Autograph letter signed : [Dublin], to David Garrick, 1774 June 26.

Saying that he is happy to hear that Garrick has recovered from his "late indisposition"; adding "you know I have often said 'tis a pity you are not immortal"; following this with a quotation from Horace's Ode 4, ending "Pulvis et umbra sumus"; turning to theatrical matters: "On finding Barry [probably Spranger Barry] had secured the only nights on which there was even a possibility of getting anything I declined playing any more & gave the poor Manager all the Money back [...] after this at the request of many People I put up Richard [probably Richard III] a second time for myself, which I play'd on Thursday last to a very great House, great applause, & the repeated Compliment of the Curtain order'd down at my Death. Mrs [Elizabeth] Hartley play'd the Queen & much admired"; saying that they then had requests to perform Nicholas Rowe's The Tragedy of Jane Shore, which he and Hartley did last night (sharing the profits) "to a genteel but thin House, tho' the Boxes were well lett"; commenting on the reception of Hartley as Jane Shore: "Nothing can exceed the applause Mrs. H most deservedly rec'd [...] She is admired here beyond my most sanguine expectations"; saying that they are going on to Cork, despite many requests to play Macbeth and Rosamond (probably a reference to the play Henry II or The Fall of Rosamond); writing that Hartley "is determined (at all Events) not to return to Covent Garden, & I (at all Events) am determined to be with her. I am in Love & pleas'd with [Ruin]. Cold Complexions may talk of keeping amours secret; but who when in Love with & belov'd by such a Woman can live a moment from her. Every Day is still but as the first"; sending further news of Barry and James William Dodd; writing of his love for Hartley: "I would not leave my Rose, for both the English Patents. Reason is a beggar & Passion shuts the door against him. I am Antony from Top to Toe, only thank God somewhat younger. You will perhaps say old enough to be wiser, but I don't believe your England contains Virtue & wisdom enough to resist such charms & goodness as I am in possession of. Dont think I want feeling for some others, It is not so: but I have no power to struggle against the Impulse of my Heart which beats all one way"; asking Garrick if he is willing to engage Hartley and himself for future seasons at Covent Garden, and saying "whatever I may be, she will be worth yr bidding for I'm sure"; mentioning that Robert Jephson and his wife have been very civil to them and invited Hartley to dine at Blackrock: "The Idea here is not so Criminal as your London Folk have it. a pretty parcel of damnd Lyes in yr papers I see"; adding that "Mrs. S." (possibly his wife Martha Newsom Smith) is with her father and "writes to me as if she knew nothing of the Matter, but desires me not to play often enough to hurt my Health, tho' it should delay my return to England"; adding in a postscript that "Dodd's Benefit brought the worst House that ever was" and giving addresses in Dublin to which Garrick's reply should be directed.