A wound in the friendship of young persons, as in the bark of young trees, may be so grown over as to leave no scar. The case is very different in regard to old persons and old timber. The reason of this may be accountable from the decline of the social passions, and the prevalence of spleen, suspicion, and rancor towards the latter part of life.
William Shenstone (1765). “Essays on men and manners. A description of the Leasowes, the seat of the late William Shenstone, esq., by R. Dodsley. Verses to Mr. Shenstone”, p.142
