Boston.
SHE is gone—she is dead—she who was the most charming, the most gentle, is gone—You may come—you may desire to behold all that was lovely—but your eyes will not see her.
YES! I raved—I was distracted—but now I am calm and dispassionate—I am smooth as the surface of a lake—I shall see her again.
WHEN our spirits are disencumbered of this load of mortality, and they wing their flight to the celestial regions, shall we not then know those who were dear to us in this world? Shall we not delight in their society, as we have done in this state of existence? Yes—certainly we shall—we shall find them out in Heaven—there alone is happiness—there shall I meet her—there our love will not be a crime—Let me indulge this thought—it gives a momentary joy to my heart—it removes the dark mist that swims before my eyes—it restores tranquility; but the more I reflect on this thought—the more I long to be there—the more I detest this world and all it contains. I sigh to fly away from it.
LETTER LIII.
Harrington to Worthy.
INGRATITUDE is a predominant principle in the conduct of man. The perfidious —, who owes to me his reputation and fortune, and with whom I intrusted a great part of my property, has deceived me. The affair will materially retard my business.
TO be unfortunate in trade is not worth a sigh—to receive inattention and incivility does not merit a frown; but Ingratitude—it is this that cuts to the quick. Yet I freely give him my pity; for what man, who considered for a moment the inconsistency of the human heart, would hurl the thunderbolt of indignation at the head of an ingrate? What an important little thing is man! he contrives to over-reach his neighbour, and mount to the enjoyment of riches, ambition and splendour; but remember not the period of enjoyment—that his life is a day, and his space a point!
NATURALISTS inform us of insects whose term of existence is confined to a few hours—What is the business and importance of such a life?
WOULD not a being, whose circle of living is immensity of ages, inquire with equal propriety: “What is the importance of man—What actions can he perform—What happiness can he enjoy, whose insignificant life is circumscribed to seventy years?”—In this point of view I behold the tinsel, the vanity and noise of the world, and the little plots and cunning artifices of mankind to cheat and ruin one another.