N° 45 . THE GUARDIAN . ſhe is fure, he is ſo much a gentleman , and he has that natural foftneſs, that if he reads any thing moving on this ſubject in my paper, it will cer
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tainly make him think ' Poor girl ! · Cæfar aſhamed ! Has not he feen Pharfalia ?' Does the
poor creature imagine that a ſcrip of paper, a col lection of ſentences, and an old man's talk of
pleaſure which he is paſt, will have an effect upon him who could go on in a ſeries of falf
hood ; let drop ambiguous fentences in her ab ſence, to give her falſe hope from the repetition
of them by ſome friend that heard them ; that could paſs as much time in the purſuit of her as would have attained fome uſeful art or fcience ;
and that only to attain a ſhort revel of his fenfes, under a ſtupor of faith, honour, and conſcience ! No ; the deſtruction of a well -educated young
woman is not accomplifhed by the criminal who is guilty of it, in a ſudden ſtart of deſire ; he is not ſurpriſed into it by frailty ; but arrives at it by care, ſkill, and meditation. It is no ſmall
aggravation of the guilt, that it is a thouſand times conquered and refifted, even while it is proſecuted. He that waits for fairer occaſions,
for riper wiſhes, for the removal of a particular
objection, or the conqueſt ofany certain fcruple, has it in his power to obey his conſcience, which often calls him, during the intrigue, a villain ,
and a deſtroyer. There can be nothing faid for fuch an evil : but that the reſtraints of ſhame and
ignominy are broken down by the prevalence of cuſtom . I do not, indeed, expect that my pre
cautions will have any great weight with men of mode ; they may be ſome way efficacious on
