tly procured
me the great pleasure of receiving a communication from you; for I hope
I may lay claim to being one of the most earnest and delighted of your
many artistic admirers.

Believe me, faithfully yours.

FOOTNOTES:

[32] On the death of his second wife.

[33] Of the Readings. The intention was carried out. Mr. Kent's book,
"Charles Dickens as a Reader," was published in 1872.

[34] No doubt Charles Dickens intended to add the Reading Books to the
legacy of his MSS. to Mr. Forster. But he did not do so, therefore the
"Readings" are not a part of the "Forster Collection" at the South
Kensington Museum.

[35] A new collective edition of "Kent's Poems," dedicated to his
cousin, Colonel Kent, of the 77th Regiment.

[36] Miss Marie Wilton.

TWO LAST LETTERS.

[Sidenote: Mr. William Charles Kent.]

[Illustration: Gad's Hill Place,
Higham by Rochester, Kent.[37]

HW: Wednesday Eighth June 1870

HW: Dear Kent

Tomorrow is a very bad day for me to make a call, as, in addition to my
usual office business, I have a mass of accounts to settle with Wills.
But I hope I may be ready for you at 3 o'clock. If I can't be--why, then
I shan't be.

You must really get rid of those Opal enjoyments. They are too
overpowering:

"These violent delights have violent ends."

I think it was a father of your churches who made the wise remark to a
young gentleman who got up early (or stayed out late) at Verona?

Ever affectionately
Signature: ChD]

[Sidenote: Mr. John M. Makeham.]

=Gad's Hill Place,=
=Higham by Rochester, Kent.=

[Illustration: HW: Wednesday Eighth June 1870

Dear Sir

It would be quite inconceivable I think--but for your
letter--that any reasonable reader could possibly attach a scriptural
reference to a passage in a book of mine, reproducing a much abused
social figure of speech, impressed into all sorts of service on all
sorts of inappropriate occasions, without the faintest connexion of it
with its original source. I am truly shocked to find that any reader can
make the mistake

I have always striven in my writings to express veneration for the life
and lessons of our Saviour; because I feel it; and because I re-wrote
that history for my children--eve