Under the circumstances, if I had been left to decide for myself, I should certainly have waited until I had saved a little money before I ventured on the serious expense of taking a house and studio at the west end of London.

Your Lordship, I positively declare, encouraged me to try the experiment without waiting.

And here I am, unknown and unemployed, a helpless artist lost in London--with a sick wife and hungry children, and bankruptcy staring me in the face.

On whose shoulders does this dreadful responsibility rest?
On your Lordship's!" _Second Letter._--"After a week's delay, you favor me, my Lord, with a curt reply.

I can be equally curt on my side.