rtals detest,
Who sacrifice life without measure.

The fluttering fop,
How empty his top!
Nay, but some call him coxcomb, I trow;
But 'tis losing your time,
He's not worth half a rhyme,
Let the fag ends of prose bind his brow.

The guttling sot,
What a conduit his throat!
How beastly and vicious his life!
Where drunkards prevail,
Whole families feel,
Much more an affectionate wife.

One character yet;
I with sorrow repeat,
And O! that the number were less;
'Tis the blasphemous crew:
What a pattern they'll shew
To their hapless and innocent race!

Let wisdom then shine
In the youth that is mine,
Whilst virtue his footsteps impress;
Such I'd choose for my mate,
Whether sooner or late:
Tell me, Ladies, what think you of this?

"The chief point to be regarded," says Lady Pennington in her Advice to
her Daughters, "in the choice of a companion for life, is a really
virtuous principle--an unaffected goodness of heart. Without this, you
will be continually shocked by indecency, and pained by impiety. So
numerous have been the unhappy victims to the ridiculous opinion, _a
reformed libertine makes the best husband_--that, did not experience
daily evince the contrary, one would believe it impossible for a girl
who has a tolerable degree of common understanding, to be made the dupe
of so erroneous a position, which has not the least shadow of reason for
its foundation, and which a small share of observation will prove to be
false in fact. A man who has been conversant with the worst sort of
women, is very apt to contract a bad opinion of, and a contempt for, the
sex in general. Incapable of esteeming any, he is suspicious of all;
jealous without cause, angry without provocation, his own disturbed
imagination is a continued source of ill-humor. To this is frequently
joined a bad habit of body, the natural consequence of an irregular
life, which gives an additional sourness to the temper. What rational
prospect of happiness can there be with such a companion? And, that this
is the general character of those who are called _reformed rakes_,
observation will certify. But, admit there may be some exceptions, it is
a hazard upon which no considerate woman would venture the peace of her
whole life. The vanity of those girls who believe themselves capable of
working miracles of t