20 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



banimes ic by fportivenefs and gaiety. The one 

 oppofes to external evils the force of his reafon ; 

 the other, far happier, eludes them by the mobi- 

 lity of her's. If the man fometimes considers it 

 as his glory to bid defiance to danger in the field 

 of battle, the woman triumphs, in calmly meeting 

 dangers more inevitable, and frequently more 

 cruel, on her bed, and under the banners of plea- 

 fure. Thus, they have been created to fupport to- 

 gether the ills of life, and to form, by their union, 

 the moft powerful of co nfonances, and the fweeteft 

 of contrails. 



I am obliged, by the plan of my Work, to pro- 

 ceed forward, and to refrain from purfuing my re- 

 flections on fubjects fo interefting as the marriage, 

 and the beauty, of Man and Woman. I muft, 

 however, hazard fome farther obfervations, ex- 

 tracted from my (lore, in order to induce others to 

 dive into this rich mine, with the additional value 

 of novelty. 



All Philofophers who have made Man their par- 

 ticular ftudy, are agreed, and with good reafon, 

 that he is the moft wretched of all animals. Moft 

 of them appear to have been fenfible, that an affo- 

 ciate was neceffary to him, to relieve his burthens, 

 and they have made his happinefs, in part, to con- 

 fift of friendfhip ; which is an evident demonftra- 



tion 



