Maria, though not tall, was nevertheless of the first order of fine formis- -affliction had touched her looks with fomething that was fcarce earthly-ftill fhe was feminine-and. fo much was there about her of all that the heart withes, or the eye looks for in woman, that could the traces be ever worn out of her brain, and thofe of Eliza's out of mine, fhe fhould not only eat of my bread and drink of my own cup, but Maria fhould lie in my bosom, and be unto me as a daughter.

Adieu, poor lucklefs maiden !-imbibe the oil and wine which the compaffion of a ftranger, as he journieth on his way, now pours into thy wounds--the Being who has twice bruised thee can only bind them up. for ever.

NUMBER XIV.

My lovely bride, my confort come!

A SONG.

THE day is departed, and round from the

cloud

The Moon in her beauty appears;

The voice of the Nightingale warbles aloud
The mufic of love in our ears:

Maria, appear! now the feafon fo fweet
With the beat of the heart is in tune;
The time is fo tender for lovers to meet
Alone by the light of the Moon.

I cannot when prefent unfold what I feel,
I figh Can a lover do more?
Her name to the fhepherds I never reveal,
Yet I think of her all the day o'er.
Maria, my love! Do you long for the grove?
Do you figh for an interview foon ?

Does e'er a kind thought run on me as you rove
Alone by the light of the Moon?

Your name from the fhepherds whenever I hear

My bofom is all in a glow;

Your voice when it vibrates fo fweet thro

mine ear,

My heart thrills-my eyes overflow.

Ye Powers of the Sky, will your bounty divine Indulge a fond lover his boon?

Shall heart fpring to heart, and Maria be mine, Alone by the light of the Moon?.

NUMBER XV.

Fram' to give joy, the lovely fex are feen;
Beauteous their form, and heav'nly in their mien:
Silent, they charm the pleas'd beholder's fight;
And speaking, ftrike us with a new delight:
Words when pronounc'd by them, bear fuch a dart,
Invade our ears, and wound us to the heart.

ON THE BAD EFFECTS OF DISSIPATION
IN THE FAIR SEX.

IT has been pleaded as an argument in favour

of modern manners, that the fofter vices of Luxury and Diffipation, belong rather to gentle and yielding tempers, than to such as are rugged and ferocious: that they are vices which increase civilization, and tend to promote refinement, and the cultivation of humanity.

But this is an affertion, the truth of which the experience of all ages contradicts. Nero was not lefs a tyrant for being a fiddler: He who wished the whole Roman people had but one neck, that he might difpatch them at a blow, was himself the most debauched man in Rome; and Sydney and Ruffel were condemned to

bleed under the most barbarous, though most dissipated and voluptuous reign that ever difgraced the annals of Britain.

But diffipation is too often cultivated as the readiest relief to domestic infelicity; it draws the mind a while from the fubject of its distress, and suffers it to enjoy an interval of eafe but this refource is as treacherous as it is momentary, and plunges the mind into more real distress than that from which it promised to relieve it.

Pleasures the fex, as children birds pursue,

Still out of reach, yet never out of view.

The lover of dancing cenfures the amufements of the theatre for their dulness, and the gamester blames them both for their levity. She, whose whole foul is fwallowed up in opera ecftafies, is aftonished, that her acquaintance can spend whole nights in preying, like harpies, on the fortunes of their fellow creatures: while the grave fober finner, who paffes her pale and anxious vigils in this fafhionable fort of pillaging, is no less surprised how the other can wafte her precious time in hearing founds for which fhe has no taste, in a language she does not understand.

The love of gaming is the worst of ills,

With ceafelefs ftorms the black'ned foul it fills.

In fhort, every one feems convinced, that the evil fo much complained of does really exift fomewhere, though all are inwardly perfuaded that it is not with themselves. All defire a general reformation, but few will liften to propofals of particular amendment; the body must be restored, but each limb begs to remain as it is; and accufations which concern all, will be likely to affect none. They think that fin, like matter, is divisible, and that what is scattered among fo many, cannot materially affect any one: and thus individuals contribute separately to that evil which they in general lament.

The prevailing manners of an age depend more than we are aware, or are willing to allow, on the conduct of the women; this is one of the principal hinges on which the great machine of human fociety turns. Those who allow the influence which female graces have, in contributing to polifh the manners of men, would do well to reflect how great an influence female morals muft alfo have on their conduct.

It is to the fair fex we owe the most shining qualities of which ours is mafter: as the antients infinuated with their usual address, by painting both the Virtues and Graces as females.