AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 219 



Are you a Whiteist; or a Badcockist? for I hear every 

 man in Oxford must be one or the other. 1 can tell you how 

 you may do Edm d White a good office. When he and wife 

 were in Oxford, last summer, they quartered at the Bear-inn, 

 where they left behind them the first vol. of the first edition of 

 Diltys prose elegant extracts : it is a very odd-shaped vol. in 

 4 to , somewhat like a music book. If you could recover this 

 book, it would be received with thanks. 



Mrs. J. Wh. and I join in respects to you and James Etty; 

 and in best wishes to Mr. Ventris, who, we hope, is re- 

 covering his health and strength very fast. When does Bp. 

 W. Smith, yr founder, appear ? We long to see you a bio- 

 grapher, and to read the result of your painful and curious 

 enquiries. 



Yr obliged and humble servant, 



GIL. WHITE. 



When you write, present my respects to Dr. Loveday and 

 Dr. Townson. How I wish that we had such a man as either 

 of them living at Selborne ! 



LETTER XX. 



FROM MR. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 



Brasen-Nose, Dec. 13, 1789. 



DEAR SIR, 



YOUR excellent letter deserves a much better answer than I 

 have time or ability to honour it with. But I can assure you 

 of one thing, which you, in your kindness to your friends, will 

 be glad to hear of. I depended upon having the pleasure, 

 V.D., of spending my Christmas at Selborne before your 

 obliging invitation arrived, and on that account declined Dr. 

 Loveday's invitation to pass the holidays at Williamscot, 

 where, however, I hope to be for two nights towards the latter 

 part of this week, and then, after speaking twenty pounds 



