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written more than once to tlie Deanery, and we have 

 had good accounts of the visit to Italy, which appears 

 to have been a great enjoyment to all of you. And 

 now we have the news of H.'s engagement, which 

 must give you a novel sensation. How time flies and 

 events develop ! It seems but a little while since she 

 and her sisters were little girls at Whatley. And now, 

 when this reaches you, a year will have gone round 

 since we said goodby in London. 



I have not much to say nor to show for this year. 

 Though I have never worked more steadily, and never 

 with so much concentration, there seems to be little to 

 show for it. At times I am disheartened, but a hope 

 as irrepressible as I suppose it is unreasonable and 

 extravagant bears me up and on. There is, indeed, 

 a good pile of manuscript to show, but I will not be- 

 gin printing until I have gone through with the vast 

 order of Compositse. That may be at Christmas, — I 

 may say I expect it, — but I never yet came up to 

 any such expectation. To give you some idea of what 

 my task is, I hope to send you soon a copy of an ex- 

 hortation which I read to the botanists at the recent 

 meeting of our American Association for Advance- 

 ment of Science at Montreal (in the Queen's domin- 

 ions !) This journey to Canada was my only holiday 

 this past summer; though Mrs. Gray got as much 

 more, with her brothers and sisters at Beverly, on the 

 coast ; a bit of country and of country life we are long- 

 ing to have you see. 



The gathering at Montreal was most pleasant, and 

 we were happily placed as the guests of the president 

 of the year, Dr. Dawson, principal of McGill College, 

 at which the sessions were held. Among the foreign 

 savants, we had . . . Kev. and also M. D. Professor 



