“Oh then, my dear Madam,” cried he, “tell me where I may find my poor, ruined, but repentant child.”

offspring of disobedience

WHICH PEOPLE VOID OF FEELING NEED NOT READ.

Such were the dreadful images that haunted her distracted mind, and nature was sinking fast under the dreadful malady which medicine had no power to remove.

and before the dawn gave birth to a female infant.

The kneeling figure of Charlotte in her affecting situation might have moved the heart of a stoic to compassion; but Mrs. Crayton remained inflexible.

I hope, Sir, your prejudices are now removed in regard to the probability of my story? Oh they are. Well then, with your leave, I will proceed.

and do you think I will give away my property to a nasty, impudent hussey, to maintain her and her bastard; an I was saying to my husband the other day what will this world come to; honest women are nothing now-a-days, while the harlotings are set up for fine ladies, and look upon us no more nor the dirt they walk upon

Never did any human being wish for death with greater fervency or with juster cause

he gave up the attempt, and left her to follow the bent of her own inclinations

ttracted by the blooming health of a farmer’s daughter

and I lifted you into the chaise

Belcour promised to fulfil the request of his friend, though nothing was farther from his intentions

but I will place a sum of money in your hands, which will amply supply her with every convenience

“Yes, we will receive her,” said Mr. Temple; “we will endeavour to heal her wounded spirit, and speak peace and comfort to her agitated soul. I will write to her to return immediately.’

“Alas!” said Julia, “I pity you.”

Oh that cursed French woman,

Had it not been for me, she had still been virtuous and happy in the affection and protection of her family.

“‘Tis false; I never desired him to come, and you know I did not: but mark me, Charlotte, from this instant our connexion is at an end. Let Belcour, or any other of your favoured lovers, take you and provide for you; I have done with you for ever.”

and the first object that met his eyes was Charlotte asleep on the bed, and Belcour by her side.

he was commanded on duty

so come along, my lad, make good use of opportunity, and seize the gifts of fortune while they are within your reach

Montraville turned pale as ashes. “Then there is no faith in woman,” said he.

because a little foolish, fond girl chose to leave her friends, and run away with you to America.

A MAN MAY SMILE, AND SMILE, AND BE A VILLAIN.

If my child should be a girl (which heaven forbid

by one of my own sex,

shouldst thou even disown me, I dare not complain, because I know I have deserved it

she was shocked to the soul to find how large a share La Rue had in the seduction of this amiable girl, and a tear fell, when she reflected so vile a woman was now the wife of her father.

She paused, glanced her eye upon her own visible situation, and, spite of her endeavours to suppress them, burst into tears.

I would pay her a visit, offer her my friendship, and endeavour to restore to her heart that peace she seems to have lost, and so pathetically laments.

Come, friendly death, thy mandate give, And let me be at peace.

but before he went he fixed a scorpion in the heart of Charlotte, whose venom embittered every future hour of her life.

her swoln eyes and neglected attire, at once told him she was unhappy

“He certainly cannot be so base as to leave me,”

My dear Charlotte must not be surprised, if she does not see me again for some time:

“I shall never forget you, Charlotte,” he replied, pressing her hand.

“I imagined I loved Charlotte: but alas! I am now too late convinced my attachment to her was merely the impulse of the moment.

Montraville glanced his eye on her grey night gown and black ribbon

I will return this box,” said he, “which has been the source of so much uneasiness already, and in the evening pay a visit to my poor melancholy Charlotte, and endeavour to forget this fascinating Julia.”

he forgot Charlotte, and indulged himself in saying every thing that was polite and tender to Julia

Montraville was introduced to her by the following accident.

shame bows her to the earth, remorse tears her distracted mind, and guilt, poverty, and disease close the dreadful scene: she sinks unnoticed to oblivion.

and laments her want of power to recall his lost affection; she knows there is no tie but honour, and that, in a man who has been guilty of seduction, is but very feeble: he may leave her in a moment to shame and want; he may marry and forsake her for ever

she knows he cannot leave her to unite himself to another: he cannot cast her out to poverty and contempt

The wife, whose breast glows with affection to her husband, and who in return meets only indifference, can but faintly conceive her anguish.

What painful hours of expectation would she pass! She would sit at a window which looked toward a field he used to cross, counting the minutes, and straining her eyes to catch the first glimpse of his person, till blinded with tears of disappointment, she would lean her head on her hands, and give free vent to her sorrows:

hat all her sorrows were forgotten while blest with his society

but business and pleasure so entirely occupied his time

He laughed at her simplicity, called her a little idiot, and patting her on the cheek, said she knew nothing of the world.

her sole aim was to awaken a passion in his bosom that might turn out to her advantage

e therefore wisely resolved to walk on the deck, tear it in pieces, and commit the fragments to the care of Neptune, who might or might not, as it suited his convenience, convey them on shore.

There is one misfortune which is worse than death.

Oh would to heaven I had died but yesterday.”

I think she was a very improper person to be entrusted with the care of such a girl as Charlotte Temple, or to be suffered to take her from under your immediate protection.”

into the arms of her betrayer.

“if you disappoint my ardent hopes, by all that is sacred, this hand shall put a period to my existence. I cannot—will not live without you.”

“you are mine for ever.”

convince Montraville of the necessity of adhering to the resolution of remaining behind; assure him of her affection, and bid him adieu.

“But I hazard my dear reputation,” replied Mademoiselle, bridling.

Hymen shall sanctify our love

I had flattered my fond heart, that I was dearer to Charlotte than any thing in the world beside.

that treacherous heart betrayed her; and, forgetful of its resolution, pleaded the cause of the enemy so powerfully, that Charlotte was unable to resist.

Remember, therefore, your success in life depends entirely on yourself.

I have been so lucky as to find the road to happiness, why should I be such a niggard as to omit so good an opportunity of pointing out the way to others.

there is none equal to that which warms and expands the bosom, when listening to commendations bestowed on us by a beloved object, and are conscious of having deserved them.

She saw, that the contents had awakened new emotions in her youthful bosom: she encouraged her hopes, calmed her fears, and before they parted for the night, it was determined that she should meet Montraville the ensuing evening.

I should never read a letter given me by a young man, without first giving it to her.

“Prithee, don’t be such a foolish little prude,”

I mean no more by what I have here advanced, than to ridicule those romantic girls, who foolishly imagine a red coat and silver epaulet constitute the fine gentleman; and should that fine gentleman make half a dozen fine speeches to them, they will imagine themselves so much in love as to fancy it a meritorious action to jump out of a two pair of stairs window, abandon their friends, and trust entirely to the honour of a man, who perhaps hardly knows the meaning of the word, and if he does, will be too much the modern man of refinement, to practice it in their favour.

ah! well-a-day for the poor girl who gazes on him: she is in imminent danger; but if she listens to him with pleasure, ’tis all over with her, and from that moment she has neither eyes nor ears for any other object.

will easily imagine the letter was made up of encomiums on her beauty, and vows of everlasting love and constancy; nor will he be surprised that a heart open to every gentle, generous sentiment, should feel itself warmed by gratitude for a man who professed to feel so much for her

She was astonished at the liberties Mademoiselle permitted them to take; grew thoughtful and uneasy, and heartily wished herself at home again in her own chamber.

pure and innocent by nature, it thinks not of the dangers lurking beneath those pleasures, till too late to avoid them

But Mademoiselle possessed too much of the spirit of intrigue to remain long without adventures.

attended by Love and Hymen,

when first she heard of Temple’s refusal, wept, raved, tore her hair, and vowed to found a protestant nunnery with her fortune

determined to offer himself a candidate for Miss Weatherby’s favour.

marrying a woman for no other reason than because the affluence of her fortune would enable him to injure her by maintaining in splendor the woman to whom his heart was devoted

Such was Miss Weatherby: her form lovely as nature could make it, but her mind uncultivated, her heart unfeeling, her passions impetuous, and her brain almost turned with flattery, dissipation, and pleasure; and such was the girl, whom a partial grandfather left independent mistress of the fortune before mentioned.

“Were my fortune such as would support her according to her merit, I don’t know a woman more formed to insure happiness in the married state.”

He pitied their sufferings, overlooked their faults, thought every bosom as generous as his own

When the heart has will, the hands can soon find means to execute a good action.

“but he has left orders with his lawyer never to give up the note till the utmost farthing is paid.”

When my wife and son were committed to their kindred earth, my creditors seized my house and furniture, which not being sufficient to discharge all their demands, detainers were lodged against me. No friend stepped forward to my relief; from the grave of her mother, my beloved Lucy followed an almost dying father to this melancholy place.

She fell into a strong convulsion, and expired in about two hours.

; but offered to release me immediately, and make any settlement on her, if George would persuade her to live, as he impiously termed it, a life of honour.

The next day he sent and demanded payment of his money.

these passing clouds of adversity will serve only to make the sunshine of prosperity more pleasing.

in which I can relieve the anxiety of your heart and increase the pleasures of my own.

wiped off a tear which he was afraid would tarnish the cheek of a sailor.

As he was universally known to be the friend of the unfortunate, his advice and bounty was frequently solicited

and he beheld his sisters legally prostituted to old, decrepid men

slipped a letter he had purposely written, into Charlotte’s hand, and five guineas into that of Mademoiselle

the face of Charlotte Temple.

“I will at least see who these are,”

I must of necessity leave England in a few days, and probably may never return; why then should I endeavour to engage the affections of this lovely girl, only to leave her a prey to a thousand inquietudes, of which at present she has no idea?

where, in the midst of an extensive pleasure ground, stood the mansion which contained the lovely Charlotte Temple.

having therefore spent three whole days in thinking on her and in endeavouring to form some plan for seeing her

“I never think of the future,”

but the improvement two years had made in her person, and the blush of recollection which suffused her cheeks as she passed, awakened in his bosom new and pleasing ideas.

nd they sauntered out to view the town, and to make remarks on the inhabitants

I shall feel a much higher gratification in reflecting on this trifling performance, than could possibly result from the applause which might attend the most elegant finished piece of literature whose tendency might deprave the heart or mislead the understanding.

I have not wrote a line that conveys a wrong idea to the head or a corrupt wish to the heart

The principal characters in this little tale are now consigned to the silent tomb:

The circumstances on which I have founded this novel were related to me some little time since by an old lady who had personally known Charlotte, though she concealed the real names of the characters, and likewise the place where the unfortunate scenes were acted

that he was influenced by no other motive than a bare pusilianimous attachment to a woman!

It doth not appear that she was governed by any one sensual appetite; but merely by a desire of adorning her mind; a laudable ambition fired her soul, and a thirst for knowledge impelled the predilection so fatal in its consequences.

Strange how blind self love renders you men; were you not wholly absorbed in a partial admiration of your own abilities, you would long since have acknowledged the force of what I am now going to urge.

upon this point we will never contend for victory

would interfere with our more peculiar department,

If we meet an equal, a sensible friend, we will reward him with the hand of amity, and through life we will be assiduous to promote his happiness

And if we are allowed an equality of acquirements, let serious studies equally employ our minds, and we will bid our souls arise to equal strengths.

for after an education which limits and confines, and employments and recreations which naturally tend to enervate the body, and debilitate the mind; after we have from early youth been adorned with ribbons, and other gewgaws, dressed out like the ancient victims previous to a sacrifice, being taught by the care of our parents in collecting the most showy materials that the ornamenting our exteriour ought to be the principal object of our attention; after, I say, fifteen years thus spent, we are introduced into the world, amid the united adulation of every beholder.

Thus David was a man after God’s own heart, yet see him enervated by his licentious passions! behold him following Uriah to the death, and shew me wherein could consist the immaculate Being’s complacency. Listen to the curses which Job bestoweth upon the day of his nativity, and tell me where is his perfection, where his patience–literally it existed not

I know there are who assert, that as the animal power of the one sex are superiour, of course their mental faculties also must be stronger

Pity that all such censurers of female improvement do not go one step further, and deny their future existence; to be consistent they surely ought.

Nay, while we are pursuing the needle, or the superintendency of the family, I repeat, that our minds are at full liberty for reflection

I can add, that when once attained, they require no further mental attention.

an unhappy Hymen would then be as rare, as is now the reverse.

A mind, thus filled, would have little room for the trifles with which our sex are, with too much justice, accused of amusing themselves, and they would thus be rendered fit companions for those, who should one day wear them as their crown.

Is she united to a person whose soul nature made equal to her own, education hath set him so far above her, that in those entertainments which are productive of such rational felicity, she is not qualified to accompany him. She experiences a mortifying consciousness of inferiority, which embitters every enjoyment.

At length arrived at womanhood, the uncultivated fair one feels a void, which the employments allotted her are by no means capable of filling. What can she do? to books she may not apply; or if she doth, to those only of the novel kind, lest she merit the appellation of a learned lady; and what ideas have been affixed to this term, the observation of many can testify.

the sister must be wholly domesticated,

the one is taught to aspire, and the other is early confined and limitted.

May we not trace its source in the difference of education, and continued advantages? Will it be said that the judgment of a male of two years old, is more sage than that of a female’s of the same age

Are we deficient in reason? we can only reason from what we know, and if an opportunity of acquiring knowledge hath been denied us, the inferiority of our sex cannot fairly be deduced from thence.

Is the needle and kitchen sufficient to employ the operations of a soul thus organized? I should conceive not, Nay, it is a truth that those very departments leave the intelligent principle vacant, and at liberty for speculation.

Assuredly great activity of mind is thereby discovered, and was this activity properly directed, what beneficial effects would follow.

so extremely ready are we, that the very first thought presents us with an apology, so plausible, as to produce our actions even in an amiable light.

The province of imagination hath long since been surrendered to us, and we have been crowned and undoubted sovereigns of the regions of fancy.

I know that to both sexes elevated understandings, and the reverse, are common. But, suffer me to ask, in what the minds of females are so notoriously deficient, or unequal.

But imbecility is still confin’d, And by the lordly sex to us consign’d; They rob us of the power t’improve, And then declare we only trifles love

And in past times some men have sunk so low, That female records nothing less can show.

As if a woman’s form must needs enrol, A weak, a servile, an inferiour soul; And that the guise of man must still proclaim, Greatness of mind, and him, to be the same

While others, emulous of sweet applause, Industrious seek for each event a cause, Tracing the hidden springs whence knowledge flows, Which nature all in beauteous order shows.

But some there are who wish not to improve Who never can the path of knowledge love, Whose souls almost with the dull body one, With anxious care each mental pleasure shun; Weak is the level’d, enervated mind,

And Genius, led by Study, wears the crown.

THAT minds are not alike, full well I know, This truth each day’s experience will show;

I would, I must repeat, by all means guard them against a low estimation of self. I would leave no charm undiscovered or unmarked, for the penetrating eye of the pretended admirer, to make unto himself a merit by holding up to her view; thus, I would destroy the weapons of flattery, or render them useless, by leaving not the least room for their operation.

when the voice of adulation should assail her ear, as she had early been initiated into its true meaning, and from youth been accustomed to the language of praise; her attention would not be captivated, the Siren’s song would not borrow the aid of novelty, her young mind would not be enervated or intoxicated, by a delicious surprise, she would possess her soul in serenity and by that means, rise superior to the deep-laid schemes which, too commonly, encompass the steps of beauty.

to be hung up as a pleasing picture among the paintings of some spacious hall

but, it must be your part, my sweet girl, to render yourself worthy respect from higher motives: you must learn “to reverence yourself,” that is, your intellectual existence; you must join my efforts, in endeavouring to adorn your mind, for, it is from the proper furnishing of that, you will become indeed a valuable person,

I would, from the early dawn of reason, address her as a rational being

from my lips she should be accustomed to hear the most pleasing truths, and, as in the course of my instructions, I should doubtless find myself but too often impelled to wound the delicacy of youthful sensibility.

whence arise the sweet perfume of adulation, and when she can obtain the regard due to a merit, which she supposes altogether uncommon.

they assiduously guard every avenue, they arrest the stream of due admiration, and endeavour to divest her of all idea of the bounties of nature

I would, therefore, have my pupils believe, that every thing in the compass of mortality, was placed within their grasp, and that, the avidity of application, the intenseness of study, were only requisite to endow them with every external grace, and mental accomplishment.

to teach young minds to aspire, ought to be the ground work of education

Ne’er taught to “rev’rence self,” or to aspire, Our bosoms never caught ambition’s fire;

But, lost to conscious worth, to decent pride, Compass nor helm there is, our course to guide: Nor may we anchor cast, for rudely tost In an unfathom’d sea, each motive’s lost,

Self-estimation will debasement shun,

May stimulate to most exalted deeds, Direct the soul where blooming honor leads;

and join th’ angelic train.

Live and act as Masons, that you may die as Masons

do justly and be faithful to them that hire you, and treat them with that respect they may deserve; but worship no man. Worship God, this much is your duty as Christians and as Masons.

and yet some of us poor mortals will try to make you believe they are Gods

and the only way to avoid it is the fear of God: let a man consider the greatness of his power,

How many Emperors and kings have left their kingdoms and best friends at the fight of a handful of men in arms; how many have we seen that have left their estates and their friends and ran over to the stronger side as they thought: all through fear of the men; who is but a worm, and hath no more power to hurt his fellow worm, without the permission of God, than a real worm.

but justice and truth is his habitation; who hath said, Vengeance is mine and I will repay it, therefore let us kiss the rod and be still, and see the works of the Lord.

Although you are deprived of the means of education; yet you are not deprived of the means of meditation; by which I mean thinking, hearing and weighing matters, men and things in your own mind, and making that judgment of them as you think reasonable to satisfy your minds and give an answer to those who may ask you a question.

Thus doth Ethiopia begin to stretch forth her hand, from a sink of slavery to freedom and equality.

’tis not for want of courage in you, for they know that they dare not face you man for man, but in a mob, which we despise, and had rather suffer wrong than to do wrong, to the disturbance of the community and the disgrace of our reputation: for every good citizen doth honor to the laws of the state here he resides.

and there converse with her on points of masonry

This minister of Jesus Christ did not think himself too good to receive the hand, and ride in the chariot with a black man in the face of day; neither did this great monarch (for so he was) think it beneath him to take a poor servant of the Lord by the hand, and invite him into his carriage, though but with a staff, one coat and no money in his pocket.

The feelings of this little captive, for this great man, her captor, was so great that she forgot her fate of captivity, and felt for the distress of her enemy.

which shews that there is not an independent mortal on earth; but dependent one upon the other, from king to the beggar.

So in common affairs of life we sometimes enjoy health and prosperity; at another time sickness and adversity, crosses and disappointments.

what must be the heart-felt sorrow and distress of these poor and unhappy people?

that cannot change their skin: But God can and will change their conditions, and their hearts, too;

And this is not to be confined to parties or colours;

Prince Hall

joyfully verify’d by a happy Sight of his Person

my good Master

I was employ’d in this Service about Seven Months

but they never acquainted him with it, nor did he know all this Time what became of me, which was the means of my being confin’d there so long.

that they intended to roast me alive.

making a prodigious shouting and hallowing like so many Devils

than to be kill’d by those barbarous and inhuman Savages

at the Sight of which we were not a little rejoiced, but on our advancing yet nearer, we found them, to our very great Surprize, to be Indians of which there were Sixty

the Sloop

which if he had done, might have sav’d his Vessel and Cargo, and not only so, but his own Life, as well as the Lives of the Mate and Nine Hands, as I shall presently relate.

and the 15th Day of June, we were cast away on Cape-Florida, about 5 Leagues from the Shore; being now destitute of every Help, we knew not what to do or what Course to take in this our sad Condition

An Account of the many Hardships he underwent from the Time he left his Master’s House, in the Year 1747, to the Time of his Return to Boston–How he was Cast away in the Capes of Florida;–the horrid Cruelty and inhuman Barbarity of the Indians in murdering the whole Ship’s Crew;–the Manner of his being carry’d by them into Captivity. Also, An Account of his being Confined Four Years and Seven Months in a close Dungeon,–And the remarkable Manner in which he met with his good old Master in London; who returned to New-England, a Passenger, in the same Ship.

Briton Hammon

The law provides for awards to inventors of rural machines, or for the preservation of the exclusive ownership of their discoveries.

There cannot exist in the colony corporations or associations that are contrary to public order.

He shall supervise and censor by the authority of his commissaries, all writings designed for printing on the island he shall cause to be suppressed all those coming from abroad that would tend to corrupt mores or trouble the new colony; he shall punish the authors or colporteurs, according to the severity of the situation.

He shall present, every two years, to the Central Assembly the conditions of receipts and disbursements of each department, year by year.

hall meet at the ordinary place of hearing of the Central Assembly. to the effect of nominating, concurrently with the members of this Assembly, the new Governor or continue the administration of the one who is in function.

the Constitution attribute exclusively to this general the right to designate the citizen who, in the unfortunate event of the general’s death, shall immediately replace him.

In order to strengthen the tranquility that the colony owes to steadfastness, activity, indefatigable zeal and rare virtues of the General Toussaint-Louverture

Each cultivator and each worker is a member of the family and shares in parts of the revenues.

The Constitution charges the Governor to take convenient measures to encourage and favor the increase in manpower, to stipulate and balance the diverse interests, to ensure and guarantee the execution of respective engagements resulting from this introduction.

The colony being essentially agricultural cannot suffer the least disruption in the works of its cultivation.

Of Men in Society 

Of the Religion

Toussaint L'Ouverture

I need say nothing of household economy, in which the mothers of our country are generally skilled, and generally careful to instruct their daughters.

Music is invaluable where a person has an ear. Where they have not, it should not be attempted.