78 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
"share of the seeds thou sent last year, which was very acceptable.
"As he is a man of a noble and generous spirit, he very rationally
"considered thy pains and trouble in collecting them, and desired to
"make thee some returns, and left it to me. I thought a good suit of
"clothes, for thy own wear, might be as acceptable as anything, so
"have sent thee one, with all appurtenances necessary for its making
"up, which I hope will meet with thy approbation, and help in some
"measure to compensate for thy loss of time.
"My noble friend desires thee to continue the same collections.
"Send the same sorts over again, and what new ones happens in thy
"way, and sent at the same time o' year, and in the same manner,
"will do very well.—If thee can compass to send thirty or forty
"sorts of your herbaceous seeds every year, it will be sufficient. As to
"invoice of forest tree seeds, their quantity and price is fixed, so
"thee knows what thee does. Thee has had great luck, hitherto, in
"sending the seeds in good order; I hope the like will attend thee in
"the forest tree seeds. I refer thee to my letters on that head, sent
"with the catalogues.
"As our noble friend will be always grateful, I hope it will en-
"courage thee to go on; but yet I would have thee so proceed as
"not to interfere with thy private business. Indeed, the forest
"tree seeds I hope will bring money into thy pocket; so the time
"spent in making the collection cannot be said to be lost or misspent."
In a footnote he says:—
"Pray give nobody a hint, how thee or thy wife came by the suit
"of clothes. There may be some, with you, may think they deserve
"something of that nature."
On March 12th of the following year:—
"On the other side thou will see thy account, drawn out with as
"much exactness as I could collect from thy invoices. I have en-
"deavoured to do justice between thee and thy noble employer. I
"have shown it to him, and he approves of it, and has ordered me to
"give thee credit for £18 13s. 3d.; part of it has been sent to thy
"order, and for the balance, thou may draw a bill on me, or order
"it in goods, which suits thee best. His lordship paid freight and all
"charges on the seeds, being willing to give thee all the advantage for
"thy encouragement.
"The things for thine and thy wife's wear, are a joint present from
"me and his lordship, for thy other seeds, and plants, and specimens,
"&c.
"As Lord Petre desired to see thy letters, they are all there. He
"admires thy plain natural way of writing, and thy observations and
"descriptions of several plants. For want of them, I shall only take
"notice of thy proposal, in one of them, for an annual allowance to
"encourage and enable thee to prosecute further discoveries. Lord
"Petre is very willing to contribute very handsomely towards it. He
"will be ten guineas, and we are in hopes to raise ten more."