I see little of him
hitherto; I did not, and will not, try to influence him in his
choice of countries; but I think he is now likely to continue
here, and here too he may do us some good. Of America, at least
of New England, I can perceive he has brought away an altogether
kindly, almost filial impression,--especially of a certain man
who lives in that section of the Earth. More power to his
elbow!--Thackeray has very rarely come athwart me since his
return: he is a big fellow, soul and body; of many gifts and
qualities (particularly in the Hogarth line, with a dash of
Sterne superadded), of enormous _appetite_ withal, and very
uncertain and chaotic in all points except his _outer breeding,_
which is fixed enough, and _perfect_ according to the modern
English style. I rather dread explosions in his history. A
_big,_ fierce, weeping, hungry man; not a strong one. _Ay de
mi!_ But I must end, I must end. Your Letter awakened in me,
while reading it, one mad notion. I said to myself: Well, if I
live to finish this Frederic impossibility, or even to fling it
fairly into the fire, why should not I go, in my old days, and
see Concord, Yankeeland, and that man again, after all!--Adieu,
dear friend; all good be with you and yours always.
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