the reaſonableneſs of the greater number of wars that have dubbed heroes. I do not mean to conſider this queſtion critically; becauſe, having frequently viewed theſe freaks of ambition as the firſt natural mode of civilization, when the ground muſt be torn up, and the woods cleared by fire and ſword, I do not chooſe to call them peſts; but ſurely the preſent ſyſtem of war has little connection with virtue of any denomination, being rather the ſchool of fineſſe and effeminacy, than of fortitude.
Yet, if defenſive war, the only juſtifiable war, in the preſent advanced ſtate of ſociety, where virtue can ſhew its face and ripen amidſt the rigours which purify the air on the mountain's top, were alone to be adopted as juſt and glorious, the true heroiſm of antiquity might again animate female boſoms.—But fair and ſoftly, gentle reader, male or female, do not alarm thyſelf, for though I have contraſted the character of a modern ſoldier with that of a civilized woman, I am not going to adviſe them to turn their diſtaff into a muſket, though I ſincerely wiſh to ſee the bayonet converted into a pruning-hook. I only recreated an imagination, fatigued by contemplating the vices and follies which all proceed from a feculent ſtream of wealth that has muddied the pure rills of natural affection, by ſuppoſing that ſociety will ſome time or other be ſo conſtituted, that man muſt neceſſarily fulfil the duties of a citizen, or be deſpiſed, and that while he was employed in any of the departments of civil life, his wife, alſo an active citizen, ſhould be equally intent to manage her family, educate her children, and aſſiſt her neighbours.
