220 LETTERS TO GILBERT WHITE 



is very ill & obliged to go into Lodgings at Chelsea, & is in a very 

 dangerous way, tho' always revived by Country Air. 



Letter 134. 



To the Keverend Mr "White, Witney, 



at Selborne near Alton, Hants. March 18, 1770. 



Dear Gil: 



Tho' it is a great while since I have written to You, I do 

 not know that You have been much a Loser by it. A Winter is 

 now become a serious Thing to me, who find that I cannot get 

 thro' it, without Sufferings of one Kind or Another. Yet it is 

 most certain that my Constitution has undergone some Change 

 and that I am not subject to such frequent Eeturns of nervous 

 Fits as I was. But I have been long ill with a Giddiness in my 

 Head, for which I have gone thro' the whole Circuit of Physio 

 internal & external. I am now better, but not well enough to 

 lie down in my Bed without a Whirl, or to look Up to any Object 

 without being ready to fall. I have therefore been obliged to 

 discontinue any Study that requires a Chain of Thought; & 

 writing to any Length. I gain Strength gradually, & hope, if 

 the Weather would favour Us, to throw off the Remains by 

 walking a good deal in ye Air. But I have bethought me that 

 as the Easter is not far off, your Time is near to have a Call to 

 Oriell, & if so, I hope You will take some Time for a Visit at 

 Witney. You may there enliven my Hours, & enlarge my Ideas ; 

 and You who ascertain every thing, may ascertain my Health ; 

 for I am but as Grass & as the Flower of the Field. 



Dr Sandford of All Souls spent last Fryday with Us & took 

 a Bed in his way home from Oxford. He has had a very long & 

 severe Illness, & we all thought him gone. But after wearying 

 Medicine, he has been at Bath, & it has restored him prodigiously, 

 he is going again next Week. He recovers his health & quaint 

 Look. I see more of him than of any of my old Acquaintances. 

 He is really a worthy man, & I have felt a sincere Regret at the 

 Thought of his Death, which appeared very likely to happen. 

 The Doctor saw our Concern, & it has endeared Us to him. 



I had Hope of sending You a pretty good Account of Mrs 

 Mulso ; but unfortunately a Cold She caught yesterday in visiting 

 a sick Neighbour has given her so violent a Toothach, that She 

 has been in agonies & in Fits all Night, & is not yet out of her 

 Bed ; & what is worse, the Pain has laid Hold of a Stump, that 

 She dares not confide to the Care of any of our Witney Operators. 

 But She hopes to come out with the Butterflies & to be ready to 

 receive You with great Pleasure, when You let us know that we 

 may expect You. 



The Secret is out with regard to the Old Man of ye Hill. My 



