
 gave to .women breads, and furnifhed them with milk, the 
 natural food of infants; but that they fliould be thereby conftantly 
 obliged to nurfe them, would be almofl as whimfical as that we 
 fhould be obliged to let our hair and our beards remain in a 
 ftate of nature; efpecially as it now appears, by many repeated 
 trials, that children can in fome cafes be brought up better by 
 the milk of another woman than by that of the mother, and that 
 they frequently do exceedingly well without any milk at all: 
 every thing elfe therefore being equal, we are of opinion that 
 there is no fuch preference due to the milk of the mother, as 
 phyficians and philofophers would willingly make us believe; 
 nor can they from experience, the only fure guide in fuch 
 enquiries, deduce any fuch inference ; all young animals we 
 imagine may naturally thrive befl upon the milk of animals of 
 the fame fpecies, but to carry this idea to individuals, is giving 
 a limited and narrow view of the operations of nature, and wc 
 might almofl with an equal degree of credibility fuppofc, that a 
 young plant could no where grow fo well as in the fame 
 4 hot-bed
 
 94 T II E H I S T O R Y 
 
 CHAP, hot-bed which nouriflied its parent, as that a child could not thrive 
 IV. ^ 
 
 as well by the milk of any healthful woman, as by that of its 
 
 mother. 
 
 To fuppofe, therefore, that a child does not equally thrive by 
 good milk from any other perfon, is eftablifhlng a fpecific quality 
 in the milk of every mother, adapted to the conflitution of her 
 own child only ; and putting the important bufmefs of rearing 
 children on fuch a footing, that when the mother chances to die, 
 the poor infant muft either expire foon after, or, at beft, live a 
 feeble monument of improper nourifhment; and fo perpetually 
 point out a blunder in the conflitution of nature. Kor do the 
 young of the human fpecies only, thrive equally on the milk of 
 the fpecies; it is the fame with the young of all other animals; 
 at leaft of the domeftic animals with which we are acquainted. 
 The calf and the lamb do juft as well when they fuck another cow 
 or ewe, as when they fuck the dam which brought them forth ; 
 provided the animals be healthful, and the quantity of milk fuffi- 
 cient to maintain the young ones committed to their care ; nay, 
 we have never, in fome of the beft breeding counties of England, 
 been able to obferve any difference, if they had plenty of milk, 
 whether they received it by fucking or lapping. 
 
 From thefe obfervations it appears, that what has hitherto 
 been alleged of the mother's milk being the only proper nourifh- 
 ment for her own child, has only been the vifion of theory, and 
 not the refult of experience. We would not, however, on that 
 account, endeavour to diffuade women from this moft pleafant 
 tafk of nurfing; we perfuadc ourl'elves, that it is in moft cafes 
 their duty ; and if their minds are not corrupted by purfuits lefs 
 
 natural,
 
 O F W O M E N. - 95 
 
 rratural, we flatter ourfelves, that, in all cafes, they will find it ^ ^^,f^ P* 
 
 their greatefl pleafure; efpecially when they confider, that by fo \ v—^ 
 
 doing they have the dear pledges of their connubial love conftant- 
 ly under their own care and diredtion ; whereby they are fafe from 
 the feverity, careleffnefs, and inattention of the female merce- 
 nary, who is but feldom one of the befl: of her fex ; fuch being, 
 with difficulty, prevailed upon to quit the care of their own in- 
 fants, for the fake of money, unlefs urged to it by lawlefs ne- • 
 ceffity. 
 
 There are a variety of other arguments, which offer then^- 
 felves in favour of this practice ; but as they have been fo fre- 
 quently muftered, by almoft every author who has wrote on nur- 
 fing, we fhall not now intrude them on our fair readers: we 
 cannot, however, quit the fubje£t, without making one obfer- 
 vation, which we do not recolledl to have met with. In every 
 place, where the pradice of giving out children to nurfe is com- 
 mon, the ftate is thereby a confiderable lofer ; becaufe it is the 
 idle and wealthy only who can afford to give them out, and the 
 poor only who are obliged to take them in; whence it evidently 
 follows, that the number of the children of the rich is increafed, 
 and of the poor decreafed ; for a woman, who fends her child to 
 aurfe as foon as it is born, has, or may have, a child every year ; 
 whereas fhe, who, after having fuckled her own child, is obliged 
 to take in another, cannot again bring forth a child in lefs than 
 twenty-feven months, or perhaps three years. But a ftate is not 
 fo much enriched by the children of wealthy and independent 
 parents, as by thofe of the poor ; as the number required to go- 
 vern and diredl are few, in proportion to thofe who are to be 
 governed and direded. May not this be one of the caufes, why 
 I . Great .
 
 96 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 C ^ '^ P- Great Britain fends abroad fo many poor young gentlemen, refo-. 
 lutcly determined to be rich ? May it not alfo be one of the caufes, 
 why, at home, fhe is fometimes at a lofs for labourers, and often 
 for able-bodied men to man her fleets and recruit her armies ? 
 May it not, in time, produce fuch an increafe of children to the 
 rich, and fo much decreafe the poor, that we may become like 
 the Spaniards ? almofl. all gentlemen ; too proud to work, and 
 too poor to be idle. 
 
 Were we to judge whether every woman fliould nurfe her 
 own children, from the pradice of the females of other animals, 
 wc fhould certainly find it to be a duty from which flie could 
 hardly find any excufe to exempt herfelf ; as almoft the whole of 
 the birds and the beafts perform this tafk to their own young*. 
 Were we to judge of it from the hiftory of man, we fliould find, 
 that in almoft all nations it has been the common practice; though 
 to that pradlice, like all other general rules, there have been many 
 exceptions. We have reafon to believe, that the wives and con- 
 cubines of the patriarchs conflantly fuckled their own children ; 
 the fame cuftom obtained among the Egyptians, the Canaanites, 
 the Scythians, the Medes and Perfians ; and it invariably takes 
 place at this day in every nation, where culture has not degene- 
 rated into vice, and where the voice of nature is ftrongcr than 
 that of pleafure. 
 
 What at firft gave rife to the cuRom of one woman fuckling 
 the child of another, mud have been the death or fickncfs of the 
 
 • The Oftrich and the Cuckow do not haich thtir eggs, nor t2ke ca-? cf their young. 
 The Oftrich lays her eggs in the fand, and they are hai^ hed by the fun. The Cuckow lays 
 ti;em in che nell of another bird, vtho, iuiila.:ing them for her own, hs'.^hes them, and rears 
 tke}0Ln2. 
 
 mother :
 
 O F W O M E N. i^y 
 
 mother : indolence taking the hint from this, and willing to be C h a p. 
 
 excufed from the toil of tending and fuckling, devolved the im- ' w — — ^ 
 
 portant offices on flaves, and on mercenaries. When, or where, 
 this became at firft the praQice, hiftory has not informed us ; we 
 find it, however, to have been pretty general during many of the 
 mod flourifhing ages of the Grecian ftates; almoft every nation, 
 and often every province, is peculiarly remarkable for feme pro- 
 duce of its foil, or qualification of its inhabitants; the Spartan ma- 
 trons had acquired the glory of being famous for nurfing ; they 
 laid afide the ufe of fwaddling-bands ; a cuftom which had pre- 
 vailed from the remoteft antiquity ; they ufed children to eat 
 every fort of food ; taught them not to be afraid when alone, or 
 in the dark; and to relinquifli thefe peevifh and fretful humours, 
 which often render them fo troublefome and difagreeable : on 
 thefe accounts, Spartan nurfes were eagerly fought after, and 
 hired by fuch as could afford them, into all the other flates of 
 Greece : feveral of the mofl eminent warriors and ftatefmen gloried 
 in having been nurfed by the matrons of Sparta. It was not, 
 however, a general cuflom for the Grecian women to give their 
 children out to nurfe ; their poets, as well as thole of the Ro- 
 mans, frequently introduce their ladies of the firfl quality fuck- 
 ling, and taking care of their children; but as the Romans imi- 
 tated the Greeks in almofl all their manners and cuftoms, as they 
 became more alive to the feelings of luxury, and lefs to thofc 
 of nature, they copied them alfo, in giving their infants to be 
 fuckled and taken care of by flaves and hired nurfes, while they 
 themfelves rioted in all the pomp and extravagance of the richefl 
 and moft extravagant city in the world. 
 
 Vol. I. O When
 
 gS THE HISTORY 
 
 C HAP. When the frozen regions of the North poured out fwarms of 
 
 ■ _ . _• barbarians into the Roman empire, they overturned not only the 
 whole fyftem of Roman government, but alfo that of luxury and 
 of pleafure; thefe being diffipated, nature refumcd her empire, 
 and inftigated the women again to apply themfelves to the tafk of 
 fuckling and rearing their own children. Several centuries elapfed 
 amid the depopulations of war, and marked by ferocity of man- 
 ners ; when thefe gave place to the arts of peace and cultivation, 
 luxury, and the love of pleafure, began to creep in, and women 
 refumed the pradlicc of putting their children to nurfe, that they 
 might have more time to beftow upon pleafure and amufement. 
 The French and Italians, who have always taken the lead in 
 fafhion, fet the firfl: example ; they were foon followed by 
 Britain, and the other neighbouring nations, with fuch exadl- 
 nefs, that, at prefent, there is fcarcely to be found in Europe a 
 woman of family and fafhion who will take the trouble of nurf- 
 ing her own child ; but happy were it, if the contagion ended 
 among thefe, and did not fpread itfelf to the middling ranks of 
 life; who, fond of imitating their fuperiors, relinquifli likewife 
 the tafk of nurfing, on various pretenfions, that, like thefe fupe- 
 riors, they may dedicate themfelves more freely to the rage of 
 pleafurci 
 
 Amuferaents SucH are the prefent employments of our women; but em- 
 of killing time ploymeut is not the mode of the times. In all the polite countries 
 in Europe. ^^ Europe, thefe of rank and fafhion, as well as thofe in decent 
 circumflances, having an extraordinary portion of time upon their 
 hands, with an almoft irrefiftible inclination to pleafure in what- 
 ever form it offers itfelf, are more often to be met with at the 
 
 ihrine
 
 OF WOMEN. 
 
 99 
 
 /hrlne of amufement than of Induftry : and hence it has been chap. 
 commonly obferved, that wherever there is a {how, an entertain- ^- — ^— — » 
 mcnt, or a crowd, the women are more numerous than the men : 
 but theatrical entertainments of all kinds; balls, aflemhlies, operas, 
 ridottos, and particularly reviews, feem to be the fcenes of their 
 peculiar delight ; becaufe, perhaps, at thefe, they can not only 
 indulge their natural propenfity for fhow and oftentation, but find 
 them alfo convenient places for love, or for intrigue. Riding, 
 walking, failing, and, in forae countries of Europe, even fkaiting, 
 and being drawn on the ice in fledges, are female amufements. 
 Befides thefe, and many others too tedious to mention, the wo- 
 men of fafhion, in mofl parts of Europe, fpend a great part of 
 their time in receiving and returning vifits; and in fome of the 
 politer nations, modern vifiting is not fpending a focial hour toge- 
 ther; it confifts only in her ladyfhlp ordering her coachman to 
 drive to the doors of fo many of her acquaintances, and her foot- 
 man, at each of them, to give in a card with her name, while 
 the lady of the houfe, though, in the polite phrafe, not at home, 
 is looking through the window all the time to fee what pafles; 
 and in fome convenient time after returns the vifit, and is fure to 
 be received in the fame manner. 
 
 Shopping, as it is called, is another fafhionable female amufe- 
 ment; in order to which, two, three, or fometimes more ladies, 
 accompanied by their gallants, fet out to make a tour through the 
 mofl: fafhionable fhops, and to look at all the moft fashionable 
 goods, without any intention of laying out one fingle fixpence. 
 After a whole forenoon fpent in plaguing mercers and milliners, 
 they return home, either thoughtlefs of their folly, or which, per- 
 
 O 2 haps,
 
 loo T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 ^ ^y^ ^' h^ps, is worfe, exulting at the thoughts of the trouble and dif- 
 c- -»- mJ turbance they have given. 
 
 But of all the happy inventions difcovercd by modern inge- 
 nuity for the killing of time, card-playing isjuftly entitled to the 
 pre-eminence; with an immoderate itch for this amufement, 
 which we are at a lofs whether to reckon public or private, both 
 fexes, and all ranks and degrees of people, are deeply infeded ; 
 particularly indolent clergy, and women, who, having little to do, 
 dedicate themfelves fo affiduoufly to play, that the habit is in 
 many become fo ftrong, as to be fooliflily reckoned even neceflary 
 to their exiftence. To cards, when made ufe of only to unbend 
 the mind fatigued with ftudy, or to pafs away an idle hour, we 
 have no objedion, nor do we flatter ourfelves, that any thing we 
 can fay on the fubje£l will, in the leaft, influence the conduct of 
 fuch as are habituated to them. We would only, therefore, as we 
 pafs along, recommend to the minifters of religion, to fet a watch 
 over their tongues, while playing with bad fuccefs, left an un- 
 guarded oath, or a few filly exclamations at a card-table, fhould 
 do more hurt to religion, and to their facred charadler, than they 
 are aware of. To the fair, to the lovely virgins of this favourite 
 ifland, when thus engaged, we would recommend the ftridteft 
 care of their temper, left fomething fhould efcape from their lips, 
 that may belie the foft, the bewitching appearance, with which 
 nature has painted their exterior forms. 
 
 To the female diverfions and amufements now mentioned, we 
 might add many more; but as a bare recital of names, makes a 
 dry and unentertaining page, and as a defcription of each would 
 
 2 be
 
 OF W O M E N. loi 
 
 be tedious and Infipid, we fhall only obferve, in general, that C H A p. 
 
 fuch is human, knd particularly female nature, when tutored by v. .— — » 
 
 European art, thit it conftantly fliews a greater proclivity to the 
 gay and the amufive, than to the fobcr and ufeful fcenes of life ; 
 and loves better to fport away time amid the flowers that ftrow 
 the path of pleafure, than to be entangled among the briars and 
 thorns which perplex the path of care. But notwlthflanding 
 this, we muft do juftice to the fex, in aflerting, that as their attach- 
 ments are always flronger than thofe of the men, fuch of them as 
 attach themfelves to ceconomy and induftry, purfue their plan with 
 a fteady and inflexible conftancy, which male nature perhaps is in- 
 capable of arriving at ; and are neither to be tempted to deviate 
 from it by the hope of pleafure, nor by the fear of danger and 
 of pain. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 102 T H E H I S T R Y 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Of the Treatment and Condition of Women, and the various yld- 
 vantages and Difadvantages of their Sex^ in favage and 
 civil Life. 
 
 CHAP. '' I ^HERE is in the fate of women fomethlng exceedingly 
 , ^ _ , -1. fingular ; they have at all periods, and almoft in all coun- 
 Thooghtson trics, been, by our fex, conftantly opprefled and adored. And 
 
 the conduion ^ y i^i 
 
 of women. what renders their cafe flill more extraordinary, is, that we have 
 not opprefled, becaufe we hated, but becaufe we loved them. 
 We have not in Afia and Africa confined them; becaufe, like the 
 lion and the tyger, we were afraid of their depredations ; but be- 
 caufe we were unwilling that any body fhould fhare with us the 
 pleafure and enjoyment of their company. We have not in Eu- 
 rope afliimcd almoft the fole management of affairs, becaufe we 
 were afraid that they would manage them to our prejudice, but 
 only to fave them the trouble of thought and of labour, and to 
 enable them to live in eafe and elegance. 
 
 Such, however, is not the condition of women in thofe ftates 
 approaching the neareft to favage barbarity; there, they have not 
 attained confcquence enough even to merit confinement ; and far 
 lefs, to merit that exemption from labour and perpetual guardian- 
 fhip, by which, in Europe, they are complimented and chained. 
 As ftrength and courage are in favage life the only means of at- 
 taining to power and dlftindion, fo weaknefs and timidity are the 
 4 certain
 
 OF \V O M E N. 103 
 
 certain paths to flavery and oppreflion : on this account, we fliall ^ ^^ P- 
 
 almoft conftantly find women among favages condemned to every 
 
 fpecies of fervile, or rather, of flavilh drudgery ; and fhall as con- 
 
 ftantly find them emerging from this ftate, in the fame proportion 
 
 as we find the men emerging from ignorance and brutahty, and 
 
 approaching to knowledge and refinement ; the rank, therefore, 
 
 and condition, in which we find women in any country, mark 
 
 out to us with the greateft precifion, the exadt point in the fcale 
 
 of civil fociety, to which the people of fuch country have arrived ; 
 
 stfid were their hiftory entirely filent on every other fubjefl, and 
 
 only mentioned the manner in which they treated- their women, 
 
 we would, from thence, be enabled to form a tolerable judgment 
 
 of the barbarity, or culture of their manners. 
 
 There is hardly any thing more natural to the rude and urt- 
 cultivated mind, than to confider flrength as giving unlimited 
 right to whatever it can conquer ; it is one of the firft ideas which, 
 is derived from attention to the whole of the brute animals ; every 
 one of which conftantly appropriates to itfelf, any thing it can 
 take from a weaker being of the fame, or of any other fpecies. 
 Whether the human mind has in its rude and barbarous ftate the 
 lame innate idea of right, or whether it has borrowed that idea 
 from the other animals, is uncertain ;. but it appears from hiftory, 
 that every favage people either have it from nature or from imita- 
 tion ; and thence undoubtedly arofe at firft the barbarous cuftom of 
 enflaving and treating with the utmoft feverity that fex vi'hich 
 nature had formed, not to force, but to charm us into a proper 
 behaviour towards them: but though among people of favage 
 and uncultivated manners, this natural weaknefs of the fex, has 
 fubjeded them to almoft every fpecies of indignity and ill ufage j 
 
 among
 
 I04 T H E II I S T O R Y 
 
 CHAP, among the civil and polite, it has had a very different efFe£t : 
 \_ .- ■ thcfe, difdaining to take the advantage of weakncfs, and rather 
 confidering it as intitled to their protection and indulgence, have, 
 from generofity of principle, raifed women to a rank and condi- 
 tion, in many cafes fuperior even to that enjoyed by themfclves ; 
 and this merely in condefcenfion to their weakncfs : but as we 
 (liall have occafion afterwards to mention the caufes of the ill 
 treatment of the fex, we fhall at prefent proceed to take a view 
 of their progrefs from flavery to freedom, and to mark the va- 
 rious caufes which have more or lefs accelerated or retarded that 
 progrefs. 
 
 Condition of This enquiry we fhall begin with the condition of women 
 women in iiie among the ancient patriarchs, a condition which we fhall find to 
 
 patriarchal ° ^ 
 
 ages- have been but extremely indifferent. When Abraham entertain- 
 
 ed the angels fent to denounce the deftru£tion of Sodom, he ap- 
 pears to have treated his wife as a menial fervant : *' Make ready 
 quickly," faid he to her, " three meafures of fine meal, knead it, and 
 make cakes on the hearth." And from the fequel of the (lory it 
 is plain, that (he was not admitted to partake of the entertain- 
 ment (lie had dreffed : In ages fo remote as thefe we are now 
 confidering, the imperfect and mutilated accounts from which 
 alone we can draw any information, fometimes relate incidents 
 which have fo little refemblance to the manners and cuftoms of 
 our times, that we are altogether at a lofs how to account for 
 them. Though Sarah officiated as a fervant in preparing this 
 entertainment, (lie had at the fame time one, or rather, perhaps, 
 feveral handmaids or maid-fervants under her, but in what they 
 were employed, or how they fervcd their miflrefs, we can only 
 conjediure. 
 
 We
 
 OF WOMEN. 105 
 
 We have already obferved, that among nations but little cultl- ^ H a p. 
 
 vated, power is conftantly made ufe of as a means to enflave ; < ^-....t 
 
 and from this principle we muft derive the ill-treatment of the 
 Ifraelitifh women, and the abufe of their captives. In the whole 
 early hiftory of that people, there is hardly one inftance of a 
 woman . having been treated with indulgence, or of a captive 
 having experienced humanity. 
 
 In many parts of the Eaft, water is only to be met with deep 
 in the earth, and the drawing of it from the wells confequently 
 fatiguing and laborious. Such, however, was the tafk of the 
 daughters of Jethro the Midianite, to whom {o little regard was 
 paid, either on account of the rank of their father, as high-prieft 
 of the country, or on account of their own fex, that the neigh- 
 bouring {hepherds not only infulted them, but forcibly took 
 from them the water they had drawn. Such was the tafk of Re- 
 becca, who not only drew water for Abraham's fervant, but for 
 his camels alfo ; while the fervant ftood an idle fpedator of the 
 toil; and what makes his behaviour appear the more extraordi- 
 nary is, that his circumftances at that time were thefe, in which 
 men who have any fenfibility generally exert their utmofl efforts 
 to pleafe and become acceptable : he was on an embafTy to court 
 the damfel for Ifaac his mailer's fon. When he had concluded 
 his bargain, and was carrying her home, we meet with another 
 circumftance which ftrongly marks the inferiority of women in 
 the times we are now confidering. When fhe firfl: approached 
 Ifaac, who had walked out into the fields to meet them, fhe did 
 it in the moft fubmiffive manner, as if fhe had been approaching a 
 lord and mafler rather than a fond and palTionate lover ; from 
 which, as well as from feveral other parts of the facred hiftory, it 
 
 Vol. I. P would
 
 ,o6 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 would feem that women, inftcad of endeavouring, as in modern times, 
 to perfuade the world that they confer an immenfe favour on a lover 
 by deigning to accept of him, made no difficulty of confeffing that 
 the obligation was conferred on themfelves*. When Jacob went 
 to vifit his uncle Laban, a man of confiderable property, he met 
 Rachel, Laban's daughter, in the fields, attending on the flocks of 
 her father; and in a much later period, Tamar, one of the daugh- 
 ters of king David, was fent by her father to perform the fer- 
 vile office of making cakes for her brother Aranon. And flill 
 later than this, the queen of Jeroboam king of Ifrael, went ia 
 perfon, perhaps on foot or on an afs, to confult an old prophet. 
 The fimplicity of the times in which thefe things happened, take 
 off a great deal from their weight, and make them prove lefs than 
 they would otherwife do; but in fpite of that fimplicity, they ftill 
 make it appear, that women were not then treated even with the 
 rudiments of that delicacy they have happily experienced in ages,, 
 and among people more polifhed and refined. 
 
 Proofs of ihis But. ffiould the fimplicity of the times be admitted as a full 
 excufe for what we have now mentioned, there are other proofs 
 that v/omen were treated in an indignant manner, which can 
 admit of no fuch excufe, as they appear to have been deliberation 
 enforced by law. Hufbands had a difcretionary power of divorc- 
 ing their wives, without affigning any other reafon for it than 
 that they were not agreeable to them ; and as if fuch a power 
 over the bodies of women had not been a circumfiance fufficiently 
 humiliating to the fex, they had another power of an extraordi- 
 
 • This was the cafe with Ruih, who had laid her down at the feet of Boa?. ; and being 
 afked by him who (he was, acfwered, " I am Ruth thine hacdmaid ; fpread, iberefore, thy 
 ikirt over thine handcaaid, for thou art a near kinfman." 
 
 6 nary
 
 O F W O M E N. 107 
 
 nary nature over their minds alfo. Hufbands and fathers were 
 authorized to annul and make void even the moft folemn vows 
 of their wives and daughters, provided fuch vows were not made 
 in the hearing of thefe hufbands and fathers ; in which cafe, if 
 they did not immediately enter their dilTent, they were confidered 
 as parties who had approved of thefe vows, and could not fet 
 them afide afterward. Was not this plainly declaring that wo- 
 men were beings of a nature fo inferior as not to be capable of 
 entering properly into any folemn or religious engagements for 
 themfelves ? That in fome cafes a kind of public contempt was 
 thrown on the fex, feems to appear from the law concerning 
 child-bed purification, by which it was enaded, That fhe who 
 had brought forth a female child, (hould not be accounted clean 
 in lefs than fixty-fix days; whereas flie who had brought forth 
 a male, was clean in half that time. As no natural reafon caa 
 be afligned for fuch a law, it has generally been thought expref- 
 five of that contempt and degradation which, in the times we are 
 delineating, was thrown on the fex, as an inferior order of beings. 
 
 To the proofs we have already brought of the defpicable con- 
 dition of women among the nations we have mentioned, we may 
 add the unlverfal cuftoms of polygamy and concubinage, both of 
 them impofitions, contrary to the inclination of the fex, and 
 pradices w^hich wound fo deeply the delicacy of their feelings, 
 that we cannot fuppole any woman voluntarily to agree to them, 
 even where they are fandlified by cuftom and by law. Wherever, 
 therefore, they take place, we may affure ourfelves that women 
 have but little or no authority, and have fcarcely arrived at any 
 confequence in fociety. In fuch a condition of the fex we do not 
 cxped to find any of thenfrifing into great cfteem, and far lef* 
 
 Pa to
 
 loS T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 to the fupreme power; circumftances which, however, even con- 
 trary to all appearances, we r:metimes meet with. A wife woman, 
 as flie is called in Icripture, faved the city of Abel, by prevailing 
 on the inhabitants to cut off the head of Sheba, and throw it over 
 the wall to Joab, who thereupon retired with his army. And 
 Deborah, a prophercfs, had been raifed to the dignity of judging 
 liVael, a dignity which flie maintained for fevcral years ; the 
 exaltation of thefe, and of others, into conditions fo different 
 from the reft of their fex, is, perhaps, not to be accounted for 
 upon any other principle than the power of fuperflition, which/ 
 readily believed that every glimmering of knowledge, and every 
 fuperior attainment, were infpirations of the divinity ; and taught 
 the people that to the diredtion of thofe, whom they fuppofed thus 
 infpired, they fliould yield themfelves up to be governed with the 
 moft implicit confidence. 
 
 Condition of From the ancient people of Ifrael, and the nations around 
 womeo!'' ' " them, where women were treated with fo much indignity and 
 contempt ; let us turn our eyes towards the Egyptians, whom 
 we fhall find, on the contrary, ufing them with a com- 
 plaifance and humanity which would have done honour to the 
 moft enlightened ages. As thefe people were fituated in the 
 midft of nations, who in this particular (hewed them fo ill an. 
 example, before we proceed to the fadls, let us enquire into the 
 caufes which produced them. 
 
 Caufes of tiiis Wherever the human race live folltary and unconneded with 
 each other, they are favage and barbarous ; wherever they afTociate 
 together, that ailociation becomes produftiveof fofter manners, and 
 a more engaging deportment. While people in the neighbourhood of 
 8 Egypt 
 
 condition.
 
 OF WOMEN. IC9 
 
 Egypt were allowed, by their fituation, in every fcafon, to roam 
 about at pleafure, and while their woods and their rivers afforded 
 them the means of conftantly fubfifting themfelves by hunting and 
 fifhing; the Egyptians, from the nature of their country, an- 
 nually overflowed by the Nile, had no wild beafts to hunt, nor 
 could then procure any thing by fiQiing ; on thefe accounts they 
 were under a neceffity of applying themfelves to agriculture, a 
 kind of life which naturally brings mankind together for mutual 
 eonvenience and affiftance; but, befides, they were every year, 
 during the inundation of the river, obliged to aifemble themfelves 
 together, and take fhelter either on the rifing grounds, or in the 
 houfes which were raifed upon piles above the reach of the waters-; 
 here the men and the women being conftantly in the company 
 of each other, and almoft every employment totally fufpended, a 
 thoufand inducements, not to be found in a folitary ftate, would 
 naturally prompt them to render themfelves agreeable to each 
 other, and hence their manners v/ould begin more early to affum.e 
 a fofter polifh, and more elegant refinement, than thofe of the 
 other nations who furrounded them. 
 
 From this early fociety, where the men firft became acquainted 
 with the intrinfic merit of the fex, and where they on their part 
 had an opportunity of exerting every power, and difplaying 
 every charm that could pleafe y they foon came to be treated in 
 a manner widely different from the women of any of the neigh- 
 bouring nations. We have already related from Herodotus, 
 that they were employed in agriculture, and in merchandife ; biu 
 there is great reafon to believe, that if any of them were em- 
 ployed in agriculture, it was only thofe of the meaneft condition, 
 and that in general they were exempted from performing any of 
 
 the 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 ' . '
 
 no T H E II I S T O R Y 
 
 CHAP, the laborious taflcs, commonly afTigncd them by barbarians ; a 
 
 t - 1 _. thing which to us appears to be demonftrated from the whole 
 
 of the condud of their men towards them, and which receives 
 
 an additional proof from the ftory of Pfammenitus, one of their 
 
 kings ; who, being made prifoner at the redudlion of Memphis, 
 
 A?as with the chief of his nobility placed on an eminence near 
 
 (he city, while his own daughter, and the reft of the captive 
 
 women were ordered to bear water in pitchers from the river ; 
 
 which fo mortified the king, that he is faid to have felt more on 
 
 that occafion than for the lofs of his liberty and kingdom ; but, 
 
 had this been a common cuftom in Egypt, as we have already 
 
 feen it among all the neighbouring nations, it could not have 
 
 been chofen as the moft eligible mode of adding to the forrowe of 
 
 the- diftrefled monarch. What we every day fee or perform lofcs 
 
 all power of affecfling us, however degrading in its nature ; while 
 
 fomething which we have not been ufcd to, though lefs degrading, 
 
 awakes our kccneft fcnfations, and flings our hearts with the 
 
 fharpeft afflidion. 
 
 F.gyptian We fhall aftcrwards have occafion to mention, that in a very 
 
 confined"" early period the praftlce of confining women was introduced into 
 the Eaft ; this pradicc, however, inftituted by the rage of jca- 
 loufy, and maintained by unlawful power, was never adopted by 
 the Egyptians, as appears from the ftory of Pharaoh's daughter, 
 who was going with her train of maids to bathe in the river, 
 when flie found Mofes hid among the reeds ; and alfo from that 
 of the wife of Potiphar, who, if confined in the manner of 
 the Eaft, could not have found the opportunities ftie did 
 to folicit Jofeph to her adulterous embrace. To thefe tefti mo- 
 nies of the facred fcripture we may add the authority of Hero- 
 dotus,
 
 O F \V O M E N. Ill 
 
 d^otus, and fome of the other writers on ancient Egypt, who, ^ H^A p. 
 
 befides mentioning fevcral anecdotes which could not have hap- ' , ' 
 
 pened to women in harams and feraglios, generally agree that 
 they were equal, if not fupcrior, in authority to the men; and if 
 they were, it would be inconfiftent to think that they allowed 
 themfelves to be fhut up and deprived of fociety, by beings who 
 neither had, nor claimed any fuperiority over them. 
 
 The men in Egypt were not allowed to Indulge in polygamy, Laws and 
 a ftate which always prefuppofes women to be flaves. The their favour, 
 chaftity of virgins was protedled by a law of the fevereft nature ; 
 he who committed a rape on a free woman, had his privities 
 cut off, that it might be out of his power ever to perpetrate the 
 like crime, and that others might be terrified by fo dreadful a 
 punifhment. Concubinage, as well as polygamy, feems either 
 not to have been lawful, or at leafl: not fafhionable ; it was a 
 liberty, however, in which their kings were fometimes indulged, 
 for we find when Sefoftris fet out on his expedition to conquer 
 the world, he lefr the government of the kingdom to his brother, 
 with full power over every thing, except the royal diadem, the 
 queen, and royal concubines. The queens of Egypt are faid to 
 have been much more honoured, as well as more readily obeyed 
 than the kings ; and it is alfo related, that the hufbands were in 
 their marriage-contra£ls obliged to promife obedience to their 
 wives ; a thing which in our modern times we are often obliged 
 to perform, though our wives entered into the promife. 
 
 But nothing can exhibit the power and confequence of the 
 Egyptian women in a ftronger light than a law, by which it was 
 ordained, That daughters and not fons ftiould provide for their 
 
 parents 
 
 /
 
 112 T H E H I S T O Pv y 
 
 parents when they became aged or indigent. And wc fhall only 
 add further, that the honour and refpe£t paid to them, above 
 thofe of other nations, likewife appears from the behaviour of 
 Solomon to Pharaoh's daughter. Solomon had many other 
 wives befides this princefs, and was married to feveral of them 
 before her, which according to the Jewifli law ought to have 
 entitled them to a kind of preference ; but fuch was not the cafe, 
 for we hear of no particular palace having been built for any of 
 the others, nor of the worfliip of any of their gods having been 
 introduced into Jerufalem ; while for Pharaoh's daughter a mag- 
 nificent palace was eredled, and fhe permitted, though exprefsly 
 contrary to the Jewifli law, to worfliip the gods of her own 
 country; circuniftances which we cannot believe would have hap- 
 pened, had not the regard of the Egyptians for their women 
 prompted them to have it ftipulated with Solomon in the mar- 
 riage agreement. But loaded with all the honours and prefer- 
 ments we have mentioned, inverted often with the fovereign 
 power, as well as the management of their own families ; the fair 
 fex were fometimes reached by fuperftition, that frenzy of the 
 human mind, which neither regards the laws of nature nor 
 of nations ; a virgin was at certain times facrificcd to Annubis. 
 
 Besides the privilege of fucceeding to the throne itfelf, in 
 default of male ilTue, the Egyptian daughters had a right of fuc- 
 ceflion to the paternal inheritance of their fathers ; a right hardly 
 to be met with in any of the neighbouring countries, where wo- 
 men were too much defpifed to be admitted to inherit what they 
 could not defend. With this rule the inheritance of the fovereign 
 authority was not thought fo inconfiflcnt, as every fubjedl is con- 
 xerned in defending his country in general, while the defence of 
 
 private
 
 OF WO M E N. 
 
 private property refls more immediately on the arm of the pro- 
 prietor. In an early period of the hiftory of the Aflyrians and 
 Babylonians, we alfo find women creeping into fuch confequence 
 as to fhare with their hufbands, and fometimes to aflume to 
 themfelves the whole of the royal authority ; though we have 
 reafon to believe, that, at the fame time, they could not inherit the 
 eftates of their anceftors. 
 
 While Ninus, king of Afiyria, was befieging Badria, it is Affynan wo- 
 faid that the attempt would have failed, had it not been for ueat'ed.°** 
 the afliftance of Semiramis, then wife of one of his principal 
 officers, who planned a method of attacking the city, with fuch 
 fuperior fkill, that he foon became mafter of it. Ninus being 
 attracted by the beauty and art of this virago, foon became 
 paffionately fond of her ; in the mean time, her hufband forefee- 
 ing that this paffion would end in his deftrudion, to avoid falling 
 a vidim to licentious defpotifm, privately put an end to his life. 
 The main obftacle being thus removed, Ninus took the adulterefs 
 to wife, an adion of which, according to fome authors, he had 
 foon reafon to repent, for fhe having firft brought over to her 
 intereft the principal men of the ftate, next prevailed on her filly 
 hufband to inveft her for the fpace of five days with the fove- 
 reign power ; a decree was accordingly iffued, that all the pro- 
 vinces fliould impllciily obey her during that time ; which having 
 obtained, fhe began the exercife of her fovereignty, by putting 
 to death the too indulgent hufband who had conferred it on her, 
 and fo fecuring to herfelf the kingdom. Other authors have 
 denied that Ninus committed this rafli, or Semiramis this exe- 
 crable deed, but all agree that fhe fuccceded her hufband at his 
 death, in whatever manner it happened. Seeing herfelf at the 
 
 Vol. I. CL liead
 
 114 
 
 THE HISTORY 
 
 head of a mighty empire, and ftruck with the love of magnificence 
 and of fame, flie propofcd to render her name immortal, by per- 
 forming fomething that (hould far furpafs all that had been done 
 by her prcdeceflbrs : the fcheme fhe fell upon, was to build, in 
 the fpace of one year, the mighty city of Babylon ; which being 
 finifhed within the propofed time, greatly exceeded in magni- 
 ficence any thing the world had ever fecn : two millions of men are 
 faid to have been conftantly employed on it, during the time it 
 was eredting. 
 
 Fro.m the advancement of Semiramis to the Aflyrian empire, 
 it would feem that, at leaft, fome decent degree of perfonal liberty 
 was one of the prerogatives of the women of that country ; for 
 wherever the fex are ftridly confined by their fathers and huf- 
 bands, we can hardly fuppofe their political exiftence to have been 
 fuch as could form a party fufficient to bring about a total revo- 
 lution of ftate; and in the Eaft they are commonly confidered as 
 beings too weak and infignificant, ever to be allowed the privi- 
 lege of mounting a throne, unlefs aided by the power of fuperfti- 
 tion, or the notion of a right derived from their gods. But though 
 the Aflyrian women feem, in general, to have enjoyed fome liber- 
 ty, yet their monarchs, according to the cuftom of their neigh- 
 bours, had feraglios, where fuch ladies as belonged to them were 
 probably more ftridlly confined than the other women of the 
 country. 
 
 That feraglios were a part of the magnificence of the Aflyrian 
 monarchs, appears from fcveral anecdotes in their hiftory, and 
 particularly from the ftory of Sardanapalus, who, infl:ead of em- 
 ploying his time in the affairs of government, dedicated himfelf 
 3 entirely
 
 O F W O M E N. 11^ 
 
 entirely to debauchery among his women, afFc^ling not only the 
 foftnefs and effeminacy of their voice and manners, but learning 
 alfo to handle the diftaff, and amufe himfelf by working in the 
 other trifles with which they were employed. As we have already 
 feen that, in the earlier ages, women of the greatefl; rank and 
 quality were not afhamed to perform thofe offices, which, in our 
 times, would be confidered as beneath the dignity of their wait- 
 ing-maids, we are not to be furprifed, that the women of the 
 auguft monarch of Aflyria fliould employ themfelves in fpinning ; 
 but that the effeminate monarch himfelf, who had Lufinefs and 
 pleafure, in (o many fhapes, at his command, (hould take up the 
 diftaff for his amufement, not only excites our aftoniffiment, but 
 our contempt ; and ftrongly marks the littlenefs of that mind, 
 which, furrounded with fuch a variety, could felecft a diverfion fo 
 infignificant, as well as unbecoming. We may, perhaps, account 
 for this, by obferving, that women of talents, fuperior to the reft 
 of their fex, generally affociate with men, and defpife the com- 
 pany of women as trifling and infignificant; and that men of in- 
 ferior talents, finding themfelves generally defpifed by the men ; 
 on that account affociate with women. This obfervation, befides 
 pointing out the reafon why Sardanapalus confined himfelf, almoft 
 altogether, to the feraglio, likewife difcovers the reafon why Semi- 
 ramis arrived at the royal diadem of Aflyria ; an elevation which, 
 though it did honour to the fex in general, yet did not prove that 
 they had, in general, attained to that importance to which they 
 are entitled, by the place which they hold in the fcale of rational 
 beings ; for, throughout the whole continent of Afia, women 
 have been, from time immemorial, and ftill are, confidered either 
 as public or private property, and fold to fuch hufbands as 
 would give the higheft price for them : in Affyria, the former of 
 
 0^3 thefe
 
 ii6 T ri E H I S T O R Y 
 
 thefe was the cuftoni ; women being there the property of the 
 Rate, and by the magiftratcs difpofed of in marriage to the beft 
 bidder, by way of public audion. We are of opinion, that this 
 cuftom, or law, took place after the reign of Scmiramis; fo that 
 though, in her lime, the fex might be on a more rcfpedable foot- 
 ing, it feems that the privileges they then enjoyed, were after- 
 ward almoft entirely wrefted from them by the men. 
 
 In an early period of the world, while as yet women had at- 
 tained to little dignity and confequence, we find an univerfal 
 notion of female, as well as of male deities, had obtained among 
 mankind ; this notion did not arife folely from the polytheifm of 
 the times, but alfo from an opinion that the gods propagated their 
 fpecies, which mortals could not conceive them capable of doing; 
 in any other way than that of mortal men. All antiquity demon- 
 ftrates it to have been a general opinion, that the gods often coha- 
 bited with, and had children by the daughters of men ; which 
 children were reckoned partakers of a divine nature in their life- 
 time; and after their death were worfliipped as real deities. But 
 Semiramis is the firft woman, we believe, who had influence 
 enough, without pretending to any divine original, to procure 
 the honour of deification after her death; to have temples eredted,. 
 and the worfhip of a goddefs addrefled to her by a numerous 
 crowd of adorers. By what means fhe procured this dlftindtion, 
 in a period, and a country where women were not confidered as 
 of much importance, we are not told : while alive, an abfolute 
 monarch may eafily command the obedience of fubjeds in civil 
 matters, but in thofe of religion, even the fevereft defpot is often 
 incapable of introducing any change. It is* therefore, the more 
 I extraordinary^.
 
 O F W O M E N. 117 
 
 extraordinary, that Semiramis had influence enough to introduce, C HA P. 
 after her death, what few monarchs have attempted with fuccefs ^-— v— ^ 
 when living. We are aware, that when the cuftoni of paying 
 divine honours to illuftrious perfons after death became univerfal, 
 it was no very difficult matter to be ranked among the gods, but 
 to introduce the cuftom of conferring that dignity on a fex, which 
 were then {o little diftinguillicd, muft have been owing to fuperior 
 talents and abilities. 
 
 Among the Babylonians, who were at firfl: a part of the Afify- Of the Baby- 
 lonian wo- 
 rian empire, and afterwards became their own maflers, women men. 
 
 were, probably, of much greater importance than in AfTyria. 
 The whole hiftory of mankind, as well as what we fee among 
 the uncultivated nations of our own times, alTures us, that where 
 women have attained to little or no importance in fociety, and are 
 only confidered as the fervile inftruments of fupplying our wants, 
 and gratifying our paffions, there is but little care taken, either 
 to adorn their minds, or their bodies. Among the Babylonians, 
 though we are not informed what care was taken of the female 
 mind, from a variety of fcattered hints, which particularly 
 abound in the prophets of the Cid Teftament, we may infer, that 
 the greateft attention was beflowed in decorating and adorning 
 their bodies, with every coftly ornament which fondnefs could in- 
 vent, and affluence fupply : inconteftible proofs that they were 
 objeds of no fmall importance, and the peculiar care of the men. 
 But further, the Babylonians were a wife and. cultivated peo- 
 ple; and we may with truth aflert, that proper culture of the hu- 
 man mind has never yet exifted, without extending itfelf to the 
 interefts and conveniences of the fair fex. 
 
 That
 
 u8 THEHISTORY 
 
 That fome of the queens of Babylon were more regarded, 
 and of greater confequence than is common to the herd of wo- 
 men confined in the feraglios of eaftern monarchs, rppears from 
 the ftory of Nitocris, confort of Nabonadius, known in fcripture 
 by the name of Evil Mcrodach : while Nabonadius, negleding the 
 affairs of his kingdom, devoted himfelf entirely to fcenes of the 
 moft voluptuous debauchery, Nitocris took upon her the care of 
 the ftate, and managed it fo as to give unlverfal fatisfaction ; a 
 circumftance, which was not likely to have happened, had not 
 women poflefTed a tolerable (hare of public efteem and confidence; 
 which, when we confidcr the influence of female fociety among 
 the Babylonians ; and that their women were admitted to convi- 
 vial meetings, where they lived in a free and unreflraiued man- 
 ner, with more frequent opportunities than their neighbours of 
 exerting the various arts of pleafing; and, confequently, of gain- 
 ing that afcendancy which will ever fall to the (hare of beauty and 
 of fenfe, will appear not to have been fo difficult for them to 
 attain, as for the women of the furrounding nations. But not- 
 withflanding of this general importance, fuch of the Babylonifh 
 women as were poor, like the poor of every country, were def- 
 tined to attend on, and minifter to the pleafures of the rich ; 
 who, at their meals, were ferved by a great number of eunuchs, 
 and Tinging and dancing girls, carefully fele£ted from the faireft 
 and handfomefl; of the country. When the Babylonians became 
 poor, by the ruin of their metropolis, fathers proftituted their 
 daughters for gain, and hufbands, who had formerly been hin- 
 dered from ufing their wives ill, by a particular law, then broke 
 through every reftraint ; and, it is faid, even compelled them to 
 offer themfelves to ftrangers for hire. 
 
 Con-
 
 O F W O M E N. . 119 
 
 Concerning the condition of the Scythian women we know ^ ^^ A P. 
 little ; only that they, as well as thofe of the Gauls and Germans, ' ' 
 
 . .,,.... Scythian wo— 
 
 were anciently held in great efteem for their fkiil in divination: men treated 
 
 we know not whether it was on account of this efteem, or be- gence. 
 
 caufe they were thought weak and inofFenfive, that in fome cafes 
 
 the Scythian women were treated with more lenity than the men. 
 
 By one of their laws, when a father was put to death, all his fons 
 
 fufFered the fame fate along with him, while the daughters 
 
 efcaped with impunity, Thefe people, the moft plain and fimple 
 
 of all antiquity, being reproached with cowardice, for retreating 
 
 from their defert frontiers, before an army much fuperior to their 
 
 own : " In thofe defolate waftes, faid they, we have nothing 
 
 " worth fighting for; but when you arrive at the tombs of our 
 
 ** anceftors, and the habitations of our women, you Chall fee whe- 
 
 *' ther we can defend them." 
 
 From the accounts handed down to us of the Phoenicians, they Their privi- 
 leges in fome 
 appear to have been long a flourifhlng and profperous people, othernatioos. 
 
 who had acquired great riches by their fuperior fkill in commerce 
 and navigation ; we may therefore reafonably fuppofe, that, in a 
 country, whofe inhabitants were fo far advanced in the arts of 
 civil life, the women had attained to that importance we generally 
 find them poflefled of in fuch countries ; efpecially when we con- 
 fider the attention that was paid to ornamenting them, by all the 
 finery that an extenfive trade could purchafe from every part of 
 the globe. But though the Phoenicians fpared no coft in adorn- 
 ing their women with all the elegance of the times, they appear 
 to have ftamped upon them one mark of inferiority and fubordina- 
 tion ; they did not allow them to wear the Tyrian purple, fo 
 famous in thofe days; not only on account of its high price, but 
 
 alfo
 
 120 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 alfo as a badge of diftindion folcly appropriated to men ; and to 
 fuch of them only as were of the firft rank and dignity, though 
 not then, as it was afterwards, altogether confined to royally. In 
 the Balearic Ifles, of whofe hiftory we have now but a few fcat- 
 tercd hints in fome of the Gieek writers, fo far were they from 
 fixing any mark of inferiority on the fair fex, that when any of 
 their women were taken captive, they gave three or four men ia 
 exchange for her; acondiid fo fingular, that fome particular rea- 
 fon for it mufl: have exifled, of which we are not informed ; per- 
 haps it was only done at the firft planting of fome colony, while 
 the women, as in the origin of Rome, were few and valuable. 
 Among the Lycians, a people of the Leflfer Alia, a cuftom alfo ob- 
 tained; which, at firft view, feems to exalt the women to a con- 
 fequence much fuperior to that of the men. In their fex alone 
 was the fountain of honour and nobility, infomuch that if a wo- 
 man of quality married a plebeian, their iflue were noble; but if 
 a nobleman married a foreigner or peafant, the children, in that 
 cafe, were only plebeians. But this cuftom, when more nearly 
 examined, will be found to have originated from a different mo- 
 tive than love or efteem ; it is at this day praftifed in fome parts of 
 America; and the reafon there given for it is, becaufe they are 
 fure who is the mother of a child ; and that the noble or royal 
 blood of a family may, on her fide, be eafily preferved ; whereas 
 they have no certainty who is the father ; and by the incontinence 
 of a wife, the noble or royal blood may, on the male fide, be 
 totally extinguiflicd. 
 
 OfthePha- If the Phoenicians treated their women with propriety, we may 
 reafonably exped to find nearly the fame cuftoms concerning them 
 tranfplanted into Carthage; as the Carthaginians were originally 
 
 a colo- 
 
 niciaos.
 
 O F W O M E N. 121 
 
 a colony from Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia. As there was fomc- ^ ^J^ ^• 
 thing uncommon in the origin of this colony, and as it was ' -»- -J 
 founded by a woman, whofe name has been immortalifed by 
 Virgil, a d not unknown even to the generality of female read- 
 ers, we hope it will not be deemed altogether foreign to our fub- 
 jc(£l to give a fhort account of it. 
 
 While Tyre flourifhcd in all the pomp of magnificence, as the 
 capital of the Phoenician empire, and the moft renowned commer- 
 cial city in the world, Pygmalion, being king, had a fifter, called 
 Eliza, but known to us by the name of Dido ; which fifter he 
 married to Sichnsus, one of their own relations. Sichccus was pof- 
 feffed of great riches, which Pygmalion avaricioufly coveting, put 
 him to death, that they might fall into his hands. Dido, deteft- 
 ing this execrable deed of her brother, and defirous to difappoint 
 him of that wealth, which had been the caufe of it, cunningly 
 amufed him, till flie had got all things in readinefs ; and then pri- 
 vately eloped with the moft valuable efFeds of her murdered huf- 
 band. After a long feries of difaftrous events, fhe at laft landed 
 on the coaft of the Mediterranean, at a little diftance from the 
 place where the piratical city of Tunis now ftands : there, having 
 purchafed fome land of the natives, fhe fettled a colony of fuch as 
 had adhered to, and followed her fortune. 
 
 Soon after this fettlement, the inhabitants of the country, in- 
 vited by a profpedl of gain, reforted to the ftrangers with the 
 neceflaries of life, and fuch other commodities as were moft 
 wanted: finding themfelves always civilly treated, they at laft 
 gradually incorporated with them into one people. The citizens 
 of Utica, being their ancient neighbours, began alfo to confider 
 
 Vol. I. R them
 
 132 THEHISTORY 
 
 them as countrymen ; and fent ambafladors, with confiderable 
 prefents, exhorting them to build a city on the place where they 
 had fun landed ; this propofal being agreeable to the fecret wiflies 
 of Dido, and her infant colony, the city was begun, and called 
 Carthada, or Carthage j which, in the Phoenician language, fig- 
 nifies the New City. 
 
 What Virgil has relatedc oncerning this firfl: queen of Carthage, 
 is only to be confidered as a poetical fidion ; for It appears that 
 Ihe lived at leaft two hundred years before the time of his hero 
 iEneas, and at laft finifhed her days, not as he reprefents, a 
 vidim to love, but to that kind of conjugal fidelity then in 
 fafliion, which confidered it as criminal to marry a fecond 
 hufband ; for, being courted by Jarbas, king of Getulla, and 
 threatened with war in confequence of a refufal ; and having 
 bound herfelf by an oath to Sichxus, never to confcnt to a fecond 
 marriage, and unwilling to bring a powerful invafion on her in- 
 fant colony ; to extricate herfelf from the difficulty, (he afcended 
 and leapt into a funeral pile which {he had caufed her fubjeds 
 to eredt, unconfcious of the purpofe to which fhe intended to 
 apply it. 
 
 Among a people whofe political exiftence was owing to a 
 woman, and to one who in her life had conduded them with 
 fo much prudence, and at her death made fo difinterefted a facri- 
 fice to procure their fafety ; it is natural to imagine that the fex 
 would be treated with more deference and regard, than was 
 common in the periods we are reviewing. Accordingly, we have 
 feveral reafons to believe, that the women of Carthage were not, 
 as in many other countries, obliged to do all the fervile drudgery 
 2 which
 
 V 
 
 O F W O M E N. 12^ 
 
 which naturally belonged to the men ; nor to fubmit themfelves 
 to any kind of flavifh fubje£lion under that fex. That the Car- 
 thaginians on the contrary had fentiments of a more elevated 
 nature concerning their women, appears from a ftory related 
 of them by Diodorus, the Sicilian. When the city of Tyre was 
 befieged by Alexander the Great, the Tyrians being reduced to 
 the utmoft extremity, fent an embafly to the Carthaginians 
 imploring their affiftance ; the Carthaginians being at the fame 
 time engaged in a war with the Athenians, and fcarcely in a 
 condition to make head againft Agathocles, the Athenian general, 
 were not able to grant that afliftance they fo earneftly wi(hed to 
 give ; and to foften the refufal, they agreed to receive into Car- 
 thage all the wives and children of their friends the Tyrians ; 
 that they, at leaft, might efcape the outrages which their fex 
 generally fufFer at the plundering of a city. 
 
 It is the charadleriftic of the men in every enlightened nation 
 to treat the weaker fex with lenity and indulgence j to this they 
 are prompted, not only by the fofter fenfations inftilled by nature, 
 but alfo by that additional humanity, and thofe finer feelings, 
 which are commonly the refult of knowledge ; and which raife 
 the mind above what is mean, and infpire it only with what is 
 generous and noble. Hence, whenever we find a people treating 
 their women with propriety, we may, without any further know- 
 ledge of their hiftory, conclude that their minds are not unculti- 
 vated. When we find them cultivated, we may conclude, that 
 they treat their women with propriety. We Ihall only add, 
 therefore, concerning the Carthaginians, that the charadler they 
 bore for wifdom, for learning, and the arts, leave us no room to 
 
 R 2 doubt
 
 / 
 
 124 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 c HA ?. doubt that they behaved to the fair-fex in general, as became a 
 *- — . ' people (o highly diflinguilhed. 
 
 Pcrfian wo- Some of the Greek and fevcral of the Roman hiftorians, in 
 
 tresicJ. mentioning the ancient Ferfians, have dwelt with peculiar fcvcrity 
 
 on the manner la which they treated their women ; jealous, 
 almoft to diftradlion, though not under the influence of a vertical 
 fun, they confined the whole fex with the fl;ri£teft attention, and 
 could not bear that the eye of a ftranger fhould behold the 
 beauty whom they adored. Their monarchs placed almoft the 
 whole of their grandeur, and of their enjoyment, in the number 
 and beauty of the women of their fcraglios; which they carefully 
 feleded from among the faireft, either taken captive in war, or 
 produced by their own dominions, and purified them for their 
 ufe by a long and tedious preparation, tending to heighten the 
 beauties of nature, and to give an agreeable relilh to their per- 
 fons ; a preparation luxurioufly voluptuous, beyond any thing 
 that modern refinement has ever fuggeftcd. Agreeable to an 
 obfervatlon we made in the beginning of this chapter, every 
 circumftance in the Perfian hiftory tends to perfuade us, that 
 the motive which induced them to confine their women with 
 fo much care and folicitude, was only exuberance of love and 
 affedion ; in the enjoyment of their fmiles, and their embraces, 
 the happinefs of the men confifted, and their approbation was 
 an incentive to deeds of glory and of heroifm ; for thefe reafons, 
 they are faid to have been the firft who introduced the cuftom 
 of carrying their wives and concubines to the field, " That the 
 *' fight, faid they, of all that is dear to us, may animate us to 
 *' fight more valiantly in their defence." To offer the lead 
 
 violence,
 
 \ 
 
 OF WO M E Nr r2j 
 
 vFolence, even in appearance, to a Perfian woman, was to incur 
 certain death from her hufband or guardian ; nay, even their 
 kings, though the moft abfolute in the univerfe, could not alter 
 the manners or cuftoms of the country which concerned them, 
 as appears fiom Cabas, a licentious monarch, who, not fatisfied 
 with the numerous beauties of his feraglio, thought he could 
 introduce the community of women, which would afford hini 
 an ample opportunity of fatiating his unbounded hifl ; and there- 
 fore illued a decree, commanding the promifcuous ufe of all the 
 women of his dominions, whether married or unmarried; upon 
 which his fubjeds rofe in a rebellion that ended in expelling hinx 
 from the throne. Upon the whole, we may infer that the Per- 
 fians loved their women with the utmoft violence of animal 
 appetite ; but had not learned to treat them with that foftnefa 
 and good nature, which culture and civilization can only didate. 
 
 Notwithstanding of this private jealoufy and confinement 
 of the fex, it would fecm that there were at the Perfian court 
 women who were introduced on certain occafions, and with 
 wht>m 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- 
 <iuainted with their worth and excellence : this, to the Greeks, 
 was a pleafure totally unknown ; cuftora had introduced, and law 
 had eftablifhed, the mode of obliging women to live retired in 
 their own apartments, fcarcely ever allowing them to appear in 
 public, or have any open intercourfe with the men ; fo that, if 
 they had any amiable qualities, they were burieJ in perpetual 
 obfcurity: even their hufbands being in fome of the * ftates 
 limited as to the times and duration of the vifits made to their 
 wives, and it being the cuftom at meals for the two fexes always 
 to eat feparately. 
 
 The apartments deftined for the women, in order to keep them 
 more private, were always in the back, and generally in the 
 upper part of the houfe. The fiimous Helen is faid to have had 
 her chamber in the loftieft part of it, and fo wretched were their 
 dwellings, that even Penelope queen of Ulyflcs feems to have 
 defcendtd from hers by means of a ladder; within thefc, however, 
 women, efpecially fuch as had no hufbands, whether maids or 
 
 • This w£5 the cafe at Sparta. 
 
 Vol. I. S widows,
 
 IJO 
 
 THE HISTORY 
 
 CHAP, 'widows, were clofely confined ; the former in fo ftri(fl a manner 
 «L -.— _' that they could not pafs without leave from one part of the houfe 
 to another, left they fhould be feen ; which, as we learn from the 
 floiy of Antigone, would have been a rcHedion on their honour, 
 as well as on the care and integrity of their guardians. New- 
 married women were almoft as ftriQly confined as virgins ; for we 
 find Hermione feverely reproved by her old duenna, for appear- 
 ing out of doors; a freedom, which, fhe tells her, was not ufually 
 taken by women in her fituation, and which would endanger her 
 reputation, fhould fhe happen to be fccn ; and we are further in- 
 formed by Menander, that the door was the utmoft limit allowed 
 to the freedom of a married woman : it appears, however, from 
 fome other authors, that after they had brought forth a child, 
 this feverity was a little relaxed ; but it was then owing only to 
 the indulgence of their hufbands, who, perhaps, thought them 
 now either more prudent, or lefs the objeds of temptation ; and 
 might flill, if they pleafed, retain them in the fame rigorous con- 
 finement, as we learn from Ariftophanes ; who introduces an 
 Athenian lady, loudly complaining, bccaufc women were con- 
 fined to their chambers, under lock and key, and guarded, fays 
 file, by maftifFs, goblins, or any thing that can frighten away 
 admirers. 
 
 Caufc of their THOUGH the Grecian women lived thus feparated from the 
 confinement. ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^,^^^ ^^^^ jjj^^ ^^^^^ ^£. ^p^^^ confined to feraglios, 
 
 and obliged to fhare among a great number the fcanty favours of 
 one man. Nor' does their confinement appear in fome cafes to 
 have been fo much the efFe(Sof jealoufy, as of indifference ; the 
 men did not think them proper companions ; and that ignorance, 
 which is the common refult of a redufe life, gave them too good 
 
 reafoa
 
 OF WOMEN. 131 
 
 reafon to think fo. Nothing in Greece was held in eftimation, ^ HA P. 
 but valour and eloquence ; nature had difqualified the fair fex for < . -,-. j 
 both ; they were therefore confidered as mean and contemptible 
 beings, much beneath the notice of heroes and of orators, who 
 feldom favoured them Xvith their company, unlefs prompted by 
 nature, or by the defire of propagating future orators and heroes 
 like themfelves. Thus deferted by a fex, which ought to be the 
 fource of knowledge, the underftandings of the v/omen were but 
 {hallow, and their company uninterefting; a cafe which invariably 
 happens in every country where the two fexes have little commu- 
 nication with each other. 
 
 But confinement was not the greateft evil which the Grecian Other refiric- 
 
 tions and 
 
 women fufFered ; by other cuftoms and laws they were uill more hardihips 
 opprefled : it was not in their power to do any judicial ad with- ' *y " 'V 
 out the confent of a tutor, or guardian ; and fo little power, even 
 over themfelves, did the legiflature devolve upon women, though 
 ripened by age and experience, that when the father died, the 
 fon became the guardian of his own mother. When a woman 
 was cited into court, fhe was incapable of anfwering without her 
 guardian ; and therefore the words of the proclam.ation were. We 
 cite A. B. and her guardian. In making a will, it was not only 
 neceflary that the guardian fhould give his confent, but that he 
 fhould be a party. Thefe fads fhew, that the Greek women were 
 under the moft complete tutelage, whereby they were deprived 
 of almoft all political exiftence; and teach us to confider a guar- 
 dian and his pupil as the fubftance and the fhadow, the latter of 
 which could not ex*ift without the former. But this is not all ; 
 we have already mentioned fome of the flavifh employments to 
 which they were put, and fhall now add, that, in the heroic ages, 
 
 S 2 the
 
 132 THEHISTORY 
 
 the women did all the fjavifh and domeftic offices, even fuch as 
 were inconfiftent with the delicacy and modefty of the fex : they 
 conduded the men to bed, drefled and undrefled them, attended 
 them while in the baths, dried and perfumed them when they 
 came out of them ; nor were thefe, and fuch other offices, on- 
 ly allotted to fervants or flaves, no rank was exempted from 
 them. The princefs Nauffica, daughter of Alcinous, carried 
 her own linen to the river in a chariot, and having waftied and 
 laid it on the bank, fat down by it, and dined on the provifion (he 
 had brought along with her. When fuch was the employment of 
 their own women of rank, we cannot cxpe£l that their captives 
 fliould fhare a happier fate ; accordingly, we find He<flor laiitent- 
 ing, that, fiiould Troy be taken, his wife would be condemned to 
 the mofl flavifh drudgery ; and Hecuba bewailing, that, like a dogj 
 Ihe was chained at the gate of Agamemnon. 
 
 In the ftate of wedlock, a ftate of all others the moft delicate, 
 the Lacedemonians feem to have been deftitute of all the finer feel- 
 ings ; for, defpifing that principle of mutual fidelity, which in. 
 Ibme degree appears to have been chcriflied by every people only 
 a fingle degree removed from the rudefl: barbarity, they, without 
 any reludancy, borrowed and lent wives with each other; a kind 
 of barter totally inconfiftent with that fympathetic union of fouls, 
 which always does, or ought to take place, between hufband and 
 wife : but the matter did not end here; for, by the laws of Solon^ 
 a lufty well-made young fellow might, when he pleafcd, demand 
 permiffion to cohabit with the wife of any of his fellow-citizens, wha 
 was lefs handfome and robuft than himfelf, under pretence of raif- 
 ing up children to the ftate, who fhould, like the father, be ftrorg' 
 and vigorous ; and fuch an unreafcnable demand, the hufband was 
 
 not
 
 OF W O M E N. 133 
 
 not at liberty to rejedl : what ftill further fliews how little deli- 
 cacy cxifted m their connedions with their wives, is their con- 
 du£l in a war with the MyfTinians ; when, having bound them- 
 feives by a folemn oath, not to return to their own city till they 
 had revenged the injury they had received, and the war having 
 been unexpectedly protraded for the fpace of ten years, they be- 
 gan to be afraid that a longer abfence would tend greatly to depo- 
 pulate their ftate; to prevent which, they fent back a certain 
 number of thofe who had joined the army, after the above-men- 
 tioned oath had been taken, with full power to cohabit with all 
 the wives, whofe hufbands were abfent. Nothing can more plain- 
 ly difcover the defpicable condition of the Grecian women : the 
 ftate, as a body politic, regarded them only as inftruments of 
 general propagation; and their hufbands indelicately acquiefced itr 
 the idea, which they never could have done, had they been adu- 
 ated by any thing but animal appetite^ and had not that appetite 
 been fixed more on the fex than the individual. 
 
 Whichever way we turn us in the Grecian hiftory, we find 
 the mofl convincing proofs of the low condition of their women. 
 Homer confiders Helen, the wife of Menelaus, as of little Other 
 value than a part of the goods which were ftolen along with her;, 
 and (he reftitution of thefe, and of her, are commonly mentioned 
 in the fame fentence, in fuch a manner, as to fhew, that fuch re- 
 ftitution would have been confidered as a full reparation of the 
 injury fuftained; fo that Menelaus did not place the crime of 
 Paris in having debauched his wife, but in having ftolen from him 
 t:o the amount of fo much value. And the fame author, in cele- 
 brating Penelope, the wife of Ulyffes, for refufing in his abfence. 
 fo many fuitors, does not appear to place the merit of her con- 
 4 dud:.
 
 134 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 CHAP, Juf^ 1,^ a fiipcrlor regard to chaftity, or in love to licr hufband; 
 
 ' . , ■ ' but in prcferving lo his family the dowry die had brought along 
 with her, which, on a fecond marriage, mufl; have been reftored 
 to her father Icarius : and though Telemachus is always repre- 
 fented as a moft dutiful fon, we find him reproving his mother in 
 a manner, which fhews that the fex in general were not treated 
 with fuftnefs and delicacy, however dignified, or with whatever au- 
 thority inverted. 
 
 Your widowed hours, apart, with female toll, 
 And various labours of the loom, beguile. 
 There rule, from palace cares remote and free, 
 That care to man belongs, and moft to me. 
 
 From the celebration of fome of their public games, women were 
 prohibited by the fevereft penalty : to the feftival at Eleufis, they 
 were not to go in chariots : in fome laws, they were clafled with 
 flaves; women and flaves were forbid to pradife phyfic. It was 
 a cuftom in Greece to expofe fuch children as they thought them- 
 felves not able to maintain, or likely to derive any advantage from : 
 daughters, according to Poffidippus, being more coftly in their 
 education, and lefs likely to be beneficial afterward, were more 
 frequently treated in this manner than fons. 
 
 A man, though poor, will not expofe his fon ; 
 But if he's rich, will fcarce preferve his daughter. 
 
 A cuftom which we fhall have occafion to take notice of, in the 
 courfe of this work, as prevailing in feveral nations, funk in igno- 
 rance and barbarity. Of all the Greeks, the Thebans were the 
 only people who had a pofitive law againft this horrid cuftom. 
 
 5 Let
 
 O F W O M E N. 135 
 
 Let us now turn our eyes to the other fide of the pi£ture, and ^ ha p. 
 take a view of the privileges beftowed by law or cuftom on the >"-"*■ * 
 
 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 <to tbim.ia rank; af'iiot, h^ was conftrained to 
 give her a fortune equal to liis own condition; if he eould not 
 give her fuch a fortune, he was condemned to death ; becaufe a 
 woman thus didionoured, had no chance of obtaining a huftaand 
 without a fortune; and becaufe it was bymarriage only that a 
 ftatc could be properly peopled. 
 
 To
 
 O F \V O M E N. 149 
 
 To thefe proofs of the regard, and even of the veneration, chap. 
 
 T?vhich the ancient inhabitants of the North paid to their women, > 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<n:er, nor could any motive ever prevail on another to marry 
 her, though youth, beauty, fortune, and every advantage, com- 
 bined to allure him. 
 
 We have already mentioned, that a law among the Goths 
 obliged a man to marry or give a portion to the woman he had de- 
 bauched. Among the Angles, and many other of the northera 
 nations, wounds and injuries were fixed by law at a certain price j 
 and a wound given to a virgin was eftimated at double the value 
 which was fet upon it when given to a man of the fame rank-. 
 If this law originated from a fenfe of the weaknefs and inability 
 of the fex to defend themfelves, it demonftrated a legiflature not 
 inattentive to their intereft : if from humanity, or from love, it 
 
 ihewedi
 
 152 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 CHAP, fliewed in the men a degree of civilization, which the hlftories of 
 \^ -,. ^ thcfe ages in many circumftancee feem to coiltradi6t. 
 
 The mythology of all antiquity is full of female as well as 
 of male deities. The Hebrews, and many of their neighbour- 
 ing nation?, worfliipped the Queen of Heaven ; the Phoenicians 
 adored Aftarte ; the Scythians, Apia ; and the Scandinavians, 
 Frigga, the confort of Odin. Wherever female deities have ob- 
 tained a place in the religion of a people, it is a fign that wo- 
 men are of fome confequence ; for we find inthofe modern nations- 
 where women dre held ih the moft defpicable light, that even their 
 deities are all of the mafcuilnd gendei:. As there tvere in the 
 North fetnale deities, fo they had prieftefles who miniftered ia- 
 their gloves, and at their altars. The Egyptians, Phoaniciansj 
 Carthaginians, and rttatiy other of the ancients, offered to their 
 gods humart vidims ; fometimefe of the male, and fohietimes of 
 the female gender: the Northerns followed their example, only 
 with this difference, that wc have reafon to believe they never 
 facrificed any females. Whether they were not thought victims 
 of fuflicient importance to be offered to their gods ; whether they 
 fpared them from lenity and indulgence ; or from the confider- 
 ation of the lofs that population would fuflaln by their death, is 
 uncertain. But when we take a view of the whole of their con- 
 dudl towards the fex, we are much inclined to attribute it to in- 
 dulgence and affedion. 
 
 As the inhabitants of the North were not diftinguiflicd by a 
 quicknefs of ienfibility, as they devoted moft of their time to a 
 pafTion for arms, and to the plcafures of the table, we may con- 
 clude that love held no violent dominion over them ; and yet they 
 
 5 efteemed
 
 OF WOMEN. 153 
 
 efteemed and regarded their women, forming, in this particular, 
 a ftriking contrail to the Afiatics and other fouthern people, who 
 have ever been diftinguifhed by the warmeft love, entirely divefl:- 
 ed of the fmalleft degree of regard or eflcem. An Afiatlc, while 
 he approaches his miftrefs as if fhe were a divinity, treats her as 
 a criminal, and confidering her as entirely made for his pleafures ; 
 he is at the fame time her tyrant ^nd her flave : while the 
 Northerns did not feem to have looked on the fex as deftlned for 
 their pleafures, fo much as for their convenience and affift- 
 ance : they did not view them as the flaves of their power, and 
 the panders of their luft, but as their friends and companions; 
 nor did they approach them with the fawning fubmifTion of infe- 
 riors, and at the fame time treat them with the haughty difre- 
 fpe£t of fuperiors. 
 
 In tracing the hiftory of the treatment and condition of women Trestmem of 
 downwards from the periods already reviewed, our chief bufmefs middle age;, 
 will be among thedefcendants of thofe northern nations, of whom 
 we have been now fpeaking ; who at length difTatisfied with the 
 cold and barren regions they inhabited, where, on a fcanty and 
 hard-earned pittance, they dragged out a mlferable exlftence ; and 
 convinced, as every uncultivated people were, that the fword gave 
 a right to whatever they could conquer by it ; fet out in fwarms 
 towards the fouth, and in procefs of time over-ran all Europe, 
 propagated their race, and dlffufed their manners and cuftoms as 
 far as they extended their arms. 
 
 We have already feen, that they carried their wives and children 
 
 with them into the field ; which being a fcene not only adapted to 
 
 the growth of riot and debauchery, but where thefe vices may 
 
 Vol. I. X more
 
 154 
 
 THF HISTORY 
 
 CHAP, more eafily elude the vigilance of judice ; many of the ftritfleff 
 laws became neceflary for their prefervation, and feveral of this 
 nature were cnafted by tlie Franks. When in the field, their 
 operations were from time to time fettled in a council, of which 
 their wives made a part ; and when in danger of being defeated, 
 they were more afraid of their reproache* than of the fwords of 
 their enemies. The men, conftantly employed in war or in drink- 
 ing, had neither time nor inclination to acquire ufeful knowledge. 
 The women, moreatleifure, from the little they became acquainted 
 with, were by the men confidered as oracles : they were fuppofed 
 to be able to interpret dreams, and had adually learned the vir- 
 tues of a few fimples. Hence both virgins and matrons were 
 employed in drefling the wounds of their lovers and hufbands. 
 With all thefe acquifitions, at that time fo extraordinary as well as 
 ufeful ; with all that majeftic beauty, for which they were fo fa- 
 mous in the fongs of their bards ; is it any wonder, that the 
 daughters of the North were the firft who infpired the men with 
 fentlmental feeling, and with ideas little fhort of adoration .? But 
 fuch is the nature of man, efpecially when he is but a few degrees 
 removed from barbarity, that while he adores a woman for her 
 beauty, he fcruples not to attack and ruin her virtue. Such was 
 not the complexion of the times we have already delineated; but 
 it became the complexion of thefe we are now confidering. An 
 univerfal fpirit of piracy and emigration had crept into the North : 
 one half of its inhabitants were conflantly wandering in queft of 
 new adventures, and of new fcttlements. Wanderers, who have 
 neither property nor poffeflions to ferve as hoftages for their good 
 behaviour, are generally licentious in their manners: hence it be- 
 came neceflary for thofe who had acquired fcttlements, not 
 only to fecure their property, but alfo their wives and children, 
 
 from
 
 OF WOMEN, 153 
 
 from thefe lawlefs wanderers, in caflles, and in ftrong fortifi- ^ ha p. 
 cations. ' « ' 
 
 In this manner women became firfi: fubjedl to a fpecies of con- 
 finement in the North, not becaufe they were, as is alleged in the 
 South, wicked and libidinous, but becaufe they were beautiful, 
 weak and defencelefs. This confinement, however, not being 
 the effed of jealoufy, as in Afia, but of prudence, and defire of 
 fecuring their women from the infults of licentious banditti ; when 
 a woman found a lover, or a hufband, to protect her from the 
 rudenefs and barbarity of the times, (he could then venture abroad 
 with impunity in his company. Hence every woman naturally 
 wifhed to engage fuch a champion ; and every man of fplrit, fond 
 of the honour arifing from it, as naturally inlifted himfelf in the 
 fervice. And in this manner arofe the inftitution of chivalry ; an 
 inllitution, which, though it owed its birth to chance and the ne- 
 ceffity of the times, made fo rapid a progrefs, that in a little while 
 it was fufficient for a fair lady to have it publicly known, that fuch 
 a gallant warrior was her declared champion, and would revenge 
 every wrong done to her, whether in his prefence or abfence : this 
 enlarged ftill the circle of her liberty, and more reftrained the hand 
 of infult and violence. 
 
 Besides the title a young warrior had to the approbation and Caufes which 
 favour of her whom he thus defended, there was another, and, if n^nfoftrong! 
 pofTible, a ftill more prevailing motive, the love of glory; in 'yt°P''o'S'^ 
 thefe times, the moft anxioufly coveted, and moft intimately con- 
 neded with fuch generous and difinterefted adions as defending 
 the weak and refcuing the opprefTed. All thefe confiderations 
 prompted the youthful warrior to take upon him an office, which, 
 
 X 2 while
 
 J56 THEHISTORY 
 
 while it flattered his love, at the fame time, by its acquifaion of 
 fame, no Icfs fed and nourlflicd his vanity : and as the man acquired 
 honour, and the name of valour, by undertaking to defend an in- 
 nocent and hclplefs woman ; fo the woman acquired an additional 
 luftre, and the name of beauty, by being thus diflinguiflied by a 
 gallant champion. Thus the honour and intereftof the two fexes 
 became mutually blended together, and they refieded additional 
 luflre and reputation upon each other ; a truth to which all the 
 hiftorical records of thefe times bear the mod ample tcftimony. 
 
 It is not a little remarkable, that in the fame periods in which 
 women were gradually rifing into confcquence in one part of Eu- 
 rope, they fhould be lofing it altogether in another. While the 
 fpirit of chivalry made them objedls almoft of adoration in the 
 North, Mahomet had eftabliflied a religion in Afia, which di- 
 velled them almofi: of every privilege, and of all political confe- 
 quence : this religion, brought over into Europe, and eftabliflied 
 in the Weft by the conquering arms of his fucceflbrs, not only 
 funk the power of beauty almoft to nothing, but condemned the 
 whole of the fex to perpetual fubordination and imprifonment. 
 
 This is a ftrlking proof, that the adlions of men are re- 
 gulated by no fixed principle : but, in the ages we are confi- 
 dering, another not lefs ftriking is, that human nature en- 
 deavoured to alTume the moft con trad iiSlory appearances ; it 
 endeavoured to blend the meek and forgiving fpirit of the 
 religion of Jefus, with the fierce and intolerant fpirit of 
 war and bloodfhed. It endeavoured to mix the foft fenti- 
 ments of love, with the revengeful didtates of affronted honour; 
 and the fame tender fentiment which bound a lover to his miftrefs,. 
 
 infti-
 
 O F W O M E N. 157 
 
 I'nftigated him, in the mofl: favage manner, to cut the throats of c ha p. 
 all thofe who openly profefled either to love or hate her. In fhort, 
 nothing had at this time acquired any confiftency : religiori was 
 a mixture of paganlfm and fuperftition, and law was a compound 
 of weaknefs and injuftice. While the pilgrim travelled to Jeru- 
 falem to obtain forgivenefs of his fins, he was adding daily to the 
 load, by pillaging and debauchery on the way. Religion, thus 
 reduced to penance and ceremony, was too weak to combat the 
 paffions ; and law, if ridiculous in its modes of invefligation, 
 was ftill more confpicuous for being feeble in its power of execu- 
 tion. In fuch a crifis, fomething diflin£t from both became ne- 
 ceflary. The men had already begun to glory in being the pro- 
 tedlors of fuch women, as they were attached to by love and 
 friendOiip : it was but carrying the idea one ftep farther, from 
 being the champion of a fingle woman, to become the champion 
 of the whole fex, and thereby eftablifli a more complete fyftem 
 of chivalry; a thing which adlually happened, after the fpirit of 
 crufading had been entirely obliterated by a repetition of unfuc- 
 cefsful attempts. 
 
 Such is the imperfection of our nature, that to chance and ne- 
 ceflity we owe the far greater part of our ufeful difcoveries, as 
 alfo the further improvement of fuch as are already but imper- 
 fedly known. This was the cafe with chivalry : it originated 
 from love, honour, and the neceffity of defending women in the 
 times of lawlefs depredation, and had at firft for its obje£l the 
 defence of one woman only : afterward it extended to the pro- 
 te<rtion of the whole fex ; and by degrees flretching itfelf ftill 
 wider, its objedt became diftreffed innocence, wherever it was 
 found fufFering by the hard hand, of injuftice and oppreflion. 
 
 Ariivedi
 
 iS^ T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 ^ '1^^ P- Arrived at this period, it was confidered as the mofl: honourable 
 ' — -V- — ' and exalted of all profeffions ; was eagerly courted by all ranks 
 of mankind ; nor were any candidates, however elevated in their 
 ftation, admitted into it, without the fullefl: credentials of valour, 
 honour and probity, or a long train of previous diitipline; and 
 even the admiffion itfclf was calculated to infpire a love of glory, 
 and of benevolence ; it was performed at -the altar by ceremonies 
 no Icfs awful than pompous, and well calculated to inftil into the 
 mind of the young hero, the moft enthufiaftic love of honour, 
 xiifintereftcdnefs, and truth. 
 
 Xffefisofchi- The efFeds of this inAitution, which at laft became fo ridicu- 
 **'"^* loufly whimfical, as to be finally laughed out of the world by the 
 
 inimitable Cervantes, were in the beginning highly beneficial to 
 fociety : even war was diverted of half its horrors, when it was 
 carried on by men trained up in the principles of honour and hu- 
 manity : weaknefs, which before had every thing to fear from 
 power, and hardly any protedlion bylaw, now began to enjoy itfelf 
 in fecurity, when it found ftrength and fidelity engaged to defend 
 it ; and as weaknefs was more peculiarly the lot of women, they 
 were alfo objeQs of the peculiar care and attention of this inftitu- 
 tion. Hence they now began to fed a confequence to which they 
 had hitherto been ftrangers ; they were politely treated by all, be- 
 caufe it was known that their caufe was the caufe of chivalry. They 
 were approached with fubmiflion by the brave ; they were the judges 
 even of bravery itfelf, and entrufted with the diftribution of the 
 rewards beftowed on it at public tournaments ; where a fmile of 
 approbation on the knight to whom they delivered them, was often 
 confidered by him as a greater reward than all the glory he had ac- 
 quired by his invincible arm. The men confidered tournaments as 
 
 3 t^«
 
 OF W O M E r^. 
 
 159 
 
 the theatres where they were to gain applaufe; and lovers, as thofe chap. 
 
 of acquiring the enecm of the fair. •* Nothing (fays a French 
 
 " hiftorian) was longed for by the ladies with fo much impatience; 
 
 " and this not fo much from the pleafure of beholding a raagni- 
 
 *' ficent fpedacle, as from the glory of prefiding there : it was 
 
 " by them that the prize of thefe (hows was always diftributed ; 
 
 " they were the foul and capital ornament of them : to animate 
 
 " the courage of the champions, they ufed to give them a token, 
 
 " which was fometimes a fcarf, a veil, a coif, a fleeve, a brace- 
 
 " let, a knot, a detached piece of their attire, and fometimes a 
 
 *' curious piece of work of their own doing ; and with thefe, the 
 
 *' knight decorated the top of his helmet or of his fpear, his 
 
 *' fhield, his coat of arms, or fome other part of his armour." 
 
 To fuch a pitch of enthufiaftic veneration of the fair fex did the 
 inftitution of chivalry carry the ages in which it flouriflied, that 
 the leaft contemptuous word uttered concerning any of them, dif- 
 qualified a knight for the duties and privileges of his profefTion : 
 and a lady having caufe of complaint againft a knight, ufcd to 
 touch the helmet or fhiekl of his arms, as a token of applying to 
 the judges, for a trial of his crime ; when, after proper inquiry, 
 if the delinquency was proved, the haplefs culprit immediately 
 fuffered the penalty of exclufion, and could never again be re- 
 ftored to his dignity, but by the interceffion of the fair, and 
 the mofl folemn promifes of better behaviour for the future. As 
 the greateft part of the nobility and gentry were, in the times we 
 are confidering, of the order of chivalry, this inftitution was in. 
 that order a fufEcient barrier againft indecent liberties and fcandal- 
 ous reports. But the lower orders of men were not to be bound 
 by the filken cords of honour : to keep them, therefore, within 
 
 the
 
 i6o T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 the limits prcfcribcd by decency, other motives were devlfed : the 
 laws of the Thuringians ordained, that he who flole the clothes of 
 a woman while bathing, or at any tipie threw dirty water upon 
 her, flioiild be feverely fined ; and that allcompofitions for injuries 
 fliould be doubled, when the injury was donrt to a woman. The 
 laws of the Franks enacted, that he who fqucezed the hand of a 
 free woman fhould pay fifteen fols, twice as much if he laid hold 
 of her arm, and four times as much if he touched her breaft. 
 Thefe were powerful rcftraints on indecorum ; and though they 
 ftrongly mark the charadler of the times, yet they {hew the in- 
 fluence of women, or rather, perhaps, the attention of the men 
 to prefervc their delicacy, as well as chaftity, from every rude 
 invader. 
 
 Arts, fciences, and learning had, at the fubverfion of 
 the Roman empire, been almoft totally eradicated ; a people 
 brought up to obtain every thing by the fword, had no idea of 
 gaining a fubfiftence by the ftill peaceful means of labour and oeco- 
 nomy. Learning, and every art thereon depending, was for fe- 
 veral centuries defpifed, as mean and contemptible ; and a gentle- 
 man who had fl:ooped to become a fcholar, or to learn any thing 
 ' ufeful in civil life, was confidered as having degraded himfelf for 
 ever. Among people thus circumftanced, nothing was fo difficult 
 as to make any improvement : accordingly we find, that many of 
 the middle ages were more flationary than, perhaps, any period in 
 the hiflory of mankind. 
 
 Other caofes Among the nations who conquered the Roman empire the 
 freih import- Chriftiau religion had been early introduced ; but its peaceful 
 a|Ketowo- precepts, and even all the coercive powers with which it was 
 
 2 armed,
 
 O F W a M E N. i6j 
 
 armed, were but feeble and unavailing, when oppofed to cufloms C H a p. 
 fandllfied by time, and to minds grown haughty and intolerant by 
 fuccefs ; and it was many ages before it could tame that wild and ro- 
 mantic rage for fighting, with or without caufe, for which the inha- 
 bitants of the north had been fo remarkably diftinguilhed. This reli- 
 gion had, however, another good eG"e£l:: diflferences of opinion arofe 
 concerning it; difputes were carried on to decide thefe differences; 
 difputes neceffarily gave rife to emulation, and emulation to fome de- 
 gree of learning. When the faculties of the human mind have been 
 exerted on a few fubje£ts of enquiry, thefe fubjecls begin to multi- 
 ply ; and ftill as they increafe, the avidity of the mind in pur- 
 fuing them increafes alfo : hence, in fome meafure, we may fee 
 the reafon, why, toward the beginning of the twelfth century, 
 learning began to be cultivated with fo much affiduity, though it 
 had been totally negle£led before. With the revival of learning, 
 a new and more rational importance was added to women : their 
 former importance had been derived from fuperftition, and a wild 
 and romantic fpirit of honour : their prefent, began to eredl itfelf 
 on the foundation of tendernefs and fenfe. Whatever tends to 
 aggrandize the mind, and to add to the ftock of knowledge and 
 fenfibility, is in favour of the fair fex, and makes ours lavifia 
 frelh endearments and frefh dignities upon them. Accordingly, 
 in tracing the hiftory of the middle ages a little downwards, we 
 fhall find that women, by the remains of chivalry, and the in- 
 trodudion of real politenefs, arrived at a confequence to which 
 they never attained in any other period. 
 
 The profeffors of the Chriftian religion, one feifl only ex- 
 cepted*, never admitted women to the dignity of the prieflhood; 
 
 • The Quakers. 
 
 Vol. I. Y but
 
 i62 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 CHAP, i3ut ifj the times we are fpeaking of, they made great flrides to- 
 » 1/ ■ ^ ward it. While Charlemagne fwayed the fceptre in France, con- 
 fcfflon was confidered as fo abfolutely neceflary to falvation, that, 
 in feveral cafes, and particularly at the point of death, when no 
 prieft or man could be had, it was by the church allowed to be 
 made to a woman. And in the fixteenth century, it was no un- 
 common thing for church-livings, the revenues of abbeys, and 
 even of bifhoprics, to be given away with young ladies as a 
 marriage-portion. Thus women exercifed a kind of facerdotal 
 fundion; and though they did not adually officiate at the altarj 
 they enjoyed what many of the priefts themfelves would have 
 been glad of; the emoluments of the altar, without the drudgery 
 of its fervice. 
 
 When any material dlfFerence happened between man and 
 man, or when one accufed another of a crime, the decifion, accord- 
 ing to ancient cuftom, eftablifhed by law, was, to be by fingle 
 combat, or by the ordeal trial ; from both of which ridiculous 
 manners of appealing to heaven, women were exempted. Wher> 
 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<Sl upon the paffions, reducing them all under the domi- 
 nion of fear. Even female jcaloufy, which, in other countries, 
 tranfports the foul into the regions of fury and difpair, is curbed 
 within the walls of a Haram; the women may there repine in 
 fecret, but they muft clothe their features with cheerfulnefs when 
 their lord appears; contumacy only draws down on them imme- 
 diate punifhment ; they are degraded, chaftifed, divorced ; and 
 even put to death, according to the degree of their crime, or the 
 indignation they have excited : their friends may murmur in fecret 
 at their fate ; but there is no redrefs in the laws of their country, 
 nor does public juflice take any cognizance of the affairs of the 
 Harami Though the laws of Hindoftan fuffer women thus to be 
 abufed, yet fo facred are their perfons, that they muft not in the 
 leaft be violated, nor even looked at by any one but their huf- 
 bands. This female privilege has given an opportunity of execut- 
 ing many confpiracies ; warriors, in fuch carriages as are ufually 
 employed to convey women, have been often conveyed, without 
 examination, into the apartments of the great; from whence, in- 
 ftead of ifluing forth in the fmiles of beauty, they have rufhed out 
 in the terror of arms, and laid the tyrant at their feet. 
 
 Tenacious of The Concealment of their women is a facred tenet among the 
 oftheirvvives. Mahomedaos of Hiadoflan ; even brothers cannot vifit their 
 
 fillers
 
 O F W O M E N. 191 
 
 fillers in private; and ftrangers muft, upon no account, fee them ; ^ HA P. 
 
 for another to be confcious of the exiftence of a man's wives feems 
 
 even a crime ; and he looks furly and ofTended if their health is 
 
 enquired after : in every country, honour confifts in that which 
 
 a man is moft folicitous to fecure ; this, in Hindoflan, is the cha- 
 
 ftity of his wives ; a point, without which, the Afiatic mufl: not 
 
 live. This opinion the defpot always encourages ; as the pofFef- 
 
 fion of the women of his moft powerful fubje£ts, is the beft pledge 
 
 of their fidelity, when without the reach of his immediate chaf- 
 
 tifement: when the governor of a province falls under the fufpi- 
 
 cion of his prince, the firft ftep taken againft him, is, an order 
 
 that he fhall fend his women to court : if he fends but one, though 
 
 far from being his greateft favourite, Ihe is confidered as the moft 
 
 inviolable fecurity for his good behaviour : if he hefitates, or pro- 
 
 mifes obedience at fome future period, when it fhall be more 
 
 convenient, he is immediately declared a rebel ; his affedlion for 
 
 the woman whom he fent as a hoftage, is not confidered as the 
 
 tie which binds him to fidelity, but his honour is placed in her 
 
 perfon ; and that honour, in cafe of difloyalty, would be in the 
 
 power of his fovereign to violate. So facred are women in India, 
 
 that, even in the midft of flaughter and devaftation, the common 
 
 foldier leaves them unmolefted ; the Haram is a fandluary againft 
 
 all the licentioufnefs of vidtory ; and ruffians, covered with the 
 
 blood of a hufband, (brink back with veneration from the fecret 
 
 apartment of his wives. Whether this depends upon cuftom, or 
 
 on religion, is uncertain ; but it is not altogether confined ta 
 
 India, At Conftantinople, when the Sultan fends an order to 
 
 ftrangle a ftate-criminal, and to feize on his efFeds ; the ruffians, 
 
 who execute it, enter not into the Haram, nor touch any thing 
 
 belonging to the women.. 
 
 But
 
 }<)2 
 
 T HE HISTORY 
 
 CHAP, 
 VIII. 
 
 Women i I. 
 treated in 
 fpite of thij 
 facrednefs of 
 pcrfon. 
 
 Bur in Ipitc of all this feemlng veneration, this facrednefs of 
 perfon, the women of Afia are, in general, only a kind of 
 cyphers, held up to be the fport of fortune; fubjedled, not only to 
 the nod of a tyrant lord, but alfo to his eunuchs, ftill more mer- 
 cilefs and tyrannical. Educated in a manner which tends only 
 to debafe their minds, by obliterating their virtues; torn with 
 jealoufy and chagrin, even their pleafures arc joylefs; and in a 
 very few years, their period of youth and beauty being over, that 
 of negledl, which is long and unfupportablc, commences. Solo- 
 mon had threefcore queens, and fourfcore concubines ; but a petty 
 Hindoo chief has been known to have two ihoufand women con- 
 fined within the walls of his Haram ; and appropriated to his 
 pleafiire only. Strange that the rights of humanity and of popu- 
 lation (hould be fo publicly violated ! but they are not violated by 
 the Afiatics alone ; the Europeans, caught with the contagion, 
 have imitated their example. The Portugueze, after their firft 
 fettlementin India, became fo debauched, that many of hem had 
 feven or eight concubines; which they did not confine like the 
 Txatives, but obliged them to labour, and forced from them the 
 money they had earned; nor have other Europeans refrained 
 from debaucheries, which difgraced their religion and their 
 humanity. 
 
 The whole of the ancient inhabitants of Hindoflan, dlAin- 
 guiflied by the name of Hindoos, are divided into clafles, or 
 cafts, every one of which rlfes gradually in rank and dignity 
 above another ; and every one of which moll rigidly keeps with- 
 in Itfelf, nor ever mixes, either by marriage or any kind of con- 
 nedion, with thofe beneath it: hence women have not, as in 
 
 other
 
 O F W O M E N. , 193 
 
 other countries, an opportunity of advancing themfelves by mar- ^ ha p. 
 riage; being obliged to marry into the cafl: to which they belong: 
 the Hindoo women are not, however, guarded with that flridnefs 
 and feverity, which is exercifed over the Mahomedans. In 
 fome places, even thofe of confiderable rank appear publicly in 
 the ftreet. In Ethiopia, the women are of more confequence than 
 among the Mahomedans, or Hindoos of Afia. Poncet tells 
 us, that the fifter of the reigning emperor, while he was there, 
 had a palace of her own, appeared frequently in public, mounted 
 on a mule richly caparifoned, and furrounded by four or five hun- 
 dred women, founding tabor^s and finging verfes in her praife. In 
 China, which, for politenefs of manners, is little inferior to any 
 part of Europe, women feem to enjoy the fame rank, and to fhare 
 in the honours and dignities of their hufbands. The emperor 
 may raife to the dignity of emprefs, any one of his women whom 
 he pleafes ; and we are informed by Duhalde, that on an occa- 
 fion of this nature, " after all the great officers and mandarins 
 " had paid their compliments to the emperor, the princefles of the 
 " blood, and all the ladies of the firfl quality, with the wives of 
 *' the great mandarins, went to the palace; into which being 
 *' introduced, according to their rank, by a miftrefs of the cere- 
 " monies, the firfl; eunuch prefented himfclf, whom the miftrefs 
 *' of the ceremonies thus addrclTed : I humbly befeech the em- 
 *' prefs, in behalf of this alTembly, to vouchfafe her prefence, ami 
 "place herfelf on the throne; which flie having done, all the 
 " ladies made two curtfies, fell on their knees, and ftruck their 
 " foreheads againft the ground; then flood up, in the fame order, 
 *' in the profoundeft filence, while the emprefs dcfccnded from the 
 " throne and withdrew." Though honours of fuch a nature are 
 paid to a Chinefe emprefs, and to every woman according to her 
 Vol. I. G c rank,
 
 194 T H E II I S T O R Y 
 
 rank, yet the fair fcx are hardly entrufted with any property, 
 and have no fortunes. Circumftanccs which, though at firft 
 view we may confider as an affront and indignity, are, notwiih- 
 flanding, among the Chinefe, fymptoms of love and regard. That 
 wife people, folicitous of their own happinefs, and of that of the 
 fex, endeavour, by this means, to prevent a woman from being 
 chofen as a wife, on the fordid motives of interefl; and avarice. A 
 wife, therefore, being conftantly chofen from love, and having 
 no feparate interefl: from that of her hufband, nor any indepen- 
 dence to render her undutiful and impertinent, the chain of matri- 
 mony, which in many other countries is made of iron, is, in 
 China, only a filken cord. In Japan, the women of the Deyario, 
 or great hereditary emperor and high prieft:, feem to be vene- 
 rated and honoured in a degree not much inferior to himfelf. 
 And in Siam, we have an account, by Kempfer, of a funeral of 
 one of their queens ; fo magnificent, as to leave no room to 
 doubt that the women arc not confidered there in a dcfpicable 
 light. 
 
 Condition of BEFORE wc take our leave of Afia, it miy nor be improper to 
 women, che- obfcrve, that the account here given of the condition of their 
 Eood^and'evil ^0"^^" > ^" 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<Sl/ Among many of the nations of 
 antiquity, among the prefent Afiatics, and even in fome parts of 
 America, where women in general have no property, and almoft 
 no political exiftence ; where it was never heard that they enjoyed 
 
 any
 
 2o6 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 CHAP, ajiy land, nor were even truflcd with the management of their 
 
 - own perfons, they have been allowed, in failure of male iflTue, to 
 
 mount the throne, and manage the affairs of a ftate ; a pradice fo 
 
 inconfiftent with reafon, that the only caufe we can aflign for it is 
 
 fuperftition. 
 
 Caufes vvtiy From the mean and fervile condition of the fair fex in barba- 
 
 nomopem! ^^^^^ Countries, they fecm to be rendered incapable of property. 
 Whatever they acquire by their labour, whatever they take in 
 the chace, is entirely under the adminiftration of the male rela- 
 tions and friends, by whom they are protedled, and from whom 
 they receive a fcanty and precarious fubfiftence. Wherever 
 polygamy is countenanced, women cannot poflibly enjoy much 
 property : property creates independence ; and a woman who is 
 independent would not fubmit to fo many rivals, and fo fcanty a 
 fhare of the favours of a hufband. Wherever women are ftridly 
 confined, they can have no property ; any thing further than food 
 and raiment, to them would be unncceffary; and any thing that 
 could not be brought within the walls of a Haram, they could 
 not manage. Wherever the fex are publickly bought and fold, 
 whether as wives or as flaves, they can have but little property ; 
 they are in fuch cafes the property transferred tliemfelves, and 
 confequently in a ftate too mean to be truftcd with other property, 
 perhaps reckoned more valuable than they are When we meet 
 with fo great a variety of caufes which deprive women of pro- 
 perty, when we confider how widely thefe caufes are dilTeminated, 
 we fliall find that it is only in a few of the politer countries of 
 Europe that they are poffcffed of this privilege, and even there, 
 with fuch reftri£lions, that in many cafes they can hardly be faid 
 to enjoy what they poffeis; but as we fliall have occafion after- 
 wards to treat more fully of the riglits and privileges of the 
 
 Britifh
 
 OF W O IM E N. 207 
 
 Britifh women, which are in a e;reac meafure fimilar to thofe of C H A P. 
 
 . ... 1^'- 
 the other poliflied countries in the neighbourhood, we fhall not > -■ .; 
 
 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<fls of contempt, and fometimes 
 of ill-treatpient. No clafs of females are fo apt to fall into this 
 
 traa
 
 y 
 
 O F W O M E N. 215 
 
 tra£t as thofe called beauties ; who, though their company is ^ ^ J^ ^' 
 
 1 A.* 
 
 eagerly coveted at every place of public amufenient, are not fo ' ,r-— ' 
 
 eagerly feleded to retire with into that private fceiie of domeftic 
 life, where the mafk muft be laid aiide, and the train of flatterers 
 difcarded. 
 
 The power of appropriating entirely to ourfelves what we love 
 and efteem, is fo ftrongly rooted in our nature, that it has given 
 birth to jealoufy, one of the ftrongeft paflions that convulfe the 
 foul ; and from this jealoufy arifes another fruitful fource of the 
 ill-treatment of women; it is the caufe that has, time immemo- 
 rial, (hut them up in the gloom of perpetual imprifonraent in the 
 Eaft, and debarred them from every joy that can flow from friend- 
 fhip, and from fociety. It is the caufe which, in Hindoftan, and 
 more particularly in Perfia, has fubjeded them not only to the 
 chaftifement of an enraged hufband, but even to death itfclf, for 
 an offence no greater than looking at a ftranger. But we turn 
 from fuch fcenes of horror, to view the other fide of the pidure. 
 
 The general caufes of the proper treatment of women are fimple, Ctuks of the 
 and may be all comprehended in the education of the one fex, mento'"vo- 
 and the behaviour of the other. It Is want of education and in- '"''"* 
 ftrudlion, that makes the favage; and it is the proper application 
 of them, that form the man of fociety and the gentleman. A man 
 brought up In any of the polite countries of Europe, is, from his 
 earlieft infancy, taught to do a thoufand good ofTices to the fair 
 fex; to honour and indulge them; and, as he grows up, to pro- 
 vide for, and defend them : hence every kindnefs, and every duty 
 he can perform to them, are fo imperceptibly interwoven with 
 his nature, that he takes them for nature itfelf: but lefl this 
 
 5 attachment
 
 si6 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 CHAP, attachment of education fhould not be ftrong enough to form a 
 
 IX. 
 
 kind of balance of power between the two fexes, the Author 
 of nature has wifely provided, that, at a certain age, love fliould 
 fpring up to lend its afliftance, and add a motive dill more 
 powerful, than even cuftom and education, to induce us to do 
 the fair fex every kind and indulgent office, which the delicacy of 
 their fituation, and the weaknefs of their nature, may ftand in 
 need of. But we muft here carefully diflinguifh between that love, 
 ■which in civil life, is a mixture of animal appetite and fenti- 
 mental feeling ; and that which, in favage life, is animal appe- 
 tite only. The laft, though it may prompt men, when immedi- 
 ately under its impulfe, to be fawning and complaifant, muft be 
 but fliort and inconftant in its operations; and, confequently, un- 
 able to reftrain the common rudenefs and oppreffion of the men, 
 or raife the women to any degree of confequencc and dignity. 
 The firft, more fteady and uniform, infpires with an unremitting 
 attention to do good offices, to proteft, and fcreen from oppref- 
 fion the weaknefs which favages defpife; with a generofity of fen- 
 timent, which does honour to politcnefs and to humanity. Nor 
 are the fair regarded and defended only by fuch individuals as 
 are conneded with them by love, friendfhip, and other motives 
 of paffion and intereft, but by the generality of men in civil life, 
 from fentiments of gallantry ; and by every wife legiflature, 
 which, in proportion to the weaknefs of that fev, exerts itfclf the 
 more ftrenuoufly to protect their perfons and intereft. 
 
 Such, and many more, are the happy effeds which the fair fex 
 experience from education and from love ; but in the individuals, 
 with whom they are more nearly conneded, good fenfe, and hu- 
 manity of temper, are likewife neceffary, in order to eftablifh their 
 
 fccurity
 
 O F W O M E N. 217 
 
 fecurlty from lU-ufage. There are in domeftic life, a thoufand 
 little incidents where fentiments will unavoidably jar ; but fhould 
 even this happen fo frequently, as to interrupt all peace, and be 
 produdlivc of a conftant acrimony of temper, a man of fenfe, 
 when conne£led with a woman whom he cannot love in his heart, 
 will never degrade himfelf fo as to ufe her ill ; and will be forry 
 that he is obliged to pity, where he would wifh to love. 
 
 That propriety of female behaviour, which inclines the men 
 to favour, and treat the fex with the greateft indulgence, which the 
 manners and cuftoms of the country they refide in will admit of, 
 is of various kinds, and would be tedious to run over. In favage 
 countries, it confifls moftly in performing the talks of labour 
 affigned them ; in yielding the moft abject fubmiflion to their 
 hulbands ; and taking proper care of the children they have by 
 them. In the Eaft, it confifts in refigning themfelves with a 
 feeming alacrity to confinement ; being perfectly {killed in all the 
 arts of pleafing, and avoiding, with the utmoft circumfpedion, 
 every caufe of jealoufy. In Europe it is more unlimited; it con- 
 fifts in good-nature, fenfibility, delicacy, chaftity, the domeftic 
 virtues, and a thoufand other qualities ; which, when joined to 
 a competent ftiare of beauty and female foftnefs, are almoft fuffi- 
 cient to footh the moft rugged nature, and change the cruellefl: 
 temper into gentlenefs and humanity. 
 
 Vol. I. F f CHAP.
 
 2i8 THEHISTORY 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Of the CharaHer and Cotidii^ of Women. 
 
 CHAP. yV S the circle of female adion is commonly more narrow and 
 Jljl. circumfcribed that that of the other fex, fo their good or 
 
 X. 
 
 bad charader is alfo, for the moft part, comprifed under fewer 
 virtues and vices : and in the Eaft, where they are by confine- 
 ment totally excluded from adion and obfervation, we may fay 
 with Pope, That they have hardly any charader at all. 
 
 At the head of the qualities, which make up the good or bad 
 chara£ler of each fex, there is generally placed fome cardinal vir- 
 tue, or vice; which is fet, as it were, in the fore-ground ; and to 
 which all the reft of the figures in the groupe are fubordinate. 
 Thus what is the moft highly eftimated in the men, is courage and 
 fenfibility; and what gives the higheft luftre and polifh to the 
 women, is modefty, and that foft and gentle temper, which is ever 
 ready to footh afflidion, and to pity diftrefs. As thefe two vir- 
 tues form the great outlines of the charader of the fair fex, a large 
 portion of what we have to fay on the prefent fubjed, will necef- 
 farily be employed in inquiring, how far they have followed the 
 paths that lead to them, or deviated into thofe that lead to their 
 oppofite vices, from the earlieft ages of antiquity to the pre- 
 fent time. 
 
 Fr M
 
 OF WOMEN. 
 
 319 
 
 From the very beginning almoft of time, as we may learn ^ ^\,^ P* 
 from feme hints thrown out by Mofes, and conjedlure from the « — ^.— ; 
 . rude and uncultivated ftate of fociety, we have no great reafon to early vice ia 
 beheve, that modefty and chaflity were among the favourite vir- "^ ^"""' • 
 tues. The reafons afligned for the deftrudtion of the world by 
 the deluge; thofe afligned for the pofterior defl:rudion of Sodom; 
 and the condudl of Lot's daughters, are all too evident proofs of 
 our aflertion. Proceeding forward to the patriarchal ages, the 
 fcene is but little altered ; for we there find, that when Abraham 
 had gone down into Egypt to avoid a famine, he had fuch an 
 opinion of the diflblutenefs of the people of that country, that 
 he was afraid they would murder him, in order to get pofleflion 
 of his wife ; and to avoid that danger, agreed with her to fay, 
 that fhe was his filler : a falfity and meannefs, which he again 
 repeated, when he afterwards journied with her in Gerar, in the 
 land of the Philiftines ; a meannefs, which plainly points out, that 
 he would rather have fuffered her tamely to have been debauched, 
 by the people of any country into which he went, than run any 
 rifk on her account. This pufilanimous example w'as likewife 
 copied by his fon Ifaac, when he went with Rebecca, his wife, 
 into the fame country of Gerar ; and the fpeech of Abimelech to 
 him, on finding that he had deceived him, plainly points out 
 the ideas they then entertained of debauchery ; " one of the people 
 " might lightly have lain with her." 
 
 The fevere revenge, however, taken on the Sechemites, for 
 the rape of Jacob's daughter, feems to infinuate, that the men 
 paid no little regard to the chaftity of their women ; at leaft to 
 thofe that were of her rank and condition ; though the anfwer 
 thefe avengers made to their father Jacob, when he reproved them 
 
 ¥ f z for
 
 220 T H E H I S T O 11 Y 
 
 for their cruel perfidy, plainly (hews us, that public proftitu- 
 tion was in that fimple and early period far from being unknown. 
 " Should he deal with our fifter (faid they), as with an harlot ?" 
 And we are forry to obferve, from the relation of the adven- 
 ture of Judah, with Tamar, his daughter-in-law, who had pcr- 
 fonated a harlot, in order to force him to procure her a fecond 
 hufband, that, in his days, that profeflion feems neither to have 
 been uncommon, nor attended with any great degree of in- 
 famy. In periods (o exceedingly remote as thefe we are now 
 delineating, the general condu(ft of the Hebrew women, with 
 regard to chaftity, feems extremely uncertain. We may, how- 
 ever, with great propriety lay it down as a rule, that the virtues 
 and vices of the two fexes always keep nearly an equal pace 
 with each other; and as we find the patriarchs themfelves no way 
 famous for continence, we cannot reafonably expe(£t that their wo- 
 men were diflinguifhed by this virtue: a conjedure, which is but 
 too well confirmed by the ancient hiftory of the Jewifli nation ; 
 Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, had all of them feveral concubines as 
 well as wives. David rioted in concubinage, and even in adultery ; 
 nor feems to have been checked in either, till he alfo became a mur- 
 derer. Solomon fet no bounds to his voluptuous appetite; and, 
 from every neighbouring nation, feledted a numerous train of wo- 
 men ; among whom he fpent a great part of his time in lewdnefs 
 and debauchery. 
 
 -, , If the women, in the times we are fpeaking of, were not re- 
 
 Not remark- r a ' 
 
 bbie forhu- markable for chaftity, we have fcarcely any better reafon to think 
 that they were more confpicuous for the fympathetic tendernefs of 
 the fex. Sarah, in a cruel manner, turned out the concubine and 
 child of her hufband, almoft without provifion, and in a defert 
 country, where they had both nearly perifhed of hunger ; nor 
 
 was 
 
 DaDUy.
 
 OF W O M E N. 22t 
 
 was (Ke Inftigated by jealoufy to the barbarous deed ; it was the ^ ^ A ^- 
 
 common cuftom to have concubines, and fhe herfelf had given /— — ' 
 
 Hagar to her hufband. Jael, in cool blood, drove a nail into 
 the temple of Sifera, to whom flie had promifed protection, and 
 perfidioufly flew him as he lay aflcep'in her tent. Delilah, a 
 Philiftine, who was married to Samfon, treacheroufly betrayed 
 the hufband of her bofom to her countrymen. But not to draw 
 the charader of a people from fingle inftances, it was cuftomary 
 among the nations which furrounded the Ifraelites, in thefe times, 
 to offer human victims to their idols ; a cuftom which they alfo 
 fometimes imitated, when the parents of both fexes attended, 
 while their children paffed through the fire to Moloch. Thefe, 
 and feveral other inftances we could give, but too plainly fhew 
 that mankind in general were then immerfed in rudenefs and 
 cruelty, vices from which even the fofter fex were not in the leaft 
 exempted. 
 
 The charader of fome of the other nations, in the remote 
 periods we are now confidering, was, perhaps, ftill lefs famous 
 for purity of female manners than that of the Hebrews. In 
 Egypt, the ftory of Potiphar's wife prefents us with an almoft 
 unparalleled inftance of female effrontery; but as it would be 
 unjuft to ftigmatize a whole nation, from the impudence and 
 lewdnefs of one woman, let us look into their hiftory ; a hiftory 
 which will but too well convince us that the proofs of female 
 manners being debauched in Egypt, are far from being confined 
 to this fingle inftance. 
 
 Pheron, fucceffor to Sefoftris, the firft king of Egypt, having Egyptian wo- 
 
 . men, their 
 
 become blind, was told by an oracle, that he ftiould recover if charader. 
 he waftied his eyes with the urine of a woman who had never 
 
 knowQ
 
 1-22 THEHISTORY 
 
 CHAP, known any man befides her own hufband ; he began by making 
 trial of that of his own wife, and afterwards of that of many 
 other women, to no purpofe, and was at laft happily rcflored to 
 fight by the urine of an obfcure woman ; upon which he be- 
 ftowed upon her great rewards, and ordered, that all thofc who 
 had given him fuch proof of their incontinence fliould be put 
 to death. Chcmmis, another of their kings, who is faid to have 
 ereded the largeft Egyptian pyramid, being at a lofs how to pro- 
 cure materials for carrying on fo extraordinary a work, at laft, 
 confidering how much the people were given to debauchery, 
 ordered his own daughter to become a proftitute, and to demand 
 that each of her paramours fhould bring a large ftone to be 
 employed in the building carried on by her father ; thefe ftones 
 fhe colleded in fuch numbers, that they were found not only 
 fufficient to finilh the great pyramid already begun, but with the 
 remainder fhe erefled a fmall one to her own memory. Though 
 both thefe ftories carry along with them the moft evident marks 
 of fable ; yet, as fable was fo frequently made ufe of in the Eaft, 
 to convey inftruQion or reproof, they might neverthelefs be 
 highly charaderiftic of the manners of the times : but, befides, 
 if we may form any judgment of the charader of a nation from 
 its ciiftoms and religious ceremonies, which, if we may be allowed 
 the expreffion, are the trueft pictures of its heart, they will teach 
 us to entertain but a low opinion of the decency and decorum of 
 the ancient Egyptian women. 
 
 They had a cuftom in Egypt of going feveral times every year 
 to celebrate a feftival of Diana at BubaHe ; as they commonly went 
 by water, the boats were promifcuoufly crowded with men and 
 women, and when they palTcd near any town or village, they 
 
 flopped,
 
 OF WOMEN. 223 
 
 flopped, in order to give an opportunity to the women on board 
 to make a kind of trial of fkill with thefe on fliore, in the mod 
 obfcene language and gefticulations; when at laft, after a variety 
 of thefe indecent fklrniifhes, they arrived at the place of their 
 deftination, they celebrated the feftival in honour of their goddefs, 
 by rites which would have difhonoured the vileft of the race of 
 mortality, by drinking, rioting, and committing fuch debaucheries 
 that ancient authors have been afhamed fully to defcribe them. 
 Among other nations we find but too many examples of men 
 endeavouring to debauch their women when living ; the Egyp- 
 tians afford us the only one we meet with, where they facrile- 
 gioufly defiled themfelves with them when dead. It was a 
 cuftom in this country, immediately after death, to deliver the 
 body to the embalmers, to be by them prepared for burial ; but 
 young women of great beauty were at laft, contrary to this 
 cuftom, obliged to be kept till the fymptoms of putrefadtion began 
 to appear, left the embalmers, as had fometimes happened, ftaould 
 abufe their dead bodies. 
 
 Notwithstanding of this public licentioufnefs, the laws 
 
 of Egypt feem not to have been in the fault, but the conftitutions 
 
 of the people appear to have been warm and libidinous beyond 
 
 meafure ; nor were the civil laws only well calculated for the 
 
 prefervation of chaftity, and fecuring the weaker fex from every 
 
 infult upon their honour, but thofe of religion alfo confpired 
 
 to affift them. The Egyptians feem to have been the firft 
 
 among the ancients who paid a proper refpedl to the temples of 
 
 their gods ; the neighbouring nations polluted them with every 
 
 fpecies of luft and intemperance; the Egyptians hallowing them, 
 
 ordained that men ftiould religioufly abftain from women within 
 2 their
 
 224 
 
 THE HISTORY 
 
 CHAP, their facred walls, and that ablullons, fimilar to thofe Inftltuted by 
 \ ^.^ Moles, fhould be ufed after the commerce between the fexes. 
 
 We have already obferved that tendernefs»for their own ofF- 
 fpring is one of the moft powerful feelings of the female heart ; 
 but that, powerful as it is, a variety of caufes have often weakened, 
 and fometimes totally obliterated it. To thefe already taken 
 notice of we (hall now add, that this has in Egypt been done by 
 fuperftitlon, in Greece and Rome, by a romantic patriotifm ; the 
 Egyptian women rejoiced when their children were devoured by 
 their facred crocodiles ; the Greeks and Romans, when they were 
 flaln in the wars, undertaken to defend or enlarge their country : 
 would we were able to fay, that in modern times maternal ten- 
 dernefs did not often ceafe to fhew itfelf on account of caufes more 
 frivolous and not lefs culpable. The religious character of the 
 Egyptian women can only be drawn from that of their men ; 
 thofe were fuperftitious beyond almoft a pofTibility of belief, they 
 worfhipped animals of every kind, and even paid an extravagant 
 degree of adoration to the vilefl; of reptiles and infedts; and 
 what is not a little extraordinary, the ai:imal that was adored 
 and worfhipped in one diftri£l, was frequently held in the 
 utmoft abomination in another. As women have been in all 
 countries lefs apt to examine and reafon upon matters, than 
 men, they have ever been more credulous and fuperftitious ; we 
 may therefore fuppofe that every whimfical extravagance in the 
 Egyptian religion had the women in general as its votaries. 
 
 Motives to ^N no country was there ever fuch powerful motives devifed 
 
 i)"1iav1o^7in ^^ obllgc people to preferve an untainted charader as in Egypt ; 
 '^gJP*- it is well known to our learned readers how much the honours 
 
 of
 
 O F W O M E N. 225- 
 
 of fepulture were valued among the ancients, and the horrid 
 ideas they annexed to the fituation of that foul whofe body lay 
 unburied. The Egyptian legiflature, availing itfelf of this uni- 
 verfal prejudice, ordained, That no perfon fhould obtain burial 
 till a rigorous examination had pafled into his conduit when 
 living ; for this purpofe the corpfe was ordered to be carried into 
 an ifland in the lake Moeris, where the people fat as judges upon 
 it, and decreed, or denied it burial, according as the charafter 
 came out good or bad. The boatman who was firfl: employed in 
 carrying dead bodies over to this folemn trial, being named 
 Charon, has given origin to the poetical fable of Charon ferrying 
 fouls over the Styx, or from this world to the next. From the 
 few fcattered hints only which we have remaining of ancient 
 Egypt, we can with little certainty fay any more of their 
 charader or condu£l ; fo different are the accounts we meet with 
 concerning them, fome affirming that the women did all the 
 bufinefs without doors, while the men confined themfelves within ; 
 others afferting, that the men confined all their women from 
 jealoufy, and never allowed them the ufe of fl-ioes, that they 
 might not be able to walk abroad ; but thefe accounts may relate 
 to different periods, or to different diflrids of the fame country. 
 
 That modefly and chaflity, which we now efleem as the Proftitutfon 
 chief ornament of the female character, Hoes not appear in times a Uw'at^Ba-^ 
 of remote antiquity to have been much regarded by either kx. ^^''"^^" 
 At Babylon, the capital of the Aflyrian empire, it was fo little 
 valued, that a law of the country even obliged every woman once 
 in her life to depart from it. This abominable law, which, it 
 is faid, was promulgated by an oracle, ordained, That every 
 woman fhould once in her life repair to the temple of Venus ; 
 
 Vol. I. G g that
 
 226 T H E II I S T O R Y 
 
 that on her arrival there, her head ftiould be crowned with 
 flowers, and in that attire (he fhould wait till fonie ftranger 
 performed with her the rites facred to the goddcfs of de- 
 bauchery. ♦ 
 
 This temple was conftrudled with a great many winding 
 galleries, appropriated to the reception of the women, and the 
 ftrangers who, allured by debauchery, never failed to aflemble 
 there in great numbers, being allowed to chufe any woman they 
 thought proper from among thofe who came there in obedience 
 to the law. When the ftranger accofted the objed of his choice, 
 he was obliged to prefent her with fome pieces of money, nor 
 was fhe at liberty to refufe either thefe, or the requeft of the 
 ftranger who offered them, whatever was the value of the money, 
 or however mean or difagreeable the donor. Thefe preliminaries 
 being fettled, they retired together to fulfil the law, after which 
 the woman returned and offered to the goddefs the facrifice pre- 
 fcribed by cuftom, and then was at liberty to return home. Nor 
 was this cuftom entirely confined to the Babylonians ; in the 
 ifland of Cyprus they fent young women at ftated times to the 
 fea-fhore, where they proftituted themfelves as a tribute to Venus, 
 that they might be chafte the reft of their lives. In fome other 
 countries, a certain number only were doomed to proftitution, as 
 it is fuppoicd, by way of a bribe, to induce the goddefs of de- 
 bauchery to fave the reft. 
 
 When a woman had once entered the temple of Venus, fhe 
 was not allowed to depart from it till fhe had fulfilled the law ; 
 and it frequently happened that thofe to whom nature had been 
 lefs indulgent than to others, remained there a long time before 
 
 any
 
 O F W O M E N. 227 
 
 any perfon offered to perform with them the condition of their 
 releafe. A cuftom, we think, fometimes alluded to in fcrlptur?, 
 and exprefsly delineated in the book of Baruch : " The wo- 
 *' men alfo, with cords about them, fitting in the ways, burn 
 " bran for perfume ; but, if any of them, drawn by fome that 
 " paflTeth by, lie with him, fhe reproacheth her fellow that {he 
 *' was not thought as worthy as herfelf, nor her cord broken.'* 
 Though this infamous law was at firft ftridly obferved by all the 
 women of Babylon, yet it would feem that, in length of time, 
 they grew afhamed of, and in many cafes difpenfed with it ; for 
 we are informed that women of the fuperior ranks of life, who 
 were not willing literally to fulfil the law, were allowed a kind 
 of evafion ; they were carried in litters to the gates of the temple, 
 where, having difmiffed all their attendants, they entered alone, 
 prefented themfelvcs before the ftatue of the goddefs, and returned 
 home. PofFibly this was done by the afliftance of a bribe, to thofe 
 who had the care of the temple. 
 
 It has been alleged by fome of thefe authors, who can find Reflcaionson 
 nothing in antiquity but virtue and excellence, that the oracle 
 which inftituted this law, confidering Venus as a goddefs who 
 delighted in debauchery, not only meant to fatisfy her by this 
 public a£l of proftitution, but alfo to induce her to preferve, du- 
 ring the refl of their lives, the innocence of fuch women as had 
 thus (hewn that they were her votaries, by voluntarily dedicating 
 themfelves for once to her fervice ; as alfo to raife in the minds 
 of their women a deteftation of unchaftity, by the (hame they 
 muft have fuffered in expofing themfelves to fo public a profti- 
 tution. But whatever may be faid in its juftification, a law of 
 this kind is in its nature indefenfible, and, from whatever motive 
 
 G g 2 it •
 
 228 T H E IT I S T O R Y 
 
 C HA P. jj proceeded, muft have been but ill calculated to promote virtue 
 
 ' 1 ' and morality; as it is obvious, even almoft to the flighteft ob- 
 
 ferver, that fuch is the difpofition of human nature, that the 
 barrier, which feparates between vice and virtue, once overleaped, 
 it from that moment lofes half its rcftridlive power, and in a 
 little time becomes no barrier at all. It appears, therefore, that 
 no great degree of credit is due to Herodotus, when he affirms 
 that the Babylonifli women having once fulfilled the obligation 
 impofed upon them by this law, could never after be prevailed 
 upon to deviate from modefty and virtue; nor to ^lian, who fays, 
 that the Lydians and inhabitants of the Ifle of Cyprus, who had 
 fimilar laws, which thefe laft carried even farther than the Baby- 
 lonians, obliging every woman to abftain from marriage till (he 
 had gained a fortune fuitable to her rank by proftitution, were 
 ever after inflexibly virtuous. 
 
 Such aflertions are too grofs to be fwallowed by an impartial 
 obferver of human nature ; and, bcfides, are every where falfified 
 by the conduct of the Babylonifli women. The facred writings 
 of the prophets are almoft in every page filled with reproaches 
 againft them for their lewdnefs and debauchery ; but not to reft 
 the validity of what we have faid entirely on that foundation, the 
 fame Herodotus, who had told us of the inviolable chaftity of the 
 Babylonian women, informs us a little after, that when their city 
 was taken by Cyrus, fuch was the licentioufnefs of the place, that 
 fathers, without any fcruple, proftituted their own daughters for 
 hire. And Quintus Curtius not only confirms the fame thing, 
 but adds, that even hufbands were not afliamed on that occafion 
 to deliver their wives to ftrangers for money; adtlons which are 
 in no refpe<St confonant to the virtuous character pretended by 
 
 fome
 
 OF WOMEN. 
 
 «29 
 
 fome to be derived from the vicious fource of public proftitution. chap. 
 Were it neceflary to multiply proofs of the licentious chara£ler of 
 the Babylonian women, we could inftance the prodigious number 
 of courtezans, which were among them, whofe profeflion did 
 not render them contemptible in the public opinion, as it always 
 does where virtue and modefty prevail. The drunkennefs of the 
 fex, who ufed frequently to attend the convivial meetings of the 
 men, where, themfelves not lefs convivial, they often ate, drank, 
 and made merry, till by degrees diverting themfelves of all modefty, 
 they fomctimes finifhed the debauch in the original ftate of mother 
 Eve ; nor was this the pradice of the meaneft of the fex only, 
 nor of the moft lewd and abandoned, it was that of women of 
 all ranks and conditions ; but we cannot wonder at finding a 
 people lewd and debauched, when the ceremonies of their reli- 
 gion, and the divinities they worfliipped, taught them the hopeful 
 leflbn. 
 
 When error and abfurdity have the fandlion of religion to 
 fupport them, our own times afford us too many proofs of what 
 mifchiefs they may be produdive ; and were we not daily con- 
 vinced of this by experience, we would hardly be able to give 
 credit to what has been now related of the Babylonians. But they 
 were not the only people of antiquity led aftray in this manner; 
 there fcarcely exifled one fingle religion, in the times we are 
 fpeaking of, the rites of which were not folemnized either with 
 cruelty or debauchery, or both ; and fcarcely was there one god 
 or goddefs adored, who was not famous for luft and intrigue; 
 fuch, in a notorious degree, was Jupiter, the greateft of their 
 deities, fuch was Vulcan, fuch was Venus, and fuch the great 
 Syrian goddefs, whofe temples were crowded with the votaries 
 
 of
 
 230 T H E H I S T O R y 
 
 CHAP, of luft, who dincminated that vice among the people, greatly to 
 
 '■I M , '' the corruption of the manners of both fexes. But rites of cruelty 
 
 and debauchery were naturally enough fuggefted as proper 
 
 modes of worlhipping divinities, who delighted in uncleannefa 
 
 and in blood. 
 
 Of theMatu- This corruption of manners reigned but too unlverfally among 
 Lyman's. *^^ ancicnts. The MeflTagetac, a people of Scythia, being con- 
 fined to one wife, while the nations around them were indulged 
 with the liberty of polygamy and concubinage ; in order to put 
 themfelves in fome degree on a footing with their neighbours, 
 introduced a kind of community of wives, and a man who had 
 an inclination to the wife of his friend, only carried her into his 
 waggon or hut, and hung up a quiver while fhe was there, as a 
 fign, that they might not be interrupted. In this manner were 
 decency and the moft facred ties of matrimony publicly violated; 
 but what decency, what regard to the moft folemn inftitutions 
 can we expeifl in a people who were fo rude and barbarous, 
 that when any of their relations became old, they met together, 
 and along with fome cattle fet apart for the purpofe, facrificed 
 them to their gods ; then having boiled together the flefh of the 
 human and the more ignoble vidlms, they devoured it as a 
 moft delicious repaft ? The Lydians were ftiU more debauched 
 than the Maftageta:. In the reign of Jardanes, fo ungovernable 
 was their luft, that Omphak, the king's only daughter, could 
 fcarctly, even within the walls of tlie royal palace, find flielter 
 from the licentious multitude. Onaphale at length fuccceding to 
 the throne of her father, puniftied with the utraoft feverity fuch 
 as had formerly abiifed her ; on the women, whom it appears ftie 
 confidered as not lefs criminal than the men, fhe revenged herfelf 
 3 in
 
 O F wo M E N. 231 
 
 in a fingular manner ; (he ordered, thar, over ali her kingdom, CHAP, 
 they fhould be fhut up with their flaves. <■ ^ ' 
 
 The Scythians, whofe charader is far from being the moft OftheScy- 
 abandoned or the ancients, leem not to have had much caufe to 
 boaft of the chaftity and. fidelity of their women ; the greateft 
 part of their men having on fome occafion made an expedition 
 into Afia, were detained there mvich beyond their expeftation, 
 when their wives, either impatient of their long abfence, or de- 
 fpairing of their return, took their fervants and flaves, and in- 
 vefted them in all the poflfeffions and privileges of their abfent 
 hufbands. Thefe, fome time after hearing that their mafters were 
 about to return, fortified and intrenched themfelves, in order to 
 hinder them from entering into their own country, and claiming^ 
 their wives and poffeflions. The Scythians having advanced to 
 their flaves, feveral fkirmifhes were fought between them, with 
 doubtful fuccefs, when one of their leaders advifed his country- 
 men not to fight again with their own flaves as with equals, nor 
 to attack them with warlike weapons, which were figns of free- 
 dom, but with fuch whips and fcourges as they had formerly 
 been accuftoraed to make them feel. This advice being put in 
 execution, the whips recalled their ideas of flavery, and all the 
 pufillanimity naturally attending it; they threw down their arms 
 and tied in confufion, many of them were taken and put to death, 
 and not a few of the unfaithful wives deftroyed themfelves, to 
 avoid the refentmenc of their injured hufbands. Though this 
 ftory has been by different authors varied in feveral of its 
 circumftances, yet as fo many have agreed in relating it, we have 
 not the leaft doubt of its authenticity, efpecially as we are affured 
 that the Novogorodians, whofe tciiy ftands in Sarmatian Scythia, 
 
 ^ hadt
 
 «3* 
 
 THE HISTORY 
 
 CHAP, iiad formerly a coin ftamped in memory of it, with a man on 
 
 t^.—^,— ^ horfeback fliaking a whip in his hand ; and it is fuppofed that the 
 
 ancient cuftom in RufTia, which is now happily forgot, of the 
 
 bride prcfenting the bridegroom on the nuptial night with a whip, 
 
 originated from this ftory of the Scythian wives. 
 
 Perfian wo- We have already related the manner in which the Babylonifh 
 
 men, their , • i i • en- c ^ 
 
 charaflcr. women were admitted to the iiotous realhngs or the men; a 
 cuftom which, only with a few more reftridions, took place alfo 
 in Media and Perfia, as appears from the ftory of Amintas, king 
 of Macedon, already alfo related ; a ftory which inconteftibly 
 proves that, in the times we are confidering, the Perfian women 
 were of as eafy virtue as the men could wifli them ; but the 
 voluptuous and libidinous chara£ter of that court cannot be better 
 delineated, nor painted in ftronger colours, than we find it in the 
 book of Efther, where we have a relation of Ahafuerus, one of 
 their monarchs, carrying his refinements in debauchery to fuch a 
 length as we have no inftance of any where elfe on record. 
 
 * Now when every maiden's turn was come to go in unto king 
 
 * Ahafuerus, after that flie had been twelve months, according to 
 
 * the manner of the women, for fo were the days of their purifi- 
 
 * cation accomplifhed ; viz. fix months with oil of myrrh, and fix 
 
 * months with fwcet odours, and with other things for the purify- 
 
 * ing of the women. 
 
 ' Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatfoever flie 
 
 * defired was given her to go with her out of the houfe of the 
 ' women into the king's houfe.
 
 O F W O M E N. 233 
 
 • In the evening flie went out, and on the morrow flie returned chap. 
 ' into the fecond houfe of the women, to the cuftody of Shaafgaz» 
 
 * the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines ; flie came in 
 
 * unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and 
 
 * that flie were called by name.' 
 
 Such was the expence, and fuch the refinement neceffary to fit 
 women for the arms of the Perfian monarch ; and fuch was the 
 perpetual imprifonment and continence to which he condemned 
 the haplefs wretches, who, with all this parade of voluptuoufnefs, 
 were deftined for one night only to the hateful pre-eminence of 
 his bed ; in fhort, it was in the court of Perfia, where we may 
 properly fay, that lawlefs love reigned triumphant, where mo- 
 thers mixed in inceftuous commerce with their fons, daughters 
 with their fathers, and fillers with their brothers. Artaxerxes 
 Memnon, having fallen in love with his own daughter AtofTa, 
 and himfelf entertaining fome fcruples, his paffion was fomented, 
 and thefe fcruples diffipated by his mother : " Are not you, faid 
 *' flie, fet by the gods over the Perfians, as the only rule of 
 *' what is becoming or unbecoming, virtuous or vicious ?" A 
 fpeech, which ftrongly indicates that daring fpirit of woman, 
 which when urged by any of the more violent paflions, has often 
 overleaped every barrier, and born down every difficulty, from 
 which male nature has flirunk back with trembling and reludance. 
 Another of the Perfian kings, entertaining fome fcruples on an 
 occafion of a firailar nature, convened the magi to give him their 
 opinion, " We can find no law, faid they, in Perfia, to authorize 
 " a man to marry his own daughter, but our laws authorize a 
 " king to do whatever he pleafes." 
 
 Vol. I. H h Im
 
 234 T H E n I S T O R Y 
 
 In countries where there is, as in Perfia, an unlimited liberty 
 of polygamy and concubinage, jealoufy in the fair fcx is a paffion 
 ihetffeaof much weakened by the variety of objeds that divide it, and the 
 jcaouy. reftraint laid on it by the defpoilfm of the men ; we fliould not 
 
 therefore expe£t to find it operating very ftrongly. But even 
 here, where the king is the fevereft defpot of the country, and 
 •women only the tools of his luft, and flaves of his power, we 
 meet with inftances of this paflion exerting itfclf in the mod 
 cruel manner. Xemes, among many other amours, had con- 
 ceived a paflion for the wife of his brother Mafiflus, which he 
 profecuted for a long time by promifes and threatenihgs, without 
 anyfuccefs; when, quite tired with fo many fruitlefs efforts, he 
 at laft changed his attack from the mother to her daughter, who, 
 ■with much lefs oppofition, yielded herfelf to his withes. Ameftris, 
 his queen, having difcovered the amour, and imagining that the 
 daughter only adted by the diredion of her mother, from that 
 moment refolved on the fevereft revenge. By an ancient cuftom 
 -* in Perfia, the queen had a right, on the king's birth- day, to 
 
 demand of him any favour that fhe thought proper ; Ameftris 
 aflccd that the wife of Mafiftus fhould be delivered into her hands, 
 whom flie had no fooner received than fhe ordered her breafts, 
 nofe, tongue, and lips to be cut off, and thrown to the dogs, and 
 that (he fliould be detained to fee her own flefti devoured by them. 
 
 Inflancesof Among a people fo abandoned, and fo much the flaves of 
 looJefty. cruelty and luft, a people who made every thing fubfervient to 
 voluptuoufnefs and debauchery, it is natural to think that modefty 
 among the fair fex could fcarcely have any exiftence. This, how- 
 ever, was not univerfally the cafe ; a few women, even in Peifia, 
 ■were far from being deftitute of that modefty and fenfibillty 
 6 which .
 
 OF W O M E N. 235 
 
 which are the ornament of their fex, and the delight of ours. 
 AtofTa, the daughter of Cyrus, and wife of Darius, being attacked 
 "with a cancer in her breaft, and thinking it inconfiftent with the 
 modefty of her fex to difcover the difeafed part, fufFered in filence 
 till the pain became intolerable, when, after many ftruggles in 
 her own mind, fhe at lafl: prevailed on herfelf to fliew it to 
 Democedes, her phyfician. We might mention more particular 
 inftances of the modefty of the Perfian women, but we pafs over 
 them, to take notice of an anecdote of a lady in a neighbouring 
 kingdom, which fhevvs, that, in the times under review, there 
 were fome women fufceptible of fentiment and feeling; things 
 which are not frequently met with in the Eaft. Tygranes and 
 his new-married wife being taken prifoners by Cyrus, Tygranes 
 offered a great ranfom for her liberty ; Cyrus generoufly releafed 
 them both without any reward ; as foon as they were alone, the 
 happy couple, naturally falling into a difcourfe concerning their 
 benefador ; What do you think, faid Tygranes, of his afpedt 
 and deportment ? I did not obeferve either, anfwered the lady. 
 Upon what then did you fix your eyes, faid Tygranes ? Upon the 
 man, returned flie, who generoufly offered fo great a ranfom for -~ 
 my liberty. 
 
 So little was modefty and chaftlty cultivated among the an- Depravity of 
 cients, that many nations feem to have had no idea of either. moii"uni*xr. 
 The Aufi, a people of L) bia, cohabited fo promifcuoufly with ^'" 
 their women, that the whole of the children of the flate were con- 
 fidered as a community till they were able to walk alone, when, be- 
 ing brought by their mothers into a public afl"embly of the people, 
 the man to whom a child firft fpoke was obliged to acknowledge 
 himfelf its father. The wives of the Eaclrians were, through a 
 
 H h 2 long
 
 236 THEHISTORY 
 
 CHAP, long feries of years, famed for licentioufnefs ; and cuftom had 
 given fuch a fandion to their crimes, that the hufbands had not 
 only loft all power of rcftraining them, but even durft hardly 
 venture to complain of their infidelity. In Cyprus, an ifland 
 facred to Venus, the very rites of their religion were all mingled 
 ■with debauchery and proftitution. And the Lydians, and many 
 other nations, publicly proftituted their daughters, and other 
 female relations, for hire. But to multiply inftances of the de- 
 pravity of ancient manners would be endlefs ; mankind, even 
 when bridled by the ftrongeft penal laws, and reftrided in their 
 paffions by the facred voice of religion, are but too often, in the 
 purfuit of unlawful pleafures, apt to difregard both ; what then 
 muft they have been before fociety, before laws exifted, and when 
 religion lent its fandlion to encourage the vices and deprave the 
 heart ? In thefe times we have the greateft reafon to believe that 
 debauchery reigned with but little controul over two-thirds of the 
 habitable globe. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 O F W O M E N. 237 
 
 A 
 
 CHAP. xr. 
 
 The fame Suhje5l continued. 
 
 S the hiftory of the nations we have hitherto been confider- CHAP, 
 
 XI. 
 ing is fo enveloped in thofe clouds of darknefs which ■ 
 
 obfcure antiquity, we fhall leave it, to make ferae obfervations on 
 
 the character and conduct of the women of Greece. 
 
 Of this fo much diftingulfhed, (o much admired people, who, General idea 
 for many ages, fhone fo illuftrious in arts and arms, and whofe 
 panegyric has been founded fo loud in ancient and in modern 
 hiftory ; we fincerely wifh that a regard for truth did not oblige 
 us to give fo indifferent a chara(3:er. But when we have faid 
 that they fhone in arts and arms, we have completed their 
 eulogium. When we confider them as patriots, they appear 
 diflinguifhable ; when we confider them as men, and as citizens 
 of the world, they almofl excite our horror. Other nations made 
 laws to make nature better, and to enforce humanity. Thofe of fome 
 of the Grecian ftates were calculated to eradicate nature and huma- 
 nity from the human heart. In fhort, in whatever view we con- 
 template this people, we find them remarkable only for an un- 
 natural aufterity of manners, for the moft inflexible feverity, 
 and a life hardly foftened by one agreeable fhade in the whole 
 pidure. 
 
 The
 
 238 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 The character we have hitherto drawn of the fair fex is cal- 
 culated to excite but few of thefe pleafing emotions ; we would 
 wifli to warm our bofoms whenever we contemplate objeQs fo 
 dear to us, but we write the hiftory of Women, not their 
 panegyric ; truth, therefore, ftill obliges us to exhibit to view 
 charadlers hardly more amiable or engaging than thofe we have 
 already drawn. 
 
 In' a preceding chapter we have obferved that, during the 
 whole of what are called the heroic ages, the hiftory of Greece 
 is nothing but a compound of the moft abfurd fable ; from that 
 fiible it however appears, that their gods and men employed 
 much of their time and ingenuity in feducing, ftealing, and 
 forcibly debauching their young women, circumftances which natu- 
 rally fuggeft an idea that thofe women who could not be obtained 
 by any other means muft have been virtuous ; nor indeed does it 
 appear that they were then much lefs fo than in thofe fucceeding 
 periods, when the Greeks flourifhed in all their fplendour, and 
 were reckoned a highly poliflied people ; nay, they were, per- 
 haps, more £0, for infant colonies and kingdoms commonly 
 difplay more virtue than thofe already arrived at maturity ; the 
 reafon is plain, the firft have not yet attained riches, the fourccs 
 of idlencfs and debauchery, the lafl have attained them, and are 
 corrupted. But the Greeks, even i;i the infancy of their exift- 
 -ence as a people, feem to have been remarkably vicious, for we 
 hardly meet with any thing in their early liiftory but murders, 
 rapes, and ufiirpations ; witnefs the tranfaftions of the kingdom 
 of Mycenc, of Pelops, and his defcendants. The rapes of lo, 
 Proferpine, Helena, &c. all of which ftaln the character of their 
 ^ods and men with the fouleft infamy ; and as it has never hap- 
 pened
 
 OF W O M E IsT. 239 
 
 pened in any nation that the one fex has been exceedingly vicious, ^ ha p. 
 
 and the other not participated of its crimes, we may conclude > , ' 
 
 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<Ser ; we fhall, therefore, content ourfelves with 
 , fketching the outlines of it among that group of northern na- 
 tions, which we have no authentic accounts to enable us to de- 
 lineate more diftindly. 
 
 Thoug H in a ftate of the utmoft unculti vation of manners, and at- virtues of 
 tached to religions which inculcated but few of the precepts of mo- Jj'onher'n "wo- 
 rality; and in many cafes diredlycontradided them; the women of "^"• 
 the ancient northern nations were not deftitute of virtue and of ex- 
 cellence ; early in life, they learned that modefty which adorned 
 their charader; and that induftry which often maintained them- 
 felves and their hufbands, when thefe failed to procure fubfiftence 
 by their hunting, or their depredations : educated by chafte mo- 
 thers, and fortified in female virtue by every example around 
 them, chaftity became almoft an innate principle in their minds, 
 and daily acquired ftrength by the contempt which was thrown 
 by the men upon thofe who difregarded it; a contempt fo great, 
 that no woman could violate her chaftity, without precipitating 
 herfelf into the moft difmal certainty of perpetual celibacy, as 
 
 L 1 2 none
 
 z6o T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 none could in this cafe entertain even a diftant hope of pardon, 
 or of a hufband, who was not, as in rnodern times, to be obtain- 
 ed by riches, nor the allian:e of the great, but only by perfonal 
 attradions, mod ftridlly attached to unfpotted perfonal virtue. 
 
 Tacitus draws a beautifulpidure of ancient German fimplicity 
 and chaftity, in the following words : " A ftri£t regard for the 
 " matrimonial ftate charaderifes the Germans, and deferves our 
 *' higheft applaufe. Among them female virtue runs no hazard 
 *' of being debauched by the outward objeds of the fenfes, or of 
 " being corrupted by fuch focial gaieties as inflame the paffions ; 
 *' chaftity once forfeited is never forgiven ; vice is not made the 
 ** obje£l of mirth and raillery, nor is fafhion pleaded as an excufe 
 •' for being corrupt, or for corrupting others ; good cuftoms and 
 " manners avail more among thofe barbarous people, than good 
 " laws among fuch as are more refined." We are apt to place the 
 greateft purity of manners, in particular ftates of cultivation and 
 refinement ; experience, however, fhews us that we are often in 
 the wrong. From this account of Tacitus, the ancient Germans 
 appear to have exceeded in fome points of morality, the moft po- 
 liftied and inftruded nations of Europe j nor were the Goths be- 
 hind them, they deemed purity of manners their diflinguifhing 
 charaderiftic, and therefore they faid, " Though wc punifh for- 
 *' nication in our own countrymen, we pardon it in the Romans, 
 •' as they are by nature and education weak, and uncapable of 
 *' reaching to our fublimity of virtue.'* 
 
 Laws proteft. By an ancicut law of Iceland, any one who kifled a woman 
 againft her inclination, was condemned to exile ; and even he 
 who obtained her confent, fubjeded himfelf thereby to a fine of 
 three marks of filver. We have in a former chapter taken notice 
 
 of 
 
 ing chaltity.
 
 O F W O M E N. 261 
 
 of fome laws of this nature amon? the northern nations, and fhall CHAP. 
 
 ^ . . XII. 
 
 here add, that they were in general fo folicitous of the honour of 
 
 their women, and took fuch care that no indecency fliould be of- 
 fered to them, that their laws in moft places prefcribed the man- 
 ner in which the two fexes fhould behave to each other. The 
 Goths prohibited even a furgeon from bleeding a free woman, 
 unlefs in the prefence of her father, mother, brother, fon, or 
 iome other near relation ; and fixed a fine upon a man who pre- 
 fumed to touch a woman againft her will, according to her qua- 
 lity, and the part of her body he touched. In other places, a 
 fine was alfo impofed on him who kifled a woman, except in 
 fporting, at convivial meetings, or on returning from a long 
 journey. Thefe, and many other laws of the fame nature, among 
 the inhabitants of the north, not only flood as fo many centinels 
 on the threfhold of virtue, but by rendering all accefs to the fair 
 fex fo exceedingly difficult, and even dangerous, taught men to 
 look up to them as a kind of fuperior beings, and ftamped upon 
 them a value which arofe nearly to adoration; a value, which 
 they never can attain to, where modern freedom and gallantry 
 make the accefs to them fo eafy ; and, where their own vanity 
 prompts them to appear conftantly in every public place, and 
 cheapen themfelves by a vifible fondnefs to be difpofed of. There 
 is not perhaps in nature a more general law, than that which 
 induces us to value every thing in proportion to the pains and 
 labour it has coft us, the women of the nations we are confider- 
 ing, naturally chafte, proud, and difficult of accefs, both by 
 cuftom and by hw, were not to be gained by every flight attack, 
 nor did they yield to every pretended admirer : nothing but a 
 lover's rendering himfelf worthy of his miflrefs by valour, and 
 every other acquifition then in eflimation, could make her propi- 
 
 I tioua
 
 262 THEHISTORY 
 
 XII 
 
 CHAP, tious to his wlfties ; hence he feldom got pofleflion of the obje£t 
 of his heart, but after a long tram or labours and difficulties, 
 and the value he had for her, was meafured by the retrofpedive 
 view of all that he had gone through on her account. But a fur- 
 ther difcuflion of this fubjed will fall more naturally under the 
 head of courtlhip. 
 
 An hiftorian endeavouring to delineate the characters of people 
 fo little known, as many of thofe we have already mentioned, as 
 well as thofe we are now confidering, may be compared to an 
 antiquarian, foUcitous about difcovering the real fize of our an- 
 ceftors, in the times when they were faid to be gigantic ; but 
 not being able any where to find an entire ftatue, or fkeleton, can 
 only find the foot or hand of a ftatue, or the bone of an arm or 
 leg of a fkeleton ; when calculating that fuch parts of a regularly 
 formed body, bear fuch proportions to the whole, he can difcover 
 with a tolerable degree of precifion what the fize of the whole was. 
 In like manner, though the hiftorian has only broken and inter- 
 rupted fketches of the character of a people, he may, by carefully 
 comparing them together, and tracing the relations they bear 
 to the virtues and vices that make up the whole of a human cha- 
 racter, be able to form a tolerable conjecture concerning the 
 people to whom they belong. Thus from every anecdote handed 
 down to us of the women of the north, we may delineate them to 
 have been chafte, frugal, induftrious, and poflefTed of fome little 
 Ihare of knowledge, which gave them in many refpeCts a fuperio- 
 rity over the men, who were to the laft degree ignorant. With all 
 thefe good qualities they feem to have had a mixture of pride and 
 ferocity in their nature, not very confiftent with that female foft- 
 nefs and delicacy which the men in general fo much admire. 
 
 Such,
 
 O F W O M E N. 263 
 
 Such, perhaps, was nearly the general charadter of the fair fex, chap. 
 
 A.I1 • 
 
 from the earlieft infancy of the northern nations, till towards the i- 
 
 decline of chivalry, when it began to affume a more degenerate ap- the middle 
 pearance» and for feveral ages continued to be only a compofition ^^ *' 
 of brutality and debauchery, from which again it is happily 
 emerged. In the fixth century, when the paflions feem to have 
 been divided between religion and debauchery, and the churches 
 equally appropriated to the prayers of the faint and the profligacy 
 of the {inner, it was no uncommon thing to feize on a woman, 
 carry her by force, or decoy her by fraud, to the church, and 
 there detain and debauch her ; nor could her relations, nor the 
 laws, refcue her from the arms of her raviflier, while he chofe to 
 keep within the walls of the facred afylum. In the reign of Char- 
 lemagne, it was a cuftom in France to colledt together all the 
 ftrumpets they could find, and make them run races for the enter- 
 tainment of the public. And in the time of Lewis XI. a fa- 
 vourite theatrical entertainment was the Judgment of Paris ; when 
 three of the moft handfome of their female players, naked as they 
 were born, reprefented the three goddelTes, who fubmitted them- 
 felves in this condition to the judgment of that youth. Whether 
 it was confiftent with female modefty to be prefent at fuch enter- 
 tainments, muft be judged of from the complexion of the times : 
 we will venture to affirm, however, that no circumftances could 
 make it confiftent with delicacy. We have had occafion formerly 
 to mention, that the worlhip of polluted deities, and celebration 
 of religious ceremonies remarkable for impurity, have greatly 
 contributed to contaminate the manners; and we cannot help here 
 obferving, that though the objed of chriftian adoration, and the 
 rites of the chriftian religion, are the moft pure and holy, the 
 minifters of that religion were, in the limes we are fpeaking of^ 
 2 q^uitc
 
 2<)4 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 C MA P. quite the reverfe. When almofl: every prieft, who fhould have 
 \— -v — -> 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<ft in them any of 
 that engaging foftnefs, which conftitutes the efTence of female 
 friendfliip, and forcibly engages the heart : nay, fo far are they, 
 in general, from being fufceptible of any of the companionate 
 fenfations, that the very reverfe is their character. 
 
 Among many of the tribes of North Americans, the women 
 commonly go out to meet the warriors on their return home; and 
 though thefe warriors have treated their captives, from the moment 
 they fell into their hands, with an inhumanity of which we caa 
 hardly form any idea ; yet the period of their real fufFerings may 
 be faid only to commence at the time they are met by the women. 
 It is almofl incredible to believe, with what degree of tranfport and 
 rage thefe furies attack them ; and he only can form any concep- 
 tion of it, who has frequently witnelTed the power of the paffions 
 over the female mind, and their concentrated power over the fe- 
 male favage ; where being but few in number, their whole ftrength 
 is coUedled, as it were, into a focus. Has any woman among thofe 
 who go out to meet the warriors, loft a hufband, a fon, a brother, 
 or near relation ; though thirty or forty long years have con- 
 fpired to blot him out of her remembrance, they have confpired 
 in vain. Frantic with revenge, fhe falls on the firft captive flie 
 meets, and violates decency, humanity, and mercy, at every wound. 
 Nor is this the fliort-lived effort of a fudden paffion : fhe goes on 
 till her bodily ftrength is quite exhaufted ; but the fame infatiable 
 thirft of revenge urging her implacable mind, flie no fooner reco- 
 vers herfelf a little, than fhe renews the horrid tafk ; a tafk, which, 
 with no other interruption than what is abfolutely neceflary to re- 
 freih the ferocious tormentors, generally continues in the camp, 
 
 M m 2 through
 
 a68 THEHISTORY 
 
 CHAP, through the whole of the firft night after the arrival of the wo- 
 <- -w— -> 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<flation and prudery the 
 French women are equally ftrangers ; eafy and unafFeded in their 
 perfons and manners, their politenefs has fo much the appearance 
 of nature, that one would almofl: believe no part of it to be the effedl 
 of art. An air of fprightlinefs and gaiety fits perpetually on 
 their countenances, and their whole deportment feems to indicate, 
 that their only bufinefs is to ftrew the path of life with flowers. 
 Perfuafion hangs on their lips, and though their volubility of 
 tongue is indefatigable, fo foft is their accent, fo lively their 
 expreflion, fo various their attitudes, that they fix the attention 
 for hours together on a tale of nothing. In fliort, if a man is not 
 too far gone in the fpleen, there is no cure fo certain as the 
 company of a lively French-woman ; but if he is totally over- 
 run with that difeafe, her company vail augment every fymptom, 
 and he will paint her as a late fnariing traveller did, all folly and 
 impertinence. 
 
 The peculiar province of beauty is to captivate at the firft fight, Their levity. 
 and to retain the captive in chains, only for the fliort time that 
 is neceflary to difcover they were forged by beauty alone. The 
 Vol. I. Q^q French-
 
 298 THEHISTORY 
 
 ^ ^i/^ ^" French-women in general, not being remarkable for beauty, 
 feldom jump into the affeiltions of a man all at once, but gala 
 upon him by degrees, and pra£life every female art to retain him 
 in their fervice as long as inclination or convenience fliall di(ftate ; 
 but the wind, or the fafliions which fhe follows, are hardly more in- 
 conftant than a French lady's mind ; herfolc joy is in the number of 
 her admirers, and her fole pride in changing them as often as pofli- 
 ble ; over the whole of them fhe exercifes the moftabfolute power, 
 and they are zealoufly attentive even to prevent her wiflies, by per- 
 forming whatever they think fhe has any inclination to, their time, 
 their intcreft, and adivity, become wholly devoted to her will, or 
 rather to her caprice, and they muft not prefume to exempt any ta- 
 lent or power from the moft flavifh fervitude to her pleal'ure ; even 
 the purl'e, that moii inaccefhble thing about aFrenchman, mufl: pour 
 out its laft fous, at the call of his miflrefs ; and lliould he fail in 
 this particular, he would be immediately difcarded from her train, 
 with a fligma of preferring Mercury to Venus, which would 
 effedually prevent him from ever gaining admittance into the 
 train of any other of the fair ; a mortification which being ex- 
 ceedingly unfalhionable, would to a Frenchman be almoft into- 
 lerable. 
 
 The French-women reckon themfelves the only females in the 
 world who can drefs with elegance, and behave with genuine and 
 unafFe(£ted eafe, notions which are diffufed fo much over all 
 Europe, that thefe women lead every fafliion, anddidate to every 
 people the manner of behaviour; hence they have contraded a 
 national pride, which is apt to make them look down on the in- 
 habitants of every other country as miferable beings, but a few 
 degrees above favage barbarity. Such abfolutc votaries of plea- 
 fur e.
 
 O F W O M E N. 299 
 
 fure, they have but little time for any other purfuit, even religion ^ H a p. 
 
 muft give place to this darling paffion ; while a French-woman v— >, ' 
 
 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 fubje<fl to a few obfcrvations of a more general 
 nature than thofe we have juft now exhibited. Though the Ger- 
 mans are rather a dull and phlegmatic people, and not much ad- 
 didled to the warmer paffions, yet at the court of Vienna they are 
 much given to intrigue ; and an affair of this kind is fo far from 
 being fcandalous, that a woman gains credit by the rank of her 
 gallant, and is reckoned filly and unfaflilonable, if flie fcrupuloufly 
 adheres to the virtue of chaRity. But this, as well as fome things 
 which have been related above, it is hoped, is more the manners 
 of courts, than of places lefs expofed to temptation, and confe- 
 quently lefs diffolute; and we are well affured, that in all the na- 
 tions we have mentioned, there are many women who do honour 
 to humanity, not by chaftity only, but alfo by a variety of other 
 virtues. 
 
 The greatefl: part of the other European nations, not having 
 yet arrived at that point in the fcale of politenefs, where nature 
 begins to be difcardcd, and religion obliterated, their women are 
 pf courfe lefs the votaries of the Cyprian goddefs. In Great- 
 
 4 Britain,
 
 OF WOMEN. 30J 
 
 Britaln, moft parts of Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Pruflla, chap. 
 Poland, Denmark, Norway, and Ruffia, chaftity is ftill a fafhion- v.^-^1-1^ 
 able virtue, and the other female virtues attend in her train. In- 
 delicacy is not fubftituted for wit, nor are double entendres almoft 
 ever heard from the lips of any female above an oyfter-wench or 
 a proftitute. Some women, indeed, of the higher ranks in Eng- 
 land have of late fet fcandal at defiance, and laughed at charader : 
 but they have commonly found themfelves engaged in an unequal 
 contefl ; the lafh of fcandal has made them fmart, in fpite of their 
 feeming indifference j and their want of a good charader has ex- 
 cluded them almoft from every company, and of courfe from 
 more than half the joys of life. Their pernicious example is, 
 however, in our opinion, not widely diffufed. Our women are, 
 in general, chafte and delicate ; and while we do not give impro- 
 per countenance to thofe who have aded otherwife, will continue 
 to be fo. But fhould the unhappy period ever arrive, when our 
 men fhall not diftinguifh between her who is virtuous, and her who 
 is not, the character we have here given of our women will no 
 longer exift, and we fhall have ourfelves to blame for having de- 
 ftroyed it. 
 
 But befides the virtues of modefty and chaftity, in which the 
 women of Europe far furpafs all others, they are not lefs diftin- 
 guifhable for many other good qualities both of the head and of 
 the heart. It is in fome of the politer European nations only, 
 where we meet with that inexpreffible foftnefs and delicacy of 
 manners, which, cultivated by education, appears as much fuperior 
 to what it does without it, as the polifhed diamond appears fuperior 
 to that which is rough from the mine. In all other parts of the 
 world, women have attained to fo little knowledge, and fo little 
 Vol. I. R r confe-
 
 oo6 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 CHAP, confcquence, that we can only confider their virtues as of the ne- 
 
 ^^ /- — ' gative kind. In Europe they are of another nature ; they confift 
 
 not only in abftlnence from evil, but in doing good : we fee wo- 
 men every day exerting themfelves in ads of benevolence and 
 charity, in relieving the diftrefles of the body, and binding up the 
 wounds of the mind ; in reconciling the differences of friends, 
 and preventing the ftrife of enemies ; and, to fum up all, in that 
 care and attention to their offspring, which is fo neceffary and cf- 
 fential a part of their duty. 
 
 But, as impartial hiftorians, we hold not up the fair fide of the 
 pidure only, but (hall turn to the other alfo. This lefs lovely 
 lide, however, we Ihall prefent to our female readers, without any 
 of the fournefs of the declaimer, or the farcaftical fneering of the 
 fatirift ; being fully fenfible, efpecially when we addrefs ourfelves 
 to the fofter fex, that a reproof is half lofl, where ill-nature is 
 joined ; and having only in our view, the improvement of their 
 underflandings, and leading them by gentle arts to thofe paths of 
 reditude and decorum, from which fome of them have deviated. 
 
 Though we have declared it as our opinion, that there is in 
 moft parts of Europe more female virtue than in any other place 
 on the globe, yet even here, we find women liable to a variety of 
 foibles and failings. As chaflity is fo highly valued in almofl all 
 the nations of our continent, we meet often with women who are 
 foolifh enough to perfuade themfelves, and endeavour to perfuade 
 the world, that the pofTeffion of it can atone for the want of every 
 other thing amiable and virtuous ; and if any one is hardy enough 
 to hint at their faults, they anfwer with no fmall feverity, in the 
 cant phrafe, " 1 am an honefl woman, at leaft." 
 
 TttERE
 
 O F W O M E N. 307 
 
 There Is amongft us another female charader, not uncommon, ^ }} ^ ^* 
 which we denominate the outrageoufly virtuous. Women of this 
 ftamp never fail to feize all opportunities of exclaiming, in the 
 bitterefl manner, againft every one upon whom even the flighteft 
 fufpicion of indifcretion or unchaftlty has fallen ; taking care, as 
 they go along, to magnify every mole-hill into a mountain, and 
 every thoughtlefs freedom into the blacked: of crimes. But befides 
 the illiberality of thus treating fuch as may frequently be inno- 
 cent, you may credit us, dear countrywomen, when we aver, that 
 fuch a behaviour, inftead of making you appear more virtuous, 
 only draws down upon you, by thofe who know the world, fufpi- 
 cions not much to your advantage. Your fex are in general fuf- 
 pedled by ours, of being too much addided to fcandal and defa- 
 mation ; a fufpicion, which has not arifen of late years, as we find 
 in the ancient laws of England a punifliment, known by the name 
 of ducking-ftool, annexed to fcolding and defamation in the wo- 
 men, though no fuch punifhment nor crime is taken notice of in 
 the men. This crime, however, we perfuade ourfelves, you are 
 lefs guilty of, than is commonly believed : but there is another, of 
 a nature not more excufable, from which we cannot fo much excul- 
 pate you ; which is, that harfli and forbidding appearance you put 
 on, and that ill-treatment, which you no doubt think it neceflary, for 
 the illuftration of your own virtue, you fhould beftow on every 
 one of your fex who has deviated from the path of reditude. A 
 behaviour of this nature, befides being fo oppofite to that meek 
 and gentle fpirit which fhould diftlnguifh female nature, is in 
 every refped contrary to the charitable and forgiving temper of 
 the Chriftian religion, and infallibly fhuts the door of repentance 
 againft an unfortunate fifter, willing, perhaps, to abandon the 
 vices into which heedlefs inadvertency had plunged her, and 
 
 R r 2 from
 
 3o8 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 ^ Xiit ^" ^^^^ which none of you can promife yourfelves an abfolute 
 fecurity. 
 
 We wifh not, fair countrywomen, like the declaimer and fati- 
 rlft, to paint you all vice and imperfedion, nor, like the venal pa- 
 negyrift, to exhibit you all virtue. As impartial hiftorians, we 
 confefs that you have, in the prefent age, many virtues and good 
 qualities, which were either nearly or altogether unknown to your 
 anceftors ; but do you not exceed them in fome tollies and vices 
 alfo ? Is not the 1 vity, diflipation, aud extravagance »>f 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 refpe<Sled in private than in public life ; 
 Jacob bargained with his uncle to ferve him feven years for his 
 daughter Rachel ; when the fervice was accomplilhed, Laban 
 fhamefully impofed upon him Leah, and had even the efi^rontery 
 to juftify what he had done, and exa<fl; another feven years fervice 
 for Rachel. Jacob deceived his brother Efau ; the fons of Jacob 
 fold Jofeph their brother as a flave ; an old prophet, by a pre- 
 tended commiffion from the Lord, decoyed a brother prophet to 
 his houfe, and made him eat bread and drink water, contrary to 
 the commandment that had been given him, and for the difobe- 
 dience of which he was flain by a lion. Such were mankind ia 
 the patriarchal ages. 
 
 When we trace their charadler through the fubfequent pe- 
 riods mentioned in the Old Teftament, we meet with a numerous 
 lift of the fame enormities and crimes. When from this facred 
 record, we turn towards the traditions and fragments of the 
 hiftory of other nations, they give us no more favourable idea of 
 
 thefe
 
 312 THEHISTORY 
 
 CHAP, tiiefe primitive times : from them we learn, that men lived at 
 
 XIII. 
 
 firfl; without government, and without law, without mutual con- 
 fidence, or mutual friendship; paflion and appetite didlated what 
 they fliould do, and they were not felicitous about the juftice, 
 but only about the convenience and utility of their adions. The 
 whole of the political hlftory of ancient Egypt is a fcene of 
 flaughter and injuftice. The cruelty and other crimes of Semi- 
 ramis excite our indignation, and the mad exploits of Alexander, 
 were they not fo much marked with blood, would almoft excite 
 our laughter. The heroic ages of Greece exhibit little befides 
 rape, murder, and adultery ; and the fubfcquent periods are full 
 of tyranny, profcrlption, and opprefTiou. 
 
 The Romans were at firfl: a fet of lawlefs banditti ; after they 
 had formed themfelves into a community, and peopled Rome, 
 they became famous for moderation and juftice, wherever the 
 concerns of their republic were not in queftion, and at laft 
 turned the mofl: venal and profligate of mankind. When the 
 Roman empire was deflroyed, were the crimes of the people ex- 
 tirpated ; or does hiftory paint mankind as meliorated by fo 
 great an event i' The reverfe we are afraid is the cafe ; gloomy 
 fuperrtition now ftarted up, perfecution ftalked terrible behind 
 her, and drenched Europe in blood. Rome ereded a fpiritual, 
 when fhe had loft a temporal, authority, and indifcriminately 
 trampled on the rights of heaven and earth ; fcarcely was there 
 a nation among us, whofe roads were not infefted with gangs of 
 lawlefs alfainns, who robbed and murdered the traveller as he 
 went along, and the laws were too feeble to bring thefe, or cvea 
 fingle offenders, tojuftice. Nor was a man's own houfe even an 
 afylum, where his life and property could be fccure ; his ftronger 
 2 neighbour
 
 O F W O M E N. « 
 
 13 
 
 neighbour often entered It in the night, and bereaved him at chap. 
 
 once of property and of hfe. Such was the pidlure of Europe < r~ » 
 
 till the beginning of the fixteenth century, when, by a variety of 
 caufes, which it is not our province to enumerate, the manners 
 began to foften, juftice to triumph over oppreffion, and the 
 whole to aflume that order and fecurity in which we now be- 
 hold it. 
 
 VoL.I. S f CHAP.
 
 314 
 
 THE HISTORY 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Of the Injluence of Female Society. 
 CHAP. /"^ F all the various caufes which tend to influence our condudl 
 
 XIV. 
 
 o 
 
 and form our manners, none operate fo powerfully as the 
 focietyof the other fex. If perpetually confined to their company, 
 they infallibly ftamp upon us effeminacy, and fome other of the 
 fignaturcs of their nature; if conftantly excluded from it, we 
 contrail a roughnefs of behaviour, and flovenllnefs of perfon, 
 fufficient to point out to us the lofs we have fuftained. If we 
 fpend a reafonable portion of our time in the company of women, 
 and another in the company of our own fex, it is then only that 
 we imbibe a proper ihare of the foftnefs of the female, and at the 
 fame time retain the firmnefs and conftancy of the male. 
 
 Women in all ages have fet the greateft value on courage and 
 bravery in the men ; and men, in all civilized ages and countries, 
 have placed the chiefeft female excellence in beauty, chaftity, and a 
 certain namelefs foftnefs and delicacy of perfon and behaviour. 
 The caufe of this will unfold itfclf in confidering the nature of 
 the different fexes. Women, in themfclves weak, timid, and de- 
 fencelefs, ftand in the greateft need of courage and bravery, to 
 defend them from the affaults that may be made on their bodies, 
 or advantages that may be gained over their minds ; men, on the 
 other hand, enterprlfing and robuft, have the greateft need of fe- 
 male foftnefs, to fmooth their rugged nature, to wear off the af- 
 3 pcrities
 
 O F VV O M E N. 315 
 
 perities they daily contrad in their bufinefs and connexions with ^ 5,^ '*' 
 
 one another, and by the lenient balm of endearment, to blunt the < ^ — J 
 
 edge of corrofive care. 
 
 We have jufl: now obferved, that men fecluded from the com- EiTeds of tfce 
 pany of women, become flovenly in their perfons, and rough and ^°o3/n"/ ° 
 untradable in their manners; but this is not all, even their gait 
 aflfumes a more uncouth appearance, and their voice a hoarfer and 
 lefs mufical tone; their fenfations become lefs delicate, their fentl- 
 ments lefs religious, and their paffions feem to have more of the 
 brutal, than thofe of the reft of their fex ; circumftances which ap- 
 pear but too confpicuous in failors, miners, and other people who 
 either fpend the greateft part of their time altogether without 
 women, or in the company of fucR as have loft every female ex- 
 cellence. Should it be alleged, that thefe alterations are owing 
 to the horrid trade of war, in which failors are fo often engaged, 
 the fame thing fhould then be obferved in foldlers. Should we 
 have recourfe to the furlinefs of the winds and waves, againft 
 which they maintain a perpetual combat, though thefe may in 
 fome meafure account for their behaviour, yet it will appear to an 
 accurate obferver, that the ultimate caufe is to be found only in 
 the want of that focial intercourfe with the other fex, which of all 
 things has the moft powerful tendency to foften and humanize 
 the mind. 
 
 Though men fecluded from the company of women, become v/omcn lofe 
 the moft rude and uncultivated of animals, yet women alraoft fo"^gfs"^t.cn 
 entirely fecluded from the company of men, do not, in fome par- ««iudeafrom 
 
 ' ^ ■' ' ine men. 
 
 ticular cafes, lofe almoft any thing of their foftnefs and delicacy. 
 In nunneries, for inftance, we often perfuade ourfelves, that thefe 
 
 S f 2 qualities
 
 3i6 THE HISTORY 
 
 c EI A 1', qualities rather increafe ; but here we are to confider, that womef\ 
 (o placed, are not altogether exckuled from the company of men, 
 having frequent opportunities of feeing and converfing with 
 them through a grate ; and befides, the melancholy reflecflions on 
 the Tweets of fociety, of friendfhip, and above all, of love, %vhlch 
 they have for ever loft, give them an air of penfivc foftnefs, 
 which never fails to make the fex appear more lovely, and to raife 
 our pity, a paffion which, we may fay, when it has beauty for its 
 objeft, is more than fifter to love, and infpires us with the ftrongeft 
 partiality. 
 
 Contrafl a 
 
 But though women who are fliut up by themfelvcs preferve 
 roiigbrn-fs their native foftnefs and delicacy, yet thofe of them, who, aban- 
 iiantiy rtith doned by, or defpifing the company of their own fex, aflbciate 
 
 men. 
 
 only with ours, foon become the rougheft and moft uncultivated 
 of the human fpecics ; a fadl which the experience of every one 
 muft have abundantly demonftrated to him, and which affords 
 the ftrongeft pofTible proof of the falutary influence of female fo- 
 ciety. But in order to fhew more prrticularly the benefits arifing 
 from this fource, let us take a fliort view of the ftate of fociety 
 among the ancients, and then turn our eyes towards thofe coun- 
 tries, where, at prcfent, men and women live almoft conftantly 
 feparated from each other, and where the men feldom or never 
 deign to vifit the women but to (hew their authority, or to gratify 
 animal appetite. 
 
 View of fo- When we look back to the more early ages of antiquity, we 
 
 !''r 1" '!" fii^d l^ut little focial intercourfe between the two fexes, and that, in 
 
 confequence thereof, both were lefs amiable in their perfons and 
 
 manners. In the patriarchal ages, it would feem, that the women 
 
 generally
 
 O F W O M E N. 317 
 
 generally refided by themfelves, in apartments allotted to them in chap. 
 ^the back- parts of the tents of their parents and hufbands ; a cuf- 
 tom long after continued, and in feme places at this day obferved, 
 among the defcendants of the patriarchs ; the efFedls of which, on 
 the tempers and difpofitions of the men, and even upon thofe of 
 the women, v/ere apparent. Neither of the fexes were lively nor 
 cheerful ; the men were cruel, gloomy, treacherous, and revenge- 
 ful ; the women, in a leffer degree, fliared all thefe unfocial vices. 
 Many ages elapfed after the times we are fpeaking of, before wo- 
 men arofe into confequence enough to become the companions of 
 an hour devoted to fociety, as well as of that devoted to love. 
 Even the Babylonians, who appear to have allowed their women 
 more liberty than any of the ancients, feem not to have lived with 
 them in a friendly and familiar manner ; but the little intercourfe 
 the fexes had with each other, being ftill greater than that of the 
 neighbouring nations, they acquired thereby a polifhand refinement 
 unknown to any of the people who furrounded them. The manners 
 of both fexes were fofter, and better calculated to pleafe, and to 
 cleanlinefs and drefs they paid more attention. Such were the 
 effedts of female fociety on the Babylonians ; but they had not 
 carried it far enough to become properly cultivated. The Sybarites, 
 who had carried it by much too far, in a feries of years loft by it, all 
 that firmnefs of body and of mind peculiar to the men, and con- 
 tracled, if we may be allowed the expreflion, a more than female 
 cfl'eminacy. 
 
 What a rude and barbarous people the Greeks were, during 
 the heroic ages, wc have already feen : when we trace them down- 
 ward to thofe periods in which they became famous for their 
 knowledge of the arts and fciences, we find their ludenefs but a 
 8 little
 
 3i8 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 C H A P. little altered, and ihelr manners foftened only a few degpces ; it 
 is not therefore arts, fclences, and learning, but the company of 
 the other fex only, that forms the manners, and renders the man 
 agreeable. But the company and converfation of that fox, as wc 
 have before related, was among the Greeks fliamefiilly neglcded ; 
 and particularly among the Lacedemonians, who on that account 
 were the moft rude and uncivilized of all their neighbours. In 
 their more early periods, the Romans were fcarcely behind the 
 Greeks in rudenefs and barbarity ; but they were feme time a 
 community without women, and confequently without any thing 
 to foften the ferocity of male nature. The Sabine virgins, whom 
 they had ftolen, appear to have infufed into them the firft ideas of 
 politenefs ; but as they fpent the greateft part of their time in the 
 field, or in the Forum, and in general did not make companions 
 of their wives and daughters, it was many ages before the rough- 
 nefs of the warrior, and clownifhnefs of the farmer, began to give 
 place to the politenefs of the gentleman; a revolution of manners, 
 which did not begin to (hew itfelf till about the time when the 
 Csefars alTumcd the empire ; and from that time the intercourfe 
 betv^reen the fexes became fo eafy, and gallantry grew fo much 
 into falhion, that the hardy Roman was at length foftened down 
 to the delicate voluptuary. 
 
 The fame caufes exifted among the nations contemporary with 
 the Romans, and they produced the fame effeds. None of the 
 fierce inhabitants of the North had either time or inclination for 
 the company of their women ; and on that account they were defli- 
 tute of ornaments and graces, and equally uncultivated in body 
 and in mind. Were we to proceed on our furvey of antiquity, 
 we ftiould find, that it was only a few centuries ago that the fair 
 
 fex
 
 OF WOMEN. 319 
 
 fex began in Europe to be confidered in a rational light. Before ^ ^^^ P. 
 
 the introdudlon of chivalry, they were looked upon as beings un- ' /-— ' 
 
 worthy of the company or attention of the men : by that inftitu- 
 tion they were raifed to the rank of divinities, approached with 
 reverence, and confidered as moving in a fphere too exalted for 
 the familiarity of mortal men ; and it was only upon the decline 
 of this romantic turn of mind, that they began to take that place 
 in the fcale of rational beings, for which nature feems to have in- 
 tended them ; to be focial companions, to enhance the value of 
 all the pleafures, and alleviate all the pains and ills, of life. 
 
 From this flight furvey of antiquity, let us turn our eyes to- state of the 
 wards the prefent ftate of mankind in the Eaft ; where jealoufy, £^fl«™*- 
 that tyrant of the foul, has excluded all the joys and comforts of 
 mixed fociety : there, we fhall not only find the men gloomy, fiif-. 
 picious, cowardly, and cruel, but diverted of almoft all the finer 
 fentiments that arife from friendfhip and from love. There, we 
 fhall find, that roughnefs and barbarity have fettled their empire, 
 and triumph over the human mind : but there, (hall we hardly be 
 able to difcover the tender parent, or the indulgent hufband ; there, 
 fhall we with difficulty find any of the focial virtues, or the fenti- 
 mental feelings : all thefe are commonly the offspring of mixed 
 fociety ; and though men may improve their heads in the company 
 of their own fex, we may affirm, that the company and conver- 
 fation of women alone is the proper fchool for the heart. Should 
 any one doubt the truth of this, let him turn over a few volumes 
 of the hiftory of any of thefe nations, where the fexes live ex- 
 cluded from each other, and he will meet with the mod ample 
 convidion. 
 
 When
 
 320 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 c H A P. Wnf.N from tliefe unfocial regions, where, by being deprived 
 
 State ot i>j- 
 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 fre<iuent]y without any alTiftance; nor is this 
 fingularity altogether peculiar to warm countries, but feems to 
 depend more on living agreeably to nature, than on climate, or 
 any other circumftance ; for we have heard it afferted by feveral 
 people who have been in Canada, that a favage woman, when 
 fhe feels the fymptoms of labour coming upon her, fteals filently 
 to the woods, lays herfelf down in a coppice, and is delivered 
 alone; which done, fhe goes to the neareft river or pool, wafhes 
 herfelf and the child, and then returns home to her hut. 
 
 While ignorance and fuperftition difturbed the human mind 
 with groundlefs terrors and apprehenfions, it was a prevailing 
 opinion over all Europe, that lying-in women were more fubjedt 
 to the power of demons and witches than people in any other 
 condition, and that new-born infants, if not carefully watched 
 and fecured by ceremonies and fpells, were frequently carried 
 away by them : on this- account various ceremonies and fpells 
 were commonly made ufe of j and even fo lately as our times, we 
 remember to have feen in the weft of Scotland, a horfe-fhoe nailed 
 upon the door, in an inverted manner, to fecure a lying-in wo- 
 man from the power of witchcraft. But this opinion was not 
 confined to Europe ; it pervaded at leaft half the globe. The No- 
 gais Tartars are the particular dupes of it; when one of their 
 women is in labour, the relations of the family aflemble at 
 her door, and make a prodigious noife by beating on pots and 
 kettles, in order to fright away the devil, who, they fuppofe, 
 
 Vol. I. 3 A would,
 
 362 THEHISTORY 
 
 C YU^ ^' would, if he did not find them on their guard, do fome mifchief 
 ' ^ ' to the mother or child, or to both. 
 
 Ccrcmonits BuT the time of lying-in is not the only period of human 
 
 and cuftonis ,. r ■ i-i ■, r • • r r. 1 i !• 
 
 arfingfrom hie in which evil Ipirits are luppoled to have a more than ordi- 
 marriagc. jj^ry power ; they are imagined by many nations to have the 
 fame at the time of marriage. The Livonians make the fign of 
 the crofs with a naked fword upon the door of the bridegroom's 
 houfe, and afterwards flick it in a beam over his head, as a charm 
 to prevent the power of malignant fpirits ; and the bride on the 
 fame account, fcatters red rags along the highways, and upon the 
 graves of unbaptized infants. 
 
 In countries where the virtue of the fex is fuppofed to be fe- 
 cured by their fenfe of moral rectitude, married women are under 
 no particular reftraint in the abfence of their hufbands ; but in 
 Hindoflan, when the hufband is from home, the wife muft not 
 appear chearful, muft not eat delicate \ndluals, nor drefs herfelf 
 in fine cloaths, nor fit at the window of her apartment, nor in 
 fliort do any thing but fuch as indicates forrow and fubjecftion. 
 In France and Italy, the cafe is almoft in every particular the re- 
 verfe, and in England the ladies are too faft following the fafliion- 
 able example. 
 
 In Poland the women of middling condition are not allowed 
 to marry, till they have wrought with their own hands three 
 bflflcetsful of cloaths, which they are obliged to prefenr to the 
 guefts who attend them on their wedding-day. In Wallachia, 
 the bride wears a veil on the day before, and on that of her 
 
 ^ marriage J.
 
 O F W O M E N. 363 
 
 marriage; whoever unveils her is entitled to a kifs; but to prevent 
 too much impertinence, the bride may in return demand a pre- 
 fent, and the requeft mufl; be complied with. The ancient Ger- 
 mans had, and their defcendants continue to this day, a ceremony 
 called Morgengabe, or morning gift, which the hufband is 
 obliged to prefent to the bride on the morning after their mar- 
 riage, and which becomes her fole and abfoiute property, and flie 
 may difpofe of it in her lifetime or at her death. Some traces of 
 a like cuftom are to be met with among us, but it is here only 
 voluntary, there it is enforced by a law. Formerly among the 
 peafants of Britain, when a bride was brought to the door of the 
 bridegroom's houfe, a cake was broken over her head, for the 
 fragments of which the attendants fcrambled: thefe fragments 
 were laid under the pillows of the young men and maidens, and 
 fuppofed to be endowed with a power of making them dream of 
 their future wives and hufbands. 
 
 In Adrianople and the neighbouring cities, the women have 
 public baths, which are a part of their religion and of their 
 amufement, and a bride, the firft time flie appears there after her 
 marriage, is received in a particular manner. The matrons and 
 widows being feated round the room, the virgins immediately put 
 themfelves into the original ftate of Eve. The bride comes to 
 the door richly drefled and adorned with jewels ; two of the vir- 
 gins meet her, and foon put her in the fame condition with them- 
 felves; then filling fome filver pots with perfume, they make a 
 proceflion round the rooms, finging an epithalamium, in which all 
 the virgins join in chorus ; the proceflion ended, the bride is led 
 up to every matron, who beftows on her fome trifling prefents, 
 and to each fhe returns thanks, till (he has been led round the 
 
 3 A 2 whole.
 
 ;64 T H E H I S T O R Y 
 
 whole. We could add many more ceremonies arifing from mar- 
 ria^^c, but as they are for the moft part fuch as make a part of the 
 marria"-c ceremony itfclf, we fliall have occafion to mention them 
 with more propriety afterwards. 
 
 Mifcellaiicous Of all the pafTions which fubvert reafon and deform the mind, 
 ceremonies, jcaloufy is the moft creduloudy ridiculous, and in order to clear 
 themfelves from its fufpicions, has fubjeded the fair fex to fome 
 of the moft unaccountable cxpurgatory ceremonies. Such was that 
 of the waters of jealoufy of the ancient Jews, and fuch alfo was 
 another of a fimilar nature pradifed by the Greeks, among 
 whom, when a woman was accufed of unchaftity, a tablet with 
 the form of an oath, which fhe was to take, written upon 
 it, was hung about her neck ; bearing it in this manner, fhe went 
 into the water till it reached the calf of her leg, then fhe flood 
 and folemnly repeated the oath, which, if falfe, the water, we are 
 told, as if agitated with rage at her perfidy, fwelled till it rofe 
 over the tablet, that it might cover from the fun the perpetration 
 of fo foul a deed ; if true, it remained quiet, and the woman was 
 cleared from all fufpicion. Might not the ordeal trial, which 
 was ufed for fo many ages, and for the difcovery of fo many 
 crimes, be a relic of this.^ But be that as it will, it was not found- 
 ed upon more rational principles. 
 
 To trials of this kind the fingle as well as the married women 
 were fubjed ; but of the chaftity of the latter there were other 
 circumftances, which the Greeks reckoned the moft convincing 
 proofs. Pain and difliculty in bringing forth their young, are 
 unavoidable evils, to which the females of all viviparous animals 
 are more or lefs fubjedt. But it was fuppofcd by this people, that 
 I their
 
 O F W O M E N. s^S 
 
 their gods, in commlferation of the cafe of a woman who was un- 
 juftly fiifpeQed of infidelity to her hufband, wrought a miracle in 
 her favour, by exempting her from thefe peculiar evils annexed to 
 the lot of female life ; and flie who brought forth a child without 
 a figh or a groan, and declared that flie felt no pain, was in confe- 
 quence accounted as chafte as Vcfta. Hence it isobvious, that it only 
 required a tolerable degree of fortitude in the wife, and a large 
 fhare of credulity in the hufband, to adjuft all matrimonial differ- 
 ences of this kind to the falisfaftion of both. But this was not 
 the only proof the Greeks had of the conjugal fidelity of their 
 wives : a numerous offspring was among the ancients reckoned 
 one of the greatefl of bleflings ; and to have it increafed by 
 two children at a birth, was confidcrcd as one of 'thefe favours, 
 which the gods only beflow upon fuperior virtue and chaftiry. 
 The wife, therefore, who brought forth twins, was by that cir- 
 cumftance fully cleared of every foul afperfion. So little, however, 
 is the confiftcncy among mankind, that this very circumftance, 
 which the Greeks reckoned the ftrongeft proof of the chaftity of 
 their wives, is, by the Hottentots of the prefent time, reckoned the 
 moft infallible proof of the contrary. We have given the reafon 
 of the Creeks for their opinion, but that of the Hottentots is ra- 
 ther too indelicate to be related. 
 
 On St. Valentine's day, it is cuftomary, in many parts of Italy 
 for an unmarried lady to chufe, from among the young gentlemen 
 of her acquaintance, one to be her guardian or gallant ; who, in 
 return for the hopour of this appointment, prefents to her Ibme 
 noiegays, or other trifles, and thereby obliges himfelf to attend 
 her in the mofl obfequious manner in all her parties of pleafure, 
 and to all her public amulements, for the Ipace of one year, whea 
 
 he
 
 366 T H E II I S T O R Y 
 
 C HA P. i^g fj^jjy retire, and the lady may chufc another in liis place. But 
 u.— -V'— ^ in the courfe of this connedion it frequently happens, that they 
 contrad: fuch an inclination to each other, as prompts them to be 
 coupled for life. In the times of chivalry we have feen, that the 
 men gloried in protedling the women, and the women thought 
 ihemfelves lafe and happy when they obtained that protedion. 
 It is probable, therefore, that this cuftom, though now more an 
 affair of gallantry than of protedion, is a relid of chivalry flill 
 fubfifting among that romantic and fcntimental people. 
 
 But the obfervation of fome peculiar cuftoms on St. Valentine's 
 day is not confined to Italy; almoft all Europe has joined in dif- 
 tinguifliing it by fome particular ceremony. As it always hap- 
 pens about that time of the year, when the genial influences of 
 the fpring begin to operate, it has been believed by the vulgar, 
 that upon it the birds invariably chufe their mates for the enfuing 
 feafon. In imitation, therefore, of their example, the vulgar of 
 both fexes, in many parts of Britain, meet together ; and having 
 upon flips of paper wrote down the names of all their acquaint- 
 ances, and put them into two different bags, the men draw the 
 female names by lot, and the women the male ; the man makes 
 the woman who drew his name fome trifling prefent, and in the 
 rural gambol becomes her partner; and (he confiders him as her 
 fweetheart, till he is otherwife difpofed of, or till next Valentine's 
 day provide her with another. 
 
 From fhedding the blood, or taking away the life, of any ani- 
 mal, both fexes of the Hindoos are ftridly prohibited by their reli- 
 gion. Foreigners, in a fneering manner, frequently take notice, 
 that, in England, gentlemen of property are only allowed by law to 
 
 butcher
 
 OF WOMEN. 367 
 
 butcher hares, partridges, and pheafants. Among the Walla- ^ ^^ ^^ 
 ehians, though there is no pofitive inftitution to the contrary, <— .-v^^ 
 yet the women never deftroy the life of any creature. Whether 
 this cuftom was founded by fome of their ancient legiflators, or 
 whether it originated from incidental circumftances, is uncertain ; 
 but however that be, nothing can be more fuitable to the gentle- 
 nefs and timidity, which forms the mod beautiful and engaging 
 part of the female charadter, and which, if imitated in other coun- 
 tries, might take away fome of that mafculine ferocity, which dif- 
 tinguiflies many of the lower clalfes of women in Britain, and 
 which they, perhaps, in a great meafure contradl from being 
 conftituted butchers of all the lelTer animals ufed in our kitchens. 
 How different is this cuftom of the Wallachian women from that 
 obferved by fome of thofe in America, who alTift in taking away 
 the lives of their aged parents, when they are become of no fur- 
 ther ufe to the community; and from that of the Moxes in parti- 
 cular, who, when delivered of twins, are faid to bury one of them 
 alive, from an ill-founded opinion, that it is impoflible for one 
 woman to nurfe two children at the fame time I 
 
 Feasting upon particular occafions is of the greateft antiquity, 
 and, among every rude and uncultivated people, longed for with the 
 utmoft avidity, as it calls together their friends and acquaintances, 
 whom at other times they have but few opportunities of feeing, and 
 gives a ftimulus to theirtorpid natures, by the intoxicating liquors 
 then made ufe of. In Egypt, when, upon fome particular occafion, 
 a banquet is given, the guefts are invited by a company of womea 
 hired for that purpofe. The company, commonly ;about ten or 
 twelve in number, is preceded by fome eunuchs, and on each fide ' 
 guarded by feveral Moors with long ftaffs : in going along, they 
 
 frequently
 
 J 
 
 6S THE HISTORY OF WOMEN. 
 
 frequently a mufe ihemfclvcs and the fpedators with a fong adapted 
 to the occafion, and exprefTiveof their fatisfadion at the approach- 
 ing fcaft. As the hgypiiaii women are in general contincd, it 
 fcems probable, that thofc employed in this manner are like their 
 ftrolling dancers, under regulations lefs fevcre. But though 
 this confinement is as fcrupulous as jealoufy can did^ate, or 
 eunuchs pradife, fuch is the veneration fhewn to their great 
 prophet Mahomet, that at Cairo even the doors of harams, which 
 are all the reft of the year watched by eunuchs, and fattened 
 by bolts and chains, fly open on his birth-day, and allow the 
 joyful prifoners to fally out, in order to celebrate a feftival to the 
 founder of their religion, and the deftroyer of their liberty. 
 
 It has generally been obferved, that thofe human beings who 
 enjoy the fmallefi; fhare of liberty, manage even that fcanty por- 
 tion which they have, with the lead degree of prudence and dif- 
 cretion; becaufe, fond of crowding too many incidents into the 
 duration of their limited freedom, they have neither time to ar- 
 range them into any order, nor to relifli them as they pafs. Such 
 is the cafe vpith the women of Cairo. On this fcllival, they fly 
 from one amufement to another, and in the evening, difgufled 
 with the whole, retire to their harams lefs impatient of their 
 confinement, and with a lefs extravagant idea of the pleafures of 
 liberty, than they entertained in the morning. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
 
 ALPHABETICAL INDEX 
 
 T O T H E 
 
 FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 ^ Temple built at Rome to the fortune of 
 
 -^ women __ 143 
 
 Adonis^ to lament his death an early cuftom 
 
 among women 341 
 
 — — feme account who he was ibid, 
 
 — inftitution of the ceremonies facred to 
 his memory 343 
 
 — — how they were celebrated ibid. 
 
 — — mourned by the women of Ifrael 344 
 — — by the Greeks and feveral others 345 
 Jfricans, their women totally negle<3ed in 
 their education 52 
 
 — — their flagitious charailer 271 
 
 — — were not always fo abandoned ibid. 
 
 • their own account of the caufes of their 
 villainy 272 
 
 Agriculture among unpolifhed people com- 
 monly the province of women 187 
 
 Alexandrian library not totally burnt, as is 
 fuppofed 52 
 
 Ameriitins, their women little diftinguiflied 
 from the men 15 
 
 • are enflaved and opprefTed 16 
 .. in fome diliricls vefted with the legi- 
 
 flative power ibid. 
 
 ■ had no hiftorical records, unlefs their 
 
 Quipos could be called ("uch 17 
 
 . eft'eiSs arifmg from the trade carried on 
 
 there and to the Eaft Indies 45 
 
 -. never correiSl their children 54 
 
 have only one wife 196 
 
 Aniejlris, queen of Perlia, her cruelty 234 
 
 Vol. I. 
 
 Amufemtnts and methods of killing time in 
 Europe 98 
 
 Ancients had fome fkill in chymiflry and the 
 other arts 26 
 
 Ancient inhabitants of the eaft, their edu- 
 cation 31 
 
 Ancient Grecian women employed in embroi- 
 dery and weaving 69 
 
 — — retained this cuftom till after the time of 
 Alexander 70 
 
 •^— had probably few private amufements, 
 their public ones not known 71 
 
 ' at religious feftivals a£ted as fingers, 
 
 dancers, priefteffes, &c. ibid. 
 
 Angels faid to cohabit with women 22 
 
 Arabs, how they enflave their women 176 
 
 Afiatic women, their condition not fuch as it 
 is defcribed in romances 104 
 
 ■ their general charafter 277 
 
 — - impoflible they can be good wives 279 
 
 ftrangers to the joys of friendfhip ibid. 
 
 — — debarred from the public exercife of 
 their religion 280 
 
 AJJyrian and Babylonian women, their early 
 confequtnce 113 
 
 ■ women not confined, unlefs they be- 
 longed to the great 114 
 
 fold by autStion for wives to the higheft 
 
 bidder ii6 
 
 Auft, their manner of finding fathers to their 
 
 children. 
 
 B b b 
 
 23s 
 Baby-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 B 
 
 Babylonian women, their early confequcnce in 
 Society 1 1 7 
 
 — — the care taken of their perfons a proof 
 of this itid. 
 
 ■ ■ admitted to convivial meetings 118 
 • proftituted by their fathers and hu(bands 
 
 in the decline of the empire ibid, 
 
 ■ obliged by a law to proflitute themfelvcs 
 once in their lives in the temple of Ve- 
 nus 225 
 
 • the rules they obferved in this pro- 
 
 flitution 226 
 
 ■ thefe rules and the proAiturion fomc- 
 times difpenfed with 227 
 
 ' their complying with this law is faid to 
 
 have rendered their chaflity afterwards in- 
 violable ibid. 
 
 • fuch fuppofuion not founded on na- 
 ture 228 
 
 ■ their licentious charafler 229 
 
 — - were probably employed inweaving and 
 embroidery 68 
 
 ■ their amufcments not known il>id. 
 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'<aions on it 100 
 
 Carthage, its origin ^ 121 
 
 CartJjaginiani (hclter the Tyrian women 123 
 Caufes that increafc the importance of wo- 
 men 160 
 ■ that divert them of property 206 
 of the good and ill treatment they re- 
 
 ceive from the men 
 
 219 
 
 — — thefe caufes arife not from nature but 
 from education 210 
 
 Charon, the origin of the fable concerning 
 him 225 
 
 Chivalry, the ob'e£ts of its inftitution 157 
 
 is extended be)ond its original inten- 
 tion ibid. 
 
 the mod honourable of all profcflions 
 
 while in vogue j^jj 
 
 — — what qualifications were required of 
 thofe who obtained it ibid, 
 
 • its efte(£ls on the mariners 1 5H 
 
 •—^ and on iJle treatment of women ibid, 
 
 had no tftlcl on the lower ranks of 
 
 m.inkind 159 
 
 its eiFecls in making the fair fex emu- 
 lous of praife and adtions that deferved it 10 
 
 loft tlicfe tffeiSs when its honours he- 
 came proftituted Hid. 
 
 Children, and other young animals, thrive ai 
 well on the milk of another, as on that of 
 their own motht-rs g^. 
 
 — — are preferved from many dangers by 
 
 being nurfcd by their mothers 9; 
 
 4 Chinefc
 
 / N D E X. 
 
 Chlnefe beflow no education on their wo- 
 men 51 
 
 — — teach thcRi only the ceremonies of 
 their country ibid, 
 
 —— impoitance of their women 193 
 
 — give no fortunes to women 194. 
 — — why they a(£t in this manner ihid. 
 ■ ' modefty of their women 280 
 Church- livings and revenues of abbies formerly 
 
 given as marriage portions 162 
 
 Complaints againft the fair fex i 
 
 — — whence they arife 2 
 
 Condition of the Egyptian women more ele- 
 
 gible than that of their neighbours 108 
 
 — — caufes of this IO9 
 
 proofs of it 110 
 
 . of women in the patriarchal ages 104 
 
 — — among people advanced a few degrees 
 
 beyond favage barbarity 184 
 
 Confejjion., in what cafes it was made to wo- 
 men 162 
 
 Confinement of women a proof, that a people 
 are advanced beyond the favage ftate 187 
 
 — — different ideas of it in different coun- 
 tries 188 
 
 Confideratiom on dancing, as praflifed by fa- 
 vage and civilized nations 85 
 
 Court of Charles II. debauched the morals of 
 the women 9 
 
 Courtezans of antiquity were commonly ftran- 
 gers 255 
 
 Cruelty, women of the patriarchal ages ad- 
 dicted to it 220 
 
 . proved by feveral anecdotes ibid. 
 
 . of the Romans to their captives 145 
 
 Cujlctiit its power in inducing the men of po- 
 lite countries to treat the women with pro- 
 priety 216 
 
 Cyrus, remarkable (lory of his perverting the 
 education of the Lydians 32 
 
 D 
 
 Dancing, fuppofed to be an amufement of the 
 
 women of antiquity 64 
 
 — — girls in the temples of HinJoftan Si 
 
 « how brought up 82 
 
 their privileges ibid. 
 
 men and women in the iQand of Uiictea 
 
 defcrib:d 84 
 
 Dancing proftitutes in the temples of the eafl 284 
 
 Daughters, not fons, obliged to provide for 
 their aged parents in Egypt 1 12 
 
 Z)f3(7«c^fr)' of the race of Cain si 
 
 Dcftreiice paid to women greater in France, 
 Italy, and Spain, than in England 209 
 
 Deities of the ancient pagans, favoured de- 
 bauchery and intrigue 229 
 
 Defcriftion of fome of the ridiculous ceremo- 
 nies of the Greek women at their religious 
 feflivals 72 
 
 Diana, the children of Sparta annually whipt 
 in honour of her 248 
 
 Dido efcapes from Pygmalion with all the ef- 
 fe£ts of her murdered hufband I2t 
 
 — — founds the city of Carthage ibid. 
 
 — — the account of her by Virgil only poeti- 
 cal fi<Sion 122 
 
 her death ibid. 
 
 Dlverfions and amufements the refult of idle- 
 nefs and affluence 60 
 
 Duzking JlotU an ancient punifliment for a 
 fcold in England 307 
 
 Eajlerns approach their women like divinities, 
 and ufe theni like flaves 14 
 
 their women confidered as an article of 
 
 luxury and pleafure 7^ 
 
 iheir women have no public amufe- 
 ments 79 
 
 their private ones confift in bathing, 
 
 perfuming, and dreffing themfclves ibid, 
 
 are brought in to divert the men at 
 
 feafls 80 
 
 Education, how it came to be neccffary 25 
 
 of the ancient Medes and Perfians com- 
 mitted to their women 31 
 
 — — makes a woman beloved anJ regarded 
 when youth and beauty are no more 33 
 
 — — of the (ireek women perverted or neg- 
 letSed in the early ages 34 
 
 of the Afiatics, Africans, and Ameri- 
 
 ricans 49 
 
 tends only to corrupt the minds of 
 
 the women, and fit them for flavery 50 
 
 ■ that of the American women tends to 
 
 fit tlieu for cverv fatigue and hardfhip 54 
 
 EJfefis of female learning 43 
 
 R b b 2 Eff^m
 
 INDEX. 
 
 EffiRi of European Education 49 
 
 Lgyptians, the inventors of the arts and fci- 
 
 cnccs 26 
 
 — - were the f\j^ people governed by laws 
 
 founded on equity 27 
 
 Egyptian women, their employments not 
 
 agreed upon by hidorians 66 
 
 — i^ their amufements confifted in religious 
 
 feftivals, and celebrating their birth-days «ij«/. 
 
 - were not confined 110 
 — — the refpect paid by Solomon to Pha- 
 raoh's daughter a proof of their confe- 
 quence II 2 
 
 i fucceeded to the inheritance of their 
 
 fathers ibiJ. 
 
 —— their incontinence 221 
 
 • women, various proofs of their incon- 
 tinence 222 
 
 Egyptians, the only people who abufed the 
 bodies of women after death 223 
 
 - their laws calculated to preferve chaf- 
 tity 'bid. 
 
 — — were not allowed burial till their con- 
 
 i\i&. while living was examined 225 
 
 Emprtjfa of Rome generally took the lead in 
 
 debauchery 251 
 
 Emp'oyrmms of the lower clafs of women de- 
 
 fcribed 9' 
 
 Englljh follow the example of the French in 
 
 libertinifm and folly 12 
 
 the wealth they have brought from In- 
 dia how acquired 291 
 
 ^ — fome of their women of fafli ion laugh 
 at charafter and defy fcandal 305 
 
 Euro;t, its ancient ftate 30 
 
 — — condition of its women 198 
 
 Eurcpi-an manner of educating women, its 
 tendency 49 
 
 . women, general flcetches of their cha- 
 rafltr 292 
 
 .. the good ofEces they perform 306 
 
 • fome of them confidcr chaftity as an 
 
 atonement for wanting all other virtues 306 
 
 . are fomctimes outrageoufly virtu- 
 
 ous 307 
 
 m treat every one with cruelty who has 
 
 dipt afide from chaftity ibid. 
 
 . effecls of their follies, foibles, and 
 
 vices 3°^ 
 
 Eurcpeam have contributed nothing to the re- 
 formation of any people they have conquered 
 or traded with 288 
 
 F 
 
 Fabulous ftories concerning the creation of the 
 firft man and woman ii 
 
 Fakiers, a religious feci in In'.'ia, which cor- 
 rupts the morals of the women 281 
 
 wear no clothes ihii. 
 
 have accefs to women at atl times 282 
 
 carry women to their temples, and pre- 
 tend to marry them to the gods there 
 worfhipped 283 
 
 Fathirs in Rome taught their children to read, 
 
 write, &c. 40 
 
 Faults of women generally originate from the 
 
 men 3 
 
 Fav urabh change in the condition of the fair 
 
 fex 5 
 
 /Vwfl/:- infants how educated in America 56 
 Female deities a proof that women are not 
 
 without confequence J52 
 
 Female favages, their c\nzTzQ.tr 265 
 
 — — have no idea of chaftity ibid, 
 
 their cruel difpofition 266 
 
 how they torment their prifoners 267 
 
 — — their cruelty equalled by theancientS268 
 
 whence their cruelty arifes 269 
 
 • their good qualities ibid. 
 
 /Vwfl/t' charafler indifferent parts of Africa 273 
 
 in Egypt 
 
 ■ on the banks of the Niger 
 
 - in the eaft and weft parts 
 — — on the banks of the Gambia 
 
 on the Gold Coaft 
 
 ' about Zaara 
 
 FefoU fociety, its influence 
 
 makes men effeminate, 
 
 ibid. 
 ibid, 
 ibid. 
 
 274 
 
 27s 
 276 
 
 314 
 f too much in 
 
 it, and clownifh, if too much out of it ibid. 
 
 effeds of want of it in failcrs and ma- 
 riners 
 
 its advantages 
 
 makes us ambitious to pleafe 
 
 fober and temperate 
 
 3'5 
 322 
 
 ibid. 
 ibid. 
 222 
 223 
 
 prevents quarrels 
 
 — — makes us humble and fubmiflivc 
 
 — — g;ves the higheft polifti to behaviour 324. 
 
 infufes more than half the fweets into 
 
 fociety 327 
 
 — — ar.d is the caufe of almoft every im- 
 provement in mannsrs and in arts 328 
 
 the difadvantages arifing from it 329 
 
 — — isfaid tofoften and enervate the mind ibid. 
 
 Female
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Female fociety, induces men to fquander away 
 their fortunes 330 
 
 ■ proved not to be the fource of theie 
 evils 331 
 
 Females lofe not their native fofmefs when ex- 
 cluded from men 315 
 
 — — but contraiS a mafculine air when con- 
 tinually with them 316 
 
 — — why they addrcfled in a particular man- 
 ner female divinities 346 
 
 Fidelity to the marriage bed, what the Greeks 
 reckoned proofs of it 365 
 
 Fighting in the caufe of women, inftances of 
 it 163 
 
 Form'fa, daughters there of more confequence 
 than fons 186 
 
 — — reafonofthis ibid. 
 
 French firft contaminated the manners of the 
 European women ii 
 
 — firft iniroduced the fantaftic manners 
 which now prevail in Europe 46 
 
 — — education the eft'edts of it ibid. 
 
 — ladies do not altogether negle£l learn- 
 ing ibid. 
 
 — — reckon every thing infipid without a 
 mixtureof the fexes 321 
 
 women, their charafler 294 
 
 — not diftinguiflied by modefty ibid. 
 
 ■ are aflive and reftlefs ibid. 
 • but indifferent wives 295 
 — — are above the cenfure of the world 296 
 -^— the patrons of learning, and give the 
 
 ton to new books ibid. 
 
 are eafy and fprightly in their behavi- 
 our 297 
 
 . their volubility of tongue ibid, 
 
 ■ their levity and inconltaucy 298 
 
 . their power over their gallants ibid. 
 
 reckon themfelves the only polite wo- 
 men in the world ibid. 
 
 are atheiils in youth, and devotees in 
 
 old age 299 
 
 — — too fond of plcafure to take care of their 
 children ibid. 
 
 G 
 
 Games of chance not known in tie early 
 
 ages 65 
 
 -— — flri6tly prohibited among the Jews ibid. 
 
 General ohkiviUons on the condition of the 
 fair f»x 210 
 
 on the women of Europe 244. 
 
 German hufbands, their power over adulterous 
 wives 151 
 
 Germans were anciently rude and illiterate 41 
 
 had no idea but of war, hunting, and 
 
 drinking ibid. 
 
 I their women poflcfledof any little know- 
 
 ledge that was found among them ibid. 
 
 — — women on that account acquired the 
 efteem and veneration paid to them 42 
 
 laid the foundation of that politenefs, 
 
 which now prevails over Europe ibid. 
 
 their women perpetually minors 150 
 
 were not allowed to avenge them- 
 felves on thofe who had murdered their 
 relations ibid. 
 • their women could only be noble by 
 birth or marriage 202 
 Giaga, the abjed condition of women there 1 73 
 Good Goddefs worfhipped fecretly by the Ro- 
 man women 345 
 from the very foundation of Rome 34b" 
 
 her myfteries celebrated by the velial 
 
 virgins and other ladies 347 
 
 in the houfe of the conful ibid. 
 
 — — everything mafculine turned out of the 
 
 houfe, and every male piflure covered, 
 
 during the celebration of her myderies ibid. 
 
 — — intruded on by Clodius 348 
 
 account of thefe myfteries by Cicero 349 
 
 her worOiip had nothing indecent in it 350 
 
 Goths obliged him who debauched a woman 
 
 to mjrry her, or give her a portion 148 
 
 their idea of the Romans 260 
 
 Greek women all ignorant, cxceft common. 
 
 courtezans 3b 
 
 Grieks behaved in a rough and unpoliftied 
 
 manner to their women 128 
 
 in what light they viewed the fex i 29 
 
 — — borrowed and lent their wives 132 
 
 — — their young and handfome men might 
 
 demand admittance to the wives of the old 
 and infirm ibid. 
 
 • fend a deputation from the army to en- 
 joy the wives of all thofe who were abfent 1 33 
 
 — — confidcrcd their wives as of no other 
 value than the portions they brought with 
 them 134 
 
 Greekt
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Grtiks frequently expofed female infants 1 34 
 . ■■ . general idea of their chara6ler 237 
 . their gods and men highly licentious 238 
 — — greateft part of their princes, who re- 
 turned from the fuge of Troy, murdered 
 by their wives 239 
 their laws favourable to debauchery Jbtd. 
 
 of Sparta obliged both fexes to appear 
 
 naked on the Oage 240 
 
 ill effects of this ibid. 
 
 — — held their courtezans in great eft;em, 
 
 vifited them publicly, and fometimcs car- 
 ried their wives along with them 241 
 . their reafons for fo doing ibid, 
 — — of Sparta condemned weakly children 
 to be put to death, as unworthy of being 
 reared up 244 
 Griek women confined to their apartments 129 
 
 their hufband only allowed to vifit them 
 
 at certain times ibid. 
 
 . their wrecched dwellings ibid. 
 
 • . were rot allowed to pafs from one part 
 
 of the houfe to another without leave 130 
 — — allowed when married to go to the 
 
 door jhid. 
 
 caufts of their confinement ibid. 
 
 . other hardfhips and reftraints they fuf- 
 
 fered 131 
 
 — — did all the (lavifh bufmefs 132 
 
 — — fome of their privileges 134 
 
 ■ were deftitute of the tendernefs of the 
 
 fex 143 
 
 and given to drunkennefs 245 
 
 Grindino at the mill, an ancient and modern 
 
 employment of women 01 
 
 H 
 
 Harems, how managed in Hindoftan igo 
 
 Harkts, that profeffion not unknown in the 
 patriarchal ages 220 
 
 Hindoo women in fome parts not rigiJly con- 
 fined 193 
 
 . how educated 5° 
 
 remarkable for cleannefs 51 
 
 cmploved in drawing and colouring 
 
 their cotton fluffs 7^ 
 
 I ot deftitute of tafte ibid. 
 
 /i'/lifry, nienton the education of women for 
 many of the ages of antiquity 33 
 
 Hottentots, their boys allowed to beat and 
 abuie their mothers 1^2 
 
 Hurons, their chief mufl defcend from the fe- 
 male line 180 
 
 ■ their council of ftate chofen by wo- 
 men ibid. 
 
 reckon it no crime for a girl to profti- 
 
 tute herfclf 265 
 
 Jafatiefe women, their (Jondition 194 
 
 ycaltufy, one of the caufes of the ill treatment 
 of women 215 
 
 Ignorance of the 14th, 15th, and 1 6th cen- 
 turies 42 
 Improvements ftationary in the middle ages 160 
 Imonfiftcncy of the a£lions and charadler of the 
 middle ages 156 
 Infiutnce of the women over the men always 
 moft powerful when attempted by foftnefs 
 and infinuation 3^4. 
 
 this evinced by feveral inftances ibiJ, 
 
 • greateft when they feem not to (how 
 
 it openly 336 • 
 
 is much augmented by having Nature 
 
 on their fide 337 
 
 h'.habhants of the north famous for the regard 
 to and good ufage of their women 153 
 
 of the fouth, for rapturous love and ill 
 
 treatment ib:d. 
 
 Injlo'ues of fiipcrftition having obliterated 
 maternal afFedtion 224 
 
 Jfraelite: maltreated their women and cap- 
 tives 105 
 
 JJraeli'iJh women obliged to draw water for 
 their flocks ibid. 
 
 their low condition, and the other mean 
 
 offices they performed 160 
 
 fome of their particular ceremonies 350 
 
 Italian women not more chafte than the 
 French 299 
 
 aitful in decoying and plundering their 
 
 gallants ib,d, 
 
 are not afhamed of intriguing 300 
 
 nor fcrupiilous obfervers of the laws of 
 
 matrimony ibid. 
 
 are allowed by cudom to have each 
 
 a gallant after marriage li/V. 
 
 — — are remarkable for family pride 301 
 
 "JiiVtnal
 
 INDEX. 
 
 'Juvenal accufes the Roman ladies of pedan- 
 try 38 
 
 K 
 
 Knowledge not altogether hidden from the an- 
 cient Greek women 57 
 
 Knowledge and good fcnfe neceffary in the 
 choice of a hufband 216 
 
 Knowledge and learning of fome of the Greek 
 ladies 58 
 
 Lacedemm'tanSy their rude and uncultivated 
 manners 318 
 
 Ladit's of rank and fafliion, their want of em- 
 ployment 89 
 
 - of middling fortunes too fond of copy- 
 
 ing their fuperiors ibid. 
 
 — — amufe themfelyes fometimes with the 
 fine aits 90 
 
 Laivs formed to regulate the conduit of the 
 vulgar 160 
 
 — — of Solon to prevent the debauchery of 
 the Greek women 245 
 
 — — of Lycurgus, ftri£tures on them 246 
 
 of the Romans to reftrain public pro- 
 
 ftitution 251 
 
 • did notanfwerthe purpofe 252 
 
 — ~ of the ancient northerns reoulating the 
 behaviour of the I'exes to each other 260 
 
 Learned women in France and England 57 
 
 Learn ng of the Phoenician women 29 
 
 LeJ/er Afid. employment of the women there 69 
 
 Liitie inclination of favage women for diver- 
 fions 60 
 
 Love of our offspring diminifhed by the pro- 
 grefs of politencis 92 
 
 — — prompts the men to behave properly to 
 the other fex 2i6 
 
 Lucretia, her condu£l and tragical end 247 
 
 L)bian women employed in war and hunt- 
 ing 67 
 
 have an annual combat in honour of 
 
 Minerva Hid, 
 
 Lycurgus confidered the fex as below his no- 
 tice, becaufc they were not fit to become 
 heroes 35 
 
 Lydians, their debauchery 230 
 
 —^ proftituted their daughters for hire 2-56 
 
 M 
 
 Mahometifm unfavourable to chaftity 284 
 
 Making ot bread an employment of the wo- 
 men of antiquity 62 
 Jtdamcody emperor of Hindjftan, obligei his 
 wife: to coDk his vi6lu,ils 173 
 — '■ — refules her a maid to aflift her ib^d. 
 il^(7i little different in a favage ftate from the 
 beads of the field 169 
 — — almoft deftitute of all the finer feelings, 
 and of humanity 170 
 Monlius, a Roman fenator, degraded for hav- 
 ing faluteJ his wife in prefence of his 
 daughter 249 
 M'-nners and cuftoms peculiar to women 338- 
 
 is a fubjetft involved in much obci- 
 
 rity ibid. 
 
 ■ whence the obfcurity arifes 339 
 
 — — a fubje£l of the greateft delicacy 340 
 Marriage portions an ancient cuftom 203 
 Married women of Hindoflan, how they are 
 to behave in the abfence of their huf- 
 bands 362 
 
 Majfagetcs, their promifcuous ufe of wo- 
 men 230 
 
 facrificed and eat their old or difeafcd 
 
 relations ibid. 
 
 Alatronalia, a feftival inftituted in honour of 
 the Sabine women 139 
 
 Matrons of the Iroquois, difpofe of the prif j- 
 ners of war 179 
 
 Megahyfus makes too free witii the women 
 of Macedon 125 
 
 is murdered with his whole retinue for 
 
 his temerity 126 
 
 M >u what they become when fecluded from 
 women 325 
 
 — — equally the dupes of fafliion and cuftom 
 zs the other fex 339' 
 
 Middle age?, (ketches of them 263 
 
 the men romantic and fuperftitious, 
 
 their women haughty and indelicate, and 
 their clergy debauched and illiterate Hid. 
 
 Modfjly and gcntlenefi-, two diftinguifhing 
 virtues in the female charaifler 218- 
 
 was not among the virtues of the early 
 
 ages 219 
 
 inftances to prove it was not then much 
 
 pradtifed ibid. 
 
 Modern Greeks as diflbluts as the ancient 242 
 
 Modern
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Modtrn Greeks marry for any given time 242 
 ^«^«/ emperors make their women dance to 
 divert them, and the grandees follow their 
 example 81 
 
 Morgetiybe of the ancient Germans de- 
 fined 363 
 AJolivis of women in adorning thcmfelves 183 
 M-urningy fonie cuftoms of it peculiar to 
 women 352 
 
 the drefs they ufe in it conduces to make 
 
 them feem more engaging 353 
 
 why it induces the kx to wound them- 
 
 feives ibid. 
 
 how obferved in Otahcite 354 
 
 how in ancient Greece thid. 
 
 N 
 
 Narva, a remarkable ceremony there 356 
 
 Natural to women to drcfs and ornament 
 thcmfelves, unlefs opprefi'ed by flavery 73 
 
 i wcaknefs of the fex among favages has 
 
 fubjesEtcd them to flavery 97 
 
 . in civil life, entitles them to prote£tion 
 
 and indulgence ibid. 
 
 Natc/ja, their woman-chief equal to their 
 man-chief «8o 
 
 — — the hufband and retinue of this woman- 
 chief obliged to follow her into the other 
 world to ferve her there ibid. 
 
 m lend their wives to each other 265 
 
 New-man ied people (uppofed to be in danger 
 of witches and evil fpirits 362 
 
 Niger, the women who inhabit its banks de- 
 scribed 186 
 
 Nitccris, queen of Nabonadius, takes the ma- 
 nagement of the kingdom into her hands 1 18 
 
 gives great fatistaclion to her people ibid. 
 
 N.rthern women anciently had the care of 
 every thing but war and hunting 77 
 
 __ — when they behaved properly were thank- 
 ed in their public aflemblies ibid, 
 
 fometimes enjoyed the rojal dignity 147 
 
 . were fuppofed to be endowed with more 
 
 than human wifdom ibiJ. 
 
 ■ were "iven as hoftsi^es in their treaties 
 
 with other nations wd. 
 
 . were prefent in the field of battle, fome- 
 times rallitd the men, and returned with 
 
 Northern women were admitted to the coun- 
 
 cils of the men 
 
 1+9 
 
 them to the charge 
 
 14« 
 
 were not fuffered to eat with their huf- 
 
 bands 150 
 
 . not to be gained but by valour and af- 
 
 fiduity 262 
 
 Nur/ing of children one of the moft common 
 employments of women 91 
 
 ■ by women hired for the purpofc, its in- 
 convenience 97 
 
 O 
 
 0/ the eaftern women ij 
 
 Ompbalc, queen of Lydia, her revenge on the 
 
 people for endeavouring to debauch her 230 
 
 Origin of amulemeius and diveifions eg 
 
 - of the confinement of the women in the 
 middle ages 15^ 
 
 of chivalry i^j 
 
 Original flate of mankind in the early ages 24 
 Otahiite, condition of the women there 195 
 . their women never eat with nor in the 
 
 prefence of men 796 
 
 . their chiefs will not feed thcmfelves, 
 
 but muft be fed like children ibid. 
 
 Otaheiteam hardly confider chaftity as a vir- 
 tue 266 
 ■ their women appear naked or cloathed 
 with equal indifierence 286 
 
 their infamous fociety called Arreoy ibid. 
 
 Pageantry and fliow moft reliflied by people 
 but little refined 207 
 
 Patau, the women there faid to be exceed- 
 ingly immodcft 285 
 Patriarchs, not remaikable for continence 220 
 Perft mi jealous tomaiincfs of their women i 24 
 ■ grandeur of their monarchs iiid. 
 . number of beautiful women in their 
 feraglios ibid. 
 
 kings fitf{ carried their wives and con- 
 cubines to ihe field 124. 
 
 their reafons for doing fo ibid. 
 
 their hws made it death to offer violence 
 
 to a woman 1 25 
 
 PerfianSy
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PerfmnSi their monarchs, though the moft 
 abfolute in the world, could not alter the 
 laws concerning women 125 
 
 — — their voluptuoufnefs 232 
 
 ■ their inceftuous marriages 233 
 — — the delicacy of feme of their women 225 
 Peculiar opinion of the Africans on the Gold 
 
 coaft 275 
 
 Peruvians did not choofe to marry a virgin 265 
 Phcenicians, their women employed in writ- 
 ing and keeping accounts 67 
 — — were not allowed to wear the Tyrian 
 purple 120 
 PhoUys, a people in Africa, who treat their 
 women with indulgence 186 
 Piiiure of German fimplicity by Tacitus 260 
 Poetejs lately crowned with laurel at Rome 57 
 Politenefs and culture, their efre£ls on the be- 
 haviour of the men to the women 208 
 Polygamy ?.T\A concubinage proofs of the wretch- 
 ed condition of women 107 
 
 ■ neither of them allowed in ancient 
 Egypt i»8 
 
 — — - unfavourable to chaftity 284 
 
 Partuguefe, their ill behaviour in India 288 
 
 — — the fpeech of a favage to them 289 
 
 I are fucceeded in many of their fettle- 
 
 ments by the Spaniards, who behave ftili 
 
 worfe 290 
 
 Power of hufbands over their wives among 
 
 the ancient Ifraelites 106 
 
 of fathers over their daughters among 
 
 them ibid. 
 
 Prefent mode of female education, its abfur- 
 dity 47 
 
 Progrefs of general education among man- 
 kind 25 
 
 Proper education induces the men to treat the 
 women with indulgence 115 
 
 Property, in what cafes enjoyed by the women 
 of antiquity 203 
 
 allowed to be held by the Egyptian 
 
 women ibid. 
 
 . by the Hebrews and the Greeks allowci 
 
 to women .i-O^ 
 
 — — not originally vefted in the Roman wo- 
 men, but vefted in ihem afterward ibid. 
 Prophecy of Enoch, an impofition 22 
 Punijhment for committing a rape in Eg\ pt iii 
 Puripcamn of lying in women, Ion,- 1 when 
 thev brought forth a female than a m .le 107 
 Vol. 1. 
 
 Putting children out to wet-nurfes encrcafes 
 the children of the rich, and diminiOies 
 thofe of the poor 95 
 
 Pygmalion mutdefs the hufband of his fifter 
 Dido izi 
 
 R 
 
 Reafom why men of inferior genus aflbciatc 
 with women, and women of fuperior ge- 
 nius with men 115 
 
 Rebecca, the humble manner in which {he ap- 
 proaches Ifaac 105 
 
 ReflcLlions on the education of the African 
 women 53 
 
 • on the European charader of the Afri- 
 cans 276 
 
 Rejoicings at death, inftances of it 356 
 
 Religion of Mahomet made little change in the 
 condition of the eaflern women 13 
 
 Remarks on the general tendency of female 
 education 48 
 
 Revolutions of manners in the reign of Eliza- 
 beth, of James II. and William 12 
 
 Roman women, the firft after thofe of Egypt, 
 who attained to any confequence 36 
 
 — — their educatioh ibid. 
 
 — — their virtues ibid. 
 
 their virtues how contaminated ibid. 
 
 — — their quarrel with the triumvirs 38 
 
 • their eloquence 39 
 
 ■ were employed in fpinning and manu- 
 
 fadturing clothes for their families 74. 
 ^ not afhamed of doing what was ufeful 
 
 and necellary ibid. 
 
 — — their diverfions the fame as thofe of the 
 
 men ibid. 
 
 —— fpent much time at the public bath?, 
 
 into which both fexes went promilcu- 
 
 ouily 7j 
 
 forbid to do fo by Adrian and by Au- 
 
 relian, allowed to do it by Heliogabalus, 
 and prevented finally from it by Confl^.i- 
 tine ibid. 
 
 of opulence gave out all their children 
 
 to nurfe 98 
 
 .vere under perpetual guardianihip 140 
 
 ■ • much ciamped by fumptuary laws ibid, 
 
 not allowed to tsfte wine ibid. 
 
 liable to be divorced at the pleafure of 
 
 their hulhands 141 
 
 C c c Roman
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Roman women, fometimes ill treated by flaves 
 
 142 
 
 . the honours conftrred on them by the 
 
 fenate I43 
 
 ■ had funeral orations pronounced in their 
 praifc ibid. 
 
 — — were allowed to minifter at the altar of 
 their gods 144 
 
 ■ were deified after death ibid. 
 
 were buried in the field of Mars ibid. 
 
 were admitted to convivial meetings, 
 
 but fecm to have been more eileemed than 
 loved I4S 
 
 • rigidly virtuous in the early ages of the 
 
 republic 246 
 
 Roman empire being overturned, mothers 
 began to nurfe their own children, and 
 again left oft" doing fo, as they became more 
 fond of pleafure 98 
 
 Romansy the early part of their hiftory only 
 fable 136 
 
 at firft only a few banditti ibid. 
 
 —— encreafed by the rape of the Sabine 
 
 virgins 137 
 
 . the firft who gave the fex public liberty, 
 
 and cultivated their underftandin gs ibid. 
 
 . were rude and auftere in their man- 
 ners r40 
 
 ■ introduf ed tlie cuftom of faluting wo- 
 men, toknow if they had drank any wine 141 
 
 Rujfian women, their difadvantages 199 
 
 • bride faid to have prefented her huf- 
 
 band with a whip, in old time ibid. 
 cmprefs, and the ladies of her court, 
 
 divert themfelves wiih fhooting 200 
 
 , women addiiflcd to drunkennefs ibid. 
 
 . the advantages of their condition ibid. 
 
 Sahina demand reftitution of their daughters 
 from the Romans 138 
 
 . are rcfufed ibid. 
 
 hive a conference with the Romans, 
 
 which ends in a peace ibid. 
 
 make a fecond demand of their daugh- 
 ters, and are rcfufed li/'d. 
 
 . overcome the Romans, but confsnt to 
 
 peace at the reii^ueft of the women J 39 
 
 Sabine women, the privileges conferred on 
 them for this office 39 
 
 firft infuf.d politenefs into the Ro- 
 mans 318 
 
 Salique lands in France could not be held by 
 women 205 
 
 ^— law, though it debars the fair fex from 
 fwaying the fcepter of France, cannot hin- 
 der them from ruling the monarch who 
 fways it 
 
 Sardanapalui, his effeminacy 
 
 employs himfelf in fpinning 
 
 Sutiri/Is who have declaimed againft 
 
 ibid, 
 ibid. 
 
 wo- 
 men 9 
 
 in all ages have maltreated the fex 4 
 
 Savoys, their ideas of dancing different from 
 
 thofe in civil life 
 
 reckon ftrength and courage the 
 
 qualities that entitle to preference 
 defpife and enflave their women, 
 
 caufe they arc weak 
 Savage women, their difadvantages 
 how afFe(3;ed by thefe 
 
 81 
 only 
 ibid. 
 be- 
 172 
 J70 
 171 
 17+ 
 
 enjoy perfonal liberty 
 
 — — are feldom troubled with the jealoufy 
 
 of their hufbands 182 
 
 have little or no property 183 
 
 do not {hare the honours of their huf- 
 
 bands ibid, 
 
 are the phyficians, furgeons, and ma- 
 gicians of the country ibid. 
 
 in Canada, are delivered alone in the 
 
 woods 361 
 
 Scythian women regarded for their fuppofed 
 fkill in divination 119 
 
 their fuperior privileges ibid. 
 
 ■ take the flaves of their hufbands to their 
 
 beds 231 
 
 Semiramiiy fome account of her 113 
 
 plans the attack of Badria ibid. 
 
 is married to Ninus king of Aflyria 
 
 ibid, 
 
 • obtains the royal authority for fome 
 
 days, and in that time murders her huf- 
 
 band, and ufurps his throne ibid. 
 
 in one year builds the city of Baby- 
 lon 114 
 
 is ranked among the gods, and wor- 
 
 ftiippcd in a temple n6 
 
 Send/nents o( the prefent inhabitants of the 
 
 €afl>
 
 INDEX, 
 
 eaft, concerning their women, the fame as 
 in the days of Solomon 14 
 
 Shoppings an amufement of both fexes, which 
 is wantonly praiSlifed only to give trou- 
 ble 99 
 Singing and dancing girls of the Medes and 
 Perfians brought in to divert a company 69 
 Sketches of the education inftituted by ijolon 34 
 Society, the ftate of it in the eaft 319 
 ^— in Europe 320 
 
 of women, its influence on the French 
 
 and Italians ibid. 
 
 Solon, his plan of education more calculated 
 
 to improve the body than the mind 35 
 
 Songs, religious and martial, a part of the 
 
 amufement of the women of antiquity 64 
 
 — — were accompanied with inflruments ibiJ, 
 
 Sons and daughters of men, why the antede- 
 
 luvians were fo called 21 
 
 Sons of God, why fo called ibid, 
 
 Spaniards maflacred the Peruvians, becaufe 
 
 they would not receive a religion they did not 
 
 underftand 290 
 
 ■ hunted the people of Hifpaniola with 
 
 dogs, and maflacred them in honour of the 
 
 apoftles ibid. 
 
 ■ their country and cuftoms but little 
 known 302 
 
 — — allow their women more liberty than 
 formerly ibid. 
 
 —— haVe a native honour and fidelity above 
 other nations ibid, 
 
 ■I indulgent to their women in fome 
 
 cafes 303 
 
 ■ privileges they allow to a kept- miftrefs ib. 
 
 to a breeding woman 304 
 
 Spartan women, their public diverfions were 
 
 fome of them mafculine, others highly in- 
 decent 71 
 — — famous for nurfing children 97 
 Speech of Hortenfia to the Triumvirs 39 
 — — of a female favage, defcribing the 
 wretched condition of her (ex 1 74 
 Spinning and weaving the common employ- 
 ments of the women of antiquity 62 
 Succe£ion to an inheritance denied to women 
 by the Lombards 204 
 ^— and alfo by theBurgundians 205 
 Supirjiition fometimes exalts women to the 
 fupreme dignity 108 
 Sybarites, their effeminacy 127 
 
 Sybarites, the fplendour and magnificerce of 
 their women i 27 
 
 — — effeminated by the ccnftant company nf 
 their women 317 
 
 Tartarian women, a particular religious cere- 
 mony obferved by them 351 
 
 -^— aflifted by the Bonzes in it 352 
 
 Timaradee, an indecent dance by the girls of 
 Otaheite 83 
 
 Times, the pad and prefent, cnmcared 309 
 
 how the paft are extolled by fome peo- 
 ple as all excellence ihid. 
 
 the prefent how condemned as all vice 
 
 and imperfedlion iliid. 
 
 of the patriarchs not better than the 
 
 prefent 310 
 
 ■ not better among the other nations 
 
 than among the Hebrews 312 
 
 To tend the flocks in the field, one of the em- 
 ployments of the women of antiquity 62 
 
 Treatment and condition of women, thoughts 
 on it 102 
 
 —— mark the point in the fcale of civil 
 fociety to which a people havearriied 103 
 
 in the middle ages, what 153 
 
 Turkij}) women employed in weavinj tmbroi- 
 
 dery, and mufic 79 
 
 dance, fing, and drink coffee in the 
 
 open air 80 
 
 —— are humane and benevolent 287 
 
 Tygranes, ftory of him 
 
 ^3S 
 
 Valentine's day, its curtoms 363 
 
 Fiew of the difadvantages of women in tiie 
 
 middle ages 165 
 
 they were confidered as polluted i6t> 
 
 ■ to abflain from them was imagined to 
 
 be the fureft road to heaven Hid, 
 
 fpent their time in a folitary manner, 
 
 and had few of the conveniences of life 167 
 
 were in perpetual danger o( being con- 
 demned for witchcraft Hid. 
 
 their preferal le condition in the prefer; t 
 
 time 168 
 
 C c c 2 rer.eliuns
 
 INDEX. 
 
 yeret'ians reftrained by fumpluary laws, which 
 their courtezans only can break with im- 
 punity 242 
 f<yi7j/ virgins, fome of them debauched 249 
 yi.w ot lociety in t:.e early ages 316 
 Firginta, her tra^.cal ftory and death 242 
 Vi'gim of the Sun in Peru, bow educated 55 
 Virtue of the Romans contaminated by their 
 intercourfe with the Afiatics 250 
 Virtues ot the ancient inhabitants of the 
 north 259 
 Vi/igoths bound by a law not to give more than 
 a tenth of their (ubftance to a wife 151 
 Voluminous books written in praife of wo- 
 men 8 
 
 W 
 
 Jfallachian women never take away the life of 
 
 any animal 3^7 
 
 IVant of fenfibility in the men one caufe of the 
 
 improper treatment of women 212 
 
 . of proper education in the women an- 
 
 other 213 
 
 . of care to make themfelves agreeable a 
 
 third ibid. 
 
 IVeaknefs of the fex a fourth 2 1 2 
 
 Why women are commonly greater pedants 
 
 than men 38 
 
 Witches, their fuppofed power over lying-in 
 
 women 361 
 
 Wives killed by fome Tartarian tribes with 
 
 impunity J?^ 
 
 Women of antiquity, their amufements but 
 
 little kno\*n 63 
 
 , ol Adrianople, how they receive a bride 
 
 at the bagnio 363 
 
 , of the Moors, how cnflaved 167 
 
 the methofJs ufed for dete£ling them in 
 
 adultery 3^4 
 not excluded from the learning of the 
 
 Egyptians 27 
 
 T forbidden to learn mufic in Egypt 28 
 
 , obliged to change their manners with 
 
 thofe of the men 43 
 applied themfelves to letters and thefci- 
 
 enccs, and became adepts in them ibid. 
 . obliged again to change their fyftem, 
 
 and for what reafoa 44 
 
 Women, became as famous for ignorance as 
 they had been before for learning ^^ 
 
 . betake themfelves to embroidery and 
 
 other kinds of needle-worlc 45 
 
 - ought neither to be pedantically learned, 
 nor infipidly ignorant 4Q 
 
 — — flumbtr away their time in the eaft in 
 relaxation of body and mind 60 
 
 of antiquity, how employed 61 
 
 arc fa fond of amulcmenis that they 
 
 fometimes do not confider whether ihey can 
 afford tht n or not 91 
 
 were intended by nature to nurfe their 
 
 own children 93 
 
 of the Balearic ifles more valued than 
 
 the men 120 
 
 — — of Lycia were the fountain of ho- 
 nour ibid. 
 
 — — of Carthage enjoyed their freedom 123 
 
 — — of the middle ?ges were poflefll-d of all 
 the knowledge of the times 1^^ 
 
 — — while gaining importance in Europe, 
 were lofing it in Afia 156 
 
 ■ were not obliged to fight, nor undergo 
 the ordeal trial 162 
 
 ■ ■ their condition regulated by the opinion 
 
 entertained of them by the men 170 
 
 of Madura, their defpicable fiate 176 
 
 why treated fo ill by the men there ibid. 
 
 — — — of Guinea, how fubjeiSed 177 
 
 of Hindoflan, not allowed to give evi- 
 dence ibid. 
 
 - of Potany kept to be hired out to public 
 proflitution ibid. 
 
 of Circaffia fold in the public mar- 
 ket ibid. 
 
 ■ cfFedls of their ill treatment 178 
 
 in fome places meet with more indul- 
 gence 179 
 
 ■ their power of fending the men out to 
 war in America 179 
 
 their perfons facred in Hindoftan 190 
 
 the honour of their hufbands concerned 
 
 in their good behaviour there 191 
 
 — — are without power, and without poli- 
 tical confequence 192 
 ' their confequence in Ethiopia igj 
 
 their difadvantages in Lapland, Norway 
 
 and Poland 20 r 
 
 2 Wmta
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Women cannot difpofe of eftates in Den- 
 mark 201 
 
 of Rome contended againft each other 
 
 for the perfonal favours of a player 250 
 
 danced naked on the ftage 251 
 
 joined in a confpiracy to poifon their 
 
 hufbands ibid. 
 
 were hard-hearted and cruel 256 
 
 ■ the proofs they gave of this difpo- 
 
 fition ibid, 
 
 were not much addidled to religion 257 
 
 — — when fecluded from men are lefs chafte 
 
 on that account 326 
 
 grow cheap by fhowing themfelves too 
 
 much 327 
 
 i bewailing virginity, an ancient cuftom 
 
 among them 340 
 
 ' why they obferved this cuftom 34.1 
 
 ■ account of fome of their fexual cere- 
 
 monies 357 
 
 • of Greece, the only ones of antiquity 
 
 who employed men-midwives 338 
 
 Women began to ufe men-midwives about the 
 end of Idft century 359 
 
 the methods they pra£tifed to eafe the 
 
 pains of child-bearing 36 
 
 Wounds and injuries done to women rated 
 higher than to men by the ancient north- 
 erns 151 
 
 Zaara, women of rank there keep their huf- 
 bands in great fubjeflion 181 
 
 not peculiar in this cuftom as it is prac- 
 
 tife by the fifters of the grand fignior ibid* 
 
 "Zaffe Ibrahims, their charadler 274 
 
 their great men only allowed to kill 
 
 their cattle ibid, 
 
 -^— their children, when born on certain 
 days, expofed in the woods, and frequently 
 relieved by the women tMm 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 3, line 15, for Liiv/ul read unlawful. 
 J^3> i3> for commands read command, 
 
 173, 1 1, for firj} defpot of it, read their firji drffot, 
 
 281, 20, ^01 are read it. 
 
 334, 20, for thdr read there.
 
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