[A] The authorship of the Novels has been avowed by Sir Walter Scott since this letter was written.
LETTER VII.
From the same to the same.
My dear Falkland,
My last despatch, you will remember, was sealed just after it had been arranged that I should accompany my aunt in a walk. At the appointed hour I tapped at her door, to put her in mind of our assignation; and was not sorry to have a tête à tête in prospect, thinking that I might take advantage of this opportunity to edge in a little word of counsel, that might be of use, at least in Fanny's, though Emily and Charlotte might be beyond my reach in effecting a change in their destiny.
My sweet aunt (for she is really quite delightful) was speedily equipped, and we set out upon our rambles. As soon as we had cleared the house, and were not in danger of being overheard, I expressed my gratitude for her kindness in asking me to Glenalta; spoke of the pleasure which I already felt in its society, and my admiration, as well as surprise, at finding my cousins every thing that could be wished. My aunt smiled. "Then," said she, "you had heard, I suppose, but an unflattering account of us, and expected to see a very outrè sort of a family." "I expected," answered I, "to find, as I have found, very superior attainments; but you know, dearest lady, the prejudice which universally subsists against Blue-Stockings; and though you have succeeded so admirably in the result of your system, and may therefore triumph, as 'those who win may laugh,' yet you must allow the experiment to have been a bold one." "And why so, my dear Arthur? I should not have felt at all inclined to make bold experiments, and am not conscious how I have done so. You must explain yourself." "Well then, I will; and hope that I may venture to do so without running any risk of offending you." "Certainly, I cannot be offended, having requested you to tell me what you mean; and I, on my part, shall not only thank you for your observations, but shall be ready, with the most perfect candour, to satisfy you as far as I can, respecting my conduct."
"Dear aunt, then," said I, "the great object to which a girl's prospects should tend from infancy to maturity is marriage; and every prudent mother, I need not say to you, is perpetually intent upon this termination of all her cares and anxiety. To marry a daughter well is no easy matter now-a-days, and often requires a vast deal of address to bring about the event. Beauty, though very captivating, will not do without money, and young men have learned to be philosophers; they can see and admire, but, like the Baron of Moubray, they must know how 'to love and to ride away,' unless they would entail ruin on their posterity. Almost every man's circumstances are dipped more or less, either by his own folly or that of his predecessors; and most men look to a fortunate marriage some time or other in their lives, for the purpose of paying off charges on their property, and clearing a load of debt. Now, girls of large fortune, may certainly take some liberties; for even were they old, ugly, or Blue, thousands will tell, and they may generally command a choice amongst the other sex; but young women, even of such personal attraction as my cousins ought 'to be with caution bold.' I do assure you, that were you at this moment suddenly removed to London, I would not, for any consideration that I can name, that Emily and Charlotte were discovered to know a syllable of Greek, Latin, botany, chemistry, or any of the arts and sciences: it is unheard of in town, except to be laughed at, or avoided; and as your girls have pretensions that might secure their being courted in the best society, it would mortify any one who loves them to witness a complete failure in their debut, through a want of that circumspection which mothers, so inferior to you, know how to exercise. Dear little Fan is young and volatile; there is more danger of her betraying herself than of her sisters' being giddy. Much might be done still with your elder girls, who are so reasonable and so docile, that they would probably take a hint immediately; but it is quite a sin not to snatch Fanny from perdition, by allowing what azure she has already contracted, to fade away as quickly as possible. Elegant and accomplished, pretty and pleasing, my cousins are formed for the world, and would shine in it: but Greek, Latin, chemistry, etcetera, are like forgery, never to be forgiven."
Here I paused, and my aunt calmly replied, "I fear, my dear boy, that I shall make matters worse rather than better by my answer to your advice; but, notwithstanding, I must run the risk, and boldly hazard the loss of your esteem, by detailing some opinions of mine, which do not harmonize at all with your's. First, then, you will stare at me perhaps when I tell you, that I am very far from thinking marriage necessary to the happiness of my children, though should I live to see them find such partners as I think worthy of them, I should rejoice, inasmuch as, under certain circumstances, I look upon marriage as the happiest lot of life in this chequered scene; but, Arthur, rank and fortune are only accidents, and make no part of the essence in my creed of such requisites as constitute felicity in domestic union. My dear girls will not be rich, but they will have enough to make them independent. If they marry, I think I may venture to say, that it will not be through worldly motives of aggrandizement; and should they remain single, they will, I trust in the Almighty, be both useful and contented."
I certainly did stare. What! a mother, and disregard the establishment of daughters! My aunt continued: "According to your ideas, a woman is merely an appendage, and, I dare say, frequently considered a very troublesome one to her fortune, the acquisition of which seems to be, even under favourable circumstances of youth and beauty thrown into the scale, the principal object, and where these may be wanting, the sole incentive which leads a man of fashion to permit a young lady the honour of bearing his name. Now in a country where the blessing of freedom has never been known, where parents possess absolute power over their children, and masters over their slaves, I can perceive a reason for such an order of things; but I confess myself so ignorant as not to comprehend why liberty and affluence here should be sacrificed without any valuable consideration. It would be better to subscribe a part of one's property to the necessities of a needy gentleman than be obliged to give up the whole, and tie oneself to him for ever. May I ask you how women are compensated in your scheme for the relinquishment of independence?" "Bless me, dear aunt, the question is so extraordinary, that really I feel at a loss to believe that you can ask it: compensated?—Why, by being married; by being promoted to a state in society of more consideration than they previously occupied; by being provided for, established, and, finally, as the acme of all female hope and ambition, taken out of the never-ending defile of recruits through which a man has to make his way at every ball, concert, or theatre in town."
"Well," said Mrs. Douglas, "I am not a little amazed that these recruits, as you call them, should be ready to place themselves under the control of officers so little disposed to regard them with tenderness; but, as this is a serious subject in which the happiness of mankind at large is concerned, we will treat it gravely. Providence has so ordered the affairs of earth, that marriage will always be a primary object of concern with both sexes; for remember, that the idea of wife, involves that of husband; and to supply each aspirant of either sex, you must find a disengaged individual of the other. Now if it appear that the mass of human beings are intended by their Creator for the state of matrimony, and that their own wishes generally coincide with the original purpose of creation, would it not seem a reasonable consequence that a condition which almost all men and women anticipate, should be rendered as desirable, as suitable, as happy, and as wise as a reflecting choice can make it?" "Surely," said I, "and there lies the difference between an improvident silly mother, or one who is governed by a prudent knowledge of the world, and clear views of her childrens' advantage. Women are, you will confess, great fools when they allow their girls to flirt with younger sons who have nothing; military men, whose fortunes are on their backs, and all the idle host who furnish a drawing-room and excel in a quadrille. Maternal solicitude ought unquestionably to be directed to a good settlement, liberal pin-money—if possible a distinguished connection; and in short, all the circumstances which constitute what every one admits to be a good match. How painful must it be to read a paragraph in the public papers announcing that on such a day Mr. Such-an-one, whom nobody knows, was married by some clergyman whose name was never heard of, in a parish church not to be found in any map, to Miss Douglas of Glenalta! If I am doomed to suffer such disgrace, I shall set out directly for Greece, or some other distant quarter to which my countrymen do not flock in the crowds that one is certain to meet in France and Italy, there to remain till the event is forgotten, and the unfortunate actors in it, are consigned to well-merited oblivion. Forgive me if I am warm; I do not mean to be disrespectful, but my energies rise in proportion to the hourly increase of love and admiration which I feel towards relations so near and so deserving."