burden on the benevolence of the maſter of the houſe, and his new partner.
Who can recount the miſery, which many unfortunate beings, whoſe minds and bodies are equally weak, ſuffer in ſuch ſituations—unable to work, and aſhamed to beg? The wife, a cold-hearted, narrow-minded, woman, and this is not an unfair ſuppoſition; for the preſent mode of education does not tend to enlarge the heart any more than the underſtanding, is jealous of the little kindneſs which her huſband ſhews to his relations; and her ſenſibility not riſing to humanity, ſhe is diſpleaſed at ſeeing the property of her children laviſhed on an helpleſs ſiſter.
Theſe are matters of fact, which have come under my eye, again and again. The conſequence is obvious, the wife has recourſe to cunning to undermine the habitual affection, which ſhe is afraid openly to oppoſe; and neither tears nor careſſes are ſpared till the ſpy is worked out of her home, and thrown on the world, unprepared for its difficulties; or ſent, as a great effort of generoſity, or from ſome regard to propriety, with a ſmall ſtipend, and an uncultivated mind, into joyleſs ſolitude.
Theſe two women may be much upon a par, with reſpect to reaſon and humanity; and changing ſituations might have acted juſt the ſame ſelfiſh part; but had they been differently educated, the caſe would alſo have been very different. The wife would not have had that ſenſibility, of which ſelf is the centre, and reaſon might have taught her not to expect, and not even to be flattered, by the affection of her huſband, if it led him to vio-
