CORRESPONDENCE 235 



or another, he complained in private of the time he 

 wasted in writing to them : — 



People keep writing to me on every conceivable 

 subject connected with birds, but there is nothing in 

 their letters on which I need comment to you. I begin 

 to suspect that I shall have to invent a lithographed form 

 acknowledging the receipt of a stranger's letter " which 

 shall have due attention," and then put it in the waste- 

 paper basket — after which there must be another form 

 to the effect that it " had received due attention." 

 This would make one much beloved.* 



Apart from his purely scientific correspondence, 

 Newton wrote regularly on all manner of subjects to a 

 number of old friends, among whom may be particularly 

 mentioned Canon Tristram of Durham, Lord Lilford, 

 and Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown. The first of these had a 

 severe "stroke" in 1893, and the correspondence was 

 interrupted for some months. When he was beginning 

 to recover, Newton wrote to him : — 



I am indeed glad once more to see your handwriting, 

 and I congratulate you most heartily on having once 

 more resumed the practice of the 2nd of the " 3 R's " — 

 and in your case I may say of the 4th since R-ticulation 

 has been added to the others. I take it as a great 

 compliment that you should select me as the recipient 

 of your second MS., and I admire the judgment of your 

 Dr. in prohibiting the two P's — preaching and poli- 

 tics. I believe (miscreant that I am) that the former 

 makes few men better, and I know that the latter makes 

 many men worse. 



You are easily pleased if you can find delight in 

 B.M. Cats ; as a whole a more useless litter was never 

 kitted,! ^ot; even one which a few weeks ago my man 



* Letter to Lord Lilford, March U, 189L 



t I.e., "British Museum Catalogues," of which he had a deep-rooted 

 dislike. A careless correspondent confused catalogues with dictionaries and 



