Page:Vindication Women's Rights (Wollstonecraft).djvu/340

334 only to weaken their bodies and poil their tempers, frutrating alo any plan of education that a more rational father may adopt; for unles a mother concurs, the father who retrains will ever be conidered as a tyrant.

But, fulfilling the duties of a mother, a woman with a ound contitution, may till keep her peron crupulouly neat, and ait to maintain her family, if neceary, or by reading and converations with both exes, indicriminately, improve her mind. For nature has o wiely ordered things, that did women uckle their children, they would preerve their own health, and there would be uch an interval between the birth of each child, that we hould eldom ee a houeful of babes. And did they purue a plan of conduct, and not wate their time in following the fahionable vagaries of dres, the management of their houehold and children need not hut them out from literature, nor prevent their attaching themelves to a cience with that teady eye which trengthens the mind, or practiing one of the fine arts that cultivate the tate.

But, viiting to diplay finery, card-playing, and balls, not to mention the idle butle of morning trifling, draw women from their duty to render them inignificant, to render them pleaing, according to the preent acceptation of the word, to every man, but their huband. For a round of pleaures in which the affections are not exercied, cannot be aid to improve the undertanding, though it be erroneouly called eeing the world; yet the heart is rendered cold and avere to duty, by uch a eneles intercoure, which becomes neceary&ensp;