But
is the present condition of woman in society the same as in those past ages.
No It To the ages of Chivalry we are indebted for the emersion of females from
this degraded state. The sudden transformation from a slave to an object of
idolatry though injurious in very many of its effects, is not on the shole to
be lamented, as is opened the way to her subsequent advancement. Heroes then
bent before her in adoration, as if she were the only God to be worshipped.
Yet though they flattered her in the most extravagant manner, is was but in
that spirit by which depraved man has left oft his allegiance to his Maker to
worship the senseless idol, or the irrational animal. It produced no effort
to improve the being they adored but rather they themselves imbibed the frivolity
of her uncultivated mind.
A more flattering prospect is presented to the eye when we consider the present
condition of females in society. But the prejudices and selfish motives of the
other sex added to the unavoidable weakness of their own neglected minds, still
prevent that perfection in intellectual progress to which we have abundant reason
to think they she will as a future period obtain. That the female mind is capable
of cultivation, the experiments which have been made, show to be a truth which
even those who pretend to deny cannot but internally acknowledge. Those of the
other sex who profess to believe that it is a vain attempt to cultivate the
female mind, should reflect
