I asked him if it was not hard that one deviation from chastity should
so absolutely ruin a young woman. Johnson. 'Why, no, Sir; it is
the great principle which she is taught. When she has given up that
principle, she has given up every notion of female honour and virtue,
which are all included in chastity.'
A gentleman talked to him of a lady whom he greatly admired and wished
to marry, but was afraid of her superiority of talents. 'Sir, (said he,)
you need not be afraid; marry her. Before a year goes about, you'll find
that reason much weaker, and that wit not so bright.' Yet the gentleman
may be justified in his apprehension by one of Dr. Johnson's admirable
sentences in his life of Waller: 'He doubtless praised many whom he
would have been afraid to marry; and, perhaps, married one whom he
would have been ashamed to praise. Many qualities contribute to domestic
happiness, upon which poetry has no colours to bestow; and many airs and
sallies may delight imagination, which he who flatters them never can
approve.
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