I dare not tell you tho I fear Miss Frowd will, how I am overwhelmed with company. I know not how to avoid it. My Levee however is comprised between the hours of One and three, so that in general I get quiet mornings and evenings. I had hoped things would mend, but alas they are going on de mal en pis. A being on the verge of Eternity requires a little more ref[unclear] [tear]

Within a Month I have lost four of [my] [tear] contemporaries; the Bishop of Salisbury, [tear] Dean of Canterbury; a most beloved friend of near half a century Sir W^m. Pepys; and an aged Saint of the same standing who in a Ministry of 61 years, had never been absent from his Sunday duties but four times.