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and incapable of bearing the leaft contradic

tion.

Bellinda Coot, his Lady, with whom he had been paffionately in love, was as fine a figure as could be seen among the daughters of men. Her person was charming; her face was beautiful, and had a sweetness in it that was pleafing to look at. Her vivacity was great, and her understanding extraordinary; but she had a fatirical wit, and a vanity, which made her delight in fhewing the weakness of other minds, and the clearness of her own conception. She was too good, however, to have the leaft malice in fuch procedure. It was human weakness, and a defire to make her neighbours wifer. Unfortunately for her, he was married to a man, who, of all men in the world, was the unfitteft fubject for her quick fancy to

act on.

But, notwithstanding this, Euftace and Bellinda were, for the most of their time, very fond. As fhe was formed in a prodigality of nature, to fhew mankind a finished compofition, and had wit and charms enough to fire the dullest and most infenfible heart; a man of Orlando's tafte for the fex, could not be without an inflamed heart, when fo near the tranfporting object of defire. She was his delight for almoft a year, the dear fupport of his life. He feemed to value her efteem,

Ι

esteem, her respect, her love; and endeavoured to merit them by the virtues which fortify love: and therefore, when by his being fhort, pofitive, and unreasonable in his dictates, as was too often his wont; and on her being intemperate in the ftrong fentiments her imagination produced upon the occafion, which was too frequently the cafe; when they seemed to forget the Apostle's advice for a while, that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently; 1 Pet. i. 22. and had ftrifes and debates, which fhewed, for the time they lafted, that they were far from being perfect and entire, wanting nothing; then would her throwing her face into fimiles, with some tender expreffion, prove a reconciling method at once. Till the fatal night, this always had a power to foften pain, to eafe and calm the raging man.

But poor at beft is the condition of human life here below; and, when to weak and imperfe&t faculties, we add inconfiftencies, and do not act up to the eternal law of reafon, and of God; when love of fame, curiofity, refentment, or any of our particular propenfities; when humour, vanity, or any of our inferior powers, are permitted to act against juftice and veracity, and inftead of reflecting on the reafon of the thing, or the right of the cafe, that by the influence this has on the mind, we may be constituted virtuous,

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virtuous, and attached to truth; we go down with the current of the paffions, and let bent and humour determine us, in oppofition to what is decent and fit: if in a state fo unfriendly as this is, to the heavenly and divine life, where folly and vice are for ever ftriving to introduce disorder into our frame, and it is difficult indeed, to preferve, in any degree, an integrity of character, and peace within if, in fuch a fituation, inftead of labouring to deftroy all the feeds of envy, pride, ill-will, and impatience, and endeavouring to establish and maintain a due inward œconomy and harmony, by paying a perpetual regard to truth, that is, to the real circumftances and relation of things in which we ftand, -to the practice of reafon in its juft extent, according to the capacities and natures of every being; we do, on the contrary, difregard the moral faculty, and become a mere fyftem of paffions and affections, without any thing at the head of them to govern them;

what then can be expected, but deficiency and deformity, degeneracy and guilty practice? This was the cafe of Euftace and Bellinda. Paffion and own-will were fo near and intimate to him, that he seemed to live under a deliberate refolution not to be governed by reafon. He would wink at the light he had, ftruggle to evade conviction, and make his mind a chaos and a hell. Bellinda, at the

fame

fame time, was too quick, too vain, and too often forgot to take into her idea of a good character, a continual fubordination of the lower powers of our nature to the faculty of reason. This produced the following scene.

Maria (fifter to Bellinda) returned one evening with a five-guinea fan she had bought that afternoon, and was tedious in praifing fome Indian figures that were painted in it. Mrs. Euftace, who had a tafte for pictures, faid, the colours were fine, but the images ridiculous and despicable; and her fifter muft certainly be a little Indian-mad, or her fondnefs for every thing from that fide of the globe could not be fo exceffive and extravagant as it always appeared to be.

To this Maria replied with fome heat, and Euftace very peremptorily infifted upon it, that he was right. With pofitiveness and paffion, he magnified the beauties of the figures in the fan, and with violence reflected fo feverely on the good judgment Bellinda, upon all occafions, pretended to, (as he expreffed it) that at laft, her imagination was fired, and, with too much eagerness, she not only ridiculed the opinion of her sister, in refpect of fuch things, but fpoke with too much warmth againft the defpotic tempers of felf-fufficient husbands.

To reverence and obey (fhe faid) was not required by any obligation, when men were

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unrea

unreasonable, and paid no regard to a wife's domestic and perfonal felicity; nor would the give up her understanding to his weak determination, fince cuftom cannot confer an authority which nature has denied: It cannot license a husband to be unjuft, nor give right to treat her as a flave. If this was to be the case in matrimony, and women were to suffer under conjugal vexations, as she did, by his fenfeless arguments every day, they had better bear the reproach and folitude of antiquated virginity, and be treated as the refufe of the world, in the character of old maids.

This too lively, though juft fpeech, enraged Euftace to the laft degree, and from a fury, he funk in a few minutes into a total fullen filence, and fat for half an hour, while Iftayed, cruelly determining, I fuppofe, her fad doom. Bellinda foon faw fhe had gone too far, and did all that could be done to recover him from the fit he was in. She fmiled, cried, afked pardon; but 'twas all in vain. Every charm had loft its power, and he seemed no longer man. When this beauty stood weeping by his chair, and faid, My love, forgive me, as it was in rallery only I fpoke, and let our pleasures and pains be hereafter honestly shared; I remember the tears burst from my eyes, and in that condition I went away. It was frightful to look at Euftace,

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