Page:Time and Tide by Weare and Tyne.djvu/160

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146
TIME AND TIDE.

LETTER XIX.

The General Pressure of Excessive and Improper Work, in English Life.

April 10, 1867.

111.I CANNOT go on to-day with the part of my subject I had proposed, for I was disturbed by receiving a letter last night, which I herewith enclose to you, and of which I wish you to print, here following, the parts I have not underlined:—

1, Phene Street, Chelsea, April 8, 1867.

My dear R——,—

It is long since you have heard of me, and now I ask your patience with me for a little. I have but just returned from the funeral of my dear, dear friend——, the first artist friend I made in London—a loved and prized one. For years past he had lived in the very humblest way, fighting his battle of life against mean appreciation of his talents, the wants of a rising family, and frequent attacks of illness, crippling him for months at a time, the wolf at the door meanwhile.

But about two years since his prospects brightened * * * and he had but a few weeks since ventured on removal