17.6. ] 
‘« enlichtened philofophy,’’ therefore, 
may very properly be entitled, a ‘* cup 
of confolation for block heads;’ eee! the 
plain inference is, that “ there is no 
difference whatever between man and 
man in intellectual powers; but that the 
faculties of Newton, and thofe of the 
poor ideot, who at this moment goes 
whittling alone the ftreet under my 
window, are perfeétly equal; and the 
intellectual progrefs of the one, and the 
ftupidity of the other, has altogether 
depended upon the oferation of external 
eivcumftances.’—An opinion fo prepof- 
terous, it would be childith to convert; 
and the only refutation it requires, is to 
put the propofition itfelf into plain and 
intel! igible language. 
“Butif the truth of this sew and curious 
aemonftration* were admitted without 
difpute, it would prove a great deal too 
much for your fair Correfpondent—=It 
would prove that the Catherines, the 
Daciers, the Macaulays, &c. &c. pof- 
fefled no degree of original talent or 
genius beyond the mott trifling and 
infipid woman in the fafhionable circles 
or even beyond the poor ideot who 1s 
incarcerated in a work-houfe, or in any 
charitable receptacle for thofe who labour 
under a defect of the mental faculties. 
It would, perhaps, prove farther, that an 
ox, an my or even an oyfter, which are 
certainly perceptive beings, if they had 
only been placed ina fituation favourable 
to the operation of circumfances, might 
have compofed poetry like Sappho, or 
commented upon Newton, with equal 
fagacity with Madame de Chateler. If, 
on the other hand, we admit that in the 
cafe of the oytter, the afs, the ox, the 
ideot, and the man, there are degrees of 
intellectual excellence, why may not a 
fimilar gradation be fuppoled to cxift 
among individuals of the fame {pecies ? 
and if among individuals, why not among 
# general defcription of that ee ? 
The female frame is admitted by your 
Correfpondent, to be inferior in force to 
that of the male fex; and why may not 
a correfpondent difference exift_in intel- 
leét? The deftination of the female fex 
appears, by the difpenfation of nature, 
to be entirely different from that of man. 
“¢ For contemplation he and valour formed,”’ 

* Tt is called demonftration by your fair Cor- 
refpondent; but unlefs we are to have 4 new 
-Janguage, as well as a new philofophy, I fhould 
rather call it afferticn, according to the old yo- 
eebulary,: 
unremitting 
1.“ Muence on 
On the Influence of Cliniate. 527° 
The indi position attendant ona {tate 
of pregnancy, the tender cares and 
attention required ina 
nurfing their offspring, muft neceffarily 
detraét much from the opvortunitics of 
women for cultivating their underitand- 
ings.—Hither, then, women are formed 
for celibacy, or they are not defigned to 
exercife the fame funétions and offices as 
men. 
The faéts adduced by your Correfpond- 
ent, A.B. are, I think, &ubborn—T here ' 
certainly has not yet appeared a female 
Homer, Virgil, Newton, or Shak{peare 5 
but fil} the “eeneral argument has more 
weight with me. In every climate, 
every country, every age, the female 
fex has heen confidered and treated as. 
inferior to our’s, and when a faét is 
found to be confirmed, not merely by 
general, but univerfal experience, I can- 
not but be of opinion, that fuch is the: 
difpenfation of nature or Providence. 
fam, fir, yours, &c. 
C.D. 
ae 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
ON THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE. 
Mé: HU ME dentes that phyfical cautes, 
by which he means * thofe qualities 
‘¢ of the air and climate which are fup- 
‘« pofed to work infeniibly on the tem- 
“¢ per, by altering the tone and habit of 
“the body, and giving a particular. 
cued eae which, though reflection 
and reafon. may fometimes overcome 
“€ it, will yet prevail among the gene- 
Se Tay, Ou mankind, and have an in- 
their manners *:”—he ’ 
denies that fuch caufes influence the 
genius and. nature of Man. J do not 
mean to dif ate with him, that moraé 
caufes, fuch as the nature of government, 
the revolutions which may occur in pub- 
lic affairs, plenty or penury, that thefe 
caufes have not a moft perceptibl e and 
important effcét on the national charaéter 
of a people; but i ani inclined to be-. 
lieve, notwithftanding the plaufibility of 
Mr. Hume's arguments, that man owes: 
rouch of his temper “ to the genius of 
“food, air, and climate; and. that- 
perhaps thefe moral caufes, ae in reality, 
but efteéts, which flow (nen the phyficak 
ones. 
Tt is agreed on all hands—by Mr. 
Hume himifelf 4, that, chmate has as. 
influence over every other animal, eccepe 

+ Ibid. 
* Effay on National Charaéter. 
; Man. 

