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Letter to the Duke of Grafton , April 1. 1810.
“ My dear Lord Duke,
« A letter by this post from the executors of your late fatherhas afforded me a satisfaction which I thought it impossible forme to have received from any circumstance attending the loss ofso excellent a friend. They have informed’ me that in a codicil tohis will, dated June 24th, 1807, in his own hand-writing, he has leftme, as a token of his friendship, his Complutensian Polyglott.Tokens of a friendship of forty years standing are equally honour-able to those who give and to those who receive them, andto me they are invaluable; for the great ambition of my lifehas been to deserve well of those who have known me best.
“ Be so good as to take an opportunity of thanking in myname the excutors, for the very obliging manner in which theyhave signified to me this intelligence; and, that I may occasionthem no more trouble, I will tell Faulder to forward the books tome, whenever they may be left at his shop.
“ Lord Muncaster was formerly much acquainted with yourfather. He sent me the other day a letter of condolence: youwill be pleased with reading the following extract from it: — ‘ In‘ former days I had the honour to have frequent communication‘ with the Duke of Grafton, and I owe it to his memory to say,4 that a man of higher honour and more excellent principle and£ character I have never met with in my walks through life.’
“ I could not neglect so fair an opportunity of establishingand enlarging Lord Muncaster’s good opinion of the character ofmy departed friend, I therefore immediately wrote to him theannexed letter: —