Autograph letter signed : Woodbridge, [to Rev. T.W. Salmon], 1846 Mar. 18.

Recounting, in considerable detail, a dinner he attended given by Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, including his arrival and introduction, the course of the meal, and the retirement afterward of the guests to the picture gallery, where Sir Robert joined him in looking at the paintings, pointing out his favorites and discoursing on them for the writer's benefit; the conversation of his fellow diners ("Not one word of politics did I hear dropt - all the talk was literary, scientific - on the fine arts - or the extraordinary forewardness of the season"); his admiration for the tact and geniality of his host and his evident love of and feeling for his collection of paintings ("On the whole, I left his Premiership, after a leave-taking as seemingly cordial as his reception, with certainly no diminished feelings of respect & esteem for the man. Nothing was dropped to recall the minister."); his follow-up engagements with fellow diners Lockhart and Airy, and his inability to visit the recipient in Hopton in spring or summer owing to the expenses he has already incurred from visiting and the time he has spent away from his post.