Chapter VII: Letter 59: To Mr. Dallas

"Newstead Abbey, Notts., August 12. 1811.

"Peace be with the dead! Regret cannot wake them. With a sigh to
the departed, let us resume the dull business of life, in the
certainty that we also shall have our repose. Besides her who gave
me being, I have lost more than one who made that being
tolerable--The best friend of my friend Hobhouse, Matthews, a man
of the first talents, and also not the worst of my narrow circle,
has perished miserably in the muddy waves of the Cam, always fatal
to genius:--my poor school-fellow, Wingfield, at Coimbra--within a
month; and whilst I had heard from _all three_, but not seen _one_.
Matthews wrote to me the very day before his death; and though I
feel for his fate, I am still more anxious for Hobhouse, who, I
very much fear, will hardly retain his senses: his letters to me
since the event have been most incoherent. But let this pass; we
shall all one day pass along with the rest--the world is too full
of such things, and our very sorrow is selfish.

"I received a letter from you, which my late occupations prevented
me from duly noticing.--I hope your friends and family will long
hold together. I shall be glad to hear from you, on business, on
common-place, or any thing, or nothing--but death--I am already too
familiar with the dead. It is strange that I look on the skulls
which stand beside me (I have always had _four_ in my study)
without emotion, but I cannot strip the features of those I have
known of their fleshy covering, even in idea, without a hideous
sensation; but the worms are less ceremonious.--Surely, the Romans
did well when they burned the dead.--I shall be happy to hear from
you, and am yours," &c.

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