72 LETTERS TO GILBBBT WHITE 



Letter 39. 



Sunbuiy. 



Oct : 18, 1763. 

 Dear Gil, 



As you have used me ill in neglecting to write to Me of a 

 long Time ; I am therefore become Superior ; & as it is incumbent 

 upon Him that is stout to be mercifull, so in consideration of my 

 own character I do myself the Honour to forgive You. I am 

 well pleased to hear from Yourself that You are settled for a 

 Time & in a Place to your Liking ; I had a Hint of your Design 

 (tho' not the Name of the Place) from Scrope, who made me 

 a short Visit. I, who came to attend your Glory, when You 

 glisten'd in your velvet & powder'd your grand wig every Day, 

 find an equal Desire to wait upon the Weather-beaten Curate of 

 Durley,* in his dirty Boots & dripping Bob. 



Omnis Aristippum decuit Color, & Status, & Ees. You are 

 the Philosopher. Indeed I envy more your being equal to your 

 present Employ than your former, for Health is the first earthly 

 Blessing. I am heartily glad to find that you are so stout. I 

 remember the hospitality of Gibson + in our way to Gosport from 

 Winchester, & beg my Service to Him & his Lady. I likewise 

 remember the romantic Scene which You mention in your Letter, 

 which paid me for being more than half starved in going to see 

 it. The Woodcocks which You speak of will be an acceptable 

 Present, as I am very fond of them. As to the Commissioner 

 in King Square Court, I have not seen Him or His this Month 

 past. Mr & Miss Young have been going & going from Hampton 

 at different Times, but are not gone yet. Next week I fancy they 

 will go, & I shall be left to set alone in my new Painted Parlour ; 

 which when used by my self only, gives me about as much Joy 

 as the Thought of lining my Coffin w«a white Satten. I wish 

 You could come to comfort me in my forlorn State. I shall 

 make frequent Escapes to Town, 'till it pleases Providence to 

 settle me in a married State & then I really beleive I shall be 

 as domestic & constant as the Yew Tree in a Church Yard; at 

 least it must be the Love of my Friends & not the Love of the 

 Place that will draw me to London. 



The Bishop & his Family set out tomorrow to attend the 

 Motions of the Princes, who are going for the Winter ; so that 

 my rides to Kew which have been many are pretty near at an 

 End, & I must make my Eide above Seven miles longer, for 

 Kew Ferry is a little above Six Miles from Hyde Park Corner. 

 I hop about a little still, but I long for a better Horse, tho' not 

 an easier. I certainly do not ride in Safety, & therefore now & 



• Near Bishop's Waltham, Hants, 

 t Eector of Bishop's Waltham, with whom Qilbert White boarded. 



