The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood

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THE

LIFE AND LETTERS

OF

LEWIS CARROLL

(REV. C. L. DODGSON)

BY

STUART DODGSON COLLINGWOOD

B.A. CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD

1898

TO THE

CHILD FRIENDS

OF

LEWIS CARROLL

AND TO ALL WHO LOVE HIS WRITINGS

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED

PREFACE

It is with no undue confidence that I have accepted the
invitation of the brothers and sisters of Lewis Carroll to write
this Memoir. I am well aware that the path of the biographer is
beset with pitfalls, and that, for him, _suppressio veri_ is
almost necessarily _suggestio falsi_--the least omission may
distort the whole picture.

To write the life of Lewis Carroll as it should be written
would tax the powers of a man of far greater experience and
insight than I have any pretension to possess, and even he would
probably fail to represent adequately such a complex personality.
At least I have done my best to justify their choice, and if in
any way I have wronged my uncle's memory, unintentionally, I
trust that my readers will pardon me.

My task has been a delightful one. Intimately as I thought I
knew Mr. Dodgson during his life, I seem since his death to have
become still better acquainted with him. If this Memoir helps
others of his admirers to a fuller knowledge of a man whom to
know was to love, I shall not have written in vain.

I take this opportunity of thanking those who have so kindly
assisted me in my work, and first I must mention my old
schoolmaster, the Rev. Watson Hagger, M.A., to whom my readers
are indebted for the portions of this book dealing with Mr.
Dodgson's mathematical works. I am greatly indebted to Mr.
Dodgson's relatives, and to all those kind friends of his and
others who have aided me, in so many ways, in my difficult task.
In particular, I may mention the names of H.R.H. the Duchess of
Albany; Miss Dora Abdy; Mrs. Egerton Allen; Rev. F. H. Atkinson;
Sir G. Baden-Powell, M.P.; Mr. A. Ball; Rev. T. Vere Bayne; Mrs.
Bennie; Miss Blakemore; the Misses Bowman; Mrs. Boyes; Mrs.
Bremer; Mrs. Brine; Miss Mary Brown; Mrs. Calverley; Miss
Gertrude Chataway; Mrs. Chester; Mr. J. C. Cropper; Mr. Robert
Davies; Miss Decima Dodgson; the Misses Dymes; Mrs. Eschwege;
Mrs. Fuller; Mr. Harry Furniss; Rev. C. A. Goodhart; Mrs.
Hargreaves; Miss Rose Harrison; Mr. Henry Holiday; Rev. H.
Hopley; Miss Florence Jackson; Rev. A. Kingston; Mrs. Kitchin;
Mrs. Freiligrath Kroeker; Mr. F. Madan; Mrs. Maitland; Miss M. E.
Manners; Miss Adelaide Paine; Mrs. Porter; Miss Edith Rix; Rev.
C. J. Robinson, D.D.; Mr. S. Rogers; Mrs. Round; Miss Isabel
Standen; Mr. L. Sergeant; Miss Gaynor Simpson; Mrs. Southwall;
Sir John Tenniel; Miss E. Gertrude Thomson; Mrs. Woodhouse; and
Mrs. Wyper.

For their help in the work of compiling the Bibliographical
chapter and some other parts of the book, my thanks are due to
Mr. E. Baxter, Oxford; the Controller of the University Press,
Oxford; Mr. A. J. Lawrence, Rugby; Messrs. Macmillan and Co.,
London; Mr. James Parker, Oxford; and Messrs. Ward, Lock and Co.,
London.

In the extracts which I have given from Mr. Dodgson's Journal
and Correspondence it will be noticed that Italics have been
somewhat freely employed to represent the words which he
underlined. The use of Italics was so marked a feature of his
literary style, as any one who has read his books must have
observed, that without their aid the rhetorical effect, which he
always strove to produce, would have been seriously marred.

S. DODGSON COLLINGWOOD

GUILDFORD, _September_, 1898.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

CHAPTER I
(1832-1850)

Lewis Carroll's forebears--The Bishop of Elphin--Murder of
Captain Dodgson--Daresbury--Living in
"Wonderland"--Croft--Boyish amusements--His first
school--Latin verses--A good report--He goes to Rugby--_The
Rectory Umbrella_--"A Lay of Sorrow"

CHAPTER II
(1850-1860)

Matriculation at Christ Church--Death of Mrs. Dodgson--The
Great Exhibition--University and College Honours--A
wonderful year--A theatrical
treat--_Misch-Masch_--_The Train_--_College
Rhymes_--His _nom de plume_--"Dotheboys
Hall"--Alfred Tennyson--Ordination--Sermons--A visit to
Farringford--"Where does the day begin?"--The Queen visits
Oxford

CHAPTER III
(1861-1867)

Jowett--Index to "In Memoriam"--The Tennysons--The beginning
of "Alice"--Tenniel--Artistic friends--"Alice's Adventures
in Wonderland"--"Bruno's Revenge"--Tour with Dr.
Liddon--Cologne--Berlin architecture--The "Majesty of
Justice"--Peterhof--Moscow--A Russian wedding--Nijni--The
Troitska Monastery--"Hieroglyphic" writing--Giessen

CHAPTER IV
(1868-1876)

Death of Archdeacon Dodgson--Lewis Carroll's rooms at Christ
Church--"Phantasmagoria"--Translations of "Alice"--"Through
the Looking-Glass"--"Jabberwocky" in Latin--C.S.
Calverley--"Notes by an Oxford
Chiel"--Hatfield--Vivisection--"The Hunting of the Snark"

CHAPTER V
(1877-1883)

Dramatic tastes--Miss Ellen Terry--"Natural Science at
Oxford"--Mr. Dodgson as an artist--Miss E.G. Thomson--The
drawing of children--A curious dream--"The Deserted
Parks"--"Syzygies"--Circus children--Row-loving
undergraduates--A letter to _The Observer_--Resignation
of the Lectureship--He is elected Curator of the Common
Room--Dream-music.

CHAPTER VI
(1883-1887)

"The Profits of Authorship"--"Rhyme? and Reason?"--The
Common Room Cat--Visit to Jersey--Purity of
elections--Parliamentary Representation--Various literary
projects--Letters to Miss E. Rix--Being happy--"A Tangled
Tale"--Religious arguments--The "Alice" Operetta--"Alice's
Adventures Underground"--"The Game of Logic"--Mr. Harry
Furniss.

CHAPTER VII
(1888-1891)

A systematic life--"Memoria Technica"--Mr. Dodgson's
shyness--"A Lesson in Latin"--The "Wonderland"
Stamp-Case--"Wise Words about Letter-Writing"--Princess
Alice--"Sylvie and Bruno"--"The night cometh"--"The Nursery
'Alice'"--Coventry Patmore--Telepathy--Resignation of Dr.
Liddell--A letter about Logic.

CHAPTER VIII
(1892-1896)

Mr. Dodgson resigns the Curatorship--Bazaars--He lectures to
children--A mechanical "Humpty Dumpty"--A logical
controversy--Albert Chevalier--"Sylvie and Bruno
Concluded"--"Pillow Problems"--Mr. Dodgson's
generosity--College services--Religious difficulties--A
village sermon--Plans for the future--Reverence--"Symbolic
Logic"

CHAPTER IX
(1897-1898)

Logic-lectures--Irreverent anecdotes--Tolerance of his
religious views--A mathematical discovery--"The Little
Minister"--Sir George Baden-Powell--Last illness--"Thy will
be done"--"Wonderland" at last!--Letters from
friends--"Three Sunsets"--"Of such is the kingdom of Heaven"

CHAPTER X
CHILD FRIENDS

Mr. Dodgson's fondness for children--Miss Isabel
Standen--Puzzles--"Me and Myself"--A double
acrostic--"Father William"--Of drinking healths--Kisses by
post--Tired in the face--The unripe
plum--Eccentricities--"Sylvie and Bruno"--"Mr. Dodgson is
going on _well_"

CHAPTER XI
THE SAME--_continued._

Books for children--"The Lost Plum-Cake"--"An Unexpected
Guest"--Miss Isa Bowman--Interviews--"Matilda Jane"--Miss
Edith Rix--Miss Kathleen Eschwege

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

FOOTNOTES

* * * * *

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LEWIS CARROLL--Frontispiece
_From a photograph_.

ARCHDEACON DODGSON AS A YOUNG MAN
_From a miniature, painted about_ 1826.

DARESBURY PARSONAGE, LEWIS CARROLL'S BIRTHPLACE
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_.

LEWIS CARROLL, AGED 8
_From a silhouette_.

MRS. DODGSON, LEWIS CARROLL'S MOTHER
_From a silhouette_.

CROFT RECTORY; ARCHDEACON DODGSON AND FAMILY IN FOREGROUND
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1856.

TOY STATION IN GARDEN AT CROFT
_From a photograph_.

ARCHBISHOP TAIT
_From a photograph by Elliott and Fry_.

"THE ONLY SISTER WHO _WOULD_ WRITE TO HER BROTHER"
_From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_.

"THE AGE OF INNOCENCE".
_From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_.

"THE SCANTY MEAL"
_From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_.

"THE FIRST EARRING"
_From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO "LAYS OF SORROW," NO. 2
_From drawings by Lewis Carroll_.

EXTERIOR OF CHRIST CHURCH
_From a photograph_.

GRAVE OF ARCHDEACON AND MRS. DODGSON IN CROFT CHURCHYARD
_From a photograph_.

LEWIS CARROLL, AGED 23
_From a photograph_.

ARCHDEACON DODGSON
_From a photograph_.

ARCHBISHOP LONGLEY
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_.

"ALAS! WHAT BOOTS--"
_From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_.

ALFRED TENNYSON
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1857.

THE BISHOP OF LINCOLN
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1875.

BISHOP WILBERFORCE
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1860.

ALICE LIDDELL AS "THE BEGGAR-CHILD"
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1858.

SKETCH FROM ST. LEONARD'S CONCERT-ROOM
_From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_.

GEORGE MACDONALD AND HIS DAUGHTER LILY
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1863.

MRS. ROSSETTI AND HER CHILDREN, DANTE GABRIEL, CHRISTINA,
AND WILLIAM
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1863.

LORINA, ALICE, AND EDITH LIDDELL
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_.

GEORGE MACDONALD
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1870.

J. SANT, R.A.
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1866.

HOLMAN HUNT
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1860.

SIR JOHN MILLAIS
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1865.

CHARLOTTE M. YONGE
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1866.

CANON LIDDON
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1867.

"INSTANCE OF HIEROGLYPHIC WRITING OF THE DATE 1867"
_From a sketch by Lewis Carroll_.

SIR JOHN TENNIEL
_From a photograph by Bassano_.

LEWIS CARROLL'S STUDY AT CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD
_From a photograph_.

PROFESSOR FARADAY
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1860.

JUSTICE DENMAN
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1873.

LORD SALISBURY AND HIS TWO SONS
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1870.

FACSIMILE OF A LETTER FROM SIR JOHN TENNIEL TO LEWIS
CARROLL, DATED JUNE 1, 1870

JOHN RUSKIN
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1875.

HENRY HOLIDAY IN HIS STUDIO
_From a photograph_.

LEWIS CARROLL
_From a photograph_.

ELLEN TERRY
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_.

TOM TAYLOR
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1863.

KATE TERRY
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1865.

MISS E. GERTRUDE THOMSON
_From a photograph_.

DR. LIDDELL
_From a photograph by Hill & Saunders_.

"RESPONSIONS"
_From a photograph by A.T. Shrimpton_.

H. FURNISS
_From a photograph_.

"BALBUS AND THE DRAGON"
_From a crayon drawing by the Rev. H.C. Gaye_.

MEDLEY OF TENNIEL'S ILLUSTRATIONS IN "ALICE"
_From an etching by Miss Whitehead_.

FACSIMILE OF A LETTER FROM H. FURNISS TO LEWIS CARROLL,

DATED AUGUST 23, 1886

SYLVIE AND BRUNO
_From a drawing by Henry Holiday_.

FACSIMILE OF PROGRAMME OF "ALICE IN WONDERLAND" PRODUCED
AT THE ROYAL GLOBE THEATRE, DECEMBER 26, 1888.

"THE MAD TEA PARTY"
_From a photograph by Elliott and Fry_.

THE LATE DUKE OF ALBANY
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1875.

THE DEAN OF CHRIST CHURCH
_From a photograph by Hill & Saunders_.

THE MECHANICAL "HUMPTY DUMPTY"
_From a photograph_.

LEWIS CARROLL
_From a photograph_.

THE CHESTNUTS, GUILDFORD
_From a photograph_.

LEWIS CARROLL'S GRAVE
_From a photograph_.

LORINA AND ALICE LIDDELL
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_.

ALICE LIDDELL
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_.

XIE KITCHIN
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_.

XIE KITCHIN AS A CHINAMAN
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_.

ALICE AND THE DORMOUSE
_From a photograph by Elliott and Fry_.

FACSIMILE OF A "LOOKING-GLASS" LETTER FROM LEWIS CARROLL
TO MISS EDITH BALL

ARTHUR HUGHES AND HIS DAUGHTER AGNES
_From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1863.

"WHAT I LOOK LIKE WHEN I'M LECTURING"
_From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_.

* * * * *

CHAPTER I

(1832-1850.)

Lewis Carroll's forebears--The Bishop of Elphin--Murder of
Captain Dodgson--Daresbury--Living in
"Wonderland"--Croft--Boyish amusements--His first
school--Latin verses--A good report--He goes to
Rugby--_The Rectory Umbrella_--"A Lay of Sorrow."

The Dodgsons appear to have been for a long time connected with the
north of England, and until quite recently a branch of the family
resided at Stubb Hall, near Barnard Castle.

In the early part of the last century a certain Rev. Christopher
Dodgson held a living in Yorkshire. His son, Charles, also took Holy
Orders, and was for some time tutor to a son of the then Duke of
Northumberland. In 1762 his patron presented him to the living of
Elsdon, in Northumberland, by no means a desirable cure, as Mr.
Dodgson discovered. The following extracts from his letters to various
members of the Percy family are interesting as giving some idea of the
life of a rural clergyman a hundred years ago:

I am obliged to you for promising to write to me, but don't
give yourself the trouble of writing to this place, for 'tis
almost impossible to receive 'em, without sending a
messenger 16 miles to fetch 'em.

'Tis impossible to describe the oddity of my situation at
present, which, however, is not void of some pleasant
circumstances.

A clogmaker combs out my wig upon my curate's head, by way
of a block, and his wife powders it with a dredging-box.

The vestibule of the castle (used as a temporary parsonage)
is a low stable; above it the kitchen, in which are two
little beds joining to each other. The curate and his wife
lay in one, and Margery the maid in the other. I lay in the
parlour between two beds to keep me from being frozen to
death, for as we keep open house the winds enter from every
quarter, and are apt to sweep into bed to me.

Elsdon was once a market town as some say, and a city
according to others; but as the annals of the parish were
lost several centuries ago, it is impossible to determine
what age it was either the one or the other.

There are not the least traces of the former grandeur to be
found, whence some antiquaries are apt to believe that it
lost both its trade and charter at the Deluge.

... There is a very good understanding between the parties
[he is speaking of the Churchmen and Presbyterians who lived
in the parish], for they not only intermarry with one
another, but frequently do penance together in a white
sheet, with a white wand, barefoot, and in the coldest
season of the year. I have not finished the description for
fear of bringing on a fit of the ague. Indeed, the ideas of
sensation are sufficient to starve a man to death, without
having recourse to those of reflection.

If I was not assured by the best authority on earth that the
world is to be destroyed by fire, I should conclude that the
day of destruction is at hand, but brought on by means of an
agent very opposite to that of heat.

I have lost the use of everything but my reason, though my
head is entrenched in three night-caps, and my throat, which
is very bad, is fortified by a pair of stockings twisted in
the form of a cravat.

As washing is very cheap, I wear _two_ shirts at a
time, and, for want of a wardrobe, I hang my great coat upon
my own back, and generally keep on my boots in imitation of
my namesake of Sweden. Indeed, since the snow became two
feet deep (as I wanted a 'chaappin of Yale' from the
public-house), I made an offer of them to Margery the maid,
but her legs are too thick to make use of them, and I am
told that the greater part of my parishioners are not less
substantial, and notwithstanding this they are remarkable
for agility.

In course of time this Mr. Dodgson became Bishop of Ossory and Ferns,
and he was subsequently translated to the see of Elphin. He was warmly
congratulated on this change in his fortunes by George III., who said
that he ought indeed to be thankful to have got away from a palace
where the stabling was so bad.

The Bishop had four children, the eldest of whom, Elizabeth Anne,
married Charles Lutwidge, of Holmrook, in Cumberland. Two of the
others died almost before they had attained manhood. Charles, the
eldest son, entered the army, and rose to the rank of captain in the
4th Dragoon Guards. He met with a sad fate while serving his king and
country in Ireland. One of the Irish rebels who were supposed to have
been concerned in the murder of Lord Kilwarden offered to give himself
up to justice if Captain Dodgson would come alone and at night to take
him. Though he fully realised the risk, the brave captain decided to
trust himself to the honour of this outlaw, as he felt that no chance
should be missed of effecting so important a capture. Having first
written a letter of farewell to his wife, he set out on the night of
December 16, 1803, accompanied by a few troopers, for the
meeting-place--an old hut that stood a mile or so from Phillipstown,
in King's County. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, he
left his men a few hundred yards from the hut to await his return, and
advanced alone through the night. A cowardly shot from one of the
windows of the cottage ended his noble life, and alarmed the troopers,
who, coming up in haste, were confronted with the dead body of their
leader. The story is told that on the same night his wife heard two
shots fired, and made inquiry about it, but could find out nothing.
Shortly afterwards the news came that her husband had been killed just
at that time.

Captain Dodgson left two sons behind him--Hassard, who, after a
brilliant career as a special pleader, became a Master of the Court of
Common Pleas, and Charles, the father of the subject of this Memoir.

Charles, who was the elder of the two, was born in the year 1800, at
Hamilton, in Lanarkshire. He adopted the clerical profession, in which
he rose to high honours. He was a distinguished scholar, and took a
double first at Christ Church, Oxford. Although in after life
mathematics were his favourite pursuit, yet the fact that he
translated Tertullian for the "Library of the Fathers" is sufficient
evidence that he made good use of his classical education. In the
controversy about Baptismal Regeneration he took a prominent part,
siding on the question with the Tractarians, though his views on some
other points of Church doctrine were less advanced than those of the
leaders of the Oxford movement. He was a man of deep piety and of a
somewhat reserved and grave disposition, which, however, was tempered
by the most generous charity, so that he was universally loved by the
poor. In moments of relaxation his wit and humour were the delight of
his clerical friends, for he had the rare power of telling anecdotes
effectively. His reverence for sacred things was so great that he was
never known to relate a story which included a jest upon words from
the Bible.

In 1830 he married his cousin, Frances Jane Lutwidge, by whom he had
eleven children, all of whom, except Lewis Carroll, survive. His wife,
in the words of one who had the best possible opportunities for
observing her character, was "one of the sweetest and gentlest women
that ever lived, whom to know was to love. The earnestness of her
simple faith and love shone forth in all she did and said; she seemed
to live always in the conscious presence of God. It has been said by
her children that they never in all their lives remember to have heard
an impatient or harsh word from her lips." It is easy to trace in
Lewis Carroll's character the influence of that most gentle of
mothers; though dead she still speaks to us in some of the most
beautiful and touching passages of his works. Not so long ago I had a
conversation with an old friend of his; one of the first things she
said to me was, "Tell me about his mother." I complied with her
request as well as I was able, and, when I had finished my account of
Mrs. Dodgson's beautiful character, she said, "Ah, I knew it must have
been so; I felt sure he must have had a good mother."

On January 27, 1832, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was born at Daresbury,
of which parish his father was then incumbent. The village of
Daresbury is about seven miles from Warrington; its name is supposed
to be derived from a word meaning oak, and certainly oaks are very
plentiful in the neighbourhood. A canal passes through an outlying
part of the parish. The bargemen who frequented this canal were a
special object of Mr. Dodgson's pastoral care. Once, when walking with
Lord Francis Egerton, who was a large landowner in the district, he
spoke of his desire to provide some sort of religious privileges for
them. "If I only had L100," he said, "I would turn one of those barges
into a chapel," and, at his companion's request, he described exactly
how he would have the chapel constructed and furnished. A few weeks
later he received a letter from Lord Francis to tell him that his wish
was fulfilled, and that the chapel was ready. In this strange church,
which is believed to have been the first of its kind, Mr. Dodgson
conducted service and preached every Sunday evening!

[Illustration: Daresbury Parsonage]

The parsonage is situated a mile and a half from the village, on the
glebe-farm, having been erected by a former incumbent, who, it was
said, cared more for the glebe than the parish. Here it was that
Charles spent the first eleven years of his life--years of complete
seclusion from the world, for even the passing of a cart was a matter
of great interest to the children.

[Illustration: Lewis Carroll, aged 8.]

In this quiet home the boy invented the strangest diversions for
himself; he made pets of the most odd and unlikely animals, and
numbered certain snails and toads among his intimate friends. He tried
also to encourage civilised warfare among earthworms, by supplying
them with small pieces of pipe, with which they might fight if so
disposed. His notions of charity at this early age were somewhat
rudimentary; he used to peel rushes with the idea that the pith would
afterwards "be given to the poor," though what possible use they could
put it to he never attempted to explain. Indeed he seems at this time
to have actually lived in that charming "Wonderland" which he
afterwards described so vividly; but for all that he was a thorough
boy, and loved to climb the trees and to scramble about in the old
marl-pits.

One of the few breaks in this very uneventful life was a holiday spent
with the other members of his family in Beaumaris. The journey took
three days each way, for railroads were then almost unknown; and
whatever advantages coaching may have had over travelling in trains,
speed was certainly not one of them.

Mr. Dodgson from the first used to take an active part in his son's
education, and the following anecdote will show that he had at least a
pupil who was anxious to learn. One day, when Charles was a very small
boy, he came up to his father and showed him a book of logarithms,
with the request, "Please explain." Mr. Dodgson told him that he was
much too young to understand anything about such a difficult subject.
The child listened to what his father said, and appeared to think it
irrelevant, for he still insisted, "_But_, please, explain!"

[Illustration: Mrs. Dodgson]

On one occasion Mr. and Mrs. Dodgson went to Hull, to pay a visit to
the latter's father, who had been seriously ill. From Hull Mrs.
Dodgson wrote to Charles, and he set much store by this letter, which
was probably one of the first he had received. He was afraid that some
of his little sisters would mess it, or tear it up, so he wrote upon
the back, "No one is to touch this note, for it belongs to C. L. D.";
but, this warning appearing insufficient, he added, "Covered with
slimy pitch, so that they will wet their fingers." The precious letter
ran as follows:--

My dearest Charlie, I have used you rather ill in not having
written to you sooner, but I know you will forgive me, as
your Grandpapa has liked to have me with him so much, and I
could not write and talk to him comfortably. All your notes
have delighted me, my precious children, and show me that
you have not quite forgotten me. I am always thinking of
you, and longing to have you all round me again more than
words can tell. God grant that we may find you all well and
happy on Friday evening. I am happy to say your dearest Papa
is quite well--his cough is rather _tickling_, but is
of no consequence. It delights me, my darling Charlie, to
hear that you are getting on so well with your Latin, and
that you make so few mistakes in your Exercises. You will be
happy to hear that your dearest Grandpapa is going on
nicely--indeed I hope he will soon be quite well again. He
talks a great deal and most kindly about you all. I hope my
sweetest Will says "Mama" sometimes, and that precious Tish
has not forgotten. Give them and all my other treasures,
including yourself, 1,000,000,000 kisses from me, with my
most affectionate love. I am sending you a shabby note, but
I cannot help it. Give my kindest love to Aunt Dar, and
believe me, my own dearest Charlie, to be your sincerely
affectionate

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