TO THE BISHOP OF LINCOLN. 177 



cannot but flatter myself that the collection of MSS. which I have 

 formed is one of the most valuable ever sent at one time to England. 

 As Your Lordship will conceive I am somewhat anxious for its safe 

 arrival, I believe I shall transmit the box to Lord Keith, to whom 

 Lord Elgin will write, with a request to have it sent forward to 

 \ England. With respect to myself, my Lord, I wished to set off im- 

 mediately (in company with Mr. Hunt, who has been a zealous 

 assistant in my researches) for Mount Athos, in order to examine 

 the libraries in the different Greek convents there ; and as we go with 

 every recommendation that we could wish, perhaps we may not be 

 less successful in the acquirement of MSS. at the holy mountain than 

 in other places of the same description. From Athos, we mean to go 

 to Salonica ; and from thence, if possible, to the monasteries on the 

 Peneus. We shall then proceed, by the most celebrated spots ot 

 Thessaly, Doris, Phocis, and Boeotia, to Attica and Athens : from 

 thence I shall cross the Isthmus to Patras ; and so get home, either 

 by Malta or Trieste, by sea or by land, as circumstances may admit. 

 I confess, my Lord, I cannot write that word home without feeling a 

 sensation which all the classic grounds I have just mentioned (though 

 I believe I shall visit them with as much enthusiasm as most persons) 

 can never convey : with what delight shall I return to it, convinced 

 as I always was from reasoning, and now am from experience, that 

 it is the only country where religion, liberty, or happiness can be 

 found ! 



I have the honor to be, &c. &c. 



I. D. Carlyle. 



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