LETTER III ^„' O 



Letter 3. 

 To Mr. Gilbert White, Lead's Abbey, 



at Oriel College, Oxford. Sepr. 4, 1744. 



Dear Gil : 



Tho' You owe me a Letter, yet it is necessary for me to be 

 before hand with You, that You may know that on Friday next 

 we set out for London, so that if you please to write to me (which 

 your not having done already puts me into some Concern for 

 your health,) you must direct to me at the old place, King square 

 Court. The ill-health of the Lady we are with, and ye great 

 Solitariness, with regard to Visitants, which is ye Consequence 

 of it, so entirely disagree with ye Temper of our Family, which 

 you know in me is very social, that we can bear the Abbey no 

 longer : I wish you could again escape to Town, to try how you 

 could be receiv'd by us there, & hear me tell you how tiresome 

 your absence is to me. You could be troublesome to nobody but 

 my Father ; & my Mother is so very fond of You, that whether 

 or no You might not create a Jealousy in Him is a Question : 

 yet come & see your new Conquest, you may approve her ; she 

 has sense, for she likes you ; I don't think you will dislike her 

 Conversation, there are few Subjects that She can't talk on : 

 which tho' all women love to do, few do well; but some carry 

 an Excuse in their faces, ye ugly are inexcusable. Bear with 

 me, while I praise my Mother, 'tis an unfashionable pleasure, 

 but it is always one to me, & for that Reason I know You will 

 indulge me. 



The Harvest is in with us, & we are generally, I have ob- 

 serv'd in Kent, pretty backward : I suppose Treufle is in high 

 Favour now, He is in Season, & by this time has beat round all 

 ye Mannor, where you obtain'd Leave to shoot. Here is a Dog, 

 a particular Favourite of mine, that I wish I could convey to 

 You ; you will laugh when I, who am even less a Judge of ye 

 virtues of a Spaniel than I am of those of a man, tell you that 

 I admir'd him for those that I fancied He was possess'd of : But 

 the Coachman's better Judgement has confirm'd mine. He is 

 black & white, has a bob Tail, a short thick back, a Leg not too 

 long for Strength, a very pert Face — but oh ! — no Ears. His 

 name is Luck, & He carries ye day with me, before Fly, Spring 

 & Turpin ye Greyhounds, Patch ye Spaniel, or Smoaker ye Hog- 

 Dog, tho' they are very well in their way. He is very jealous 

 of my Favour, which agreably flatters my Vanity, for I am 

 resolv'd to be convinc'd that He has a good Understanding. 



Tell me how You all go on at Oxford, how does Scrope, 

 Carter, &c : &c : Tell me if Jenny* has resum'd her Empire, & 



* Miss Jenny Croke, daughter of a Mrs. Croke, of Oxford, who sometimes 

 received rents for Gilbert White's grandmother, Mrs. White, who had house 

 property there. 



