84 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



power of Love, when they aflign to Woman the 

 fludies and the employments of Man. Virtue alone 

 knows how to turn thefe contrails to good ac- 

 count, in the married ftate, in which the duties of 

 the two fexes are fo very different. There, too, 

 flie prefents to their natural ambition, a career the 

 mod fublime, in the education of their children, 

 whofe reafon it is their duty to form ; and their 

 fweeteft recompenfe to receive, in exchange, the 

 firft fentiments of filial afTedion. In the hearts of 

 their children their memory is to be perpetuated 

 on the earth, in a manner more afFefting, and in- 

 finitely more indelible, than the memory of Kings 

 on public monuments. What power can equal 

 that which confers exiftence, and the power of 

 thought ; and what recoUeftion can laft fo long as 

 that of filial gratitude ? 



The government of a good King has been com- 

 pared to that of a Father ; but the empire of a 

 virtuous Father can be compared only to that of 

 God himfelf. Virtue is, to Man, the true law of 

 Nature. It is the harmony of all harmonies. Vir- 

 tue alone can render Love fublime, and Ambition 

 beneficent. It can derive the pureft gratification 

 even from privations the moft fevere. Rob it of 

 Love, Friendfhip, Honour, the Sun, the Ele- 

 ments, it feels that, under the adminiftration of a 

 Being jufl and good, abundant compenfation is 



referved 



