o Dublin would suit me as being nearer this place and a shorter
voyage; besides my son is settled near Whitehaven, and I could
conveniently embark from his abode.

I have read with great pleasure the 'Sketches in Ireland' which Mr.
Otway was kind enough to present to me; but many interesting things he
speaks of in the West will be quite out of my reach. In short I am as
unprepared with Tourists' information as any man can be, and sensible as
I am of the very great value of your time, I cannot refrain from begging
you to take pity upon my ignorance and to give me some information,
keeping in mind the possibility of my having a female companion.

It is time to thank you for the verses you so obligingly sent me.

Your sister's have abundance of spirit and feeling; all that they want
is what appears in itself of little moment, and yet is of incalculably
great,--that is, workmanship,--the art by which the thoughts are made to
melt into each other, and to fall into light and shadow, regulated by
distinct preconception of the best general effect they are capable of
producing. This may seem very vague to you, but by conversation I think
I could make it appear otherwise. It is enough for the present to say
that I was much gratified, and beg you would thank your sister for
favouring me with the sight of compositions so distinctly marked with
that quality which is the subject of them ['Genius']. Your own verses
are to me very interesting, and affect me much as evidences of high and
pure-mindedness, from which humble-mindedness is inseparable. I like to
see and think of you among the stars, and between death and immortality,
where three of these poems place you. The 'Dream of Chivalry' is also
interesting in another way; but it would be insincere not to say that
something of a style more terse, and a harmony more accurately balanced,
must be acquired before the bodily form of your verses will be quite
worthy of their living soul. You are probably aware of this, tho'
perhaps not in an equal degree with myself; nor is it desirable you
should, for it might tempt you to labour, which would divert you from
subjects of infinitely greater importance.

Many thanks for your interesting account of Mr. Edgeworth. I heartily
concur with you in the wish that neither Plato nor any other profane
author may lead him from the truths of the Gospel, without which our
existence is an insupportable mystery to the thinking mind.

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