Los orígenes de la historiografía feminista : Historiographical analysis of William Alexander's History of women

DEPARTAMENTO DE HISTORIA I UNIVERSIDADE DE SA NTIAGO DE COMPOST ELA LOS ORÍGENES DE LA HISTORIOGRAFÍA FEMINISTA — HISTORIOGRAPHICAL ANALISYS OF WILLIAM ALEXANDER’S HISTORY OF WOMEN — E ULALIA S IMAL I GLESIAS Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres: Turkish Bath A mi abuela Carmen i Resumen Esta tesis doctoral tiene como objetivo examinar el contexto historiográfico de la obra de William Alexander, La historia de las mujeres. De la más t emprana antigüedad al tiempo present e . Hasta el mo- mento, se ha prestado poca atención a este libro, quizás a causa de su naturaleza contradictoria y de su extensión. A diferencia de mu- chos de los historiadores de su tiempo, que analizaron en sus tra- bajos la situación de las mujeres como un hito del proceso de civi- lización, Alexander no pertenecía al ámbito académico, no dejó ninguna otra obra de tipo histórico y recibió escaso reconocimien- to en su día. Por ello, todavía sabemos muy po co acerca de Wi- lliam Alexander, cuyas circunstancias vitales han sido investigadas principalmente por Jane Rendall. William Alexander nació posible mente en Halifax en 1742. En los años 60 del siglo dieciocho, estudió en la Escuela de Medi- Resumen i i cina de Edimburgo, donde segurame nte acudió a las clases de me- dicina impartidas por William Cullen. Tras pasar unos años en el ejército y como médico en Edimburgo, se doctoró en medicina en 1769. Aunque con toda probabilidad ejerció en Londres durante la mayor parte de su vida profesional, Alexander mantuvo fuertes vínculos con Escocia. Mantuvo correspondencia con destacadas figuras de la vida cultural escocesa, como Alexander Monro senior, quien pudo haber sido su mecenas, y fue admitido en la Medical Society (1765) y en la Royal Society de Edimburg o. También sa- bemos que realizó varias investig aciones médicas acerca de Edim- burgo, las cuales, además, fueron discutidas en las asociaciones culturales de la ciudad. Todaví a sabemos menos sobre los últimos años de su vida y sobre su muer te, que pudo haber ocurrido en 1788. Su obra Historia de las mujeres fue publicada en Londres en 1779. Consta de dos volúmenes y su organización en capítulos es temática, en lugar de cronológica. Cada capítulo (o conjunto de capítulos) se centra en una cuesti ón en concreto, que es tratada cronológicamente, examinando sus va riaciones a lo largo del ti em- po y en distintas sociedades. En el primer tomo, Alexander incluyó capítulos tales como “Esbozo de la historia antediluviana de las mujeres”, “Sobre la educación fe menina”, “Sobre las ocupaciones y las diversiones de las mujeres”, “Sobre el tratamiento, condición, ventajas y desventajas de las mujeres en la vida salvaje y en socie- dad”, “Acerca del carácter y la conducta de las mujeres”, “Sobre los efectos de la compañía femenina” y “Esbozos acerca de las ceremonias y costumbres propias de las mujeres”. En el segundo tomo, se incluyen los capítulos si guientes, “Sobre la delicadeza y la Resumen ii i castidad”, “Acerca de las variadas opiniones que profesan distintas naciones respecto a las mujeres”, “Sobre el vestido, adornos y otros métodos a través de los cuales las mujeres realzan su atracti- vo ante los hombres”, “Acerca del cortejo”, “Sobre el matrimo- nio”, “Sobre el celibato” y “Sobre la viudedad”. El libro termina con un apéndice centrado en la sociedad contemporá nea a Alexander: “Una breve consideración acerca de las leyes y cos tum- bres más materiales, con respecto a las mujeres de Gran Bretaña”. Por tanto, el libro se ocupa de un a gran variedad de temas: la con- dición de las mujeres en las sociedades actuales, comparándola con su situación en las sociedades prim itivas, la natura lez a feme nina y sus principales virtudes, la familia, el noviazgo, y las costumbres, vestido y educación femeninas. La Historia de las mujeres no sólo describe la evolución de la condición femenina a lo largo de la historia sino que también se ocupa de la naturaleza femenina y sus facultades, de la relación entre mujeres, progreso y virtud, y de la posición de las mujeres en la articulación de las esferas de lo privado y lo público. Así pues, el libro puede considerarse un valioso ejemplo de los diferentes dis- cursos e ideas que definían las relaciones y nociones de género en el siglo dieciocho. Su producción histórica contribuye al conoci- miento de los vínculos existentes entre las transfor maciones histo- riográficas y la formación de identidades de género. Además, hemos de destacar que se trata de la primera historia de las muje- res, en la que las mujeres son el sujeto histórico principal, conside- radas en cuanto a su género, alejándose así de las antologías de mujeres ilustres que caracterizaron la Edad Moderna. El interés historiográfico del libro reside, as imismo, en la variedad de temas Resumen i v que trata y de fuentes empleadas, que denotan la deuda de William Alexander con su contexto historiográfico más inmediato, el de la Ilustración escocesa, y con desarrollos historiográficos contempo- ráneos inspirados en las ciencias naturales y centra dos en la conse- cución de una ciencia del hombre. Finalmente, el libro refleja los debates del siglo dieciocho acerca de nociones de género, las muje- res y su papel en la sociedad, que abarcaban desde argumentos proto-feministas, en pro de la igualdad, a la transformación de nuevas y viejas ideas en d efiniciones normativas del ideal femenino y de la función de las mujeres en la sociedad. Para examinar el contexto en el que la obra fue producida, hemos utilizado dos enfoques básicos. En primer lugar, se proce- derá a analizar las circunstancias históricas contemporáneas a la obra, ocupándonos de la situación de las mujeres en la Gran Bre- taña del siglo dieciocho y analizando la dialéctica que articula la formación de identidades nacionales que contribuyó a la integra - ción de las distintas partes que formaban el Reino Unido, una unión que no estuvo exenta de tensiones. Por otra parte, nos ocuparemos del contexto intelectual de la obra, centrándonos principalmente en la Ilustración escocesa, ya que la Historia de las mujeres debe considerarse uno de los mejores ejemplos de la historia conjectura l, el paradigma historiográfico preferido por los autores escoceses. La vitalidad académica de la Escocia del siglo dieciocho proporcionó a Alexander ideas, inspi- ración y precedentes. Alexander, al igual que los historiadores con- jecturales escoceses, creía que la con dición de las mujeres consti- tuía un indicio del nivel de progreso de la sociedad, consideró a las mujeres como sujetos históricos válidos y mostró en su obra una Resumen v tensión entre progresismo y conservadurismo. Aunque debemos reconocer que el contexto europeo es también relevante para esta investigación, un análisis en profundidad de los debates e ideas que tuvieron lugar en el continente respecto a las relaciones e identida- des de género se halla fuera del marco de esta tesis doctoral. En consiguiente, la obra de William Alexander será examinada a la luz del desarrollo de la Ilustración escocesa, incidiendo en su elabora- ción de los roles de las mujeres en la sociedad, en sus formas de escritura de la historia y en su interpretación del discurso de la sen- sibilidad. El primer capítulo tiene como objetivo acercarse a las vidas de las mujeres de la Gran Bretaña del siglo dieciocho, centrándose en su papel en la familia como madres y esposas y, al mismo tiem- po, teniendo en cuenta l as actividades públicas femeninas de tipo económico, laboral, educacional, político y social. Debido a proce- sos de distinto tipo, la situación de las mujeres en las décadas fina- les del siglo dieciocho se caracterizó por su inestabilidad y dina- mismo, a consecuencia d e los efec tos de las transformaciones eco- nómicas derivadas de la revolución industrial, la influencia de suce- sos de tipo político tales como la Guerra de Independencia ameri- cana, la agitación revolucionaria que precedió a la revolución fran- cesa y los cambios sociales relacionados con la emergencia de las clases medias y su mentalidad burguesa. Esta situación cambiante favoreció la producción de una obr a como la de Alexander, centrada en el análisis de la evolución de la situación femenina en distintas sociedades y épocas. Además, la alteración de los modelos tradiciona les de trabajo, ocio, vida fami- liar y sociabilidad provocó incertidumbres y temor es acerca de la Resumen xi i mayores cotas de progreso, señalando el importante papel de las mujeres en este proceso, la literatura de la conducta tenía como fin la protección del progreso conseguido, incluso a costa de sacrificar las reivindicaciones de igualdad entre hombres y mujeres y la natu- raleza privilegiada de las mujeres a menudo presentes en el proyec- to conjectural. Además, ambos gé neros se centraban principalmen- te en conducir el deseo sexual ma sculino a través de prácticas e instituciones no exentas de matices p atriarcales, asegurando así la reproducción de la sociedad sin poner en peligro su base moral. El discurso de la sensibilidad fue utilizado en esta época para elaborar nuevas formas de leer la historia, que acercaron este géne- ro a las supuestas características naturales de las mujeres. A pesar de ello, tal y como demuestran las críticas que recibió la Historia de las mujeres , la creencia en una sensibilidad más delicada propia de las mujeres podía ser utilizada para censurar su acceso a obras históri- cas, al considerarlas perjudiciales para la delicada naturaleza de la mujer, restringiendo de esta forma su desarrollo intelectual. Una de las metas de esta tesis doctoral ha sido p oner de relie- ve el interés que la obra de William Alexander tiene para el estudio de la evolución de las relaciones de género, historia de las mujeres e historiografía. Esperamos que esta investigación contribuya no sólo al conocimiento de la obra sino también a poner de manifies- to la posición de relevancia que la Historia de las mujeres ocupa entre las primeras historias de las muje res, señalando su lugar como pre- cedente de investigaciones actuales en el terreno de los estudios de género relativas a las vicisitudes de la situación de las mujeres a lo largo del tiempo y del espacio. Index A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................. 1 P REFACE .................................................................................. 5 1. W OMEN IN E IGHTEENTH C ENTURY B RITAIN ................... 23 Visions of Womanhood .................................................................. 24 Courtship, Marriage and Domestic Life ....................................... 28 Sexuality............................................................................................. 56 Reproduction, Pregnancy, Childrearing and Education............. 66 Women at Risk ................................................................................. 80 Women at Work............................................................................... 87 Rural Women.................................................................................. 89 Urban Women ................................................................................ 93 Women from the Middling Sort ...................................................... 101 Gentlewomen ................................................................................. 106 The Enlargement of the Feminine Sphere ................................. 117 2. N ATION , P ROVINCE AND N ATIONAL I DE NTITY ............... 129 Commerce, Empire and the Format ion of Identities ...............138 The Cult of Commerce, Empire an d Patriotic Discourses ................ 141 The Cult of Commerce and Social Stability ..................................... 145 The 1760s and the 1770s ...............................................................152 Political Unrest .............................................................................. 157 Radical Politics .............................................................................. 160 The American War ....................................................................... 165 Integration, Improvement and Notions of Identity in Eighteenth Century Scotland........................................................175 North Britishness and the Mentality of Emulation.......................... 176 A Collective Co mmitmen t to Improve ment ........................................ 179 Anglicising Sco tland ................................................................................ 184 The Limits of Improve ment ................................................................... 190 The Margins of the No rth Briti sh Identity ........................................... 192 The Scottish Takeover of Britain .................................................... 197 The Scots and America .................................................................. 202 Scotland and the A merican War ............................................................ 207 Conclusion.......................................................................................210 3. P RESCRIPTION AND P ROGRESS ......................................... 219 The Intellectual Background of William Alexander: The Scottish Enlightenment ................................................................................221 The Ideology of Femininity in the Scottish Enlightenment: Morality, Sensibility, Domesticity and Civilisation ....................233 Private and Public Virtue: Christian-Stoicism and Civic Humanism ...................................................................................................... 233 Private Virtue: Christ ian-Stoic Morality................................................ 233 The Defence of Public Virtue: Civic Humanism and Patriarchal Conserva tism ............................................................................................ 236 Sensibility and Sociability: The Moral Basis of the Community ....... 245 Domesticity, Women and Civilisat ion: Blurring Boundaries b etween Public and Private .......................................................................... 248 The Discourse of Dom esticit y ............................................................... 248 Women in the Discou rs e of Domes ticity ............................................. 251 The Discourse of Sensibility and th e Civilising Process: Women in Conjectural His tory ................................................................................. 255 Conservatism and Progressivism in the History of Women ........ 263 Female Nature, Education and Duti es: Equality vs. Sensibility ..... 263 Female Progress: Civilisation an d Refinement ................................. 269 The Protection of Virtue: Women and the Dangers of Progress ....... 276 The Blurring of the Public/Private Distinction in the History of Women .......................................................................................... 285 The Reconciliation between Progressivism and Conservatism ............ 288 4. H UMAN N ATURE : T HE B ASIS OF THE C ONJECTURA L E NQUIRY .............................................................................. 295 Origin and Sources of the Eighteenth Century Scottish Science of Man ............................................................................................. 306 Early Modern Forerunners of Natura l History: Bacon, Hobbes a nd Locke ............................................................................................ 307 Linnaeus and Buffon: Man and t he Animal Kingdom ................... 309 Environmentalism and Eighteenth Century Medicine...................... 316 Science and Improvement: The Institutionalisation of Natural History in Scotland .................................................................................... 323 Travel Literature ........................................................................... 328 Conjectural History: The Science of Man in the Scottish Enlightenment ................................................................................ 338 Basic Tenets and Underlying Assumptions ..................................... 339 Methodology: Induction, Comparison , the Search for Causal Patterns and the Four Stages Theory ............................................................ 353 The Comparat ive Me thod ...................................................................... 353 General Cau ses and Human Evol ution................................................ 358 The Inductiv e Metho d ............................................................................ 364 The Four Stag e s Theor y ......................................................................... 365 The Attack on the Contractualist Tradition. .................................. 380 The Normative Side of Conjectural History .................................... 390 The History Of Women and the Writing of Conjectural History .......................................................................................................... 395 Main Sources and Influences .......... ................................................ 397 The History of Women as a Work of Natural History .................. 402 5. S YMPATHY , S ENSIBILITY AND THE R EFASHIONING OF THE I NDIVIDUAL S ELF ................................................................. 419 Sensibility and Sympathy in the Scottish Enlightenment .........431 Medical Discourses of Sensibility ................................................445 The Novel of Sentiment and the Female Reader ......................451 The Dangers of Sensibility ............................................................469 Women in the Discourse of Sensibility .......................................476 Conduct Literature and Alexander’s History of Women . Channelling Feminine Sensibility .................................................484 Sensibility and the Reformation of Male Manners ....................533 Sensibility and the Writing and Reading of History ..................551 C ONCLUSION ........................................................................ 559 R EFERENCES ........................................................................ 567 1 Acknowledgements In spite of what is stated on the binding, a PhD thesis is rarely the product of the author’s sole efforts. Besides the researcher, numerous persons contribute to the final outcome of her endeavour, whether helping her with their professional advice, providing her with financial support or simply by hearing her miseries over a pint of beer. First of all I should recognise my debt with those who helped through the different stages of this thesis by giving academic as well as personal help. Jose Carlos Bermejo Barrera, director d e la tesis, ha colaborado en su realizac ión desde el principio. Su buen hacer como historiador y profesor contribuyó en gran medida a que al acabar la carrera optase por hacer un doctorado. No sólo me ayudó con la elección del tema d e la tesis, al señalarme el valor historiográfico que la obra de Alexander posee, sino que me guió Acknowledgements 2 por los vericuetos de la realización de una tesis doctoral, aconsejándome sobre la manera en la que proceder con la investigación. Además de leer los capítulos, ofreciendo consejo sobre cómo mejorarlos, ha sido un tutor paciente y comprensivo. This research was conducted to a great extent in England where I was lucky to meet Dr. Jane Rendall, who accepted to supervise my work while I was there. She suggested the most suitable bibliography and stressed the relevance of the Scottish Enlightenment to understand William Alexander’s book. She supervised my work through most of the elabora tion of this PhD thesis, making useful suggestions and accurate corrections, which doubtlessly improved the final outcome of this research. I am most obliged for her encouragement, enthusiasm and kindness while her proficiency as a historia n has been a constant source of inspiration. I should turn now to the institutions whose financial support enabled the completion of this PhD thesis. In the first place, Xunta de Galicia, which funded my first doctorate years. Besides, I would like to state my gratitude to the Fundación Barrie de la Maza, which awarded me a scholarship in the year 2001 in order to complete a Master in Women’s and Gender History at the University of York. I must thank them for the excellent background the Master provided me with as well as for the care and recommendations of their staff and members in front of the challenges of a year abroad. Similarly, I am indebted to the Fundación Caixa Galicia from which I received a scholarshi p to continue my research on Alexande r for a second year in York. Acknowledgements 3 Regarding England I must made extensive my thanks to man y people who made of my stay there three of the best years of my life. Thank you Cristina and Yuji, for your encouragement, unabated cheerfulness and excellent Japanese food. Thank you Iria, for sharing my bouts of homesickness and for many beers, cigarettes and laughs. Thank you Corrado for your keenness for night time political discussion and your lessons on pasta cooking. Thank you Peter, Kris, Paola, Antonia and the rest, for many happy evenings in the Deramore Ar ms. And of course, thanks to the Greek bunch, Chrisy, Katerina and, especially, Panos, who has proven a faithful friend and the best music adviser. Debo agradecer también el apoyo de mi familia y de los amigos de la terriña. A mis padres, su cariño y apoyo, sus muchos paquetes de comida que ayudaron a que sobreviviese los rigores de la cocina inglesa y su p aciencia ante no pocos agobios. A mis hermanos Rubén y Fernando, mi secretario en España y representante en actos oficiales. A mis primos María, Alberto y Miguel, siempre preocupados por el bienestar de su primita exiliada, y a mis tíos Suso y Josefi ta, cuyo afecto y contribución al fluir de paquetes ha ser reconocido. A Mónica y a Cristina, gracias por numerosos cafés de sobremesa y cervezas vespertinas. A Maite, polo seu alento e a súa teima co valor terapéutico da noite santiaguesa. A Marta, por unha amizade que permanece e mantense forte malia a distancia. A Xandra, polos seus consellos de experimentada doutora e polo s eu apoio en momentos difíciles. No me olvido tampoco del resto de los compañeros de la facultad. Gracias Ferni (¡maruja!), Ana, Acknowledgements 4 Roberto y Raquel, por vuestro buen humor y vuestra paciencia con mis cuitas de investigadora. Por último, mi agradecimiento más sentido ha de ser para Jose, que no sólo nunca dudó de que esta tesis tend ría un final sino que contribuyó decisivamente a que lo tuviese. No exagero al decir que sin él, probablemente esta investigación no hubiese llegado a su fin. Y en cualquier caso no habría disfrutado tanto en el proceso. 5 Preface The rethinking of female nature and gender relationships in the eighteenth century was paralleled and prompted by its historical context. In this period the social, political and mental foundations of the Ancien Régime were challenged by processes of a very different nature. The langua ge of rationalism undermined the sacredness of political and reli gious authorities such as the monarchy and the aristocracy. But the same discourses that were used against established structures could also be employed to argue against the subordination of women and the hierarchical order of the family, as the French Revolution showed. At the same time, economic processes, such as the creation of a worldwide sphere of commercial exchange and the onset of the indus trial revolution, transformed the social structures, loosening the authority of the propertied classes, disrupting traditional family ties and fostering Preface 12 should be kept under a close control, by avoiding romantic fictions and preventing in them the vice of vanity. Imagination played a chief role in courtship: women should inflame men’s imagination to arise in them sentiments of love; however, at the same time, women’s imagination should be especially restrained, otherwise it will bring only shame and disgrace to them. The discourse of sensibility, Rousseau’s ideas and the concern for moral regeneration could be unde rstood in other ways in which female inferiority and domestic reclusion were challenged. Antoine-Léonard Thomas joined these issues together in his Essai sur le caractère, les mœurs et l’esprit des femmes (1771), a clear precedent of Alexander’s book. Like Rousseau, Thomas placed gender relationships at the heart of the regeneration of current customs and ascribed different qualities and duties to each sex. However , he considered that female influence on society advanced morality and social pleasures through polite sociability an d praised famous women of the past. Therefore, although he remarked that gender relations should be controlled and longed for a recuperation of the more simple and virtuous manners of the past, he did not share Rousseau’s acute anxieties about female nature and portrayed a more positive picture of women and gender relations 14 . Madame d’Epinay carried furthe r this criticism of Rousseau’s ideas. While stressing the connections between the moral regeneration of society and the reform of male and female private and public behaviour, she rejected women’s mental inferiority, 14 See Mónica Bolufer P eruga a nd Isabel Mo rant Deusa, 'On Women's Reason, Education and Love', G ender and History , (1998), pp. 183-216. Preface 13 encouraged the cultivation of th eir intellectual capacities and blamed men for degrading the intercourse between the s exes. Similarly, in Spain, Josefa Amar y Borbón and Inés Joyes y Blake denied female inequality and defended women’s presence in public and social life 15 . New scientific research provided a ground for the defence of women’s equality. From 1700 onwards, medical theories had neglected significant anatomical differences between the sexes and emphasised the contribution of both sexes to conception, dismissing female passivity in the reproductive process 16 . However, these theories had a limited impa ct on conventional medical discourses which, due to social and internal conventions, remained strongly attached to ideas of female inferiority. The debate about female equality was also encouraged by female participation in public debates. In France, women’s partaking in political affairs had already started before the Revolution through the salonnières ’ engagement in philosophical and literary discussions and through periodicals such as the Journal des Dames which commented upon political issues 17 . In Britain, female debating societies were crea ted in the 1770s and, as we have seen, blurred gender images circulated in literary production 18 . Political theories, humanitarian campaigns (such as anti-slavery) 15 Bolufe r Peruga and Mor ant Deus a, 'On Women' s Reason' . 16 See Estelle Cohen, '"What the Wo men at All Times W ould Laugh at ". Redefining Equality and Difference, circa 1660-1760', Osiris , 12, (1997), pp. 121- 142. 17 See Rendall, ‘Feminizing the En lightenmen t’ and Joan B. Landes, Women and the Public Sphere in the Ag e of the French Revo lution (Ithaca & London, 1996). 18 Wahrman, 'Percy's Prologue'. Preface 14 and religious dissent could also be used to argue for women’s autonomy. The eighteenth century expansion of printing culture not only facilitated the sp read of political dissent but also widened the opportunities for women to have access to learning and current ideas 19 . In this milieu, after the publication of the History of Women , several writers took the side of women to support their equal capacities with men and even to defend their social and political equality. In her Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Mary Wollstonecraft confronted Rousseau’s opinions 20 . She supported female equality with men at diffe rent levels, namely socially, morally and politically, and empha sised the necessity of female education on an equal footing with men’s. Besides the mistaken education of women, Wollstonecraft denounced the encouragement of an excessive and artificial sensibility as the other main cause of the ills of women. Wollstonecraft herself in Maria; or the Wrongs of Woman (1798), as well as Mary Hays, used the novel of sentiment to reveal the concealment of women’s right to sexuality in the discourse of sensibility 21 . However, after the publication of the History of Women , a conservative wave changed the conditions for debating women’s situation. In Britain, it has been argued that a turning point from ‘gender play’ to ‘gender panic’ occurred in the 1780s in which ‘the stakes increased in maintaining the conviction in gender categories 19 Rendall, ‘Feminizing the Enli ghtenmen t’. 20 Wollstonecraft, A Vindication . 21 See Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary and T he Wrongs of Woman (Oxfor d & New York, 1998). Preface 15 as absolute, in gender identities as fixed, in gender boundaries as stable and determined, and in apparent transgressions of those boundaries as fundamentally disruptive if not simply impossible’ 22 . The events of the French Revolution, with its challenge to patriarchal authority in the household and th e state, the disruptive effects of the American Revolution and the m edical research on female biological equality, had brought about uncertainty concerning sexual difference 23 . More over, debates on female intellectual equality had clear political implications because speech and authorship were understood a s sources of power and authority 24 . As a result, the preservation of social order became associated with the safeguarding of gender identities and, hence, the debates and claims for female equality were substituted by a reinforcement of gender difference, as the reactions to the publication of the Vindication of the Rights of Women proved. It is the aim of this PhD thesis to examine the historiographical context of William Alexander´s The History of Women. From the Earliest Antiquity to the Present Time . Little attention has been paid to this book, perhaps due to its con tradictory nature 22 Wahrman, 'Percy's Prologue', p. 151. 23 For the connexions between the polit ical order, fami ly relations and normative notions of feminini ty and ma sculinity in revolutionary France see Lynn Hunt, Politics, Cultur e and Class in th e French Revolution (Berk eley & Los Angeles, 1984); Lynn Hunt, The Family Romance of the French Revolution (Lon don, 1992) and Outram, The Body and the French Revolution . For a stu dy of female participation during the revolutiona ry process, see Olwen H. Hufton, Women and the Limits of Citizenship in the French Revolution (Toronto, 1989). For a study on Marie Antoinette, see E lizabeth Colwill, 'Just another Citoyenne? M arie Antoinette on Trial, 1790-1793', History Workshop Journal , 28, (1989), pp. 63-8 7. 24 Cohen, '"What the Women at A ll Times Would Laugh At"', p. 138. Preface 16 and its length. Alexander, in comparison with his contemporary historians, who analysed women’s condition as a benchmark in the civilising process, was not a scholar and achieved no recognitio n in his time. Hence, we still know ve ry little about Al exander, whose life has mainly been researched by Jane Rendall 25 . The book was published in London in 1779. It is divided in two volumes and organised thema tically rather than chronologically. Each chapter (or group of chapters) is focused on a particular subject, which is described chronologically, reviewing its variations throughout different times and places. In the first volume, Alexander included chapters such as ‘A Short Sketch of the Antediluvian History of Women’, ‘Of Female Education’, ‘Of the Employments and Amusements of Women’, ‘Of the Treatment, Condition, Advantages , and Disadvantages of Women, in Savage and Civil Life’, ‘Of the Character and Conduct of Women’, ‘Of the Influence of Female Society’ and ‘Sketches of Ceremonies and Customs, for th e most Part observed only by Women’. In the second volume, the chapters were ‘Of Delicacy and Chastity’, ‘Of the various Opinions entertained by different Nations concerning Women’, ‘O f Dress, Ornament, and some other Methods, whereby Women endeavour to render themsel ves agreeable to the Men’, ‘Of Courtship’, ‘Of Matrimony’, ‘Of Celibacy’ and ‘Of Widowhood’. The book concluded with an appendix focused on Alexander’s contemporary society: ‘A short 25 See, for instance, Jane R endall, 'Ale xan der, Dr. William (174 2-1788?)', in H. C. G. Matthew (e d.), The New Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004) and Rendall, ‘introduction ’ to William Alexander, (1779 ed.) The History of Women. From the Earliest Antiquity to the Present Time (Bri stol, 1995), 2 vols. Preface 17 view of some of the most material Laws and Customs, concer ning the Women of Great Britain’. Theref ore, it covers a wide array of themes: the condition of women in civil societies as compared with savage and primitive societies, female nature and its principal virtues, family life, courtship and female customs, dress and education. Although he directed his book to women, we have little proof of its success among female readers. The History of Women is not solely devoted to relating the evolution of the female condition across time and space but also explores female nature and facult ies, women’s relation to progress and virtue, and their place in the articulation of private and public spheres. As such it can be considered a valuable example of the different discourses and ideas that came into play to define gender relations and identities in the eighteenth century. Its historical production can contribute to our understanding of the relation between historiographical transformations and the formation of gender identities. In addition, it stands as one of the first histories of women, in which women are the main theme of the historical enquiry in terms of their gender, and which departs from anthologies of famous women that characterised the early modern period. The historiographical interest of the book also lie in the variety of topics and material it included, which relates Alexander’s efforts to contemporary historio graphical developments closely connected with natural history and with the search for a science of man. Finally, the book reflected eighteenth century discussions about gender identities, women and their role in society, which ranged from proto-feminist vindications of equality to the re- Preface 18 elaboration of old and new ideas in to prescriptive definitions of femininity and women’s role in society. In order to explore the milieu in which the book was produced, two approaches have been used. On the one hand, a historical context of the book will be provided, outlining the situation of women in eighteenth century Britain and analysing the dialectics of national identity which strained as well as brought together the different parts that formed Great Britain. On the other hand, we will proceed to exam ine the intellectual background of the work, focusing primarily on the Scottish Enlightenment, as the History of Women can be rightfully considered a fine example of conjectural history, the historiogra phical paradigm favoured by the Scottish authors. Similarly, the Sc ottish scholarly revival provided Alexander’s enquiry with ideas, inspiration and precedents. Although it should be recognised that the European context is also relevant for this research, a full analysis of the European debates and ideas regarding gender relations and identities is beyond the scope of this PhD thesis. Accordingly, Alexander’s work will be considered in the light of the Scottish discussion of the role of women in society, forms of historical writing and elaboration of the discourse of sensibility. It is the aim of the first chapter to delve into the lives of eighteenth century British women, focusing on their role within the family as mothers and wives while, at the same time, considering women’s activities in the public sphere of work, sociability, economic activities, learning and politics. Due to processes of a different kind, women’s situation in the final decades of the eighteenth century was unstable and changing, as a Preface 19 result of the economic transformations resul ting from the Industrial Revolution, the influence of political events such as the American War, the revolutionary ferment which preceded the French Revolution and the social changes stemming from the emergence of the middle classes and their bourgeois ethos. A holistic perspective has been sought in which ideas of femininity and feminine duties could be considered in the light of the manifold implications of gender, both of a private and a political nature. The second chapter will provide an overview of the dynamics of identity which shaped the transf ormation of Britain into a more cohesive nation and influenced Scottish self-definitions and relations with the metropolis. These patriotic concerns helped to shape the ideological features of the Scottish Enlightenment, for its authors were deeply concerned with the maintenance and improvement of the community in front of a widening and changing world characterised by com mercial growth and imperial expansion. At the same time, contemporary responses to Britain’s emerging role as a commercial and imperial power fostered Scottish anxieties regarding the spread of riches and the inclusion of other peoples within the polity. Torn between the convenience of reaping the benefits offered to Scotland by the Union and fears concerning the negative effects of luxury and imperial might, the Scottish authors tried to negoti ate the survival of the community in front of these moral dangers wh ile, at the same time, profiting from the new sources of informat ion which enlarged contact with non-European societies offered. Preface 20 The third chapter will focus closely on questions related to women’s role in society and the preservation of virtue. An overview of the origin, features and nature of the Scottish Enlightenment will be provided, followed by a discussion of the main discourses which shaped the arti culation of femininity ideals by the Scottish authors, i.e. the defence of public and private virtue, sensibility, sociability and the civilising process. From the tension between enlightened concer ns with progress, equality and improvement, and deep worries regarding the potential dangers which threatened to corrupt the polity, an ambivalent compromise was sought between conservatism and progressivism in which women figured both as agents of civilisation and as a threat to virtuous gender and social relations. These contradictions were reflected in Alexander’s History of Women , as a result of the influence of the Scottish Enlightenment in the work. Thus, the articulation of Scottish ideas in the book will be examined, focusing on the tensions arising fr om his interpretation of the dual nature, prescriptive and progressive, of the Scottis h Enlightenment which were heightened by Alexan der’s assumption of some of the current demands for women’s equality. The fourth chapter is centred on issues of methodology. The eighteenth century witnessed a boom of enquiries which discussed human nature, which delved into its qualities and properties using the methods and approaches of the natural sciences. Accordingly, attempts were made to es tablish a science of man which accounted for the evolution of man’s faculties. Besides the influence of the scientific revolution, early mode rn thinkers, medicine, natural history, travellers’ accounts and social circumstances helped to Preface 21 ground this new intellectual approach in Scotland, where the enquiry on human nature was termed conjectural history. Focusing mainly on the evolution of man in society, conjectural history assumed the tenets of the Newtonian science, such as rationalism, secularism, deduction and induction, while devising methodological tools more peculiar to the quest for human nature such as the comparative method, th e search for general causes and the four stages theory. However , and in spite of claims to impartiality, the conjectural project was not free from a normative bias which had social, political and gender implications. Alexander’s History of Women clearly employed and partook of these assumptions and tenets which were use d, in his case, to sustain and vindicate a conjectural project centred on women. In the final chapter, we will pay attention to the discourse of sensibility, a many faceted ideology which infused eighteenth century literature, proto-feminist vindications and discourses on morality, medicine and gender. We will examine how the discourse of sensibility and its attendant quality, sympathy, permeated the Scottish Enlightenment, through an overview of the writing s of several of its authors. We will consider the influence of this discourse in medicine and literature. Sensibility was deemed the source of many benefits yet it was not free from dangers which were acute for men and women alike. Men run the risk of falling into effeminacy while women, due to their heightened sensibility were prone to its excesses. As a comparison of the work of William Alexander with John Gregory’s writings on conduct literature shows, the associati on of women with sensibility was used both to praise feminine influence and to prescribe a double Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 28 These images of womanhood and gendered codes of honour were enforced at different social levels by conduct literature, ballads, chapbooks, charivari and rough music. Conduct literature enshrined the ideal of the chaste and submi ssive women in different writings while rough music tended to play along the patriarchal structure of society punishing the adulterous and gossiping women and deriding the cuckolded and abused husband 6 . C OURTSHIP , M ARRIAGE AND D OMESTI C L IFE According to Richard Steele, ‘all [a woman] has to do in this world is contained within the Duti es of a Daughter, a Sister, a Wif e and a Mother’ 7 . As this quote highlights, women’ s role was to be fulfilled within matrimony. Matrimony was the ultimate objective for a woman, due to the constricting notions of femininity which Thomas, 'The Double Standard', Journal o f the History of Id eas , XX, (1959), pp. 195-216. On conduct literatu re, see Nancy Armstrong, Desire and Domestic Fiction. A Political Histor y of the Novel (Oxford & New York, 1986), Nancy Armstrong and Leonard Tennenhouse, 'The Litera ture of Conduct, the Conduct of Literature an d the Politics o f Desire. An Intr oduction', in N ancy Armstron g and Leonard Tenne nhouse (eds.), The Ideo logy of Conduct (London & New York, 1987), pp. 1-24, Vivien Jones, 'Th e Se ductions of Conduct: Pleasure and Conduct Literatur e', in Roy Porter and Mari e Mulvey Roberts (eds.), P leasu re in the Eighteenth Century. (Lon don, 1996), pp. 108-132, Mary Cath erine Moran, From Rudeness to Refinement. Gen der, Ge nre and Scottish Enligh tenment (unpublished PhD thesis, 1999), Kathryn Sutherland, 'W ritin gs on Education and Con duct. Arguments for Female Improvemen t', in Vivien Jones (ed .), Women and Liter ature in Britain (Cambridge, 2000), pp. 25-45. 6 On rough music and charivari, see Fl etcher, Gender, Sex an d Subordination , pp. 101-125, John R. Gillis, For Better for Worse. Britis h Marriages, 1600 to the Present (Oxford & New York, 1985) and E. P. Thompson, Costumbres en co mún (Barcelona, 1995), pp. 520-596. 7 Quoted in Rogers, Feminism in Eighteen th Century England , p. 7. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 29 demanded that women were always under a man’s rule and to the economic and legal limitations imposed on them, which hindered them from making a living on th eir own. Even women from the wealthy sections of society were strongly pressed towards marriage, source of economic and political alliances. At all social levels, single women were considered a burden to their family. The eighteenth century witnessed important changes in the way men and women m arried. Marri age patterns were modified within the broader demog raphic variations which defined what has been called the ‘demographic revolution’. Hand in hand with the steady rise of population, the pr e-industrial paradigm of late marriage and high levels of remarriage and celibacy dissolved. By mid-century, the average age of marriage for women was 26, falling to just about 23 by 1800. The average husband was 2 years older than the wife and they had a typical number of 6 children. Levels of illegitimacy increased, spurred by the growing urban population and proto-industrialisation, while celibacy decreased, as society came to bestow a higher value in marriage, both in economical and in cultural terms 8 . According to some authors, the eighteenth century witnessed the weakening of parental control and the emergence of romantic love as the main factor in marital unions, increasing its importance over economic calculation and family-driven concerns. This assumption has been maintained by Randolph Trumbach in The 8 For the changes in eighteenth cen tury marital patterns, see Gillis, For Better , for Worse , pp. 107-228. On the statistics rega rding marriage, see also Hufton, The Prospect before Her , p. 132 and Anne Lawrence, Women in England, 1500-1760 (London, 1994), pp. 3-13. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 30 Rise of the Egalitarian Family and by Lawrence Stone and Edward Shorter. However, their view has co me recently under attack b y historians who have stressed the interaction between romantic and economic concerns and the ways by which parental control was upheld in a softer, informal way 9 . Although sanctioned by the Church, parental authority lessened the lower one descended the social scale. As Olwen Hufton has remarked, ‘parental influence perhaps bore a direct relation to the amount of money they [parents] would put into a match and whether children were living at home’ 10 . John R. Gillis has also emphasised the weakening of parental control as the wage economy spread. Waged work allo wed men and women a degree of independence which they lacked in pre-industrial societies. Similarly, growing industrialisation went hand in hand with migrations to the areas where manufacture thri ved and to the promising cities. Away from parents’ presence and supervision, youngsters could give more weight to their own preferences. Gillis has also taken into account the influence of demographic factors. At a time when mortality, although decreasing, was still high, the bride or groom-to-be could find themselves with no-one to look up to when the moment of choosing the partner arrived 11 . 9 See Randolph Trumbach, T he Rise of the Egalitarian Fami ly (New York, 19 78). For a different view see Huf ton, The Prospect before H er , Susan Moller Okin, 'Patriarch y and Marri ed Women's Prope rt y in England. Questions about Some Current Views ', Eighteenth Century Studies , 17, (1983/84), pp. 121-139 and Amanda Vickery, The Gentleman's Dau ghter. Women' s Lives in Georgian England (New Haven & London, 1998) among oth ers. 10 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , p. 119. 11 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , pp. 99-133 and Gillis, For Better , for Worse . Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 31 Aristocratic marriages were guided mostly by political and economic interests, since the main objective of marriage was th e reproduction of the line and buttressing the economic and political assets of the family. The heir of the family was particularly subjected to parental will as he was pressed into getting an economically advantageous match by the necessity of providing for the younger siblings. From the dowry of the bride-to-be, provision would be made for younger brot hers and particularly for the dowries of younger sisters, whose chances to marry often depended on this much needed flood of money. Although somewhat softened by the rise of the ideal of companionate marriage, parental authority over th e conjugal choices of the el dest sons would have probably remained strong throughout the century, as proved by the parental implication in the drawing up of settlements which detailed the uses and transmission of the family estate. By contrast, it seems th at romantic concerns were more respected in the case of younger sons and daughters, to wh om only a small part of the family fortune might be entailed. Women could gain some degree of independence thanks to property bequeathed to them by female relati ons. It is however difficult to assert, as Randolph Trumbach has, that romantic love was embraced disinterestedly by the ar istocracy durin g the eighteenth century 12 . Similarly, at the other end of the social spectrum, among th e rural population, economic concerns were a pressing issue. 12 See Hufton, T he Prospect before Her , pp. 99-133, Smith , Changing Lives , pp. 26-32, Trumbach, The Rise of the Ega litarian Family . Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 32 Prosperous property holders saw marriage as a means of sustaining their prosperity, by bringing to gether properties close to each other or potentially complementary. Further down the rural social scale, the sons and daughters of sma ll property holders saw the establishment of a farm of their own as the main requisite and end of marriage. Thus, the rural youth wa s driven to bigger farms or to the cities in order to gain the economic resources that would enable them, once back in their towns, to scrap a living independently as small farmers. In traditional societies parental control was checked by cultural, economic and social factors. Some historians, such as John R. Gillis, have argued that in the strongly homosocial world of traditional rural communities, parents surrendered much of their involvement in matchmaking to the unmarried segment of the community, even to the point of allowing individual choice as long as the rest of the young approved. Youngsters who went away in order to learn the skills of farming or to save the money necessary to settle as small holders were often far away from parental presence and thus, not pliable to their parents’ demands. In their case, the authority of the head of the household for whom they worked had also to be taken in to account. By contrast, for those not impelled to move away, th eir choices were restricted by the limited geographical space where they daily i nteracted, which might have helped parents to influence their choice 13 . 13 Gillis, For Better, for Worse , pp. 9-106, Hufton, The Prospect befor e Her , pp. 99-133 and Smith, Changing Lives , pp. 19-26. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 33 Prospect of sufficiency, a good dowry and sound financial prospects, should not be underestimated as elements conditioning the choice of a partner. Remainin g diaries from the period bear proof to this, although they also acknowledge that ph ysical attraction and personal compatibility were taken into accoun t when considering this important decision. However, the standards of beauty were different from today’s. In a world where lack of nutrients and hygiene were the norm rather than the exception, ‘the man or woman who was not pock-marked and suffering from vitamin deficiency diseases, congenital defects or malformations counted as handsome’ 14 . Among the genteel section of the society, parental control, economic concerns and romantic attachment were subjected to a complex bargain in which subtle factors weighed more than bl unt authority. Certainly, men and women sought to combine advantageously these three elements as marital contentm ent was thought to be grounded on economic soundness, family advantage and mutual friendship. Accordingly, we should not overestimate the importance given to love. As exemplified by Jane Austen’s novels and stated by Vickery, ‘mutual affection which crowned an advantageous match was a welcom e blessing, but immoderate passion, leading couples to disreg ard other criteria was thought near-insane’ 15 . 14 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , p. 126. 15 Vickery, The G entleman's Daughter , p. 41 . See also Jane Austen, (1811) Sense an d Sensibility (Lon don, 1974), Jane Austen, (1 816) Emma (London, 1983), Jane Austen, (1814) Mansfield Park (London, 1973), Ja ne Austen, (1818) Northanger Abbey (Hardmonthsworth, 1973) and Jane Austen, (1813) Pride and Prejudice (London, 1987). Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 34 Once again, we should not disreg ard the romantic appeal of wealth and status nor fail to recognise the indirect means by which parental control was upheld. The influence of the discourse of politeness, which bestowed a high value in domesticity, and the culture of sensibility, which emphasised the benefits of benevolence and feeling, encouraged parents to shy away from the employment of harsh authority. They relied instead on a sound female education which enforced notions of propriety and compliance, stressing the convenie nce of seeking parental advice and of social and economic soundness in their choices. Girls were also restricted by the rules of a polite sociability which discriminated against acquaintan ces not endowed with the socio- economic requirements and which was carefully planned and supervised by trustworthy female relations and close friends. Even so, there were occasions in which daughters’ preferences did not suit family aspirations. In these cases, girls would rather turn to loving entreaties to mould and soften opposition. In tune with the sensitive mood of the period and with the requirements of gender roles, a display of weakness, vulnerability and submission through tears, sighs and melancholic looks was preferred to open defiance 16 . Similar controls were imposed on the daughters of the upper echelons of the middling sort. However, at its lower levels and due to the requirements of a family economy in which female contribution was essential, the middle classes allowed a wider circle 16 See Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 99-133 and Vickery, The Gentlem an's Daughter , pp. 39-86. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 35 of acquaintances from which an ill-advised match could arise. Even so, intermarriage prevailed among the middle classes 17 . Courtship has been considered a period enjoyed by women. For a brief time, the balance of power between the sexes was reversed. Men pleaded their love and bestowed their attentions upon women, who had the power to reject, consent or encourage these proofs of endearment. For men, courtship was also attractive. There was a sense of adventurous quest to it, in which they should surmount continuous difficulties, not at all incompatible with notions of manhood. Thus, youngsters in traditional societies engaged in demonstrations of strength and physical dexterity which constituted a challenge and a show of masculinity 18 . As a general rule, women should not take the lead during courtship. They were advised by conduct literature to adopt a passive role, to act coyly and discreetly, being perfectly aware of the subtleties and the potential risks romance entailed yet appearing decorously detached and insensitive to the ardours of passion. However, this prescriptive code obviously allowed variations, according to class, custom and individual personality. The more traditional communities of rural Britain offered opportunities for the casual intermingling between the sexes i n 17 Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 99-133 and Margaret Hunt, The Middlin g Sort. Commerce, Gender and Family in England, 1680-1780 (Berkel ey, Los Angeles & London, 1996). 18 Gillis, For Better, for Worse , pp. 11-54 and Vickery, The Gentleman's Daught er , p p. 39-86. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 36 special occasions and in ways which seemed highly indecorou s to the polite classes. During harvest festivals, on the festivities of Valentine’s, May and Midsummer’s Day and in Easter Monday and Tuesday the young singed and danced together, joined in g ames which involved physical contact and exchanged small gifts and kisses. These practices were carefully supervised by the community, which prevented intimacy and fostered ca sual intermingling and change of partners. Thus, the couple had to wait until the engagement was made public to enjoy privacy and even sexual intercourse, since promis e of marriage was considered nearly as binding as marriage itself 19 . These customs were eroded by the proletarisation of the rural population, as a consequence of th e agricultural revolution, the spread of manufactures and wage work, and the unremitting migrations to the cities. There, lacking the strict surveillance of the community and the gender di vision of work and leisure characteristic of traditional societies, young people had wider opportunities for coming together . Running errands and working together in workshops and domest ic service, the young interacted on a daily basis. Taverns, theatres, gar dens and coffee houses were places of mixed sociability while fairs, festivals and the E aster and Christmas festivities drew the youth from both sexes together. As a result, the homosocial patterns of traditional societies were eroded by a precocious heteros exuality, marriage was of ten 19 Gillis, For Better, for Worse , pp. 11-54 and Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 99- 133. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 37 delayed, and the couples lived together and engaged in sexual relationships after promise of marriage was given 20 . None of this informality existed among genteel families. The mixing of the sexes was carefully supervised in polite gatherings such as assemblies, balls, theatres, and private dinners, to which only the select circle of the affluent and well-bred were allowed. Mothers, aunts and other female relatives built up social networks and planned social events from which an adva ntageous union could be initiated. As the century progressed, the rise in popularity of the London season and of spa towns and resorts enlarged the opportunities for both sexes to meet and for the families to foster convenient matches. Once an emotional attach ment was forged, lovers exchanged letters and gifts and strived to meet each other less publicly until consent was gi ven a nd engagement made public. Among these families, the engage ment period involved careful negotiation; family and friends ha d to be reconciled to the match and financial matters had to be se ttl ed to both parties’ content. Contrary to rural tradition by which, though binding if pregnancy arose, betrothal was considered a period of trial which could be dissolved without damage to the girl’s character, in the genteel segment of society engagements which collapsed at the settlement stage tainted seriously a woman’s reputation 21 . In Britain, traditional weddings were public ceremonies in which the whole community was assembled to celebrate and be 20 Gillis, For Better, for Worse , pp. 161-189 and Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 99-133. 21 Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 99-133 and Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 39-86. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 44 marriage. These assets could hardly be disposed of at a woman’s will. They were sometimes considered to be part of her family of origin, and expected to return to it, often through the woman’s will. Usually, portions and separa te estate were used to provide for younger sons and daughters, granting them some share of the family wealth. Besides, the comm on law did not consider separate estates exempt from the general rule which upheld the rights of the husband who, moreover, was usually the trustee. It was common in the period to lessen the importance of the separate estate b y identifying it with ‘pin money’ (an allowance settled on a wom an at marriage for her necessities which was mainly resorted to by the very rich). Through this rhetorical device which identified the separate estate with the wealthies t, the issue of women’s much needed economic assets was trivialised by implying that all that was at stake was women’s capacity to indulge in fashion and vanity 32 . The law gave the husband the right to inflict what was called ‘moderate correction’ on his wife . There were some guidelines such as that the violence should not draw blood and that if a stick was used, it should be no thic ker that a man’s thumb. Women resorted to community support in order to curb a husband’s violent tendencies. By cultivating the sympathy of neighbours and friends and appealing to family ties, they hoped to enlist their support and mediation when marital violence exploded. Yet, it was not always the case; servants often refused to testi fy in support of the wife, family pressure could serve as a spur to the husband’s 32 Hunt, The Middling Sort , pp. 157-162, Moller Okin, 'Patriarchy and Married Women's Prop erty'. For a differ ent view, see Trumba ch, T he Rise of the Egalitarian Family . Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 45 abusive tendencies and there were cases in which, although the family was aware of repeated beatings, they did nothing to put a stop to it 33 . Abused women sometimes had th e courage to seek legal redress. They generally backed their claims by employing the patriarchal discourse of gender hierarchies. They declared the affection they felt for their husbands, recounted their m erits according to the patriarchal definitions of wifely duty, and protested their obedience and acceptance of male supremacy. In turn, husbands justified their violence as a deserved reprimand for severe faults such as drinking, verbal defiance, refusal of sexual demands or extravagant spending 34 . Women were rarely awarded the legal support they sought at court. Judges were imbued with the patriarchal ideology and the double standard which enshrined male authority and thus demanded from a woman an unflawed character as proof of innocence. To be abused, beaten, raped or impregnated was automatically considered evidence of lack of virtue, and enough to dismiss women’s claims. As Fletched has accurately affirmed, ‘wife-beating persisted because of its social acceptability in male circles. The supposed disciplinar y function of the practice was never anything more than a fiction, a piece of hypocrisy that reflected the direct and unequivocal power of husbands’ 35 . 33 Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination , pp. 19 2-203 and Thomas, 'Th e Double Standard'. 34 Fletcher , Gender, Sex and Subordination , pp. 192-203. 35 Fletcher , Gend er, Se x and Su bor dination , p. 196. On the biased nature of the courts of jus tice, see H ufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 262-285. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 46 There were situations which were more likely to engender violence. Among the middle classes it was not uncommon tha t the wife’s refusal to allow the husb and control of her separate money was followed by some sort of aggression. Similarly, there were cases in which abuse was provoked by the wife’s relatives’ denial of economic support, credit or business cooperation. It was then hoped that the family would comply in order to stop mistreatment. Among the lower orders, the pressures of poverty and unemployment generated arguments and brutality. In her study on the culture and gender relations of proto-industrial workers, Clark has identified an increasing rate of marital strife and violence with what she has called ‘the struggle for the breeches’, or the tensions arising from competition with wo men for work and from women’s access to wage work, which encouraged a sense of autonomy from male rule. It is difficult to ascertain the levels of family violence among the respectable classes, as they were reluctant to go to court. However, the surviving di aries of gentry women bear witness that male brutality was not restricted to the lower orders of society 36 . In the eighteenth century, the discourse of sensibility and the culture of politeness sought to erode the social acceptance of wife- beating. The stress on feeling, benevolence, companionate marriage and soft manners, on the one hand, and, on the other, the value given to women as mothers, companions and refined beings, penetrated the upper echelons of society which rejected wife- 36 See Clark, The Struggle for th e Breeche s , Flet cher, Gender, Sex and Subordination , pp . 192-203, Hunt, The Middling Sort and Vick ery, The Gentleman's Daughter . Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 47 beating as a barbarous practice. At the same time, family violence was rhetorically displaced to the lower classes, as wife-bea ting became progressively a mark of the inferiority and animality of the poor. At the lower levels of society changes in the perception of wife-battering also took place. While charivaris and rough music in the seventeenth century focuse d on the cuckolded husband and punished the bickering woman, in the eighteenth century rough music was mainly directed agains t wife-beaters. Even so, and in spite that much of what actually happened is inaccessible to th e historian, there are good reasons to think that wife-beating persisted in England 37 . However badly damaged conjugality was, the law offered little assistance to wronged wives and wrangling couples. Marriage was to last till the death of one of the partners and, thus, divorce, annulment and separation were mostly difficult to obtain, expensive, prejudiced against women and restricted to the upper classes. Annulments were difficult to obt ain. In England, only if it was discovered that the marriage had taken place within unacceptable degrees of consanguinity, it was dissolved and remarriage allowed. In Scotland, it was also possible to obtain an annulment on the grounds of male impotency, for the Calvinist 37 Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination . On sensibility and politeness, see Dwyer, Virtuous Discourse and Barker-Benfield , Culture of Sensibility ; see also chapter 5 of this PhD thesis. On charivari an d rough musi c, see Gillis, For Better, for Worse and Thompson, Co stumbres en Común , pp. 520-596. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 48 tradition argued that the bearing of children was the main means by which women could reach salvation 38 . Divorce by Act of Parliament was a rare, expensive and mainly aristocratic affair. Between 1670 and 1857 there were only 325 divorces in England, all but four of which obtained b y men. Men were allowed to divorce with right to remarry on the ground s of female adultery. However, for women there was no such possibility. In order to obtain a divorce, women had to prove adultery as well as life-threatening cruelty. By contrast, in Scotland, divorce for adultery committed by either partner could be obtai ned since 1569 and a statute of 1573 recognised malicious desertions, if continued for four years, as another ground for divorce 39 . The offence of ‘criminal conversation’ came into being in the closing decades of the seventeenth century, being resorted to mainly by the aristocracy. Here, a civil action coul d be brought by a husband charging another man with adulterous intimacy with his wife and claiming monetary compensation. Successful cases were inevitably followed by divorce si nce the fact of adultery had b een proven. Their number should not be exaggerated; before 1760 there were less than twenty per decade , reaching their peak in the 1790’s with a number of about 70 per decade. ‘Criminal conversation’ cases obtained wides pread publicity and were followed eagerly by the people that, i nterested in the airing of the 38 Hufton, The Pr osp ect befo re He r , pp. 251-298, Smith, 'Sexual Mores and Attitudes', p. 49-50 and Vi ckery, The Gentlem an's Daughter , p . 73. 39 Hufton, The Pr osp ect befo re He r , pp. 251-298, Smith, 'Sexual Mores and Attitudes', p. 50, Thomas, 'The Double Standard', Vic kery, The Gentleman's Daughter , p. 73. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 49 private lives of their social superiors, went to the courts to see the main actors in the drama, and read avidly the details in pamphlets and booklets, which evolved into a literary genre of its own 40 . A double standard underlay these cri minal actions. The ‘crim con’ cases emphasised the subordinate position of women with respect to their husbands. A breach of wifely chastity was to b e repaid in money, thus highlighting that women an d their sexuality were considered the husband’s property. Besides, in these proceedings, it was female sexual conduct which was on trial but not male’s, as men’s adultery could not initiate such actions 41 . While among the upper classes the right to divorce was reinforced through ‘criminal conver sation’ cases, at the lower end of the social scale, there was a d ecriminalisation of sexual relations outside marriage. Following the Hardwicke’s Marriage Act, ecclesiastical courts lost much of their role in policing conjugal morality and regulating marriage. Besides, the local justices of peace lost interest in adultery or immorality unless a bastard child threatened to be a burden to parish poor relief. Accordingly, a social double standard should be added up to the gendered double standard which characterised ‘criminal conversation’ actions. While the poor were increasingly exclud ed from divorce, the wealthy increased their possibilities of obt aining the dissolution of their marriages 42 . 40 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , pp. 251-298. 41 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , pp. 251-298. 42 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , pp. 251-298. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 50 ‘Informal divorce’ was more common than legal divorce. There existed numerous private deeds of separation by which a couple dissolved as a matter of fact their marriage. A married couple whose marriage had broken down, having sufficient resources to live separately, could arrive at an amicable private settlement which permitted separation but not remarriage. Th e husband had to be persuaded to give the wife enough to live on, and agreements had to be reache d regarding the control of the children and of the assets brought to the marriage by the wife. Amicable separations did not forfeit the au thority of the husband over the wife or lacked the in equality which characterised legal divorce, as proved by the case of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Edward Wortley Montagu accepted separation from his wife and allotted her an income to live on but apparen tly on the condition that she stayed away from Englan d, which meant never seeing her daughter and grandchildren. Montagu felt she had to ask his consent in disposing of a 200 pounds legacy she had received and could only hope he could permit her to give her jewels to her daughter 43 . Separation could also be forced upon one of the partners. Some women filed in the courts for a separate maintenance alleging barbarous behaviour such as life-threatening brutality, keeping prostitutes or adulteresses, or denial of sufficient victuals and necessities. In turn, when faced with separation suits, husbands commonly intimidated their wives by threatening to 43 Hufton, The Prospect before Her , p. 261, Rogers, Feminism in Eighteent h Century England , pp. 7-5 2. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 51 commit them to a house of correction or to the madhouse. The husband’s rights over his wife were so absolute that, at least until the nineteenth century, he was consid ered by courts to be entitled to imprison her in order to prevent her from leaving him. In addition, the wife’s financial suppor t was at issue only in cases in which the husband agreed to the separation or was considered to have done something to justify it. Otherwise, he was no longer liable for any debts she contracted , even for necessities. Yet, she was still a feme covert and incapable of making contracts or incurring debts on her own behalf 44 . Whatever the way, divorced or separated women were always tainted by the stigma of disreputability. Divorce and separation did not fail to bring public scrutiny upon one’s marriage and, given the double standard that reigned in the period, women’s behaviour and character were likely to be viewed in a negative light. Separation often meant social suicide, since a separated woman would be automatically rejected within the circles of respectable sociability. Social isolation could be assuaged by family support, although there were no guarantee s that the family would be sympathetic to her plight 45 . At the very bottom end of the so cial scale, there existed the practice of wife sale. In some public place, such as a market or a tavern, a man (whom the wife woul d provably have known) would pay a small sum to the husband thus symbolically gaining the 44 Moller Okin, 'Patria rchy an d Married Wom en's Prop erty', Vicke ry, The Gentleman's Daughter , p. 81. 45 Moller Okin, 'Patria rchy an d Married Wom en's Prop erty', Vicke ry, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 39-86. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 52 husband’s rights over the wife and dissolving the marriage. Such agreements did not have the approbation of the Church or the state and, given the scarce documentation that remains on these bargains, it is difficult to establish the implications it had for each of the members of the couple. Refe rring to this practice in the nineteenth century, some authors have argued that it was considered offensive by women, who went into the market or tavern tied by a leash and following the husband 46 . Despite all the quarrelling and wretchedness which married life could engender, surviving sources of a private nature, such as diaries, wills and letters, also bear witness to domestic happiness and marital contentment. These tes timonies of marital life vary from respectful affection and dignif ied love to close intimacy and passionate tenderness. Diaries abound with references to everyday conviviality, worries about frail health and the risks pregnancy entailed, and deep sorrow over th e death of a much-loved wife or husband. They often speak of trust, mutual support and domestic joy. Wills included specific arrangements for the widow’s comfort and well-being. In their correspondence, couples addressed each other as ‘my beloved wife’ or ‘my loving husband’. We even find references to concerns about giving women their rightful pleasure in sexual intercourse and hints of a fulfilling sexuality 47 . 46 See Clark, T he Struggle for the B reeches , pp . 84-90, Gillis, For Better, for Worse , pp. 211-219, Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 2 51-298 and Thompson, Costu mbres en Común . 47 See Fletcher , Gen der, Sex a nd Subordination , pp. 154-172 and Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 39-86. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 53 The restrictive ideology of sermons, conduct books and prescribed gender roles had a limited application in practice, giving way to different variants between conjugal felicity and irretrievable wretchedness. Patriarchal discourses of male authority and wifely meekness contrasted with the more permissive ways in which women and men conducted their married lives. The submissive and passive role advised for wo men was in open contradiction with the notion that, at all levels of society, family order depended on a partnership between husband and wife, and on the wife’s active management of the household. From the peasant cottage to the aristocratic manor, economic success depended largely on cooperation between the couple, as established by a division of duties by which husband and wife had a joint responsibility for family prosperity. Rural women were in charge of dairying, processing food and market selling. Middle class women run errands, kept the accounts and helped in the shops. Gentlewomen were in charge of the smooth running of the household, overseeing servants, suppliers and provision. Aristocratic women, whose husb ands were involved in high politics and thus often far away fr om home, helped in their political pursuits and dealt with legal processes and with th e tenants. Obviously, at all social levels, childrearing and domestic chores were female obligations, which only a few could partiall y delegate to servants. To fulfil these duties properly, all thes e women had to be competent and have a stron g personality. In female daily routine, for the most part, there was little room for backwardness and lifelessness. Accordingly, it was not uncomm on that a wife was esteemed particular ly for her proficiency and there Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 60 fornication ‘should not be accounted as a very great bolt even upon a woman’s character’ 57 . Roy Porter has argued that en lightened attitudes were related to the remarkable degree of openness, visibility and publicity which, as compared to the standards of other ages, sexuality enjoyed in eighteenth century Britai n. Sex played a n important part in the printed culture. Novels featuring prostitutes as main characters were widely read, wi thout a tragic ending being demanded as a punishment for a life of vice. Even in the more decorous literature of the last half of the century, novels used sex as one of the elements at stake when developing the plot and tracing the fate of the characters, as in Pamela . Sex appeared regularly in prints, political satire and pamphlets, and in journals where sexual services, such as gigolos, prostitutes, brothels, aphrodisiacs and abortifiers, were advertised 58 . Seen less as a sin or a vice, and more as part of the economy of the universe, sexuality figured largely in eighteenth century intellectual discussions and became an object of study for natu ral history. The workings of the organs of generation and the reproduction of plants were ex amined by anatomists and naturalists while travellers’ accounts provided the intellectual world with extensive information about the sexual mores of savage and primitive societies. There was a growing discussion about the role of sexuality in the private lives of the people and there were manuals which discussed sexual techniques, compatibility, venereal 57 Quoted in Smi th, 'Sexual Mores an d Atti tudes', pp. 60-61. 58 Daniel Defoe, (1722) Mo ll Flan ders (New York & London , 2004), Richardson, Pamela and Porter, 'Mixed Feeli ngs'. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 61 diseases, fertility, birth limitation and reproduction. This amount of information was welcomed by writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft who, demanding that sexuality was treated with naturalness, wrote that ‘it would be proper to fami liarise the sexes to an unreserved discussion of those topics which are generally avoided in conversation from a prin ciple of false delicacy; and that it would be right to speak of the organs of generation as freely as we mention our eyes or our hands’ 59 . Sexuality was very visible in the public arena. Women’s garb was conspicuous (and much criticised) by its extremely low décolletage . Prostitution grew extraordinarily due in part to the precarious prospects of many rural migrants. In London, particularly, prostitutes were visibl e in many streets of the city, from common street-walkers to professionals. London became famous for its dissipated mores and i ts wide-ranging spectrum of sex entertainment. There were shows that featured naked dancing and copulation while bagnios and serrails catered for all sorts of tastes. High class courtesans were prominent among London high society, their fame and economic standi ng testified by contemporary paintings. Against this dissipated atmosphere Religious Societies and Societies for the Reformation of Manners were founded, enjoying substantial support among the middling orders. Imbued with puritan ideas, they criticised the dissipated mores of the aristocracy but concentrated their moralising efforts mostly on the lower sections of so ciety. They cam paigned against prostitution and molly houses, and denounced drunkenness, 59 Quoted in Por ter, 'Mixed Feel ings', p. 7. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 62 swearing and everything they considered public lewdness and sin. However, outside their own ranks, their success was limited; their actions were scorned at and ridiculed, and their members had to face the occasional hostility of the popular classes 60 . Although enlightened authors did not deny female sexuality they were reluctant to allow women the freedom and th e naturalness which they preached regarding men. The Enlightenment firmly believed that female fidelity was essential to marriage, not only in order to pr otect male honour but also to avoid disruptions in the transmi ssion of property along the male line. Even if they praised female ‘soft’ influence over men and advocated social intercourse between the se xes, enlightened authors were deeply suspicious of female sexuality and of the desire which women necessarily excited in men. Accordingly, chastity, decency and delicacy were pr escribed as essential traits of femininity. Women were not the only ones excluded from enlightened tolerant attitudes towards sexuali ty. The enlightened mentality was frightened of plebeian sexuality. There were fears that sexual license among the lower orders would result in social anarchy and in high levels of fecundity which, given the impossibility of the poor to fend for their children, would become a burden for the national economy. Homosexuality and the sexuality of the young were also rejected by the enlightened discourse as unnatu ral. Teenage sexuality was i n clear contradiction with the current idealisation of childhood innocence; accordingly, while the young 60 Hunt, The M iddl ing S ort , p. 101-124, Porter, 'Mixed Feelings'. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 63 were admonished to refrain from masturbation, which wa s considered the source of terrible ills, the parents were strongly advised to keep a proper distance between the servants and their children to prevent not only sexual encounters but also the early sexual knowledge they could gain from contact with the lower orders. Although at least in London there existed clubs for upper class and lower class homosexuals, only upper class homosexuality – if discreet – was tolerated. The law on sodomy was capital and was exercised in its full savagery against the members of the lower classes. Enlightened authors considered homosexuality an abnormality, as it was incompatible with the reproductive order of nature in which they had placed se xuality, and had nothing to say about the discrimination and severe punishment of homosexuals 61 . At the bottom of the social scale, sexuality was probably a problematic issue, plagued by guilty attitudes towards the body and circumscribed by a domestic economy which sternly dictated the regulation of family size and the production of family offspring under favourable circumstances. Accordingly, traditional communities opted for a model of late marriage, preceded infrequently by premarital sex and followed by pr actices such as abstinence and coitus interruptus in order to keep the family size within the limits of the family economy. At a popular level, eroticism was probably inhibited by the insalubrious conditions under which sexual activities took place. Lack of intimacy in cramped dwellings, dirt and diseas e might have rendered sexual intercourse infrequent, functional, perfunctory and, in sum, very 61 Porter, 'Mixed Feeling s'. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 64 different from the image of sex as the incarnation of love and tender eroticism 62 . As we have seen, although the bearing of a bastard was the source of social stigma and premarital sex was frowned upon, women from the lower classes were often ready to balance these rules against their actual situation. They consented to intimacy after betrothal, being conscious of the weight traditionally carried by a promise of marriage; they used their sexuality to their advantage in the bargain which every marriage involved, and they consented to free unions and cohabi tation when th ey considered it to be to their benefit. For thei r part, the nascent working classes often engaged in sexual practices which, in the eyes of their contemporaries, proved the alleged widespread libertinism which pervaded plebeian culture. Among some sections of the working population, children out of wedlock were welcome, as children’s work was needed in textile manufactures and the cottage industry, thus contributing rather than hindering the success of the fa mily economy. Plebeian traditions of premarital sex, the value which women’s work represented in a wage economy, and the potential contribution of a newborn to th e family economy determined that unchastity was not automatically shunned 63 . Among the aristocratic classes, prescriptive notions of feminine chastity were also often diluted. Particularly in the court, sexual mores tended towards a refined libertinism in which mistresses and lovers were kept without much moral ado. It was 62 Gillis, For Be tter , for Worse , Porter, 'Mixed F eelings'. 63 On working class women, see Clark, The Stru ggle for the Breeches and Gillis, Fo r Better, for Wors e . Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 65 commonplace for elite men to keep mistresses and to walk out in public with them. According to Roy Porter, ‘at least in high society, ménages à trois and shifting sex liaisons seem to hav e been easily assimilated, certainly, they were matters of intense gossip and amusement but not necessarily the cause of matrimonial breakdown, duels or psychic disaster’. Few among the aristocracy were ashamed of owning their bastards. Many recognised them and provided for them, as in the case of Edward Walpole, whose illegitimate daughter married Lord Waldegrave and the Duke of Gloucester, George III’s brother. While men fla unted their sexual conquests, women might also engage in sexual affairs which could be overlooked by their husbands an d by society. Of course, female licentiousness was far less common than male profligacy and this permissiveness was significantly reduced as the discourse of sensibility progressively permeated the aristocratic classes 64 . It seems that, even in this apparently frivolous milieu, gu ilty attitudes towards sexuality and the body persisted. Obscenity and transgression ran through th e pornographic material which circulated among aristocratic ci rcles. Obscenity could be mixed with a kind of eroticism related to social and poli tical dominance, as in the ‘Beggar’s Bennison’, a club founded in 1739 by some sections of the nobility and gentry of Scotland. Among its members there were significant figures such as Sir Charles and Sir Thomas Erskine and the Prince Regent himself. Its meetings included discussions of sexual matters, nude dancing and sex with 64 Porter, 'Mix ed Feeling s', p. 10. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 66 young girls hired from the nearby towns, as well as physical displays, tests and exhibitions of masculinity 65 . R EPRODUCTION , P REGNANCY , C HILDREARING AND E DUCATION In a time when the control of fertility was at a rudimentary stage, reproduction and pregnancy were important and recurring events in women’s lives. Far from been a purely private matter, the bearing of children was full of economic, natural and cultural implications. Customs and rituals developed around childbirth, as did myths, superstitions and storytelling. The community welcomed the newborn for it represented its continuity; female neighbours, friends and relations contributed with their support and advice; family economic success or failure often depended on the number of able hands available and, for arist ocratic families, the survival of the line was at stake. Even so, pregnancy was still a natural process, fraught with dangers which required dexterous assistance and a great deal of forbearance. After marriage, the wife’s du ty was to provide a son who could contribute to the family economy and, one day, inherit the family assets. The pressure was part icularly strong in aristocratic families in which economic concerns went together with the necessity of continuing the family line. Since failure to prod uce children was considered to be the women’s fault, and motherhood was exalted as the fulfilment of femininity and marital happiness, 65 Porter, 'Mixed Feelings', Smit h, 'Sexual Mor es and Attit udes '. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 67 at all social levels not to have children most probably awakened feelings of failure and inadequacy 66 . Women usually got pregnant during the first year after marriage, there generally being an interval of at least two years between further pregnancies. Demographers have argued that this lapse could be explained by the n ecessity of a prolonged lactation , due to the lack of a reliable pap substitute to mother’s milk. It was also possible that the long intervals between births were the result of frequent miscarriages provok ed by poor diet and hard labour. Sexual taboos, such as avoidance of sexual intercourse during breastfeeding lest it might curdle the milk, might have had also a role 67 . It seems that the eighteenth century witnessed an increasing concern about family control, as suggested by the steady rise of the average age of marriag e over the period. Women and men often refrained from sexual activity from a conscious desire of restricting the family size. There are proofs that women tried to avoid a new pregnancy until they were fully recov ered from the previous one, for they feared the strain of a new lying-in over an already debilitated body. Thus, they resor ted to contracepti on and even to abortifiers. Among the contracepti ve methods employed to avoid pregnancy, there were herbal poti ons, ablutions after intercourse or gum-like devices employed to block the cervix. According to some authors, such as Linda A. Pollock, there is evidence that 66 Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination , pp. 181-191, Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 173-21 6. 67 Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 173-216, Trumbach, The Rise of th e Egalitarian Family . Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 68 suggests that women would have provoked abortions in order to protect themselves from the danger s of too frequent pregnancies. Private medical books often contained detailed ad vice on how to terminate a pregnancy, proving th at the necessary knowledge was neither rare nor obscure. As for the success of these methods, some of these recipes included ingredients whose effectiveness as abortifacients is considered proven today 68 . Even if the reproductive years of women were reduced by late marriage (around the age of twenty-six) and a higher age of menarche than today’s (around the age of fourteen to sixteen), they still amounted to a dangerous period of her life. Demographers have shown that women were four times more likely to die in the first ten years of marriage than men, and twice as likely in the second ten years. Thereafter, they were more likely to survive than men. Poor nutr ition, resulting in a small bone structure and deformed bones, made pregnancy riskier and increased the chances of difficult labour and miscarriages. Among the upper ranks, a diet which included generous amounts of salty food and strong alcohol could result in difficulties during pregnancy and provoke miscarriag es. However, there are authors who have argued that the danger of dying in childbed has been exaggerated. According to Roger Schofield, the corrected figure of maternal deaths for the period 1750-1800 would be eight per o ne thousand live births, which indicates a tendency towards a 68 Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 173-216, Linda Pollock, 'Embarking on a Rough Passage: The Exp erie nce of Preg n ancy in Early Modern Societ y', in Valerie Fildes (ed.), Women as Mothers in Pre-Industrial Englan d (London & New York, 1990), pp. 39-67 and Smith, Chan gin g Li ves , pp. 12-19. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 69 reduction of mortality as a result o f the improvements in the obstetrical practice and hygiene. Yet, Ama nda Vickery has remarked that ‘prenatal complications was probably the si ngle most common cause of death in women aged twenty five to thirty four, accounting for one in five of all deaths in this age group’ 69 . Even if maternal mortality was lower than i t has been commonly thought, women viewed pregnancy as a hazardous period. For them, their relatives and spouses the prospect of not surviving a birth was very real. As infant mortality was still very high, women fretted about how robust would be the child and how long would the infant live. Women confided to their diaries and correspondence their fears and anxieties. Some spoke of ‘the day of my affliction’ when referring to the date expected for labour to take place. Others prepared themselves to death, devoting themselves to pious reflection and drawing up letters for the child still unborn. They turned to Christian stoic attitudes which recommended resignation in the face of an unpredictable fate 70 . Not only were emotional confusion, melancholy and depressed spirits routinely associa ted with pregnancy, women also suffered from nausea, infections and pain. Ill health was not only considered inevitable – it was the curse of Eve – but also deemed a 69 Lawrence, Wo men in England , pp. 27-38, Pollock, 'Embarking on a Rough Passage', Roger Schofiel d, 'D id the Mothers Really Die? Three Centurie s of Maternal Mortality in 'The World We Have Lost'', in Lloyd Bo nfield, Richard M. Smith and Keith Wrigh tson (eds.), The World W e Have Gained. His tories of Population and Social Structure (Oxford & New York, 1986), pp. 231-260, Smith, Changing Lives , pp. 12-19, Vi ckery, The Gentlem an's Daughter . 70 Pollock, 'Embarking on a Rough Pass age', Vickery , The G entleman's Daughter , pp. 87-126. On infant mortality, see Lawren ce, Women in England , pp. 27-38 and Smith, Changing Lives , p. 15. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 76 proved by the immense popularity of Rousseau among female readers. The new glorification of motherhood was even echoed by early feminists who grounded their claims to education and rights on women’s role as mothers, now conceived as patriotic duty 83 . The first years of a child’s life were highly demand ing for the parents and particularly for women. At all social levels, the car e and responsibility for young children fell principally to the mother, even among genteel families who hired a nursery maid to help the mother. In addition, anxieties about the character of the nurses prompted many families to restrict their services to particularly busy periods. After childbirth, the many illnesses which the child could suffer were the greatest fear of the parents. Dysentery, smallpox, diphtheria, typhus and different kinds of fever endangered recurrently the children’s life and put the parents under a heavy emotional strain. Yet, although the concern for the survival of the child was shared by the couple, the full burden of nursing fell to the mother 84 . Concerned about the health of their offspring, genteel parents frequently changed abode, seeking in summer the fresh air and openness of the countryside where there were less chances of suffering from epidemic outbreak s. When hired, nursemaids were seen as a supplement to the mother , performing mainly menial 83 See Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 173-216, Rousseau, Émile , Trumbach , The Rise of the Egalit arian Family . On the r eception of the n ew pedagogi c ideas in Scotland, see Craig Beveridge, 'Childhoo d and So ciety in Eighteenth C entury Scotland', in John Dwyer, Roger Ma son an d Alexander Murdo ch (eds.), New Perspectives on Politics and Cu lture of Early Moder n Scotland (Edinburgh , 1982), pp. 265-290. 84 See Hufton, T he Prospect before Her , pp. 173-216 and Vick ery, The G entleman's Daughter , pp. 87-126. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 77 tasks such as washing, cleaning and sewing. Mothers took seriously their responsibilities in the education, amusement and disciplining of the children as attested by di aries and letters which show that children were the daily companions of their mothers. Women read avidly the available literature on childcare and education. They went for walks, organised parties an d small plays. T hey taught their children reading, writing, spelling, and even Latin grammar, accounts and geography. As a result, during these years wom en’s letter writing, sociability and mobility decreas ed drastically for, as Amanda Vickery has remarked, ‘m otherhood devoured almost all reserves of physical and emotional energy for, at the very least, a decade of a fertile woman’s life’ 85 . In spite of the efforts it demanded, mothers felt intensely the rewards of childrearing. Even if the risk of a premature dea th was always present, contemporary diaries and letters prove that, far from the cool detachment which allegedly dominated paren t-child relations in the periods of high infant mortality, parents were strongly attached to their children. In the closing decades of the eighteenth century, Ellen Weeton Stock wrote to a friend on her delight in her little child: my little Mary improves , and is the delight of all; she is just sixteen months old. She does not say a word yet, notwithstandi ng which, she has a thousand little engaging actions. Her hair is very li ght, and curls all over her head like a little mop; and s he is all ov er so fat and so soft. I have many a kiss in the course of the day, and many a laug h after her little droll ways; her fa ther would be quite lost without 85 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , p. 114. See Hufton, T h e Prospect before Her , pp. 173-216, Trumbach, The Rise of th e Egalitarian Fa mily . Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 78 her, and I am sure, so should I. I wish I had another.... but hush! don’t tell! 86 . Similarly, fathers publicised in their letters their enjoyment of family life and their affection for their children. Writing in 1763, William Ramsden could hardly restrain his joy and pride when contemplating his family, from the arm of my Wife’s easy Chair, a Situation I w o’d not change [with] th e king of Prussia: no, nor (wi th a Man a million more times to be envy’ed) with George the Third King of Gre at Britain: my good Woman at the same time with Glee in her Eye, c ontemplating her l ittle Boy, who also in his turn seems as happy as this W orld can make him, only [with] hi s Leather Bottle, P ardon this Gossip, G ood Madam Parker, but the Air of a Nurser y is Infecting 87 . Boys spent their first years under the supervision of their mothers who provided them with a basic education. After that, and still very young, boys were se vered from mo therly care and sent to the masculine environment of the boarding school. They generally left the family home to board in grammar schools or in the public and more prestigious schools of Eton and Winchester. Aristocratic parents sent their yo ung to the university, which being valued more for the veneer of politeness and the useful connexions it offered than for its scholarly training, attracted also some among the genteel youngsters. Among the aristocracy, it was very common to embark on the Grand Tour, a rite of passa ge 86 Quoted in Vicker y, The Gentleman's Daughter , p. 121. See also Fletch er, Gender, Sex and Su bordination , pp. 181-191. 87 Quoted in Vicker y, The Gentleman's Daughter , p. 123. See also Fletch er, Gender, Sex and Su bordination , pp. 181-191. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 79 which endowed young men with the refinement and the pra ctical learning which could be acquired by travelling in the continent and getting familiar with the cultural and artistic achievements of France, Italy or Greece 88 . Driven by the desire to imitate their social superiors, the middling orders sent their children to grammar schools, in spite of their classical curriculum. However, it became increasingly common among middle class boys to attend dissenting academies which taught a more useful curriculum, as it included business skills 89 . By contrast, upper class girls’ education took place mainly in the family home which they would only leave to marry. Strict supervision by the mother and family relatives was considered essential to protect their chastity, and indeed it seems it was, taking into account the low rates of illegitimacy among the well-to-do. The luckiest could profit from the private tutors hired to super vise their brothers’ education, while liberal families hired a governess who would supervise the education of their daughters. The eighteenth century witnessed an expa nsion of girl’s schooling, thus offering for the first time an alter native to a private education at home. There were day schools in which the pupils came back home every day, but most of them were boarding schools. The curriculum typically included useful subjects such as read ing, writing and arithmetic and the so-called polite accomplishments such as French, dancing, drawing and music. The most demanded 88 Fletcher, G ender, Sex and Subo rdination , pp. 297-322, Trumbach, The Rise of the Egalitarian Family . 89 Hunt, The M iddl ing S ort , pp. 62-65. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 80 and renowned expanded the curriculum and taught grammar and literature, geography, history, and some notions of natural philosophy. They were generally located in rural surroundings as fresh air, open grounds for daily walks and the healthiness of the spot were much valued by the parents 90 . W OMEN AT R ISK We have already seen that marriage entailed many disadvantages and potential pitfalls for women. However, patriarchal ideology, and ec onomic and legal disabilities determined that life outside marriage was riskier. Widowhood was often followed by destitution while spinsterhood entailed famil y dependence for necessities and survival. Recent research has illuminated with statistical data the known fact that women were particularly vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion. According to Richard Connors, in eighteenth century Britain, over eighty percent of those classed as poor were women as well as over sixty percent of those seeking parish relief 91 . Widowed women were one of the more vulnerable sections among female population. If a woman survived her fertile years, 90 Hufton, The Prospect before H er , pp. 173-216, Susan Sked d, 'Women Teachers and the Expansion of Gi rls' Schooling in England, c. 1760-1820', in Hannah Barker an d Elaine Chal us (eds.), Gender in Eigh teenth Cen tury England. Roles , Representations an d Responsibilities (London & New York , 1997), pp. 101-125 and Janet Todd, 'I ntroduction' , in Jane t Todd (e d.), Female Education in the Age of Enlightenment (London, 1996). 91 Richard Connors, 'Poor Wo men, the Pa rish and the Politics of Poverty', in Hannah Barker and Elain e Chalus (eds.), G ender in Eighteenth Century England. Roles, Representations and Re sponsibilities (London & New York, 1 997), pp. 126-147. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 81 she was more likely to reach old age than her partner. In addition, widows were not likely to remarry. Widowers usually remarr ied single women who would bring wi th them a new dowry and no other children who could lay economic claims to the family assets. Social and cultural factors prompted men to remarry. Widowers needed badly the non-paid work that a wife performed, namely the care of the children, household work and assistance in the farm or workshop. Besides, it was considered ‘unmanly’ and ‘demeaning’ to perform the duties which culturally had been ascribed to women. Accordingly, there was a far greater proportion of widows than widowers 92 . There were enormous differences in the living conditions of widows, depending on age, the number of children or the financial situation of the deceased husband. Thus, if the husband had been a master artisan, there were grea ter possibilities for the widow to remarry, for journeymen often sought to join mastership ranks in this way. Among the artisan and middling classes, it was not uncommon for widows to continue the husband’s craft or business. In these cases, women moved to places wher e the regulations were softer and av oided a remarriage which could deprive them from autonomy and the management of their economic assets. By contrast, women could be reduced to misery if they inherited the husband’s debts or had a number of young children to provide for. In the countryside, the lack of a husband entailed severe difficulties as the management of a farm needed the collaboration of both spouses. Although, given the variety of 92 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , pp. 217- 250. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 82 situations it is difficult to make any generalisation, it is safe to affirm, as Olwen Hufton has, th at ‘in any situation it was impossible for a widow to be rich er by the death of her husband than she was during his lifetime. What she could secure was a greater autonomy’ 93 . As the high number of widows which figured in the lists of parish relief evince, widows, more often than not, toiled in the brink of destitution. Parish relief amounted only ‘to half or a third of what was needed to feed, keep warm and shelter a single person’ 94 . The threat of poverty drew many women to the cities where they could work in the female crafts, such as dressmaking or needlework, which however demanded long hours with little monetary reward. One solution was to cluster together in groups of two or three (just as spinsters did) in order to share rental, lighting and heating expenses. Accordingly, aristocrats, gentry and the middling orders sought to protect their widows and alleviate their need. The well-to-do established portions and jointures in marriage settlements. Guilds and other occupational groups had already a tradition of providing pensions or lump sum payments for their widows and orphans. Among the middling orders it was common to contract life insurances and annuiti es which would protect the family after the husb and’s death. Some professional 93 Hufton, The Prospect before Her , p. 230. On widow’s presence in the printin g trades, see Hannah Barker , 'Women, Work and the Industri al Revolution: Female Involvement in the English Pr inting Trades, c. 1700-1840', in Hannah Barker an d Elaine Chal us (eds.), Gender in Eigh teenth Cen tury England. Roles , Representations and Responsibi lities (Lon don & New York, 1997), pp. 81-100. On middle class widows, see Hunt, The Middling Sort , pp. 164-166. 94 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , p. 249. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 83 groups organised charities which cared for orphans, widows or maiden daughters, such as the Cor poration of the Sons of the Clergy. We should underline that, in what has been considered a germ of gender identity, women were prominent among the donors of these charities 95 . Similarly, spinsterhood often meant a life of economic need, dependence and lovelessness. Single women depended upon family and friends or upon a makeshift economy of hard toil and low wages to survive, living in fe ar of descent into old age or ill- health. As Olwen Hufton has remarked, single women tended to die before their married counterparts. In a society where marriage was considered the only destiny for women, spinsterhood was generally not the result of choice. Even so, some single women were ready to say ‘really there is so much Care in a Married State and fiddle faddle in most Men’s Tempers that I Esteem vastl y happier in having nothing to do with’em’. However, only the luckiest, that is, those who had been endowed with enough financial assets to ensure comforta ble living standards, could scorn those who had tied themselves to the marital estate 96 . Spinsterhood rose in times when economic conditions worsened. In these times, the economic independence which should precede marriage was difficu lt to achieve and the unmarried population rose. Besides, young girls could easily be precluded 95 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , pp. 217-50 and Hunt, The Middling Sort , pp. 164- 166. 96 Written by a spinster as quoted in Vicker y, The Gentleman's Daughter , p. 40. On spinsterhood, see Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 251-255. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 84 from saving enough to accumulate an attractive dowry, finding it difficult to get adequate salaries in domestic service or manufactures. While unmarried me n had options such as the navy or the army, single women had to survive on wages which were calculated on the assumption that women did not live independently but complemented a male based family economy 97 . The aristocracy registered a high level of spinsterhood (25- 30%). Aristocratic spinsters were generally safe from the acutest economic pitfalls of spinsterhood, although they might have resented their dependence and the downwards socio-economic move which their situation entailed. Some sought refuge on charity schemes and intellectual pleasures as their prominent role in philanthropic initiatives and on subscription lists of booksellers suggest 98 . Among the middle orders it was not uncommon to find women whose marital pr ospects were sacrificed for the sake of a male oriented family economy. Women’s unpaid collaboration at home, the workshop or as clerical assistants was essential for the success of many middle class businesses while their part of the inheritance was a much needed credit supply. Many of these women who lived with their brothers as helpers and assistants were likely to suffer from an unsympathetic sister-in-law or when reaching old age and their services were no longer required. Ellin Stout (1665-1752) was kept at home in charge of her youn g brothers so that her mother could help in the family farm and do 97 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , p. 252. 98 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , p. 252. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 85 the household work. She was disco uraged from marriage and become the housekeeper and shop assistant of her brother while her portion of the family fortune was systematically employed by her bothers as a source of loans for their businesses 99 . Prostitution was a professional getaway for single women deprived from family support or from economic resources. It was not uncommon for independent wome n living on female crafts to resort to prostitution in order to co mplete an insu fficient income. Married women from the lower ranks also turned to prostitution when the family income dwindled. Police records tell us of arrested prostitutes who were milliners, mantua makers, haberdashers, tavern workers, charwomen, thus giving proof of the precarious situation of the female worker 100 . Prostitution increased in the eighteenth century, as a result of the economic polarisation of the countryside, city growth and the concentration in towns of poor girls whose earning power was severely limited. In a country where there were no licensed brothels, prostitutes took to the streets. Contemporary accounts relate that London swarmed with prostitutes who were distributed geographically according to their rank, from the refined courtesans of St. James to the lower end of the trade in Southwark and Billingsgate 101 . 99 Leonore Davi doff and C athe rine Hall, Fortu nas familiares . Hombres y mujer es de la clase media inglesa, 1780-1850 (Madrid, 1987) and Hunt, The Middling Sort , particularly pp . 80-83. 100 Clark, The Struggle for the Breech es , pp. 45-62 and Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 299-331. 101 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , pp. 299-331. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 92 clothes, linen and cheese, brewed, preserved food, tended the family garden and salted the meat, among other activities, which provided the family with basic necessities which could not be purchased. Cash entered the family unit through women who went to the market to sell agricultural produce and did spinning for pay. They obtained the raw fibre, especiall y cotton, and washed, picked and combed it. The finished products were sent to town to be woven into cloth for the growing urban population. The cash gathered from spinning and market transactions was vital for paying taxes and the rent. Indeed, as Bonnie G. Smith has remarked, ‘few rural households could have survived without women’s cash contribution’ 110 . The agricultural revolution ended some traditional female tasks. Community’s common rights were eroded, virtually ending women’s long-standing contributions to the agricultural process such as gleaning the fields after harvest. Technical innovati ons coupled with ideological constructs, such as the b elief in women’s weakness and complementary role to men, determined female exclusion from harvesting and da y-labouring. Bigger farms, the introduction of labour-saving ma chinery, and the emergence of male intermediaries led to the progressive contracti on of opportunities for women in dairying which was in addition considered too physically demanding for women’s frail constitutions. As a result, women turned increasingly to outside work to supplement the family economy 111 . 110 Smith, Chan gin g Li ve s , p. 10. 111 Fletcher, G ender , Sex and Subordin ation , pp. 24 6-255 and Smith, Changing Lives , pp. 44-51. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 93 Urban Women Even if the rate of rural women taking outside work increased, they still lagged behind their urban counterparts, being most of them immersed in a farm-centred subsistence economy. By contrast, recent research shows that women from urban milieus worked extensively for pay. The foremost example of this trend was London, where by 1700 seve nty-two per cent of women were doing paid work outside the home 112 . However, even if they were an important section of the urban labour force, women were rarely admitted into formal apprenticeship and were excluded from the formal structure of the guilds. Women learned their trade mostly at home, which could explain the tendency to continue the family business by marrying a man of the same trade or by themselves, following the mother’s occupation or that of an aunt. Seamstresses, chocolate-markers and tavern keepers trained their daughters and cousins who helped to run the business from an early age. Women’s collaboration was soon demanded in the family business: they kept the books, run errands or provided food for apprentices or journeymen. Young girls were introduced to the semi-s killed processes of the craft and thus, artisans sought women from a family of the same trade so that after marriage they could count on their wife’ s assistance and knowledge of the craft 113 . Women formal apprenticeships existed, although they amounted to a tiny percentage of the whole. Among these, ther e 112 Fletcher , Gender, Sex and Subordination , p. 243. 113 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , pp. 59-90 and Smith, Changing Lives , pp. 33-39. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 94 was the compulsory apprenticeship of poor children in which the ratio of girls reached thirty-four per cent in the eighteenth century. This period saw an enlargement of the range of occupa tions involved; girls could learn such specialised crafts as blanket- making, gloving, hatting, bricklayin g, dyeing, tanning, rope-making, tobacco pipe making and watch gilding. Yet, apprentices hips arranged by parish officers were usually in housewifery and even when a specialised craft was pu rsued, general domestic work occupied much of the female apprentice’s time. Although the interpretation of the data is diffic ult, it seems very unlikely that these girls acquired enough expert ise, resources or confidence to set up an independent business. Their being indentured did not have, apparently, economic independence as its end; the aim was rather to render them mo re attrac tive to a prospective husband by endowing them with the sufficient skills that would allow them to assist him in his trade 114 . Regarding apprenticeships entered by parental choice, th e existing data for the beginning of the eighteenth century varies from 3.6 per cent to 7.4 per cent. Evidence shows girls apprenticed to male trades such as carpentry, cordwainery and ironmongery but mostly to ‘genteel’ trades such as millinery, mantua making, toy making or mercery. This data suggests that parents from the middling orders, who could afford to pay for the training, were reluctant to procure a formal practical instr uction for their daughters and preferred instead to integrate informally the girls’ 114 Fletcher, G ender, Sex and Sub ordination , pp. 2 40-243 and Hunt, The Middling Sort , pp. 90-92. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 95 working output into the family economy or to endow them with the polite accomplishments which would render them more valuable in an upstart marriage st rategy. One should not forget that women had less opportunities of getting a remunerative occupation than men and that the v ast majority of jobs in which women were likely to be found were low paid and insecure. It seems very likely that the scarcity of options was a disincentive for many girls (or their families) when considering training or star ting a business on their own 115 . Urban women contributed to the family economy in different ways. Their dowry often allowed an artisan to quit depend ent labour by opening his own shop. Women’s work was essential for the trade to thrive. Women packed, delivered, sold the goods and tended the shop, carried wood and water, and cared for the journeymen, apprentices and servants. They also helped in th e productive process, performing semi-skilled tasks such as polishing and finishing in the case of the metal tr ades. Women were essential in the food trades, for they preserved by smoking, made sausages and other food products, and were in charge of the shop or market stall, allowing the husband to concentrate in slaughtering and dealing with the suppliers. Besides, childrearing and the household chores fell always to women. If the business succeeded, the amount of work women performed could be lessened by hiring servants 116 . 115 Fletcher, G ender, Sex and Sub ordination , pp. 2 40-243 and Hunt, The Middling Sort , pp. 90-92. 116 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , pp. 59-90 and Smith, Changing Lives , pp. 33-39. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 96 Some women pursued their own trades even when married. Women were prominent in glove-making, lace-making, hat- making, and in the silk industry; they were seamstresses and produced small items such as buttons, pins and candles. Indeed, the clothing industry was a female trade. At its lower end, women monopolised the trade of second hand clothing and did all kinds of underpaid needlework, which allowed their better-off counterparts to keep their profitable businesses in mercery and millinery 117 . Eighteenth century economic dynamics had an effect on the artisanate, affecting its working conditions, economic prospects and gender relations. The spread of manufactures and proto- industrialisation eroded the artisan’s status and economic prospects. Seasonality, low wages and the decline of ma ster positions rendered artisans’ positions insecure and reduced the gap between the artisanate and th e manufacture worker. Thes e conditions affected gender relations in two ways. On the one hand, fearing competition, the artisanate closed ranks and sought to exclude women from their trades, particularly from skilled work. Women were only tolerated in the dishonourable branches, in an effort to keep female salaries low, and in the typical female trades, from where there was no competition. On the other hand, as mastership became difficult to achieve, journeymen’s possibilities of settling independently and marrying declined or were dela yed. As a result, the artisanate turned increasingly to a bachelor culture based on male bonding and fraternity rather than on the mixing of 117 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , pp. 59-90 and Smith, Changing Lives , pp. 33-39. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 97 the sexes. Accordingly, misogynist and violent attitudes towards women became particularly rele vant among this section of the population 118 . The eighteenth century witnessed the con traction of opportunities for work in areas which had been traditionally a female preserve. As we have seen , the role of the midwife was progressively eroded by the rise of the male obstetrician. Within the medical field wom en lost ground to the emergence of professional medicine. During the early modern period, women’s perceived closeness to nature, due to their reproductive functions, their alleged emotional nature and their prominent role in the rites of birth and death, led to a prominen t role in healing at all levels of society. Women were healers and s urgeons and gentlewomen’s dispensed remedies as part of their paternalistic duties. The her bal lore of these women ca me to be questioned in the seventeenth century as scientific medicine displaced traditional cures at the upper end of society. This process reached i ts peak in the eighteenth century when female traditional medicine was derided on the grounds of its association with superstition and lack of formal training. Likewise, wome n were progressively excluded from brewing which turned from a home based, female dominated trade to a factory based, male dominated one 119 . Women found significant new openings in the labour market as the textile industry developed to take the lead in the industrialisation process. Textile industry flourished in the 118 See Clark, T he Struggle for the Breeches . 119 Fletcher , Gender, Sex and Subordination , pp. 223-255. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 98 northern cities such as Glasgow or Manchester, where a rural hinterland of cottage industry was coupled with an established artisanal tradition. Technological changes deepl y affected the position of women in the textile industry. As we h ave seen, women were employed in large numbers in the putting out system by which an entrepreneur gave the raw material to rural women who were in charge of doing at home the first productive processes. However, the invention of the spinning jenny opened new possibilities for women, for it enabled the concentration of female workers whose low wages rendered the whole process h ighly profitable. The advent of the spinning mule changed this situation because it fostered factory work and, as it required strength and skill, men were preferred to do the spinning rat her than women. Even so, women were much dema nded an d, together with children, were hired in large numbers to perform secondary tasks such as reeling, piecing and carding. In spite of the low wages, women were drawn towards textile work for, on the one hand, their salary was a much needed complement to the subsistence wages of the head of the household and, on the other hand, textile industry offered women salaried and independent work. As Susan Kingsley Kent has remarked, ‘from its very inception, factory work for women offered them low-level positions, low pay and few opportunities for advancement. But because it provided one of the few alternatives to domestic service, which often entailed humiliating and abusive conditions of work, women turned to it when and where it was available’. At the en d of the eighteenth century, the proportion of women in the cotton industry was extremely high, Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 99 amounting to sixty-one per cent of the labour force in Scotland and to fifty per cent in Lancashire 120 . In her comparison between gender relations in the artisanat e and those among textile workers, Anna Clark has argued that, among the latter, working conditions resulted in a less problematic relation with women. Working in a mixed environment and depending on the contribution of women and children, the labour system muted gender antagonism and fostered cooperation and assistance between husband and wife. However, even if collaboration and mixed company softened misogynistic attitudes , patriarchy was still at work among the textile workforce. Although their contribution was essential to the viability of the family, the subordinate role of women was accepted and they had little control of their wages which wer e collected and managed by the husband. As women became aware of the independence which could result from waged work, conflict and strife came to characterise gender relations among the plebeian classes. Masculine efforts to protect their patriarchal prerogatives and male anxieties about women usurping their po wer were opposed to women’s awareness of their lack of control of their earnings, which wer e often spent in drink by the husband, female resentment for the little value their contribution to the family economy merited, and women’s longing for a more co mpanionate and egalitarian marriage. Popular literature reflected this ‘struggle for the breeches’. Misogynist anti-marriage broadsheets celebrated 120 Clark, The Struggle for the Breec hes an d Kingsley Kent, Gender an d Power , pp. 13 7- 140. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 100 libertine bachelor culture and ev en justified marital violence. Women, in turn, expressed their bitterness against oppressive and abusive husbands in songs such as the following: I’ll be no submissive wife No, not I – no, no t I I’ll not be a slave for life No, not I – no, no t I 121 . Towards the end of the eighteenth century, prescriptive definitions of female roles, changing economic conditions and the progressive rise of a middle cl ass ideology led to shifting perceptions on labouring women. Once considered productive contributors to family and national wealth, they were now seen as corrupted agents of moral and economic decay in need of reform. In the countryside, women’s work belonged to a traditional set of practices, such as gleaning and collecting wood, currently criminalised as theft and trespass by the ongoing agricultural revolution. In the cities, urban growth and unstable employment conditions created slums and deteriorated the living conditions of the lower orders, for which women, accused of domestic mismanagement, were increasingly blamed. At the same time, gender roles established an essentia lly reproductive and private role for women, exemplified by the glorification of motherhood and companionate marriage. In an effort to separate themselves from the plebeian orders, middle class self-definitions delved into the separate spheres ideology to construe the middle class home as a sanctuary of morality and domesticity safeguarded by wo men 121 Quoted in Clar k, The Struggle fo r the Breeches , p . 69. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 101 solely devoted to their families. By contrast, the poor were assimilated to filth, moral disorder, sexuality and idlen ess. Deserting the family home to work for pay and irresponsibly leaving their children to roam the streets, labouring women came to epitomise all the ills attributed to the poor by their upper and middle rank critics. Women from the Middling Sort The term ‘middle classes’ refers to a miscellaneous social group which saw its fortunes increase during the eighteenth century. Shopkeepers, manufacturers, better-off independent artisans, civil servants, profe ssionals, lesser merchants, among others, formed the bulk of the middle class, as the term was understood in the eighteenth century as well as today. Being beneath the gentry and above the labouring classes, they depended neither on landed property nor on the precarious incomes afforded by the bourgeoning industrialisation process. However, at its upper and bottom ends, the middling orders overlapped their social inferiors and came close in their fortunes to the gentry. Even so, the middle classes were characterised by an awareness of thei r intermediate position. Although the desire of emulate aristocratic codes and modes of living was ever present among the middle classes, and landed wealth was of ten considered the ultimate goal which determined many middle class aspirations of aggrandisement, the middling orders also liked to stress their prudence and thrift, and distanced themselves from the corru pted and frivolous customs of the aristocracy, being conscious that extravagance and fashionable habits could easily lead to ruin and Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 108 family well-being but also its belonging to the exclusive genteel status. Housekeeping fell entirely unde r the care of gentlewomen. Elite housekeeping encompassed many skills, such as the government of the servants, the ordering and cleaning of the physical household, the production of clothes and household goods, provisioning and the maki ng and dispensing of medicine. All of these duties were to be ca rried out discreetly; women should never make a fuss of their dome stic responsibilities and household order was chiefly valued by the invisibility of the hand which commanded it. However, this general rule did not mean that the importance of all these tasks went ignored. Gentlemen valued highly good housekeeping and considered it an important requirement on a bride-to-be. While single and when no kinswomen were available to fulfil the role of mistress of the house, gentlemen complained bitterly on the strain which managing the household represented and speeded the process of finding a wife in order to be relieved of the burden 131 . The management of the servants was among the main tasks which housekeeping included. Genteel households had a number of servants which varied between five and ten, thus not allowing the existence of an upper echelon of servants in charge of regulating the service. In additi on, giving the poor rewards and the considerable demands and humiliati ons of service, servants soon abandoned their positions and new ones had to be continually recruited. This fact also accounts for the lack of an executive 131 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 127-161. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 109 division of upper servants who ma naged the lower ranks. As the mistress of the household had no intermediaries and could barely delegate, she had to see persona lly that everything was done according to genteel standards and to her taste. Although there is little record about the actual divi sion of work between the service and the mistress of the house, it is fair to suppose that she was hardly engaged in any back breaking toil. Even so, in order to ascertain that the work was performed properly, gentlewomen had to know how to do these tasks them selves. They should know how to sew, clean a piece of silver, ch urn good butter or harvest ripe vegetables. We should not underestimate the energy and effort which regulating the service required nor the psychological strain which dealing with servants entailed. A balance had to be found between excessive tolerance and over-correction. As they grew older, gentlewomen tended to develop at tachmen ts, particularly with female servants, which however did not dissolve the hierarchy of their respective positions or lessen significantly the harsh working conditions which service involved. Thus, women often felt deserted and deceived when a favourite maid left the household in search of better prospects 132 . The good order of the household required high standards of cleanliness and a constant inspection and cataloguing of household goods, to ensure its conservation and neatness in an unrelenting fight against leaking roofs and ine fficient chimneys. In spite of the rise of commercialisation, the provision of household linen 132 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 127-161. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 110 depended chiefly on self-provisioning and demanded constant attention and supervision of need le work, which together with general neatness and material possessions accounted for much of the outward display of politeness and gentility. Finally, gentlewomen were head provisioners and guardians of food supplies. They dealt with tenant farmers, followed the rhythms of the farming year and supervised the livestock. T hey made conserves, pickles, and ot her processed food, while storing and inventorying purchased commodities such as sugar, salt or wine. Even if they did not cook, they were directly involved in the elaboration of everyday meals, checking that cooking reached genteel standards 133 . As we have seen, genteel stat us depended much on a good ordered household and thus, housekeeping was valued not only by men as one of the main assets to be gained from a judicious marriage but also by women. After marriage, women were eager to take the reins of the household and later on they were reluctant to pass on its management to a daug hter in law. They found in housekeeping a source of authority, self-satisfaction, reputation and pride and thus indignantly resented husban d encroachments upon what was considered not only their duty but also their pride. Victorian judges backed these claim s and supported women who found themselves deprived from their natural position as mistress of their husband’s house 134 . 133 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 127-161. 134 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 127-161. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 111 Cleanliness, good household order and a regulated service were surely marks of a gentility wh ich found its most outward and richest expression in material possessions. A carefully arranged display of furniture, silver, por celain, silk as well as a well- provisioned larder were valued as signs of a polite living. Objects announced wealth and a cultivated taste, emphasised the privileges of genteel status and allowed gentlemen and gentlewomen to distance themselves both from the vulgarity of the common people and from the ultrafashionable and capricious nobility. Material culture was even considered the expression of one’s character as it happened with dress 135 . Gentlewomen’s diaries and letters suggest that materia l objects were invested with powerful emotional meanings. Delicate china, discreet yet dignified dress or a well-provisioned table had a reassuring function, confirming ge nteel status and giving proof of a privileged social position. We ll-chosen and well-maintained possessions testified to good management, in the eyes of visitors and strangers, and, on a personal level, gratified self-esteem. Possessions might act as extensions of the self, they were treasured as tokens of affection or material proofs of love and consideration. They were also related to continuity and to the safe transmi ssion of inheritance. Large and expensive items, in their durability, comforted many women by recallin g their contribution as safe keepers of a line which would survive beyond their individual lives 136 . 135 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 161-195. 136 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 161-195. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 112 Consumption was chiefly conducted by women and has been traditionally associated with vani ty, pleasure and frivolous pursuits. However, some aspects of domestic consumption were considered to be a male responsibility. Items related to business and economic activities fell to men as well as hi gh status provisions such as snuff, wine and game. It is quite likely th at men retained the ultimate sanction over extraordinary purchases requiring the outlay of considerable capital. Even so it was women who were principally identified with spending in the eighteenth century imagination, when the management of con sumption was regarded a proper feminine concern 137 . Gentlewomen were responsible for buying various households appurtenances and necessaries. Everyday consumption, such as provisions and groceries, was performed periodically in the small circle of the parish and neighbourly towns while expensive items such as furniture were often bought in London. Dress and linen required more thought; newspapers were read to be informed on the latest fashions and friends were consulted about the propriety of the n ewest sartorial trends and on the necessity of reconciling fashi on with durability, versatility and the characteristics of each individual, such as ag e and physical features. Friends and relatives were also mobilised when buying furniture and tableware. Individual tastes were discussed as well as the latest designs and patterns, th e necessity of the purchase and the suitability of particular items. Consumption, thus, figured prominently in gentlewomen’s correspondence and contributed 137 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 161-195. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 113 significantly to sustain the networks of sociability which women knitted carefully with friends and relatives and wh ich represented an important emotional input and the so urce of many psychological and material rewards 138 . Correspondence buttressed the networks of sociability which figured prominently among gentlewomen’s duties and responsibilities. Gentlewomen helped substantially to maintain the relationships and acquaintances which integrated the family within the circle of the well-bred, from which pleasure and social, economic and political benefits were drawn. We have already seen the important role of genteel sociability in the politics of marriage. Connections forged and maintained by women were productive of joint business ventures and professional opportunities for younger sons and relatives. As Olwen Hufton has argued, ‘England’s local politics were based on ties fostered among the local landowners and the lady of the hou se was at the nexus of the business of hospitality as well as that of planning for the next generation’ 139 . Although the eighteenth century witnessed the contraction o f the all inclusive hospitality which characterised the elite household during the previous centuries, th e large country house of the gentry remained a centre of influence and patronage, where the family displayed its power and magnanimity to his locality. The social functions of the genteel household were fostered by the emergence of the discour se of politeness and sensibility which in addition upheld the prominent role of women in sociability. The 138 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 161-195. 139 Hufton, The Pr ospect before Her , p. 146. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 114 vocabulary of sensibility and politeness emphasised the refining influence of women and placed them at th e core of a sociability which was considered essential for the cohesion of the group and the development of the individual. Polite standards demanded a n utmost control of outward expressions of the self, which were seen as the reflection of an inner civility. Self control should be coupled with a gentle demeanou r, a controlled deportment and proper decorum. These traits, initially advocated for men, were th e same that gentlewomen were to posses if they were to carry out their refining role properly. Gent lewomen should be distinguished by an air of dignified ease, graceful control and by a consciousness of social distinctions and claims of status. Even if female and male manners shared a similar emphasis on propriety and sympathy, women were also required to stick to the exclusive feminine code which valued chastity and modesty abo ve all 140 . Polite standards certainly limited traditional sociability and circumscribed it to the circle of the civil and well-bred. Accessible sociability was restricted to local festivities and to rent days, when the local tenants went to the household to pay their due. Certain areas of the house and rooms as well as meals were reserved for inclusive sociability. Dependants were entertained in the ‘common’ parts of the house such as the servants’ hall and the kitchen. Tea parties were socially inclusive and were often held to interact socially with the wives of the ten ants or to sort out transactions with mantua-makers, shopkeepers or seamstresses. While casual callers and traders were served with the common tea set in the 140 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 195-225. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 115 parlour or dining room, polite gues ts were entertained in the sam e rooms decked out in the best linen, china and silverware 141 . Similarly, although the vocabulary of politeness advocated a mixed sociability between the sexes, there were particular occasions in which social interaction was divided along gender lines. Breakfast gathered males of an equal social standing while the gentlewoman’s bedroom was the place for exclusive female gatherings. By contrast, dinners were the event most likely to integrate both sexes, in which polite entertainment such as music and cards took place for the benefit of genteel acquaintances and family 142 . Regular meetings, dinners and parties were supplemented b y the practice of sending compliments. Compliments were brief messages to enquire after health and journeys, to decline invitations, to offer congratulations and condolences and to express gratitude for hospitality. They required some acknowledgement in return. A large acquaintance could be maintained with occasional visits and the ordinary exchange of compliments via servants and tradespleople 143 . The household was not the only place in whi ch women commanded their allegedly beneficial influence through sociability. The eighteenth century witnessed an expansion of venues in which the ‘well-bred’ could meet and mix together, as well as the sexes, for polite sociability in the eighteenth century was first and 141 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 195-225. 142 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 195-225. 143 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 195-225. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 116 foremost heterosocial. Women, thus, figured prominently in all sorts of public entertainment and social intercourse as it is proved not only by the existing records of the time but also by the moralists’ insistence on female decorum and propriety in public. Ladies and women of a high soci al standing (which included the upper sections of the middle classes) enjoyed witnessing the royal family whether in public festivit ies such as those which celebrated the birthday of the monarch or th e anniversary of his accession, or attending the prayer at the Chapel Royal. Significantly, the fa mous London season coincided with the period in which the royal family resided at court 144 . The opera satisfied the eighteenth century taste for music as well as the wish to see the royalty and the higher echelons of the aristocracy. Enjoyment of the spectacle and gossip about the members of the elite were smoothly mingled in the theatre, where ladies could boast their social position, by paying for the more exclusive seats, and their taste, by donning their best attires. However, the fashionable promenades and pleas ure gardens were undoubtedly the place to see and to be seen. The taste of English women for physical exercise was reconciled with their expansive sociability in the number of gardens and walks which were built not only in London but also in most provincial towns. The female invasion of a public sphere of social intercourse and entertainment took swiftly to the provincial ci ties which soon in the century had their own winter season with attend ant theatrical performances and balls, town walks and assembly rooms. The assembly was 144 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 225-285. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 117 undoubtedly the more ‘genteel’ of all these forms of sociability. An assembly was an evening gathering, accommodating various forms of entertainment such as tea, cards, dancing and, above all, talk. Not only it was conceived by and for the gentility, it was also deeply associated with female entertainment. Acco rdingly, when it derived to ridottos and masquerades, many voices spoke against these diversions in which the mask and the disguise allowed the secrecy of identities and, thus, they feared, licentiousness and social and sexual confusion 145 . Women participated of the associative r age which characterised the eighteenth century. They co ntributed and managed charities and self help associations, while the boldest joined clubs devoted to literature, antiquarian and scien tific pursuits and even formed their own debating societies. In a more informal way, women went to the coffee-houses were a variety of topics were discussed and participated in all these informal networks which had been considered a n essential part of the public sphere as defined by Habermas 146 . T HE E NLARGEMENT OF THE F EMININE S PHERE Much has been said and debated on the cl assic division between public and private and its association with male and female spheres. Eighteenth century British women certainly challenged a clear-cut divisi on between both spheres by 145 Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter , pp. 225-285. 146 Mary Thale, 'Women in London Debating Societies', Gen der and History , 7, (1995), pp. 5-24. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 124 Wollstonecraft denounced the oppressive nature of marriage and the double standard inherent to it. Far from the rad icalism of Mary Wollstonecraft, Hannah More was able to earn a comfortable living by the pen, through treatises on education, devotional books and even plays. The Bluestocking circle, though moderate in th eir views about women’s situation, vindicated for women a n intellectual role in society which they performed by thei r translations, works of scholarship and learned discussions 155 . Even if the eighteenth century witnessed the lessening of prejudices against the female author, women who took the pen had to face numerous obstacles. There were still harsh criticisms against learned women who were ac cused of vanity, pedantry and of forsaking the virtues of femininity. Material conditions hindered women’s literary pursuits. They had to deal with household worries and family duties, devoting to writing what little time they had left after they had fulfilled their feminine obligations. Female literary works were judged in a patronising light, which discouraged ambition and fostered literary conventionalism in order to escape from criticism. It seems that women authors felt acutely the pressure; they justified their works in the preface or published them anonymously, even allowing the father or some fatherly figure to censure and correct their work. Women wri ters’ preference for the novel soon led to its cataloguing as an inferior genre, less worthy than essays, theatre or poetry 156 . 155 Hufton, The Prospect before Her , pp. 419-458 and Rogers, Femi nism in Eighteenth Century England . 156 Rogers, Feminism in Eighteenth Century England , pp. 25-53. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 125 Religion had traditionally been important in women’s lives and activities. Going to the church on Sundays represented an essential part of women’s public outings and female sociability. Female charity initiatives were prai sed by prescriptive literature, which blended female virtues with an alleged female tendency towards religion and devoutness. However it was through new forms of piety such as Methodis m that religion emerged as a powerful outlet for women’s self-expression, allowing them an increasing public role. John Wesley founded Methodism in an attempt to renew Christian faith an d attract the plebeian sections of the population, which were disenchanted with the established Church of England. The nascent working classes and urban middle classes felt soon the appeals of Methodism, which catered for the lower sections of society by reje cting Calvinist predestination and preaching in the streets and open fields. Methodists organised themselves in small groups, provided believers with an alternative to absent or disrupted families and with support and help in periods of need. The growing success of Methodism inspired other dissenting communities and fostered what has been called an ‘evangelical revival’ in the last decades of the eighteenth century. Plebeian women figured prominently among the followers of Methodism, whose attractions for women were many. Following the tenets of sensibility, Method ist preachers ad vocated a softer and gentler masculinity, contrary to the unruly customs of plebeian men and much to the liking of plebeian women. Methodism promoted order, family responsibility and self-control and preached against drunkenness, gamb ling, and marital violence, just the problems that many women had to face d aily. In addition, Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 126 Methodist women were encouraged to form sisterhoods and develop networks where they often found support and comfort from poor living conditions an d unhappy marriages. Women could also perform unconventional roles, as Methodism allowed women to preach in public. However subversive this might seem, Methodist ideas regarding gender roles were hardly revolutionary. The prominent role conceded to women derived from an emphasis on individual spirituality rather than from an assertion of female equality or rights. Thus, as Methodism grew, reaching the better-off sections of the population, and becoming institutionalised, it forsook fema le preaching. Me thodism became respectable, moulding itself to middle class ethos, pruning radicalism, and promoting fema le modesty and domesticity, leaving for women charitable works as the only respectabl e public venture. The conservative turn which Methodism took from the 1790’s onwards was a common trend in British society. Debates about gender roles and the presence of women in the public arena were already a source of anxieties, which grew more and more acute as the events of the French Revolution unfolded. Th e French Revolution brought about a tide of conservativism in all fields of British public life but affected particularly the way in which British people conceived of gender roles. Gender played a key role in the responses to the French revolutionary events from the beginning. Quite rightly, Mary Wollstonecraft saw in the revolution an unprecedented opportunity for female equality and rights. For his part, her opponent, Edmund Burke, ascribed women a major role in his analysis of the revolutionary process. Women in Eighteenth Century Britain 127 Among the many evils which the Revolution represented, one of the greatest was the overturning of the natural gender order. Women swarmed in the streets, and like the Furies, forsaking both modesty and social order, attacked the king and the aristocracy. Men, renouncing all chivalric spir it and reverential respect, killed the queen. This was a complete subv ersion of the social, political, gender, natural order which must not be imitated in Britain 157 . While the reaction against British radicalism took place, women faced a contraction of their sphere and roles through increasingly restrictive definitions of femininity 158 . Gender roles were buttressed, definitions of femininity and masculinity were hardened in a way in which their characteristics appeared to be mutually exclusive, and the separ ate sphere ideology was strengthened in an attempt to remove any instabi lity and porosity between the private and domestic realm of women and the public world of men. Accordingly, in the political field, the gender identity of the political subject was contracted, and th e identification between politics and masculinity intensified. Quite significantly, in these years the prestige of Mary Wollstonecraft waned amidst charges of immorality, while the decent and pious Hannah More saw her fame rise to new heights. 157 On the Frenc h Revolution, see Olwen H . Hufton, Women and the Limits of Citizenship in the French Revolution (Toronto, 1989), Lynn Hunt, Politics, Cultur e and Class in the French Revolution (Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1984), Lynn Hunt, The Family Romance of the French R evolution (London, 1992) an d Do rinda Outram, The Body and the French Revolution. Se x, Class and Politica l Culture (New Haven & London, 1989). 158 See D ror Wahrm an, ' Percy 's Prologue: From Gender Play to Gender Pani c in Eighteenth-Ce ntury England' , Past an d Present , 159, (1998), pp . 113-160. 128 129 2 Nation, Province and National Identity At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Britain was far from being a united nation. Wales and England had retained some of their peculiarities and distinctiveness in spite of the Act of Union which in 1536 joined both kingdoms. Similarly, the Treaty of Union between England and Scot land was aimed at drawing together two parts of the British Isles which, in fact, differed sharply from each other. Thus, even if Scottish political institutions were obliterated in 1707, Scotland maintained a character of its own. It kept its distinctive leg al and religious systems, and had its own language and cultural traditions. Economically, it was a much poorer region still prone to famines and agricultural crisis, which lacked its neighbour’s commercial Nation, Province and National Identity 130 strength. Much of her territory and population was bound by the feudal-like ties of the Highland system of land possession, clan organisation and personal loyalties. All of this encouraged a sense that Scotland was one step behind England in the path to wards modernity, restrained by econom ic backwardness, widespread rusticity and an attachment to a distinctive but gloomy traditio n. However, as Linda Colley has pointed out, ‘attachment to Wales, to Scotland and even to England was always complicated by the fact that these three countries were neither united themselves nor distinct from each other’ 1 . Scotland was far from being homogeneous or possessed by a strong sense of identity. The urban English-speaking Lowlande rs felt themselves closer to their English neighbours than to the inhabitants of the rural and isolated Highlands. Religious divisions between Presbyterians and Episcopalians often resulted in confrontation and the political divide between those who backed a Jacobite restoration and those loyal to the Hanoverian dynasty persisted until mid-century. In addition, a sense of distinctive identity was rarely expressed and lacked widespread popularity. Quite on the contrary, many Scots deemed the Treaty of the Union e ssential for Scotland’s progress. In spite of the outbursts of hostility and derision towards the Scots fostered by the Treaty of the Union, England was also cut across by strong regional attachments and by religious difference. Long distance travelling was still uncommon in this period and different geographic and economic characteristics determined the 1 Linda Colley, Britons. Forging the Nation 1707-1837 (New Haven & London, 1992), p. 14. Nation, Province and National Identity 131 persistence of fierce localisms. People’s strongest loyalties were still due to town, village and family. Nevertheless, the eighteenth century witnessed a process of redefinition of national identity. Englishness became a less vague notion as calls for the defence of English identity were incorporated into the political discourse and infused across a wi der public. Yet, the incorporation of Scotland and the rise of the island as an imperial and economic power marked the construction and success of a more inclusive notion of nationhood, that of being British. In terms of national iden tity, thus, the eighteenth cen tury was marked by both processes: the invigoration of a sense of English pride and the formation an d increasing pervasiveness of the notion of Britishness. Among both dynamics, the latter will be a more complex and lengthy development. Although Br itain as a political entity was institutionalised in 1707, its abstract enactment as an emotional bond and a primary element of self-d efinition took longer to root. Regional diversity, attachment to Scotland and Wales and the peculiarities of each realm surel y complicated the consolidati on and popularity of the idea of a joined identity. England had a more develope d and precocious sense of national unity, due in part to the existence of a more homogeneous and solid state apparatus, which was supported by a strong royal authority and expanded over regional differences through a unified legal system, the involvement of local elites on administrative tasks, a single dominant language and a centr alized economy. London had an important role in smoothing local peculiarities. It was the main point of reference in cultural terms, whose fashions Nation, Province and National Identity 132 were imitated throughout the country. Being the centre of politics, commerce, and finance, it attr acted a large amount of the population, which visited London temporarily or to dwell permanently. Urban growth, the improvement of transport an d communication networks, together wi th the expans ion of the press and the rise of literacy levels also contributed to erode localisms. Constant warfare against France fos tered cohesion and as well as a sense of religious unity in Protestantism, in spite of the multiplicity of sects, religious factions and divisions 2 . However, a more intense sense of English identity was no t only the by-product of early and successful processes of state building and modernisation. It was also the result of a mystification of England’s succe ss in becoming a military and economic great power during the eighteen th century. The achievements witnessed during th e first decades of the century encouraged a sense of pride in be ing English that was mixed with important doses of self-satisfaction and chauvinism. In addition, the new constitutional order born after the Glorious Revolution was upheld through a celebration of the political order which rejoiced in the Parliamentary system and political rights, identifying political liberty with English uniqueness. Promoting a proud and embattled Englishness was often sought in order to sustain England’s constant involvement in the struggles for markets and international supremacy. Thus, as Linda Colley has argued, Englishness (and later on Britis hness) was frequently defined 2 See Colley, Britons and Kathl een Wilson, Th e Sense of t he People . Politics, Cult ure and Imperialism in England, 1715-1785 (New York, 1995). Nation, Province and National Identity 133 through confrontation with the ‘other’, allowing a disunited nation to overcome its internal differences and celebrate its distinctiveness and superiority. In this fashion, England was favourably compared with its European opponents; English people enjoyed the liberties of constitutionalism which were opposed to the oppression suffered by its French and Spanish enemies. Moreover, England was often identified with Israel as the land chosen by God because it ha d endured similar trials and toils in the defence of true religion. Catholics were equated to the Babylonians since they shared th e same determination to pursue the righteous, overthrow their beliefs and enslave them 3 . Politics and religion were often conflated. Protestantism was the safeguard of traditional Eng lish rights which would disappear under the Catholic taste for authority and popish despotism. The Hanoverian order made good use of this association and represented itself both as the restoration of the ancient constitution and as the defence of Protestantism in front of the Catholic Stuarts. The success of the Jacobite cause could only bring to an end English privileged rights and religion as proved by the ties between the Stuarts, and France and Rome 4 . English people would also define themselves against the racial ‘other’ brought closer by the imperial expansion. They were civilised and pious in contrast to the pagan savagery of the Native 3 See Colley, Britons . On the his torical vicissitudes o f eighteen th century Brit ain, see Wilfrid Prest, Albion Ascendant. English Hi story, 1660-1815 (New York, 1998) and Paul Lang ford, A Polite and Commercial People. England, 1727-1783 (Oxford, 1989). 4 See Colley, Britons and Wilson , The Sense of the People . Prescription and Progress 236 remarked that social position was irrelevant for attaining happiness and enforced resignation as an essential attitude in the pursui t of virtue and happiness, they were actually supporting the existing hierarchy. Moreover, since social order was part of God’s designs, they equated its subversion to rebellion against God’s will. In spite of the emphasis placed on the individual, the Scottish authors did not want to produce is olated individuals, disengaged from the community. They regarded man as a social creature and, accordingly, recommended a compromise between th e harmful engagement with worldly amusements and affairs and a likewise prejudicial withdrawal from the world. In other words, they recommended coupling a stoic stance with a commitment to the common good. Moreover, the true virtuous man should join self- discipline with the practice of benevolence towards others as prescribed by Christian doctrine. In fact, the pr actice of private virtue by upright individuals was not enough to preserve the bonds of the moral community. Private virtue should contribute to the common good and public virtue should be equally upheld. The links between public and private virtue, between individual morality and the common good were, therefore, pressing concerns for the Scottish writers, who ex plored these questions using the discourse of civic humanism. The Defence of Public Virtue: Civic Humanism and Patria rchal Conservatism The Scottish authors delved into the civic humanist tradition in order to resolve their conflicting reactions regarding the growing modernisation of Scottish society, that is to say, the increasi ng Prescription and Progress 237 commercialisation of Scotland and its incorporation in the Union 30 . With respect to the Treaty of the Union, they became keen advocates of its positive effects for Scotland, while retaining a sense of distrust towards London and its political and courtly life and attempting to preserve a strong Scottish identity. In addition, several Scottish authors saw England as a nation in decadence where, as in the Roman empire, imperial expansion and economic growth were undermining private and public morals through the spread of luxury and corruption. Of all the current transformations that Scotland was facing, Scottish authors were particularly troubled by economic growth and the replacement of traditional economic models based on agriculture by market economy. They reacted to this phenomen on in three ways that reflected the Scottish Enlightenment’s basic tension between material improvement and morality, and the chief concern of establishing a bala nce between the benefits of economic modernisation and its draw backs. Firstly, they actively encouraged economic development. Secondly, they applied themselves to describe, analyse and explain the f ormer by giving birth to the academic field of political economy whose main representatives were David Hume and Adam Sm ith. Lastly, they focused on mitigating the potentia lly harmful effects of economic modernisation 31 . These responses cannot be comp letely separated since most of the writings of the Scottish Enlightenment encompassed all 30 For the influence of the civic hu man ist tradition in the Scottis h Enlightenment, see Dwyer, Vir tuous Discourse and Sher, Church and University . 31 Sher, Church and University , p. 187. Prescription and Progress 238 three. However, it can be said that the question of controlling the potential dangers of economic grow th was a key issue as can be seen by the writings of even the most determined advocates of commercialisation, such as Adam Smith. Material improvement was essential to achieve the degree of wealth and leisure tha t allowed men to divert their minds from subsistence, engage in polite intercourse and devote thems elves to the advancement of arts and sciences, bringing about civilisation and refinement. But the same material advancement tha t was the source of so many benefits also entailed certain pitfalls. Excessive wealth was the source of luxury and the love of wealth over all things which endangered not only the moral fibr e of the community but also the political liberties and society itself, evidence of which was Imperial Rome and the Eastern nations. Economic growth could be the first step towards the disintegrati on of the political body, not only by spurring tyranny but also, on the other side of the political spectrum, by encouraging disaffection and anarchy. Current Scottish society had not yet reached the levels of these nations but, as the S cottish authors remarked, it was no t free of danger. The commercial econo my was already on its way, threatening the traditi onal communal ties based on landed economy. They were especially suspicious of the effects of the division of labour and of the expansion of paper currency and the banking system which would allow comm erce to surpass agricultural activities, breaki ng the ethical bonds of moral economy, and newly enriched indivi duals to take the place of the Prescription and Progress 239 traditional landed elite 32 . The union with England was seen as a spur to this trend rather than as a restraint. Furthermore, the moral values of the community and of the individuals were at stake. Modern commercial societies fostered luxury and extravagance, among other moral evils that were opposed to the Christian-Stoic precepts that the Scottish authors recommended. On their reflections on the effects of affluence, the Scottish intellectuals employed a highly gendered language. One of the main effects of luxury on society was the effeminacy of its members. By falling to the lure of luxury and material amenities, men lost their masculinity, blurring gender differences and, consequently, the natural order of things. Effeminacy meant not only the loss of male sexual identity but was also the germ of dreadful evils for the social and political body. I t meant lack of political liberties and falling under the yoke of tyranny exemplified by Eastern nations. By becoming women, men could not exert the public virtues that allowed them to be citizens, according to the language of civic republicanism. Overcame by greed and the pursuit of ‘baubles and trinkets’, men could no longer raise their efforts to the noblest commitments of citizenship. The links between luxury, political existence and masculinity are clear in Carlyle’s words, ‘it is surely bett er to be a little less rich and commercial than by ceasing to be men, to endanger our existence as a nation’ 33 . With regard to morality, effeminacy meant dullness, 32 For a study of the Scottish Enlighten ment debate about the convenience of maintaining the features of mo ral ec onomy and Adam Smith ’s opposed position in this debate see Hont and Ig natief f, 'Needs and Justice' . 33 Quoted in Sher, Church and University , p. 239. Prescription and Progress 240 the lack of the moral fibre n ecessary to achieve the s tern, controlled stoic stance, which was a moral pattern filled with masculine connotations. Self -command and control were masculine attributes in the discourse of Stoicism, opposed to the female tendency to passion. In addition, the blurring of gender differences threatened the traditional social order, base d on patriarchal relations. The ideology of patriarchy estab lished the dependence of women on men (either father or husband), youngsters on adults and th ose who lacked land on landowners. This patriarchal structure emerged in the early modern period and evolved through time. During the Ancien Régime , it was sanctioned as a mean s to ensure social control through a chain of authority in whic h the rule of the male head of the household was considered to mirror the fatherly rule of God and the king 34 . In their use of the ter m effeminacy in relation to social, political and moral issues and in spite of their vindication of the discourse of civic humanism, the Scottish authors were drawing on elements from other traditions such as Orientalism or the underlying discourse of patriarchy. Furthermore, eighteenth century discourses of Stoicism and civic humanism were not gender neutral, as authors such as Hunt and Outram have argued in their works on the French Revolution 35 . 34 For an study of patria rchy in the Modern p eriod an d its transforma tions in the transition to the Contemporary perio d, see Paula Miller, Transformation s of Patriarchy in the West, 1500-1900 (Indiana & Bl oomington, 1998). 35 See Lynn Hunt, The F amily Romance of the French Revolutio n (London , 1992), Lynn Hunt, Politics, Cultur e and Class in th e French Revolution (Berk eley & Los Angeles, 1984) and Outram, T he Body and the French Revolution . Prescription and Progress 241 Therefore, in the Scottish responses to pr eserve and encourage virtue, elements of ci vic humanism were merged with the defence of the principles of patriarchy. They used the language of civic humanism with caution av oiding ‘any concepts that would have any radical implications, such as the definitions of liberty as the duty of each citizen to participate in poli tical affairs’ and limiting its application ‘to the preservation of an already virtuous national character and an already free constitution’ 36 . Quite significantly, some of the authors of the Sco ttish Enlightenment (such as Hume or Smith) gave preference to the protection of property rights over the active rights of civic liberty 37 . Consequently, in the Scottish Enlightenment discourse on public virtue we find a strong conservati ve mood exemplified in its keen support for the existing political and patriarchal order. The potential dangers of co mmercial society were to be counteracted by encouraging patriotism and preserving the political order. Since political radicalism and dissent were the roots of factionalism and, hence, of anarchy and despotism, to support the political order was the same as to practice public virtue. Using the political theories of Montesquieu, Ferguson argued that the British constitution was the best political system for the nation and that radical change in the politic al field was most difficult to achieve. In line with the manners and disposition of the country, 36 Sher, Church and University , p. 198. 37 Michael Ignatieff, 'John Millar an d In dividualism', in Is tvan Hont and Michael Ignatieff (e ds.), Wealth and Virtue. The Shaping of Po litical Economy in the Scottish Enlightenm ent (Cambridge, 1983), pp. 31 7-344. Prescription and Progress 242 its forms of government were only open to minor change in the long-term. Some of the authors of the Scottish Enlightenment, such as Hugh Blair, linked political cons ervatism with the will of God. Following the Scottish Presbyter ian tradition they believed tha t God had a special covenant with the nation an d that historical events and national problems should be interpreted as the consequence of the community’s sins. These offences against the will of God were not only of a moral and religious nature, such as irreligion and fanaticism, but included, most importantly, attacks against the existing order and th e abandonment of civic virtues (namely, selfishness and factionalism) 38 . Together with the political order, the traditional social order had to be supported to protect public virtue 39 . The Scotti sh Enlightenment provided a new support to the role of landed families through a discourse of social conservatism where the principles of patriarchy were clos ely mingled with political, moral and economic issues. These ideas were also spread through sermons and ‘lower’ literary forms such as Henry Mackenzie’s novels and magazines. The privilege d role of the landed nobility should be kept because they protected the bonds of the moral community by giving moral example to the lower orders of society and by performing their traditional paternalistic functions regarding the poorest members of the community. In addition, by supporting the status of landed families, the Scottish authors were 38 Sher, Church and University , pp. 207-211. 39 See Dwyer, Th e Age of t he Passi ons and Dwyer, Virtuous Discourse . Prescription and Progress 243 also asserting the superiority of landed wealth as opposed to commerce. In order to achieve a proper economic balance and avoid the potential dangers of an excessive commercialisati on of society, commercial activities should be dependent on the productivity of well-managed and la rge farms. Moreover, the status of aristocratic families acted as a safeguard against the spread of luxury among the lower and middling orders of society. With regard to politics, the landed nobility was considered to be ‘the protection of the nation’s liberties and the bulwark against both tyranny and invasion’ 40 . The merging of social and political conservatism and the combination of the discourse of ci vic humanism with the ideology of patriarchy was ultimately carried out in the discussions regarding the Scottish militia. Following the civic humanist tradition, the Scottish authors deemed the militia as a school of public virtue that would preserve political liberties and thwart the selfish and materialistic values arising from modern, commercial societies. However, the Scottish Enlightenment’s discussion of the militia issue was imbued with patriarchal principles. The Scottish authors not only defined the public va lues fostered by the militia in gendered terms but they also considered the militia as a means of preserving the social order. A masculine, spartan-like notion of virtue and citizenship was constantly emphasised in this debate. In Ferguson’s words, one of the chief benefits of the militia would be the preservation of ‘the manhood of the people’ in a commercial 40 Dwyer, Virtuous Di scourse , p. 42 . Prescription and Progress 244 society 41 . On the other hand, the internal organisation of the militia should reflect the existing social strata and would reinforce the status quo by encouraging in the lower orders of society discipline and deference to their social superiors. However conservative the nature of the Scottish Enlightenment might be, it was no t an ideology that supported an immovable maintenance of the tr aditional features of society. Stability was required to accomplish the necessary transformations that would lead to mod ernisation and improvement. Consequently, progress was not only viewed in terms of maintaining order but also in a more dynamic and creative way. The Scottish writers underlined that a virtuous society could not exist in a state of rudeness and unrefinement. Virtue was not the product of ignorance but the main outcome of the use of man ’s reason and, as history proved, morality was more likely to be found in the most advanced stages of humanity. As a result, the Scottish Enlightenment held a firm commitment to the promotion of education, knowledge and the scient ific principles among society, a task that its writers were ea ger to assume. Ministers and philosophers deemed themselves improvers and enlighteners of the people and endowed their writings and sermons with a didactic and practical nature. They severe ly condemned fanaticism and superstition and the education of youth became one of their main concerns, to which numerous texts were dedicated. The literature on education was aimed at the enlightenment of the young and the preservation of their natural innocence and morals and combined 41 Quoted in Sher, Church and University , p. 238. Prescription and Progress 245 affectionate methods with an equal emphasis on control and discipline 42 . Sensibility and Sociability: The Moral Basis of the Community In the Scottish Enlightenment the notion of society encompassed a wide array of meanings. The civilised, virtuous community that they encouraged included a well-regulated set of institutions, laws and government together with a proper degree of culture and the cultivation of arts and sciences. However, the practice of a polished sensibility and polite intercourse was equally important. Virtue and civilisation, therefore, sprang from man’s powers of reason, but also from the refinement of sentiments. Beyond state organisation, everyday family and economic relations provided the foundations of civil society. Moreover, the Scottish philosophers valued feelings over reason in their understanding of human ethics 43 . Sensibility and sociability were considered the roots of both public and private virtue. Rega rding private virtue, the stoic composure should be coupled with the cultivation of a warm attitude towards fellow men that sprang from a polite sensibility. By using the term polite sensibili ty, it was underlined that sensibility should be polished from its natural state as a passionate instinct into a polite and tempera te sympathetic response towards 42 See, for instance, J ohn Gregory, (1774 ed.) A Fath er's Legacy to his D aughters (New York & London , 1974). 43 For the role of sensibility in the Sco ttish Enlighten ment see Dwyer, Virtuous Discourse and D wyer, T he Age of the P assions . See also chapter 5 of this PhD thesis. Prescription and Progress 252 barbarity to civility. In the light of this appreciation of love, the family achieved a new moral significance because love was firstly found and forged in the family circle. As a result, the authors of the Scottish Enlightenment, especially the conjectural historians, devoted many of their texts to praise the benefits of domesticity and analyse its origins and formati on in the process of civilisation. In addition, their sermons and the current Scottish magazines exalted the blessings of family life. Similarly, the Scottish Enlightenment, through the works of authors such as Blair and Fordyce, commended the marital bo nd and advocated a family model based on mutual affection. Children should be educated with a firm but loving attitude, and the parent- child relation should be grounded not on harsh authority but on warm affection. Marriage should be guided by an affectionate attachment and not by material prof it or sudden sexual drive. Love was not a passion but the product of a long-term affection and, though its sexual component was occasionally recognised, it was by and large seen as a mental ra ther than sexual attachment. The marital bond should be established in more equal terms, based on mutual friendship and companionship that could even overcome an unequal social origin. The Scottish writers endorsed the domestic ideal on men who were encouraged to practice chastity, respect their wives and regard them as their friends. They remarked that all the moral benefits that arose from love would turn into corruption if not properly controlled at marriage, turning love from a mere sexual drive into warm, temperate affection. In this way, they strived to soften the masculine ethos of the landed and middle classes, Prescription and Progress 253 leading them to a more contai ned form of family life and preventing them from the dangers of the fashionable world, where love assumed the shape of gallantry. However, the discourse of love was essentially directed to women and mainly expounded in the prescriptive works of authors such as Fordyce and Gregory 60 . It paid especial a ttention to the restraint of female passions and, accordingly, it placed chas tity as the most important female virt ue. Before marriage, women were encouraged not to be deceived by impulsive inclinations or by the lure of gallantry which would sur ely prove the sources of marital unhappiness. Women were also primarily responsible for softening the passions of love in men and for marital success. They were compelled to cultivate the qualitie s of complacency, delicacy, and softness which they needed to sympathise with their husband and soften his sterner character. In or der to secure a happy marriage, women should please the husband, look after the children and manage the family household, beco ming skilled in the domestic virtues of order and economy. They were reminded that virtuous behaviour, common sense and the dominion of the arts of pleasing were more important than physical beauty or fashionable accomplishments which in the long -term will certainly prove to be an unstable basis for the marital bond. Therefore, in spite of the Scottish Enlightenment’s claims to an increasing equality between the sexes, women were deemed almost solely responsible for the fulfilment of their program of domesticity that was, in addition, formulated in dissimilar terms for 60 See Gregor y, A Fa ther's Leg acy . Prescription and Progress 254 women. Women’s function in marri age was to please while men were to be pleased and, for women, the stoic notion of self- dominion was carried one step further, they should achieve a self- restraint that would not only accou nt for their individual inner peace but also for the domestic peace and the contentment of their husbands. Female virtue became also gendered in Smith’s theories o f morality, who remarked that sympathy was not enough to preserve chastity. Since it was essential to secure the legitimacy of the offspring and women were less concerned with the public good, chastity should be protected through the development in women’s minds of sound feelings of shame and modesty and a careful examination on the part of others. The stress on controlling and disciplining women was not only a means of securing the legi timacy of the offspring but was also linked to the moral function of marriage. Fordyce remarked that marriage was a sacred bond due to its religious significance and, primarily, to its social im plications. Lack of respect for the sanctity of the marital bond was the seed of the moral and social disintegration of the community. In order to prevent this and by placing the stress on women, Fordyce reinforced the existing patriarchal structure and re-elaborated the idea of male superiority 61 . He turned the domestic role of women into a m oral and even social imperative which, m oreover, was justified by the natural inequality of the sexes. Women should yield completely to their husband’s will and judgement because their reasoning abilities 61 Dwyer, The Age of the Passions , p. 127. Prescription and Progress 255 were less developed and less suitabl e for intellectual achievements. On the other hand, female sexuality was silenced and even transformed into a weapon against women, becoming the ultimate measure of their morals, while fe male sociability was restricted and confinement at home enforced. As Dwyer remarks, ‘if such values as equality, independence and erudition were to be sacrificed at the altar of love, friendship and social harmony, then so be it’ 62 . The Discourse of Sensibility and the Civi lising Process: Women in Conjectural History As we have seen, the Scottish Enlightenment’s discourse of domesticity defined women as agents of morality whose ambit was circumscribed, to a certain extent, to the private realm of the family. Nevertheless, in its hist orical writings, the Scottish Enlightenment also conceived of women as instruments of virtue and civilisation whose beneficial influence was exerted through polite intercourse. Civilisation was the result of a complex process, in which a wide range of factors intervened. However, the Scottish Enlightenment, with its characteris tic blend of reason and feelings, bestowed a great importance on th e perfection of individual and social feelings and, therefore, th e Scottish accounts of civilisation 62 Dwyer, The Ag e of the Pas sions , p. 132. However, ev en in this gen dered ground, the authors o f the S cottish Enlighten men t presente d differ ences in t heir treatment of women in marri age. Novels su ch as The G entle Sheph erd by Allan Ramsay reflected a mor e open attitude towards wome n wh o were depicted as independent an d fully developed ch aracter s and encoura ged to use th eir reason together with their natural charms. In this book women practised an active, thoughtful virtue whi ch was not reduced to keeping their chasti ty and being utterly submi ssive to thei r husbands . See Dw yer, The Age of the Passions , p. 104- 111. Prescription and Progress 256 focused on custom and family life. As different historical examples proved, material, institutional and artistic accomplishments could be coupled with an extreme rudeness in manners and, therefore, these societies could not be considered more than barbarians. Besides, if private and public vi rtue were based on polite sociability and refined sensibility, their sources should be considered when analysing the civilising process. The emphasis on feelings and manners was also connected to the fear that increased wealth would lead to moral breakdown. Together with family life and social manners, the situation o f women and their role became a recurrent theme in the writings on the origins and evolution of society. Therefore, as several authors have pointed out 63 , Scottish conjectural history challenged one of the traditional assumptions regard ing Enlightenment discourse: the dichotomy between nature and culture in which nature was identified with women and men with culture and reason 64 . In the works of Millar, Kames, Robertson and Alexander himself this dichotomy was reversed. Men were associated with nature, rudeness and violent passions wh ile women were connected with refinement and civilisation. Wom en’s condition was deemed one of the main indicators of the de gree of civilisation that a society had achieved; consequently, one of the essential characteristics of primitive societies was the mistreatment of wom en. Moreover, the evolution of women’s condition in the path towards civilisation 63 Sylvana Tomaselli, 'The Enlig htenment Debate on Women', History Workshop Journal , 20, (1985), pp. 101-124. 64 On this dichotomy, se e Cristina Molina Peti t, Di aléctica feminista de la Ilustración (Madrid, 1994). Prescription and Progress 257 was often conceived as a process of liberation from a former state of slavery. Similarly, in Eur ope, several authors, such as Montesquieu, Rousseau and Diderot, identified women’s situation as a mark of the general prog ress of society. The novels of sentiment that flourished in Scot land (Mackenzie) and in Europe delved into the connections between women and the refinem ent of the passions. But women were also a civilising driving force, due to their role within the family and to their nature, predisposed to sensibility and softness. Since they were primarily responsible for family happiness, the proper fulfilment of their duties as mothers, wives and daughters sustained and promoted the virtuous nature of the community and its members. Women played a key function in the formation of the character of citizens for they were in charge of the education of children. The fulfilment of the domestic ideal was considered a main advancement towards civilisation and was not entirely women’s responsibility. Men should lay the foundations that made possible the domestic ideal: respect for women and equality between the sexes. Therefore, men were frequently blamed for subjecting women to their tyrannical authority, hindering the cultivation of women’s minds and regarding women as their slaves or as mere instruments of sensual pleasure. When compared to the prescriptive books on education and family life, Scottish conjectural historians ela borated the discourse of domesticity in better terms for women, whose intellectual advancement was constantly encourag ed. Due to their nature, closer to refinement and sensibility, women’s influence on society resulted in th e advancement of Prescription and Progress 258 civility and politeness, through the softening of men’s passions and the refinement of social habits. The social intercourse between the sexes was considered one of the main features and sources of civilisation. While the discourse of domesticity and, particularly, the prescriptive literature on education and family mostly confined women to domestic boundaries, Scottish conjectural history allowed women a wider sphere of action. Hence, the confinement of women was considered the main feature of barbarous societies and of the depraved Eastern nations. However, the ‘commerce of the sexes’ also constituted a potential threat of moral corruption, effeminacy and political tyranny, and paralleled the risk posed by material improvement: it was a source of progress but could easily degenerate into moral decay. The Scottish authors stressed that th e intercourse between the sexes should be well balanced, following the principles of decorum, chastity and modesty. The lack of decorum could only bring about, on the one hand, the ‘promiscuous intercourse’ of the primitive societies while, on the ot her, an excess of refinement gave rise to the moral ills derived from gallantry and artificiality. Moreover, the principles of decorum were mainly beneficial for women and associated with respect for the female sex. Therefore, the tension between progressivism and conservatism was also evident in the discussion of the role of women. Though the Scottish Enlightenment es tablished a close relationship between women and culture, women remained strongly connected to and defined by nature rather than by culture. As Tomaselli argues, the emphasis on the women-culture relationship did not exclude the maintenance of the women-nature Prescription and Progress 259 connection. Each dualism was present in different orders of knowledge: while the women-culture view pertained to the exploration of society and custom, the women-nature thesis ‘is presented within a cluster of assumptions about theoretical knowledge and natural science’ 65 . Therefore, in conjectural history, women were defined by their natural traits, which were constant regardless of time and place. Women in primitive societies had the same innate qualities shared by m odern women, however hidden they might be due to the hardship of their condition, and maternal instinct, unlike paternal, was considered to be inn ate. The process of civilisation scarcely resulted in a perfection of women’s character; it was women’s situation which was improved. Furthermore, women played an ess entially passive role in the improvement of their situation and the civilising process. Even if ‘women inspire and enable the growth and maturation of male sentiments’ 66 , women’s condition was improved because men increasingly appreciated their innate qualities. Active female involvement in the improvement of their conditions was, thus, invariably disparaged or cond emned. What is more important, women were advised not to lose their essential traits of softness and delicacy, which were the means to influence men to their benefit. In addition, as Moran remarks, the immutability of their nature rendered women not fully ci vilised, in an intermediate state between civilisation and savagery, because while men moved forward to civility by performing a wider range of activities and 65 Tomaselli, 'The Enlightenment Debate on Women', p. 105. 66 Moran, '"Th e Comm erce of the Sex es"', p. 7 4. Prescription and Progress 260 perfecting their character, women remained defined by their instinctive refinement. According to Moran, the limitations assigned to women in the process of civilisation were closely connected to another patriarchal feature: ‘the growth of proprietary interest in wome n’ 67 . A decisive step in the path towa rds civilisation was the emergence of a proprietary interest in women which marked the transition from savagery to furthe r degrees of civility, where the free intercourse of the sexes was rest rained and monogamy instituted. The growth of private property wa s connected to the ownership of women: the progress in manners and morality prompted by monogamy was paralleled by the material advancement promoted by private property. Additionally, Scottish works on conjectural history had a prescriptive, if subtle, character. As Moran argued, ‘the historization of the male persona lity in conjectural history clearly involved the naturalisation of a domestic character for women’ 68 . History was used as a moral example for women who were encouraged to cultivate certain vi rtues and to fulfil their moral, although passive, role in society. By repeatedly paying attentio n to primitive societies and Eastern na tions, women were warned th at, as the improvement of their condition was one of the main outcomes of civilisation, the destruction of civil society and the loss of the bonds of civility could only result in their enslavement and debasement. Without the resp ect for women that arose from 67 Moran, '"Th e Comm erce of the Sex es"', p. 7 2. 68 Moran, '"Th e Comm erce of the Sex es"', p. 7 4. Prescription and Progress 261 refinement, men would have no restraint to exert their physical superiority over women, subjecting them to their lowest appeti tes and whims. We should, finally, return to the blurring of the boundaries between the public and the private in the Scottish Enlightenment. The Scottish Enlightenment placed women and family, the two primary elements of the private sphe re, at the heart of its analysis of society. The family was the foundation of society and the place where social affections and private and public virtue were acqu ired while women, through their role in family and social intercourse, were promoters of civilisation an d refined sociability. Moreover, female confinement to the private sphere of the household resulted in the political enslavement of men, as oriental nations exemplified. Therefore, the Scotti sh Enlightenment challenged the closed boundaries between the private and public sphere that has been commonly identified as a characteristic of the eighteenth century ideology of femininity. As several authors have emphasised, the meani ngs of the elements of the private and public division were not exclusive and, besides, were subject to constant renegotiation. This was particularly relevant in the eighteenth century because, as Brewer suggests, the private was often represented by the public sphere which, in this period was still be ing formed. Accordingly, although the private came to be increasingly associated with the domestic by the end of the century, it also referred to any activity that was not directly concerned with the man agement of the affairs of the nation and, opposed to the political ties of citizenship, it remained Prescription and Progress 268 were we to judge from analogy, whet her every women should nurse her own children, we shou ld find it to be a duty from which she could hardly exempt hers elf; as almost the whole of the birds and the beasts pe rform this tas k to their own y oung. Were we to judge fr om the histo ry of man, we shou ld find, that in alm ost all natio ns it has been the common pra ctice; thou gh to that practice , like all other general rules, there have been many exceptio ns. (...) It invariably tak es place at this day in every nati on, where culture has not degenerated into vice, and where the voice of nature is stronger t han that of pleasure 86 . In modern commercial societies, moreover, the unsuitability of women’s nature for earning subsistence was reinforced by the need to protect their virtue: to launch out int o trade and commerce would require, perh aps, mo re indust ry, and m ore stea dy ef fort s of mind, than are c onsistent with t heir volatile natur es and finer feelings and would, besides, ex pose the m to many as saults, which even the s everest virtue might not always be able to repel 87 . In sum, it could be said that in his reflection on female nature, Alexander tried to reconci le scientific knowledge and the discourse of sensibility. As a physician, he was familiar with the new anatomical research which di smissed female inequality on biological grounds, and supported mental and physical equality in women. However, under the influence of the discourse of sensibility, he gave preference to the cultural construction of gender over the biological sim ilarities between the sexes. The confluence of the discourses of science and sensibility is 86 See Alexan der, History of Women, I , p. 136 and p. 142-143. 87 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 434. Prescription and Progress 269 underlined by his different usage s of the notion of nature. When dealing with female equality, nature was identified with female biological capacities, in accordan ce with scientific research. In relation to women’s duties, nature was the cultural and socially accepted construction of gender. Eventually, Alexander opted for this gender biased notion of na ture that defined femininity according to male preferences and, as we shall see, so as to preserve private and public morality. Female Progress: Civilisation and Refinement In Alexander’s book, female progress ran parallel to general progress, being the product of the same features that brought forward refinement in civil society. Its main basis was the improvement of economic conditions, which produced a higher degree of leisure and commodities and, consequently, a greater attention to the pleasures of soci ability, learning and intercourse between the sexes. Improved ma terial conditions relieved women from the toils and hardships to which they were subjected in savage societies, while female qualities were increasingly valued and respected. The birth of agri culture and private property led men to settle in communities and this ‘association becomes productive of softer manners and more engaging deportment’ 88 . Alexander, then, reflected the Scottish Enlightenment’s emphasis on sociability and sympathy regarding the advancement of refinement and civility. He distinguished the mere scholars and the men of business from the men of civility, whose refined 88 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 160. Prescription and Progress 270 sensibility and manners were the pr oduct of the intercourse with women, and to whom he gave preference. In Alexander’s account the civic humanist tradition was also present. He shared its identification of liberty with the public good (‘in Europe, where liberty is generally founded on social and rational principles, calculated for the good of the community’ 89 ) and echoed the ma in role of property in its conceptions of citizenship (based on the independence that stemmed from property) and community (defined as a network of households bound together by the relations that sprang from land possession) 90 . The polishing of social affections and social intercourse resulted in the refinement of love, a ‘social and benevolent passion’ that, ‘being compounded of all th e tender, of all the humane and disinterested virtues, it calls fort h at once all their soft ideas and exerts all their good offices’ 91 . Love could only be properly refined in civil life, as the barbarous c ustoms of savage societies pointed out. While there love remained a mere appeti te incapable of forging long and tender affections, in civil societies it became ‘a mixture of animal appetite and sentimental feeling’ and the source of affectionate steady attachments between th e sexes 92 . From the refinement of love, plentiful be nefits arose for women who were protected and respected not only by their closest acquaintances but 89 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 500. 90 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 492. 91 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 205. 92 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 329. Prescription and Progress 271 also, due to the spread of politeness, by the civil society as a whole. It is worth quoting Alexander extensively on this topic: we must carefully distinguish between that love, which, in civil life, is a mixture of animal appetite and sentim ental feeling; and that which, in savage life, i s animal appetite only. The last, t hough it may pro mpt by its immed iate impulse, to be fawning and complais ant, is but short and inconstant i n its operati ons; and, conse quently, unable t o restrain the rudeness and oppressio n of the men, or raise the women to any deg ree of consequence and digni ty. The first, more ste ady and uniform, i nspires with an unremitting attention to d o good offices , with a gene rosity of senti ment, and with an inclinati on to prot ect, and screen fr om oppression the weakness whic h savages despise. Nor are the fair regard ed and defended only by such individuals as are connected with t hem by love, frie ndship, and othe r motives of passion and in terest; but by the ge nerality of men in civil life, fr om sentiments of gallantry; and by every wise legislature, which, in proportion to the weaknes s of that sex, exerts itself the more str enuously to protect their persons and interests 93 . In these conditions, marriage became more favourable for women. The institution of marriag e was considered by Alexander a fundamental step forward in the improvement of women’s situation. It provided them with protection and raised their status, by acquiring the social position of the husband. In his enquiry on the origins of marriage, he denied that monogamous marriage arose from nature or by the designs of Providence, as Kames had maintained 94 . Following Millar, Alexander identified usage, 93 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 329. 94 ‘Matrimony, therefore, or pairing, is so necessary to th e human race, th at it must be natural and instinctive. (...) Wh en other races are so amply provided for, can it be seriously thought, that Providen ce is less attentive to the human race?’. Kames, 'Of th e Progress of th e Female Sex', p. 11. Prescription and Progress 272 affection, and the need to provide for the offspring as the origin of the first marital arrangements. Since it was subjected to countless variations, he remarked that only the mutual attrac tion between the sexes was set by nature, ‘while it [nature] left it to the laws of each country to institute the ceremonies of their junction’ 95 . These dispositions were generally disadvantageous for women, especially polygamy which became the negative counterpart of domestic marriage: in countries wher e women are co nfined, the compact entered into between husband and wife, if it can be called a compact, is only an act of power on the part of the husband and parents of the bride, and of passive obedienc e on her side. The husband, theref ore, has no great r eason to expect that she will pay the same regard to this compact, as if it had been made by th e voluntary agreement of all parties; sensi ble on this account, that her mi nd may be differently disposed of from her body , he does all that mortal can do, he secu res the latter by perpetual confinement. But this mode of treati ng women is the v ilest indignity that can be offered to human bein gs; it presupposes them neit her endowed with virtue nor free agency, and places them in the s ame point of vie w with an unoccupied field, whic h yields itself indifferently to the possession of anyone, who will be at the pains to secure and fence it. It likewise presupposes the men to be with regard to the wo men, what t hey are to the beasts of th e field, absolute masters of e very one whom they can catch and detain 96 . However, even monogamy could be adverse to women’s well- being, as in those societies where the growin g refinement of sensibility had not yet brought about a marital relationship based 95 See Alexander, Hi story of Women, II , pp. 270-71 and Millar, The Origin of the Distinction of Ranks . 96 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 28-29. Prescription and Progress 273 on mutual consent, affection, companionship and equality between the spouses. In short, it was not until the establishment of domesticity that marriage involved a real improvement for women’s condition. All these aspects that characterised women’s progress could be found separately in several societies of the past. Nevertheless, it was not until the arrival of commercial societies, where material conditions and sensibility advanced to a greater extent, that all these features appeared together. Only in Europe did ‘[women] possess the consequence to which they seem entitled by nature in the scale of intelligent beings’ 97 . However there were differences between European countries. Northern Europe was more polished than Southern Europe and, among all, Britain was deemed superior 98 . Following the Scottish conjectural tradition, Alexander did not consider the betterment of women’s situatio n as a mere by- product of the civilising proce ss. Women were also agents of improvement. Their nature was associated with refinement and sensibility, while men’s nature was considered to be closer to savagery. Women were endowed with a more generous proportion of softness, sympathy, humani ty and modesty than men. The intercourse with women, which allowed their refined faculties to 97 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 300. 98 This distinction should be examined in the light of the eighteenth century formation of national identities and of the Scottish Enlightenm ent’s efforts to reconcile a Scottish character while supporting the Union. For the rel ation between the formation of national identities an d women’s past in Sco ttish conjectural history, see Re ndall, 'Tacitus Engendered ' and Rendall, 'Clio, M ars and Minerva'. Prescription and Progress 274 operate over men’s rougher nature, was one of the chief incenti ves to human progress. In Alexander’s words, woman (…) was not intended solely to propaga te and nourish the species, but to form us for society, to give an elegance to o ur pleasures, to s ooth our afflic tions, and to soften our car es. Of all the various causes whic h influence our conduct, our feeli ngs, and our sentiments, no ne operat e so powerfully as the society of women 99 . Besides, ‘each [sex], in its proper sphere, has contributed nearly, in an equal proportion, to this great and valuable purpose [civilisation]’ 100 . Because of their civilising role, women’s identification with reproduction was lessened. Alexander dealt extensively with the issue of female influence on society 101 , from which countless benefits arose. The company of women led men to exert themselv es to please and be agreeable, prompting politeness of manners and acquisitions of mind; female company softened men’s passions, encouraged social harmony and the development of arts and sciences: man, secluded from the company of women, is not only a rough and uncultivat ed, but a dange rous, animal to society. (...) This society [with women] teaches the men to regulate and govern th eir passions with g reater p ropriety, as no thing can be more certai n, than that ra pe, adultery, and every evil that follow them, are more common in countries wher e the sexes live separate, than where they enjoy the company of each other. 99 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 475. 100 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 53. 101 See Alexan der, History of Women, I , chapter 14. Prescription and Progress 275 there is n othing by whi ch the ha ppiness of individuals and society is so much promoted, as by constant ef forts to please; and these effor ts are in great meas ure only produced by the company of women. For men, by themselv es, relax in almost every particul ar of good-br eeding and complaisanc e, and appear t he creatures of mere nature; but no sooner a woman appear, th an the sce ne is chang ed, and they become emulous to show all their good qualities. Women, when by themselves, lik ewise relax in all the arts of pleasing, take less car e of their dress, and of their persons, but i f a man is introduced, they are assiduous to engage his attention by every art that can give lustre to their persons, and a gra ceful ness to their manners 102 . Polite intercourse with women was, therefore, productive of every single trait that characterised human advancement. It was the source of private virtues, such as the domestic virtues of the family, of stoic temperance and of the refinement of individual sensibility. Common good and public virtue wer e the effect of beneficial female influence because it resulted in the progress of reason and knowledge, in the preservation of the bonds of the community, by preventing disputes and promoting polite sociability, and in the general refinement of manners and affections that characterised polished nations. However, there were differences between women and men. Men’s path towards progress involved the development of proper degrees of sensibility through th e softening of their natural qualities. By contrast, for women, it involved an increasing concession to the display of their innate faculties. Alexander associated female progress with the value men bestowed upon their capacities and duties and ag reed with Millar when he said: 102 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 492-94. Prescription and Progress 276 ‘their condition is naturally impr oved by every circumstance which tends to create more attention to the pleasures of the sex, and to increase the value of those occupations that a re suited to the female character’ 103 . The Protection of Virtue: Women and the Dangers of Progress As we have seen, Alexander shared the belief of conjectural historians in the human capacity for advancement and in the superiority of European commerci al societies over past and contemporary nations. He denied Stuart’s longing for the past when he said that ‘such, among man y, is the partiality of admiring whatever is past, and despising wh atever is present, that every thing stamped with the rust of re mote antiquity must infallibly be good and virtuous and every thing of a modern date as unquestionably insignificant and vicious’ 104 . Even so, Alexander regarded current progress as unstable and susceptible to corruption when he wrote that ‘the improvement of society improves also the arts of fraud and dissimulation’ 105 . Alexander, therefore, shared the Scottish uneasiness about the preservation of public and private virtue in the face of increasing commercialisation. This anxiety was articulated by blending the language of civic humanism, with its emphasis on the public g ood and on the protection of the ties of the community, and the 103 Millar, The Origin of the Di stinction of Ranks , p. 2 03. 104 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 467-68. 105 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 314. Prescription and Progress 277 discourse of Stoicism, which foc used on the implications of the characteristics of market societies in the contro l of individual passions 106 . Material improvement and the intercourse between the sexes, the main civilising forces, had an inherent potentia l for corruption, which, if left unrestrained, could invalidate the progress achieved. Enrichment, like progress, should be earned gradually and through the ‘paths of justice’. Otherw ise it ‘introduced luxury and dissipation’, bringing with it ‘the arrogance of wealth, effeminacy of the manners, and love of pageantry and show’ 107 . The domestic and social affections were destroyed by the selfish pursuit of gain and even the common good was endangered, as the Eastern nations proved. Although the effects of luxury in contemporar y societies could not be equated with those in Eastern nati ons, some of its consequences could be already perceived. Alexander directed his criticisms mainly against the habits of the wealthier classes, their lavish amusements and love of fashionable extravagances. By contrast, he praised the middle class, the ‘most eligible of all human conditions’ 108 , although he lamented its growing imitation of these upper class follies. He warned against the decrease of marriages, as a consequence of the growth of self-interest, and against the use of the marital bond as a means of increasing family status. Regarding women, he lamented the popularity of useless 106 See Ignatieff, 'John M illar an d Individualism'. 107 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 69. 108 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 133. Prescription and Progress 284 self-control was directed to dissimulation and to the appearance of virtue instead of virtue itself. Alexander’s discussion of marriage indicated his conservative bias. Although marriage should be based on equality, women are bound tighter by the marital tie and, accordingly, women’s infidelity was regarded by Alexander a higher offence than men’s. He justified this moral difference resorting to female nature when he argued that ‘the fair sex are, in general, formed for love; and seem impelled by nature, to fix that passion on some particular object’ 121 . Alexander considered the moral double standard the logical consequence of the differences between the natures of the sexes. For the same reason, he prescribed different sources for the mutual influence of the spouses: ‘though men govern by law, women may almost always govern by the arts of gentleness and persuasion’ 122 . 121 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 100. 122 Alexander, History of Women , I , p. 505. Alexan der’s defen ce of the double standard was sh ared, for instance, by Ka mes: ‘Matrimony between a single pair, for mutual comfort, an d for procreating ch ildren, implies the strictest mutual fidelity. Adulter y however is a deepe r crim e in the wife, than in the husb and: in him it may happen occasionally, with littl e or no alienation of affection; but the superior mode sty of the female se x is such , that a wife does no t yield , till unlawful love prevails, not only over m o d e s t y , b u t a l s o o v e r d u t y t o h e r husband. Adulter y therefor e in the wife, is a breach of the ma trimonial engagement in a double respect: i t is an alienation of affection from the husband, which unqualifies her to be his friend and co mpanion; and it tends to bring a spurious issue into the family, betraying the husban d to maintain and educate childre n that are not his own’. Kames, 'Of th e Progress of th e Female Sex', p. 63-64. Prescription and Progress 285 The Blurring of the Public/Priva te Distinction in the History of Women The History of Women reflected the blurring of the distinctions of the public and the private in the Scottish En lightenment. As previously mentioned, Alexander deemed elements o ften considered to be of a private nature, sociability and love, as the foundation of public good and morality. He assigned to domestic marriage and the influence of women in society great relevance in the maintenance of public virtue an d political liberty. Altho ugh Alexander considered marriage as a private and affectionate arrangement between two people, he also emphasised its public nature. Marriage was a civil covenant, established alongside other institutions that provided the basis of civil society, which ‘stands exactly in the same light as all other transactions of a nature interesting to the public’ 123 . Marriage was the foundation of civil society because it ‘preserve[d] the peace of society and encourage[d] population’ 124 . Without marriage ‘the natural progress of multiplication would be retarded and anarchy and confusion would universally prevail among mankind’ 125 . However, not all types of marital arrangements could be considered the basis of civility. Only when the principles of domesticity were developed, did marriage become th e source of public benefits. In order to illustrate this, Alexander examined savage societies where moral corruption went hand in hand with a 123 Alexander, History of Women, II , pp. 321, 276. 124 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 270. 125 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 272. Prescription and Progress 286 lack of family stability and affections. By paying attention to the violent Middle Ages and to the frivolous manners of contemporary France, where marriage was devoid of affectionate friendship between the spouses, Alexander pointed out that monogamy alone was not enough to firmly support the morality and stability of civil society. The description of the morals and manners of Eastern nations is particularly useful for exploring the blurring of private and public distinctions in the History of Women . Alexander found the polygamy of Eastern societies illustrative of the ills that arose from the absence of domesticity. In these societies, women were bought and sold like animals and confined to the harems, where they were the slaves of a tyrannical husband: the women of Asia are, in general, onl y a kind of cyphers [sic], held up to be the sport of fortune; educat ed in a manner that tends only to debase their minds, by obliterating their virtues; depriv ed of personal liberty; sold, or given away in marriage, without a power of refusal; liable to be seized on as par t of the goods a nd chattels of their husbands, for their debts; t orn with jealousy and c hagrin, even their pleasures are j oyless, and in a few years their youth and beauty being over, their period of long and unsupportable neglect com mences. the women m ay there repine in secret, bu t they must clothe their featur es with cheerfulness w hen their lord appears; contumacy only draws down on them immediate punishment; they are de graded, chastised, divorced, shut up in dark dungeons; and even put t o death, according to the degree of their crime, or the indignati on they have ex cited: their friends may mur mur in secret at their fate; but there is Prescription and Progress 287 no redress in the laws of their country, nor does public justice take any cognizance of the af fairs of the Haram 126 . The harem was not only a negative metaphor of the lack of domesticity, it also meant the la ck of free intercourse between the sexes and of women’s influence on society. With out the beneficial effects of the latter, a proper refinement of the passions and social affections could not be attained and, consequently, public and private corruption prevailed. Regarding virtue, Alexander, following the orientalist tradition, traced two important parallelisms. On the one hand, male moral corruption reflected the corruption of female nature, spoiled by confinement, by lack of education and by their role as instruments of pleasure. On the other hand, the morality of the political body reflected the morals of the household. As in the Sco ttish Enlightenment and the civic humanist tradition, Alexander conceived the family circle as a s mall version of society which shared its features at a greater scale. This double correspondence was relevant to explain the despotic nature of Eastern political authority 127 . The tyrannical rule of the husband in the harem was ‘the same despotism in miniature, which prevails in the state; and has the same effect upon the passions, reducing them all under the dominion of fear’ 128 . Consequently the confinement of women entailed the political enslavement of men: ‘liberty and indepen dence, the most 126 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 291 and 288 . 127 On the eighteenth century usages of th e harem as a metaphor for political despotism, see Alain Grosrichard, Estructura del harén. La ficción del despotismo asiático en el Occidente clásico (Barcelona, 1979). 128 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 288. Prescription and Progress 288 inestimable blessings of mankind, are no where at so low an ebb, as in the countries where the women have no political influence and where the men keep almost no co mpany with them’ 129 . Paradoxically, the lack of female influence on society, together with the effects of luxury, produced effeminacy among men. Eastern effeminacy meant th e loss of all political liberties, which in the discourse of civic humanism were strongly associated with manliness. This also involved the loss of all traits that defined masculinity, namely temperance, courage and strength. In addition, political emasculation had a physical counterpart embodied in the figure of the eunuch 130 . Thus, in Alexander’s account of Eastern debauchery the public and the private were constantly negotiated and displaced. Marriage and women, traditionally associated with the private domain, were given political and public consequence. However, the insistence on the effeminacy of the East also reinforced the identification of women with the private realm, defined as non-political and dependent. Similar to the effeminate men of the East, women lacked self-command and determination, the moral qualities which defined manliness, moral soundness and citizenship. The Reconciliation between Progressivism and Conservatism Similarly, Alexander’s posit ion was balanced between conservatism and progressivism . He frequently coupled the rejection and the enforcement of normative notio ns of femininity, 129 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 499. 130 See, for instan ce, Al exander , History o f Women, II , p. 16. Prescription and Progress 289 as we have seen in the case of female educa tion, equality and morality. Unlike Millar and more like Kames 131 , Alexander advocated political and social eg alitarianism: ‘the time will soon come, when the interest of the pu blic will triumph over the pride of rank and opulence. By nature, a ll mankind are equal. The fiat of the crowned head creates an artificial distinction’ 132 . However, although Alexander might have challenged the political and social conservatism that characterised some of the authors of th e Scottish Enlightenment, the History of Women maintained th e gendered views of his Scottish cont emporaries, even if some of its passages reflected the growing struggle for women’s equality. In the book, female progress was not only identified with the workings of sensibility and sympathy and the subsequent refinement of manners. The true improvement of women also rested in the achievement of equal inheritance and private property, reflecting contemporar y claims for women’s economic independence. He criticised the condition of women in European societies arguing that ‘the external appearance of things is, however, but an unfaithful mirror, whose representation we cannot altogether depend on’ 133 . In spite of the pro gress achieved, polished societies were still unfavourable for women, as shown in this lengthy quote: in Europe, for the most part, [women are] but improperly or slightly educated; and at all times kept in a st ate of dependence, by t he restrictions of a severe legislation, 131 See Kames , 'Of the P rogress o f the F emale S ex', p. 16 an d p. 17. 132 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 384. 133 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 319. Prescription and Progress 290 which, in the man agement and disposal of what prop erty is allowed them, commonly cramps the freedom of their will. Dishonoured and disgraced beyond all possibility of redemption, by the commis sion of faults, which in the men are hardly con sidered as any thi ng but acts of gall antry; and even in the state of m atrimony , a state to which they natu rally aspire , more indissolubly bound th an t heir husbands; the law affords them no relief, unl ess the cruel partner to w hom they are tied, has attempted to tak e away their life ; and while he may riot with im punity in adu lterous amour s, if the wife retali ates, by c opying his ex ample, he i mmediately procures a divorce, a nd may turn her wi thout subsistence, to the scorn and co ntempt of her o wn sex, who, in such cases, seldom look wi th pity even on a repenting sinner. In all cases where honour is concerned, even the politest nations pay little r egard to the sex. Titles are seldom conferred on women, t hey convey no honours to their husbands, and their rank and conditi on reflect li ttle or no dishonour upon them 134 . Women’s education was defective and they seldo m received honours or titles. Alexander under lined women’s lack of economic independence and called for equal inheritance, divorce in fair economic conditions and, especially , for full rights to property. He remarked that ‘we find that it is only in a few of the p oliter countries of Europe that they ar e possessed of this privilege [full rights to property] and even in those with such restrictions that in many cases they can hardly enjoy what they posses’ 135 . Marriage was also the object of his attacks. He denounced the authority of the husband and the moral double standard that established different moral norms for women and men and punished female adultery with economic impoverishment and 134 See Alexan der, History of Women, I , pp. 319-20. 135 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 314. Prescription and Progress 291 social isolation. Law provided no relief for them 136 ; women wer e legally regarded as minors, sub sumed under the figure of the husband, and dispossessed of their properties, whose management belonged to the husband. He challeng ed the two spheres of action for women and men when he affirmed that in Britain we allow a wom an to sway our sceptre, but by law and custom we debar her from every other gov ernment but that of the f amily, as if ther e were not a public employmen t between that of superinten ding the kingdom and the affai rs of their own kitche n, which coul d be managed by the gen ius and capacity of women 137 . As this quotation underlines, Alexa nder’s claims and tone reflected the eighteenth century ferment demanding women’s rights and equality. Like its supporters, Alexander demanded the social and economical equality of women and denounced the contradictions of current discourses of femininity that emphasised the role of women while relegating them to a subordinate role. He emphasised men’s responsibility for current unfair dispositions regarding women (‘men have almost in all countries arrogated to themselves the power of making laws and of governing the women’ 138 ) and for the oppression of women in the past, ‘th ey [women] have at all periods, and almost in every countries, been, by our sex constantly oppressed and adored’ 139 . By emphasising the partiality of justice and civil arrangements such as propriety 136 See, principally , Alexander, History o f Women, I I , Appendi x. 137 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 505. 138 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 339. 139 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 150. Prescription and Progress 292 regulations, Alexander made it clear that the Sco ttish Enlightenment’s identification of women with natural virtue regulated by sympathy, excluded them from the artificial rights of economic and legal equality. As a result, women depended on the generosity of their families and husbands and, excluded from civil law, were subjected to the male biased rule of opinion. We have in Alexander many of the arguments th at, almost a decade later, were used by Mary Wollstonecraft in her Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). However, unlike Wollstonecraft, Alexander refused to articulate explicitly a demand for women’s equality. In spite of his grasp of the injustice of women’s cur rent situation, Alexander opted for the justification of contemporary notions of femininity and gender relations. Resorting again to the discourse of sensibility, Alexander concluded that even if ‘excluded from everything which can give them [women] consequence, they derive the greater part of their power which they enjoy, from their charms; and these, when joined to sensibility, often fully compensate, in this respect, for all the disadvantages they are laid by law and custom’ 140 . The structure of the book itself reinforced Alexander’s acceptance of women’s condition. His criticism of the contemporary female condition was mainly placed in the appen dix of the book and contradicted its general tone. For instance, his emphasis on economic independence was at odds with his belief that one of the principal features of the advancement of female condition consisted in relieving them from work and the 140 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 505. Prescription and Progress 293 establishment of a gendered divi sion of labour. He identified female progress with the growing of the propertied interest for women described by Moran, when he associated the coming of agriculture with the establishm ent of property and monogamous marriage 141 . The prescriptive nature of the book was stressed by Alexander himself who affirmed that his aim was ‘the improvement of their [women] understandings, and leading them by gentle arts to those paths of rectitu de and decorum, from which some of them have deviated’ 142 . Alexander’s criticisms had a minor position in the book, which was principally devoted to support for the superiority of the current stage of female progress and of European women over the women of the past and the present. He emphasised that current improvement was especially beneficial for women who, moreover, would be the most damaged by its corruption. Thus, he enforced in his readers the duties and no tions of femininity and morality upon which their advantageous situation rested, by warning them that, otherwise, they would run the risk of being reduced to the helpless situation of Eas tern women. 141 Moran, '"Th e Comm erce of the Sex es"'. 142 Alexander, History of Women, I , p. 463-64. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 300 human evolution could be measur ed and upon which knowledge of the human being could be based 6 . It is clear that the enlightened use of the expression ‘human nature’ did not constitute a complete breach with former discourses. Christian thought sustained a notion of human essence which was close to the first meaning we have examined. In addition, the second usage of nature carried undertones related to the biblical account of man’s fall from paradise. A sense of continuity with the past was, moreover, enabled by the ambiguity of the expression itself, which allowed writers from different beliefs to understand it in the sense they thought more appropriate and to feel comfortable within the debate. Thus, due to the vagueness of the term, the discussion on human nature accommodated different interpretations, ranging from metaphysical and religious approaches, such as Leibniz’s, to materialistic and commonsensical beliefs, such as the Scottish Enlightenment’s. Instead of giving way to a myriad of discourses, differences of opinion fostered a discussion which was, besides, framed within a shared conceptual and linguistic framework 7 . In this way, the study of human nature attracted little opposition, allowing discourses to change slowly without provoking too great a sense of intellectual disruption. Yet, th e enlightened enterprise of studyi ng human natu re as the main subject of its science of man involved a reorganization of former views about the nature of man in a way which clearly belongs to 6 Sm ith, 'The Lan gua ge o f Human Nature', pp. 96-97. 7 Sm ith, 'The Lan gua ge of Human Nature'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 301 modernity. In the eighteenth century the expression human nature became a ‘self-evident basis on which to f ound moralistic arguments – whether of a Chr istian or a secular variety’ 8 . It was an a priori category, which provided the ground for the study of human physical and social operations and to understand their diversity. Following the path of the scienti fic analysts, enlightened thinkers modelled their notions of human nature on the physical nature revealed by Newtonian physics. Enlightened authors, s uch as Hume, believed that this notion had a content that could be derived from observation of human life and explained by laws of universal quality. Facts provided the observational material upon which they sought to ela borate universal laws applicable to all the realms of human experience. Like their scientific counterparts, eighteenth century theorists erased God from their accounts. The divinity remained the ultimate reference, as the maker of the world and final validation of moral arguments. However, once stated this meagre role, God’s intervention did not provide the gi st of the explanation anymore. Having set nature into motion, the human and natural world worked according to their own laws, for whose analysis littl e reference to God was necessary. Instead of being the main agent, God seemed to be conceived as the major observer of the workings of its creation. Nevertheless, putting aside the medi eval God-centred model of the univer se and history did not imply a complete rejection of the divinity or atheism, as proved by the 8 Sm ith, 'The Lan gua ge o f Human Na ture', p. 100. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 302 work of the Scottish philosophers, many of whom were devoted members of the Church of Scotland. It was rather believed that, as in natural philosophy, a separation between the realms of Providence and human history was necessary in order to delimitate a secular sphere in which scientific research about mankind could be properly done. The study of God’s qualities and operations was not neglected but left for the theologians to explore 9 . A more materialistic frame of thought went together with what has been called a ‘spiritualization of humanity’. The medieval soul/body dualism was redefine d in new terms which still maintained man’s uniqueness among the creatures of the creation. Most eighteenth century writers believed in dualism and divided man into external matter – body – and soul, the immaterial element which singled out humanity from the natural kingdom. However, there was a shi ft of focus from the metaphysical enquiry about the soul towards the realm of morality. In addition, eighteenth century theorists preferred to concentrate on rea son, the other proof of man’s superiority and joint gift from God to humanity. Reason assumed the role which soul had in the medieval tradition. Taking humanity’s immort ality of the soul as a matter of course, the enlightened concentrated on explaining human rationality and its function in the realm of morality. 9 Robert Wokler, 'Anthropology and Conject ural History in th e Enlightenment', in Christopher Fox, Roy Porter and Robert Wokler (eds.), Inventing Human Science. Eighteenth Century Domains (Berkel ey & Los Angele s, 1995), pp. 31-52, pp. 32-33 and David Carrithers, 'The Enlig htenment Science of Society', in Christopher Fox, Roy Po rter and Robert Wokler (eds.), Inventing Human Sci ence. Eighteenth Century Domains (Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1995), pp. 232-270, pp. 2 36- 8. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 303 Besides, eighteenth century theorists sought to explain human singularity on account of man’s reasoning powers. Due to reason and unlike other animals, the human being had changed and improved its nature and constructed a realm of morality so that its actions had an ethical value. Hence the interest on the operations of the human mind, such as Locke’s, and the dismissal of man’s fundamental likeness with apes, such as Buffon’s, in a time when physical similarities with the prim ates were brought to light thanks to the discovery of new specimens 10 . Man came to be understood as the artificer of his own nature and the author of his world. Human nature was s haped according to man’s designs. It could not be simply explained as a mere resemblance to the creator; it was rather the result of man’s workings. Moreover, the histor y of civilisation was also conceptualised as the r esult of human agency and not as the fulfilment of a divine plan or intervention. As Robert Wokler remarked, ‘in a disanctified world, our nature came increasingly to be understood as manufactured by mankind itself, with the history of civilisation standing to human nature as the creation stands to God’ 11 . For the natural historian of man, history constituted the laboratory of his science of humank ind. History provided the facts which allowed the theorists to disentangle human nature and delve into its characteristics, for it showed the passage of humanity from barbarism to civilisation or, as it has been termed by Robert 10 See Carrithers, 'Enlightenment Science of Society' and Wokl er, 'Anthropology and Conjectural History'. 11 Wokler, 'Anthr opology an d C onjectural History'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 304 Wokler, from the ‘physical man’ to the ‘moral man’. History illustrated how human nature, in its sense of essence and potentiality, had developed to the fulfilment of its possibilities by polishing the passions and refining its faculties. The enlightened sought to trace this evolution leaving aside any metaphysi cal pattern of explanation. Humankind’ s path from the dominatio n of the passions to the rule of reason should be accounted for by relying on human factors; that is, by examining how human nature had been transformed as a result of the interaction both with its fellow beings and with the physical environment 12 . A more secularist point of view was not the only legacy inherited from the scientific revo lution. Along with its intellectual framework, the eighteenth century science of man adopted ma ny of its methodological tenets. Enlig htened writers revolted against the purely deductive approach of Cartesian and Hobbesian thought and transplanted natural philosophy’s emphasis on experimentation and observation to the study of the human being and his workings. As Hume wrote in his Treatise of Human Nature , ‘observation and experience form th e basis for moral, political and physical subjects’ 13 . Eighteenth century scholars were convinced that the study of mankind was little different from the study of objects in nature and that observing individuals in soci ety required an approach no different from that which Newton had employed in analysing nature. Their ultimate aim was to discover in human behaviour the 12 Wokler, 'Anthr opology an d C onjectural History'. 13 Quoted in Carrithers, 'Enlightenment Science of Society', p . 239. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 305 same degree of order and lawfulne ss which had been revealed in the physical world, in order that human actions could be explained by systematic and holisti c causes. Accordingly, they did not apply themselves to the particular explanation of isolated problems, whose account could not provide an explanatory pattern of human behaviour or unravel the myster ies of human nature. They were concerned with the historical long-term and with structural processes. Due to their belief in the basic similarity of human nature throughout time and space, enlightened scholars concentrated on the study of man in society, l ooking for raw material for their ‘experiments’ both in historical records and in travellers’ accounts. As Hume argued, ‘mankind are so much the same in all times and places that history informs us of nothing new or strange in this particular. Its chief use is only to discover the constant and universal principles of human nature’ 14 . The term ‘experiment’ was recognised as one not strictly applicable to this science of man. However, the enlightened stuck to this notion as a way of pointing out that they too could use the methods of deduction and induction to establish their theories. While the sameness of human nature provided the ground for inductive conclusions about man, the recollection of facts from the past and from contemporary soci eti es, enabled them to deduce hypothesis about the human being. As Hume remarked, ‘wars, intrigues, factions and revolutions [are] so many collections of experiments by which the politicia n or moral philosopher fixes the 14 Q u o t e d i n A n d r e w S . S k i n n e r , ' N a t u r al History in the Age of Adam Smith', Political Studies , 15, (1967), p. 35. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 306 principles of his science, in the same manner as the physician or natural philosopher becomes acquainted with the nature of plants, minerals and other external objects’ 15 . Having briefly introduced the enlightened concern with human nature and the influential role played by the progress of natural philosophy in the eighteenth century quest for a science of man, we will concentrate now on how both developments helped to shape Scottish conjectural hi story and ultimately Alexander’s History of Women . First, we will turn to the origins and sources of conjectural history, considered as the Scottish Enlightenment’s project of a natural history of ma n. Secondly, we will examine the ways in which scientific approaches and methods were transl ated into the conjectural enquiry. Finally, we will look at Alexander’s History of Women in detail, in order to show how, due to the author’s methods and basic assumptions, the book can be considered an attempt to write a ‘natur al history of women’ 16 . O RIGIN AND S OURCES OF THE E IGHTEENTH C ENTURY S COTTISH S CIENCE OF M AN The scientific revolution and its success should certainly be considered an important inspiration to the work for the Scottish enlightened community. Its intellectual breakthroughs and th e practical nature of its achievemen ts attracted the interest of the 15 Quoted in Carrithers, 'Enlightenment Science of Society', p . 241. 16 Sylvana Tomaselli, 'Reflections on th e History of the Sci ence of Woman', History of Science , 29, (1991), pp . 185-205. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 307 Scottish literati, keen as they were on uniting academic purs uits with social advancement and reform. However, other influences helped to shape the conj ectural project, for the scientific principles of rationality, objectivity and empiricism had to be translated to the realm of human nature. The wo rks of previous authors, such as Bacon, Hobbes and Locke already contained appeals to a holistic science of man. The taxonomical studies of Buffon and Linnaeus helped to relate the analysis of the natural world to the enquiry into the human being. Travel literature provided an apparently endless array of factu al material to work with. And above all, there was a favourable ferment alread y present in the Scottish cultivated society: scie ntific literature and developments were followed and encouraged while medicine assumed a significant role due to the success and prestige of this discipline at the Scottish universities. Early Modern Forerunners of Natural History: Bacon, Hobbes and Locke Its is difficult to trace the genealogy of the expression ‘human nature’ since it did not gain wide currency until the eighteenth century when Hume identified human nature as the subject of the ‘science of man’. Thus, it is not clear whether enlightened references to human nature were indebted to the adoption of th e method and vocabulary of natura l philosophy or whether it had multiple roots. The eighteenth century concern about man can be traced as far as the philosophy of Roger Bacon, who advocated the classification and description of human character types as part of what he called ‘the culture of th e mind’ and called for histories of Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 308 the human senses, the passions and the faculti es of the mind. Scottish scholars were well aware of Bacon’s defence of an empiric and comparative method which d ealt with body and mind and their interconnections 17 . Following Bacon, Hobbes’s moral philosophy was indebted to mathematics and natural philosophy, as proved by his emphasis on materialism and empiricism. Like Bacon, Hobbes argued for a science of man which, divided into natural history and civil history, was concerned with the workings of human nature such as the senses, the passions and the speech. This science of man, besides, should not address the experiences of particular individuals but rather deal with the whole of mankind. This idea would become one of the basic tenets of the enlightened enquiry about man 18 . The following link between the early modern intellectual tradition and the enlightened science of man can be found in Locke’s philosophy, whose theories on educati on and politics inspired many of the writers of the Scottish Enlightenment. Like Hobbes, Locke thought that there was a human nature which could be identified and explored. He showed great interest in tracing the progressive evolution of the passions and faculties of mind, and emphasised the importance of using a comparative method in moral philosophy. Thus, in order to determine human mental development, he contrasted human beings with animals. 17 Smith, 'Th e Language of H uman Nat u r e ' , p . 9 4 , P a u l W o o d , ' T h e N a t u r a l History of Man in the Sc ottish Enlightenment', History of Science , 27, (1989), pp. 89-123 and Paul Wood, 'The Scien ce of Man', in N. Jardin e, J. A. Seco rd and E. C. Spary (eds.), Cultures of Natural History (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 197-210, pp. 197-98. 18 Sm ith, 'The Lan gua ge of Human Nature'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 309 Rejecting the Cartesian view that beasts were mere machines, Locke championed systematic co mparisons between evidence drawn from the animal kingdom and the operations of the human mind. Locke advocated a history of the human mind by usin g evidence from past societies and from travellers’ accounts. In so doing, he opened new perspective s on the relevance of history, anthropology and the comparative study of languages to a science of man. Finally, Locke bridged the gulf between moral philosophy and the nascent Newtoni an natural philosophy, for he integrated the latter’s conceptualisation of nature in his theory of knowledge, as the external world to which human senses responded 19 . Linnaeus and Buffon: Man and the Animal Kingdom Eighteenth century progress in scientific disciplines such as taxonomy and anatomy were received with interest by the enlightened scholars concerned with the study of the human being and his social formations. These scientific branches inserted man straightforwardly within the ki ngdom of nature, and compared man’s external features with animal physical appearance, in or der to establish an organization of world creatures. In addition, these disciplines singled out significant varieties within humankind, seeking to arrange them in an intelligible order, according to differences of complexion and behaviour. 19 See Wood, 'Natural Hist ory of Man', Wood, 'The Science of Man', pp. 203-03 and Smith, 'Th e Lan guage of H uman Na ture', pp. 94-95. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 316 is weak and small in the organs of ge neration; he has neither beard, nor attraction fo r the female... he is also less sensitive and more fearful... he has nei ther vivacity, nor activity in his soul... he wil l rest stupidly in repose on his haunches or sleep for the en tire day 28 . The Americans were, therefore, a degenerated race, defeated by the corrosive side of the forces of nature. Eventually and in spite of the hints of polygenism that opposed Linnaeus account to Buffon’s, both authors reached similar conclusions. Even if all humankind shared the same nature, it was clear that a scale of perfection could be established among its varieties and that the ‘great chain of being’ that linked human beings with their animal inferiors could be translated to the arrangement of the human species itself. Environmentalism and Eigh teenth Century Medicine Eighteenth century medicine also proved to be highly influential in the development of a natural history of man and society. Current historiographical research offers different interpretations regarding the advancement of medicine during this period. Some authors tend to view eighteenth century medicine as a scientific backwater, unable to attain the same level of prestige and innovation as other sciences, such as chemistry or physics. They thus have argued for the abs ence of a ‘medical revolution’ until the nineteenth century. Medicine, indeed, offered eighteenth century practitioners a scant d egree of stability or respect. There were striking differences between those physicians striving for a 28 Quoted in Sloa n, 'The Gaze of Natural History', p. 136. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 317 living in countryside areas and those operating in the cities and fast-growing towns. The rural doctors, more often than not, had to contend with more traditional forms of medicine, dominated by custom and women, and had therefore to compete hard for patients and for the def erence which, as university trained and aspiring middle class professionals, they sought. In the urban areas, physicians relied on a more secure clientele among the well-to-do growing middle classes and the aristocracy. Even so, they depended on the status o f their clients to prosper and assert their claims to professionalism. Besides, the threat of being associated with the female sphere persisted, as proved by the heated debates regarding man-midwifery during th e eighteenth century. Overall, medicine was a profession regularly associated with quackery, servility to the patient’s whimsicalities and unmerited profits rather than with scientific and stable knowledge. Even at its best, it offered its practitioners an unstable identity which had to be constantly upheld. However, as Ludmilla Jordanova has pointed out, the lack of a fixed and respected status was s omething which physicians shared with scientific pr actitioners of any kind until well into the nineteenth century 29 . 29 See Roy Porte r, 'Medical S cience and H uman Science in th e Enlightenment', in Christopher Fox, Roy Porter and Robert Wokler (eds.), Inventing Human Science. Eighteenth Century Domains (Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1 995), pp. 53-87 and Ludmilla Jordanova, Nature Displayed. Gender, Science and Medicine, 1760-1820 (London & New York , 1999). On eighteen th century debates regarding male midwifery, see Lu dmilla Jordanova, Sexual V isions. Images of Gender in Science and Medicine between the Eighteen th an d Twentieth Cen turies (Ma dison, Wisconsin , 1989), Jordanova, Nature Displayed , Randolph Trumbach, The Rise of the Egalitarian Family (New York, 1978) and Londa Schiebin ger, The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science (Cambri dge, Mass., 1989). Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 318 Other authors, such as Peter Gay, have emphasised the transformations which medicine un derwent during the eighteenth century. These changes turned the discipline into a philosophical science by lessening the weight of tradition and metaphysics, and by opening new lines of work rela ted to experimentation, anatomy and clinical study. According to this view, it is adequate to talk about a ‘medical revolution’ in this period; a revolution which besides shared many characteristics with the progress of the Enlightenment and, in turn, enhanced the enlightened sense of confidence 30 . Medicine assumed eagerly the tenets of the Newtonian discourse. The realm of the marvellous and the mysterious was reduced to intelligibility through the collection of facts and their arrangement in tables, formulae, equations and ratios, which additionally allowed the formulation of general trends. At the same time, the emphasis on natural cause s and general laws resulted on a more secular study of the body an d its illnesses which was coupled with a belief on the capacity of medicine to predict and thus prevent sickness. The mathematical thrust was also felt in the effort to record biomedical regularities. The compilation of vital statistics, such as the elaboration of life tables, the calculation of life expectancies and the investigation of periodicities in epidemic outbreaks, was an important trend within eighteenth century medicine which in addition heigh tened the importance of medicine in the management of the social order and national affairs. Classification initiatives, similar as those undertaken by the 30 Porter, 'Medical Sc ience and Human Scie nce'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 319 students of the natural world, flourished during the period. Organised catalogues of diseases were established, in which illnesses were conceptualised as objective and quantifiable entities which could thus be identifiable and treated with success. This move towards classification had clear pedagogic ends, since it facilitated the training of students which flooded many universities, as in the Scottish case. Universi ties were keen to adopt the latest scientific trends and to include in their curricula subjects on anatomy and dissection 31 . Due to their unstable status, physicians resorted to th e celebration of their skills using imag es and discourses akin to those employed by the enlightened philosophers. The task of medicine was dramatised as the struggle of reason against superstition, of open-mindedness against dogmatism and of experience against deferential reliance on authority. The evolution of medicine was often depicted as a path running from obscurity towards scientific prowess and accuracy in much the same way as the na tural historian’s portray of human progress from savagery towards civilisation. Similarly, the ultima te aim of medicine was described as part of the general human que st for progress and happiness by representing ‘the improvement of health as es sential to human emancipation – from fear, from want, from suffering’ 32 . 31 Porter, ' Medical Science and Human Science'. On the evolution of the teaching of medicine at the Scottish universities, se e Anand C. Chitnis, The Scottish Enlightenment: A Soci al History (Totowa, New Jersey, 1976) and Christopher Lawrence, 'The Nervous Sy stem and Society in the Scottish Enlightenment', in Barry Barnes an d Steven Shapin (e ds.), Natural Order. Historical Studies of Scientific Culture (Beverly Hills & London, 1979), pp. 19-40. 32 Porter, 'Medical Sc ience and Human Scie nce', p. 56. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 320 The enlightened, in turn, used the image of the physician to describe their task. The metaphor of the enlightened philosopher portrayed as a doctor diagnosin g the ills of society became increasingly common as the century went by. This kind of images bears witness to the close relationshi p which existed between the realms of the natural history of society and medicine. Many enlightened writers, like William Al exander, were physicians or had a solid background in anatomy and physiology which they used to understand racial and sexual difference. Convinced that a rigorous study of man should comprise not only his moral side but also his physicality, eighteenth century theorists turned to medicine for expert advice on human nature. Natural historians resorted to medical tracts to comprehend the workings, both of body an d mind, of the human being and reflected in their writings the main trends of medical thinking during the eighteenth century: mechanicism and environmentalism. Following the stark division between body and mind established by Cartesian philosophy, in the first part of the eighteenth century the human body came to be understood as a self-contained mechanism composed of a series of parts which, in health, worked harmoniously as a well-geared clock. However, as Descartes’s dualism fell out of fashion within the field of natural history, mechanicism was replaced by an environmentalist approach which proved to be deeply influential for the natural historians of man. Environmentalist medicine focused on the nervous system and structured the human being as a continuum of body and mind in which psychological traits were as relevant as corporal factors in order to pur sue health. Physical afflictions Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 321 could be rooted in disorderly mental states just as physical causes could endanger psychological well-being. Eighteenth century concerns about melancholy offer a clear example of the environmentalist point of view. Melancholy was deemed a psychological condition which enda ngered the normal functions of the individual, provoking languor and feebleness of body. At the same time, melancholy, although primarily rooted in the psyche, was thought to be provoked by physical causes such as lack of exercise 33 . The main attractive of environmental medicine for the scholar devoted to the study of society was its capacity to integrate the social within the analysis of health. The delicate equilibrium between body and mind was particular ly sensitive to the effects of its environment, an ill-defined concept which comprised a clus ter of variables that acted upon the organism and determined the mental and physiological character of the individual. Some of these variables, such as climate, were immutable and natural whilst others such as diet, housing, work or family life, belonged to the realm of society and culture. Life-style, habit and custom were thought to be powerful factors affecting sickness and health and thus, a firmly regulated bodily eco nomy was deemed essential to well-being 34 . The environmental approach could be used by medical practitioners as a source of respect, by claiming a leading role as 33 See Jordanov a, Sexu al Vision s and Porter, 'Medical Science and Human Science'. 34 See Jordanov a, Sexu al Vision s and Porter, 'Medical Science and Human Science'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 322 monitors in this interplay of medicine, sickness and society. By contrast, when environmentalism was blended wi th stoicism, the role of the physician was minimise d and replaced by an individual, self-imposed management of th e self. However, environmentalism certainly established bridges between medicine and the stu dy of society by placing disease and pathology within history and the dynamics of culture. Being a physician, Alexander us ed the principles of environmentalism in his History of Women , particularly to a ccount for the marked gender differences observed in polished countries. Having remarked that the sexes possessed a different although complementary nature, Alexander argued that the distinctio n between the sexes was particularly deep in current European societies due to the flaws of wome n’s education and their mode of living. Women had become unna turally weak and delicate in commercial societies ‘but these qua lities are only the result of art, otherwise they would uniformly mark the sex, however circumstanced; but as this is not the case, we may a ttribute them to a sedentary life, a low abstemious diet, and exclusion from the fresh air’. These factors were ‘productive of that laxity of the female fibres and sensibility of nerves’ which characterised especially women of the upper levels of society whose education and occupations strengthened the influence of these factors. Therefore, Alexander was apt to concl ude that nature, in forming the bodies and minds of both sexes, ‘has been nearly alike liberal to each; and that any apparent difference on the exertions of the Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 323 strength of the one, or the reasoning of the other, are much more the work of art than of nature’ 35 . Science and Improvement: Th e Institutionalisation of Natural History in Scotland Natural history had reached by the eighteenth century widespread popularity among Scottish intellectual circles. The Scots were avid readers of Buffon’ s and other natural historical texts and shared the current fasc ination with botany, zoology and mineralogy. At the same time, the main trends of European natural history were firmly grounded within Scottish polite and cultured life; they were discussed in the fast -growing intellectual societies and associations, and institutionalised at the Scottish universities as a substantial part of the curriculum. As the Critical Review remarked in 1763, ‘natural history is now, by a kind of national establishment, become the favourite study of the ti mes’ 36 . The introduction of natural history and modern science in Scottish intellectual circles dates back to the seventeenth century. From the 1680s to the 1710s, a re markable part of the Scottish intelligentsia coupled their improving and antiquarian interests with natural historical pursuits. Am ong this group, the work of Sir Robert Sibbald and Dr Archibald Pitcairne should be noted. The former contributed to institutionalise in Scotland the criti cal methods and the empirical secular outlook which were typical of 35 William Alexander, (1782 ed.) The History of Women. From the Earliest Antiquity to the Present Tim e (Bristol, 1995), Vol. 2, pp . 57-58. 36 Quoted in Wo od, 'Natural History of Man', p. 89. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 324 the Enlightenment. Particularly, he played a leading role in the schemes for the establishment of a Scottish national acad emy, aimed at channelling scientific, antiquarian and improving concerns and modelled upon the example of the Royal Society of London and its French and Italian counterparts. Dr. Archibald Pitcairne, on his part, was a keen devotee of the philosophy of Newton, with whom he exchange d correspondence, and toiled to introduce modern science in the Scottish universities 37 . The institutionalisation of natu ral knowledge in Scotland was well under way by the 1680s. In sp ite of the work of individuals such as those mentioned above, the diffusion of the latest scientific achievements within Scotlan d was, on the whole, part of a collective endeavour. The quest for scientifism was part of the Scottish response to self-perceptions of backward ness and imbued, at the same time, with a strong pride in being Scottish. The intellectual community, supported by the entrepreneurial classes and landed gentry, was determined to catch up with the modern standards of life and knowledge found elsewhere, of which scientific progress was considered to be an important part. Science was seen as a powerful means of renovating Scottish economy and thought to provide a better und erstanding of Scottish resources and how they might be used for the common good. At the sa me time, the optimism for the future associated with science endowed 37 Roger L. E merson, 'S cienc e and the O rigins and Con cerns of the Scottish Enlightenment', History of Science , 26, (1988), pp . 333-365, pp. 338-40. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 325 these improving initiatives with a s ense of confidence in the possibility of change 38 . Social and intellectual factors accounted for the earl y transmission of scientific principles in Scotland; they were not only the cutting edge of European intellectual progress but also, most importantly, they addressed current Scottish feelings and needs, thus appealing to wide sections of the Scottish society. As a consequence, different institutions and groups played a role in the institutionalisation of science at the Scottish universities and in its diffusion within the intellectual community. Medical and legal associations stressed the utility of scientific pursuits and demanded adequate equipment for the universities. Intellectual clubs promoted the fascination with the achievements of natural philosophy, a fascination that also permeated the Scottish Parliament, the universities and the political elite. Most importantly, at the top echelons of the political elite, among the political managers who dominated Scottish affairs, were individuals concerned and even personally involved with science. James Drummond, Sir James Ogilvie and John Erskine, in the first part 38 See Emerson, 'Scien ce and th e Origins of the Scottish Enlightenment', p. 346- 7. On the mentality of improvement in seventeenth and eighteenth century Scotland, see Bernard Bailyn an d Philip D. Morgan (eds.), Strangers withi n the Realm. Cultural Margins of the First British Empire (Chap el Hill & London, 1991), Chitnis, Scottish Enlightenment , Colin Kidd, 'North Britis hness and the Nature of Eighteenth Ce ntury British Patriotis ms', The Historical Journal , 39, (1996), pp. 361-382, N. T. Phillipson, 'Tow ards a Definition of the Scottish Enlightenment', in David Williams Paul Fritz (ed.), City and Society in the Eighteen th Century (Toronto, 1973), pp. 125-147, N. T. Phillipso n, 'Scottish Public Opinion and the Union in the Age of the Association', i n N. T. Phillipson and Rosalind Mitchison (eds.), Scotland in the Age of Improvement (Edinburgh, 1970) and Richard L. Sher, Church and University in the Scottish Enlig htenment (Edinb urgh, 1985) among others. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 332 In addition, popular imagination was captivated through visual means. Travel accounts were often accompanied by illustrations of tropical scenery and exotic peoples which strengthened their appeal among the public. Besides, pictorial descriptions increased the quality of the information that reached Europe, especially towards the end of the century when artists were commonly found as part of the crew of the expeditions of discovery. In spite of this, there were also illustrators who based their work on written information and whose depictions were misleading and inaccurate 45 . Voyages of discovery were expected to gather objects of different sorts whose interest lay in their status as ‘curiosities’ or ‘rarities’ rather than in their aesthetical or commercial value. Once in the metropolis, this material was arranged in collections and either kept in private hands or publicly displayed in the recently created museums such as the British Museum in London. These objects had often a clear ethnographi c value and provided scholar s and the general public with the material context of the cultures they were studying or reading a bout. Yet, these collections were seldom subjected to serious study or research; they were generally considered an enjoyable spectacle and not valuable ma terial suitable for scientific purposes. Hoaxes also abounded. In mid- century, specimens of mermaids were not difficult to find in Culture', in Lawren ce Stone (ed.), An Imperial State at War. Britain from 1689 to 1815 (London & New York, 1 994), pp. 128-164. 45 Marshall and Williams, The Great Map of Mankind , chapter 2. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 333 Britain. These alleged ‘mermaids’ were just a compound of the upper part of a monkey’s body and the lower part of a fish 46 . The field of ‘exotic curiosities’ was not limited to materi al things. Human beings were exhibited as part of the bounty of the voyages of discovery. Once in Europe they could be shown different degrees of respect. Some of them were displayed alongside rarities and monstros ities, and toured around the country, facing eventually a tr agic fate. Others became the sensation of polite circles and roya l courts. This was the case of Omai and Ahutoru who, brought from the Pacific by Cap tain Fourneaux and Bougainville respectively, were largely commented on as the perfect embodi ment of the ‘noble savage’ 47 . Artefacts of ancient Asian ci vilisations were increasingly popular during the eighteenth century. They were given aesthetic value and considered the remaining witnesses to the primeval and even biblical ages of man; accordingly, they were not regarded merely as curios but avidly collected as prized works of art. Egyptian antiquities were the mo st appreciated both by private collectors and by museu ms, to a point that Egyp tian patterns and images became fashionable as architectural motifs. Hindu 46 See Marshall and Williams, The Great Map of Mankind a n d G . S . R o u s s e a u a n d Roy Porter, 'Introduction: A pproaching Enlightenment Exoticism', in G. S. Rousseau and Roy Porter (eds.), Exoticism in the Enlightenment (Manchest er & New York, 1990). 47 See J. C. Beaglehole, 'Eighteenth Cen tury Scienc e and the Voyage s of Discovery' , New Zealand Journal of History , 3, (1969), pp. 107 -123 and Rousseau and Porter, 'Introduction: A pproaching En lightenment Exotic ism' in G. S. Rousseau and Roy Porter (eds.), Exoticism in the En lightenment (Manches ter & New York, 1990). Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 334 sculpture aroused serious interest, although few pieces had reached Britain by the end of the eighteenth century 48 . As a result of the progresses made by the voyages of discovery and the popularity and availa bility of travel literature, the range of information available for eighteenth century European scholars was considerably enlarged. T he world known to the West had certainly expanded as progresses were made in the Pacific, North America, West Africa, China and Tibet. It was felt that th e whole of mankind was displayed for the Europeans to know. In addition, the wealth of knowledge about faraway lands and societies was richer and more objective. While in the sixteenth century and partly in the seventeenth century, enq uiries about non- European societies were mainly reports concerning Spanish America and depended primarily on Spanish materials, in the eighteenth century French, Dutch and British sources filled the scholars’ cabinets. Indigenous sources became gradually available thanks to the translations of Chinese, Hindu and Islamic texts which followed the development of linguistics and the birth of Orientalism 49 . The very nature of this kind of literature had also changed, moving away from the mere collection of anecdotes towards an effort to portray distant societies and cus toms in a rigorous, systematic and meaningful way. The seventeenth century had 48 See Roussea u and Po rter, 'Introdu ction: Approaching Enlightenment Exoticism' in Rousseau an d Porter (eds.), Exoticism and Marshall and Williams, The Great Map of Mankind , chapter 2. 49 See Marshall and Williams, The Great Map of Mankind , Pag den, European Encounters and Edw ard W. S aid, Orientalismo (Madrid, 1990). Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 335 already witnessed this change in orientation, mainly in the French area, where Jesuit missionaries produced detailed accounts imbued with a spirit of objectivity and ev en certain hints of cultural relativism. Besides, from the se venteenth century onwards, those interested in the world outside Europe did not ha ve to turn solely to missionaries’ and travellers’ re ports. It became increasingly common to present these accounts, both current and past, edited for the public by armchair schol ars who would pu rge them of the marvellous and uncanny. At the sam e time, they strived to give coherence to materials incongruent and fragmentary, and to replace religious zeal and narrow-mindedness by impartiality and a learned perspective 50 . Cartography had developed from the seventeenth century into a form more suitable to the interests of the natural historian. Even if it was a field concerned mainly with the task of expanding the knowledge of physical geography, a mixture of physical and human geography was becoming gradually more common by the turn of the century. An example of this change of focus can be found in the work of John Reinhold Forste r, who in his Observations made during a Voyage round the World combined botanical, zoological, geological and geographical information with materials of an ethnographic kind on the social, domestic and racial characteristics of the territories he visited 51 . 50 See Marshall and Williams, The Great Map of Mankind and Pagden, Europ ean Encounters . 51 See Nichola s Thomas, H arriet Gu est and Mi chael Dett elbach (eds.), Observations made during a Voyag e round the World (Honolulu, 1996). Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 336 Although the acquisition and interpretation of knowledge about the world had become a major intellectual concern o f educated Englishmen, yet Britain, as compared to France, lacked the central direction and organisati on provided by the apparatu s of royal patronage and state-sponsored academies of the latter country. In spite of the role played by the Royal Society, which considered knowledge of the world and its peoples a branch of science worth promoting, eighteenth century British travel literature owed less to institutional encouragement than to private initiatives with commercial profits in mind. Commercial ventures and interests were connected to travel literature, whose popularity was thus related to the mercantile and colonial ambitions of the European powers. Commercial bonanza and constant warfare linked to overseas strategic objectives heightened awareness of far away regions among the British public and ruling classes. North America, India and the Ottoman empire figured prominently in British foreign policy and diplomatic agenda. Colonial produce was increasingly available as affordable commodities for the middle classes and even the lower strata of society. People of all social conditions followed the fortunes of the British military and mercantile fleets through an expanding printing culture which also canvassed expansionist policies and the cult of commerce for the eager British public. As we have seen , the press, the novel and the theatre served as vehicles for th e exoticism of the outside world to reach wide sections of the population while contributing to the important role that empire Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 337 and commerce played on the formation of national identities and political sensibilities 52 . European governments encouraged voyages o f discovery driven primarily by their interest in trade. Even the projects more concerned with scientific pursuits devoted much of their time to collect useful information about trad ing itineraries, and to locate ports of call for ships on long co mmercial routes. The quest for a northern passage around America an d Asia was frequently one of the main objectives of such ventures. Even missionary reports showed this preoccupation with commercial advantage and national interest. Thus, for instan ce, Charlevoix’s account of North American French colonies and their indigenous inhabitants was regularly driven by these concerns , pointing out how to best take advantage of the existing resour ces or ways of maximising the profits which the colonies rendered to the metropolis 53 . Nevertheless, being also the product of the scientific ferment, eighteenth century voyages of di scovery were aimed at enlarging Europe’s knowledge of the world, hence providing the Enlightenment’s intellectual endeavours with a much valued material due to its accurateness an d scientific quality. Voyages of discovery were influential not only in the development of the natural history of man but also in the advancement of a wide range of scientific disciplines. Just as enlightened philosophers were obliged to men like Cook for the wealth of information which his voyages supplied regarding Pacific cultures, astronomers, biologists 52 See chapter 2 of this PhD thesis. 53 See Marshall and Williams, The Grea t Map of Mankind , chapter 2 and Beaglehole, 'Eight eenth Century Science', p. 114. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 338 and geographers were equally in debted to Cook, La Condamine and Maupertius for the observations collected during their sails. During these voyages, Newtonian theories about th e shape and the dimensions of the earth were confirmed by French scientists, unknown botanical and zoological specimens were carried to Europe for the biologists’ delight, and large collections of insects, eggshells and seashells were stored by individuals and museums. Voyages of discovery depended, in turn, on the progress of the sciences for, without the technological improvements in naval devices and tools of astronomic positioning, few of them would have been able to accomplish such distant routes and complicated journeys 54 . C ONJECTURAL H ISTORY : T HE S CIENCE OF M AN IN THE S CO TTISH E NLIGHTENMENT Eighteenth century Scottish history was deepl y indebted to the Enlightenment’s quest for a natural science of man to the point that its favoured mode of historical writing, conjectural history, has often been deemed one of the finest examples of the natural history of man in society. Accordingly, the method of the natural historians and their concerns about human nature were prominent in Alexander’s book. The writing of conjectural history in eighteenth century Scotland could not be fully un derstood without taking into account the influence of the scientific revolution. The Scottish 54 See Beaglehole, 'Eigh t eenth Century Science'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 339 authors admired the natural sciences for their accuracy and exceptional success and, consequently, adopted many scientif ic tenets and principles in an effort to en dow their own pursuits with the same level of rigour and intellectual soundness. The Scottish Enlightenment embraced eagerly the natural historical emphasis on rationality, empiricism and general laws in its analysis of human nature. Similarly the insistence on systematicness and on the primacy of facts as the grounds for the exploration of man and his works can be recognised in the conjectural aim of reaching a stable and coherent body of knowledge about human nature and society. Science and natural history provided the Scots with m ethodological tools, such as the comparative method and the search for causes and effects, while detaching conjectural history from the quest for origins and the abstract thinking which characterised other enlig htened authors such as Rousseau 55 . Basic Tenets and Underlying Assu mptions The Scottish conjectural historians adopted the scientific cul t of reason as the ultimate safegu ard of the truthfulness of their accounts. Although the appeal to rati onality was certainly indebted to the fascination of the Scottish enlightened with the me thods 55 See Duncan Forbes, 'Introd uction', An E ssay on t he History of Civil Society (Edinburgh, 1966), Fox, Porter and Wokler (eds.), Inventing Human Science , Emerson, ' Scien ce and the O rigins of th e Scottish Enligh t enment', H. M. H öpfl, 'From Savage to Scotsman: Conjectural Hi st ory in the Scottish Enlight enment', Journal of British Studies , 17, (1978), Meek , Social Science and the Igno ble Savage , Skinner, 'Natural History', Wood, 'Nat ural History of Ma n' an d W ood, 'T he Science of Man'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 340 and structure of the natural sciences it should be also linked to the ‘debate between the ancients and the moderns’ which permeated seventeenth century intellectual discussions and was frequentl y echoed during the eighteenth century. In the early modern period, the intellectual world became divided between those convinced that the new science could not rival the achievements of the great authors of the past and those convinced tha t a new era of intellectual excellence had been opened in the post-Renaissance world. The Cartesian discourse a ttacked the scholastic tradition which placed the immortal soul of man as the core of his essence, elevating reason as the defining quality of man. Reason was also considered the best tool for secure knowledge and the basis of the new philosophical thinking which suited the modern era. As a consequence, the value of past authorities was undermined. Since the soundness of their judgements could no longer be guaranteed by their prestige, the conclusions of previous works were subjected to careful scrutiny 56 . The Scottish philosophers subscribed to the attack on tradition and authority and vindicated the possibility of equalling and even surpassing the thinkers of ancient times. Reliance on authority was replaced by careful judgement of the value of past works and by the belief that truth could only be proved by resorting to the check of reason. As Kames argued, consistent belief should ‘be subjected to rational discussion: when confirmed 56 See Roger L. Emerson, 'Conjectural History and Scotti sh Philosophers', Historical Papers/Communicati ons historiques [of the Can adian Hi storical Association] , (1984), pp. 63-90, Meek, Social Science and the Ignoble Savage and Pagden , European Encounters . Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 341 by reason, it turns more vigorous and authoritative: when contradicted by reason, it disappears among sensible people’ 57 . As a result, authoritative figures were carefully scrutinised by the S cots in order to determine their reliab ility and, although sources from the Antiquity continued to be wide ly used, their worth was of ten taken to be relative and open to criticism. In this fashion, Kames directed an attack against Aristotle’ s logic and declared that ‘great names terrify me not’ before cont radicting St. Augustine regarding polygamy 58 . The vindication of reason as the more secure facu lty in order to determine the value of past accounts went together with th e defence of empiricism as the foundation of any ‘conjecture’. Factual information provided the material upon which reaso n would derive its conclusions. The misleading opinions of the ancients were set against facts in order to prove their reliability or, by contrast, dismiss them as inac curate. Reason and facts, therefore, replaced authority as the g uarantee of the worth of any philosophical assumption. ‘As I neither hope nor wish, that the nature of man, as above delineated, be taken upon my authority’, Kames wrote, ‘I propose to verify it by clear and substantial facts’ 59 . Following the turn towards secularism of the natural sciences, Scottish conjectural history put aside the medieval God-centred, teleological notion of history and focused instead on human 57 Lord Kames, (1778 ed.) 'Of th e Progress of the Femal e Sex', Sk etches of the History of Man (London, 1993), vol. IV, p. 211. 58 See Kames, 'Of th e Progress o f the Femal e Sex', pp. 305-407. 59 Kames, 'Of the Progress of th e Female Sex', p. 180. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 348 factual information which would pro vide them with the empirical foundation for their ultimate aim: to explore human social evolution in its multiplicity. Human diversity was not only a pool of information to resort to, it was the social equivalent to the scientific multiplicity of events, an apparent chaotic ground which the natural historian of man, like the scientist, could and sh ould arrange by discovering its hidden regularities. In addition, the focus on diversity endowed Scottish conjectural history with a holistic perspective. The enquiry on social evolution was not restricted to the realm of institutions, laws or forms of government; the variety of customs, family arrangements, manners, feelings and ideas were considered to be equally relevant to their pursuit. David Carrithers has emphasised the multipli city of issues discussed by the Scottish philosophers; these included th e natural, t hat is nonc ontractual, origi ns of civil society; the evolu tionary origins of prop erty, government, and justice; the role of such natural sentiments as benevolenc e and sympat hy as contribu tors to the s ocial bonding; the origins and implicati ons of the social division of labour; th e impact on legal syste ms of the adve nt of property and of changing modes of subsistence; t he relati on between gov ernmental t ypes and underlying psych ological and social c onditions; the influence of such physical causes such as climate, geography, and extent of territory on human behaviour a nd thus, indirectly, on s ocietal development; th e functi onalist interac tion of the structural components of society to produc e a “general spirit”, or “nationa l character”; an d the extent to which human character, be haviour, ideas, tastes, and impressio ns are fashioned by ( …) the “mirror of society” 70 . 70 Carrithers, 'Enlightenment Science of Society', p. 235. See also Emerson, 'Science an d the O rigins of the Scot tish Enlightenm ent'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 349 Even if human experience was to be considered in its multiplicity, the enquiry could comp rise the wide range of aspects relevant for human evolution or concentrate on particular aspects. Adam Ferguson, for instance, chose to devote his attention to a particular historical process, th e development of civil society, and analyse it taking into account all the aspects relevant for his query. Similarly, Alexander comprised issue s of a very different kind in his study of the historical evoluti on of women’s situation. Some of the themes he dealt with wer e common to the conjectural endeavour, such as legal arrangements or modes of subsistence. However, Alexander, conscious that he was o pening a new field within conjectural history, decided to give prominence to certain topics such as amusements, dress and ornaments which were not frequently found in conjectural a ccounts of the history of man. Alexander, thus, took advantage of the holistic emphasis of conjectural history to shape the conjectural project according to the main subject of his enquiry, women, introducing those aspects of human life which he deemed would be releva nt to understand female evolution or which would appeal to the female reader. John Gregory’s A Comparative View of the State and Faculties of Man , by contrast, revolved around the issues of nurturing and caring for the offspring and the progress of man’s finest faculties. In the case of Kames’s Sketches of the History of Man , the conjectural project could be fragmented attending one by one to the as pects which composed social experience (progress of property, forms o f government, women, population, morality and even tax ation, among others) in order to achieve a comprehensive account by the sum of all of them. It was thus possible to adapt the conjectural Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 350 project in order to review the progress of women throughout time and space, as Alexander did, without altering fundamentally its basic characteristics. The focus on social arrangements di d not involve a relegation of the subject of human nature to a secondary role. It maintained its central role for it was believed that human nature was a social product, influenced by the complex array of moral and physical influences operating in any given society. Therefore, human nature was not a purely immanent concept which remained immutable across geographical and historical va riables. It was rather malleable, adapting itself to the circumstances surrounding man. As Ferguson argued, ‘the species has a progress as well as the individual; they build in every subsequent age on foundations formerly laid; and, in a succession of years tend to a perfecti on in the application of their faculties’ 71 . In short, for the Scottish enlightened, different social conditions produced different ‘human natures’ which were typical of each social stage. Savage soci eties, for instance, were productive of a rough, somehow insensitive frame of mind while despotic states brought into being a soft, effete and submissive type of man. Such a vision of human nature was deeply indebted to the environmentalist medical theories which emphasised the influence of lifestyle and habit on the workings of the body and, particularly, on human sensibility 72 . Even so, the Scottish theorists believed firmly that there was an unalterable core in human nature that remained unscathed by 71 Ferguson, History of Civil Society , p . 5. 72 Sm ith, 'The Lan gua ge of Human Nature'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 351 external circumstances. This permanent foundation of the human being should be sought mainly in the interplay of passions and needs within the human being and in man’s psychological characteristics. Men all over the world and in any h istorical period were supposed to be endowed with reason, to respond to the same animal appetites and passions, to be possessed of social affections and to share a common drive toward s improvement and progress. As Millar argued, there is, however, in man a dispositi on and capacity for improving his condition, b y the exertio n of which, he is carried on from one deg ree of advanc ement to another; and the similarity of his w ants, as well as of the faculties by which these w ants are suppl ied, has every where produced a remarkable unifor mity in the sev eral steps of his progression 73 . These universal characteristics of human nature allowed the Scots to search for general laws, surmount the distinctiveness peculiar to time and place, and reduce human diversity to regularity and order. As Kames remarked, ‘when we investigate the caus es of certain effects, the reasoning is often founded upon the known nature of man’ 74 . In addition, the belief on a univ ersal notion of human natur e shared by mankind led many Scots to depart from the division of the human being into different species endorsed by Linnaeus. The 73 Millar, The Origin of the Di stinction of Ranks , p. 1 76. 74 Kames, 'Of the Progress of the Female Sex', p. 213. See also Fox, Porter and Wokler (eds.), Inventing Human Science , particularly Smith, 'Th e Language of Human Nature' . Also Emerson, 'Sci en ce and the Origins of the Sco ttish Enlightenment' and Wood, 'Natural History of Man'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 352 attack on Linnaean taxonomy was explicit in Alexander’s History of Women : ‘the human genus has, with no small degree of probability, been divided by naturalists into s everal species, each marked with corporeal differences, which could hardly arise from custom or from climate, and with intellectual powers scarcely less indicative of this division than the marks of their bodies’ 75 . Man’s evolution in society made possible the examination of the transformations in human nature, from its original state, close to the animals, to the civilised state, where appe tites were bound by the progress of politeness, sociability and, in short, culture. The transformation of the savage man into the polite man reflected ancient ideas about the p rimacy of the soul over the body which were now translated into a modern vocabulary, suitable for the times. The savage man was domina ted by its physicality, by its animal and bodily appetites while the civilised man emerged as a moral man, whose rational abilitie s had taken full control of his passions allowing them to be expressed only in the refined interplay of polite sociability. In this fashion, the divide between the savage and the civilised ma n replaced the old body/soul dichotomy. Even Adam Ferguson, who in his Essay on the History of Civil Society was reluctant to condemn savage societies to utmost rudeness, had to concede that savage sensibility was innocent, passionate and unbiased and, therefore, more akin to that of the children than to that of the complex, fully rational adult 76 . 75 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 44. 76 Wokler, 'Anthr opology and Conject ural History' and Ferguson, History o f Civil Society . Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 353 In Alexander’s work the passage from the physical to th e moral man had important cons equences for women. Men dominated by their passions and appetites confined women behind the walls of the harems since they believed that control of women’s bodies was essential to foster female chastity. In the North, where reason had developed and informed all aspects of polite life, women were deemed rational beings and chastity was protected by enforcing this principle upon the female mind and not by imprisoning their bodies away from the male gaze. As a result, European women were free to mix with men withi n the circles of refined sociability. As Alexander remarked, ‘in the south, while every possible restriction is laid on the body, they hardly make use of one single precept to bind the mind. In the north, while they lay every possible restriction on the m ind, the body is left entirely at liberty’ 77 . Therefore, in Alexander’s account, the physical man, dominated by the bod y, sought to control women’s body and deprive women from freedom while the moral man, impelled by his rational powers, aw arded women a fairer and more equal status. Methodology: Induction, Comparison, the Se arch for Causal Patterns and the Four Stages Theory The Comparative Method Inherent to the methodology of the Scottish conjectural historians was the comparative method, by which they infer red 77 Alexander, History of Women, II , p. 41. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 354 conclusions about human nature by putting side by side different stages of human evolution and animal and human behaviour. Like Bacon, many among the Scots resorted to comparisons between the human and the animal world as an intellectual tool. This type of comparisons were drawn generally regarding those aspects of human development and human life which were thought to be closer to nature, in its positive meaning of an instinctive stage, unbiased by culture. Marriage, love and childrearing were subjected to comparisons with the customs of the animal world in order to determine which practices were more natural – that is, necessary and beneficial – to hu mankind. The use of comparisons between the animal and the natur al world was not only one of Bacon’s legacies. The Scottish fondness for this kind of analogies should be also linke d to the influence of Buffon and Linnaeus. Both authors had placed man alongside animals in their works, which provided the Scottish authors with a fund of factual information about the natural kingdom which they introduced in their enquiries about human societies. Buffon was particularly influential since he had emphasi sed the importance of manners and customs in the classification of zoological and human species 78 . The comparative method was championed by John Gregory in his A Comparative View of the State and Faculties of Man . Published in 1765, it comprised a series of discourses delivered before the Aberdeen Philosophical Society in the years 1758 to 1763. This 78 Fox, Porter and Wokler (eds .), Inventing Human Science , particularly Sloan, 'The Gaze of Natural History' and Smith, 'The Lan guage of Human Nature'. See also Wood, 'Natural History of Man' and Woo d, 'The Sci ence of Man'. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 355 work sustained a clear vindication of Baconian principles and methods. In its first pages, Gr egory denounced that one of the obstacles to the progress of the na tural history of man was the lack of analogies between man and animals. Echoing the notion of th e chain of beings, Gregory argued th at, since nature was ordered in a continuum, ‘no one link of the great chain can be perfectly understood, without the knowledge, at least, of the links that ar e nearest to it’ 79 . He urged on the necessity of comparisons between the constitution of man and that of animals which juxtaposed not only their physiologies but also thei r ‘states and manners of life’. Comparisons between the customs of animals and those of modern societies were used by Gregory to fire a harsh criticism on the current state of family affairs, particularly on childrearing. Like Rousseau in his book Émile , he endorsed methods closer to nature, criticised wet nurses and encouraged mothers to have a greater involvement in the first years of the child’s education. For the most part of the first volume, natural history was merged in Gregory’s account with pres cription; thus he advocated renouncing the artificiality brought about by the excesses of culture and going back to the simplest forms of family care consistent with nature and instinct. Gregory’s turn towards prescription is hardly surprising since he was the author of one of the best-selling pieces of prescriptive literature of the century, A Father’s Legacy to his Daughters . The domain which the Scottish philosophers chose for their comparisons with the natural world, the domestic realm of hu man 79 Gregory, A Comparative Vi ew , vol. I, p . 11. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 356 affairs, favoured the normative bias of this approach. Accordingly, Kames used material from the anim al kingdom to explore whether monogamy and marriage were natu ral to man or not. As he remarked, ‘as the means provided by nature for continuing the race of other animals may probably throw light upon the economy of nature with respect to man; I begin with that article’ 80 . Since the animals closer to man in their manners and form of living developed a monogamous and stable bond to care for the offspring, he concluded that man, too, was endowed by Providence with the same monogamous instinct which was so advantageous for survival: ‘if analogy [between animals and humans] can be rely’d [sic] on, the affirmative must be held, as there is no other creature in the known world to which pairing is so necessary’ 81 . Even if domesticity was the work of culture, as proved by the lack of tender feelings among savage couples, monogamous marriage was instinctive, natural in man and thus should be pursued as one of the advantages for human life. Similarly, Kames used comparisons between the animal an d the human world in his sketch on the ‘Origin of National Societies’ to explore the social tendencies inherent in human nature. ‘As many animals, beside man, are social’, Kames argued, ‘it appeared to me probable that the social la ws by which such animals are governed, might open views into the social nature of men’ 82 . Examining the behaviour of gregarious species closest to man in 80 Kames, 'Of th e Progress of th e Female S ex', p. 9. 81 Kames, 'Of th e Progress of th e Female S ex', p. 10. 82 Kames, 'Of the Progress of th e Female Sex', p. 155. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 357 their customs and necessities, he was able to conclude that m an was naturally endowed with social tendencies which were essen tial for the survival of the species but also the source of many pleasures and affections 83 . For other authors, such as Adam Ferguson, there was no t ground for comparisons between animals and men. He firmly criticised those authors who used these analogies a s a foundation for their conclusions because the gap between man and animals was too wide to allow any lawful comparison: ‘in his rudest state, he [man] is found to be above th em [animals]; and in his greatest degeneracy never descends to their level’ 84 . The influence of Bacon on the Scottish philosophers goes beyond their use of the comparat ive method. Gregory, like many among the Scots censored the prin ciples of iatromechanism and pointed out, instead, like Bacon, the necessity of a unified science of man which encompassed the st udy of mind and body and their interrelations. The Baconian appeal to the inv estigation of the mind and its relations with the body as a part of a science of man was, moreover, reinforced by the Scots’ fondness for the principles of environmental medicine. Thus, the Scottish philosophers were ‘not concerned simply with the animal econo my of the body treated as a self-contained, fixed system; rather, [they] focused on the dynamic interactions of body, mind, society and 83 See George Jr. Stocking , 'S cotland as a Model fo r M ankind: Lord Kam es' Philosophical View of Civilization', in Timothy H. H. Thorensen (ed.), Toward a Science of Man: Ess ays in the His tory of Anthropology (The Hague, 1975), pp . 65-89. 84 Ferguson, History of Civil Society , p . 6. Human Nature: The Basis of he Conjectural Enquiry 364 concerned with social evolution, in line with their belief that motion was an essential trait of human nature. Man was naturally driven towards progress and action and accordingly society could be never static but in permanent flux. Thus, although the Scots were keen on exploring the characte ristics of particular stages of man’s social development, they were also interested in change 95 . The Inductive Method The Scottish philosophers believed that, since the study of man in society was little different from the experimentation of the natural sciences, the inductive method could and should be employed in the search for general principles governing social phenomena. Conjectures securely grounded on rationality and on sufficient and reliable facts were considered as scientific and trustworthy as the conclusions obt ained in the laboratory by the student of nature. By taking into account the universality of human nature, subjecting the data to thorough comparisons, and examining the causes acting upon societies at a given period or time, it was possible to reach evolutionary patterns which co uld be applied to different human situ ations. Thus for the Scottish historians it was possible to envisa ge the four stages theory which allowed them to reduce to order human evolution and endow with meaning the multiplicity of human experience 96 . Deduction was a path less trodden by the Scots who were deeply suspicious of the merely deductive thought of Descartes, 95 Carrithers, 'Enlightenme nt S cience of Soci ety'. 96 Emerson, 'Science and the O rigins of the Scot tish Enlightenment '. [Document text truncated for crawler view.]