If I am not able to convince you of the truth of my arguments, I shall at least fulfil the duty of a sincere and affectionate friend in telling you all my thoughts. Perhaps I may not have done well in straying from the beaten path; but I am sincere, and, if I have gone a little way from my point, it is because I thought I should the more certainly arrive at it. Love, you say, puts every thing on an equality. Yes, that momentary passion, which is disapproved and destroyed by reason; but not the sentiment of reflection, which is founded on esteem and confidence; which is agreeable to the laws of society, and formed by Nature. These are the sentiments which give to men power and authority. You have given your daughter a very unjust and dangerous representation of this matter. You have described love to her in such a manner, that now she wishes to have a lover, or, to express myself better, she wants to govern, and will esteem him; a Tyrant who will not submit to be her slave; and if she should not have such a husband, as you have given her the idea of, if he should not answer expectations, do you think she could consent herself with regarding him as a friend; when a wife fulfils her duty, and knows her dependence, if her husband has the least delicacy, even without a violent affection for her, he will never treat her with so much severity or opposition, as to make her feel her inferiority. Though we are jealous of the rights which are disputed with us, the more are granted to us, the more generous we are. And where is the heart which has not experienced this truth? I must also confess to you, that I do not better approve what you have said to your daughter concerning the dangers she may meet with in the world.