Fragment of an autograph letter : [London], to Richard Hengist Horne, 1844 November 4.

Concerning their correspondence and his mistaken impressions; "...to begin with the first mistake . . & the 'sort of letter you know I want, in the way of description & so forth' . . I beg to say that I want nothing of the sort, in the way of description and so forth. I wanted a letter from y̲o̲u̲ & about y̲o̲u̲ - and now that I have got one, I want another - but there's nobody in the world who cares less for letters of set description or set anything than I do, - & nobody who, in hearing from his or her friends, is fonder of simple slovenly 'personal talk' than I am. Therefore if you w'd but just write to me a little oftener & tell me what you are doing & thinking & the rest, you will be safe from my 'reproaches' & deserve to be safe from them...I never observed any 'hardness' or 'coldness' about you. I never observed that you wrote with reserve. Only I who am apt to write with too much u̲n̲reserve, & to be rather headlong both in feeling & expression, may have appeared to y̲o̲u̲ to express only half my crossness on some occasions, & to keep a good deal of it behind in the form of suspicion. But clear your mind of any such thoughts - I was not vexed with you for coldness &c, . . because I never thought you cold;" apologizing for not being able to see him before he left England; discussing his second mistake of misinterpreting her remark to him that she could get a copy of his book at the library; explaining that she did not expect him to "...give the book to m̲e̲ as a matter of course, without saying a word to show the non-necessity of the gift...But when the second edition was being prepared, you wrote to me that you 'w'd trust me to the end, & let me see the preface in proof' - I wrote back a, 'Pray do!' & not a word more did I ever hear of it until Miss Mitford offered to let me read 'Mr. Horne's reply to his critics.' Of course I thought that you were vexed with me for persisting to think as you know, of the expediency of that reply, - but that from some reason or other, you had changed your mind, to my exclusion, - was as plain as a prairie;" sending him a copy of her book of poems, mentioning the critics praise for her work and the kind letters she has had from other poets and asking for his criticism of them; saying "Now I do beseech you, by whatever regard you may feel for me (in which I am ambitious to believe) to write to me a kind letter too, . . that is, a s̲i̲n̲c̲e̲r̲e̲ letter. Do not fancy yourself obliged to write compliments to me - surely our friendship has outgrown such mere green wood...That the books I send you, are full of faults, I know. Will you tell me what the chief faults appear to you to be?;" adding, "The 'Drama of Exile', the longest poem, has been thrown aside by nearly all the official critics as inferior to the rest - and perhaps as a whole, it is unsuccessful. 'Lady Geraldine's Courtship' appears the popular favorite. Oh - for life & strength, - to do something better & worthier than any of them! I feel as if I could do it! - ;" relating her visit from Miss Mitford and asking what he is writing now; asking him to let Mr. Mathews know if he has received the copies of the American edition of 'Spirit of the Age' which he sent to him; adding "And then, he wants your t̲r̲a̲g̲e̲d̲i̲e̲s̲, which are yet unknown, it appears, across the seas;" concluding that the only other news she has to tell him is "..the proselytism of Mr. Newman of Oxford to the Church of Rome."