inclined to cenfure, are but indifferently difpofed to profit. What is now to be delivered will have little regularity of plan, and lefs connexion with system; as it will deviate confiderably from the ufual forms of religious difcourfe, and defcend into particulars feldom introduced into the pulpit on which account, I doubt not, it will be loudly reprobated by numbers. But, certainly, we need not be very folicitous about the opinions of the many, if we have the profpect of doing good to a few. A few at leaft will hear me with attention and candour: and indeed, if by convincing the understandings, and impreffing the hearts, of ever fo fmall a proportion of Young Men, or Young Women, I may, with God's affiftance, contribute to the improvement and welfare of either, I fhall, as long as I live, reflect on it with satisfaction, and call the first day of this new year bleffed,

Among the innumerable ties by which mankind are drawn and held together, may

be fairly reckoned that love of praise, which perhaps is the earliest paffion of human beings. It is wonderful, how foon children begin to look out for notice, and for confequence. To attract mutual regards by mutual fervices, is one chief aim, and one important operation, of a principle, which I should be forry to think that any of of you had outlived. No fooner do the focial affections unfold themselves, than youth appear ambitious to deferve the approbation of thofe around them. Their defires of this kind are more lively, as their dispositions are more ingenuous. Of those boys who difcover the greatest ardour to obtain, by their capacity, their fpirit, or their generofity, the esteem of their companions, it may be commonly observed, that they shoot up into the most valuable characters,

Eagerness for the admiration of schoolfellows and others, without distinction of fexes, is felt at firft: but when, in process of time, the bofom becomes fenfible to that diftinction, it begins to beat

with a peculiar anxiety to please the female part of your acquaintance. The fmiles, the applause, the attachment of Young Women, you now confider as conferring felicity of a more interesting nature; and tó fecure fuch happiness, is from henceforth an object that incites and influences a thousand occafions. By an you on increasing fufceptibility to the attractions of the fofter sex, yoù are carried more and more into their company; and there, my brothers, your hearts and manners, your tastes and pursuits, receive very often a direction that remains ever after, and that will probably decide your destiny through the whole of your existence.

I am aware, indeed, that to under-rate their importance, and cultivate their commerce only as fubfervient to convenience, amusement, or voluptuousness, is common among the ignorant, the petulant, and the profligate of our fex: but, happy as I have been in the converfation of many worthy and accomplished perfons of the other, I would

willingly, if poffible, prevent your adopting a fyftem alike ungenerous and falfe.

On

It is certain, that favages, and those who are but little removed from their condition, have feldom behaved to women with much respect or tenderness. the other hand, it is known, that in civilized nations they have ever been objects of both; that, in the most heroic ftates of antiquity, their judgement was. often honoured as the ftandard, and their fuffrages often fought as the reward, of merit and though in thofe ftates the allurement of feminine foftnefs was perhaps not always fufficiently understood, owing probably to that paffion for public interests, and extenfive fame, which feems, to have overpowered all other emotions; it must yet be acknowledged, that the Ladies of ancient days frequently poffeffed a wonderful influence in what concerned the political welfare, and private affections, of the people to whom they belonged. But fay, my friends, does it not reflect

fome luftre on the fair fex, that their talents and virtues have ftill been moft revered în periods of the greatest renown? And tell me, I befeech you, what age or country, diftinguished in the annals of fame, has not received a part of that diftinction from the numbers of women, whom it produced, confpicuous for their virtues and their talents? Look at this, in which you live: does it not derive a very confiderable fhare of its reputation from the female pens, that eminently adorn it? Look into the history of the world at large: do not you find, that the female fex have, in a variety of ways, contributed largely to many of its most important events? Look into the great machine of fociety, as it moves before you : "do not you perceive, that they are still among its principal springs? Do not their characters and manners deeply affect the paffions of men, the interefts of education, and those domestic scenes, where fo much of life is past, and with which its happiness or mifery is fo intimately blended? Consult