328 TEXT-BOOK OF GEOLOGY. [l886. 



A couple of notes to his little grand - niece show 

 how perfectly he understood what would interest and 

 please children, and how completely he could withdraw 

 his thoughts from " underground temperatures," "vol- 

 canoes," and " regional metamorphism " : 



OXFORD, 3rd May 1886. 



MY DEAR LITTLE GrRACiE, I am very glad to see that you can 

 write and spell so well. It is very nice for you all to have 

 gardens of your own. When I go to Shoreham I must see that 

 some flowers are sown in your garden there. When will you 

 come and see your gardens ? Will you come when the straw- 

 berries are ripe or when the gooseberries are ripe there will 

 be lots of them, or will you come later when the pears and 

 apples are ripe or when the peaches and grapes are ripe ? We 

 have no tame rabbits at Shoreham, but we have lots of wild ones, 

 and you may have all you can catch. So I hope you will come 

 as soon as papa and mamma can spare you, and bring brothers 

 and sisters with you. Aunt Grace sends her love, and I am, 

 gentle little Gracie, your affectionate uncle, 



JOSEPH PRESTWICH. 



A little before this date, c Geology, Chemical and 

 Physical/ Vol. L, had appeared. The following note 

 from the great statesman over whom, to the grief of 

 his country, the grave has so recently closed, was the 

 beginning, through Sir Henry Acland, of the inter- 

 change of occasional letters : 



W. E. Gladstone to J. Prestwich. 



HAWARDEN CASTLE, CHESTER, 6th June 1886. 



DEAR SIR, I am exceedingly obliged by the gift of your 

 volume, and I earnestly hope ere long to profit much by an ex- 

 amination of it. Sir Henry Acland has recently bestowed upon me 

 more than one kindness, and none of them was more useful or 

 more appreciated than the acquaintance he enabled me, by your 

 permission, to make with a portion of your researches. I remain, 

 dear sir, faithfully yours, W. E. GLADSTONE. 



