t. I fear you will not come for
all I can say. I could almost lose a tooth or a finger (if it were
necessary) to find myself mistaken. Come, and come soon; stay long; be
assured of welcome.

"All unite in this and in love to you and Anne, with your assured
friend,

J.B. MORRITT."

DECEMBER.

_December_ 20.--From September 5 to December 20 is a long gap, and I
have seen plenty of things worth recollecting, had I marked them down
when they were gliding past. But the time has gone by. When I feel
capable of taking it up, I will.

Little self will jostle out everything else, and my affairs, which in
some respects are excellent, in others, like the way of the world, are
far from being pleasant.

Of good I have the pleasure of saying I have my children well, and in
good health. The dividend of 3s. in the pound has been made to the
creditors, and the creditors have testified their sense of my labours by
surrendering my books, furniture, plate, and curiosities. I see some
friends of mine think this is not handsomely done. In my opinion it is
extremely so. There are few things so [easy] as to criticise the good
things one does, and to show that we ourselves would have done [more]
handsomely. But those who know the world and their own nature are always
better pleased with one kind action carried through and executed, than
with twenty that only glide through their minds, while perhaps they
tickle the imagination of the benevolent Barmecide who supposes both the
entertainment and the eater. These articles do not amount to less than
L10,000 at least, and, without dispensing with them entirely, might
furnish me with a fund for my younger children.[405] Now, suppose these
creditors had not seriously carried their purpose into execution, the
transaction might have been afterwards challenged, and the ease of mind
which it produced to me must have been uncertain in comparison. Well!
one-half of these claims are cleared off, furnished in a great measure
by one-half issue of the present edition of the Waverley Novels, which
had reached the 20th of the series.

It cannot be expected that twenty more will run off so fast; the later
volumes are less favourites, and are really less interesting. Yet when I
read them over again since their composition, I own I found them
considerably better than I expected, and I think, if other circumstances
do not crush them and blight their popularity, they will make their way.
Mr. Cadell is