gure of the
great talker. When Keats left England, for an early grave in Rome, it
was Mr. Williams who saw him off. Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, and many other
well-known men of letters were friendly with Mr. Williams from his
earliest days, and he had for brother-in-law, Wells, the author of
_Joseph and his Brethren_. In his association with Smith & Elder he
secured the friendship of Thackeray, of Mrs. Gaskell, and of many other
writers. He attracted the notice of Ruskin by a keen enthusiasm for the
work of Turner. It was he, in fact, who compiled that most interesting
volume of _Selections from the writings of John Ruskin_, which has long
gone out of print in its first form, but is still greatly sought for by
the curious. In connection with this volume I may print here a letter
written by John Ruskin's father to Mr. Williams, and I do so the more
readily, as Mr. Williams's name was withheld from the title-page of the
_Selections_.

TO W. S. WILLIAMS

DENMARK HILL, 25_th November_, 1861.

'MY DEAR SIR,--I am requested by Mrs. Ruskin to return her very
sincere and grateful thanks for your kind consideration in presenting
her with so beautifully bound a copy of the _Selections_ from her
son's writings; and which she will have great pleasure in seeing by
the side of the very magnificent volumes which the liberality of the
gentlemen of your house has already enriched our library with.

'Mrs. Ruskin joins me in offering congratulations on the great
judgment you have displayed in your _Selections_, and, sending my own
thanks and those of my son for the handsome gift to Mrs. Ruskin,--I
am, my dear sir, yours very truly,

'JOHN JAMES RUSKIN.'

What Charlotte Bronte thought of Mr. Williams is sufficiently revealed by
the multitude of letters which I have the good fortune to print, and that
she had a reason to be grateful to him is obvious when we recollect that
to him, and to him alone, was due her first recognition. The parcel
containing _The Professor_ had wandered from publisher to publisher
before it came into the hands of Mr. Williams. It was he who recognised
what all of us recognise now, that in spite of faults it is really a most
considerable book. I am inclined to think that it was refused by Smith &
Elder rather on account of its insufficient length tha