held in an inferior
light--Quakers have given them their due importance in society--Influence
of their public character on their minds._

The Quaker women, independently of their private, have that which no
other body of women have, a public character. This is a new era in
female history. I shall therefore make a few observations on this,
before I proceed to another subject.

It is melancholy, when we look into the history of women, to see the low
estimation in which they have been held from the earliest times. It is
possible, because they have not possessed the strength of constitution,
that they may have been thought not to have had the intellect of men. It
is possible, because domestic cares and the rearing of children have
been consigned to them, that other occupations may not have been
considered as falling within the province of their stations. But
whatever may have been the causes, polygamy or concubinage has
unquestionably been the greatest, in hindering women from occupying an
useful, dignified, and important station in society. This custom has
held them up as little better than slaves, or than living toys or
play-things. And this custom has prevailed over a great portion of the
globe from times of the earliest antiquity to the present day.

Among the many circumstances which contributed to give importance to
women in Europe, we may reckon the introduction of chivalry. Honour and
humanity were the characteristics of this institution. Hence weakness
was to be protected by it. And as weakness was more particularly the lot
of women, so these became more peculiarly the objects of its care. Hence
women began to feel a consequence, which had been hitherto denied them.
They were treated with politeness and tenderness by all, and men began
to be even solicitous of their applause. But though this was the case,
chivalry did not elevate them beyond a certain height. It rendered a
polite attention to them essential. But this attention was an homage to
the weakness of females, and not to their intellect. It presupposed no
capacity of usefulness in them, for every thing, in fact, was to be done
for them, and they were to do but little for themselves.

The revival of learning in the twelfth century was another cause of
adding to the importance of women. As men became more learned, they
began to respect the power of the human understanding. They began to be
acquainted, by means of history, with the talents of women in for