Deterville to Zilia.

I am going to Rome, my lovely Zilia; from which place I hope to revisit your charming villa. May I venture to say, I shall see it with hopes which I never before durst conceive? Shall I have the happiness to find those hopes confirmed by my adorable girl? Ah! in pity do not drive me to despair; that despair which will inevitably follow a second disappointment. Let the whole future life of Deterville be employed in contributing to the happiness of his Zilia. Maria, our mutual friend, has given me reason to think that delightful employment may yet be mine. How valuable a recompence shall I then receive for those past hours of uneasiness I have sustained! Can so great a pleasure be purchased at too high a price?

Pardon my transports, my Zilia; perhaps they are too lively. I would not shock the nice delicacy of your soul; but remember these are the overflowings of a heart in love; and let that plead my excuse. While my mind is ingrossed by one subject, and that so pleasing a one, how can it find room for any other? or where shall I find words to talk of any thing else? But I ought to say something of the society, and the country I am in; but for those accounts, I must refer you to the letter I have sent to Miss St. Clare. Yet I cannot help telling you, though a Frenchman, that the English manners are more suitable to my taste than those of my own nation. And can I, my dear Zilia, help admiring their ladies, when I tell you, that they have an ingeniousness in their carriage, which is nearly Peruvian? The country, in general, is well cultivated; and those parts which are not, have a romantic wildness, which is beautiful in the highest degree.

The city of London is large, and well built; and the public edifices are not only magnificent, but elegant. Their theatres are well furnished with actors, and their theatrical pieces are, many of them, most justly admired.