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Withdraws recommendation of the oculist Alexander (see 2) - he is rough and brutal. On his own cataracts (including a failed operation) and other ailments - all very expensive. Again asks for JB's translation of Horace (see 3). On the sweeping away of tithes in these days of reform, and on the unfair remuneration of senior clerics - their old schoolfriend Hobart (The Hon. Henry Lewis?) as Dean of Windsor received

Xmas and New Year wishes. He and his wife still suffering from flu. Imagines shock of the Marquis of Anglesey (see 6, 7 and 25) on reading in the Times of a £50 reward being offered for the capture of his son Capt William Paget (OW - perennially in debt) for having obtained money under false pretences.

On ways by which JB may combat his depression. Invitation to stay - books (but no novels), walks in London, the diversion offered by current affairs (e.g. a failed rally on Kennington Green - presumably a Chartist demonstration, but clearly not that of 10th April on Kennington Common), the return of British expats from France in the face of the revolution that year (80,000 estimated to be in Paris alone - the family of the Earl of Pembroke occupied 8 carriages).

Has read in The Times of the death of Edward Dowdeswell (see 6) - an excellent and unpretending man, but lazy. Recalls his younger brother John. Details from Visits to Monasteries in the Levant by Robert Curzon (see 57). Cholera still present in London. Death of William Vincent OW (eldest son of the HM) - but much younger than them. Recommends Handbook of London: Past and Present by Peter Cunningham.

Recommends an oculist, Mr. Alexander, to a cousin of JB with a partial cataract. If JB passes through London HMC cannot promise to receive him in person - he lists his painful maladies. HMC is reminded of JB at every breakfast-time because of a teapot JB gave his 1st wife 60 years before.

Gruesome details of the lancing of a carbuncle. Quotes Hor.C.3.14 - is reminded of a translation of Hor.C.3.6 by JB (he asks for a copy), and thus of Westminster. Pupil numbers not above 100 - an inquiry has been held by the visitors the Dean of Christ Church and the Master of Trinity. The HM Dr. Williamson has been dismissed, possibly for overly savage flogging (a boy was unable to sit down for a week). An OW could not be found to replace him, so a Charterhouse-bred man, Dr. Liddell, has been appointed. Westminster's decline partly due to the preference of the aristocracy and royalty for Eton, and partly to the number of much cheaper schools in London. The Corn Laws. The opening of Cremorne Gardens in Chelsea (a rival to Vauxhall) will attract the worst characters in town.

On the flu epidemic - all the household are suffering, and one of the servants has died.

On deaths from flu and various remedies he has been taking, and the suicide of St John Mildmay (financial difficulties). His grandson (son of his deceased son Rawden) has been staying. The school performed an extra night of the Play for Prince Albert, on his return to London...who gave them a extra week's holiday.

Two remedies (with recipes) to cure loss of appetite and want of sleep. The school has been sent home because of a fever - Dean Buckland, fancying himself a chemist, devised a remedy (which only combated bad smells), but has succumbed himself. London full of foreigners fleeing the troubles in Europe - they need less to live on, and so native workers are priced out of employment.

On a particularly bad attack of indigestion. Received 2 tickets to the Phormio, which he gave to his doctor and his amanuensis. The Epilogue, a satire on the Chartists of the day, was received with much applause - will be published in The Times on the 19th. The last time he and JB saw the play was in 1779 - 2 lead characters, Dickens and Kelly, went to Oxford the following spring. Quotes a line referring to a set of gamblers known as blacklegs. Refers to Welch's List of the Scholars of Westminster School. Does JB exercise on horseback or on shanks' pony, as their schoolboy expression had it (NB very early use of this phrase)?