my preſent purpoſe to aſſert, that whatever effect circumſtances have on the abilities, every being may become virtuous by the, exerciſe of its own reaſon; for if but one being was created with vicious inclinations, that is poſitively bad, what can ſave us from atheiſm? or if we worſhip a God, is not that God a devil?
Conſequently, the moſt perfect education, in my opinion, is ſuch an exerciſe of the underſtanding as is beſt calculated to ſtrengthen the body and form the heart. Or, in other words, to enable the individual to attain ſuch habits of virtue as will render it independent. In fact, it is a farce to call any being virtuous whoſe virtues do not reſult from the exerciſe of its own reaſon. This was Rouſſeau's opinion reſpecting men: I extend it to women, and confidently aſſert that they have been drawn out of their ſphere by falſe refinement, and not by an endeavour to acquire maſculine qualities. Still the regal homage which they receive is ſo intoxicating, that till the manners of the times are changed, and formed on more reaſonable principles, it may be impoſſible to convince them that the illegitimate power which they obtain, by degrading themſelves, is a curſe, and that they muſt return to nature and equality, if they wiſh to ſecure the placid ſatisfaction that unſophiſticated affections impart. But for this epoch we muſt wait—wait, perhaps, till kings and nobles, enlightened by reaſon, and, preferring the real dignity of man to childiſh ſtate, throw off their gaudy hereditary trappings: and if then women do not reſign the arbitrary power of beauty--
