Her Aunt's Answer, reprehending her ludicrous Turn of Mind.

Cousin Jenny,

I am sorry you think Mr. Leadbeater so unsuitable a Lover. He is a serious, sober, good Man; and surely when Seriousness and Sobriety make a necessary Part of the Duty of a good Husband, a good Father, and good Master of a Family; those Characters should not be the Subjects of Ridicule, in Persons of our Sex especially, who would reap the greatest Advantage from them. But he talks of the Weather when he first sees you, it seems; and would you have him directly fall upon the Subject of Love, the Moment he beheld you?

He visited you just after Sermon, on a Sunday: And was it so unsuitable for him to let you see, that the Duty of the Day had made proper Impressions upon him?

His Turn for promoting the Religious Societies which you speak so slightly of, deserves more Regard from every good Person; for that same Turn is a kind of Security to a Woman, that he who had a benevolent and religious Heart, could not make a bad Man, or a bad Husband. To put out poor Boys to ‘Prentice, to teach Girls to sing Psalms, would be with very few a Subject for Ridicule; for he that was so willing to provide for the Children of others, would take still greater Care of his own.

He gave you to understand, that if he liked your Character on Inquiry, as well as your Person and Behaviour, he should think himself very happy in such a Wife; for that, I dare say, was more like his Language, than that you put in his Mouth: And, let me tell you, it would have been a much stranger Speech, had so cautious and serious a Man said, without a thorough Knowledge of your Character, that at the first Sight he was over Head and Ears in Love with you.

I think, allowing for the ridiculous Turn your airy Wit gives to this his first Visit, that, by your own Account, he acted like a prudent, a serious, and a worthy Man, as he is, and as one that thought flashy Compliments beneath him, in so serious an Affair as this.