hereby constituted our book-agent, and you can settle with Rodwell the set he is to send, and if any other friends call upon him and suggest other books that are not in your list, he can throw them in too; but you had better be constantly targing him with a long set of names, and make him send more constantly and in smaller quantities than he seems inclined to do. We have had ‘Rienzi’ and ‘Gilbert Gurney,’—thanks to Mr. Trower, who belongs to a book-club, and has sacrificed his week’s share of these books to me, because I did a sketch for him. I shall be obliged to do another if the box does not arrive soon. What a book ‘Gilbert Gurney’ is! He always makes his little hits at India with such success, and it puts the people here in such a rage. I wonder whether I shall ever have the proper feeling of resentment for any Indian ridicule. At present it puts me into hysterics of delight. We are going on just as usual.
Our last Tuesday was a very brilliant ball, and was supposed to assist two or three young ladies in their settlement in life, and our two last Thursday mornings have been so fully attended that last time there were not chairs or
