LETTER XLIII . . 79 



Letter 43. 



Sunbury, 



March 26, 1754. 

 Dear Gil : 



Am I to suppose that your Life has in it a great deal of 

 Sameness, or a great Variety, that You are so bad a Corres- 

 pondent? The first might make You imagine that I should 

 receive little pleasure from your account of it ; & the latter 

 would not give You Leizure to tell it. But You know. You 

 wretch, that at all events I should be glad to hear of You rather 

 oft'ner than I do. I was in Town about three Weeks ago, & 

 there saw your Brother Jack, & a very smart Parson He makes. 

 He knew nothing of You & your Motions : Meanwhile You are 

 like a Comet, who in your secreto Itinere & certo Errore are 

 sucking in little Worlds of Knowledge & Funds of Light, with 

 which when You roll this way You are to astonish & eclipse Us 

 wth your Blaze. You will perceive by this furious fine Simile 

 that my head must have been out of order lately; indeed it has 

 been so bad, that I was set up wth all the Night before last. 

 And I have now lost one of my Eecipes for it, & a favourite One 

 wth You, & that is, my Horse. You told me I might as well 

 think of selling my Vicarage, & truly I get little more here than 

 Hip and Headach, so that who knows what may go next ? But 

 I know now You are very angry, & cry pish. I am going to 

 reconcile myself to You by Degrees. It will be your Fault if I 

 am not on Horseback again soon. Jenny was grown so very lame, 

 that I did not give her up 'till all the Neighbourhood assured 

 me that I ventured my Neck every time I rode. As to the Shame 

 of being seen on a lame Horse, I had outrode it. All this Frost 

 She has not been able to stir, & has stood in ye Stable eating my 

 two Feeds a Day ; while I have been at the Expense of Coach 

 Hire to get to Town. This You will own is rather too much. 

 I took a last Ride on the poor dear Beast on Fryday to Laleham 

 where I heard of a Horse to be sold : It was an excellent chair 

 Horse but too strong for my riding. So I resolved (if You will 

 undertake it, & can spare the Money, 'till I can reimburse You) 

 to make You ray Dealer. You know what I want ; & yet I 

 must give some little Hints of what I should chuse, & what I 

 dislike. The Size then must be about fourteen Hands ; She 

 must be easy pliant of Limb, & not peck & set ; not too bellied & 

 coarse ; nor at all Events of a grey or white Colour ; Bay, or 

 brown with a red muzzle, are my choice. Of all things not a 

 Runaway & ill-tempered, yet by no means void of Courage & 

 Blood ; that if She ever makes a false Step, (which any Horse 

 may chance to do,) She may be up, as it were, before She is 

 down ; which was the Spirit of poor Jenoy. Now there are in 

 my Language about Horses, in which I do not speak, ye Jockey, 



