LADY Briftow, from the dictates of her own humanity, and her daughter's most earneft folicitations, invited the unhappy Penelope to her houfe, to enable herfelf, by a perfonal knowledge of her, the more effectually to ferve her. The fweet penitent, in all the humiliation of conscious impropriety, appeared before her. On converfing with her in that peculiar manner Lady Briftow's benevolence ever fuggefted, the raised the drooping head, and fhone forth in the bett graces of maternal merit. I have, madam, faid the, made the only atonement to my innocent pofterity my unworthy proceedings left in my power. I have watched over their infancy with painful delight, and improved their dawning reafon as far as my abilities were capable; but the mifery that falls heaviest on my heart, is, that they from the very principles I am defirous to inculcate in their young minds, and the impreffions it is no lefs my inclination, than duty, to communicate, they, my good madam, will grow up to defpife their mother; they will reproach her, at least filently reproach her, with the ftigma fhe has fo cruelly entailed upon them, and the mortification of being excluded from every legal claim to protection and confanguinity. The romantic generofity to which I fell a victim, in conjunction with youth and inexperience, could I attempt to exculpate myself to my children by fo dangerous a plea, might not the falfe heroes captivate their little hearts alfo, and, with the fanction of their wretched mother's example, prove the bane of their principles and their peace. Lady Briftow faid abundance of the kindest things, in order to relieve the lovely fufferer, and, amongst the reft, intimated her intention to see the man, who had refolved to abandon ber; and, if poflible, bring him back to reafon, It cannot be unpleafing to the bo- man nine at least in a hundred an exception to fo ftrange a reflection; but when I came in a difpaffionate, and retired moment to confider the matter, I began to apprehend, that much must be wrong on our fide, or fuch an opinion could never have been formed. If women did not degrade them felves, they might at all times command esteem, nay veneration. I look upon it, that a delicate mind is the most beautiful of nature's productions, for is not an indelicate mind one of its greatest monsters? In vain does the fairest form, in vain do all the graces of eloquence, labour to captivate when that is wanting; where there is underftanding, there will be refinement; and how impoffible it is to be charmed and difgufted in the fame inftant, I need not take much pains to evince. man fhe had loved. Lady Briftow's application, Lady Briftow's report, had fuch an effect upon him, that he intreated, repeatedly intreated, her intereft with the injured creature to receive him for her husband: nay, he found an opportunity of being admitted where he was, quite unprepared for the rencounter; ufed every foothing, every perfuafive art; bore teftimony to the merits of her conduct, and the amazing obligations he owed her. She was deaf to all. His defertion of her, his unprovoked, his cruel defertion of her, could never be recalled, and the confeffed herself incapable of fmiling upon a known betrayer. Finding it impoffible to prevail, he was generous to an extravagance; almcft divided his fortune with her, and the Benevolent Society confented to be her steward. He declared himself undone for ever, because the woman he had left to mifery, was noble-mile may be affumed, the frown callminded enough to defpife him. Such is man in his concerns with our fex! happy only in proportion to the wretchedness he can produce, his vanity not being able to brook what his meanness and barbarity juitly expofe him to-honeft contempt. Penelope has now been fettled thefe ten days, in a retirement at a few miles diftance from Lady Briftow's county feat, where there is no doubt but he will end her days in reputation, under the countenance of that lady and all her friends, and from the conicioufnels of having at last acted with principle, with justice, and with propriety. The letters received this month by the fociety, or rather thofe that they can conveniently infert, are as follow. To the BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. I was in fome company the other day, where a gentleman declared it as his opinion, that women of the utmaft decency (according to his idea of female, decency) did not fcruple to read, authors, and converfe on fubjects, when only amongst their own fex, that they would feel the greatest mortification and confufion, if enter tained with by any of the mafculine race. Warm as I own I ever am in the cause, and tenacious as I ever am of female honour, I took upon me to answer for there being ninety In company, our behaviour and our perions may be equally decorated. The ed up at will, the language unoffending, the actions agreeable to propriety, and an appearance of what is amiable, without much difficulty, for a few hours preferved. Retirement, or more properly the period of unrestrained freedom, is truly the criterion; but if the foul is honeft, if the foul is chafte, will not the fentiments and the conduct be unchanged? What loofe has delicacy to afk, what restraints to attend to, do not all the faculties put it on its guard? The eye, the ear, are they not continually informing it when to think, and when to reft fecure? But many, very many, I am compelled to acknowledge it, a&t in defiance of thefe faithful monitors they dare to temporize; their curiofity on fome occafions, and, on others, their undue partiality, or mean fear of offending thofe who do not fcruple grofsly affronting them, impels and checks them unworthily: the once, the twice, the thrice, is attended with repugnance, with felf-contufion and felf-condemnation; but cuftom, as Gay fays, "conquers fear and thame,” confequently they at length become callous to both the one and the other. Their taste is vitiated, they follow what pleafes moft; but convinced of the power, the neceffity of appearances, they endeavour to inculcate the idea that times and feafons are alone to be confulted, in pretenfions to The Benevolent Society. =69. propriety: thus one tainted mind ll corrupt a multitude, and the men o unite themselves unknowingly to s fpecies of females, are easily peraded that the whole fex is the fame, caufe that perfuafion fooths their nity, by faving their difcernment om reflection. That the innocent uld fuffer for the guilty, is no unmmon instance, we naturally imbibe e fentiments of those we esteem: us are we univerfally condemned, om the ignorance, or injuftice, of a who fpread the report against us; nd as modefty is ill-qualified to plead s own cause, and the tongue of ucy eloquence will never be employ d against its own intereft, we must emain under this unfavourable prediament to the end of our existence. What abundantly contributes to fix he charge of levity and inconfiftency apon us, is, that we often, from moives of complaifance, or an unwilingness to diftinguish ourselves at The expence of others, pafs over in filence the converfation that we fee generally approved, though far from unexceptionable, and the behaviour, that though far from pleafing, does not amount to abfolute impertinence; yet are we furnishing our enemies with additional weapons, which are brandished against us with the utmost mafculine exultation, at leaft in our abfence; and that timidity, forbearance, or love of referve, which alone prevented us from communicating our difapprobation, are brought forth as fo many corroborating circumftances of our fimilitude with their fprightly wives, ill inftructed daughters, or unprincipled miftreffes. I must intreat, ladies, that you would give this fubject a difcuffion in your fociety. Let us fee the contrast properly displayed; point out the limits of prudery and coquetry; feparate the fit from the unfit, and release the minds of the irrefolute and apprehenfive from the tyranny of founds, and the fetters of falle modefty. Convince them, that it is not the opinion of millions that ought to affect their conduct, but confcious merit, and conIcious propriety. I am, ladies, Your humble fervant, ZEPHELINDA. 529 Zephelinda may depend upon receiving the fentiments of the fociety, the enfuing month, upon the fubject of her letter, as it is one of the fubjects that the fociety are moft peculiarly anxious to render plain and intelligent to the meanest capacity. To the BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. BEAUTY and understanding, how- The men alone To check the inclination, and bind down the faculties, is no eafy task; yet it is a moft neceffary one, where the dread of fingularity prevails. There is indeed fo much loveliness in your truly feminine characters, fuch irrefiftible attraction in their manifold excellencies, that it requires no less refolution to affume the mafculine ap.. pearances, than forego the claim to what 530 The fatal Effects what we feel fo amiable. Yet fo limited, fo fhort is human perfection, that the profitable must be given up for the ornamental, or the ornamen tal for the profitable; it is a phoenix indeed that can preferve both. I own, for my part, I always behold uncommon creatures with compaffion rather than admiration. The calamities that beauty has produced, that beauty has fuftained, every period has its proof, and Mr. Pope well defcribed the advantages of fuperior wildom. "Tell, for you can, (faid he, addieffing his friend,) what is it to be wife? 'Tis but to know how little can be known, To fee all others faults and feel our own. Painful pre-eminence ourselves to view, Above life's weakness and it's comforts too." A fucceffion of years, and a turn for obfervation, has rendered me almoft unfit for fociety; my heart never enters into an attachment, but with a fervency that cannot be returned; the attentions of affection, are not diftinguished from the attentions of felfinterestedness, or of complaifance. I am pleased, I am hurt by circumftances that escape every other perfon's notice; and not to trouble you farther, I would give all I am worth in the world that the Benevolent So ciety was not merely ideal, as in that fociety I think i could find the higheft felicity. Do not, ladies, be offended at the infinuation, where there are great hopes, there will be great fears, and I fhall wait your candid anfwer with the utmost impatience, as on that candid anfwer depends much of the real fatisfaction of, Dear ladies, your admirer, and very humble servant,, flowing from an 08: there is still one subject of confiderab importance, which I do not think you have hitherto entered upon;-not, indeed, do I remember to have eve feen it handled by any writer of ar country: fatal experience, however, points it out to my confideration; t is not a fuperiority of understanding but a pre-eminence in misfortune, which leads me to open a new fource of inftruction, and poffibly, befides, with to fave others from the rock, on which my own peace has been unhap pily fhipwrecked. I may be induced to communicate my story, by the hope of a compaffionate regard from your readers. In the moft melancholy fitua tion, pity is always a welcome guet and there is a foothing fomewhat in the foftnefs of her fmiles, which al leviates the pang of affliction, even where the is utterly unable to remove it. There is a warm opinion among the generality of young fellows, when they enter the world upon their own bottom, as it is commercially termed, that they may fafely commence a temporary con nexion with any agreeable woman, till they fee the all-accomplished far who is to fix them for life, and til they think proper, from mere men the town, to domefticate into prudent mafters of families. This opinion is fo univerfaily received, that one of the first things a tripling of condition dos upon his arrival at independence, is to look out for fome amiable unforts. nate, who has been undone by her credulity, and is reduced to the drealful neceflity of gleaning a livelihood from the charms which originaly plunged her in deftruction: with a woman of this ftamp, our unreflecting adventurer ufually engages himfel, and feeks for nothing more than the external attractions of her perfon, and the appearance of fidelity, during the continuance of their intercourie. Such an attachment he judges more fenfible than an unlimited round of vifits from commoner to commoner, where his health may not only be endangered, but his character diminished, and plumes himself exceedingly upon his difcretion in adopting fo fober a fcheme of fenfuality. He fancies, as the circumftance of mind is wholly out of the cafe, that he can caft his mil trefs off when he pleases; he never reflects that he may gradually worm herfelf 1769. Improper Mode of launching into Life. a I am, fir, a man of title, fortune, and family, and entered the great world with as many advantages perhaps as moft young people of diftinction; having a large eftate at my command, and being naturally of a lively turn, I foon gave into the fashionable fentiment of confidering marriage as terrible restraint upon pleasure, and thought those social duties, which faften us to fociety, and which in reality form the chief foundation of rational happiness, were the certain fprings of care and diftrefs. I fhuddered at the bare idea of uniting with a woman of honour, though I was perfectly reconciled to the propriety of keeping a miftrefs; and I dreaded the danger of a legitimate iffue, though I never fhrank at the profpect of a fpurious pofterity. The woman, fir, whom I made choice of on this occafion, was the difcarded lafs of a nobleman. I knew; my humanity not permitting me to feduce, though it could allow me to participate of another's feduction. She had beauty, but no breeding; and good nature, without an atom of understanding. As it was her beauty, however, which principally recommended her to my attention, I gave myself no trouble either about her aukwardness, or her ignorance; on the contrary, I was frequentiy diverted with both; and looked upon them, instead of actual imperfections, to be the negative accomplishments of her character. As there never was a creature who fhewed a greater inclination to pleafe, than poor Nancy, as every look of mine was ftudied with respect, and every word I uttered confidered as an oracle, I infenfibly came to view her with more and more compaffion; and, npon the birth of a fweet boy, which fhe brought me within a twelvemonth, I felt myself not a little attached to her; her tendernefs for this, together with 531 the addition of another, encreased my attachment to an extraordinary degree, and I now began, for the first time, to view the real nature of my fituation; a ftep which became doubly neceffary, as my family were extremely defirous of seeing me fetled, and had made fuch a point of my marrying, that I confented to their making an overture in my favour to a lady, equally diftinguished for her rank, her merit, and her fortune. While this negotiation was carrying on, my reflections were none of the moft agreeable: I faw a poor girl before me, whofe happiness, notwithftanding her guilt, notwithstanding her infignificance, materially depended upon me and I faw alfo two innocents, whom I had made heirs of shame as well as of exiftence, on the eve of lofing a father, who fhould lead them up to honour, and obliterate at leaft the ftigma entailed upon their birth, by a proper cultivation of their principles. They were not the lefs mine for being illegitimate: they were not lefs dear to my fight, or precious to my heart, because their miferable mother was an alien to reputation. On the contrary, their misfortune was the immediate confequence of my crime; it was I who brought them into dif grace; it was not, therefore, for me to load them with aggravated wrongs. Befides, could I behold their enchanting little actions; could I liften to the ravishing lifping of my prattlers, without feeling all the parent in my foul; without gazing upon them, 'till my eye-balls ached with tranfport! O ye fortunate fathers, whofe offspring are the offspring of a holy palion, who experience an added affection for your children, because their mothers are the daughters of virtue, and the rational poffellors of your love; do not blame, but pity me; I could not sacrifice my lambs ! I could not caft them froin my bofom, meritorious as the favagenels of custom has rendered it to abandon an illegal generation. How was a pecuniary establishment to atone for the lofs they must have fuftained, had I banifhed them from my prefence; and what compenfation could I receive from the moft deferving wife, for dooming my cherubims everlasting exiles from my houfe; in the melting hour of fondnefs, their angel forms would |