s he young? I think he is, and I hope so for
the sake of books to come. And is he of any profession? Does he
depend altogether upon literature, as too many writers do here? At
all events, he is one of the glories of your most glorious part of
great America. Tell me, too, what is become of Mr. Cooper, that
other great novelist? I think I heard from you, or from some other
Transatlantic friend, that he was less genial and less beloved than
so many other of your notabilities have been. Indeed, one sees that
in many of his recent works; but I have been reading many of his
earlier books again, with ever-increased admiration, especially I
should say "The Pioneers"; and one cannot help hoping that the mind
that has given so much pleasure to so many readers will adjust
itself so as to admit of its own happiness,--for very clearly the
discomfort was his own fault, and he is too clever a person for one
not to wish him well.

I think that the most distinguished of our own _young_ writers are,
the one a dear friend of mine, John Ruskin; the other, one who will
shortly be so near a neighbor that we must know each other. It is
quite wonderful that we don't now, for we are only twelve miles
apart, and have scores of friends in common. This last is the Rev.
Charles Kingsley, author of "Alton Locke" and "Yeast" and "The
Saint's Tragedy." All these books are full of world-wide truths, and
yet, taken as a whole, they are unsatisfactory and inconclusive,
knocking down without building up. Perhaps that is the fault of the
social system that he lays bare, perhaps of the organization of the
man, perhaps a little of both. You will have heard probably that he,
with other benevolent persons, established a sort of socialist
community (Christian socialism) for journeymen tailors, he himself
being their chaplain. The evil was very great, for of twenty-one
thousand of that class in London, fifteen thousand were ill-paid
and only half-employed. For a while, that is, as long as the
subscription lasted, all went well; but I fear this week that the
money has come to an end, and so very likely will the experiment.
Have you republished "Alton Locke" in America? It has one character,
an old Scotchman, equal to anything in Scott. The writer is still
quite a young man, but out of health. I have heard (but this is
bet