Page:Letters of Life.djvu/251



extremely tired of these letters. So I am persuaded will you be, or any one else who attempts to read them. I must try to bring them to a close.

And yet, when people talk about themselves, the temptation to garrulity is great. Is not that one reason why we like our physician? We alone are the subject. He asks of our minute symptoms, and listens attentively to all we say. Perhaps he thinks lightly of our statements, or suspects exaggeration; but that he keeps to himself, and on we go.

I think I have already mentioned that social intercourse between the sexes, in the olden time, began at an earlier period than at present, the time allotted to school education being far more brief. Though unencumbered by ceremony, it was characterized by courtesy and severe decorum. It combined the elements of a cheering friendship with some degree of mental improvement. Reading aloud instructive books, with