ſchool are allowed to read them; but I ſhould inſtantly diſmiſs them from my pupil's, if I wiſhed to ſtrengthen her underſtanding, by leading her to form ſound principles on a broad baſis; or, were I only anxious to cultivate her taſte; though they muſt be allowed to contain many ſenſible obſervations.
Dr. Fordyce may have had a very laudable end in view; but theſe diſcourſes are written in ſuch an affected ſtyle, that were it only on that account, and had I nothing to object againſt his mellifluous precepts, I ſhould not allow girls to peruſe them, unleſs I deſigned to hunt every ſpark of nature out of their compoſition, melting every human quality into female weakneſs and artificial grace. I ſay artificial, for true grace ariſes from ſome kind of independence of mind.
Children, careleſs of pleaſing, and only anxious to amuſe themſelves, are often very graceful; and the nobility who have moſtly lived with inferiours, and always had the command of money, acquire a graceful eaſe of deportment, which ſhould rather be termed habitual grace of body, than that ſuperiour gracefulneſs which is truly the expreſſion of the mind. This mental grace, not noticed by vulgar eyes, often flaſhes acroſs a rough countenance, and irradiating every feature, ſhows ſimplicity and independence of mind.–It is then we read characters of immortality in the eye, and ſee the ſoul in every geſture, though when at reſt, neither the face nor limbs may have much beauty to recommend them; or the behaviour, any thing peculiar to attract univerſal attention. The maſs of mankind, however, look for more
