224 Edward Livingston Youmans. 



fairly slaughtered. I had such nice authorities for every- 

 thing. What are " authorities " to Herbert Spencer ? The 

 pigs went to the wrong market this time. 



" A little too much effort at fine writing " forty-five 

 pages. " You have lost your point at the fifth page and 

 not recovered it. Why, I thought you wished to make a 

 sharp presentation of science in its bearings upon the study 

 of human nature, and you seem to have entered upon a 

 systematic treatise on physiology interlarded with bad 

 psychology." The unfeeling wretch ! " Strike out half, 

 put the rest in type and work it up," was the final injunc- 

 tion. Well, striking out will be better than building up. 

 Easier, at all events. The fact is, I had overworked the 

 details that was the only real difficulty. I had not read 

 it over, but had passed it over to Kitty to copy, batch by 

 batch. I read it first to-day, and hardly needed telling 

 that it was too long and needed compressing. I shall re- 

 shape it and read it the loth, before you get this. But 

 there is one thing: I shall not work as I have done an- 

 other month would lay me out. I will not work nights 

 when I can't sleep daytimes. I am very well, but jaded. I 

 fear justice to my enterprise will require me to appro- 

 priate the rest of October to it. The book will hardly fail 

 to prove valuable. I see nobody, but drudge on day by 

 day, thinking ever of home, and longing for the moment of 

 return. The fogs have begun to come, and I have lighted 

 candles to read by in the daytime. 



The next letter is dated from Mr. Spencer's new 

 apartments, at 37 and 38 Queen's Gardens, Bayswater, 

 October i3th : 



The lecture on the Scientific Study of Human Nature 

 came off as per appointment at the room in Queen's Square, 

 where you heard Hodgson. I had got hurried proofs of it, 

 and it would take an hour and a half to read it, but as only 



