Autograph letter signed : London, to J. A. Overs, 1841 Oct. 22.

Noting that Dickens has had Overs' letter [to William Macready] read to him, and that he strongly disapproves of it for three reasons: first, that it is inconsiderate to address three sides of foolscap to a gentleman who receives three or four score letters every day; second, that Overs vaunts his independence too much and "flourish[s] it rather unnecessarily;" and third, "that the whole of that paragraph about wives and children, and the wet and cold, is presumptuous and impertinent." Recognizing Overs' decision to leave Macready's employment, referencing "the right of every man to do his best for himself," but noting that Overs' letter "is in execrable taste, and not at all becoming," and that Dickens looks upon this as a matter of fact, "and not a matter of opinion." Mentioning that Dickens "saw in five minutes the other night ... that [Overs] would not stay at the Theatre a month" and is not surprised at his decision. Criticizing Overs' "working [his] ideas of Mr. Macready's character out of the wretched materials presented to [his] view, which would be well enough in a man who could neither read nor write, but is quite beneath [Overs]."