t
romantic stories either for the purpose of illustrating a moral or to
make the didacticism more palatable. Even as a votary of virtue Eliza
did not neglect to mingle a liberal portion of _dulce_ with her _utile_;
indeed in the first of the productions mentioned she manifested an
occasional tendency to revert to the letter of amorous intrigue
characteristic of her earlier efforts. In her latest and soberest
writings, the conduct books called "The Wife" and "The Husband" (1756),
she frequently yielded to the temptation to turn from dry precept to
picturing the foibles of either sex. Her long training in the school of
romance had made gallantry the natural object of Eliza Haywood's
thoughts.

During the time that she was incessantly occupied with short tales of
passion she had experimented in both the letter and the essay form,
using the former especially as an adjunct to her stories. One of her
first attempts, also, to find her proper vein as an author was a
translation from the French of the "Letters from a Lady of Quality to a
Chevalier," with a "Discourse concerning Writings of this Nature, by Way
of Essay" for which the translator was responsible. In "The Tea-Table"
(1725), which never advanced beyond the second part, and "Reflections on
the Various Effects of Love" (1726) the then well-known novelist
returned to the essay form, and a comprehensive volume of "Love-Letters
on All Occasions" (1730) closed the first period of her literary
activity. But none of these departures was noticeably different in tone
from her staple romances.

The sweets of love were perhaps most convincingly revealed in the
amorous billets of which "Love in Excess" and many of Eliza's subsequent
pieces of fiction contained a plentiful supply. Letters languishing with
various degrees of desire or burning with jealous rage were introduced
into the story upon any pretext. Writing them was evidently the author's
forte, and perusing them apparently a pleasure to her readers, for they
remained a conspicuous part of Mrs. Haywood's sentimental paraphernalia.
As in the French romances of the Scudery type the missives were quoted
at length and labeled with such headings as, "The Despairing D'Elmont to
his Repenting Charmer," or "To the never enough Admir'd Count D'Elmont,"
and signed with some such formula as, "Your most passionate and tender,
but ('till she receives a favorable Answer) your unknown Adorer." The
custom of inserting letters in the cou