THE LONGMAN LETTERS. 207 



Ebrington, master of the Devon and Somerset 

 staghounds, upon his " Eed Deer." Certain 

 small errors were pointed out for correction, 

 but, as he points out with satisfaction, no 

 serious omission or fault had been discovered. 

 In a letter written in March he mentions 

 that an anonymous correspondent has been 

 scourging him with Scripture texts on account 

 of the " Story of My Heart." That anony- 

 mous correspondent! How he lieth in wait 

 for everybody ! how omniscient he is ! how un- 

 sparing ! how certain and sure of everything ! 

 The texts which this person used to belabour 

 poor Jefferies were, however, singularly in- 

 appropriate. " Lord," he quotes, " how 

 glorious are Thy works ! Thy thoughts are 

 very deep. An unwise man doth not consider 

 this, and a FOOL doth not understand it." 

 The word " fool " was doubly underlined, so 

 that there should be no mistake as to the 

 practical application of the passage. The 

 anonymous correspondent is, indeed, always 

 very particular on this point. But Jefferies 

 had been all his life commenting on the glory 

 of those works, and endeavouring to apprehend 



