As theſe volumes are ſo frequently put into the hands of young people, I have taken more notice of them than, ſtrictly ſpeaking, they deſerve; but as they have contributed to vitiate the taſte, and enervate the underſtanding of many of my fellow-creatures, I could not paſs them ſilently over.
Such paternal ſolicitute pervades Dr. Gregory's Legacy to his Daughters, that I enter on the taſk of criticiſm with affectionate reſpect; but as this little volume has many attractions to recommend it to the notice of the moſt reſpectable part of my ſex, I cannot ſilently paſs over arguments that ſo ſpeciouſly ſupport opinions which, I think, have had the moſt baneful effect on the morals and manners of the female world.
His eaſy familiar ſtyle is particularly ſuited to the tenor of his advice, and the melancholy tenderneſs which his reſpect for the memory of a beloved wife, diffuſes through the whole work, renders it very intereſting; yet there is a degree of conciſe elegance conſpicuous in many paſſages that diſturbs this ſympathy; and we pop on the author, when we only expected to meet the–father.
Beſides, having two objects in view, he ſeldom adhered ſteadily to either; for wiſhing to make his daughters amiable, and fearing leſt unhappineſs ſhould only be the conſequence, of inſtilling ſentiments that might draw them out of the track of common life without enabling them to act
