Epistle XXVI. To Servianus.
by
the Same. [Mr. Henley.]
[_]
On the design'd Marriage of his Daughter.
I Give you Joy (as I am entirely pleas'd my self) that you have resolv'd your Daughter for
Fuscus Salinator. His Family is Noble; his Father a Person of great Honour;
his Mother of an equal Reputation. He himself is Studious, Learned, and Eloquent:
He has the unaffected Innocence of Childhood, the Gaiety of Youth, and the consummate Wisdom of Age:
Nor does my Kindness for him impose upon me: Indeed I have an uncommon Respect for him,
yet it is with Judgment: (His Services, and Veneration for me entitle him to it) and really I love him so much the better,
as I judge of him the more exactly; and I promise you, as one that has thoroughly try'd him,
that you cannot wish to be happier in a Son-in-law. All you have to desire further,
is, that you may be a Grandfather by a Son of his, as like the Father,
and as speedily as possible. How acceptable will the Hour be! when I shall take his Offspring out of your Arms,
as my own, and caress them as if I had an equal Right to them.
Farewell.
