258 LETTERS TO GILBERT WHITE 



nevertheless, try — for ye Devil of Taste will haunt You in your 

 Sleep — " Aude aliquid — Carcere dignum'\ It will go off in one 

 Fit of Pride of yoicr Performance. 



I am going to see whether ye Hambledonian has furnished 

 me wth another Flower that will puzzle You. Come & see. I 

 beleive 1 have a great deal to say to You. Old Friends cannot 

 meet without Confab : — I constantly feel a Disposition to welcome 

 You, being ever. 



My dear Gil, Your's afftely 



J. Mulso. 



Comps. from All here to All there as Ld Mayor Beckford 

 would have said. 



We have been very sorry for ye Danger of your Neighbour 

 Sr Simeon : But we hear now that he will do well. I fancy 

 You All in Joy about it ; as, when ye old one goes there seldom 

 comes a Better. A Minority would better suit ye Estate, than 

 the Friends of Sr Simeon, or ye County. Farewell, or I shall 

 grow baggy. Adl Young & ye Lieutt are tilting over ye vast 

 Atlantic for ye Leeward Islands. 



LetUr 163. 



Reverend Mr White Meonstoke, 



at Selbourne near Alton, Hants. July 8, '75. 



Dear Gil : 



I do not know that I ever made a Visit more to my Satis- 

 faction than This that I have just finished to You, because it 

 seemed to be perfectly agreeable to ye Host & the Guest. I 

 thank You for your affectionate Reception, & the Pleasures that 

 You gave me. You have a double Felicity in your Manner of 

 Entertainment ; You can gratify your Visitors both wth beauti- 

 full Originals, & high Descriptions ; Representations studiously 

 copied from Nature & finished with a Masterly Hand. As You 

 intend your Works for ye Public, I would not say so much in a 

 Strain of Flattery ; for tho' I would not tell an Author how 

 much I disliked his Productions, yet I might slubber them over 

 with a hasty careless Compliment, or lose them in Silence. Even 

 the Author of ye Philosophical Arrangements, tho' a Student 

 of a very different Class, would join me in applauding your Per- 

 formances; because they have a Niceness & precision in them, 

 that He is remarkeable for in his own Way. You have happily 

 grounded Ethics on a stable & beautifuU Basis, ye Works of God ; 

 & your Figures formed from naked & genuine Beauty, beat every 

 finical Composition that would fascinate ye Judgement by adven- 

 titious Ornament. This is my real Opinion of your Work. But 



