184 
ledge i is certainly more valued, and more 
pains are taken todiffuie ir, than formerly. 
‘Young women, in the prefent age, ought 
to ‘know and vaiue the peculiar eee 
tage with which, in this refpect, they 
enter into life. Inftead of confidering 
fcience, either with fuperftitious reve- 
rence, as avove their reach, or with igno- 
rant conte mpt, as beneath their notice, 
they fhould pur! fie it with ardour, as the 
foundation of the moft ufeful and orna- 
mental attainments. But, I ought to 
afk pardon for thus unncecfarily trying 
your patience. 
et uous gcod lefions, kind aunt, 
are always welcome! It is, I am fure, 
our united r that you would goon 
to explain to us how far you think f{cien- 
tific purfuits are fuited to the female 
character ? 
Adargaretta. 
reque tt, 
T certainly would not ad- 
vile.a young woman to aim at univerfal 
knewledve: I fhould, perhaps, advife, 
ordinarily. a narrower field of ier rning, 
than would fatisfy the inquifitive mind of 
Eliza. With fuitable opportunities and 
advantages, I fee no reafon why minds of 
a particular caft, among-women as well 
as men, May not contribmte effentially to 
the advancement of knowledge. But it 
feems, in common, mof eligible that the 
objects of ftudy fhould be regulated by 
utility, Thofe ftudies which are adapted 
to fit a woman for aéting her part well in 
her perional, domeftic, and focial capa- 
city, and to quality her for cony erfation 
in the circles in which fhe is.likely to be 
thrown, appear to have the firft claim to 
her attention. Ina planof female itudy, 
£ fheuld ne Nas what Eliza has 
entirely overlooked, puninits properly 
literary. The formation of a tafte for 
polite literature conftitutes, in my judg- 
ment, an effential part of female edi- 
cation. When a peculiarly | favourable 
opportunity offers for acquiring clatfical 
learning to fuch a degree of perfeétion, 
as to enable the {cholar to read the writ- 
ings of the ancients with facility, it 
fhould not be neglected. But, without 
a learned education, it is polhible for 
young women to acquire a very correct 
tafte in polire Literature and the fine arts: 
and the elegant purfuits of tafte, I own, 
I confider, as peculiarly fuited to the 
female chara€ter. ‘They furnifh an end- 
lefs variety of amufement; and they have 
a happy tendency to cherith that delicate 
fenfibility, which, how fafnionable fo 
ever it may be to defpite it, muft always 
form an eflential part of female excellence. 
Without intending the flighteft infinu- 
Letter of John Bull. 
. as be{pected, 
[ April 
ation to the difadvantage of my fcientific 
niece, I muft remark to you the natural 
tendency which philofophical purfuits 
have.to damp the ardour of uaffection. 
vito men do not always become more ami - 
able exaftly in proportion as they improve 
in knowledge. ‘ThisI ¢ do not impute to 
philofophy ,; for I conceive its genuine 
effect to be, to reine every power, and 


meliorate every pailion of the human 
mind: [ impute! the detech, ta> parce 
the almott cxCintNe attention which 
thofe who philefophize pay to fubjeéts 
which folely occupy the underftanding ; 
and in part ve a preju dice not uanfuaily 
connected with a fondn nels for f{peculation, 
avainft fenfibility, as at beft only an 
amiable weakneis. Though fenfidtiity 
is fometimes affected, and is fome:imes in 
reality indulged to juch excefs as to be- 
come a morbid habit of mind, it is as 
natural tou man as intelleét; and, while 
it is regulated by reafon, is not to be de- 
{pifed as a weaknefs, but to he cherifhed 
as‘a foucce of the pureft pleafures, and 
to be admired as the laft finithing, and 
“higheft polith of the female charaéter, 
Philofophers—efpecially female philofo- 
phers—if they with to be loved, as well 
fhould cultivate the ima- 
gination and affections, together with the 
underftanding; and fhould be careful 
that, jn improving the head, they do not 
neglect the heart. But, it is high time, 
nieces, that.I releafe you from this tedis 
ous leéture. 
LETTER OF JOHN BULL. 
[The following jez d’cfprit was written two or 
three years aso, at a time when every body 
thought it neceflary to prove their loyalty, by 
affociations, and the moft extravagant decla- 
rations of attachment to the conftitution. } 
I HAVE long had the happinefs of 
being married, as I have often faid 
and fworn, to the beft of all poffible 
wives; but as this beft of all poflible 
wives has a few fancies, which I fhould 
be glad fhe were cured of, J have taken 
the “liberty to lay my cafe ‘before you. 
My wile, fir, has been much admired 
in her time, and ftill is, in my eye, a 
very defirable woman; but you well 
know, fir, that Tet wives wear as. weil 
as you can fuppofe, they will be the 
worfe for wear; and fo it is with my 
dame; and if I were to fay, that I can 
fee in her neither {pot, nor wrinkle, nor 
any fuch thing, [ fhould belie my own 
eye-fight, I like her, however, alto- 
gether, better than any woman I Poe 
ab 
