LETTER CXLII 233 



answer it because I could not determine your Quaeies. But as 

 I find that I am not likely to be able to answer them all soon, 

 I may as well undertake what I can, for I hate to deferr 

 addressing You for a long Time, tho' I think You have not the 

 same Abhorrence. 



I have not settled my Matters at "Witney wth Mr Weston, 

 nor have I reed my Goods from thence ; I was there ten Days, 

 and took Leave of my Parishioners, from whom I have not heard 

 one word since, tho' I have been in daily Expectation of it. Meon- 

 stoke Parsonage House remains as it did, unfurnished, desolate. 

 It appears to have been miserably neglected by the last Incum- 

 bent ; & to be as ruinous as a House so lately built is capable of 

 being. Nevertheless the Situation is agreeable & the Mansion 

 commodious for a few, there being only four Eooms on a Floor : 

 The Eooms are rather low ; So is the look of the House in 

 Front ; but to ye Garden it has a good genteel Appearance, as 

 it is built on a Side of a Hill. This Front is view'd from the 

 Gosport Eoad (ye Turnpike) at about 17 miles from Alton, as 

 I am informed, tho' I shd hardly guess so much. As You love 

 your Friend, & Geography too, I imagine You will not leave this 

 Point in so undecided a State. 



My Garden displeases me much; for it is too large, & yet 

 unfruitfull ; & this was the Case of my last. It has not one 

 Barrow of Gravell in it, so that I shall be at a Loss how to stir 

 out Mornings & Bvgs & after Showers ; & the Country is a Clay 

 & very greazy. My fore Parlour &c look agst a dull Hill, the 

 Back Eooms have not a Prospect, but an agreeable rural view : 

 which in my old age I like better, as I grow less & less romantic. 

 I cannot tell you the value of my Living. If Nicholls let it for 

 £420 He had his Curate to pay : There are great deductions. 

 I have the hatefull Circumstance of a cum Capelld de Soberton. 

 My Church at a Mile's Distance, & my Chapell at three : I 

 lose by the Exchange considerably, but I have the Convenience 

 of Vicinity, which is a great Consideration to a Man wth a 

 family : It will, I trust, repay me in the long run. In it's most 

 extended Value it stands at £475, including House, Glebe, &c. 

 But this is between Ourselves. I give Sixty Guineas & Surplice 

 Fees to my Curate : I found him there, a Mr Gregory ; a good 

 modest looking, sober young Man. I know little of his clerical 

 Performances, as I did the whole Duty when I was there. I 

 pray God that I may live to make this Exchange a Blessing to 

 my family, for it is for them only that I am carefull. 



We are in full Business at Winchester; It is our Chapter. 

 I hear that our Eents are like to fall very short this Time, which 

 is inconvenient. I am almost dead with a Eotation of great 

 Dinners : I have a large Company today & the Head Ach into 

 the Bargain. Tomorrow at the Deanery we shall be above 30. 



