286 Education. 



and feebler than those of men, and they are com- 

 monly more timid. This is not merely the case in 

 the more polished states of society, in which false 

 refinement, or injurious habits, may be supposed 

 to have degraded the female character; but it 

 is nearly, if not equally so among savages, where 

 women, instead of being wholly or chiefly seden- 

 tary, are rather the more laborious sex. How 

 shall we account for this fact? Does it not 

 seem to indicate a difference of employment and 

 destination? Is it conceivable that there should be 

 so much difference of structure between beings in- 

 tended for precisely the same sphere of action ? No 

 one can suppose this, who believes that the various 

 departments of nature are all formed by a Being of 

 infinite wisdom, and that in the economy of crea- 

 tion and providence, means are adjusted to ends. 



Again ; the important offices of gestation and 

 parturition being assigned to women, plainly point 

 out the difference of situation, pursuit, and employ- 

 ment for which we are contending. The various 

 circumstances of infirmity and confinement result- 

 ing from these offices, present insurmountable ob- 

 stacles in the way of that sex engaging in many 

 employments destined for men. If all distinctions, 

 except in the business of love, ought to be con- 

 founded, then females ought to be called to sit on 

 the bench of justice, to fill the seats of legislation, 

 to hold the reigns of executive office, and to lead 

 the train of war. But would such a kind of ac- 

 tivity as any of these stations suppose, comport 

 with their sexual duties? The slightest reflection, 

 it is presumed, will be sufficient to convince every 

 unprejudiced inquirer, that there is a total incom- 

 patibility between them. 



Secondly. To make the education and the em- 

 ployments' of the two sexes precisely the same, 

 would, if practicable in itself, be productive of the 



