Letter from William James Stewart

Pages

1 2 3 4

Page 1


line 1: Needham Market
line 2: Suffolk
line 3: September 23rd 1862
line 4: My dear Sir
line 5: I am afraid that
line 6: in making the following
line 7: request you will think I
line 8: am taking undue
line 9: advantage of the very
line 10: short acquaintance I have
line 11: had with you. I shall however
line 12: feel very much obliged if
line 13: you will excuse this &
line 14: accede frankly to my
line 15: request.
line 16: My brother the Honourable.
line 17: Richard Couch of Bombay
line 18: is a recently appointed
line 19: Judge of the High Court
line 20: there. Last Spring I
line 21: declined a civil appoint-
line 22: ment at his hands but
line 23: the last Indian mail has
line 24: brought me the offer of a
line 25: more important role

Page 2


line 1: with above £1100 a year.
line 2: In deliberating upon the
line 3: acceptance or rejection
line 4: of this office I must
line 5: necessarily be guided mainly
line 6: by my probable future as
line 7: a literary man were I to
line 8: remain in England. It's
line 9: but recently that ill health
line 10: & much distaste for my
line 11: then profession, the law,
line 12: caused me for a time to
line 13: relinquish its practice &
line 14: if I remain at home
line 15: it must be to live by
line 16: my pen.
line 17: Under these circumstances
line 18: mistrusting as I naturally
line 19: do the favourable opinion
line 20: of those friends who
line 21: oppose themselves to my

Page 3


line 1: accepting this appointment
line 2: I prefer to come to you & to
line 3: ask you to tell me frankly
line 4: & plainly what opinion
line 5: you have formed of my
line 6: capabilities as a novelist
line 7: whether I have caught or am
line 8: likely in my late routine
line 9: to catch the ear of the
line 10: public & can depend upon
line 11: anything like a ready &
line 12: remunerative acceptance
line 13: of my books by the trade.
line 14: In asking you this
line 15: I need scarcely say that
line 16: I do not seek to commit
line 17: you to more than the
line 18: mere expression of an
line 19: opinion for which favourable
line 20: or no I shall feel
line 21: equally your debtor –

Page 4


line 1: In a recent letter from my
line 2: friend Mr Lance he tells me
line 3: that ?? ?? they had
line 4: lines obscured by glue
line 5: may be so I suppose.
line 6: With reference to your
line 7: last letter I beg to thank
line 8: you. Will you please hold
line 9: the cheque until I am
line 10: return to town which
line 11: will be some day next
line 12: week.
line 13: Repeating my apologies
line 14: for laying this task upon
line 15: you believe me.
line 16: Very faithfully yours
line 17: William Stewart