William Hone to Dr. Charles West, 27 November, 1840

[1780-1818] - [1818-1824] - [1825-1832] - [1832-1842] - Hone Correspondence

1. William Hone to Dr. Charles West, 27 November, 1840.1-TEI-

1.1.

Church Road Tottenham
27 Novr. 1840
My dear Sir

1.1.1.

I received your request to apply immediately to the Literary Fund, on Saturday the 7th instant, & on Monday the 9th I wrote to the Society by the earliest post in the morning, & left it to you, by letter, to corroborate my statement by written Certificate.

I did not apply in May last because such Certificate was declined by Mr Condor.2

My present application has no "error" in it, but will be inefficient unless corroborated by Testimonials. — See Mr Blewitt's letter to me,3 which please to return at your leisure.

I enclose from Mr Woollaston, surgeon, here a Certificate as to health & infirmity

But the two Certifcates, required by the Rules, as to my pecuniary difficulties (vide Rule 2), with recommendations (vide Rule 4) from gentlemen having personal knowledge of my moral character & distressed circumstances I must have still to be supplied by your acitivity.

Mr Rodd & Mr. J. P. Collyer,4 each well knows the other, can certify & recommend accordingly — Their Certificates should be separate, &c. apparently without concert.

Observe, my dear Sir, Pray observe, literally what I have written & am about to write.

Without these things are done, my application will be wholly inefficient.

The Rules must be complied with (Vide Mr Blewitt's letter) of Mr Duncan's Zeal I have no doubt, but he cannot contravene the Rules.

Enclosed are many suggestions for the Advertisement in the "Patriot."

I must close
I am, My dear Sir,
Yours sincerely
W Hone
Notes
1
Wellesley College Library, Special Collections, Last Days of William Hone, f. 18.[return]
2
Josiah Conder, former editor of the Eclectic Review, was now a prominent Congregationalist, anti-slavery activist, and the chief editor of The Patriot newspaper where Hone had served as sub-editor since the mid 1830s. Due to his physcial infirmities (as well as a somewhat prickly relationship with Conder), Hone had stepped down from this position earlier in 1840. [return]
3
Octavian Blewitt was the Secretary of the Royal Literary Fund. [return]
4
The bookseller Thomas Rodd and the Shakespeare scholar John Payne Collier were long-time friends of Hone's; both eventually wrote "testimonials" in support of his Literary Fund application. [return]