society, there may be individuals so attached to its communion, that it was never imagined they would have acted in this manner. Now of these it may in general be said, that they often bitterly repent. They find, soon or late, that the opposite opinions and manners to be found in their union do not harmonize. And here it may be observed, that it is very possible that such persons may say that they repent, without any crimination of their wives. A man, for instance, may have found in his wife all the agreeableness of temper, all the domestic virtue and knowledge, all the liberality of religious opinion, which he had anticipated; but, in consequence of the mixed principles resulting from mixed marriages, or of other unforeseen causes, he may be so alarmed about the unsteady disposition of his children, and their future prospects, that the pain which he feels on these accounts may overbalance the pleasure which he acknowledges in the constant prudence, goodness, solicitude, and affection of his wife. This may be so much the case, that all her consolatory offices may not be able to get the better of his grief. A man therefore, in

such

such circumstances, may truly repent of his marriage, or that he was ever the father of such children, though he can never complain as the husband of such a wife.

The truth, however, is, that those who make the charge in question have entirely misapplied the meaning of the word "repent." People are not called upon to express their sorrow for having married the objects of their choice, but for having violated those great tenets of the society which have been already mentioned, and which form distinguishing characteristics between Quakerism and the religion of the world. Those therefore who say that they repent, say no more than what any other persons might be presumed to say, who had violated the religious tenets of any other society to which they might have belonged, or who had flown in the face of what they had imagined to be reli gious truths.

SECTION

SECTION IV.

Of persons disowned for marriage, the greater proportion is said to consist of women-Causes assigned for this difference of number in the two

sexes.

Ir will perhaps appear a curious fact to the world, but I am told it is true, that the number of the women who are disowned for marrying out of the Society far exceeds the number of the men who are disowned on the same account.

It is not difficult, if the fact be as it is stated, to assign a reason for this difference of number in the two sexes.

When men wish to marry, they wish, at least if they be men of sense, to find such women as are virtuous; to find such as are prudent and domestic; such as have a proper sense of the folly and dissipation of the world; such, in fact, as will make good mothers and good wives. Now, if a Quaker looks into his own society, he will generally find the female part of it of this description.

description. Female Quakers excel in these points. But if he looks into the world at large, he will in general find a contrast in the females there. These in general are but badly educated. They are taught to place a portion of their happiness in finery and show. Utility is abandoned for fashion. The knowledge of the etiquette of the drawing-room usurps the place of the knowledge of the domestic duties. A kind of false and dangerous taste predominates. Scandal and the card-table are preferred to the pleasures of a rural walk. Virtue and modesty are to be seen with only half their energies, being overpowered by the noxiousness of novel-reading-principles, and by the moral taint which infects those who engage in the varied rounds of a fashionable life. Hence a want of knowledge, a love of trifles, and a dissipated turn of mind, generally characterize those who are considered as having had the education of the world.

We see, therefore, a good reason why Quaker-men should confine themselves in their marriages to their own Society. But

the

the same reason which thus operates with Quaker-men in the choice of Quaker-women, operates with men who are not of the Society in choosing them also for their wives. These are often no strangers to the good education and the high character of the Quaker-females. Fearful often of marrying among the badly educated women of their own persuasion, they address themselves to those of this Society, and not unfrequently succeed.

To this it may be added, that if Quakermen were to attempt to marry out of their own Society, they would not in general be well received. Their dress and their manners are considered as uncouth in the eyes of the female world, and would present themselves as so many obstacles in the way of their success. The women of this description generally like a smart and showy exterior. They admire heroism and spirit. But neither such an exterior nor such spirit is to be seen in the Quaker-men. The dress of the Quaker-females, on the other hand, is considered as neat and elegant, and their modesty and demeanour as worthy of admiration.