in a female.

All small objects and small errors she had been taught to disregard as
trifles; and her impatient disposition was perpetually leading her into
more material faults; yet her candour in confessing these, she had been
suffered to believe, was sufficient reparation and atonement.

Leonora, on the contrary, who had been educated by her mother in a
manner more suited to her sex, had a character and virtues more peculiar
to a female; her judgment had been early cultivated, and her good sense
employed in the regulation of her conduct; she had been habituated to
that restraint, which, as a woman, she was to expect in life, and early
accustomed to yield; compliance in her seemed natural and graceful.

Yet, notwithstanding the gentleness of her temper, she was in reality
more independent than Cecilia; she had more reliance upon her own
judgment, and more satisfaction in her own approbation. Though far from
insensible to praise, she was not liable to be misled by the
indiscriminate love of admiration; the uniform kindness of her manner,
the consistency and equality of her character, had fixed the esteem and
passive love of her companions.

By passive love, we mean that species of affection which makes us
unwilling to offend, rather than anxious to oblige; which is more a
habit than an emotion of the mind. For Cecilia, her companions felt
active love, for she was active in showing her love to them.

Active love arises spontaneously in the mind, after feeling particular
instances of kindness, without reflection on the past conduct or general
character; it exceeds the merits of its object, and is connected with a