UNIVERSITY OF CALIFOR1
AT LOS ANGELES
FAMILIAR E S S A Y S r
O N
INTERESTING SUBJECTS.
c C^UI CAPIT ILLE FACIT.' H R.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR LEIGH AND SOTHEBY,
YORK-STREET, COVENT-GARDEN.
AI.DCC.LXXXVII.
For Heading Koofti
'
A
iii 3
TO THE
1 K I N G'S
MOST EXCELLENT
MAJESTY.
A
*
S I R,
"T T is with the moil humble
^ fubmiflion that I dedicate,
to the Father of his people, thefe
Eflays.
A 2 THB
181688
IV DEDICATION*
THE glare of Majefiy bar-
not attraded me. Too obfcure
in my fituation ever to hope
that. my name may reach your
royal ear , and partial, as I
may be, to the offspring of my
fancy ; I am not fufficiently
Vain, to think my book worthy
your ferious attention.
To the man. Sir, I addrefs
tnyfelf, and not to the mo-
narch ; and as I write profef-
fedly
DEDICATION. V
fedly for the benefit of my
fellow-creatures, could I have
found a better hufband, a better
father, or a more exemplary
character, to him, let his fitua-
tion have been what it would,
I mould have infcribed the
Work.
THAT a life fo precious,
fo invaluable, may be long pre-
ferved, not only to blefs your
amiable confort, and your royal
A 3 offspring,
Tl DEDICATION.
offspring, but to give peace
and lafting happinefs to your
people, is the moil ardent pray-
er of
Your faithful fubjeft,
and fervant,
The AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
[ vii ]
PREFACE.
delineate the working: of the human
to develope the deep-laid fchemes
ef 'the villain and the hypocrite ; tofet up a
light to enable the young and the unthink-
ing to Jleer clear of the rocks by which they
are ever fur rounded j to give them a chart,
by which they may fafely bend their courfe,
and to mark on its furface the different
points^ where danger lurks unfeen^ where
quickfands may intcrfett their deviating
way i this is, or ought ta be^ the motive
with
Vlll PREFACE.
with which every man, iv.ho takes up the
pen for the feruice of the public, Jhould feel
himfelf infpired.
When we look up to a Rolcrtfcn and a
Watfon, when we perufe the clajjical pages
of a Johnfon, when we are acquainted with
the pleafmgjlyle of a Goldfmith, &c. does it
not appear prefumpticn, in a young author,
to attempt to wield the pen ?
To the works of thefc men, indeed, this
country is more indebted than they are well
aware ; and I am perfectly convinced^ that
their utility would be more extenfive, wert
they read in our academies, as they would
blend inJlrucJion and entertainment together*
The pupil, induced by the pkaftng recital,
would find his manner of writing impercep-
tibly improve ; and whilft, ly thefe means,
he became acquainted with fome of the fir/1
PREFACE. IX
perfonages that ever appeared an the lite*
rary theatre of the world, and flared his,
mind with the wijl valuable parts of hijlory,
he would imbibe the jlyle of the authors^
and, in a Jhor-t time, clothe his ideas in a
drefs more elegantly perfefi, than he would
tiberiuifc, perhaps, attain far many years to
Sift while we advert to-fuch great men
as tbefe, iti us not lofe fight of many, who
have Li-en brilliant ornaments in the humbler
walks of life. It is not alone the reciter- of
the aftiens of kings and heroes, of the great:
deftroyers of the human fpecies, who is wor-
thy of our notice, or who alone merits praife ;
there are many who deferve highly of man-
kind, from their well-directed 'aiews ; which^
though various in their efforts, yet verge to
the fame point the great caufe of virtue.
This noble caufe, whether defended by the
2 Jhort,
X PREFACE.
Jhort, but expreffive e/ayi/t, -who, like Mr.
Vicefimus KnoXj defer ibes with accuracy^
and by fmall detached pieces gives us y by in-
tervals y every precept that can be wanted for
the conduct of human life j cr by a recital
ef living manners^ fuch as we find in the
works of the verfatile Fielding^ or in thofe
of the all-comprehenfive Richardfon ; in
Jhort^ whatever be the injlrument, by what-
ever vehicle the mental phyjic is conveyed,
if the vejffeh are cleared from obJirucHon,
and the habit reftored to its original tone,
the phyftcian, who prefcribes^ is equally
entitled to a reward for his time and
trouble.
The writer of the prefent fleets, is the
reclor of an obfcure country village; and
has employed his leifure hours injketching
out different views of men and things^ with
this ardent wijb y that Jhould they prove be-
neath
PREFACE. XI
Keath the attention of men in the prft walks
of literature andfcience, yet to thofe, whofe
reading is not fe extenjive, and particularly
to the youth of both fexes, they may operate
in Jl or ing the mind with what is jujl and
praife - worthy ; that aimfiment and in-
ftruftion being blended together, they may
introduce the readers to a very inti-
mate acquaintance with religion and
virtue.
Emolument is by no means an objeff*
Vanity can have no fhare, as the Author
knows himfelfto Le concealed behind an im-
penetrable majk : and, thus Jituated, he can
fafely declare, that the improvement of his
fellow-creatures, and the mojl difinterefted
philanthropy alone, lead him forward to
public notice. He would feel nobly grati-
fied for hi) well-meant endeavors, could he
ever Anew, that one young mind toot a right
3 bias^
XII PREFACE.
or avoided a deep-laid fnare, ly the
perufal of what the anther here mojl humbly.
J>refints to. the public*
FAMILIAR
FAMILIAR ESSAYS.
ON METHOD.
WHERE lives the man who
has not found the moft be-
neficial effects from an attention to
mstbcd? Let the ftation.of the in-
dividual be what it will, from the
firft duke, nay from the monarch
on the throne down to the humble
cottager, who goes forth in the
morning to his labor and earns his
bread by the fweat of his brow ; all,
in this long- extended chain, either
B feel
t * ]
feel the good effects of method, or
by a want of it, are perpetually em-
barraffed both in time and circum-
ftances.
A s I was ever partial to method,
and have acquired habits of atten-
tion, which I have found exceed-
ingly ufeful, I have fometimes,
when in the company of the young,
the gay, and the inconfiderate, made
it the fubject of converfation.
I WAS one day expatiating on
my favorite topic to a beautiful and
lively girl, who, as is too often the
cafe with young ladies, from a flow
of good fpints, and an abfence of
care, was too animated, and too
volatile,
C 3 3
volatile, to trouble herfelf about any
thing; and who often ftrewed the
room, from end to end, with the
various articles of her drefs, work,
&c. I told her, that, would Ihe
but give fome little attention to
method, fhe would find it of the
moft wonderful ufe throughout life.
She laughed at me for my anti-
quated notions, and told me, that
fhe even now found it fometimes
impoffible to reach the parlour when
the dinner-bell rang, and if every
thing was to be put exactly in its
place, fne fliould never reach it at
all.
A s' fhe poflefTed great good-na-
ture, I preffed her to follow my di-
B 2 redtiom
[ 4 ]
reftions for one week ; viz. never
to leave any of her things out of
order, but to have a fixed place for
each of them. She promifed com-
pliance, and perfifted with a perfe-
verance I little expected. For the
firft day or two fhe found fome dif-
ficulty, but it gradually wore off,
and, after the week was at an end,
Ihe acknowledged that method, fo
far from occafioning hurry, had a
contrary effect ; and, as Ihe poffeff-
ed a good underftanding, I am
happy to fay, that, being now a
mother of a numerous family, every
part of it is managed with fuch re-
gularity as enfures lading latisfac-
tion both to herfelf and her huf-
band.
WAS
WAS I to write a volume upon
this fubjed:, I could ftill bring for-
ward inftances to recommend this
ftiiutary pradice. Who ever faw
a family well conducted where me-
thod was a ftranger ? A friend of
mine, who is a man of folid under-
ftanding, has that peculiar attention
to order amongft his domeftics,
that, go when you will, you never
fee the leaft buftle or confufion.
All goes on like a well-conftrufted
piece of machinery. No bickering
is heard amongft the fervants ; be-
caufe their bufmefs is feparate, and
want of employ never occaiions in-
terruption arifmg from idienefs. Go
and Hay with my friend by the
month together,/and you never hear
B i, him
[ 6 ]
him {forming at, or angry with, his
fervants. He takes his ufual rounds
to fee that all perform their refpec-
tive duties, which are rigidly at-
tended to, becaufe the neglect can-
not efcape the eye of the mafter.
Has he occafion to rebuke, his ac-
cent is mild, yet firm ; uniformly
Heady, and having judgment never
to find fault without reafon, he is
implicitly obeyed.
T o what then is he indebted for
the comforts he experiences in the
excellent plan he has adopted ?
Some will fay, perhaps to his good
underftanding and temper. This I
deny, for thefe alone could not pro-
duce the pidure I have drawn. It
is
[ 7 ]
is method, that enables all his fer-
vants to perform their work with
fo much eafe to themfelves, and
comfort to thofe around them : it
is the common parent of uniformity
and regularity, it has alfo amongfl
its offspring plan and confiftency,
and wherever it appears difarder is-
banifned, as it can no more exift
where method prevails, than the
hoar-froft on the bough, when the
rays of the fun are confpicuous
above the horizon.
I HAVE another friend, who is
a good-natured, but a paflionate
man (a very common character);
the manners of whofc family form
a finking contraft to the other.
B 4
[ 8 ]
PAY a morning vifit to this gen-
tleman, and, nine times out of ten,
although his eftablifhment is large,
there is not one out of all his nu-
merous fervants ready to announce
you i and you will ftand, perhaps,
fhivering in the rain or cold, till at
length, after hearing the parlour-
bell ring for fome minutes violent-
ly, you are admitted by the fcul-
lion in a greafy garb. My friend
cxhaufted by the oaths he has fworn,
and the pafiion he is in, and for
which he begs your pardon, takes
you by the hand, obferving, at the
fame time, that no man was ever
ferved by fuch a fet of d d
fcoundrels as he is ! and then voci-
feroufly cries out Who's there ?
THE
[ 9 ]
THE butler now makes his ap-
pearance, and fays, f Sir, you fent
* me to the poft-houfe, and I am
c but this moment returned.'
< Where is William?' f Sir, you
f fent him to enquire after the
* health of Mrs. , who was
* brought-to-bed yefterday.' 'Well,
c but where is the boy ? ' c Sir, he
c is gone to air the pointers, be-
c caufe you fent the game-keeper
* out with the fick horfe to the
' farrier/ ' Well, well, leave the
* room.' Thus does my poor friend
for ever harrafs himfelf, injure his
temper, and diftrefs all his inti-
mates, when, could he be con-
vinced of it, the fault is entirely
his own. It is the mafter of a fa-
mily,
mily, who muft pay a proper at-
tention, and, if I may fb term it,
do his duty, or he can never rea-
fbnably expect that his dependents,
were they ever fo difpofed, fhould
be able to do theirs, fubjecl:, as thofe
of my friend are, from morning till
night, to contradictory orders. I -
could relate a thoufand inftances of
the embarraffments under which I
have feen him labor, for want of
that forecaft and method, which are
fo indubitably effentiaL to a well-
regulated family. I remember din-
ing with him one day, when, by
his want of metbcd, he had fent his
butler and footman different ways,
his coachman was ill, and there re-
mained only the boy to wait, when,
unfortunately
[ II ]
unfortunately aifo, feveral gentle-
men dropped in accidentally. Till
we entered the dining-parlour, he
never once recollected the circum-
ftance, and was furprized not to
fee the butler and footman in their
places; and I hope I fhall never
fit down again to fuch a meal as
that of which I then partook. My
friend worked himfelf into one of
his unfortunate pafiions, for which
he begged our pardon, complain-
ing, poor man ! of the infirmity of
his nature. Thefe circumftances put
him out of conceit with his dinner,
although no man entertains more
hofpitably or elegantly. This difh
was badly cooked that was over-
done another was underdone
in
[ I* ]
in fhort, nothing could pleafe him ;
and his lady, who is a very amiable
woman, and who was exceedingly
hurt at his behaviour, attempting
to foothe him (which, by the by,
as it moftly does, only added fuel
to the flame) he began to quarrel
with her, and fhe left the table in
tears. The cloth was foon removed.
During the remainder of the after-
noon, my friend, exhaufted by his
paffion, hurt at, and afhamed of,
his behaviour to his wife, in vain
endeavored to force his fpirits into
a temporary vivacity ; and the whole
company, inftead of enjoying the
focial pleafures of the table with
chearfulnefs, pleading fome excufe
or other, took an early leave and
departed.
I WAS
[ IJ ]
I WA s once told an anecdote of
a captain of a man of war, who
is an honor to the fervice, which
fo pleafed me at the time, that I
have ever remembered it. He was
one day vifited by the captain of
another fhip in the fame fleet ; and,
in the courfe of the vifit, his friend
could not help remarking the rea-
dinefs and exaclnefs with which all
his commands were executed ; and,
being what is called a good-natured
eafy man (by no means calculated
for a difciplinarian) f Zounds,
' Dick,' fays he, c how do you con-
f trive to be obeyed fo readily, and
' with fo little trouble ? my d n'd
' rafcals are fo perverfe, that I
c fometimes bawl till I am hoarfe,
* before
H ]
* before I can be attended to.' c My
* good friend,' replied the other,
* the mighty fecret confifts only in
* this ; I do my duty, and there-
* fore have reafon to expect that
* every fubordinate officer in the
e Ihip does bis ; they all know that
c they cannot neglect their bufmefs
< without its being obferved by
* me ; I never punilh an accidental
* or trifling fault, and I never over-
* look a great one/
IN commercial and mercantile
life, method is neceffary to its very
cxiftence, as trade cannot be pro-
perly carried on without a very in-
timate acquaintance with it. It is
by method) and its appendages, or-
der
E '5 1
der and regularity, that the tradef-
man, the merchant, and the banker
conduct bufmefs fo varied, fo com-
plicated, and fo intricate. ' Never
f leave till to-morrow, what may
* be executed to-day/ is a very ex-
prefiive and comprehenfive adage.
Afcertain in the morning what is
to be your employment for the en-
fuing day ; methodize your time
with a critical exaftnefs ; portion
out every hour; adhere to your
plan, and, when you betake your-
felf to reft in the evening and lay
your head on your pillow, you can-
not have a more pleating fource of
fatisfa&ion, than to trace back the
routine of your employments, and
to reflect, that you have fpent the
day
7
[ 16 ]
day ufcfully j and, as a member of
the community, have performed
your part towards the public good.
SEE that regiment, how it moves !
with what wonderful exactnefs does
the whole body advance, or retire,
at the word of command ! See the
manual exercife performed ! Is it
not almoft incredible to believe,
that men, who perhaps, a year ago,
followed the plough, and were com-
paratively unable to walk, who then
had not one idea of the manage-
ment of the mufquet, or of any
movement to the found of the
* fpirit - flirring drum,' or f ear-
' piercing fife,' now perform evo-
lutions, that are furprifing to the
eye
[ 17- ]
eye of the obferver ? Method con-
quers their almoft invincible habits
of rufticity. The drill-ferjeant, at
the ftated period, takes the recruits
into the field, and by method makes
the raw lad quit the roll in his gait,
contracted in the furrowed field;
and, in a fliort time, as Nature has
given him a good fhape and proper
limbs, you fee a fmart fellow erect
from the drill, and fo altered, that,
was he now to appear amongft his
former companions, there would be
few traces left by which they would
at firft recognife him. Happy would
it be, if corruption of morals did not
work quicker in the alteration of
his conduct, than the ferjeant's cane
in the improvement of his carriage !
C BY
[ 18 ]
BY method, the algebraift folves
the longed problems} by method,
the mathematician climbs from the
fimple propofitions of Euclid to the
Principia of our immortal Newton,
and all the abftrufe learning com-
prehended by the ingenious few.
By method, the laborious fchool-
mafter leads forward the pupils com-
mitted to his charge, and prepares
them for the different walks, to
which they are deftined in future
life. By method, the man who
has but a fcanty pittance of this
world's goods, avoids debts, and
brings up his children to earn their
bread, and to become ufeful mem-
bers of fociety. And, by the want
of method, and of what is al-.
7 moft
t 9 1
moft always a confequence, the
want of teconomy, the moft. opu-
lent peers are diffipating their im-
menfe property ; and fome future
period may, perhaps, fee their de-
fcendants in abfolute want of that
which is fquandered by them on
courtezans, race-horfes, or at the
gaming-table.
SHALL I fay, as a clergyman,
that method is conducive to mora-
lity and religion ? Let not the au-
ftere moralift condemn the maxim.
The man of method will fet apart
a portion of his income for the re-
lief of the poor and needy, which,
by afcertaining his yearly expences,
he will be enabled to do ; the man
C 2 Of
[ *0 J
of method is rarely a bad man ; for
he, who gives himfelf time to re-
fled upon, and to balance with pre-
cifion his temporal affairs, can hard-
ly fail of cafting a thought upon
eternity. He will therefore become
religious by method, addrefs his
maker with thankfulnefs, when he
arifes invigorated in the morning,
for his prefervation through the
dangers of the night ; and he will,
from the fame caufe, bow before
our heavenly Father in the evening,
when he retires to reft, from a con-
fcioufnefs of the unmerited favor of
being preferved through the perils
of the day, as well as for the blef-
fings he enjoys. By method, in-
ftead of fpurring forward the almoft
fainting
fainting poft-horfes, from the morn-
ing till the evening of the Sabbath
(blufh, ye mighty, at the profanation
of that day, now fo faihionable, and
your breach of the decalogue !) he
will find time to attend to the du-
ties of religion ; and, by appearing
at his parifli-church, aid the caufe
of virtue by the influence of his
example. By method too, he will
always have his temporal affairs in
fuch order, that, whenever he may
be called away, a time which he
well knows muft be ever uncertain,
he may prevent confufion to thofe
he leaves behind.
THUS have I proved the necef-
fity of method. We fee its confe-
C 3 quer.cf,
[ 22 ]
quence, its utility, we fee its in-
fluence on the affairs of thofe, who
will fuffer thernfelves to be guided
by its dictates. A want of it pro-
duces conflant hurry and confufion,
a diffracted ftate of mind and of cir-
cumftances, bankruptcy to the com-
mercial part of mankind, irremedi-
able diforder and ruin to profeflional
men and to the higher orders of the
ftate ; whilft thofe, who are happy
enough to be in pofieflion of fuch
a treafure, or who are wife enough
to acquire it, fee their affairs profper,
and regularity efrablifhed in every
department under them, arifing from
fuch habits of reflection, as will en-
fure, not only prefent but everlaft-
ing felicity.
MEANNESS
MEANNESS CONTRASTED WITH
INGENUOUSNESS.
THERE are few things of
more confequence, in the
education of youth, than their im-
bibing, in early life, that firmnefs
of mind, which will lead them
frankly to confefs a fault commit-
ted, even fhouki they be certain
that puniihment will be the confe-
quence i rather than, by mean eva-
fion and daftardly fubterfuge, at-
tempt to hide, what, perhaps, arofe
from youthful levity alone, not from
a bad head, or a vitiated heart.
C 4 HERE
[ H ]
HERE much depends upon the
parent. Surely the boy, who, after
being led into the commiflion of
fome fault, or having accidentally
broken ordeftroyed fomething which
he was forbidden to touch, comes
with a noble, manly frame of mind,
which is above deceit, yet with re-
Ipectful diffidence, and tells, in lan-
guage at once fimple and affecting,
the crime he has committed, or the
accident that has befallen him, and
entreats forgivenefs, is entitled ra-
ther to reward than punifhment, and
to the moil expreflive eulogium on
his behaviour, accompanied with
this friendly caution that you truft
to his own reflexions, upox the difa-
greeable Jenjatlom he has now drawn
vpon
t *5 1
upcn himfelfj by his careleffnefs and
want of thought ; and that for his
own fake, you hope he will, hereafter ,
be more attentive.
I WAS led into this train of think-
ing by fome events, which I have
lately more particularly attended to,
and which prove what I have juft
advanced pretty forcibly. The law-
yers hold it an excellence to be able
to ftate a cafe in point, and, as an
example from living characters often
works ftronger upon the imagina-
tion than precept (however clofe
the argument is drawn) fo I fhall
likewife ftate, as counfel in the
caufe of ingenuoufnefs, a cafe in
point, fo ftrong and weighty, as, I
hope,
hope, will entirely overturn a pof-
fibility of reply from my adverfa-
ries, who are retained in the behalf
of meanmjs.
A GENTLEMAN, with whom I
have been long acquainted, who is
porTefied of a good eilate, and is
really a refpectable character, was
blefied with three children by his
lady, two fons and a daughter. In
domeftic affairs, and in the cecono-
my of her family, no woman could
acquit herfelf with more eclat, nor
with more addrefs and polite atten-
tion to her. neighbours whom fhe
vifited. But, unfortunately for the
happinefs of herfelf and all her fa-
mily, fhe had taken fuch a predi-
lection
[ 27 ]
le&ion in favor of Philip, the eldeft
fon, that Harry, her fecond, who
was two years younger, and Sophia,
who was a year younger than him,
often fmarted for faults which Phi-
lip had committed, as he had it ever
in his power to perfnade his fond
mamma, that it was brother or lifter
who broke whatever was. the caufe
of enquiry j and no atteftation from
the others, however true, had any
effect to caufe the blame to fall
upon the proper perfon.
I KNOW not how it happened,
but the heir to the eftate, whether
from the improper indulgence he
received, or from fome inherent
difference in his difpofition, had a
remarkable
remarkable turn for mifchief, for
evafion, and fubterfuge, by which
means his brother or fitter were
often feverely whipped for the tricks
of their elder brother.
ONE day, in the fpring, when I
was upon a vifit to my friend, and
the children were playing in the
garden, Philip contrived to run
againft his brother fo violently,
when near a very large cucumber-
frame, that Harry fell backwards on
the glafs, and, before he could recover
himfelf, had deftroyed many of the
panes ; Harry, however, who was a
lad of great fpirit, foon overtook
Philip, and thralhed his cowardly
brother for liis frolic.
I WAS
[ 19 3
I WAS walking very near, in a
clofe part of the garden, and, im-
obferved by the children, faw the
whole tranfaction. The gardener,
coming foon after to vifit his plants,
and difcovering the accident, went
immediately, to avoid blame to
himfelf, and informed his mafter of
it, adding, as the children had juft
been there, he fuppofed they muft
know fomething about it.
MY friend, on this report, fent
for the children into the itudy : Philip
came in blubbering and crying vio-
lently, conducted by his fond mam-
ma, to whom he had related a ftory
far from the truth, which fhe im-
plicitly believed $ and Her rage in-
creafed
[ 3 1
creafed at the fight of Harry, who
entered the room with that firm but
apprehenfive look, which faid, 1
know the partiality of my judges too
well to hope for a fair trial, I have
done myjelf juftice^ and am prepared
for the worft. I had accompanied
my friend into his ftudy; and al-
though I had determined to vin-
dicate my favorite Harry, yet I was
likewife determined to be filent,
till I faw how far interference was
neceiTary. Philip was interrogated,
if he knew any thing about the
cucumber-frame ? When, raifing his
fobbing face from his mother's bo-
fom, he faid, c that Harry broke
' the glafs, and that, becaufe he
would not promife him to tell a
'ftory
[ 3' 1
c ftory about it, and fay the dog
c Csefar ran over the frame and
c broke it, Harry had beaten him
t very fadly. ' The mother now
again hugged her darling to her
bread, and Harry was called upon
for his defence. ' Well, firrah,'
faid my friend (who, poor man !
was entirely governed by his wife)
c and did you dare to beat your el-
c der brother ; and that too becaufe
c he would not tell lies for you ? '
< Yes,' replied Harry, < I did thrafh
c him, and fo I would again, if he
c ufed me as he does now ; though
( not becaufe I want him to tell
c lies for me, but becaufe he tells
' lies of me ; for he drove me back-
c wards upon the frame, by running
againft
r againft me for which I beat
c him.' The outcry was now vio-
lent, both from the heir and his
partial mother ; Harry flood as if
he had too long been acquainted,
that he could not expect juftice in
fuch a court, and determined to
brave the punifhment. The rod
was called for, and an order im-
mediately given, that he fhould be
horfed on the footman's back.
I T was now my turn to fpeak ;
I begged to be heard, and declared,
that 1 was clofe by when the affair
happened, and that it exactly cor-
refponded with the account which
Harry had given of it. This made
a material alteration, and juftice
demanded
[ 33 1
demanded that Philip fhould oc-
cupy the place which was intended
for Harry, whilft my hero received
fome warm praifes from his father.
And, to our no fmall furprife,
though but nine years old, he was
fo much affected on his brother's
account, that he entreated his father
to forgive him this once ; adding,,
that he himfelf had beaten him too
much, and was fbrry for it after-
wards, and that one beating was
enough for one fault. I faw my
friend's eye gliften, in defiance of
partiality, whilft mine overflowed;
I clafped the dear boy ta my bo-
fom, told him no praife was too
much for him, and that I fhould
ever love him as long as I lived,
D I fear
[ 34 ]
I fear I am too prolix. I have been
witnefs to a thoufand other proofs
of manly fpirit in the one, and
meannefs in the other. The one,
the darling of every fervant and
dependant; the other, hated and
defpifed. I once took the liberty
of telling my friend, that time alone
would convince him how wrong his
conduct was in the education of his
children, and that, whilft Harry
would prove a blefling to him, Phi-
lip would be ever a fource of un-
eafmefs. I therefore now come to
the circumftance which occafioned
this recital; for I liavejuft heard
that Philip, after being an idle, dif-
folute, and extravagant fellow-com-
moner at Cambridge, has lately
fallen
[ 35 ]
fallen a facrifice at Venice to his
numerous debaucheries, to the great
grief of his fimply indulgent pa-
rents. Harry, my noble Harry, on
the other hand, who was fent to the
ftudy of the law, with rather a
fcanty pittance, and told, that as a
younger brother, his fortune muil
depend upon himfelf, bids fair to
be an ornament to the profeffion in
whicli he has engaged. On the
death of his brother, he was deeply
affected, and never mentions poor
Philip, as he calls him, but with the
tendereft regard j and throws in ex-
cufes for his conduct, which no-
thing but the fmcereft affection
could invent. His father, now Harry
is the heir to the family eftate, would
D 2 have
t 3 3
have perfuaded him to decline his
profefiion, but he could not accede
to the propofal ; and fays he fhould
be miferable not to have his time
employed, after the habits of in-
duftry he has contracted;, and is re-
folved to perfevere.
THE moral to be drawn from
this recital is, I fhould hope, too ob-
vious to all my readers, to require
any comment.
[ 37 ]
ON THE PRESENT FASHION-
ABLE MODE OF EDUCATING
YOUNG LADIES.
THERE is no rock fo likely
to be deftructive to my fair
countrywomen, particularly the un-
married part of them, as the want
of that maidenly referve, which
heretofore was acknowledged by fo-
reigners, as well as natives, to be
fo peculiarly their due.
I N this particular we are indeed
making hafty ftrides, and promife,
in a fhort time, to vie with, if not
go beyond, the utmoft efforts in re-
D finement;
88
[ 33 ]
finement of our more poliflicd
neighbours on the continent. Lee
us take a fketch of a modern young
lady. It is by no means certain
that fhe has the flighteft idea of the
fuperintendance of a family, or the
management of domeflic cares -, and
fhe would langh in your face, were
you to afk her if fhe ever under-
took to make any paftry. But how
docs {he fpend her time ? Perhaps
ihe is better employed in works of
tafte, or of embroidery. To the
common ufe of the needle I fear
fhe is nearly as much a ftranger, as
to the performance of any domef-
tic duty. But furely, Mr. S adrift,
you will not deny her bocks ? there y
at lead, fhe may feek refuge from
the
[ 39 ]
the gall of your pen. Oh ! to
be fare, if a new novel comes out,
replete with modern fentiment, de-
fcriptive of a young lady, who, from
her extreme fenfibility, and uncon-
querable affection for the hero of
the work, could not refufe his feli-
citations for a trip to Scotland, big
with wonderful vicifiitudes, taking
care, however, that all fhould end
happily at laft, and be palliated by
the foothing idea, that, let the lady
do what fhe will, \\zrfenfibility is to
be a full excufe then, I will grant
you, the hours will be Ipent in the
morning with books j and ihe will
fkim the deftruftive cream of fuch
an author, with an avidity that is
lurprifing.
D 4 , IF
[ 40 ]
IF no work of this fort claims
her attention, perhaps a walk with
a female friend helps to kill thofe
dull hours j and the walk is enli-
vened by the company of that fweet
fellow the captain, or fome effenced
puppy, who is quite accompllfhed
in fuch kind of converfation as ge-
nerally amufes the younger part of
the fex.
not my fair countrywomen
be offended, when I affirm, that not
imfrequently,. when I hays met lit-
tle parties of this kind, attended by
men of the ftvord, in the Park, and
other places of public refort, I have
been at a lofs to diftinguifh whether
:they were women of virtue, or jbme
of
[ 41 ]
of thofe frail and unfortunate females,
who perhaps were at firft betrayed
by their great fenfibility , and are at
length become real objects of pity.
I. am myfelf .a very referved man,
and have more than once been put
to the bluih, by that ftare, that for-
ward ftep, that vacant laugh, and
that inattention to decorum, which
mark the prefent race of females ;
and I have concluded them to be
demireps, till fome friend has, upon
enquiry, undeceived me, when, al-
though I was glad to find my mif-
take, yet have I grieved at the too
near refemblance.
AT noon a hurry home o drefs
is ufual j and the lady is then at-
tended
[ 4* ]
tended by her hair-drefier, who, for
two hours, whilft he tortures her
beautiful trefTes into every fhape
but that for which nature intended
them, entertains her with the fcan-
dal of the day -, and often hangs
over her in an attitude and drefs,
the defcripticn of which alone would
be indelicate j and if he is a hand-
fome fellow, and has been long ini-
tiated into the myfteries of his art,
I think the lady's virtue is in no
fmall danger.
THIS, forfooth, is to be called
improvement in our manners ! I
have often thought what wretched
fools our great grandmothers muft
liave been, who, fo far from admit-
ting
C 43 1
ting a difiblute, idle, impudent
young dog of a hair-drefTer to their
toilet, when they themfelves were
in fuch a difhabille as mufl give
rile to improper defires in the man,
were (poor fouls !) fo timid and ap-
prehenfive, that they would hardly
fuffer even a hufband to fee them
without a cap.
B u T we will fuppofe the article
of drefs adjufted, and the dinner
difpatched. The reft of the night
is fpent either at the play, the opera,
the mafquerade, or at fome deli-
cious rout, where the females of this
enlightened age are early introdu-
ced into the definitive art of gam-
ing, which may bid fair to be the
future
[ 44 ]
future ruin of fome bated huf-
band.
LET me (ketch the reverfe of
this picture, equally true, as I am
happy in knowing feveral young la-
dies, who have a juft claim to fit
for the portrait.
LET me fuppofe a young lady
educated in fome diftant part of the
country, and far from the baneful
influence of the metropolis, whofe
father is able to give her a genteel
fortune, and with a mother quali-
fied and willing to fuperintend her
education. I will imagine her to.
have been at fome neighbouring
fchool, to acquire thofe necefiary
accompiifh-
C 45 3
accomplifhments, mulic, French,
dancing, &c.
I WILL conceive her to have
kept good company, under the eye
of her mother, and yet not fo timid
as to make her afraid to anfwer
a queftion from an agreeable man,
though at the fame time pofleffed
of that innate modefty and diffi-
dence, that bafhful blufhing fweet-
nefs, which wins all beholders. I
will not fuppofe her mind tainted
by thofe books which preach^up
the uncontroulable influence of the
paffions over morality and virtue ;
nor vitiated, as is too often the
cafe, by the corrupting ftyle of the
generality of novels to be found in
that
that convenient repofitory, a circu-
lating library ! or by the inflamma-
tory converfation of thofe fafhionable
females, fuch as I have before de-
fcribed, And thus, c bearing her
< blufhing honors thick upon her/
her perfon remarkable, as to drefs,
in nothing but thejimplex munditm
of Horace, not lofmg fight of the
.fafhion, but far from going beyond
it; her mind pure and uncorrupt-
ed, ftored with all thofe requifites
which make a good wife, and a
good mother j I appeal then to my
fellow - citizens, nay even to the
moft abandoned libertine, whether he
would not prefer, in his ferious mo-
ments of reflection, fuch a partner
.in marriage, to the modern, fafliion-
able,
[ 47 ]
able, and accomplifhed female, with
all her airs, affefted graces, for-
wardnefs, unbluiliing confidence, and
fovereign contempt for every thing
domeltic.
SUCH then is that amiable mai-
den, who, under the plaftic hand of
a well-known female writer, emi-
nent for her abilities, and her fin-
cere attachment to the caufe of vir-
tue, reforms the modern and fa-
fhionable Florio.
I REMEMBER once being upon
a journey, and arriving late in the
evening at an inn in a country
town, where the inhabitants were
celebrating their annual aflembly.
There
[ 48 ]
There was no room where I could
lodge but one, which adjoined to
that in which fome young bucks
were to enjoy themfelves, when the
afTembly was over. I went to bed
late, but not to fleep j for the par-
tition being thin, the noify jollity
of Kiy neighbours precluded all
hopes of repofe. Their converfa-
tion turned upon the beauty and
accomplifhments of their fair part-
ners. To my great furprife, they
ran over their different characters
with fuch pointed remarks, and the
features of each were fo ftrikingly
pourtrayed, that I perfuaded myfelf
I could almoft have identified the
ladies, could I have feen them, by
the defcriptions to which I was ear-
witnefs.
[ 49 ]
witnefs : One was tall, but gawky j
another too fond of admiration -, a
third remarkable for her art, and
for her every movement being the
confequence of defign ; in fhort,
they went almoft through the room,
and fome farcafm or other was patted
upon the greater part of the whole
fet : for although they allowed many
to be fine women, beautiful women,
&c. yet, from what I could learn,
even at a country aflembly a hun-
dred miles from the metropolis, the
too great freedom of deportment
feemed to give general diflike. They
were joined, at length, by another
companion, who had been to wait
upon his partner home. An univerfal
clamour, the refult of envy, burft
E forth.
I 50 ]
forth. D n it, Jack, cried one,
how happy you have been ! I never
faw fo bewitching a girl. All joined
in the warmeft eulogium upon his
partner, and their praife originated
from the very caufe I have been,
I hope, fuccefsfully pleading. Her
blufhing, unaffected fmiles, her ele-
gant neatnefs, and her innate mo-
defty, won the hearts of the com-
pany, and they unanimoufly de-
clared, that, could they obtain pof-
feflion of fuch a prize, they fhould
be infinitely more blefied than with
any of thofe who had been fuccef-
fively the fubjeft of their difcourfe ;
although they acknowledged feve-
ral to exceed her in beauty.
LET
f 5* 1
LET it not be faid, ladies, in
your ex.cufe (for excufe you cannot
have) that the manners of the men
Co far influence thofe of the female
world, that the fault, if there is any,
originated with them. Be it yours
to reform that lordly fex j fhew,
once or twice, your total abhorrence
of the double entendre, your ex-
treme averfion to the fmalleft ten-
dency to a breach of the rules of
true politenefs, and you ftrike the
Reclaimer dumb. It is yours to
guide and direct the turn of the
converfation, and your talk is by
no means difficult. No gentleman.
will ever infult the ears of a modeft
woman with the leaft indelicate
fuggeftion, unlefs by the turn of
E a the
[ 5* ]
the lady's eye, or fome other cer-
tain prefages, he difcovers that it
will not be totally difagreeable to
her.
IT is from you that our moil
lafting pleafures muft arife; it is
your own fault if you make them
tranfitory.
Too true is it, that the increafing
evil of fedudtion and proftitution
gives our fex fo eafy an accefs to the
indulgence of every criminal pafiion,
that men feel great unwillingnefs
to encumber themfelves with the
care and expence of a family. But
the prefent mode of educating fe-
males, aids this caufe more than
people
[ 53 1
people are aware of. For whilft
men fee the other fex fo unac-
quainted with domeftic and every
valuable duty, tricked out merely
to catch the eye^ like the painted
gingerbread on the chapman's ftall,
and oftener upheld from frailty by
pride, than by more praifeworthy
motives, we cannot wonder at their
diflike to a matrimonial connection.
IT is to be feared, likewife, that
the univerfal diflemination of no-
vels, fraught with every delufive,
yet captivating idea, and calculated
to make the fair one melt, to ren-
der her all nerve, and thus leave
her an eafy prey to the artful and
defigning villain, has added more
E victims
[ 54 ]
victims to feduction, than any other
caufe whatever.
LAY afide then, my fair friends,
fuch confident affurance, and dif-
gufting manners, in exchange for
native innocence and unafpiring
modefty ; for rely upon it, that the
former, fo far from creating efteem
and regard, ever) in your warmed
admirers, will in the end generate
contempt.
THE fops, and men of fafhion y
will delight to trifle with you in aa
idle hour, but they will never ven-
ture a ftep farther. The fimple un-
affected maiden, artlefs as the lifp-
ing infant, and adorned with native
virgin
[ ss I
virgin modefty alone, who fhuns
the public eye, and muft be fought
like the lily of the valley, will
ever infpire the fincereit and moft
lively efteem -, whilft the artificial
charms of the bold and forward,
like the more gaudy colours of the
tulip, although they may occafion
a tranfient praife, yet will be foon
forgotten, and leave no trace upon
the mind, that they have ever been
the fubjed of the flighteft obferva-
tion.
E 4 SECOND
SECOND THOUGHTS ARE
BEST.
THERE is hardly a man
living but would find, was
he to turn his thoughts on this fub-
jec~b, innumerable inftances wherein
he would have been a gainer by an
attention to the adage which is the
fubjecl: of this eflay j than which no
one is more common, even amongfl
the loweft orders of the people. In
fhort, it is what every one talks
about, though but few attend to
and pra&ife.
THE
[ 57 1
THE young, the gay, and the
inconfiderate, would do well to en-
grave it on the tablet of their
hearts.
I MUST confefs, that when I
look back upon my former life, I
can find numerous cafes wherein I
fhould have avoided lois of time
and of money, trouble, anxious
care, nay even fliame, had I but at-
tended properly to this maxim, and
given mature reflection an oppor-
tunity to come to my aflifrance,
How many youths are there now
fmarting under the confequences of
precipitate folly (to adduce nothing
worfe) who feel the truth of what I
advance,
t 58 ]
advance, and repine in vain at what
they now fee, which, had they per-
mitted themfelves to think twice,
might with fo much eafe have been
avoided ?
THE ftreets of the metropolis
abound with numerous inflances to
prove this fact, in thofe unhappy
outcafts of fociety, who, had they
well weighed the confequences of
that fmgle rafh ftep, which finks
them for ever in the opinion of the
world, might ftill have been a
fource of comfort to their aged
parents, whofe ' grey hairs they
' now bring down with forrow to
c the grave. ' Alas ! at the fame
moment when juftice calls for ven-
4 geance
[ 59 ]
geance on their crimes, pity fteps
in between the culprit and the aven-
ger with fo mild an afpect, and
pleads fo ftrongly for the wretched
criminals, that the ftroke is with-
held, and they are left to what is
in itfelf punifhment fevere, the
pangs of guilt, with its ufual ap-
pendages, want and mifery.
DID the felf- willed youth, in his
own opinion all-fufficient to the
management of himfelf, and like
the unbridled courfer above con-
troul, give himfelf time for reflec-
tion, he would then fee how indif-
putably neceifary for his guidance
through the mazes of this treacher-
ous world, arc the well-meant ad-
monitions
[ 60 ]
monitions of his anxious parent.
He would then fee, that the refult
of a father's long experience is an
invaluable acquifition, calculated to
affift his own infufficiency and in-
experience. He would then fee
(what obftinacy and weak pertina-
city of opinion makes him blind to)
that here no motives actuate the
breaft of this his real friend, but
fuch as lead in the end to his wel-
fare and profperity, fhould they at
prefent be unpalatable to his tafte.
He would then fee, that no envy, no
rivalfhip fubfifts (as among the af-
fociates of his own age); but, on the
other hand, that the parent would
be happy to be himfelf excelled by
his fon, that every nerve is ftrained
for
t 61 1
for him alone, and that the father's
greateft and moft ardent wifh is to
make him ultimately happy. He
would then fee, when he has loft
his indulgent parent, and reflection
comes too late (not to his affiftance
but to his punifhment) that the
defpifing the admonitions, advice,
expoftulations, nay entreaties, of his
father, will be for ever to him a
fource of difquietude, which I can
alone compare to the ' worm that
f dieth not, and to the confuming
* fire which will never be quench-
ed.'
IN trade, in that walk of life,
where we find more phlegmatic
characters than in any other, many
a one
[ 62 ]
a one has feen his name in the
gazette, from fome rafh and preci-
pitate ftep, which he could never
afterwards retrieve, and which, had
he attended to the adage I have
chofen, might with eafe have been
avoided, and his own life, together
with that of a numerous family,
have been profperous and happy.
How many married people do
we behold dragging about a mife-
rable exiftence, becoming plagues
and torments to each other, who,
had they well confidered the folem-
nity of the engagement into which
they fo precipitately entered, and
how unlikely their different difpo-
fitions were to contribute to mutual
comfort,
[ 63 ]
comfort, might have avoided that
mifery which they have entailed
upon themfelves for life ?
MANY a man, who has been de-
coyed to a gaming-table, and there
initiated into that accurfed fcience
of play, has been led on, till in one
night he has ruined himfelf, an ami-
able partner, and a family, who had
the firft claim upon his property.
Could he have broken away, and
faid, he would confider of it till
the morrow, would he not, when
he awoke in the morning, and re-
flected on the gulf, into whofe abyfs
he was fo near falling, have lifted
up his eyes in fpeechlefs thankful-
nefs, inftead of execrating himfelf
his
[ 64 ]
his Maker, and all around him, at
his precipitation and inexcufable
folly ?
WHEN the brifk wine fparkles
in the glafs, could the drunkard
but reflect, that it leads to difeafes
and the grave, he would furely de-
cline the prefent jovial moment, to
avoid future and irremediable mi-
fery.
AND how many bigots to falfe
honor do we fee in our places of
public refort, who carry about with
them that ' atra cura,' that corroding
anguifh, which arifes from having
taken away the life of another, and
which no amufement, no diverfions,
in
in fhort, no invention of any kind
can poffibly difpel ? It mult ever
line their couch with thorns, and
make the bed of down to them
more uneafy, and by far lefs defir-
able than that of Shakefpeare's ce-
lebrated cabin-boy.
How many victims to that
dreadful crime of fuicide, tempted
by fome fudden difguft or difap-
pointment, fome fit of anger, or of
caufelefs jealoufy (could they have
reflected with coolnefs and temper on
their fituation) might have been at
this tioie alive and happy in them-
fclvesj and at the fame time di-
penfmg felicity to their relative*
and friends around them ?
t 66 1
I f were endlefs to enumerate
: the fatal confequences of precipi-
tancy, or the many evils which are
,ever arifing from a neglect of the
falutary practice of reflection.
MY young friends in particular
(and there are thoufands in the
world, who are paft a irate of pu-
pillage, to whom the advice will be
of equal ufe) would do well, when
they are aflailed by fudden felicita-
tion of any kind, to give this eafy
anfwer, which, like the fpeech of
Shakefpeare's clown, will ferve for
almoft every queftion, c I will con-
' fider of it.' This will gain them
time, time will bring reflection to
their aid ; and, I will venture to af-
firm,
C 6? 1
Srm, would they follow this ufefu!
precaution, they would, nineteen
times out of twenty, efcape the
wily fnares fo often laid for youth
ami inexperience. To the volatile
and gay fuch advice is more parti-
cularly addrefied, the grave and
ferious being lefs likely to want
counfel on this head; but as the
former ckfs is, I fear, very nume-
rous, wherein good health, great
fpirits, and an exemption from care,
too often- overbalance all the atten*
tion of tKe parent or the guardian,
it. is the part of the moralift to
aid their work> and to throw his.
weight into that fcale, which is u>a
often overturned by vanity, thought-
kffnefs, and felf-conceit. To the
F a incorrigible
[ 3
incorrigible it would be in vain to
addrefs myfelf ; but, as I hope this
clafs is not large, by the fame rule I
truft there may be the more, upon
whom this advice may not be loft ;
and when they confider that an at-
tention to it will be productive of
lading and folid fatisfaftion, as will
the reverfe, of endlefs mifery, I
hope they will learn to accept the
one and refufe the other.
A CON-
A CONTENTED MIND ONI OF
THE GREATEST BLESSING*
PROVIDENCE CAN BESTOW.
IT is often a melancholy reflec-
tion, that, although Providence
difpenfes its blefiings with fo boun-
tiful a hand, we feldom find man-
kind contented with their fituations
in life.
THERE is no fubjecl: which has
been more canvalTed than this
among the claflics, and by Horace
in particular ; and in our own lan-
guage, many are the authors who
F 3 have
t 7 3
have written ably upon it, with a
view to calm the difcontented, and
too often caufelefsly unhappy mind,
A great * .writer, lately deceafed,
fays, f that the aim of every author
* ought to be, either the making
* new difcoveries for the ufe and
c advantage of his fellow-creatures,
* or fetting well-known truths in a
' new and attractive light/
THIS laft then I profefs to be
my wifh and defign, in hopes to
aflift in allaying thofe felf- torment-
ing pafiionSj which find fo eafy an
accefs to the human heart.
WHERE lives the mortal, who,
* Dr. Johnfon,
did
[ 7* T
did he fit down purpofely to find out
caufes of difquiet, might not create
abundant mifery for himfelf, and ever
embitter his hours with unavailing
anguilh ? For it is far from true,
that our chiefeft mifery arifes from
real pain and bodily difeafes..
SUPPOSE we thefe for a while
non-exiftent, and yet what a nume-
rous train remains, in the hypo-
chondriac, the difappointed, and the
envious T In Ihort, it would exceed
the bounds I have prefcribed to
myfelfj accurately to delineate the
whole group, which, having all the
real comforts of life in pofleflion,
are ftill undelerving of them, from
shut froward. difcontent in. which
F 4 they
[ 7* ]
they fo freely indulge themfelves.
I would have people of this clafs,
could I bring the powers of tranf-
migration to my aid, for a time re-
moved into one of the more labo-
rious ftations, and obliged to ftrug-
gle with the difficulties which are
daily and hourly encountered in
them.
FOR inftance, I would have the
hypochondriac, who fours his mind
by the apprehenfion of imaginary
diitempers, for a time put into the
place of an honcft mechanic, who
has a numerous family to provide
for by the labour of his hands ; and
when, after having been fo long oc-
cupied in his new employment as
to
[ 73 1
to work off the obftructions which a
want of exercife too often occafions>
he would be happy to return to his
former ftation, of which he would
then know the real blefimg, by hav-
ing experienced the lofs of it.
ALAS! alas ! would the com-
plaining difTatisfied fons of plenty,
inftead of looking upward and
repining, that their lot has not
fallen in a ftill fairer ground, and
their own over- rated merits were
not more amply rewarded j would
they but look downwards, and fee
the millions of their fellow-crea-
tures pining under real want, real
care, and real mifery, accompanied
too often by excruciating pain and
incurable
t 74 ]
incurable difeafe could they be-
hold even a tenth part of what the^
pooreft clafs in the metropolis and
our great cities fuffer fo far from
nourifhing criminal, becaufe eaufe-
lefs, difcontent, they would lift up
their hearts in thankfulnefs, 1 that
their fituation is fo comfortable,
their fubftantial happinefs fo great.
DID one half of mankind know
what the other half endures, grati-
tude for the blefTings enjoyed by
the former, would infpire them with
a fpirit of charity, by which the mi-
feries of the latter would be greatly
alleviated.
SopRRONissA loft her parent*
[ 75 3 .
when in early infancy, and devolved
to the care of a friend of her father,
whofe afiiduity and tendernefs to
her could not be exceeded by that
of any one, except a parent. The
greateft part of her fortune was to
defcend to her on the death of a
diftant relation, and Ihe waited fome
years, after her arrival at woman's
eftate, before that event took place.
When it happened, upon the invef-
tigation of fome writings, it ap-
peared, that, from the neglect of
her father in executing fome law
concerns, the whole of SophronifTa's.
property was claimed by a ftranger >
and that, unlels fhe engaged in a
law-fuit, which would moft likely
fwallow up the whole, there was no
profpe&
[ 76 ]
profpeft for her but of a total lofs
of what was her chief dependance.
I N what a melancholy fituation,
and how much an object of pity,
does Sophronifia appear under fuch
calamitous circumftances ! She was,
however, extricated from this dread-
ful embarrafiment by a friend, who
found out, that the other claimant
was as averfe to law as (he could be,
and effected a compromife, which
fecured to her fuch a (hare of her
property as provides her an income
fully anfwerable to moderate wifhes.
What a fource of joy and of exul-
tation to all the true friends of
SophronifTa ! and is it not to be
fuppofed that Ihe muft feel happy
indeed,
[ 77 1
indeed, thus relieved from fo pain-
ful a dilemma ? Not fo : fhe yet
feeds unavailing difquiet j and, had
not her friends been urgent, would
have declined that compromife,.
which has enfured to her every real
comfort. She pines after the en-
joyment of what certainly was in-
tended for her, but which* by an
unfortunate train of occurrences, is
totally out of her reach; and, though
pofieffed of a good and much-im-
proved imderflanding, amiable man-
ners, and fuch univerfal good-na-
ture, as renders her almoft adored
by her intimates, not only makes
herfelf unhappy, but gives great
pain to all thole who are anxious
for her welfare,
ETHELINDA,
ETHELINDA, on the other hand,
was bred up in all the grandeur
which wealth and opulence can be-
llow. Her father was a courtier,
and had a large income, arifmg
from the places he poffeffed under
government. Ethelinda was con-
tracled to a noble fuitor, and a few
weeks would have feen her in po-
feffion of a title, and of all thofe
iplendid appendages which the world
fuppofes fo much conducive to hap-
pinefs. At this period, a fit of an
apoplexy robbed her of her father,
and, as his income depended chiefly
on his places, and her fuitor proved
fo mercenary as to have been at-
tracted folely by the hope of emo-
lument- from the influence her fa-
3 ther
[ 79 3
ther poffeffed, he took his leave
with the moft cutting indifference.
Ethelinda was obliged to retire, with
her mother, to a fmall and obfcure
village, on a fcanty pittance, which
however they hufbanded fo as to be
ever above want, and above obliga-
tion. Her mother, in a few years,
followed her father. Grief, preying
upon her conftitution, proved more
than a match for a frame naturally
weak. Ethelinda ftill lives admir-
ed and refpefted by the few who
have the pleafure of her acquaint-
ance ; though neglected and for-
gotten by the fair-weather friends
who once flattered her in her life of
grandeur. Yet Ethelinda never fends
forth one murmur or complaint.
It
[ 8 1
It is but feldom Ihe will converfc
about her affairs, or choofes to un-
bofom herfelf. If Ihe ever touches
upon the fubjeft, it is but to de-
clare that Ihe is perfectly contented,
and much happier than Ihe could
have been, had fhe married the man
who fo meanly forfook her that
fhe is thankful to Providence, which
faved her from the precipice down
which fhe was fo near falling that
Ihe has learnt to contract her every
wifh into her prefent fphere and
that, when fhe looks abroad into
the world, and fees thoufands ilrug-
gling with want and mifery, it would
be the higheft ingratitude in her to,
bs fretful and diffatisfied. Would
to Heaven that thofc who pine iix
plenty,
[ 3
plenty, .and murmur only for want
of real afflictions, to bring them to
a proper fenfe of their duty, could
take example by this fair maiden,
and, without a tenth part of her ex*
cufe for complaint, learn to fet a
proper value upon what they fo un-
gratefully pofTefs !
DOES it not appear that I have
rambled far from my fubject ? Ma-
thematicians and philofophers fome-
times attempt to prove the truth of
what they have in hand, by fliow-
ing what it is not; and thus, by
holding up to my fellow mortals,
I fear too true a picture of them-
felves, I hope to eilablifh the truth
of the principle I advanced, and to
G perfuade
[ 8a 3
perfuade them to put it in prac-
tice.
I HAVE heard of a venerable
divine, eminent for his piety as well
as his abilities and learning, who
was grievoufly afflicted with thofe
two terrible maladies, the gout and
the ftone. His fufferings were long
and fevere, yet was he never heard
to murmur ; and, when laboring
under the pangs of the gout, would
thank his Maker, that he was not
afflicted by the ftone ; and, when
the excruciating pains of the ftone
were upon him, would lift up his
eyes in gratitude to his. Maker, that
he had not the gout. Learn from
this good man, ye funs of unavail-
ing
C *3-3
ing complaint, to eftimate truly the
blefiings ye have in poffeffion, left
Heaven, wearied by your ingrati-
tude (to call it nothing worfe)
fhould treat you as, Sacred Wrk
informs us, he treated the favorite,
of the great Ahafuerus,
FROM what has been advanced*
k may be fairly collected, that a
contented mind is one of the great eft
blejjings Providence can beftow ; as a
want of it produces anxiety, ideal
pain, imaginary woe,, with all that
difquieting train of apprehenfions
and terrors which are the bane of
the comforts and bleffings of this
life. The man who views things
through a proper medium, although.
G 2 he
he jfhculd feel (as all muft in this
world of care and forrow) his hap-
pincfs not quite compleat, yet,
when he fees the good fo far out-
weigh the evil, will thankfully en-
joy what is given, nor repine at
what is wanting, fo as to lofe the
relifh for what he potteries ; whilft
the envious, the difappointed, and
the ungrateful, with all that nume-
rous train, who balk in the fun-
fhine of profperity, are ftill angry,
becaufe, now and then, a light cloud
overfhadows the dilk of the lumi-
nary. They are hardly fo excufable
in their behaviour as an infant who
rejects his play-things and accuf-
tomed amufements, becaufe his ever
watchful parents refufe him fomc
6 improper
E 85 1
improper implement for fport, the
poffeffion of which might occafion
him much mifchief, and with which
they well know it is not proper for
him to be trufted.
G 3 THS
t 36 ]
THE LOVE OF PRAISE AND A
SPIRIT OF EMULATION, IN
YOUTH, MUCH MORE EFFI-
CACIOUS THAN BODILY
CORRECTION.
IT is of the greateft confequence,
and ought to be the firft object
with thofe who have the care of
young people, whether parents,
guardians, or fchoolmafters, to in-
fpire them with a fpirit of emula-
tion. ' Without this ftimulus, youth
will make but a flow progrefs, and,
finking too often into a ftate of
apathy, will look upon the whole
plan
t 87 ]
plan of their lives as mere drudgery,
and then all hopes of excellence are
at an end.
THERE is an ardor in young
men, and a defire of meriting praife
from thofe to whom they look up as
the arbiters of their conduct, which,
if increafed by gentle degrees, like
the latent fpark amongft the em-
bers, will at fome time arife to a
flame ; which, if properly managed,
will produce fuch effects as mult
enfure fuccefs, and make them, in
all probability, Ihining characters.
MANY a youth, timid, and ap-
prehenfive, perhaps v/ith nerves
weak, from a fickly infancy, though
G 4 with
[ 88 ]
with good parts (were they properly
called forth) has ftirunk under the
chaftifmg hand of an imperious pe-
dagogue, and alfo under the re-
peated oppreffion and cruelty of his
more healthy and hardened fchool-
fellows ; who, had he been placed
in a private academy, where he
could have been treated with ten-
dernefs and humanity, would have
made a rapid progrefs, and amply
repaid the kindnefs with which he
was indulged.
IT has been much difputed, by
thofe who are certainly much more
able to decide a queftion of fuch
great importance than myfelf, whe-
ther more may not be done by fo-
menting
[ 89 ]
menting a fpirit of emulation in
youth, and bringing them to reflect
for themfelves, than by ufmg one
indifcriminate mode of corporal pu-
nifhment for every offence.
1 AM happy in having fome great
men on my fide, and therefore de-
clare the more freely, that I have
not a doubt but youth, in general,,
will make a more rapid progrefs
under the man who ftudies their dif-
pofitions, and who, at the fame
time that he corrects the refractory,,
encourages and treats with parental
indulgence the timid and the ap-
prehenfive.
I REMEMBER a melancholy in-
ftance^.
[ 9 ]
ftance, particularly adapted to prove
what I have advanced. I went to
fchool under a mafter of fo irritable
a temper, that the leaft offence was
fure to incur bodily corre&ion.
There was one of my fchool-fel-
lows whofe difpofition was remark-
ably timid, and his nerves wonder-
fully weak. This boy, from a con-
iiant courfe of fevere correffion, at
length arrived at that melancholy
ftate of mind, that he gave up all
his ufual recreations and fports, and
would fit, in a ftupid attitude, while
the reft of his play-mates were en+
joying themfelves ; and when he has
had a leffon to fay by heart to his
mafter, although I have known him
quite perfect before he went up to
repeat
[ 9' ]
repeat it (for not one of us took
more pains) yet, when he began,
fo great was his apprehenfion, that
he fcrgot every iyllable ; and fo
much were his nerves affected, that,
the leaves of the book being loofe,
I have feen them fhake off, and lie
fpread on the floor, from his ex-
treme agitation. I am forry to add,
that, although this boy by no means
wanted natural abilities, a long courfe
of improper feverity made fuch an
imprefiion upon him, that he has
never recovered from its effects.
I RECOLLECT alfo another cafe,
cf two lads, who, from conflant
flogging, were fo hardened to all
fenfe of pain and difgrace, that they
would,
[ 9* 3
would, at any time, for a fmall gra-
tuity, take the fault, and the confe-
quent correction, of another boy,
who was not fo courageous or fa
devoid of fhame.
Ira lad's reflection cannot be
affected, by pointing out to him r
that he has a character to fupport,
and by treating him as if you really
thought him of fome confequence ;
if he is not infpired with a love of
praife and emulation, by pitting
him, if I may fo term it, againft his
comrades , if, inilead of this, no
other method is thought of but
corporal punifhment for every of-
fence, you blunt all thofe fine feel-
j which might be made of fuch
infinite:
t 93 ]
infinite ufe in the formation of the
man. You thereby render him cal-
lous to every degree of Ihame, he
becomes hardened againfl your moft
fanguine efforts, and is at length
fent into the world with a mind but
(lightly improved j and his original
boaft of a contempt for bodily pain,
terminates in a like contempt for
all kinds of mental fenfibility. Yet
can I by no means Hand forth a
candidate for that fort of indulgence
which arifes from the fond partiality
of a weak mother for an only fon.
This is perjiaps more baneful than
the other, and kails to that ridi-
culous vanity, totally different from
the love of praile, without which
no
[ 94 1
no youth can ever make a good
figure in the world. It is certainly
true, that vanity will become the
companion of that bread where ig-
norance, puffed up by undeferved
applaufe, is alfo an inmate. The
well-informed and cultivated mind,.
fo far from boafling of the progrefs
already made, looks forward into
the boundlefs tracts of fcience, and,
feeling its own diminutivenefs, hum-
bly recedes from public view. It
is left for thofe who know little, yet
have been flattered into a great opi-
nion of themfelves, who are vain
from ignorance and felf- conceit, to
court applaufe, and to become ul-
timately devoted objects of ridicule.
5 Some
[ 95 1
Some minds are more particular!/
difpofed to vanity, the greater care
is therefore neceffary to damp fo
pernicious a paffion ; and if ever
corporal punifhment may be ad-
mitted, it fhould be exercifed on
the proud and the oftentatious. To
thefe> an acquaintance with fhame
will be of ufe ; whilft the timid re-
femble thofe tender exotics which,
fo long as the gardener nurfes with
care and attention, under cover of
the green-houfe, flourish and prof-
per ; but fhould he ever wantonly
expofe them to the cutting blafts
of the ice-impregnate north, would
droop their tender heads, and no
longer expand their leaves, or add>
by
[ 9S ]
by look or odour, to the beautiful
appearance or balmy fragrance of
the fituation in which they arc
placed.
o tf
[ 97 ]
ON DOMESTIC PEACE AND
HAPPINESS.
FROM the earlieft antiquity,
writers, of aimoft every de-
nomination, have treated in exalted
terms of the comforts of domeftic
life ; and the greateft heroes, ftatef-
men, lawgivers, and politicians, have
looked forward to the pleafures of
their own fire-fide, as the ultimate
reward of all their cares and anxie-
ties.
CINCINNATI^, after command-
ing armies, returned with redoubled
energy to the care of his humble
H farm x
[ 9 1
farm, and felt, I have no doubt, a
degree of happinefs, when feated
with his family around him, far fu-
perior to any of which the moft re-
fined debauchee and voluptuary
could ever form an idea.
IT is in fuch a fpot as this, that
the man, no longer on the public
theatre, but behind the fcenes, un-
bends, and throws afide the cum-
brous robe and ornaments he is
too often obliged to wear. Here,
enlivened by the prattle of his in-
fants, and by the carefles of his
amiable partner, he feels how great,
how real, thefe bleflings are, and
how light, when put in the fcale
and weighed againil them, are aH
thofe
7
[ 99 ]
thofe honors upon which the world,
the ambitious world, fets fo high a
value.
' I F, from the moft remote anti-
quity down to the prefent time, the
moralift, and the friend to virtue,
have enforced with the ftrongeft ar-
guments the blifs of domeftic hap-
pinefs, to what are we to attribute
its declining influence over the man-
ners of the prefent age ? I fear too
often to the improper indulgences
young men meet with from fimpiy
fond parents, and the great and eafy
indifference with which they indulge
themfelves in every grofs and cri-
minal defire when they come for-
warder into life. Thus are the finer
H 2 fenfadons
fenfations of the mind all blunted ;
and, after becoming connected only
with the moft vile of the other fex,
they look up with abhorrence to a
connection with a beautiful and
chafte woman, dreading what they
term reftraint, and the reproofs of
virtue, too confcious of their own
acquired depravity.
MR. Vicefimus Knox, who fo
ably, as well as learnedly, exercifes
the pen of a moralift and a fatirifl,
inculcates in die ftrongeft terms the
utility, the good effects, nay the
neceflity, of early marriages. c Dare
' to marry,' fays this writer, addref-
fmg himfelf to the young man ; and
his arguments on this head are too,
good
good to receive any aid from what
I might advance in fupport or cor-
roboration of them.
BUT are there not other caufes,
which eftrange our youth from that
inclination they would otherwife en-
tertain for domeftic enjoyments ? In
a former paper I have adduced one
caufe, whofe influence, I fear, is too
prevalent. But do our married
couples evince their real fenfe of
that peace and happinefs which I
have defcribed as fo defirable ? Here
the reafoning, which the abandoned
youth may bring forward, has but
too much weight j for the contra-
riety of tempers, the fullennefs of
the hufeand, the waywardnefs of
H 3 the
[ 101 ]
the wife, with the univerfal air of
difcontent, which too often charac-
terizes thofe who firft united with
all the ardor of love, and with vows
of eternal affection, aid the argu-
ments of the profligate, and en-
courage that celibacy, which flrikes
at the very vitals, the very exiftence
of the ftate.
BUT let not the libertine triumph.
Domeftic happinefs is ftill as deii-
rable, is ftill to be acquired, and
ftill pofleffes all thofe real comforts
which have been d<rfcnbed fo often
and fo expreffively, both by the poet
and the hiftorian ; and there are
many couples, to whom Thomfon's
animated defcription, in hi* Spring,
is
is fairly due. The critic, perhaps,
will call for an inftance to prove the
truth of my after tion. I have one
ready, and defy even malice itfelf
to contradict me. There is a pair,
who, in conjugal affection, long and
well-tried regard, and unihaken at-
tachment, for more than twenty
years, are indeed a model for the
imitation of all : who have raifed a
numerous progeny, and have omit-
ted nothing to render them objects
of admiration and efteem to all
around them. When I tell my
reader that thefe perfons are the
fovereigns of the ifland in which we
live, I feel a glow of exultation
that I am a fubject of fuch ex-
emplary characters ; who, amidft all
H 4 the
104 ]
the temptations to which their fitua-
tion is more particularly expofed,
amidft all the glare of grandeur and
pageantry of ftate, feel happy to
refort from that burthenfome pomp
with which they are furrounded, to
the enjoyment of that privacy and
retirement which conftitute the very
domeftic peace and happinefs I am
delineating.
I T is with thofe, who following
a blind paffion, without once con-
fulting the fober dictates of reafon ;
with thofe, who vifit that forge of
matrimony, Gretna Green, that the
caufes of difcontent too often arife.
I never, in all my obfervation, faw
three fuch Scottifli marriages turn
out
out happy. And why ? Becaufe, had
it been confiftent with the wifhes of
thofe who have no intereft, but that
of their children, the journey would
have been unnecefTary j and the
fame caufe which led the children
to act in defiance of parental au-
thority, will, when the pafiions are
gratified, as certainly produce bane-
ful effects to themfelves, the con-
fequent refult of ill-judged mea-
fures,
BUT the libertines will not con-
fine themfelves to thefe cafes : there
are many, fay they, where the par-
ties came together with univerfal
confent, and with every profpect of
happinefs, in which the fame caufes
of
[ io6 J
of dhTatisfation likewife largely
prevail. I acknowledge this with
a figh ; having been often a witnefs
ef the truth of the argument : but
the young man fhould not there-
fore be difcouraged from a voyage
which he ought to take, but fhould
rather look upon thofe quarrels,
where he has had an opportunity
of obferving them, as lights and
beacons, by the afliftance of which
he may avoid the fands and funken
rocks on which otherwife his veflel
might have foundered.
Too true, and melancholy to an
obferver of human nature, are the
diiTenfions amongft married people j
too true that they are big with
every
every bad effeft to the rifing gene-
ration : and, what is more unfortu-
nate, the remedy as often lies out
of the reach of all human help ; for
thefe overgrown children (for fuch
they are) having no one to whom
they can appeal, but beings pof-
fefled with the fame failings and in-
firmities as themfelves, are above
being guided by any one ; and both
fetting out wrong (yet firmly be-
lieving themfelves on the right fide
of the queftion) it is impofiible
but lading evil muft follow fuch
proceedings.
WHAT then is the certain and
much to be lamented confequence
of all this ? It is becaufe we fee
daily
t 108 ]
daily thofe, who, united with the
fmcereft attachment, are undermin-
ing by imperceptible degrees all af-
fe&ion, till at length they are as
pre-eminently wretched as they were
at firft pre-eminently happy ; becaufe
they lofe fight of that refpect, that
delicacy of behaviour, and thofe
little undefcribable attentions, which
are abfolutely neceflary, as well after
marriage as before, to keep alive
thofe fenfations which ' were once
their greateft boaft ; but which, af-
ter confummation, are laid afide like
a cloak, which is no longer of any
ufe after performing the purpofc for
which it was worn. For thefe way-
ward and wrongheaded couples -
and there are few cities, towns, nay,
even
even villages, without fome of them
let us fuppofe in every fuch fpot a
fhrine ellablifhed, like the oracle at
Delphos, with this addition, that
not only the prophecies, but the
juridical decifions, on every queflion
in litigation brought before it,
fhould be decided with infallibi-
lity.
To this fhrine, then, I would
invite all thefe pafficm-beated and
"paffion-ftirr'mg couples to repair, and
at this tribunal bring to immediate
ifTue thofe quarrels, which, like Sir
Roger PEftrange's fable of the larks
and the thrulhes, might otherwife
be fomented (at leaft as an anni-
verlary, if not oftener) to the day
of
[ no ]
of their deaths, and not only fo,
but, by the continual addition of
fuel, raife fuch a flame as nothing
can ever extinguifh before the whole
edifice is burnt to the ground,
WAS there an attendant on the
fhrine, who was to be entitled only
to a fmall gratification for each ap-
peal to the oracle, I think he would
foon become the richeft man in
either the village, the town, or the
city. The inconvenience he could
experience, would be the excefiive
fatigue of attendance, not only
through the day but through the
night j fir his repofe would ever be
difturbed by the clamorous appeals
from curtain lectures hourly pre-
ferred
[ III ]
ferred to the oracle. Nay, I would
not anfwer for it but that fome, who
had been there, might quarrel on
their return, and again vifit the
ihrine before they could reach home.
A thoufand inftances might be ad-
duced of the utility of this fuppofed
divinity: Such as where married
people are fo rude as to differ in
opinion before company (efpecially
fingle perfons) and, by appealing,
involve them in a ridiculous dif-
pute j or, even if their children are
prefent, will endeavor to intereft
them in the caufe, wherein, by tak-
ing a decided part, they muft either
offend father or mother, or, by
filence, both. In all thefe cafes,
the ihort fcntence of ' Go to the
* oracle/
c oracle,' would fettle the whole
matte/.
To fuch of my fellow-citizens
who are married, and to their ami-
able partners, particularly thofe who
fall under the above defcription, I
now addrefs myfelf, and entreat that
they will, by thinking more pro-
perly, prevent the pen of the fati-
rift, or the tongue of the libertine,
from having it in its power thus to
lafh thefe ferious though ridiculous
foibles ; remembering, that the firft
and principal effort to prevent dif-
putes, is, that each be more cau-
tious in regard to their own expref-
fions and behaviour, and lefs agi-
tated by thofe of their other felf..
I KXOW
[ "3 1
I K N o w a very worthy and fen-
fible old lady, who has often re-
marked, in difputes between mat-
ried people, that, let what will be
the conteft, the victory belongs to
the party, which firft quits the
field.
WOULD ye, my friends, confider,
that the quarrel rnoft frequently
arifes from fome trifle, about which
both are equally indifferent ; and
that it is only pertinacity of opi-
nion, and blind felf willed nature,
which expects too much, and gives
too little, that protracts the difpute ;
furely ye would blufh from very
ihame, and ceafe to wound each
I other's
[ "4 ]
other's feelings, upon points as un-
important as a difpute between two
of your own infants about a top, or
fome other toy, found by one of
them, and claimed by the other.
IT is a favorite maxim among the
ladies, that where married couples
difagree, the man has every ad-
vantage ; as he can, if his home be
rendered difagreeable, leave it, and
by company and amufements com-
penfate the lofs he experiences at his
own fire-fide.
THIS I folemnly deny ; nay, am
certain that the reverfe is the truth.
The hufband may indeed withdraw
himfelf
[ MS 1
Iiimfelf from home, and fliare in
what will foon ceafe to prove amufe-
ments, unlefs his mind be callous
to every domeftic fenfation ; and
thus he may for a while wander
from the tavern to the brothel ; but
whenever he quits home , mjearch of
kappinefs, he may be aflured that
he will be as often difappointed.
LET thofe, who really poflefs the
ineftimable bleffing of domeftic
peace, value it as a jewel above all
price.
LET not the drunkard, the liber-
tine, or the gambler, ever laugh
them (particularly the hulband) out
I 2 Of
[ "6 ]
of their real blifs, to introduce them
to want, difeafe, and mifery.
Too often have the envenomed
lhafts of ridicule, conveyed, per-
haps, in the epithets of Milkfop,
Jerry Sneak, Coward, and fuch ex-
prefllons as thefe, drawn away the
truly happy man from a fmiling,
and, if I may be allowed the ex-
preffion, fsrndtfcical fire-fide, never-
more to return, till the dart, tipt
with the deadly poifon of guilt, has
been infixed in his bofom > and
which, perhaps, every effort of his
amiable partner could never after-
wards extract. And you, * ye fair
f married dames,' ever liflen to this
one
[ "7 ]
one piece of advice, fo well en-
forced by the dramatic poet let
your every nerve be ftrained to
make home comfortable and en-
gaging to your hufbands. Remem-
ber, he comes to you to unbend
from the weightier cares of life,
which furrow his brow, with a prof-
peel; of providing for you and his
children. There are little peculia-
rities, perhaps, in which he places
fome of his pleafures : anticipate
that indulgence; nay, make it a
point of the firft confequence, that
he is never thwarted in fuch inno-
cent recreations. There may be,
perhaps, difhes to which he is par-
tial : let them be often drefifed with
I 3 your
[ "8 ]
your every attention ; and, above
all, drefs your countenance in fmiles,
and let no trivial and accidental
caufe of difquiet make that face
lour with difcontent, which he ex-
pects, nay, has a right to expect,
to behold adorned with chearfulnefs
upon his return. Remember, the
ftrongeft tie you can ever have upon
your hufband, muft arife from un-
affected and artlefs gaiety, which
he is certain takes its rife from your
fmcere affection for him. It is not
enough to gain your conqueft, un-
lefs you make ufe of thefe mea-
fures to fecure it, A fmall part
alone is done when you have obtain-
ed a hufband. The talk remains to
10 keep
t "9 1
keep pofleflion ; nor is it difficult,
if you prove your regard by con-
jugal fidelity, and a delicate and
tender attachment. Let not love
of admiration, or inherent vanity,
or wayward wifhes of any kind,
ever lead you to difplay a difpofi-
tion, which may crpfs your huf-
band's views, or four his temper.
Remember, and this remark is mu-
tual, that the only way to be happy
yourfelves, is to make each other
happy : that, linked in an indiflb-
luble chain, you will hereafter give
an account at that tribunal where
fubterfuge and hypocrify will not
avail, whether ye have reciprocally
fomented the fatisfaction, eafe, com-
I 4 fort,
fort, and happinefs of each other,
or, by the reverfe, have become
your own tormentors j and, what
is worfe, have, by example, en-
tailed milery on your pofterity.
[ 1*1 ]
ON THE CAUSES OF THE DEPOPU-
LATION OF THE COUNTRY.
TO O true it is, that the par-
tiality for populous cities,
and the refinements, without which
mankind, in their prefent improved
ftate, cannot even exifl, tend very
much to the depopulation of the
country.
FROM the higheft to the lowed,
this rage prevails ; and, in my re-
tired frtuation, I have often had it
objected by the fervants I have been
in treaty with, that they, having
been
been ufed to a town, fhould be
moped to death in fuch a folitude.
All this, in every clafs, is a vitiated
idea, and a falfe tafte, grafted upon
principles which will not bear mi-
nute inveftigation.
THE man of fifhion, whether
titled or not, quits the feat of his
anceftors. The tufted lawn, the
meandring ftream, the verdant grove,
the gay parterre, with all the beau-
tifully diverfified fcenery of wood
and dale, are exchanged for the lefs
healthful, though more enchanting,
region of St. James's.
THERE, immerfed in fmoke,
in noife, and diffipation, he no
longer
[ "3 1
longer feels a relifh for the beau-
ties of nature, for the mufic of the
fongfters on the bough, or for the
pleafures of retirement. Whirling
round in the vortex of fafhion, ftun-
ned by the buftle of the f bufy hum
f of men/ he hears not the * frill
c fmall voice' of reflection, and often
neglects to think at all, till the turn
of the dice (more direful in effect
than the furious tempeft which
may perchance root up a fmgle oak,
too ponderous to bear its own weight)
at once difmantles the woods and
the groves, and robs him for ever
of that feat heretofore, through a
long line of illuftrious anceftors,
the manfion of rural chearfulnefs and
hofpitality.
Is
[ 4 1
I s not this then a falfe tafte ?
Can its principles be defended ?
while the country languifhes under
the lofs of thofe who are its natural
guardians and protestors, from whom
are expected ufeful improvements >
productive of fuch effects as will
provide the poor with bread, and.
preferve them from their greatefl
bane, idlenefs, and, in the end,
prove lading advantages to the pof-
feflbrs, as well as ornaments to the
face of the country.
How many fmall families are
fupported by living in the neigh-
bourhood of fome great man ! Trade
becomes brifk, and the faces of the
inhabitants wear a continual fmile.
And
[ "5 ]
And if the great man fhould for-
tunately prove alfo a good man, he
then brings neglected morality and
religion into credit by his example
and influence.
I F all thefe things are in the
power of the great and opulent, do
they not almoft wear the appear-
ance of a duty ? and will not the
wealthy hereafter be obliged to give
an account, how they have difpofed
of the talents committed to their
care ? Are we not told, in an old-
fafhioned book, that ' to whom
4 much is given, of him much fhall
* be required ? '
AND here let me pay the tri-
bute
[ 1*6 I
bute of gratitude to thee, my friend
from eailieft youth. Reader, were-
there many fuch characters, they
would refcue human nature from
the ftigma of that almoft univerfal
depravity which now prevails. Be-
nevolus was the Squire of the vil-
lage where I pafied my juvenile
days. He pofiefled a good eftate,
amply fufficient to have enabled
him to fhare in the diffipation of
the capital, had he been fo difpofed.
But Benevolus had fuch a partiality
for his native feat, that he feldom
left it. He was the idol of his
neighbours: he was the uniform
friend of the poor and needy : he
was a juft and upright magiftrate.
How have I heard the poor call
down
down bleffings on his head ! and
yet the idle and the indolent were
ever certain of meeting with their
deferts. See him on a Sunday en-
ter the church (from which nothing
but ficknefs ever kept him) between
a double row of his tenants, faluting
him with the profoundeft refpecl: ; his
ftep firm and manly his exterior
noble and engaging yet with fuch
humility thrown into his features,
which nothing but a knowledge
that he was then in the prefence
of the King of Kings could have
infpired. During the whole fervice
his deportment was devout, and a
model for thofe around him ; which
has often put me in mind of Ad^
difon's Sir Roger de C overly.
Long
[ 128 ]
Long will the parifh mourn thy re-
moval, Benevolus ; and, without
the leaft affront to thy fuccefibr,
thy dependants will rarely, if ever,
again meet with fuch a guardian,
protector, and guide ! How often
haft thou invited me to thy feftive
board, attended, as thy hofpitality
ever was, by fobriety and decency f
How often didft thou call me to
afiift at thy concerts, and taught my
young and unfkilful hand to form
thofe founds which have occafion-
ally become my folace through all
the chequered fcenes of life, even
to this very hour ! Happy, happy
days, never half valued till more
weighty cares, more ferious occu-
pations, and the confequent remo-
val
val from the venerated fpot, have
taught me to prize, as they deferved,
fuch great bleflings.
ANOTHER caufe, Hill more de-
trimental, prevails, towards the de-
population of the country, than that
which I have mentioned : I mean
the demolition of fmall farms, by
laying them into large ones. Too
late, when the evil has obtained deep
root, may our governors deplore
that fome ftep was not taken to re-
medy this plan, fo deftructive to
population ; too late may the land-
ed gentlemen lament their error,
by deftroying what may be fairly
deemed the very fmews of the
Hate.
K IT
[ '30 ]
IT would take fome time to fketch
a part of the pernicious effects of
this miftaken policy; to defcribe
them all would exceed the bounds
to which I have limited myfelf.
Take one inftance, which will efta-
blilh the fad:.
A GENTLEMAN has a large eftate
round his country feat ; but, un-
fortunately, there are five or fix
fmall farms in the parifli, which do
not belong to him, and he is wretch-
ed, and not to be fatisfied, till he
has purchafed them. The fteward
is confulted, and, obfequious to the
nod of his matter, fets about it,
and at length, by offering a great
price, and by making the pofiefiion
of
t i3\ 1
of their little eftates uneafy to the
owners, obtains the purchafe. He
informs his mafter of his fuccefs,
and tells him, that, however large
the price, he can enable him ftill to
make good intereft of his money,
which may be effected alone, by
letting all thefe farms to one of his
prefent tenants, whofe lands ap-
proximate, and who certainly can,
by making cottages of the houfes j
or, what is ftill better, by their being
pulled down, and the expence of
repairs thus rendered unneceflary,
give a greater rent than the poor
but induftrious man, who has a
numerous family to maintain out of
the labours of his hands> and the
fmall ftock he is enabled to keep*
K 2 This,
This, reader, I have been a witnefs
to. I have feen the great tenant of
the great man take pofleffion of the
fmall farms ; and, what is more, have
feen the care-furrowed poor man,
with his infant family, his weeping
partner, with his little #//, loaded on
his only cart ; his cows, his geefe,
and his fwine, take a long farewell
of that jfpot on which the difconfo-
late pair had fondly hoped, by mu-
tual toil, to have fupported them-
felves j and, by an early initiation to
labour, have made their children
ufeful, and, in their line, praife-
worthy. I have feen the mufcles of
the poor man's face convulfed with
feelings too ftrong for concealment.
But what muft be their future lot !
No
[ 133 3
No other fmall farm is to be pro-
cured, fo general is this deftruftive
plan ! Some wretched cottage muft
receive them, and perhaps, ulti-
mately, the poor - houfe ! Thus
they who, had they been continued
on their farm, would, by unceafing
toil, have contributed to defray the
burthens of the parifh, would be
obliged to become penfioners them-
felves.
BUT much farther does the evil
extend. Was it to flop here, al-
though pernicious in its confe-
quences to fociety, yet it wduld not
be fo definitive, as in ieveral re-
fpefts yet to be defcribed ; for fome
young man, who by frugality had
feved a few pounds in fervice, and
K 3 who
[ '34 ]
who had connected himfelf with a
maiden, equally prudent, might have
ftept into one of thefe farms, and by
fuch means have been enabled, with-
out a crime, to enrich the country
with inhabitants, by virtue of thofe
natural propenfities we all poffefs.
Take away from fuch the profpedl
of marrying and maintaining a wife
and family, they lofe their fenfe of
religion and morality, and look alone
to chance fruition, till time difcovers
the confequences, when die poor
fellow leaves the fpot and flees,
while the haplefs unwary girl, dread-
ing fharrie, and the ftruggle of pro-
viding fmgly for her helplefs infant,
flrangles it at the birth. Direful,
tremendous event ! J appeal to the
moft
[ '35 ]
moft learned in the annals of this
country, whether thefe evils were fo
numerous when the number of fmall
farms was great, and held forth a
profpeft of a comfortable home,
where every honeft defire between
the fexes might be indulged. I'ben
was there fome inducement to the
fervant to be parfimonious in the
expenditure of his money, becaufe
he had this objecl: invariably in view.
Now the object has vanifhed, the
man is indifferent as to matrimony,
and too often the alehoufe carries
off all, or perhaps more than he
has to fpare, to the injury not
only of his morals, but of his in-
tegrity,
K 4 How
[ 136 I
How many broods of poultry,
and how many litters of pigs, did
each fuch little family rear up, and
produce for fale, at the neareft town !
whereas, now, the fatted ftately
fleers alone (doomed for the London
market) ftalk over the folitary and
half- inhabited land. Mr. Paley, in
his admirable work, fays, ' that in-
f creafing population, and the num-
' bers of the people, are the real
f riches of any Hate.' Every one
muft acknowledge the juftnefs of
the remark, which is well worthy
of the attention of you, the natural
guardians of the country, who pof-
fefs landed eftates.
SURELY, if ever ye vifit your
rural
[ '37 ]
rural feats, if ever ye take a circuit
round your domains, the fmiling
look of an infant peafantry, and
the enlivening face of a populous,
when compared with a folitary,
country, would amply compenfate
the diminution, which (if your de-
fires are at all bounded) can be
hardly felt in your income. I am
told there is an act of parliament,
which inflicts penalties on the hold-
ers of more than fuch a number of
acres. Why then do the laws fleep ?
If it once was thought expedient to
make fuch a law, I am certain it is
equally fo to enforce it. And if
our governors wifh to preferve a
numerous peafantry, and ftop the
corruption of morals, increafmg
with
[ 138 ]
with rapid ftrides amongft the loweft
ranks of the people, let them turn
their thoughts to this fubject, and
begin, at home, that reformation
which can alone enfure lofting peace,
and the means of future Jecurity from
treacherous foes, to this itill happy
and envied ifle.
O N
[ '39 ]
ON EXERCISE AND TEM-
PERANCE.
TO the opulent, who are too
often the indolent, few things
are of more confequence than a due
attention to exercife.
WHEN that memorable curfe
was paffed upon our firft parents,
' In the fweat of thy face fhalt
' thou eat bread,' it alfo entailed
a necefiity of exercife upon thofe,
who, being by their fituation re-
lieved from manual labour, would
otherwife have been exempted from
this
[ 140 ]'
this univerfal fentence. Even in
paradife, where all things, but man's
perverfe will, were perfect, labour
was neceffary j for we are told of
our firft parents, by the divine Mil-
ton, that
' Under a tuft of fnade, that on a green
' Stood whifp'ring foft, by a frefh foun-
' tain fide
' They fat them down ; and after no more
< toil
f Of their fweet gard'ning labour, than
fuffic'd
' To recommend cool zephyr, and made eafe
e More eafy, <wkolefome tkirji and appetite
' More grateful ; to their fupper fruits
'they fell.'
I T is true, beyond a poflibility of
difpute, that the human frame is fo
formed,
formed, that without fome bodily-
exertion, obftructions of the almoft
innumerable vefTels of our compli-
cated fyftem muft follow j as in a
well-conftructed piece of machinery,
if a flop is put to any one part, im-
mediate confufion muft arife, and
the whole will be as certainly af-
fected
THOSE who are not obliged to
earn their daily bread, muft ftill find
out fome plan of exercife to carry
off what would otherwife overload
the vefTels, when difeafes muft cer-
tainly follow ; and they will, by in-
dolence, become a prey to the gout,
dropfy, apoplexy, and that nume-
rous train of diforders from which
the
[ '42 ]
the poor and the laborious are almoft
univerfally exempted, and which find
entrance to the bed of down only,
and make all the elegancies of life
taftelefs and infipid.
WHY has the brown cruft of the
poor man ever been defcribed as
eaten with fo peculiar a relifh ? It
is becaufe labour has given him
that appetite, for which the epicure
in vain feeks amongft high-feafoned
dilhes, and the almoft countlefs va-
riety with which his table is loaded.
How many conftitutions experience
a premature decay, from thofe two
direful foes to man, indolence and
intemperance 1
[ 143 ]
c EAT to live, and not live to
* eat,' fhould be fixed in capital let-
ters at the fummit of the towering
cpargne-, or repeated by an atten-
dant, fimilar to him who was ap-
pointed daily to remind the king his
mailer that he muft die.
WAS this admonition properly
attended to, we Ihould not fee fo
many pallid countenances, and fwoln
bodies, burthened with the effects of
indigeftion.
IT is a maxim of long {landing,
that every man is either a fool, or
his own phyiician, at forty. Was
I to attempt an application of this
adage, it would, I fear, bear hard
6 upon
C 144 ]
upon fo large a fhare of my fellow-
citizens, that I will not apply ir.
But as all mankind have an in-
ilin&ive attachment to this life,
wifely implanted by the author of
our exiftence, for good andjuftpur-
pofes, how ftrange is it, that our
appetites and paffions, joined to the
enflaving force of habit, fhould fo
overpower what we all know to be
right, as to engage us in a plan
moft certainly deftruftive to that
very exiftence to which we cling,
like the finking mariner to the
wreck, with fuch extreme tenacity !
WERE the rules of temperance
and exercife duly attended to, the
drugs in the apothecary's fhop would
lie
[ 145 ]
lie ufclefs : and energy, activity, and
a briik flow of fpirits, would cha-
radlerife thofe, who now feel only a
temporary relief from pain, by the
affiftance of that art, which would
then be chiefly confined to acci-
dental diforders, from which none
can promife themfelves fecurity, and
which make indeed but a very fmall
part of the emoluments of the phy-
fical tribe.
LET it nor, however, be thought
that I intend the fmallefl farcafm on
thofe, whofe profeflion I venerate
very highly, and who ought, as they
defervedly do, to Hand in the moft
exalted fphere in the opinion of
their fellow-creatures. Where fhall
we find a defcription of this clafs
L equal
[ '46 1
equal to that given us by the juftly
admired writer, Mr. Crabbe, in his
Library ? and which I beg leave to
quote, as a tribute due to fo valu-
able a part of fociety :
'There Phyfic fills the fpace, and far
' around,
* Pile above pile, her learned works abound,
Glorious their aim to aid the labouring
heart -i
* To war with death, and flop his flying
' dart ;
' To trace the fource from whence the
' conteft grew,
' And life's fhort leafe on eafier terms re-
' new ;
' To calm the frenzy of the burning brainy
To heal the tortures of imploring pain ;
* Or, when more powerful ills all efforts "1
' brave,
* To cafe the viftim, no device can fave,
* And fmooth the ftormy paflage to the I
grave.' "J
THE
t '47 ]
THE habitual drunkard makes
quick approaches to that c bourn
c from which no traveller returns/
and brings on, too often, that con-
fnming malady, which (flattering
only to its prey) destroys the lungs,
and waftes the human frame by im-
perceptible degrees. But how few,
could the numbers be afcertained,
fall a facrifke to this vice, com-
pared to thofe who look down with
horror on fuch characters as thefe,
and yet are equally culpable, by not
retraining a kindred appetite in the
article of eatingi
THE dignitary in the church,
lolling on his velvet culhion, under
the pealing organ, and who would
L 2 fhudder
fhudder at the idea of abfolute ine-
briety, yet thinks with glee of the
delicacies which await him when
church is over, and the table co-
vered for dinner.
THE bodies corporate of our po-
pulous cities have long been a {land-
ing jeft of the witlings and the ca-
ricaturifts of the age. To me .the
difference is not fo great as fome
may imagine, whether the body is
undermined by inebriety, attended
by its conflant companion, derange-
ment of the mental faculties, of
whether it is equally weakened by a
loid of .indigefted food piled up in
the flomach, which, although it does
not produce the madnels and dif-
tracliun
[ *49
traction which wine and ftrong drink
occafion, yet opprefles the foul with
fuch a weight, that the man, with
his eyes fet, and panting for breath
under his ponderous burthen, be-
comes little better than merely an
animal. In one refpedt the animal
is the better character, for the brute
creation know when they have e-
nough, and feldom overgorge them-
felves, but lie down fatisfied with
what nature requires.
COULD men be perfuaded to
rife from the pleafures of the table
with an appetite, they would find
fo, much comfort, that, when they
took into the fcale, how much they,
by this means, contributed to lon-
L 3 gevity,
t 15 I
gevity, I ihould fuppofe no grati-
fication of the palate could coun-
terbalance the advantages. To this
let there be added fuch hours as
Nature intended for reft, and,, in-
itead of confuming the night in
company, and fleeping out the beft
part of the day, be advifed to re-
tire early to repofe, and with the
plowman in the morning, liilen to
the early ferenade of the lark. Cal-
culation has proved how many years
would, by thefe means, be added to-
a man's waking exiftence. Should
the fons of ftafting plead, that it
would be in vain to attempt to
leave off cuftoms to which they
have been fo long habituated, let
them recollect the remarkable in-
ftance
[ IJI I
fiance of that noble Venetian Lewis
Cornaro, who, with a bad conftitu-
tion, weakened by repeated excefs,
began a reformation at forty years
of age, and, by perfeverance in a
plan of temperance and exercife,
lived to be a very old man ; which
proves at once, that it is poflible to
difcontinue them, inveterate as they
may be, and buril the chains, how-
ever mafly, by which we fuffer our-
ftlves to be bound.
YET will the epicure ftill feafty
and the dignitary ftill reckon upon
his delicacies^ and the different of-
ficers of the bodies corporate ftill
enjoy their turtle and their venifon.
Still will the night be wafted in
L 4 com-
[ 15* ]
company; and the morning, fo of-
ten fung and celebrated both by
ancient and modern authors, be
dozed away in deep and infenfi-
bility j and my antiquated and ruf-
ticated notions be treated with dif-
dain. Well, then, if it muft be fo,
I can only heave a figh of pity for
my fellow-creatures ; ft ill confcious^
whilft truth remains afcertainable,
that the bed of the .argument is on
my fide ; begging only, that ye,
who, like fuicides (pardon the ex-
prdfiori) are carekfs of the true
means of prolonging your exiftence,
and who may be called galley-flaves,
chained to the oar of your appetites
and paffions, would believe the mo-
tive which actuated the writer to be
that
that of the moft unfeigned regard
for your welfare, with the hope,
though perhaps a vain hope, that
in fome inftances the admonitions,
here imparted, may have their due
and proper effeft.
O M
ON HUMANITY TO ANIMALS.
IT is of the firft confequence, in
training up the youth of both
fexes, that they be early infpired
with humanity, and particularly that
its principles be implanted ftrongly
in their yet tender hearts, to guard
them againft inflicting wanton pain
on thofe animals, which ufe or ac-
cident may occafionally put into
their power.
How many difpofitions have been
formed to cruelty, from being per-
mitted to tear off the wings of flies,
whipping
[ '55 J
whipping cats and dogs, or tying &
firing to the leg of a bird, and twirl-
ing it round till the thigh is torn
from the bleeding body ! How
highly neceffary is it for parents to
watch with anxious care over their
offspring, and ftrenuoufly to op-
pofe fuch habits as thefe (though:
they often arife from mere childifh
imitations, rather than from a bad
heart) and to ftifle in the birth
every wifh and defire to inflict tor-
ture, or even give unneceffary pain !
I HAVE feen one inftance to the
contrary. It was of an amiable
young lady, with whom fuch care
was taken to keep her fenfibilky
awake> that Ihe was in a continual
agitation.
t IJ6 ]
Rgitation, by thofe unavoidable ac-
cidents which animals experience ;
but this fo rarely happens, that the
danger lies on the other fide, and
there is little fear of fuch a quality
being carried too far. This ten-
dency to cruelty, fo direful in its
effects to young minds, c grows with
' their growth, and ftrengthens with
1 their ftrength,' till, by the time
boys^rrive at manhood, they have
loft all thofe fenfitive perceptions,
which do honor to human nature.
Young matter muft have a little
horfe to ride, and a favorite fpaniel
to accompany him ; thefe alter-
nately commit, what he terms faults,
and, becaufe they are his, he is to
chaftife them as he thinks proper.
If
[ -57 ]
If the young gentleman is heir to a
good eftate, the domeftics look up
to him as their future mailer, and>
not daring to difpleafe him, he is
foon initiated by the fervants into
the ' art of ingeniouQy tormenting'
all forts of animals, fueh as tying
cats together by their tails, which
irritates them to fight, or by Ihoe-
ing them with walnut - fhells j an
owl is to be attached to the back of
a duck, which of courfe dives in
hopes of exonerating itfelf, and the
owl follows, and when both return
to the furface, the wet, but tor-
tured owl, affords wonderful fat if-;
faction to the young fquire and his
aflbciates. Badger-baiting is fuc-
ceeded by bull-baiting, and our
hero
[ 158 ]
hero is at length ulhered into thai
noble diverfion, the folace of fome
of our nobility, yet the difgrace of
this kingdom, the cock-pit, where,
amidft dreadful oaths and execra-
tions, he compleats a character
which is above all fear of fhame or
humanity. He is fo well taught to
laugh at the diftrefies and infirmi-
ties of his fellow-creatures, that he
would look upon it as a glorious act
'to drive over an old woman, fhould.
fhe happen to be too decrepit to
efcape the career of his phaeton j
and his fupreme delight is to fee
two human beings expofed naked
upon a ftage, and ufmg the moll
Jkilful efforts to knock each other
on the head. What a fhout rends
10 the
[ '59 ]
the air when 'one has laid his anta*-
gonift, for a time, breathlefs on the
ilage, with the blood ftreaming
from the wound! In vain do we,
who are not initiated into the fu-
preme felicity of fuch fcenes, look
around to find out that pleafure of
which we can form no idea. But
furely, amongft the fofter difpofi-
tions of the other fex, we fhall never
find the leaft tendency to cruelty.
Yet are the ladies of this ifland not
exempt, although I am proud to
boaft, that there are no women in
the known world, who poffefs fb
much delicacy and fenfibility ; and
yet, in fome inftances, I cannot ex-
culpate them. Do they not con-
fine the feathered warblers in a
cage,
E >6o ]
cage, barring them from freedom:,
their inherent right, and from thofe
employments to which inftindtive
nature fo ftrongly impels them ? Will
the lark carol with that energy, on
one poor fod in his wire prifon, as
when he foars into the fky till his
flight is imperceptible ? I have
known feveral of my female friends
ambitious of a curious collection of
infefts. What was the confequence ?
In the courfe of the fummer you
fee their dreffing- rooms adorned
with a number of thofe beautiful
fluttcrers, ftuck through with large
pins j and I have feen my fair
friends exulting in having caught
one with variegated colours, holding
his wings after he was impaled, left
the
die agonies of expiring life fhould
injure his beauty after death. Is
the lady fond of angling ? fhe takes
her ftation by the fide of the mur-
muring dream, and., with the ut-
moft -unconcern, forces the barbed
hook through the defencelefs bod/
of the writhing worm, and there ic
rrruft remain, in torture, as a bait
for the fifti ; for, fhould death put
a period to its existence, it is no
longer fit for ufe, and muft be fuc-
ceeded by another fufferer. Can
there be a more dreadful, a more
ingenious piece of torture contrived
than this? yet will they tell you,
with a laugh, it is only a worm. Is
pain then confined to beings of a
larger bulk ? Has not the worm a
M body,
I 162 ]
body, in all its parts exquifitely
formed by the hand of Providence ?
Shajceipeare fays,
* ' Whilft the poor worm, which we
* tread upon,
* In corporal fuff 'ranee feels a pang as
great
* As when a giant dies.'
IT is furely unpleafant to reflect,
that there are hardly any of thofe
fports which gentlemen purfue, but
are purchafed at the expence of fome
animal or another. The hawk flies
at the trembling pigeon ; the quick-
fcented hound purfues the timid
hare through all her doubles , the
.pointer, with inflated noftril, finds
the partridge in the ftubble, and
man
t i3 J
man muft be gratified by nothing
kfs than the death of the animals
fubmitted to his will. The race-
horfe drains his every mufcle, ever
to torment, and fleets over the
courfe with a fpeed almoft incre-
dible ; but his aftoniihing fwiftnels
is of no ufe to the fober part
of mankind. The fums allowed
by our former fovereigns, granted
from a wile motive, to improve the
breed of horfes, no longer are ex-
pended with that view ; but, on the
other hand, to train up an expen-
five breed, calculated only to ruin
thofe who have not been initiated
into the myfteries of the turf. Whiift
the animals themfelves, kept in an
tmnatural ftate, inftead of ranging
M 2 abroad
[ '64 ]
abroad in the fields, pafs a ufsleft
exigence, and are kept in health by
phyfic, and by periodical returns of
exercife, the only employment for
boys, brought up in wickednefc, and
idlenefs, and gaming.
THERE is another fpecies of in-
humanity, which all ranks, except
the poor and indigent, (land accufed
of: This is the cuftom of travel-
ling poft. How have I feen the
trembling chaife-horfe panting for
breath, every limb (battered by the
hardnefs of the road, come reeking
into the inn-yard, and nearly ex-
piring uoder the extreme exertion
to which he has been driven ! his
fides bleeding with the fpurs or
lafhes
lafhes of the unfeeling poft-boyst
every mufcle and tendon quivering
with convulfive agony ! In vain is
he offered food -, his mouth is parched
with thirft and duft, he refufes fuf-
tenance, water he is denied, becaufe
it would probably put an end to his
exiftence, and he is preferved for
future and conftant torment. But
there muft be fome great caufe, a
flranger would lay, fbme very good
reafon, why horfes have been driven
fo unmercifully. On the contrary,
it is the conftant cuftom of thofe,
who by their fituations can afford
it, to tip the poftillion an extraor-
dinary gratuity, for which fum he
would, at any time, flog his horles,
who muft fuffer in proportion, till
they
[ i6 J
they nearly expire under the torture.
Inhuman cuftom ! barbarous polite-
nefs ! dreadful effect tfpolijbed man-
ners ! I have myfelf no doubt, that
we muft inevitably hereafter give
an account of the expenditure of
our time, and the motives upon
which we adted, and that thofe
who thus unfeelingly indulge them-
fclves in fuch procedures towards
the brutal creation, when no caufe
of moment demands fuch exertions,
will be called upon to anfwer for
thofe mercilefs lafhes, and for thofc
excruciating pangs,, wantonly in-
flicted upon the uncomplain-ing ani-
mals, by whom they are fo fwiftly
drawn.
THESE
THESE poor creatures, alas ! ex-
perience no advantage from the
prohibition contained in the fourth
. commandment , but, by the force
of all-ruling fafhion, are doomed
tp fuf&r more on that day than
on any other. But Ihall not this
double breach of the laws of Hea-
ven and humanity meet with doubly
retribution, in the future difpenfa-
,tion of rewards and punifhments ?
"While .the gentleman turns with
horror from the brutal carman,
inflicting unmerited punifhment
v-on his faithful horfes, let him re-
flect, that he is himfelf more cul-
pable in the practice above-men-
j becaufe his education ought
to
to have inculcated better princi-
ples.
LET not thefe reflections be called
too ftrong, or too fevere the caufe
of humanity (the caufe of every
thinking and confederate man} demands
it. So various, fo complicated arc
the evils under which the domeftic
animals fuffer by the hand of man,
that no expreffion can be too forcible
to refcue them from the cruelties
under which they fo often Ian-
guifh.
IN the preface to this book, I
declared that I had no motive but
the good of mankind in view, when
I took
[ i9 3
I took up my pen the fame mo-
tive has conducted me through the
\vhole. I have not the leaft idea
of perfonality, my aim alone being,
if poflible, to ftem the current of
vice and folly.
IF! have deferved well of my
fellow - citizens, and fhould the
voice of the public applaud my
little labours, I lhall be amply gra-
tified.
SHOULD I have over-rated my
trifling abilities, I lhall ftill have
my motives for my confolation.
Unknown, and therefore concealed
from perfonal contempt, I lhall ever
N make
make my own heart eafy, with the
reflection, that as my ible objed
was the good of others, no felf-
reproach can ever harrafs my bo-
fom, or give me one moment's dif-
quiet.
F I tf I S,
This book is DUE on the last
date stamped below
!TBfKO
Ml
10m-ll,'50 (2555)470
A 000 000 967
UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA
AT
LOS ANGELES
LIBRARY