in dissipation, and
intemperance, the very intemperance which renders him so hateful, her
property, and by stinting her expences, not permit her to beguile in
society, a wearisome, joyless life; for over their mutual fortune she
has no power, it must all pass through his hand. And if she be a mother,
and in the present state of women, it is a great misfortune to be
prevented from discharging the duties, and cultivating the affections of
one, what has she not to endure?--But I have suffered the tenderness
of one to lead me into reflections that I did not think of making, to
interrupt my narrative--yet the full heart will overflow.

"Mr. Venables' embarrassments did not now endear him to me; still,
anxious to befriend him, I endeavoured to prevail on him to retrench his
expences; but he had always some plausible excuse to give, to justify
his not following my advice. Humanity, compassion, and the interest
produced by a habit of living together, made me try to relieve, and
sympathize with him; but, when I recollected that I was bound to live
with such a being for ever--my heart died within me; my desire of
improvement became languid, and baleful, corroding melancholy took
possession of my soul. Marriage had bastilled me for life. I discovered
in myself a capacity for the enjoyment of the various pleasures
existence affords; yet, fettered by the partial laws of society, this
fair globe was to me an universal blank.

"When I exhorted my husband to economy, I referred to himself. I was
obliged to practise the most rigid, or contract debts, which I had
too much reason to fear would never be paid. I despised this paltry
privilege of a wife, which can only be of use to the vicious or
inconsiderate, and determined not to increase the torrent that was
bearing him down. I was then ignorant of the extent of his fraudulent
speculations, whom I was bound to honour and obey.

"A woman neglected by her husband, or whose manners form a striking
contrast with his, will always have men on the watch to soothe and
flatter her. Besides, the forlorn state of a neglected woman, not
destitute of personal charms, is particularly interesting, and rouses
that species of pity, which is so near akin, it easily slides into love.
A man of feeling thinks not of seducing, he is himself seduced by
all the noblest emotions of his soul. He figures to himself all the
sacrifices a woman of sensibility must make, and every situation in
which his imaginatio