“. . . . . God forgive those who bring upon others any unhappiness which could be prevented by a wiser and kinder course of conduct. If we could be spared the misery which others make for us, little would there be but what might be borne with wholesome resignation as the appointment of Providence, or as the proper consequence of our own errors and misdeeds.
“Time will do all for you, and will probably not be long in doing it. With an old subject like me there is more to do, and of that kind that there is little hope it can be done before the curtain falls. I could always, when I went from home, leave all my habits behind me. It is a far different thing to feel that I have lost them; that my way of life is changed, the few points which are unchangeable serving only to make the change in all other respects more sensible.
‘I thank God I am well in health, having easily got rid of a cold: and now that all the proofs in your packet have been got through, and directions given to the printer concerning the eighth volume, I shall make up my despatches, set my dogs by the fire, and emerge from my solitude; not to look for society which is not to be found, nor to be wished for, out of a very small circle which every year contracts, but to take a dutiful walk. God bless you!
