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"water for 3 or 4 months. This was done by his Lordships
"father 35 years ago, and the way to make our own firs buildings raised of them are
now fully equal to foreign those built of Norway fir."
I suppose that the case is, that the firs being cut
when the sap is abundant, that is when the extractive muciligenious
matter is in the state of a dilute solution, the
water mixes with it and washes it out easier than
when the mucilage is evagulated
and the pores of
the wood closed by cold. J.B. There are some more
anecdotes in it relative to machines such as corn
mills &c which seem likely to be interesting to you.
You must endeavour to see it true of the people in
Russia, Kruze for example, I take it for granted
will have it. The price is 1 Guinea.
Friday evening March. 31. 1780
I have not yet seen Q.S.P. I shall dine there
however tomorrow: mean time let me give you
a scolding about your Moscow expedition, from
which I know before hand that no good will
come. It is some wild-goose chase, castle-building
scheme, which you are ashamed of, else
you would not for three letters together have been
yourself to keep me in the dark about
talking all the while in parables. What in
Devil's name can you be the better for
any connection which you must go to Moscow
to make? What can you have to expect from
any body but Czermichif, Greig &c, or some
other of the Admiralty folks? Your confidant
in all this business the French man whose
name you take care not to mention is no
other than your French servant: and one of
the effects of your devotion to this oracle is
the blackguardism with which you began your
letter to M. Pousckin, in stiling him in
the vocative case, Votre Excellence; just as if
in English you were to begin with Good your
Lordship, or Your Honour: so at least it appeared
to me and Wilson, and Douglas, whose
opinion on such matters is worth tens time both
ours put together. Q.S.P. grumbles cussedly at
this damned expedition, and I have not a syllable
to
to say for it, excepting the inculcating in general
terms the duty of implicit confidence in your
worship's superior understanding I suppose we
shall have him grumbling more, now that
two more letters are come which make the
darkness still more obscure. Possibly your
idea of getting to be the D's Agent may
smooth him down a little that being the very
idea that had occurred to him.
My fear is that that same agency
will have been disposed of, before you find a
proper time for applying for it. Possibly the
Czernicheffian pupil scheme might combine
with it: if so it would be a very comfortable
affair. I have written pas for a letter for you: see
the other Sheet.
By your not acknowledging it I am
sadly afraid that you did not receive a letter
of Wilson's which went away from hence the
same night with my first ostensible one
enclosing a sham letter directed to Miss Parish
It was exceeding long, and contained a monstrous
deal of excellent political information.
I fear there has been no means of making
my subsequent ostensible letters (of which
I think there were two) pass through the
hands of the Duke.
No parcel yet from Hamburg.
22 A parcel from Strachan containing a letter
from him, a note from DeCourt, your will
and sundry book catalogues. The delay has
been occasioned by something that happened to the
ship they were first put on board of.
What think you of a Sunday news-paper? how
will your pious spirit grieve! Such a
paper is actually publishing every Sunday morning
in Fleet Street.
Now we talk of news papers In order to make sure, try to get a sight of one of them I dare
that you would take particular care to inform yourself
as soon as possible what Newspapers, they are
the Q. takes in. You may imagine divers
reasons for wishing to know this. Appear not to have any particular reason for enquiring: Ask particularly
whether the Morning Chronicle is among them: rather mention by way of blind the goodness of the Morn. Chron. which
is the best of all possible papers. as if you wanted to recommend it.
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Identifier: | JB/539/024/002 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 539.
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1780-04-08 |
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539 |
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024 |
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002 |
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Correspondence |
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Samuel Bentham |
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