Pièce 89 - Letter from Richard Sheepshanks

RS congratulates WW on being made Master of Trinity and on his marriage to Cordelia Marshall: 'in the note which you sent me (I was abroad some weeks after that time and did not receive it till my return) you expressed a wish that I should come and help to administer the republic [Trinity College]. RS does not want to: 'I need scarcely say again, what long experience has convinced me of, that with the same object in view, no persons can differ more in the way of pursuing it than you and I do'. He has 'no doubt the college will go on well and prosper under your guidance. I may be doubtful whether your system is the best of all that are conceivable, but carried out simply and uniformly, it will be far better than mixed up with something quite different'. However RS feels he could be of use concerning the college statutes: 'I have always admired the original scheme and think that with a few adaptations, it is better suited to what we want than the innovations which interfered with it'. He supports his claim with examples. RS must leave the country for health reasons.