Dearest, Loveliest Elizabeth! What Do I Not

I Am Not Romantic, You Know; I Never Was.

But Shakespeare One Gets Acquainted With Without Knowing How. It Is A Part Of An Englishman's Constitution. His Thoughts And Beauties Are So Spread Abroad That One Touches Them Everywhere; One Is Intimate With Him By Instinct. No Man Of Any Brain Can Open At A Good Part Of One Of His Plays Without Falling Into The Flow Of His Meaning Immediately.

I Have A High Respect For Your Nerves. They Are My Old Friends.

I Am Only Resolved To Act In That Manner, Which Will, In My Own Opinion, Constitute My Happiness, Without Reference To You, Or To Any Person So Wholly Unconnected With Me.

I Would Rather Have Young People Settle On A Small Income At Once, And Have To Struggle With A Few Difficulties Together, Than Be Involved In A Long Engagement.