weighty consequence of the matrimonial obligation has discouraged not a few from venturing on it: the manacles, which are forged at the altar, for the priest to put on, have determined many not to approach him on that occasion; and as if they had been found in the majority of cases to be somewhat galling and oppressive, the contract is not. usually made without some perturbation in both; but the balance of courage is evidently in favour of the ladies, and to their credit be it mentioned, they are in other respects better drilled for the ceremonies of that office; while the bridegroom, alas! in the midst of affected gaiety, of nuptial equipments, and comforted by the cheerful attendance of his friends, has not unfrequently betrayed more wildness of look, agitation of person, and tremulousness of voice, than sometimes can be discovered in the deportment of him, who is about to meet his final doom on the awful platform! Το To overcome such unsuitable panicks as much as possible, let the encouraging view of conjugal bliss be cherished in the heart; and for so desirable an end, let the means of attaining it, be assiduously cultivated. It was a wise and true observation of Plutarch's, "That vessels which are compacted of divers parts, or glued together of divers pieces, will, at first, by every bruise or fall, be easily broken to pieces; but when they are strengthened by tract of time, it will be very hard to tear them asunder." This observation is particularly excellent, as it applies to matrimony. Chastity in marriage is also a very salutary' prescription for lasting respect and admiration. Marriage, which is a remedy against impure desires, should not be made the occasion of exciting them. "These "These violent delights have violent ends, "And in their triumph die; like fire and powder, "Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey « Is leathsome in its own deliciousness, "And in the taste confounds the appetite : "Therefore love moderately; long love doth so: Love and salacity are different passions, the one is refined, the other gross: amiableness alone can inspire us with the former; the most despicable wanton can provoke the latter. Fathers and Divines of old, and Philosophers themselves, agree in their censures of extravagant propensities, and tell us that marriage should be serious, seasonable, circumspect, and mixed with severity; and that an intemperate man in wedlock, differs but little from an adulterer. From the pen * Romeo and Juliet, A&t ii, Scene 6. † Adulter est uxoris propriæ amator ardentior. of of an Apostle we are commanded to mortify inordinate affection. A lewd Christian is a solecism in the language of Scripture: even the license of wedlock can never protect him against the charge of uxorious sensuality. On a subject of such general interest as that of the present Essay, we have thus far enlarged: it is time, however, now to finish; and in whatever concerns the marriage state a good conclusion is most devoutly to be wished. "Let no evil enter," was a motto placed over the doors of the married Greeks;-May such a sentiment be cherished in the heart, irradiate the countenance, and be seen in the whole deportment of those, whose duty and happiness are so essentially connected with it. ESSAY III. SEDUCTION. SEDUCTION, that distressing word, which claims our present attention, means the art of tempting, deceiving, and corrupting. The institution of marriage, which has already been recommended as the honourable provision for satisfying the demands of nature; from a false principle of education is so wrongly understood by the youthful fair, that it would be considered as the extremity of boldness to intimate their own wishes, and a proof of indelicacy not to turn aside from |