We are told by the ſame animated writer, "that Wiſdom is the breath of the power of God." How infinitely ſuperior, in grandeur and ſublimity, is this deſcription to the origin of the wiſdom of the heathens, as deſcribed by their poets and mythologiſts! In the exalted ſtrains of the Hebrew poetry we read, that "Wiſdom is the brightneſs of the everlaſting light, the unſpotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodneſs."
The philoſophical author of The Defence of Learning obſerves, that knowledge has ſomething of venom and malignity in it, when taken without its proper corrective, and what that is, the inſpired Saint Paul teaches us, by placing it as the immediate antidote: Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. Perhaps, it is the vanity of human wiſdom, unchaſtiſed by this correcting principle, which has made ſo many infidels. It may proceed from the arrogance of a ſelf-ſufficient pride, that ſome philoſophers diſdain to acknowledge their belief in a being, who has judged proper to conceal from them the infinite wiſdom of his counſels; who, (to borrow the lofty language of the man of Uz) refuſed to conſult them when he laid the foundations of the earth, when he ſhut up the ſea with doors, and made the clouds the garment thereof.
A man muſt be an infidel either from pride, prejudice, or bad education: he cannot be one unawares or by ſurpriſe; for infidelity is not occaſioned by ſudden impulſe or violent temptation. He may be hurried by ſome vehement deſire into an immoral action, at which he will bluſh in his cooler moments, and which he will lament as the ſad effect of a ſpirit unſubdued by religion; but infidelity is a calm, conſiderate act, which cannot plead the weakneſs of the heart, or the ſeduction of the ſenſes. Even good men frequently fail in their duty through the infirmities of nature, and the allurements of the world; but the infidel errs on a plan, on a ſettled and deliberate principle.
But though the minds of men are ſometimes fatally infected with this diſeaſe, either through unhappy prepoſſeſſion, or ſome of the other cauſes above mentioned; yet I am unwilling to believe, that there is in nature ſo monſtrouſly incongruous a being, as a female infidel. The leaſt reflexion on the temper, the character, and the education of women, makes the mind revolt with horror from an idea ſo improbable, and ſo unnatural.
May I be allowed to obſerve, that, in general, the minds of girls ſeem more aptly prepared in their early youth for the reception of ſerious impreſſions than thoſe of the other ſex, and that their leſs expoſed ſituations in more advanced life qualify them better for the preſervation of them? The daughters (of good parents I mean) are often more carefully inſtructed in their religious duties, than the ſons, and this from a variety of cauſes. They are not ſo ſoon ſent from under the paternal eye into the buſtle of the world, and ſo early expoſed to the contagion of bad example: their hearts are naturally more flexible, ſoft, and liable to any kind of impreſſion the forming hand may ſtamp on them; and, laſtly, as they do not receive the ſame claſſical education with boys, their feeble minds are not obliged at once to receive and ſeparate the precepts of chriſtianity, and the documents of pagan philoſophy. The neceſſity of doing this perhaps ſomewhat weakens the ſerious impreſſions of young men, at leaſt till the underſtanding is formed, and confuſes their ideas of piety, by mixing them with ſo much heterogeneous matter. They only caſually read, or hear read, the ſcriptures of truth, while they are obliged to learn by heart, conſtrue and repeat the poetical fables of the leſs than human gods of the ancients. And as the excellent author of The Internal Evidence of the Chriſtian Religion obſerves, "Nothing has ſo much contributed to corrupt the true ſpirit of the chriſtian inſtitution, as that partiality which we contract, in our earlieſt education, for the manners of pagan antiquity."
Girls, therefore, who do not contract this early partiality, ought to have a clearer notion of their religious duties: they are not obliged, at an age when the judgment is ſo weak, to diſtinguiſh between the doctrines of Zeno, of Epicurus, and of Christ; and to embarraſs their minds with the various morals which were taught in the Porch, in the Academy, and on the Mount.
It is preſumed, that theſe remarks cannot poſſibly be ſo miſunderſtood, as to be conſtrued into the leaſt diſreſpect to literature, or a want of the higheſt reverence for a learned education, the baſis of all elegant knowledge: they are only intended, with all proper deference, to point out to young women, that however inferior their advantages of acquiring a knowledge of the belles-lettres are to thoſe of the other ſex; yet it depends on themſelves not to be ſurpaſſed in this moſt important of all ſtudies, for which their abilities are equal, and their opportunities, perhaps, greater.
But the mere exemption from infidelity is ſo ſmall a part of the religious character, that I hope no one will attempt to claim any merit from this negative ſort of goodneſs, or value herſelf merely for not being the very worſt thing ſhe poſſibly can be. Let no miſtaken girl fancy ſhe gives a proof of her wit by her want of piety, or that a contempt of things ſerious and ſacred will exalt her underſtanding, or raiſe her character even in the opinion of the moſt avowed male infidels. For one may venture to affirm, that with all their profligate ideas, both of women and of religion, neither Bolingbroke, Wharton, Buckingham, nor even Lord Cheſterfield himſelf, would have eſteemed a woman the more for her being irreligious.
With whatever ridicule a polite freethinker may affect to treat religion himſelf, he will think it neceſſary his wife ſhould entertain different notions of it. He may pretend to deſpiſe it as a matter of opinion, depending on creeds and ſyſtems; but, if he is a man of ſenſe, he will know the value of it, as a governing principle, which is to influence her conduct and direct her actions. If he ſees her unaffectedly ſincere in the practice of her religious duties, it will be a ſecret pledge to him, that ſhe will be equally exact in fulfilling the conjugal; for he can have no reaſonable dependance on her attachment to him, if he has no opinion of her fidelity to God; for ſhe who neglects firſt duties, gives but an indifferent proof of her diſpoſition to fill up inferior ones; and how can a man of any underſtanding (whatever his own religious profeſſions may be) truſt that woman with the care of his family, and the education of his children, who wants herſelf the beſt incentive to a virtuous life, the belief that ſhe is an accountable creature, and the reflection that ſhe has an immortal ſoul?
Cicero ſpoke it as the higheſt commendation of Cato's character, that he embraced philoſophy, not for the ſake of diſputing like a philoſopher, but of living like one. The chief purpoſe of chriſtian knowledge is to promote the great end of a chriſtian life. Every rational woman ſhould, no doubt, be able to give a reaſon of the hope that is in her; but this knowledge is beſt acquired, and the duties conſequent on it beſt performed, by reading books of plain piety and practical devotion, and not by entering into the endleſs feuds, and engaging in the unprofitable contentions of partial controverſialiſts. Nothing is more unamiable than the narrow ſpirit of party zeal, nor more diſguſting than to hear a woman deal out judgments, and denounce vengeance againſt any one, who happens to differ from her in ſome opinion, perhaps of no real importance, and which, it is probable, ſhe may be juſt as wrong in rejecting, as the object of her cenſure is in embracing. A furious and unmerciful female bigot wanders as far beyond the limits preſcribed to her ſex, as a Thaleſtris or a Joan d'Arc. Violent debate has made as few converts as the ſword, and both theſe inſtruments are particularly unbecoming when wielded by a female hand.