your own Idleness in letting them so far outstrip you, and a generous Resolution to repair your former neglects by future diligence; One need not fear offending you by commending an other Lady in your Presence, or that it shou’d be thought an affront or defect in good breeding to give them their lawful Eulogies: You have too just a Sentiment of your own Merit to envy or detract from others, for no Body’s addicted to these little Vices but they who are diffident of their own worth; You know very well ’tis infinitely better to _be_ good than to _seem_ so, and that true Vertue has Beauty enough in her self t’attract our hearts and engage us in her service, tho she were neglected and despis’d by all the World. ’Tis this therefore you endeavour after, ’tis the approbation of GOD and your own Consciences you mainly esteem, which you find most ascertain’d by an humble Charity, and that you never merit Praise so much, because you never make so great a progress in what is truly praise-worthy, as when your own defects are often in your eyes t’excite you to watch against and amend them, and other peoples Vertues continually represented before you in their brightest lustre, to the end you may aspire to equal or surpass them. I suppose then that you’re fill’d with a laudable Ambition to brighten and enlarge your Souls, that the Beauty of your Bodies is but a secondary care, your Dress grows unconcerning, and your Glass is ne’er consulted but in such little intervals of time as hang loose between those hours that are destin’d to nobler Employments; you now begin to throw off your old Prejudices and smile on ’em as antiquated Garbs; false Reasoning won’t down with you, and glittering Non-sense tho address’d to your selves in the specious appearance of Respect and Kindness, has lost its _haut goust_; Wisdom is thought a better recommendation than Wit, and Piety than a _Bon-mien_; you esteem a Man only as he is an admirer of Vertue, and not barely for that he is yours; Books are now become the finest Ornaments of your Closets, and Contemplation the most agreeable Entertainment of your leisure hours; your Friendships are not cemented by Intrigues nor spent in vain Diversions, but in the search of Knowledge, and acquisition of Vertuous Habits, a mutual Love to which was the Origin of ’em; nor are any Friends so acceptable as those who tell you faithfully of your faults and take the properest method to amend ’em. How much better are you entertain’d now your Conversations are pertinent and ingenious, and that Wisdom never fails to make one in your Visits? Solitude is no more insupportable; you’ve conquered that silly dread of being afraid to be alone, since Innocence is the safest Guard, and no Company can be so desirable as GOD’s and his holy Angels conversing with an upright mind; your Devotion is a Rational service, not the repetition of a Set of good words at a certain season; you read and you delight