credulity of women, pretending to caſt nativities, to uſe the technical word; and many females who, proud of their rank and fortune, look down on the vulgar with ſovereign contempt, ſhew by this credulity, that the diſtinction is arbitrary, and that they have not ſufficiently cultivated their minds to riſe above vulgar prejudices. Women, becauſe they have not been led to conſider the knowledge of their duty as the one thing neceſſary to know, or, to live in the preſent moment by the diſcharge of it, are very anxious to peep into futurity, to learn what they have to expect to render life intereſting, and to break the vacuum of ignorance.
I muſt be allowed to expoſtulate ſeriouſly with the ladies who follow theſe idle inventions; for ladies, miſtreſſes of families, are not aſhamed to drive in their own carriages to the door of the cunning man[1]. And if any of them ſhould peruſe this work, I entreat them to anſwer to their own hearts the following queſtions, not forgetting that they are in the preſence of God.
Do you believe that there is but one God, and that he is powerful, wiſe, and good?
Do you believe that all things were created by him, and that all beings are dependent on him?
Do you rely on his wiſdom, ſo conſpicuous in his works, and in your own frame, and are you convinced that he has ordered all things which do not come under the cognizance of your ſenſes, in the ſame perfect harmony, to fulfil his deſigns?
- ↑ I once lived in the neighbourhood of one of theſe men, a handſome man, and ſaw with ſurpriſe and indignation, women, whoſe appearance and attendance beſpoke that rank in which females are ſuppoſed to receive a ſuperiour education, flock to his door.
