our subject. This is the third meeting that my Cousin and we have had in this country; and a great instance of good fortune I account it in such a world as this, to have expected such a pleasure thrice without being once disappointed. Add to this wonder as soon as you can, by making yourself of the party.

LETTER CXV.

W. C.

To SAMUEL ROSE, Esqr.

Weston, August 8, 1789.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

Come when you will, or when you

can, you cannot come at a wrong time, but we shall expect you on the day mentioned.

If you have any book that you think will make pleasant evening reading, bring it with you. I now read Mrs. Piozzi's Travels to the ladies after supper, and shall probably have finished them before we shall have the pleasure of seeing you. It is the fashion, I understand, to condemn them. But we, who make books ourselves, are more merciful to book-makers. I would that every fastidious judge of authors, were, himself, obliged to write; there goes more to the composition of a volume than many critics ima

gine. I have often wondered that the same Poet who wrote the Dunciad should have, written these lines,

Alas! for Pope, if the mercy he showed to others, was the measure of the mercy he received! he was the less pardonable too, because experienced in all the difficulties of composition.

I scratch this between dinner and tea; a time when I cannot write much without disordering my noddle, and bringing a flush into my face. You will excuse me, therefore, if through respect for the two important considerations of health and beauty, I conclude myself,

You left us exactly at the wrong time. Had you stay'd till now, you would have had the pleasure of hearing even my Cousin say—“ I am cold”—And the still greater pleasure

of

of being warm yourself; for I have had a fire in the study ever since you went. It is the fault of our summers that they are hardly ever warm or cold enough. Were they warmer we should not want a fire, and were they colder we should have one.

I have twice seen and conversed with Mr. J—————. He is witty, intelligent, and agreeable beyond the common measure of men who are so. But it is the constant effect of a spirit of party to make those hateful to each other, who are truly amiable in themselves.

Beau sends his love; he was melancholy the whole day after your departure.

LETTER CXVII.

To SAMUEL ROSE, Esqr.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

W. C.

Weston, Sept. 11, 1788.

It

The hamper is come, and come safe; and the contents I can affirm on my own knowledge, are excellent. chanced that another hamper and a box came by the same conveyance, all which I unpacked and expounded in the hall; my Cousin sitting mean time on the stairs, spectatress of the business. We

VOL. I.

X x

diverted

diverted ourselves with imagining the manner in which Homer would have described the scene. Detailed in his circumstantial way, it would have furnished materials for a paragraph of considerable length in an Odyssey.

The straw-stuff'd hamper with his ruthless steel
He open'd, cutting sheer th' inserted cords
Which bound the lid and lip secure.

Forth came

The rustling package first, bright straw of wheat,
Or oats, or barley: next a bottle green
Throat-full, clear spirits the contents, distill'd
Drop after drop odorous, by the art

Of the fair Mother of his friend,—the Rose.

And so on.

I should rejoice to be the hero of such a tale in the hands of Homer.

You will remember, I trust, that when the state of your health or spirits calls for rural walks and fresh air, you have always a retreat at Weston.

We are all well, all love you, down to the very dog; and shall be glad to hear that you have exchanged languor for alacrity, and the debility that you mention, for indefatigable vigour.

Mr. Throckmorton has made me a handsome present; Vil

loisson's

loisson's edition of the Iliad, elegantly bound by Edwards. If I live long enough, by the contributions of my friends, I shall once more be possessed of a library.

LETTER CXVIII.

To JOSEPH HILL, Esqr.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

W. C.

Dec. 18, 1789.

The present appears to me a wonderful period in the history of mankind. That nations so long contentedly slaves should on a sudden become enamoured of liberty, and understand, as suddenly, their own natural right to it, feeling them selves at the same time inspired with resolution to assert it, seems difficult to account for from natural causes. With respect to the final issue of all this, I can only say, that if, having discovered the value of liberty, they should next discover the value of peace, and lastly, the value of the word of God, they will be happier than they ever were since the rebellion of the first pair, and as happy as it is possible they should be in the present life.

Most sincerely yours,

W. C.

X x 2

LETTER