Page:The Adventures of David Simple (1904).djvu/325

 "Her conversation, when she was only amongst women, continually ran on this subject: she used to try to prove her assertion by everything she met with: if she went into a room adorned with all the different arts invented by mankind, such as painting, sculpture, etc., she would always ask her sister whether she thought, if that room was her own property, and she might make use of it whenever she pleased, it would not become perfectly indifferent to her, the beauties of it fade in her eyes, and all the pleasure be lost in the custom of seeing it? Nay, she said she believed variety would make the plainest building or the homeliest cottage sometimes a more agreeable sight. "Sachariasa could not help agreeing with her in this, and then Corinna had all she wanted. 'Why, then,' said she, 'should we expect men to go from the common rule of nature in our favour? And if we will satiate them with our kindness, how can we blame them for the natural consequence of it, viz., their being tired of us? Health itself loses its relish to a man who knows not what it is to be sick; and wealth is never so much enjoyed as by one who has known what it is to be poor: all the pleasures of life are heightened by sometimes experiencing their contrary. Even fuel burns the stronger for being dashed with cold water; but then, indeed, we ought to have judgment enough not to throw too much, lest we extinguish instead of increasing the flame. We must examine the different tempers of men, and see how much they will bear, before we attempt the dealing with them at all.' "In this manner would she run on for an hour together. On the other hand, Sacharissa had no levity in her temper, and consequently no vanity in having variety of lovers. The only pleasure she proposed in life was that of making a good wife to the man she liked, by which means she did not dnubtdoubt [sic]