It is wonderful!' faid Julia. But how good it was of the dear General! and how delicate to make fure of my father's confent, before he made any direct propofals to myself.'

"It was very proper to be fure;" faid Mrs.

Delmond.

upon

It is falfe reafoning;' cried Bridgetina aloud, throwing down the book with great vehemence the window-feat. Julia has done nothing wrong; nothing that is not, on every abstract principle of virtue, laudable, and praife worthy, and meritorious.'

"And pray, who fays any thing against her?" faid Mrs Delmond.

Yes replied Bridgetina, the false prejudices of the world condemn her conduct. Nor is the herfelf fublimed and purified from every taint of the odious prejudices of fociety. Elfe, why this remorfe, why these tears?'

"I hear of no remorfe; I fee no tears ;" faid Mrs. Delmond.'

It is plain, Madam, you have never read the fecond volume with attention.'

"The fecond volume of what?' replied Mrs. Delmond.

The fecond volume of the divine Heloife;' faid Bridgetina.

"Indeed I never read a word of it;" faid Mrs. Delmond, “I declare I thought you meant my Julia."

No,' faid Bridgetina;

Julia is to be fure very much enlightened, but the has not yet attained the fublime heights of Heloife.'

"I know nothing about her," faid Mrs. Delmond. "But I perceive it is time for me to think of returning home; fo, farewell, Julia! I fhall tell your father that you are not averfe to thefubject mentioned by the General."

Tell him,' faid Julia, that my heart is penetrated with his goodness, and that I am ready to do whatever he pleafes. Never can I be ungrateful for his tendernefs-for his dear concern for my happiness!'

Mrs. Delmond was no fooner gone, than Bridgetina began a differtation upon the miftaken notion of gratitude; wondering how a perfon, fo well informed as Julia, could be guilty of fuch a monstrous error.

I know I have been convinced again and again, by the arguments of philofophy,' replied Julia, that gratitude is contrary to the principles of justice, which alone ought to govern our conduct; but I cannot tell how it is-it feems to fpring fo naturally to my heart, that I know not how to conquer it.'

Mr. Vallaton, pun&ual to the appointed hour, prefented himself in the evening. The fine eyes of Julia fparkled at his approach. The rofes which had been banished by confinement from her cheeks, revived with redoubled luftre, and gave fresh animation to one of the most expreffive and beautiful countenances the hand of nature ever formed. The tumult of her fpirits was not now, as on the day before, excited by a mixture of tender regret and bitter felf-reproach. The fan&tion of her father's appro bation had chafed every painful emotion from her heart; and the flutter of fpirits with which The expected the eclairciffement from Vallaton's lips, was, perhaps, the most pleasurable fenfation fhe had ever in her life experienced.

Vallaton was, on his part, highly gratified by the manner of his reception; and refolving to improve the prefent favourable difpofition of his mistress, urged the fubje&t of his paffion

with

with all the eloquence of which he was mafter. He was equally surprised and delighted to find that Julia no longer opposed his fuit by the ap prehended difpleasure of her father. She, ins deed, never mentioned her father's name; for perceiving how it was avoided by Vallaton, and attributing his filence to the exquisite delicacy of his affection, which would be indebted to her heart alone for fuccefs, the refolved to indulge him at the expence of her curiosity, which burned to know by what means he had induced the General to plead his cause.

While Julia in fweet confufion liftened to her lover's vows, of which in filent modefty she fmiled her approbation, the heart of Bridgetina fwelled with vexation, not unmixed with envy, at the fuperior happiness of her friend. Finding the attention of, Vallaton too much engroffed by his fair miftrefs, to give her any hopes of a me-. taphyfical argument, the betook herfelf to the. garden; and there in fweet foliloquy the gave a vent to the tender forrows of her gentle bosom.

"Ah! miferable, deploroble, odious, and wretched state of fociety! (cried the) in which every woman cannot find a lover equally ardent and equally amiable. Sweet fenfibilities! delicious tenderness! Why do I figh for you in vain? Ah! why was my cruel lot caft in fuch a difmal country? Why was I doomed to come into the world in fuch an age? Why was I horn when an abfurd, an unnatural inftitution ties up the hearts of men, and every nobler feeling becomes petrified, and worm-eaten, and mouldy, on the uncomeatable shelf of marriage? This is the caufe, ye gods! this is the caufe

Here a feasonable shower of tears came to her relief; and feating herfelf down upon the bank

of

of a small stream that ran at the bottom of the garden, the increased its waters by the pearly torrent from her eyes, in as fenfible a degree as ever brook was fwelled from a fimilar fource. For an exact measurement of the height to which rivers have been swoln by fuch incidents, and other minute defcription of the phenomena, we refer our readers to the poets; and shall content ourselves with obferving, that in this, as in fimilar inftances, it happened that the peccant humours which had risen to the eyes, from the region of the heart, were no fooner carried fairly down the ftream, than the patient experienced relief.

It would be unpardonable to neglect the opportunity that now prefents itself of offering a hint to our very much refpected friends, the experimental philofophers; to whofe ferious confideration we would very earnestly recommend a minute inveftigation of the facts fo often recorded in the works of celebrated writers. From these authors fufficient data may be obtained for an exa& calculation of the greatest height to which any river was ever known to rife by the fall of a fingle fhower of tears; but much fubje& for investigation will still remain. It is not enough to know how far the waters upon fuch occafions actually do rife; it is fti to be ascertained, by a set of repeated thermometrical obfervations, what is the exa& increase of heat that it experiences from the faid fhower. And a very careful analyzation must likewife be performed, to know with certainty the difference of the component parts of fals tears, and bitter tears, and fweet tears, and fweet bitter tears, and fult-delicious tears, and tears half-delicious, half-agonizing, &c. &c. upon which

a very pretty neat courfe of experiments might undoubtedly be made; and if recorded with philofophical accuracy, and ornamented with a fufficient quantity of technical terms, (diftinguishing, for the benefit of the unlearned readers, the phlogistic from the antiphlogistic) would make a very learned, useful, and entertaining pocket volume. With this hint, for which we are confcious of meriting the thanks of our fellow-citizens, we shall conclude the chapter.

CHAP. XXVII.

"His words replete with guile,

"Into her heart too eafy entrance won

"Impregn'd

"With reafon to her feeming, and with truth.”

MILTON.

WHEN Mrs. Delmond returned to her own

houfe, the found Mrs. Gubbles with the Captain, who was amufing himself with the domeftic anecdotes of a neighbouring family; a fpecies of information for which he could not have applied to a fuperior fource. No one, however, could have half the pleasure in hearing any piece of news, that this generous woman experienced in communicating it. The delight fhe took in adding to the general stock of information was, indeed, fo great, fo truly difinterested, that it was not at all affected by the nature of the intelligence the had to give; as whether that was forrowful or pleafant, it was communicated by her with equal alacrity and cheerfulness.

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