Autograph letter signed : place not specified, to an unidentified recipient, undated.

Giving a young painter advice; saying that he is glad to hear that his correspondent has settled "in a country abounding in picturesque scenery"; urging him to study both art and nature equally; advising him to pay a visit from time to time to Holker Hall, the home of Lord George Cavendish, to study a Rubens landscape, a painting by Hobbema and other pictures in Cavendish's possession; recommending Lord Lowther's collection as well; telling him to "[p]aint from nature not forgetting art at the same time -- study effects as much or more than mere outlines"; adding "Do not be engrossed by any one master, so as to become a mimic but think of all who have been excellent and endeavour to see nature with their eyes"; saying that this was the practice of "Sir Joshua [Reynolds], Gainsboro and [Richard] Wilson"; concluding "this is all the advice I can give you -- if it is but of little value I am sorry for it -- but I trust at least that it will not mislead you."