“This is intended to go by T.Tom B.Bowdler whom
may God preserve, &and grant him a happy
&and prosperous Journey, that he may see his
worthy parents &and other Friends in Health
and Safety.

To yours of the 18th instant. May you
enjoy many more happy Returns of
that solemn Season to yourself, &and yethe
friendly Mrs Gordoun, &and to all your
Concerns.

Your Sister has been with us, looks
well, &and is in perfect good Health;
from whom we have heard with
Pleasure, that your Health is re-esta-
blished, God be thanked. Long be it
so; &and may you live to see better Days,
&and peace upon Israel.1

I had a Letter from the Countess,
dated at Burton upon Trent, April
3. in her Way to Bath; from which,
I suppose, her Ladyship would be
with Ease at Bath before Easter. I
look for a Letter every Day; &and per-
haps it may come before this Scribble
he dispatched.

I have heard much of MacPherson’s late Publications [] 2115 (3015)
Publications, but have not yet seen
them. They are a dear Purchase, a-
bove my Reach at present. I wish they
had appeared sooner, for the Budget
has been too long in opening. The
strong &and pointed Truths make some
people stare; but it will be no easy
Matter to make them blush.

Dr Demas in your Neighbour-
hood! What brings the flirting,
wrong-headed Body there? Will he
ever settle? No. A light Head
gives the Head^Feet much to do.

Stop here, till we see if new
Matter casts up.

Have you seen The Song of Solo-
mon paraphrased: with a Commen-
tary, &and notes Practical &and critical?
Methinks, it is excellent, &and notably
well intended. Favour me with
your Opinion of it. Such Perform-
ances are not saleable in these
Days of boasted Light &and Liberty,
immersed in profound Darkness!
Darkness, that may be felt!

BsBishops Raitt &and Alexander are both
of them quite ab agendo! God help,
for vain is the Help of Man.
Since Writing as above, I have seen a
Bookseller, who told me, we would soon 2116 (30162116)
have a neat Edition of the Original Pa-
pers, published by Macpherson, from
Dublin at half, if not a third, of the
Price.

I have lately met with an Edit.Edition 1701,
of Hickes’s Devotions; in the Beginning
of which, on the two waste Leaves, is
an excellent short account of his Life,
from his Cradle to his Coffin, with the
Inscription on his Grave-Stone, in the Hand-Writing of one Edward Franck-
lin, Rainham, A.M. I had it for a Trifle.

I have blotted some Sheets of Pa-
per in threshing the Buff of Dr Bluff,
as to his fanciful Tour in Scotland,
which I have interleaved in his
pompous Account. He is as blind
as a Mole, a downright Ignoramus
of a ^learned Fool, as to ScotsScots’ Affairs; in so-
much, that it may be truly said of
him, Nay, but to see the Naked-
ness of the Land are yethe come;
for his fertile Imagination sees
Nakedness where no Nakedness is.
In writing to a Friend, he called
his Book a Tour of Notions; &and
indeed so it is, of very odd, fan-
ciful Notions, false in Fact, in
very many Instances.

I have most luckily found out an
incontestible Proof of a much doubt-
ed &and disputed Fact, namely, that
Mr David Lindesay, who baptized 2117 (30172117)
K.King Charles I. was really in holy
Orders, before his embracing the
Reformation in Scotland. See Keith’s
Catalogue of Scottish Bishops, pag.
119. where this point is greatly
doubted; on the Margin of which
^I have transcribed the strong &and pointed
Proof.

The Countess was at Bath be-
fore Good-Friday.