XXXVIII. Nor is the world so universally persuaded as some may think, that a crown does not sit well on the head of a woman, because in an island or peninsula, which is formed by the Nile in Ethiopia, called Meroe, women, according to the testimony of Pliny, reigned for many successive ages. Father Cornelius Alapide, speaking of Saba, who was one of their queens, supposes, that her empire extended much beyond the limits of Meroe, and that it might possibly comprehend the greatest part of Ethiopia, grounding his opinion, upon an expression of our Saviour, who called her Queen of the South, which words seemed to imply, that she possessed vast dominions in that quarter. Thomas Cornelius also tells us, that authors were not wanting, who asserted, that Meroe was bigger than the island of Great Britain, and, if so, the territories of those queens were not very confined, though they did not extend beyond the limits of Meroe. Aristotle (Lib. 2. Polit. Cap. 7.) says, that among the Lacedemonians, the women had a great share in the political government; and that their being allowed it, is agreeable to the laws given them by Licurgus. XXXIX. In Borneo also, according to the relation of Mandeslo, which may be seen in the second volume of Olearius, the women reign, and their husbands enjoy no other privilege, than that of being their most dignified subjects. In the island of Formosa, situated in the southern part of the Chinese sea, those idolaters who inhabit it, have such confidence in the prudent conduct of the women, that the Sacerdotal function, together with every thing which relates to religious matters, is confided wholly to them; and that, with regard to politics, they enjoy a power superior to that of the senators, they being considered as the interpreters of the will of their deities. XL. Notwithstanding all this, the ordinary practice of nations is most conformable to reason, as it corresponds best with the divine decree notified to our first mother in Paradise, and to all her daughters in her name, which enjoins a subjection to the men; and we should only correct the impatience, which many people shew at submitting to female government, when according to the laws of the land they should obey; and we should also bridle that extravagant estimation for our own sex, which carries us such lengths, as to prefer the government of a weak child, to that of an able and experienced woman. The antient Persians were drawn by this prepossession to such a ridiculous extreme, that the widow of one of their princes happening to be left with child at the death of her husband, and being advised by their magi, that she had conceived a male, they crowned the belly of the queen, and before it was born, proclaimed the fœtus king by the name of Sapor. SECT. VII.