I, of another mortifying thing too; that were
you to marry a lady of birth and fortune answerable to your own, all
the eve to the day would be taken up in reading, signing, and sealing of
settlements, and portion, and such like: But now the poor Pamela brings
you nothing at all: And the very clothes she wears, so very low is she,
are entirely the effects of your bounty, and that of your good mother:
This makes me a little sad: For, alas! sir, I am so much oppressed
by your favours, and the sense of the obligations I lie under, that
I cannot look up with the confidence that I otherwise should, on this
awful occasion.

There is, my dear Pamela, said he, where the power is wanting, as much
generosity in the will as in the action. To all that know your story,
and your merit, it will appear that I cannot recompense you for what
I have made you suffer. You have had too many hard struggles and
exercises; and have nobly overcome: and who shall grudge you the reward
of the hard-bought victory?--This affair is so much the act of my
own will, that I glory in being capable of distinguishing so much
excellence; and my fortune is the more pleasurable to me, as it gives
me hope, that I may make you some part of satisfaction for what you have
undergone.

This, sir, said I, is all goodness, unmerited on my side; and makes my
obligations the greater. I can only wish for more worthiness.--But how
poor is it to offer nothing but words for such generous deeds!--And to
say, I wish!--For what is a wish, but the acknowledged want of power to
oblige, and a demonstration of one's poverty in every thing but will?

And that, my dear girl, said he, is every thing: 'Tis all I want: 'Tis
all that Heaven itself requires of us: But no more of these little
doubts, though they are the natural impulses of a generous and grateful
heart: I want not to be employed in settlements. Those are for such to
regard, who make convenience and fortune the prime considerations. I
have possessions ample enough for us both; and you deserve to share
them with me; and you shall do it, with as little reserve, as if you
had brought me what the world reckons an equivalent: for, as to my own
opinion, you bring me what is infinitely more valuable, an experienced
truth, a well-tried virtue, and a wit and behaviour more than equal to
the station you will be placed in: To say nothing of this sweet person,
that itself might captivate a monarch; and of the meekness of temper,
an