206 HENRY KIRKE WHITE S REMAINS. 



written to the Duchess of Devonshire, and he took the 

 liberty (certainly an unwarrantable one) to mention it 



to , whose was inscribed to her Grace, Mr 



said, that unless I had got a friend to deliver the 



poems, personally , into the hands of her Grace, it was 

 a hundred to one that they ever reached her ; that the 

 porter at the lodge burns scores of letters and packets a 

 day, and particularly all letters by the twopenny post 

 are consigned to the fire. The rest, if they are not par- 

 ticularly excepted, as inscribed with a^^ass name on the 

 back, are thrown into a closet, to be reclaimed at leisure. 

 He said, the way he proceeded was this : — He left his 

 card at her door, and the next day called, and was ad- 

 mitted. Her Grace then gave him permission, with this 

 proviso, that the dedication was as short as possible, and 

 contained no compliments, as the Duke had taken offence 

 at some such compliments. 



Now, as my letter was delivered by you at the door, I 

 have scarcely a doubt that it is classed with the penny- 

 post letters, and burnt. If my manuscripts are destroyed 

 I am ruined, but I hope it is otherwise. However. I 

 think you had better call immediately, and ask for a 

 parcel of Mr H. White of Nottingham. They will, of 

 course, say they have no such parcel ; and then, per- 

 haps, you may have an opportunity of asking whether a 

 packet, left in the manner you left mine, had any pro- 

 bability of reaching the Duchess. If you obtain no satis- 

 faction, there remains no way of re-obtaining my volume 

 but this (and I fear you will never agree to put it in exe- 

 cution) : to leave a card, with your name inscribed (Mr 

 J. N. White), and call the next day. If you are ad- 

 mitted, you will state to her Grace the purport of your 

 errand, ask for a volume of poems in manuscript, sent 

 by your brother a fortnight ago, with a letter (say from 

 Nottingham, as a reason why I do not wait on her), re- 

 questing permission of dedication to her ; and that as 

 you found her Grace had not received them, you had 

 taken the liberty, after many inquiries at her door, to re- 

 quest to see her in person. 



I hope your diffidence will not be put to this test ; I 



