He tells us that up to the time of his undertaking the Biography, he did not even know that the original of the letter was in existence.

He also tells us that until he and his brother saw the letter they had little idea of the extreme poverty and anxiety which their father had experienced during his time in London.

Obviously Crabbe himself had been reticent on the subject even with his own family.

From the midsummer of 1780, when the "Journal to Mira" comes to an end, to the February or March of the following year, there is a blank in the Biography which the son was unable to fill.

At the time the fragment of Diary closes, Crabbe was apparently at the very end of his resources.