ment, whilft the fnow and hail are driving against my little window, I find myself restored to you and to myself. The moment I entered, your figure prefented itself before my eyes, and the remembrance of you filled my heart. Oh! my Charlotte, the facred remembrance! the tender recollections ! Gracious Heaven! restore to me that firft mo ment in which I beheld her! Could you but fee me, my dear Charlotte, in that vortex where every thing diffipates and nothing touches me! My fenfes are dried up; my heart is at no time full; I never shed the foft tears of tenderness; no thing, nothing touches me. I ftand, as it were, before the rareefhow; I fee the little puppets move, and I say to myself it is a deception of optics. I am amufed with thefe puppets, or rather I am myself one of them. I take the hand of the man who ftands next to me, I feel that it is made of wood, I fhudder and draw mine back. I have found but one being here that is of the fame order with you, a Mifs B. She resembles you, my dear Charlotte, if indeed it is poffible for any Ah!" you will fay" he has learnt to make ele gant compliments." And there is fome truth in your obfervation. I have been prodigiously agreeable lately, not having it in my power to be any thing better. I have a great deal of wit too, and the women say that nobody understands better how to deal out panegyric-" and lies," you will add, for one always accompanies the other. But I meant to talk to you of Mifs B. She has great fenfibility, and a fuperior understanding; her fine blue eyes fhew evident marks of both. Her rank is a burthen to her, and gratifies no one paffion of her foul; fhe would gladly leave this crowd; and we often indulge our imagination in talking, talking, for hours together, of happiness in retired and country scenes, and near you, my dear Charlotte;for fhe knows you, fhe does homage to you; but the homage is not ex. acted; he loves you; and takes great pleasure in hearing me talk of you. Oh! why am I not at your feet in your favourite little room, and the dear children playing round us! If their noise became troublesome to you, I would tell them a ftory, and they would crowd about. me with filent attention. The fun is fetting; his laft rays fhine on the fnow which covers the face of the country; the ftorm C 4 ftorm is over, and I-muft return to my dungeon. Adieu !-Is Albert with you, and what is he to you? Fool that I am! fhould I afk this queftion? LETTER XLIII. February 17. UR minifter and I don't seem as if we should continue much longer together: his manner of treating a fubject, and of doing bufinefs, is so abfurd, that I cannot help contradicting him very often, and doing things my own way; and then, of |