more love letters

 MY MISTRESS & FRIEND,

my heart and I surrender our-

selves into your hands, beseeching

you to hold us commended to your

favour, and that by absence your af-

feftion to us may not be lessened:

for it were a great pity to increase

our pain, of which absence produces

enough and more than I could ever

have thought could be felt, remind-

ing us of a point in astronomy which

is this: the longer the days are, the

more distant is the sun, and never-

theless the hotter; so is it with our

love, for by absence we are kept a

distance from one another, and yet

it retains its fervour, at least on my

side; I hope the like on yours, as-

suring you that on my part the pain

of absence is already too great for

me; and when I think of the increase

of that which I am forced to suffer,

it would be almost intolerable, but

for the firm hope I have of your un-

changeable affedtion for me: and to

remind you of this sometimes, and

seeing that I cannot be personally

present with you, I now send you the

nearest thing I can to that, namely,

my picture set in a bracelet, with the

whole of the device, which you al-

ready know, wishing myself in their

place, if it should please you. This is

from the hand of your loyal servant

and friend,

H.R.