Autograph letter signed : [London], to Mrs. Hewitt, [1858 Mar. 17].

Apologizing for his recent remarks; saying that if they seemed too critical "whether I am right or wrong you can only make out what I mean by trying me; not by talking with me;" saying that "the only conviction worth a straw will come from your beginning to see as I see--not to think as I think. I don't want to argue you into anything. I want to show you something. You are the only one of my friends with whom.... I talk about art at all. I simply say to them, 'Do so and so and don't waste your time in thinking;" comparing his teachings with that of a music master whose methods she might challenge, and "his answer would be simply--Madam, either trust me or dismiss me;" telling her that there is "sometimes a little indignation at your being at all influenced by those masters of blot and splash--who I know, in their total ignorance of older art, can hardly give you a single reason for what they do supported by the practice of any great master of any period;' inviting her to visit him and ask him questions for as long as she wished.