Whittaker to send you a copy. It is the fifth and last volume."

* * * * *

The following interesting letter, franked by her friend Talfourd, and
shown only by the post-mark to have been posted on the 20th of June,
1836, is apparently only part of a letter, for it is written upon one
page, and the two "turnovers" only; and begins abruptly:--

* * * * *

"My being in London this year seems very uncertain, although if Mr.
Sergeant Talfourd's _Ion_ be played, as I believe it will, for Mr.
Macready's benefit, I shall hardly be able to resist the temptation of
going up for a very few days to be present upon that occasion. But
I scarcely ever stir. I am not strong, and am subject to a painful
complaint, which renders the service of a maid indispensable not only
to my comfort but to my health; and that, besides the expense, has an
appearance of fuss and finery, to which I have a great objection, and
to which indeed I have from station no claim. My father, too, hates to
be left even for a day. And splendid old man as he is in his healthful
and vigorous age, I cannot but recollect that he is seventy-five, and
that he is my only tie upon earth--the only relation (except, indeed,
a few very distant cousins, Russells, Greys, Ogles, and Deans, whom I
am too proud and too poor to hook on upon), my only relation in the
wide world. This is a desolate view of things; but it explains a
degree of clinging to that one most precious parent which people can
hardly comprehend. You can scarcely imagine how fine an old man he is;
how clear of head and warm of heart. He almost wept over your letter
to-day, and reads your book with singular delight and satisfaction,
in spite of the difference in politics. He feels strongly, and so, I
assure you, do I, your kind mention of me and my poor writings--a sort
of testimony always gratifying, but doubly so when the distinguished
writer is a dear friend. Even in this desolation, your success--that
of your last work [_Paris and the Parisians_] especially must be
satisfactory to you. I have no doubt that two volumes on Italy will
prove equally delightful to your readers, whilst the journey will be
the best possible remedy for all that you have suffered in spirits and
health.

"I am attempting a novel, for which Messieurs Saunders and Ottley have
agreed to give 700_l_. It is to be ready some time in September--I
mean the MS.--and I am most an