TO REV. HENRY NUSSEY
'HAWORTH, _March_ 5_th_, 1839.
'MY DEAR SIR,--Before answering your letter I might have spent a long
time in consideration of its subject; but as from the first moment of
its reception and perusal I determined on what course to pursue, it
seemed to me that delay was wholly unnecessary. You are aware that I
have many reasons to feel grateful to your family, that I have
peculiar reasons for affection towards one at least of your sisters,
and also that I highly esteem yourself--do not therefore accuse me of
wrong motives when I say that my answer to your proposal must be a
_decided negative_. In forming this decision, I trust I have
listened to the dictates of conscience more than to those of
inclination. I have no personal repugnance to the idea of a union
with you, but I feel convinced that mine is not the sort of
disposition calculated to form the happiness of a man like you. It
has always been my habit to study the characters of those amongst
whom I chance to be thrown, and I think I know yours and can imagine
what description of woman would suit you for a wife. The character
should not be too marked, ardent, and original, her temper should be
mild, her piety undoubted, her spirits even and cheerful, and her
_personal attractions_ sufficient to please your eyes and gratify
your just pride.
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