[Joseph Lancaster, Quaker educationalist.] Lengthy conclusion to Autograph Letter Signed to Elizabeth Clarke of Downham, explaining that the 'very sedentary' nature of 'the cause' has sent him to the country for an 'excursion'.

In the obituary of Zachary Clarke, husband of the recipient, in the Gentleman's Magazine for September 1815, it is stated that he also 'established a free school on Dr. Bell's system, and has since employed a teacher to superintend it'. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 8vo. Thirty-eight lines of text. The other leaf or leaves of the letter are missing. The cover leaf, addressed on reverse with two illegible postmarks, 'To / Elizabeth Clarke - / at Zachary Clarkes / Downham / Norfolk -'. Signed 'J. Lancaster'. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with the inevitable minor damage caused by the breaking nof the wafer. He has been 'a little indisposed and thinking it wise to miss the rising danger in the [bed?] I have come out for quietude & for my health for a few days. / I am now in my way to Bath with my friend Whitchurch - the poet. The cause is changing suddenly from a most [active] to a very sedentary [one] & the sitting at a desk [?] a great deal has affected my chest so much that I feel that soreness which a change of air may [?] down in the very infancy of it - if taken in time & have therefore left my sheep under the care of a suitable shepherd & shepherdess while I take a little excursion'. He concludes by stating that he will employ the 'little leisure' he at present enjoys ('being becalmed her by the rain') in commending her to 'the good will of him who dwelt in the bush'.