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'After a sketch had his approbation, he would not see the filling it up till it had been worked upon for a week or a fortnight, or till the first thirty or forty pages were written; then they were read to him; and if he thought them going on tolerably well, the pleasure in his eyes, the approving sound of his voice, even without the praise he so warmly bestowed, were sufficient and delightful excitements to "go on and finish." When he thought that there was spirit in what was written, but that it required, as it often did, great correction, he would say, "Leave that to me; it is my business to cut and correct--yours to write on." His skill in cutting, his decision in criticism, was peculiarly useful to me.

His ready invention and infinite resource, when I had run myself into difficulties or absurdities, never failed to extricate me at my utmost need.

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