60 GILBEET WHITE OF SELBOENE mo 



and* advertised, I see, and will be out 



in February. I heartily wish he may give no reason 



for complaint with respect to religious matters: in other 



respects he will be secure of fame. 



If I was to meet Gen. Arnold f I should address him 



thus : — 



" But wherefore thou alone ? wherefore with thee 

 Came not all ? ♦ ♦ * ♦ 



* * * ' had'st thou alledg'd 



To thy deserted host this cause of flight 

 Thou surely had'st not come sole fugitive." 



I am, with due respect, 



Your most humble servant, 

 Gil. White. 



Mr. G.[ibbon], I understand, will draw a comparison be- 

 tween Xstianity papal, and Mohammedism ; and indeed I 

 am at a loss to say which will make the most hideous 

 picture. I mean the popery of the darker ages. 



To the Bev, B. Churton. Selborne, Dec. 19, 1780. 



Dear Sir, — By your letter of the 14th to D'^ Chandler, 

 which the D"^ has communicated to me, I am glad to find 

 that you are so well disposed to make me a visit, and hope 

 you will meet with no interruption. You will not, I hope, 

 over-stay this unprecedented run of fine weather, that has 

 befallen us now for more than three weeks, without rain, 

 wind, or frost! 



If you have a friend in London to whom you can send 

 your portmanteau, then you need only desire him to direct 

 it for you "at the Eevd. Mr. W. at Selborne, to be left at 

 the Swan-Inn at Alton, by the Southampton coach," which 



* Letter imperfect. The missing words, no doubt, referred to the second 

 and third volumes of Gibbon's History, which was published in April, 1781. 



t Benedict Arnold, an American general, in 1780 fled precipitately to the 

 British lines, after his plot to betray his countrymen at West Point had 

 been discovered. 



