LETTERLXXX.TO MR. I——.
Jan. 1, 1779.
IN compliance with custom, I beg leave to wish Mr. and Mrs. I—— happy years—many or few, as the Almighty shall think fit—but may they be happy! As I wish it sincerely, their obligation is of course the greater—and, to oblige them yet more, I will put it in their power to oblige me, which they can do by lending me the volume of Annual Registers (I think it is that of 1774) which has Goldsmith’s Retaliation in it.—I hope Mr. and Mrs. I—— haveno complaints but the general one, extreme coldness of the weather, which though happily extempted themselves from much suffering, by good fires and good cheer, yet I am sure their sympathizing hearts feel for the poor.—I find upon inquiring, that ten o’clock in the morning will best suit Mr. L——; I will be in Privy Gardens just five minutes before Mr. and Mrs. I—— and Mr. Mortimer.—I hope Mrs. I—— will not pretend to repent—Sunday is a lazy morning. If Mrs. I—— has not read Ganganelli, it is time she should. I therefore take the liberty to send them—them, Mr. I—— will say, is bad grammar—he is, madam, a good natured critic—I address myself to you therefore, because my heart tells me you will be a successful advocate for the blunders of a true Blackamoor.—I have had the confidence to mark the passages that pleased me most in my post-haste journey through the good Pontiff’s letters—and I shall be vain, if Mrs. I—— should like the same passages, because it would give a sanction to the profound judgement of her most obedient servant,
I. SANCHO.
Note, The sixteenth letter, 1st verse, is a kind of stuff which would almost turn me to the Romish—there is every thing in it which St. Paul had in his heart.