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Article TO THE EDITOR. ← Page 2 of 2 Article ON SEDUCTION. Page 1 of 1
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To The Editor.
Chap . XI . of the same Part . The use of the Alphabet . There was not long since a devout but ignorant Papist dwelling in Spain . He perceived a necessity of his own private prayers to GoA besides the Pater-nosierAve Maries & c . used of course in the
Ro-, , mish Church . But so simple was he , that how to pray he knew not , only every morning humbly bending his knees , and lifting up his eyes and hands to heaven , he would deliberately repeat the Al phabet . —¦ And now , saith he , 0 good God , put these letters together to spell sylla-: ¦ bles , to spell words , to make such sense , as may be most to th y glory , and my good .
On Seduction.
ON SEDUCTION .
AMONG the various crimes , the product of a licentious age , there is scarce any that carries with it such complicated guilt , as -the debauching of innocent young women . The parents , of what the * seducer veils under the specious name of a fashionable gallantry , are deceit ,. perjury , lust ; and infamy , ruin , murder , are its tragical offspring . ¦ Should any man by artful insinuations deceive anotherin an affair
, of great importance ; should he , to attain his end , make use of repeated oaths , and solemn imprecations ; and should he at that very time know , that this abused person was his real friend : what pursuit , what interest , would be a sufficient excuse for such villany ? Such , and more criminal , is the most innocent part , the beginning of an intrigue ; more criminalas far as love and tenderness friendshi I
, surpasses p . might almost venture to submit to the determination of our debauchee , if that momentary satisfaction he thus impiously courts , is , even in his opinion , an eq ttivalentfortbe wickedness essentia ] toitsattninment . But let him turn the perspective , and behold it in its terrible
consequences . The loss of reputation immediatel y follows the forfeiture of innocence , accompanied with the neglect of all the virtuous , all the desirable part of the world . Abandoned thus to the mercy of the " libertine , he in a few months sated with ini quity ( of such short duration are vicious pleasures ) withdraws himself and leaves her . Who can describe the anger , grief ,-shame , horror , despair , the legion of
• fiends , that distract the mind of the wretch thus seduced , thus . forsaken ; reduced to a dire dilemma , either of continuing a miserable existence by means-the most-shocking to ii rational creature , or of ending it by a sin that can never berepented of ? Theeffects ofthe choice of thelast terrible expedient are seldom capable of being concealed ; but it is unknown , and , I fear , hardly credible , what numbers of
innocents are sacrificed on account of this odious crime . Plow great must that guilt be , that can thus silence the strong voice of maternal affection ! —There is yet another aggravation of thi .: abominabie prac-¦ tice . which-is , that it is an injury of such a nature , as admits ' of no adequate reparation . Marriage indeed , - . though wide-off a full recoinpence , yet approaches the nearest to it , and , in my opinion , is the
.least that can be done by a man who has any remains of virtue , honour , or good-nature
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
Chap . XI . of the same Part . The use of the Alphabet . There was not long since a devout but ignorant Papist dwelling in Spain . He perceived a necessity of his own private prayers to GoA besides the Pater-nosierAve Maries & c . used of course in the
Ro-, , mish Church . But so simple was he , that how to pray he knew not , only every morning humbly bending his knees , and lifting up his eyes and hands to heaven , he would deliberately repeat the Al phabet . —¦ And now , saith he , 0 good God , put these letters together to spell sylla-: ¦ bles , to spell words , to make such sense , as may be most to th y glory , and my good .
On Seduction.
ON SEDUCTION .
AMONG the various crimes , the product of a licentious age , there is scarce any that carries with it such complicated guilt , as -the debauching of innocent young women . The parents , of what the * seducer veils under the specious name of a fashionable gallantry , are deceit ,. perjury , lust ; and infamy , ruin , murder , are its tragical offspring . ¦ Should any man by artful insinuations deceive anotherin an affair
, of great importance ; should he , to attain his end , make use of repeated oaths , and solemn imprecations ; and should he at that very time know , that this abused person was his real friend : what pursuit , what interest , would be a sufficient excuse for such villany ? Such , and more criminal , is the most innocent part , the beginning of an intrigue ; more criminalas far as love and tenderness friendshi I
, surpasses p . might almost venture to submit to the determination of our debauchee , if that momentary satisfaction he thus impiously courts , is , even in his opinion , an eq ttivalentfortbe wickedness essentia ] toitsattninment . But let him turn the perspective , and behold it in its terrible
consequences . The loss of reputation immediatel y follows the forfeiture of innocence , accompanied with the neglect of all the virtuous , all the desirable part of the world . Abandoned thus to the mercy of the " libertine , he in a few months sated with ini quity ( of such short duration are vicious pleasures ) withdraws himself and leaves her . Who can describe the anger , grief ,-shame , horror , despair , the legion of
• fiends , that distract the mind of the wretch thus seduced , thus . forsaken ; reduced to a dire dilemma , either of continuing a miserable existence by means-the most-shocking to ii rational creature , or of ending it by a sin that can never berepented of ? Theeffects ofthe choice of thelast terrible expedient are seldom capable of being concealed ; but it is unknown , and , I fear , hardly credible , what numbers of
innocents are sacrificed on account of this odious crime . Plow great must that guilt be , that can thus silence the strong voice of maternal affection ! —There is yet another aggravation of thi .: abominabie prac-¦ tice . which-is , that it is an injury of such a nature , as admits ' of no adequate reparation . Marriage indeed , - . though wide-off a full recoinpence , yet approaches the nearest to it , and , in my opinion , is the
.least that can be done by a man who has any remains of virtue , honour , or good-nature