liar duties which as women they are called upon by nature to fulfil. On the contrary, the ſtate of warfare which ſubſiſts between the ſexes, makes them employ thoſe wiles, that fruſtrate the more open deſigns of force.
When, therefore, I call women ſlaves, I mean in a political and civil ſenſe; for, indirectly they obtain too much power, and are debaſed by their exertions to obtain illicit ſway.
Let an enlightened nation[1] then try what effect reaſon would have to bring them back to nature, and their duty; and allowing them to ſhare the advantages of education and government with man, ſee whether they will become better, as they grow wiſer and become free. They cannot be injured by the experiment; for it is not in the power of man to render them more inſignificant than they are at preſent.
To render this practicable, day ſchools, for particular ages, ſhould be eſtabliſhed by government, in which boys and girls might be educated together. The ſchool for the younger children, from five to nine years of age, ought to be abſolutely free and open to all claſſes[2]. A ſufficient number of maſters ſhould alſo be choſen by a ſelect committee, in each pariſh, to whom any complaint of negligence, &c. might be made, if ſigned by ſix of the children's parents.
Uſhers would then be unneceſſary; for I believe experience will ever prove that this kind of ſubordinate authority is particularly injurious to
