is inſeparable from their ſex; nor do they ever throw it off but to ſuffer more cruel evils. They muſt be ſubject, all their lives, to the moſt conſtant and ſevere reſtraint, which is that of decorum: it is, therefore neceſſary to accuſtom them early to ſuch confinement, that it may not afterwards coſt them too dear; and to the ſuppreſſion of their caprices, that they may the more readily ſubmit to the will of others. If, indeed, they are fond of being always at work, they ſhould be ſometimes compelled to lay it aſide. Diſſipation, levity, and inconſtancy, are faults that readily ſpring up from their firſt propenſities, when corrupted or perverted by too much indulgence. To prevent this abuſe, we ſhould learn them, above all things, to lay a due reſtraint on themſelves. The life of a modeſt woman is reduced, by our abſurd inſtitutions, to a perpetual conflict with herſelf: not but it is juſt that this ſex ſhould partake of the ſufferings which ariſe from thoſe evils it hath cauſed us.'
And why is the life of a modeſt woman a perpetual conflict? I ſhould anſwer, that this very ſyſtem of education makes it ſo. Modeſty, temperance, and ſelf-denial, are the ſober offspring of reaſon; but when ſenſibility is nurtured at the expenſe of the underſtanding, ſuch weak beings muſt be reſtrained by arbitrary means, and be ſubjected to continual conflicts; but give their activity of mind a wider range, and nobler paſſions and motives will govern their appetites and ſentiments.
