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637
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A POLITICAL . AND SOCIAL . ANOMALY .
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By our glorious constitution , the wonder and envy of the world , the crown of these realms , being hereditary , has repeatedly graced , or been graced by , the brows of a female ; and such an event is , as every body knows , likely to occur again . To the wisdom of this arrangement we neither make nor feel any objection . We have no reverence for Salic law . There has been no argument ever presented to our minds which demonstratively proves that the
best of all possible kings , as every king is for the time being , is better than the best of all possible queens , as every queen is for the time being , by parity of reasoning . We only advert to the fact for the sake of showing with how much of political authority a woman may be safely trusted ; how much she may be invested with ,, according to , not the wild theories of some modern
speculator , but the wisdom of our ancestors and the perfection of our institutions . It is a fearful amount . She selects the persons who are to fill the great offices of State , and there must always be considerable latitude of choice . The tremendous question of peace or war is in her breast . She is the empire to foreign powers ; for it seems that courts know nothing of nations but their princes . She administers the laws , by her deputies the
judges ; and in the making of the laws she has a negative upon the results of the collective legislatorial wisdom of the nation , elected and hereditary . Her obstinacy may indefinitely postpone , her treachery may cruelly disappoint , the hopes of millions suffering under accumulated wrongs . She has the disposal of immense revenues , and is the fountain of honour . Sh £ is the head of the army , which is sworn to her service ; and the head of the Church , selecting the men , who , as they prove good or bad spiritual
guides , may lead souls to heaven or mislead them to perdition . All this and more , not only may , but , when the contingency occurs of a woman ' being next in succession , must be consigned to her charge , or the constitution is destroyed . And how is a woman prepared for this mighty trust ? Certainly not by the best imaginable education , either in an intellectual or a moral view . It is impossible to conceal from her , for any lone ;
time , the peculiarity of her own destiny . From the moment of her being aware of that destiny , the light of truth , on almost any subject , comes into her mind coloured by it . This would be the case even if those about her were themselves persons of the soundest heads and hearts , and the most free from selfishness and sycophancy that ever lived . That they should be so , is a bold supposition . But if they were , how could they correct the constant bias which must be impressed on her mind by her own position ? How is it possible for her to read history impartially ? to study moral philosophy impartially ? to examine religion im-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1832, page 637, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1820/page/61/
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