238 THEPHILOSOPHY 



tens the defire of the male, and deters him from rudenefs, or im- 

 proper behaviour. Were women deprived of this amiable quality, 

 all their charms would vanifh, and the ardour of love would be ex- 

 tinguifhed. It is, therefore, not only the intereft of females to cul- 

 tivate modefty, but to guard, with the moft anxious attention, againfl: 

 the fmallell incroachments. Every attack, however apparently in- 

 fignificant, fliould be repelled with fpirit and intrepidity. To men 

 of fenfibility, a fingle glance of the eye will tell them that their 

 condufl is improper, and make them not only inftantly defifl, but 

 prevent every future attempt. There is no part of the female cha- 

 radler which men revere fo much as modefVy. It is the brightefl- 

 and moft valuable jewel with which a woman can be adorned. A 

 fine woman without modedy, inftead of gaining the affe(fi:ions of 

 men, becomes an objefl: of contempt, and even of difgufl. It is 

 equally the intereft of men to cherifh, and not to injure by indeli- 

 cacy, a quality from which they derive fo much pleafure and advaii-> 

 t.age. 



It is not unworthy of remark, that modefly is hy no means con- 

 fined to the human fpecies. Evident traces of it are difcoverable in 

 the brute creation. Even fo low as the infedl tribes, moft females- 

 repel the firft attacks of the males. If this is not modefty, it has all 

 the efiefts of it ; for it heightens the refpedl and affedion of the 

 males, and makes them employ every alluring art to procure the re- 

 gard of the female. 



It is a curious fa£t, that moft carnivorous quadrupeds are more 

 averfe from devouring women than men. The bears of Kamtfchatka 

 follow the women when gathering wild fruits in the woods, and, 

 though moft rapacious animals, do them no farther harm than rob- 

 bing them of part of th^ fruit *. The afpeft of man being more 



bold, 

 • Gazette Litsraire, vol. 1. p. 4S2. 



