“My dear Patmore,—“While I thank you for your letter, all I can
say in answer to it is that you are a comical fellow, if that term can apply to
a man who honestly confesses what I, for one, have long found out—that he is
troubled with a morbid sensibility. I am in twenty minds whether, even now,
though you have returned it, I will not still send my letter to Sir
John. The awkwardness to me is nothing in comparison with a wish
| R. PLUMER WARD. | 171 |
“C. is a funny little fellow, with his silence, and his shrewdness, and his procrastination. If he is satisfied with the reception of “De Clifford,” I certainly am. It is beyond what I could hope, far more expect, and no post but brings me an account of its success.
“Best of all, I am held to be Manners. It could not please me more. And so no more at present from your friend,
“Since writing the above I have a letter from Mrs. Austen. She says there is a ‘most beautiful’ review of De C. in the ‘New Monthly,’ which she attributes to Theodore.”
