his wife; and this circumstance, added to the low estima- BOOK tion of women among savages, leads him to consider her IV. as a female servant whom he has purchased, and whom he has a title to, treat as an inferior. In all unpolished nations, it is true, the functions in domestic economy, which fall naturally to the share of women, are so many, that they are subjected to hard labour, and must bear more than their full portion of the common burden. But in America their condition is so peculiarly grievous, and their depression so complete, that servitude is a name too mild to describe their wretched state. A wife, among most tribes, is no better than a beast of burden, destined to every office of labour and fatigue. While the men loiter out the day in sloth, or spend it in amusement, the women are condemned to incessant toil. Tasks are imposed upon them without pity, and services are received without complaisance or gratitude, Every circumstance reminds women of this mortifying inferiority. They must approach their lords with reverence; they must regard them as more exalted beings, and are not permitted to eat in their presence. There are districts in America where this dominion is so grievous, and so sensibly felt, that some women, in a wild emotion of maternal tenderness, have destroyed their female children in their infancy, in order to deliver them from that intolerable bondage to which they knew they were doomed.a Thus the first institution of social life is perverted. That state of domestic union towards which nature leads the human species, in order to soften the heart to gentleness and humanity, is rendered so unequal, as to establish a cruel distinction between the sexes, which forms the one to be harsh and unfeeling, and humbles the other to servility and subjection. y Tertre, ii, 382. Borde Relat.. des Mours des Caraibes, p. 21. Biet. 353. Condamine, p. 110. Fermin. i, 79. z Gumilla, i, 153. Barrere, 164. Labat Voy. ii, 78. Chanvalon, 51. Tertre, ii, 300. a Gumilla, ii, 233, 238. Herrera, dec. 7, lib. ix, c. 4. BOOK Their wo men not prolific. It is owing, perhaps, in some measure, to this state of depression, that women in rude nations are far from being prolific. The vigour of their constitution is exhausted by excessive fatigue, and the wants and distresses of savage life are so numerous, as to force them to take various precautions in order to prevent too rapid an increase of their progeny. Among wandering tribes, or such as depend chiefly upon hunting for subsistence, the mother cannot attempt to rear a second child, until the first has attained such a degree of vigour as to be in some measure independent of her care. From this motive, it is the universal practice of the American women to suckle their children during several years; and as they seldom marry early, the period of their fertility is over, before they can finish the long but necessary attendance upon two or three children. Among some of the least polished tribes, whose industry and foresight do not extend so far as to make any regular provision for their own subsistence, it is a maxim not to burden themselves with rearing more than two children; and no such numerous families, as are frequent in civilized societies, are to be found among men in the savage state. When twins are born, one of them commonly is abandoned, because the mother is not equal to the task of rearing both. When a mother dics while she is nursing a child, all hope of preserving its life fails, and it is buried together with her in the same grave. As the parents are frequently exposed to want by their own improvident indolence, the difficulty of sus e Lafitau, i, 590. Charlevoix, iii, 304. Charlev. iii, 303. Dumont Mem. sur Louisiane, ii, 270. Denys Hist. Natur. de l'Amerique, &c. ii, 365. Charlev. Hist. de Parag. ii, 422. • Techo's Account of Paraguay, &c. Lett. Ed f. 24, 200. Lozano Descr. 92. Church. Collect. vi, 108. Lett. Edif. x, 200. P. Melch. Hernandez Mebert. Collect. Orig. Pap. i. IV. taining their children becomes so great, that it is not un- BOOK common to abandon or destroy them. Thus their experience of the difficulty of training up an infant to maturity amidst the hardships of savage life, often stifles the voice of nature among the Americans, and suppresses the strong emotions of parental tenderness. affection But, though necessity compels the inhabitants of Ame- Parental rica thus to set bounds to the increase of their families, and filial they are not deficient in affection and attachment to their duty. offspring. They feel the power of this instinct in its full force; and as long as their progeny continue feeble and helpless, no people exceed them in tenderness and care.k But in rude nations, the dependence of children upon their parents is of shorter continuance than in polished societies. When men must be trained to the various functions of civil life by previous discipline and education, when the knowledge of abstruse sciences must be taught, and dexterity in intricate arts must be acquired, before a young man is prepared to begin his career of action, the attentive feelings of a parent are not confined to the years of infancy, but extend to what is more remote, the establishment of his child in the world. Even then, his solicitude does not terminate. His protection may still be requisite, and his wisdom and experience still prove useful guides. Thus a permanent connection is formed; parental tenderness is exercised, and filial respect returned, throughout the whole course of life. But, in the simplicity of the savage state, the affection of parents, like the instinctive fondness of animals, ceases almost entirely as soon as their offspring attain maturity. Little instruction fits them for that mode of life to which they are destined. The parents, as if their duty were accomplished, when they have conducted their children through the helpless years of infancy, leave them afterwards at entire Hiberty. Even in their tender age, they seldom advise or admonish, they never chide or chastise them. They suf |