Her lively imagination, which early unfolded
itself; her dangerous yet interesting vivacity; the keen delight, the
swift enthusiasm, with which she drank in knowledge, and then panted for
more; her shrewd acuteness, and her innate passion for the excellent and
the beautiful, filled her father with rapture which he repressed, and
made him feel conscious how much there was to check, to guide, and to
form, as well as to cherish, to admire, and to applaud.
As she grew up the bright parts of her character shone with increased
lustre; but, in spite of the exertions of her instructor, some less
admirable qualities had not yet disappeared. She was still too often
the dupe of her imagination, and though perfectly inexperienced, her
confidence in her theoretical knowledge of human nature was unbounded.
She had an idea that she could penetrate the characters of individuals
at a first meeting; and the consequence of this fatal axiom was, that
she was always the slave of first impressions, and constantly the victim
of prejudice. She was ever thinking individuals better or worse than
they really were, and she believed it to be out of the power of anyone
to deceive her.
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