I am much obliged to you for persisting to court a friend who has the
appearance of neglecting you. But when you are told the reason of it,
you will rather pity than blame me. It is my poor father's illness
that confines me here, and cannot permit me to stir till the affair
is decided: a confirmed Dropsy and Asthma which have either produced
or been caused by a general decay of the constitution allows us no
hope of his recovery.
You may easily suppose that I am in a very improper frame of mind for
the easy flow of a familiar epistle. I shall therefore only speak to
business. The men I spoke of are the two Smiths, the father who lives
at Havant, and the son who lives at Wickham in this county. Both,
especially the son, are famous for surveying and valuing _Timber_
(the surveying land is a separate branch, and quite out of their
way). My father has always had reason to be satisfied with their
skill and honesty. Their price for surveying is a guinea a day, or
so much in the pound (I don't know exactly what) if they sell the
timber. I will make any further enquiries you desire, and in the
meantime, wish you would sometimes raise my spirits by a friendly
salutation.
I am, Dear H.,
Most truly yours,
E. G.
83.
_To James Scott, Esq._
Beriton, November the 6th, 1770.