When she was in Ireland she took a small sum of about
ten pounds, which belonged to her mother, and placed it in the hands of
an aunt of hers, in whom she had implicit trust, wishing to withdraw the
money from the possible risk of its being got from her mother by her
brother, who lives with her,--he being selfish and unprincipled and
likely to take it, and her mother affectionate and self-denying and
likely to give it to him. And now poor Hayes gets word from her mother
that her aunt says she can neither give her money nor money's worth,
owing to the badness of the times; which of course troubles my poor maid
very much, for she says her aunt is a woman of substance. However, she
does not seem to think the money will ultimately be lost to her mother,
but only inconveniently withheld for a time.

At Plymouth, I had a very kind and pressing invitation from Lady
Elizabeth Bulteel--Lord Grey's daughter, whom I have known for some
time--to go and stay at her pretty place, Flete, two miles from
Plymouth; but having to come on here, I could not go to her, which I was
very sorry for. She sent me the most exquisite flowers, which I brought
away with me, and which are still consoling me here.

Good-bye; God bless you, my dear.

Ever yours,
FANNY.

NEW LONDON INN, EXETER, Wednesday, June 23d.

I do not plead guilty to general inconsistency, but only to particular
inconsistency, in a particular instance, dear Hal.... You are quite
welcome to accuse me of it, however; but as in your last letter you
imply that I accept the accusation, I beg leave to state distinctly that
I do not.... Not, indeed, that I make any pretensions to that order of
coherency of action and opinion which is generally called consistency:
my principles are few, simple, and comprehensive, and I rather desire
so to embrace them with my heart, mind, and soul, that my conduct may
habitually conform to them, than am careful in every instance of action
to see whether I am observing them. Somebody said very well that
principles were moral habits; and our habits become unconscious and
spontaneous: and so I think should our consistency be, and not a sort of
moral rule or measure to be applied and adjusted to each exigency as it
occurs, to produce a symmetrical moral appearance.

I think one reason why I appear, and perhaps am, inconsistent is b