She was then unknown, except to a few friends, but I
did know what she was worth. I knew that she was not only endowed
with extraordinary genius, but with human qualities even more
precious. She took the kindest notice of me, an awkward creature
not accustomed to society. It is sad that youth should be so
confident in its own resources that it will not close its hand upon
the treasure which is placed inside it. It was not only George
Eliot by whom I neglected to profit. I might have seen Rachel. I
recollect the evening, and I believe I was offered a ticket. It was
not worth while to walk a couple of hundred yards to enrich myself
for ever! I knew intimate friends of Caroline Fox, but I made no
effort to become acquainted with her. What a difference it would
make to me now, living so much in the past, if Penjerrick, with a
dream of its lawn sloping southward and seaward, and its society of
all the most interesting people in England, should be amongst my
possessions, thrusting out and replacing much that is ugly,
monotonous, and depressing. I would earnestly, so earnestly,
implore every boy and girl religiously to grasp their chances. Lay
up for yourselves treasure in heaven.
There was one opportunity, however, I did not miss, and this was
Caleb Morris.
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