drily. 'Once, nearly twenty years ago, a
friend of mine consulted me as to how he
should deal with a daughter who had made
what they call a love-match--beggared herself,
and disgraced her family; and I said,
without hesitation, take no care for her,
but cast her off. Such punishment I
awarded for an offence committed against
the reputation of a family not my own;
and what I advised respecting the child of
another, with full as small compunction
I would DO with mine. I cannot conceive
anything more unreasonable or intolerable
than that the fortune and the character
of a family should be marred by the idle
caprices of a girl.'

She spoke this with great severity, and
paused as if she expected some observation
from me.

I, however, said nothing.

'But I need not explain to you, my
dear Fanny,' she continued, 'my views
upon this subject; you have always
known them well, and I have never yet
had reason to believe you likely, voluntarily,
to offend me, or to abuse or neglect
any of those advantages which reason and