278 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 



LETTER XI. 



WHITE TO MAKSHAM. 



Selborne : Mar. 20th, 1792. 



Deak Sir, 

 You, in a mild way, complain a little of Procrastination : bat 

 I, who have suffered all my life long by that evil power, call 

 her the Dcemon of Procrastination ; & wish that Fuseli, the 

 grotesque painter in London, who excells in drawing witches, 

 daemons, incubus's & incantations, was employed in delineating 

 this ugly hag, which fascinates in some measure the most 

 determined & resolute of men. 



You do not, I find, seem to assent to my story respecting 

 Mr. ChiswelPs elm. There may be probably some misappre- 

 hension on my side. I will therefore allow Mr. Ch. that 

 priviledge which every Englishman demands as his right, the 

 liberty of speaking for himself. " In regard to my tree," 

 says he, " it is a Wych Elm, perfectly strait, & fit for the keel 

 of the largest man of war. The purveyor of the navy offered 

 my late Uncle £50 for it, altho' it would have cost as much 

 more to have conveyed it to Portsmouth ; & he would have 

 run all risque of soundness. It grows about eleven miles 

 from Safron Walden, in a deep soil, & near 30 from Cam- 

 bridge, the nearest place for water-carriage. I will measure 

 it next summer." — He adds, " I have been, & am a consider- 

 able planter ; & have been honoured with three gold medals 

 from the Society of Arts," &c. Thus far Mr. Ch. 



As I begin to look upon You as a Selborne man, at least as 

 one somewhat interested in the concerns of this place; I wish 

 that You could see " The sixth Report of the Commissioners 

 appointed to enquire into the state & condition of the Woods, 

 Forests, &c. of the Crown," &c. This Report was printed 

 February, 1790; tho' never published: but distributed among 

 fche members of the house of commons from some of whom 



