above will amount to at least five hundred pounds a yeare, a sum yr
poor ffather can ill spare, besides doe but bethink yrself what a
ridiculous sight it will be when yr grandmothr & you come to us to
have noe less thn seven waiting gentlewomen in one house, for what
reason can you give why every one of yr Sistrs should not have every
one of ym a Maide as well as you, & though you may spare to pay yr
maide's wages out of yr allowance yett you take no care of ye
unnecessary charge you put yr ffathr to in yr increase of his family,
whereas if it were not a piece of pride to have ye name of keeping yr
maide she yt waits on yr good Grandmother might easily doe as formerly
you know she hath done, all ye business you have for a maide unless as
you grow oldr you grow a veryer Foole which God forbid!

'Poll, you live in a place where you see great plenty & splendour but
let not ye allurements of earthly pleasures tempt you to forget or
neglect ye duty of a good Christian in dressing yr bettr part which is
yr soule, as will best please God. I am not against yr going decent &
neate as becomes yr ffathers daughter but to clothe yrself rich & be
running into every gaudy fashion can never become yr circumstances &
instead of doing you creditt & getting you a good prefernt it is ye
readiest way you can take to fright all sober men from ever thinking
of matching thmselves with women that live above thyr fortune, & if
this be a wise way of spending money judge you! & besides, doe but
reflect what an od sight it will be to a stranger that comes to our
house to see yr Grandmothr yr Mothr & all yr Sisters in a plane dress
& you only trickd up like a bartlemew-babby--you know what sort of
people those are tht can't faire well but they must cry rost meate now
what effect could you imagine yr writing in such a high straine to yr
Sisters could have but either to provoke thm to envy you or murmur
against us. I must tell you neithr of yr Sisters have ever had twenty