they act contrary to their real intereſt on an enlarged ſcale, when they cheriſh or affect weakneſs under the name of delicacy, and to convince the world that the poiſoned ſource of female vices and follies, if it be neceſſary, in compliance with cuſtom, to uſe ſynonymous terms in a lax ſenſe, has been the ſenſual homage paid to beauty:—to beauty of features; for it has been ſhrewdly obſerved by a German writer, that a pretty woman, as an object of deſire, is generally allowed to be ſo by men of all deſcriptions; whilſt a fine woman, who inſpires more ſublime emotions by diſplaying intellectual beauty, may be overlooked or obſerved with indifference, by thoſe men who find their happineſs in the gratification of their appetites. I foreſee an obvious retort—whilſt man remains ſuch an imperfect being as he appears hitherto to have been, he will, more or leſs, be the ſlave of his appetites; and thoſe women obtaining moſt power who gratify a predominant one, the ſex is degraded by a phyſical, if not by a moral neceſſity.
This objection has, I grant, ſome force; but while ſuch a ſublime precept exiſts, as, 'be pure as your heavenly Father is pure;' it would ſeem that the virtues of man are not limited by the Being who alone could limit them; and that he may preſs forward without conſidering whether he ſteps out of his ſphere by indulging ſuch a noble ambition. To the wild billows it has been ſaid, 'thus far ſhalt thou go, and no further; and here ſhall thy proud waves be ſtayed.' Vainly then do they beat and foam, reſtrained by the power that confines the ſtruggling planets in
