rd to that superior duty which
can never be infringed with impunity.

"As the want of understanding is by no art to be concealed, by no
address to be disguised, it might be supposed impossible for a woman of
sense to unite herself to a person whose defect, in this instance, must
render that sort of rational society, which constitutes the chief
happiness of such an union, impossible. Yet here, how often has the
weakness of female judgment been conspicuous! The advantages of great
superiority in rank or fortune have frequently proved so irresistible a
temptation, as, in opinion, to outweigh, not only the folly, but even
the vices of its possessor--a grand mistake, ever tacitly acknowledged
by a subsequent repentance, when the expected pleasures of affluence,
equipage, and all the glittering pageantry, have been experimentally
found insufficient to make amends for the want of that constant
satisfaction which results from the social joy of conversing with a
reasonable friend!

"But however weak this motive must be acknowledged, it is more excusable
than another, which, I fear, has sometimes had an equal influence on the
mind--I mean so great a love of sway, as to induce her to give the
preference to a person of weak intellectuals, in hopes of holding,
uncontrolled, the reins of government. The expectation is, in fact, ill
grounded. Obstinacy and pride are generally the companions of folly. The
silliest people are often the most tenacious of their opinions, and,
consequently, the hardest of all others to be managed. But admit the
contrary, the principle is in itself bad. It tends to invert the order
of nature, and to counteract the design of Providence.

"A woman can never be seen in a more ridiculous light than when she
appears to govern her husband. If, unfortunately, the superiority of
understanding is on her side, the apparent consciousness of that
superiority betrays a weakness, that renders her contemptible in the
sight of every considerate person, and it may, very probably, fix in his
mind a dislike never to be eradicated. In such a case, if it should ever
be your own, remember that some degree of dissimulation is commendable,
so far as to let your husband's defects appear unobserved. When he
judges wrong, never flatly contradict, but lead him insensibly into
another opinion, in so discreet a manner, that it may seem entirely his
own, and let the whole credit of every prudent determination rest on
him, without indu