Writes to inform her that he shall come on the following Wednesday. Reports that he shall be staying with Mrs Clough from Monday to Wednesday if his cold does not get worse. Claims that he accepted her invitation gladly, as there is a new edition of Clough's Remains passing through the press, and he would like to talk to her about it. Intends to speak to his mother about Mr Horton and other matters on Wednesday evening, 'before Edward and Mary come'.
Asks if she has heard from William, and states that he has not found time to write to him yet. Asks her opinion on Noel's poems. Refers to the review of them in the Athenaeum, and states that Noel has told him that the two great critics of the age, M. Arnold and S[aint] Beuve, 'have both expressed themselves pleased by the book.' Reports that he has 'got rid of' his last pupil and is writing a paper for his philological journal. Reports that Patterson's book on Hungary is very nearly finished, and that he has seen most of it, and thinks that it will be both worth reading and readable.