I have employed one of the first miniature painters of the day to take
them, of course, at my own expense, as I never allow my acquaintance
to incur the least expenditure to gratify a whim of mine. To mention
this may seem indelicate; but when I tell you a friend of ours first
refused to sit, under the idea that he was to disburse on the
occasion, you will see that it is necessary to state these
preliminaries to prevent the recurrence of any similar mistake. I
shall see you in time, and will carry you to the _limner_. It will be
a tax on your patience for a week, but pray excuse it, as it is
possible the resemblance may be the sole trace I shall be able to
preserve of our past friendship and acquaintance. Just now it seems
foolish enough, but in a few years, when some of us are dead, and
others are separated by inevitable circumstances, it will be a kind of
satisfaction to retain in these images of the living the idea of our
former selves, and to contemplate, in the resemblances of the dead,
all that remains of judgment, feeling, and a host of passions. But
all this will be dull enough for you, and so good night, and to end my
chapter, or rather my homily, believe me, my dear H.,
yours most affectionately."
In this romantic design of collecting together the portraits of his
school friends, we see the natural working of an ardent and
disappointed heart, which, as the future began to darken upon it,
clung with fondness to the recollections of the past; and, in despair
of finding new and true friends, saw no happiness but in preserving
all it could of the old.
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