Item 157 - Letter from Mary Sidgwick to Henry Sidgwick

Explains that she has been very busy with domestic matters. Claims to be 'more than satisfied with what Arthur has done....' Remarks that there are 'some friends in out of the way places, who seem always to think that any Cambridge man of note ought to be a Wrangler...' and claims to set them right when she can. Was glad to hear from William that Arthur looked so well, and that they all had such a pleasant time at Oxford, and wishes that she could have listened to [their] 'eloquent Professor [Henry Smith? see 99/21] behind some curtain.'

Reports that she had just had a nice letter from Annie Brown, 'in which she complains sadly of Longman for making her last book - Problems in Human Nature, so dear', and of the fact that no one has reviewed it. Asks Henry to write one, and also to lend Brown a copy of Coventry Patmore's Angel in the House. Quotes her remarks on Henry's paper on De Tocqueville. Asks if he could get an introduction to Mr Kingsley for a young man who greatly admires him, for Brown also. Asks if he has read [Margaret Oliphant's] The Chronicles of Carlingford and asks his opinion on them. Reports that she has read Deerbrook [by Harriet Martineau], and gives her thoughts on its subject, i.e., the damaging effects of the interference of a third person in the loves of others. [Incomplete].