The History of Women Author:William Alexander Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAP. III. Of the Employments and Amufements of Women. IN every country, where agriculture and c v- civilization have provided for the body and refined t... more »he mind, women are confidered, not fo much as the partners of our toil and labour, as the fweetners of our pleafures and enjoyments: while we exert ourfelves abroad, in cultivating the fields, carrying on trades, and working at manufaftures, we leave them at home to enjoy the fruits of our induftry; when we return, we lay thefe fruits at their feet, happy ourfelves, if we can contribute to their happinefs. Thus exempted from the labour of procuring their fubfiftence, the fex have a great deal of time upon their hands, which the domeftic duties that fall to their fhare are not fuflficient to fill up. Where the fpirits are aftive, and the imagination lively, time thus unoccupied is a blank, tedioufly difa- greeable. In order, therefore, to fill up this Vol. I. N blank, C lm P. blank, a vai"iety of litde employments, di. verfions, and amufements, have been contrived ; many of them adapted to both fexes, and fome of them to the fair fex only. In ftates of the moft favage barbarity, or in thofe but a few degrees removed from it? women being confidered only as the flaves and drudges of the men ; and as the inftru- ments of population, are deftined only to labour for their imperious tyrants, or to bring up their children. Thus conftandy employed, they have but little time; and conftandy deprefted, they have but little inclination for amufement. In fuch Mates and conditions of human nature, we fhall therefore meet with few female diverfions, and thefe too, only fuch as feem to have arifen from nature, or from chance, and not from any exertion of genius or refinement in the purfuit of pleafure. In the Eaft, where women ...« less