From William Ginty   Thursday forenoon, (Apr. 27th, 1843)

33 Windsor Street¹ | Thursday forenoon

My dear Jack

I received your note² a short time ago since. I must say you have for once been rather mysterious. I do not perfectly understand your intentions. Do you intend to write or rather publish in a pamphlet, a kind of correspondence as if it had taken place merely in the exchange of friendly sentiments between a few of the Survey men – to be published as if never written to be published. and to be written as if intended to be published? Do you understand me? I hope I understand you –

Now as regards an estimate of the Tithe Plans expense³ I fear I can furnish nothing on that head without running a risk of a complete exposure – These fellows from whom only I could collect a few facts, cannot keep their own thoughts in secret, much less ours. I can at all events state the general opinion in very strong terms and without a shadow of doubt. As there are a dozen going from here Saturday evening I expect something to talk about on that head. I wish you had written at more length on the matter. I feel exceedingly anxious to taste the marrow of it. What you mean by ‘private address’⁴ or the necessity of it I cannot fathom. And why I am to address you as ‘X’⁵ I cannot see the drift of either. I suppose it was near post time when you set about it and so had not time to be more explicit. I had a letter in the early part of the week from Marquis – requesting a favour in the poetical line. I may want your never sleeping tongue for this. It is on the death of a young man in Ceylon,⁶ a friend and relative. I cannot bring myself to attempt it. Elegiac pieces are too deep in sentiment for a paltry rhymer – and if my present opinions don’t change I’ll refer him to you. At all events, I’m sure I can’t do it.

We had a grand match of foot-ball here this week, between an equal number of the surveyors and office men. The office men were the best – but not one game was won during the whole evening. I hurted my arm severely by a fall, but it is mending rapidly, we are to have another shortly.

I hope to hear from you shortly – take a pencil and a sheet of paper and scribble away for a while – you need not lose time in writing with ink.

Yours | ‘Y’⁷ | 110 Pitt Street⁸

If you suspect anything like a suspicion – direct to my lodgings. Some rascal might purloin it here. I really think his life would pay the forfeit – However direct to 110 Pitt St.

McKerlie⁹ was here yesterday. His large plans he will have drawn merely with red and black as the small scale.¹⁰ Hamley says the coloured plans are like waistcoat patterns.

Original:

‘We plotters’ says a surveyman ‘pay little attention to divine writ!’ ‘How’s that?’ says a comrade ‘Because we’ add ‘house to house and field to field’.¹¹

RI MS JT 1/11/3601–2

LT Transcript Only