The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1822-12-06
From the New Monthly Magazine
sATlAlsT.s ~ NoAEN.

Y - = > a. - \ - ~ " - ~
= B,l what 50 pure Which eu,lous Tongues
will spare
some wicked wils have lihelled all the fam
| PofI.
'qon me when ounces are satific.
take II Tor panesy rio. SWIFT.
ASAcRnoN, being asked why he adj
| dreisvd all his hymns To women aud NOM
IL the gods, auswc,d -" Because women
are my deiiirs = and the ladies were, no
doubt, nightly indebted In him aud smi-
iar soluptuaries Who sci them mp In their
hoilScs,as certain barbaroas uaiions did their
Lallcs, = L,mures, for playing aud orna.
meuts,to be- deiicd when their owners were
IL good luck aud good hnmer, x ,ilipendcd
x trudden under foot in every excess ofpas-
sion or reverse OF fortune. Little nattcr-
iug as is such praise, ii is still observable
! tllat the ancient writers seldom abused the
sex "in good set tcrms,o or carried their
viiuprrltlon beyond the exctsnble limits of
ralllery 81 a Joke. Socrates vented only
mttcsms agnst Aantlppet Nenarchus,
the comic poet, in noticing thai none but
the male grasshoppers sing, exelaims,
How happy are they IN having dumb
wives ~ aud Eubulus, another old tire
elan Jester, after mentioning tie atrocities
! Of Mpdea, tlytemucstra, and Phndra,
| says II Is bat fair that he should proceed to
enamerate the sirtuous hcrolnes, when he
| suddenly stops short, "ickcdly pretending
that he cannot rtcullect a single one. A
mong the Romans We know that Jusenal
| dedicated his sixth Satire to the abuse u
| the fair sex, but his worst charge only nc.
4 al 4
! If We are 10 infer that tAe RIGHTEOUSNESS Of
hls own life WIS at ali equal 10 the gross
! ness OF his language, we may safely pre-
saue that his female acquaintance were
moi among the most favorable specimens
OF the race. The unnatural state Of Mo-
narcii5m has been tie bitter fountain
whence has flowed most of the still more
unnatural abuse Of women the dark ages
have supplied all the great omaaes of
| hlsOgyns, who have rausacked TN II
lmaSlnhilons To supply reasons for per-
tertcd religion, aud excuses Tor violated
| humanity. Nalerius's letters 10 Ru6nus,
'he golden book of Thcnphrastus, and
| Saint Jeromc's Exhottatlous 10 Celihacy
have furnished all authors, from the Ro.
nance the Rose downward, with materl-
/ ais Of this uGmanly warlare,--so narrow is
the basis on which are grounded all the
sorry .ests, shallow arguments, and pitititl
scandals ol llbaids aud iampooners and
! so Easy is il obtain reputation for thai spc-
! cie5 of Wit, which as Johnson says of scrip
tn;ral parody, " II good man dettsts for its
/ immortality, and clever one dcspises for
lis LcIllt5.'
0haucer's Wife of Bath, Merchants Tale
. Sc, all borrowed from the above mention
ed sources, were little morc than good
humOrcd though gross caircatufes; B0i.eau,
whose tenth Satire is a more bitter denun-
! citation, should have recoIcctcd, that he
was naturally rs we'll rs professionally com
! peeled IL celibacy, and might have oonsul-
ted his friend i5ontenele upon the Fable of
the FoX.and the Grapes: il was perhaps
| 10 be expected that the melancholy DIR.
| Young, ht' under,alued human nature and
| happiness, should have lcvelIcd Lis shafts
against the master-p piece of one and the dis
penser Of the other--N oman but what
! shall we say To the contemporary satltists.
| Pope aud swift, each Of whom, after trl-
fling with and inscglinS the affections OF
/ two young ladies, WHO sacrificed every
| llillc IN the promotion OF Their happiness,
ailHh back rIom marriage, Or, il married,
N"rc not only mean aud coWardly enough
t. conceal II, bni uugrateful enough TO pub
| lii lIbels against the whole sex : Lei this
always ne rccolieclrd when any one ,rn-
lures the hackncyed quotation from Pop
-" Ese1y woman is 1T heart Il rakr"-
Most women have no characters ALP
The love OF pleasure and the love OF
sway - with other citations equally Just
! and novel. As 10 Swift, he can luckily be
seldom quoted IN decent company yet
efcu he could confess that the gros3ness
and degencracy OF conversation observable
III his time were mainly attributable to the
exclusion Of woman from society. Con
sci0ua that this seil-apot,lug ca'umny is
| somewhat Ike splitting against The Wind,
! later writers hafc generally md the good
SENSE 10 avoid putting themselves in the
way offs l,coiI oud la living author de-
! lishtS 10 went hi. spleen against the sex III
general, and MS wifi. in particular, he
! may plead IN his defence thai which he
lieve might be addaced by all similar libel
! lers-
: i. Forgiveness, 10 the injured doth belong,
thcy never pAid5n Who commit The WRONG"
| Nor be ii forgotten that such men may
, be only cXcmplyins the fable of III,
Painter aud the Lion, for il is easier Ia
j tgadGcc Fifty women than practice one vir-
/ tue.
--" Women want the WAYS
10 praise lheir deeds, bla men want deeds &c
| praise"
| do net merely admire women as til,
most beautiful objects of creation, or 10y,
them as the sole sources OF happiness, but
reverence them AS the redcemins g!ories o
! humanity, the sanciuaries of the virtues
the pledges and aniepast Of those perfect
qualities Of the head aud heart, combined
with attractive external charms, which, by
] fhcir nnint. allnnsf cxnlf fhen into liz. am.