No 58. SATURDAY, August 14. 1779. Veniam damus petimufque viciffim. T HOR. HE mutual complaints of Mr and Mrs Gold, which have been communicated in a former paper, together with fome complaints of fimilar family-diftreffes, which I have received from other correfpondents, of ten remind me of the happy effects which my friends Horatio and Emilia have experienced from an oppofite temper and conduct. Horatio, though he obtained a very liberat: education, lived till the age of twenty-five almoft entirely in the country. The fmall fortune which he inherited from his father being. about this time increased by his fucceeding to a diftant relation, he afterwards fpent fome years in this city, in London, and in making. the ufual tour on the continent. Soon after his return, he married the young and beautiful Emilia, to whom he had become warmly attached, not fo much on account of her beauty, as from an expreflion of a a fweet, though lively temper, which marked her countenance which, when admitted to a more intimate acquaintance, he found to be juftified by her converfation and manners. Emilia's father was addicted to pleasure and expence, and her mother, though more accomplished, of a fimilar difpofition. In their family fhe had been accuftomed to a life of more than ordinary gaiety. Though Horatio felt, in all its extent, that paffion which is nowife favourable to a just estimation of character, thefe circumftances had not escaped his notice; and he failed not to obferve, that Emilia had acquired a stronger attachment to the pleasures of a town life than was either right in itself, or agreeable to that preference for domeftic fociety, and the quiet of a country-life, which he had always felt, and which he still wifhed to gratify. In place, however, of acquainting Emilia with his taste in thefe particulars, he judged it better to let her enjoy that ftyle of life to which he had been accustomed, not doubting, from the natural good fenfe, and sweetness of her difpofition, that her own taste might gradually be corrected, and that, as his should from from time to time fall under her obfervation, it might contribute to the change. He took up his refidence, therefore, in town; and, though Emilia went into company, and frequented public places more than he could have wifhed, he complied with her inclination in thefe particulars, partook of her amusements when he was not neceffarily engaged, and, when he did fo, carefully avoided to betray that indifference or disgust which he often felt. While Horatio, however, gave way to the tafte of Emilia, he neither loft the inclination nor neglected the means of reforming it. Amidst the gaiety to which he had been. accustomed, Emilia had early formed a taste for the elegant writers, both of this country and of France; and the fame fenfibility and delicacy of mind, which led her to admire them, made her no lefs fenfible of the beauties of a polished and refined converfation. It was this which had firft gained the af fections of Horatio; it was to this he trusted for effecting the reformation he defired. He was at pains, therefore, to cultivate and encourage this literary tafte in Emilia.He frequently took occafion to turn the con- verfation verfation to fubjects of literature, and to dwell on the beauties, or mention the striking. paffages of this or that author, and would often engage Emilia in a fine poem, an affecting tragedy, or an interesting novel, when, but for that circumftance, fhe would have been exhaufting her fpirits at a ball, or wafting the night at cards. Nor was he lefs ftudious in forming her tafte for company than for books. Though he had never aimed at an extenfive acquaintance, Horatio enjoyed the friendship of feveral perfons of both fexes, endowed with thofe elegant manners, and that delicate and cultivated understanding, which render converfation at once agreeable and inftructive. Of these friends he frequently formed parties at his houfe. Emilia, who had the fame difpofition to oblige which fhe on all occafions experienced from him, was happy to indulge his inclinations in this particular; and, as he was well qualified to bear a part in their converfation, and of a mind highly fenfible of its charms, these parties gradually became more and more agreeable to her. In this manner, her books, the converfation of felect companies, and the care of her children, children, which foon became a most endearing office to the tender and feeling heart of Emilia, furnished her with a variety of domeftic occupations; and, as these gradually led her to go lefs into mixed company and public amufements, fhe began to lose her habitual relish for them. As fhe easily obferved how agreeable this change was to the taste of Horatio, that circumftance gave her mind. more and more a domeftic turn. The fame delicacy from which he at first gave way to her tafte for company and public amufements, made Horatio avoid fhewing that preference which he entertained for a country-life, For fome time he was entirely filent on the fubject. Though he now and then made excurfions to the country, it was only occafionally when his bufinefs rendered it neceffary; and, though Emilia could not but obferve that the manner in which he paffed his time there, in adding to the beauties of his place, and in an easy intercourfe with a few neighbours, was highly agreeable to him; he ne ver expreffed an inclination of fixing his ge peral refidence in the country, or even of her accompanying |