128 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP, xn 



at Christmas time : " How happy should I be in 

 spending a few weeks or even days with my dear 

 friend ! His letters console and comfort me greatly ; 

 but his cheerful and enlivening company, with the 

 visible emanations of his sympathetic heart, would be 

 a cordial indeed. . . . But there is a gulf between us, 

 which neither one nor the other can pass with any 

 degree of propriety, prudence, or convenience. 



" I am equally engaged and tied down to this spot. 

 The frost has now nearly left us, and we are going to 

 set out the buildings. . . . The price Mr. Pickford has 

 given us in his estimate is much higher than that I can 

 agree to ... but we are to try what we can do to- 

 morrow. . . . 



" All our little folks are jumping and skipping about 

 us. We have had one high day, concluding with a 

 dance. We had a second day with the non-dancers. 

 If you arrive in time we shall have a third." 



