第50章 LETTER XIX(2)

It moves my gall to discover some of the commercial frauds practised during the present war.In short,under whatever point of view Iconsider society,it appears to me that an adoration of property is the root of all evil.Here it does not render the people enterprising,as in America,but thrifty and cautious.I never,therefore,was in a capital where there was so little appearance of active industry;and as for gaiety,I looked in vain for the sprightly gait of the Norwegians,who in every respect appear to me to have got the start of them.This difference I attribute to their having more liberty--a liberty which they think their right by inheritance,whilst the Danes,when they boast of their negative happiness,always mention it as the boon of the Prince Royal,under the superintending wisdom of Count Bernstorff.Vassalage is nevertheless ceasing throughout the kingdom,and with it will pass away that sordid avarice which every modification of slavery is calculated to produce.

If the chief use of property be power,in the shape of the respect it procures,is it not among the inconsistencies of human nature most incomprehensible,that men should find a pleasure in hoarding up property which they steal from their necessities,even when they are convinced that it would be dangerous to display such an enviable superiority?Is not this the situation of serfs in every country.

Yet a rapacity to accumulate money seems to become stronger in proportion as it is allowed to be useless.

Wealth does not appear to be sought for amongst the Danes,to obtain the excellent luxuries of life,for a want of taste is very conspicuous at Copenhagen;so much so that I am not surprised to hear that poor Matilda offended the rigid Lutherans by aiming to refine their pleasures.The elegance which she wished to introduce was termed lasciviousness;yet I do not find that the absence of gallantry renders the wives more chaste,or the husbands more constant.Love here seems to corrupt the morals without polishing the manners,by banishing confidence and truth,the charm as well as cement of domestic life.A gentleman,who has resided in this city some time,assures me that he could not find language to give me an idea of the gross debaucheries into which the lower order of people fall;and the promiscuous amours of the men of the middling class with their female servants debase both beyond measure,weakening every species of family affection.

I have everywhere been struck by one characteristic difference in the conduct of the two sexes;women,in general,are seduced by their superiors,and men jilted by their inferiors:rank and manners awe the one,and cunning and wantonness subjugate the other;ambition creeping into the woman's passion,and tyranny giving force to the man's,for most men treat their mistresses as kings do their favourites:ergo is not man then the tyrant of the creation?

Still harping on the same subject,you will exclaim--How can I avoid it,when most of the struggles of an eventful life have been occasioned by the oppressed state of my sex?We reason deeply when we feel forcibly.

But to return to the straight road of observation.The sensuality so prevalent appears to me to arise rather from indolence of mind and dull senses,than from an exuberance of life,which often fructifies the whole character when the vivacity of youthful spirits begins to subside into strength of mind.