"Crosby, my London publisher, has disposed of his second importation, and has sent to Ridge for a _third_--at least so he says. In every bookseller's window I see my _own name_, and _say nothing_, but enjoy my fame in secret. My last reviewer kindly requests me to alter my determination of writing no more; and 'A Friend to the Cause of Literature' begs I will _gratify_ the _public_ with some new work 'at no very distant period.' Who would not be a bard?--that is to say, if all critics would be so polite. However, the others will pay me off, I doubt not, for this _gentle_ encouragement. If so, have at 'em? By the by, I have written at my intervals of leisure, after two in the morning, 380 lines in blank verse, of Bosworth Field. I have luckily got Hutton's account. I shall extend the poem to eight or ten books, and shall have finished it in a year. Whether it will be published or not must depend on circumstances. So much for _egotism_! My _laurels_ have turned my brain, but the _cooling acids_ of forthcoming criticisms will probably restore me to _modesty_. "Southwell is a damned place--I have done with it--at least in all probability: excepting yourself, I esteem no one within its precincts. You were my only _rational_ companion; and in plain truth, I had more respect for you than the whole _bevy_, with whose foibles I amused myself in compliance with their prevailing propensities. You gave yourself more trouble with me and my manuscripts than a thousand _dolls_ would have done. Believe me, I have not forgotten your good nature in _this circle of sin_, and one day I trust I shall be able to evince my gratitude. Adieu, yours, &c. "P.S. Remember me to Dr. P." LETTER 17. TO MISS ----. "London, August 11, 1807. "On Sunday next I set off for the Highlands.[76] A friend of mine accompanies me in my carriage to Edinburgh. There we shall leave it, and proceed in a _tandem_ (a species of open carriage) through the western passes to Inverary, where we shall purchase _shelties_, to enable us to view places inaccessible to _vehicular conveyances_. On the coast we shall hire a vessel, and visit the most remarkable of the Hebrides; and, if we have time and favourable weather, mean to sail as far as Iceland, only 300 miles from the northern extremity of Caledonia, to peep at _Hecla_. This last intention you will keep a secret, as my nice _mamma_ would imagine I was on a Voyage of Discovery, and raise the accustomed _maternal warwhoop_.