hole volume
beams with genius. I am sure he loves you in his heart; and when he
called upon me some time ago, and I told him that you were gone, he
instantly exclaimed in a full room, "Well! he has not left his equal
behind him--that I will say!" Perhaps you will enclose a line for
him....

Respecting the "Monody," I extract from a letter which I received this
morning from Sir James Mackintosh: "I presume that I have to thank you
for a copy of the 'Monody' on Sheridan received this morning. I wish it
had been accompanied by the additional favour of mentioning the name of
the writer, at which I only guess: it is difficult to read the poem
without desiring to know."

Generally speaking it is not, I think, popular, and spoken of rather for
fine passages than as a whole. How could you give so trite an image as
in the last two lines? Gifford does not like it; Frere does. _A-propos_
of Mr. Frere: he came to me while at breakfast this morning, and between
some stanzas which he was repeating to me of a truly original poem of
his own, he said carelessly,

"By the way, about _half-an-hour ago_ I was so silly (taking an immense
pinch of snuff and priming his nostrils with it) as to get _married I_
"Perfectly true. He set out for Hastings about an hour after he left me,
and upon my conscience I verily believe that, if I had had your MS. to
have put into his hands, as sure as fate he would have sat with me
reading it [Footnote: He had left his wife at the church so as to bring
his poem to Murray.] all the morning and totally forgotten his little
engagement.

I saw Lord Holland today looking very well. I wish I could send you
Gifford's "Ben Jonson"; it is full of fun and interest, and allowed on
all hands to be most ably done; would, I am sure, amuse you. I have very
many new important and interesting works of all kinds in the press,
which I should be happy to know any means of sending. My Review is
improving in sale beyond my most sanguine expectations. I now sell
nearly 9,000. Even Perry says the _Edinburgh, Review_ is going to the
devil. I was with Mrs. Leigh today, who is very well; she leaves town on
Saturday. Her eldest daughter, I fancy, is a most engaging girl; but
yours, my Lord, is unspeakably interesting and promising, and I am happy
to add that Lady B. is looking well. God bless you! my best wishes and
feelings are always with you, and I sincerely wish that your happiness
may be as unbounded as your genius, which has