Autograph letter signed : Winkfield, to Walter Alford, 1825 Dec. 31.

Reflecting on the passing of the old year and the course of his own life; rebuking himself for his laziness; relating news of his daily life, local excursions, and visits with family; asking after Walter Alford's health and that of his family; considering the many temptations he expects they both will encounter at those "seminaries of vice and profligacy, as well as of learning, the universities"; laments his lack of religious discipline and diligence; relates a series mathematical problems and jokes for his correspondent's amusement; writes of his cousin (and future wife) Fanny Alford; concludes with a renewed address to the old year and the times to come.