if it had been my lot in life to have met with many hearts like yours, I might have become all that your affection leads you to believe me; or if, in my near relations, I had met with only kind usage or delicacy, I should now not only be happier, but a better woman, for happiness and goodness are more frequently allied than we think. But I confess to you, my beloved friend, a great part of the milk and honey of nature with which my heart originally overflowed is turned into gall; and though I have still enough goodness left to prevent its bitterness from falling even on those who have caused it, yet have I not power to prevent its corroding my own heart, and rusting many of the qualities with which Nature had blessed me. To have a proud spirit, with a tender heart, is an unfortunate union, and I have not been able to curb the first or steel the second; and when I have felt myself the dupe of those for whom I sacrificed so much, and in return only asked for affection, it has soured me against a world where I feel alone-misunderstood-with my very best qualities turned against me. If an envious or a jealous crowd misjudge or condemn, a proud spirit can bear up against injustice, conscious of its own rectitude; but if, in the most inveterate assailants, one finds those whom we believe to be our trusted friends, the blow is incurable, and leaves behind a wound that will, in spite of every effort, bleed afresh, as memory recalls the cruel conduct that inflicted it. Cæsar defended himself against his foes, but when he saw his friend Brutus strike at him, he gave up the struggle. If any thing can preserve me from the mildew of the soul that is growing on me, it will be your affection, which almost reconciles me to human M. BLESSINGTON."

nature.

"Monday, 14th November, 1831.

"Count D'Orsay has just arrived, and has described to me (not without tears) the distressing scene he witnessed at Ivy Cottage.

"I am miserable at your continuing there this night, and would give any thing on earth that you were with me. Do let me entreat of you to come to me to-morrow, and remain here until all is over; believe me, it is best for every reason. As long as your presence could be of use to the faithful and excellent creature who is departed, I would not have proposed your leaving him for a day; but now all is over, your staying in such a scene will only destroy your already shattered nerves and injured health, which must be preserved to console poor dear Charles. M. BLESSINGTON."

"Thursday evening, April 26th, 1832.

"It is strange, my dearest friend, but it is no less strange than true, that there exists some hidden chord of sympathy, some lightning of the mind,' that draws kindred souls toward each other when the bodies are separated. I have been for the last four days thinking so much of you, that, had this day been tolerable, I should have gone to you, as I had a thousand misgivings that something was wrong, when lo! your little note arrives, and I find that you

too have been thinking of your absent friend. I shall be so glad to hear that Mr. Mathews is returned, and in better health and spirits. I feel all that you have had to undergo; that wear and tear of the mind, that exhausts both nerves and spirits, is more pernicious in its effects than greater trials. The latter call forth our energies to bear them, but the former wear us out without leaving even the self-complacency of resisted shocks. I shall be most glad to see you again, and to tell you that, in nearness as in distance, your affection is the cable that holds my sheet anchor, and reconciles me to a world where I see much to pity and little to console. La Contessa Guiccioli is arrived in England, and this day came to see me. She is a very interesting person, gentle, amiable, and unhappy; you would, I am sure, like her, and, if you think so, you shall meet her here at dinner with me when you like.

"M. BLESSINGTON."

"Monday evening, April 3d, 1832.

"You have such a good and kind heart, my dearest friend, that I know it will give you pleasure to hear that your friend has seen her error, made the amende honorable without any communication from me, and that all is at present couleur de rose. I could not sleep without telling you this. Why do we live so far asunder? I am sure it would add years to my life, and oh! how much happiness to those years, to see you often. Your presence not only makes me happier, but makes me better; there is a soothing influence in your looks, manner, tones, and voice, that comforts and tranquillizes my feelings, like a delicious twilight, that is so dearly valued because felt to be so fleeting; not that I should appreciate your dear society or twilight less were both as lasting as they are delightful; but, alas!

"All that's bright must fade.'

"M. BLESSINGTON."

"Sunday, June 24th, 1832.

“I have had all the horrors of authorship on my hands the last week, so that I really have not had an hour to call my own, and retire at night so fatigued as to be unable to sleep.

"I have disposed of my 'Journal of Conversations with Lord Byron' very advantageously; they are first to appear in the New Monthly,' and after in a separate volume. I tell you all this, knowing the interest your dear, kind heart takes in all that concerns me. You may be assured that it delights me to hear of dear Charles's success in every branch to which he turns his talents; and I foretold from his earliest youth that he must succeed in all that he tried. "M. BLESSINGTON."

"Seamore Place, Sept. 20th, 1832.

"I have had my father with me for the last fortnight, and he only left me to-day. My brother is at Palace Yard, but I see him every day. You must

never imagine for a single moment that there exists that person that could rival you in my affection: there is but one Mrs. Mathews in the world, though there may be, and are, a thousand amiable and charming people; and though La Contessa Guiccioli is among the thousand, and perhaps unites more good qualities than fall to the share of many of the number, still she is not formed to occupy a place that ever had been filled by you. Alfred charges me with all that is grateful, affectionate, and sincere to you. You have not, after Charles, on earth, a male heart more truly devoted to you, nor a female one that feels for you a more true, warm, and constant affection than your most cordial friend, M. BLESSINGTON."

"Friday, Sept. 20th, 1832.

"You will, I know, be sorry to hear of the death of dear, good Madame Crawford. She died at Paris on the 13th, lamented by all who knew her, and deeply so by me, to whom she was most deservedly endeared by a friendship as warm as it was unchanging, of which she gave me many proofs. Though, from her advanced age, being in her eighty-fifth year, a protracted existence was not to be expected, still her heart was so warm, and her affections so fresh and devoted, that one could never consider her as an old woman; and if age was to be considered by feelings instead of years, how much younger was dear, good Madame Crawford than many of those who have not half her years! Your friend, and I may safely use the term in its true acceptation of the word, as he is your true and affectionate friend, Cte. Alfred, is deeply grieved, for he truly loved his grandmother, as she did him. He begs me to offer you his most affectionate remembrances, and to Mr. Mathews his kind regards. Pray make mine also acceptable to him. I had seen notices of dear Charles's whereabouts in the newspapers, and was truly glad to have them confirmed by you. That his expedition will be most serviceable to his health and spirits admits not of a doubt, and that it will be advantageous to his future prospects is, I think, equally sure; for the intimacy of the influential family with whom he is domesticated can not fail to be cemented by a warm friendship, as Charles has as many solid qualities to insure esteem as he has brilliant talents to win admiration, and those he met as acquaintances he will leave as friends. M. BLESSINGTON."

"Saturday, 29th Sept., 1832.

"I wrote a line to Charles at Newport to apprise him of the necessity of his appearance at Lincoln's Inn on the 1st. I must repeat the regret I feel at taking him from you and his father, when the helplessness of the latter renders his son's attention so necessary for you. I so well know the devotedness of your affection for those you love, that a sacrifice of personal comfort costs you, perhaps, less than any one else; but when I reflect on the fearful accident, and its consequences, that has reduced Mr. Mathews to his present distressing state, I feel pained beyond expression at depriving him and you of

Charles's assistance at such a crisis, though but even for a few days. The newspapers, that in general magnify misfortunes, in the case of poor Mr. Mathews reduced them, by stating that a few hours after his accident all traces of it had disappeared; would to God it had been so, as I really feel more than all, save you, could imagine at finding how much more serious the misfortune has been. Yes, you are right, my beloved friend, in supposing that your silence can never by me be mistaken for want of affection or interest. I know your heart, and I rely on it, because I judge it by my own, which neither time, distance, nor circumstances can change toward you. I detest writing, but I do not love my friends less because I do not tell them so more frequently; the sentiment is engraved in indelible characters on my heart, and each impression is but as a new seal with the same legend. I like to hear often, very often, from those I love; but when they do not write, I conclude that, like me, they are silent, but not forgetful. My friend, Mr. John Fox Strangways, is third cousin to Lord Holland, being brother to the present Earl of Ilchester, who, with Lord Holland, descends in line direct from Sir Stephen Fox (of the reign of Charles the Second), whose eldest son was created Earl of Ilchester, and the second son was created Baron Holland.

"Your constant and attached friend, Alfred, paid a visit to the cottage five days ago; the cage was there, but, alas! the bird was flown; and he came back to tell me that, lovely as the day was, the cottage looked gloomy and melancholy without its owners.

"I like the Isle of Wight: it is endeared to me by the recollection of having passed a delightful fortnight there with my ever-to-be-lamented husband, the only tête-à-tête we ever enjoyed during our marriage, and which we both felt as children do their first vacation from school. How many souvenirs does each thought of it excite. M. BLESSINGTON."

"To-morrow, Saturday, I have the nuisance of having some people to dinner, invited days ago; but I shall leave my sister and Count Alfred to entertain them, as I am too suffering to attempt it; indeed, my spirits are as low as my health, and my thoughts are much more with you and your house of mourning than with any thing passing around me. Conquer the feelings that the last sad event will excite by recollecting what I had to bear when all I most valued was torn from me, and I left with strangers in a foreign land. "M. BLESSINGTON."

"Thursday, August 19th, 1835.

"Well can I understand, my dearest friend, the total break-up in your habits and hours. All that you are now undergoing I have undergone, with the additional misery of having him whose loss I must ever deplore snatched away from me in the midst of apparent health, without the preparation for such a fatal event by one day of illness, or the melancholy consolation of having cheered his bed of sickness, or soothed his last hours by a knowledge of how

he was valued. Time is the only consoler. Every day brings us nearer to those we have lost, and who have only preceded us by at most a few fleeting years. I shall call on you at four o'clock on Saturday next, unless I hear that you are engaged, and can not receive me. M. BLESSINGTON."

"Tuesday night, December 2d, 1835.

"I can well enter into your feelings, every one of which finds an echo in my heart. Little do we think, when we are enlivening birth-days and anniversaries, that we are laying up cause for future sorrow, and that a day may come when, those who shared them with us being snatched away, the return of past seasons of enjoyment brings only bitterness and sorrow. All that you feel I felt and do feel, though years are gone by since the blow that destroyed my happiness took place. Without the constant occupation I have given myself, I should have sunk under it, when the memory of it comes back to me with all the bitterness of the past, though I try to chase it away. Lady Canterbury charges me to offer you her congratulations on Charles's success, and her affectionate regards. God be thanked that his efforts have been crowned with unequaled success: every one talks of his acting in raptures. "M. BLESSINGTON."

"Monday night.

"It was only on Saturday that I first read of your intended voyage to America, and my knowledge of the delicacy of your health during the last year led me to think the statement totally destitute of truth, so that until your letter of yesterday reached me I disbelieved it. But what can not affection and a sense of duty effect in a mind like yours? I am not surprised at your determination, because I know you; but I believe there is not another woman in England, in your delicate health, that would have courage to undertake such a voyage, and such an absence from Charles. May God bless and reward you for it, and may you reap all the advantages from it that you deserve. I had wished much to see you, for I was anxious to tell you honestly, and in all sincerity, the real delight I experienced at seeing the performance of Mr. Mathews the last night. Never-no, not even the first year of his performance, was it more brilliant, more vigorous, or more successful, and I was enchanted to find that this was the sense of the whole house. I have thought all day of your departure, and mourned over it as though we were often together, instead of being, as we have lately been, almost as much separated as if different countries held us; but even though friends do not meet, it is always a comfort to know that they are within reach, and a pang shoots through the heart when a year of absence is contemplated. M. BLESSINGTON."

"Monday night.

"I had thought it very long, my dearest friend, since I heard from you; and dear Charles having told me that you had been ill and suffering did not