The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1810-01-04

'"c sS'eer sensiOiiiueS OF the heartarc reQui- |
red IN an eminent degree. Domestic felici- |
~ Is never the offspring of mere sensation,
but OF cordial correspondence of senti-
ments and desires. As soon as the husband
renounces the puerile dalliance oil the lover,
ana ceases to consider his partner as a mis-
tress, he must hnd IN her an agreeable CON.
panion and a genuine friend through every
stage OF their Intercourse. But these quail
ties are the products Of early instruction,
and such is their Importance that the pre-.
sencs OF them diffuses gaiety and rapture o.
yer every scene OF cennubial life /; their alb
sence is disappointment. bitterness and an
gu'sh. With what extacy do we read of the
divine entertainment which Ko,zebue deri-
we'd from the sentimental refinement of his
frederica. with what disgust do we witness
the dictatorial asperity of an unfeeling boor
towards his submissive dame When we
look abroad into the world, how often do we
see the enthusiastic lover dwiRd,ing into The
phlegmatic husband; the 1oating maid into
the unhappy termagant, and whence arises
'his iameataale arrangement, but from
deficiency OF such rational amusements as
would serve to collect the scattered afTec-
tons into one common centre
|. 1t we pursue our inquiries still farther and
examine the whole Catalogue OF human OBJ
legations, we shall not find among them one
more sacred than that of cultivat:ng the fe
male mind. - The object OF every moral
process Ooborrow the language ola celebra-
ted writer) is the gcneratisn of happiness -
his maxim is the universal suggestion of
natural reason, and enjoins Oh US a tender So
i'citude for the we'll being of others. M per-
son VIII be so absurd as to contend that a
mere distinction of sex exempts him from
! this first of social duties. Is not. then. a We.
ry high degree of moral ,urpitude incurred
by permitting one half of the human family.
TO remain Iii state which neither possesses
usefulness, nor administers delight 1t is
Impossible that, in the gothic darkness which
AT present surrounds them, they can enjoy
any OF those ETHEREAL pleasures which consti
tute the peculiar dignity and boosted supe
riority OF our spcciss. They are strangers
to every kind of intellectual joy, and surely
taere are no enjoymepts more exquisite more
solid. more durable, and more constantly ac.
cessible than those which an enlightened
unders anding affords. He who possesses it.
has within himself resource. of happiness
| winch cannot be affected by the ordinary vi
cissitudes OF human life, and NAV defy in
proud security The impotent prosecutions of
malignant destiny.--The Arabian odours
the gentle zephyrs-the bleuded glories
which play around the consecrated haunts
OF learning, communicate thousand rap
furious delights which ignorance can never
know. To what higher station, then. to
what greater honor can any mortal aspire,
tnan to snatch the female mind from this
growing degeneracy, to emanciDate it from
the gross control of absurd preiudices. and
70 introduce it to that pure banquet of intel
lsctusl dainries, on which the pnilosoDher
teasts with une.oyed appetite9
| Let us not forget that as female education
promotes the public prosperity, so the neglect
OF 1t may be replete with the most disastrous
consequences. A vicious woman NAV NOT
only doom family to irremediable wretch
eehess' but she may imprint on the operations
VI government, every signature of execrable
oaseuess ana sanguInary cruelty. Did not
Niessailna commence the debasement of
Rome by inundating it with crimes. bv ma
King 1t a prey to the complicated horrors of
tyranny, and by suborning her minious to the
use OF the dagger and the poisonous bowl !
INA not hgrppina continue the progress of
tins debasement by numbering an uncle+ for
the purpose of elevating son+, who soon
became the instrument of her death. the
executioner of his benefactors & the scourge
of his peoplef
The influence of female society on the
iatiohal Character is too well attestad by
experience, to require any additional proof.
Every one knows that the Introduction of the
sabine women softencd the native ferocity
OF the Romans, banisled the roughness of
the warrior and replaced it with the refine
ment OF the gentleman. Although the DO
likeness and vivacity of the French are gen
orally ascribed to the lightness of their food
ana the salubritv of the air, vet ii is certain
that the general intercourse of the sexes has
not less contributed to render them the boast
of civilization.
notwithstanding all these considerat tons.
the cynIc ana the sophist will probably
withhold their suflrages from what I have
recommended to public attention. They
VIII sxciaim "that learning renders women
im pertinent and ridiculous, that they reonire
only knowledge of the duties of domestic
economy and obedience to their husbands"
but every Judicieus person will consider this
opinion as not less fallacious and absurd.
than its supporters are ignorant and illiberal.
re VIII recoliect that although females are
incapacltated to mingle in the turmoil of
battle or "to tread the weary labyrinth of
state, that yet they are called to Offices
which cannot be performed .ithout an un-
clnuded discernment and never falling
virtue.
10 be convinced that learning neither en-
Seuders impertinence, nor renders females
ridiculous, we need only to recu, to the me
morabie productions Of a Montague, SavIg-
nj and Dacier. These names will shed
long track OF glory on the annals of Iitera
ture, and will ever be hailed with the plan
dts ot an adrniring world. They are impe-
rishable monuments of the genius Of their
sex. and are alone sufficient to refute the
prevailing dogma offemale imbccility. Nav
q ma III, 4