Autograph letter signed : "Rose Castle" [near Dalston], to [William Johnson] Temple, 1789 Aug. 23.

Reporting that he was staying with Lord Lonsdale at Lowther when his wig was misplaced or taken: "I was obliged to go all day in my nightcap, and absent myself from a party of ladies and gentlemen, who went and dined with the Earl on the banks of the lake"; calling it a "ludicrous situation" and adding that he went to Carlisle to have a new wig fitted; noting that he is now at "this Seat of the Bishop" [Rose Castle, home of the Bishops of Carlisle, at this time Bishop John Douglas], where he "find[s him]self somewhat easier, there being more quietness"; commenting on his wife's death: "Though I often and often dreaded this loss, I had no conception how distressing it would be ... I am quite restless and feeble and desponding. I return to Lowther tomorrow for two days, to show that I am not at all in a pet, and then I am to return to Auchinleck for a little time"; sharing his frame of mind: "Such is my melancholy frame at present, that I waver as to all my plans. I have an avidity for death; I eagerly wish to be laid by my dear wife; years of life seem insupportable. I dread that Eton may make my son expensive and vicious, and it seems hard to send my little daughter two hundred miles beyond London. Every prospect I turn my mind's eye to is dreary ... Let me not think at present, far less resolve. The 'Life of Johnson' still keeps me up; I must bring that forth, and then I think I may bury myself in London, in total obscure indifference, and let the savings of my estate accumulate for my family"; writing at length about how miserable he feels without his wife.