" Again, she says: "I hope the
expectations of my friends will not be disappointed: but I am afraid you
all calculate upon _too much_. I hope not, for I am not capable of much.
I can study and be industrious; but I fear I shall not equal the hopes
which you say are raised." The story of Kirke White should operate not
more as an example than a warning; but the example is followed and the
warning overlooked. Stimulants are administered to minds which are
already in a state of feverish excitement. Hotbeds and glasses are used
for plants which can only acquire strength in the shade; and they are
drenched with instruction, which ought "to drop as the rain, and distil
as the dew--as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the shower
upon the grass."
During the vacation, in which she returned home, she had a serious
illness, which left her feeble and more sensitive than ever. On her
recovery she was placed at the school of Miss Gilbert, in Albany; and
there, in a short time, a more alarming illness brought her to the very
borders of the grave. Before she entered upon her intemperate course of
application at Troy, her verses show that she felt a want of joyous and
healthy feeling--a sense of decay. Thus she wrote to a friend, who had
not seen her since her childhood:--
And thou hast mark'd in childhood's hour
The fearless boundings of my breast,
When fresh as summer's opening flower,
I freely frolick'd and was blest.
Pages:
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36