LBTTEE XIV 21 



Letter 14. 



To the Eeverend Mr Gilbert White Sunbury, 



at Bradly near Alresford, Hampshire. August 8, 1749. 



Dear Gil : 



You may justly wonder why I have delay'd answering 

 your last Epistle (whose Elegance & genteel Turn we could not 

 sufficiently admire) when in it You expressly desire me to answer 

 it immediately. But You will cease to wonder or to blame when 

 I tell You ye Keason. It was impossible to settle ye Day for 

 our Oxford Expedition because I could not get my Church serv'd, 

 so this deferr'd my writing some Time, because I wanted to tell 

 You in it the very Time, & to describe our Plan of Action, But 

 alas ! here we are still, & the dear, ye favourite Scheme lost in 

 air ! Miss Young has been sick, but that's not ye Eeason. Heck 

 has been ill, — but that's not ye cause : In short it is a very 

 serious & melancholy one. Jack Y : has fallen into bad Company, 

 has gam'd, & to support it I'un deeply into Debt ; & having taken 

 some very shabby Methods of rising money, by inveigling it with 

 various Pretences out of his Father's Friends & his own, reduc'd 

 Himself to so wretched a State when he came to reflect on it, 

 that he almost lost his Eeason : He took a Post Chaise to go to 

 Bristol ; what Scheme he had to execute there I cannot teU, but 

 He left a Note signifying that He should make away with Him- 

 self before assistance could come. But He was mistaken. Bill : 

 by his Father's Order follow'd & overtook Him 7 miles beyond 

 Marlboro' & brought Him back. Mr. Young has behav'd kindly 

 to Him, in order to compose his Mind ; but He is stubborn, & 

 will give no clear account of his Intentions. His Debts amount 

 to a very great Sum according to his present Confession, and it is 

 apprehended that He has not own'd all. Upon this, (ye rest of 

 which must be left to your Imagination) you may imagine Mr 

 Young has chang'd his Intention of giving us ye promis'd Jaunt. 

 He has not indeed said so ; but none of us think of it, as it would 

 be highly improper. His Spirits are much dejected, & indeed 

 this affair has affected the whole Family. He has a difficult 

 Task to manage ; for Jack has a violent Spirit & capable of ye 

 most terrible Extremes, at ye same Time that his Behaviour has 

 deserv'd severe Eeproach, & his Follies want ye tightest Eestric- 

 tion. I hope the same Friends will be able hereafter to make ye 

 same Party of Pleasure, and that at a Time when You can share 

 it with Them. The Thoughts that You could not be of our Party 

 now, took off a good deal of Satisfaction from every one in it. 

 We expect ye Circuiteers home on Fryday. I hope You have 

 receiv'd a great deal of Pleasure in your Sussex Expedition, & 

 left all Friends well there, and I am impatient to know how You 

 found Mr. White after having deserted Him so long, & all your 

 Friends in Hampshire. We think it a long Time since we saw 



