found that the engrossing interest of his novel
approaching completion made it impossible for him to finish the other
work in time. So he decided to let this Christmas pass without a story,
and postponed the publication of "The Haunted Man" until the following
year.

At the close of the year he went to Leeds, to take the chair at a
meeting of the Mechanics' Institute, and on the 28th December he
presided at the opening of the Glasgow Athenaeum; he and his wife being
the guests of the historian--_then_ Mr. Sheriff, afterwards Sir
Archibald Alison. From a letter to his sister-in-law, written from
Edinburgh, it will be seen that Mrs. Dickens was prevented by sudden
illness from being present at the "demonstration." At the end of that
letter there is another illustration of the odd names he was in the
habit of giving to his children, the last of the three, the "Hoshen
Peck," being a corruption of "Ocean Spectre"--a name which had,
afterwards, a sad significance, as the boy (Sydney Smith) became a
sailor, and died and was buried at sea two years after his father's
death.

The letters in this year need very little explanation. In the first
letter to Mrs. Watson, he alludes to a sketch which she had made from
"The Battle of Life," and had sent to Charles Dickens, as a remembrance,
when her husband paid a short visit to Paris in this winter.

And there are two letters to Miss Marguerite Power, the niece of the
Countess of Blessington--a lady for whom he had then, and until her
death, a most affectionate friendship and respect, for the sake of her
own admirable qualities, and in remembrance of her delightful
association with Gore House, where he was a frequent visitor. For Lady
Blessington he had a high admiration and great regard, and she was one
of his earliest appreciators; and Alfred, Comte D'Orsay, was also a
much-loved friend. His "own marchioness," alluded to in the second
letter to Miss Power, was the younger and very charming sister of his
correspondent.

We much regret having been unable to procure any letters addressed to
Mr. Egg. His intimacy with him began first in the plays of this year;
but he became, almost immediately, one of the friends for whom he had an
especial affection; and Mr. Egg was a regular visitor at his house and
at his seaside places of resort for many years after this date.

The letter to Mr. William Sandys has reference to an intention which
Charles Dickens _had_ entertained, of laying the