I remember thinking that it was very kind of you to
write that long letter, in reply to inquiries of one who was
personally unknown to you; and, looking back with my present
experience, I think it was kinder than it then appeared, for at that
time you must have been much oppressed with the immediate results of
your fame. I remember, too, that you wrote of your husband as one who
was richer in Hebrew and Greek than in pounds or shillings; and as an
ardent scholar has always been a character of peculiar interest to me,
I have rarely had your image in my mind without the accompanying image
(more or less erroneous) of such a scholar by your side. I shall
welcome the fruit of his Goethe studies, whenever it comes.
I have good hopes that your fears are groundless as to the obstacles
your new book ("Oldtown Folks") may find here from its thorough
American character. Most readers who are likely to be really
influenced by writing above the common order will find that special
aspect an added reason for interest and study; and I dare say you have
long seen, as I am beginning to see with new clearness, that if a book
which has any sort of exquisiteness happens also to be a popular,
widely circulated book, the power over the social mind for any good
is, after all, due to its reception by a few appreciative natures, and
is the slow result of radiation from that narrow circle.
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