freedom and fondness, mutual raillery, and mutual kindness, show that no op|position of interests divides the brothers, nor any rivalship of favour sets the sisters at variance, and where every thing pre|sents us with the idea of peace, chear|fulness, harmony, and contentment. On the contrary, how uneasy are we made when we go into a house in which jar|ring contention sets one half of those who dwell in it against the other; where amidst affected smoothness and complai|sance, suspicious looks and sudden starts of passion betray the mutual jealousies which burn within them, and which are every moment ready to burst out through all the restraints which the presence of the company imposes.
Those amiable passions, even when they are acknowledged to be excessive, are ne|ver regarded with aversion. There is something agreeable even in the weakness of friendship and humanity. The too tender mother, the too indulgent father, the too generous and affectionate friend, may sometimes, perhaps, on account of the softness of their natures, be looked upon with a species of pity, in which,
