an end to such Amusements. The long time I had been out of the Army,
gave me several Opportunities to make Enquiry after a Person who was
capable of making me happy in that Respect. I took a singular Care when
any Thing was offer'd that way, to consult my Reason more than my
Passions, and had fix'd before my Eyes, the per-plex'd State I liv'd in
those Weeks I held a Correspondence with the _Spanish_ Lady. 'Tis a
dangerous practice when a Person shuts his Eyes among Precipices, and
neglects Consultation where the Choice is hazardous. There liv'd in
_Paris_ a Collonel's Widow, neither very young, nor very handsome. The
intimacy I had with her Husband, who was kill'd in _Italy_, brought me
first acquainted with her. Her discreet Carriage in a great variety of
intricate Circumstances had often Charm'd me. There was no Difficulty in
a marriage State, but she had struggled with it; a morose Husband, the
Death of an only Child, the Gripes of Poverty when her Consort was in
the Army and lavish'd away his Income, were great Tryals in which she
always Triumph'd, and wore a stoical Constancy without any Reservedness.
She had a large Pension allow'd her for Life, upon account of her
Husband's Merits, who had done great Service during the Wars. Under
these Circumstances I attack'd, rather like a Judicious than a
Passionate Lover. The Method I took with her, was quite different to
what I observ'd in pursuing my _Spanish_ Mistress. There was no Balls,
Treats, nor Serenading, we both knew the World too well, either She to
expect, or I to offer her such Entertainments. In a Word, our whole
Discourse when I visited ran upon Oeconemy and Morals. It was not long
before she understood my Meaning, and that my repeated Visits tended
towards Marriage. She alledg'd several Things to divert me from it; that
she was tired with being an Officer's Wife, which oblig'd either to a
rambling Method of Living, or to labour under great Inconveniences, and
that I, perhaps, might not make the best of Husbands, that State being a
Lottery full of Blanks. I had nothing more pertinent to alledge upon