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the affection of an amiable female, it is necessary to avoid every appearance of trifling. She will forgive slight acts of faithlessness, nay, perhaps, be more attached, on the whole, if judiciously managed; but at the moment of declaring the sentiments of Love, our countenances must shew that we feel what our lips are uttering, and that she alone is the object of our admiration. No woman values a divided heart; since, as Gay remarks,—

Love is but a name,

Unless to one we stint the flame.

There are, to the disgrace of the sex be it spoken, villains with so little regard for the virtue, comfort, and eternal peace of their fellow-creatures, as to delight in the seduction of innocent and inexperienced females, by acts of the most diabolical nature; such as fostering expectations which can never be realized, and volunteering endless promises of marriage, with the sanction of oaths which are made but to be broken. How strange it is, that such moments of transient gratification should be bought at the expense of the soul's eternal welfare, and with the tears of lost and deserted innocence! The ignominy attached to such conduct must be obvious to every one in whose bosom there is the least spark of honour or of justice.

There is, however, another description of conduct, scarcely less dangerous in its consequences, though. perhaps not equally criminal in intention. Many individuals suppose that conversation with young ladies cannot be at all interesting unless their vanity be flattered, or a certain degree of tenderness and affection be conveyed in the discourse. This serves not only to nourish the sufficiently-great desire of the other sex for vanity, but it also induces them to mistake the slightest degree of attention for an offer of marriage. The fop is not sensible of this, or, if he should perceive it, he is too thoughtless to reflect on the consequences which must result from it; he relies upon the consciousness of having never conveyed such an offer in direct terms; and when he ceases paying his court to the deluded fair one, she is rendered as unhappy

the world, his wife, how dearly soever beloved, is but a source of anxiety to him, since he feels, with accumulated force, the blows of adverse fortune. If, perchance, he should repent of his rashness before the indissoluble knot be tied, he is then tortured by the dictates of a polluted conscience, and the scarcely less cutting reproaches of his injured mistress. But experience daily evinces the inefficiency of advice and counsel, in the frenzied moments of mental intoxication.

If love and intimacy have attached a man to an amiable female, and, by some unforeseen event, the connection be dissolved, no vexation, no pique, no injury, however deep, should tempt him to act ungenerously towards her: the bosom that has once been induced to confide its secrets to his keeping, should never be tortured by an exposure of its fondness. There is not an epithet sufficiently indelible for conduct so base and so unmanly. Yet individuals are to be found, who, from feelings of revenge, or to shield themselves from consequences attaching to impropriety of behaviour, will expose the letters of a woman to the scandalizing ordeal of a busy world, or the impertinent curiosity of a court of justice. No reprobation will have the power of touching such a man's feelings, for he must have been sunk indeed beneath every honourable sensation ere he could have descended to such a pitiful action. How many, in fact, who, in other respects, are not very amiable, owe the attachment of accomplished women to their approved discretion and delicacy!

Nothing is more adapted to give the last polish to the education of a young man, than conversation with virtuous and accomplished women. Their society serves to smooth the edges of character, and to mellow the temper. In short, the man who has never associated with females of the better class, is not only deprived of many of life's purest pleasures, but will also have little chance of success in his worldly

career.

In the business of courtship, if bent on obtaining

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the affection of an amiable female, it is necessary to avoid every appearance of trifling. She will forgive slight acts of faithlessness, nay, perhaps, be more attached, on the whole, if judiciously managed; but at the moment of declaring the sentiments of Love, our countenances must shew that we feel what our lips are uttering, and that she alone is the object of our admiration. No woman values a divided heart; since, as Gay remarks,—

Love is but a name,

Unless to one we stint the flame.

There are, to the disgrace of the sex be it spoken, villains with so little regard for the virtue, comfort, and eternal peace of their fellow-creatures, as to delight in the seduction of innocent and inexperienced females, by acts of the most diabolical nature; such as fostering expectations which can never be realized, and volunteering endless promises of marriage, with the sanction of oaths which are made but to be broken. How strange it is, that such moments of transient gratification should be bought at the expense of the soul's eternal welfare, and with the tears of lost and deserted innocence! The ignominy attached to such conduct must be obvious to every one in whose bosom there is the least spark of honour or of justice.

There is, however, another description of conduct, scarcely less dangerous in its consequences, though. perhaps not equally criminal in intention. Many individuals suppose that conversation with young ladies cannot be at all interesting unless their vanity be flattered, or a certain degree of tenderness and affection be conveyed in the discourse. This serves not only to nourish the sufficiently-great desire of the other sex for vanity, but it also induces them to mistake the slightest degree of attention for an offer of marriage. The fop is not sensible of this, or, if he should perceive it, he is too thoughtless to reflect on the consequences which must result from it; he relies upon the consciousness of having never conveyed such an offer in direct terms; and when he ceases paying his court to the deluded fair one, she is rendered as unhappy

as if he had imposed upon her with decided premeditation. The forsaken girl pines in secret, while disappointed hope silently preys upon her heart; but the heedless and unthinking coxcomb who is the cause of her unhappiness, hastens to the string of some other beauty, and perhaps adds another to the list of his unwary victims.

Pure and virtuous Love is the surest extinguisher of our unruly passions; and conversation with accomplished women, whilst it purifies the heart of a young man, effectually arms him, under the influence of religion, against the studied and seductive artifices of designing females.

Many of the preceding observations are extracted from the "Practical Philosophy," of Baron Knigge, who observes, that he owed to the conversation of good and accomplished women, the happiest hours of his life. Their tender sensibility; their ability to divine and comprehend every thing so quickly, to read the sentiments of the heart in the countenance; their nice sense of those little favours which contribute so much to sweeten life; their charming and artless wit; their frequent and uncommonly just judgments, unbiassed by learned, systematic, and prejudiced opinions; their inimitably amiable humour, interesting even in its ebbs and flows; their patience in long and painful sufferings, though they should, in the first moment when the affliction comes upon them, distress their consorts by complaints; the gentleness with which they comfort, nurse, and forbear; the innocent loquacity and frankness with which they enliven societyall this, the Baron says, he had amply experienced. The following piece, from Dryden, gives us a pleasing idea of rural wooing:

He preferr❜d me

Above the maidens of my age and rank,

Still shunn'd their company, and still sought MINE.
I was not won by gifts, yet still he gave

And all his gifts, tho' small, yet spoke his LOVE!
He pick'd the earliest strawberries in the woods,
The cluster'd filberts, and the purple grapes;
He taught a prating stare to speak my name,

And when he found a nest of nightingales,
Or callow linnets, he would shew 'em me,
And let me take 'em out.

The following pretty love-song, is from the

Mrs. Opie:

Say, by what name can I impart

My sense, dear girl, of what thou art?
Nay, though to frown, thou darest,
I'll say thou art of girls the pride:
And though that modest lip may chide,
Mary! I'll call thee FAIREST.'
Yet no-that word can but express
The soft and winning loveliness

In which the sight thou meetest.
But not thy heart, thy temper too,
So good, so sweet-Ah! that will do!
Mary! I'll call thee SWEETEST.'

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But fairest, sweetest,' vain would be,
To speak the love I feel for thee:

Why smil'st thou as thou hearest ?
"Because," she cried, " one little name
Is all I wish from thee to claim--

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