' It, however,
proceeded,--
'Write to me often, and write like a man. I consider your fidelity and
tenderness as a great part of the comforts which are yet left me, and
sincerely wish we could be nearer to each other.... My dear friend, life
is very short and very uncertain; let us spend it as well as we can. My
worthy neighbour, Allen, is dead. Love me as well as you can. Pay my
respects to dear Mrs. Boswell. Nothing ailed me at that time; let your
superstition at last have an end.'
Feeling very soon, that the manner in which he had written might hurt
me, he two days afterwards, July 28, wrote to me again, giving me an
account of his sufferings; after which, he thus proceeds:--
'Before this letter, you will have had one which I hope you will not
take amiss; for it contains only truth, and that truth kindly
intended.... _Spartam quam nactus es orna_[1168]; make the most and best
of your lot, and compare yourself not with the few that are above you,
but with the multitudes which are below you.... Go steadily forward with
lawful business or honest diversions. _Be_ (as Temple says of the
Dutchmen) _well when you are not ill, and pleased when you are not
angry_[1169].
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