“I saw Tennyson, when I was in London, several times. He is decidedly
the first of our living poets, and I hope will live to give the world
still better things. You will be pleased to hear that he expressed in
the strongest terms his gratitude to my writings. To this I was far from
indifferent, though persuaded that he is not much in sympathy with what
I should myself most value in my attempts--viz., the spirituality with
which I have endeavoured to invest the material universe, and the moral
relations under which I have wished to exhibit its most ordinary
appearances.”