[1] Years before the formation of this acquaintance, Mrs.
Piozzi had acquired the difficult art of growing old; _je sais
vieillir_: she dwells frequently but naturally on her age: she
contemplates the approach of death with firmness and without
self-deception: and her elasticity of spirit never for a moment
suggests the image of an antiquated coquette. Of the seven letters in
question, the one cited as most compromising is the sixth, in which
Conway is exhorted to bear patiently a rebuff he had just received
from some younger beauty:
[Footnote 1: "The old woman's fancy for Mr. Conway represents a
relation of warm friendship that is of every-day occurrence between
youth and age that is not crabbed."--_The Examiner_, Feb. 16, 1861.]
"'Tis not a year and a quarter since, dear Conway, accepting of my
portrait sent to Birmingham, said to the bringer, 'Oh if _your lady_
but retains her friendship: oh if I can but keep _her_ patronage, I
care not for the rest.' And now, when that friendship follows you
through sickness and through sorrow; now that her patronage is daily
rising in importance: upon a lock of hair given or refused by une
petite Traitresse, hangs all the happiness of my once high-spirited
and high-blooded friend. Let it not be so. EXALT THY LOVE: DEJECTED
HEART--and rise superior to such narrow minds. Do not however fancy
she will ever be punished in the way you mention: no, no; she'll
wither on the thorny stem dropping the faded and ungathered
leaves:--a China rose, of no good scent or flavour--false in apparent
sweetness, deceitful when depended on--unlike the flower produced in
colder climates, which is sought for in old age, preserved _even
after death_, a lasting and an elegant perfume,--a medicine, too, for
those whose shattered nerves require _astringent remedies_.
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