And softening tearless pale despair.
Undazzled, she beheld the blaze
Of earthly pleasure, earthly pride;
’Twas thus she numbered well her days,
To wisdom thus her heart applied.
TO RICHARD TRENCH, ESQ.
Bognor, Aug. 25, 1808.
I continue my early rising, and have overcome my reluctance to visit sick poor, which I felt to a great degree of weakness; and as the command is positive, ‘Visit the sick,’ no Christian should indulge it.
As to society, the two B——s do not afford me much resource. The maiden lady is very good, and sees clearly all that is very near her; but her circumference is so small, that conversation dies for want of aliment. The married one is too much studied to bear a close inspection, stage effect being her principal object; therefore intimacy destroys her charm, and every step one makes behind the scenes, lessens one’s admiration. She, too, is good in all main points.