DEAR MADAM,--I hardly know how to ask your pardon for my sins, for I
have a load of them on my conscience; yet were I to trouble you with a
string of excuses, you might think that a new sin. To be sure, my
writing thus late is unpardonable, considering all the kindness and
friendliness you showed me in the spring; but it is true also that these
last few days have been the only quiet ones since we parted. First,
there was our Highland tour in anything but favorable weather, with bad
roads, worse conveyances, still worse inns and landlords, and the
richest and most picturesque scenery,--all of which so entirely
engrossed us that we could not collect our thoughts for even a single
day. Then I returned to London; and just as I was finishing some work,
and getting through all manner of business before starting for the
Netherlands to meet my father, I had the misfortune to be thrown out of
a gig, and was obliged to be six weeks in bed and two months in my room.
At last I was able to travel home; but my injured foot, which was very
weak, made the journey both painful and dangerous, and I felt so
prostrate when I did reach home, that I was condemned to another
imprisonment of several weeks. A few days ago we celebrated the silver
wedding of my parents, for which I was obliged to finish some work;[3]
so you see I had a most busy and varied time of it, the happiest and the
most disagreeable days of my life following each other in rapid
succession. Of course I feel rather upset by all this. Witness this
careless, confused letter; yet I would not put off writing lest I should
add to my sins.
And now I do not know how to thank you and Mr. Moscheles, for words
cannot sufficiently express my gratitude. You know what it is to visit a
foreign land for the first time, and to be a stranger among strangers.
This feeling, perhaps the most terrible of all others, I have been
spared through your kindness, and it is you who have lessened the
painful weight of my first separation from my family. If England has
made a favorable impression upon me, it is to you I chiefly owe it; and
now that I have got over the most difficult part of my tour, I augur
favorably for the remainder. I am not going to thank you for each
individual act of kindness, or for all the trouble you took about
me,--if I did, there would be no end of it; but I may say to you and to
Mr. Moscheles that I appreciate from my heart your friendly feelings
towards me, and the kindness with which you received me, making all
things easy that were difficult to a foreigner. As long as I remember my
first entrance into the wide world, so long shall I also remember your
goodness. I do not know when I may be so fortunate as to say all this to
you instead of writing it down in these formal and cold characters, but
I do hope for the pleasure of another meeting before long, and for the
continuance of those friendly feelings, for which I shall ever remain
Yours gratefully,