ficient force be applied to put it in motion: but once put in motion, it will move on for ever; except an adequate force be employed to stop it. If it is the same with minds, as with bodies, we had need be careful how we set them going, lest we should not be able to hold them sufficiently in check, to stop them at our pleasure.

However, you have nothing to fear, my dear Sir, for as it was only a few dashes of your pen that set me in motion at first; so a few more strokes with the same instrument will stop me whenever you please but, without the force of that powerful instrument, there is very little probability of my stopping at present. You see then what you have to trust to; you must exercise either your power, or your patience;-if the former, I shall soon be at rest;-if the latter, you must bear the fatigue of following me.

It certainly is a very great advantage, to be blest with the enjoyment of ardent and sincere friendship.

Friendship is love, from all its dross refin'd,
The chaste enjoyment of th' immortal mind:
A Passion warm, benevolent, sincere;
'Tis such as Angels do to Angels bear!'

Marriage, says Dr. Johnson, is evidently the dictate of nature: men and women were made to be companions of each other, and therefore I cannot be persuaded but that marriage is one of the means of happiness.'

But we have the advantage of higher authority than 'Dr. Johnson's upon this subject. You know who it was that said, "It is not good for man to be alone, I will make him a help meet for him."

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Every creature was intended to yield help to man: the flower, with with its beauty and fragrance; the tree, with its nutricious fruit; the animal tribes, with all their powers of ministering satisfaction to the senses, or to the mind. Adam surveyed them all with delight, he saw their several characters in their several forms, he gave them names, he observed and glorified his Creator's perfections displayed in himself, and in them. But still he was alone amidst all this multitude; the understanding was employed, but the heart wanted its object: the tongue could name all that the eye beheld, but there was no tender, sympathetic ear, to which it could say,

* how fair, how lovely, how glorious, is all this that we behold!"

But God provided a completely suitable help-meet for him in Eve,

"Till that delighted hour

The joy was incomplete in Eden's bower!
In vain the viewless Seraph ling'ring there
At starry midnight charin'd the silent air;
In vain the wild bird carol'd on the steep;
To hail the sun, slow wheeling from the deep;
In vain, to soothe the solitary shade,
Aërial notes in mingling measures play'd
The summer wind that shook the spangled tree,
The whispering wave, the murmur of the bee:
Still slowly pass'd the melancholy day,

And still the stranger wist not where to stray; The world was sad !-the garden was a wild! And man the hermit, sigh'd-till woman smil'd." He that made man, made the woman to be his companion. Therefore we may safely conclude, whatever has a tendency to increase the enjoyment of his pleasures; or to support and comfort hin under all his afflictions:-whatever is advantageous, desirable, or valuable in friendship ;—whatever can soothe, console, or encourage in adversity ;-and all that can render prosperity agreeable, and delightful, is found in the affectionate solicitude, and most endearing friendship of a prudent wife.

Happy the man, to whom indulgent heaven, ́
That tender bosom-friend, a wife has given :
In prosp'rous days how grateful must it prove,
To tread life's pleasing round with one we love!
In sad distress, the fair with softening art,
Will soothe our woes, or bear a willing part."

The advantages of the marriage state, so abundantly compensate for all the troubles and sorrows of life, that the man who is blest with a good wife, often finds his very sorrows a source of inexpressible joy. And that too, in consequence of the affectionate consolations administered by her in the season of affliction.

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The marriage state is an endless source of new gratifications. The married man can say: If I am unacceptable to all the world beside, there is one whom I entirely love, that will receive me with joy and transport; and think herself obliged to double her kindness for me, when she sees me vexed with difficulties and perplexities. I need not dissemble the sorrow of my heart, to be agreeable there; that very sorrow which oppresses me, quickens her affections, and doubles her concern to remove the cause of my uneasiness; or to bear a part in all my distresses."

Marriage is doubtless the most natural, innocent, and useful state, It gives the fairest opportunity of enjoying the little portion of happiness which this life admits of. It is in some degree, a duty we owe to the world. It is a source of the greatest benefit to the community, as well as a present comfort to ourselves,'

What are the greatest blessings, unsweetened by society? How poignant are many sorrows of life, without a friend to alleviate and divide them!-How many are the moments, how numerous the exigencies, in which we want sympathy, tenderness, and attention!'

The ruddy unambitious villager, whose toils are sweetened by conjugal attachment, and whose blooming children cheer the seeming infelicities of life, enjoys a far greater share of the real happiness of human nature, than the rich, the gay, and the great, who pass their lives in celibacy. For what can be found in the whole circle of fashionable pleas sures, that can produce such exquisite feelings of delight, as the affectionate husband enjoys, when he returns from the business and fatigues of the day: and finds his wife engaged in domestic