| Description | 'Dear Friend, It appears at a glance from the Papers you left with me that Mr Startin presumes upon the affections of Miss Salt & therefore demands a good price without any consideration on his Part but that of being her Husband. Altho I consider Miss Salt [an] agreeable Person, her Education, and her Disposition, as Entitled to Him on equal Terms, yet I do not Object to her giving Him £2000 and also all Her Property for his Life. And I do not ask anything from Him but to allow Her to act with that Decency & Propriety that will be honourable to Herself & her Friends. And that he will not oppress her by Solicitations to do what is highly unjustifiable either as to her Fortune or her amiable Character which is above her Fortune; after she has determined to put Herself in the power of Mr Startin (whose Violence & Conduct hath very much alarmed me) I am sure if she is not most unreasonable teized [teased] that she will in every Instance pay due Respect to the memory of her worthy Father even if it was not so material as it realy is for her future Honour & Happiness.
'Enclosed I send you my thoughts of what appears to me reasonable on this Occasion, viz:
'That Miss Salt shall have a Pittance of her Property for her own Gratifications
'That She may have a small part of her Fortune secure against Misfortunes
'That she may have a moderate Independence if she should become a Widow with Children
'That, if they should not be blessed with Children, she should have it in her Power to Return, after Mr Startins death, all her Fortune (except £2000) to the Family who honestly acquired it.
'But I wish it to remain in Her power to give the whole or any part of it to the Family she goes into if they behave to Her in such a Manner as to entitle them to her Affection, tho it should be done by Will & not otherwise.
'The terms here sketched would never have been intimated by me if I did not fear Miss Salt, inexperienced in the Temper of mankind, might have been induced to submit to the very short unreasonable ones actually proposed in writing by Mr Start upon which her whole Fortune was to be assigned to him.' |