Can ſort, what harmony or true delight?
Which muſt be mutual, in proportion due
Giv'n and receiv'd; but in diſparity
The one intenſe, the other ſtill remiſs
Cannot well ſuit with either, but ſoon prove
Tedious alike: of fellowſhip I ſpeak
Such as I ſeek, fit to participate
All rational delight—
In treating, therefore, of the manners of women, let us, diſregarding ſenſual arguments, trace what we ſhould endeavour to make them in order to co-operate, if the expreſſion be not too bold, with the ſupreme Being.
By individual education, I mean, for the ſenſe of the word is not preciſely defined, ſuch an attention to a child as will ſlowly ſharpen the ſenſes, form the temper, regulate the paſſions, as they begin to ferment, and ſet the underſtanding to work before the body arrives at maturity; ſo that the man may only have to proceed, not to begin, the important taſk of learning to think and reaſon.
To prevent any miſconſtruction, I muſt add, that I do not believe that a private education can work the wonders which ſome ſanguine writers have attributed to it. Men and women muſt be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of the ſociety they live in. In every age there has been a ſtream of popular opinion that has carried all before it, and given a family character, as it were, to the century. It may then fairly be inferred, that, till ſociety be differently conſtituted, much cannot be expected from education. It is, however, ſufficient for
