Hannah's father was a pious man, and was 'doing well'--a
thrifty, saving man, no doubt. He would have instilled into her lessons
of economy and virtue; and, later on, she might possibly come in for a
little something. She was the eldest of a large family. She was sure to
have had to help her mother a good deal. She would be experienced in
household matters, and would understand the bringing up of children.

"Julia's father, on the other hand, was a retired sea-captain. Seafaring
folk are generally loose sort of fish. He had probably been in the habit
of going about the house, using language and expressing views, the
hearing of which could not but have exercised an injurious effect upon
the formation of a growing girl's character. Juliana was his only child.
Only children generally make bad men and women. They are allowed to have
their own way too much. The pretty daughter of a retired sea-captain
would be certain to be spoilt.

"Josiah, I had also to remember, was a man evidently of weak character.
He would need management. Now, there was something about Hannah's eye
that eminently suggested management.

"At the end of two days my mind was made up. I wrote 'Hannah' on a slip
of paper, and posted it.

"A fortnight afterwards I received a letter from Josiah. He thanked me
for my advice, but added, incidentally, that he wished I could have made
it Julia. However, he said, he felt sure I knew best, and by the time I
received the letter he and Hannah would be one.

"That letter worried me. I began to wonder if, after all, I had chosen
the right girl. Suppose Hannah was not all I thought her! What a
terrible thing it would be for Josiah. What data, sufficient to reason
upon, had I possessed? How did I know that Hannah was not a lazy, ill-
tempered girl, a continual thorn in the side of her poor, overworked
mother, and a perpetual blister to her younger brothers and sisters? How
did I know she had been well brought up? Her father might be a precious
old fraud: most seemingly pious men are. She may have learned from him
only hypocrisy.

"Then also, how did I know that Juliana's merry childishness would not
ripen into sweet, cheerful womanliness? Her father, for all I knew to
the contrary, might be the model of what a retired sea-captain should be;
with possibly a snug little sum safely invested somewhere. And Juliana
was his only child. What reason had I for rejecting this fair young
creature's lov