er nations, we do not see that we
praise ourselves hypocritically.

And here, since american ladies have been introduced, I feel it my duty to
defend them from an unjust blame. I have heard american and foreign
gentlemen saying, they dislike learned ladies. Such gentlemen, I suppose,
must not have sufficient learning themselves, to discriminate between a
learned lady, and a lady who pretends to learning. A learned lady is
always modest; and adapts herself to the capacity of those with whom she
converses, unless her insufficient learning had not told her, that,
nothing is more disagreeable in a lady than pretensions; and nothing more
becoming than modesty. The learning which does not teach us how to know
ourselves, is not learning. That a gentleman does not find himself at home
with ladies more instructed than he is, in such a case, it is not the
fault of the learned ladies: it is his own, by not having cultivated his
mind as well as the ladies did.

Exceptions aside, such is the fact: in America the ladies are generally
more cultivated in real instruction, than the gentlemen: and he who did
study a little greek, and latin (which is but lost time, unless he be
thoroughly acquainted with these two dead languages) thinking himself
above the education of ladies, looks to his charming country women with
such an air of superiority of mind, as if they were fit only to chat but
of balls, ribbons, dresses, and all the nonsense of empty heads, rather
too much introduced in conversation by the gentlemen who, when they find
it useless to speak of Mr. Henry Clay, or Mr. Polk, they leave poetry,
history, painting, music, languages, and philosophy to their fair partners
to enjoy it, if they like, in their own private closet.

And here, I hope, no fellow of my sex will marvel, if I do not think
philosophy incompetent with the fair sex. There have been hypocrites, who
made of philosophy a bugbear. Philosophy is nothing else but good sense,
reason, or wisdom. Philosophy, in our age, it is that sense of justice to
which all men, and women, who have integrity, when they think, judge, and
compare by themselves, they do agree without pretension of being more
learned than others. The philosopher speaks for better information, and
not for the price of being considered more learned than his neighbor. The
philosopher is modest: if he speaks of divinity, he does not say to his
contender: You have not yet studied the bible enough: and so of
math