Glad of advice, he is not forward to give it, not conceited enough to offer it
unasked but where 'tis a charity to do so. And when he does give it, his
counsels are honest, open, and persuasive, the torch of reason and the flame of
friendship; his encomiums are pathetic, emulative and insinuating, the spur of
virtue, though the curb of pride; and his reproofs, gentle yet piercing; calm but
not resolute; serious though soothing; candid and yet so piquing, that every
haughtiness must stoop, and obstinacy itself submit to rule.
Skilled in every science, versed in many languages, and master of every
elegance, his learning serves not to make him arrogant, nor his eloquence to
make him talkative. In a word, such judgment, propriety, energy, dignity and grace
combine to dictate all he says, and inspire all he does, that envy itself considers
him as a finished pattern of manly perfection; a nice Christian, a complete
gentleman, a useful friend, a prudent parent, and an indulgent husband; Good
even where goodness seems fruitless; and wise even in a choice where wisdom
has but the left hand of chance, the election of a wife.
Angelica, the fair the exquisitely fair Angelica, is the blessed object of this
happy choice. In her person, oh! She is all beauty, softness, ease, and delicacy.
Nature, in a strife of grandeur, fashioned her to show how far the charms of
ocular perfection could be carried. And then she is good beyond what fancy
can conceit of woman, and wise enough to copy from her husband such
accomplishments as may be molded into female virtues.
Yet her virtue neither renders her formal nor censorious; and her sense but
serves to make her easily reserved and modestly free. Her only pride is to enrich
her mind with such useful knowledge as may complete her a perfect mother, wise
and friend.
Without the ambition to appear learned, she has gained a sufficient tincture of
the sciences to make herself an agreeable companion to her husband and all
who converse with her. Though whenever she treats of learning, 'tis in a
manner which shows rather a desire of receiving information than a
consciousness of being able to afford it.
The books she reads are such only as can assist her judgment and refine her
morals, the choice of which she ever depends upon her husband for: and them
she never suffers to break in upon the essential duties of her station; for study is
only the occupation of her leisure hours, not the business of life. Her chief care is
to please and be useful to her Lord; to nurse her children, to educate them in
virtue, and to instill into them by her precepts and example an early aversion to
vice, folly, idleness and trifling.
And the next to this is the economy and government of her family; in which,
with sensible subordination to her husband, she is absolute mistress, without
being imperious; frugal without meanness, hospitable without prodigality, and
neat without affectation. She can manage her domestic affairs without
neglecting the service of her friends. Ever assiduous to oblige, she has the art
of doing it without making an obligation a burden.
The poor, the sick, the imprisoned, and distressed, all look upon her as a
common mother; and that truly Christian piety, which gives life to all she does or
thinks, inspires her with means to assist them all, which she does without the least
exterior ostentation or inward vanity.
Thus free from every vice she is deficient in no one commendable quality her sex
can be capable of, but that of forgiving enemies; which she cannot practise for
want of foes to forgive.
For, respectful to those above her, courteous to her equals, affable to her
dependents, and beneficent to all, she reigns the object of just admiration,
respect, and esteem in every heart, and forces envy itself to wish for her
friendship.
Such is Angelica, and such the height of womanish perfection, as near to that of
man, as women's lovely faces in a glass appear to them. All that is wanting is
the life, the truth, the reality. Still lifeless and feeble as their merit is, compared
with manly worth, how happy might not man esteem himself, if each
Philanthropus among mankind had an Angelica to match with. But such a one
is too delicate a work for Nature to produce in every century. 'Tis like a
phoenix, the prodigy of an age; and such a miracle of completeness but serves
to make the rest of the sex more contemptible by comparison, as Michael
painted with the rebel Angels shows the fiends more frightful.
Let women then give up their claim to an equality with the men, and be content
with the humble station which Nature has allotted them. If their souls are great
enough to aspire to our esteem, let them learn from Angelica to be more
deserving and less assuming. And since neither their capacity for head nor their
dispositions of heart can lift them to emulate, let them apply their little talents at
least to imitate us:
That pleased with the pretty mimics of ourselves, we may venture to place them in
our bosoms without fear of cherishing a viper there.
Let them remember that man holds his superiority over them by a charter from
Nature in his very production. And nothing can justify their calling that charter
into question till they are able to prove their worth.
But as we may venture to bid them a bold defiance to this, we may safely
conclude that the utmost liberty they have a tolerable colour to contend for is that
we admit children too; which would be a barbarous condescention to some,
considering the ill use they are able to make of it, and is but a good-natured
weakness to the best of them, considering the little good use any of them are
capable of applying it to.
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