If the person whose kind partiality you mention is Paterson, I confess
myself exceedingly flattered, as I entertain the highest opinion of
the perspicuity of his judgment. Say all the civil things you please
for his solicitous attention to my health. But if it should be Troup,
which I think more probable, assure him of my most permanent
gratitude.
Affectionately,
THEODOSIA PREVOST.
FROM MRS. THEODOSIA PREVOST.
Litchfield, 6th March, 1781.
----Where can ----- be? Poor suffering soul; worthy a better fate.
Heaven preserve him for his own sake; for his distressed mother's. I
pity her from my heart, and lament my inability to alleviate her
sorrows. I invoke a better aid. May her "afflicted spirit find the
only solace of its woes"--Religion, Heaven's greatest boon to man; the
only distinction he ought to boast. In this, he is lord of the
creation; without it, the most pitiable of all created things.
How strangely we pass through life! All acknowledge themselves mortal
and immortal; and yet prefer the trifles of to-day to the treasures of
eternity. Piety teaches resignation. Resignation without piety loses
its beauty, and sinks into insensibility. Your beautiful quotation is
worth more than all I can write in a twelvemonth. Continue writing on
the subject. It is both pleasing and improving. The better I am
acquainted with it, the more charms I find.
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