When Richardſon[1] makes Clariſſa tell Lovelace that he had robbed her of her honour, he muſt have had ſtrange notions of honour and virtue. For, miſerable beyond all names of miſery is the condition of a being, who could be degraded without its own conſent! This exceſs of ſtrictneſs I have heard vindicated as a ſalutary error. I ſhall anſwer in the words of Leibnitz–'Errors are often uſeful; but it is commonly to remedy other errors.'
Moſt of the evils of life ariſe from a deſire of preſent enjoyment that outruns itſelf. The obedience required of women in the marriage ſtate comes under this deſcription; the mind naturally weakened by depending on authority, never exerts its own powers, and the obedient wife is thus rendered a weak indolent mother. Or, ſuppoſing that this is not always the conſequence, a future ſtate of exiſtence is ſcarcely taken into the reckoning when only negative virtues are cultivated. For, in treating of morals, particularly when women are alluded to, writers have too often conſidered virtue in a very limited ſenſe, and made the foundation of it ſolely worldly utility; nay, a ſtill more fragile baſe has been given to this ſtupendous fabric, and the wayward fluctuating feelings of men have been made the ſtandard of virtue. Yes, virtue as well as religion, has been ſubjected to the deciſions of taſte.
It would almoſt provoke a ſmile of contempt, if the vain abſurdities of man did not ſtrike us on all ſides, to obſerve, how eager men are to degrade
- ↑ Dr. Young ſupports the ſame opinion, in his plays, when he talks of the misfortune that ſhunned the light of day.
