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Has finally been able to come downstairs after his lumbago. The French are so used to revolution that very little surprises them - things which would horrify an Englishman. On the case brought by George Cornelius Gorham against the Bishop of Exeter, on being refused preferment. Sad to see the progress which Roman Catholics are making in England. On the neglect in the education of young men at the universities - they are too old at 17 or 18, as opposed to 10-12 years old in their young day. Dean Buckland is ill (see 73) in the parish of Islip (as was Vincent - the living belongs to Westminster Abbey).

Lumbago better yet - he can rise from his bed. Dean Buckland has lost his reason, the third such they know; Dean Turton did so before him, the father-in-law of their old schoolfellow Yates (Joseph Yates - Thomas Turton was in fact his step-father), and Dean Vincent as well. The Tothill Fields they knew is gone , along with the dirty lake in the centre - instead magnificent squares and elegant villas are springing up (presumably the developments of Thomas Cubitt). Does the railroad benefit or injure the comforts of JB's neighbourhood?

Lumbago slightly better - he can rise for a little from his bed. During sleepless nights has been recalling passages of Virgil and Horace, some of them rather gloomy.

This might be his last letter - suffering appallingly from lumbago.

On the afflictions of growing old. He can only sit and read (presumably, be read to). All modern publications are 'trash' - going through for the second time Sir Robert Ker Porter's Journey to Baghdad. On the arrival of some artefacts from Ninevah in the British Museum. Steam navigation has brought so many countries within reach. Corn Laws to be discussed again in Parliament. If the price of bread can be kept down for the lower orders, the Chartists and other disaffected characters will have less to work with. On the price of meat and fish.

Follows the method of the Duke of Wellington to avoid bad colds - being rubbed down with hair gloves or a stiff brush in the morning. Advice on kit for JB's sons, one of whom is being posted to Newfoundland, and the other to Corfu. HMC himself has gone from England to America to Africa to Portugal to France and finally back to England. HMC's sons Douglas and Rawdon are both dead, so HMC mainly interested in his grandson, son of Rawdon, now cruising in HMS Leander off the coast of Portugal. On the Frenchman Alexis Soyer, chef at the Reform Club, falling through some ice (while skating), being rescued by some members of the Humane Society, and setting up an annual fund to its benefit. Recalls dropping an Ainsworth Latin Dictionary over a staircase on the head of a French master Tavalle or Savalle - there was one of each name) coming up. Brought before Dr. Smith the next morning by a monitor bearing a birch rod, on being questioned about the circumstances, he replied that it was only a Frenchman; on hearing this, the Head Master dismissed him. Smith was too lenient in those days, having become indifferent through having long been passed over for meaningful preferment.

JB's son moving from Charlemont to foreign service via Woolwich - invites JB to stay if he is going to Woolwich to take his leave. On the death of the Quaker doctor Curtis (William), who had treated him 50 years previously. His grandson is leaving on foreign service, a lieutenant on the new ship HMS Leander. On the execution of Marie Manning and her husband (see 63).

Handbook of London (see 62) quotes Cowper (William OW) reminiscing about his days in the Westminster 6th Form, when he was 'in high favour with the master.' The book refers to a hospital in Chiswick connected with the school, founded in the reign of Elizabeth (a house rather than a hospital - see Lawrence Tanner Westminster School p67). Would be good nowadays - no doctors can agree on the nature and treatment of cholera. On the forthcoming trial for murder of Marie Manning and her husband. On the current cheapness of game and fish. Changes in London. Their old playground Tothill Fields now covered with gardens and villas. A road runs from the school to Vauxhall Bridge (the first one built 1809-16), on the spot where they used to bathe. Vincent, observing all the development, had enclosed Vincent Square (1810). Recalls the Town Boys beating the King's Scholars at cricket (presumably the year HMC left, 1782) - he scored 35. Repeats the story of Dowdeswell (see 62) never sleeping in college.

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.

JB has been corresponding with the Marquis of Anglesey (Henry Paget, 1st Marquis, OW). HMC presumes on the question of his son's advancement in the army. So that JB does not appear to be soliciting, HMC suggests that he passes on, 'from a friend', a treatment for tic douloureux. Further remarks on Sir George Murray (see 5) and his brother John, who were day scholars; their mother lived at the west end of the street where Langton's boarding house was (Little Smith Street), and behind the new buildings where Mother Ottey's and Doctor Hume's boarding houses were (on Dean's Yard, where Church House is now) - presumably where the Church House bookshop now is. Has heard lately of old friend Dowdeswell (Edward Christopher) - as indolent as ever, since though a canon at Christ Church has never slept one night in the college, despite a requirement that canons reside one month annually. Asks after JB's potatoes. since HMC cultivated them on a grand scale during his long residence in France for a private individual. More on the Corn Laws.