year ago I would
not have drenched you with all the Scotch, and Norwich, Ale which I
have given you. . . . Do not neglect this Advice, as being only an
old Woman's Advice; you have, even at your early time of life,
suffered from _Gravel_; and you may depend upon it that Gravel will
turn to _Stone_, unless you do something like what I tell you, and
which the Doctor has told your Father. And I know that there is no
Disease in the World which makes a young Man _old_ sooner than Stone:
No Disease that _wears_ him more. You should take plenty of _Tea_;
some Gin and Water every night; and _no_ Ale, or Beer; but only
Porter; and not much of that. If you do not choose to buy Gin for
yourself, buy some for _me_: and keep it on board: and drink some
every Day, or Night. Pray remember this: and _do it_.

"I have been here since I wrote my first Letter to Scarboro'; that is
to say, a week ago. Till To-day I have been taking out some Friends
every day: they leave the place in a day or two, and I shall go home;
though I dare say not for long. Your wife seems nearly right again; I
saw her To-day. Your Father has engaged to sell his Shrimps to Levi,
for this season and next, at 4s. a Peck. Your old _Gazelle_ came in
on Saturday with all her Nets gone to pieces; the Lugger _Monitor_
came in here yesterday to alter her Nets--from _Sunk_ to _Swum_, I
believe. So here is a Lowestoft Reporter for you: and you may never
have it after all. But, if you do, do not forget what I have told
you. Your Father thinks that you may have missed the Herring by going
_outward_, where they were first caught: whereas the Herring had
altered their course to inshore. . . . Better to miss many Herrings
than have the Stone.

"E. FG."

Here, again, the delicate solicitude of this perfect gentleman is
apparent. "If you do not choose to buy Gin for yourself, buy some for
_me_: and keep it on board: and drink some every Day, or Night." That is
to say, "If you think that you cannot afford to buy gin for yourself
don't worry about the expense. I'll see you are not put to any extra
cost. But I can't bear to think that you may suffer for the want of a
medicine because of your East Anglian parsimony."

It must be remembered that East Anglia was notorious for the frequency of
the disease in question. The late William Cadge, of Norwich, probably
the finest lithotomist i