I have no written form of admission to the office of Laureate, & very well remember being surprized at the thoroughly unceremonious manner of my induction. At the day & hour appointed (a very memorable one, the Prince Regent going to Parl. just after the news of the Battle of Leipsic had been made public -)

I went to a little low dark room in the purlieus of S^t James’s, where a fat old Gentleman Usher

in full buckle administered an oath to me, in presence of a solitary clerk, – & that was all, payment of fees excepted, which was not made at the time. – Walter Scott, I recollect, was amused at the description which I sent him of this ceremony,

& said it was a judgement upon me for inserting among the Notes to the Cid a reflection of Sir John Finetts upon “the superstition of a Gentleman-Usher.”

– Whether any entry was made, & whether I signed my name, I cannot call to mind, it being nine years ago. Gazetted however I was, & P.L. I have been from that time. But what how can this concern you?

You know the proverb that he who is not handsome at 20, wise at 40 & rich at 50, will never be rich, wise, or handsome. Quoad

my handsomeness – handsome is as handsome does, – & whatever I may have done <been>, they have made a pretty figure of me in magazines. There is a portrait of me in a German edition of my smaller poems

which it will be a treat for you to see, – you will never again complain of your ugly likeness below stairs. Concerning the second part of the adage, – certain it is that about the age of forty, my views upon all important subjects were matured, & settled, so that I am not conscious of their having undergone any change since, except in such slight modifications upon inferior points. But for the last part of the story, rich at fifty I certainly shall not be, nor in the way to be so.

When I deliberated – if deliberating it can be called – about the QR – the single motive on one side was the desire of having an adequate & sure income, – which I have never had since I discontinued the Ed. An. Register – when because it ceased to pay me for my work.

My establishment requires 600 £ a year, exclusive of other calls. The average produce of my account with Longman is about 200 £ what I derive from the Exchequer you know,

the rest must come from the grey goose quill: & the proceeds of a new book have hitherto pretty generally been anticipated, they may float me for a second year perhaps – Roderick

did for three years – with the help of the Pilgrimage,

– then the tide ebbs, & so I go on. At present it is neap tide

in the Row. My Tale of Paraguay

when I can finish it, will about make it high water.

I have made as <a> valiant xx resolution that the produce of this History

shall not be touched for current expences, – looking to it always as the work wherewith I was to begin to make myself independent. The B. of the Church

I must eat. But I will not eat these peninsular quartos. The Whigs may nibble at them if they please.

Murrays advertisement at the beginning of the QR. explains what the B.C. is.

I could find no other title which would not have been objectionable, – a Church History it is not, because it skims only the cream of the events, – a sketch it is not, because the details are full where fullness is required, & in other parts [MS missing] philosophical view is substituted where the narrative would have been less impressive. The present title has the advantage of making people ask what it means, – which is an advantage at starting; – when the book is once known the meaning [MS missing] the title signifies as little as the etymology of your Christian name or mine. It merely designates that the book. But my main reason for choosing it, was an intention then (not yet wholly laid aside) of bringing out a parallel work to be called the Book of the Constitution.

I have just received an official communication from Sir Wm Knighton which tho it be marked Private, there can be no unfitness in my communicating to you. It is in these words, ‘I am commanded by the K. to convey to you the estimation in which H.M. holds your distinguished talents, & the usefulness & importance of your literary labours. – I am farther commanded to add that H.M. receives with great satisfaction the first vol. of your valuable work on the late Peninsular War.” – this is the letter, – & at the head of it is written – entirely approved – GR. – Is not this very gracious? – & how many persons are there whom such a communication would make quite happy. For xxyx plxxx xxx myself I am sorry there are so few persons connected with me who can be gratified by it, & wish my good Aunt Mary had been here to have enjoyed it. I may deposit xx it with my letters affiliatory from the Cymmrodorion

&c – & my letter of thanks from the Ty,

– which the Master of the Rolls remembers, – & I might write upon the packet that contains them Vanitas Vanitatum, omnia Vanitas.

– Not that I would be understood as affecting in the slightest degree to undervalue what I am continually labouring to deserve.

I must finish the B.C. before I can leave home, & must moreover write an article for the QR, to cover the expences of my absence, & carry on the war at home. My journies tax me doubly, in as much as they increase my ways for the whole time of absence, & suspend the larger part <main> source of my means. March is the time to which I look on, – it may perhaps be April.

You must quarrel with nothing in Welsh but the orthography, – the word which offends your eye is euphonious enough for an Ionian-Greek. it is pronounced Cumrodorion. Do you know that the Welsh has a greater proportion of vowels than any other language – ancient or modern?

– God bless you RS.

Pray convey my thanks to M^r Evans

for the Welsh transactions.

I may spare myself the trouble of writing on this occasion as the book came with no written memoranda. His Rt Honour was about to send me xx a copy. I shall expect the cambro Briton from him,

& shall set about an ode to the praise & glory of the Ancient Britons

– when I have looked it over. What is better I may very likely put together a good paper for the QR.