Page:Vindication Women's Rights (Wollstonecraft).djvu/276

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VINDICATION OF THE

From the clear ſtream of argument, indeed, the ſupporters of preſcription, of every denomination, fly; and, taking refuge in the darkneſs, which, in the language of ſublime poetry, has been ſuppoſed to ſurround the throne of Omnipotence, they dare to demand that implicit reſpect which is only due to His unſearchable ways. But, let me not be thought preſumptuous, the darkneſs which hides our God from us, only reſpects ſpeculative truths—it never obſcures moral ones, they ſhine clearly, for God is light, and never, by the conſtitution of our nature, requires the diſcharge of a duty, the reaſonableneſs of which does not beam on us when we open our eyes.

The indolent parent of high rank may, it is true, extort a ſhew of reſpect from his child, and females on the continent are particularly ſubject to the views of their families, who never think of conſulting their inclination, or providing for the comfort of the poor victims of their pride. The conſequence is notorious; theſe dutiful daughters become adultereſſes, and neglect the education of their children, from whom they, in their turn, exact the ſame kind of obedience.

Females, it is true, in all countries, are too much under the dominion of their parents; and few parents think of addreſſing their children in the following manner, though it is in this reaſonable way that Heaven ſeems to command the whole human race, it is your intereſt to obey me till you can judge for yourſelf; and the Almighty Father of all has implanted an affection in me to ſerve as a guard to you whilſt your rea-

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