ng the "Heart of Midlothian," and with more
intense admiration for it than ever--the beauty and naturalness of
every word spoken by Jeanie and Effie _before_ the last
volume, of a great deal of Davie Deans, of many of the scenes
scattered through the book are, I think, not to be surpassed. More
tenderness and depth and heart-breakingness I should say than in
any of Sir Walter's.... I turned to Sir Walter from "The
Parisians." I doubt whether I shall finish it, a false, glittering,
disagreeable atmosphere.

_Lady Russell to Lord and Lady Amberley_

PEMBROKE LODGE, _March_ 2, 1874

MY DEAR CHILDREN,--... We had a charming visit from Sir Henry
Taylor a few days ago, a long quiet real "crack" about many books
and many authors, with a little touch of the events of the
day-change of Ministry, causes of our utter defeat, which he thinks
obscure, so do I--not creditable to the country, so do I--in so far
as Disraeli can hardly be reckoned more trustworthy or consistent
than Gladstone, and Gladstone's untrustworthiness and inconsistency
are supposed to have caused his overthrow. The Queen made Sir John
Cowell write me a note to find out whether John would be disposed
to go to the great banquet next Tuesday and sleep at Windsor.
Kindly done of her--of course he declines. I read Herbert Spencer
on "The Bias of Patriotism," yesterday--much of it truly excellent.
To-day I am at "Progress" in the Essays ... of which I have read
several here and there. Whenever I have the feeling that _I_,
not Herbert Spencer, have written what I am reading, I have the
delightful sensation of complete agreement and unqualified
admiration of his (or _my_) wisdom. When I have _not_
that feeling, I stop to consider, but even then have sometimes the
candour to come to his conclusions; while at some passages, less
frequent, I inwardly exclaim, "I never did, I do not now, and I
never shall agree." The want of what Sir Henry Taylor calls "the
spiritual instinct" is striking in him. It is strange to turn to
him as I have done from "Memorials of a Quiet Life," which raises
me into an atmosphere of heavenly calmness and joy, or ought to do
so, although nobody ever felt the trials and sorrows of life more
keenly than Mrs. Hare....

Good-bye, dearest children, your pets [86] are as well and as dear
as pets