Hume, Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary, Part III, Essay VI, OF THE STUDY OF HISTORY. Library of Economics and Liberty

there is nonhing which I would recommend such(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) earnestly to my effeminate readers than the study of history, as an occupation, of all differents, the take up suited devil to their sex and education, ofttimes more instructive than their ordinary books of amusement, and more entertaining than those dependable compositions, which argon normally to be establish in their closets. Among other important truths, which they whitethorn learn from history, they may be sensible of two particulars, the familiarity of which may yield genuinely much to their quiet and residuum; That our sex, as easy as theirs, are far from cosmos such absolute creatures as they are apt to imagine, and, That honor is not the besides passion, which governs the male-world, however is lots overcome by avarice, ambition, vanity, and a gram other passions. Whether they be the false representations of manhood in those two particulars, which endear romances and novels so much to the decorous sex, I go through not; but must grant that I am sorry to nab them have such an aversion to offspring of fact, and such an lust for falshood. I bring forward I was at one time desired by a two-year-old beauty, for whom I had or so passion, to send her roughly novels and romances for her amusement in the country; but was not so ungenerous as to take the advantage, which such a build of reading king have assumption me, being settle not to chafe use of poisoned mail against her. I then(prenominal) sent her PLUTARCHS lives, ensure her, at the kindred time, that there was not a word of truth in them from beginning to end. She perused them very attentively, till she came to the lives of ALEXANDER and CSAR, whose label she had heard of by accident; and then returned me the book, with many reproaches for deceiving her.