Love Letter 4

MY MISTRESS & FRIEND,
my heart and I surrender our-
selves into your hands, beseeching
you to hold us commended to your
favour, and that by absence your af-
feftion to us may not be lessened:
for it were a great pity to increase
our pain, of which absence produces
enough and more than I could ever
have thought could be felt, remind-
ing us of a point in astronomy which
is this: the longer the days are, the
more distant is the sun, and never-
theless the hotter; so is it with our
love, for by absence we are kept a
distance from one another, and yet
it retains its fervour, at least on my
side; I hope the like on yours, as-
suring you that on my part the pain
of absence is already too great for
me; and when I think of the increase
of that which I am forced to suffer,
it would be almost intolerable, but
for the firm hope I have of your un-
changeable affedtion for me: and to
remind you of this sometimes, and
seeing that I cannot be personally
present with you, I now send you the
nearest thing I can to that, namely,
my picture set in a bracelet, with the
whole of the device, which you al-
ready know, wishing myself in their
place, if it should please you. This is
from the hand of your loyal servant
and friend,

H.R.