Page:Original stories from real life 1796.pdf/11

 HESE converſations and tales are accommodated to the preſent ſtate of ſociety; which obliges the author to attempt to cure thoſe faults by reaſon, which ought never to have taken root in the infant mind. Good habits, imperceptibly fixed, are far preferable to the precepts of reaſon; but as this taſk requires more judgment than generally falls to the lot of parents, ſubſtitutes muſt be ſought for, and medicines given, when regimen would have anſwered the purpoſe much better. I believe thoſe who examine their own minds will readily agree with me, that reaſon, with difficulty, conquers ſettled habits, even when it is arrived at ſome degree of maturity: why then do we ſuffer children to be bound with fetters, which their half-formed faculties cannot break.

In writing the following work, I aim at perſpicuity and ſimplicty of ſtyle; and try Rh