164 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 



very kind of you to take so much pains to compleat the 

 history of Zarizyn for a year. 



I return you my thanks for your making me your con- 

 fidant in a matter of so much moment as that of your taking 

 a wife*. You no doubt will make a prudent choice; and then 

 there will be a good prospect of your being happy in a state 

 where both parties must concur, to render the change agree- 

 able. As it is much the fashion now for the man and his wife 

 to set out on a visit as soon as the ceremony is over, we shall 

 be glad to see the lady and you here, where our new niece 

 will receive all proper respect and every attention from myself 

 and Mrs. J. White. Edm d 's wife made my nephews and 

 nieces 45 ; and we expect every day to hear that Mrs. Ben. 

 White has added one more to the number ; so that according 

 to appearances the lady we are talking of will be the 47 th . 



We have experienced a very dry and hot summer ; most 

 part of June w^as sultry : yet we had a good crop of hay, and 

 have a fine prospect for wheat, which is very tall and even : 

 the hops also look well ; but of late the pastures and meadows 

 burn, and the gardens suffer greatly. My grapes are very 

 forward, and the crop large. Plums we have none, and no 

 wasps yet. 



When I see you, you must tell me all the circumstances of 

 your long tour, which cannot fail to entertain. I only fear 

 that after your eyes have been stretched with the sight 

 of Skiddaw &c. you will despise the mole-hills of this 

 district, which once used to delight you so much. My in- 

 tended niece will I trust be pleased with our hanger and 

 prospects. Whitwell, 1 think, is a pretty situation. In the 

 year 1742 I spent a very pleasant vacation there. Tell your 

 mother that on the 10 th of this month she and I shall have a 

 new sister. Verses have been written on ladies' eye brows ; 

 but you talk of the beauty of y r Mrs.'s eye-lashes : in that 

 matter, as far as I remember, you speak like a Turk. 



Now you talk of ladies, can you repeat " pretty, pretty 

 Peggy Haggitt " three times in a breath ? 



* [Mr. Samuel Barker married Miss Haggitt, daughter of .a gentleman 

 of Northamptonshire. T. B.] 



