38 GILBERT WHITE OF SELBORNE 1744 



poet, who was first, and Joseph Warton, who was 

 second. Apparently he first made Gilbert White's 

 acquaintance at Oriel College, where Mulso was i 

 slightly the junior in standing. I 



Mulso frequently mentions his eldest brother, 

 Thomas, who married a Miss Prescott on the same 

 day (in 1760) that his only sister Hester married w 

 a friend of Richardson the novelist, one Chapone, 

 an attorney practising in the Temple. Another 

 brother, Edward (Ned) Mulso, who died in 1782 

 unmarried, is also often mentioned. With all the 

 members of this family Gilbert White was on terms 

 of affectionate intimacy. 



Writing from Leeds Abbey, near Maidstone, in 

 Kent, on July 18th, 1744, John Mulso says — 



Dear Gil, — I suppose that by this time you are returned 

 to Oxford to prove to the Orielenses how worthy you are to 

 be a Fellow, how compatible that title is with the character 

 of the gentleman, that without Formality Eespect may be 

 preserved, and that to depend does not always signifie to be 

 servile. I long to hear from you and to know the state of 

 that poor college, which I do not expect to see again these 

 many months. Let me know what sort of liberties you 

 are allowed, and who remains to share them with you 

 and make them sweeter. ... I saw Collins* in town, 

 he is entirely an author, and hardly speaks out of rule. I 

 hope his subscriptions go on well in Oxford. . . . My mother 

 loves you, you have a strong party in a family that you 

 never saw, but I claim your heart, and am, with sincerity, 

 Your affectionate friend and humble servant, 



J. MULSO. 



* The poet. 



