portrait sent to Birmingham, said to the bringer, 'Oh if _your lady_
but retains her friendship: oh if I can but keep _her_ patronage, I
care not for the rest.' And now, when that friendship follows you
through sickness and through sorrow; now that her patronage is daily
rising in importance: upon a lock of hair given or refused by une
petite Traitresse, hangs all the happiness of my once high-spirited
and high-blooded friend. Let it not be so. EXALT THY LOVE: DEJECTED
HEART--and rise superior to such narrow minds. Do not however fancy
she will ever be punished in the way you mention: no, no; she'll
wither on the thorny stem dropping the faded and ungathered
leaves:--a China rose, of no good scent or flavour--false in apparent
sweetness, deceitful when depended on--unlike the flower produced in
colder climates, which is sought for in old age, preserved _even
after death_, a lasting and an elegant perfume,--a medicine, too, for
those whose shattered nerves require _astringent remedies_.

"And now, dear Sir, let me request of you--to love yourself--and to
reflect on the necessity of not dwelling on any _particular subject_
too long, or too intensely. It is really very dangerous to the health
of body and soul. Besides that our time here is but short; a mere
preface to the great book of eternity: and 'tis scarce worthy of a
reasonable being not to keep the end of human existence so far in
view that we may tend to it--either directly or obliquely in every
step. This is preaching--but remember how the sermon is written at
three, four, and five o'clock by an octogenary pen--a heart (as Mrs.
Lee says) twenty-six years old: and as H.L.P. feels it to be,--ALL
YOUR OWN. Suffer your dear noble self to be in some measure benefited
by the talents which are left _me_; your health to be restored by
soothing consolations while _I remain here_, and am able to bestow
them. All is not lost yet. You _have_ a friend, and that friend is
PIOZZI."

Conway's "high blood" was as great a recommendation to Mrs. Piozzi as
his good looks, and he vindicated his claim to noble descent by his
conduct, which was disinterested and gentlemanlike throughout.

Moore sets down in his Diary, April 28, 1819: "Breakfasted with the
Fitzgeralds. Took me to call on Mrs. Piozzi; a wonderful old lady;
faces of other times seemed to crowd over her as she sat,--the
Johnsons, Reynoldses, &c. &c.: though turned eighty, she has all the
quickness and intelligence of a g