LETTER LXXV 129 



Letter 75. 



Sunbury, 



April 17, 1758. 

 Dear Gil : 



Tho' upon looking upon your last Letter I find the Date of 

 it March ye 14th yet I cannot reproach myself with not having 

 answered it before, I have had many things upon my Hands, 

 more upon my Mind. Did You come now to Sunbury to visit 

 your Friend Mrs Mulso, alass, it must be a bedside Visit ! Both 

 my Child & my Wife have harrassed my Spirit wth the most 

 cruel apprehensions ; but I thank God the worst is past. The 

 Child is likely to live & my Wife is in a better way than She was. 

 Twice her Breast has been cut in a most severe Way after the 

 Pain and Feaver that attended Suppuration ; on Saturday it was 

 opened wth a Caustic, much ye least severe Operation ; we are 

 still apprehensive, tho' willing to hope ye best, of another 

 Gathering. She is thin & weak, but I thank God has her old 

 Spirits ; a little Ease sets them up, & She has gone thro' the 

 whole wth a Eesolution & Eesignation which has dignified her 

 character to me still more, tho' I before thought that I held it in 

 the highest Estimation. My Sister has been with Us thro' the 

 Whole ; I have not had a Place in my House to lay my Head in 

 for a long Time : if You come this Way in your Journey to 

 Town, You must scramble for what You can get, there is no 

 White Eoom at present, & I fear will not by the Time you men- 

 tion ; I have one Lady in my House more than I had ; She is 

 small indeed, but takes up more room & gives more Trouble than 

 all ye rest, her name is Jane Mulso. 



I returned in a Post Chaise on Fryday from Salisbury, to 

 which Place I set out ye Fryday before in ye Stage & had two of 

 the most tedious Days that I have born a great while. My 

 Spirits low & my Bones battered. I had been installed by my 

 Proxy Dr. Blake before, so I road in & took Possession of my 

 Stall of Alton Australe or Alton Pancrass Value £20 pr an : wth 

 little probability of Fines and Renewals. But I have stepp'd in, 

 & intend to be very busy wth my Elbows. 



Scrope wrote me a very friendly Lr lately, & lodged some 

 Papers relating to my Prebend in ye Hands of Dr Gilbert ; the 

 late Prebendary was a Mr Lumby a Relation of his. I must 

 shorten my Letter to go & take ye Oaths at ye Qr Sessions, which 

 are held today at ye George Inn here. My Aunt Thomas has 

 been dying, but is better at her Lodgings at Kensington. Mr 

 Young pretty well. Fortunately for Us Bill Young is just come 

 from N : America & has attended my Wife in ye greatest Part of 

 this Misfortune. I am sorry to hear that Mr White suffers so 

 much ; we honour him extremely ; I find great Pleasure in ye 



