CLII. I shall conclude this discourse, by endeavouring to set aside
an exception that may be made to the undertaking; which is, that
persuading mankind of the intellectual equality of both sexes, does
not seem to be productive of any utility to the public, but is rather
likely to occasion mischief, as it tends to foment in the women,
presumption and pride.
CLIII. I might reply to this scruple, by only saying, that, in whatever
matter that may present itself to our reflection, knowing the truth,
and setting aside error, is an utility which is apparent, and of itself
sufficient to justify our enquiry. The right understanding of things,
is of itself estimable, without regard to any other end or object in
the creation. Truths have their intrinsic value: and the stock, or
riches of the understanding, does not consist of any other money. Some
pieces are more valuable than others, but none are useless. Nor can
the truth we have proved, of itself, induce in the women vanity or
presumption. If they, in the perfections of the soul, are truly equal
to us, there can be no harm in their knowing, or being sensible of it.
St. Thomas, speaking of vain-glory, says, this sin is not incurred by a
man’s knowing, or being convinced of the perfection he possesses, and
which is contained in him: _Quod autem aliquis bonum suum cognoscat,
& approbet, non est peccatum (2 Quæst. 132. Art. 1.)_ and in another
place, speaking of presumption, he says, this vice is always founded
in some error or mistake of the understanding: _Præsumptio autem est
motus appetitivus, quia importat quondam spem inordinatam, habet
autem se conformiter intellectui falso (Quæst. 22. Art. 2.)_ The
women then, by knowing what they are, if they don’t estimate their
qualifications above their real value, can never become vain-glorious,
or presumptuous; but by attending to the thing, it will be found, the
deception this chapter is calculated to remove, will rather have a
different effect; and instead of adding presumption to the women, will
take it away from the men.
CLIV. Though I go further, and maintain, the maxim we have established,
is not only incapable of occasioning any moral evil, but that it
may be productive of much good. Consider, how many men the imagined
superiority of talents, has emboldened to attempt criminal conquests
over the other sex. In every encounter, the confidence, or diffidence
of a person’s own strength or power, goes a great way towards
determining the event of the conflict. The man, presuming on the
advantage of his superior understanding, proposes boldly; the woman,
judging herself inferior, listens with respect. Who can deny, that
such circumstances promote a great tendency and disposition, to his
becoming a conqueror, and her falling a victim?
CLV. Let the women then know, that, in point of understanding, they
are not inferior to the men. They will then determine with confidence,
on repelling and refuting those sophisms, by which, under the colour
and pretence of reason and arguments, the men attempt injustice and
injuries. If a woman can be persuaded, that a man compared to her,
is an oracle, she will lend an attentive ear to the most indignant
proposition, and will reverence as an infallible truth, the most
notorious falsehood. It is very well known, into what acts of turpitude
many women have been drawn, by the sect called Molinists, who, before
their practices upon them, were esteemed very virtuous persons. This
perversion, proceeded from no other cause, than their having considered
these Molinists, as men of superior lights and talents, and their
having entertained an extreme distrust of their own understandings,
when they represented to them clearly, the falsity of those venomous
dogmas.
CLVI. There is another consideration to be attended to, which is of
great importance in this matter. It is certain, that every one submits
easily, and without reluctance, to a person, who he is sensible has
some notable advantage over him. A man serves another man without
regret, who is more noble than himself, but he does it with great
repugnance, if they happen to be equal in birth. The same thing is
observable, or may be applied to the case we are treating of. If a
woman is under the mistake, that a man is of a much more noble sex than
herself, and that she, from a defect in her’s, in comparison to him,
is a poor contemptible animal of little value, she will think it no
shame to submit to him; and by these pre-disposing circumstances, being
aided with the flattery of obsequiousness, she may be betrayed into
esteeming that as an honour, which in reality is ignominious. To use
the words of St. Leon’s exclamation to the men, let the women then know
their dignity, and let them be sensible, that, in point of intellectual
capacity, our sex has no advantage over them, and that it will ever
be opprobrious and vile in them, to allow a man the dominion of their
bodies, save when he is empowered to claim it, by the authority, and
under the sanction, of holy matrimony.
CLVII. I have not yet told all the utility, which, in a moral sense,
will result to both the men and the women, by extricating them from the
error they lay under, with respect to the inequality of the sexes. I
firmly believe, this error is the cause, of many marriage-beds having
been dishonoured and contaminated with adulteries. It may seem that I
am entangling myself in a strange paradox, but this is not the case; I
having done no more, than assert an established truth. Attend.
CLVIII. A few months after the souls of two consorts, are united
together by the matrimonial bond, a woman begins to lose that
estimation, which she at first obtained, as a delectable object newly
acquired, and recently possessed. The man, passes from tenderness to
lukewarmness, which lukewarmness many times, comes to end in contempt,
and positive disestimation. When the husband arrives at this vicious
extreme, he, presuming on the advantages which he supposes to be
annexed to the superiority of his sex, begins to triumph over, and
insult his wife; instructed by, and versed in those sentences, which
pronounce, that the most which a woman can attain, may be attained
by a boy of fourteen years old, and that it is in vain, to seek for
either sense or prudence in them, together with other ridiculous,
and injurious reflections of the same kind; treating every thing he
observes in his wife, with the utmost contempt. In this situation, if
the poor woman attempts to remonstrate, she is accused of raving; all
she says, is impertinent, and foreign to the purpose; all she does
is wrong. If she is handsome, the attraction of her beauty stands
her in little stead, for its charm is dissolved, and the security of
possessing it, has made it of no value. The husband only recollects,
that his wife is an imperfect animal; and if he neglects her, will
upbraid the most spotless woman with being a vase of impurities.
CLIX. When the unhappy woman is in this humiliating and dejected state,
a gallant casts fond, or, as we commonly say in Spain, good eyes
on her. To her, who at all times is condemned to see nothing but a
frowning brow, it is natural to suppose, a pleasant countenance appears
very delightsome: and such a leading circumstance conduces much to
bring on, and facilitates a conversation between the parties; in which,
the woman hears nothing but what is flattering and pleasing to her.
Before this, she used to be accosted in nought but terms of reproach
and contempt, and now, she is addressed in expressions of tenderness
and adoration. She lately was treated as something beneath a woman; and
now, she is elevated to the sphere of a divinity. She was accustomed
lately to be called nothing but fool; and now, she is told that she
possesses a sublime understanding. In the language of her husband,
she was all imperfections; in that of her gallant, she is all charms
and graces. The partner of her bed, lorded it over her like a tyrant
master; the other, throws himself at her feet as an humble slave; and
although the lover, if he had been her husband, would have acted just
as the husband did: this reflection escapes the miserable wife, and she
only sees that sort of difference between them, which there is between
an angel and a brute. She views in her husband, a heart full of thorns;
and in her gallant, one crowned with flowers. There a chain of iron
presents itself to her sight; here a golden one. There slavery; here
dominion. There a dungeon; here a throne.
CLX. In this situation, what can the most resolute woman do? How can
she resist two impulses, directed to the same point, one that impels,
and the other which attracts her? If heaven does not stretch forth a
powerful and a friendly hand to support her, her fall is inevitable.
And if she does fall, who can deny that her own husband forced her over
the precipice? If he had not treated her with indignity and abusive
railing, the flattery of the lover would have been of no avail. It was
his ill-treatment which occasioned her downfall. All this mischief,
most frequently proceeds from the mean opinion, which married men are
apt to entertain of the other sex. Let them renounce these erroneous
maxims, and the consequence will be, that their wives will become more
faithful and constant. Let them cherish and esteem them, for God has
commanded they should love them; and I can’t understand, how love and
contempt, with respect to the same object, can be entertained, and
accommodate themselves together in one and the same heart.
ON
CHURCH MUSIC.