Footnotes

'THE KING IS DEAD': GRAY'S ELEGY ON GEORGE II; one which, for all the King's boast of heraldry and pomp of power, stands in pungent contrast to the respect Gray accorded the rural poor; Gray here contenting himself with the terse observation that "This event happens at an unlucky time, but (I should think) will make little alteration in publick measures".

This letter was written at the period in Gray's life when his attention had turned from literary studies to the study of mediaeval architecture, especially England's Gothic cathedrals, and concomitantly to English history and the archival sources on which it should be based; in part under the influence of his friend Horace Walpole: 'In July 1759 Gray took up residence in London, in lodgings formerly occupied by his friend Wharton in Southampton Row. For the next two years his principal occupation was historical research in the manuscript holdings of the recently opened British Museum, some of it by way of assisting Walpole in his historical projects. In November 1761, having read enough at the museum, Gray returned to his rooms at Pembroke' (John D. Bair, ODNB).

James Brown, recipient of this letter, was described by Gray as wanting 'nothing, but a Foot in height and his own Hair, to make him a little old Roman'. A loyal friend and admirer, the two probably met as undergraduates; and Brown was later to attend Gray's funeral in the country churchyard at Stoke Poges and to act as joint-executor to his will. While in London Gray kept his friend supplied with news. George II had died suddenly of a ruptured aortic aneurysm on the morning of October 25. Horace Walpole, who was not a great admirer, exclaimed: 'What an enviable death! In the greatest period of the glory of this country, and of his reign, in perfect tranquillity at home, at seventy-seven, growing blind and deaf, to die without a pang'.

This letter is published in the Correspondence of Thomas Gray, edited by Paget Toynbee, Leonard Whibley, H. W. Starr (1971), ii, 708.