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marrying with the are's, have produced the might-be's, a very promifing family. From them are defcended the would-be's, of whom we wish it were poffible to fpeak as favourably. But the truth is, the would-be's are a timid and irrefolute generation; not, indeed, fo bad as the are's, but very far deftitute of the fpirit and fortitude of the should-be's; and though they may, in time, be emancipated from the trammels in which they are held, contrary to conviction, yet, at prefent, they add no great honour to the family of the fhould-be's, and frequently lofe by cowardice, what a very fmall portion of effort might fecure to them.

While the would-be's (of whofe good intentions no perfon can reafonably doubt) were courting a nearer alliance with the should-be's, a race fprung from them, partaking of the qualities of both in a certain degree; we mean, the faids and dones.-Said, a progenitor of this race, was remarkable for the excellence of the plans he laid down, and the force of his refolutions, which were often repeated, and as often departed from; whereas done, another progenitor, was as remarkable for carrying all the refolutions of faid into prompt and effective execution. When their children united, much was expected from the union of fuch useful talents; and fome good effects unquestionably were produced; but, of late, there has arifen a confiderable degree of fhyness between the families, and, bating a few intermarriages of no great note, the union of faid and done is not fo proverbial, as it was when they lived under the immediate guidance and direction of the should-be's.

There is only one other particular in the hiftory of the fhould-be's, which is deferving of mention, and this is, that they have unfortunately loft fome part of the family pedigree. At what time the defalcation took place cannot now be easily afcertained, but it is to be lamented that there is a very great blank in their genealogical tree. On

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infpecting it, with a careful attention to continuity of defcent, we may obferve that the whole family of the havebeens, a diftant branch of the should be's, and to whom they were united many centuries ago, appear so obfcure, that it is at prefent the most difficult thing in the world to trace the precife connexion between them, where it began, where it was confounded, and where it ended. This is fo much the greater misfortune, becaufe, in our days, many of the are's difcover a particular fondness for proving that they are more nearly related to the have beens than their opponents. Now if they could prove this, which many of them labour much to effect, the cafe of the should-be's becomes deplorable. But we are happy to add that, in the firft place, the are's are very deficient in their attempts to prove their defcent from the have beens, that is, by any pofitive and legal proof; for all fuppofitions and conjectures must be thrown afide, in a cafe where fo much is depending. And, fecondly, there is in the cha racters of the parties fufficient internal evidence to invalidate the testimony of the are's, and to convince us, that they cannot be the legitimate defcendants of the have-beens, although it may be proved, and we will allow it, that fome runaway matches, or unlawful connexions, were of old time formed between certain diftant branches of both families.

Having now detailed such parts of the history of the are's and the shouldbe's as have come within our obfervation, it may, perhaps, be allowed us to add fome conjectures and remarks, relating to the future profperity of two families, which very nearly divide the world between them. From what has been faid of the genius and difpofition of the are's, it is certain that they do by no means contribute to promote the happiness and well-being of mankind, that their fuperiority in point of numbers, ftanding as it does alone, and without a grain of any other fuperiority, is a very unfavourable

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fymptom for pofterity. It appears no lefs certain, that little is to be expected from the timidity and time ferving difpofition of the would-be's, nor from the diftant reserve kept up between the defcendants of faid and done. It follows, that as the happiness of every individual results from his nearer approaches to the character of a fhould-be, fo the happiness of the whole, of all mankind must be an aggregate, refulting from an univerfal adoption of the principles, character, and conduct of thefe bould-be's. If there are any persons who may earneftly with to attain this character, they will not find it a difficult task, Let them, as a preliminary step, fearch into the records of antiquity for the hiftory and actions of the have beens, and animated by their fpirit, their virtue, and their perfeverance, let them beware of the falfe brilliancy,

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and feducing appearance of the are's. In the character of the latter, they will not fail to perceive a felfishness, which arrogates all merit to itself, and defpifes the acquisitions of wiser and better men, who have gone before them, while it is the pride of the should-be's to adopt whatever is praiseworthy from any quarter, to be diffident of their own attainments, to collect the experience, and practise the wifdom of paft ages. On fuch principles we may venture to prophefy that they will ultimately fucceed, and poffefs an affimilating influence over the whole world. If this important reformation fhould not happen in our time, each individual may at least have the fatisfaction to reflect that he is haftening that happy period, and that his humblest efforts will not be loft.

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O be fully contented with the might perhaps be attained in this, lot of humanity, is the privilege were we always to keep in mind that of few; to murmur and complain is the best of our enjoyments are imperthe humour of moft; and where there fect, and that all of them are fhortprevails a difpofition to be diffatisfied, lived; that the prefent ftate was never there never will be wanting food intended, and therefore never can enough to gratify its voracious appe- prove a ftate of uninterrupted felicity; tite. Even of those who are moft that misfortunes will come, notwithremarkable for contentedness, we are ftanding our utmost caution, and that apt to fufpect that their being quiet the caution which the best of us can proceeds more from infenfibility than command, is a very feeble defence fatisfaction; and, unwilling to give against an enemy whom we cannot them credit for a virtue which is forefee, and against weapons which wanting in ourselves, we fay that the we are not prepared to encounter; moderation of their defires, and the that, therefore, the good and ill of want of zeft in the enjoyment of them, life are to be confidered as indifpenfaconftitutes a ftoical apathy of habit, ble in the lot of human kind, and which is mistaken by the world, for that we ought to enjoy the former a philofophic acquiefcence in what- with moderation, and bear the latter ever may happen. On the other without hopeless depreflion. hand, most men difcover an eager reflections, often recalled to mind, impetuofity in all their affections; and compared with what paffes every they rush toward the object with fer- day, within the sphere of our own obvour, and without fufpicion, and every fervation, might, no doubt, in a great difappointment is confequently en- meafure, procure us that equanimity countered with bitterness and defpond-of mind which conflitutes true hap A middle courfe between ex- pinefs, which preferves vigour of tremes is preferable in all cafes, and thought, and arms us against fadden

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misfortunes. Thefe, indeed, we cannot avert, but it is wonderful how much the greater misfortunes of life may be foftened and alleviated, if we only meditate frequently on them, and familiarize them to our imagina

tions.

Hilarius is a character of the most fingular itamp. He is a mot determined enemy to all grumblers and complainers, and, as his name imports, is always merry. He literally thinks that nothing can come amiís, and that All is for the beft.' By a long continued habit of undervaluing vice and misfortune, and by confidering, with rather a loosenefs of principle, that the greatest evils work for good, Hilarius has reconciled every thing that takes place in the world to himfelf, although he has, as yet, made very few converts to his opinions. But his peculiar tenets will be best underfood by a fpecimen. The luxury of the age is a common, and with many perfons, a favourite topic for cenfure; philofophers, moralifts, preachers and poets, have combined against it, but against all they can advance, Hilarius will reafon in this manner:

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You complain of luxury; pray, what is luxury? What! but the wearing finer apparel, pofeffing finer furniture, equipage, &c. than the lower clafs of people, who do not avoid fuch things, because they loath and abhor them, but because they cannot purchase them. And fuch things you call luxury, and say that they are not neceffary: There you are wrong. They are neceffary to every clafs of people. They are neceffary to the poor, because they cannot live without them, and they are neceffary to the rich, because they cannot enjoy life without them. Nay, they are more neceffary to the poor than to the rich. To the former they give bread in all the various manufactories where they are made, whereas their necefity to the rich, though real, is matter of opinion and fashion. Who made any of thofe elegancies you cry out against? Not the poffeffor, for he has not the maft diftant idea of how they can be

made. Look at that carriage, and confider how many hands have got employment in the conftruction of it, from the wood, iron, fteel, leather, paint, &c. &c. Afk the coachmaker how many of the poor he gives bread to, and how many of them he could afford to feed were there no demand for coaches? What are the poor people of this country fupported, fed, and clothed by? Chiefly by manufactures; and how many manufactures are there which may not, in your fenfe of the word, be deemed luxuries? If linen were to be used instead of muslin and filk, or woollen inftead of linen, if lace were discontinued, iron substituted for filver, and common earthen ware for china and glass, what would the poor of three-fourths of the kingdom fubfift upon? Not, furely, upon your fage reflexions on luxury. But carry this idea with you, and you will find it confirmed by applying it to every one of thofe articles, which you condemn as unneceffary and luxurious.

But you will anfwer, that those perfons who poffefs fine furniture, &c. often cannot afford it, and they are ruined. And what then? They have done good to the community at large; the guinea they did not know how to value, is gone into the hands of one who does know it. These cherries colt a fhilling a piece, but the gardener will not fwallow the fhillings he received for them. That tureen coft forty pounds, but the filversmith will not go and give the forty pounds for fomething, which he does not neceffarily want; with that fum he will give weekly bread to forty men. But, forfooth, the owner of all these is ruined, and his family reduced to a low fituation. Granted, and perhaps to the very fituation from which he arofe, and the only fituation he was fit for. If a man by good luck, or fome luck or other, gains that height which he cannot or will not keep by good management, it is fit that he fhould again find his level. In the interim, he has been the means of dif tributing a great deal of money in proper channels. The money is not loft

by his parting with it. Here is a family of four or five perfons ruined, as you call it, and here are a thoufand industrious men provided for. The harm done is very fmall, the good done is very great. Money doet not go off in team; what a fool drops, a wife man will pick up.

You ask me, if I do not think that men ought to live within their incomes. No doubt, if they pleafe; but it is no misfortune to the community, if they do not. What a pretty world should we have, if every man lived within his income! I think you have worn that coat above a year; your shoes are more than half as old, and your buckles are only the fecond pair you ever had in your life. Now, fancy to yourself the whole kingdom living in the same manner. What would be the confequence? Why, fir, in such a case, you would have thofe men to provide for as beggars, who can at prefent provide for themfelves and their families, not by your affiftance indeed, but by working for gentlemen, who are not attached to threadbare coats, and brown hats, who occafionally think it no misfortune to break or lofe a pair of buckles, and who like a change of the articles of drefs.

You afk me again, whether I do not think it is a man's duty to lay by fomething, which he may leave to his family? Every man is, or ought to be the proper judge of what is his duty. That is no business of mine. But I firmly believe that if every man left his family without a fhilling, and without the expectation of one, there would be more happy families than we at present behold. For what is the confequence of a man's having it in his power to leave a great deal of money to his family? In the first place, as he is wife enough to let them know this, they will be very impatient to come in poffeffion; and, fecondly, when they have got it, how is it fpent? Here I will befriend you a little. Why, it is spent in thofe very luxuries of which you complain; for the fons are all fine gentlemen,

and the daughters are fine ladies. So that you perceive that at last it comes to the very fame thing. He that hoards, is only making up a fuller purfe for the market of luxuries, and the good he would not do in his lifetime, is done after his death in a manner of which he had no conception. You may talk for ever about luxury, but unless you prove that the world can fubfilt without it, you talk in vain. If you wish to refide where there is no luxury, you may place yourself, for a time, in fome infant itate, or rifing colony, juft as, if you with for innocence and fimplicity, you must seek them in the nursery. No, fir luxury maft exift, and the conduct of fools is the provision of wife men. It is all for the belt.’

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Such is a fpecimen of that train of reafoning by which Hilarius fupports. the luxurious manners of the times. In it we may perceive a foundation of good fenfe, although the fuperftructure which he raifes gives fymptoms of prejudice and mifreprefentation. He is no lefs an advocate for refignation and contentment in every other vice, folly, and even misfortune. he hears that a young fellow has ruined his conftitution by a courfe of debauchery. Well, fir, and what is all this? He was capable of no other pleafures, and he has enjoyed them, and his example will be a proper warning to hundreds. What is he, but a victim on the altar of experience, a facrifice to the injured dignity of virtue and common fenfe? Let his friends lament him; the community have nothing to do with him, You and I have nothing to do with him. Nay, had he lived, you perceive he would have been a friend to luxury, which you fo violently reprobate. But, you fay, is it not fhocking that a fine young fellow fhould be cut off f foon by his own imprudence? To be fare it is. But, if fine young fellows will do as much bufinefs in ten years as fine old fellows can do in fifty, they muft quit their employment fo much the fooner. And you call it fhocking.-Now, who is fhocked at it? Whofe features have

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the appearance of fhock and surprise
Why nobody's. This is all cant. I
fhould not be shocked were you to tell
me that all the fine young fellows in
England had died at thirty of mere
old age.
It is the natural confe-
quence of their mode of life. They
received a stock of health to laft, per-
haps, for fixty years, and they chofe
to expend it all in half that time.
Muft the laws of nature be reverfed
for you 'fine young fellows?' Muft
the kindnefs of heaven be infulted
with impunity by any of our fellow-
creatures, because they happen to be
• fine young fellows? And then, fir,
you fee that his friends are fhocked,
not because he was cut off fo foon, but
because he could live no longer under
a courfe of bodily and mental poifon.
If they wished to be shocked, it should
have taken place in his life time, while
he was in the land of the living, and
the place of hope.'

Nor is Hilarius lefs prompt in repelling the operations of grief for the lofs of valuable friends, or relatives. If told that Mr. has had the misfortune to lose his wife, whofe illnefs was fudden and fhort, and who has left him with a family of young children, deprived by this ftroke of their tendereft parent. And so, fir, you call this a misfortune. By no means. If the were a bad mother, that is, one of your fond, foolish mothers, who make toys of their children when young, and fools of them afterward, where is their lofs? And if the were not a foolish mother, fhe probably would have become so as foon as they had grown up, and would, according to the ufual custom, have made men and women of them before they ceased to be boys and girls. Whereas thefe children may now be taken care of by thofe who have no wayward affections to bias their judgment. Perhaps the man liked his wife, and is now very forry. But how long will his liking or his forrow laft? We cannot like that which we have not, and the most violent forrow is the nearer toward being confumed by its own impetuofity. He

will marry another woman, and like her as well. The fanciful love of boys and girls is all eternal conftancy; that of grown perfons is eafily tranfferable, and why fhould it not be fo? There may be a pleasure in nurfing hopeless regret, but furely no profit or advantage can accrue from it either to the dead or the living.— Again, you fay the misfortune is great, because Mr. -'s wife died young. Now, how comes that to be a misfortune? By her dying young, the hufband is left not too old to marry again, if he chooses; and the children, being in infancy, can feel little regret for one they fcarce ever knew. Befides, by dying early, how many mifchiefs has the not avoided; the has not lived perhaps to furvive the affections of her husband, and the virtue and happiness of her children; fhe has not lived to a decrepit widowhood, bereft of friends, of children, of all comfort. Believe me, fir, this is all for the best.'

The political opinions of Hilarius are founded on the fame placid fyftem of contentment. His friends can never know what fide he is upon, or rather, they discover that he is perfectly neutral, not caring a straw for any fet of men whatever; and the fame indifference he entertains toward their measures. He hears of war or peace, a battle or a feftival, a massacre or a Te Deum, a defeat or an illumination, with the fame calm phi❤ lofophy. Nothing ruffles or disturbs him above a minute, at the end of which his compofure returns. If he hears of a terrible fire, which has confumed property and perfons, he confiders the property as infured, and the perfons as happily relieved from all future cares; and if any other argument is wanting to reconcile him to the accident, it is, that the ftreet in which the fire took place, very much wanted widening. A fhipwreck, he thinks, affords fo much scope for the difplay of the refolution, ingenuity, and patience of our feamen, that without frequent inftances of it, we fhould not be acquainted with, and

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