Rank And
Manners Awe The One, And Cunning And Wantonness Subjugate The Other;
Ambition Creeping Into The Woman's Passion, And Tyranny Giving Force
To The Man's, For Most Men Treat Their Mistresses As Kings Do Their
Favourites:
Ergo is not man then the tyrant of the creation?
Still harping on the same subject, you will exclaim - How can I avoid
it, when most of the struggles of an eventful life have been
occasioned by the oppressed state of my sex? We reason deeply when
we feel forcibly.
But to return to the straight road of observation. The sensuality
so prevalent appears to me to arise rather from indolence of mind
and dull senses, than from an exuberance of life, which often
fructifies the whole character when the vivacity of youthful spirits
begins to subside into strength of mind.
I have before mentioned that the men are domestic tyrants,
considering them as fathers, brothers, or husbands; but there is a
kind of interregnum between the reign of the father and husband
which is the only period of freedom and pleasure that the women
enjoy. Young people who are attached to each other, with the
consent of their friends, exchange rings, and are permitted to enjoy
a degree of liberty together which 1 have never noticed in any other
country. The days of courtship are, therefore, prolonged till it be
perfectly convenient to marry: the intimacy often becomes very
tender; and if the lover obtain the privilege of a husband, it can
only be termed half by stealth, because the family is wilfully
blind. It happens very rarely that these honorary engagements are
dissolved or disregarded, a stigma being attached to a breach of
faith which is thought more disgraceful, if not so criminal, as the
violation of the marriage-vow.
Do not forget that, in my general observations, I do not pretend to
sketch a national character, but merely to note the present state of
morals and manners as I trace the progress of the world's
improvement. Because, during my residence in different countries,
my principal object has been to take such a dispassionate view of
men as will lead me to form a just idea of the nature of man. And,
to deal ingenuously with you, I believe I should have been less
severe in the remarks I have made on the vanity and depravity of the
French, had I travelled towards the north before I visited France.
The interesting picture frequently drawn of the virtues of a rising
people has, I fear, been fallacious, excepting the accounts of the
enthusiasm which various public struggles have produced. We talk of
the depravity of the French, and lay a stress on the old age of the
nation; yet where has more virtuous enthusiasm been displayed than
during the two last years by the common people of France, and in
their armies? I am obliged sometimes to recollect the numberless
instances which I have either witnessed, or heard well
authenticated, to balance the account of horrors, alas!
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