1S24.] On the Eniphijment of 



dreamer; and it is probable that the 

 mind- is ol'ten influenced, during ils 

 most incoherent aberrations, by events 

 whicli liave transpired in former life, and 

 by the habits and mode of living- of the 

 individual. vi. 



It will be seen by this very brief and 

 desultory summary, that dreaming bears 

 no inconsiderable analogy to the first 

 stage of insanity. Both are influenced 

 by the same pliysiological principles, 

 and both act ulike during their conti- 

 nnancc. Uut there is this remarkable 

 dilfercnce between them, viz. that while 

 the dreamer can often recollect and 

 relate his dreams, the idiot is generally 

 rendered incapable of doing so by the 

 happy interposition of a fearful forget- 

 I'ulncss. R. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



THE scarcity of female employments 

 has always been in England a 

 subject of lamentation. On the Con- 

 tinent it is otherwise : there the women 

 perform all the duties of shopkeepers 

 and bookkeepers; and, in ail thriving 

 mercantile establishments, the daugh- 

 ters are as useful and as fully engaged 

 as the sous. Hence, though there are 

 enow of idle men in France and the Low 

 Countries, there are few idle women. 



In England female employments arc 

 more circumscribed ; and we find men 

 in the shops of linendrapers, haber- 

 dashers, hosiers, grocers, booksellers, 

 &c. all the occupations in which, on 

 the Continent, are filled by women. In 

 truth, the English custom, in this re- 

 spect, is a constant theme of their remark 

 and astonishment. It is enquired what 

 becomes of our women ; and it excites 

 no surprise that tiie degraded part of 

 the sex arc ten times more numerous 

 in England than in any other country. 



Surely this subject merits special no- 

 tice; and, amid all our institutions and 

 reformations, it seems to be one, in regard 

 to which, much good might be done, 

 and much happiness substituted for 

 extensive and indescribable miseries. 



It must be unnecessary to enlarge on 

 the cares created in families by the 

 dependence of girls, and the want of 

 suitable em|)loyrnents; while to describe 

 the complicated sulferings of the aban- 

 doned and deserted part of that sex, so 

 interesting in a state of virtue, would 

 till hundreds of pathetic volumes, and 

 afl'ord everlasting themes for the tragic 

 muse. I'iven the situation of the virtu- 

 . ous old maid is one of merited sym- 

 , patliy, — outliving at once the attractions 



AiuNfHLY Mau. No. aao. 



Women as Artizans, &^c. 399 



of her sex, and all the connexions of her 

 youth ; she exists nn|irotcc(ed, and dies 

 contemning and often contemned. 



In truth, though vtonjan is said in 

 England to be a Queen, yet it is oidy in 

 loveliness and in powers of fascination, 

 not in condition. Subordinate in power 

 and authority to her husband, dependent 

 on his resources of mind and industry, 

 and bound down to his fortunes or mis- 

 fortunes, — those who prosper and obtain 

 happiness are comparatively few in 

 number I Eut, in seeking a companion 

 for life, on whom their ftrosperity de- 

 pends, all the usages of socitty oj>erate 

 against the sex. They arc restrained 

 from making overtures, and must wait 

 to be sought. If they liave a preference, 

 they must practise self-denial ; and, if 

 they refuse offers made, they arc charged 

 with pride. In short, not one woman in 

 fifty (bound even as the sex are to the 

 lortunesof their husbands,) marries the 

 man of her choice ; while the man chosen 

 is forbidden, by our law of decorum, 

 from knowing that he is a favoured ob- 

 ject. It would be impossible to legis- 

 late on such subjects ; but it would be 

 useful to consider them, — to examine 

 them as we would topics inpliilosophy — 

 and to reason upon them as very impor- 

 tant to half, and the best half, of our 

 species. 



The object, however, of tliis paper is 

 to point out some means of rendering 

 the sex more independent; and, by giving 

 them employment, to render them, in 

 that important respect, more happy. 



The first plan that oft'ers grows out of 

 the peculiar constitution of women, and 

 suggests that, to a considerable extent, 

 they might be their own physicians. 

 Delicacy forbids women Irom freely 

 communicating with male doctors; and 

 it is well known, that thousands of 

 viduable women are constantly lost from 

 reserves in this respect. If a college, for 

 educating females in the knowledge of 

 physiology, anatomy, and materia me- 

 dica, were instituted, 10,000 of the 

 strongest minded of the sex might derive 

 independence from advising and pre- 

 scribingin female disorders, and particu- 

 larly in regaril to diseases of children. 



Another 5000 might subsist as ac- 

 coucheurs. 



50,000 shops,now served by men, ougiit 

 to aflbrd employment for 100,000 women. 



The employments ol 50,000 incu, now 

 em|)loyed as tailors, staymakers, shoe- 

 makers, &c. might be advantageously 

 filled by women. 



Thcie is no employment bctt<r fitted 

 fur the sedentary habits of women than 



a r that 



