"A dear long letter from EGBERT. How perfect his sympathy is! Not
feeling very well to-day--will always refuse _vol-au-vent_ in future."
I need hardly say that a girl who would chronicle the state of her
digestion and the sympathy of her lover in one paragraph could not
possibly have any soul.
The perfect Diary is something of a paradox. It should be composed
chiefly of what is unpublishable--of one's secrets and sentiments--but
it should always be written as if with a view to publication. In your
Diary you can say things about yourself which it would be conceited to
say openly, and you can say things about your friends which it would
be unkind to say openly; you can make your own pose seem more real
to yourself. So, my dear young girls, take my advice, and commence
Diaries. And remember I shall be very glad to answer any questions on
the subject.
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