LETTER XXXIX.
William to Landbergen.
Next week we are to leave this house, and the very thought of it makes me sad; but our future residence is so near that I can have a daily intercourse with my valuable friends. Charles and I shall exercise ourselves together in the arts and sciences, and I shall receive the benefit of all his masters: it will then be my own fault if I do not acquire knowledge. I shall write to you often, my dear Landbergen, and you, I hope, will answer my letters. But let me now tell you, that Sir Charles is so pleased with your filial piety, that he is determined to use all his interest to obtain your father a sinecure place in Holland, that you may be enabled to marry sooner than you expected. I am certain he will do something for you; you will then have various other duties to fulfil. What a pleasure it will be to us to see you happy and respectable, when we again visit my dear native country! But I have something to tell you of the amiable Emilia. A young gentlewoman in distress was lately in her service, whose mother has been long afflicted with a lingering disorder. Emilia, the noble Emilia, has prevailed on her mother to let her wait on herself, and give the poor widow, by way of an annuity, the wages she must have given her daughter, had she remained with her as a servant.
Farewell, my dear Sir, present my respects to your worthy father, and assure all my Dutch friends that the distance which separates me from them and my country, will never make me forget them. Sir Charles has sent Harry’s brother to the farm at Grandison Hall. He has behaved so well since his arrival in England, that we have some reason to look upon him as a sincere penitent.