“Dear Madam.—I am fully sensible of the compliment you pay me in requesting a contribution from my pen to your album, but my principal sensation on the occasion is pain in refusing you. Quin, the actor, after retiring from the stage, was accustomed annually to play Falstaff for the benefit of his old friend, Ryan. But at length, being applied to once more, and having lost several of his teeth, he answered that he fervently desired for Ryan all manner of good, ‘but, by God, he would not whistle Falstaff for any man.’ So I, who am as clumsy as an elephant, must reply in this case, that I greet you with my utmost good wishes, but will not attempt a hornpipe even for Mrs L. Stanhope.—Believe me, dear Madam, most sincerely yours,
