72/91 One of the pleasantest afternoons I have spent here--indeed, the only one at all pleasant--was when Mr.--- walked out with his children, and I had orders to follow a little behind. As he strolled on through his fields, with his magnificent Newfoundland dog at his side, he looked very like what a frank, wealthy, Conservative gentleman ought to be. He spoke freely and unaffectedly to the people he met, and, though he indulged his children and allowed them to tease himself far too much, he would not suffer them grossly to insult others." (WRITTEN IN PENCIL TO A FRIEND.) "July, 1839. |