of admiration of their personal charms only. The poet has satirically said,

"Some men to business, some to pleasure take, "But every woman is at heart a rake.”

All these defects and vices, supposing them to be true in their utmost extent with respect to women, are to be traced to neglect, or vicious education.

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All weak creatures, not provided with natural defence, must be cowardly; cowardice begets revenge, and cunning devices the way to bring it to bear. Obstinacy and ignorance must ever be inseparable in men as well as women. Curiosity is an inherent principle, and when divested of knowledge and prudence, and unsupported by science, it must be foolish, troublesome, and violent. Sensual pleasure is a real good, the désire of it is inherent in our nature, and it must remain our chief good till we find a better, and that' better cannot be attained but by philosophy and intellectual refinement. Appetite predominates in all children, in savages, and in all illeducated men, as well as women. As to dissipation, idleness, love of show, of dress, change of place, and every kind of amusement, these are the necessary consequences of the whetting and refining of appetite, without being possessed of the powers of higher enjoyment; and as to the desire of admiration for personal charms, how should it be otherwise, when all other ambition is industriously VOL. I. D

excluded, by the nature of your education, ör by the preposterous prejudices of society.

My dear Sophia, educate your daughters on principles opposite to these foibles and vices, and make them like yourself. You will then establish a foundation for the happiness of the men who shall have them for wives or mothers; and if they shall never be married, they will become respectable, useful women, and indifferent about the old curse of leading apes on the other side of the Styx.

O, my dearest Eugenius! said I, you have lifted me up into the third heaven; I will endeavour to fulfil your flattering desire.

My eldest daughter Alathea had now completed her fifth year; healthy, beautiful, and good natured, but without any extraordinary appearance of capacity. I set myself to consider the most effectual way of teaching the lovely young ideas how to shoot," in the mind of my daughter.

I considered, with the excellent Dr Beattie, that the mental faculties of children stand as much in need of improvement, and consequently of exercise, as their bodily powers: that it is of high importance to devise some mode of discipline to fix their attention; and that, when this is not done, they become thoughtless and dissipated to a degree, that generally unfits them for the business of life.

I adopted the inherent and strong principle of curiosity, as the basis of my power and influence over the mind of my pupil. I did

not trouble her with maxims and lectures, but infused knowledge in proportion to the desire of it, which I took every possible way to excite.

The desire I had to keep a genteel good table for my husband at a moderate expence, made me particularly attentive to the garden, dairy, and poultry, and all those advantages (which are furnished to a good housewife in the country. Alathea and her sister (for the youngest was quite an infant) generally attended me in these occupations, and they produced thousands, of little questions, all of which I answered in a manner suited to their capacities, drawing from them inferences in the same manner, that were perfectly understood, and afforded infinite pleasure.

Mamma, said Alathea one day, what is the reason that my pretty crested hen has forgetten her chickens that she was so fond of long ago, and is going along, like a fool, with the ducklings? My dear, I will tell you how this happens: the henwife cheated her, and put the duck's eggs into her nest, and she thought the eggs were her own, and hatched them; by and by the ducks will take the water, and the hen will forsake them. A hen would not do this, if she were at home, and had learnt to shift for herself in the fields by. gathering seeds and corn; but we have brought hens about the house, and by having every thing done for them by the servants, they have become silly and helpless. O, mamma, what a

terrible thing is this! will you teach me how to do every thing for myself? Yes, my dear, I will with all my heart, &c. &c.

Thus I initiated my Alathea in the history of nature, and in general politics, beginning with her at five years old, and her sister soon after became a novice in the same science. I found one day Alathea in tears for the loss of one of her garters; I condoled with her, but told her, that one of my own garters was worn through, so that I wanted one, as well as herself, but that I was busy making another in its stead. I took out of my pocket a worsted garter half wrought upon quills, and began to knit, saying, it should not be long before I cured my misfortune. O, mamma! will you teach me to make garters?, I set Alathea immediately to work; and in the course of a day or two, I taught her to knit in this simple manner; and in the course of a fortnight or three weeks, she comes in transports with a pair of garters of her own handywork. She then proposes to work a pair for me in return for my having taught her the art, and then a pair for her sister Isabella: all goes on charmingly; the habits of industry and independence are established; she is as playful and happy as ever, but she never tires in the intervals. By and by, Isabella imitates her example; and I see the fruits of my system forming in the tree that I had planted. In this way I trained my daughters to all feminine employments; and at the same time

continually cultivated their understandings, and regulated the strength of their imagina tions.

Alathea seeing the cook one day puzzled about the affairs of the kitchen, and coming to consult me, was surprised to find me looking into a book, and turning over the pages, instead of returning an answer. O, mamma! why don't you tell peor Mary what she is to do? I am looking here, my dear, to be able to instruct her. I wrote out a receipt from the book; and having given it to the maid, away she goes, and all is right again. Alathea, after some very interesting silence and beautiful expression of countenance, looks at me with pleasing astonishment, and says, O, my dear mamma! will you teach me to help poor Mary, when you are out of the way, and papá has company to dinner? Yes, my dear Alathea; but this will take a long time; for you must learn both to read and to write before you can do this. Then her little soul is all on fire to learn, and I begin, without delay, to initiate her in the use of letters, teaching her as I go along, by illustrations suited to her infantine capacity, the reason as well as the mechanism of language, as far as she could understand them; and she is the happiest of students, because she sees the reward of her studies at a distance, yet certainly attainable, while the road to it is easy and delightful.

My girls had a play-fellow or two of the