I.
FRIENDSHIP.
“Friendly love perfecteth mankind.”
Bacon.
“To have found favor in thy sight
Will still remain
A river of thought, that full of light
Divides the plain.”
Milnes.
“Cui potest vita esse vitalis, (ut ait Ennius,) quæ non in amici mutatà benevolentiá requiescat?”—Cicero.
It was while living at Cambridge that Margaret
commenced several of those friendships which lasted through
her life, and which were the channels for so large a part
of her spiritual activity. In giving some account of her
in these relations, there is only the alternative of a
prudent reserve which omits whatever is liable to be
misunderstood, or a frank utterance which confides in the good
sense and right feeling of the reader. By the last course,
we run the risk of allowing our friend to be misunderstood;
but by the first we make it certain that the most
important part of her character shall not be understood
at all. I have, therefore, thought it best to follow, as far
as I can, her own ideas on this subject, which I find in
two of her letters to myself. The first is dated, Groton,
Jan. 8th, 1839. I was at that time editing a theological
and literary magazine, in the West, and this letter was
