Some Original Letters.

and if you sketch it to the utmost , it AA'ill not be able to picture the merriment of our party . At last Ave Avent back to the railway and luckily caught the last train . We all got into one large saloon carriage , Avhich just held us and one stranger , AA'I IO ,

I am certain , must have thought himself beAvitched . There were tAvo lamps in the carriage , and some of our party proposed spending a fortnight in it , going up and down , without communicating with our unfortunate relatives . Dickens Avas in the best humour in the world ; he stuck ah the tickets round his hat , to the astonishment of the guard . We all came home in one

omnibus , and Dickens dropped one tear into it Avhen he left us . It was past one o'clock when Ave blessed the sight of our wondering friends , and I am sure I never enjoyed a day ' s excursion so much in my life . Of course you have seen what Mr . Thackeray wrote in the next PunchAvith

. , E . E . Morgan ' s name in letters a yard high . We have seen him two or three times since , and he ahvays speaks of you and says he is going to Avrite to you about his lectures . He has sent me a ticket , ancl Ave have been to tivo ; they Avere

delightful . Your friend , Mrs . B ., goes , because she says she has found it is ' the thing to go to Thackeray . ' He gives them at Willis ' s Boom , and has croAvded audiences —all the groat people . .... Sir Echvin Landseer is going to the Queen ' s fancy ball on Friday , and was here all one afternoon for papa to help him choose his dress . Landseer Ai'as so amnsin . tr I He

told us that Count d'Orsay , Avhen he was going to a fancy ball , sent a very splendid Avalking-stick to his tailor and told him to dress him according to that . " I am savage to think you should have missed Mr . Peabody ' s grand ball , the very grandest event since you left Englandbut

, it's of no use to say anything about it . I send you one of the cartes de danse , and from that you can imagine Avhat the rest of the entertainment ivas , and IIOAV the American eagle hopped about quite tamely with the American flag in his beak .

" I Avas told that His Eagleness condescended to dance a polka Avith a certain young English beauty , but I can't say I saAV it . The Duke of Wellington shook hands Avith everybody and looked delighted , and as for lions , thoy roamed about as

gentle as doves . I have such an exquisite draAving by Dick Doyle ( AVIIO Avent , he says , in the character of a poor artist of the reign of Queen Victoria ) , of tho Duke of Wellington shaking hands with a crowd of pretty girls . He ( Dick ) sent it to mc

Avith the inclosed ' carte' for you , as I had lost mine at the ball , AA'ith my heart and a few other trifles . My adored Thackeray Avas there , too , ancl he told me Avho all the great people were , and introduced me to Disraeli . He says the ' carte' I send you is a ' Peabodial trophy . '

" Mamma is gone out of toAvn , and papa is going to the Duke of Northumberland at SandAA'ich , so Ave shall be left like Bauvard , with no pa—nor—a—ma . When they come back Ave are going to have the best party on record , but it Avont be complete Avithout youso let me knoAV what

, clay Avill suit you , and I Avill send out invitations accordingly , but you must not he long crossing the stream—never mind damaging a little canvas , We Avill have Dickens , Thackeray , and a blaze of genius , and not a single person or party of high

principles admitted . I can't Avrite any more , for the family is gone to bed , and you knoAV how I am afraid of ghosts , so I Avish you all as pretty a moonlight nig ht as this .... I must not get too sentimentalthough it is excusable in

, AA'incling up ; even sailors sing sentimental songs in AA'incling up ( I mean Aveighing the anchor ) , so I shall anchor here for the night , ' off the chairing-room lights , ' mean time , 11 o ' clock . . « H . J . L . "

"Free and Enlightened Citizen : You have never been to Paris . I pity you . 1 have been to Paris , and a delightful p lace it is . Such churches ! such palaces ! such pictures !—miles and miles of pictures ! such gardens ! such houses ! such streets I such hotels ! such shops ! such coffee I

such Avaiters I such hats ! such boots and shoes I such bridges I such fountains I such fortifications ! such gens d'armes 1 such Bonapartes I I don't know which of a " these things delighted me most ; but 1 knoAV Versailles would suit youfor in the

, palace there tire many large rooms full ° ' pictures shoAving Bonaparte doing every thing ho ever did or didn't ; and , above all , there is a picture of him as he appeared