ed
that they had been suppressed by his publisher.]

* * * * *

LETTER 458. TO MR. MURRAY.

"September 28. 1821.

"I add another cover to request you to ask Moore to obtain (if
possible) my letters to the late Lady Melbourne from Lady Cowper.
They are very numerous, and ought to have been restored long ago,
as I was ready to give back Lady Melbourne's in exchange. These
latter are in Mr. Hobhouse's custody with my other papers, and
shall be punctually restored if required. I did not choose before
to apply to Lady Cowper, as her mother's death naturally kept me
from intruding upon her feelings at the time of its occurrence.
Some years have now elapsed, and it is essential that I should have
my own epistles. They are essential as confirming that part of the
'Memoranda' which refers to the two periods (1812 and 1814) when my
marriage with her niece was in contemplation, and will tend to show
what my real views and feelings were upon that subject.

"You need not be alarmed; the 'fourteen years[56]' will hardly
elapse without some mortality amongst us; it is a long lease of
life to speculate upon. So your calculation will not be in so much
peril, as the 'argosie' will sink before that time, and 'the pound
of flesh' be withered previously to your being so long out of a
return.

"I also wish to give you a hint or two (as you have really behaved
very handsomely to Moore in the business, and are a fine fellow in
your line) for your advantage. _If_ by your own management you can
extract any of my epistles from Lady ----, (* * * * * * *), they
might be of use in your collection (sinking of course the _names_
and _all such circumstances_ as might hurt _living_ feelings, or
_those_ of _survivors_); they treat of more topics than love
occasionally.

"I will tell you who may _happen_ to have some letters of mine in
their possession: Lord Powerscourt, some to his late brother; Mr.
Long of--(I forget his place)--but the father of Edward Long of the
Guards, who was drowned in going to Lisbon early in 1809; Miss
Elizabeth Pigot, of Southwell, Notts (she may be _Mistress_ by this
time, for she had a year or two more than I): _they_ were _not_
love-letters, so that you might have them without scruple. There
are, or might be,