any department. friends Mrs. S - succeed, leave the kingdom go to the east, or to the west, for travelling would be of infinite service to both your body and mind But more of this when we meet I have had an now to my own affairs. offer of exchanging two pieces of preferment I hold here, for a living of three hundred and fifty pounds a-year in Surrey, about thirty miles from London, and retaining Coxwould, and my prebendaryship the but I will not, cannot, come country also is sweet to any determination, till I have consulted with you, and my other friends. I have great offers too in Ireland the Bishops of C- and R- are both my but I have rejected every proposal, unless and my Lydia could accompany me thither I live for the sake of my girl, and with her sweet light burthen in my arms, I could get up fast the hill of preferment, if I choose it but, without my Lydia, if a mitre was offered me, it would sit uneasy upon my brow. Mrs. S-'s health is insupportable in England. She must return to France, and justice and humanity forbid me to oppose it. I will allow her enough to live comfortably until she can rejoin me. -My heart bleeds, L-e, when I think of parting with my child 'twill be like the separation of soul and body and equal to nothing but what passes at that tremendous moment; and like it in one respect, for she will be in one kingdom, whilst I am in another. You will laugh at my weakness · but I cannot for she is a dear disinterested girl. when she left Coxwould, and I bade her adieu, I pulled out my purse, and offered her ten guineas for her private pleasures her answer was help it proof of it pretty, and affected me too much: "No, my dear papa, our expenses of coming from France may have straitened you I would rather put a hundred guineas into your pocket than take ten out of it." I burst into tears but why do I practise upon your feelings by dwelling on a subject that will touch your heart? It is too much melted already by its own suffering, L e, for me to add a pang, or cause a single sigh. God bless you I shall hope to greet you by New-year's day in perfect health. - Adieu, my dear friend I am most truly and cordially yours, L. STERNE. - [December, 1767.] LITERAS vestras lepidissimas, mi consobrine, consobrinis meis omnibus carior, accepi die Veneris; sed posta non rediebat versus Aquilonem eo die, aliter scripsissem prout desiderabas. Nescio quid est materia cum me, sed sum fatigatus & ægrotus de meâ uxore plus quam unquam & sum possessus cum diabolo qui pellet me in urbem & tu es possessus cum eodem malo spiritu qui te tenet in deserto esse tentatum ancillis tuis, et perturbatum uxore tuâ - crede mihi, mi Antoni, quod isthæc non est via ad salutem sive hodiernam; sive eternam; num tu incipis cogitare de pecuniâ, quæ, ut ait Sanctus Paulus, est radix omnium malorum, & non satis dicis in corde tuo, ego Antonius de Castello Infirmo, sum jam quadraginta & plus annos natus, & explevi octavum meum lustrum, et tempus est me curare, & meipsum Antonium facere hominem felicem & liberum, et mihimet ipsi benefacere, ut exhortatur Solomon, qui dicit quòd nihil est melius in hâc vitâ quàm quòd homo vivat festivè & quòd edat et bibat, & bono fruatur quia hoc est sua portio & dos in hoc mundo. Nunc te scire vellemus, quòd non debeo esse reprehendi pro festinando eundo ad Londinum, quia Deus est testis, quòd non propero præ gloria, & pro me ostendere; nam diabolus iste qui me intravit, non est diabolus vanus, aut consobrinus suus Lucifer - sed est diabolus amabundus, qui non vult sinere me esse solum; nam cùm non cumbenbo cum uxore meâ, sum mentulatior quàm par est & sum mortaliter in amore & sum fatuus; ergo tu me, mi care Antoni, excusabis, quoniam tu fuisti in amore, & per mare & per terras ivisti & festinâsti sicut diabolus eodem te propellente diabolo. Habeo multa ad te scribere sed scribo hanc epistolam in domo coffeatariâ & plenâ sociorum strepitosorum, qui non permittent me cogitare unam cogitationem. Saluta amicum Panty meum, cujus literis respondebo saluta amicos in domo Gisbrosensi, & oro, credas me vinculo consobrinitatis & amoris ad te, mi Antoni, devinctissimum. L. STERNE. CXX. TO MR. AND MRS. J York, Dec. 23, 1767. I WAS afraid that either Mr. or Mrs. Jlittle blossom, was drooping were ill, by not having the or that some of you pleasure of a line from you, and was thinking of writing again to inquire after when I was cast down myself with a fever, you all and bleeding at my lungs, my room near three weeks which had confined me to when I had the favour of yours, which till to-day I have not been able to thank you both kindly for, as I most cordially now do as well as for all your professions and proofs of good-will to me I will not say I have not balanced accounts with you in this All I know is that I honour and value you more than I do any good creatures upon earth and that I could not wish your happiness, and the success of whatever conduces to it, more than I do, was I brother your but, good God! are we not all brothers and sisters who are friendly, virtuous, and good? Surely, my dear friends, my illness has been a sort of sympathy for your afflictions upon the score of your dear little one. I am worn down to a shadow; but as my fever has left me, I set off the latter end of next week with my friend Mr. Hall for town - I need not tell my friends in Gerrardstreet I shall do myself the honour to visit them, before either Lord or Lord &c. &c. I thank you, my dear friend, for what you say so kindly about my daughter it shews your good heart, for as she is a stranger, 'tis a free gift in you but when she is known to you, she shall win it fairly but, alas; when this event is to happen is in the clouds. Mrs. S— has hired a house ready-furnished at York, till she returns to France, and my Lydia must not leave her. What a sad scratch of a letter! but I am weak, my dear friends, both in body and mind you will see me enter like a ghost I tell you before-hand not to be frightened. I am. my dear friends, with the truest attachment and esteem, ever yours, bless you so God L. STERNE. CXXI. TO THE SAME. Old Bond-street, Jan. 1, [1768.] Not knowing whether the moisture of the weather will permit me to give my kind friends in Gerrardstreet a call this morning for five minutes I beg leave to send them all the good wishes, compliments, and respects I owe them. I continue to mend, and doubt not but this, with all other evils and uncertainties of life, will end for the best. I send all compliments to your firesides this Sunday-night- Miss Ascough the wise, Miss Pigot the witty, your daughter the pretty, and so on. If Lord 0- is with you, I beg my dear Mrs. J—— will present the inclosed to him 'twill add to the millions of obligations I already owe you. I am sorry that I am no subscriber to Soho this season it deprives me of a pleasure worth twice the subscription -- but I am just going to send about this quarter of the town, to see if it is not too late to procure a ticket, undisposed of, from some of my Soho friends; and, if I can succeed, I will either send or wait upon you with it by half an hour after three to-morrow if not, my friend will do me the justice to believe me truly miserable. I am half engaged, or more, for dinner on Sunday next, but will try to get disengaged in order to be with my friends. If I cannot, I will glide like a shadow uninvited to Gerrard-street some day this week, that we may eat our bread and meat in love and peace together. God bless you both! I am, with the most sincere regard, Your ever obliged, L. STERNE. |