With all my heart and soul, nephew:  but do you say, she is handsome?  Do you say, she is of family?  And has she so many good qualities?—­Ah, nephew!  She won’t have me, I doubt.—­And is she not too young, Sir Charles, to think of such a poor decrepit soul as I am?

All I can say to this, my lord, is, that the proposals on your part must be the more generous—­

I will leave all those matters to you, kinsman—­

This, my lord, I will take upon me to answer for, that she is a woman of principle:  she will not give your lordship her hand, if she thinks she cannot make you a wife worthy of your utmost kindness:  and now, my lord, I will tell you who she is, that you may make what other inquiries you think proper.

And then I named her to him, and gave him pretty near the account of the family, and the circumstances and affairs of it, that I shall by and by give you; though you are not quite a stranger to the unhappy case.

My lord was in raptures:  he knew something, he said, of the lady’s father, and enough of the family, by hearsay, to confirm all I had said of them; and besought me to do my utmost to bring the affair to a speedy conclusion.

Sir Thomas Mansfield was a very good man; and much respected in his neighbourhood.  He was once possessed of a large estate; but his father left him involved in a law-suit to support his title to more than one half of it.

After it had been depending several years, it was at last, to the deep regret of all who knew him, by the chicanery of the lawyers of the opposite side, and the remissness of his own, carried against him; and his expenses having been very great in supporting for years his possession, he found himself reduced from an estate of near three thousand pounds a year, to little more than five hundred.  He had six children:  four sons, and two daughters.  His eldest son died of grief in two months after the loss of the cause.  The second, now the eldest, is a melancholy man.  The third is a cornet of horse.  The fourth is unprovided for; but all three are men of worthy minds, and deserve better fortune.

The daughters are remarkable for their piety, patience, good economy, and prudence.  They are the most dutiful of children, and most affectionate of sisters.  They were for three years the support of their father’s spirits, and have always been the consolation of their mother.  They lost their father about four years ago:  and it is even edifying to observe, how elegantly they support the family reputation in their fine old mansion-house by the prudent management of their little income; for the mother leaves every household care to them; and they make it a rule to conclude the year with discharging every demand that can be made upon them, and to commence the new year absolutely clear of the world, and with some cash in hand; yet were brought up in affluence, and to the expectation of handsome fortunes; for, besides that they could