Letter – Nicholas Walton to John Holmes – 18 Feb 1774

To Mr Holmes.                     				Farnacres 18 Febry 1774



Dear Sir

       I was favoured with your obliging Letter of the 11th inst in due course which gave me much pleasure & I heartily congratulate you as to the Agreement.

       As upon the whole we have each of us expressed our not having been instructed in the manner of calculating the quantity of Standard Silver from time to time supposing the Assay to be reported 15 1/2 better, I realy think it will be proper for us to have a Book and you will therefore be so good as send one along with my Brother Smeaton when he comes and as I should be glad to have four Copies at the same time of a Book intitled ‘An easy method of assaying and classing Mineral Substances etc.  To which is added ‘a Series of Experiments on the Fluor Sparorus or ‘Sparry Fluor abstracted from the Memoirs of the Royal Sweedish Academy of Sciences for the year 1771 - by John Rheinhold Forster.  F.R.S  8vo- 1s/6d Dilly 1772.   You will be kind enough to send me those Books at the same time and make my Brother pay for them all; he should have got the latter when he was last in London.

       Since I reced your Letter I have not been 20 yards from the House and have not had an opportunity of making enquiry after the prices of Bullion at Newcastle before July last but I shall certainly do so as soon as I can and let you know the result.  The last time I enquired at Newcastle as to the price of Bullion which was abt 14 days ago I was told 5s/7d was as much as could be afforded then; what they offer now I know not.  I think it wd be by far the best way for each of us to be regulated by the price of Standard at the time of the arrival of every Cake in London and if upon considering that with my Brother when he comes into the Country the Proposal you have made of taking the Bullion at 5s P Ounce more than Standard appears to us in the same light that it does to me now I realy think it will be the best way of settling the price and til that time I shall send the Bullion which we produce upon those Terms, unless I should hear from you to the contrary up in any alteration of the Trade which may make that necessary.

       My Wife & Father join me in best respects & I am Dr SirYour most hble Servt

       N W Junr 



PS At any convenient time youll give the inclosed to Mr Smeaton.





Prices of Bullion at Newcastle and London compared 



[There follows a table not reproduced here but available in the corresponding copy of the letter contained in the PDF file of this collection.]



Those marked X are the prices of Cakes sold by Messrs Walton & Smeaton to Mr Langlands.