for a fuller account of all the
circumstances attending the business than can be comprised in the
compass of a letter. Without flying into raptures, for I must
assure you that my judgment as well as my affections are
consulted upon this occasion--without flying into raptures, then,
I may safely assure you that her temper is sweet and cheerful,
her understanding good, and, what I know will give you pleasure,
her principles of religion very serious. I have been very
explicit with her upon the nature of my expectations, and she
thinks she can accommodate herself to the situation which I
should wish her to hold in society as my wife, which, you will
easily comprehend, I mean should neither be extravagant nor
degrading. Her fortune, though partly dependent upon her brother,
who is high in office at Madras, is very considerable--at present
L500 a year. This, however, we must, in some degree, regard as
precarious--I mean to the full extent; and indeed, when you know
her, you will not be surprised that I regard this circumstance
chiefly because it removes those prudential considerations which
would otherwise render our union impossible for the present.
Betwixt her income and my own professional exertions, I have
little doubt we will be enabled to hold the rank in society which
my family and situation entitle me to fill.

My dear mother, I cannot express to you the anxiety I have that
you will not think me flighty nor inconsiderate in this business.
Believe me, that experience, in one instance--you cannot fail to
know to what I allude--is too recent to permit my being so hasty
in my conclusions as the warmth of my temper might have otherwise
prompted. I am also most anxious that you should be prepared to
show her kindness, which I know the goodness {p.250} of your
own heart will prompt, more especially when I tell you that she
is an orphan, without relations, and almost without friends. Her
guardian is--I should say _was_, for she is of age--Lord
Downshire, to whom I must write for his consent,--a piece of
respect to which he is entitled for his care of her,--and there
the matter rests at present. I think I need not tell you that if
I assume the new character which I threaten, I shall be happy to
find that in that capacity I may make myself more usefu