Page:The Cottagers of Glenburnie - Hamilton (1808).djvu/320

, or the happiest of human beings."

I could not conceal this circumstance from my father, who was far from partaking of the sanguine hopes I entertained of the result. He did not doubt that Mollins was a man of fortune; but he thought the match unsuitable: and declared, that in his experience, he had never seen any unions so productive of happiness, as those that were cemented by correspondence in circumstances and views, not only between the parties themselves, but extended to their friends and connections. While we were still debating this point, as we sat at breakfast the following morning, my father received a letter, which he read with such marks of agitation and dismay, as quite appalled me. He threw it to me when he had finished, and hiding his face with both his hands, burst into tears. I eagerly looked at the signature, but the name was unknown to me. The contents briefly stated—that respect for my father's character induced the writer to