could lie in the dust and cry, "We have sinned against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land to increase the trespass of Israel."

Such confessions as these, Melissa, are not peculiar to the ancient Israelites. There have been professing Christians in every age since Christianity was known, who have imprudently followed their example; who, like them, in the hour of distress, have pathetically lamented the folly of their conduct, and who, when too late, have felt the force of that divine exclamation-" O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the sea." Your friend has seen many of this description. Some, that by marrying ungodly men have made shipwreck of faith and a good conscience; some, that while they retained the form, have lost the power of godliness; some that have been admonished for remissness of conduct-for a total neglect of the means of grace; and who have pleaded in excuse, the restraints of a man that hated the least appearance of devotion; but never, that he recollects one who retained that ardent love to divine things which, before marriage, had been remarkably conspicuous.

It may be said in this case as well, perhaps, as in any other, that the man and his associates are generally alike. Or at least thus much may be safely affirmed, that such heterogeneous connexions are extremely hurtful to religion-that she who departs from the path of duty, forsakes her own mercies; and that, if she do not finally apostatise and fall into ruin, it is not owing to circumspection of conduct, but to the aboundings of that grace

which triumphs over human depravity and human guilt; and which is gloriously exalted in saving the chief of sinners.

In forming connexions for the purposes of trade or of commerce, the children of this world act more providently. How anxious are they to select individuals who are pleased with the same prospects, animated with the same hopes, and with whom they can cordially act to secure the end for which their fortunes and their talents are united!

It will perhaps be said, That the pious woman who marries a merely nominal Christian is not less provident, because this step is considered as essential to her happiness. But if anything more than sensual enjoyment be expected, the mean is not adapted to the end; for attachment in this case is not to the mind, but to the person of the man; and were she to remember that the views she once had of herself and of others, in a state of nature, were very different from those that now animate her heart, she might soon discover that there is no foundation for agreement; that this difference would produce discordant opinions; and that if these opinions did not interdict felicity, they would certainly obstruct it. For what can be reasonably expected "but disappointment and repentance from a choice made in the ardour of desire, without judgment, without foresight, without inquiry after conformity of opinions, similarity of manners, rectitude of judgment, or of purity of sentiment ?"

Whenever a Christian woman (and the same may be said with equal, if not with much greater propriety of the Christian man) begins to think it a matter of little importance whether the object of her

choice be really a converted person or not, provided his external demeanour be uniformly decent; she has abundant reason to believe that her love to God and his government is rapidly declining. It is not in the moment of grateful attachment to the Father of mercies, that we think of making a league with his enemies; this treachery occurs in the hour of forgetfulness-when the heart is cold and barren; when formality usurps the throne of religion, and when nothing is seen but the semblance of piety!

You know him, Melissa, that, while in an unconverted state, was passionately fond of a woman whose beauty and accomplishments were remarkably conspicuous. To the gratification of this passion, nothing was wanting but the concurrence of one, to whose will he owed the most implicit regard. This concurrence, however, could never be obtained; he pined after the darling of his heart in silence and solitude, till death removed the bar to his happiness, and left him at liberty to pursue, without hindrance, the object of his wishes. But this mournful event opened new scenes for contemplation. The demise of his friend was, through divine goodness, the life of his soul. He saw another object worthy of his heart; and though he never lost sight of the worth, nor of the personal charms of her that first engaged his affections; yet never did he feel equal thankfulness on any temporal occasion, as in being prevented, by this affecting occurrence, from giving his hand to one, for whom the riches of both the Indies would have been once cheerfully relinquished. He now found his views of God, of himself, and of her, with regard to religion, totally changed; nor could the whole world have induced him to think, as for

E

that

merly, that happiness and Stella were inseparably united: and I have no doubt but that, if you experience a lively sense of the same divine goodness, you will cheerfully say concerning the righteous—“ Remember me, therefore, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation; that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance."

I am,

Yours, &c.

LETTER IV.

Order is heaven's first law: and this confest,
Some are, and must be, greater than the rest;

More rich, more wise; but who infers from hence
That such are happier, shocks all common sense.-Pope.

You ask, Philetus, whether a person in your cir-
cumstances ought not, in choosing a wife, to make
money a necessary article, since without it little re-
spect or happiness can be expected in the present
life. Fully to answer this very interesting question
would require more room than is generally allowed
for epistolary conveyance: I will, however, transmit
you my thoughts on the subject with all the freedom
and conciseness that I can.

"Whoever," says an elegant writer, "finds himself incited, by some violent impulse of passion, to pursue riches as the chief end of being, should stop and consider whether he is about to engage in an undertaking that will reward his toil. When therefore the desire of wealth is taking hold of the heart, let us look round and see how it operates upon those

When

whose industry, or fortune, has obtained it. we find them oppressed with their own abundance, luxurious without pleasure, idle without ease, impatient and querulous in themselves, and despised or hated by the rest of mankind, we shall soon be convinced that if the real wants of our condition are satisfied, there remains little to be sought with solicitude, or desired with eagerness. He must there

fore expect to be wretched, who pays to beauty, riches, or politeness, that regard which only virtue and piety can claim."

The distribution of terrestrial good is wisely regulated by the providence of God. Some individuals are enriched with abundance; some have all the comforts, but none of the superfluities of life; some have merely the things needful to subsistence, while others, equally deserving, have scarcely where to lay their heads. It is the Lord that maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringth low, and lifteth up, and none have a right to say unto him, What doest thou? The man, therefore, that rejects a woman merely because she is not enriched with abundance, rejects, besides the woman, the providence of God.

Were every man to expect a large dowry with his wife, what must become of by far the greatest, and perhaps the most amiable part of the fairer sex? They must be constrained to exist without answering the end for which they were created; and man, influenced by a principle unnatural and unjust, live deprived of that society and intercourse which soften the rudeness of his manners, and which were graciously intended as the balm of life.

But that I may be serviceable to you in this particular, I shall waive a minute investigation of the