Mr. _Belford's_ Letters prove, that he acts the second Part under Mr. _Lovelace_; he follows the Paths the other beats through the thorny Labyrinths of wild Libertinism; he has not the lively Humour of _Lovelace_, altho' in Understanding I think he has rather the Advantage; and his not being quite so lively, is owing to his not giving such a loose to every unbridled Fancy; but he has less Pride, and consequently more Humanity: this appears in the many Arguments he makes use of to his Friend in favour of _Clarissa_; but these Arguments, as they are only the Produce of sudden Starts of Compassion, and have no fixed Principle for their Basis, could have no Weight with _Lovelace_; and the fluctuating of a Mind sometimes intruded upon by the Force of Good-nature, and then again actuated by the Principles of Libertinism, is finely set before us by _Belford's_ Writings. And as there is a great Beauty throughout the whole of _Clarissa_, in the specific Difference of Stile preserved by every Writer, so is there an inimitable Beauty in _Belford_ differing from himself, when he changes the State of his Mind; his Stile accompanies that Change, and he appears another Man. He was always more of the true Gentleman in his Stile than _Lovelace_, because his Will was not enough overbearing to break through all Bounds; but when his Mind is softned by the many different Deaths he is witness of, and he becomes animated by _Clarissa's_ Example to think in earned of reforming his Life, the Gentleman and the Christian increase together, till he becomes at once the Executor of _Clarissa's_ Will, and, if I may be allowed the Expression, the Heir to her Principles. In _Lovelace's_ Stile, his Humour, his Parts, his Pride, his wild Desire of throwing Difficulties in his own way, in order to conquer them, and exercise his own intriguing Spirit, break forth in every Line. His impetuous Will, unrestrained from his Infancy, as he himself complains, by his Mother, and long accustomed to bear down all before it, destroys the Gentleman, and equally every other amiable Qualification: For tho' a Knowledge of the Customs of the World may make a Man in Company, where he stays but a little while, appear polite; yet when that Man indulges himself in gratifying continually his own wild Humour, those who are intimate with him, must often have Cause to complain of his Unpoliteness; as _Clarissa_ does of _Lovelace_. And by such Complaints of _Clarissa_, I think it is very apparent, that the Author designed _Lovelace_ should be unpolite, notwithstanding his Station, in order to prove that indulged overbearing Passions will trample under Foot every Bar that would stop them in their raging Course. But now I am upon the Subject of the different Stiles in _Clarissa_, I must observe how strictly the Author has kept up in all the Writings of his Rakes to what he says of _Lovelace_ in his Preface.