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From a friend to another, adviſing him to Marry.
Dear Charles,
I am ſorry to hear that you have abſolutely declared againſt matrimony, and for no other reaſon as I can learn, but becauſe you are not acquainted with its ſweets. Has not both Providence and religion enjoined this ſacred union? Would we be now in exiſtence only for it? But without confining ourſelves to general reflections, let us ſee if you could not live more comfortably with a woman, than in the ſingle ſtate you are at preſent reſolved to make choice of; for my part, I muſt think that if you think yourſelf capable of regulating a family, of living upon good terms with an honeſt perſon, and of giving good education to your children, you would find that there is nothing more agreeable than to live with a woman who has made a tender of herſelf to you, and who is inclined to diſcharge faithfully all the duties incumbent on that union. If you examine every thing which paſſes in a family under proper regulations, you will ſee that a good virtuous wife, ſhares with her huſband all the pleaſures or ſorrow that may happen. His joy ſhe encreaſes by adding her own, and his afflictions ſhe alleviates by the part ſhe bears in them. Conjugal affection, when it is ſincere, ſeldom decreaſes; but, ſuppoſing the firſt tranſport of love to ſuffer an abatement, ſtill a virtuous woman is the beſt friend a man can have; they concert together the meaſures they judge
