it or not, and contrary to the evident intentions of Nature, to a life of celibacy, unless they will perhaps put up with a man whose sensibilities have been blunted, and his moral principle tainted by as many previous years passed in the corrupting commerce of Prostitutes, as the wife whom he now condescends to take has existed.Among these daughters will be found multitudes formed by loveliness of person, and elegance of manners, by the gentle and generous affections, by virtuous habits, and cultivated minds, to enjoy and to adorn the marriage state. —— Let the sensualist, whose ingenuousness is not yet extinguished; he who fancies he cannot confine himself to one female for life, reflect what he would say to be debarred altogether from this intercourse! Let him place himself for a moment in their situation,-in that of his maiden Sister or Daughter, (whose deviation from chastity would probably, though the effect perhaps of the most artful seduction, and though promoted by his own example and opinions, be inexpiable in his eyes,) and then let him assert, if he can, his pretensions to benevolence or real generosity. He cannot but feel that, whatever his sentiments

may be, his conduct is governed by selfishness and operates as cruelty. It is true that the na-, tive modesty and delicacy of the sex, confirmed. by habits of self-government, by a sense of virtue and religion, and by the more fatal conse quences and far deeper disgrace attending a breach of chastity on their parts, enable most single women to enjoy degrees of happiness far superior to that of the Debauchee himself, to whom we appeal; and much greater too than that of an unhappy or imprudent match: but still his conduct tends at least to deprive them of one important chance of additional happiness, and as such must resign its pretensions to generosity.

III. Finally, I would solicit the Libertine to calculate the effects of this practice on the health, the fortune, and dispositions of many of the vo taries of illicit pleasure; if not in all these re spects, on his own. A nauseous disease, sometimes affecting the springs of life, and reaching even to the succeeding generation; an alienation from the pleasures arising from domestic life and virtuous love;-from elegant and useful literature; even from rural beauty; and ge

nerally from all the placid enjoyments connected with reflection, are among the common consequences of this habit. Not to insist on the restless agitation often attending suspence in the pursuit; the vexation and shame of failure and detection; and the disappointment sometimes experienced in the hour of success, as well as the serious consequences frequently resulting from it; it may suffice to add, that as years increase and the habit becomes fixed, a character is often produced, than which hardly any excites more general contempt,—that of an old man, teazed with passions he can no longer gratify, and disgusting even his youthful companions with the perpetual intrusion of impotent obscenity.

With regard to the effects produced by the example of licentiousness, it is an undeniable fact, that of the mass of unhappy men, who have made shipwreck of their health, their property, and integrity; whose disorders have stabbed the peace, and destroyed the comforts and prospects of their families;-of those who have infested the world with public crimes, and fallen victims to the justice of their country, or been driven by despair into suicide, the far greater part have

made this practice their first step to more outrageous excesses; BECAUSE they were encouraged by the loose opinions and conduct of their superiors or seniors, whose discouragement of example and opinion would have rescued many of them from destruction, and spared society a large portion of the mischiefs which have served to embitter it.

We now proceed to consider what may be urged in excuse for this evil. In the first place, the redundance of animal life and spirits, the ardour of passion, and levity of thought peculiar to youth, are pleaded; and to deny that these are circumstances of extenuation, (particularly when opposed to the lasciviousness of maturer years) would be unworthy of the candour with which we profess to treat the subject. These certainly are powerful incentives to the practice we condemn; but are they therefore irresistible? The case of the virtuous and far greater part of the fair sex, born with the same natural propensities, would alone prove the contrary, were not instances of chastity to be found among young men of the warmest constitutions, restrained only by a strong sense of duty.

If the circumstance of a propensity being powerful would render its indulgence innocent, violent resentment would justify murder, want would excuse fraud or theft, a strong relish for spirituous liquors would sanction drunkenness : but though these circumstances certainly exte nuate, do they justify these crimes? The fact is, it is not so much the violence of the propensity; no, nor even the numerous temptations to its gratification with which the world abounds, that occasions the frequency of this illicit commerce; as an erroneous, but popular, opinion of its nature and consequences: were these seen in their true light, this practice would be more generally avoided; and a breach of chastity be felt, and therefore resisted, as a breach of justice and charity.

The expense attending the married state, is another excuse offered in favour of incontinence: and it certainly is much to be lamented that the wealth which industry and commerce have introduced into this nation, has, by converting in the public opinion, the luxuries of life into its necessaries, greatly tended to discourage marriage. A false estimate of the means of happi