Note 23 — AMUSEMENTS.

The author knows a lady who, when young, requested her pious father to permit her to learn to dance. "No, my child," he replied, "I cannot consent to comply with a request which may subject me to your censures at some future period." "No, father, I will never censure you for complying with my request." "Nor can I consent to give you an opportunity. If you learn, I have no doubt but you will excel; and when you leave school, you may then want to go into company to exhibit your skill. If I then object to let you, as I most likely should, you would very naturally reply, Why, father, did you permit me to learn, if I am not permitted to practise?" This reply convinced her that her father acted wisely, though he opposed her inclination: and though she did learn, yet, not having his consent, she never ventured to expose herself to the dangers of the assembly-room; as she well knew that she could not do it without grieving her affectionate father. She is now become a parent; has often mentioned this occurrence as having had a powerful moral influence over her mind in her young and thoughtless days; and has incorporated this maxim in her system of domestic management—Never to comply with a request which may subject her to any future reflections from her children.