_Monday._
To yesterday's two barrels I add two requests. 1st. Will you
let the cost of the printing stand over against the _Master_,
as otherwise I may be involved in 'pecuniary embarrassments'?
And that, sir, is no joke. 2nd. Will you send me (from the
library) some of the works of my dear old G. P. R. James.
With the following specially I desire to make or to renew
acquaintance: _The Songster_, _The Gypsy_, _The Convict_, _The
Stepmother_, _The Gentleman of the Old School_, _The Robber_.
Excusez du peu.
This sudden return to an ancient favorite hangs upon an
accident. The 'Franklin County Library' contains two works of
his, _The Cavalier_ and _Morley Einstein_. I read the first
with indescribable amusement—it was worse than I feared, and
yet somehow engaging; the second (to my surprise) was better
than I dared to hope: a good, honest, dull, interesting tale,
with a genuine old-fashioned talent in the invention when not
strained; and a genuine old-fashioned feeling for the English
language. This experience awoke appetite, and you see I have
taken steps to stay it.