22 MEMOIR OF 



society, what mighty profit, can such an employ- 

 ment afford to a man of my kidney ? Even sup- 

 posing I had the good fortune to be admired by 

 some but the supposition is indeed extremely 

 absurd ; for however elegant the composition, yet 

 elocution O sovereign elocution ! thou canst 

 never flow from SMELLIE'S awkward tongue. By 

 consulting my own imagination, I learn that 

 I have a passion for novelty, and for straining 

 things to their utmost pitch, a very dangerous 

 and very unpopular turn for a clergyman ! 



" I shall now inform you of an affair which will 

 surprise you more than if I had turned a wor- 

 shipper of MAHOMET. Nature has deemed me 

 to be a violent lover for some years past. Many 

 expedients have I tried to overcome the passion ; 

 vain and unsuccessful, however, every attempt of 

 this kind has been. Neither books, conversation, 

 or philosophy, have been able to eradicate the 

 deep-rooted affection. What is still more singu- 

 lar, the flame had seized both our hearts long 

 before either of us were aware of or suspected the 

 secret cause, which forcibly determined us to be 

 no where so easy as in the simple society of two. 

 I have coolly and deliberately, and warmly and 

 passionately, alternis vicibus> considered what was 

 most proper to be done. To give up all corres- 

 pondence would have hurt me extremely; but 

 I have every reason to believe, it would have 

 proved fatal to a female who is constitutionally 

 constant in affection, and whose mind is sensibi- 

 lity itself. I often resolved, and as often tried to 



