I Will Be Calm. I Will Be

A Persuadable Temper Might Sometimes Be As Much In Favour Of Happiness As A Very Resolute Character.

It Is Only A Novel... Or, In Short, Only Some Work In Which The Greatest Powers Of The Mind Are Displayed, In Which The Most Thorough Knowledge Of Human Nature, The Happiest Delineation Of Its Varieties, The Liveliest Effusions Of Wit And Humour, Are Conveyed To The World In The Best-chosen Language

There Are Such Beings In The World -- Perhaps One In A Thousand -- As The Creature You And I Should Think Perfection; Where Grace And Spirit Are United To Worth, Where The Manners Are Equal To The Heart And Understanding; But Such A Person May Not Come In Your Way, Or, If He Does, He May Not Be The Eldest Son Of A Man Of Fortune, The Near Relation Of Your Particular Friend, And Belonging To Your Own County.

I Leave It To Be Settled, By Whomsoever It May Concern, Whether The Tendency Of This Work Be Altogether To Recommend Parental Tyranny, Or Reward Filial Disobedience.

I . . . Am Always Half Afraid Of Finding A Clever Novel Too Clever--& Of Finding My Own Story & My Own People All Forestalled.