‘I have long owed you an acknowledgment, my dear Friend, for an affectionate letter, which was very welcome, distressed as we were, had been, and alas! still are.
‘It is a week since I came to this hospitable mansion,
which I leave to-day. The country is most beautiful, the leaves in many places
changed to the exact point of autumnal splendour and variety. During my walks I
missed you much, and also our friend Sir
George. Lady Frederick is
not here, she comes at the end of the week. Lord
Lonsdale had a sharp attack of indisposition when he first came,
but he threw it off in two or three days, and, to the great joy of his friends,
is as active and well
| WORDSWORTH’S SISTER AND DAUGHTER | 137 |
‘You will be desirous, I am sure, to learn how our invalids are. My dear sister, in bodily health, is decidedly better, though quite unable to stand. Her mind, however, is, I grieve to say, much shattered. The change showed itself upon the death of dear Miss Hutchinson, but probably was preparing before. Her case at present is very strange; her judgment, her memory, and all her faculties are perfect as ever, with the exception of what relates to her own illness and passing occurrences. If I ask her opinion upon any point of literature, she answers with all her former acuteness; if I read Milton, or any favourite author, and pause, she goes on with the passage from memory, but she forgets instantly the circumstances of the day. Considering that she is not sixty-four years of age, I cannot but hope that her mind may be restored, if her bodily health should go on improving.
‘My daughter is a good deal better, but very far from being strong and well. Lady Lonsdale is in the room and begs to be remembered to you.
‘When shall we meet again? You know well how much I delight in your conversation and what a value I set upon your friendship. I am not likely to be soon in London, but when will you come again northwards?
‘Miss Kinnaird, I am told, is about to be married to L. Drummond,1 of calculating celebrity. Is he an amiable
1 Lieutenant Drummond was the inventor of the lime-light, first called the ‘Drummond light,’ and of a heliostat. He was engaged on |
| 138 | ROGERS AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES |
‘Miss Rogers, I hope, is well. My poor body is always getting into some scrape or other. Last year it was my foot, now it is my right arm which I have sprained so violently that I can scarcely guide my pen, and I much fear you will not think my letter worth the trouble of deciphering.
‘Southey, from whom I heard this morning, is upon the point of finishing his first volume of Cowper. His edition will have 101 original letters of the poet. Pray write at your early convenience, as I wish to know how you are and where spending the summer.
