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The power of sympathy: or, The triumph of nature. Founded in truth. cover

The power of sympathy: or, The triumph of nature. Founded in truth.

Chapter 40: LETTER XXXVII.
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About This Book

An epistolary novel recounts a series of letters that expose a courtship and a concealed seduction whose revelation brings shame, illness, and familial ruin, used to dramatize the moral dangers of reckless passion. Through careful narration and moral commentary, the correspondence traces how social conventions, personal weakness, and misplaced sympathy produce personal and domestic catastrophe while urging prudence, female self-respect, and the restorative force of nature and truth. Written in a sentimental, didactic mode, the work blends realistic social observation with moral exhortation and is structured to instruct readers about the consequences of seduction and the virtues of restraint.

LETTER XXXVII.

Mrs. Holmes to Myra.

Belleview, 12 o’clock at night.

I CANNOT rest—this affair lies so heavy on my mind, that sleep flies from my eye-lids. Your brother must discontinue his addresses to Harriot—with what should I not have to upbraid myself, if, through my remissness—your brother marries his sister! GREAT God! of what materials hast thou compounded the hearts of thy creatures! admire, O, my friend! the operation of NATURE—and the power of SYMPATHY!

Harriot IS YOUR SISTER! I dispatch the bearer at this late hour to confide in your bosom the important secret!

Adieu!