This Hideous Masque Of Painting, Though Destructive Of All
Beauty, Is, However, Favourable To Natural Homeliness And
Deformity.
It accustoms the eyes of the other sex, and in time
reconciles them to frightfull objects; it disables them
From
perceiving any distinction of features between woman and woman;
and, by reducing all faces to a level, gives every female an
equal chance for an admirer; being in this particular analogous
to the practice of the antient Lacedemonians, who were obliged to
chuse their helpmates in the dark. In what manner the insides of
their heads are furnished, I would not presume to judge from the
conversation of a very few to whom I have had access: but from
the nature of their education, which I have heard described, and
the natural vivacity of their tempers, I should expect neither
sense, sentiment, nor discretion. From the nursery they are
allowed, and even encouraged, to say every thing that comes
uppermost; by which means they acquire a volubility of tongue,
and a set of phrases, which constitutes what is called polite
conversation. At the same time they obtain an absolute conquest
over all sense of shame, or rather, they avoid acquiring this
troublesome sensation; for it is certainly no innate idea. Those
who have not governesses at home, are sent, for a few years, to a
convent, where they lay in a fund of superstition that serves
them for life: but I never heard they had the least opportunity
of cultivating the mind, of exercising the powers of reason, or
of imbibing a taste for letters, or any rational or useful
accomplishment. After being taught to prattle, to dance and play
at cards, they are deemed sufficiently qualified to appear in the
grand monde, and to perform all the duties of that high rank and
station in life. In mentioning cards, I ought to observe, that
they learn to play not barely for amusement, but also with a view
to advantage; and, indeed, you seldom meet with a native of
France, whether male or female, who is not a compleat gamester,
well versed in all the subtleties and finesses of the art. This
is likewise the case all over Italy. A lady of a great house in
Piedmont, having four sons, makes no scruple to declare, that the
first shall represent the family, the second enter into the army,
the third into the church, and that she will breed the fourth a
gamester. These noble adventurers devote themselves in a
particular manner to the entertainment of travellers from our
country, because the English are supposed to be full of money,
rash, incautious, and utterly ignorant of play. But such a
sharper is most dangerous, when he hunts in couple with a
female. I have known a French count and his wife, who found means
to lay the most wary under contribution. He was smooth, supple,
officious, and attentive: she was young, handsome, unprincipled,
and artful. If the Englishman marked for prey was found upon his
guard against the designs of the husband, then madam plied him on
the side of gallantry. She displayed all the attractions of her
person. She sung, danced, ogled, sighed, complimented, and
complained. If he was insensible to all her charms, she flattered
his vanity, and piqued his pride, by extolling the wealth and
generosity of the English; and if he proved deaf to all these
insinuations she, as her last stake, endeavoured to interest his
humanity and compassion. She expatiated, with tears in her eyes,
on the cruelty and indifference of her great relations;
represented that her husband was no more than the cadet of a
noble family - , that his provision was by no means suitable.
either to the dignity of his rank, or the generosity of his
disposition: that he had a law-suit of great consequence
depending, which had drained all his finances; and, finally, that
they should be both ruined, if they could not find some generous
friend, who would accommodate them with a sum of money to bring
the cause to a determination. Those who are not actuated by such
scandalous motives, become gamesters from meer habit, and, having
nothing more solid to engage their thoughts, or employ their
time, consume the best part of their lives, in this worst of all
dissipation. I am not ignorant that there are exceptions from
this general rule: I know that France has produced a Maintenon, a
Sevigine, a Scuderi, a Dacier, and a Chatelet; but I would no
more deduce the general character of the French ladies from these
examples, than I would call a field of hemp a flower-garden.
because there might be in it a few lillies or renunculas planted
by the hand of accident.
Woman has been defined a weaker man; but in this country the men
are, in my opinion, more ridiculous and insignificant than the
women. They certainly are more disagreeable to a rational
enquirer, because they are more troublesome. Of all the coxcombs
on the face of the earth, a French petit maitre is the most
impertinent: and they are all petit maitres from the marquis who
glitters in lace and embroidery, to the garcon barbier covered
with meal, who struts with his hair in a long queue, and his hat
under his arm. I have already observed, that vanity is the great
and universal mover among all ranks and degrees of people in this
nation; and as they take no pains to conceal or controul it, they
are hurried by it into the most ridiculous and indeed intolerable
extravagance.
When I talk of the French nation, I must again except a great
number of individuals, from the general censure. Though I have a
hearty contempt for the ignorance, folly, and presumption which
characterise the generality, I cannot but respect the talents of
many great men, who have eminently distinguished themselves in
every art and science: these I shall always revere and esteem as
creatures of a superior species, produced, for the wise purposes
of providence, among the refuse of mankind.
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