those of dissipated pleasure.

"But Julian, alas! had no taste for matrimony. It never is the taste of the votaries of pleasure; or never, till pleasure has ceased to gratify desire; and then it is only resorted to as a shelter from the

storm.

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But his gaiety and dissipation had involved him in difficulties. The proposal was therefore acceded to with a view of relief; so it was said, and so it was believed. "The accomplished Matilda, a foreign princess, was his destined bride. If beauty) could inspire love, if goodness could ensure esteem, Matilda's lot was enviable and happy. She possessed those certain marks of a good heart, frankness and openness of disposition, an unsuspecting confidence in mankind, affability and condescension of manners, an easiness to' be pleased, and a delight to please. To suc cour distress, to communicate happiness, was her purest bliss. All who, from virtuous principles, could appreciate her character, "saw her with envy, yet in envy loved"

"However, for the arms of Julian, she' left her royal father's palace; her relations, her friends, every scene that the earliest associations of youth, had endeared to her memory. To a foreign clime did she direct her steps; a stranger in a strange land, did she fix her abode. Boyant, however were Irer spirits, bright her anticipations. Wish

C

ing the happiness of all that lived, she fondly thought, that all that lived, entertained the same benevolent feelings towards herself. And she was just in so thinking. She had a right to expect the same kindness from others, as she herself was willing to shew to them. It was a feeling that angels share. It constitutes the heaven of the realms of light.

"The nuptials were celebrated with every demonstration of joy; and all seemed auspicious of a happy union. But the brightest morn, is frequently the harbinger of a cloudy day. It was so with Matilda, the hapless Matilda! For scarcely had she become the wedded wife, ere she found herself the disconsolate widow; not indeed from the death of Julian; but from the alienation of his heart; or the discovery, of the fatal secret, that that heart had never been her's; notwithstanding that love and fidelity had been plighted at the altar of God; and notwithstanding, that the holy name of God had been invoked to sanction the solemn act.

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'An only child was the fruit of so unfortunate an union; and with her babe at her breast, pensive and melancholy, Matilda left the palace of her faithless husband.

"Without the least imputation on her character, behold her now, a discarded wife. For the only reason assigned by Julian for so fatal a necessity, was his utter

Hability to command his inclinations,' "Command his inclinations! exclaimed Philander. Is this the sacred obligation of the marriage vow! Is the name of God invoked, to be trampled in the dust! Nay, I will not ask, if this be religion; is it even common morality? If we may violate our promises,as fancy or caprice may dictate, where is the stability of social confidence? And if we hve no command over our inclinations, where is the distinction betwen virtue and vice?"

"True; replied the Genius. There can be no crime so hateful in the sight of God, as to invoke his name to the sanction of a falsehood; or to invoke it in truth and sincerity, and then to dishonour it by infidelity and treachery. And if vows plighted in his holy presence, be not sufficient to ensure faithfulness, it would be in vain to look for it from any other motive. If the strongest ties cannot bind, certainly the weakest will not.

"To say that man has no command over his inclinations, is neither consistent with religion, nor morality. Life is a state of probation; and this implies, a power to do right, and a power to do wrong. Man could not otherwise be an accountable being. Could he not suppress desire, when desire was criminal, it would be both unjust and cruel to punish him for the

1

commission of crime. He would be impelled by fatal necessity; the crime would not be his, but his Maker's, he acted. agreeably to his nature; and his Creator only is to blame: But "let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man; but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

"It was not, therefore, that Julian had no command over his inclinations; he did not exert that command; or he had lost it: by the perversion of his nature.

An addictedness to pleasure, particularly if it be of an unlawful description, will darken the mind, taint the heart, corrupt the moral principles, effeminate the character, and render the human being the mere slave of passion. In such a case, it-would be next to a miracle, to command: his inclinations. 7

"And it would be almost as difficult, to love what was amiable. Vice can no more harmonize with virtue, than midnight darkness, can unite with mid-day light. When nature is perverted by excessive indulgence, and unlawful gratifications, good is themevil, evil is then good; beauty deformity, deformity beauty.

Perhaps, had Julian been blessed with virtuous propensities, his union with Matikla might have been completely happy. He would, at least, have had candour,