THE LETTERS 



TO 



GILBERT WHITE OF SELBORNE 



FROM 



HIS INTIMATE FRIEND AND CONTEMPORARY 



THE REV. JOHN MULSO. 



Letter 1. 



To Mr. Gilbert White Leeds Abby near Maidstone, 



at Oriel Coll : Oxford. July 18, 1744. 



Dear Gil, 



Q I suppose that by this Time you are return'd to Oxford* 

 to prove to ye Orielenses how worthy you are to be a fellow, 

 how compatible that Title is with ye Character of ye Gentleman, 

 that without Formality Eespect may be preserv'd & that to 

 depend does not always signifie to be servile. I long to hear 

 from You & to know ye State of that poor College, which I do 

 not expect to see again these many months. Let me know what 

 sort of Liberties you are aliow'd, & who remains to share theni 

 with you & make them sweeter : Scrope I take for granted is ye 

 chief of those whom you condescend to honour, & I fancy He 

 every day convinces You that your Loss would have been irre- 

 parable, had He never recovered his accident. — But I suppose 

 You have a Curiosity to know something about me : I am at Mrs. 

 Meredith's at Leed's Abbey in Kent : The House extremely 

 large, but it has few Traces of an Abbey, here are large Apart- 

 ments neatly furnish'd & a Gallery above 70 foot long fill'd 

 with family pictures, of which however I must own there is not 

 one tolerable to a Man of your Gusto : a large Garden well 

 stock' d with Fruit and adorn' d with Fountains, Cascades, & 

 Canals : a most romantic wood behind it with large Fish ponds : 



* Gilbert White had recently been elected Fellow and was keeping his 

 probationary year's residence at Oriel. 



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