Chapter XVII: Letter XVI: Harrington to Worthy

_Boston._

LOVE softens and refines the manners—polishes the asperities of aukwardness, and fits us for the society of gentle beings. It goes further, it mends the heart, and makes us better men—it gives the fainthearted an extraordinary strength of soul, and renders them equal and frequently superior to danger and distress.

MY passions you know are quick, my prejudices sometimes obstinate—She tells me these things are wrong—This gentle reprimand is so tempered with love that I think she commands me. I however promise a reform, and am much pleased with my improvement. _Harriot_ moulds my heart into what form she chooses.

A LITTLE party is proposed tomorrow evening and I shall attend _Harriot_. These elegant relaxations prevent the degeneracy of human nature, exhilarate the spirits, and wind up this machine of ours for another revolution of business.