Cec. She must have a great deal of patience.
Pa. True. She is Patience herself. The brooding hen, sitting beside her, is another emblem of the same quality that aids the interpretation. Who do you think this pleasing female is, that looks with such kindness upon the drooping plant she is watering?
Cec. That must be Charity, I believe.
Pa. It is; or you may call her Benignity, which is nearly the same thing. Here is a lady sitting demurely, with one finger on her lip, while she holds a bridle in her other hand.
Cec. The finger on the lip, I suppose, denotes Silence. The bridle must mean confinement. I should almost fancy her to be a schoolmistress.
Pa. Ha! ha! I hope, indeed, many schoolmistresses are endued with her spirit, for she is Prudence or Discretion. Well—we are now got to the end of our pictures, and upon the whole you have interpreted them very prettily.
Cec. But I have one question to ask you, papa. In these pictures and others that I have seen of the same sort, almost all the good qualities are represented in the form of women. What is the reason of that?
Pa. It is certainly a compliment, my dear, either to your sex’s person or mind. The inventor either chose the figure of a female to clothe each agreeable quality in, because he thought that the most agreeable form, and therefore best suited it; or he meant to imply that the female character is really the most virtuous and amiable. I rather believe that the first was his intention, but I shall not object to your taking it in the light of the second.
Cec. But is it true—is it true?
Pa. Why, I can give you very good authority for the preference of the female sex, in a moral view. One Ledyard, a great traveller, who had walked through almost all the countries of Europe, and at last died in an expedition to explore the internal parts of Africa, gave a most decisive and pleasing testimony in favour of the superior character of women, whether savage or civilized. I was so much pleased with it, that I put great part of it into verse; and if it will not make you vain, I will give you a copy of my lines.