reasonable expectations ofliving in the midst of those pleasures, with which she had seen her sather and mother solacing their age. There is an œconomical oracle received among the prudential part of the world, which advises sathers to marry tbeir daughters list they Jbculd marry tbemjdves; by which I suppofe it is implied, thai women left to their own conduct, generally unite themselves with such partners as can contribute very little to their selicity. Who was the author of this maxim, or with what intention it was originally uttered, I have not yet discovered; but imagine that however solemnly it may be transmitted, or however implicitly received, it can conser no authority which nature has denied, it cannot license Titius to be unjust, lest Caia should be imprudent; nor give right to imprison for lise, lest liberty should be ill employed. That the ladies have sometimes incurred imputations which might naturally produce edicts not much in their savour, must be consessed by their warmest advocates; and I have indeed seldom observed, that when the tenderness or virtue of their parents has preserved them from forced marriage, and lest them at large to chuse their own path in the labyrinth of lise, they have made any great advantage os their liberty: They commonly take the opportunity of independence to trifle away youth and lofe their bloom in a hurry of diversions, recurring in a succefl;on too quick to leave room for any settled reflection; they lee the world without gaming experience, and at last regulate their choice by motives trifling as thofe of a girl, or mercenary as those of a miser. MelanMelanthia came to town upon the death of her sather, with a very large fortune, and with the reputation of a'much larger; slie was therefore followed and caressed by many men of rank, and by some of understanding; but having an insatiable .desire of pleasure, she was not at leisure, from the park, the gardens, the theatres, visits, assemblies, and masquerades, to attend scrioufly to any propofal, but was still impatient for a new flatterer, and neglected marriage as always in her power; till in time her admirers sell away, wearied with expence, disgusted at her folly^, or offended by her inconstancy; she heard of concerts to which she was not invited, and was more than once forced to sit still at an assembly for want of a partner. In this distress, chance threw in her way Philotryphus, a man vain, glittering, and thoughtless as herself, who had spent a small fortune in equipage and dress, and was shining in the last suit for which his tailor would give him credit. He had been long endeavouring to retrieve his extravagance by marriage, and therefore soon paid his court to Melanthia, who aster some weeks of insensibility saw him at a ball, and was wholly overcome by his performance in a minuet. They married; but a man cannot always dance, and Philotryphus had no other method of pleasing: however, as neither was in any great degree vicious, they live together with no other unhappiness, than vacuity of mind, and that tastelessness of lise, which proceeds from a satiety of juvenile pleasures, and an utter inability to fill their place by nobler employments. As they have known the sashionable world at the same time, they agree in their notions of all those subjects on which they ever speak, and being able to add nothing to the ideas of each other, are not much inclined to conversation, but very often join in one wish, " That they "could fleep more, and think less." Argyris, aster having resused a thoufand offers, at last consented to marry Cotylus, the younger brother of a duke, a man without elegance of mien, beauty of person, or force of understanding; who, while he courted her, could not always forbear allusions to her birth, and hints how cheaply she would purchase an alliance to so illustrious a family. His conduct from the hour of his marriage has been insufferably tyrannical, nor has he any other regard to her than what arises from his desire that her appearance may not disgrace him. Upon this principle, however, he always orders that she should be gailr dressed, and splendidly attended; and she has, among all her mortisications, the happiness to take place of her eldest lister. Numb. 40* Saturday, August ^ 1750. ■ Nec dices, cur ego amicum Offendam in nugis T Hæ nugtt feria dttcent In mala derisumsemti. Hor Nor say, for trifles why should I displease The man I love? For trifles such as these To serious mischiess lead the man I love, If once the flatterer's ridicule he prove. Francis. IT has been remarked, that authors are genus irritabile, a generation very eafly put out of temper, and that they seldom sail of giving prooss of their irascibility upon the slightest attack os criticism, or the most gentle or modest ofser os advice and insormation. Writers being best acquainted with one another, have represented this character as prevailing among men of literature, which a more extensive view of the world would have shewn them to be diffused through all human nature, to mingle itself with every species of ambition and desire of praise, and to discover its efsects with greater or less restraint, and under disguises more or less artsul, in all places and all conditions. The quarrels of writers, indeed, are more observed, because they necessarily appeal to the decision of the publick. Their enmities are incited by applauses from their parties, and prolonged by treacherous encouragement for general diversion; Vol. V. S and and. when the contest happens to rise high between men of genius and learning, its memory is continued for the same realon as its vehemence was at first promoted, because it gratifies the malevolence or curiosity os readers, and relieves the vacancies of lise with amusement and laughter. The personal disputes, therefore, of rivals in wit are sometimes transmitted to posterity, when the grudges and heartburnings of men less conspicuous, though carried on with equal bitterness, and productive of greater evils, are expofed to the knowledge of thofe only whom they nearly affect, and suffered to pass off and be forgotten among common and casual transactions. The resentment which the discovery of a sault or folly produces, must bear a certain proportion to our pride, and will regularly be more acrimonious as pride is more immediately the principle of action. In whatever theresore we wish or imagine ourselves to excel, we shall always be displeased to have our claims to reputation disputed, and more displeased, if the accomplishment be such as can expect reputation only for its reward. For this reason it is common to find men break out into rage at any insinuations to the disadvantage of their \vit,who have borne wirh great patience reslections on their morals; and of women it has been always known, that no censure vounds so deeply, or rankles so long, as that whicb charges them with want of beauty. As men frequently sill their imaginations with trifling pursuits, and please themselves most with things of small importance, I have often known very severe and lasting malevolence excited by unlucky censures, which would have sallen without any effect, had |