(Inclosed in the preceding.)

chatham-place.

Real friendship not only demands the most perfect confidence, but licences an unrestrained communication. My highest pleasures are but half enjoyed till I have made you, my dear Harriet, an equal sharer in them; and I expect you will participate equally in all my griefs. At present I have a subject of that sort, to which I claim your attention. - But I must proceed with some degree of method, to make you properly acquainted with it.

You cannot I think have forgotten Mrs. Herbert, who used to visit me frequently at school; since my return home she has been my most intimate acquaintance. My father, happy in the idea of my deriving essential advantage from the society of this excellent woman, kindly permits me to devote a large part of/ my time to the enjoyment of her company. Sometimes at our house, but more frequently at hers; as her young family claims much of her attention; and, as she is calculated for domestic pleasures, that attention which she pays to them constitutes, in a great measure, her felicity. In short, Mrs. Herbert, considered in every point of view, appears completely amiable. She is at once an engaging companion, a sincere friend, an affectionate wife, and a tender parent. Yet her happiness is not so perfect as might be expected, even in this state of mortality, for a character so bright as hers: but she bears her lot without repining at it. Her husband, the Major, is pleasing in his person; gay and agreeable in his manners. Notwithstanding her beauty and accomplishments have fixed his heart, they have not been powerful enough to engage his fidelity to her: of this she has been convinced more than once since her marriage; but her prudent conduct, upon any discovery of that sort, has ever prevented any open ruptures between them; and, I hope, her perseverence will eventually be a means of reclaiming him entirely.