Yet wisdom itself, and the truest wisdom, goodness, said Mrs. Reeves, is
sometimes thought to sit ungracefully, when it is uncharacteristic, not
to the man, but to the times. She then named a person who was branded as
a hypocrite, for performing all his duties publicly.
He will be worse spoken of, if he declines doing so, said Dr. Bartlett.
His enemies will add the charge of cowardice; and not acquit him of the
other.
Lady Gertrude being withdrawn, it was mentioned as a wonder, that so
agreeable a woman, as she must have been in her youth, and still was for
her years, should remain single. Lord G---- said, that she had had many
offers: and once, before she was twenty, had like to have stolen a
wedding: but her fears, he said, since that, had kept her single.
The longer, said Sir Charles, a woman remains unmarried, the more
apprehensive she will be of entering into the state. At seventeen or
eighteen a girl will plunge into it, sometimes without either fear or
wit; at twenty she will begin to think; at twenty-four will weigh and
discriminate; at twenty-eight will be afraid of venturing; at thirty will
turn about, and look down the hill she has ascended; and, as occasions
offer, and instances are given, will sometimes repent, sometimes rejoice,
that she has gained that summit sola.
Indeed, said Mrs. Reeves, I believe in England many a poor girl goes up
the hill with a companion she would little care for, if the state of a
single woman were not here so peculiarly unprovided and helpless: for
girls of slender fortunes, if they have been genteelly brought up, how
can they, when family connexions are dissolved, support themselves? A
man can rise in a profession, and if he acquires wealth in a trade, can
get above it, and be respected.
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