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LETTER XI. 
[White to Marsham.] 
Selborne : Mar. 20th, 1792. 
Dear Sir, 
You, in a mild way, complain a little of Procras- 
tination : but I, who have suffered all my life long by that evil 
power, call her the Daemon of Procrastination ; & wish that 
Fuseli j 1 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 fmd, seem to assent to my story respecting Mr. 
Chiswell’s elm. There may be probably some misapprehension 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 Cambridge, the nearest place for water-carriage. I will 
measure it next summer.” — He adds, “ I have been, & am a 
considerable 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 the members of the house 
of commons from some of whom You may borrow it, as I have 
done. This curious survey will inform you, from the best authority, 
of all the circumstances respecting the advantages, usages, abuses, 
&c. of our Forest of Alice Holt, & Wolmer. Here you will see, 
1 Born at Zurich, 1741 ; (lied in England, 1825. — A.N. 
