_[Tonsberg] August 5 [1795]._
Employment and exercise have been of great service to me; and I have
entirely recovered the strength and activity I lost during the time of my
nursing. I have seldom been in better health; and my mind, though
trembling to the touch of anguish, is calmer--yet still the same.--I have,
it is true, enjoyed some tranquillity, and more happiness here, than for a
long--long time past.--(I say happiness, for I can give no other
appellation to the exquisite delight this wild country and fine summer
have afforded me.)--Still, on examining my heart, I find that it is so
constituted, I cannot live without some particular affection--I am afraid
not without a passion--and I feel the want of it more in society, than in
solitude.
* * * * *
Writing to you, whenever an affectionate epithet occurs--my eyes fill with
tears, and my trembling hand stops--you may then depend on my resolution,
when with you. If I am doomed to be unhappy, I will confine my anguish in
my own bosom--tenderness, rather than passion, has made me sometimes
overlook delicacy--the same tenderness will in future restrain me. God
bless you!