_From Mrs. Hamilton to Miss Greville._

I cannot, my dear Mary, suffer Emmeline's long letter to be forwarded to
you without a few lines from me, to remove all lingering fears which you
may perhaps have had, that I do not approve of your correspondence.
Believe me, my dear girl, that to see you the chosen friend of my giddy
but warm-hearted Emmeline is still, as it has ever been from your
childhood, a source of real pleasure both to Mr. Hamilton and myself.
Female friendships are, I know, often regarded with contempt, not only
by men, but frequently by the sterner principles of our own sex; they
are deemed connections of folly; that the long letters which pass
between young ladies set down by the world as intimate friends, are but
relations of all the petty incidents they may hear or see. Such letters
are also considered tending to weaken the mind and produce false
sensibility, by the terms of affection they force into their
service--the magnified expression of momentary and fleeting emotions.
That such may sometimes be the tenor of some young people's
correspondence, I do not pretend to deny, and when that is the case, and
such letters are treasured up in secret and requested to be burnt, lest
any eyes save those for whom they are intended should chance to
encounter them, then, indeed, I too might disapprove of similar
intimacies, and it was to prevent this I would not permit Emmeline to
send the first letter to which she has alluded. Every feeling was
magnified and distorted, till you must have fancied--had not the real
cause been told--that some very serious evil had happened, or was
impending over her. I did not in the least doubt but that you would have
used all your influence to combat with and conquer this sinful repining;
but still I thought your very replies might have called forth renewed