"Dear Sir,--
Some time ago I received from you certain verses said to be copied
from the fly-leaves of an old printed book on which they were
written. The title was 'The Vanity of Life,' and the book's title
'The World's Best Wealth,' &c. Now though I suspected, from a little
ambiguity in the wording of your letter, that these verses were not
quite so old as they professed to be, and that you yourself perhaps
had written them to exercise your own genius, and sent them to
exercise my critical acuteness, I thought that the glorious offence
carried its own redemption in itself, and I would not only forgive
but rejoice to see such faults committed every day for the sake of
such merits. It is, however, now of some importance to me to know
whether they are of the date which they affect, or whether they are
of your own production. The supposition of your being capable of such
a thing is so highly in your favour, that you will forgive the wrong,
if there be any, implied in my enquiry. But I am making a
chronological collection of 'Christian Poetry,' from the earliest
times to the latest dead of our contemporaries who have occasionally
tried their talents on consecrated themes, and if these stanzas were
really the work of some anonymous author of the last century I shall
be glad to give them the place and the honour due, but if they are
the 'happy miracle' of your 'rare birth' then, however reluctantly, I
must forego the use of them. Perhaps the volume itself contains some
valuable pieces which I have not seen, and which might suit my
purpose. The title tempts one to think that this may be the case, and
as I am in search of such jewels as certainly constitute 'the world's
best wealth,' I hope to find a few in this old-fashioned casket,
especially after the specimen you have sent, and which I take for
granted to be a genuine specimen of the quality (whatever be its
antiquity) of the hidden treasures. If you will oblige me by sending
the volume itself by coach I will take great care of it, and
thankfully return it in due time free of expense. Or if you are
unwilling to trust so precious a deposit out of your own hands, will
you furnish me with a list of those of its contents (with the
authors' names, where these are attached) which you think are most
likely to meet my views, namely, such as have direct religious
subjects and are executed with vigour or pathos? I can then see
whether there be any pieces which I have not already, and if there
be, I dare say you will not grudge the labour of transcribing two or
three hundred lines to serve, not a brother poet only, but the
Christian public. At any rate, an early reply to this application
will be greatly esteemed, and may you never ask in vain for anything
which it is honest or honourable to ask for. I need not add that this
letter comes from one who sincerely respects your talents and
rejoices in the success which has so conspicuously crowned them, when
hundreds of our fraternity can get neither fame nor profit--no, nor
even a hearing--and a threshing for all their pains.