[Manchester—Thursday, 9 August 1866]
Thursday. Alas! for our guests! It rained all day after the early morning, hard, we could not leave the house but sat chatting about books and folks the live-long day. God forgive us! if we did not the best thing at least we tried to make others happy but an idea comes over us in this world that doing something is the end of existence, I think we are wrong in this, as being something even being agreeable when our inclinations lead us to be lazy is perhaps far better.
