BAILLIE

(wife of John Herman Merivale, 1779-1844, Barrister and Man of Letters) saying that her sister and myself have been very much gratified by your kind note of taking leave at a time when you must have had so many things upon your mind. To be reckoned by you among the friends valued by him who was so dear to you and is beloved & esteemed by all who had the happiness of his acquaintance, is indeed very pleasing to us. We feel it in our hearts very truly. The cheerful sweetness of his character was so engaging that, setting aside his genius of talents which we admired, we felt it a privilege to be among those to whom he sometimes spared an hour of his society. We look back upon those hours not with a melancholy pleasure, and shall do so as long as it shall please God to spare our lives and the power of clear recollection which in the course of nature cannot now be long. You say well & truly when you suppose that we shall take an interest in you & your family for his sake, but we shall take an interest in you also as deserving to have belonged to him. How much you have contributed to his happiness in the course of his life will be a great consolation to your after years. May God bless you and yours... wherever you are! and often your first sad impressions in returning to your Devon home. We trust you and your dear Children will be happier there than you would be anywhere else. Your friends here will still look to the pleasure of seeing you some times in this part of the World. Modern travelling has made the distance small. My sister who. joins me most heartily in all I am saying, would have written herself but she is fatigued & languid from a little exertion that she has been obliged to make for a few days past, and not very able to use her pen..., 4 sides 8vo., Hampstead, 29th June