William Hone to John Childs, 5 November, 1839

1. William Hone to John Childs, 5 November, 1839. ¹ — -TEI-

1.1.

Dear John

1.1.1.

"Tomorrow never is, if not today"

Time is, Time was, and is was Yesterday."

Teufelsdrockh Jun.r²

"There's Cruden for one ear, and Adams for t'other,

"And each is for both, as you'll have it so, — 'Bother'"

G Wither Jun.r ³

"Celestial Scenery" — "No Church Rates" — come!
Dick of the
                                Kirk,4 and "John of Bungay,"
                            come!
Secession he, and Noncoming thee,

                            At five o'clock this afternoon
                                to tea.
                        
One lectured, last night, on Astronomy,
Each talks, to night, on Nonconformity;
On Leighton, Bestwick, Prynne, who lost their ears
In Palace Yard, and left their blood and tears
A Legacy to us.5 — not braver they
Than him, George Fox,6 the man of yea and
                            nay,
Of greater suffering, higher principle—he left
The Hat to
                            witness of him — Sturge anon —7

⁸Come at 5. I expect D & Dick of the same school.

Thine dear Childs

W Hone

[Addressed:]
John Childs Esq.
London Coffee House

Answer —Aye, or nay—

Notes

British Library, Add. MS 40120, ff. 483-84.[return]

Teufelsdrockh — a fictional philosopher — is the focal character in Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus (1836). [return]

For more on the references to Cruden and Adams, and to the word "bother," see Hone's letter to Childs dated 2 November, 1839. Hackwood identifies "G. Wither Jun.r" as the Puritan poet George Wither (1588-1667). [return]

Thomas Dick (1774-1857), Scottish writer on science and philosophy; among his works is a book entitled Celestial Scenery; or, The Wonders of the Planetary System Displayed.... [return]

Alexander Leighton (c1570-1649), John Bastwick (1593-1654), and William Prynne (1600-1669) were all prominent seventeenth-century religious Dissenters who were tortured for their actions. [return]

Likely George Fox (1624-1691), the founder of the Quakers. [return]

Joseph Sturge (1793-1859). For a rather cryptic explanation of this reference, see Hone's letter to Childs, 16 December 1839. [return]

In a tiny hand, sideways on the page. [return]

William Hone to John Childs, 5 November, 1839

1. William Hone to John Childs, 5 November, 1839. 1 — -TEI-

1.1.

1.1.1.

1. William Hone to John Childs, 5 November, 1839. ¹ — -TEI-