Part of a collection of letters from John Ruskin to Mrs. Hewitt. Letters in this collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection-level record for more information.
Thanking her for her letter; saying he is not well and not able to work at much, except for what he does in mineralogy and Greek mythology "to keep myself from going mad with wrath and sorrow at what is done and undone and not done in the course of the world about me;" saying he has "fallen into a fit of amiability which makes me think I must be in a bad way and plague the doctors for not trying to make me recover my bad temper;" saying that "mineralogy is a very tranquillizing science--thought it is at the interesting point at which--as astrology became astronomy--mineralogy becomes minera-nomy--(perhaps some blessed day even theology may become theonomy--enough--you will say--if you can't be entertaining--don't be tiresome--so I won't."