8 Nicholson, Heumns — NicJwhon Correspondence. 



of pleasure and respect, in the reflection of the great obliga- 

 tions which this publication has to your friendly zeal and 

 to the interest you have so long taken in its success, of 

 which I have been constantly informed, — but I believe 

 the less I say, the more grateful it will be to you, for true 

 goodness does not delight in a parade of words, therefore 

 I will say no more of obligation." 



There was much work for Mr. Nicholson in connection 



with Felicia's first book. Prior to its publication he was 



often asked for advice and afterwards Mrs. Browne 



depended on him to get things done in a business-like 



manner. And truly there was need for a business man to 



get things straight. A change of publishers had been 



made after printing, but before publication, subscriptions 



had been booked twice over, and no proper record had 



been kept of subscriptions paid. Moreover Mrs. Browne 



seems to have been annoyed by the lukewarmness of 



Messrs. Cadell and Davies, the publishers. She would only 



correspond with them through Mr. Roscoe and he seems 



to have been too much occupied to attend promptly to 



this business, so that eventually business arrangements 



were made in a very roundabout fashion, Mrs. Browne 



writing to Mr. Nicholson who saw Mr, Roscoe who wrote 



to Cadell and Davies. The subscribers to the book were 



so numerous that it ought to have paid well but some of 



the subscribers were dilatory in paying and the sale 



otherwise was disappointing. The criticisms were neither 



numerous nor favorable. 



The young poetess was not spoiled by the honour of 

 seeing herself in print. In June 1808 her mother wrote 

 " Felicia is most assiduously devoting herself to reading, 

 for the sole purpose of improvement, and I think her 

 mental powers improve every day — she has composed 

 many beautiful pieces lately, which appear to my partial 



