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and put an end to all government: "Then," fays this credulous philofopher, " fhall we fee the perfection of virtue! Not fuch virtue, it is true, as has heretofore paffed current in the world. Benevolence will not then be heard of; gratitude, will be confidered as a crime, and punished with the contempt it fo juftly deferves. Filial affection would, no doubt, be treated as a crime of a ftill deeper dye, but that, to prevent the poffibility of fuch a breach of virtue, no man, in the age of reason, fhall be able to guefs who his father is; nor any woman to fay to her husband, behold your fon. Chaftity, fhall then be confidered as a weakness, and the virtue of a female eftimated according as fhe has had fufficient energy. to break its mean reftraints. "To what fublime heights,' exclaims this fapient philofopher,

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66 may we not expect that virtue will then be feen to foar!-By destroying the domeftic affections, what an addition will be made to human happiness! And when man is no longer corrupted by the tender and endearing ties of brother, fifter, wife, and child, how greatly will his difpofitions be meliorated! The fear of punishment too, that ignoble bondage, which, at present, reftrains the energies of fo many great men, will no longer damp the noble ardour of the daring robber,

or the midnight thief. Nor will any man then be degraded by working for another. The divine energies of the foul will not then be ftifled by labouring for fupport. What is neceffary, every individual may, without difficulty, do for himself. Every man fhall then till his own field, and cultivate his own garden."-" And pray how are the Ladies to be clothed in the age of reafon?" asked Mifs Ardent." Any Lady," replied the philofopher, "who chooses to wear clothes, which, in this cold climate, may by fome be confidered as a matter of neceffity, muft herfelf pluck the wool from the back of the fheep, and fpin it on a diftaff, of her own making." "But, fhe cannot weave it," rejoined Mifs Ardent, without a loom; a loom cannot well be made without iron tools, and iron tools can have no exiftence without the aggregated labours of many individuals." "True," returned Mr. Vapour : and it is therefore probable, that in the glorious æra I speak of, men will again have recourfe to the fkins of beafts for covering; and thefe will be procured according to the ftrength and capacity of the individual. A fummer's drefs, may be made of the fkins of mice, and fuch animals; while thofe of fheep, hares, horfes, dogs, &c. may be worn in win

ter. Such things may, for a time, take place. But as the human mind advances to that perfection, at which, when deprived of religion, laws, and government, it is destined to arrive, men will, no doubt, poffefs fufficient energy, to refift the effects of cold; and to exift, not only without clothing, but without food alfo. When reafon is thus far advanced, an effort of the mind will be fufficient to prevent the approach of disease, and stop the progrefs of decay. People will not then be fo foolish as to die." "I can believe, that in the age

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of reason, women won't be troubled with the vapours,' replied Miss Ardent, but, that they fhould be able to live without food and clothing is another affair." "Women!" repeated Mr. Vapour, with a contemptuous fmile; we fhall not then be troubled with-women. In the age of reafon, the world fhall contain only a race of men!!"

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could be more repugnant, to the opinions of Mifs Ardent, than this affertion-This worthy daughter of Se-. refwati is firmly perfuaded, that, in the age of reafon, a very different doctrine will be established. It is her opinion, that the perfection of the female underftanding will then be univerfally acknowledged.

She pants for that bleffed period, when the eyes of men fhall no longer be attracted by the charms of youth and beauty; when mind, and mind alone, fhall be thought worthy the attention of a philofopher.

In that wifhed-for æra, the talents of women, fhe fays, fhall not be debated by houfehold drudgery, or their noble fpirits broken by bale fubmiffion, to ufurped authority. The reins will then be put into the hands of wifdom; and as women will, in the age of reafon, probably be found to have the largeft fhare, it is they who will then drive the chariot of ftate, and guide the steeds of war!

Mr. Axiom, whofe deference to the opinions of Mifs Ardent is implicit and unvariable, perfectly coincides in her opinion." Who," faid he, the other evening, in difcourfing upon this fubject; "who would look for mind, in the infipid features of a girl? It is when the countenance has acquired a character, which it never can do under the period of forty, that it becomes an object of admiration, to a man of fenfe. Ah! how different is the fentiment which it then infpires!" The tender figh, which was heaved by Mr. Axiom, at the conclufion of this fentence, in vibrating on the ears of Mifs Ardent, feemed to touch fome

pleafant unifon, that overfpread her countenance with a smile. You, my friend, will, I doubt not, fmile also, at hearing of thefe glad tidings for grandmothers; and divert yourself with thinking, when this empire of reafon fhall be extended to the regions of the Eaft, what curious revolutions it will make in the Zenanas of Hindooftan!-May the Gods of our fathers preferve thee, from the fpirits of the deep and the fyftems of philofophers! What can I fay more?

LETTER XVI.

MAY AY He, who at all times claims preference in adoration, preferve thee!!

The day after that in which I laft took up the reed of inftruction, fome strangers arrived at Ardent Hall, who had come into the country, on purpofe to fee a celebrated water-fall,-ou whofe beauties, they poured out fuch encomiums, as kindled the flame of curiofity in my bofom.

I no fooner expreffed my defire of vifiting this fcene of wonders, than Sir Caprice, with great politeness, ordered the chief officer of his houfehold to attend me thither.-It was natural to expect, that fome of the philofophers might

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