Page:Essays, Moral and Political - David Hume (1741).djvu/81

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ESSAY VII.

Of the Study of History.

There is nothing I would recommend more earnestly to my female Readers than the Study of History, as an Occupation, of all others, the best suited both to their Sex and Education; much more instructive than their ordinary Books of Amusement, and more entertaining than those serious Compositions, which are usually to be found in their Closets. Among other important Truths, which they may learn from History, they may be informed of two Particulars, the Knowledge of which may contribute very much to their Quiet and Repose; That our Sex, as well as theirs, are far from being such perfect Creatures as they are apt to imagine, and, That Love is not the only Passion, that governs the Male-World, but is often o-vercome