this letter is already pretty long. Such is my desire, my anxiety for your perfection, that I never think I have said enough, though you may possibly think I have said too much; and though, in truth, if your own good sense is not sufficient to direct you, in many of these plain points, all that I or anybody else can say will be insufficient. But, where you are concerned, I am the insatiable man in Horace, who covets still a little corner more, to complete the figure of his field. I dread every little corner that may deform mine, in which I would have (if possible) no one defect. [Same date.]
Mourning.—I am at present under very great
concern for the loss of a most affectionate brother,
with whom I had always lived in the closest friendship.
My brother John died last Friday night, of a
fit of the gout, which he had had for about a month
in his hands and feet, and which fell at last upon
his stomach and head. As he grew, towards the last,
lethargic, his end was not painful to himself. At
the distance which you are from hence, you need not
go into mourning upon this occasion, as the time of
your mourning would be near over before you could
put it on. [Dec. 6, 1748.]
Frivolity.—Little minds mistake little objects
for great ones, and lavish away upon the former
