yet
none of them well. Martha at present looks feeble. I wish she had a
better constitution. As it is, one is always afraid of giving her
too much to do; and yet there are many things I cannot undertake
myself, and we do not like to change when we have had her so long.
How are you getting on in the matter of servants? The other day I
received a long letter from Mr. Taylor. I told you I did not expect
to hear thence, nor did I. The letter is long, but it is worth your
while to read it. In its way it has merit, that cannot be denied;
abundance of information, talent of a certain kind, alloyed (I think)
here and there with errors of taste. He might have spared many of
the details of the bath scene, which, for the rest, tallies exactly
with Mr. Thackeray's account of the same process. This little man
with all his long letters remains as much a conundrum to me as ever.
Your account of the domestic joys at Hunsworth amused me much. The
good folks seem very happy--long may they continue so! It somewhat
cheers me to know that such happiness _does_ exist on the earth.
Return Mr. Taylor's letter when you have read it. With love to your
mother,--I am, dear Nell, sincerely yours,

'C. B.'

TO JAMES TAYLOR, BOMBAY

'HAWORTH, _November_ 15_th_, 1851.

'MY DEAR SIR,--Both your communications reached me safely--the note
of the 17th September and the letter of the 2nd October. You do
yourself less than justice when you stigmatise the latter as
"ill-written." I found it quite legible, nor did I lose a word,
though the lines and letters were so close. I should have been sorry
if such had not been the case, as it appeared to me throughout highly
interesting. It is observable that the very same information which
we have previously collected, perhaps with rather languid attention,
from printed books, when placed before us in familiar manuscript, and
comprising the actual experience of a person with whom we are
acquainted, acquires a new and vital interest: when we know the
narrator we seem to realise the tale.

'The bath scene amused me much. Your account of that operation
tallies in every point with Mr. Thackeray's description in the
_Journey from Cornhill t