AN UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF THE POET BECQUER, ONE OF THE FEW THAT HAVE
SURVIVED HIM, ADDRESSED TO SOR. C. FRANCO DE LA IGLESIAS, MINISTERIO
DE ULTRAMAR, MADRID. DATED IN TOLEDO, JULY 18TH, 1869.[1]

[Footnote 1: The accentuation and punctuation of the original are
preserved. This letter is of particular interest, showing, as it
does, the tender solicitude of Becquer for his children, his dire
financial straits when a loan of three or four dollars is a godsend,
and his hesitation to call upon friends for aid even when in such
difficulties. The letter was presented to the writer of this sketch
by Don Francisco de Laiglesia, a distinguished Spanish writer and
man of public life and an intimate friend of Becquer. Señor de
Laiglesia is the owner of the magnificent portrait of Gustavo by
Valeriano Becquer, of the beauty of which but a faint idea can be
had from the copy of the etching by Maura, which serves as a
frontispiece to the present volume.]


Mi muy querido amigo:

Me volvi de esa con el cuidado de los chicos y en efecto parecia
anunciarmelo apenas llegue cayó en cama el mas pequeño. Esto se
prolonga mas de lo que pensamos y he escrito á Gaspar y á Valera que
solo pagó la mitad del importe del cuadro Gaspar he sabido que salio
ayer para Aguas Buenas y tardará en recibir mi carta Valera espero
enviará ese pico pero suele gastar una calma desesperante en este