TO W. S. WILLIAMS

'HAWORTH, _February_ 4_th_, 1849.

'MY DEAR SIR,--I send the parcel up without delay, according to your
request. The manuscript has all its errors upon it, not having been
read through since copying. I have kept _Madeline_, along with the
two other books I mentioned; I shall consider it the gift of Miss
Kavanagh, and shall value it both for its literary excellence and for
the modest merit of the giver. We already possess Tennyson's _Poems_
and _Our Street_. Emerson's _Essays_ I read with much interest, and
often with admiration, but they are of mixed gold and clay--deep and
invigorating truth, dreary and depressing fallacy seem to me combined
therein. In George Borrow's works I found a wild fascination, a
vivid graphic power of description, a fresh originality, an athletic
simplicity (so to speak), which give them a stamp of their own.
After reading his _Bible in Spain_ I felt as if I had actually
travelled at his side, and seen the "wild Sil" rush from its mountain
cradle; wandered in the hilly wilderness of the Sierras; encountered
and conversed with Manehegan, Castillian, Andalusian, Arragonese,
and, above all, with the savage Gitanos.

'Your mention of Mr. Taylor suggests to me that possibly you and Mr.
Smith might wish him to share the little secret of the MS.--that
exclusion might seem invidious, that it might make your mutual
evening chat less pleasant. If so, admit him to the confidence by
all means. He is attached to the firm, and will no doubt keep its
secrets. I shall be glad of another censor, and if a severe one, so
much the better, provided he is also just. I court the keenest
criticism. Far rather would I never publish more, than publish
anything inferior to my first effort. Be honest, therefore, all
three of you. If you think this book promises less favourably than
_Jane Eyre_, say so; it is but trying again, _i.e._, if life and
health be spared.

'Anne continues a little better--the mild weather suits her. At
times I hear the renewal of hope's whisper, but I dare not listen too
fondly; she deceived me cruelly before. A sudden change to cold
would be the test. I dread such change, but must not anticipate.
Spring lies before us, and then summer--surely we may hope a little!

'Anne expres