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in the place, and the colonel may be a man of difinterested gallantry. Let us add to this, the menial offices they are obliged to fubmit to; the fatigues they have to undergo, and the conftraint they must place on their inclinations. They must weep when their friend weeps, and be glad when he is glad. They must never contradict, nor oppofe his opinions, unlefs to give him the honour of a triumph. They muft nor remind him that his underftanding decays, and his memory fails; and they must not be wanting in the many fubmiflions, which are due from an inferior to his fuperior. Laft of all, and greatest of all trials of patience, they must rejoice if he recovers from a dangerous illness, jump for joy with a finking heart, and grin thofe fmiles which would be better fupplied by the languid mien and the weeping

eye.

Laftly, Sir, let us confider that Yegacy-hunters are not always to be claffed among the fortunate part of mankind. They are often fubjected to greater mortifications than I have yet enumerated. The legacy may be fo doubtfully expreffed as to be difputed at law, and fet afide: it may fall greatly fhort of expectation; or, the affairs of the teftator may be in fuch a fate as to produce nothing; or, granting that his property is immenfe, the will properly drawn up, regularly figned and fealed, and all plain and unequivocal, it may happen that their name is not mentioned at all. Greater disappointment than this, I will undertake to fay, no men can feel; and yet to fuch difappointments are legacybunters frequently expofed, and at a time too when human refolution is not able to ftand it. Misfortune can never fall fo heavy on us as when all hope is gone, when every profpect is clouded, and we can look forward to no object which can recompence us. At this awful crifis, when the whole ftock of patience is exhaufted, or useless (for what is patience without hope?) you will allow that the cafe is peculiarly

melancholy, and being a cafe incident only to perfons of this defcription, let us not envy a happiness which is subject to a reverse fo fad,

I have thus, fir, endeavoured to place the character of the legacy-kunters in a more favourable view, than that in which it has hitherto been confidered. I humbly hope that what I have advanced will not be thrown away, and that we shall hereafter confider them as a particular class of philofophers, a fect diftinguished from all others by the fteady perfeverance with which they hunt after the object, which profiteth not;' by their patience under contempt, pride and caprice; by their exquifite skill in plac ing the gentler paffions around the hed of a dying man; and by the fhocking mortifications they are liable to from the want or irregularity of a will, from the ftrictness of the courts of law, the claims of relations, and other acci. dents. We fhall not, I hope, confider: them as objects of envy, nor grudge them that portion of fuccefs which fometimes falls to their fhare. They. are a very ancient fect; the Romans had their Captatores and Hæredipela and in this country they have flourished for many years. Another reason why we ought to confider them in a favourable light, is that they labour under the general prejudices of mankind. They are generally accounted mean, felfifh, hypocritical, and avaricious, and it has been frequently obferved, that riches acquired in this way have either been hoarded up fo as to be ufelefs, or they have been dissipated with a lavish hand upon extravagance and wantonnefs; and it has been likewife thought that no man of an inde pendent fpirit and manly understanding would, upon any account, fubmit to the difgrace and mortifications, which are incident' to legacy-hunters. But whether this opinion be juft, I leave to the determination of your readers, and am, fir, &c.

A. L.

ON MATRIMONIAL DIFFERENCES.

• Question all who fhall hereafter come to you with matrimonial complaints, concerning their behaviour in the time of courtship, and inform them that they are neither to wonder nor repine, when a contract begun with fraud, has ended in difappointment.' JOHNSON.

Sir,

To the Editor of the Univerfal Magazine.

Sit is pretty generally acknow- ther preface communicate what has ledged, that the holy ftate of ma- occurred to me on the fubject, and trimony is not always attended with the worst have to fear, is the being that full happiness, which the parties claffed with thofe numberlefs fpeculawho enter into it, have taught them- tors whofe object seems to be to fhow felves to expect, and as we find peo- the fertility of their invention at the ple in general rather eagerly difpofed expence of their experience. My toward it notwithstanding the many fchemes, indeed, will not be found cafes of difappointment among their quite fo extenfive as theirs, and I hope neighbours, and especially as of late I fhall appear fomewhat lefs confident fome inftances of matrimonial difa- in the fuccefs of them. greements have appeared in parties. of high rank and diftinction, it strikes me that the man who could invent a remedy for thofe diforders, would confer a more lafting benefit on mankind than ever was conferred upon them. It may at first fight, indeed, appear an impoffibility. The fubject is of a very complicated nature, involving many very important confiderations, and neceffarily connected with many ftubborn prejudices. So that he who attempts a reformation will probably fhare the fate of all other reformers, although he has fo many more difficulties to encounter, and his object is of univerfal concern and benefit to his fellow creatures.

After thus expreffing my fenfe of the arduous task, I am aware that I fign the condemnation of my own prefumption in attempting fo vaft an addition to human happinefs; but, indeed, fir, I am far from flattering myself that I fhall be able to fucceed. I have only fome few hints to throw out, rather of the negative than the pofitive kind, and fhall rather ftate what I think is not right, than propofe a complete remedy. Obfervation will probably affift me in the former, but I much question whether I poffefs inventive powers equal to the latter. However, I fhall without far

I fhall, therefore, principally confine myself to the causes of matrimonial mifery. These are generally stated to be, the parties coming together from improper motives, from motives of intereft, or of temporary paffion, from the compulfion of friends on whom they depend, from youth and thoughtleffness, and from age and fecond childhood. Now, fir, it appears very plain that all these parties cannot entertain that fenfe of the contract which is entertained by perfons who unite from motives of attection, and with a mutual defire to, make each other happy. Hence my firft objection, and indeed my principal one is aimed at the contract itself, as not being fuited to the different parties who are to fign it. At the time the form of mattimonial fervice was compofed, we may fuppofe that there prevailed a greater degree of equality in the difpofitions of perfons about to marry than we find now, and one form might very well ferve for all. But the introduction of genteel manners into all ranks of life, and thofe manners grafted upon vulgarity and ignorance, have occafioned fo great a variety of tastes and difpofitions, that it would be really unreafonable not to think that the present form of fervice has become nearly obfolete, or only fit for the few who have

been fo economical as to hand down the virtues as well as the eftates of their ancestors to pofterity.

Can we, for example, expect that a man who has married a woman for no other object than her money, will regard his promife to love her, comfort her, honour and keep her in fick nefs and health,' when we know that the greatest favour the can do him, next to giving her money into his hands, is to give him an opportunity of burying her? When we fee a young woman forced into the arms of an old dotard, for no other purpofe than to obtain a title or a handfome jointure (by the bye this word fhould be written disjointure, as it is one of the preliminaries to a final feparation) are we to expect that he will love, cherish, and obey fuch a husband? I might state many other cafes for which our fervice is obviously ill adapted. But the other day we read in the papers of a couple married, the man was eighty, and the woman feventyfix years of age. I believe them as fully inclined to fulfil their vows as one half of our fashionable pairs, yet you will allow that there is fcarcely an article in the fervice that does not convey a fatire on fuch matches.

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You will perhaps fay, that these things are true, and that they afford fufficient ground for making fome alteration in the service. I once thought fo myself, and I tried the alteration, but it would not do. I omitted, and I added, and tried it in all various ways, but at laft was obliged to be of opinion that in the prefent ftate of the fashionable world, we want a form of service for the various ranks of fociety. The present is far too good; it proceeds upon motives of religion, but that, you know, fir, is rather out of fashion, and I am perfuaded no perfon of diftinction would thank you for fuppofing him influenced by it in his conduct toward his wife. The phrafes used in it are alfo too loose and general. Love, honour, and obey! There are not three words in the language, which admit of greater latitude. First,

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as to love; moft men of fashion think they love their wives dearly, if they neither beat them, nor turn them out of doors, and that love is perfectly confiftent with frequent abfence from home, occafional gallantries with other ladies, and the diftant refpect of occafional acquaintances. As to honour, their notions of that are very atitu dinarian; I fhall not enter particularly into them, but they are frequently exemplified in the civil and criminal courts. With regard to obedience, which is principally expected from the fair fex, I am forry to say, that it is a word of very lax and general interpretation, and is clogged with fo many conditions and aces of mental refervation, as to be rarely recognized in the fenfe in which it appears to have been used by the compiers of our liturgy. One lady of fashion profeffes to obey her husband in every thing confitent with her own inclination. That is her fenfe of obedience. Another thinks herself abfolved from all obedience, because her husband is a fool. A third conditions with him, that if he will obey in fome points, fhe will in others.

Then, fir, the great mifchief is, that when a difagreement takes place, and the contending parties chufe to interpret the treaty in different ways, there is no third party to which the difpute can be referred. No interference is admitted, or whenever attempted, it is not to the advantage of the difputants, but always to the lofs and injury of the mediator, who of two friends is fure to make at least one enemy. The parties, in fact, act precifely like two high-fpirited nations. They go to war, and expend all their force and ammunition, before they will liften to terms of accommodation, wh ch, after all, amount only to a truce, the parties ever after retaining a watchful jealousy, and a dignified con empt for each other.

have rea!omewhere lately, of a nation where e matrimonial contract lafts only for three years. They are, I remember, reckoned a nation of

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favages, but my fafhionable readers will I hope agree with me that in this refpect they have acquired a very confiderable portion of civilization, and are very well qualified to preferve the accustomed relations' of the matrimonial state. The term of three years may, indeed, be fuppofed rather too long, but it is ftil shorter than the lives of most men, and comes nearer, than any nation has yet attempted, to the per od, when according to the manners of people of fashion, the matrimonial treaty virtually expirès. In compiling, therefore, forms of fervice for the beau monde, the firft and great object would be to limit the time to the probable duration of the affections of the parties. In the cafe of an old lord marrying a young woman for a nurse, there would be no harm in extending it till death do us part,' but in moit other cafes, as that of a fortune-hunter marrying a dowager, or a child, it would be fufficient if time were given for the regular transfer of the land and the three per cents. This, I think, could not, in all confcience, be thought unreasonable. As for the couples who come together they know not why, a claufe might be introduced confining them only durante bene placito, that is, as long as they pleafe, which I humbly apprehend would give fatisfaction to a great many perions who are apt to fall in love at first fight, to be ftruck with a pretty face, or who marry for a temporary convenience."

I have not prefumed to draw up any sketch of these new fervices, but confine myself, as I merely engaged, to fome hints upon the fubject, which others may improve upon. I fhould, therefore, farther fuggeft, that all fuch marriages be removed from the church, and performed in the drawing-room, the tavern, or any other fuitable place. I propofe this, becaufe I have fometimes obferved that perfons who never go to church but when they are married, are fo ftruck with the novel appearance of the place, the folemn appearance of the parfon, and

the facetious grin of the clerk, as to be quite confounded, and incapable of knowing what they are about. I propofe it likewife in refpect to tender confciences, for really when a man is difpofed to take an oath which he has no inclination to keep, I had much rather he did it any where than at the altar. The glib enunciation of the customhouse, or the juftice room, where the only words you hear are, • So help you God! twelve-pence; would much better fuit the fashionable votaries of Hymen. Great refpect ought to be paid to tender confciences, and that the duties of the married ftate fhould be enforced by what may be termed an act of uniformity, has no doubt given great uneafinefs to many fcrupulous people of rank, who may naturally expect that fome diftinction should be made between them and the vulgar. They might even, I think, (but I propofe every thing with fubmiffion) he allowed to marry upon their honour, which would be equally binding with the form to which they are now obliged to fubmit. If there be any objection to this, it may probably arife from the mistaken fenfe of boncur, or rather the many fenfes in which it is ufed. Valeat quantum va→ lere poffit. This is an objection which it is not in my power to remove, and I throw it out to those who can.

The farther neceflity for a fervice, fpecially adapted to modern manners, appears from another confideration. In all contracts, the breach of it by one party either incurs a penalty, or amounts to a diffolution. Unfortunately, the compilers of the contract in queftion, not forefeeing that a time would come when it fhould be reckoned genteel for one party to break the contract, and yet very proper for the other to be bound by it, have made no provifion for fuch occurrences as are now frequent enough, and notorious enough. Thefe good men had no idea of pin-money, jointures, and feparate establishments. They could not conceive that married perfons living in the fame kingdom, poffeffed of

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carriages and horfes, and enjoying the advantages of the finest turnpikeroads, fhould never meet, unless by accident, and when met part without exchanging a word, or even a look of mutual efteem. If they had, would they have put in fuch words as to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in fickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part?' Certainly not; if they had foreseen the changes and improvements introduced into the married state by modern manners, they would not have expected impoffibilities, nor thought of binding a man down to what he never intended to perform. Their ignorance in this refpect may, however, be excused. The wifeft of men cannot know more than the age in which they live. They judged of English manners influenced by religion, not foreseeing that foreign travel would foon introduce foreign manners, and that a man who has made the tour of Europe, fhould think it his duty to import the most genteel of its vices, as a recompence for his long absence, and a benefaction to the profperity of his country.

THE

There are many other hints I might offer on this fubject. I might fuggeft the propriety of permitting more wives than one, in order to prevent domestic difcord; and other improvements on the fyftem of marriage, but I have already made my letter too long. I hope, however, that what I have thrown out will have the due effect I propofed, as well as incline those who have more leifure and greater abilities to give the subject an attentive confideration.

Let it not be understood

that I wish to abolish entirely the pre-
fent fervice. Far from it. It is ad-
.mirably calculated for all who are se-
rious in their purposes, who are de-
firous to execute the most important
of duties from the most conscientious
of motives; who wish to add to the
happiness of their country by encreas-
ing the aggregate of domestic regu-
larity; who wish to be regarded ra-
ther as good than great, and who by
an honourable conduct and real dig-
nity to an obfcure ftation-but these
are not the perfons of whom I fpoke
in the preceding part of my letter.
I am, fir, &c.

SERIO-JOCOSUs.

THOUGHTS ON VARIETY.

felves of many of the comforts of society.' Society cannot be a ftate of happiness without mutual conceffions and facrifices, provided they are such as do not interfere with prudence and economy, or infringe on the principles of virtue. To be too compliant is dangerous, but never to comply is a mark of selfishness, and deprives us. of all right to expect in our turn what we have so often denied to others.

HE anxiety we feel to be able to account for every appearance in men and things is fo great, that we are often apt to find fault with certain things, not fo much from being able to prove that they are wrong, as from not being able to account for them. It is in our difpofitions to measure the inclinations of others by our own, and therefore we think it wholly unaccountable that any fhould prefer what we diflike, or hold in contempt what In our intercourfe, 'however, with is to us a fource of pleasure and ad- our friends and acquaintances, we ftill miration. Without confidering that have a hankering to make converts to if the inclinations of all mankind were our inclinations, to reduce mankind fixed on the fame objects, there would be no enjoyment, we go on to obtrude our taftes and likings upon one another, encouraging an unaccommodating and selfish spirit, and depriving our

to an equality of defires, or where we fail in thefe objects, to fet down our difappointments as wholly unaccountable. Among other appearances which the prefent feason affords, no

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