Letter from Leslie Stephen, London, to W. E. Henley, 1876 June 17 : autograph manuscript signed.

Concerning Henley's poetry and his Hospital sonnets; apologizing for not replying to his letter sooner but adding "...I am very glad to hear that you have some regular work. I hope your health will hold out sufficiently - Poetry, I fear, is not a very paying occupation; but I hope that you will write some as the inspiration comes & make it as good as may be. I may tell you that, although your Hospital sonnets did not seem to attract much notice at the time, as, indeed, I always thought them rather wasted in a Magazine - yet I have heard them noticed since by more than one person in a way that would please you. A friend who called here two or three days ago appeared to have them by heart - at least be quoted from the one about the two boys with great readiness & feeling. You would not know his name : but he is not a bad judge & it is something to make a mark in any one's memory. He was not the only one [illegible] of such notice."