HOLIDAYS. 129 



in any given year. In this journal a little yellow Letts's 

 Diary, which lay open on his mantel-piece, piled on the 

 diaries of previous years he also entered the day on which 

 he started for a holiday and that of his return. 



The most frequent holidays were visits of a week to 

 London, either to his brother's house (6 Queen Anne Street), 

 or to his daughter's (4 Bryanston Street). He was generally 

 persuaded by my mother to take these short holidays, when 

 it became clear from the frequency of " bad days," or from 

 the swimming of his head, that he was being overworked. 

 He went unwillingly, and tried to drive hard bargains, stipu- 

 lating, for instance, that he should come home in five days 

 instead of six. Even if he were leaving home for no more 

 than a week, the packing had to be begun early on the 

 previous day, and the chief part of it he would do himself. 

 The discomfort of a journey to him was, at least latterly, 

 chiefly in the anticipation, and in the miserable sinking feeling- 

 from which he suffered immediately before the start ; even a 

 fairly long journey, such as that to Coniston, tired him wonder- 

 fully little, considering how much an invalid he was ; and he- 

 certainly enjoyed it in an almost boyish way, and to a curious 

 extent. 



Although, as he has said, some of his aesthetic tastes had 

 suffered a gradual decay, his love of scenery remained fresh 

 and strong. Every walk at Coniston was a fresh delight, and 

 he was never tired of praising the beauty of the broken hilly 

 country at the head of the lake. 



One of the happy memories of this time [1879] ls that of a 

 delightful visit to Grasmere : " The perfect day," my sister 

 writes, " and my father's vivid enjoyment and flow of spirits, 

 form a picture in my mind that I like to think of. He 

 could hardly sit still in the carriage for turning round and 

 getting up to admire the view from each fresh point, and even 

 in returning he was full of the beauty of Rydal Water, though 



VOL. I. K 



