other flower which I am sure will not be in blow for you, "a little
western flower called love in idleness." Amongst the many kindnesses my
father has shown me, the greatest, I think, has been his permitting me
to see his heart _a decouverte_; and I have seen, by your kind sincerity
and his, that, in good and cultivated minds, love is no _idle_ passion,
but one that inspires useful and generous energy. I have been convinced
by your example of what I was always inclined to believe, that the power
of feeling affection is increased by the cultivation of the
understanding. The wife of an Indian yogii (if a yogii be permitted to
have a wife) might be a very affectionate woman, but her sympathy with
her husband could not have a very extensive sphere. As his eyes are to
be continually fixed upon the point of his nose, hers in duteous
sympathy must squint in like manner; and if the perfection of his virtue
be to sit so still that the birds (_vide_ Sacontala) may unmolested
build nests in his hair, his wife cannot better show her affection than
by yielding her tresses to them with similar patient stupidity. Are
there not European yogiis, or men whose ideas do not go much further
than _le bout du nez_? And how delightful it must be to be chained for
better for worse to one of this species! I should guess--for I know
nothing of the matter--that the courtship of an ignorant lover must be
almost as insipid as a marriage with him; for "my jewel" continually
repeated, without new setting, must surely fatigue a little.

You call yourself, dear Miss Beaufort, my friend and companion: I hope
you will never have reason to repent beginning in this style towards me.
I think you will not find me encroach upon you. The overflowings of your
kindness, if I know anything of my own heart, will fertilise the land,
but will not destroy the landmarks. I do not know whether I most hate or
despise the temper which will take an ell where an inch is given. A
well-bred person never forgets that species of respect which is due to