sessed, what has Mr. Solmes to hope for?--Why
should he persevere? What must I think of the man who would wish me to
be his wife against my inclination?--And is it not a very harsh thing
for my friends to desire to see me married to one I cannot love, when
they will not be persuaded but that there is one whom I do love?

Treated as I am, now is the time for me to speak out or never.--Let
me review what it is Mr. Solmes depends upon on this occasion. Does he
believe, that the disgrace which I supper on his account, will give
him a merit with me? Does he think to win my esteem, through my uncles'
sternness to me; by my brother's contemptuous usage; by my sister's
unkindness; by being denied to visit, or be visited; and to correspond
with my chosen friend, although a person of unexceptionable honour and
prudence, and of my own sex; my servant to be torn from me, and another
servant set over me; to be confined, like a prisoner, to narrow and
disgraceful limits, in order avowedly to mortify me, and to break my
spirit; to be turned out of that family-management which I loved, and
had the greater pleasure in it, because it was an ease, as I thought, to
my mamma, and what my sister chose not; and yet, though time hangs heavy
upon my hands, to be so put out of my course, that I have as little
inclination as liberty to pursue any of my choice delights?--Are these
steps necessary to reduce me to a level so low, as to make me a fit wife
for this man?--Yet these are all he can have to trust to. And if
his reliance is on these measures, I would have him to know, that
he mistakes meekness and gentleness of disposition for servility and
baseness of heart.

I beseech you, Sir, to let the natural turn and bent of his mind and my
mind be considered: What are his qualities, by which he would hope to
win my esteem?--Dear, dear Sir, if I am to be compelled, let it be in
favour of a man that can read and write--that can teach me something:
For what a husband must that man make, who can do nothing but command;
and needs himself the instruction he should be qualified to give?

I may be conceited, Sir; I may be vain of my little reading; of my
writing; as of late I have more than once been told I am. But, Sir, the
more unequal the proposed match, if so: the better opinion I have of
myself, the worse I must have of him; and the more unfit are we for each
other.

Indeed, Sir, I must say, I thought my friends had put a higher value
upon me. My