142 liETT^lS TO GILBERT WHITB 



I have been ill of late wth my nervous Headaches, but 

 am now better again. Your Friend Dr Fry is going away this 

 week, & has let his House to a Jew : I am sorry for the Neigh- 

 bour's going, & the Neighbour's Coming. If your Hurry is over, 

 write oft'ner, & do not defraud Us of a great Pleasure. 



I am, Dear Gil, Afiftely Your's, 



J. M. 



Letter 84. 



Sunbury, 



May 7, 1769. 

 Dear Gil : 



Your very kind Invitation to Selbourne has put Mrs 

 Mulso & Myself into a great Fuss; because it has aroused all 

 our Inclinations to that agreable Retirement & heighten'd them 

 into Desires, but it has likewise made Us find a great many 

 Difficulties, which will make this Letter no satisfactory & deter- 

 minate answer to Your's. If We come (which I assure You We 

 desire no less than You do) We shall stay for no little Time ; 

 & two Things discourage this Absence ; Mr Young's Im- 

 patience, which We aie afraid of ; & the Leaving our little 

 Girl ; who being employed in the arduous Business of cutting 

 Teeth, may be sick & recall Us, if not prevent Us : tho' at 

 present She has got Five, & is very well. Then I must tell You 

 (but whisper that) that in Spite of what You heard of Mrs Mulso 

 in the Winter, She behaves very ill in a Morning ; & it is a 

 Quaere, which You that are a Naturalist must settle, whether 

 Danger or Advantage would accrue from mounting Hills & climb- 

 ing Stiles in her undetermined State. And I cannot say that 

 I would willingly treat You either wth a Miscarriage or a Groan- 

 ing; tho' to be sure we were very well taken Care of at the 

 Bishop's in the first of these Cases. In short, Mrs Mulso sends 

 her Love to You, & desires You not to think her Lady-like & 

 coy, if She desires You, as yet, not to hope, — yet not to despair. 

 I should think your best way would be to take your Horse one 

 of these days, & come some of your sly Ways, which I beleive 

 are now inexpressibly green, & determine for Us this Point, & 

 convince Mr Y: how good it would be for Us, & what a fine 

 Opportunity of having our Parlour painted. 



As to Nutfield, I have now a Letter in my Pocket, which, 

 (if I understand it right, as I very much doubt, it being perfectly 

 Law Language) informs me that if I & my Patroness had lived 

 but one hundred Years ago. She would have had an undoubted 

 Right to give & I to possess the Living ; but that for Want of 

 a proper Seizing at a Crisis (for this same ipTray/iSs is of won- 

 derfull Energy in Law) the Right slipp'd away into another 



