pened upon the 15th of next month. The Duke
of Wellington is coming down to be present on the occasion, and, I
suppose, what with the thousands of spectators and the novelty of
the spectacle, there will never have been a scene of more striking
interest. The whole cost of the work (including the engines and
carriages) will have been eight hundred and thirty thousand pounds;
and it is already worth double that sum. The directors have kindly
offered us three places for the opening, which is a great favor,
for people are bidding almost anything for a place, I understand;
but I fear we shall be obliged to decline them, as my father is
most anxious to take Henry over to Heidelberg before our season of
work in London begins, which will take place on the first of
October. I think there is every probability of our having a very
prosperous season. London will be particularly gay this winter, and
the king and queen, it is said, are fond of dramatic
entertainments, so that I hope we shall get on well. You will be
glad to hear that our houses here have been very fine, and that
to-night, Friday, which was my benefit, the theater was crowded in
every corner. We do not play here any more, but on Monday we open
at Manchester. You will, I know, be happy to hear that, by way of
answer to the letter I told you I had written my mother, I received
a very delightful one from my dear little sister, the first I have
had from her since I left London. She is a little jewel, and it
will be a sin if she is marred in the cutting and polishing, or if
she is set in tawdry French pinchbeck, instead of fine, strong,
sterling gold. I am sorry to say that the lady Mrs. Jameson
recommended as her governess has not been thought sufficiently
accomplished to undertake the charge. I regret this the more, as in
a letter I have just received from Mrs. Jameson she speaks with
more detail of this lady's qualifications, which seem to me
peculiarly adapted to have a good effect upon such a mind and
character as A----'s.

I wish I had been with your girls at their ball, and come back from
it and found you holding communion with the skies. My dearest
H----, sublime and sweet and holy as are the feelings with which I
look up to the star-paved heavens, or to the glorious summer sun,
or listen