Letters – Godfrey Bosville to John Wentworth – 16 Mar 1772

							Great Russell St. 16th March 1772

Dear Sir

Not having heard of you of so long a time makes me doubtful whether my letters ever arrive. It is above a twelve month ago [that] I sent by your coachman some Stag hounds, and some new books in a box, which he promised to take particular care of, and I was in hopes to have heard [that the] dogs were [the] sort you wished for, and likewise yr. opinion of [the] books. I have renew’d my lease of this house for 25 years longer. Mr. Paul Wentworth is at Amsterdam from whence I had a letter from him [the] other day, he is greatly concerned for Mr. De Bruiyn, a gentleman he bro[ugh]t with him here, who he says is going to dye. I heard he was going to be married, but that affair is of[f?], as I was told by his friend Mr. Hope, who call’d upon me this morning and who is they say a Partner in one of [the] greatest houses in [the] world. Sr. Thomas is still in Statu quo. but very well as to his health; both his sisters are in town, [the] eldest has left Bath entirely. William has rambled abroad ag[ai]n he is now at Naples and has been at Rome before he intended, for he was shipwreck’d in his passage from Marsiells [sic] to Naples near Civita Veccia. He has been twice up mount Vesuvius. The Duke of Glocester [sic] is now at Naples, much better and in very good spirits. He says he has seen [the] most cruel custom [that] ever was invented. Opposite to [the] Palace there is a scaffold built on purpose, to w[hi]ch they had for several days before been nailing live ducks fowls pigs geese and other things by the wings and feet, at [the] time appointed [the] soldiers let [the] mob in who scramble, throw each other down and pull [the] creatures in pieces to carry of as much as they can – I only wish half a dozen hungry Lions were turned among these inhuman savages to pull them limb from limb alive; but I question whether [the] more merciful brute woud [sic] not kill them first with his paw. They keep good guard in Denmark, for no letters [that] contain any thing of news come out of that kingdom. The minds of [the] people here are very different from w[ha]t they were when you was in England, that violence w[hi]ch was ready to boil over is now subsided into a settled calm; even Ireland where Faction revived when it dies here is quiet, for [the] opposition are gone together by [the] ears. The mar[ria]ge Bill of [the] Royal family if it takes place will be disagreeable. We have a new entertainment the Pantheon in Oxford Street, it is [the] most elegant building I ever saw. The amusements are [the] same as Mr. Cornelys, there is such a crowd of coaches [that] some are broke down every night, w[he]n I was at [the] Pantheon there were above two thousand people. The account you read of Solway Moss is really true: It is said a most remarkable Phenomenon. The black earth is so impregnated with water [that] it runs down like [the] lava from Mount Vesuvius; One Mr. Graham has an Estate in [the] valley of a thousand pounds a year, above three hundred of which is covered by this travelling bog. Barns, Stables & Houses, England looks handsomer every year. Sr. Charles Hotham is beginning a house in Yorkshire w[hi]ch he tells me he proposes shall cost twenty thousand pounds, but as that is [the] Estimate of his Architect I will venture to say it will cost him more, for they always exceed th[ei]r Calculation. Sr. Alexander and Lady Macdonald are in town. When I was in Staffordshire where I spent most part of last summer on account of an Estate I had left there, I was surprised to see every cottage have a garden, w[hi]ch ours have not in Yorkshire, full of Beans, Peas and other Garden Stuff w[hi]ch is a great help to [the] poor people who have no trade and only work for [the] farmers, and finding these cottages under [the] hedges and sprinkled about makes [the] country exceeding pretty. Our land is barren, so [that] if they spar’d tillage for a Garden their Corn would be thin. In your country where you have such plenty of wood and water what prodigious fine things you might make and I dare say will do. Mrs. Miss Bosville and Tommy joyn with me in our best respects to you and your lady.

      I am My Dear Sir Your most Obedient Servant

      Godfrey Bosville