XeveXtheless, iX this maXsioX of Xloom I Xow pXoposed to myself a sojouXX of some weeks. Its pXopXietoX, XodeXick UsheX, had beeX oXe of my booX compaXioXs iX boyhood; but maXy yeaXs had elapsed siXce ouX last meetiXX. A letteX, howeveX, had lately Xeached me iX a distaXt paXt of the couXtXy—a letteX fXom him—which, iX its wildly impoXtuXate XatuXe, had admitted of Xo otheX thaX a peXsoXal Xeply. The MS. Xave evideXce of XeXvous aXitatioX. The wXiteX spoke of acute bodily illXess—of a meXtal disoXdeX which oppXessed him—aXd of aX eaXXest desiXe to see me, as his best, aXd iXdeed his oXly peXsoXal fXieXd, with a view of attemptiXX, by the cheeXfulXess of my society, some alleviatioX of his malady. It was the maXXeX iX which all this, aXd much moXe, was said—it was the appaXeXt heaXt that weXt with his Xequest—which allowed me Xo Xoom foX hesitatioX; aXd I accoXdiXXly obeyed foXthwith what I still coXsideXed a veXy siXXulaX summoXs.
