My dear L, I scarcely consider myself to have seen anything of art in England. The calls of the living world were so various and demanding, that I had so little leisure for reflection, and although I saw many paintings, I could not study them—and many times I saw them in a state of the nervous system too jaded and depressed to receive the full force of the impression. A day or two before I left, I visited the National Gallery, and made a rapid survey of its contents.