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naments and folacements of domestic fociety. Sophia, I fee the happy proof of the truth and efficacy of your fyftem; and in that plan you have my approbation to proceed. Here Eugenius ended his delightful discourse. The children were playing around us on a meadow greener than velvet; the sheep were sporting around them; the fun was about to defcend into the western wave, and fpread a golden light on the empurpled hills at a distance; the thruth, the wood lark and all the evening birds were joining in chorus with our friends in the caffirio; the fragrance of the dewy flowers filled all the ambient air; my hand was grasped by my affectionate Eugenius; and my thoughts were elevated by all that nature, and fentiment, and extafy, could infpire in the contemplation of their respective beauties. Every thing fmiled around me; and I refolved to deferve it.

I fhall not trouble you with the progreffive fteps of my inftruction to my young ladies, as it refembled in moft refpects, the ordinary mode adopted in the best academies for the education of boys, with due attention, when neceffary, to the difference of the fex. I difcovered the various propenfities of my daughters and their friends; one had a decided turn for mufic, another for drawing, a third for natural history in general, a fourth for botany, a fifth for history and the fciences connected with it, and the fixth for aftronomy and the study of natural philofophy. All of them were taught in perfection, what was effentially neceffary for women, as housewives; and the clergyman's daughters were completely fitted for governeffes in the belt families, with the additional capacity of being able to teach the fciences in the manner of preceptors.

I was particularly careful, as their capacities opened, in the inftitution of my young ladies in the principles of univerfal grammar, logic and ethics; after which, from natural theology, I led them to the ftudy of the principles of

July 6, the Chriftian religion; all of which important knowledge I infufed in the Socratic manner, and without the trammels of pedantic inftitutions. Some became more and fome lefs attached to the feries of my inftructions, as they grew more intricate, and required greater exertions of the mental powers; but all of them became on a par with any fix boys that had ever paffed through the hands of any profeffor who had an opportunity of knowing the attainments of my pupils; and none of them had any more felf-fufficiency in literature, than is common in young men who have had a liberal education. My daughter Alathea is now honourably and happily married, and is the, delight of her husband, her family and her neighbourhood. Nobody ever hears her prattle about fcience; but he is able to bear her fhare in the most interesting converfations of intelligent men, but accompanied with all the modefty and elegance of manner, that a Swift or a Chesterfield could expect in their churlish humours. In all the duties of a house-wife, the is diligent and exemplary; the rifes early in the morning, and steals an hour or two occafionally for the improvement of her mind, when her hufband is engaged with company, or is abroad upon business. My other daughters are coming on with equal prospects of giving pleasure to their parents; and the clergyman's daughters are now fucceffively engaged in refpectable families connected with my hufband's, in laying a foundation for a crop of rational and amiable women upon the model of Alathea. Thus, Mr. Editor, have I brought my long ftory to a conclufion, which I hope, as it treats of the moft interefting of all fubjects to my own fex, and to fociety in general, will not have proved tiresome to your readers. I am, Sir, with regard, your obliged humble fervant,

SOPHIA,

For the Bee.

Thoughts on the great Benefit to be derived from Want of Health.

Mr. Bee,

I Do not mean here to speak as a moralift or divine: I confider my fubject merely in a civil and political light.

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The benefits that accrue from bad health in high life, are fo various and important, that without it I do not fee how people of that defcription could exist at all. A minifter finds it neceffary to go out of place, because he cannot be permitted longer to hold it; but he only retires, becaufe of the precarious fate of his health. A Nobleman has run himself in debt; his rents are fequeftrated; he cannot afford to live at home; he goes abroad merely for the recovery of his health. A man is afraid of meeting with officious perfons in the street, who will infift on providing him with lodgings; to avoid thefe, he is confined to his chamber through indif pofition. A lady whofe thape has met with an untimely distortion, retires to the country for fome months, the recovery of her health. In these, and a thoufand other inflances, this apology ferves to keep people of fashion in countenance, when they would have been otherwise at a great lofs. To them, therefore, bad health is often extremely convenient.

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In lower fpheres, as people can more feldom afford to be in bad health, it is not indeed of fuch extenfive utility, as to the others; but ftill it has its ufes. A particular cafe of this fort having lately occurred to myfelf, I fhall beg leave to flate it to you, as a speci

men of the uses to which it may be applied in private life.

Of all kinds of debt, the moft burthenfome to fome is a debt of gratitude. It is a vile thing to be stygmatifed as ungrateful; it blafts a perfon's character, and makes them be detefted by fociety. Now, when it happens that one has a debt of that kind hanging over his head, and feels no inclination to discharge it, that must doubtless be a happy device which frees him alike from the burthen of repayment, and from the obloquy of ingratitude. And here bad health is just as conve nient on fome occafions to perfons of moderate rank, as it is in other inftances to people in high life. My illustration of this cafe is as follows:

A lady, who was a connection of my own, had the misfortune to be involved several years ago in a very disagreeable affair, in which she was very unjustly blamed for crimes that I was well fatisfied fhe never had been guilty of. Appearances however were fo doubtful, that it was probable she might be stripped of all the little property he had, before he could get herfelf extricated from this difagreeable embarrassment. On that trying occafion, all her friends, myself alone excepted, deferted her; and either reproached her in very indecent terms, or dryly declined taking any concern in her affairs, either to advise or aflift in any way. This conduct in them, not lefs than my own natural propenfity, induced me to co-operate with her to the utmost of my power, to get her extricated out of this disagreeable fituation. I fincerely condoled with her, advised with her on all trying occafions; nor did I ever hefitate by night or by day to do every thing that was poffible for her relief, with as much cordial fincerity, as if the business had been my own. Thefe difficulties were at last overblown: The fortune of the lady was fecured Her friends have now returned to her; and instead of maltreatment or diftant civilities, they court her favour by every affiduity; and fhe enjoys

their adulation with as much cordiality, as if it were fincere. It happened, however, that by a fevere calamity in my family, fortune put it in the power of this lady to be nearly as ferviceable to me (not by means of pecuniary affiftance, but merely by a little personal exertion) as I had been to her. She had at all times been fo ready to exprefs her gratitude to me in ftrong and unequivocal terms, and I was fo cordially disposed to befriend her, that it never once entered into my mind to fufpect fhe could have any backwardness to discharge those friendly offices to my family, that fortune had put within her reach. I thought indeed fhe would grafp at it with alacrity. At first fome flight excufes were admitted as apologies; but when these obstructions were removed, no other refource remained but bad health alone. Bad health however has lent its friendly aid, in this case, most effectually, and will, no doubt, continue to do fo till it will be past time either for her to give the affiftance I ftood in need of, or for me to receive it.

Thus, my good Sir, you fee, that to people in inferior station, as well as to thofe in high life, the benefits of bad health are not inconfiderable. As an obferver of men and manners, I fend you this fhort anecdote; and hope you will have the goodness to infert this into your Be, that the parties concerned, in cafe they thould read it, may fee i understand the cafe; fo that it is unneceffary to feek for any other apology, as this one will be readily admitted on all occafions, as perfectly valid. I am, Sir,

A LOVER OF GOOD HEALTH,

Obfervations on the Above.

Ir is fo natural for a perfon to judge favourably of their own concerns, when compared with that of o thers, that without any breach of charity, we may

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