his aunt's book came out, he once stayed three
weeks with us, and I liked him. Well, so many of his countrymen are
over-good to me, that I may well forgive one solitary instance of
forgetfulness! Make my love to all my dear friends at Boston and
Cambridge. Tell Mrs. Sparks how dearly I should have liked to have
been at her side on _the_ Thursday. Tell Dr. Holmes that his kind
approbation of Rienzi is one of my encouragements in this new
edition. I had a long talk about him with Mr. Ticknor, and rejoice
to find him so young. Thank Mr. Whipple again and again for his
kindness.

Ever yours, M.R.M.

(No date.)

My Very Dear Friend: Mr. Hillard (whom I shall be delighted to see
if he come to England and will let me know when he can get
here)--Mr. Hillard has just put into verse my own feelings about
you. It is the one comfort belonging to the hard work of these _two_
books (for besides the Dramatic Works in two thick volumes, there
are prose stories in two also, and I have one long tale, almost a
novel, to write),--it is the one comfort of this labor that _I_
shall see our names together on one page. I have just finished a
long gossiping preface of thirty or forty pages to the Dramatic
Works, which is much more an autobiography than the Recollections,
and which I have tried to make as amusing as if it were ill-natured.
_That_ work is dedicated to our dear Mr. Bennoch, another
consolation. I sent the dedication to dear Mr. Ticknor, but as his
letter of adieu did not reach me till two or three days after it was
written, and I am not quite sure that I recollected the number in
Paternoster Row, I shall send it to you here. "To Francis Bennoch,
Esq., who blends in his life great public services with the most
genial private hospitality; who, munificent patron of poet and of
painter, is the first to recognize every talent except his own,
content to be beloved where others claim to be admired; to him,
equally valued as companion and as friend, these volumes are most
respectfully and affectionately inscribed by the author." I write
from memory, but if this be not it, it is very like it, (and I beg
you to believe that my preface is a little better English than this
agglomeration of "its.")

Mr. Kingsley says that Alfred Tennyson says that Alexander Smith's
poems show fancy, but no