' Such a woman ought to be an angel- or she is an
ass- for I discern not a trace of the human character, neither
reason nor passion in this domestic drudge, whose being is absorbed in
that of a tyrant's.
Still Dr. Fordyce must have very little acquaintance with the
human heart, if he really supposed that such conduct would bring
back wandering love, instead of exciting contempt. No, beauty,
gentleness, &c. &c. may gain a heart; but esteem, the only lasting
affection, can alone be obtained by virtue supported by reason. It
is respect for the understanding that keeps alive tenderness for the
person.
As these volumes are so frequently put into the hands of young
people, I have taken more notice of them than, strictly speaking, they
deserve; but as they have contributed to vitiate the taste, and
enervate the understanding of many of my fellow-creatures, I could not
pass them silently over.
SECT. III.
Such paternal solicitude pervades Dr. Gregory's Legacy to his
Daughters, that I enter on the task of criticism with affectionate
respect; but as this little volume has many attractions to recommend
it to the notice of the most respectable part of my sex, I cannot
silently pass over arguments that so speciously support opinions
which, I think, have had the most baneful effect on the morals and
manners of the female world.
His easy familiar style is particularly suited to the tenor of his
advice, and the melancholy tenderness which his respect for the memory
of a beloved wife, diffuses through the whole work, renders it very
interesting; yet there is a degree of concise elegance conspicuous
in many passages that disturbs this sympathy; and we pop on the
author, when we only expected to meet the- father.
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