revealed religion. The classics, the Spectator, essays, poems, and travels serve for the entertainment of our idle hours. I ask your pardon for detaining you so long, but I write the more at large, that I may not trouble you too often.

I am, Reverend Sir,

Your most obliged Servant,

P. DODDRIDGE.

TO MRS. ROBERTS.

Dec. 8, 1722.

TO MY HONOURED AND MUCH RESPECTED AUNT, MRS. REBECCA ROBERTS, AS A SMALL TOKEN OF MY DUTY AND AFFECTION.

I HAVE really such a sincere respect for my mamma, and such a high opinion of her condescension and good nature, that, as you very well know, I approach her with confidence and freedom, yet I dare not trust her with a most important secret, which I am now going to open to you. If I were even at BethnalGreen, I should be half an hour before I could bring it out, and at last, I should perhaps be so much embarrassed, that it is a thousand to one you would not understand me; but, being all alone in my study, and almost a hundred miles off, I can give it utterance in three words. In short Madam, I-am-in-love, -and that is all. And, you will say, enough too. And yet, upon second thoughts, that is not all neither:

for I am most violently in love with a charming girl that lives in the neighbourhood of Leicester, about seventeen years of age, and, to borrow an Arabian phrase, as beautiful as the moon in her fulness.

We shall have a great deal to say of her both now and hereafter; and so, for distinction and decorum, we will call her Clarinda. How I became acquainted with her is not at all material: it is sufficient that I now know her, and know her so well, that I hardly know myself.

I have frequently told you, that I have a heart exactly prepared to receive the fondest and tenderest impressions. But Clarinda has charms that would awaken the most stupid, and subdue the most obdurate. Clarinda is the darling of the old, and the joy of the young; the idol of our sex, and the envy of her own. You see my style begins to grow exalted, and my sentiments rapturous. But, en vérité, she is such a girl, that language cannot paint.

And now, madam, do you judge, what work such a dreadful, lovely creature must create in the soft, sensitive breast of your dutiful nephew. Reason and Philosophy yielded at her first appearance; and, when they afterwards rallied their forces, it was only that they might receive a more signal defeat.

your

I own, madam, that letters have done me considerable service; for who can resist the force of reason, and the charms of wit, when communicated with so much freedom and good nature; but, as soon as those dear papers are laid aside, I forget every thing but Clarinda. I dream of her in the night; and rave of her in the day. If my tutor asks me a question

about predestination, I answer him, that Clarinda is the prettiest creature in the world! Or, if I sit down to make a sermon against transubstantiation, I cannot forbear cautioning my hearers against the excesses

of love.

Now and then, after a long course of abstinence and mortification, I get a lucid interval for a few moments; but if I touch a romance or a play, drink a glass of wine or take a cup of chocolate, I presently relapse. I am, at this time, tolerably serene, and therefore, I earnestly entreat you to tell me what I must do. Recollect I have a wonderful opinion of your skill, or I should not put myself into your hands; but I beg that you will use me with a great deal of tenderness, or I shall certainly be killed outright.

I do not inquire how I may gain my mistress, which, perhaps, might be very possible, but how I may conquer this impetuous, ungovernable passion. It will certainly be a hard task, but I see that it is a very necessary one; for, in the first place, I have not the least thought of marrying till near thirty, unless I have a very clear and undeniable call, which, I think, will not be these ten years. And a more important consideration remains to be told: this dear, charming Clarinda, with all her wit, beauty, and tenderness, good breeding and piety, is, I am sorry to say it, but she is the daughter of a dissenting minister, that has half a dozen children more to provide for! O aunt! why have not I five hundred a year, that I might marry a girl of a small fortune, without ruining both her and myself?

VOL. I.

You see I have still room remaining for natural reason and common sense. Let me then entreat you to confirm them by sending me an answer, and that in a few hours, if you would not have it come too late. In the mean time, take heed how you love yourself. Ladies have strong passions, or my philosophy fails me. I know you have a great deal of good sense to manage them, but I know by experience, that they are very ungovernable things. Remember this, as the last advice of

Your unfortunate Nephew and obedient Servant,

P. DODDRIDGE.

P.S. I have just heard from Clarinda. But alas! what is that to you? Remember, however, that the inconsistency of a Lover is always pardonable.

TO MRS. CLARK.

DEAR CLIO,

Jan. 5. 1723.

YOUR thoughts are as agreeable upon every subject, as your person is in every dress. I have some of your letters by me which are written with the utmost gaiety and freedom. The subject of your last is serious and important, and the style is proportionally elevated. Each of these strains has its peculiar charms; and you, madam, are mistress of all that is charming in either.

It is now Sunday evening, and but a few hours have elapsed since I came from the sacrament, and yet I can sit down to write you an answer without the least scruple; for the nature of your letter, as well as the solemnity of the day, will be sufficient to give my thoughts a grave turn, and I hope you will excuse me, if I should fall into some reflections which may look a little like a sermon, and contain more divinity than gallantry or politeness.

Your reflections upon the love of God are great and feeling; and what you say about the nature of love towards his creatures is so tender and pathetic, that I easily conclude you speak from experience. I am now in too grave a humour to rally, and therefore, I hope you will believe me, when I assure you, that I was not at all in earnest in what I said about Clarinda. It is true she is a very pretty girl, and there are a great many circumstances in her character that I am very well pleased with; but there is not the least intimacy between us, and the utmost extent of my passion was only the entertainment of a roving imagination, or, at best, designed to give you a little innocent amusement. But yet, madam, though Clarinda be little more than a name, yet it is very certain, that I enter very fully into the spirit of your charming sentiments; for, though I have no mistress, yet I have a few darling friends, and I am sure Clio is one of them and it is plain to me that, among you, you have more of my affection than any creature can possibly deserve. Too many fond hopes of happiness are laid up in you, and consequently from you,