I am persuaded that it was of me the Hebrew sage prophesied, when he foretold-" And be"hold on whatsoever this man doth set his "heart, it shall not prosper!" If my resentment is awaked, it is sure to be where it dare not squeak; and if Pray that wisdom and bliss be more frequent visitors of No. CXLV. TO THE SAME. I HAVE this moment got the song from S***, and I am sorry to see that he has spoilt it a good deal. It shall be a lesson to me how I lend him any thing again. I have sent you Werter, truly happy to have any the smallest opportunity of obliging you. 'Tis true, Madam, I saw you once since I was at W; and that once froze the very life-blood of my heart. Your reception of me was such, that a wretch meeting the eye of his judge, about to pronounce sentence of death on him, could only have envied my feelings and situation. But I hate the theme, and never more shall write or speak on it. One thing I shall proudly say, that I can pay Mrs. a higher tribute of esteem, and appreciate her amiable worth more truly, than any man whom I have seen approach her. No. CXLVI. TO THE SAME. I HAV HAVE often told you, my dear friend, that you had a spice of caprice in your composition, and you have as often disavowed it: even, perhaps, while your opinions were, at the moment, irrefragably proving it. Could Could any thing estrange me from a friend such as you?No! To-morrow I shall have the honour of waiting on you. Farewell, thou first of friends, and most accomplished of women; even with all thy little caprices! No. No. CXLVII. TO THE SAME. MADAM, I RETURN your common-place book: I have perused it with much pleasure, and would have continued my criticisms; but as it seems the critic has forfeited your esteem, his strictures must lose their value. If it is true that "offences come only from the heart," before you I am guiltless. To admire, esteem, and prize you, as the most accomplished of women, and the first of friends-if these are crimes, I am the most offending thing alive. In a face where I used to meet the kind complacency of friendly confidence, now to find cold neglect and contemptuous scorn-is a wrench that my heart can ill bear. It is, how ever, some kind of miserable good luck, that while de haut-en-bas rigour may depress an unoffending wretch to the ground, it has a tendency to rouse a stubborn something in his bosom, which, though it though it cannot heal the wounds of his soul, is at least an opiate to blunt their poignancy. With the profoundest respect for your abilities; the most sincere esteem and ardent regard for your gentle heart and amiable manners; and the most fervent wish and prayer for your welfare, peace, and bliss, I have the honour to be, Madam, your most devoted humble ser vant. No. |