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nership with her mistress in the lace-trade, and has taken this method to bring custom to the shop. But whoever is the writer of this letter, or whatever was the design of it, all people are agreed that the effect is certain it being very observable that the virtuous women have been seen, for this week past, to crowd to the lace-shops in Duke's-court, and that scarcely half a dozen of them have appeared upon Ludgatehill since they were apprised by this paper that such a person as Amanda was known to be housed there.

From at least half a dozen letters which I have received upon this occasion, I shall only publish the two following:

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'I beg to be informed if the letter signed Amanda in your last paper be reality or invention. If reality, please to tell me at which of the lace-shops the creature lives, that I may avoid the odious sight of her, and not be obliged to buy my laces of a milliner, or to murder my horses by driving them upon every trifling occasion to the other end of the town.

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I am, Sir, your humble servant,
REBECCA BLAMELESS.'

Cheapside, Dec. 29th, 1753.'

'MR. FITZ-ADAM,

'I beg that you will do me the justice to inform the public that I have not had a lying-in in my house, since I was brought to bed of my fourteenth child, which is five years ago next Lady-day; and that the young woman who has assisted me in the lace-trade for these last three months, is not called Amanda, but Lucretia. I am, your very humble servant, WINNEFRED BOBBIN.'

'Ludgate-Hill, Dec. 30th, 1753.'

I wish with all my heart, that it was as easy for me to make amends for what has happened, as it is to vindicate myself from any interested design in the publication of Amanda's letter. It was sent to Mr. Dodsley's by the penny-post, written in a very pretty Italian hand, and will be shewn to as many of the curious as are desirous of seeing it.

I will not deny that I ought to have cancelled this letter; as I might reasonably have supposed that no lady who entertained a proper regard for her virtue, would be seen at a lace-shop upon Ludgate-hill, while there was a bare possibility of her being served by Amanda. Indeed, to confess the truth, I have always been of opinion, that every young creature, who has been once convicted of making a slip, should be compelled to take upon her the occupation of street-walking all her life after.

It is a maxim among the people called Quakers (and a very laudable one it is) not to suffer a convicted and open knave to be one of their body. They have a particular ceremony, by which they expel him their community: and though he may continue to profess the opinions of Quakerism, they look upon him to be no member of their church, and no otherwise a brother, than as every man is descended from one common father.

I make no doubt but that the Quakers have copied this piece of policy from the ladies: but as most copies are observed to fall short of the spirit of their originals, this industrious, prudent, and opulent set of people will, I hope, excuse me, if I prefer a first and finished design to an imperfect imitation of it.

The Quakers have never, that I know of, excommunicated a member for one single failure; nor upon frequent repetitions of it, have they so driven him from the commerce of mankind, as to make him des

nobly severe are the ladies to the apostates from purity! To be once frail, is for ever to be infamous. A fall from virtue, however circumstanced, or however repented of, can admit of no extenuation. They look upon the offender and the offence with equal detestation; and postpone business, nay, even pleasure itself, for the great duty of detraction, and for consigning to perpetual infamy a sister who has dishonoured them.

This settled and unalterable hatred of impurity cannot be sufficiently admired, if it be considered how delicately the bosoms which harbour it are formed, and how easy it is to move them to pity and compassion in all other instances: especially if we add to this consideration, its having force enough to tear up by the roots those sincere and tender friendships, which all handsome women, in a state of virtue, are so well known to feel for one another.

Nothing can so strongly convince me of the truth of these female friendships, as the arguments which shallow and superficial men have thought proper to bring against them. They tell us that no handsome woman ever said a civil thing of one as handsome as herself: but, on the contrary, that it is always the delight of both to lessen the beauty and to detract from the reputations of each other.

Admitting the accusation to be true, how easy is it to see through the good-natured disguise of this behaviour! These generous young creatures are so apprehensive for their companions, that they deny them beauty in order to secure them from the attempts of libertines. They know that the principal ornament of beauty is virtue; and that without both a lady is seldom in danger of an obstinate pursuit: for which reason they very prudently deny her the possession of either. The lady thus obliged, is doing in return the same agreeable service to her beautiful

acquaintance: and is wondering what the men can see in such trifling creatures to be even tolerably civil to them. Thus under the appearance of envy and ill-nature, they maintain inviolable friendships, and live in a mutual intercourse of the kindest offices. Nay, to such a pitch of enthusiasm have these friendships been sometimes carried, that I have known a lady to be under no apprehensions for herself, though pursued by half the rakes in the town, who has absolutely fainted away at seeing one of these rakes only playing with the fan of her handsome friend.

The same discreet behaviour is observed by almost every lady in her affairs with a man. If she would express her approbation of him, the phrase is, 'What a ridiculous animal!' When approbation is grown into love, it is, 'Lord, how I detest him!' But when she rises to a solemn declaration of, 'I'll die a thousand deaths rather than give him my consent,' we are then sure that the settlements are drawing, or that she has packed up her clothes, and intends leaping into his arms without any ceremony what

soever.

There may possibly be cavillers at this behaviour of the ladies, as well as unbelievers in female friendship; but I dare venture to affirm that every man will honour them for their extraordinary civilities and good-humour to the seducers of their sex. Should a lady object to the company of such men, it would naturally be said that she suspected her own virtue, and was conscious of carrying passions about her, which were in danger of being kindled into flames by every spark of temptation. And this is the obvious reason why the ladies are so particularly obliging to these gentlemen both in public and private. Those gentle souls, indeed, who have the purity of their sex more at heart than the rest, may good-na

turedly intend to make converts of their betrayers; but I cannot help thinking that the meetings upon these occasions should be in the presence of a third person for men are sometimes so obstinate in their errors, and are able to defend them with so much sophistry, that for want of the interposition of this third person, a lady may be so puzzled as to become a convert to those very opinions which she came on purpose to confute.

It is very remarkable, that a lady so converted is extremely apt, in her own mind, to compassionate those deluded wretches, whom a little before she persecuted with so much rigour. But it is also to be remarked, that this softness in her nature is only the consequence of her depravity: for while a lady continues as she should be, it is impossible for her to feel the least approaches of pity for one who is otherwise.

N° 54. THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 1754.

Hoc novum est aucupium

Postremò imperavi egomet mihi

Omnia assentari. Is quæstus nunc est multo uberrimus.—Ter.

THAT an essay on HEARERS has not been given us by the writers of the last age, is to be accounted for from the same reasons that the ancients have left us no treatise on tobacconists or sugar-planters. The world is continually changing by the two great principles of revolution and discovery: as these produce novelty, they furnish the basis of our speculations.

The pride of our ancestors distinguished them from

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