One letter dated January 1, 1855, might have been written word for word to-day.
‘Many, many happy New Years to you, my dear Mrs. Cameron, and to all you love. How vain is this wish for thousands on this particular year! It is difficult to interest oneself in any common events. Only one’s friends can take off one’s thoughts from the war....’
Mrs. Tennyson envies someone who has sent out a shipload of help.
‘Ah, well! We may all do our little if we will but do what we have to do, and not waste our time in vain longings for that which is given to others to do. You can never have been guilty of this in all your life....’
III.
Mrs. Cameron sometimes writes to Tennyson as well as to his wife. Here is a quotation from a long letter written in 1855.
‘Dear Alfred,—It is so tantalising to be in your neighbourhood without being able to get to dear Farringford that I must write to you from this. If we stayed longer I am sure I should slide away and make a run for your coast, but we go home to-morrow when our week will be completed. Where are we if we are your neighbours? Not near eno’ and yet not far. In one of the loveliest homes in England, where from the Tower you can see the dear Isle of Wight, the Parnassian Needles, and the silver thread of the outline of Alum Bay. Where are we then?...
‘Well, Canford is our dwelling-place during this Holiday week. This Manor, this Hall and this cricket ground have witnessed nothing but sunshine Holiday and midnight revelry all the twenty-four hours round.
‘The youthful host, Sir Ivor Guest, has had perfect success in his entertainment. Everybody has been charming and everybody has been charmed.