Page:Vindication Women's Rights (Wollstonecraft).djvu/226

220 of the quetion, for then it is brutality. Repect for man, as man, is the foundation of every noble entiment. How much more modet is the libertine who obeys the call of appetite or fancy, than the lewd joker who ets the table in a roar!

This is one of the many intances in which the exual ditinction repecting modety has proved fatal to virtue and happines. It is, however, carried till further, and woman, weak woman! made by her education the lave of enibility, is required, on the mot trying occaions, to reit that enibility. ‘Can any thing,’ ays Knox, ‘be more aburd than keeping women in a tate of ignorance, and yet o vehemently to init on their reiting temptation?’—Thus when virtue or honour make it proper to check a paion, the burden is thrown on the weaker houlders, contrary to reaon and true modety, which, at leat, hould render the elf-denial mutual, to ay nothing of the generoity of bravery, uppoed to be a manly virtue.

In the ame train runs Roueau's and Dr. Gregory's advice repecting modety, trangely micalled! for they both deire a wife to leave it in doubt whether enibility or weaknes led her to her huband's arms.—The woman is immodet who can let the hadow of uch a doubt remain on her huband's mind a moment.

But to tate the ubject in a different light.—The want of modety, which I principally deplore as ubverive of morality, aries from the tate of warfare o trenuouly upported by voluptuous men as the very eence of modety, though, in fact, its bane; becaue it is a ment&ensp;