'The Spy' I shall go through more at
leisure.
"I like your praise both of myself and my poem, because
it comes from a good quarter. You saw me where and how
a man is best seen--at home, and in his every-day wear
and tear, mind and manners: I have no holiday suit, and
never seek to shine: such as it is, my light is always
burning. Somewhat of my character you may find in
Chaucer's Clerk of Oxenford; and the concluding line of
that description might be written, as the fittest
motto, under my portrait--'Gladly would he learn, and
gladly teach.' I have sinned enough to make me humble
in myself, and indulgent toward others. I have suffered
enough to find in religion not merely consolation, but
hope and joy; and I have seen enough to be contented
in, and thankful for, the state of life in which it has
pleased God to place me.
"We hoped to have seen you on your way back from
Ellery. I believe you did not get the ballad of the
'Devil and the Bishop,' which Hartley transcribed for
you. I am reprinting my miscellaneous poems, collected
into three volumes. Your projected publication[32] will
have the start of it greatly, for the first volume is
not nearly through the press, and there is a corrected
copy of the ballad, with its introduction, in
Ballantyne's hands, which you can make use of before it
will be wanted in its place.
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