"Southwell, Jan. 13. 1807.
"I ought to begin with _sundry_ apologies, for my own negligence, but
the variety of my avocations in _prose_ and _verse_ must plead my
excuse. With this epistle you will receive a volume of all my
_Juvenilia_, published since your departure: it is of considerably
greater size than the _copy_ in your possession, which I beg you will
destroy, as the present is much more complete. That _unlucky_ poem to
my poor Mary[57] has been the cause of some animadversion from
_ladies in years_. I have not printed it in this collection, in
consequence of my being pronounced a most _profligate sinner_, in
short, a '_young Moore_,' by ----, your ---- friend. I believe, in
general, they have been favourably received, and surely the age of
their author will preclude _severe_ criticism. The adventures of my
life from sixteen to nineteen, and the dissipation into which I have
been thrown in London, have given a voluptuous tint to my ideas; but
the occasions which called forth my muse could hardly admit any other
colouring. This volume is _vastly_ correct and miraculously chaste.
Apropos, talking of love,...
"If you can find leisure to answer this farrago of unconnected
nonsense, you need not doubt what gratification will accrue from your
reply to yours ever," &c.
To his young friend, Mr. William Bankes, who had met casually with a
copy of the work, and wrote him a letter conveying his opinion of it,
he returned the following answer:--