286 A Cenlury of Family Letters [CHAP, xx 



DOWN, Aug. 10, 1889. 



How comical the rages of the Irish M.P.s are ! Mr Har- 

 rington had to be restrained from flying across to Balfour, 

 because he implied that the words " uniformed blood- 

 hounds " had been applied to the police by Mr H.'s paper, 

 the Kerry Sentinel. It appeared afterwards that the 

 expression was " uniformed hellhounds" I hope you have 

 some nice books. ... I am reading Brimley's Essay on 

 Tennyson, and I really think it will set me on reading some 

 of his poems. 



But she added later : ' My reading of Tennyson is come 

 to an untimely end, and I shall never really care for anything 

 of his but some bits of In Memoriam. ' 



Aug. 30, 1889. 



The weather comes sweeter and sweeter like L.'s kisses. 1 

 We were sitting under the lime-trees yesterday. Ida and 

 I and some chicks went into the field and admired the 

 valley. I suppose one does admire one's own view absurdly. 



Sept. 18, 1889. 



I hear poor Mary H. is come home no better. I will 

 ask Dr A. to come and see me. He did not tell me the 

 chief thing I wanted to know, viz. about food and stimu- 

 lants, but said she must get an easier mind before she 

 could be better, which I am afraid shows him to be a goose. 

 I wish she and her poor old mother could be asphyxiated 

 and James D. in the same batch, as I hear he is going blind 

 and his business failing. 



Dec. 9, 1889. 



I had a visit from Mrs Newall to-day. She played a 

 movement of Brahms, which has satisfied me never to wish 

 to hear another, though there were grand sort of North wind 

 gleams in it, but not the vestige of a tune. 



1 A saying of one of the children about his kisses: "Don't they 

 come thweeter and thweeter." 



