“I know you too well to hesitate about letting you see exactly how matters stand; and you know me well enough to be sure that it is a great misery to me to have to write instead of speaking such tidings. You must exert yourself and be, as poor Anne seems to be, satisfied that prolongation of life under such circumstances is a cruel prayer. Your father also writes to me, and much in the same tone; but he still preserves all his firmness, and in the midst of his sorrow has found time to give me an admirable review of ‘John Kemble’s Life,’ telling all his old stories about the man and his manners in the best style.”
