This is the inevitable consequence of measuring ourselves by ourselves,
as all will do who are not led betimes to the standard appointed of God.

And now, the chambers of imagery being well furnished, I became in
thought the heroine of all the foolish, improbable adventures I met
with. Shakspeare and others having furnished me with dresses and
decorations, every day of my life had its drama. Adventures the most
improbable, situations the most trying, and conversation the most
nonsensical among a visionary acquaintance of my own creating, became
the constant amusement of my mind; or if I took a fancy to any new
companion, that individual was metamorphosed into something equally
unreal, and was soon looked upon in the light, not of sober reality, but
of fanciful extravagance. Of course my estimate alike of persons and of
things was egregiously false; and with a fair portion of common-sense
naturally belonging to me, I became most emphatically a fool. Even when
employed at the pencil, which I dearly loved, I could not trace a figure
on the paper or a landscape on the canvas, that did not presently become
the subject of a separate romance; and it never occurred to me that
there was danger, much less sin, in this. I loved dancing to excess, and
took much delight in all that was brilliant and beautiful; but upon the
whole I preferred the uninterrupted course of my own vain thoughts, and
then admired myself for being of a less dissipated turn than my young
friends. Of course, I am now speaking of the time when, according to the
world's usage, and rather earlier than usual, that is to say, at
sixteen, I was introduced into society, by making my appearance at a
grand election ball; and moreover, publicly receiving the compliments of
the most polished and distinguished of our successful candidates, for
sundry political squibs, said to be full of drollery and point, which
had been traced home to me. Alas for the girl who makes such a debut! We
were now again resident in the town, or rather within the precincts, as