I should say
no more than the truth; but Imogen is modest. She does not suspect that
she possesses half the superiority over such as are called fair, which I
see in her. And who could bear to incur the resentment of Imogen? Who
would irritate a temper so amiable and mild? I should say no more than
the truth; but Imogen would think it flattery. Let Edwin be charged with
all other follies, but let that vice never find a harbour in his bosom;
let the imputation of that detested crime never blot his untarnished
name."
Edwin had received from nature the gift of an honest and artless
eloquence. His words were like the snow that falls beneath the beams of
the sun; _they melted as they fell_. Had it been his business to
have pleaded the cause of injured innocence or unmerited distress, his
generous sympathy and his manly persuasion must have won all hearts. Had
he solicited the pursuit of rectitude and happiness, his ingenuous
importunity could not have failed of success. But where the mind is too
deeply interested, there it is that the faculties are most treacherous.
Ardent were the sighs of Edwin, but his voice refused its assistance,
and his tongue faultered under the attempts that he made. Fluent and
voluble upon all other subjects, upon this he hesitated.
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