My dear Charles,

On my return from Chirk last night I found your very kind & welcome Letter, & whilst I most sincerely thank you for it & wish you every possible Happiness, I would if I knew how, express the Pride & Pleasure it has given me, by convincing me that I enjoy the good Opinion & regard of a Man I so much admire & respect, & who I hope I may now be permitted to say I have always sincerely loved. I am not a Flatterer or a Courtier & am equally afraid of saying too little or too much, but I cannot help feeling greatly honour’d by your Friendship, & I do assure you am quite unable to express what I feel or wish to say upon this Occasion, & must therefore content myself by requesting you to accept my very grateful thanks for the kind regard you express for me, & to assure you that there is no Man living whose good Opinion I more highly value or in whose happiness & welfare, & I can hardly except my own Children, I take a greater Interest; & I pray to God to bless & prosper you as you deserve, & to make the Lady on whom you have placed your Affections as worthy as I wish & trust she will be of you. My Family are at this moment very much dispersed—none at home but myself & Henry— M^rs. Owen & Emma are at Chirk—& Caroline just gone into Scotland with M^rs. Anstruther Thomson. They shall all however be made acquainted as soon as may be with the glad Tidings you have communicated & I am quite sure will most cordially unite in every good wish for your happiness.— Upon reading your Letter again I see this will not find you under your Father’s Roof, neither have you told me where to address you, but as the Occasion admits not of delay—I shall enclose it to your Father & beg it may be forwarded.—

You have had so good an excuse for not visiting me when in the Country that I have nothing to complain of, but hope whenever you come next to Shrewsbury whether with or without your fair Lady you will let me have the Pleasure of seeing you here, & I promise you I will not scold let your Dog be ever so wild or if you shoot all the Hen Pheasants you see.

I cannot conclude without again assuring you, though I hope it is not necessary to do so, that the kind regard you have express’d for me is quite mutual, & makes me feel very proud, & that I am Most Sincerely | And Affectionately Yours | W^m. Owen Woodhouse

Wed^y. Nov^r. 21^st— | 1838—