the tenderest interest in my dearest little nieces, whom I wish, in
        spite of family differences, to see among my own children - and as I
        long to be attentive to any pupil of yours - do, my dear Miss Pinkerton,
        tell me the history of this young lady, whom, for your sake, I am most
        anxious to befriend. - M.C.«
 
                     »Miss Pinkerton to Mrs. Bute Crawley.
 
                                              Johnson House, Chiswick, Dec. 18-.
        Dear Madam, - I have the honour to acknowledge your polite
        communication, to which I promptly reply. 'Tis most gratifying to one in
        my most arduous position to find that my maternal cares have elicited a
        responsive affection; and to recognize in the amiable Mrs. Bute Crawley
        my excellent pupil of former years, the sprightly and accomplished Miss
        Martha MacTavish. I am happy to have under my charge now the daughters
        of many of those who were your contemporaries at my establishment - what
        pleasure it would give me if your own beloved young ladies had need of
        my instructive superintendence!
            Presenting my respectful compliments to Lady Fuddleston, I have the
        honour (epistolarily) to introduce to her ladyship my two friends, Miss
        Tuffin and Miss Hawky.
            Either of these young ladies is perfectly qualified to instruct in
        Greek, Latin, and the rudiments of Hebrew; in mathematics and history;
        in Spanish, French, Italian, and geography; in music, vocal and
        instrumental; in dancing, without the aid of a master; and in the
        elements of natural sciences. In the use of the globes both are
        proficients. In addition to these Miss Tuffin, who is daughter of the
        late Reverend Thomas Tuffin (Fellow of Corpus College, Cam- bridge), can
        instruct in the Syriac language, and the elements of Constitutional law.
        But as she is only eighteen years of age, and of exceedingly pleasing
        personal appearance, perhaps this young lady may be objectionable in Sir
        Huddleston Fuddleston's family.
            Miss Letitia Hawky, on the other hand, is not personally
        well-favoured. She is twenty-nine; her face is much pitted with the
        small-pox. She has a halt in her gait, red hair, and a trifling
        obliquity of vision. Both ladies are endowed with every moral and
        religious virtue. Their terms, of course, are such as their
        accomplishments merit. With my most grateful respects to the Reverend
        Bute Crawley, I have the honour to be, dear Madam,
                                        Your most faithful and obedient servant,
                                                              BARBARA PINKERTON.
        P.S. - The Miss Sharp, whom you mention as governess to Sir Pitt