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repeated Mr. Vapour, with a contemptuous

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smile; we shall not then be troubled with

women. In the age of reason, the world shall contain only a race of men! !"

Nothing could be more repugnant to the opinions of Miss Ardent, than this assertion. -This worthy daughter of Serraswatti is firmly persuaded, that, in the age of reason, a very different doctrine will be established. It is her opinion, that the perfection of the female understanding will then be universally acknowledged.

She pants for that blessed period, when the eyes of men shall no longer be attracted by the charms of youth and beauty; when mind, and mind alone, shall be thought worthy the attention of a philosopher.

In that wished-for æra, the talents of women, she says, shall not be debased by household drudgery, or their noble spirits broken by base submission to usurped authority. The reins will then be put into the hands of wisdom; and as women will, in the age of reason, probably be found to have the lar

gest share, it is they who will then drive the chariot of state, and guide the steeds of war !

Mr. Axiom whose deference to the opinions of Miss Ardent is implicit and unvariable, perfectly coincides in her opinion."Who," said he, the other evening, in discoursing upon this subject; "who would look for me, in the insipid features of a girl? It is when the countenance has acquired a character, which it never can do under the period of forty, that it becomes an object of admiration to a man of sense. Ah! how different is the sentiment which it then inspires!" The tender sigh, which was heaved by Mr. Axiom, at the conclusion of this sentence, in vibrating on the ears of Miss Ardent, seemed to touch some pleasant unison, that overspread her countenance with a smile. You, my friend, will, I doubt not, smile also, at hearing of these glad tidings for grandmothers; and divert yourself with thinking, when this empire of reason shall be extended to the regions of

the east, what curious revolutions it will make in the Zenanas of Hindostan !-May the Gods of our fathers preserve thee from the spirits of the deep-and the systems of philosophers!

What can I say more?

LETTER XVI.

MAY He, who at all times claims preference in adoration, preserve thee !!

The day after that in which I last took up the reed of instruction, some strangers arrived at Ardent Hall, who had come into the country on purpose to see a celebrated water-fall-on whose beauties, they poured out such encomiums, as kindled the flame of curiosity in my bosom.

I no sooner expressed my desire of visiting this scene of wonders, than Sir Caprice, with great politeness, ordered the chief officer of his household to attend me thither.It was natural to expect, that some of the philosophers might have felt an inclination to view a scene, to the description of which, it appeared, they were no strangers.-But,

alas! to the worshipper of systems, the fair face of Nature has no charms!—In vain, for him, does the appearance of Arjoon tinge the cheeks of the cup-bearers of the sky, with the crimson blush of gladness! In vain for him, do the robes of the seasons, wove in the changeful looms of Nature, present the ceaseless charm of variety! In vain, for him, smiles the soft beauties of the blooming valley, when the linnet, sitting on his rosebush, sings forth the praises of the spring! And equally in vain, for him, doth Nature expose to view the terrours, of her wonderworking arm, in the scenes of sublimity and grandeur! Midst all the beauties of creation, a philosopher sees nothing beautiful, but the system which he worships!

Happily for me, Mr. Trueman, the steward of Sir Caprice, was a stranger to systems; but had cultivated so much taste for the beauties of the rural landscape, as en. abled him to point out to my observation, a

* An appellation for the Clouds, which frequently occurs in Asiatick Poetry.

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