upon the goodness of her own heart,
when the heart cannot be seen into but by its actions; and she, to
appearance, a runaway, an eloper, from a tender, a most indulgent
husband!--To neglect to cultivate the opinion of individuals, when the
whole world is governed by appearance!

Yet what can be expected of an angel under twenty?--She has a world of
knowledge:--knowledge speculative, as I may say, but no experience.--How
should she?--Knowledge by theory only is a vague, uncertain light: a Will
o' the Wisp, which as often misleads the doubting mind, as puts it right.

There are many things in the world, could a moralizer say, that would
afford inexpressible pleasure to a reflecting mind, were it not for the
mixture they come to us with. To be graver still, I have seen parents,
[perhaps my own did so,] who delighted in those very qualities in their
children while young, the natural consequences of which, (too much
indulged and encouraged,) made them, as they grew up, the plague of their
hearts.--To bring this home to my present purpose, I must tell thee, that
I adore this charming creature for her vigilant prudence; but yet I would
not, methinks, wish her, by virtue of that prudence, which is, however,
necessary to carry her above the devices of all the rest of the world, to
be too wise for mine.

My revenge, my sworn revenge, is, nevertheless, (adore her as I will,)
uppermost in my heart.--Miss Howe says that my love is a Herodian love.*
By my soul, that girl's a witch! I am half sorry to say, that I find a
pleasure in playing the tyrant over what I love. Call it an ungenerous
pleasure, if thou wilt: softer hearts than mine know it. The women, to a
woman, know it, and show it too, whenever they are trusted with power.
And why should it be thought strange, that I, who love them so dearly,
and study them so much, should catch the infection of them?

* See Letter XX. of this volume.

LETTER XXVI

MR. LOVELACE, TO JOHN BELFORD, ESQ.

I will now give thee the substance of the dialogue that passed between
the two women and the lady. Wonder not, that a perverse wife makes a
listening husband. The event, however, as thou wilt find, justified the
old observation, That listners seldom hear good of themselves. Conscious
of their own demerits, if I may guess by myself, [There's ingenuousness,
Jack!] and fearful of censure, they seldom find themselves disappointed.
There is something of sense, after all in these