Autograph letter signed : German Town, to Elizabeth Parke Custis, 1794 Sept. 14.

Granting her request for his picture; advising her regarding marriage: "Do not ... look for perfect felicity before you consent to wed. -- Nor conceive, from the fine tales the Poets and lovers of old have told us, of the transports of mutual love, that heaven has taken its abode on earth. -- Nor do not deceive yourself in supposing, that the only mean by which these are to be obtained, is to drink deep of the cup, and revel in an ocean of love. -- Love is a mighty pretty thing; but like all other delicious things, it is cloying; and when the first transports of the passion begins to subside, which it assuredly will do, and yield -- oftentimes too late -- to more sober reflections, it serves to evince, that love is too dainty a food to live upon alone, and ought not to be considered farther than as a necessary ingredient for that matrimonial happiness which results from a combination of causes; -- none of which are of greater importance, than that the object on whom it is placed, should possess good sense, good dispositions, and the means of supporting you in the way you have been brought up. -- Such qualifications cannot fail to attract (after marriage) your esteem & regard, into wch. or into disgust, sooner or later, love naturally resolves itself"; reminding her that "all our enjoyments fall short of our expectations; and to none does it apply with more force, than to the gratification of the passions."