118 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 



I have been spending some days at my Bro. Ben's new 

 house at S. Lambeth, which is very commodious and very 

 handsomely furnished. The rooms are rather small ; but my 

 Bro. has removed the partition between the two parlors, and 

 so has made one good sitting room : he has besides an other 

 parlor below and a drawing room above stairs of 27 feet in 

 length ; but it is narrow. This room my sister has furnished 

 in a splendid manner. In short they, who have eleven children, 

 shame me who have none and yet make a pother about 

 building one room. Nanny recovers very fast by living in 

 the country ; and my sister looks much the better for being 

 out of town. In short this house will probably lengthen all 

 their days. Poor Berriman lies in the same sad state ! 

 Farmer Parsons has been near death with a fever; but is 

 better. Abram Loe is dead and has left a widow and five 

 small children. Farmer Turner has left his ale-house and is 

 retired to his new house. He is before this, I trust, marry ed 

 to his House-keeper Rose Rawkins : the Bridegroom is 71, 

 and the bride 69 ! I used to say that female beauty does not 

 last above a century ; but now 1 begin to retract. 



(On the same sheet with the following to " Sam " and to 

 Mr. Barker.) 



LETTER XVI. 



TO SAMUEL BARKER. 



Thames Street, Feb. 7, 1776. 

 DEAR SAM, 



I THANK you for your kind and* intelligent letter ; but you 

 never told me whether the good people of Lyndon burn rushes 

 or not, nor what you think of my amendment of 'murmur 

 electricum of Linn. Dr. Hales, in Veget. Statics, settles the 

 point from experiment that the moister earth is, the more dew 

 it attracts, and that a surface of water attracts more moisture 

 from the air than a surface of moist earth. I wish I could 



