to have done long ago, for your kindness in offering to procure for me the Archbishop of Dublin’s[13] valuable opinion upon my ’Prometheus.  I am sure that if you have not thought me very ungrateful, you must be very indulgent.  My mind was at one time so crowded by painful thoughts, that they shut out many others which are interesting to me; and among other things, I forgot once or twice, when I had an opportunity, to thank you, dear Mrs. Martin.  I believe I should have taken advantage of your proposal, but papa said to me, ’If he criticises your manuscript in a manner which does not satisfy you, you won’t be easy without defending yourself, and he might be drawn into taking more trouble than you have now any idea of giving him.’  I sighed a little at losing such an opportunity of gaining a great advantage, but there seemed to be some reason in what papa said I have completed a preface and notes to my translation; and since doing so, a work of exactly the same character by a Mr. Medwin has been published, and commended in Bulwer’s magazine.[14] Therefore it is probable enough that my trouble, excepting as far as my own amusement went, has been in vain.  But papa means to try Mr. Valpy, I believe.  He left us since I began to write this letter, with a promise of returning before Christmas Day.  We do miss him.  Mr. Boyd has made me quite angry by publishing his translations by rotation in numbers of the ‘Wesleyan Magazine,’ instead of making them up into a separate publication, as I had persuaded him to do.  There is the effect, you see, of going, even for a time, out of my reach!  The readers of the ‘Wesleyan Magazine’ are pious people, but not cultivated, nor, for the most part, capable of estimating either the talents of Gregory or his translator’s.  I have begun already to insist upon another publication in a separate form, and shall gain my point, I dare say.  I have been reading Bulwer’s novels and Mrs. Trollope’s libels, and Dr. Parr’s works.  I am sure you are not an admirer of Mrs. Trollope’s.  She has neither the delicacy nor the candour which constitute true nobility of mind and her extent of talent forms but a scanty veil to shadow her other defects.  Bulwer has quite delighted me.  He has all the dramatic talent which Scott has, and all the passion which Scott has not, and he appears to me to be besides a far profounder discriminator of character.  There are very fine things in his ‘Denounced.’  We subscribe to the best library here, but the best is not a good one.  I have, however, a table-load of my own books, and with them I can always be satisfied.  Do you know that Mr. Curzon has left Ledbury?  We were glad to receive your letter from Dover although it told us that you were removing so far from us.  Do let us hear of your enjoying Italy.  Is there much English society in Rome, and is it like English society here?  I can scarcely fancy an invitation card, ’Mrs. Huggin-muggin at home,’ carried through the Via Sacra.  I am sure my ‘little hand’ has done its duty to-day.  I shall leave the corners to Henrietta.  Give our kindest regards to Mr. Martin, and ever believe me, my dear Mrs. Martin,