ppiness or misery in this life, and most probably in that which
is to come. By what tie, by what duty, by what consideration, is not a
parent bound to consult the best interests of those beloved beings whom
he has brought into the world, and who, in a great measure, depend upon
him as their dearest relative, their guardian by the voice of nature,
for the fulfilment of those expectations upon which depend the principal
comforts and enjoyments of life? Reason, religion, justice, instinct,
the whole economy of nature, both in man and the inferior animals, all
teach him to secure for them, as far as in him lies, the greatest sum
of human happiness; but if there be one duty more sacred and tender than
another, it is that which a parent is called upon to exercise on behalf
of a daughter. The son, impressed by that original impulse which moves
him to assume a loftier place in the conduct of life, and gifted also
with a stronger mind, and clearer judgment, to guide him in its varied
transactions, goes abroad into society, and claims for himself a bolder
right of thought and a wider range of action, while determining an event
which is to exercise, as marriage does, such an important influence upon
his own future condition, and all the relations that may arise out of
it. From this privilege the beautiful and delicate framework of woman's
moral nature debars her, and she is consequently forced, by the graces
of her own modesty--by the finer texture of her mind--by her greater
purity and gentleness--in short, by all her virtues, into a tenderer
and more affecting dependence upon the judgment and love of her natural
guardians, whose pleasure is made, by a wise decree of God, commensurate
with their duty in providing for her wants and enjoyments. There is no
point of view in which the parental character shines forth with greater
beauty than that in which it appears while working for and promoting the
happiness of a daughter. But you, it would seem, did not think so. You
punished the father by a dastardly and unmanly act, for guarding the
future peace and welfare of a child so young, and so dear to him. What
would become of society if this exercise of a parent's right on behalf
of his daughter were to be visited upon him as a crime, by every
vindictive and disappointed man, whose affection for them he might, upon
proper grounds, decline to sanction? Yet it is singular, and, I confess,
almost inexplicable to me at least, why you should ha