and numerous household duties, may (in addition to their parochial
work as curates!) take up a real course of reading and go into it
thoroughly; and this gives girls not only employment for the time,
but gives the mind power to seize every other subject presented to
it. If you are quite alone, your reading is apt to become desultory.
I find it useful to take once or twice a week a walk with Riddell of
Balliol, and go through a certain period of Old Testament history; it
makes me get it up, and then between us we hammer out so many more
explanations of difficult passages than, at all events, I should do
by myself. He is, moreover, about the best Greek scholar here, which
is a great help to me. You have no idea of the light that such
accurate scholarship as his throws upon many disputed passages in the
Bible, e.g., "Wisdom is justified of her children," where the Greek
preposition probably gives the key to the whole meaning, and many
such. So you see, dear old Fan, that the want of some one to pour
out this to, for it sounds fearfully pedantic, I confess, has drawn
upon you this grievous infliction.

'My kindest love to Father and dear Joan,

'Ever your loving

'J. C. P.'


Fanny Patteson answered with arguments on the other duties which
hindered her from entering on the course of deep study which he had
been recommending. He replies:--