"Cheshunt, August 20th, 1780.
"Sir,
"As it must give you great satisfaction to know that the books were received safe by me last night, it affords me equal pleasure to send you the earliest assurance of it. I thank you sincerely for the liberty you have allowed me of keeping them till I come to London, on Monday, the 4th of September; when I shall bring them with me, and hope to return them safe at Mr. Longman's, between 10 and 11 o'clock; where, if it may be convenient to you, I shall be very happy to meet you, and personally to thank you for the kind assistance you have afforded me. If that may not suit you, I will gladly wait on you where you shall appoint by a line left there for me; and shall ever esteem myself,
"Your most obliged humble Servant,
"W. Herbert."
The following, and the last, epistolary specimen of the renowned G. Steevens—with which I shall treat my reader—is of a general gossipping black-letter cast; and was written two years before the preceding.
Hampstead Heath, June 26th, 1788.
"Dear Sir,
"A desire to know how you do, and why so long a time has elapsed since you were seen in London, together with a few queries which necessity compels me to trouble you with, must be my apology for this invasion of your retirement. Can you furnish me with a transcript of the title-page to Watson's Sonnets or Love Passions, 4to. bl. l.? As they are not mentioned by Puttenham, in 1589, they must, I think, have appeared after that year. Can you likewise afford me any account of a Collection of Poems, bl. l., 4to. by one John Southern? They are addressed 'to the ryght honourable the Earle of Oxenforde;' the famous Vere, who was so much a favourite with Queen Elizabeth. This book, which contains only four sheets, consists of Odes, Epitaphs, Sonnets to Diana, &c. I bought both these books, which seem to be uncommonly rare, at the late sale of Major Pearson's Library. They are defective in their title-pages, and without your assistance must, in all probability, continue imperfect. Give me leave to add my sincere hope that your long absence from London has not been the result of indisposition, and that you will forgive this interruption in your studies, from
"Your very faithful and obedient Servant,