1857-38. UNWELCOME STUDIES. 139 



departed, declaring at least that Solomon did not, and so it is 

 with him the bubble of the hour, to live till a bigger and brighter 

 spring. 



" I made a vain attempt on Saturday to write more than the 

 preceding page ; so here on Monday night, I am again doing my 

 best to write you a few lines, though in such a state of ferment 

 as to be unable to write anything very worth reading. In truth, 

 occupied, as I am at present, all hours of the day except one 

 (and meal hours), it is not very easy to shift the thoughts from 

 the multitudinous technicalities of manifold sciences, and at 

 once fall into the pleasing vein that fraternal love demands, 

 the more so that each hour given, even to the worthiest pur- 

 pose, awakens only the feeling that rejection may be the result, 

 and calls up the thousand ugly yet relentless phantoms that wait 

 but for one moment of remorseful leisure, to rush in and over- 

 whelm the unfortunate medico. It is not that, in an hour of 

 leisure, I cannot turn over a merry thought, and get the good of 

 it, for I am never merrier than in the sweet hour that succeeds 

 fagging ; but never reading anything but dry matters of medical 

 sciences, all the fresh and juicy ideas of my brain are sucked 

 out and expended on my own needful self, and no overplus 

 remains to send to a friend for his help. But you must remem- 

 ber my former willingness to write to you, and anticipate the 

 renewal which emancipation will assuredly bring, and in the 

 hope of this, suffer me for a while to drink in at my studies, 

 and afterwards you shall receive the outflow thence welling. 



" I have, in spite of the narrowness of my bonds, read one 

 interesting work, of which you have probably already heard from 

 Macmillan, Isaac Taylor's new book on Home Education. It is 

 certainly an extremely interesting and very beautiful book, on 

 which this opinion, which you and I have often passed on others 

 of his works, may be held, that, without putting faith in all his 

 statements and views, there is a very great deal curious, novel, 

 ingenious, and true ; and few, whatever their age be, can fail to 

 derive very great good from it. I at least have, and I am sure 

 you will. We are both of us past the age when the Home Edu- 

 cation he proposes should be put in force, but we are not past the 

 age when the hints intended for an earlier period may be prac- 



