Introduces [William Henry Fox] Talbot of Lacock Abbey, [Wiltshire], nephew of [Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd] Marquess of Lansdowne [(1780-1863)]. Asks Smith's progress on third volume of the "Flora". Mentions again his acquisition of natural history drawings of [James] Bruce [(1730-1794) Scottish traveller], which "prove him to be a very different person than the world has thought him".

[Smith has annotated] "expect to reach Boyton Oct. 5 in the even.".

Apologises for delay in responding to Smith; he has been in a state of "unaccountable indolence & debility" with his only exertion being the publication of his "Monandrian Plants"; retierates principal point of the work, being to ascertain precise limits of genera 'Maranta', 'Phrynium', and 'Thalia', and settling points on 'Castus'. Received letter from Thomas William Coke; was anxious to hear of Coke's feverish attack. Hopes to meet Smith again soon.

Glad to hear of Lady Cullum's recovering health; his own is improving and now only suffers rheumatism in his knees when rain is approaching. Found 'Senecio lividus', 'Rubus glandulosus', and 'Centaurea jacea' very distinct from 'nigra', in woods of Blaise Castle, [Henbury]. Pities Cullum for being in Oxford during race week, "races, fairs & elections are the pests of sober travellers". Index to third volume of "English Flora" delayed by illness but printing now almost complete. His travel plans: intends to visit [Aylmer Bourke] Lambert at Boyton, [Wiltshire]; Salisbury, [Wiltshire]; Winchester, [Hampshire]; his Kindersley cousins at Sunning Hill, [Berkshire]; [Thomas Furly] Forster at Hoe Street, Walthamstow, [Essex]; and attend meetings of Horticultural and Linnean Societies on 1 November. Considers it "an honour to have been thought of & invited by so large a portion of the enlightened & learned part of the University" [in reference to his failed campaign to become Cambridge botany professor]._x000D_

[Letter incomplete: two-thirds of second folio cropped, missing text presumed destroyed]

Lady Cullum's fever now in her eyes and ears. Visited [Edward] Rudge's new house in Evesham, [Worcestershire]. His son back in England but daughter-in-law is to winter in Paris as she is too ill to travel. Met at Kimbolton, [Cambridgeshire], the late Professor [Thomas] Martyn's son, [John King Martyn], who preaches there every Sunday to a sect of Moravians and is soon to marry one of them as his fourth wife, and recounts connection between the Martyns and the Mudges who succeeded as rectors of Pertenhall, [Bedfordshire].

Reports that many members of Cambridge are dissatisfied by the election of [John Stevens] Henslow [(1796-1861)] to the Botanical Professorship. Invites Smith to Bury.

Thanks for Smith's letter and medical advice for himself and Mrs Goodenough; she has tried the soft soap for her piles but has suffered so long doubts anything will clear them. Harvest gathered and in very good condition. Electioneering has begun following reports that Parliament is dissolved and Mr Brougham paying up bills for the last election. 'Cacalia suaveolens' grown from mysterious roots in a pot. Dean of Carlisle, [Robert] Hodgson, is a great naturalist but has no garden to cultivate and has little time for exploring. They are experiencing some showers but no sustained rain, hopes this continues for the start of the races on 27 September.