274 A Century of Family Letters [CHAP, xix 



He enjoyed very much seeing my mother so well and gay, 

 and she was exhilarated by his company in a manner that 

 she would not have been capable of two or three years ago. 

 They had a merry battle at whist every night, in which 

 numberless old scraps of songs used to come forth from the 

 extraordinary store- houses of both their memories, and 

 enquiries about people so long gone by, that the wonder was 

 how they even recollected their names. . . . 



Emma Wedgwood to her sister-in-law Mrs Hensleigh 



Wedgwood. 



MAER, Saturday, nth Dec., 1836, 



. . . We are in such a dissipated humour that we have 

 actually invited the Mainwarings and Mrs Moreton for next- 

 Wednesday, and then we shall be clear of the world for a 

 year to come. 



Catherine tells me they are very anxious to have your 

 and Hensleigh's real opinion of Charles's journal. I am 

 convinced Dr Holland is mistaken if he thinks it not 

 worth publishing. I don't believe he is any judge as to 

 what is amusing or interesting. Cath. does not approve of 

 its being mixed up with Capt. Fitzroy's, and wants it to be 

 put altogether by itself in an Appendix. 1 



I envy you Mr Scott's lectures. If he makes you under- 

 stand the Epistle to the Romans I shall think him a great 

 genius. We had a very nice visit from Godfrey. 2 It was 

 pleasant to see how fond he is of his little maid, he always 

 saved some dessert or asked for some for her. His only 

 bon mot was enquiring what papa's overalls were and saying, 

 1 Are they to prevent his hurting his knees when he tumbles 



1 The Journal was originally published in 1839 as vol. iii. of the 

 Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of her Majesty's ships " Adven- 

 ture" and "Beagle" between the years 1826 and 1836. In his auto- 

 biography (Life and Letters, i. p. 80) he wrote: "The success 

 of this my first literary child always tickles my vanity more than 

 that of any of my other books." 



2 Godfrey Wedgwood was now just upon four years old; Amy 

 his sster was seventeen months. 



