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Thomas Gray to James Brown, 22 May 1770

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To The Revd Mr Brown President of Pembroke-Hall Cambridge
22 MA

Dear Sr

I have received two letters from you with one enclosed from Paris, & one from Mason. I met poor Baker two or three days after the fire with evident marks of terror in his countenance: he has moved his quarters (I am told) somewhere into Gray's-inn Lane near the fields.

I do not apprehend any thing more than usual from the City-remonstrance, & the Party principally concern'd I hear does not in the least regard it. the conversation you mention in the house of Lords is very true: it happen'd about a fortnight since, & the A:p replied, it was not any concern of his, as he had received no complaint from the Un: on that head. it begins to be doubted, whether Ld Anglesey will carry his point, his witnesses being so very Irish in their understandings & consciences, that they puzzle the cause they came to prove: but this can not be clear'd up till another session. Pa: & I have often visited, but never met: I saw my Ld & Tom the other day at breakfast in good health, & Lady Maria did not beat me, but giggled a little. Mons:r de Villevielle has found me out, & seems a sensible quiet young Man. he returns soon to France with the Embassador, but means to revisit England, & see it better. I dined at Hampton-court on Sunday all alone with St:, who enquired after you, & the next day with the same & a good deal of company in Town. I have not seen him so well this long time. I am myself indifferent, the head-ach returns now & then, & a little grumbling of the gout, but I mean to see you on Monday or Tuesday next.

Adieu! I am ever Yours
T G:

P:S: Pray, is Mrs Olliffe come to Cambridge.

Letter ID: letters.0603 (Source: TEI/XML)

Correspondents

Writer: Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771
Writer's age: 53
Addressee: Brown, James, 1709-1784
Addressee's age: 61[?]

Dates

Date of composition: 22 May 1770
Date (on letter): 22 May. 1770
Calendar: Gregorian

Places

Place of composition: London, United Kingdom
Address (on letter): Jermyn Street
Place of addressee: [Cambridge, United Kingdom]

Physical description

Addressed: To The Revd Mr Brown President of Pembroke-Hall Cambridge (postmark: 22 MA)

Content

Language: English
Incipit: I have received two letters from you with one enclosed from Paris,...
Mentioned: Hampton Court
London
Palgrave, William, 1735-1799
Stonhewer, Richard, 1728-1809

Holding Institution

Location:
(confirmed)
Library, Historical Society of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, PA, USA <http://www.hsp.org/>
Availability: The original letter is extant and usually available for academic research purposes; a photostat is in MS. Toynbee d.32, Bodleian Library, Oxford

Print Versions

  • The Correspondence of Thomas Gray and William Mason, with Letters to the Rev. James Brown, D.D. Ed. by the Rev. John Mitford. London: Richard Bentley, 1853, letter CXXXI, 439-442
  • The Letters of Thomas Gray, including the correspondence of Gray and Mason, 3 vols. Ed. by Duncan C. Tovey. London: George Bell and Sons, 1900-12, letter no. CCCLXVII, vol. iii, 284-286
  • Correspondence of Thomas Gray, 3 vols. Ed. by the late Paget Toynbee and Leonard Whibley, with corrections and additions by H. W. Starr. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971 [1st ed. 1935], letter no. 525, vol. iii, 1134-1136