LETTER XXXVIII.

To an intimate acquaintance, to borrow money.

PR

RAY favour me, Charles, with twenty guineas by the bearer, who is my fervant. I have immediate occafion, but will repay it again whenever you please to make a demand. This letter will answer all the purposes of a note from your obliged humble fervant,

To an acquaintance, to borrow a sum of money for a little time.

Dear Sir,

F it be quite convenient and agreeable to you, I'll beg the favour of you to lend me fifty pounds for the fpace of three months precifely: any fecurity that you fhall require, and I can give, you may freely afk. A lefs time would not fuit me; a longer, you may depend on it, I fhall not defire. Your anfwer will oblige, Sir, Your very humble servant,

J

LETTER XL.

R

An anfwer to the foregoing.

Dear Sir,

A

NY thing in my power is always very much at your fervice; the fum you mention I have now by me, and can very conveniently fpare it for the time you fix, and you are moft heartily welcome to it. Any hour that you shall appoint to-morrow I'll be ready; and am, with the greatest fincerity,

Your affectionate friend, and humble fervant,

LETTER XLI.

Mifs in anfwer to Mrs B-, making an making an apology for not answering her letter fooner.

Madam,

T is paying you but an ill compliment, to let one of

years, remain fo long unacknowledged. But when I inform you, I have had a houfe full of strangers almost ever fince, who have taken up all my time, I'm sure you'll excufe, if not pity me. "Who fteals my purfe, fteals "trash; it was mine, 'tis his, and has been a slave to "thoufands; but he who filches from me my precious "moments, robs me of that which not enriches him, but "makes me poor indeed!" It is owing to this want, I fhould not fay lofs, of time, (for the hours have not paffed by unimproved or unentertaining) that I have not been able to tell you fooner how much I envy that leifure and retirement, of which you make fuch admirable ufe; there it is the mind unbends and enlarges itfelf, drops off the forms and incumbrances of this world, (which, like garments trailed about for state, as fome author has it, only hinder our motion,) and feizes and enjoys the liberty it was born to. O when fhall I fee my little farm! that calm recefs, low in the vale of obfcurity, my imagination fo often paints to me! You know I'm always in raptures about the country; but your defcription of Richmond is enough to intoxicate the foundest head.

Adieu! I am interrupted, and in hafte, fo obliged to conclude.

Yours, c.

LETTER XLII.

Mifs to Mifs Lovelace, on the prefent letter-writers, and her opinion of a well wrote letter.

WANT of time is, I think, the general complaint of all letter-writers; and your's in hafte, concludes wit, business, every thing. For my own part, my whole life is little more than a perpetual hurry of doing nothing; and, I think, I never had more bufinefs of that fort upon my hands than now. But as I can generally find time to do any thing I have a mind to do, fo can always contrive to be at leifure to pay my refpects to Mifs L.

But the most universal complaint among fcribblers of my rank is want of fenfe. These generally begin with an apology for their long filence, and end with that moving petition, Excufe this nonfenfe. This is modeft, indeed; but, though I am exceffive good natured, I am refolved, for the future, not to pardon it entirely in any one but myself.

I have often thought there never was a letter wrote well but what was wrote eafily; and, if I had not fome private reasons for being of a contrary opinion at this time, fhould conclude this to be a mafter-piece of the kind, both in eafinefs of thought, and facility of expreffion. And in this eafinefs of writing (which Mr Wycherly fays is eafily wrote), methinks I excel even Mr Pope himself, who is often too elaborate and ornamental, even in fome of his best letters; though, it must be confeffed, he outdoes me in fome few trifles of another fort, fuch as fpirit, tafte, and fenfe. But let me tell Mr Pope, that letters, like beauties, may be overdreft. There is a becoming negligence in both; and, if Mr Pope could only contrive to write without a genius, I don't know any one fo likely to hit off my manner as himself. But he infifts upon it, that genius is as neceffary towards writing, as ftraw towards making bricks:" whereas,

whereas, it is notorious, that the Ifraelites made bricks without that material, as well as with.

The conclufion of the whole matter is this: I never had more inclination to write to you, and never fewer materials at hand to write with; therefore have fled for refuge to my old companion, Dulnefs, who is ever at hand to affift me; and have made use of all those genuine expreffions of herself, which are included under the notion of want of time, want of spirit, and, in fhort, want of every thing, but the most unfeigned regard for that lady, whofe most devoted

I remain, &c.

LETTER XLIII.

To Mifs L in anfwer to her defcription of Windfor.

OUR account of the shades of Windfor, and your invitation to them, are equally pleafing and poetical. The firft puts me in mind of the Elyfian groves, where the great fouls of antiquity repofe themselves on beds of flowers to the found of immortal lyres; and there, perhaps, the ghofts of departed kings and queens are still regaling themselves with foft mufic, and gliding about their ancient manfions in frefco; and the latter, of fome. gentle fpirit, the departed genius of fome maid of honour, (rather too plump for a ghoft,) who beckons me into them. I am impatient till I land in those calm retreats, that afylum from curt'fying and compliment, which I defpaired of arriving at in this fublunary ftate; where, if one can but get into the group, all diftinction ceafes; where, you fay, I may do any thing I have a mind to do, without impeachment of my breeding; and where, difengaged from all the forms and incumbrances of this nether world, I am like to be in perfect good humour with myself, which in most other places would be reckoned exceffively rude.

Little did I expect to meet with you fo near the feat of polite education, much lefs in king's palaces, and a

H 3

mong

mong their honourable women. -Tuesday, then I fet out for the glorious land, and the genius that prefides_over it, if nothing very amazing intervenes. Many are my thanks for your offer of a fervant to meet me; but as I chufe to give you as little trouble as poffible, shall take an equipage along with me, to kill the dragons and monsters in Maidenhead thicket. Thefe difficulties being overcome, I fhall lay my fpoils at your feet, as lady of the inchanted caftle, and ever after remain.

Your peaceful fervant, &c.

LETTER XLIV.

Mifs to Mifs L-, from an inn on the road, giving an account of her journey.

A

LAS! the tranfition-from yesterday, Henriettaftreet, Mrs L and Mrs, to a nafty inn, the officious Mrs Mary, damp fheets, and, perhaps, the itch before morning. Yet fay not I want refolution; never virtue had more. Sick to death from the moment you left me, head-ach beyond defcription, five men and two women to compliment my way through in the afternoon; yet boldly rushed through them all, and took my place in the flage-coach myfelf. After all, loft five fhillings carneft by a blunder, went in a wrong coach at laft, and fuch a morning!——But then I had a worshipful fociety! all filent and fick as myfelf; for which I thanked my flars; for if they had fpoke, I had been murdered. Mrs had almost talked me into non-existence yefterday morning; and I had been totally annihilated, if you had not come in, and restored me to my indentity. Pray tell her this, in revenge for my head-ach..

All our friends that we took up in the morning, we dropt gradually one by one, as we do when we fet out upon the journey of life; and now I have only a young student of Oxford to finish the evening of my day with, and prepare for the grand events of to-morrow. 1 have

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