CHAPTER III. 



LETTERS FROM 1866 TO 1872. 



THE principal sources of information concerning 

 the period of early manhood are the letters a 

 large number of these are happily preserved 

 which he wrote to his aunt, Mrs. Harrild. In 

 these letters, which are naturally all about him- 

 self, his work, his hopes, and his disappoint- 

 ments, he writes with perfect freedom and from 

 his heart. It is still a boyish heart, young 

 and innocent. " I always feel dull," he says, 

 " when I leave you. I am happier with you 

 than at home, because you enter into my pros- 

 pects with interest and are always kind. ... I 

 wish I could have got something to do in the 

 neighbourhood of Sydenham, which would have 

 enabled me to live with you." 



The letters reveal a youth taken too soon 

 from school, but passionately fond of reading 



