tering Francis also at the Temple. He was of a very quick and ready turn, and had the gift of fluency of speech in a remarkable degree, which made me think he might choose the law for his profession, but thanks be to God, he has chosen to dedicate himself to His service, and to prepare himself for the holy ministry.
In the month of November, 1713, Captain Boulay, a French gentleman, a half-pay cavalry officer, with whom I had not the slightest acquaintance, called upon me to offer his grand-daughter in marriage to one of my sons. She was his sole descendant, her father and mother were both dead, and she was to inherit all his property. He told me he had heard an excellent report of my sons, that they had been well brought up, and conducted themselves with propriety on every occasion, being free from the follies and vices of the age, and this had made him wish to secure one of them as a protector for his grand-child when his head should be laid low. He said he preferred in the husband of his child virtue without fortune, to the largest property unaccompanied by the piety and discretion which he believed them to have. He was upwards of eighty years of age; his grand-daughter, Elizabeth Fourreau, was about thirteen.
I thanked him very much for the flattering terms in which he had made the proposal, and told him I thought the best plan would be for him to send her to us, as though she were a boarder, and then we might observe which of my sons liked her the best, and for which of them she might feel a preference.
This plan met his views, and she came to live with us. We found her to be a girl of very amiable temper, sweet disposition, and very fair natural talents, but her education had been extremely neglected.
