al Complacency, which shines in his
Countenance, enlivens his Wit, and seasons his Conversation: Even those
of his Acquaintance, who have never seen him in his Retirement, are
Sharers in the Happiness of it; and it is very much owing to his being
the best and best beloved of Husbands, that he is the most stedfast of
Friends, and the most agreeable of Companions.

There is a sensible Pleasure in contemplating such beautiful Instances
of Domestick Life. The Happiness of the Conjugal State appears
heighten'd to the highest degree it is capable of, when we see two
Persons of accomplished Minds, not only united in the same Interests and
Affections, but in their Taste of the same Improvements, Pleasures and
Diversions. _Pliny_, one of the finest Gentlemen, and politest Writers
of the Age in which he lived, has left us, in his Letter to _Hispulla_,
his Wife's Aunt, one of the most agreeable Family-Pieces of this Kind I
have ever met with. I shall end this Discourse with a Translation of it;
and I believe the Reader will be of my opinion, that _Conjugal Love_ is
drawn in it with a Delicacy which makes it appear to be, as I have
represented it, an Ornament as well as a Virtue.

PLINY _to_ HISPULLA. [2]

'As I remember the great Affection which was between you and your
excellent Brother, and know you love his Daughter as your own, so as
not only to express the Tenderness of the best of Aunts, but even to
supply that of the best of Fathers; I am sure it will be a pleasure to
you to hear that she proves worthy of her Father, worthy of you, and
of your Ancestors. Her Ingenuity is admirable; her Frugality
extraordinary. She loves me, the surest Pledge of her Virtue; and adds
to this a wonderful Disposition to Learning, which she has acquir'd
from her Affection to me. She reads my Writings, studies them, and
even gets them by heart. You'd smile to see the Concern she is in when
I have a Cause to plead, and the Joy she shews when it is over. She
finds means to have the first News brought her of the Success I meet
with in Court, how I am heard, and what Decree is made. If I recite
any thing in publick, she cannot refrain from placing her self
privately in some Corner to hear, where with the utmost delight she
feasts upon my Applauses. Sometimes she sings my Verses, and
accompanies them with the Lute, without any Master, except Love, the
best of Instructors. From these Instances I take the most c