gloom of winter, or after some disappointment that had depress'd his spirits. Are there no wise men whose learning has not deprived them of reason? Nor no Orators, who live the myths they teach? Surely there are; and may I not add, Philosophers too, who could better have defined the law of Nature, than the Sage in the 22nd chapter (though, I add with pleasure, we happy Britons have a better guide), and I should think, with these advantages and an honest heart, a person would be better fitted to bear any state with equanimity and fortitude than one unschooled, untutored, by Reason, Philosophy, or Religion. I hope, also, tho' the Princess does not find them, there are humble villagers whose quiet is unembittered by envy, jealousy, or discontent, who can rejoice in the happiness of those above as well as beneath them,-who fancy the pomp and dignity of envy'd wealth may be fully compensated by a cloudless sun, a starry firmament, or a flowery vale, adorned by the hand of Spring;-and who think life such as it is, with all its hopes and prospects, no despicable gift. But if Mr. Johnson will not allow us happiness (which, perhaps, perfect and uninterrupted, is no more suited to our state than our clime to perpetual sunshine), let it have a humble name, and be called content; I hope habitual, and, I will add, cheerful content is in every one's power, who only enjoys the common comforts of life; I cannot help thinking with our inimitable Ethic Poet"If vain our toil,

We ought to blame the culture, not the soil.'

For to a mind pleased with itself, and determined to approve where it can, there are innumerable sources of

pleasure; for, added to those of sense, which we see makes the lower creatures happy, we have, or may have, those more refined delights of Imagination, Understanding, Friendship, Religion, and the delightful perception of moral excellence wherever it can be found; and shall man only, the lord of the visible world, repine ?—

"Shall he alone, whom rational we call,

Be pleased with nothing, if not blessed with all?' To me it seems a kind of impiety to suppose the great Lord of the Drama (I think the expression is Mr. Addison's, and cannot, therefore, be profane) has placed us on this wide theatre of Nature only to act Tragedies; that He has given us these distinguishing powers only to make us more exquisitely wretched; or that the various scenes are so magnificently adorned only to insult our misery; I think it a more pious, as well as more pleasing thought, to suppose Him with another Poet

"Our universal Parent, Guardian, Friend-
Who forming by degrees to bliss, mankind,
This Globe our sportive nursery assigned;
Where, for awhile, His fond paternal care
Feasts us with every joy our state can bear;
Kindly perhaps, sometimes afflicts us here,
To guide our views to a sublimer sphere;
In more exalted joys to fix our taste,

And wean us from delights that cannot last.'

Or perhaps by a little of the reverse, improve the relish of those innocent pleasures we are at present entertained with.

"I must own, I love to view human nature in its most amiable light, and am determined to think people good till

H

I find them bad, and happiness attainable, till I find myself miserable. If I be in an error, it is a pleasing one, and I see no harm in being pleased with these gay phantoms of hope, if they be only phantoms; and since, as my author says, 'not a vanity is given in vain,' why may not the deficiencies of the present day be supplied by to-morrow's expectations? I fear those who deny apparent marks of wisdom and benevolence in our present state, and happiness apparently the friend of virtue even here, will deprive us of one powerful reason for our better hopes.

""Of man what see we but his station here From which to reason, or to which refer?

Through worlds unnumbered tho' our God be known, 'Tis ours to trace Him only in our own!'

"But I blush to think I am entered on a third page in dissenting from an author I venerate, esteem, and admire far more than any of this class I ever met with. Nothing but happiness and her immediate presence could have tempted me to it; but she needs not such dull pens as mine to vindicate her existence while she gladdens a whole clime with the smile of yon bright luminary, and all Nature animate and inanimate seems to rejoice. Thus, Sir, I have presumed to give you my present sentiments, which, however exceptional, I will not add to the tediousness of this too tedious letter by making apologies for,

"And am, with best thanks,

"Your obliged, humble Servant,
"ELIZABETH CARTWRIGHT."

These two letters were the first of a long correspondence.

From Mr. Coltman to Miss Cartwright.

"Dear Madam,

"25 March, 1763.

"Tho' I cannot flatter myself in the success which I hoped for in my address to you, I cannot deny myself the satisfaction of writing a line, hoping, at least, you will pardon my freedom; and, as my declaration was nothing less than the genuine effusion of a sincere heart, overflowing with a tender affection for you, I hope I may yet retain some interest in your esteem.

From this letter it appears certain that a "declaration" had taken place, which must have been a very deliberate one, considering that Mr. Coltman and Miss Cartwright had now been known to each other, at the least, for four years; it was probably also verbal, for, on referring to an extract from Mr. C.'s memoranda it is clear that he had visited Miss Cartwright but three days previously.

It is probable that Miss Cartwright, though greatly admiring Mr. Coltman and fully appreciating his character and merits, was not yet prepared to accept him as a husband; she, therefore, did not respond in the affirmative, neither perhaps did she entirely give him a negative; however this may have been, the next four months were passed in total silence on the part of her lover, which, whether anticipated or not by Miss Cartwright, was very acutely felt by her, and indeed so seriously, that it could not be completely concealed from her friends.

The correspondence is again resumed irregularly for a few months, and the following is an extract from a letter

received about this time; it refers to the celebrated windows in Fairford Church :

Mr. Coltman to Miss Cartwright.

"London, 27 Aug., 1763.

Since I saw you I am become more a traveller than ever; I have been at Oxford, Bath, and several other places, and met with much agreeable entertainment, particularly at Fairford, in Gloucestershire, where the paintings on the glass of the church windows are allowed to be the most exquisite of anything of the kind in England, if not in the world."

From a descriptive catalogue of these windows we learn that "About the year 1492, soon after the siege of Boulogne, a vessel bound to the port of Rome from the Low Countries, and laden with painted glass, is said to have been taken by John Tame, a merchant, who instantly determined on preparing a church at Fairford for its reception."

The windows are twenty-eight in number, and the designs are attributed to Albert Durer.

An interval of four months now occurs in the correspondence, which had been so irregularly carried on, especially on the part of Mr. Coltman, and during this interval a great event was progressing in the history of Miss Cartwright. The mystery of Mr. Coltman's long and frequent silences, and the fact of Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright's extreme aversion to the idea of their daughter's settling at such a distance from them as London, at last induced her, at their express desire, to listen to the