Ch. ii. of moral Restraint. 275 



so much disposed to virtuous conduct, and cer- 

 tainly at no time is the virtue of chastity so httle 

 difficult to men, as when under the influence of 

 such a passion. Late marriages taking place in 

 this way would be very different from those of 

 the same name at present, where the union is too 

 frequently prompted solely by interested views, 

 and the parties meet, not unfrequently, with ex- 

 hausted constitutions, and generally with ex- 

 hausted affections. The late marriages at pre- 

 sent are indeed principally confined to the men ; 

 of whom there are few, however advanced in life, 

 who, if they determine to marry, do not fix their 

 choice on a young wife. A young woman without 

 fortune, when she has passed her twenty-fifth 

 year, begins to fear, and with reason, that she 

 may lead a life of celibacy ; and with a heart ca- 

 pable of forming a strong attachment, feels, as 

 each year creeps on, her hopes of finding an ob- 

 ject on which to rest her affections gradually di- 

 minishing, and the uneasiness of her situation 

 aggravated by the silly and unjust prejudices of 

 the world. If the general age of marriage among 

 women were later, the period of youth and hope 

 would be prolonged, and fewer would be ulti- 

 mately disappointed. 



That a change of this kind would be a most de- 

 cided advantage to the more virtuous half of so- 

 ciety, we cannot for a moment doubt. However 

 impatiently the privation might be borne by the 

 men, it would be supported by the women readily 

 and cheerfully ; and if they could look forward 



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