From H. E. Litchfield to L. M. Forster 12 October [1870]

My dear Laura

I have sent your offer for the donkey & cart on t the Langtons—a little time ago they w^d have jumped at it—but now I'm afraid they will either have given it up to somebody else or else settled t take it with them— I was very glad t have that little sight of you—tho' it was v. short. I shall really hope for you at Down sometime for I am sure you must take rests often— It can be the only way for you t bear up & go on without an utter breakdown— I can feel how hard it must be for you any how to struggle on— It w^d. be hard enough for anybody who had strength with so many troubles & worries & no one to lean upon.

We are going t leave home & now he has fallen again & we have [illeg] forbidden more riding on him—& so & so it is a g^t. fear whether he won't give it up altogether. There is something in riding so wholesome—

I thk one can pace & [scarcely] change the current of your ideas one bit—but whether it is the attention necessary, or [then] going quick thro' the air, I'm sure there is something in riding that has a most inspiriting effect— I wish you liked dogs—that is if you are allowed to have one in the house— I do find such enormous contentment in my little angel—few if anybody can have such an animal—but I do see that [these] people like their inferior beasts as well. It is such a pleasure to have something that is always glad t see you always sorry to leave & glad to come back. which you can always talk nonsense to & a good deal of sense too—& a something to which there are no drawbacks, unless it hunts, or unless in its youth you have too much spared the rod & so spoild your child. I didn't the least want t have a dog, my heart was too full of the delights of my last cat—but I forced myself into it & I am so amply repaid. But I'm afraid your heart is hard somehow tho' I've never heard you discuss the question. The little A^t. Fanny has left us now & gone home. The more I saw her the more lost in astonishment I felt at her sharpness & freshness of mind, & at her vehement prejudice. It is a g^t. mystery how any body can have lived 90 years & not have lost some of these last. She is a g^t. example of the differences between our way of looking at things & the last generations—none of that groping into the foundation of all things. I'm afraid none of us doubting [questioning] 19^th. centuryers will have the vigour to stand against 90 years of life & show so bold a front. The more I thk of the difference the m. profound it seems. I was thinking over Miss Austen's novels if I could remember one single abstract remark upon life or any of its difficulties such as one meets with by the score in the most matter of fact novels nowadays. The nearest to it is Anne Elliots depression at the aimlessness of her life—but it is only part of her love affair. Praps Miss Austen is unknown ground to you. I don't thk the majority of people read her now. I've just been rereading Phantasies which I like extremely. It is so fanciful & carries you on in such a nice dreamy uncommon place manner. It is the nicest narcotic I know. We had a russian down to see us the other day. He is very much connected with France & being a red republican sympathises warmly with it—tho' this republic is of course not half thorough going enough. & he doesn't give much hopes of it lasting  He however does not think that the french workman w^d. as a rule go in for dividing the general property—wh. is a comfort to hear—tho' I don't suppose he knows much about it. He says the Russian guns are much too bad t let 'em have a chance against Prussia.

Well Goodnight I am sleepy & so is my Pol dog. | Ever yr most affect | H.E.D.