The Female Right to LITERATURE , in a Letter to a young Lady from FLORENCE . By — WHilst you , ATHENIA , with assiduous toil Reap the rich fruits of learning's fertile soil ; Now search whate'er historick truth has shewn , And make the wealth of ages past your own ; Now crop the blossoms of poetick flow'rs , And range delighted in the Muses bowers ; Say , will the sweetest of her sex attend To lines by friendship , not by by flatt'ry penn'd ; To lines which tempt not worth with empty praise ; But to still greater height that worth would raise ; To lines which dare against a world decide , And stem the rage of custom's rapid tide ! Come then , ATHENIA , freely let us scan The coward insults of that tyrant , man . Self-prais'd , and grasping at despotick pow'r , He looks on slav'ry as the female dow'r ; To Nature's boon ascribes what force has giv'n , And usurpation deems the gift of heav'n . See the first-peopled East , where ASIA sheds Her balmy spices o'er her fertile meads : There , while th' ASSYRIAN stretch'd his wide domain From distant Indus to the Cyprian main , All nature's laws by impious force were broke ; The female sex to slav'ry's galling yoke Bow'd their fair necks : from social life confin'd , And all th' exertions of th' enlighten'd mind , Clos'd in a proud Seraglio's wanton bow'rs , The dalliance of a tyrant's looser hours . By kings' examples subjects form their lives , Dependent satraps had their train of wives ; Proportion'd pow'r each petty tyrant craves , And each poor female was the slave of slaves . When PERSIA next o'erturn'd th' Assyrian throne , Destroy'd her tyranny and fix'd its own ; The fair distress'd no milder treatment saw , This was indeed th' unalterable law . In future times , whatever masters came , Tyrants were chang'd , but tyranny the same : At length t' accumulate the female woes , The grand impostor MAHOMET arose ; Swoln with prophetick lyes , he lay'd his plan On the firm basis of the pride of man ; " Women , the toys of men , and slaves of lust , " Are but mere moulds to form man's outward crust ; " The heavenly spark , that animates the clay , " Of the prime essence that effulgent ray , " Th' immortal soul is all to man confin'd , " Not meanly squander'd on weak woman-kind . " Accursed wretch ! by hell's black council driv'n Thus to debase the fairest work of heav'n . And could Religion rear her sacred head Fraught with such doctrines ? could such errors spread From western TANGIER , and the sun-burnt Moor , To the cold TARTAR'S ever-frozen shore ? Ev'n GREECE too not exempt , GREECE , once the seat Where Sense and Freedom held the reins of state ; Where Force was Reason's hand-maid ; where the bands Of Love and Friendship join'd the wedded hands ; Where flourish'd once , and flourish still in fame Th' ATHENIAN matron , and the SPARTAN dame . In ROME too Liberty once reign'd , in ROME The female virtues were allow'd to bloom , And bloom they did : when CANNAE'S fatal plain Was heap'd with mountains of the Roman slain , Was there a matron wept her children dead ? Was there a matron wept not those that fled ? Then when each rumour seem'd the voice of fate , And spoke the victor thund'ring at their gate , Was there one mention'd peace ? did they not pour Their wealth , their jewels to the publick store , In emulous haste all pressing to be poor ? Alas how chang'd ! how are the mighty sunk , From the firm Patriot to the whining Monk ! Where Industry secur'd the publick good , Where censors , consuls , and dictators plough'd . Now lazy zealots batten on the spoil , And consecrated Sloth devours the farmer's toil . But oh still worse ! where Love and Friendship shone , Domestick Tyranny has fix'd his throne , With all his train of monsters : at his side Swoln with self-flatteries sits stiff-neck'd Pride ; Two twin-born fiends his other ear engage , Heart-canker'd Jealousy , and fire-ey'd Rage ; In front , his empire's sole support and source , Rattling chains , bars and locks , stalks brutal Force ; Whilst pale and shrivel'd , crouch'd beneath the chair , Lies sneaking , conscious Worthlessness ; and near Squint-ey'd Suspicion lurks , with self-distracting Fear . Hail , happy BRITAIN , dear parental land , Where Liberty maintains her latest stand ! Oh while amidst tyrannick realms I rove , Enamour'd let me pour my filial love Into thy bosom . When the raven wings Of darkness hover o'er me , when the springs Of every outward sense are shut , my soul Thee oft revisits , oft without controul Ranges thy fields delighted , and inhales Friendship's pure joys , and Freedom's healthful gales . But say , BRITANNIA , do thy sons , who claim A birth-right liberty , dispense the same In equal scales ? Why then does Custom bind In chains of Ignorance the female mind ? Why is to them the bright etherial ray Of science veil'd ? Why does each pedant say , " Shield me , propitious powers , nor clog my life " With that supreme of plagues a learned wife . " 'Tis man's , with science to expand the soul , " And wing his eagle-flight from pole to pole ; " 'Tis his to pierce antiquity's dark gloom , " And the still thicker shades of times to come ; " 'Tis his to guide the pond'rous helm of state , " And bear alone all wisdom's solid weight . " Let woman with alluring graces move " The fondling passions and the baby love ; " Be this our only science , be her doom " Fix'd to the toilette , the spinnet and loom . " Tongue-doughty pedant , was ATHENIA'S soul Form'd for these only ? Bring th' exactest rule Of judgment to the tryal , prove that e'er Thy school-proud tribe engross'd a greater share Of mental excellence ; tho' vernal Youth Justs swell her lovely bosom , yet blest Truth , Offspring of Sense and Industry , has there Long fix'd her residence ; and taught the fair Or wisdom's deep recesses to explore , Or on invention's rapid wings to soar Above th' Aonian mount ; and can'st thou think That virtues , which exalt the soul , can sink The outward charms ? must knowledge give offence ? And are the graces all at war with sense ? Say , who of all the fair is form'd to move The fondest passions , most ecstatick love , More than ATHENIA ? in her gentle eye Soft innocence and virgin modesty Incessant shine , while still a new-born grace Springs in each speaking feature of her face . Her sprightly wit no forward pertness spoils : No self-assuming air her judgment soils ; Still prone to learn , tho' capable to teach , And lofty all her thoughts , but humble all her speech . Proceed , ATHENIA , let thy growing mind Take ev'ry knowledge in of ev'ry kind : Still on perfection fix thy steady eye , Be ever rising , rise thou ne'er so high . But oh reflect , that in th' advent'rous flight , Thou mount'st a glorious , but a dangerous height : When ev'ry science ev'ry grace shall join , When most thy wit , when most thy beauties shine , When thickest crowds enamour'd press around , When loudest ev'ry tongue thy praise shall sound , When verse too offers incense to thy shrine , And adoration breathes in ev'ry line , Then let my friendly Muse express her care , Then most will danger spread her viewless snare : Then let this truth possess thy inmost soul , " One drop of Vanity may spoil the whole . " Not self-secure on earth can Knowledge dwell , Knowledge the bliss of heav'n and pang of hell , Alike the instrument of good and evil , The attribute of God and of the Devil . Without her , Virtue is a powerless Will ; She , without Virtue , is a powerful ill ; Does she then join with Virtue , or oppose , She proves the best of Friends , or worst of Foes . O ! be they once in happiest union join'd , And be that union in ATHENIA'S mind .