54 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1662-3 of the other sex.

Passages from the diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries : A.D. 1635-A.D. 1699"

54 DIARY OF PATRICK GORDON. [1662-3

of the other sex. But this also had its perils. He found himself so beset with the toils of in-
tr:guing damsels and their friend?, that he ran the risk of being beguiled into marriage on the
one hand, or forced into a quarrel on the other. In this strait, he began to doubt whether his
safest course might not be to marry deliberately. His Diary duly records the grave discussion
which he held with himself on this question. The first place is given to the objections. Mar-
riage being one of the most important steps in a man's life, he ought to have hopes that it would
both increase his happiness and better his position. But Gordon saw little room for cherishing
such expectations. Marriage with a Muscovite was forbidden, unless he should embrace her
religion. Of the foreigners again of his own faith, especially such as were soldiers, the most
were poor, many were of indifierent character, and their children but ill eaacated For a
married man to keep house on the scanty pay of a Russian officer, seemed a hard task. Nor
was it to be overlooked that when a man took a wife he lost his freedom, so that it was all but
impossible for him to remove to another country. On the other side, he was bound to consider
the daily danger to which he was exposed from the snares of the women around him. He might,
over his wine, le: fall a word which he would rue all his life. Then, again, marriage, if a man
were happy in his choice, had its advantages and charms. It promised help in household
affairs, comfort in sickness, consolation in crosses, new friends, increased respect, and escape
from many temptations. As to expense, he saw that others, with no better income than his
own, were able, although married, to keep as good a table, and to wear as good clothes, as him-
self. Hence, he concluded that God bestowed a special blessing on the married state, since a
bachelor's housekeeping cost more than the maintenance of a wife. Marriage, he could not
deny, was a sor: of servitude; but then surely it was servKude of the sweetest kind. And, even
in the event of his having to shift to another countiy, the aid and advice which a married man
could command, would counterbalance some of his other drawbacks. Finally, he persuaded
himself that marriage would serve to restore and preserve his health ; and so, after frequent
prayer to God for guidance, while lying in bed one Sunday evening, he formally summed up the
the arguments on both sides, and resolved to marry.

He had next to determine with whom he should wed. He had little dread of refusal from the
daughter or sister of a soldier, and so he passed in review all his female friends. His choice
fell on the daughter of Colonel Philip Albrecht von Bockhoven. She was scarcely thirteen,
but was well grown, handsome, amiable in disposition, and had been well educated by an ex-
cellent mother. Her father, then a prisoner with the Poles, was of good birth, the eldest
colonel in his regiment, and high in favour with the Czar. Above all the family, like his own,
was Roman Catholic.

[AD. 1663.]

He lost no time in prefemng his suit. The lady was living mth her mother, in the house
ry 12. of an uncle, another Colonel von Bockhoven Gordon, at his second visit, found her alone. She
wished to send for her mother who had gone out, but he begged her not to take that trouble as
his business was with herself. She had given him a small glass of brandy, according to the cus-
tom of the country, and he proposed to drink to the health of her lover. She denied that she
had one, and when Gordon pressed the point, repeated the denial. He then asked if she would