319 



yours in London to call on Messrs. Cadell and Da- 

 vies in your name, they will have directions to deliver 

 him a copy of a poem called " The Press," written 

 by my printer here, and published as a specimen of 

 typography, which for the excellence of its mecha- 

 nical execution, and the beauty of the engravings on 

 wood, will certainly gratify the eye, whatever may 

 be its effect on the understanding, about which I 

 really believe the author himself is less anxious than 

 about the sharpness of his letter and the blackness 

 of his ink. 



It would be heretical to conclude without a single 

 word about botanical pursuits. Two of our new 

 houses are completed and filled with plants, and the 

 other five will now soon be finished. Shepherd says 

 we may challenge all the kingdom in point both of 

 elegance and convenience. He desired that when I 

 wrote I would inform you that the Willows are 

 safely arrived, for which, in the name of my brethren 

 and myself, I beg to return you our best acknow- 

 ledgements. 



We join in every kind wish to Mrs. Smith and 

 yourself. 



Your very faithful Friend, 



W. Roscoe. 



I am highly delighted with your song : the two lines, 



" Yon speck in night's retiring veil, 

 None but a lover's eyes could spy," 



are not excelled in poetry, feeling, and picturesque 

 truth, by any passage I know. If this be your first 

 attempt, you ought to exclaim, in the words of a 



