England! Come to England! Our oysters are small, I know; they
are said by Americans to be coppery; but our hearts are of the largest
size. We are thought to excel in shrimps, to be far from despicable in
point of lobsters, and in periwinkles are considered to challenge the
universe. Our oysters, small though they be, are not devoid of the
refreshing influence which that species of fish is supposed to exercise
in these latitudes. Try them and compare.

Affectionately yours.

[Sidenote: Mr. Washington Irving.]

WASHINGTON, _Monday Afternoon, March 21st, 1842._

MY DEAR IRVING,

We passed through--literally passed through--this place again to-day. I
did not come to see you, for I really have not the heart to say
"good-bye" again, and felt more than I can tell you when we shook hands
last Wednesday.

You will not be at Baltimore, I fear? I thought, at the time, that you
only said you might be there, to make our parting the gayer.

Wherever you go, God bless you! What pleasure I have had in seeing and
talking with you, I will not attempt to say. I shall never forget it as
long as I live. What would I give, if we could have but a quiet week
together! Spain is a lazy place, and its climate an indolent one. But if
you have ever leisure under its sunny skies to think of a man who loves
you, and holds communion with your spirit oftener, perhaps, than any
other person alive--leisure from listlessness, I mean--and will write to
me in London, you will give me an inexpressible amount of pleasure.

Your affectionate friend.

[Sidenote: Professor Felton.]

MONTREAL, _Saturday, 21st May, 1842._

MY DEAR FELTON,

I was delighted to receive your letter yesterday, and was well pleased
with its contents. I anticipated objection to Carlyle's[18] letter. I
called particular attention to it for three reasons. Firstly, because he
boldly _said_ what all the others _think_, and therefore deserved to be
manfully supported. Secondly, because it is my deliberate opinion that I
have been assailed on this subject in a manner in which no man with any
pretensions to public respect or with the remotest right to express an
opinion on a subject of universal literary interest would be assailed in
any other country. . . .

I really cannot sufficiently thank you, dear Felton, for your warm and
h