This morning I dispatched to Anderton's Coffee-house the most elegant
locket in hair that you ever saw. May I be permitted to say thus much,
when the design was all my own? Yet, why not give myself praise when I
can? The locket is in the form and size of that bracelet I sent you; the
device, an altar, on which is inscribed these words, _To Gratitude_, an
elegant figure of a woman making an offering on her knees, and a winged
cherub bearing the incense to heaven. A narrow plait of hair, about the
breadth of penny ribbon, is fastened on each side the locket, near the
top, by three diamonds, and united with a bow of diamonds, by which it
may hang to a ribbon. I assure you, it is exceedingly pretty. I hope the
Sylph will approve of it. I forget to tell you, as the hair was taken
from my head by your dear hand before I married, I took the fancy of
putting the initials J. G. instead of J. S. It was a whim that seized
me, because the hair did never belong to J.S.
Adieu!
JULIA.
LETTER XXIX.
From the SYLPH to Lady STANLEY.
Will my amiable charge be ever thus encreasing my veneration, my almost
adoration of her perfections? Yes, Julia; still pursue these methods,
and my whole life will be too confined a period to render you my
acknowledgments. Its best services have, and ever shall be, devoted to
your advantage. I have no other business, and, I am sure, no other
pleasure, in this world, than to watch over your interest; and, if I
should at any time be so fortunate as to have procured you the smallest
share of felicity, or saved you from the minutest inquietude, I shall
feel myself amply repaid; repaid! Where have I learnt so cold an
expression? from the earth-born sons of clay? I shall feel a bliss
beyond the sensation of a mortal!
None but a mind delicate as your own can form an idea of the sentimental
joy I experienced on seeing the letters J.G. on the most elegant of
devices, an emblem of the lovely giver! There was a purity, a chasteness
of thought, in the design, which can only be conceived; all expression
would be faint; even my Julia can hardly define it. Wonder not at my
boundless partiality to you. You know not, you see not, yourself, as I
_know_ and _see_ you. I pierce through the recesses of your soul; each
fold expands itself to my eye; the struggles of your mind are open to my
view; I see how nobly your virtue towers over the involuntary tribute
you pay to concealed merit. But be not uneasy. Feel not humiliated, that
the secret of your mind is discovered to me. Heaven sees our thoughts,
and reads our hearts; we know it; but feel no restraint therefrom.
Consider me as Heaven's agent, and be not dismayed at the idea of
having a window in your breast, when only the sincerest, the most
disinterested of your friends, is allowed the privilege of looking
through it. Adieu! May the blest above (thy only superiors), guard you
from ill! So prays your
SYLPH.
LETTER XXX.
To the SYLPH.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account