iterated the traces of his
early affliction.

From what I have already said, it will be plainly perceived
that my uncle was a man that one could not fail to esteem;
though whether or not it was as easy to love him, may be
questioned. To the strictest principles of religious morality,
he added a heart full of kind feeling for others, and an
invariable serenity of temper, but an unconquerable reserve, a
want of confidence in others, and an absence of sympathy in
their tastes and pursuits, interfered with the expression, if
not with the existence, of those affections, which his merits
and his kindness would otherwise have been so well calculated
to inspire. I never remember his taking the slightest interest
in any of my childish pleasures, or his uttering any but the
most formal phrase of commendation when my performances were
submitted to his inspection. Young as I was, I felt this want
of sympathy, in the only person who was really interested in
my welfare, and would have gladly agreed to be less calmly
reproved when I was wrong, and more warmly praised when I was
right.

Till the age of six years old, I am not conscious of having
loved any human being. From accidental circumstances my nurses
had been so often changed, that I had not had the opportunity
of attaching myself to any of them; and as to my uncle, I
believe he might have left Elmsley for days, weeks or months,
without causing me the slightest sensation of regret or
solitude. He did not often absent himself from home, but on
one occasion he did so for three months, and a few days before
his return, my nurse informed me that he was married, and that
I should soon see my new aunt. The announcement caused me
neither pleasure nor pain; and curiosity was the only feeling
with which I anticipated the arrival so eagerly looked forward
to by the whole of my uncle's establishment. When Mrs.
Middleton arrived I was immediately summoned into the
drawing-room. The tenderness of her manner, the expressions of
fondness with which she greeted me; the emotion which her
countenance betrayed, were all so totally different from
anything that I had ever witnessed, that I felt as if a being
from another world had come among us. There was something
heavenly in the expression of her countenance, there was
something original in every word she uttered; in her gaiety
there was a bubbling joyousness, an intense enjoyment in
enjoyment, that was irresistibly attractive, and in sorro