‘Dear ——,—Many thanks for a letter which, mournful as it was, gave me sincere pleasure, and over which your poor father and mother, could they read it where they now are, would shed tears of delight; for what signifies wealth or poverty, good report or evil report, but inasmuch as they affect our own minds.
| WORDSWORTH’S PORTRAIT | 67 |
‘I need not say, I am sure, how sorry I am for the sad change which has taken place in your circumstances, but much more unhappy I was before it took place; for then how gloomy was the prospect; and how fortunate you must think yourself, how much more so than many, in being roused to reflection before it was too late. Providence has given you an asylum among kind and considerate friends, you have good talents, great attainments, and have still many years before you, and if you resolve to exert yourself, and to assist those who have a natural claim to your exertions, what we now regard as an affliction will perhaps be the happiest event in your life. When I look back on mine, I feel that I am too faulty myself to blame another, and have only on my knees to ask forgiveness.
‘Pray remember me to ——, and believe me,
