II. The false prophet Mahomed, denied the women entrance into that ill-laid-out and absurdly-disposed paradise, which he had devised and appropriated to be possessed by his followers, limiting the felicity of the females to beholding from without, the glory and happiness enjoyed by the men within; and it certainly must give the women great pleasure, to survey their husbands in that scene of delights, composed all of turpitudes, clasped in the arms of other consorts, which were feigned to be newly created for this particular purpose by that great artist in fabricating chimeras. Such a delirium being admitted and received by a great part of the world, sufficiently shews, to what a degree mankind are capable of running into error. III. But it seems as if these, who deny the women almost every kind of merit in this life, do not differ much from those who deny them happiness in the next. The most vile among the vulgar, very frequently represent that sex as having a most horrible propensity to vice; and would insinuate, that the men are the sole repositories of virtue. It is certainly true, that you will find these species of sentiments loudly trumpeted forth in an infinite number of books; in some of which, the invective is carried to such a point, as scarcely to admit there is one good woman, and asserting, that their blush, which has been generally considered as an addition to their beauty, and a token of modesty, is the effect of the lewdness of their souls. _Aspera si visa est, rigidasque imitata Sabinas_ _Velle, sed ex alto dissimulare puta._