I have a number of holograph letters of James, some of which show his
pleasant ways and attractive playfulness. They constitute the _raison d’
étre_ of this commentary and so I will not apologize for giving them
almost in full. He speaks for himself far better than I can speak for
him. He was surely not a Siborne or a Major Dwyer. To my mind these
letters reveal the man, and they tell of an honest, genial man who was
able to write.
He writes to C. W. H. Ranken, at Bristol, thus:
RENNES, 16 January, 1826.