Although the warmth with which Louisa vouched for the worthiness of her new friend annoyed me, I could not resist admiring the purity of mind which, judging others by a self-knowledge, endowed all with whom she was brought in contact with some portion of the goodness with which she herself was so richly gifted.^a There is no surer proof of superiority and purity in women than their freedom from suspicion and belief in virtue; and if this confidence in their fellow mortals should occasionally be misplaced, its source is so admirable, that we should infinitely prefer it to that wisdom which is the forced fruit of worldly lore, never acquired except at the cost of that purity of mind which is one of the greatest charms of the sex. There are many who have retained, and deservedly, unspotted reputations, and who, wholly incapable of the slightest misconduct, yet have, unfortunately, been placed in positions where a knowledge of the dereliction of others from the true path has been forced on them; but this knowledge, however it may serve as a beacon, has sullied the purity of their thoughts, / and deteriorated from their natural goodness, by teaching them to doubt.