an attachment of the warmest friend- | imagined himself exhibiting an inthip (a friendship which in polifhed exampled generofity; but as one life would hazard being called ex-foliciting a gift of fo invaluable a travagant and enthufiaftic); for all nature, that all the wealth he had to idea of difference of fortune or fitua- offer in return was contemptible tion vanifhed before it-infomuch when put in competition with it. that, as he had an only fon who was to be heir to all his large eftates, and Mr. Everard an only daughter who, befides poffeffing the most admirable and delicate beauty, appeared to be the heir to all her father's virtues and good qualities, he actually, not only admitted, but even pleafed himself with, the idea that a union might one day take place between them, which fhould enrich his family with the intelligence, the integri ty, and the beneficence, which, he doubted not, the daughter of Mr. Everard must inherit from her father. However pleafing, in more refpects than one, this project might appear to Mr. Everard, he was inclined to think it too romantic, and too little likely to be realifed.— Without, therefore, having recourse to the affected referve and art with which cunning and little minds would have acted on fuch an occafion, he told fir Ralph, with his accustomed fincerity, that, in an engagement of fo important a kind, wealth fhould undoubtedly never be his primary object he certainly affected no fuch falfe philofophy as to refuse his eftate for his daughter, as a pofitive evil; but there were too many cafes in which it might ceafe to be a good; fympathy of heart, uniformity of inclinations and of manners, were indifpenfable to happiness in that state of union to which he alluded, and the more in difpenfable, the more the mind had received cultivation, and was capable of fenfibility. "I muft, befides, remark, (faid Mr. Everard) that, however flattering your friendship to us muft appear, this project, from very many caufes, is fo liable to fail, Nor, in thus highly rating the future accomplishments and virtues of mifs Lætitia Everard, did it appear, when time had more fully developed and matured her beauties both of body and mind, that he had in the leaft mifcalculated. Mifs Everard, as fhe grew up, difplayed the moft powerful chains of perfonal attraction, combined with an uncommon ftrength of understanding, and equal goodness of heart. Sir Ralph gazed on her with delight, andapplauded his own forefight, which had informed him that the daughter of his excel-that it will be neceffary for you to lent friend could prove no other than the phoenix the appeared. He, on every occafion, recommended her to the notice of his fon, and dweit on her praises before him by the hour, to excite his attention, and fix her image in his heart. act with more prudence in your attempt to advance it than you fometimes do. My daughter, whatever good opinion I may entertain of her good fenfe and early judgment, is flill but a girl, liable to turn giddy at fuch a profpe&t. She To his friend, Mr. Everard, he may form expectations which may had, from the very firft, intimated this be difappointed,-be led, infenfibly, his favourite project; and, as the beau- to fix her heart on affluence, though ty and accomplishments of Lætitia born only to an humble competence, feemed every day to improve, he and thus become unfitted for the almost every day repeated his inti-way of life to which he is probably mations: not, however with the fu- deftined." periority of a man who, conceiving Sir Ralph admitted the juftice of nothing equal in value to wealth, his friend's remarks; but he did not not therefore abandon his favourite 'fcheme. To his fon Charles he, on every occafion, praised Lætitia with a kind of rapture, and, whenever he found he had called at the parfonagehouse, reftified a more than ordinary fatisfaction. But his fon Charles was not exactly of his own romantic turn of mind in cafes either of friendship or of love. The difinterested and generous maxims of his father made but a flight impreffion on him, compared with the doctrines more congenial to his nature, which he daily learned, and readily imbibed, from others of his family. Thefe taught him the fuperiority of wealth, the dignity of title, and inculcated the Pythagorean precept in a fenfe widely different from that in which it was first employed by the philofopher, that he fhould especially "refpect himfelf." He had learned that his father withed him to admire, and at length contract the closest of unions with, mifs Everard: and though he confidered this as a very great act of condefcenion on his part, her beauty was fo agreeable to him that he found himself very well pleafed with her company, and fometimes even wifhed fhe had been born in his own rank of life, that he might not, as he feared he thould, have to encounter the ridicule of the world by marrying beneath himself. In general, however, he appeared very feldom to have forgotten his rank; the liberties he took were all manifeftly the freedoms of fuperiority, and his attentions fuch as were entirely confiftent with his dignity. Mr. Everard foon perceived that the character and qualities of this youth were by no means the counterpart of thofe of his daughter, and he perceived it with no little anxiety; but he likewife obferved, to his no fmall pleasure, that Letitia appeared very little dazzled either with his wealth or expected title; her heart appeared perfectly at cafe, and he 1 even thought he faw, in her treatment of him, an inclination to 1ilicule his vanity and egotifm. Sir Ralph, however, ftill continued his friendly attentions and prafes of her whom he would always call his daughter; fo that, at laft, without any formal propofal on either fide, it became confidered as a fixed and certain engagement that he was to become the wife of Charles, imme diately on his return from the univerfity. Lætitia had attained the age of feventeen years, when the fon of an old college acquaintance of Mr. Everard's, of the name of Mortimer, made a vifit to her father. He was a young gentleman poffeffed of a finall eftate, which had been left him by his uncle, and propofed to chufe fome profeffion. by the practice of which he might add to his income. With the company and converfation of Mr. Everard he was particularly pleased; and Mr. Everard, who admired his fenfe, his learning, and other good qualities which he believed him to poffefs, was as much pleased with him, and invited him to lengthen his ftay, and confider the parfonage-houfe as his home. He, therefore, foon became like one of the family, and, by his good fenfe and affability, rendered himfelf highly agreeable to every perfon of whom it confifted. Mr. Mortimer poffeffed a lively and ardent imagination; he had read much, and to much advantage; but he was fomewhat addicted to the building of fyftems, though only of fuch fyitems as thowed the vigour of his mind and the goodness of his heart.. La tia,-the beautiful, the intelligent, the fufceptible Lætitia,-attended with pleafure to his converfa. tion, or liftened to him while he read fome favourite author. She admired his animated language, and the proofs he gave of fenfibility of heart; tror could the refrain from fecretly fecrtly comparing him, in thefe refps, with the youth to whom the confidered herself as affianced; but thi, comparifon was fo much to the difadvantage of the latter, that The repreffed it as much as was in her power. Mr. Mortimer like. wife, in his turn, was very far from being infenfible to the charms and the merit of Lætitia; but he confidered her only as the daughter of Iris friend, and devoted by right to another. (To be continued.) | difgrace a fchool-boy? In fhort, fir, if we have no other way of judging of a man's talents, but by the quantity he publishes either from the prefs or from his mouth, are we not giving all the praife to mere fay. ing; and never reflecting that an accumulation of words, without correfponding actions, is to all neceffary purposes useless and unprofitable? This being premifed, and, I hope, allowed, we need difpute no longer about the fuperiority of the male fex. The talents of the fair fex, as to all the great and important events of human life, and all the To the EDITOR of the LADY's leading tranfactions of kingdoms and SIR, MAGAZINE. Come tine part been carrying on a difpute relative to the talents of female. ftates, have fo far tranfcended what has been attributed to us, that were I to compile a new Univerfal History, valuable labour's contained in the old, however I might avail myfelf of the I fhould certainly entitle it, "A Hiftory of the Power and Influence of the Female Sex, from the Fall of Adam to the prefent Time." It is the pitiful jealoufy and envy of men which has deprived the fex of the honours due to them in history; and likewife fame part of the concealment of their influence arifes from the brevity of hiftories, their authors taking a fuperficial view of events, and feldom troubling them. felves to inveftigate the fecret fprings of human action; whereas, if we will only examine into the minute particulars of great events, the fecret intrigues of courts, kings and minifters, or even of republics, we shall always find that the women have had a great fhare in bringing about po But, fir, with fubmiffion, I would beg leave to fuggeft, that we narrow human genius and ability very much, when we confine them to the book-litical changes, wars, treaties, negofeller's fhop. Are there not many very able statefinen who never write any thing but treafury-warrants, and receipts for their fataries? Nay, do we not admire the vaft genius of Lome members of parliament, whose Jorte is entirely in fpeaking, and who, when compelled to draw up an addrefs to their independent conftituents, commit errors that would tiations, &c. although they, from modefty, probably, content them felves with acting unfeen and unob. ferved, and the men, proud of the fuccefs of the affair, with to take all the merit to themselves. Now, fir, let me afk you a plain question: which of the two is likely to deserve most fame, and to confer greater renown on the party, the publishing a poem, a poem, or bringing about a revolution in a state or nation, perhaps with a few words? Which requires greater abilities,—to govern a kingdom, or to cajole a bookfeller?-to tickle the fancy of love-fick boys and girls by a novel, or to confound and itun half the cabinets of Europe, by a bold stroke of invasion, a maffacre, and a partition?—to write a ballad about a man and woman who never exifted, or to make the existence of thoufands of men and women miferable ? I repeat it, fir, let us bring the queftion home to ourselves. What is it that conftitutes the felicity of domeftic life? Is it the wealth we have acquired, the house we live in, the equipage that hefpeaks our rank, or the fervants that bow at our command? No, fir: to ufe an expreffion of Mr. Burke, it is "the dignified obedience and proud fubmiffion" we owe and pay to the female fex. Our hearts confefs that they deferve it, and that we cannot help paying it, and cannot, therefore, help acknowledging their fuperiority. — When we refufe to pay it, when our minds are in a ftate of rebellion against thofe lawful fovereigns, where is it that we dare to breathe fentiments of a feditious, tendency?— a word, awes us into fubmiffion; and when we conceive the thoughts of refiftance, we fly, like cowards, to fome fecret place, to fome neutral ground, to the defert heath of celibacy, and the infulated fociety of worn-out bachelors, where we may growl our complaints with impunity, and talk of refolutions which we have not the courage to carry into execution But this is not all. It is not enough to appeal to the hiftory of ancient and modern nations, for proofs of the fuperiority of woman over man. This, perhaps, is not much in their favour; for a fuperiority of evil influence is not the pre-Is it in their prefence? No: a look, fent conteft, and would not be very honourable if it were established. No, fir, if we wish to afcertain the real and meritorious fuperiority of female talents, we need not confult the voluminous records of hiftory; we need only bring the queftion home to ourfelves. I fhall inftance but in one refpect, the power of perfuafion. This I take to be the great teft of genius and talents. He who poffeffes this, poffeffes every thing; Coafcious of the fuperiority of the and yet we know that what a man female fex, fome have lately queftioncannot do by whole treatifes and vo-ed whether they ought not to be lumes, by a well-connected chain of argument, and the most convincing calculations, is generally done by a woman with a fmile, a glance of the eye, or a very few words. Sir, we may talk as we please of our vaft learning, of our voluminous productions, of our many virtues for which we obtain credit in epitaphs and funeral fermons. But with what painful efforts do we accomplish the leaft of our good actions! and to do a great good is the bufinefs of a long life. What is all our power, compared, or (which is more dangerous) put in competition with a tear or a Fu? admitted into the employments of Α I fhall not, however, anticipate what I have to offer hereafter on this fubject. fubject. My prefent defign was merely to hint, that great talents are not neceffarily fhown by much writing, and that they may be accounted to poffefs the greateft talents who accomplish the greateft purposes by few means, which, in my mind, eftablishes the fuperiority of the fair fex. QE. D. I am, fir, Your humble fervant, Aug. 27, 1796. To the EDITOR of the LADY'S SIR, AMONG fome old papers, I found a manufcript copy of the following letter from bishop Hoadley to a friend, on the death of another friend: if you think proper, I fhould be glad to fee it inferted in your entertaining mifcellany. Indeed, he had more excellencies It may remind your literary read-lieve that ever any one was. And A CONSTANT READER, Honiton, Sept. 7. T HE chain of life, of which we have fometimes fpoke, has been very heavy ever fince I faw you; and my heart is now a good deal wounded with the news of fin William Willys' death. He had very good fenfe, great modefty, uncommon humanity, and a beneficence which fhewed itfelf in a way , that but few knew any thing of. (Let me go on, and pour out a little of my forrow, although I did not defign it when I fat down to write.) He had learning enough to make him acceptable to thofe who had opportunities of gaining more; but it was covered by the ease and unaffected behaviour of the gentleman. though his numerous relations (fome not in affluence) will get a great deal by his death, I believe there is hardly one of them who would not gladly purchase his prefence again with all they can get by lofing him. As to myfelf, I do not fay that he was to me in that rank of friendship, in which one other perfon is; no one ever was; no one, I think, ever can be; but if I had been afked whom of all my friends, next to that one, I would have chofen to have flaid longeft with me in this miferable planet, I believe, from the knowledge 1 had of him from his childhood, I fhould have faid fir William Willys. But he is fuddenly gone, and in a moft painful manner. Forgive this from Your faithful B. S. THE |