Address: To/ G. C. Bedford Esqre/ Exchequer/ Westminster
Stamped: KESWICK/ 298
Postmark: [partial] E/ 9 JY/ 1821
Endorsements: 6. July 1821/ £50 –
MS: Bodleian Library, MS Eng. Lett. c. 26. ALS; 3p.
Unpublished.
The Massachusetts Historical Society have elected me a member.
This is the oldest & most respectable literary Institution in America, & one which has done good service by the Historical Collections which it has published.
the book is very scarce in England, so much so that Dr Young
some years ago sent down to consult my copy, not being able to hear of any other person who possessed it. I am in good odour at Boston, where Oliver Newman
is looked for with more expectation than it is in Old England, & will perhaps be read with more interest, as relating to known places & familiar events.
Having thus informed you that I have obtained a new tail to my name, let me likewise communicate to you that I have not obtained anything new for my tail, – the expected pantaloons &c not having arrived.
You may send me, si placet,
50£, – for two reasons, – first because I wanted want it, owing to the postponement of my paper upon Cromwell,
– & secondly because it will occasion you to put pen to paper with your thoughts in this direction, – which it is long since you have done. I wish you could run away & keep the Coronation here.
By that time my annual cold may perhaps have left me, it must now be nine or ten weeks old. This last week I have taken much more exercise than usual – I was round the Vale of St Johns on Monday, Tuesday at Buttermere, yesterday at Watenlath & Borrodale; & if tomorrow be fair, I shall sit down on the summit of Skiddaw. Mrs Keenan & her daughter are with us
– I do not know whether you saw her in London in 1802
– she is the sister of General Mc Kinnon who was killed at Ciudad Rodrigo.
They leave us on Monday.
Last week my lawful Governess’s copy of the Vision
arrived: very magnificent it is; white silk however would have looked better than white sattin in the inside, & silk I think you intended it to be. The King must think he has a very magnificent Laureate. You have not rubbed up my memory about the Coronation
by sending me a book concerning its ceremonials, – & notwithstanding Lord Grosvenors
hint, I do not know that there is any occasion for my volunteering with unwilling Minerva.
We are all tolerably well – I hear Cupn in riotous spirits on the stairs. God bless you. Remember me to Henry & Miss Page, – & come if you can, the sooner the better, & the longer you can stay.