BookRix

The Other Day, In Looking Over My Papers, I Found In My Desk The
Following Copy Of A Letter, Sent By Me A Year Since To An Old
School Acquaintance:--

"Dear Charles,
"I Think When You And I Were At Eton Together, We Were Neither Of
Us What Could Be Called Popular Characters: You Were A
Sarcastic, Observant, Shrewd, Cold-Blooded Creature; My Own
Portrait I Will Not Attempt To Draw, But I Cannot Recollect That
It Was A Strikingly Attractive One--Can You? What Animal
Magnetism Drew Thee And Me Together I Know Not; Certainly I Never
Experienced Anything Of The Pylades And Orestes Sentiment For
You, And I Have Reason To Believe That You, On Your Part, Were
Equally Free From All Romantic Regard To Me. Still, Out Of
School Hours We Walked And Talked Continually Together; When The
Theme Of Conversation Was Our Companions Or Our Masters We
Understood Each Other, And When I Recurred To Some Sentiment Of
Affection, Some Vague Love Of An Excellent Or Beautiful Object,
Whether In Animate Or Inanimate Nature, Your Sardonic Coldness
Did Not Move Me. I Felt Myself Superior To That Check Then As I
Do Now.