The best advice that his friends can give Rolt [Footnote: Sir John Rolt resigned in February 1868, and died in June 1871.] is to resign. It is the only chance of long life. Let him not be afraid of ennui from idleness. He has a great love of the country and country pursuits, and that is all-sufficient. Age cannot wither it, nor custom stale its infinite variety. And it is so much better to be a looker-on than an actor in life. Aristotle, in the last chapter of his 'Nicomachean Ethics,' sets himself to consider what can be the happiness of the gods; and he finds nothing in which he can put it but in contemplation. And it might be so, if it were still true. 'And God saw (contemplated) all that He had made, and behold it was very good.' I thought it was an 'Ebrew Jew' that wrote the article entitled 'Talmud.' I have only read a few extracts. It is quite in keeping with the times that it should be in a Tory journal. The Conservatives have begun by being avowed reformers, and next they will be declared free-thinkers. This is the first step to their confession. Their great schoolmaster, Dizzy, gets his compatriot to publish this article. I am glad to hear from you that it is shallow; but novelty and originality now are nothing but the reproduction of forgotten things; and, to speak seriously, I thought it seemed a thing likely to lead many to some form or other of Arian opinions. The following refers to a work recently published by Longmans. Mr. Longman had apparently suggested it as a fit subject for an article in the 'Review ':-- _To Mr. T. Longman_ _C. O., January 31st_.--I have read Rudd's translation of Aristophanes with a good deal of interest. It is as good as it can possibly be without the slightest gleam of fun or genius. Frere's translations are blazing with both, and that constitutes their charm. Rudd is evidently a worthy, dull man, who administers the Aristophanic champagne as if it were mere brown stout. It is for this reason that I have felt a difficulty about reviewing him, and the more so as I am overladen with all kinds of articles. But if a favourable opportunity occurs, I will not forget it. I am deeply grieved at the loss of poor Head. [Footnote: Sir Edmund Head died suddenly on January 28th.] He was one of the best and pleasantest companions I have ever known, and latterly we have lived very much indeed together. It is frightful to think how very many are already gone of those who made life agreeable; and gone, most of them, suddenly and prematurely. The Journal records:-- _February 11th_--I was elected to be treasurer of The Club in place of Sir Edmund Head [deceased]. I proposed Lord Cranborne, afterwards Lord Salisbury, at The Club. For many years from this time The Club was such an important factor in Reeve's social life, and enters so largely into both his Journal and his correspondence, that a list of its members, as it stood in 1867, has a strong personal interest. _The Club_