1840-42. AN UNEXPECTED PLEASUKE. 267 



me to make an effort. In spite of medical prohibition and well- 

 grounded fears, I ventured (well cloaked and muffled) to accom- 

 pany him. And as my health appears to-day none the worse, I feel 

 very glad I did go. Delicious music of the best sort, rich full 

 melodies played and sung by no common performers, poured 

 through the ears into the parched soul of a man, hungering 

 and yearning for sweet sounds and ennobling emotions; all 

 this was something, and refreshed me greatly. At first I was 

 ill at ease ; the penalty I had paid for my former night visit 

 was too recent and too severe to be easily forgotten. But the 

 first overture dissolved all fears ; I began to calculate how 

 many days in bed the overture would stand, and soon all pain- 

 ful sensation vanished, the middle neutral point was reached 

 and passed, and I yielded myself up to the full influence of the 

 glorious art. 



" Da Costa and I laughed like children at the feats of a man 

 with fingers made of putty or dough, who did what he called 

 playing on the piano. Such a sumph presiding over a piano out 

 of tune, and listening with stolid satisfaction to the dull discords 

 he made to drone out of the instrument, was like the fool in 

 Shakspere's plays, he relieved the strained faculties, and whetted 

 the senses and faculties for the good stuff that was coming. And 

 good stuff it was ; had I arranged the pieces I could not have 

 selected things more entirely suited to my taste than the per- 

 formances were. Old half-known melodies, bits of which I 

 could whistle, came out, startling me witli the unexpected plea- 

 sure, and the ultimate effect was such, that instead of walking 

 rapidly and quietly home, when all was over, I, who have not 

 whistled or sung for months, fell to trying with Da Costa who 

 remembered best what we had heard. There we were like two 

 fools, stopping at every second lamppost to hum or whistle, or 

 try to recall something we had heard ; he has a much finer ear 

 than I, but I did winders ! I need not say that the main 

 object of my writing this, is the selfish one of having the 

 pleasure a second time. But you mingled in my feelings. 



" I have been thinking a great deal about my godfathership, 

 and after reading carefully what the Prayer-Book says, have 

 come to the conclusion that its spiritual duties T cannot dis- 



