tero
Depone, e calde e pie lagrime piove_."

We now enter into the main object of the work, the condition of women in
modern times; and the passage which introduces the subject is so luminous
and eloquent, that we cannot resist the pleasure of laying it before our
readers without mutilation.

"To pursue the history of woman through the ages of misrule and
violence that corrupted the spirit of chivalry, would be useless.
It is sufficiently evident, that in proportion as the vices of
barbarism renewed their dominion, the condition of women would be
more or less affected by their evils. But, on the whole, society
was improving: two great events were preparing to engage the
attention of Europe--the struggles for religious freedom and the
revival of learning. These produced effects on the human mind
very different from those of any revolutions that had taken place
during the age of barbarism.

"While the opinion reigned absolute, that war was the most
important affair of life and the most honourable pursuit, the
tendency of society was towards destruction. All the virtue
consistent with so false a principle was, perhaps, brought forth
by chivalry; but in the long run, the false principle overruled
the force of the generous spirit, and chivalry sank like a meteor
that owed its splendour to surrounding darkness. Its spirit gave
an impulse to opinion and sentiment, but its errors and ignorance
disabled it from supplying any corrective to the bad institutions
and mistaken policy which fostered barbarism. It was not every
mind that was capable of imbibing the generous sentiments of
chivalry, but ferocious passions could rarely fail to be
stimulated by the idolatry of war, and the contempt for civil
employments it produced. Among men, poor, restless, and to a
great degree irresponsible, the craving for distinction excited
by chivalry was a dangerous passion. No very general change over
the face of society could be reasonably expected, from the
attempts to engraft a spirit of gentleness and beneficence upon a
principle of war and destruction. The spirit was right, but the
principle was wrong. It was just the reverse in the next
enthusiasm which seized the minds of mankind. In the struggles
for religious freedom which followed, the principle was right,
but it was pursued in the horrible spirit