i'tT'W’ 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I 
 
 ’A 
 
 Jiar/b 1729. _ JJieS 2822. 
 
 Published bydjichols aiuL Soil .March, 31, 1348. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LITERARY HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 CONSISTING OF 
 
 AUTHENTIC MEMOIRS AND ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 EMINENT PERSONS; 
 
 AND INTENDED AS A SEQUEL TO 
 
 THE LITERARY ANECDOTES. 
 
 By JOHN BOWYER NICHOLS, F.S.A. 
 
 VOLUME VII. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY AND FOR J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, 
 
 25, PARLIAMENT STREET, WESTMINSTER. 
 
 1848. 
 
 BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRARY 
 
 Chestnut hjll, mass. 
 

 
 
TO THE 
 
 REV. JOHN MITFORD, M. A. 
 
 OF BENHALL, 
 
 WHOSE EXCELLENT EDITIONS OF GRAY 
 AND OTHER POETS, 
 
 AS WELL AS HIS OWN ELEGANT WRITINGS IN VERSE AND PROSE, 
 HAVE SHEWN HOW JUSTLY HE CAN 
 APPRECIATE THE LABOURS OF KINDRED GENIUS, 
 
 THESE RELIQUES OF BISHOP PERCY 
 
 AND HIS FRIENDS 
 ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 BY HIS FAITHFUL 
 
 HUMBLE SERVANT, 
 
 J. B. NICHOLS. 
 
 Feb. 19, 1848, 
 
29397 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 After an interval of many years I venture to lay 
 before the public a seventh volume of “ The Lite- 
 rary Illustrations of the Eighteenth Century of 
 which my revered Father lived to publish four 
 volumes ; and to which two more were added after 
 his decease. 
 
 The correspondence contained in this volume 
 was not in my possession at the completion of the 
 sixth volume, but has been acquired since by pub- 
 lic sale. I had no sooner become possessed of this 
 literary treasure, than I felt a strong desire to show 
 my sense of the respect and gratitude I felt to the 
 memory of Bishop Percy, for his uniform kind- 
 ness to my Father and myself, by making a selec- 
 tion from his correspondence, as a portion of “ The 
 Literary Illustrations” of the time in which he lived. 
 
 Perhaps there was no person who mixed more 
 extensively with the learned men of his day than 
 the Bishop of Dromore. In early life he was the 
 intimate friend of Johnson, Goldsmith, Burke, Rey- 
 nolds, Boswell, Steevens, Malone, Lord Stowell, 
 and the whole of the celebrated Literary Club ; as 
 
VI 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 well as of Shenstone, Dr. Grainger, Dr. Farmer, 
 Dr. Lort, and other eminent men of letters. In 
 his latter years he had the good fortune to attach 
 to himself friends, who, whilst he was himself 
 resident in a distant part of the North of Ireland, 
 contributed to his happiness and amusement by the 
 richness of their correspondence ; from some one 
 or other of whom he was sure to hear of any event 
 that occurred in the literary world. 
 
 The letters of and to Dr. James Grainger are 
 the first in point of time, and open to view much 
 of the aspiration of two young authors ardent in 
 their pursuit of literary distinction. Dr. Percy’s 
 letter to Dr. Birch, and his correspondence with 
 the Rev. George Ashby, are connected with the 
 Bishop’s early works ; as those of the Rev. Henry 
 Meen are with his later publications. 
 
 The letters of George Steevens, it is to be 
 regretted, are few, but very characteristic of that 
 lively and satirical writer. 
 
 Nor are the letters of James Boswell less cha- 
 racteristic of the Biographer of Johnson. His 
 letters to Percy are followed by others by him, and 
 by some addressed to him, chiefly relative to the 
 character of the great Colossus of Literature. 
 
 One of the most communicative of the Bishop’s 
 correspondents was the well-known antiquary, Dr. 
 Michael Lort ; who, mixing in the first literary 
 circles in London and Cambridge, was in constant 
 communication with Percy. I have added to the 
 Lort Article some correspondence between Dr. 
 Lort and Dr. Birch ; and at the suggestion of 
 my friend Sir Frederic Madden, K.H., Keeper of 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Vll 
 
 the MSS. in the British Museum* I have inserted 
 an interesting series of letters from Dr. Lort to 
 Horace Walpole, at the close of which Walpole’s 
 conduct to Chatterton is satisfactorily defended. 
 
 The correspondence with Percy of the learned 
 and accomplished scholar Archdeacon Nares, has 
 been much enlarged by a collection of his letters 
 to his literary friends. 
 
 The Bishop’s epistolary intercourse was not con- 
 fined to the friends he had left behind him in 
 England. From Edinburgh he was furnished by 
 Dr. Robert Anderson, Lord Woodhouselee, 
 Mr. Pinkerton, and others, not only with the 
 literary news of the Northern Metropolis, but with 
 much that they had themselves learned from their 
 own correspondents. In Ireland, Dr. Thomas 
 Campbell, Dr. Edward Ledwich, Joseph 
 Cooper Walker, and others, added to the grati- 
 fication of the good Bishop. 
 
 To the articles of the Rev. George Ashby, Dr. 
 Campbell, Dr. Ledwich, and Mr. Walker, I have 
 added their correspondence with Richard Gough, 
 Esq. from the large collection I possess of the 
 literary remains of that eminent Antiquary. 
 
 I had intended to have completed the Percy 
 Correspondence in one volume, but it has ex- 
 tended to half of another. It is printed, but re- 
 served to be published with a General Index to 
 the whole Eight Volumes of the “ Literary Illus- 
 trations of the Eighteenth Century,” to be com- 
 pleted, if my life and health are preserved, at as short 
 a period as is consistent with so laborious a task. 
 
 The notes in this volume are studiously short. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 viii 
 
 but it is hoped will be found useful, as the object 
 has been to ascertain, if possible, the dates of the 
 deaths of the parties spoken of ; and to refer to 
 those works where the most ample memoirs of 
 them may be found. 
 
 A pleasing duty remains — to return my best 
 acknowledgments to my kind friend the Rev. John 
 Mitford, of Benhall, Suffolk, (by whose recom- 
 mendation the Percy Correspondence was selected 
 for publication,) and to Sir Frederic Madden, 
 K.H. To their kind perusal of the work during 
 its progress, I am indebted for many friendly 
 hints, some of which appear as useful notes. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Hunter, F.S.A. and Wm. B. 
 D. Turnbull, Esq. F.S.A. have obligingly afforded 
 me assistance in the article of Dr. Grainger, a lite- 
 rary character of whom little was previously 
 known. 
 
 To E. G. Ballard, Esq. I am indebted for 
 much literary assistance. 
 
 I need scarcely add that the Volume has much 
 profited by the careful revision of my attentive 
 son, J. G. Nichols, F.S.A. Had not his time been 
 occupied by other laborious literary pursuits, the 
 “ Seventh Volume of Literary Illustrations ” would 
 probably have appeared many years since, com- 
 piled from different materials. Those stores, some 
 of which were originally intended for this work, 
 still remain at his disposal, to be produced here- 
 after in any way that public encouragement may 
 demand. 
 
 Feb. 19, 1848. 
 
 J. B. N, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Notice of George Steevens, Esq. ..... 1 
 
 Correspondence between Mr. Steevens and Bishop Percy. 
 Steevens to Percy. Jan. 11, 1788. — Deaths in his family; Lord Charle- 
 mont’s advice ; Boydell’s Shakspeare Gallery, Aldermen John and Josiali 
 Boydell (note) ; the had taste of the painters in costume ; Malone’s edition of 
 Shakspeare expected ; line in Spenser’s Faery Queen ; Mr. Monclt Mason, 
 (note) ; Mr. Boswell and his Life of Johnson ; Mr. Jephson’s “Julia;” Gib- 
 bon’s Decline and Fall; Bruce’s Abyssinia; Goldsmith’s Works, and his rela- 
 tive ; Mr. Ritson ; Bust of Johnson by Nollekens ... 1 
 
 Same. (A fragment) no date.- — Bishop Percy’s Nephew . . 5 
 
 Same. June 2, 1796. — A juvenile work of James I. and “ Reulis and Cau- 
 telis 5 
 
 Same. Oct. 24 . — Addresses him as Uncle ; poem in blank verse mentioned by 
 Tyrwhitt; bantering compliments to his Aunt and Cousins; Dr. Farmer’s ill 
 health ; Rev. H. Meen ; Burke and his pamphlet ; Thomas’s opinion of the 
 “ Melibeus ;” doubts about its author .... 5 
 
 Same. Dec. 26. — Mr. Meen’s character ; “ Tale of the Two Swannes ”; Ire- 
 land’s Shakspeare forgeries ; the Literary Club ; Dr. Farmer ; Gough’s 
 “ Sepulchral Monuments ” . . . . 7 
 
 Same. Jan. 3, 1797. — Thomas Watson’s EKATOMIIA0IA ; S. Ireland, senr. 
 
 and his pamphlet . . . . . .10 
 
 Same. Jan. 30. — Proposed Mezzotinto of Bishop Percy from Mr. Abbott’s 
 painting ; sends an ancient poem in blank verse ; extract from the “ Mirrour 
 for Magistrates”; G. Chalmers’s invective against Malone ; Dr. Farmer’s 
 health ; Isaac Reed ; visit of the French to Ireland ; Literary Club 11 
 Same. Feb. 6.— Sends him more old poems ; Dr. Farmer ; price of the 
 quarto editions of Shakspeare . . . . .13 
 
 Same. March 10. — Portrait of Bishop Percy by Abbott ; Valentine Green 
 (note) ; list of old poems in blank verse ; Nichols’s Progresses of Queen Eliza- 
 beth ; Milton and blank verse ; Sir H. Englefield and the Club ; Dr. 
 Farmer ; Sir John Jervis, afterwards Earl St. Vincent ; Milton and his 
 Works . . . . . . .15 
 
 Same. Apr. 12. — Milton and blank verse ; Dr. Farmer ; Mr. Pinkerton and 
 Mr. Anderson ; Vally (Valentine Green) ; Rupert Green ; Bishop Prety- 
 man and Mr. Meen ; Bp. Percy’s work, “ Blank Verse before Milton ” 18 
 
 Same. May 1. — “ Mr. Anderson’s Answer to Pinkerton’s Attack,” &c. ; 
 
 “ Elizabetha Triumphans ” ; Mr. Meen ; Anglo-Saxon verses . 20 
 
 Same. July 17. — George Chapman ; Jas. Aske ; Pontius Pilate’s Letter ; 
 Higgins ; Literary Club ; Mr. Edmund Wigley ; Duke of Leeds ; Mr. 
 Meen ........ 21 
 
 Same. June 10. — Ireland and the Navy ; Dr. Farmer and the Annual Meet- 
 ing of Emanuel College at the Crown and Anchor ; Mr. Meen ; Rev. James 
 Plumptre’s opinion of the characters of Hamlet and Ghost ; prices of the 
 quarto copies of Shakspeare at Leigh and Sotheby’s, June 8, 1797 . 23 
 
X 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Same. Sept. 3. — Epilogue (by Goldsmith, see note); Dodsley’s Papers and 
 Goldsmith’s MSS. ; Oratorio of Captivity set to music by an eminent com- 
 poser (Steevens, see note); Songs published (see note), (N.B. Notes * and f 
 are transposed) ; notice of these pieces ; Marlow’s Lucan ; Dr. Farmer ; 
 Book on China by Sir George Leonard Staunton, and critique on it, and 
 some notice of the author ...... 24 
 
 Same. Sept. 9. — Advice to Dr. Percy on his dealing with the booksellers; Mr. 
 Dodsley’s executors; Dr. Warton’s edition of Pope ; C. and D. (Cadell and 
 Davies, see note) ....... 28 
 
 Percy to Steevens. Sep. 10. — Goldsmith’s Epilogue and his other MS. 
 works ........ 31 
 
 Steevens to Percy. Sep. 14. Mrs. Bulkeley; Goldsmith’s Epilogue; Death 
 of Dr. Farmer ; “ Pursuits of Literature ” . . . .32 
 
 Same. Nov. 10. — Examination of Dr. Farmer’s papers ; supposed debt of 
 Dr. Percy to Dr. Farmer ...... 33 
 
 Percy to Steevens. Nov. 12. — Denies his debt to Dr. Farmer . 35 
 
 Memoir of Rev. Henry Meen, B.D. . . . . .36 
 
 Correspondence between Rey. Mr. Meen and Bishop Percy. 
 
 Meen to Percy. July 26, 1796. — Corrections of Bishop Percy’s “Blank 
 Verse before Milton ” (see note); Dr. Farmer, G. Steevens, and I. Reed 38 
 Same. Aug. 6. — Corrections of his “ Blank Verse,” &c. ; Glossary to 
 Chaucer ........ 39 
 
 Same. Oct. 3. — Corrections of the Bishop’s work; Bishop Pretyman 40 
 Same. Dec. 15. — Corrections continued; preferment of the Bishop’s nephew'; 
 
 Isaac Reed; Meen’s Poem on “ Happiness” . . .41 
 
 Same. Jan. 23, 1797. — Corrections continued; Dr. Farmer’s health 42 
 Same. March 14. — Corrections continued; the Bishop’s nephew . 43 
 
 Same. May 2. — Corrections continued; Mr. Meen goes to Chigwell ; Dr. 
 Farmer ........ 44 
 
 Same. June 15. — Corrections continued; Dr. Farmer . . 45 
 
 Same. Aug. 30. — Corrections continued ; Dr. Farmer ; Sir Herbert Croft’s 
 verses “ on returning the key of the gardens at Ham House to the Earl of 
 Dysart” ........ 46 
 
 Same. Dec. 16. — Death of Dr. Farmer; the Bishop’s supposed debt to Dr. 
 Farmer; letters (Bishop Percy to Dr. Farmer) consigned to his care by 
 Steevens; Thanksgiving day at St. Paul’s (on Lord Duncan’s Victory, see 
 note) ; MS. notes on the New Testament . . . .47 
 
 Same. Nov. 25, 1799. — Isaac Reed and the European Magazine; Dr. John 
 Lettice; Mrs. Scott’s poems; Dr. Grainger’s poems; Rev. Weldon Champ- 
 neys (see note) ....... 47 
 
 Same. Feb. 14, 1800. — Translation of Ovid’s Epistles by Grainger, &e. ; 
 
 death of G. Steevens; his will and works; Mrs. Scott’s poems; Jane Gibbs 49 
 Same. Aug. 29. — Dr. Farmer’s works and papers . . .51 
 
 Same. Apr. 8, 1801. — MSS. consigned to his care by Bishop Percy; Mrs. 
 Scott’s poems ; Dr. Lettice and Isaac Reed ; inquiry about Dr. Grainger’s 
 poems; death of Miss Steevens; Rev. J. D. Haslewood, and various in- 
 quiries ........ 52 
 
 Same. Jan. 29, 1802. — Todd’s edition of Milton (note); Milton’s copy of 
 “ Lycophron ;” Mrs. Scott’s poems ; Dr. Lettice ; Dean Vincent ; Isaac Reed ; 
 Dr. Samuel Berdmore and his pamphlet (note) . . .54 
 
 Same. March 17. — Milton’s copy of “ Lycophron ” . . .56 
 
 Same. June 26. — Milton’s “Lycophron ;” Dr. Lettice and Isaac Reed ; Mal- 
 colm’s “ Londinium Redivivum ” ; “ Philosophical Transactions, abridged ”56 
 Same. Jan. 1803. — Milton’s “ Lycophron ;” Edition of Goldsmith’s works; 
 Steevens’s “ Shakspeare ;” Mr. Todd’s “ Spenser ;” Mr. J. P. Malcolm ; 
 Dr. Percy ........ 57 
 
 Same. May 18. — Bishop Percy’s health; Milton’s “ Lycophron ;” Todd’s 
 “ Spenser ;” Goldsmith’s works .... .58 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XI 
 
 Same. Aug . — Charles Goldsmith (see note); Isaac Reed and G. Steevens ; 
 curious plate and note respecting men whose heads appear not above their 
 shoulders; Lord Charlemont’s “ Milton,” and notes on “ Lycophron,” and 
 his keeping the book so long (see note) ; the European Magazine and Mr. 
 Richard Rolt ....... 60 
 
 Same. March 13, 1804. — Bishop Percy’s health ; Lord Charlemont ; Milton’s 
 notes on “ Lycophron ;” Mr. Rivington ; Dr. Lettice’s Lectures on “ Arti- 
 ficial Memory ;” Mr. Todd’s “ Spenser ;” Mr. Warton’s edition of “ Dry- 
 den ” (see note) ; Bishop Majendie and Bishop Bennett (see note) . 62 
 
 Same. July 30. — Mr. J. Mayne (see note) ; Bishop Bennett (see note) ; Mil- 
 ton’s “ Lycophron ;” Mr. W. Preston’s translation of “ Argonautics of Apol- 
 lonius Rhodius ;” Isaac Reed ; Dan. Braith waite (see note); J. Scott the 
 Quaker poet ....... 64 
 
 Same. Jan. 20, 1807. — Bishop Percy’s health ; death of Isaac Reed (see note) ; 
 Lord Royston’s translation of “ Lycophron ;” Mr. T. Thirl wall’s “ Selec- 
 tions from Jeremy Taylor ” (see note) ; death of Mrs. Percy (see note); acci- 
 dent to Mr. J. Nichols (see note) . . . . .66 
 
 Memoir of Robert Anderson, M.D. . . . .69 
 
 Correspondence between Dr. Anderson and Bishop Percy. 
 
 Percy to Anderson. July 21, 1798. — Commends his “ British Poets” and 
 his “ Life of Dr. Grainger ;” offers him Grainger’s MSS. . . 71 
 
 Anderson to Percy. Nov. 30. — Accepts the offer of Bishop Percy’s assistance ; 
 obtains Mr. Mundell as a publisher of Grainger’s Works, and Mr. G. Pa- 
 ton and Earl of Buchan as contributors of materials ; various works in which 
 Dr. Grainger was engaged . . . . .72 
 
 Percy to Anderson. Feb. 21, 1799. — Promises the Grainger MSS. ; list of 
 Grainger’s published poems . . . . .74 
 
 Anderson to Percy. June 20. — Mr. G. Paton’s ill health and death ; visit 
 from Rev. Dr. William Traill ; presses Bishop Percy to become the Editor 
 of Grainger ; his own literary engagements ; Mr. Alex. Thomson’s “ Pic- 
 tures of Poetry” and Campbell’s “ Pleasures of Hope” presented to Bishop 
 Percy by their authors . . . . . .76 
 
 Percy to Anderson. July 1. — Sends a copy of the “Reliques ;” corrects an 
 error in Dr. Anderson’s Life of Shenstone . . . .78 
 
 Anderson to Percy. July 31. — Thanks for Bishop Percy’s present, &c. ; 
 curious information received from Mr. Joseph Cooper Walker ; another 
 Poem of Dr. Grainger . . . . . .79 
 
 Same. Sept. 28. — Some observations on the “ Reliques ;” commends the 
 Dedication to the Duchess of Northumberland ; Alnwick Castle, noticed in 
 a “ Monody” by Dr. Anderson (see note) ; Alex. Thomson and T. Camp- 
 bell ; Mr. Paton and others ; “ Orpheus Caledonius ;” another poem of Dr. 
 Grainger ; his own literary labours . . . .81 
 
 Percy to Anderson. June 18, 1800. — Sends him the Collection of Grainger’s 
 Poems . . . . . . .83 
 
 Anderson to Percy. June 21. — Mr. (afterwards Sir W.) Scott’s first efforts 
 at Ballad writing ; critical observations on the Grainger Collection ; Dr. 
 Frome and Dr. Currie ; his occupations ; Mrs. Jane West. . 83 
 
 Same. Sept. 13. — Grainger’s books, and inquiry for his portrait [see p. 295] ; 
 Walter Scott and his Ballads; Mr. R. Jamieson and his “ Scottish Ballads;” 
 Life and Works of Lord Hailes . . . . .86 
 
 Same. Sept. 14. — Mr. Foulis and the French MSS. ; Dr. Trail ; Mrs. Jane 
 M est’s poems commended, (see note); old Scottish Ballads of “ Lord John 
 and Proud Ellen,” and “ Child Waters;” Mrs. Brown ; Mr. Robert Jamieson, 
 
 (see note) 88 
 
 Same. Jan. 27, 1801. — Walter Scott and his Ballads; the “Reliques;” 
 Mr. Fraser Tytler (afterwards Lord Woodhouselee) ; death of Mr. Mun- 
 dell ; Dr. Anderson’s Life of Smollett .... 91 
 
 ' AME- May 9. — Progress of Grainger’s Works, and notes on them; William 
 
Xll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Cunningham and his Poems; Lord Surrey’s Poems; Walter Scott’s Bal- 
 lads ; Mr. Thomas Park ; Mr. Jamieson ; marriage of Miss Percy with Hon. 
 and Rev. Pierce Meade ...... 92 
 
 Same. June 15. — Invitation to Dromore ; progress of Grainger's Works ; 
 Miss Bannerman’s Poems ...... 95 
 
 Same. Aug. 1. — Excursion to Scotland ; Grainger’s early life ; progress of 
 his Works; Bishop Percy’s translation of Ovid’s Epistles . . 97 
 
 Anderson to Rev. Dr. William Trail. Dec. 7. — William Cunningham ; 
 
 Grainger’s Essay “ On West India Diseases” . . .99 
 
 Anderson to Percy. May 8, 1802. — Indisposition, and intended journey to 
 England ; Grainger’s “Essay on West India Diseases,” and Poems (see 
 note); Grainger's birth place, and other particulars and notes ; Life of Gold- 
 smith; Mr. Eraser Tytler (Lord Woodhouselee); Walter Scott; Mr. Leyden 
 (see note) . . . ... . . 100 
 
 Anderson to Percy. July 5. — Proposed visit to Dromore . . 103 
 
 Same. July 29. — Journey into Scotland with Rev. Thomas Jervis (see note) 104 
 Same. Oct. 1. — Kind reception by Bishop Percy, and introduction to several 
 eminent characters ; visits J. C. Walker at St. Valeri, (see note,) which he 
 describes ; extends his literary acquaintance ; General Vallancey ; Sir 
 Richard Musgrave ; presents of books from their authors ; Harvey’s MS. 
 notes relative to Spenser ...... 105 
 
 Same. Nov. 6. — His journey to Dublin and acquaintances made there ; Mr. 
 Beauford’s MSS. ; Sir Richard Musgrave ; poem of Mr. Boyd, translator of 
 Dante, addressed to Dr. Anderson ; Miss Stewart ; Preston’s version of 
 Apollonius Rhodius ....... 107 
 
 Lady Dalrymple to Percy. Nov. 10. — Percy’s letters to Lord Hailes ; Lord 
 Hailes’s Works ; Lord Hailes’s letters .... 108 
 
 Anderson to Percy. Dec. 16.' — Extract from Lady Dalrymple’s and Lord 
 Woodhouselee ’s letters ; Percy’s answer to the account of Dr. Grainger in 
 the Westminster Magazine (see note) . . . .109 
 
 Same. May 21, 1803. — Mr. Macartney ; The influenza ; George Paton and 
 Miss Bannerman (see note); Mr. Beauford’s MSS. and drawings ; Dr. Smith ; 
 Bishop Percy’s “Key to the Bible;” Mr. Cooper Walker’s Essay on the 
 Drama in Italy ; Mr. Boyd’s poems ; Scott’s Border Minstrelsy ; Johnes’s 
 translation of Froissart; Miss Stewart’s Ode; Ritson’s “ Preliminary Dis- 
 sertation on Metrical Romances ” . . . . .111 
 
 Same. June 27. — Miss Stewart’s Ode to Dr. Percy ; quotations from the Ode; 
 
 alterations suggested . . . . . .114 
 
 Same. Aug. 16. — Letters relating to the Grainger family ; Bishop Percy’s ill- 
 health ; extracts of letters from Earl of Buchan and Colonel Johnes 115 
 Same (resumed). Sept. 15. — Miss Stewart’s Ode to Mr. Ercke, and stanzas 
 to Dr. Anderson ; Bishop Percy’s letters to Lord Hailes ; letters of Mrs. 
 Grainger; her character defended ; murder of Lord Kilwarden (see note) 117 
 Same. Oct. 14. — Miss Stewart’s Ode, &c. ; letters of Dr. Percy and Lord 
 Hailes; Grainger’s Works; Ossian’s Poems ; Bruce’s Travels; Park’s Nugse 
 Antiquse ; “ Northumberland Household Book ;” Dr. Jamieson’s “ Ety- 
 mological Dictionary of the Scottish Language ;” Mr. J. C. Walker’s “Essay 
 on the revival of the Drama in Italy” and other works ; Sir Richard Mus- 
 grave’s account of the Insurrection in Dublin; Goldsmith’s Works; Mrs. 
 West’s play ; Walter Scott’s “ Sir Tristrem ;” Death of Mr. Ritson 118 
 Same. Jan. 24, 1804. — Death of Mr. Alex. Thomson ; Miss Bannerman (see 
 note) ; Miss Stewart’s Ode ; Grainger’s works . . . 122 
 
 Same. May 6. — The Bishop’s health; Grainger’s Works; Miss Stewart’s 
 Ode; Mr. Stott’s verses on Miss Stewart ; Dr. Percy’s “Northern Antiquities,” 
 and edition of Goldsmith ; Mr. Owen Rees . . . 124 
 
 Same. July 26. — Herbert’s “Select Icelandic Poetry” (see note); extracts 
 from the notes (see note) ; the “Northern Antiquities”; Grainger’s letters 127 
 Percy to Anderson. Aug. 16. — Bishop Percy’s “Runic Poetry” and “ Northern 
 Antiquities ;” Hon. and Rev. Wm. Herbert ; Dr. Blair ; Icelandic poets 130 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 Anderson to Percy. Sept. 15. — Bishop Percy’s “Runic Poetry;” Mr. Herbert’s 
 criticisms and poems; Messrs. Longman and Rees; Miss Stewart’s Ode ; 
 Miss Bannerman ; Grainger’s memoirs .... 131 
 
 Same. Oct. 29. — Miss Stewart’s Ode ; Mr. Hay Drummond ; mis-statement in 
 the notes to the Ode, as to Dr. Percy’s preferment ; Miss Bannerman and 
 her affairs; benevolence of Dr. Anderson towards William Wight (see 
 note); Dr. Grainger’s letter to Mr. Burt; Dr. Anderson’s life of Dr. Johnson; 
 Dr. Ryan’s work on the Irish Catholics; lines by William Wight, and a 
 prose Address by the same to the unknown author of Chevy Chase . 134 
 
 Percy to Anderson. Oct. 17. — Mr. T. Armstrong ; Bishop Percy’s liberality 
 to Miss Bannerman ; Messrs. Cadell and Davies, and Goldsmith’s Works ; 
 anecdotes of Ritson . . . . . .138 
 
 Anderson to Percy. (No date.) — Mr. T. Armstrong, and Mr. T. Robinson 
 and his son ........ 139 
 
 Same. Dec. 4. — William Wight; Bishop Percy’s liberality to him ; Sir W. 
 Forbes’s Life of Beattie, with his correspondence (see note) ; Mr. Armstrong 
 and Mr. T. Stott; hopeless state of Mr. W. Cunningham; Dr. Grainger’s 
 letter to Mr. Burt, and the date of Dr. G.’s death (see note); index to the 
 “ Sugar Cane ;” Boswell’s account of the recitation of the “ Sugar Cane ;” 
 Boswell’s Life of Johnson ; Ritson’s death ; Mr. Selby and the Duke of 
 Northumberland ; Col. Johnes and his “ Froissart” . . 140 
 
 Percy to Anderson. Feb. 5, 1805. — Dr. Grainger’s letter to Mr. Burt ; 
 Dr. Grainger’s life, and time and place of birth, and death ; the “ Sugar 
 Cane;” Dr. Smollett and Dr. Grainger; Col. Johnes and “Froissart;” Mr. 
 William Cunningham’s death ; memoir of William Cunningham . 143 
 
 Anderson to Percy. April 3. — Dr. Grainger; Col. Johnes; Mr. Laing’s 
 new edition of Macpherson’s “ Ossian,’’ and the forgery ; Mr. Armstrong ; 
 death of Mr. W . Cunningham, and account of him to be published in Poetical 
 Register ........ 146 
 
 Same. April 9. — Laing’s Macpherson ; the “ Northern Antiquities;” Ander- 
 son’s Life of Johnson ; letters of the Duchess of Somerset (see note); extract 
 from Good’s Life of Dr. Geddes (see note) . . . .147 
 
 Same. April 12. — Mr. T. Armstrong and Mr. T. R. Robinson ; Dr. Ryan’s pam- 
 phlet, and new edition of his “ History of the Effects of Religion ;” Mr. Mur- 
 ray’s “ Bruce’s Travels,” with Life ; Mr. J. C. Walker’s “ Essay on the 
 Revival of the Drama in Italy ;” Mr. Boyd’s translation of the “ Araucana,’ ’ (see 
 note) ........ 148 
 
 Percy to Anderson. May ... — Macpherson ; Lord Buchan’s “ Oriental 
 Repasts ;” the Duchess of Somerset’s letters censured ; Dr. Anderson’s Life 
 of Shenstone, and critique on it ; Dr. Anderson’s Life of Johnson ; new 
 edition of the “Northern Antiquities ;” Mr. W. Davies and the Works of Gold- 
 smith ; Ritson’s death, and the British Critic (see note); Mr. Armstrong; 
 Mr. T. R. Robinson ; young actress at Belfast (see note) ; verses by Hafiz, 
 Mr. T. Stott ....... 150 
 
 Anderson to Percy. June 13. — Mr. Laing and Macpherson ; the “Northern 
 Antiquities ;” conversation with Mr. Rees and Mr. Longman, and com- 
 parison between Percy and Walter Scott ; the “ Poetical Register,” and 
 Dr. Anderson ; Mr. T. R. Robinson’s Address ; Mr. Gillespie’s poem on 
 “ Refinement ;” Dr. Browne’s “ Observations on Hume,” and Professor 
 Stewart ........ 153 
 
 Same. Sept. 3. — Mr.Duhigg's “ King’s Inns Remembrances ;” Mr.T. R.Robin- 
 son’s poems; Mr. Johnstone’s “ Lodbrokar-Quida, or the death-song of 
 Lodbrok,” with English translation, &c. (see note) ; Mr. Boyd and his 
 Poems ........ 156 
 
 Percy to Anderson. Nov. 27. — Criticism on Dr. Anderson’s Life of John- 
 son ........ 158 
 
 Anderson to Percy. Dec. 14. — Mr. Boyle the banker, and Mr. John Lays 
 Black ; Dr. Anderson’s intention to print Dr. Percy’s observations on his 
 * Life of Johnson’’ in the form of notes ; Mr. T. R. Robinson, and Miss 
 Stewart’s verses to the young poet ; “ Northern Antiquities” . 159 
 
Xiv 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Same, March 25, 1806. — “ Northern Antiquities Dr. Anderson’s Life of 
 Smollett ; the Massachusetts “ Historical Collections inquiries for notices 
 of Dryden for Walter Scott’s new edition ; Dedication to the “ Evangelical 
 History Harmonised,” by Dr. Johnson; Chapter in Mrs. Lennox’s “ Female 
 Quixote,” by Dr. Johnson (see note) ; Mr. Robinson ; failure of Vaccination 160 
 Same. June 28. — Thanks for Grainger’s letter ; Life of Grainger ; Life of 
 Smollett and “Northern Antiquities;” Scott's Life of Dryden and his 
 Plays ; Forbes’s Life of Beattie ; Miss Bannerman’s Poems and Tales 162 
 Same. July 13. — New edition of “ Key to the New Testament ;” Mr. T. R. 
 Robinson’s Poems ; Mr. W. H. Drummond's poem on “ The Battle of 
 Trafalgar,” and his MS. of “ Lucretius Recollections of Dromore and its 
 scenery; the enlarged plan of “Poetical Translations;” the Leslie Con- 
 troversy; Brown’s “Observations on Hume;” “Campbell’s Pleasures of 
 Hope ;” two Songs by Walter Scott . . . .164 
 
 Same. Aug. 14. — Bishop Percy’s subscription to Miss Bannerman’s poems ; 
 
 “ Key to the New Testament ;” Anderson’s Life of Smollett .167 
 
 Anderson to Mr. Thos. Robinson. Oct. 30. — (See note) ; compliments him on 
 his son T. Romney Robinson’s progress at Trinity College, and mentions 
 his portrait and the success of his subscription . . . 168 
 
 Anderson to Percy. Nov. 18. — The failure of Bishop Percy’s sight; Smollett 
 and Grainger’s Lives ; R. Jamieson’s “ Popular Ballads ;” Bishop Percy 
 and the Chatterton Controversy ; “ Key to New Testament,” and “ Northern 
 Antiquities ;” Mr. T. R. Robinson’s poems criticised ; Boyd’s squibs against 
 Moore ; Hafiz’s (T. Stott) Battle Piece .... 169 
 
 Same. Dec. 8 . — “Key to New Testament,” and “Northern Antiquities;” 
 Grainger and Smollett ; R. Jamieson’s “ Popular Ballads and Songs ;” 
 “Northern Antiquities ;” Johnes’s “Froissart” and “ Monstrelet ;” the 
 elections ; Miss Bannerman’s Poems .... 171 
 
 Same. March 11, 1807.- — Death of Mrs. Percy (see note) and Dr. Anderson’s 
 ill health ; moral reflections ; George Paton’s death ; Miss Bannerman’s Poems ; 
 Lord Woodhouselee’s “ Life of Karnes;” Walter Scott’s new poem; death of 
 Mr. Wm. Preston (see note); Mr. Stott’s and Mr. Boyd’s verses on the death 
 of Mrs. Percy (see notes) ...... 173 
 
 Same. Aprils. — Mr. R. Jamieson’s “ Ballads;” Character of Mr. M‘ Clean ; 
 
 destructive fire at Col. Johnes’s at Hafod; his works . . 175 
 
 Same. Dec. 29, 1800. — (See note) ; list of Old Scottish Songs penes Mr. 
 
 Fraser Tytler (Lord Woodhouselee), with specimens, and their history 176 
 Same. July 23, 1807. — Introduction of Rev. Mr, Buckminster, an American 
 traveller, to Dr. Percy ; reflections on the religious feeling in Ireland ; Miss 
 Bannerman and her prospects ; Bishop Percy’s account of Don Quixote's 
 library, collected by him, and burnt at Col. Johnes’s fire in Hafod ; 
 Latin version of Caedmon’s Anglo-Saxon paraphrase of the Bible ; pro- 
 gress of Johnes’s works ; Critique on Lord Woodhouslee’s “ Life of 
 Karnes;” Grainger’s “Key” and “Northern Antiquities;” Dr. Ryan’s 
 liberality to Dr. Anderson (see note); Mr. Park’s “Royal and Noble 
 Authors,” and Warton’s “ History of English Poetry” (see note); Scott’s 
 “ Dryden’’ and “Battle of Flodden”; Hafiz’s “Sonnet to Hon. Mrs. 
 Meade” . . . . . . . .180 
 
 Percy to Anderson. Jan. 4, 1808. — The Bishop’s strictures on Mr. J. C. 
 Walker and Mr. Ritson, and their conduct ; endeavour to conciliate the 
 religious differences of Ireland ; inquiries about various works in hand ; 
 Messrs. Cadell and Davies ...... 184 
 
 Anderson to Percy. May 18. — 111 health the cause of silence; summer tour 
 in Cumberland ; Messrs. Cadell and Davies, and Goldsmith’s Works; Grain- 
 ger’s Works; the “Key,” and “ Northern Antiquities;” Mr. J. C. Walker, 
 and his “ Essay on Romantic Fabling,” and his conduct; Dr. John Jamieson’s 
 “Scottish Dictionary;” Mr. W. H. Drummond’s “Lucretius,” and poem 
 on the “ Giant’s Causeway ;” Walter Scott’s “ Marmion,” “The Lay,” and 
 “ Lady of the Lake ” (see note) ..... 186 
 
 Percy to Anderson. May 24. — Grainger; the “ Northern Antiquities,” and 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XV 
 
 u iz ev the case of Cadell and Davies and Goldsmith’s Works stated at 
 
 J ’ I RQ 
 
 large ........ 10 " 
 
 Anderson to Percy. July 14. — Death of Dr. T. Percy the Bishop’s nephew, 
 and remarks on his character (see note); death of Dr. Anderson’s elder 
 brother ; works in hand ; statement relative to Goldsmith’s Works ; Miss 
 Bannerman, Dr. John Jamieson, and Mr. W. H. Drummond; Belfast College 
 and Dr. David Irving (see note) . . . . .192 
 
 Same. Aug. 26. — Bishop Percy’s correspondence with Mr. Stevenson relative 
 to Dr. Irving; his character and works; Dr. J.^Jamieson ; Mr. Coucher’s 
 poems; Dr. Graham’s Essay on Macpherson’s Ossian; notice of the Spanish 
 patriots and their success . . . . . .194 
 
 Same. Nov. 15. — Dr. David Irving’s works, and testimonials . 196 
 
 Same. Bee. 6. — Dr. Irving; Mr. Laing stimulated to answer Dr. Graham’s 
 book; works in hand ; Walter Scott’s new edition of Swift and Somers’s 
 Tracts, and his increasing reputation; Mr. Brougham gives offence by his 
 Essay on Cevallo’s Exposition in the Edinburgh Review ; Sir Brooke 
 Boothby, and his works (see note) ..... 197 
 
 Same. April 28, 1809. — Dr. Anderson's illness, and intended tour; illness of 
 Mr. Laing ........ 199 
 
 Same. May 12. Short notice of Dr. Anderson’s tour . . 200 
 
 Same. June 6. — Fatal illness of Mr. Robert Bourne, and lines on his death hy 
 David Carey and Miss Stewart ; extract from the preface to vol. VI. of General 
 Vallancey’s “Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis,” and “Relics of Burns ” 200 
 Same. Jan. 3, 1810.' — Bishop Percy’s blindness ; Lord Woodhouselee’s “ Life 
 of Petrarch ;” Jubilee at Dromore ; application to Principal Brown for 
 degree of D.D. for Mr. W. H. Drummond ; Dr. David Irving a candidate 
 for the office of Rector of the High School . . . 204 
 
 Dr. David Irving to Percy. Jan. 27. — Returns thanks for Bishop Percy’s 
 testimonials in his favour for the Rectorship of the High School, which he 
 did not obtain ....... 205 
 
 Dr. W. H. Drummond to Percy. Feb. 1. — (See note) ; Account of the Irish 
 Harp Institution ; Dr. Richardson and Swift’s Letters ; inquiries for a copy 
 of Oppian ........ 206 
 
 Anderson to Percy. Aug. 28. — Journey to Kildress ; Lord Woodhouselee’s 
 Life of Petrarch ....... 208 
 
 Same. Oct. 26.— Stay at Kildress ..... 209 
 
 Same. Dec. 6.- — Journey from Dromore to Portpatrick; third edition of Dr. 
 Milner’s “ Inquiry into certain vulgar opinions concerning the Catholic In- 
 habitants and Antiquities of Ireland,” greatly enlarged; and dispute about 
 St. George ; Dr. W. H. Drummond’s poem on the “Giant’.s Causeway Mr. 
 Douglas’s Biographical Sketch of the late Lord Melville ; the King’s illness; 
 political news . . . . . . .210 
 
 Same. May 15, 1811. — Recital of his wrongs and injuries, and the state of 
 his feelings; the revision of his poetical biography, with Oldys’s MS. notes; 
 Life of Smollett, with his Works; Life of Grainger necessarily abridged (see 
 note) ; Weber’s work ; Cromek’s “ Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway 
 Song;” Weber’s edition of Ford’s Plays (see note) . . 211 
 
 Same. June 17. — Inscription for a mausoleum for Robert Bourne, Esq. 213 
 Same. June 22. — Works sent to Bishop Percy, Cromek’s “ Relics of 
 Burns,” and Traditional Songs [written hy Allan Cunningham, a genius akin 
 to Burns] ; account of Ritson’s death; Anderson’s account of James Tytler; 
 some remarks on Miss Seward’s Works (see note); Weber’s editions of 
 “Ford,” “Beaumont and Fletcher,’’ and “Northern Antiquities’’ (see 
 note); Scott’s “Vision of Don Roderick;” deaths of Lord President 
 Blair and Lord Melville; Dr. W. Trail’s Life of Simson the mathematician, 
 including the Geometrical Analysis of Pappus . . . 215 
 
 Same. Aug. 17. — Intended journey to Ochtertyre to visit Mr. Ramsay, with 
 a short account of him (see note); Scott’s “Don Roderick” criticised; 
 g e ber s “ Northern Antiquities” described . . . 217 
 
 ■ ame. Sept. 13. — Notice of an article in the Edinburgh Annual Register on 
 
XVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Macpherson’s publications, and Bishop Percy’s Reliques ; Hall’s “ Select 
 Letters,” one from Mr. Mac Go wan to Shenstone on Erse poetry ; a young 
 American traveller; Select Papers of the Belfast Literary Society . 219 
 
 Me. Shenstone to Mr. M'Gowan. Sept. 24, 1761. — On Erse poetry; 
 commendation of Mr. T. Percy and his collection of English and Scotch 
 Ballads, and progress of his work, the future “ Reliques of Ancient 
 Poetry 220 
 
 Anderson to Meredith Darby. Oct. 9, 1811. — Death of Bishop Percy, with 
 Notice of that event by Dr. Anderson, from Edinburgh Evening Courant 223 
 Memoir of James Grainger, M.D. ..... 225 
 
 List of his Works; Percy’s contributions to the Grand Magazine . 232 
 
 Poems by, or supposed to be by Dr. Grainger, not printed in his Works : 
 Three Epigrams; Ode to Love; Ode to Contentment . . 234 
 
 Correspondence between Dr. Grainger and Bishop Percy. 
 Grainger to Percy. Oct. 22,1756. — Inquiries about Camoens; the state of the 
 London Theatres; Mrs. Cibber, Miss Pritchard, and Shuter (see note); Mr. 
 H. Dill’s Tragedy of “Minorca;”, John Slade’s “Love and Duty’’ (see 
 note) ; Bally’s Prize Poem (see note) ; begs the loan of the first Elegy of 
 Tibullus, translated by Percy (see note) .... 240 
 
 Percy to Grainger. March 24, 1757.— Noteson Dr. Grainger’s Tibullus 242 
 Grainger to Percy. — M edical directions for his sight; remarks on Mr. Percy’s 
 Notes on Tibullus ....... 244 
 
 Same. March 30. — Medical advice ; Tibullus ; inquiries after friends 246 
 Same. Feb. 1758. — Death of George Augustus second Earl of Sussex (see 
 note) ; Mr. W. Strahan, and the Grand Magazine (see note) ; Mr. Percy’s Song 
 of “O Nannie, wilt thou gang with me?” (see note) ; Ovid’s Elegy on Tibullus, 
 translated by Percy ; Rev. Robert Binnel’s opinion of it (see note) . 247 
 
 Same. Feb. — Dr. Grainger’s examination before the College of Physicians ; 
 Dr. Griffiths and Shui-ping-Sin (see note) ; Mr. Binnel’s notes on Tibullus ; 
 proof sheets; Home’s tragedy of Agis (note); Tibullus; Mr. T. Apperley 248 
 Same. Feb.- — -Dr. Griffiths and the Chinese novel; Henry 3rd Earl of Sussex; 
 
 Tibullus; the Grand Magazine . . . . .249 
 
 Same. April 4.- — Dodsley’s Collection of Poems and play ; Mr. Home’s 
 “ Agis Percy’s Contributions to the Grand Magazine . . 251 
 
 Same. April 14. — Dr. Griffiths ; Miss Anne Guthridge, afterwards Mrs. 
 Percy ; Miss Sophy .... . . and Dr. Grainger’s unsuccessful courtship 252 
 
 Same. May. — Dr. Percy’s matrimonial prospects ; medical advice; John- 
 son’s Shakspeare; Tibullus ...... 253 
 
 Same. May 13. — Translation of Ovid’s Epistles; medical advice . 254 
 
 Same. May 30.— Percy's Translation of Ovid’s Epistles, and Grainger’s 
 critique on a specimen; Dr. Johnson’s opinion of their value; the poem of 
 Avon (see note) ....... 255 
 
 Same. June 27. — Percy’s Translation of Ovid’s Epistles, and their disposal 258 
 Same. July 20. — Death of Mr. John Douglass, surgeon (see note), and notice 
 of him ; Tibullus; Ovid’s Epistles; Johnson’s Shakspeare . . 260 
 
 Same. Aug. 1 . — Ovid’s Epistles ; Preface to Tibullus ; Chinese novel 261 
 Same. Aug. 23. — Tibullus, and Rev. Robert Binnel . . 263 
 
 Same. Oct. 18. — Account of Dr. Grainger’s Tour in Scotland ; Dr. Stewart 
 of Wolverhampton, and his marriage (see note); Dr. Percy’s approaching 
 marriage ; Dr. Grainger appointed travelling tutor to Mr. Bourryau ; Ovid’s 
 Epistles; Dr. Percy’s Ode on the death of Earl of Sussex (not known to be 
 preserved); Tibullus ...... 264 
 
 Same. Jan. 10,1759. — Ovid’s Epistles (see note); Smollett’s illiberal review 
 of Tibullus ; Shenstone’s Miscellany ; Dodsley’s “ Cleone” (see note) 268 
 Same, Feb. 17. — Translation of Ovid’s Epistles, and Chinese novel (see note) 269 
 Same. March 31. — Dr. Grainger’s intended departure from England ; sends 
 his translation of Ovid’s Epistles of Hero and Leander . .270 
 
 Same. April 9. — His departure for St. Kitt’s; final adieus . . ' 271 
 
 Dr. Grainger to Mr. Burt. A long letter about his marriage . 271 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XVII 
 
 Grainger to Percy. Jan. 16, 1761. — Robert Lloyd’s Odes (see note); the 
 style of Mason and Gray ; Maepherson’s Fragments from the Erse . 275 
 
 Same. June 5.- — Sterne’s Tristram Shandy; Hurd's Dialogues; Lord Lyttel- 
 ton’s Dialogues ; Maepherson’s “ Fragments ” . . .276 
 
 Same. June 5, 1762. — Sends presents; domestic affairs ; Percy’s literary 
 projects; Don Quixote and Indian poetry; state of literature in the West 
 Indies; Percy’s Chinese Romance and Bourryau’s opinion of it; Dr. Grain- 
 ger’s “ Cane Piece” (see note); requests remarks on it from Mr. Percy and 
 Mr. Binnel ; conquest of Martinique ; curious anecdotes concerning it 276 
 Same. June 25. — The “Sugar Cane;” Dr. Percy’s Chinese novel; private 
 affairs . . . . . . • .279 
 
 Same. April 18, 17 63. — The “ Sugar Cane” ; private affairs; public news 282 
 Same. Nov. 30.— Dr. Grainger’s return to London; the “Sugar Cane;” 
 deaths of Mr. Shenstone and Rev. Robert Binnel (see note) . 284 
 
 Same. Jan. 22, 1764. — Chevy Chase ; Petrarch and Lord Surrey ; Kempfer 
 and Kircher; the “ SugarCane;” Mr. White’s “ English Verb” (see note) 285 
 Same. March 24. — Highway robbers ; the “ Sugar Cane” . . 286 
 
 Same. April 6. — The “Sugar Cane ;” Mr. Percy’s “Dissertation on the 
 English Drama” ....... 286 
 
 Same. April- 30. — Dr. Grainger about to return to St. Kitt’s . 287 
 
 Same. May 14. — On Shenstone’s poems .... 287 
 
 Same. May 25, 1765. — Disapproves of Mr. Percy’s design to write the 
 “ History of the House of Percy,” with his reason; proposes to go to St. 
 Vincent ; the “ Sugar Cane presents promised; Mr. Percy’s “ Ballads” 288 
 Same. Sept . — “ Reliques of Ancient Poetry ;” private affairs ; the “ Sugar 
 Cane,” how received ...... 290 
 
 Same. Dec. 4, 1766. — The Ancient Ballads ; Mr. Lye’s Saxon Dictionary 
 (see note); Dr. Johnson’s Shakspeare ; Miss Williams’s “Miscellany;” 
 private affairs . . . . . . .293 
 
 Mrs. Grainger to Percy. Jan. 27, 1771. — Dr. Grainger’s picture . 295 
 
 Allen to Percy. Jan. 15, 1774. — Mrs. Percy’s pension; Percy’s account 
 of Dr. Grainger, inserted in the Whitehall Evening Post . . 295 
 
 Mrs. Grainger to Percy. July 19, 1779. — Private affairs ; account of the 
 
 feast of the Rosiere, at Bethune, in Flanders . . . 296 
 
 Biographical Notice of James Boswell, Esq. . . . 300 
 
 Correspondence between Mr. Boswell and Bishop Percy. 
 
 Boswell to Percy. March 8, 1784. — Mr. BoswelPs pamphlet on the 
 state of the nation ; illness of Dr. Johnson ; proposes to publish “The Praises 
 of Dr. Johnson, by contemporary writers ’’ .... 302 
 
 Same. July 8. — Health of Dr. Johnson ; resolves to practise at the English 
 bar • • • . . . . . .303 
 
 Same. March 20, 1785. — Death of Dr. Johnson ; his intention of publishing 
 the “ Life of Johnson ;” “ Tour to the Hebrides ;” “ Pope’s Note” concern- 
 ing Dr. Johnson ....... 303 
 
 Same. July 12, 1786. — “ Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides ;” solicits con- 
 tributions for “Life of Johnson ;” new edition of the Tatler (see note) ; 
 laments the Bishop’s removal to Dromore .... 304 
 
 Percy to Boswell. March 5, 1787. — Sends him some anecdotes of Dr. 
 
 Johnson; Eustace Budgell; Mr. Boswell’s connection with Lord Lonsdale 305 
 Boswell to Percy. Feb. 9, 1788.— Progress of the “ Life of Johnson ;” 
 dines at Mr. Malone’s, and conversation about Dr. Johnson ; Johnson and 
 Francis Barber ; Boswell elected Recorder of Carlisle ; Malone’s “ Shaks- 
 peare ;’’ the Literary Club ...... 308 
 
 Percy to Boswell. Feb. 28. — Congratulates him on his preferment ; Dr. 
 
 Johnson’s visit to Easton Mauduit ; history of the Literary Club . 310 
 
 Boswell to Percy. March 12, 1790.— Death of Mrs. Boswell; “Life of 
 omson ;” Mr. Burke’s Speech on France, and Lord Stanhope’s answer ; 
 oir Joshua Reynolds ; Dr. Percy’s “ Goldsmith” . . , 312 
 
XVU1 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Same. April 9. — “Debate on the Corporation and Test Acts;" “ Life of 
 Johnson Goldsmith’s “ Encyclopaedia’’ (see note); Sir Joshua Reynolds ; 
 notice of Letters in Boswell’s “ Life of Johnson” relative to Bishop Percy 313 
 Boswell to J. Abercrombie. June 11, 1792. — Letters of Dr. Johnson (see note) ; 
 “ Life of Johnson ;” Johnson’s letter to Bishop White ; Johnson’s Sermons ; 
 Mr. Courtenay's poetical review of Johnson’s works, and character of him 314 
 Same. July 28, 1792. — Second edition of the “ Life of Johnson ;’’ Young's 
 criticism on Gray's “ Elegy’’ (see note) ; dissertation on the elements of 
 written language ; Mr. Agutter’s sermon on Johnson’s death ; lost letter of 
 Johnson to Mr. Odell ; correction of chum to cham ; Sir Joshua Reynolds’s 
 “ Tour to the Netherlands” ...... 315 
 
 Boswell to Sir Andrew Mitchell. Aug. 28, 1764. — The return of Mr. 
 Mitchell from Berlin ; asks advice concerning his intended continental 
 tour . . . . . . . .317 
 
 Same. Dec. 26. — His continental tour; Rev. W. Johnson Temple (see note) 320 
 
 Letters relative to Dr. Samdel Johnson. 
 
 Miss Seward to Boswell. March 25, 1785. — Early years of Johnson ; 
 Mrs. Lucy Porter; letters of Johnson to Mrs. Porter; letters to Gent. 
 Mag. ; letter to Chancellor Thurlow (see note) ; conversation between 
 Johnson and Miss Seward on the subject of Mrs. Elizabeth Aston (see 
 note); letter of Johnson to Mr. Levett ; Johnson’s verses, when a child, on 
 having killed a duck ; Mrs. Porter’s recollections of Johnson (see note) 321 
 Same. March 25. — Character of the “Tour to the Hebrides;” Boswell’s 
 ancestry, and reflections on it ; Mrs. Montagu (see note) ; opinions of the 
 “ Tour to the Hebrides ” . .... . 326 
 
 Miss Seward to Gent. Mag. Jan. 10, 1786. — Strictures on Dr. Johnson, 
 and on the review of the “Tour to the Hebrides;’’ David Garrick . 328 
 
 Boswell to Gent. Mag. March 9.— Relative to a scurrilous attack on 
 the “ Tour to the Hebrides’’ (see note) .... 331 
 
 Miss Seward to Gent. Mag. April 12. — On the character of Dr. Johnson 
 as drawn by his various biographers . . . . . 333 
 
 Boswell to Gent. Mag. April 17, 1788. — Observations on Mrs. Piozzi’s 
 “ Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson” ..... 338 
 
 A. D. to Gent. Mag. July 7, 1787. — A defence of Dr. Johnson in “ Olla 
 Podrida,” by Bishop Horne ..... 340 
 
 Miss Seward to Gent. Mag. Aug. 9. — Observations on the character of Dr. 
 Johnson in “ Olla Podrida ” ..... 341 
 
 Boswell's Advertisement relative to Johnson’s Conversation with His Ma- 
 jesty, and Johnson’s Letters to Lord Chesterfield; Alexander Chalmers’s 
 “ Lesson in Biography,” &c.; Extract from Byrom applicable to Boswell 344 
 Miss Seward to Gent. Mag. Oct. 13, 1793. — Dr. Johnson’s “ Verses on a 
 Sprig of Myrtle from a Lady” . . . . . 345 
 
 Boswell to Gent. Mag. Nov. 16. — On the above communication of Miss 
 Seward . . . . . . . . 346 
 
 Miss Seward to Gent. Mag. Dec. 14. — In reply to Mr. Boswell ; Bishop 
 Newton’s character of Johnson ..... 350 
 
 Mr. Boswell to Gent. Mag. Jan. 20, 1794. — In his own vindication, with 
 letter from Mr. E Hector ..... 356 
 
 Rev. H. White to Gent. Mag. March 19.— On the “ Verses on the Sprig 
 of Myrtle” ........ 362 
 
 Same. Oct. 21. — On the character of Mr. Seward as drawn by Dr. Johnson ; 
 
 Miss Seward acknowledges the letters of “ Benvolio” as hers . 363 
 
 Boswell to Garrick. Sept. 18, 1771. — Mr. Gray’s death and cha- 
 racter ; Mr. Mickle and his tragedy ; General Pascal Paoli ; Johnson’s 
 intended journey to Scotland ; Mr. Donaldson’s edition of Shakspere 364 
 Same. April 11, 1774. — Death of Dr. Goldsmith ; Dr. Morell’s Prometheus 
 (note); Johnson and his “ Northern Tour” .... 366 
 
 Boswell’s “ Remarks on the Profession of a Player.” In three Essays. 
 First printed in 1770 ..... 368—383 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XIX 
 
 Biographical Notice of Rev. George Ashby . . . 384 
 
 Correspondence between Mr. Ashby and Dr. Percy. 
 
 Ashby to Percy. Description of tlie Howard Book at Cambridge . 385 
 
 Same. (Extract.) Oct. 28, 1769. — Observations on the “Northumberland 
 Household Book,” [or perhaps the Howard Book] . . 385 
 
 Same. Dec. 13, 1773. — “Peebles to the Play" and “ Christ’s -Kirk on the 
 Green” 386 
 
 Same. Dec. 21. — Old Scotch Songs; the Glossary to Douglas ; Scotch wri- 
 ters ; Scotch phrases ; Baal and Druidism ; Beltain, and the analogy of 
 languages ........ 386 
 
 Same. March 30, 1774.- — The “ Reliques,” remarks promised ; Death of 
 Miss Hester Percy ; helpless state of Mr. Ashby’s father, Edmund (see note) ; 
 improvements in the “ Reliques” suggested .... 388 
 
 Same. April 19. — Account ofa curious Legend or Miracle Play, called “ Con- 
 solatorium Peccatorum the “ Howard Book" . . . 389 
 
 Same. May 22. — Oly Prancing (see note) ; Mr. Lambe’s “ Flodden Field” 
 (see note) . . . . . . . • 391 
 
 Same. June 8 On the same subject .... 392 
 
 Same. July 5. — On the same subject .... 392 
 
 Same. April 16, 1776. — On the same subject . . . 293 
 
 Correspondence of the Rev. George Ashby with other Literary Men. 
 
 Ashby to (see note). June 12, 1760. — On the purchase of a 
 
 book ; the Visitation Book of Leicestershire, 1619 . . . 394 
 
 Notice of Mr. Ashby’s paper on a coin of Nerva . . . 395 
 
 Ashby to Richard Gough, Esq. Feb. 14, 1773. — On Mr. Gough’s error 
 in the preface to Archseologia, respecting Henry Ferrars and the Goadbys ; 
 Horsley’s Inscriptions ; house at Shepreth, Cambridgeshire . . 395 
 
 Ashby to Gent. Mag. Nov. 1774. — On a passage in Hamlet (see note) ; 
 
 “ Unaneled,’’ &c. ....... 396 
 
 Same. March 1, 1776. — On the same subject . . . 397 
 
 Same. March . — On celebrated large diamonds . . . 399 
 
 Ashby to Gough. March 26. — A MS. copied for Mr. Gough ; attack on 
 Mr. Bryant, relating to some ancient coins ; the new rooms at Somerset 
 House of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies . . . 400 
 
 Same. April 10. — Mr. Bryant on the Apamean Medal (see note) ; Dr. 
 
 Hunter and his cabinet of coins ; on the general subject of coins ; on an 
 ancient gold ring (see note) ; Biographia Britan nica, and Dr. Kippis (see 
 note); the Bayeux Tapestry . ..... 401 
 
 Same. May 21. — On the subject of coins, in reply to Mr. Bryant . 404 
 
 Same. Oct. 23. — Roman Milliaryat Leicester (see note) ; Mosaic Pavements 
 (see note) ; Blomefield’s Norfolk ; Burton’s Leicestershire, and Sir T. 
 Cave’s MS. copy (see note) ; Lord Chetwynd ; Bridges’s Northamptonshire ; 
 Hutchins’s Dorsetshire ; Dr. Gower’s Cheshire ; Roman Milliary at Lei- 
 cester ; the Apamean coin ; attack on Mr. Gough in Gent. Mag. (see 
 note); Mr. Tyson’s drawing from Feckenham Church (see note) ; Mr. Ty- 
 son’s preferment (see note) ..... 405 
 
 same. Dec. 17. — Leicester Roman Milliary ; the Apamean coin ; Sir J. 
 Cu Hum’s MS. copy, with additions, of Sir Richard Gippes’s “ Suffolk Gentry,” 
 and collection of Shffolk Epitaphs ; the Oculist’s stamp . . 408 
 
 ame. Jan. 2, 1777. — Roman Milliary, and Roman coin ; Sir John Cullum 
 and Mr. Lort; the Roman road at Spittle in the Street ; the Royal Society 
 and the President’s speeches ; Mr. Planta, &c. (see note) . . 409 
 
 n ^ €C ‘ — Thetford (see note); Satirical Medal of Lion and Lambs ; 
 
 . i. Charlton’s History of Whitby (see note) . . . 411 
 
 a Y° John Niuhdls, Esq. May 13, 1781. — Relative to reprinting Mr. 
 Sa.mp V' at*' ® ssa y on Gentoo Laws ” (see note) . . . 412 
 
 I °, ]?' William Herbert. April, 1787. — An Historical Dissertation 
 a .'’^liz. Tirwit’s Book of Prayers, and Queen Katharine Parr’s Prayers 412 
 
 b 2 
 
XX 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Same to Gough. March 12, 1788.— Death of Mrs. Nichols ; Lady Tir- 
 wit’s Book of Prayers &c.; Mr. Gough’s “Sepulchral Monuments” . 418 
 
 Same to Nichols. April 3.— Laneham’s Kenilworth; Lady Tirwit’s Book 
 of Prayers (see note) ... ... 420 
 
 Same. April 12. — The Gold Book; Holmes’ Academy of Armory; Queen 
 Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots (see note) . . . 422 
 
 Same to Herbert. June 4, 1790.— The Gold Book ; David Clement’s 
 account of Rare Books, and an error in a date ; the “ Nice Wanton ” and 
 the “ Shepheardes Calendar 424 
 
 Same to Nichols. June 23.— County Histories, Sir William Burrell, and 
 Craven Ord ; Sir Thomas Cave's copy of Burton’s Leicestershire (see note) ; 
 Mr. Peck’s MSS. ; Bishop More’s MSS. at Cambridge . . 425 
 
 Same. Aug. 6. — Suggestions and Materials for the History of Leicestershire 
 (see note); reprint in Gent. Mag. of the “Gold Book;’’ . . 427 
 
 Mr. Richard Green’s account of a Manual of Devotions of Queen Katharine 
 Parr, hound in plated silver . . . . .428 
 
 Gough to Gent. Mag. Aug. 6.— On the Queen’s Prayers . . 429 
 
 Herbert to Gent. Mag. Sep. 10. — On the same subject . . 430 
 
 Ashby to Mr. Nichols. Dec. 8. — On the same subject . . 430 
 
 Herbert to Gent. Mag. Jan. 16,1791. — On the same subject . 432 
 
 Ashby to Gent. Mag. March 10. — On the same subject . . 435 
 
 Ashby to Nichols. June 21, 1790. — Nichols’s Materials for his Leices- 
 tershire ; Dr. Foote Gower’s Collections for Cheshire (see note) . 435 
 
 Same. Nov. 7, 1791. — Bridges’s Northamptonshire (see note); Mr. Pennant’s 
 method with Mr. Ashby . . . . . .436 
 
 Same. March 23, 1800.— Mr. Daines Barrington on the Statutes; his portrait 
 desired; discovering lost maidenheads by sneezing . . .436 
 
 Additional Notes to the Ashby Article . . . .437 
 
 Notice of Rev. Michael Lort, D.D. . . . .438 
 
 Correspondence between Dr. Lort and Bishop Percy. 
 
 Lort to Percy. Jan. 31, 1781. — Governor Pownall’s Paper on the Origin 
 and Progress of Letters (see note) ..... 438 
 
 Same. April 5.— Relating to Dr. Percy’s promotion in the Church ; the 
 death of Mr. Thrale; Dean Milles and Rowley’s poems . . 438 
 
 Same. Oct. 2, 1782. — Notice of Rev. William Allen (see note), chaplain at 
 Lisbon; Dr. Percy’s son ; Col. Barre .... 440 
 
 Same. Oct. 11. — Relative to Bishop Percy’s son; Lord Shelburne . 441 
 
 Same. Oct. 12. — Dr. Heberden’s brother at Madeira ; Lord Howe’s fleet 441 
 Same. Nov. 11. — Bishop Percy’s son; Mr. Herschel and the Georgium Sidus 
 Dr. Neville Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal (see note) . . 442 
 
 Same. Jan. 15, 1783. — Relative to some degree given at Lambeth; American 
 Independence, and anecdote of Dr. Franklin; Mr. Ritson and his attack on 
 Warton, &c. ; Dr. Johnson’s ill health; the meeting of Parliament, and a 
 petition against translation of Bishops ; the Constitutional Society, and 
 Pamphlet by Sir William Jones (see note); Dean Tucker’s Letters to Lord 
 Shelburne (see note) ...... 442 
 
 Same. Jan. 28. — Dean Tucker’s Pamphlet (see note), and Dr. Paley’s 
 Consecration Sermon ; London and Court news ; Mrs. Siddons . 444 
 
 Same. Feb. 25. — Political news, Lord Shelburne dismissed, and the state of 
 parties; Mrs. Thrale, and Dr. Johnson’s health; “ A Letter found near Straw- 
 berry Hill ” on the Rowley controversy .... 445 
 
 Same. March 11.- — State of parties; Franklin’s “Reformed Common Prayer” 446 
 Same. March 13. — Political news; the Empress of Russia . . 447 
 
 Same. March 18. — The Duke of Portland Premier ; Bishop Watson’s Letter 
 to the Archbishop of Canterbury’’ (see note) . . . 448 
 
 Same. March 24 . — Death of Archbishop Cornwallis ; Archbishop Moore ; 
 political news; Bishop Watson’s pamphlet ; the Court; Dr. James Scott; 
 his shooting Mr. Allgood (see note) ..... 448 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXI 
 
 Same. April 2 . — Political changes; changes in the Church; pamphlet at- 
 tributed to Dean Shipley . . . . . .450 
 
 Same. April 15. — Mr. Pitt Prime Minister (see note); newspaper politics; 
 Bishop Watson’s Sermon at Court; abridgment of Cruden’s Concordance by 
 Taylor; new book of Coats of Arms; Sir William Jones’s “Dialogue ” (see 
 note) ; Dean Shipley’s pamphlet (see note) ; funeral of Archbishop Corn- 
 wallis; various editions of Shakspeare in hand . . . 451 
 
 “ A Card to the Bishop of Llandaff ” .... 453 
 
 Same. April 19. — New Lord Lieutenant ; illness of Bishop Yonge and Lord 
 Hardwicke ....... 453 
 
 Same. April 29. — Death of Bishop Percy’s son ; deaths of Dr. Stinton and 
 Bishop Yonge; Irish promotions; Malone’s pamphlet on Shakspere . 454 
 
 Same. May 10.— Political news ; Irish appointments ; death of Prince Oc- 
 tavius (see note); Croft’s and Sir G. Page’s book sales, and Gulston’s Illus- 
 trated Granger . . . . * . .455 
 
 Same. May 19. — The Primate Dr. Robinson ; Dr. Stinton’s death; prefer- 
 ments in the Church; Dr. Scott returns; Mr. H. Howarth, the eminent 
 Counsel (see note); illness of Lord Hardwicke ; Mrs. Thrale’s reduced 
 fortunes ; Canne’s Bible; translation of Solomon's Song by Mrs. Anne 
 Francis (see note) ; Mr. Ritson’s pamphlet against the editors of Shakspeare ; 
 Mr. Capel’s School of Shakspeare .... 456 
 
 Same. June 3.- — Thanks Bishop Percy for his congratulations on his marriage 
 (see note); character of his wife (see note); Bishop Newton’s reasons for 
 marrying (note) ; Bishop Watson and Mr. Cumberland (see note); Lord 
 Hardwicke’s health ....... 457 
 
 Same. June 6. — Mr. Cumberland and Bishop Watson (see note); “The 
 Country Curate’s Answer ;” Rowley’s Poems, by Herbert Croft; “Life of the 
 Countess of Devonshire ;” Countess of Carlisle confined in the Tower during 
 the Interregnum ....... 458 
 
 Same. Aug. 7. — Dr. Johnson’s health, and his portrait by Opie (see note); 
 
 Lord George Gordon’s pamphlet; Bishop of Nova Scotia . . 459 
 
 Same. Feb. 14, 1784. — Death of Dean Milles (see note); opposition to Sir 
 Joseph Banks in the Royal Society (see note) . . . 460 
 
 Same. Feb. 24. — Mr. King elected President of the ^Society of Antiquaries 
 pro tempore-, Lord De Ferrars expected to preside (see note); death of Dr. 
 Morell (see note); strong party against Sir Joseph Banks; ill health of Dr. 
 J ohnson ; institution of a weekly club in Essex Street (see note) ; the Literary 
 Club; the Portland Vase described by Bartoli and Wright . 461 
 
 Same. Feb. 28. — Defeat in the Royal Society of the party against Sir Joseph 
 Banks; Mr. William Preston, afterwards Bishop of Leighlin (see note); 
 cherries at 2 s. 6d. a-piece to treat Billy Pitt; the Dissenters, Republicans, 
 and Reformers in his favour . . . . .462 
 
 Same. March 26. — Mr. Richard Gamon disappoints the Duke of Chandos’s 
 expectations (see note) ; the Great Seal stolen; illness of the Prince of 
 Wales; Jeremy Taylor burnt his “ Liberty of Prophesying;” sale of the Yel- 
 verton library . . . . . . .463 
 
 Same. July 27. — Mrs. Thrale’s marriage with Piozzi ; Major Vallancey ; 
 Eugene Aram’s Celtic Dictionary ; his great talents (see note) ; Chatterton’s 
 Work and his Will . . . . . .464 
 
 Same. Aug. 19.' — On some application to the Archbishop of Canterbury; a 
 Bishop °f Nova Scotia proposed; troubled state of the Irish; the Yelverton 
 MSS. (see note) ... . .. . .465 
 
 T May ^ 5, 1785. — Dublin Antiquarian Society; Governor Pownall and 
 i. Ledwich relative to the Ship Temple; death of Alderman Norfolk, Mrs. 
 oit s father; death of Dr. Johnson, and anecdotes of him (see note); Bishop 
 reston, and his rise ; T. Warton made poet laureate (see note) . 466 
 
 ame. June 24. — Prints of the Prince of Wales and Primate of Ireland; the 
 new Antiquarian Society of Dublin (see note) ; Sir Ashton Lever’s Museum 
 (see note); Mr. Duane’s coins; prints of the Emperor of China’s battles with 
 
XXXI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 the Tartars; Henderson’s set of Hogarth’s prints; Alexandrian New Testa- 
 ment (see note); thinks of visiting Bishop Percy at Dromore . 469 
 
 Same. Aug. 15. — Journey to Chester, &c. ; Mr. Travis’s answer to Gibbon; 
 Robert Heron’s (Pinkerton’s) “ Letters on Literature;” Dr. Johnson’s 
 Prayers ; Boswell’s conversation with the King relative to the title of the 
 Pretender ........ 471 
 
 Same. Oct. 31. — Manuscript of the Gospels in Dublin College Library; Mrs. 
 Piozzi and her “Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson;” Boswell’s “Tour to the 
 Hebrides;” Johnson’s Dictionary; Sir John Hawkins’s Life and Works of 
 Johnson; Hawkins’s “ Ignoramus ’ Italian play of Baptista Porta, found by 
 Dr. Parmer at Clare Hall; De Foe’s History of L T nion of Scotland with 
 England, and his other proposed works ; the Earl of Bristol (Bishop of 
 Derry, and Mrs. Yearsley (see note); portraits of Irish patriots . 472 
 
 Same. Dec. 16, 1786. — Mr. Pinkerton and his works; Dr. Towers’s Life of 
 Dr. Johnson; Whiteboys in Ireland; American Bishops; Bishop Seabury 
 and his mitre; charge in the annotated Tatler against Swift (see note) 474 
 Same. March 8, 1787.— Disturbed state of the Church in Ireland; the Dissenters 
 and the Test Act; the American Bishops; Mrs. Piozzi and her mar- 
 riage ........ 477 
 
 Same. March 21. — The Irish Church and the Dissenters; Mrs. Piozzi and 
 her intended work on Johnson; supplementary volume of Johnson’s Works, 
 “ The Debates in the Senate of Lilliput” (see note); review of the “Sublime 
 and Beautiful,” by Murphy, not Johnson .... 478 
 
 Same. April 3. — Rejection of the Repeal of the Test Act; political tactics; 
 the republication of Sherlock and Hoadly’s pamphlets on the Dissenters; Dr. 
 Wm. Campbell’s answer to the Bishop of Cloyne (see note) ; poetical squib 
 against the Duke of Norfolk on his turning Protestant; female association in 
 Ireland against payment of tithes ; a curious pamphlet of the same kind 
 published 1659 in England, with an extract . . . 479 
 
 Same. April 9. — The Dissenters and their pamphlets ; Bishops Shipley and 
 Watson ; Dr. James Mackniglit’s translation of the Epistles, (see note); Lady 
 Percy, that was in the King’s Bench prison with Sheriff Sayre, (see note) ; 
 The King has the gout ...... 482 
 
 Same. May 13. — Journey to Cambridge and Ely with Bishop Barrington; 
 the Dublin MS. of St. Matthew’s Gospel about to be published ; the Alex- 
 andrian MS. ; sermon to prove the authenticity of the Doxology ; Dr. Bent- 
 ley’s volumes of the New Testament ; “The World” conducted by Capt. 
 Topham and Mr. Miles Peter Andrews ; Priestley's letter to Mr. Pitt ; 
 Lord North's last speech and total blindness ; Rev. Jos. Berington’s letter 
 to Priestley, and other Roman Catholic pamphlets, (see note) ; Lindsay’s 
 Liturgy used in America ; Irish Society for Christian Knowledge ; portrait 
 of O'Leary ; Mrs. Piozzi and “ Johnson’s Letters ;” Sir John Hawkins 
 pulled to pieces in the Monthly Review (see note) ; Bp. Percy’s Letter on 
 Fossil Horns in Ireland (see note); Pinkerton on the Celts . 483 
 
 Same. June 26. — Controversial pamphlets (see note); Courayer’s Last Sen- 
 timents (see note): David Williams’s Liturgy on Universal Principles (see 
 note) ; Beaufort’s Map of Ireland ; the state of the Irish Church ; fire at 
 Dodsley’s warehouses, and works burnt .... 486 
 
 Same. Aug. 14. — Dr. Inglis elected Bishop of Nova Scotia ; doctrine of 
 the General Assembly of Scotland, respecting the head of the Church ; Mr. 
 Wharton, a Popish priest, converted, and his pamphlet ; O’Leary’s letter 488 
 Percy to Lort. March 2, 1788. — Mr. Browne’s pamphlet vindicating the 
 Government relative to the Articles of Limerick ; Dr. Porteus made Bishop 
 of London ; London nuisances ..... 490 
 
 Lort to Percy. April 17. — Bishop Porteus ; preferments in the Church ; 
 Mr. Soame Jenyns and his works ; Mr. Bruce’s Travels satirised by Mr. 
 J. C. Walker in his “ Irish Bards ;” “Johnson’s Letters,” and Mrs. Piozzi ; 
 Dr. Priestley called Anti-Christ ; state of the Church in America ; emigrants 
 to America (see note) . . . . . .492 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXU1 
 
 Same. May 21. — Dr. Farmer’s marriage with Miss Hatton broken off ; Mr. 
 Cottingham’s marriage to Miss W ollery, with a short account of the lady and 
 her family ....... 495 
 
 Same. Aug. 1. — Mr. Cottingham and his marriage ; pamphlets on Ireland 
 by Dr. Hales and Mr. Browne ; Dr. Hales’s “ Survey African expedition, 
 and Mr. Ledyard (see note) ; the Westminster Election ; robbery of coins 
 and medals at the Duke of Devonshire’s . . . .496 
 
 Same. April 13, 1789. — Dr. Lort’s ill-health ; the King’s illness and reco- 
 very ; the pamphlets issued at that period ; the Dissenters and the Test 
 Act ; Mrs. Piozzi’s “ Travels Miss Hatton married ; intended celebration 
 at St. Paul’s for the King’s recovery . . . .498 
 
 Same. June 14. — Barrett’s “History of Bristol,” and Chatterton ; Mr. Rit- 
 son repulsedat the Society of Antiquaries; Mrs. Piozzi’s Travels; the Dissenters 
 and the Test Act ....... 499 
 
 Same. July 11. — Lord Stanhope’s Bills for Toleration ; Dr. Farmer’s pam- 
 phlet on Shakspeare; “ Hints to the New Association;” Barrett’s “History 
 of Bristol” ....... 501 
 
 Same. March 12, 1790. — Dr. Lort’s account of his tour in the North 502 
 Same. April 16. — Sends a number of pamphlets, with remarks ; Mr. Burke 
 and his “ Reflections on the French Revolution ;” African Association ; 
 George Steevens and his tricks on Gough and Pegge ; the American inscrip- 
 tion, inserted in the Archseologia ..... 504 
 
 Same. May 1. — The Popish Bishops’ opposition to the proceedings of the 
 Committee relative to their suit to Parliament ; letter to one of the Bishops ; 
 Lord Petre’s letter to Bishop Horsley .... 506 
 
 Remarks on Lord Petre’s letter by Bishop Percy . . . 507 
 
 Same. May 8. — Bishop Horsley’s pamphlet against the Dissenters ; “ Apo- 
 logy for the Clergy and Liturgy,” and other pamphlets; Soame Jenyns ; 
 Johnson’s Monument proposed (see note); Steevens ’s satire on the Anti- 
 quarian Society . . . . . . .507 
 
 Same. May 14. — Proposed oath of the Catholics ; English newspaper to be 
 printed in Paris, and Mr. Courteney ; the lost books of Livy ; Mr. Whaley 
 the Irish traveller, and his journey to Jerusalem . . . 509 
 
 Same. June 16. — Sir Robert Chambers’s letter sent to H. Walpole ; Sir William 
 Scott and Mr. Steevens ; papers relative to Rowley lodged in British Museum 
 by Dr. Glynn ; Sir Robert Chambers’s letter recommended to be published 
 in European Magazine (see note) ; the Arabic translation of Livy ; anecdote 
 of Mr. Whaley (see note) ; Bruce's Travels ; the African Association ; Mr. 
 George Chalmers’s edition of De Foe’s works . . .510 
 
 Same. July 13. — Dr. Lort’s accident, and Mrs. Percy’s illness ; sends pam- 
 phlets ; remarks on them . . . . . .511 
 
 Same. July 17. — De Foe’s Life ; Dr. Thomas Campbell’s “ Strictures on the 
 History of Ireland ;’’ Dr. D. A. Beaufort’s transcripts from Lord Carew’s 
 MSS. at Lambeth ....... 512 
 
 Same. Aug. 3. — Druidical Temple transplanted by General Conway to Park 
 place, near Henley ; the lost books of Livy ; sends pamphlets ; the names of four 
 Roman Catholic Bishops; the Irish Catholics and the oath; the “ Layman’s 
 Letter ;’’ two rectors of Marylebone at one time . . .512 
 
 Same. Aug. 5. — Sends pamphlets ; Sir H. Englefield elected Vice-President 
 of Society of Antiquaries ...... 514 
 
 Same. Aug. 24. — Relative to Mr. Smith and Mrs. Hill of Marylebone ; 
 Bishop P ercy’s sermon ; animal magnetism ; George Chalmers’s Life of De 
 Foe; Dr. John Carrol, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Baltimore . 514 
 
 ame. Sept. 4. — Mr3. Hill ; Mrs. Percy’s ill-health ; Mr. Steevens on the 
 supposed disinterment of Milton’s corpse .... 516 
 
 Percy to Mrs. Lort. Feb. 1791. —On the death of Dr. Lort . 517 
 
 1 Rs ; Lort to Percy. Feb. 27. — Promises to return all the Bishop’s letters ; 
 relative to Mrs. Hill . . , . . .518 
 
XXIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Letters between Dr. Lort and Dr. Birch. 
 
 Birch to Lort. May 9, 1761. — Mr. Lort’s proposed Life and Correspondence 
 of Dr. Bentley ; illness of Bishop Sherlock . 519 
 
 Lort to Birch. May 12.— Dr. Bentley’s letters; Lord Granville ; Bentley’s 
 works ........ 519 
 
 Same. Nov. 29, 1762. — Lord Bacon’s letters ; MS. of Quine Ecalp, the 
 noted Black ....... 520 
 
 Same. Nov. 13, 1764. — On the letters of Howard Earl of Northampton to 
 Carr Earl of Somerset (see note) ..... 520 
 
 Same. Dec. 2. — Lord Northampton’s letters ; copy of a letter of the Earl of 
 Northampton to the Earl of Somerset .... 522 
 
 Same. Nov. 29, 1765. — MS. account of Charles II. ’s escape after the battle 
 of Worcester (see note); Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes . 523 
 
 Letters from Dr. Lort to the Hon. Horace Walpole. 
 
 Lort to Richard Cumberland, Esq. (see note). Dec. 22, 1759.— Dr. Bent- 
 ley’s “ Lucan;” requests Mr. Cumberland to introduce him to Mr. Walpole 525 
 Some cursory Remarks on Walpole’s Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors, 
 by Dr. Lort ....... 525 
 
 Lort to Walpole. Feb. 7, 1760. — Further Remarks on “ Royal and Noble 
 Authors ;” Lady Masham ; Lady Harmonia, Countess of Warwick, an au- 
 thoress ; Lord Capel’s “ Daily Observations ;” pamphlet ascribed to Mr. 
 Robert Walpole ....... 529 
 
 Same. Feb. 25. — Lord Delawar’s account of Virginia ; Lord Chandos’s 
 “Horse Subsevicse” (see note) ; Ballad of “ Christ’s Kirk of the Green;” 
 Lord Grey’s “ Account of the Plot” .... 530 
 
 Same. July 27. — Mr. Lort’s sermon before the University . . 531 
 
 Same. March 14,1762. — Commends the “ Anecdotes of Painting’’ . 532 
 
 Same. May 10, 1765. — Correspondence of Carr Earl of Somerset and Over- 
 bury ........ 532 
 
 Same. June 3. — Murder of Sir Thomas Overbury ; Sir John Holies 533 
 Same. FebA, 1773. — Relative to a book of anecdotes ; Admirable Creyghton 534 
 Same. July 5, 1775. — Relative to a curious case of incestuous marriage 534 
 Same. June 11, 1776. — Vertue’s print of Charles I. and his Queen, the same 
 as that published by Van Voorst ; mention of it in the Minutes of Society 
 of Antiquaries ....... 534 
 
 Same. July 10. — Thanks for some pictures sent by Mr. Walpole . 535 
 
 Same. Aug. 1. — Sends prints of Wilson the painter, and St. Paul’s Cross 535 
 Same. Aug. 6. — Mr. Waddilove’s letter on English Portraits in Spain 535 
 Same. Aug. 7. — Notes of St. Paul’s Cross ; Muntz on Encaustic Painting ; 
 
 Mr. Waddilove; Dr. Maty; Mr. Lort’s intended journey to the North 536 
 Same. June 20, 1778. — Mr. Lort’s paper on Celts, &c. ; Viscount Shannon’s 
 “ Discourses” ....... 537 
 
 Same. July 20. — “ Clubbe’s Physiognomy,” and Hogarth’s print ; Shirley’s 
 travels ; Hogarth’s works ; materials for the “ Narrative” relating to Chat- 
 terton ; letter of Chatterton to the “ Town and Country Magazine” 537 
 
 Same. July 29. — On Chatterton’s Poems .... 540 
 
 Same. Sept. 4. — Rowley controversy ; Mr. George Catcott against Warton, 
 and defence of Rowley ...... 540 
 
 Same. Jan. 11,1779. — Mr. Waddilove’s letter about pictures which belonged 
 to Charles I. at Madrid ; Mr. Swinburne’s “ Account of Spain” . 541 
 
 Same. May 18. — Sends a drawing by Mr. Tyson ; Mr. Grimm engaged to 
 make a drawing of the “ Embarkation of Henry VIII.” at Windsor (see 
 note) ; Mrs. Penny’s poems ..... 541 
 
 Same. June 3. — Article relative to the Arundel Marbles in Gent. Mag., sup- 
 posed to be by Judge Blackstone ; MS. with notes by Sir John Cullum 542 
 Walpole to Lort. June 4. — The MS. illustrative of the portraits on pannel 
 of Henry VI. &c., at Bury, and description of them (see note) . 542 
 
 Lort to Walpole. June 11. — On the above royal portraits ; Hogarth’s 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXV 
 
 frontispiece to “ Gulliver’s Travels “ The Second Anticipation,” ascribed 
 to Barry; Lens on “ Costume” ..... 544 
 
 Same. Aug. 31. — Sends books ; introduction to the Latin Narrative of Henry 
 Sixth’s visit to Bury (see note) ..... 544 
 
 Same. Sept. 8. — Mr. Walpole’s criticisms on Hirschfeld’s “ Theory of Gar- 
 dening “Theorie des Jardins Mr. Whateley on “ Gardening the 
 Empress of Russia and the Jesuits ; Dr. Lort appointed Chaplain to Arch- 
 bishop Cornwallis . . . . . . 545 
 
 Same. Dec. 23, 1780. — John Carter’s drawing of the head of Henry III. 
 
 (see notes) ....... 546 
 
 Same 1781. — Sheldon’s sale (see note); Prince Charles of Lor- 
 raine _ . . . . . . . . 547 
 
 Same. April 2. — J. Carter’s head of Henry III. . . . 547 
 
 Same. Sept. 17. — MS. on painting sent by Bishop Ilinchliffe ; notes made 
 during his visit to Surrey ; statue of a Saxon king found in Westminster 
 Hall ; John Carter ...... 548 
 
 Same. Nov. 8. — Mr. Walpole’s intended memoir of Madame Du Deffand 
 (see note) ; wishes for a just character of Voltaire ; pamphlet containing 
 letters by Chev. Boufflers . . . . .549 
 
 Same. March 7, 1782. — Picture of one of the Turner family . 549 
 
 Same. Dec. 20. — Dr. Lort leaves Lambeth ; letter from Dr. Ewin to Sir 
 
 Walter Rawlinson, announcing the death of Rev. William Cole (see 
 note) ........ 550 
 
 Same. Jan. 6, 1786. — Sends “ Life of Father Archangell ” . 550 
 
 Same. July 16, 1788. — Rev. G. Ashby and his MS. book of prayers of Queen 
 
 Katharine Parr ; robbery of coins at the Duke of Devonshire’s . 551 
 
 Same. July 25. — Passage in “ Melanges de Vigneuil Marveille ” relative to 
 Sir Kenelm Digby and his lady ..... 551 
 
 Same. July 28. — Thanks Mr. Walpole for his remarks on Mr. Ashby’s MS. 
 volume ; the Devonshire medals ; Lord Buchan’s “ Life of Napier ; ” Mr. 
 Mason’s pamphlet on the “ York Lunatic Hospital ;” intended journey to 
 Boulogne to see antiquities . . . . .551 
 
 Same. 1Vo». 10. — Dr. Gregory’s memoir of Chattertonfor theBiog. Britannica 553 
 Same. July 6, 1789. — Mr. Porter, and letter recommending him to Dr. 
 
 Postleth waite . . . . . . .553 
 
 Same. Aug. 4. — Mr. Barrett’s “ History of Bristol,” and materials for the 
 “ Narrative ” relative to Chatterton (see note) . . . 553 
 
 Farmer, Rev. Dr. to Gent. Mag. May 25, 1792.— Relative to Walpole’s 
 correspondence with Chatterton (see note) .... 554 
 
 Lort to Walpole. Aug. 7, 1789.' — Sends some verses from an old Cambridge 
 collection ; the Latin letter introduced by Barrett in the Preface to his His- 
 tory of Bristol written by Dr. Glynn ; the two sons of the Duke de Lian- 
 court brought to England for education .... 555 
 
 Walpole’s conduct towards Chatterton ; Dr. Gregory’s opinion ; copy of Dr. 
 Lort’s vindication of Mr. Walpole with regard to Chatterton, from the 
 Biographia Britannica . . . . . .556 
 
 On Chatterton’s knowledge of Heraldry, in a letter to Mr. Bigland, Somerset 
 Herald, probably by Rev. James Dallaway .... 565 
 
 Letters of Dr. Percy and Dr. Birch. 
 
 Notices of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Birch .... 567 
 
 Percy to ‘Birch. April 21, 1763. — Works of the Dube of Buckingham; 
 
 “ Key to the Rehearsal” (see note) .... 567 
 
 Same. July 2. — Thanks for papers ; the “ Miscellanea Aulica;” Langbaine’s 
 Y orks, with Oldys’s MS. notes (see note) ; letter from the Duke of 
 Buckingham to Charles II. ; inquiry for old books ; Dr. Farmer offers 
 assistance to Dr. Birch ; “ Specimens of Runic Poetry,” by Dr. Percy 568 
 Same. July 12. — Sonnet by Hentzner, printed by Mr. Walpole (see note) ; 
 intended edition of the “Earl of Surrey’s Works,” and his Life, with a 
 Glossary by Rev. Edward Lye . . . . .570 
 
XXVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Same. Jan. 15, 1764. — The Duke of Buckingham and the Countess of 
 Shrewsbury (see note) ; “ Key to the Rehearsal ’’ (see note) . 571 
 
 Same. April 26. — New edition of the “ Spectator : ” the Earl of Hardwicke 
 a contributor to the Spectator (see note) ; information required relative to 
 authors of the “ Tatler” and “ Guardian ; ” Percy’s essay on the “ Origin 
 of the British Stage ” (see note) . . . . .573 
 
 Same. May 10. — Inquiries after Bp. Pearce’s Papers in the “Spectator” 
 (see note) ; newspapers of the time of the Spectator required . 574 
 
 Same. June 12.— Inquiries relative to certain papers in “Spectator” (see 
 note) . . . . . . . .575 
 
 Same. June 15.- — “The Spy on the Spectator;’’ “Critical Remarks on 
 Spectator, Tatler,” &c. . . . . . .576 
 
 Same. Feb. 2. — Presents Dr. Birch with the “ Reliques of Ancient Poetry” 
 (see note) ....... 577 
 
 Same. July 27. — Inquiry relative to the situation of Assistant Librarian of the 
 British Museum (see note) ..... 577 
 
 Memoir of Rev. Archdeacon Nares .... 578 
 
 Character of Archdeacon Nares by the Rev. W. Beloe . . . 585 
 
 Correspondence between Archdeacon Nares and Bishop Percy. 
 Nares to Percy. 1782. — Mr. Nares invites Bishop Percy to Easton Mauduit 
 (see note) ........ 588 
 
 Same. Sept. 7, 1800. — Resident on his Archdeaconry at Lichfield; Bishop 
 Percy’s review of Nichols’s “Leicestershire” in the “ British Critic ” (see 
 note); other reviews of Bishop Percy; Peter Pindar and W. Gifford (see 
 note) .... .... 588 
 
 Same. Oct. 17. — Relative to the living and estate of Easton Mauduit 590 
 Same. Jan. 19,1801.- — The review of Nichols’s “Leicestershire;” meeting of 
 Parliament; Continuation of the new Harleian Catalogue; Mr. Malone’s 
 accident; Bowles’s “Don Quixote;” Mr. David Casley (see note) . 591 
 
 Same. Sept. 13. — Mrs. West’s “ Letters to a young Man on his first Entrance 
 into Life;” the Harleian Catalogue; Wm. Godwin criticised (see note); 
 death of Gilbert Wakefield, and his character (see note); Rev. Thomas Gis- 
 borne (see note) ....... 592 
 
 Same. Nov. 27. — Review of Mrs. West’s “Letters to a young Man;” Mr. 
 Thomas Carter the composer of the tune of “O! Nanny, wilt thou gang 
 wi’ me?” (see note) . . . ... . 593 
 
 Same. April 26, 1802. — Dr. Caulfield’s pamphlet ; Rev. Peter Roberts’s 
 reply to Volney (see note); the influence of the book; Life of Goldsmith, 
 inquiry whether from Dr. Percy’s information ; letter from Mrs. West; pension 
 from rectory of Easton Mauduit to the Bishop of Peterborough . 594 
 
 Same. April 28. — Sir Richard Musgrave’s reply to Dr. Caulfield; Dr. Caul- 
 field’s defence (see note) ; Rev. Dr. Samuel Smith (see note) ; visit to Mrs. 
 W est at Market Harborough ; pension from Easton Mauduit Rectory ; Life 
 of Goldsmith ....... 597 
 
 Same. Sept. 2. — Bishop Percy and the editorship of the “Reliques;” Dr. 
 Caulfield ........ 598 
 
 Same. Nov. 12. — The Society of Antiquaries and the Rosetta Stone; pension 
 from Easton Mauduit Rectory; Mrs. West; Mr. Warton about to publish 
 Dryden’s Works, with a selection from the Warton correspondence . 599 
 
 Same. April, 1803. — The Easton Mauduit pension; Mrs. West’s “Infidel 
 Father;” Ritson’s insolent attack on Bishop Percy ; Dr. Leyden’s “ Com- 
 playnt of Scotland” (see note); Mr. G. Ellis (see note) ; Mr. William 
 Gifford (see note) and his edition of “ Massinger ” . . . 600 
 
 Same. Sept. 9. — -Mr. Ritson and Bishop Percy; Bishop Percy on Fall of Stones 
 from the Clouds, the Cuckoo, &c. (see note) . . . 603 
 
 Same. Feb. 6, 1804. — Death of Ritson ; his work on “ Animal Food ” 604 
 
 Same. Aug. 16. — Ritson’s “ Metrical Romances;” Bishop Percy’s remark on 
 Lady Mary W. Montagu and Queen Caroline . , . 605 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXY11 
 
 Percy to Nares. Dec. 28. — Bishop Percy’s note on Ritson’s attack, intended 
 for the “ British Critic ” (see note) .... '606 
 
 Letters of Mr. Archdeacon Nares to various Literary Friends. 
 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. June 13, 1789. — Dr. Burney’s History of Music, and 
 anecdotes of W. Crotch, the infant musical genius (see note) . 608 
 
 Nares to Dr. Parr. April 10, 1791. — Apology for errors in the “British 
 Critic Bryant and his tract on Justin Martyr; Dr. Parr’s remarks on Wake- 
 field; Dr. Parr’s Sermons . . . . .609 
 
 Nares to J. Nichols. June 14, 1805. — Warburtonian Lectures (see note); 
 
 Shaw’s History of Staffordshire . . . . .610 
 
 NAREStoREV. R. Polwhele. Jan. 26, 1810.- — Mr. Polwhele’s review of Whita- 
 ker’s St. N eot, and memoir of the author ; his critiques on W arner and Drew 610 
 Happiness. A Fable, by Rev. Archdeacon Nares . . . 611 
 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. July 3, 1811. — Sir Samuel Morland the inventor of 
 the Steam Engine ....... 612 
 
 Nares to Nichols. Sept . — Parody on a song in “ The Camp;” “ Enlisting a 
 Critic for the Edinburgh Review ” ..... 613 
 
 Nares to Polwhele. March 13, 1812. — Intention of resigning the Editor- 
 ship of the British Critic; promises to recommend Mr. Polwhele to his suc- 
 cessor; the novel “ Thinks I to myself ;” Rev. Edward Nares the supposed 
 author; his publications ; notice of him . . . .614 
 
 Nares to Nichols. Nov. 16, 1812. — Preface to the “Lectures” of Dr. 
 
 Purdy ; memoir of Rev. Dr. Purdy by Mr. Archdeacon Nares . 615 
 
 Nares to Polwhele. Nov. 10,1813. — Galt’s “ Life of Wolsey;” Mr. Pol- 
 whele’s Review of Northcote’s “ Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds ” . 618 
 
 Nares to Nichols. Dec. 30. — Rev. Wm. Milton’s paper “ On the Draught of 
 Carriages” (see note) . . . . . .619 
 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. Feb. 1, 1814. — M. Yon Feinagle's “ Art of Memory ’’ 
 proved to be as old as the time of Cicero . . . .619 
 
 Nares to Nichols. March 17.— Critique on Mr. Francis Baily on “An- 
 nuities” ........ 621 
 
 Same. May 23. — Bishop Gleig’s Review of Dr. M‘Crie’s Life of John Knox 
 (see note) ; Bishop Gleig offers a review of Bishop Horsley's Charges 622 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. (See note). Sept. 15 — Mr. Archdeacon Nares’s de- 
 scription of Bremhill, the residence of W. L. Bowles . . 622 
 
 Same. May 2, 1827. — The subject continued . . . 625 
 
 Nares to Nichols. Jan. 8, 1815. — A Paper by the Rev. J. Hellins on the 
 Hyperbola ........ 626 
 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. Jim. 2, 1815. — Mr. Nares’s “ Essay on Craniologv ” 
 (see note) ........ 627 
 
 Nares to Polwhele. Jan. 25, 1815. — Mr. Polwhele’s review of Northcote’s 
 “ Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds” (see note); Mr. Nares on the literary merits 
 of Malone, Steevens, Northcote, and Mason (see note); Bishop Middleton 
 the new editor and proprietor of the British Critic . . . 630 
 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. Sept. 25, 1815.' — On “ Bocardo ” at Oxford . 631 
 
 Same. Dec. 11. — On the construction of Organs . . . 632 
 
 Nares to Nichols. Jan. 29, 1816. — General Fitzpatrick’s Epitaph upon 
 himself; Sir R. Fanshaw’s copy of his “ Lusiad ;” “ Letter on Enthusiasm ” 
 (see note); ninth vol. of Nichols’s “ Literary Anecdotes notice of country 
 newspapers ....... 633 
 
 Same. March 15. — Notice of the ninth vol. of “ Literary Anecdotes ” (see note) ; 
 on the account of the Nares family in that work ; Epitaphs on the Nares 
 
 Family (see note) ...... 634 
 
 Same. April 25, 1817. — The Pope’s Rescript against Bible Societies . 635 
 
 Same. April 28. — Sends a Memoir of Rev. Wm. Beloe (see note) . 635 
 - ares to Gent. Mag. June 4. — Five Latin Poems by Rev. T. Warton 636 
 Same. Sept. 4. — Memoir of Rev. Samuel Partridge, by Archdeacon Nares 637 
 Mares to Nichols. Oct. 9, 1819.— Review of Rev. J. W. Whitaker’s “ In- 
 quiry into the Interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures” (see note) . 638 
 
 ame. Jan. 26, 1821 — Memoir of Mrs. John Hunter, by Arch. Nares 638 
 
xxvin 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Nares to Polwhele. Feb. 12. — Mr. Nares’s efforts for Mr. Polwhele’s pre- 
 ferment (see note); death of Rev. Dr. Edmund Outram (see note) . 640 
 
 Same. May 8. — The Royal Society of Literature . . . 641 
 
 Same to Nichols. May 8. — Review of “ Memoirs of the Mexican Revolu- 
 tion, by Wm. Davis Robinson ” ..... 641 
 
 Same. June 28,1822. — Mr. Nares’s “ Glossary ” (see note) . . 642 
 
 Same. Jan. 10, 1823. — Rev. Gilbert Wakefield, andhis father the Rev. George 
 Wakefield ........ 642 
 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. Jan. 4. — On books picked up at stalls; Rev. George 
 Wakefield . . . . . . . . 642 
 
 Same. March 1. — On the same subject. The poems of the Rev. George Wake- 
 field and Edward Moore compared . . . . .645 
 
 Nares to Nichols. March . — Query relative to the author of “ Umbritii Can- 
 tiarii Poemata” (see note) . . . . . .648 
 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. Nov. 6. — Mr. John Chalkhill the real author of 
 “ Thealma and Clearchus,” and two Songs in Walton’s “Angler” (see 
 note) ........ 648 
 
 Nares to Nichols. Nov. 11. — Atterbury's Correspondence . . 652 
 
 Same. Nov. 14. — Sends review of “ Gleig’s Letter to Sir Edward Knatchbull ” 
 (see note) ........ 652 
 
 Nares to Polwhele. April 5, 1824.— Rev. Canon Hugh Bailye (see note); 
 
 Honorary Associates of the Royal Society of Literature . . 652 , 
 
 Same. Sept. 10.— -Mr. Polwhele’s “Poetical Epistle to Archdeacon Nares,” 
 to be forwarded to his Majesty ..... 653 
 
 Nares to Nichols. Dec. 11. — Review of Rev. G. Sackville Cotter’s “ Transla- 
 tion of Six Comedies of Terence ” ..... 654 
 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. (See note). Oct. 14, 1825. — On certain innovations 
 in the English language ...... 654 
 
 Same. March 30, 1826.' — The “ Poemata ” of Vincent Bourne commended 656 
 Same. Aug. 20. — The same subject continued . . . 657 
 
 Same. Aug. 16. — Mr. James Elphinstone and his works; a specimen of 
 Elphinstone’s poem on Education (translated into current English) . 658 
 
 Nares to J. B. Nichols. Dec. 4. — On death of his father, John Nichols, esq. 659 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. Feb. 19, 1827. — Early History of Blanco White and 
 his conversion (see note) ; History of Antonio Gavin, a Spanish priest 659 
 Same. The same subject continued ..... 663 
 
 Memoir of the Rev. Blanco White ..... 664 
 
 Nares to Polwhele. — M r. Polwhele’s “ Constantinople,” a poem, com- 
 mended ........ 668 
 
 Memoir of Rev. John Hellins, by Archdeacon Nares . . 669 
 
 Nares to Polwhele. Aug. 29, 1827. — Royal Society of Literature . 671 
 
 Nares to Gent. Mag. Oct. 16. — On the architectural improvements at Cam- 
 bridge ........ 671 
 
 Nares to Nichols. Dec. 7. — Memoir of Joseph Planta, Esq. by Mr. Arch- 
 deacon Nares ....... 677 
 
 Same. Dec. 18, 1828. — Relative to the second wife of the Rev. Theophilus 
 Buckeridge (see note) . . . . . .679 
 
 Nares to Polwhele. Jan. 17, 1829.' — Remarks on Mr. Polwhele’s “Tra- 
 ditions and Recollections” (see notes) ; Congratulates him on his recovery of 
 his patrimony . . . . . . .680 
 
 Dr. Drake to Nichols. Aug. 6, 1818.— Requesting the insertion in Gent. 
 
 Mag. of Mr. Nares’s review of Dr. Drake’s “ Shakspeare and the Times” 680 
 Nares’s Epitaph on Miss Susan Proby . . . . .681 
 
 Memoir of Joseph Cooper Walker, Esq., M.R.I. A. . . 681 
 
 Mr. Walker’s Anecdotes of Carolan the Irish Bard, and his contemporaries, 
 Charles M‘Cabe, James Whyte, Fil O’Feighny, and David Murphy . 689 
 
 Correspondence of Joseph Cooper Walker, Esq. 
 
 Walker to Richard Gough. July 9, 1787. — Mr. Gough’s additions to 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 “Ireland” in his “Camden’s Britannia;” Mr. Walker’s “Irish Bards;” 
 his “ Essay on Irish Dress” . . . , . 696 
 
 Same. Sept. 4. — Offers his assistance to Mr. Gough ; plan of the “ Essay on 
 Irish Dress;” Mr. Beauford; Dr. Ledwich; Mr. Conyngham’s Drawings 697 
 Gough to Walker. Sept. 13. — Mr. Beaufort’s Map, and Mr. Mackenzie’s 
 Nautical Surveys ; advice on the “ Essay on Irish Dress ;” Mr. Douglas’s 
 “ Nenia Britannica;” Mr. Nichols will be glad of Mr. Walker’s correspond- 
 ence ; Mr. Walker’s proposals for Observations on the North of Ireland 698 
 Walker to Gough. Sept. 26. — Mr. Beaufort’s map ; list of drawings in the 
 possession of Mr. Cooper ; papers in the Transactions of the Irish Academy; 
 extinct volcanoes in Ireland; Grienon’s Mapof Ireland; Yallancey’s Military 
 Survey; Mackenzie’s Nautical Surveys; Walker’s proposals; Poole and Cash’s 
 “ Views in Dublin ;’’ Milton’s Seats of the Nobility ; Bishop Pococke’s 
 Minutes and Register of the Philosophical Society of Dublin (see note) ; 
 “Natural History of Ireland;” Lodge’s “ Peerage;” inquiry for Mr. Wright’s 
 papers ........ 699 
 
 Gough to Walker. Oct. 24. — Mr. Cooper’s drawings ; Grienon’s and An- 
 drews’s maps of Ireland; Mr. Wright’s papers (see note); Scale’s Hibernian 
 Atlas ........ 700 
 
 Walker to Gough. Oct. 30. — Cooper’s drawings ; character of Irish maps ; 
 inedited maps of Ireland in the Lambeth Library; Wright’s Travels; Mr. 
 Coxe’s Tour in Ireland ; “Tour of Two English Gentlemen ;” Vallancey’s 
 “ Vindication of the Ancient History of Ireland;” Lord Kenmare ; Ledwich 
 and Beauford; Harris’s “ History of Dublin;” Rutty’s “ Spas of Dublin” 701 
 Walker to Percy. Oct. 30. — Duke of Rutland’s successor ; the Duke’s 
 funeral; MSS. addressed to Duke of Northumberland relating to Ireland 702 
 Walker to Gough. Nov. 10. — Correctors of Mr. Gough’s proof sheets ; Mr. 
 Walker’s “ Essay on Irish Dress” ..... 703 
 
 Same. (No date). — “Poynings’s Law;” the old Countess of Desmond ; Irish 
 County Maps ; Castle of Ardfinnan in Tipperary . . .704 
 
 Same. (No date). — Assistance to Mr. Gough from Mr. Beauford and Dr. 
 Campbell ........ 705 
 
 Gough to Walker. Nov. 24, — Correction of the press ; bargains with book- 
 sellers . . . . . . . .705 
 
 Walker to Gough. Dec. 3.— Ferrar’s “ History of Limerick;” discoveries 
 in the Tipperary hogs; discovery of antiquities ; Brien’s harp . 706 
 
 Same. May 3, 1788.- — Publication of the “ Essay on Irish Dress” . 706 
 
 Same. June 26. — Corrections relative to Tarah, &c. . . 706 
 
 Same. Sept. 9. — Mr. O’Conor’s anecdotes of his family; proposals for a work 
 by Miss Charlotte Brooke . . . . '. .707 
 
 Same. Sept. 20. — Inquiries about copies of his “ Irish Dress” sent to Mr. 
 Elmsly ........ 707 
 
 Walker to Percy. Sept. 16. — “Recollections of the Life of Shenstone” 
 (see note) ; White’s “ Orations of Cicero ;” Hoole’s translation of Ercilla’s 
 poem ; Charlotte Smith’s “ Emmeline;” Robertson’s “ History of America;” 
 anecdote of Charles V.; Ritson’s visit to Ireland . . . 708 
 
 Walker to Gough. Dec. 21. — Print of Irish Dresses from MS. Froissart at 
 ( Oxford ........ 709 
 
 Gough to Walker. Jan. 12, 1789. — Conclusion of Mr. Gough’s additions to 
 “ Ireland’’ in Camden’s Britannia; the “Irish Dress” not advertised ; re- 
 marks on the plates ; slow progress of the second volume of “ Sepulchral 
 Monuments” ....... 709 
 
 V alker to Gough. Feb. 22. — Reviews of the “ Irish Dress” by English 
 Review and Gent. Mag. ; complains of the latter Review . .710 
 
 Walker to Percy. Sept. 22. — Writes to Mr. Ritson relative to his attack 
 on Bishop Percy ; writes to Mr. Hayley on the subject of the “ Reliques ;” 
 Mr. Shee ........ 710 
 
 Same.^ Nov. 7. — Mr. Ritson’s reply to Mr. Walker, with extracts ; Mr. Wal- 
 ker s tour to Buxton ; meets with a pupil of old Parry, who plays some tunes 
 
 1000 years old; Mrs. Lacy of Carlisle . . . .711 
 
XXX 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Walker to Gent. Mag. Aug. 20, 1790. — Remarks on several articles in 
 Gent. Mag. ; Mr. <T. Ussher ; signature of Clio in the “ Spectator anec- 
 dote of the Poets Pope and Phillips ; new edition of “ The World new 
 edition of Henry Brooke’s Works, by his daughter . . . 712 
 
 Walker to Percy. Aug. 3, 1791. — Ball given by the Elector of Mentz 713 
 Same. Aug. 21. — Dr. Ledwich and his work ; Grose’s “ Ireland Mr. 
 Gandon’s monument for Grose; death of Rev. Mervyn Archdall (see note); 
 Dr. Ledwich preparing papers for the Dublin Transactions ; Mrs. Smith’s 
 novels of “ Celestina’’ and “ Hermione;’’ Colonel Vallancey’s “Tour in Ire- 
 land;” Mr. Walker proposes to make a tour on the Continent; Lord Charle- 
 mont; the Russian Court presents the Dublin Academy with a Greek trans- 
 lation of Virgil ; Mr. Graydon presents them with fossils; Bristol; Mrs. 
 Yearsley ; the Maid of the Hay-stack ; Chatterton’s mother and sister ; lines 
 occasioned by Mrs. Gunning’s pamphlet .... 713 
 
 Same. Sept. 14. — Miss Gunning and the King of France ; Bulgaris’ Greek 
 translation of Virgil (see note); Mr. Boyd’s poems ; Mr. Ritson ; Paine and 
 his Life, by Mr. George Chalmers; Mr. Kirwan and Mrs. O’Neil; original 
 portraits found at Delville ; his intended tour to Italy ; requests an intro- 
 duction to Sir William Hamilton . » . . .717 
 
 Percy to Walker. Sept. 24. — Gives a letter of introduction to Mr. Byres at 
 Rome (see note); Lord Charlemont; the handwriting of Milton in his copy 
 of Lycophron identified; Mr. Byres, the Pope’s antiquary ; Mons. Mallet’s 
 “ Introduction to the History of Denmark” . . . 718 
 
 Walker to Percy. Frankfort, July 23, 1792. — Mr. Byres; Mr. Moir, his ne- 
 nephew and successor, ridiculed on the Italian stage ; M. Mallet and his letter; 
 state of society at Rome ; Sir William Hamilton and society at Naples ; the 
 hermit of the mountain; various incidents of his tour . .719 
 
 Same. Jan. 6, 1793.- — The attack of the Defenders on Mr. Blacker and 
 others; the engagement at Carricknacross ; Mr. John Foster the Speaker’s 
 efforts to quell the riots (see note); return to Dublin . . 723 
 
 Same 1794. — (See note) ; on the conduct of Mr. Ritson towards 
 
 Bishop Percy .. . . . . . 725 
 
 Walker to Pinkerton. Nov. 16. — Mutual correspondence desired ; Mr. 
 Ledwich and Mr. Walker’s contributions to the Academy Transactions ; 
 Mr. Elmsly; General Vallancey; Miss Charlotte Brooke’s Relics of Irish 
 Poetry ........ 728 
 
 Walker to Percy. March 7, 1797.- — Murder of Rev. Dr. W. Hamilton and 
 Mrs. W T aller (see note) ; capture of Spanish ships ; Hayley’s “ Life of Mil- 
 ton;” the history of blank verse in England ; on the restriction of the Son- 
 net by the Italians ....... 729 
 
 Same. (Date unknown). — Notes on passages in the “ Reliques,” and on the 
 first edition of Shakspeare; genius of Shakspeare ; hints to Mr. Malone on the 
 Irish character; Dr. Warton and his edition of Pope’s works ; Dr. Burney’s 
 “ Memoirs of Metastasio,” and “ History of Music” . . . 731 
 
 Walker to Pinkerton. March 13.- — His literary prospects ; on the death 
 of Horace Walpole; scenery of Wicklow .... 733 
 
 Walker to Percy. March 20. — Observations on blank verse among the 
 Italians and French . . . . . . 734 
 
 Same. March 25. — Same subject continued .... 736 
 
 Same. April 2. — Poem of the Earl of Essex ; Mr. Marsden’s “ Catalogue of 
 Dictionaries;” death of Mr. Pinkerton’s child ; illness of the Earl of Meath 
 
 (see note) ........ 739 
 
 Same. May 20. — Authenticity of Percy’s Han Kiou Cliouan ; Mr. Catcott 
 and the Chatterton Papers (see note); state of politics; Dr. Hussey’s “ Pas- 
 toral Letter Dr. Hamilton’s widow; Dr. Browne’s “Lectures on Civil and 
 Ecclesiastical Law;” “ Memoirs of Sir Joshua Reynolds” . . 740 
 
 Same. June 6. — Correspondence with Mr. Catcott; Chinese novel; Sir Her- 
 bert Croft’s “ Love and Madness” (see note) ; the first edition of “Italia 
 Liberata;” the political state of Ireland .... 741 
 
CONTEXTS. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 Walker to Pinkerton. June 27. — Observations on Italian poets and his- 
 torians ........ 742 
 
 Walker to Percy. July 8. — On English blank verse . . 743 
 
 Same. Aug. 25. — On the same subject .... 744 
 
 Same. March 14, 1798. — Lord Surrey’s “ Geraldine” (see note); the author of 
 “The Orange;” arrest of Irish conspirators . . .745 
 
 Same. March 20. — Lord Surrey’s “ Geraldine the Irish conspirators; state 
 of Ireland; Dr. Young’s Paper on Colours .... 747 
 
 Walker to Pinkerton. May 12. — Pinkerton’s History of Scotland com- 
 mended (see note) . . . . . . .748 
 
 Same. Dec. 2. — Pinkerton’s “ Poetical Works” . . . 749 
 
 Same. Jan. 19, 1799. — Mr. Walker’s Memoir on Italian Tragedy . 750 
 
 Same. Feb. 26. — Walker’s Essay on the Revival of the Dramatic Art in Italy 750 
 Same. June 1. — Same subject . . . . .750 
 
 Same. June 24. — Death of James Tassie, the gem engraver; Rev. James 
 
 Johnstone’s collection of books on Northern Literature . .751 
 
 Same. Dec. 1. — Comedies of the German nun Hroswitha (see note) ; Walker’s 
 Essay on the “ Revival of the Drama in Italy;’’ his other works; various new 
 works noticed . . . . . . .751 
 
 Same. April 26, 1806.- — letter on Walker’s “ Irish Bards;” publication of his 
 Essay “ On the Drama in Italy’’ ..... 752 
 
 Same. Oct. 2. — On his “ Irish Bards” and “ Essay on the Drama ;” Lord 
 Holland’s “Life of Lope de Vega;” Irving’s “ Life of George Buchanan,” 
 and bis “ Lives of the Scottish Poets” . . . .753 
 
 Pinkerton to Walker. Jan. 15, 1807. — His Geography; remarks on Walker’s 
 “ Essay on the Italian Drama” ..... 753 
 
 Walker to Pinkerton. Jan. 22. — Observations on the execution of his ‘ 
 “ Essay on the Italian Drama ; ” desires the French translations of his 
 works ........ 754 
 
 Walker to Owen Rees. May 2. Inquires for the foreign translations of 
 his works ; Sir Egerton Brydges’s “ Censura Literaria” . .755 
 
 Walker to Rev. H. Boyd. Nov. 29, 1804. — Mr. Walker’s severe illness; 
 thanks for Miss Stewart’s Ode ..... 756 
 
 Percy’s Remarks on the above letter, censuring the duplicity of Mr. Walker 
 and Mr. Boyd ....... 757 
 
 Memoir of Rev. Thomas Campbell, LL.D. .... 759 
 
 Conversation between Dr. J ohnson and Dr. Campbell on the right of Conquest 7 62 
 
 Letters between Dr. Campbell and Bishop Percy. 
 
 Campbell to Percy. Feb. 27, 1787. — On the MS. Annals of Ulster, in rela- 
 tion to Mr. Pinkerton’s work ..... 767 
 
 Same. Aug. 27. — Sends Mr. Pinkerton’s work ; particulars of the repairs of 
 his church ; visit to Paris ; opinions formed of the people ; their Celtic 
 
 ori gin ........ 768 
 
 Same. Oct. 25, — Character of the English by a French lady ; interview with 
 Pinkerton (see note); intention of writing a summary view of the eccle- 
 siastical and literary history of Ireland for the Dublin Chronicle ; Colonel 
 1 allancey’s fourteenth volume ; Mr. O’Connor’s threat to Dr. Campbell 
 relative to a work by him, which was printed but never published . 770 
 
 ampbell to Pinkerton. Feb. 6, 1788. — Burke’s “ Hibernia Dominicana ; ” 
 t ie Trias Thaumaturga ; Pinkerton’s “ Lives of the Scottish Saints ; ” the 
 ublin Chronicle, containing “ Slight Sketch of the Eeclesiastical History of 
 J reland ;” the origin of this work ..... 772 
 
 ampbell to Percy. Feb. 26. — Recites letter to Pinkerton (see note) ; Mr. 
 iattan, and the political state of Ireland (see note) . . 773 
 
 > ame. Dec. 15. Mr. Grattan and the “ History of the Revolution of Ire- 
 ab (see note) ; progress of his “ Summary View,’’ &c. and observations on 
 ! v se e note) ; outline of his intended “ Memoirs of the Religion and Litera- 
 ture of Ireland ” . _ _ _ .774 
 
 k A fov" ^ ar< '^ 29, 1790. Thanks for the Bishop’s exertions in his brother’s 
 
XXX11 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Same. April 6. Rev. Mr. Hudson; Rev. Dr. Paul’s curate; life of Dr. 
 Goldsmith ........ 777 
 
 Same. May 20. — Dr. Goldsmith’s “ Present State of Learning in Europe” 778 
 Same. June 16. — Death of Rev. Dr. Lyon, and Dr. Campbell’s brother’s 
 preferment ; progress of the “ Life of Goldsmith ; ” inquiry for his works ; 
 Archbishop Robinson and Bishop John Hotham . . .778 
 
 Same. June 30 Goldsmith’s “Life,” and inquiries about the materials; 
 
 thanks for Dr. Campbell’s brother’s preferment, and particulars of the 
 living . . . . . . . .780 
 
 Same. July 23. — His brother’s induction . . . .781 
 
 Same. Aug. 3. — Colonel Yallancey’s“ Collectanea” (see note); Ledwich and 
 Beaufort propose a joint production about Yallancey . .782 
 
 Same. Sept. 9. — Receives an anonymous letter from London ; Mr. Ledwich 
 the reviewer of Col. Vallancey’s work in Sleater’s paper ; “ Life of Gold- 
 smith” (see note) ; Sir Richard Perrot’s Life . . . 783 
 
 Same. Sept. 22. — Colonel Vallancey’s “Nostradamus Hibernicus ” . 784 
 
 Same. Aug. 13, 1791. — Dr. Campbell building a church ; lawsuit respect- 
 ing his nephew ; marriage of Dr. Hales . . . .785 
 
 Same. Jan. 5, 1792. — His various engagements ; state of the Roman Catho- 
 lics . . . . . . . .786 
 
 Same. Feb. 3. — Intended journey to London; Mrs. Percy’s health; Boswell’s 
 “ Life of Johnson;” Roman Catholics; illness of Lord Rokeby, Ahp. of 
 •Dublin ........ 787 
 
 Same. Jan. 12, 1793. — The Militia Act in Ireland; death of Maurice Gold- 
 smith, brother of the Poet (see note) . . . .789 
 
 Same. Sept. 16. — Dr. Campbell’s brother’s trouble respecting his tithes ; sends 
 a Sermon; Bishop Bennett’s charge . . . . .790 
 
 Same. April 16, 1795. — The state of the tithe question in Ireland; troops in 
 Ireland ..... ... 791 
 
 Same. April 22. — The state of parties relative to Catholic emancipation 793 
 Rev. Charles Campbell to Percy. Feb. 19, 1810. — Inquiries about form of 
 Prayer for Fast Day; death of his uncle, Dr. Thomas Campbell ; his brother 
 goes to Botany Bay . . . . . .795 
 
 Same. Feb. 28. — Further account of his uncle’s death . . 796 
 
 Letters between Dr. Campbell and Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 Lord Dacre to Gough. June 17, 1783. — On Mr. Gough’s edition of Cam- 
 den’s “ Britannia;” Dr. Campbell’s offer of assistance . . 797 
 
 Gough to Lord Dacre. — T hanks for the offer of Dr. Campbell’s assistance 797 
 Lord Dacre to Gough. — I ncloses a letter he has received from Dr. Camp- 
 bell ........ 798 
 
 Same. Jan. 7,1784. — Dr. Campbell sends notes on Ireland for Mr. Gough; 
 
 extract from his letter . . . . . .798 
 
 Gough to Campbell. Jan. 10. — Details his plan of editing Camden’s “ Bri- 
 tannia” ........ 799 
 
 Same. Jan. 20, 1788. — Requests information on the Government of Ireland 
 from the time of Camden to the present .... 799 
 
 Campbell to Gough. Feb. 9. — The imperfection of Dr. Campbell’s “ Philo- 
 sophical Survey ;” Danish Forts; Round Towers; Edmund Burke’s MSS.; 
 promises a sketch of the Irish Constitution from Roderic O’Connor to George 
 the Third ; strictures on Mr. Gough’s “History of the Constitution” 800 
 Gough to Campbell. Feb . — Thanks for his corrections ; his correspondents 
 Walker, Ledwich, and Beauford ..... 802 
 
 Campbell to Gough. Feb. 20. — Sends part of his “Essay on the Irish Con- 
 stitution ;” notice of Mr. Gough’s errors ; sends “ Patrick’s Purgatory” 803 
 Gough to Campbell. Feb. 25. — Acknowledges the receipt of the packet, and 
 settles future correspondence ..... 804 
 
 Campbell to Gough. March 3. — Sends the remainder of the “ Sketch ;” 
 error of Mr. Gough respecting the Irish Bishops . . . 804 
 
 Same. April 11, — Accounts for delay in sending the “Sketch ” . 805 
 
 Same. April 15. — Terms of correspondence ; the Round Towers and Raths 805 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXX111 
 
 Same. April 28. — Thanks for introduction to Mr. Walker; various errors 
 corrected ; remark upon fidelity in the printing the “ Sketch,” and gives his 
 reasons ........ 806 
 
 Gough to Campbell. May 3. — Defends himself from the charge of mutila- 
 ting the “ Sketch” ...... 807 
 
 Same. July 2. — Urges dispatch ; refers to his former letter . . 808 
 
 Same. Ju/ne 4, 1789. — Presents him with “Ireland,” extracted from Cam- 
 den’s “ Britannia ” . . . . V . 809 
 
 Memoir of Rev. Edward Ledwich, LL.D., F.S.A. . . . 809 
 
 Correspondence of Dr. Ledwich and Bishop Percy. 
 
 Ledwich to Percy. 1795. — “ Antliologia ;” arguments against “ Scrutator;” 
 Introduction to Yol. II. of Grose’s Ireland; Clinch, author of “ Freemasonry,” 
 his literary acquirements . . . . . .816 
 
 Same. June 25, 1799. — Wishes to place his son with Mr. Stott of Dromore 816 
 Same. June 29. — State of affairs in France .... 816 
 
 Same. July 13. — The state of France continued ; his intended Preface to his 
 Works ........ 816 
 
 Same. July 18. — Promises not to mention the Bishop by name in any future 
 publication; Sir Richard Musgrave busy in writing (see note) . 817 
 
 Same. July 23. — Settlement of his son and daughter ; inquiry about the old 
 Irish language spoken in the Mourne mountains . . . 818 
 
 Same. Aug. 6. — The Round Towers originally belfries; burning of Mr. J. C. 
 
 Walker’s house . . . . . . .818 
 
 Same. Aug . — The jurisdiction of the Bishop does not extend to Mourne; the 
 history of the “ Red-shanks alarm of French invasion . . 819 
 
 Dubourdein to Percy. June 20. — Inclosing a sketch of the foundation of 
 one of the Round Towers ...... 821 
 
 Ledwich to Percy. Aug. 14, 1802. — Account of a singular discovery of 
 rings of gold and silver, supposed to be bracelets . . . 821 
 
 Same. Aug. 28. — Mr. Beauford’s MS. notes on Macpherson’s “ Ossian,” com- 
 pared with the original Erse and Irish Poems; history of these old ballads ; 
 Mr. Beauford’s method of treating his subject ; regrets he cannot assist Dr. 
 Anderson’s inquiries; Col. Yallancey’s rudeness censured by Dr. Ledwich and 
 Mr. Beauford ....... 822 
 
 Same. Oct. 6. — Dr. Anderson purchases Mr. Beauford’s “ Essay;” Dr. Led- 
 wich apologises for his responsibility in the transaction ; Dr. Ryan on the 
 “ History of the Effects of Religion on Mankind, &c.”. . . 825 
 
 Same. Oct. 24. — Estimate of Dr. Anderson’s talents ; extract from Merula ; 
 sells his books; contemplates a new edition of his “ Antiquities,” and Camp- 
 bell’s “ Strictures;” Sir Richard Musgrave . . . .826 
 
 Same. Jan. 12, 1803. — His “Antiquities;” Sir Richard Musgrave; Dr. 
 Ryan’s book ; inquiry for extracts from Pelagius ; Dr. Beaufort and Mr. 
 Edgeworth propose to publish an Irish Camden . . . 827 
 
 Same. Feb. 3. — Mr. Brownlow’s MS. Pelagius; the various opinions respect- 
 ing Pelagius, and a list of his works ; scheme of the new edition of the 
 “Antiquities” ....... 828 
 
 Same. Feb. 23. — Death of his infant son ; Usher quoted on Irish History; 
 Lsher and the MS. Pelagius compared .... 829 
 
 Same. Apr. 28. — Incloses a letter from Dr. Anderson; Hay’s “ History of 
 the Rebellion” (see note) ...... 831 
 
 ame. Sept, 13. — His son-in-law, Counsellor Ridgeway, engaged to take down 
 t le trials by Government, for publication ; state of the Irish Government 
 (see note); the Fagel collection secured for Trinity College Library; Sir 
 ic lard Musgrave; criticisms on Plowden (see note) ; great emigration to 
 
 Same 8 ? ' ’ 832 
 
 ‘ ' • P*- 23. — Execution of Emmet ; his supposed correspondence with 
 
 uiran (see note) ; counsel and evidence on his trial . . 833 
 
 ec. 5. Ritson’s scurrility ; Sir Richard Musgrave’s works ; Baron 
 
 c 
 
 Same. 
 
 Same. 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
XXXIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Smith’s pamphlet; state of the Romish clergy; progress of the “ Antiquities” 
 interrupted by illness; Government defended against Cobbett’s strictures 834 
 Same. Dec. 15. — Improved state of his health ; dissertation on the word 
 Culdee ; on the colour of the monkish dress . . . .836 
 
 Same. Dec. 5, 1804. — State of his health ; the Round Tower at Down Pa- 
 trick; Colonel Vallancey and the Dublin Society ; Mr. Davies’s Celtic An- 
 tiquities; King’s “ Ancient English Castles” . . . 837 
 
 Same. Apr. 16, 1805. — Lord Strangford’s “ Poems of Camoens state of 
 Irish Literature ; Sir Richard Musgrave withstands the Catholic claims ; 
 pamphlet by Bishop O’Beirne ..... 838 
 
 Same. Aug. 16, 1806. — Mr. Robert Mitford and Lord Redesdale, with the 
 history of Mr. Mitford (see note) ; the Dublin Society ; purchases a villa at 
 Dundrum; Irish Literature; St. Patrick; Sir John Carr’s “ Stranger in Ire- 
 land” ........ 839 
 
 Same, j Feb. 14, 1807. — Death of Mrs. Percy; death of Counsellor W. Preston, 
 and his character; third edition of the “Antiquities;” Mr. Beauford’s MS. 
 “ History of Ireland” ...... 842 
 
 Correspondence between Dr. Ledwich and Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 Gough to Ledwich. March 21, 1787. — Solicits his assistance for “ Ireland;” 
 plan of his Additions to Bishop Gibson’s Observations; wishes information on 
 ancient monuments ....... 843 
 
 Ledwich to Gough. March 22. — His failure in the publication of the History 
 of the Queen’s County, which he proposes to send to Mr. Gough; settles the 
 mode of correspondence; commends the “ Sepulchral Monuments ;” desires 
 Mr. Gough’s opinion of Langbek’s “Scriptores Danici ;” complains of the 
 conduct of Colonel Vallancey ..... 844 
 
 Gough to Ledwich. June 11. — Sends him his sheets on “ Ireland;” plan of 
 his work ........ 845 
 
 Ledwich to Gough. June 24. — Commends Mr. Gough’s plan, and describes 
 his own; promises to obtain the assistance of Mr. A. Beauford (see note); 
 Mr. Beauford’s character and pursuits ; sends drawings ; mentions persons 
 who have collections of drawings ; caution respecting Col. Vallancey 846 
 Same. July 14. — Character of Dr. Campbell; Archdall’s “ Monasticon ;” list of 
 authors on natural history ; doubts of the assertions of Irish historians rela- 
 tive to the peopling of Scotland ; Mr. A. Beauford’s promised assistance ; 
 suggests a Supplement, and offers materials .... 848 
 
 Same. Sept. 18. — Engages Messrs. A. Beauford, J. C. Walker, and Austin 
 Cooper as contributors ; suggests the publication of Camden’s other works; 
 describes the nature and extent of his collections ; short history of an His- 
 torical Society formed by Mr. Conyngham ; gives an outline of his intended 
 work ........ 849 
 
 Gough to Ledwich. Sept. 29. — Sends the proof sheets of “Ireland;” the 
 Triumvirate , Ledwich, Beauford , and Walker ; query about the Dublin 
 Society ; Mr. Astle’s account of the Ogum ; wishes for his opinion on the 
 Round Towers, &c. ...... 852 
 
 Same. Nov. 24.— Observations relative to the proof sheets ; Dr. Ledwich ’s 
 Essay, in the Archseologia ...... 852 
 
 Ledwich to Gough. Dec. 10. — Literary Societies in Ireland ; Ogum inscrip- 
 tions; promises the history of his own County . . . 853 
 
 Gough to Ledwich. Dec. 27. — The Antiquarian Society and Dr. Ledwich’s 
 paper ; mistake about Gough’s Camden ; work wanted on Saxon and 
 Gothic buildings ; intends to avoid etymology and politics . . 854 
 
 Ledwich to Gough. Dec. 31. — Sends materials as additions, and promises 
 further aid if required ...... 855 
 
 Gougii to Ledwich. June 4, 1789. — Sends him a copy of “ Ireland ” 856 
 
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 
 
 P. 1, 1. 3 ,for 680 read 650. 
 
 P. 25. Notes * and f are transposed. 
 
 P. 65, note *, line 3, read, See a memoir of Bishop Bennett in Literary Illus- 
 trations, IV. 703 ; and in Gent. Mag. for 1820 (not 1830) ii. 184. Bishop 
 Bennett was buried at Plumstead, Kent ; and in the churchyard, on the south 
 side, is an altar-tomb, thus inscribed: “Wm. Bennett, Lord Bp. of Cloyne, 
 died 16 July, 1820, aged 74.” He lived at Shooter’s Hill, in the parish of 
 Plumstead. Several letters of Bishop Bennett to Mr. Gough and Mr. Nichols 
 are printed in Literary Illustrations, vol. IV. pp. 703 — 712. 
 
 P. 76, note. Mr. George Paton died in March 1807 (not May). 
 
 P. 87, 1. 24. See a portrait of Dr. Grainger mentioned in a letter from 
 Mrs. Grainger to Bishop Percy, in p. 295. 
 
 P. 94, B. hi. 1. 31, M*** means Daniel Mathew, his wife’s uncle. See 
 p. 144. 
 
 P. 127, note. The Hon. W. Herbert, dean of Manchester, died May 28, 
 1847. See a memoir of him in Gent. Mag. N. S. vol. XXVIII. p. 425. 
 
 P. 173, note, 1. ult. add, and hereafter, p. 252. 
 
 P. 192. Several of the early poems of Rev. Dr. T. Percy are in Gent. Mag. 
 See his “ Verses on the Death of Dr. Johnson,” 4to. 1785, reviewed in Gent. 
 Mag. vol. LV. p. 382, 
 
 P. 215, 1. 23. The “traditional songs” here spoken of were original 
 compositions of a genius akin to Burns, the since well-known Allan Cunning- 
 ham. See his Life by his Son. 
 
 P. 223, 1. 1. This letter is addressed to Mr. Meredith Darby, secretary to 
 Bishop Percy ; who by living so much with his Lordship enjoyed his full 
 confidence. See a letter from Mrs. Isted, the Bishop’s daughter, to Mr. 
 Nichols, in Literary Illustrations, vol. VI. p. 591, where his name is by mistake 
 printed Darley. 
 
 P. 224, 1. 13, read Bridgenorth ; 1. 3 from bottom, for Ambrose read 
 Samuel. 
 
 P. 230, 1. 13. “ The Sugar Cane” was reviewed by Dr. Johnson and Mr. 
 Percy in the London Chronicle ; Dr. Johnson wrote the introduction to the 
 Review, which was reprinted, from Dr. Johnson’s autograph copy, in Gent. 
 Mag. for Sept. 1847, p. 252. The Poem was also reviewed in Monthly Review, 
 XXXI., 105; and see Gent. Mag. 1764, 304, 342. 
 
 P. 248, note J. Of the Rev. Robert Binnel, see Literary Illustrations, vol. VI. 
 p. 556. 
 
 P. 266, 1. 16, “ Delia’s uncle.” Delia was Miss Gutteridge, afterwards Mrs. 
 1 ercy. And her “ uncle” was probably the Rev. Mr. Gutteridge of Thorpe 
 ■ ’ e ' sor ’ Northamptonshire^ who died Jan. 7, 1759 (Gent. Mag. 1759). He might 
 
 e brother to Bartin Gutteridge (father of Mrs. Percy), who died in 1757 
 (- icholss Leicestershire, III. 66*). Again, the Rev. Bartin Gutteridge (who 
 « as a subscriber to Bridges’s Northamptonshire) might have been a son of 
 
 artin Gutteridge, who died in 1757, and brother of W. Gutteridge ; on 
 W ? se death, in 1783, without issue, his sister, Mrs. Percy, succeeded to the 
 ■noietv of his estate. Thorpe Melsor is near to Easton Mauduit, Mr. Percy’s 
 1V p S o*« nd ' SS gutteridge was probably her uncle’s visitor at Thorpe Melsor. 
 -g, ' • Thomas Apperley, Esq. See Literary Illustrations, vol. VI. p. 
 
XXXVI 
 
 ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 
 
 P. 317, add to note: Andrew Mitcliell, Esq. was Under- Secretary, from 
 1743 to 1745, to the Marquess of Tweeddale, then Secretary of State for Scotland, 
 which office was suppressed in the latter year. In 1750, being then styled of 
 Tliainston, co. Aberdeen, he was elected to Parliament for that shire, for 
 which he sat until the dissolution in 1754. In December of that year he was re- 
 turned on a -vacancy for the Elgin district of burghs, which he continued to 
 represent until his death. In 1756 he was sent as Envoy Extraordinary and 
 Plenipotentiary to the court of Berlin, where he remained, with a short interval, 
 until his death. He was made a Knight of the Bath Dec. 13, 1765. Sir Andrew 
 Mitchell died (it is believed at Berlin) Jan. 28, 1771. From his papers, pre- 
 served in the British Museum, several letters have been published in the Second 
 Series of Sir Henry Ellis’s Original Letters, and one of Sir Philip Francis in 
 the Gentleman’s Magazine for April 1847. 
 
 P. 364, 1. 23. M s (Musseus) was the signature used by the Rev. H. 
 
 F. Cary. 
 
 P. 385, 1. 11, instead of “the Northumberland Household Book,” these 
 remarks apply to the Howard Book at Cambridge, noticed in the preceding 
 letter. 
 
 P. 391, 1. 11. The “ College Book” is the Howard Book, noticed p. 385. 
 
 P. 405, note, 1. ult. for French read Trench ; and the same in p. 406, note, 
 
 1. 3. 
 
 P„ 435, 1. 29, for 1796, read 1790. 
 
 P. 594, note, 1. ult. add, and Gent. Mag. Sept. 1847, XXVIII. p. 256. 
 
 P. 579. See an account of Dr. James Nares, the composer, by his son, Mr. 
 Archdeacon Nares, in Gent. Mag. 1788, LVIII. 238. 
 
 P. 608, note. Dr. Crotch died Dec. 29, 1847, aged 72. See a memoir of 
 him in Gent. Mag. for March, 1848, p. 316. 
 
 P. 703, note, 1. ult. See some interesting anecdotes of Bishop John Law in 
 Jefferson’s History of Carlisle, p. 423, note. 
 
 P. 742, 1. 18. The Life of Tasso was compiled in 1600, not published till 
 1621 at Venice, reprinted in 1624, and with additions by Cavalli at Rome, 1634. 
 Serassi says that Manso only became acquainted with Tasso in the latter part 
 of his life, and advances many circumstances relative to the early part of it, 
 which are exaggerated or improbable; that he is inaccurate in dates, but that it 
 is valuable as regards the time Tasso spent at Naples in the latter part of his 
 life, where he lived in intimacy with his biographer. — J.M. 
 
 P. 753, 1. 30. Mr. Irving’s Lives of Buchanan and of the Scottish Poets 
 are works abounding in learning, instruction, and sound criticism. Mr. 
 Park says of the latter work, that it is written ‘ with great research and critical 
 ingenuity.’ See Warton’s History of English Poetry, ed. 8vo. iii. p. 467 — J.M. 
 
 P. 761, 1. 32. In the Gent. Mag. 1790, p. 319, are some good remarks by 
 way of review of Dr. Campbell’s Strictures on Irish History, signed K. T. 
 
 P. 815, note -[*, add, Mr. Walker’s letter is reprinted in this vol. p. 728. 
 
 LIST OF PORTRAITS. 
 
 Bishop Percy 
 George Steevens, Esq. 
 James Boswell, Esq. 
 
 Rev. Michael Lort, D.D. 
 
 . Frontispiece. 
 
 1 
 
 . 300 
 
 , 438 
 

 JiorTb 1 736 Vi&dy Id 00. 
 
 Batiks* o T & h ' > 
 
 
 
 Published In/ Nichals cLfid Sore . March' 31. 184S. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LITERATURE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 THE PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 George Steevens, Esq. 
 
 A brief memoir of this distinguished Commen- 
 tator on Shakspeare will be found in the “ Literary 
 Anecdotes,” vol. ii. p. 680 ; and a Series of his 
 Letters in the “Literary Illustrations,” vol. v. 
 p. 427 to 443. The following Letters, addressed 
 to Bishop Percy, contain much literary informa* 
 tion, and are very characteristic of the writer. 
 
 George Steevens, Esq. to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “My DEAR LORD, Hampstead Heath, Jan. 11, 1788. 
 
 “ As I left my own house at the beginning of Septem- 
 ber, and only returned to it just before Christmas, your 
 letter did not reach my hands till some months later than 
 it was written. Since I came home, two deaths in my 
 family have furnished me with a considerable share of 
 
 VOL. VII. B 
 
 
2 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 business, and therefore I have been obliged to delay my 
 thanks to your Lordship till now. 
 
 “ I should be inclined to follow Lord Charlemont’s 
 advice with much readiness and gratitude ; but our paint- 
 ers are too self-sufficient to avail themselves of any hint or 
 instruction I could afford them.* All dresses which are 
 not in modern use they conceive to be ancient; or, to 
 express myself more clearly, provided they clothe their 
 characters in such habiliments as were never seen in Eng- 
 land (or perhaps anywhere else), they suppose they shall 
 escape censure on the score of anachronism, or impro- 
 priety. As to the head t you do me the honour to mention, 
 I hardly suppose such a thing can ever be wanted ; for so 
 far from expecting to bring the work to a conclusion, I 
 may not live to see even its beginning. In short, the 
 proprietors by no means exert themselves with a degree 
 of zeal proportionable to the encouragement they have 
 received. Of any advances toward the production of this 
 book, except a picture or two painted for it, I am utterly 
 unconscious, nor have I heard a syllable further on the 
 score of paper or typography. It may be supposed that 
 the remonstrances of the public will, ere long, awaken 
 Messieurs BoydellJ into more active measures. I believe, 
 within a few months, you may expect the appearance of 
 Mr. Malone’s Shakspeare. I have been told that Mr. 
 Colman also threatens us with a new edition of the same 
 
 * On the subject of Boydell’s Shakspeare Gallery. 
 
 f Probably Lord Charlemont meant a portrait of Mr. Steevens to be added 
 to Boydell’s Shakspeare. Mr. Steevens was to superintend the press. 
 
 J Alderman John Boydell died Dec. 11, 1804. An account of him will 
 be found in “ Literary Anecdotes,” vol. III. p. 411, in which the full history 
 of the origin of the Shakspeare Gallery and the splendid edition of Shak- 
 speare is also detailed. A more elaborate memoir of him is given by Mr. Chal- 
 mers, in Biog. Diet. VI. 301. His nephew Josiah Boydell, esq. was well 
 known as an eminent encourager of the Arts, and himself a very superior 
 artist. He was a man of mild and unassuming manners, strict integrity, and 
 great benevolence. On the establishment of the Corps of Hampstead Vo- 
 lunteers in 1803, Mr. Boydell, who had been the first in command of the 
 Hampstead Association (disbanded about a twelvemonth before), and had 
 been extremely active in the formation of the new corps, was unanimously 
 elected Lieutenant Commandant. After having been many years a partner 
 with his uncle, he succeeded not only to the extensive business, but to the 
 civic gown vacant by his uncle’s death in 1804. His health being consi- 
 derably impaired, he resigned the office of Alderman in 1809. In 1811 he 
 was elected Master of the Stationers’ Company. After the expiration of that 
 year, his strength and spirits gradually and visibly declined, and he died at 
 Halliford in Middlesex, March 27, 1817. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 3 
 
 author. I say threatens , because his publication will 
 prove sufficiently hostile to those of his predecessors. 
 
 The line of Spenser which Lord Charlemont enquires 
 after } is in the second Canto of the third Book of the 
 ‘ Faery Queen/ I beg leave to trouble your Lordship 
 with my best compliments to him* and hope he will not 
 impute the tardiness of my answer to any voluntary negli- 
 gence of his commands. 
 
 “ The character your Lordship gives of Mr. J. Monck 
 Mason’s production* is thoroughly just. He is often 
 ingenious and sometimes right; but occasionally outdoes 
 even Dr. Warburton in absurdity of conjecture. There is 
 also somewhat of ferocity in his manner which had better 
 been avoided. Still, with all his extravagances, I must 
 allow that he is a man of thinking and erudition. 
 
 “ Boswell’s book f is not yet gone to press. He waits, 
 I believe, till Mrs. Piozzi has published two volumes of 
 Johnson’s correspondence with her, which is expected to 
 comprize near 200 letters. Lord Lonsdale has appointed 
 Boswell recorder of Carlisle, and he is gone to take pos- 
 session of his new office. 
 
 “ Mr. Jephson’s J e Julia’ I have neither seen nor read ; 
 but am told the playhouse lost by performing it, and that 
 the author’s only gain has been by the sale of the copy. 
 
 “ In about a month or six weeks we are to expect the 
 three volumes, quarto, which conclude Mr. Gibbon’s cele- 
 
 * The Right Hon. John Monck Mason was a privy councillor of Ireland, 
 and commissioner of revenue for that kingdom. He published the Dramatic 
 Works of John Massinger, with Notes critical and explanatory ; to which is 
 prefixed, an Essay on his Life and Writings, Lond. 1779, 1794, 4 vols. 8vo. 
 Comments on Reed’s edition of Shakspeare’s Plays, 1785, 8vo. Comments 
 on the Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher ; with an Appendix, containing some 
 further Observations on Shakspeare, extended to the late edition of Malone, 
 by Steevens, Lond. 1788. An Oration commemorative of the late Major- 
 Gen. Hamilton, 1804, 8vo. He is among the best of the Shakspeare critics. 
 He married Catharine, daughter of Henry Mitchell, esq. but had no issue ; 
 and died at Dublin in 1809. His portrait, by J. Harding, is in “ Shak- 
 speare Illustrated,” 1791. His great-nephews now living are William Monck 
 Mason, of Dublin, esq. author of the History of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and 
 Henry Joseph Monck Mason, LL.D. of Dargle cottage, co. Dublin, author 
 ot an Essay on the origin, authority, and constitution of Parliaments in 
 Ireland, and a work on the Introduction of Christianity into that country, 
 and the religious doctrines of her primitive saints, &c. &c. 
 
 T Life of Dr. Johnson. 
 
 + Mr. Robert Jephson, the dramatic writer, was born in Ireland in 1736, 
 and died at Black Rock, near Dublin, May 31, 1803. For Memoirs of him, 
 see Gentleman’s Magazine for June 1803, p. 600 ; and Chalmers’s Biog. 
 Hict. vol. XIX. P . 1. 8 
 
 R 2 
 
4 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 brated work. Mr. Bruce’s Abyssinian Tour is also at 
 press, but will be withheld till next winter. It will be 
 dedicated to the Honourable Daines Barrington, with 
 singular propriety, as he is the only one who possesses 
 credulity enough for the author’s purposes. Your Lord- 
 ship and I may perhaps unwillingly believe that in the 
 kingdom of Amhara every jessamine tree is as big as two 
 English oaks; and yet this fact our traveller is said to 
 have asserted in conversation. I relate it on the autho- 
 rity of Mr. Gibbon. 
 
 “ I hear with pleasure of your kindness to the relation 
 of our friend Dr. Goldsmith, and hope the expiration 
 of copyright will soon afford scope to your supplemental 
 charity. Your proposals have not hitherto fallen in my 
 way. 
 
 “ I have been so long absent from the literary world, 
 that the intelligence I offer you is scarce worth your 
 reading. One circumstance, however, I must not omit. 
 Your antagonist Mr. Ritson, about a month ago, got 
 drunk, and assaulted an inoffensive barber, who brought 
 an action against him, and has obliged him to pay severely 
 for his frolic ; a proper warning to critics militant. 
 
 “ Your Lordship has expressed a desire to possess a 
 cast from Nollekens’ bust of Johnson. Such a thing is 
 undoubtedly to be had, and without much expence. But 
 as I lately attempted to execute a similar commission, and 
 had the mortification to find that any package containing 
 a plaster of Paris figure, unless taken uncommon care of, 
 will not travel with safety, especially when its transit is 
 both by sea and land, I wish you to wait for a resemblance 
 of our deceased friend till you come to England, and can 
 give orders about it yourself. I sent a very expensive 
 group not very long ago into the country, and had the 
 misfortune to hear it was half ground to powder before it 
 reached the person who desired me to provide it ; and yet 
 it was packed by the artist who made it. Any commission 
 of a less hazardous kind I shall be always ready to under- 
 take for your Lordship. 
 
 “ Supposing your Lordship either is, or will be soon, at 
 Dublin, I address you at your former place of residence ; 
 and, with my best compliments to Mrs. Percy, and much 
 apology for these pages of inanity, have the honour to be 
 your Lordship’s most obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 <e Geo. Steevens.” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 5 
 
 * * * * * “ If therefore, my 
 
 Lord, you are serious, and really have a Nephew, I request 
 that my best compliments may be delivered to him, ac- 
 companied by a sincere wish that he may live to bring 
 forward some collection equal in merit to the lieliques , 
 which (I borrow the very words of your antagonist Rit- 
 son) is undoubtedly f one of the most delightful books of 
 curiosity and entertainment that was ever published/ 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, my dear Lord, your most 
 faithful and obedient servant. Geo. Steevens.” 
 
 “ Hampstead Heath, June 2, 1796. 
 
 “ Mr. Steevens presents his best compliments to the 
 Bishop of Dromore, and is sorry to find that the miscel- 
 laneous volume containing, among other articles, the juve- 
 nile work of James I. was lent, about a month ago, to a 
 gentleman who has carried it with him into Nottingham- 
 shire. It was borrowed for the sake of another curious 
 tract bound up with the f Reulis and Cautelis/ When the 
 book returns into the hands of Mr. Steevens, it shall be 
 immediately forwarded to the Bishop, if he is at that 
 time in England.” 
 
 “Hampstead Heath, Oct. 24, 1796. 
 
 “ My very good Lord, and most esteemed Uncle ; not- 
 withstanding you persist in refusing to acknowledge me 
 in the character of your legitimate Nephew, I have not so 
 far forgotten my duty as to neglect your interests on the 
 slightest occasion. I therefore take the liberty of point- 
 ing out a passage in our late friend Mr. TyrwhitCs edition 
 of Chaucer, that seems to encourage an idea that there 
 has been blank verse, by a century at least, more ancient 
 than any you have ascertained.* Such a circumstance, I 
 trust, may deserve mention in the preface to your nepotick 
 publication . 
 
 “ f The Tale of Melibeus/] Mr. Thomas has observed, 
 that c this Tale seems to have been written in blank verse. 
 [MSS. notes upon Chaucer, ed. Urry, in Brit. Mus.] It 
 
 * Percy collected and printed specimens of the earliest Blank Verse in 
 
 our Language, which are affixed to some copies (as that of Mr. J. P. Col- 
 161 ) his scarce Edition of Lord Surrey’s Poems. 
 
6 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 is certain, that in the former part of it we find a number 
 of blank verses intermixed, in a much greater proportion 
 than in any of our author’s other prose writings. But 
 this poetical style is not, I think, remarkable, beyond the 
 first four or five pages/ — Yol. iv. p. 325. 
 
 “ I cannot conclude, my Lord, without conjuring you to 
 present my duty to the good Lady Isengrine mine aunt, 
 and also to express my best wishes towards my fair 
 cousins, the Ladies Geraldine and Blanch. And (though 
 he may finally supplant me in your codicils, &c.) I must 
 not forget to offer my respects to the young Ingulfus, 
 whom (though with perfect jocularity, I hope) you style 
 your Nephew, instead of appropriating that title where it 
 is most due, I mean, to your indubitable Nephew, and 
 most faithful humble servant, G. Steevens.” 
 
 “ P. S. On the 24th of last month, when our excellent 
 friend Dr. Farmer returned from Bath to college, he was 
 the mere shadow of what he had been. He assured me, 
 he had neither the benefit of appetite, sleep, or spirits. 
 In the course of the next three weeks, however, he eat as 
 much as he ought, slept with few interruptions, and en- 
 livened his companions as much as ever. But in these 
 circumstances, I must confess, I have little confidence. 
 He still wants flesh and the genuine colour of health. 
 His disorder, I am afraid, is referable to the state of his 
 liver. I should add, that this supposition is merely my 
 own, and has not been authorised by our London or Cam- 
 bridge physicians. I sincerely wish I could, consistently 
 with truth, have transmitted you more welcome intelli- 
 gence. 
 
 “Another word, and I have done. You cannot more 
 successfully ingratiate yourself with your coadjutor, the 
 Rev. Henry Meen, than by requesting him to give you a 
 copy of “ Happiness ,” * a poem in blank verse, which he 
 published while he was resident in Emanuel college. 
 
 “ More last words. — Of Mr. Burke’s genuine pamphlet, 
 published on the 20th by the Rivingtons, five editions, 
 consisting of a thousand each, are already sold ; and half 
 as many of the spurious and pirated copy by Owen, are 
 said to have been dispersed. Before now, I must sup- 
 pose you have seen the one or the other of these publica- 
 
 * This early production Mr. Meen was very desirous that his friends 
 should forget, which caused the wicked wag to recommend it to the bishop’s 
 notice. See Mr. Meen’s Letter to Bp. Percy, Dec. 15, 1796, printed hereafter. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 7 
 
 tions, which, I trust, will be as warmly received in your 
 kingdom as in ours. Mr. Burke has commenced a suit 
 against Owen, whose treachery, ingratitude, and impu- 
 dence, are without a parallel in bibliopolic history. In 
 one of his very extraordinary advertisements he appears 
 to threaten Mr. Burke for having published his own pam- 
 phlet. Surely, this is a bravado worthy of Dublin itself. 
 
 “ Mr. Thomas’s remark on the metrical turn of the 
 Melibeus,* may be countenanced, perhaps, in some degree, 
 by the following article in Du Fresnoy’s Bibliotheque, 
 vol. ii. p. 248. f Le roman de Melibee, &c. en vers , in 
 fol. manuscrit, et in 4. dans la Bibliotheque Seguier.’ 
 
 “ Some such MS. might have been Chaucer’s original. 
 He might have commenced his imitation in verse ; and 
 when he changed his design might have been too lazy to 
 obliterate the vestiges of his first resolution.” 
 
 ie My DEAR LORD, Hampstead Heath, Dec. 26, 1796. 
 
 “ On the 23d, I had the honour of your letter, and next 
 morning communicated it to little Meen, whom I found 
 in the vestry at St. Paul’s. 
 
 “ He told me he had sent you at least three sheets 
 since you left England. But he is so confused and irre- 
 gular in all his undertakings, that I believe he hardly 
 
 * Mr. Thomas has remarked, that Chaucer’s Tale of Melibeus seems to 
 have been written in blank verse ; and the late ingenious Editor of the old 
 Bard observes, that in the first pages a number of blank verses are inter- 
 mixed in a much greater proportion. 
 
 The reader may observe the following specimens : 
 
 Chaucer, vol. ii. page 243. 
 
 The Apostle Paule unto the Romaines writeth, 
 
 Man shal rejoyce with hem that maken joye, 
 
 And wepen with swiche folk as wepen. 
 
 And again, p. 244. 
 
 Remembreth you that Jesus Sirak sayth, 
 
 A man that is joyous and glad in herte 
 It him conserveth florishing in his age. 
 
 - He saith eke thus, 
 
 That sorwe in herte sleeth ful many a man. 
 
 And in page 24. 
 
 For Jesus Sirak sayth, that 
 
 Musike in weping is a noious thing. 
 
 , ^ | lese , and a few more such passages, seem reducible to blank verse; but 
 he far greater proportion, though in a kind of poetic prose, is utterly inca- 
 pable of any such metrical arrangement ; these few specimens are so inter- 
 mi ^ e a herewith that they seem evidently casual, and unlikely to have , sug- 
 gested to Lord Surrey any regular composition in blank verse like what he 
 a i produced. — Bp. Percy. 
 
8 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 knows the number of the proofs he has revised. I am 
 also well convinced that he often takes what he means to 
 do for what he has really done. I have striven in vain 
 to make him more attentive to your trust ; but, as 
 Shakspeare says, it were as easy to 
 
 4 4 breathe life into a stone, 
 
 Quicken a rock, and make it dance canary,” 
 
 as to enforce his punctuality, or accelerate his motions. 
 He has much learning and many virtues ; but these 
 estimable requisites are too often thrown away for want of 
 a sufficient degree of method and constancy in their appli- 
 cation. Hence, he is always employed, without doing 
 anything ; and climbs downward, and advances backward, 
 more adroitly than any other man in the whole circle of 
 my acquaintance. The very table he writes at, and the 
 room he sits in, are emblematick of himself; for they 
 contain many articles of value, but in such disorder that 
 nothing wanted can readily be found. In short, my 
 endeavours to render him more useful to your Lordship 
 have hitherto been quite thrown away, and consequently 
 are discontinued. 
 
 i( You will find the Tale of the two Swannes reprinted 
 in the fifth volume of the last edition of Leland^s Itine- 
 rary ; I think, at the very beginning of it. The original 
 in 1590 I have never seen, nor am I acquainted with any 
 person who has it ; a faint recollection, however, suggests 
 that it may be found at Oxford, the Alma Mater of my 
 brother-nephew. It was also republished in a small Latin 
 collection which I have met with more than once, though 
 at present it does not occur in the catalogues of our prin- 
 cipal booksellers, whom I have applied to on this emer- 
 gency. But Mr. Nichols, in all probability, has Leland, 
 or at least can borrow it to print from. 
 
 <e Our newspapers may have informed you that a com- 
 pound of illiterateness, folly, and deceit, entitled, { An 
 Authentic Account of the Shakspearian MSS. # &c. by 
 W. H. Ireland/ 1 has made its appearance. In this publi- 
 cation a new game of fraud should seem to have been 
 
 * On the probable origin of this literary forgery see Literary Illustra- 
 tions, vol. V. p, 463. 
 
 t Of Samuel Ireland, who died in July 1800, an account is given in the 
 Gentleman’s Magazine for 1800, p. 90l ; and his character is defended p. 
 1258. His notorious son William Henry Ireland died April 17, 1835. 
 His answer to the accusation respecting the Shakspeare forgery is given in 
 his romance of “ The Abbess.” See Gent. Mag. for 1799, p. 601. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 9 
 
 contrived. The hopeful youth takes on himself the guilt 
 of the entire forgery, and strains hard to exculpate his 
 worthy father from the slightest participation in it. The 
 father, on the contrary, declares that his son had not suffi- 
 cient abilities for the execution of so difficult a task. Be- 
 tween them, in short, there is a pretended quarrel, that 
 they may not look as if they were acting in concert on the 
 present occasion. No credit, however, is given to this 
 extraordinary performance, which is produced with the 
 sole view of whitewashing the senior culprit, and thicken- 
 ing the veil between the publick and the other parties 
 concerned in the original imposture. We are threatened 
 with a second pamphlet (or rather book) by Ireland the 
 elder. In this he says (I use what is reported to have 
 been his own elegance of expression) he will give a 
 lerupping to all his adversaries. Mr. George Chalmers 
 likewise is almost ready with a third work, designed as an 
 Apology for the late Believers, &c. He means, I suppose, 
 since the house has been on fire, to throw a featherbed 
 out of the window, that he himself may fall soft upon it. 
 I have told my story vilely; for I ought previously to 
 have said, that (according to your friend Mr. Ritson’s ac- 
 count of Mr. Ireland’s intended narrative) the names of 
 all those who subscribed to the authenticity of the Norfolk 
 Street MSS. will be published, and that the words at the 
 head of the paper subscribed were furnished by Dr. Parr. 
 His name, and that of our friend Dr. Joseph Warton, for 
 this last week, have been the sport of our daily papers. 
 Like my neighbours, I am very poor, and had a serious 
 regard for the 1000Z. I subscribed to Mr. Pitt’s loan, by 
 which, even then, I expected to be a loser ; but if any one 
 would double that sum, and give it into my hands at this 
 very moment, I would refuse the present, if the terms of 
 it were, that my signature should be found on that register 
 of shame — Mr. Ireland’s list of believers. Yet in that 
 situation, I hear, your friend Pinkerton’s will make its 
 appearance. But I forbear to take up more of your Lord- 
 ship s time, by any further descant on so worthless a 
 subject. 
 
 ‘ The Club goes on as usual. A long and stubborn cold 
 as prevented me from attending it; but Sir J. Banks 
 assures me that no step toward filling up our vacancies 
 has hitherto been taken. 
 
 Dr. Farmer, as I learn, continues in a state of con- 
 
10 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 valescence. The last reports of him were sufficiently 
 favourable. To-morrow (being St. John’s day) he feasts 
 his whole College ; and I have just despatched the half of 
 a house-lamb as my contribution to his entertainment. 
 Your Lordship happily resides in a cheaper country than 
 ours. A tenant of mine in Essex is obliged, by lease, to 
 furnish me every year with a few lambs at a settled price. 
 When three of these were sent, a few days ago, to be 
 killed and dressed in Leadenhall Market, as Christmas 
 presents, for a couple of the beasts (which were remarkably 
 large and fine) an eminent butcher offered me the sum of 
 nine pounds. 
 
 6 ‘ Mr. Gough has issued out the second volume of his Se- 
 pulchral Monuments/* price nine guineas. It is a splendid 
 publication, and, in my opinion, a cheap one ; for, exclu- 
 sive of head and tail-pieces, it contains 131 plates, many 
 of which are engraved in a very finished style. In respect 
 to decoration, we must allow its superiority over the work 
 of Montfaucon. Gough’s third and last volume also will 
 appear in the course of a few months ; at least, so says 
 his printer and yours, Mr. John Nichols. 
 
 “ My sheet being now full, your Lordship’s patience 
 can be no longer subject to the tediousness of your very 
 faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 “ G. Steevens. 
 
 “ My best compliments attend your Nephew.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Hampstead Heath, Jan. 3, 1797. 
 
 “ When I wrote to you last, I had not discovered the 
 following small snap for your Lion. 
 
 “ At the end of the commendatory verses prefixed to 
 i The EKATOMIIA0IA, or the Passionate Centurie of 
 Love,’ &c. — f composed by Thomas Watson, gentleman,’ 
 &c. 4to. bl. 1. [no date, but entered on the books of the 
 Stationers Company, 1581.] is the following specimen of 
 ante-Miltonian blank verse. 
 
 ' To the Authour. 
 
 1 If grauer headdes shall count it ouer light 
 To treate of Loue : say thou to them : A staine 
 Is incident vnto the finest die. 
 
 And yet no staine at all it is for thee, 
 
 * See several notices of this splendid work in Index to Literary Anecdotes, 
 vol. VII. p. 273. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 11 
 
 These layes of Loue, as myrth to melancholy, 
 
 To follow fast thy sad Antigone, 
 
 Which may beare out a broader worke then this, 
 
 Compyl’d with iudgement, order, and with arte. 
 
 And shrowde thee vnder shadowe of his winges, 
 
 Whose gentle heart, and head with learning fraight 
 Shall yeld thee gracious fauour and defence. 
 
 G. Peeee.’ 
 
 « Your Lordship will be pleased to observe, that in the 
 6th of these delectable lines. Master Peele refers to the 
 Antigone of Sophocles, which Watson translated into 
 Latin verse, and published in 1581 . See also his Intro- 
 duction to Sonnet 79* 
 
 “ Hoping that the French have neither burnt your 
 black-letter library, nor castrated your Nephew, I remain 
 your Lordship’s very faithful, &c. 
 
 “ G. Steevens. 
 
 “ P. S. I cannot close my letter without adding, that 
 yesterday Mr. Ireland, senior, published an eighteen- 
 penny pamphlet, with the following title : 
 
 “ ( Mr. Ireland’s Vindication of his Conduct, respect- 
 ing the publication of the supposed Shakspeare MSS. 
 Being a Preface to an Introduction to a Reply to the Cri- 
 tical Labors of Mr. Malone, in his f Enquiry into the 
 Authenticity of certain Papers, &c. & c.’ 
 
 “ ‘ London. Published by Mr. Faulder, &c.’ 
 
 “ This poor performance (which exhibits fresh indica- 
 tions of forgery) threatens a yet more potent attack on 
 Malone, who, I hope, will content himself with laughing 
 at them both. 
 
 ee In the foregoing work (which I have neither read nor 
 purchased, though I skim’d my eye over it in Egerton’s 
 window) the names of the whole nest of ninnies who sub- 
 scribed to the authenticity of the forged MSS. are pub- 
 lished. Dr. Parr, Boswell, Chalmers, Pinkerton, and Sir 
 Isaac Heard, form a part of this brilliant constellation, or 
 (as Strumbo, in the tragedy of Locrine, calls it) constulta- 
 tionr 
 
 ee My DEAR LORD, Hampstead Heath, Jan. 30, 1797. 
 
 I had your Lordship’s favour on Wednesday last, and 
 wdl pay my respects to the visnomy of mine honoured 
 Uncle as soon as opportunity offers. In the mean while, 
 he may rest assured that a sufficient artist will undertake 
 f° scrape a mezzotinto from Mr. Abbott’s painting, on 
 erms very different from those of Valentine Green, whose 
 
12 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 reputation is not so high in the world as to authorise the 
 extravagant prices he is pleased -to set on his own labours. 
 
 “ I inclose another ancient poem in blank verse (the 
 two last lines excepted), and lament that I am enabled 
 only to feed my Brother-Nephew by morsels, as I am 
 convinced that his appetite (if it be genuine) must be 
 ready to gorge whole carcases of such metre ; at least, if 
 his stomach for black-letter food is as capacious as that of 
 his Uncle e \’ th’ olden time hath been/ As your Lordship 
 might not have the ‘Mirrour for Magistrates/ 1587, in your 
 library at Dromore, I have exactly transcribed Master 
 Higgins’s performance, which I think is not to be found in 
 any prior copy of the same collection. From my tran- 
 script you may safely print. 
 
 “Mr. Chalmers* has published a most virulent invective 
 against Mr. Malone, in an octavo containing 628 pages. 
 One flower from this Scottish nosegay I will take out for 
 your Lordship to smell at. It is a fair specimen of the 
 politeness with which our friend here and his noble friend 
 in Ireland are treated. ‘ His best apology is, while the 
 Believers require none, that he was misled by the intem- 
 perance of his zeal to reason from a fancied uniformity, 
 which being only a will-o’-th’-wisp, led him headlong into 
 the great bog of Allen. Here, with Lord Charlemont by 
 his side, he plunges a while. At length they flounder 
 through, &c.’ — Can your Smock-alley, my Lord, or our 
 St. Giles’s, produce any thing more low and vulgar than 
 this is? We, who are the surviving editors of Shak- 
 speare, are not only censured in the lump, but absolutely 
 belied. The backs of all our cats are consequently up. 
 My own grimalkin tail is become as thick as a bottle-brush. 
 Malone, however, may have ample reprisals ; for I hardly 
 ever saw a book with more or more ludicrous misappre- 
 hensions and mistakes in it. To use the words of Pope, 
 
 ‘ Some daemon whisper’d, Chalmers, have a taste.’ 
 
 He certainly was a Believer when he began to write ; and 
 the old leaven predominates throughout his work, not- 
 withstanding his repeated assertions that his credulity had 
 long been at an end. Take one instance more of his ab- 
 surdity. He gravely insists, that all the Sonnets of Shak- 
 speare were indiscriminately addressed to Queen Elizabeth. 
 If they were, her Majesty was bless’ d with the insignia of 
 
 * Mr. George Chalmers died May 31, 1325, aged 82. See a memoir of 
 him in Gentleman’s Magazine for Dec. 1825, p. 564; with a character of him 
 by the late Mr. John Taylor, copied from the Sun Newspaper. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 13 
 
 both sexes; and, as Lothario, in the Fair Penitent, ex- 
 presses himself, was 
 
 ‘ Equal to both, and arm’d for either field.' 
 
 Pray turn to the XXth Sonnet, Malone’s edit. vol. X. 
 p. 208. Chalmers has certainly battered down some of 
 Malone’s cornice, but his citadel is as firm as ever. 
 
 “ I put your Lordship’s letter with my own hands into 
 the Penny Post. 
 
 “ I am sorry to add, that I can send you no good ac- 
 count of our friend Dr. Farmer. I am taught to believe 
 he is in a confirmed decline ; that he is quite unmanage- 
 able ; and both eats and drinks in direct opposition to 
 such advice as has been offered by the most experienced 
 of his medical neighbours. I have likewise been told that 
 there is an appearance of swelling in his legs. Should this 
 last circumstance prove true, a dropsy may be at no great 
 distance. I cannot conclude without a hope that my ap- 
 prehensions are groundless. 
 
 ie Mr. Reed is greatly recovered, but still he wants 
 flesh ; his calves having been much reduced by the seve- 
 rity of his late indisposition. 
 
 “ I am willing to believe the French are not inclined to 
 pay you a second visit, because their prospect of success 
 should seem to have been founded on the unexpectedness 
 of their attack, as well as on the hope of finding you a 
 more divided people than you really are. I sincerely 
 congratulate you on your escape from such a horde of 
 assassins. 
 
 “ My best compliments attend your Nephew. 
 
 c ’ I am always, my dear Lord, 
 
 “ Your most faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 “ Geo. Steevens. 
 
 “ P. S. On Tuesday the 24th, there was a ballot at the 
 Club, and the Hon. Frederick North* was chosen. Sir 
 Harry Englefield f is the next candidate, and is supposed 
 to be equally sure of his election.” 
 
 “ My DEAR LORD, Hampstead Heath, Feb. 6, 1797. 
 
 “ It is my present duty to inform you, that your Nephew 
 
 ^ ~'^ ter J' ar( t s the fifth Earl of Guilford, chancellor of the university of 
 
 ,,„ r u ’ -F'R.S. See memoirs of him in the Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 
 xcvii. n. 461, 648. 
 
 vear ^' r <; ^ 6nr ^ paries Englefield, Bart, died March 21, 1822, in his 70th 
 293 • ? e a mem °i r of him in the Gentleman’s Magazine for April 1822, p. 
 his n „kc eulo Sy on character, by Mr. Sotheby the Poet, with a list of 
 
 S Plications, in the same vol. pp. 418-420. 
 
14 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 has drawn more blanks from our Gothick Lottery. Here 
 they are, and joy go with them ! My labour in transcrib- 
 ing such stuff from the dullest of all publications, must be 
 allowed to deserve encomium. I think I am at least en- 
 titled to the perusal of Mr. Percy’s best Discourse on the 
 subject of Patience. 
 
 “ The punctuation of the delectable extract you are 
 about to read, will afford you some employment. I leave 
 these packthread Miltonicks for your Lordship to disen- 
 tangle, having scarcely changed a single stop to be found 
 in my original. — When you print from the enclosed tran- 
 script (should any difficulties occur), the 4to bL 1. may be 
 borrowed from Mr. Reed. — I may have committed a few 
 trivial mistakes ; but could not endure the thought of tra- 
 velling through such heavy matter again in quest of cor- 
 rections. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s coadjutor, little Meen, in the course 
 of the week before last, spent a few days at Cambridge, 
 and brought back a most unpromising account of Dr. 
 Farmer’s health. One of the curates of this parish also 
 called on Tuesday last (by my desire) at Emmanuel, and 
 speaks of our friend in terms yet more unfavourable. I 
 begin to fear that my last autumnal visit to our Univer- 
 sity has been paid. I am, my dear Lord, (with my best 
 compliments to your Nephew,) 
 
 “ Your very faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 “ G. Steevens. 
 
 “ P. S. I cannot help subjoining 
 
 a few of 
 
 the 
 
 prices 
 
 at 
 
 w T hich the old Quartos of Shakspeare sold 
 
 in 
 
 the auc- 
 
 tion of Dodd the player * : — 
 
 
 
 £. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 Midsummer Night’s Dream . . 
 
 1600 . 
 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 0 
 
 Henry IV. Part I 
 
 1622 . 
 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 0 
 
 King John 
 
 1611 . 
 
 
 I 
 
 16 
 
 0 
 
 Richard III 
 
 1621 . 
 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 0 
 
 Merchant of Venice 
 
 1600 . 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 0 
 
 King Lear * . . 
 
 1608 . 
 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 Romeo and Juliet ..... 
 
 1599 . 
 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 
 0 
 
 Troilus and Cressida .... 
 
 1611 . 
 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 Whetstone’s Promos and Cassandra 
 
 1578 . 
 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 Gammer Gurton 
 
 1575 . 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 0 
 
 * Mr. James Dodd, of Drury Lane Theatre, and father of the Rev. James 
 Dodd, one of the Ushers of Westminster School, died Sept. 17, 1796, in 
 Southampton Row, Bloomsbury. — Gent. Mag. Sept. 1796, p. 798. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 15 
 
 “ On perusal of this account, perhaps your Lordship 
 may find yourself richer than you thought you were.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Hampstead Heath, March 10, 1797. 
 
 « I have executed both your commissions. Mr. 
 Nichols, among his own books, has Leland’s Itinerary, 
 and will print from it, according to such instructions as 
 he may hereafter receive from you. 
 
 “ I have seen your Portrait, and a most excellent one it 
 is, both in respect of colouring and likeness. I have also 
 delivered your message to Mr. Abbott. You must forgive 
 me, however, if I cannot help smiling at the part of your 
 letter that expresses so much concern and solicitude about 
 the feelings of your friend G * For these supposed feel- 
 ings of his I cannot entertain the smallest degree of ten- 
 derness ; because he is a consummate coxcomb, and 
 seems officiously to have intruded himself into your ser- 
 vice, with a view to his own future emolument. He 
 attended your sitting, that he might, with an enormous 
 profit, ensure to himself the publication of your resem- 
 blance when it was finished.-} - Believe me, my Lord, that 
 such an artist as Mr. Abbott required no hints from your 
 Vais, your Ruperts, and other affected names by which 
 the G[reen] family have hitherto distinguished them- 
 selves. Did your Lordship ever meet with f The Secret 
 Plot, a Tragedy of three Acts, written by Rupert Green, 
 Dec. 30, 1776, aged eight years and eleven months, 12°, 
 1777 ?’ This stuff was published by V. G. himself; and, 
 if your Lordship continues in your high opinion of him, 
 I cannot help wishing that, by means of a dedication, he 
 had dropped his infanPs dramatic cack-a at your door. 
 
 * Valentine Green, esq. F.S.A., A.R.A. was born at Salford, near Evesham, 
 Oct. 3, 1739. His father was a country dancing-master. He was apprenticed 
 to Mr. Robert Hancock, engraver, of Worcester ; to whose business he suc- 
 ceeded, and retired in 1765, in favour of Mr. James Ross. Mr. Green’s 
 rst 4 ‘ Survey’’ of Worcester was published by S. Gamidge in 1764, 
 U T er ^ e direction of the Rev. Samuel Garbet, then resident in Sidbury, a 
 su uib of Worcester, whilst Mr. Green was an apprentice. His second 
 an purged edition of the History of Worcester appeared in 1796. He 
 , ee P er °f the British Institution at the time of his death, which hap. 
 pene m St. Alban’s- street, June 29, 1813, in his 74th year. The above 
 pit 1 were communicated to the Gentleman's Magazine for Nov. 1813, 
 abo 1 i • Mr. James Ross, who observes “ he could say more 
 
 Abb lm ’, l eav es it to some more able pen.” His portrait, by L. F. 
 
 f Tb’ d en S rave< l by J .Fittler, is prefixed to the “ History of Worcester.” 
 and r, m , *; rait °f Bp. Percy, painted by Abbott, was engraved by Ogborne, 
 aR d published by Sylvester Harding. ^ 
 
16 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 How were his feelings engaged, when he took a step that, 
 at some future period, may chance to render his son most 
 completely ridiculous ? 
 
 “ And now, my Lord, to business. Since I had the 
 honour of your last commands, ante-Miltonian blank verse 
 in abundance has emerged. 
 
 “ Imprimis, Elizabetha Triumphans, &c. & c. by J. A. 
 \i. e. James Aske.] 
 
 “ At London, printed by James Orwin, for Thomas 
 Gabbin and Thomas Newman. 1588. 
 
 “ This poem contains above a thousand lines [perhaps 
 1189], and has been reprinted by Mr. Nichols, in his 
 second volume of Queen Elizabeth’s Progresses. From 
 this book your Lordship can take it, as well as the follow- 
 ing articles : 
 
 “From the Queen’s Entertainment at the Earle of 
 Hertford’s, 1591, page 8 — 9, “The Poet’s Speech to her 
 Majestie, 64 lines. 
 
 “ Ibid. p. 14. The Oration of Nereus to her Majesty, 
 37 lines. 
 
 “ Ibid. p. 16. The Oration of Sylvanus, 30 lines. 
 
 “Ibid. p. 17. The Oration of Faire Neeera, 16 lines. 
 
 “ Ibid. p. 21. The Speech of the Fairy Quene to her 
 Majestie, 16 lines. 
 
 “ Ibid. p. 22. The Poet’s Speech at her Majesties de- 
 parture, 22 lines. 
 
 “ See also the Gesta Grayorum, pp. 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 
 47 j in the same volume. 
 
 “ I wish your Lordship, however, to examine this col- 
 lection yourself, before you issue out orders for printing 
 from it ; as, perhaps, you may suppose a few of the articles 
 here pointed out are of too dramatic a cast to be received 
 as proper examples of ante-Miltonian blank verse. 
 
 “Though, I think, the subject of Luzarnes has been suf- 
 ficiently discussed, you may, if you please, subjoin, that 
 in the year 1600 Queen Elizabeth had in her wardrobe, 
 4 one Frenche gowne of tawney sattin, embrodered all 
 over with knotts, sonnes, and clouds of golde, silver, and 
 silke, furred with luzarnes .’ 
 
 “ If your Lordship cannot find, in Dublin, Queen Eli- 
 zabeth’s Progresses as published by Mr. Nichols, you can 
 direct him to send you a copy of them immediately. I 
 am assured that this curious work (of which 250 were 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 1 7 
 
 printed) will soon be very scarce. The price of it in 
 boards is 21. 12s. 6d 
 
 “ I believe I have noted a few lines of blank verse that 
 appeared after the year 1600. I shall seek for them, and 
 transmit them hereafter. 
 
 “ One would almost think that Milton could not have 
 met with any considerable specimens of narrative blank 
 antecedent to his own ; for he would scarcely have ven- 
 tured the assertion which you have quoted, had he been 
 conscious that it was in the power of some of his readers, 
 at least, to contradict it. 
 
 “ I am told that Sir Harry E[nglefield] f had two black 
 balls at the Club. No subsequent candidate, to my know- 
 ledge, has been offered. 
 
 “ The accounts of our excellent friend Dr. Farmer be- 
 come more and more unfavourable. He is sinking very fast. 
 His legs swell ; as often as he sleeps he is attacked by the 
 cramp ; and, contrary to his former practice, he sees 
 every thing through a gloomy medium. I had these par- 
 ticulars from his nephew, who left Cambridge but a few 
 days ago. 
 
 “Sir John Jervis’s % victory has given a fillip to the 
 spirits of the public. Some politicians aver that the good 
 effects to be augured from it are almost incalculable. If 
 this position prove just, I hope your country will have an 
 ample share in the general benefit ; and, consequently, 
 that your episcopal revenues will proceed without diminu- 
 tion. 
 
 “ I am, my dear Lord, yours most faithfully, &c. 
 
 “ G. Steevens. 
 
 “ A word or two more about Milton. — It should be re- 
 membered, that most of the black-letter collections from 
 which, now a-days, we derive so much assistance, were in 
 his time unformed ; and his lofty mind wrnuld hardly have 
 stooped to inquire after stuff which was then considered 
 as inapplicable to any pursuits of literature. And yet, 
 
 , * ^ wo volumes of The Progresses of Queen Elizabeth were published in 
 i and a third volume was added to the Collection in 1800. In conse- 
 quence of the fire at Mr. Nichols’s premises in 1808, the work had become go 
 M a r rc ®\ a, brought such high prices when it occurred in book sales, that 
 4to ' 'trq S W3S * n< t uce( f to remodel the work, and republish it in 3 vols. 
 j V q[ jgjg w bich he afterwards added The Progresses of King James 
 
 t See p. 13. 
 
 + Created Earl St. Vincent, in consequence of this splendid victory, 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 when he attempted to. compile an English Dictionary, he 
 must have ordered many books of different sorts and 
 dates, in verse as well as prose, to be examined. And if 
 he gave (as has been supposed) any considerable portion 
 of assistance to his nephew Philips, while he was writing 
 the British part of his ‘ Theatrum Poetarum/ it may be 
 imagined that our great Epic Bard had previously 
 acquainted himself with the characters of some obscure 
 poets * of the English School. Lord Surrey, Gascoigne, 
 Peele, and Marlow, are names that occur in Philipses cata- 
 logue of modern versifiers. But these are merely loose 
 hints thrown out for your Lordship’s better consideration. 
 1 possess no materials that, with any degree of certainty, 
 will tend to contradict the assertion of Milton in his Essay 
 prefixed to the Paradise Lost. From his Life, however, 
 one important truth may be inferred. I mean, — the great 
 convenience of a Nephew. To a young divine of this 
 description I request that my best compliments may be 
 delivered.” 
 
 e( My DEAR Lord, Hampstead Heath, April 12, 1797. 
 
 “I received both your favours; but have no more rime- 
 less verse to offer you. There may, indeed, be some 
 lurking in ancient miscellaneous books that have not 
 hitherto occurred. The chances of finding it, however, 
 are small. I usually look into every antiquated volume 
 that falls in my way, but cannot promise myself much 
 success in my future researches. 
 
 “ My chief question is — If Milton had seen all the 
 blank verse your Lordship has amassed, would he have 
 regarded it as of sufficient consequence even to have miti- 
 gated his pretensions to originality in that kind of metre? 
 Perhaps not ; and especially as so considerable part of 
 it was employed in mere translation. I think (like the 
 Queen in Hamlet) he ‘ doth protest too much,’ and yet he 
 might have supposed his declaration to be virtually justi- 
 fiable. 
 
 “ I confess I should not have suspected he had been a 
 reader of miserable black-letter trash, if I had not proof 
 of his having occasionally borrowed from it. When, 
 therefore, it could be proved that he had been indebted 
 to such an inglorious original as Pymlico, or Runne Red 
 
 * Surely Lord Surrey and Marlow could not, with propriety, be called 
 obscure poets. - 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 19 
 
 Cappe, Sec. 1609, it will not seem unlikely that he might 
 also have looked into the works of Surrey, Marlow, &c. 
 who had exhibited the Roman poets in an English dress. 
 
 Had my amiable friend Tom Warton lived, we might 
 hare expected an ample comment on Paradise Lost ; in 
 the course of which I am sure I could have furnished him 
 with material assistance from the aggregate of our ancient 
 prose and poetry. 
 
 “ The Paradise Lost, Regained, and the Sampson 
 Agonistes, have not yet been properly edited. Bishop 
 Newton was wholly unacquainted with the Gothic sources 
 of Milton’s imagery. The mere reader of Homer, Virgil, 
 Ariosto, Tasso, and Spenser, is not half equipped for the 
 task of illustrating a writer whose appetence of knowledge 
 led him (like his own Satan) 
 
 “ O’er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare.” 
 
 “ It was my design to have spent the Easter week at 
 Cambridge, where I could have employed a part of my 
 mornings in searching the Publick Library, as well as the 
 old (not the Pepys) collection at Magdalen, in quest of 
 English antiquated pieces. But as I find Dr. Farmer is 
 so languid that he cannot bear company, and even avoids 
 the parlour at Emmanuel, I begin to fear that my last 
 visit to our university has been paid. He has almost 
 determined on a tour to Leicester ; but his nephew (who 
 came to town on Saturday last) assures me he is utterly 
 irresolute, and seems to have given his case up as a lost 
 one. What is still more discouraging, I learn that our 
 physical professors are of the same opinion. 
 
 “ Your friend Pinkerton * has got himself into a shameful 
 predicament. He employed a Mr. Anderson of Edin- 
 burgh, to transcribe records, &c. &c. for the service of a 
 new History of Scotland ; and then not only evaded pay- 
 ment adequate for the trouble he had given, but published 
 a part of Mr. Anderson’s private letters, with remarks of 
 a most malignant tendency. Mr. A. commenced a suit 
 
 . * V- r - John Pinkerton died March 10, 1826, aged 67. See a memoir of him 
 ln Illustrations, vol. V. p. 665. His “ Literary Correspondence ” 
 
 was published by Mr. Dawson Turner in 1830. See Gent. Mag. Jan. 1831, 
 i J*' 1 11 the Gentleman’s Magazine for August 1832, p. 121, are four 
 
 er ? * r ° m ^ r : Pinkerton to Bp. Percy, illustrating and filling up the eorre- 
 a vai ff? 6 Polished by Mr. Turner; and in Gent. Mag. for April 1839, are 
 Benhan, 86 ™ 8 ^ otes 011 ^ r ' T urner ’ s Volumes, by the Rev. J. Mitford, 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 against him; arrested some of his rents, to secure his 
 money in Scotland; compelled payment with costs of suit; 
 and has since published a pamphlet, intitled, 4 Answer to 
 an Attack made by John Pinkerton, esq. of Hampstead, 
 in his History of Scotland, lately published, upon Mr. 
 William Anderson, writer, in Edinburgh; containing an 
 Account of the Records in Scotland, and many strange 
 Letters by Mr. Pinkerton, accompanied with suitable 
 Comments necessarily arising from the subject/ Mr. A/s 
 charges against P. are corroborated by his own letters, and 
 seem to admit of no extenuation. 
 
 “ I put your letter to Mr. Taylor into the penny post 
 ■with my own hands. Your other letter I left with the 
 Duke of Leeds’s porter, his Grace being abed at twelve 
 o’clock, when I called at his house in St. James’s Square, 
 yesterday morning. 
 
 “ I entreat that your Lordship will show your regard for 
 Vally* some other way than by urging me to peruse his 
 works. You may send for him to secure a likeness of 
 your grandson, while Rupyt composes a poem on his 
 nativity, and predicts his attachment to the fine arts and 
 the illustrious family of the Greens. 
 
 “ As the Bishop of Lincoln | is doing his own duty at St. 
 Paul’s, I have not met with little Meen since the begin- 
 ning of the month. I heartily wish success to your spurs, 
 whether they be applied to your corrector or your printer. 
 If you have not hitherto collected matter enough to com- 
 plete your second volume, you can easily fill it out by the 
 length of your Preliminary Dissertation. The longer you 
 make it, the more the publick will be obliged to you. It 
 will also serve to dilute your sin in republishing Turber- 
 vile’s Translations, of which the most patient man alive 
 cannot endure to read a dozen lines. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, my dear Lord, your most 
 faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 G. Steevens/* 
 
 <£ My DEAR Lord, Hampstead Heath, May 1, 1797. 
 
 “ On Saturday night, after my return from the dinner 
 at the Royal Academy, I found your favour on my table, 
 
 * Valentine Green. f Rupert Green. 
 
 + Bp. Pretyman, after Tomline. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 21 
 
 and am sorry it is not in my power to furnish you with 
 f Mr. Anderson’s Answer to the Attack, &c.’ having already 
 despatched my copy of it to Dr. Farmer, who by this time, 
 I hope, is breathing his native air at Leicester. 
 
 “ The original publication of Elizabetha Triumphans 
 shall be ready for you whenever you want it. No disco- 
 very of additional blank verse has occurred since I wrote 
 to you last. 
 
 “Your nephew, the Rev. Henry Meen, has the me- 
 grims ; and, supposing that purer air than that of London 
 is necessary to the restoration of his health, has taken a 
 house at Chigwell in Essex. Your Lordship’s chances of 
 typographical acceleration will not, therefore, be much 
 improved, unless you can find another nephew, who has 
 some spring in his mind, as well as greater proximity to 
 Red Lion Passage.* 
 
 “ When you reach town, I shall be much obliged by a 
 sight of the Anglo-Saxon verses. Till then, I have the 
 honour to remain, my dear Lord, your most faithful and 
 obedient servant, 
 
 “ G. Steevens.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Hampstead Heath, July 17, 1797. 
 
 “ For ten days I had been following my hay-carts in 
 Essex, and consequently did not receive your inquiries 
 till it was too late for me to answer them by Saturday’s 
 post. 
 
 “ George Chapman very often signed his pieces with 
 his initials only; nor has it been discovered that these 
 initials can belong to any other writer of the same period. 
 I know not, however, of any poem of his in blank verse, 
 except that reprinted by Hackluyt. 
 
 “ The name of Ja. Aske has not occurred, except in the 
 place where we have found it. 
 
 “ Tou may rest assured that Pontius Pilate’s Letter 
 did not appear in print till 1587* See Warton’s Hist, of 
 English Poetry, vol. III. p. 269, 270. 
 
 f or an account of Pliggins, see the same work and vo- 
 ume, p. 259. As you may have frequent occasion for re- 
 erenees to this book, you should borrow it (if it is to be 
 ouncl m your present neighbourhood), or order it to be 
 sent to you from London. 
 
 * Mr. Nichols’s Printing Office. 
 
22 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ You have undoubtedly learnt from the public prints, 
 that, since the death of Dr. Warren,* * * § the club has lost 
 another member in Mr. Burke.f We met on Tuesday last, 
 and I proposed the Rev. Stephen Weston J (I mean the 
 translator of Gray’s Elegy into Greek hexameters), to fill 
 up one of the four vacancies. My recommendation was 
 seconded by the Duke of Leeds. Mr. Windham talked 
 of four other candidates, out of whom a future selection 
 might be made ; viz. the Lord Chancellor, § the Bishop of 
 Rochester, || Dr. Lawrence, and Mr. Canning.** If Parlia- 
 ment is not dissolved beforehand, we are to have another 
 club on the Tuesday after next. 
 
 “ Your Lordship has certainly favoured me with a 
 postscript that was designed for some other of your cor- 
 respondents ; as I know no more of a 4 Mr. Wigley/ffi 
 ‘ his franks and his circuits,’ than I do of the man in 
 the moon.fj 
 
 “ Forgive, my dear Lord, the hasty mode in which I 
 have answered your queries, as I am obliged to spend 
 this whole morning at the bank, in the receipt of dividends 
 on various accounts, and for different friends in the 
 country. 
 
 “ I remain, my dear Lord, your very faithful and obe- 
 dient servant, Geo. Steevens. 
 
 “ P. S. The story you may have read in the newspapers 
 about money lost by the D. of Leeds at the gaming-table 
 is absolutely false. No such event has happened. I had 
 this information from the Duke’s own mouth. 
 
 “ I am this moment informed that your nephew, little 
 
 * Riciiard Warren, M.D. died June 2, 1797. See Literary Anecdotes, 
 III. 130. 
 
 f Mr. Burke died July 8, 1797. 
 
 X Rev. Stephen Weston died Jan. 8, 1830. See Gent. Mag. April 1830, 
 p. 370. He is frequently alluded to in the Literary Anecdotes, see Index, 
 VII. pp. 462. 709. Literary Illustrations, III. 759. 764. 
 
 § Lord Loughborough, created Earl of Rosslyn 1801, and died Jan. 3, 
 1805. See Chalmers’ Biog. Diet. XXXI. 267. 
 
 || Dr. Horsley. See Literary Anecdotes, IX. pp. 673 — 692; and VII. 
 p. 137. 
 
 If Dr. French Lawrence, M.P. died Feb. 27, 1809. See a memoir of him 
 in Gent. Mag. 1809, p. 282. 
 
 ** Mr. Canning died Aug. 8, 1827. 
 
 ff Edmund Wigley, esq. M.P. for Worcester and recorder of Leicester. 
 
 This PS. was designed for Mr. Meen. See Mr. Meen’s Letter to the 
 Bishop, May 2, 1797, printed hereafter. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 23 
 
 Meen, is gone to Ramsgate for the purpose of recruiting 
 his health, which he is always willing to think is on the 
 decline.’* 
 
 i{ My DEAR Lord, Hampstead Heath, June 10, 1797. 
 
 u I was on a journey when your favour arrived, or the 
 book you desire to see would have been despatched sooner 
 by twenty-four hours. 
 
 “ I shall drop this parcel, which is pocketable, accord- 
 ing to your instructions, and trust it will reach you safe. 
 
 “ Our fears concerning Ireland for some days past have 
 been over, and I hope we shall very soon be released from 
 our anxieties about the Navy. The conduct of the sailors 
 will have produced one good effect, I mean a temporary 
 union among us. 
 
 “ Our friend at Emmanuel is growing weaker and 
 weaker, and was utterly unable to attend the annual meet- 
 ing of his college at the Crown and Anchor on Tuesday 
 last. I was one of the stewards ; and, in consequence of 
 an old promise of yours to Dr. Farmer, was authorised to 
 name you as my successor; an honour of which I readily 
 availed myself. 
 
 “ Little Meen will be in town till September, and then 
 he returns to his hermitage at Chigwell in Essex. 
 
 “ I have no literary intelligence to transmit, except 
 that a few days ago I received as a present from the au- 
 thor (viz. the Rev. James Plumptre* of Clare Hall, Cam- 
 bridge,) a pamphlet written to prove that the character of 
 hamlet was meant for that of James the First, and the 
 Ghost for the representation of Lord Darnley. As Falstaff 
 says to Mrs. Ford, “ Would you desire better sympathy?” 
 
 I rejoice, however, to find that our critick has made no 
 revelations to the disadvantage of ‘ one Lucianus, nephew 
 to the King/ 
 
 \ our Lordship’s dramatic property, left behind you at 
 -Uromore, increases every day in value ; for three quarto 
 copies of Shakspeare’s single Plays were sold at the fol- 
 o v ing prices, on Thursday last, by Messieurs Leigh and 
 otheby, York Street, Covent Garden: 
 
 in ' ^ atnes Plumptre, B.D. died Jan. 23, 1832; See a memoir of him 
 u Oent, Mag. 1832, i. 369. 
 
24 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 King Henry IV. first part . 1599 . 10 0 0 
 
 Do. second part . 1600 . 8 8 0 
 
 Much ado, &c. . . . 1600 . 7 10 0 
 
 At the same sale, Hughes’s “ Misfortunes of Arthur, Uther 
 Pendragon’s sonne” ( title-page wanting), 12mo. 1587, pro- 
 duced 16/. 15s. 
 
 “ And now, my dear Lord, I have no more to add, 
 except that I am always your very faithful and obedient 
 humble servant, 
 
 “ Geo. Steevens. 
 
 “ I still hope we shall see your Lordship in London 
 before you return to Ireland.” 
 
 te My DEAR Lord, Hampstead Heath, Sept. 3, 1797. 
 
 “ Since I received your favour, I have spent some 
 hours in a fruitless inquiry about the Epilogue* you have 
 quoted ; but even the accurate Mr. Reed can supply no 
 information on the subject. As there is nothing appro- 
 priate in this composition, perhaps the author produced it 
 as a piece of sale- work, for the service of a chance cus- 
 tomer, or for his own future use. Finding, however, no 
 commodious vent or employment for his ware, he might 
 afterwards have worked up some of its materials into ano- 
 ther fabrick. I may add, that several of his lines appa- 
 rently glance at the sentimental pieces of his dramatic 
 rivals, Kelly and Cumberland, and therefore on mature 
 consideration might have been suppressed. 
 
 “ In the mean while, it is fit you should learn that any 
 present attempt to throw a ring fence round the poetical 
 demesnes of Goldsmith will be ineffectual, as a late disco- 
 very has been made of a dramatic piece in his own hand- 
 writing. It turned up among the papers of the late Mr. 
 Dodsley ; which, by the bye, exhibit all your Lordship’s 
 agreements, receipts, and other literary transactions with 
 the deceased bookseller, ab ovo usque ad mala. These docu- 
 ments are to be preserved as evidences of literary pro- 
 perty. The oratorio in question, entitled Captivity, was 
 sold by the Doctor to Dodsley, Oct. 31, 1764, for ten 
 guineas ; and Newbury was to have the option of a share 
 in it. It is now setting to musick by an eminent com- 
 
 * Writtenby Goldsmith, afterwards printed in his “ Miscellaneous Works, 
 4 vols. 8vo, 1801. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 25 
 
 oser * and great expectations are formed of its success. 
 One of the songs belonging to it has been already pub- 
 lished in former editions of our little Poet’s works.f 
 
 (( a word or two more about them j for perhaps you 
 are unacquainted with a metrical production of his on the 
 death of the Princess Dowager of Wales. It was spoken 
 and sung at the celebrated public rooms of Mrs. Cornelys 
 in Soho Square, and was afterwards printed. Several 
 other pieces of the Doctor s are still in MS. in the hands 
 of various people. The late Mr. Wright,! the printer, who 
 had been either apprentice to or in the service of Mr. 
 Hamilton, at a time when Goldsmith composed numerous 
 essays for Magazines, articles for Reviews, & c. &c. pre- 
 served a list of these fugitive pieces, which are now re- 
 printing, and will make their appearance in the course of 
 next winter. Goldsmith likewise began a periodical paper, 
 which, being unsuccessful, was laid aside, after a few 
 numbers of it had been issued out.§ 
 
 “ I have no copy of Marlow’s Lucan. Mr. Malone is 
 in possession of one, and from him you may possibly get 
 the loan of it. I once had this curiosity, but lent it, I 
 believe, to Tom Warton, or some other careless friend, 
 from whom I have not recovered it. As the meetings of 
 our club have for some time been discontinued, no elec- 
 tion can take place till we are are again assembled at the 
 Session of Parliament. 
 
 “Dr. Farmer still continues in the same melancholy 
 situation, nor can any hope of his recovery be entertained. 
 He has taken to a milk diet ; is said to be as pale as the 
 fluid he lives upon ; and is quite reduced to a skeleton. 
 He will see none but his own family ; and consequently I 
 shall not think of paying my customary autumnal visit to 
 Cambridge. 
 
 “ As your Lordship is desirous to know what figure you 
 make in the blundering ungrammatical catchpenny of Sir 
 G. S.|| I will transcribe from vol. ii. p. 297, the only men- 
 tion that is made of you. £ The Orphan of China , how- 
 
 * Two songs had been printed from the Oratorio. Prior. 
 t Mr. Steevens the composer. Nothing resulted from this project. Prior 
 dotes°v 0 f ii? bom 3 a 9 s 8 Wright » who died March 3, 1797, see Literary Anec- 
 
 § Thus far of this Letter is copied in Prior’s Life of Goldsmith, II 10 
 trom the original then in possession of Mr. Mason. ’ ’ 
 
 Bio S S I)i?t! 0rge Le ° nard Staunt011, He died Jan ' 12 > 18dl - See Chalmers’s 
 
26 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ever improved in an English dress, by a very respectable 
 dramatic poet, may be considered as no unfavourable spe- 
 cimen of Chinese tragedy ; and the Pleasing History , of 
 which an English translation, under the care of a learned 
 and ingenious Prelate, was published several years ago, 
 is an instance of Chinese novel-writing that is interesting 
 and simple/ 
 
 “That Sir G/s book was the composition of an Irish- 
 man, perhaps you will think sufficiently manifest from the 
 following extracts. * In Nicholas bay was a convenient 
 rivulet for watering; and at a little distance from the 
 shore a village, where buffaloes, poultry, fruit, and other 
 vegetables were to be purchased at a reasonable rate/ 
 Vol. i. 298. Does not this passage remind your Lordship 
 of the celebrated inscription over a shop-door in one of 
 the streets of Dublin ? 4 Old boots, beef-steaks, rat-traps, 
 and other sweetmeats, sold here by Terence (YShocknesy/ 
 Again, vol. i. p. 308, 4 Every day presented new islands to 
 the view, displaying a vast variety in form, size, and colour. 
 Some isolated, and some collected in clusters’ Did any 
 but a genuine native of Blunderland ever think it neces- 
 sary to inform his readers that some islands were isolated? 
 and where is the designed contrast between some insu- 
 lated and some in clusters ? Clusters of small islands 
 would form a number of bigger islands ; as twelve dump- 
 lings, when compressed into three puddings, would still 
 be surrounded by the water they were boiled in, and 
 consequently preserve an insular construction. Again, 
 vol. i. p. 334. 4 In some of the boats the fisherman, his 
 
 wife, and children, continue with him / That is — the 
 
 fisherman continued with himself. Here your Lordship 
 cannot fail to recollect a beautiful passage in one of the 
 amorous epistles from the Duke of Cumberland to Lady 
 Grosvenor, where he complains of having 4 nobody with 
 him at sea but himself’ Any further remark on such 
 stuff would be (as Dr. Johnson says) to waste criticism on 
 unresisting imbecility. Yet by such a publication Sir G. 
 expects to gain at least ten thousand pounds, exclusive of 
 the 7j000 1. allowed him by the East India Company for 
 the time he expended on the embassy, and an additional 
 3,000/. to pay for his copper-plates, which are very poor 
 ones, and have been rendered still more worthless by the 
 unskilful manner in which they have been worked off* 
 His vignettes deserve a somewhat better character.. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 2 7 
 
 About two years ago, the large and small paper copies of 
 this work were advertised at the price of three and five 
 guineas, but before publication, the Baronet levied another 
 Guinea on each impression. As he is a known democrat, 
 it is reported that the King refused to accept a dedication 
 from him. His Majesty has been long in possession of 
 Lord Macartney’s Journal, and thence will be able to 
 ascertain how much of his associate s narrative is credible. 
 From the turn of it, the reader might be led to suppose 
 that the Embassy had been in some degree successful 5 
 whereas Sir Joseph Banks, Major Rennell, and the gen- 
 tlemen in Leadenhall Street, are unable to point out any 
 single benefit derived from this adventure, which cost the 
 India Company 150,000/. I am told that Sir G. was 
 inally a surgeon’s mate. He afterwards became a 
 doctor and apothecary in the West Indies, where his 
 countryman Lord Macartney met with him, took him by 
 the hand, and laid the foundation of his present affluence. 
 He married the daughter of Collins the bookseller at 
 Salisbury, and had with her a good fortune. His former 
 trade will account for his digressions on some very ele- 
 gant and agreeable subjects, viz. sea-sickness, human 
 ordure, and castration. The public, however, has such 
 an infantine taste, that every picture-book is sure of sale. 
 Hence, the entire 4 to edition of this work is already 
 gone. A second edition of the same size is in the press. 
 An octavo copy in 3 vols. is ready ; and several abridg- 
 ments have been advertised. Sir G. though tenacious of 
 his property, and preparing (as far as he is able) to defend 
 himself from the depredations of pirates, has allowed the 
 presbyterian editor* of a democratic magazine (I mean the 
 Monthly) the privilege of copying one of his plates. This 
 engraving represents a Chinese wheel to raise water. But, 
 unluckily, the same contrivance might have been known 
 without going to the East Indies for it ; as there is a si- 
 milar piece of machinery at Payne’s Hill,f in Surrey, and 
 another, as I have been assured, at Acton in Middlesex. 
 I must subjoin, that Sir G. has given his book to all the 
 Reviewers, and consequently will ensure to himself the 
 
 , * He died • Dec- 7 ’ 1822< See a memoir of him in Gent. 
 
 I'lag. 1823, 1 . 85. 
 
 > ^ e f. r Cobham > the seat originally of the Hon. Mr. Hamilton, who dis- 
 
 wKp.i fn re a J ery ^ ne taste in landscape gardening. This immense water- 
 neei still exists, and is used to raise water from the river Mole. 
 
28 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 praise of his brethren the Dissenters. Nor is it likely that 
 the time-serving authors of the British Critic can be very 
 severe, since each of them also has been mollified by a pre- 
 sentation copy of this erudite narrative. 
 
 “ The first volume of this tedious production, and part 
 of the second, only furnish accounts of places that are often 
 visited, and have been better described ; nay, all that is to 
 be learnt from the remainder of the book might have been 
 comprized in a half-crown pamphlet. Of some parts of 
 the work I am no competent judge ; but am told by those 
 who are, that in whatever treats of nautical matters, na- 
 tural history, and experimental philosophy, our author has 
 displayed a very sufficient share of ignorance. If you were 
 in the neighbourhood of our friend Sir J. Banks, you might 
 hear more on this subject; for he, with your humble ser- 
 vant, and others, has enjoyed several hearty laughs at the 
 expense of our plenipotentiary writer. In the mean while, 
 I can assure you that his rival, iEneas Anderson, is pre- 
 paring for war against him, and declares that his account 
 of the embassy is replete with misrepresentation, if not with 
 falsehood; and continues to affirm that the ambassador and 
 his suite were close prisoners during their stay in any of 
 the cities of China ; a circumstance that seems ascertained 
 by their inability to afford the slightest account of the in- 
 side and furniture of any house belonging to a mandarin, 
 or even a private person. 
 
 “ Let me now conclude this incoherent gossipping non- 
 sense with an apology for the flimsy paper it is written 
 upon, which has not even the recommendation of gilt 
 edges. I had covered half of it before I perceived I had 
 taken hold of a new-fangled sheet, contrived, it seems, to 
 prevent letters sealed with wafers from being opened. A 
 female relation of mine left this fashionable cobweb in the 
 room of some thick post, which she has carried off with her 
 into the country. I am always, my dear Lord, 
 
 “ Your most faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 “ G. SteevensA 
 
 " My DEAR Lord, Hampstead Heath, Sept, 9, 1797. 
 
 “ Once more, my absence from home must apologize 
 for the tardiness of my reply to your favour. I went from 
 hence on Tuesday last, and did not return till this morn- 
 ing. I must, therefore, bespeak your indulgence in favour 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 29 
 
 of the hasty scribble, which I forward to you, in conse- 
 quence of your request that no time may be lost on the 
 present occasion. 
 
 “ You do me much honour by consulting me on the 
 subject of your bibliopolic transaction ; but, I fear, my 
 advice will not prove worth your acceptance. 
 
 “ Provided you find yourself unable to hold the book- 
 sellers to their bargain, you can at least threaten them 
 with an edition to be printed by subscription, as well as 
 prefaced by an account of their misbehaviour. If this 
 have no effect on them, I know not what will. The works 
 of Goldsmith are among their staple commodities ; and 
 they will hardly choose they should fall into any other 
 hands than those of their leading publishers ; nor can I 
 believe they will think it prudent either to lose or provoke 
 a pen so pointed and so popular as yours. 
 
 “It should seem, however, from your own representa- 
 tion of this affair, that you only ‘ expected they would 
 give you, &c. not that any specific terms were formally 
 settled between the Knights of the Rubrick Post, and 
 your Lordship. If such be the case, I think you will find 
 some difficulty in proceeding on the ground of agreement; 
 and on that of liberality, your cause is still more hopeless; 
 for wherever the elder Cadell has influence (and he is still 
 said to have it over his late shop in the Strand), all ideas 
 of a generous turn must be placed quite beside the ques- 
 tion. I have also learnt, in the course of this morning, 
 from the records of the Chapter Coffee-house, that the 
 booksellers had agreed to print your projected edition of 
 Goldsmith’s pieces, so long ago as Nov. 6, 1795, and 
 exactly on the terms they now offer ; at least no mention 
 is there made of the 200/. for the emolument of the poor 
 women. 1 
 
 “ The rudeness of your correspondents I can easily 
 imagine. The sentiments of such priests of Mammon 
 are rarely, I believe, expressed with any great delicacy of 
 language. 
 
 “Mr. Longman,* of Paternoster Row, and Mr. Egerton 
 over against the Admiralty, concur in assuring me that 
 t le settled price of doing up an octavo volume in blue 
 
 as 
 
 a Lnl- 10 u as L u ngman had in 1797 j ust succeeded his father in business 
 Hut^Sn 116 ’ 1? COnjunC J tl ° n with Partners in business £^7 
 beforA-n ’ °T’ ® rown ’ and Green, carried on business to an extent never 
 before known in London. Mr. Longman died Aug. 25, 1842, aged 71 
 
30 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 paper, is two pence, or, in boards covered with blue 
 paper, four pence. 
 
 “ The executors of Mr. James Dodsley* * * § (in whose hands 
 the papers mentioned by your Lordship remain) are, Mr. 
 George Nicol,+ bookseller to his Majesty, Pall Mall; Mr. 
 Walter, J of the same profession. Charing Cross; and a 
 third person, with whose name I am unacquainted.§ Your 
 chance, however, of recovering your 40/. is small ; for 
 your demand would be deemed out of time, as more than 
 three times seven years have elapsed since the publication 
 of the third edition of the Reliques of Ancient English 
 Poetry. 
 
 “ The copy of Marlow’s Lucan, which came to your 
 Lordship through the hands of Mr. Meen, belongs to Dr. 
 Farmer. 
 
 “ Concerning Dr. Warton’s edition of Pope, you may 
 read the first article in the Monthly Review for August 
 last. I wish our venerable friend had not undertaken this 
 work at so late a period of his life. But, though it will 
 add little to his reputation, for his trouble he received no 
 less a sum than five hundred pounds. But more on this 
 subject hereafter. 
 
 “ I should have informed your Lordship (but I have 
 told my whole story most vilely) that your correspond- 
 ents C. and D. || in spite of all their boasts, are not 
 allowed to be at the head of their trade in the line of pub- 
 lication. That post of honour is often and successfully 
 disputed by the Robinsons of Paternoster Row ; and fre- 
 quent quarrels are the consequence of this struggle for 
 power. In my opinion you might have treated more 
 advantageously with the latter than you have done with 
 the former ; but, as the parties are united on the present 
 occasion, it is impossible to separate them. 
 
 “ Thus, my Lord, you are left to make the best of your 
 bargain ; for, if you cannot intimidate, you must submit. 
 It is true that the works of Goldsmith will always be 
 
 * Of Mr. James Dodsley, who died Feb. 19, 1797,see Literary Anecdotes, 
 vol. VI. p. 438. 
 
 f Mr. G. Nicol died June 25, 1829, aged 68. See Timperley’s Dictionary, 
 p. 911. 
 
 + Mr. John Walter died July 25, 1803. See Literary Anecdotes, VI. 443. 
 
 § Mr. Thomas Tawney was the other executor. 
 
 ]| Messrs. Cadell and Davies. 
 
 'If Of the head of this firm, Mr. George Robinson, who died June 6 , 1801, 
 see a memoir by Mr. A. Chalmers, in Literary Anecdotes, III. 445. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 31 
 
 sought after; but with equal truth it may be observed, 
 that 5 in this kingdom you will discover little zeal to pro- 
 mote the welfare of his needy relations, hundreds of 
 objects here having a superior claim to publick charity. 
 All these circumstances you will weigh in your own mind ; 
 and now, heartily wishing success to your Lordship^s 
 undertaking, I hasten to repeat that I am always your 
 most faithful and obedient servant, G. Steevens. 
 
 “Mr. Reed (on whom I called this morning) requests 
 that his best compliments to you may be offered ; and, 
 once more, my good Lord, I solicit your whole indulgence 
 to this unconnected scrawl, which is despatched in great 
 haste, for fear of being too late for the post.” 
 
 Bishop Percy to Mr. Steevens. 
 
 “ 10 Sept. 1797. 
 
 “ Your obliging Letter was received this morning, and 
 merits my best thanks, which I could not defer presenting 
 a moment. Yet I fear you will have reason to repent of 
 your readiness to serve your friends, when you find it has 
 encouraged me to trouble you again. 
 
 “ The Epilogue, of which I sent the exordium and con- 
 clusion, I find (by an endorsement which escaped me when 
 I copied them for you) was intended to be spoken by Mrs. 
 Bulkeley. I wish she could, by some means, be asked if 
 she remembers for what play it was intended. It may 
 possibly, after all, be not written by Goldsmith, but only 
 given for him to correct, though I think he would scarce 
 have adopted the four lines in his epilogue to his printed 
 comedy from it had it not been his own. 
 
 £ He gave it me among a parcel of letters and papers, 
 some written by himself, and some addressed to him, with 
 not much explanation. But I have always considered it 
 as his. Y et it would be awkward if, after being inserted 
 in his YV orks, some other author should prove his claim 
 to it, and therefore, before I close with the booksellers 
 who are impatiently pressing, I wish, if possible, to ascer- 
 tain this point. 
 
 I ha\ e another un printed poem of Dr. G/s, in his own 
 handwriting, that is undoubtedly his, which is of more 
 consequence, together with many original and some very 
 curious letters ; so that I shall not abate of my terms with 
 the booksellers, even if this should be withdrawn. How- 
 
32 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ever, neither to them nor to the actress, would I, in the 
 present stage of the business, excite any doubt concerning 
 the Epilogue, of which I suppose the lines I sent you are 
 sufficient to awake any recollection which she^ may have 
 on the subject/’* 
 
 Mr. Steevens to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Hampstead Heath, Sept. 14, 1797. 
 
 “ Till now 1 have not expressed the least backwardness 
 in undertaking to execute any commission you might 
 please to entrust me with ; but you must forgive me if, 
 on the present occasion, I decline the honour of your com- 
 mands. The lady you would have interrogated ceased to 
 be, at least seven years ago ; and what would the public 
 say, could it be known, that your Lordship, a Protestant 
 Bishop, was desirous to send your sober correspondent 
 into the other world a harlot-hunting ? 
 
 “ Yet though I may not choose to proceed in person on 
 this errand, for the benefit of any one who likes to under- 
 take it, I will suggest the following hints, by attention to 
 which he may save some degree of trouble in his research. 
 I would not advise him to present himself at Lucretia’s 
 rout, or Penelope’s tea-table, in the hope of meeting Mrs. 
 Bulkeley at either of these places. It is more probable he 
 will find her in private conference with Jocasta, the mother 
 and wife of (Edipus ; for it is well known that our fair 
 epilogue-speaker was kept by a player, and seduced his 
 son to her bed. For this conduct she was repeatedly 
 hissed, and compelled, during several seasons, to with- 
 draw from the stage . — ■“ Some sins do bear their privilege 
 on earth,” says Shakspeare ; but he would not have enu- 
 merated the act of Mrs. B. in the catalogue of venial of- 
 fences. The captain of a trading vessel was afterwards 
 fool enough to marry her, and in his possession she died. 
 In short, but one out of all the actresses who figured in 
 Goldsmith’s comedies is now alive. 
 
 “It is not unlikely, that the original MS. of his f Epilogue 
 was left in the hands of the Deputy Licenser ; and that 
 the copy given to you, might have been a prompter’s 
 transcript for the use of the theatre. Why it was returned 
 
 * Prior’s Life of Goldsmith, vol. II. p. 8, from MS. Correspondence then in 
 the possession of Mr. Mason. 
 
 t Goldsmith’s. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 33 
 
 to its author, cannot, at this distance of time, be ascer- 
 tained. 
 
 t( I foretold, that the first effort of nature to relieve poor 
 Farmer * would be the last moment of his existence. He 
 was striving to throw up some bile, and died in his exer- 
 tion. He sunk back on his bed, as if asleep, and left the 
 world without the slightest struggle. His nephew Tom 
 was with him; and Captain Farmer (who, I believe, is his 
 executor) was immediately sent for from Leicester. Dr. 
 Farmer will lie buried in the chapel at Emmanuel, near the 
 remains of his friend and predecessor, Harry Hubbard. 
 About the contents of his will, and the destination of his 
 library, I have nothing to say at present; nor can I learn 
 that his successor in Amen-corner is announced. I am 
 equally doubtful respecting the Mastership of the College. 
 
 “ The author of the ‘ Pursuits of Literature ’ is still un- 
 known.f He is undoubtedly an Etonian, and one of the 
 parasites of a certain Cambridge Doctor of Physick,| who 
 (if he had the power) would exterminate all the parties 
 concerned in the detection of the Pseudo-Rowley. 
 
 “ I am, my dear Lord, 
 
 “ Your very faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 “ G. Steevens. 5 ’ 
 
 “My DEAR Lord, Hampstead Heatli, Nov. 10th, 1797. 
 
 “ The necessity of my immediate examination of many 
 thousand papers belonging to our late friend, will, I trust, 
 be received as an apology for the briefness of mv reply to 
 your last favour. 
 
 W hen I was requested to look over these manuscripts 
 I was utterly unconscious that even a single letter would 
 be found among them ; but, to my great surprise, I met 
 " several hundreds, written on an infinite variety of 
 occasions. J 
 
 “ From a careful review, therefore, of some of these 
 documents, I think myself authorised to inform your 
 Lordship, that, exclusive of the memoranda you allude to, 
 
 memoir" ?!?■? died ? ept \ 8> 1797 ‘ 0f this distinguished scholar see ample 
 132 5C4 ry Anecd0tes ’ VoL n - P- 618 ; and Index vol. VII. pp? 
 
 • ■ i at 3 5 s , ^ h i-v s : 
 
 memoirs of him i„ LtoraryXodotet,' ^ ^ S “ 
 
 VOL. VII. D 
 
34 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 not less than four of your own epistles contain acknow- 
 ledgments of a debt long due, though the quantum of it 
 is unspecified. This deficience, however, may in some 
 degree be supplied by the report of Dr. Farmer himself. 
 In October 1794 I casually asked him how it happened 
 that you, who are an Oxonian, took your Doctor’s degree 
 at our University. He immediately gave me a distinct ac- 
 count of the whole transaction ; and concluded by observ- ! 
 ing, that the £100 which he had lent you to pay for your 
 academical honours was not at the time of our conversa- 
 tion re-paid. He subjoined more particulars, such as your 
 preparation to read your Thesis, &c. and your progress 
 through other solemnities of your act. These circum- 
 stances are fresh in my remembrance ; though I can 
 assure you that, as yet, I have not mentioned to the Rev. 
 Thomas Farmer a word about them, or the specific sum 
 entrusted by his uncle to you. Do not suppose, however, 
 that all notice of the debt is confined to my single testi- 1 
 mony ; for much the same intelligence had been already 
 communicated by the deceased to another gentleman, who, | 
 like myself, has the honour of your Lordship’s acquaint- ! 
 ance. 
 
 “ If, therefore, I may be permitted to advise you (which ' 
 I do according to my best judgment, and I am sure with 
 the utmost sincerity) the £100 should be immediately ! 
 re-paid, that no further inquiry may be urged about it. 
 The sum is trifling compared with inconveniencies that may ] 
 suggest themselves to your own consideration. 
 
 “ Let me now, conclude, my Lord, by observing, that : 
 though in the course of your correspondence with Dr.: 
 Farmer I have discovered a few traits relative to myself, 
 which might as well have been omitted, I act on the pre- 
 sent occasion with the strictest impartiality, and exactly as 
 I should have done, had your Lordship’s later sentiments 
 concerning me been as favourable as your first . 
 
 (t I have the honour to be, my dear Lord, 
 
 “ Your most faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 “ Geo. Steevens. 
 
 " Forgive the interlineations of the letter, which I have 
 not time to transcribe,” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 35 
 
 BP. PERCY TO GEORGE STEEVENS, ESQ.* 
 
 « Dear Sir, Eaton, Nov. 12, 1797. 
 
 << Your last relieved me from a disagreeable uncertainty, 
 as it mentioned the specific debt supposed to be owing to 
 Dr. Farmer. For when his nephew informed me indis- 
 tinctly that my name was given in to him by the deceased 
 among his debtors, I had the hard task to prove a nega- 
 tive, and also to find out as I could against what indefinite 
 charge I was to produce my proof. But as to the money 
 lent me when I took my degree, I doubt not to show that 
 it was paid him 20 years ago ; and, therefore, so far from 
 wishing (as you advise) that no further inquiry may be 
 made about it, or desiring that it may not be mentioned 
 to the Rev. Thomas Farmer ; I request that he may be 
 immediately informed and desired to communicate to 
 Capt. Farmer, what you heard from the deceased ; and 
 let the same be told to every individual you please, whe- 
 ther friend or foe, because if I do not satisfy every impar- 
 tial person that the money has been paid, far from taking 
 advantage of the lapse of time, I will still repay it, not- 
 withstanding my own conviction that it has been paid 
 already. I must only require to be allowed to examine 
 my papers, which unfortunately are in Ireland, and cannot 
 be inspected till my return. And if, in the interim, I may 
 not be allowed extracts from such of my letters in your 
 hands as acknowledge the debt, &c. I hope it is not too 
 much to ask to be favoured with the date of the last of 
 them, wherein it is mentioned, to assist my recollection. 
 
 “ I little thought it could ever have been possible for 
 me to have wished to survive a friend so beloved ; yet now 
 1 cannot but think it providential that this charge has not 
 been brought after my decease, when it could not have 
 been cleared up by my family, and must have left impu- 
 tations on my memory. 
 
 “ 1 know not what you may have found in my Letters, 
 written in the most unreserved confidence, and under the 
 sacred seal of friendship, nor under what impressions at 
 the moment; but as I formerly entertained a very sin- 
 
 * ^ ^ melancholy thus to close the correspondence of two such eminent 
 
 E ,he 7 Georee steev r ; 11 
 
 Mr - Meen ' s ,e,ter to “»• «*"• *. inoffi 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 cere regard for you, so I had again renewed my former 
 sentiments, otherwise I should not have written to you as 
 I have done lately. Whether this be believed or not, I 
 am perfectly easy, as to any advantage that may be taken 
 of my Letters, or of any transaction in a life which, though 
 full of imperfections and error, I trust, has never been 
 sullied by any intentional act, which can entail dishonour 
 on, dear Sir, “ Yours, &c. 
 
 T. Dromore.” 
 
 “ To Geo. Steevens, Esq.” 
 
 REY. HENRY MEEN, B.D. 
 
 The Rev. Henry Meen was a Fellow of Emmanuel 
 College, Cambridge; B. A. 1766; M. A. 1769; 
 
 B. D. 1/76. He was Rector of the united parishes 
 of St. Nicholas Coleahbey and St. Nicholas Olave, 
 London, to which he was collated in 1792, and 
 prebendary of Twyford, in the Cathedral Church 
 of St. Paul ; in which Cathedral he held also the 
 office of Lecturer. This very amiable and learned 
 man completed, in 1 780, Mr. Fawkes’s Translation 
 of the u Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius ;” in 
 the preface to which he speaks too modestly of his 
 own share in the work, having written all the 
 notes, and some of the translations. He was also 
 the translator of “ Coluthus Lycopolites,” in Dr. 
 Anderson’s edition of Translations ;” in which 
 
 C. stood for Coadjutor, who was Mr. Meen. He j 
 afterwards distinguished himself in a critical work 
 of very considerable erudition on an obscure sub- 
 ject, entitled, “ Remarks on the Cassandra of 
 Lycophron,” originally published in the European 
 Magazine,* and reprinted in a distinct form, ; 
 
 * The Criticisms on Lycophron, in the European Magazine, begin in 
 April 1796, and are continued in May, June, July, September, October, and 
 November; in March, May, June 1797 ; and November 1799. These eleven 
 communications are signed E. The signature afterwards changes to R. when 
 
THE REV. HENRY MEEN, B.D. 
 
 3 7 
 
 8vo. 1800. These remarks consisted of portions 
 of the Cassandra, made into sections of Latin 
 Arguments, Greek Originals, the Latin Piose 
 Translations, an English Translation by Mr. 
 Meen ; together with short notes on the original 
 Greek, and short English notes. 
 
 This work * was published as a specimen of an 
 entire Translation of the Cassandra of Lycophron, 
 which, from the specimen afforded by this pam- 
 phlet, it is much to be lamented that the learned 
 Translator did not live to publish, as he thoroughly 
 understood his dark, mysterious Author, and would 
 have brought him before the English Public in a 
 clear and elegant translation.'!- It is the more to be 
 regretted that this laborious undertaking was not 
 presented entire to the literary world, as we are 
 assured that Mr. Meen completed his translation, 
 which, with the rest of his books and MSS., was 
 sold by Mr. Sotheby in 1817. 
 
 In 1816 was published “ Succisivce Operse ; or 
 Selections from Ancient Authors, sacred and pro- 
 fane, with Translations and Notes,” J 8vo. Of 
 these Literary Scraps (Mr. Meen’s own modest 
 phrase for his “ Succisivse Operse ”) the most con- 
 siderable are Translations, with notes on portions 
 of his^ favourite Lycophron’s Cassandra, and of 
 Pindar s Odes. This work also contains observa- 
 tions on Horace ; on a book entitled “ De Reli- 
 
 the Criticisms again appear in January 1801, and are continued monthly 
 • r ,°a,?I 10Ut that year; in 1802 > are eleven more numbers ; in 1803, is one • 
 isnf • ' ^ "TO “ 180a ’ are four 5 in 1806, is one ; in 1807, is one ; in 
 K 08, is one ; in 1809 are four ; in 1810, are nine ; in 1811 are seven ; in 
 
 Pindar a a e nd U in e i 804 Dd ’fi 1813 ’ ^ SeVei1, Ia 1803 are six criticisms on 
 i inaar, and in 1804 are five more. 
 
 * Reviewed in the Gentleman’s Magazine, 1801, p. 57. 
 
 the ,;,;T nS V t r °* tbe Cassandra Lycophron was privately printed by 
 the late Lord Royston, 4to, 1806: a work of great excellence executed 
 
 Profits hC p 38 Ter L y ° Ung ’ and which received the high commendation of 
 ZtrZfrr hereafter,,,. 07.) Since published, w“ memoir 
 by + D L Monk ’ the P reseQ t Bishop of Worcester. memoir, 
 
 P«u. p P T36-23s! yr '' ,ie ' V ' d iU tta eel “ lmau ’ s Magaame, vol. Um. 
 
38 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 gione Tractatus,” 1705 ; St. Paul’s first Epistle to 
 the Corinthians, xi.. 29 ; Gataker’s and Pfoche- 
 nius’s Remarks on Lycophron, Milton, and Nican- 
 der ; St. Luke, xii. 49, and xvi. 9; 1 Cor. i. 12; 
 and St. James’s Epistle, i, 17. In 1766* he pub- 
 lished with his name, “ Plappiness, a Poetical 
 Essay,”* 4to. London. Of this Poem he spoke as 
 a juvenile performance. In 1798, he preached 
 before an Association of Volunteers, and printed 
 and published his Sermon in 4to. ; the text Gal. 
 iv. 18. Mr. Meen was frequently consulted by 
 Authors on the publication of their works, and 
 was most liberal of his assistance in correcting 
 them for publication, or seeing them through the 
 press : among others, he corrected the proof-sheets 
 of Bishop Percy’s “ Blank Verse before Milton, ’’-f- a 
 work which was destroyed by Messrs. Nichols’s 
 fire. He died at his rectory-house in Bread 
 Street Hill, Jan. 3, 1817, aged 72. 
 
 The Rev. H. Meen to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “My Lord, _ _ July 26, 1796.1 
 
 te Last night I received this sheet, which I send with* 
 my own emendations. It will be satisfactory, no doubt 
 to see what corrections I have made, and to judge of 
 their propriety. Every interjection and every vocative 
 case is put between a parenthesis. These parentheses are 
 retained. Your Lordship may possibly respect them for 
 their antiquity’s sake. I am sure they are respectable on 
 no other account. Our translator is for the most part 
 faithful. In one instance, however, I have caught him 
 tripping. Permit me to detain your Lordship for a mo- 
 ment with this matter, and to request the favour of your 
 opinion. 
 
 “ The line is this • 
 
 Est aliqua ingrato meritum exprobrare voluptas, 
 
 Hac fruar. 
 
 * See p. 6, and 42. 
 
 t This is frequently the subject of the subsequent correspondence. See 
 before, p. 5. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 39 
 
 i. e. There is some pleasure in upbraiding an ungrateful 
 man with his deserts. That pleasure, says Medea, I shall 
 
 now enjoy. 
 
 “ T. thus : 
 
 It is some pleasure to unthankfull wights, 
 
 For to object the good forepassed turns. 
 
 Neither the sense of the passage, nor the Latinity, will 
 admit of this construction. Ingrato is governed, as the 
 grammarians speak, by exprobrare. s Exprobrare aliquid 
 alicui ’ is good Latin. It is Ovid’s Latin here,- — c expro- 
 brare meritum ingrato.' But his construction is, Est ali- 
 qua voluptas ingrato — exprobrare meritum. Can this be 
 right ? I will abide by your Lordship’s decision ; for I 
 have consulted no commentators. But your Lordship’s 
 intimate knowledge of these matters will give to every 
 word its proper orthography, and rescue every line from 
 such errata as remain. 1 am concerned only with the 
 rough draught. The finishing touches are reserved for 
 your Lordship’s pen. I was hapjiy to read, that your 
 journey to Northampton was safe and pleasant ; and sin- 
 cerely hope, that the remainder of it may be equally so. 
 In expectation of the favour of a line before you proceed 
 for Ireland, I remain, my Lord, your Lordship’s obliged 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 “ H, Meen. 
 
 Dr. Farmer, we hear, intends to spend some 
 part o the summer at Bath or Buxton. We are sorry 
 to learn that he is not better in health than when he was 
 in town. Messrs. Steevens and Reed present their com- 
 pliments to your Lordship.” 
 
 <c 
 
 : “'"I L ° RD ’ T , Bread Street Hill, Aug. 6, 1796. 
 
 The favour of your Lordship’s letter I received this 
 
 non? 1118 ’ I N 0t ha T, 1 - ng yet had tlle Pleasure of seeing your 
 nephew, I was willing to take the earliest opportunity of 
 
 inclosmg and forwarding the last proof-sheet for you/in- 
 
 spectmn. Your corrections, though numerous, were neces- 
 
 Lorcishi^ 
 
 “ ln a glossar y t0 I found ‘quappe’ thus ex- 
 
40 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 plained : 4 quappe, v. for quake/ Mr. Malone, to whom 
 I mentioned this word, did not recollect it. He recollected 
 only 4 quakk.’ On consulting his glossary, he found 4 quappe,’ 
 in Chaucer, page 158. The sense requires me, according 
 to your Lordship’s emendation. But the words 4 that me 
 trapt by thy forme,’ might have been spared ; for they are 
 the translator’s addition, who, contrary to his usual cus- 
 tom, has spun out the two lines of Ovid into four of his 
 own. The comma, which had been placed at 4 wights, 5 
 and is now transferred to 4 pleasure, 5 restores the passage 
 to the author’s sense. Thus my fabric of criticism, which 
 was built on no firmer foundation than a misplaced comma, 
 falls to the ground. Your Lordship’s little notes at the 
 bottom are of use; but, in my opinion, a glossary at the 
 end of the book, as in the Reliques, Avould have been more 
 useful still. He that knows not the meaning of 4 to guile,’ 
 is equally ignorant of 4 bauen blase.’ The page, which 
 occasionally presents him with one solitary note, he wishes 
 to have been enriched with a thousand. Your Lordship’s 
 directions, given in your letters, shall be my rule ; and I 
 am greatly obliged to you for these useful communications. 
 Be pleased from time to time to favour me with them, 
 that I may proceed according to art, and not add to the 
 errors of the press the errors of the pen. I shall be happy, 
 however, in an opportunity of paying my respects to your 
 nephew in town, of talking over these matters with him, 
 and acquainting him with our progress. Be pleased to 
 give me your opinion of this sheet, and correct what errors 
 may yet remain. 
 
 44 1 remain, with compliments to the ladies, your Lord- 
 ship’s obliged and obedient servant, H. Meen.” 
 
 44 My Lord, Bread Street Hill, Oct. 3, 1796. 
 
 It has been my endeavour to revise and transmit this 
 sheet to your Lordship with all imaginable speed. If h 
 reaches not Dromore so soon as you expect, be pleased to 
 ascribe the delay to winds and waves, or to some trans- 
 marine accident, with which we on this side the water are 
 not concerned. The pointing, as corrected in the margin, 
 is very accurate. It seems, indeed, sometimes too pre- 
 cise, if we are to be guided by the rule laid down by your 
 Lordship respecting Master Turberville’s punctuation, 
 which was, to leave it as we find it, unless in those places 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 41 
 
 where the sense was rendered obscure by it, and its ab- 
 surdity was manifest. 
 
 “ Upon the whole, I hope the remaining errata are in 
 this last proof-sheet very few. Still, humanum est errare, 
 i. e. from some cause or other, errors will creep in. It is 
 not in the power of scholars, compositors, or devils, 
 printers’ devils I mean, to keep them out. Your direc- 
 tions respecting the other parts of this publication shall 
 be duly attended to. I thank your Lordship for your 
 kind wishes of success in my business at St. Paul’s ; but 
 matters are at present in statu quo. The Dean * is not yet 
 returned to town. We are in expectation of the pleasure 
 of seeing Dr. Farmer towards the end of this month. 
 He is now at Cambridge. Mr. Steevens and Mr. Reed 
 are with him. He has certainly been benefited by his 
 excursion to Bath ; but I have not had the satisfaction of 
 receiving a line from him or his nephew, since their re- 
 turn to Cambridge. 
 
 “To your nephew I am now writing; being desirous 
 to thank him, though late, for his polite and friendly let- 
 ters. I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s obliged and obe- 
 dient servant, H. Meen 
 
 « v My L ° R Jb Bread Street Hill, Dec. 15, 1796'. 
 
 lour Lordship has, I fear, been long in expectation 
 of a packet. 1 he P. S. to your last letter expresses a 
 hope for another sheet of Turberville. It is my wish to 
 ransact this business for your Lordship without delay ; 
 but the printers are sometimes dilatory. The press is 
 , Ho, with other w° r ks, and they are fo/a time Fnatten- 
 ti\ e to this. Not to mention the many petty avocations 
 that .are ^perpetually calling off the attention, and occa- 
 sioning delay. Twice every day I attend at St. Paul’s, in 
 ie absence of the Residentiary. Next February I hope 
 once more to see our friend Dr. Farmer in town, and to 
 sec nm in better health than when he last attended here 
 His nephew returns to town next week. From him T 
 
 thc pe st ,te° ofT a i P T,? CUla , r and a faTOmabl e account of 
 c atatc of Ins health. I am willing to flatter mvself 
 
 that your Lordship will fi nd this sheet tolerably correct 
 
 In revising it, I have availed myself of both the copfe ' 
 
 * Bp. Pretyman. 
 
42 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of Turberville, Mr. Malone’s and my own ; and corrected 
 the f Steel-Glass 5 by Mr. Steevens’s edition. Be pleased to 
 repeat your injunctions, and signify by letter what further 
 amendments you may wish to be adopted. Permit me 
 to ask, whether your nephew is likely to succeed to the 
 valuable living in your Lordship’s gift ; and whether it be 
 tenable with his preferment in England. He inclined to 
 think, as I learn from his letter, that his Irish benefice might 
 be held together with his English fellowship. The event I 
 have not heard ; but should be happy in an opportunity 
 of congratulating him on his good success. Mr. Heed 
 continues very ill. Mr. Steevens thinks him in great 
 danger. He desired me to present his duty to his uncle . 
 From him, I presume, your Lordship heard for the first 
 time of my juvenile production, called a “ Poem on Hap- 
 piness . 55 I wrote it when an under-graduate ; at a period 
 when I ought to have been employed about other and 
 better things. Mr. Steevens, whom nothing escapes, 
 discovered among rubbish this silly thing ; and mortifies 
 me frequently with repeating lines from it ; though he 
 knows that every quotation is a sarcasm.* Be pleased to 
 favour me with a line, giving me your directions and 
 emendations, and whatever may appear necessary to your 
 Lordship, that this work may come from the press as free 
 from errata as possible. Be pleased to present my com-' 
 pliments to Mrs. Percy and to your nephew. 
 
 “ The compliments of the season to them and to your 
 Lordship. I remain, your obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 “ IL Meen.” 
 
 “ My Lord, _ Bread Street Hill, Jan. 23, 1797. 
 
 “ The omission of s Cydippe to Acontius’ was a strange 
 oversight. But your Lordship will here receive a part of 
 that epistle, revised with care, from Mr. Malone’s and my 
 own copy. I will endeavour, since such is your Lordship’s 
 wish, to ferret out The Two Swannes ; sincerely hoping 
 that it may not prove a wild-goose chase. 
 
 “The state of Dr. Farmer’s health will not permit him 
 to return to town in February, which is his month of resi- 
 dence ; I therefore took the first opportunity that offered 
 to pay my respects to him in college, and spend a few 
 
 * See p. 6. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 43 
 
 days with my college-friends. It will, I am certain, be 
 satisfactory to your Lordship, to know how Dr. Farmer 
 does. I wish it were in my power to give you, my Lord, 
 a more favourable account of our worthy friend’s health. 
 But he is very far from well. There is a visible change 
 in his person and appearance. He looks enfeebled and 
 emaciated. Occasionally his spirits revive, and he re- 
 covers for a time his usual cheerfulness. He complains 
 much of the cramp, which frequently disturbs his rest ; 
 and he is apprehensive that it will finally seize some vital 
 part, and prove fatal. No arguments will prevail upon 
 him to alter his habits. He takes but little exercise, and 
 sees but little company, except that of his own society, 
 with whom he spends his most comfortable hours. But 
 I am happy to hear him say that he intends to be with 
 us in June. I sincerely wish that he would exert himself 
 a little ; nnd not sink under his infirmities with a langour 
 bordering upon despondency. Much, it is thought, might 
 vt t be done by a change of air, diet, and exercise: and 
 nothing surely should be omitted, that can prolong a life 
 valuable as his. It will afford me much pleasure, to have 
 once more an opportunity of paying my respects to your 
 nephew in town ; whose return to it your last letter en- 
 courages me to expect. I sincerely congratulate him on 
 the good living to which he has succeeded; and which he 
 folds, I presume, with his preferment here. Be pleased 
 to present my compliments to him and to the ladies. 
 \ our Lordship’s obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 “ H. Meen.” 
 
 « If ; ni° , Bread Strcet Hill, March 14, 1797. 
 
 la With pleasure that I embrace the earliest oppor- 
 tunity of forwarding these sheets to your Lordship. Your 
 |U inter s numerous engagements will not always allow 
 
 mudU UerVtt re ^!n 
 
 another pOTm'tf I? *7 Sw,mnes ; he has discovered 
 
 I^Sopy T Ytt' U i S ° Vid ^ Mr'MaloSand 
 
 1 > • have also compared what you here find 
 
44 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of Gascoigne’s f Steele-Glass 5 with Mr. Steevens’s edition 
 and my own. You will, I hope, find both the one and 
 the other tolerably accurate. There are some lines 
 towards the end of this Epistle of Cydippe, which, your 
 Lordship will allow, are not a little difficult even in Ovid. 
 Elucidation is by no means our translator’s talent. He is 
 far more dexterous at creating difficulties than removing 
 them ; at obscuring his author’s sense rather than clear- 
 ing it. The notes of Gascoigne’s Nightingale are, it must 
 be confessed, not very enchanting. Now, just now, while 
 I was writing this, Mr. Percy, whom I have long ex- 
 pected, has favoured me with a call. He has spent some 
 time, he tells me, at Oxford. He retains his fellowship, 
 and resigns his Essex living. It certainly must be highly 
 pleasing to him to make Oxford his place of occasional 
 residence, and to divide his time between his friends on 
 this and that side the water. I could but remark, how 
 much his health is improved since I last saw him. His 
 stay was short ; for he was hastening to Essex wfith all 
 speed. He mentioned the panic into which you had been 
 thrown by the French ; and from which your Lordship 
 and family are, I hope, long since recovered. The winds 
 providentially blew, and the locusts were dispersed. Are 
 we to expect the pleasure of seeing your Lordship in Lon- 
 don this summer? I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s 
 obliged and obedient servant, H. Meen.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Bread Street Hill, May 2, 1797. 
 
 “ I congratulate your Lordship on your return to Eng- 
 land, to the quiet of Northamptonshire from the turbu- 
 lence of Ireland. I have been favoured with two letters 
 from your Lordship. As directed by the former , I called 
 on Mr. Wigley,* and found him at home. He presents 
 his compliments, and expressed his readiness to frank 
 any letter or pamphlet to the Bishop of Dromore. The 
 limit, one ounce, would have prevented my inclosing, 
 together with the sheet, the corresponding part of my 
 copy of the Steele-Glass. The method of conveyance 
 suggested by your second letter is therefore preferable. I 
 have corrected sheet q, and returned it to the press, that 
 the corrected proof may be ready for your Lordship, and 
 
 * See before, p. 22. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 45 
 
 come accompanied with the Steel-Glass. I am this morn- 
 i„ rr preparing for my country residence at Chigwell in 
 Essex. Indigestion and a want of appetite, arising from 
 niv confinement in this filthy air, have rendered such a 
 change of situation necessary. It is my intention to 
 return to town every Saturday, with a view to my church. 
 Your Lordship may rest assured that the present work 
 shall not on this account he delayed. I shall wish to 
 double rather than remit my diligence, and finish what we 
 have so well begun with more than usual dispatch. I 
 spent a few days at Cambridge lately. Dr. Farmer, I am 
 sorry to say, is very unwell ; weaker and worse than in 
 January. He has been much solicited, and, I believe, is 
 come to a resolution, to spend some time with his friends 
 and relations at Leicester. The change of air, of diet, of 
 company, and the kind attention of friends constantly about 
 him, will certainly be of service, and contribute, I hope, 
 to prolong his valuable life. Mr. Steevens and Mr. Reed 
 are both well, and present their compliments to your 
 Lordship. Your letter encourages me to hope that your 
 Lordship will, in the course of the summer, pay a visit to 
 town, and pass some weeks with us. I shall be happy in 
 the opportunity of paying my respects to your Lordship 
 on your return, and of transacting any business that may 
 be of use. My stay at Chigwell is only during the month 
 of May. Your Lordship’s obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 u H. Meen.” 
 
 Lord, Bread Street Hill, June 15, 1797. 
 
 Mv absence from home has prevented my acknow- 
 ledging the favour of your Lordship’s letter so soon as I 
 wished. I have collated the last sheet of Gascoigne with 
 the original edition, and marked the variations with accu- 
 raey The spelling differs in many places from that in 
 Mr Steevens s copy. This is my month of residence at 
 
 . / V lu s ’ 1 ( or . m y § ood fnend Dr. Farmer. I sincerelv 
 Wish I could give your Lordship a favourable account of 
 his health. But he continues, I am sorry to add, in very 
 indifferent health, and is unwilling to quit his college 
 residence for Leicester, to which place his relations and 
 riends aie desirous to bring him. Mr. Steevens and Mr 
 Reed, who are well, join in compliments. I ara 
 Lord, your Lordship’s obliged and obedient servant, ? 7 
 
 “ H. Meen.” 
 
46 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ My Lord, Bread Street Hill, Aug. 30, 1797. J 
 
 “ I am greatly obliged to your Lordship for your kind 
 inquiries after my health. My jaunt to Ramsgate has 
 been of service. The sea water and sea breezes have con- 
 tributed to remove my complaint, and I am much better. 
 This morning I called on Mr. Nichols, and left with his 
 son the First Book of Lucan’s Pharsalia by Marlow; 
 requesting him to take particular care of it, as it belonged 
 to Mr. Steevens, and was a scarce book.* He will send 
 me soon the sheets that have been printed off since my 
 last inspection. I lament that my indisposition, and con- 
 sequent absence from town, have interrupted my progress 
 in revising the sheets, and obliged me to discontinue the 
 work, which I undertook with pleasure, and which I shall 
 now be ready to resume, should your Lordship see occa- 
 sion for my assistance. It is my intention to spend next 
 month at Chigwell, a pleasant village in Essex, near 
 Woodford, and only ten miles from town. I resided there 
 in May last. September is Dr. Jackson’s month ; who, 
 I believe, will reside the whole of it at Amen Corner. 
 His constant residence in his respective months gives me 
 an opportunity of taking these short excursions for the 
 benefit of my health. I wish I could give your Lordship 
 a more favourable account of Dr. Farmer’s health, than 
 that which I have very lately received from his nephew 
 Mr. Farmer, who is constantly with his uncle at college. 
 He writes thus : 4 The Master seems to be no worse now 
 than when you last saw him, some months ago ; though 
 in the interim he has been very bad indeed. Professor 
 Harwood thinks Dr. Farmer might in some measure rein- 
 state his health, if he would get into the air. But he 
 has not been down stairs these two months and upwards.’ 
 “Mr. Steevens and Reed present their compliments, 
 and will be happy to see your Lordship here. 
 
 “In the European Magazine for this month, which 
 will be published on the 1st of September, under the 
 article poetry , p. 115, your Lordship will see a copy oi 
 verses by Herbert Croft ‘ On returning the key of the 
 gardens at Ham House to the Earl of Dysart.’ His name 
 is written at length. These verses, on his marriage, are 
 accompanied with notes, of which this is one : ‘ 25 
 
 * See Mr. Steevens’ Letter to Bp. Percy, Sept, 9, 1797, in p. 28. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 47 
 
 Sept. 1795, the Rev. Herbert Croft was married, by 
 special licence, at Ham-House, by the Bishop of Dromore, 
 to Miss Lewis.’ I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s obliged 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 “H. Meen. 
 
 “My Lord, Bread Street Hill, Dec. 16, 1797. 
 
 « I sincerely condole with your Lordship on the loss we 
 have sustained by the death of our lamented and much- 
 estecmed friend Dr. Farmer.*' The business which your let- 
 ter explained to me, will, I hope, be settled to the satisfac- 
 tion of both parties, when an opportunity offers of consult- 
 ing those papers to which your Lordship refers, and men- 
 tions as being in Ireland.f Be assured, should the subject 
 be mentioned to me, I shall not fail to state it according 
 to your Lordship’s representation. The parcel of letters, 
 which Mr. Steevens delivered to me sealed, shall be 
 packed up in a box, and sent according to your direction. 
 I shall be happy to pay my respects to your Lordship in 
 town ; and read with pleasure your intention of paying us 
 a visit soon. I wish an earlier day had been mentioned; 
 and that you could have made it convenient to have taken 
 a seat at St. Paul’s on the Thanksgiving-day. J Great 
 preparations are making there, and great interest for 
 tickets on that day. 
 
 “ The MS. notes on the New Testament, if put into 
 my hands, shall be taken care of with other papers. 
 
 “ I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s obliged and 
 obedient servant, H. Meen.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Bread Street Hill, Nov. 25, 1799. 
 
 I rejoice to find that your Lordship writes in so o-ood 
 spirits, and that you have formed the good resolution of 
 continuing firm, as you express yourself, at your post 
 amidst and spite of the scenes of turbulence and distrac- 
 tion with which you have been, but, I hope, are no longer 
 surrounded. I read your Lordship’s letter to Mr. Reed, 
 
 * § ee p. 33. g ee 35. 
 
 mi lSr L ° ,l L Du ? l S n ’ 8 llaIal victor ? at Campcrdown. Kina Georee III 
 rnd jm Consort and Court went in state to St, Paul's Cathedral, Kber 
 
48 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 who tells me that he cannot recollect any poems of Dr. 
 Grainger in the European Magazine, nor under what 
 signature they appeared there. He also observed, that 
 the Bishop of Dromore is himself in possession of the 
 European Magazine. To say the truth, Mr. Reed seems 
 to be somewhat displeased that application should be 
 made to him on this occasion, under the character of 
 editor of the above-mentioned Magazine. He is not the 
 editor, he asserts ; nor does he wish to be so considered. 
 Dr. Lettice * presents his compliments, and begs leave to 
 inform your Lordship, that he has somewhere in his pos- 
 session six epistles of Ovid translated by Dr. Grainger. 
 He told me that it once was his design, together with 
 Dr. Grainger, and the assistance, I think, of Mr. Hunter, 
 to translate all Ovid’s epistles ; but that his attention was 
 called away to other pursuits, and the design was 
 dropped. 
 
 “ Your Lordship is so obliging as to inquire, what are 
 my present literary labours ? I am engaged in publishing 
 a volume of poems written by a Scotch lady, Mrs. Scott. 
 They are chiefly elegiac, possess merit, and will be pub- 
 lished for the benefit of Mr. Lumley, a Northamptonshire 
 clergyman, whose wife was sister to the author. They 
 will be printed by subscripton, are dedicated to Lady 
 Elgin, and among them is a poem written to Mr. Dundas, 
 who was a near relation. There will also be inserted a 
 poem written by Burns, and another by Blacklock. If 
 these great friends intend to patronize the work, and 
 exert their influence in favour of it, subscriptions will be 
 numerous and respectable, and the expenses of publica- 
 tion will be no longer formidable. 
 
 “ I will endeavour to procure a list of the several 
 magazines in which any of Dr. Grainger’s poems have 
 appeared. In the mean time, should your Lordship see 
 occasion to write to Mr. Reed, I am persuaded he could 
 give you the most satisfactory information. 
 
 et The present Sub-Dean of St. Paul’s is the Rev. 
 Weldon Champneys.f Mr. Farmer has expressed to 
 me his satisfaction, and that of his family, at your Lord- 
 
 * Dr. John Lettice died Oct. 18, 1832. See Literary Anecdotes, III* 
 158, 752 ; and a memoir of him in Gent. Mag. 1832, ii. 477. 
 
 f The Rev. Weldon Champneys, D.D. was also Vicar of St. Pancras, where 
 he died, Oct. 26, 1810, in his 75th year. See an account of him in Gent- 
 Mag. 1810, ii, 495. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 49 
 
 ship’s statement .* Be pleased to present my compli- 
 
 ments to Dr. Percy. I should be happy m an opportu- 
 nity of paying my respects to him and to youi Lordship 
 in town Dr. Lettice resides at Hampstead, and is tutor 
 in the family of Mr. Beckford. I am, my Lord, your 
 Lordship’s obliged and obedient servant, H. Meen.” 
 
 Cl My Lord, Bread Street Hill, Feb. 14, 1800. 
 
 “ The favour of your Lordship’s last letter should have 
 been acknowledged sooner, had not I waited for the 
 translations of Ovid’s Epistles, which Dr. Lettice could 
 not immediately find. They are now before me, and are 
 these : Epistles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 18. They are written in 
 a hand remarkably small, neat, and delicate. After the 
 title of the 18th, viz. Leander to Hero, Dr. Grainger’s 
 name follows in a parenthesis, thus, (By Dr. Grainger.) 
 This is the only epistle that bears his name. Dr. Lettice 
 tells me that he has some other epistles, five, I think, 
 which he employed and paid a friend to translate for him, 
 as it was once his intention to publish a complete transla- 
 tion of these love-elegies, but that his design was pre- 
 vented by other arrangements. Among the little poems, 
 said to be written by Grainger in the European Maga- 
 zine for Sept. 1798, only one appears in any subsequent 
 number, viz. On Fancy, inserted in the Magazine for 
 June 1/99. The author of this short account of Grain- 
 ger’s life and writings may possibly have the other poems 
 in his possession ; at least, he may be the properest per- 
 son to give any further information about them. These 
 first five epistles, your Lordship informs me, were written 
 by Grainger’s friend. f The 18th was certainly written 
 by Grainger himself, as his name is annexed to it. But 
 you speak of trvo epistles as written bv him. Dr. Lettice 
 may probably have overlooked the other. 
 
 “ The unwelcome news of the death of your old friend 
 George Steeyens, Esq.J has, I presume, long since reached 
 your Lordship’s ear. His decline was rapid. Repeated 
 strokes of the palsy, quick in their succession, and more 
 violent in their return, shook, impaired, and at last de- 
 
 * See p. 34. 
 
 t This was, it is believed, Bishop Percy himself. 
 
 4-H 06 t' 16 P* ec eding ar ticle in this volume, p. 1 ; and also vol. V.p. 427— 
 
 V0L * VII. 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 stroyed an understanding the most vigorous, and a body 
 apparently strong enough to combat with ordinary dis- 
 eases for many years to come. But the palsy was, I un- 
 derstand, a family complaint ; and he seems to have had 
 a presentiment that such would be his end. He left by 
 will, to Dr. Farmer an 100/., and an 100/. to Mr. Reed, 
 with benefit of survivorship. The valuable copy of his 
 own edition of Shakspeare, enriched and ornamented with 
 more than 450 heads, he bequeathed to Lord Spencer. 
 To Mr. Windham, the member, he left his complete and 
 curious collection of Hogarth’s works. Not a single 
 book, besides these now mentioned, has he reserved, as a 
 token of regard, for any of his friends : neither has he 
 consigned them to any public body or museum. They 
 are become the property of his relation Miss Steevens, to 
 whom he left the bulk of his fortune, and whom he has 
 appointed his sole executrix. His collection of books, 
 though not large, is more curious and valuable than was 
 generally suspected. They will be disposed of, most pro- 
 bably before May, at a public auction, and their destina- 
 tion will be announced, as usual, by the fall of the ham- 
 mer. This inglorious end, which Mr. Steevens’s sagacity 
 must have foreseen, his vanity, one might have thought, 
 would have determined him to prevent. On the 30th of 
 January his remains were interred in the chapel of Pop- 
 lar. This was his native place, and here his family was 
 buried. He was followed to his grave by the clergymen 
 of Poplar and Hampstead in one coach ; and by Mr. 
 Reed, Mr. Nettleship, and myself in another. Mr. Net- 
 tleship is partner with Mr. Nichols, who was, your 
 Lordship probably recollects, Mr. Steevens’s attorney and 
 friend. Every token of regard which friendship could 
 shew, or merit claim, was liberally manifested on this 
 mournful occasion. 
 
 “The poems, which I took occasion to mention to your 
 Lordship, in consequence of your kind inquiry after my 
 literary pursuits, were written by a Scotch lady of the 
 name of Scott. She has been some years dead. These 
 poems have long been in the possession of Mr. LumleVj 
 who married her sister. He has the living of Barnwel 
 in Northamptonshire; and is very intimate with Captam 
 Brown, with whom your Lordship was once acquainted,; 
 when you lived in those parts. They both called on yo^ 
 Lordship at Northumberland House in town. He desitf 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 51 
 
 to return his thanks for the honour of your name, to be 
 added, by permission, to his respectable list of subscribers. 
 It would be highly satisfactory to me to have an oppor- 
 tunity of submitting these poems to your Lordship’s in- 
 spection, who are so able a judge of these matters. There 
 is scarcely a poem which, on some or other account, is not 
 very faulty, and stands in need of corrections : yet 
 amidst these many defects are interspersed beauties and 
 excellences of an high order. There runs through every 
 composition, great or small, a vein of poetry of the better 
 sort ; such as Blacklock and Burns, her particular friends, 
 would have been disposed to commend. 
 
 “ Your Lordship will see inclosed in this parcel a like- 
 ness of Jane Gibbs,* and proposals for publishing Mrs. 
 Scott’s Poems. I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s obliged 
 and obedient servant, H. Meen.” 
 
 My Lord, Bread Street Hill, Aug. 29, 1800. 
 
 “The favour of your Lordship’s letter should have 
 been acknowledged sooner, had I been able to procure or 
 give some information respecting Farmer’s publications. 
 They are all scarce ; particularly his treatises on the De- 
 moniacs and on Miracles. Worthington wrote an Answer 
 to the Demoniacs, as did also Fell. They are 8vo volumes, 
 and sell for about eight or nine shillings. Farmer replied 
 t<> Worthington. The Temptation can be more easily met 
 with than his other works. Not one of these books could 
 I procure at Lackington’s. They were in his Catalogue, 
 but are sold. I have met with some of the above-men- 
 tioned books, but not all. When I have procured the 
 Whole, and collected such other pamphlets as the subjects 
 either of the Demoniacs or of the Temptation, may have 
 given birth to, your Lordship may rely on my care in for- 
 warding them to you according to your direction. But the 
 works of Farmer are not to be found in every bookseller’s 
 simp ; much less are the Answers. They must be sought, 
 ,oth tbe one and the other, at stalls, and in alleys and dark 
 corners, known only to the curious. The two boxes are 
 safely deposited in my house, ivhieh shall remain their 
 place of security till called for. It will afford me sincere 
 
 day. 
 
 y . An lnfamous squinting street-walker, the terror of the beaus of that 
 
52 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATUBE. 
 
 pleasure to hear of the continuance of your Lordship’s 
 health, and that you have received benefit from your ex- 
 cursion to the pleasant villa you mention. Thanks to 
 your Lordship for your friendly invitation; but my 
 engagements fix me to this place, where I shall he always 
 happy to transact any business for your Lordship. In the 
 mean time, with my best wishes for your Lordship’s safe 
 journey and speedy return to this place, I remain, my 
 Lord, your Lordship’s obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 “ Ii. Meen.” ] 
 
 <e My Lord, Bread Street Hill, April 8, 1801. ; 
 
 cc Permit me to return your Lordship my sincerest 
 thanks for the favour of your last letter, to the contents 
 of which I have not failed to pay the earliest attention. 
 That I have thus long delayed to answer it, your Lordship 
 will, I am confident, be disposed to ascribe to any othei 
 cause than wilful and intentional neglect. Since the time 
 your letter reached me, the preservation of my health has 
 called me to Margate, Brighton, and to various places; 
 and for some weeks past I have been rocking the cradle 
 of declining age, and rendering the bed of sickness and o 
 pain tolerable, if not easy, to an aged mother, who had 
 reached the utmost limits of life, and had been patiently 
 expecting the summons which she at last received. Such 
 are the avocations and disquiets by which my time and 
 attention have been frequently called away, not only from 
 my own little concerns, but from those more important 
 commissions of my friends which claimed my immediate 
 attention, and which it is my desire always to execute 
 with alacrity and diligence. The day I received your box, 
 I opened it as desired, and acquainted Mr. Bremner,* book- 
 seller, that at my house was a parcel containing two foil* 
 volumes of MSS. directed for Mr. Foulis, printer; that 
 it was your Lordship’s desire that he would take particu- 
 lar care of this parcel till orders were given for the disposal 
 of it. The parcel is still at their house, under the p r0 i 
 tection of Mr. Elmsly ;f for Mr. Bremner, who has been 
 long ill, is since dead. It is somewhat strange that JM r ' 
 
 * Of Mr. David Bremner, see Literary Anecdotes, III. 311. 
 
 f Mr. Peter Elmsly, bookseller, died May 2, 1802, aged 67. See mem 0 
 of him in Literary Anecdotes, VI, 440. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 53 
 
 Foulis should not once in all this time have either written 
 or sent after this parcel. 
 
 « My attention is at this time more immediately directed 
 to the publication of those poems, to which your Lord- 
 ship was so kind and condescending as to become a sub- 
 scriber. 
 
 “ Permit me to take occasion here to renew my thanks 
 to your Lordship for your very acceptable present of the 
 last edition of the Reliques of Ancient Poetry. I was not 
 aware till lately what treasures it contained ; how many 
 delicious little pieces lie scattered through the various 
 parts of this very entertaining work ; whose story in many 
 instances instructs, and whose poetry never fails to please. 
 In collecting Mrs. Scott’s Poems, I have had occasion 
 to consult your volumes, and have availed myself in 
 a note of the information they afforded me. She certainly 
 read poetry, and wrote verses from an early period, and 
 seems to have been not a little fond of legendary tales. 
 Tli ere is one in her collection that bears that name, which 
 she calls Edwin and Edith. But I must not detain your 
 Lordship with particulars now. This would be to tres- 
 pass on your time and patience, and to exceed the limits 
 assigned to a letter. I can only express my wish, my 
 Lord, that you had been in town at this time, as I should 
 gladly have embraced the opportunity of submitting these 
 poems to your perusal, and should have been disposed to 
 estimate their worth by the sentence you might pass on 
 them. 
 
 “ Dr. Lettice and Mr. Reed desired me to present their 
 particular compliments to your Lordship. The former is 
 still resident at Hampstead, busily employed in teaching 
 the young ladies his pupils,* and occasionally lamenting 
 that his time is not more at his own disposal. Mr. Reed 
 proposes writing to your Lordship soon. He therefore 
 reserves his intelligence of whatever kind for his intended 
 letter. Has your Lordship completed the collection of 
 Dr. Grainger’s Poems? If there be anything wanting 
 that 1 can possibly upon inquiry supply, be assured that 
 m this or in any other instance I shall be always readv 
 to give my assistance. Miss Steevens,f who succeeded to 
 our late friend’s property, and lived in his house, died 
 
 * daughters of W. Beckford, esq. 
 
 t - hss Elizabeth Steevens died at Hampstead, Jan. 26 , 1801 . 
 
54 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 there lately,, after having enjoyed this considerable acces. 
 sion to her fortune only one year. Her complaint was a 
 dropsy, for which she had been tapped. Her age was 
 about 52. 
 
 I lament my absence from this place when Mr. Hasle- 
 wood* favoured me with a call. I w T as equally unsuccessful 
 in my call on him. We have not yet met. I wished to 
 have asked him many questions respecting your Lordship’s 
 health, the time of your return to this place as a member 
 of the Imperial Parliament, where Dr. Percy f is, and many 
 other particulars ; concerning which a line from your 
 Lordship, whenever and as often as your leisure will ad- 
 mit, will be esteemed a favour, that will satisfy every in- 
 quiry, and give me real pleasure. 
 
 “ My health is at this time much better than usual. Its 
 permanency depends upon my care; for health at my 
 time of life is as capricious as fortune, — it comes not but 
 with solicitation, and leaves us without ceremony. Be 
 assured I shall be happy to hear of the continuance of 
 your Lordship’s health, and that I am, my Lord, your 
 Lordship’s obliged and obedient servant, H. Meen.”| 
 
 “My Lord, . _ Bread Street Hill, Jan. 29, 1802. j 
 
 “In the last letter with which your Lordship was pleased 
 to favour me, and which now lies, before me, dated 
 May 6th, you take occasion to mention your expecta- 
 tion of being summoned to the Imperial Parliament next' 
 year. As the year to which your Lordship refers is now 
 commenced, I am willing to hope that the period is not 
 distant when we may congratulate your Lordship on your 
 return to town. Accept, in the mean time, my compli- 
 ments and best wishes for the continuance of your present 
 good health, and for the return of many new and happy 
 years to yourself and to your family. You have probably 
 seen, my Lord, Todd’s new edition of Milton. The pe- 
 rusal of it will, I am confident, afford your Lordship real 
 pleasure. Mr. Todd J has lately left Canterbury for this j 
 
 * The Rev. J. D. Haslewood. 
 
 f Dr. Percy, the Bishop’s nephew, died May 14, 1808. 
 Anecdotes,” VIII. 148. 
 
 See “ Literary 
 
 The Rev. II. J. Todd left Canterbury in 1802, and accepted th®j 
 rectory of Allhallows, Lombard Street. In 1820 he removed into Yo^ 
 
 shire, on being presented to the rectory of Settrington. In 1832 he yW 
 
 appointed Archdeacon of Cleveland, and he died, beloved and respected? 
 
 24, 1845. See a memoir of him in Gent. Mag. 1846, i. 322; Literal 1 
 
 lll^lXlV/11 V?1 mill 111 V*C11U. J.TX . 1 OtU) l# y , q m 
 
 Anecdotes, Index VII. 422 ; and Literary Illustrations, VI. 620, 625. & c ‘ 1 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 55 
 
 place, where he has been put in possession of a city-living. 
 Mr. lleecl is intimate with him. Among other curious 
 matters contained in his ‘Account of the Life of Milton/ 
 the Editor has inserted the following : — 4 1 have to notice 
 the existence of another treasure, viz. Milton’s copy of 
 Lycophron , with his own marginal observations. Of this 
 remarkable curiosity, hitherto unknown to the public, I 
 received my information from Mr. Walker, by whom it 
 had been inspected in the library of Lord Chavlemont , the 
 present fortunate possessor of it.’ Knowing your Lord- 
 si lip’s friendly partiality to my humble attempts towards 
 illustrating this author, you will excuse the liberty I have 
 taken in turning your attention to this interesting anec- 
 dote. Your Lordship may perhaps be acquainted with 
 this nobleman; or you may have had occasion to consult 
 his library. I am confident, however, that if you will be 
 so kind, my Lord, as to request the use of this book for a 
 certain time, and for the purpose intended, you will be put 
 in immediate possession of it. How desirable an acqui- 
 sition a single remark from Milton would prove in a work 
 like this, your Lordship well knows. Let me, therefore, 
 only add my apologies for the liberty now taken, and 
 which the experience of your Lordship’s repeated kind- 
 nesses could alone have induced me to take. 
 
 “ A copy of Mrs. Scott’s Poems,* which your Lordship 
 was pleased to honour with your name as a subscriber, is 
 reserved for you here. Your boxes are taken care of; as 
 shall whatever other things you may hereafter see occa- 
 sion to commit to my trust. Dr. Lettice, who presents 
 his compliments, leaves Hampstead and his present con- 
 nexions there about Midsummer next, being summoned 
 to residence by his Bishop. Your Lordship has probably 
 seen Dr. "\ incent s i' animated defence of his school, sug- 
 gested by some passages contained in Notes written by 
 Dr. Rennell,f and by the Bishop of Meath, § in their re- 
 spective anniversary Sermons. 
 
 xr P^ easure that I inform your Lordship, that 
 
 Mr. Reed is much better in health than he has for some 
 
 ' eV//™ f d Co ‘‘ a ’ ^ ith , otiier original Poems, principally elegiac. By 
 Lu z . Stott. Svo. See Monthly Review, XXXVIII. 436. y 
 
 + n ^ lnceut ’ s “ Defence of Public Education,” 1802. 
 
 Gospel* 1 7 09^ ell S Serm ° n bef ° re thC S ° dety f0r the Pr( Wtion of the 
 
 B sJbSjSi“o2^ p.™’ reite “ tinB ll “ of Dr. Reo. 
 
56 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 time been. He desired me not to forget his particular 
 compliments. Dr. Berdmore,* whom probably your Lord- 
 ship knew, lies dangerously ill at his house in Southamp- 
 ton Buildings. From haying been well as usual, he was 
 suddenly and violently attacked by an inflammatory fever. 
 He has lately published a little pamphlet, containing 
 strictures on Gray, Hurd, Warburton, &c. I am, my 
 Lord, your Lordship’s obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 “ H. Meen.” 
 
 (e My Lord, Bread Street Hill, March 17, 1802. 
 
 <f Be pleased to accept of my many and sincere thanks 
 for the favour of your letter, dated 19th February, in 
 which your Lordship has obligingly promised to exert 
 your influence in procuring Milton’s copy of Lycophron 
 of its noble possessor. It would, as your Lordship well 
 know r s, be to me a valuable acquisition. As it is probable 
 that the curiosity of many may have been already excited, 
 and that applications may have been early made to obtain 
 this treasure, it seems but a prudent step to adopt, as 
 soon as possible, whatever means your Lordship may 
 think proper to employ for the purpose intended. If you 
 would be so obliging, my Lord, as to take the earliest op- 
 portunity of writing to this young nobleman, the informa- 
 tion wished, will, I am confident, be immediately given, 
 Such early application is, I think, most likely to be at- 
 tended with success. Thus might the book be in readi-; 
 ness for your Lordship in your way through Dublin. But 
 I am ashamed to be thus troublesome. I am, my Lord, 
 your Lordship’s most obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 “ H. Meen/’ 1 
 
 C( My LORD, Bread Street Hill, June 26, 1802. j 
 
 “ Be pleased to accept of my sincere thanks for the 
 favour of your Lordship’s letter just now received, and for 
 your kind condescension in pursuing your inquiries after 
 Milton’s Lycophron. Milton’s Notes and Emendations 
 may, perhaps, be neither numerous nor important ; but 
 
 * The Rev. Dr. Samuel Berdmore, the learned schoolmaster at the Charter 
 House; elected in 1769, and resigned 1791. He was a member of the 
 Unincreasable Club. He published “ Specimens of Literary Resemblance^ 
 the Works of Pope, Gray, and other celebrated writers, with critical obser- 
 vations,” 8vo, 1801; and died Jan. 20, 1802. See an account of him 
 Gent. Mag. 1802, p. 94. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 57 
 
 vour Lordship well knows into what consequence even 
 trifles rise when the pen that wrote them has attained its 
 
 <c Dr Lettice is about leaving Hampstead, and letiring 
 to his living Mr. Reed continues in tolerable health, and 
 desired me°to transmit to you his kind and respectful 
 
 C °«ThT e i n st volume, in 4to., of a work, called ‘ Londinium 
 Redivivum is just now published. It is also called in the 
 title-pao-e, « An Ancient History and Modern Description 
 of London j compiled from parochial lecords, archives of 
 various foundations, the Harleian MSS., and other authen- 
 tic sources. By James Peller Malcolm. * 
 
 “A weekly publication, entitled, £ The Philosophical 
 Transactions of the Royal Society, abridged ’ f will make 
 it appearance on Saturday. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s truly obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 “ H. Meen.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Bread Street Hill, Jan. 1803. 
 
 “ Be pleased to accept of my sincerest thanks for the 
 favour of your letter and the information it afforded me. 
 1 am greatly obliged to your Lordship for pointing out to 
 me the channel through which I may hope to be indulged 
 with a sight of Milton’s Lycophron. Its greatest curiosity, 
 so far as I can learn, is, that it bears the name of Milton 
 in his own hand-writing. I cannot learn that it contains 
 any marginal notes. Yet is it difficult to conceive that 
 such an author as Lycophron could ever possibly have 
 been read by such a reader as Milton without having en- 
 riched it with original remarks and conjectural emenda- 
 tions. 
 
 “ Be assured I shall with the greatest pleasure receive 
 of your bookseller two or more sets of Goldsmith’s works, 
 and shall be happy to second your Lordship’s charitable 
 design by the sale of a few copies. This edition is a 
 valuable acquisition to literature. And as it is a work 
 
 * Mr. Malcolm was an able antiquary and a skilful draughtsman. He 
 died April 5, 1815 ; and an account of him is given in Gent. Mas. for 1815 
 i. p. 4G7-469. s ’ 
 
 t This valuable Abridgment of the Philosophical Transactions was com- 
 piled by the celebrated Dr. Hutton, Dr. Shaw, and Dr. Richard Pearson and 
 was published by Mr. R, Baldwin, of Paternoster Row. ’ 
 
58 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 which has had the good fortune not only to have been 
 finished under your Lordship’s inspection, but to have 
 been furnished with valuable materials from your own 
 literary stores, it will, I am confident, have many pur- 
 chasers. 
 
 e< The new edition of Shakespeare, with additions by 
 Mr. Stee vens, will, I understand, soon make its appear- 
 ance. This business your Lordship knows is in Mr. 
 Reed’s hands, who desires me to present his compliments. 
 
 “ Mr. Todd, the ingenious editor of Milton, is very 
 busy in preparing a splendid and useful edition of all 
 Spenser’s Poems. 
 
 “The book of antiquities, entitled c Londinium Redivi- 
 vum,’ by Malcolm, lately published here, has met with 
 considerable encouragement. It is patronized by Mr, 
 Nichols and Mr. Gough. Mr. Malcolm is an industrious 
 antiquary. He has collected his materials from places 
 hitherto unexplored, and has arranged them in a manner 
 that pleases and informs. 
 
 “ But the period I hope is not far distant when an op- 
 portunity will offer of congratulating your Lordship on 
 your return to this town after a very long absence. In 
 the mean time, be pleased to accept of my services, in 
 whatever instance you may see occasion for them. I have 
 not had the satisfaction of hearing from or seeing your 
 nephew Dr. Percy for a long time. Be pleased to present 
 my compliments to him. Whenever he passes through j 
 town I shall be glad to see him, and hope that he will not ] 
 forget to favour me with a call. I am, my Lord, your Lord- 
 ship’s most obliged and obedient servant, H, Meen.” ] 
 
 u My Lord, Bread Street Hill, May 18, 1803. 
 
 “ The favour of your Lordship’s letter was highly gra- 
 tifying, as it conveyed to me the most satisfactory ac- i 
 count of your better health and gradual recovery. Indeed j 
 I have been long anxious to hear from your Lordship, 
 having understood from various quarters, that you had I 
 been very much indisposed. I was therefore happy to 
 have received from yourself this favourable account; | 
 which I shall with pleasure communicate to inquiring 
 friends. Permit me once more to express my thanks, j 
 and acknowledge my obligations to your Lordship, through , 
 whose friendly interposition and kind exertions I am p u j; 
 in possession of Milton’s Lycophron, In consequence of 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 59 
 
 a note from the Hon. Mr. Caulfield, I waited upon him at 
 his house, and returned with this literary treasure in my 
 pocket. On examining it I found a greater number of 
 marginal notes than I had been led to expect ; viz. about 
 50 . Many of these notes are but trifles ; they are mere 
 references to other editions, and intimations of the pre- 
 ference which Milton was disposed to give to other read- 
 ings. But in some few notes, to the amount of five or 
 six, he has called forth his critical talents, and given some- 
 thing, suo de penu, worthy of himself. It will be proper, 
 I think, to collect these marginal notes together, and 
 assign them a place by themselves ; for, like precious 
 ore, long buried in the mine, and late extracted, they will 
 be prized for their worth and rarity. Mr. Caulfield has 
 indulged me with the use of this book till his return to 
 town. It is my intention then to accompany it with a 
 letter of thanks to Lord Charlemont, requesting him to 
 give me leave to insert the late Lord Charlemont’s well- 
 written account of this literary curiosity. This paper 
 came inclosed in the book, and was transcribed by Mr. 
 Caulfield from the original. I have also other rarities to 
 produce, of which I can say nothing now, having already 
 trespassed much too long on your time and sight. 
 
 “ Mr. Todd is still busily employed about Spenser. He 
 has gained much reputation by his edition of Milton. 
 The booksellers have agreed to pay him a very liberal 
 sum for his Spenser. 
 
 “ In consequence of what had passed in a former letter 
 from your Lordship, respecting the sale of some copies 
 of Goldsmith’s Works, I expected to have received, long 
 since, some copies from Mr. White* But he has sent 
 me none, and seems not to have been acquainted with 
 } our Lordship s intention. I should be happy to receive 
 them by the channel you had mentioned, and for the 
 purpose you designed. 
 
 I, hope your Lordship’s complaint is gradually going 
 off; and that I may be gratified with hearing soon, that 
 your former health is established. 
 
 <■ nio?n’ ^ eec l i res T,r ts ^ is com I )lim ents. He continues in 
 tolerable health. We both unite in our wishes for your 
 
 Lordslup s return. I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s truly 
 obliged and obedient servant, H Mben ” * 
 
 Bookseller, ia Fleet-street. See “ Literary Anecdotes,” III, 127. 
 
60 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ My Lord, Bread Street Hill, Aug. 1803. : 
 
 “ I beg leave to return your Lordship many thanks for 
 the favour of your letter lately received. On the receipt 
 of it, and without delay, I inquired after Mr. Charles 
 Goldsmith, and learned, that he had lodged for some time 
 at a house in Somers Town. The master informed me, 
 that on the return of peace he left England, and went over 
 to France ; from which country he had reason to suppose 
 that he was not yet returned.* 
 
 “ Mr. Reed, who desires me to present his particular com- 
 pliments to your Lordship, assures me, that the plate and 
 note, respecting the men whose heads appear not above 
 their shoulders, are inserted in that edition which he has : 
 just now published. I am in possession of the former 
 edition, of the year 1793, published under the immediate 
 inspection of Mr. Steevens. In reading Cymbeline, I was 
 much entertained and informed by an excellent note on 
 e her attendants are all sworn and honourable/ for which 
 permit me here to return your Lordship my thanks. 
 
 “Your Lordship may reasonably conclude, that Lord 
 Charlemont’s Milton has been long since returned to him. j 
 That it is not, must be ascribed to a circumstance which I 
 will relate in few words. When I received this book of 
 Mr. Caulfield, who with great politeness allowed me to 
 take it home, it was my wish to return it as soon as pos- 
 sible. Having satisfied my curiosity, and transcribed the 
 notes, a few weeks after my first call, I repeated my visit 
 to Mr. Caulfield at his lodgings, taking with me a copy of | 
 my Remarks on Lycophron, intending to request the 
 favour of his acceptance of it. He was not at home. II 
 then left a note, and a copy of my Remarks, requesting to 
 know what day he would choose to appoint, on which 1 1 
 might wait upon him with the Lycophron, and accompany 
 it with a line of thanks to his Lordship. To this note, 
 which was left on his table, together with my Remarks, in 
 the presence of his servant, no answer was returned. I | 
 was every day expecting an answer, but received none; ; 
 till at last, but not till Mr. Caulfield’s return to Ireland, I J 
 was favoured with a letter from him, in which he expressed 
 his surprise that I had so long detained this book, con- j 
 ' 1 
 
 * Charles Goldsmith returned to England, and died in Ossulston Street! | 
 Somers Town. He had a son Oliver, who, with his mother, returned to the I 
 West Indies. See Prior’s Life of Goldsmith, II. 575. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 61 
 
 trary to his own and his brother’s expectation. That I 
 answered this letter immediately your Lordship needs not 
 doubt, and explained particulars, as I have now related 
 them. But, as I could not recollect the day on which I 
 waited upon this gentleman the second time, I had 
 recourse to my journal. Here I minute the little occur- 
 rences of the* day ; and hence I learned when first I re- 
 ceived the book, and when I made my second call. After 
 having recurred to my journal, and learned the day of my 
 second call, I wrote again to Mr. Caulfield, acquainting 
 him that I left with his servant a note, &c. From my two 
 letters to this gentleman, explanatory of this business, I 
 am induced to hope that Lord Charlemont will ascribe the 
 detention of his book to an accident, and not to any in- 
 tended neglect.* I should esteem it a particular favour if 
 your Lordship would be pleased to explain the matter to 
 Lord Charlemont as it is here stated ; and to assure him 
 that his book, while it continues with me, is perfectly safe; 
 and that it shall be returned whenever any one authorized 
 by his Lordship to receive it shall call for it. In the mean 
 time I beg leave to repeat my obligations to Lord Charle- 
 mont for the opportunity afforded me of perusing this 
 book; and to your Lordship, through whose friendly 
 interposition I obtained it. You will, I am confident, be 
 so kind as to excuse this long detail of particulars, as I 
 was anxious to exculpate myself from the charge of neglect 
 which I might probably have incurred through this lomr 
 < i tention of the book, which is detained contrary to my 
 " lues, but is safe under my protection. 
 
 “ Not only the two numbers of the European Magazine 
 also a t hird, which respects the same subject, if here 
 
 "ii >M< r ^ l )a S e or two from the month of August as 
 'veil as from the months of February and Julv forms a 
 
 prt Of this packet j for they all equally relate to' Mr. Rolt 
 therefore thought that it would be agreeable to von r 
 L-rdslnp to see them all. The biographical sketch n/rf 
 2 ry n inarv man, drawn up in J* 
 
 "r: safes** is certainlj? * 
 
62 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Your Lordship is so condescending as to inquire 
 after my literary pursuits. This inquiry is probably made 
 with regard to my Lycophron ; on whom I occasionally 
 write a note, and correct my translation. 
 
 “ In the European Magazine for August, the leaf that 
 contains some account of Richard Rolt,* contains on the 
 other side a few lines of Pindar, a version, and remarks. 
 I shall be happy if this short specimen meets with your 
 Lordship’s approbation. Some such literary trifle it has 
 been my amusement to write, and it has found a place in 
 the Magazine of every month through the year. 
 
 “ I sincerely lament the inflammation of which your 
 Lordship complains, as settled in your eyes, and which 
 renders writing difficult. It will give me much pleasure 
 to hear that this complaint is wholly removed, and that I 
 may hope to be favoured with another letter from your 
 Lordship much sooner than before. But I hope the time 
 is not far distant when we may congratulate your Lord- 
 ship on your return to this place. I am, my Lord, your 
 Lordship’s truly obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 “ H. Meen.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Bread Street Hill, March 13, 1804. j 
 
 “ The favour of your Lordship’s letter, lately received, 
 afforded me the sincerest pleasure. I lament to find, 
 that the complaint, of which you made mention some 
 time since, still continues to be troublesome; and that 
 writing is rendered painful to your Lordship through 
 weakness of sight. This disorder will, I hope, be removed 
 by the return of spring, and warm weather with it. I am 
 extremely obliged to your Lordship for the trouble you 
 have been pleased to take, in transmitting to Lord Charle- 
 mont, through the hands of Mr. Caldwell, a copy of my 
 letter, that respected the return of the book. It is satis- 
 factory to learn, that his Lordship is fully convinced that 
 no delay was intended, and that the book remains still 
 safe in my hands. Be pleased, my Lord, once more to 
 present my compliments to Lord Charlemont, with many 
 thanks for this singular favour ; assuring him at the same 
 
 * This excellent memoir of Richard Rolt was sent from Dublin, and "' a5 
 not unlikely sent by Bp. Percy; Mr. Chalmers has copied it in his “Biogra-.j 
 phical Dictionary.’' The interesting letters that passed between Voltaic 
 and Rolt are printed in the European Mag. for Feb. 1803, 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 63 
 
 time of the safety of his book, and of my readiness to 
 return it either to the Honourable Mr. Caulfield, or to 
 any other friend whom his Lordship may appoint to 
 
 receive it. , _ . T . , . . . . 
 
 “ I am greatly obliged by his Lordship’s inquiry after 
 
 mv little pamphlet, and shall request that he will do me 
 the honour to accept of a few copies, which will accom- 
 pany the return of his Lycophron. 
 
 “I rely much on the hope of seeing your Lordship in 
 town before the summer is over, and of conversing with 
 you on the subject of Milton’s Notes upon Lycophron. 
 He shows himself to have been curious and inquisitive at 
 an earlv period. He read all the Scholiast’s Notes in due 
 order, and without exception. This I collect from his 
 having read a story there told, and which he has noticed 
 as bein gfabella lejnda. 
 
 “ Mr. Rivington will not forget to transact the business 
 required. To prevent mistakes, he took a copy of your 
 Lordship’s letter respecting it. 
 
 f< With regard to literary news, I fear it will not be in 
 my power to collect much which has not already reached 
 you through the various channels of public or private 
 intelligence. Dr. Lettice sent me lately from Peasmarsh, 
 where he now resides, a Plan of Lectures, which he in- 
 tended to read in London, on the subject of c Artificial 
 Memory.’ His intention was, to improve upon Grey’s 
 Memoria Technica, and by extending his plan render it 
 more generally useful. He is prepared for publishing a 
 new and enlarged edition of Grey’s work. On his return 
 to town, he probably consulted with friends. He called, 
 not long since, on Mr. Reed and on me ; and has, I am 
 told, wholly declined the project of reading these Lec- 
 tures. An improved edition of Grey’s Memoria Tech- 
 nica would, I incline to think, be well received. But the 
 subject is not of sufficient magnitude or importance to 
 call together a number of people to attend a regular 
 course of lectures. 
 
 “ Mr. Todd is busily employed in preparing, as your 
 Lordship knows, a new edition of Spenser. 
 
 son l & te Hr. Warton, is preparing' 
 a new edition of Dryden’s works.* 
 
 by % DT. 'j. C Wa P rtom ed volumes ’ 8v0 > in the year 1811 , with a few notes 
 
64 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Not long since, I had the pleasure of dining at the 
 Bishop of Chester’s * with Dr. Bennett, the Bishop of 
 Cloyne. I was pleased to see him so well, and to pay 
 my respects to him after an interval of more than twenty, 
 years. But I must forbear to trespass longer on your 
 Lordship’s sight, and request to know in your next, when 
 we may hope to have the pleasure of seeing, and congra- 
 tulating you on your return to town. Be assured, I look 
 with pleasure to that period, which, I hope, my Lord, is 
 not far distant. I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s most, 
 obliged and obedient servant, H. Meen.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Bread Street Hill, July 30, 1804. j 
 
 “ Permit me to return my sincerest thanks to your 
 Lordship for the favour of two letters ; the former written 
 e with the pen of your secretary,’ the latter by yourself. 
 Be assured, I was highly gratified by the opportunity you 
 afforded me of recognising your own hand-writing in 
 your second letter. It induced me to suppose, what I 
 hope you will confirm, that your sight is better. Agree- ; 
 ably to your Lordship’s wish, as expressed in your second 
 letter, I called on Mr. Mayne.f He is a Scotchman, and 
 a proprietor of a daily paper called the Star. He lives in 
 Carey Street, No. 1, Star Printing Office ; where, when I 
 had explained the occasion of my call, he received me 
 with great politeness. He apologized for the liberty he 
 had taken of sending your Lordship a copy of his poem, 
 and for his omission of his place of abode. 
 
 “ The Bishop of Cloyne is still in town. He is at this 
 time wholly free from the gout, and in perfect health. He 
 desired me to present his particular compliments to your 
 Lordship when I wrote. You will receive this letter 
 through the favour of his frank, which, at your Lordship’s 
 suggestion in a former letter, I requested. His house is 
 
 * Dr. Majendie ; translated to Bangor 1809. He died July 9, 1830. 
 See a memoir of him in Gent. Mag. 1830, ii. 273. 
 
 f Mr. John Mayne died March 14, 1836, at an advanced age. He was 
 by trade a printer, and, after serving his time with Messrs. Foulis at Glas- 
 gow, he came to London, which he never afterwards quitted. The poem by 
 which he is most known, “ The Siller Gun,” was first published in 1777, but 
 was afterwards enlarged. He also published “Glasgow,” a poem ; but be 
 most excelled in ballad effusions. He was kind to every one, and universally 
 beloved. A good memoir of him is in Gent. Mag. for May 1836, in which 
 publication many of his smaller pieces may be found, from 1807 to 1817. , 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 65 
 
 in Quebec Street ; where I had the pleasure of dining 
 with his Lordship, on the day appointed by himself for 
 conferring on me and my Ward the favour of a charity 
 sermon.*° Thus the Bishop of Cloyne has followed the 
 good example of the Bishop of Dromore ; and I must liere 
 repeat my obligations to them both for this singular mark 
 of condescension and kindness. I assure you, my Lord, 
 my neighbours frequently inquire after the health of the 
 Bishop of Dromore ; and recollect with pleasure the fa- 
 vour you conferred on them, when you preached for the 
 benefit of their charity your excellent Sermon. 
 
 “ Once more your Lordship must allow me to return 
 you my thanks for interesting Lord Charlemont in my 
 favour, and putting me in possession of Milton’s Notes on 
 Lyoophron. I wish much for an opportunity of conversing 
 With your Lordship on these subjects; and congratulating 
 you, as I hare been accustomed to do, on your retura to 
 London. 
 
 “ I have lately purchased a Translation of the Argonau- 
 tics of Apollonius Rhodius, in three volumes, by William 
 Preston, Esq. Dublin. This gentleman published a book 
 of Poems some few years since. His Dissertations pos- 
 sess, I think, considerable merit. Of the Translation I 
 shall say nothing ; but of both the one and the other I 
 rather wish to learn your Lordship’s opinion. 
 
 “ Mr. Reed is now on a visit to his friend Mr. Braith- 
 waite,f at Am well, a pleasant village in Herts, once the re- 
 sidence of Scott , t the Quaker; whose critical Essays, pub- 
 
 * Bishop Bennett died July 16, 1820. He was particularly kind inadvo- 
 f\ ng from the pulpit the claims of the London charities on several occa- 
 
 Bn” Benner • 1830 > «• 184 > and a warm euL on 
 
 ?839?r233 m Mr ‘ Gardlner 8 ‘ Music and Friends,” copied in Gent. Mag. 
 
 28 + esq F.R.S. and F.S.A. died in Harpur Street Dec 
 
 j-l, m, aged 86. He had retired from his office of Comptroller if the 
 
 p. 764. am ‘ ableand Clever Quaker p oet see Literary Illustrations, ,ol, V. 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OP LITERATURE. 
 
 lislied by Hoole, your Lordship will recollect. But I must 
 not trespass any longer on your time and sight. 
 
 ee Be assured, my Lord, I shall be always happy to hear 
 from your Lordship ; and to transact any business for you 
 here, whenever you may see occasion. It will afford me 
 real pleasure, to learn your Lordship’s sight is better, and 
 whatever else you may please to communicate to, my Lord, 
 your Lordship’s most obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 “ H. Meen.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Bread Street Hill, Jan. 20, 1807. ; 
 
 C( My long silence has, I assure your Lordship, pro- 
 ceeded from no other cause than my apprehension lest 
 my letters should occasion you unnecessary trouble ; for 
 I could not but observe with concern, that when your 
 Lordship last favoured me with a letter, it was not written 
 with your own hand. This single circumstance induced 
 me to fear that the weakness of your sight, of which you 
 had often complained, was not lessened, but increased. I 
 shall be sincerely glad to receive from your Lordship a 
 more favourable account. In the mean time, I once 
 more venture to trespass upon your Lordship’s patience 
 and time, by giving you the earliest information of the 
 loss we have sustained, by the death of our excellent and 
 j ustly-valued friend, Mr. Isaac Reed.* His paralytic affec- 
 tions have for some years been gradually increasing. To 
 persons thus afflicted all exertion is painful. It has long 
 been an effort of no common sort to move from his room, : 
 in which he constantly sat, surrounded by his books, and 
 occasionally relieved by the calls of his friends. Impor- 
 tuned by them, he sometimes, though but seldom, con- 
 sented to dine out. lie dined with Mr. Braithwaite on : 
 New-year’s day. His appetite continued to the last, as 
 did that of his friend Mr. Steevens ; for their complaints 
 were similar. On Sunday evening, Jan. 4th, I called, as 
 usual, to drink tea with him ; when, to my surprise and 
 sorrow, I found him confined to his bed. On the morn- ' 
 ing of the following day it was the misfortune of his sur- 
 
 * Mr. Reed died Jan. 5, 1807. Whilst confined to his bed by a fractured 
 thigh, Mr. Nichols dictated a Memoir of his friend, which was printed in the 
 Gent. Mag. for Jan. 1807, p. BO; and reprinted, with additions, in Literary 
 Anecdotes, II. 664. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 67 
 
 rounding friends to see him dying and dead. The talents 
 and virtues of this excellent man are too well known to 
 your Lordship to need any recital from me. His books 
 will be sold by auction, according to the directions given 
 in his will ; which was drawn up by himself with perspi- 
 cuity and precision, and bore the evident marks of a 
 benevolent mind. 
 
 “ I beg leave to communicate to your Lordship a piece 
 of literary intelligence, which I am confident has not yet 
 reached you, for it is scarcely known here; it being a 
 work that is printed only for the perusal of a few friends. 
 The work to which I refer, is a translation of Lycophron 
 into blank verse, by Lord Royston,* the eldest son of Lord 
 Hardwicke. The poem is illustrated by mythological 
 notes and a preface ; and it is printed in 4to. Mr. Reed 
 was of opinion, that I ought not, on account of this 
 version, to desist from pursuing my intended plan, which 
 will comprise many critical notes, the Greek text, and, 
 through the favour of your Lordship’s friendly exertions, 
 the curious MS. notes of Milton. 
 
 “ Mr. Thirlwall,f who, I understand, is not unknown to 
 your Lordship, and was for some time curate to Dr. 
 Percy, is about publishing some select parts of Bp. Jere- 
 my Taylor’s excellent works, particularly his f Holy Living 
 and Dying/ He intends to prefix a life of the author; 
 hut finds it difficult to collect materials. It occurred to 
 him, that, as he was for some years Bishop of Dromore, it 
 was likely that some of his more valuable papers may 
 have . been preserved in some muniment-room or reposi- 
 tory in your cathedral. Indeed it appeared to me very 
 probable that your Lordship’s research may have been 
 long since turned to discoveries from this quarter; and 
 that you may have in your possession some curious 
 documents respecting this distinguished man.'! Be pleased 
 to excuse the liberty I have taken, in turning your atten- 
 tion towards him and his works : any information from 
 >our Lordship, with regard to either, would be 
 
 * See p. 36. 
 
 u 6v ‘ Thomas Thirlwall, M.A. curate and lecturer of Stepney, and 
 0 f id ° r owers Gifford, Essex. He died March 17, 1827. He was father 
 latter 1 "' in 0 ** Thirlwall, Bp. of St. David’s. The “Primitiae” of (he 
 p„ r ’ Polished when he was only 11 years of age, were dedicated to Bp. 
 
 + B " e . e a memoir of Mr. Thirlwall, in Gent. Mag. 1827, i. 568. 
 dotes,’ ’V iiY'h's^ S6e remarks tJie ® ,ev ’ E< Jones > in “ Literary Ancc- 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 esteemed a singular favour, and would be acknowledged 
 with gratitude by Mr. Thirl wall, who desired me to pre- 
 sent his respectful compliments to your Lordship. 
 Dr. Jeremy Taylor is generally spoken of as Bishop of 
 Down and Connor. But in his funeral-sermon by Bust, 
 are these words: 4 the great Doctor Jeremy Taylor was 
 resolved upon for the Bishoprick of Down and Connor; 
 and not long after, Dromore was added to it But I am 
 trespassing, I fear, on your time, my Lord ; and troubling 
 you not only with the length of my letter, but with the 
 request it contains respecting J. Taylor’s works. 
 
 44 I sincerely condole with your Lordship for the loss 
 you have sustained ; * as does Mr. Nichols, who desired 
 me to present his respects, and to acknowledge the receipt 
 of two letters from your Lordship, which he would have 
 answered immediately, had he not been confined to his 
 bed by a fall, as he was walking in his printing-office. 
 By this accidental fall he has fractured the bone of one of 
 his thighs. He is assured by his medical friends, that he 
 is in the way of recovery and doing well ; but that he must 
 submit with patience to a long confinement. This to a 
 man of his activity is distressing.f 
 
 44 Be assured, my Lord, it will afford me the most sin- 
 cere pleasure to hear of the continuance of your good 
 health, and of whatever else you may please to communi- 
 cate through the favour of a line from yourself or friend. 
 I shall be happy to transact any business for your Lord- 
 ship here, in whatever way you may choose to point out ; 
 being, with much sincerity, your Lordship’s truly obliged 
 and obedient servant, H. Meen.” 
 
 * The death of Mrs. Percy, the wife of the Bishop, which occurred Dec. 
 30, 1806. See Gent. Mag. 1807, p. 91 ; a Poetical Epitaph on Mrs. 
 Percy, by Hafiz, in the same Magazine, p. GO ; and Lines to the Memory of 
 Mrs. Percy, by the Rev. H. Boyd, in the same vol. p. 185. Seventy 
 Poems by Hafiz appeared in the Gentleman’s Magazine from 1801 to 1817. 
 See General Index to the Poetry, vol. III. p. 508. 
 
 f Mr. Nichols fractured his thigh by a fall Jan. 8, 1807 (see Gent. 
 Mag, LXXVII. 79) ; but happily recovered, and lived for nearly twenty 
 years after the accident, dying Nov. 26, 1826. 
 
69 
 
 ROBERT ANDERSON, M.D. 
 
 Robert Anderson, M.D. well known to the 
 public as the editor and biographer of the British 
 Poets, was born at Carnwath, an extensive parish 
 in Lanarkshire, and was educated at a celebrated 
 school in the Royal Burgh of Lanark. His aca- 
 demical studies were prosecuted in the University 
 of Edinburgh, and, after an extended course of 
 literature and science, he there took his Doctor’s 
 degree. For several years he practised as a phy- 
 sician at Alnwick, in the county of Northumber- 
 land, where he married Miss Grey, a lady related 
 to the noble family of that name ; and being thus 
 emancipated from the necessity of professional 
 exertion, he finally returned to Edinburgh, where 
 he continued to reside for upwards of forty years, 
 in a condition of life removed from affluence, but 
 perfectly consistent with genuine independence and 
 comfort. 
 
 The works of Dr. Anderson are various and va- 
 luable, and have been favourably received by the 
 public ; they are principally critical and biogra- 
 phical. His edition and lives of the British Poets 
 in 14 large volumes, was published in 1795, and 
 was soon followed by an edition of Dr. Moore’s 
 Works : both were more creditable to the 
 
 editor than to the publishers, who injured the 
 sale of them by an ill-judged parsimony in 
 bringing them out. He next published the Mis- 
 cellaneous Works of Dr. Smollett ; this passed 
 through six editions; the eighth made up a separate 
 edition under the title of “The Life of Tobias 
 Smollett, M.D. with Critical Observations on his 
 Works,” Edin. 1800; this work is held in great 
 
70 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and just estimation ; but that which is most ad- 
 mired is his “Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., 
 with Critical Observations on his Works/’ third 
 edition, Edinburgh, 1815, 8vo. He also made 
 numerous contributions to various publications, 
 but more through his fondness for literature than 
 any love of money. His correspondence with 
 literary men was extensive, by whom he was held 
 in the greatest esteem, not more for his talents 
 than the frankness of his temper and the warmth 
 of his heart. He was very attentive to the interest 
 of men of letters, and peculiarly so to that of 
 young persons in whom he perceived any indica- 
 tions of genius. He was in his politics a sound 
 whig, and from his earliest youth showed the 
 highest respect for the civil and religious liberties 
 of mankind ; this his passion appeared even strong 
 in death, for on the very evening before he died, 
 he called for a map of Greece, that he might ob- j 
 serve the elements of this new state, in whose 
 future fortune he had felt himself so deeply inte- 
 rested. 
 
 Though Dr. Anderson lived to so good an old 
 age, his mental and corporeal faculties betrayed 
 few symptoms of it ; he had been uniformly tem- 
 perate and regular, and he possessed an habitual 
 cheerfulness. He was, in many cases, kind even 
 to enthusiasm. 
 
 Dr. Anderson died in Windmill-street, Edin- 
 burgh, March 20, 1830, in his 79th year, as much 
 regretted in his death as he was esteemed in his 
 life. Although he had outlived many of his oldest 
 friends, he still enjoyed the society of a respect- 
 able circle, who knew how to appreciate his cha- 
 racter, and will retain a pleasing sense of his 
 worth, and a lasting affectionate respect for his 
 memory.* 
 
 * Gent. Mag. April 1830, p. 375. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 71 
 
 Bp. Percy to Dr. Robert Anderson. 
 
 <£ SlR, Dublin, July 21, 1798. 
 
 “ Your edition of the Poets of Great Britain does 
 so much honour to their biographer and critic, that every 
 friend to literature should assist his candid and ingenious 
 labours ; this I hope will serve as my apology for address- 
 ing a letter to you, without a more regular introduction. 
 
 “ The part of your work in which I have found myself 
 more particularly interested, is the article of my beloved 
 friend Dr. Grainger. You have done justice to his merits 
 as a man and as a wn’iter, but have been very imperfectly 
 possessed of his writings. Here I can possibly be of 
 service to you, as I can not only point out to your notice 
 many anonymous poems, which he allowed to be printed 
 in periodical miscellanies, but several that were never 
 published, which he bequeathed to me, with all his MSS. 
 
 “ His only surviving daughter succeeded to a very 
 handsome fortune from her mother’s family ; otherwise a 
 complete collection of Dr. Grainger’s Poems might have 
 been published, to great advantage, by subscription, for 
 her benefit. I have often wished they could have been 
 given to the w'orld in a perfect form ; but the booksellers 
 will not undertake an edition without greater expectation 
 of profit than could be excited by an elegant but retired 
 poet, I should be very glad to deliver over to you all 
 these treasures, to make what use of them you pleased, 
 either to publish them separately, or in a future edition 
 of your general collection. 
 
 “ If this offer should prove acceptable, you will be 
 pleased to address a line to the Bishop of Dromore, in 
 Dublin, where I am at present, and when I go to my see 
 (which the cessation of our disturbances give me hopes I 
 shall do soon), I will look over my papers and give you 
 more perfect information on the subject. In the mean 
 tune I remain, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 “ T. Dromore.” 
 
72 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Dr. Robert Anderson to Bishop Percy. 
 
 My Lord, Heriot’s Green, Edinburgh, Nov. 30, 1798. 
 
 “ The very polite and flattering letter which your Lord- 
 ship was pleased to write to me from Dublin, in July last, 
 concerning my edition of the British Poets, happened to 
 be sent to my house duiing my absence from town, and 
 reached me only about the middle of September. It is 
 but an ill return I make to your Lordship for the atten- 
 tion and approbation with which you have honoured my 
 willingness, rather than my ability, to do justice, among 
 others, to the memory of your friend Dr. Grainger, to 
 have delayed my acknowledgment so long. I doubt 
 whether I shall easily obtain your Lordship’s pardon for 
 my tardiness ; but if you imagine that it has proceeded 
 from either neglect or indifference, you neither do justice 
 to yourself nor to me. I am incapable of deliberately 
 showing any disrespect to the learned and ingenious editor 
 of the “ Reliques of Ancient English Poetry,” the most 
 competent judge in our nation of the value of my 
 endeavours to vindicate the claims of many too much 
 neglected English poets ; and can never be insensible of 
 the politeness and liberality of the venerable Bishop of 
 Dromore, the friend of Shenstone, Johnson, Goldsmith, 
 and Grainger, in condescending to offer me his assistance 
 in reprinting, with additions, the poems of the elegant 
 author of e The Sugar-Cane/ 
 
 “ The correspondence of many respectable persons in 
 Great Britain and Ireland, to whom I am personally 
 unknown, I reckon no inconsiderable addition to the 
 pleasure I have had in contributing to extend, however 
 little, the honour of our national poetry and the boundaries 
 of literary biography. But from those who have made 
 the poetry of our country an object of deliberate investi- 
 gation, I had not the vanity to expect either attention or 
 approbation ; and least of all from Dr. Percy, the most 
 respectable poetical antiquary now living, who, co- 
 operating with his learned contemporaries Warton and 
 Tyrwhitt, has not only strengthened and recommended 
 the taste for poetical antiquities, by the revival and illus- 
 tration of our ancient popular poetry, but reflected a 
 lustre on the poetry of elder time by the exquisite delicacy 
 and beautiful simplicity of his own compositions. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 73 
 
 “ I had certainly, my Lord, every reason imaginable to 
 be gratified by the favourable opinion of a man of your 
 character, whose literary merits have long stood high in 
 the public esteem ; and if I had followed my inclination I 
 should certainly have answered your letter, as far as it 
 depended upon me, immediately, by signifying, as I do 
 now, my thankful acceptance of your polite offer of 
 Grainger’s MS. poems in your possession, and my readi- 
 ness to co-operate with your Lordship in preparing a 
 complete collection of his poetical works for a separate 
 edition. But, in order to return your Lordship a satisfac- 
 tory answer, it was necessary for me to prevail upon some 
 bookseller to undertake the publication. This I found a 
 matter of some difficulty. From the times being so un- 
 favourable to literary productions, and Grainger being, as 
 your Lordship has observed, though an elegant, rather a 
 retired writer, I could not prevail upon the booksellers 
 here to engage in the undertaking, though I offered to 
 furnish the materials, and to give my assistance, gra- 
 tuitously. Having some time ago recommended to Mr. 
 Mundell, printer to the University of Glasgow, the pro- 
 prietor of the British Poets, a separate edition of 4 The 
 Sugar-Cane,’ I again applied to him, stating the plan you 
 suggested in the most encouraging manner; but being 
 then, as he has been during the last two months, in Lon- 
 don, he delayed giving me a final answer till his return to 
 Scotland. The weight of Dr. Percy’s name has at length 
 determined him; and I have now the pleasure to inform 
 your Lordship that he expresses his willingness to engage 
 in the publication, upon the conditions that it shall not 
 exceed two moderate duodecimo volumes, and that either 
 your Lordship or I shall be responsible for the edition. 
 
 1 imagine there is no hazard in my agreeing to the first 
 condition. With respect to the other, though I am 
 sensible that there is no person living better qualified to 
 perform the office of Grainger’s biographer and editor 
 an y° ur Lordship, and that no employment could be 
 more grateful or honourable to your feelings, at the 
 istance of so many years, yet there may exist circum- 
 s ances of delicacy connected with your episcopal charac- 
 er, which may induce your Lordship to decline it; in 
 j c 1 °.^ e J though conscious of my inability for the task, 
 ^ hling, as my necessary avocations and a very deli- 
 e state health may permit, to give a portion of my 
 
74 ILLUSTRATIONS OP LITERATURE. 
 
 time to the undertaking. The plan of a separate edition 
 meets with the approbation of all my literary friends here, 
 not only as erecting a respectable monument, which has 
 been long wanting, to the memory of our ingenious coun- 
 tryman, but as preparatory to the admission of his col- 
 lected works in the second edition of the British Poets, 
 which is in contemplation, the first, amounting to 2000 
 copies, being nearly sold off. Mr. George Paton obligingly 
 promises the use of his letters and other information; and 
 the Earl of Buchan did me the honour to breakfast with 
 me lately on purpose to talk over the scheme, and to 
 open fresh sources of information respecting his contro- 
 versy with Smollett (whose Life I am now revising for a 
 third edition), and his share in Maitland’s Scotland, Bio- 
 graphical Dictionary, Monthly Review, &c. In the 
 4 European Magazine 5 for September, I observe an 
 ode of Grainger’s, entitled 4 Cheerfulness,’ said to be 
 printed from a copy in his handwriting, with some notices 
 of him sufficiently known, and the titles of five other 
 pieces transmitted for the use of that publication, 4 Fancy, 
 an irregular Ode,’ 4 Address to the Evening Star,’ 4 The 
 Imperfect Retreat,’ 4 Love, an Ode,’ 4 To the Nymph 
 of P**«water on the authenticity of these pieces I 
 request your Lordship’s opinion. 
 
 44 I shall gladly receive the MSS. and have recourse to 
 your Lordship for such information as you are more able 
 to give than any other man. I am, my Lord, with the 
 greatest respect, your Lordship’s most obedient servant, 
 
 44 Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 Bp. Percy to Dr. Anderson. 
 
 u SlR, Dromore, 21st Feb. 1799. 
 
 44 That your obliging and truly acceptable letter hath 
 remained so long unacknowleged, I trust you could not 
 possibly attribute to any dissatisfaction at the contents, or 
 to any captious offence taken at your delay in writing, 
 which you have so well accounted for. I was unwilling 
 to write till I had recovered all Dr. Grainger’s papers, 
 which, with others of my own, had been huddled into 
 boxes, and buried in vaults, during our late Rebellion ; a 
 precaution which my servants had taken in my absence, 
 as one of the pitched battles with the King’s forces had 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 7B 
 
 been fought within ten miles of my house. I at last find 
 that one manuscript had been sent with some of my own 
 writings to England ; yet am not sure that it contains more 
 than an unfinished tragedy of his writing, intitled, f The 
 Fate (or Siege) of Capua/ In the course of the following 
 summer I expect a call to England, which will enable me 
 to give you a more satisfactory account of it. After all, I 
 should not have delayed writing to you so long had I not 
 been confined for more than a month past with an illness 
 that interrupted my researches. 
 
 “ I have two or three manuscript volumes, containing 
 many unfinished poems, but to the following he had given 
 his full correction, and printed them himself, but without 
 his name, in a periodical publication, intitled, 6 The Grand 
 Magazine, 1758/ all but the first, which he gave to Dods- 
 ley, and the last which he wrote for the f Reliques of 
 Ancient Poetry.’ 
 
 1. Ode to Solitude. 
 
 2. An Address to the Evening Star. 
 
 3. Three Elegies written from Italy. 
 
 4. Hymn [so he intitled it] to Cheerfulness. 
 
 5. To the Nymph of P # ** [Pithkeatly] Waters. 
 
 6. Triumph of Beauty. 
 
 7. Three Epigrams. 
 
 8. An Elegy on having quarrelled with Melinda. 
 i 9. Bryan and Pereene, a West India Ballad. 
 
 These, with his, 10. f Sugar Cane,’ and his Version of 
 Tibullus, were, I believe, all that he ever printed ; but I 
 have besides, a Translation, in our alternate elegiac 
 metre, of Ovid’s two Epistles of 
 
 11. Leander to Hero, and 
 
 12. Hero to Leander. 
 
 Ihese two were written to oblige a young friend* of his 
 at that time (circ. 1758), who had conceived a design 
 °f publishing a Translation of all Ovid’s Epistles in that 
 metre ; and a very ingenious poet f in this country has 
 oegged what pieces were then attempted, and intends to 
 complete them. 
 
 P. S. Your partiality for my slight attempts is ex- 
 piessed in terms, I fear, too strong. I beg all compli- 
 ments may be discontinued in our future correspondence, 
 our delicate sense of the peculiarity of my situation, and 
 c icious opinion concerning it, merits my thanks. I will 
 
 * Bp. p erC y s 
 
 f Mr. Boyd. 
 
76 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 not scruple to acknowledge every proper regard for the 
 memory and writings of my friend, and will give every 
 assistance to the edition for which, when Mr. Mundell 
 desired one of us to be responsible, I suppose he meant 
 that one of us should appear as editor ; if so, your kindly 
 stepping forward lays me under a particular obligation. 
 
 u In the European Magazine for September 1798, page 
 192, the editor is promised the following poems of Dr. 
 Grainger, from copies in his own hand-writing, viz. 
 
 1. Solitude; an Ode. 
 
 2. Cheerfulness; an Ode [which is printed]. 
 
 3. Fancy; an irregular Ode.* 
 
 4. An Address to the Evening Star. 
 
 5. The Imperfect Retreat. 
 
 6. Love ; an Ode. 
 
 7. To the Nymph of P*** Waters.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Bp. Percy. 
 
 e ‘ My Lord, Heriot’s Green, June 20, 1799. 
 
 “ I seize with pleasure the opportunity of a gentleman 
 of this place setting out for Dublin, to return your Lord- 
 ship my acknowledgments for the favour of your truly 
 acceptable and interesting letter, dated Feb. 21, from 
 Dromore. 
 
 <e Amidst much ill health, and the cares that daily press 
 upon me, these acknowlegments would have been sooner 
 made, had I not waited, for some time, in expectation of 
 receiving, by some private conveyance, the copies of 
 Grainger’s MSS. and printed poems, which your Lordship 
 deemed worthy of publication, with your corrections, &c. 
 
 “ I waited also for the recovery of Mr. Paton from a 
 tedious indisposition, in hopes of being able to give your 
 Lordship some account of the Grangeriana in his posses- 
 sion. That worthy and communicative gentleman re- 
 ceived your Lordship’s remembrance with great satisfac- 
 tion ; and such at the time was his fancied activity, that 
 he promised to send me, in a few days, every letter, &c. 
 belonging to Grainger, with remarks on my account of his 
 Life ; but since that time (the beginning of March) the 
 infirmities of age have increased so fast upon him, that he 
 has never been able to exert himself sufficiently for that 
 purpose. His very valuable and extensive collection is, 
 
 * Printed, in European Mag. 1799, p, 405. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 77 
 
 indeed, so ill arranged, that it is at all times difficult for 
 him to produce what is in his possession. He is very- 
 feeble, but, as the warm season advances, I hope he will 
 o-ain a little strength, and favour me with his recollec- 
 tions; yet, at the age of eighty, the most vigorous consti- 
 tution cannot afford much hope.* 
 
 “ I now regret that I did wait upon any account what- 
 ever, since to your Lordship I may seem to render an 
 unworthy return for the amicable obligations you have 
 conferred upon me. / 
 
 “ I am truly indebted to your Lordship for a friendly 
 call I received some time ago from Dr. Trail, of Lisburne; 
 who, while he gave me the assurance I wanted of your 
 continuing to enjoy the blessings of health and domestic 
 tranquillity, strengthened at the same time by his in- 
 quiries (a conviction I before entertained), that I had 
 delayed these acknowledgements too long. 
 
 “ I have, indeed, my Lord, been silent ; but never for 
 a moment insensible of your polite attention, nor un- mindful 
 of the task I imposed upon myself of editing, with your 
 assistance, the Works of Grainger at the Glasgow press. 
 
 “ Upon mature reflection, I am still of opinion it would 
 be creditable to your Lordship, and highly advantageous 
 to the edition, that it comes out under your name, and 
 with such an account of the author and his writings as 
 you are best able to give; in which case, I profess my 
 readiness to obey your instructions, to the utmost extent 
 of my ability, with respect to the mode of printing it, and 
 superintending it through the press. Mr. Mundell will 
 risk the expence of an edition in two volumes small 8vo, 
 but will promise nothing to the editor, but as many copies 
 c ^ 00se present to his friends. For the sake 
 sake of literature, I wish your Lord- 
 ; but if higher considerations, such 
 as I formerly suggested, oppose my wishes, I urge them 
 no further, but think myself honoured in being your co- 
 adjutor in doing justice to the memory of a worthy and 
 ingenious man. At present my hands are pretty full : the 
 revision of the Lives must be forwarded. I proceed pro- 
 fessionally through the old poets, but slowly, waiting for 
 1 -lalnne’s transcripts from Aubrey’s MSS. Any additional 
 notices respecting them, or the modern poets, especially 
 )oui contemporaries, Shenstone, Jago, Goldsmith, War- 
 
 LXXVTT^n^S® 6 -* >atori died i n May 1807, in his 87th year. See Gent. Mag. 
 * ii- 077, His library was sold by auction in 1809. (LXXIX. 348.) 
 
 oi uramger, tor the ; 
 ship to be the editor 
 
78 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ton, &c. &c. will be thankfully received. I will quit 
 them, however, awhile, for Grainger, whenever you are 
 pleased to furnish me with materials to work upon. If 
 you have made a selection of the proper pieces for publi- 
 cation, a safe conveyance now offers by the return of the 
 gentleman who leaves this, in passing through Dromore. 
 I inclose his address, for any parcel sent to Belfast by 
 the coach in eight days, under cover to Mr. Robert 
 Thomson, care of J. S. Ferguson, Esq. Belfast. 
 
 (t Two very dear and ingenious friends of mine, ad- 
 mirers of Dr. Percy’s writings, have availed themselves 
 of this conveyance to desire your Lordship’s acceptance 
 of some of their publications, f The Pictures of Poetry’ * 
 and c The Pleasures of Hopej’t the last is universally 
 admired here, and has had an unprecedented sale. The 
 intended edition of Grainger is known in London, and 
 has, I observe, been noticed with approbation in several 
 periodical publications. Having to write by this convey- 
 ance, upon a very short notice, to Mr. Cooper Walker 
 and Mr. Whyte, in return for books and useful informa- 
 tion, will, I trust, apologize for this hasty and imperfect 
 acknowledgment, from my Lord, your Lordship’s grate- 
 ful servant, Si Ro. Anderson,” 
 
 Bp. Percy to Dr, Anderson, 
 
 i( DEAR Sir, Dromore House, July 1st, 1799. 
 
 “I received your very obliging letter of June 20th, 
 accompanied with two elegant presents of poems from 
 your ingenious friends, to whom I beg you will return my 
 best acknowledgments. I should gladly avail myself of 
 the opportunity of transmitting to you by Mr. Thom- 
 son the MSS. of my dear friend Dr. Grainger, but I have 
 found, by collating the copy of his Poem on Cheerfulness, 
 in the European Magazine for August 1798, with a printed 
 and a manuscript copy in my possession, that it would be 
 very desirable first to collate his other poems with the 
 copies promised in the European Magazines for Septem- 
 ber et seqq., which I have not yet been able to procure 
 in this remote region, but I am expecting them ; and, as 
 soon as I can settle a good text from these various 
 copies, I will easily get the whole conveyed to you, and 
 
 * By Alexander Thomson. See Monthly Review, vol. XXXIII. 149. 
 f By Thomas Campbell, ‘He died June 15, 1844. See Gent. Mag. 1844, 
 ii, 213. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 79 
 
 then we can settle the terms and adjust the mode of 
 printing the proposed edition of Dr. Grainger’s Poems* &e. 
 
 “ In the mean time, I must request your acceptance 
 of my last edition of the ‘ Reliques of Ancient English 
 Poetry,’ from the editor, my nephew. 
 
 “ In your Life of Shenstone you refer to a passage in 
 Mr. Graves’s c Recollections,’ concerning the share he 
 (Mr. Shenstone) is supposed to have had in the f Reliques,’ 
 Sec. On this subject be pleased to look into a Note in 
 my Preface, vol. 1, page xvii. (t) j and, if you have his 
 letter to Mr. Graves there mentioned, you will see how 
 that matter was. But I have had a letter of retractation 
 in form from Mr. Graves himself, which I hope to show 
 you. 
 
 “ As I could not now send you Grainger’s Poems pre- 
 pared for the press, I was glad of the opportunity of send- 
 ing you these slight volumes ; and if I had been possessed 
 of two copies more, I would have transmitted two other 
 sets for the two gentlemen who so obligingly favoured me 
 with the productions of their muse ; but if you will be 
 pleased to inform me how my London bookseller can 
 transmit the books to them, they shall be forwarded to 
 Edinburgh without delay ; as also another copy for Mr. 
 Paton, if he has never received one of this edition. 
 
 “ In the mean time believe me to be, dear Sir, your most 
 obedient humble servant, Tho. Dromore.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to the Bishop of Dromore. 
 
 " My Lord, Heriot’s Green, July 3 1st, 1799. 
 
 “ This letter will be delivered to your Lordship by your 
 friend Dr. Traill, ■who sets out from this place, on his 
 return to Ireland, to-morrow, and expects to be at Dro- 
 more in the course of eight days. The Doctor was so 
 obliging as to take the trouble to call at my house this 
 morning, to inquire, by your Lordship’s desire, if I had 
 received a parcel you sent by Mr. Thomson; and, with 
 a politeness that seems natural to him, to offer to take 
 charge of anything I had to send to Dromore. 
 
 “ I thankfully and willingly avail myself of the Doctor’s 
 offer, to write a few hasty lines to your Lordship; for 
 though I have not yet received the present you intended 
 for me, owing to Mr. Thomson’s not returning, as he 
 ln tended, by Belfast, I feel myself obliged by the honour 
 
80 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 you have clone me, by presenting me with a copy of your 
 £ Reliques,’ and seize this opportunity to return you my 
 sincere thanks for such an obliging mark of your attention 
 and regard. I am impatient for the arrival of the parcel, 
 and I have hopes that your Lordship’s much-valued 
 present may be accompanied with some papers or useful 
 information relative to Grainger; but I am under no 
 apprehension for its safety. Mr. Thomson assures me 
 that, upon his leaving Dublin, he wrote to Mr. Ferguson 
 at Belfast, to be careful to send any parcel that might be 
 addressed to him, by a safe shipmaster, to Greenock. 
 As he has not yet received any of the goods which he 
 commissioned at Belfast, he supposes that no ship has 
 come from that place to Greenock since he was there. 
 
 te I was favoured by Mr. Thomson with a letter from 
 your friend Mr. J. C. Walker, containing some useful 
 information for my republication of the Lives of the 
 Poets ; particularly some information relating to Gold- 
 smith’s £ Auburn/ I am at present engaged among the 
 old poets. £ To your stock of biographical notices/ says 
 Mr. Walker, £ respecting them, 1 can, I fear, add but 
 little; but from my friend Bp. Percy you may derive 
 much. I hope his Lordship will indulge us with a Life 
 of Surrey/ Need I add my wishes to those of your 
 ingenious and learned friend ? I wish also to be indulged 
 with those notices, which you are best enabled to give, of 
 Shenstone, and your other poetical contemporaries. Mr. 
 T. Park, of London, has favoured me with a curious MS. 
 poem, Eloisa to Abelard, which, in the opinion of Mr. 
 Malone, bears indubitable marks of being an anterior pro- 
 duction to that of Pope. It is supposed to be of the eera 
 of Gt. Anne, and probably belonged to Gay. The paral- 
 lelisms are numerous and striking. Who could have the 
 idle vanity to compose a poem after Pope, on a similar 
 subject ? This poetic curiosity I reserve for critical dis- 
 quisition in my republication of Pope’s Life. 
 
 “ Another poem of Grainger’s * has appeared in the 
 European Magazine. 
 
 “ I am happy to inform your Lordship that Mr. Paton 
 is upon the recovery. I dined with him last week; his 
 conversation was cheerful and instructive, but he has as 
 yet fourjd no poems or letters of Grainger’s, tie is to 
 renew his researches. 
 
 * “ Fancy, an irregular Ode." See Vol. XXXV, p. 405. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 81 
 
 “ I am,, very respectfully, my Lord, your Lordship’s 
 faithful, humble servant, Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 e£ My Lord, Heriot’s Green, 28 Sept. 1799. 
 
 “ I am much obliged by your Lordship’s last favour of 
 July 1st, and beg leave to repeat my sincere thanks for 
 the much valued present of a very elegant copy of the 
 new edition of the 4 Reliques,’ which accompanied it. 
 The parcel, which should have been brought here by Mr. 
 Thomson, had been long delayed at Belfast, and after- 
 wards at Greenock ; for it reached Edinburgh only about 
 three weeks ago, when I happened to be from home. 
 The volumes, very fortunately, had been so carefully 
 packed that they received no injury. They have been 
 frequently in my hands ; and are now upon my table. 
 
 44 I observe many useful and important additions, &c. 
 in the preliminary essays and prefatory notices ; but no 
 additions appear to have been made to the poetry. In- 
 deed very little could have been added without enlarging 
 the volumes to an inconvenient size, or forming an addi- 
 tional volume. Yet I could have wished, among other 
 pieces that might be mentioned, that both the first and 
 second parts of e Love will find out the way’ (vol. iii.), 
 which are said in the St. James’s Chronicle to have been 
 printed together 4 at London, for F. Foulis, dwelling in 
 the Old Baily,’ had again been united in one publication. 
 It is there said also that the first part of this ballad varies 
 in many instances from that printed in the 4 Reliques.’ 
 
 “ In a folio MS. collection of old heroic ballads and. 
 songs in my possession, I observe a different copy of 
 c Sir Patrick Spence ’ from that printed in the c Reliques.’ 
 “ The elegant and appropriate inscription of the 4 Re- 
 liques ’ to the memory of the late Duchess of Northum- 
 berland, is highly honourable to her Grace’s character 
 and to your Lordship’s feelings, yet I cannot help regret- 
 ting the omission of the former dedication to the Countess, 
 which I have always admired, as it contains a handsome 
 vindication and recommendation of the work, and exhibits 
 a beautiful specimen of dignified, delicate, and well- 
 turned compliments. 
 
 “ I observe an allusion to that magnificent and high 
 spirited lady, the rebuilding of Alnwick Castle, and the 
 °cal scenery, in a MS. 4 Monody’ in my possession, 
 v OL. VII. Q 
 
82 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 written in 1787 by a gentleman * who had resided in Aln- 
 wick, on the death of a beloved wife, a relation of the 
 Howick family. The subject, at least, will, I think, please 
 your Lordship ; for the Percy family, and the scenery in 
 the neighbourhood of Alnwick Castle, which your taste 
 contributed to embellish, must be associated in your mind 
 with many agreeable and affecting images. If I am not 
 prevented, I will transcribe the passages relating to Aln- 
 wick, for your Lordship’s perusal ; and likewise the ballad 
 above mentioned. I have a strong temptation, in the 
 opportunity of a private conveyance, of which I wil- 
 lingly avail myself, though I must write in haste. 
 
 “ My poetical friends, Thomson and Campbell, are 
 much obliged by your Lordship’s acceptance of their little 
 volumes ; and highly flattered by the honour you intend 
 them of a present of the ‘ Reliques.’ They bid me say 
 that copies addressed to Messrs. Mundell and Son, Edin- 
 burgh, to the care of Messrs. Longman and Rees, book- 
 sellers, Paternoster-row, London, will come here safely, 
 with other books. Mr. G. Paton has not yet received a 
 present of the new edition, and is equally gratified with 
 the honour you intend him. The copy, he bids me say, 
 may be sent here, by the same conveyance, to Messrs. 
 Mundell and Sons. I have just been with this liberal 
 and communicable old man, to procure a copy of the i Or- 
 pheus Caledonius,’ for the use of my friend Dr. Currie of 
 Liverpool, the biographer and editor of Burns, the Scottish 
 poet. 
 
 “ I have observed only one other piece of Grainger’s in 
 the European Magazine, which, probably, you have seen. 
 I am thinking to desire a friend in London to send the 
 Editor a note, requesting him to print the remaining 
 pieces, that your Lordship may be enabled to proceed 
 with the collation. My hands are pretty full at present, 
 with revising the old poets ; corresponding with Dr. 
 Currie on Scotish song, &c. G. Chalmers likewise is 
 preparing a Life of A. Ramsay, and levying contributions. 
 I have observed the note respecting Shenstone. I wish 
 for more information ; but I cannot urge your Lordship 
 further. Surrey’s Life I yet expect from you, when you 
 edit his poems, so long promised. I am always, my 
 Lord, yours, most faithfully, Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 * This was Dr. Anderson himself. See p. 69. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 83 
 
 Bp. Percy to Dr. Robert Anderson. 
 
 e: DEAR SlR, London, June 18, 1800. 
 
 “ On the 16th April, I sent you in a cover franked by 
 Gaspar Ercke, Esq. (Under Secretary at War,) from Dub- 
 lin, as complete a collection of Dr. Grainger’s Poems as I 
 had been able to procure in print or manuscript, but, as I 
 never received notice of their coming safe to your hands, 
 I fear they miscarried. They were directed to the care of 
 Messrs. Mundell and Son, Edinburgh. I shall be very 
 glad to find that they have not miscarried, and can very 
 readily excuse your having omitted to write to me, on 
 account of the continual demands upon you for your time 
 and attention by other more pressing literary claims.” 
 
 Dr. Robert Anderson to Bp. Percy. 
 
 iC My LORD, Heriot’s Green, 21 June, 1800. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s kind favour, dated Dublin, April 16, 
 accompanying the Poems of Dr. Grainger, arrived here 
 very safely, and has remained too long unacknowledged. 
 I am unquestionably very much to blame, in not sooner 
 acknowledging the receipt of a packet so truly valuable 
 and acceptable. My omission, I confess, has been partly 
 intentional; but there is danger in delaying the perform- 
 ance of any duty. I flatter myself, however, that to your 
 Lordship’s candour it will not convey the slightest sus- 
 picion of deliberate inattention to the honour of your cor- 
 respondence. 
 
 “ Knowing that your Lordship was to embark for Eng- 
 land soon after the date of your letter to me, I intended 
 to offer you my early congratulations on the happiness of 
 being re-united to your family in Northamptonshire, after 
 so long period of separation, anxiety, ancl alarm, impe- 
 riously exacted by the high considerations of public duty. 
 1 communicated my intention to an ingenious friend here, 
 ™ wished to avail himself of the opportunity to submit 
 o your Lordship’s inspection one or two of his composi- 
 tons in the style of the ancient Scottish ballad, in testi- 
 mony of his high respect for your character, and of his 
 gratitude to the editor of 4 The Reliques,’ upon which he 
 oinied his taste for ballad thinking and expression. He 
 appened soon after to go into the country, where he has 
 een detained till now, when he does himself the honour 
 
 G 2 
 
84 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 he intended, by transmitting two ballads, f The Eve of St. 
 John/ and ‘ Glenfinlass/ for your Lordship’s opinion, and 
 desires me to offer you the testimony of his sincerest 
 esteem and veneration. The name of my friend is Walter 
 Scott, Esq. a native of Tiviotdale, of the Harden family, 
 an Advocate, and Sheriff of Selkirkshire. He is the trans- 
 lator of Burgess’s f Leonore ’ and 4 Earl Walter/ and 
 Goethe’s f Goetz,’ and will soon appear as editor of a col- 
 lection of Border Ballads, to be entitled f The Minstrelsy 
 of the Border/ in one volume, printing at Kelso, upon the 
 plan of e The Reliques,’ which will be followed by two vo- 
 lumes of ‘ Illustrations of Border History, Poetry, and 
 Popular Antiquities/* 
 
 “ I have now, my Lord, to return you my cordial 
 thanks, in the name of the public, for the care and pains 
 you have taken to collect, collate, and transmit to me the* 
 uncollected and in edited poems of Dr. Grainger, for a 
 complete and uniform edition. I cannot express my feel- 
 ings on the sight of the writings of a man of genius thus 
 put into my hands for publication, by the kindness of an 
 affectionate friend, so long after his death ; hut I have 
 no difficulty in expressing my opinion of the poems, which, 
 upon a cursory examination, I easily perceive, though of 
 unequal merit, as must ever be the case in a collection of 
 juvenile poetry, are upon the whole creditable to the 
 talents of the writer, not unworthy of the author of f The 
 Sugar Cane ’ and the e Ode on Solitude/ and in one or 
 two instances afford even a higher idea of his powers. I 
 am happy to coincide in opinion with your Lordship and 
 Mr. Boyd respecting the emendatory variations in the 
 pieces printed in the European Magazine. What he deli- 
 berately printed in the Grand Mag. is certainly entitled 
 to respect ; but the additions and alterations have so much 
 the appearance of improvement, that they may reasonably 
 be supposed to have been the result of a subsequent revi- 
 sion. If the editor of the European Magazine (who is, I 
 believe, Mr. Reed of Staple’s Inn,) would have the good- 
 ness to communicate (if at liberty) the pieces in his pos- 
 session, for the use of the edition, or the name of the 
 person (if known) from whom he received them, every 
 ground of doubt and suspicion might be removed by the 
 
 * Thus far of this letter is printed in Prior's Life of Goldsmith, II. 78, 
 from the original, then in possession of Mr. Mason. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 85 
 
 evidence of the poet’s handwriting, and the history of the 
 MSS. If this favour could be obtained through the inter- 
 vention of any of your Lordship’s literary friends in London, 
 it might put me in the possession of some valuable addi- 
 tions to the collection, and some useful intelligence. There 
 can be no objection to Mr. Boyd’s associating the two 
 Epistles from Ovid with his own version of the Heroides ; 
 but correct copies of them at least may probably be wanted 
 before his work be published ; for I cannot settle the plan 
 of the edition with Mr. Mundell and the arrangement of 
 the pieces till the whole materials be in my possession. 
 £ The Fate of Capua,’ a tragedy, among your Lordship’s 
 papers in England, though not prepared for representa- 
 tion, may perhaps be worth bringing forward in the edi- 
 tion. I have lately met with a poetical curiosity, a neat 
 edition of £ The Sugar Cane,’ with ‘ Beauty, a Poem, by 
 the same Author,’ in 12mo, London, printed and sold by 
 the booksellers, 1/66. The poem consists of 515 lines, in 
 blank verse, and is a chaste and elegant performance. I 
 should be glad to have your Lordship’s authority to ascribe 
 it to Dr. Grainger.* The internal evidence seems favour- 
 able to the supposed authenticity. Dr. Johnson’s £ Irene, ’f 
 in particular, is noticed in it, I think, in a friendly way. 
 I will thank your Lordship for your opinion of this 
 novelty, and to dilate a little at your leisure upon the 
 plan of the edition, upon the impression which the powers 
 and manners of Dr. Grainger made upon your mind, and 
 upon the biographical illustrations which may be thought 
 necessary. Notices of his friends, communicated in the 
 ‘ Sugar Cane’ and the e Tibullus,’ will be acceptable. Some 
 of them are designed by initials, which may now be given 
 at length. 
 
 “ Having been called away when I had written the 
 above this morning, I had the pleasure to find on my 
 return your Lordship’s most obliging favour of the 18th 
 mst. from London on my table ; which has laid me under 
 additional obligations to your liberality and indulgence. I 
 am truly sensible of your Lordship’s kindness in doing 
 justice to my sentiments towards you at all times ; if you 
 should suspect me of inattention to your correspondence, 
 
 * See hereafter, p. 87. 
 
 t An autograph first sketch of “ Irene” was presented by Bennet Lang* 
 „ on to George the Third, and is now in the British Museum. The variations 
 rom the printed copy are pointed out by Boswell in his Life of Johnson. 
 
86 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 it would give me pain ; or if you should conceive that I 
 had rather make excuses than acknowledge in time the 
 receipt of your favours ; this also would hurt me. Having 
 waited so long, I thought it better to wait till Mr. Scott’s 
 arrival should enable me to make my return to your Lord- 
 ship more acceptable. 
 
 “ I return your Lordship my thanks for the copy of 
 Mr. Graves’s Letter, which will be of use to me. 
 
 i( Dr. Frome (with whom I have frequently the pleasure 
 to converse) has misunderstood my correspondence with 
 Dr. Currie of Liverpool, the editor of Burns, for which he 
 is admirably qualified, as your Lordship will perceive now 
 that the edition is come out. 
 
 “ I am to he drawn aside from my Prefaces, to edit 
 the whole works of Drummond, in 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 “ I am interested in Mrs. West, and will be obliged to 
 your Lordship for her Poems, which may be sent to the 
 care of Mundell and Son here, to Messrs. Longman and 
 Rees, London. 
 
 “ Mr. Campbell and Mr. Thomsons copies of the f Re- 
 liques’ have not come to hand. 
 
 “ I am, &c. R. Anderson.” 
 
 <e My Lord, Heriot’s Green, 13 Sept. 1800. 
 
 “ I have this day been favoured with your Lordship’s 
 letter of the 8th instant, accompanying Grainger’s MS. 
 Tragedy ; and have again experienced your kind indul- 
 gence to my culpable tardiness in acknowledging your 
 most obliging favour of Aug. 8, a present of Mrs. West’s 
 Poetry, and three copies of s The Reliques’ for my friends 
 here, of which I am truly sensible. 
 
 (e I have many apologies to make for my omissions, 
 Which to your Lordship’s candour I am sure would not be 
 made in vain ; but I am convinced that the best excuse 
 I can make for them is to dispatch this cordial acknow- 
 ledgment of your Lordship’s favours with as little delay 
 and as little ceremony as possible. 
 
 “ I was truly concerned to hear of your Lordship’s 
 indisposition before you left town, but now flatter myself> 
 from the intention you express of setting out soon on 
 your return to Dromore, that your health has been tole^ 
 rably re-established ; and by the quiet and good air of the 
 country I pray God it may long continue, for the sake of 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 87 
 
 your friends and the world at large, but little interrupted 
 by the few infirmities which a temperate declining age 
 brings on frail mortality. 
 
 “ Before I had your Lordship’s letter, I found the 
 poem on Beauty,* given by Pearch,f on good authority I 
 suppose, to Shiels, wlio,j I think, wrote also a poem on 
 the death of Thomson, entitled f Musidorus.’ I wished 
 to have full information concerning the copies of Grain- 
 ger’s poems in the European Magazine ; but since your 
 Lordship is satisfied they are, as they appear to be, 
 the genuine productions of Grainger, it is of little import- 
 ance. I have just had time to glance, with eagerness, at 
 the unfinished tragedy. One or two good passages 
 caught my eye : if it be too imperfect for publication, it 
 will give some idea of his powers for dramatic composi- 
 tion. When the Ovidian Epistles arrive, the collection 
 will, I suppose, be complete, and the printing may pro- 
 ceed. Your Lordship, I presume, would prefer the 
 printed copies, and bring forward no variations. I 
 earnestly request your Lordship, at your leisure, to 
 favour me with the communication of such corrections 
 and additions to the printed Life as you are able to give. 
 Does your Lordship know of any portrait of Grainger for 
 an engraved head ? 
 
 “ I had the pleasure to present the copies of f The 
 Reliques’ to Mr. Paton and Mr. Thomson, who both ex- 
 pressed their obligations to your Lordship for the ho- 
 nour you have done them, and will thank you themselves 
 by this opportunity. Mr. Campbell is at present in Ger- 
 many, but is expected to return in a few months. Mr. 
 Paton is very ill, but is to write your Lordship. 
 
 “ Mr. Scott was highly gratified by your Lordship’s 
 approbation of his ballads, and the scheme of his collec- 
 tion of Border Lays, which is not yet gone to press. 
 I know Mr. Jamieson, § through my accomplished friend 
 Mr. ILeber, and had the pleasure to introduce him to Mr. 
 Scott, in whom, instead of an imperious rival, he found a 
 friend and liberal promoter of his intended publication of 
 a ‘ Collection of Old Scottish Ballads/ with some Anno- 
 tations written by himself. He intends to give after-* 
 ivards a volume of Old English Ballads, and a volume of 
 
 * Seep. 85. f Collection of Poems, 6 vols. 1775. 
 
 + Robert Shiels was an amanuensis of Dr. Johnson. He died Dec. 27< 
 1 ‘ ^3. See Gent. Mag. 1753, p. 590 ; and Lit. Anec. Y. 308. 
 
 § See p. 90. 
 
88 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Gaelic, Welsh, and Norse Ballads. He is very desirous 
 of being known to your Lordship, and I am happy to 
 bear my testimony to his learning, ingenuity, candour, 
 and integrity. The old copy of Gil Morice, in your pos- 
 session, he is most anxious to see, and would esteem it a 
 great favour to have the liberty to copy it for the purpose 
 of collation. He is known to Sir F. M. Eden, whose re- 
 commendation will be more effectual than mine. 
 
 “ Mr. Thomson, an advocate here, a relation of the late 
 Lord Hailes, is about to publish a collection of his original 
 Works, with his Life. Has your Lordship any letter or 
 papers that would promote his undertaking ? I send you 
 a packet by Mr. Aust. I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s 
 most faithful servant, “ Bo. Anderson. 
 
 C£ My LORD, Heriot’s Green, Sept. 14, 1800. 
 
 “ Writing your Lordship yesterday, in unavoidable 
 haste, I omitted to mention, amongst other things, the in- 
 formation I obtained from Mr. Foulis, relative to the dis- 
 posal of the French MSS. They may be left, he says, 
 with Mr. David Bremner, bookseller, opposite Southamp- 
 ton-street. Strand, London ; the partner, I believe, of Mr. 
 Elm sly. The pecuniary acknowledgment your Lordship 
 alludes to, would, I doubt not, be very acceptable to the 
 owner, a degenerate and unworthy son of Mr. Elzevir, of 
 Scotland. 
 
 “Dr. Trail and Lady Frances have been in Ireland, and 
 returned about two weeks ago, of which your Lordship 
 had, no doubt, been informed by the Doctor himself, whom 
 I have scarcely seen since his return, having been much 
 hampered with temporary business. 
 
 “ I owe your Lordship my particular thanks for Mrs. 
 West’s Poems,* with the perusal of which I have been, 
 
 * The Writings of Mrs. Jane West were highly approved of and recom- 
 mended by Bp. Percy. Her works, as well as her attention to her 
 domestic duties, have been frequently commended in the pages of the Gen- 
 tleman’s Magazine. See 1799, p. 1123; 1801, pp. 7, 99. Her Letters to 
 her Son were reviewed in 1801, p. 735. A letter of Mrs. West, to Lady 
 Dorchester, occurs in 1800, p. 3l8, and some sonnets of hers pp. 370, 465 ; 
 also lines addressed to her, p. 466. In the Gent. Mag. 1802, p. 100, is a 
 letter signed “ Desborough,” referring to the British Critic for Nov. 1801, 
 for “ a very satisfactory account of the person, character, and family of Mrs. 
 West, which were of the most respectable connections. Although her worthy 
 husband farmed his own estate, and she superintended the management of her 
 household and dairy with the most exemplary economy, they were neither of 
 them in the low situation which a writer in the same Magazine (p. 7) so 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 89 
 
 upon the whole, much delighted. They do credit to the 
 genius, taste, piety, and benevolence of the amiable and 
 elegant writer. They do not, in general, possess the spirit 
 and elevation of the higher poetry, but they abound in 
 tender, interesting, and moral sentiments, elegantly ex- 
 pressed in easy numbers, and adorned with pleasing po- 
 etical imagery. In some instances, as in the 4 Ode on 
 Poetry/ she soars far above mediocrity, and approaches 
 to sublimity. I am interested in Mrs. West as a wife, a 
 mother, and a friend. She is little known here, but the 
 domestic sketches your Lordship sent me, have been 
 eagerly circulated among my friends, and I have frequently 
 had the pleasure to introduce her ingenious, chaste, and 
 elegant volumes into the collections of persons of taste and 
 virtue. Her novels are more generally read and admired. 
 
 44 I have to apologize for troubling your Lordship with a 
 packet containing so many scraps and notices. I thought it 
 would be a little [amusement] for your Lordship to compare 
 4 Lord John and Proud Ellen,’ with 4 Child Waters/ in 
 4 The Reliques/ and I had it transcribed by a little girl at my 
 elbow, in whose hands your volumes are very frequently, 
 from a pretty large MS. collection of old Scottish Ballads, 
 communicated by Mrs. Brown, wife of Dr. Brown, minis- 
 ter of Falkland, in April last, to Professor Tytler, and 
 lent by the Professor to me. The story seems to be the 
 same with that of 4 Child Waters / the one is apparently a 
 Scottish, the other an English ballad ; as to wdiich is the 
 oldest, I pretend not to say. It is remarkable that Mrs. 
 Brown (a daughter of the late Professor Tho. Gordon, of 
 Aberdeen,) never saw any of the ballads she has trans- 
 mitted here, either in print or MS., but learned them all, 
 when a child, by hearing them sung by her mother and an 
 old maid- servant who had been long in the family, and 
 does not recollect to have heard any of them either sung 
 or said by any one but herself since she was about ten 
 years. She kept them as a little hoard of solitary enter- 
 tainment, till, a few years ago, she wrote down as many as 
 she could recollect, to oblige the late Mr. W. Tytler, and 
 again very lately wrote down nine ballads more to oblige 
 his son the Professor. 
 
 heedlessly represented them, with a blameable inattention to their feelings.” 
 Mrs. West had the misfortune to lose her husband Jan. 23, 1823, and paid a 
 lust tribute to his memory in Gent. Mag. 1823, i. 183. Mrs. West lost her 
 T - West, to whom her valuable letters were addressed, April 10, 
 ib43 - She is still living (Nov. 1846.) 
 
90 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 e ‘ Mr. Jamieson visited Mrs. Brown on his return here 
 from Aberdeen, and obtained from her recollection five or 
 six ballads and a fragment. If this treasure excites your 
 Lordship’s curiosity, I shall transmit to you the titles of 
 the ballads, with the first stanza, and number of stanzas 
 of each. The greater part of them is unknown to the 
 oldest persons in this country. — I accompanied Mr. J amie- 
 son to my friend Scott’s house in the country, for the sake 
 of briingng the collectors to a good understanding. I then 
 took on me to hint my suspicion of modern manufacture, 
 in which Scott had secretly anticipated me. Mrs. Brown 
 is fond of ballad poetry, writes verses, and reads every 
 thing in the marvellous way. Yet her character places her 
 above the suspicion of literary imposture ; but it is won- 
 derful how she should happen to be the depository of so 
 many curious and valuable ballads. — Mr. Scott gives a 
 few metrical romances in his Border Ballads. He would be 
 greatly obliged to your Lordship for some more informa- 
 tion about 4 Eger and Greme.’ We have recovered f Sir 
 Tristram.’ Mr. Heber has sent me, from Mr. Ellis, Way’s 
 Fabliaux, an elegant and delightful work. I am, very respect- 
 fully, my Lord, your faithful servant, “ R. Anderson. 
 
 “P.S. Mr. Jamieson* is a native of one of the northern 
 counties of Scotland, studied at Aberdeen, and has resided 
 about eight years in England, is master of Macclesfield 
 School, about 30 years of age. He speaks the Gaelic lan- 
 guage, and shows a strong propensity to settle all doubt- 
 ful etymologies by referring to that language. Against 
 this practice, so fallacious and unsatisfactory, I had many 
 objections. I objected also to his plan of editing the Old 
 Ballads, with interpolated stanzas written by himself, 
 whenever he conceives the narrations defective, or the 
 transitions abrupt, obscure, &c. He is to mark his addi- 
 tions. In other respects he appears to have rightly esti- 
 mated the duties of an editor. 
 
 u I am quite ashamed to send your Lordship this 
 hasty scrawl, but have not time to copy it over before the 
 post go out, and I wish to repair my omissions as soon as 
 possible.” 
 
 * Robert Jamieson, M.A. and F.S. A. author of “ Popular Ballads and 
 Songs,” 2 vols. 8vo. 1806. See Monthly Review 1807, vol. mi. p. 1.9. Mr. 
 J. was joint editor, with Mr. Weber, of “ Illustrations of Northern Antiqui- 
 ties ; from the earlier Teutonic and Scandinavian Romances,” 4to. 1816* 
 See Monthly Review, nxxx. 356. lxxxi. 68. In this work Mr. Weber illus- 
 trated Teutonic, and Mr. Jamieson illustrated Danish Antiquities* 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 91 
 
 ii My Lord, Heriot’s Green, Jan. 27 th, 1801 . 
 
 “ I received the pleasure of your Lordship’s most 
 obliging letter from Ecton, inclosing a kind and accept- 
 able communication for Mr. Scott, for which I must 
 entreat your Lordship to give me credit for the truest 
 sentiments of esteem and obligation. I know your Lord- 
 ship has too much goodness not to make proper allowance 
 for the variety as well as urgency of my present avoca- 
 tions, and to excuse me whenever I shall have appeared 
 remiss in my duty. 
 
 “ Mr. Scott was highly gratified and obliged by your 
 Lordship’s attention to his inquiries respecting the old 
 metrical romance of Eger ; and the obligation was 
 enhanced by your transcribing several stanzas of it for 
 him, at a time of much hurry and interruption. On Mr. 
 Scott’s part, he felt that particular thanks were due to 
 your Lordship for your polite attention, and I furnished 
 him with your address, for the purpose of giving him an 
 opportunity of showing his gratitude and respect, and of 
 corresponding with your Lordship on the subject of the 
 publication of his Border Ballads. The desire you ex- 
 pressed to see a list of the titles of the Ballads, has, I 
 doubt not, been long ago satisfied by Mr. Scott’s letter to 
 your Lordship, which was not long delayed ; and, though 
 it did not excuse my omission, served to assure your 
 Lordship that your packet to me came duly to hand. 
 
 “ By the way, I believe Mr. Scott has not yet made a 
 final selection of the Ballads to be inserted in his two 
 volumes. The contents of the first volume, w r hich consists 
 of Historical Ballads , and is now far advanced at the 
 press, are nearly settled; but the arrangement of the 
 second volume, which consists of Romantic Ballads, is 
 not yet completed. Mr. Lewis has offered him a Ballad 
 lately ; but he has so much discredited himself, as a man 
 talents and fortune, by the publication of his c Tales of 
 ” °nder,’ that the editor of the Border Ballads seems 
 ashamed of being associated with him in that work, and 
 disposed to decline his assistance. Mr. Jamieson, of 
 x Macclesfield, is so much alarmed by the disapprobation 
 ex pressed concerning the ‘ Tales of Wonder,’ that he is 
 ®ore than half resolved to proceed no farther in his 
 ^tended publication; but he is too easily dejected, and 
 , { st be encouraged to proceed. 
 
 A fourth volume of 4 The Reliques,’* from Dr. Percy, 
 
 * Never published. See Literary Anecdotes, VI. 583. 
 
92 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 lias given, as may be expected, very great pleasure, and 
 excited very general expectation here. It will give me 
 much satisfaction, if any of the Ballads in the list I now 
 send your Lordship from Mr. Ty tier’s collection, be 
 thought new or curious, to transcribe correct copies for 
 your perusal or use. 
 
 44 Mr. Tytler is son of the late William Tytler, Esq. of 
 Woodhouselie, in the county of Midlothian, author of the 
 Vindication of Queen Mary, and editor of the Poetical 
 Remains of James I., and a considerable contributor to 
 the Antiquarian and Royal Society Transactions of Edin- 
 burgh. He is Professor of Universal History in the Uni- 
 versity of Edinburgh, and Judge Advocate of North 
 Britain, and author of 4 Principles of Translation,’ 4 Out- 
 lines of Universal History,’ 4 Principles of Military Law,’ 
 and editor of Fletcher’s 4 Piscatory Eclogues,’ and a con- 
 tributor to the Transactions of the Royal Society, of 
 which he is Secretary to the Literary Class. A copy of 
 his 4 Principles of Translation’ will be presented to you 
 by his brother Colonel Tytler, upon the Irish Establish- 
 ment. 
 
 44 The death of Mr. Mundell threatened to derange our 
 plan respecting Grainger ; but I am now happy to inform 
 your Lordship that the business is to be carried on by his 
 brother, who is ready to begin to print Grainger. I am 
 afraid I tire your Lordship by my entreaties to send over 
 the remaining materials in your possession, with such 
 corrections and additions to the Life as you can give. 
 Mr. Mundell wishes to bring forward the edition this 
 winter. 
 
 44 I have been writing the Life of Smollett over again, 
 for a second edition of his works ; and I beg your Lord- 
 ship’s acceptance of an extra copy, and your opinion of 
 the controversy between him and Grainger. A thousand 
 thanks for your kind invitation to Dromore House. 
 Nothing could give me greater pleasure than to obey it. 
 Dr. Trail desires his respectful compliments. 
 
 44 1 am, &c. Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 44 My Lord, Heriot’s Green, May 9th, 1801., 
 
 44 It must have appeared, I fear, not a little extraordi- 
 nary to your Lordship, that I should have sent, for your 
 acceptance, a copy of my Life of Smollett, and other little 
 things, without acknowledging the receipt of your letter 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 93 
 
 from Northamptonshire;, of a distant date. I confess that 
 a sore self-accusation lies on my mind for my omission. 
 I am anxious, however, to convince your Lordship that I 
 am not quite so culpable as I may have appeared ; and, in 
 testimony of this truth, I inclose a letter written several 
 months ago, and supposed to be forwarded by a gentleman 
 going to Dublin, together with some things abovemen- 
 tioned, but which was left behind in consequence of the 
 gentleman’s forgetting to put the parcel into his trunk. 
 It was sent back (to my great surprise) on his return 
 from Ireland ; soon after Messrs. Mundell and Son found 
 an opportunity of sending it by a private conveyance to 
 Belfast, but unluckily the young man who prepared it at 
 the warehouse left out the letter. It contains the acknow- 
 ledgment long since due ; and the list and initiatory stanzas 
 of the old Ballads in Mr. Ty tier’s MS. collection. I 
 trust, therefore, it will plead more powerfully for me than 
 if it were re-written. 
 
 “ A considerable length of time has elapsed since the 
 arrival of your last packet from Dromore House, accom- 
 panied by the last fasciculus of Grainger’s Poetical Re- 
 mains. During the greater part of that time I have been 
 afflicted with a serious indisposition, threatening a pul- 
 monic affection, which weakened me exceedingly, and 
 rendered me incapable of the exertion of writing. I am now, 
 I thank God, considerably better, though I am still languid, 
 and have an habitual feverishness that never leaves me. 
 I have deferred the performance of my duty to your Lord- 
 ship, till I am roused from the languor that oppresses 
 me, and called away by Messrs. Mundell and Son from 
 the idleness of desultory reading, to prepare the works of 
 Grainger for the press. The death of Mr. James Mun- 
 dell (the successor of Foulis) has been a serious loss to 
 me, and indeed to literature in general, for his mind was 
 enlarged beyond the mere lucrative views of his profes- 
 sion. J possess, however, the confidence of his relations, 
 M carry on the printing and bookselling business here, 
 anc *, though I feel the want of his active and liberal co- 
 operation, I am to execute the extensive plan of the Lives 
 the British Poets, and the other literary undertakings 
 le left unfinished. They begin to print Grainger next 
 
 ee Y Collection is calculated to make two volumes 
 
 n!| f §vo. like Mrs. West’s Poems, but not so thick. 
 
 le Sugar Cane,’ with the f Life’ (which is not yet 
 
94 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 written), will make the first volume. As you mention no 
 corrected copy existing, I believe I must send it as it 
 stands in the 4to edition. Several passages want illus- 
 tration, which probably you can give, not to be used as 
 notes, but for my information. B. i. 1. 19, f Aurelius/ 
 the Governor General, — who is meant? 1. 231-2, where, 
 when, and in what situation did he live in Dorsetshire ? 
 Who are meant by 1. 329, 4 Amyntor/ 1. 544, s Christo- 
 belle/ 1. 580, ‘Mortano/ 1. 607, ‘Theodosia?’ B. ii. 
 1. 23, the particulars of his intimacy with e Shenstone ?’ 
 Is the tale, 1. 427, founded on fact ? B. in. 1. 31, c M***/ 
 if Colonel Martyn mentioned in the preface? 1. 153, 
 when, where, and in what situation did he live in Annan- 
 dale? 1. 377, compliment to Whitehead, particulars of 
 their intimacy ? 1. 463, c Avaro/ who is meant? 1. 509, 
 the particulars of his intimacy with ‘ Johnson,’ ‘ Percy,’ 
 e White,’ and 4 Mrs. Lennox/ Who is ‘White?’ 1. 514, 
 is ‘ Paeon’ s son^ Armstrong? if so, particulars of their inti- 
 macy ? B. iv. 1. 25, * * Melvill/ I suspected to mean 
 General Melvill,'* and he himself admits it. Through the 
 kindness of my noble friend the Earl of Buchan, the 
 worthy General has lately honoured me with his corre- 
 spondence, and communicated some valuable notices, 
 highly honourable to the poet and himself, and very flat- 
 tering to your Lordship. The miscellaneous poems are 
 not yet arranged. Does your Lordship approve of a 
 classical arrangement, Odes, Elegies, &c. ? I beg your 
 advice. Are the various readings to be printed, or only 
 what seems best? I think the Epistle can give no 
 offence to the Highlanders. I request your Lordship to 
 send me the corrections and additions you can furnish 
 for the ‘ Life,’ as soon as possible. When did Mrs. G. 
 and her daughter die ? to whom was the surviving daugh- 
 ter married ? where does she live ? Dilate a little, if you 
 please, on the statements of Boswell, and favour me with 
 your remarks on the controversy with Smollett, men- 
 tioned in the ‘Life’ I sent you. I suspect he was a 
 writer in the Monthly Review at the time, — a sufficient 
 ground of quarrel. Do you know any of his contribu- 
 tions, and when he ceased to write in it ? Give me the 
 history of his ‘ Tibullus/ of his coadjutor, Bonnel, and 
 
 * General Robert Melvill died Aug. 29, 1809, in his 86th year. See me- 
 
 moir of him in the Sixth volume of the present Work, 833. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 95 
 
 the anonymous translators of Ovid’s Elegies, &c. What 
 became of Bourryan ? 
 
 Dr. Trail called upon me before he went to England, 
 and showed me the specimen of young Cunningham’s 
 poetry, which is very promising. It has an original air, 
 and what is uncommon in the productions of uneducated 
 youth, more distinguished by good sense than exuberance 
 of fancy. I shall be happy to hear of the further progress 
 of his mind and studies, under your Lordship’s benevo- 
 lent patronage. 
 
 “ I expect with impatience the appearance of s Lord 
 Surrey,’ and the fourth volume of the 4 Reliques.’ 
 
 " Mr. Scott has resolved to extend his i Minstrelsy of 
 the Scottish Border ’ to three volumes. The first is nearly 
 finished. He is likewise to prinf very soon, at the same 
 press, an edition of f Sir Tristram,’ from a MS. in the Ad- 
 vocates 7 Library. In England, similar exertions are 
 making to bring forward the metrical romances. 
 
 “ Mr. Park* is an amiable, ingenious, and accomplished 
 man, of, I believe, a very moderate fortune. He is author 
 of ‘ Sonnets and other Poems,’ 12mo, 1798, and is the 
 best informed in our old poetical literature and biography 
 of any person I have the honour to correspond with in 
 England. He assists Ellis in his ‘ Specimens,’ Way’s 
 ( Fabliaux,’ and the f Romances.’ 
 
 “Mr. Jamieson is preparing his collection, and is anxious 
 to hear from vour Lordship. 
 
 1 beg leave to offer your Lordship my sincere congra- 
 tulations on the marriage of your daughterf into the noble 
 family of Clanwilliam, an event which cannot fail to add 
 to your domestic felicity. 
 
 “ I am, &c. Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 u t Lord, Heriot’s Green, June 15, 1801. 
 
 I sent a pretty large packet for your Lordship a con- 
 siderable time ago, addressed to Mr. Ercke, of the War 
 mce, Dublin Castle, with a request to forward it to 
 i ornore House. Although I hope it has arrived safely, 
 
 died at Hampstead, Nov. 26, 1835, aged 75. See a memoir 
 t Th m n eUt ' Mag> N.S. vol. V. p. 663. 
 lipfi. * e tt° n - and Rev. Pierce Meade was married April 6, 1801, to Eliza- 
 ! 1 oungest daughter of Bp. Percy. 
 
96 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 yet I feel uneasy about it, as I am very anxious to obtain 
 the forgiveness I solicited from your Lordship for the delay 
 that happened in my sending it, and desirous to receive 
 from you the information I want respecting the life and 
 writings of Dr. Grainger, of which I have undertaken to 
 give an account in the new edition of his Works, now far 
 advanced at the press. Permit me therefore to beg a line 
 from your Lordship on the subject, at your leisure, that I 
 may be enabled to proceed in my task with as little delay 
 as possible. Besides the urgency of the publishers, which 
 is incessant, I have a reason for expediting the publica- 
 tion that concerns myself ; as I expect, about the end of 
 July, some friends from London on a tour in Scotland, 
 who have a claim upon my time and attention here and in 
 the country, which is indispensable. 
 
 “ It would give me infinite satisfaction to have it in 
 my power to show my personal veneration for your 
 Lordship’s character, by obeying your polite invita- 
 tion to Dromore House, and presenting you with my 
 own hand the collected Works of your deceased friend. 
 Your name, which I have been accustomed to respect 
 from my school-boy days ; your extensive and accu- 
 rate knowledge of ancient and modern poetical litera- 
 ture, to which I have been much indebted in the course 
 of my studies ; and your curious and valuable library, so 
 rich in the treasures of foreign and domestic poetical anti- 
 quities, possess attractions which, in better health and 
 more convenient circumstances, would be irresistible. Such 
 a visit would not only be interesting to sensibility and 
 curiosity, but is calculated to produce biographic and 
 literary impressions of the highest value. The conver- 
 sation of such men as Mr. Boyd and Mr. Walker would 
 also be extremely gratifying and instructive. I am un- 
 willing to abandon the hope, that, when Grainger is off my 
 hands, and other indispensable duties are performed, it 
 may yet be in my power to pass over to Ireland this 
 summer. 
 
 “The first volume of Grainger is nearly finished. I 
 shall proceed through the second as well as I can. I am 
 sensible of the difficulty that attends all posthumous publi- 
 cations, and that they should never appear without the 
 authority of the original writers or their judicious sur- 
 vivors, who were in their confidence, and zealous for their 
 reputation. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 9 7 
 
 ee I am sorry to seem importunate, but I cannot help 
 again requesting your lordship to favour me with the advice 
 and information you are best able to give respecting the 
 several difficulties and queries 1 troubled you with in my 
 last at your first conveniency. From a hint in Hull’s letter, 
 I suspect your Lordship furnished the Translations from 
 Ovid. Dr. Trail called upon me last week, and is perfectly 
 well. I am, my lord, with great respect, your lordship’s 
 faithful servant, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson. 
 
 “ P. S. I have an opportunity of a private conveyance 
 which I have long waited for, Mr. Robert Thomson going 
 from this place to Dublin, who takes charge of this 
 packet. I beg your Lordship’s acceptance of a copy of 
 Miss Bannerman’s Poems. She has written about nine 
 or ten tales of superstitition and chivalry.” 
 
 ce My Loud, Heriot’s Green, Aug. 1, 1801. 
 
 “ I had the pleasure of receiving your lordship’s most 
 friendly and obliging favour of the 20th June, with your 
 answer to my queries concerning the c Sugar Cane’ in due 
 course. Every letter I receive lays me under additional 
 obligations to your Lordship, which I can only repay with 
 grateful thanks. My acknowledgment of your last favour 
 has been delayed till I am reminded by Dr. Trail’s going 
 to Ireland that it has been delayed too long. For some 
 time I was in hopes of being able to fix the day of my 
 own departure from this place, to make my visit to Dro- 
 more House, to which your Lordship’s kind invitation, 
 renewed in the most liberal and friendly terms, made me 
 look forward with very great pleasure. While any hope 
 remained of my being able to accomplish it I was un- 
 willing to trouble your Lordship for the additional in- 
 formation you can give concerning the life and writings of 
 Crainger. I now fear, my Lord, that it will not be in my 
 power, at this time, to follow my inclinations, which have 
 )een long fixed on this favourite visit, on account of the 
 pressure of temporary business, and the attention I owe 
 ffi the necessary duties of life. A visit of a week to Lord 
 uchan, at Dryburgh Abbey, in the beginning of last 
 month, to inspect his lordship’s literary and antiquarian 
 collections, and to see the 4 Land of Song,’ and several 
 excursions I have since made in this neighbourhood with 
 \OL. VII. jj 
 
98 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 my friends Messrs. Martins (three sons of J. Martin, Esq. 
 M.P.) and the Rev. Mr. Darke, of Worcestershire, on 
 their way to the Highlands, have interrupted my attention 
 to Grainger, and delayed the publication of his Works. 
 The printers are teazing me to go on, that the work may 
 be finished, and I am desirous to put it off my hands with 
 as little delay as possible ; so that I am obliged to request 
 your Lordship to favour me with that information in 
 writing, which I flattered myself with the hope of receiving 
 from you in conversation. In giving you this trouble, 
 which might have been spared, I do not wish it to be 
 understood that I despair of seeing your Lordship this 
 year, for I cherish the fond hope that it may be in my 
 power to present Grainger’s W orks to you with my own 
 hand, at Dromore House. 
 
 “ The parentage and birthplace of Grainger are in- 
 volved in some obscurity. General Melvill and Dr. 
 Wright think he was born in Edinburgh. Mr. G. Paton 
 doubts his father having an estate in Cumberland.* I had 
 it upon the authority of his brother’s widow, who is now 
 dead. I hope to obtain more authentic information 
 respecting the early part of his life. For the rest I have 
 great reliance upon your Lordship, and beg leave to mention 
 particularly my unanswered queries. Your answer to my 
 queries on the e Sugar Cane’ will be very useful ; though 
 in some particulars, of no great importance, unsatisfac- 
 tory. Every particular that may serve to illustrate his 
 personal or literary history will be acceptable. The text 
 is nearly finished. To the first volume I intend, with 
 the assistance of Dr. Wright, to add a Linnsean Catalogue 
 of the West India Plants, &c. With some hesitation I 
 have yielded to the opinion of others, and sent the frag- 
 ment of the £ Fate of Capua’ to the press. It is incorrect 
 as well as imperfect, yet it has passages worth preserving. 
 It is the last article in the second volume, which is rather 
 small. As soon as I am favoured with your Lordship’s 
 answer I shall begin to prepare the Life, &c. Your Lord- 
 ship will, I hope, permit me to mention my obligations to 
 you in their proper place. The work, indeed, which owes 
 its existence to you, might, with peculiar propriety, he 
 inscribed to you. I hope your Translations from Ovid 
 
 * In a letter of Grainger to his brother in law, Mr. Burt, he expressly 
 says, “ I am the son of a gentleman of Cumberland, who was ruined by ‘ llS 
 own extravagance, and that of his wives.” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 99 
 
 are preserved, and will be given to the world. Your share 
 in the £ Tibullus’ I always admired, without suspecting 
 the editor of £ The Reliques.’ On my return from the 
 country I found Dr. Trail’s card, (who knew Grainger in 
 the W est Indies, where he was lately physician to the 
 army, and is a warm admirer of the c Sugar Cane,’ and is 
 himself an excellent botanist) ; and I hasten to acquaint 
 Mr. Tytler, who wishes to send you a copy of his Essay, 
 and through my hands. 
 
 “I am, &c. Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to the Rev. Dr. Trail. 
 
 <c Dear Sir, Heriot’s Green, Dec. 7, 1801. 
 
 “ A few minutes after I had your obliging message from 
 the Bishop of Dromore, the Gentleman’s Magazine for 
 November was laid on my table, containing Cunning- 
 ham’s Verses £ On the Peace,’ of which it announced the 
 appearance. 
 
 “ I perused this effusion of untutored genius with eager- 
 ness, and I can truly say, with no small degree of satisfac- 
 tion. Although it has some weak lines, and some faults 
 of style, yet it bears indubitable marks of the feeling and 
 imagination of a poet, and exhibits the disposition of the 
 Bishop’s ingenious protege in an amiable point of view. 
 
 “ Young Cunningham, in my mind, is not of the first 
 order of genius ; but when he has attained to taste, and 
 acquired sufficient skill in versification, he may become 
 an elegant and respectable moral poet. 
 
 “ I have a copy of Dr. Grainger’s Essay on the West 
 India Diseases, which makes it unnecessary for the Bishop 
 pf Dromore to send over his copy, in portions, by post. It 
 is now in the hands of my worthy friend Dr. Wright, for 
 the benefit of his notes and illustrations, which he is well 
 qualified to give, from his accurate knowledge of the 
 diseases and natural history of the West Indies. If it be 
 n °t appended to f The Sugar Cane,’ it is to be reprinted 
 
 as a separate publication, with Dr. Wright’s notes and 
 Editions. 
 
 I shall write my learned and venerable correspondent 
 off 1 ^' GW c ^ a y s ’ an d thankfully avail myself of his polite 
 * er of accommodation respecting rnv Irish corresnond- 
 Cnce ‘ 1 am, &c, 1 Ro. Anderson.” 
 
100 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Dr. Anderson to the Bishop of Dromore. 
 
 ee My Lord, Heriot’s Green, May 8, 1802. 
 
 “ I owe your Lordship many obligations for your last 
 kind favour, and the useful memorandums that accompa- 
 nied it, which would have been acknowledged sooner, if I 
 had not resolved, at your suggestion, to lay Grainger aside 
 till you come to England, and to discontinue for a while 
 to trespass farther upon your kindness. My resolution 
 was turned into a necessity by my subsequent indis- 
 position, which dispirited me exceedingly, and from 
 which 1 am but imperfectly recovered ; having an habitual 
 feverishness that never leaves me, and a repugnance to 
 take up the pen that nothing exceeds, except my delight 
 on seeing the handwriting of a friend, and my satisfaction 
 in performing a necessary duty. By the kindness of Dr. 
 Trail I was enabled to assure your Lordship of the safe 
 arrival of your packet, and to acknowledge the satisfaction 
 I received from the information it contained respecting 
 several particulars I was desirous to know; and his 
 friendly visits afforded me opportunities, from time to 
 time, of receiving accounts of your health, which were very 
 satisfactory. I had an opportunity of writing a few lines 
 to your Lordship, in unavoidable haste, by the worthy 
 Doctor, on his returning to Ireland, to accompany a copy 
 of Dr. Grainger’s “ Essay on the West India Diseases,” 
 which he obligingly takes over with him, for your accept- 
 ance. On looking over the Advertisement to the Essay, 
 your Lordship will, I hope, he satisfied with the reasons 
 I have given for reprinting it in a separate form. General 
 Melvill has expressed his approbation in the most flat- 
 tering manner, and thinks Dr. Wright’s Notes a valuable 
 addition. I speak of the Advertisement as my own, be- 
 cause it was wholly written by me, though signed by Dr. 
 Wright, who, at my request, wrote the Notes in an inter- 
 leaved copy of the Essay belonging to me. As the idea 
 of reprinting it, though in another manner, originated 
 with your Lordship, I could not, in the character of the 
 Editor, give the history of the publication, correctly, 
 without mentioning your name. The Doctor, like me, 
 gave his assistance gratuitously, receiving from the pub- 
 lishers only a few presentation copies, which were so dis- 
 tributed as to serve as an announcement of the publica- 
 tion, in London, Liverpool, &c. 
 
 “ Although the publishers suffer some loss by the delay 
 of the publication of Grainger’s Poems, yet they wait very 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 101 
 
 willingly till it be convenient for me to furnish them with 
 the Account of his Life, and such additions to the poetry 
 as your Lordship’s diligence may yet procure. Of seven 
 articles communicated to the editor of the European Ma- 
 gazine, vol. XXXIY. Sept. 1 798, in the handwriting of 
 Grainger, Nos. 5 and 6, intituled, “ The Imperfect Re- 
 treat,” and “ Love, an Ode,” have not yet appeared in 
 that Miscellany. The application which your Lordship 
 has been so good as to say you will make to the Editor 
 respecting them, will, I have no doubt, procure either their 
 being printed immediately in the Magazine, or communi- 
 cated for the use of the edition, if you think they have 
 sufficient merit for that purpose. 
 
 “ I am sorry to inform your Lordship that my inquiries 
 concerning the birthplace and family of the poet have 
 been unsuccessful . A friend of mine in Dunse, himself an 
 elegant poet, inspected carefully the parish register from 
 1719 to 1.731, but found no vestige of the name or family 
 of Grainger. His inquiries concerning the residence of 
 his father in that place have been equally fruitless. No- 
 body seems ever to have heard of him, and yet Mrs. W. 
 Grainger’s information, which is given in the printed Life, 
 and copied into the new edition of the Biographical Diction - 
 ary,assignsDunse the honour of his birthplace. His brother, 
 Mr. W. Grainger, was of the qualified Episcopal Church, 
 probably from education ; in which case his father, being 
 an Episcopalian, would not record the names of his chil- 
 dren in the baptismal register of the Presbyterian church. 
 Does your Lordship recollect whether Grainger was 
 considered as a member of the Church of England, 
 or a Dissenter, at the time he resided in London? 
 Ihe spelling of the name with an i is Scottish; but 
 unfortunately no person of the name existing in Scotland 
 claims any relation to the family of the poet. I have 
 yet, however, hopes of obtaining more satisfactory in- 
 formation. I suspected Grainger’s writing in the Monthly 
 Review, from the style of Smollett’s attack, of which it 
 nught be the principal cause. Does your Lordship know 
 0 an y other ? I wish to see his ‘ Letter to Smollett/ but 
 cannot procure a sight of it here. I should be obliged by 
 uaung your Lordship’s opinion of the controversy, and of 
 j 11 } statement of it in the Life of Smollett. He appears 
 0 have been in Italy previous to 1756; and his subse- 
 quent connection with Mr. Bourryan. I know not in what 
 opacity he explored the continent ; as an inquisitive 
 
102 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 physician, or a travelling tutor? Rosalinda, to whom his 
 ‘ Elegies from Italy* are addressed, was probably a real, 
 not a fancied mistress. In the Westminster Magazine 
 for December 1773, the story of his marriage is told Avith 
 circumstances afterwards retracted by the writer.* Did 
 your Lordship’s c Vindication ’ of Mr. Grainger appear in 
 that publication, or where ?f As the lively and agree- 
 able, though vain and credulous biographer of Johnson, | 
 was your Lordship’s friend, I must request your advice 
 respecting the best manner of correcting his misrepre- 
 sentations on this delicate point. I wish also to have 
 your account of the circumstances relative to the recita- 
 tion of the ludicrous passage in c The Sugar Cane.* Did 
 the Homeric imitation occur in the first sketches of the 
 poem transmitted to you? Who were present at the 
 reading ? and Avhat the process observed in correcting it? 
 I regret that Boswell*s tattle has made it necessary to 
 mention such a trifling circumstance. Your Lordship 
 will, I trust, excuse the trouble I give you on account of 
 my anxiety to do justice to the character of Grainger. 
 On your Lordship*s coming over to England this sum- 
 mer, I shall expect to be favoured, at your convenience, 
 with the information contained in the collection of his 
 Letters in your possession, which will, I hope, clear up 
 many obscurities of his life. I shall then be enabled 
 to put the preliminary matter off my hands, and the work 
 will be completed. I beg leave to recur, at this time, to a 
 Avish I expressed some time ago, but which your Lord- 
 ship’s attention to more important business has made 
 you overlook, to inscribe, with your permission, the Work, 
 undertaken at your suggestion and completed by your 
 assistance, to you. I am fully aware of the delicacy of 
 your Lordship*s situation, and, upon mature reflection, 
 I am convinced that there is a peculiar propriety in my 
 showing my respect for you in a place that calls for the 
 association of your name with that of Grainger, your 
 beloved friend, a man of distinguished talents and virtue. 
 
 “ The Life of Goldsmith, AAdiich your Lordship re- 
 commended to my notice, has, I presume, been improA r ed 
 by your information. Who is the Avriter ?§ I am in pos- 
 
 * In the Number for Jan. 1774? p. 32. 
 
 f In the Whitehall Evening Post, Thursday Jail. . . 1774. 
 
 X Mr. Boswell. 
 
 § Samuel Rose, esq. was the editor of Goldsmith’s Miscellaneous Works, 
 1801. He died Dec. 21, 1804, aged 37. See Lit. An. iii. 387. Lit. Illus- 
 trations, vi. 583. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 103 
 
 session, by the kindness of Mr. Walker, of some valuable 
 communications from Ireland respecting Goldsmiths 
 family, &c. 
 
 “ Lord Woodhouselie (Mr. Fraser Tytler) was much 
 gratified by your Lordship’s good wishes on his advance- 
 ment to a seat on the Bench. By a private conveyance 
 he sent for your acceptance his £ Essay on Petrarch/ and 
 ( Universal History.’ 
 
 ££ Mr. Walter Scott desired Cadell and Davies to forward 
 a copy of the £ Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border’ to your 
 Lordship, which I hope you have received. 
 
 ££ I sent you, by Dr. Trail, a number of the £ Moniteur/ 
 on account of a notice in it that concerns you ; and a copy 
 of Mr. Hay Drummond’s £ Verses,’ which I assisted in 
 bringing forward under that modest title. You have seen 
 the £ Complaynt of Scotland,’ and I should be obliged by 
 your opinion of the manner in which my young friend has 
 performed his task.* Dr. Trail likes £ The Godly Ballads, 
 &c.’ which I believe are accurately edited ; the prelimi- 
 nary matter requires great indulgence. I see Mrs. West 
 has published £ Letters on Education / but I have not 
 had an opportunity of reading them. Mr. Park will pre- 
 sent your Lordship the book from which he made the 
 transcripts, on your arrival in London. 
 
 ££ I am, &c. Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 £ My Lord, Heriot’s Green, July 5, 1802. 
 
 ££ I am apprehensive that the time which has elapsed 
 since I had the pleasure of receiving your Lordship’s 
 successive favours of the 3d and 5th of last month, may 
 have made me appear negligent or insensible to the honour 
 and kindness you have done me by your obliging invita- 
 tion to Dromore House, and your friendly anxiety on 
 account of my health. Although the silence I have ob- 
 served has been I confess too long, yet I can say with 
 tiuth that I have not ceased for a single moment to reflect 
 on your Lordship’s kindness with gratitude and sensibi- 
 . J T , nor discontinued, for a single day, to meditate on the 
 journey you planned for me, in the most obliging and 
 attering manner imaginable, in order to arrange my 
 uiatters so as to enable me to undertake it with as little 
 convenience and delay as possible. 
 
 After some fluctuation of purpose, occasioned chiefly 
 
 ^ir T aWy y e °dS friend W “ ^ L * de * The worl< is most learnedly and 
 
104 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 by my invalidism, I now think I cannot better express 
 the obligation I feel on account of your Lordship’s friendly 
 attention, and especially the kindness that prompted you 
 to mention among the inducements to my leaving home, 
 the infirm state of my health, than by frankly claiming 
 the privilege you have given me to partake of the hospi- 
 tality of Dromore House, and, by exchanging for a while 
 the atmosphere of Aulcl Reekie for the fine air of Down- 
 shire, try to invigorate my relaxed nerves, and find relief 
 from my uneasy languor, and an habitual feverishness 
 that never leaves me. 
 
 “ If this note is fortunate enough to find your Lord- 
 ship at home and disengaged, about the middle or end of 
 this month, I propose to set out on my journey to Dro- 
 more House, on or about the 14th inst., and I hope to be 
 able to reach Dromore on or about the 20th of the month, 
 by the way of Port Patrick. 
 
 “ I need not repeat what I have before said, and now 
 feel, of the pleasure and satisfaction with which I look 
 forward to the time, so near at hand, when I shall enjoy 
 the conversation of the Bishop of Dromore, whose cha- 
 racter I so highly esteem and venerate, and from whom I 
 have received so many proofs of kind regard in the course 
 of a correspondence which has been continued for several 
 years, with much honour and advantage to me. I am, 
 with sincere esteem, respect, and veneration, my Lord, 
 your Lordship’s faithful servant, Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 (e My Lord, Heriot’s Green, July 29, 1802. 
 
 “ I was so fortunate as to receive your Lordship’s kind 
 favour of the 10th inst. two days before I was to set out 
 on my journey to Ireland ; so that I w r as able to defer my 
 departure till after the 27th, with perfect readiness. I am 
 extremely indebted to your Lordship’s attention ; for I 
 am sensible that my visit to you at the time of the Pri- 
 mate’s visitation must have proved inconvenient to you, 
 and very unpleasant and mortifying to me. By deferring 
 my departure, I had the pleasure of obeying your Lord- 
 ship’s wishes, and of devoting eight days to my friend Mr. 
 Jervis, 1 * Lord Wycombe’s tutor, and Dr. Kippis’s suc- 
 cessor, on his way to visit the Western Islands and High- 
 lands, with two Germans, who arrived here the same day 
 
 * The Rev. Thomas Jervis died Aug. 31, 1833, aged 85. Of this eminent 
 dissenting divine, an excellent memoir will he found in Gent. Mag. cni. 
 ii. 376. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 105 
 
 that your letter reached me. I am easily discouraged, yet 
 I have nothing to regret, except the progress of the sea- 
 son, that must shorten my stay in Ireland, and the loss of 
 an agreeable travelling companion, who went without me ; 
 though that may yet be supplied by a gentleman of this 
 place going to Dublin. 
 
 “ I now propose to set out on my journey to Dromore 
 House on the 31st inst, or at latest on the 2d of August, 
 by the direct way to Portpatrick, without passing through 
 Glasgow, where I might be detained. 
 
 “ In the near prospect of showing my respect to your 
 Lordship, where I am most desirous to see you, I cannot 
 help expressing the fears I have of being self-obtrusive, 
 and of intimating that my visit may not in the smallest 
 degree prevent your attention to any necessary business or 
 duty. I am, with sincere esteem and veneration, your 
 Lordship’s most faithful servant, Ro. Anderson/’ 
 
 My Lord, Eccles Street, Oct. 1st, 1802. 
 
 u Amidst the hurry and bustle of going every where, 
 and. of seeing every thing worth seeing, and of conversing 
 with every body worth knowing in this city, I take up the 
 pen, with great pleasure, to discharge some part of the im- 
 mense debt of gratitude I owe your Lordship for the un- 
 wearied kindness you shewed me during my long residence 
 at Dromore House. At present I must content myself 
 with making you a hasty and imperfect acknowledgment, 
 an inadequate expression of my feelings ; having to thank 
 you particularly for introducing me to the acquaintance of 
 Dr. Campbell, of Newry, and of Sir Richard Musgrave, 
 Mr. Ledwich, and Mr. Lloyd of this place, from all of 
 whom I have experienced the most friendly and flattering 
 attentions imaginable. I went directly to St. Valeri, with- 
 out stopping at Dublin, and delivering your letters, where 
 I spent ten days very agreeably in the society of a very 
 amiable and interesting circle of friends. St. Valeri* is de- 
 lightfully situated at the confluence of three rivers, near 
 the entrance to the Dargle, about a mile from Bray, oppo- 
 . S1 ^® 1/ the two Sugar Loaves, the most beautiful mountains 
 111 Wicklow. The grounds, which do not exceed eight 
 ^cres, are laid out with great taste. The lawn before the 
 10use , sloping to the river, was laid out this year in wheat, 
 
 * The seat of Joseph Cooper Walker, escp 
 
106 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 for the purpose of some further improvement. The library 
 is an elegant and spacious room, well filled with a judicious 
 selection of books in all the departments of classical and 
 polite literature. Mr. Walker accompanied me to Dublin 
 on Thursday sen’night, and continues to shew me unwea- 
 ried attention, almost beyond his ability. I live with him at 
 his brother’s house, whose carriage is constantly at our 
 service. He is one of the worthiest of men, with a mind 
 highly cultivated. I regret our missing the Provost on our 
 way to town. My attention, however little, to literature, 
 has procured me the acquaintance of Mr. Kirwan, Dr. 
 Hill, General Vallaneey, Mr. Preston, Dr. Ryan, and many 
 other learned and ingenious men, and invitations from Mr. 
 Latouche, of Bellevue, Countess of Moira, and others, 
 which I have been obliged to decline, as I expect to sail 
 for Scotland to-morrow or next day. Mr. Ledwich has 
 afforded me much valuable information ; but I have not 
 yet seen Beauford. I saw your god-child, looking well, 
 and the mother perfectly youthful and lovely. General 
 Vallaneey shewed me every thing in the collection of the 
 Dublin Society, attended me through the Botanic Garden, 
 and presented me with their publications, and the proof 
 sheets of his Dictionary, itself a large volume. He is an 
 agreeable man, and ought to confine his exertions to the 
 Dublin Society, which are useful and laudable. Sir Rich- 
 ard * shewed me the country around Dublin, and has pre- 
 sented me with a copy of his History, with a very friendly 
 and flattering inscription. I am much indebted to his 
 polite attention. Lloyd I like very much, but I have not 
 room for particulars. Remember me, in the kindest 
 manner to Mrs. Percy, and believe me, my Lord, always 
 yours faithfully, 
 
 “ R. Anderson, 
 
 a The kindness I have experienced here is inexpressible. 
 The presents of books and pamphlets from authors, edi- 
 tors, &c. fill two large boxes. 
 
 “ Mr. Walker desires his best respects to your Lord- 
 ship, and begs you would lend him a transcript of Harvey’s 
 MS. Notes relative to Spenser, for the use of Todd, that 
 is, such as are not printed by Malone,” 
 
 * Musgrave. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 107 
 
 <f My Lord, Ileriot’s Green, Nov. 6 , 1802. 
 
 “ When I wrote to your Lordship from Dublin I ex- 
 pected to sail for Scotland the day following. The ap- 
 proach of the stormy season warned me to depart, but I 
 was detained by various unavoidable obstacles and engage- 
 ments till the 10th of October. 
 
 “ I had a very pleasant and expeditious passage to Salt- 
 coats in thirty hours, with a smooth-water wind from the 
 land all the way. The pleasure of my short voyage was 
 much enhanced by the fineness of the weather, which gave 
 me an opportunity of seeing the bay and city of Dublin 
 and the adjacent country glittering to the morning sun ; a 
 scene of unparalleled beauty and magnificence. I had 
 enjoyed the same scene before with Sir Richard Mus- 
 grave, in a morning ride to Clontarf ; but the view from 
 the bay was infinitely superior. I spent a few days with 
 Dr. Wodrow at Stevenston, and Professor Richardson at 
 Glasgow, where I met Prince Ruspoli, the new Grand 
 Master of Malta, and on the 16th was happily re-united 
 with my family, after an absence of eleven weeks, for 
 which I duly acknowledge the kindness of Providence. 
 I fear, my Lord, I cannot justly say that my health has 
 been benefited by leaving home ; but I can say, with pride 
 and pleasure, that my excursion has been, in every other 
 respect, highly gratifying and useful. I left the hospitable 
 shore of Ireland, “ the Emerald Queen of Isles/’ with a 
 sigh of regret, in leaving many learned, ingenious, and es- 
 timable friends whom I will never see more. I here spend 
 my days, without the hope of ever again visiting Dromore 
 House; but the woodlands, the groves, and the meadows, 
 which I lately trod with you, are associated in my mind 
 with the recollection of many instances of personal kind- 
 ness, and many topics of instructive conversation, which I 
 will remember as long as I can remember any thing. 
 Ihis is not the place, nor the time, for me to speak of you, 
 but I request your Lordship will have the goodness to 
 make my acknowledgments of the amiable condescension 
 a nd polite attention of Mrs. Percy as acceptable to her as 
 possible. 
 
 The lawyers, physicians, and clergymen I met with in 
 Dublin are not inferior to the same classes of men in Bri- 
 tam ; but the mass of the inhabitants, even those of rank 
 «ud fortune, seem more distinguished by an excessive 
 nvolity, ostentatiousness, and luxury. There is little 
 
108 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 taste for elegant amusements ; even the theatre is neg- 
 lected, except when a celebrated player appears. My kind 
 friend Walker would have introduced me to the Provost ; 
 but I did not like to owe my introduction to him after 
 being at Dromore House. Mr. Beauford is so strangely 
 shy of strangers that Mr. Ledwich could never bring him 
 to see me. I have, however, got a publisher and a good 
 price for his MS. and wrote Mr. Ledwich to that purpose 
 a few days ago. I have a packet from Sir Richard Mus- 
 grave, containing some papers for publication in the News- 
 papers and Magazines, which I shall attend to. I desired 
 Mr. Ramsay to send you a copy of the paper. I think 
 you will be gratified with Mr. Hay Drummond’s sonnet. 
 I found it on my table at my return. Mr. Boyd has done 
 himself and me honour in a poem addressed to me after I 
 left Newry, which I suppose you have seen. Miss Stewart 
 has praised the translator of Dante in strains equal to his 
 own. I have heard from Dr. Trail ; he is well. I gave Mr. 
 Hay Drummond one of the prints, which he values highly. 
 I request you would send one to Joe Walker. I pro- 
 mised to make the request for him. I have been much 
 hurried, and have not yet taken up Grainger ; but will do 
 it immediately. I beg the favour of a line from you con- 
 cerning your health, occupations, and amusements. 
 
 “ I am under obligations to the Dublin authors, editors, 
 &c. for their publications, which filled two large boxes. 
 Yallancey alone gave me nearly a score, Transactions of 
 the Dublin Society, County Surveys, &c. Preston, a 
 learned, ingenious, and classical poet, is printing a version 
 of Apollonius Rhodius, with two volumes of Disserta- 
 tions and Notes. 
 
 “ I am, with great respect, yours ever, 
 
 “ R. Anderson.” 
 
 Lady Dalrymple (widow of Lord Hailes) to Bp. Percy. 
 
 K My LORD, Newhailes, 10th Nov. 1802. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s letter of so old a date as the 13 th 
 of September only came to my hands yesterday, owing 
 to my having been from home, and to some mistakes in 
 the method of transmitting it to me ; this will account to 
 your Lordship for my seeming neglect, and I shall not be 
 quite easy till I know' that you have received and accepted 
 my apology. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 109 
 
 (C I am no stranger to the friendship that subsisted 
 between your Lordship and my husband. I have often 
 heard him mention it with pleasure, and also your corre- 
 spondence on the subject of Popular Scottish Poetry. 
 There are, I know, a good many letters of yours to Lord 
 Hailes preserved, which shall certainly be transmitted to 
 Dr„ Anderson, according to your Lordship’s directions, as 
 soon as the person who arranged the letters returns from 
 England, where he now is, but will undoubtedly be in 
 Edinburgh (in this neighbourhood) in a few days. 
 
 “ I believe it is the wish of many of Lord Hailes’s 
 friends, that a complete collection of his publications 
 should be made,* as well as some account of his life given ; 
 the first I dare say will be accomplished, but with regard 
 to the last I am more doubtful, as there are none of his 
 family now alive who can afford any assistance as to dates 
 or anecdotes of his early life, always looked for in such 
 publications. I trust, however, that his literary labours, 
 when put together, will prove fully to the world what 
 were his grand objects in life, the cause of religion, virtue, 
 and learning, consequently the happiness of all mankind. 
 
 “ If your Lordship has happened to preserve any of 
 Lord Iiailes’s letters, that you think may be of use in 
 assisting any attempt that may hereafter be made to give 
 some account of his life, Miss Dalrymple and I will take 
 it as a particular favour if you will transmit them to us at 
 your leisure. I have the honour to be your Lordship’s 
 most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 li Helen Dalrymple.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Bp. Percy. 
 
 “ My Lord, Heriot’s Green, Dee. 16 , 1802 . 
 
 “ I am much flattered and obliged by the last token I 
 received of your Lordship’s friendly remembrance. For- 
 give me for any appearance of inattention in my having 
 delayed the acknowledgment of it. I have had much incli- 
 nation, but little power for correspondence; for I have been 
 often unwell, and much hampered by temporary business. 
 1 have even shamefully neglected to send your Lordship 
 the inclosed letter from Lady Dalrymple. 1 avail myself 
 °f an envelope from one of your members, sojourning 
 here, to forward it; and here transcribe the following sen- 
 
 * Lord Hailes’s Works have never been published in a collected form. 
 
110 ILLUSTRATIONS OR LITERATURE. 
 
 tence from Lady D/s Letter to me for your Lordship’s 
 information. 
 
 £( ( Lady Dalrymple presumes Dr. Anderson is fully 
 acquainted with the subject of the letter, and assures him, 
 that, as soon as the gentleman who arranged Lord Hailes 5 
 papers returns from a jaunt in which he is at present, all 
 Bishop Percy’s letters that have been found shall be trans- 
 mitted to Dr. Anderson/ Her Ladyship has not yet 
 transmitted any letters to me. 
 
 ee With Lord Woodhouselie’s letter before me, acknow- 
 ledging the receipt of the present I sent him, I am 
 tempted to transcribe the following passage : — f I return 
 you many thanks for the portrait of our excellent and 
 much valued friend the Bishop of Dromore ; and for the 
 Verses on the Death of Dr. Johnson, which, considering 
 the early age at which they were composed, are very 
 remarkable. It gives me high pleasure to know that I 
 am kindly remembered by a character so eminently 
 respectable and deserving. I am proud of his esteem, 
 and I annex the highest value to his friendship/ It is 
 highly gratifying to me to have to transmit sentiments of 
 reciprocal esteem between two friends I value so much as the 
 Bishop of Dromore and Lord Woodhouselie. Your Lord- 
 ship may be assured, that I did not miss the first oppor- 
 tunity of conveying to Lord Woodhouselie your invitation 
 to Dromore House, to meet Lord Redesdale ; but I have 
 not seen him since, for this is session time. The last time 
 I saw him he expressed a strong wish that your Lordship 
 would take Edinburgh in your way to England, to give 
 him and your friends here the pleasure of showing you 
 their respect. In my friend’s wish I do most cordially 
 join, for myself and others. 
 
 “ I have had no answer from Mr. Ledwich relative to 
 Beauford’s Essay. I hope he is not offended at my zeal 
 to bring it forward. I acquiesce in the justice of your 
 Lordship’s censure of my Scotticisms, and feel much flat- 
 tered by your favourable opinion of my Preface. I am 
 revising them with slow haste, and beg the favour of your 
 Lordship’s corrections and additions. The printers are 
 busy, and do not begin Grainger till after Christmas. 
 Where is your Lordship’s Answer to the Account of 
 Grainger in the Westminster Magazine to be found ?* I 
 
 * In the Whitehall Evening Post, Thursday Jan. . . 1774. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 beg my best respects to Mrs. Percy and to Dr. Percy. I 
 am afraid of over-weight, and must conclude. I shall 
 write again soon. I am, my Lord, 
 
 u Yours affectionately, 
 
 “ Ro, Anderson.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Heriot’g Green, May 21st, 1803. 
 
 “ I am indebted to your Lordship for your very 
 friendly letter to me, of a distant date, for which I owed 
 you an acknowledgment at the time, but I deferred it till 
 I should have something new or important to commu- 
 nicate, which might be more acceptable than the repetition 
 of my cordial thanks for your continued kindnesses, and 
 for your friendly confidence in my attachment and atten- 
 tion to any thing that meets your regard. 
 
 “ I expected some literary occurrence would afford me 
 an early opportunity of performing my duty to your 
 Lordship in an acceptable manner. It is not necessary 
 to remind one of your experience, how often, at almost 
 every turn in life, we are disappointed of some pleasure, 
 and dragged away from something agreeable, and chained 
 down to something painful to our feelings. Such has 
 been my situation. 
 
 “ I missed not an opportunity I owed to the kindness 
 of Dr. Trail, of sending your Lordship some literary 
 trifles for your amusement, by Mr. Macartney ; and I 
 designed you a letter by the post, to announce a larger 
 parcel, which I had an opportunity of sending, soon after, 
 in a bale for Mr. Gilbert, bookseller, in Dublin, to be for- 
 warded by a safe conveyance to Dromore House. 
 
 <c At that time I caught, as I thought, a common cold, 
 a disorder to which my flimsy constitution is extremely 
 liable in the winter, which did not yield to the usual 
 remedies, and was followed by a tedious, feverish indisposi- 
 tion, on which the influenza supervened, and laid me up 
 severely, and debilitated and dispirited me so exceedingly 
 as to render me incapable of attending to any kind of 
 business, not even the indolent occupations of reading 
 and writing. 
 
 “ I am now so far recovered as to be able to go into town, 
 though I feel, at this moment, in some degree, the lassitude 
 and languor which attend this disorder in every stage. 
 
 “ Never was anything more general than the influenza. 
 R has brought into activity all our chronic complaints, 
 
112 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 but has not been fatal here, except in cases where it 
 supervened on some previoits infirmity. Such was the 
 lamented case of Dr. Robert Kennedy, who died a few 
 days ago ; a young man of the highest reputation for 
 physical science in this city. It has appeared, I hear, in 
 Ireland, but less generally. I sincerely hope it has spared 
 my highly respected friends at Dromore House. By a 
 letter I had lately from Mr. Boyd, I find he has been 
 very ill, and his complaints seem to resemble the charac- 
 teristic symptoms of this disorder. But he is recovered 
 again, and flirting, as usual, with the Muses. 
 
 “ I am sorry to give your Lordship any trouble that 
 might be spared. The recurrence to the multiplied evils 
 which the influenza has produced, is painful to myself. 
 I have said enough. I only mention these, to show you 
 that I have had my share, and that my long silence has 
 not been voluntary. 
 
 “ From my friends in Dublin I have received many 
 proofs of continued kindness, and experienced much in- 
 dulgence. The memorials of my gratitude and esteem 
 which I committed to the care of Mr. Gilbert, have, I 
 learn, been duly forwarded; and among the rest, I douht 
 not, the parcel for Dromore House has come to your 
 Lordship’s hands. The £ Chronicle of Scottish Poetry,’* 
 3 vols. and c Tales of Superstition,’ are presents from Mr. 
 George Patou and Miss Bannerman; the other books 
 come from me as literary novelties, for your acceptance. 
 
 <£ Our excellent friend Mr. Ledwich has, at length, 
 transmitted to me Mr. Beauford’s curious MS. and draw- 
 ings, for which he has received 20/. through the hands of 
 our amiable and patriotic friend Sir Richard Musgrave. 
 They will appear soon in an edition of Ossian, from 
 Mundell’s press. Dr. Smith thinks them sufficiently 
 interesting to curiosity and to learning to deserve publica- 
 tion, and Mr. Laing is of the same opinion, so that they 
 come abroad with the approbation of both parties, and 
 vcileant quantum valere possunt. The Doctor has aban- 
 doned ‘ Highland Antiquities ’ to his brother. lie break- 
 fasted here yesterday, and has laid on my table a volu- 
 minous MS. Commentary on the Bible, for publication. 
 He speaks of your £ Key’ in terms of high approbation. 
 
 “ Mr. Cooper Walker’s Essay on the revival of the 
 
 * The Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, by Mr. Sibbald, in 4 vols. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 113 
 
 Drama in Italy, and a new volume of Poems from Mr. 
 Boyd, will likewise proceed from Mun dell’s press in the 
 course of the summer, in an elegant style. 
 
 “ Grainger has been long standing still, waiting your 
 arrival in England, and the aid of your promised commu- 
 
 nications. 
 
 “ A third edition of my account of Smollett is going to 
 press inypediately. The second edition of the f Border 
 Minstrelsy’ will be out in a few days, with a third volume. 
 
 “ Colonel Johnes is printing his translation of Froissart, 
 at Hafod, in a magnificent style, only 200 'copies, and 25 
 fine for the amateurs, and 20 or 30 engravings. I send 
 you a specimen. I hear from him very frequently, and 
 he desires me to say to you ( that he is indeed ashamed 
 for not having stated to you his progress.’ He invites 
 me warmly to Hafod, to see Don Quixote’s library, &c. 
 
 “ The daily sight of your portrait, the dearest ornament 
 of my dining-room, the frequent perusal of the copy of 
 the ‘ Reliques’ you presented to me, and a desire to 
 please me, have produced an admirable Ode from the pen 
 of Miss Stewart. It does my venerable friend, and the 
 fair writer, infinite honour. I have suggested some addi- 
 tional topics of illustration, and will send it to you as 
 soon as it is finished. Lord Woodhouslie and your other 
 friends here wish you would take Edinburgh in your way to 
 Northamptonshire. Remember me kindly to Mrs. Percy. 
 I am, my dear Lord, with truth, affection, and respect, 
 your obedient servant, Ro. Anderson. 
 
 “P.S. Dr. Trail set out for London about a month 
 ago. He expects to meet you in England in the course 
 of the summer. At the time of his departure we ex- 
 changed a note or two concerning Ritson’s Preliminary 
 Dissertation to his Metrical Romances, which contains a 
 repetition of the gross and unmannerly abuse of the 
 Editor of the e Reliques.’ My indignation against this 
 wretched man was the greater, that I heard him, in this 
 house, speak of Warton, and of you particularly, in a 
 placable and penitential way, which gave one reason to 
 hink that he would make his amende honourable the first 
 °Pportunity. Besides, you nobly made him an offer of 
 • 0Ur Romances. Mr. Brougham has reprimanded him 
 severely for the folly and wickedness of his attack. 
 
 1 entreat your Lordship, the very first moment 
 
 VOL. Yn. ' j 
 
114 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of leisure, to devote a welcome page of forgiveness and of 
 information to me.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, June 27, 1803. 
 
 “ In my last to your Lordship, I mentioned an Ode to 
 the Editor of the ‘ lleliques,’ by Miss Stewart, which I ex- 
 pected to have the pleasure of transmitting to you in a 
 short time. In the mean time, I expressed the sincere 
 hope I entertained of being favoured with a single line 
 from your Lordship, to say whether the transmission 
 would correspond with your intended journey to England. 
 I now suspect that my letter may have arrived at Dro- 
 more House after your departure, and so may not yet 
 have reached you. I hesitate, therefore, about sending the 
 Ode by my friend Mrs. Bindon, going to Limerick, lest it 
 should come too late, and so perform a circuitous journey 
 to Northamptonshire. I have written by this opportu- 
 nity to Mr. Stott, requesting him to give me the informa- 
 tion I want respecting your Lordship’s motions. I here- 
 with send you, at a venture, a few detached stanzas, as a 
 specimen of the Ode, willingly transcribed by my youngest 
 daughter, the author’s most intimate friend. In the 37th 
 stanza, Easton may be substituted for Welbye , if it was, as 
 I think, at the time of the publication of the ‘Reliques,’ the 
 place of your residence, near Lord Sussex. It was at first 
 written “ in yonder classic grove;” but I thought a local 
 designation more appropriate. The other examples are 
 chiefly “ Northumberland betrayed by Douglas,” “ Lady 
 Bothwell’s Lament,” u Earl of Murray,” “ Merrow, 
 gentle river,” “ The Battle of Otterburn,” & c. The 
 young author addressed sixteen quatrain stanzas to me, 
 with the Ode, beginning 
 
 ‘ Thro’ the dim shadows of monastic night, 
 
 Wild Fancy pauses in her dubious way, 
 
 To work for thee, who cheer’d her lonely flight, 
 
 The heartfelt warblings of her grateful lay.’ 
 
 And ending, 
 
 ‘ Ah ! while thou watchest her * mysterious shrine, 
 
 Where long-lost visions meet thy tranced view, 
 
 Oh wilt thou turn and trace the doubtful line 
 Aly weak hand sketch’d in Fancy’s dying hue. 
 
 * Genius, 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 115 
 
 1 No magic tints in these faint pictures shine, 
 
 No brightening ray the pallid shades illume, 
 
 And soon shall Time’s expiring hours resign 
 Their fading colours to Oblivion’s gloom ; 
 
 ‘ Yet, ere they die, methinks the sacred light 
 
 That glows serene in Friendship’s generous beam, 
 
 May save awhile from dim consuming night 
 The gay creation of th’ enthusiast’s dream.’ 
 
 “ I write this note in unavoidable haste, but I expect 
 very soon to have an opportunity of writing to your Lord- 
 ship at greater length. Meanwhile, believe me to be, my 
 dear Lord, ever your faithful and affectionate humble ser- 
 vant, Ro. Anderson. 
 
 “ I beg to be remembered to Mrs. Percy with respect- 
 ful regard/ 5 
 
 C( My DEAR LORD, Heriot’s Green, 16th Aug. 1803. 
 
 “ I could not easily express how much I felt gratified 
 by your lordship’s successive favours of the 20th and 23d 
 of July, the first accompanied by some valuable letters 
 relating to the Grainger family. Long intervals of epis- 
 tolary silence will always create uneasiness in the party 
 most anxious to secure the friendly intercourse which has 
 been cultivated. I was, therefore, extremely solicitous to 
 bear from your Lordship, but the proofs which your letters 
 contain of the continuance of your friendly regard have 
 taught me to rely on you with a confidence more worthy 
 of you and more becoming myself. My own ill health, 
 and the prevalence of the influenza, had, I own, increased 
 my anxiety about you not a little, and the painful circum- 
 stances in which you wrote to me have verified, in an 
 alarming degree, my fears. The thought of your being 
 confined to a darkened room, deprived of the sight of 
 one eye, and threatened with the loss — the dreadful loss — 
 of the other, gives me very sincere concern ; for I know 
 uo man to whom such a privation would be a greater 
 calamity. It would not merely be a heavy private 
 affliction, but a serious public misfortune. I pray God the 
 S1 g'ht of your right eye may yet be preserved by the 
 means you are using, by the advice, no doubt, of the 
 most experienced practitioners in the United Kingdom. 
 I offer you, my dear Lord, all that I can give, at this 
 instance, the expression of my sympathy, heightened by 
 tm knowledge I have of your disposition and habits of 
 
 I 2 
 
116 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 life, and my affection for your person and veneration for 
 your character. In the concern which I feel, on this 
 occasion, all your friends here, and all who honour talents 
 and virtue, deeply participate. From two letters now 
 lying before me, one from the Earl of Buchan, dated 
 Dryburgh Abbey, Aug. 5th, the other from Colonel 
 Johnes, dated Hafod, Aug. 15th, I transcribe the fol- 
 lowing paragraphs, as testimonies, among others, of the 
 esteem in which you are held by wise and good men, and 
 of the interest they take in your personal comfort : — 
 
 “ ( I sympathize with you (writes the Earl) most 
 sincerely on the melancholy tidings from Dromore House. 
 The worthy, amiable Bishop Percy has been a real bene- 
 factor to English literature and a credit to his profession. 
 Your pleasing residence last summer with the Bishop, and 
 the manner in which that residence was employed, cannot 
 fail of retaining a classical and heart-engaging place in 
 your memory, and even in your life.’ 
 
 “ ‘ Loss of sight (writes the Colonel) appears to me 
 the greatest that can happen of ills ; and Milton seems 
 to have felt — ( O loss of sight, of thee I most complain V 
 and to such a good and excellent man as Dr. Percy it 
 must be very grievous. I hope he may, at least, retain 
 one eye/ 
 
 “ This time last year I had the happiness of being under 
 your roof. I lament that my lot is so cast that I have 
 little prospect of seeing you again ; but every circum- 
 stance of your friendly reception and instructive conver- 
 sation is (as Lord Buchan truly remarks) indelibly im- 
 pressed on my memory. A visit to such a man, like that 
 of a pilgrim to a distant shrine, forms an era in the life of 
 a private individual. Although it may have the appear- 
 ance of personal vanity, I have satisfaction in reflecting 
 that my visit to Dromore House, in connection with our 
 literary correspondence, has contributed, however little, to 
 recal you from your long retirement in Ireland to resume 
 your station in the ranks of learning, and to receive 
 renewed testimonies of public gratitude for your eminent 
 services to English poetry.” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 117 
 
 “ Sept. 15, 1803. 
 
 “ I wrote, my dear Lord, the preceding pages about a 
 month ago, as a part of a letter to your Lordship, and 
 being suddenly called away to Roxburghshire, I laid it 
 aside. Since my return, I intended you a letter, written 
 more largely and distinctly for the sake of your eyes, 
 but have had my hands pretty full, with correcting my 
 Smollett, the fourth time, and my time much occupied by 
 visitants. Dr. Trail has stimulated my indolence by 
 calling this forenoon to apprise me of a private convey- 
 ance for my letter. So I take the opportunity to send 
 you what is at hand, rather than what I might have writ- 
 ten with more leisure, and solicit your indulgence. It is 
 proper to mention, that I delayed writing to you at the 
 time your letters came, that I might have an opportunity 
 of announcing the transmission of Miss Stewart’s Ode to 
 Mr. Ercke. It is now finished ; but a fair copy must be 
 made for you, and my female amanuensis (for the Bishop) 
 has been with her friends at Alnwick for some time, and 
 only returned with her sister yesterday. She will proceed 
 to transcribe without delay, and I will write to you by 
 post, when the transcript is ready for transmission. Miss 
 Stewart has addressed some beautiful stanzas to me with 
 the Ode, a copy of which shall be sent with it. My young 
 friend is greatly flattered by the favourable opinion you 
 express of the specimen of her Ode to you. She has 
 caught a portion of my affection for you, and composed 
 her verses con amove. A present from you of a copy of 
 the f Reliques’ would be esteemed by her the highest ho- 
 nour and the most acceptable acknowledgment you could 
 bestow. A similar present to Miss Bannerman would 
 likewise be highly valued. Mr. George Paton has already 
 received a present from you of the 4 Reliques/ through my 
 hands. He sent you a copy of the Chronicle of Scottish 
 Poetry, in testimony of gratitude and respect. He is not 
 the editor of these books, but a Mr. Sibbald, a bookseller, 
 lately dead. 
 
 “ Your Lordship owes me nothing on the score of sub- 
 scriptions, or on any other account. Such books as I am 
 concerned in bringing forward are subject to my contribu- 
 tion for my friends. I have got, at length, your Letters 
 0 Lord Hailes, but Dr. Trail does not think this convey- 
 ance a proper one for a packet so precious. It is too large 
 or Ercke. The Letters of Mrs, Grainger, Dr. Cuming, 
 
118 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 &c. will be very useful to me. I wish to see your Letter, 
 and I rejoice to think that I shall he able to do justice to an 
 injured woman.* The publishers are willing to wait your 
 convenience respecting the transmission of the remaining 
 letters and papers. They are printing Smollett in a sepa- 
 rate volume, corrected and greatly enlarged. Our amiable 
 and patriotic friend Sir R. Musgrave has given me an ac- 
 count of the abominable tragedy [murder of Lord Kil- 
 warden, &c.f] that was lately acted in Dublin. Mr. Led- 
 wich likewise. 
 
 Make my kindest respects acceptable to Mrs. Percy. 
 (i I am, &c. R. Anderson. 5 ’ 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, Oct. 14, 1803. 
 
 ' <e Our worthy friend Dr. Trail was here yesterday, and 
 brought me very agreeable intelligence from Dromore 
 House respecting your Lordship’s general health, and the 
 fate of my last letter to you, written at different times, and 
 dispatched hastily by a private conveyance. I had some 
 uneasy apprehensions about it, and as it appears to have 
 been strangely delayed, and in some danger of being lost, 
 I believe I shall henceforth take the liberty you have given 
 me to transmit my communications to you, even if they 
 should happen to exceed the size of a single letter, by the 
 common post. 
 
 “ The absence of Miss Stewart, and of my daughter, who 
 went into the country with her friend almost immediately 
 after she returned from Alnwick, has prevented the tran- 
 scription of the Ode from being completed, with the 
 necessary alterations, before now. On Wednesday I had 
 the pleasure of putting it under a cover to Mr. Ercke, and 
 before this reach you, I doubt not, it will be in your pos- 
 session. The number of stanzas does not, you will ob- 
 serve, correspond with the specimen sent before. There 
 were even more, but it was thought proper to omit those 
 that might be easily spared. As it is, it may yet be 
 thought too long ; and my young friend submits it to the 
 inspection of the great judge and master of the wild and 
 wonderful, with trembling hope. I have been anxious 
 that you should see correctness united with enthusiasm; 
 
 * Mrs. Grainger. j , 
 
 f Lord Kilwarden, chief justice of the King’s Bench, was murdered in his 
 carriage, together with the Rev. Rich. Wolfe, by stabbing them with pikes* 
 July 23, 1803. See Gent. Mag. Ixxiii. pp. 687. 708. 786. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 119 
 
 but several imperfections yet remain. The word exile is 
 twice accented wrong, in the Scottish manner. The title 
 £ On the Reliques/ &c. might be better, f On reading/ &c. 
 or more shortly, ‘ Ode to the Editor (or the original 
 Editor) of the Reliques/ & c. But this is a matter for your 
 consideration. The Stanzas to me accompany the Ode, 
 as they refer to it ; and as they exhibit a striking review 
 of the process observed in the composition of it, and a 
 fine testimony of my amiable friend’s modest estimate of 
 her own performance, and of her kindness and gratitude 
 to me. The Ode and Stanzas have been read with almost 
 equal admiration by the best judges here, and a general 
 wish has been expressed that they should be printed, in 
 some way or other, with your approbation. I have some- 
 times thought that the Ode at least would not be mis- 
 placed in the fourth volume of the c Reliques/ which is 
 expected from Dr. Percy. If this idea meet with your 
 approbation, perhaps some other topics of illustration 
 might be suggested, and the whole corrected and adapted 
 to your wishes. Such a fine enumeration of some of the 
 most universally interesting pieces in the ‘ Reliques of 
 Ancient English Poetry’ would, in my opinion, be an 
 appropriate and suitable testimony to the value of the 
 collection, and to the merit of the original editor. If I 
 am wrong, I know your Lordship will have the goodness 
 to pardon the suggestion, 
 
 “ When Dr. Trail v r as here, I put into his hands the 
 precious deposit of your Lordship’s Letters to Lord 
 Hailes, as he expects to have an opportunity very soon of 
 sending them to Ireland by a safe conveyance. They came 
 into my hands slowly and reluctantly, and I have been 
 accused of aiding and abetting the removing them from 
 this country. Your Lordship knows it was no suggestion 
 of mine. At the desire of the gentleman alluded to by 
 Lady Dalrymple, I solicited for him a sight of Lord 
 Hailes’ s Letters to you, for the use of an intended edition 
 of his original works. In the application to Lady Dal- 
 r ymple I acted as your friend with good will, and with 
 delicacy and respect towards her Ladyship, who is no 
 ^ay to blame for withholding them from you so long. I 
 j*ad a very polite letter from her Ladyship, apologizing for 
 he delay, and mentioning her having written at the same 
 ime to you. As the loss of Lord Hailes’s Letters to 
 you is irreparable, Mr. Thomson wishes me to say that he 
 ^ould be greatly obliged to your Lordship to give him a 
 
120 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 general account of their contents, as far as your recollec- 
 tion will serve, aided by your own part of the correspond- 
 ence, for the use of his Memoirs of his Life, &c. Mr. 
 Thomson is a man of excellent taste and learning, and 
 will, I am sure, make a judicious use of any information 
 you can give respecting your epistolary correspondence 
 with Lord Hailes. 
 
 44 As to our 4 Grainger/ I have prevailed on the pub- 
 lishers to wait your Lordship’s convenience, and I expect 
 in due time further communications from you, to enable 
 me to put him off my hands. Mr. Laing, Mr. Thomson, 
 and other unbelievers in Ossian here, think your Lord- 
 ship’s testimony of the highest importance in the contro- 
 versy, and concur in requesting you to put in writing a 
 statement of your conversations with Sir John Elliott 
 respecting Macpherson, and the impression which they 
 made on your mind. 
 
 44 They are printing here a new edition of 4 Bruce’s 
 Travels/ in 7 vols. 8vo, with additions, and a Life, by 
 Mr. Murray, a young Orientalist of my acquaintance. I 
 could wash to see your narrative of Bruce’s conversation 
 at Alnwick Castle, written in Lobo’s Travels, which I 
 neglected to transcribe. 
 
 44 Mr. Park’s new edition of 4 Nugee Antiquse ’ will soon 
 be out. He wishes me to say that he is very sensible of 
 your Lordship’s kind intentions respecting the 4 Reliques,’ 
 but that he has already a copy of the last edition ; and 
 that if it were easily in your power to procure him a copy 
 of the 4 Northumberland Household Book,’ he would 
 reckon it an inestimable favour. 
 
 44 1 believe I sent your Lordship my learned and worthy 
 friend Dr. Jamieson’s* 4 Prospectus ’ of an 4 Etymological 
 Dictionary of the Scottish Language.’ As you are an 
 encourager of Mr. Boucher’s work, which is essentially 
 different, I did not venture to solicit your subscription, 
 but I know he would reckon your name a distinguished 
 honour. 
 
 44 Mr. Cooper Walker’s 4 Essay on the Revival of the 
 Drama in Italy ’ will soon proceed from Mundell’s press, 
 with Professor Richardson’s 4 Poems and Plays/ Mr. 
 Beauford’s 4 Ossian, with notes,’ &c. Mr. Boyd tells me 
 he has a volume of Poems on its way from Ireland. He 
 has finished the 4 Araccara/ and wants a publisher; 
 
 * Dr. John Jamieson died July 12, 1838, aged 80. See a memoir in 
 Gent. Mag. 1838, ii. p, 445. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 121 
 
 but it is too great an undertaking for Edinburgh pub- 
 lishers. I procured Mr. Winter’s pamphlet ‘ On the pre- 
 sent Temper, &c. of the Irish Nation/ to be reprinted here. 
 It has been greatly admired. The author, a gentleman of 
 large fortune in the county of Meath, and, in my opinion, 
 a model of what a country gentleman ought to be, sent 
 me a copy, and I thought the reprinting it would do some 
 good here. 
 
 “ Sir Richard Musgrave addressed to me a short narra- 
 tive of the late insurrection in Dublin, which was printed 
 in all our newspapers. From the late trials, it appears that 
 the conspiracy was as irrational and wild in the design as 
 it was savage and detestable in the execution. 
 
 “ Mr. Rees, the partner of Mr. Longman, was here 
 lately. He gave me such an account of the late edition of 
 Goldsmith’s Works, on the authority of Mr. Davies, as to 
 make me wish very strongly to have an exact account of 
 it from your Lordship, as far as you are concerned. 
 
 “I have made no use of Mrs. West’s play, but I believe, 
 with her permission, I could get it printed ; in which case, 
 it is probable she might wish to revise it. It would be 
 improper to print any thing with her name that would 
 lessen her reputation with the public as an ingenious and 
 moral writer. 
 
 “ Mr. Scott’s c Sir Tristrem,’ printed more than two 
 years ago, is still unpublished, for want of a preliminary 
 dissertation and glossary. He has great difficulties in 
 ascribing it to Learmont; and his able coadjutor Leyden 
 is gone to India. He has a romance of his own ready for 
 the press, entitled ‘The Lay of the last Minstrel.’ The 
 third volume of the f Minstrelsy of the Border ’ has, I 
 understand, neither added to the reputation of the editor, 
 nor increased the sale of the former volumes. Did your 
 Lordship ever receive Mr. Scott’s intended present of the 
 volumes of the Minstrelsy ? 
 
 “ A letter came here a few days ago from Mr. George 
 Chalmers, with the intelligence of the miserable end of that 
 wretched man Joseph Ritson. According to Mr. Chal- 
 mers’s account, he was taken in a state of mental derange- 
 ment from his chambers in Gray’s Inn, where he had 
 previously destroyed all his MSS. &c., to a place of con- 
 hnement in the neighbourhood of London, where he soon 
 
 glos ^ ^ r ^ rem ’ ’ was published in the year 1804, with dissertation and 
 
 a 
 
122 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 after died * Neither Mr. Park nor Mr. Heber have men- 
 tioned his death to me, nor has it appeared in the news- 
 papers. 
 
 “ I must conclude with requesting your Lordship to 
 make no return, in the present state of your eyesight, 
 but what is very brief. I will continue to write to you. 
 
 “ Remember me kindly to Mrs. Percy. I am, my dear 
 Lord, your affectionate servant, Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 ec My DEAR LORD, Heriot’s Green, 24th Jan. 1804. 
 
 I am conscious I must appear ungrateful ; to receive 
 so agreeable and affectionate a token of your friendship 
 and regard as your letter to me of October 21, and not to 
 acknowledge it immediately, will seem truly ungracious. 
 Had I followed the first impulse of my mind, not a 
 moment would have elapsed, but I recollected that it 
 might seem inconsistent to be grateful in words and 
 negligent in practice. I had a commission to execute for 
 your Lordship which I trusted to accomplish by means of 
 a safe private conveyance, and no opportunity has occurred 
 since Dr. Trail returned the packet, in his departure for 
 England, till the present moment, when I avail myself of 
 my friend Mr. Thomson going to Dublin, to attend the 
 sales at the Linen Hall, to confide the precious deposit 
 to his care. I have requested him, if it be possible, in 
 passing, to put it into your own hands, for the sake of 
 security, and that he may gratify himself, and me on his 
 return, by seeing your Lordship, and receiving a confirm- 
 ation of the assurances I have had from every quarter of 
 the restoration of your eyesight, and the continuance of 
 your health. If he cannot spare time, I have desired him 
 to commit it to the care of the Postmaster at Dromore, 
 or our worthy friend Mr. Stott, to whom he is known. 
 
 “ Soon after Dr. Trail’s departure, my time and thoughts 
 were occupied in the performance of duties the most 
 melancholy and sacred in the world. On the 7th of 
 November, in the evening, while my very dear and long- 
 tried friend, Mr. Alex. Thomson, author of 4 Paradise of 
 Taste,’ f Pictures of Poetry/ &c. was conversing with 
 me, in the midst of his family, he was seized with a para- 
 lytic affection, which, in a moment, deprived him of 
 
 * Mr. Ritson died Sept. 3, 1803. See an account of him in Lit. AiJ. 
 III. pp. 133-137. 350 ; and Index Yol. YII. pp. 353. 664. See also' a Series 
 of his Letters, with his portrait, in Lit. Illustrations, III, pp. 775 - 780 . 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 123 
 
 sense and motion, and, in a few hours, of life. The scene 
 I witnessed was dreadful. A disconsolate widow and 
 six infant daughters, moderately provided, survive to 
 lament his loss. The care of his MSS., and, in con- 
 junction with some other friends, the management of 
 their little affairs, have devolved upon me. His 4 History 
 of Scottish Poetry’ is very imperfect ; but his series of 
 4 Pictures of Poetry J is complete, and his 4 Essay on the 
 Genius and Writings of Gray ’ prepared for publication. 
 Nothing can supply to me the loss of a friend of so much 
 worth, genius, and learning. 
 
 44 About a month after Mr. Thomson’s death my young 
 friend Miss Bannerman was deprived of her mother by 
 a similar calamity. Her death was instant, and without a 
 groan. The loss of a mother, an only parent, is one of 
 the heaviest misfortunes incident to life, but to lose with 
 a mother the means of subsistence, depending on annui- 
 ties, is dreadful indeed. Such is the lot of my young 
 friend. Your lordship may easily conceive the nature 
 and extent of my anxiety about poor Miss Bannerman.* 
 Her health is at all times so uncertain and so ill-prepared 
 to stand such a shock as it has been exposed to, that my 
 fears are great ; but when to her uncertain health I add 
 the feverish inability of her mind, heightened by con- 
 stitutional causes, — her total inability, from health and incli- 
 nation, to pursue the ordinary means by which those of her 
 sex are usually enabled to secure a livelihood, — her entire 
 want of relations, for I do not know that she ever saw 
 one who is entitled to that name, — I will acknowledge that 
 my fears rise to a very painful height. Her literary 
 powers, eminent as they are, do not seem, from any of 
 her efforts hitherto, to be of ready or popular application. 
 They are, perhaps, better qualified to acquire fame than 
 profit. The Almighty regards with an equal eye all the 
 works of his hand, but I cannot conceive what is to 
 become of my young friend. I think that, from her own 
 inability to earn a livelihood, her total want of relations, 
 and her great merits, the public money might be worse 
 applied than in affording her a small annuity. But I will 
 spare your Lordship the trouble of dwelling longer on 
 this affecting subject. It is very near my heart, and your 
 
 goodness will excuse the mention of what it is bleeding to 
 think of. 
 
 of*i t? iss ‘^• nne Bannerman was author of a volume of “ Poems,’' 1800 ; and 
 fales of Superstition and Chivalry,” 1802. See hereafter, p. 133. 
 
124 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Although I had no right to expect it, it would have been 
 esteemed a high favour, amidst the cares that press upon 
 me, to have had a line from your Lordship, with the agree- 
 able accounts of vour recovery, that I heard lately from 
 Mr. Boyd. 
 
 “ I am almost sick of aiding and abetting authorship, 
 yet I am in the press again with the Ode to your Lord- 
 ship, announced in the list of books in the press which 
 accompanies this letter. It is splendidly printed on an 
 imperial quarto, as the booksellers will have it, though I 
 preferred a common quarto. Does your Lordship wish 
 any particular number of copies (the impression is only 
 200) to be sent to Dromore House ? They can be for- 
 warded with the books you wanted, and a copy of my 
 Account of Smollett, reprinted in 8vo., *]s. } for your 
 acceptance, to Mr. Robinson, at Belfast. By this con- 
 veyance you may have any book, review, or other thing 
 you want, by writing a line to me, with as little delay as 
 possible, for the communication with Ireland is infre- 
 quent, and attended with peculiar difficulties. 
 
 “ You will see c Grainger* is announced as in the press. 
 The publishers are impatient, and I am ready to do my 
 part, if your Lordship would enable me, by your pro- 
 mised assistance, to do it worthily. 
 
 “ In my next letter I will state the conversation I had 
 with Rees respecting Goldsmith, & c. My friend Park is 
 highly flattered and obliged by your kindness. He is wor- 
 thy of your esteem and confidence. 
 
 “ My cordial remembrances wait on Mrs. Percy. 
 
 “ I am, & c. R. Anderson/’ 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, May G, 1804. 
 
 “ I duly received your Lordship’s repeated favours ; 
 and though I kept silence from my inability to make you 
 my acknowledgments properly, I felt deeply my obliga- 
 tions to your continued kindness. 
 
 “ By the death of some valuable friends and the dis- 
 persion of others, I got entangled in a multiplicity of oc- 
 cupations, of sacred obligation, which employed, almost 
 incessantly, my time and thoughts during the winter, and 
 occasioned a temporary suspension of my private studies 
 and literary correspondence. 
 
 “The sight of your Letter of the 7th April, with its 
 valuable inclosures, so long expected, gave me sincere 
 pleasure, though I was then, and have been during the 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 125 
 
 whole month, the most inclement ever known in this 
 country, laid up with a severe cold ; from which I am now 
 recovering, though still languid and feverish, and incapable 
 of much exertion of any kind. 
 
 “ The weather, since the beginning of May, has been 
 soft and warm, and I have ventured to take the range of 
 the Green beside my house, and expect to be able to go 
 into town on Monday. 
 
 “ I most sincerely regret the anxiety my seeming inat- 
 tention has occasioned your Lordship ; and I earnestly 
 request you will, at no time, or upon any occasion, in 
 future, attribute my accidental omissions to any thing like 
 forgetfulness, ingratitude, or want of respect and affec- 
 tion, which no length of time or distance can diminish. 
 
 “ It has given me much satisfaction, from time to time, 
 to hear, from every quarter, of your Lordship’s progressive 
 recovery , of which your handwriting itself is to me a de- 
 lightful proof ; in your two last letters the improvement 
 is most remarkable, though you still speak of the effort 
 of writing as painful, and diminish, in some degree, my 
 pleasure, as well as discourage me from exciting you to 
 make the exertion. 
 
 “After consulting Mr. Ware, the most eminent oculist, 
 after Baron Wenzel, in Britain, I do not think the advice 
 of Dr, Monro would avail any thing. He is not consi- 
 dered, at all, as an oculist ; and indeed we have no medical 
 practitioners here of any reputation in diseases of the 
 eyes, except Dr. Rutherford and Mr. Wardrop ; neither of 
 whom are eminently skilful, though I know the first has 
 studied the anatomical structure of the eye very particu- 
 larly. 
 
 “As soon as I am tolerably well, and the General As- 
 sembly of our Church, which brings many of my friends 
 to town, is over, I shall put the additions to Grainger’s 
 Works into the printer’s hands, and put together the ma- 
 terials I have collected for his Life, which are still scanty 
 and imperfect. I have no account of his family and birth- 
 place properly authenticated. Even Dr, Cuming is mis- 
 taken in several particulars which he might be supposed 
 to know correctly. The Letters are of great value, as 
 they serve to illustrate his character, and place his mar- 
 ^age and the conduct of Mrs. Grainger in a proper light. 
 
 he originals, as soon as I can get them transcribed for 
 m v use, shall be carefully returned to your repositories. 
 
126 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 As I proceed, I fear I shall frequently have recourse to 
 your advice and assistance. 
 
 “ Miss Stewart’s Ode has been delayed at the press, 
 partly on my account. It is at length printed, in a superb 
 folio, and is justly regarded as one of the most splendid, as 
 it certainly is one of the most striking productions of the 
 Edinburgh press. Two hundred copies only are thrown 
 off, which the publisher cannot afford to sell under *Js. 6d. 
 each copy. If your Lordship has no objection to the 
 price, I could wish, for the sake of re-imbursing the pub- 
 lisher, that you would take twenty copies, for your friends, 
 which, I understand, there will soon be an opportunity of 
 forwarding in a bale of books for Magee at Belfast. The 
 notes are chiefly selected from the c Reliques,’ and printed 
 at the end. I wished them to be placed at the foot of the 
 pages, but the printer sacrificed convenience to elegance. 
 A small part of the introductory address has been printed \ 
 as my young friend would not appear without shewing the 
 encourager and director of her poetical studies a public 
 testimony of her respect. Mr. Stott’s Verses to the Author 
 are good, except a few lines, and very gratifying to her, 
 but any poetical compliment would have been misplaced 
 in her volume. Another poet has praised her, a few days 
 ago, in an Ode, the strain of which is of a higher mood, 
 resembling the wild and wizard strain of Gray’s Cambrian 
 lyre. I shall get a copy from “ the nymph of fairy song,” 
 for “the mighty lord of legendary lore,” and transmit it in 
 my next to Dromore House. If the perusal of Miss 
 Stewart’s volume fail to give your Lordship the pleasure 
 it was intended to produce, it will, at least, I am sure, 
 convince you, if it be necessary, that my opinion of your 
 distinguished merit has not been lessened by personal 
 knowledge and the reciprocities of amiable intercourse. I 
 may cease, for a while, to express the sentiments of vene- 
 ration and affection I bear you, but I can never cease, 
 while I live, to cherish my affection for your person, and 
 to be the zealous friend of your fame, so closely allied to 
 the honour of the nation. 
 
 “ I easily prevailed on Mundell and Son to undertake a 
 new edition of the ‘ Northern Antiquities/ which Long- 
 man readily undertook, and his partner Rees declined, for 
 personal reasons, with which Cadell and Davies had fur- 
 nished him, respecting the share you had in the edition of 
 Goldsmith’s Works. From your information, I was 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 127 
 
 enabled to repel the attack, and to throw the blame on the 
 booksellers, who acted unhandsomely towards you ; but 
 he persisted in asserting that it would be extremely un- 
 pleasant to act with you in any literary concern. At your 
 leisure I hope you will take the trouble to prepare the 
 necessary corrections and additions for the new edition. 
 Perhaps it may not be improper to give a correct account 
 of the transactions between you and the booksellers, rela- 
 tive to the edition of Goldsmith. In a York Catalogue 
 (Todd’s) now lying on my table, I observe that work, 
 c with Memoirs of the Author, by Bishop Percy.’ 
 
 “ I must conclude, at present, earnestly requesting 
 your forgiveness of my omissions, and offering my affec- 
 tionate respects to Mrs. Percy. I am, ever truly, my 
 dear Lord, your faithful and affectionate, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson. 
 
 “ P.S. I forwarded the Letter to Lady Dalrymple by the 
 ordinary conveyance immediately.” 
 
 e( My DEAR Lord, Croy House, near Glasgow, 26th July, 1804. 
 
 “ I have been here, for some time, on a visit to my 
 friend Professor Richardson, whose kindness constrains 
 me to stay yet another week to enjoy with him his fine 
 woodlands, waterfalls, and groves, and the romantic 
 scenery of this interesting country, the birthplace of 
 Buchanan, Smollett, &c. From the window I see the 
 obelisk, 90 feet high, erected to Buchanan by the grati- 
 tude of his countrymen. 
 
 “ I have left the Professor and his amiable and intel- 
 ligent colleague Dr. Cuming, in the garden, to write a few 
 hurried lines to your Lordship, not to reply properly to 
 your last, for the present opportunity allows me merely 
 to make you my acknowledgments for it. 
 
 “ I regret that I cannot avail myself of the opportunity 
 of Dr. Trail going to Ireland next week; but I will write 
 to you fully on my return home. I seize the pen, at 
 present, chiefly to communicate to your Lordship some 
 passages from ‘ Herbert’s select Icelandic Poetry, trans- 
 lated from the Originals, with Notes,’ which concern you. 
 The poems of which Mr. Herbert* has given poetical 
 versions, are 4 The Song of Thrym,’ f The Battle of 
 Hafar’s Bay,’ f The Descent of Odin,’ ‘ The dying Song 
 
 * The Hon, Wm, Herbert, now Rector of Spofforth and Dean of Manchester, 
 
128 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of Asbiorn,’ f Gunlaug and Rafen,’ 1 The Combat of Thal- 
 mar,’ &c. c The Song of Hroke the Black,’ 6 The Death of 
 Hacon,’ ‘ Fragment of Biarkamal.’ In his notes to the 
 first poem is the following paragraph, c Translations made 
 like Dr. Percy’ (speaking of Cottle’s Edda of Soemund), 
 f by a person unacquainted with the Icelandic language, 
 through the medium of a Latin prose translation, cannot 
 be expected to represent the style and spirit of the ori- 
 ginals; but Mr. C. has not even taken the trouble of 
 understanding the Latin.’ In his notes on e The Death 
 of Hacon,’ he observes, f An English prose translation, 
 from the Latin version of Peringskiold, has been published 
 by Dr. Percy in his f Runic Poetry,’ which is not quite so 
 inaccurate as the rest of that book; his translation of 
 Regner Lodbroc’s Ode teems with errors,* and indeed 
 scarce a line of it is properly interpreted. Mr. Johnstone 
 has had the merit of publishing the original text of that 
 Ode more accurately than Worm or Biorner, with an 
 English and Latin prose version, in which he has rectified 
 Dr. Percy’s errors, though his style is very indifferent. 
 There is a celebrated passage which has been completely 
 misunderstood by all its translators : 
 
 Erat circa matutinum tempus, 
 
 Hominibus necessum erat fugere 
 
 Ex praelio, ubi acute 
 
 Cassidis campos mordebant gladii. 
 
 Erat hoc veluti juvenem viduam 
 
 In primaria sede osculari. — Worm. Literatura Runica.f 
 
 ‘ And in another stanza, 
 
 Erat sicut splendidam virginem 
 In lecti juxta se collocare. 
 
 Then follow your version and Johnstone’s; and then — 
 
 “ e What notion the learned translators entertained of 
 kissing young widows, I cannot pretend to say ; but it is 
 singular that they should have imagined Regner Lodbroc 
 could have thought it like breaking heads with a broad 
 sword. The fact is, that the lines mean the very reverse. 
 At added to an Icelandic word has the force of a negative, 
 
 * " The geographical errors are particularly singular ; ‘ Processimus ad 
 terram prostratorum’ (i. e. the field of slaughter), is there translated ‘ we 
 marched to the land of Vais and in ‘ Skioldungorum prselio,’ ‘ at Skiol- 
 dunga.’ The Skioldungi were, in fact, the descendants of Skiold, King of 
 Denmark.” 
 
 f “ This is an inaccurate title ; Rimer, from which is formed the adjective 
 runic, is simply the Icelandic word for letters, literature, or charms wrought 
 by means of letters.” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 129 
 
 and is frequently used. Var, means was ; varat, was not. 
 The lines ought to have been thus rendered : ‘ It was not 
 early in the morning when men were compelled to fly 
 from the report of battle, where sharp swords bit the sur- 
 face of the helmets. This was not like kissing a young 
 widow on the highest seat/ By which he meant that 
 they had a long and hard contest, and that the spirit of 
 war was very different from the pleasures of peace.” In 
 another place, “ Dr. Percy, who follows Peringskiold, 
 asserts, that Bauga was a subordinate god of war; but no 
 such person is mentioned in either edition, and I can find 
 no account of him. I believe that Peringskiold, who was 
 puzzled by the word, got rid of the difficulty by trans- 
 lating it Bogonis, and that Bogo was deified by the learned 
 Bishop.” 
 
 “ These are the only passages which occurred to me 
 on taking up the book this morning, in which you are 
 mentioned ; and as there is a design of reprinting the 
 Runic Poetry in the new edition of the 4 Northern Anti- 
 quities/ I know you will readily forgive the trouble I give 
 you in transmitting them for your consideration. The 
 book is but lately printed, and probably has not yet 
 reached you. 
 
 “ I had the pleasure of seeing Dr. Crawford when he 
 was in Edinburgh, and regret that I saw him so seldom, 
 and that he left town without mentioning the result of 
 his consultation of Dr. Munro. I hope it has been more 
 beneficial to you than Mr. Ware’s advice. If I had been 
 at home I would have returned, by Dr. Trail, the originals 
 of Grainger’s letters ; but another opportunity may soon 
 occur, or I will send them through the War Office. I 
 hope the Ode, &c. arrived. They were sent to Belfast 
 long ago. Miss Stewart and Miss Bannerman are quite 
 delighted with your present of the e Reliques,’ the most 
 superbly bound books that ever were seen. They will 
 Oank you. With my affectionate respects to Mrs. Percy, 
 
 am ever, my dear Lord, yours faithfully, 
 
 ff Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 V °L. VII. 
 
 K 
 
130 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Bp. Percy to Dr. Anderson. 
 
 ee Dear Sir, Dromore House, Aug. 16, 1804. 
 
 “ The complaint in my eyes compels me to use the pen 
 of a secretary, which I hope you will excuse ; but I am 
 desirous to avail myself of any means to thank you for 
 your obliging letter of the 26th of July, and I gladly seize 
 the opportunity of transmitting to you, by my friend Dr. 
 Trail, a copy of the Runic Poetry which I published above 
 forty years ago, desiring you will candidly peruse it, and 
 see if it is worth republishing now at the end of the 
 Northern Antiquities. For my own part I had ceased to 
 think of them both ; but, if you wish to revive the latter, I 
 cannot help thinking the former will tend to illustrate the 
 subject, notwithstanding the severe criticism of Mr. Her- 
 bert, whose book I have never seen, nor do I recollect to 
 have heard of it, but if you will give me the title and date 
 I will endeavour to procure it. Notwithstanding that he 
 condemns, in the gross, translations like mine, made through 
 the medium of a Latin version, yet I humbly conceive an 
 English reader will form thereby as good a notion of the 
 peculiar images and general subject of the original, as from 
 his own paraphrase (for it can be no other) in English 
 verse ; but in my translation I had an advantage, which 
 Mr. Herbert seems to have overlooked, in having it com- 
 pared with the original by the great master of Northern 
 literature, the Rev. Edw. Lye, author of the Anglo-Saxon 
 Lexicon, 2 vols. fol. and of the other learned works which 
 I have mentioned in my preface. And if here or there a 
 passage escaped his vigilance, or were mistranslated by 
 following two such respectable authorities as Wormius 
 and Peringskiold, those two great northern luminaries, it 
 will surely be very pardonable, considering the difficulty 
 of the undertaking. 
 
 te However, to form a truer judgment of the subject, 
 you wmuld do well to compare my version of the 4 Ode on 
 the Death of King Ragner Lodbrog/ with that of D f * 
 Blair in his Dissertation on Ossian’s poetry. 
 
 “ I shall say no more at present till I have seen Mr. 
 Herbert’s book, but I desire you to accept all the kind 
 respects of this family, and believe me to be, dear Sir, 
 
 “ Your very faithful servant, 
 (Signed) “ Tho. Dromore. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 131 
 
 “ P.S. I have not yet heard of the arrival at Belfast of 
 the copies of Miss Stewart’s Ode, and beg you will inform 
 me to whom they are consigned. I will not fail to remit 
 to you the ten guineas which I promised on that account. 
 Before I close up this letter, allow me to mention that 
 Dr. Blair, having Wormius’ book before him, in which is 
 printed the original of Egil the Scald, a poem altogether 
 in rhymes, and those very nicely formed, as you will see 
 by page 92 of my book, (which, though printed in Runic 
 characters, he could easily have decyphered,) has hastily 
 pronounced that the termination of rhymes was utterly 
 unknown to the ancient Islandic poets ; and herein he has 
 been followed by Dr. Robert Henry in his History of 
 England, and I suppose by other compilers, which will 
 give the more importance to a republication of my juvenile 
 attempt, wherein that point is sufficiently ascertained.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Bp. Percy. 
 
 ce My DEAR Lord, Heriot's Green, 15th Sept. 1804. 
 
 “ I designed your Lordship a letter in continuation 
 before now, but the fine weather of the month of August, 
 the romantic scenery of Strath-Endrick and Monteith, 
 and the engaging kindness of my friends, detained me in 
 the country till about the time of Dr. Trail’s return from 
 Ireland. 
 
 a Almost immediately on my coming home, I had the 
 pleasure of receiving your Lordship’s packet from the 
 Doctor’s hands, accompanied by the intelligence, which I 
 hid not find in it, of your being surrounded by all your 
 family, and by his assurances of your being in excellent 
 health and spirits ; which helped to reconcile me in some 
 Measure to your making use for the first time in our cor- 
 respondence of the pen of a secretary. 
 
 £ By a note from New Street, received yesterday, men- 
 lonnig the present opportunity of a private conveyance, 
 £ r am glad to learn that the Doctor has had a few lines 
 rom your own hand the other day; a circumstance which 
 th 1Ull ? ces me that the complaint in your eyes is not worse, 
 ou gh you will probably use your own pen sparingly, as 
 
 K 2 
 
132 ILLUSTRATIONS OR LITERATURE. 
 
 a safe and prudent precaution for the preservation of your 
 sight. 
 
 “ The Doctor, I am sorry to think, is so much plagued 
 with a lumbago, which has vexed him since he came from 
 Ireland, that he cannot undertake so long a walk as to 
 Heriot’s Green. 
 
 “ I have carefully re-perused your Lordship’s little 
 volume of Runic Poetry, and am fully convinced that the 
 reprinting it at the end of the second volume of the £ IN orth- 
 ern Antiquities ’ will tend to illustrate the subject, and form 
 a suitable addition to that work. Indeed I am of opinion 
 that it will be more properly placed in the { Antiquities ’ 
 than in the fourth volume of the 4 Reliques,’ where I believe 
 you had an intention of placing it ; I mean the version of 
 the five poems. 
 
 “ The criticisms of Mr. Herbert are petulant; but, in 
 reprinting the Poems, I thought it right that you should 
 know they existed, that you might, if necessary, take 
 some notice of them. Even the remarks in your letter to 
 me might easily be extended to an ample and satisfactory 
 vindication of the general fidelity of your version. 
 
 u Mr. Herbert’s book is entitled ‘ Specimens of Ice- 
 landic Poetry,’ &c. printed at London some time in 1803 
 or 1804, a thin 8vo. Within the same period this young 
 Oxonian has published two similar volumes, chiefly of 
 Latin versions of popular poetry, and some originals. I 
 cannot find any of his volumes here, but they may be 
 procured of any of the London booksellers. 
 
 “ Messrs. Longman and Rees have been here a few 
 days ; but they never recurred to the subject of the Anti- 
 quities ; and the opinion of Rees respecting your Lord- 
 ship’s conduct towards Cadell and Davies precluded any 
 further discussion. Your Lordship will yet, I hope, find 
 a moment of leisure to dictate a statement of the concern 
 you had in the edition of Goldsmith. 
 
 iS The copies of Miss Stewart’s £ Ode ’ have long since 
 arrived at Belfast; and if they have not reached Dromore 
 House, Mr. Magee is certainly very much to blame. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s intended liberality towards the pub- 
 lisher merits every praise. The author on every consi- 
 deration is out of the case. Your present of the f Reliques, 
 superbly bound, is the highest honour and the most esti- 
 mable acknowledgment she could receive from the editoi* 
 
 “ The best way that I could think of applying y° ur 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 133 
 
 liberality was to purchase 28 copies of the Ode, for the 
 benefit of the publisher ; and after sending you eight 
 copies, and making the few presents which you wished to 
 be made from yourself here, to distribute the remaining 
 copies among my friends, to whom it might be interesting 
 in this country and in England. 
 
 44 Accordingly I have sent copies to the Countess of 
 Buchan, Miss Seward, Miss Bannennan, Dr. Percy, Dr. 
 Ferrar, Professors Richardson and Muirhead, Mr. Heber, 
 Mr. Ellis, Mr. Park, Mr. Johnes, Mr. Kemble, Mr. Dyer, 
 Bindley Murray, Mr. Courtier, Mr. Davenport, Mr. 
 Irving, Mr. Martin, Mr. Jervis, &c. &c. 
 
 44 Mr. Scott, in a letter to me, desires his respectful 
 acknowledgments to your Lordship for a present 4 which 
 (I copy his words) I value equally for the donor, the sub- 
 ject, and the poetry/ Similar acknowdedgments and com- 
 pliments have been received from others, which I need 
 not repeat. 
 
 “ In distributing the copies I deliberately overlooked 
 Mr. Boyd, Mr. C. Walker, and Mr. Stott, in the persua- 
 sion that I might be anticipated by your Lordship’s atten- 
 tion, which they know how to value. 
 
 “ I take this opportunity to send your Lordship the 
 last number of the 4 Monthly Mirror,’ an elegant publica- 
 tion, in which I see the Ode is handsomely noticed. 
 
 44 The name of Miss Bannerman is introduced, and I 
 cannot pass it over without dwelling a little on the painful 
 apprehensions which it suggests. She has lost her only 
 parent, and very lately her only brother in Jamaica.* I 
 have sometimes thought that a small portion of the public 
 bounty might be very properly bestowed on this elegantly 
 accomplished woman. I mentioned her case to Professor 
 Richardson, the confidential friend and adviser of the 
 ■Duke of Montrose, a cabinet minister, who readily under- 
 took to co-operate in any application that might be made 
 to Government. The Duke is now at Buchanan House, 
 aod other channels are open ; but no step has yet been 
 taken in the business. Much do I wish, but little can I 
 *3* .that your Lordship could bestow a few minutes* 
 Section on the subject, and favour me with your opinion 
 a , a dvice. Perhaps an edition of her Poems by sub- 
 ^•iption might be brought forward at this time with 
 
 success. 
 
 * See pp. 123, 129. 
 
134 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Since I returned home I have taken up Grainger’s 
 memoirs, to put them together. In a letter to his wife’s 
 brother there is an account of his character and preten- 
 sions, in which he mentions, what I had suspected, that 
 he had made the tour of Europe. At what time and with 
 whom does not appear. Had it been with Bourryan ? 
 When did his connexion with him commence? He men- 
 tions also that his father was of Cumberland, and ruined 
 by the extravagance of his wives. Shall I print this high- 
 spirited and characteristic letter ? 
 
 “With assurances of every good wish and respectful 
 consideration for Mrs. Percy and your Lordship, I am 
 ever your affectionate humble servant, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, Oct. 29, 1804. 
 
 “ I duly received the pleasure of your Lordship’s last 
 favour, inclosing a draft on Messrs. Gosling and Co. for 
 £10. 10s., which I immediately indorsed to Mundell and 
 Son, in payment of the copies of the Ode. 
 
 “ On referring to my last, or the Letter preceding it, 
 your Lordship will find Lord Woodhouselie and Mr. 
 Scott among those literary friends to whom I presumed it 
 would not be disagreeable to you to have the copies dis- 
 tributed. 
 
 “ Indeed, the liberality of the publishers had enabled 
 me to present a copy to Lord Woodhouselie long before 
 I knew of your Lordship’s liberal intentions; and six 
 copies having been given to the author, for presents, she 
 sent one to Mr. Hay Drummond, whom she had often 
 met at my house, which produced almost immediately the 
 fine complimentary Ode, of which I inclose a copy. 
 
 “ Mr. Hay Drummond left this place for England some 
 time in May last, in considerable difficulties, I fear, occa- 
 sioned, I believe, by bis brother’s death and other unplea- 
 sant circumstances. While he occupied Lord Breadalbane s 
 lodgings in Holyrood House his elegantly accomplished 
 mind, agreeable and gentlemanly manners, and amiable 
 and virtuous disposition, made him a welcome visitant at 
 Heriot’s Green. I grieve to think that such a man should 
 be chargeable with any species of imprudence. 
 
 “ I presented a copy of the Ode to Mr. Paton, which 
 might have been spared, as his understanding and memory 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 135 
 
 are almost gone, and scarcely any passion left, except that 
 of getting and keeping ; the common melancholy infirmity 
 of old age. 
 
 44 1 am truly sorry for the misstatement in the Notes 
 respecting your first promotion in the Church. I trusted 
 to my recollection of the conversations I had with you on 
 the subject of your early education and preferment, when 
 I ought to have consulted Ecton or Bacon, 
 
 44 1 learn, with great pleasure, from Sir Richard Mus- 
 grave and Dr. Ledwich that the Ode is much admired by 
 the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College. The author 
 is peculiarly gratified by Mr. Boyd’s approbation. I es- 
 timate, as I ought, your Lordship’s benevolent intentions 
 towards Miss Bannerman, and have to regret the impossi- 
 bility of rendering your kindness effectual; for her mind 
 is so lofty and unaccommodating that it is exceedingly 
 difficult, at all times, to do her any reasonable service. 
 The success of the plan I mentioned in my last is still un- 
 certain. The present circumstances of the country are 
 unfavourable to any thing of that kind. 
 
 44 1 had the pleasure, in the course of the last year, to 
 co-operate with several respectable persons in this country 
 and in England in procuring a moderate provision from 
 the benevolence of individuals for a remarkable young 
 man,* the son of a poor woman in the parish of Ednam, 
 near Kelso. The young man is eighteen years of age, 
 was born without legs or knees, and his thighs defective. 
 His father was a day labourer, but has been dead for some 
 years. When his father died, his mother, in great distress, 
 exclaimed, 44 Oh, William, who will maintain you now ?’’ 
 To which he answered, 44 Dear mother, that Divine Being 
 who created me in this helpless state will not suffer me to 
 perish of want. 5 ’ His frame is delicate and his health in- 
 firm, but his countenance is pleasing and expressive, his 
 mind active and intelligent, and his disposition cheerful, 
 pious, and affectionate. He sits upon a table in the cot- 
 tage through the day, and wdien the weather is fine his 
 mother carries him into a field, vdiere he reads and enjoys 
 the air. He has taught himself to read, to write a legible 
 hand, to play on the flute, to draw with a pencil, although 
 le cannot raise one of his arms to his breast, and he 
 attempts poetry. He is very grateful to any person who 
 
 * William Wight, see pp. 137, 138. 
 
136 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 lends him books, drawings to copy, or pays him the least 
 attention. My daughters saw him very frequently last 
 summer, when they were on a visit at the Rev. Mr. Ro- 
 bertson’s of Ednam, and found him extremely well in- 
 formed, and capable of conversing with great propriety 
 upon every subject. The poor young man expressed his 
 gratitude for their attentions in a copy of verses,* the moral 
 turn of which is agreeable, and characteristic of his dispo- 
 sition. The subscription fund amounts to £130, and is 
 under prudent management. I am sure the value of the 
 smallest contribution from the Bishop of Dromore would 
 be enhanced to the young man as an expression of bene- 
 volence towards him from a character which he venerates. 
 There is something striking in his reflections on the fate 
 of the unknown author of the Ballad of Chevy Chase.f 
 
 “ Dr. Grainger’s Letter to Mr. Burt is remarkable, as it 
 shews that his marriage did not meet with the approbation 
 of bis wife’s brother. It is a first copy in his own hand- 
 writing. He justifies his pretensions as a gentleman and 
 a scholar, by a review of his life and education, in which 
 there are some new facts, such as his having made the tour 
 of Europe, &c. As Mr. Burt appears to some disadvantage 
 in the comparison between them, and, as it is probable a 
 reconciliation afterwards took place, I hesitated about the 
 propriety of recording this difference, though the character 
 of Dr. Grainger is illustrated by the manliness of his be- 
 haviour. 
 
 “ I have been laid up severely by a cold and fever about 
 four weeks, but I am recovered, and expect to be able to 
 resume my attention to Grainger, and to go abroad in a 
 few days. 
 
 “ A separate edition of the Life of Johnson was printed 
 at the same time with the other, with the difference of a 
 single paragraph at the end. It has been some time out of 
 print and is to be republished. The corrections and addi- 
 tions, which your Lordship is best able to furnish, will be 
 most acceptable. I send you, for the purpose of receiving 
 them, an interleaved copy, by a private conveyance. 
 John Gilchrist, Esq. Professor of Oriental Languages at 
 Calcutta, and author of several learned publications, takes 
 it to Dromore, and, I believe, will put it into your hands, 
 for he is very desirous of shewing you his respect, on his 
 
 * See p. 137. f See p. 138. 
 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 137 
 
 way to Dublin, where he has introductions to Lord Hard- 
 wicke, &c. He has strong claims to the urbanity which is 
 due to a lettered stranger and a worthy man. I expect 
 him every moment here ; and conclude with my kindest 
 respects to Mrs. Percy, from your affectionate servant, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson. 
 
 “ P.S. Dr. Gilchrist missed the road he was directed 
 to take to Dromore House from Hillsborough ; a great 
 mortification to him. The dissensions in Leadenhall 
 Street have led him back to London. 
 
 “ Our excellent friend Dr. Ledwich wrote yesterday, 
 to offer for immediate publication a brochure of Dr. 
 Ilyairis, on the present exertions of the Roman Catholics 
 in Ireland. I have advised its acceptance, and it will be 
 printed here immediately, and a large part of the impres- 
 sion transmitted to Ireland. 
 
 “ I designed a letter to Mr. Stott, by this day^s post; 
 but I am agonized with a return of tooth-ache. Let this 
 be my apology for seeming inattention.” 
 
 “ On some Flowers presented to me by a young Lady.* 
 
 “ Ye flowers that so lately fresh, blooming and gay, 
 
 With blossoms of gold did my cottage adorn, 
 
 I behold you now languish, droop, and decay, 
 
 And my bosom with grief and with anguish is torn. 
 
 “ O bloom still and flourish, lest fate from my mind 
 Or misfortune should cause the remembrance to flee, 
 
 Of the lily white hand and the heart warm and kind, 
 
 Of Anna who brought you from Ednam to me. 
 
 “ Say, what must I do to preserve your fair hue, 
 
 No flow’rets were e’er so much lov’d or so dear, 
 
 Shall I warm you with sighs, shall I often bedew 
 Your petals and soft downy leaves with a tear? 
 
 “ Ah no ! ’tis in vain, you are ceasing to bloom, 
 
 Your fragrance is fled, and your bright tints decay, — 
 
 Faithful emblems of me, thus my old age will come> 
 
 Thus my youth and its raptures will vanish away. 
 
 “ But old age may come, and youth’s raptures may flee, 
 
 Fate combine with misfortune to sadden my heart, 
 
 O Anna, my friend, the remembrance of thee 
 Shall never till death from my bosom depart. 
 
 August \^th, 1804. W. Wight.’' 
 
 * Miss Anderson. See p. 136. 
 
138 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ To the Shade of the unknown Author of the ancient Ballad 
 
 of Chevy Chace, 
 
 “ O thou unknown ill-fated bard, say, was the morn of 
 thy life fair ? Did fortune smile on thy youth ? Did thy 
 friends come often to thy dwelling, to cheer thee, and 
 hear the wild but sweet warblings of thy well-strung harp ? 
 Why did they place no stone over thy lonely grave, that 
 the bards of future times might come and pour over it sad 
 sighs and tears of sorrow to thy memory ? Poor unhappy 
 bard ! Perhaps envy combined with poverty to blast thy 
 rising genius. Perhaps misfortune bereaved thee of the 
 friends who would have told posterity of the social virtues 
 of thy heart, and saved thy name from sinking into obli- 
 vion. Whether thou glidest through the ambient air, or 
 whether thou soarest on the golden wing of cherub above 
 the stars that light the night, hear and rejoice ! Though 
 thou art unknown, though no stone overgrown with moss 
 points out thy grave to the traveller, thou shalt survive in 
 thy strains for ages ; the simple inmates of the hamlet 
 shall often rehearse them when sitting on the hearth at 
 the fire of winter. Yes, thy strains shall be admired till 
 the last sign of genius expire, and Albion be no more. 
 Peace to thee ! W. Wight.” 
 
 Bp. Percy to Dr. Anderson. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Oct. 17, 1804. 
 
 <c I avail myself of the opportunity of writing to you a 
 few lines by Mr. T. Armstrong, a young man of distin- 
 guished merit, who has for some time been assistant 
 tutor in Dr. Bruce’s academy at Belfast, where he attached 
 himself so kindly to our infant bard T. R. Robinson, 
 whose education he chiefly superintended, that I cannot 
 but recommend him to your protection and favour, as far 
 as you may find convenient. He now goes to Edinburgh 
 to attend the Divinity Lectures, &c. to qualify himself 
 for the ministry, and if you can introduce him to the 
 notice of the Professors and Directors of those studies, 
 you will very much oblige me. 
 
 “ I hope you received my letter of the 29 th, wherein I 
 desired, if you thought necessary, to apply the remittance 
 therein to Miss Bannerman,* and I would send another 
 for Messrs. Mundell. My remote situation here I fear 
 
 * See pp. 123, 133. 
 
 i 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 139 
 
 cannot enable me to assist her further than by my own 
 private contribution, though I am much concerned for her 
 situation. 
 
 44 In your last you again urged me to refute the state- 
 ment of Cadell and Davies, concerning their edition of 
 Goldsmith’s Works ; previous to that, you should give me 
 a brief account of their statement. 
 
 44 Have you seen the account of Ritson’s Romances in 
 the British Critic for September ? It is singular enough 
 that the quotation prefixed to that collection is there 
 ascribed to Mr. Ellis, which that wretched man had taken 
 from my essay in the 4 Reliques,’ though he could not bring 
 himself to quote me for it by name. I have had some 
 very curious memoirs of Ritson, from a gentleman resi- 
 dent in Gray’s Inn, with a very minute account of the 
 termination of his miserable life. In his last frenzy he 
 was near setting fire to the building by burning his 
 papers, &c. particularly an unfinished attempt to prove our 
 blessed Saviour an impostor. All this I received from 
 my friend Mr. Selby, with whom you were acquainted at 
 Alnwick, and who is himself a Bencher of Gray’s Inn. 
 
 44 Mrs. Percy joins with me in kind respects. We, 
 thank God, enjoy good health. I am about to try what 
 effect electricity will have on my declining sight. I have 
 just begun to apply it for five minutes twice a day, and 
 shall persist in my experiment some time. 
 
 44 Believe me to be, with sincere regard, 
 
 44 Dear Sir, 
 
 44 Your very faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 44 Tho. Drqmore.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Bp. Percy. 
 
 44 My dear Lord, 
 
 “ The moment I had finished the inclosed for Mr. Gil- 
 christ, a packet was put into my hand by Mr. Armstrong 
 of Belfast, from your Lordship, and Mr. Robinson, and 
 the young poet. I have just time to say that I am happy 
 to have it in my power to show attention to your Lord- 
 ship’s recommendation and Mr. Robinson’s. Mr. Arm- 
 strong, whom I am much pleased with, shall be a welcome 
 visitant here at all times. Young Robinson has intro- 
 duced his friend to me in a copy of verses, of exceeding 
 n ierit. Dr. Trail was here about an hour ago, and writes 
 
140 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 to you by another conveyance, and sends the Edinburgh 
 Review. When I am quite recovered, I will write to you 
 at greater length. I am, &c. 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 ii My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, 4th Dee. 1804. 
 
 “ I received the favour of your Lordship’s kind letter 
 by Mr. Stott, inclosing ten guineas, for the use of William 
 Wight, the young man of Ednam. 
 
 “ It is impossible for me to express the satisfaction I 
 have in making your Lordship my acknowledgments for 
 a benefaction so honourable to yourself, to Christian 
 benevolence, and to human nature. 
 
 “All praise, I am sensible, must fall short of the merit 
 of such a noble benefaction, and of the conscious satis- 
 faction you must have in contributing to the relief of one 
 of the most helpless of human beings. 
 
 “ Of the pleasure of being the benefactor of indigent 
 genius and virtuous poverty men of selfish indifference 
 and thoughtless levity have no conception. One man 
 only among my countrymen and my friends can form a 
 conception of the exalted satisfaction your Lordship has 
 at this moment. This excellent man is Sir William 
 Forbes ; who, on my mentioning the case of the young 
 man, and the benefaction of a truly Christian bishop, 
 immediately sent me the same liberal benefaction for his 
 use, accompanied with expressions of kindness which 
 enhanced the value of it. 
 
 “ In the list of the contributors to the small fund which 
 has been raised for the comfortable maintenance of the 
 young man, I observe, with no unbecoming pride, the 
 names of my highly respected friends Bishop Percy and 
 Sir William Forbes possessing a distinguished pre-emi- 
 nence above those of peers and peeresses, and com- 
 moners of princely fortune. 
 
 “ Sir William Forbes has been employed some time in 
 writing an extended biography of his late amiable and 
 ingenious friend Dr. Beattie, to be prefixed to a collected 
 edition of his Works in 8vo, and printed separately in 
 4to.* It is to include his literary correspondence with 
 Lord Lyttelton, Bishop Porteus, Dr. Johnson, &c. on the 
 plan of Mason’s Life of Gray. 
 
 * This was published in 2 vols. 4to, 1806, and in 3 vols. 8vo, in the fol- 
 lowing year. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 141 
 
 cc I have got the son of our worthy friend Mr. Stott 
 comfortably settled in the same house with Mr. Arm- 
 strong, very much to their mutual satisfaction. I have 
 great confidence in the good principles and prudence of 
 Mr. Armstrong, and William Stott is of such an amiable 
 and docile disposition that he cannot fail to derive both 
 moral and intellectual improvement from such an acquaint- 
 ance. I am very much pleased with William in every 
 respect. With his father’s virtues he possesses solid 
 talents, which, when duly cultivated, will, I have no 
 doubt, enable him to make a distinguished figure in the 
 liberal and useful profession he has chosen to follow from 
 the most noble motives imaginable. My friendship for 
 his father, and his own personal merit, give him the 
 strongest claims on my regard, which I shall ever be 
 ready to show with the most anxious solicitude. 
 
 “The whole Irish colony in Nicholson Street, and my- 
 self, were, indeed, deeply affected by your Lordship’s 
 account of the hopeless situation of poor Cunningham, 
 beloved and esteemed by us all. The premature fate of 
 this amiable and ingenious young man furnishes another 
 subject of reflection, mortifying to human pride, that 
 fine talents and the most exquisite sensibility are but too 
 often the predisposing causes of an insidious and fatal 
 disease. 
 
 “ I send your Lordship a copy of Dr. Grainger’s letter 
 to Mr. Burt, which is curious and valuable for the 
 information it contains. The facts correspond remark- 
 ably with the information communicated to me by his 
 brother’s relict. What is your Lordship’s authority for 
 fixing the time of his death 16 Dec. 1/66, and his age 
 39 ? * The last seems incorrect, from the course of his 
 life and studies requiring more time. Some of his pieces 
 are dated so early as 1739, and two years after he seems 
 to have been old enough to perform the duty of an army 
 surgeon. He must have been then, I suppose, about 20 
 years of age, at least; which would make him, in 1766, 
 about 44. 
 
 “ I will thank your Lordship to help me to complete 
 the new Index I am preparing for the ‘ Sugar Cane.’ In 
 
 TI i* 1. 514, among his friends in England, he mentions 
 one descriptively, ‘ my Pseon’s son — Long known, of worth 
 a pproved,’ &c. Who is he ? Is it Dr. Stewart Arm- 
 
 i * ^’e Bishop’s authority was a letter from Dr. Grainger’s widow now 
 before us. Edit. 
 
142 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 strong ?* * * § Was he acquainted with Armstrong at all ? In 
 B. hi. 1. 31, is an address 4 O M * * *,’ &c. I suspect 
 this person to be Daniel Mathew, f Esq., his wife’s uncle, 
 to whom he dedicated his pamphlet on the West India 
 Diseases, and of whom he speaks, with commendation, in 
 the letter to Mr. Burt. What is your Lordship’s opi- 
 nion? Was he acquainted with W. Whitehead,! alluded 
 to, I suppose, b. hi. 1. 377? 
 
 44 What must I do with Boswell’s ludicrous account of 
 the recitation of the 4 Sugar Cane ?’§ Shall I keep it, and 
 retain your explanation, as they now stand? Did he visit 
 Scotland after his brother’s death? 
 
 44 1 shall be very thankful for any remarks your Lord- 
 ship may think necessary on my Life of Johnson; your 
 opinion, in all cases, will have great weight, as it justly has 
 with the public. I wish to speak of the dead with liberal, 
 but not indiscriminate praise. I shall, therefore, attend to 
 your objections to Boswell, and I hope my impartiality 
 will appear almost like praise. 
 
 44 Mr. Selby’s account of Ritson’s miserable end makes 
 but a small part of the shocking circumstances which are 
 known concerning him. I had the pleasure of a visit 
 from Mr. Selby last year, when he regretted the inter- 
 ruption of your amicable correspondence. His health had 
 suffered by the fatigue of the Middlesex election, but is 
 now quite recovered. The Duke is again this year at 
 Alnwick Castle, where he entertained Lord Moira on 
 Sunday sennight, on his return from London. The Earl 
 spent a night at the Castle. 
 
 44 Colonel Johnes, the translator of Froissart, has sent 
 me a list of names which occur in the account of the 
 Battle of Otterburn, to be deciphered, of which I inclose 
 a copy. It would be esteemed a great favour, if your 
 Lordship find it convenient to consider it, and help him 
 to the real names. His own conjectures are added. The 
 Colonel has nearly finished the printing of his 3d volume, 
 and it will be obliging if your Lordship would transmit 
 your conjectures as soon as possible. ■: if 
 
 44 1 am, &c. Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 * See p. 144. . , 
 
 f This is so appropriated by Dr. Anderson, in Index to Grainger s 
 “ Sugar Cane,” p. 181. See hereafter, pp. 144, 146. 
 
 + So appropriated by Anderson, in “ Sugar Cane,” p. 185. See hereai- 
 t/Gr p t 144. i 
 
 § Dr. Anderson has given the anecdote in his Life of Grainger, predxe 
 to his “ Poetical Works,” 1836. See hereafter, p. 144. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 143 
 
 Bp. Percy to Dr. Anderson. 
 
 <c DEAR SlR, Dromore House, Feb. 5, 1805. 
 
 “ That your obliging letter has remained so long un- 
 answered, and your queries unresolved, you have, 1 trust, 
 candidly attributed to no common cause. Since I received 
 it I have been much indisposed, and been also involved 
 in a business of a very perplexing and interesting nature, 
 which demanded my whole attention. 
 
 “ I shall now consider, and endeavour to answer your 
 queries respecting the works of my friend Dr. Grainger. 
 With regard to his letter to Mr. Burt, I think it very 
 interesting, and upon the whole does him honour. I think 
 out of his letter might be extracted many anecdotes and 
 references to the history of himself and his family, as 
 would assist you in completing the narrative of his life, 
 especially such as are confirmed, you say, by his brother’s 
 relict. 
 
 “ That his father was of Cumberland I have heard him 
 mention, and that he had suffered for his attachment to 
 the House of Stuart in the year 1715, though he might 
 not think proper to mention this in his letter to Mr. 
 Burt. His father may also have impaired his fortune in 
 the manner he describes. The Doctor was his son by a 
 second marriage. His elder brother, who became a parent 
 to him, was by a former wife. This is all I remember 
 concerning his family. For though united by the strictest 
 bonds of friendship, my acquaintance with him did not 
 commence till about three years before he went abroad. 
 In this interval I only saw him occasionally when I visited 
 London ; and afterwards, when he returned to England in 
 1763, though he spent some weeks with me at my par- 
 sonage in the country, yet our conversation was generally 
 on literary subjects, and seldom or never led to family or 
 personal inquiries. 
 
 “ The time of his death was confirmed by the captain 
 of a ship, who brought me a very kind letter from him and 
 a present of a pig fed with sugar-canes, but told me the 
 writer had died just as he was leaving St. Kitt’s. How 
 afflicting this coincidence I need not describe. As to his 
 age I know not where I collected that, but I must have 
 certainly been misinformed, from the particulars you men- 
 hon, and you must settle it as you can by the lights they 
 afford you. 
 
144 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ In the f Sugar Cane/ B. in. 1. 514, to e Pseon’s Son/ 
 you may add this note, ‘ Probably Dr. Armstrong the 
 poet.’* I say probably, because I never heard him mention 
 their intimacy, though it may have existed unknown to 
 me. In B. hi. line 31, 4 O M * * * 3 certainly applied to 
 Daniel Mathew, t Esq. his wife’s uncle, to whom he dedi- 
 cated his pamphlet on the West India Diseases, &c. In 
 B. in. 1. 377 : This certainly refers to the poet laureat 
 Whitehead,! see his f Ode to the Nymph of Bristol Spring/ 
 Ac. This I copy from a note written at the time in the 
 margin of my edition of the ‘ Sugar Cane/ 1764. 
 
 “ Boswell’s ludicrous account of the f Sugar Cane ’ 
 deserves no attention, and need not he mentioned, § as the 
 passage was altered in the printed copy. 
 
 “ I think Dr. Smollett accuses Grainger of having 
 attacked him on the subject of his name, Tobias. But, to 
 the best of my recollection, there was no foundation for 
 this, and all that Grainger did was the printing his oppo- 
 nent’s name at full length Tobias, who, till then, had 
 always given his signature T. Smollet, and T. passed for 
 the initial of Thomas. But Smollett adverted to the above 
 circumstance in such angry terms as showed he was sore 
 at the disclosure, which Grainger and his friends often 
 laughed at. I wish I could recover Grainger’s pamphlet, 
 which, in the opinion of Dr. Johnson, did him honour, as 
 it contains some judicious and valuable criticisms. 
 
 “Col. Johnes’ queries concerning Froissart came too late, 
 at least are so at present, for I understand his book is 
 published ; and indeed the failure of my sight had rendered 
 me unable to investigate subjects of that kind, as the cor- 
 respondence of names chiefly requires ocular inspection. 
 
 “ You and your Hibernian friends have probably heard 
 of the death of poor Cunningham, which took place on the 
 27th of December. A short history and character of him 
 was published in our Belfast newspaper soon after, toge- 
 ther with an excellent poem of little Tom Robinson. 
 They will probably be seen in the Gent. Magazine,|| which 
 has not yet reached us. 
 
 “ Mrs. Percy joins in compliments with, dear Sir, you 
 faithful and obedient servant, T 110 . Dromore.” 
 
 * See p. 142. + See ibid. + See ibid. 
 
 § See ibid. || See p. 145. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 145 
 
 MEMOIR OF WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM. 
 
 “ William Cunningham, the self-taught poet, while he was 
 a poor weaver-boy, having received the first rudiments of 
 education at one of the Bishop of Dromore’s sunday- 
 schools, had, by reading such books as he could borrow, 
 made so considerable a progress, that, in the autumn of 
 1800, he presented his Lordship with a copy of verses 
 requesting the loan of books. The Bishop, struck with 
 the marks of genius displayed in this poem, rescued him 
 from the loom, and placed him at the diocesan school of 
 Dromore, where his application was so diligent that, in 
 about two years and a half, he had read the principal Latin 
 and Greek Classics. Being thus qualified to superintend 
 the education of youth, which had. been the object of his 
 wishes, he was received, early in 1804, as an assistant 
 teacher in the academy of the Rev. Dr. Bruce, of Belfast, 
 where he was distinguished for his diligence and skill in 
 preparing the boys under his care to be examined before 
 the last summer vacation. But, by this time, such strong 
 symptoms of a consumption had appeared in his tall, thin, 
 and slender frame, that he could not any more return to 
 his charge, and his declining health confined him to the 
 house of his poor mother, near the turnpike-gate between 
 Hillsborough and Dromore, where he continued to ex- 
 perience the kindness of his former patron, and was most 
 generously attended by Sir George Atkinson, an eminent 
 physician in Hillsborough ; but his case was beyond the 
 reach of medical aid, and terminated fatally. He died at 
 Magherabeg, near Dromore, in Ireland, Dec. 27, 1804, and 
 was interred in Dromore churchyard on the 29th, having 
 nearly completed his 24th year, being born March 19, 
 1781. Cunningham, though very unlike, in his bodily 
 frame, to Dr. Goldsmith, who was short and not slender, 
 so strongly resembled him in face, that, when he stood 
 ^ear the profile of the Doctor, his portrait seemed to have 
 been drawn for him. His poetical compositions have 
 often adorned the pages of the Gentleman’s Magazine ; 
 an d the reader is referred particularly to vol. LXXX. pp, 
 ] °30, 1125; LXXIL pp. 60, 157, &c>* 
 
 som ^ nt ' H. p. 1251. In the Gent. Mag. for Jan. 1805 are 
 
 e v erses on Mr. Cunningham’s death, by Master T, Romney Robinson. 
 
 vol, vn. 
 
 L 
 
146 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, April 3, 1803. 
 
 “ I am now to make your Lordship my acknowledg- 
 ments, which have been too long delayed, for your last 
 obliging letter, and to renew the assurances of my true 
 respect and affectionate attachment. 
 
 “ The apology which your Lordship had for suffering 
 my last packet to Dromore House to remain so long un- 
 answered, gave me great uneasiness for the state of your 
 health. It came near my own feelings; for my health, 
 during the winter, has been unusually infirm and fluctuat- 
 ing, so that I have hardly lived either for myself or my 
 friends. 
 
 “ It was with some hesitation that I ventured to recall 
 your Lordship’s attention to the life of Grainger; but I 
 am thankful for your opinion. The letter to Mr. Burt 
 is valuable in respect of the facts it contains. In print- 
 ing the new Index for ‘ The Sugar Cane,’ I durst not 
 hazard even the conjecture of Pceon’s Son being Arm- 
 strong; * for your Lordship well observes, there is not in 
 the whole passage the slightest allusion to his poetical 
 character. Your Lordship’s suggestions respecting other 
 particulars will be very useful. I am now to put Grainger 
 off my hands. I find I must compress the narrative, for 
 the publishers think it will make the first volume dispro- 
 portionately large ; but I shall give it fully in the general 
 edition of the Lives of the Poets. 
 
 “ I ought not certainly to have troubled your Lordship 
 with Col. Jolmes’ queries concerning Froissart. As the 
 distress was urgent, I hazarded my own conjectures, and 
 procured explanations from Scott, who is strong in Border 
 history, which, have been printed in the fourth volume, 
 with a handsome acknowledgment of our assistance. 
 
 “Mr. Laing is printing here a new edition of Macpher- 
 son’s c Ossian,’ with notes, showing his imitations, by the 
 addition of parallels from others and himself. He is to 
 prefix a preface, in which he intends to introduce your 
 Lordship’s testimony concerning Macpherson’s acknow- 
 ledgment of the forgery to Sir John Elliott, with some 
 others. I think it right that you should see the passage, 
 and I have procured from Mr. Laing a copy of it, and 
 likewise a copy of Sir John Macpherson’s Letter to Pg 
 B lair, for your inspection. I shall send them by this post 
 to Mr. Ercke, to be forwarded to you. It will be parti- 
 
 * See pp. 141, 144. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 147 
 
 cularly obliging to Mr. Laing, if you could, with the 
 earliest convenience, favour me with your opinion and in- 
 structions respecting the passage. To prevent any misre- 
 presentation, I sincerely wish you would dictate a proper 
 statement, in your own words. I remember, you once 
 thought of doing it at Dromore House, but delayed it till 
 it should be wanted. This seems a proper place for it. 
 The edition is a very elegant one. 
 
 Armstrong leaves us next week, and will carry with him 
 the honour of A.M. and the esteem of us all. I will write 
 by Armstrong at greater length. With due remembrances 
 to Mrs. Percy, I ever am your affectionate servant, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson. 
 
 “ Dr. Trail called on me a few days ago. I heard of the 
 death of poor Cunningham, and have sent little Robin- 
 son’s elegy on his death, and the account of him, to be 
 inserted in the fourth volume of the Poetical Register. 
 
 “ I will be sincerely gratified for the promised remarks 
 on Johnson.’ 5 
 
 “My dear Lord, 
 
 Heriot’s Green, 9th April, 1805. 
 
 “ I am indebted to Dr. Trail for the present conveyance, 
 which allows me merely to offer your Lordship my affec- 
 tionate respects, and to request your acceptance of a copy 
 of Dr. Ryan’s pamphlet, which I procured to be reprinted 
 here at the desire of Dr. Ledwich. 
 
 “ I addressed a few hurried lines to your Lordship last 
 week, and at the same time sent you a small packet 
 through the hands of Mr. Ercke, which I. hope you 
 received. 
 
 “ I very willingly complied with Mr. Laing’s wishes 
 relating to Macpherson, as I knew that your Lordship 
 was not averse to give your testimony to the world, and 
 1 was satisfied that it could not appear in a more proper 
 hme and in a more proper place. 
 
 <f A copy of the ‘ Northern Antiquities ’ has been put into 
 m ) T hands within these few days, for the purpose of 
 lcce ivmg any corrections or additions that may be thought 
 necessary. Will your Lordship have the goodness to 
 send me a transcript of the MS. corrections and additions 
 ln « < T Ur c °py f° r the use of the new edition ? 
 
 1 am ashamed to recur to the mention of my Life of 
 I lns °n, except to say that I trust, in some interval of 
 ls ure, you may be inclined to favour me with your cor- 
 
148 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 rections. I earnestly entreat your particular attention, 
 likewise, to the Life of Shenstone. 
 
 44 I suppose your Lordship has seen a collection of the 
 Duchess of Somerset’s letters, announced for publication 
 in London. Does the collection contain the Duchess’s 
 letters in your possession ? Indeed I cannot easily sup- 
 pose that you would encourage, in any way, Phillips’s * 
 dangerous publications of that kind. 
 
 44 I observe in Good’s 4 Life of Geddes,’ p. 132, the fol- 
 lowing passage and note : 
 
 “ 4 We have several English translations of the Song 
 of Solomon, some in verse and some m prose, and most 
 of them have considerable merit.’t 
 
 44 Our author has forgotten to enumerate another trans- 
 lation of the same book, most admirably executed and 
 enriched by a commentary and annotations, printed for 
 Dodsley in 1764, supposed to be the work of Dr. Percy, 
 the present Bishop of Dromore. 
 
 44 I will have an opportunity of writing to you again in 
 a few days. 
 
 44 With my kindest respects to Mrs. Percy, I ever am, 
 my dear Lord, your affectionate servant, 
 
 44 Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 My DEAR LORD, Heriot’s Green, April 12, 1805. 
 
 44 I cannot permit my young friend Mr. Armstrong to 
 return to Ireland without a brief acknowledgment of my 
 obligations to your Lordship for introducing him to my 
 acquaintance. 
 
 44 It will, I am sure, give your Lordship sincere pleasure 
 to receive an assurance from me that he knows the value 
 of your recommendation, and that it has been eminently 
 useful to him, in every respect. 
 
 44 Through the kindness of my friend Professor Stewart, 
 he, yesterday, received the diploma of A.M. from the Uni- 
 versity ; a distinction which is not lightly conferred here, 
 and which, I trust, may do him credit in his own country. 
 
 44 The interest he takes in little Robinson is at once a 
 proof of his discernment and the goodness of his disposi- 
 tion. We have discussed together several plans for the 
 
 * Sir Richard Phillips, the London publisher, .1 
 
 f “ 4 Particularly an anonymous one printed for Millar, 1751, and that 0 
 Dr. Hodgson, just now published.’ ” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 149 
 
 improvement of the mind and strengthening the frame 
 of this wonderful boy. He is of opinion that Robinson 
 might be usefully employed, for some time, as an assistant 
 in Dr. Bruce’s academy, under his particular direction. I 
 feel, I own, some hesitation in adopting his opinion, for 
 his awkwardness is so remarkable, and his manners so pe- 
 culiar, that I fear he may be deficient in personal import- 
 ance ; an essential qualification in an instructor of youth. 
 His name alone would, I have no doubt, be creditable to 
 the seminary, but, if he has not firmness of nerves and suf- 
 ficient confidence in himself, he would derive no credit 
 from the employment, and, it may be, suffer some mortifi- 
 cation, which ought not to be. The particular turn of his 
 mind ought to be regarded, and even his peculiar habits 
 ought not to be overlooked in this scheme. At the same 
 time, I am fully aware that some improvement may be 
 reasonably expected from his exchanging the excess, per- 
 haps, of parental indulgence for the exact propriety and 
 order of a genteel well-regulated family. Of this plan I 
 can judge very imperfectly; but Mr. Armstrong will gladly 
 avail himself of the opportunity of shewing his respect to 
 your Lordship, and of receiving your advice and direction 
 concerning it. 
 
 “A few days ago I sent your Lordship a small parcel by 
 a lady going to Lisburne, containing a copy of Dr. Ryan’s 
 pamphlet. I mentioned the author in confidence. At 
 the desire of our excellent friend Dr. Ledwich I have pre- 
 vailed on the publishers of it’ to undertake an enlarged, 
 edition of the same author’s ‘ History of the Effects of Re* 
 ligion,’ &c. 
 
 “ A new edition of Bruce’s Travels is printing here i«s 
 seven volumes 8vo., with a copious Life of the Author, by 
 Mr. Murray, a young friend of mine. 
 
 Mr. Cooper Walker’s ‘ Essay on the Revival of the 
 Drama in Italy ’ is printed, and will be published in a few 
 days. 
 
 “ Mr. Boyd is still lingering in London. I had a letter 
 rom him yesterday, by which I find he has not yet been 
 
 e to find a purchaser of his Translation of the AraucanaA 
 
 Me seems to have some dependence on the friendly 
 0 Mr. Mathias. By his advice, he wishes to transfer 
 
 v °] S-onthis Poem, “ The Araucana,” Sismondi’s Lit. of South of Europe, 
 
 zeal 
 
 the 
 
 die third 
 
 in 1590, 
 
 The first part waa published in 1569 ; the second in 1578 ; 
 
150 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 printing of the two volumes of his Poems, which was un- 
 dertaken here, to London, As they have been announced 
 for publication among Mundell’s Books in the press, I am 
 afraid it cannot easily be done. 
 
 (S I offer my affectionate respects to Mrs. Percy, and 
 ever am, my dear Lord, yours faithfully, 
 
 “ Eo. Anderson.” 
 
 Bp. Percy to Dr. Anderson. 
 
 DEAR Sir, Dromore House, May 1805. 
 
 “ I received from you last month three very obliging 
 letters with most acceptable inclosures ; but only the first, 
 I believe, had come to hand when I sent the statement 
 for Mr. Laing concerning Macpherson, & c. This, I hope, 
 proved satisfactory ; if not, I would endeavour to render 
 it so by considering any proposed alterations. 
 
 “ I thank you for Dr. Ryan’s pamphlet ; and must desire 
 you to present my respects to Lord Buchan, with my 
 proper acknowledgments for the honour he did me in 
 sending me the first of his Oriental Repasts. The inha- 
 bitants of the most remote eastern coast breakfast on tea, 
 as we do ; but, I believe, without any of the sublime 
 suggestions of his Lordship. 
 
 “ Of Phillips’s intended publication of the Duchess of 
 Somerset’s Letters I know nothing ; and certainly should 
 be very unwilling to entrust to him any productions of 
 that most amiable lady, the mother of my late excellent 
 patroness the Duchess of Northumberland. In your Life 
 of Shenstone you have rightly characterised her, as ‘a 
 Lady distinguished for her exalted piety, as well as every 
 other accomplishment,’ p. 587. What, then, will be your 
 sensations to see attributed to this faultless character the 
 lascivious verses usually ascribed to Lady M. W. Mon- 
 tagu in Dodsley’s Miscellanies, beginning — 
 s Dear Colin, prevent my warm blushes,’ &c. 
 
 in the late publication of this Lady’s Letters by J. Dal- 
 laway, see vol. V. p. 193 ? Lady Mary, in one of her 
 letters to her daughter Lady Bute, has very allowably 
 vindicated herself from the imputation of having written 
 those indecent verses ; but, as she does not herself name 
 the authoress, what can be said for this Dallaway thus 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 151 
 
 taking upon him to attribute them to our Lady Hertford ? 
 of which, at best, he could have had no other information 
 than by very remote report, for the verses must have been 
 written before he was born, and he could not have made 
 an application of them to any one with less credibility, 
 from the uniform tenor of that Lady’s life and cha- 
 racter; besides, I do not remember that she ever wrote 
 any verses at all, though her epistolary compositions are 
 of the first-rate merit. This posthumous attempt to 
 asperse her fame, till now of the most unsullied purity, at 
 the distance of more than half a century, cannot be too 
 severely reprobated ; and I hope you will not let it pass 
 uncensured in vour next edition of Shenstone’s Life, 
 where it may be very properly alluded to in a note 
 referring to your mention of the Duchess of Somerset. 
 
 “ You ask me if I have any corrections to propose for 
 Shenstone’s Life. I suppose you mean that part of it 
 wherein I am represented to have been greatly assisted by 
 him in the publication of the 1 Reliques,’ &c. On this 
 subject you would do well to consult the preface to my 
 new edition, vol. T. p. 1 7, and particularly the note, 
 wherein I refer to the following passage, in a letter of 
 Shenstone to Mr. Graves, which he has published in 
 vol. III. of Shenstone’s Works : — ‘I proposed the scheme 
 for him (Mr. Percy). I was also to have assisted him in 
 selecting and rejecting, and in fixing upon the best 
 readings ; but my illness broke off our correspondence 
 the beginning of winter, and I know not what he has done 
 since/ But on this subject I must refer you to Mr. 
 Graves’s own letter to me, of which I sent you a copy. 
 Johnson had committed great mistakes with respect to 
 Shenstone, which you have very properly rectified on the 
 authority of Graves. He grossly misrepresented both his 
 circumstances and his house, which was small but elegant, 
 and displayed a great deal of taste in the alteration and 
 accommodation of the apartments, &c. On his sideboard 
 ke had a neat marble cistern, which, by turning a cock, 
 M 'as fed with living water ; and he had many other little 
 elegant contrivances, which displayed his genius, and made 
 |ne regret that this little Temple of the Muses was pulled 
 down for the larger building of Mr. Horne. This you 
 may, if y 0U please, mention in your new edition. That 
 Johnson should have no conception of the value or merit 
 °f what is now called Picturesque Gardening, we cannot 
 
152 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 wonder, as he was so extremely shortsighted that he never 
 saw a rural landscape in his life ; and in his Travels through 
 Scotland pronounces that one mountain must be like 
 another. But you have sufficiently corrected his mistake 
 on this subject. Among Shenstone’s ‘ Levities and Songs 5 
 are many which he himself sorely regretted to me had 
 ever been committed to the press. But, when Dodsley 
 was printing that volume of his Miscellanies in which 
 they first appeared, Mr. Shenstone lay ill of a fever, and, 
 being unable to make any selection, ordered his whole 
 portfolio to be sent to him, relying on his care to make a 
 proper choice of what were fit to be published ; but he 
 obtruded the whole into his volume, and afterwards used 
 that as a plea for inserting them in his Works. But in the 
 value of purchase, how much Mr. Shenstone’s estate was 
 improved by his taste will be judged from the price it 
 fetched when sold by auction in 1795, being £17,090 ster- 
 ling, though when it descended to him it was only valued 
 at £300 a-year. This, I think, will deserve mention. 
 
 “ I must ask your pardon for having delayed my cor- 
 rections of Johnson’s Life so long ; but the failure of my 
 sight makes me proceed so slowly in all necessary busi- 
 ness, and I har^e much, both official and financial, that I 
 am obliged to trespass on the indulgence of my friends 
 in all other subjects; yet, if you will mention the utmost 
 time you can possibly allow me, I will endeavour to attend 
 to it, although a great influx of business presses upon me 
 this summer. 
 
 “Let me also know when you reprint your Life of 
 Swift, as I hope to make some little communications on 
 that subject. 
 
 “For the new edition of the ‘Northern Antiquities ’ I 
 vdll send you very soon what few corrections and improve- 
 ments I have to offer; and pray mention if you think 
 any alterations ought to be made in the specimens of 
 Runic poetry ; for the petty, captious strictures, which you 
 quoted in a former letter,* I do not think worth notice, as 
 I was supported in my version of the disputed passages 
 by the greatest Northern antiquaries. 
 
 “ I wish you M r ould now inform me u r hat is the story told 
 by Davies concerning our transactions with respect to 
 Goldsmith’s Works, which you may do in perfect confi- 
 dence, for I will never quote or mention your name in my 
 
 * See before, pp. 137, 130. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 153 
 
 refutation of his slanders, and statement of his sinister 
 conduct. 
 
 “ I think you mention, that, in the course of the summer 
 of 1803, you saw my friend Mr. Selby, when he regretted 
 the interruption of our correspondence ; but we have since 
 renewed it, and he favoured me last year with a very 
 minute and interesting account of Ritson’s tragical exit. 
 In the British Critic for January you will see some allusion 
 to that subject,* brought in awkwardly enough there, as it 
 ought to have appeared in the former volume, either in 
 the number or preface where Ritson’s work is mentioned, 
 
 “ I must not close without desiring you to present my 
 proper acknowledgments to Mr. Stewart for his kind 
 attention to young Armstrong, and the like to yourself on 
 the same account. I think he will do credit to you both. 
 They have taken little Robinson into Dr. Bruce’s family 
 as an Usher, which cannot but tend to polish his manners 
 and accustom him to the civilities of life, which the 
 indulgence of his fond parents would be too apt to make 
 him neglect. They have lately exhibited on the Belfast 
 Theatre a wonderful little actress, six years old, who is 
 said to rival, if not eclipse, Young Betty himself, and T. 
 R. Robinson wrote for her a very lively and appropriate 
 address, which I doubt not will appear in the English 
 Papers.f In the Morning Post, May 23, you will see some 
 very elegant verses, written by our friend Hafiz, J on Saint 
 Colman’s Well in my Glen, in which, with great delicacy 
 and nothing fulsome, is a compliment paid to your humble 
 servant, otherwise I should not mention it to you. 
 These verses I found one morning hanging over the W ell 
 itself, without any writer’s name ; a proof of his delicate 
 attention.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Bp. Percy. 
 
 “My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, 13 June, 1805. 
 
 “ I have great pleasure in seizing the opportunity of 
 Hr. Trail’s going to Ireland, to return your Lordship my 
 thanks for two most obliging and interesting packets, 
 which I duly received ; the last, by the way of Dublin, 
 a bout eight days ago. 
 
 “ I have delayed so long making your Lordship my 
 
 * Drawn up by Bp. Percy. 
 
 T It is printed in Gent. Mag. for July 1805, p. 653. 
 
 + 1 lr, T, Stott, of Bromore. 
 
154 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 acknowledgments for the statement you communicated to 
 me concerning Macpherson, which was completely satis- 
 factory to Mr. Laing, from a fear of breaking in too fre- 
 quently upon that leisure which you dedicate to the most 
 important duties. 
 
 “ I had another reason for risking, by my silence, the 
 appearance of being insensible to your Lordship’s very 
 obliging attention towards me ; and that is, the expecta- 
 tion I had from time to time of being able to send you a 
 copy of Mr. Laing’ s Preface, which, owing to the delay in 
 communicating to him the sheets of the Report of the 
 Highland Society, as they were thrown off, for his use, 
 was only printed ofF two days ago. 
 
 “ Instead of the Preface, where the statement is inserted, 
 Mr. Laing is to send your Lordship a copy of the whole 
 work, which is curious and valuable, and has given orders 
 to have one put in boards for you, to go by Dr. Trail ; and 
 I have this moment been at Constable’s to urge the getting 
 it done in time. 
 
 “ The Doctor is to take for you a copy of the Report 
 respecting the authenticity of the Poems of Ossian ; so 
 that you will be able to form a proper judgment on the 
 controversy between Mr. Laing and the believers. 
 
 “ Mr. Laing’s present to your Lordship will, I doubt 
 not, be accompanied with a due acknowledgment of your 
 liberality and politeness, of which he speaks in very high 
 terms. 
 
 “ The statement, which even Dr. Smith allows to be of 
 very great weight, is, you see, printed in your own words; 
 but Mr. Laing has removed the note referring to the 
 authority you gave me, to the text, where he thought it 
 came in more properly. 
 
 “ I wish much to have your Lordship’s opinion of the 
 controversy, as it now stands, at some moment of leisure. 
 The whole evidence on the side of the believers has been 
 produced, and its value estimated in Mr. Laing’s Preface. 
 
 e< Every part of your Lordship’s last communication is 
 valuable ; and, though I do not mention the facts and 
 observations particularly, I estimate as I ought their 
 value, and some of them will serve to illustrate my poeti- 
 cal biographies. 
 
 “ Most sincerely do I wish to have your remarks on my 
 Life of Johnson, and I am not without hope that you may 
 find a little leisure in the course of the summer to give 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 155 
 
 me the benefit of them. It is not intended to go to press 
 till about the latter end of October ; so that it may come 
 out in the beginning of the year. 
 
 “ The corrections, &c. for the new edition of the 
 Northern Antiquities will be acceptable as soon as pos- 
 sible, as it is intended to bring it out about the same 
 time. In a new edition some alterations in the Runic 
 Songs will be necessary. The supplementary note at the 
 end may be placed under pages 9, 10, with some altera- 
 tion in the first sentence. The preliminary observations 
 are quotations, distinguished by inverted commas; but 
 the note is apparently the translator’s. Is there any 
 reason now for retaining the N. B. on the back of the 
 title-page? The note, page 10, in the Preface, relating 
 to Mallet, should be altered. In page 13, Preface, there 
 is a correction thus : f Its aim at least is to show, that if 
 that studies/ The correction seems incomplete. The 
 strictures of Herbert, for the reasons you mention, are not 
 worth notice. A translation of Regner Lodbrog has been 
 given by Mr. Johnstone. What is the character of it ? It 
 is not a poetical one, 
 
 “ As to the conversation I had with Mr. Rees, in 
 which your name was mentioned improperly, I yet retain, 
 at this distance of time, a general impression of it, though 
 I do not distinctly recollect the particular expressions. It 
 was occasioned by mentioning to Mr. Rees a conversation I 
 had with Mr. Longman sometime before, relative to his 
 undertaking a new edition of the Northern Antiquities. 
 Dr. Leyden was present, and, as I recollect, eagerly 
 recommended the undertaking, and proposed Mr. Walter 
 Scott to be the editor. Mr. Longman said, f I Avould 
 prefer Bishop Percy ; his name is of more weight and 
 importance in the literary world, and of higher estimation 
 with the public at large/ In this opinion I concurred, 
 and I even went the length of saying, that the 4 Border 
 Ballads’ were not entitled to be placed on the same shelf 
 with the f Reliques/ This opinion, I understand, has been 
 reported to Mr. Scott, and has produced a jealousy of 
 your pretensions, and a coldness towards me. The exist- 
 ence of a literary cabal is evident, and Scott is the idol* 
 But more of this another time. To return to Rees. He 
 peremptorily declined the undertaking, which Longman 
 caught eagerly, and said, from the account Mr. Davies had 
 given him of your temper and conduct in the edition of 
 Goldsmith, he would have no concern with you in any 
 
156 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 like undertaking whatever. He mentioned bringing for- 
 ward Boyd, and other things of a troublesome kind. To 
 all this I opposed your own account, which obtained no 
 credit with him. 
 
 “ I have written to the editor of the i Poetical Register 5 
 respecting the report that is wandering about Belfast, 
 which I have no doubt is entirely groundless. The pieces 
 I sent are few in number, and could not make a separate 
 publication, even with such materials as the newspapers 
 might supply. Besides Mr. Hood is a fair man, and inca- 
 pable of an undertaking of the kind. 
 
 e< Some friend in Belfast sent me the newspaper which 
 contained little Robinson’s Address, which is exceed- 
 ingly good. I have taken the opportunity to send him a 
 copy of my young friend Mr. Gillespie’s poem on Refine- 
 ment, which is just printed, but not published. I beg 
 your Lordship’s acceptance of a copy, and would be glad 
 to have your opinion of it. 
 
 “ I send also, for your acceptance, a copy of my friend 
 Dr. Brown’s Observations on Hume. As you have already 
 Professor Stewart’s account of Leslie’s affair, # Dr. Trail 
 will tell you the rest. Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 " My DEAR Lord, Herat’s Green, 3d Sept.f 1805. 
 
 “ The return of our worthy friend Mr. Stott to Ireland, 
 allows me an opportunity of making your Lordship my 
 acknowledgments for your kind letter, and of expressing 
 my affectionate respects and cordial remembrances. 
 
 (i I designed your Lordship a longer letter, in continua- 
 tion of my last ; but I am disappointed by Mr. Stott and 
 his friends taking their departure a day sooner than I 
 expected. 
 
 “ My time has been much employed lately by necessary 
 attentions to visitants introduced to my acquaintance 
 from London and Dublin. A son of Counsellor Duhigg, J 
 an agreeable young man, brought me a present of his 
 father’s publications, f King’s Inns Remembrances,’ and 
 two pamphlets. Mr. Duhigg is highly commended as a 
 legal antiquary by our friend Dr. Ledwich, and appears to 
 
 * See Pamphlets on this subject, by Professor Stewart, a Minister of Edin- 
 burgh, and by Professor Playfair, in 1800, Edinburgh. The subject was on 
 “ The Election of a Mathematical Professor.” 
 f “ Not received till Jan. 29, 1806. T. Dromore.” 
 
 X Bartholomew Duhigg, esq. barrister at law, author of the (l History of 
 the Inns of Court in Ireland,’’ 1807, 8yo. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 15 7 
 
 be a writer of curious research and information ; but he 
 writes a bad English style. He is publishing the c History 
 of the King’s Inns I hope it is written with more sim- 
 plicity and perspicuity. 
 
 “ I was exceedingly gratified by the accounts Mr. Stott 
 o-ave me of your Lordship’s health. It is pleasant to 
 your friends to reflect how very few privations you have 
 suffered by the failure of your sight. 
 
 Si Subscription papers for young Robinson’s extraor- 
 dinary volume have been sent to me from Belfast, and I 
 have got a few names, and when the town is full, I expect 
 a great many more. 
 
 “ I have endeavoured in vain to procure your Lordship 
 a copy of Johnstone’s publication, referred to in my last. 
 It is entitled, <r Lodbrokar-Ghiida ; or, the Death-Song of 
 Lodbrok : now first correctly printed from various manu- 
 scripts, with a free English translation : to which are added 
 the various readings, a literal Latin version, an Islando- 
 Latino Glossary, and explanatory notes. By the Rev. 
 James Johnstone,* A.M. Chaplain to his Britannic Ma- 
 jesty’s Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Denmark,’ 
 printed for Elm sly, London, 12mo. 1783, price 3s. The 
 author, I think, died some years ago in Dublin, and was, I 
 believe, known to Mr. Cooper Walker. Has your Lord- 
 ship seen Mr. Walker’s last publication? f 
 
 “ I have had an unpleasant correspondence with our 
 friend Mr. Boyd relative to the printing of his Poems 
 here, or in London. They had been some time ago 
 announced for publication here : but, having entered into 
 some engagement with Longman and Co. he was desirous 
 to have the MSS. returned, and I got the matter, at 
 length, settled entirely to his satisfaction. I acted solely 
 
 * The Rev. James Johnstone, M.A. published (besides the work 
 mentioned above) “ The Norwegian Account of Haco’s Expedition against 
 Scotland in 1263. In the original Islandic, from the Flateyan and Frisian 
 MS.; with a literal English Version and Notes. Copenh. 1782.” 4to. — “ An- 
 tiquitates Celto-NormanicEe ; containing the Chronicle of Man and the Isles. 
 Abridged by Camden, and now first published complete from the original 
 MS. in the British Museum ; with an English translation and notes, &c. 
 Copenh. 1786. ”4to. This work was reviewed by the modern Camden, Richard 
 Gough, esq. in Gent. Mag. for Dec. 1786, p. 1061; and the review produced 
 a defence of Mr. Johnstone in the same Mag. for July 1787, p. 565 ; in 
 which are noticed some private particulars of the author’s history. — “ Anti- 
 qnitates Celto-Scandicse, sive Series Rerum Gestarum inter Nationes Britan- 
 nicarum Insularum et Gentes Septentrionales. Copenh. 1784.” 4to. 
 
 t “ Essay on the Revival of the Drama in Italy. 1805.” 
 
158 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 from a regard to his interest and reputation 5 but, I fear, 
 he is offended, as I have not heard from him for some 
 time, and he is I understand still in England. Mr. Stott 
 is negotiating the publication of a volume with Longman, 
 ■which I have no doubt will be successful. R, Anderson,” 
 
 Bp. Percy to Dr, Anderson. 
 
 cc Dear Sir, Dromore House, Nov. 27, 1805. 
 
 Amidst continual interruptions of official business, or 
 other unavoidable avocations, I have at length gone 
 through your Life of Johnson, and submitted such cor- 
 rections, additions, and notes, as occurred to me, of which 
 you may make what use you please; but I could wish 
 not to have my name unnecessarily obtruded on the 
 reader, and therefore beg you will manage that with your 
 usual prudence and delicacy. I have endeavoured to 
 avoid all harsh censures on Johnson's former Biographers, 
 but, if you think anything too severe or uncandid, I leave 
 you to soften it. If the like should have escaped your 
 own pen, I am sure your candour and liberal sentiments 
 will induce you to do the same yourself. I think you 
 have more than once blamed Johnson for wasting his life 
 in unprofitable conversation, &c. Surely such a sentence 
 cannot justly be passed on one of the most extensive and 
 voluminous writers we ever had, because he was not 
 always writing and publishing. It is true he sometimes 
 blames himself, but, if this proceeded from his over reli- 
 gious scruples and morbid melancholy, no considerate 
 person will join him in it, but, on the contrary, acquit him. 
 I must also express my wish, that, as Johnson’s biographer, 
 you would not give so decided a sentence on any of the 
 political opinions in which you may happen to differ from 
 him, and from many other of your readers. Let them 
 stand or fall upon their own bottom. I think a candid 
 and impartial history should not be a book of political 
 controversy. My friendship for you urges me to recom- 
 mend all the above points to your mature consideration. 
 
 u The book I have transmitted to our Secretary at the 
 Dublin Post Office, who, I trust, will frank it to you. As 
 soon as I am informed of its safe arrival, you shall hear 
 again from, dear Sir, your very faithful and obedient 
 servant, T. Dromore/’ 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 159 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Bp. Percy. 
 
 " My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, Dec. 14, 1805, 
 
 ee I sent a Letter to your Lordship in a parcel addressed 
 to Mr. Stott at Glasgow, which Professor Richardson, who 
 was concerned in it, has endeavoured to recover,* but with- 
 out success. 
 
 “ I have had the pleasure of receiving your Lordship’s 
 successive favours ; the last on the 3d instant, which was 
 followed, a few days after, by the Life of Johnson, for- 
 warded by the Secretary of the Post Office in Dublin. 
 
 “ I lost no time in attending to your Lordship’s inquiries 
 about Mr. Boyle the banker, supposed to have some pro- 
 perty belonging to the late John Lays Black, a native of 
 Dromore. From my own knowledge, I was certain that 
 no hanker of that name had resided in Edinburgh within 
 the last thirty years. But it occurred to me that Boyle 
 might be a mistaken spelling for Bogle, a name that ap- 
 pears on the notes of the Royal Bank of Scotland, and I 
 consulted Mr. Simpson the cashier, and Mr. Bogle, one of 
 the clerks. The index of the names of persons who have 
 money deposited in the Bank was carefully examined, and 
 the name of J. L. Black could not be found. I inquired 
 at every other banking-house here, in vain ; and finally 
 resolved to have the advice of my worthy friend Sir Wil- 
 liam Forbes, the banker, who was then detained in Aber- 
 deenshire by a severe accident. I have now his assurance 
 that no banker of the name of Boyle ever resided here, nor 
 in Glasgow ; though there is a considerable merchant of 
 the name of Bogle in that city, who may have connections 
 with Ireland. It would seem that Black’s relations have 
 no receipt or voucher of the deposit ; the want of which, if 
 the money could be traced, would occasion some difficulty 
 in the payment. 
 
 “Amidst the public and private duties which press on 
 your Lordship’s time, joined to the weakness of sight, I 
 feel infinitely flattered and obliged by your minute and 
 critical examination of my Life of Johnson. The correc- 
 tions and additions are numerous and important, and will, 
 in every respect, be estimated by me ; and they ought and 
 1 am sure will be greatly valued by the public, on account 
 °f the hand from which they come. I have not yet deter- 
 mined on the use I am to make of your liberal permission ; 
 'Hit they are so accurately written, particularly the addi- 
 
 * Printed in p. 1 50. 
 
160 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 tions, that I think, at present, of printing them as they 
 are, with your Lordship^s signature, in the form of notes. 
 
 “ I am extremely anxious that little Robinson should 
 have a well-tilled subscription, and I have not been idle, 
 nor unsuccessful, though the town is not yet full, and it is 
 difficult to excite the same interest in him here as there is 
 naturally in Ireland. Miss Stewart, with her name, has 
 sent me a copy of verses to the young poet, which I shall 
 transmit to Belfast, when I get a frank. 
 
 “ The Northern Antiquities is to be begun to be printed 
 when the manager of Mundell and Son’s business returns 
 from London, about the beginning of January. He 
 has been absent two months, and several works have 
 been delayed in which I am concerned. I will give you 
 timely notice of its progress through the press. I shall 
 write to you more "particularly about Johnson. I have 
 great pleasure in the good accounts of your general health 
 from every quarter. With kindest wishes to Mrs. Percy, 
 “ I ever am, &c, R. Anderson/’ 
 
 a My DEAR .LORD, Heriot’s Green, March 25, 180G. 
 
 a Since the return of Mr. Doig from London I have 
 been incessantly urging him to begin the Northern Anti- 
 quities, and I have delayed writing to your Lordship till I 
 am ashamed, because the work which it is to follow has 
 not passed through the press. 
 
 “ Having an opportunity of writing to your Lordship 
 by William Stott returning to Dromore, I had some con- 
 versation with Mr. Doig to day concerning the business, 
 and have finally arranged with him the mechanical part, 
 which is to be far more elegant, in respect of paper and 
 print, than the last edition, and the volumes will be more 
 uniform. I suppose it will be necessary to engrave the 
 specimens of the Islandic character. Herbert and others 
 uniformly spell the first syllable of the word Islandic Ice. 
 Does your Lordship prefer the old spelling ? I have some 
 petty questions of this kind in reserve, when we begin to 
 print. I am greatly flattered by the confidence your 
 Lordship reposes in me, but feel that I must exercise the 
 privilege of correction with reverence. 
 
 “ The fifth edition of my Life of Smollett will soon be 
 out, much enlarged, with an Appendix of Original Corre- 
 spondence, communicated to me by the Historical Society 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 161 
 
 of Massachusetts, of which I have lately been elected a 
 member. This New England rising in the West has pub- 
 lished nine volumes of £ Historical Collections/ which 
 have been transmitted to me in a very flattering manner. 
 
 ££ Has your Lordship any notices concerning Dryden 
 not already given to Johnson and Malone ? Walter Scott 
 is editing his Works, and has laid us all under contribu- 
 tion. We are puzzled about the parallelism between 
 Monmouth and £ Amnon’s murder/ mentioned in the be- 
 ginning of ‘ Absalom and Ahitophel.’ He was one of the 
 £ Royal Dukes ’ who killed a watchman, as described in 
 the £ State Poems/ but we do not find him accused of £ royal 
 murder/ 
 
 ££ I have lately made a discovery that will enrich my 
 Johnson, a dedication of eleven pages, to the Parliament, 
 prefixed to the £ Evangelical History Harmonized/ in 2 
 vols. Newbery, 1757* It bears on the title page, £ By a 
 Society of Gentlemen/ but was the production of the Rev. 
 John Lindsay. The dedication has escaped the diligence 
 of Boswell and Malone, and is written in the excellent de- 
 dicator’s best style of dignified remonstrance and sublime 
 
 ££ Little Robinson’s subscription, I rejoice to hear, is 
 well filled. His admission to Trinity College was, indeed, 
 a triumphant entry. 
 
 “ I expect to have an opportunity of addressing your 
 Lordship again in a few days. 
 
 te I beg my kindest respects to Mrs. Percy. 
 
 “ I am always your Lordship’s affectionate humble 
 servant, Ro. Anderson. 
 
 “P.S. I forgot to mention my concern to hear of the 
 failure of the Vaccine Inoculation. It succeeds universally 
 here. I suspect there is some inaccuracy or fallacy in the 
 Lromore cases. If properly treated and authenticated, 
 drey should be communicated to the College of Physicians, 
 ^pointed to make a Report concerning it next Session of 
 parliament. My faith is unshaken by the publications of 
 Lr* Moseley and others.” 
 
 all ma y here mention that another piece of Dr. Johnson’s writing escaped 
 th ] biographers and commentators, till the Rev. J. Mitford pointed out 
 chapter of Mrs. Lennox’s “ Female Quixote,” as being from internal 
 
 fill written hxr him Tfi is tVme Lpnrlprl — — HPhis is tLp Lp«f nhcmtm« r\P 
 
 J, S 1844, p. 41. 
 
 V °L. VII. 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, 28 June, 1806. 
 
 “ You obliged me greatly by the communication of Dr. 
 Grainger’s letter, and gratified me exceedingly by the 
 useful information which accompanied it. The letter is 
 an important document, and affords me complete refuta- 
 tion of the newspaper calumny. 
 
 “ I deferred making your Lordship my acknowledg- 
 ments for it at the time, in the expectation of seeing Dr. 
 Trail, to whom I communicated the inclosure, and in the 
 expectation that, in the progress of my biography of Grain- 
 ger, I should find certain points on which it w r ould be 
 necessary to consult you. 
 
 “ Dr. Trail, who has been going here and there, returned 
 to town yesterday, and I had not seen him since I received 
 your letter till Thursday, -when I had a long interesting 
 conversation with him. He intends going to Ireland 
 about a fortnight hence, and is to call on me some day 
 next week to fix the precise time of his departure, and 
 take charge of my missives to your Lordship. Mr. 
 Thomson, the bearer of this, has given me but a moment’s 
 warning of his intention to set out to-morrow for Dublin, 
 with Mr. Gilbert the bookseller ; I am therefore obliged 
 to write to your Lordship in great haste. 
 
 e( I am proceeding in my account of Grainger, with 
 such materials as I have, and expect soon to put it off my 
 hands. The last sheet of the second volume and the pre- 
 liminary matter only remain to be printed. Dr. Wright 
 has just sent me a curiosity, a reprint of our Essay * at 
 Jamaica, with the advertisement and notes; the Sugar 
 Cane; and Col. Martin’s Essay on Plantership; in one 
 octavo vol. with the title of Three Tracts on West Indian 
 Agriculture, and subjects connected therewith, viz.’ &c. by 
 A. Aikman, printer to his Majesty and to the Assembly, 
 to whom it is dedicated, in 1802 . The printer took the 
 hint of my design announced in the advertisement to the 
 Essay; and I am glad of it, as it has led to a re -publication 
 of the Sugar Cane where it was produced, though it may 
 limit the sale of our edition. 
 
 “ The printers here are not ready to proceed in it, and 
 I am continually drawn aside by indispensable avocations 
 from prosecuting my undertaking, which, however, has 
 gained by the delay in many respects. The last letter 
 you sent is of inestimable value. Can if be possible that 
 there may be yet another document among your Lorn- 
 
 * Pr. Grainger's Essay on the West India Diseases. See before, p. 99> 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 163 
 
 ship’s valuable manuscript collections that has escaped 
 your diligence ? 
 
 u I am much obliged to your Lordship for your sug- 
 gestion concerning Smollett, of which I shall avail myself 
 in my observations on his History, which are not yet 
 printed off. 
 
 “ The Northern Antiquities are to be taken up in the 
 course of the summer, to be ready to come out in the end 
 of the year, the usual time of publishing works of value. 
 The specimens of the Islandic on the title-page are 
 to be engraved, and the book will be printed handsomely. 
 But I will write to you more fully on this subject after- 
 wards. 
 
 “ A bookseller here has lately reprinted your tf Key to 
 the New Testament,’ rather inelegantly, with your name 
 thus, e By Thomas Percy.’ in the title-page, taken from the 
 dedication, without knowing your rank and distinction. 
 
 tC In justice to your Lordship, I have suggested to 
 Mundell and Co. to print a handsome edition, with your 
 Lordship’s permission and authority, if you will have the 
 goodness to give them. 
 
 “ Scott is going on with Bryden, and reprinting all his 
 plays, and giving offence to many. 
 
 “ Sir William Forbes has published his Life of Dr. 
 Beattie in two 4to volumes, with an engraved frontis- 
 piece from Sir Joshua Reynolds’s emblematical painting,* 
 He has presented me with a copy in a very flattering 
 manner, and been very civil to me in some parts of it, but 
 I have not yet had leisure to ascertain its value. 
 
 “ Dr. Trail has purchased a copy, and will bring it over 
 for your inspection. Your letter to Beattie with Bishop 
 Porteus’s Sermons, and character of the author, is inserted, 
 and does your Lordship much credit in every respect. 
 
 “ I owe your Lordship my particular acknowledgments 
 for your letter by W. Stott ; so just to my respectful and 
 affectionate attachment, and so indulgent to my toils, 
 which are incessant. 
 
 Si I will write to your Lordship by Dr. Trail more fully. 
 
 fc I am ever, with every kind wish to Mrs. Percy, your 
 Lordship’s most affectionate humble servant, 
 
 Ro. Anderson. 
 
 “ P.S. I believe I have not yet mentioned to your 
 
 * C oncerning this emblematical Painting, and the Portrait of Beattie, see a 
 
 110us n ote in Gent, Mag. for November 1846, p. 462. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 ILLUSTRATIONS OP LITERATURE, 
 
 Lordship Miss Bannerman’s scheme of publishing a col- 
 lected edition of her Poems and Tales,, in 4to, by subscrip- 
 tion, at a guinea, for her benefit. She was for some time 
 averse to it ; but it is now going on. She has about 250 
 names. From particular friends she takes, for her present 
 subsistence, the price at subscription, reserving still £200 
 for the expense of printing. Your Lordship, with a be- 
 nevolence equally prompt and liberal, at a certain time, 
 proposed to send her £10 for her benefit.* Let me now 
 assure your Lordship that a subscription to that amount, 
 paid at present, would be received with the most heart- 
 felt gratitude. I would apologize for mentioning Miss 
 Bannerman’s circumstances to your Lordship, did I not 
 know that your goodness and humanity will render any- 
 thing of that kind unnecessary. 
 
 44 We are all impatient to see young Robinson’s extra- 
 ordinary volume. I rejoice to hear of the honours he has 
 received at Trinity College.” 
 
 cc My DEAR Lord, ^ Heriot’s Green, 13 July, 1806. 
 
 44 Since my last to your Lordship by Mr. Thomson, I 
 have had the pleasure of a visit from Dr. Trail, who is in 
 good health and spirits, and leaves this city for Ireland 
 to-morrow. I avail myself of the opportunity to write to 
 you, according to the phraseology of Miss Byron, in con- 
 tinuation. Communication between Dromore House and 
 Edinburgh is so infrequent, that when it does occur I 
 embrace it eagerly, to give you some account of our little 
 affairs. 
 
 44 I begin with mentioning the substance of a conversa- 
 tion I had yesterday with my printers about a new edition 
 of the 4 Key to the New Testament,’ namely, that your 
 Lordship would let it be an authorised edition, with your 
 name, and that they would print it in a style of suitable 
 elegance. I mentioned something to that purpose in my 
 last, and I recur to it willingly, from an earnest desire to 
 extend the utility of this little work, which, in my opi- 
 nion, is better calculated to advance, in a popular and 
 rational manner, the study and knowledge of the New 
 Testament, than a multitude of volumes. 
 
 44 By a letter which I received yesterday from Mr. Arm- 
 strong, I learn that young Robinson goes on in a rapid 
 career at Trinity College ; and that his brother, a fine 
 * See before, p. 123, 129. 133, 138. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 165 
 
 boy, died about a month ago. I can easily conceive bow 
 great the shock must have been to a man of such nervous 
 sensibility as Mr. Robinson. Thomas is now, I believe, 
 his only child. His extraordinary volume, of which the 
 subscribers* names, amounting to 1750, will be no con- 
 temptible part, has not yet reached our city. We take 
 about 150 copies for our share, of which I take 50 for 
 my friends, and Mr. Anderson, bookseller, the same num- 
 ber, for sale. Mrs. Blake, sister of Eliza Hamilton, and 
 Mr. Allan, proprietor of the Belfast News Letter, take 
 the rest. 
 
 “ By the gentleman who brought me Mr. Armstrong’s 
 letter, I had the satisfaction to learn, that the tutor of the 
 young poet has commenced his professional career with 
 extraordinary eclat; and he himself informs me, that he is 
 invited to preach on trials in the first congregation in 
 Dublin. From our knowledge of his qualifications and 
 character we may safely anticipate his success. 
 
 “ Mr. Drummond, whom your Lordship mentions, 
 sent me a copy of his poem, f The Battle of Trafalgar,* 
 soon after its appearance. I perused it with singular 
 delight, and easily prevailed on Mr. Anderson to order 
 fifty copies for sale here, which is now going on. It is, in 
 my opinion, not only the best, but the only good poem 
 which the death of the heroic Nelson, the decus et dolor 
 patriae , has produced. The title is exceptionable, and the 
 mechanism of the verse, perhaps, too uniform, the fault of 
 his models, Pope and Darwin ; but the imagery, the sen- 
 timent, and the diction evince, undeniably, considerable 
 vigour of imagination, and great command of poetical 
 language. 
 
 Mr. Drummond sent me, some time ago, a specimen 
 of anew version of Lucretius, executed with so much spirit 
 and elegance, that I strongly recommended him to com- 
 plete it in the same style. Such a version, accompanied 
 vnth proper notes, correcting the false philosophy of the 
 original, printed in a moderate size, would easily supplant 
 the old version of Creech, and even that of Good, which, 
 though in many respects valuable, is in blank verse, in 
 two expensive 4to volumes. 
 
 ' I have been interrupted by a valedictory visit from 
 le worthy Dr. Trail, of whom I have this moment taken 
 eave, with much regret, as his intention of spending the 
 ^ lnter in England gives me a very distant hope of his 
 
166 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 return to Scotland. Within ten days he will be at Dro- 
 more House ; where I often, in imagination, attend your 
 Lordship to the lake, the garden, the glen, the lawn, and 
 the grove ; the scenes of many a social walk, and of many 
 a pleasant and instructive hour, the impression of which 
 no length of time can efface from my memory. To me 
 they seem unchanged; the lake has lost none of its 
 watery tenants, who obey the call of their master, and 
 take their food from his hand, and the torrent issuing 
 from it forms many a cascade with the same pleasing asto- 
 nishment. But the garden, I fancy, may show marks 
 of a more perfect and progressive cultivation ; and the 
 trees you planted may now cast a broader shade on the 
 seats consecrated to friendship, and close the opening 
 vistas. 
 
 At this distance, how delightful to me is the reflec- 
 tion, that, since it is no longer permitted to your Lordship 
 to contemplate the scenery which your taste embellished, 
 you bear the privation with pious resignation, and cheer- 
 fully pursue your accustomed walks with health as vigor- 
 ous and step as firm and light as when I had the happi- 
 ness to attend you ! I most cordially hope that you may 
 continue many years longer the patron and example of 
 religion and learning, and the friend of human kind. 
 
 u I know not whether I mentioned to your Lordship 
 my design of enlarging the collection of Poetical Trans- 
 lations. The third volume is now printing, which will 
 include, among others, Callimachus, Tryphiodorus, and 
 Ossian. Mr. Preston gives us his Apollonius. Has your 
 friend Mr. Meen completed his version of Lycophron ?* I 
 am told there is aversion of Propertius by one Drummond. 
 Has your Lordship ever met with it? I have Mr. Nott’s 
 c Cynthia/ I will thank your Lordship for your advice 
 respecting a proper selection of translations of entire 
 works. What is become of your version of Ovid’s 
 Epistles ? I have many inquiries after your edition of 
 Surrey, and the 4th volume of the f Reliques/ I answer, 
 they are both forthcoming.f 
 
 “ Dr. Trail takes over Sir William Forbes's Life of 
 Beattie, with which I think you will be delighted. I am 
 truly sorry to say the worthy Baronet is dangerously ill* 
 
 * This version was never completed. k ‘ 
 
 f The edition of Surrey was never completed, though the text was printed ; 
 and the fourth volume of the ‘ Reliques’ never appeared. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 167 
 
 The Doctor takes over also the Edinburgh Review, 
 and some other books and pamphlets. The Leslie con- 
 troversy has produced several ingenious pamphlets, but 
 the interest they excite is chiefly local. I had collected 
 them for you, but the Doctor dissuaded me from sending 
 them. I send, however, a new edition of my friend 
 Brown’s Observations on Hume, and a copy of the ninth 
 edition of the Pleasures of Hope, of which you have the 
 first, the most imperfect. Permit me to solicit for it the 
 honour of a place in the cabinet or the drawing-room, 
 with the approbation of Mrs. Percy. 
 
 “ I send you some political squibs, the two songs by 
 Walter Scott. 
 
 “ With kindest respects to good Mrs. Percy, 
 
 “ I am, my dear Lord, 
 
 <c Your affectionate humble servant, 
 
 “Ro. Anderson. 35 
 
 " My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, 14 Aug. 1806. 
 
 u I could not hold myself excused were 1 to neglect the 
 opportunity of my friend Mr. Watson going to Dublin 
 to-morrow, to make your Lordship my acknowledgments 
 for your last kind note, inclosing a draft on Messrs. Gos- 
 lings, London, for iHO. 105. as your subscription for Miss 
 Bannerman’s Poems. 
 
 “ The knowledge I have of your Lordship’s disposition, 
 makes me believe that the most gratifying return I can 
 make for this noble instance of your liberality, is the 
 assurance that it was received with overflowing gratitude 
 by the poor young lady, as a donation of Providence, at 
 the very moment she needed the sum to pay her board 
 and lodging for the ensuing quarter. 
 
 “ Before this time, I doubt not, your Lordship has 
 seen Dr. Trail, and received the packet I sent by him for 
 Dromore Houses 
 
 “ Messrs. Mundell and Co. are much obliged to your 
 Lordship for your compliance with their request respect- 
 ing an authorised edition of the e Key to the New Testa- 
 ment,’ and desire me to say that they will begin to print it 
 
 as soon as they receive the corrections from your Lord- 
 ship. 
 
 « 
 
 I observe an error of the press at page 35, 
 for f Newcome,’ Rivington’s edition, 1792. 
 
 lNewtoir 
 
168 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Having many letters to write by this conveyance, I 
 must defer writing to your Lordship at greater length : I 
 have only to request your attention to the printed sheets 
 of the new edition of my Life of Smollett, which I send 
 for your inspection, particularly the passages relating to 
 the controversy between Grainger and Smollett. 
 
 (< In unavoidable haste I write this note of acknow- 
 ledgment. 
 
 “ I beg my very kindest respects to Mrs. Percy. 
 
 “ I am always, my dear Lord, your most affectionate, 
 humble servant, Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Mr. Thomas Robinson.* 
 
 “ My DEAR Sir, Heriot’s Green, 30 Oct. 1806. 
 
 (e I avail myself of the opportunity of Mr. Orr going 
 through Belfast, on his way to Hillsborough, to send you 
 my best compliments and cordial remembrances. 
 
 I am obliged to write this note in unavoidable haste ; 
 but I obey the strong impulse of my mind in congratu- 
 lating you on the splendid progress of my young friend 
 Thomas, in Trinity College. If he be now with you, 
 remember me very kindly to him ; and if he is in college, 
 assure him, when you write to him, of my affectionate 
 regard and kindest wishes. 
 
 e( Our amiable friend Armstrong sent me from Dublin, 
 some time ago, a proof of the young poet’s portrait, upon 
 which I set a high value. The likeness is remarkably 
 striking, and the figure finely expressive. I inclose a 
 note for our friend, as I am uncertain concerning his 
 motions. 
 
 “ I have yet another subject for congratulation in the 
 
 * Mr. Robinson was born on the banks of Windermere. He was a pupil of 
 Romney ; and settled in Ireland, where, both at Belfast and at Dublin, he was 
 much patronized by Bp. Percy and others. He died July 27, 1810. See an 
 account of him in Gent, Mag. LXXX. ii. 288 ; and Lines to his memory by 
 Hafiz, ibid. 462. His eldest son, Thomas Romney Robinson, was born at 
 Laurence Town, near Gilford, co. Down, April 23, 1793. Several of his 
 compositions (when only eight years old) are in the Gent. Mag. LXXI. 
 1124. LXXII. 61. 252. LXXIII. 454. LXXV. 63. 359. 653. He was edu- 
 cated at the academy of the Rev. Dr. Bruce at Belfast, where he gained the 
 first premiums, not only in the Latin and Greek Classics, but in History, 
 Mythology, and Logic. He was entered at Trinity College, Dublin, in 
 1806; and in 1810 was on that foundation, having then lately taken his 
 bachelor’s degree. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 169 
 
 appearance of the young poet’s extraordinary volume, 
 accompanied by a well-filled and respectable subscription, 
 
 “ I sent over a list of a few names, and Mr. Anderson, 
 bookseller, and others, sent over lists. The copies have 
 been long expected here, yet none have been transmitted 
 to us. Will you have the goodness to inquire about this 
 neglect of the poet’s Edinburgh friends. The whole 
 copies may be sent in one bale to Mr. Anderson, compre- 
 hending the separate parcels according to the lists ; and 
 you will please to inform Mr. Anderson or me how the 
 money is to be sent safely, and with as little expense of 
 commission, if any, as possible. 
 
 “ I have to request the favour of you to forward the 
 parcel which accompanies this to our excellent friend the 
 Bishop of Dromore, and that for Mr. Boyd, when you 
 have opportunities. Mr. Orr returns from Hillsborough 
 in two or three days, and will take charge of any missives 
 from my friends at Belfast. 
 
 “ I beg my kindest respects to Dr. Bruce and family. 
 
 “ I am, with great regard, my dear Sir, 
 
 <e Yours truly, 
 
 f<r Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Bishop Percy. 
 
 «*• 
 
 t( My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, Nov. 18, 1806. 
 
 “ The sight of even the imperfect traces of your Lord- 
 ship’s handwriting in your kind notes to me, is a gratifi- 
 cation which I cannot forego, without particular concern, 
 at a time when I believed the failure of your sight was 
 not sensibly increasing, and cordially hoped that your 
 active literary life would not terminate in the total priva- 
 tion of so great a blessing. Yet there is consolation to 
 me in the thought that your health continues firm, and 
 the energies of your mind are still vigorous, and actively 
 employed in the service of the republic of letters, to 
 which you belong. 
 
 <c Soon after my last to your Lordship, by Mr. Watson, 
 I was drawn away into Lanarkshire to attend the death- 
 bed of a near relation, where I was detained a long time, 
 partly by civilities and partly by perplexities in settling 
 some family concerns, and returned home only to make a 
 wiore distant excursion, which had been concerted with a 
 friend before. 
 
170 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ I have been quietly settled at home for some time, 
 and have finished the new edition of my Life of Smollett, 
 of which I sent your Lordship the printed sheet concern- 
 ing Grainger. I have written a great part of the narrative 
 over again ; and the Massachusetts Historical Society, of 
 which I am a foreign associate, have enabled me to subjoin 
 a pretty long Appendix of original letters. By a Mr. Orr 
 going to Hillsborough, I sent your Lordship a copy about 
 a fortnight ago, with a copy of Mr. Preston’s Epistle* to 
 me, of which a very few copies have been printed, chiefly 
 for my poetical friends, whose works he has characterised, 
 and some extracts from Mr. Jamieson’s e Popular Ballads/f 
 containing a merited eulogy and defence of your Lordship 
 against Ritson, to be left at Mr. Robinson’s, Belfast. The 
 parcel, I suspect, is yet on the road, as I hear Mr. Orr 
 lias been detained at Paisley by illness. 
 
 “ I am glad to find your Lordship’s correspondence 
 with Mr. Graves on the Chattertonian controversy, is to 
 be printed. In the introductory paragraphs of my account 
 of Chatterton I have stated my authorities at length, and 
 acknowledged that I chiefly followed Dr. Gregory’s candid 
 and comprehensive narrative. I had no original materials ; 
 but subsequent publications, particularly the Gentleman’s 
 Magazine, supplied some new facts and observations, 
 which I put together hastily, yet carefully. I have, 
 hitherto, found no reason to change my opinion. The 
 Pseudo-Rowley probably wrote his poems in modern 
 English, and then altered the spelling and looked into 
 his Glossary for old words which would suit the measure 
 and emphasis of the line, and when he found old words 
 which would exactly supply the place of the modern, 
 he adopted them. But the first outlines, which he care- 
 fully destroyed, cannot be produced in support of this 
 opinion. 
 
 “ I expect Grainger will be out before the end of the 
 year, according to the reference in the Life of Smollett. 
 The letter to Smollett, unfortunately, cannot be found. 
 
 “ The corrections for the c Key’ will be highly ac- 
 ceptable to the printers. They are to proceed with the 
 e Antiquities ’ when they receive the corrected copy from 
 Dromore House, or corrections referring to the pages, 
 which may be easily followed. 
 
 * See pi 65 o + See p. 90. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 171 
 
 44 One of Dr. Bruce’s assistants has just brought me a 
 copy of little Robinson’s Poems. With ‘the subscription 
 list I am delighted, and satisfied with the mechanical exe- 
 cution of the volume. The Dedication is, what it should 
 be, delicately respectful. I wish the word to had been 
 omitted in the second line. The biographical sketch is 
 interesting, and the tissue of poetry in it skilfully intro- 
 duced. In Miss Stewart’s verses, p. xxiv. e Affliction ’ 
 should be 4 Affection ;’ and p. xxv. 4 sting* and 4 string’ in 
 the plural. I think Juvenile should have been omitted in 
 the title page. The Elegy on the death of Romney should 
 have been inserted in the Collection ; surely Mr. Hayley 
 does not think it his ^property. The liberality of the 
 public demanded from the young poet every literary return 
 in his power. 
 
 <( Mr. Boyd has sent me some squibs against Moore $ 
 but the humour is coarse and indelicate. Obscene poems 
 cannot easily be ridiculed without writing obscenely. I 
 have seen our friend Hafiz’s battle piece ; it is spirited, 
 and finely descriptive. The word offspring in the 5th 
 stanza is a strange mistake. 
 
 <( With kindest respects to Mrs. Percy, I ever am your 
 Lordship’s affectionate servant, 
 
 44 Ro. Anderson/’ 
 
 ee My DEAR Lord, . Heriot's Green, 8 Dec. 1806, 
 
 44 A few days ago 1 received the pleasure of your Lord- 
 ship’s kind favour, inclosing two papers of corrections for 
 the new editions of the 4 Key to the New Testament ’ and 
 the 4 Northern Antiquities j’ and this morning I have been 
 favoured with a note from your Lordship, desiring me to 
 return the paper of corrections for the 4 Key.’ I lose no 
 time in complying with your Lordship’s wishes ; and I 
 cannot suffer the paper to depart without filling the enve- 
 lope with my acknowledgments for your Lordship’s kind- 
 ness, and my especial thanks for your remarks on my state- 
 ment of the controversy between Grainger and Smollett. 
 Your Lordship’s opinion makes me regret exceedingly the 
 loss of Grainger’s Letter, which I cited chiefly on the 
 authority of the Critical Review, a suspicious vehicle of 
 information in this case. No diligence has hitherto disco- 
 vered a copy in the collections of the fugitive pamphlets of 
 
i/2 ILLUSTRATIONS OR LITERATURE. 
 
 the day. I mean to be candid, and to do equal justice to 
 both my ingenious countrymen. 
 
 “ I am sorry the parcel I sent by Mr. Orr has not 
 reached Dromore House, as that gentleman left Scotland 
 about a fortnight ago, and was to leave it at Belfast. 
 
 “ I forgot to say before, that if your Lordship wishes to 
 have a copy of my friend Jamieson 5 s' b o ok,* I shall have a 
 safe conveyance about the beginning of the year. It is 
 elegantly printed by Ballantyne, in two 8vo volumes, one 
 guinea, in boards. He made me a present of a copy. 
 Scott superintended the printing in his absence, at Riga, 
 pursuing some mercantile scheme, and collecting Northern 
 ballads. The original f Gil Morrice, 5 from the folio MS. 
 is a great curiosity. 
 
 a Your Lordship’s instructions relative to the new edi- 
 tion of the c Northern Antiquities, 5 shall be carefully 
 observed. In the curious additional note respecting the 
 composition of words, you give Egglezveghan, in Cumber- 
 land, as an illustration : I was so struck with the resem- 
 blance it bears to the word Ecclefechan, the name of a 
 village in Annandale, between Langholm and Moffat, that 
 I suspect it is only a different mode of spelling the same 
 word. It is remarkable that there should be a village of 
 the same name on both sides of the Solway Firth. 
 
 “ I have a letter from Hafod to-day. Mr. Johnes ex- 
 pects to finish the printing of Joinville about Christmas, 
 and is proceeding vigorously in the translation of Mon- 
 strelet. His re-election was easy. 
 
 (i Our elections are nearly over, and a greater propor- 
 tion of returns in the ministerial interest than was ex- 
 pected. I was at the election of the Peers on Thursday, 
 which was keenly contested. The issue shows the decline 
 of Lord Melville’s interest. Of seven anti-ministerial 
 candidates, five of whom, Strathmore, Kelly, Dalhousie, 
 Aboyne, and Napier, were in the last Parliament ; only 
 one, Aberdeen, Lord Abercorn’s son-in-law, not in the last 
 Parliament, was chosen. Haddington was the other un- 
 successful candidate. 
 
 . (e Miss Bannerman’s book is printing at Mund ell’s 
 press, upon the encouragement of a moderate subscrip- 
 tion list, of about 300 names. 
 
 “ I beg my cordial respects to Mrs. Percy, whose indis- 
 
 * “ Popular Ballads and Songs, &c. by Robert Jamieson,’’ 2 volg. 8vo. 1806* 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 178 
 
 position gives me particular concern. I ever am, my dear 
 Lord, your affectionate humble servant, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson. 5 ’ 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Bp. Percy. 
 
 c ' My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, 11th March, 1807. 
 
 ee The last note which I received from your Lordship, 
 of a distant date, prepared me in some measure for the 
 melancholy intelligence communicated to me a few days 
 after by our worthy friend Mr. Stott, of the death of Mrs. 
 Percy;* an event which, on the bed of sickness and anguish, 
 has often been the subject of my thoughts, and as often 
 the subject of my sympathy, as it has deprived you of the 
 affectionate partner of your long and happy conjugal union, 
 and the world of the beneficent example of a good woman, 
 good in every sense of the word. All my family, and 
 indeed all your friends in this country, have truly sympa- 
 thized with you under this heavy domestic calamity. I 
 have suffered the loss of a respected friend, whose kind- 
 ness I will ever remember, by the same calamity that has 
 made you solitary and sorrowful. To add to the affliction 
 I feel for the mournful survivor, I have been incapable of 
 expressing my sympathy as I ought, by a severe indisposi- 
 tion. An acute rheumatism, which seized me about the 
 beginning of January, and the pain and debility consequent 
 on it, have confined me to my chamber, and made me 
 incapable of attending to any kind of business for a long 
 time. I am yet but imperfectly recovered, but I could not 
 think of suffering another Irish mail to depart without at- 
 tempting a short reply to your kind note of the 4th inst. 
 merely to express my condolence and my concern for the 
 friendly apprehensions which my long silence has given 
 you. The feverishness has nearly left me; I am gaining 
 strength, and would be quite well, but for a kind of stupe- 
 taction and light-headedness, which leave me slowly. 
 
 “ Considering, as you do, every dispensation of Divine 
 Providence as wise and salutary, I have great comfort in 
 
 * “Dec. 30, 1806. Died, at Dromore House, in Ireland, aged 75, Mrs, 
 Percy, the truly worthy, amiable, and very accomplished wife of Dr, Percy, 
 Bishop of Dromore. She was the daughter of Bartin Goodriche, esq. of 
 Desborough, co. Northampton.” Gentleman’s Magazine, vol, lxxvii. p. 91. 
 See before, p. 68. 
 
174 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 the thought, that you are every day more and more recon- 
 ciled to a deprivation which wise and good men cannot 
 avoid anticipating and preparing for, even in the happiest 
 moments of possession. f Our lights/ as the poet aptly 
 says, e go out by one and one / and happy it is for us that 
 they steal thus away. In the number that remains, and 
 the gratitude which their continuance excites, our griefs 
 are softened and gradually removed. But the time will 
 at length arrive, when all our earthly props must shake, 
 and when nothing that is not built on an immortal base 
 will endure and sustain the mind, anxiously looking round 
 for support. For this event the good man is prepared, 
 and contemplates it with a composure which, while it ele- 
 vates his mind to nobler views, does not destroy the relish 
 of his present rational and innocent pleasures. 
 
 I would have sent your Lordship Jamieson’s publica- _ 
 tion, but I was disappointed in the conveyance I expected. 
 An opportunity will occur about the middle of next month, 
 and, if it be not too late, I will then send it to Belfast, with 
 any thing else you wish to have from this quarter. Grainger 
 is to be taken up as soon as I can do any thing. George 
 Paton* died last week in his 86’th year. Miss Bannerman’s 
 poems are now under the hot-press, and will be published 
 next week. Your ten copies shall be forwarded to Belfast 
 in a package. Lord Woodhouselie’s Life of Karnes is just 
 come out, in two 4to volumes. Scott has a new poem in 
 the press. By the death of my friend Preston, t our edition 
 of Jonson is abandoned. 
 
 “ I have perused with much interest Mr. Stott’s J and 
 Mr. Boyd’s § verses on the death of Mrs. Percy. 
 
 “ Believe me ever, my dear Lord, your affectionate 
 humble servant, Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 * Mr. George Paton is already noticed in p. 77 ; but it appears by this 
 letter his death occurred in March, instead of May, 1807. 
 
 f William Preston, M.R.I.A. barrister at law, and one of the Commis- 
 sioners of Appeals, died at Dublin, Feb. 2, 1807. His publications are enu- 
 merated in Watt’s Bibliotheca, p. 774. See before, pp. 65, 170. 
 
 J Mr. Thomas Stott, of Dromore, was concerned in a large firm in the 
 linen trade ; and in his relaxations from business, indulged his superior ge- 
 nius by gratifying readers of taste with poetical effusions, under the signature 
 of Hafiz, which generally first appeared in the Belfast Newsletter; and very 
 many of them are recorded in the Gent. Mag. See General Index to the 
 Poetry, vol. III. under his own name of Stott, p. 536, and his assumed 
 one of Hafiz, in p. 508. His epitaph on Mrs. Percy is in Gent. Mag. 1807, 
 
 p. 60. 
 
 § The Rev. II. Boyd, translator of Dante. His Lines to the memory of 
 Mrs. Percy are in Gent. Mag. 1807, i. 155 ; and verses on the death of Bp. 
 Percy, 1811, ii. 556. Several of his early poems appear in the Gent. Mag. 
 See General Index to the Poetry, vol, III, p, 492. 
 
PER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 175 
 
 K My DEAR LORD, Heriot’s Green, 23d April, 1807. 
 
 ie I gladly avail myself of the opportunity of Mr. 
 M‘Clean’s movement to Ireland, to give your Lordship 
 this assurance of my remembrance and affection, and to 
 announce my sending, some time ago, Jamieson’s 4 Bal- 
 lads,’ in a package of books for Mr. Ward, bookseller, in 
 Lisburne, to be forwarded to Dromore House. 
 
 44 Mr. M 4 Clean, who charges himself with this note, 
 was recommended to my attention by Mr. Armstrong and 
 Mr. Drummond. He was Armstrong’s successor in Dr. 
 Bruce’s academy ; has been a student in our college this 
 winter; and returns home to be settled minister of a Dis- 
 senting congregation in the county of Armagh, to which 
 he belongs. As I have found him deserving of my regard 
 in every respect, I have yielded to a wish which he has 
 earnestly expressed, of showing your Lordship his high 
 respect and admiration in passing through Dromore. 
 
 44 Since my last to your Lordship, my health has been 
 gradually mending, though the weather has been extremely 
 cold. I hope it has not been so inclement in your Island, 
 and that your Lordship’s health and spirits are as good 
 as your friends wish them to be. 
 
 44 The uncertainty of earthly happiness has lately been 
 sadly exemplified at Ilafod, the elegant and classical 
 mansion of my worthy friend Mr. Johnes. In three short 
 hours an accidental fire completed the destruction of the 
 house, the pride and ornament of the Principality, and 
 destroyed the labours and collections of nearly thirty years. 
 Among the irreparable losses are the papers and drawings 
 which he had arranged for the printing of the supple- 
 mentary volume of Froissart. These he regrets most 
 exceedingly. Fortunately the Pisaro library, which he 
 had lately purchased, had not arrived. He is insured, but, 
 should the offices pay the whole, it would not cover half 
 his losses. He bears his misfortune with the greatest 
 fortitude. 4 I am stunned,’ he says, in a letter to me from 
 the Devil’s Bridge, ‘ but not knocked down.’ He is now 
 m London with his family, at the house of his friend Mr. 
 Smith, Bloomsbury-square. This morning I received the 
 present of his 4 Joinville,’ in two 4to volumes, with plates. 
 The 4 Travels,’ he informs me, are nearly printed, and 
 e Monstrelet ’ more than half translated. His future plans 
 are uncertain. This is a melancholy subject, which your 
 Hordship will forgive me for dwelling upon. 
 
1/6 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 e( As Mr. M f Clean is waiting for this note, and one for 
 our worthy friend Hafiz, I am obliged to stop short ; but, 
 as you are seldom absent from my thoughts, I shall soon 
 trouble you with another missive. 
 
 ee Accept of the kindest wishes of my family and of your 
 ever affectionate humble servant, Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Bp. Percy. 
 
 Heriot’s Green, Edinburgh, Dec. 29, 1800.* 
 
 a List of Old Scottish Songs, penes Alex. Fraser Tytler, 
 Esq. Advocate, Edinburgh. 
 
 No. 1. Willie’s Lady.— Lines 76. 
 
 Willie’s ta’en him o’er the faem, 
 
 He’s woo’d a wife and brought her hame, &c. 
 
 (( Communicated to Mr. Lewis, and inserted, with alter- 
 ations, in his “Tales of Wonder,” 2 vols. 8vo. 1800. 
 
 2. Jack, the little Scot.' — Stanzas 34. 
 
 Johniewas as brave a knight 
 As ever sailed the sea, 
 
 And he is to the English Court 
 To serve for meat and fee, &c. 
 
 3. Chil’ Brenton,— Lines 148. 
 
 Chil’ Brenton has sent o’er the faem, 
 
 Chil’ Brenton’s brought his Lady hame, &c. 
 
 4. The Gay Goss Hawke.— Stanzas 28. 
 
 O’ well’s me o’ my gay goss hawke, 
 
 That he can speake and flee, 
 
 Will carry a letter to my love, 
 
 Bring another back to me, &c, 
 
 5. Young Betrice, — Stanzas 38. 
 
 Young Betrice was as brave a knight 
 As ever sail’d the sea, 
 
 And he ’s ta’en him to the Court of France 
 To serve for meat and fee, &c. 
 
 “ The conduct of the story is different from that of No. 2, 
 which it resembles. Some of the lines are in “ Gil Mor- 
 rice.” 
 
 6, Rose the Red and White Lily.— Stanzas 60. 
 
 O Rose the Red and White Lily 1 
 Their mother dear was dead, 
 
 And their father married an ill woman 
 Wist them twa little quee’d, &e. 
 
 * This Letter should have been inserted, agreeably to its date, in p. 91. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 177 
 
 7. Brown Robin. — Stanzas 21. 
 
 The King Val and his nobles a’ 
 
 Sat drinking at the wine, 
 
 He wou’d ha’ nane but his ae daughter 
 To wait on them at dine, &c. 
 
 8. Willie o’ Douglas Dale. — Stanzas 33. 
 
 Willie was as brave a Lord 
 As ever sail’d the sea, 
 
 And he’s gone to the English Court, 
 
 To serve for meat and fee, &c. 
 
 “The introduction is similar, but the incidents are dif- 
 ferent from those in Nos. 2 and 5. 
 
 9. Kempion. — Stanzas 20. 
 
 Come here, come here, ye freely fee’d, 
 
 And lay your head low on my knee, 
 
 The heaviest weird I will you read 
 That ever was read till a Lady, &c. 
 
 10. Lady Elspat. — Stanzas 12. 
 
 How brent is your brow, my Lady Elspat, 
 
 How golden yallow is your hair ; 
 
 Of all the maids in fair Scotland 
 There’s nane like Lady Elspat fair, &c. 
 
 11. King Henry. — Stanzas 22. 
 
 Let never a man a wooing wend 
 That lacketh things three, 
 
 A routh of gold, and open heart, 
 
 An’ fu’ o’ charity, &c. 
 
 12. Lady Maisery. — Stanzas 31. 
 
 The young Lords of the North Countrie 
 Have all a-wooing gane, 
 
 To win the love of Lady Maisery, 
 
 But of them she wou’d ha’ nane, &c. 
 
 “Stanzas 21, 22, and 23, are in f Gil Morrice/ beginning, 
 
 O, when he came to broken briggs 
 He bent his bow and swam, 
 
 And when he came to green grass growing 
 He took off his sheen and ran ; 
 
 And whan he came Lord William’s gates 
 He bade na to chap or ca’, 
 
 But set his bent bow till his breast 
 An’ lightly lap the wa’, &c. 
 
 13. Clark Colvin. — Stanzas 14. 
 
 Clark Colvin and his gay Lady, 
 
 As they walk’d to yon garden green, 
 
 A belt about her middle gimp 
 Which cost Clark Colvin crowns fifteen, &c. 
 
 “ Inserted, with alterations, in the “Tales of Wonder/’ A 
 different copy in Herd’s Collection, printed at Edinburgh, 
 m 2 vols. 12mo. 1776. 
 
 VOL. VII, 
 
 N 
 
178 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 14. Brown Adam. — Stanzas 16. 
 
 O wha wou’d wish the wind to blaw, 
 
 Or the green leaves fa’ therewith, 
 
 O wha would wish a leeler love 
 Than Brown Adam the Smith ? &c. 
 
 15. The Cruel Sister. — Lines 58. 
 
 There was twa sisters in ae bow’r, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 
 
 There was twa sisters in ae bow’r, Stirling, 
 
 There was twa sisters in ae bow’r, for ay, 
 
 There came a knight to be their wooer, 
 
 Bonny St. Johnston stands upon Tay, &c. 
 
 “The Songs in the MS. are accompanied with the music, 
 to which they are sung. 
 
 “ The late William Tytler, Esq. got the above fifteen 
 songs from Professor Thomas Gordon, Aberdeen, in 1783. 
 The following extract of a Letter of the Professor to his 
 son Alexander Fraser Tytler, Esq. explains how he came 
 by them : c An aunt of my children (Mrs. Farquharson, 
 now dead), who w r as married to the proprietor of a small 
 estate near the sources of the Dee, in Braemar, a good old 
 woman, who spent the best part of her life among flocks 
 and herds, resided in her latter days in Aberdeen. She 
 was possessed of a most tenacious memory, which retained 
 all the songs she had heard from the nurses and country- 
 women in that sequestered part of the country. Being 
 maternally fond of my children, when young, she had them 
 much about her, and delighted them with her songs and 
 tales of chivalry. My youngest daughter, Mrs. Brown, at 
 Falkland, is blessed with a memory as good as her aunt’s, 
 and has almost the whole of her songs by heart. I men- 
 tioned them to your father, at whose request my grandson 
 Mr. Scott wrote down a parcel of them as his aunt sung 
 them. Being then but a mere novice in music, he added 
 in the copy such musical notes as he supposed might give 
 your father some notion of the air, or rather lilts, to which 
 they were sung/ 
 
 “ On the hint contained in the foregoing Letter, Mr. 
 Fraser Tytler wrote to Mrs. Brown of Falkland very lately 
 (February 1800), and requested, that, if her memory could 
 furnish any more ballads of the same nature, she would be 
 so good as to write them out, and send them to him. In 
 consequence he received from her the following nine other 
 ballads, some of them extremely curious, and all of them 
 of considerable antiquity, together with the music to which 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 1 79 
 
 they were sung. In a Letter which accompanied them, 
 dated April 21st, are these words : ( I do not pretend to 
 say that these ballads are correct in any way, as they are 
 written down entirely from recollection, for I never saw 
 one of them in print or manuscript; but I learned them all 
 when a child, by hearing them sung by the lady you men- 
 tioned (Mrs. Farquharson), by my own mother, and an old 
 maid-servant that had been long in the family. I dare say 
 I may have fragments of others, but I could not so easily 
 recollect them, except the ballads they belonged to were 
 mentioned.’ 
 
 List of Old Scottish Ballads, &c. 
 
 No. 1. Thomas Rhymer and Queen of England. — Stanzas 16. 
 
 True Thomas lay o’er yond grassy banke, 
 
 And he beheld a ladie gay, 
 
 A ladie that was brisk and bold, 
 
 Come riding o’er the fernie brae, & c. 
 
 2. Love Gregor. — Stanzas 26. 
 
 O wha will shoe my fu’ fair foot, 
 
 And wha will glove my hand, 
 
 And wha will lace my middle gimp 
 Wi’ the new-made London band, &c. 
 
 3. Fa’se Foolrage. — Stanzas 35. 
 
 King Easter has courted her for her goud, 
 
 King Wester for her fee, 
 
 King Honour for her lands sae braid, 
 
 And for her fair bodie, &c. 
 
 4. Jellon Grame and Lillie Flower. — Stanzas 23. 
 
 O Jellon Grame sat in Silver wood, 
 
 He whistled and he sang, 
 
 And he has call’d his little foot page 
 His errand for to gang, &c. 
 
 5. The Bonny Earl of Livingston. — Stanzas 12, 
 
 0 we were sisters seven, Maisry, 
 
 And five are dead wi’ child ; 
 
 There is none but you and I, Maisry, 
 
 And we ’ll go maidens mild, &c. 
 
 6. Bonny Bee Ho’m. — Stanzas 11. 
 
 By Arthur’s Dale as late I went 
 I heard a heavy moan, 
 
 1 heard a lady lamenting sair, 
 
 And ay she cried, O hone ! &c. 
 
180 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 7 . Bonny Footboy. — Stanzas 38. 
 
 0 there was a Ladie, a noble Ladie, 
 
 She was a Ladie of birth and fame, 
 
 But she fell in love with her father’s Footboy, 
 
 I wis she was the mair to blame, & c. 
 
 8. Cruel Brother ; or, The Bride’s Testament. — Stanzas 15. 
 
 There was three ladies play’d at the ba’, 
 
 With a hey ho ! and a lillie gay, 
 
 There came a knight, and play’d o’er them a’, 
 
 As the primrose spreads so sweetly, &c. 
 
 9. Lord John and Bird Ellen. — Stanzas 39. 
 
 1 forbid ye a’, ye gay ladies, 
 
 That wear scarlet and brown, 
 
 To leave your father’s families, 
 
 And follow young men frae the town, &c. 
 
 cc Mr. Walter Scott has added a second part to No. 1 ; 
 different copies of Nos. 2 and 5, are printed in the Scottish 
 Ballads, 2 vols. 1791. 
 
 <e Mr. Jamieson, of Macclesfield, shewed me four or five 
 more old ballads, or fragments, last autumn, which he had 
 taken down from Mrs. Brown’s recitation, but I do not 
 recollect the titles. 
 
 <<r Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 (! My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, 23d July, 1807. 
 
 “ I seized the opportunity of the Rev. Mr. Buckminster, 
 an American traveller, going to Ireland, to give him a note 
 of introduction to Dromore House, that he might shew 
 your Lordship his respect, and retain through life the 
 classical remembrance. 
 
 u The day after Mr. Buckminster’s departure I received 
 the pleasure of your Lordship’s very kind and interesting 
 letter, bearing on the cover the welcome intimation of the 
 return of your privilege of franking, and intimating the 
 obliging offer of the use of it for my letters to Ireland, of 
 which I shall thankfully avail myself. 
 
 “ In introducing my Presbyterian friends to your Lord- 
 ship’s acquaintance, I acted from a full conviction of the 
 liberality of your sentiments towards men of worth and 
 learning, of every religious denomination ; but the noble 
 testimony you have given in your last of the liberality of 
 your disposition towards Roman Catholics, as w ? ell as 
 Presbyterians, in a country convulsed by religious hatred 
 and intolerance, is inexpressibly gratifying to me and all 
 your friends here. In these times, when religious am- 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 181 
 
 mosities are fomented to serve political purposes, 1 am 
 happy to produce an example of such a distinguished 
 friend of religion, literature, and civil government, as the 
 Bishop of Dromore, 4 letting his moderation be known to 
 all men/ Among us there are many good subjects and 
 good Protestants who regret the continuance of those cir- 
 cumstances which occasioned the exclusion of Presbyte- 
 rians from civil and military offices, and hope that the time 
 will soon come when the members of the Episcopal and 
 Presbyterian churches will be placed on an equal footing 
 in all parts of his Majesty’s dominions. 
 
 “ A letter which I received lately from our worthy 
 patriotic friend Sir Richard Musgrave, exhibits very dif- 
 ferent features, and displays something of a spirit not 
 quite so conformable to the peace and concord which pure 
 religion dictates, and which the speech delivered in his 
 Majesty’s name on the prorogation of Parliament, recom- 
 mends to 4 all classes and descriptions of his people.’ He 
 sees Popish treason lurking in grim repose, and expecting 
 an opportunity to overturn the Protestant establishment, 
 and hopes the Duke of Richmond will execute the laws 
 with rigour. Yet the writer of this letter we know is one 
 of the mildest, kindest, and best-natured men living. 
 
 44 But the discussion of a subject about which wise and 
 good men differ in opinion is far from my intention, as it 
 directly points to the late changes of administration, and 
 the alliance of politics with religion. The cry of 4 No 
 Popery ’ resembles that of 4 Sacheverel and the Church 5 
 in Queen Anne’s reign, in which Bolingbroke, whose re- 
 ligious principles were well known, warmly concurred. 
 Swift, in one of his letters, plainly acknowledges that the 
 cry had been raised merely to serve a political purpose. 
 The evil consequences of that measure are well known. 
 The present unparalleled state of the continent makes me 
 shudder to think of politics. 
 
 “ I begin my answer to your Lordship’s letter by ac- 
 knowledging the receipt of one guinea, through the hands 
 of Dr. Stott, the price of Jamieson’s two volumes, which I 
 sent to your Lordship in a package to Lisburn. 
 
 “ Miss Bannerman’s subscription volume is now printed 
 and delivering to subscribers. The printers distribute the 
 copies, and will forward your Lordship’s ten copies, which 
 are paid for, in the first package they send to Belfast or 
 Lisburn, The interest you take in that accomplished lady 
 
 # 
 
 
182 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 will excuse my mentioning here that she is gone to Exeter 
 as governess to Lady Frances Beresford’s daughter ; a 
 respectable and useful situation, which, in the judgment of 
 all her friends, reflects more credit on her than all her 
 poetry can do. She is now to earn her livelihood, like 
 other females in her circumstances, by the exercise of her 
 own talents, to which she has become reconciled by the 
 failure of every other plan for her comfortable provision. 
 The situation was procured for her through the interven- 
 tion of a friend of mine in London, in a very obliging and 
 flattering manner. The family of Lady Frances is, I 
 doubt not, well known to your Lordship. 
 
 “ I owe your Lordship my sincere thanks for the very 
 curious and important details respecting the history of 
 Don Quixote’s library, collected by your Lordship and 
 lost in the fire at Hafod, and the Latin version of Caed- 
 mon’s Anglo-Saxon paraphrase of the Bible. The in- 
 formation concerning Caedmon is particularly valuable and 
 useful to me, and the hint respecting Mr. Manning’s im- 
 proved version will be a subject of investigation not to be 
 neglected. The Hafod press has suffered but little inter- 
 ruption, and J oinville’s Memoirs and La Brocquiere’s 
 Travels to Palestine in 1432-3, have proceeded from it 
 within a short time, and, by the kindness of the worthy 
 translator, are both in my possession. He is now em- 
 ployed on Monstrelet’s continuation of Froissart, which is 
 to be his last labour. The Travels are printed in royal 
 8vo, his other Translations in 4to. Ducange’s Notes and 
 Dissertations on Joinville, historical, heraldic, juridical, 
 &c. are very curious and valuable. 
 
 “ Among our late publications Lord Woodhouselie’s 
 Life of Kames is the most considerable. The worthy 
 author appears everywhere the friend of religion and the 
 advocate of civil and ecclesiastical establishments ; but he 
 has failed in exhibiting the prominent features of Kames, 
 and is not thought to have executed his task, as a meta- 
 physician, a philosopher, and a lawyer, with sufficient 
 ability and success. My friend Mr. Ramsay, of Ochter- 
 lyre, a neighbour of Kames in the country, informs me 
 that he furnished Lord Woodhouselie with copious ex- 
 tracts from his own biography of that singular man, with 
 anecdotes of judges and lawyers, which his Lordship ac- 
 knowledges publicly, and yet every thing has been so dis- 
 torted and misrepresented that he is ashamed, and has 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 183 
 
 •written to him to suppress his name as an authority in 
 the second edition of his book. 
 
 “ Although my health is better, my occupations for 
 some time have been light and desultory. I am often 
 languid and averse to writing. But Grainger is ready for 
 the printers, who will bring it out, among other things, 
 before the end of the year. They will be glad to receive 
 the corrections for your ‘ Key/ to be going on with, under 
 your inspection, by sending the proofs and those of the 
 Northern Antiquities in the same way ; both to be ready 
 before the winter, the usual time of publication. 
 
 “ About the beginning of April I was solicited by the 
 Rev. Mr. Bourne, of Hollis Street, Dublin, a kinsman of 
 Sir Richard Musgrave’s, to admit as an inmate in my 
 house his son Robert, for the re-establishment of his 
 health and the reformation of his manners. I consented 
 to give him that kind of care and protection which he 
 needed, and I have observed the most beneficial effects of 
 the change in his circumstances and manner of living. He 
 is of Trinity College, and intended for the church. 
 
 “ I have to mention the liberality and disinterestedness 
 of Dr. Ryan,* as an author, towards me. On receiving 
 £80 for the third edition of his History, he gave Mrs. 
 Ryan one moiety, and the other to me, to purchase a 
 piece of plate, to be a visible memorial of his friendship 
 and esteem. The History, besides, is inscribed to me, 
 very handsomely. It is well received here, and Lord 
 Woodhouselie has written a long commendation of it, and 
 many of the most respectable of the Scottish clergy speak 
 highly of the design and the execution. 
 
 (c Mr. Park has finished the Royal and Noble Authors, 
 and is engaged by Lackington and Co. to give a new 
 edition of Warton’s History of English Poetry, with a 
 
 continuation, f 
 
 e< Scott’s Dryden is at the press, and will be out next 
 winter, and his poem on the Battle of Flodden. I like 
 our friend Hafiz’s sonnet to Mrs. Meade very much. 
 
 £f Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 * The Rev. Edward Ryan, D.D. prebendary of St. Patrick’s, Dublin 5 
 author of “ The History of the Effects of Religion on Mankind, in countries 
 ancient, modern, barbarous, and civilized,” Lond. 2vols. 8vo. 1788-93. See 
 his other works in Watt’s Bibliotheca, p. 823. 
 
 t Mr. Park collected materials for this work, but subsequently relinquished 
 it. Some Notes of his will be found in the last edition, 4 vols. 8vo. 1824. ' 
 
184 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Dromore House, January 4, 1808. 
 
 “ The Bishop of Dromore presents his kind respects to 
 Dr. Anderson. It is so long since he has heard from him 
 that he cannot but entertain very serious apprehensions 
 of his suffering under severe and continued illness, and 
 he shall be happy to be relieved from his anxiety on this 
 subject. If the Doctor’s silence has been occasioned by 
 the Bishop’s strictures on the conduct of Mr. J. C. 
 Walker, it is necessary he should be informed that the 
 first person who pointed out the base malignity of Ritson 
 to the Bishop was Mr. Walker himself, who being engaged 
 by Ritson to assist him in some literary researches, had 
 received a letter from him containing some of the vile insi- 
 nuations he afterwards published in his Introduction to 
 the Romances. This, Mr. Walker brought and showed 
 to the Bishop, with all the appearance of indignation that 
 such unprovoked malice could excite in the most zealous 
 friend. He at the same time complained with how little 
 civility that man had repaid his own services. Yet, when 
 Mr. Ritson’s book came out, Mr. Walker, in a letter to 
 Mr. Boyd, affected to pity the Bishop, perhaps because 
 the latter did not receive his kind commiseration with all 
 the gratitude he ought. He soon after takes care to hold 
 up to the attention of his readers this very mass of scur- 
 rility and abuse in his Letter to Mr. Preston, referring to 
 the Old Metrical Romances, though he was well aware 
 that all Ritson knew on the subject had been originally 
 pointed out to him in the Dissertation in the £ Reliques/ 
 &c. With regard to Ritson 5 s Introduction, the torrent of 
 gross and vulgar invective which is poured forth in it is 
 too contemptible to merit attention, and every charge 
 carries its own confutation with it, except in one place, 
 where, having no direct accusation to bring forth, he 
 endeavours to inflict a deeper wound by a mysterious 
 insinuation, and there being no positive statement offered, 
 it is impossible to answer ; and it must only be submitted 
 to candid reflection whether this wretch, who has given 
 every possible vent to his malice, would have withheld 
 any charge whatever if it could have been supported. 
 Where Ritson dilates with so much parade, and marks by 
 inverted commas how the attempts to supply the chasms 
 in the Marriage of Sir Gawaine should have been pointed 
 out to the reader, Mr. Walker, who is so conversant with 
 the Italian Poets, should have vindicated the editor of the 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 185 
 
 4 Reliques’ for following their example in this rifaciamento , 
 even if the original itself had not been given verbatim at 
 the end of the book. But enough of this poor miserable 
 maniac, and his admirer Mr. Joseph Cooper Walker ! * 
 Yet, before he is finally dismissed, it may deserve mention 
 that one of the most criminal charges brought against the 
 editor of the 4 Reliques/ is his having printed, after the 
 example of Allan Ramsay, some popular Scotch songs of 
 known antiquity, with the ancient orthography of 4 zou,’ 
 4 zouth,’ for 4 you’ and 4 youth,’ &c. & c. while he himself 
 prints in modern types the ancient romance of 4 The 
 Geste of Kyng Horn,’ without noticing that the original is 
 written in the old MS. in the Anglo-Saxon character ; and, 
 although it is evidently the most ancient in our language 
 that has been discovered, he thrusts it into the middle of 
 his second volume below many others of later date, and 
 attacks the editor of the 4 Reliques ’ with the most scur- 
 rilous abuse for supporting an opinion concerning its 
 antiquity, which he in vain attempts to confute. But 
 innumerable other instances might be given of his wilful 
 prevarication and gross departure from truth, in order to 
 gratify his deep-rooted malice. 
 
 44 In one of his letters Dr. Anderson expressed his 
 approbation of the endeavours which had been used here 
 to conciliate the different religionists in this country. 
 Perhaps he will not think undeserving notice an attempt 
 of this kind that was lately made at Dromore, where, 
 besides the cathedral church, there are two dissenting 
 meeting-houses belonging to what are called the Old and 
 the New Lights, and also a mass chapel for the Roman 
 Catholics. It having been deemed expedient to make a 
 charitable collection for the poor at this severe season, to 
 induce the inhabitants of all religions cordially to unite in 
 this good work, the Bishop’s Chaplain preached an excel- 
 lent sermon in the principal meeting-house, and the 
 money was collected by the two dissenting ministers and 
 the Roman Catholic priest, who equally divided the. pews 
 among them, and are to distribute a very handsome col- 
 lection impartially among the poor of their four congrega- 
 tions. The Honourable Mr. Meade also, who has married 
 the Bishop’s youngest daughter, and is rector of a parish 
 
 * Mr. J. C. Walker is an author whose works, from their learning and 
 research, should he spoken of with the utmost respect. 
 
186 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 in which are many wealthy inhabitants of the Presbyterian 
 persuasion, to promote the same desirable object among 
 liis parishioners of all religions, preached on the same day 
 a charity sermon in a large meeting-house in his parish, 
 and obtained therein the greatest contribution ever known 
 in a country congregation, which he and the dissenting 
 minister, a very worthy man, will divide among all their 
 poor without distinction. There is no Roman Catholic 
 chapel in that parish, or their priest would have been 
 invited to concur with them. In truth, there is no where 
 less intolerant bigotry than in this part of Ireland, or 
 more general harmony among all who differ in religious 
 opinions. 
 
 t£ Before the Bishop concludes, he must beg to be 
 informed what is intended concerning the publication of 
 Dr. Grainger’s Works, and what Dr. Anderson thinks of 
 letting Messrs. Rivington, the late proprietors of the e Key 
 to the New Testament,’ vend the new edition in London ; 
 at least be consulted about it. Is it also desired that the 
 new edition of the Northern Antiquities should be under- 
 taken? On the above, or any other subject, the Bishop 
 W'ill be glad to hear from Dr. Anderson, who is desired to 
 accept his most cordial wishes of many new years, and of 
 health and happiness to him and all his family. 
 
 “ What did Dr. Anderson think of the Bishop of Dro- 
 more’s statement of the treatment he received from Messrs. 
 Cadell and Davies, in the publication of Goldsmith’s 
 Life, &c. ?” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, May 18, 1808. 
 
 “ I am greatly indebted to your Lordship’s candour, 
 and the distinguished good-will you bear towards me, in 
 believing that I have been hindered from acknowledging 
 the satisfaction I have received from your continued kind- 
 nesses, by no other cause than inability arising from almost 
 perpetual bad health. 
 
 <e About the middle of last summer I was drawn away 
 into Roxburghshire, to repair the severe shocks which my 
 health had suffered during the winter, by the fine air, 
 moderate exercise, and solitude of the country. From 
 Tweedside I was soon able to make an excursion into the 
 mountainous districts of Tiviotdale, Ewesdale, Eskdale, 
 and Cumberland, I surveyed for the first time the scenery 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 187 
 
 of the Border ballads, and visited the ancient castles of 
 the Border chiefs, the dens of thieves and robbers. I sat 
 on the ruins of Hermitage, in a moralizing rather than 
 a marvellous mood, so that I saw neither Hedcap nor 
 Shellycoat; and indeed the creatures of popular super- 
 stition live only in legends, and no longer haunt these 
 peaceful valleys. Nothing could exceed the pleasure I 
 had in viewing the romantic aspect of the country, except 
 the satisfaction I experienced in the kindness of its inha- 
 bitants, who detained me a long time going here and there. 
 I returned to Ednam with my friend Mr. Hutcheson (our 
 Scottish Burns), who accompanied me from Edinburgh, 
 and joined my daughters, towards the end of autumn, 
 much recruited in strength and spirits by the fine air of 
 the mountains. I lingered among my friends at Kelso 
 and Dryburgh Abbey till the approach of the cold season 
 warned me to return home. 
 
 “ I found your Lordship’s acceptable packet on my 
 table, containing the statement of the transaction between 
 you and Cadell and Davies, relative to the edition of 
 Goldsmith’s Works. The narrative, with the corrections 
 which you supplied, is a valuable document, and furnishes 
 a complete justification of the share you had in the trans- 
 action. It requires no addition, except, perhaps, an 
 acknowledgment, which does not appear, that the pub- 
 lishers paid Goldsmiths family the stipulated price. 
 
 £f After a long absence from home, I found myself over- 
 whelmed with business of one kind or other, which pre- 
 vented me from writing to you at the time ; and soon after 
 I was seized with a cholera morbus, so violent, that my 
 life during tw r o days was despaired of by my family. I 
 recovered slowly, and the debility which followed, and a 
 succession of relapses and recoveries from catarrhous and 
 rheumatic complaints, confined me almost the whole win- 
 ter to my chamber, and rendered me incapable of attend- 
 ing to any kind of business. 
 
 <s The mild weather which is now come, after the most 
 austere and variable winter ever remembered, has already 
 been beneficial to me, and more regular opportunities of 
 taking exercise may help to restore me to my usual tone 
 of valetudinarian temperament. 
 
 “ It was intended to bring out Grainger’s works, so 
 long delayed, early in the winter, and the last sheet of the 
 second volume was proceeding at the press when I was 
 
188 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 laid up severely. It is the first employment I have under- 
 taken, and I expect it will be finished in about three weeks. 
 A regard to the size of the volumes obliges me to compress 
 the preliminary matter. To give a little more uniformity 
 to the volumes, I have some thoughts of prefixing a con- 
 siderable fragment of an Essay on Elegiac Poetry to the 
 second Amlume.* It seems to have been intended to be 
 prefixed to Tibullus ; but it is not unsuitable to the trans- 
 lations from Ovid. It is partly in the handwriting of Mr. 
 White, and partly in that of Grainger. 
 
 u The f Key to the New Testament,’ and the ‘ Northern 
 Antiquities/ would have been printed, if I had been able 
 to give my assistance, and the necessary corrections and 
 additions had come over. Mundell and Co. have no objec- 
 tions to let Rivingtons have a share of the c Key/ The 
 offer has not yet been made, owing to the long confine- 
 ment of the partner, who takes charge of the publications. 
 He is now upon the recovery, and I doubt not will be 
 ready to begin with the f Key,’ when I have put Grainger 
 off my hands. The publishers of books are discouraged, 
 at present, from engaging in expensive undertakings by 
 the advance of 25 per cent, upon printing paper, owing to 
 the want of supply of rags from the continent. 
 
 ee I did not overlook what your Lordship has noticed in 
 Mr. Cooper Walker’s ‘Essay on Romantic Fabling,’ and I 
 think with justice ; for certainly the editor of the ‘Reliques’ 
 was entitled to commemoration and applause, in prefer- 
 ence to Ritson and Ellis, who only followed him. The 
 mentio honorijica of Ritson at all surprised me, as I had 
 dissuaded him from appearing as his correspondent in a 
 biographical sketch by one of his friends, to which he was 
 solicited to contribute. He seemed convinced, at the time, 
 that it would not be creditable to be concerned in it ; and 
 I hinted too that it would affect the intercourse between 
 us, as my attachment to your Lordship’s person and cha- 
 racter would oblige me to take notice of an unkind and 
 deliberate association with a malignant and implacable 
 enemy of your fame. I have had no epistolary communi- 
 cation with Mr. C. W T alker, nor indeed with any of ray 
 literary friends in Ireland, for many months. At the time 
 he sent me the Essay, I mentioned the note as likely to 
 be offensive to your Lordship ; and he took occasion to 
 speak of you, as he has uniformly done to me, in terms of 
 
 * This was not done. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 189 
 
 the highest respect. He is certainly a very well-natured 
 worthy man, and I can ascribe to nothing but his excessive 
 good-nature his indiscriminate admiration of men of let- 
 ters, of almost every description, which may be easily mis- 
 taken for an inordinate ambitiousness of notoriety. 
 
 “ Dr. Jamieson has published his Dictionary of the 
 Scottish Language, in two very large 4to volumes. Your 
 Lordship was so good as to give your name as a subscriber, 
 and it appears in the list. I am waiting for a private con- 
 veyance to forward it, and I have heard of a gentleman 
 going to Lady Clanwilliam’s, in your neighbourhood, next 
 week. The price was originally three guineas, but the 
 enlargement of the work made it necessary for him to 
 charge a guinea more ; which has been willingly paid by 
 all the subscribers. 
 
 “Mr. H. Drummond is printing here the first book of a 
 translation of Lucretius, and is preparing for the press a 
 philosophical and descriptive poem on the Giant’s Cause- 
 way. He gives me an account of an intended academical 
 institution, a kind of schola Ulus iris, at Belfast; which 
 may be unfavourable to his interest and that of Dr. Bruce. 
 Mr. Armstrong, it seems, has opposed the new college, in 
 a printed pamphlet, which I have not seen. To me such 
 an institution, on a broad scale, seems well adapted to the 
 circumstances of the province of Ulster. I hear with much 
 pleasure that your Lordship, notwithstanding your esteem 
 for Dr. Bruce, has given a liberal aid towards the new in- 
 stitution. I know not the particulars of the plan ; but, if 
 assistance is wanted from this country in conducting it, I 
 would recommend to your Lordship’s patronage one or 
 two persons eminently qualified to be professors of the 
 most useful branches of science and literature. 
 
 “ Scott’s ( Marmion ’ is come out ; a work of more pro- 
 mise than performance. It does not rise above, and often 
 falls below the i Lay.’ # It is censured severely in the Cri- 
 tical Review, and even in the Edinburgh Review, though 
 
 more handsomely. 
 
 Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 “ Dromore (Ireland), 24 May, 1808. 
 
 “The Bishop of Dromore presents his kind respects to 
 Dr. Anderson, whose obliging letter of the 18th instant 
 
 “ The force in the Lay is thrown on style ; in Marmion on description ; 
 
 Sir Walter Scott’s Preface to 
 
190 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 relieved him from much anxiety which he had suffered 
 from his long silence. This he had, as he now finds, too 
 justly attributed to severe illness, and he sincerely rejoices 
 that it is in a great measure removed, and that the good 
 Doctor can now resume his useful labours. He need not 
 express what pleasure it will give him to see the long- 
 expected edition of his friend Dr. Grainger’s Poems ; and 
 then Dr. Anderson may, if he pleases, proceed to the 
 republication of the c Northern Antiquities/ if he thinks 
 it will answer under the enormous increase of the price of 
 paper, or leave it to sleep for another half century ; but as 
 for the f Key to the New Testament/ the Bishop fears a 
 new impression will not so well answer just now, as 
 Messrs. Rivingtons reprinted it not long since, with the 
 fallacious allurement of a new edition c corrected/ although 
 they never once dropped the least hint of their intention 
 to him, nor solicited, much less obtained, a single cor- 
 rection from him. Yet this will not excite surprise in 
 those who have had any dealings with the Rivingtons. 
 However, the dispersion of these copies, which are not 
 all circulated, may, perhaps, render it convenient to wait a 
 little longer before the intention of an Edinburgh edition 
 is resumed, for the corrections therein proposed are not 
 of sufficient number or consequence to excite much dis- 
 cussion, or deserve the attention of the public. At any 
 rate, the Bishop desires that such an intention may not 
 be mentioned to the Rivingtons by any one but him- 
 self. 
 
 “ In the f Statement of what passed with Messrs. 
 Cadell and Davies concerning the Life of Dr. Goldsmith, 
 prefixed to his Miscellaneous Works/ the Bishop fears 
 a mistake was committed in the copy sent to Dr. Ander- 
 son, respecting a very important date, viz. of the time 
 when Mr. Lettice accompanied him at the interview he 
 had with those booksellers, and offered the proposal of 
 which they afterwards so much complained, and so gladly 
 availed themselves to excuse their subsequent misconduct. 
 This really happened January 4, 1796, almost two years 
 (at least upwards of a year and three quarters,) before the 
 agreement was concluded between them and Dr. Percy ; 
 so that that proposal had not the least connection Avith it. 
 In a copy of this Statement, which has been retained here, 
 the above date is erroneously written, Jan. 4, 17 $ 7 > an< h 
 if the same error has been committed in Dr. Anderson s 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 191 
 
 copy he is desired carefully to correct it, and to represent 
 the subject properly to such as may have seen it. Dr. 
 Anderson seems to hint that to this Statement ought to 
 be annexed acknowledgments that the publishers paid 
 Goldsmith’s family the stipulated price. The Bishop did 
 not apprehend that this was necessary for any vindication 
 of himself from the misrepresentation of Mr. Davies, &c., 
 but, if it should be deemed so, it may be proper to men- 
 tion that, of the two hundred and fifty copies, one half 
 were allowed to be sold in England, and these were deli- 
 vered to Mr. White, bookseller, in Fleet Street, London, 
 with an express injunction, that he was to account for all 
 the profits arising from the same to Dr. Goldsmith’s 
 brother Charles Goldsmith, vdio had returned from the 
 West Indies with his family, and resided in the neighbour- 
 hood of Tottenham Court. From this brother of Dr. 
 Goldsmith the Bishop frequently heard, informing him 
 that the payments were duly made, and whatever copies 
 he desired were delivered to him to dispose of among 
 his friends for his own benefit. He believes Mr. Charles 
 Goldsmith is since dead, but the account is still open 
 with his family, to whom Mr. White must account for 
 any that may have remained of the 125 copies delivered 
 to him. The other moiety of the impression was sent to 
 Ireland, consigned to Mr. Archer, bookseller, in Dublin, 
 intended for the benefit of Dr. Goldsmith’s niece, 
 daughter of his eldest brother the clergyman, who, being 
 reduced to indigence, it was principally on her account 
 that the Bishop had applied in 1800 to Messrs. Cadell 
 and Davies to afford some present relief, to alleviate the 
 distress occasioned by the delay of the publication ; which 
 being refused by them, the Bishop had supplied the same 
 himself, and continued to do so till her death, which took 
 place before Mr. Archer had come to a settlement for the 
 125 copies transmitted to him. Part of these are still 
 unsold, and as two more elegant editions have been 
 printed in London, which it is feared will supersede the 
 sale of these, it is intended to get those copies into the 
 country, and dispose of them by private subscription ; 
 and then whatever arises from this sale, or remains of Mr. 
 \ lc ^ ers balance, that was unpaid to or for the niece, 
 Yu u ^ e ^ vere d to any relative of Dr. Goldsmith who 
 ofr> ^ ounc ^ a proper object of the same. The Bishop 
 -Uromore will, with great pleasure, pay the additional 
 
192 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 guinea, with his former subscription of three guineas, to 
 Dr. Jamiesoffis Dictionary, &c.” 
 
 44 My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, 14 July, 1808. 
 
 44 I received the first notice of the death of your excel- 
 lent nephew,* and my much-valued friend, from the 
 Obituary of a London newspaper a few days before I had 
 the melancholy intelligence from Dromore House. My 
 mind was unprepared for an event that gave me the 
 deepest concern ; for I had infinite regard for Dr. Percy ; 
 had received no account of his previous illness, and 
 was expecting a letter from him concerning a friend of 
 mine at Oxford, whom I had introduced to his acquaint- 
 ance last winter, and who had experienced his kindness 
 and urbanity in a high degree. Among the many delight- 
 ful reminiscences associated with the recollection of my 
 visit at Dromore House, there is none, excepting of our 
 own friendship, which I shall ever appreciate more highly 
 than the acquaintance I made with Dr. Percy. As I well 
 knew and valued his open and amiable disposition, his 
 generous and noble nature, his lively and ardent genius, 
 and his virtuous and elegantly accomplished mind, I feel 
 more deeply for those who lived with him in habits of 
 intimacy; for I am sure he was known to no one by 
 whom his loss will not he lamented. Even your Christian 
 and philosophic mind, which teaches you to extract good 
 from every event and condition of life, will lament the 
 premature decease of an amiable and ingenious relative, 
 the sole remaining hope of an ancient family, made more 
 illustrious by your learning and virtue. You have the 
 sympathy of all your friends here ; who despair of seeing 
 the fourth volume of the 4 Reliques 5 proceed from the press. 
 I trust, however, it will be forthcoming when you can exert 
 yourself sufficiently to make the necessary arrangements. 
 
 44 This has been to me a season of affliction. I had 
 scarcely received your Lordship’s last friendly communi- 
 cation, when I was called away into Lanarkshire, to 
 attend the death-bed of my eldest brother. But I must 
 not dwell on the circumstances of an event that I witnessed 
 so lately. I ought to bow in humble and filial submis- 
 sion to the adverse dispensations of our heavenly Father. 
 
 * This Dr. Percy, of St. John’s College, was an elegant scholar and poet, 
 and a very accomplished and amiable man. A few short Poems of his are in 
 the “ Poetical Register.” See before, p. 54. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 193 
 
 44 Certain family affairs having detained me long in the 
 country, I have made no further progress in printing 
 Grainger ; which, however, I intend to resume when I 
 have attained a little more firmness and alacrity of mind. 
 
 44 Messrs. M undell and Co. are not deterred by Riving - 
 tons’ edition of 4 The Key,’ from engaging in it when you 
 favour them with the necessary corrections. 4 The North- 
 ern Antiquities’ is also kept in view, and will be taken up 
 in the course of their business. I shall not cease to sti- 
 mulate them when I have acquired a right to do it, by 
 dismissing Grainger from my hand. 
 
 44 The Statement needed the correction your Lordship 
 took the trouble to send ; and, though not requisite to 
 your vindication, the account of the conduct of the pub- 
 lishers to Goldsmith’s family renders it perfect and satis- 
 factory. 
 
 44 Last week, I find, and not before, the printers have 
 forwarded six copies of Miss Bannerman’s Poems and Dr. 
 Jamieson’s Dictionary, in a package, to the care of Mr. 
 Black, Belfast. They had waited till Mr. H. Drum- 
 mond’s Translation of the first book of Lucretius was 
 ready to go in the same bale. You desired only five or 
 six copies of the subscription Poems to be sent, if the 
 remainder could be turned to Miss Bannerman’s advan- 
 vantage. I mentioned your generous offer, which she 
 thankfully accepted. 
 
 44 When I mentioned the Belfast college to your Lord- 
 ship, I had my friend Dr. Irving* in view for a Professorship 
 in the departments of the Greek and Latin languages, Belles 
 Lettres, and History. He is author of the Lives of the Scot- 
 tish Poets, and the Life of Buchanan, which procured him 
 the honorary degree of Doctor of LaAvs from the Mareschal 
 College, and a young man of great integrity of character, 
 and of very accurate and extensive classical and literary 
 attainments. He would be a great acquisition to the new 
 college, and is justly ambitious of your Lordship’s patron- 
 age and recommendation ; which I solicit for him with an 
 earnestness that nothing but the confidence I have in your 
 generosity can excuse. I have to speak of Marmion, &c. 
 111 m y next. I am always, with the highest esteem and 
 regard, my dear Lord, your affectionate servant, 
 
 44 Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 The Rev. David Irving. A list of his numerous biographical and other 
 works is in Watt’s Bibliotheca, p. 536. 
 
 VOL. VII, 
 
 O 
 
194 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord,, Ileriot’s Green, Aug. 26 , 1808. 
 
 “ Having been unavoidably engaged in composing some 
 family differences in the country, owing to my brother 
 dying intestate, I have only now received the pleasure of 
 your Lordship’s last favour, inclosing copies of your cor- 
 respondence with Mr. Stevenson, relative to Dr. Irving, 
 which requires my prompt and warmest acknowledgments. 
 
 “ I cannot express sufficiently the grateful sense I have 
 of your Lordship’s great kindness and attention in recom- 
 mending my friend Dr. Irving so earnestly to the managers 
 of the Belfast Institution. Dr. Irving has been long in 
 the habit of entertaining the most sincere respect for your 
 Lordship’s character as a man and as a scholar, and, if he 
 should be indebted to you for his appointment, I am sure 
 its value would not be a little enhanced in his eyes. To 
 your Lordship, whatever may be the effect of your recom- 
 mendation, I am equally certain he will always feel the 
 highest obligations. 
 
 “ I speak of Dr. Irving from an intimate acquaintance 
 of ten years, during which time he has resided chiefly here, 
 and attended all the classes in our College, except those of 
 medicine. He is a very genuine scholar, about thirty 
 years of age, of a manly appearance, a grave and sedate 
 deportment, a candid and liberal temper, and an upright, 
 firm, and delicate mind. He has hitherto been maintained 
 by his family in a style of gentility ; but it is necessary for 
 him to engage in some active useful employment suitable 
 to his abilities. His merit is such, that he was thought of 
 by my friend Professor Richardson for the Greek Chair at 
 Glasgow, in the prospect of a vacancy, which did not take 
 place. This kind of merit is rare in Scotland, where Greek 
 literature is little cultivated. 
 
 “ If, in the arrangement of the Belfast institution, there 
 be any Chair suited to Dr. Irving, in the departments of 
 languages, belles lettres, and history, and if, in your Lord- 
 ship’s opinion, any testimonials from persons in this 
 country be necessary, he can have recommendations from 
 the most distinguished members of our Universities, — Pro- 
 fessor Stewart, of Edinburgh ; Professor Richardson, of 
 Glasgow ; Principal Brown, of Aberdeen ; and Dr. Hunter, 
 of St. Andrew’s. 
 
 S£ Dr. Irving has published £ Elements of English Com- 
 position,’ 12mo, which he is now revising for a second 
 edition, at home, in the country, near Langholm ; f Lives 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 195 
 
 of Scottish Authors, Fergusson, Falconer, and Russell,’ 
 12mo; ‘Lives of the Scottish Poets, with Preliminary 
 Dissertations on the Literary History of Scotland, and of 
 the Early Scottish Drama,” 2 vols. 8vo, 1804; and e Me- 
 moirs of the Life and Writings of George Buchanan,’ 8vo, 
 1807. His two last publications shall be sent for your 
 Lordship’s acceptance by the first conveyance to Belfast. 
 On the two first he sets no value, in their present state. 
 
 “Your Lordship owes me nothing on the score of sub- 
 scriptions, except the price of Dr. Jamieson’s Dictionary. 
 Mr. Coucher, author of the Pleasures of Solitude, has 
 handed the proposals for publishing a new volume of 
 poems, entitled, ‘ Last Lays,’ by subscription, at 10s. 6d. 
 He announces it from peculiar and imperious circum- 
 stances : it is his last appeal. If your Lordship again 
 encourage him, I shall have pleasure in remitting your 
 subscription. 
 
 “ Professor Richardson sent me a copy of Dr. Graham’s 
 Essay, to which he was a contributor, at the time it came 
 out. I immediately announced it to Mr. Laing, then in 
 Orkney. When I saw him on his way to London he had 
 not then read it, but expressed his intention of giving it a 
 serious perusal. I missed the pleasure of seeing him on 
 his return from London, after the prorogation of Parlia- 
 ment, I have not since had any epistolary communication 
 with him. Dr. Graham is the most sober and temperate 
 writer that has appeared on that side. Yet his refutation, 
 as he improperly calls it, is by no means satisfactory, 
 though Mr. Laing has not always taken sure ground. Mr. 
 Ross has printed 30 copies of a literal translation of the 
 Gaelic Ossian, and sent a copy to me for my opinion and 
 remarks. His object is to convict Macpherson of igno- 
 rance of his native language, from certain discrepancies 
 which he finds between the version and the original. This 
 cannot be easily admitted ; for, upon the supposition that 
 Macpherson wrote the poems first in English, and after- 
 wards translated them into Erse, it might be expected 
 that, in translating them into Erse, he would avail him- 
 self of the idioms and capabilities of the language ; and to 
 some process of this kind may be attributed the difference 
 ' vve ^ n d, which is chiefly in the use of epithets and modes 
 °f expression, not in the sense. 
 
 “ My printing operations have been suspended. I am 
 
196 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 truly sensible of your Lordship’s 'friendly sympathy and 
 consolation. 
 
 “ The harvest is going on everywhere around us. The 
 wheat crop is materially injured. In East Lothian the 
 loss is not less than 25 per cent, on an average. Many 
 fields are hardly worth the cutting. The other crops are 
 abundant. 
 
 “ I congratulate your Lordship, with all my heart, bn the 
 glorious success of the Spanish patriots. It surpasses the 
 hopes even of enthusiasm. May their success be complete, 
 and may an improved constitution reward their labours ! 
 
 “Address f Malcolm Laing, Esq. M. P. Kirkwall, Ork- 
 ney/ 
 
 “ I am, with every imaginable kindness, your Lordship’s 
 affectionate humble servant, Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, Nov. 15, 1808. 
 
 “ Since I had your Lordship’s last most welcome and 
 agreeable communication, I have had the pleasure to see 
 Dr. Trail here, and to receive from him most satisfactory 
 accounts of your health and enjoyments. 
 
 “ No opportunity has occurred of sending you copies of 
 Dr. Irving’s publications, till this morning, when an officer 
 of the 92d regiment, going to Tuam, called on me, and 
 most willingly undertook to leave the packet that accom- 
 panies this at the post office, Dromore, for your Lordship. 
 
 “ Dr. Irving feels infinitely indebted to your Lordship’s 
 kindness. 
 
 “ Dr. Bruce’s son is come over to attend our University. 
 He informs me the buildings of the Academy are begun; 
 but the Institution has not commenced. 
 
 “ I will write to your Lordship very soon, and transmit 
 the testimonies for Dr. Irving, from Professor Richard- 
 son and others. 
 
 “ I have only a moment to write this note, and to put 
 the package into the hands of Captain Little. 
 
 “ I am always, my dear Lord, most truly and affec- 
 tionately, your Lordship’s most obedient servant, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson.” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 197 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Heriot’s Green, 6th Dec. 1808. 
 
 “ I hope the parcel I sent your Lordship by Captain 
 Little, about a fortnight ago, arrived safely at Bromore 
 House. It contained Dr. Irving’s Lives of the Scottish 
 Poets, and Memoirs of Buchanan, for your Lordship’s 
 acceptance. In a note which accompanied it, I took occa- 
 sion to say, that I expected soon to have an opportunity 
 of transmitting testimonials in favour of Dr. Irving, from 
 the most eminent classical scholars in Scotland. These 
 testimonials have been handed to me, and I very willingly 
 send them for your Lordship’s consideration, in this, and 
 the envelope that accompanies it. Owing to the accident 
 of a packet for me, containing Dr. Hunter’s testimonial, 
 having been abstracted from the mail coach, a copy is 
 sent, which happened to be taken by a friend of Dr. 
 Irving’s, which I know to be of his handwriting. 
 
 “ The great honour and favour which your Lordship 
 did Dr. Irving, by proposing him as a candidate for one of 
 the Professorships in the New College at Belfast, upon 
 my recommendation, makes me particularly solicitous 
 that your confidence should be strengthened by the con- 
 current testimonies of the ablest writers and the most 
 distinguished judges of literary merit in this country. I 
 know your Lordship did not think such testimonies neces- 
 sary; but, if you should be of opinion that they may 
 serve to promote Dr. Irving’s views, I have such perfect 
 confidence in the interest you take in his success, that I 
 rely on your readiness to submit them to the considera- 
 tion of the managers of the College by the earliest oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 “ I know not whether the managers have appointed 
 any Professors, and even Dr. Bruce’s son, who is here, 
 and lately left Belfast, can give me no satisfactory ac- 
 count of the Institution. From him I have received very 
 gratifying accounts of young Robinson’s progress in Tri- 
 nity College, and the success of his father in Dublin. 
 
 “ I sincerely hope the declining year finds your Lord- 
 ship’s general health as firm, and your spirits as good, as 
 at the time Dr. Trail visited you. 
 
 i am anxious to hear if you have stimulated Mr. 
 Laing to answer Dr. Graham’s book. I have not heard 
 r °m him since he went to the North. Our printers 
 *ave been settling the affairs of the partnership for some 
 
198 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 time,, and doing little. I expected there would be a dis- 
 solution; but I understand they are to go on, though 
 upon a more limited plan, while the high price of paper 
 continues. Grainger, however, is to be put off their 
 hands, and my part is nearly ready, when they want it. 
 They are also to take up your ‘ Key/ and the ( Northern 
 Antiquities/ for which I had before made some arrange- 
 ments. 
 
 ee W. Scott has undertaken to give a new edition of 
 Swift, and Somers’s Tracts, for neither of which he is par- 
 ticularly qualified. But his name is up ; the booksellers 
 know the advantage of it. Since Dryden and Marmion, 
 it is rather declining. He sometimes gave an article to 
 the Edinburgh Review; but he thinks himself uncivilly 
 treated in the two last numbers. The article, by Mr. 
 Brougham, on Cevallo’s Exposition, has given great 
 offence to the friends of rational liberty and limited mo- 
 narchy in this country. Lord Woodhouselie told me 
 yesterday that every means would be used by the friends 
 of Government to discountenance the publication, the sale 
 of which amounts to ten thousand copies quarterly. They 
 have all withdrawn their names as subscribers, and Mr. 
 Scott has sent his resignation as a contributor. The English 
 prints have taken up the article, which certainly contains 
 the essence of Jacobinism. We have Sir Brooke Boothby * 
 here, with poems and translations for publication. He is 
 a daily visitor at Heriot’s Green, and well acquainted with 
 the literary history of the last forty years. 
 
 “ I hasten to send off my envelopes by this day’s post, 
 and will continue my little notices for your amusement 
 another day. My family and your friends here unite in 
 the kindest and most respectful compliments. 
 
 £i I am always, my dear Lord, your most affectionate 
 humble servant, 
 
 e< Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 * Sir Brooke Boothby, bart. published a Letter to E. Burke, 8vo. 1791 > 
 Observations on the Appeal from the Old to the New Whigs, and Paine’s 
 Rights of Man, 8vo. 1792; Sorrows sacred to the memory of Penelope, fol. 
 1796 ; Britannicus, from the French of Racine, a Tragedy, 8vo. 1803 ; Fables 
 and Satires, with a preface on the JEsopian Fable, 2 vols. 8vo. 1809 ; Series 
 of Elegiac Poems on his Daughter. He died Jan. 23, 1824, in his 80th year. 
 See an account of him in Gent. Mag. 1824, i. 370. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 199 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord., _ Heriot’s Green, 28tli April, 1809. 
 
 “ I have serious oppression on my mind with respect to 
 my tardiness in acknowledging my debt of gratitude to 
 your Lordship for your continued kindnesses. It has 
 ever been esteemed the wisest method between two evils 
 to choose the least. I am now in that predicament ; for I 
 must either appear to your Lordship deficient in gratitude, 
 or intrude on you a miserable account of my health, 
 which cannot interest any human being. Such is the 
 difficulty I am reduced to ; but I am encouraged by the 
 indulgence your Lordship has shewn me to speak of my 
 infirmities in my own justification. 
 
 Ci A most severe catarrhous complaint, that had been 
 hanging about me for a long time, increased so rapidly 
 soon after my last communication with your Lordship, as 
 to threaten pneumon, or inflammation. Vomicae were 
 supposed to be formed or forming in my lungs ; I was 
 oppressed with a troublesome cough, wflfich disturbed my 
 sleep, and disabled me from all mental application. When 
 the excessive severity of the winter yielded to the mild 
 weather of last month, I felt a considerable abatement of 
 the violence of my cough, and my medical friends per- 
 ceived no remaining symptoms of pulmonic affection. 
 The cold weather of this month has been unfavourable 
 to my recovery, but I have had no serious relapse. WTien 
 the mild season was more advanced I looked forward to 
 an excursion, to a distant part of the country, to make a 
 trial of change of air and exercise for my recovery, and 
 an event has occurred, a few days ago, which has deter- 
 mined me to visit Ireland ; and I need not say that my 
 determination has been influenced, in a great degree, by 
 personal considerations, in which your Lordship has the 
 largest share. Mr. Bourne has invited me to accompany 
 his son to Kildress, so pressingly and so flatteringly, that 
 I have yielded to the wishes of his family ; and set out on 
 the journey on the 2nd of next month. I know nothing 
 of our route beyond Belfast ; but I suppose it leads us 
 by Dromore, so that I expect to have the pleasure cf 
 seeing you about the end of next week. Young Bruce 
 haves us to-morrow, and takes charge of this note. 
 Boor Mr. Laing has been dangerously ill, of an apoplectic 
 disorder, but I defer any notices of business or literature 
 till I see you. I am always, my dear Lord, yours affec- 
 tionately, Ro. Anderson/* 
 
200 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Mount Collyer.near Belfast, 12 May, 1809. 
 <<r On my arrival at Belfast on Monday I received your 
 Lordship’s very kind and gratifying Letter, through the 
 hands of Dr. Bruce. If I had followed the impulse of my 
 mind, I should have obeyed your most obliging and flat- 
 tering invitation, and proceeded directly to Dromore 
 House, to pay my personal respects where they are most 
 due. I should also have very willingly taken the liberty 
 you give me to introduce my fellow traveller, who is most 
 desirous to shew you his respect. I thought it better, 
 however, to defer mv visit to Dromore House until I had 
 consigned Mr. Bourne to his parents, when I should be 
 less limited with respect to the time of my stay. I have 
 been detained here by civilities which I could not easily 
 decline, and which still press upon me. We set out for 
 Kildress to-day in the coach by Lurgan, Portadown, and 
 as soon as I can contrive the way to return from that 
 place I will give your Lordship notice of it. It is an un- 
 known country I am going to, and I cannot speak with 
 certainty of my route. All your Lordship’s friends here 
 speak of you with affectionate respect ; a subject highly 
 pleasing to me, who am always, with sincere attachment, 
 your Lordship’s most affectionate humble servant, 
 
 “Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Kildress, June 6th, 1809. 
 
 “ I sit down with very great concern to inform your 
 Lordship that I have been hindered from having the satis- 
 faction of fixing the time of my leaving the county of 
 Tyrone, by an alarming return of the nervous malady of 
 Mr. Bourne’s son, my late fellow traveller. 
 
 “ For some time previous to the young gentleman’s 
 going to Scotland, he had been subject to the recurrence 
 of epileptic fits, which had been interrupted during the 
 two years he lived in my house. 
 
 “ The malady returned twelve days ago with consider- 
 able violence, and has increased so much, that the intervals 
 between the fits for several days have seldom exceeded ten 
 minutes. 
 
 “ When I left Belfast, I expected to accomplish the 
 business which brought me to this place in two weeks ; 
 but I feel that I am tied to it by obligations which can- 
 not be broken till a favourable change appear in my young 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 201 
 
 friend’s malady, or his sufferings terminate in death ; an 
 event to which I look forward at no great distance. 
 
 “ On my journey I had some painful and some pleasing 
 recollections, in passing Masaghlin and Lurgan, at which 
 latter place I met our worthy friend Mr. Stott, whom I 
 was glad to see, and who assured me that your Lordship’s 
 health is as good as your friends wish it to be. 
 
 “An excursion that was planned for me into the county 
 of Fermanagh, to visit the Bishop of Clogher, Dr. Miller, 
 near Lough Erne, is already abandoned ; and, as soon as I 
 can with propriety leave this afflicted family, I shall hasten 
 to pay my respects, where they are most due, at Dromore 
 House, where I am sure to find a cordial welcome, refined 
 society, and unpretending friendship. 
 
 “ Meanwhile your Lordship will please to accept my 
 respectful regards, and be good enough to excuse this 
 hasty note from your most affectionate humble servant, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson.’ 5 
 
 “ Stanzas to the Memory of Robert Bourne, Esq. 
 fourth son of the Rev. Richard Bourne , of Dublin, who 
 died at Kildress, in the county of Tyrone, on the 8 th of 
 June 1809, in the 24 th year of his aye. By David 
 Carey, Esq. Author of ( The Pleasures of Nature,’ Sec. 
 
 “ He possessed a mind richly imbued with sound 
 learning and Christian principles, joined to great and 
 active benevolence, which could only be exceeded by that 
 of his estimable friend Dr. Robert Anderson, of Edin- 
 burgh, author of the ‘ Lives of the British Poets,’ in whose 
 house he had resided for some time, and who accompanied 
 him on his visit to Ireland. 
 
 “ When the warrior expires on his path of renown 
 The tears of a nation embalm his repose, 
 
 Tho’ Mercy ne’er hallowed and Pity disown 
 The breast that ne’er felt her compassionate throes. 
 
 “ But when Worth, modest Worth, like a star-beam that fell, 
 
 Is withdrawn to his own empyrean of light, 
 
 How few, ah, how few ! round his cold earthly cell 
 
 Heave the deep sigh of sorrow, and weep for his flight ! 
 
 “ Yet bosoms there are, O ! the dearest, the best, 
 
 (And may heaven on their path shed its loveliest beam !) 
 
 Who soothe the lone wanderer’s pulses to rest, 
 
 And weep with a dear and a lasting esteem, 
 
 “ And such o’er thy doom, lov’d, unfortunate Bourne ! 
 
 On sad sister shores, breathe the sigh of regret ; 
 
 For thy virtues the good and the virtuous mourn, 
 
 Ah ! memorials sweet ! they shall neyer forget. 
 
202 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE 
 
 <* As some bark that has glean’d, as she travers’d the deep, 
 The gems of the Orient, the pride of the wave, 
 
 Hails, joyfully hails, lovely Albion’s green steep,-— 
 
 When loud roars the tempest, and deep yawns the grave ; 
 
 “ So gaily we saw thee on Life’s summer sea, 
 
 The regions of Science and Fancy explore, 
 
 Then seek each fond scene dear to Friendship and thee, 
 
 And breathe thy last sigh on thy lov’d native shore. 
 
 “ When the blooms of thy mind, like the Spring, met the eye, 
 How bright was the prospect that Fancy pourtray’d ! — 
 Now faded, ah ! faded for ever, they lie 
 Where the green turf of Erin now covers thy head ! 
 
 “ And Friendship his fond ineffectual care 
 
 Bewails, as he lingers and sighs to depart ; 
 
 And Piety weeps, ’mid her holiest prayer, 
 
 For a child that was lovely and dear to her heart. 
 
 (i ’Tis thus as we journey Life’s dark valley through, 
 
 Bright sunbeams of Hope oft illumine the road ; — 
 
 How brightly, alas ! but how transient too ! — 
 
 For love, hope, and joy, find one gulphing abode. 
 
 “ But pass undismay’d, O ye righteous ! the bound ; 
 
 Though dim, mark the vista that opens afar ! 
 
 On the ruins of Time, o’er the darkness profound, 
 
 Salvation has lighted her bright morning star ; 
 
 “ And the cherubim train their glad welcome extending, 
 Heaven’s triumph recording, her loud organ blow, 
 
 For a soul from the confiness of darkness ascending, 
 
 That has trod the lone blood-press of death and of woe ! 
 
 “ Then weep not the pleasures so fading and dear ; 
 
 For the handmaids of Bliss, in yon starry abode, 
 
 Shall wipe from your eyes the disconsolate tear, 
 
 And ray on your pathway the smiles of your God.” 
 
 6i Stanzas to the Memory of Robert Bourne, Esq. fourth 
 son of the Rev. Richard Bourne , of Dublin , who died at 
 Kildress, in the county of Tyrone , on the ‘6th of June, 
 1809, in the 24.th year of his age. By Miss Stewart. 
 
 ‘ How pleasant was my friend I’ — Ossian. 
 
 “ Oh ! ye who mock the majesty of Heaven, 
 
 And madly triumph in a sceptic fame, 
 
 To whom the holier virtues' ne’er were given, 
 
 That stamp a mortal with an angel’s name ! 
 
 “ Turn from yon sepulchre, for ever blest, 
 
 Where lost Affection sheds a mother’s tear ! 
 
 Turn, ye profane ! nor break the hallowed rest 
 That wraps the son belov’d, the friend most dear ! 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 203 
 
 “ Indignant Genius guards the sacred ground ; 
 
 Her voice commands you to revere the dead ! 
 
 None but the good and pure may there he found ; 
 
 For there in peace the good and pure is laid. 
 
 “ And there the Muse, who bears the holiest name 
 Of all who form the minstrel host of Heaven, 
 
 Might wake the lyre, devote to sainted fame, 
 
 In strains to Candour, Truth, and Feeling given. 
 
 “ What time, from ocean’s dim and distant wave, 
 
 The moon of Autumn flings her crimson’d beam, 
 Lamented Bourne ! o’er thy untimely grave 
 
 Shall Friendship weep, and mournful Fancy dream. 
 
 “ Remembrance never shall desert the tomb 
 
 Whose bosom pillows thy unconscious head ; 
 
 Nor cease to mourn that youth’s delicious bloom 
 Was doom’d so soon to wither with the dead. 
 
 “ Her tears shall fall, when summer glows again, 
 
 And health returns in every balmy gale, 
 
 To think she visiteth the dust in vain, 
 
 Nor warms the cheek, for ever cold and pale. 
 
 “ And ye ! * to whom in life, in death, he gave 
 A filial reverence and a brother’s love ; 
 
 To whom he turn’d, when hovering o’er the grave ; 
 For whom he languish’d in his native grove; 
 
 “ To you the son, the brother ne’er can die ; 
 
 Ah ! no, he still the dear alliance claims ; 
 
 An angel’s memory consecrates on high. 
 
 Of earthly loves, the spirit and the names. 
 
 “ Ah ! while the good, the beauteous, and the wise, 
 Revere his virtues, and his fate deplore ; 
 
 And Love-Maternal, where her darling lies, 
 
 Bends o’er the dust, her smile can warm no more ; 
 
 “ Fain would the Muse a grateful offering bring 
 
 To him we mourn, that humble Muse was dear, — 
 She gives no wreath of Fame’s eternal spring, 
 
 Nought but the tribute of a sister’s tear.” 
 
 “ Extract from the Preface to the 6th volume of General 
 Vallancey^s Collectanea de rebus Hibernicis : 
 
 “ In the progress of this work I have dissented from 
 the common opinion, that the Irish language is of Celtic 
 origin. The ingenious and accurate translator of Mallet 
 has collated specimens of the Paternoster in all the Celtic 
 and Gothic dialects; and, after many observations on 
 these dialects, he acknowledges that he cannot think the 
 Irish and Welsh equally derived from one common stock; 
 at least not in the same uniform manner as any two 
 
 * “ The amiable family of Dr. Anderson in Edinburgh, with whom Mr* 
 Bourne passed the last two years of his life.” 
 
204 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 branches of the Gothic. Scarce any resemblance appears 
 between them, says he ; so that if the learned will have 
 them to be streams from one common fountain, it must 
 be allowed that one or both of them have been greatly 
 polluted in their course, and received large inlets from 
 some other channels.” Preface, p. xli. 
 
 t( Extract from the Reliques of Burns, p. 209. Remarks 
 on Scottish Lays, in Johnson’s Museum : 
 
 <( Fairest of the Fair.” 
 
 “ It is too barefaced to take Dr. Percy’s charming song, 
 and, by the means of transposing a few English words into 
 Scots, to offer to pass it for a Scots song. I was not 
 acquainted with the editor until the first volume was 
 nearly finished; else, had I known in time, I would have 
 prevented such an impudent absurdity.” 
 
 “ The inclosures have obliged me to shorten my letter 
 and extracts at this time. I will write again very soon. 
 
 « R. A.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Windmill Street, 3d Jan. 1810. 
 
 “ I had the pleasure of receiving your Lordship’s last 
 kind billet, which was most acceptable to me ; and I very 
 eagerly communicated to my family and your friends here 
 the satisfactory intelligence which it contained concerning 
 your health and spirits ; Lord Woodhouselie, in particu- 
 lar, was much gratified by the account of the cheerful 
 resignation you express under a privation of all others the 
 most painful to a man of letters. The learned Judge, with 
 his kindest respects, desires me to inform your Lordship, 
 that he is printing a new Life of Petrarch, and will put a 
 copy into my hands, in the course of this mouth, to be 
 forwarded to Dromore House, for your acceptance and 
 opinion. 
 
 “ I was particularly interested in your Lordship’s 
 account of the celebration of the Jubilee at Dromore, and 
 throughout your diocese. Every where in this country 
 it w T as observed with feelings of genuine patriotism and 
 loyalty. The character of our beloved sovereign forms a 
 striking contrast to that of almost all the monarchs who 
 have flourished at the same period. But it is painful and 
 melancholy to turn our attention from his personal vir- 
 tues to wicked or fallen greatness. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 205 
 
 ce Some time ago I succeeded in interesting my friend 
 Principal Brown, of Mareschal College, Aberdeen, in an 
 application I made for the degree of D.D. to grace the 
 title-page of Mr. Drummond’s new poem 4 The Giant’s 
 Causeway.’ The forms of the college requiring the attesta- 
 tion of two Doctors of Divinity to his character, I sug- 
 gested the names of the Bishop of Dromore and Dr. 
 Bruce, and I feel exceedingly gratified and obliged by 
 your Lordship’s ample testimonial in his favour. It came 
 to my hand yesterday, and has been forwarded to Aber- 
 deen, with the addition of Dr. Bruce’s signature only. 
 The Doctor thought it a work of supererogation or pre- 
 sumption to attempt to add weight to the authority of 
 your name. 
 
 44 The death of the learned Dr. Adam has made the 
 office of Rector or Principal of our High School vacant. 
 Among others, Dr. Irving is a candidate. It is in the gift 
 of the magistrates. The emoluments about 600/. a-year. 
 As the classical chair in the new college at Belfast may not 
 be so advantageous, and may not be soon filled, Dr. Irving 
 solicits this arduous and important office in his own 
 country. He desires me, therefore, to request your 
 Lordship will have the goodness to transmit the testimo- 
 nials in your possession by the first post, 4 To the Right 
 Hon. the Lord Provost, Edinburgh,’ to be submitted to 
 a committee (the Lord President, Lord Justice Clerk, 
 Lord Chief Baron, Dr. Gregory, and Professor Christi- 
 son), chosen by the magistrates, to consider testimonies, 
 and to recommend a fit person to be elected. He would, 
 I am sure, be very grateful to your Lordship, if you 
 think it proper or convenient to honour him with a slight 
 token of your approbation and wishes for his success, to 
 accompany the testimonies of the learned Professors. 
 
 c: Accept the united wishes for many happy returns of 
 the season to your Lordship, and the amiable family 
 circle at Dromore House, of my daughters, and of your 
 affectionate humble servant, Ro, Anderson.” 
 
 From Dr. David Irving to Bp. Percy. 
 
 My Lord, Langholm, Dumfriesshire, 27 Jan. 1810. 
 
 “ I should be destitute of every proper feeling, were I 
 
206 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 insensible of your Lordship’s goodness and condescension. 
 The interest which you have repeatedly taken in my little 
 concerns, though unproductive of the desired effect, de- 
 mands my warmest acknowledgments, and contributes to 
 cheer me in the midst of adverse fortune. Under the 
 pressure of a recent disappointment, it affords me no vulgar 
 consolation to reflect, that your Lordship, and other indi- 
 viduals of the highest character, favoured my pretensions, 
 and endeavoured to promote my success. Towards those 
 who lent me their support on this occasion, I feel the same 
 fervent and sincere gratitude that "would have awaited them 
 on a happier issue. Of their kindness I do not judge by 
 its effects. To be honoured with your Lordship’s appro- 
 bation, would console me under any mortification of this 
 nature. 
 
 “ The rectorship of the High School has been disposed 
 of according to the ordinary method of favour and intrigue* 
 A lucrative office happens in the present instance to be 
 conferred on a person of merit ; though it certainly was 
 not his merit that recommended him to the electors. There 
 was no public competition, no decent examination of testi- 
 monials. It was my ill-founded expectation of this 
 equitable treatment that solely induced me to offer myself 
 a candidate ; for nothing could be more abhorrent to every 
 feeling of my nature, than the direful necessity of sub- 
 mitting to a general canvass among such electors. I stu- 
 diously absented myself from the scene of disgusting 
 intrigue, and did not solicit a single vote. I have therefore 
 the additional consolation of reflecting, that my competi- 
 tion has not left behind it the pungent sting of one solitary 
 instance of unsuccessful meanness. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, with sincere gratitude and 
 veneration, my Lord, your Lordship’s most obliged and 
 faithful servant, David Irving.” 
 
 Dr. W. II. Drummond* to Bp. Percy. 
 
 “ My Lord, < Mount College, Feb. 1, 1810. 
 
 “ I have to apologise for my apparent neglect in not 
 returning an immediate answer to your Lordship’s in- 
 
 * William Hamilton Drummond, D.D. of Belfast; author of “ The Battle 
 of Trafalgar, a Poem,” 1806; “ The First Book of Lucretius, translated 
 into English Verse,” 1809, 8vo. ; and “ The Giant’s Causeway, a Poem,” 
 1812, 8vo. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 207 
 
 quiries, as I certainly would have done had I been in 
 possession of the suitable information. Since I was 
 honoured with your Lordship’s letter, I have received the 
 following account of the Harp Institution : 
 
 “ £ The Irish Harp Institution is conducted by a Presi- 
 dent, Earl O’Neill ; Vice President, James M £ Donnell, 
 M.D.; Treasurer, Robert Tennent, Esq.; Secretary, P. 
 Reynolds, Esq., and a committee of twelve, who, with 
 the treasurer and secretary, are elected half-yearly, by a 
 general meeting of the subscribers. At the commence- 
 ment the annual subscription was about 100/. : it is now 
 about 250/. 
 
 “ There are at present ten blind pupils, who, with Mr. 
 O’Neill their tutor, live in a house suited for the society, 
 and are attended by a housekeeper, who is paid 7s. a 
 week for each pupil, whom she provides with every thing 
 necessary, except clothes. Mr. O’Neill pays for his diet 
 and lodging out of his salary of sixty pounds a-year. 
 
 ££ One-third of the committee superintend the household 
 expenditure, and visit by turns, to see that the boys are 
 properly attended ; one-thircl examine their progress in 
 music, and visit in the same manner ; and one-third are 
 appointed to collect subscriptions and extend the list, 
 which is at present barely sufficient to support the esta- 
 blishment, and prevents the admission of any new scho- 
 lars, though the applications are very numerous. The lowest 
 subscription is one guinea, the highest twenty guineas. 
 
 ££ Four of the committee are also appointed to collect 
 Irish music ; four to search for Irish manuscripts relative 
 to the music, poetry, and history of the country ; and four 
 to extend the interests of the society. These offices are 
 vested in the three foregoing. 
 
 ££ Two of the pupils are so far advanced in music that 
 they can assist Mr. O’Neill in teaching the younger ones. 
 
 “ Such, my Lord, is the information which I have 
 received relative to the Harp Institution. That it is a 
 benevolent and useful institution, and therefore laudable, 
 seems to me unquestionable : that it will be successful in 
 reviving the ancient music of this Island is more than 
 doubtful. Modem improvements have got so long a 
 start of the ancient arts, as to render the revival of the 
 latter hopeless, even if it were desirable. The harp has 
 had its honours. It was passing down quietly to oblivion. 
 The attempt to retard it may be patriotic, but, I think, 
 unavailing. The harp can never be restored to its ancient 
 
208 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 dignity, nor inspired with, its former power to please. But 
 I forbear to obtrude my opinion on your Lordship’s notice. 
 
 “ Dr. Richardson has not made any communication to 
 the Literary Society relative to Swift’s Letters. Prior to 
 the receipt of your Lordship’s letter I had intended to 
 inquire if there be a copy of Oppian in your Lordship’s 
 library. I have a particular desire to read his two poems 
 on fishing and hunting, as containing some curious facts 
 in natural history, but have applied for them in vain 
 among all my literary friends here. I have ordered a 
 copy from London ; hut, as its arrival is uncertain, I em- 
 brace this opportunity of requesting your Lordship to 
 indulge me with a perusal of it for a few weeks, provided 
 it be in your possession. It might be left for me at 
 Archer’s, Belfast. Give me leave to assure your Lord- 
 ship, that I shall always esteem it an honour to be em- 
 ployed by your Lordship in any subject of inquiry. I am, 
 my Lord, your Lordship’s most obliged obedient servant, 
 
 “ W. IT. Drummond.” 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Bp. Percy. 
 
 cc My DEAR Lord, Kildress, 28th Aug. 1810. 
 
 “ I sit down to write these few lines merely to apologise 
 for my long silence, and to express the hope I entertain 
 of soon having an opportunity of offering my respects to 
 your Lordship at Dromore House. 
 
 c: The kindness of my worthy friend the Dean of Tuanr* 
 has again drawn me across the Channel, to conduct my 
 daughter to Kildress, in the vain hope of recruiting my 
 health, weakened by a succession of bad colds, and tran- 
 quillizing my mind, agitated by unavoidable disquietudes. 
 
 “ I must claim the indulgence of your Lordship’s friend- 
 ship for my tardiness in writing, which, I trust, you will 
 excuse, when you are told that it has arisen from the same 
 grievous oppression that has prevented me from making 
 any progress in the studies which I proposed to myself 
 during the winter. 
 
 “ I defer the communications I have to make to your 
 Lordship till I have the pleasure of conversing with you ; 
 wTiich I take delight to anticipate as at no great distance, 
 but I cannot, as yet, make any positive arrangement. 
 
 ie On our way we spent a day with Dr. Drummond, at 
 Mount Collyer, where I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. 
 
 * Richard Bourne, M»A ( already mentioned. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 209 
 
 Bruce, Mr. Joy, and Dr. Macdonnel, and the satisfaction 
 of receiving good accounts of your Lordship’s health. 
 
 <£ Since I came here I have been incessantly occupied in 
 going here and there, for the house is full of company 
 from Dublin ; and yesterday Mr. Sandford, brother of 
 Lord Mount Sandford, arrived from Lord Farnham’s, 
 with his protege, to spend a week, and proceed, by Lord 
 Roden’s, on his return to England. 
 
 “ I found an opportunity of a private conveyance of 
 sending your Lordship Lord Woodhouselie’s Life of Pe- 
 trarch, which, I hope, came safely to your hand ; the 
 opportunity was unexpected, and did not admit of the 
 delay of even writing a slight note. 
 
 i( While I am lingering here, in the uncertainty of the 
 time of returning home, I have to request the pleasure 
 of a note from your Lordship, with your own confirma- 
 tions of the favourable report of your health I received 
 from Dr. Bruce, at Mount Collyer. 
 
 “ I beg my kindest respects to Mr. and Mrs. Meade ; 
 and very cordially renew the assurance of the sincere ve- 
 neration and unfeigned attachment with which I ever am, 
 my dear Lord, your affectionate humble servant, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Kildress, 26 Oct. 1810. 
 
 “ I delayed acknowledging your Lordship’s very kind 
 and acceptable billet, in the hope of having the satisfac- 
 tion, at no distant period, of accomplishing my intended 
 visit to Dromore House ; but circumstances which I could 
 not control have, from time to time, disappointed my ex- 
 pectations, and unavoidably prolonged my stay at Kildress 
 till the falling leaf and the darkened sky warn me to return 
 to my winter quarters with as little delay as possible. 
 
 “ My daughter and I were easily prevailed upon to re- 
 main here during the Dean’s absence in England, since the 
 beginning of October, for Mrs. Bourne required the little 
 amusement which we could give in this solitude : but he is on 
 bis return to Ireland, and I write this note in the fullest ex- 
 pectation of being able to leave Kildress about the beginning 
 °f next month. I need not say that my duty and affec- 
 b°n will draw me to Dromore House, on my way to Scot- 
 land, and that I feel much obliged by your Lordship’s 
 kind invitation to my daughter, who is desirous to shew 
 VOL. VII. ' p 
 
210 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 her respect to the venerable friend of her father, and to 
 receive his blessing. 
 
 £c I cannot speak certainly of my movements, for I have 
 not yet learned whether a postchaise can be had at Lur- 
 gan, as I would prefer returning to the county of Down 
 by the Blaekwater and the Bann, to the road by the east 
 end of Loughreagh. 
 
 ts Mrs. Bourne is most anxious to detain my daughter 
 here, during my short stay at Dromore House, and pro- 
 poses to send her forward to meet me at Belfast ; but I 
 wish her to accompany me, and her own wishes accord 
 with mine. 
 
 “ She joins with me in kindest respects to your Lord- 
 ship and Mr. and Mrs. Meade. 
 
 “ I am always, my dear Lord, your most affectionate 
 humble servant, Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 u My DEAR Lord, Portpatrick, 6th Dec. 1810. 
 
 ec I obey the impulse of gratitude and affection in writ- 
 ing these few lines, to inform our kind and much-valued 
 friends at Dromore House of the safe arrival of their late 
 guests in their native land, after a pleasant passage of 
 three hours from Donaghadee in a bullock boat, all the 
 packets having been detained at Portpatrick by adverse 
 winds. 
 
 “ Our journey from Dromore House to Mount Collyer 
 was perfectly comfortable, though performed in bad wea- 
 ther. We breakfasted at BlaiPs Lodge, and were enter- 
 tained with frank and cordial hospitality by Sir George 
 and our amiable countrywoman Lady Atkinson. We 
 there found our fellow-traveller Miss Rutherford, and ar- 
 ranged the plan of our journey homewards together. She 
 joined us at Mount Collyer on Tuesday, accompanied by 
 Lady Atkinson ; and we proceeded to Donaghadee in the 
 same coach yesterday after dinner, but found no packet 
 in the harbour. 
 
 “ I regretted much my ineffectual search in the book- 
 sellers’ shops at Belfast for new pamphlets or other pub- 
 lications which might amuse your Lordship. I found 
 nothing worth looking into, and indeed very little that is 
 new; as the booksellers seldom order any thing from 
 Dublin, London, or Edinburgh, except upon commission. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 211 
 
 “ I met with no books in the hands of any of my literary 
 friends which I wished to read, except a third edition of 
 Dr. Milner’s ‘ Inquiry into certain vulgar opinions con- 
 cerning the Catholic Inhabitants and Antiquities of Ire- 
 land,’ greatly enlarged ; with an account of a second Tour, 
 and Letters to Sir Richard Musgrave, Dr. Ryan, Dr. 
 Ebrington, &c. I think the book would entertain your 
 Lordship ; but I could not get a copy for sale. Dr. Milner 
 has revived the dispute about St. George, in a note con- 
 cerning your Lordship. 
 
 “ I was detained at Belfast longer than I intended, to 
 attend the meeting of the Literary Society on Monday. 
 Dr. Drummond is printing his poem, ‘ The Giant’s Cause- 
 way,’ at Belfast. I write this note surrounded with peo- 
 ple, and will write to your Lordship from Edinburgh. 
 
 “ My daughter unites with me in kindest respects and 
 most cordial and grateful remembrances to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Meade, and to her amiable and engaging family circle. 
 
 “ I am ever your Lordship’s most affectionate humble 
 servant, Ro. Anderson. 
 
 “ P.S. I avail myself of a private conveyance to send 
 for your Lordship’s acceptance a copy of a Biographical 
 Sketch of the late Lord Melville, written by Mr. Douglas, 
 a young advocate, and printed for distribution among his 
 friends. 
 
 “The public anxiety is not yet relieved by the daily 
 bulletins respecting his Majesty’s health, which only indi- 
 cate the prolongation of misery. 
 
 “ The appointment of the present Lord Melville to his 
 father’s office of Lord Privy Seal very grievously disap- 
 pointed the expectations of the Opposition. 
 
 “ We look to your side of the Channel with alarming 
 apprehensions of the opposition of the Roman Catholics 
 to the Lord Lieutenant’s proclamation. 
 
 “ I wish your Lordship would dictate a billet to me, 
 with your opinion on the subject of Delegation, so mis- 
 chievous in its tendency here.” 
 
 ({ DEAR LORD, Windmill Street, Edinburgh, May 15, 1811. 
 
 “I am greatly indebted to your Lordship for two very 
 kind and acceptable letters, the one received so long ago 
 that I am ashamed to think how long it is ; and the other, 
 Birough the hands of Mr. Brush, who arrived here on 
 Saturday, and set out on his return home this morning. 
 
 p 2 
 
212 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ I have, indeed, been often unwell lately, and my en- 
 gagements, after a long absence, have been overwhelm- 
 ingly numerous, yet I might and would have written to 
 your Lordship before now, if I could have communicated 
 anything to you of sufficient interest or importance, of a 
 literary kind, concerning myself or my friends. 
 
 “ Though I have often been drawn away by the gay 
 and polished society of Edinburgh during the winter, and 
 particularly gratified by the acquaintance of Lord Fingall, 
 Sir Brooke Boothby, &c. yet I made considerable progress 
 in the studies I proposed to myself, and, by plunging 
 into the dissipations of literature, I escaped, for a time, 
 from my own anxieties and vexations, and hid from my- 
 self the pictures of injustice and ingratitude which are 
 perpetually forcing themselves on my observation. Would 
 that I could always throw ideal colours over the sad 
 realities around me ; but my broken spirits, overwhelmed 
 by the weight of private injuries, the consequences of a 
 misplaced and ill-requited friendship, are ill able to per- 
 form the task which occasional flashes of hope encourage 
 me to resume. Years have elapsed, with hopes how 
 sanguine ! and not a single expectation accomplished, or 
 design fulfilled. Still I resolved to persevere, though 
 the enthusiasm of research return no more, and sorrow 
 and disgust, languor and indolence, oppress me. I wish 
 to repay the consolation I find in literature by something 
 of my own, something that is sound and faithful, some- 
 thing that may be classed among the useful, though not 
 brilliant labours of my contemporaries. 
 
 “ As my progress in revising my poetical biography has 
 been desultory, as inclination or materials led, I have not 
 yet compared my collections with Oldys’s MS. notes in 
 every instance. If I had been aware of any limitation of 
 time in using the book, I would certainly have completed 
 my survey of the old poets, and returned it before now. 
 It is chiefly a book of reference, and has, I find, been 
 consulted by Reed and others. Your Lordship’s anxiety 
 about it is natural ; but you may depend on its being kept 
 safely, and returned by a safe conveyance. 
 
 “ My Life of Smollett has been reprinted, the sixth 
 time, this winter, in a new edition of his works ; and the 
 Life of Grainger must, it seems, be shortened,* on account 
 
 * This, it is much to be regretted, was accordingly done. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 213 
 
 of the proportion which it is judged necessary to observe 
 in the size of the volumes. I am very desirous to put it 
 off my hands, and as soon as the dissolution of the part- 
 nership of Mundell and Co. is completed, and the literary 
 property settled, I am ready to give my assistance in 
 finishing it. I have no pecuniary interest in it. I will 
 thank your Lordship to point out the poem which seems 
 exceptionable, from the printed copy in your possession. 
 The miscellaneous pieces are of unequal merit, as is usual 
 in the short pieces of our best poets. 
 
 “ I delayed replying to your Lordship’s inquiries con- 
 cerning Mr. Weber, in the hopes of having an early 
 opportunity of announcing the appearance of his work. 
 When it came out I procured a copy for you, to class with 
 your other collections of that kind, intending to send it 
 by Dr. Trail, whose departure has been delayed by a suc- 
 cession of bad colds and deafness. Mr. Brush has taken 
 it off my table, and put it into his portmanteau. 1 will 
 send by Dr. Trail Cromek’s Remains of Nithsdale and Gal- 
 loway Song, and some other things, if you think proper. 
 Weber is a German, his mother an Englishwoman, with 
 whom he lives here, as a student, devoting his time chiefly 
 to old English literature. As an editor he is accurate and 
 candid, rather than learned and sagacious. He will be 
 thankful for your Romances, if the success of the present 
 collection encourage the publishers to venture on another, 
 for which there are ample materials. It is elegantly printed, 
 the impression small, and the price high ; a book for 
 libraries and book collectors. Mr. Weber is editing Ford’s 
 Plays.* 
 
 “ In going over Goldsmith’s Life, I will thank you to 
 point out the particular passages which were thrust into 
 your narrative. Lord Buchan and Lord Woodhouselie 
 ynake always kind mention of you. My daughter unites 
 i'i kindest respects and cordial regards to your Lordship, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Meade and family, with your affectionate 
 servant, e Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 “ My dear Lord, 17th June, 1811 . 
 
 £ Hr. Trail be gins his journey to Ireland this afternoon, 
 
 it " ^ r - Weber’s edition of Ford’s Plays did no credit to his knowledge or 
 th Sa i Clty ’ ^ le never collated the first editions, and was not acquainted with 
 lpnf ai ?? Uag e of the drama. Mr. Gifford subsequently published an excel- 
 
 edition of the same dramatist. 
 
214 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and I have pressed somewhat heavily on him by the books 
 I send you. 
 
 “ I write this note merely for the sake of the inclosed 
 Inscription for poor Robert Bourne. I will write to your 
 Lordship at length by the post, as the package may 
 not reach you for some time. 
 
 “ I am ever respectfully your Lordship’s affectionate 
 humble servant, Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 “ Inscription for a Mausoleum to the Memory of Robert 
 Bourne,* Esq. son of the Rev. Richard Bourne , of Kil- 
 dress , Ireland. 
 
 “ Pause ou thy way, or friend or stranger, here, 
 
 The spirit of the dead salutes thine ear; 
 
 Here, where in each endearing grace of youth, 
 
 Affection warm, pure Taste, and manly Truth, 
 
 And Piety, that heavenward points the road, 
 
 Repose, in bright expectance of their God. 
 
 Pause then, while Nature on her destin’d bier 
 Looks down and sheds the sympathetic tear, 
 
 To think how short a date on earth is given 
 
 To Joy’s fair dream, and flowers that sprung in Heaven. 
 
 These, shown to mortal eye like angel’s smile, 
 
 Bloom’d in this holy dust a little while ; 
 
 Awhile bade Hope her brightest art employ, 
 
 And fill’d the friend and parent’s heart with joy. 
 
 Now, Reader ! mark, they deck this youthful urn, 
 
 Where sleep the ashes of lamented Bourne. — 
 
 And if through giddy life’s bewildered way 
 Thou followest still the phantoms that betray, 
 
 Know that, however fair and bright they bloom, 
 
 Like funeral fires, they light but to the tomb. 
 
 Yet bid not quickly her dim bounds adieu, 
 
 Nor think the grave unlovely to the view. 
 
 If thou hast half the saving virtues dear 
 
 Which warm’d the breast of him who slumbers here 
 
 Pass but this gate, (for know that all must pass, 
 
 And few the sands that linger in life’s glass,) 
 
 Bright, like the rainbow o’er the walks of strife 
 Shall shine thy prospect of immortal life. 
 
 Is joy thy search ? — the darkness melts away 
 Before the light that never shall decay, 
 
 Behold, enchanted man ! the glorious prize ! 
 
 Behind this little clod of earth it lies. 
 
 Beyond this scene, ’mid bloom of fairest flowers, 
 
 Bright burns the lamp that lights true Pleasure’s bowers. 
 
 Hark ! as the everlasting gates unbar 
 Assembled angels hail thee from afar — 
 
 Their harps are strung, their brows with garlands crown'd, 
 
 That scent the bowers of Paradise around, — 
 
 * Come, wanderer ! come,’ their holy harpings say, 
 
 1 Come from the grave, thy stains are wash’d away.’ — 
 
 Hear their blest voice, and fly the walks of Sin, — ■ 
 
 Lo ! Mercy’s gate is ope — prepare to enter in.” 
 
 * See before, p. 201. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 215 
 
 eC My DEAR Lord, Windmill Street, 22d June, 1811. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s very kind letter gave me great satis- 
 faction. Before it arrived Dr. Trail’s goodness had antici- 
 pated your instructions relative to the books, and I 
 availed myself of the opportunity of the conveyance to the 
 full extent of his convenience. I sent him, at his de- 
 parture, according to a previous agreement, four small 
 parcels, which might be conveniently put into the car- 
 riage ; containing Cromek’s Reliques of Burns, making a 
 fifth volume of his works ;* Collection of Songs, with 
 Burnses Remarks; and Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway 
 Song; with Scott’s edition of Miss Seward’s Poetical 
 Works; and the Collection of her Letters, published by 
 Constable ; in all thirteen volumes, in extra boards. I 
 was aware of the pressure on the Doctor’s luggage, but I 
 could not let the opportunity go by of making some addi- 
 tions that seemed to be suitable to your extensive collec- 
 tion of popular poetry, literary biography, and criticism. 
 The volumes are elegantly printed and high priced ; and 
 being intended for libraries are eagerly bought up by the 
 collectors of books. Mr. Cromek has been very success- 
 ful in his illustrations of popular antiquities and manners ; 
 but the genuineness of some of his traditional songs may 
 be reasonably doubted; “The Mermaid” particularly, 
 one of the best. I should like to have your Lordship’s 
 opinion of them. He has inserted in the Collection of 
 Songs the account of Ritson’s death, which, as it came 
 through your hands and mine, you will not be displeased 
 to see. I wrote for him, among other things, the account 
 of James Tytler, which he has awkwardly acknowledged. 
 Miss Seward’s Works, especially her Letters, touch on 
 persons and times interesting to your Lordship. They 
 are written, almost throughout, with a disgusting affecta- 
 tion of verbal ornament, and are everywhere tinctured 
 with personal, political, and poetical prejudices. Her 
 illiberal treatment of Darwin and Hayley, the first objects 
 of her idolatry, admits of no excuse. Sir Brooke Boothby 
 ^-assured me yesterday, that Darwin, to his certain 
 knowledge, himself wrote the first fifty lines in the Botanic 
 garden, from a short copy of verses on his garden at 
 Lichfield, but Miss S.f sent them to the Gentleman’s 
 
 Select Scottish Songs, with observations by R. Burns, edited by R. H. 
 
 + n ^r k > vo1 - “• 1810. 
 
 sent h 6 ^ erses are ' u the Gentleman’s Magazine for May 1783, p. 428 ; 
 Miss I a corres P°ndent who signs M. C. S. and there said to be written by 
 by Mis eW S ard; ,JUt i,; L ^ oes uot appear the Verses were sent to the Magazine 
 
216 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Magazine with her name, and reclaimed them when he 
 printed the Botanic Garden. Sir Brooke also assures me, 
 from his own knowledge, that Darwin either originated, or 
 wrote over almost anew, the greatest part of the Elegy on 
 Captain Cook. The internal evidence is a strong proof 
 of this account of the composition. Hayley is still living, 
 and must have his feelings hurt by the malignant dis- 
 closure of his family differences, upon which it is not safe 
 for a stranger to look, as they involve delicate circum- 
 stances which are only known to the parties themselves. 
 Between the poetess and Scott and Southey, her latest 
 idols, the commerce of flattery is extravagant, chiefly on 
 her side. With a few exceptions, the praise of her con- 
 temporaries is sparing and invidious. Her strictures on 
 Miss Bannerman’s Poems, to which she returns with 
 reiterated animosity in the fifth volume, are particularly 
 harsh and acrimonious. My friend Park and I do not 
 escape her censure for holding an opposite opinion ; but 
 mine she reckons of no value, after calling £ the defunct 
 Leonidas’ a fine epic poem, which is not accurately true. 
 
 “ Mr. Weber has published a collected edition of Ford’s 
 Plays, in two volumes, and has in the press a new edi- 
 tion of Beaumont and Fletcher’s Plays; and a quarto 
 volume, entitled £ Northern Antiquities,’ furnished by 
 himself,* with the assistance of Mr. Jamieson and Mr. 
 Scott. The latter has in the press a new poem, which he 
 thinks the best of his performances, c The Vision of Don 
 Roderick,” the subject of the Spanish ode of Luis de 
 Leon, Count Julian’s bringing over the Saracens, to avenge 
 himself of Don Rodrigo, the last of the Gothic kings of 
 Spain. It is written in the stanza of Spenser, and claims 
 a place among our classical and legitimate poems. I feel 
 as I ought your kindness in allowing me the use of 
 Langbourne, and thank you for the references to Gold- 
 smith, which will be useful. I was glad to see Mr. Brush 
 here, for his own sake and for your sake. He would be 
 struck by the death of Lord President Blair, the week 
 after he saw him on the Bench. Dr. Trail will dilate on 
 this event and the death of Lord Melville. My daughter 
 joins in kindest regards to your Lordship and the family 
 at Dromore House, with your affectionate humble servant, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson. 
 
 * “ Illustrations of Heathen Antiquities, from the earlier Teutonic and 
 Scalvonian Romances.” Edinb. 4to. 1814. SeeRoscoe’s 44 German Romances,” 
 vol. iv. p. 8. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 217 
 
 “P.8. Dr. Trail was much hurried some days before his de- 
 parture, and we exchanged letters, not visits, in the uncer- 
 tainty of finding each other. The Doctor is preparing a 
 Life of Simson the mathematician, including illustrations 
 of the ancient Geometrical Analysis of Pappus/’ 
 
 s: My DEAR LORD, Windmill Street, 17th Aug. 1811. 
 
 “ I would have acknowledged your Lordship’s very 
 kind letter, inclosing a draft on London for 8/. 11s., the 
 price of the books I sent you, before now, had I not been 
 desirous of having some literary intelligence to communi- 
 cate that might make my acknowledgment more welcome ; 
 and as I looked for the appearance of Mr. Scott’s new 
 poem, f The Vision of Don Roderick,’ in a short time, I 
 deferred writing to you from day to day, until my affairs 
 drew me into Fifeshire, where my stay has been pro- 
 longed by circumstances which I could not control. 
 
 “ I remain at home only a few days, and then proceed 
 to Ochtertyre, in Perthshire, to spend some weeks with 
 my friend Mr. Ramsay, in consequence of an engagement 
 I made when he was in town, about two months ago. Mr. 
 Ramsay is a country gentleman who has devoted a large 
 portion of a long life to classical literature and historical 
 antiquities. He was the intimate friend and neighbour of 
 the late Lord Kames, and has been an accurate observer 
 of all the remarkable passages in his time. His lucubra- 
 tions on the characteristic features of manners, arts, go- 
 vernment, religion, and literature in Scotland, during the 
 last sixty years, fill ten folio volumes, of 700 pages each. 
 Besides the benefit which my health and spirits may re- 
 ceive from the fine air of the mountains, the object of my 
 visit, at this time, is to inspect and arrange with Mr. Ram- 
 say his MS. volumes for a posthumous publication,* and to 
 contrive to make it obligatory upon a distant relation, to 
 whom he leaves, by will, his estate of 1 , 500 /. a-year, under 
 the superintendence of a literary trustee, to be appointed in 
 his will, with a suitable compensation for his trouble. I 
 
 * Mr. Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, was, it is believed, cousin-german to the 
 rather of Mr. David Dundas, Her Majesty’s present Solicitor- General for 
 England, and M.P. for Sutherlandshire. He was an excellent scholar, and 
 noted for his elegant Latinity. Three letters of his, with specimens of his 
 alent in the art of inscription, will be found in Burns’s Works, by Currie, 
 
 • PP* 107, 115, 120. He was the Jonathan Oldbuck of Scott’s “ Anti- 
 c ^ ar / >” se e Chambers’s Illustrations of the Waverley Novels. The MSS. 
 a udedto are still at Ochtertyre, the property of the Solicitor-General, and 
 ^ ) ere . ne i ver printed, either because no such bequest as that mentioned by 
 
 n-.fi Anders ° n was made, or because the survivors did not deem their publi- 
 cation expedient. 
 
218 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 have recommended Dr. Irving for that office, with liberty 
 to correct the language, without changing the character of 
 the style, and to add notes and illustrations, without alter- 
 ing the representation of facts and opinions. Mr. Ram- 
 say is deep in the history of private life. He has written 
 300 articles of rural biography, a new subject of writing ; 
 and 200 Latin inscriptions, epitaphs, and leones, of which 
 there is an example in my account of Smollett. 
 
 “ At length the £ Vision of Don Roderick ’ is come out, 
 which was expected to claim for its author a distinguished 
 rank among the classical poets of our nation. Never was 
 expectation raised so high, and never was disappointment 
 more universal. It is written in the stanza of an acknow- 
 ledged classical poet, which had been happily imitated in 
 a few stanzas in his last poem, but he has completely 
 failed in challenging a rivalship with the great father of 
 allegorical poetry, in every respect. Even his admirable 
 talent for description is seldom visible, except perhaps in 
 his picture of the troops of which the allied armies is com- 
 posed, English, Scotish, and Irish ; the last rather incor- 
 rectly, as the Irish regiments are more in name than in 
 reality. The subject of the poem is founded on an histo- 
 rical tradition respecting Don Rodrigo, the last of the 
 Gothic kings of Spain. Mr. Scott has made no mention of a 
 poem with the same title, printed in the ninth volume of 
 El Parnaso Espanol, published at Madrid in 1772, which 
 has been imitated with great elegance and spirit by Mr. 
 Russell in his Poems, printed in 1788. The Vision ter- 
 minates in the defeat of Rodrigo by the Saracens, invited 
 by Count Julian to avenge himself of the violence offered 
 to Caba, his daughter. Scott’s plan is more extensive, 
 and includes the late events in the Peninsula, so interest- 
 ing to the generous sympathy of the British nation : yet, 
 unfortunately, that is the least interesting part of the 
 poem. The whole is heavy, flat, and unimpressive. 
 
 “ The quarto volume, entitled ‘ Northern Antiquities,’ 
 containing translations by Weber, Jamieson, and Scott, is 
 delayed at the press for want of Scott’s contributions. 
 It bears an affinity to your Lordship’s work, with the 
 same title ; which I regret was not reprinted here at the 
 time it was projected, owing to the corrections being 
 returned for your re-consideration, and not returned to 
 me. The opportunity is gone by, by the dissolution of 
 the partnership of the printers, and I have difficulty in 
 getting Grainger completed. I send this by Mr. Mackay, 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 219 
 
 and will write to you again when I return home. My 
 daughter joins with me in affectionate regards to your 
 Lordship, and Mr. and Mrs. Meade and family. I am 
 ever your Lordship’s affectionate humble servant, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson.’ 5 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Windmill Street, 13 Sept. 1811. 
 
 s< In the Edinburgh Annual Register for 1809, just 
 published by Ballantyne, there is an original letter from 
 Shenstone to Mr. Mac Gowan, of Edinburgh, which, I 
 think, cannot fail to be interesting to your Lordship, as it 
 contains some curious particulars concerning the first pub- 
 lications of Macpherson, and the proposed Collection of 
 the Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. I have thought 
 a transcript may be acceptable, as the book in which it is 
 inserted may not come into your hand, and have been en- 
 couraged to send it by having the offer of an envelope 
 from my young friend George Sinclair* (son of Sir John), 
 the new member for Caithness, who expressed great satis- 
 faction in writing your Lordship’s name, which he regards 
 with the highest honour and veneration. Sir Brooke 
 Boothby was here at the time, and thought the sensibi- 
 lity he shewed in making this use of his privilege did the 
 young senator very much credit ; and your Lordship may 
 believe it greatly enhanced the favour he did me. 
 
 “ In Hall’s c Select Letters 5 your Lordship will find a 
 letter from Mr. Mac Gowan to Shenstone on the subject 
 of the Fragments of Erse Poetry, which I pointed out to 
 Mr. Laing for the use of his edition of Macpherson’s 
 works. 
 
 “ I have omitted the two first paragraphs of the letter, 
 and another in a subsequent part of it, as they are merely 
 ceremonious or unimportant. 
 
 “ I presumed on your Lordship’s good will towards me 
 to introduce a young American traveller to Dromore 
 House, to have the gratification of seeing you, and of 
 receiving an impression of your urbanity and venerable 
 appearance, which he will take delight to recollect among 
 his friends in the United States. It is probable he will 
 not deliver my note till he returns from Dublin ; though 
 it may be, the plan of his journey may lead him directly 
 to Dublin through Dromore, 
 
 “ Dr. Bruce, of Belfast, has just sent me, through the 
 hands of Dr. Gregory’s nephew, a student of Trinity Col- 
 
 * Now Sir George Sinclair, Bart. 
 
220 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 lege, the fourth Fasciculus of Select Papers of the Belfast 
 Literary Society, containing a very good paper of his on the 
 advantages of classical learning. 
 
 “ I am writing hurriedly for the post, and will recur to 
 the account of Mr. Ramsay’s papers and other matters in 
 my next missive. 
 
 “ With every kind wish for the health and welfare of 
 your Lordship and family, I ever am most respectfully 
 and affectionately yours, 
 
 “ Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 “ Extract of an original Letter from the poet Shenstone 
 to Mr. Mac Gowan, late of Edinburgh, dated the 
 Leasowes, Sept. 24, 1761 ; printed at length in the 
 Edinburgh Annual Register, 1809, p. 549. 
 
 “As to the Erse Fragments, you j udged very rightly, 
 that, amidst the applause they were sure of receiving from 
 the world, they would not fail to afford me a very peculiar 
 satisfaction. I am indeed unfeignedly thankful for the early 
 copy you sent me, and for the ingenious letter which 
 accompanied them. It seems indeed from a former ver- 
 sion of them by the same translator (which Mr. Gray, the 
 poet, received from him, and showed my friend Percy), 
 that he has taken pretty considerable freedoms in adapt- 
 ing them to the present reader. I do not in the least 
 disapprove of this ; knowing by experience that trivial 
 amendments in these old compositions often render them 
 highly striking, which would be otherwise quite neglected. 
 And surely, under all the infirmities of age, they may be 
 said to have an absolute claim to some indulgence of this 
 kind. I presume the editor follows the same mode of 
 translation in what he is now going to publish. I would 
 wish him particularly attentive to the melody of his 
 cadences, when it may be done without impeachment of 
 his fidelity. The melody of our verse has been, perhaps, 
 carried to its utmost perfection ; that of prose seems to 
 have been more neglected, and to be capable of greater 
 than it has yet attained. It seems to be a very favourable 
 era for the appearance for such irregular poetry. The 
 taste of the age, so far as it regards plan and style, seems 
 to have been carried to its utmost height, as may appear 
 in the works of Akenside, Gray’s Odes and Churchyard 
 Verses, and Mason’s Monody and Elfrida. The public 
 has seen all that art can do, and they want the more 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 221 
 
 striking efforts of wild, original, enthusiastic genius. It 
 seems to exclaim aloud, with the chorus in Julius Ceesar, 
 
 “ Oh rather than he slaves to these deep learned men, 
 
 Give us our wildness and our woods, our huts and caves again.” 
 
 I know not how far you will allow the distinction or the 
 principle on which I build my remark, namely, that the 
 taste of the present age is somewhat higher than its 
 genius. This turn, you see, favours the work the trans- 
 lator has to publish, or has published already. Here is 
 indeed, pure original genius ! the very quintessence of 
 poetry; a few drops of which, properly managed, are 
 enough to give a flavour to quart bottles. And yet one or 
 two of these pieces (the first, for instance, together with 
 the second) are undoubtedly as well planned as any ode 
 we find in Horace. 
 
 >i< ^ * % 
 
 “ And now, having thanked you for the Scotch snuff 
 (better than any I ever tasted before), I come to ask, 
 whether you have any old Scotch ballads which you would 
 wish preserved in a neat edition. I have occasioned a 
 friend of mine to publish a fair collection of the best old 
 English and Scotch ballads, a work I have long had much 
 at heart. Mr. Percy, the collector and publisher, is a 
 man of learning, taste, and indefatigable industry; is 
 chaplain to the Earl of Sussex. It so happens that he 
 has himself a folio collection of this kind of MSS., which 
 has many things truly curious, and from which he selects 
 the best. I am only afraid that his fondness for anti- 
 quity should tempt him to admit pieces that have no 
 other sort of merit. However, he has offered me a reject- 
 ing power, of which I mean to make considerable use. 
 He is encouraged in his undertaking by Samuel Johnson, 
 Garrick, and many persons of note, who lend him such 
 assistance as is within their power. He has brought Mr. 
 Warton (the poetry professor), to ransack the Oxford 
 libraries ; and has resided, and employed six amanuenses 
 to transcribe from Pepys^s Collection at Cambridge, con- 
 sisting of five volumes of old ballads, in folio. He says 
 justly, that it is in the remote parts of the kingdom that 
 he has most reason to expect the curiosities he wants ; 
 that in the southern parts fashion and novelty cause such 
 things to be neglected. Accordingly he has settled a cor- 
 respondence in Wales, in the wilds of Staffordshire and 
 
222 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Derbyshire, in the West Indies, in Ireland, and, if he can 
 obtain your assistance, hopes to draw materials from the 
 whole British empire. He tells me there is in the Col- 
 lection of Magdalen College library a very curious collec- 
 tion of ancient Scottish songs and poems, he thinks, not 
 published or known ; many of Dunbar, Maitland of 
 Lethington, and one allegorical poem of Gawain Douglas, 
 too obsolete for his collection ; and one yet more obsolete, 
 called c Peebles in the Play/ mentioned in Christ’s Kirk 
 on the Green. He met Mr. Gray in the University 
 library, who is going to write the history of English 
 Poetry. But to put an end to this long article, his Col- 
 lection will be printed in two or three small octavos, with 
 suitable decorations ; and if you find an opportunity of 
 sending aught that may be proper for his insertion, I 
 think I can safely answer for his thankfulness as well as 
 my own. He showed me an old ballad in his folio MS. 
 under the name of Adam Carr : three parts in four coin- 
 cide so much with your Edom of Gordon, that the former 
 name appears to me an odd corruption of the latter. His 
 MS. will, however, tend to enrich Edom of Gordon with 
 two of the prettiest stanzas I ever saw, beside many other 
 improvements. He has also a MS. of Gill Morice, called 
 in his copy Childe Morice. Of this more another time. I 
 must at present take my leave. Should you see Mr. 
 Home, Mr. Alexander, or Dr. Robertson, I desire my best 
 respects to them. And should you see my good Lord 
 Alemoor and Mr. Professor Smith, I beg you would 
 please to assert how unfeignedly I am their servant. I 
 hope to muster up sufficient assurance, even now, to 
 acknowledge by letter their acceptable presents of books ; 
 however the fire of gratitude was not less intense for 
 having lain concealed and produced no blaze. I have 
 many more Scotch friends whom I wish to particularize, 
 but those, if I am not mistaken, live in the neighbour- 
 hood of Edinburgh. I am, dear Sir, your most obliged 
 humble servant, 
 
 “ Will. Shenstone. 
 
 “ I will endeavour to procure and send you a copy of 
 Percy’s translation of a genuine Chinese Novel, in four 
 small volumes, printed months ago, but not to be pub- 
 lished before winter.” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 223 
 
 Dr. Anderson to Mr. M. Darby. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Windmill Street, Oct. 9, 1811. 
 
 “ Before I had your very interesting and affectionate 
 notice of the amiable and excellent Bishop’s death, I had 
 been informed of that melancholy event by a short note 
 from Mr. Brush, which, you may believe, made the fami- 
 lies in Windmill-street and Princes-street participate deeply 
 in the affliction of our friends at Dromore House. Besides 
 the reflections which your letter contains, so creditable to 
 your understanding and your heart, it gave me the first 
 account of the closing scene of his sufferings, painful even 
 in imagination. The wise, the learned, the good man died 
 as he had lived, a fine example of the power of religion on 
 the mind ; and it was indeed edifying to witness his 
 patient resignation and calm composure at his end. I fol- 
 lowed the first impulse of my mind in drawing up the fol- 
 lowing* hasty notice of his death for the Obituary of the 
 Edinburgh newspaper. It seemed to me a sacred duty to 
 attempt something of this kind in Scotland, where his 
 reputation has been long established; and the arrival of 
 your letter enabled me to render it, in some respects, 
 more interesting and edifying. You will see the use I 
 have made of it. I believe the facts I have stated are 
 correct ; except, perhaps, his age, which I suspect should 
 be eighty-three. I wish you had mentioned it. I 
 have sent copies of the newspaper to Mrs. Isted and 
 Mrs. Meade, presuming that they will not be displeased 
 to see even this slight testimony of respect to the memory 
 of their venerable father circulated in Scotland. 
 
 “ I write this note in unavoidable haste, and am very 
 far from having expressed as I wished the sentiments of 
 esteem I bear you, and my gratitude for the prompt and 
 seasonable intimation you sent me. Let me, I entreat 
 you, hear from you again ; and let me know what is your 
 destination, which I may influence. I am with great 
 respect, dear Sir, 
 
 “ Your sincere friend, 
 
 Ro. Anderson.” 
 
 * See p. 224. 
 
224 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Notice of Bishop Percy , from the Edinburgh Evening 
 C our ant. Oct. 7 , 1811, written by Dr. R. Anderson. 
 
 iC Died, at Dromore House, on the 30th September, 
 aged 82, the Right Reverend Dr. Thomas Percy, Lord 
 Bishop of Dromore, well known for more than half a 
 century by various learned and ingenious publications, 
 and distinguished by the most active and exemplary public 
 and private virtues. He was the intimate friend of Shen- 
 stone, Johnson, and Goldsmith, and the last of the illus- 
 trious association of men of letters who flourished at the 
 commencement of the present reign. Pie was a native of 
 Bridgworth in Shropshire, and educated at Christ Church 
 College, Oxford. His first promotion in the Church was 
 to the living of Easton Mauduit, in Northamptonshire, in 
 the gift of his college, which he held with the rectory of 
 Wilby, given him afterwards by the Earl of Sussex. In 
 1764 he published a new version of the 4 Song of Solo- 
 mon/ enriched with a commentary and annotations. The 
 year following he published the £ Reliques of Ancient 
 English Poetry/ a work which constitutes an era in the 
 history of English literature in the eighteenth century. 
 The same year he published £ A Key to the New Testa- 
 ment/ a concise manual for students of sacred literature, 
 which has been adopted in the universities, and often re- 
 printed. After the publication of the £ Reliques/ he was 
 invited by the Duke of Northumberland to reside occa- 
 sionally with him, as his domestic chaplain. In 1769 he 
 was nominated Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty ; in 
 1778 promoted to the Deanery of Carlisle, and in 1782 to 
 the Bishopric of Dromore, where he constantly resided, 
 promoting the instruction and comfort of the poor with 
 unremitting attention, and superintending the sacred and 
 civil interests of the diocese with vigilance and assiduity, 
 revered and beloved for his piety, liberality, benevolence, 
 and hospitality, by persons of every rank and religious de- 
 nomination. lie was the last male descendant of the 
 ancient family of Percy. Two daughters survive him ; 
 the eldest is married to Ambrose Isted, Esq. of Ecton in 
 Northamptonshire, and the youngest to the honourable 
 and reverend Pierce Meade, Archdeacon of Dromore.” 
 
225 
 
 MEMOIR OF JAMES GRAINGER, M.D. 
 
 James Grainger was probably bom at Dunse, 
 in Berwickshire, in 1724. He was the son of John 
 Grainger, Esq. of Houghton Hall, co. Cumberland ; 
 who, in consequence of some unsuccessful specula- 
 tions in mining, was obliged to sell his estate, and, 
 having obtained an appointment in the Excise, 
 settled at Dunse. 
 
 His father dying while he was young, the care 
 of his education was kindly undertaken by his 
 elder brother by a former marriage, Mr. William 
 Grainger of Wariston, a writing-master in Edin- 
 burgh, and afterwards clerk in the office of the 
 Comptroller of the Excise, who placed him at the 
 school of North Berwick, under the tuition of Mr. 
 Janies Rae, formerly one of the masters of the 
 High School at Edinburgh, a teacher of eminent 
 learning and abilities. 
 
 He was put apprentice to Mr. George Lauder, 
 surgeon in Edinburgh, and afterwards attended 
 the medical classes in the University. 
 
 He then went into the army, and was surgeon 
 in Pulteney’s regiment, at the battle of Falkirk, in 
 1745 ; and afterwards served in Holland in 1746, 
 1747, and 1748. A military man, even in the 
 most active campaign, has many hours of leisure ; 
 and as these cannot be spent more rationally than 
 in some literary pursuit, he employed that part of 
 his time which was undevoted to his profession in 
 perusing the classics. 
 
 Upon his quitting the army, after the peace of 
 Aix la Chapelle, in 1748, he obtained the degree 
 of Doctor of Physic, and settled himself in Bond 
 Court, Walbrook ; where his taste for polite litera- 
 
 VOL. VII. Q 
 
226 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ture procured him the acquaintance of Dr. John- 
 son, Percy, Shenstone, Dodsley, Armstrong, Gold- 
 smith, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and other men of wit 
 and learning. 
 
 In 1753 he published “Historia Febris anomalse 
 Annorum 1/46, 1747, 1748, &c. accedunt Monita 
 Siphylica,” 8vo. containing the result of his obser- 
 vations whilst in the army. 
 
 In 1755 appeared his “ Ode on Solitude,” in 
 Dodsley’s Collection, possessing merit enough to 
 obtain from Dr. Johnson the term “ noble,” and 
 Dr. Percy says, in it “ are assembled some of the 
 sublimest images in nature.” 
 
 In May 1756, he commenced writer in the 
 Monthly Review, in a criticism on Mason’s Odes ; 
 and during this and the two following years con- 
 tributed a variety of articles, chiefly on poetry and 
 the drama, to that journal,* relinquishing his con- 
 nexion with it about May 1 758. 
 
 “ The Grand Magazine of Universal Intelligence, 
 and Monthly Chronicle of our Own Times,” was 
 projected towards the end of 1757 by a few prin- 
 ters and booksellers, and commenced the first 
 
 * The articles are marked by Dr. Griffiths (in the set afterwards possessed 
 by Mr. Heber) “ Dr. G.’’ His chief Reviews are, besides the first (1756) on 
 “The Converts, an Ode ;” “ Writings and Genius of Pope;” “Smart’s 
 Ode “ Fakeer ; ” “ Beauty, an Ode six articles in the Monthly Cata- 
 logue of the first Half-yearly Appendix; “ Telemachus ;” “ Philippic 
 
 Poems ;” “Leucothoe “Philosophical Transactions (Sept, and Oct.) in con- 
 junction with another writer. B. who is not known ;” “ Cupid ;” “ The Ca- 
 det “ Ode to Love ;” “Idea of Beauty ;” “ Tour in France,” 1757 ; “ De 
 Choiel’s Method of treating Persons bitten by Mad Animals “ Woodward’s 
 Cases in Physick ;” “Foreign Books,” (February); “Foreign Books,” 
 (March); “ Loss of the Handkerchief,’’ Heroic-Comic Poem; “ Collection 
 Acadenrique;” “ Sayer’s Translation in Latin of Pope’s Universal Prayer ;” 
 “ Newcomb’s Versification of Harvey’s Contemplations ;” “ Fleece, a Poem,” 
 hy Dyer; “ Oriental Eclogues;” “Medical Observations and Inquiries;” 
 “ Goldoni’s Two Italian Comedies ;” “ Lind on the Means of preserving 
 the Health of Seamen “ Newcomb’s Versification of Harvey’s Contempla- 
 tions in a Flower Garden,” 1758; “ Duncomb’s Translation of Horace;” 
 “ Massey’s Translation of Ovid’s Fasti ;” “ Cidyllia, or Miscellaneous Poems;’’ 
 “ Holkham, a Poem ;” “Verses to the People of England, by W. White- 
 head ;” “Ode to the King of Prussia;” “Fancy, an irregular Ode;” 
 “ Elegy on a Drum-head besides a great number of short notices in the 
 Monthly Catalogue. 
 
MEMOIRS OF JAMES GRAINGER, M.D. 22 7 
 
 month of the following year. Who the editor 
 was does not appear. Griffiths the publisher signs 
 the dedication, which, like various similar publica- 
 tions of this period, is to the popular idol Mr. Pitt. 
 Owen Ruffhead,* although writing at the same 
 time largely in the Review, took a considerable 
 share in the prose department. Grainger and 
 Percy (as appears by the letters in the following 
 Correspondence),'}' furnished pieces of poetry, and 
 probably of prose.^ From this Correspondence it 
 appears that Grainger was the contributor of— 
 “ Address to the Evening Star,” and “ Three 
 Elegies,” in the January number ; — Hymn to 
 Cheerfulness Lines “ To the Nymph of P # * 
 (Pitkeatly) Waters ;” and “ Triumph of Beauty,” 
 in February ; — “ Elegy on having quarrelled with 
 Melinda,” and “ Dialogue between Colin and De- 
 lia,” in that of March ; — “An Epistle from an Officer 
 
 at Fort William in Lochabar, to Lord L in 
 
 London, Feb. 1752,” in that of April ; probably, 
 “ Love, an Ode,” in that of May ; — and, possibly, 
 an “ Ode to Contentment,” in that of June. About 
 the same time Grainger translated “ Leander to 
 Hero,” and “ Hero to Leander,” for Mr. Percy’s 
 intended version of Ovid’s Epistles. 
 
 Percy’s contributions to the Grand Magazine 
 positively known are, the Latin Poem in the Fe- 
 bruary Magazine, beginning with “ Effinxit quon- 
 dam blandum meditata laborem and two sonnets 
 signed P. in that of March. The first Sonnet is 
 
 * The copy of this Magazine in the British Museum belonged to Isaac 
 Reed, who writes thus on the fly-leaf: 11 The Dissertation on the Constitu- 
 tion of England, and much of the Political original Essays in this Magazine, 
 were the productions of Owen Ruffhead, esq. as his friend Mr. Fountaine 
 informed me on the 25th March 1777. I. Reed.” 
 
 + See Grainger’s Letter to Percy, in Feb. and April 1758, pp. 247— 
 
 + On the probability of Goldsmith having a share in writing the work, see 
 Prior’s Life of Goldsmith, vol. I. p. 257, where several pieces likely to be his 
 are enumerated. 
 
 q 2 
 
228 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 u after the manner of Spenser, addressed to a 
 young Lady.” It begins, 
 
 “ While you, fair Anna ! innocently gay.’ ’ 
 
 Anna was Miss Goodrich, whom Mr. Percy 
 shortly afterwards married. The second Sonnet 
 was occasioned by leaving B — r — t — n, July 1755. 
 The “ Hint to the Poets,” by Percy, is spoken of by 
 Dr. Grainger in a letter, April 4, 1758,* but I cannot 
 find such a poem in the Grand Magazine. The 
 Scotch song alluded to-f' was probably the celebrated 
 one, “ O Nanny, wilt thou gang with me ?” It did 
 not however appear in the Magazine. 
 
 In March 1758 Dr. Grainger became a member 
 of the London College of Physicians ; and in 
 November following published a translation of 
 Tibullus, which, meeting with an indifferent 
 reception from the Critical Review, was said by 
 Grainger to proceed from the personal pique of 
 Smollett, though known to each other and inter- 
 changing civilities. Grainger, though said to be a 
 worthy man, replied in the strain of an enraged 
 and irritable author. This produced a severe 
 rejoinder in the Critical Review for February 
 1759; and on the part of both there was more 
 of personality and vituperation than was becom- 
 ing, or the occasion demanded. 
 
 It was through Grainger the acquaintance of 
 Percy with Goldsmith commenced, in the year 
 1758. The latter alludes to his former friend in 
 “ Animated Nature,” when speaking of fish that 
 are poisonous. “ The fact of a certain de- 
 scription of fish being poisonous when eaten, is 
 equally notorious, and the cause equally inscru- 
 table. My poor worthy friend Dr. Grainger, who 
 resided for many years at St. Christopher’s, assured 
 me that of the fish caught, of the same kind, at 
 
 * See p. 251. f See p. 247. 
 
 
MEMOIR OF JAMES GRAINGER, M.D. 229 
 
 one end of that island, some were the best and 
 most wholesome in the world ; while others, taken 
 at a different end, were always dangerous, and 
 most commonly fatal.” 
 
 In a letter to the Gentleman’s Magazine (1791, 
 p. 614), Grainger’s friend, Mr. G. Paton, says, 
 that vol. II. of Maitland’s History of Scotland was 
 compiled from materials left by Dr. Grainger. 
 William Maitland composed the first volume ; and 
 Andrew Millar engaged Grainger to complete the 
 work. 
 
 In the autumn of 1758 Dr. Grainger had en- 
 gaged to travel for four years with a young friend, 
 John Bourrvau, esq. # of large West India pro- 
 perty, whose studies from an early period had been 
 in part committed to his charge, and to whom he de- 
 dicated his Translation of Tibullus. The reward for 
 this appropriation of time was to be an annuity for 
 life of two hundred pounds per annum. The resolu- 
 tion to quit London, he writes to Dr. Percy, in 
 letters from which this abstract was taken, was not 
 adopted in a hurry ; for though et his practice was 
 not exceeded by that of any young physician in 
 London,”'}' the proposed term of absence, he be- 
 lieved, would not interfere materially with his 
 views, while it promised to add to the number and 
 respectability of his friends. 
 
 In April 1 759 he embarked for the island of St. 
 Christopher, in the West Indies. During his 
 passage a lady on-board one of the merchantmen 
 hound for the same place was seized with the 
 small pox, attended with some alarming symptoms. 
 He was sent for, and not only prescribed with suc- 
 cess, but took the remainder of his passage in the 
 s ame ship, partly to promote the recovery of his 
 
 Courryau died in 1771, universally regretted, and left behind him a 
 °usiderable estate to lii$ family. Westminster May. Dec. 1773. 
 
 . + kee p. 267. 
 
230 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 patient, but principally to have an opportunity of 
 paying his addresses to her daughter, whom he 
 married soon after their arrival at St. Christo- 
 pher’s. By this lady, whose name was Miss Daniel 
 Mathew Burt, daughter to Mathew William Burt, 
 Esq. Governor of St. Christopher’s, he had two 
 daughters, 1. Louise Agnes Grainger; 2. Eleanor 
 C. Grainger, married, in 1798, to Thomas Rousell, 
 Esq. of Wandsworth. This last lady was the god- 
 daughter of Bishop Percy ; who was also godfather 
 to her eldest son James Percy Rousell. 
 
 In the autumn of 1763 Dr. Grainger returned to 
 England. The poem of “ The Sugar Cane,” 
 written during his abode in the West Indies, had 
 been previously transmitted home, and after some 
 uncertainty as to the mode of publication, did not 
 appear until after he had sailed, in May 1764, on 
 his return to St. Christopher’s. 
 
 There, it appears, his affairs had become involved 
 during his absence, which an inheritance from the 
 death of his brother in Scotland enabled him soon 
 after to obviate in part. 
 
 In Feb. 1766 he appears to have been undeter- 
 mined whether to remain in the West Indies or 
 return to England, but finally settled himself in a 
 house of his own, in an agreeable situation, and 
 tf determined to remain some years longer in the 
 torrid zone.” This we are told in the last letter to 
 his friend Percy, dated Dec. 4, 1766,* and only 
 twelve days afterwards death suddenly surprised him, 
 Dec. 16 , l766/j~ in the forty -sixth year of his age. 
 
 Dr. Johnson said, that “ Grainger was an agree- 
 able man ; a man who would do any good that 
 
 * See p. 294. 
 
 f Dr. Anderson says 1767, and so says Mr. Chalmers; but his death is 
 thus recorded in the Gent. Mag. for Jan. 1767, “ Dec. 14 (not the 16th) 
 1766, Dr. Grainger, physician at Antigua.” In a letter of Mrs. Grainger to 
 Bp. Percy, dated Feb. 14, 1770, she expressly says, “ he died on the 16th of 
 December 1766, in the 39th year of his age.” His widow was, however, 
 perhaps wrong in his age, but there can be no doubt of the year of his death. 
 
MEMOIR OP JAMES GRAINGER, M.D. 231 
 
 was in his power.” His translation of £ Tibullus ’ he 
 thought was very well done ; but the 4 Sugar 
 Cane’ did not please him. 
 
 Dr. Percy gives this character of Grainger : 04 Pie 
 was not only a man of genius and learning, but 
 had many excellent virtues, being one of the most 
 generous, friendly, and benevolent men I ever 
 knew.” To the friendship of Grainger, Percy 
 acknowledges that he owed the beautiful ballad of 
 Bryan and Pereene, founded on a real fact that 
 happened in the Island of St. Christopher, printed 
 in Yol. I. of 44 Reliques of English Poetry,” 1764. 
 
 Grainger possessed considerable learning and 
 genius. His manners were simple and unobtrusive 
 in general society, and therefore sometimes over- 
 looked for more loud and common-place, though 
 less gifted and informed talkers. He looked ear- 
 nestly to the acquisition of fame as a poet, 
 more so than the merits of his pieces warranted, 
 and wishing to rise to literary eminence by 
 this alone, believed he had in some measure 
 secured it ; for, on first proceeding to the West 
 Indies, he expressed to Mr. Percy the intention of 
 leaving with him, in case of his own death, a cor- 
 rected copy of his works for publication, with a 
 request that not a line should be permitted to ap- 
 pear which might be thought to derogate from his 
 reputation.* His poems, however, have not had all 
 the success he expected. 
 
 Dr. Grainger is thus characterised in the West- 
 minster Magazine for 1773, p. 685 ' 44 Dr. Grain- 
 
 ger was a man of modesty and reserve ; and his 
 friends were indebted to the inspiring juice of the 
 grape to make him throw off the mauvais honte so 
 prejudicial to his own merit ; for, when warmed with 
 the enlivening juice of the true Falernian, in spite 
 
 * See p. 270. See also p. 283, where he says, “ I had rather not be 
 talked about hereafter, than talked of as an indifferent poet." 
 
232 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of a broad provincial dialect, he was extremely- 
 pleasing in his conversation. He was tall, and of a 
 lathy make ; plain featured, and deeply marked with 
 the small pox ; his eyes were quiet and keen ; his 
 temper generous and good-natured ; and he was 
 an able man in the knowledge of his profession.” 
 Many minute particulars of Dr. Grainger’s his- 
 tory may be gleaned from the correspondence of 
 Bp. Percy and Dr. Anderson, given in the pre- 
 ceding pages of this volume, and from the sub- 
 sequent letters of Dr. Grainger to Percy. An 
 edition of his “ Poetical Works” was suggested to 
 Dr. Anderson by Bp. Percy in 1800; and the 
 work was soon after completed at the press, but 
 waited for a Life of Grainger, which was to have 
 been written by Dr. Anderson from materials 
 supplied by Bp. Percy. The Bishop died in 1811, 
 and Dr. Anderson followed his friend in 1830; 
 thus, it was not till 1836 that the ff Works of Dr. 
 Grainger” appeared, with a short Memoir * of his 
 Life and Writings by Dr. Anderson, and an Index 
 of the Linnman Names of Plants, &c. by W. Wright, 
 M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 The first volume of his Works contains the 
 Poem of et The Sugar Cane and the second vo- 
 lume is filled with the following Poems. 
 
 1. Solitude, an Ode. 
 
 2. Fancy, an irregular Ode. 
 
 3. Hymn to Cheerfulness. 
 
 4. An Address to the Evening Star. 
 
 * Dr. Anderson had prepared a longer Life of Dr. Grainger, from mate- 
 rials supplied by Bp. Percy, which it is to be regretted he did not print, 
 fearing to make his two volumes of Grainger’s Works of an unequal size. 
 See a Letter of Dr. Anderson to Bp. Percy, p. 212. 
 
 f The Second Book had been originally addressed to Shenstone, and ap- 
 proved of by him, “ To his memory therefore be it sacred, as a small testi- 
 mony of the high opinion the author entertained of that gentleman’s genius 
 and manners ; and as the only return now, alas! in his power to make for 
 the friendship with which Mr. Shenstone had condescended to honour him. 
 
 This tine poem has been preserved in Johnson and Chalmers’ English 
 Poets, XIV. 478. 
 
MEMOIR OF JAMES GRAINGER, M.D. 233 
 
 5. To the Nymph of Pitkeatly Waters. 
 
 6. Triumph of Beauty. 
 
 7. To Nesera, from Lochaber, Sept. 1752. 
 
 8. Three Love Elegies, written from Italy; 
 addressed to Rosalind. 
 
 9. Elegy on having quarrelled with Melinda. 
 
 10. An Epistle to Lord L- — — , in London, 
 written at Fort-william in Lochaber, Feb. 1752. 
 
 1 1 . A Dialogue between Colin and Delia. 
 
 12. Sonnet on leaving Nesera. To a Friend. 
 In the manner of Milton. 
 
 13. Epigram, “ You wonder that I still deny,” &c. 
 
 14. Bryan and Pereene ; a West Indian Ballad. 
 
 15. Translation of two Epistles of Ovid: Leander 
 to Hero ; and Hero to Leander.* 
 
 16. Fragment of the Fate of Capua; a Tragedy. 
 
 In the List of Dr. Grainger’s Poems, given in 
 
 the European Magazine for September 1798 (and 
 copied into this volume, p. 76), the following Poems 
 are noticed, which do not appear in Grainger’s 
 “ Poetical Works, 1836.” 
 
 17. The Imperfect Retreat. 
 
 18. Three Epigrams. 
 
 19. Love, an Ode. 
 
 Of the first Poem, “ The Imperfect Retreat,” I 
 can find no copy. But I propose to add the other 
 Poems at the end of this Memoir. 
 
 * These two Epistles were written to oblige a young friend of his at that 
 time (circa 1758) who had conceived a design of publishing a translation of 
 all Ovid’s Epistles without metre ; and a very ingenious poet of this country 
 [Mr. Boyd] has begged what pieces were thus attempted, and intends to 
 complete them.” Bp. Percy to Dr. Anderson, Feb. 21, 1799. See p. 75. 
 
 Rev. H. Meen, in a letter to Bp. Percy, Nov. 25, 1799, observes : 
 
 “ Dr. Lettice (who resides at Hampstead, and is tutor in the family of Mr. 
 Heck ford), says lie has somewhere in his possession six Epistles of Ovid, 
 translated by Dr. Grainger. He told me that it was once his design , together 
 •"lin Dr ‘ Grain S ei ’< an< * the assistance, I think, of Mr. Hunter, to translate 
 a l tlvid’s Epistles, but that his attention was called away by other pursuits, 
 and the design was dropped.” — See p. 48. 
 
234 
 
 POEMS BY DR. GRAINGER. 
 
 (not printed in his “ works/’ 2 vols. 1836.) 
 
 Three Epigrams. 
 
 I. 
 
 S[mollett] libell’d you lately, and yet you don’t heed it ! 
 ’Tis needless. — Why ? — None but his booksellers read it. 
 
 II. 
 
 When Western possess’d but a thousand a year, 
 
 In a fine gilded chariot he loll’d every day ; 
 
 But now that he’s master of twice that sum clear, 
 
 The hunks tramps afoot to each fair, to sell hay. 
 
 Let not, mighty Jove ! my petition be vain. 
 
 Reduce him to loll in his chariot again. 
 
 III. 
 
 You wonder that I still deny, 
 
 Tho’ oft you beg my works to see ; 
 
 The reason’s not that I am shy, — 
 
 I fear you’d send your own to me.* 
 
 Poems supposed to be by Dr. Grainger. 
 
 Ode to Love. 
 
 Ak vnpis povaai(n , Kopaata, rr/v acfrpoSirav 
 
 Tt par, rj tov epov vp,p iv etyonXicropcu . — Anon. 
 
 I. 
 
 Parent of bliss, and source of every joy, 
 
 Hail, genial Love! 
 
 Whether the dallying hour you toy 
 With Psyche sweet entranced, or sportive rove 
 Arcadia’s fabled vales, or haunt Cytherea’s grove ; 
 
 * Grand Mag. 1758, p. 96. The third Epigram alone is in Dr. Grain- 
 ger’s Works. 
 
POEMS. 
 
 235 
 
 In folds coercive melt the amorous pair, 
 
 Or steel the heart of some relentless fair ; 
 Unmov’d, unconquer’d by the pleading sigh, 
 
 And big tear starting in the lover’s eye : 
 
 Oh, smile auspicuous on each hallow’d strain 
 To thy dread power the flighty Muse shall raise ; 
 And, if justly flow the lays, 
 
 Admit me of thy train. 
 
 II. 
 
 So wide, so universal is thy sway. 
 
 In torrid climes, where the tann’d iEthiop glows. 
 On mountain mantled in perpetual snows, 
 
 All nature courts thy reign, thy impulse all obey. 
 In fields or covert grove, 
 
 With amorous joys elate, 
 
 The linnet, warbling to his feather’d mate, 
 Swells the mellow notes with love. 
 
 The pard, forgetful of his native ire, 
 
 With looks complacent eyes his spotted dame ; 
 No sparks of savage rage his breast inflame. 
 
 His bosom pants not but with amorous fire. 
 
 In vain the frigid nymph Philosophy, 
 
 With supercilious brow and proud disdain. 
 Boasts the aspiring soul to free 
 From the soft bondage of thy amorous reign ; 
 To root the darling passion from the mind, 
 
 That bounteous Providence assign’d 
 A charm against the poison of despair, 
 
 The balm of life, and antidote to care. 
 
 Thy soft, thy pleasing chains to wear, 
 
 By all the powers of Love I swear. 
 
 With transports more refin’d engages me 
 Than all the patriot boasts of golden liberty. 
 
 III. 
 
 Gentle power of fond desire ! 
 
 Oft as the tumultuous breast 
 
 Takes the pure influence of thy genial zest, 
 
 The jarring passions straight conspire ; 
 
 And with harmonious symphony 
 Unite, and centre all in thee. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Stern Ambition drops his wand, 
 
 Avarice opes his niggard hand ; 
 
 Rage throws his blood-stain’d falchion by, 
 
 And Anger melts with Pity’s eye ; 
 
 Revenge is lull’d. Care’s tortures cease, 
 
 And all within is calm and peace. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Yes, I will now take usury of Time 
 For all the tedious nights 
 Spent o’er the classic page 
 Of those who dream’d upon Parnassus hill ; 
 
 Or them, who, snatching from oblivion, draw 
 Deeds, such as Cannae and Pharsalia saw ; 
 
 Whose labours bid the deathless laurels grow, 
 That yet unfaded wreathe the hero’s brow, 
 
 And in the bold description flourish still ; 
 
 Or that fam’d sage, 
 
 Upon whose lips, as ancient fable tells, 
 
 Erst while he slept, their balmy store, 
 
 The honey-sweets of ev’ry rifled flower, 
 
 The bees officious lodg’d, — there built their waxen 
 cells. 
 
 Dull hours, adieu ! Youth’s vernal prime. 
 
 Ere nipp’d by Age’s wintry blights, 
 
 To pleasantry and mirth, and amorous joys invites. 
 
 V. 
 
 But chief to you I bid a long farewell, 
 
 Ye seats where Discipline and Dulness dwell. 
 Where some good Founder, — rest his honour’d 
 shade ! 
 
 With pious hand and rare munificence 
 The rich foundation laid, 
 
 The sacred shrine of round-faced Indolence ; 
 
 The goddess there, on downy couch supine, 
 
 Lolls thoughtless ; o’er her sluggard head 
 The tingling bells their lulling influence shed ; 
 Her pillow, schoolmen and Dutch folios. 
 
 With opiate charms in ev’ry line, 
 
 Drown wakeful Reason, and provoke Repose. 
 
POEMS. 
 
 23 7 
 
 Goddess, adieu ! and yonder sauntering train. 
 
 In flowing stole of sable hue. 
 
 That blacken o’er the plain, 
 
 Her venerable sons, ye finish’d drones, adieu ! 
 With souls so sober, and so dead to fame, 
 
 Who dar’d to Glory’s glitt’ring car aspire ? 
 
 E’er glow’d your breasts with Friendship’s generous 
 flame ? 
 
 Did e’er his transports to your heart 
 The wild enthusiast Love impart, 
 
 And your rapt soul inspire ? 
 
 Or ever, the illumin’d mind 
 With polish’d taste refin’d, 
 
 Felt ye the force of Fancy’s rapid fire ? 
 
 Adieu, ye joyless walks, ye gloomy shades, 
 Where pensive Dulness shapes his matin way ; 
 
 Once the lov’d haunts of the Aonian maids. 
 
 Whilst Echo, as she rov’d along, 
 
 Swell’ d with the force of Milton’s nervous 
 song, 
 
 Or softly flow’d in Mason’s liquid lay. 
 Morpheus, adieu ! and ye presiding pow’rs, 
 
 That slowly drag the leaden-footed hours ; 
 
 Far other blessings the coy Muse has won, 
 For other scenes from Momus’ sluggish haunts, 
 For other joys her wakeful bosom pants. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Whilst by some babbling fountain’s side, 
 
 That thro’ the lone sequester'd grove 
 Winds its mazy course, I rove, 
 
 Love and the Muse shall be my guide ; 
 
 There, the harmonious daughter she 
 Of Jove and Memory, 
 
 With many a soft example fraught, 
 
 From Time’s old records brought. 
 
 Of Love and Glory’s blended influence tells ; 
 
 This plastic sparks, where’er it dwells, 
 
 In ev’ry delegated breast inspires 
 A thirst for honest praise, and fans the hero’s fires. 
 So whilst the illustrious Trojan dame 
 In arms her lord, her Hector, sheath’d, 
 
 A tender tale of love she breath’d ; 
 
 For Love and Valour aid each mutual flame. 
 
238 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 The warrior soul of young Themistocles 
 To the fair Teian gave the idle hour, 
 
 Oft sooth’d the toils of war with am’rous ease, 
 
 And held short dalliance in the Attic bower. 
 
 The bright effulgence of her charms 
 
 To deeds of glory urg’d her warlike lord, 
 
 Beat in his active bosom love’s alarms. 
 
 And added force to his descending sword : 
 Inspir’d the feats that set pale Europe free, 
 
 That Greece and Glory saw, and Xerxes blush’d 
 to see. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Britons, if Freedom in your happy land 
 E’er deign’d to fix her delegated stand. 
 
 Let no base slave of power her reign molest, 
 
 Or chase to happier realms th’ illustrious guest. 
 Oh ! be each mind with native virtue fir’d, 
 
 Be ev’ry breast with patriot worth inspir’d ; 
 
 Nor meanly crouch for aid to foreign powers, 
 
 To shield from Gallic arms the British towers. 
 Not so the warlike Harry’s conquering lance 
 Planted his banners in the heart of France ; 
 
 Not so the British lion learn’d to roar 
 With wasteful rage along the Norman shore ; 
 
 No foreign power was then implor’d, 
 
 When royal Edward led the bold campaign. 
 And the Boy flesh’d his maiden sword 
 O’er Cressy’s memorable plain. 
 
 Dare to be Men ; and let the glowing charms 
 Of British beauties aid the Briton’s arms, 
 
 And when, by Love and Liberty led on. 
 
 Your trusty swords, o’er which fair Victory 
 Sits smiling, shall your injur’d country free, 
 Wrest the drawn dagger from Oppression’s hand, 
 And give blythe Peace her olive wand. 
 
 Oh, then cry hail on Albion’s happy soil ! 
 
 Let festive Mirth the genial hours employ, 
 In days of pleasant toil, 
 
 And nights of virtuous joy. 
 
 Then whilst the coy-one’s grace to win. 
 
 In some sequester’d arbour’s shade 
 Her artist-hand in idle hour had made. 
 
 And deck’d with vernal flowers, and twisted 
 eglantine, 
 
POEMS. 
 
 You count the perilous danger of the war, 
 Your wounds receiv’d, your trophies won ; 
 How will her tender bosom pant with fear ! 
 
 O’er the sad tale she drops a tear. 
 
 And breathes a sigh for ev’ry scar. 
 
 Till sinking on her hero’s breast, 
 
 With pity and with love oppress’d ; 
 
 Her melting eyes, her rising blushes yield, 
 
 To crown with virtuous love the labours of the 
 field.* 
 
 Ode to Contentment. 
 
 Nescio qua natalc solum dulcedine Musas 
 Ducit, et immemores non sinit esse sui. 
 
 I. 
 
 Divine Contentment ! cottage-born, 
 
 Do thou inspire my lay, 
 
 Let no vain wish, no thought forlorn. 
 Disturb the calm, the peaceful day. 
 Forget’st thou when we wander’d o’er 
 The sylvan Bela’s sedgy shore. 
 
 Or rang’d the woodland wilds along ? 
 How oft on Herclay’s mountains high, 
 We’ve met the morning’s purple eye, 
 Delay’d by many a song. 
 
 II. 
 
 From these delights by Fortune led, 
 
 To busy life and crowds confin’d ; 
 
 At once each golden pleasure fled, 
 
 Divine Content was left behind. 
 
 Yet could these eyes once more survey 
 The comely fair in mantle grey, 
 
 Her polish’d brow, her peaceful eye, 
 Where’er the goddess deigns to dwell. 
 
 In village cot or hermit’s cell. 
 
 With her I’d live and die. 
 
 * Grand Mag. for May 1753, pp, 248—250. 
 
240 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OP LITERATURE. 
 
 III. 
 
 Ah, where is now each image gay 
 The hand of fairy Fancy wove. 
 
 Of painted springs, Elysian day. 
 
 The sparkling rill, the blooming grove ? 
 Cease, cruel Memory ! think no more 
 Of scenes which lost I now deplore, 
 Abandon’d wild to care and woe ; 
 
 With loss of Eden’s* peaceful side, 
 Eternal grief and pain betide 
 The vain desire to know.f 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 Between Dr. James Grainger and the Rev. Thomas 
 
 Percy. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, _ Walbrook, Oct. 22 , 1756 . 
 
 cc Your agreeable Letter I received some time ago, and 
 should sooner have acknowledged the favour, had I not 
 determined to have sent you some intelligence of the best 
 Portuguese authors, along with my thanks. But although 
 I have made some inquiry into that affair, and intend not 
 to desist till I have picked up something, at present I 
 can only inform you that I have been baffled in my search. 
 Most of the Londoners who understand the Portuguese 
 were more intent, when in that country, upon six-thirty’s 
 than upon Camoens, and know more of the privileges 
 granted to the British factory at Lisbon than of their laws 
 of the drama or epic. However, I do not despair ; there is 
 a friend of mine, a British subject, born at Oporto, who, I 
 expect, will be able to afford me some eclair cissement. He 
 has some talents, and I think has read something beside 
 the Book of Rates. 
 
 “ In a literary intercourse, such as I hope ours shall be, 
 all ceremony must be discarded; there can be no pleasure 
 where correspondents stand upon punctilios. I shall 
 write you as often as I find myself in a humour; and if 
 you intrust me with any of your poetical or other produc- 
 
 * “ A river near where the author was born.” The writer of this Ode 
 appears to have been a Cumberland man. It is somewhat in the manner of 
 Akenside. 
 
 f Grand Mag. June, 1758, p. 302. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 241 
 
 lions, you may depend upon my sincerity, however my 
 judgment may be called in question. In return for this I 
 expect a cessation of compliments, and as frequent letters 
 as you think proper. We Cits are awkward at compli- 
 menting ; and I am not willing to expose my incapacity 
 that way, even to my friend. So no more of Indian shells, 
 &c. This scrawl will convince you I am no ways entitled 
 to what you say. 
 
 “ The playhouses opened some time ago. I think they 
 tell me that Miss Bellamy is dead, and that Mrs. Cibber is 
 recovered. Miss Pritchard has appeared with applause in 
 the character of Juliet. She comes upon the stage much 
 against her mother’s inclination. I have not seen her yet, 
 so I cannot prognosticate her fate. She has had every 
 help, but, I am told, she wants sensibility. A week or two 
 ago I laughed heartily at The Miser. Shuter did his part 
 to admiration ; I forgot the actor in the character.* 
 
 “ Although I seldom saunter into the Green Room, I 
 now and then hear a little of the theatrical secrets ; and, if 
 my intelligence is true, the town will be fed with no better 
 fare this winter than it was the last. They speak of some 
 tragedies; but I am tired of the serious, and long for the 
 comic. Most of our bards disdain the sock and affect the 
 buskin. What the deuce have we to do with kings and 
 emperors ? What’s Hecuba to me, or I to Hecuba? Let 
 me have a lively representation of life. A good comedy 
 laughs us out of our follies, and is really improving. A 
 poetical genius, and a knowledge of the passions, are all 
 that are required in a tragic writer ; but for one to succeed 
 in comedy, how many qualities are necessary ? An inti- 
 mate acquaintance of life and manners ; a perspicuity to 
 develope the movements of the mind; a promptitude of dis- 
 covering the ridiculous parts of action ; a gaiety of disposi- 
 tion, joined to a pointed irony and delicate wit. This is 
 what I understand by the vis comica, which the antients 
 praised so much in Menander, and of which we have in- 
 stances in some of our own comedies. 
 
 “ I have just now before me a tragedy called Minorca, t 
 
 ■ See a curious account of Shuter tlie actor in W. Jay’s Life of Rev. 
 Cornelius Winter, 1809, pp. 25-27. lie attended the ministry of Mr. 
 
 ' ^.'^tjeld at Tottenliam-court chapel, and the preacher once addressed him 
 Vn 2 V m U . a ^y f rom the pulpit, “ And thou, poor Rambler, & c.” 
 f r this contemptible tragedy was by Henry Dill, 1756, just after the place 
 iom which it is named was taken. Dill was a bookseller. See an account 
 oi inm in “ Literary Anecdotes,” III. 641. 
 
 VOL. VII. R 
 
242 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 but I would rather have stood my chance of a fire of a 
 bomb in Fort St. Philip’s than be obliged to read its whole 
 three acts. It is even worse than John Slade’s.* I hope I 
 do not know the author. 
 
 “ Have you seen Bally’s f prize poem ? They tell me 
 it is wretched stuff, as are all his compositions. Compli- 
 ments to Dr. Gilbert ; and am, dear sir, your friend and 
 servant, “ J. Grainger. 
 
 “P.S. I shall write the Doctor soon.” 
 
 “ * * * Let me know your determination soon ; and in 
 the interim send me the first Elegy [of Tibullus]. The 
 difference of stanza shall be apologised for in the Adver- 
 tisement.]; Think of some notes.” 
 
 Rev. T. Percy to Dr. Grainger. 
 
 “ Easton Mauduit, March 24, 1757. 
 
 “ My dear Grainger, 
 
 “ I hope before this you have received a packet from 
 me, containing your Advertisement, with a few slight mar- 
 ginal remarks : I inclosed it in a cover to my Lord Sussex, 
 having had occasion to write to him ; and I hope one of his 
 servants, or the Penny Post, have before this conveyed it 
 to you. I am ashamed to make you pay postage for trifles 
 of so little value as my billets ; and, on the other hand, 
 
 * John Slade was a lieutenant of marines, and lost his life in the Ramil- 
 lies, when that ship was cast away, Feb. 15, 1760. He wrote “ Love and 
 Duty,” a tragedy, 1756. It was acted for one night only, at the Haymarket 
 Theatre, by himself and friends. 
 
 t The Rev. George Bally, M.A. Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. 
 He gained the prize for the Seatonian poem in the years 1755 and 1756, by 
 the following poems, “ The Justice of the Supreme Being,” and “ The Wis- 
 dom of the Supreme Being.” These poems are, however, heartily abused 
 by the Monthly Reviewers, xii. 159, xv. 678. In 1757 he wrote again for the 
 prize, but his poem was rejected in favour of one by Dr., Glynn. He, how- 
 ever, published his poem. The subject was “The Day of Judgment.” 
 (Monthly Review, xvii. 395, 404.) But this rejection did not deter him from 
 writing for the next year’s prize, when he was again successful ; the subject, 
 “The Providence of the Supreme Being,” criticised in Monthly Review, 
 xix. 588. In 1759 he was presented to the rectory of Monxton, Hampshire. 
 
 J Dr. Grainger thus notices Mr. Percy’s assistance in his advertisement 
 to Tibullus : ‘ ‘ The translator must return his sincere thanks to a worthy 
 friend for his elegant translation of the first Elegy, and of Ovid’s poem on 
 the death of Tibullus. By what accident his own translation of the first 
 Elegy was lost is of no consequence ; especially, too, as the reader, from a 
 perusal of Mr. P[ercy]’s specimen, will probably be inclined to wish that 
 some of those now published had undergone a like fate, provided the same 
 gentleman had likewise translated them.” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 243 
 
 my stock of franks is almost gone. However, I will 
 always reserve one or two to save you the payment of 
 double letters, though sometimes I may take the liberty 
 to charge a single one to you. 
 
 “ Last night I sat down to consider the two or three 
 passages which, in your last, you particularly recom- 
 mended to me. I have patched up two of them after some 
 fashion, which I shall here send you. Excuse the mean- 
 ness of them ; they will, perhaps, suggest something better 
 for you to substitute in their room. The first passage is 
 in Eleg. 5, lib. 1, s. 26, ‘ Garrulus in Dominse ludere verna 
 sinu,’ &c. What if the whole passage in your version 
 from ver. 25 to ver. 39, were thus altered and contracted : 
 
 “ I fondly thought, sweet maid, ah ! thought in vain, 
 
 Blythesome with you to live a village swain, 
 
 When nodding [waving] Ceres asks the reaper's hand, 
 
 Delia, I said, will guard the reaper-band, 
 
 *' O’er the ripe heaps at vintage will preside, 
 
 And watch the must that flows a limpid tide ; 
 
 Will count my flocks, to clasp will frequent deign 
 Some little prattler of my menial train ; 
 
 With pious care she ’ll load each rural shrine, 
 
 For yellow crops a golden sheaf assign, 
 
 Cates [feasts] for my fold, rich clusters for my vine. f 
 
 If you look into the original you will see the reasons for 
 the liberty I have taken in altering the above, though 
 some of them are merely to avoid repetition of the same 
 epithets or rhymes. 
 
 “The other passage is in Elegy 8, lib. 1, line 1, f Hunc 
 cecinere diem Parcse/ &c. Accept this humble attempt. 
 
 (“ This day,’’ the Sister-Fates prophetic sung, 
 
 And singing drew the sacred twine along,) 
 
 “ He comes (nor shall the gods the doom [that hour] recall,) 
 
 Whose conqu’ring arm shall drive the vanquish’d Gaul.” % 
 
 Or thus : 
 
 He comes (nor shall the gods this thread divide,) 
 
 Whose arm shall crush [quell] fierce Aquitania’s pride. 
 
 * Or thus : 
 
 At vintage will the loaded baskets guide, 
 
 And watch the must that’s press’d a foaming tide. 
 
 t This version was for the most part adopted by Dr. Grainger, 
 
 <■ This passage was thus finally printed by Dr. Grainger. 
 
 “ This day,” (the Fates foretold in sacred song, 
 
 And singing drew the vital twine along,) 
 
 “ He comes, nor shall the gods the doom recall, 
 
 He comes, whose sword shall quell the rebel Gaul.” 
 
 R 2 
 
244 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 I have taken the liberty to vary the second distich a 
 good deal from yours, because I apprehend hunc fore is 
 more literally rendered by he comes, &c. than as it is in 
 yours. Your third distich will either come in after mine, 
 or may be omitted ; and the 4th may be immediately 
 connected to the above, which will be most literal. I 
 chose the word Aquitania, as I think modern names should, 
 if possible, be avoided. 
 
 “As to the third passage, Elegy 9, lib. 1, line 35-38, 
 ( At Venus/ & c. I can either make no sense of it, or else it 
 will be such a sense as I choose to have nothing to do with. 
 So that I would advise you wholly to omit the passage ; 
 the connexion will be better without them, viz. thus : 
 
 And scorn the treasure monarchs can bestow : 
 
 But she who gives to age her charms for pay, &c.* 
 
 I hope you will weed out all such descriptions as this we 
 have passed over; it will be acceptable to all whose appro- 
 bation is desirable. I am ever yours, 
 
 « T. Percy.” 
 
 “ For Dr. Grainger, at Mrs. darkens, in Bond-street, 
 Wall-brook, London.” 
 
 Dr. Grainger to the Rev. T. Percy. 
 
 “ My dear Friend, [1757.] 
 
 “ I have considered your case with all the attention I 
 master of, and can assure you that you have no occasion 
 to apprehend either a radical decay or a blindness. It is 
 indeed not surprising that you should suspect either ; I 
 know how precious to a man of letters are his eyes, and, 
 of course, how very discouraging are the most distant ap- 
 prehensions of losing them. I myself was once afraid of 
 going blind, and had the floating atoms as you have, but, 
 by the course which I shall recommend to you, am now, 
 thank God, greatly recovered. 
 
 “ In the first place, you must strain your eyes as little 
 as possible by study, and never by candlelight. 
 
 tf 2. When you read, exclude all glare, shading your eyes 
 with green silk ; which should also be worn when you go 
 abroad ; at least, you ought to flap your hat. 
 
 “ 3. Keep your head always close shaved, bathing it 
 every morning and evening in cold water. 
 
 * This suggestion was adopted by Dr, Grainger. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 245 
 
 J 4. Take a pinch of the following snuff every night, 
 half an hour before you go to bed : 
 
 14. Fol. siceat. asar. 
 
 * Majoran. 
 
 Lavendul. 
 
 — - Tabac. a’ 3 j M. conterant, omnia 
 
 simul in pulverem. 
 
 The more it makes you sneeze, and opens your head, the 
 better. 
 
 “ 5. Bathe your eyes three or four times a day with the 
 following collyrium : 
 
 R. Aq. Regin. Hung. 
 
 Sp. Yin. Camphorat. a 5 $i 
 — Lavend. comp. 5 iss M. 
 
 “ 6. Add a scruple of camphire to an ounce of the 
 white ointment of the London dispensatory, and put the 
 bulk of a pea in the inner corner of each eye when you go 
 to bed, which ought always to be before eleven o’clock. 
 
 “ 7 . Once a week use any gentle purgative. 
 
 “ 8. High-seasoned foods, and those of a gross nature, 
 are improper. 
 
 “ 9. Drink valerian instead of tea, infusing some rose- 
 mary, e. g. one half with the valerian. Avoid malt liquors. 
 Wine alone, or wine and water, are your best drink. 
 
 “ 10. I think a seton should be cut in your neck; but, 
 above all, I would advise you to hasten, to town, where 
 you shall want for no help that physic and surgery can 
 administer. 
 
 ct And now, my dear Percy, you may depend upon it, 
 that not one line shall be printed that can give modesty 
 the smallest apprehension. I shall adopt your version of 
 the 5th and 8th Elegy,* and leave out some of the suspi- 
 cious verses in the 9th. I have read over your remarks, 
 and think most of them very just. I cannot, however, 
 help differing from you with regard to the 108th and 
 109th lines of the 5th Elegy of Book IT. I have not 
 lived so much in the country as you, but methinks I have 
 have often heard a father there talk of his son’s resem- 
 blance to himself, and hope that he would one day either 
 he a captain or the parson of the parish. Besides, you 
 will please to consider that the Roman husbandmen 
 were different even from our yeomanry. It is strange, 
 
 * Of Tibullus, 
 
246 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 but it is true, those Elegies which you justly find most 
 fault with, were those that gave the most trouble in trans- 
 lating. But you know how difficult it is to clothe a common 
 thought in poetical English. I thank you for your emen- 
 dation of the Advertisement. It was sent me in due time. 
 
 “ In expectation of a proof-sheet, which had been posi- 
 tively promised me this night, I have kept my letter open 
 till twelve at night. But no proof. Should we not damn 
 these lying scoundrel printers ?” 
 
 “ To the Rev. Mr. Percy, Easton Mauduit.” 
 
 Dr. Grainger to Rev. T. Percy. 
 
 [“ March 30, 1757.] 
 
 st What you mention with regard to the ointment really 
 astonishes me; and the more so, as a gentleman who 
 laboured under the same eye disorder which you have, and 
 for whom I had ordered it some time ago, came the other 
 day to Bond^s Court to thank me for the service which it 
 had done him. But there is no opposing experience, and 
 therefore I the more readily concur with you in not giving 
 it a second opportunity of doing you mischief. Perhaps, 
 though, it might be expedient to mix one part of my oint- 
 ment with three parts of the camphorated white, to be 
 used at bed-time. 
 
 “ That the electuary for the first two or three times 
 should scour you is not amazing. Diminish the dose, and 
 take it but twice a week. Some little discharge by the 
 intestines is absolutely necessary to preserve you from the 
 condition of your poetical predecessors, Homer and 
 Milton. 
 
 “ Will my friend excuse me ? Do you know I am half 
 pleased to think that Northamptonshire eether does not 
 suit you so well as London air. Is not that an indication 
 of your being visibly most cut out for our metropolis ? 
 Would to God you had a fat city living, then you should 
 drink water and I would booze wine. 
 
 “ Tibullus goes on most miserably slow. I shall, how- 
 ever, soon send you down a third sheet. Pray set about 
 the first Elegy of the third Book, and think of the Panegyric. 
 We are to appear in two volumes. 
 
 ce Mr. Johnson asked for you very kindly Sunday last, 
 as did Miss Williams. Messrs. Turner and Bourryau 
 are still in Hampshire. Douglass and Ingham are daily 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 247 
 
 going about seeking whom they may cure, no doubt., as is, 
 dear Percy, 
 
 “ Your friend, 
 
 “ J . Grainger. 
 
 “ P. S. The money has not been called for. Pray send 
 me a new note of the people to whom I am to pay it, the 
 old being lost.” 
 
 t£ To the Rev. Mr. Percy, at Easton Mauduit.” 
 
 “ Dear Percy, Feb. 1758. 
 
 “ I was greatly concerned to find by the papers that 
 Lord Sussex* * * § was dead ; and I sincerely sympathise with 
 you on the vast loss you must have sustained by this 
 unhappy event. He was your friend, and had interest ; 
 and your personal merit authorised him to say everything 
 in your favour. But I hope invenies alium. My friend 
 must be a dignified churchman. In the meantime I 
 would advise you to attempt an alleviation of your sorrows 
 by celebrating the virtues of the deceased in an Elegy. 
 You who have done such justice to Tibullus, must suc- 
 ceed when the subject is your friend and patron. 
 
 “ I thank you for the elegant version you have sent 
 me. I have read it to some folks of real taste, who all 
 approve of it. Mr. Strahan,f a particular friend of mine, 
 and some others, are at present upon an extensive plan of 
 a Monthly Chronicle and as they have often heard me 
 praise your poetical talents, they desire me to engage you 
 to furnish them with poetry. They are determined to 
 publish nothing in that way but what is good, and there- 
 fore they are very urgent with me for your Scotch song.§ 
 Shall I let them have it ?|| It can do you no harm, or 
 rather it will do you honour when the author is named. 
 I shall now and then send them a little supply; and if 
 you will also at your leisure let them have some fresh, 
 
 * George Augustus Yelverton succeeded his father as second Earl of 
 Sussex in 1731, died s. p. Jan. 8, 1758, and was buried at Easton Mauduit. 
 (Brydges’s Peerage, vi. 631.') Mr. Percy appears to have written an Ode in 
 honour of him. (See p. 267.) He was succeeded by his brother and heir 
 Henry, who died April 22, 1799, s. p. when the earldom of Sussex became 
 extinct. 
 
 t Wm. Strahan, esq. afterwards king’s printer and M.P. He died July 
 9, 1785, aged 70. See Lit. Anecdotes, III. 390—395. 
 
 + The Grand Magazine. 
 
 § “ O Nannie, wilt thou gang with me ?” 
 
 'I It did not appear in the Grand Magazine. 
 
248 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 wholesome, country fare, they will not be niggardly to us 
 in their acknowledgments. 
 
 i( Mr. Crier cannot be induced to deal yet for awhile 
 with your brother* * * § upon any other terms than those 
 already specified. The men of money are such cool, 
 tardy, circumspect moles, that I have no patience with 
 them. Your brother should come to town as soon as his 
 affairs will permit him. More may be done by half an 
 hour’s conversation than fifty letters can ever effectuate. 
 
 (t Let me have Ovidf by the first opportunity. Mr. 
 Binnelf writes me that it is both exact and elegant. It 
 will be a great ornament to the Life.§ I can say of the 
 press what some body says in Terence of an old woman, 
 I think, Movet sed non promovet. I shall, however, soon 
 send you the first sheet of the second volume. Mr. B [inn el] 
 makes a conspicuous figure in it; for which, as well as 
 for many other favours, I am, dear Percy, your friend, 
 
 <£ Jas. Grainger. 
 
 ie P.S. Direct to me in Walbrook, simply. Yida, &c. 
 came to hand, for which I thank you.” 
 
 “ My dear Percy, Feb. 1758. 
 
 u Inclosed you have your paper properly signed, of 
 which I give you joy. It only cost 14s. (id. I am sorry 
 it was not sent you last week, but I had not time to write 
 you. Even now at this instant I steal half an hour from 
 Yan Swieten, as my last examinations before the College 
 come on the next Friday, and, though I have hitherto 
 
 * Mr. Anthony Percy, 
 
 f Ovid’s Elegy on Tibullus. 
 
 + The Rev. Mr. Binnel, Rector of Kemberton, in Shropshire. He died 
 April 26, 1763. He was an early friend of Percy’s, as Kemberton is only ten 
 miles from Bridgnorth, where Percy was born. Mr. Binnel, as appears by 
 this correspondence, was much consulted by Mr. Percy and Dr. Grainger on 
 their poems. In the Advertisement to his Translation of Tibullus, Grainger 
 says, “ He is particularly obliged to his friend [Percy] for having procured 
 him the valuable assistance of another learned gentleman [Mr. Binnel] ; w ho 
 not only took the trouble to compare his version of the three last books with 
 the original ; but also favoured him with some notes, which constitute the 
 chief ornament of the second volume. Thus, like the Britons of old, the 
 translator has called in auxiliaries to conquer him.’’ These notes were 
 abused by Dr. Smollett in the Critical Review. See Dr. Grainger’s letter to 
 Percy, Jan. 10, 175.9, p. 268. It appears that all Mr. Binnel's notes in the 
 original edition are marked. The notes were not reprinted in Chalmers’s 
 edition of the Poets, 
 
 § Of Tibullus. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 249 
 
 acquitted myself to the satisfaction of the President and 
 Censors, and have no great reason to be afraid of my sub- 
 sequent trials, I am determined to put it out of their 
 power to puzzle me. I gave G.* that part of your letter 
 to me, which related to Shin-ping-Sin. He did not seem 
 to approve of the manner in which you propose to treat 
 that fair foreigner. He wants a pleasing romance, and 
 you talk of a faithful copy ; but he is to write to you, and 
 till then I would not have you begin your rifacciamento. 
 Have you yet thanked Mr. Binnel for the many excellent 
 notes he has sent me ? If you have not, I beg you will, 
 as I myself shall do as soon as I can sit down to scribble 
 with a cheerful disposition. What scoundrels these print- 
 ers are ! I have had but four sheets since my return 
 from the North, and these too, as I observe by your last, 
 not over correct. Were I impatient to be an author, 
 their slowness would heartily teaze me ; but while I am 
 not in the hands of the public I consider myself as so 
 long reprieved from the cruel fangs of those savage beasts 
 the Critical Reviewers. The tragedy of Agist is much 
 followed, and much decried. I have not seen it per- 
 formed, and from the first act of it, which I have read at 
 Strahan’s, have no curiosity. In the mean time, it is 
 what we in the city call good mercantable ware, for it will 
 bring Home in six or seven hundred pounds. How 
 easily some folks make their money ! There is more real 
 merit in your translation of the first Elegy of Tibullus, 
 than in all I have read of that performance. If you 
 intend to favour the public with any poetry for March, it 
 cannot be sent too soon, as you will in that case have an 
 opportunity of seeing it in proof, which I assure is of 
 real use to an editor. I met Mr. Apperley yesterday in 
 the street. We are soon to regale on beefsteaks at Horse- 
 man’s, when we certainly shall not forget our Reverend 
 friend. Remember Ovid’s Elegy.”! 
 
 f “ Dear Percy, _ [Feb. 1 758.] 
 
 I am at last able to sit down, with the pen in my hand, 
 to thank you for your last obliging Letter, and to acquaint 
 
 ^ Ir - Griffiths, afterwards Dr. Griffiths, the bookseller, and proprietor of 
 the Monthly Review. 
 
 j- John Home, the author of “Douglas,” and other tragedies. He 
 died Sept. 4, isos. Seep. 251. 
 
 + Gn Tibullus ; printed in Grainger’s Life of Tibullus. 
 
250 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 you that I have talked with Griffiths about the Chinese 
 novel. He tells me there is no occasion for any formal 
 bargain ; you are to translate it into good reading English, 
 and he is to pay you fifty guineas for your pains. You are 
 to add notes to explain the more uncommon customs, and 
 are to introduce the whole with a prefatory discourse upon 
 the manner of writing in China. For this supernumerary 
 labour he promises to let you have some copies for yourself 
 and friends. I should really have been much pleased if Grif- 
 fiths would have remitted you, at present, part of the price, 
 but I find, from the best authority, that this is seldom if ever 
 done. I therefore told Griffiths it would be obliging me to 
 let you have part in hand, to animate you in your drudgery. 
 But he replied, “ Should any accident happen to your 
 friend, before the version is finished, my money would be 
 lost, as none but Mr. Percy can perform our agreement/’ 
 In short, after much pro-ing and con-ing, he at last told 
 me, that as soon as the whole MS. was sent him he 
 would remit you the fifty guineas, whereas the custom 
 was never to pay the whole till the last sheet was sent to 
 the press •, and, indeed, I myself know this to be true ; 
 you must therefore set about Shui-ping-Sin as soon as 
 possible, and when you have finished the first two books 
 dispatch them up. He shall then pay you the half, because 
 the work may be given to the printer. It yields me a real 
 satisfaction to find that you are so well with your new 
 Lord.* In truth, if he is a man of sense and politeness, 
 I never doubted of your acquiring his esteem. It is very 
 obliging in you to impress his Lordship with favourable 
 notions of your friend. The countenance of a man of such 
 fashion would be, no doubt, of consequence to me, in my 
 medical advances. Is his Lordship fond of poetry ? I 
 think your late patron was not. Inclosed you have the 
 third sheet of the second volume. In this proof you will 
 find the Latin and English correspond. This was not 
 attended to in the first volume, and is a real blemish. But 
 if ever our work comes to another edition, it shall be 
 amended. I lately received a most friendly letter from 
 good Mr. Binnel. He makes a distinguished figure in 
 this part of the work. I thank you again and again for my 
 introduction to his friendship. He tells me that your 
 translation of Ovid is so correct you have left him nothing 
 
 * Henry Lord Grey de Ruthyn, third Earl of Sussex. He died April 22, 
 1799, at. 70. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 251 
 
 to do. He could not say so of my poetry. There he was 
 fully employed. The Latin Poem* you sent me— 
 
 * Is all with Venus’ cestus bound.’ 
 
 Pray who is the author of it ? Am I to congratulate you 
 upon this happy effort of elegant genius. It goes into the 
 Grand Magazine this month ; where you will again find 
 your friend making fine speeches to a Water Nymph, and 
 hymning the praises of Cheerfulness. The proprietors are 
 determined to admit nothing in the poetical way but what 
 is new, and seems to be beautiful. Do let me have some- 
 thing of yours for the next month. You and I, methinks, 
 may supply them with poetry for the half year at least/’ 
 
 “ Dear PERCY, Walbrook, April 4, 1758. 
 
 “ 1 congratulate you on your return to Easton, and hope 
 soon to be favoured with the fruits of your retirement. 
 It is the general opinion that Dodsley’s two last volumes 
 are, upon the whole, greatly inferior to their predecessors. 
 Doddy himself thinks otherwise ; but, as Gil Bias says, 
 “ Cela sent de Papoplexie.” His play, however, I am 
 told, is a good one, and though refused by that great 
 Conner of theatrical merit, Mr. G.f greatly preferable to 
 Agis.f In truth it had need, for never did I read a tragedy 
 with much less merit, than this last of Mr. Home’s. His 
 very friends are half ashamed of it, all but Sir Harry 
 Erskine and Lord Bute; the former of whom wrote the pro- 
 logue, and a pamphlet in praise of it, as the latter dragged 
 the Prince of Wales twice to its representation. The 
 author, in the mean while, if he has not much praise, has 
 got much pudding, and that, you know, to a North 
 Country Bard, is no small consolation. You ought, how- 
 ever, to be informed, that Agis f was sent to Garrick so 
 recommended as that he could not refuse it; for I am right 
 well assured his opinion of that play and mine is the same. 
 He refused it three or four years ago, but then Lord Bute 
 was not omnipotent at the Princess Court. Have you 
 seen the March Magazine r The two Sonnets § are there 
 inserted, as the f Hint to the Poets ’|| will be in the next 
 fnonth. The Elegy and Dialogue^ are mine. The last poem 
 ls miserably printed. This I have the more reason to be 
 
 * ® ee P* 227. f Garrick. $ See p. 249. 
 
 § See p. 227. |j See p. 228. If See p. 22 7 , 
 
252 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 angry with, as I corrected the proof sheet myself. How 
 do you like these poems ? Send me 4 Ovid ’* * * § immediately, 
 and you may depend upon the punctual payment of your 
 bill. I was lately admitted a member of the College ;f and 
 am ever your friend, J . G .” 
 
 “ Dear Percy, _ Waiibrook, April u, 1758. 
 
 c( I received your bill, and the money shall be paid as 
 soon as it is called for. I have also read Griffiths’ letter. 
 You must comply with his request, and if the specimen is 
 approved of, you ought forthwith to bind him down to 
 articles ; booksellers, since the days of old Ben, have been 
 a shuffling set of selfish knaves. 
 
 “ Your poeml pleases me. And so, my friend, I find you 
 have got it — Pectus est quod disertos facit. None of 
 your social turn would desert your beloved companion, 
 and brave the elements, without some very valuable con- 
 sideration in view, and what that consideration should be, 
 I, who have read Tibullus, can be at no loss to guess. 
 Pray, may not I know the lady’s name ?§ and what pro- 
 gress you have made in her affections ? for I am greatly 
 mistaken if she has not got possession of a good part of your 
 heart. It runs in my head too that the pretty Italian 
 hand on the backs of some of my letters is your favourite’s 
 writing. Is it not so, my friend ? And now, by way of 
 drawing from you your secret, I will freely impart to you 
 my own situation. You may remember I told you, when 
 last in town, that I had some design of opening honour- 
 able trenches against a physician’s daughter in the city. 
 
 I did so, and had the pleasure to find that my artillery had 
 made a sufficient lodgment in the heart of Miss Sophy ; 
 but, alas ! when I expected the capitulation would have 
 been signed upon my own terms, in stepped a demon 
 called a settlement, and effectually baffled all my preten- 
 sions. In short, I have been obliged to raise the siege, 
 and, though the governor of the place is wholly in my 
 interest, there are certain cabinet counsellors, by the 
 vulgar named parents, who make my entry into the fort 
 
 * See p. 248. f Of Physicians of London. 
 
 $ Probably, a Sonnet by Percy, beginning — 
 
 “ While you, fair Anna, innocently gay,” 
 
 printed in the Grand Magazine for March, 1758, p. 145. 
 
 § Miss Anne Guthridge [or Goodriche] , afterwards Mrs. Percy. See pp« 
 68. 173, of this volume, And hereafter, p. 266. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 253 
 
 wholly inexpedient. As I flattered myself with success, 
 and was really fond of the situation, my discomfiture has 
 hurt both my heart and my pride. However, I hope soon 
 to regain my former tranquillity, and, if I feel much un- 
 easiness now, it is chiefly on account of the sweet girl of 
 whom I must no longer think as a partner for life. As 
 this is the first time I ever seriously thought of matri- 
 mony, so I fancy it will be the last ; unless my sentiments 
 alter, which I will not pretend to say they will not. 
 
 “ Never trust a country surgeon with inoculation. A fine 
 face in the management of ignorance ! for shame, for 
 shame ! 
 
 “ We are got to the 144th page of our second volume.-” 
 
 “ Saturday. (May 1758.) 
 
 “ When I tell you that I write you this sitting up in 
 my bed, to which I have been confined by a very severe 
 indisposition, you will, my dear Percy, be the less sur- 
 prised that I have not sooner thanked you for your last 
 most acceptable packet. I heartily congratulate you on 
 your having found out a young lady so every way agree- 
 able to you, 
 
 Non ei’ubescendis aduris 
 Ignibus, ingenuoque semper 
 Amore peccas. 
 
 And you may believe me it was not the least part of my 
 misery that I could not write you my sentiments upon 
 bathing, &c. at the time you expected them. It is a 
 favourite practice of mine, not only before the eruption, 
 hut in every stage of the small pox ; and if I have had 
 uncommon success in this disorder, it is chiefly to be 
 ascribed to that, and to a blister, which I never fail to 
 apply on the approach of the secondary fever. To this 
 last I hope you will particularly attend, and not let a false 
 tenderness hinder you from using the only medicine which 
 can prevent almost all the inconveniences consequent on 
 inoculation. Though what I have said in praise of warm 
 bathing may not come time enough, yet this with regard 
 to the epispastic may, I know, be put in execution, and, 
 indeed, renders the other less necessary. And now, my 
 dear friend, that your Annie may have, after the small 
 pox, the same brilliancy of charms that she at present can 
 boast of, is my most sincere wish. 
 
 “ I have spoken to a friend of mine, a Captain of a man 
 
254 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of war, about the boy, and he has promised to provide for 
 him in about a month or six weeks. In the mean while, 
 he need not lose his hours, but may employ them in im- 
 proving himself in navigation. You shall know when it 
 will be proper to send him up to town. 
 
 “ Your bill was paid the morning it became due, but I 
 have not been yet able to send for your bounty money. 
 When I do send for it Mr. J.* shall receive the subscrip- 
 tions.f Your Elegy charms me. It is no less elegant than 
 literal. Every stanza of it is 
 
 ‘ With Venus’ cestus bound,’ 
 
 and if the souls of the departed are conscious of what is 
 done here below, that of Tibullus must be enchanted with 
 your performance. The text in general is greatly prefer- 
 able to the corrections, except in one or two places ; Mr. 
 BinnePs also, with regard to Julius, is rather more intel- 
 ligible ; but you shall have my opinion of the whole, more 
 at large, as soon as my body is free from pain, and my mind 
 can thoroughly relish poetry.” 
 
 Dear Percy, Saturday, May 13, 1758. 
 
 “ I received your agreeable letter yesterday, and have 
 the pleasure to inform you that I am now perfectly re- 
 covered ; for, bating some transient mental uneasiness, I 
 can truly boast of a mens- sana in corpore sano, my late 
 disorder having, critically as it were, restored my heart to 
 its wonted perception of hilarity. 
 
 es I mightily approve of your intention of translating 
 the Heroic Epistles. They are undoubtedly the flower of 
 Roman gallantry. I have often lamented their fate in 
 English. No part of Ovid^s writings has had so little 
 justice done them, and no part deserved so much. With- 
 out flattery, I think you qualified for the task, and, with- 
 out the spirit of prophecy, can promisse you a favourable 
 reception from the public. At least, nothing on my part 
 shall be wanting to obtain for you both a proper en- 
 couragement from the booksellers and proper applause 
 from the world. For this purpose, I should think it 
 advisable that you sent me up Penelope’s Epistle to 
 
 * Dr. Johnson. See p. 259. 
 f To Dr. Johnson’s edition of Shakespeare, 
 
 X Translation of the first Elegy of Tibullus. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 255 
 
 Ulysses, or any other of them you may like better, with a 
 specimen of the notes, that I may show them to Millar, 
 who certainly gives a better price for poetical merchandise 
 than any other of the trade. Perhaps I may even assist 
 you with an epistle or two, in your own stanza, if my 
 health continues unimpaired, and I can find leisure to 
 court the inspiration of the Muses. 
 
 “The advantages I have experienced from a blister 
 applied at the turn of the small pox are briefly these : 
 1st, it always moderates, and often even extinguishes the 
 secondary fever ; and, 2dly, by continuing its drain for 
 some time, it not only generally prevents slow fevers, 
 which are often more fatal than the variolous fever, but 
 also hinders inflammations of the eyes, boils, and other 
 eruptive disorders, which, though seldom deadly, are ever 
 painful and tedious. After all, however, if the lady is of 
 a good habit of body, and the symptoms after seizure are 
 exceedingly mild, the epispastic may be omitted. I am 
 in haste, being obliged to go down to Blackheath. 
 
 “ Your affectionate friend and humble servant, J. G. 
 
 I have been much to blame not to have thanked Mr. 
 Binnel before now for his many favours, but I shall write 
 him soon. 5 ’ 
 
 “ Dear Percy, Tuesday, May 30, 1758. 
 
 “ Although I never doubted of your capacity to do 
 justice to the Heroic Epistles of Ovid, yet the specimen 
 which you was pleased to send me puts your abilities 
 beyond all doubt, and this I the more confidently write 
 you, not upon my own judgment, for that might be 
 seduced by my friendship to you, but from the favourable 
 opinion which some critical acquaintances of mine have 
 passed on your Epistle of Penelope to Ulysses. I must 
 therefore again encourage you to go on with your work, 
 and as you have succeeded so well with the first, which in 
 truth is the least pleasing of the collection, you cannot, I 
 think, fail to make the remainder still more acceptable to 
 the English reader ; I say English reader, for, as your 
 work must be a popular book for the gay and young, I 
 should not advise you to publish the original. All those 
 who can read Ovid are already possessed of him, and 
 those who cannot would doubtless grudge to pay for what 
 
256 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 they do not understand. You see, I tell you my senti- 
 ments with freedom ; this, however, is not to preclude you 
 from following your own, which I shall willingly acquiesce 
 in, if Mr. Binnel determines for you. In the mean time 
 I shall send you the few observations that have occurred 
 to me upon comparing your version with the original, 
 only premising, that, as ease and even carelessness are 
 characteristical of your poet, so you must not use your 
 critical file either too much or too frequently. I can 
 never suspect my friend for rudeness or distortion in his 
 compositions, but I think it possible you may polish so 
 much as in part to diminish the freedom of air and sharp- 
 ness of the original. In short, all I mean by this is, that 
 I would have you no longer Ovid’s interpreter, but he. 
 
 u To the first stanza nothing can be objected, unless per- 
 haps it may be thought that sends and descends are too 
 similar for harmony. 
 
 “ The two following stanzas at least equal your original ; 
 only I would advise you not to disembowel adulterous 
 and widowed, of the poor vowel e ; your ear will assign you 
 the reason. I have followed this method in Tibullus. Our 
 language can spare no vowels, and certainly these ought 
 never to be expelled from their station where either the 
 pronunciation liquifies them, or they do not audibly in- 
 crease the number of syllables. 
 
 “ St. 4. Is not Troy’s fiercest charge both obscure and 
 inharmonious ? 
 
 “lb. Trembling is an epithet never medically applied to 
 cheeks. 
 
 “ St. 5. Does the first line please you ? 
 
 “ I do not like the seventh stanza so well as I do the 
 eighth. I therefore could have wished that you had here 
 dilated the thought, or that you would render it more ex- 
 plicit. The eighth stanza surpasses your text. As do 
 the seven following. 
 
 “ St. 16. Is not wanton too O vidian ? Too strong a 
 likeness is never graceful. 
 
 “ St. 17. I do not much admire the verb hide } although 
 the original countenances it. 
 
 “ St. 18. The same may be objected to this as to the 
 first stanza ; beside, does not meet thee on the sea hurt the 
 ear ? At all events, the original, si te modo viderit usquam , 
 is more expressive. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 257 
 
 “ St. 21. 
 
 Now every thing I dread with ceaseless pain, 
 
 Yet nothing sure. 
 
 Do these convey the full, the passionate meaning of the 
 text ? 
 
 Quid timeam ignore, timeo tamen omnia demens.* 
 
 “St. 22. Does not 
 
 Quse tantum lanas non sinit esse rudes 
 
 signify something more than iveaving ? I believe, how- 
 ever, you ought not to alter it. 
 
 “ St. 23, 1. ult. Head, 4 Transported he would fly to ease 
 my care.’ The two following stanzas are excellent. 
 
 “ St. 26’. I like not the last line, although vitals is as 
 good at least as viscera ; should not the nullis prohiben- 
 tibus of the original be somewhere inserted in this stanza ?f 
 “You must write a note on the last line of the thirtieth 
 stanza, otherwise an illiterate modern will laugh at it as 
 burlesque. Bristly is better than immunda. Homer 
 bestows the epithet Divine upon the swineherd. In 
 those rude days, it was an office of some dignity at Court ; 
 and probably too the old strolling bard had often had the 
 cravings of his stomach well satisfied with a good rasher 
 of bacon, and so was grateful. J 
 
 “Will you not be obliged to vary the rhymes of stanza 
 thirty-one ? Are they not too near each other in sound ?§ 
 “St. 31. Does not port include the idea of shelter? 
 What do you think of 
 
 Be thou my friendly port from every storm, 
 
 My shrine, ike. 
 
 “ The two last stanzas are greatly beyond your original. 
 And thus, my friend, you see how very few specks my 
 critical microscope has been able to discover in the jewel 
 you favoured me with. Go, therefore, boldly on and 
 prosper. I shall soon look over Sabinus’ Epistles. John- 
 son || thinks you may get fifty pieces for your work. I 
 shall soon shew it to Millar, and let you know his answer. 
 I have received your bounty-money, but have not yet 
 paid our friend^ in Gough Square, he having always been 
 out when I called upon him for that purpose. Your wig 
 will be finished this week, and shall be sent with the book 
 
 * “ Right.” T. Percy. + “ Right.” T. P. J “ Right.” T. P. 
 r § “ Right.” T. P. II Dr. Johnson. 
 
 ii Dr. Johnson then lived in Gough Square. See p. 259. 
 
 VOL. YU. S 
 
258 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 you desire. I lately saw Captain Gordon, who told me 
 that he could immediately provide for the boy, but as he 
 hopes soon to go to sea, he would rather choose, upon my 
 account, to take him on board with himself. I shall let 
 you know what stores he must bring along with him. 
 Gordon is a fine fellow, and if the boy turns out well he 
 will give him every encouragement. I rejoice with you 
 on the recovery of your favourite,* to whom pray my 
 compliments. I have not yet seen Avon,f nor heard 
 aught of it. The truth is, as I go out of town almost 
 every night, for the benefit of the air, I have had no time 
 to call at Dodsley’s. Yours. Adieu.” 
 
 a Dear Percy, Walbrook, June 27, 1758. 
 
 “ Neither business nor laziness (a syren at whose altar 
 I too frequently am a votary) prevented me from answer- 
 ing your two last letters. The fact is, Millar has been 
 much indisposed, and returned but yesterday from Bath ; 
 and as I advise you by all means to let him have the pro- 
 perty of Ovid, so I could not confer with him on that sub- 
 ject. Besides, he being no judge of poetry himself, he 
 will desire a larger specimen of the work than I have by 
 me. This I should not be displeased at, as I am confi- 
 dent your abilities for the task will thence be rendered 
 more conspicuous. Few people whom he consults upon 
 any poetry offered him will take the trouble to compare 
 your version with the original ; I would therefore have 
 you send me up a translation of any of the other Epistles 
 into which your poet has thrown striking and independent 
 beauties. It would also be necessary for me to show him 
 the manner in which you mean to comment on your 
 author. Your notes upon Penelope, or any other Epistle 
 you like better, will be sufficient for this purpose. Strahan, 
 who knows very well these matters, and is also fully ac- 
 quainted with Millar’s disposition, informs me that you 
 may expect one hundred guineas for your performance. 
 I have read the poems ascribed to Sabinus ; but if that 
 
 * Afterwards Mrs. Percy. 
 
 t “ Avon, a Poem,” published by Dodsley, 1758. See Gent. Mag. 1758, 
 p. 282. In this poem is an episode containing the history of an imaginary 
 being called The Lady of the Lake. See it inserted as a specimen of the 
 poem in Gent. Mag. 1758, p. 279. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 259 
 
 Roman really wrote them, he certainly deserved nothing 
 less than the character given him by the antients, for to 
 me they appear to be the clumsy effort of a wretched 
 poetaster. You must therefore not think of disgracing 
 your work by translating them. In the mean time, that I 
 might not be wholly unprovided in case you should draw 
 upon me for the contribution I promised, I have actually 
 finished a version (in your stanza) of Leander’s famous 
 Epistle to Hero,* and may probably do that unfortunate 
 fair oriels answer, if what I have already performed has the 
 good fortune to please you. I think, though I have been 
 less scrupulously attached to Ovid than you, that I have 
 never departed from him where he wrote sense ; and though 
 I have sometimes dilated his thoughts, for the benefit of 
 the English reader, the version does not, however, con- 
 tain many more lines than the original. My opinion, 
 indeed, is, that if a translation is neither weaker nor less 
 perspicuous, the author need be very little anxious about 
 any number of lines he may have more than his poet, as 
 the English language can well account for this disparity. 
 As soon as your Elegy on Tibullusf is printed it shall be 
 sent you, with my remarks, for your correction ; and, Mil- 
 lar not proposing to publish our favourite this summer, 
 you will have time enough for the use of the file. I fancy 
 you must have little dependence upon Griffiths. He wants 
 the Chinese to be naturalized, and yet he seems doubtful 
 of the event. Do not go on with him without a positive 
 bargain. I have several times called on Johnson to pay 
 him part of your subscriptions I say part, because he 
 never thinks of working if he has a couple of guineas in 
 his pocket; but if you, notwithstanding, order me, the 
 whole shall be given him at once. Have you got your 
 wig and book ? I have been asking for the Variorum 
 Ovid among my friends, but can borrow none. Captain 
 Gordon is gone down to Deal, but is not yet employed. 
 He is to inform me, as soon as he can get a proper berth 
 for the boy. 
 
 * The translations of these two Epistles have been more fortunate than 
 ie translations by Bp. Percy, as they are preserved in vol. ii. of Dr. 
 ^mger’s Works. 8vo. Edinb. 1836. 
 
 T'K ,, c y’ s translation of Ovid’s Elegy on Tibullus is in the Life of 
 1 + U1 ‘ US Prefixed to Grainger’s translation of his Elegies. 
 
 + io Johnson’s edition of Shakespeare. See p. 257. 
 
 s 2 
 
260 ILLUSTRATIONS OR LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Dear Percy, July 20, 1758. 
 
 ec By this time you most probably have heard that my 
 worthy friend John Douglass* is no more. Having been 
 acquainted with him from my infancy, and much together 
 from the similarity of our pursuits, we had been long con- 
 nected with the strict ties of friendship, which years might 
 have drawn tighter, but could not have relaxed. There is 
 something uncommonly hard in his fate. When he settled 
 in London, about eight years ago, those few who knew his 
 abilities were interested to oppose him, as conscious if 
 ever he emerged into public notice that he must snatch 
 the palm from them all. They accordingly set about op- 
 position with a more than sacerdotal hatred (pray pardon 
 the expression), and by every mean artifice endeavoured 
 to depress him. But they luckily mistook, if not the 
 manner, at least the measure of their enmity ; for, though 
 poor John was invincibly modest, their clamours against 
 him first dragged him into notice, and when known, his 
 abilities were such that he soon became eminent; inso- 
 much that he last winter made 500/. by his Anatomical 
 Lectures. Nor would that sum have been the limit of his 
 income ; his fame every day increased, while that of his 
 opponents was on the decline; so that if his life had been 
 spared a little longer, he would have been as much above 
 competition as a teacher as he was without a rival in genius, 
 learning, and industry — 
 
 But what can Death’s abhorred stroke withstand ? 
 
 Say, what so sacred he will not profane ? 
 
 On all the monster lays his dusky hand. 
 
 I know you will pardon the effusion of a heart which, I 
 assure you, never met with a severer blow than in the 
 death of Douglass ; for he not only was the greatest ana- 
 tomist I ever was acquainted with, but he was one of the 
 best of men. I therefore lament him both on my own ac- 
 count and on that of the public, which by his death is 
 deprived of many works which he meditated for the good 
 of mankind. What papers he left behind him are com- 
 mitted to my care ; but I have the mortification to find 
 nothing perfect, only some outlines ; but these, though 
 the outlines of a master, must not be published. That I 
 
 * A very ingenious young Professor of Anatomy, who read Lectures, 
 in London, He died July 9, 1758, 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 261 
 
 think would be an injury to the fame of my friend, and a 
 violation of the trust reposed in me. 
 
 “ This unhappy affair has so unhinged me, that I have 
 not been able to attend either to your business or my own 
 with any kind of spirit. Griffiths has sent me back the 
 Chinese Lady, and I assure you I like her in her new 
 English garb. I have not, however, got your plan from the 
 Row, and therefore have not mentioned it to any of the 
 trade. Mr. Millar is gone down to Scotland for a jaunt, and 
 had not time to enter into any particulars with respect to 
 Ovid ; he only in general said that he would talk over the 
 affair at his return, and could not determine without 
 larger specimens. 
 
 “ Inclosed you have your Elegy on the death of our 
 Poet, which I indeed think is as perfect as it can be made $ 
 let me therefore have it returned by the first post, as I go 
 down to the Hot Wells at Bristol on Wednesday next, and 
 I should choose to present my patron* with a copy of the 
 book before I set out. 
 
 “ I have also sent you my version of Leander’s Epistle, 
 which will need much of the hook before it is pruned so 
 as to be fit to be seen by the public, especially in company 
 with your more elegant productions. Johnson thinks that 
 some of the Epistles should be done in the heroic mea- 
 sure, and so do I. As to his Shakespeare, movet sed non 
 promovet. I shall feed him occasionally with guineas ; 
 and in the mean time I have inclosed for you four more 
 subscriptions, f as you desired a recruit of that commodity. 
 Captain Gordon has promised to write me soon about 
 the boy, and you shall hear his determination the moment 
 I know it. Yours, 
 
 ct J. Grainger. 5 ' 
 
 C£ Dear Percy, Walbrook, Aug. i, 1758. 
 
 C( As the copy sent you was the first proof sheet, so all 
 the inaccuracies you took notice of in your last to me 
 were corrected before I received yours, and therefore every 
 impropriety would have been avoided had your translation 
 appeared without the original ; for, notwithstanding all you 
 have urged to the contrary, I am still an infidel as to the 
 necessity of the text’s being printed. However, as you 
 pressed it with such eagerness, had I even been more 
 
 * The Translation of Tibullus was dedicated to John Bourrayau, esq. 
 
 t See p. 259. 
 
262 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 averse to it than I really am, you certainly should have 
 been humoured. It is true, the alteration has put me to 
 some inconveniences, and Millar to some expense, but as 
 to myself, I readily submit, when it is to gratify a person 
 I esteem so much as Mr. Percy ; and as to the bookseller, 
 how he will relish this additional cost I neither know nor 
 am mightily concerned. In the printed copy you will find 
 a further change, but as it is according to the Laws of 
 Typography you must submit, viz. your version is to oc- 
 cupy the upper part of every page, and your friend’s text is 
 to be degraded to the bottom, in the same manner as War- 
 burton has printed the Epistle of Sappho to Phaon, 
 
 “ To-morrow I set out for Bristol, but shall be in town 
 again by the 20th, that being Mr. Bourryau’s birth day, 
 when he will also be of age. I shall then send down to 
 you and Mr. Binnel some perfect copies, as Millar will 
 then, I hope, be returned from Scotland. I flatter myself 
 that neither you nor your ingenious friend will be dis- 
 pleased with the civil things I have said of you in my 
 preface. They have indeed something more than mere 
 politeness to recommend them, and that is, truth ; at least 
 my judgment is strangely biassed indeed if the world does 
 not allow what I have there wrote, that recommendation. 
 I have so long delayed to acknowledge my great obliga- 
 tions to Mr. Binnel, that I do not now know how to acquit 
 myself of that necessary debt; I must therefore beg you to 
 intercede for me, by assuring him that his freedom with 
 my version was so far from displeasing me that I have 
 adopted all his alterations, and I think all his notes too, 
 except one, which my own animadversions rendered alto- 
 gether unnecessary. What office can be so kind as to 
 assist one who is to be tried by the public, in making a 
 good defence, where I should dread condemnation more 
 than in any court of judicature ? 
 
 “ I have lately received a Letter from Captain Gordon, 
 who is not yet put in commission, and therefore cannot 
 take the boy ; however, if his parents are very urgent, and 
 are willing to let their son take his chance, there is no 
 doubt but the captain can get him disposed of aboard some 
 of his Majesty’s ships in the Downs. This, at the same 
 time, I would not advise them to think of, as the captain 
 certainly could not be answerable for the treatment the boy 
 might then meet with. Gordon’s address is as follows : 
 “ToThomas Gordon, Esq. late Commander of his Majesty’s 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 263 
 
 Ship the William and Anne, at Deal / 5 and you may write 
 to him. 
 
 “ A variety of distracting business has prevented me 
 from calling on Griffiths, so that I have not, as yet, got 
 your plan. As to Shui-ping-Syn, I have mentioned her to 
 Dr. Hawksworth, who desires to be introduced to her ; 
 which I have the more readily complied with, as he is inti- 
 mate with Payne the bookseller, and I know he will be 
 pleased with this Chinese naturalization. I am in haste, 
 having fifty thousand things to do to day. 
 
 “ I last night got to town from an excursion, which 
 would have been at least pleasing to me, had I not re- 
 turned with an ague; yet such is my fate, that I must again 
 set out upon a much longer and less pleasing journey to- 
 morrow afternoon. The affair is this ; my brother is not 
 well, and it is of the last consequence to my interest that 
 I should be soon in Scotland, whatever the event may be. 
 I verily did expect to have found a Letter from you on my 
 table yesterday. You used to be a punctual correspondent, 
 and, if I am not mistaken, what I wrote you before I went 
 down to Bristol should have had some notice taken of it. 
 What you now write me must be directed for me at Mr. 
 Paton’s, bookseller, in the Parliament Close, Edinburgh. 
 
 “ I am so hurried at present that I cannot call on Mr. 
 Millar; neither do I know of his return from the North, 
 but I am persuaded he will send you and Mr. Binnel some 
 copies of our book before it is published : at least, if he 
 is scoundrel enough not to do that piece of justice, I will. 
 I have had one copy of it already bound, which I presented 
 to Mr. Bourryau, to whom it is dedicated. I hope you 
 and all my friends will not disapprove of what I have said 
 of that young gentleman, as I have drawn a kind of bill 
 for future good behaviour on him, and which, I think, he 
 will duly honour. 
 
 ‘‘Can you make Mr. Binnel an apology for my not 
 having wrote him ? tell him all the truth, and, as Cicero 
 desired Cocceius, even a little more than the truth, should 
 that be necessary to restore me to his good graces. You 
 did not, I find, send back your proof sheet to Strahan, who 
 
 Yours affectionate 1 ^ 
 
 “ Dear Percy 
 
 Aug. 23, 1758. 
 
264 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 kept the press open for it a week. Write me soon., and be- 
 lieve me sincerely your friend, 
 
 (( Jas. Grainger.’* 
 
 “ Blighborough, Oct. 18, 1758. 
 
 e: You see, my dear Percy, I am fairly set down with a 
 large sheet of paper before me, which I have devoted to 
 your service. This indeed is no more than you are 
 entitled to, in answer to your two letters which I received 
 four weeks ago in Scotland, and which I should ere this 
 have acknowledged, had I ever been master of my own 
 time so long as to collect myself to write to you. But 
 the truth is, the fatigue of travelling, joined to the hospi- 
 tality of my Northern friends, so wholly engrossed me, 
 that I had not one half-hour in the four and twenty which 
 I could employ in that manner— for though I have now 
 been seven weeks from London, an epitome of what I 
 have seen will convince you of it. After visiting all the 
 great manufacturing towns in the West of England, as 
 well as the gentlemen’s seats (among which Shenstone’s 
 and Hagley were not forgotten), my fellow-traveller Mr. 
 Luard and I embarked at Whitehaven for Ireland. As 
 the ship we went aboard was bound for Dublin, and the 
 wind blew from a favourable corner, we flattered ourselves 
 with the hopes of being in that metropolis in ... . hours ; 
 but we were miserably disappointed, for the wind chop- 
 ping about, and blowing furiously, we ran no small risk 
 of foundering. It is needless to tell you how disagreeable 
 our situation was’: with the fairest weather, such a collier 
 as we were in would have been but barely supportable ; 
 what then must it have been in tempestuous weather, 
 without beds, and without proper provisions? At last 
 the tempest subsided into a calm : we now indeed were in 
 no danger of sinking, but then we made no progress in 
 our voyage, and our chief reason for trusting ourselves to 
 the sea was the assurance given us that Ave should anchor 
 in Dublin Bay early next morning. In this manner did 
 we roll about a good tAvelve hours in sight of the Isle of 
 Man, a motion to me more uneasy than that of a ship 
 before a strong gale ; at the expiration of that time it 
 freshened, and blowing fair for the North of Ireland, we 
 landed at Carlingford on the third day [after] our embarka- 
 tion. Here taking horses (for no postchaises were to be 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 265 
 
 had), we made the best of our way to Dublin, which was 
 the chief object of our journey, and which, of course, we 
 entered, much prejudiced in its favour; but the Hibernian 
 metropolis noways answering our ideas of it, we soon set 
 • out for Scotland, and after traversing the North of Ireland 
 landed, to our no small satisfaction, at Portpatrick ten 
 days after we left England. Of all the people I ever saw 
 in my life, the common Irish are the most indolent and 
 most dirty. They live in the meanest huts, and feed on 
 the coarsest fare I ever beheld. This shocked me more 
 than I can well describe to you, for I had always given 
 them the preference to the Scots ; but in all these parti- 
 culars they are as far outdone by my countrymen as the 
 English surpass us ; in short, the men are all Dermots, 
 and the women all Shilahs ; and I am now less surprised 
 that Dean Swift gave such a humbling picture of human 
 nature, in his account of the Yahoos, considering the 
 country he lived in. As to my travels in Scotland, I 
 shall not trouble you with a detail, but shall only inform 
 you, that, after malting a short excursion amid my beloved 
 mountains, we got safely to Edinburgh about three weeks 
 ago, where I had the pleasure to find my brother wholly 
 re-established, he having wrote me of his being out of 
 danger before our Pindaric deviation to Hibernia. At 
 Edinburgh I was certainly assured of an affair which has 
 given me much pain, and which, though I am sensible it will 
 also affect you, I must impart to you. Our friend Stewart 
 at Wolverhampton, has been married for some years. 
 His lady is of my acquaintance, and as her merit would 
 entitle her to the happiest endearments of the conjugal 
 state, I cannot, I need not tell you, how much I am 
 shocked, to find that the Doctor has not only left off 
 corresponding with his charming though afflicted wife, 
 but had actually made addresses in public to a lady of 
 fortune, in the place where he is settled ; but the affair is 
 indisputably true, I myself read several of his letters to his 
 wife, filled with the fondness of a doating husband ; and 
 learnt, from too good authority, the progress he had made 
 m the other lady’s affections. I do not know if you have 
 heard of this till now, but I promised Mrs. * * * (for so 
 Mrs. Stewart’s mother is called), that I would acquaint you 
 with the affair; and as I am well apprised, not only of the 
 strictness of your principles, but also of your benevolence 
 to persecuted merit, especially in a woman, I flatter 
 
266 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 myself that, from the regard you bear both to Stewart and 
 me, you will use your best endeavours to reclaim him to 
 a sense of his duty.* You remember the Doctor first 
 introduced me to you, a favour for which I can in no other- 
 wise so effectually recompense him, as by making you the 
 instrument of his conversion. I would write to the Doctor 
 myself, but fear the warmth of my temper, and the indig- 
 nation I have conceived at his behaviour, might transport 
 me beyond the bounds of politeness and friendship. 
 
 “ Tfdother sheet you see, my friend ! but this affair 
 might constrain, even a more indolent person than your 
 humble servant to exert himself ; I shall therefore scribble 
 on, till I find myself disposed to lay down my weapon, and 
 leave you at ease. In your last you was so kind as to 
 inform me that matters went favourably on with your 
 Delia 5 sf uncle ; I sincerely give you joy of it. But why 
 should your happiness be delayed till spring ? In love 
 particularly, opportunity ought not to be neglected, and 
 delays are dangerous ; for, though I have no reason to 
 doubt of your constancy, or of that of your fair one, yet I 
 cannot help being of opinion that you should make Annie 
 yours as soon as the old gentleman consents ; for so tran- 
 sitory are the best things of this world, that in prudence 
 we ought to leave nothing till to-morrow. You have 
 already got over the scruples of being wedded ; why then 
 procrastinate, if every thing answers ? I have been the 
 freer in writing you my sentiments on this head, as I am 
 persuaded they are correspondent to your own, as well as 
 those of your mistress. Urge, therefore, the affair to the 
 old gentleman : if he has ever been in love himself, he 
 must not only pardon you your impatience, but will gra- 
 tify its longings. And now, my friend, as you are about 
 to change your situation, so am I ; with this difference, 
 indeed, that you are going to settle for life, and I am about 
 to give up my business for some years, in order to ramble. 
 This resolution is not the consequence of disappointed 
 ambition, or of baffled love ; no ; it is the result of mature 
 deliberation, and has the sanction of my brother. But to 
 keep you no longer in suspense, you must know that Mr. 
 Bourryau came of age some months ago, and as a strict 
 
 * “ The gentleman here mentioned was re-united to his wife, and they lived 
 together happily many years. The story of his wishing to marry another, 1 
 believe was unfounded. T. P.” 
 
 f Afterwards Mrs. Percy. See pp. 68, 173, 252. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 267 
 
 intimacy had long subsisted between us, I having had in 
 a great measure the superintendence of his studies, he 
 made me an offer of settling on me for life 200 1. per ann. 
 if I would accompany him on his travels, which, in short, 
 after many pro’s and con’s in my mind, I have accepted. 
 We accordingly set out next spring, before which I hope 
 to see you in London, where I shall be about the latter 
 end of the year. I fancy you will approve of what I have 
 done ; for, though my business was exceeded by that of no 
 young physician in town, four years will make no great 
 retardment in my medical progress, especially as I shall 
 be able to prosecute business with more spirit at my re- 
 turn, and probably with the patronage of noblemen of in- 
 terest, whose good will I may happily acquire abroad. 
 
 “ Pray do you not flatter me when you give such a cha- 
 racter to my essay on Ovid ?* I am sure you are both 
 unjust to yourself, and will be so to the public, if you do 
 not go on with the version. Let me know what progress 
 you have made therein, as also what amendments in mine; 
 I am sure it wants many touches from you, and I know 
 you will endeavour to make it a less unfit companion for 
 your own. 
 
 “ I am greatly obliged for the Ode you sent me, as it 
 lias in it almost every one quality of a good lyric composi- 
 tion ; I can see you have wrote it con amove. The enco- 
 mium on your late noble Patron is not more pathetic, than 
 that on his Successor is artfully delicate. But will you 
 pardon me ? though I approve it so much, I have made bold 
 to give it away, — to one, however, whom I could not deny 
 any favour, my friend the Lord Gray,f of whom I shall say 
 no more than that he is a complete judge of its merit, being 
 being no indifferent poet himself. This, I hope, will excuse 
 me with you if I put you to the trouble of transcribing me 
 another copy. In which case I promise to send my minutest 
 observations. _ I am sorry the Elegy on Tibullus was not 
 so correctly printed as you could have wished; yet Strahan 
 is not to be blamed, as he kept the press open two weeks. 
 
 “ Allan Ramsay! is certainly dead, and neither has nor 
 needs an epitaph. I spent an evening lately with his 
 eldest daughter, who inherits somewhat of the spirited 
 naivete of her late father. 
 
 (i I do not know when Tibullus is to be published, but if 
 
 * Version of Leander to Hero, &c. 
 
 + W*’ t2tli Baron Gray, a Peer of Scotland, died in 1782. 
 
 wat the Scottish P° et > died Jan. 7, 1758. A stately obelisk 
 
 erected to his memory by his friend Sir James Clerk. 
 
268 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OP LITERATURE. 
 
 you will write [to] Mr. Millar how it may be sent you, you 
 may command as many copies of it as you think proper. 
 I should also be glad to learn in what manner a copy or 
 two may be forwarded to Mr. Binnel, when I shall write 
 a general apology. My ague still hangs about me, like 
 Care in Horace ; but as I am come to Ithaca at least for 
 some weeks, I hope soon to shake it off. 
 
 (e Direct to me at Blighborough, near Gainsborough, 
 Lincolnshire/’ 
 
 “ DEAR PERCY, _ _ Walbrook, Jan, 10, 1759. 
 
 u Having been longer detained in Lincolnshire than I 
 expected, I did not receive your letter till lately, and 
 since my arrival in town have been so wholly engrossed in 
 little affairs of my own, that I had it not in my power 
 sooner to sit down and thank you for the packet you sent 
 inclosed. Last night I compared it * accurately with the 
 original, and was amazed to find it so exact, and at the 
 same time so flowing and easy. What little inaccuracies 
 I observed, or imagined I observed, I have sent you, and 
 you may make what use of them you think proper. On 
 Saturday last Millar waited on me, to tell me that our 
 book was not condemned by the best judges ; but Smollett 
 has been at it in the Critical Review. He has a personal 
 pique to me, which upon this occasion has betrayed him 
 into many false criticisms, delivered in very illiberal ex- 
 pressions. My friends strongly solicit me to expose him, 
 to which I have no other objection than the entering the 
 lists with so unmannerly an adversary. Perhaps, how- 
 ever, I may give him a drubbing, which, if I stoop to, he 
 shall remember it, and yet my severity even then will be 
 somewhat abated, as he has allowed your vid’s Elegy to 
 be a good translation. The Notes the Doctor in particu- 
 lar falls foul of, calling them a parcel of learned trash. 
 This has somewhat provoked me, for he has not excepted 
 those which our friendf sent me from this general condem- 
 nation, which may give you a specimen of Smollett’s abi- 
 lities. I will readily grant him, that some of those now 
 printed might be spared, and that some of the remainder 
 might be shortened ; but to pass a general anathema on 
 them all was insufferable. I believe all Mr. Binnel’ s notes 
 are marked ; I cannot find one that is not. I wrote [to] that 
 gentleman, and hope to hear from him at his leisure. Mr. 
 Shcnstone had a copy sent him ; but, not having heard 
 
 f Mr. Binnel. 
 
 * Version of Ovid’s Epistle. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 269 
 
 from him, I do not know whether he received it. I am 
 much his humble servant for the kind things he has 
 wrote of Mr. Luard and me, and you may assure him that 
 his conversation afforded me more pleasure than even the 
 Leasowes, though that I esteem an earthly paradise. I 
 presume his Miscellany is to consist wholly of his own 
 things. I shall long to see it. You must pardon me if I 
 have not yet called upon Osborn ; but the truth is, as I 
 said before, that I have not yet had a spare half-hour since 
 I got here. I have considered your Lady’s* case ; but 
 you have no reason to apprehend bad consequences from 
 it. Please make my compliments, and tell her, if you 
 think proper, that I hope yet to see her surrounded by 
 young Ovids and buxom Sulpicias ? We do not go abroad 
 till April. Pray could you not spare one ten days to 
 your friends in London before we set sail. Your barber 
 lives in Lotlibury, near St. Lawrence’s church, and is 
 called Saint Andre. 
 
 “ Dodcly’s Play f I have not seen, but I read it last 
 summer, and then it really made me weep. The fable, 
 to be sure, is not unexceptionable, but it must and has 
 raised pity. All the women love it.” 
 
 My dear Friend, Waibrook, Feb. 17, 1759 . 
 
 £ ‘ I have spoken both to Millar and Dodsley about 
 Ovid, but neither of them seems inclined to make a pur- 
 chase of the work. I doubt not, however, but that either 
 of them would readily print the Epistles, and become 
 joint partners with you in profit and loss. Perhaps, too, 
 this would be your most profitable scheme, as I am confi- 
 dent your book, whenever it appears, will cut out both 
 Dryden, and Barrett , l who is neither apoet nor lover. Dods- 
 ley thinks well of the Novel, § and I hope I shall bring him 
 
 ‘‘ Afterwards Mrs. Percy. She had a complaint in her breast.” 
 u t Cleone, a tragedy, by Robert Dodsley; acted at Covent Garden in 1758. 
 
 C leone was well acted by all the characters, but Miss Bellamy left nothing to 
 )e desired. I went the first night and supported it as well as I might ; for 
 Doudy, you know, is my patron, and I would not desert him. The play was 
 very well received. Doddy, after the danger was over, went every night to 
 ■ ie stage aside, and cried at the distress of poor Cleone.” Dr. Johnson to 
 U. Langton, 9th Jan. 1759. 
 
 i Rev. Stephen Barrett, the friend of Dr. Johnson and Cave. He was 
 lfiftl 61 ' 0 ^^' s ^ 1 ^ 0l ’d School and rector of Hothfield in Kent, and died Nov. 26, 
 b aged 82. He was a learned writer of Latin verses, but was not con- 
 suered fortunate in his translation of “ Ovid’s Epistles into English verse.” 
 
 & T'V. Anecdotes > toI. IX. 672 ; and Gent. Mag. vol, LX XL 
 J Ban Kiou Choan, a Chinese History, 
 
270 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 to bargain with you for it : next week I shall show him the 
 specimen. Let me know what you expect for your labour. 
 
 “ I propose leaving with you, my dear friend, a corrected 
 copy of all my poems, to be disposed of as you shall 
 think proper, in case I die abroad. I am confident you 
 will never allow any thing of mine to see the light which 
 might hurt my reputation with posterity. Tay and Earn 
 are the two rivers, and Pitkethly is the fountain. Your 
 other queries I must reserve.” 
 
 £C Dear Percy, Walbrook, March 31, 1759. 
 
 “ I am half dead with fatigue and low spirits. My 
 books were all sent off this morning for Mr. Johnson’s, so 
 that at present I write to you in a chamber with no com- 
 pany but myself, and that, I assure you, is far from 
 being agreeable. The nearer the hour of my departure 
 approaches the more I find myself depressed. It gives 
 pain to a social mind even to leave the hovel to which it 
 has long been accustomed ; what then must I feel upon 
 leaving that earthly paradise London, where I have passed 
 so many pleasing days and nights. Besides, my dear 
 friend, I cannot expect to hear from you and my other 
 literary correspondents above twice a-year, and then 
 your letters will be subject to sea-accidents, &c. Inclosed 
 you have Ovid’s Epistles of Hero and Leander. Pray let 
 them undergo your own correction and that of your friends, 
 particularly Messrs. Shenstone and Binnel. As Ovid has 
 done justice to these illustriously unfortunate lovers, I 
 would wish to treat them with particular marks of distinc- 
 tion. It is not in my power to write out for you the 
 poems you desire ; but you shall have them from St. Kitt’s. 
 All happiness attend you and the beauteous Miss G. with 
 whom I yet hope to pass some agreeable afternoons. I am 
 hopeful change of life will render the use of my prescription 
 less important for my fair patient, for whose health and fe- 
 licity I am truly solicitous. Pray, Percy, make my compli- 
 ments agreeable to her ; and when you can think of me 
 without being disloyal to her charms, remember me. AH 
 your packets to me must be sent to Mr.Luard’s, in Copthall 
 Court, Throgmorton Street ; but as I do not leave Lon- 
 don before Thursday, you may once more direct to me as 
 usual. 
 
 et Yours, wherever I am, 
 
 “ J. G.” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 271 
 
 “ Dear Percy, Waibrook, a p . 9, 1759. 
 
 “ In one short half hour I set out for Portsmouth, and 
 if the wind continues fair we shall, in a few days, be 
 plying in the Great Atlantic Ocean. This, therefore, 
 comes to bid you, my dear friend, and Miss G. adieu, and 
 I sincerely pray that every happiness the married state is 
 capable of may attend your purposed union. I am no 
 very violent friend to matrimony, yet, I think, without 
 any pretences to divination, I may foretell your felicity. 
 Pray remember, I am to stand godfather to a young 
 Percy ; though I think a combination of the two names, as 
 it is not very probable I shall take any one now for 
 better for worse, would still be better. Grainger-Percy, 
 though it does not sound well, yet requires a masculine 
 pronunciation, and suits the descendant of a northern 
 race very well. Inclosed you have your two Epistles. 
 Do not think of giving Ovid up. If you abandon him, I 
 shall suspect that marriage has made you sick of love 
 matters. You shall have the poems I promised you, 
 cum zephyris et hirundine prima. Pray send me those 
 poems of yours which you said you would send me ; they 
 must now come by the packet, or you may direct them for 
 me at Mr. Luard’s, in Copthall Court. Pray for my 
 good voyage : the prayers of the righteous, the Scripture 
 says, avail much. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. J. G. 
 
 “ When you write next to Mr. Shenstone or Mr. 
 Binnel, assure them of the real satisfaction their esteem 
 gives me. I hope we shall all meet together yet, when, 
 perhaps, by way of variety, I may be able to entertain 
 you with the American warhoop — rare harmony P 
 
 (Copy.) 
 
 Dr. James Grainger to Mr. Burt. 
 
 “ I readily allow you that I am not worthy of your 
 sister; but, Sir, I do not make this concession for the 
 same reasons that may induce you to think me unworthy 
 of her. Far be it from me to put myself upon a footing 
 with the wealthy and the great ! God knows, I am 
 neither ; but, since you have insinuated at a disparity, I 
 
272 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 will for once so far master my modesty as to draw a 
 comparison between you, Sir, the head of my wife’s 
 family, and her husband. You are the son of a Nevis 
 planter, I am the son of a gentleman of Cumberland ; 
 your father was rescued from ruin by marrying into a rich 
 and illustrious family; my father was ruined by his own 
 extravagance, and that of his wives. You, Sir, was in- 
 tended for the practice of physic, but before you well 
 knew to mount a glyster-bag, you ran away from your 
 master, and went to the West Indies. After being three 
 years at the University, I was bound to an eminent 
 surgeon-apothecary. I served my time out, and was 
 then honoured with a commission in the army, where the 
 King styled me Gentleman. I made the tour of Europe, 
 and became a Licentiate of the College of Physicians, 
 London, and have now the honour of being a Fellow of 
 that of Edinburgh. On whose side does the preference 
 lie ? who has the best title to the name of gentleman of 
 education, rank, or character ? By the death of your 
 father you became possessed of a plantation which your 
 mother brought into your family, and which being left 
 to you, left the rest of your family not greatly above 
 want. I, when I sold out of the army, had but a few 
 hundreds ; but then I had experience of my business, I 
 was known to understand it, there was no fear but I 
 should always be able to live by it. My medical science 
 was subject to no invasion, no beasts, no hurricanes, no 
 villanous attornies, or more villanous agents. Who has 
 the preference here ? But, as manners as well as educa- 
 tion constitute the gentleman, however loath, I must also 
 here make a comparison. I defy candour to fix one 
 crime upon me, — it may fix many peccadilloes. These I 
 repent not of, they were glorious deviations from the 
 received rules of selfish discretion. I espoused the cause 
 of my friend with too much warmth. Have you done so ? 
 
 I have written, nay what is worse, have published rhymes. 
 Can you do the same ? I know you. Your treatment 
 from me depends upon yourself. I had my information 
 from no mercenary scribbler. What you know of me you 
 must have heard from Smollett, the corrupted reservoir 
 of intelligence. In what, then, am I your inferior ? on 
 whose side should objections rise to my marrying your 
 sister ? But, though I have made this parallel, I still own 
 myself undeserving of your sister. She is all perfection ; 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 273 
 
 but, as far as tenderness can make amends for this dispa- 
 rity, I know myself entitled to her. Her fortune could be 
 no temptation. A Doctor of Physic who had 200/. a-year, 
 independent of practice, could never be tempted by the 
 paltry consideration of 1000/. currency, and three or four 
 negroes. Of course I did not, indeed I could not marry 
 her for bread. Some little regard therefore should be 
 shown to one who acted so disinterestedly. But I forgot 
 you live in London, and at times frequent the Court; of 
 consequence, you must think meanly of the disinterested. 
 Your interest is no doubt much for your wishing her 
 happiness in a married state. Had it been more cordial, 
 perhaps it would have been not more sincere. But, 
 Sir, who told you that the match was of Daniels* making ? 
 I courted her with the privacy of her mother, and married 
 her with that lady’s approbation, with the approbation of 
 your brother Charles, and all your relations here. If, 
 therefore, the match is less prosperous than you could 
 wish, the poor soul is not solely to be blamed. But, for 
 heaven’s sake ! whence is it that you all of a sudden have 
 become so deeply concerned ? When did you ever behave 
 to her with fraternal generosity before ? Did you not 
 always make a distinction between Miss Burt and her. 
 In what respect was Miss Burt superior ? When I ask the 
 question, I think highly of Miss Burt; perhaps not so 
 highly as you do. I am informed you generously made 
 Daniel some presents when in England. They were few, 
 they were trifling. Draw upon me for them, and I u T ill 
 with more pleasure honour your drafts than ever you 
 received a bill of sales greatly in your favour. But you 
 was not consulted ! you, the eldest brother, who have been 
 president of St. Kitt’s, who have an estate in England, 
 who was agent upon a West India expedition ! But not- 
 withstanding all these sounding titles, neither your sister 
 nor I saw any reason for delaying our nuptials till we had 
 your sanction. And, Sir, as w r e married without your 
 Participation, we hope always to live in a genteel way, 
 ev en though you have withdrawn your countenance. 
 While I enjoy my health, I shall be never reduced so 
 |°w as to solicit a favour from you. May God, of his 
 ^finite mercy, grant that none of mine may ever be 
 Drought to that dreadful necessity ! And may the same 
 Cod grant, that I may never have it in my power to show 
 
 VOL. YU, 
 
 * Mrs. Grainger. 
 T 
 
27 4 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 you or yours, how little revenge is an ingredient in my 
 nature ! If in my letter I insinuated that my brother 
 might have objections, may I not be excused for that 
 insinuation? One who had been a parent to me, and who 
 can leave me 5 or 6000/. had a right to be consulted 
 before I disposed of myself in marriage. On whose side 
 now may objections be started ? Were I to die to-morrow, 
 your sister would not be the poorest widow in your 
 family. Perhaps by her marriage she bettered her small 
 fortune as much as some of her sisters. Comparisons are 
 odious, but I must put you in mind of Mrs. Coles. It 
 would indeed be madness in me, as you politely call it, to 
 think of quitting physic. I never dreamt of it; they 
 therefore are to be deemed mad into whose head that 
 conceit first entered. Your sister at present lives like a 
 gentlewoman. She has every thing her heart desires, — 
 have Duchesses more ? Have some with whom you are 
 intimately connected as much? While I live, her cir- 
 cumstances may grow better, can hardly grow bad. Should 
 I die, I shall leave her and her family to an all merciful 
 Providence, — not to William Burt. You insinuate as if 
 my giving up an annuity of 200/. for life would be greatly 
 compensated by your family. For your family I have the 
 greatest esteem, but you must pardon me if I add that 
 the large share of business I have had since I came to 
 St. Kitt’s was owing to my success, and not to their 
 recommendation. Several of your relations have employed 
 me, and would they not have employed any other man 
 whom they thought would have done them more justice ? 
 Mr. Daniel Mathew has indeed ordered his attorney to 
 let me have the care of his estates. I am obliged to that 
 gentleman for it, but he also is obliged to me for accepting 
 it. But what have you done ? What estate have I had 
 by your recommendation ? If I had consulted you upon the 
 place where I should settle, it plainly appears by your 
 letter that I ought not. Had you been greatly interested 
 for your sister’s welfare, you would have answered that 
 part of mine in less than .... months. Indeed I did not 
 wait for your answer. I found I was a better judge of the 
 matter than you at least in Europe could be. I have no 
 reason to repent of my determination; a few years will 
 make me, if not as rich as the heir of Goat Hill, at least 
 able to enjoy myself without the drudgery of business, 
 and without being the sycophant of greatness. It entirely 
 depends upon yourself on what footing we are hence- 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 275 
 
 forward to live. If you behave civilly to me, I shall treat 
 you with politeness ; if you choose to declare war, nec 
 Bella detracto. At all events, know you are not to give 
 yourself any insolent airs of superiority with me, for, by 
 God! I would sail from the New World to do myself 
 justice. However meanly you have presumed to think of 
 me, the King has given me a right to wear a sword, and 
 God has given me courage to use it.” 
 
 ( The above is a copy of a rough draught of a letter 
 in the handwriting of Dr. James Grainger, without date. 
 It is written on two slips of paper, previously mutilated, 
 with numerous abbreviations and contractions, which have 
 been carefully supplied. Ro. Anderson, Nov. 29, 1804.) 
 
 “ To the Rev. Mr. Percy , Easton Mauduit.” 
 
 Dr. Grainger to the Rev. T. Percy. 
 
 “ My DEAREST Friend, Basseterre, Jan. 16, 1761. 
 
 “ I am just now informed that a vessel sails from this 
 port to-morrow, and, though 1 am pretty much hurried 
 with business, I could not omit that opportunity of thank- 
 ing you for your very kind letter, and the present that 
 accompanied it. I have read the Odes [to Obscurity and 
 Oblivion, by Bob Lloyd, # &c.] with uncommon satisfac- 
 tion, and hope they will produce a proper change in the 
 future compositions of Mason and Gray. I ever thought 
 those gentlemen, especially in their lyric performances, 
 too obscure ; indeed, I have read some of their stanzas 
 which were so poetical as scarcely to be sense. Pindar, in 
 my opinion, is a bad model. He was not always intelli- 
 gible to his countrymen, and perhaps his two great imi- 
 tators are a strong proof of the Pindarum quisquis, &c. of 
 Horace. 
 
 “ Depend upon it the 4 Fragments 5 [published by 
 Macpherson] are not translated from the Erse ; there is 
 not one local or appropriated image in the whole. I once 
 passed (for I cannot say I lived) twelve months in the 
 wildest part of the Highlands. The author, however, is a 
 man of genius. Muretus 5 s deception f was scarcely more 
 mgenious. 
 
 “ Mrs. Grainger desires her affectionate compliments to 
 
 * Robert Lloyd was born in 1733, aud died Dec. 15, 1764. The two 
 Odes here spoken of, says Mr. Lloyd, were written in concert with a 
 iriend, the author of “ A Jealous Wife [Colman].” They are printed in 
 Lloyd’s Works. 
 
 t This deception of Muretus was in some Latin verses which he sent to 
 
 caliger as ancient, and which Scaliger believed to be so. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Mrs. Percy, as does Miss Grainger to Miss Percy. I 
 shall write you a long letter by the fleet, and till then am 
 truly your i: Jas. Grainger. 
 
 (( My compliments to Mr. Shenstone, Binnel, &c. &c.” 
 
 “ Basseterre, June 5, 1761. 
 
 “ Sterne’s ravings [Tristrain Shandy] I have read, and 
 have as often swore as smiled at them. I never relished 
 Rabelais, it was ever too highly relished for me. I cannot 
 therefore admire his shatter-brained successor. 
 
 “ Hurd’s Dialogues I have seen, but I never suspected 
 they were his. 
 
 “ Lord Lyttelton’s are worthy of him ; he seems, how- 
 ever, to be a better writer than companion. He never 
 said anything more true than that no money ought to 
 be spared to purchase felicity. 
 
 “ I have given you already my opinion of the Erse 
 Fragments; they want the characteristic manners of bar- 
 barous antiquity ; they, however, are exquisite modern 
 pieces, and the schoolmaster has genius. 
 
 u The sooner your brother* comes the better ; he will 
 not long be out of employment. Mrs. Grainger joins me 
 in love to you and yours, and am, my dear friend, most 
 affectionately yours, “ Jas. Grainger.” 
 
 " My DEAR Friend, _ Basseterre, June 5, 1762. 
 
 “ It is now past ten at night, and though I am heartily 
 tired with the business of the day, which, by-the-by, has 
 been one of the hottest I ever felt since I came to the 
 West Indies, yet, as the fleet certainly sails to-morrow 
 forenoon, I am determined to encroach an hour or two 
 upon my rest to fill up this sheet. In the first place I am 
 to thank you for your present to Mrs. Grainger and my 
 little girl. Both received them in the manner so much 
 obligingness deserved; and as Louise can send Miss Percy 
 no literary productions from her native island, she has 
 only been able to thank your daughter with a pot of 
 sweetmeats, ■which she hopes will please her palate as 
 much as the pictures and fine print have done hers. You 
 will please to observe that the sweetmeats, with a pot of 
 pickled peppers, and a bottle of Cayon butter, which my 
 wife desires Mrs. Percy to accept of, have been sent to 
 Mr. Luard, to whom you must write your directions how 
 they are to be forwarded to you. 
 
 * Mr, Anthony Percy ; he died Nov. 7 , 1795, ret. 64. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 2 77 
 
 e< I was greatly disappointed at your brother’s not 
 coming out this year. I had secured a place for him with 
 the most eminent merchant in this island, which, though 
 it was far from being equal to his deservings, or my own 
 inclinations to serve him, yet, as it would have put him in 
 the way of advancing himself, I am sorry his friends 
 thought it not advisable to accept of ; they, no doubt, are 
 the best judges what would be of most advantage to him ; 
 yet I must observe to you that there is at present, and, 
 unless a scoundrelly peace is made, there will be still 
 greater opportunities for a young man who knows busi- 
 ness, and can be industrious, to advance his fortune. If 
 at any time afterwards your brother should find it to his 
 advantage to come to this country, he may always depend 
 upon my friendship, and till he can better provide for 
 himself my house and table shall be at his service. 
 
 “ I have the pleasure to acquaint you (for you who are 
 married and have children can never think the anecdotes 
 of the nursery impertinent) that my little girl has happily 
 got over all the disorders incident to infants. The small 
 pox were lately very frequent and fatal here, and, as I was 
 obliged to be constantly with the infected, I found myself 
 under a necessity of inoculating Louise, although she was 
 then teething. Thank God, my compelled rashness pro- 
 duced no bad consequence, for though she had an in- 
 credible number of pustules yet she happily recovered, 
 and her looks (no small consolation to a parent) have re- 
 ceived no unfavourable impression. Poor child, both she 
 and I have lately met with a dreadful loss. Her grand- 
 mother is dead. As she was one of the best women I 
 ever had the happiness of knowing, and was uncommonly 
 fond of my child, you will easily believe my concern. She 
 has left Louise a thousand pounds sterling when she 
 comes of age, and myself a handsome legacy; but what 
 are pecuniary advantages to the loss of so sincere and 
 afiectionate a friend ? 
 
 I hope you, my dear friend, have met with no losses 
 m this kind, and that your children (for you write me you 
 ave two) have had the small pox. If they have not, pray 
 et them be inoculated. 
 
 ft T . 
 
 i am sorry to tell you that I can be of no service to 
 )°u m either of your schemes as to the illustrating Don 
 Ulx °te, or getting you Indian poetry.* The Knight of 
 
 at th^period*^ 6 ®* ves S lim P es of Mr * Percy’s studies and Uterary projects 
 
278 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 La Mancha has often been read here before, but as to those 
 originals whom he so inimitably ridicules, some of them 
 may have passed the Line with the first Spanish adven- 
 turers, but you might with the same probability of 
 success look for Greek inscriptions as any of them among 
 the inhabitants of this island. Reading, I assure you, is 
 the least part of a Creole’s consideration. It is even 
 happy if they can read at all ; spell few of them can ; and 
 when they take up a book, modern romance, magazines, 
 or newspapers are the extent of their lucubrations. How 
 far the North Americans are greater proficients in litera- 
 ture than the West Indians 1 cannot determine : sure I 
 am they are men of less probity, from the specimens I 
 have had of that country, and I can safely add not better 
 scholars. Hence you see the total inability I am under 
 of not being able to gratify myself, in rendering those 
 works, which I conceive must add to your literary reputa- 
 tion, more perfect in their kind. You therefore can only 
 have my good wishes for their completion and success. 
 
 ‘ e Neither I nor Mrs. Grainger have been able to read 
 the Chinese Romance * thoroughly through ; for ten 
 months past my house has been an hospital, and last 
 month my worthy mother-in-law died here. We there- 
 fore reserve it for more easy leisure ; at the same time I 
 must acquaint you that Mr. Bourryau, who has critically 
 perused it, thinks very differently of it from the learned 
 Critics of the Annals of Literature, 
 
 “ You may remember I some time ago mentioned 
 my being engaged in a work of some length and diffi- 
 culty. Lately I completed it, at least for the present, 
 though no less than a Georgic, and in four books too. It 
 is called the e Cane Piece, ’f and was composed mostly in 
 my rides to the different parts of the island to visit my 
 patients. I now send you the whole ; only as I have seen 
 no hurricane, and have not yet had time to arrange my 
 remarks on a fire by night in a cane field, those parts in 
 the second book are incomplete. When I can finish them 
 to any sort of purpose, you shall have them. What I 
 have to desire of you, my friend, is to peruse the MS. 
 with the utmost attention, and, if you then sincerely think 
 that its publication will establish my poetical fame, I must 
 beg of you to polish it with the utmost exactness. I 
 would also request the same favour of Mr. Shenstone and 
 
 Hau Kiou Choan ; or, a Pleasing History translated from the Chinese 
 Language. 4 vols. 1761. By Dr. Percy, 
 f Afterwards printed under the name of “ The Sugar Cane,” four books. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 279 
 
 Mr. Binnel ; and this I flatter myself they will readily 
 comply with, unless more important avocations employ 
 their attention. The second book you will see is addressed 
 to our friend at the Leasowes; and I must tell you it is my 
 favourite one of the whole. Binnel knows already, and 
 you will please to let Mr. Shenstone know, that I can bear 
 to have my verses butchered, as Thomson used to call it, 
 so that they need not stand upon ceremony with me. In 
 short, I desire my work should be as perfect as possible ; 
 they therefore cannot be too critical in its perusal. Their 
 remarks and sentiments please to send me by the packet 
 which sails every month from Falmouth, for as the 
 subject is foreign to any thing British, it is possible 
 they may think alterations necessary where it would take 
 away from the truth of the poem. The whole is con- 
 tained in three letters, directed as usual. My design, in 
 case they meet with your and your friends’ approbation, 
 is to have them printed by Baskerville in 4to. on the finest 
 paper, with tallies douces , and, as I can have almost every 
 gentleman in this island for a subscriber, I propose to 
 publish it in that way. However, this is a distant affair, 
 and I never will make it public unless I am assured my 
 character cannot suffer thereby. I intend to address the 
 whole to Mr. Pitt ; this is uncourtly, but I desire no 
 favours, indeed I stand in need of none. My business 
 is enough for me. You cannot be more surprised at the 
 rapidity of the conquest of Martinique than we are here. 
 Art and nature had done their utmost to render it impreg- 
 nable, and the day our people first landed at Cas des 
 Navires there were 18,000 opponents to them in arms. 
 But what cannot British spirit when conducted by prudent 
 and gallant officers ? One thing I must, however, inform 
 you of : the soldiers and inferior officers actually took it ; 
 nor was it known to their generals, nor indeed believed, 
 when they were told of their having reduced Morne 
 Gamier. A drunken soldier occasioned the surrender of 
 the fort. i( Yours sincerely, Jas. Grainger. 
 
 “ Rev. Mr. Percy , Easton Mauduit 
 
 “ My DEAR Percy, Basseterre, July 25, 1762. 
 
 K Although I have great reason to believe I shall not 
 have time to fill up the half of this sheet, as the fleet sails 
 to-morrow, and my house is as noisy as an inn, yet I have 
 sat down to it, with a resolution of blotting as much of it 
 as I can. 
 
280 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ By the June fleets which must have got to England 
 by this time, I sent you a book * instead of a letter , which I 
 hope you have received. Every packet was addressed, as 
 usual, to Lord Sussex, and therefore I flatter myself they 
 came safe to hand. 
 
 (! I now send you some additions; and must conjure 
 you, by our friendship, to give the whole a serious and 
 critical perusal. There can be no mediocrity in a Georgic. 
 You must therefore tell me at once if you think mine of 
 that stamp : it shall then be suppressed ; for I mean to 
 establish (not lose) the character of a poet. 
 
 u I know your regard for me inclines you to think well 
 of every thing I write ; I must, therefore, entreat you to 
 communicate the whole to Mr. Shenstone, as he knows 
 me less, and must be more dispassionate. 
 
 “ I have made many verbal corrections of the whole ; 
 but these I shall not send till I receive your opinion of 
 the piece, which I desire may be by the first opportu- 
 nity; and you know the packet sails five or six times 
 a-year from Falmouth for the West Indies. 
 
 “ The Preface, Arguments to each Book, and Dedica- 
 tion, are also finished ; but these it were needless to trans- 
 mit to you, unless the work attracts your approbation. 
 
 “ Pitt is my patron ; you see by that I am no courtier. 
 Thank God, I want no favour from that quarter, and 
 would rather gain an honest livelihood by the sweat of 
 my brow than enjoy any post his Majesty could give 
 me, with the loss of freedom of speech and my inte- 
 grity. Indeed I am astonished how men of independent 
 estates can submit to the drudgery of court attendance. 
 They may be ambitious, but are not philosophers; they 
 may be fond of titles and distinction, but are quite out of 
 the road to contentment and felicity. No doubt all 
 courtiers are not vain or ambitious. Some may carry with 
 them the virtues of the shade into the sunshine of the 
 throne, yet they had better not continue too long in that 
 climate; else they will as certainly assimilate all the 
 courtly enormities, as the south wind, when it blows here 
 for any time, burns)up our cane lands. But peace to all 
 such ! 
 
 “ Let me proceed to a more pleasing subject. You have 
 been at great pains in collecting your notes to the Chinese 
 History. They throw much light upon it; and, to deal 
 
 * “ The Sugar Cane,” in MS. 
 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 281 
 
 frankly with you, I think they constitute the most valuable 
 part of your book. 
 
 “ I tolcl you I could be of no service to you in pro- 
 moting your intentional publications ; we have no old 
 books of knight-errantry in this island, and nobody can tell 
 me any thing of the Charibbean poetry ; indeed, from what 
 I have seen of these savages, I have no curiosity to know 
 ought of their compositions. 
 
 u I have, however, desired a nephew of mine (a gentle- 
 man of learning and genius), who goes to-morrow to North 
 America for his pleasure, to make all imaginable inquiry 
 after the poetry of the North Americans; and he has pro- 
 mised to do it. If he has any success, you may depend 
 upon my transmitting the effects of it to you. 
 
 “ I congratulate you on the increase of your family; but 
 let me entreat you to have your children inoculated. You 
 have no right to call them yours till they have had the 
 measles and small pox. I inoculated (with my own hands) 
 three times my Louise, before she took the infection. 
 You will be pleased to hear that my little girl answers all 
 my expectations. She has immense spirits, and is natu- 
 rally very healthy. She grows vastly entertaining, and is 
 a great favourite with everybody here. She has a pretty 
 little Mulatto slave, about five years of age, whom she is 
 very fond of; and what makes me love my child is her 
 humanity; for she will immediately burst into tears if 
 John (for so the Mulatto is called) is whipped, or falls a 
 crying. This, however, is a bad country for inspiring 
 children with tenderness. Wherever slavery obtains, 
 tyranny, insolence, impetuosity (not to mention any other 
 vices) must ever bear sway. But how repugnant these 
 to the genius of our government ; how repugnant, indeed, 
 to the general welfare ! I am therefore at no small pains 
 to counteract the moral tendencies of the island ; and, if I 
 do not deceive myself, my child promises to be pretty free 
 from the Creole vices. 
 
 “I am lucky; this happens to be a ball night at, I assure 
 you, a very great room, — no less than the Temple of Apollo 
 is the place of rendezvous ; so that I have got a little 
 more time than I at first expected, and shall scrawl on 
 now to the bottom of the page. 
 
 “ W T e have good news from the Havannah. Our forces 
 have opened their batteries against that strong place. 
 They have met with no disasters hitherto, and we have 
 
282 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 reason to believe that at this minute they have possessed 
 themselves of that most valuable fortress. Is this a time 
 to make an ignominious peace ? But we never yet could 
 cope with the French at negotiation. If we neglect this 
 opportunity, adieu, adieu, to those glorious Islands ! 
 
 “ I am, dear Percy, with my love to you and yours, 
 
 “ Most truly your friend, 
 
 “ Jas. Grainger. 
 
 “ Rev. Mr. Percy, Easton Mauduit.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Percy, Basseterre, April 18, 1763. 
 
 f< It is now better than fourteen months since I had the 
 pleasure of a line from you : this cessation of writing 
 would at all times have given me pain, as you have ever 
 been a punctual correspondent ; but at present I own my 
 uneasiness receives some increase from my having sent 
 you the four books of my Georgic early last summer, in 
 four letters directed as usual ; and about six months ago 
 I inclosed for you the description of a cane piece on fire 
 in the night, with several corrections of the part formerly 
 transmitted you. My four books you must have received, 
 because they were entrusted to the care of a brother-in- 
 law of my wife’s, who then went to England with his 
 family ; and the addition went by a Captain who got safe 
 to Europe, and who put my letter in the Post Office. 
 
 “ In all those letters I pressed you to write me by the 
 earliest opportunity (and in particular by the packet) your 
 undisguised sentiments of my poem; I have therefore 
 been in expectation of hearing from you every quarter, 
 and every quarter I have been disappointed. 
 
 “ One packet was taken by the French about seven 
 months ago ; perhaps my letters from you were on board 
 of her. This gives me some comfort, as you may still 
 have had no accident happen to you ; for I flatter myself, 
 nothing but sickness or death could make you forget me. 
 
 te I have now completed the Cane Piece, such as I could 
 wish to have it appear ; but I shall not transcribe either 
 my corrections or additions for England without first hear- 
 ing from you. 
 
 <c About five months ago I had like to have died ; and 
 in my will I left particular directions that all my poetical 
 writings should be transmitted to you, and that you 
 should be absolute master of their destiny. I know you 
 would have allowed nothing of mine to have been pub- 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 283 
 
 lished that would have transmitted me to after-times in an 
 unworthy manner ; and I had rather not be talked about 
 hereafter, than talked of as an indifferent poet. I sincerely 
 congratulate you on the increase of your family, as on the 
 increase of your domestic happiness, and I hope your 
 children will possess all those qualities of head and heart 
 which you would wish them possessed of. My wife has 
 given me as yet no further addition to my family ; but she 
 is now with child, and I hope will have better luck with 
 this than she had with two boys (twins) last year. 
 
 “ I am much obliged to you for the kind offer you make 
 me of becoming a father to my daughter, when sent to 
 England. I am well aware of the extreme importance of 
 the office ; and I should have no scruple of committing 
 my Louise to your sole direction, but certainly it is time 
 enough to send her for England at six years of age ; till 
 that period of life, children may remain with even the 
 most indulgent parents in the West Indies; after that, 
 they should be shipped off for Europe without loss of 
 time. 
 
 “ What is become of your brother ? I could have got 
 him employment twenty times over at the Grenaclas, 
 where many of my friends have purchased large planta- 
 tions. I too should have become an adventurer there 
 had I had any ready cash, but I had converted all my 
 money into negroes. However, I may yet be able to bor- 
 row a thousand or two sterling, and then I shall certainly 
 make a push either in that island or in some of the neutral. 
 
 “At this time money properly laid out will pay the 
 person who hazards it better than eight per cent. ; judi- 
 cious purchasers can therefore well afford to pay seven per 
 cent, for money. 
 
 “ Mr. Bourryau has bought a vast estate in Grenada, 
 and by that means 1 can get no money on loan from him. 
 I, however, still hope to be able soon to acquaint you of 
 my being at last master of as much land in this country 
 as one of the descendants of Bright, of fat memory, could 
 walk over in five minutes at noon in July or August. 
 
 “ Are the people with you all gone mad ? I never read 
 such shocking stuff in my life as the political papers for 
 some time past published ; they are even a disgrace to 
 Grub Street, and nothing can exceed the folly of losing 
 time in their perusal but the wickedness of writing them. 
 
 “ The folks here are not over well pleased with the 
 
284 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 terms of the peace. They say it might have been made 
 more to the advantage of the Sugar Islands ; and, no doubt, 
 had Porto Rico been ceded to us, in a few years that island 
 would have been more beneficial to the mother country, 
 than all our other West India colonies put together. I 
 speak this from good authority. But the time is over, 
 and we shall hardly ever have such an opportunity again. 
 
 “ Please to make my compliments acceptable to Mrs. 
 Percy. Mrs. Grainger also desires the same favour of 
 you ; and do not forget me to Mr. Shenstone (to whom 
 my second and favourite Georgia is addressed) and to 
 Mr. Binnel. I hope yet to embrace you all ; and am, in 
 the meanwhile, dear Percy, yours, Jas. Grainger. 
 
 “ Rev, Mr. Percy , Easton Mauduit.” 
 
 “My DEAR FRIEND Percy, London, 30 Nov. 1763. 
 
 “ I came to town on Saturday night much fatigued from 
 Scotland, where I had been on family business for some 
 weeks. What I came about I have done to my satisfac- 
 tion. How can I see you ? My time is short, and yet I 
 must see you. I have luckily got your two last letters at 
 Mr. Guard’s, and am obliged to you for the books. I have 
 brought a corrected copy of ‘ The Sugar Cane,’ which re- 
 ceived the approbation of Lord Karnes. Your account of 
 poor Shenstone* and Binnelf drew tears from my eyes. I 
 shall never forget them. God preserve you in good health ! 
 What would become of me were you too snatched away ? 
 I rejoice in the increase of your family. May they be every 
 thing you and Mrs. Percy desire ! If they resemble their 
 father and mother they will be esteemed here and happy 
 hereafter, and I can think of no greater blessing. Direct 
 to me at Mr. Luard’s, and believe me, my dearest Percy, 
 
 “Your most affectionate friend, 
 
 “ Jas. Grainger. 
 
 “ My best respects to good Mrs. Percy, and kiss the dear 
 children. 
 
 “ Rev. Mr. Percy, Easton Mauduit.” 
 
 * Mr. Shenstone died Feb. 11, 1763, aged 42. 
 
 f Of Mr. Binnel, see p. 248. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 285 
 
 44 DEAR PERCY, Sunninge, Jan. 22, 1764. 
 
 Cl The Foulis’s have not yet made any copper plates 
 from the Chevy Chase drawings, so you need not wait for 
 that embellishment to the ballad. Had Mr. Bodsley sent 
 me Petrarch and Lord Surrey, I could have compared 
 them since I came to Mr. Spooner’s. For want of that 
 employment I have travelled through Japan with Kemp- 
 fer, and made the tour of the Chinese Wall with Atha- 
 nasius Kircher. What a liar that good father is ! But 
 neither Hisson nor Pekin yield me half the amusement 
 that Arthur’s Court used to do at your fireside. I am 
 come to no absolute determination with regard to 4 The 
 Sugar Cane.’ I will not, however, risque its publication 
 at my own expense. Suppose you mentioned it to Mr. 
 Tonson. I am told he is more of a gentleman in his 
 dealings than any of the trade. Sam Johnson has got 
 the second book, but whether he has yet perused it I 
 know not ; perhaps it may lie in his desk untouched till I 
 call for it. 
 
 u Mr. White is to send you his English Verb,* hand- 
 somely bound. I have staid longer here than I intended 
 when I left London, but the roads hereabouts have been 
 impassable for postchaises ; I expect, however, to get to 
 town by the end of the week. Pray remember me to 
 worthy Mrs. Percy, whose civilities I never shall forget, 
 and kiss all the children for me. I hope they are all in 
 good health ; for, without that, what pleasure can they 
 afford their parents ? God bless them ! I long to see you 
 all, and to escape from noisy grandeur to sauntering tran- 
 quillity; and yet the country hereabouts is dry for walk- 
 ing, and we talk of scarce any thing else but dear St. 
 Christopher. I have been made happy with letters from 
 thence since I saw you. My good little woman was then 
 at Antigua with one of her sisters, and you may be certain 
 Louise was there also. I shall not set out for the West 
 Indies before the Spring. Mr. Vershold, who sailed be- 
 fore I came down to Easton, was drove ashore at Plymouth 
 in the last storm. How lucky it was I did not embark 
 with him, and yet it almost broke my heart to think he 
 
 * Mr. James White was a schoolmaster in Cecil Street in the Strand. 
 He afterwards removed to Dublin, where he pursued the useful career of 
 instructing youth for many years with considerable reputation. He pub- 
 lished “ The English Verb, a Grammatical Essay in the Didactic Form.” 
 8vo. 1761. In 1759 he translated “ The Clouds, a Comedy, by Aris- 
 tophanes,” He died about 1811. See Lit, Anecdotes, II, 380, 724. 
 
286 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 should go to St, Kitt’s without me, as I promised my 
 poor Daniel* to return with him. Direct for me as usual 
 at Mr. Luard’s, and believe me, my dear Percy, your 
 most affectionate friend, 
 
 Jas. Grainger.” 
 
 “ Dear Percy, March 24, 1764. 
 
 ce By having been for some days past at Mr. Luard’s in 
 the country, I did not get your letter till this day, which 
 must apologize for my not answering it sooner. 
 
 ec I was robbed about three o’clock of the day we 
 parted, about three miles on this side St. Alban’s. Luckily 
 he did not ask for my watch, and went off by telling me 
 he was sorry to be obliged to take our money. So civil 
 are our highwaymen. In France or Spain our death 
 would have preceded the robbery. 
 
 (( I have had but one proof of the ‘ Sugar Cane’ since I 
 came to London. The notes do not disfigure the page, 
 and therefore 1 have consented to let them remain where 
 they desire them to be in my 300. I have taken my pas- 
 sage for the middle of next month ; my matters may be 
 sent therefore as soon as possible. Remember me in a 
 particular manner to Mr. Lyef and his mistress. Send 
 Dodsley an order for your Ballads, &c. When I taxed 
 little Goldsmith % for not writing as he promised me, his 
 answer was, that he never wrote a letter in his life, and 
 faith, I believe him, unless to a bookseller for money. 
 
 “ I shall call on Mr. Apperley as you desire. He is a 
 good sort of a young man. I am, with my best respects 
 to the good woman and little folks, dear Percy, your af- 
 fectionate friend, 
 
 “ Jas. Grainger. 
 
 “ Direct to me at Mr. White’s, who sends his compli- 
 ments. He has not yet had the Fragments [of Runic 
 Poetry] .” 
 
 “ Dear Percy, April 6, 1764. 
 
 ts Strahan goes slowly on with the ‘ Sugar Cane.’ I have 
 had a proof of the last sheet of the first book. It makes 
 only six sheets, for he has unmercifully crowded twenty- 
 five lines into each page. The notes, after all, are put at 
 
 * Mrs. Grainger. f See hereafter, p. 290. 
 
 J Dr. Goldsmith. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 287 
 
 the bottom, but they do not disfigure the page. Sam 
 Johnson says he will review it in the Critical. He talks 
 handsomely of you. I mentioned to him your Disserta- 
 tion on the English Drama, and he expressed a desire to 
 see it. I have not yet had time to peep into Mallet’s 
 lately imported books, but I shall, for Mr. White under- 
 stands not the French. My best respects to Mrs. Percy, 
 and kiss the children. I am, dear Percy, your affectionate 
 friend, 
 
 u Jas. Grainger.’’ 
 
 “ My DEAREST Friend,’ London, April 30, 1764. 
 
 “ What could put it into your head that I was angry 
 with you ? God knows you never gave me any cause, and 
 I flatter myself the longer you and I live, and the better 
 we know one another, the stricter will our friendship be. 
 
 “ I have been so hurried of late with preparing for my 
 departure to the New World that I have not been able to 
 command one half hour of tranquillity to sit down and 
 write you ; and now that I am writing you, my head is so 
 confused that I scarce know what end of me is uppermost. 
 
 “ This forenoon I set out for Southampton, where I 
 embark. The ship’s name is the Generous Planter, com- 
 manded by Capt. Calf. She is river-built and sails well. 
 The Captain is a good-natured man, and has long used 
 our trade. There are some agreeable passengers. 
 
 “ God bless you and yours with every happiness your 
 heart can desire, and believe me, with my best respects to 
 worthy Mrs. Percy and the little ones, dear Percy, your 
 ever affectionate friend, 
 
 “ Jas. Grainger.” 
 
 [On Shenstone’s Poems.] 
 
 “ Southampton, May 14, 1764. 
 
 “ All the blank verse performances are languid, and too 
 long. Blank verse must have sublimity to supply the 
 want of the charms of rhyme, and loftiness was certainly 
 not our friend’s characteristic. lie was the poet of ele- 
 gance and the country. Some few of the prose pieces 
 have merit; but the best of them are flippant, antithetical, 
 and French. Often inaccurate in the expression, I in vain 
 
288 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 look for the author of the f School-mistress’ in the thoughts 
 and sentiments. Had Shenstone been alive, he would not 
 have published them in their present dishabille. Even 
 the Elegies, which are confessedly the most poetical of his 
 works, are they not sometimes obscure ? I certainly do 
 not always understand them. The f Sugar Cane’ is printed, 
 but when it will be published I know not. Desire Do dsley 
 to send you down a copy. 
 
 “ My love to good Mrs. Percy, and kiss the little folks. 
 e( Yours, most affectionately, 
 
 “ Jas. Grainger. 
 
 “ The Rev. Mr. Percy.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Friend, Basseterre, March 25, 1765. 
 
 “ Some weeks ago I wrote you a moderately long letter; 
 since that was sent I have had the pleasure of one from 
 you, inclosing me your elegant Dedication to Lady North- 
 umberland. I am not very fond of your writing the His- 
 tory of the House of Percy; it appears to me not only a 
 limited but a disagreeable subject. Can you vindicate 
 (palliatives will not do in a history, whatever they may in 
 a panegyric,) the conduct of the old Earl of Northumber- 
 land in James the First’s time, who was so long impri- 
 soned on account of the Gunpowder Treason ? How can 
 you cast a veil on the conduct of his son, with regard to 
 his gratitude to King Charles ? In short, my friend, in- 
 cedis cineri doloso , and if your patrons cannot bear to hear 
 the severity of historical truth, you should handsomely 
 decline writing the history of their ancestors. 
 
 “ Is my lady or her lord a lover of botany ? If so, ac- 
 quaint me, and I will send them a nobler collection of 
 exotic seeds than ever yet went to Europe. 
 
 “ My friend, I can disguise nothing from you, not even 
 my ambitious views. After having carefully surveyed all the 
 new islands, I have come to the resolution of leaving green 
 St. Christopher for ever and for aye, and of becoming a 
 planter in St.Vincent. I have the happiness of being upon 
 the best terms with General Melville, and if he had a place 
 of importance in his gift, suited to my talents, he would 
 give it me ; but I know he has no such preferment ; and 
 yet I could be glad upon many accounts that I were pos- 
 sessed of any* gainful place. Without being the slave of 
 business, as 1 have hitherto been, I should then be enabled 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 289 
 
 to follow the impulse of my genius, and range, for botani- 
 cal purposes, 
 
 ‘ The vales, the hills, the forest, and the mountain.’ 
 
 “ In one word, could you not insinuate to my lord,* that 
 a botanist and inspector of his Majesty’s reserved wood- 
 lands in the new islands would be a place of great utility 
 to the King (as it certainly would), if entrusted to one 
 who understood the nature of vegetables, and who would 
 devote much of his time to pursuits of that kind ? You 
 know my enthusiasm. You know that if the vegetable 
 wtorld was committed to my care, I would use my best 
 endeavours to turn it to the benefit of my King and my 
 country. 
 
 “ Were I not persuaded that you will at last get a mitre, f 
 I should propose to you to become an adventurer in our 
 new acquisition, and to come out here with my good 
 friend Mrs. Percy. For assure yourself, my friend, since 
 the settlement of Jamaica there never was a time when a 
 little money and much industry had so fair a prospect of 
 great success as at present. Could I have the happiness 
 of conversing with you one half hour, I should certainly 
 convince you. George Taylor thinks as I do, and goes to 
 St. Vincent along with me. I could wish you had a little 
 plantation in my neighbourhood ; what pleasure would it 
 give me in taking care of it for you ! Pray think of this. 
 One thousand pounds laid out in the manner I would dis- 
 pose it, should bring you in, from the first year, full eight 
 per cent. ; and if the interest was allowed to accumulate, 
 that is, if the produce of the land was to be expended on 
 its improvement, I could almost insure you a good estate 
 of three or even four hundred a year in a very few years. 
 Pray think of this, Percy, again. I am so persuaded of its 
 certainty, that I shall sell almost all my poor brother left 
 me in Scotland, and shall lay it out in St. Vincent. 
 
 cc I beg you to kiss the children for me, and tell them 
 Louise longs to play with them in England. My wife 
 desires to be remembered to Mrs. Percy. She thanks her 
 most kindly for her care of me when we were shut out, 
 not from the garden of Eden, at Easton Mauduit. She 
 hopes yet to see her, and to be as fond of her as she 
 knows me to be of you. Write me soon, and send me 
 °ut what the Reviews, &c. have said of my poem. The 
 
 1 
 
 * Hugh Earl of Northumberland ; created Duke of Northumberland in 
 ' 66, and died 1786. 
 
 t Dr. Grainger proved a true prophet. 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
 u 
 
290 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 planters say it is impudent in a Scot to pretend to teach 
 planting. I had it advertised here for a charitable pur- 
 pose, and, to the honour of the taste of this island, I have 
 got, how many subscribers do you think ? why, only a bare 
 dozen ! At Antigua, indeed, I was honoured with a nume- 
 rous and important subscription, as there is not a person of 
 real eminence whose name I have not. I have sent for my 
 friend Mr. Johnstone, in Bread Street Hill, two dozen to 
 be distributed among my friends. It was mere forgetful- 
 ness in me, when I left London ; pray apologize for me 
 again to my friends, especially to Mr. Lye. The good old 
 man will, I am afraid, think I have forgot him ; no such 
 thing, I assure you ; but I have been so very busy ever 
 since my return, that I have really not had time to perform 
 my promises. I had intended to have sent him the rum 
 by this vessel ; but I have been disappointed, for I will 
 send none but the very best. You shall also have some 
 sweetmeats for yourself; they are now preparing. I have 
 got some cocoa-nuts curiously cut by the negroes. Do you 
 think such things would be acceptable to Lady Northum- 
 berland ? Half a dozen copies will be marked for you, 
 which please send for to Mr. Johnstone’s, and dispose of 
 them as you think proper. Send me out the ^Ballads,’ and 
 let me know what the world says of them. I hope you 
 will sing yourself at least into a stall, if not into a throne. 
 
 t{ Yours, for ever, J. G.” 
 
 es Rev, Mr. Percy , Easton MauduitP 
 
 “ My DEAREST Friend, [Received in Sept. 1765.] 
 
 u I received some weeks ago your invaluable collection 
 of ‘ Antient Poetry,’ and can only say, in commendation 
 thereof, that it afforded me as sincere a pleasure in the 
 perusal as any performance I ever read of your writing. 
 I much approve of the new order in which you have 
 arranged the whole, and I apprehend the reader of taste 
 will find not less entertainment than the mere lover of 
 antiquity. May the Percy family think of your abilities 
 as I do, and then I am sure you will soon enjoy otiuvn, 
 cum clignitate. 
 
 “ I am truly obliged to you for the affectionate concern 
 you express with regard to my circumstances. I assure, 
 you, my friend, I found them much altered for the worse 
 at my return to this island. There had been great want 
 of conduct in the management of my little affairs, and no 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 291 
 
 less want of economy. In short, had not my poor 
 brother died at the critical time he did, I should have 
 been in much the same circumstances as Adam when 
 expelled Paradise, with all the world before me. Matters 
 are not now quite so bad, but yet I cannot prevail on 
 myself to think of returning to Europe with my family 
 till I have seen the event of settling the neutral Islands. 
 I have got a good number of fine young negroes, and, as I 
 am well acquainted with West India agriculture, I cannot 
 help thinking it will be worth my while to sacrifice a few 
 more years in this climate, to the leaving behind me a 
 little fortune of four or five hundred a-year to my family. 
 Nor is this so chimerical a scheme, even in a poet, as you 
 may at first apprehend ; for, though I readily allow that 
 infant settlements are attended with many great and 
 unavoidable calamities, yet, considering my profession, 
 and the easiness of the terms of paying the Government, 
 I must say that I think myself as qualified to clear a 
 plantation as most of the adventurers. At the same time 
 I am to acquaint you that as yet I have made no purchase. 
 I did indeed attempt to get up to the last sales at St. 
 Vincent, but what with calms, cross winds, and a bad 
 sailing vessel, I was constrained to return, after having 
 been seventeen days out at sea ; but next time I hope to 
 have better luck, when, if I do not make an advantageous 
 purchase, I shall then most seriously think of coming 
 back to Great Britain with my family, being fully persuaded 
 that I can live not only cheaper but more to my liking in 
 that country than here. 
 
 “ I am perfectly satisfied with the reception the f Sugar 
 Cane’ has met with, and am greatly obliged to you and 
 Mr. Johnson for the generous care you took of it in my 
 absence. It has, I find, even made its way to Paris, 
 where, in a Literary Gazette lately set up by the French 
 Ministry, it is praised greatly beyond what I could have 
 expected from the critics of that country. The work I 
 mean is intitled ‘ Gazette Litteraire de l’Europe,’ &c. 
 hut you probably have seen it. 
 
 cc Mr. White’s affairs have given me real concern ; but 
 before this time he must be convinced it is not my fault 
 that he still remains unprovided for. I inclosed, some 
 months ago. General Thomas’s letter to me on the subject 
 of his nomination, in a letter to him, directed to the care of 
 Mr. Auld, at the Sword Blade Coffee-house, Birohin Lane. 
 Imt, though I have not yet succeeded, I still hope, at least 
 
 u 2 
 
292 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 nothing in my power shall be left unattempted. In the 
 mean time I am sorry he has thrown himself out of bread; 
 would to God I could support him, for I do not know a 
 worthier creature. 
 
 “ The tongues were excellent ; I have sent you a pot 
 of ginger, and Mr. Johnson another. They are given 
 in trust to Captain Kiddal of the Rowly, who lives in 
 Princess Street, Reddriff, to whom you will write about them. 
 I have not wrote to Mr. Johnson, but you will please 
 to let him know of the ginger, and where to send for it. 
 I have also sent my worthy friend Mr. Lye some fine old 
 rum ; Captain Kiddal has the charge of that too, so I hope 
 it will come to him unadulterated. I often think of him 
 and his mistress ; this is not surprising, as the distance 
 from Easton to Castle Ashby is so small. 
 
 “ I give you joy on the increase of your family. I too 
 expect the same happiness in a few days. Louise sends 
 her love to her young friends in Northamptonshire; I 
 believe, if every thing answers, I shall send her to Eng- 
 land next year. Mrs. G. sends her best respects to good 
 Mrs. Percy, and longs much to have the happiness of 
 a meeting. God grant it may be soon, for I cannot bear 
 the thought of leaving my bones in this country of Vandals. 
 
 “ Yours for ever, Jas. Grainger. 
 
 u Rev . Thomas Percy , Easton Mauduit 
 
 “My dear Percy, Feb. 29, 1766. 
 
 “ I have wrote one or two letters since I had the plea- 
 sure of hearing from you, but I presume your journey to 
 Alnwick, with your other necessary avocations, have pre- 
 vented you from writing as punctually as you used to do. 
 
 “ I sincerely congratulate you on the great success of your 
 e Ancient Poetry,’ The book deserves all the applause 
 which has been given it. But, I hope, it will not only enlarge 
 your fame but also your fortune. George Taylour swears 
 you certainly will soon sit in a stall, and I myself firmly 
 believe that, without its raining mitres, one will fall upon 
 your head. The lawn can add no real dignity to you, but 
 may receive it from you. 
 
 “ I have sent you two carved cocoa-nuts ; we drink water 
 out of them in this country. If you judge them worthy 
 of your noble patroness I beg you will present them to 
 the Countess* in my name. I find that Lord Hertford and 
 some other noblemen have purchased estates in Grenada, 
 * The Countess of Northumberland, 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 293 
 
 I wish Lord Northumberland would also become a planter 
 there ; and I will undertake, with 30,000/., to put his Lord- 
 ship in possession of an estate, which, in a few years, by 
 my management, shall nett him between four and five 
 thousand a year. Would not this be a noble provision for 
 a younger son ? Could his Lordship be prevailed upon to 
 think seriously of this affair, I will quit my profession here, 
 and devote the whole of my time to his service, and he 
 shall have any security he may judge necessary for my 
 faithfully discharging my duty. 
 
 “ I have laid aside all thoughts of purchasing on the 
 Neutral Islands, because, I am persuaded, the first adven- 
 turers there will all be ruined. Don’t you recollect to 
 have read some queries relative to those islands in the 
 English newspapers ? They are of my writing, and con- 
 tributed not a little to open people’s eyes with regard to 
 the disadvantageous mode of their settlement. 
 
 “ I am, at present, wholly undetermined, whether I shall 
 continue in the West Indies or return to England. What 
 my brother left me is not sufficient to maintain my family 
 without business ; and, I do not know how far I should be 
 able to get into any, should I again make London the place 
 of my abode. It is certain I can not only live here, but 
 also save some small matter yearly by my profession. But 
 then I am lost, murdered, for want of company, and Avith 
 all my sweat I never can expect to make an independent for- 
 tune by physic. Pray write me your sentiments on this 
 head.” 
 
 “ Dear Percy, Dec. 4, 176G, Basseterre, St. Kitt’s. 
 
 “ I have not had the pleasure of receiving one single 
 line from you these eight months, although I have wrote 
 you two pretty long letters (at least for one of my avowed 
 laziness in writing) during that period. Indeed they both 
 went by out-port ships, one by Bristol and the other by 
 Liverpool ; and therefore they may never have come to 
 your hand. This, however, I know will, as it goes by my 
 old friend Capt. Calfe, by whom I now send you a fat West 
 India barrow, fed chiefly on sugar cane, two pots of 
 sweetmeats, a bottle of Cayenne pepper, and a carved 
 cocoa-nut. If he does not send to you at Northumberland 
 House, you will be sure to hear of him at Lloyd’s. 
 
 se I congratulate you again on the success of your 
 ‘Ancient Ballads $’ though great, it is not more than they 
 
294 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 deserve, and I sincerely rejoice with you on the occasion. 
 How came it about that no notice was taken of the Sugar 
 Cane in the last year’s Register ? Dr. Cullen writes me 
 from Edinburgh, that it has been greatly applauded at 
 Paris by the authors of the Gazette Litteraire de V Europe. 
 Have you seen their work ? They are patronised by the 
 ministry, and therefore may be impartial. 
 
 “ I am truly pleased to find that our old friend Mr. Lye* 
 has been at last encouraged to give his great work to the 
 public; and I beg that you will take care to have my 
 name inserted among his subscribers. Whatever you 
 advance on that score shall be thankfully repaid. 
 
 “ Friend Samuel f has indeed been abused ; but has he 
 succeeded much better than some of his predecessors ? I 
 have lost my own subscription for Shakespeare, but Mr. 
 Johnson will readily let me have the book upon your 
 applying to him for me. 
 
 “ I have not seen Miss Williams’s Miscellany. Books 
 of that kind seldom visit these islands. Magazines, 
 newspapers, and the Court Register are the sum total of 
 our reading here. I hope she had a numerous subscrip- 
 tion. If I am not mistaken I subscribed a great many 
 years ago. 
 
 “ I have at last got into a house of my own, and I now 
 write you in a library thirty-six feet long and twenty wide. 
 It is at the end of a very pretty little garden, and com- 
 mands a complete prospect of the bay and beautiful vale of 
 Basseterre, which is, at this moment, more verdant than 
 any English meadow in the month of May. From this 
 you will easily conclude that I mean to remain some years 
 longer in the torrid zone. 
 
 “ I have some thoughts of sending to England my eldest 
 daughter next year. Might I presume to recommend her 
 to your and Mrs. Percy’s care ? I beg you will be expli- 
 cit with me on the subject, for I well know the import- 
 ance of the favour I ask of you. She is a charming child, 
 and I hope will be a comfort to me in my old age.J < 
 
 c< For God’s sake what is become of poor James White • 
 
 * The Rev. Edward Lye, vicar of Yardley Hastings, near Castle Ashby, 
 and a neighbour of Mr. Percy, at Easton Mauduit. His great work was ms 
 Saxon Dictionary, of which he lived to see only 30 sheets printed, as he die 
 Aug. 16, 1767, in his 73d year ; but that valuable work was completed an 
 published by his friend the Rev. Owen Manning in 1772. See Literaiy 
 Anecdotes, IX. 751' — 753. 
 
 f Dr. Samuel Johnson. 
 
 X Dr. Grainger survived the writing of this letter only twelve days. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 295 
 
 I, in vain, endeavoured to get a living for him here. What 
 does he do ? How does he live ? One Mr. Woodley 
 comes out here our General in the spring of the year. 
 Perhaps your great friends may know him. Would to 
 God he were settled in this island ! 
 
 “ If Lord or Lady Northumberland are curious in West 
 India productions, I should think myself highly honoured 
 in executing their commands. My wife joins in love 
 to Mrs. Percy and the children ; and I am, as usual, dear 
 Percy, “ Your friend, 
 
 “ Jas. Grainger. 
 
 “ Rev. Thomas Percy , Northumberland House , London P 
 
 Mrs. Grainger to Dr. Percy. 
 
 iC Dear Sir, Exeter, Jan. 27, 1771. 
 
 “ * * * * I fear you never will forgive me were I not 
 to let you know the likeness of dear Dr. Grainger is in a 
 picture at Sir George Chambers’s, painter, in Edinburgh ; 
 a circumstance I never heard till very lately. I am sure it 
 cuts me to my very heart and soul that it is not in my power 
 to send for it ; nor do I dare to ask for it for my children. 
 * * *. Your affectionate friend, 
 
 <( Daniel Mathew Grainger.” 
 
 Mr. Allen to Dr. Percy. 
 
 sc REVEREND Sir, London, January 15, 1774. 
 
 “ Your first receipt for Mrs. Percy’s pension was 
 readily admitted, and the money accordingly paid. The 
 account you sent me in a former letter relative to Dr. 
 Grainger I got inserted in the Whitehall Evening Post of 
 Thursday last, and for which you have the thanks of 
 many in rescuing from the fangs of detraction the charac- 
 ter of so worthy a man, and his surviving family. As I 
 threatened them with a prosecution for defamation, they 
 readily inserted it without any fee. I have reserved two 
 papers for your use, as you desired me. I have this day 
 taken up one of your drafts for £10, the other I expect 
 Hill be brought in on Monday. I beg mine and Mrs. A*s 
 compliments to Mrs. Percy. 
 
 f I am, Reverend Sir, your most obedient humble 
 SGrvant > _____ E. Allen.”* 
 
 ft-L ^ wai 'd Allen was a printer in Bolt Court, Fleet Street, and the 
 j°‘ Dr - Johnson, Bp. Percy, &c, He died Dec. 28, 1780. See Lit. 
 Anecdotes, II. 552, VIII. 417. 
 
296 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Mrs. Grainger to Dr. Percy. 
 
 Near Bethun, in Flanders, July 19th, 1779. 
 
 « It is impossible, my dear Sir, to express the many 
 obligations I have to you for your many kind acts of 
 friendship to me. Your last letter to me I received, and 
 return you my most grateful thanks for it. Your affec- 
 tion and love for my dear Grainger makes the strongest 
 impression on me, and also the kind and tender account 
 you are so good as to give me of my dear little girl; that 
 she may possess the goodness of her dear father is my 
 daily prayer to Heaven. I beg, good Sir, you will be so 
 kind as to make my most affectionate love to Mrs. Percy, 
 and assure her it is a pleasure to me to hear of her health 
 and your dear children. I showed your kind letter to Mr. 
 Tuite, and I have the satisfaction to tell you it had the 
 desired effect. God forgive Mrs. Can van ; it was very 
 cruel of her. I beg, my dear Sir, once more to ask a 
 favour of you, which is in behalf of my good friend Mr. 
 Tuite. He is a most worthy man, with a large family of 
 children, and but a small fortune to provide for them. He 
 now has four sons, young men, to provide for, and they 
 are very desirous to serve his Majesty ; one of them is 
 very fond of going to sea, the other two in the army. As 
 his family is very large and fortune small, it is out of his 
 power to provide for them as he could wish, or as they 
 merit. You are not unacquainted with the very great 
 expense necessary to fit out a young man to make a proper 
 appearance in the world. By your kind recommendation, 
 of them to his grace the Duke, and your other good friends 
 Lord Percy and Lord Algernon, I flatter myself you 
 will be able to provide for them without putting the father 
 to any great expense. The young men in question are 
 just come from college, and the eldest is 22 and the other 
 two 21 and 19 ; very good young men, robust, and very 
 fond of the service. In such a disagreeable war as we 
 are engaged in at present, I hope my application will 
 be attended with success, as I flatter myself your 
 friendship for me will prompt you to use your interest 
 with the family for the sons of my friend, who I shall be 
 happy, through your means, to be of service to. I beg 
 you to excuse the liberty I take in requesting this favour; 
 but the friendship that you have ever professed for me 
 will, I have no reason to doubt, prove a sufficient excuse 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 297 
 
 for the liberty. It is now more than two years that I 
 have lived with Mr. Tuite/s family, and have experienced 
 from them the utmost friendship and attention. They 
 keep but little company, and that of the very best, and, 
 this I will say, they never go out without me. He has 
 two very fine daughters, young women ; the youngest is 
 most beautiful. She is as respectful to me as if I was her 
 mother. I hope, good Sir, to have the pleasure of hear- 
 ing from you soon, and at the same time some news for 
 my young friends ; the one for the sea will be glad to get 
 out as soon as he can. I wish it was in my power to write 
 you something to amuse you ; the only thing I have seen 
 that I think you will like to hear is the account of a feast 
 I was at a few Aveeks ago. The Prince de Ghistelles, a 
 grandee of Spain, of the first class, and a person of dis- 
 tinction in this country, of the house of Melun, and uncle 
 to the Princess of Stalburg, wife to the Prince Charles, 
 (commonly called the Pretender) has given an elegant fete 
 at his chateau. It is a custom in many parts of France 
 for the seigneurs of a \dllage to reward their young pa- 
 rishioners, in order to inspire in them good and virtuous 
 sentiments ; for this purpose a feast was instituted by St. 
 Medard, formerly Bishop of Noyon, who Avas the patron 
 and founder of the Rose of Sulaney, a village near Noyon, 
 in the province of, I am not sure Avhere ; you may find his 
 name in the Bede Roll of saints in the Romish calendar. 
 The seigneur or lord of the manor sends for the old men 
 of the village, and begs them to fix on a young Avoman 
 born of honest parents, remarkable for her prudence and 
 good behaviour, as a proper candidate for the rose. When 
 the choice is made, her cottage is ornamented Avith fes- 
 toons of flowers and other rural ornaments, and on the 
 appointed day she is crowned with a wreath of roses, and 
 the seigneur presents her Avith a silver medal, Avhich she 
 wears pendant to a blue ribbon till the day of marriage. 
 On one side is engraven e The Reward of Virtue/ on the re- 
 verse the name of the seigneur, and on the day of mar- 
 riage he makes her a present toAvards housekeeping. The 
 Avhole ceremony is formed into an opera, and translated 
 from the French by a gentleman of my acquaintance, 
 which I hope you will soon see represented on the English 
 theatre, under the title of the Rose of Winstay. As a com- 
 pliment to Sir Watkin Wynne, the author means to dedi- 
 cate this performance to Lady Wynne. I will now pro- 
 
298 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ceed to give a description of the feast of Beuvry, a village 
 adjoining to Bethune, where the Prince de Ghistelles at 
 present resides. At twelve the prince sent his coach and 
 four to attend us to his chateau, which is about a league 
 distant, where we found a crowd of elegant company in 
 honour of the feast, who had not long been returned from 
 mass, where the rosiere assisted, and received the sacra- 
 ment from the hands of the Bishop of Arras, in his mitre 
 and sacred vestments. At ten the rosiere walked in pro- 
 cession to the parish church, attended by twelve young 
 maidens, all in white, with the same number of old men. 
 The dinner was exceedingly elegant ; above fifty people 
 sat at the same table. The salle a manger was decorated 
 with trees, festoons of flowers tied with knots of ribbons, 
 with a picture in the centre representing the ceremony of 
 the Fete of the Rose. After dinner the company walked 
 in procession to the church, before which the rosiere was 
 conducted into the private chapel in the chateau, where 
 she was adorned with a cordon bleu , to which hung ap- 
 pendant an elegant silver medal. On one side was the bust 
 of St. Medard, patron of the rosiere ; the reverse, * Insti- 
 tuted by Joseph Philip Alexander, Prince de Ghistelles, 
 Melun, Richbourg, Grandee of Spain of the first class, 
 June 6, 1779 and to her left breast was pinned a smaller 
 medal; on one side* La Recompence de la Vertu;’ the reverse, 
 c Instituted by Jos. Phil. Alexr. Prince de Ghistelles, &c. 
 &c. June 6, 1779/ The young maidens had each a cordon 
 bleu. The prince led the rosiere with his right hand, and 
 in his left he carried the wreath of roses. At the church 
 door the bishop received her in his mitre, with his crosier 
 in his hands, attended by the priests in their mantles, 
 copes, &c. with several different orders. After vespers the 
 procession (joined by the Conference of St. Eloy, bearing 
 the bust of that saint in silver) proceeded to a temporary 
 chapel built and ornamented for the occasion, amidst an 
 immense concourse of people, above 7j000, who were 
 curious to see the ceremony, never before exhibited in 
 Flanders. Upon her arrival at the chapel she kneeled and 
 received the benediction from the bishop. The prince 
 then crowned her amidst the acclamations of the crowd, 
 the priests, choir, &c. chanting a hymn written for the 
 occasion. The prince, on placing the wreath upon her 
 head, made a speech to the rosiere , in which he informed 
 her that the honour she that day received was the reward 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 299 
 
 of her virtue and prudence, and that as long as she con- 
 ducted herself with propriety he should continue to be her 
 friend, and that when she found an honest worthy man of 
 her own rank he should give her a portion. The com- 
 pany proceeded in the same manner to the chateau, after 
 which the prince conducted her to her cottage, and the 
 ceremony finished. 
 
 “ The r osier e is quite a common peasant, about 2^ 
 years old, not ugly, and, considering her rusticity, con- 
 ducted herself during the whole of the ceremony with 
 great propriety, modesty, and decency ; she was left an 
 orphan at twelve years old, with several brothers and 
 sisters, the youngest not twelve months old. She has 
 brought them up entirely by her own industry. They earn 
 a decent livelihood by spinning, and her brothers are 
 common labourers. Marie Clere Segond was then, accord- 
 ing to the opinion of every one, justly rewarded for her 
 prudence and virtue. The small medal she is obliged to 
 wear until she is married ; the large one with the cordon is 
 hung up in the chapel of the chateau, to serve for suc- 
 ceeding rosieres. I fear, good Sir, I have tired you, and 
 must beg you will forgive all blunders and my bad account 
 of the rosiere ; so will conclude with my best love and 
 compliments to my dear Mrs. Percy and your young- 
 family, and be pleased to accept the same from, good Sir, 
 your ever faithful friend and servant, 
 
 “ Daniel Mathew Grainger. 
 
 “ P.S. Pray direct for me Poste Restante a Bethune, for 
 Mr. Tuite has left Lille, and has taken a chateau in the 
 country/ 5 
 
 There are several other letters of Mrs. Grainger to 
 Bp. Percy, which shew the intimacy subsisting between 
 them, but of too private a nature to merit publication. 
 
300 
 
 JAMES BOSWELL, Esq. 
 
 A memoir of this celebrated man will be found 
 in vol. II. of Literary Anecdotes, pp. 400 — 404 ; 
 and numerous particulars of him in various parts 
 of that work ; see General Indexes, vol. VII. pp. 38, 
 518. See also “ Literary Illustrations,” vol. II. 
 p. 664, where his ode to Air. Dilly, the book- 
 seller, is printed. 
 
 In Mr, Prior’s “ Life of Goldsmith,” (1.446— 
 457,) is a long review of the character of Mr. 
 Boswell, so ably and justly written that we cannot 
 refrain from extracting a lew passages : 
 
 “ It may be true that Boswell was not a high- 
 minded man, but this did not necessarily unfit 
 him for the office he undertook [as biographer of 
 Johnson], Possessed of considerable talent, in- 
 dustry, and observation, he yet conveys no im- 
 pression of enjoying an enlarged or vigorous un- 
 derstanding. * # # * 
 
 " His peculiarities are often contradictory ; we 
 are in doubt whether sense or folly, simplicity or 
 cunning, a degree of pride sometimes amusing, or 
 a spirit of adulation almost servile, predominate in 
 the picture he has left of himself. If we find in 
 him occasional selfishness, there is likewise a de- 
 votion toward the great man whom he worshipped 
 approaching to generosity ; a determination, never 
 thought derogatory, to submit to humiliating 
 rebuffs and caustic reprehensions with a patience 
 more than philosophical. Mingled with this there 
 was much of real kindness in trying to cheer the 
 solitary hours of his friend, who sought society 
 from the relief thence afforded to a mind often 
 affected by morbid melancholy, and who had no 
 domestic companion to bestow it ; he further felt, 
 

 J5or/v 1740. _ iW 7775 
 
 -PuJi/iskedj by Nia2u?ls and Sara , Jldareda 32, 2843. 
 

 
 * 
 
CHARACTER OF JAMES BOSWELL. 301 
 
 probably, that this kind feeling formed his chief 
 claim to attention from the philosopher ; and that, 
 having intruded upon him at first with no slight 
 degree of intrepidity, as being young, unknown, 
 and without claim to such an honour, and con- 
 tinued it by perseverance, submission could alone 
 enable him to retain hold upon his affection. He 
 was proud, and not unreasonably so, of being 
 known as an attached friend of the first literary 
 man of the age ; but jealous to excess of others 
 who enjoyed an honour which he seemed to think 
 ought to be exclusively his own. # * # # 
 
 “ From these proofs of attachment and kindness 
 to one who has so many claims on our regard as 
 Johnson, if we cannot altogether respect Boswell, 
 it is difficult to dislike him. He was good- 
 humoured, free from malignity, and, excepting 
 when some jealousy or prejudice interfered, and 
 for which he may have thought he had sufficient 
 reason, seldom unjust to those of whom he had 
 occasion to speak. His social propensities were 
 well known ; and a contemporary, Mr. Courtenay, 
 thus laments his absence : 
 
 4 No Boswell joys o’er wine.’ 
 
 Want of candour is rarely among his defects. On 
 the contrary, he opens his mind so freely that we 
 discover much of what is passing there even pos- 
 sibly when such disclosure was not meant ; for, 
 had lie been conscious of the light in which we 
 are often obliged to view him, it is difficult to 
 believe he would not have shown more caution, 
 although at the expense of the interest attached 
 to his book.” 
 
302 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Mr. Boswell to Bp. Percy. 
 e( My DEAR Lord, Edinburgh, 8 March 1784. 
 
 “ The heavy loss which your Lordship suffered by the 
 death of your son, soon after my being entertained by 
 your Lordship with very kind hospitality at Carlisle, 
 made it so difficult for me to write to you that I hope 
 you will be good enough to forgive my long delay of ex- 
 pressing my sincere thanks, and I beg your Lordship 
 may at the same time be assured that none of your 
 friends sympathised more with you in your distress. 
 The consolations with which your Lordship’s mind is 
 stored have, I trust, had their benignant effect, so that we 
 may again hope for the benefit of your literary labours. 
 
 “ The state of the nation has for some time been such 
 that in my opinion every good subject is called upon to 
 defend the constitution by supporting the crown. I en- 
 close a pamphlet which I have published on the subject, 
 and which I am truly happy to find has had considerable 
 influence. I rejoice that the Irish appear to be so loyal. 
 If your Lordship thinks that my pamphlet will promote 
 the laudable spirit, and any of the Dublin publishers 
 choose to run the risk of reprinting it, I shall be glad to 
 hear of its success. 
 
 {( Be so obliging, my dear Lord, as to let me hear from 
 you, and tell me particularly how your lady and daugh- 
 ters like the new situation in which you are placed. If 
 you write soon please to direct to me at Auchinlech, near 
 Ayr, by Portpatrick. I intend to be in London about the 
 end of this month, chiefly to attend upon Dr. Johnson 
 with respectful affection. He has for some time been 
 very ill with dropsical and asthmatical complaints, which 
 at his age are very alarming. I wish to publish, as a 
 regale to him, a neat little volume, ( The Praises of Dr. 
 Samuel Johnson, by cotemporary Writers.’ It will be 
 about the size of Selden’s Table Talk, of which your 
 Lordship made me a present, with an inscription on the 
 blank leaf in front, which does me honour. It is placed 
 in the library at Auchinlech. Will your Lordship take 
 the trouble to send me a note of the writers you recollect 
 have praised our much respected friend. My address 
 when in London is at General Paoli’s, Portman Square. 
 
 “ An edition of my pamphlet has been published in 
 London, and the first line of the advertisement was, 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 303 
 
 c Reprinted for the People of England/ This should be 
 adopted in Dublin, mutato nomine. 
 
 “ I ever am, my dear Lord, your Lordship’s faithful 
 humble servant, James Boswell. 5 ’ 
 
 “ My DEAR Loud, Carlisle, 8 July 1784. 
 
 “ Having met with Mr. Buckby, a clergyman of your 
 Lordship’s diocese, as a fellow traveller, I take the oppor- 
 tunity of his going to Ireland to write a few lines, beg- 
 ging to know if your Lordship received in Spring last a 
 letter from me, with a political pamphlet ? 
 
 “ I have left Dr. Johnson wonderfully recovered, but 
 by no means well. I hope he will go to Italy before 
 winter. I have at length resolved, with his approbation, 
 to try my fortune at the English bar, a scheme of which 
 your Lordship talked to me in an animating strain, when 
 I was hospitably entertained by you at this place. 
 
 “ May I hope to hear from your Lordship at Edin- 
 burgh ? I beg to have my best compliments presented 
 to Mrs. Percy and the young ladies; and I ever am, my 
 dear Lord, your Lordship’s faithful humble servant, 
 
 “ James Boswell.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Auchinleck, 20 March, 1785. 
 
 “ Instead of apologising for not thanking your Lordship 
 sooner, for your last kind letter, which was valued by me 
 as it ought to be, I shall follow the maxim ad eventum 
 festina , and proceed directly to a subject which affects us 
 mutually — the death of our illustrious friend Dr. Johnson. 
 I certainly need not enlarge on the shock it gave my mind. 
 I do not expect to recover from it. I mean I do not 
 expect that I can ever in this world have so mighty a 
 loss supplied. I gaze after him with an eager eye ; and 
 I hope again to be with him. 
 
 “It is a great consolation to me now, that I was so 
 assiduous in collecting the wisdom and wit of that won- 
 derful man. It is long since I resolved to write his life — 
 I may say his life and conversation. He was well informed 
 of my intention, and communicated to me a thousand 
 particulars from his earliest years upwards to that digni- 
 fied intellectual state in which we have beheld him with 
 awe and admiration. 
 
 et I am first to publish the f Journal of a Tour to the 
 Hebrides,’ in company with him, which will exhibit a spe- 
 cimen of that wonderful conversation in which wisdom 
 
304 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and wit were equally conspicuous. My talent for record- 
 ing conversation is handsomely acknowledged by your 
 Lordship upon the blank leaf of 4 Selden’s Table Talk/ 
 with which you was so good as present me. The c Life * 
 will be a large w r ork enriched with letters and other ori- 
 ginal pieces of Dr. Johnson’s composition ; and, as I wish 
 to have the most ample collection I can make, it will be 
 some time before it is ready for publication. 
 
 “ I am indebted to your Lordship for a copy of <r Pope’s 
 Note’ concerning him, and for a list of some of his works 
 which was indeed written down in his presence uncon- 
 tradicted ; but he corrected it for me when I pressed him. 
 If your Lordship will favour me with any thing else of or 
 concerning him I shall be much obliged to you. You 
 must certainly recollect a number of anecdotes. Be 
 pleased to write them down, as you so well can do, and 
 send them to me. 
 
 “ I am now, as your Lordship once observed to me, 
 your neighbour . For, while here, at the romantic seat of 
 my ancestors, I am at no great distance from Ireland. I 
 hope we shall yet visit as neighbours. At present, how r - 
 ever, I am on the wing for London, where letters addressed 
 to me at General Paoli’s, Upper Seymour Street, Portman 
 Square, will find me. I beg to have my best compliments 
 presented to Mrs. Percy and the young ladies, and I have 
 the honour to remain, your Lordship’s faithful humble 
 servant, (S James Boswell.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, London, July 12th, 1786. 
 
 “ My friend Malone undertook to convey to your Lord- 
 ship a copy of my f Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides/ 
 which I hope you have received. 
 
 ee Your Lordship’s last letter to me, which had been 
 unaccountably mislaid in some corner of my house at 
 Edinburgh, has at last been found. I am very sorry that 
 it is now too late to obey your Lordship’s commands to 
 procure you a copy of our Scottish regulations, of which I 
 understand from the Bishop of Killaloe you have formed, 
 for your Royal Society, the best in the w r orld. But I beg 
 leave to renews mv solicitation, and to remind your Lord- 
 ship of your obliging promise to let me have any materials 
 in your possession that can illustrate the Life of Dr. 
 Johnson, which I am now preparing for the press. I beg 
 that your Lordship may be kind enough to fayour me with 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 S05 
 
 them as soon as you can, as I now have occasion for all that 
 I can get. Be pleased to direct for me at Mr. Billy’s, 
 bookseller, London. Though the magnitude and lustre 
 of his character make Dr. Johnson an object of the public 
 attention longer than almost any person whom we have 
 known, yet there is some danger that if the publication of 
 his life be delayed too long, curiosity may be fainter. I 
 am, therefore, anxious to bring forth my quarto. Pray, 
 then, send me your kind communications without delay. 
 
 “ I am much pleased with the edition of the 4 Tatler/ 
 with notes ; but I should have been better pleased had 
 the notes been all by one hand; your Lordship will under- 
 stand me.* I long to have the Spectator, my early 
 favourite, illustrated in the same manner. 
 
 “What a dreary thing (I cannot help feeling it) is it 
 to have one’s friends removed to a distant country ! 
 When I recollect the many pleasing hours which I have 
 passed with Dr. Percy in London, and the few at Alnwick, 
 and the few at Edinburgh, and a good many at Carlisle, 
 how much do I wish that he were well established in 
 England ! I am resolved, however, some time or other, to 
 see Ireland all over ; and with what glee shall we talk 
 over old stories at Dromore ! 
 
 “ I am now at the English bar, of which I long wished 
 to make a fair trial. How long I shall continue will 
 depend upon circumstances. 
 
 “ I beg to have my best compliments presented to Mrs. 
 Percy and the young ladies ; and I have the honour to be, 
 my dear Lord, your faithful humble servant, 
 
 “ James Boswell.” 
 
 Bp. Percy to Mr, Boswell. 
 
 “Dear Sir, Dublin, March 5th, 1787. 
 
 “My delay in answering your obliging letters I beg 
 you will ascribe to the true cause, the not being able to 
 satisfy myself that any particulars I could recover concern- 
 ing our friend Dr. Johnson were worth your notice, much 
 less would answer expectations I had formed myself, or 
 excited in you, when we talked of the subject at a dis- 
 tance. Yet I have often reproached myself for not sub- 
 mitting them to your perusal such as they were, and at 
 length have determined to send them to you, with the 
 
 * “ The Bishop of Dromore had no hand in this edition, T. D.” 
 VOL, YU, X 
 
306 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 addition of a Greek epitaph of Dr. Johnson’s on our poor 
 friend Dr. Oliver Goldsmith, which I procured two days 
 ago from Mr. Archdall of this country, who had been a 
 pupil of Dr. Sumner’s at Harrow, and was recommended 
 by him to Dr. Johnson, who gave him this epitaph, and I 
 send to you his (Mr. Archdall’s) own transcript, hoping it 
 will prove a peace-offering, and restore to me the pleasure 
 of your correspondence. 
 
 In conversations of Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Williams, 
 I have heard them mention the following incidents of his 
 childhood : — That he was sent to learn to read, or to im- 
 prove his reading, to a school-dame at Lichfield, who, 
 upon account of the defect in his eyesight, usually followed 
 him home, lest he should be run over in the streets, and 
 he was so near-sighted that he was obliged to stoop down 
 on his hands and knees to take a view of the kennel before 
 he ventured to step over it ; but if he discovered the old 
 woman following him, he would turn back in anger and 
 kick her shins. This old dame lived to hear that he was 
 a great author ; and once, when he came to Lichfield, 
 brought him a present of a pound of gingerbread, declaring 
 he was the best scholar she had ever had. 
 
 ei After he had gone through Dr. Hunter’s grammar 
 school at Lichfield, his father removed him to that of Stour- 
 bridge, where he got him to be received as an assistant 
 to the master, and where he was to have his own instruc- 
 tion gratis for teaching the lesser boys. I have heard him 
 remark, that at one of these he learnt much in the school 
 but nothing from the master ; at the other, much from 
 the master, but nothing in the school. Not far from 
 Stourbridge is the Free Grammar School of Tresull, in 
 Staffordshire, of which I believe Pope endeavoured to 
 procure him to be elected master by the interest of Lord 
 Gower, as is mentioned in a billet of Pope’s to Richardson 
 the painter, of which you have a copy. 
 
 a Dr. Johnson’s father, before he got him received at 
 Stourbridge, applied to have him admitted as a scholar 
 and assistant to the Rev. Samuel Lea, M.A., Head Master 
 of Newport School, in Shropshire (a very diligent, good 
 teacher, at that time in high reputation, and under whom 
 Mr. Hollis is said in the Memoirs of his Life to have been 
 also educated, as was afterwards your humble servant). 
 This application to Mr. Lea was not successful ; but 
 J ohnson had afterwards the supreme gratification to hear 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 307 
 
 that this old gentleman (who lived to a very advanced 
 age) mentioned it as one of the most memorable events 
 of his life;, that he was very near having <r that great man 
 for his scholar/ 
 
 “ S. Johnson was at length admitted of Pembroke Col- 
 lege in Oxford ; where the pleasure he took in vexing the 
 Tutors and Fellows has been often mentioned. But I 
 have heard him say, what ought to be recorded to the 
 honour of the present venerable Master of that college, 
 the Rev. William Adams, D.D., who was then very young, 
 and one of the Junior Fellows, that the mild but judicious 
 expostulations of this worthy mao, whose virtue awed him, 
 and whose learning he revered, made him really ashamed 
 of himself, 4 Though, I fear/ said he, 4 I was too proud to 
 own it/ 
 
 “ I have heard from some of his contemporaries, that he 
 was usually seen lounging at the college gate, with a cir- 
 cle of young students round him, whom he was entertain- 
 ing with his wit, and keeping from their studies, if not 
 spiriting them up to rebellion against the college disci- 
 pline, which in his maturer years he so highly extolled. 
 
 “He was accustomed to ascertain the era of his removal 
 to London by recollecting that it happened within a day 
 or two of the catastrophe of Eustace Budgell,* who having 
 loaded his pocket with stones, called a boat, and in the 
 midst of the Thames leaped over, and was drowned. He 
 remembered to have once walked through the New Ex- 
 change in the Strand, among the milliners’ shops men- 
 tioned in the Spectator, before that building was pulled 
 down and converted into private houses. 
 
 “When in 1756 or 1757 I became acquainted with him, 
 he told me he had lived twenty years in London, but not 
 very happily. 
 
 “ The above particulars are what I chiefly remember to 
 have heard him mention of his early life ; and you see how 
 little they are worth recording. 
 
 “ I have neglected to commit to writing the many bon 
 mots 1 have heard fall from Dr. Johnson, and have a 
 treacherous memory ; but I recollect one which I heard 
 from him and which I trust I did not hear in vain, with 
 which I will conclude this long letter. Being in his com- 
 
 * Eustace Budgell, in 1736, took a boat at Somerset-stairs, and ordered 
 the watermen to shoot London Bridge ; and, while the boat was going 
 under the bridge, threw himself into the river, and perished immediately. 
 
 x 2 
 
308 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 pany once, when a person told him of a friend of his who 
 had very fine gardens, but had been obliged to apply to 
 his neighbour, with whom he was not upon very cordial 
 terms, for a small piece of adjoining ground, which he 
 thought necessary to complete them — f See,’ said the 
 sage, £ how inordinate desires enslave a man ! One can 
 hardly imagine a more innocent indulgence than to have 
 a fine walk in a garden : yet, observe, even the desire of 
 this slight gratification, if carried to excess, how it humi- 
 liates and enthrals the proudest mind : here is a man 
 submits to beg a favour from one he does not love, be- 
 cause he has made a garden-walk essential to his happi- 
 ness P 
 
 “ I am extremely sorry that I can furnish you with no 
 more of his bon mots ; a treacherous memory, and the 
 having neglected to commit them to writing (to my great 
 regret), have now occasioned the loss of all treasures of 
 this sort, of which you have hoarded so rich a store. 
 Accept the above as a tribute of my respect and regard ; 
 and believe me to be, with my best wishes, dear Sir, your 
 very faithful humble servant, Tho. Dromore. 
 
 £{ P.S. I have heard with great pleasure the important 
 part you lately acted in the North. You are now con- 
 nected with a nobleman (Lord Lonsdale) who serves his 
 friends with a zeal and spirit which I hope will be attended 
 with the happiest consequences to your establishment in 
 England : I already anticipate his bringing you into the 
 House of Commons as an event no less certain than splen- 
 did to your fortunes. 
 
 (( N.B. I have never yet received the copy of your book,* 
 but am no less obliged to you. 
 
 “ Excuse this blotted scribbling j it is too long to 
 transcribe.” 
 
 Mr. Boswell to Bp. Percy. 
 
 _ T London, Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn 
 
 M.Y DEAR LORD, Fields, 9th February, 1788. 
 
 “ Procrastination we all know increases in a propor- 
 tionate ratio the difficulty of doing that which might have 
 once been done very easily. I am really uneasy to think 
 how long it is since I was favoured with your Lordship s 
 communications concerning Dr. Johnson, which though 
 few are valuable, and will contribute to increase my store. 
 
 * “ Tour to the Hebrides.” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 309 
 
 I am ashamed that I have yet seven years to write of his 
 life. I do it chronologically, giving year by year his pub- 
 lications, if there were any ; his letters, his conversations, 
 and every thing else that I can collect. It appears to me 
 that mine is the best plan of biography that can be con- 
 ceived ; for my readers will as near as may be accompany 
 Johnson in his progress, and as it were see each scene as 
 it happened. I am of opinion that my delay will be for 
 the advantage of the work, though perhaps not for the 
 advantage of the author, both because his fame may suffer 
 from too great expectation, and the sale may be worse 
 from the subject being comparatively old. But I mean 
 to do my duty as well as I can. Mrs. (Thrale) Piozzi’s 
 Collection of his letters will be out soon, and will be a 
 rich addition to the Johnsonian memorabilia. I saw a 
 sheet at the printing-house yesterday, and observed Letter 
 cccxxx, so that we may expect much entertainment. 
 It is wonderful what avidity there still is for every thing 
 relative to Johnson. I dined at Mr. Malone’s on Wed- 
 nesday with Mr. W. G. Hamilton, Mr. Flood, Mr. Wynd- 
 ham, Mr. Courtenay, &c. ; and Mr. Hamilton observed 
 very well, what a proof it was of Johnson’s merit, that 
 we had been talking of him almost all the afternoon. But 
 your Lordship needs no refreshment upon that subject. 
 
 “ I have two or three letters from him to Francis Barber 
 while that faithful negro was at school at Easton Mauduit. 
 Can your Lordship give me any particulars of Johnson’s 
 conduct in that benevolent business ? 
 
 “ Your Lordship would I am sure be pleased to see that 
 I was lately elected Recorder of Carlisle. Lord Lons- 
 dale’s recommending me to that office was an honourable 
 proof of his Lordship’s regard for me, and I may hope 
 that this may lead to future promotion. I have indeed 
 no claim upon his Lordship ; but I shall endeavour to 
 deserve his countenance. 
 
 “ Malone flatters himself that his Shakespeare* will be 
 published in June. I should rather think that we shall 
 not have it till winter. Come when it may, it will be a 
 very admirable book. 
 
 “ Our club goes on as it has done for some time past. 
 Shall we not have the pleasure of seeing your Lordship 
 among us this year? However much I may rejoice at 
 
 * Mr. Boswell’s son, James, published the last edition of this work after 
 Mr. Malone’s death. 
 
310 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 your Lordship’s elevation, I cannot but feel a very sincere 
 regret at your absence. I recollect with fondness the 
 happy mornings I have passed in that capital study in 
 Northumberland house, and elsewhere. Does not your 
 Lordship sometimes wish to be in old England again ? 
 
 “ I offer my best compliments to Mrs. Percy and to the 
 young ladies. How do they like Ireland ? I ever am, my 
 dear Lord, with great regard, your Lordship’s very faithful 
 humble servant, “ James Boswell.” 
 
 Bp. Percy to Mr. Boswell. 
 
 [ f ‘ A copy much altered. T. D.”] 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Dromore House, Feb. 28, 1788. 
 
 e< I had lately seen in the papers your being elected Re- 
 corder of Carlisle, and was preparing to congratulate you 
 on that appointment, when I received you truly accept- 
 able favour of the 9th instant. Be assured I do, and ever 
 shall rejoice, at every event which gives you pleasure 
 or affords a tribute to your merit, as I think this may 
 fairly be considered ; though I cannot but regret exceed- 
 ingly, that your connection with Carlisle should not have 
 taken place till mine had wholly ceased there, and that 
 you should not become a denizen of England till I had 
 ceased to be an Englishman. 
 
 “ I felicitate you most sincerely on your growing in- 
 terest with so warm and generous a patron as Lord Lons- 
 dale, whose zealous attachment to his friends has always 
 been a distinguished feature in his character, and who I 
 doubt not will be glad to introduce into Parliament a 
 member of your abilities and active exertion. I must 
 myself acknowledge with gratitude, that during my resi- 
 dence in that country I always received very flattering in- 
 stances of his Lordship’s polite attention ; and I have 
 great pleasure in seeing you so agreeably connected with 
 his Lordship, who shows a discernment rarely seen in men 
 of great fortunes, in looking out and attracting to himself 
 men of distinguished talents, as he has lately manifested 
 in his patronage of you and Dr. Douglas : his recom- 
 mendation of the latter to the bishopric of Carlisle also 
 does him great honour. 
 
 “ With regard to our departed friend Johnson, he 
 spent part of the summer of 1764 at my vicarage house 
 at Easton Mauduit, in Northamptonshire: but Francis 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 311 
 
 Barber then attended him as his servant, and went back 
 with him to London. He never was at school there, but 
 had formerly, I believe, been placed by his master at one 
 of the cheap schools in Yorkshire, and afterwards, if I 
 mistake not, at a school in or near Bishop’s Stortford, 
 where poor Frank, I fear, never got beyond his accidence; 
 but I am unacquainted with the particulars. 
 
 “ I found lately a memorandum about the club at the 
 Turk’s Head, in Gerard Street, which is at your service. 
 Its first origin you have in Sir John Hawkins’s book, and 
 some account of it in Mrs. Piozzi’s : but neither of them 
 have noticed what I have heard Johnson mention as the 
 principal or avowed reason for the small number of mem- 
 bers to which, for many years, it was limited ; viz. at first 
 to eight, and afterwards to twelve. It was intended the 
 club should consist of such men, as that if only two of 
 them chanced to meet, they should be able to entertain 
 each other sufficiently without wishing for more company 
 with whom to pass an evening.* 
 
 <{ When the club was first instituted I was not resident 
 in London ; and, it being at first limited to eight mem- 
 bers, no vacancy offered till about 1768, when in con- 
 sequence of Sir John (then Mr.) Hawkins’s having with- 
 drawn from the club, it was agreed by the remaining 
 members to extend their number to twelve; and then 
 Mr. Chambers, (now Sir Robert,) Mr. Caiman, and my- 
 self, were elected. I was received therein on Monday 
 evening, 15th Feb. 1768; for at that time, and for several 
 years, the club always met to sup and spend the evening 
 every Monday during the winter and spring months ; and, 
 with the above addition, the club then consisted of the 
 following members : 
 
 “ 1. Dr. Sam. Johnson. 
 
 “ 2. Mr. (afterwards Sir Joshua) Reynolds. 
 
 “ 3. Mr. Burke. 
 
 “ 4. Dr. Nugent (Mr. Burke’s wife’s father). 
 
 “ 5. Mr. Dyer.f 
 “ 6. Dr. Goldsmith. 
 
 “ 7* Mr. Chamier (a gentleman of fortune, some time 
 under-secretary of war). 
 
 * It is rather a curious fact, that the late Lord Liverpool once dined at 
 this club solus. J. M. 
 
 t “ Mr. Dyer was a great friend of the Burkes ; and if you wish to have it, 
 
 I will try to recover the Eloge which Edmund Burke printed in the news- 
 papers on Dyer’s death. T. D,” On Mr. Dyer, see Hawkins’s Life of 
 Johnson, pp, 222, 252. 
 
312 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE 
 
 “ 8. Mr. Langton. 
 
 “ 9. Mr. Beau clerk (who had forsaken the club, but 
 afterwards returned to it). 
 
 “ 10. Mr. (now Sir Robert) Chambers, then Yinerian 
 Professor of Law at Oxford. 
 
 “11. Mr. Colman. 
 
 “ 12. Myself (Rev. Mr. Percy). 
 
 “ The deaths, first of Mr. Dyer, and afterwards of Mr. 
 Chamier, breaking in upon this set, opened (though not 
 till some years after) the door to the admission of an 
 enlarged number of members. But Sir Joshua Reynolds 
 and Mr. Langton can tell you more, as they were more 
 constant in their attendance than Mr. Burke, — these three 
 being all that now remain of the original members. 
 
 “Mrs. Percy joins in compliments with, dear Sir, your 
 very faithful servant, Thq. Dromore. 
 
 “ P.S. I should be glad of a list of the present members 
 of the club, at your leisure. 
 
 “ N.B. In the old club-room at the Turk’s Head, was a 
 book of entries of the members of the club, showing the 
 variations of it for many years.” 
 
 Mr. Boswell to Bp. Percy. 
 
 Queen Anne Street, West r . 
 
 “My DEAR Lord, 12 March, 1790. 
 
 “ I am indeed ashamed of my long silence. But, al- 
 though I felt very gratefully the kindness of your Lord- 
 ship’s last obliging letter, containing some good information 
 for my Life of Dr. Johnson, many things have since my 
 receiving it made me rather an irregular correspondent. 
 As the great cause of all my dissipation of mind, I have to 
 mention the loss of a most valuable wife, who died in June 
 last of a consumption, which, being an hereditary com- 
 plaint, had afflicted her for many, many years. I have 
 three daughters, the eldest of whom is only sixteen, and 
 two sons, the eldest of whom is only fourteen. I have, 
 therefore, a great charge, for which I am very unfit ; but 
 I must do my best. I was every day wishing to write to 
 your Lordship, for that consolation which your office 
 enables you to give. I thank God for having afforded 
 me more than I at first supposed possible. 
 
 “ It gives me great pleasure to hear that your Lordship 
 and family intend a visit to us next summer. I shall by 
 that time be well advanced in my magnum opus, of which 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 313 
 
 a hundred pages are now printed. I hope we shall have 
 many of those happy days which olim meminisse juvabit. 
 
 “ I engaged to Sir Joshua Reynolds to send your Lord- 
 ship Mr. Burke’s speech on the French affairs. It ac- 
 cordingly comes under cover as your Lordship mentioned. 
 I have added to it Lord Stanhope’s answer, which I will 
 venture to call somewhat blackguard. 
 
 “ Sir Joshua has been shamefully used by a junto of the 
 Academicians. I live a great deal with him, and he is 
 much better than you would suppose. 
 
 “ Pray, how does your edition of Goldsmith go on ? I 
 am in the way of getting at many additional works of his, 
 which I shall communicate to your Lordship. 
 
 “ I offer my best compliments to Mrs. Percy and the 
 young ladies ; and ever am your Lordship’s faithful humble 
 servant, James Boswell.” 
 
 “My DEAR Lord, London, 9 April, 1790. 
 
 “ Stockdale has promised a list of the members who 
 voted on both sides on the great question of the Corpo- 
 ration and Test Acts. But he is so very long about it that 
 I will wait no longer, but send you the debate as published 
 by him. I most heartily rejoice to find that the Church is 
 so respectably established in the opinion of the laity. 
 
 “As to suppressing your Lordship’s name when relating 
 the very few anecdotes of Johnson with which you have 
 favoured me, I will do anything to oblige your Lordship 
 but that very thing. I owe to the authenticity of my 
 work, to its respectability, and to the credit of my illustri- 
 ous friends, to introduce as many names of eminent 
 persons as I can. It is comparatively a very small portion 
 which is sanctioned by that of your Lordship, and there is 
 nothing even bordering on impropriety. Believe me, my 
 Lord, you are not the only bishop in the number of great 
 men with which my pages are graced. I am quite resolute 
 as to this matter. 
 
 “Pray, who is it that has the charge of Goldsmith’s 
 works here ? I should like to talk with him. I know not 
 where the plan of his Encyclopaedia is, or if it be preserved.* 
 
 “ Our amiable friend, Sir Joshua Reynolds, has received 
 from the Empress of Russia the present of a very fine 
 gold snuff-box, beautifully enamelled, with her head on the 
 lid, set round with five-and-thirty capital diamonds. Within 
 
 * It is not in Mr. Prior’s edition of <( The Miscellaneous Works of 
 Goldsmith.” 
 
314 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 it is a slip of paper, on which are written in her own hand 
 these words, I think I recollect them exactly, c Pour le 
 Chevalier Reynolds, en temoignage du contentement que 
 j’ai ressenti de ses excellens discours sur la Peinture.’ * 
 
 “ I offer my best compliments to Mrs. Percy, and the 
 young ladies ; and have the honour to be, my dear Lord, 
 your Lordship’s faithful, humble servant, 
 
 “ James Boswell.” 
 
 *** In Boswell’s Life of Johnson are three interesting- 
 letters relative to Bishop Percy. 1. A letter from Mr. 
 Boswell to Dr. Johnson, upon an unlucky contest in con- 
 versation between Johnson and Percy. 2. A letter from 
 Dr. Johnson to Boswell, dated April 3, 1778, warmly 
 praising Dr. Percy, and with which, when afterwards given 
 to him, he was so delighted as to say, “ I would rather 
 have this than degrees from all the universities in Europe.” 
 3. A letter from Mr. Boswell to Dr. Percy, inclosing the 
 preceding letter. 
 
 TWO LETTERS 
 
 From James Boswell, Esq. to James Abercrombie* 
 Esq. of Philadelphia. 
 
 U 8>IR, London, June 11, 1792. 
 
 ee The packet with which your spontaneous kindness has 
 been pleased to honour me, after being a little while 
 delayed by the ship’s having put into Ireland, came safely 
 to my hands. The two letters f from Dr. Johnson to 
 American gentlemen are a valuable acquisition. I received 
 them in time to be inserted in the second edition of my 
 Life of that great man, which is now in the press. It is to 
 be in three volumes octavo, and will contain a good many 
 additions. A copy from the author shall be sent to you, 
 hoping that you will allow it a place in your library. 
 Meantime, Sir, my grateful acknowledgments to you shall 
 be wafted across the Atlantic. 
 
 “ In the letter to Bishop White, I observe Dr. Johnson 
 says, f I take the liberty which you give me, of troubling 
 you with a letter, of which you will please to fill up the 
 direction.’ There must, therefore, have been a third letter 
 of my illustrious friend’s sent to your continent. If the 
 respectable gentleman, under whose care it was trans- 
 
 * These passages are printed in Prior’s Life of Goldsmith, i. 454. 
 f These two letters are dated March 4, 1773, and are printed in .Boswell’s 
 Life of Johnson. 
 
BOSWELL CORRESPONDENCE. 315 
 
 mitted, can procure a copy of it for me, I shall be much 
 obliged to him, and to you, of whom I beg pardon for 
 giving you more trouble after what you have done for me. 
 
 “ You are, I find. Sir, a true Johnsonian ; and you may 
 believe that I have great pleasure in being of any service 
 to one of that description. I have not yet been able to 
 discover any more of his sermons, besides those left for 
 publication by Dr. Taylor. I am informed by the Lord 
 Bishop of Salisbury, that he gave an excellent one to a 
 clergyman, who preached and published it in his own 
 name, on some public occasion. But the Bishop has not 
 as yet told me the name, and seems unwilling to do it. 
 Yet I flatter myself I shall get at it. 
 
 “ Your list of Johnson’s works, and of what has been 
 written concerning him, has what is most valuable. There 
 have, however, been various other publications concern- 
 ing him, several of which I have mentioned in my book. 
 If you think it worth your while to collect all that can be 
 had, I will do all that I can to assist you, though some of 
 them attack me with a good deal of ill-nature, the effect 
 of which, however, I assure you, is by no means painful. 
 
 “ I now send you a poetical review of Dr. Johnson’s 
 literary and moral character, by my friend Mr. Courtenay; 
 in which, though I except to several passages, you will 
 find some very good writing. 
 
 “ It will be kind if you will be so good as to let me 
 know if any thing be published in the New World 
 relative to Johnson. My worthy bookseller Mr. Dilly 
 will take care of whatever packets you may have to send 
 to me. I am, Sir, your much obliged humble servant, 
 
 “ James Boswell.” 
 
 tf Dear Sir, London, July 28, 1793. 
 
 “ I have this very day received your packet, concerning 
 your letter of 17th May; and, as a vessel sails for Phila- 
 delphia to-morrow, I shall not delay to express my sincere 
 thanks for your accumulated favours. 
 
 “ I am very sorry that you have experienced any un- 
 easiness at not hearing from me, in answer to your obliging 
 letter of 10th October, 1792, which came safe to my hands, 
 together with Mr. Hopkins’s Miscellaneous Works, and 
 the Magazine gi ving an account of that gentleman. The 
 truth is, I delayed writing to you again, till I could send 
 you the second edition of my Life of Dr, Johnson, which 
 
316 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 I supposed would be ready long before this time ; but it 
 has been retarded by various causes, one of which you 
 will not regret; I mean, my having had some valuable 
 additions lately communicated to me. The work is at 
 length finished, and you will be pleased to receive your 
 copy of it from the author. It will be accompanied with 
 Mr. Young’s criticism on Gray’s celebrated Elegy, in 
 imitation of Dr. Johnson’s manner, which, I persuade 
 myself, will entertain you a good deal.* 
 
 tc I think a kind of national modesty in a young race, if 
 I may so express myself, has led you to rate your country- 
 man lower than he deserves. I do not mean to estimate 
 him as a first-rate genius ; but surely he had good abili- 
 ties, and a wide and various range of application. I have 
 not time to consider the writings which you have kindly 
 sent me with your last letter, so as to give any opinion 
 upon them by this opportunity. But I shall certainly 
 presume to tell you in a future letter what I think of 
 them. I shall be glad to have the curious dissertation on 
 the elements of written language, though you mention 
 that it contains some severe strictures on Dr. J ohnson. 
 I am not afraid. I know what he can bear. 
 
 “ Mr. Agutter’s sermon on his death has not yet been 
 published. Should it appear, you may depend on my 
 taking care to transmit you a copy of it. 
 
 “ I cannot warmly enough acknowledge the zeal with 
 which you have exerted yourself in order to gratify me. 
 I am very sorry that Dr. Johnson’s letter to your friend 
 Mr. Odell is lost. But that is one of the many evils occa- 
 sioned by that unjust civil war, which I reprobated at the 
 time when a bad ministry carried it on, and now look 
 back upon with a mixture of wonder and regret. Let us 
 not, however, get upon that subject. I beg you may 
 present my compliments to Mr. Odell, with thanks for 
 his very polite mention of me. I also beg to be respect- 
 fully remembered to , who I am pleased to find recol- 
 
 lects having met me at the hospitable table of my old 
 friend Sir Alexander Dick, who was truly a Corycius 
 
 Senex. The Johnsoniana, which — - — has obligingly 
 
 allowed you to send me, have the characteristical stamp ; 
 
 * He published a criticism on Gray’s Elegy, meaning to quiz Dr. Johnson. 
 He was a professor of Greek at Glasgow. Johnson mentions this work of 
 Young’s in “Letters,” by Piozzi, vol. ii. p, 289. It was too long to be very 
 happy ; but it passed, however, through two editions; the last in 1810. 
 
BOSWELL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 317 
 
 and I like much his expression, that “ The single weight 
 of Johnson’s massy understanding, in the scale of Christi- 
 anity, is an overbalance to all the infidelity of the age in 
 which he lived.” 
 
 “ You will find in my second edition a correction of 
 chum to cham, suggested to me by Lord Palmerston. 
 I am glad to have it confirmed by the letter from Dr. 
 Armstrong ; and, should my book come to another edition, 
 that confirmation shall be added ; as shall your discovery 
 of the pun upon corps in Menagiana, in which you are, I 
 think, clearly right. You will find an ingenious conjecture 
 concerning it in my second edition, by an unknown cor- 
 respondent. 
 
 “ I have not yet obtained from the Bishop of Salisbury 
 the name of the clergyman to whom Johnson gave a 
 sermon, which was preached on the fifth of November ; 
 for that, I find, was the public occasion. I will endeavour, 
 if possible, to find it out. 
 
 “Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Tour to the Netherlands is much 
 better written by himself than I could do it ; for it is, I 
 understand, almost entirely an account of the pictures. It 
 is to be subjoined to an edition of his Discourses to the 
 Royal Academy, which is now in the press, under the 
 care of that accurate critic, my friend Mr. Malone. 
 
 “ By your name, sir, you must be of Scottish extraction. 
 May I presume to ask how long your family has been 
 settled in America ? I have a great wish to see that 
 country ; and I once flattered myself that I should be 
 sent thither in a station of some importance. 
 
 “ I am, with a very grateful sense of my obligations to you, 
 dear Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 “James Boswell.” 
 
 TWO LETTERS 
 
 From James Boswell, Esq. to Andrew Mitchell, 
 
 Esq.* 
 
 “ Berlin, 28 August, 1764. 
 
 “ You may believe me, Sir, I was a good deal surprised 
 to hear upon my return to Berlin that Onze Gezant was 
 gone. There was indeed a surmise at Brunswick that you 
 intended to return to England this season ; I was asked if 
 it was true, and very innocently affirmed, that there was 
 
 * Hi? Britannic Majesty’s Minister at Berlin. 
 
318 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 nothing in it. I find, however, that when a man leaves 
 a minister at a foreign court, but for a fortnight, he is not 
 sure of finding him upon his return. 
 
 “ Your departure is a good deal unlucky for me, not 
 only as it deprives me of conversation which gave me un- 
 common pleasure, and insensibly accustomed me to ra- 
 tional thinking and honourable sentiment, but because 
 I now particularly stand in need of your prudent and kind 
 counsel with respect to my Travels. I have had another 
 letter from my father, in which he continues of opinion 
 that travelling is of very little use, and may do a great 
 deal of harm. I shall not repeat what I have formerly 
 said of my father’s particular character ; I say particular, 
 for rarely will you find a man of so excellent a frame of 
 body, and so noble a mind, as to have passed through life 
 with uniform propriety of conduct. 
 
 “ For my own part, I own that I am not such a 
 favourite of Nature. Think not that I intend to plead 
 machinery, and escape from the censure due to the faults 
 which I have committed. I only would have you con- 
 sider, that judgment is a natural gift as well as imagina- 
 tion, and force of mind in a great measure independent of 
 our endeavours. Think of me as I am, and pronounce 
 accordingly. I esteem and love my father, and I am de- 
 termined to do what is in my power to make him easy 
 and happy. But you will allow that I may endeavour to 
 make him happy, and at the same time not be too hard 
 upon myself. I must use you so much with the freedom 
 of a friend as to tell you, that with the vivacity which you 
 allowed me I have a melancholy disposition. I have 
 made excursions into the fields of amusement, perhaps of 
 folly. I have found that amusement and folly are beneath 
 me, and that without some laudable pursuit my life must 
 be insipid and wearisome. I therefore took the resolu- 
 tion of leaving London, and settled myself for the winter 
 at Utrecht, where I recovered my inclination for study 
 and rational thinking. I then laid my account with tra- 
 velling a couple of years, but found my fathers views to 
 be entirely different. You saw the letter which I wrote 
 to him from this ; and I flatter myself that you approved 
 of it. I cannot expect his answer for some weeks. Iu 
 the mean time he tells me that he would not oppose my 
 passing another winter at Utrecht ; so that he does not 
 grudge the time which I ask. As for the money, I should 
 
BOSWELL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 319 
 
 think for one year a little extraordinary expense is not 
 thrown away, when it is also to be considered that what 
 I spend now I shall not have some years hence. My 
 father seems much against my going to Italy, but gives 
 me leave to go from this, and pass some months in Paris. 
 I own that the words of the Apostle Paul, “ I must see 
 Rome,” are strongly borne in upon my mind. It would 
 give me infinite pleasure. It would give taste for a life- 
 time, and I should go home to Auchinlech with serene 
 contentment. I am the more confident in my request, 
 that I am no libertine, and have a moral certainty of suf- 
 fering no harm in Italy. I can also assure you that I 
 shall be as moderate as possible in my expenses. I do 
 not intend to travel as Mi Lord Anglais , but merely as a 
 scholar and a man of elegant curiosity ; and I am told 
 that in that character I may live in Italy very reasonably. 
 I obviate your objection of my being obliged to live like 
 others, by assuring you that I have none of that second- 
 rate ambition which actuates most young .men of fortune 
 upon their travels. After passing four months on classic 
 ground I would come through France, and go home, as I 
 said to my father, uti conviva satur. Now, Sir, tell me 
 fairly if I am unreasonable. Upon my honour I cannot 
 think that I am. I give you my word that my father’s 
 inclinations shall be as inviolable laws to his son. But 
 don’t you think that I may first remonstrate, before I 
 consider an act has passed ? Don’t you think that rather 
 than go home contrary to what I must desire, and cannot 
 help thinking proper, don’t you think it worth while to 
 humour me so far as to allow me my year and a reason- 
 able sum ; after which I return clear and contented, 
 without any pretence for my gloomy disposition to mur- 
 mur at. I would beg you, Sir, that you would write to 
 my father your opinion as to this matter, and put it in the 
 light which you may think it deserves. In the mean time, 
 I can see little advantage to be had at Berlin. I shall, 
 however, remain here a fortnight, after which I intend 
 passing, by Maanheim and one or two more of the Ger- 
 man Courts, to Geneva. I am then at the point from 
 whence I may either steer to Italy or to France. I shall 
 see Voltaire ; I shall also see Switzerland and Rousseau. 
 These two men are to me greater objects than most statues 
 or pictures. 
 
 “ I take this opportunity to assure the loved and re- 
 
320 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 spected friend of my father that I am sincerely happy at 
 haying obtained his acquaintance. I would hope that I shall 
 not be found unworthy of his regard ; and I wish very 
 honestly for an opportunity of showing my real esteem 
 for such a character as I could draw to any body else 
 but to himself. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, your obliged humble servant, 
 
 “ James Boswell. 
 
 (C P.S. I would be obliged to you for an answer as soon 
 as you are at leisure to write. 
 
 e: Dear Sir, Geneva, 26 Dec. 1764. 
 
 “ I thank you for your letter from Spa, although it gave 
 me no great encouragement in my scheme of going to 
 Italy. You tell me, gravely, to follow the plan which my 
 father prescribes, whatever it may be, as in doing so I shall 
 certainly act most wisely. I forgive you this ; for I say 
 just the same to young people when I advise. To enter 
 into a detail of the little circumstances which compose the 
 felicity of another, is what a man of any genius can 
 hardly submit to. We, therefore, give a good wholesome 
 general counsel, and he who consults us thinks a little, and 
 then endeavours to take his own way as well as he can. I 
 have, however, the happiness to inform you that my father 
 has consented that I shall go to Italy. Upon my soul, I 
 am grateful to the most worthy of men. It will be hard 
 if we are not well together; for I love him with the 
 strongest affection. I hope to give him entire satisfaction. 
 If I find that I cannot succeed in my own plans in such a 
 way as to convince my father that I am in the right, I 
 shall do my utmost to fulfil the plan beyond which he 
 cannot think to look. You may suppose what my ideas 
 are, for they are your old acquaintances. One thing I am 
 sure of, and, by the undisguised honour of a man of pro- 
 bity, I swear shall chiefly influence me, — a regard to the 
 happiness of him to whom I owe so much. Believe me, 
 I have a soul. The intention of this letter is to beg your 
 interest in an affair which I have much at heart. My 
 most intimate friend, the friend of my youth, and the 
 comfort of my being, is a Mr. Templef of Trinity Hall, 
 
 * British Museum, Additional MSS. No. 6858. 
 
 + The Rev. Wm. Johnson. Temple was afterwards vicar of St. Gluvias, 
 Cornwall, and died in August, 1786. See an account of him in Literary 
 Anecdotes, iii, 190. See also Boswell’s Life of Johnson, by Croker, 8vo. i 
 
BOSWELL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 321 
 
 Cambridge. He is an Englishman, and I am an old 
 Scot : but brothers were never more united than we are. 
 His father was formerly Mayor of Berwick. He had an 
 employment in the Customs, but by misfortunes became 
 bankrupt a year or two ago. My friend has a small 
 estate from his mother. He has generously contributed 
 more than the half of it towards the relief of his father, 
 and has got the creditors to be satisfied ; but his father has 
 nothing to live upon. He understands business very 
 well. An employment of moderate income in the Cus- 
 toms, or in one of the public offices, would make him 
 happy. His youngest son was lieutenant in the regiment 
 of the late General Craufurd, who was a friend of the 
 family, and promised to take care of the young man. The 
 regiment has been broken some time. The lieutenant is 
 on half pay, and must have a part of the little fortune 
 which his brother still possesses. Surely it would be no 
 very hard matter to get him put upon full pay. 
 
 “ Sir, I beg and entreat of you to give me your interest. 
 You are the only man in Britain, except my sovereign, 
 whom I would ask a favour of. I know you to be a man 
 of the most perfect honour ; and I know not another who 
 has been tried in public life. I have written to Lady 
 Northumberland ; but I confess I have little confidence in 
 her; and, believe me, I have not been mean enough to 
 flatter her. Pray tell me how much you can do. If you 
 can aid me, you will most truly oblige a worthy fellow, for 
 such I am. Were I as rich as I shall probably be, the 
 father and brother of my friend should not be as they are. 
 Adieu, respected sir. Ci Boswell.* 
 
 “ P.S. I am very anxious as to this affair. Pray write to 
 me, Aux soins de Messrs. Cazenove, Clairiere, et Fils, a 
 Geneve. 
 
 <c To Andrew Mitchell, Esq., Great Britain 
 
 LETTERS relative to Dr. JOHNSON. 
 
 Miss Seward to James Boswell, Esq. 
 
 “ Lichfield, March 25, 1785. 
 
 “ I regret that it is not in my power to collect more 
 anecdotes of Dr. Johnson’s infancy. My mother passed 
 
 Mitford’s Life of Gray, edit. Aid. vol. i. p. Ixviii. ; Annual Register, 1796, 
 P> 64 ; Garrick Correspondence, i. 435 ; and much relating to him in Gray 
 and Nicholls’ Correspondence, 1843, edit. Pickering. 
 
 * British Museum, Additional MSS. No. 6858. 
 
 VOL. VII. V 
 
322 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 her days of girlhood with an uncle at Warwick, conse- 
 quently was absent from home in the school-boy days of 
 the great man ; neither did I ever hear her mention any 
 of the promissory sparkles which doubtless burst forth, 
 though no records of them are within my knowledge. I 
 cannot meet with any contemporary of those his very 
 youthful days. They are all, I fear, like my poor mother, 
 gone to their eternal home, and thus are our fountains of 
 juvenile intelligence dried up. Mrs. Lucy Porter, who, 
 were she in health, could communicate more than she 
 would take the trouble of doing, is following apace her 
 illustrious father-in-law. She is now too ill to be acces- 
 sible to any of her friends, except Mr. Pearson ; and were 
 it otherwise, I do not believe that a kneeling world would 
 obtain from her the letters you wish for. 
 
 “ On inquiring after Dr. Johnson, she has often read 
 one of his recent epistles. As she read, I secretly won- 
 dered to perceive that they contained no traces of genius. 
 They might have been any personas composition. When 
 this is the case, it is injudicious to publish such inconclu- 
 sive testimonies. Several letters of his have appeared 
 in the Gentleman’s Magazine, that could interest no one 
 by their intrinsic vigour. They will be eagerly read because 
 they are Johnson’s ; but I have often thought that we 
 never rise from any composition by the pen of the illus- 
 trious, with exactly the same degree of respect for the 
 talents of the author with which we sat down to peruse it ; 
 our mass of admiration is either increased or diminished. 
 If it is but by a single grain, that grain is something. 
 
 “ His letter to the Chancellor* is a very stiff, indifferent 
 performance, tinctured with a sort of covert resentment to 
 the King, that looks ungrateful for past obligations. I 
 wonder how he could bear the thoughts of such a request 
 being made to his Majesty, since he had a capital of three 
 thousand pounds, out of which he might have drawn to 
 support the expense of continental travelling. 
 
 “You request the conversationf that passed between 
 Johnson and myself in company, on the subject of Mrs. 
 
 * Lord Thurlow. See the letter in Boswell’s Life, Croker’s edit. vol. V. 
 p. 263. 
 
 t “ This conversation, though requested by Mr. Boswell, the author believes 
 is not inserted in that gentleman’s Life of Johnson ; at least, not in the first 
 edition. Mrs. Aston’s sister, Mrs. Gastrell, being alive when it was pub- 
 lished, was, doubtless, the reason why this anecdote was suppressed.” — A. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 323 
 
 Elizabeth Aston* of Stowe Hill, then living, with whom he 
 always passed so much time when he was in Lichfield, and 
 for whom he professed so great a friendship. 
 
 u i I have often heard my mother say, Doctor, that Mrs. 
 Elizabeth Aston was, in her youth, a very beautiful woman ; 
 and that, with all the censoriousness and spiteful spleen of 
 a very bad temper, she had great powers of pleasing ; that 
 she was lively, insinuating, and intelligent. I knew her 
 not till the vivacity of her youth had long been ex- 
 tinguished, and I confess I looked in vain for the traces 
 of former ability. I wish to have your opinion, Sir, of 
 what she was, you who knew her so well in her best days . 5 
 
 ts ‘ My dear, when thy mother told thee Aston was 
 handsome, thy mother told thee truth : she was very 
 
 handsome. When thy mother told thee that Aston loved 
 to abuse her neighbours, she told thee truth ; but when 
 thy mother told thee that Aston had any marked ability in 
 that same business, that wit gave it zest, or imagination 
 colour, thy mother did not tell thee truth. No, no, Madam, 
 Aston’s understanding was not of any strength, either 
 native or acquired . 5 
 
 “ f But, sir, I have heard you say, that her sister’s hus- 
 band, Mr. Walmsley, was a man of bright parts and exten- 
 sive knowledge ; that he was also a man of strong passions, 
 and, though benevolent in a thousand instances, yet 
 irascible in as many. It is well known that Mr. Walmsley 
 was considerably governed by this lady ; as witness Mr. 
 Hinton 5 s constant visits, and presence at his table, in 
 despite of its master’s avowed aversion. Could it be, 
 that, without some marked intellectual powers, she could 
 obtain absolute dominion over such a man ? ’ 
 
 “ Madam, I have said, and truly, that Walmsley had 
 bright and extensive powers of mind ; that they had been 
 cultivated by familiarity with the best authors, and by 
 connections with the learned and polite,. It is a fact, that 
 Aston obtained nearly absolute dominion over his will ; it 
 is no less a fact that his disposition was irritable and 
 violent. But Walmsley was a man ; and there is no man 
 
 * Miss Elizabeth Aston died 1785, aged 77, See Croker’s Boswell’s 
 Johnson, I. 52. See also vol. II. p. 45, note. Several letters of L)r. 
 Johnson to Mrs. E. Aston were first printed in Mr. Croker’s edition, “ written 
 with a uniform spirit of tenderness and respect, and affording an additional 
 proof of the inaccuracy of Miss Seward,” in her report of the above conver- 
 sation. — Croker — See also anecdotes of Mrs. E. Aston by the Rev, Mr. 
 p a*er, in Croker’s Boswell, Y.-409- - . ; ; 7 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 who can resist the repeated attacks of a furious woman. 
 Walmsley had no alternative but to submit or turn her 
 out of doors/ 
 
 “ I have procured, from Mr. Levett, of this city, the 
 inclosed copy of an original * letter of Dr. Johnson’s. 
 Though its style may not bear the stamp of its author’s 
 genius, yet it is illumed with a soft ray of filial piety, 
 w T hich cannot fail to cast its portion of additional lustre, 
 however small, on the amiable side of the Johnsonian 
 medal. 
 
 “The genuine lovers of the poetic science look with 
 anxious eyes to Mr. Boswell, desiring that every merit of 
 the stupendous mortal may be shewn in its fairest light ; 
 but, expecting also that impartial justice, so worthy of a 
 generous mind, which the popular cry cannot influence to 
 flatter the object of discrimination, nor yet the yearnings 
 of remembered amity induce to invest that object with 
 unreal perfection, injurious, from the severity of his cen- 
 sures, to the rights of others. 
 
 “There can be no doubt of the authenticity of that 
 little anecdote of Johnson’s infancy; the verses he made 
 at three years old, on having killed, by treading upon it, 
 his eleventh duck. Mrs. Lucy Porter is a woman of the 
 strictest veracity ; and a more conscientious creature could 
 not live than old Mrs. Johnson, who, I have heard Mrs. 
 Porter say, has often mentioned the circumstance to her. 
 It is curious to remark, in these little verses, the poetic 
 seed which afterwards bore plenteous fruits, of so rich a 
 lustre and flavour. Every thing Johnson wrote was poetry ; 
 for the poetic essence consists not in rhyme and measure, 
 which are only its trappings, but in that strength and glow 
 of the fancy to which all the works of art and nature stand 
 in prompt administration ; that rich harmony of period, 
 
 i More tunable than needs the metric powers 
 To add more sweetness.’ 
 
 “ We observe, also, in those infant verses, the seeds of 
 that superstition which grew with his growth, and operated 
 so strongly through his future life. 
 
 “ I have often heard my mother say she perfectly remem- 
 bered his wife. He has recorded of her that beauty which 
 existed only in his imagination. She had a very red face 
 
 * Four Letters from Dr. Johnson to Mr. Levett are printed in Mr. 
 Croker’s edition of Boswell, III. 145, 264, 456. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 325 
 
 and very indifferent features, and her manners in advanced 
 life, for her children were all grown up when Johnson first 
 saw her, had an unbecoming excess of girlish levity and 
 disgusting affectation. The rustic prettiness and artless 
 manners of her daughter, the present Mrs. Lucy Porter, 
 had won Johnson’s youthful heart, when she was upon a visit 
 at my * grandfather’s in Johnson’s school-days. Disgusted 
 by his unsightly form, she had a personal aversion to him, 
 nor could the beautiful t verses he addressed to her teach 
 her to endure him. The nymph, at length, returned to 
 her parents at Birmingham, and was soon forgotten. Busi- 
 ness taking Johnson to Birmingham, on the death of his 
 own father, and calling upon his coy mistress there, he 
 found her father dying. He passed all his leisure hours 
 at Mr. Porter’s, attending his sick bed, and in a few 
 months after his death asked Mrs. Johnson’s consent to 
 marry the old widow. After expressing her surprise at a 
 request so extraordinary- — 4 No, Sam, my willing consent 
 you will never have to so preposterous a union. You are 
 not twenty-five, and she is turned fifty. If she had any 
 prudence, this request had never been made to me. 
 Where are your means of subsistence ? Porter has died 
 poor, in consequence of his wife’s expensive habits. You 
 have great talents, but as yet have turned them into no 
 profitable channel.’ — 4 Mother, I have not deceived Mrs. 
 Porter : I have told her the worst of me ; that I am of 
 mean extraction ; that I have no money ; and that I have 
 had an uncle hanged. She replied, that she valued no one 
 more or less for his descent ; that she had no more money 
 than myself; and that, though she had not had a relation 
 hanged, she had fifty who deserved hanging.’^' 
 
 “ And thus became accomplished this very curious 
 
 * “ Rev. John Hunter, master of the Lichfield Free-School, by whom John- 
 son was educated.” 
 
 f “ See the Verses on receiving a Myrtle from a Lady, inserted in Mr. Bos- 
 well’s Life of Johnson.” — The verses are in Mr. Croker’s edition, I. 62; 
 but Mr. Boswell says, “ Dr. Johnson wrote them for his friend Mr. Ed- 
 mund Hector,” which is confirmed by a letter from Mr. Hector to Mr. 
 Boswell (see Croker’s edit. I. 65, notes). Mr. Crokeradds, in a note, “ Of 
 the supposed attachment of Dr. Johnson to the daughter of his wife there is 
 no evidence whatever, but the assertion of Miss Seward, whose anecdotes 
 have turned out to be in almost every instance worse than nothing ; and in 
 this instance, the dates would disprove Miss Seward’s statement, which it is 
 hut too evident that she made with a view of disparaging and ridiculing Dr. 
 Johnson.” 
 
 + On this conversation see hereafter, in a letter of Miss Seward, p, 352 j 
 a nd in Mr. Boswell’s reply, p. 359. 
 
326 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OP LITERATURE. 
 
 amour. Adieu, Sir ; go on and prosper in your arduous task 
 of presenting to the world the portrait of Johnson’s mind 
 and manners. If faithful, brilliant will be its lights, but 
 deep its shades/’* 
 
 Miss Seward to James Boswell, Esq. 
 
 11 Lichfield, March 25, 1785. 
 
 “ c No, sir,’ there are not any lees — the spirit of your 
 Tour with Johnson runs clear to the last syllable. Those 
 who are not interested in its anecdotes can have little in- 
 tellectual curiosity and no imagination. Those who are not 
 entertained with the perpetual triumph of sarcastic wit 
 over fair ingenious argument, must be sturdier moralists 
 than even Johnson himself affected to have been; and 
 those who do not love the biographer as they read, what- 
 ever imperfection they may find in the massive being 
 whom he so strongly characterises, can have no hearts. 
 
 “ I confess, however, that it was not without some sur- 
 prise that I perceived so much exultation avowed concern- 
 ing the noble blood which flows in your veins ; since it is 
 more honourable for a man of distinguished ingenuity to 
 have been obscurely than splendidly descended, because 
 then his distinctions are more exclusively his own. Often, 
 as well you are aware, have nobles, princes, perhaps kings, 
 stood awed in the presence of the son of a Lichfield book- 
 seller. Can the recorder of his life and actions think birth 
 of consequence ? Mr. Boswell is too humble in fancying 
 he can derive honour from noble ancestry. It is for the 
 line of Bruce to be proud of the historian of Corsica; it 
 is for the house of Auchinleck, to boast of him who, with 
 the most fervent personal attachment to an illustrious lite- 
 rary character, has yet been sufficiently faithful to the just 
 claims of the public upon biographic fidelity to represent 
 him, not as his weak or prejudiced idolaters might wish to 
 behold him ; not in the light in which they desire to con- 
 template Johnson, who pronounce his writings to be an 
 obscure jargon of pompous pedantry, and his imputed vir- 
 tues a superstitious farrago of pharasaic ostentation ; but 
 as he was, — the most wonderful composition of great and 
 absurd, of misanthropy and benevolence, of luminous in- 
 tellect and prejudiced darkness, that was ever produced in 
 the human breast. 
 
 * Letters of Miss Seward, voh I. p. 38. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 32 7 
 
 “ The only part of this work whose omission I could 
 much have wished, is the passage which records the 
 despot’s injustice to Mrs. Montagu’s* ingenious and able 
 Treatise on Shakespeare. Its omission, as all my corres- 
 pondents observe, would have been much more consonant 
 than its appearance to the philanthropy of the biographer. 
 
 “ I have, it is true, seen a great deal of nonsense about 
 your Tour in the public prints, and that both' in its praise 
 and abuse. It is hard to say who are most absurd, they 
 who vilify its entertaining effusions as vapid and unin- 
 teresting, or they who fancy they see a perfect character 
 in the stupendous mortal whom its pages exhibit in lights 
 so striking and so various ; bowing down before the relics 
 of popish superstition ; repaying the hospitable kindness 
 of the Scotch professors with unfeeling exultation over 
 the barrenness of their country, and the imputed folly of 
 their religion ; and roaming, like a Greenland bear, over 
 Caledonia and her lonely isles. 
 
 “ I have written to the elegant Bardf of Sussex, to Mr. 
 Whalley, who is on the Continent, to my late and ever- 
 honoured friend, Dr. John Jebb, and my other literary 
 correspondents upon the merits of your Tour, and in a 
 spirit of warm encomium upon the gay benevolence, 
 characteristic traits, scenic graces, and biographic fidelity 
 which adorn its pages ; observing also how valuable a 
 counterpart it forms to Dr. Johnson’s Tour to the He- 
 brides. In one we perceive, through a medium of solemn 
 and sublime eloquence, in what light Scotland, her nobles, 
 her professors, and her chieftains appeared to the august 
 wanderer ; in the other how the growling philosopher ap- 
 peared to them. If the use of biography is to ascertain 
 and discriminate character, its domestic minuteness is its 
 most essential excellence. 
 
 “ The nearly universal approbation with which those 
 whose opinions are of consequence have mentioned your 
 work to me precludes all ideas of defence against the 
 frothy spleen descending so continually upon ingenious 
 composition from the pen of anonymous criticism. It 
 descends in plenteous effusion, 
 
 £ But leaves no spot or blame behind. 
 
 * This lady, celebrated for her literary talents and charity, died at an 
 advanced age, Aug. 25, 1800. See an account of her in the Gentleman’s 
 Magazine, LXX. 904. 
 
 t Mr. Hayley. J Letters of Miss Seward, vol. I, p. 129. 
 
328 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 [From Miss Seward.] 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, January 10, 1786. 
 
 “ I have great confidence in your general penetration, 
 just taste, candour, and integrity; but you must consider 
 that you are in a public character, and ought not to suffer 
 private friendship, with all its amiable fervours, to render 
 you partial, even in a single instance. 
 
 “ The perfection with which your publication constantly 
 labours to invest the late stupendous, but frail, Dr. 
 Johnson, is injustice to the characters which his prejudice 
 calumniated, and to the talents which his rough sophistry, 
 as Mr., Boswell once emphatically calls his manner of 
 reasoning, so continually depreciated. 
 
 “ Surely infidelity is not so very prevalent amongst 
 men of distinguished abilities, as to make it reasonable 
 that we should bestow upon mere orthodoxy of opinion, 
 not enforced with gentleness, but maintained with reviling, 
 the dignity of unswerving and saint-like virtue ; nor to 
 exempt from just blame, in a Protestant community, that 
 superstitious reverence of Popish localities, and unac- 
 countable violence against our dissenting brethren, which 
 are recorded by Mr. Boswell. If Presbytery has its 
 errors, they are neither so flagrant, nor so far removed 
 from the established form of worship in England, as are 
 those of the Roman Catholic faith, and monkish cere- 
 monies ; to which Dr. Johnson gives so marked and so 
 truly reprehensible a preference. 
 
 “ Personally to have known the wonderful being, is to 
 obtain the testimony of recollection for the fidelity of Mr. 
 Boswell’s anecdotes ; since it cannot fail to parallel them ; 
 and they enable those who never conversed with him to 
 see him as he was ; to perceive the genius and absurdity, 
 wisdom and folly, penetration and prejudice, devotion 
 and superstition, compassion and malevolence, friendship 
 and envy, truth and sophistry, which were blended ‘ in 
 the large composition of that man/ 
 
 “ Over the malignance he records, Mr. Boswell strives 
 to spread a veil ; but that veil is not impenetrable. Facts 
 are stubborn things ; and, since they are fairly recited, 
 partially seeks to gild them in vain. 
 
 “ Sensibility must be disgusted at the ungrateful con- 
 tempt of a brave and hardy nation (tenacious of higher 
 distinctions than wealth and luxury can bestow), with 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 329 
 
 which Dr. Johnson insulted her professors, at whose 
 tables he was entertained with liberal hospitality, and 
 from whom he received every flattering distinction. 
 Neither can she peruse without indignation other instances 
 of his arrogance ; yet must she feel her attention often 
 delighted, and always alive, over this animated work, and 
 pursue, with no languid eye, the growling philosopher, 
 and his more amiable friend, in their rambles over Cale- 
 donia and her lonely isles. 
 
 “ Reviewing Mr. Boswell’s Tour in your Magazine for 
 November, you say, that most of Dr. Johnson’s opinions 
 of men and books, recorded in that work, will stand the 
 test of severest criticism. 
 
 “ Examine the following opinions, I beseech you, with 
 impartiality. Mr. Boswell writes, f I mentioned Shen- 
 stone’s having said, that Pope possessed the art of con- 
 densing sense more than any body.’ Dr. Johnson replied, 
 e It is not true ; there is more sense in a line of Cowley’s 
 than in a page, or a sentence, or ten lines (I am not certain 
 of the phrase,) of Pope’s.’ * 
 
 “ Sound criticism will hardly vouch for the verity of 
 that assertion ; but the praise of another was ever a caustic 
 on the mind of Dr. Johnson, beneath the smart of which 
 truth and justice were too generally disregarded. 
 
 “ Cowley had great poetic imagination, some genuine, 
 and a great deal more false wit ; but his poems contain 
 little perspicuous rationality ; while the clear good sense, 
 with which the verses of Pope abound, render them in- 
 telligible to the common reader, in whose perception those 
 of Cowley form a chaos of extraneous and incompre- 
 hensible thought, and of unresembling resemblances. 
 
 “ Is not the indignation honest which impartial people 
 feel when they peruse, in this Tour, the injustice of the 
 despot to his old colleague and townsman, David Garrick, 
 who was to him a liberal friend, and with whom he had 
 lived on terms of professed amity ? Mr. Boswell records 
 his having asserted, that David Garrick had not made 
 Shakspeare better known, that it was not in his power to 
 illustrate Shakspeare. 
 
 “ Now it is well known that when Mr. Garrick ap- 
 peared on the London theatre, Shakspeare had long been 
 
 * lathe Idler, No. 77, Johnson praises Cowley for his ease. “Cowley 
 seems to have possessed the power of writing easily beyond any other of 
 our poets.'’ 
 
830 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 sunk from general admiration and attention, into the 
 closets of the learned. 
 
 “ At that period few of his plays were better known 
 than is the Sampson Agonistes at present. Other dramatic 
 schools had prevailed over that of the great Poet of Nature. 
 No plays, be their merit ever so great, are familiar and 
 dear to the many if they are not represented. Johnsons 
 own Irene, so much excelling most of the modern popular 
 tragedies in the genuine beauty of composition, is known 
 but to the few ; while almost every passage in the former 
 is present to the minds of the multitude. 
 
 “ Mr. Garrick did revive the popularity of Shakspeare. 
 Pie brought his plays on the stage. Innumerable of their 
 most sublime and beautiful passages did he impress on 
 the minds of his crowded audience by the harmony of 
 intonation, by energetic or persuasive accents, by the 
 force of emphasis, and by the grace of action. 
 
 “ Thus was Garrick Shakspeare’s best commentator, 
 not excepting even the ungenerous great man, who falsely 
 asserted, that it was not in Garrick’s power to illustrate 
 Shakspeare ! and that he had not made him better known ! 
 
 “ Plad any other person contradicted a fact so estab- 
 lished, as that Shakspeare’s popularity was revived by 
 David Garrick, Johnson would have said, ‘ Sir, The dog 
 lied, and he knew that he lied.’ 
 
 “ Ought Mr. Boswell to have recorded Dr. Johnson’s 
 unjust contempt of Mrs. Montagu’s able and beautiful 
 Treatise on Shakspeare in the life-time of that lady, whose 
 sensibility must painfully shrink from the axe of that 
 barbarian ? Let us hope, however, that her laurels will 
 spring the fresher after this merciless cutting. An assault 
 upon a reputation so established must startle the public, 
 and induce it to re-examine a work whose excellence it 
 has acknowledged. 
 
 “ Every re-perusal of Mrs. Montagu’s Treatise on 
 Shakspeare must be to the honour of its author, and 
 to the advantage of their tastes and judgments who 
 familiarise themselves with her writings. 
 
 “Your critique on Mr. Boswell’s Tour in the Magazine 
 for November observes, that virtue was the best recommen- 
 dation to Dr. Johnson’s friendship, patronage, and praise. 
 
 “ His attachment to the profligate Richard Savage; the 
 gloss he has thrown over that man’s sensuality and in- 
 gratitude ; his affection for Dr. Goldsmith ; the respect 
 
BOSWELL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 331 
 
 and warm applause with which he always mentioned him 
 in his writings, both as an author and a man, though Dr. 
 Johnson was known to think very indifferently of Gold- 
 smith’s moral character, particularly of his veracity — these 
 are by no means proofs that virtue was the indispensable 
 requisite to obtain this great writer’s favour and applause.” 
 
 “ If, for the word virtue, toryism had been substituted, 
 the observation had stood on firmer ground. 
 
 “ That Dr. Johnson’s own veracity was too often the 
 victim of his malevolent passions, the violation of his pro- 
 mise to Mr. Boswell at Auchinleck is another proof, added 
 to those numerous ones which result from his critical 
 writings, and from his conversation. 
 
 “ Let the world be permitted to see Dr. Johnson as he 
 was, who so frequently tried to make others appear what 
 they are not ; — Sir Richard Blackmore a good poet ! Mr. 
 Gray a bad one ! King William a rascal ! Richard 
 Savage respectable ! with a long, &c. of similar misrepre- 
 sentations ! 
 
 “ Of Mr. Boswell’s Tour the following admirable com- 
 pendium was lately given by the most illustrious literary 
 character now living, in a letter to one of his friends:-— 
 
 “ ‘ It is a most amusing history of a learned monster, 
 written by his showman, who perpetually discovers a 
 diverting apprehension that his beast will play the savage 
 too furiously, and lacerate the company instead of enter- 
 taining them.’f 
 
 te On the candour of the editor of the Gentleman’s 
 Magazine I have too great reliance to doubt his insertion 
 of this letter, and remain his admirer and humble servant, 
 
 “Benvolio.”* 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, _ . March 9, 1786. 
 
 “ It having been asserted in a late scurrilous publication, 
 that some passages relative to a noble lord, which appeared 
 in the first edition of my “ Journal of a Tour to the 
 Hebrides,” were omitted in the second edition of that work, 
 m consequence of a letter from his lordship, — I think 
 myself called upon to delclare, that that assertion is false. 
 
 “ In a note, p. 527, of my second edition, I mentioned 
 that, . ‘ having found, on a revision of this work, that, 
 notwithstanding my best care, a few observations had 
 escaped me, which arose from the instant impression, the 
 
 * Anna Seward. 
 
332 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 publication of which might perhaps be considered as pas- 
 sing the bounds of a strict decorum, I immediately ordered 
 that they should be omitted in the present edition.’ * 
 f I did not then think it necessary to be more explicit. 
 But, as I now find that I have been misunderstood by 
 some, and grossly misrepresented by others, I think it 
 proper to add, that soon after the publication of the first 
 edition of my work, from the motive above mentioned 
 alone, without any application from any person whatever, 
 I ordered twenty-six lines, relative to the noble lord, to 
 be omitted in the second edition (for the loss of which, I 
 trust, twenty-two additional pages are a sufficient compen- 
 sation) : and this was the sole alteration that was made in 
 my book relative to that nobleman ; nor was any applica- 
 tion made to me by the nobleman alluded to, at any time, 
 to make any alteration in my Journal. 
 
 “ To any serious criticism, or ludicrous banter, + to 
 which my Journal may be liable, I shall never object, but 
 receive both the one and the other with perfect good 
 humour ; but I cannot suffer a malignant and injurious 
 falsehood to pass uncontradicted. Yours, &c., 
 
 (i James Boswell.” 
 
 * In the 3d edition (Sept. 1785) Mr. Boswell adds to this the following 
 note 
 
 “ A contemptible scribbler, of whom I have learned no more than that, 
 after having disgraced and deserted the clerical character, he picks up a 
 scanty livelihood by scurrilous lampoons under a feigned name, has impu- 
 dently and falsely asserted that the passages omitted were defamatory , and 
 that the omission was not voluntary but compulsory. The last insinuation 
 I took the trouble publicly to disprove ; yet, like one of Pope’s dunces, he 
 persevered in ‘ the lie o’erthrown.’ As to the charge of defamation, there 
 is an obvious and certain mode of refuting it. Any person who thinks it 
 worth while to compare one edition with another, will find that the passages 
 omitted were not in the least degree of that nature, but exactly such as I 
 have represented them in the former part of this note, — the hasty effusion 
 of momentary feelings, which the delicacy of politeness should have sup- 
 pressed.” 
 
 I cannot discover any passage of twenty-six lines, relative to any noble 
 lord, in the first edition, that was omitted in the subsequent editions. — N. 
 
 f Mr. Boswell alludes to attacks that had appeared in several publications, 
 and particularly in the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1785, under the initials of 
 Q. p. 877, and D. H. p. 959 (both written by Richard Gough, Esq.). 
 These letters produced a long and able vindication of Dr. Johnson and 
 Mr. Boswell, signed “Anti-Stiletto,” in the Magazine for January, 1786, 
 pp. 17 — 23 ; also two articles signed “ Gratian,” and “ Benvolio” [Miss 
 Seward], in the Magazine for Feb. 1786, pp. 123 — 126; a Vindication 
 of Dr. Johnson’s Prayers, signed, “ W. B. Laicus,” in p. 126 ; Remarks 
 on the Tour to the Hebrides, signed “ Philanthropos,” in April Mag. p. 
 295. Mr. Gough renewed the attack (in answer to “ Gratian” and “ Ben- 
 volio,”) in the May Magazine, under the signature of “ Pro me, si merear, 
 in me,” pp. 386—388. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 333 
 
 [From Miss Seward.] 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, April 12, 1786. 
 
 a p erm it me to preface the observation, which I desire 
 to make to you upon the historians of Dr. Johnson^ life 
 and conversation, with a trite remark, which, however, 
 experience is too perpetually pressing upon the hearts of 
 the ingenuous to suffer repetition to weaken its force. I 
 mean, the impossibility of satisfying the captious mul- 
 titude. 
 
 “ After the death of one of the greatest geniuses, and 
 certainly the most extraordinary being that ever existed, 
 how greedily did that multitude listen for anecdotes of his 
 life, and characteristic traits of his manners ! Whence 
 could they be obtained, but from those who lived with 
 him in habits of intimacy ? In Mr. Boswell’s infinitely 
 entertaining w'ork we are presented with the most striking 
 portraits of his illustrious friend. They have been abused 
 for their fidelity in a merciless quantity of dull prose, and 
 in some very witty verses, particularly in a parody of 
 William and Margaret, entitled Johnson’s Ghost/* which 
 appeared in the General Evening Post a little time ago. 
 
 “ But the fidelity of Mr. Boswell’s pen is as laudable 
 as that of Sir Joshua Reynolds’s pencil. If the world 
 really desires to see what manner of man the great Doctor 
 Johnson was, the stains of malice and irascibility should, 
 by the hand of friendship, no more be concealed in the 
 pictures of his mind, than the unwieldiness of his limbs, 
 and the deformities of his countenance, should be omitted 
 in those of his person. 
 
 “After all, Mr. Boswell pronounces him good as great. 
 And also Mrs. Piozzi, after narrating a series of the most 
 weakly-captious conduct, and unprovoked malice, with 
 every glaring opposition to the meekness and forbearing 
 spirit of the religion he professed, tells us, that £ he was 
 great beyond human comprehension, and good beyond 
 the imitation of perishable beings/ 
 
 “ Sir Joshua Reynolds, as well as Mr. Boswell and 
 Mrs. Piozzi, was the personal friend of Dr. Johnson. 
 Why is his zeal less active than theirs ? Why do we not 
 see a dissertation from his pen upon the perfect, the un- 
 matched graces of Dr. Johnson’s form and face, referring 
 
 * See it in the Gentlemans Magazine for 1786, p. 427. 
 
334 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 to his own portraits of the stupendous being as proofs of 
 such imputed beauty ? 
 
 “ We must confess that it had been greatly for the 
 interest of Dr. Johnson’s fame, as a benevolent man, if he 
 had, in one respect, shared the fate of Homer, and, 
 
 “ Like a distant god, been darkly shewn, 
 
 Felt in his works, but in himself unknown,” 
 
 Hayley on Epic Poetry. 
 
 provided he had died before the publication of the “ Lives 
 of the Poets.” Till they appeared, there was no deep 
 stain of malignity upon his glorious writings ; but injus- 
 tice and malice are too apparent in that work, for the 
 strictest friendship to feel any rational scruple in perform- 
 ing the duty of a biographer, that of giving a faithful de- 
 lineation of the manners, rather than present that general 
 outline of character, which, being well known, can but 
 little instruct, and not at all elucidate. 
 
 <£ Let those, who are angry with Mr. Boswell for paint- 
 ing the mind of the Colossus as justly as Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds has painted his form, peruse the whole of the 
 6 Rambler,’ No. 60, in the 2d volume, from which the 
 following passage is a quotation : 
 
 ee £ There are many who think it an act of piety to hide 
 the faults and failings of their friends, even when they 
 can no longer suffer by their detection. We therefore 
 see whole ranks of characters adorned with uniform 
 panegyric, and not to be known from one another but by 
 extrinsic and casual circumstances.’ (i Let me remember,” 
 says Hale, “ when I find myself inclined to pity a criminal, 
 that there is likewise a pity due to the country.” If there 
 is a regard due to the memory of the dead, there is yet 
 more respect to be paid to knowledge, to virtue, and to 
 truth.’ 
 
 “ Dr. Johnson, in the same essay, affirms, that ‘ it is 
 the business of a biographer to pass lightly over those 
 performances and actions which produce vulgar greatness ; 
 to lead the thoughts into domestic privacies, and display 
 the minute details of daily life, where exterior appearances 
 are laid aside.’ 
 
 “ Thus is Mr. Boswell acquitted of all treachery to the 
 fame and memory of his friend, by that friend’s cool and 
 deliberate opinion on the nature of such disclosures, as 
 tend to reveal the genuine disposition of those men whose 
 talents have excited public curiosity. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 335 
 
 K Mrs. Piozzi’s e Memoirs of Doctor Johnson 5 are 
 less entertaining than Mr. Boswell 5 s, because they exhibit 
 him in far less interesting scenes. We recognize, how- 
 ever, the same human hornet, on sullen and sounding 
 wing, in her drawing room, as we saw fastening upon the 
 Scotch professors, and stinging them, in return for the 
 honey with which they had fed him. 
 
 “ We are told in these Memoirs, that we are not to 
 judge of Dr. Johnson by his words and manners ; but to 
 look at his actions, words, and manners, which must daily 
 increase the sum of human discontent, cannot be guiltless. 
 Unnecessary depredations upon the self-esteem of others 
 are always hostile to the interests of morality, as well as 
 to those of content. 
 
 ct Can we help shuddering at Dr. J. 5 s inhumanity, re- 
 corded by Mrs. Piozzi, when a certain female, with whom 
 he was acquainted, sinned against the majesty of his 
 malevolence, by declaring herself happy ; and when he 
 addressed to her brother, and it seems to have been in 
 her presence, the following cruel comment upon that de- 
 claration ? e If your sister is happy, her life gives the lie 
 to every research of humanity, for she is happy without 
 health, without beauty, without money, and without under- 
 standing . 5 
 
 C£ Was it a Christian who refused to credit the possibi- 
 lity of happiness without health, beauty, wealth, or dis- 
 tinguished talents ? If a pious resignation to the will of 
 God, meek obedience to his laws, and the awakened hopes 
 of a blessed futurity, cannot extract the bitterness of these 
 deprivations, may we not say with the Apostle, at least 
 respecting this life, that c Christ has died in vain ? 5 
 
 “ But we are told to look at his actions. In them we 
 see a great deal of alms-giving, but no charity, in the 
 Scripture sense of the word ; devotion ineffectual, because 
 it did not enable him to subdue, or seem to inspire even 
 the resolution of combating, the great vice of his nature, 
 malevolence. We see a partial adherence to that veracity, 
 which, if pecuniary considerations could not tempt him to 
 violate, he eagerly sacrificed to his hatred and prejudices. 
 What is injustice but the worst kind of falsehood ? 
 
 “ We have been somewhere told, that Dr. Johnson 
 would not, even in his busiest hours, allow himself to be 
 denied when he was actually at home, but suffered interr- 
 uption from every impertinent, rather than countenance 
 
336 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 a falsehood so general and so perfectly harmless : — yet he 
 affirmed that any man, any woman, any child, might have 
 written Ossian's works ; and he refused to allow that the 
 university of Cambridge had any literary equality with 
 that of Oxford from the eminence of her sons, though Sir 
 Isaac Newton, Milton, Gray, Mason, and Hayley, with a 
 long & c. of distinguished characters, had been nurtured 
 in her bosom ; and though he tacitly acknowledges to 
 Mrs. Piozzi, that the warm praises he has bestowed on 
 Addison's essays, both in his writings and conversation, 
 had not been sincere. 
 
 ee When we consider these things, added to the asser- 
 tions concerning Pope, Garrick, and Mrs. Montague, in Mr. 
 Boswell's Tour, isitpossible to venerate his prudery respect- 
 ing truth, which strained at gnats, and swallowed camels ? 
 
 f£ Though morality has no concern with the extraor- 
 dinary declaration of Doctor Johnson’s, that Anacreon's 
 Dove, of which Mrs. Piozzi gives us his translation, was 
 not only the first thing which pleased him in the language 
 in which Homer wrote, but that no Greek poetry has 
 pleased him so well since yet it is impossible to pass it 
 by without expressing new astonishment at the strange 
 inconsistency of his taste and judgment. Indeed, how 
 can we credit, from the nervous mind of Johnson, the 
 reality of such a preference ? A little ode, as full of 
 quaint prettiness and elegant conceits as the modern verses 
 of the French and Italians, and which contains nothing 
 more than prettiness, preferred by the author of the 
 Rambler to the sublime pages of the Iliad ! 
 
 “ Tho' at their sight the subject passions start, 
 
 And open all the passes of the heart.” 
 
 Hayley on Epic Poetry. 
 
 c: Of the weakness of this great man’s mind on certain 
 occasions, as well as of its inconsistence, Mrs. Piozzi in- 
 forms us, when we learn, that after he had solemnly ad- 
 jured her to let him know what she thought of his situa- 
 tion, he grew very angry that she did not flatter him with 
 the false idea of long-continued life. She told him, “ that 
 though she saw no present danger, his age and ill health 
 must accelerate the arrival of an hour which none can 
 
 * Johnson owned that he had not opened a Greek book for ten years : 
 see a curious anecdote on this subject in Piozzi’s Anecdotes of Johnson, 
 p. 55. 
 
DK, JOHNSON. 
 
 337 
 
 escape : and he told her in return, £ * that the hand of 
 the hangman was softer than'the voice of such friendship.”* 
 
 “ We learn also from this lady, that few held parental 
 authority in lower estimation than did Dr. Johnson. 
 Mighty consistent that with his veneration of kings, 
 whose right over their subjects is so much less sacred ! 
 
 c< Surely Dr. Johnson had infected his fair biographer 
 with a deep tinge of his own inconsistency ; or she had 
 not suffered a declaration, which seems made as from 
 herself, that no one was so careful to observe the ceremo- 
 nies of life, immediately to precede the instance she gives 
 of his returning the polite civilities of Mr. Cholmondeley f 
 (a man of family and fortune, against whom there is no 
 insinuation of his having conceived any previous dislike) 
 with the most insolent rudeness. Does she not exalt 
 above the standard of human virtue a being, who, she 
 acknowledges, rendered every body about him perpetually 
 alarmed and uncomfortable ? — who delighted to destroy 
 the self-esteem of almost all who approached him by the 
 wounding force of witty and bitter sarcasm ? — who hated 
 people that were silent before him, yet generally made 
 those, who ventured to break that silence, repent their 
 temerity, by rude retorts, which an amiable mind, if it 
 could repay with equal severity, would, for the sake of the 
 surrounding company, rather suffer than imitate? — who 
 knew not how to pity the yearnings of affection which had 
 lost its object ; or allow for the infirmities of slow oppres- 
 sive disease ; maintaining that ill-health generally made a 
 man a scoundrel ? — who encouraged the pride and parade 
 of dress and equipage, though it is evident that the indul- 
 gence of such pompous vanities must preclude the dona- 
 tions of generosity and charity, or plunge people in the 
 misery, probably the guilt, of exceeding the proper bounds 
 of their fortune ? — who saw, without pain or scruple, the 
 comforts of Mrs. Thrale’s life, and the preservation of her 
 health, the sacrifices of his late hours and irritable temper ? 
 — who, she acknowledges, was far from being an active 
 friend, though he was admirable in giving counsel (but be 
 it be remembered, that to hear himself talk was the chief if 
 not the sole joy of his existence), and would not stir a 
 
 * See Mrs. Piozzi’s Anecdotes, p. 215, and Crokev’s edition of Boswell’s 
 Johnson, V. 426. 
 
 t See Boswell’s remarks on this conversation in Croker’s edition, Y. 258. 
 Mr. Cholmondeley died in Feb. 1831, aged 79. 
 
 VOL. YU. 
 
 z 
 
338 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 finger for the assistance of those to whom he was ready- 
 enough to give advice, having principles of laziness, and 
 being indolent by rule ? — in whose sight hunger and death 
 were the only real evils, no other species of misery being 
 able to excite his activity, or obtain his compassion ? — 
 and who, finally, as all the world knows, though she is 
 silent upon the subject, repaid a twenty years’ series of 
 painful endeavours to promote his comforts, preserve his 
 health, and sooth his irascibility, by an absolute renuncia- 
 tion of his protectress, and by the most ungrateful abuse 
 of her because she had married indiscreetly ? 
 
 If it is possible that a man might have been pre-emi- 
 nently excellent, who scarce ever conversed without vio- 
 lating the rule of doing to others as he would they should 
 do unto him, and who deliberately scorned to take that 
 precept as the rule of his actions, there may be sanity in 
 the declaration that Dr. Johnson was 4 good beyond the 
 imitation of perishable beings.’ 
 
 a Yours, &c. 
 
 “ Benvolio.”* 
 
 (< Mr. Urban, _ _ . April 17 , 1786. 
 
 “ No man has less inclination to controversy than I 
 have, particularly with a lady. But as in my 4 Journal 
 of a Tour to the Hebrides,’ I have claimed, and am con- 
 scious of being entitled to, credit, for the strictest fidelity, 
 my respect for the public obliges me to take notice of an 
 insinuation which tends to impeach it. 
 
 “ Mrs. Piozzi (late Mrs. Thrale), to her { Anecdotes of 
 Dr. Johnson,’ jias added the following Postscript: 
 
 “ ‘ Naples, February 10, 1786. 
 
 “ ( Since the foregoing went to the press, having seen a 
 passage from Mr. Boswell’s “ Tour to the Hebrides,” in 
 which it is said, that I could not get through Mrs. Mon- 
 tagu’s t£ Essay on Shakspeare,” I do not delay a moment 
 to declare, that, on the contrary, I have always com- 
 mended it myself and heard it commended by every one 
 else ; and few things would give me more concern than to 
 be thought incapable of tasting, or unwilling to testify my 
 opinion of its excellence.’ 
 
 (( I might, perhaps, with propriety have waited till I 
 should have had an opportunity of answering this Post? 
 
 * Anna Seward. 
 
BK. JOHNSON. 
 
 339 
 
 script in a future publication ; but, being sensible that 
 impressions once made are not easily effaced, I think 
 it better thus early to ascertain a fact which seems to be 
 denied. 
 
 ££ The fact reported in my Journal, to which Mrs. Piozzi 
 alludes, is stated in these words, p. 299 : c I spoke of 
 Mrs. Montagu’s very high praises of Garrick. Johnson. 
 c( Sir, it is fit she should say so much, and I should say 
 nothing. Reynolds is fond of her book, and I wonder at 
 it ; for neither I, nor Beauclerk, nor Mrs. Thrale, could 
 get through it.” ’ 
 
 “ It is remarkable that this Postscript is so expressed, 
 as not to point out the person who said that Mrs. Thrale 
 could not get through Mrs. Montagu’s book ; and there- 
 fore I think it necessary to remind Mrs. Piozzi, that the 
 assertion concerning her was Dr. Johnson’s, and not mine. 
 The second observation that I shall make on this Post- 
 script is, that it does not deny the fact asserted, though 
 I must acknowledge, from the praise it bestows on Mrs. 
 Montagu’s book, it may have been designed to convey 
 that meaning. 
 
 “ What Mrs. Thrale’s opinion is or was, or what she 
 may or may not have said to Dr. Johnson concerning 
 Mrs. Montagu’s book, it is not necessary for me to inquire. 
 It is only incumbent on me to ascertain what Dr. John- 
 son said to me. I shall therefore confine myself to a very 
 short statement of the fact. 
 
 ££ The unfavourable opinion of Mrs. Montagu’s book, 
 which Dr. Johnson is here reported to have given, is 
 known to have been that which he uniformly expressed, 
 as many of his friends well remember. So much for 
 the authenticity of the paragraph, as far as it relates to 
 his own sentiments. The words containing the asser- 
 tion, to which Mrs. Piozzi objects, are printed from my 
 manuscript Journal, and were taken down at the time. 
 The Journal was read by Dr. Johnson, who pointed out 
 some inaccuracies, which I corrected, but did not mention 
 any inaccuracy in the paragraph in question : and, what 
 is still more material, and very flattering to me, a con- 
 siderable part of my Journal, containing this paragraph, 
 was read several years ago by Mrs. Thrale herself, who 
 had it for some time in her possession, and returned 
 it to me, without intimating that Dr. Johnson had mis- 
 taken her sentiments. 
 
 55 2 
 
340 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ec When my Journal was passing through the press, it 
 occurred to me, that a peculiar delicacy was necessary to 
 be observed in reporting the opinion of one literary lady 
 concerning the performance of another ; and I had such 
 scruples on that head, that iix the proof sheet I struck 
 out the name of Mrs. Thrale from the paragraph in ques- 
 tion, and two or three hundred copies of my book were 
 actually printed and published without it ; of these Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds’s copy happened to be one. But while 
 the sheet was working ofl^ a friend, for whose opinion I 
 have great respect, suggested that I had no right to de- 
 prive Mrs. Thrale of the high honour which Dr. Johnson 
 had done her, by stating her opinion along with that of 
 Mr. Beauclerk, as coinciding with, and, as it were, sanc- 
 tioning his own. The observation appeared to me so 
 weighty and conclusive, that I hastened to the printing- 
 house, and, as a piece of justice, restored Mrs. Thrale to 
 that place from which a too scrupulous delicacy had 
 excluded her. 
 
 “ On this simple state of facts I shall make no obser- 
 vation whatever. 
 
 Ci Yours, & c. 
 
 c£ James Boswell.” 
 
 ee Mr. Urban, July 1, 1787. 
 
 “ In the olden, time it was customary to insert in the 
 Gentleman’s Magazine, now and then, some of the peri- 
 dical essays, when they had merit. I send you, for that 
 purpose, Olla Podrida,* No. 13 ; and hope, if you can, 
 you will give it a place this month. Many very unfair 
 attacks have been made on Dr. Johnson’s character; and 
 in this very sensible answer to them, it will not be diffi- 
 cult to discover the pleasant pen of the Dean of Canter- 
 bury.f As you gave a place, some time ago, to a 
 malevolent attack on Dr. Johnson that came from a lady, 
 with the misapplied signature of Benvolio, you owe the 
 insertion of this paper to the manes of our friend. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. A. D.” 
 
 * “This ingenious weekly production is now publishing at Oxford ; and 
 though its internal merit almost supersedes the necessity of recommendation, 
 it may not be impertinent to point out to our readers that the learned and 
 ingenious author (the Rev. T. Munro) is countenanced in his undertaking 
 by the assistance of some of the brightest ornaments of the university of 
 which he is himself a valuable and respectable member.” — Edit. Gent. Mag. 
 Of Mr. Munro, see Literary Anecdotes, IX. 40, 77, 158, 
 t Dr. Horae s afterwards Bishop of Norwich. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 341 
 
 [Then follows No. XIII. of Olla Podrida, for which 
 see 8vo. edition, 1788; copied also into Mr. Croker’s 
 edition of Boswell’s Johnson, vol. V. Appendix.] 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, Aug. 9, 1787. 
 
 “ In reply to the letter in the last Gentleman’s Maga- 
 zine, which precedes the extract from the Olla Podrida, 
 No. 13, and which accuses of malevolence and misapplied 
 signature the letters signed Benvolio, in your publication 
 for February and April, 1786, [see pp. 326, 333], their 
 author desires leave to observe that, whatever had been 
 the faults of Dr. Johnson, they had slept in peace for the 
 pen that wrote those strictures, if injustice to the talents 
 and merit of as great and less faulty beings than himself 
 had not been of the number — of men, whose glory was 
 unclouded till Johnson strove to darken it. The judge 
 who condemns a criminal, upon the clearest proof of his 
 guilt, may with equal truth be called a murderer, as those 
 can be deemed malevolent, who, in the cause of the injured 
 pronounce Dr. Johnson to have been malignant, since the 
 proofs which support the decision are so numerous, and 
 are before the world. 
 
 <f I shall now proceed to make some observations upon 
 the spirited and ingenious number of the Olla Podrida, 
 which follows the letter in question. If, indeed, Dr. 
 Johnson’s Diary of his thoughts, words, and actions, pub- 
 lished at his own request, was strictly ingenuous, it will 
 readily be acknowledged that few amongst the best of us 
 have a conscience so clear from ofFenee towards God and 
 towards man ; but impartiality must doubt the perfect 
 sincerity of this Diary, since it laments, with much parade 
 of contrition, a slight foible, his indolence, as if he wished 
 the world to believe he had not deeper errors ; while it 
 makes no acknowledgement, implies no consciousness of 
 his real faults, jealous pride, that vaunteth itself; irasci- 
 bility easily provoked ; and envy, prone to speak evil of 
 others. 
 
 ff The second observation in the Olla Podrida is per- 
 fectly just; thus, that Dr. Johnson’s admirable arguments 
 in favour of religion and morality are not weakened by 
 the proofs of his practical errors ; but it was somewhat 
 superfluous to observe that 4 his arguments in favour of 
 self-denial lose no force because he fasted, nor those in 
 
342 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 favour of devotion because be said bis prayers f since it 
 never was, nor could be, disputed that his fasting and bis 
 prayers add strength to bis pious reasonings, from the 
 proof they afford that be believed in the religion he in- 
 culcated. It is to be lamented, but in justice to others it 
 ought to be known, that his faith did not produce benevo- 
 lence, without which no man can be amiable; did not 
 produce charity, without which we learn, from higher 
 authority even than that of the learned author of this 
 extract, that though a man may be a believer, may be an 
 alms-giver, he cannot be a Christian. 
 
 “ Human nature is frail ; common frailties must inevi- 
 tably preclude perfection to the least faulty professor of 
 Christianity; but a reviling and tyrannous spirit does 
 more : it destroys the very essence of that religion in the 
 disposition which harbours it. 
 
 “The simile of the Pine- apple to the character of Dr. 
 Johnson is ingenious, and would be just if the uncouth- 
 ness of his form and his inattention to the rules of good- 
 breeding had been all that was offensive about him ; but 
 it is his internal bitterness, not his external roughness, of 
 which the generous mind is indignant. 
 
 “The remark upon the transferrability of nominal su- 
 perstition, from the Protestant up to the Atheist, is striking 
 and eloquent, and is also true ; but does it not imply that 
 there is no such thing as superstition ? — and the observa- 
 tion is, at any rate, not applicable to Dr. Johnson. His 
 credulity was of a nature that the orthodox of our clergy 
 must allow to be superstition, viz. his prayers for the 
 dead : the taking off his hat in token of reverence when 
 he approached the places on which Popish churches had 
 formerly stood ; his defence, recorded by Mr. Boswell, of 
 his belief in witchcraft, as existing in these later times, 
 though now he seemed to think it past away ; and his 
 disposition to credit that Scottish pretence to the preter- 
 natural perception of future events, termed Second Sight. 
 
 “ If Johnson walked humbly with his God, he did not 
 walk obediently, since his life was one continued disobe- 
 dience to the humility commanded by him in the Scrip- 
 tures ; and to his great precept, 4 Do unto others, as ye 
 would they should do unto you.’ Ill could Johnson have 
 borne the insults he inflicted. 
 
 “ A few words to the charge of malevolence brought 
 against the writer, who expresses generous indignation at 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 343 
 
 that vice in one of the greatest men of this age. With 
 the real character of Dr. Johnson’s first patron and 
 bounteous friend, Mr. Walmesley, that writer is perfectly 
 acquainted. It is a noble one. He was generous and 
 charitable. His praise, as well as his bounty, was liberally 
 and impartially bestowed upon genius — his praise always, 
 his bounty where it was wanted. In his abhorrence of 
 Jacobitism he was indignantly fervent, yet he loved 
 Johnson enough to endure in him the principles he 
 despised. Dr. Johnson has stigmatized with malevolence 
 the reputation of Mr. Walmesley, to whom his obligations 
 were great. The author of the letters signed Benvolio 
 had neither obligation nor enmity to Dr. Johnson ; and 
 has therefore a better right to retort the charge upon 
 himself than he had to bring it against Mr. Walmesley. 
 
 “He, who has denied to Prior ease, to Hammond 
 nature, and to Gray sublimity, may, without malevolence, 
 be pronounced unjust. He, who bowed before the 
 monastic vestiges ; who inquired with solemn earnestness 
 about the evidences of second sight ; who prayed for the 
 dead ; and who defended a credulity that was the cause of 
 shedding much guiltless blood ; may, without malevolence, 
 be pronounced superstitious. Of him who has calum- 
 niated the moral and religious character of the excellent, 
 as well as illustrious, Milton ; who has bestowed the name 
 of scoundrel upon the royal protector of the Protestant 
 religion; and who has tried to brand the whole poetic 
 fraternity, by saying of Watts that he was one of the few 
 poets who could look forward with rational hope to the 
 mercy of their God ; of him, it cannot be malevolent to 
 say he was malignant. 
 
 “ Respecting a misapplication of signature, be it re- 
 membered that souls are of no sex, and their effusions 
 therefore may, at pleasure, assume a masculine or feminine 
 appellation. 
 
 “ The lover of benevolence naturally expresses abhor- 
 rence of recorded and proved malignity, in whatever 
 depth of ability it is intrenched, by whatever blaze of 
 imagination it is surrounded. To bear testimony against 
 its corrosives, with a view to counteract their unjust 
 influence and baleful example, cannot render misapplied 
 the signature of 
 
 “Benvolio 
 
 * Aana Seward. 
 
344 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Boswell’s Life of Johnson. 
 
 July, 1791. 
 
 On the first publication of this work the newspapers 
 eagerly seized on portions of it. Mr. Boswell, to protect 
 his copyright, drew up the following Apology, to be 
 inserted in the papers, which is printed from liis auto- 
 graph, in my possession. N. 
 
 44 From our desire to furnish interesting entertainment 
 to our readers, we inserted Dr. Johnson’s Conversation 
 with his Majesty, and his celebrated Letter to Lord 
 Chesterfield, which we extracted from Mr. Boswell’s Life 
 of .Johnson. We had not the smallest apprehension that 
 we were invading literary property, which we hold sacred. 
 But it seems those two valuable articles were entered in 
 Stationers’ Hall as separate publications, which was adver- 
 tised in some of the newspapers ; but the advertisements 
 escaped us. We are very sorry for the mistake; but Mr. 
 Boswell is too candid to take any advantage, and upon 
 our assuring him of the fact, has declared he will not 
 prosecute.” 
 
 44 The above was written in Billy’s shop, and was the 
 cause of my writing 4 J^esson in Biography; or. How to 
 write the Life of one’s Friend.’* 
 
 44 This Imitation I printed in the Morning Herald in 
 July 1791. When Boswell discovered I had written it, 
 he often took an opportunity in my company to praise it, 
 and had once an intention to have reprinted it in his 
 octavo edition, but was dissuaded. To all appearance he 
 took it, as it was meant, in good part, and was certainly 
 ever after very friendly to me. A, Chalmers.”"]" 
 
 44 Boswell appears to have taken the advice given by 
 Mr. (commonly called Dr.) Byrom, in 4 A Hint to a 
 Young Person’ (Poems, vol. i. p. 90). 
 
 “‘In conversation, when you meet 
 With persons cheerful and discreet, 
 
 That speak or quote, in Prose or Rhyme, 
 
 Things, or facetious or sublime, 
 
 Observe what passes, and anon, 
 
 When you come home think thereupon ; 
 
 Write what occurs, forget it not ; 
 
 A good thing said ’s a good thing got.’ 
 
 A. Chalmers.” + 
 
 * Reprinted in Croker’s edition of Boswell’s Life, Y. 477. 
 f From Mr. Chalmers’s copy of Boswell’s Johnson. % Ibid. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 346 
 
 44 Mr. Urban, October 13, 1793. 
 
 44 I have very recently seen a pamphlet, intituled , 4 The 
 principal Corrections and Additions to the First Edition of 
 Mr. Boswell’s Life of Dr. Johnson.’ It surprised me 
 to see my name very impolitely introduced on the first 
 page. When Mr. Boswell was collecting materials for his 
 work, he desired me to give him all the assistance in my 
 power. I made every effort I could to oblige him ; and, 
 though the anecdotes he had from me were not numerous, 
 yet I covered several sheets of paper on the subject for 
 his use. 
 
 44 From infancy I had been accustomed to hear my 
 mother repeat Dr. Johnson’s 4 Verses on receiving a Sprig 
 of Myrtle from a Lady.’* She uniformly said they were 
 written by him when a school-boy, and addressed to 
 Lucy Porter, the first object of his early love, and whose 
 mother he afterwards married. Considered as a very 
 juvenile composition, they are curiously elegant, but can 
 add nothing to Johnson’s fame if believed to have been 
 written in maturer life. 
 
 44 All Mrs. Lucy Porter’s acquaintance in Lichfield, 
 where she lived during a period of forty years, knew her 
 to be a plain honest character, free from vanity, falsehood, 
 and affectation. Of Dr. Johnson’s esteem for her, his 
 letters bear frequent testimony. I have repeatedly heard 
 her say, that the first verses she ever knew that he wrote, 
 after those on the Duck,f were lines addressed to herself, 
 4 when he was a lad,’ on her having given him some 
 myrtle. She used then to repeat the verses in question. The 
 fact, therefore, that they were originally written for her, 
 appears to me, on this concurrent testimony, indubitable. 
 
 44 It is very likely, however, that Mr. Hector might 
 receive myrtle from a lady in Dr. Johnson’s company, 
 and apply to him for verses on the occasion, and that his 
 poetic friend, knowing these juvenile stanzas were not in 
 print, and very applicable, might give them to Mr. Hec- 
 tor, without thinking it necessary to declare their previous 
 existence. Truth was neither directly, nor materially, 
 violated by the suppression of that circumstance. 
 
 44 Repeating them to Mrs. Piozzi, it would be naturally 
 more agreeable to his feelings to mention them as having 
 been given to Mr. Hector, rather than as a testimony of 
 amorous affection to a girl, whose mother he afterwards 
 
 * Seepp. 347, 348, 351, 361. 
 
 t See pp. 346, 353. 
 
346 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 married. This was a very slight untruth, indeed, compared 
 with the unquestionably conscious falsehood of his 
 assertion, that £ Buchanan was the only man of genius 
 which his country, Scotland ! had ever produced/ See 
 Corrections and Additions, p. 29. It astonishes me, that 
 the recorded frequency of similar false assertions from the 
 lip of Dr. Johnson should not convince all who read him, 
 that his veracity was of that species which, straining at 
 gnats, swallows camels. 
 
 “ Had I been, which I am not, capable of averring a 
 conscious falsehood, there could, in this instance, be no 
 inducing motive of vanity or interest. It must be per- 
 fectly indifferent to me whether Johnson’s verses on a 
 Myrtle-sprig were addressed to Lucy Porter, or written 
 for Mr. Hector. I spoke simply and sincerely what had 
 been told me by my mother, and by Mrs. Lucy Porter. 
 When Mr. Boswell informed the public, in his late sup- 
 plementary pamphlet, of Mr. Hector’s declaration, he 
 ought, in justice as well as in common politeness, since 
 he mentioned my testimony, to have stated the reasons I 
 gave him for that different evidence. Mr. Urban will 
 oblige me by giving this letter a place in his next Maga- 
 zine. 
 
 “ I remain his friend and servant, 
 
 “A. Seward.” 
 
 Se Mr. Urban, Great Portland Street, Nov. 16, 1793. 
 
 (i Miss Anna Seward, in a letter in your last Magazine, 
 p. 875, seems to apprehend that I have not treated her 
 well in the first page of what she denominates a pamphlet, 
 intitled, f The principal Corrections and Additions to the 
 First Edition of Mr. Boswell’s Life of Dr. Johnson.’ As 
 I should be sorry to be thought deficent in politeness, 
 much more in justice, to any person, but particularly to 
 a fair lady, I think it necessary to answer a charge too 
 hastily brought against me. 
 
 “ This lady, as she herself has stated, did indeed cover 
 several sheets of paper with the few anecdotes concering 
 Dr. Johnson, which she did me the honour to communi- 
 cate to me. They were, however, not only poetically 
 luxuriant, but, I could easily perceive, were tinctured 
 with a strong prejudice against the person to whom they 
 related. It therefore became me to examine them with 
 much caution. One of them, the idle and utterly impro- 
 bable story of his making verses on a Duck, when he was 
 
DK. JOHNSON. 
 
 347 
 
 but three years old, which good Mrs. Lucy Porter had, 
 among others, credulously related, he himself had enabled 
 me unquestionably to refute ; notwithstanding which. 
 Miss Seward adheres to her original tale, and, in the 
 letter now under consideration, still refers to them as his 
 composition. Another story which she sent me was a 
 very extraordinary fact, said to have been mentioned in a 
 conversation between his mother and him, on the subject 
 of his marrying Mrs. Porter, which appeared to me so 
 strange as to require confirmation. Miss Seward having 
 quoted, as her authority for it, a respectable lady of Litch- 
 field, I wrote to that lady, without mentioning the name 
 of the person from whom the report was derived, in- 
 quiring only as to the authenticity of it. The lady in- 
 formed me that she had never heard of the fact alluded 
 to. — As my book was to be a real history, and not a 
 novel, it was necessary to suppress all erroneous parti- 
 culars, however entertaining. I was therefore obliged to 
 reduce, into a very narrow compass indeed, what Miss 
 Seward’s fluent pen had expanded over many sheets. The 
 account, however, which she gave, in contradiction to that 
 of Mrs. Piozzi, of the circumstance attending Johnson’s 
 writing his beautiful ‘ Verses to a Lady on receiving 
 from her a Sprig of Myrtle,’ seemed so plausible, that I 
 with confidence inserted it in the first edition of my book; 
 nor had I any doubt of it till Mr. Hector spontaneously 
 assured me, by letter, that the fact was as Mrs. Piozzi has 
 represented it.* Having received this decisive evidence, 
 it became my duty to correct, in my second edition, the 
 erroneous account which I had been induced to give in 
 my first; and, of course, to introduce that correction into 
 the supplemental pages to my quarto edition, which I 
 thought it incumbent upon me to publish separately, and 
 in the same form, for the accommodation of those who 
 were possessed of that edition. 
 
 “ Miss Seward says that, e I ought in justice, as well as 
 
 * “ The verses which occasioned this discussion having been printed in the 
 Gentleman’s Magazine, vol.xlix. p. 205, (where {or fears read hopes), as Mr. 
 Hammond’s, and having not unfrequently been ascribed to Mr. Derrick, Dr. 
 Johnson was asked, by the writer of this note, whilst Hammond’s poems 
 were in the press, if he knew the real author. His reply, which has already 
 appeared in vol. Ixi. p. 396, being short, is here repeated : — 
 
 “ ‘ I wrote them, Sir, more than forty years ago, when I was at Birming- 
 ham, at the request of a friend ; who, having frequently teazed me for the 
 verses, I went one day up stairs, as if to fetch them, and wrote them in the 
 short space of time it required to have actually done so.’ <f J, Nichols.” 
 
348 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 common politeness, since I mentioned her testimony, to 
 have stated the reasons she gave for that different evidence. 5 
 Now, sir, this I have done. In the first edition those 
 reasons are fully stated. It was not necessary that the 
 Corrections and Additions, which are not, as she imagines, 
 a distinct pamphlet, but supplemental to that edition, and 
 to be taken along with it, should contain a repetition of 
 the grounds of her testimony. It was enough that the 
 refutation of them was there exhibited. But, in the second 
 edition itself, after re-stating those grounds in her own 
 words, I let my fair antagonist down as softly as might 
 be, thus : — • 
 
 “ ‘ Such was this lady’s statement, which I make no 
 doubt she supposed to be correct ; but it shews how dan- 
 gerous it is to trust too implicitly to traditional testimony 
 and ingenious inference ; for Mr. Hector has lately as- 
 sured me, that Mrs. Piozzi’s account is, in this instance, 
 accurate.’ 
 
 “ The merit of the verses in question will not be les- 
 sened by Miss Seward’s attempt to depreciate them, as if 
 good enough only for a school-boy. They have been 
 long and universally admired. They speak for them- 
 selves, and require no defence. But I cannot help ob- 
 serving that it is an aukward tale, that they were written 
 by Dr. Johnson, in his own person, to Lucy Porter, whose 
 mother he afterwards married. Conjecture must at once 
 yield where fact appears, and that we have from Mr. 
 Hector. He also, in referring to the time when they were 
 written and given to him, says, c Lucy Porter was then 
 only a girl.’ Miss Seward would fain have us suppose, 
 that Dr. Johnson had first written them to Lucy Porter ; 
 and afterwards, on being applied to by Mr. Hector for 
 verses on receiving myrtle from a lady, might give them 
 to Mr. Hector, without thinking it necessary to declare 
 their previous existence. But, if Mrs. Lucy Porter was 
 accurate in her recollection of their being presented to her 
 by Dr. Johnson, Miss Seward’s chronology reversed is 
 much more natural and probable. Dr. Johnson might have 
 written them for Mr. Hector when Lucy Porter was only 
 a girl ; and, when she was grown up, might .have, with a 
 pleasant economy, made them serve a second time for a 
 compliment to her. That they were written for Mr. 
 Hector, however, is all that is necessary to be proved ; 
 and it has been proved. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 349 
 
 e( Miss Seward surely had no occasion to say one word 
 to guard against her being suspected of f averring a con- 
 scious falsehood/ No such suspicion was ever insinuated. 
 Undoubtedly it was indifferent to her whether Dr. John- 
 son’s verses were addressed to Lucy Porter, or written 
 for Mr. Hector ; therefore, when she made her statement 
 of the case, she had no motive of vanity or interest. Now 
 it may, perhaps, not be indifferent, because she seems ex- 
 ceedingly zealous that her statement should be thought 
 right. But there is no question either as to conscious 
 falsehood or conscious truth. It is merely a matter of 
 argument upon evidence ; and, I think, a very plain one. 
 
 i: I hope then, Mr. Urban, the fair lady will be con- 
 vinced that I have neither been impolite nor unjust to 
 her. But, from the veneration and affection which I 
 entertain for the character of my illustrious friend, I can- 
 not be satisfied without expressing my indignation at the 
 malevolence with which she has presumed to attack that 
 great and good man. In the present letter she seriously 
 accuses him of £ conscious falsehood/ in an £ assertion’ 
 that £ Buchanan was the only man of genius which his 
 country had ever produced/ From the frequency of 
 what she calls £ similar false assertions,’ she concludes 
 that £ his veracity was of that species which, straining at 
 gnats, swallows camels/ Miss Seward does not perceive 
 that such sallies as those which are recorded to shew Dr. 
 Johnson’s wonderful dexterity in retort, are not asser- 
 tions in the sense which concerns truth or falsehood ; 
 they are evidently ardentia verba (glowing words — I ask 
 her pardon for quoting a Latin phrase) uttered in witty 
 contest. They are not even expressive of his opinion ; 
 but, if they could be supposed to convey his real opinion, 
 still they would have no concern with his veracity. When 
 he did give his honest judgment on the merits of certain 
 poets, where he differed from a shoal of small criticks, and, 
 in a few instances, was thought by men of a superior 
 rank in taste to be in the wrong, he might be charged 
 with error ; but it is from a defect in the reasoning 
 faculty when, in such instances, he is charged with false- 
 hood or envy. Dr. Johnson’s strict, nice, and scrupulous 
 regard to truth was one of the most remarkable circum- 
 stances in his character, and was often mentioned as such 
 by his friends, particularly Sir Joshua Reynolds. False- 
 hood, therefore, was at the utmost distance from him$ 
 
350 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and his transcendant abilities and acquirements, his ex- 
 tensive and increasing fame, set him far above envy. Miss 
 Seward does not know that her injurious reflection refutes 
 itself ; but her eagerly making it, however weak and in- 
 effectual it may be, fully discovers her intention. 
 
 “So far from having any hostile disposition towards 
 this lady, I have, in my Life of Dr. Johnson, spoken of 
 her in as handsome terms as I could ; I have quoted a 
 compliment paid by him to one of her poetical pieces; 
 and I have withheld his opinion of herself, thinking that 
 she might not like it. I am afraid it has reached her by 
 some other means ; and thus we may account for various 
 attacks by her on her venerable townsman since his 
 decease, even in your Magazine, w r here I have been sorry 
 to see them, some avowed and with her own name, and 
 others, as I believe, in various forms, and under several 
 signatures.* What are we to think of the scraps of 
 letters between her and Mr. Hayley,+ impotently attempt- 
 ing to undermine the noble pedestal on which the public 
 opinion has placed Dr. Johnson ? But it is unnecessary to 
 take up any part of your valuable miscellany in exposing 
 the little arts which have been employed by a cabal of 
 minor poets and poetesses, who are sadly mortified that 
 Dr. Johnson, by his powerful sentence, assigned their 
 proper station to writers of this description. 
 
 “ James Boswell.’ 5 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, . Lichfield, Dec. 14, 1793. 
 
 “The letter from Mr. Boswell, in your last number, 
 p. 1009, is too invidious not to require some comments ; 
 which you will do me the justice to insert. 
 
 “In those Johnsonian narratives, which he requested 
 and obtained for me, I neither invented nor embellished 
 anything ; or felt or expressed resentment that he sup- 
 pressed some of them, though conscious that they all 
 
 * “ Mr. Boswell having here particularly referred to letters under the 
 signature of Benvolio, vol. lvi. pp. 125 , 302 , and vol. lvii. p. 684 ; it be- 
 comes our duty to declare, that his conjecture is totally groundless ; and we 
 hope that, on this occasion, Benvolio will condescend to unmask.” — Ebit. 
 The Editor was totally wrong, as Miss Seward acknowledges them in her 
 next letter. See p. 355 . 
 
 f “ Whatever Mr. B. may think of these scraps (and his mode of expres- 
 sion conveys a certain degree of insinuation), it would be injustice to the 
 writer of them if we did not request the correspondent who communicated 
 them (whom we really do not know) to disclose himself.”-— Edit. See p. 355. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 351 
 
 convey as strong internal evidence of their verity, from 
 characteristic turn of expression, as any that can be found 
 in his interesting memoirs of that wonderful man. If 
 Mr. Boswell has preserved* my letters to him on that 
 subject, I desire he will send them to you, and that you 
 will allow them a place in this Repository : so shall the 
 public judge whether they deserve the contempt with 
 which he mentions them in your last number. Very dif- 
 ferent indeed were his acknowledgements to me at the 
 time they were received. 
 
 “ Before I had seen Mr. Boswell’s Supplementary 
 Notes, several of my friends expressed indignation at 
 what they termed the ungrateful rudeness with which I 
 am introduced on the first page. It appeared necessary to 
 state my reasons for believing that the Myrtle-verses were 
 originally addressed to Lucy Porter. That statement 
 breathes no reflection upon Mr. Boswell, farther than 
 merely pronouncing the sentence in question impolite. 
 If unjustly, being before the public, it justifies itself 
 against my charge. Instead of kindly alleging that he 
 meant me no disrespect, he publishes that infinitely more 
 unfriendly letter in your last Magazine. 
 
 “ I still, and always shall, retain my conviction con- 
 cerning the origin of those { Lines on receiving Myrtle from 
 a Lady.’ I have too great respect for Mrs. Lucy Porter’s, 
 and for my mother’s, long and unvarying testimony, to 
 resign it. 
 
 “ Since, as Mr. Boswell allows. Dr. Johnson found 
 wit, and the desire of victory in argument, irresistible 
 temptations to assert such falsehoods as that e Buchanan 
 was the only man of genius Scotland has produced;’ 
 as that ‘ Garrick did not make Shakspeare better known 
 there is little reason to think he would scruple the im- 
 material misrepresentation which assigned to those pretty 
 stanzas an origin more agreeable to his feelings. Had 
 he never uttered a more injurious untruth, it had been 
 well for many great and good characters, whose fame 
 his unjustice has darkened. 
 
 “ With vdiat reason I am accused of depreciating those 
 gallant Stanzas on the Myrtle Sprig, my letter in the 
 October Magazine, f p. 875, evinces. Considered as the 
 composition of youth, even the youth of Johnson, it 
 deems them curiously elegant — but, since he has written 
 
 * Mr. Boswell afterwards says he had burnt them. See p. 857. 
 
 t See p. 345. 
 
3o2 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 poetry very superior to them, it is demonstrable that, as 
 the produce of maturer life, they add nothing to his fame. 
 
 “ I yet believe the neither idle nor improbable tale of 
 the infant Johnson having lisped four doggerel rhymes on 
 the Death of a Duck, because Mrs. Lucy Porter said Dr. 
 Johnson 5 s mother told her the circumstance ; because it 
 is more likely he should have forgotten what he said at 
 three years old, than that either of those good women 
 should invent a falsehood. 
 
 “ The conversation which young Johnson is reported to 
 have held with his mother, when he asked her consent to 
 marry the widow Porter, and which formed one of the 
 anecdotes I sent to Mr. Boswell, and which he suppressed, 
 I have heard frequently and generally mentioned and 
 credited here. I forget whether or not I quoted to him 
 any particular authority for that memoir ; yet, to the best 
 of my remembrance, I heard it first from the late Mrs. 
 Cobb,* of this place. If I were asked who told me that 
 Johnson said of Chesterfield, fi ‘ He is a wit among lords, 
 and a lord among wits , 5 I should find it difficult to specify 
 an individual from the numbers whom I have heard repeat 
 the sarcasm. Neither can I now with certainty in this in- 
 stance ; but I never doubted the reality of either story, 
 because there is the Johnsonian spirit in both. 
 
 “ Dr. Johnson’s frequently-expressed contempt for Mrs. 
 Thrale on account of that want of veracity which he im- 
 putes to her, at least as Mr. Boswell has recorded, either 
 convicts him of narrating what Johnson never said, or 
 Johnson himself of that insincerity of which there are 
 too many instances, amidst all the recorded proofs of his 
 unprovoked personal rudeness, to those with whom he 
 conversed ; for, this repeated contempt was coeval with his 
 published letters, which express such high and perfect 
 esteem for that lady, which declare that 4 to hear her was 
 to hear Wisdom, that to see her was to see Virtue.’ 
 
 “It has been my lot to contend equally with Dr. John- 
 son 5 s enemies and with his worshippers. Against the 
 prejudice or envy of those who call liis admirable style 
 florid, turgid, stiff, and pedantic, I have ever maintained 
 that he is the finest prose-writer in our language ; and, 
 against the indiscriminate blazon of those who pronounce 
 him equally good as great, I have protested from ingenuous 
 indignation at his injustice to others. After the instances 
 of that injustice so lavishly recorded by his biographers, it 
 * See hereafter, p, 359, t See hereafter, p, 358, 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 353 
 
 is ridiculous to hear Mr. Boswell assert that his glorious 
 talents, and they were glorious, set him above the mean 
 jealousy which suffers ‘no brother to approach the throne/ 
 “ I smile at Mr. Boswell’s word ‘ presume/ as if it was 
 more presumptuous to speak of Dr. Johnson as he was, 
 than of the illustrious Lord Bacon, whom Pope pro- 
 nounces 
 
 ‘ The wisest, greatest, meanest, of mankind.’ 
 
 If meanness was found amidst the splendour of Bacon’s 
 talents, so were arrogance, inconsistence, and detraction, 
 amidst the magnitude of Johnson’s. 
 
 “ Mr. Boswell would have us believe, that false asser- 
 tions are not to be considered as untruths, when they are 
 gilded by wit : but a good heart scorns unjust deprecia- 
 tion from the lip, or the pen, of a Johnson, as from those 
 of the most ordinary capacity ; nay, more ; because it is 
 more injurious to its object. 
 
 “ I have a better right to protest against the malignity 
 of my intellectual superior, Johnson, upon recorded facts, 
 than he had to degrade, upon vague conjecture, the mora- 
 lity and piety of his superior, Milton. With malevolence 
 also he charges that luminary, that boast of our nation, 
 saying, in his Life of Milton, p. 143, e Such was his ma- 
 lignance, that hell grew darker at his frown/ 
 
 “ Those with whom I have conversed were too polite, 
 or too good-natured, to inform me of one of those many 
 things which, I doubt not, he has said to my disadvantage. 
 It cannot be pleasant to any person to know that they 
 must go down to posterity with the arrows of his detrac- 
 tion sticking about them. It is, however, the lot of many 
 of my superiors, both in merit and talents, through Mr. 
 Boswell’s rage of communication ; which the politeness 
 and benevolence I once, and long, believed inherent in 
 his mind, ought, in several instances, to have restrained. 
 When they operated in my favour I was obliged to him ; 
 but what he ungenerously says on that subject, in his 
 late letter to you, entirely cancels that obligation, and pro- 
 claims him the foe of her whom he has so often called 
 friend. 
 
 In the presence of Dr. Johnson I have too often pre- 
 sumed to vindicate the claims of others, whom he was 
 unjustly degrading, to worth and genius, to escape his 
 hatred ; but I disdained to purchase a chance of exemp- 
 tion, as I saw others do, by mean silence, or sycophant 
 VOL. VII. 2 A 
 
354 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 acquiescence. He once said rude things to me on the 
 sole provocation of praising the lyric poetry of Gray and 
 Mason ; but I maintained its claim to pre-eminence, 
 unawed by his despotism. 
 
 “ The quarrel of people of genius and taste with Dr. 
 Johnson’s critical decisions is not, as Mr. Boswell says it 
 is, because they assign their proper station to the minor 
 poets, but because they depreciate excellence and exalt 
 mediocrity ; because, while they bestow praise upon the 
 moderate poems of Savage, Watts, and Yalden, and even 
 upon the vapid fustian of Blackmore, they shed contempt 
 upon the exquisite compositions of Prior, Collins, Gray, 
 and Akenside \ because they pronounce the Paradise Lost 
 £ one of those books which the reader admires, and lays 
 down, and forgets to take up again.’ See Milton’s Life, 
 p. 249. 
 
 “ I am sure I have read, either in Dr. Johnson’s works, 
 or in the records of his biographers, the assertion that 
 ‘ Watts was one of the few poets who could look forward 
 with rational hope to the mercy of their God.’ A more 
 presumptuous, a baser, stigma, never fell from human lip 
 or penA 
 
 It is to be lamented that distinguished poetic talents, 
 which Johnson’s Rasselas styles the highest effort of 
 human intellect, should ever exist, and they have very 
 rarely existed, in vicious minds ; but those minds would 
 have been more vicious without them, since the time spent 
 in their culture would, it is more than probable, have been 
 passed in sensual pursuits ; and who does not know that 
 depravity grows darker by every added vice ? Mark how 
 Johnson’s own pen confutes his slander in a passage, the 
 eloquent beauty of which, if ever equalled, has never been 
 excelled. It is in his f Journey to the Western Isles,’ and 
 in the description of Icolmkill, to which he gives the more 
 harmonious Latin name Iona ? e Whatever withdraws us 
 from the power of the senses, whatever makes the past, 
 the distant, or the future, predominate over the present, 
 exalts us in the scale of rational beings.’ 
 
 u That the culture of the poetic science, as of every other, 
 does withdraw us from the power of the senses, does make 
 the past, the distant, and the future, predominate over the 
 present, is certain. It is therefore impossible that its 
 professors can, in general, deserve this daring, this un- 
 
 * See p. 359. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 355 
 
 christian-like stigma. They are his blind idolaters who 
 perceive not in its bitterness the disappointed ambition, 
 and, consequently, envious spleen, of Johnson, who first 
 appeared before the world in the character of a poet, and 
 who, in that line of writing, though some of his poetic 
 compositions are very fine, has been excelled by several of 
 his contemporaries. 
 
 “ Of envy and selfish prejudice, insinuated against me 
 by Mr. Boswell in your last, I shall be acquitted by all 
 who know my disposition and the habits of my life. All 
 that was great and genuinely good in Dr. Johnson have 
 had no warmer encomiast. I have uniformly said, that 
 while the flowers of poetic imagination luxuriantly adorn 
 his style, it is never enfeebled by their plenitude ; that no 
 periods are so harmonious, none so nervous ; that there is 
 no satiety in the delight they inspire on moral and religious 
 themes ; that his pecuniary generosity did him infinite 
 honour ; and that his faith in Christianity disgraced the 
 scepticism of weaker minds. 
 
 “ The respectable Editor of this work* is mistaken ; the 
 three letters signed Benvolio, in the numbers for February 
 and April, 1786, pp. 129, 302, and for August, 1787? P- 
 684, are mine.f I avowed them at the time they appeared 
 to almost all my friends, and, I think, to Mr. Boswell. 
 The only occasion to which I declined acknowledging them 
 was in a literary circle in London, May, 1786, where I 
 heard the first two, for the last was not then written, pro- 
 nounced the most equitable balance of Dr. Johnson’s good 
 and ill qualities which had appeared. They were too 
 highly spoken of to permit my owning them, as the 
 company were chiefly strangers to me. I wish the 
 candid reader of Mr. Boswell’s uncandid letter would 
 recur to those strictures signed Benvolio, and consider 
 them well. 
 
 “ I disclaim all knowledge of any other anonymous 
 publications concerning Dr. Johnson, some stanzas in 
 verseto Mr. Mason, on the injustice to Mr. Gray, excepted. 
 Who it was that took the unwarrantable liberty of sending 
 to your Repository those extracts from Mr. Hayley’s letters 
 and mine, without the consent of their authors, I have to 
 this hour no guess ; J but a most imperfect copy it was, that 
 by interpolation and omission annihilated the sense of 
 many passages. They were never intended for the public, 
 
 * Gentleman’s Magazine, see p. 350. t See p. 300. J See p. 350. 
 
 2 A 2 
 
356 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 but made, and transmitted to some distant friends for 
 their amusement. 
 
 “ The sentence quoted by my anonymous correspondent 
 N.Y.* from Johnson’s kindred spirit, Warburton,isimpious, 
 pronouncing the decisions of any man sacred and unerring 
 as the balance of the sanctuary. A balance of the sanc- 
 tuary is ready, in which to weigh the character of Johnson. 
 It is in the 13th chapter of the Epistle to the Corinthians. 
 If in that balance he be not found essentially wanting, I 
 am content to have the injustice here alleged against him 
 retorted upon myself. 
 
 “ Hear what his townsman, Bishop Newton, says on this 
 subject, in his posthumous work : — 
 
 “ f Dr. Johnson’s Lives of the Poets afford much amuse- 
 ment ; but candour was hurt and offended at the malevo- 
 lence that preponderates in every part. Never was any 
 biographer more sparing of his praises, or more abundant 
 in his censures. He delights more in exposing blemishes 
 than in recommending beauties ; slightly passes over ex- 
 cellences, enlarges upon imperfections, and, not content 
 with his own severe reflections, revives old scandal, and 
 produces large quotations from the long-forgotten works 
 of former critics. The panegyrist of Savage in his youth 
 may, in his old age, become the satirist of the most 
 favoured authors ; his encomium as unjust and undeserved 
 as his censures/ f 
 
 “ Into a paper-war with a man, who, after professing 
 himself my friend, becomes causelessly my foe, I will no 
 farther enter. New instances of Mr. Boswell’s heroic 
 attempts to injure a defenceless female, who has ever 
 warmly vindicated him, must ultimately redound more to 
 his dishonour than hers, and will, I trust, produce no 
 future intrusion upon Mr. Urban’s publication from the 
 pen of his friend and correspondent, 
 
 “Anna Seward.” 
 
 “ Mr. URBAN, Great Portland-street, Jan. 20, 1794. 
 
 “ Having been too hastily charged, in your Magazine, 
 by Miss Anna Seward, with want of politeness, and even 
 common justice, towards her, I was naturally anxious to 
 vindicate myself, which I accordingly did in November 
 last, by shewing, in the most satisfactory manner, that I 
 
 * Gent. Mag. for Nov. 1793, p, 1009. See hereafter, p. 359. 
 
 t See hereafter, p, 360. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 357 
 
 had been careful to express myself with due delicacy, 
 when obliged to correct an error into which she had been 
 led, as to the true history of Dr. Johnson’s writing the 
 verses on a Sprig of Myrtle. I refer to my statement, and 
 trust it, with confidence, to the candour of all who are 
 capable of reasoning and judging of evidence. I, at the 
 same time, could not but discover some indignation at the 
 malevolence with which that fair lady had presumed to 
 attack the great and good Dr. Johnson, whose character 
 was altogether unconnected with the inconsiderable matter 
 in question. Whether he wrote those beautiful verses for 
 himself, or for a friend, his merit as a poet must be the 
 same. The investigation of their history was important 
 only for the sake of truth, and in fairness to another lady,* 
 whom Miss Seward had induced me to contradict, on 
 grounds sufficiently probable, as I admitted in my addi- 
 tional note. 
 
 “ I should have thought that there was no occasion for 
 any more writing upon the subject ; but I am sorry to 
 find that our poetess has made a second attack, at great 
 length, and in such temper as must be very uneasy to a 
 gentle bosom. She, indeed, has candour enough not to 
 resume the charge from which I vindicated myself, and 
 which was the cause of my animadverting upon her at all. 
 But she throws forth some censure upon me, and a great 
 deal upon Dr. Johnson, of which, Sir, I leave you and 
 your readers to discern the motives. 
 
 “ Miss Seward may be assured that she is as much 
 mistaken as to me, as she certainly is as to Dr. Johnson. 
 I am not her foe, though I committed to the flames those 
 sheets of ‘ Johnsonian Narratives , 5 with which I was 
 favoured by her, among the almost innumerable commu- 
 nications which I obtained concerning the illustrious sub- 
 ject of my great biographical work. I however first 
 extracted from those sheets all that I could possibly con- 
 sider to be authentic. Nay, so desirous was I to give 
 Miss Seward every advantage, that after refuting the 
 impossible legend of Johnson’s verses on a Duck, when 
 he was but three years old, to which, for a woman’s 
 reason, she still pertinaciously adheres, I preserved the 
 ingenious reflections which she, considering it to be true, 
 had made on that idle tale. I am not her foe, though 
 I cannot allow that the censure of Bacon, by Pope, that 
 prince of poets, who could 
 
 ‘ Expatiate free o’er all this scene of man,’ 
 
 * Mrs. Piozzi ; see p. 347. 
 
358 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 is any reason why it is not presumptuous in Miss Nancy 
 Seward to judge and condemn Dr. Johnson, £ the brightest 
 ornament of the eighteenth century ;’ as Mr. Malone has 
 truly and elegantly described him. I am not her foe ; 
 though, instead of joining in the republican cry, as she 
 does, that Johnson has been unjust to Milton, I declare 
 my admiration of his very liberal and just praise of that 
 great poet, who was the most odious character, both in 
 public and private, of any man of genius that ever lived ; 
 in public, the defender of the murderers of his sovereign, 
 the blessed martyr ; in private, the sulky tyrant over his 
 own wretched, uneducated, and helpless daughters. 
 
 “ Why should I be my fair antagonist’s foe ? She never 
 did me any harm, nor do I apprehend that she ever can. 
 She protests against entering farther into a paper war with 
 me. If there be such war, it is all on one side ; for it is 
 not in my thoughts. That kind of conflict is not what I 
 wish to have with ladies ; and I really must complain that 
 my old friend (if she will forgive the expression) should 
 represent me so unlike myself. 
 
 “ It is very hard, that Miss Seward’s misconceiving a 
 witty retort for a false assertion should subject her to so 
 woeful a deception as to imagine Dr. Johnson in any 
 degree deficient in a sacred regard for truth. It is not in 
 my power to make the distinction plainer than' I have 
 made it in my former letter. 
 
 ££ The lady quotes* as genuine a sarcasm of Dr. Johnson 
 on Lord Chesterfield, in these words : £ He is a wit among 
 lords, and a lord among wits,’ which, it seems, she has 
 heard repeated by numbers. Here is a proof of the jus- 
 tice of the late Mr. Fitzherbert’s observation, that it is 
 not every one who can carry a bon mot. This represen- 
 tation of J ohnson’s pointed' saying is flat and unmeaning 
 indeed. What he did say is recorded, p. 238, vol. i. of 
 my book, which Miss Seward handsomely, and I believe 
 sincerely, styles £ interesting memoirs 
 
 “ £ This man I thought had been a lord among wits ; but 
 I find he is only a wit among lords.’ 
 
 s£ It would therefore be better if Miss Seward would 
 not boast of all her communications concerning Johnson, 
 as £ conveying strong internal evidence of their verity from 
 characteristic turn of expression;’ nor would it be any 
 disadvantage to her if she should sometimes distrust the 
 accuracy of her memory (I seriously protest I mean no 
 more) for, since she has mentioned the late Mrs. Cobb 
 
 * See p. 352. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 359 
 
 as the person from whom, 4 to the best of her remem- 
 brance/ she heard the strange conversation between 
 Johnson and his mother, concerning his marriage with 
 Mrs. Porter, which she communicated to me and I sup- 
 pressed, I will tell her that Mrs. Cobb* was the person 
 whom she gave me as her authority; and Mrs. Cobb’s 
 letter now lies before me, in which she says, 
 
 “ 4 1 cannot recollect any conversation wdiich passed be- 
 tween Dr. Johnson and his mother, concerning his mar- 
 riage with Mrs. Porter. If I ever heard any, it has totally 
 escaped my memory. Many things are repeated in Lich- 
 field, as being told or said by Mrs. Cobb, and not a 
 syllable of truth in any one. 5 
 
 “ I again say, that I did not mention to Mrs. Cobb 
 from whom I had the story ; nor did she ever know that 
 it was Miss Seward. It is, however, remarkable, that in 
 the same letter is the following passage : f If you praise 
 our good Johnson, Miss Seward will not love you/ a pre- 
 diction, which, alas ! I now begin to fear is but too true, 
 if I may venture to judge from the strain and tenor of her 
 last epistle. 
 
 “The detection of so considerable a mistake should 
 make Miss Seward not so sure of having read either in 
 Dr. Johnson’s Works, or in the records of his biographers, 
 an assertion concerning Dr. Watts, which she calls e a 
 base stigma, and slander, and unchristian-like /f and pours 
 forth, in her customary manner, a profusion of words to 
 abuse. It is not in his Life of that excellent man ; and, if 
 Miss Seward has read it any where, she has read what was 
 not true. That poets, and poetesses also, have too often 
 been not of the most exemplary lives, is universally 
 known; but Dr. Johnson never uttered such a sentence 
 as Miss Seward imputes to him. She, indeed, seems 
 doomed to perpetual error ; for she mentions a sentence 
 quoted by her anonymous correspondent, [p. 356,] from 
 Warburton, which she, with all imaginable ease, calls 
 impious ; when, in truth, that admirable sentence is not 
 quoted from Warburton, and was not written by War- 
 burton, but by a most distinguished author now alive.J 
 Let me ask, also, if it be fair in Miss Seward to quote the 
 passage which I have quoted (v. III. p. 547,) from bishop 
 
 * See p. 352. t See P* 354. 
 
 + The passage was from Dr. Parr’s <£ Tracts by Warburton and a Warbur- 
 tonian,” and was from the pen of the Warburtonian — Bishop Hurd. 
 
360 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Newton, unfavourable to Dr. Johnson, 1 * and leave out the 
 apology which I have made for that prelate, namely, c the 
 disgust and peevishness of old age ; 5 as also the general 
 and permanent opinion which bishop Newton entertained 
 of Dr. Johnson, of whom he says, in the same passage, 
 that e he respected him not only for his genius and learning, 
 but valued him much more for the more amiable part 
 of his character, his humanity and charity, his morality and 
 religion . 5 
 
 “ Miss Seward dreams that I have 4 insinuated envy and 
 selfish prejudice against her’ in my defensive letter ; for 
 this, after reading it over again and again, I cannot per- 
 ceive the smallest foundation. She may make herself 
 quite easy upon that head, for I do not even suspect that 
 my fair antagonist, ‘ herself all the Nine, 5 f envies any 
 human being. 
 
 (e Neither am I at all conscious of ‘ heroical attempts to 
 injure a defenceless female , 5 (meaning herself) with which 
 she charges me. 4 How canst thou, lovely Nancy, thus 
 cruelly — ? 5 Is it an injury to mention in civil terms that 
 she has been mis-informed as to a fact ? Is it an injury 
 to reprehend with generous warmth her malevolent at- 
 tacks on e my Guide, Philosopher, and Friend ? 5 Would 
 that she were o/fenceless ! defenceless she is not ; as she 
 now avers that she can, at pleasure, put on the masculine 
 attire, and lay about her as a second Drawcansir, armed 
 cap a pied in the masked character of .Bewvolio.j; She 
 modestly wishes that her strictures, under that signature, 
 should be c recurred to, and considered well . 5 She may 
 rest satisfied that they have been well and truly tried, and 
 that the verdict of ineffective ill-nature will never be set 
 aside. I wonder at her seeming to glory in such effusions. 
 
 u And now to put an end to all future disputation on 
 the mighty points of the Duck and the Myrtle, which have 
 been the causes of this war, 
 
 — — ‘ this tumult in a Vestal’s veins.’ 
 
 “ The verses on a Duck, said to be composed by John- 
 son when he was only three years old, were not made by 
 him, because, from internal evidence, it is impossible they 
 should without a miracle ; and because, from external evi- 
 dence, it appears that his mother, and Mrs. Lucy Porter, 
 
 * See before, p. 356. 
 
 + “ See a short Dialogue in verse between her and Mr. Hayley written 
 by Professor Porson, beginning 1 Pride of Sussex, England’s Glory.’ 
 
 X See p. 355. 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 361 
 
 did not c invent a falsehood/ when they credulously told 
 he had made them, so that their veracity is not questioned. 
 His mother heard so from his father, and Mrs. Lucy 
 Porter from his mother. The refutation does not rest on 
 Johnson’s recollection of his childhood, but on his telling 
 me, in Mrs. Lucy Porter’s presence, that his father had 
 owned to him that he had made them, and wished to pass 
 them for his son’s. 
 
 “ The verses on a Sprig of Myrtle, though, perhaps, 
 afterwards presented to Mrs. Lucy Porter, were originally 
 written for a friend; because Dr. Johnson himself men- 
 tioned the fact, both to Mrs. Thrale and to Mr. Nichols,* 
 printer of the Gentleman's Magazine, both of whom have 
 attested it ; and because Mr. Hector, of Birmingham, Dr. 
 Johnson’s schoolfellow and intimate friend through life, 
 has attested that he was the person at whose request they 
 were written. That worthy gentleman first spontaneously 
 wrote to me on the subject; and, seeing me unavoidably 
 drawn into this awkward and unpleasant squabble with 
 Miss Anna Seward, has again spontaneously favoured me 
 with a letter, which I shall here insert. 
 
 a ‘To James Boswell, Esq. 
 
 “ ‘ Dear Sir, 
 
 ee ‘ I am sorry to see you engaged in altercation with a 
 lady, who seems unwilling to be convinced of her errors. 
 Surely it would be more ingenuous to acknowledge than 
 to persevere. 
 
 “ f Lately, in looking over some papers I meant to burn, 
 I found the original manuscript, with the date on it (1731), 
 which I have enclosed. 
 
 “ c The true history (which I could swear to) is as follows. 
 Mr. Morgan Graves, the elder brother of a worthy clergy- 
 man near Bath, with whom I was acquainted, waited upon 
 a lady in this neighbourhood, who, at parting, presented 
 him the branch. He showed it me, and wished much 
 to return the compliment in verse. I applied to Johnson, 
 who was with me, and in about half an hour dictated the 
 verses which I sent to my friend. 
 
 “ f I most solemnly declare at that time Johnson was an 
 entire stranger to the Porter family ; and it was almost 
 two years after that I introduced him to the acquaint- 
 ance of Porter, whom I bought my clothes of. 
 
 “ f If you intend to convince this obstinate woman, 
 
 * See p. 347. 
 
362 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and to exhibit to the public the truth of your narrative, 
 you are at liberty to make what use you please of this 
 statement. 
 
 “ ‘ I hope you will pardon me for taking up so much 
 of your time. Wishing you multos et f dices annos , I shall 
 subscribe myself, your obliged and humble servant, 
 
 “ 4 Birmingham, Jan. 9, 1794. E. Hector/ 
 
 “ May I not now flatter myself, Mr. Urban, that I shall 
 not have the trouble of any farther altercation with Miss 
 Seward ? Let the Duck be changed into a Swan, and the 
 Myrtle into an Olive. Instead of railing let us have the 
 song. Instead of war let us have peace. I beg that I 
 may not be reckoned in the number of those 4 with whom 
 it has been Miss Seward’s lot to contend/ My fair anta- 
 gonist’s fertile fancy has men and things enough to employ 
 itself upon, without vainly aspiring to be the judge of 
 Johnson. She will permit me, in perfect good humour, 
 to call to her recollection a verse in very ancient poesy : 
 e I do not exercise myself in great matters, which are too 
 high for me/ 
 
 “ Yours, &c. James Boswell. ” 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, _ Lichfield Close, March 19, 1794. 
 
 “ In answer to Miss Seward’s letter in your Magazine 
 for December last, Mr. Boswell the ensuing month inserts 
 one from Mr. Hector, which contains an absolute, though 
 doubtless an involuntary, mis-statement. 
 
 “Doctor Johnson, who died in 1784, was born Sept, f, 
 1709. Mr. Hector states that his first copy of the Myrtle 
 verses, which he believes the original one, is dated 1731, 
 and probably, through forgetfulness, declares that Dr. 
 Johnson had no acquaintance with any of the Porter family 
 till two years afterwards, when introduced by Mr. Hector. 
 This must have been in 1733, and in Dr. Johnson’s 
 twenty-third year. 
 
 “ Lucy Porter, sister to Mr. Porter of Birmingham, was 
 the second wife of my grandfather Hunter, Dr. Johnson’s 
 schoolmaster. They were married in the year 1726 at 
 Chelsea. This fact, both as to time and place, is attested 
 by my mother, the daughter of that marriage, now resident 
 here, aged sixty-five. 
 
 “To the house and table of his intelligent and worthy 
 master, young Johnson had ever familiar access, and was, 
 
DR. JOHNSON. 
 
 363 
 
 consequently, well known to Mrs. Hunter, a daughter of 
 the Porters, during those seven years which preceded the 
 time from which Mr. Hector dates Dr. Johnson’s first 
 knowledge of the Porter family. During those preceding- 
 seven years Mrs. Hunter’s niece, Lucy Porter, visited her 
 aunt at Lichfield, and became the object of Dr. Johnson’s 
 school-boy love ; and, according to her own, and the late 
 Mrs. Seward’s statement (who was Mr. Hunter’s daughter 
 by his first wife), received from Dr. Johnson the elegant 
 verses on the Myrtle, which he afterwards gave to Mr. 
 Hector, without thinking it material to avow their pre- 
 existence. This lady was four years younger than Dr. 
 Johnson, who afterwards married her mother, the widow 
 of Mr. Porter, of Birmingham, Mrs. Hunter’s brother. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. H. White.” * 
 
 Mr. Urban, Lichfield Close, Oct. 21, 1794. 
 
 “ Miss Seward requests me to assure your readers that, 
 however friendly to her the paragraph might be in p. 815 
 of your last Magazine, f it is a mistaken suggestion. 
 
 “ From no individual instance of false representation, 
 from no wound of personal feelings, arose her conviction 
 of Dr. Johnson’s propensity to defame ; but from a count- 
 less number of imputations concerning the characters of 
 others, groundless as that which Mr. Boswell has gene- 
 rously recorded concerning her father, at whose house he 
 had been frequently entertained with the most friendly 
 hospitality. 
 
 (c Every person who knew Mr. Seward, and has seen his 
 distorted portrait by Dr. J ohnson, is conscious of its in- 
 justice, and remembers that no one had less of the selfish 
 solicitudes of a valetudinarian ; that his constitution and 
 frame were robust ; that no man was ever more entirely 
 free from grossness or indelicacy in his manners, which 
 were those of a scholar and a gentleman ; that, however 
 
 * The Rev. H. White, sacrist of Lichfield Cathedral, died April 8, 1836, 
 aged 75. He was countenanced by Dr. Johnson, when a young man; and 
 was the intimate friend of Miss Seward. See Gent. Mag. July, 1836, p. 105. 
 He collected and possessed a very curious library, part of which, we believe, 
 is in the possession of his son, and part was disposed of by auction. 
 
 f This alludes to a letter in Gent. Mag. for Sept. 1794, p. 815, signed 
 HU. V. in which Miss Seward’s conduct is attributed to the feelings of a duti- 
 ful and affectionate daughter, Dr. Johnson having exposed the failings and 
 infirmities of the lady’s father. 
 
364 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 lively, frank, and full of anecdote, he never declaimed ; 
 that his benevolence, which was unbounded, inspired the 
 wish to please and amuse, without the least appearance of 
 talking for fame. 
 
 “ When she saw these false traits of Mr. Seward given 
 in the dark shades of Johnsonian malignance, she said, 
 e My poor father shares the almost general fate of those 
 who were so unlucky as to have any personal acquaint- 
 ance with Dr. Johnson/ 
 
 a The letters signed Benvolio, in the Gentleman’s 
 Magazine for February, p. 125, and April, 1786, and for 
 August 1787, p. 302, she has acknowledged,* and they 
 were written several years prior to the appearance of this 
 stigma on her father. They evince that her convictions 
 were not the offspring of filial indignation, though she 
 must have been lost to natural affection if it had not 
 arisen over that accumulated proof of the justice of her 
 opinions concerning Dr. Johnson. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. 
 
 “ H. White.” 
 
 *** Numerous other correspondents to the Gentleman’s Magazine joined 
 this controversy, who signed N. Y., M— — -s, A laxyveo aeavrou, Masti- 
 gophoros, G. S., Eboracensis, Protoplastides, Cottoniensis, JE. V., I. W. 
 Rich. Geo. Robinson, and G. See the volumes for 1793, p. 1008, and 1794, 
 pp. 7, 120, 198, 510, 619, 625, 815, 876, 1001. 
 
 TWO LETTERS 
 
 From Mr. Boswell, to David Garrick, Esq. 
 
 DEAR SlR, Edinburgh, 18th Sept. 1771. 
 
 “ It gives me concern to find you complaining of sick- 
 ness, and talking of putting into port. I must be allowed 
 to pay you the compliment that my father did to a valetu- 
 dinary friend, ‘ Long may you complain ! 5 You have 
 had more than once the agreeable experience of recovering 
 health ; and I hope these last summer months have re- 
 stored you again to your usual state. You are at least 
 happy enough to enjoy at all times the best of Horace’s 
 two requisites ; for if the corpus sanum fails, you are 
 never without the mens sana. You are blessed with a 
 
 * See p. 355. 
 
BOSWELL TO GARRICK. 
 
 365 
 
 perpetual flow of good spirits and vivacity, which makes 
 the soul live as it were in a southern climate. 
 
 Hie ver perpetuum, et alienis mensibus sestas.* 
 
 “ I will not allow you to think of your exit, when so 
 much of the play remains, and perhaps some of the best 
 parts of it. I please myself with the prospect of attend- 
 ing you at several more jubilees at Stratford-upon-Avon. 
 It is true, we must all look forward to the last scene ; and 
 you, who have so often felt and made others feel its 
 solemnity, must fall, just like others. This puts me in 
 mind of three Essays which I wrote on the profession of a 
 playerf last year, and which were published in the London 
 Magazine, in which I have some concern. Pray, have you 
 read them ? Since I am upon the serious subject of 
 death, I cannot help expressing to one who feels as you do, 
 that I am affected with much melancholy on the death of 
 Mr. Gray. His Elegy on a Country Churchyard has long 
 been a part of myself ; and many passages in his other 
 poems glance across my soul with a most enlivening force. 
 I never saw Mr. Gray ; but my old and most intimate 
 friend, the Rev. Mr. Temple, .J rector of Mainhead, in 
 Devonshire, knew him well. He knew his foibles, but 
 admired his genius and esteemed his virtues. I know not 
 if you was acquainted with Mr. Gray. He was so ab- 
 stracted and singular a man, that I can suppose you and 
 him never having met. 
 
 c< Permit me, now, my dear sir, again to recommend to 
 your patronage Mr. Mickle’s tragedy, which I rejoice to 
 hear has now passed through the hands of both the War- 
 tons. By encouraging Mickle, you will cherish a most 
 worthy man, and, I think, a true poetical genius. Let me 
 add, that your goodness to him will be an additional obli- 
 gation to your humble servant, who will venture to say that 
 you have never had a warmer, a more constant, or a bolder 
 admirer and friend, at all times and in all places, than 
 himself, though you have had multitudes of greater dis- 
 tinction and abilities. All these things considered, I would 
 hope that Mr. Mickle, who has waited long in the anti- 
 chamber, will soon be introduced, and not be shoved back 
 -by others who are more bustling and forward. 
 
 * The line in Virgil is somewhat different : 
 
 “ Ilic ver assiduum, atque alienis mensibus Eestas.” 
 
 2 Georg, v. 149. Edit, Garrick Cor. 
 t See hereafter, p. 368. J See p. 320. 
 
366 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ I have just been enjoying the very great happiness of 
 a visit from my illustrious friend Pascal Paoli. He was 
 two nights at Auchinleck ; and you may figure the joy of 
 my worthy father and me at seeing the Corsican hero in 
 our romantic groves. Count Burgynski, the Polish am- 
 bassador, accompanied him. You know the Count very 
 well, so I need not praise him to you. Why have you not 
 called on General Paoli since I had the pleasure of pre- 
 senting you to him in your morning dress, comme un Roi 
 deguise , and he paid you so handsome a compliment, 
 which I dare say you have added to your cabinet of jewels ? 
 He will be very glad to see you. I had lately a kind 
 letter from our friend Mr. Samuel Johnson. He still 
 flatters me with seeing him among the rocks of Scotland. 
 I intend being in London next March, and promise myself 
 much happiness with you and my other friends there, now 
 that I am just as you all would wish me to be, as far as I 
 can be while living in Scotland. To be sure, Parliament, 
 or the English bar, are situations devoutly to be wished. 
 We must look about us. Pray, is there anything in the 
 little note of old plays belonging to a Scotch gentleman 
 which I left with you ? He would most readily give 
 you any that he has. When you have half an hour, I beg 
 you would bestow it upon me, and be assured that I ever 
 am. Your affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 “James Boswell. 
 
 “ I find I must transgress the ordinary bounds of a 
 letter, and tell you that Mr. Donaldson, who published 
 the last edition of Shakespeare, is a prodigiously happy 
 man, in your having inscribed him among the freemen of 
 Drury-lane theatre. He is in the humour of Horace, 
 Quod si me Lyricis vatibus inseres , &c. I think I may take 
 a little crop of praise for my dedication of the edition, 
 since it has had such an effect.* 
 
 To D. Garrick, Esq. 
 
 “ DEAR Sir, Edinburgh, April 11, 1774. 
 
 “ When Mr. Johnson and I arrived at Inverary, after 
 our expedition to the Hebrides, and there for the first 
 time after many days renewed our enjoyment of the 
 luxuries of civilised life, one of the most elegant that I 
 
 * Garrick Correspondence, 1. 436. 
 
BOSWELL TO GARRICK. 
 
 367 
 
 could wish to find was lying for me, — a letter from Mr. 
 Garrick. It was a pine-apple of the finest flavour, which 
 had a high zest indeed amongst the heath-covered moun- 
 tains of Scotia. That I have not thanked you for it long ere 
 now is one of those strange facts for which it is so difficult 
 to account that I shall not attempt it. The 4 Idler 5 has 
 strongly expressed many of the wonderful effects of the 
 vis inertice of the human mind. But it is hardly credible 
 that a man should have the warmest regard for his friend, 
 a constant desire to shew it, and a keen ambition for a fre- 
 quent epistolary intercourse with him, and yet should let 
 months roll on without having resolution, or activity, or 
 power, or whatever it be, to write a few lines. A man in 
 such a situation is somewhat like Tantalus reversed. He 
 recedes, he knows not how, from what he loves, which is 
 full as provoking as when what he loves recedes from him. 
 That my complaint is not a peculiar fancy, but deep in 
 human nature, I appeal to the authority of St. Paul, who, 
 though he had not been exalted to the dignity of an 
 apostle, would have stood high in fame as a philosopher 
 and orator, 4 What I would, that do I not.’ 
 
 44 You need be under no concern as to your debt to me 
 for the book which I purchased for you. It was long ago 
 discharged; for, believe me, I intended the book as a 
 present ; or, if you rather choose that it should be held 
 as an exchange with the Epitaphs which you sent me, I 
 have no objection. 
 
 44 Dr. Goldsmith’s death would affect all the Club much. 
 I have not been so much affected with any event that has 
 happened of a long time. I wish you would give me, who 
 am at a distance, and who cannot get to London this 
 spring, some particulars with regard to his last appearance. 
 
 44 Dr. Young has a fine thought to this purpose, that 
 every friend who goes before us to the other side of the 
 river of death makes the passage to us the easier. Were 
 our Club all removed to a future world but one or two, 
 they , one should think, would incline to follow. By all 
 means let me be upon your list of subscribers to Mr. 
 Morell 5 s 4 Prometheus. 5 * 
 
 44 You have enlivened the town, I see, with a musical 
 piece. The prologue is admirably fancied, arripere popu- 
 lum tributim ; though, to be sure, Foote’s remark applies 
 
 * This was Dr. Thomas Morell, the Lexicographer, one of the earliest 
 writers in the Gentleman’s Magazine. Of Dr. Morell, see Lit, Anecdotes, 
 Index, vol. vii. pp. 275, 632. 
 
368 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 to it, that your prologues have a culinary turn, and that 
 therefore the motto to your collection of them should be. 
 Animus jamdudum patinis. A player upon words might 
 answer him, any pattens, rather than your Piety in pattens . 
 I wonder the wags have not been quoting upon you — 
 
 “ Whose erudition is a Christmas Tale” 
 
 But Mr. Johnson is ready to bruise any one who calls in 
 question your classical knowledge, and your happy appli- 
 cation of it. I hope Mr. Johnson has given you an enter- 
 taining account of his Northern Tour. He is certainly to 
 favour the world with some of his remarks. Pray do not 
 fail to quicken him by word, as I do by letter. Posterity 
 will be the more obliged to his friends, the more they can 
 prevail with him to write. With best compliments to Mrs. 
 Garrick, and hoping that you will not punish me by 
 being long silent, I remain faithfully yours, 
 
 “ James Boswell.”* 
 
 REMARKS ON THE PROFESSION OF A 
 
 PLAYER, t 
 
 By James Boswell, Esq. 
 
 Essay I. 
 
 Omnis Aristippum decuit color, et status, et res. — Hor. 
 
 That the profession of a player was anciently held some- 
 times as contemptible, and sometimes as odious, is known 
 to all who are acquainted with the history of mankind ; 
 but the causes of this are also known. Stage-playing 
 being originally nothing better than course and rustic 
 buffoonery. When Thespis or such as Thespis exhibited 
 their performances in a cart, it could not fail to be con- 
 temptible 5 and when the idea of contempt is once an- 
 nexed to a profession, it is not easily removed. Hence it 
 was that the business of stage-playing was appropriated 
 to slaves, or to the meanest of the people. That the pro- 
 fession was odious there is no wonder, since the ancient 
 comedy was a barefaced attack upon living characters, 
 who were brought upon the stage and exposed to public 
 
 * Garrick Correspondence, I. 622. 
 
 f First printed in the London Magazine for 1770. See before in this 
 volume, p.365. 
 
BOSWE.LL ON PLAYERS, 
 
 369 
 
 scorn. In more modern times, wherever the Christian 
 religion was established, players were looked upon with a 
 most unfavourable eye, because their shows tended to 
 keep alive the fictions of heathenish idolatry ; and, how- 
 ever much later times may have improved in liberality of 
 sentiments, it must be acknowledged that their prejudices 
 against the profession of a player have continued much 
 longer than could have been expected. The effects have 
 remained after the causes have ceased ; and, because 
 players had once been obnoxious for having fomented 
 paganism, they were obnoxious still, when paganism was 
 no longer an object of attention. The human mind con- 
 tinued its aversion to them, as a man who had been 
 tossed at sea feels himself agitated long after he is upon 
 land ; or as the foolish person mentioned by Mr. Locke, 
 who, being accustomed to strike the hour in imitation of a 
 neighbouring clock, continued to strike after the clock 
 was removed. 
 
 But the present age beholds the profession of a player 
 in a proper light, and treats it accordingly. We now see 
 that it ought to be ranked amongst the learned profes- 
 sions ; for the truth is, that, in order to be a good player, 
 there is required a greater share of genius, knowledge, and 
 accomplishments than for any one profession whatever; 
 for this reason, that the profession of a player comprehends 
 the whole system of human life : quicquid agunt homines. 
 When I talk thus, I talk of an universal player ; and surely 
 in order to be that, in any degree of perfection, all that I 
 have now mentioned is necessary. For any one of what 
 are commonly called the three learned professions, viz. 
 law, physic, and divinity, there is, no doubt, required 
 much knowledge and much address, or many accomplish- 
 ments. But the player must have a share of the requi- 
 sites of each of these classes of men, because he must 
 alternately represent an individual characteristical of each. 
 Mr. Dryden’s fine satirical lines on the Duke of Buck- 
 ingham— 
 
 “ And in the space of one revolving moon 
 Is poet, statesman, tidier, and buffoon,” 
 
 may, with a little variation, be seriously applied to the 
 universal player ; for he must, in the space of a moon, be 
 lawyer, divine, and physician, with all the other characters 
 or discriminations of the human species, which have been 
 formed in society. In Mr. Samuel Johnson’s noble pro- 
 VOL. YU. 2 B 
 
370 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 logue at the opening of Drury Lane Theatre, it is said of 
 Shakespeare : 
 
 “ Each change of many-coloured, life he drew.” 
 
 The same may be said of a player, who animates the 
 paintings of Shakespeare. We who live at present have 
 an opportunity of observing a wonderful example of what 
 I have now set forth. Mr. Garrick exhibits in his ow T n 
 person such a variety of characters, with such propriety 
 and excellence, as not only to catch the immediate ap- 
 plause of the multitude, but to be the delight and admi- 
 ration of the judicious, enlightened, and philosophical 
 spectators : as was said of Terence — 
 
 Primores populi arripuit populumque tributim. 
 
 When I maintain that learning is necessary to a player 
 who is to represent a man of learning, I do not mean that 
 he is to be understood to have as much learning as may 
 be annexed to the character wdiich he represents. Thus, 
 in order to appear well upon the stage, as a lawyer, a 
 physician, or a divine, it certainly is not necessary to have 
 a deep knowledge either of law, physic, or divinity ; yet it 
 is necessary to have so much knowledge as to enter into 
 the general scope of the character, and have a just per- 
 ception of the different expressions, not to mention that 
 without some knowledge of the science belonging to each 
 character it is impossible fully to see the blunders and 
 absurdities arising from ignorance, petulance, and con- 
 ceit, which often constitute the ridicule of the part, and 
 appear unmeaning and insipid if not set off by the player 
 with due intelligence and poignancy. 
 
 It may, therefore, be fairly maintained, that the more 
 knowledge a player has, the more will he excel in his 
 profession ; and so true is this, that superior judges of 
 theatrical excellence can discern improvements even in 
 the performance of Mr. Garrick, upon seeing him again 
 in characters, where they had once imagined it impossible 
 for him to be greater ; for Mr. Garrick is by study and 
 observation continually adding to his stock of science, and 
 enriching his mind with new ideas, towards which his late 
 travels through a good part of Europe have no doubt 
 very much contributed ; and the fertility of his own lively 
 fancy is always producing fresh thoughts. 
 
 But not only are learning and science necessary for an 
 universal player ; he must also have all the genteel accom- 
 plishments, — he must be an elegans formarum spectator — • 
 
BOSWELL ON PLAYERS. 
 
 371 
 
 he must have elevation and tenderness of sentiment, 
 dignity and ease of deportment — he must even have a 
 knowledge of the weaknesses, the follies, the awkward- 
 ness, and rusticity of human life. Let us recollect Mr. 
 Garrick in Hamlet and Abel Drugger, Lear and Sharp, 
 Henry the Fourth and Hanger , and the truth of what 
 has now been observed will appear at one view. I grant 
 that to be an universal player, a man must be born 
 with extraordinary talents, and must employ unwearied 
 pains ; and even that these should have their effect, a 
 long course of practice is necessary, and every year will 
 bring a greater degree of excellence. But the requisites 
 for an universal player must be found in a greater or less 
 degree in every player who would hope to excel in his 
 profession ; so that the more knowledge that he acquires 
 in the department, or, to use the stage phrase, the walk 
 for which nature has intended him, the more will he be 
 distinguished, and without a competent share of knowledge, 
 it will be in vain for him to tread the stage. 
 
 We may indeed he told that we have had many players 
 whose names it would be invidious to mention; who, though 
 brought from the dregs of the populace, and grossly igno- 
 rant, have set the audience in a roar, and exhibited low 
 comic characters with much truth, as well as in a diverting 
 manner. As to this it must be observed, that knowledge 
 is not to be circumscribed to w r hat we learn in books and 
 schools ; a great variety of it is picked up in the practice 
 of life; and, however ignorant low comedians may have 
 been in a relative sense, it may be affirmed that none of 
 them who have excelled have been destitute of discern- 
 ment and observation in the sphere in which they have 
 moved, so that they cannot be said to have been ignorant 
 of their own subjects, if that term may be here used. I 
 would however beg leave to differ from the philosophers 
 of old, who when treating of the duties of men in their 
 several stations, and comparing them to players, say, that 
 c ' there is no matter what part is assigned to a performer, 
 whether that of a king or a peasant/’ The question is — 
 Has lie done his part well ? For though there is no doubt 
 that he who performs the part of a peasant well is better 
 than he who performs the part of a king ill, yet a player 
 is intitled to a greater degree of praise in proportion as 
 he represents a lesser or greater character, and also in 
 proportion to the variety of characters which he represents. 
 
 2 B 2 
 
3/2 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Essay Second. 
 
 Ut ridendum arrident, ita flentibus adsunt 
 
 Humani vultus. Si vis me flere, dolendum est 
 
 Primum ipsi tibi. IIor. 
 
 It is surely not only an object of taste to study theatri- 
 cal representations, but it may be a matter of very curious 
 philosophical inquiry. What is the nature of that peculiar 
 faculty which makes one a good player ? It is something 
 more than imitative art. A painter can represent upon 
 his canvass the various appearances which the world 
 affords, with such exactness of shape and justness of 
 colour as to be almost mistaken for the objects them- 
 selves. He can even represent the affections and passions 
 of the mind, by representing their external effects, which 
 from habit instantaneously convey to us their ideas. The 
 poet can in the same manner give us descriptions of every 
 thing, and by a choice and arrangement of words the signs 
 of ideas can instantaneously represent to our imaginations 
 whatever is the subject of his verse. But the player 
 
 lives o’er each scene,” and in a certain sense “ is what 
 we behold,” and this constitutes the mysterious difficulty 
 of being a good player ; for by what power is it that a 
 man is able at a certain hour to change himself into a 
 different kind of being from what he really is? How is it 
 that a man, perfectly easy and happy, can make himself 
 wretched and sorrowful without the intervention of any 
 cause whatever, but a voluntary operation of his own 
 mind ? And, supposing him by intense meditation on 
 melancholy subjects to have at length effectuated so diffi- 
 cult an operation, how does he regulate his sorrow so as 
 to correspond exactly with the part assigned him in the 
 play ? How does he adapt his feelings to the vicissitudes 
 of hope and fear which are intermingled in the drama ? 
 I am persuaded that the better a part is written, the less 
 difficulty will there be in playing it well. I say playing 
 it well ; because to a bad player, to one who only mimics 
 the character he represents, well or ill written parts will 
 be alike easy. But I am persuaded that Mr. Garrick 
 will tell us, that it is easy to him to play a part in which 
 the passions display themselves naturally. In such a part, 
 when he is once entered into the character, it’s different 
 effusions are like effusions of his own mind ; whereas he 
 will tell us that it is difficult for him to play a part in 
 
BOSWELL ON PLAYERS. 
 
 373 
 
 which the passions are pushed forth in a forced and un- 
 natural manner. In such a part every sally is a shock to 
 him, and he plays it with the same aversion that a 
 master of music of a good ear and refined taste does a 
 harsh and discordant composition. 
 
 When I talk of the mysterious power of a good player, 
 which has just now been mentioned, I take it for granted 
 that my proposition is not denied, that a good player is 
 indeed in a certain sense the character that he represents, 
 during the time of his performance ; and that this is truly 
 the case, I have been assured by that great ornament of 
 the stage whom I have had occasion to mention several 
 times in the course of these reflections. 
 
 I am aware that my proposition, that a player is really 
 and truly the character in which he appears, may be mis- 
 represented ; and I remember to have heard the most 
 illustrious author of this age,* whose conversation is 
 thought by many even to excel his writings, exert his elo- 
 quence against this proposition, and with the luxuriance 
 of humour for which he is distinguished render it exceed- 
 ingly ridiculous : u If, Sir,” said he, “ Garrick believes him- 
 self to be every character that he represents, he is a mad- 
 man, and ought to be confined. Nay, Sir, he is a villain, 
 and ought to be hanged. If, for instance, he believes 
 himself to be Macbeth, he has committed murder, he is a 
 vile assassin, who, in violation of the laws of hospitality, 
 as well as of other principles, has imbrued his hands in the 
 blood of his king while he was sleeping under his roof; 
 If, Sir, he has really been that person in his own mind, 
 he has in his own mind been as guilty as Macbeth.” But, 
 without staying to investigate the difference between a 
 man in the full exercise of his reason and a man mad or 
 beside himself, which a player in the sense now men- 
 tioned would certainly be, I beg leave to remind my 
 readers, that I qualified my proposition by saying that a 
 player is the character he represents only in a certain 
 degree ; and therefore there is a distinction between his 
 
 * “ Johnson had thought more upon the subject of acting than might be 
 generally supposed. Talking one day to Mr. Kemble, he said, ‘ Are you, 
 sir, one of those enthusiasts who believe yourself transported into the very 
 character you represent ? ’ Upon Mr. Kemble’s answering that he had never 
 felt so strong a persuasion himself; ‘ To be sure not,’ said Johnson; ‘the 
 ming is impossible ; and if Garrick really believed himself to be that monster 
 Kiehard the Third, he deserved to be hanged every time he performed it.” 
 ■bosweH’s Life of Johnson, under the year 1783. Croker’s edit. 8vo. V. 132. 
 
374 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 being what I have said, and his being the character he 
 represents in the full sense of the expression. 
 
 How to define my meaning with precision I am really 
 at a loss. I have already said that the power of which I 
 treat is mysterious, consequently it is difficult to put it in 
 words. I heartily wish that Mr. Garrick would give us 
 an essay on that subject ; as he is so fully master of it, 
 and writes with precision and vivacity ; such a perform- 
 ance by him would be a curious and entertaining present 
 to the public. We would read an essay by Mr. Garrick on 
 the art of acting as we do Xenophon and Csesar, or the 
 King of Prussia on the art of war. Colley Cibber justly 
 regrets that the talents of the greatest actor die with 
 him, and that it is impossible to give succeeding ages, 
 who have never seen him, an adequate idea of his won- 
 derful powers. In that respect the poet and painter have 
 the advantage over him ; for the painter can say Pinyo 
 aeternitate, “ I paint for eternity ! ” the poet, Exegi monu- 
 mentum cere per ennius, “I have finished a monument more 
 lasting than brass ! ” These were the expressions of an 
 ancient painter and of an ancient poet ; and they were 
 expressions by no means absurd or extravagant; for the 
 works of a painter and poet are transmitted down from 
 age to age with successive admiration. It is not so with 
 the player, his talents, by which multitudes have been 
 affected, leave no trace behind them ; but, like the talents 
 of the orator and musical performer, appear no more when 
 he who possessed them is gone. Would Mr. Garrick give 
 us the Essay which I have here figured, it would add 
 much celebrity to his profession. 
 
 If I may be allowed to conjecture what is the nature of 
 that mysterious power by which a player really is the cha- 
 racter he represents, my notion is that he must have a 
 kind of double feeling. He must assume in a strong de- 
 gree the character which he represents, while he at the 
 same time retains the consciousness of his own character. 
 The feelings and passions of the character which he repre- 
 sents must take full possession as it were of the anti- 
 chamber of his mind, while his own character remains in 
 the innermost recess. This is experienced in some mea- 
 sure by the barrister who enters warmly into the cause of 
 his client, while at the same time, when he examines him- 
 self coolly, he knows that he is much in the wrong, and 
 does not even wish to prevail. But during the time of 
 
BOSWELL ON PLAYERS. 
 
 375 
 
 his pleading, the genuine colour of his mind is laid over 
 with a temporary glaring varnish, which flies off instan- 
 taneously when he has finished his harangue. The double 
 feeling which I have mentioned is experienced by many 
 men in the common intercourse of life. Were nothing 
 but the real character to appear, society would not be 
 half so safe and agreeable as we find it. Did we discover 
 to our companions what we really think of them, frequent 
 quarrels would ensue; and did we not express more 
 regard for them than we really feel, the pleasure of social 
 intercourse would be very contracted. It being necessary 
 then in the intercourse of life to have such appearances, 
 and dissimulation being to most people irksome and 
 fatiguing, we insensibly, for our own ease, adopt feelings 
 suitable to every occasion, and so, like players, are to a 
 certain degree a different character from our own. It is 
 needless to mention many instances of this ; every man’s 
 experience must have furnished him with a variety of in- 
 stances which will readily occur to him. He will recollect 
 instances in every funeral that he has attended — every 
 birthday entertainment at which he has been a guest — > 
 every country-seat the beauties of which have been shewn 
 him by its master-— every party of pleasure in which he 
 has shared. In short, he can hardly recollect a scene of 
 social life where he has not been conscious, more or less, 
 of having been obliged to work himself into a state of 
 feeling which he would not naturally have had. 
 
 This double feeling is of various kinds and various 
 degrees ; some minds receiving a colour from the objects 
 around them, like the effects of the sunbeams playing 
 through a prism, and others, like the cameleon, having no 
 colours of their own, take just the colours of what 
 chances to be nearest them. And it must be observed, 
 that the greater degree a man is accustomed to assume of 
 artificial feeling, the more probability is there that he has 
 no character of his own on which we can depend, unless 
 indeed he be born of an uncommon degree of firmness ; 
 hence it is that the French, who are celebrated as the 
 politest people in Europe, and, in conformity with the 
 ideas which I have just now mentioned, may lie con- 
 sidered as perpetual comedians, have the least original 
 character, and have been censured as fickle and false ; 
 whereas the English, who have a plain bluntness of 
 behaviour, are truly a nation of originals, and are univer« 
 
376 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 sally allowed to be remarkably honest. But, laying aside 
 natural prejudice and judging candidly, we must confess 
 that the politeness of the French makes them much 
 happier ; because, from the continued habit of working 
 themselves into an agreeable frame, into complacency and 
 self-satisfaction, they actually enjoy those blessings ; and 
 the falseness for which they are censured is not tainted 
 with malignity, for it is only volatility and changeableness. 
 
 I have said that to assume a borrowed, fictitious, or 
 external character is apt to make a man have no cha- 
 racter of his own, except he has an uncommon degree of 
 firmness. This exception has been observed to hold true 
 in several celebrated men in different departments of 
 human life. Epaminondas, one of the first generals that 
 ever lived, was at the same time a man of the most en- 
 gaging manners. The Archbishop of Cambray could unite 
 to the strongest character of piety all the elegance of a 
 French courtier. Each of those great men could assume 
 an external character without hurting his own. It is 
 needless to give many instances ; they will readily occur 
 to those who have read the lives of illustrious men, though 
 even of these there will be but a part, for there have been 
 illustrious men, and perhaps our own age can show such, 
 who had no character of their own, but have actually 
 been transmuted into various characters according to 
 times and circumstances; illustrious men, of whom we 
 may say in a figurative and extravagant style, what Mr. 
 David Hume very sincerely says of man in general, that 
 “ they are nothing but a bundle of perceptions;” a saying 
 not more attended with utility, a favourite principle of 
 that gentleman, than sure of a ready assent by every man 
 of sound sense. 
 
 Thus have I endeavoured to illustrate this curious 
 subject as well as I can ; but I own sincerely, with much 
 doubt and diffidence ; and the more I have thought of the 
 subject the greater is my wish that Mr. Garrick would 
 give us such an Essay as I have mentioned in a former 
 part of this paper. The Stratford Jubilee convinced 
 both the world and himself how much his powers of 
 writing are able to perform when he is forced to exert 
 them. I would therefore hope, that while retired in his 
 elegant bower at Hampton, that love of fame which hath 
 ever warmed his breast with so ardent and unremitting a 
 glow, may prompt him to leave to succeeding ages an 
 
BOSWELL ON PLATERS. 
 
 377 
 
 account of that art the effects of which have been so 
 wonderful in this. Cardinal Alberonr’s “ Political Tes- 
 tament” is not more valuable in its kind than would be 
 Mr. GarriclPs “ Theatrical Testament.” 
 
 Essay III. 
 
 Servetur ad imum 
 
 dual is ah incsepto processerit. — lion. 
 
 The stage being an object of much attention amongst 
 us, we have had several literary productions relative to 
 the art of acting. Addison and Steele, and their friends, 
 gave a sanction and a gracefulness to the theatre, by the 
 attention which they paid it from time to time with clas- 
 sical elegance in the Spectator, Tatler, and Guardian. 
 Colley CibbeFs Apology for his own Life, one of the 
 pleasantest books that ever was written, contains many 
 ingenious observations ; but Colley, who had a consider- 
 able dash of the spirit of Montague, was too volatile to 
 enter deeply into any subject, and his remarks, however 
 just and agreeable, are not profound. The Lives of the 
 British Actors and Actresses, by his son Theophilus, are 
 not without their share of merit, though much inferior 
 to the style of the father. Dr. Hill's “ Actor, or a Treatise 
 on the Art of Playing,” is none of the Avorst productions 
 of that multifarious author ; and, if I am not mistaken, 
 players may learn many useful lessons from it, while his 
 other readers, who compose the audience at our theatres, 
 may be assisted to judge with more candour and discern- 
 ment. I have read some years ago a performance, entitled, 
 “ An Essay on Theatrical Expression in Tragedy; ” and, 
 according to my recollection, it is the most ingenious and 
 philosophical performance that we have upon the subject 
 of acting. 
 
 Nor have we had only prose performances on this sub- 
 ject, for there has been more poetry written upon it of 
 late years than one would imagine. The first thing in 
 that Avay that I remember is “ The Art of Acting,” a poem 
 by a young gentleman, published by Francis Stamper, a 
 low comedian of great merit, who played many years at 
 the Edinburgh Theatre, and died in that city. Next came 
 “ The Actor, an epistle to Bonnell Thornton, by Robert 
 Lloyd; ” a poem of acknowledged merit. Mr. Lloyd holds 
 
378 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the same system with regard to the players that I have 
 attempted to illustrate. 
 
 “ Or fool, or monarch, happy or distressed, 
 
 No actor pleases that is not possess’d.” 
 
 A little after appeared Churchill’s “ Rosciad, a poem,” 
 temporary in its subject, but so forcible in its expression 
 and harmonious in its numbers as to bring its author at 
 once into very great popular reputation, before ever he 
 attached himself to the popular party, then so violent in 
 opposition to the court ; and I doubt not but many pas- 
 sages of that poem will be read with satisfaction in after- 
 times. The great success of the Rosciad roused other 
 men of genius to exert their poetical talents in the same ex- 
 traordinary style. Hence arose “ Thespis,” by Mr. Kelly, 
 which, though it had not the Herculean vigour of Churchill, 
 had more correctness, and many beauties. I must also 
 mention, the Covent Garden Rosciad, the Rational 
 Rosciad, and Momus’s, the Rosciad of Mr. Foote’s 
 theatre ; for the more numerous the literary performances 
 upon the subject, the more must it appear an object of 
 general attention. 
 
 As another proof upon this head, and indeed a strong 
 proof, it may be observed, that all our periodical publica- 
 tions, our magazines, and newspapers, are occasionally 
 seasoned with entertaining remarks on our different the- 
 atrical performers, and even with verses in their praise. 
 Mr. Whitehead, the present poet laureat, hath written 
 some very pretty verses in honour of Mr. Garrick, Mrs. 
 Cibber, and Mrs. Pritchard ; they are printed in Dodsley’s 
 Collection. By these strains of panegyric on theatrical 
 majesty the courtly Bard prepared himself for nobler 
 numbers, 
 
 “ A louder yet, and yet a louder strain,” 
 
 to celebrate the real royalty of Great Britain. 
 
 There is a monthly publication, called the cc Dramatic 
 Censor,” which contains some very good observations on 
 the performance of many of the favourite characters on 
 our stage. I wish it success; and hope that the favour 
 of the public will not be wanting to encourage im- 
 provements upon it. A judicious and impartial theatrical 
 censor must be of considerable service to our players. 
 We all remember the excellent humourous account which 
 the Spectator gives of the Trunkmaker, who sat in the 
 gallery in his time, and distributed with a large oaken 
 
BOSWELL ON PLAYERS. 
 
 379 
 
 stick his applause and censure to the performers on the 
 stage, with constant and unchallenged propriety. I wish 
 we had such a literary trunhnaker, who would from time 
 to time publish his remarks ; they would not only be of 
 service to our present players, but would preserve many 
 curious and useful hints for future performers. There 
 are many minute circumstances in the exhibition of a 
 character upon the stage, which do not appear from read- 
 ing the poet, but must be supplied by the player, from 
 his observations of human life. These minute circum- 
 stances may be preserved in a theatrical review; as a 
 gallery of pictures in the dresses of the times gives us a 
 lively idea of the appearance of our ancestors. 
 
 “ Life’s moving pictures, well wi’ought plays,” 
 as the author of “ The Spleen,” a poem, ingeniously styles 
 them, would be still more lively, if every little article of 
 manners in every character were preserved ; and if not 
 preserved by writing, many characteristical minutiae must 
 fade away with the age which gave them birth, and be 
 totally forgotten in aftertimes, so that posterity shall 
 wonder why their forefathers were so highly entertained 
 with characters, which they indeed think diverting, but 
 cannot perceive in them such excellent subjects of risi- 
 bility. 
 
 As I purpose to treat only of the profession of a player, 
 I am not to enter upon the wide field of the drama itself, 
 concerning which so much has been written in various 
 ways. Some have treated it merely as an object of criti- 
 cism, others as the subject of moral and political disquisi- 
 tion ; and of the latter class of writers, some extolling it 
 as a school of virtue and refinement of manners, others 
 declaiming against it, as a seminary of debauchery and 
 idleness. It may easily be perceived what my opinion is 
 upon the subject, by my having paid so great attention to 
 the performers. 
 
 Jeremy Collier of the last age, and Jean Jacques Rous- 
 seau of this, two writers of as different a complexion as 
 can well be imagined, have, in their attacks upon the 
 stage, both agreed in decrying the profession of a player, 
 and in representing it as incompatible with moral recti- 
 tude. D’Alembert has shown himself the judicious and 
 elegant apologist of the players, ; and I would recommend 
 to every one who is prejudiced against them to read w r hat 
 he has written. 
 
380 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 For my own part., I cannot see any reason why the pro- 
 fession of a player should corrupt the morals more than 
 any other. If it is the dissimulation necessary to assume 
 a feigned character that is thought so hurtful., I flatter 
 myself that I have shewn that the art of a player is not 
 dissimulation, but a mysterious power of being to a certain 
 degree the character which he represents. If it is the 
 assuming bad characters that is to corrupt his own, surely 
 that may be counterpoised by his assuming good cha- 
 racters ; and it will not be denied that our plays afford, an 
 equal number of characters eminently virtuous, as of 
 characters eminently vicious. Besides, if my theory is 
 admitted, the player himself — his own character — still 
 remains entire, and, in the warmest scene of the drama, 
 can in some measure pass a conscious judgment on the 
 character which he is representing. 
 
 In considering the profession of a player, people seem 
 to forget that it is a profession as laborious, and perhaps 
 more so, than either law, physic, or divinity. People see 
 players appear upon the stage with all the advantages of 
 dress and ornaments, amidst the united brilliancy of paint- 
 ing, gilding, and every other theatrical decoration, enli- 
 vened with the lustre of artificial lights, arranged in the 
 most beautiful manner ; they hear them talk with ease 
 and fluency in every style ; and such is the agreeable de- 
 lusion, that they are ready to look upon them as a set of 
 beings who exist only in grandeur, or in gaiety, in enjoy- 
 ing a reciprocation of entertainment and applause. But 
 it ought to be remembered, that studying a part is a very 
 hard study ; that fixing in the memory the mere words of 
 a character requires much application, and that a great 
 deal more is required to form a just conception of the 
 spirit of the character, to determine what expressions of 
 voice and gesture will best become the various speeches 
 and situations, and even to devise and settle the lesser 
 graces and requisites necessary for the complete exhibition. 
 Very great must be the labour in preparing for the first 
 appearance in any character; and that labour must be 
 renewed previous to each repeated appearance in a greater 
 or lesser degree, in proportion to the intervals between the 
 appearances, and in proportion to the anxiety which a 
 player has to improve. 
 
 When we take into our consideration, then, the great 
 application which a player must have at home, as also the 
 
BOSWELL ON PLAYERS. 
 
 381 
 
 assiduity with which he must attend, and as it were sketch 
 over his part at rehearsals, we shall find that he has very 
 little vacant time to employ in vicious pursuits ; and we 
 must consider that the actresses are as much obliged to 
 give application and attendance to the duties of their pro- 
 fession as the actors are ; so that in reality there are very 
 few ladies out of the walls of a convent whose time is so 
 regularly portioned out, and whose minds are so occupied 
 with innocent subjects as theirs. 
 
 If an appeal be made to facts, which no doubt is the 
 best method of determining any point, I can with pleasure 
 fix my eyes on many instances of worthy and virtuous 
 characters of both sexes, who have followed the profession 
 of a player with success. That there have been many 
 people of bad characters upon the stage, has been owing 
 to the groundless prejudice which has prevailed against 
 the profession of a player ; so that people of genius, who 
 had lost their characters, betook themselves to it. From 
 them the characters of all players were indiscriminately 
 condemned, and it required uncommon resolution for a 
 person of real good character to exert distinguished talents 
 in that sphere. But, as the prejudice against the profession 
 of a player is fading aw r ay, we may expect that it will every 
 day grow more and more respectable, and consequently 
 that the characters of those who practise it will be more 
 and more chaste. Then may we hope to see our players 
 treated with a just decency and politeness, and secured 
 against affronts from sport or malevolence, the fear of 
 which too often debases them to an abject submission to 
 the ill-bred and riotous part of their audience. 
 
 Players, one should think, must be very entertaining 
 companions. Such are generally, and with justice, reck- 
 oned so, who have, as the phrase is, seen a great deal of 
 the world, — that is to say, of human life. Players may be 
 reckoned to have that advantage in a great degree, as it is 
 their business to exhibit the various scenes of human life 
 veluti in specula . In order to this, they are furnished with 
 views of the world drawn by the ablest masters. They 
 have the dramatic poets, as skilful guides, to point out to 
 them what is worthy of observation, to select for them 
 amidst the infinite diversity of objects, and to inspire them 
 with taste and spirit to relish what is selected. Then their 
 memories are necessarily stored with tales of every sort, 
 with innumerable characters, with moral and philosophical 
 
382 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 reflections, with sallies of wit and humour, poetical imagery 
 and sprightly repartee. Accordingly, the conversation of 
 many of them — from the days of Betterton and Dick East- 
 court, down to the present time — has been acknowledged 
 by the best judges to be very agreeable. Some players, 
 indeed, like some among other men of genius, will be 
 found dull companions enough till put in agitation ; like 
 some race horses, who are restive and good for nothing 
 till warmed by velocity of motion. And some players are 
 absolute pedants, and, not having judgment enough to 
 manage their store of fine things, instead of intermixing 
 dramatic anecdotes and sayings at proper intervals, give 
 us a perpetual rodomontade, an absurd string of speeches 
 from plays, to supply the purposes of ordinary dialogue. 
 
 If the Abbe Du Bos’s system be true, that the hap- 
 piness of man consists in having his mind agitated, players 
 must be of all mankind the most happy, as in the exercise 
 of their profession they are agitated in all the variety of 
 which human nature is capable ; and if the length of life, 
 as those who are studious of metaphysical refinement 
 maintain, is to be estimated by the time in which we have 
 been sensible of activity of mind, the lives of players are 
 much longer than those of any other class of mortals. 
 
 There is something very curious and interesting in con- 
 sidering that players, who have entertained us so much, 
 must at last die, like other men. Mr. Pope has been 
 struck with such a reflection, and applied it to the poets, 
 in these beautiful lines : — 
 
 “ Poets themselves must fall like those they sung : 
 
 Deaf the prais’d ear and mute the tuneful tongue ; 
 
 E’en he whose soul now melts in mournful lays, 
 
 Shall shortly want the generous tear he pays.” 
 
 The reflection is still more striking when applied to the 
 players ; for how curious is it to think that they who 
 have so often counterfeited death, and again appeared in 
 all the lively activity and cheerfulness of life, must at last 
 arrive at that awful scene when life is to be no more ; 
 when they are really to die ; when those features which 
 have been so often employed to express the varieties of 
 human emotion and passion must be convulsed with the 
 agonies of dissolution ; when those organs of speech which 
 have touched so many hearts must for ever be dumb ; 
 when those who have animated such a multiplicity of 
 characters must sink into cold insensibility. I question 
 
BOSWELL ON PLAYERS. 
 
 383 
 
 if in that awful scene any player ever was able to exert 
 his peculiar talents. I fancy every one of them must 
 then say in the affecting words of my Lord Lyttelton’s 
 prologue, 
 
 “ Alas ! I feel I am no actor here.” 
 
 The first lines of the farewell Epilogue spoken by Mrs. 
 Pritchard on her taking leave of the theatre, after per- 
 forming the character of Lady Macbeth, have a most 
 pathetic solemnity — 
 
 “ The curtain drops, my mimic life is past, 
 
 That scene of sleep and terror was my last.” 
 
 But how much more pathetic and solemn may we figure 
 the farewell words of a player upon a death-bed to be ? 
 No player can tell by which of the various modes of death 
 he is to quit this mortal stage ; and therefore cannot have 
 any set speech composed for the occasion. Poor Theo- 
 philus Cibber was drowned by a dreadful shipwreck in 
 his passage to Ireland. It is remarkable that in his “ Lives 
 of the Poets,” he boasts his having excelled in the part of 
 Melisander in Thomson’s Agamemnon. He quotes a 
 speech in which we find, after telling 
 
 “ Some midnight ruffians rush’d into my chamber, &c.,” 
 the following lines : 
 
 “ Sudden they seiz’d, and, muffled up in darkness, 
 
 Straight bore me to the sea, whose instant prey 
 I did conclude myself, when first around 
 The ship unmoor’d I heard the chiding sound.” 
 
 Little did he think that the alarming situation here de- 
 scribed would one day be realized to him, and that he 
 was indeed to become the prey of the sea. 
 
 In the awful scene of death, players must submit to 
 the common lot of humanity. They must suffer like the 
 rest of their fellow-creatures, and like them flutter with 
 mingled hopes and fears. In that awful scene they must 
 be impressed with a conviction that they are to appear 
 before a tribunal where they will be judged “ according to 
 the deeds done in the body,” according as they have 
 acted as men ; and must depend for consolation upon 
 that Divine Being “ whose mercy is over all his other 
 works,” 
 
384 
 
 REV. GEORGE ASHBY, B.D. 
 
 Of this learned and able antiquary a memoir 
 will be found in the tff Literary Anecdotes/’ voi. I. 
 p. 577, and a character of him by the Rev. W. 
 Cole, p. 578, and numerous notices occur in many 
 parts of that work (see General Index, vol. VII. 
 pp. 13, 505). Also in the Literary Illustrations.* 
 He was educated at Westminster and Eton, and 
 was the correspondent of Mr. Harmer, Dr. Farmer, 
 Rev. James Granger, Mr. Gough, Mr. Daines Bar- 
 rington, Mr. Herbert, Mr. Nichols, Bishop Percy, 
 and most of the literary antiquaries of his day. 
 Like the friend last mentioned, he became blind in 
 his old age ; but that misfortune did not, in either 
 of them, extinguish or scarcely abate their zeal for 
 literature. He was also intimate with Gray the 
 poet. His epitaph in Barrow Church, Suffolk, ac- 
 curately and concisely describes his history : — 
 
 “ Near this place is interred the body of the Rev. George 
 Ashby, B.D. and F.S.A., Rector of this parish, son of 
 Edward Ashby (by Elizabeth -Judith, daughter of Robert 
 Lock, of Dinton, in Wiltshire), of an ancient Leicestershire 
 family ; who was born 5 Dec. 1724, and died 12 J une, 1 808. 
 He was for many years President of St. John’s College, 
 Cambridge, by which Society he was presented to this 
 living in 1774; and in 1780 obtained, by the friendship of 
 Dr. Ross, Bishop of Exeter, the rectory of Stansfield, in 
 Suffolk. For some years previous to his death he had the 
 misfortune to become blind ; but, as a critical scholar and 
 an antiquary, he left many testimonials of superior abilities. 
 
 <£ Mrs. Hannah Ashby, sister of the Rev. George Ashby, 
 died 1 May, 1808, aged 79. 
 
 “ Thomas Lyas, of Barrow, the constant companion and 
 amanuensis of the Rev. G. Ashby, for the space of 28 
 years, and at last his testamentary heir, with all respect 
 and gratitude inscribes this marble to his memory.” 
 
 * See vol. III. 421, V. 330, VI. 298, 548, 882. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 385 
 
 To the Rev. T. Percy. 
 
 “Dear Sir, 
 
 “ Mr. Browne and Mr. Baker tell me that the College 
 will not object to the having the Howard Book printed. I 
 examined the volume; it consists of 607 folio pages, about 
 32 lines, more or less, in each page. The press cannot 
 be set from the original ; therefore the whole should be 
 transcribed by some careful and intelligent person — no 
 common writer could make it out. “ G. Ashby,’* 
 
 Extract of a letter from Rev. Mr. Ashby to Rev. T. 
 
 Percy, 28 Oct. 1769, on the Northumberland 
 Plousehold Book. 
 
 “ On his Lordship’s Diet. 
 
 “ That he certainly eat things, such as sea-gulls and sea- 
 pyes, which the poorest men in the fens would not think 
 of touching now, v. infra. So the D. of Norfolk, in the 
 curious account of his house-keeping, preserved in Pem- 
 broke-hall, eats porpoises, &c. See also Pennant, iii. p. 
 53. The bittern, indeed, after being long neglected, is 
 rose into a delicacy. Sir John Hawkins saith the bytern 
 must be head. 
 
 “2, That some birds, as knots and dotterells, were 
 probably much more plentiful than now, or they need have 
 given no directions about buying them. See Pennant’s 
 Br. Zool. 504, 367, 491, 492. 
 
 “ 3. Their want of taste and spirit in hesitating about 
 giving a peny for a teal, who did not scruple to give two 
 pence for a mallard, p. 104. 
 
 “ 4. That the book rather contains the contracts entered 
 into by my Lord and his servants for the expences of the 
 year to come than the actual housekeeping ; in which, I 
 believe, the Norfolk account has the advantage. 
 
 “V. supra. Sea-gulls. Sir J. Hawkins saith, ‘Being in the 
 Straits of Magellan, the young gulls was one of the deli- 
 catest foods that I have eaten in all my life ;* in the same 
 place finds fault with the ducks as inferior to our own ; 
 but Sir J. Narborough in the same place had so good a 
 stomach as to find foxes and kites very good.”* 
 
 ¥ Mr. Ashby was fond of natural history. I possess his interleaved Lin- 
 naeus, with MS. notes, — J. M. 
 
 VOL. YII. 2 C 
 
386 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Rev. G. Ashby to Bp. Percy. 
 
 u DEAR Sir, Cambridge, St.John’s, 13 Dec. 1773. 
 
 £C Mr. Holmes was so kind as to shew me your copy of 
 £ Peebles to the Play,’ and I scribbled some things on a 
 distinct piece of paper. Yesterday I read £ Christ’s Kirk 
 on the Green and was surprised to find not only the 
 same words, but such a sameness of turn in the design, — 
 viz. a fighting for no reason that one could see, — that one 
 should think both had the same author. However, Peebles 
 must be wrote first, being quoted in the beginning of the 
 other. I think there are few words which are not in the 
 £ Polemo-Middinio/ or Glossary to Gawin Douglas. 
 
 ££ I make no doubt you have these books, or else I could 
 lend them to you. I desire my compliments to Mrs. Percy, 
 and am, dear Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 ££ George Ashby. 
 
 cc Dear Sir, St. John’s College, Dec. 21, 1773. 
 
 ££ I repent that I did not take the liberty of carrying off 
 the old song, but I must desire you will clear up, sooner 
 or later, my doubts about its author and antiquity ; for, as 
 it appears to me full brother to £ Christ’s Kirk on a Day/ 
 and probably to ‘Falkland on the Green,’ both from 
 language and composition, I should choose to give them 
 all to one author ; not readily conceiving that the Scotch 
 language should have continued so exactly the same from 
 1440 to 1540. Mr. Walpole, though he gives to James 
 the First one book of Scotch sonnets, without naming any 
 or seeming to know that more than one remains, yet says 
 nothing of our song. The New Edinburgh Magazine is 
 equally silent. The changes in the English language were 
 very considerable in that time. The Glossary to Doug- 
 las is a very long one, greatly owing to the fluctuating 
 orthography or rather spelling. Please to observe that n 
 and u, and c and t are alike in old MSS. 
 
 “ Bishop Nicolson’s e Scottish Historian,’ p. 55, fol. 
 from T. Major’s £ History of Scotland/ 1. 6, c. 14, specifies 
 two famous composures of James the First, which began 
 with £ Yas Sen/ &c., and £ At Beltayn.’ 
 
 ££ Will £ Yas Sen ’ turn out £ Falkland on the Green ? ’ 
 I shall think you lucky if you can complete the triga. 
 I see Nicolson’s account is copied from Major. Mac- 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 38/ 
 
 kenzie, tom. 1, p. 305, has several pages on James the 
 First ; but, though he professes to write of authors, he 
 does not particularise any one of his works, except his 
 panegyric on his mistress-queen. At p. 305 he mentions 
 Thomas Yaroye, who wrote De Preelio Otterbernensi. 
 
 “By the by, I wonder G. Douglas never uses Beltan, 
 particularly in his description of May. Buchanan, 10, 57, 
 ‘ Carmina Latina, ut illud erat sseculum, rudia ex tempore 
 fundebat. Anglico quidem sermone poemata ab eo con- 
 scripta nonnulla adhuc extant ; in quibus ingenii preestantia 
 elucet, expolitior doctrina fortasse requiratur.’ This does 
 not answer well to our song. 
 
 “Among the Yelverton MSS. Vol. LXXII. fo. 23, is 
 ‘Extrac. ex Hist. Jac. Y. Regis ScotorumJ I find nothing 
 more of our Second James in Cat. Cod. MSS., Anglise, & c. 
 Is there anything in Harleian Collections, or in Demster’s 
 Account of Scotch Writers ? Not in last, I think. The 
 curiosity of the two songs being so like in language and 
 composition (if it appears so to you), deserves a note. 
 Was the latter wrote expressly in imitation of his proge- 
 nitor, whose work or works he mentions professedly at 
 setting out ? Pray, consider an observation of Dr. Samuel 
 Johnson, that immediately precedes Sir Thomas More’s 
 tale in Introduction to Dictionary. I own I do not un- 
 derstand it. I can easily see why the colloquial part of a 
 language that has obtained among the people in general 
 should change less or slower than the fancies, conceits, or 
 affectation of a court, or a few learned men, each of which 
 burns with an envy of innovating, if not of inventing, a 
 language. I make no doubt of there being less difference 
 between the cookmaid’s talk at Northumberland House 
 now and in King Charles’s time, or the cook’s at Easton, 
 than between your style and Mr. Evelyn’s. Is this the 
 doctor’s meaning ? The word c disused ’ puzzles me. If 
 you publish ‘ Christ’s Kirk,’ &c., please to remember that 
 the Glossary to G. Douglas does not allow that Gibson 
 was always right ; vide Funder. In an Essay on the Anti- 
 quity of the Irish Language, being a collation of it with the 
 Punic, Dublin, 1772, p. 19, the chief deity of the Car- 
 thaginians was Baal, Beal, or Bel, the Sun, to whom they 
 offered human sacrifices ; so, too, of the heathen Irish : 
 afterwards both substituted that of beasts. 
 
 . ‘ The month of May is to this day named ‘mi Beal 
 teinne,’ i. e. the month of Beal’s fire ; and the first day of 
 
 2 C 2 
 
388 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 May is called 1 la Beal tienne,’ i. e. the day of Beal’s fire. 
 These fires were lighted on the summits of hills, in honour 
 of the Sun : many hills in Ireland still retain the name of 
 e cnoc-greinef i. e. the hill of the sun ; and on all these 
 are to be seen the ruins of Druidish altars. On that day 
 the Druids drove all the cattle through the fires to pre- 
 serve them from disorders the ensuing year ; this pagan 
 custom is still observed in Munster and Connaught, 
 where the meanest cottager, worth a cow and a wisp of 
 straw, practises the same on the first day of May, and 
 with the same superstitious ideas. The old Irish name of 
 the year is f Bealaine,’ now corrupted into ‘Bliadhain,’ i. e. 
 the circle of Belws, or of the Sun ; yet, p. 15, he says mi 
 is a compound negative. But, taking no notice of this, 
 which may be right, the account of Beltain seems in 
 point, whether Punic, Druidical, &c. 
 
 “ The book is one of the strangest I ever saw. Many 
 faults in incidental matters plainly appear ; the reasoning, 
 too, is bad. I shall not pretend to say anything of the 
 main question, except that all languages have many words 
 alike, as if they were universal radicals ; and some have 
 attempted lately to collect them, which I think would be 
 useful, because, unless two languages had an agreement 
 in other words besides these, the proof might be rejected. 
 How do many languages agree in the numerals, &c. that 
 nobody supposes to have any real agreement throughout ? 
 Boethius (whose Scotch you will like to see) and Bishop 
 Leslie both speak more intelligibly and favourably of 
 James the First’s poetical talents. Boethius also describes 
 the battle of Piperdene, between Percy and Douglas, in 
 which a knight of the name of Percy was taken or killed, 
 I forget which. 
 
 “ What could induce the Glasgow printers, within 
 these five or ten years, to print the Polemomiddinia in 
 an handsome 4to. by itself, and without a single note ? 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your most obedient servant, 
 
 “ George Ashby. 
 
 “ Rev. Dr. Percy, Easton.” 
 
 u DEAR Sir, St. John’s College, March 30, 1774. 
 
 “ By favour of Mr. Beadon,* who goes to-morrow to 
 the Bishop of London’s, in St. James’s Square, from 
 whence he returns in a fortnight, I send this packet, 
 
 * Afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells, 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 389 
 
 intended principally for your own amusement. I should 
 be a;lad, when you have made what use you please of it, 
 to return it, as it contains some memoranda for my own 
 use. If you have not burnt my effusions on the ‘ House- 
 hold Book/ I would desire them, for the same reason, as 
 they were taken entirely for my own use. I should have 
 dispatched the f Reliques’ much more expeditiously, and in 
 a better manner too, if Mr. Bryant’s book had not come 
 across me ; however, I will go through the remainder, 
 and add some things in point from Hearne’s Works, 
 which I lately ran over. 
 
 u Knowing the sweetness of your disposition, I cannot 
 but he greatly grieved at the visitation of your family,* 
 and beg you will express my sense on that melancholy 
 occasion to Mrs. Percy. 
 
 “ My father, f who is 84, has lain in the most helpless 
 condition possible for five months, to the great affliction 
 of his family, particularly those about him. His weak- 
 ness is extreme, yet his appetite and sleeping both good, 
 so that he may continue a good while longer. 
 
 “ I believe I have mentioned a fancy of mine , about a 
 new disposition of your three volumes, more in order of 
 time or subject; now each volume is like a perfect work. 
 As you admit modern ones, query, is your title-page just ? 
 I also mentioned the having one complete glossary, 
 besides that to each volume. Perhaps these changes 
 would give too much trouble, but I cannot help pro- 
 posing every thing that would at all contribute to the 
 perfection of a work that is so nearly complete. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your faithful 
 
 “ George Ashby.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, S. J. C. C. April 19, 1774. 
 
 “ I am greatly obliged to you for your gracious ac- 
 ceptance of my effusions. They were hastily committed 
 to paper amidst the serious avocation of a careful reading 
 of Mr. Bryant. I am sensible how little they enter into 
 your plan : but I put them down merely for the diversion 
 of both of us, and you will do well to consider them only as 
 such. I shall be perfectly satisfied, if you have a moment’s 
 entertainment from them in private, as an offering from 
 me to you of respect and friendship. 
 
 * Dr. Percy had lately lost a daughter, named Hester, 
 t Edmund Ashby, citizen and merchant-taylor, born June 1, 1690'; 
 married 15 May 1720, at St. Mary Abchurch, to Eliz. Judith Lock. He 
 died Jan. 9, 1775, and was buried at Wellingborough, 
 
390 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ I should have thought K. William Sorrel had only 
 been mentioned over drunken cups ; but I find by the 
 last Edinburgh Magazine for March that Dr. Pitcairne 
 could stain his muse with it. 
 
 Though Milan doth not stand on the Po, yet perhaps 
 all the rain that runs through its streets really runs into 
 that river ; and that is full enough for a songster. I do not 
 recollect any story of that town. I furnished you with one 
 from Trent and another from Frankfort (I think) ; there* if 
 I remember right* the Saintling of both was a Simonin* or 
 little Simon. At Lincoln it was Hugh* as in the song. 
 The bard may have confounded names. I believe I 
 observed before that there is no appearance of its being 
 a religious act of the whole people : no crucifixion* &c. 
 but a secret murder and burial by one girl* whose motive 
 no where appears. I have since recovered the very curious 
 book I quoted to the Wife of Bath. It doth not turn out 
 quite so much to the point as I thought. It is a folio* 
 by Jac. de Theramo* imperfectly produced by Maittaire 
 in Annal. Topogr. three or four times. From the mis- 
 takes he makes* it is plain he never saw it. It contains 
 an action* carried on according to the strict forms of the 
 civil law* which is all along carefully quoted* brought by 
 the devils against Christ, for battery and assault in forcibly 
 entering their premises* breaking their gates, &c. after his 
 crucifixion. It is conducted by Belial* their proctor* in 
 the name of the community. Moses appears for Christ* 
 and Solomon is the judge. Moses begins by excepting 
 to Beliaks acting, because an excommunicate. Belial in 
 return excepts to most of Moses’s witnesses* as persons 
 of notorious ill fame* and therefore their testimony inad- 
 missible, such as Jacob* Lot* and many more* who are 
 mentioned in much the same terms as by your Virago. 
 The witnesses are not produced : but the exception is 
 meant to the passages of Scripture Moses was expected 
 to produce* and which would be the words and acts of such 
 people. A reconciliation* after many demurs and detours* 
 and an appeal to another judge, is effected by the Virgin. 
 These two circumstances* allowing for the popery of the 
 last article, are the only resembling features : but the whole 
 is really curious. One leading principle is very remarkable. 
 Belial acts uniformly with great adroitness* suppleness* 
 and steadiness in supporting his cause, but always ad- 
 dresses Moses with the utmost deference and respect, and 
 without uttering a single hard word ) I mean an injurious 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 391 
 
 one, whilst Moses is very haughty and abusive. This is a 
 strange perversion of well-known characters : for your 
 youngest child would tell you that Moses was the meekest 
 of all men. The work is intended seriously for the best 
 purposes, viz. piety and edification ; and in the con- 
 clusion the author desires it may be called (from its 
 event) £ Consolatorium Peccatorum.’ It was wrote between 
 1300 and 1400. 
 
 “ I was in hopes of being in town this w r eek to pay my 
 respects to Mr. Pennant; but am unluckily prevented. 
 As to the college book, I fear as the mountain will not 
 come to Mahomet, Mahomet must determine whether he 
 will come to the mountain ; at least I should be glad to 
 see him here. 
 
 t£ Be so good as to make my compliments to Mrs. 
 Percy. I rejoice at the improvement of her health. 
 
 “ Mr. Arnald,* whom you have seen at Petworth, 
 desires his compliments. 
 
 u I am, dear Sir, your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ George Ashby.” 
 
 “ DEAR SlR, S. J. C. C. May 22, 1774. 
 
 “ As I have not had the pleasure of hearing from you 
 lately, I presume that you received the packet I sent 
 about a month ago by a friend. Nor should I have 
 troubled you now, by my friend Dr. Ewin, but for the 
 sake of mentioning a famous instance of oly prancing fi in 
 Mr. Lambe’s ‘ Flodden Field,’ j: p. 24, where King James, 
 on a foot pilgrimage, on account of his Queen being 
 
 * The Rev. W. Arnald, chaplain to Bp. Hurd, and sub -preceptor to the 
 Prince of Wales and Duke of York. He died in 1802. See Literary 
 Anecdotes, ii. 704. 
 
 t This refers to a note in a former letter of Mr. Ashby to Mr. Percy, in 
 which is the following note, among others, on “ Peebles to the Play.” 
 
 “ ‘_01y prance : ’ — If this word has reached from Scotland to Northamp- 
 tonshire, and continues yet in use, I should think it must have some very 
 general origin. What think you of ‘ holy prancings or cavalcades ? ’ i. e. 
 religious processions on horseback, or pilgrimages, which, when journeys 
 were seldom taken, and the sexes did not mix so much as now, were as joyous 
 as modem parties of pleasure. (See Chaucer and Erasmus.) Modern con- 
 firmations, when the young men and maids come from distant villages, are 
 of this sort.” 
 
 Mr. Percy adds as a remark on this note, “ Very sensible and ingenious.' 1 ' 1 
 
 + “ An exact and circumstantial History of the Battle of Flodden, in 
 verse, written about the time of Q. Elizabeth, in which were related many par- 
 ticular facts not to be found in the English History. Published from a curious 
 MS. in possession of John Askew, of Palinsburn, in Northumberland, Esq. 
 with Notes by Robert Lambe, vicar of Norham-upon-Tweed.” 8vo. 1774. 
 , ee a long and favourable Review of it in Monthly Review, LY, 393, and 
 Annual Register, ann, 1 777, p. 149. 
 
392 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 dangerously ill in childbed, falls in love with, &c. (See 
 too p. 130, 1. 3.) 
 
 44 I desire my best respects to Mrs. Percy, who, 1 hope, 
 is perfectly recovered, and am, dear Sir, your obliged and 
 obedient, 44 George Ashby. 
 
 “ Rev. Dr. Percy, Northumberland House.’’ 
 
 “Dear Sir, S. J. C. C. June 8, 1774. 
 
 44 Many thanks for your obliging favour, which I must 
 acknowledge more in haste than it deserves. 
 
 44 You distress me about Alan Percy, by adding, £ then 
 you will have left me nothing to desire/ How comes the 
 Somersetshire dialect into one of the poems at the end of 
 4 Flodden Field/ I have not the book, but I think it is 
 there; but queere, popish plays in Edward VI/s time, and 
 protestant ones, 4 Fuller’s Church History,’ xvi., vii., 390, 
 391, 392. If the passage about Lord Bute is p. 161, it is 
 very blameable ; he puts him in good company without 
 alloy, in 36J. If I understand right, he proposes working 
 up what he has omitted of 8vo. edition in another 4to. 
 
 44 I am, dear Sir, your obliged and obedient 
 
 44 George Ashby. 
 
 “ Rev. Dr. Percy, Northumberland House.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, July 5, 1774. 
 
 44 My friend the public orator* gives me an opportunity 
 of troubling you gratis. I mentioned the Somersetshire 
 dialect occurring in the ballad, in the notes to 4 Flodden 
 Field/ 4 Sometime in France a woman dwelt,’ and all I 
 meant by it was, that from this instance, and the dialogue 
 in the Reliques, where the advocate for the old religion is 
 made to speak Somersetshire, I suspected they were noto- 
 rious for their ignorance and superstition ; and upon looking 
 into the ballad again, (which is so excellent that I hope to 
 see it in your collection,) it struck me that the first line 
 certainly should be 4 Sometime near Froome a woman 
 dwelt for a French-woman must be very ignorant indeed 
 to blunder about the word Paris, not so a Zummerset- 
 shire one ; besides, was she French, she ought, according 
 to our absurd practice, to speak bad or broken French. 
 Nor did she live in Froome, because she went into the 
 town to buy the cloths. In the Buchanshire Tragedy, 
 4 May every pledge become my lot,’ may either be 
 
 * Mr. Beaclon ; see p. 388. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 393 
 
 plague, or pledge become my plague ; they had just 
 pledged with kisses. 
 
 u I am, dear Sir, your obliged and obedient 
 
 “ George Ashby. 
 
 44 P.S. In the Somersetshire song, I could almost prefer 
 
 ‘ The devil catch him and thee. ’ 
 
 44 Alan Percy has promised me to expunge the odious 
 word, p. 161, 1 . 2 ; but I find he has more meaning in it than 
 we are aware of ; he must have received some slights 
 from his lordship. But this entre nous , as yours to me, 
 for which I thank you. 
 
 “ Rev. Dr. Percy, Easton Mauduit.” 
 
 “ DEAR Sir, Barrow, near Newmarket, April 16, 17/6. 
 
 “ As it was so long since I had the pleasure of hearing 
 from you, it gave me great satisfaction, upon going over to 
 Cambridge about ten days ago, to find not only that you 
 was alive and well, but had actually brought forth. I am 
 greatly obliged to you for your kind mention of me, and 
 present. As you are the most experienced dealer I know 
 in metrical romances and ditto beprosed, can you tell me 
 any tidings of a metrical life of St. Werburg by Bradshaw, 
 printed by Pinson, 1521? for I thought I had done the 
 business by starting it in the Bodleian Library, but that 
 proves to be the beprosed one, though printed by the 
 same printer and in the same year. 
 
 “ Had the long Scotch song at the end of Mr. Lambe’s 
 ‘ Flodden Field* been ancient, I should have said, with 
 all the hauteur of an old critic, instead of 4 May every 
 pledge become my lot,* read, meo periculo, either, 4 May 
 every pledge become my plague,* or 4 May every plague 
 become my lot;’ and do still think the fair syren ought 
 so to have sung. 4 Gando of Flodden Field* means some 
 honest trick to save oneself, from the Italian Guadagno. 
 
 “ I have several more on that little book, and will not 
 forget to write down what may occur further on the 
 4 Reliques.* When you publish again, please to call me 
 Rector of Barrow. When may we hope to have the oly 
 prancing song ? I have much more to say on that word 
 from 4 Chaucer’s Wife of Bath,* who was a true oly 
 prancer; from 4 Dr. Henry’s Flistory of England,* &c. 
 If you would send me the sheets as printed off, it would 
 
394 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 give me pleasure in my eremitage. I should be happy to 
 see you here. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your obliged and faithful 
 
 “ George Ashby/ 5 
 
 # # # This Correspondence between Bishop Percy 
 and Mr. Ashby is very scanty ; and probably formed 
 only a very small portion of their literary inter- 
 course. Having possession of a larger number of 
 letters of Mr. Ashby, addressed to other eminent 
 antiquaries, we make a selection from some of 
 them, as little has been preserved of the very 
 voluminous writings of this laborious antiquary. 
 
 Mr, Ashby to * 
 
 “ Sir, 12 June, 1760. 
 
 <e I received your very obliging letter by Mr. Price, 
 with 14s. 6d. I shall be glad if the purchase, or any thing 
 I can do for you, proves serviceable to your undertaking. 
 Towards the end of the folio is a pedigree belonging to 
 Dalby, but it is printed in Burton under that article ; 
 the other on the same page I did not find in the Leices- 
 tershire Antiquary. In Caius College we have the 
 original Visitation Book, anno 1619 (I think), of Leices- 
 tershire ; it is a folio of pedigrees at length, and the arms 
 are most beautifully coloured. Burton, I presume, made 
 use of it, for there are five or six lines of his handwriting 
 under his family’s pedigree. I should be well enough 
 pleased to see what is printed of Northamptonshire; but, 
 as it may occasion some trouble, I will be content to wait 
 till the completion of the first volume. 
 
 “ I hope to be at Cambridge in ten days’ time, and shall 
 be always ready to receive your commands. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, 
 
 “ George Ashby/ 7 
 
 * This Letter may probably have been directed to Dr, Farmer or the Rev. 
 Peter Whalley. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 395 
 
 May 22, 1772. 
 
 A letter from Mr. Ashby to Matthew Duane^ 
 Esq. containing a Dissertation on a singular 
 Coin of Nerva, was read at the Society of Anti- 
 quaries, May 22, 1772, and is printed in the 
 Archseologia, III. 165. It is remarkable that this 
 elaborate article is the only one by Mr. Ashby in 
 the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries. 
 
 Mr. Ashby to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, s. j. c. C. 14 Feb. 1773. 
 
 “ A passage in p. xxi of Preface* to Archieologia, re- 
 lating to Henry Ferrars, seems to be less accurate than 
 one could wish ; if upon this representation it should ap- 
 pear so to you, perhaps you will take the opportunity of 
 the second volume, which I find is coming out immedi- 
 ately, to correct or clear it up. There are two Goadbys in 
 Leicestershire, one towards the north-east corner, distant 
 almost as far as possible from Warwickshire, perhaps near 
 forty miles, and not above four or five from Belvoir 
 Castle. It was the pleasant seat and estate of the late 
 worthy and ingenious gentleman, Peter Wyche, Esq. and 
 bought of his son, whilst under age, about eight or ten 
 years, by the Duke of Rutland, in the Marquis of Granby’s 
 name. See Act of Parliament. To an antiquary I can- 
 not help adding, that the Rev. Francis Peck bought the 
 rectory, when vacant, for £400, of Samuel Lowe, Esq. 
 the then owner and patron ; after whose death it came to 
 Peter Wyche, Esq. by purchase. The whole estate is 
 £600 per annum, and the living used to be called £120. 
 Peck enjoyed it fourteen years. The other Goadby, 
 though probably the place meant, is at least twenty miles 
 from the nearest part of Warwickshire, is a small obscure 
 village, and lies between Hallaton and Billesdon, about 
 three miles south of the latter ; in which place (Billes- 
 don), according to the tradition of the country, the Duke 
 of Buckingham, who was born at Brokesby, between 
 Leicester and Melton, went to school ; and after he came 
 to be a great man, offered to the parson (perhaps his old 
 schoolmaster) to do somewhat for the town, who only de- 
 
 * By R. Gough, Esq. 
 
396 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 sired his grace would set up another alehouse, that they 
 might have better beer. I never heard of any free or en- 
 dowed school there ; they reckon they had once a market ; 
 it is eleven or twelve miles from Leicester, is a moderate- 
 sized village, hut poor and dirty, though the turnpike 
 road from Leicester to Wansford and Peterborough has 
 gone through it for these fifteen years ; perhaps the in- 
 closure, which took place about five years ago, may con- 
 tribute to make their streets cleaner in time ; their field 
 is a very large one indeed, and of great value. 
 
 “ I can assure you that much remains to be done to 
 most of Horsely’s Inscriptions, though that is the very 
 best book of the kind ever or any where published. I 
 have a good deal about it in my papers. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your obedient humble servant, 
 
 “ G. Ashby. 
 
 “ P.S. The house you call a fine one at Shepreth, Cam- 
 bridgeshire, is not deserving of that title, though the ends 
 of the beams and outer doorcase are carved ; it is inha- 
 bited by a common farmer. I have Squire Layer’s 
 epitaph. 
 
 “ R. Gough, Esq. Winchester Street, London.” 
 
 Three Letters from Mr. Ashby to the Editor of the 
 Gentleman’s Magazine. 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, Nov. i 774. 
 
 “ A punster would say the proposed reading* (Oct. 
 Mag. 456) of unannulled might be disannulled, notwith- 
 standing the custom of kings, and bishops too, being 
 buried with rings ; for the sense of the whole passage 
 clearly relates to solemn religious rites ; which might have 
 prevented his soul’s being in the unhappy condition in 
 which it was by his own account. Nay, Hamlet tells us 
 expressly that his father was royally buried in a ponderous 
 tomb of marble ; and, indeed, a defect in that point would 
 have been as impolitic as unusual. 
 
 “ If we read c unappointed/ that may mean without the 
 proper provision or appointments made for his long 
 journey, by the prayers and absolution of a priest. Whe- 
 ther any spelling of unaneled will signify extreme unction 
 (which would thus stand in its proper place, and be per- 
 
 * Hamlet, Act I. sc. 5. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 39 7 
 
 fectly significant) I will not say, though € \cuov seems to 
 countenance it ; and unanointed might be a marginal gloss 
 to explain it. This I am certain of, that I have read 
 (though I cannot now recover it) an account, in prose, of 
 one of our Kings’ death, expressed much like this.”* 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, March, 1776 '. 
 
 “ About twelve months ago I communicated to the 
 public, by your means, my thoughts on that passage in 
 Hamlet, 
 
 ‘ Unhousel’d, unanointed, unaneled 
 
 in which £ unanointed’ seemed to me a gloss or explana- 
 tion of ( unaneled,’ and therefore could hardly be al- 
 lowed to stand, and accordingly I proposed substituting 
 £ unappointed, ’ not fitted at all points by prayers, con- 
 fession, and absolution. I ventured to suppose that £ un- 
 aneled 3 was right, as it came near the original word 
 e\cuop ; but did not then know, that it was the reading of 
 all the old editions. See Supplement to Mr. Steevens’s 
 edition. Nor should I have troubled you again on the 
 same subject, had I not said there, that I remembered to 
 have read much the same words employed in recording 
 the exit of some of our sovereigns : I should have said, 
 noblemen. 
 
 “The passage that I had in my mind occurs in a magni- 
 ficent folio, containing an account of the several families 
 that have possessed Drayton, &c. in Northamptonshire, 
 now the estate of Lord George Germaine, by Robert Hal- 
 stead.f The book is extremely scarce ; I shall transcribe 
 a curious passage from it. 
 
 “ P. 218. ‘Deposition of Robert Merbury, Esq. about 
 the Earl of Wiltshire's death : — 
 
 “ ‘ Which will the said Mordaunt (a serjeant-at-law) then 
 red to the seid Erie, when he was anoyled, and in extreme 
 peynes of deth, soe that the seid Erie neither herde nor 
 understode what the said Mordaunt red/ 
 
 “ I suppose the will was redde whilst he was in anoyl- 
 
 " This letter is in answer to one signed Q, and dated from Caerhaes, 
 Cornwall, in Gent. Mag. 1774, p. 456 ; and it produced a reply from the 
 same correspondent in the Magazine for Feb. 1775, p. 80. 
 
 t This name was fictitious, the work being really compiled by Henry 
 Earl of Peterborough, and his chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Rans, Rector of Tur- 
 ^ e y> in Bedfordshire. The impression was limited to twenty-four copies. — 
 
398 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ing and in extreme, &c. so that he could not attend. This 
 happened 24th March, 1498. 
 
 K P. 221. ‘Deposition of Thomas Cade, clarke, Parson 
 of Buckworth : — 
 
 “ ‘ The seid Erie prayed and required this deponent 
 that he would housell him ; and he answer’d, My lord, 
 I have made every thing in full redyness to go to 
 mass, if ye be so pleased, and, when mass is done, to 
 housell you. Nay, said the same Erie, I pray let me not 
 tarry so long. He then confesses him, absolves him, says 
 mass in the chamber, and gives him the sacrament. 
 Afterwards went and attended on high mass performed 
 by the Earl’s chaplain in the chapel. Was called in an 
 hurry to my Lord by a servant, found my Lord all alone, 
 lighted a fise of wax that -was hallowed, and said these 
 words following, ‘ In manus tuas, Domine,’ &c. and in 
 the same moment the seid Erie departed to God out of 
 this present lyfe ; and thus this deponent left the deed 
 body of the seid Erie, whose soul God absolve.’ 
 
 “ P. 222. ‘Deposition of James Walbef : — 
 
 “ ‘ The seid Erie was howselled by the hands of the 
 said Sir Thomas Cade.’ 
 
 “ It is remarkable that the priest says nothing of ex- 
 treme unction ; and though he says he found and left my 
 Lord all alone, yet a servant swears he staid with him to 
 his death. This servant might be the person that called 
 the priest; and might come in with him, and stay unno- 
 ticed. 
 
 “ In Leland’s Collect. &c. iv. 309, last edition, ‘ the said 
 corps (of H. VII.) assolied, saying this collect, Absolvi- 
 mus,’ &c. 
 
 “We have therefore here at least two words that may 
 stand instead of ‘ unanointed,’ viz. unabsolved, unas- 
 soiled; the first, I think, rather too prosaic, and the 
 other in sound too like what ‘ unaneled’ means : I should 
 therefore still prefer ‘ unappointed,’ if a good authority 
 for the use of it could be produced ; * I mean, in the 
 sense of properly fitted out for a journey to the other world. 
 In Lambard’s Topographical Dictionary we have, p. 227, 
 
 ‘ ryd princely appointed.’ And as to ‘ unaneled,’ for ‘ un- 
 anoiled,’ it is remarkable that ‘ absolve ’ is written ‘ assoll,’ 
 
 * “In the folio edition in the Editor’s possession the line is printed thus : 
 
 * Unhouzzled, disappointed, unanneld.’ ” — Edit. Gent. Mag. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 399 
 
 ‘assoil,’ and ‘ asseiled,’ Leland’s Itin. 1745, iv. 164, &c. 
 and Lambard’s Top. Diet. p. 384.” 
 
 “ Mb. Urban, > March, 1776. 
 
 “ Perhaps your curious correspondent* (J. C.) may 
 receive some pleasure from the following account of the 
 most capital diamonds now known ; and will excuse some 
 palpable inaccuracies in the relation, owing probably to 
 different weights being used in different countries. 
 
 “ The Duke of Tuscany’s diamond, according to Ta- 
 vernier, weighs 140j- carats (the biggest in Europe before 
 Governor Pitt’s) ; is of a yellowish water ; said to have 
 been bought for 75,000 scudi, equal to £8,750, of a reli- 
 gious, who bought it at a stall in Piazza Navona, as a bit 
 of chrystal, for a single paolo, value sevenpence. Keys- 
 ler’s Travels, ii. 183. 
 
 “ The Mogul’s famous diamond is not so broad as Mr. 
 Pitt’s, though it exceeds the largest [then] in Europe for 
 depth. Keysler, iv. 298. 
 
 “ The diamond brought into England by Governor 
 Pitt in 1706, weighed, when cut, 136‘| carats; was two 
 years in cutting, which cost £4,500 ; the pieces sawed off 
 were valued at £5,000 ; was sold to the crown of France, 
 in I7l7j f° r £125,000, and was paid for at several times. 
 Dr. Mead’s model of it measured, in the expanse 1| inch, 
 and in depth ~f of an inch. I have seen another account 
 which makes this stone to weigh only 127 carats, and that 
 it was sold for £l20,000.f 
 
 cc It is well known that diamonds are cut to perfection 
 in Europe only. Mr. Hanway, in [his Travels, mentions 
 seeing a prodigious fine suit of horse furniture of Kouli 
 Khan’s, covered with diamonds, but so disadvantageous^ 
 that he could not help telling the person who showed 
 them, that, if he was allowed to take them to Europe, he 
 would return them in a far superior condition ; and seems 
 to express some surprise at his offer not being accepted. 
 The European method of cutting diamonds was, I think, 
 the invention of a Fleming ; and now, I believe, the 
 English artists are in the highest repute. Diamonds now 
 are rarely sawn, as the powder of them, which comes off 
 
 * ly Gent. Mag. 1776, p. 64, who communicates some particulars of the 
 Pitt diamond. 
 
 t A full account of the manner in which Governor Pitt became possessed 
 of the diamond, with the figure of it, is in the Gent. Mag. for Aug. 1825, 
 p. 105-107. It is now among the jewels of the King of the French. 
 
400 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 in grinding, is of great value for cutting others, and the 
 sawing is exceeding tedious ; which is done by drawing 
 backwards and forwards a very fine copper wire ; in a 
 minute almost the wire snaps in two, and then a fresh 
 one is taken, and so on. I don’t know whether diamond 
 powder, emery, &c. is used in this process : * however, 
 after constant working for a month, perhaps a hair-like 
 line may be perceived on the diamond. 
 
 “ It is remarkable, that the Czarina could buy, and 
 pay for at once, one or more of the finest diamonds upon 
 sale, that no other Crown was disposed or able to do, and 
 that too towards the close of a long and expensive war. 
 She gave about £70,000 for one, which was much below 
 its value. 
 
 “ In 1/41 a diamond was brought from the Brazils to 
 the King of Portugal, weighing 17 ounces, in shape of a 
 turkey egg, but much bigger, and was found on the sur- 
 face of the ground. The same account says it weighed 
 1680 carats, or 12 \ ounces, in 1746, I suppose, after it 
 had been cut. 
 
 “ As the history of all these diamonds is pretty well 
 known, except the Duke of Tuscany’s, may it not be pro- 
 posed as a proper subject of a literary inquiry, What is 
 become of all the diamonds of the ancients ? Are they 
 all lost in the ravages of war, &c. or do they subsist in 
 the ancient crowns of the present sovereigns of Europe? 
 or, indeed, is it certain that those alluded to were true 
 diamonds ? To say a word of the inferior stones : the 
 largest emerald in a dish t is at Genoa, though Condamine 
 believes it to be only coloured glass ; and the largest 
 garnet and turquoise are at Venice. See the figures of 
 them in Motraye’s Travels, Engl. edit. fol. vol. ii. p. 149. 
 The turquoise vessel is 8 inches in diameter ; vol. i. p. 65.” 
 
 Mr. Ashby to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, _ St. John’s College, 26 March, 1776. 
 
 “ I got to Cambridge yesterday, where I had not been 
 for four months. I instantly repaired to the library, and 
 made the transcript you have waited for so long. I saw 
 Mr. Tyson this morning ; he is very well, and gave me 
 the satisfaction of hearing some vertu news from your 
 letters. I find by letters from London, and some friends 
 
 * Diamond powder only is used. 
 
 & t This dish is now known to be only some vitreous substance coloured. 
 See account of it in some of the late Tours in Italy. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 401 
 
 here,, that I am suspected of having made an attack upon 
 Mr. Bryant ; but it is perfectly false, as I never published 
 a word on the subject. I have, however, within this last 
 month drawn out my thoughts on paper, and am very well 
 satisfied that the medals are either false ab origine , or true 
 ones falsified by a modern forger ; probably one or two of 
 the latter sort gave occasion to the former coinage ; and 
 Mr. Tyson just now tells me, that Dr. Hunter has several 
 of them ; and he is satisfied of their good-for-nothingness. 
 You would oblige me if you could, without trouble, satisfy 
 me of the truth of the above particular, which I have no 
 reason to doubt. My paper is nearly 40 or 50 pages in 
 4to. MS. If the two Societies* get into Somerset House, 
 I could wish that each of them might have a few rooms 
 separate for a council-room, &c., and that the grand room 
 and library might be common to both. See Grosley on 
 Italy, on the Institute of Bologna. I am, dear Sir, your 
 faithful George Ashby.” 
 
 To Richard Goitgh, Esq. 
 
 ce DEAR Sir, Barrow, 10 April, 1776. 
 
 “ Though your kind favour, which I received three or 
 four days ago, is the last of several unanswered ones from 
 others, yet it shall not stay for an answer. As I wrote 
 my last amidst the bottles and glasses after dinner, that 
 you might not wait longer for your anecdote, I own I 
 know nothing of what I said; but as to the Apamean,f I 
 think I have approfoundied it. Some one lighting on a coin, 
 such as Falconer describes in Seguin, with the first letter 
 of NE42K on it, or even one or two more, and being willing 
 to think that the Deluge was intended, reformed it into 
 N ^E; and, as soon as this acquired a celebrity, a die or a 
 mould at least was formed to make others. The very coin 
 that Falconer argues from is still in the Medicean Cabi- 
 net ; and even Gori, who is well disposed to fight for the 
 integrity of every coin there, says of it e confictus ’ et 
 
 Tlie Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries, 
 t Mr. Bryant’s dissertation on the Apamean Medal, the reverse of which 
 E supposed by him to represent some circumstance of the Noachic deluge, 
 excited great interest amongst the antiquaries at this period. Some Obser- 
 vations on Mr. Bryant’s opinions, by the Hon. Daines Barrington, are 
 punted in Archseologia, iv. 315 ; followed by other Observations by Dean 
 Milles, in p. 331. Remarks on Mr. Bryant’s Vindication of the Apa- 
 mean Medal, by the Abbe Barthelemy and Dr. Charles Combe, F.R. and 
 A.S. are printed in Arch. iv. 347. 
 
 VOk. VII. 2 D 
 
402 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ‘con \fiatus est he adds, indeed, ‘procul dubio ex anti- 
 quo aliquo, 5 which some connoisseur, in viewing the col- 
 lection, stole and substituted what is now there. But his 
 only reason for supposing so is, that he cannot suppose 
 Falconer could be mistaken ; but mistakes are very easy 
 to willing witnesses, and may we not wonder that as the 
 true one fell into good hands (I mean knowing ones), why 
 it should never have been heard of since ? He has just 
 the same hypothesis about another singular coin ; but 
 how could any body come with a cast ready done of a 
 medal that was always in the Museum, &c. My ac- 
 count is very long, as I was not aware when I began 
 that both Gori and Venuti had so roundly given up this, 
 and another, with the T ptypafifiarov on it, but with some 
 other differences ; this is now in the Vatican Collection. 
 There is a third, similar to that Falconer describes, with 
 NEiT,K plainly on it, instead of his unmeaning NHT£2N ; 
 even this, which seems to fall into the usual order, is pro- 
 bably false too, as the rest. But all these are inaccessible 
 cabinets, and before strange doctrines are built on them, 
 should be examined to know whether they are of any 
 authority. Mr. Tyson was so kind as to introduce me to a 
 very sensible fellow-commoner of C.C.C.C., Mr. Pitcairn, 
 who had told him that Dr. Hunter had (I thought he said) 
 several of these coins, but could lay no stress on them. 
 I took both these two gentlemen to the two books, and 
 showed them the figures of the two coins, and the ac- 
 count of them, which in Gori is long; and they readily 
 declared they had no doubts left. But, as I said before, 
 my account is long ; perhaps as long again as that of 
 Nerva and I should doubt, though the subject is talked 
 of at Cambridge, whether three persons there would read 
 it, if I took the trouble to print it. I know two that I 
 thought most likely to do so refused or declined reading 
 the MS. I am greatly obliged to you for your offer to 
 introduce me to Dr. Hunter, which I shall be glad to ac- 
 cept of, when I am so happy as to be able to come to 
 town ; but as to seeing his cabinet, I am aware that his 
 professional engagements will not allow of that any more 
 than when in Mr. Duane’sf possession ; than whom there 
 
 * Mr. Ashby’s “ Dissertation on a Coin of Nerva.” See before, p. 395. 
 
 f This eminent lawyer and skilful numismatist died Feb. 6, 1785, agedTS, 
 as appears by his epitaph in St. Nicholas’ church, Newcastle-on-Tyne. The 
 day of his death and age seem to be incorrectly printed, in the same page s» 
 his epitaph, in Lit. Anecdotes, III. 498. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 403 
 
 never was a more civil gentleman, as I have reason to declare 
 from what I experienced in two or three calls I ventured 
 to make. Though occupied with business, he always 
 received me with the utmost politeness and readiness to 
 oblige ; and I always flattered myself with hopes, that if 
 he ever should find himself disposed to retire from busi- 
 ness, he might retire for good into his cabinet, and do 
 somewhat great for this branch of literature, like M. Pel- 
 lerin, which is what very few can ; but those hopes are 
 now vanished as to him, nor can it be expected at pre- 
 sent from the now owner of the enlarged collection ; unless 
 he could find a person entirely to his mind, whom he could 
 entrust with the custody and publication of the coins. 
 What I could wish to see done, is to follow Pellerin 
 exactly, and multiply his instances. Thus, suppose 
 Pellerin has on one plate twelve small coins of six cities, 
 on a plate of the same size add in a corresponding dis- 
 position as many as the Doctor’s cabinet affords, that 
 may be equally deserving of publication. If this was 
 done for several cabinets, we should soon approach to- 
 wards a perfect thesaurus, of a very different kind from 
 those of Gesner, &c. which mislead as often as they 
 inform ; and then I doubt not but many would be in- 
 duced to cultivate this study, who are now deterred, from 
 the difficulty of access to coins, which are only in the 
 hands of the great, as the Duke of Devonshire, &c. or the 
 engaged, as Mr. Duane. I do not recollect what you 
 mean as to the gold ring.* As to Richard’s, Lort will tell 
 you the story : all that is mine is only this : — Over the boar 
 was e fraunche,’ free, or liberal, a handsome turn for a 
 prince to give to such a hoggish device, and alludes 
 to the plentiful food given to the boar, when put up 
 for fatting for brawn ; and the sty he is kept in, which is 
 so small that he cannot turn, is called a Trank,’ to be 
 sure from the former circumstance. Shakespeare, there- 
 fore, who is wonderfully exact in small circumstances, 
 seems plainly to allude to this motto in making Stanley 
 say of Richard, 
 
 ‘ My son, George Stanley, has he frank’d in hold ; ’ 
 where the confinement, and not the plentiful food, is 
 meant, somewhat abusively. 
 
 * Possibly allusive either to Dr. Pegge’s Illustration of a Gold Ring, sup- 
 posed to have been the property of Alhstan, bishop of Sherburne (see 
 . rc ‘ 10 eologia, IV. 47) ; or to a gold ring, with an intaglio set in it, represent- 
 ln g the Nemsean lion, found at Caerleon. (Archseologia, V. 71.) 
 
 2 D 2 
 
401 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ I could rather wish the Biograpliia Britannica had 
 fallen into the hands of our own people.* I have read the 
 whole^ and have corrections from one end to the other ; 
 but why should I cut them out from my book to send 
 them to strangers, who may never use them or return 
 them. They are short notes in about ten folio pages ; 
 some of them so short as to require my explaining them. 
 Would it be unreasonable, for this trouble, to expect a 
 copy, or half a one ? “ G. Ashby.” 
 
 “P.S. A French artist might be employed to calk the 
 Bayeux tapestry. There are two papers from me in last 
 Gent. Mag. I have not seen it. Diamonds,! and Shakes- 
 peare” 
 
 To Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, _ Barrow, 21 May, 1776. 
 
 u I hope you will consider my sending the inclosed only 
 as a proof of my extreme readiness to oblige our worthy 
 President§ and yourself. When I read Mr. Bryant, at 
 his first appearance, I marked down that this coin would 
 not bear all the superstructure he laid on it, and thought 
 no more of the matter till the latter end of January 
 last, when Mr. Daines Barrington mentioned in a letter 
 that I was suspected, &c. Upon this a fancy took me to 
 examine Falconieri’s account more strictly, and I soon 
 found how little he was to be depended on. I had 
 neither Mr. Bryant’s book, the Magazine, Air. Bryant’s 
 answer, Gori, Venuti, &c. with me when I wrote, nor did 
 I see them till about a month ago, when I was at Cam- 
 bridge for two or three days. Accordingly I proposed 
 never to mention Mr. Bryant ; for, if I could confute Fal- 
 conieri the rest followed, and some of the pert things said 
 of Air. Bryant in the left-hand pages are the only ad- 
 ditions I have made to my first draught. Some of them 
 ought to be taken notice of; such as Mr. Bryant saying 
 that all the three coins were in good condition, whereas 
 Falconieri’s account is very contrary. Not knowing that 
 the testimonies of Gori and Venuti were so express in 
 reprobating the coins themselves, I thought it necessary 
 to say all I could to prove them false from their appear- 
 ance as they stood in books. This noiv may seem un- 
 
 * Dr. Kippis was then preparing the first volume of the new edition, 
 which was published in 1778. 
 t See p. 399. J See p. 397. 
 
 § Dean Milles. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 405 
 
 necessary, because it may be sufficient to say there is no 
 such coin ; or at least to say, that two of the coins Fal- 
 conieri insisted on are perfectly indefensible ; and that in 
 the other, literse sevo prorsus delete, according to his own 
 account : but Mr. Bryant grows more and more hardy ; 
 he says — u Suppose there was no name,” &c. Most 
 people would be apt to reply, that then if any deluge was 
 meant, it must be that of Deucalion or Prometheus. You 
 will perceive that my papers are far enough from being fit 
 for the public eye ; but, as I fancy they contain most of the 
 judgment of foreign antiquaries about the coins, except 
 Boze’s in Acad. Inscrip., which I missed by bringing off a 
 wrong volume, it may save Mr. Dean* some trouble to use 
 the vouchers I send in the account he may choose to draw 
 up, for which purpose they are much at his service ; but 
 when he and you have satisfied your own curiosity, or 
 any friend’s, you will please to return my papers by the 
 Bury Fly. By the two folio sheets of rough matter, you 
 will see I have much more to add when it comes to be 
 drawn out ; I also intend to tack to it an examination and 
 confutation of Swinton’s reading of a medal of Crispina in 
 Phil. Trans. Ivi. p. 27, No. 4, which has probably suffered 
 from a falsifier. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your obliged and obedient 
 
 “ George Ashby.” 
 
 To Richard Gougii, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Barrow, 23 Oct. 1776. 
 
 “ I was extremely glad to receive your kind favour. I 
 hope this and my account of the Milliaryt will come safe 
 to hand. I have not looked at it for some years, owing 
 to vexation at not being able to get any answer to some 
 queries I sent to Leicester, in relation to the course of 
 the Foss close to their town, nor the queries themselves ; 
 vet the person I applied to was civil and intelligent in 
 these matters, the fact exceedingly easy to be ascertained, 
 and my application supported by several proper persons. 
 I his convinces me, if I had doubted before, that it is not 
 so easy as Squire Muilmanf thinks, to get information in 
 
 * Dean Milles. 
 
 t An Essay on the Roman Military at Leicester, written in 1772, was 
 contributed to Mr. Nichols, and printed in 1793, in vol. i. p. civ. — clviii. 
 of his “History of Leicestershire.” It is one of the most elaborate anti- 
 quarian essays of Mr. Ashby that have been preserved. 
 
 I Peter Muilman, esq. M.P. and F.S.A., who took the name of French 
 
406 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 matters of pure speculation, and probably much harder 
 to get sight of papers where property may be materially 
 affected. I remember seeing the account of Ratby, and 
 thought well of it at the time, but I know nothing of it 
 myself, any more than of the pavement at Wanlip. There 
 are at least two such at Leicester — the well-known one 
 described by Hearne, &c., and one discovered a few years 
 ago between the old wall and the river, in a low meadow, 
 and soon closed up again to prevent the grass being 
 damaged by visitors. I believe Mr. Ludlam saw it, from 
 whom I had the account. I have had great pleasure this 
 summer in reading Blomefield,* without knowing to whom 
 we were indebted for the completion of the work. It 
 gives great information in a thousand little matters pecu- 
 liar to our East Anglian dominions, concerning churches, 
 lights, guilds, abbey lands, &c., on all which W. Burtonf is 
 totally silent. These were easily got from wills at Norwich. 
 Nothing is to be had from Sir T. Cave, as I knew ten or 
 fifteen years ago, when I saw in his possession the two 
 extremely fair wrote copies of W. Burton, % which Lord 
 Chetwynd had lent him. He had kept them ten years, 
 and assured me he had transcribed all the additions at 
 least ; there were also a few drawings of tombs (I think), 
 which his daughter, since dead, had copied. But the 
 Baronet for some years last past doth nothing but weep 
 and wail in common visits ; so, was one to ask for a line 
 from him, it would throw him into a fit of tantarums only, 
 without the least prospect of succeeding. I made proper 
 application to have the two MSS., and should have got 
 them, but for the extreme old age of Lord Chetwynd, 
 whom they told me they made a point never to disturb 
 with business, and that this would be particularly dis- 
 agreeable, as he had formerly lent a MS. and lost it, 
 
 Chiswell. He was decsended by his mother from Richard Chiswell, the emi* 
 nent bookseller. Under his direction was published a summary History of 
 Essex, 6 vols. 8vo. 1770. Mr. French Chiswell unfortunately shot himself, 
 Feb. 3, 1797. See anecdotes of him and his family, Gent. Mag. 1797, p- 
 250, and 1784, p. 178. And in Literary Anecdotes, III. 611. 
 
 * Blomefield’s History of Norfolk was completed by the Rev. C. Parkin, 
 f In his “Description of Leicestershire.” This work was afterwards 
 swallowed up and superseded by Nichols’s elaborate History of Leicestershire ; 
 in which the whole of Sir T. Cave’s collections were incorporated, by the 
 kindness of his son, the Rev. Sir Charles Cave, Bart. 
 
 t These transcripts of Burton, by Mr. Chetwynd, as well as Burton’s own 
 illustrated copy, by the kindness of Earl Talbot, were all submitted to Mr. 
 Nichols. See Hist. Leicestershire, vol. iii. Pref. p. v. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 407 
 
 which he often lamented bitterly, and was he to be asked 
 to lend this he would expect the same fate again, and 
 repeat his old lamentations : he died some years since, 
 and I don’t know who has his library ; if his son’s 
 daughter has it, who is married, and I wanted it, I think 
 I could get it by means of Dr. Wollaston, of Bury, &c. 
 The writer* of Bridges’s Northamptonshire has got rid of 
 his school, so one would hope that he might be disposed 
 to complete it ; half the second volume was printed off 
 some years ago. Mr. Hutchins’s Dorsetshire is well 
 spoken of in Journal des Sjavans ; though I fancy the 
 article is copied from some of our reviews, as Dr. Gower 
 is called upon to acquit himself as well in his Cheshire. 
 
 “ I forgot to say that I have many things set down to 
 add to the Milliary, besides settling the Foss, in which 
 Gale and Stukeley have blundered strangely. The Foss 
 certainly left Leicester to the left, i. e. went more northerly, 
 continuing its course in a strait line from Thurmaston, 
 through the present turnpike at Belgrave, by the Abbey de 
 Pratis, where Wolsey died, to the right of which it went, 
 &c., and was joined to Leicester by two diverticula, which 
 I believe, from several instances, was the received practice 
 of the Romans, and a very wise one ; as by that means 
 the principal road was kept free from the incumbrance of 
 towns, about which it must always be bad, from much 
 use, unless in the high perfection of the best of our present 
 turnpikes ; and yet if you wanted to visit the town your 
 route would hardly be lengthened half a mile. 
 
 “ In a very polite letter from the President, t in which 
 he declared his surprise and satisfaction at the perfect 
 agreement between us in arguments and authorities, &c. 
 concerning the Apamean coin, he takes notice of my 
 civility in sending it unasked. Was that really the case "? 
 My dissertation on the inscription you recommended to 
 me long ago, and which I believe I told you was an 
 Oculist’s stamp for his medicines, is as nearly completed 
 as the inclosed, but cannot be understood without trans- 
 lating two very learned dissertations on the same subject. 
 Who has fallen on you in a late Gentleman’s Magazine ?J 
 
 . * Rev. Peter Whalley. He resigned the mastership of Christ’s Hos- 
 pital in I776 ; but was afterwards master of the grammar school of St. 
 Ciave, Southwark. See Lit. Anecdotes, ii. 109. 
 
 * Dean Milles. 
 
 + This alludes to some remarks by Academicus (Dr. John Loveday) in 
 ient. Mag. 1776, p. 402, on two papers, by Mr. Gough, in vol. i'ii. of 
 Arcnseologia. 
 
408 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Mr. Tyson has favoured me with a sight of Mr. Astle’s* 
 excellent printed dissertation. Mr. Tyson will give a 
 drawing of a bas-relief found lately at Feckenham Church 
 in the Gentleman’s Magazine :f it is an abbot in two atti- 
 tudes, holding a bloody leg of an horse. The story is un- 
 known. They are in a blacksmith’s shop. I should think 
 (for it is a common case) that the doctor had lamed the 
 priest’s horse, and the saint was curing it. Mr. Tyson 
 stands fair for one of two good livings — Lambourne,J notfar 
 from you, or their Master’s, § who has been cut for a fistula, 
 in which, from his looks, I should think there might be 
 danger. I am ever, dear Sir, your obliged humble servant, 
 
 “ G. Ashby.” 
 
 To Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 (l Dear Sir, Barrow, Dec. 17, 1776. 
 
 “ Agreeably to your signification of 18th September, 
 that you should be glad to see an account of the Lei- 
 cester Milliary, I gave it to a friend who dined with me 
 24th October to forward to you by the Cambridge 
 coach, and to be left at the Post-house, Waltham. 
 
 “ I dare say you are very happy at the thoughts of 
 having Mr. Tyson w r ell established so near you ; we 
 have heard nothing from him very lately. Has the 
 President favoured the Society with his thoughts on 
 the Apamean coin ?|| It seems to be well battled in the 
 Gentleman’s Magazine ; a long dissertation last month, 
 and two or three laid aside. All the proper passages are 
 now stated ; but I think none of the writers have adopted 
 my notion, that there never was such a coin in reality. 
 Whether the MS. be perils you or not, let me hear from 
 you soon ; I do not mean to hurry the return of the 
 paper. Sir J. Cullum has nicely transcribed and made 
 great additions to Sir Richard Gippes’s (I write without 
 book) Suffolk Gentry 5 it fills a snug quarto on one side. 
 He has also, of his own painful collection, two such 
 volumes of Suffolk Epitaphs ; so that these melted down 
 
 * Of Mr. As tie, and his various Antiquarian Essays, see Lit. An. iii. 203. 
 
 t See the print in Gent. Blag, for 1777, p. 416. It represents the legend 
 of St. Eloi. 
 
 + Mr. Tyson was presented to Lamborne in 1778, and died in 1780. 
 See Lit. An. Index, vol. vii. pp. 431, 697. 
 
 § The Rev. J. Barnardiston, D.D., who died June 1778. His living of 
 Fulmedeston was given to the Rev. James Cremer, wdio died a few weeks 
 afterwards. See Lit. An. viii. pp. 632, 633. 
 
 || Of Dean Milles 1 Observations on the Apamean Medal, see p. 401. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 409 
 
 with those in Weever, and with ecclesiastical transcripts 
 from the bishop’s office and the Suffolk Traveller, would 
 make a tolerable county history. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your obliged humble servant, 
 
 “ G. Ashby. 
 
 “ P.S. I suppose all the learning I had accumulated on 
 the subject of the Oculist’s stamp is now become public 
 in Chr. Saxi Epistola de veteris medici ocularii gemma 
 sphragide, prope Trajectum ad Mosam nuper eruta. 
 Utrecht, 1774, 8vo: pp. 70. Our stone is lost before I 
 could discover the owner; he had, however, whilst he 
 guarded the incognito, sent me an exact impression in 
 wax of the three sides. I have only seen the above in 
 Journal des S9avans, tom. 330. Octob. 177 p- 423. 
 
 To Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Barrow, 2 Jan. 1777. 
 
 “ I thank you most sincerely for both your favours, and 
 your good opinion of the Roman Milliary. I assure you 
 I do not know a word it contains, as I was so provoked 
 at not having a few easy questions answered relative to 
 the locale (though Dr. Farmer and many more endeavoured 
 to procure them for me) that I threw the whole aside, 
 and shall probably never resume it. I remember that 
 night Mr. Edward King bestowed a philippic on Squire 
 Muilman I could not help thinking of this affair, and 
 assenting to our President* that it was not quite so easy a 
 matter to get information as the Squiref seemed to think. 
 I desire my respectful compliments to the President, and 
 am much obliged to him for his kind encouragement, but 
 cannot help continuing in my former mind, of the paper’s 
 being too long for the Archeeologia. I wrote it without 
 the least reference to Mr. Bryant, whose book I had not 
 seen from the day it came out. My business was to shew 
 that Falconieri only raised a storm in a hand-bason, as 
 there was really no such medal (at least of certain an- 
 tiquity) as he made such a pother about. If I am right, 
 it was easy to see that I should kill two birds with one 
 stone ; but being at Cambridge for a day or two, just be- 
 fore you sent for the Essay, I had the curiosity to read 
 Mr. Bryant, and was really surprised at several of his 
 hardy assertions, such as the perfect plainness of the 
 three letters on three specimens of the coin, &c. so that 
 * Dean Milles. f Mr. Muilman. Seep. 405. 
 
410 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 I could not help putting them down in the blank pages 
 against the passages they referred to. I own I wish I 
 could have got through with my account of the Foss, as I 
 should have cleared up some mistakes of Gale, Stukeley, 
 &c., as I have no doubt, from ocular proof, that Ratee 
 never stood on the Foss, but at a mile or two distant, 
 and was connected to it by two diverticula ; on the north- 
 east one of which our stone stood, perhaps at the point of 
 incidence. 
 
 (( I forgot to say that I shall be proud to see the Dean’s 
 thoughts ; and you may send it (if the Dean will be so 
 kind as to venture), in Crowder’s packet, to Green, book- 
 seller, at Bury. 
 
 “ Sir John Cullum is returned from Lille these ten days. 
 Mr. Vernon, his sister’s husband, was dead a day or two 
 before he could get there. We hope to have him at home 
 in four or five days with his lady and sister, &c. I have 
 never heard a word of Mr. Lort since his return to England. 
 If he is in London, be so good as to tell him that a letter 
 with a little literary news would be a cordial to an old 
 friend these hard times. I presume you can easily turn 
 to England’s Gazetteer, 1775;, Svo. 2d eel. Under the 
 article Spittle in the Street , you will see the circumstance 
 you are so kind as to suggest to me, or one very like it, 
 a little more detailed. See Magna Brit, and Lincolnshire, 
 p. 1452. I travelled from Peterborough to Lincoln, and 
 do not recollect this name, or these stones, which I think 
 would not have escaped me, but they did. Spittle is 
 between Lincoln and Humber. I travelled in a one- 
 horse chaise, and particularly took notice to my sister, 
 near Sir Cecil Wray’s new castellated house, that the 
 road must be ancient, from its grand convexity, &c. and 
 asking a countryman if it had any name, he readily 
 answered that it was Roman, or somewhat like it. My 
 friend, whom I mention in my Essay with respect, con- 
 tracted such a love for our lore on that occasion that he 
 promised to have the Foss, at least through Leicestershire 
 and Lincolnshire, surveyed, which, by lighting on a proper 
 hand, can sometimes be done cheap ; but it is so long 
 since that I have no hopes of anything ; but I am clear that 
 the spot where these stones stand ought to be measured, 
 to see if any two or more agree in distance with one 
 another, or if any two stand at the distance asunder of a 
 Roman mile ; else I should guess they were set up at 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 411 
 
 random as to their intervals,, and only designed to be 
 guide-posts over that open country. I shall be glad to 
 see the President’s speech. He does annual honour to 
 the chair by them. But how did they manage to have 
 fires for the sailors ? Would not these act as ventilators ? 
 I am a great admirer of his former speeches ; but if I had 
 the honour of his acquaintance more than I have,, I believe 
 I could point out an improvement or two in each of them. 
 I am glad Mr. Strange has at last discovered that the 
 Archseologia is the proper repository for such goods ; and 
 wish Mr. Planta,* though as secretary perhaps he could not 
 do otherwise than he did, had thought of us. And, then, 
 they have only Swinton left ; and much good may he do 
 them ! For why else are the Societies distinct ? 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your affectionate 
 
 “ George Ashby.” 
 
 To Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 cc Dear Sir, Barrow, 11 Dec. 1777. 
 
 “ Sir John Cullum informed me on Tuesday last, that 
 you intended reconnoitring Thetford, in company with 
 Mr. Grove, who saw me at a breakfast at Mr. Lort’s, and 
 to whom I should have been glad to have been of any 
 service when he visited Bury. But I hope you won’t 
 come so near without allowing me the pleasure of waiting 
 on you both at Barrow ; or, if that cannot be, of giving me 
 an opportunity of seeing you at Thetford. I have moved 
 in my application to the Duke of Norfolk, and think 
 you should lie by till the event is known. I never heard 
 before that there was any design of publishing Thet- 
 ford.f I beg I may have the honour of being graced by 
 your list of subscribers. I suppose the coins struck at 
 that town are pretty numerous. I believe there is one in 
 St. John’s College library, but I will look in my papers 
 and be certain. 
 
 In last Gentleman’s Magazine (p. 532) Mr. Nichols asks 
 the name of the ambassador that produced the medal of 
 Lion and Lambs. I ask for the medal itself, not but that I 
 know abundance of satirical medals were coined (in Hol- 
 land) which are not easily met with now. Witness the 
 
 * Mr. Planta was Secretary to the Royal Society, and Principal Librarian 
 h) the British Museum. He died Dec. 3, 1827. See Gent. Mag. 1827, ii. 564. 
 Mr. Ashby alludes to his memoir on the Romanish language, printed in the 
 Philos. Transactions, vol. lxvi. p. 129. 
 
 t Martin’s “History of Thetford” was published by Mr.Gough, 4to, 1779. 
 
412 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 famous one of the ambassadors of France and Holland 
 quarrelling for precedence in kissing Oliver’s rump, and 
 the Frenchman saying “ Retire toi, cette honneur appar- 
 tient a mon maitre.” I have subscribed to the Whitby* 
 you recommended.” 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your most obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 “ Geo. Ashby.” 
 
 To Mr. John Nichols. 
 
 sc SlR, u Barrow, 13 May, 1781. 
 
 “ You will probably think that I must have been bit by 
 a mad printer’s devil, after complaining of the plague of 
 correcting the press to talk of another work, though a 
 small one. However, I beg you will be so kind as to give 
 me your opinion whether it is likely to pay charges to 
 re-print the “Essay on Gentoo Laws,” from the Gen- 
 tleman’s Magazine. t One or two essays are wanting to 
 complete the design. I have no reason to believe that 
 they were ever taken notice of, at least not publicly by 
 any of your correspondents, though two persons, and one 
 a bishop, an indisputable judge, without suspecting whose 
 they were, spoke favourably of them. My good friend 
 Dr. Lort (constantly liable to be mistaken,) has from 
 the beginning been urgent with me to say my say ; and 
 now renews his attack, because, he says, people’s minds 
 are turned to Indian affairs. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, your humble servant, 
 
 “ G. Ashby.” 
 
 To Mr. William Herbert. 
 
 “ SlR, . Barrow, near Bury St. Edmund’s, April, 1787. 
 
 “ I am very desirous of being benefited by your great 
 skill in typographical antiquities, and shall hope to be 
 favoured with a response from the Oracle. By my mo- 
 ther’s death, about a month ago, I am become the owner 
 of the book mentioned in Typographical Antiquities, 
 vol. ii. p. 1076. J I presume that you had that account 
 through my friend Dr. Lort ; § but it is vastly infra digni- 
 tatem even of the outsides, a description of which I shall 
 
 * The History of Whitby, by Lionel Charlton, York, 1779, 4to. 
 
 t Mr. Ashby’s long Essay on the new Code of Gentoo Laws appeared in 
 several numbers of the Gentleman’s Magazine. See vol. xlvii. pp. 479, 523, 
 635 ; xlviii. 113. 
 
 I u Lady Eliz. Tirwit’s Morning and Evening Praiers, with divers 
 Psalmes, Himnes, and Meditations , Printed for Christopher Barker.” lGmo; 
 
 § “No. By R. Gough. W. H.” 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 413 
 
 not trouble you with at present; only wishing you to 
 believe, as it will be brought in argument by and by, that 
 it is more elegant and superb than any you probably ever 
 saw. This cover comprises, besides Lady Elizabeth Tir- 
 witt’s Prayers, those of your vol. i. p. 449.* 4 The same 
 
 without date or printer’s name. W. H. 8 V0 .’ And if this 
 was all there would be no occasion to give you further 
 trouble, but only to thank you for the information you 
 have thus been pleased to communicate. Some of the 
 difficulties that want to be cleared up in the present 
 case are : — Along with the book has always been care- 
 fully kept a bit of paper, with the annexed inscription, 
 
 This Book of Private Prayer 
 was presented by y e Lady Eliz. 
 Tirwitt to Queen Eliz. during 
 her Confinement in y e Tower & 
 y e Queen generally wore it 
 hanging by a Gold Chaine 
 to her Girdle & att her 
 death left it by Will to one 
 of her women of her Bedchamber. 
 
 which is all the external evidence that can now be had. 
 My mother received the book soon after her marriage, in 
 1720, from her husband’s father, George Ashby, of 
 Quenby, Leicestershire, M.P. &c. as a choice heir-loom. 
 George Ashby was born in 1656, his father in 1629, and his 
 grandfather was married in 1625. These four, or at most 
 a fifth, are all the hands through which the book could 
 have passed from 1603 to 1787? the last possessor having 
 had it for sixty-seven years. My mother always added, 
 that the Chain was given to another by the queen at the 
 same time. This, to be sure, she was told when she had 
 it given her by my grandfather, then seventy-two years 
 old. Here we have mentioned a will of Queen Elizabeth 
 (which would at once determine the matter), but I thought, 
 from Mr. Nichols’s Royal Wills, that Henry VII. f was 
 
 * “ Prayers or Medytacions, wherein the minde is stirred paciently to 
 suft’re all afflictions here, to set at nought the vayne prosperitee of this 
 worlde, and alwaie to long for the everlastynge felicitee. Collected out of 
 holy woorkes by the most vertuous and gracious Princesse Katherine, Quene 
 of Englande, Fraunce, and Ireland. Anno D’ni. 1545 .” 
 
 t “ Henry VIII. and Edw. VI. made wills. W. H.” 
 
414 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the last who made one. We will say then that she gave 
 it away by a written memorandum, or by w’ord of mouth, 
 on her death-bed. But what shall we say to the Queen 
 being in the Tower? Was Lady Elizabeth Tirwitt old 
 enough to make prayers then ? * But Elizabeth, as queen, 
 was never in the Tower. When princess she was put 
 under different confinements ; and once, on account of 
 Wyatt’s insurrection, in the Tower, in the spring of 1554, 
 for five or six weeks, when she was about twenty-one 
 years old, and four years before she came to the crown ; 
 and, as the nation was then much divided in politics and 
 religion, great fears were entertained by Elizabeth’s well- 
 wishers for her safety and religion’s ; and it would not have 
 been strange had some friend drawn up some prayers, and 
 conveyed them to her either in manuscript or print. She 
 herself wrote some (Typ. Antiq. 963, 948, 955, 1088, note 
 e) ; and six manuscript prayers in a small bible (now the 
 Queen’s, from the Duchess of Portland) ; but the prayers 
 themselves give not the least encouragement to such a 
 supposition. There is not a single idea about imprison- 
 ment, or other heavy affliction ; besides, which is decisive, 
 Queen Elizabeth is prayed for twice, L ii. and M mi. by 
 name ; and, though there is no date in the title-page, yet M 
 v. 3, in a colophon, 1574 appears with printer’s and pub- 
 lisher’s names, twenty years later than the princess’s impri- 
 sonment ; nor can the date be a mistake, because Barker 
 published no book, and Middleton printed only six years 
 earlier. See your excellent Typographical Antiquities, ii. 
 1076, 1056 ; though you do not mention, p. 1055, Middle- 
 ton printing this, or any other book for Barker. 
 
 “ Whose arms are those on the back of title-page, viz. a 
 lion rampant, double queued, in a bordure charged with 
 eight escallops ?f They are nothing like any of the three 
 or four in Edmondson’s Ordinal of Arms for Tirwit : X they 
 are not Barker’s, Typographical Antiquities, 1076, and 
 hardly the printer Middleton’s, for whom none are men- 
 tioned ; and perhaps they never presumed to put theirs in 
 books printed for others. 
 
 “ There is no dedicatee. Is it his patron Walsingham’s ?§ 
 Typ. Antiq. ii. 1075, m. 1081, 1078, — no where clearly told. 
 
 * “ Yes. See Female Worthies, vol. ii. p. 178. W. H.” 
 
 f “ See Gwillim, p. 249. W. H.” — They are not, however, either of the 
 coats there mentioned, but apparently that of Oxenbridge. 
 
 I “ See Morgan, b. i. p. 63. W.‘ H.” 
 
 § The arms of Walsingham were, Paly of six arg. and sable, a fesse gu. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 415 
 
 “ Barker was surely very fond of his device at setting out. 
 In this book of prayers he has inserted it four times, i.e. 
 as often almost as there was a blank page at the end of a 
 folded sheet ; — a man with a great hatchet barking a bit of 
 oak on a very large stump or circular block ; other pieces 
 of bark lying about in the fore-ground. 
 
 u Doth H. Denham, or rather T. Bentley, in “ The Mo- 
 nument of Matrones (Typographical Antiquities, ii. 954,) 
 give any account of Lady Elizabeth Tirwitt ? * She is called 
 Terret, ii. 1032, and her prayers mentioned as in 32°. 
 Was there ever an edition so late as this seems to be, and in 
 32° ? When such little books are gathered up in eights, f 
 how can it be determined what their size is ? See the two 
 following articles in the note. No. 43, p. 1031, 853, 
 and 855, note w., 953, note g. Lady Elizabeth Tirwitt 
 seems to be a most distinguished person by the com- 
 pany you .I bring her in with, 954, note i. Is any 
 thing said of her by Ubaldino,§ p. 1178, or Amory, 
 &c. ? However, I see no marks at all of merit or 
 invention in these prayers, which seem for the most 
 part copied from the liturgy, with one or two peculiar 
 absurdities. L ii. 3, is another morning prayer by W. B. 
 [Who ?] || This book therefore of Lady Tirwitt, as now 
 in print, could never have been with the Princess Eliza- 
 beth in the Tower ; and the only remaining chance of veri- 
 fying our manuscript note is, whether the Queers Prayers 
 might not. I presume, and hope, that you have the un- 
 dated edition;^ - and if that was for certain earlier than 
 1554, p. 449,** it might be struck off hastily for the nonce, 
 and hence no name of printer or date. ft But why suppress 
 the Queen’s name ? All three Katharines had been long 
 dead. Whoever considers the richness of the binding, and 
 its perfect preservation, will never think that either Queen 
 Elizabeth, or any body else intending to give it to her, 
 would bind up such a little book, that wanted so many 
 leaves as this does, in the most glaring manner, viz. by 
 shearing the edges of the cut-away leaves as they stick out 
 before the title-page, and a plain gap from F mi. catch- 
 
 * “ Yes. W. H.” f “As whole, half, or quarter sheets.” 
 
 + “ i.e. Bentley.” § “No.” 
 
 II “ I know not ; query Vm. Lord Burghley. W. H.“ 
 
 H “ I have, p. 449. W. H.” 
 
 ** “It is, as in the prayer for the King (Henry VIII.) it is altered to Ed- 
 ward VI. W. H.’’ 
 
 tt “It is not. The titles to third edit, in p. 44,9, are alike. W. H.” 
 
416 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 word ‘ spare/ to latter half of calendar for twenty years, 
 beginning at 1583, and exhibiting only nine years ; or spoil 
 the book after it was bound, of which there are no signs. 
 And, indeed, though they might at any time cut out a leaf, 
 yet they could not transfer the guard, or carton, to before 
 title-page. The only suspicion which I can think of is, 
 (and you will verify or destroy it in a moment,) that in 
 this part of the litany, &c. cut away, there were prayers 
 for the pope or popery, or Queen Mary, which the indig- 
 nant spirit of Elizabeth could not bear even in confinement, 
 and so fairly cut every offensive part away. Or was the 
 first sheet only sent to her as soon as printed off, because 
 suitable to her situation, and no more after her deliverance ? 
 For I can hardly think they would mangle such a little 
 book, to keep it thin, from the consideration that the 
 litany was to be had in Lady Elizabeth Tirwitt’s. And why 
 stick in such a calendar ? which, from its red signatures 
 and letters, and commencement in 1572, I venture to pro- 
 nounce never made part of Queen Katharine’s Prayers. 
 On any of the former suppositions Elizabeth would not 
 think the worse of this companion of her captivity for 
 being mutilated, — I mean only the few pages of the Queen’s 
 Prayers; and, therefore, when Lady Elizabeth Tirwitt’s 
 was to be bound up fine, either by her or the Queen, this 
 mangled book was slipped in, and not thought the worse 
 of for what now seems to make it not worth the poorest 
 binding. As to the calendar, I can account for its appear- 
 ance here only from the then* rarity of almanacs ; and, as 
 it has only saints’ days in it, it serves for one year as well 
 as another. But to keep it small, they cut away the first 
 half that was past and gone. See Typographical Antiqui- 
 ties, 1056. ‘An almanack,’ &c. or rather that in same page 
 to 4 Christian Prayers ’ [what are they ?] ,f which begins in 
 1572, as ours doth, and is perhaps the very same. Will 
 this jumble of books, where one should not expect it, in any 
 way help to explain your difficulty? Vol. i. p. 235, you 
 call them Katharine Parr’s Prayers.]; I own I have had 
 my doubts. § They are all the lamentations of a person in 
 very great trouble and affliction (see title). Was this the 
 case of Katharine Parr ? The time to be sure agrees, and so 
 
 * “ None. W. H.” f “ An Almanack for xvii. yeres. W. H.” 
 
 t “ Otherwise would have been styled the late Queen of England’s 
 Prayers. W. H.” 
 
 §“ Also Mr. Walpole. W, H.” 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 417 
 
 it doth to Henry VIII.’s first Katharine, who died January, 
 1536. D v. (if it had a signature) f°. v°. — ‘ I am left here 
 poor, and as an outlawe in the land of mine enemies.’ — 
 ‘ Comfort mine exile.’ Nothing to Queen Katharine Parr, 
 but quite descriptive of the other persecuted princess. 
 Shakespere puts exactly the same words in her mouth, — 
 e A stranger born out of your dominions ; my friends live 
 not here ; they are, as all my comforts are, far hence, — in 
 mine own country.’ One says of her in the beginning of 
 her troubles, f She’s stranger now again.’ And if you 
 think it not likely that she should compose in English, the 
 same poet has made her say to Wolsey, who addressed her 
 in Latin, that she has been long enough in England to 
 understand the language ; so I think she might compose 
 or transcribe such as these, or her chaplains, and others 
 about her, might assist. She lived, as you know, a retired 
 and devout life at Ampthill for about three years, and died 
 January, 1536. Parr lived as Queen from 1543 till 1547, 
 and died in 1548, and never was in any great or particular 
 affliction ; yet I own I am staggered by what you say, 235, 
 7 72, 544 twice, 559 twice or thrice, 954, note i, 954, 955, 
 1005, 61 7, 1031, No. 43. I am too aware of an objection 
 that they are called the Queen’s Prayers in 1545, whereas 
 the Dowager Katharine was proclaimed Prince Arthur’s 
 widow ; and so to be sure she was called at Henry and 
 Anna Boleyn’s Court, but not at her own. See how 
 tenacious of her rank to the last moment Shakspeare has 
 represented her, and I suppose she is the most exalted 
 female character of any by him portrayed. This ambiguity 
 of title may even account for the undated edition, which 
 I suppose to be the first,* having no name, and the two 
 of 1545 only the general one of Princess. Would not Parr 
 have been called Queen, as she was? For lamentations 
 of prisoners, see Duke of Somerset, 547, 745, 787- 
 
 cc Do none of Queen Elizabeth’s historians, Hentzner, 
 Melville, Granger, &c. or pictures, exhibit her with this 
 book, which, I have no doubt, was worn openly, not only 
 from the MS. paper’s evidence, but also the two rings for 
 the purpose. See a book of Christian Prayers, 1569, 4to. 
 1578, 158J, and 1590, p. 645, which shews that prayer- 
 ruaking was in fashion about that time. P. 1070, “Chris- 
 tian Righteousnesse, dedicated f to the vertuous and my very 
 
 * “No. Prayer for Edward VI. W. H.” 
 
 VOL. VII. 2 E 
 
418 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 deare frend the Lady Elizabeth Terwhit. J . Fielde wisheth 
 encrease of godlines, &c. Fare you well from my poore 
 house in Grub streat, this 2d of November, 1577> pp. 
 128, W. H. 5 also without date. 
 
 “ Queen Katharine Parr’s title to prayers made for or by 
 one in extreme affliction is fully established 889, reprinted 
 so late as 1563. And the whole matter seems to stand 
 thus. An undated copy of [this] Queen’s prayers might 
 be in the Tower in 1554, with the Princess Elizabeth} 
 but that neither Lady Elizabeth Tirwhit, 1574, nor a 
 calendar beginning 1572, or as it now stands 1583, could. 
 940, the King’s psalms, and the Queen’s prayers, 1566, 
 772. 
 
 “ I have got the concluding half-sheet, never bound or 
 cut open, somewhat damaged in the bottom lines of text, 
 but quite perfect and complete in the device, which you 
 have described exactly, p. 236, No. 5. The work consists 
 of short chapters of 12 or 15 lines. The first line of last 
 page : f the grounde was sad and sure, so y 4 there was no 
 fere } 3 last line j f come in to the joy of thy God. Amen .’ 33 * 
 (t I am, Sir, your faithful servant, 
 
 “ G. Ashby.” 
 
 To Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, 12 March, 1788 . 
 
 “ Your kind favour of the 20th February I received 
 only two days ago along with one of Mr. Nichols of the 
 8th March. When 1 saw in the papers the other day the 
 melancholy event that had happened in his family ,+ I was 
 much concerned to see his silence so completely accounted 
 for. Shall I beg the favour of you to give my compliments 
 to Mr. Nichols, and thanks for his letter ; and add, that 
 I am sensibly sorry for his great loss, as I had seen his 
 amiable lady. 
 
 “ I have not been in London these six or seven years, but 
 when I do go thither you may depend upon it that I will 
 do my possibles that you and Mr. Herbert may see with 
 your own eyes the precious thing. That you will find 
 
 * Part of this letter was made use of by Mr. Herbert in the Supplement 
 to his third volume of Typographical Antiquities ; and this last paragraph 
 led to Mr. Herbert’s curious mistake, as noticed in Mr. Ashby’s subsequent 
 letter of June 4, 1790, in p. 424. 
 t The loss of his wife, Feb. 29, 1788. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 419 
 
 it answer in richness and elegance to every thing I 
 have advanced I make no doubt, and consequently that 
 it will excite in you pleasure and admiration ; but as 
 to the printed contents you can discover nothing more than 
 I detailed to Mr. Herbert, to whom I sent the signatures 
 of every page of what I had of the Queen’s Prayers. 
 Those of Lady Tirwitt’s, that stand first, are as complete 
 and fresh as if they came from the press only yesterday, 
 so is all that I have, title and all, of the Queen’s Prayers, 
 which are totally defective after a few clauses of the Litany, 
 and are followed by a few pages of a totally different 
 work, viz. a calendar, and a few pages of prayers of a 
 much later date. Now I cannot conceive where the diffi- 
 culty is in any gentleman, who has these three books, 
 comprehending the exact state and condition of my copy 
 just as well as if he saw it. What I want to know is some 
 positive testimony for the book’s being Queen Elizabeth’s, 
 such as would arise from its appearing among her Jocalia in 
 any wardrobe or jewel-office list; and one such we have at 
 Cambridge, but the weather is too cold at present to go 
 to rummage fireless libraries ; and my own is so defective 
 that I have not Mr. Granger’s book, to which, I mean in 
 the Supplement 4to. I contributed a good deal, in hopes 
 he might mention some print or picture where this book 
 might figure at her side; or that Hentzner, Melville, &c. 
 might describe it as part of her dress. That it was never 
 made for, or bought by any of our family, I make no 
 doubt. My suspicion, for I mean it as no more, that 
 Katharine of Aragon and not Katharine Parr might pen 
 the Queen’s Prayers, no ways affects its being Queen 
 Elizabeth’s, and with her in the Tower. I have very 
 fairly mentioned the only doubt I could think of against 
 the veracity of the testimony of the note, viz., that neither 
 Queen Elizabeth nor Lady Tirwitt had wrote a word 
 or letter in the book : nor is there any printed dedication. 
 Even this one may parry, at the least the last circum- 
 stance, by saying that at the time of printing she might 
 have no thoughts of presenting it to the Queen ; and 
 that the binding and presentation might be, as I dare say 
 from the Calendar it was, a subsequent affair. 
 
 “As to the manner I have mentioned Mr. Herbert, 
 how could I do otherwise, as I am obliged to his printed 
 book, which he will see by the quotations I have read 
 carefully for all the knowledge I have of the subject. I 
 
 2 E 2 
 
420 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 cannot express how ranch I think myself obliged to any 
 gentleman that will exhaust a subject. 
 
 44 Queen Elizabeth might give my book by a nuncupatory 
 will, or even make her own hands on her death-bed 
 her executors. 
 
 44 I have read your Sepulchral Monuments with much 
 satisfaction. 
 
 44 1 once mentioned to Dr. Lort, that a folio list of the 
 Prints would bind up better than the 4to. ; and that I did 
 not see why Antiq. Soc. in Red Book should call their 
 Council F.R.S. when F.R.S. will not call themselves F.A.S. 
 
 44 I am, dear Sir, your obliged humble servant, 
 
 44 G. Ashby/’ 
 
 Mr. Ashby to Mr. Nichols. 
 
 4C SlR, Bury St. Edmund’s, 3 April, 1788. 
 
 44 I am much obliged to you for your packet and bre- 
 viate of an epistle which I received yesterday. The 
 quarto Laneham is perfectly satisfactory. In it you will 
 observe the great resemblance between the running at the 
 ring there described and the excellent tournament at Tot- 
 tenham. The men ride on mares, their packs or pads 
 have no stirrups, &c. &c. Please to look at the slight- 
 account of this magnificent entertainment in Gilpin’s 
 Northern Tour, who takes notice of the curious circum- 
 stance of stopping the great clock. I doubt whether Lane- 
 ham has hit the true reason. When I was a young man 
 at college we use to say in the heel of an evening, 4 Beati 
 non numerant horas.’ Or take it in French politeness : — 
 A King of France asked what o’clock it was : a courtier, 
 whom we may fairly call the flower of courtesy, replied, 
 4 Whatever your Majesty pleases.’ A queen said to a 
 nobleman, 4 Your lady is with child ; when doth she lie 
 in?’ He answered, 4 Whenever your Majesty pleases.’ 
 Perhaps you and I shall think such answers perfectly 
 absurd and provoking, but they were thought at the time, 
 and recorded accordingly, as superfine things. 
 
 44 1 was in hopes the list of presents might have contained 
 Lady Tirwitt’s, or her* name, or my relation’s j but 
 it is too early. In the Catalogus MSS. Anglise, f°- 
 
 * The queen’s. 
 
 t There are five Rolls of New Year’s Gifts of the reign of Elizabeth, of 
 the 4th, 9th, 18th, 30th, and 31st years of her reign, in the British Museum. 
 I have looked at the last two, but find nothing about the book, nor is Lady 
 Tirwhit mentioned. F.M, 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 421 
 
 Bishop More’s MSS. last section, p. 368, Nos. 9440, 
 9441, 254, 255, f A book containing an exact account 
 of all Queen Elizabeth’s jewels, plate, and other stuff 
 remaining in the hands of John Asteley, Esq., master 
 and treasurer of the Queen’s jewels in the 16th year 
 of the said Queen/ fol. e A book of the said Queen’s 
 jewels and plate which were delivered to Sir Edward 
 Carey, knight, in the 38th year of the reign of the said 
 Queen.’ The 16th year of Queen Elizabeth is 1573, 
 and I do not suppose from the circumstance of the 
 calendar beginning imperfectly in the middle, viz., at 
 1583, that the book was bound or presented sooner ; so 
 I had no hopes of meeting with it in the first book : but in 
 the 38th or 1595, on a delivery of the whole stock from one 
 jewel-master to another, I hoped it might turn up ; but 
 upon examining at Cambridge no such books are to be 
 found ; and they had disappeared before the present Cata- 
 logue was made, which I think was 20 or 30 years ago, 
 by Goodall, the under-librarian, from the printed fol. 
 altering the numbers in the margin according to their pre- 
 sent standings. Your list of New-year’s Gifts, 1578, is 
 also four or five years too early ; but I shall be glad to 
 see by and by the lists quoted at p. 65, from p. 15 — 17* 
 Though, had they contained the book, or Lady Tirwitt’s 
 name, you would probably have mentioned it. As to 
 Lady Tirwitt, I should be glad of any memoirs or informa- 
 tion about her ; but the book is perfect and speaks fully 
 for itself. There are several lives of learned ladies. Th. 
 Bentley’s f Monument of Matrones ’ mentions her. What 
 say Ballard, Amory, &c. & c. ? The great curiosity of the 
 whole seems to be the undated prayers of Queen Katha- 
 rine, and which Katharine ? Why imperfect ; when 
 what is preserved is as fair and clean as if printed yester- 
 day ? How many leaves are wanting ? Did the rest con- 
 tain any prayers for pope or popery, or any thing else 
 that Queen Elizabeth might be disposed to tear away in 
 the Tower ; and was the half-calendar, and two or three 
 leaves of a book printed about 1572, stuck on at the 
 end by way of affording a finis ? By a letter from Dr. 
 Lort, I suspect that before now he has put my rough 
 account into Mr. Gough’s hands, and when he has satis- 
 fied curiosity, you will turn it over, and favour me with 
 any thing that occurs. Might one not hope to find the 
 original book from whence these several lists are taken 
 
422 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and have got about, in the Jewel or Wardrobe Office? and 
 that is what I wish any friend like Messrs. Astle, Topham, 
 Craven Ord would determine. I can do nothing in this 
 case by my fireside. Surely many of the pretty things 
 the Lists mention must be still existing, and the owners 
 must be able to identify them from thence. Must not 
 the first article, the casting bottle, be still in being ? so too 
 the carcanet, the ship of mother of pearl, &c. &c. It is 
 to be lamented that the two Universities sent so much of 
 their plate to be melted down and lost for ever in Charles 
 the First’s time. Had they pawned it for its weight and 
 sent him the money, we should still have had many curi- 
 ous specimens of antique magnificence : a few are still to 
 be seen at some of the colleges, as Benet, Pembroke, 
 King’s, Emanuel, &c. If the colleges could not have re- 
 deemed them, some at least would have escaped the melt- 
 ing-pot by their beauty, and been preserved by private 
 persons. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, your very humble servant, 
 
 (e George Ashby.” 
 
 Mr. Ashby to Mr. Nichols. 
 i£ DEAR Sir, Bury Saint Edmund’s, 12 April, 1788. 
 
 “ I thank you heartily for the List of New-year’s Gifts : 
 there can be little doubt of finding the Gold Book in a 
 similar one, could we light on the right year, which I 
 guess from the imperfect calendar was about 1583, or 
 later : you will probably lament with me that the two Lists 
 are no longer to be found in the Public Library, but the 
 bare mention of them would not be unacceptable to you. 
 We may be pretty certain that there were such for every 
 year. 
 
 “ I have found out how the covers of my Gold Book 
 can look so thick, and yet be no heavier ; they are hollow. 
 I see no name among the court ladies that I can fasten on 
 except Cave, p. 75 and 87; and, as that was in 1577-8, or 
 twenty-five years before the Queen’s death, I think the 
 lady would be too old to marry into our family ; otherwise, 
 as you well know, a matrimonial alliance between the two 
 houses would by no means be improbable, though I do 
 not find it confirmed by a good pedigree of my own draw- 
 ing-up.* 
 
 * No such marriage appears in either of the pedigrees of Cave or Ashby in 
 Nichols’s History of Leicestershire. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 423 
 
 c< Randle Holmes’s Academy of Armory has lately come 
 to my notice. It is a most excellent book for Mr. Her- 
 bert Croft’s purpose. He clearly makes out some of the 
 few words that were too hard for me in your 4 Royal 
 Wills.’ 
 
 “ Surely many of the Lists of New Year’s Gifts must 
 be recoverable, either in private hands or at the jewel or 
 wardrobe offices. 
 
 “ Should you not take some notice of Whitaker, who 
 makes your heroine* a devil incarnate, so early as to be 
 at the bottom of forging the love letters ? f That she 
 and her councillors were crocodiles, I can easily believe, 
 but not that she interfered in this particular manoeuvre 
 so early. I think I have as sharp a look as another at 
 detecting a forgery. I never saw Rowley but for a day or 
 two, when, as far as I knew. Dr. Glynn, Tyson, and all the 
 world had not a scruple : yet the Gentleman’s Magazine J 
 will testify that I declared myself freely, and at large, 
 though not so lucky as to be honoured with notice. I 
 have seen Whitaker only in a review, where he is praised 
 most devoutly, but for my life I could not see for what j 
 the whole seemed to be a mere verbiage, or confident 
 assertions. I have read Jebb, Goodall, Anderson, &c. &c. 
 and I am persuaded that Mary wrote the letters, and went 
 out of her husband’s chamber in order to his being blown 
 up. I do not believe that any of the three copies we 
 have, French, Scotch, or Latin, fell from her pen ; and 
 the only difficulty I have is, that what she did write, or 
 was charged to have written, doth not appear in the 
 Cotton, Yelverton, or any other of the numerous collec- 
 tions of the times. One may wonder too why many of 
 the papers sent up from the English Commissioners at 
 York for Queen Elizabeth’s perusal were in Scotch. 
 This I cannot account for, yet so it is. How strange 
 seems the men giving a Virgin-queen smocks ! 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your very humble servant, 
 
 “ Geo. Ashby.” 
 
 * Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 + “ Mary Queen of Scots Vindicated. By the Rev. John Whitaker.” 
 
 3 vols. 8 vo. 1787. 
 
 + This very able article, containing “ Objections to the Authenticity of 
 Rowlie’s Poems,” maybe seen in Gent. Mag. 1777, pp. 205—208. This ar- 
 ticle was well followed by one signed H. D., written by Richard Gough, 
 esq., strongly opposing the authenticity of the poems. Another able article, 
 b ) r “ A Detester of Literary Imposition, but a Lover of good Poetry,” is in 
 PP. 361—365. 
 
424 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Mr. Ashby to Mr. Wm. Herbert. 
 
 e ‘ Dear SiRj Bury St. Edmund’s, 4 June, 1790. 
 
 “ After making my sincere acknowledgment of the flat- 
 tering manner you mention me, much more so indeed 
 than I deserve on this occasion, it gives me real concern 
 to observe, that by some inability to express myself intel- 
 ligibly, I have occasioned you the trouble, page 1802, to 
 account for a difficulty that has no existence : as there is 
 not, nor ever was, the least connexion between the Gold 
 Book, and the concluding sheet of some such work as a 
 4 Liber Festivalis,’ or 4 Legenda,’ ending with lcto ii. 
 on last page, as on preceding page, was ‘In translatio 
 S’cti Nicholai;’ on last page of all is the device, pages 236, 
 237, No. 5. It is a 4to., and the letter-press of the page 
 is full six inches deep, and the device full four inches 
 deep, and three and a half broad. I never dreamt that" it 
 could be confounded with the Gold Book, which is only 
 two one-eighth inches high, and one three-eighth inch 
 broad, margin included in both dimensions, and of which 
 I understood you had a copy ; I mean the undated edition 
 of Queen Katharine’s Prayers, that stands last of the 
 three, and has W. H. after it, page 449. The book has 
 been in our family from Queen Elizabeth’s death ; and 
 the fragment came into my hands accidentally, I do not 
 know how, perhaps twenty years ago ; and I only men- 
 tioned it in a P.S. as a curiosity, that whereas the first and 
 last leaves of such very old books are often wanting, a last 
 leaf that has never been cut open, though damaged in 
 the lower margin, would be prized by those who had a 
 copy that was thus imperfect. It is a small 4to., but as 
 it wants the lower margin, I can say nothing as to signa- 
 tures. I declare I am quite uneasy at the thoughts that 
 anything I should write should give you a moment’s un- 
 necessary trouble, or lead you into a bevue, such as, 
 I believe, there is not in all your large work besides ; 
 though you must have trusted to many other people for 
 their account of things, which you could not see yourself. 
 As you had mentioned the book, I never suspected that 
 you would do so again, and only wrote to gain informa- 
 tion from you how much was wanting in my copy of the 
 4 Queen’s Prayers ;’ and any conjecture that you could 
 make as to the cause of such imperfection in a book so 
 superbly bound; and which from the guards appears 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 425 
 
 plainly to have been in this imperfect state before ever its 
 clothing was of wrought gold and divers colours. I just 
 saw Mr. Nichols’s description in Preface to the Progresses ; 
 this he took from an account I drew up at large ; but he 
 has made a great mistake, if I remember right, in saying, 
 that the writing, which is on turn small loose bits of paper, 
 is in the book. There is not a word of writing in the 
 book, nor a blot, nor a foul finger-mark, which makes the 
 imperfection the more remarkable, as it could not happen 
 by common wearing ; nor would such an imperfect copy 
 deserve, at that time of day, when it would not be un- 
 common, such a superb binding; for since then it has 
 suffered nothing. 
 
 “ I remember that once sitting in Bishop More’s Class 
 of first printed books,* and turning over Dav. Clement’s 
 account of ‘ Bare Books’ for some purpose, my eye was 
 caught with a long account of an edition of Boccace (a 
 language I do not understand) whose existence the writer 
 could hardly persuade himself to believe, though said 
 to be among Bishop More’s books ; I thought with myself 
 that it would be very idle not to see how the matter 
 stood, as the book must be within my reach without 
 getting off from the buffet-stool on which I sat: I did 
 so ; and immediately it appeared that the title-page and 
 three or four first leaves were all in manuscript, to com- 
 plete : so to be sure the writer had either undesignedly or 
 fraudulently left out e an I,’ and thereby puzzled, or per- 
 plexed unnecessarily, the learned writer, who knew the 
 edition perfectly well, of that right date. 
 
 “ Sometime ago 1 borrowed, and had copied almost to a 
 fac-simile the comedy of f The Nice Wanton/ MDLx.f I 
 have also, my own, a small 4to. volume, containing f The 
 Shepheardes Calender/! at London, printed by Hugh 
 Singleton, &c. 1579. 
 
 “ I am, with true concern for the trouble I have given 
 you, dear Sir, your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ George Ashby.” 
 
 Mr. Ashby to Mr. Nichols. 
 
 f Dear Sir, Bury St. Edmund’s, 23d June, 1790. 
 
 <s As to Histories of Counties I wish those that lived in 
 them were as well disposed to describe as those without. 
 
 * tn the University Library at Cambridge. 
 
 T See W, H. p, 7b3. 
 
 % Ibid, p, 742, 
 
426 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Witness Sir W. Burrell and Craven Ord. Of the 
 Leicestershire I had a few sheets, but have not been able 
 to find them of two or three years last past. I had ex- 
 tracted the particulars of W. Burton’s life from his book, 
 and Mr. Gough published the substance of it in Brit. Topog. 
 On my papers he has noted — not to be found — meaning 
 that what I say is not in the page I quote. But it is, and 
 Mr. Gough was not aware that the paging runs wrong for a 
 good way together. I have an interleaved Magna Britan, 
 for the county, with many references to books, &c. 
 But the treasure is elsewhere, without possession of which 
 I think nothing should be attempted. The late Sir 
 Thomas Cave borrowed, and kept many years, the im- 
 proved copy of W. Burton, belonging to Lord Chetwynd, 
 and before he returned it had it copied by his elegant 
 daughter Penelope, long since dead. It is many years 
 ago that I saw this copy, and to the best of my remem- 
 brance it was a large folio in vellum, but not very thick. 
 I think, too, there was another lesser folio ; probably only 
 the MS. additions were transcribed by the young lady. 
 I remember there were drawings of her doing. Some few 
 years ago I waited on Sir Thomases son, the Rev. Charles 
 Cave, Rector of Finedon, Northamptonshire, to get a better 
 idea of this work ; when to my surprise he produced a 
 performance of a very different size, &c., viz. Sir Thomas 
 own history in his own hand on foolscap-size paper, in 
 loose sheets doubled up in quarto ; by what little I saw it 
 seemed to be the descent of property from Rot. Pat., &c., 
 in the public offices. Sir Thomas Cave was at first a 
 younger brother, and bred a counsellor; the hand is 
 exceeding neat, * and I should suppose the contents of 
 value, as what cannot be got without much expence and 
 trouble. Upon my saying that this was not what I ex- 
 pected to find, he assured me that this was what he had 
 from his father, and that he knew of no other. He seemed 
 to be no way averse to a publication, if it was thought credit- 
 able.f He sat in a good library of books, which were pro- 
 bably his father’s. I guess so from there being more than 
 common ; yet I think the transcript must be with the 
 present baronet at Stanford Hall, and William Burton’s 
 original for certain with the heir of Lord Chetwynd. Mr. 
 
 * These were Peck’s Extracts from the Patent Rolls. 
 
 f All these collections of Sir Thomas Cave were communicated by the 
 Rev. Sir Charles Cave to Mr. Nichols, for his History of Leicestershire. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 427 
 
 Cave told me that his father had borrowed somewhat of a 
 MS. from a college in Oxford, and that it* was lost in the 
 return. I think in it was our pedigree, but that was 
 copied into the work he showed me. I gave him my 
 pedigree, that I had printed about twenty years ago. I 
 have been minute, that you might know where the richest 
 materials are ; and which, I think, a civil application 
 would procure. A few years ago I thought of buying 
 the Rev. Mr. Peck’s MSS. : but Sir Thomas Cave stepped 
 in before me, and had all for a trifle, twenty pounds or 
 less, and among them, to be sure, the fine book he gave 
 to the British Museum. All these must be of value to 
 the future historian, and for certain, are at Finedon or 
 Stanford Hall. Among Bishop More’s MSS. at Cam- 
 bridge, was a register of Gerendon, or some other Abbey t 
 in Leicestershire : but, I think, it was missing when I last 
 looked for it, as is the case of the Wardrobe Master’s 
 accounts of Queen Elizabeth’s J ewels, in which I hoped 
 to have found my Gold Book commemorated. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your very humble servant, 
 
 “ G. Ashby.” 
 
 c ’ Dear Sir, Bury St. Edmund’s, 6 Aug. 1790. 
 
 “ My MS. collections for Leicestershire are safe, and 
 with the interleaved Magna Britannia and printed pedi- 
 gree, much at your service. If in the mass of your collec- 
 tions you find any thing of an annual payment of 40Z. from 
 Squire Wollaston’s estate, at Shenton, to the Rector of 
 Market Bosworth, I wish you would let me know ; you 
 perceive it is too large a sum for a common modus. In 
 return, I hope soon to be able to furnish you with a letter 
 of Atterbury, which I have the offer of, with some letters 
 of the Foley family. What, or whose is the Elmsthorpe 
 Museum ?J I am turned showman myself, but only in the 
 fossil way. I shall send you nothing of the Thurmaston 
 inscription^ because it is so long, and never will be 
 finished, as I have not the books before me to verify my 
 numerous quotations. I take some merit to myself in 
 
 * A Visitation. 
 
 t Probably Mr. Ashby alludes to a register of Osulveston or Ouston 
 Abbey in Leicestershire, of which a portion was formerly in Bishop More’s 
 collection, and is now preserved in the Public Library at Cambridge, marked 
 Dd. iii. 87. 
 
 + Mr. Fowke’s. See History of Leicestershire, vol. IV. p. 605. 
 
 § Mr. Ashby’s Essay on the Roman Milliary. He afterwards sent it to 
 Mr. Nichols. See p. 405. 
 
428 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 making it out, as Dr. Percy was so particularly positive as 
 to its integrity. If ever I was to finish it for public view, 
 I could wish it to appear in Archteologia as the companion 
 to that on coin of Nerva * in Vol. III. You promise a map ; 
 I could wish that you would besides regale us with a plan 
 of the Foss Roadf through the county, in the manner of 
 Ogilby and Armstrong. There is generally, in every 
 neighbourhood, some poor deserving surveyor that would 
 be glad to work well and cheap; he must have some 
 instructions given him on this new subject, such as looking 
 for the course of the road from one hill to another, and 
 being aware that he must not be discouraged at the road^s 
 being taken into modern inclosures, and hedges set down 
 across it, as, if I remember right, is the case in Thurmas- 
 ton lane, or not far from Belgrave turnpike. One should 
 be glad too of the Watling Street being done in the same 
 way, though that is probably better known, as more 
 travelled, and so less defaced or degraded. 
 
 ff It is pleasant enough that at pp. 617 and 618 of Gent. 
 Mag. you should be printing, from a MS. on vellum bound 
 in plated silver, my printed book, bound in gold, of which 
 you will see three editions in Mr. Herberts Ames, p. 
 449. Mine, I conclude to be (as far as the short de- 
 scription warrants me) the third, or, at least, an undated 
 edition. “ I am, dear Sir, your humble servant, 
 
 “ G. Ashby.” 
 
 %=* Mr. Richard Greene, of Lichfield, communicated to 
 the Gentleman^ Magazine for 1790| a copy of a Manual of 
 Devotions, written on vellum and bound in a singular 
 manner in plated silver. The size of the book is two 
 inches and a half by two inches. At the end is written, in 
 a different manner, an account by what means it became the 
 property of its present possessor, John Levett, Esq. “The 
 Private Manual of Devotions of Catherine Parr, Queen 
 and survivor of Henry VIII., and given to Lady Tuke, 
 daughter to Sir Bryan Tuke (Privy Councillor to the 
 aforesaid King), and my great-great-grandmother. It was 
 then in the possession of Lady Margaret Hastings, my 
 cousin, from whom I received it Oct. 7th, a.d. 1669. — 
 Thos. Lawrence.” 
 
 * See before, p. 395. 
 
 t Two maps of the Foss Road are given in the History of Leicester- 
 shire, vol. I, p. clii. % See Gent. Mag, for 1790, pp. 617, 700, 785. 
 
ASHBY C0BBESB0ND1NCE. 
 
 429 
 
 “ Crew Offley, Esq. married the last heiress of the 
 Lawrence family, by whom he had issue John Offley, Esq., 
 who sold the estate of Whichnor, in Staffordshire, with 
 every article that was in the mansion and on the premises 
 at the time the bargain was agreed upon, to John Levett, 
 of Lichfield, Esq., by which means the above Manual 
 became his property, and is now (1790) in his possession. 
 
 ee R. Greene/* 
 
 This manuscript copy of Queen Katharine Parr’s Prayers 
 being incomplete, Mr. Herbert communicated the re- 
 mainder of it to the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1790, 
 p. 986, transcribed from the first edition, printed byThomas 
 Berthelet, king’s printer, in the year 1545 ; by which it 
 would appear that the MS. communicated to the Magazine 
 contained little more than half the devotions ; thus render- 
 ing the meditations referred to in the Magazine complete. 
 Mr. Herbert remarks, c<r It is not a little extraordinary 
 that the Manual of Devotions in the possession of Mr. 
 Levett, as well as that other in the possession of Mr. 
 Ashby, should be so superbly bound, notwithstanding the 
 imperfection of their contents/* 
 
 Mr. Gough to the Gentleman’s Magazine. 
 
 Mr. Urban, Aug. 6 , 1790. 
 
 c ‘ By the extract hitherto communicated by your cor- 
 respondent Mr. Greene, p. 616, from his Manual of 
 Prayers, it should seem to be a MS. of the same that was 
 printed by Berthelet twice, 1545, and a third time without 
 date or printer’s name. (Herbert’s Ames, p. 449, in 48 
 pages, sixteens, besides a prayer for the king, a prayer for 
 men to say entering into bataile, a devoute dayly prayer, 
 another prayer, and a devoute prayer ; making in all above 
 60 pages.) By the binding, in silver plate, I am led to 
 suspect it was the queen’s own copy ; unless we should 
 suppose that the devotional book in the possession of the 
 Rev. Mr. Ashby, bound in gold plate, mentioned by Mr. 
 Herbert (ibid. p. 1076), may have contained such a manual 
 for her Majesty’s use, and this silver one have belonged 
 to some of her family or suite; or this collection of 
 prayers by Katharine Parr may have been bound for 
 Queen Elizabeth, who probably derived consolation from 
 them during her confinement ; for, as Mr. Herbert justly 
 observes, p. 1802, f We know not what has been cut out 
 
430 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 from this famous little magazine.’ As to what Mr. A. 
 there calls the f concluding half-sheet/ with the mark of 
 Wynkyn de Worde, it appears that he meant the concluding 
 sheet, not of this collection, but of some other work, dif- 
 ferent both in matter and size ; for all de Worde’ s marks 
 that Mr. Herbert has seen are for a folio or quarto page. 
 After all that has been said about this Golden book, the 
 truth respecting it can never be ascertained, until Mr. 
 Herbert or some one equally versed in these matters, is 
 permitted to have a sight of it. 
 
 “D. H.” 
 
 Mr. W. Herbert to the Gentleman’s Magazine. 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, . Sept. 10, 1790. 
 
 te I persuade myself your candour will allow me a small 
 space in your very useful repository, to rectify a seeming 
 mistake in your correspondent D. H.’s remark on Mr. 
 Greene’s MS. of Queen Katharine Parr’s Manual of Prayers, 
 bound in silver plate, and the Rev. Mr. Ashby’s fragment 
 of a very small printed edition of the same, &c., bound in 
 Gold plate, in p. 703, where he says, f all de Worde’s 
 marks, that Mr. Herbert has seen, are for a folio or quarto 
 page.’ Indeed all of them might be, and some of them 
 were, used to his folio editions, as particularly one of his 
 smallest to ‘The prouffytable Boke for Mannes Soul,’ 
 &c., as Typographical Antiquities, pp. 190-194. He had 
 two other very small marks, or devices, as may be seen on 
 the cut facing p. 11 7 . His picturesque one, which is the 
 largest he is known ever to have used, was mostly ap- 
 pendaged to his grammatical treatises in quarto. All the 
 devices of Wynkin de Worde, that have come to my 
 knowledge, are described in pp. 236, 237. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. W. H.” 
 
 Mr. Ashby to Mr. Nichols. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, 8 Dec. 1790 . 
 
 “ I received no account inclosed, &c. but that did not 
 signify, as it was to be seen in Gent. Mag. I am glad to 
 find that at last the difficulty is to be cleared up, or 
 attempted, at least, which I proposed at first, viz. why 
 such an imperfect copy was so superbly bound to be given 
 to a queen, when perfect copies could hardly be scarce. 
 My book was probably a New-year’s Gift 5 one somewhat 
 
431 
 
 ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 * 
 
 like, is, I think, mentioned in the preface to the Progresses. 
 My guess is, that the identical copy of Queen Katharine 
 ParPs Prayers was Queen Elizabeths book when princess 
 and in the Tower, or under restraint, and that there was 
 somewhat about popery in the part now wanting which she 
 had torn out and burnt, but that the remainder she had 
 preserved and valued as the companion of her troubles ; 
 that Lady Tirwhit took advantage of this circumstance, 
 and begged she might have the honour of perpetuating it, 
 by putting it into an handsome binding ; so, slipping into 
 the same coat her own prayers, she fully did what Pope 
 describes, 
 
 ‘ Which parent authors were so kind to gild.’* 
 
 “ The blunder between Mr. W. H. and me arose thus : I 
 concluded that the undated edition, No. 3. or last in Typ. 
 Antiq. with W. H. after it, was the same edition as my 
 fragment ; I therefore sent all the signatures of what I had, 
 and desired the favour of Mr. W. H. to tell me how much 
 was wanting, and could not help wondering why he made 
 any difficulty of doing so. Now the reason is plain 
 enough; my diminutive edition seems an unique; conse- 
 quently the signatures would bear no agreement with his 
 octavo copy, and he probably not attending to the account 
 of the size of mine, presuming it must be one and the 
 same as his own, could not make out any meaning in what 
 I said ; but as he was a master in Israel, he was not to 
 suppose, or allow at least, that any edition had escaped 
 his researches, and, therefore, he was to frame an hypo- 
 thesis, &c. by way of saying somewhat in order to evade 
 a difficulty that he could not answer in a few words. Mr. 
 Gough can tell you, I believe, that Mr. Price behaved just 
 in the same manner, though for a different reason, about 
 the Life of S. Werburg in the Bodleian. The story is a 
 special good one, but rather too long for a letter. 
 
 “ The Manuscript Prayer Book on vellum would cer- 
 tainly be thicker than one printed on thin paper ; but is 
 it at all probable that the former would be bound in two 
 volumes when the quantity of the whole was so little, and 
 the covering so costly ? and would a queen have separated 
 such a small book by giving it to two persons ? And 
 
 * This volume of Prayers, bound in gold, afterwards (but when I do not 
 know) came into the possession of the Duke of Sussex, and was sold with 
 his trinkets and jewels at Christie’s in 1843, when it was purchased by Mr. 
 Farrer, of Wardour-street, for 147/. He now has it on sale, and I believe 
 values it at 200/. 
 
432 ILLUSTRATIONS OR LITERATURE. 
 
 what shall we say to my printed half that has two other 
 things stuck to it when originally bound, for one cannot 
 reckon the separation of chain and book (according to our 
 family tradition) to be at all similar to splitting a little 
 manual of prayers into two imperfect fragments, whereas 
 the chain and book divided into two complete things. 
 The copy I sent you is exact as to size, number of 
 leaves, cartons, or guards, &c. but owing to thickness of 
 paper looks more clumsy and thicker than the original, 
 which has the appearance of an oblong flat or shallow 
 snuff box such as were in fashion fifty years ago. 
 
 “ G. Ashby/’ 
 
 Mr. W. Herbert to the Gentlemans Magazine. 
 
 <e Mr. URBAN, Chesliunt, Jan. 16, 1791. 
 
 <e Having been favoured with a facsimile copy of the 
 curious little miscellany of devotions, very superbly bound 
 in solid gold, which Gueen Elizabeth, it is said, usually 
 wore, hanging by a gold chain at her side; of which, 
 according to promise indicated in p. 988, you herewith 
 receive a more particular and correct account than I was 
 enabled to give when “ The Typographical Antiquities of 
 Great Britain and Ireland ” were published ; and entreat 
 your indulgence to give it a place in your valuable 
 repository. 
 
 ee This rare collection of devotional pieces begins with 
 ‘ Morning and Euening Prayer, with diuers Psalmes, 
 Himmes, and Meditations. Made by the Lady Eliza- 
 beth Tirwit. Seene and allowed. Printed by H. Mid- 
 delton, for Christopher Barker/ This title is printed 
 within a border of metal flowers. On the back page is an 
 escutcheon bearing these arms, A lion rampant double 
 queued, in a bordure charged with eight escallops. 
 These prayers, &c. occupy signatures M, in eights ; the 
 size of the leaf is two inches and a half high, and one 
 inch and three-eighths broad, margin included in both 
 dimensions. Prefixed thereto is e< A briefe Exhortation 
 vnto Prayer/ in six leaves ; the form of Morning Prayer, 
 on seventeen leaves; Evening Prayer, on eight leaves. 
 On the last of them is C. Barker’s device, as represented 
 on the frontispiece to e The Typographical Antiquities/ 
 with this couplet over it : 
 
 A Barker if you will : 
 
 In name, but not in skill. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 433 
 
 “Then follow 4 Certaine godly Sentences/ on four 
 leaves, with the same device on the back of the last. — • 
 c Certaine other godly Prayers,’ on twenty-three leaves ; 
 the back of the last blank. — 4 Hymnes,’ on seventeen 
 leaves, with the same device on the back of the last, and 
 a blank leaf after it. — c The Lettanie,’ on seventeen leaves, 
 concluding with the 4 Prayer of Chrisostome before 
 which are inserted, 4 A Prayer for the Queen’s Maiestie,’ 
 and ‘A Prayer for Pastors and Ministers of the Church.’ 
 On the back of the last of these leaves is this colophon. 
 
 Imprinted at London, by Henrie Middelton, for Chris- 
 topher Barker, 1574.’ On another leaf is C. Barker’s 
 device again; and, lastly, a blank leaf. These prayers, 
 &c. by Lady Tirwit, were re-printed, with considerable 
 variation, and without the Letany, in Tho. Bentley’s 2d 
 Lamp of Yirginitie, vol. i. p. 103 — 138. 
 
 “The next article in this curious miscellany has the 
 following title in a border of metal flowers • 4 The 
 Queenes Prayers, or Meditations : wherein the Mynde is 
 stirred to suffer all Afflictions here.’ On the back is the 
 text. Col. iii. 1, 2. It is needless to describe these 
 prayers particularly, as they differ only in orthography 
 from those you have given from Mr. Levett’s curious MS. 
 bound in silver, in your Magazine for last September, and 
 the residue thereof from Berthelet’s edition, printed 1545, 
 in that of November following.* I shall only mention 
 that the running title throughout is 4 The Queenes 
 Praiers ;’ even over that part of 4 The Letanye,’ which 
 remains in this splendid binding. A probable reason for 
 leaving out the residue of the Litany, might be to render 
 the volume more portable ; the whole Litany having been 
 inserted at the end of Lady Tirwit’s prayers. It would 
 doubtless have been taken entirely away, but that 4 The 
 Letanye’ begins on the same page (F iiii) on which the 
 Queen’s prayers end. These are complete according to 
 the printed editions, but at the end of the meditations is 
 only 4 A devoute Prayerf to be sayde daiely.’ See Gent. 
 Mag. for Nov. 1790, p. 988. The four first leaves are 
 without a signature, B — E, in eights ; F has only four 
 leaves remaining. Had this piece been left entire, we 
 niight very likely have found a colophon at the end. I 
 
 * See p. 428. 
 
 t “ "Which is a short comment upon the Lord’s Prayer. W. H.” 
 
 VOL. YU. 2 F 
 
434 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 have an edition not much larger than the forementioned 
 Queen’s Prayers, printed by William How, 1571? which 
 has its title, verbatim, the same, and environed with a 
 border of the same metal flowers, and has the same run- 
 ning title, even to the end of the f Letany/ * From so 
 great similarity may it not reasonably be conjectured that 
 both editions were printed by him ? I cannot suppose 
 Q. Katharine Parr published these meditations and 
 prayers out of any ostentation of authorship. In this 
 particular especially she does not in the least pretend to 
 it; as was observed in Gent. Mag. 1790, p. 987, n., 
 they were only c collected out of holy workes by her/ 
 neither does she profess herself, though possibly she might 
 be, the translator. The times then and now are indeed 
 very different. Ladies of quality, and even crowned heads, 
 thought it then no disgrace to write and publish what they 
 hoped would promote piety and virtue. True! no one now 
 would let such a performance appear in their name, any 
 more, perhaps, than any other of those times. Elegance 
 of style, no doubt, has been greatly improved in near two 
 centuries and a half. 
 
 “To the forementioned devotional treatises in this 
 august collection is annexed the latter part of an alma- 
 nack ‘ for xx yeare ’ (this is the running title for this 
 page ; as it may be presumed. An, or The Almanack, was 
 for the preceding one), exhibiting the Easter days, Golden 
 numbers, Dominical letters, and leap years, from 1583 to 
 1591, inclusive. The former part of the almanack, doubt- 
 less, was printed on the back of the first leaf (which is 
 wanting), and commenced with the year 1572. On the 
 back of this remaining part of the almanack begins e The 
 Kalender/ each month occupying two pages. On the 
 back of the last leaf of the £ Kalender/ and the two fol- 
 lowing ones, are these articles, viz. ‘ In the name of the 
 Father, and of the Sonne, and of the Holy Ghost. 
 Amen. — The Lordes Prayer. — The Beliefe, or Creede. — 
 The Ten Commaundements of Almightie God/ which ends 
 
 * “ About this time the Litany appears to have been much in vogue, and 
 frequently annexed to manuals of private devotions. I have a collection of 
 Christian prayers and meditations, several of them signed John Bradford, 
 with a calendar and almanack prefixed, from 1572 to 1588, and a Litany at 
 the end, with Lidley’s prayers annexed, printed by H. Middelton, 1574, in 
 24°, K k, in eights. If this account, the best account I can give, affords 
 any satisfaction to your worthy correspondent G. Ashby, I shall be very 
 glad. W.H.” 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 435 
 
 on the back page of signature B, 8 ; and as the six latter 
 lines of the tenth commandment diminish gradually to a 
 single syllable, here seems to be the conclusion of this 
 little piece ; but then, what shall we say to so small a 
 building having so large a door ! I am inclined therefore 
 to suppose it might contain also some graces, short 
 prayers, &c. as frequently set before Primers; perhaps 
 similar to, if not, e The Christian A, B, C/ as in the list 
 of James Roberts’s copies, in Brit. Typogr. Antiq. p. 1032. 
 
 “ Thus have I fulfilled my promise, to give a faithful 
 and particular detail of the contents of the famous Golden 
 miscellany, and I hope to the satisfaction of its pro- 
 prietor. u W. Herbert.” 
 
 Mr. Ashby to the Gentleman’s Magazine. 
 
 <c Mr. Urban, March 10, 1791. 
 
 “ As you have given an excellent account * of the con- 
 tents of the Manual of Prayers, perhaps a view of its 
 outsides may be satisfactory.fi That account, from the 
 hand of a master, seems complete in all respects, except 
 perhaps that it doth not explain the arms on the back 
 of the first title-page, and supposes that the leaves want- 
 ing were cut out in order to make the book more port- 
 able. But, as half a dozen thin leaves would make but 
 little difference in its portability, I guess the castration 
 was made for the sake of getting the "whole into the 
 unyielding back. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. George Ashby.” 
 
 A letter from Mr. Ashby to Mr. W. Stevenson, 
 dated May 14, 1791? is printed in Literary Anecdotes, 
 vol. ix. 684. 
 
 To John Nichols, Esq. 
 
 C£ Dear Sir, June 21 > 1796. 
 
 “ I cannot imagine that any County History was ever 
 wrote with equal advantages to yours. The being able to 
 set up so many sheets at once, and keep them unworked 
 °ff, and send them about for correction, is what, I believe, 
 never happened before : and must contribute wonderfully 
 to the perfection of yours. At the same time it increases 
 m y apprehensions that it may never come out, dum spiri- 
 * S?e p. 432. 
 
 „ t Engraved in the Gentleman’s Magazine for April, 1791, PI. II. p. 321, 
 and also » Bibdin’s Bibliomania. . 
 
 2 F 2 
 
436 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 tus hos regit artus. I am happy therefore in seeing the 
 work sheet by sheet. The late Lord Carteret was so 
 desirous of seeing all he could of Wetstein’s Testament, 
 that he got leave to have it sent sheet by sheet as printed. 
 Your collection too of materials is, I suppose, equal to 
 that of any similar work ; I remember I thought Dr. 
 Foote Gower’s* wonderful. G. Ashby.” 
 
 e< Dear Sir, Barrow, 7 Nov. 1791. 
 
 “ I certainly think myself highly obliged on this oc- 
 casion to Mr. Child and you, and beg you both to accept 
 my thanks. I have read Bridges’s History of Northamp- 
 tonshire ; and, as there is hardly a line in it relating to 
 anything later than the year 1720, one knows no more of 
 the present state of things than of Siberia. A volume of 
 continuation f would certainly be agreeable, and might be 
 done by a person to whom searching the offices might 
 be inconvenient. I marked with my pencil every, the 
 slightest, matter (and I think they are all such) that 
 related to Leicestershire ; probably you have done the 
 same. Commend me to the modest man in last Gent. 
 Mag. that desires every body to supply him with a com- 
 plete account of gunpowder; this is hanging out the 
 eleemosynary box with a witness. 
 
 “ So Mr. Pennant used to do to me. 6 Write you all you 
 know on such and such subjects?’ No : let me see your 
 MS. or printed copy, and if I have anything worth add- 
 ing I will do it ; but why am I to write down what you 
 have probably seized on, or neglect as not worth notice ? 
 
 <f I am, dear Sir, your very humble servant, 
 
 “ George Ashby.” 
 
 <£ Dear Sir, Bury St. Edmund's, March 23, 1800. 
 
 ei It is a long time since I have had the pleasure of 
 hearing from you; but I hope you are in good health, and 
 that every thing goes on well. I am ready at any time to 
 discharge my obligations to you, for your great kindness 
 in cancelling the sheets of Loseby and Quenby. I wish, 
 however, that I had desired you to reserve for me a copy 
 of each ; and perhaps you can still oblige me with one. 
 
 * For Cheshire ; used by Mr. Ormerod, in his excellent history of that 
 county. 
 
 t A noble work on Northamptonshire was begun by Mr. George Baker ; 
 but want of due encouragement, and the author’s ill health, have unfortu- 
 nately left it incomplete, after being about one-fourth, finished.. 
 
ASHBY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 43 / 
 
 “ I see Mr. Urban advertises a new edition of Mr. Daines 
 Barrington on the Statutes. What I contributed to was 
 the fourth ; is this a later ? If it is, I dare say that, among 
 several others, he adopted a correction of mine, relating 
 to his laughing at the scheme of laying a Welsh and 
 English Bible in the churches in Wales ; in which he has 
 totally mistaken the meaning of the Act of Parliament : 
 nor could anything better have been devised, except an 
 edition of both languages in two columns on the same 
 page. And the joke came with the less propriety from 
 him, as he elsewhere says that Acts of Parliament should 
 be treated with respect, and not laughed at. Can you be 
 a means to oblige me with a copy of his portrait ? In the 
 c Index Indicatorius ’ of one of the last months of last year,* 
 (p. 1027) an explanation is desired of e discovering lost 
 maidenheads by sneezing/ In ‘ Hudibras ’ many of the 
 queries you are troubled with are often very trifling, but 
 this is a fair one ; and I dare say (though I have not seen 
 the book these fifty years) that the inquirer will find 
 satisfaction in one of the notes on the Life of Democritus, 
 the laughing philosopher, in Bayle’s Dictionary. The cir- 
 cumstance is slightly mentioned in Diogenes Laertius, 
 vol. i. p. 572, 4to. clo la CvmC ; but Bayle would enlarge 
 on it with glee, and I dare say he has. George Ashby/’ 
 
 Additions to the Ashby Article. 
 
 P. 401. The substance of Mr. Ashby’s observations on the Apamsean 
 Medal was communicated by Mr. Gough to the Gentleman’s Magazine for 
 1776, p. 461. 
 
 P. 405. The Roman Miliary was found at Humberstone, near Leicester, in 
 July 1 7 7 1 . Bishop Percy first ascertained that most important part of the legend 
 a. ratis xi. having seen and examined it at the house of his brother-in-law, 
 Mr. Wm. Gutteridge, of Humberstone, who i - escued it from the labourers 
 when they uncovered it, as they were levelling the turnpike-road, and who 
 when he discovered the inscription had it secured with great care ; and to him 
 d is owing that it was not then destroyed or defaced. — “ That Bishop Percy 
 was the first who discovered a katis is proved by a letter of the Rev. G. 
 Ashby to Dr. Percy himself, which is now before me ; wherein, speaking of 
 the inscription, he says, ‘ You are the only person I know who has viewed 
 d with learned eyes and concludes by asking him, ‘ Are you sure of a ratis, 
 which appears perfectly fair [scil. in your MS.], and if so gives a great 
 value indeed to the stone.’ ” — Bishop Percy, in Nichols’s Hist, of Leices- 
 tershire, III. p . 66*. 
 
 This important Miliary, which determines the ancient name of Leicester 
 0 have been Ratee, was placed in the centre of an obelisk, with a brass 
 Plate recording its history. 
 
 ‘ This Roman milestone was found in the road near Leicester, and placed 
 ^ or P ora ^ on a t large, in the mayoralty of James Bishop, esq. 
 
 led^t° WeVer W6 ^ meant » this exposure of the inscription must eventually have 
 fr V S ^ estruc tion. The inscription has been therefore lately removed 
 ota the obelisk, and is now carefully preserved in the town of Leicester. 
 
438 
 
 REV. MICHAEL LORT, D.D. 
 
 Of this excellent scholar memoirs will be found 
 in “ Literary Anecdotes,” vol. ii. pp. 594 — 605 ; 
 and numerous notices of him in the other volumes 
 of that work. See General Indexes, vol. vii. pp. 
 237, 618. He is also occasionally alluded to in 
 “ Literary Illustrations.”* 
 
 To Dr. Percy. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Lambeth House, Jan. 31. 1781. 
 
 ec I hope you received my letter acknowledging the 
 receipt of yours, I have now to inform you that you are 
 not in the list of Lent Preachers for this year; which I 
 suppose will be an acceptable piece of news to you. 
 
 (S I went last Thursday, for the first time, to the Anti- 
 quarian and Royal Societies in Somerset House, or Place 
 as some affect to call it. At the first I listened with great 
 attention to a long paper of Governor PownalPs, on the 
 Origin and Progress of Letters,! in which much was said 
 about the Indian Paintings : but I did not carry away 
 many new ideas. I wish you would find us some new ones 
 concerning old matters ; which would be very acceptable to 
 the public in general, as well as to your faithful servant, 
 
 <c Compliments to Mrs. Percy. “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ To the Rev. the Dean of Carlisle, Easton Mauduit.” 
 
 * £ DEAR Sir, “ Lambeth Palace, April 5, 178L 
 
 “ I received the favour of your letter, and am truly con- 
 cerned both on your own and the public account, that you 
 should have been confined and plagued so long by a dis- 
 
 * See vol. iv. 428, 580, 729 ; v. 710 ; vi. 152, 155, 412, 420, 605, 654, 
 664, 665. 
 
 1* Governor Pownall’s paper on Indian Picture-Writing appears not to 
 have been printed. It is alluded to in one by W. Bray, Esq. on the same 
 subject, in Archseologia, VI. 159. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 439 
 
 order in your eyes. Whenever they will permit you to 
 draw forth and prepare your treasures for the Antiquarian 
 Society I am persuaded they will be gratefully received. 
 
 “ I shall attend to the Commission you have sent me. but 
 must at the same time inform you that our intelligence, in 
 the way you wish, is not so early nor so general as you 
 may imagine. In a late instance, indeed, of an exchange 
 that was meditated, and had, as I thought, taken place 
 between Dr. Berkeley, of Canterbury, and Dr. Ekins, for 
 the Deanery of Derry, I knew the rise and progress of it ; 
 but why it has failed I am not so certain. I see the 
 deanery is given to Lord Carlisle's Second Chaplain ; 
 and I suppose Dr. Ekins waits for a vacant bishopric 
 to make a better exchange* Possibly he may have no 
 objection to make such an exchange with an English 
 dean ; and if you should hereafter go to Ireland, there are 
 two divines here upon the town, Mr. Herries and Dr. Colin 
 Milne, who, I dare say, would be very glad to attend you 
 thither as your chaplains ; for alas ! here 
 
 Ploraveve suis non respondere favorem, &c. 
 
 Till I read the inclosed I did not know that you had patro- 
 nised the latter as well as the former : but I suppose it 
 must be true because he says it himself ; for I have no 
 doubt that he drew up the inclosed character, which I 
 thought you would not be sorry to see.* 
 
 “ Poor Mr. Thrale breathed his last yesterday morning. 
 I was at an assembly, or conversatione as it is called, at 
 his house in Grosvenor Square, on Saturday evening, 
 and I sat by him on the settee a considerable time ; and, 
 though I thought then that there was little appearance of 
 his recovery, yet I did not think I should not see him 
 him alive again ; more especially as I was engaged to go 
 there again last night, when the Bramin and the two par- 
 sees were to be exhibited. 
 
 “ I am told that Dr. Milles and Co. are soon about to 
 publish a defence of Rowley^s existence and poems : yet I 
 hope he will not appear in propria persona in this Don 
 Quixote adventure. For, though I shall be very glad to 
 get some further eclaircissements on this subject, yet I had 
 
 , Dr. Lort inclosed in this letter a portrait and memoir of Dr. Colin 
 which will be found in the Sunday Magazine, Feb. 25, 1781. Dr. 
 Milne died in 1815. See an account of him in Gent. Mag. lxxxv. ii, 380. 
 
440 ILLUSTRATIONS OP LITERATURE. 
 
 rather they should come from any other hand than the 
 President of the Antiquarian Society. 
 
 (S I beg my compliments to Mrs. Percy and the young 
 ladies. 
 
 t( Yours very truly, M. Lort.” 
 
 To Bp. Percy. 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Lambeth Palace, Oct. 2, 1782. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to think that I shall be able 
 to give Mr. Percy such a recommendation to the chaplain 
 of the English Factory at Lisbon as I flatter myself may 
 be of the use you wish it to be to him ; for it so happens 
 that Mr. Allen * was my contemporary at College, where I 
 was well acquainted with him, and continued my acquaint- 
 ance with him after he left it to be the second teacher of 
 the Charter-house School, where he had been educated, 
 and from whence he went to Lisbon, where I understand 
 he still continues ; but since he has been there I have 
 never had any occasion to write or apply to him. However, 
 I do flatter myself that my recommendation will have 
 some weight with him ; yet, if you wish to have any other, 
 I dare say you may get it from some of the Charter-house 
 people. Mr. Allen was a very good classical scholar, and, 
 when at the Charter-house, published some of Demosthe- 
 nes’ Orations from Lucchesini’s edition. I have inclosed 
 what I think of saying to him by way of introduction of 
 myself and your son to his notice, leaving it to your lord- 
 ship to fill up, and add what you wish to have said further 
 as to any particular services you may be glad to have done 
 for the young gentleman, which I will adopt and copy in 
 my letter to Mr. Allen. I know no other person at 
 Lisbon, nor any other way in which I can be serviceable 
 to Mr. Percy on this occasion. 
 
 “ I have no other news to communicate to you than 
 what the papers will furnish, which tell us that Barret has 
 
 * The Rev. Win. Allen was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, where 
 he graduated B.A. 1747, M.A. 1751. In 1755 he published the Twelve poli* 
 tical Orations of Demosthenes in favour of Liberty, with the Latin translation 
 of Wollius, and the notes of Lucchesiui. The work is in two volumes, and 
 was dedicated to Dr. Mawson, Bishop of Ely. It was commended in the 
 Monthly Review, vol. XVIII. 125. He was educated at the Charter- 
 house, where he afterwards became Second Master. In 1775 he was Senior 
 Fellow of Trinity College ; and in 1784 he was (as appears above) chaplain of 
 the English factory at Lisbon. 
 
 + The Rt. Hon. Col. James BarrA He lived 20 years after his blindness, 
 and died July 20, 1802, aged 75. See Gent. Mag. LXXII. 694. He was 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 441 
 
 lost his eyesight, and this I understand to be a real fact. 
 
 “ I beg my best respects to Mrs. Percy and all your 
 family, and remain, 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful friend and servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ To the Rt. Rev. the Lord Bp. of Dromore, Carlisle.” 
 
 To Bp. Percy. 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Lamheth Palace, Oct. 11, 1782. 
 
 “You did well not to inclose your letter to the Arch- 
 bishop, as it gives me an opportunity of sending this and 
 the inclosed by the return of the post. I hope it will 
 answer your purpose. 
 
 “ I will endeavour to see or get Dr. Heberden spoken 
 to for a recommendation to his broker at Madeira, but I 
 suppose there can be no such hurry for this. I did not 
 think of Mr. Percy’s embarking for Lisbon from any port 
 but London or Falmouth. I most heartily wish him a 
 good voyage, and all the benefits of a milder winter than 
 we are likely to experience here, especially if it should 
 prove proportionably colder than the summer has been. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ P.S. Lord Shelburne has certainly written to Mr. 
 Wyvill that he will support his reformation and equal 
 representation schemes. 
 
 “ The Bp. of Dromore, at W. Fleetwood’s, Esq. near Liverpool.” 
 
 To Bp. Percy. 
 
 “ My DEAR LORD, Lambeth Palace, Oct. 12, 1782. 
 
 “ By last night’s post I sent an answer to your letter 
 received yesterday, that is, to the more material part of it. 
 I intended this day to have called on Dr. Heberden ; but 
 before I went, thought it right to inquire whether his 
 brother at Madeira was living, and was informed that he 
 was not, of which I think it right to apprize you as soon 
 as may be, for I have no other reason for writing again 
 so soon. 
 
 “It is generally believed that the united fleets have 
 orders to dispute Howe’s reaching Gibraltar, and seamen 
 
 one of the supposed authors of Junius. See Gent. Mag. 1813, i. 5, ii. 415. 
 Some anecdotes and a character of Col. Barr6 will also be found in Gent. 
 Mag. 1817, ii. 131. 
 
442 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 here wish it may be the ease, as they doubt not Howe 
 will give a good account of them. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful, “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ The Bp. of Dromore, at W. Fleetwood’s, Esq. near Liverpool.” 
 
 " My DEAR Lord, Lambeth Palace, Nov. 11, 1782. 
 
 “I received your favour relative to your son’s being 
 obliged to alter his course from Lisbon to Leghorn. I 
 heartily wish I could as well have procured or given him 
 a recommendation to any person in this last place or its 
 neighbourhood, but I have endeavoured to do it in vain. 
 I hope you have succeeded better in your applications 
 elsewhere. 
 
 “At the opening of the Royal Society’s meeting last 
 Thursday, Mr. Herschel, the Bath astronomer, in a very 
 formal letter to the president, announced his having named 
 the new planet in our system, which he has discovered, 
 Georgium Sydus— 
 
 Georgium Sydus, Tu nunc assuere vocari. 
 
 The Astronomer Royal * gave his fiat in as formal a 
 manner to this nomination, and recommended it to the 
 presidentf to give directions to the secretary to anounnce 
 this nomination to all the academies in Europe. 
 
 “ I am just setting out for Bath to spend a fortnight, 
 and at my return shall take up my residence at No. 6, 
 in Saville Row, where I shall be happy to see any of the 
 name of Percy. I am, with great truth, 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful, “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ The Bp. of Dromore, Carlisle.” 
 
 “ M y DEAR LORD, Saville Row, Jan. 15, 1783. 
 
 “ As soon as I was able I went to Lambeth, and com- 
 municated the contents of your letter to the Archbishop, 
 which gave great satisfaction to his Grace, more espe- 
 cially as he told me that your Lordship had mentioned 
 to him some very awkward particulars relative to those 
 persons who had taken pains to recommend this person 
 to his Grace. However, all is well that ends well, and if 
 this new convert goes on without a relapse it will be the 
 best Lambeth degree that ever was given ; I shall be glad 
 
 * Rev. Neville Maskelyne, D.D. He died Feb. 9, 1811. See memoirs 
 of him in Gent. Mag. LXXXI. 197, 672. 
 
 f Sir Joseph Banks. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 443 
 
 to hear that he has purified and amended the outward as 
 well as the inward man. 
 
 “ The Bishop of Carlisle* made me a morning visit 
 lately* and appeared to be in very good health and spirits. 
 
 te I presume you have hardly heard from your son since 
 his departure. By the last Gazette I find there are new 
 chaplains appointed at Lisbon and Oporto* but what is be- 
 come of my friend Allen I have not learned. 
 
 “ I do not find that the Ministry are prepared to an- 
 nounce peace to the Parliament next week. It is sup- 
 posed that neither the French nor Spaniards will be in 
 earnest on this subject, till they shall have tried whether 
 Jamaica is as impregnable as Gibraltar; which I do not 
 apprehend it to be* and wish they may not succeed better 
 in their attempts on it. There goes a story, how true I 
 know not* that when Franklin w r as about to sign the pre- 
 liminary articles for American Independence, he stept out 
 of the room and returned in a much worse coat than that 
 in which he left it* saying, f That he hoped the gentlemen 
 would excuse an old man’s whim* but that he chose to 
 sign these preliminaries in the same dress in which he was 
 abused by Mr. Wedderburne at the council chamber.’ 
 
 “ Mr. Ritson* a young lawyer of Gray’s Inn* is the 
 author of the attack on Warton ; he has been digging 
 hard in the Museum mines for some time past* and is 
 quite a Drawcansir, for I am told he has a pamphlet 
 ready to be published against Steevens and Malone’s 
 Shakspeare* and also a Collection of Old Ballads* in which 
 I presume a former Editor t is to be handled as roughly. 
 
 “ Poor Dr. Johnson is said to be in a bad way with 
 water on his breast ; he is bled often* and takes laudanum 
 frequently, but whether by his own or better advice I 
 cannot say. 
 
 “ When the Parliament meets next week I suspect 
 many strange petitions will be presented to it* one I am 
 told from the county of Flint* for a bill to prevent trans- 
 lations of Bishops. There is a most poisonous pamphlet 
 dispersed gratis by the members of what is called the 
 Constitutional Society; it is entitled* *' The Principles of 
 Government* in a Dialogue between a Scholar and a 
 
 * Dr. Edmund Law ; elected 1769, died Aug. 14, 1787, aged 84. He was 
 father of Edward first Lord Ellenborough , of Dr. J. Law, Bishop of Elphin, 
 and of Dr. G. H. Law, Bishop of Bath and Wells. See Lit. Anecdotes, 
 Gen. Index, VII. 223, 612. 
 
 t Bishop Percy himself. 
 
444 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Peasant*/ t The former makes the latter give an account 
 of his Saturday box club, and then applies it to the 
 British State. 
 
 “ Get if possible Dean Tucker’s last piece addressed 
 to the Earl of Shelburne; f it is better written than most 
 of his former ones, and exposes admirably the subtlety 
 and nonsense of the intended change of representatives. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful, “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ To the Bishop of Dromore, Carlisle.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, Jan. 28, 1783. 
 
 <e I hope you will have found that I have received and 
 obeyed your commands by the receipt of three packets, 
 containing Dean Tucker’s pamphlet, sent by the post on 
 Saturday, Monday, and this evening. Mr. Paley’s Con- 
 secration Sermon shall follow, but I can get no intelli- 
 gence of his Visitation Sermon, which, I believe, was 
 printed in the country some years ago. 
 
 “ As for newspapers, your Lordship probably sees a 
 greater variety of them than I do, for I scarce ever go to 
 a coffee-house, being contented with the Morning Chro- 
 nicle at breakfast, and only accidentally seeing any of the 
 other papers, for which my appetite has been some time 
 cloyed ; when at Lambeth I had the reading of four or 
 five papers every day, and was often induced to purchase 
 some of them on account of paragraphs that struck my 
 fancy in them, but I have other calls now for my money; 
 I will inclose two or three that possibly you may not have 
 seen, one for Mrs. Percy and her female friends. She 
 will be sorry to hear what reform is going forward at St. 
 James’s, under Mr. Gilbert’s direction. Lady Charlotte 
 Finch’s table to be abolished, a kitchen to be built for 
 her, which she is to furnish herself, and to have 8001 . a 
 year to find her own table.* Fire and candle to be taken 
 away from most, and it is supposed the Chaplains’ table 
 will be wholly suppressed. So much for the reform here, 
 in which I am but a little or not at all concerned ; but I 
 tremble for the consequences which the reform of the con- 
 stitution pushed on by some hot zealots may produce, per- 
 
 * By Sir W. Jones. See p. 452. 
 
 T “ Four Letters to Lord Shelburne. By Josiah Tucker, D.D. Dean of 
 Gloucester, 1783.” See Gent. Mag. LIII. 60. Dr. Tucker died Nov. 4, 
 1799, aged 85. See an account of him and his writings in Gent. Mag. 
 LXIX. 1000 — 1003 ; a character of him in vol. LXX. 819 ; and his epitaph* 
 in vol. LXXI, 880. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 445 
 
 haps the subversion of it. As to the Peace I shall say 
 nothing; you will have it thoroughly discussed in the 
 speeches from both houses next week. I wish that peace 
 abroad may may not afford leisure and opportunity to 
 factious spirits to raise war at home, and I wish also that 
 our neighbours in Ireland may rest satisfied with what 
 they have got. I see there are some strings and stars to 
 be be held out to quiet some of the fro ward children. 
 The papers have got all the establishment* but the motto, 
 which is to be ‘ Quis separabit ? 5 Used formerly, I think, 
 on some medal on the union of England and Scotland. 
 
 <f Dr. Johnson is much better. I saw him the other 
 evening at Madam Thrale’s in very good spirits. 
 
 “ I congratulate you on having received so good an ac- 
 count of Mr. Percy; I hope the subsequent ones will be 
 still better. 
 
 “ I have not yet had the curiosity of seeing Mrs. Sid- 
 dons, whom all the world is running after. Charles Fox 
 gets into the orchestra every night she acts, and sits with 
 the first fiddle ; the Queen has sent her son to the Charter 
 House, and Lord Hardwicke has wrote verses on her ; 
 and, still better, given her a handsome present. 
 
 “ This is a long letter from me, who am not of late in 
 the habit of writing long ones, for I can neither make nor 
 mend a pen, nor use it well when made by others. 
 
 (< Your Lordship^s ever faithful, M. Lort . 55 
 
 My dear Lord, Feb. 25, 1783. 
 
 t( I had your letter yesterday, and was glad to find that all 
 my conveyances came safe to your Lordship ; for I doubted 
 much whether some of the more bulky ones might not 
 have escaped from their confinement and gone rambling 
 somewhere else. Last night I began to send to you the 
 debates of the Lords and Commons, just published, which 
 probably you may have seen already in the papers ; but, I 
 presume, will be glad to have them in more durable form. 
 Lord Shelburne is no longer Premier, but how he is to be 
 succeeded is not yet known to me. It is much easier to 
 pull down than build up. He is blamed in the first place 
 for soliciting the approbation of Parliament, and in the 
 next for applying to Charles Fox rather than to Lord 
 North for a coalition. The latter has made a public 
 
 * i , e. of the Order of St. Patrick. 
 
446 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 declaration against all reform of the constitutional repre- 
 sentation in Parliament; and it is not supposed that it 
 will be carried in either House of Parliament. But then, 
 what will the Association say ? many of whom are of 
 weight and consequence, and seem determined to go all 
 lengths to carry their favourite point. I think this change 
 of ministry may put a stop to some other reforms ; and 
 particularly I am informed that the Chaplains 5 table will 
 not be abolished. 
 
 “ Mrs. Thrale has discarded her intention of going to 
 Italy, and I am told means to take up her residence at 
 Bath. Dr. Johnson is much better. I wish you could 
 have informed me that your son was so. Whatever may 
 be the event of his journey, you will have the consolation 
 of knowing that you will have done all in your power to 
 restore his health. 
 
 “ There is a scurrilous pamphlet against your Anti- 
 Rowleians, entitled, c A Letter found near Strawberry Hill , 5 
 the author of which is not guessed at. If you wish to 
 see it, I believe it will go in a single cover. You may 
 keep all the parcels sent you. I am told there is a good 
 parody on the Preliminary Articles handed about relative 
 to the coalition between North and Fox. I suppose it 
 will soon get abroad. 
 
 “There is no other topic of conversation but these 
 changes at present, in which being very little interested, 
 I therefore wish they were once settled, that we might 
 have some other. 
 
 “ I can afford only this half-sheet, in order to make 
 room for more important ones. With my compliments 
 to the ladies, I remain your Lordship’s respectful 
 
 “ M. Lort. 5 ’ 
 
 “ My DEAR LORD, London, March 11, 1 783. 
 
 “ I delivered your request to the Bishop of Chester,* 
 and he promised me to send you the covers you wanted by 
 Saturday’s post. I would also then have written, if the 
 news I had heard in the morning of Lord Gower accepting 
 the Premier’s place had not been contradicted in the 
 evening. Nor do I find to-day that this place is a bit the 
 nearer to be filled up. Fox says he must have it at last ; 
 but the Chancellor f swears that he will sooner take it 
 
 * Dr. Porteus. 
 
 f Lord Thurlow, 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 447 
 
 himself. Such are the present reports ; but Dr. Hudson 
 can tell you more of these matters than I, if so be that 
 you correspond with him. If Lord Gower is prevailed 
 on to stand forward, Lord Temple continues in Ireland, 
 and the Parliament here will probably be dissolved. 
 
 “ Inclosed you will see a curious account of the meeting 
 of the Independent Electors of Westminster. How angry 
 some of them are that Mr. Fox has joined Lord North ! 
 I am told there is a good parody handed about of Horace 
 and Lydia, applied to this Coalition. If I get a sight of 
 it you shall partake. We want some humour of this sort 
 to enliven dry politics ; there is far too much of the latter 
 and too little of the former stirring. 
 
 “ Did you ever see or hear of Franklin’s Reformed 
 Common Prayer ? it was printed by him in London, in 
 1773, in 8vo., and given to a few friends only. With 
 some difficulty I procured one to shew the Archbishop. 
 It is, indeed, an abridgment only of our Common Prayer, 
 in which I believe many parts are omitted, and all the 
 remaining shortened, except the Lord’s Prayer. His belief 
 is confined to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and to 
 Life Everlasting. The absolutions are omitted, and so is 
 the consecration prayer in the communion service. It is 
 said that some of the Thirteen States mean to adopt this 
 Liturgy. This is all at present from your Lordship’s ever 
 faithful, “ M. Lqrt.” 
 
 “ My DEAR LORD, March 13, 1783. 
 
 “ The report of to-day is, that the King has surrendered 
 at discretion to the Coalition party, and that Mr. Pitt has 
 acceded to it, and that Lord Temple is to continue in 
 his government ; but the latter part of this news I do not 
 find to be so certain as the former ; but I heartily wish it 
 may be so, for Mr. Pitt’s abilities and integrity will be a 
 strong support to any party. 
 
 “The Empress of Russia has removed the President of 
 the Imperial Academy of Sciences at Petersburgh, and 
 appointed the Princess Daskew * in his room, whose speech 
 to the assembly on that occasion I have seen, and you 
 
 * Sometimes written Dashcoff. Her Memoirs have been published in 
 two volumes 8vo,, in which is a long account of her appointment to the 
 Academy. 
 
448 ILLUSTRATIONS OR LITERATURE. 
 
 and all the world will see soon. I write this in haste to 
 save the post. Your Lordship’s ever faithful, M. Lort. 
 
 11 To the Lord Bishop of Dromore, Carlisle." 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, March 18, 1783. 
 
 ce I had almost determined to leave it to the Gazette 
 to announce to you a new Ministry, but it is to-day so 
 positively asserted, that the Duke of Portland and his 
 party have had all their wishes gratified, that I cannot 
 help telling you what I hear, though to-morrow, perhaps, 
 may produce some new arrangement. Mr. Pitt, it is said, 
 will travel abroad and gain a little more knowledge and 
 experience, and then, perhaps, take a place in the new 
 administration with better grace than he can at present, 
 considering how closely he was connected with Lord Shel- 
 burne j as to Ireland, I hear nothing particular, but I 
 suppose Lord Temple may continue if he please. 
 
 “ Inclosed in this, and under Sir Henry Fletcher’s cover, 
 goes a pamphlet* which will make much noise, and if it ends 
 in that only will end better than I now expect. Mines have 
 been laying for some time past to overturn the constitution 
 in Church and State, and it seems to me as if this pamphlet 
 was the match to set fire to the former. 
 
 “The poor Archbishop, to whom it is addressed, was taken 
 very ill on Sunday ; he is better to-day, but I do not think 
 him out of danger. Pray God preserve him a little longer 
 to ward off the storm that seems gathering round us ! 
 
 “ Pray let me know the sentiments of people in your 
 neighbourhood on this extraordinary performance. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 ce My DEAR LORD, Saville Row, March 24, 1 783. 
 
 f< Since I wrote to you last, my old master Archbishop 
 Cornwallis t is gone, and I paid a short tribute to his 
 
 * “ Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury,” respecting the revenues of 
 the Bishops and of the inferior clergy. By Dr. Watson, Bishop of LlandafF. 
 See Gent. Mag. LIII. 328. The Bishop’s plan for rendering the bishoprics 
 more equal in income has lately been carried out by Parliament. 
 
 -j* The Hon. Frederick Cornwallis, Archbishop of Canterbury, died March 
 19, 1783. See an account and character of him in Literary Anecdotes, 
 VIII. p. 14, and Index, VII. 95, 452. In the Literary Illustrations, HI- 
 500— 505, are printed several letters of Archbishop Cornwallis, 
 
/ 
 
 PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 449 
 
 memory in the St. J ames’s Evening Post of last Satur- 
 day.* Bishop Moore, it is confidently said, is to succeed 
 him; and it is also said, that after Bishop Lowth and 
 Bishop Hurd had both refused the offer made them, the 
 former, upon being desired to recommend, named Bishop 
 Moore.f 
 
 “ The combined forces not having been able to agree 
 amongst themselves about the partition of the spoil, the 
 King, it is said, sent them word last night that he would 
 not treat with them, but retain his present servants, all 
 but Lord Shelburne, whose place Mr. Pitt is prevailed on 
 at last to fill ; it is said that they have gained new allies 
 from the enemy. The strange conjunction between North 
 and Fox has revolted many. 
 
 “Let me now acknowledge your letter of the 15th. 
 My edition of Canne’s Bible is in 12mo. 1698. There is 
 another in 4to of 1700, and I believe a still later one, but 
 I am not sure. 
 
 “ I cannot find Taylor’s J Concordance amongst the 
 booksellers that I frequent, and they will not send for it 
 unless I order it, but when I go near Mr. Dilly’s, I will 
 look at it. 
 
 “ I am very sorry you received no better accounts of 
 your son ; but the warm weather coming on will, it is to be 
 hoped, relieve him. 
 
 “ I hoped you received the Bishop of LandafPs pam- 
 phlet, which makes much noise. All the friends of the 
 Established Church hang their heads at it, and all its ene- 
 mies triumph in it. 
 
 “ I was yesterday at St. James’s. The King looked 
 miserable, and I doubt not the Queen was so within, but 
 she put on a smiling countenance. 
 
 “ I beg to be remembered to Mrs. Percy and the young 
 ladies ; and remain, 
 
 f( Your Lordship’s ever faithful, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 * Literary Illustrations, III. 500 — 506. 
 
 * John Moore, D.D. elected Bishop of Bangor 1774 ; translated to Can- 
 terbury in 1783 ; and died in 1805. See an account of him in Lit. Anecdotes, 
 VIII. 95; VII. 273, 633. 
 
 + John Taylor, D.D. of Norwich and Warrington, a learned dissenting 
 Wki 6r ' ^ e published a Hebrew Concordance, adapted to the English 
 
 ible, London, 1754, 2 vols. fol. He was born near Lancaster 1694, and 
 died 1761. 
 
 VOL, VII, 2 G 
 
450 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ There is a strange story here of Anti-Sejanus* having 
 shot at a Mr. Allgood in Northumberland, and that he is 
 to be tried on the black act.’* 
 
 “ To the Lord Bishop of Dromore, Carlisle.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, April 2, 1783. 
 
 “ You should have heard from me sooner if I could 
 have sent you any intelligence that could be depended on. 
 If what I am going to communicate does not prove true, 
 I shall certainly refer you for any thing further to the 
 Gazette. Lord North was sent for to Buckingham House 
 at 1 1 o’clock, and full powers given to him and the Duke 
 of Portland to form any ministry they pleased ; accord- 
 ingly the latter was with the King this morning, and was 
 appointed First Lord of the Treasury ; Lord J. Cavendish, 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer; North and Fox, Secretaries 
 of State ; Lord Carlisle, Privy Seal ; Lord Stormont, 
 President of the Council ; Lord Keppel, of the Admiralty ; 
 and these seven Cabinet Councillors. The seals to be 
 put into commission, with Lord Loughborough at the head. 
 Lord Temple, it is said, has desired to be recalled. 
 
 “ Bishop Warrenj* is to succeed Moore at Bangor, but 
 who is to succeed him at St. David’sJ I have not heard. 
 Kaye,§ Ogle,|| Douglas, Y and Osborne,** are talked of. 
 
 * James Scott, D.D. Rector of Simonburn, was tried at Newcastle for 
 shooting at a man. It appeared the doctor shot at a woodcock distant 87 
 yards ; that the man was untouched ; and the whole was a malicious prose* 
 cution. See Gent. Mag. LIII. 537, 710. He died Dec. 10, 1814, aged 80 j 
 and a long memoir of him will be found in Gent. Mag. LXXXIV. 601-603, 
 His sermons were published in 1816, edited by the Rev. Samuel Clapliam, 
 who prefixed to the volume an interesting memoir of Dr. Scott, abridged in 
 Gent. Mag. LXXXVI. 527-531. See also anecdotes of Dr. Scott as a 
 preacher, by Mr. Clapham, in Gent. Mag. for 1811, ii. 348; and Gray's 
 Letters to Nichols, by Mitford, p. 194. 
 
 + John Warren, D.D. elected Bishop of St. David’s, 1779 ; translated to 
 Bangor, 1783 ; and died in 1800. See memoir and character of him in 
 Lit. Anecdotes, VIII. 430 ; VII. 120, 706. 
 
 J The see of St. David’s was given to Dr. Smallwell ; see p. 454. 
 
 § Sir Richard Kaye, Dean of Lincoln. He died Dec. 25, 1809, aged 72* 
 See an account of him in Lit. Anecdotes, IX. 804 ; VII. 607. 
 
 || Dr. Newton Ogle, Dean of Winchester. He died Jan. 6, 1804, aged 
 78. See an account of him in Gent. Mag. LXXIV. 90. 
 
 If John Douglas, D.D. ; elected Bishop of Carlisle, 1787 ; translated to 
 Salisbury, 1791 ; and died May 18, 1807. See an account of him in Gent. Mag. 
 LXXVII. 475, 583 ; and allusions to him in Lit. Anecdotes, VII. 114, 555. 
 
 ** Thomas Osborne, LL.D. prebendary of Salisbury and Lincoln, youngest 
 son of Sir J. Osborne, Bart, of Chicksand Priory, co. Bedford. He died 
 March 12, 1790, aged 88. See an account of him in Gent. Mag. LX. 282. 
 His library was sold by Egerton in 1790. See Lit. Anecdotes, III. 642. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 451 
 
 “ The late Archbishop made no will since he came to 
 Lambeth. His options devolve of course to Mrs. Corn- 
 wallis ; whether he left any verbal directions to her con- 
 cerning them I have not learnt. 
 
 “ I do not know whether I have already sent you the 
 inclosed paper, but if I have, you may give it to some 
 person not likely to be corrupted by the reading of it. I 
 am told that the grand jury of the county of Flint mean 
 to present the Dean of St. Asaph* as a publisher of it, so 
 you see it is dangerous to meddle with it. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful, M. Lort.” 
 
 “ To the Lord Bishop of Dromore, Carlisle.” 
 
 cc My DEAR LORD, Saville Row, April 15, 1783. 
 
 “We have at length, you find, a new Administration. f 
 How long it will last few will pretend to say. I am sure 
 the country needs a lasting one. I think you say that 
 your paper is the Morning Chronicle, improperly so called, 
 for I seldom see it till the afternoon, but that is of no 
 consequence to its country customers. You will have 
 seen in that the whole progress and issue of the late strug- 
 gle, as given, no doubt, from the best authority, but on 
 one side only. The Morning Post was retained on the 
 other, and had as curious and able communications sent 
 to it. Inclosed is one of yesterday, in which there seems 
 much truth and reason ; you will please to return me this, 
 together with that Morning Chronicle I sent you before I 
 knew you took in that paper, and which contains an 
 apology for the present Ministers not discovering all their 
 intended arrangements to the King, a popular objection 
 which their adversaries turned to good advantage. All 
 matters are not yet fixed ; it is not publicly known who is 
 to go Lord Lieutenant to Ireland ; it has been proposed, 
 as said, to the Duke of Devonshire, and to Lord Fitz- 
 william, but declined by both.J 
 “ Let me now thank you for your account of the North- 
 umberland Express ; it carries such marks of impartiality, 
 an d, I think, truth with it, that I shall not scruple to 
 mention it, though without naming my authority. 
 
 * See the next page. 
 
 p. Vt Administration Mr. Pitt was for the first time Prime Minister, as 
 k »st Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, which offices 
 t! till 1801. In 1804 he returned to power, and died prime minister 
 n- 23, 1806, in his 47th year, 
 f Lord Northington was appointed. 
 
 2 G 2 
 
452 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ The Bishop of Landaff’s sermon at court has made 
 not quite so much noise as his Letter to the Archbishop. 
 It is said he reproved the fashionable vices and follies 
 with all the plainness of old Latimer, and with as little 
 delicacy as he could be supposed to have done. It is 
 right somebody should do this, and I hope it may produce 
 some good effect. 
 
 “ I have at last seen the Concordance you inquired after ; 
 it is strongly recommended by John Wesley, than whom 
 there can be no better judge. It is indeed Cruden’s re- 
 duced to a narrower compass, by leaving out all the expla- 
 nations (which, by-the-by, are chiefly taken verbatim from 
 Calmet’s Dictionary), and the less significant words, as 
 by, far, &c. so that I shall not scruple to recommend this 
 Abridgment to all who cannot afford to buy Cruden’s. 
 
 “ I have also bought the last number of the Coats of 
 Arms, fine large folio plates, with the arms in alphabetical 
 order ; when the whole comes out, I may probably buy it 
 at a reduced price. 
 
 “Did you receive Sir William Jones’ Dialogue?* The 
 Dean of St. Asaphf has been presented by the grand jury 
 at Wrexham as the publisher of a libellous and seditious 
 pamphlet, tending to influence the minds of His Majesty’s 
 subjects. How this will end I cannot guess ; but if they 
 do not follow the blow they had better not have struck it. 
 Sir William Jones himself has left the kingdom, and gone, 
 with his new married lady, to Bengal. 
 
 “ My attendance at the Archbishop’s funeral was only 
 to supply Yyse’sJ place, who officiated as Rector of Lam- 
 beth. So, as the funeral was quite private, there could 
 have been no room for Backhouse or Stinton. 
 
 “ Four editions of Shakespeare, it is said, are in hand. 
 
 * “A Dialogue between a Farmer and a Country Gentleman on the prin- 
 ciples of Government.” When the Rev. Mr. Shipley, the Dean of St. Asaph, 
 (afterwards his brother-in-law) was indicted for publishing an edition of it m 
 Wales, Mr. Jones sent a letter to Lord Kenyon, then Chief Justice ot 
 Chester, avowing himself to be the author, and maintaining that every 
 position in it was conformable to the law and constitution of England. 
 
 f Rev. Wm. Davies Shipley, Dean of St. Asaph, was son of Dr. Jonathan 
 Shipley, Bishop of that diocese. He died May 7, 1826, aged 81. See a long 
 memoir of him in Gent. Mag. XCVI. Part ii. 641. , 
 
 J W. Vyse, D.D. 38 years Rector of Lambeth, died Feb. 20, 1816, age 
 75. See Gent. Mag. LXXVI. i. 275. He was son of Rev. W. Vyse, Canon 
 Residentiary of Lichfield, who died June 29, 1770. See Gent. a »' 
 LXXXI. ii. 255. A playful Ballad by Mr. Vyse, on Charlotte Ljn es > 
 Lichfield belle, appeared in Gent. Mag. LXX< Part, ii. p. 597. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 453 
 
 Reed is to republish Steevens’ and Johnson’s. Collins 
 is to give Capell’s, and Ritson his own. Lowndes reprints 
 Johnson’s text, without the notes. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful, M. Lort.” 
 
 The following jeu-d’esprit was inclosed in the letter. 
 “for the st. james’s chronicle. 
 
 “ A Card to the B p of L ff. 
 
 “ Mrs. Cole presents her most respectful compliments 
 
 to the good Bishop of L , and, being one of his 
 
 hearers on Sunday last at St. James’s Chapel, takes the 
 liberty of observing to his lordship, that when he next thinks 
 it proper to inveigh from the pulpit royal against incest, 
 lust, lasciviousness, whores, whoremongers, adulterers, 
 adulteresses, &c. it is hoped that he will endeavour to clothe 
 his sentiments in a more delicate and courtly language. 
 Mrs. Cole, from her regard to decency, forbears to recount 
 the expressions which so much offended herself, and her 
 young modest female companion ; and, lest the good 
 Bishop’s zeal should hurry him into the same impropriety 
 on some future occasion, instead of poring over St. Gre- 
 gory Nazianzenus, and the luscious extracts which the late 
 Bishop Lavington made from that and the other Holy 
 Fathers, in order to expose the love-feasts of the poor 
 Methodists, Mrs. Cole most earnestly recommends to 
 the learned Prelate’s attentive perusal the works of 
 Archbishop Potter’s son* Tom (of chaste memory) and 
 other little tracts of the like cast, from which the good 
 Bishop would learn the art of dressing up his grosser 
 ideas in so neat and clean a manner, that a vestal might 
 attend his pious exercises without a blush, without an 
 emotion, or even a titter. 
 
 “ King’s Place, April 8, 1783.” 
 
 " “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, April 19, 1783. 
 
 I have but just time to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your letter this post, and to say that the Primatef is at 
 ath, and will come to London before he goes to Ireland, 
 
 f nr °*' Ws epigrams and light pieces may be found in the “ Asylum 
 
 + rf ltl Tf Pieces,” and such publications. 
 
 Up a; V. °hiuson, Archbishop of Armagh, created Lord Rokeby iu 1777. 
 died m 1794. See Lit. Anecdotes, IX. 594. 
 
454 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 but when that will be they could not inform me. I wish 
 I could tell you who the new Lord-Lieutenant is to be ; it 
 is said that the Duke of Portland’s friends, the Duke of 
 Devonshire and Lord Fitzwilliam, having refused it, an 
 offer will be or is made to Lord Beauchamp ; nor do I 
 find that the vacant bishopric is yet fixed. Ogle, Kaye, 
 and Smallwell,* canon of Christ Church, formerly tutor 
 to the Duke of Portland, are mentioned. 
 
 “The Bishop of Norwich is dangerously ill, and so is 
 Lord Hardwicke, who I fear will not recover. 
 
 “ Lord Loughborough did not choose to quit his snug 
 station in the Common Pleas, least he should be left in 
 the lurch like Lord Camden. 
 
 “ Cookes Voyage will surely appear before next spring. 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ P.S. Jack Townshend is talked of as Secretary to the 
 new Lord-Lieutenant. 
 
 “The Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Carlisle.” 
 
 fC My DEAR LORD, Saville Row, April 29, 1783. 
 
 “ I most sincerely condole with you and Mrs. Percy on 
 the loss of your son, which, however, you must have been 
 long prepared to expect. I have put your letter into the 
 office, where I was obliged to pay 2s. for it as a double letter. 
 Death has been very busy with my acquaintance lately. 
 Poor Dr. Stintonf is just expired, in possession of a large 
 fortune, and looking forward to a bishopric. It is thought 
 that the two great livings he had in the city and at 
 Wrotham will fall to the Crown, as their patron. The new 
 Archbishop has not yet done homage and had his tempo- 
 larities restored. The poor Bishop of Norwich J I also 
 lament as a very old acquaintance, and a most social good- 
 natured man. 
 
 “ Lord Northington, it is said, will go Lord Lieutenant 
 of Ireland, and Mr. Windham, of Norfolk, Secretary. 
 
 * Edw. Smallwell, D.D. was elected Bishop of St. David’s, June 26, 1783 ; 
 translated to Oxford, 1788 ; and died June 24, 1979. 
 
 f Dr. George Stinton, F.R.S., F.S.A. Chancellor of Lincoln, died April 
 30, 1783, aged 53 (See an account of him in Lit. Illustrations, III. 498). 
 His brother, Dr. T. Stinton, rector of Exeter College, Oxford, died July 6, 
 1797, aged 50. (Gent. Mag. LXVII. 621). 
 
 + Dr. Philip Yonge, Bishop of Norwich, died March 23, 1783, aged 72. 
 See an account and character of him in Gent. Mag. LIII. 452 ; and notices 
 of him m Lit, Anecdotes, VII. 481, 717 . 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 455 
 
 The Dean of Peterborough* is to be his first chaplain, but 
 not meaning to give up his deanery for an Irish mitre. 
 
 “ Malone has just sent me a Supplementary Pamphlet 
 of Notes to Shakspeare. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful, M. Lort. 
 
 “ To the Lord Bishop of Dromore, Carlisle.” 
 
 " My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, May 10, 1783. 
 
 “ I congratulate you on the great question of a Reform 
 of Parliament being carried in the negative last Wednes- 
 day, by a majority of more than two to one. I think you 
 must have been pleased with Mr. Powis’s speech on the 
 occasion, recorded in our Morning Chronicle. He men- 
 tions the Dialogue published by the Constitutional So- 
 ciety with proper indignation, but which was defended by 
 Mr. Martin, who said the Society had ordered 3000 more 
 to be printed and dispersed. A very good supplemental 
 dialogue was printed lately in the Public Advertiser; and 
 if I can lay my hands on it I will inclose it. 
 
 “ I hope you have found that the Primate read your 
 letter the very night it came here. Lord Northington was 
 to have taken Dr. Tarrant, Dean of Peterborough, as his 
 first chaplain, to Ireland : but Tarrant has had Stinton’s 
 living of Wrotham given him by the Crown ; and a Dr. 
 Dicksonf is to be the first chaplain. 
 
 “ The Archbishop of Canterbury has entered a caveat 
 against Tarrant’s presentation ; but it is thought on no 
 good foundation. 
 
 “ Wilson,| of St. Paul’s, is to succeed Bagot in Bristol, 
 Jackson § is to be Dean of Christchurch, and a Mr. Shaftoe 
 succeeds him as canon. 
 
 e( Dr. Scott left his name at my door the other day, but 
 not where he was to be found. I have heard nothing more 
 than you related to me concerning him. 
 
 “ The poor King and Queen lament much the loss of 
 their little lovely Octavius. || I know no man in his domi- 
 
 * Dr. Tarrant died Dean of Peterborough, Feb. 22, 1791. See an account 
 of him, and his very numerous preferments, in Gent. Mag. LXI. 191. 
 
 + Afterwards Bishop of Downe and Connor. He died at Mr. Fox’s house, 
 in Arlington Street, Sept. 19, 1804. See an account and character of him in 
 Gent. Mag. LXXIV. 890. 
 
 + Dr. Christopher Wilson, Bishop of Bristol, died April 18, 1792, aged 
 77. See Gent. Mag. LXII. 391, 477; LXIX. 588. Also Lit. Anecdotes, VII. 
 471, 714. 
 
 § The celebrated Dr. Cyril Jackson. He died Aug. 31, 1819, aged 76. See 
 account and character of him in Gent. Mag. LXXXIX. ii. 273, 314, 457, 573. 
 
 II Prince Octavius died May 3, 1783, aged 4 years. 
 
456 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 nions less to be envied than himself. I hope Mrs. Percy 
 has recovered her spirits, as well as your Lordship, since 
 your great loss. I beg my compliments to her and the 
 young ladies, and remain your Lordship’s ever faithful, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ P.S. The book-collectors are glutted with sales, — 
 Croft’s, Sir G. Page’s, and Mr. Gulston’s, all in fine condi- 
 tion ; and I suppose many will not fetch their binding. 
 Gulston’s Granger, interleaved with 3000 heads, cost him 
 many hundred pounds. 
 
 “ At Croft’s sale a <c Tiran le Blanc” was bought by the 
 Chevalier Pinto for seventeen guineas.” 
 
 iS My DBAR Lord, Saville Row, May 19, 1783. 
 
 “ I have just now received yours of the 15th ; and in 
 answer to your query have to inform you that the Primate* 
 has been gone from hence to Ireland a fortnight past. 
 I have no further intelligence concerning Irish matters 
 to send you. So I hope they are pretty easy there at pre- 
 sent. 
 
 “ When Dr. Stinton’s body was opened his lungs were 
 found in such a state that, had he not been carried off so 
 rapidly, he would probably have died of a lingering con- 
 sumption. Tarrant will probably keep possession of Wrot- 
 ham, as the lawyers think that the Archbishop has no 
 pretensions to the disposal of it. The chancellorship of 
 Lincoln Lord Thurlow has procured for his old tutor Dr. 
 Smith, Master of Caius. Dr. Scott has taken a house 
 in Curzon Street. When he first called on me he 
 was incog. He laughs at all his adversaries can do 
 against him ; however, though they should not carry their 
 prosecutions to such lengths as they threaten and wish, 
 yet they will have ample revenge in the expense they 
 must put him to. He had retained poor Howarth,t the 
 famous crown lawyer, who was drowned lately in the 
 Thames. 
 
 “ I was surprised last Saturday by a message from 
 Lord Hardwieke, to desire I would call on him in the 
 
 * Dr. Robinson. See before, p. 453. 
 
 + Henry Howarth, esq. M.P. for Abingdon, and an eminent King’s Coun- 
 sel, was unfortunately drowned May 11, 1783, by the upsetting of his own 
 sailing boat near his seat at Mortlake. He was about 36 years of age, and 
 had made by his profession 9,600 guineas during the previous year. See 
 Gent. Mag. LIU. 453. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 457 
 
 evening ; for, indeed, I never expected to have seen him 
 again. I found him very languid on a sofa, but he raised 
 himself into his chair, and talked and chatted as easy as 
 ever he had done. His left arm was in a sling, and hung 
 useless by his side. I think he will recover now, though 
 his life seems to hang by a slender thread. 
 
 <f I am told that Mrs. Thrale has got into a small house 
 at Bath, where she and her daughters live on a most 
 frugal plan, even without a carriage. What a falling off 
 is here ! Such indeed as there appears no visible reason for. 
 
 “ I know nothing of the state of the Bishop of Car- 
 lisle’s health ; if he dies soon, I understand Dr. Watson 
 means to try to succeed him. 
 
 <e My edition of Canne’s Bible is by Bill, London, 1698. 
 “ Know you anything of a translation of Solomon’s 
 Song from the Hebrew, by Mrs. Francis ?* I would buy it 
 if 1 thought it was worth buying. 
 
 Mr. Ritson has just published a 3s. 6d. pamphlet 
 against all the former editors of Shakspeare, and their as- 
 sistant note-writers. You will not therefore be surprised 
 to find it concludes with his Proposal for a new edition in 
 8 volumes, 12mo, with a complete verbal index. 
 
 “ Mr. Capel’s School of Shakspeare, I suppose, is pro- 
 gressive, as Bartolozzi has just finished a fine head of 
 Capel to prefix to it. 
 
 “ Our fine weather is changed to cold and rain ; and 
 we are forced to light fires again. 
 
 “ Adieu, my dear Lord, and believe me ever yours, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ To the Lord Bishop of Dromore, Carlisle.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, June 3, 1783. . 
 
 “ I am much obliged to you and the ladies for their 
 kind congratulations.f When I last wrote to you I had no 
 notion that I should have been so soon in a situation to 
 receive them, or I certainly should have given some inti- 
 mation of it to so old and so good a friend as your Lord- 
 ship ; but, though my acquaintance with the lady has been 
 
 * Mrs. Anne Francis published A Poetical Translation of the Song of 
 Solomon, from the original Hebrew, 1781, 4to. ; The Obsequies of Demetrius 
 ohorcetes, a Poem, London, 1785, 4to. ; Charlotte to Werter, 1788, 4to. ; 
 Miscellaneous Poems, 1790, 12mo. 
 
 t It appears by the Gent. Mag. (p. 451) that on the 19th of May, Dr. Lort 
 * 1, mar ried to Susannah, one of the two daughters of Alderman Norfolk, 
 Cambridge ; but the previous letter is dated May 19, so that the marriage 
 * as probably a few days later. 
 
458 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of many years’ standing, and my attachment not a recent 
 one, yet but for some particular incidents I believe our 
 union would not have taken place this month ; but I will 
 say no more of her at present than that of all my female 
 acquaintance she best answered the character which the 
 late Bishop Newton * drew of the woman he wished to 
 make his wife, and which if I have time I will transcribe 
 and inclose in this letter. She joins with me in hoping 
 we shall some time have an opportunity of seeing you and 
 the ladies in Saville Row. 
 
 “ There have been so many pamphlets published against 
 Bishop Watson’s scheme, I think four at least, that I do 
 not well know which your Lordship would have sent; 
 however I am sure that Mr. Cumberland’s will deserve 
 your reading, and therefore I shall begin to inclose this 
 under cover to Sir H. Fletcher; I shall now send the 
 beginning of my copy as I cannot get another this even- 
 ing, which I mention because you will observe it, in Tom 
 Osborne’s phrase, paululum spoliatum in margine. I have 
 really not had time to read the others, which if they have 
 as much merit as this must I think be some mortification 
 to the learned bishop. 
 
 “ Lord Hardwicke still continues to mend, and when I 
 see him I will pay him your compliments. In the mean- 
 time Mrs. Percy and Miss Percys will be pleased to accept 
 those of Mrs. Lort and your Lordship’s faithful and affec- 
 tionate servant, “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, June 6, 1783. 
 
 iC I recollect that I blundered sadly in sending part of 
 Cumberland’s answerf under a close cover to Sir H. Fletcher 
 at Carlisle, so that probably it may not have reached 
 
 * From Bishop Newton’s Account of his own Life. — “ He plainly foresaw 
 that he must either fall a prey to his servants, or he must look out for some 
 Clever, sensible woman to be his wife, who had some knowledge and experi- 
 ence of the world ; who was capable of superintending and directing his 
 affairs ; who was a prudent manager and economist, and could lay out his 
 money to the best advantage ; who, though she brought no fortune, yet might 
 save one, and be a fortune in herself ; who could supply his table handsomely 
 and not expensively, and do the honours of it in a becoming manner ; who 
 had no more taste and love of pleasure than a reasonable woman should 
 have ; who would be happier with staying with her husband at home than in 
 perpetually gadding abroad ; who would be careful and tender of his health, 
 and be a companion of all hours.” — P. 62. 
 
 t “ A Letter to Richard Watson, Bishop of LlandafF, on his Lordship’s 
 Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury. By Richard Cumberland, 1783.” 
 See Gent. Mag. LIII. 514. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 459 
 
 your Lordship. If so, you will let me know, that I may 
 replace it. I now send you, and I shall hope with better 
 success, the Country Curate’s answer. I am told Herbert 
 Croft is going to publish Rowley’s poems, clothed in a 
 modern dress, and, having declined to write Chatterton’s 
 Life for the Biographia Britannica, Kippis has himself 
 undertaken it. 
 
 “ In a Life of Christian Countess of Devonshire it is 
 said that the Countess of Carlisle was imprisoned in the 
 Tower during the Interregnum. Was this the famous Lady 
 Lucy Percy ? if so she must have changed sides and re- 
 pented of having betrayed the King. Did you ever meet 
 with any account of this event ? 
 
 “ I am, with best respects to your ladies, my dear 
 Lord, yours very truly, i( M. Lout. 
 
 “ The Bishop of Dromore, Carlisle.” 
 
 “ My DEAR LORD, Saville Row, August 7th, 1783. 
 
 “ I am quite ashamed at seeing the date of your last, 
 and not having sooner written to welcome your arrival 
 and the ladies, I hope very safely, in your diocese. But 
 I have been making some little excursions from home, and 
 to-morrow my wife and I set out on a longer one, even to 
 France and Flanders. How far or how long we shall 
 make it, is not at present determined, and will probably 
 depend more on the strength of our purse than our in- 
 clination. 
 
 “ Here is a dead vacation at present, and little news for 
 me to send you. Dr. Johnson is recovered, and gone to 
 Mr. Langton’s at Rochester.* Before he went he sat to 
 Opie, the famous self-taught Cornish painter, for his pic- 
 ture, and who I am told has given a just but no flatter- 
 ing likeness of the Doctor.f I was about to inclose a 
 curious pamphlet of Lord George Gordon’s, containing an 
 account of his three conferences with the King before the 
 riots ; but, upon looking again at your letter, you do not 
 tell me that packets will go free to you, and I have no 
 friend here at present to apply to, to frank for me. 
 
 * “ I have been 13 days at Rochester, and am now just returned. I 
 came back by water, in a common boat, 20 miles for a shilling ; and when I 
 landed at Billingsgate I carried my budget myself to Cornhill before I could 
 get a coach, and was not much incommoded.” — Dr. Johnson to Mrs. Thrale, 
 23 July, 1783. 
 
 t Mr. Boswell says that in 1784 Dr. Johnson resumed sitting to Opie for 
 his picture, but believes it was never finished. 
 
460 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ A project has been sent over here from some of the 
 Church of England Clergy in America, to have a bishopric 
 created in Nova Scotia, and a bishop there to ordain for 
 that Church. But this cannot be done consistently with 
 the present Act of Parliament, and Forms of Ordination, in 
 which the oaths to our King must be taken. So some of 
 the New States talk of applying to and. employing a Mo- 
 ravian Bishop. But in truth it should seem, from the 
 last accounts from Philadelphia, that the military will turn 
 the Congress adrift, as Oliver and his soldiers did the 
 Rump Parliament. 
 
 si Your Lordship’s ever faithful, M. Lort. 
 
 41 The Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Segoe, near 
 Lough Brickland, North of Ireland.” 
 
 ' e My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, Feb. 14, 1784. 
 
 “ I really doubted whether my last letter had got safe. 
 I can scarce send you any political news to be depended 
 on ; perhaps nobody can tell what the state of this country 
 will be this day fortnight ; those who really wish well to 
 it want a coalition of parties, which there seems little rea- 
 son at present to think will take place. 
 
 “ Our poor President of the Antiquaries died yesterday,* 
 though he had thought himself so well recovered from a 
 dangerous illness that I received a card of thanks for 
 inquiries about a week ago. Who will take the trouble of 
 succeeding him as President I cannot yet say ; such an 
 opposition has been stirred up to the Presidentf of the 
 Royal Society by some turbulent spirits, that I doubt 
 whether he will choose to fill the chair another year. Dr. 
 Horsley has set himself at the head of this opposition, 
 which seems to be very ill founded, and to arise merely 
 from that levelling spirit and impatience of all govern- 
 ment which infects the present age. Your Lordship’s ever 
 faithful, “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ The Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Segoe, near 
 Lough Brickland, North of Ireland.” 
 
 * The Rev. Dr. Milles, Dean of Exeter. See Literary Anecdotes, VII. 
 266, 629. 
 
 f Sir Joseph Banks. Horsley’s objection was to the Chair of the Royal 
 Society being filled by a Baronet and Amateur. See Lord Brougham’s Life 
 of Sir J. Banks for information on this subject. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 461 
 
 " My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, Feb. 24, 1784. 
 
 “In consequence of the death of the poor Dean of 
 Exeter, the Council of the Antiquarian Society met on 
 Saturday, and elected Mr. King President, pro tempore , 
 till St. George’s Day, when it is expected that Lord De 
 Ferrars* * * § will do us the honour to preside over us. At the 
 same time that we elected Mr. King, it was proposed 
 to appoint a coadjutor to Dr. Morell, or rather to Mr. 
 Norris, f who is to read all the papers presented to the 
 Society. At that time we did not know that poor Morell J 
 lay dead at Turnham Green. So now I hope our Society 
 will go on with better auspices — 
 
 Novus rerum jam nascitur ordo. 
 
 But I hope our reformation will proceed more quietly than 
 that attempted in our Sister Society, where every fortnight 
 a set of orators get up and fatigue themselves, and much 
 the greater part of the Society, with virulent and illiberal 
 charges against the President. Horsley, Maskelyne, Maty, 
 Maseres, and Poore§ are the leaders of this band, who are 
 joined by all those turbulent spirits that are impatient of 
 all government and subordination, which is indeed the 
 great evil and disease of the times. I believe I have pro- 
 longed and increased my complaints by going out twice to 
 vote against these innovators, who kept the society talking 
 and disputing and balloting till near eleven and twelve 
 o’clock, though they have been baffled in almost every 
 question by near three to one. I will say nothing of 
 politics ; our newspapers contain scarce anything else. 
 
 “ Poor Dr. J ohnson has had a very bad winter, attended 
 by Heberden and Brocklesby, who neither of them expected 
 he would have survived the frost ; that being gone, he still 
 remains, and I hope will now continue, at least till the 
 next severe one. It has indeed carried off a great many 
 old people. At the beginning of the winter, Johnson in- 
 stituted a weekly sixpenny club at a porter-house in 
 
 * Lord De Ferrars was elected President S. A. April 23, 1784, and in the 
 following May was created Earl of Leicester. He succeeded his father as 2d 
 Marquess Townshend in 1807, and died in 1811. 
 
 t Mr. Norris retired from the Secretaryship in 1790, and died Dec. 
 f792. See Lit. Anecdotes, VI. 127 ; VII. 294, 639. 
 
 + Rev. Thomas Morell, D.D. died Feb. 18, 1784, aged 82. See an 
 account of him in Harwood’s “ Alumni Etonenses,” and Gent. Mag. for 
 L97, p. 1088. Also notices of him in Lit. Anecdotes, VII. 274, 632. 
 
 § Edward Poore, esq. an intimate friend of Bishop Horsley, and a mem- 
 her of the Essex Head Club. 
 
462 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Essex-street,* kept by an old servant of Mr. Thrale. I 
 believe he has never been there since the first night. 
 Your Literary Club has, I hear, been also involved in 
 squabbles concerning an air balloon — who should be em- 
 ployed by them to make one. Sir William Hamilton is 
 elected a member. He has brought over a very small 
 vase from Rome, with figures in relief on it, that he says 
 cost him 1000Z. It has been long in the possession of the 
 Barberini family, and is described by Bartoli in the ^Edes 
 Barberinee, and in Wright’s Travels. Herbert Croft is 
 preparing an edition of all Chatterton’s works, — all his 
 political and obscene ribaldry. 
 
 44 I shall wrap up and inclose a little more powder in 
 some of Dean Tucker’s queries, signed Cassandra. 
 
 44 Your Lordship’s ever faithful, M. Lort. 
 
 “ The Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Segoe, near 
 Lough Brickland, North of Ireland.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, SavilleRow, Feb. 28, 1784. 
 
 “ Having by the last post sent your Lorship a long 
 letter, little remains for me to say in this. A surprising 
 alteration of the weather has taken place, which has re- 
 lieved me and many other invalids, and enabled me to be 
 present at a stout battle at the Royal Society on Thursday 
 last, which lasted till past eleven o’clock, when the in- 
 surgents received a complete defeat on a question aimed 
 at the President, 115 to 27. 
 
 44 Mr. Preston, t who goes to Ireland as Private Secretary 
 to the Duke of Rutland, was a fellow of our college, and 
 a particular friend of mine. He is a travelled man, and 
 you will find him very agreeable and well-informed. 
 
 44 Your Lordship’s ever faithful, M. Lort. 
 
 44 P.S. The King was received last night at the Oratorio 
 
 * Of this Club, see Boswell’s Life of Johnson, and Literary Anecdotes, 
 II. 553. 
 
 f ¥m. Preston, D.D. was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, (of 
 which at one time it was thought he would have been master,) B.A., 1753, 
 M.A. 1756. He was chaplain to Dr. Yonge, Bishop of Norwich, whom he left 
 to attend Lord Stormont at Vienna, in the same capacity. Then he went to 
 Naples for his health, where, in the absence of Sir W. Hamilton, he acted 
 as Chargd des Affaires, and had a pension in consequence thereof. He went 
 to Ireland as Private Secretary to the Duke of Rutland, in 1784, and was 
 appointed Bishop of Leighlin and Ferns, in 1785. His illness was so severe 
 and unabating for the last 12 months that it was asserted the fees to his 
 physician swallowed up all his income. He left legacies to the Duchess of 
 Rutland, Mr. Thorston, and Mr. Tydd, at whose house in Clare Street, 
 Dublin, he died in the spring of 1789. See Gent. Mag. LIX. 372. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 463 
 
 with uncommon bursts of applause. Cherries bought by 
 the Grocers 5 Company to-day for 2s. 6d. a piece, to treat 
 Mr. Billy Pitt, on a supposition that he will be more 
 willing to reform the constitution than Fox and North. 
 The Dissenters, Republicans, and Reformers have espoused 
 his party, and stood up for the Prerogative. 
 
 “ The Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Segoe, near 
 Lough Brickland, North of Ireland.” 
 
 “ My BEAR Lord, Saville Row, March 26, 1784. 
 
 “ The privilege of franking here has just now ceased, 
 more to the mortification than to the astonishment of the 
 greater part of the House of Commons. The tide of 
 popularity running now strong for the new Minister,* he 
 has seized the favourable moment of appealing to the peo- 
 ple at large, and it is thought will gain a majority, but 
 whether strong enough to carry on business cannot yet be 
 guessed at. 
 
 “ Your great Irish orator will, I suppose, be hardly 
 chosen again for Winchester.f It is said that the Duke of 
 Chandos has been as much disappointed in him as the Earl 
 of Plymouth was in the purchase of Punch. I hope he 
 will not carry his reformation plan in your Parliament. 
 
 ‘ f You can easily guess what a noise the loss of the 
 great sealj made here two days ago. Happening at such a 
 juncture has given a handle to foolish party zealots to 
 suspect it was stolen for some political purpose, which is 
 impossible ? But I believe it was never kept so carelessly 
 before. The loss is said to have been supplied by a plaster 
 of Paris cast, taken from a fair impression. 
 
 (< The Prince of Wales has been very ill, even in much 
 danger, and only saved by bleeding and blistering, which 
 it is hoped will make him more cautious of eating and 
 drinking for the future. Sir John Eliot§ told the Queen 
 that he had been preaching as much to the prince against 
 intemperance as any bishop could have done. The Queen 
 replied, c And probably with like success. 5 
 
 “ I have a MS. anecdote of your predecessor, Jeremy 
 
 * Mr. Pitt. 
 
 t Richard Gamon, jun. esq. brother-in-law of the Duke of Chandos. 
 
 I The Great Seal was stolen from Lord Thurlow’s house in Great Ormond 
 treet, and the thief was never discovered. A new Seal was made, and de- 
 ivered to the Chancellor by his Majesty, March 25, 1784. See Gent. Mae. 
 RIV. 378, 230. 
 
 § Sir John Eliot, Bart. M.D. was Physician to the Prince of Wales. 
 
464 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Taylor, of which I wish the truth could be ascertained. 
 That, finding a very improper use had been made of his 
 famous book £ The Liberty of Prophesying/ he sent his 
 chaplain over from Ireland to buy up all the copies he could 
 find; and, having brought them to Dromore, the bishop 
 set a day apart for fasting and praying ; and then in the 
 evening caused a fire to be made in his court-yard and 
 burnt these books. The chaplain’s name was Lewis, a 
 Norfolk man. 
 
 f£ M. Lort. 
 
 “ P.S. I understand that the Yelverton Library, both 
 books and MSS. will soon be sold by auction. Can your 
 Lordship give me any information concerning either ? 
 
 “ The Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Dromore.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, July 27, 1784. 
 
 c f In the papers of this week you will probably have seen 
 some strange papers concerning Mrs. Thrale’s marriage 
 with Piozzi. It is, I am afraid, too true ; for I have no cer- 
 tain intelligence concerning it from any person ; they are 
 in town I am told, and invisible to most of their old ac- 
 quaintance. It is said that Dr. Johnson had written her 
 a long letter to prevent, if possible, the match taking 
 place, but to no purpose ; that Miss Thrale is going to a 
 Mrs. Beaver’s in Albemarle Street, where there is a sort 
 of academy for grown-up ladies, and the three younger 
 children to some boarding school. Mrs. Thrale, it is 
 supposed, will go to reside in Italy. 
 
 “ Are you acquainted with MajorVallancey ? I was lately 
 introduced to him, and found him a curious intelligent 
 man, but too bigoted to ancient Irish lore, which I do not 
 think better of than English, nor can I think their alphabet, 
 their chronicles, or their legends, to be more ancient or of 
 better authority. The Major fell in love with a picture I 
 had of the Siege of Kinsale, in Queen Elizabeth’s time, 
 which I let him have, and I suppose he has taken it to 
 Ireland. Since he went a woman called on me to offer 
 me some MSS. of Eugene Aram’s Celtic Dictionary,* 
 
 * Eugene Aram formed a Dictionary of the Celtic, Irish, and British 
 languages, on a new plan. See a Letter of Dr. Pegge’s in Gent. Mag. 1789, 
 p. 905. A Life of Eugene Aram was inserted in the new Biographia Britan- 
 nica ; which being objected to, the insertion of it was defended by Dr. Joseph 
 Towers in Gent. Mag. 1790, p. 324. The literary talents of Eugene Aram 
 have since been duly appreciated, and his fame spread by Sir Lytton Bulwer. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 465 
 
 which she says had been once in your hands, and I sup- 
 pose would have continued so, if you had thought them 
 of any value. Had I seen her before Vallancev went back 
 to Ireland I would have sent her and her papers to him, 
 who seems to be deep in Celtic etymologies ; can you 
 recollect any particulars of these papers ? 
 
 £i There is a supplemental volume of Chatterton’s works 
 just published ; among these his will, as curious a morceau 
 as any that has yet appeared ; whether this will revive 
 the sleeping controversy or not, I do not know. Herbert 
 Croft had promised Kippis a life of him for the third 
 volume of the Biographia, but altered his mind, and now 
 means to make a volume of it. 
 
 “ I beg to be remembered to the ladies, and that you 
 will believe me always 
 
 rs Your Lordship’s ever faithful, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “The Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Dromore.” 
 
 Dr. Lort to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, August 19, 1784. 
 
 “I had yours of the 11th yesterday, in pursuance of 
 which I went to Lambeth this morning, and not finding 
 either of the chaplains I inquired for the Archbishop,* 
 who informed me that Mr. B. had not yet applied for a 
 dispensation, and certainly will not have one till you shall 
 have explained to the Archbishop the meaning of your 
 application. I could not have made this inquiry had it come 
 a day later, for to-morrow Mrs. Lort and I leave town on a 
 visit to the Bishop of Chester, f in Kent, and the Arch- 
 bishop goes soon into Oxfordshire. His Grace showed me 
 the short Bill which receives the royal assent to-morrow, 
 empowering the Bishop of London, or any other bishop 
 he may appoint, to ordain Americans or others belonging 
 to foreign jurisdiction without taking the oath of allegiance 
 now required. 
 
 “A Bishop for Nova Scotia is talked of, and when he 
 is fixed I suppose the Americans will not seek so far for 
 a commission. 
 
 “ Let me now acknowledge your letter of the 29th of 
 July. Notwithstanding what you say of the declining 
 spirit of volunteering, still we think here that you have 
 
 Dr. Moore. f Dr. Porteus. 
 
 VOL. VII, 2 H 
 
466 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 some desperate spirits on your side of the water that are 
 determined to throw all into confusion, and that a certain 
 Bishop is of this number.* In my travels on the Con- 
 tinent last year, I fell in with many Irish officers, eccle- 
 siastics and others, who seemed big with expectation 
 of their island recovering that independence and pre- 
 eminence which it once had, as they supposed, over its 
 sister island. To what do Vallancey’s researches tend, 
 but to prove she is the elder sister? Some sanguine 
 Teagues here go so far as to say that the 22nd of October, 
 a principal day in the Irish calendar, is to open the 
 approaching revolution or. millennium. 
 
 e( l formerly mentioned to you the sale of the Yelverton 
 Library, and the intended one of the MSS.,t which latter 
 was abruptly stopped after two or three lots had been put 
 up ; but I believe you know more of this matter than I 
 do, for I understand that application was made to your 
 Lordship on this subject ; indeed it seemed strange that 
 so considerable a concern should have been put into the 
 hands of an auctioneer who knew so little of the matter. 
 
 “ I should be very glad to accompany your Lordship in 
 this semi-triennial visitation of Armagh, J I shall be glad 
 to hear that you have got well through it. I beg my best 
 respects to the ladies, and remain, 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful, 
 
 “ M. Lout. 
 
 “ The Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Dromore.” 
 
 Dr. Lort to Bishop Percy, 
 
 ' l My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, May 5, 1785. 
 
 The date of your last letter, April 23, being St. George’s 
 Day, the anniversary meeting of our Antiquarian Society 
 here, very aptly corresponded with the subject of it; the 
 procuring its Charter and Rules for the use of one of a 
 similar kind to be instituted at Dublin. 1 now inclose 
 you a copy of this Charter and Statutes, and refer you to 
 the Introduction of the first volume of the Archseologia, 
 of which 1 presume copies are to be found in Dublin, for 
 the rise, progress, intermission, and re-establishment of 
 
 * Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry. 
 
 f The Yelverton MSS, were began to be sold by auction ; but were so 
 badly catalogued that the sale was stopped. They were afterwards given by 
 the Earl of Sussex to Lord Calthorpe, See Lit, Anecdotes, III, 622, 
 
 + So in the original. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 467 
 
 this society. I have also two other pamphlets relative to 
 this subject which I wish to send you, but believe I can- 
 not inclose them in a frank, as I mean to do this, suppos- 
 ing that this privilege will extend to Holyhead. I know 
 of nothing in our archives that w T ill be necessary to be 
 transcribed for you; but I think it will be worth your 
 while to consult the pamphlet printed at Edinburgh, a 
 few years ago, on the institution of such a learned society 
 by Lord Buchan. 
 
 “ In our new volume of Archoeologia, to be published 
 next week, there is a letter addressed to me by Governor 
 Pownall,* including one to him from a Mr. Ledwich, of 
 Maryborough, giving a description of what he calls a Ship- 
 temple in that neighbourhood, which seems to agree very 
 well with a passage in Procopius, of which they sent me 
 the Latin only, and made me find the Greek and English. 
 
 “ And now, my good Lord, I must plead guilty to the 
 charge of not having sooner acknowledged the receipt of 
 your letter by Mr. Cottingham, and another dated in 
 January last, but not received till the following month, 
 just when I was going with Mrs. Lort to Cambridge, to 
 attend her sick father, whose death soon afterwards fol- 
 lowed, in the 84th year of his age ;t there we continued 
 for some time to settle his affairs, and when I returned 
 to town, aliena negotia centum , much more than my own, 
 disappointed my intentions of writing to your Lordship, 
 till at length your last letter called upon me to send you 
 an immediate one, and I hope for the future there will 
 not be so long a chasm in our correspondence. 
 
 “Your old friend Johnson’s death afforded a fruitful 
 topic of conversation for a fortnight or three weeks, and 
 called forth abundance of anecdotes relative to his life, 
 which have been carefully gleaned up, and have or will be 
 retailed in due time to the public at large. One Cooke, a 
 writer employed by Kearsley, had prepared and printed a 
 life, j which I believe was published a day after he expired, 
 
 * See Archaeologia, VII. 269—275. 
 
 + See before, p. 457. 
 
 + “ The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. with occasional Remarks on 
 his Writings, a Catalogue of his Works, and a Fac-simile of his Handwrit- 
 ing,” was published by Kearsley, and passed through two editions. See 
 Monthly Review, LIII. 147. The work was anonymous ; but it appears by 
 ~r. Lort, that it was by Wnj. Cooke, esq. known by the name of Conversa- 
 tion Cooke, from a poem of his so called. He died, advanced in age, April 
 
 1814. See a memoir of him by Mr. Nichols, in Gent. Mag. XCIV. i. 374, 
 His poem on Conversation retails anecdotes of Dr, Johnson’s literary Clubs, 
 
 2 H 2 
 
468 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 Mr. Tyers followed in two subsequent Gentleman’s Ma- 
 gazines ; and Sir John Hawkins, Dr. Kippis, and Mrs. 
 Piozzi, have announced by advertisements in the papers 
 their intentions of treating the world with all they know 
 or can collect concerning him. The lady has honoured 
 me with a letter dated Milan, March 22, in which she 
 mentions this design, and begs me to collect for her. I 
 am told the foundation of her work will be Johnson’s 
 letters to her. She says she is very happy in her present 
 situation, and that both she and her husband meet with 
 great civility from persons of the first rank on the continent. 
 
 “To Johnson’s biographers I should have added Bos- 
 well, who has for many years been committing to paper 
 all that fell from his lips when they were together. Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds has opened a subscription for a monument. 
 
 “ Bishop Preston’s friends, on this side of the water, 
 were astonished at his becoming such, and as it is said 
 here by his own solicitations. He was formerly Fellow 
 of Trinity College ; then chaplain to Bishop Yonge of 
 Norwich, whom he left to attend Lord Stormont, at 
 Vienna, in that capacity ; then went to Naples for his 
 health, where, in the absence of Sir William Hamilton, I 
 believe he acted as Charge d’ Affaires, and had a pen- 
 sion in consequence thereof. His state of health has been 
 such that nobody thought he would have gone to Ireland 
 and engaged in business ; I presume his health has 
 mended there, though he mentions the contrary in a letter 
 I had from him this time twelvemonths. 
 
 “T. Warton was made Poet Laureate,* as some say, at 
 the King’s own motion ; others say Sir Joshua Reynolds 
 mentioned him to the Lord Chamberlaim The place is 
 worth clear money 120/. a year. 
 
 “ Mrs. Lort begs to join me in best respects to Mrs. 
 Percy and the young ladies. 
 
 “I remain, your Lordship’s affectionate and faithful 
 servant, “M. Lort. 
 
 of which he was one of the last survivors. He thus addresses his friend Mr. 
 Nichols : 
 
 “ Yet, oh ! my Friend, with whom for many a night, 
 
 Eve heard these Worthies with supreme delight, 
 
 How sad to tell those happy scenes are o’er, 
 
 And all our lov'd associates are no more. 
 
 All—- all are gone — save we who still remain, 
 
 As mourning Heralds of the matchless train.” 
 
 * Mr. W. Whitehead, poet laureate, died April 14, 1785, in his 70tb year. 
 See Lit. An. Ill, 196. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 469 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, SavilleRow, June 24,1785. 
 
 “ Your letter of the 3rd past came safe to hand, but not 
 time enough for me to avail myself of Mr. Hoole’s packet 
 to send the pamphlets and prints which you wished to 
 have ; nor have I yet purchased the latter. Proof impres- 
 sions of the Prince of Wales and the Primate are to be 
 had, the former at five guineas, the latter at 10.?. Gd. \ 
 common impressions at a guinea and 7?- Gd. 
 
 (i I shall be very glad to see, /when completed, the consti- 
 tution and laws of your new Society. I take for granted 
 that those of foreign countries have been consulted, and 
 that the best parts of them will be selected and adopted. 
 Our members at first were restricted to a certain number, 
 and I still think this rule should have been preserved, nor 
 the door left so open as to admit everyone that offers ; for 
 I know of none that have been rejected. I wished also to 
 have had a set of subjects and topics of inquiry pointed 
 out for members to investigate and give their thoughts 
 upon to the Society, but without tacking any premiums * 
 to them, the determination of which is often unpleasant 
 and invidious. I cannot help inclosing a paper to your 
 Lordship, which I lately delivered in to the Society, and 
 the subject of which, or rather the speculations that flow 
 from it, are not unworthy the attention of a grave and 
 learned bishop, or even of the whole bench ; yet perhaps 
 not so pleasing to a true-born Irish bishop, if Colonel 
 Vallancey’s notion of the Irish being descended from the 
 Phoenicians should prove well-founded.* 
 
 “ I like much the plan of a general reservoir for all jour- 
 nals, &c. of foreign countries — such as I have often wished 
 for in this great town, and might have been fixed at Lever’s 
 Museum, but that will probably be soon at an end ;f though 
 I suspect the lottery tickets have moved off but slowly. 
 People are frightened at the immensity of the prize ; and 
 
 * Dr, Lort inclosed the substance of his “ Account of an Ancient In- 
 scription in North America,” which is printed in Archaeologia, vol. viii. p. 290. 
 
 _t Sir Ashton Lever, knt. was so created by George III. He died 31 Jan. 
 1/88. His library, sold by Leigh, produced 434/. 15s. His Holophusicon 
 Museum at Leicester House was disposed of by lottery in 1784, and valued 
 at 42,000/. (Gent. Mag. LIY. 622.) The prize fell to Mr. Parkinson, who 
 removed the Museum to Albion -place, Blackfriars Bridge, and first opened 
 J t as an exhibition Dec. 3, 1787, at 2,<f. 6//. For many years it proved a 
 pleasing exhibition, but at last, no longer answering Mr. Parkinson’s expec- 
 tations, the collection was sold by auction. The premises were then occu- 
 pied by the Surrey Institution, but that Society, not receiving sufficient sup- 
 port, its library was disposed of by auction, and the Institution broken up. 
 
470 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 I believe, if it had been made optional, either that valued 
 at 40,000/. or 5000/. in specie, more adventurers would 
 have embarked. 
 
 “Vertu is here at a very low ebb; coins, medals, statues, 
 pictures do not fetch half what in my memory they have 
 done. Mr. Duane’s* collection did not produce half what 
 it cost him ; and now there is a very capital collection of 
 Greek, Roman, and English coins coming to market, be- 
 longing to the late Mr. Dummer, whose widow married 
 Dance the painter. It is said he is buying up all his own 
 performances and destroying them.t 
 
 “ I have seen lately a set of curious prints, done at 
 Paris, from Chinese drawings, of the emperor’s battles with 
 the Tartars. These were engraved at his expense, and 
 the whole impression sent to China, except a few sets, sold 
 at 50 guineas each. 
 
 “ Henderson the actor sold a set of Hogarth’s prints 
 to Sir John Eliotf for 120 guineas. I do not find it was 
 * so good as that I have. 
 
 “ I have had a copy of the Alexandrian New Testament 
 printed off on fine vellum, § and a beautiful appearance it 
 has. I luckily had this old vellum by me, which would 
 otherwise have cost 20/. 
 
 “ You do not know what you did when you concluded 
 your letter with an address to me and my wife, e Come 
 and see us; 5 for we are about to visit the Bishop || at 
 Chester, and, being so far on the road to Dublin, I am not 
 sure that she will not drive me thither. She is an excel- 
 
 * Matthew Duane, esq. F.R.S. F.S.A. died Feb. 6 , 1785, aged 78. See 
 Lit. Anecdotes, III. 497. His coins (it would appear above) were sold in 
 1785. His books were sold (with those of Michael Bray his nephew) in 
 April, 1798, by Leigh and Sotheby. 
 
 + The coins of Thomas Dummer, esq. were sold by Messrs. Leigh and 
 Sotheby in 1805. Thomas Dummer, esq. M.P. for Newport, I. W. married 
 Jan. 5, 1766, Harriett, 3d dau. of Sir Cecil Bishopp, Bart. He left his 
 immense estates to this lady for life, who was re-married to Nathaniel Dance, 
 esq. the celebrated portrait-painter. He was created a baronet in 1800, and 
 died 1811. See Gent. Mag. LXXXI. 489, 666 ; LXXXII. 302. Sir Nathaniel 
 had the absurdity to buy up and destroy every portrait painted by himself that 
 he could obtain. His lady survived him, and died June 12, 1825. (See Gent, 
 Mag. XCV. ii. 641.) $ See page 463. 
 
 § Ten copies were printed on vellum ; but of these six only had the notes 
 and illustrations. See Lit. Anecdotes, IX. 10. Of the ten copies, only 
 seven (including the king’s) were printed for sale ; an eighth for Dr. Woide ; 
 a ninth, by permission, for Dr. Lort, on vellum of a different sort and larger 
 size, provided by himself ; and a tenth was printed by Mr. Nichols for his 
 own library, but he afterwards sold it to Dr. Burney for 507. Twenty-five 
 copies were also printed on a fine writing royal paper. 
 
 f) Bishop Porteus, 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 471 
 
 lent traveller, has good health, temper, and spirits ; but 
 we neither of us like travelling by sea, and the repulsion 
 will probably act more forcibly as we draw nearer to it. 
 Another damper will be the rising of your Parliament, and 
 company going into the country. If we go, we shall take 
 up our abode in a hotel for a fortnight or three weeks, 
 and, returning by way of Scotland, turn aside to the palace 
 of Dromore, for I believe it is not much out of that road. 
 This at present is a very embryo scheme, that probably 
 will never be hatched into life; but there is some pleasure 
 in the forming them. M. Lout. 
 
 “ The Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 * 4 My DEAR Lord, Chester, Aug. 15, 17S5. 
 
 44 Mrs. Lort and I are here, so far on our way to Ire- 
 land. Whether we shall ever be any nearer, God knows i 
 at least, I think it will not be this summer. The weather 
 is at present very unfavourable, and has been so ever since 
 we left London. But we are safely lodged with the bishop, 
 in his palace here. As soon as the weather will permit, 
 we shall make an excursion into Wales, and thence to 
 Liverpool, Warrington, and Manchester — perhaps to the 
 Lakes, if the weather shall prove favourable. If an air 
 balloon could transport us from Liverpool to the opposite 
 shore, we should be glad to give Mrs. Percy the meeting ; 
 but we neither of us love long sea-voyages, and this pas- 
 sage might perhaps exceed twenty-four hours. I shall 
 probably spend a week at Parkgate, to bathe in the sea. 
 
 “ There is a prebendary of this church, Mr. Travis, who 
 has published an excellent book against Gibbon, chiefly in 
 defence of a text that has almost been given up as despe- 
 rate, 1 John v. 3, 4 There are three that bear witness,’ &c. 
 The genuineness of this he lias asserted with wonderful 
 acuteness, and has attacked several other places in Gibbon 
 with equal success. Pray get a sight of it, and then I 
 know you will commend and recommend it. Gibbon is 
 now settled at Lausanne, there to complete his History. 
 
 C( I took with me, as a post-chaise book, 4 Letters on 
 Literary Subjects, by Robert Heron, Esq,/* just published. 
 He is quite a Drawcansir, affects to be singular in his 
 opinions and criticisms, and has treated very unmercifully 
 George Steevens as an editor of Shakspeare. I am told 
 this is a fictitious name, and that the real author is Mr. 
 
 * See Lit, Anecdotes, VIII. 159, 
 
472 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Pinkerton., author of Rhymes, and editor of Scotch 
 Ballads. 
 
 44 Strahan the printer’s son is about to publish John- 
 son’s Prayers,* having attended him during his last illness. 
 Boswell’s book,t I suppose, will be out in the winter. The 
 King at his levee talked to him, as was natural, on this 
 subject. Bosw r ell told his Majesty that he had another 
 work on the anvil — a History of the Rebellion in 1745 ; 
 but that he was at a loss how to style the principal person 
 who figured in it. 4 How would you style him, Mr. Bos- 
 well?’ 4 I was thinking, Sire, of calling him the grandson 
 of the unfortunate James the Second.’ 4 That I have no 
 objection to : my title to the crown stands on firmer 
 ground — on an Act of Parliament.’ This is said to be the 
 substance of a conversation which passed at the levee. I 
 wish I was certain of the exact words. 
 
 44 We have had wet and blustering weather since we left 
 London, such as would not encourage us to go much 
 further, if we did not hope it would mend. But we 
 shall be hovering about here for the next fortnight at least, 
 and about the middle of September get back to Saville 
 Row. Your Lordship’s ever faithful and affectionate 
 
 44 M. Lort. 
 
 “ Lord Bishop of Dromove, at Dromore.” 
 
 44 My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, Oct. 31, 1785. 
 
 44 About a fortnight past we returned hither, where I 
 hope to remain quiet for some months to come. Your 
 Lordship’s kind letter and pressing invitation to Carling- 
 ford Bay found me on my return to Chester, from whence 
 we bent our course to Liverpool, and there, on the quay, 
 was solicited by the captain of an Irish packet to go on 
 board and look at his accommodations, in hopes they 
 would have tempted me to embark with him for Dublin. 
 In truth, I want no inducements to see my friends in Ire- 
 land, nor curiosity to see the country ; but a sea-voyage 
 is to me ever a serious matter, and therefore, if ever I go 
 to Ireland, it will not be from Liverpool, nor so near the 
 equinox as my going or returning must have proved. 
 
 44 What you mentioned of the Manuscript of the Gospels 
 in the Dublin College Library, and Dr. Wilson’s account 
 of its date, I communicated to Mr. Travis, who tells me 
 
 * See Lit. Anecdotes, III, 397. f The Tour to the Hebrides. See p. 331. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 473 
 
 that the mistake here alluded to is rectified in the last 
 edition of his book against Gibbon. 
 
 “ On my return hither I found a letter from Mrs. 
 Piozzi, dated Leghorn, Sept. 21, in which she says that 
 her Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson are finished and transcribed 
 for the press, and only wait a safe hand to convey them 
 to Cadell’s for publication. She also says, £ We kept our 
 wedding anniversary with great gaiety and splendour at 
 Florence, where all the English and many of the Tuscan 
 nobility and gentry dined with us. But the English 
 are the friends my husband hourly gains upon the hearts 
 of : I never saw any of them yet who did not like him the 
 first day, and love him the second/ She was going to 
 Rome, and was to spend the winter at Naples. 
 
 “ I presume you have by this time read Boswell’s Tour 
 with Johnson. I have been much amused by it, but 
 should be sorry either to have been the author or the hero 
 of it. Indeed he has given traits enough for any one to 
 develope Johnson’s real character by. Of his conference 
 with the King I wish he had given more particulars in 
 this book ; for, though he has promised them in his quarto 
 volume, I suspect ere it can be published he may see 
 reason to suppress them. Two of the Paternoster Row 
 pirates are printing editions of Johnson’s Dictionary in 
 folio and 4 to; so the proprietors have advertised one in 
 8vo. One of the former gave in his first number a good 
 bead of the author by Bartolozzi. I bought some of these, 
 one of which I have sent in a small packet to your Lord- 
 ship, with two antiquarian pamphlets, which I have con- 
 signed to the care of Bishop Preston, not knowing how 
 else I could get them conveyed to you. Sir John Hawkins 
 tells me that his Life and edition of Johnson’s Works is in 
 great forwardness. His son is labouring hard at an edition 
 of Ignoramus,* with explanatory notes ; he has been for- 
 tunate enough to be in possession of the Italian play of 
 Baptista Porta, whence Ruggles is said to have borrowed 
 bis design from, and which was Ruggles* own copy, having 
 bis name in it. Farmer hunted this out among some 
 literary lumber thrown aside in Clare Hall Library. 
 
 " A bookseller here is reprinting Daniel de Foe’s History 
 of the Union of Scotland with England, which is at pre- 
 sent scarce to be met with. He thinks the present situa- 
 tion of England and Ireland would make it sell ; but I 
 * See Literary Anecdotes, vol. IX. pp. 35 — 37. 
 
474 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 believe they are very little similar. There is another 
 pamphlet which he wishes to procure and reprint, more 
 to the purpose, as I remember ; for I had it once, but lent 
 it to the Bishop of Derry* when I was at Lambeth, and 
 never had it returned. The title of it is, e A Proposal for 
 uniting the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland/ 8vo. 
 1751. I think it was to have but one Parliament as well 
 as one King ; and I told the Bishop then that I thought all 
 other modes would be patchwork and ineffectual. But I 
 will not wade out of my depth. I have hitherto avoided 
 troubling you with politics ; so I will return to Daniel de 
 Foe, whose life this bookseller wishes to prefix, but can 
 as yet find very scanty materials. He thought he had got 
 a treasure in an old pamphlet I lent him — f The Life 
 and Adventures of Daniel de Foe, hosier but it is a very 
 lean thing, chiefly a criticism on Robinson Crusoe, the 
 popularity of which was to sell the Life. De Lolme is 
 employed as the editor of this f History of the Union/ and 
 is engaged to write a large introductory preface. 
 
 The Bishop of Derry is now at Bath, and has given 
 fifty pounds to the Bristol poetical milkwoman t since she 
 has quarrelled with some of her first patrons and protectors, 
 and has threatened to write the Life and Adventures of 
 Hannah More, who first drew her from obscuritv. 
 
 “ I hope Mrs. Percy and the young ladies have brought 
 home health and spirits from Carlingford Bay to last them 
 for the winter at least. 
 
 “ Mrs. Lort begs to join in best compliments to them 
 with your Lordship’s affectionate, faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 Si P.S. In the packet you will find a print of your two 
 great patriots abusing one another, to the great diversion, 
 I should think, of all real and genuine patriots. If you 
 have not seen them, I think you will be pleased ; and I 
 could supply more. 
 
 “ To Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dromore.” 
 
 e£ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, Dec. 16, 1786. 
 
 ci I do assure you that I have had you frequently in my 
 
 * The Earl of Bristol. 
 
 f Mrs. Anne Yearsley died at Melksham, May 8, 1806. “ She was well 
 
 known in the poetic world as the Milkwoman of Bristol ; possessed an extra- 
 ordinary degree of genius, and, for a person in her situation, most valuable 
 information.” Censura Literaria, III, 112, See also Gent. Mag, May 1806, 
 p. 485. 
 
PERCT CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 475 
 
 mind with an intention of writing to you ; but since I re- 
 turned hither from my autumn excursion I have been 
 confined by a severe cold and oppression on my lungs, 
 for which I have undergone almost all the operations of 
 physic ; yet these, I believe, would hardly have relieved 
 me, had not Zephyrus come in aid, and given me better 
 breath and better spirits. I should not have troubled 
 your Lordship with my complaints, but as an apology for 
 my silence, and I feel myself happy that you have called 
 upon me to break it, and to send me your commissions, 
 which I shall endeavour to execute to the best of my 
 power. In a former letter in the spring, you mentioned 
 some things to be left for you at my house. I have re- 
 ceived none but some Scotch poems, left here by the 
 editor, Mr. Pinkerton. He called here himself with them, 
 but I was not at home ; and I am not sorry that I was not, 
 for he is one of those modern writers I desire no acquaint- 
 ance with. In some Letters* published by him under a 
 fictitious signature there is so much arrogance and self- 
 sufficiency, such a contempt of other writers of established 
 reputation, and such strange positions in religion, morals, 
 and politics, that I think must mark him out as Me niger 
 est } hunc tu, &,'C. 
 
 “ I had a letter lately from Mrs. Piozzi, dated Vienna, 
 November 4 , in which she says that, after visiting Prague 
 and Dresden, she shall return home by Brussels, whither 
 I have written to her ; and I imagine she will be in London 
 early in the new year. Miss Thrale is at her own house at 
 Brighthelmstone, accompanied by a very respectable com- 
 panion, an officers widow, f recommended to her as such. 
 There is a new Life of Johnson published by a Dr. Towers, f 
 a Dissenting minister and Dr. Kippis’s associate in the 
 Biographia Britannica, for which work I take it for granted 
 this life is to be hashed up again when the letter ‘ J’ takes 
 its turn. There is nothing new in it; and the author gives 
 Johnson and his biographers all fair play, except when he 
 treats of his political opinions and pamphlets. I was glad 
 to hear that Johnson confessed to Dr, Fordyce, a little 
 before his death, that he had offended both God and man 
 5y his pride of understanding. Sir John Hawkins’s Life 
 
 * Heron’s Letters ; see p. 471. 
 
 T Hon. Mrs. Murray, afterwards Mrs. Aust. 
 
 f “ An Essay on the Life, Character, and Writings of Dr. Samuel John- 
 s°n. By Joseph Towers, LL.D, 1786.” See Monthly Review, LXXV. 455. 
 
4 76 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of him is also finished, and will be published with the 
 works in February next. From all these I suppose Bos- 
 well will borrow largely to make up his quarto life ; — -and 
 so our modern authors proceed, preying on one another, 
 and complaining sorely of each other. 
 
 “ I am glad to hear that the disturbances by the White- 
 boys (of which I have left off reading the accounts pub- 
 lished in our newspapers) do not reach or affect your part, 
 and that you go on feeding and preserving your flock, 
 whilst they in return afford you more of their fleece than 
 any of your predecessors obtained, and this to the mutual 
 satisfaction of both parties. 
 
 “ There are two clergymen just arrived from the south- 
 ern states of America, who, if their testimonials and other 
 circumstances are approved of, will probably soon be con- 
 secrated Bishops at Lambeth. When this is done, the 
 Americans will have three bishops, and our colonies none ; 
 but I hope there will be one soon sent to Canada, when 
 the difficulties of his appointment shall be removed, which 
 they are in a fair train of being. It is determined he shall 
 not be a suffragan, as I believe no English bishop would 
 like to admit him as such. He will have a revenue of at 
 least 1000/. a year ; but I do not find that the American 
 bishops have as yet anything of this sort settled upon 
 them. Yet Bishop Seabury, who was consecrated by the 
 nonjuring bishops in Scotland, has sent over here for a 
 mitre ; and one has been sent him. This anecdote I only 
 knew within these few days. I went yesterday to the man 
 who made it, and he is to bring me the pattern he made 
 it from : I am sure I shall never wish for any further use 
 of it. But it is a singular circumstance that this orna- 
 ment, so long disused by our bishops, should be resumed 
 in America, where Dr. Price hoped there would be no 
 king, no nobles, no bishops. 
 
 “ Dr. Farmer is now with me, and begs to be remem- 
 bered to you. 
 
 “ In some late Gentleman’s Magazine* there is a charge 
 against Swift of an attempt to commit a rape when he was 
 Prebendary at Kilroot. Surely there can be no foundation 
 for this. Could he possibly have afterwards consigned to 
 infamy an English dean for a like attempt, in the cele- 
 
 * See a letter of Dr. G. Gregory in the Gent. Mag. for 1786, p. 464, 694, 
 and Dr. Calder’s answer, p. 741. See also 1787, pp. 103, 194. The 
 calumny is however refuted in the Mag. for 1790, p. 189. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 477 
 
 brated song he made upon it ? Yet the editor * of the new 
 edition of the Tatler (I forget his name) boldly asserts it, 
 and defends his assertion by arguments that do not please 
 or convince me. Your Lordship’s ever faithful and affec- 
 tionate M. Lort. 
 
 “ The Lord Bishop of Dromore, Ireland.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, March 8, 1787. 
 
 “ I was very glad to receive your letter from Dublin, 
 with the agreeable intelligence that you and your brethren 
 have with so much success stemmed the tide which had 
 set in so strongly against the clergy and their revenues ; 
 and no doubt, if it had overturned them, would press as 
 hard against the civil establishment. I had read, and 
 recommended to many others, the Bishop of Cloyne’sf 
 and Mr. Dignerau’s pamphlets, which gave me a very 
 clear conception of what was meditating on your side of 
 the wafer against both Church and State, and I make no 
 
 o ", * 
 
 doubt contributed also to open the eyes of those who may 
 through various motives have been blind to the true inte- 
 rests of both. The preface to the London edition of Bishop 
 Woodward’s pamphlet is dated Dublin, January 2, 1785 ; 
 yet the title-page says 7th edition, 1787, nor can I find 
 that it was to be purchased here till November or Decem- 
 ber 1786. How is all this to be reconciled? I heartily 
 wish that any good books or pamphlets printed in Dublin 
 could be more easily and expeditiously purchased. 
 
 c *' The Dissenters here are meditating an attempt to get 
 the Test Act repealed, but I hope they will not succeed ; yet 
 I should not be surprised to find they carry their point in 
 the House of Commons. That indeed will greatly depend 
 on the part the Minister shall take, and which is not yet 
 declared ; it is certain that he was much obliged to that 
 interest at the last general election, when the Dissenters 
 almost unanimously set their faces against the Coalition. 
 In their Case, printed and dispersed, there is little new 
 matter, but that the experiment has been tried in Ireland 
 and produced no ill effects. If you can furnish me with 
 
 * Dr. Calder. 
 
 + “ Present State of the Church of Ireland. By Richard Woodward, 
 Bishop of Cloyne, 1787.'’ See Monthly Review, LXXVI. 341. Bishop 
 woodward died in 1794, Gent. Mag. LXIV. 483. He was succeeded in the 
 tiocese of Cloyne by Bishop Bennet. 
 
478 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 any facts or arguments to invalidate this position, it will 
 be doing a service to the common cause. 
 
 “ Notwithstanding what the newspapers have recorded 
 of three American bishops having been consecrated at 
 Lambeth last December, yet no such consecration took 
 place till the 4th of February, when Dr. Provost, formerly 
 of Cambridge, and married there to a Miss Bousfield, an 
 Irish lady, whose brother was then a Fellow Commoner 
 of Trinity College, and Dr. White, an American, were 
 consecrated by the Archbishop, assisted by the Arch- 
 bishop of York, and the Bishops of Bath and Wells and 
 of Peterborough ; they were addressed by the style of 
 Bishops of New York and of Philadelphia. There is a 
 Dr. Griffith yet expected from Virginia for the same 
 purpose, and then I presume they will carry on their own 
 succession. As to Bishop Seabury, they do not mean to 
 act in concert with him ; nor I suppose to adopt his 
 mitre. 
 
 (t I had a letter lately from Mrs. Piozzi from Brussels, 
 intimating that she should soon be in Fmgland, and I 
 expect every day to hear of her arrival. I do not believe 
 that she purchased a marquisate abroad; but it is said, 
 with some probability, that she will here get the King’s 
 licence, or an act of Parliament, to change her name to 
 Salisbury,* her maiden name. Sir John Hawkins, I am 
 told, bears hard upon her in his 4 Life of Johnson/ 
 
 <e Your Lordship’s ever faithful M. Lort. 
 
 “ To the Lord Bishop of Dromore, 6, Grafton Street. Dublin.’' 
 
 :i My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, March 21, 1787. 
 
 “ I have just received by the post four Belfast news- 
 papers, with an indorsement on one of them to say 
 if I wished to see Mr. Baker’s answer to the Bishop of 
 Cloyne, you would send some over here. I most gladly 
 accept your offer, and not to lose time write by this post 
 before I had time to read more of the paper than the 
 writing on it ; for the Dissenters’ bill here is to be brought 
 into the House the latter end of the next week, and I 
 know not what is most likely to be its fate ; I hope re- 
 jected in the first instance, or if not then, that it will be 
 afterwards, without its coming into the House of Lords. 
 
 * See the conduct of Mrs. Thrale with regard to her second marriage with 
 M. Piozzi ably defended, against the attacks of Dr. Johnson and his fol- 
 lowers, in the Gentleman’s Mag. for Jan. 1847, p. 3. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 479 
 
 They are exceedingly active in canvassing and making 
 friends to it, and there are no less than eleven M.P.’s on 
 their Committee to carry on the business. 
 
 “ Mr. and Mrs. Piozzi are arrived at an hotel in Pall 
 Mall, and are about to take a house in Hanover Square ; 
 they were with me last Saturday evening, when I asked 
 some of her friends to meet her : she looks very well, and 
 seems in good spirits ; told me she had been that morning 
 at the Bank to get “Johnson’s Correspondence” amongst 
 other papers, which she means forthwith to commit to 
 the press. There is a bookseller has printed two supple- 
 mentary volumes to Hawkins’ eleven, consisting almost 
 wholly of the * Lilliputian Speeches.’ * Hawkins has 
 printed a Review of the ‘ Sublime and Beautiful’ as 
 Johnson’s, which Murphy says was his. 
 
 “ To the Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.'’ “ M. LoRT. 
 
 My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, April 3, 1787. 
 
 “ I am very much obliged by your letters of the 20th 
 and 26th of March. Before I say more, let me say some- 
 thing on the event of last Wednesday, when the motion 
 to bring in a bill for the repeal of the Test Act was re- 
 jected by a majority of not quite two to one. This the 
 patrons of the repeal affect to treat as a kind of victory, 
 on the strength of which they threaten hard to persevere 
 with unremitting assiduity, and to bring the same motion 
 on every session, in hopes of succeeding at last. Having 
 strenuously supported Mr. Pitt’s interest at the last elec- 
 tion against Mr. Fox, they had flattered themselves with 
 the Minister’s support, or at least that he would not have 
 taken so decided a part against them. But Mr. Fox took 
 advantage of this event, and by a smart answer to Mr. 
 Pitt and Lord North, (the member for Cambridge and the 
 Chancellor of Oxford, as he observed,) has no doubt re- 
 covered and secured the dissenting interest for the next 
 general election. Lord Beauchamp flourished much on 
 the experiment having been tried in Ireland without any 
 ill consequences resulting from it ; the speakers against 
 the repeal either could not or would not answer this 
 assertion. Lord North was in the latter predicament, the 
 
 * “ The Debates in the Senate of Lilliput,” written by Dr. Johnson for the 
 tie j 1 li e y iail, s Magazine, were published by Stockdale in 1787, as Vols. XII. 
 and XIII. of Johnson’s Works ; and in 1788, Yol. XIV. was added, con- 
 sisting of Miscellaneous Pieces. 
 
480 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Test Act being repealed in Ireland during his administra- 
 tion. But the papers you have been so good as to send 
 me will throw sufficient light on this matter, and more 
 particularly the protest on the Marriage Bill, which seems 
 new to most people I have shown it to. There is no 
 doubt but that the Dissenters here, if they carry this first 
 point, will follow the steps of those in Ireland. Here the 
 Church chose to keep much aloof, and let the question 
 be considered in a civil light, as affecting the State full as 
 much ; and I believe Mr. Pitt’s and Lord North’s 
 speeches convinced many people of the truth of this. 
 The former made use chiefly of Sir Robert Walpole’s 
 arguments against the repeal moved for in 1736, and 
 Lord North seemed to have been much obliged to Bishop 
 Sherlock’s pamphlet, republished now, with a dedication 
 to Mr. Pitt. This drew from the Dissenters a republica- 
 tion of Bishop Hoadly’s answer ; and indeed, the question 
 having been so ably discussed in the time of these two 
 great men, little now could be adduced on either side. 
 They talk much of Dr. Campbell’s* answer to the Bishop 
 of Cloyne, and of reprinting it here as the work of the 
 ablest of their party in Ireland. But in truth they have 
 much more to urge in their behalf there than here, being 
 a greater number than the Established Church ; and if 
 they cannot get uppermost by art and management, I am 
 afraid they will do it by force. I suppose that Marriage 
 Bill was passed here in the administration of Mr. Fox. It 
 is supposed that the Catholics here mean to apply for an 
 alleviation of some of their burdens, particularly the 
 double tax; which, if the Dissenters should succeed, they 
 can do with a better grace ; so they probably have or will 
 join forces. The Duke of Norfolk, it is said, has promised 
 all his weight and influence to assist the former; and this 
 notion produced some excellent lines in a morning paper, 
 which I will inclose in this.fi What Lord Tyrone men- 
 
 * “ A Vindication of the Principles and Character of the Presbyterians of 
 Ireland. By William Campbell, D.D. minister of Armagh.” See Monthly 
 Review, LXXVI. 442. 
 
 f Lo, Surrey’s Earl that chapel quits 
 Where Priests dull masses chant, 
 
 And in St. Stephen’s chapel sits 
 A zealous Protestant. 
 
 Should he be called by heaven’s decree 
 The Upper House to enter, 
 
 A further reformation see, 
 
 His Grace will turn Dissenter. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 481 
 
 tions in his speech, of the women associating and com- 
 pelling their husbands by a singular manoeuvre to take an 
 oath not to pay tithes, is not a new measure, whatever 
 the compulsory clause may be ; though that, I believe, 
 may be found in one of Aristophanes’ plays. I have in 
 my possession a curious pamphlet, being a Petition sent 
 to the Parliament in 1659, by above 7000 handmaids and 
 daughters of the Lord, and such as feels the oppression 
 of tithes ; printed for Mary Westwood, at the west end 
 of St. Paul’s. These names are all ranged under their 
 respective counties. I will give one as a specimen. 
 
 tc ‘ Yorkshire, — We, whose names are here underwritten, 
 being truly sensible of the great oppression (by reason of 
 tithes) in this commonwealth by the cruel exacting of 
 priests, impropriators, farmers, and others, &c. do here, 
 in the presence of the Lord God, and in the sight of men, 
 bear our testimony against that oppression, by setting our 
 names to this paper, who desire the same may be ten- 
 dered to the Parliament of England, that this burden may 
 be removed.’ Then follow the names in four columns. 
 This petition does not appear on the Journals, but I have 
 no doubt that it is referred to in the following Vote : c June 
 27, 1659. A paper directed to the Parliament of England 
 from many thousands of the freeborn people of the Com- 
 monwealth against the payment; of tithes : it was read, 
 and the same answer given as had been to the Petition of 
 many Gentlemen of Somersetshire, &c. against tithes ; 
 viz. For the matter of tithes, the House hath commanded 
 me to let you know that they resolve to give encourage- 
 ment to a godly preaching ministry, and for that end to 
 continue the payment of tithes unless they can find out 
 some more equal and comfortable maintenance for the 
 people.’ 
 
 “ Please to observe, in one case they are called gentle- 
 men, in the other the people. So I presume they would 
 not have women appear on their Votes, who, as they did 
 not succeed in their application, had probably not thought 
 of this Irish method of procuring an abolition of tithes, 
 
 “ You may depend on my silence with regard to your 
 Lordship’s intelligence of any kind sent to your faithful 
 and affectionate M, Lort. 
 
 Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 VOL. VII. 2 I 
 
482 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 c( My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, April 9, 1787. 
 
 “ I have received two more papers, one of them con- 
 taining the Address of the Dissenters to Dr. Campbell, which 
 I suppose will he followed by others ; I have not read his 
 pamphlet, retailed in these papers, because I am told an 
 edition of it will be published here. Dr. Priestley has just 
 published a letter to Mr. Pitt, which I wish I could con- 
 vey to you in the same manner as you sent Mr. S. B.’s to 
 me ; however, as I find newspapers may go and come free, 
 I will send one containing extracts from a pamphlet which 
 can scarce be matched in any of your Irish productions, and 
 if you tell me that it comes free I may perhaps send you 
 more, as I would have done the debates on the Test Act, 
 but that I thought it probable they would be copied in the 
 Irish papers. In truth the question has been so thoroughly 
 discussed by able writers in the beginning of George the 
 First and George the Second’s reign, that scarce any thing 
 now can be said upon the subject. 
 
 “ The Bishops of St. Asaph* and Landaff f it is said, 
 declared at a meeting of the bishops that they should not 
 oppose the repeal if it should be brought into the house 
 of Lords : the latter has been very ill, and is gone to Bath. 
 Carlisle J does not go to the blouse, but he is just recovered 
 from an illness that Dr. Heberden declared he never 
 knew any person to get over. There is a Mr. Lowther,§ it 
 is said, ready to succeed him, when he shall please to 
 make a vacancy. 
 
 “ Of the Greek Testament I wished your Lordship to 
 inquire for in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, I find 
 there is only a small portion, not above a page or two, 
 written over by some more modern Greek treatise. 
 
 “Here is Mr. Macknight || come up from Scotland with 
 proposals for a new English translation of the Epistles, 
 to be printed in a pompous quarto by subscription ; but I 
 
 * Dr. Shipley. f Dr. Watson. X Dr. Law. 
 
 § The Rev. Sir Wm. Lowther, Bart., of Little Preston, co. York, and 
 Rector of Swillington ; born July 10, 1707 ; married, 1753, Anne, dau. of 
 the Rev. C. Zouch, Yicar of Sandal ; and died June 15, 1788. He was father 
 of Sir Wm. Lowther, who succeeded the Earl of Lonsdale, in 1802, as 2nd 
 Viscount Lonsdale, and in 1807 was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Lons- 
 dale. 
 
 || “ A newliteral'translation of the First and Second Epistles to the Thes- 
 salonians. By James Macknight, D.D. one of the Ministers of Edinburgh, 
 and Author of “ A Harmony of the Gospel,” 4to. 1787. See Monthly Re- 
 view, LXXVI. 471. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 483 
 
 scarce think he will succeed, though his Harmony was a 
 good one. 
 
 “ Your Lordship perhaps may have seen my name in 
 the papers as a Trustee of the British Museum, together 
 with Lord Leicester, Dr. Douglas, and Mr. Astle. It is 
 not so; I never solicited the honour; Lord Aylesford did, 
 and so he was elected. 
 
 “ Lady Percy, that was, is now in the King’s Bench 
 prison, gallantly attending her paramour, the noted sheriff 
 Sayre, that was taken up for a plot in the American re- 
 bellion, and by mere bullying on his side, and sad mis- 
 management and timidity on the other, not only escaped, 
 but turned the tables on his adversaries, and recovered 
 damages of them for false imprisonment.* 
 
 “ The King has had a slight attack of the gout, and the 
 Prince of Wales therefore swears he will never drink 
 water. Your Lordship’s ever faithful M. Lort. 
 
 “ Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 K My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, May 13, 1787. 
 
 “ Just after I received your last packet, by favour of 
 Lord Sunderlin, I was tempted by the Bishop of Salis- 
 bury f to accompany him to Cambridge and to Ely, where 
 he had never yet been, and we returned back both well 
 pleased with our expedition. He is about making some 
 improvements in his cathedral at Salisbury, and he was 
 desirous of seeing what had been done in that at Ely. I 
 am very much obliged to your Lordship and to Mr. 
 Barrett for the very satisfactory account and specimen 
 sent me of the Dublin MS., which I communicated to the 
 Bishop above mentioned, and the day after I received it, 
 to a learned circle at Dr. Herberden’s, who were all much 
 pleased with it. I carried it to Cambridge to show it to 
 the literati there, and to compare it with Beza’s MS., 
 but I found that was taken out of the library by Dr. 
 Kipling of St. John’s College, who is about to publish it, 
 in the same manner as the Alexandrian has been published; 
 but of which I own I do not see the use or the necessity ; 
 for it is impossible in any types to print an exact fac- 
 
 * Stephen Sayre was arrested for high treason Oct. 23, 1775, and com- 
 mitted to the Tower. He was bailed, and his recognizances discharged. 
 He afterwards brought an action against Lord Rochford, and obtained 1000/. 
 damages. See Gent. Mag. XLY. 498, 501, 606 ; XLVI. 285. 
 
 t Dr. Barrington. 
 
 2 I 2 
 
484 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 simile, and therefore recourse must always be had to the 
 MS. itself in any point of consequence. The printed copy 
 of the Alexandrian MS. is a pretty singular curiosity, like 
 Pine’s Horace, but there is no need of more than one of 
 this sort. It is a lucky circumstance that in the Dublin 
 MS. almost all that part of St. Matthew’s Gospel wanting 
 in the Alexandrian should be found; but I am much dis- 
 appointed in not finding the Doxology to make a part 
 of it. 
 
 “ I have a sermon to prove its authenticity from internal 
 evidence, i. e. from its being so natural a sequel to deliver 
 us from the Evil One. For thine is the kingdom, not his , 
 though he pretended to offer Jesus the whole world, as such, 
 with all its glories. At Cambridge, I looked over Dr. 
 Bentley’s prepared volumes of the New Testament, which 
 seem finished according to his proposals, though Middle- 
 ton asserted he had only done the last chapter of Revela- 
 tions. They were lately left to Trinity College by his 
 nephew, Dr. Richard Bentley, from whom Dr. Woide got 
 leave to copy the Vatican Collations for his edition of 
 the Alexandrian. 
 
 “ Just after the receipt of your letter I sent you two 
 newspapers in an open cover, each containing something 
 by M. Lort. If they cost you more than a penny I shall be 
 sorry. When your newpaper f TheDublin Chronicle’ comes 
 out, pray send me one as a specimen. Last New Year’s Day 
 came out three new papers here ; two of them soon died ; 
 the third, called the “ World,” still keeps its ground, 
 carried on by Captain Topham* and Mr. Miles Andrews, f 
 a gunpowder merchant, both well known to the theatrical 
 world as writers of farces and epilogues. As I frequent 
 no coffeehouse I seldom see any paper but that I take in, 
 “ The Public Advertiser.” I mention this as an apology? 
 if I should miss sending you anything very curious in the 
 others, which are often difficult to procure after their day 
 is passed. If I thought you had not Priestley’s Letter to Mr. 
 Pitt, I would send you that under Mr. Ley’s cover; but I 
 
 * Major Edward Topham died April 26, 1820, aged 68. See an account 
 of him and his writings in Gent. Mag. XC. i. 469. , 
 
 f Miles Peter Andrews, M.P. died July 18, 1814, aged 84. He was 
 author of eleven farces, from 1774 to 1795. Amongst other legacies he e 
 his friend Major Topham 3007. An account of him and his writings wi 
 found in Gent. Mag. LXXXIV. ii. 190. See also Gent. Mag. LXXXV. n 
 597, a curious instance of mental delusion in Mr. Andrews supposing he s 
 Lord Lyttleton appearing at his bedside on the day he died. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 485 
 
 presume that if any of the late publications here on the 
 Test Act came to Dublin, this must have been in their 
 number. The leading Dissenters here are very angry with 
 him for that publication, and made him reprint a page to 
 retract one particular assertion concerning the ministers 
 promise of support. Lord North made probably his last 
 speech in the House of Commons on that occasion. He 
 is now irrecoverably blind by a gutta serena in both eyes. 
 There is a letter of Berington,* the popish priest, to Priest- 
 ley, which I will send to Mr. Ley, the same man who in a 
 former pamphlet drew a character of Lord Surrey, now the 
 Duke of Norfolk, which he was obliged to omit in a 
 second edition. This man wrote also an Answer to Haw- 
 kins’s Appeal on his quitting the Catholics at Worcester.f 
 Hawkins is now in London, patronised by the Bishop of 
 Winchester^, who has put him into our orders and recom- 
 mended him to Lambeth for a degree. Mr. Wharton, § a 
 popish priest from the same neighbourhood, is now in 
 America ; and Carroll, a popish bishop in Maryland, has 
 written and published in America an Address to the Roman 
 Catholics of the United States. I mention all these to 
 know if you wish I should purchase them for you, and 
 how they may be conveyed to you. I picked up lately A 
 Free Examination of the Common Methods employed to 
 prevent the Growth of Popery, to which are added season- 
 able Reflections offered to the Consideration of the Legisla- 
 ture, 12 mo . Dublin, printed by D. Chamberlayne, at Faulk- 
 ner’s Head, 1774* This is a compilation of papers first 
 published in the “ Public Ledger,” and spouted at some 
 disputing clubs set up by the Catholics in London. 
 
 “ I bought Lindsay’s Liturgy lately ; it is I am told 
 
 * The Rev. Jeseph Berrington was a voluminous author. He was a valu- 
 able correspondent of the Gentleman’s Magazine. See vol. LVII. 955, 
 1044, LVIII. 124, 696, 1156, L1X. 26, LX. 1012, 1165, LXV. 451, LXIX. 
 ”55, 749 — 751. His opinions were not approved of by his Roman Catholic 
 rethren. See a notice of Mr. Berrington in the memoir of Dr. J. Milner, 
 ! n literary Illustrations, vol. V. p. 685, and a letter from Bishop Milner 
 in Gent. Mag. LXV. 723. He died Dec. 1, 1827, aged 84. See a full 
 account of him and his works in Gent. Mag. XCVIII. i. 374. 
 
 , A* “ e R ev - John Hawkins published, An Appeal to Scripture, &c. 8vo. 
 i'8b. Month. Rev. LXXIY. 412. Address to Dr. Priestley, 1789, 8vo. 
 Month.Rev. L xxx. 91. 
 
 + Dr. North. 
 
 cesi ^^arton published “ A Letter to the Roman Catholics of Wor- 
 duced 1 • r ° m a ^ ate Chaplain of that Society ; stating the Motives that in- 
 p . llm t0 retire from their communion and become a Member of the 
 
 mestant Church,” 8vo. 1784 ; commended in MonthlyReview, LXXII. 395. 
 
486 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 adopted by the Episcopalians in New England ; there is 
 also an abridgment of the Common Prayer, done and 
 printed at Benjamin Franklin’s expense, at London, in 
 1773, but I do not find adopted anywhere. I have not 
 been able to procure yet the American Liturgies. Bishop 
 Seabury and his flock in Connecticut I believe have made 
 no alterations in the English Liturgy, but political ones. 
 
 “ I was very glad to receive an account of your new 
 Society for Christian Knowledge and Practice, and the first 
 fruits of its institution. O’Leary’s print, I am told by 
 those here who know him, is a strong likeness ; but you 
 are behind us in caricature. I sent in the small box, 
 which you say is not yet arrived, two or three on modern 
 fashions for the use of your ladies, who 1 hope are well, 
 and to whom I beg mine and Mrs. Lort’s compliments. 
 
 ce Mrs. Piozzi and her car a sposa seem very happy here 
 at a good house in Hanover Square, where I am invited 
 to a rout next week, the first I believe she has attempted, 
 and then will be seen who of her old acquaintance continue 
 such. She is now printing Johnson’s Letters in 2 vols. 
 octavo, with some of her own ; but if they are not ready 
 before the recess they will not be published till next 
 winter. Poor Sir John Hawkins, I am told, is pulled all 
 to pieces in the Review.* 
 
 “ I am sorry your Lordship is so disturbed about the 
 letter in the last Archseologia.f On ascertaining a curious 
 fact, it was voted to be printed, and being such only I did 
 not think you expected to have been applied to for your 
 consent ; but I will take better care for the future. Your 
 friend Pinkerton has been publishing something about the 
 Celts, in which I am told he bears almost as hard as 
 Johnson did on the publisher of Ossian. I shall not be 
 sorry to see them go to loggerheads ; I mean on paper. 
 
 (( Your Lordship’s affectionate and faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lokt. 
 
 “ Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Dromore.” 
 
 u My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, June 26, 1787. 
 
 “ I am happy to find, by your letter of the 15th, that 
 
 * This very long and able review of Dr. Johnson’s Life will be found nr 
 Monthly Review, LXXVI. 273, 489, LXXVII. 56, 131. Sir J. Hawkins 
 is unmercifully cut up. 
 
 + An extract from a letter from Bishop Percy to Dr. Lort, on some large 
 fossil horns found in Ireland, was printed in the Ardneologia, VII. 158. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 48 / 
 
 the parcel I sent by sea from home some months ago is 
 at length arrived ; but I suspect the modern pyramids are 
 almost become ancient, and have given place to some new 
 folly. I am glad also that the two pamphlets I sent to Mr. 
 Ley’s came safe to you and uncharged; I have just forwarded 
 another, Pere Courayer’ s * Sentiments, &c. and have also 
 sent four or five of the Popish Controversy, by Wharton, 
 Carol, &c. to Mr. Barker’s lodgings. I could not procure 
 Hawkins’s Letter to the Worcester people. Geddes’ 
 £ Church of Malabar ’ is likewise not to be had at present, 
 but must be sought for in catalogues. Lindsay’s Liturgy 
 Sir John Hawkins has, or will procure you. I know 
 nothing yet of Baxter’s, nor do I understand what is 
 meant by the Free Examination, &c. 12mo. 1774. The 
 f Liturgy on Universal Principles’ is Williams’s, fi that 
 did not succeed in Margaret-street Chapel. Dr. Stocks’ 
 Answer to Dr. Campbell came safe ; and I was much 
 pleased with it. Campbell’s pamphlet is reprinted 
 here : the Dissenting party will not suffer such writings to 
 be long unknown in this metropolis. The Dublin Chro- 
 nicle also came to hand, and is a specimen worthy imita- 
 tion here. I saw an advertisement in it of a new Map of 
 Ireland, by the Rev. Augustus Beaufort, M.R.I.A., J — 
 letters I cannot decipher. I heartily congratulate your 
 Lordship on the success which has crowned so deservedly 
 the labours of the champions of the Church of Ireland : 
 
 ‘ So the pure, limpid stream,’ &c. &c. 
 
 * “ A Declaration of my last Sentiments on the different Doctrines of 
 Religion, by the late P. F. le Courayer, D.D. (Published from the 
 French by W. Bell, D.D. Prebendary of Westminster. See Monthly 
 Review, LVIII. 37). Translated from the French. To which is prefixed 
 an account of Dr. Courayer.” The translator (whose name at the time was 
 concealed) was the Rev. John Calder, D.D. Dr. Calder died June 10, 
 1815, aged 82. See memoirs of Dr. Courayer in Literary Anecdotes, II. 
 39 — 44 ; VII. 96, 543 ; and further anecdotes of him, with his portrait, 
 in Literary Illustrations, vol. V. p. 60 ; and a memoir of Dr. Calder, 
 with a selection from his correspondence, in Literary Illustrations, vol. IV. 
 pp. 789—848. 
 
 t Of David Williams a long memoir, written by his friend the Rev. 
 Richard Yates, will be found in Gent. Mag. 1816, ii. 86 — 90. His Liturgy 
 and Lectures at Margaret Street Chapel continued about four years ; 
 see Gent. Mag. 1816, p. 88. He was the founder of the Literary Fund; 
 and died June 29, 1816, aged 78. In the words of Mr. Fitzgerald, the 
 honorary poet of that Society, 
 
 “ Time that destroys the Hero’s trophied bust, 
 
 Shall spare the bay that blossoms o’er his dust.” 
 
 + Member of the Royal Irish Academy. 
 
488 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Your friend Dodsley has had 2500Z. worth of printed 
 paper burnt in a warehouse, so as to produce him when 
 sold for waste only 80/. : none of this insured. The 
 chief copies were Spence’s 4 Polymetis/ 4 London and its 
 Environs/ and a quarto 4 Geographical Account of Eng- 
 land / none of them much to be regretted, nor that would 
 probably have produced him many fourscore pounds.* 
 
 44 Mr. Lovitt called on me lately, and would have 
 carried over any parcel for me to your Lordship ; but I 
 found he was not going soon back to Ireland. Mr. Barker 
 also called on me, and I would gladly have seen more of 
 him, but Mrs. Lort has left me alone here. She is gone 
 to Colchester; and I shall follow her to-morrow, but shall 
 return in a fortnight, and make similar excursions from 
 here for the remainder of the summer. I do not like sea- 
 voyages ; otherwise your Lordship’s invitation would be 
 a very tempting one, both to me and to Mrs. Lort. I beg 
 my best respects to the ladies, and remain with great 
 truth your Lordship’s ever faithful 44 M. Lort. 
 
 “ To Lord Bishop of Droraore, Dublin.” 
 
 44 Mv DEAR Lord, Saville Row, Aug. 14, 1787. 
 
 44 I have been on the ramble since I received your letter 
 by Dr. Hales, but was lucky enough to be a few days in 
 town during his stay in it, and think myself much obliged 
 to your Lordship for introducing me to so worthy a cha- 
 racter. Unluckily he was here at a time when the town 
 was quite empty, and was not better off at Cambridge, 
 where he found few or none of the persons to whom he 
 had letters of recommendation. The publication you sent 
 me of his was imperfect ; so he supplied me with another, 
 and I presented another for him to the Archbishop, who 
 has been so much engaged in business of late, at the Privy 
 Council and elsewhere, that I suppose he could not find 
 time to receive strangers. He has at last carried through 
 one important matter, which but for his zeal and activity 
 . would not have been finished — at least this year. On 
 Sunday Dr. Inglis was consecrated Bishop of Nova Scotia, 
 
 * A fire in Little Wild Street, June 7, 1787, communicated to Mr. Jar- 
 vis’s printing-office, and to the warehouses of Messrs. Dodsley, Longman, &c. 
 in which were deposited an immense quantity of books, which were con- 
 sumed. (See Gent. Mag. LVII. 634.) 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 489 
 
 and this week he is to embark in the last vessel that is to 
 sail this year for Quebec. He is a very good scholar and 
 writer, and a worthy man, and I think will do credit to 
 this first appointment. He is to reside, and to have with 
 that the other two provinces of New Brunswick and 
 Canada for his diocese. The interest of the money left 
 by different people for an American Episcopate will be 
 about 500/. annually, and it is expected that Government 
 will add 500/. more. In the Dublin paper you sent me, 
 that very properly announced his appointment, there was 
 a curious letter relative to the deprivation of some minister 
 by the General Assembly of Scotland ; in which sentence 
 they seem to acknowledge no supreme head of their Church 
 but King James. This ought to be better known, if the 
 fact is literally so ; but Dr. Beattie, to whom I got a friend 
 to shew this letter, said, ‘ This man talks like an Irishman, 
 and knows nothing of the Church of Scotland/ I am not 
 satisfied with this answer, and, as I am going in a day or 
 two to the Bishop of Chester’s,* in Kent, where Beattie is, 
 1 will have this matter explained. 
 
 “ If you have not been already informed, you will be 
 surprised to hear that the little pamphlet you sent me, 
 drawn up by a Popish priest f as the reasons of his conver- 
 sion, is taken verbatim from the following : — 1 A Brief 
 Account of the Motives and Reasons of the Conversion 
 of the Rev. Mr. Thomas Harly, A.M. late a priest of the 
 Church of Rome, who publicly renounced the errors of 
 the Church of Rome at the parish church of St. Peter, 
 Dublin, Sunday, Sept. 8, 1765/ London, 8vo. 14 pages 
 closely printed. The little pamphlet is about half of this. 
 
 “ Here are some squibs let off against Dr. Priestley, 
 under the character of Jews, to whom he addressed some 
 letters ; but are not worth sending. I shall forward to 
 Mr. Ley’s a paper with an impudent letter of O’Leary’s, 
 whom a Mr.Curran, | I think in your House of Commons, 
 so extravagantly commends. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful M. Lort. 
 
 “ To Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 * Bishop Porteus. 
 
 t By Mr. Wharton. See before, p. 485. 
 
 + John Philpot Curran, died Oct. 14, 1817, aged nearly 70. See a me- 
 nion of him in Gentleman’s Magazine, LXXVII. ii. 371, 6‘38. 
 
490 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Bishop Percy to the Rev. Dr. Lort. 
 
 C( DEAR Sir, Dromore House, 2nd March, 1788. 
 
 te Upon looking over my memorandums, I find it is just 
 five months since I wrote to you (viz. Oct. 2) without 
 ever hearing that you received my letter, which makes me 
 apprehensive that either it hath miscarried, or that you 
 have been ill : indeed, if from various avocations you have 
 delayed writing to me, I have no right to complain, who 
 have more guilt of that sort to answer for than anybody. 
 I hope, however, soon to hear that you and Mrs. Lort 
 enjoy good health, and that, only deferring, you do not 
 mean to deprive me of the pleasure of your correspond- 
 ence. This hath been a very unhealthy winter in my own 
 family. I was confined with a feverish cold almost the 
 whole month of January ; otherwise I generally enjoy 
 good health. But Mrs. Percy was seized at the beginning 
 of December with a bilious fever of the most alarming and 
 dangerous kind, which confined her to her chamber more 
 than two months, and she has not yet wholly recovered 
 from its malignity ; which hath prevented me from attend- 
 ing Parliament hitherto, and we are now beginning only 
 to look towards Dublin. Otherwise I should have been 
 sending you some of the productions of the day, particu- 
 larly a pamphlet written by Mr. Browne, member for the 
 University, to vindicate the legislature and government of 
 Ireland from a charge, which has passed uncontradicted, 
 of their having violated the articles of Limerick granted 
 by king William to the Roman Catholics at the termina- 
 tion of the war in 1691. But you shall have it, with some 
 other things of that sort, when once I reach our metro- 
 polis. You are all, I suppose, so busied with the trial of 
 Mr. Hastings, that you have no other subject to com- 
 municate. I wanted to hear from you, inter alia, to con- 
 gratulate you and all good men on the promotion of Dr. 
 Porteus* to the bishopric of London, where he will do 
 infinite good. Two abuses of a most destructive tendency, 
 especially to youth, want to be reformed in that corrupt 
 
 * Dr. Porteus was elected Bishop of Chester in 1777 ; and translated to 
 London in 1787. He presented Dr. Lort to the sinecure rectory of Fulham 
 in 1789; and died May 14, 1809, at Ide Hill, in the parish of Sundridge, 
 Kent. See a view of Ide Hill Chapel, founded by Bishop Porteus, and a 
 view of his tomb, in Gent. Mag, 1814, ii. 577- 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 491 
 
 * 
 
 metropolis. Though difficult to cure, I will not despair of 
 it from its excellent diocesan : the one, if I may credit 
 the papers, has already attracted his notice — I mean the 
 removal of common prostitutes from all the most fre- 
 quented streets, &c. The other I wish were recommended 
 to his notice, viz. to suppress the corrupt and inflammatory 
 prints and publications which, in the cheapest forms, are 
 obtruded upon youth in every stall and window of the 
 booksellers’ and print shops, to the universal corruption 
 and destruction of the rising generation. From that great 
 common shore (I believe I should write sewer) the baleful 
 streams are diffused through the whole kingdom, and every 
 libidinous pamphlet or novel is lent out to hire in petty 
 circulating libraries in every little dirty town in England. 
 When I was dean of Carlisle, our remote bookseller had 
 received a cargo of all the adulterous trials, with indecent 
 prints, &c. the volumes of which he had taken to pieces, 
 to accommodate the more easily and expeditiously all his 
 circulating customers. I really thought it my duty to in- 
 terpose, and partly by remonstrance, and partly by threat- 
 ening to put in execution laws (which by the bye I fear 
 did not, but ought to exist), I got them, and all books of 
 that sort, removed out of his shop and catalogue at least, 
 and he promised me they should not be lent or sold to 
 any one. I hope he kept his promise ; but, if not alto- 
 gether, he no longer obtruded them on the unsoliciting 
 eye. Would to God something of this kind could be 
 effected at the fountain-head ! And, if vile books cannot 
 wholly be prevented from existing, at least they should 
 not stare the modest reader in the face, as I think you 
 and I have heretofore lamented. The perusal of such vile 
 publications by milliners’ apprentices, &c. in the circu- 
 lating libraries of every little town is the general prepa- 
 ration for the brothels in London ; so that the checking 
 this enormity would probably go far to prevent the other. 
 Believe me, dear friend, your most affectionate and faith- 
 ful servant, Tho. Dromore. 
 
 “ N.B. — The success which attended the good Bishop 
 °f London’s exertions to revive the religious observance 
 of Good Friday makes me despair of nothing which his 
 Lordship shall deem a proper subject for his animated pen 
 and zealous attention.” 
 
492 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Dr. Lort to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, London, April IT, 1788. 
 
 u I take shame to myself for having so long neglected 
 writing to your Lordship ; but you are not the only one 
 of my correspondents who have to upbraid me on that 
 score. The truth is, that I cannot think of writing to so 
 good and so distant a friend on less than three folio sides 
 of paper ; and that idea has often deterred me from sitting 
 down to write, when I supposed I had not time before 
 me to scribble half as much. This winter, though not a 
 severe one, yet has passed more heavily with me than any 
 preceding one. The cold air and easterly winds affected 
 my breath so much that I scarce have been able to stir 
 abroad but in a carriage, nor to breathe freely but by the 
 fireside, and for some hours after I am up. Then I have 
 been prevented, by frequent calls and interruptions, from 
 reading or writing much; and in the evening my eyes 
 will not hold out to do much in either way. I should not 
 have said so much about myself was it not by way of some 
 sort of apology for my long silence. I am sorry to find 
 so bad an account given of the health of your own family, 
 and particularly that of your better half. It is to be 
 hoped that the spring advancing will set us all right again, 
 and restore us that blessing without which all other bless- 
 ings are tasteless and insipid. Compared to that* I think 
 lightly of every thing else the world calls blessings. So that 
 I have viewed the great variety of Church preferments 
 lately vacant, and the struggle for them, with much indif- 
 ference ; and expecting nothing, and scarcely desiring any 
 thing on my own account, I have not been disappointed. 
 
 “The Bishop of London is in better health than I 
 remember him for some time past. His present diocese 
 will be less troublesome to him than the last. The nui- 
 sances in the metropolis you recommend to his notice, he 
 has not been inattentive to. That, more particularly, of 
 indecent books and prints, you and I, who have rum- 
 maged so many bookstalls, must be more acquainted with 
 than most others of our profession. The Archbishop put 
 the late proclamation into my hands before it was printed, 
 and gave me leave to insert a particular clause relative to 
 them ; and partly on my complaint, and at my instigation, 
 the parish of St. Martin’s prosecuted a notorious vender of 
 this poison at the quarter sessions, where he was con- 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 493 
 
 victed, and only fined 135. Ad. So I suppose he is got to 
 his old trade again. 
 
 “ Among the numbers of our brethren who have suc- 
 ceeded lately in the Church, I dare say your Lordship was 
 pleased to see our friend Farmer. 'His stall at St. Paul’s 
 is 1 000/. a year. So he is soon to bring a lady with him, 
 — Miss Hatton, one of the late Sir T. Hatton’s seven 
 daughters, with whom he has been many years acquainted, 
 and it is supposed, connected. I think she has 5000/. 
 fortune. When the Bishoprick of St. David’s became 
 vacant, it was strongly suspected that the Bishop of 
 Ferns* was to be translated to it : but that the Mi- 
 nister, finding this would open a door to perpetual solicita- 
 tions of the same sort, abstained from doing this. Bishop 
 Preston dined with me yesterday, and talks of returning 
 soon to Ireland, and bringing a good library with him. 
 How comes it about that so good a collection of books 
 as the late Dr. Wm. Martin’s, of Killeshandra, should 
 not find purchasers in Ireland, but that the proprietors 
 should send it here to be sold by auction ? The catalogue 
 shows it to have been the collection of a divine, a gen- 
 tleman, and a scholar. 
 
 “ The papers thought proper to announce me as one 
 of Mr. George Jenyns’ executors ; it is not true : but Mr. 
 C. Cole, whom they named as the other, will republish 
 his works in 4 vols. 8vo. The additional pieces are, some 
 poems, among which Latin lyric odes, written in his youth, 
 an essay on the national debt, and some comments on or 
 expositions of passages of the New Testament. 
 
 “ Mr. Bruce’s MS. Travels are in town to be printed 
 in 3 volumes, 4to. with many copper plates. You know 
 it has been much the fashion to doubt the relations this 
 gentleman has given, at different times, in different com- 
 panies ; and in some late publications sarcastic observa- 
 tions to this purpose have appeared, particularly in a 
 4to. book published last winter at Dublin by Mr. Walker 
 on the Irish Bards.f 
 
 “ I take for granted that you have read Dr. Johnson’s 
 Correspondence, published by Mrs. Piozzi ; and, though 
 you might not have been sorry to have read the whole, 
 yet I wish, for the Doctor’s sake, that only half of it had 
 
 * Dr. Preston, see p. 462. 
 
 t Memoirs of the Irish Bards, by Joseph Cooper Walker, esq. 4to. 1786. 
 bee Monthly Review, LXXVII. 425. 
 
494 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 been printed. In one letter it is said, 4 1 have seen Mrs. 
 Knowles, the quaker, and her futile pictures it should be 
 sutile ,* a word, though not to be found in his Dictionary, 
 yet very aptly made to express the mode of painting, viz. 
 in needle work, of which sort there are two portraits of 
 the king and queen made by Mrs. Knowles at Buckingham 
 House. I desired a sight of the original letter in order 
 to determine a wager. There it plainly appeared that a 
 dash had been put across the long s, Johnson’s usual mode 
 of writing that letter, perhaps by the printer or corrector of 
 the press. The only MS. letter I saw, before it was com- 
 mitted to the press, was that at the end, to Mr. R. about 
 great and small debts, which I intreated Mrs. Piozzi 
 to withhold, but without effect. This lady gives splendid 
 concerts in Hanover Square, where her youngest daughter 
 lives with her. The three eldest live together in Conduit 
 Street, very near their mother, but will not visit nor re- 
 ceive her visits. 
 
 “ Mr. Kirwan, a great chymist, lately gone from here to 
 live at Dublin, has written to a friend here, that some Irish 
 bishop, I believe Ne wco mb e, calls Dr. Priestley Anti-Christ. 
 
 “I have received a letter from the Rev. Bishop of Nova 
 Scotia, t in which he says, that on his arrival at Hallifax 
 he found the Church of England in a very declining 
 condition. 
 
 “ I shall insert in this a paragraph relative to emigrants 
 from Ireland to America, which ought to appear in all the 
 Irish provincial papers.^ 
 
 * See Boswell’s Johnson, Croker’s 8vo. edit. iii. 442. 
 
 f Dr. Inglis, see p. 488. 
 
 % “ On the 3d instant Capt. Thos. Thomson, in the sloop Sally, beating 
 up from the south-west point of Heneaga for Watering Bay, saw a white flag 
 hoisted on the shore ; he immediately hoisted out his yaul, and went to the 
 place, where he found twenty-three women, and fifty-three men and boys, in a 
 most distressed situation. They informed him that they had been passengers 
 on board the brig Chance, commanded by John Stafford, from Dunlary, in 
 Ireland, bound for Charleston and Baltimore, in North America ; that, 
 after being three months out, and having been for six weeks on short allow- 
 ance, they were landed on that desolate island in the evening of the 30th 
 of December. That the Captain, previous to his putting them on shore, in- 
 formed them that the island was Trinidada, in which there were three towns, 
 and many settlements, and that they might easily get from thence to any 
 part of America. That on their being landed, and finding neither inhabit- 
 ants nor settlements, they determined to return on board : but, on approach- 
 ing the boat, a musket was fired at them, which killed one of their number. 
 They also mentioned that thirty-two persons had died on the passage. Capt. 
 Thomson arrived here on Sunday with fifty-six of these unfortunate people. 
 Twenty of them were landed on Long Island.’’ 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 495 
 
 “ Mrs. Lort joins with me in best respects to Mrs. 
 Percy and the young ladies. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful and affectionate friend 
 and servant, M. Lort. 
 
 “ Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dromore.” 
 
 “ dear Lord, London, May 21, 1788. 
 
 “ I sent you a long letter lately, but, if you should not 
 acknowledge the receipt of it this half year, I fear I should 
 have no reason to complain, and I only mention it now 
 for my own sake, and with a possibility that this letter 
 may have miscarried ; for I think I mentioned in it our 
 friend Dr. Farmers succeeding Dr. Douglas in a residen- 
 tiaryship of St. PauPs, supposed now to be worth 1,000/. 
 a year, on the strength of which he renewed his proposals 
 of marriage to Miss Hatton, whose father, the late Sir T. 
 Hatton, had resisted the former proposals ; but now the 
 young lady and her mother very readily acceded to them, 
 and the former was ushered to Amen Corner to give direc- 
 tions about the house, and to a painter to sit for her pic- 
 ture. But so it happens, that the lover’s cold fit is come 
 on, and he has absolutely declined all further proceedings. 
 No good reason has yet been publicly assigned, so that all 
 his friends, as well as the lady’s, are much hurt, none more 
 than G. Steevens, the common friend of both, under whose 
 guidance and direction the whole business has proceeded, 
 and was to have been completed. 
 
 “ From a match broken off, let me pass to one that has 
 taken place, and probably your Lordship will be equally 
 concerned for both. Mr. Cottingham’s marriage to Miss 
 Wollery. As the lady has no fortune, and has appeared 
 upon the stage in London and Dublin, no doubt but that 
 you, and all the gentleman’s friends, will lament this union. 
 It will be but justice to the lady to say what I know of 
 her. She is the eldest of three daughters of a gentleman 
 of fortune in the West Indies, who sent them here with 
 their mother for better education, and they seemed to have 
 availed themselves to a very good degree of the advantages 
 afforded them here, being well-accomplished, elegant young 
 women. They lodged and boarded with a Mrs. Hamilton, 
 in Delahay-street, who is the widow of an officer, and who 
 has long kept a very respectable house of this sort ; Mr. 
 Brickdale, the member for Bristol, and his family, having 
 long lodged and boarded here. Mrs. Lort also, before she 
 
496 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 married, when she came to town did occasionally live here 
 on the same footing, and was so much pleased with Mrs. 
 Hamilton's behaviour and regulation of her family, that 
 she has always retained a great esteem for her, and visited. 
 By doing this Mrs. Lort became acquainted with Mrs. 
 Wollery and her daughters, and liked them so well as to 
 invite them to this house. But Mr. Cottingham never 
 saw them here, and I was surprised to find him settled 
 in Mrs. Hamilton’s family a twelvemonth ago, nor do I 
 know how he got thither. 
 
 “ Mrs. Wollery’s remittances from the West Indies 
 having failed or been diminished, the eldest daughter 
 having performed with success in a private play, she was 
 induced to try her fortune on the public stage ; but from 
 want of voice, and a proper assurance, she did not meet with 
 the encouragement she expected, and which her accom- 
 plishments in all other respects might otherwise have 
 entitled her to. In this situation she must have met with 
 many tempting offers to forfeit her character, but I have 
 no reason to believe that she yielded to any of them, and 
 consequently seems to have greater merit to boast than 
 if she had only filled a private station. We have seen 
 and heard but little of them since they married, but thus 
 much concerning the lady I thought it right to transmit to 
 your Lordship ; and if it shall be of any service in bringing 
 about a reconciliation between Mr. Cottingham and his 
 friends I shall be glad. 
 
 “ With my best respects to the ladies, I remain your 
 Lordship’s affectionate and faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort, 
 
 “ To the Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Dromore.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, August 1 , 1788. 
 
 “ When I troubled you with a letter relative to young 
 Cottingham and his marriage, it was indeed with a view 
 that you might be able to conciliate matters with his father, 
 who I thought had been a clergyman in your Lordship s 
 diocese, and at no great distance from you. The case is 
 much altered by the account you gave me of the slight 
 acquaintance you had with him. It luckily happened that 
 an acquaintance and friend of his father. Bishop Hawkins, 
 was here in town, and I believe has acted a very friendly 
 part by the young couple, but I do not find that the father 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 497 
 
 has yet afforded either pardon or assistance. Dr. Martin 
 has also been very kind to them, and I am told the lady’s 
 father, who lives in Jamaica or Barbados, has invited 
 them over there, and I suppose will assist them in their 
 maintenance. 
 
 “ I have never been able to get or to see the tract 
 against popery you wish to have but in the Lambeth Library. 
 Dr. Hales has sent me a cargo of pamphlets published by 
 him and Mr. Browne, and other able writers, against the 
 Papists and the Whiteboys. In Dr. Hales* £ Survey’ there 
 are some particulars relative to the late transactions of the 
 Inquisition in Spain and Portugal ; but if that tribunal can 
 ever be supposed to act right, they do not seem to have 
 been far from it in the cases of the leader of the Spanish 
 
 Colony and the Mathematical Professor at . It was 
 
 not at the fopperies of popery only they laughed, but, as it 
 should seem, at all natural and revealed religion. 
 
 “ Here is a club of noblemen and gentlemen who have 
 engaged to send one or more curious persons to explore 
 the interior parts of Africa. One Ledyard,* an American, 
 who had been round the world with Cook, and had since 
 engaged to traverse the continent of America, but returned 
 re infecta , is said to be employed in this undertaking. 
 When the Report of the Privy Council relative to the Slave 
 Trade is printed, much curious information it is supposed 
 will appear relative to that quarter of the globe. Mr. 
 Bruce’s Travels, when they appear next winter, will also 
 give the world, what has been long expected, an account 
 of the other extremity of it. 
 
 “ The Town is all in a ferment at present with the West- 
 minster Election, which the Mob will carry I believe at all 
 times, and, as the Mob is generally in the hands of Oppo- 
 sition, I wonder the Ministry make a point of what they 
 will seldom be able to succeed in. I want to run away 
 from the riot and bustle, and shall go in a day or two to 
 the Isle of Wight, where I spent two months very agree- 
 ably two years ago. I must not go far from town, as I 
 must attend the sessions of the Old Bailey in the beginning 
 °f September. A young man, a confectioner in Devon- 
 shire-house, has been amusing himself with opening very 
 
 , * \ good abstract of the “ Proceedings of the Association for Promoting 
 e Discovery of the interior Parts of Africa, 1790,” may he seen in Gent. 
 a g- LX. p. 633 ; where there is also a memoir of Mr. Ledyard. 
 
 VOL. VII. 2 K 
 
498 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 dextrously every cabinet he could get access to. Besides 
 trinkets and other valuables, he swept off the whole series 
 of Greek and Roman gold medals. Luckily the greater 
 part of these have been recovered, and amongst them the 
 most rare and curious. 
 
 44 Your Lordship’s affectionate servant, M. Lort. 
 
 “ To the Lord Bishop of Dromore, at Dromore.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, April 13, 1789. 
 
 44 A letter I received lately from Dr. Hales gives me the 
 pleasure of hearing that you are well, and calls upon me to 
 tell you that I am almost so, recovering from the torpid 
 state in which I have dragged through a severe winter, 
 confined to my fireside by an oppression on my breath 
 and lungs. This has determined me to seek relief in a 
 milder climate next winter, and if I cannot get so far as 
 Naples, at least to winter at Nice or Montpelier. 
 
 44 So much for myself ; but what shall I say next ? Can I 
 be silent as to the wonderful events that have taken place 
 here in the course of this winter — events that make 
 people, neither credulous nor superstitious, acknowledge 
 an interposition of Providence, which saved this island, 
 and perhaps yours also, from evils which impended and 
 threatened the worst consequences ? Of the general belief 
 and expectation of which there cannot be a stronger proof 
 than the general joy and congratulations that have taken 
 place in consequence of the King’s seasonable and won- 
 derful recovery. A late Lord-Lieutenant of yours (Towns- 
 hend) says that the whole 21st Psalm suits the occasion 
 and his party exactly, as well as the first verse of another 
 psalm — 4 Give the King thy judgments, &c.’ You proba- 
 bly have seen some of the many remarkable publications 
 which daily issued from the press here during the King’s 
 illness. Amongst them are 4 Seven Letters to the People of 
 England by a Whig,’ 4 The Royal Interview,’ and ‘Alfred.’ 
 One of the best of the caricature prints is 4 Sancho in 
 Barataria,’ which I will send to Mr. Ley’s for you, accom- 
 panied with a declaration of the Catholics here, previous 
 to their application to Parliament for a Toleration. 
 
 44 This is to be accompanied with a long paper contain- 
 ing the opinions of the Faculty of Theology at Louvaine, 
 relative to such tenets of the Catholics as are supposed to 
 be hostile to civil government, and which the Louvaine 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 499 
 
 •doctors deny or explain away. The Dissenters also mean 
 to renew their application to Parliament for an Abolition 
 of the Test ; that is, in case a dissolution should be likely 
 to take place ; for there they mean to form a test of their 
 own as to their future votes for Members, to be given 
 only to those who will promise to support them hereafter, 
 and to be withheld from those who shall prove hostile 
 to their application. There is nothing like perseverance. 
 So, perhaps, thinks a brother Bishop* of yours, who, not 
 being able a year ago to get translated to St. David’s, 
 now hopes to succeed better as to Gloucester, though the 
 report here is that he is very ill and not long for this 
 world. 
 
 “ Your Primate, f I understand, means to spend the re- 
 mainder of his days at Bath. 
 
 “ Mrs. Piozzi’s Travels, in two vols. 8vo. will soon make 
 their appearance ; she talks of going to Scotland this 
 summer, and perhaps of crossing over to Ireland from 
 Port Patrick, if she can seduce her husband, who hates 
 the water. 
 
 “ Our friend Farmer’s old mistress is married, and he 
 begins to recruit his spirits and take kindly to Amen Cor- 
 ner.;]; He and his brethren are fully employed in preparing 
 St. Paul’s for the 23rd. It is said much pains was taken 
 by those supposed to have most influence with the King 
 to prevent this celebrity taken place, as fearing the danger 
 and consequences of a relapse. As a prebendary of St. 
 Paul’s I shall have a place there, and in the procession, 
 but I believe I shall not fill it, and plead my fear of a re- 
 lapse to be absent. Could I place a substitute for that 
 day only, I doubt not but that I might be amply gratified 
 I hope Mrs. Percy and the young ladies are well ; Mrs. 
 Lort begs to join me in affectionate regards to them. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful servant, 
 
 " M. Lort. 
 
 “ ^he Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 (( DEAR Lord, Colchester, June 14, 1789. 
 
 Your letter found me at Bath, and as soon as I came to 
 own I set about collecting the books you wished to have. 
 
 I spent a month lately at Bath, and found great bene- 
 t from the air and the water of the place, so that I thank 
 
 . P r- Preston, Bishop of Ferns ; see p. 462. 
 Dr. Robinson. See p. 453. 
 
 Of Dr. Farmer, see p. 33. 
 
 2 k 2 
 
500 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 God I am now as well as I could wish or expect. I went 
 over to Bristol to pick up some fresh intelligence of Rowley 
 or Chatterton. There I found Barrett had left Bristol 
 and retired into the country, and that his 4 History of 
 Bristol’ only waited for some fac-simile engravings of 
 Rowley’s MSS. to come forth to the public ; perhaps he 
 wished to see also the new Life of Chatterton,* since pub- 
 lished by Dr. Gregory, a city divine, into whose hands 
 Kippis had put the materials he had collected for Chatter- 
 ton’s Life for the next volume of the Biographia Britan- 
 nica, but for some reason declined writing the life him- 
 self. As some of these were mine, this brought on an 
 interview with Dr. Gregory and myself, and I saw his MS. 
 and proposed alterations, of which some were adopted, 
 others not. I long much to see Barrett’s book, of which 
 I am told almost all the copies are subscribed for, so that 
 its price will be increased, a circumstance not very com- 
 mon with books subscribed for. 
 
 “ Your old friend Ritson met with a repulse lately at 
 our Antiquarian Society, a circumstance which I do not 
 remember to have taken place in my memory. I am no 
 longer in the ministry there. Having been so much con- 
 fined to my house all the last winter, I thought it right to 
 resign my place of Vice-President to a more active and 
 useful member. Colonel Vallency’s coin in your Society’s 
 Transactions has not escaped notice; I believe it was first 
 exhibited to our Society, and scouted. 
 
 “ Mrs. Piozzi’s Travels I have not yet perused, but ex- 
 pect much entertainment from them when I go to town. 
 She is gone near to Scarborough. I produced your in- 
 vitation to her and Mr. Piozzi, which seemed to be taken 
 very kindly, and I think it is very likely will be accepted. 
 
 “We are told here that Mr. Cottingham’s father has 
 taken great notice of him, his wife, and child, and is par- 
 ticularly pleased with the two latter. 
 
 “ The Dissenters triumph much on the small majority 
 by which their late Bill for the Repeal of the Test Act 
 was rejected in the House of Commons: but, as it does not 
 appear that new friends increased their minority, it may 
 
 * “ The Life of Chatterton, with Criticisms on his Genius and Writ- 
 ings, and a concise View of the Controversy concerning Rowley’s Poems- 
 By G. Gregory, D.D. F.S.A. author of Essays, Historical and Moral.” ( ee 
 Monthly Review, LXXXI. 344.) Dr. Gregory died March 12, 1808. 8ee 
 memoirs of him in Literary Anecdotes, IX. 195. Also in Chalmers » l o- 
 graphical Dictionary. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 501 
 
 well be concluded that many adverse votes staid away in 
 full confidence they should not be wanted, and hoping 
 thereby to avoid resentment at the next general election, 
 when it is supposed these Dissenters will have a test of 
 their own to try the candidates by. As to Lord Stan- 
 hope’s schemes and motions, I think the quarter they 
 come from is likely to operate much in their disfavour. 
 They made some able speeches from the Bishops^ bench. 
 
 I am happy to hear that your ladies are well ; Mrs. 
 Lort joins me in all kind regards to them. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s faithful and affectionate, 
 
 “M. Lort. 
 
 “ To Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 a My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, London, July 11, 1789. 
 
 “ Two packets of books have been sent to RobinsorPs 
 in Paternoster Row, to be forwarded to you at Dublin. 
 What have no price set to them are much at your Lord- 
 ship’s service : the print of Madame Guimard is intended 
 for the ladies ; it is very little overcharged. 
 
 <£ You will have seen by our papers that Lord Stanhope^s 
 two bills — for a general and almost unlimited toleration, 
 and that relative to tithes — have been both thrown out of 
 the House of Lords. Several of the Bench of Bishops did 
 themselves great credit by speaking against the first ; and 
 Lord Kenyon, in a much better speech than the papers 
 have chosen to record, disannulled the latter. The Scotch 
 Episcopal Nonjurors is deferred for the present; and the 
 Catholics, being not encouraged by the Minister to pursue 
 their design of applying to Parliament, dropt it — for this 
 session at least. H owever, you see that Toleration is the 
 word at present that operates like a charm ; nor have I 
 any objection to it within proper limits, and so that it 
 does not serve as a step for the inferior sects to become 
 the superior. 
 
 “ A letter lately from Mrs. Piozzi at Scarborough tells 
 nie that she is going to Edinburgh ; so I think it very 
 likely you may see her soon at Dromore. I had thoughts 
 of taking a trip to the Continent for the next two months ; 
 but rumours of famine and civil war in France make me 
 content to stay here, and ramble perhaps to the Lakes in 
 Westmoreland and Cumberland, and, having got so far, 
 fo visit the Bishop of Carlisle* at Rose Castle. 
 
 * Dr. Douglas. See p. 450. 
 
502 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Dr. Farmer, being threatened witli a surreptitious edi- 
 tion of his pamphlet on Shakspeare, has been prevailed on 
 at last to put out a third edition, with few or no alterations. 
 
 * c The pamphlet entitled f Hints to the New Asso- 
 ciation ’ is attributed to the Duke of Grafton, and there- 
 fore worthy your notice. I had no notion that his Grace 
 was so deep a divine. The f Fragmens/ &c. 2 vols. were 
 given after I had already purchased a copy ; for they were 
 much talked of when first published. I much suspect 
 that I have sent some other pamphlet instead of ‘ Bishop 
 Watson on Confirmation/ unless I had two copies, which 
 I do not recollect. Adieu, my dear Lord, and believe me 
 yours very truly and affectionately, 
 
 M. Lort. 
 
 “ P.S. This moment is Barrett’s c Bristol 5 come to 
 hand : it is a large 4to. sold for two guineas ; subscribed 
 for, 1/. 11 s. 6d. At the end is a fac-simile engraving of 
 one of Rowley’s MSS., and several letters between Rowley 
 and W. Canynges, and also a most curious letter of Chat- 
 terton to Barrett, in which he says pride is his predominant 
 passion, and makes eighteen-twentieths of his character. 
 Barrett seems little disposed to believe all Rowley’s MSS. 
 genuine. 
 
 “ To Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Brighthelmstone, March 12, 1790. 
 
 “Your letter of the 20th of February is forwarded to 
 me at this place, where I have been since the middle of 
 December, being driven from London in search of purer 
 and milder air, which I have found here, and have, thank 
 God, had better health and spirits than for several pre- 
 ceding winters. This, you know, is one of the most 
 southerly situations in Britain, and I have been lodged 
 within six yards of the cliff, and seen the sun rise from 
 and set in the ocean for above a month together, — a sight 
 that does not occur to many residents on terra firma ! 
 
 “ Before Mrs. Lort and I set out on our travels last 
 autumn, I received your Lordship’s kind invitation to 
 Dromore, and am pretty sure that I returned an answer 
 to it stating reasons why we could not do ourselves tha 
 pleasure. Madam drove me all the way in a one-horse 
 chaise, calling at several friends’ houses in our way; a 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 503 
 
 Qundle, with Dr. Walcot;* * * § at Worksop, with the poor 
 Bishop of St. Asaph,f happy in his country parsonage, 
 with his wife and children all around him ; at Wakefield, 
 near which we met Dr. Bennet,J as he might have told 
 your Lordship ; at Kendall, from whence we went to the 
 Lakes, and then to Rose Castle,§ where we were hospitably 
 entertained. 
 
 “ Our intention was from hence to have crossed the 
 country, from Carlisle to Newcastle ; but, being so near 
 Scotland, nearer probably than we should ever be again, 
 the weather good, and ourselves and horses in good plight, 
 we set off for Gretna Green, and so by Moffat to Edin- 
 burgh. This road, to be sure, was not very alluring, but 
 we were made amends by the road out of Scotland to 
 Berwick. Being now straitened for time, we scarce stopped 
 at Carlisle, so could not pay our devoirs to the deanery, 
 as we knew Edinburgh would demand more time than we 
 had to spare, and, indeed, we could do little more than 
 admire the new town and the new buildings ; but, as for 
 the literati of the Law and the Church, few of them were 
 then in town. Dr, Robertson, I was informed, was grown 
 deaf, and as I could not converse with him, I had no 
 curiosity to see him. At Alnwick we hoped to have seen 
 the Castle by the help of Mr. Brand, but he was not visible 
 till after we had taken a hasty view of some of the apart- 
 ments, and then he pressed us much to stay all night, and 
 take a better view the next day ; but we had settled our 
 route to lie at Warkworth, where we went, and found 
 excellent accommodations at an inn, where a handsome 
 assembly-room is built ; the next morning we saw the 
 hermitage, and a miraculous draught of fishes. I must 
 now go back to say, that as we were going to supper a 
 letter came from Mr. Brand, by the Duke’s servant, and 
 in the Duke’s name, to invite and almost insist on our re- 
 turning the next day to the Castle, and staying till we 
 should see every thing worth notice in and about it $ 
 though straitened for time, we could not help complying, 
 
 * Dr. \\m. Walcot died at Oundle, July 18, 1806, aged 87. He was of 
 esus ’ College, Cambridge; M.B. 1742, M.D. 1747- He acted for many 
 years as a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for Northamptonshire. See 
 Gentleman’s Magazine, LXXVI. 778. 
 
 j Hr. Samuel Hallifax, who was just dead. He died March 5, 1790. 
 
 + Then Chaplain to the Earl of Westmoreland, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 
 See PP- 65, 508. 
 
 § The seat of the Bishop of Carlisle, then Dr. Douglas. See p. 450. 
 
504 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 M r entbaek, were carried about in the Duke’s coach, and had 
 a most pleasant reception from both their Graces, and 
 were pressed to stay two nights there ; but the Duke going 
 next day to Morpeth races, we followed, but did not stop 
 there, and the next day got to Durham, where we spent a 
 week with the dean, i. e. the Bishop of Peterborough.* 
 At York we fell in with the Bishop of Carlisle f and family 
 going to town, and with their own horses ; so we joined 
 company almost all the way at noon and night, and got safe 
 to London about the middle of October, having travelled 
 above 900 miles without any accident or misadventure. I 
 was in hopes I had been hardened by this expedition and 
 change of air, but the London fogs soon distressed me, 
 and at length forced me to this place; the winter has 
 been indeed remarkably mild, more so than I ever re- 
 member. Last summer I had fully intended to have gone 
 to the south of France, but was luckily prevented by the 
 troubles on the continent. By the papers it appears they 
 have had hard weather and much snow in many parts of 
 Italy. 
 
 “ From this place you will not expect much news ; 
 when I go to town, which I mean to do before Easter, 
 I will send you one or two of the pamphlets that shall be 
 thought the most distinguished in the late dispute, but 
 will they go free to Dr. Bennet ? 
 
 “ Mrs. Lort joins in kind remembrance to Mrs. Percy 
 and the young ladies, with, my dear Lord, 
 
 “Yours very affectionately, M. Lort. 
 
 “ To the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Dromore.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, April 16, 1790. 
 
 “ I brought a stock of health with me from Brighthelm- 
 stone, and here I have been using it very fast, so that if 
 business had not brought and kept me here I should 
 have returned all so fast. Whether the ship arrived in the 
 river with ice from Greenland has brought winter with it 
 I know not, but sure I am, I feel its power, and so do 
 many other invalids; however, this ought not to have 
 prevented my having acknowledged sooner your letter, 
 which came to Brighton the day after I left it, and did not 
 
 * Dr. John Hinchliffe. He died Jan. 11, 1794. See memoirs of him in 
 Literary Anecdotes, IX., 488. 
 
 t Dr. Douglas. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 505 
 
 come immediately to my hands; its coming thither free 
 convinces me of Dr. BennePs power and privilege, of 
 which I have availed myself by sending him the following 
 pamphlets : — 
 
 “ Lord Petre’s Letter to Bishop Horsley. 
 
 “ Collection of Resolutions of the Clergy against the 
 Repeal of the Test. 
 
 “ Letter to the Delegates. 
 
 “ Apology for the Clergy and Liturgy. 
 
 “Account of a Forged Inscription. 
 
 “ Commentary on the Lord’s Prayer. 
 
 “ The last is a small thing of mine, which will not 
 please the philosophising Christians of the age, who, I 
 am afraid, are increasing in number. 
 
 “ The Apology, &c. is by no common hand, — given by 
 many to the late Bishop Hallifax, and there is an answer 
 to this, which is supposed to be by the Bishop of Landaff,* 
 that shall follow in a post or two. I presume you have 
 the 4 Original Hints,’ &c., which drew forth these two cham- 
 pions, supposed to have been the work of the Duke of 
 Grafton, and most cordially received by all the Dissenters, 
 Of the pamphlets written against them, ‘The Letter to the 
 Delegates J was reckoned among the best ; but I shall send 
 you two or three more such, and amongst them Robinsonf 
 the AnabaptisPs Plan of Lectures, which Mr. Burke ex- 
 hibited, with much success, in the House of Commons, 
 and read passages from it that had a very visible effect. 
 It has been hitherto little known out of the circle of the 
 people it was intended to operate upon, but deserves to 
 be more generally known. 
 
 “ I can say nothing as to any private schemes of Mr. 
 Sheridan, which Mr. Burke was supposed to have alluded 
 to, nor can I tell you why his promised pamphlet % does not 
 appear. Some say that he is waiting for the general bank- 
 ruptcy to take place, which he had foretold ; but it is 
 supposed that the Church lands will save France from this 
 calamity. A company is formed here in London, with a 
 hank of 300,000/. that are to send agents over to purchase 
 Church lands on speculation. 
 
 “ Here is an African Association that send people to 
 
 * Dr. Watson. 
 
 f Rev. Wm. Robinson. He died June 8, 1790. See Chalmers’s Bio- 
 graphical Dictionary. 
 
 + His “ Reflections on the French Revolution.” 
 
506 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 explore the unknown parts of that country, and have 
 printed, but not published, a book of the discoveries already 
 made, in which there are many curious particulars.* 
 
 “ George Steevens has been playing tricks with his 
 brother antiquaries, or, as he says, with two only, Gough 
 and Pegge ; the particulars you will see in the last Euro- 
 pean Magazine.! - Poor Norris {, now quite superannuated, 
 has at last resigned, and is to have a pension of 100/. 
 a-vear. I am out of the ministry at present, nor have I 
 been at one meeting all this winter. If you have the Ar- 
 cheeologia, pray look at my paper on the American Inscrip- 
 tion, supposed by Gebelin to be Punic, and by Vallancey 
 to be Tartarian ; you will see, that in spite of the Boston 
 Professor, and your Colonel Vallancey, I have reduced 
 it to the lowest standard of human art, by supposing it 
 the scrawl of Indian hunters. Now comes a reviewer in 
 the lust c English/ and says, we are mistaken ; that the 
 late Bishop Berkeley went on purpose to see it, and found 
 it the work of the wind, waves, and weather corroding 
 the rock, and I am very much disposed to be of this 
 hypothesis ; but what will Colonel Vallancey say to it ? 
 However, I shall try to get a more authentic account of 
 this opinion of Bishop Berkeley’s. Adieu, my dear Lord, 
 and believe me, 
 
 “ Yours always, “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, May 1, 1790. 
 
 “ I have just now received your letter of the 27th, and 
 if I can get the pamphlets mentioned, will send them by 
 this post. It is very true that the four Popish Bishops, 
 or Apostolic Vicars, as they style themselves, did oppose 
 the proceedings of the Committee who was to manage and 
 conduct the application to Parliament of the Catholics, 
 and in consequence of this opposition the business is 
 stopped for the present; the objection was as much or 
 more to the new oath proposed as to the title. The 
 Bishops printed and dispersed a joint letter to their flocks, 
 of which, I believe, some account is given in a letter to 
 one of them, which, if I can procure, shall accompany 
 this. 
 
 * See p. 497. 
 
 t See European Magazine for March 1790, p. 177 ; and Gent. Mag. 
 1790, pp. 217, 290. t See p. 461. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 507 
 
 “ I have just secured it, together with Lord Petre’s, but 
 cannot at present procure Bishop Horsley’s, and, as the 
 post is about departing, I will only add, that I am 
 
 “Your Lordship’s ever faithful, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ Lord Bishop of Dromore.” 
 
 Remarks by Bishop Percy on Lord Petre’s 
 Letter to Bishop Horsley. 
 
 “ In p. 22, I suppose his Lordship means by a — 
 
 “ (1) Papist , — one who blindly and without reserve 
 admits all the papal claims and most extravagant preten- 
 sions, both in temporals and spirituals ; and is devoted to 
 the Court, as well as Church, of Rome. 
 
 “ (2) Roman Catholic , — one who admits all the papal 
 claims in spirituals, soil, of supremacy, and the infalli- 
 bility of the Pope’s decrees in points of religious doctrine 
 and discipline; but distinguishes between those of the 
 Church and Court of Rome, rejecting the latter. 
 
 “ (3) Protests g Catholic,-— -one who protests against 
 the papal claims of supremacy itself, in all the points spe- 
 cified in the declaration signed by the nobility, gentlemen, 
 and clergy, annexed to Lord Petre’s letter, denying the 
 Pope’s infallibility, &c. &c. &c. and would be a Protest a.nt 
 but for some few points of speculative doctrine, wherein 
 he differs from the Church of England. 
 
 “ It appears to me that the ProtestiNG Catholic is ap- 
 proaching so near the ProtestANT, that many of them will 
 overlook the distinction, and become the latter ; and that 
 this very title itself is adopted in order to facilitate the 
 junction.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, May 8, 1790. 
 
 “ I have been waiting in vain for Bishop Horsley’s 
 pamphlet against the Dissenters to send you, which, though 
 out of print, my stationer undertook to procure, but could 
 not succeed, so you must be content with three of the 
 best pamphlets on the same side, which cannot be circu- 
 lated too far. 
 
 “Bishop Horsley was certainly not the author of the 
 c Apology for the Clergy and Liturgy and I have very 
 u le. doubt, so far as internal evidence goes, that Bishop 
 Hallifax was. I have as little, on the same evidence, that 
 
508 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Bishop Watson wrote the Considerations, &c., which I 
 sent from hence just before I had received your Lord- 
 ship’s last letter, though the Bishop has lowered his usual 
 tone, and written in as guarded a manner as if he expected 
 it would be known that he was the author. 
 
 “ There is a fourth pamphlet, f On the Social Union,’ just 
 published, by one Young,* an attorney, who has already 
 established a society, and got a large subscription for 
 taking care of the children of criminals and convicts ; if 
 his abilities and his honesty are equal to his zeal and acti- 
 vity in founding philanthropic societies, he may do much 
 good in the world. 
 
 “ Pray make my congratulations to Dr. Bennet, f and 
 why may I not add, accept the same for yourself and 
 brethren, in having so worthy a character added to your 
 bench. Whilst George the Third reigns, I shall hope the 
 bench, in both countries, will maintain its credit and 
 dignity. 
 
 “ Many thanks for your hint as to the aprov eirlovaiov. 
 In Soamej: Jenyns’ Works, just published, there are some 
 short dissertations on texts of Scripture, amongst which, 
 one on the 6 ivovripbs so extremely applicable to my system 
 that if my tract comes to a new edition it shall be added 
 to it. But the Reviews, I doubt not, will do all they can 
 to prevent that. 
 
 “ There is near 1000^ subscribed for Johnson’s monu- 
 ment, and Sir Joshua wishes much to have it erected in 
 St. Paul’s,§ hoping that Johnson, at least, may be allowed 
 a place there, and thus a precedent established for the 
 admission of other monuments which the sculptors hope 
 to obtain. 
 
 “ As I have not scrupled to send you the fun upon 
 some of our brother A.S.S.es here, I think I may call 
 upon you to send a specimen of that which I am told is 
 circulating in Dublin upon our brethren there. 
 
 * Robert Young, esq. Projector of the Philanthropic Society. See Lelt- 
 som’s Hints to promote Beneficence, &c. vol. III. p. 138. 
 
 f Dr. Bennet had recently been appointed Bishop of Cork, and was after- 
 wards translated to Cloyne. See p. 65. A series of his Letters to Mr. 
 Gough and Mr. Nichols are printed in Literary Illustrations, vol. IV. 706 — 
 712 : with a memoir of Bishop Bennet prefixed to them. 
 
 J See, p. 493, where for “ George,” read “ Soarne’’ Jenyns. 
 
 § This was accomplished; and Howard’s and Johnson’s statues, both by 
 Bacon, were the first public monuments erected in St. Paul’s Cathedral. 
 Howard’s statue is engraved in Gent. Mag. for March 1796, p. 179; and 
 Johnson’s statue in European Magazine for the same month, p. 160. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 509 
 
 “We are happy to hear that you and yours will soon be 
 in England, when I hope we shall have the pleasure of 
 often meeting. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful, M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Mv DEAR Lord, Saville Row, May 14, 1790. 
 
 “ I shall be glad to find that the paper sent with this 
 exhibits the Oath you inquire after, and wish to see. It 
 was given me without a comment, and so you must 
 make the best of it. As to the broad sheet, I have a 
 notion that I have already sent you one : but, as it seems 
 of consequence, there will be no harm in your having a 
 duplicate. What is written at the bottom is from one of 
 the agents employed to bring the matter before Parlia- 
 ment. This was prevented by the dispute between them- 
 selves concerning the Oath. 
 
 “ The proposals for an English paper to be printed at 
 Paris, and imported hither, will not I hope be carried into 
 execution ; or, if it is, that the Stamp Office here will pre- 
 vent its circulation, as I hope it will also do on your side 
 of the water, where it should seem, as also in Scotland, 
 the projector hopes to kindle a flame similar to what has 
 destroyed the Constitution in France. I hope not to see 
 the experiment tried here, as I expect no change for the 
 better. You will find Mr. Courteney trying what his wit 
 and irony may do to effect this. They may suit some 
 tastes, but are too vapid for mine. 
 
 “ I hope you have glutted your appetite with the lost 
 books of Livy, which Dr. Bennet informs me were arrived 
 at Dublin. By the time they get into an English dress, I 
 am afraid they will deviate far from the original to which 
 they are supposed to belong. People here doubted very 
 early of their authenticity ; and, as it is said, in conse- 
 quence of letters from their learned correspondents at 
 Palermo. I take for granted, their credit will be supported 
 by external as well as internal evidence. 
 
 “ I saw a person the other day who had the honour of 
 conducting the Irish traveller * (I forget his name) to Je- 
 rusalem, and, I believe, accompanied him hither. He 
 has brought over a great number of relics, crucifixes, 
 and Agnus Dei , from Jerusalem, for which he hopes to 
 find a ready market in Ireland. 
 
 * Mr. Whaley. 
 
510 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 et With our united good wishes to the ladies, I remain 
 your Lordship’s affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ To Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 iC My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, June 16, 17.90. 
 
 ts Being at Colchester when your packets arrived here, 
 they were not forwarded to me ; so that I have not been 
 able sooner to acknowledge and thank you for the con- 
 tents. Sir Robert Chambers’ letter I immediately com- 
 municated to Mr. H. Walpole, Sir Wm. Scott, and Mr. 
 Steevens ; and have just now received it back from Cam- 
 bridge, whither I had sent it by a safe hand to Dr. Glynn. 
 He gave no opinion on it to my friend, but said he should 
 deposit all the papers he had relative to the Rowleian 
 Controversy in the British Museum. The three former 
 are, I know, very well satisfied, as indeed every unpre- 
 judiced person must be who reads Sir Robert’s letter, 
 which Mr. Steevens recommends to be published in the 
 European Magazine,* that part at least that relates to 
 Chatterton. I shall wait your directions in this busi- 
 ness. 
 
 “ Let me now thank you for your letter, received two 
 days ago, with an account of the Arabic translation of 
 Livy, of which no copy has yet arrived here that I can learn. 
 The bacon anecdote f is quite new to me ; I did not 
 know before it could occasionally prove so good an amu- 
 let : but somebody tells me he thinks there is something 
 similar to it in Bruce ; and, if this should be one of the 
 many incidents in those Travels whose authenticity is ques- 
 tioned, Mr. Whaley’s authority may be brought to sup- 
 
 * It is not noticed in the European Magazine. 
 
 f “ When Mr. Whaley went to Jerusalem, he landed at Acre and tra- 
 velled from thence to the ancient city. He and his companion, Capt. H. 
 Moore, riding before, were followed by servants leading a horse carrying a 
 large portmanteau, or trunk, loaded with their baggage, and also with some 
 cold provisions, when they were met by some Arabs, who, passing by the 
 gentlemen, suddenly turned upon the servants, seized the baggage, and car- 
 ried it off. On this they returned to Acre, when the bashaw sent out some 
 janissaries to recover their lost baggage, which after some time they found 
 lying on the ground ; and, although it had been opened, not a single article 
 in it had been touched : for the first thing that presented itself to the Mus- 
 sulmen was a cold ham, and their abhorrence of swine’s flesh prevented their 
 touching it, or any thing else there, although there were silver plates, silver 
 forks, &c. &c. in view, all which they left undisturbed, and the whole were 
 brought back safe. What is mentioned concerning the bacon refers to the 
 above, which was related to the Bishop of Dromore by Mr. Hugh Moore 
 himself. T. Dromore.” 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 511 
 
 port it. There is a villainous Abridgement of these Travels 
 published, but I am told that a better is preparing. The 
 African Committee will also soon give the world a larger 
 and cheaper edition of the pompous volume that had 
 been printed only for the subscribers to the African Dis- 
 coveries. 
 
 “ There is a Mr. Chalmers* employed in the republica- 
 tion of some of De Foe’s poems, and wishes to get the 
 titles at least of all his writings. I believe your Lordship 
 once made a collection of these, and can give him more 
 information than any one else on the subject. 
 
 “ I shall once more direct the cover of this to Dr. Ben- 
 net, though by this time I suppose he is Bishop of Cork, 
 and no longer in the situation of private secretary. I beg 
 my compliments and congratulations to his Lordship there- 
 upon; and I wish your Lordship, and Mrs. Percy and the 
 young ladies, a safe and pleasant passage to England, and 
 much benefit from the Buxton waters. No one suffered 
 more than myself, for many years, from the rheumatism, 
 but it has long left me : why, or wherefore, I really can- 
 not tell. At present want of breath is my complaint ; but 
 that ceases in the warm weather, and I am at present, 
 thank God, in good health and spirits, and always your 
 Lordship’s affectionate friend and servant, M. Lort.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, July 13, 1790. 
 
 “ I was about to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
 of the 26 th, when a desperate fall in the street bruised all 
 one side in such a manner that my right arm has been 
 useless for some time. However, I am now recovering 
 its use, and will not delay telling you how sorry I am to 
 hear of Mrs. Percy’s complaint, which I hope will not 
 prevent her journey to Buxton, and that there she will 
 find relief. 
 
 “ I have lost your address at Dublin, so of course must 
 inclose to the Bishop of Cork; and, as I think you will both 
 be pleased with a sight of the inclosed pamphlets, am glad 
 his power of franking continues, though I do not think 
 Bishop Preston’s precedent in that, as in -many other 
 things, a laudable one to follow. Bishop Bennet will be 
 pleased to see the effusions of his old friend Steevens, 
 whose repeated attacks on Dr. Parr will be explained by 
 
 • *r^ r ‘ George Chalmers. He died May 31, 1825. See a memoir of him 
 ln Ge nt. Mag. XCV. 564. 
 
512 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the little extract I have given from Parr’s pamphlet on 
 Bellendenus. I certainly have not nor shall give any copy 
 of the whole or part of Sir Robert Chambers’ letter ; and 
 I have satisfied Steevens on this head. 
 
 “ The better to understand 4 The Letter to the Catholic 
 Clergy,’ you must know that two of their four Vicars Apos- 
 tolic, who are Bishops in partibus, being lately dead, of the 
 two recommended from hence to the see of Rome to suc- 
 ceed them, one, I believe, Joseph Berrington,* was objected 
 to, as a favourer of the milder oath proposed by the Lay 
 Committee. 
 
 <c I have tired my arm, so will only add that I am your 
 Lordship’s very affectionate and faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ My dear Lord, J ul y u, 1790. 
 
 “ Two days ago I sent inclosed to the Bishop of Cork 
 a packet for your Lordship. I am now desired by Stock- 
 dale to forward De Foe’s Life, in hopes you may at your 
 leisure be able to furnish some additions to it. 
 
 “ I have just got Dr. Campbell’s f Strictures on the 
 History of Ireland,’ which informs and amuses me. What 
 says Vallancey to it? 
 
 “ Here is a Dr. Beaufortf has got access to the Lambeth 
 library, and is about to get large transcripts made from 
 Lord Carew’s manuscript collections lodged there. 
 
 “ I have this day seen your Chancellor’s J state coach or 
 trumpet car, all over gold ; fit for the Sun himself, at least 
 not to be used but in his presence. 
 
 <c Your Lordship’s ever faithful, M. Lort. 
 
 “ To Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, August 3, 1790. 
 
 I am just come to town from a fortnight’s ramble to 
 Windsor and Windsor Forest, near to Pope’s old habita- 
 tion, from whence I made excursions to the old Roman 
 city of Silchester, and the still older Druidical temple 
 transplanted by General Conway from Jersey to his seat 
 at Park-place, near Henley ; it is an entire circle of fourteen 
 upright stones, with seven cross-stones on the top, forming 
 
 * See p. 485. 
 
 F The Rev. Daniel Augustus Beaufort, LL.D., M.R.I.A., died in 1821. 
 See a memoir of him in Gent. Mag. XCI. 642. 
 
 J Lord Clare. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 513 
 
 seven cells of about four feet high, separated from each 
 other by taller erect stones from seven to nine feet. 
 One cannot help forming some analogy between them 
 and Balak’s seven altars. 
 
 “ I suppose these are the most perfect remains in the 
 world, preserved from Christian rage by the Druid Priests, 
 who carefully covered them over with earth. 
 
 “ Let me now acknowledge and thank your Lordship 
 for two letters waiting my arrival here, the last of which 
 announced the disappointment of the literati as to the 
 lost Livy, which I had so confidently asserted would 
 make its appearance in Dublin ; it is true that some 
 scouted and more doubted the truth, and I must make 
 the best retreat I can ; but I cannot do this without 
 mentioning the facts ; which I certainly will not com- 
 municate to the papers. 
 
 “ I now send the pamphlet you mentioned, and two 
 others, one c An answer to the Layman’s Letter, by Mr. 
 Milner,’* a priest of Winchester ; of Mr. Pilling, f the 
 author of the Dialogue, I know nothing ; nor of Mr. Potts, 
 the author of the Inquiry, &c. The four Bishops whose 
 names you saw to the circular letter are Walmsley, Ramo - 
 tan. Thomas Talbot, Aeon. James Talbot, Birthen. and 
 Mathew Gibson, Comanen. The two last are dead, and 
 there is demur at Rome to the accepting one or both the 
 persons recommended as successors ; one of these I believe 
 is Charles Berrington^ not the biographer of Thomas a 
 Becket. 
 
 “ I am informed that the Irish Catholics have in general 
 refused the new oath, but have exhorted their flocks not 
 to list under Captain Tandy’s banner. 
 
 “ The Layman’s Letter is given to a Mr. Throckmorton, 
 who is supposed to have been assisted in it by a priest of 
 the Low Church party. 
 
 “ I was much surprised on my arrival here to find 
 Parliament prorogued, as I expected to have seen the 
 town fill apace during this week; nowit is, and will 
 continue, a desert. 
 
 “ There are at present two rectors of Marylebone, or at 
 
 * Of Bishop Milner see an ample memoir in Literary Illustrations, 
 Y. 678 — 702, prefixed to several of his letters. 
 
 t “ Caveat to the Catholics of Worcester. By Wm. Pilling.’’ (Monthly 
 Review, LXXIII. 476.) 
 
 . + Bishop Charles Berrington, Vicar ApostQlic of the Midland district, 
 died June 8, 1798. See Gent. Mag. LXVIXI. 542 ; and a character of him 
 p. 622. 
 
 VOL, VII. 2 L 
 
514 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 least that claim to be such, — Bishop Horsley and Sir 
 Richard Kaye, the Dean of Lincoln. However, the latter 
 is so de facto at present; but the Easter offerings fall off 
 sadly, and people are glad of this opportunity of lessening 
 or withholding them. 
 
 “ With my best wishes for Mrs. Percy’s recovery, I 
 remain your Lordship’s affectionate and faithful servant, 
 
 £< M. Lout. 
 
 11 To Lord Bishop of Dromore.” 
 
 My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, August 5, 1790. 
 
 (C Two days ago I sent a packet which I hope will arrive 
 safe; since then the two pamphlets that accompany this have 
 come to my hands, and I now commend them to yours. 
 Mr. Plowden, I understand, is a priest at Lulworth Castle. 
 Sir Henry Englefield * succeeded me as one of the vice- 
 presidents of the Society of Antiquaries. 
 
 <e Your Lordship’s ever faithful, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ To Lord Bishop of Dromore.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, August 24, 1790. 
 
 “ If I had known the meaning of your inquiry con- 
 cerning the person who has the care of Marylebone parish, 
 I think I should before this time have been able to have 
 given an answer to the queries in your last letter, received 
 on Saturday. Mr. B. Laurence, I find, is a man of dis- 
 tinguished probity, and would not knowingly sign any 
 improper certificate ; but in a large parish, after the first 
 inquiry and signing, the minister is probably not so nice 
 in his future inquiries. I do not know that this is the 
 case in this instance, because Mr. Laurence is out of 
 town, and will not return this fortnight. However, I 
 have conversed with the clerk, a very respectable per- 
 sonage, and given him proper instructions, from which I 
 hope we shall profit. I have reconnoitred the street and 
 the house you directed me to ; the latter is one of some 
 small houses that let for about 25 1. or 30/. a-year, and the 
 whole street is new built, very probably by this Mr. Smith; 
 but the house looked shut up, and the clerk told me no 
 such person lived there, but that in an adjoining street, 
 called Barlow Street, and in a similar house, lives one 
 Smith, a bricklayer and builder, of whom he knew no 
 
 * Sir H. Englefield published, in 1790, a “ Letter to the Author of the 
 Review of the case of the Protestant Dissenters,” 8vo. See Monthly Re- 
 view, 1790, I. 231, III. 98. See also this volume, p. 13. 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 515 
 
 more, but is to make proper inquiries and to search the 
 register. He wished to have had some description of 
 Mrs. Hill,* and also to have seen one of the certificates 
 signed B. Laurence : thus the matter rests at present. As 
 soon as I get better information your Lordship shall 
 receive it. 
 
 “ Let me now thank your Lordship for your excellent 
 and suitable Sermon ; I cannot do better than adopt the 
 words of the Society. I shall observe your directions 
 about not mentioning it yet at Lambeth or at Fulham. I 
 shall inclose in this packet one of my pamphlets, which 
 I should wish to be given to Bishop Bernard,! I think 
 of Killaloe. Has he made any use of the secret of mag- 
 netising, which he paid for learning here of Mainauduc ? J 
 Three or four new pretenders to the art or science have 
 started up since, and reduced the terms for pupils from 
 25 to 5 guineas. 
 
 44 Stockdale tells me he is thinking of printing a new 
 edition of the 44 Life of Defoe,” and that the author, Mr. 
 Chalmers, § would be happy to receive any new informa- 
 tion on this subject. 
 
 44 Last Sunday se’nnight, Dr. John Carrol was conse- 
 crated Bishop of Baltimore, in America, at Lulworth 
 Castle, by Bishop Walmsley, assisted by two priests ; Dr. 
 Carrol is just come from America for this purpose. There 
 is a bull from the Pope establishing this new bishopric, 
 with a proviso in it, as it is said, that no one shall be raised 
 to it without his approbation. As he withheld this from 
 the two persons proposed to him to fill the two vacant dis- 
 tricts in England, they still remain as they were. 
 
 “ Of the two pamphlets signed 4 Moorfields/ one, I am 
 told, is suppressed. The Letter from the Committee I now 
 
 * What is said above concerning Mr. Smith and Mrs. Hill, of Marylebone 
 parish, relates to the following circumstance : — The Mrs. Hill here men- 
 tioned was widow of a Mr. Joseph Hill, who was nephew of Mr. Hill, for- 
 merly of London, uncle of Mrs. Percy, and who left considerable sums to 
 his relations, and appointed Dr. Percy one of his executors. To this relict 
 of his nephew he left a handsome annuity so long as she continued unmar- 
 ried, but there was reason to believe she had united herself to the above Mr. 
 Smith , and it was to ascertain this fact that this inquiry into the registers, 
 &c. of Marylebone parish, wherein he l'esided, was here made, and continued 
 ln some of the following letters. 
 
 + Dr. Thomas Bernard, Bishop of Killaloe 1780, translated to Limerick 
 K94, died June 7, 1806. See an account of him in Gent. Mag. LXXVI. 588. 
 
 + J. B. de Mainanduc, M.D. See the “ J^ectures ” exposed, Gent. Mag. 
 
 18 00, p. 251. 
 
 § See p, 511. 
 
 2 it 2 
 
516 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 send ; I thought I had done so before. e Considerations 
 on the Oath of Supremacy/ 1778* I shall try to get. 
 Bishop Horsley’s is not to be had. 
 
 C£ The muscle of my right shoulder has not recovered its 
 tone since my fall, so that I cannot scribble so much as I 
 used to do ; but having I hope replied to all the material 
 parts of your two last letters, and begging my best respects 
 to the ladies, I will only add, that I am your Lordship’s 
 affectionate servant, “ M„ Lort.” 
 
 “ My DEAR Lord, Saville Row, Sept. 4, 1790. 
 
 ec I have two letters from you since I wrote last, of 
 August 27th and 30th. All the intelligence I have been 
 able hitherto to get of Mrs. Hill tends to confirm your 
 suspicions as to her marriage ; the business is to get proof 
 of it ; I have reason to believe it took place in her native 
 parish in Worcestershire, and if I could know what that was, 
 I would have applied directly to the minister for intelligence; 
 and I will yet do so, if I can by your or any other assistance 
 get at the name of the place. It is an unlucky circumstance 
 that Mr. Laurence is not in town. The certificate you 
 sent to me is, I am told, a good one, and I shall take 
 proper care of it ; it should seem, by the account your 
 Lordship sends me, that Mr. Laurence has declined re- 
 peating it, and I really think you are not likely to be pre- 
 sented with another; when I can get a sight of Mr. 
 Laurence, I shall hint to him what you wish to have done. 
 He will not be in town till the week after next, and I shall 
 probably leave town the latter end of the next week, but 
 shall return in about a fortnight. Whilst I remain here I 
 shall hope to pick up and find your Lordship some 
 further intelligence. 
 
 “ I most heartily sympathise with your Lordship in poor 
 Mrs. Percy’s ill health, but shall hope to hear that she 
 will soon be able to undertake the proposed journey, and 
 will be the better for it. 
 
 <e Notwithstanding Mr. Neve’s positive assertion in the 
 inclosed pamphlet,* that he has relics of Milton’s corpse, 
 our friend Steevens insists that it is all a flam, for that it 
 is the body of a Miss Smith, not of Milton, and he will 
 prove it. Steevens’s proofs of its being the body of a Mrs. 
 
 * “ A Narrative of the disinterment of Milton's Coffin, Aug. 4, 17.90,” & 0, 
 This pamphlet was by Mr. Philip Neve, of Furnival’s Inn. See Gent. Mag. 
 LXe 837= 
 
PERCY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 517 
 
 Smith have appeared in the £ Gazetteer 5 and I believe in 
 all the papers are some squibs by the same hand, in which 
 the antiquaries, and, among the rest, poor Gough, are sadly 
 mauled. The gentleman who proposes erecting a monu- 
 mentt in Cripplegate Church is Mr. Whitbread, the great 
 brewer, who lives in the parish. 
 
 “ The Bishop of London is at Fulham, but the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury is not yet returned to Lambeth. 
 Mrs. Lort and I are going to Dr. Walcot’s,| at Oundle, 
 for a fortnight, but letters directed hither will follow 
 me wherever I may go. 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s ever faithful and affectionate servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ To Lord Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 “To Mrs. Lort. 
 
 <e Good Madam, Feb. 1791. 
 
 “ I have seen in the papers an article which hath given 
 me great concern, and with regard to which I must beg 
 leave to condole and sympathize with you, as I do most 
 sincerely. It mentions the death of my worthy friend, Dr. 
 Lort, on the 5th November. § So remote is my residence 
 that it has but newly reached me, and I cannot sufficiently 
 express how much I am afflicted. His active attention to 
 the great interests of religion and learning make his death 
 a public loss, but his many excellent and amiable qualities 
 will render it to his friends very great. To myself in 
 particular it will be irreparable, and even to the Established 
 Church in this kingdom, for which he ever procured the 
 most early and useful intelligence on every subject which 
 could affect its welfare. 
 
 “ I am, good Madam, &c. &c. 
 
 “ T. Dromore. 
 
 * Mr. Steevens’s “ Reasons why it is improbable that the coffin should 
 contain the body of Milton,” may be seen in the St. James’s Chronicle, Sept. 
 0 1790; and were copied, with some corrections and additions, in the 
 European Magazine for Sept. 1790, p. 206. 
 
 , t “ The admirers of Milton have been gratified by the erection of a beam 
 tiful tablet and bust in St. Giles’s, Cripplegate. The liberality of the donor 
 has been equalled by the skill of the artist — Bacon. It consists of a tablet 
 of white marble, sculptured with the flaming sword and wily serpent, whose 
 mouth contains the fatal apple. The inscription is, * * * § John Milton, author 
 of Paradise Lost, born Dec. 1608, died Nov. 1676. His father, John Mil- 
 l°?>_died March 1646. They were both interred in this church. Samuel 
 Whitbread posuit.’” — Malcolm’s London, III. 234. 
 
 + See p. 503. 
 
 § Dr. Lort died November 5th, 1790, aged 65. 
 
518 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Mrs. Lort to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “ My Lord, Battersea Rise, Feb. 27, 1791. 
 
 “ When I had the honour of receiving your Lordship’s 
 last obliging letter I was so very ill as to lie unable to use 
 a pen, but by coming into the country have found benefit, 
 and take the first opportunity of writing to assure your 
 Lordship I will take care of all your letters, and either send 
 them to Ireland, or seal them in a parcel to be delivered 
 to your order in London. I have not at present had spirits 
 or leisure to look accurately into the manuscripts, but I 
 make no doubt but the two letters your Lordship mentions 
 are with the rest of the correspondence, and I will make 
 it my first business to search for them when I am well 
 enough to return to Saville-row. Before 1 left home I 
 enclosed Mr. Laurence’s certificate, and some papers re- 
 lative to that business, in a cover directed for the gentle- 
 man your Lordship said would call on me for them; but, by 
 a letter I have just received from my servant, he has not 
 been for them vet. 
 
 V - 
 
 “ I am sure it was perfectly needless for your Lordship 
 to give any reasons for your conduct towards Mrs. Hill, 
 and what passed between me and your Lordship’s brother 
 on the subject arose from the difficulty of proving her 
 marriage, and the certainty of her being able to claim her 
 annuity till that was done, even though the children were 
 proved to be hers, unless the will specified that she should 
 live an irreproachable life. It was under this idea that 
 I thought her own offer of selling her annuity might be 
 the most advantageous plan for both parties. I am sure 
 I ought to ask your Lordship’s pardon for presuming to 
 offer my opinion, in a case where your own judgment 
 must be so much more competent. 
 
 “ I am extremely concerned to receive such an indif- 
 ferent account of Mrs. Percy’s health, and hope sincerely 
 the spring will enable her to make trial of her native air, 
 when it will give me great pleasure to be introduced to 
 the honour of her acquaintance. I beg my most re- 
 spectful compliments to her and the young ladies, and am, 
 my lord, 
 
 “Your Lordship’s obliged and obedient humble servant, 
 
 “ S. Lort.* 
 
 11 The Bishop of Dromore.” 
 
 * Mrs. Lort survived her husband only fifteen months, dying February 5, 
 1792, aged 50. 
 
519 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 Between Dr. Lort and Dr. Birch. 
 
 The following Correspondence of Dr. Lort is 
 preserved amongst the MSS. of Dr. Birch, * in the 
 British Museum, No. 4312 : — • 
 
 Rev. Dr. Birch to Mr. Lort. 
 
 Dear Sir, London, May 9, 1761. 
 
 “ The design, in which when I had the pleasure of seeing 
 you last I found you to be engaged, of doing justice to the 
 memory of Dr. Bentley, the execution of which will be a 
 very important obligation to the Republic of Letters, 
 makes me consider it a debt to you, whatever is or shall be 
 in my power relating to your subject. I now, therefore, 
 send you the three lettersf of his which I mentioned, trans- 
 cribed by myself from the originals among the Harleian 
 MSS. in the British Museum. To these I add letters from 
 Lord Carteret, (now Earl of Granville), to Dr. Bentley, 
 from the originals in the same place. And it is a satisfac- 
 tion to me to have so good an opportunity of giving them 
 to the public by an hand capable of doing it with the 
 utmost advantage. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your most faithful and affectionate 
 humble servant, Thos. Birch. 
 
 “ P.S. The Bishop of London;]; has been so ill this week, 
 from the stopping of the defluxion at his mouth, that it is 
 thought that he cannot recover. 
 
 “ Rev. Mr. Lort, Greek Professor, Trinity Coll. Cambridge.” 
 
 Rev. Mr. Lort to Dr. Birch. 
 
 u Dear Sir, Trinity Coll. May 12, 1761. 
 
 “ I am exceedingly obliged to you for the copies of 
 Dr. Bentley’s letters, of which I shall take great care. 
 More such materials as those would give me spirit to go 
 on with my design, which is yet quite in embryo, and can 
 only be brought to maturity by the help of such authentic 
 papers or information : the latter, I can perceive from 
 
 Memoirs and character of Dr. Birch are given in Literary Anecdotes, 
 v 'ol. V. pp, 282 — 290. Various notices of him occur in other volumes of that 
 work ; see General Indexes, VII. 32, 33, 516. 
 
 ‘ I ^ wo Otters of Dr. Bentley occur in Harl. MS. 3778, art. 98, 103. 
 
 + Thomas Sherlock, D.D., Bishop of Bangor, 1728 ; of Salisbury, 1734 • 
 < 2Vl on ’ > died J u b 18) 1761. See memoirs of him in Lit, An, iii, 
 10—217, See also Index, vii, 379-675. 
 
520 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the copy of Lord Granville’s letter, it is much in his Lord- 
 ship's power to afford me ; hut it is far above my reach. 
 Homer is not the only book which Lord Granville set 
 Bentley to work upon ; I have been informed here that 
 Ammianus Marcellinus was another. As for the troubled 
 waters in which Bentley so long sported here, posterity 
 will probably be very little edified with any particulars 
 relating to them ; so they would make a very small part of 
 my plan. 
 
 “ If at any time my assistance can be of any service to 
 you in this place, at all times freely command, 
 
 “ Dear Sir, your affectionate and faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Trin - Coil. Nov. 29 , 1762 . 
 
 “ I return you many thanks for your kind present of 
 Lord Bacon’s Letters, &c., which I received on Saturday. 
 I find a half sheet in it which does not belong to this copy, 
 being a duplicate ; therefore I have taken it out, and 
 inclose it, as the want of it must make some copy im- 
 perfect. 
 
 “An English MS. Treatise is lately fallen into my 
 hands, said to have been written by Quine Ecalp, the 
 noted black that was brought some years ago into the west 
 from the province of Mucarole. The Treatise appears to 
 have been written about 1720, and is a curiosity, not only 
 on account of its author, but its matter also. "It is in so 
 bad a hand that I know not whether I have transcribed the 
 above proper names right. 
 
 “ What I have to beg of you is to inform me whether 
 you ever heard of such a person, a man of genius and 
 learning, as the writer of this Treatise appears to have 
 been. 
 
 “ I have been informed of a black named Williams who 
 was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society I believe about 
 that time, and that he was born, or at least had a planta- 
 tion and estate, in Jamaica. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your affectionate and faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ DEAR Sir, Trinity College, Cambr. Nov. 13, 1764. 
 
 “ I have lately had the perusal of a packet of original 
 
lobt and birch correspondence. 521 
 
 letters from Howard,, Earl of Northampton,* to Car, Earl 
 of Somerset,! during that interesting period of Lady Essex’s 
 divorce and Overbury’s imprisonment. These seem to 
 have been the very letters which Sir E. Coke got into his 
 possession, and out of which he read some parts at Somer- 
 set’s trial. I trouble you with this to beg you will be so 
 kind as to inform me, if you can, whether these are in 
 print in any collection ; for, if they are not, I shall be at 
 the pains of transcribing them, to gratify the curiosity of 
 friends who mav have a desire to see them. 
 
 “ Excuse this trouble from, dear Sir, your obliged 
 humble servant, M. Lort. 
 
 “ Rev. Dr. Birch, Norfolk Street, London.” 
 
 « DEAR Sir, Trim Coll. Cambridge, Dec. 2, 1764. 
 
 “ I return you my thanks for your information concern- 
 ing Lord Northampton’s letters, and in consequence thereof 
 shall certainly pursue my intention of copying them, though 
 I find it likely to prove a more laborious task than I first 
 expected, not only in regard to the length of the letters, 
 
 * Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton. In Cotton MSS. relative to 
 the subject of Sir T. Overbury, &c,, we find — 
 
 Vesp. F. ix. p. 203 — 222. Miscellaneous Notes, by and in the hand- 
 writing of Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton. Moral and Political Maxims. 
 Of little use. 
 
 Titus, B. vii. p. 477 — 484. Henry, Earl of Northampton, three letters to 
 Sir G. Helwisse [or Ellwys], Lieutenant of the Tower, and one note of the 
 latter concerning Sir Thomas Overbury, 1615, of his/ burial. (The whole 
 from p. 477 is in the MS. entitled “ Letters and Papers touching Sir Thomas 
 Overbury’s businesse.”) They are all illustrative. 
 
 Page 484. An expostulatory letter, said to be Sir Thomas Overhury’s. 
 This seems a rough draft without address or date. 
 
 Page 486. Notes of some transactions relating to the Earl of Somerset. 
 They relate to his trial or examination, and appear illustrative ; but are 
 obscure, and badly written. 
 
 i Pages 488 — 492. Notes concerning the Countess of Suffolk, the Lord 
 Treasurer, &c., in the Overbury business. Two articles. These relate to the 
 Earl of Northampton, Sir Thomas Overbury, and others ; and appear to be 
 notes on the trial. The letters seem to he here alluded to. 
 
 Sloane MSS. Nos. 1,089, Art. 13 ; 2,572, Art. 11, 12. All relate to the 
 trial for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, and are illustrative. 
 
 f Robert Carr. — Andrew Amos, Escp, has recently published “ The Trial of 
 the Earl of Somerset for the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury.” The West- 
 minster Review for July, 1847, says of it: “Mr. Amos has not only col- 
 lected together, we believe, all the information on the subject that was 
 printed, but has added various documents yet unpublished, from the State 
 Paper Office and British Museum. Of this new matter the most valuable 
 portion is the written examinations of the prisoners and witnesses, taken pro- 
 bably by Sir Edward Coke, who was employed to collect the evidence for the 
 
 prosecution.” 
 
522 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 but the difficulty of making out the hand, which latter 
 prevents my making use of any assistance which I might 
 otherwise have availed myself of. The letters are in num- 
 ber 22, filling near 70 folio pages, with the seals and 
 superscriptions to some of them, as also date of place and 
 day of the week ; but none of them have any date of year, 
 or day of the month. There are besides two letters of 
 Lord Northampton to Mr. Gervase Ellwys, and one of 
 Lord Suffolk’s to Sir Thomas Overbury, dated August 
 23rd, 1613. That I might not wholly disappoint your 
 curiosity I send you a copy of the last letter Northampton 
 wrote, which I took in a hurry when I first saw these 
 letters, and which I wish you may be able to read ; but 
 hope when I set about the rest, which I have not imme- 
 diately leisure to do, to make them more legible. 
 
 “ One singularity let me inform you, that that letter, 
 part of which is published in Somerset’s Trial, and the 
 other part said to be omitted on account of its obscenity, 
 does really contain no more indecency than what Coke 
 had already exhibited in the court, and, though a very long 
 one, is quite upon other business. 
 
 “ I inclose this in a cover to Lord Hardwicke, to whom, 
 if you please, I beg my respectful compliments, and am, 
 st Dear Sir, your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 Earl of Northampton to the Earl of Somerset.* 
 
 “ Hon. AND WORTHY Lord, Tuesday at 2. 
 
 “ If the plain dealing of my physicians and surgeon did 
 not assure me of the few days I have to live, I should yet 
 have deferred the putting of these poor suits into your 
 hands, since I might be thought still rather to value your 
 greatness than your goodness. 
 
 “ But, noble lord, let me be beholding at my last 
 farewell, for such poor toys as do rather ease my mind 
 than pinch any man. 
 
 ee I humbly beseech your lordship to stay with all the 
 power you can the conferring the office of the Cinque 
 Ports either upon Pembroke or Lisle, for, as they hated 
 me, so they will plague my people, and those whom I 
 loved. 
 
 * Inclosed in the preceding letter. 
 
LORT AND BIRCH CORRESPONDENCE. 523 
 
 i( Sir Robert Brette at his coming to the place of lieu- 
 tenant was content to depart with a plat of ground for 
 enlargement of my garden, which could have been bought 
 of him, setting aside his love to me, for no money. My 
 very conscience is pressed in this point, and therefore 
 cannot satisfy myself till I have put my earnest suit into 
 the hand of my dearest lord, to take care that his majesty 
 admit no warden before he have given his word to him not 
 to remove this poor distressed gentleman out of his lieu- 
 tenancy. 
 
 “ If I die before Midsummer, the forms of the Irish 
 customs are not to pay me, though it be but one day 
 before, which were a great wound to my fortune. No 
 man can help this inconvenience better than your lord- 
 ship, by obtaining a Privy Seal that my executors may be 
 paid, if it come to that said straight of a day or two. 
 
 “ Assurance from your lordship that you will effect 
 these final requests, shall send my spirit out of this 
 transitory tabernacle with as much comfort and content 
 as the bird flies from the mountain. 
 
 “ Dear lord, my spirits spend, and my strength decays : 
 all that remains is with my dying hand to witness what 
 my living heart did vow, when it gave itself to your lord- 
 ship, as to the choice friend whom I did love for his 
 virtues, and not court for his fortune. 
 
 “ Farewell, noble lord, and the last farewell in the last 
 letter that I ever look to write to any man. I presume 
 confidently of your favour in these my poor suits, and will 
 be, both living and dying, 
 
 u Your affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 “ H. Northampton.* 
 
 “ To the Right Honourable my special good Lord the Erie of 
 Somerset, of his Majesty’s Privy Council.” 
 
 Mr. Lort to Dr. Birch. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Trin. Coll. Cambridge, Nov. 29, 1765. 
 
 “ In the Magdalen Library, formerly Secretary Pepys’s, 
 there is a manuscript account of Charles the Seconds 
 escape after the battle of Worcester, which was taken from 
 the king’s own mouth at Newmarket by Mr. Pepys, and 
 
 * This letter is written with a shaking hand, and indorsed “ Earl of 
 Northampton to myself.” Lord N.’s seal is on it; and it is thus super- 
 scribed, “ To theR. honourable my special good lord the Erie of Somerset, 
 of his Majesty’s Privy Council.” Lord Northampton died June 5 , 1614. 
 
524 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 which I believe has never been in print. One Sir David 
 Dalrymple* has applied to the college either to publish it, 
 or to suffer him to do it.f Sir David says that he has already 
 given the world some original state papers ; some the 
 beginning of the 17 th century, and is very desirous of 
 proceeding in that plan. This may be so ; but as I can 
 find no one here who has heard any thing of Sir David or 
 his publications, I therefore trouble you with this for such 
 information as you may be able to communicate concern- 
 ing him, wdiich, if I like, I may possibly put Sir T. Over- 
 buys letters into his hands for the benefit of the public, 
 unless (as I suspect) he may be unwilling to publish what 
 will be much to the discredit of James I. 
 
 “ I hope this will find you in good health ; and you will 
 believe me, dear Sir, your obedient and faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ Rev. Dr. Birch, Norfolk Street, London." 
 
 * The well-known Lord Hailes. See a Memoir of him in Chalmers’s 
 Biographical Dictionary, vol. XI. A letter from Sir David Dalrymple to 
 Mr. Lort, dated Dee. 14, 1765, within a few days of the above letter, 
 soliciting liis correspondence and assistance, is printed in Literary Anecdotes, 
 IX. p. 68. See also vol. VII. p. 547. 
 
 f He did so, in “ An Account of the Preservation of Charles II. after the 
 Battle of Worcester, drawn up by himself; to which are added, his Letters 
 to several persons. Glasgow, 1766.” 8vo. 
 

 525 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 From Dr, Lort to the Hon. Horace Walpole.* 
 
 Rev. Mr. Lort to Richard Cumberland, Esq. f 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Trinity Coll. Camb. Dec. 22, 1759. 
 
 “ It is with great pleasure I hear Dr. Bentley’s “ Lucan” 
 is put into the hands of Mr. Walpole ; and that the public 
 is in a fair way of being favoured with a splendid edition 
 of it, as it deserves. It is on a presumption from this cir- 
 cumstance of your being acquainted with that gentleman 
 that I send you the inclosed. His “ Catalogue of Noble 
 Authors” did but very lately fall into my hands; and 
 when it had got there I could not exchange it for any 
 other book till I had read it through ; during which some 
 things occurred to me which I scribbled down, and which 
 you will find in the inclosed sheets ; on a perusal of which, 
 if you find them of consequence enough, you may com- 
 municate them to Mr. Walpole; if not, to the flames, and 
 there will be no harm done, provided you will pardon this 
 trouble given you by, sir, your faithful and obedient 
 servant, “ M. Lort.” 
 
 Some cursory Remarks on Mr. Walpole’s Catalogue of 
 Royal and Noble Authors. By Mr. Lort. 
 
 “ Vol. I. page iii. There is a ‘ Bibliotheca Eruditorum 
 prsecocium,’ by Klefekerus, at Hamburg, 1718, 4 to. 
 
 “ P. 18. Of the learning of women of quality in those days 
 there is, I think, a curious account in Ascham’s £ School- 
 master,’ where he speaks of the Lady Jane Grey. 
 
 “ P. 37. Puttenham’s £ Arte of English Poesy’ I have. 
 Queen Elizabeth’s ‘ Sonnet’ J in it is indeed a very extra- 
 
 * These letters are copied from the originals preserved by Horace Walpole, 
 and purchased at the Strawberry Hill sale, April 30, 1842, by the British 
 Museum, They now form Additional MSS. No. 12,527. 
 
 . t Mr. Cumberland died May 11, 1811. He published his “ Memoirs ” 
 in 1806 ; from which a good account of him was abridged in Chalmers’s 
 Dictionary. See also Literary Anecdotes, VII. 101, 546. Five letters of 
 Mr. Cumberland to Mr. Justice Hardinge are printed in Literary Illustra- 
 tions, III. 157. A character of him will also be found, in some letters of 
 Air. Hardinge to Mr. Mudford, in the same volume pp. 821-827 ; with a 
 Latin and English banter on him by Mr. Hardinge, with which Mr. Cum- 
 berland, mistaking for a compliment, was highly pleased. See Literary Illus- 
 trations, vol. III. 157. 
 
 + See it in Queen Elizabeth's Progresses, 2d edit, vol. I. pp. 9, 10. 
 
526 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ordinary one, and on a very extraordinary occasion. 
 Hentzner’s book I also have. 
 
 “P. 40. James the First.— The £ B aoikucov Awpov, or King 
 James’s instructions to his dearest son Henry, the prince/ 
 is so much superior both for matter and style to all 
 this king’s other works, that one would suspect he 
 had condescended to call in some help on the occa- 
 sion. It is remarkable that this book was reprinted 
 in 1682 in 8vo., and said to be by his Majesty’s com- 
 mand, with two good heads, by R. White, of James the 
 First and Prince Henry. I have copies of the former and 
 later editions. There is a translation of the Psalms by 
 King James, in which he has out-Sternholded Sternhold. 
 The copy I have was printed in 1637, in 8vo. with the 
 following : — 
 
 “ e Charles I. Having caused this Translation of 
 the Psalms (whereof our late dear father was author) to be 
 printed, and it being found to be exactly and truly done, 
 we do hereby authorise the same to be imprinted, accord- 
 ing to the patent granted thereupon, and do allow them to 
 be sung in all the churches in our dominions, recom- 
 mending them to all our good subjects for that effect.’ 
 
 “ P. 52. This Fuller was voted by the Parliament to be 
 a notorious cheat, and I think his book also contained 
 these pretended letters of King James. He was prose- 
 cuted by the Attorney- General, and whipped and pilloried. 
 
 u P. 82. In page 200 of the £ Arte of English Poesy’ is a 
 sonnet of Lord Vaux’s, who is there said to be a man 
 otherwise of no great learning, but having herein (in 
 poesy) a marvellous facility. 
 
 “ P. 140. Master Puttenham, in his £ Arte of English 
 Poesy,’ takes care to call her the most beautiful, or rather 
 Beauty of Queens, p. 207. To this book is prefixed a 
 bad wooden cut of her with this inscription, c A colei che 
 se stessa rassomiglia , non altrui ,’ which that well- 
 
 known English line exactly hits off— ‘none but herself 
 can be her parallel.’ 
 
 “ P. 149. 4 Mcecenas of that accomplished age? — He was 
 Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. 
 
 “ P. 156. 4 His dispatches attributed to his secretary 
 Cuffe.’ Whoever has dipped into Cuffe’s book 4 Of the dif- 
 ferences of the ages of Man’s Life’ will acquit him of 
 having had much hand in Lord Essex’s Dispatches, more 
 than writing them. 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 52/ 
 
 li P. 165. 4 Published in 1610.’ — I should think it must 
 have been published sooner. In a book I have called 4 Eng- 
 land’s Parnassus, or the choycest Flowers of our Moderne 
 Poets/ printed in 1600, almost the whole Introduction 
 of the 4 Mirror of Magistrates/ is common placed, with 
 the name of M. Sackville affixed to it : which is indeed 
 the finest flower in this nosegay ; and I think may yet be 
 matched with any in any language. 
 
 “ P. 182. Sir Fulk Greville’s Life. — I admire and sub- 
 scribe with all my heart to this free, bold, and just criticism 
 on Sir Philip Sidney and modern Choruses. 
 
 <£ Yol.II. page 98. William Duke of Devonshire. — Most of 
 the writings of the duke mentioned here are printed in the 
 4 Memoirs of the Cavendishes, by Dr. White Rennet / but 
 the following elegant epitaph on a young lady, who was said 
 to be his mistress, and I think also his steward’s daughter, 
 is little known : — 
 
 4 Requiescit hie 
 pars mortalis M® A® C 11 .^ 
 
 Obiit 19 Maii A 0 MDCCVI. 
 
 AEtat. 19. 
 
 Quod superest ex altera parte quaere. 
 
 Formam eegregiam et multi s illecebris ornatam 
 virtutes animi superarunt. 
 
 Plebeium genus sed honestum 
 nobilitate morum decoravit, 
 supra eetatem sagax, 
 supra sortem praesertim egenis benigna. 
 
 Inter scaenicos ludos (in quibus aliquandiu versata est) 
 verecunda et intemerata. 
 
 Post quatuor mensium languorem 
 a febri hectica correpta 
 intempestivam mortem 
 forti pectore et Christiana pietate subivit. 
 Humanitate praeditis 
 (siquid mortem mortalia tangunt) 
 flebilis, 
 
 amicis heu flebilior. 
 
 Dilectissimis relliquiis sacrum 
 lapidem hunc poni curavit 
 
 G.D.D/f 
 
 *• e - Marise Annse Campion. f i. e. Gulielmus Dux Devoniae. 
 
 t This epitaph is not noticed in the Second Edition of Bishop White 
 Kennet’s Sermon on the Duke of Devonshire, “ with Additions by the 
 Author and the Editor,” (Mr. Gough), and published by Mr. Nichols, 1797, 
 vo. a curious work, now very rare; See Literary Anecdotes, YL 323. 
 
528 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 44 P. 106. 1 have a small volume of Letters of Lord Shaf- 
 tesbury’s to a young Clergyman, and to Mr. Molesworth, 
 neatly printed in 1746, but I know not whether published 
 or not. 
 
 44 114. In 1702 was published a translation of Demos- 
 thenes’ Olynthian and Philippick Orations by several hands. 
 This, I have heard, was done under the direction of Lord 
 Somers, who is also supposed to have translated the very 
 large Historical Preface of Tourreil prefixed to them. 
 
 44 1 26. The first Olynthian in this book is said to be 
 translated by the Earl of Peterborough. 
 
 44 128. The second by Mr. George Grenville. 
 
 44 138. I have a pamphlet, called 4 A Letter to the Ex- 
 aminer,’ suggesting proper heads for the vindicating his 
 Masters, 1714. In the title page of which somebody has 
 written, 4 By Robert Walpole, Esq.’ 
 
 44 The late Lord Barrington was author of more than one 
 work. 
 
 44 In a copy of the 4 History of the Life of Christ,’ trans- 
 lated by Dupin, 8vo. 1705, at the end of the Advertise- 
 ment to the Reader somebody has written 4 Damaris, 
 Lady Masham.’ 
 
 44 In the Library of Trin. Coll. Camb. is a book with this 
 title (D. 10, 42) 4 The Ascents of the Soul, or David’s 
 Mount towards God’s House, being Paraphrases on the 
 15 Psalms of Degrees, written in Italian, by the Illustrious 
 Gio Francisco Loredano, a noble Venetian, 1656, ren- 
 dered into English Anno Dom. 1665. Lond. 1681.’ fol. 
 
 44 In one of the blank pages is this MS. inscription : 
 
 4 Preenobilis Dominus Colerane Librum hunc, a seipso 
 cum in Italia peregre vixit Anglice redditum, Coll. Ss. et 
 Individ. Trinitatis Cantab, humillime offert.’ 
 
 44 There is a second part of this book, called 4 La Scala 
 Santa, or a Scale of Devotions Musical and Gradual, 
 being Descants on the 15 Psalms of Degrees in Metre, 
 with contemplations and collects upon them in prose, 
 1670.’ This part is dedicated to the most illustrious 
 and serenest Stella, and has a copy of English and 
 another of Latin verses prefixed, to the Right Hon. 
 the learned author. The first part is dedicated to the 
 most honoured Lucinda. They have each an emblema- 
 tical frontispiece prefixed as unintelligible as the books 
 themselves, designed by the author, having his cypher, HC 
 design, and baron’s coronet. The first is fairly engraved 
 by Faithorne, who, as Mr. Walpole observes, was an ex- 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 529 
 
 cellent engraver when he took pains. Had he met with the 
 encouragement which some of the famous French engravers 
 of his time did, I believe he might have distinguished 
 himself as highly in his profession. I have some heads 
 engraved by him with great strength and boldness, and 
 others with amazing delicacy and neatness. But he, as 
 well as Hollar, worked for booksellers/’ 
 
 Mr. Lort to the Hon. Horace Walpole. 
 
 “ Sir, Trin. Col. Camb., Feb. 7, 1760. 
 
 a The few remarks which occurred to me upon the pe- 
 rusal of your book, and which I took the liberty of 
 desiring Mr. Cumberland to communicate to you, were 
 but a small return for the pleasure and information which 
 I had received therefrom ; and, as I doubt not but that 
 most of them may have long before this time been made 
 by yourself or friends, I must therefore attribute the 
 genteel manner with which you have been pleased to ac- 
 knowledge the receipt of them more to your politeness 
 and candid interpretation of the intentions of the writer 
 than to any merit or novelty of theirs. This, indeed, I 
 ought to have done much sooner, but I had mislaid a 
 paper that contained some further intelligence which I 
 had met with since I sent the former to Mr. Cumberland ; 
 and I was willing, sir, to find something more to put in 
 my letter than bare acknowledgments of your politeness. 
 
 “ Lady Masham, I find, was no peeress. I did not know 
 before she was among the long list of supposed writers, 
 both male and female, of 4 The Whole Duty of Man ; ’ 
 yet, if I could be brought to think that manly performance 
 could have flowed from a female pen, I would as soon 
 give the credit of it to Lady Masham as any other of her 
 sex; not so much because she was Dr. Cudworth’s 
 daughter, as because she was Mr. Locke’s acquaintance 
 and friend : but chronology is against this. However, as 
 this lady has no pretensions from her rank to be intro- 
 duced to you, I must therefore endeavour to supply her 
 place with another, whose existence you have indeed 
 disputed, but to which I will beg leave to restore her ; 
 and she is no other than Lord Berkeley’s Lady Harmonia, 
 who was one of the numerous and justly-celebratecl 
 offspring of Richard the first Earl of Cork, being his 
 favourite daughter, married to the Earl of Warwick, She 
 VOL, VII, 2 M 
 
530 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 died in 1678, when her funeral sermon was preached by 
 Dr. A. Walker, who has annexed to it the very letter of 
 Lord Berkeley printed at the end of his Lordship’s f His- 
 torical Applications ; ’ so that there remains no doubt of 
 this book being his, and this letter being hers. The 
 preacher, I think, has also furnished us with a hint to ex- 
 plain the propriety of Lord Berkeley’s styling her the 
 Lady Harmonia; for, after a laboured panegyric on her 
 virtues, he owns she had two faults, — f excess of charity,’ 
 and ‘ defect of anger.’ Yet, still this letter perhaps may 
 not be thought sufficient to rank her among the authoresses. 
 Let me therefore found her claim on f Occasional Medi- 
 tations upon several Subjects, with pious Reflections upon 
 several Scriptures, by the Right Honourable Mary 
 Countess Dowager of Warwick. Lond. 1678/ 
 
 “These Meditations are much in the strain and style 
 of her brother’s, Mr. Robert Boyle. I should have been 
 much better pleased if she had finished what Dr. Walker 
 gives the following account of : — 
 
 c I cannot say that she had resolved to write her 
 father’s life ; but I can and do affirm she had it in delibe- 
 ration, and had considerable materials and collections, many 
 of which she had discoursed and read to me, and given 
 me the favour to read myself/ 
 
 “ I imagine, Sir, you have not seen Lord Capel’s book. 
 It was first published in 4to. 1654, under the title of 
 £ Daily Observations, or Meditations Divine and Moral, 
 written by a Person of Honour.’ This edition I have ; 
 and a second in 1689, in 12mo. entitled ‘ Excellent Con- 
 templations, Divine and Moral, written by the magnani- 
 mous and truly-loyal Lord Capel ; with several letters to 
 different persons, and his pious advice to his son the late 
 Earl of Essex/ This copy of mine was a gift of the 
 Duchess Dowager of Beaufort (Lord CapePs daughter) 
 to Francis Loutthorpe, 1710, and has the names of the 
 persons written to whom the letters are addressed. Among 
 others is a long one to Oliver Cromwell, dated from the 
 Tower, Jan. 15, 1648, being a very spirited remonstrance 
 (not perhaps, in his circumstances, a very prudent one) 
 against the very extraordinary measures which were then 
 going to be taken against the King. In this letter to 
 Cromwell he subscribes himself ‘ your most affectionate 
 friend ; ’ yet, perhaps, this friend, or rather this letter 
 hastened him to the block the March following. 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 531 
 
 et I take the liberty of sending you the pamphlet which, you 
 will find, somebody has ascribed to Mr. Robert Walpole. 
 Whether justly or not, you, sir, will be best ableto determine. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, with great respect, your most obedient and 
 most faithful servant, Michael Lort.’* 
 
 cc SlR, Trin. Coll. Camb., Feb. 25, 1760. 
 
 u In answer to your favour of the 18th, there is a short 
 relation of the estate of Virginia drawn up by Lord Dela- 
 ware, published in Purchas’s Pilgrims, vol. iv. p. 1762; and 
 the same I think, but curtailed, in Smith’s f History of 
 Virginia/ fol. 1626, p. 105. I suppose it may originally 
 have been printed by itself. 
 
 “ I know nothing of the other book ascribed to Lord 
 Chandos ; * but that, I see, is in the Bodleian Catalogue, 
 which very often ascribes the authors name to an anony- 
 mous piece, but I find it has not to this. 
 
 “ The celebrated ballad of e Christ’s Kirk of the Green/ 
 written by King James the Fifth, was published at Ox- 
 ford in 4to. 1695, by E. G. viz. Edmund Gibson, after- 
 wards Bishop of London, with a glossary and a preface, 
 which is a defence of the Macaronick and this kind of 
 writing, or rather of the Dulce est desipere in loco. 
 
 “ There is a posthumous piece of Lord Grey’s, being an 
 account of the plot in which he was concerned, published 
 I think not many years ago. 
 
 “As I live here, sir, in the midst of books and cata- 
 logues, and you may have perceived, sir, love to tumble 
 them over, any queries that you shall at any time be 
 pleased to favour me with I will do my best endeavour to 
 return as satisfactory an answer as I can ; being, Sir, your 
 most obedient humble servant, M. Lort/ 5 
 
 CC SlR, Windsor, July 27, 1760. 
 
 “ Having left college on a summer’s excursion, your 
 favour of the 25th inst. was forwarded to me at this place. 
 You did me great honour, and gave me much pleasure, in 
 your kind acceptance and approbation of the Sermon fi 
 which I took the liberty of sending you. It contains the real 
 sentiments of my heart, without disguise or flattery ; and 
 
 ■I <! ^ 0V8e Subsecivse : Observations and Discourses. Lond. 1620.” 
 
 I' “ Before the University, June 22, 1760, being the Anniversary of his 
 lajesty’s Accession to the Throne.” Monthly Review, xxiii. 336. 
 
 M 2 
 
 2 
 
532 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 I trust to the good meaning of the design to cover a multi- 
 tude of errors in the execution of it, in .the eyes of those 
 who shall give themselves the trouble, as you have done, 
 of perusing it. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, your much obliged and most obedient 
 servant, M. Lout.” 
 
 ie SlR, Trin. Coll. Camb. March 14, 1762. 
 
 “As soon as I was able to get the perusal of the ‘Anec- 
 dotes of Painting in England/ I sat down to read them 
 with great impatience ; I cannot resist the impulse of 
 returning you thanks for the pleasure and satisfaction you 
 have afforded me. I have now at last seen what I have 
 often wished to see, and looked upon as one of the 
 desiderata in literature, —materials collected with zeal, in- 
 dustry, and fidelity by one man, disposed, digested, and 
 embellished by the parts and genius of another. This I 
 am sure of, that many books, with very excellent stuff in 
 them, have fallen into neglect and oblivion on account of 
 their being awkwardly and in artificially put together. 
 Whoever has read Yertue’s Opuscula, which he himself 
 compiled and published, will I am persuaded think it a 
 lucky circumstance that the collection which he had made 
 on so curious and unhacknied a subject as the history of 
 the polite arts in England should have fallen into the 
 hands of one so well qualified to do justice to the subject. 
 
 “ As a proof, Sir, that I mean something more than bare 
 compliment in this letter, I have taken the liberty of 
 enclosing such observations as occurred to me in the course 
 of my reading, such as it is my fashion to scribble on the 
 perusal of every book that pleases me. 
 
 “Your favourable acceptance of a former medley of this 
 kind has encouraged the sending of the present* from, 
 
 “ Sir, your most obedient and faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ SlR, London, May 10, 1765. . 
 
 “ I have lately met in the public library of our uni- 
 versity a parcel of original letters from the Earl of Nor- 
 thampton to Car, Earl of Somerset, during that memorable 
 period of Lady Essex’s divorce and Sir T. Overbury’s 
 
 * These remarks of Dr, Lort are not preserved with the collection of hi$ 
 letters to Walpole, 
 
LOHT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 583 
 
 imprisonment,, which, as appears from the Trial, were the 
 very letters Lord Coke got into his possession, and read 
 part of at the trial. These I have transcribed, and, if you 
 should have any curiosity to peruse them, they are much 
 at your service, by sending for them to Messrs. Whiston 
 and White, booksellers, in Fleet-street. I have done 
 myself the honour of calling at your house; but not having 
 the pleasure of finding you at home, and returning to 
 Cambridge to-morrow, I take the liberty of troubling you 
 with this. Since I have been in town, I have found another 
 set of letters from Overbury to Somerset — copies only — in 
 the British Museum, which I was also induced to tran- 
 scribe, and have put together with the others. 
 
 “ I have, in common with the rest of the world, been so 
 much obliged to Mr. Walpole for much entertainment and 
 information received from his writings, that I should be 
 glad in this or any other way to show how much I am his 
 most obedient servant, M. Lort. 
 
 “To the Hon. Horatio Walpole, Esq.” 
 
 “ SlR, Cambridge, June 3, 1765. 
 
 “ I am favoured with your letter, and much obliged by 
 the concern you express from my having missed seeing of 
 you when I did myself the honour of calling at your house. 
 The loss was mine, which I shall be very glad to repair 
 when I come next to town. 
 
 “ The papers I left with Whiston and White you may 
 please to return thither at your own leisure. When I first 
 found Northampton’s letters I did expect to have unravelled 
 all those mysterious transactions which Sir E. Coke’s 
 insinuations at Somerset’s trial led me to suppose had 
 passed between him and Somerset, and to have found 
 circumstantial proof of Northampton’s guilt, not only with 
 regard to the murder of Overbury, but of Prince Henry 
 also. But concerning the latter I found nothing ; and with 
 regard to the former, circumstances rather led me to acquit 
 Northampton : but whether they may lead any one else is 
 another matter. I have likewise, since I read them, enter- 
 tained a better opinion of Sir A. Weldon’s account of 
 King James’s reign, and a worse of Lord Brooke’s, than I 
 had before. 
 
 “ In your account of Sir John Holies you mention, on 
 the authority of his biographer, Mr. Gervase Holies, Sir 
 J ohn’s private conference with Garnet and another Jesuit, 
 
534 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 at their execution, as the cause of his being imprisoned 
 and fined. This may have been, but then he was also 
 fined and imprisoned for such a conference at Tyburn Avith 
 Weston, executed there for the murder of Overbury, when 
 Arthur Wilson informs us that, out of friendship to Somer- 
 set, he urged Weston to deny his confession. Sir John’s 
 trial is in the first volume of the State Trials ; and there 
 it appears that it was upon this occasion Sir E. Coke bolted 
 out that clumsy parody — 
 
 ‘ Et quse tanta fuit Tyburn tibi causa videndi.’ 
 
 ie I will only repeat, Sir, that you may use your own 
 leisure in looking over these papers; and beg you will 
 believe me to be your obedient servant, M. Lort.” 
 
 “ From Mr. Tlirale’s, near Scotland Yard, Whitehall, 
 
 “ Feb. 4, 1773. 
 
 <e Mr. Lort presents his compliments to Mr. Walpole, 
 and begs leave to recommend the little book that accom- 
 panies this to his perusal, supposing it may not yet have 
 fallen in his way, It contains some curious anecdotes of 
 different people little known to the generality of the 
 world, and which perhaps may deserve to be better known, 
 more especially such as regard the Admirable Creyghton, of 
 whom Mr. Lort has collected some further particulars, 
 which Mr. Walpole may command whenever he pleases.” 
 “ Hon. Mr. Horace Walpole.” 
 
 “ Old Bond Street, July 5, 1775. 
 
 “ Mr. Lort presents his compliments and thanks to Mr. 
 Walpole for the printed copy of the little Poems, which 
 he would have done sooner, but that he has been at Cam- 
 bridge, where he picked up the little book that accompa- 
 nies this, in which, p. 412, is the curious case of the in- 
 cestuous marriage, which, if it was not originally started in 
 and borrowed from the Q. of Navarre’s novels, was pro- 
 bably framed by some curious casuist in order to be mooted 
 among his brethren. It is also said to be in a tract of 
 Luther’s. The book is much at Mr. Walpole’s service; if 
 he chooses to keep it.” 
 
 “ Hon. Mr. Horace Walpole.” 
 
 <e SlR, Old Bond Street, June 11, 1776. 
 
 (i The Society of Antiquaries having republished some 
 of Vertue’s Historical Prints, all of Avhich probably yo u 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 535 
 
 already have, it has so happened that I have fortunately 
 met with Van Voerst’s original print of Charles I. and his 
 Queen ; and, on comparing it with what has hitherto been 
 supposed to be Vertue’s copy, I find the impressions to 
 he from the same plate, only retouched by Vertue, who 
 has totally omitted V oerst’s name : and, though indeed he 
 has only added excudit to his own, yet still this is a pro- 
 ceeding I know not how to reconcile with the well-known 
 candour of that honest engraver. 
 
 “ If you have Voerst’s print, be pleased to compare it 
 with Vertue’s ; if not, I will send you mine if you desire it. 
 
 “ I am, sir, your faithful servant, M. Lout. 
 
 “ P.S. In the Minutes of the Society I find this entry : — 
 ‘ 6 March, 1734. The Rev. Mr. Freeman, present at 
 the desire of Mr. Vertue, brought a print of Charles I. 
 and his Queen, from a painting of Vandyke, engraved by 
 R. Van Voerst, 1634. 5 
 
 “ Hon. Mr. H. Walpole, Arlington Street.” 
 
 “ Old Bond Street, July 10, 1770. 
 
 “ Mr. Lort is just returned from Cambridge, and finds 
 Mr. Walpole’s card and the pictures ; for both which he 
 returns his thanks. Mr. Lort will endeavour to wait on 
 Mr. Walpole to-morrow morning, but begs Mr. Walpole 
 will not put himself to any inconvenience by staying at 
 home on that account ; as in that case Mr. Lort will take 
 some other opportunity.” 
 
 “ Old Bond Street, August 1, 1776. 
 
 e< Mr. Lort sends his compliments to Mr. Walpole, with 
 the print of Wilson the Painter ; also the prints of St. 
 Paul’s Cross, with the collections made for an historical 
 account thereof, which are much at Mr. Walpole’s service 
 to make whatever use he pleases of.” 
 
 “ Old Bond Street, August 6, 1776. 
 
 . “ Mr. Lort sends his compliments to Mr. W alpole, and 
 informs him he has laid aside, for some little time at 
 least, his intention of going to France. He has just re- 
 ceived a letter from Mr. Waddilove, at Madrid, who says, 
 to Mr. Walpole’s query I can only say that I have 
 heard of no painter of the name of Muntz. The picture 
 I'm. 3 by Titian, p. 99 of King Charles the First’s Cata- 
 lo gue, is in the Vicars’ chapter-room at the Escurial, The 
 
536 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 picture being fixed to the wall, the marks mentioned 
 cannot be examined ; but as the measures correspond, and 
 the subject is particular, I may venture to say I am not 
 mistaken. Please to ask him of his information concern- 
 ing the Cartoons. To a Spaniard that asked me some 
 questions about them, I gave Mr. Walpole’s account; but 
 the Abbe Pons may think himself more concerned in the 
 credit of EL H. D. than I am, and observed that relation 
 could not be true (see Anecdotes of Painting, vol. ii. p. 54), 
 for the fine tapestry of the Cartoons is now at Rome, and 
 annually hung up for the day of Corsini. The Duke of Alva 
 has at Madrid another copy of that very same tapestry/ 
 
 “ Hon, Mr. Horace Walpole.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Old Bond Street, August, 7, 1776. 
 
 u As I go to Cambridge to-morrow, I shall not be able 
 to wait on you as I wished to do. The papers about Paul’s 
 Cross are mere memorandums, which, without consider- 
 able additions, I suspect are scarce worthy to be printed ; 
 but as I do not look upon them any longer as mine, nor 
 desire ever to have them considered as such, I therefore 
 beg you will press or suppress them when and how you 
 shall think proper. 
 
 t( Some time this winter you desired that, when I should 
 write to Madrid, I would inquire whether Muntz, who 
 wrote on Encaustic Painting, was or had been there. I 
 suppose I mentioned your name as the inquirer, and I 
 suppose also that Mr. Waddilove has taken occasion from 
 thence to refer to something in the Anecdotes of Painting, 
 which, not having the book by me, I did not perfectly un- 
 derstand ; and so I sent you the whole passage. And I 
 will now take an opportunity of adding another relative 
 to the arts of Painting, &e. 
 
 “ ‘The premiums offered here (at Madrid) do more 
 honour to the country than any performances they have 
 produced. Carmona is a very good engraver ; Prieto has 
 cut some seals and medals tolerably well. Bayen, an 
 Arragonese, and Mailla, a Valentian, are king’s painters, 
 and not contemptible ones. Mengs is here at present, and 
 has now finished a new ceiling in the new palace. He 
 goes soon to Rome, and probably will not return hither, 
 though the king favours him much, and he has large ap- 
 pointments ; but his merit is unknown to the grandees. 
 They consider painting as a mere mechanical art, and 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 537 
 
 would pay just as much attention to a house or sign- 
 painter. I have not heard of any one family that has 
 ever employed him on any historical subject, and only two 
 for portraits. The first landscapes are now engraving 
 here ; they are some views of Arranjuez,’ 
 
 “ Dr. Maty * being dead, his son, who is chaplain to 
 Lord Stormont, is expected over; and, as I was to rely upon 
 him for protection and direction, I therefore have for the 
 present suspended my journey thither but if he returns 
 thither before the middle of September, I hope to accom- 
 pany him. In the meantime I shall go northwards, this 
 hot weather, and visit Chatsworth and Hardwicke. 
 
 “ I remain, Sir, your faithful servant, M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Old Bond Street, June 20, 1778. 
 
 (e I send you a paper upon Celts, t the only merit of 
 which is the collecting all their various forms, and what 
 has been said about them, and thus giving others a better 
 chance of giving something better on the subject. With it 
 you will find some curious papers, dispersed among the 
 Catholics, of which I have also sent our friend Cole a 
 set. 
 
 “ I have lately picked up the following work, 4 Dis- 
 courses useful for the vain modish Ladies and their 
 Gallants. By the Rt. Honble. Francis Lord Viscount 
 Shannon.’ 8vo. 1696‘. If not in your collection, it is very 
 much at your service. There is an odd dedication in it 
 to the Duchess of Northumberland. I hope very soon to 
 pay my respects to you at Strawberry Hill ; and am, Sir, 
 your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Old Bond Street, July 20, 1778. 
 
 u I send you f Clubbe’s Physiognomy/ with Hogarth’s 
 print, which I beg your acceptance of; as, also, of Sir 
 Anthony Shirley’s Travels. I find I have of Hogarth’s in 
 my collection at Cambridge the following, which I think 
 are not in yours ; viz. e Battle of the Pictures,’ a receipt 
 print; Frontispieces to English translation of ‘Moliere’s 
 L Avare et Le Cocu imaginaire,’ and the ‘ Surrey Won- 
 der, or a second print of Mary Tofts.’ Some others I 
 
 Dr. Matthew Maty died July 2, 1776. See Memoirs of him in Literary 
 Anecdotes, vol. III. p. 258, and Index, vol. VII. 257. 
 
 ' Lort’s Observations on Celts are punted in Archeeologia, vol. V. 
 *P* iub— 118, 
 
538 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 have here which have the appearance of being Hogarth’s, 
 and which I wish to ascertain — therefore send them to you 
 to look at. I have seen it somewhere mentioned in print 
 that he published a print of Father Girard and Miss 
 CadiereA 
 
 “ So much for Hogarth. As to Chatterton, I find I 
 can help you to some dates for your Narrative, t from 
 memorandums I took at Bristol last year, when Mr. 
 Barrett shewed me part of the two first letters which 
 Chatterton sent to you. The first is dated March 26, 
 1769, when he sent the second printed Eclogue, ‘Richard 
 of lyons heart to fight is gone/ and says, ‘They were 
 specimens of poetry found in Redcliff Church, about 
 1631 (1731, as I suppose), by Rowley, who was a great 
 herald and antiquarian, but a much greater poet ; — and 
 that it would do honour to any person to patronise his 
 works, and to get them printed.’ 
 
 “ The second letter is dated March 30. The in- 
 troductory part here was cut off, but more specimens 
 were sent. He offers to transcribe the whole and send 
 them ; wishes Mr. Horace Walpole would investigate the 
 antiquity of the Violin, having observed an old figure of 
 a man playing on one in Bristol Cathedral. Mr. Wal- 
 pole having made some objections to the authenticity of 
 the poems, Mr. Barrett drew up an answer, which Chat- 
 terton did in part adopt, but never sent. Desires Mr. 
 Walpole would send the MSS. to the ‘Town and Country 
 Magazine,’ if not approved. 
 
 “ So far from my memorandums, written down after a 
 cursory inspection of the papers at Mr. Barrett’s. I 
 could wish much to know what those specimens were that 
 he sent to you. From a note in page 204 of the printed 
 book, it should seem that a ballad on Charity was one ; 
 but your notion of his shifting the date after he had 
 applied to you, is certainly not well founded; for it 
 appears that he had on the 4th of March, 1769, sent a 
 little thing to the ‘ Town and Country Magazine’ (p, 136), 
 which is as follows : - 
 ‘ Sir, 
 
 ‘As you mention in your last that Henry II. intro- 
 
 * “ Memoir of Miss Mary-Catharine Cadiere and Father Girard, Jesuit.” 
 8vo. Lond. 1731. — “ Her Case against the Jesuit Father John Baptist 
 Girard, in a Memorial presented to the Parliament of Aix.” 8vo. Lond. 1733. 
 f See hereafter, p, 555, 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 539 
 
 duced the dress called Court-mantle, the following copy 
 of a manuscript, written three hundred years ago, by one 
 Rowley, a monk, concerning the said dress, may not be 
 unacceptable. 
 
 e Brighhike* havienge ymade Seyncte Baldwynnes f 
 chapele ynto a house, Kynge Harrie Secunclus, in his 
 yinge dales was there taughte ; yn the walle of sayde house 
 was an ymagerie J of a Saxonne Ab- thane, § crabbatelie 
 ywroughtenne, || with a mantille of estate, whyche yinge 
 Harrie enthoughten to bee moche % fyner clresse thanne 
 hys. Causeynge the same to be quaentissen** yn elengeft 
 selke and broderie, H thus came courte dresse from a 
 boystous ymagerie.” 
 
 4 And in another manuscript, written by Rowley, it is 
 said — 
 
 ‘ Richardus§§ abbate of Seyncte Augustynes dyd wear 
 a mantelle frenged with ||||bightes, and plated sylver after 
 courte fashyon. 
 
 ‘ I remain. Sir, your humble servant, D. B. J 
 
 “ In several other following introductions, the same 
 date is asserted; nor can I discover any inconsistency or 
 contradiction in any of these different accounts, which I 
 have compared with that view. 
 
 “ What he wrote to you about his getting the poems 
 from another person, he asserted also at first to Messrs. 
 Barrett and Catcott. He said he was engaged by a gen- 
 tleman to compose love verses to his mistress, and also 
 employed by him to transcribe from old manuscripts the 
 ancient poems, of which he exhibited the copies to Messrs. 
 Barrett and Catcott. This prevented their being much 
 surprised at not seeing the originals, though, at the press- 
 ing solicitations of Mr. Barrett, he did after some time 
 produce one or two vellum leaves. 
 
 “ From the Minute Book of the Society of Antiquaries, 
 it appears that Mr. Theobald exhibited an account of 
 various ornaments given by Mr. William Canning to the 
 Vicar and Procurators of Redcliff Church, the 4th day of 
 July, 1470. This curiosity was said to have been an 
 extract of a book belonging to St. Mary Redcliff Church 
 
 
 ** 
 
 it 
 
 An Anglo-Saxon earl. 
 Statue. 
 
 Elegantly made. 
 Devised or imitated. 
 Embroidery. 
 
 Jewels. 
 
 t In Bristol 
 § Earl. 
 
 V Much, 
 ft Foreign. 
 §§ In 1149. 
 
540 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 at Bristol, and to have been found in the cabinet of John 
 Browning, Esq. 
 
 “ That honesty is the best policy can scarce be more 
 strongly exemplified than from the conduct and fate of 
 Chatterton. Had he not aimed at these impositions upon 
 all mankind, — for it does not appear that he made any per- 
 son privy to them, — but had exhibited his compositions as 
 imitations of ancient bards, and appeared in his own pro- 
 per character; there is no doubt but that he would have 
 met with that patronage which might in time have pro- 
 duced something very extraordinary. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 <f M. Loiit.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Old Bond Street, July 29, 1778. 
 
 “ On my return here I found a copy of Chatterton’s 
 poems,* sent me as a present from the publishers, Fielding 
 and Walker, with a note, begging I would communicate 
 any poems I might have of Chatterton’s for a future edi- 
 tion ; and mentioning that they had been encouraged by 
 Mr. Steevens to solicit my patronage. I thought it might 
 be of use to you to know this ; which is all at present, from, 
 dear Sir, your obliged servant, M. Lort. 
 
 “ P.S. I shall take no notice of this application, at least 
 for the present, and till I return from Cambridge. 
 
 “ Hon. Mr. Horace Walpole, Sti’awberry Hill.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Old Bond Street, Sept. 4, 1778. 
 
 “ I was very sorry on my arrival here yesterday to find 
 I had missed the pleasure of seeing you, having called in 
 Arlington Street about a quarter of an hour after you had 
 left it. If you should be in town next week I shall be 
 glad to receive another summons, as I think it probable 
 that I shall be here a great part of the week. 
 
 i( I see Mr. George Catcott stands forth in the Gent. Mag. 
 for last month (p. 347), an advocate for the authenticity oi 
 Rowley’s poems, against Mr. Warton’s assertions. 
 
 “ He says that, to his knowledge, Chatterton knew 
 nothing of Latin ; and if so, he could not read and under- 
 stand Skinner’s Glossary, as Mr. Tyrwhyt asserts ; but his 
 will, which I have in my possession, proves the contrary. 
 
 es There is said to be a poem of Homer’s, of above 500 
 lines, found in the royal library at Moscow, of which a Dutch 
 
 * “ Miscellanies in Prose and Verse. By Thomas Chatterton.” See 
 Monthly Review, LIX. 395. 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 541 
 
 professor, Ruhnkenius, has a copy, and means to publish it. 
 It is a Hymn to Ceres,* mentioned by Pausanias, and a 
 few lines quoted by him. Possibly this also may be a 
 forgery, to amuse the literati in this age of forgeries. 
 
 f< I am, dear Sir, your obliged servant, M. Lort. 
 
 “ Hon. Mr. Walpole, Strawberry Hill.” 
 
 “Dear SlR, Cambridge, Jan. 11, 1779. 
 
 “ The inclosed letter is from Mr. Waddilove at Madrid, 
 relative to the pictures there which may have been Charles 
 the First’s. Any other queries on this or any other sub- 
 ject that may be in Mr. Waddilove’s power to answer, I 
 dare say he will with pleasure receive. 
 
 ee When I was in town the latter end of November, 1 
 called in Arlington Street, and was sorry to find that you were 
 confined to your room; I hope this has long ceased to be the 
 case, though it has lately been mine. The new year came in 
 very blustering, and has laid me up with the rheumatism, 
 which, however, is not very acute ; so that by a patient 
 submission to a short quarantine I shall hope to come 
 abroad, and get to London, which I want much to do. 
 
 (e I am, dear Sir, your obliged servant, “ M. Lort. 
 
 “ P.S. I hear great things of Mr. Swinburne’s account 
 of Spain, now in the press, with many cuts of the Moorish 
 buildings. 
 
 “ Hon. Mr. Walpole, Arlington Street.” 
 
 “ Old Bond Street, May 18, 1779. 
 
 “ Mr. Lort’s compliments to Mr. Walpole, and has sent 
 two books for his inspection ; also a drawing by Mr. 
 Tyson, which this gentleman means as a free-will offering 
 to the Antiquarian Society, and wishes to submit to Mr. 
 Walpole’s criticism. 
 
 <f Mr. Grimm is engaged by the Society of Antiquaries, 
 for 70 1. to make a drawing of the old picture at Windsor 
 Castle, which exhibits the Embarkation of Henry VIII. 
 for Calais, f and which, when engraved, is to be a compa- 
 nion to the Drap d’Or. 
 
 “ The proposals for Poems are by Mrs. Penny, { whose 
 husband being lately dead she is left in great distress, for 
 
 * This valuable and beautiful Hymn was published by Professor Ruhn- 
 kenius of Leyden, and since by others, discovered by — Mathise. 
 
 t This picture is now at Hampton Court, and has lately been copied for 
 he King of the French. 
 
 I “Poems, with a Dramatic Entertainment. By * * * * [Mrs. 
 
 Penny] 4to s 177?.’' See Monthly Review, XLYII, 70 . 
 
542 ILLUSTRATIONS OP LITERATURE. 
 
 the relief of which her friends have adopted this method. 
 A poem of hers upon Strawberry Hill was once presented 
 to Mr. Walpole by Mr. Franco/ 5 
 “ Hon. Mr. Walpole.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, _ London, June 3, 1779. 
 
 et I am sorry that it is not in my power to accept your 
 kind invitation to Strawberry Hill. 
 
 <e In the Gent. Mag. for last month there is something 
 about the Arundel Marbles, as I believe from Judge 
 Blackstone, if he can be supposed to turn the Earl of 
 Arundel into a Duke of Norfolk.* 
 
 “ The inclosed manuscript I think you will be glad to 
 see; if you can add to the notes and illustrations, which 
 are by Sir J ohn Cullum, it will return more valuable to, 
 dear Sir, your obliged servant, M. Lort/’ 
 
 Mr. Walpole to Dr. Lort. 
 
 “ Strawberry Hill, June 4, 1779. 
 
 “ I am sorry, my dear Sir, you could not let me have 
 the pleasure of your company, but I own you have partly, 
 not entirely, made amends by the sight of the curious 
 manuscript, which I return you, with your other book of 
 Inaugurations. 
 
 “ The sight of the manuscript was particularly wel- 
 come to me, because the long visit f of Henry VI. and his 
 uncle Gloucester to St. Edmund’s Bury accounts for 
 those altar tablets that I bought out of Mr. Ives’s sale, on 
 which are incontestably the portraits of Duke Humphrey, 
 Cardinal Beaufort, and the same Archbishop that is in 
 my marriage of Henry VI. I knew the house of Lan- 
 caster were patrons of St. Edmund’s Bury, but so long a 
 visit is demonstration. 
 
 “ The fourth person on my pannels is unknown. Over 
 his head is a coat of arms. It may be that of William 
 Curteys the abbot, or the alderman, as he is in scarlet. 
 His figure and the duke’s are far superior to the other 
 two, and worthy of a good Italian master. The cardinal 
 and the archbishop are in the dry hard manner of the 
 
 * The article occurs in Gent. Mag. 1779, p. 246 ; and is signed W. S. 
 It is commented on in the June Mag. p. 397, by an anonymous Corres- 
 pondent. The latter article was by the Rev. G. Ashby. 
 
 t This visit took place in 1433. See the Latin account of it from the Re- 
 gister Curteys of Bury Abbey, communicated to the Society of Antiquaries 
 by Craven Ord, esq. in 1803, in Archseol. XV. 65. It is abridged in Dug- 
 dale’s Monasticon, edit. 1821, III. 113, See also Gent, Mag. 1821, ii> 
 236, 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 543 
 
 age. I wish you would call and look at them — they are at 
 Mr. Bonus’s in Oxford Road ; the two prelates are much 
 damaged. I peremptorily enjoined Bonus to repair only, 
 and not repaint them. And thus, by putting him out of 
 his way, I put him so much out of humour too, that he 
 has kept them these two years and not finished them yet. 
 I design them for the four void spaces in my chapel, on 
 the sides of the shrine. The Duke of Gloucester’s face 
 is so like, though younger, that it proves I guessed right 
 at his figure in my marriage. The tablets came out of the 
 abbey at Bury, were procured by old Peter Le Neve, 
 Norroy, and came by his widow’s marriage to Tom Mar- 
 tin, at whose sale Mr. Ives bought them. We have very 
 few princely portraits so ancient, so authentic, and none 
 so well painted, as the Duke and fourth person. These 
 were the insides of the doors, which I had split into two, 
 and value them extremely. This account, I think, will 
 be more satisfactory to you than notes. 
 
 “ Pray tell me how you like the pictures when you 
 have examined them. I shall search in Edmundson’s 
 New Vocabulary of Arms for the coat, which contains 
 three bull’s heads on six pieces, but the colours are either 
 white and black, or the latter is become so by time.* I 
 hope you are not going out of town yet ; I shall probably 
 be there some day in next week. 
 
 u I see advertised a book something in the way of your 
 Inaugurations, called f Le Costume : ’ do you know any 
 thing of it ? Can you tell me who is the author of c The 
 Second Anticipation $ or, the Exhibition ? 3 Is not 
 Barry the painter ? 
 
 “ Your much obliged Hor. WALPOLE.”f 
 
 * Part of this letter is printed in Dugdale’s Monasticon, III. 115. The 
 coat is the arms of Tate. They represent the marriage of Sir Robert Tate, 
 Lord Mayor of London in 1496. 1. Par fess or and gules, a pale counter- 
 
 changed between three Cornish choughs 2 and 1, a crescent for difference, 
 Tate,- impaling Argent, a chevron between three bull’s heads, caboshed sable, 
 armed or, Wood. Mr. C. E. Long (in Gent. Mag. 1842, ii. 24") suggests that 
 this picture came, not from Bury Abbey, but probably either from the chaun- 
 t(y at St. Michael’s, Coventry, or from that at Allhallows Barking. The 
 picture formed part of the sale at Strawberry Hill, and was bought by the 
 Duke of Sutherland. Mr. J. G. Nichols, in the same Magazine, p. 17, has 
 given a long dissertation on this picture, and is of opinion, that it “ has no 
 pedigree to connect it with the county of Suffolk ; and, on the whole, thinks 
 that it is clear Walpole was mistaken in his conception of the subject.” 
 
 t This letter is from Cole’s MSS. vol. XXIII. p. 166, who adds, “ See 
 a letter of mine to Mr. Walpole on this subject in my vol. XXIII. pp. 99 
 
544 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Old Bond Street, June 11, 1779. 
 
 c( I have had the pleasure of viewing the old pictures 
 at Bonuses, who tells me that he shall have done his part 
 by them before the summer is over. The joiner has done 
 his admirably. I really think that, on account of their an- 
 tiquity, goodness, preservation, and the remarkable per- 
 sonages represented in them, they make a capital figure 
 even among your curiosities. 
 
 £C Besides the bull’s heads in the arms, there is a crescent 
 and a chevron. The bull below and the lion are, X think, 
 generally emblems to point out the Evangelists. In 
 one of Strutt’s prints, in his £ Regal Antiquities,’ there is 
 a figure of the Duke of Gloucester with a model of a 
 church in his hand, as in your picture. The manuscript 
 in the British Museum, referred to in the notes on the 
 Bury manuscript, contains most elegant miniature figures, 
 which shew the perfection (together with your pictures) 
 which the artists in painting had then arrived at. 
 
 “I have picked up a little frontispiece, designed by 
 Hogarth, and prefixed to John Gulliver’s Travels, printed 
 in 1731. It is of little moment in itself, but it is valuable 
 to a collector of Hogarth’s prints. 
 
 c( I had not seen the £ Second Anticipation ’ when you 
 wrote ; I have since read it, and like such parts in it as I 
 understand ; but there is a great deal I do not ; whence I 
 conclude it is the work of an artist, and dare say you 
 ascribe it rightly to Barry. When the scaffolding was 
 taken down from before the new Somerset House, there ap- 
 peared in the papers a long detail of its design and beauties, 
 probably by the architect himself. This drew forth a severe 
 hypercriticism, as I suppose from some other architect. 
 
 (i Of Lens’ book on Costume I have only turned over 
 the plates, which seem to be almost wholly from the 
 antique. There are 50, with the letter-press, all for 16s. 
 but whether this circumstance should or should not re- 
 commend the book, I am yet at a loss to guess. 
 
 “ After next week I hope to be able to wait on you at 
 Strawberry Hill : in the mean time, I remain, dear Sir, 
 your obliged and faithful servant, “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Hon. Mr. Horace Walpole, Strawberry Hill.” 
 
 a DEAR Sir, Old Bond Street, Aug. 31, 1779. 
 
 ££ I send you a small cargo of books, new and old, for 
 your perusal, which I flatter myself, if you have not 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 545 
 
 already seen, may afford you, as they have me, some 
 amusement. 
 
 “The inclosed MS. is what I have scribbled as a sort 
 of an introduction to the Latin Narrative of Henry the 
 Sixth’s visit to Bury, in case I should exhibit it next 
 winter to the Antiquarian Society.* I could wish it might 
 receive some additions or corrections from you. 
 
 “ I would have brought you this myself before now, for 
 I have been here this fortnight, but that during this whole 
 space we have been all impatient here to receive news 
 from the Channel, not supposing it possible that twenty-four 
 hours could have elapsed, much less fourteen times as many, 
 since the arrival of the combined fleets on our coasts was 
 announced, without hearing of some very important events 
 in consequence thereof. 
 
 “ A friend of mine, Mr. Seward, is very desirous, with 
 some of his friends, of seeing Strawberry Hill. He went 
 post from hence lately to see the Houghton Collection, 
 but was told at Swaffham that the whole was very near 
 packed up. If you should have no objection to favour 
 him with a ticket, you will oblige, dear Sir, your faithful 
 servant, M. Lort. 
 
 “ Hon. Mr. Horace Walpole, Strawberry Hill.” 
 
 “ Hear Sir, Old Bond Street, Sept. 8, 1779. 
 
 “ I thank you for both your letters, and more par- 
 ticularly for your criticisms on Hirschfeld’sf Theory of 
 Gardening, which I think entirely just, except where you 
 object to his system — I was going to say, his notion — of 
 motion, which I think in part right ; for, though I do not 
 think that I should invite insects to my garden, yet I 
 would be glad of the feathered creation, even those 
 devourers of fruit thrushes and blackbirds, who will pay 
 their quit-rent with a song. And it is true that particular 
 trees and shrubs will attract particular birds, as the wood- 
 pigeon loves ivy for its shelter and its berries. 
 
 cc I do not know whether you have ever seen a French 
 p°°k entitled “ Theorie des Jardins,” which I bought at 
 * n ^1^3 being then just published, and said to be by 
 M. Morel. It is quite on Whately^sf plan, from whence 
 
 bv n’ ee / 3e t° re ! P* 542. It is to be regretted these remarks on this Narrative 
 h ^ ort are lost, as Mr. Ord afterwards published the original Latin 
 narrative, without any introduction. 
 
 { irsc hfeld, (C.C.L.) Theorie der Garten-Kunst, 8vo. Leipz. 1775. 
 
 1770 8vo rVat *° nS ° n ^ oc ^ ern Gardening. By Thos. Whately. 2d edition, 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
 2 N 
 
546 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 he seems to have borrowed his ideas, and, indeed, a good 
 part of his book, but without the least acknowledgment of 
 having seen it. Like Whately, he gives descriptions of 
 particular gardens, amongst which those of Guiscard, be- 
 longing to the Due cPAumont, and of Ermenonville, to the 
 Marq. de Girardin, where Rousseau had his last asylum 
 and died. This Marquis is said to be the author of a 
 book, 4 Sur la Composition des PaysagesJ 
 
 “Mr. Whately told me that the title which he had 
 intended to have prefixed to his book, was 4 An Essay on 
 Design in Gardening/ but that he had been anticipated in 
 this by a little pamphlet, published not long before his 
 book appeared, by, I think, a Mr. Mason, a gentleman of 
 fortune and a great book-buyer. This is translated into 
 French, with the title of 4 L^Art de former les Jardins 
 moderne, oul’Art des Jardins Angloises/ Paris, 1771* It 
 is also in German, Leipsic, 177L 
 
 44 With this I shall send you the last volume of the 
 Necrologie Fran9oise ; if it should excite your curiosity to 
 see the other volumes, they will be much at your service. 
 
 44 That extraordinary genius, the Empress of Russia, 
 has given the Jesuits an asylum in Lithuania, and has 
 even prevailed on the Pope, in some degree, to re-establish 
 the order, by giving them leave to take novices. 
 
 44 The Archbishop of Canterbury * has been pleased to 
 appoint me his chaplain ; and in consequence thereof, I 
 shall soon remove from hence to take up my residence at 
 Lambeth House. Wherever I am, I shall always be, 
 
 44 Dear Sir, your obliged and faithful servant, M. Lort.” 
 
 Dr. Lort to Mr. Walpole. 
 
 44 Dear Sir, _ Lambeth House, Dec. 23, 1780. 
 
 44 1 send you a drawing by John Carter f of the head of 
 Henry III.J which, I understand from him, Dr. Palmer 
 * Dr. Cornwallis. 
 
 T This eminent draughtsman and architect acknowledged that he owed 
 the first insight and encouragement to follow the study of antiquity to the 
 kind patronage of Dr. Lort. See Gent. Mag. 1804, p. 511 ; and “ Literary 
 Anecdotes,” vol. IX. p. 506. Mr. Carter died Sept. 8, 1817. See memoirs 
 of him in Gent. Mag. 1817, ii. 363, 366 ; 1818, i. 373, 376, and numerous 
 notices of him in Indexes to Literary Anecdotes, Literary Illustrations, and 
 General Index to Gent. Mag. III. 73. 
 
 7 This head of Henry III., in oak, was brought from Barnwell Church, 
 near Oundle, and was bought by Mr. Walpole. It is engraved in Carter s 
 “ Antient Sculpture and Painting.” It formed Lot 84 of the Strawberry 
 Hill sale, and was bought for Lord Lifford for £3 5s. ; and his lordship stiff 
 possesses it. 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 547 
 
 is willing to dispose of for four or five guineas. I believe 
 Carter would be glad to dispose of his drawing ; for the 
 poor man has got a Crowland ague, which sticks close to 
 him, and has brought him to death’s door. 
 
 “ I returned hither from Cambridge this day sevennight, 
 but have been confined within doors almost ever since 
 by a violent cold. As soon as it will give me liberty, I 
 shall be happy to wait on you in Berkeley-square. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your faithful servant, M. Lort.” 
 
 “Dear Sir, . _ Lambeth Palace, [1781]. 
 
 “ I understand from Christie that Sheldon’s* sale comes 
 on the 27th; that catalogues are not yet printed; but, as 
 soon as they are, I have given him directions to send you 
 one. 
 
 “ Inclosed is the old catalogue I mentioned. I shall 
 send Prince Charles of Lorraine, and one or two odd 
 things I have lately picked up, to your house in Berkeley- 
 square, from whence I suppose they will be forwarded to 
 you, at Twickenham ; and when you shall have satisfied 
 your curiosity, you may please to return them to Berkeley- 
 square, to be left till called for, only giving me a line to 
 say they are there. This I mention as the easiest way of 
 conveyance of these trifles, as appears to me. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Lambeth Palace, April 2, 1781. 
 
 “ Carter is about to send some of the inclosed proposals 
 to Dr. Palmer, of Peterborough, in whose possession the 
 head of Henry III. is, and who told Carter he should like 
 to part with it — I think Carter said for four or five 
 guineas; but if you chose to make any offer, it shall be 
 conveyed by him to Dr. Palmer without their knowing 
 from whom it comes. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, yours most faithfully, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 [Then follows a printed paper of the proposals for pub- 
 
 * Mr. Sheldon, of Weston Hall, Warwickshire. Among other curiosities, 
 the valuable maps in tapestry, made in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, were 
 bought by Mr. Walpole at Mr. Sheldon’s sale, and part of them were pre- 
 sented by him to Earl Harcourt, who gave the same to Mr. Gough. See Lit. 
 Anec. VI. 325, 326. They are, it is believed, with his collection in the Bod- 
 -eian Library. Other portions of the tapestry have been presented by the 
 Present Archbp. ofYork(Dr. V. Harcourt) to the York Literary Institution. 
 
 2 N 2 
 
548 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 lishing by subscription “ A View of tlie West Front of 
 Croyland Abbey,” &c.* * * § ] 
 
 “Dear Sir, Lambeth Palace, Sept. 17, 1781. 
 
 “ Since I had last the pleasure of seeing you, I have 
 been on an excursion into Hampshire ; and on my return 
 hither last week I found the parcel which had been left 
 for me in Berkeley- square. 
 
 “ I also found here a manuscript on painting, sent from 
 Peterborough by the Bishopt to be forwarded to you, and 
 which is sent to your house in town. I believe you have 
 already had notice of this from the Bishop. 
 
 “ Near Godaiming I went to see a house of General 
 Oglethorpe’s,! built soon after the Restoration, which has 
 now all the furniture remaining statu quo , as then put 
 into it. 
 
 “ Looking into Aubrey’s f Surrey ’ for some account of 
 this house, I found none, but was rewarded for my search 
 by a charming copy of Latin verses of Bishop Earle’s, who 
 wrote the little book of Characters, entitled 4 Hortus Mer- 
 tonensis,’ written about 1620, which I recommend to 
 your perusal. It is in the 4th vol. p. 167. 
 
 u Can you tell me who was the painter of the windows 
 in the chapel of Archbishop Abbot’s Hospital§ at Guild- 
 ford ? I think the date is 1623 or 1624 ; || and they seem 
 very well executed. 
 
 “ The late Lord Darnley has left 5000/. for a mauso- 
 leum in the country,Vin which his corpse is to be deposited; 
 and I am told Mr. Shakespeare is to be the architect. 
 
 “I passed through Westminster Hall the other day, 
 where the floor is now raising eighteen inches, it is said, 
 on the account of the floods sometimes coming into it, 
 that is, once in fifty years ; but it seems to me that the 
 proportion and appearance of this great room would be 
 spoiled by it.** Under part of the old floor was found a 
 
 * See Lit. Anec. I. 693; VI. 14. f Dr. Hinchliffe. 
 
 J Westbrook, in Godaiming, was purchased in 1688, by Sir Theophilus 
 Oglethorpe, father of General Oglethorpe. See Manning and Bray’s 
 
 “ Surrey,” vol. I. p. 610. 
 
 § This glass is described in Manning and Bray’s “Surrey,” I. p. 74} 
 but it is not said by whom the glass was painted. 
 
 U It is 1621. If At Cobham, in Kent. 
 
 ** The floor has recently been lowered to its original level, under the 
 direction of Mr. Sydney Smirke. 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 549 
 
 mutilated statue of a Saxon king,* of which Carter has 
 taken a drawing. His zeal has carried him lately to Fair- 
 ford, to make drawings of some of the painted glass.f 
 “ I hope you have succeeded in your commissions at 
 Weston. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Lambeth House, Nov. 8, 1781. 
 
 “ I was truly sorry to hear that you were so roughly 
 handled by the gout; but I hope that the severity 
 of the fit is over, and that you will be left at ease and 
 liberty to pursue your design of doing justice to the me- 
 mory of your old friend, J and afford an opportunity to 
 others of partaking with you in the pleasure which her 
 literary treasures must have afforded you. 
 
 “ I could wish also to see justice done to Yoltaire — I 
 mean not by such flattering portraits of him as his two 
 partial friends have been and are exhibiting of him, but 
 by a just and genuine likeness. 
 
 “The pamphlet which attends this has some letters in 
 it by the Chevalier Boufflers, that I was much pleased 
 with, and I send it in hopes it may afford you half an 
 hour’s amusement. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your obliged and faithful servant. 
 
 “M. Lort.” 
 
 K Dear Sir, Saville Row, March 7, [1782 ?]. 
 
 “ The picture which accompanies this seeming to me a 
 curiosity worthy your attention, I have taken the liberty to 
 send it to you. It belongs to Mr. Turner, in whose family 
 it has some time been, and for one of whom, from the 
 
 * Engraved by Carter in his “ Antient Sculpture and Painting,” pi. l, p. 
 61, edit. 1838. 
 
 t See Bigland’s “ History of Fairford,” 8vo. 1791. 
 
 + Madame Du Deffand, who died in 1780, aged 84. Walpole thus men- 
 tions her in a letter to Mr. Gray, written from Paris in 1760 : “ She is now 
 very old, and stone-blind, but retains all her vivacity, wit, memory, judg- 
 ment, passions, and agreeableness. She goes to operas, plays, suppers, and 
 Versailles ; gives suppers twice a-week ; has everything new read to her ; 
 makes new songs and epigrams, aye, admirably, and remembers every one 
 that has been made these fourscore years. She corresponds with Voltaire, 
 dictates charming letters to him, contradicts him, is no bigot to him or any- 
 body, and laughs both at the clergy and the philosophers.” Her Letters to 
 Mr. Walpole from 1766 to 1780, to which were added her letters to Voltaire 
 mom 1759 to 1775, were published from the originals at Strawberry Hill, in 
 4 vols. in 1810. 
 
550 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 sketch of the characters given me with it, it seems to have 
 been painted. I sent it to Sir John Hawkins, who re- 
 turned it with his sentiments, which seem to me to suit 
 the picture better than Mr. Turner’s traditional account ; 
 but of this you will be the better judge. I have been 
 confined at home almost since I had the pleasure of meet- 
 ing you at Sir Joseph Banks’, or I would with pleasure 
 have attended the picture to Berkeley Square. 
 
 “ Believe me, dear Sir, your obliged and faithful ser- 
 vant, ee M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, No. 16, Saville Row, Dec. 20, 1782. 
 
 “ I did intend, before this time, to have announced to 
 you in person my having quitted Lambeth House, and 
 taken up my residence as above mentioned ; but a very 
 severe cold, which I brought with me from Bath, whither I 
 -went first from Lambeth, has confined me here at home for 
 some time past, so that I only ventured out this morning 
 for half an hour. On my return I found the inclosed 
 letter from Dr. E win to Sir Walter Rawlinson, giving an 
 account of the death of an old friend of ours,* which I 
 very sincerely regret ; for, with all his oddities, he was a 
 worthy and valuable man. I thought you would like to 
 read this letter, as well as myself ; when you have done 
 with it, be pleased to return it to your faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Saville Row, Jan. 6, 1786. 
 
 ee I have been confined at home with a severe cold, or I 
 should have called to ask you how you did since 1 had 
 the pleasure of hearing that the paroxysm of your gout 
 was subsided, and that you could make your friends happy 
 in conversing with you. 
 
 “ It is but lately that I have found the pamphlet, which 
 I now return as your property, and am afraid it has been 
 in my possession much longer than it ought to have been. 
 
 “ I also send a book of my own, containing a Life of 
 Father Archangell, a noble Scotchman, very different from 
 Sir David Dalrymple’s, and, indeed, it appears they were 
 different persons. How is this difference to be accounted 
 for ? “I am, dear Sir, yours very truly, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 * The Rev. William Cole, who died Dec. 16, 1782. See memoirs and 
 numerous notices of him in Lit. Anecdotes, vol. I. pp. 657 — 701, and Index, 
 VII. 87, 538, 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 551 
 
 “ Dear SlR, Saville Row, July 16, 1788. 
 
 “ My friend, the Rev. G. Ashby, of Barrow, in Suffolk, 
 is very desirous that you would do him the honour of perus- 
 ing at your leisure the inclosed MS. and giving him your 
 opinion whether the Book of Prayers should he ascribed to 
 Katharine of Arragon rather than Katharine Parr. He 
 can get no satisfactory information from Mr. Herbert, who 
 mentions the book, p. 1076.* 
 
 “You probably have heard of the plunder made in 
 Devonshire House from most of the cabinets. The whole 
 suite of gold medals, Greek and Roman, were swept away, 
 and I concluded were all gone into the melting pot ; but 
 I have had the pleasure of recovering the greatest part of 
 them, also of the other property, which were taken at his 
 leisure by a young confectioner that had lived some time 
 in the family, and with great adroitness contrived to open 
 most of the cabinets. He is now in custody, t 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, dear Sir, your obliged and 
 faithful servant, M. Lort. 
 
 “ P.S. The duke himself had the keys of the drawings 
 and gems in his keeping for some years ; I only kept the 
 keys of the medals till some proper person should receive 
 them, to whom I might shew they were all safe. 
 
 “Very little indeed of the account published yesterday 
 in ‘The World/ and from thence in this day’s ‘Public 
 Advertiser/ is true.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Saville Row, July 25, 1788. 
 
 “ In turning over the ‘ Melanges de Yigneuil Marveille/ 
 vol. i. p. 217, there is a curious passage relative to Sir K. 
 Digby and his lady and her pictures, which, if it should 
 have hitherto escaped your notice, you will, I doubt not, 
 be glad to have had it pointed out to you. If you should 
 not have the book, mine is at your service. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “M. Lort.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Saville Row, July 28, 1788. 
 
 ee I am much obliged by your remarks on Mr. Ashby’s 
 MS., as I think he ought also to be when [he] shall see 
 them. I say ought , as we do not always give a ready 
 
 * See before, in this volume, p. 413. 
 
 t See before, p. 497. 
 
552 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 assent to arguments that make against a private notion. 
 This of the first Katharine being the author of the prayers 
 I endeavoured to combat, but without success, and was 
 therefore glad that he appealed to you, whose authority he 
 is more likely to submit to. 
 
 “ Before you informed me, I did not know that the 
 Devonshire gold medals had been once lord Pembroke’s. 
 Are these, then, the medals engraved in lord Pembroke’s 
 fine book, and which, not having been visible for many 
 years at Wilton, have been supposed to have been locked 
 up in the bank ? 
 
 “ The most rare and curious of the Devonshire gold 
 coins have been recovered ; of those missing the greatest 
 part are of the Lower Empire, and these all in a suite, as 
 if the drawers which contained them had been emptied into 
 a bag by themselves, and so carried and sold to the 
 refiner’s, who says he has melted them all. 
 
 “ Several dealers in this way have brought me coins, 
 which they suppose may have been taken from the Devon- 
 shire cabinet : amongst others, one Norborne, No. 153, 
 High Holborn, brought a chased oval medal of N. Wad- 
 ham and his wife, figured and described in the 3rd plate of 
 Parry’s Supplement, which Norborne wishes to sell. 
 
 “ I have not seen lord Buchan’s Life of Napier,*nor have 
 much curiosity to see it after what you have said of it. 
 
 e( There is a pamphlet lately published at York relative 
 to the Lunatic Hospital there, which perhaps you would 
 care as little about if I was not to add that it was written 
 by Mr. Mason, and is sold at Robson’s. 
 
 “ I believe I shall in a week’s time pass over to the 
 Continent, and stay a fortnight at Boulogne for sea-bath- 
 ing, and to reconnoitre the places figured in the Cowdray 
 paintings, and just published by the Antiquarian Society. 
 The noted pharos formerly there, of which there was a 
 counterpart at Dover, was built by Caligula; and yet he is 
 supposed to have done nothing whilst he stayed at Boulogne 
 but gather cockle-shells. Montfaucon, in his description 
 of this pharos in the Mem. de l’Acad. tom. vi. mistakes 
 an old church-tower in Dover Castle for the pharos, 
 reasons upon it, and then afterwards slightly mentions 
 that he had mistaken the object. I am, Sir, your obliged 
 and faithful servant, M. Lort.” 
 
 * See a memoir of Lord Buchan, with a series of his correspondence, in 
 Literary Illustrations, VI, 489 — 521. 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE CORRESPONDENCE. 553 
 
 (i DEAR Sir, Saville Row, Nov. 10, 1788. 
 
 “ A MS. life of Chatterton, drawn up for the Biogra- 
 phia Britannica, but not by Dr. Kippis, has been lately 
 put into my hands, in which I made some alterations and 
 corrections of facts better known to me than to the writer.* 
 In the account given of the transaction between you and 
 Chatterton, it seemed to me that the writer had leaned 
 too much to the side of the question unfavourable to you, 
 as given by ignorant or prejudiced persons ; and I think 
 I convinced him that he had done so. I told him I would 
 draw up a fairer and truer state of the matter, and this I 
 have attempted to do in the four first pages of the inclosed 
 papers ; the others are only transcripts from your pamph- 
 let on the subject (whether properly made, or too much 
 or too little, you will best judge), to be inserted, I should 
 suppose, in the notes, if the general plan of the biography 
 is followed ; which it does not seem to have been by the 
 writer of this life. Whether all or any, or what part of 
 the inclosed,f should be offered to the biographer, is sub- 
 mitted to your judgment. I have not mentioned to any 
 person that I had or should apply to you on this occasion ; 
 and I shall with great pleasure receive and obey your 
 directions. I am, dear Sir, with great truth, your faithful 
 servant, “ M. Lqrt.” 
 
 “Dear Sir, Saville Row, July 6, 1789. 
 
 “ I shall with great pleasure obey your commands, and 
 give Mr. Porter a recommendatory letter to Dr. Postle- 
 thwaite, the new Master of Trinity College, from whom 
 I am sure the young man will receive all proper encou- 
 ragement and countenance, if it be not his own fault. 
 But I think I could write this with a better grace, if I was 
 to see and converse with the father and the son for a few 
 minutes. You say the young man has got some Latin ; 
 I hope he has got some Greek also, for without some 
 acquaintance with that language he will scarce be ad- 
 mitted. 
 
 ‘‘ I am, dear Sir, in much haste, your obliged and 
 faithful servant, 
 
 “ M. Lort.” 
 
 ff Dear Saville Row, Aug. 4, 1789. 
 
 Having lent Barrett’s book to a friend, and not re- 
 Rev. Dr. Gregory. + See hereafter, p. 555. 
 
554 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ceiving it back till this morning, was the reason of my 
 not having replied sooner to your favour of the 27th. I 
 wished to see again the observations that Barrett made 
 on the correspondence between you and Chatterton ; and 
 the more so, as when I read the passage you allude to, it 
 did not appear to me to be of much consequence whether 
 the letter had been really sent to you, or only intended to 
 have been sent ; for, whatever opinion you or any one else 
 might have formed of the discovery of a series of Bristol 
 painters and carvellers,* the series now produced to the 
 world must stagger the belief of all but the most pre- 
 judiced or most ignorant, and be rejected at once as 
 fictitious. 
 
 (< I will write to a friend at Bristol to try if he can find 
 out whether the letter has got the postmark, or seems 
 only the copy of one intended to have been sent. 
 
 “ Though Barrett has been deceived himself, yet I 
 verily believe he would use no unfair means to deceive 
 others. I remember two years ago, Mr. T. Warton de- 
 clared that Barrett did not intend to make use of any of 
 the MSS. he had received from Chatterton, as materials 
 for his History of Bristol; but the very reverse now 
 seems to be the case, as he appears to have adopted them 
 all indiscriminately, and, as the old saying is, f without 
 either fear or wit/ and thus has afforded the Anti-Row- 
 
 * Barrett’s History of Bristol, p. 194. The letters to Mr. Walpole are 
 printed from Chatterton’s hand-writing in Barrett’s History of Bristol, p. 
 639 to 646. On the subject of these letters the following letter from Dr. 
 Farmer appeared in the Gent. Mag. for May, 1792 : 
 
 “Mr. Urban, Emman. Coll. May 25, 1792. 
 
 “ I see in your Magazine of the last month, p. 296, a letter with the sig- 
 nature of Christ. Seltzer ; a gentleman of whose existence I am as doubtful 
 as of that of old Rowley himself. 
 
 “ The subject is, whether Mr. Walpole, the present Earl of Orford, had 
 any correspondence with the unfortunate Chatterton ; and it is there asserted, 
 that Mr. Walpole never wrote to him any Letter whatever : and that I, 
 amongst others, was authorized and enjoined by him to contradict the report 
 of such correspondence. 
 
 “ Now is it possible that Lord Orford should deny, or enjoin others to do 
 so, what he himself has publickly declared to be true, and suffered you to tell 
 all the world in your Magazine for May, 1782 ? 
 
 “ The fact is, and all that I know about it — more than two years ago, my 
 friend Mr. Steevens gave me the following information, which at that time 
 I occasionally mentioned in the University : 
 
 “ ‘ Mr. Walpole has authorized his friends to declare that he never saw 
 those Letters from Chatterton, which Mr. Barrett has printed, till they ap- 
 peared in the new History of Bristol. Mr. W. also expresses his apprehen- 
 sions, that, after his death, some pretended answers to them will be produced. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. Richard Farmer.” 
 
WALPOLE AND LORT ON CHATTERTON. 555 
 
 leians ample range for extending their triumph. At the 
 same time Rowley is exhibited in another character — that 
 of a familiar letter-writer, in which modern words and 
 phrases and turn of diction stand forth as conspicuous as 
 in any of the spurious poems. Still another character — 
 that of a drawer and designer of architecture, — a copy of 
 this I had as a great favour from Mr. Barrett ten or twelve 
 years ago, when the dispute was yet in its infancy ; and I 
 have kept it very choice ever since, presuming it would 
 never appear to illustrate the History of Bristol or any 
 other. 
 
 “ Chatterton having met with such easy credit at Bris- 
 tol, where every thing he produced seems to have been 
 received as gospel, and by every body, no wonder he 
 wished to extend the scene of his forgeries, nor any won- 
 der that a rebuff from a quarter should irritate and inflame 
 so proud and presumptuous a spirit as he represents his 
 own to be, and what had well nigh drawn him to put an 
 end to his being, when he was in no want of the neces- 
 saries of life, which has been assigned, though I think 
 improperly, for committing this act afterwards. Had he 
 done it the first time, there might have been a much bet- 
 ter foundation for all the clamour that idle people raised 
 of a great and promising genius lost to the world for 
 want of patronage and encouragement. It does not 
 appear that after he left Bristol he wrote anything under 
 the character of Rowley. 
 
 C{ Mr. Porter telling me his son was but little more than 
 seventeen, and having not gone to school till fourteen, I 
 advised him to defer sending him to College yet a-while. 
 I found, upon examining him, that he did very well in 
 Horace and the Greek Testament. 
 
 <e I am, dear sir, yours, very truly, 
 
 “ M. Lout.” 
 
 “Dear Sir, Saville Row, August 7th, 1789. 
 
 K Inclosed are some verses from an old Cambridge col- 
 lection, which, if you have not seen, I think you will like 
 to be possessed of, and are very much at your service. 
 
 “ The Latin letter introduced by Barrett in the Pre- 
 face to his book (page v.) I am told is by Dr. Glynne of 
 Cambridge. Mr. Steevens called on me yesterday, and to 
 whom I communicated what you wrote to me concerning 
 Chatterton ; it cannot be in better hands. 
 
556 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Do you know that the Duke de Liancourt, President 
 of the National Assembly, brought his two sons to Eng- 
 land five or six years ago, and lodged them with Professor 
 Symonds, at Bury, where they had English masters, and 
 were said to make great proficiency in various attainments, 
 so as to promise to make great figure in their own country. 
 
 “ I am, dear sir, your faithful servant, M. Lort.” 
 
 Dr. Lort’s Vindication of Mr. Walpole with 
 regard to Chatterton. 
 
 [From several passages in these letters of Dr. Lort, it 
 appears evident how anxious Horace Walpole naturally 
 was to set himself right with the public with regard to 
 Chatterton. 
 
 Mr. Walpole incurred so much censure from the 
 admirers* of Chatterton, who even accused him as the 
 cause of his death, that he thought it necessary to draw 
 up a Pamphlet on the subject, which is fully noticed in 
 Dr. Gregory’s Life of Chatterton, in vol. iv. of the Bio- 
 graphia Britannica, p. 581. Dr. Gregory, after a full dis- 
 cussion, thus concludes: — “Mr. Walpole was certainly 
 under no obligation of patronizing Chatterton ; to have 
 encouraged him, would have been an exertion of liberality 
 and munificence uncommon in the present day ; but to 
 ascribe to Mr. Walpole’s neglect (if it can even merit so 
 harsh an appellation) the dreadful catastrophe, would be 
 the highest degree of injustice and absurdity.” In a note 
 he adds, “ A learned and respectable friend, on reading these 
 memoirs in manuscript, favoured me with the following 
 vindication of Mr. Walpole, which, for the satisfaction of 
 those who wish for the fullest information on the subject, 
 I insert entire.” f 
 
 As the Vindication of Mr. Walpole was by Dr. Lort, 
 a reprint of it will not be an inappropriate conclusion to 
 the correspondence of these two eminent men. — Edit.] 
 
 “It has already been stated that, in March, 1 769, 
 Chatterton, not long after his acquaintance with Mr. 
 Barrett and Mr. Catcott, to whom he had communicated 
 
 * Dr. Vicesimus Knox was very severe on Mr. Walpole’s conduct respect- 
 ing Chatterton, in his “ Essays,” but afterwards omitted the most objection- 
 able passages in the tenth edition of his work. See Gent. Mag. for 1789, 
 pp. 602, 684, 707. 
 
 f The life of Chatterton, by Dr. Gregory, is accused of partiality towards 
 Walpole in Gent. Mag. for 1792, p. 1076, and vindicated in the same Mag. 
 for 1793, p. 228. 
 
LORT AND WALPOLE ON CHATTERTON. 557 
 
 some originals and some transcripts of Rowley’s Poems, 
 wrote a letter to Mr. H. Walpole, inclosing also a specimen 
 of the poems, and soliciting his patronage. Let the reader 
 take the account in Mr. Walpole’s own words, from an 
 extract of a letter to Mr. W. B. added to another letter to 
 the editor of Chatterton’s Miscellanies, and printed at 
 Strawberry-hill, 1779* 
 
 e I am far from determined to publish anything about 
 Chatterton : it would almost look like making myself a 
 party. I do not love controversy. If I print, my chief 
 reason would be that, both in the account of the poems, 
 and in Mr. Warton’s last volume, my name has been 
 brought in with so little circumspection and accuracy, that 
 it looks as if my rejection of Chatterton had driven him 
 to despair ; whereas I w T as the first person on whom he 
 essayed his art and ambition, instead of being the last. I 
 never saw him ; there was an interval of near two years 
 between his application to me and his dismal end ; nor 
 had he quitted his master, nor was necessitous, nor other- 
 wise poor than attornies’ clerks usually are ; nor had he 
 come to London, nor launched into dissipation, when his 
 correspondence with me stopped. As faithfully as I can 
 recollect the circumstances, without dates, and without 
 searching for what few memorandums I preserved relative 
 to him, I will recapitulate his history with me. Bathurst, 
 my bookseller, brought me a packet left with him : it 
 contained an ode, or little poem, of two or three stanzas in 
 alternate rhyme, on the death of Richard the First ; and I 
 was told, in very few lines, that it had been found at 
 Bristol, with many other old poems, and that the pos- 
 sessor could furnish me with accounts of a series of great 
 painters who had flourished at Bristol. 
 
 e Here I must pause to mention my own reflections. At 
 first I concluded that somebody, having met with my 
 Anecdotes of Painting, had a mind to laugh at me. I 
 thought not very ingeniously, as I was not likely to swallow 
 a succession of great painters at Bristol. The ode, or 
 sonnet,* as I think it was called, was too pretty to be part 
 of the plan ; and, as is easy with all the other supposed 
 poems of Rowley, it was not difficult to make it modern 
 by changing the old words for new, though yet more diffi- 
 cult than with most of them. You see I tell you fairly the 
 case. 
 
 * “ Richard of Lion’s heart to fight is gone.” 
 
558 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ‘ I wrote, according to the inclosed direction, for farther 
 particulars. Chatterton, in answer, informed me that he 
 was the son of a poor widow, who supported him with 
 great difficulty; that he was clerk or apprentice to an 
 attorney, but had a taste and turn for more elegant stu- 
 dies, and hinted a wish that I would assist him with my 
 interest in emerging out of so dull a profession, by pro- 
 curing him some place in which he could pursue his 
 natural bent. He affirmed that great treasures of ancient 
 poetry had been discovered in his native city, and were in 
 the hands of a person who had lent him those he had 
 transmitted to me ; for he now sent me others, amongst 
 which was an absolute modern pastoral in dialogue, thinly 
 sprinkled with old words.* Pray observe, sir, that he 
 affirmed having received the poems from another person ; 
 whereas it is ascertained that the gentleman at Bristol, 
 who possesses the fund of Rowley’s poems, received them 
 from Chatterton. 
 
 e I wrote to a relation of mine at Bath to inquire into 
 the situation and character of Chatterton, according to his 
 own account of himself : nothing was returned about his 
 character, but his story was verified. 
 
 ‘ In the mean time I communicated the poems to Mr. 
 Gray and Mr. Mason, who at once pronounced them for- 
 geries, and declared there was no symptom in them of 
 their being the productions of near so distant an age; 
 the language and metres being totally unlike anything 
 ancient. 
 
 ‘Well, sir, being satisfied with my intelligence about 
 Chatterton, I wrote him a letter with as much kindness 
 and tenderness as if I had been his guardian ; for, though 
 I had no doubt of his impositions, such a spirit of poetry 
 breathed in his coinage as interested me for him ; nor was 
 it a grave crime in a young bard to have forged false notes 
 of hand, that were to pass current only in the parish of 
 Parnassus. I undeceived him about my being a person of 
 any interest, and urged, that in duty and gratitude to his 
 mother, who had straitened herself to breed him up to a 
 profession, he ought to labour in it, that in her old age he 
 might absolve his filial debt; and I told him that, when 
 he should have made a fortune, he might unbend himself 
 with the studies consonant to his inclinations. I told 
 him also that I had communicated his transcripts to better 
 
 * Elinoure and Juga. 
 
WALPOLE AND LORT ON CHATTERTON. 559 
 
 judges, and that they were by no means satisfied with the 
 authenticity of his supposed MSS. He wrote me rather a 
 peevish answer, said he could not contest with a person 
 of my learning (a compliment by no means due to me, 
 and which I certainly had not assumed, having mentioned 
 my having consulted abler judges), maintained the ge- 
 nuineness of the poems, and demanded to have them 
 returned, as they were the property of another gentleman. 
 Remember this. 
 
 c When I received this letter I was going to Paris in a 
 day or two, and either forgot his request of the poems, or 
 perhaps not having time to have them copied, deferred 
 complying till my return, which was to be in six weeks. 
 I protest I do not remember which was the case; and yet, 
 though in a cause of so little importance, I will not utter a 
 syllable of which I am not positively certain, nor will 
 charge my memory with a tittle beyond what it retains. 
 Soon after my return from France I received another 
 letter from Chatterton, the style of which was singularly 
 impertinent. He demanded his poems roughly ; and 
 added, that I should not have dared to use him so ill 
 if he had not acquainted me with the narrowness of his 
 circumstances. My heart did not accuse me of insolence 
 to him. I wrote an answer to him, expostulating with 
 him on his injustice, and renewing good advice ; but upon 
 second thoughts, reflecting that so wrong-headed a young 
 man, of whom I knew nothing, and whom I had never 
 seen, might be absurd enough to print my letter, I flung 
 it into the fire; and wrapping up both his poems and 
 letters, without taking a copy of either, for which I am 
 now sorry, I returned all to him, and thought no more 
 about him or them till about a year and a half after, when, 
 dining at the Royal Academy, Dr. Goldsmith drew the 
 attention of the company with an account of a marvellous 
 treasure of ancient poems lately discovered at Bristol, and 
 expressed enthusiastic belief in them, for which he was 
 laughed at by Dr. Johnson, who was present. I soon 
 found this was the trouvaille of my friend Chatterton, and 
 I told Dr. Goldsmith that this novelty was none to me, 
 who might, if I had pleased, have had the honour of 
 ushering the great discovery to the learned world. You 
 may imagine, sir, we did not at all agree in the measure 
 of our faith ; but though his credulity diverted me, my 
 mirth was soon dashed ; for on asking about Chatterton, 
 
560 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 he told me he had been in London, and had destroyed 
 himself. I heartily wished then that I had been the dupe 
 of all the poor young man had written to me ; for who 
 would not have his understanding imposed upon to save 
 a fellow being from the utmost wretchedness — despair and 
 suicide ! and a poor young man, not eighteen, and of such 
 miraculous talents ; for, dear sir, if I wanted credulity on 
 one hand, it is ample on the other. Yet heap all the 
 improbabilities you please on the head of Chatterton, the 
 impossibility on Rowley’s side will remain. An amazing 
 genius for poetry, which one of them possessed, might 
 flash out in the darkest age ; but could Rowley anticipate 
 the phraseology of the eighteenth century? His poetic 
 fire might burst through the obstacles of the times ; like 
 Homer, or other original bards, he might have formed a 
 poetical style, but would it have been precisely that of an 
 age subsequent to him by some hundred years? Nobody 
 can admire the poetry of the poems in question more than 
 I do ; but, except being better than most modern verses, 
 :in what do they differ in the construction ? The words are 
 old, the construction evidently of yesterday, and by sub- 
 stituting modern words, aye, single words, to the old, or 
 to those invented by Chatterton, in what do they differ? 
 Try that method with any composition, even in prose, of 
 the reign of Henry YI. and see if the consequence will be 
 the same. But I am getting into the controversy instead 
 of concluding my narrative, which indeed is ended.’ 
 
 “ Whatever imputation might have lain on Mr. Walpole 
 with regard to the treatment of Chatterton, before these 
 particulars were known, and this narrative appeared, surely 
 there can be no impartial reader of it who will not acquit 
 him of any ill treatment of a person who appeared to him 
 in so questionable a shape, and allow that, in Mr. Wal- 
 pole’s situation, he could scarcely have acted otherwise 
 than he did. For what was the case ? A youth of sixteen 
 years of age, clerk to an attorney at Bristol, totally un- 
 known to Mr. Walpole, sends him a letter, acquainting 
 him that the writer, though bred to the law, had a taste 
 for politer studies, particularly poetry, and wished to be 
 drawn out of his present situation, and placed in one more 
 at his ease, where he might pursue the studies more con- 
 genial to his taste and genius ; but of this taste and genius 
 he produces no other proof than transcripts of some old 
 poems, said to have been found at Bristol, and to be the 
 
WALPOLE AND LORT ON CHATTERTON. 561 
 
 property of another person. These poems being exhibited 
 by Mr. Walpole to Mr. Gray and Mr. Mason, those excel- 
 lent and impartial judges agreed in opinion that they must 
 be modern productions, disguised in antiquated phrases ; 
 and, with regard to a long list of Bristol artists, carvers 
 and painters, announced also as part of this treasure, Mr. 
 Walpole was as confident that none such ever had any exist- 
 ence, and therefore he could not help concluding that the 
 whole was a fiction, contrived by some one or more lite- 
 rary wags, who wished to impose on his credulity, and to 
 laugh at him if they succeeded; and that Chatterton was 
 only the instrument employed to introduce and recom- 
 mend these old writings. His youth and situation could 
 not lead Mr. Walpole to suppose he was himself the author 
 and contriver, more especially as he asserted them to be 
 the property of a person at Bristol then alive. He had 
 indeed represented himself as a lover of the muses, but 
 had given no specimens of his own compositions. The 
 kindest thing therefore Mr. Walpole could do for a young 
 man in this situation was, after a gentle hint of his suspi- 
 cions of the authenticity of the poems, to recommend to 
 his correspondent to pursue the line of business in which 
 he was placed, as most likely to secure a decent main- 
 tenance for himself, and enable him to assist his mother. 
 However disappointed Chatterton might have been at 
 the time, and angry with Mr. Walpole for this rebuff, 
 it should seem as if he had not harboured any long or 
 strong resentment against that gentleman ; for in a copy 
 of verses addressed to Miss M. R. and sent by him to 
 the Town and Country Magazine, and printed in the 
 number for January, \^0, is the following stanza : — 
 
 ‘ Yet when that bloom and dancing fire 
 In silver’d reverence shall expire, 
 
 Aged, wrinkled, and defaced ; 
 
 To keep one lover’s flame alive 
 Requires the genius of a Clive, 
 
 With Walpole’s mental taste.’ (*) 
 
 “It should seem also that Chatterton had in part adopted 
 Mr. Walpole’s advice, by continuing with his master a 
 full twelvemonth after his application to that gentleman. 
 Then he got dismissed from his master and went to 
 London, in full confidence that his literary talents would 
 nnd ample employment and encouragement from the 
 London booksellers ; but, being disappointed in his ex- 
 
 * See Chatterton’s Miscellanies, p. 88. 
 
 2 o 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
562 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 pectation, the fatal conclusion which has just been men- 
 tioned took place. Had this been the case immediately 
 on his receipt of Mr. Walpole’s last letter, some shadow 
 of foundation might have appeared for the harsh censures 
 passed on Mr. Walpole’s treatment of this ill-fated youth, 
 though, even then, no real one, all circumstances consi- 
 dered. 
 
 “ From the spirited reply of Mr. Walpole to one of these 
 censurers (the editor of Chatterton’s Miscellanies), and 
 printed in the same pamphlet as the letter to W. B. the 
 following extract is given, as equally applicable to all 
 objectors. 
 
 e Was it the part of a just man to couple Chatterton’s 
 first unsuccessful application with his fatal exit, and load 
 me with both ? Does your enthusiastic admiration of his 
 abilities, or your regrets for the honour of England’s 
 poetry, warrant such a concatenation of ideas ? Was poor 
 Chatterton so modest, or so desponding, as to abandon 
 his enterprises on their being damped by me ? Did he 
 not continue to pursue them ? Is this country so desti- 
 tute of patrons of genius, or do I move in so eminent and 
 distinguished a sphere, that a repulse from me is a dagger 
 to talents ? Did not Chatterton come to London after 
 that miscarriage ? Did he relinquish his counterfeiting 
 propensity on its being lost on me? Was he an inof- 
 fensive, ingenuous youth, smit with the love of the muses, 
 and soaring above a sordid and servile profession, whose 
 early blossoms, being blighted by my insolence, withered 
 in mortified obscurity, and on seeing his hopes of fame 
 blasted, sunk beneath the frowns of ignorant and insolent 
 wealth; or did he, after launching into all the excesses 
 you describe, and vainly hoping to gratify his ambition 
 by adulation to, or satires on, all ranks and parties of men, 
 fall a victim to his own ungovernable spirit, and to the 
 deplorable straits to which he had reduced himself? The 
 interval was short, I own ; but as every moment of so 
 extraordinary a life was crowded with efforts of his enter- 
 prising genius, allow me to say with truth, that there was 
 a large chasm between his application to me and his 
 miserable conclusion. You know there was ; and though 
 my falling into his snare might have varied the rera of his 
 exploits, it is more likely that that success would rather 
 have encouraged than checked his enterprises. When he 
 pursued his turn for fabricating ancient writings, in spite of 
 the mortification he received from me, it is not probable that 
 
WALPOLE ON CHATTERTON. 
 
 563 
 
 he would have been corrected by success : such is not the 
 nature of success, when it is the reward of artifice. I 
 should be more justly reproachable for having contributed 
 to cherish an impostor, than I am for having accelerated 
 his fate. I cannot repeat the words without emotions 
 of indignation on my own account, and of compassion on 
 his. O.’ * 
 
 Mr. Walpole's narrative concludes with an Appendix, 
 in which he gives a general view of the character and 
 works of Chatterton, so ably and elegantly appreciated 
 that I cannot resist the reprinting it : 
 
 “ As the warmest devotees to Chatterton cannot be 
 more persuaded than I am of the marvellous vigour of his 
 genius at so very premature an age, I shall here subjoin 
 the principal eeras of his life, which, when compared with 
 the powers of his mind, the perfection of his poetry, his 
 knowledge of the world, — which, though in some respects 
 erroneous, spoke quick intuition, — his humour, his vein of 
 satire, and, above all, the amazing number of books he 
 must have looked into, though chained down to a labo- 
 rious and almost incessant service, and confined to Bristol, 
 except at most for the last five months of his life, the 
 rapidity with which he seized all the topics of conversation 
 then in vogue, whether of politics, literature, or fashion ; 
 and when, added to all this mass of reflection, it is remem- 
 bered that his youthful passions were indulged to excess, 
 faith in such a prodigy may well be suspended, and we 
 should look for some secret agent behind the curtain, if it 
 were not as difficult to believe that any man possessed of 
 such a vein of genuine poetry would have submitted to 
 lie concealed while he actuated a puppet, or would have 
 stooped to prostitute h-is muse to so many unworthy func- 
 tions. But nothing in Chatterton can be separated from 
 Chatterton. His noblest flights, his sweetest strains, his 
 grossest ribaldry, and his most common-place imitations 
 of the productions of Magazines, were all the effervescences 
 of the same ungovernable impulse, which, cameleon-like, 
 imbibed the colours of all it looked on. It was Qssian, 
 or a Saxon monk, or Gray, or Smollett, or Junius ; and if 
 it failed most in what it most affected to be, a poet of the 
 fifteenth century, it was because it could not imitate w r hat 
 had not existed. I firmly believe that the first impres- 
 sion made on so warm and fertile an imagination was the 
 sight of some old parchments at Bristol; that, meeting wfith 
 
 * Biographia Britannica, vol. IV. 
 
 2 o 2 
 
564 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Ossian’s poems, his soul, which was all poetry, felt it was 
 a language in which his invention could express itself; 
 and having lighted on the names of Rowley and Canninge, 
 he bent his researches towards the authors of their age, 
 and, as far as his means could reach, in so confined a 
 sphere, he assembled materials enough to deceive those 
 who have all their lives dealt in such uncouth lore, and 
 not in our classic authors, nor have perceived that taste 
 had not developed itself in the reign of Edward IV. It is 
 the taste in Rowley’s supposed poems that will for ever 
 exclude them from belonging to that period. Mr. Tyr- 
 whitt and Mr. Warton have convicted them of being 
 spurious by technical criterions ; and Rowley, I doubt, 
 will remain in possession of nothing that did not deserve 
 to be forgotten, even should some fragments of old parch- 
 ments and old verses be ascertained antique. 
 
 “Thomas Chatterton, born 20th of Nov. 1752. 
 
 “ Educated at the Bluecoat school at Bristol, where 
 reading and writing and accounts are only taught. 
 
 “ Put clerk to an attorney, July, 1706. 
 
 “ First taken notice of for a paper put into Farley’s 
 Bristol Journal, and said to be from an old MS., 1st Oct. 
 1768. 
 
 “ First inserted a little poem of his own and an extract 
 from an old MS. in the Town and Country Magazine, 
 February* [March], 1769. 
 
 “ Sent specimens of several ancient poems to Mr. H. W. 
 Said there were many more, and offered to transcribe the 
 whole, March, 1769. 
 
 “ He was then aged 16 years and 4 months. 
 
 “ Went to London, April, 177^. 
 
 “ Died, August, 1 7 70.’^ 
 
 The melancholy fate of Chatterton is detailed by Mr. 
 Barrett, in his History of Bristol, pp. 646, 647, t with 
 more minuteness than is found in common biographies of 
 this unfortunate youth. Mr. Barrett gives a letter of Chat- 
 terton, in which he acknowledges that his ruling sin was 
 “ Pride, damn’d native unconquerable pride, that plunges 
 me into distraction.” Chatterton, it appears, “ took a 
 
 * See p. 538. 
 
 f See an able review of Barrett’s Bristol, by Mr. Gough, in Gent. Mag. 
 1789, p. 921, in which he ridicules Mr. Barrett’s credulity on the subject of 
 Rowley. Indeed, it is scarcely credible how large a share of public attention was 
 excited by poems which now appear, at first sight, palpable forgeries. A valu- 
 able correspondence between Mr. Barrett and Dr. Ducarel, relative to his 
 History of Bristol, is printed in Gent. Mag. 1786, pp. 460 — 464, 544, 580. 
 
CHATTERTON. 
 
 565 
 
 large dose of opium, some of which was picked out of his 
 teeth after death, and he was found the next morning 
 (Aug. 25, 1770) a most horrid spectacle, with limbs and 
 features distorted as after convulsions, a frightful and 
 ghastly corpse.” He was buried in the burying-ground 
 belonging to Shoe-lane workhouse, now the site of Fleet 
 Market.* Mr. Chalmers, in his Biographical Dictionary, 
 has given a good digest of the Life of Chatterton and the 
 Rowleian controversy ; with a list of the writers on each 
 side. Mr. Chalmers observes, “ The event of Chatterton’s 
 suicide is not mentioned in any of the periodicals of the 
 day, and no notice of it occurs for nearly seven years 
 after his death, when Rowley’s Poems were first published. 
 This led to a very acute and long-protracted discussion 
 on their merits. Those who contended for the authenti- 
 city of Rowley’s Poems, were for sinking every circum- 
 stance that could prove the genius of Chatterton ; while 
 Mr. T. Warton and others brought the poems to the test 
 of internal evidence, and discovered that, however extra- 
 ord nary it was for Chatterton to produce them in the 18th 
 century, it was impossible that Rowley could have written 
 them in the 15th.”t 
 
 chatterton’s knowledge of heraldry. 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, Oct. 10, 1787. 
 
 “ Every fragment of the truly ingenious and unfortunate 
 Chatterton has a kind of prescriptive claim to literary re- 
 gard. Whether this be founded on the pertinacity of 
 opinions concerning the imposture or originality of the 
 poems of Rowley, or their real merit, it may be now too 
 late to inquire. The subjoined authentic letter, which I 
 respectfully offer, proves him to have been no mean adept 
 in the science of heraldry, his proficiency in which I do 
 
 * In the Memoirs of the Rev. T. Maurice is an interesting Essay on 
 Chatterton, which states that Sir William Jones was from the first convinced 
 by internal evidence that the poems of Rowley were a fabrication, at the 
 same time that he paid a tribute justly due to the abilities of the fabricator. 
 The Essay mentions many circumstances of Chatterton’s melancholy end ; 
 and thus concludes : “The fate of this unfortunate young man, one of the 
 greatest geniuses, if not the greatest genius of the 1 8th century, should teach 
 others, if possessed of genius, to check its irregularities; if beguiled by 
 ambition, to consider the envy, the danger that for ever attend it in its most 
 successful career ; if betrayed into infidelity, the misery that haunts it 
 through life, and the aggravated horrors that mark its end.” 
 
 t Chalmers, p. 189. For full particulars of the controversy, see the vari- 
 ous Volumes of the Gentleman’s Magazine ; and the General Indexes to that 
 work, vol. I. 393, III. 377. 
 
566 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 not remember to have found discussed by those who have 
 so scrupulously examined every acquisition of knowledge 
 he could possibly have made. 
 
 4 To Ralph Bigland, Esq. Somerset Herald. 
 
 * Sir, Hearing you are composing a book of heraldry, I 
 trouble you with this. Most of our heralds assert Files 
 should never be borne in even numbers. I have seen 
 several old seals with four, six, and eight ; and in the 
 cathedral here is a coat of the Berkeleys with four. 
 
 4 Curious coats in and about Bristol : — 
 
 4 Barry of six, or and azure, counterchanged per fess, 
 by Gilbert de Gaunt. Argent, a maunch gules, edged or 
 verdoy of trefoils, by John Cosier. Or, a canton sable, 
 by Delouvis. A seal, Quarterly, first and fourth, on a 
 bend three annulets, second and third a head couped 
 gutte, by the name of Sancto Lovis, to a deed dated 1204. 
 
 4 Your most humble servant, Thomas Chatterton.’ 
 
 44 It is observable, that this last quartering is the ar- 
 morial bearing ascribed by Chatterton to William Can- 
 nynge, and exhibited in the fac-simile published at the 
 end of Tyrwhitt’s edition of Rowley. Sir Thomas Can- 
 ning, brother of William, was Lord Mayor of London, 
 1456, and, in Stowe’s Catalogue, bears, 4 Argent, three 
 Moor’s heads couped proper.’ 
 
 44 Were I at liberty to communicate, I could confirm an 
 assertion, that Chatterton was as expert in the invention 
 of coats of arms, as of the poems of the fifteenth century. 
 The manuscripts I allude to contain a history of the family 
 of one of his Bristol patrons, which, though eminently 
 dignified by him, is notoriously plebeian. In the title- 
 page, it is said to be collected from 4 the heralds of March 
 and Garter’s Records.’ The margin is filled with refer- 
 ences to various books of antiquity and manuscripts ; and 
 one of his authorities is Rowley. In the course of the 
 history, some hundred bearings are described, the greater 
 number of which are certainly forged, and the arms of 
 many great families entirely different from what they 
 have ever borne. His emblazoning is in no instance 
 faulty, but seems to evince a more than ordinary know- 
 ledge of the art. J. D.”* 
 
 * Probably the Rev. James Dallaway, in the Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 
 LVII. p. 954. His opinion of Chatterton’s skill in blazonry is, however, 
 scarcely supported by the specimen above given. 
 
56/ 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 Of Dr. Percy to the Rev. Dr. Birch.* 
 
 The following Letters of Dr. Percy, relative to 
 his early works, were preserved by Dr. Birch 
 among liis manuscripts in the British Museum, 
 No. 4316. Dr. Birch died Jan. 9, 1766. A memoir 
 and character of him will be found in Literary 
 Anecdotes, vol. Y. pp. 282—290 ; and very nume- 
 rous notices of him and his works in Index to Lit. 
 Anec. VII. pp. 32, 33, 516. A portrait and auto- 
 graph of Dr. Birch are given in Literary Illustra- 
 tions, vol. IV. p. 241 ; and numerous letters from 
 the Duchess of Kent, Earl of Buchan, Archbishops 
 Herring and Seeker, Bishops Hoadly and War- 
 burton, Dr. Z. Grey, Dr. Jortin, Mr. Garrick, Dr. 
 Ducarel, Mr. Theobald, Mr. Wray, Mr. Da Costa, 
 &c. addressed to Dr. Birch, have been published in 
 former volumes of the Literary Illustrations. 
 
 6i Rev. DOCTOR, Easton Mauduit, April 21, 1763. 
 
 “ I was lately in London for a few days, but was pre- 
 vented from paying my respects to you, partly by a very 
 severe cold which confined me a good deal, and partly by 
 the dilatoriness of the printer of the Duke of Buckingham^ 
 Works.* He promised me the new ‘ Key to the Re- 
 
 * Dr. Percy entered into an agreement with Messrs. Tonson in 1761 for 
 an edition of “ The Works of George Villiers, second Duke of Bucking- 
 ham,” for which he received fifty-two guineas; and March 24, 1763, for 
 an edition of Lord Surrey’s Poems, for twenty guineas. Both these works 
 were printed, but never published, by Bp. Percy. See Lit. Anec, III. 753. 
 I have an imperfect copy of Bp. Percy’s unpublished edition of the Works of 
 George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, in 2 vols. 8vo. Vol. I. contains “ The 
 Rehearsal,” “The Chances,” “ The Restoration, or Right will take place 
 and “A new Key to the Rehearsal,” incomplete, ending with page 464. 
 Vol. II. contains “ Poems on several Occasions;” Dialogues and Pieces of 
 Humour, viz. The Battle of Sedgmoor, a farce ; A Conference with an Irish 
 Priest ; The Militant Couple, or a Husband may thank himself ; A Character 
 of an Ugly Woman, or a Hue and Cry after Beauty. Speeches in Parlia- 
 ment. Familiar Letters. Tracts and Controversial Pieces, viz. A Letter to 
 Sir T. Osborn ; A Letter to Martin Clifford ; A short Discourse upon the 
 
 
568 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 hearsal ’ should be ready for me to present to you and my 
 Lord Hardwicke as soon as I got to town ; and I deferred 
 waiting on you till I could bring my work with me, till 
 the whole time elapsed that I was obliged to leave town 
 without presenting the work either to my Lord or your- 
 self. I am, however, in hopes it will be sent in a few 
 days, both to you and his Lordship, to whom be pleased 
 to present my most humble respects. Along with the 
 copy to you, will be sent your c Life of Addison/ for the 
 loan of which I return my best thanks. 
 
 “ With regard to the 4 Key to the Rehearsal/ I must 
 beg the favour of you never to show it to any one till the 
 book is published, which will not be soon. I shall be 
 glad to be favoured with any hints, either for perfecting 
 that work or the proposed edition of the Spectator, 
 Guardian, and Tatler,* which will be an addition to the 
 favour already conferred on, Rev. Doctor, your most 
 obedient and obliged servant, 
 
 “Thos. Percy/* 
 
 iC Rev. DOCTOR, Easton Mauduit, July 2, 1763. 
 
 “ I received the favour of your obliging letter, and the 
 very curious papers that accompanied it. They are to me 
 invaluable, and will give an importance to my proposed 
 work, which it must otherwise have wanted. Be pleased 
 to accept my sincere thanks for the same, and present my 
 most humble acknowledgments to my Lord Royston, for 
 condescending to interest himself so much in my favour. 
 
 reasonableness of Men’s having a Religion or Worship of God ; A Short 
 Answer to the Duke of Buckingham’s Paper concerning Religious Toleration 
 and Liberty of Conscience ; The Duke’s Answer to the unknown Author of 
 The Short Answer, &c. — Doubtful Pieces. Under this head the only piece 
 is “ Poetical Reflections on Absolom and Achitophel,” which is unfinished, 
 ending with page 240. — I have also an imperfect copy of Bp. Percy’s edition 
 of the Poetical Works of Lord Surrey, Sir Thomas Wyat, &c. The chief 
 contents of this scarce volume are, Songes and Sonnettes by the Earl of 
 Surrey, p. 1 to 40. Songes and Sonnettes by Sir T. Wyat the elder, pp. 41 
 to 111. Songes and Sonnettes of uncertain authors, pp. 1 12 to 260. Songes 
 written by N. G. pp. 261 — 272. The Second Boke of Virgile Aenseis by the 
 Earl of Surrey, in blank verse, p. 1 to 48 [imperfect]. My copy unfor- 
 tunately wants the Selection of early Blank Verse, edited by Bp. Percy and 
 the Rev. H. Meen, in 1796 and 1797, and which forms the subject of many 
 letters in the present volume between the Bishop and Mr. Steevens (see pp. 
 5 to 21) ; and between the Bishop and Mr. Meen (see pp. 38 to 44). But 
 a copy is fortunately in the possession of Mr. J. Payne Collier. N. 
 
 * Dr. Percy entered into an agreement with Messrs. Tonson, May 5, 
 1764, to furnish notes for an edition of the Tatler, Spectator and Guardian, 
 for which he was to have 100 guineas. See Lit. Anec. III. 753. 
 
PERCY AND BIRCH CORRESPONDENCE. 569 
 
 “ I shall thankfully accept of your offer, with regard to 
 the ‘ Miscellanea Aulica,’ 1762, 8vo. The book maybe 
 left for me with Mr. Tonson, in the Strand ; and when 
 perused shall be carefully returned, together with your 
 Langbaine, containing Oldys’s MS. notes, which you so 
 obligingly lent me before.* 
 
 . u What you mention of the letter from the Duke of 
 Buckingham to Charles II., recommending to him an at- 
 tack upon the French fleet in the Tagus, is very curious 
 and merits attention. The Duke’s advice was not always 
 so favourable to the interests of this nation. It is pity 
 the letter is lost. The fact is not taken notice of by any 
 historian of those times that I have ever seen. Could 
 you assist me in ascertaining the date of this advice ? It 
 is a circumstance by no means to be passed over in the 
 annals of the Duke’s life.f 
 
 “ I am ashamed to request any favour that will give you 
 trouble ; but my retired situation in the country prevents 
 me from having sufficient access to books. 
 
 “ I have a further favour to intreat, if not improper, 
 which the experience I have had of your great humanity 
 encourages me to request ; it is to procure me a sight of 
 two books out of the library of Sion College. These are, 
 ‘ The Shepherds Garland ’ (numbered in the Catalogue, 
 Z, 6, 32); and ‘Davison’s Poems,’ printed in 1611, 
 (number unknown). I should not think of giving you, 
 Sir, this trouble, but my total unacquaintance with the 
 London clergy deprives me of all other means of access. 
 These books have no relation to the Duke of Buckingham, 
 but are, notwithstanding, of great importance to me on 
 other accounts. If you think proper, they may be left at 
 Mr. Tonson’s along with the 4 Miscellanea Aulica,’ and 
 shall be punctually returned at any given time. 
 
 “ I ought not to conclude without discharging a small 
 commission I am entrusted with, from a very ingenious 
 
 * Langbaine (Ger.) “Account of English Dramatick Poets,” 8vo. Ox- 
 ford, 1691. This copy is now in the British Museum. It is a select book. 
 It is marked on the title-page, W.O. and is full of manuscript notes, even 
 on the print. The notes were not marked as being by Oldys in the Catalogue, 
 from the initials not being known. 
 
 t This was George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham, who died in 
 1687. The letter of Dr. Birch, in which he records the letter to Charles II., 
 is, it is to be feared, not preserved ; and as the original letter was lost in 
 Dr. Birch’s time, the clue to this interesting circumstance cannot be 
 traced. It is not mentioned in Chalmers’s Life of the Duke of Bucking- 
 ham, vol. XXX. pp. 360—365. 
 
570 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and learned friend, the Rev. Mr. Farmer,* Fellow of 
 Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He has lately been ad- 
 mitted Fellow of your Antiquarian Society, and is given 
 to understand that you were pleased to interest yourself 
 in his favour ; for which he desires me to convey his 
 acknowledgments, and to assure Dr. Birch how happy he 
 would be in return, to discharge any business he would be 
 pleased to intrust him with, either to explore the Cam- 
 bridge libraries for him, procure him transcripts of any of 
 their curiosities, or by any other means testify that great 
 respect which he has for his character. 
 
 44 And now. Sir, permit me once more to acknowledge 
 the deep sense I have of your obliging favours with regard 
 to the Duke of Buckingham. Should any further matters 
 of information on the same subject occur to you, I flatter 
 myself you will be pleased to impart them ; and till I have 
 an opportunity of presenting you my thanks in a more 
 public manner, accept the present acknowledgments of, 
 Reverend Doctor, your most obliged and most faithful 
 servant, Thomas Percy. 
 
 44 P.S. I desired Mr. Dodsley to present you with a 
 copy of a small publication I was lately concerned in, 
 being a few 4 Specimens of Runic Poetry f f I hope you 
 received it. 
 
 44 1 have desired Mr. Tonson to print a few copies of 
 the Duke of Buckingham^ works upon a superfine paper, 
 for presents. One of these will court your acceptance, 
 and another set will solicit the honour of being admitted 
 into the library of Lord Viscount Royston. 5 ’ 
 
 44 Rev. Doctor, Easton Mauduit, July 12, 1763. 
 
 44 1 received the favour of your obliging letter, and return 
 you many thanks for procuring me the books, of which 
 great care shall be taken. I am sensible your time is 
 precious, and yet I beg leave to trouble you with a ques- 
 tion. Is the following sonnet! (printed in Mr. Walpole’s 
 
 * Of Dr. Farmer see before, in this volume, p. 33. 
 
 t Dr. Percy published, in 1763, “ Five Pieces of Runic Poetry,” trans- 
 lated from the Icelandic language. 
 
 X Hentzner, in his Itinerary of 1598, has recorded a sonnet which Princess 
 Elizabeth had written with a pencil on her window-shutter at Woodstock. 
 The sonnet, and the translation by the Princess, are printed in Walpole, p. 
 66; and in Hentzner’s Itinerarium, 8vo. 1629. They are also given in 
 Nichols’s Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, 2nd edit. I. pp, 9, 10. 
 
PERCY AND BIRCH CORRESPONDENCE, 57 i 
 
 Translation of Hentzner’s Travels) to be found in Hentz- 
 ner’s original Latin book ? or is it only a modern version 
 of the Latin verses preserved by Hentzner ? If the Eng- 
 lish verses are in Hentzner, will you do me the favour to 
 collate the inclosed copy with the original, and give me all 
 the ancient spellings ? I have a particular reason for 
 making the request : may I hope the favour of a speedy 
 answer, which will be an addition to the favours already 
 conferred on, Rev. Doctor, your most obedient and faith- 
 ful servant, Thos. Percy. 
 
 “ P.S. I apply to Dr. Birch for a solution of the above 
 doubt because 1 think it is to him the world is indebted 
 for the revival of Hentzner’s book, which I presume he 
 has in his study. 
 
 “ To save your franks for a more important correspon- 
 dence, be pleased to enclose any line for me under cover 
 to the Right Hon. Henry Earl of Sussex, at Easton Mau- 
 duit, near Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire. 
 
 “ P.S. Mr. Tonson and I are meditating a neat 12mo. 
 edition of the Earl of Surrey’s works (temp. Hen. VIII.) 
 with a life of the author. 
 
 “We have got two curious editions of his Songes and 
 Sonnettes, one printed in 1559, the other in 15/4, both by 
 Rich. Tottel, in black letter, small 4to. or Svo. We 
 have also got Lord Surrey’s Version of the Second and 
 Fourth Bokes of Virgiles iEneeis, in blank verse, printed 
 by the same Rich. Tottel, 1557, in black letter, small 4to. 
 or 8vo. ; and shall thankfully acknowledge any information 
 for the improvement or completion of our design. At the 
 end will be attempted a glossary of the obsolete words, 
 under the auspices of the learned editor of f Junii Etymo- 
 logicon Anglicanum.’ ” * 
 
 es Rev. Doctor, Easton Mauduit, Jan. 15, 1764. 
 
 “ I received the favour of your kind letter, and return 
 my best thanks for the contents. I was before possessed 
 of a copy of the petition, but knew not what answer the 
 Duke made to it till I received this obliging information 
 from you. If I understand you right, f upon the Houses 
 passing the vote, &c. the Duke gave in a written answer, 
 wherein he promised, upon his honour, that he would dis- 
 continue his cohabitation with the Countess of Shrews- 
 
 * The Rev. Edward Lye. See this volume, p. 294, 
 
572 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 bury/ * If I am mistaken, be pleased to let me know it. 
 I wish I could also learn what year, &c. this petition was 
 presented and this vote passed ; for the copy in the 
 Museum bears no date.f But Francis Earl of Shrewsbury 
 died of the wound received in the duel March 16, 1667, 
 about three weeks after the rencounter. If you can give 
 me any general information about the said Duke (very 
 exact information I presume is not now to be expected), it 
 will be an addition to the favours I have already received 
 at the hands of Dr. Birch. 
 
 “ I ought to blush for having detained your books so 
 long ; but one work has been delayed through the expecta- 
 tion of enlarging the stock of materials. The f Key to 
 the Rehearsal ’ has long been printed off, all but the last 
 sheet, which we still keep open to receive some additions 
 that we take for granted will be picked up from a play of 
 Edward Howard’s, entitled e Six Days’ Adventure, or the 
 New Utopia, 4to. 1671/ X if we can once be so lucky as 
 to light upon it. This is the only play of that age which 
 I have not seen. Mr. Garrick unluckily has not got it 
 
 * Collins, III. p. 39, says, “ The said Earl Francis (eleventh Earl of 
 Shrewsbury) died on March 16th, 1667-8, of a wound received in a duel with 
 George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the paramour of his wife.” In 
 Note (z) he adds — “ This infamous affair makes a conspicuous figure in the 
 annals of gallantry of that day. See Memoires de Grammont, &c. The 
 Countess is said to have held the Duke’s horse, disguised as a page, during 
 the combat ; and, to reward his prowess, to have gone to bed to him in the 
 shirt stained by her husband’s blood. The loves of this tender pair are 
 recorded by Pope — 
 
 “ Gallant and gay in Cliefden’s proud alcove, 
 
 The bower of wanton Shrewsbury and love.” 
 
 f It appears, by a MS. letter copied by Mr. Malone, dated Whitehall, 
 Jan. 10, 1673-4, that on Wednesday the 7th the Earl of Westmorland brought 
 in a petition against the Duke of Bucks, in the name of the young Earl of 
 Shrewsbury, desiring justice against him for murdering his father, making 
 his mother a whore, and keeping her now as an infamous strumpet. To this 
 the Duke replied, “ ’Tis true he had the hard fortune to kill the Earl of 
 Shrewsbury, but it was upon the greatest provocations in the world ; that he 
 had fought him twice before, and had as often given him his life ; that he 
 had threatened to pistol him wheresoever he (should) meet him, if he could not 
 fight him ; that for these reasons the King had given him his pardon. To 
 the other part of the petition concerning the Lady Shrewsbury, he said he 
 knew not how far his conversation with that lady was cognizable by that 
 House ; but if that had given offence, she was now gone to a retirement.” A 
 day was appointed for considering the merits of the petition ; but the Parlia- 
 ment being prorogued on Feb. 25, nothing more appears to have been done 
 in the business. — Chalmers, vol. XXX. p. 365. 
 
 t It is in the British Museum, King’s Library. It wants the title-page, 
 which is supplied in MS., with the name of the author. 
 
PERCY AND BIRCH CORRESPONDENCE. 5/3 
 
 in his collection, and Mr. Tonson has advertised a small 
 premium for it, hitherto without success. It is only scarce 
 because it is worthless ; and therefore, if chance should 
 throw it in your way, may I intreat the favour of you to 
 procure me a sight of it ? 
 
 “ I am ashamed to take this liberty of troubling you 
 about my petty researches, and should be happy if you 
 would give me an opportunity of lightening my load of 
 obligations by doing any little services in return, and there- 
 by testify with what great respect I am, Rev. Doctor, your 
 most obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ Thomas Percy. 
 
 “ P.S. I shall soon have occasion to send a large parcel 
 to London, in which I will inclose your Langbaine : it is of 
 too much value to be put alone, for fear of miscarriage. 
 May I intreat the favour to retain the other books a little 
 longer ?” 
 
 CC Rev. DOCTOR, Easton Mauduit, April 26, 1764. 
 
 “ The experience I have had of your communicative 
 temper, encourages me to apply to you on a fresh occa- 
 sion ; and though I know not any right I have to give you 
 the least trouble, yet I cannot help presuming upon your 
 candour and general regard for literature so far as to hope 
 you will pardon this application, even if it should be un- 
 successful. 
 
 “ Mr. Tonson, who is about to print a new edition of 
 the “ Spectator/** has applied to me to overlook the im- 
 pression, and to rectify whatever mistakes are crept into the 
 modern copies, collating them with the old original papers. 
 In this work I have made a considerable progress, and in 
 the course of it have been tempted to give now and then 
 a short marginal note, where an anecdote has occurred to 
 me that threw light upon a passage, and have subjoined the 
 names of some of the occasional writers, which I have 
 happened to discover. You, I make no doubt, can fur- 
 msh me with more ; and if you would be pleased to 
 favour me with any intelligence of either kind, you would 
 confer a great obligation both on me and the public. 
 
 te In the daily papers we were informed a few weeks 
 ago, that the late great and excellent Lord Hardwicke 
 had, in his younger years, been a contributor to the Spec- 
 
 * See page 568. 
 
574 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 tators : would you, Sir, inform us what pieces we owe to 
 his pen ?* 
 
 “ Your acquaintance with that noble family makes me 
 presume that you can resolve this question, which I hope 
 is not an improper one, as I conceive it was by permis- 
 sion from the family that this intimation w r as given to the 
 world. The present noble Lord condescended to favour 
 me with some important information relating to the Duke 
 of Buckingham, which I shall soon communicate to the 
 world : might this present research be so honoured as to 
 be thought worthy of his notice, I doubt not but his lord- 
 ship could favour me with very valuable directions for the 
 conduct of it, and either resolve my queries, or direct me 
 where I might meet with solutions. 
 
 “ I need not here observe what obligations I am under 
 for his procuring me those curious memoirs from Dr. 
 Birch, which will add so much merit to that work. 
 
 “ At the end of the 7th vol. of the Spectator, Mr. 
 Steele acknowledges his obligations to Mr. Henry Martyn, 
 Mr. Pope, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Carey of New College, Mr, 
 Tickel, Mr. Eusden, and Mr. Ince of Gray’s Inn. The 
 particular papers of some of these I have not been able to 
 discover.f Could you, Sir, point them out to me ? These 
 or any other hints for the improvement of the work would 
 merit the most grateful acknowledgments of, Rev. Sir, 
 your obliged and faithful servant, Thomas Percy. 
 
 “ P.S. The same kind of information for the Tatlers and 
 Guardians will be equally obliging and important. Could 
 you favour me with the perusal of any common news- 
 papers of those times, or direct me where to borrow 
 them ? 
 
 “ I know not whether the inclosed little Essay! will 
 afford you any amusement : as some of the information 
 was had out of your MS. Notes (by Oldys) on Langbaine, 
 I ought to submit it to your inspection. Pardon my send - 
 ing so dirty a proof sheet.” 
 
 iC Rev. DOCTOR, Easton Mauduit, May 10, 1764. 
 
 “ I thank you for your obliging answer to my letter 
 about the proposed new edition of the Spectator : the par- 
 
 * A Letter on Travelling, No. 364, is the only “ Spectator” attributed to 
 the Earl of Hardwicke, by Mr. Chalmers, in the British Essayists. 
 
 f The numbers of the Spectator are appropriated to their respective authors 
 in Chalmers’s “ British Essayists.” 
 
 t Dr. Percy’s Essay “ On the Origin of the British Stage;” given in the 
 first volume of his “ Reliques of Antient English Poetry,” first published in 
 1765. 
 
PERCY AND BIRCH CORRESPONDENCE. 575 
 
 ticulars you are so kind as to communicate will have their 
 use. Should any future matters occur to you, I flatter 
 myself you will be so good as to transmit them to me. 
 
 “ I wish I could recover the numbers or titles of those 
 papers in the 8th vol. which you say fell from the pen of 
 the present Bishop of Rochester.* But I have no chance 
 of procuring them from his Lordship : you perhaps may. 
 And kind offices in this respect would lay me under 
 great obligations, as also that other writ by Lord Hard- 
 wicke. 
 
 “ I thank you for your kind offer to lend me the original 
 papers of the Spectator : I have already got a complete set 
 of all the Spectators, Tatlers, and Guardians. What I 
 most want are some of the common newspapers and daily 
 advertisers of those times. If you could procure me any 
 of these, or direct me where to meet with them, I should 
 acknowledge the favour. 
 
 “ I shall not fail to profit by the hint you give, that 
 some of the original numbers have been retrenched, out 
 of compliment to particular families. I shall not fail to 
 discover every thing of that kind; and shall endeavour to 
 revive such passages as appear deserving. 
 
 “ The sheet relating to the origin of the stage is entirely 
 at your service : it is not worth returning ; and so long as 
 it remains in your hands I know it is safe. 
 
 iS I am, dear Sir, with the greatest respect, your most 
 obliged and most faithful servant, Thos. Percy.” 
 
 “ Rev. Doctor, London, June 12, 1764. 
 
 “ Herewith are sent the folio newspapers you so kindly 
 lent me, for which my best thanks are due. I know not 
 whether my request will not be improper, otherwise I 
 should humbly intreat the favour of you to let me carry 
 into the country for a short time both the Weekly Packet, 
 4 to. and your own ‘ Life of Addison/ 12mo, together with 
 Le Long’s f Bibliotheque/ which you were so good as to 
 promise me. Mr. Tonson’s people will take the utmost 
 care in conveying them to me. 
 
 “ The obliging manner in which you permit me to ask 
 you questions, encourages me to subjoin two or three 
 queries to this slight letter, viz. : — 
 
 u 1 . Can you inform who is the atheistical authorf meant 
 In the conclusion of No. 166, vol. ii. ? 
 
 * Dr. Zachary Pearce was Bishop of Rochester in 1764. He died at 
 tittle Ealing, June 29, 1774. See Lit. Anecd. III. 107—111 ; VII. 313, 646, 
 T Probably Mr. Toland. 
 
576 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 44 2. Who is the flogging schoolmaster of Welsh extrac- 
 tion with a Spanish name,* in the first letter of No. 168, 
 vol. ii. ? 
 
 44 3. Who is the doctor of divinity who kept a school at 
 Richmond, in the second letter of the same number and 
 volume ?f 
 
 44 4. Who was the clergyman who read prayers so well 
 at St. James’s Garlick Hill J Church, in vol. ii. No. 147 ? 
 
 44 Will you, good Sir, pardon the impertinence of these 
 queries, and if you can solve them, favour me with a line ? I 
 leave town on Saturday morning; and if I should be hurried 
 away without paying those great respects which I owe to 
 Dr. Birch, I rely upon his known goodness and candour 
 in pardoning his most obliged and most humble servant, 
 
 44 Thomas Percy.” 
 
 44 ReVD. Doctor, Cecill Street, June 15, 1764. 
 
 44 I am extremely obliged to you for your kind favour 
 of to-day. The information you are pleased to give me is 
 curious and important. The books you were so kind as 
 to lend me will be of great use. Will you pardon me if I 
 venture to entreat a further favour of this sort. Can you 
 lend me the little piece you mention in your Life of Addi- 
 son, entitled 4 The Spy on the Spectator ?’ It might 
 possibly afford some illustrations. 
 
 44 This day, by a letter, Mr. Tonson was informed that 
 many years since were published 4 Critical Remarks on 
 several Letters in the Spectators, Tatlers,” &c., a book 
 which, it is said, is now in the possession of Mr. Wray of 
 the Exchequer, and which, perhaps, through your interest 
 with that gentleman, we might procure a sight of. Asa 
 specimen of this writer’s manner, the following instance 
 is given us : — 4 Supper and friends expects me at the 
 Rose.’ 4 It was wise,’ says the Remarker, 4 to make the 
 
 * Dr. Charles Roderick, Master and Provost of Eton, and afterwards 
 Master of King’s College, Cambridge. 
 
 •f* “ This was Dr. Nicholas Brady, who joined in the New Version of the 
 Psalms. He was Rector of Clapham, Minister of Richmond in Surrey, and 
 successively Chaplain to King William, Queen Anne, and George I. The 
 Doctor was a very amiable, ingenious man, but no great economist ; for 
 which reason his circumstances obliged him to submit to the care of a school. 
 He died May 20, 1726, aged 67. P.” [in 1788.] 
 
 t “ Or Garlick Hithe. The Rector of this parish at that time was Mr. 
 Philip Stubbs, afterwards Archdeacon of St. Alban's, whose exemplary man- 
 ner of performing the same is to this day remembered by the parishioners. 
 P.” [1788.] 
 
PERCY AND BIRCH CORRESPONDENCE. 577 
 
 verb agree with the more worthy nominative, for such 
 the supper is beyond the friends ! V 
 
 “ From this specimen you will easily recollect the 
 author, or discover the book ; which, if we are indulged 
 with the use of it, will be safely conveyed to me by Mr. 
 Tonson, and as safely returned. 
 
 “ I am, with the highest respect, Rev. Sir, your most 
 obliged and ever faithful servant, 
 
 ‘‘Thomas Percy.” 
 
 ’ c RevD. DOCTOR, Easton Mauduit, Feb. 2, 1765. 
 
 “ The favour you did me in procuring for my use the 
 curious volume of ancient poems out of Sion College 
 Library, and the various pieces you have lent me out of 
 your own (not to mention other favours), make me solicit 
 your acceptance of a book whose contents are chiefly 
 gleaned from that and such other antique volumes. I 
 know not whether you will not be offended to find your 
 name mentioned in the preface to such a strange collec- 
 tion of trash ; but I frankly own I meant to do myself 
 honour by inserting it, and was proud to let the world 
 see that I was not unknown to Dr. Birch.* 
 
 “ If you can pardon this liberty, you will add to the 
 obligations already conferred on, Revd. Doctor, your most 
 obedient and very faithful servant, 
 
 “Thomas Percy.” 
 
 Dear Sir, Alnwick Castle, July 27, 1765. 
 
 “ Presuming on your friendship I take the liberty to re- 
 quest a favour of you, which, if granted, will exceedingly 
 oblige me : it is, that you would please to inform me by re- 
 turn of the post whether Mr. Empson’s place in the 
 British Museum is yet filled up, and if not, whether Mr. 
 Harperf hath obtained a promise from any of the three 
 
 * “The Reliques of Antient English Poetry.” In the preface, Percy 
 observes, “To the Rev. Dr. Birch he is indebted for the use of several 
 antient and valuable tracts.” This was as little as Percy could well say 
 oi the assistance rendered to him by Dr. Birch. It is curious that in this 
 etttr he speaks of the work on which his fame now chiefly rests, as “ a 
 strange collection of trash.” 
 
 Rev. Sam. Harper, F.R.S., upwards of 47 years one of the librarians 
 0 he British Museum, and 37 years chaplain to the Foundling Hospital, 
 
 ^ Trinity College, Cambridge ; B.A. 1754 ; M.A. 1757. He died July 
 ’ 1804. (Gentleman’s Magazine, 1804, p. 6 97.) 
 
 VOL. VII. 2 P 
 
5/8 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 electors, and whether any other candidate hath offered or 
 is likely to succeed.* The speedy resolution of these 
 queries (which, if you please, may remain a secret) will 
 be esteemed a great act of friendship shown to, dear Sir, 
 your very faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 “ Thomas Percy. 
 
 “ Please to inclose to me under cover to the Earl of 
 Northumberland, at Alnwick Castle, in Northumberland.” 
 
 REV. ARCHDEACON NARES. 
 
 A notice of this distinguished author appeared, 
 whilst he was yet alive, in Literary Anecdotes, 
 vol. IX. p. 510.4* He died March 23, 1829; and 
 the following memoir of him was inserted shortly 
 afterwards in the Gentleman’s Magazine for April, 
 p. 370, " from the pen of one attached to him 
 since infancy, and who best knew his virtues and 
 acquirements.”^ 
 
 “ March 23. At his house in Hart-street, 
 Bloomsbury, aged 75, the Rev. Robert Nares, M.A., 
 F.R.S., F.S A., V.P.R.S.L., Archdeacon of Stafford, 
 Canon Residentiary of Lichfield, and Rector of 
 Allhallows, London Wall. 
 
 “ Few individuals have departed from this life 
 more deeply and universally lamented by the lite- 
 rary world and the private circle of attached and 
 distinguished friends than this accomplished man. 
 An exemplary divine, a profound scholar, a labo- 
 rious and judicious critic, and an elegant writer, 
 his intimacy was courted as earnestly for the in- 
 struction it supplied as for the taste and vivacity of 
 manners by which it was embellished, and the 
 
 * It is probable that Dr. Percy had thoughts of applying for the situation 
 of assistant librarian of the British Museum. 
 
 F See also Index, vol. VII. 635. 
 
 t Joseph Jekyll, esq. M.A., F.R.S., F.S. A. He died March 8, 1837, 
 aged 85. See a memoir of him in Gent. Mag. New Series, vol. VIII. p- 208. 
 
MEMOIR OF ARCHDEACON NARES. 579 
 
 merit of these varied talents was exalted by that 
 unassuming modesty which uniformly marked and 
 adorned his character. 
 
 “ He was bom at York on June 9th., 1753, the 
 son of Dr. James Nares, an eminent composer and 
 teacher of music, and who was for many years 
 organist and composer to Kings George II. and 
 III.* His uncle, the Hon. Sir George Nares, was 
 for fifteen years one of the Judges of the Court of 
 Common Pleas. Educated at Westminster School, 
 he became a King’s Scholar at the head of his elec- 
 tion in 1 767, and was subsequently elected in 1 771 
 to a studentship of Christ Church, Oxford, where he 
 took the degree of B.A. 1775, and M.A. 1778, and 
 about the same time entered into holy orders. 
 
 “From 1779 to 1783 he resided in the family of 
 the late Sir Williams Wynn, as tutor to his sons, the 
 present Baronet and his brother the Right Hon. 
 Charles Williams Wynn, and from l786 to 1788 
 they were under his tuition at Westminster School ; 
 and about the same period he was an assistant 
 preacher at Berkeley Chapel. 
 
 4 While at Wynnstay he was called upon, not 
 merely to cultivate learned and scholastic studies, 
 but to enter into light and elegant literature ; he 
 accordingly produced prologues, epilogues, and 
 other accessories to the private dramatic entertain- 
 ments with which the hospitalities of his patron’s 
 mansion abounded.’'!' 
 
 “ In 1782 he obtained from Christ Church the 
 living of Easton Mauduit in Northamptonshire, 
 and in 1784, that of Doddington, in the same 
 county, and in the patronage of the Lord Chancel- 
 lor. In 1787 he was honoured by the appoint- 
 ment of a chaplaincy to his late Royal Highness 
 the Duke of York, and in the ensuing year he was 
 nominated an Assistant Preacher of the Honour- 
 
 * He died Feb. 10, 1783. See a memoir of him in Chalmers’s Biog. Diet. 
 
 f Fisher’s National Gallery. 
 
580 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE- 
 
 able Society of Lincoln’s Inn, where for fifteen 
 years a learned auditory duly appreciated his 
 powers of argument and depth of erudition. In 
 1790 he assisted in completing Bridges’s Cf His- 
 tory of Northamptonshire,” and wrote the preface 
 to that work. 
 
 f The political agitation and danger which 
 ensued at the commencement of the French Revo- 
 lution, and put all that was valuable in the 
 establishment and constitution of the country in 
 jeopardy, rallied our able writer as a publicist on 
 the side of government, religion, and order. He 
 published several timely pamphlets, well calculated 
 to abate the torrent of revolution and infidelity/* 
 
 “ In 1795 he was elected F.S.A. and in the same 
 year he became one of the assistant librarians of 
 the British Museum ; and afterwards Librarian 
 for the MS. Department, where he prepared the 
 Third Volume of the Harleian Catalogue of 
 MSS. published by the Record Commission. 
 This situation he resigned in 1807. In 1796, the 
 Lord Chancellor Loughborough presented Mr. 
 Nares to the rectory of Dalbury near Derby ; and in 
 1798 to that of Sharnford, in Leicestershire, which 
 he resigned in 1799, on being collated to the Fifth 
 Stall of the Canons Residentiary of Lichfield. In 
 the same year the Bishop of London, Porteus, gave 
 him the small prebend of Islington, in the Cathe- 
 dral of St. Paul’s; in February, 1799, he was 
 nominated to preach the Warburton Lecture in 
 Lincoln’s Inn ; and in the following year the 
 Bishop of Lichfield, Cornwallis, conferred on him 
 the Archdeaconry of Stafford. In 1804 he was 
 elected F.R.S. In 1805, the Lord Chancellor 
 Eldon, without solicitation or interest, presented 
 him to the vicarage of St. Mary’s, Reading, whither 
 he soon after went to reside, having resigned the 
 vicarage of Easton Mauduit, his situation at the 
 
 * Fisher’s National Gallery of Portraits. 
 
MEMOIR OF ARCHDEACON NARES. 581 
 
 British Museum, and other appointments which 
 might have interfered with this purpose. Here 
 he lived till 1818, the zealous benefactor of his 
 charge, when, being desirous of returning to Lon- 
 don that he might enjoy the society best suited to 
 his literary tastes and habits, he obtained permis- 
 sion to exchange his vicarage for the rectory of 
 Allhallows, London Wall, (then vacant by the 
 death of his friend the Rev. W. Beloe), to the 
 duties of which he attended in person, till within 
 three weeks of his death, during the greater part 
 of these years being seldom absent from London 
 more than three months annually, two of which 
 were passed at his residence at Lichfield. 
 
 “ The Archdeacon was thrice married, and left 
 no issue. In 1784, to Elizabeth, youngest daugh- 
 ter of Thomas Bayley, esq. of Chelmsford, who 
 died in child-bed the following year. In 1794, to 
 Frances-Maria, daughter of Charles Fleetwood, Esq. 
 of London, to whom he had been united little more 
 than ten months when he had the misfortune to 
 lose her, after having given birth to a son, who 
 survived only a few weeks. In 1800, he was mar- 
 ried to a daughter of the Rev. Samuel Smith, D.D. 
 many years Head-master of Westminster School 
 who, after nearly thirty years of domestic felicity, 
 still survives to lament his loss. 
 
 “ His publications were as follow : 
 
 “ 1. e Periodical Essays, No. I. Dec. 2, 1780. — No. X. 
 Feb. 3, 1781. 
 
 “ 2 . ‘ An Essay on the Daemon or Divination of 
 Socrates/ 3vo. 1782. 
 
 “ 3. £ Elements of Orthoepy ; containing a distinct view 
 of the whole Analogy of the English Language, so far as 
 it relates to Pronunciation, Accent, and Quantity, 1784/ 
 8vo. 
 
 “ 4. £ Remarks on the favourite Ballet of Cupid and 
 Psyche ; with some Account of the Pantomime of the 
 Antients, 1788/ 12mo. 
 
 * See hereafter, p. 597. 
 
582 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 44 5. 4 Principles of Government deduced from Reason, 
 &c. 1792.’ 8 vo. 
 
 44 6. 4 An Abridgement of the same, adapted to general 
 instruction and use ; with a new Introduction, 1793.’ 8vo. 
 
 44 7* ‘ Man’s best Right; a serious Appeal in the name 
 of Religion, 1793.’ 8vo. 
 
 44 8. e In the same year he commenced the British Critic, 
 in conjunction with the Rev. W. Beloe. The editorship 
 was entrusted to the judgment, sagacity, learning, and 
 acuteness of Mr. Nares ; and the vigour and perseverance 
 with which the British Critic was conducted through diffi- 
 cult and dangerous times are well known. To each of the 
 half-yearly volumes of the British Critic was prefixed a 
 Preface, always written by Mr. Nares, recapitulating the 
 literature of the period. Mr. Nares proceeded with the 
 work till the end of the forty-second volume, and then 
 resigned it to others. 
 
 44 9. 4 Discourses preached before the Hon. Society of 
 Lincoln’s Inn, 1794.’ 8vo. 
 
 44 10. 4 A Thanksgiving for Plenty, and a Warning 
 against Avarice ; a Sermon, preached at the Cathedral at 
 Lichfield, on Sunday, Sept. 20, 1801.’ 8vo. 
 
 44 1 1 . 4 The Benefits of Wisdom, and the Evils of Sin. 
 A Sermon preached before the Hon. Society of Lincoln’s 
 Inn, on Sunday Nov. 6, 1803, and published at the request 
 of the Bench.’ 8vo. 
 
 44 12. e A connected and chronological View of the 
 Prophecies of the Christian Church; in 12 Sermons, 
 preached in Lincoln’s Inn Chapel, from the year 1800 to 
 1804, at the Lecture founded by Bishop Warburton, 
 1806.’ 8vo. 
 
 44 13. 4 Essays and other occasional Compositions, 
 chiefly reprinted, 1810,’ 2 vols. small 8vo. 
 
 44 14. 4 Protestantism the Blessing of Britain ; a Fast 
 Sermon, preached at the Cathedral of Lichfield, on Wed- 
 nesday Feb. 28, 1810.’ 8vo. 
 
 44 15. 4 On the Influence of Sectaries, and the Stability of 
 the Church ; a Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Arch- 
 deaconry of Stafford and Walsall, in June 1812.’ 4to. 
 
 44 16. In 1815, Mr. Nares edited Dr. Purdy’s Lectures 
 on the Church Catechism, &c. to which he prefixed a 
 Biographical Preface, giving some account of the Author, 
 and of two of his most intimate friends, the Rev. T. Butler 
 and Lawson Huddleston, Esq. men of distinguished talent 
 and worth. 
 
MEMOIR OF ARCHDEACON NARES. 583 
 
 “17. £ The Veracity of the Evangelists demonstrated, 
 by a comparative View of their Histories, 1816/ 12mo. 
 
 “ 18. c A Glossary or Collection of Words, Phrases, 
 Names, and Allusions to Customs, Proverbs, & c. which 
 have been thought to require Illustration in the Works 
 of English Authors, particularly Shakspeare and his Con- 
 temporaries, 1822/ 4to. 
 
 “19. c A Volume of Sermons on Faith and other Sub- 
 jects, 1825/ 8 vo. 
 
 “ In 1/98, Mr. Nares, in conjunction with the 
 Rev. W. Tooke and the Rev. W. Beloe, revised and 
 enlarged the General Biographical Dictionary, in 
 1 5 vols. 8vo. Mr. Tooke’s portion of the work was 
 vols 1 . to v. Mr. Nares’s, vols. vi. vm. x. xn. 
 and xiv. and Mr. Beloe’s vols. vn. ix. xi. xiii. 
 and xv. This edition was enlarged by no less a 
 number than 3424 lives, either entirely new- written, 
 or for the first time added. 
 
 “ To the Gentleman’s Magazine Mr. Nares was 
 a frequent and most acceptable contributor. 
 
 “ To the Sermons of the late Dr. Vincent, Dean 
 of Westminster, published in 1817, Archdeacon 
 Nares prefixed a life of that excellent and learned 
 person. 
 
 “ Mr. Nares materially assisted in the estab- 
 lishment of the Royal Society of Literature ; and 
 in 1823 was elected one of the first Vice-Presidents. 
 In 1824 he contributed to the Society e An His- 
 torical Account of the Discoveries that have been 
 made in Palimpsest (or Rescript) Manuscripts:’ 
 and in 1826, a ‘Memoir on the Religion and Divi- 
 nation of Socrates.’ In 1816 he contributed to 
 the Archseologia of the Society of Antiquaries, 
 f Observations on the Discoveries of Part of a Sar- 
 cophagus at Reading Abbey, supposed to have con- 
 tained the Remains of Henry I.’ (Vol.xvm. p.2/2.) 
 
 4 The late Dean Vincent always spoke of Mr. 
 Nares as a profound scholar, and a most able 
 critic. Yet with all his depth of acquirement 
 
584 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 there was neither assumption, nor the slightest 
 shade of pedantry in him, in his behaviour, or 
 in his conversation. On the contrary, an innate 
 modesty (which we can readily believe stood in the 
 way of higher ecclesiastical distinction) marked his 
 demeanor throughout life. He possessed a vivacity 
 as well as a simplicity of manner, which afforded 
 no hint of the attainments and erudition that lay 
 quietly below, and were only discovered by the 
 force of casual circumstances — certainly never 
 displayed. 
 
 4 In private life no man was ever more be- 
 loved than Archdeacon Nares. His friends from 
 youth to old age were delighted by his talents, 
 while they were compelled to set a high value 
 upon his individual character, so estimable and 
 honourable in every relation of life. To know 
 him indeed was to be attached to him ; for the 
 exemplary divine, the profound scholar, the judici- 
 ous critic, and the elegant writer, was at the same 
 time one of the most amiable, pleasing, and in- 
 structive companions into whose society good for- 
 tune could throw either the young or the old. 
 No wonder then that his intimacy w T as zealously 
 courted, and that he ranked among his most con- 
 stant friends a number of the foremost men of the 
 times which he himself lived to adorn.’* 
 
 In the National Portrait Gallery, vol. n. is a 
 portrait of Archdeacon Nares, from a painting by 
 J. Hoppner, Esq. R.A. with whom he was intimate 
 from his youth ; and it is accompanied with a 
 specimen of the playful spirit which imbued the 
 original epigram on himself, written in 1826, and 
 first published in the National Portrait Gallery : — 
 
 “ Time has not thinn’d my flowing hair, 
 
 Nor laid my aged temples bare ; 
 
 But he has play'd the barber’s part, 
 
 And powder’d me with wond’rous art, 
 
 * National Portrait Gallery. 
 
MEMOIR OF ARCHDEACON NARES. 585 
 
 Meaning, no doubt, to let me see, 
 
 He thinks to make mere dust of me ; 
 
 But let him know that on a day, 
 
 God will re-animate this clay, 
 
 And life unchangeable will give 
 When Time himself shall cease to live.” 
 
 This memoir shall be closed with a character of 
 Mr. Archdeacon Nares, as drawn by his friend and 
 literary associate, Mr. Beloe 
 
 “ Accident placed in the way of the Sexagen- 
 arian an individual who gave a decided bias to his 
 future pursuits, studies, views, connections, and 
 prospects. The influence was like that of an 
 ascendant star ; nor ever did one dark cloud inter- 
 pose between this star and the object, which, with 
 complacency and affection, contemplated its mild 
 and benignant aspect. Two streams united, which 
 together formed a river, gentle but far from dull, 
 and full without overflowing. Quickness of con- 
 ception on one side was tempered by judicious 
 deliberation on the other ; luxuriance of expression 
 was chastened by classical accuracy, and extreme 
 facility of communicating ideas was moderated and 
 reined in by a salutary sobriety and reserve.” 
 
 “ Similar studies, pursuits, and objects, induced 
 an intimacy which was never interrupted but by 
 the cold hand of death. 
 
 “ Born of highly respectable connections, he 
 was educated at a public school, where his talents 
 soon inspired respect, and his facetiousness and 
 wit rendered him exceedingly popular. This spirit 
 never forsook him through life, for he invariably 
 continued to animate the society of which he was 
 a part, by incessant sallies of cheerfulness, good 
 humour, and the very best sort of conversation. 
 His talents, however, were of a still higher order, 
 and, perhaps, there was no situation within the 
 scope of his ambition which he was not qualified 
 to fill with dignity, and to the public advantage. 
 He was a sound and excellent scholar, as the term 
 
586 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 is generally understood ; but he was, moreover, 
 distinguished by very extensive general knowledge 
 and acquirements. 
 
 “ He several times claimed the public attention 
 as an author; and the characteristic features of 
 whatever he wrote were strong sense, sound judg- 
 ment, and a perfect knowledge of his subject. 
 These solid and sober qualities proved an admir- 
 able check upon the too great quickness, extreme 
 vivacity, and rapidity of conception, which distin- 
 guished his friend, who, for a term of no very 
 short continuance, was also his coadjutor. 
 
 “ In the progress of a somewhat extended life 
 he filled different stations, and he discharged the 
 duties of them all with the most exemplary fidelity 
 and honour. Why was he not appointed to the 
 exercise of functions still more elevated and more 
 dignified ? This is a question not very easy to be 
 answered. He might, if he had thought proper. 
 If he had condescended to use the ordinary means 
 which individuals similarly circumstanced practise, 
 and generally with success, there was nothing in 
 the line of his profession too lofty for bis preten- 
 sions, and which the connections and friendships 
 he had formed might not easily have procured. 
 But, though not more proud than became a man 
 so endowed and so distinguished, he had not the 
 flexibility which, in the present condition of so- 
 ciety, they who have good things for barter invari- 
 ably require of those who want them. He scorned 
 to flatter and bow the knee to those with whom he 
 had entered life on the level, and had continued to 
 associate with on the same terms of manly equality, 
 but whom better fortune or greater address, not 
 superior merit or stronger claims, had raised to 
 the height of worldly honours. Though not with- 
 out ambition, he had a sort of proud and manly 
 disregard of lucrative situations, merely considered 
 
MEMOIR OF ARCHDEACON NARES. 58 / 
 
 as such, and was not at all inclined to remit his 
 ordinary habits, or to deviate from his accustomed 
 paths, in pursuit of them. 
 
 t( He did indeed attain, and by force of merit 
 only, the means of passing through life with great 
 respect and honour, in possession of all its com- 
 forts, and with not a few of its best advantages. 
 These he enjoyed to the fullest extent, participating 
 in them with no very limited circle of old and long 
 tried friends. What has been said of his claims to 
 worldly distinctions is equally applicable to his 
 mental endowments. His learning and his talents 
 were equal to any undertaking. He would have 
 been a good historian if he had directed his mind 
 to that branch of learning. A poet he was, and in 
 the epigrammatic part of poetry was excelled by 
 very few ; he was w T ell acquainted with the niceties 
 and subtleties of grammar, and of his own language 
 more particularly. He was by no means disputa- 
 tive, but, if occasion required, was an expert con- 
 troversial writer. To finish all, he was a critic of 
 no ordinary precision and acuteness. 
 
 “ That he had faults it is not pretended to deny, 
 but they inflicted no wounds. A sort of coldness 
 and reserve of manner was frequently considered 
 as the result of pride, and sometimes excited un- 
 favourable impressions ; but it was not pride, and 
 very soon melted into familiarity. Among his 
 intimate friends it w r as impossible to be more com- 
 municative, facetious, and agreeable. But it is 
 time to have done. 
 
 “ The above tribute is paid from a full and warm 
 heart. It is the result of long, very long attach- 
 ment, esteem, and gratitude ; of a friendship never 
 interrupted ; of an intercourse which a continued 
 series of years cemented. Can it be necessary to 
 say more ?” 
 
588 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 To Bp. Percy. 
 
 “ My Lord, 1782. 
 
 “ As Mr. Bromwich, when I was lately at Easton,* for 
 induction, &c., informed me that you had expressed an 
 intention of paying one more visit to that place whenever 
 you should be in England next, I am happy in having 
 thereby some little opportunity of shewing my sense of 
 your Lordship^s polite attentions to me in London. I 
 beg to assure your Lordship that you cannot flatter me 
 more than by continuing still to consider Easton as at 
 your command no less than before, so long and so far as 
 your convenience may require. 
 
 “ As I do not purpose at present to be resident there 
 very speedily, this is unfortunately a less compliment 
 than I could wish it to be ; but I can only say that had 
 the circumstances been different I should have been no 
 less desirous of making a similar offer. 
 
 “ I was much pleased with the place. Its quiet and re- 
 tired situation would render it very agreeable to me if my 
 circumstances would allow me to pass a part of my time 
 there ; to have pleased its late possessor is no small re- 
 commendation to it, and it would form no inconsiderable 
 part of the satisfaction I should have in being there, to 
 reflect that a great part of the comforts which I found in 
 it were derived from the liberality and good taste of my 
 predecessor. 
 
 “ I will beg your Lordship at your leisure to give the 
 particulars which you were so kind as to promise, re- 
 specting the rights of the living. 
 
 “ I am, my Lord, 
 
 “ Your obedient and obliged humble servant, 
 
 “ R. Nares. 
 
 ee P.S. If your Lordship should at any time favour me 
 with a line, you will please to direct to Sir Watkin Wil- 
 liams Wynn, Wynnstay, Wrexham.” 
 
 “My Lord, Lichfield, Sept. 7 , 1800 . _ 
 
 te Your valuable packet was forwarded to me at this 
 place ; and I take an early opportunity of returning you 
 my thanks for it. I regretted very much that the extreme 
 
 * The Rev. R. Nares had been presented to the rectory of Easton Mauduit, 
 a living formerly possessed by Bishop Percy. 
 
PERCY AND NARKS CORRESPONDENCE. 589 
 
 hurry of business and preparation, before I left London, 
 unavoidably prevented me from calling to take leave of 
 you and Mrs. Percy, from whom we have so many civili- 
 ties and kindnesses to acknowledge. We left town in the 
 last week of July, having been hardly settled from a prior 
 excursion before this was to be undertaken. My residence 
 here commenced on the 1st of August, and continued to 
 the end of this month. Mrs. Nares called on Mrs. Percy 
 before we left town. 
 
 <e As I wish your critique to occupy the most honourable 
 place, both on your account and 'that of my friend John 
 Nichols, I shall not attempt to insert it this month, but 
 let it open the Review for October.* I have not yet had 
 leisure to look at it, further than to see that the printer 
 will have no difficulty about it ; and you may depend upon 
 it that I shall have little inclination either to alter or cur- 
 tail what you may have written. I shall particularly attend 
 to your wishes about the concluding pages. When justice 
 
 * See a Review of Nichols’s History of Leicestershire, vol. III. part 1, by 
 Bp. Percy, in British Critic for Oct. 1800, p. 345 — 3G1. The Bishop ob- 
 serves : — “ This volume is in no respect inferior to the former ones, either 
 in the diligence, accuracy, or judgment displayed by the author, or the 
 value, importance, and curious selection of his interesting materials. The 
 work before us is so replete with various and interesting information, that 
 not only the antiquary and topographical historian, not only the geologist, 
 the biographer, and investigator of general history, but the naturalist, and 
 even the admirer of the fine arts, will occasionally find amusement prepared 
 for his taste. ” One object the Bishop had in this review was to answer the 
 remarks of the Rev. George Ashby respecting the Roman Miliary found near 
 Leicester, inserted in Yol. I. of the History of Leicestershire, which gave 
 the Bishop great offence. — See pp. 357 — 361 of British Critic, Oct. 1800, 
 and also p. 405 of this volume. 
 
 Archdeacon Nares, also, in the Preface to the same volume of the British 
 Critic, thus speaks of Mr. Nichols’s antiquarian labours : — 
 
 “ The History and Antiquities of Leicestershire proceed without any re- 
 mission of diligence in their indefatigable compiler ; and the first Part of Vol. 
 III. contains a mass of information greater than the whole of what would 
 formerly have been deemed an adequate county history. If Mr. Nichols, 
 who proceeds with the zeal of an Arneas, 
 
 antiquam exquirere matrem, 
 
 should be rewarded, like that hero, with a comfortable settlement in her 
 maternal fields, we should be the first to rejoice at his reward.” 
 
 Of another volume of the work, the editors of the British Critic observe : 
 “ In the hands of Mr. Nichols the History of Leicestershire appears to have 
 not only a provincial but a general utility. It has matter intermixed belong- 
 ing to other places, which yet collaterally clears the history of that county. 
 It is a vehicle for the history of ancient manners, arts, and customs, has 
 added copious'y to the present stores of our national biography, and supplied 
 frequent gratification to those who are fond of the elegances of natural 
 science.” — British Critic for Nov. 1804, p. 498. 
 
590 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 requires it, I have no kind of objection to severity, as you 
 may see in our critiques on Flower’s Case and Gilford’s 
 Epistle to Pindar, in the British Critic for August. 
 
 “ Mrs. Nares and I should have great pleasure in visiting 
 Ecton, were there any chance of our finding time to spare. 
 We shall return as near to it as by Daventry, but I much 
 fear in too great haste to make so agreeable a pause on 
 our road. The country in this neighbourhood is extremely 
 pleasing; and I have been able to shew Mrs. Nares the 
 best of it, by taking her to pay a visit at Trentham, where 
 the beauty of the park (though a small one) is beyond that 
 of most other places. 
 
 “ I beg you will give our most kind remembrances to 
 Mrs. and Miss Percy, and to the Isteds, on whose kind- 
 ness at Brighton Mrs. Nares reflects with pleasure. My 
 recollections of the same sort run back many years. If I 
 do not mistake, you are among the representatives of the 
 Irish peers ; and in that case we shall hope to see you 
 when the imperial Parliament meets. I am, with great 
 regard, your Lordship’s obliged friend and servant, 
 
 “ Robert Nares. 
 
 “ The date of my letter will explain that I am not so 
 situated as to execute your commission about the Courier. 
 What do you think of the desperation of Peter * in his 
 anonymous letter ?” 
 
 <( My LORD, British Museum, October 17, 1800. 
 
 “ On the 5th I went over to Easton, where I performed 
 the duty, and officiated at the Sacrament, being highly 
 pleased to meet my parishioners again after an interval. 
 It seems, also, to have been fortunate that I went just 
 then, for Lord Grey is on the point of selling the Easton 
 Estate, and I have put it in train to obtain the slip adjoin- 
 ing to the garden which we rent, and if possible, the close 
 contiguous, for which I trust the money remaining on the 
 Bounty will be sufficient. The negotiation with Lord 
 Spencer’s agent, about laying it out in Bozeat, came to 
 nothing ; but I saw my allotment in lieu of the like, and 
 was pleased to behold a field of tolerable land, of between 
 
 * Of Peter Pindar, on the publication of W. Gifford’s Epistle. See Brit. 
 Critic for August 1800, p. 192. 
 
PERCY AND NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 591 
 
 seven and eight acres. The book you left at Easton was 
 deposited in the parish chest by myself, where I found 
 also the other volume, perfectly free from damage, which 
 convinced me that they could not be left in better custody. 
 I also reclaimed the best plate, or, at least, commissioned 
 Mr. Gibbs to do so ; and, as Mrs. Pettiford is still in the 
 house, I trust there will be no difficulty about it. When 
 it is once lodged in the chest, one key will always be kept 
 by the curate (or vicar, if present), and the other by the 
 clerk. 
 
 “ It will give me great pleasure to learn that you had an 
 agreeable voyage, and have found every thing to your 
 mind at home. Mrs. Nares unites with me in best re- 
 spects to yourself and family, and I remain most truly 
 your obliged friend and obedient humble servant, 
 
 “ Robert Nares.” 
 
 “ My Lord, British Museum, Jan. 19, 1801. 
 
 “ I have several faults of omission upon my mind, in 
 the article of letters, and among them few more weighty 
 than that which I am now attempting to expiate. I ought 
 certainly to have sent you, long ago, my very hearty 
 thanks for your communication on f Nichols’s Leicester- 
 shire,’ which had justly so conspicuous a place in the 
 British Critic. Your notice of the erratum arrived too 
 late for that month ; but you will have seen it since at 
 the end of the review ensuing.* 
 
 u Mrs. Nares and I passed three days very agreeably at 
 Easton, only regretting that you and your family were 
 waiting for a wind at Park-gate, instead of being with us. 
 Since we returned to town, I have been occupied by two 
 or three arduous matters of business more than usual, 
 which has made me, to all my friends, a very tardy cor- 
 respondent. We are now in immediate expectation of the 
 opening of the Imperial Parliament. Town is full of 
 company; and Cumberland House, in Pall Mall, is opened 
 as an hotel for Irish families. I am sorrv that vour turn 
 tor attending in Parliament does not yet come ; but, per- 
 haps, you will pay us another visit before that time 
 arrives. I am just now deep in old MSS., correcting all 
 that part of the Harleian Catalogue which was left un- 
 finished by Hump. Wanley, and very imperfectly executed 
 
 * See British Critic, Nov. 1800, p. 584. 
 
592 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 by Mr. Casley. This is by order of our trustees, who are 
 stimulated by a Committee of the House of Commons, 
 appointed to search into public records. 
 
 “ Malone has been nearly destroyed by an accident, 
 apparently insignificant, that of breaking his shin, in 
 getting out of a coach in the Museum. It has been very 
 unwilling to heal, and sometimes has shown even a 
 threatening tendency. 
 
 “ I have no literary news ; but I have been buying a 
 book dedicated to you, — Bowie’s Don Quixote, and his 
 Letter, previously addressed to you. I know that Bar- 
 retti abused the book, but his motives were interested. 
 Is it not a good book, after all ? Baretti’s abuse has kept 
 down the price. 
 
 “ I am, my Lord, very faithfully and gratefully yours, 
 
 “ Robert Nabes.” 
 
 iC P.S. Did you know anything of Mr. Casley,* above- 
 mentioned ?” 
 
 “ My Lord, Lichfield, Sept. 13, 1801. 
 
 “ I write at present only to acknowledge and thank 
 you for the first article on Mrs. West’s book,f which duly 
 arrived, and was immediately forwarded to my printer, so 
 that there is no doubt of its appearing in the Review for 
 the present month. It is impossible for me to resist 
 your particular desire to have the account extended to 
 three articles, which I shall therefore be happy to receive 
 from you. I have always some fear of hurting an author, 
 by deviating very far from the usual practice of reviews, 
 in their favour, lest it should seem like too decided par- 
 tiality, rather than actual judgment ; but in this case your 
 reasons and wishes prevail. The tendency of the book 
 certainly is excellent ; and the writing appears, from the 
 specimens I have yet seen, to be very good. Mrs. West 
 is also, beyond doubt, a most respectable woman, whom 
 I shall be very happy to serve. Early in October I 
 shall return to my head-quarters at the British Museum, 
 where I am deeply engaged in correcting the Harleian 
 Catalogue, — a work in which I shall hope to derive 
 
 * Mr. David Casley, deputy-keeper of the Cottonian and Royal Libraries ; 
 one of the revivers of the Society of Antiquaries, and a member of the Gen- 
 tleman’s Society at Spalding. See Index to Literary Anecdotes, VII. 65. 
 
 t “ Letters to a young Man on his first Entrance into Life, &c.” 3 
 vols. 1801 ; reviewed by Bp. Percy in British Critic for Sept. 1801, and 
 continued in two following Numbers. — Of Mrs. West, see before, p. 88. 
 
PERCY AND NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 593 
 
 benefit from your advice and information when you arrive 
 in London. 
 
 “ I beg to turn your attention particularly to Art. XIV. 
 in our Review for August, where I think you will see Mr. 
 Godwin* as handsomely lashed as any such personage ever 
 was. Democracy has just lost a zealous friend in Gilbert 
 Wakefield, t who died a few days ago. No loss, I fancy, 
 even to his family, whom his turbulence kept always in 
 hot water. Mrs. Wakefield is said to be a very amiable 
 woman ; badly matched, certainly. 
 
 “Will you endeavour to recollect whether there was 
 any payment at Easton, in your time, of 135. Ad. annually 
 to the Bishop, exclusive of procurations and synods ? 
 under the name of Pension, I think. It has lately been 
 demanded of me for nine years, and as I never recollect 
 paying it before, rather surprised me ; yet, I suppose it 
 must be right. It is said to be paid only by a very few 
 livings in the diocese, and as mine is one of the smallest, 
 it seems the more extraordinary. 
 
 “ Mrs. N. and I are going to-day to pass a day or two 
 with the very amiable family of the Gisbornes, in Need- 
 wood Forest. Mr. Gisborne J you doubtless know, as a 
 writer at least. He is also a most pleasing companion. 
 
 “ I have troubled you with more than I intended, and 
 will only add my best respects to Mrs. Percy, and to your 
 nephew, with those of Mrs. N. to the former. 
 
 “ I am, most truly, your Lordship’s obliged friend and 
 servant, Robert Nares.” 
 
 “ My Lord, British Museum, Nov. 27, 1801. 
 
 “ Your critique on Mrs. West’s book being now finished, 
 I hasten to return you my very sincere thanks for a com- 
 munication not less honourable to the Review than to her. 
 I have only ventured to add a single sentence at the con- 
 clusion — 4 We do not hesitate to add, that her son, what- 
 
 * In a review of “ Thoughts occasioned by the perusal of Dr. Parr’s Spital 
 Sermon ; being a Reply to the Attacks of Dr. Parr, Mr. Mackintosh, &c. by 
 W. Godwin.” See British Critic for August 1801, p. 184. Mr. Godwin 
 died April 17, 1836, aged 81 ; and a memoir of him will be found in Gent. 
 Mag. New Series, vol. V. p. 666. 
 
 f The Rev. Gilbert Wakefield died Sept. 10, 1801, aged 45. See a 
 memoir of him in Gentleman’s Magazine for 1801, p. 867, and in Chalmers’s 
 Biographical Dictionary. See also Index to Lit. Anecdotes, VII. 440, 703. 
 
 + This exemplary divine and amiable poet died March 24, 1846, aged 87. 
 He was one of the principal friends of Mr. Wilberforce, and his name 
 requently occurs in the Life of the good Philanthropist, by his Sons. See 
 a memoir of Mr. Gisborne in Gent. Mag. new series, vol. XXV. p. 643. 
 
 VOL. VII. 2 Q 
 
594 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ever boast he may derive from ancestry, or to whatever 
 situation abilities or contingencies may raise him, will 
 always have reason to boast of being born of such a 
 mother.’* 
 
 “ I thank you also for your answer on the subject of the 
 pension claimed upon Easton, though I fear I shall not 
 obtain any redress. I will, however, take all proper and 
 respectful means to do so. 
 
 “ I have the pleasure to inform you that the 4 Reliques 5 
 were sent to Mr. Fr. Tytler at Edinburgh, exactly ac- 
 cording to your order, within a week after your letter 
 (dated Sept. 26) reached me. The binding was what they 
 call extra, which perhaps was more than you meant ; but 
 the difference will not be above three or four shillings, and 
 the copy particularly pleased my eye. 
 
 “ Your last packet was what they term above privilege ; 
 consequently, I paid seven shillings for it. This, however, 
 is of no consequence, as the British Critic at large will pay 
 it : I only mention it to prevent future mistakes. Franks 
 are now limited (in England) to 1 oz. or If- oz., which I 
 have taken care to observe in making up these packets for 
 you. 
 
 “ Allow me to ask, against I hear from you again, who 
 was the Mr. Carterf who made the very beautiful original 
 tune to your elegant ballad, 4 O ! Nanny, wilt thou gang wi’ 
 me?’ and when was it first set? I think it one of the 
 finest ballad airs that were ever composed : I will not add 
 how fitly bestowed, but the whole effect is admirable. I 
 have heard it harmonized, or thrown into parts, by Harri- 
 son, and it was delightful in that form. We look forward 
 with pleasure to the hope of seeing you and Mrs. Percy in 
 London, which I hope no circumstance will delay beyond 
 the time intended. 
 
 i( I hope the Ecton family are well, &c. ; and remain, very 
 sincerely, your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ Robert Nares.” 
 
 £4 My LORD, British Museum, April 26, 1802. 
 
 “ Your last letter to me begins with an apology for long 
 
 * British Critic for Nov. 1801, p. 529. 
 
 f “ Poor Carter, the celebrated composer, died on Friday last, Oct. 12, 
 1804. He possessed an uncommon share of genius ; hut his prosperity in 
 life never kept pace with the greatness of his talents. He was the author of 
 many excellent musical pieces and beautiful ballads, among the latter of which 
 were, “ O Nanny, wilt thou gang wi’ me ?” “Tally Ho ! &c. &c.” — Lon- 
 don Evening Post, Thursday, Oct. 18. See the Gentleman’s Magazine for 
 1847, vol. XXVII. pp. 376, 481, 604. 
 
PERCY AND NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 595 
 
 silence, which would make me blush to see it, having yet 
 more occasion for it myself, had I not to plead that the 
 expectation of seeing you here has long restrained my pen. 
 From the time, indeed, when I began to think it probable 
 that you might have moved from Dromore, I have been in 
 constant expectation and hope of hearing of your approach. 
 It now begins to be probable that you have relinquished 
 the intention, at least for the present ; and I therefore feel 
 it necessary to send this explanation of my conduct, lest 
 you should at all impute it to negligence. 
 
 “ At a dinner given lately by Sir William Scott, I had 
 the pleasure of seeing Dr. Duigenan, and becoming ac- 
 quainted with him. Of him I made inquiries respecting 
 you, but could learn only his opinion, that you would pro- 
 bably be now in Dublin. I saw him again yesterday, on 
 the point of returning for Ireland, and charged him with 
 my apologies ; but, recollecting that he might not see you, 
 and that a letter enclosed to Mr. Lee’s would be forwarded 
 to you wherever you might be, I resolved no longer to omit 
 writing. 
 
 “ I was much obliged to you for transmitting Dr. Caul- 
 field^s pamphlet, and for the hints you gave upon it ; but 
 this also has been laid by, in hopes of further instructions 
 from you in person, how it would be most proper to notice 
 it. I regretted that ill health was the apology for your 
 preceding silence, and shall be very desirous to hear that 
 the same cause has not interposed to prevent the journey 
 to England, which I knew you had before intended. 
 
 “ You inquired, in the P.S. of your last, whether any 
 answer to Volney had been published, besides that (of Mr. 
 Roberts*) noticed in the ‘British Critic/ I believe not. 
 That reply, though we chose to make the best of it, on 
 account of the laudableness of the design, was certainly not 
 
 * The Rev. Peter Roberts died in May, 1819, at Halkin, co. Flint, to 
 which living he had been inducted only a few months. This event de- 
 prived Wales of an eminent writer in its particular literature and language, 
 and the kingdom at large of a rare union of worth and talent. It is said 
 Mr. Roberts was a student of Trinity College, Dublin ; wherever he was 
 educated, he was an honour to the foundation. His valuable and extensive 
 library was sold in Shrewsbury (nine days sale), commencing the 9th of 
 August. He was author of “ Observations on the Principles of Christian 
 Morality;” — “ Christianity Vindicated in a series of Letters to M. Volney, 
 on his Revolutions of Empires;” — “Harmony of the Epistles;” — “A 
 Sketch of the early History of the Cymry, or Antient Britons, from the year 
 TOO before Christ to A. D. 500 ;” — “View of the Policy and Doctrines of 
 
 Church of Rome ;” — “ The Chronicle of the Kings of Britain ;” — “ On 
 Christian Morality ;” — “ Manual of Prophecy ;” — “ The Cambrian Popular 
 Antiquities,” &c. (See British Critic, 1802, and Monthly Review, vol. 
 XXXVI. p. 164.) 
 
 2 Q 2 
 
596 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 so vigorous as might be wished. I should be very glad to 
 learn that you had a design of furnishing such an antidote 
 to the poison as might be more effectual. I do not, how- 
 ever, find that Yolney has done much mischief in England ; 
 but the studious circulation of his book, whether here or 
 in Ireland, must certainly be carried on for the most mis- 
 chievous purposes. I have been anxious (among many 
 other topics of inquiry) to ask whether the Life of Gold- 
 smith, lately published with his Miscellaneous Works, really 
 proceeds from your information, as is confidently asserted ; 
 and, if not, how much credit is due to it, on its own 
 account. Many things are there told which were not 
 known before; but their value must depend upon their 
 authenticity, of which no person now living, probably, can 
 judge so well as you. 
 
 “A very handsome letter from Mrs. West,* accompanied 
 by a bound copy of her work, gave me great satisfaction a 
 month or two ago. I returned my best thanks to the 
 respectable lady, without loss of time ; but I ought also to 
 return them to you, since it must have been through you 
 that she gained the information to which I owed her civili- 
 ties. I have since been introduced to her son.f He is a 
 very modest young man, and I am assured likely to do 
 justice to her instructions. 
 
 “ In consideration of my very true apologies, I hope you 
 will favour me with an early answer. I am very desirous 
 to know what are your present plans ; and what hope we 
 may yet entertain of seeing you and Mrs. Percy this season 
 in England. 
 
 The matter of the pension;]; to the Bishop of Peter- 
 borough remains in suspense. All the inquiry I have been 
 able to make confirms the suspicion that it ought to be 
 paid by the impropriators of the great tithes, namely, the 
 College ; and, as soon as the hurry of this month is over, 
 I mean to write to the Dean upon it. On this subject also 
 I had hoped for your personal advice, as the best supple- 
 ment to the written admonitions you had so kindly given. 
 
 i( I am, my Lord, with great regard, 
 
 “ Your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ Robert Narks/* 
 
 * See this vol. p. 88. f See p. 89. 
 
 t From the rectory of Easton Mauduit. See before, p. 593. 
 
PERCY AND NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 597 
 
 e: My LORD, Lichfield, August 28, 1802. 
 
 “The time of my annual removal from London has 
 been, as usual, a period of great hurry, and since my 
 arrival here I have almost daily been purposing to write 
 to you, and as frequently have been obliged, or induced 
 by business or interruption, to postpone it. I very safely 
 received your three packets containing Sir Richard Mus- 
 grave’s reply to Dr. Caulfield. 
 
 “ I intended fully to have taken your advice as to the 
 postponing the account of Dr. CaulfielcPs defence,* till I 
 should hear more of the issue of the dispute ; but I 
 found myself so particularly urged by letters, and called 
 upon in point of justice to take some notice of it, that I 
 inserted the account which appeared in July, p. 91. I 
 hope you will approve the manner in which it is done. 
 These Roman Catholics wonder that we are so ready to 
 believe them inclined to murder Protestants, forgetting 
 that in every part of the world they have always shown 
 that disposition, and have acted accordingly whenever 
 opportunities were offered, under the sanction of the 
 highest authorities of their church. 
 
 “ In coming to this place we made a circuit by Cam- 
 bridgeshire, and paid a visit of three days to Dr. Smith,f 
 Mrs. Nares’s father. This new modelled our whole route, 
 and brought us hither by Huntingdon, Thrapston, Ket- 
 tering, Market Harborough, &c. We passed a night at 
 the last-mentioned place, and I was determined not to lose 
 the opportunity of becoming acquainted with Mrs. West. 
 Mrs. Nares and I therefore waited upon her soon after 
 our arrival, and made her a visit of some length. From 
 our previous knowledge of each other as writers, we were 
 easily acquainted, and I had great pleasure in conversing 
 with a lady whose excellent talents and disposition are 
 
 * “The Reply of Dr. Caulfield, Roman Catholic Bishop of Wexford, to 
 the Misrepresentation of Sir R. Musgrave, Bart.” 8vo. 1801. See British 
 Critic for July, 1802, p. 91, 
 
 t Dr. Samuel Smith was of Trinity College, Cambridge; B.A. 1754; 
 M.A. 1757 ; LL. D. 1764. He succeeded Dr. Markham as head master of 
 Westminster School, and was afterwards one of the prebendaries. He was 
 also a canon of Peterborough, rector of Walpole, Norfolk, and of Dry Dray- 
 ton, Northamptonshire. He died March 23, 1808, aged 77 ; said to be pos- 
 sessed of more than .£100,000. One of his sons, Dr. Samuel Smith, was 
 Dean of Christchurch, which deanery he exchanged for a prebend of Dur- 
 ham, with the present Dean of Christchurch, Dr. Gaisford. The elder Dr. 
 Smith left also three other sons, and two daughters. All the sons are dead. 
 The eldest daughter married James Wake, esq. barrister-at-law ; and the 
 youngest married Mr. Archdeacon Nares. Both the daughters are living ; 
 but their husbands are dead. 
 
598 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 so clearly displayed in her writings. We talked of you 
 first, and afterwards of various other topics ; and I hope 
 that if any thing brings her to London she will not forget 
 to inquire for the British Museum. 
 
 “ With respect to the pension charged upon poor 
 Easton, I gained some material information just before I 
 left town, from Clapham, Senr. On examining his papers 
 Mr. Clapham found that the pension of 13s. 4 d. per an- 
 num was demanded at the visitation in 1780, and was paid 
 as for 3 years; but that, in 1783, Mr. Clapham refunded 
 the payment by order of bishop Hinchliffe, by whom it 
 was ever afterwards received. If these particulars should 
 bring any other circumstances to your mind, you will 
 much oblige me by an early communication of the intelli- 
 gence, as I expect to see the bishop of Peterborough here 
 in the course of September. I will write also to Mr. 
 Gibbs, as these dates may lead him to discover some 
 memorandum on the subject in the Easton rental. 
 
 (e Many thanks for your kind information on the sub- 
 ject of Goldsmith 5 s life. If I take any advantage of what 
 you mention, in noticing the book, it shall be in such a 
 way as cannot implicate you, or lead to any knowledge of 
 its coming from you. We had a very agreeable day with 
 the Isteds and Sothebys at the British Museum, and 
 should have been extremely glad if you could have been 
 added to the party. Your absence from England disap- 
 pointed us all, and I am not yet informed whether the 
 arrangements for the Parliament ensuing are such as to 
 bring you over soon ; if so, I shall be among those who 
 will most rejoice in the prospect of your friendly and 
 instructive conversation. I am, my lord, with great re- 
 gard, your obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ Robert Nares.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Lichfield, Sept. 2, 1802. 
 
 ec I had just troubled you with a letter which must 
 have been nearly of the same date with yours ; I sent it 
 inclosed to Mr. Lee’s, not being quite certain where you 
 might be. I write now, without loss of time, that you 
 may know that your letter, though sent to London, was 
 duly forwarded hither, and to say that I have sent the 
 inclosure to Mr. Park, in another frank, back to town. 
 I can positively assure you that nothing but what was 
 truly complimentary was intended by the citation of the 
 Reliques ; and, whatever Mr. Ritson may choose to say. 
 
PERCY AND NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 599 
 
 the public feels universally that the elegant taste, sound 
 judgment, and successful research displayed in that pub- 
 lication are such as must do credit to the compiler and 
 editor throughout life, in whatever situation he may be 
 placed. Though Bishop Percy be mentioned as editor, 
 it is by a prolapsis always used, giving to him, in that 
 character, the title which he afterwards acquired. But 
 surely there is nothing for a Bishop to repent of in these 
 volumes. Though I feel all this, I will take care in 
 future to attend to your wishes implicitly on the subject. 
 
 “ It gives me very great pleasure that you think the 
 article on Dr. Caulfield * judicious ; I felt it was a difficult 
 point to handle, without producing new irritation, and 
 therefore should have been longer silent had I not been 
 particularly urged. 
 
 “ I will not add unnecessarily to the length of this, 
 having said the other things that I wished to say in the 
 letter, which ere this you will have received. Mrs. Nares 
 unites in best compliments to yourself and Mrs. Percy, 
 with, my Lord, your much obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ Robert Nares.” 
 
 u My LORD, British Museum, Nov. 12, 1802. 
 
 “ I hasten to acknowledge the receipt of your two last 
 kind letters, and particularly to thank you for the philoso- 
 phical communicationt contained in the second, to which 
 due attention shall undoubtedly be paid, w r hen we are to 
 make our report upon that part of the Philosophical 
 Transactions. At the sister Society of Antiquaries we are 
 very busy about the famous stone from Egypt, containing 
 three inscriptions, the first in hieroglyphic character, the 
 second in Coptic, the third in Greek. The Greek has, of 
 course, been copied, read, and translated, and as it states 
 that they were all three intended to convey the same 
 intelligence, the greatest hopes are entertained that it will 
 prove the key to the two other characters. Heyne has 
 written on the Greek, and it is said that Dr. Saeg has read 
 the Coptic by it, but this is not yet certain. 
 
 “ Having told you this literary news, if it should be 
 such to you, permit me to remind you of a matter which 
 respects myself only. In one of my last letters I stated 
 to you the information I had received from Mr. Clapham, 
 sen. respecting the pension demanded for poor Easton ; 
 a nd I begged of you to say whether his report recalled the 
 transaction, or any of its adjuncts to your mind. His 
 * See before, p. 597. t See hereafter, p. 603. 
 
600 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 account is this — that in 1780, a pension of 135. 4c?. per 
 annum was demanded, and paid at the visitation for the 
 three years last elapsed. But that in 1783, (probably the 
 next visitation), the demand was not only not repeated 
 but the former payment refunded by him by the bishop’s 
 order. When 1 was at Ecton I again searched the rental 
 with this clue to guide me, but there is no memorandum 
 of yours on the subject. It appears then that I succeeded 
 your Lordship in 1783, but probably after the visitation. 
 I have written to the Bishop of Peterborough the above 
 account of Mr. Clapham’s information, but it would be a 
 material point if his report could be at all confirmed by 
 your recollections. I think, however, he has written 
 documents to ascertain it, if the bishop should not other- 
 wise be satisfied. The demand probably referred in justice 
 to some other Easton. 
 
 “ I forwarded your letter to Mrs. West, and intended to 
 have added a cover, under the sanction of Mr. Hammond, 
 with something from myself, as I have now the pleasure 
 of her acquaintance, but it happened that accident pre- 
 vented me, and your letter went without the accompani- 
 ment. We were so fortunate as just to meet Mrs. West 
 at the time when we passed three days at Ecton in our 
 return from Lichfield. She arrived there the day we did, 
 and went to Northampton with us when we left it. I was 
 much pleased with this circumstance. Her unaffected 
 modesty is as remarkable as her talents, and she is in all 
 respects a most valuable woman. Isted was not quite 
 well when we were there, and I hear him still reported 
 an invalid ; but as it is only report, I hope that it is 
 either exaggerated or wholly without foundation. Mrs. 
 Nares unites in best regards to Mrs. Percy and yourself, 
 with, my Lord, your most faithful and obliged servant, 
 
 “ Robert Nares. 
 
 “ The eldest son of Jos. Warton is about to publish 
 ‘ Dryden ’ from his father’s materials.* He has in contem- 
 plation also, to publish a selection from the correspon- 
 dence of his father and uncle with various men of learning 
 and talents.” 
 
 My Lord, Brighton, April, 1803. 
 
 “ After a silence, so long that I am justly ashamed of it, 
 I write to you from a place which recalls the recollection 
 of meeting you about three years ago. Mrs. Nares and 
 
 * He published Dryden’s Poems in 4 vols. 8vo. with a few of his father’s 
 notes. 
 
PERCY AND NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 601 
 
 I have taken advantage of the Easter holidays to revisit 
 this place, and catch some of the reviving breezes of the 
 sea : the same interval enables me to undertake the 
 clearing a few of those arrears of correspondence which 
 in winter more particularly accumulate ; because the days 
 are much shorter, and the tasks to be performed in them 
 nearly the same. In summer I work for the Review 
 before breakfast, and write letters after. In winter there 
 is nothing before breakfast, but the necessary preparation 
 for appearing at it ; so letters are apt to be postponed. I 
 believe I have not written to you since the Bishop of 
 Peterborough in the fullest manner retracted his claim of 
 pension upon poor Easton ; in which matter I am cer- 
 tainly indebted in part to what you permitted me to say 
 in your name. The fortunate recollection of Mr. Clap- 
 ham, that the pension was once demanded of you, and 
 formally refunded three years after, concluded the whole 
 matter, and put it finally out of doubt. We called at 
 Ecton, in our last journey from Lichfield, and there had 
 the pleasure of meeting the ingenious and unassuming 
 Mrs. West; whose acquaintance we were heartily glad to 
 cultivate. We passed about four days there together. 
 I have been a little in hope that you might possibly send 
 me an account for the British Critic of her 4 Infidel Father,’ 
 but as no such aid arrived, I have just written one myself, 
 which is sent to the printer. I have given it the dignity 
 of standing among the principal articles, for the sake of 
 the author ; and I think have so characterised it as will 
 induce many to wish for further acquaintance with it.* 
 I have dwelt chiefly on the serious parts, which are pre- 
 eminently the best; and have praised the design and 
 execution, not lavishly, but firmly ; and not in generalities, 
 but with specific instances. I hope the account will meet 
 your approbation ; since my regard for the author was 
 originally derived in part from yours. I find that Ritson, 
 who is most unequivocally mad, has again treated you 
 with impudent scurrility. If there are any particular 
 things that you wish said in return, you will be so good 
 as to communicate them to me. An article from you, on the 
 subject of his Metrical Romances, would be very accept- 
 able to me, if you did not think yourself too much offended 
 to meddle with him at all. To ridicule he lays himself ex- 
 tremely open, by his most absurd mode of spelling, which 
 certainly shall not pass unobserved in the British Critic. 
 
 “ 1 hope you read, and did not object to, the article on 
 * See British Critic for April, 1803, p. 406. 
 
602 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Goldsmith^ Works.* I very carefully abstained from say- 
 ing anything that might bring you into any question. 
 
 Mr. Leyden, f (now Dr.) who published e The Complaynt 
 of Scotland/ has lately sailed for the East Indies. He 
 had actually engaged to go in the ship that was lost two 
 months ago, (the Hindostan,) but fortunately changed his 
 mind. Mr. Walter Scott, editor of the f Minstrelsy of 
 the Scottish Border/ is now in London ; but I missed 
 seeing him in consequence of my journey hither. The 
 spirit of research into our early poetry, which your Reliques 
 so strongly encouraged, is now very active, and almost 
 daily produces some accession to that branch of literature. 
 G. EllisJ will produce something more ere long ; and 
 whatever he does will, of course, bear the stamp of taste 
 and genius. Mr. Gifford, § the translator of Juvenal, is 
 employed on an edition of Massinger. As no person is 
 more likely than you are to be able to give some important 
 aid to such a work, I have great pleasure in mentioning 
 it to you. What he does himself, will be done with care 
 and sagacity ; but any hints from you will have great 
 value, and it would much delight me to be the conveyer 
 of them. Malone has furnished him with an unpublished 
 play of the author. We have one or two about that date, 
 in the Harleian Collection, but not ascertained to be his. 
 
 “We shall stay here only a few days more; so that a 
 letter, which I hope to receive much sooner than I seem 
 to deserve, will find me at the British Museum. I am, 
 my Lord, with Mrs. N’s. regard and my own to you and 
 Mrs. Percy, 
 
 “ Your obedient and obliged servant, &c. 
 
 “ Robert Nares.” 
 
 * See British Critic for Sept, 1802, p. 295. 
 
 + Dr. Leyden died at Cornelis, in Batavia, in 1811. His acquisition of 
 languages was wonderful. Lord Minto used to say, “ He had the gift of 
 Tongues.” Besides being an eminent classical scholar, he was master of 
 the languages of the East, and had a strong natural genius for poetry. 
 He was the intimate friend of Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 J George Ellis, Esq. F.R.S., F.S.A. died April 10, 1815, aged 70. Per- 
 haps no man of his time better united the character of a gentleman and a 
 man of letters. In 1790, he published his “ Specimens of our Early Poetry,” 
 which, with an enlarged Edition in 1801, and the “ Specimens of our Early 
 Romances,” formed an important contribution towards that growing study of 
 our ancient literature which has breathed a youthful spirit into English 
 poetry. These works justly gave him the titles of the Tressan, and St. Palaye, 
 of England. He was one of the writers in “ The Rolliad,” ‘‘Probationary 
 Odes,” & c. ; also in “ The Anti-Jacobin.” See a good memoir of him in 
 Gent. Mag. for April, 1815, p. 371. He printed anonymously an account 
 of the Dutch Revolution, 1769 ; also a small volume of Poems, without his 
 name, 1778, 12mo. 
 
 § Of Mr. Gifford see a memoir in Lit. Illustrations, vol. VI. p. 1- 
 
PERCY AND NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 603 
 
 “ My Lord, Lichfield, Sept. 9, 1803. 
 
 “ I am an interrupted and uncertain correspondent, 
 but not a forgetful or an ungrateful one ; for I often think 
 of writing to you when I do not carry it into effect, and 
 always feel myself greatly obliged by the friendly kind- 
 ness of your letters. Your last, in which you speak of 
 representing the case of poor Easton to Lord Northampton 
 when you shall next visit England, is so particularly 
 obliging that I cannot sufficiently express my thanks, 
 though I did not want that motive for regretting the delay 
 of your journey, which is but too likely to arise from the 
 uneasy circumstances of the times. These circumstances 
 add much to my desire of hearing from you, as it is im- 
 possible for your friends not to be anxious to know in 
 what state your neighbourhood is in the present alarm. 
 
 “ I have looked occasionally into Mr. Ritson on Metrical 
 Romances, and find him indeed infamously abusive to- 
 wards you. I wish much to hear from you what you 
 think it best to do with him. If you leave him to my 
 care, you may depend upon his receiving a very sound 
 castigation ; but you perhaps will wish to take him in 
 hand yourself, in which case I shall be extremely happy 
 to receive your communications upon the subject, which, 
 besides answering him, will secure a good critique upon 
 the book. I must attack him with ridicule for the strange 
 absurdities of his spelling, and think of beginning the 
 article with a view of them. 
 
 “ In our last number was an account of that part of the 
 Philosophical Transactions* which contains the analysis of 
 the stones which fell from the sky ; but I did not at first 
 think of subjoining your remarks from the Gentleman's 
 Magazinet with which you favoured me some time ago ; 
 and when I did (though I had them with me for the pur- 
 pose), I could not contrive to introduce them at this dis- 
 tance from the press. I could not trust the printer with- 
 out a revise, which could not here be had. The remarks 
 would have made an excellent note on that part of the 
 review; and the quoting the Gentleman’s Magazine, 
 
 * Philosophical Transactions for 1802, art. VII. See British Critic for 
 Aug. 1803, p. 144. 
 
 t This alludes to a communication from Bp. Percy to the Gentleman’s 
 Mag. in 1797, p. 179, which relates to the subjects of the Fall of Stones from 
 the Clouds, the Cuckoo, &c. — See the preceding Letter of Mr. Nares to Bp. 
 Percy, Nov. 12, 1802, in p. 599. 
 
604 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 though not usual, would have been pleasing to my friend 
 John Nichols. 
 
 “ We heard of the Isted family in our passage hither, 
 but did not get a sight of them. I hope they are now 
 well, and all connected with you — particularly Mrs. Percy, 
 to whom, as well as to yourself, Mrs. Nares unites in 
 sending best compliments and wishes. I am, my Lord, 
 with great respect, your obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 “ Robert Nares.” 
 
 “ My Lord, British Museum, Feb. 6, 1804. 
 
 “ I have heard, with much concern, that your sight has 
 suffered severely from the complaint in your eyes, which 
 was mentioned in vour last kind letter to me. Allow me 
 
 »i 
 
 to express my very earnest hope, that you do still and 
 may continue to enjoy that sense in a sufficient degree to 
 conduce to your own comfort, and even for literary use. 
 Few eyes have been better employed during the time of 
 their vigour. 
 
 “ You were doubtless informed long ago of the miserable 
 yet characteristic end of that wretched being Ritson ; 
 whose insanity will now be presumed to have shewn itself 
 originally in his abuse of you, and many other persons 
 who deserved a very opposite treatment. You have seen, 
 I hope, and approved, our review of his impious and 
 absurd book on Animal Food,* which, in my opinion 
 (and, as I did not write it, I may give my opinion), is very 
 much superior to the attack upon it in the Edinburgh 
 Review. There was spirit in that ; but it took some 
 things for granted in argument which are not true. I have 
 hitherto deferred our account of his Metrical Romances 
 and Bibliographia Poetica, thinking that you might still 
 be desirous to state something in opposition to his mali- 
 cious attacks. But I should wish now to have it intro- 
 duced before long. 
 
 “ I shall be very glad to have some account of you, 
 however short, from yourself ; the truth being in general 
 better than rumours or conjectures, as I hope it will prove 
 in this instance. I have seen nothing of the Isteds for a 
 considerable time, George excepted, and him not very 
 lately. Mr. Isted is, with many thousands more, defend- 
 ing his country against an attack which some of the wisest 
 seamen still tell us cannot, in the nature of things, be 
 * See British Critic for Nov. 1803, p. 483. 
 
PERCY AND NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 605 
 
 made. God, I trust, will restore peace and tranquillity 
 in good time, and, if we deserve it, prosperity. Mrs. Nares 
 unites in best respects to Mrs. Percy and yourself ; and 
 I remain your Lordship’s obedient and much obliged 
 servant, Robert Nares.” 
 
 “ My Lord, _ Lichfield, August 16, 1804. 
 
 “ In the last letter with which you favoured me, dated 
 Feb. 16, 1804, you gave me hopes that you would soon 
 gratify me with some communication respecting the un- 
 fortunate Ritson ; and, though I have but too much reason 
 to believe that the increasing malady in your eyes has 
 unavoidably delayed the execution of your promise, I 
 cannot prevail upon myself to commit an account of his 
 ‘ Romances ’ to the press, without informing you that I 
 am about to do so. As the book bears the date of 1 802, 
 I cannot well delay the mention of it any longer, nor could 
 have postponed it to this time, had not the singular ca- 
 tastrophe which concluded the authors strange career 
 afforded a kind of excuse for it. If there is anything that 
 you particularly wish to have said, and you cannot con- 
 veniently write, perhaps you will have the goodness to 
 dictate to some other person what you desire to have 
 inserted. If such a communication should soon be trans- 
 mitted to me here, it would be in very good time for 
 insertion. 
 
 “ I regretted that your communications respecting Lady 
 Mary W. Montagu and Gueen Caroline came too late to 
 be of use. They were addressed to me in February 1804, 
 and the account of her works had been printed in the 
 ‘British Critic 5 before the close of 1808.* I shall, how- 
 ever, carefully preserve your letter, and take some other 
 opportunity of vindicating Lady Hertford from the impu- 
 tation thrown upon her by Lady Mary’s editor. 
 
 (C I shall continue at this place, as usual, till towards the 
 end of September, and it would be a great gratification to 
 me, not only to receive your promised communication, 
 but much more to hear of that amendment in your health 
 which must be wished by every friend to good literature, 
 and by none more truly, or with more reason, than by 
 your Lordship’s much obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ Robert Nares. 
 
 u P.S. Mrs. Nares is with me, and desires to be pro- 
 * See British Critic for Dec. 1803, p. 643. 
 
606 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 perly remembered to your Lordship, Mrs, Percy, and 
 your family, particularly to Mrs. Isted, if she should be 
 still with you.” 
 
 Bishop Percy to Mr. Archdeacon Nares. 
 
 u Dear Sir, Dromore House, Dec. 28, 1804. 
 
 “ I should long since have acknowledged your last 
 favour, wherein you were so good as to offer to insert in 
 the ‘ British Critic ’ for October any corrections or addi- 
 tions to your account of Ritson’s book in that of Sep- 
 tember, but that number I received too late to avail 
 myself of your obliging offer. I therefore thought that 
 perhaps it might be as well if I submitted a few remarks, 
 if you approved of them, to be subjoined in a note to 
 your mention of Ritson’s book in your general preface or 
 introduction to the present twenty-fourth volume ; and, as 
 that, if I mistake not, is usually delivered along with the 
 ‘British Critic’ for January, I hope these will not come 
 too late, which a great influx of business, in the present 
 declining state of my sight, has prevented me from attend- 
 ing to sooner. 
 
 “ I find by Ritson’s malignity in suppressing any refer- 
 ence to my ‘ Essay on the Ancient Metrical Romances,’ 
 that you have supposed his quotation was taken from Mr. 
 Ellis ; but I do not think this of so much consequence as 
 his wicked attempts to wound my moral feelings. On 
 this subject, what if you were to subjoin the following 
 note ? 
 
 “ ‘ Mr. Ritson has disgraced his pages by the most 
 illiberal abuse of the Editor of the “ Reliques,” &c. and 
 by vile insinuations against his veracity ; yet these, I 
 think, every reader of discernment will find self-confuted. 
 For when he says, in his note p. 107, that Mr. Steevens 
 had assured him that the Bishop of Dromore’s nephew 
 had never seen one word of the Advertisement prefixed to 
 the last edition, to which his name is subscribed, he 
 must suppose the subscriber not to have the curiosity 
 of the most common or illiterate reader. This falsehood, 
 therefore, confutes itself. 
 
 “ ‘ So again, in page 142, he would excite suspicion from 
 Mr. Tyrwhitt’s not having seen the old MS. although 
 that is fully accounted for in the Advertisement above 
 mentioned. And he further adds, “ nor would the late 
 
PERCY AND NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 607 
 
 excellent Geo. Steevens, on the Bishop’s personal appli- 
 cation, consent to sanction the authenticity of the printed 
 copy,” scil. of the Reliques, “ with his signature.” Now 
 the reader may be assured that while the last edition 
 was preparing, the old MS. in question was left for near 
 a year with Mr. Nichols the printer; and all the original 
 Editor’s friends and acquaintance invited to inspect it. 
 Among these, Mr. Steevens, calling one morning, spent 
 an hour or two in examining the MS. and minutely col- 
 lated one of those pieces extracted from it, which are 
 declared to be printed verbatim from the original. With 
 the exactness of this he professed himself so well satisfied, 
 that he allowed his name to be appealed to, among those 
 of the other gentlemen mentioned in the Advertisement. 
 Now, from this short inspection it was impossible that he 
 could be desired to “ sanction” “ with his signature” the 
 printed copy of the work in general, as this base and mali- 
 cious detractor would insinuate. 
 
 “ 4 It is sufficient to mention these two instances to 
 put the reader on his guard against the other false insi- 
 nuations and defamatory assertions scattered through 
 every part of the work above mentioned, which, as Ritson 
 derived all he knew on the subject originally from the 
 Bishop, and had never received the least provocation, can 
 only be accounted for from his avowed hatred of all Priests 
 and Priestcraft, (for so he styled religion and its ministers), 
 which he carried to such a horrible excess, that he was 
 engaged in a work to prove our Blessed Saviour an im- 
 postor, when a dreadful paroxysm of frenzy put an end to 
 his existence/ 
 
 “You will probably think the above sufficient for your 
 present purpose ; although, indeed, Ritson’s whole intro- 
 duction, and many of his notes, are filled with petty 
 cavils, and contradictions without proof, of every thing I 
 had advanced in my several essays, which, perhaps, your 
 readers may be desired to examine before they assent to 
 his opinions.* But whatever use you make of the above, 
 believe me to be, with our best wishes and compliments 
 of the season to you and Mrs. Nares, 
 
 “ Dear Sir, 
 
 “ Your very obedient humble servant, 
 
 “ Tho, Dromore. 
 
 * Mr. Nares adopted the Bishop’s suggestion, and printed these parti- 
 culars almost verbatim in the British Critic for Jan. 1805, pp. 98, 99. 
 
608 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 of Mr. Archdeacon Nares to various Friends. 
 
 The following letter, it is believed, is by Mr. Archdea- 
 con Nares : at all events, it is reprinted as an interesting 
 memorial of the early talents of the celebrated Dr. Crotch. 
 
 To the Gentleman^ Magazine. 
 e: Mr. URBAN, Cambridge, June 13, 1789. 
 
 u As Dr. Burney, in his last volume of e The History of 
 Music/ has professed to give some account of the present 
 state of that science, and has bestowed many pages on 
 composers and performers now living, why has he omitted 
 to mention one, whose uncommon talents justly entitle 
 him to a very distinguished place in such a work? I al- 
 lude to William Crotch. It appears the more unaccount- 
 able, because Dr. Burney is a patron and friend of Crotch,* 
 was the first who brought his superior genius forth to 
 public notice, and, in the Philosophical Transactions, has 
 given a long detail of his infant powers.f But the Histo- 
 rian of music ought to have recorded the process of those 
 early powers ; he should have informed the world, that 
 he who, at five years old, was capable of all described by 
 him, is now, at fourteen, a still greater prodigy of genius ; 
 that he is the composer of a sacred oratorio, the perform- 
 ance of which has lately excited the astonishment of some 
 of the ablest judges, J who acknowledge that, in the con- 
 trivance of his harmonies, he has shown himself a com- 
 plete master of the science, and has equalled the greatest 
 composers in solemn and sublime effect ; that as a per- 
 former on the organ, and a conductor, there are few, if 
 any, who excel him, or who seem so thoroughly acquainted 
 with the genius of that instrument. This, which is but a 
 scanty account of what the reader had a right to expect 
 in a f History of Music,’ brought down to the year 17§9, 
 may perhaps serve to induce Dr. Burney to make some 
 enquiry on a subject, which he will find much more worth 
 his attention than when he formerly examined it ; and, if 
 he considers the omission as a defect in his work, to take 
 some means of doing justice to neglected genius. 
 
 « Yours, &c. R. N.” 
 
 * This eminent musician was bom at Norwich, July 5, 1775. An account 
 of his early genius was also given by Mr. Daines Barrington, in bis “ Mis- 
 cellanies.” In 1797 he succeeded Dr. Hayes as Professor of Music in the 
 University of Oxford, and still occupies that situation (1847). 
 
 f Copied into the Gent. Mag. 1779, p. 589. 
 
 j “ It was performed in Trinity Hall, Cambridge, on the King’s birthday.” 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 609 
 
 “ P.S. The above observations would have been less 
 necessary, had Dr. Burney’s History been less excellent ; 
 but such an omission becomes real injustice in a work 
 which remote posterity will consult for information.” 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. Parr. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, James-street, Westminster, April 10, 1794. 
 
 “ I am much concerned at the omissions you com- 
 plain of, which were occasioned doubtless by the extreme 
 hurry in which we always are unavoidably during the last 
 ten days of a month ; for our intention most clearly is, 
 to insert whatever you wish to have inserted. On look- 
 ing back I find nothing about Wakefield’s accents, except 
 at p. 138 of our February Review, the general assertion 
 that he omits them, but so worded as by no means to 
 make it necessary to specify, that he in one instance em- 
 ploys them ; were not that one instance the very case of 
 the observations on Horace. Whatever amends we can 
 make by subsequent remark or correction shall readily be 
 done. Care shall certainly be taken to insert the note 
 upon Mr. Gaches’s observation on Jerome ; and the 
 second proof shall undoubtedly be sent in every instance 
 wherein we shall be favoured with your remarks. 
 
 “ Bryant will doubtless be highly pleased by the notice 
 taken of his anonymous tract on Justin Martyr. 
 
 “We now begin to look forward to your remarks on 
 Wakefield, which shall have a place as early as possible, 
 and as distinguished, whenever it may suit you to furnish 
 us with them. The credit of the Church for learning 
 cannot be in better hands than in yours ; and the credit 
 of the British Critic, in that respect, has already risen very 
 high under your auspices. As to dogmas, my inclination, 
 as well as our original declarations as Reviewers, keeps 
 me strictly to the line of orthodoxy ; wherein, if you 
 will not always fight with us, you will not, I am persuaded, 
 fight against us. 
 
 “ I rejoice, as well as Beloe, that you begin to think of 
 putting some of your Sermons together ; and we also 
 rejoice that you so kindly accept our little tribute of the 
 Variorum Edition. 
 
 “ I am, dear Sir, most truly yours, with much respect, 
 
 “ R. Nares.”* 
 
 2 R 
 
 VOL. YU. 
 
 * Parr’s Works, viii. 405. 
 
610 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 To John Nichols, Esq. 
 
 “ My DEAR Sir, Brit. Mus. June 14, 1805. 
 
 ££ Pray let the inclosed appear in your next blue cover,* 
 where it may be seen, and I will be accountable. I am 
 vexed when I recollect that it has been so long omitted. 
 I have carefully preserved the sheet of Shaw’s Stafford- 
 shire which you lent, but cannot at this moment lay my 
 hand on it. Yours truly, 
 
 ££ R. Nares. 
 
 ££ Accept my congratulations on your son’s marriage.” 
 
 To Rev. Richard Polwhele. 
 
 u Rev. AND DEAR Sir, Reading, Jan. 26, 1810. 
 
 ££ Your account of our good friend Whitaker’s St. Neot, 
 stands at the very head of the month and volume, a con- 
 spicuous situation, worthy of the subject and of the writer; 
 for I cannot sufficiently express how much I am pleased 
 by the memoirs of our friend with which you have closed 
 the article. They are just, religious, and impressive. I 
 could not bring myself to print his letter on Calvinistic 
 Decrees ; it is strong like himself, but (as you say), 
 bordering in one passage upon blasphemy ; and even if 
 that were left out, the kind of argument (if it can be called 
 one) is what the Socinians may with equal force employ. 
 In short, it goes to deny that God can reveal any thing 
 which contradicts what we please to assume as his prior 
 intimations ; an assumption very dangerous and contra- 
 dictory to much undoubted truth. I will, however, with 
 your leave, keep the letter and consider it further. I also 
 shortened the article, which was full long, by omitting the 
 letters quoted from Stockdale’s Preface, and only men- 
 tioning the substance of them. 
 
 (i You will have seen that the critique on Warner is 
 printed. That on Drew is only withheld on account of 
 other things, which seemed more immediately to press. 
 Mr. Warner, I well know, is not unworthy of a little cas- 
 tigation ; and he £ heartily loveth not us.’ 
 
 “ I am going on Monday 29th to set out for Lichfield, 
 for two months of residence ; but any thing will equally 
 be forwarded to me through my friends the Rivingtons. 
 I remain, Sir, your very obedient servant, 
 
 “ R. Nares.” 
 
 * Advertisement of Warburtonian Lectures ; by Archdeacon Nares. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 611 
 
 “ HAPPINESS. 
 
 A Fable. 
 
 By the Rev. Archdeacon Nares. 
 
 “ One day a bright and blooming Maid., 
 
 In all celestial charms array’d. 
 
 With perfect form, enchanting smile, 
 
 Call’d at a poor Man’s house awhile. 
 
 The house that hour, to his surprise. 
 Became a palace in his eyes. 
 
 He woo’d her much to be his own ; 
 
 She smil’d, but was not to be won : 
 
 ( For I have many friends to view 
 Each day,’ she said, 4 as well as you.’ 
 
 Yet, so indulgent was her care. 
 
 She seem’d to be for ever there : 
 
 She call’d at morn, she call’d at night, 
 
 And all immediately went right, 
 
 No pain, no sorrow durst invade 
 The house where she her visit paid ; 
 
 ’Twas rapture all ; the rising sun 
 Smil’d in the course of joy begun : 
 
 The conscious stars, with light serene. 
 Beheld the same continued scene. 
 
 Some months of the sweet dream had past, 
 The poor man saw his friend at last. 
 
 With wings he never spied before, 
 Approach, but enter not his door ; 
 
 She spread her wings, prepar’d to fly, — 
 My friend,’ she cried, and seem’d to sigh, 
 e Adieu ! I grieve to check your mirth. 
 
 But we must meet no more on earth.’ 
 
 Bent to the heavenly vision low. 
 
 In vain he wept and told his woe : 
 c A Power,’ she said, f I must obey, 
 Commands my flight, forbids my stay ; 
 
 But lest, with unavailing pain, 
 
 You toil to find me out again, 
 
 What yet you have not heard, I tell 
 Both who I am and where I dwell.’ 
 
 4 Ah ! ’ cried the Swain, f too well I guess ; 
 Your name, bright Maid, is Happiness ! ’ 
 She smil’d assent. 4 Then know my plan : 
 I make no fix’d abode with man ; 
 
 2 R 2 
 
 
612 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OP LITERATURE. 
 
 Invited and ador’d by all, 
 
 On some like you I briefly call. 
 
 But, if you would not have me roam, 
 ’Tis you must seek my native home — 
 To mortals lent, but never given, 
 
 I visit here — I dwell in Heaven.’ ”* 
 Nov. 1810. 
 
 To the Gentleman’s Magazine. 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, July 3, 1811 . 
 
 “ The inventors of valuable improvements are generally 
 thought worthy of celebration, and their names are some- 
 times sought with eagerness, for the sake of doing justice 
 to their merits. To such distinction few inventors seem 
 more amply entitled than the person to whom we owe 
 the Steam Engine; a contrivance which, assisted by 
 modern improvements, is now performing what a century 
 ago would have seemed miraculous or impossible. Yet it 
 appears that he has been hitherto entirely unknown to the 
 world at large. In 1699, a Captain Savery obtained a patent 
 for this invention ; and he has consequently occupied all 
 the honour of the discovery. But in that noble assem- 
 blage of MSS. the Harleian Collection, now in the British 
 Museum, the strongest testimony appears that the real 
 inventor was Samuel Morland, who was Master of the 
 Works to Charles II. and who, I fancy, was knighted; for 
 in the MS. he is called Sir Samuel, and e Le Chevalier.’ 
 That the first hint of the kind was thrown out by the 
 Marquis of Worcester, in his ‘ Century of Inventions,’ is 
 allowed ; but obscurely, like the rest of his hints. But 
 Morland wrote a book upon the subject; in which he not 
 only showed the practicability of the plan, but went so 
 far as to calculate the power of different cylinders. This 
 book is now extant in manuscript, in the above collection. 
 It was presented to the French King in 1683, at which 
 time experiments were actually shown at St. Germains. 
 The author dates his invention in 1682 ; consequently 
 seventeen years prior to Savery’s patent. As Morland 
 held places under Charles II. we must naturally conclude 
 that he would not have gone over to France to offer his 
 invention to Louis XIV. had he not found it slighted at 
 home. It seems to have remained obscure in both coun- 
 tries, till 1699, when Savery, who probably knew more of 
 * Gent. Mag. 1810, ii. p. 461. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 613 
 
 Morland’s invention than he owned, obtained a patent ; 
 and in the very same year, M. Amontons proposed some- 
 thing similar to the French Academy, I believe as his own. 
 
 “ The description of the manuscript, in which Morland 
 explains his invention, will be found in the improved 
 Harleian Catalogue, vol. III. No. 577 L and it is also 
 pointed out in the Preface to that volume, sect. xxii. ; but 
 hitherto seems to have been as little noticed as Morland 
 himself. But if he was the real inventor, as these cir- 
 cumstances seem to render almost certain, it is highly 
 proper that his name should in future be recorded, with 
 all the honour which an invention of such utility demands. 
 
 “ I shall just add, respecting the same Catalogue, that 
 the Biblical Collections in No. 7522, were made by Patri- 
 cius Junius, that is, Patrick Young, who, as King’s Li- 
 brarian, had the care of the Alexandrian MS. and had 
 thoughts of publishing it. This is nearly proved by 
 Woide, in his preface to his edition of the N. T. sect. 16, 
 but was not recollected when that article was written. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. R. N[ares.]” 
 
 To John Nichols, Esq. 
 
 iC My DEAR SlR, Lichfield, Sept. 1811. 
 
 i( If it should suit your purpose to reprint this * in 
 the Gentlemans Magazine, it will probably be of some 
 use to us, and to the cause of regular Reviews in general. 
 
 “ If you like to print the inclosed parody it is at your 
 service, but print it without a name. 
 
 “ From yours faithfully, R. Nares.” 
 
 “ Parody on a Song in ‘ The Camp.’ 
 
 “ Enlisting a Critic for the Edinburgh Review. 
 
 “ Jef. You little Reviewer, come list with me ; 
 
 But first, prithee, answer me questions three. 
 
 R. I long, master J y , t to list with you, 
 
 For I’m hungry, and wish to have something to do. 
 J. First, can you rail well ? 
 
 R. Neatly, neatly. 
 
 J. Flourish in sentiments ? 
 
 R. Sweetly, sweetly. 
 
 * An Address on Reviews, from the Preface to British Critic, printed in 
 Gent. Mag. LXXXI. ii. 313. 
 
 1* Jeffrey. 
 
614 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 J. Cut up an Author well ? 
 
 R. O, completely. 
 
 J. The answers are honest, bold, and free, 
 
 Go on, and in time you a S — d — y * will be. 
 
 J. When Authors are angry, and dare you to fight, 
 Will you go to the field, tho’ you feel in a fright ? 
 
 R. I can go. Sir, like you, tho’ I ’d much rather not ; 
 And wou’d dine with three lords ere I’d fight with 
 one Scott. 
 
 J. Next, can you lie well ? 
 
 R. Roundly, Roundly. 
 
 J. Scout Universities ? 
 
 R. Soundly, soundly. 
 
 J. Prate when you *re ignorant ? 
 
 R. O, profoundly. 
 
 J. The answers are honest, bold, and fair, 
 
 Come dip in this gall, and a Critick you are.” 
 
 To Rev. Richard Polwhele. 
 
 ec DEAR Sir, Reading, March 13, 1812. 
 
 C£ It was my wish that what I said to our friend H. 
 Bailye should produce me the favour of a letter from you, 
 as I thought it long since I had heard, and feared that 
 continued illness might be the cause. 
 
 “ I am inclined to retire from the conduct of the British 
 Critic, for no other reason but because I have been busy 
 at it for nineteen years, and really begin to be tired of the 
 fatigue and responsibility of it. I cannot, however, afford 
 to give away a property of so much value, and am there- 
 fore in treaty with some gentlemen who wish to embark 
 in such a concern, to dispose of my share to them. They 
 are staunch and sound friends to the Church, as well as 
 able men ; otherwise I would not treat with them at all. 
 
 “ Should this negotiation come to a favourable con- 
 clusion, or should any kind of arrangement be made, you 
 shall have early notice of it ; and I shall be happy to 
 recommend you as an able coadjutor to any persons who 
 may take up the task of managing the concern. 
 
 “ The novel of ‘ Thinks I to Myself,” is very erro- 
 neously attributed to me : there is much more proba- 
 bility of its being rightly ascribed to my very excellent 
 kinsman and friend, the Rev. Edward Nares,f of Bidden- 
 
 * Sydney Smith. 
 
 f See hereafter, p. 630. 
 
N A TIES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 615 
 
 den in Kent, though I am not authorised to say it is 
 actually his. I quite think with you respecting the merits 
 of it ; and am very glad to learn that it has, in any in- 
 stance, had so happy an effect. My cousin has published 
 Bampton Lectures (truly excellent), a valuable tract 
 entitled eh 0 eos els M ecrirrjs, and remarks on the Unitarian 
 Version of the New Testament, all of singular merit and 
 utility. The novel, therefore, if his, is a great deviation 
 from his usual style. He was formerly of Merton, and 
 married Lady Charlotte Spencer, a daughter of the Duke 
 of Marlborough. 
 
 “ I shall be glad to set you to work again, and will let 
 you hear from me when any thing more shall be decided. 
 I remain, dear Sir, with regard and respect, yours, 
 
 “ R. Nares.” 
 
 To John Nichols, Esq. 
 
 “ My DEAR Sir, Reading, Nov. 16, 1812. 
 
 ie The inclosed is the preface which I have put to a 
 posthumous volume of Lectures by my friend Dr. Purdy. 
 The book is not yet published, except to the subscribers, 
 and, as it is doubtful whether there will be copies enough 
 for them, perhaps it will not be. But, if you like to print 
 the preface as part of your biographical matter in the 
 Magazine, it will be best to leave out and to alter the 
 parts which I have marked. I dare say I can let you 
 have a book if you wish it. I hope this will find you well. 
 
 “ Yours very truly, &c. 
 
 “ R. Nares.” 
 
 Memoir of Rev. Dr. Purdy, by Rev. Archdeacon Nares. 
 
 “ Dr. Purdy, though gifted with good natural talents, 
 assisted by a competent share of such learning as his 
 profession required, did not, Till late in life, appear as an 
 author. It is to be regretted that he did not ; for, though 
 the profits of authorship are very seldom sufficient to 
 produce affluence, yet the frequent recurrence even of 
 small emoluments, obtained by literary exertions, might 
 have prevented or moderated those embarrassments which 
 arose from an income disproportioned to the expenses of 
 a family ; and which, though borne with fortitude, could 
 not but be deeply felt. When, at the suggestion of the 
 writer of this account, he undertook the office of a trans- 
 
616 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 lator, and gave to the English public the notes of the 
 learned Seigneux de Correvon of Lausanne, on the justly 
 popular Essay of their favourite Addison, with a new 
 edition of the Essay £ On the Evidences of the Christian 
 Religion/ * he acquitted himself with credit, and produced 
 a book which must always deserve an honourable place in 
 the collections of British divines. From the period of 
 this publication. Dr. Purdy continued to derive some as- 
 sistance from his labours for the press. His aid was 
 gladly sought in such literary tasks as required attention 
 and accuracy ; and he was happy to be so employed, being 
 thus enabled, by personal exertion, to add something to 
 the comforts of his family. This prospect, pleasing in 
 itself, would probably have continued brightening, had not 
 some unforeseen failure of his constitution produced the 
 melancholy event which will be related in its proper place, 
 and occasioned the necessity of the measure now at length 
 completed.f In the life of Dr. Purdy, there is not much 
 for biography to record ; but, as this short account will 
 probably be the only monument raised to his memory, 
 except the work which it accompanies, and his former 
 publication, it seems a duty here to collect the few parti- 
 culars which such a memorial may be expected to contain. 
 
 Dr. Richard Purdy was born at Greenwich, Feb. 27, 
 1753, and received the earlier part of his education at Mr. 
 Brackets school in that place, where he had the advan- 
 tage of being for some time the private and favoured pupil 
 of the afterwards eminent Paley. His destination for the 
 church was the result of his own earnest wish ; and, in 
 pursuance of that design, he was sent to Queers College, 
 Oxford, in 1768. At the University, if not deeply stu- 
 dious, he was by no means an idler, and proceeded in his 
 exercises without difficulty. His degrees appear to have 
 been conferred nearly at the regular times : when he took 
 his degree of A.B. does not appear, but he proceeded 
 M.A. Nov. 14, 1781; B.D. Dec. 7 , 1782 ; D.D. July 10, 
 1S00. His master’s degree was probably delayed by ab- 
 sence, as he was admitted into orders at the canonical age, 
 soon after which he quitted the society of his college for 
 
 * “ Published in 1807, with this title, ‘ The Evidences of the Christian 
 Religion, by the Right Honourable Joseph Addison. With the Notes of the 
 learned Gabriel Seigneux de Correvon, Counsellor of Lausanne, &c. now 
 first translated into English, by the Rev. Richard Purdy, D.D. of Queen’s 
 College, Oxford, Vicar of Cricklade, Wilts,’ &c.’’ 
 
 f “ His ‘ Lectures on the Catechism, Liturgy,’ Sic.” 
 
MR. NARES’ MEMOIRS OF DR. PURDY. 617 
 
 the curacy of Wadhurst in Sussex. Whatever might be 
 the success of his studies at the University, his friend- 
 ships were still more memorable. They were numerous, 
 sincere, and lasting. They were even more lasting than 
 his life ; since they continued to produce an active exer- 
 tion for his family, when he was taken from them. 
 
 “ A short account of these friends would be honourable 
 to him and to them ; but, as the greater part still survive, 
 it cannot in delicacy be undertaken. One of them, how- 
 ever, and one of the most active and affectionate, among 
 many who are excellent, is now no more, and is too re- 
 markable to be passed by in silence. This friend was the 
 Rev. Thomas Butler, afterwards rector of Ockford 
 Fitz-paine, near Blandford, Dorset, at which place he re- 
 sided till his death.* 
 
 “ The curacy of Wadhurst, which Mr. Purdy first ob- 
 tained, he soon after exchanged for that of Gillingham in 
 Dorsetshire, for the sake of being near his friend Butler, 
 and at his express desire. But in process of time, and 
 from the kindness of Mr. Hume, now dean of Derry, 
 under whom this curacy had been held, he obtained a 
 more independent preferment, the living of Broad Hin- 
 ton, in Wiltshire. This living he afterwards exchanged 
 with Mr. Hume, canon of Salisbury, for the vicarage of 
 St. Sampson in Cricklade, under the patronage of the 
 dean and chapter of Salisbury. He had also the rectory 
 of Ashley in Wilts, through the interest of Mr. Estcourt, 
 M.P. for Cricklade ; and was chaplain to the late earl of 
 Strafford. 
 
 “ In the year 1788 Dr. Purdy married Jane, daughter 
 of Matthew Spencer, Esq. of Horsington, in the county of 
 Somerset, and of Elizabeth, daughter of the late John 
 Freke, Esq. of Hinton, Dorset; a family of high antiquity 
 and consideration in that county. This match, dictated 
 on both sides by strong attachment, rather than by 
 worldly prudence, was productive, as such marriages 
 usually are, of mixed effects : of the highest happiness, if 
 the mutual affection of the parties, to the very end of his 
 life, be alone considered ; of suffering, merely when mis- 
 fortunes intervened ; under which, if grief be sometimes 
 
 * See Memoirs of Mr. Butler, with Mr. Nares’s character of him, in Lite- 
 rary Anecdotes, VIII. 185 — 7 ; and fof Mr. Hudleston, another friend of 
 Mr. Purdy, in the same volume, p. 186, note. 
 
618 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 alleviated by sympathy, it is also very frequently aug- 
 mented, in a thousand ways, by mutual solicitude. 
 
 “ The offspring of this marriage was only one son, now 
 a lieutenant in the Royal Marines. 
 
 u When Dr. Purdy turned his mind to literary employ- 
 ment, he produced the work on Addison, which has 
 already been mentioned with due commendation. A new 
 resource seemed now to be opened to him. Having first 
 composed the very useful index to that work, it was sug- 
 gested to him that constant employment might be had in 
 that way, from publishers who were always in want of 
 such assistance. He tried his hand successfully, in aid 
 of a particular friend ; and, being very willing to proceed 
 in the same line, was engaged, under the Commissioners 
 of Public Records, to compile the very elaborate index 
 which was projected for the new edition of the Catalogue 
 of the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum.* But a 
 melancholy and unexpected interruption of his labours 
 was now impending. In the beginning of the year 1808, 
 he was suddenly seized by a stroke of paralysis, which de- 
 prived him of the use of one side ; and from that time he 
 languished, with some but no effectual progress towards 
 recovery, till the middle of October in the same year (see 
 Gent. Mag. vol. LXXVIII. p. 1041) ; when the solemn 
 change took place which put a final period to the joys, 
 the sorrows, the labours, and the trials of this world. 
 
 “ To expatiate on the character of Dr. Purdy, would 
 be to delineate all that is amiable in the nearest con- 
 nexions of life. Of his talents, some, though inadequate 
 memorials, are now before the public ; and his attention 
 to the instructions of his parish is proved, in part, by the 
 volume of his Lectures. Other testimonies might be 
 added to his various merits, but all that could be said 
 would hardly satisfy his friends, while it may be doubted 
 whether it would proportion ably interest the public. It 
 is necessary therefore to desist/’ 
 
 To Rev. Richard Polwhele. 
 
 ie DEAR Sir, Reading, Nov. 10, 1813. 
 
 “ When an author takes up a subject which has been 
 treated much at large by several others, the public 
 naturally expects, in a review, some account of the reasons 
 
 * Since executed by the Rev. Thomas Hartwell Horne. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 619 
 
 which that author assigns for going over the same grounds 
 again, and some comparative consideration whether he 
 has equalled, surpassed, or fallen short of his predeces- 
 sors. This is exactly the situation in which Galt’s Life 
 of Wolsey stands ; the Cardinal’s life having been written 
 in folio by Dr. Fiddes, in four volumes octavo by Mr. 
 Grove, in a smaller compass by his own gentleman-usher 
 Cavendish, which life is reprinted by Wordsworth in his 
 Ecclesiastical Biography, besides several others on dif- 
 ferent scales. 
 
 “ As I have not Galt’s book, I do not know what 
 reason he himself gives for the undertaking, still less can 
 I compare his work with those that have preceded it ; yet, 
 without some intimation of the kind, it seems very un- 
 creditable to send it into the w r orld. If you can supply 
 any matter of this kind, I will prefix it to what you have 
 sent. I have already mentioned you to my successors, 
 and will do so again ; but perhaps the most effectual way 
 of recommending you will be, the leaving of what you 
 have written on Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Life, for their use ; 
 the other I will insert as soon as you have supplied the 
 alleged deficiency. I remain, dear Sir, very faithfully 
 yours, &c. R. Nares.” 
 
 To John Nichols, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Reading, Dec. 30, 1813. 
 
 “ The very curious paper herewith inclosed is written 
 by a very able man, a friend of mine ; and is not only 
 curious, but also very important, as to the draught of car- 
 riages.* 
 
 “ I hope you will be able to give it an early place in 
 the Gentleman’s Magazine, with a proper diagram cut in 
 wood, or otherwise as you think best. I am sure it will 
 interest many of your readers ; particularly those who 
 have any taste for mechanics. 
 
 “ Many happy new years, to you and yours, wishes 
 your sincere friend and servant, R. Nares.” 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, Feb. l, 1814. 
 
 “As Mr. Feinagle, and his Art of Memory, have made 
 some stir both in France and England, it may perhaps be 
 curious to some of your readers to be informed, that the 
 general principles of the method pursued by that teacher 
 
 * See a paper by the Rev. W. Milton in Gent. Mag. Jan. 1814, p. 38. 
 
620 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 are as old as the time of Cicero. In the Rhetorics, ad- 
 dressed to Herennius, and always printed with the works 
 of Cicero, and according to the best conjecture written by 
 Antonins Gnipho , a rhetorician whose lectures Cicero him- 
 self attended, we find an account of a system of mnemonics 
 in substance the same as that of Mr. Feinagle. I quote 
 his words, and then subjoin a translation. 
 
 “ 4 Nunc de artificiosa memoria loquemur. Constat igitur 
 artificiosa memoria et locis et imaginibus. Locos appella- 
 mus eos qui breviter, perfecte, insignite, aut natura, aut 
 manu sunt absoluti, ut eos facile naturali memoria com- 
 prehendere et amplecti queamus, ut eedes, intercol umniu m, 
 angulum, fornicem, et alia quse his similia sunt. Imagines 
 sunt formse queedam, et notee, et simulacra ejus rei, quam 
 meminisse volumus : quod genus — equi, leones, aquilse ; 
 quorum memoriam si volemus habere, imagines eorum 
 certis in locis collocare nos opportebit.’ B. III. c. 16‘. 
 
 “ This introductory passage may thus be rendered : 
 
 cu We will now speak of artificial memory. It consists 
 entirely of places and images. We call those places which, 
 either by nature or art, are briefly, perfectly, and strik- 
 ingly determined, so that we can easily understand and 
 connect them ; as a house, a space between columns, an 
 angle, an arch, and other things similar to these. Images 
 are certain forms, notes, and images of that thing which 
 we wish to remember, as horses, lions, eagles, which, if we 
 wish to retain in memory, we must place their images or 
 signs in certain places/ 
 
 “This is exactly the system of M. Von Feinagle, who 
 divides a room into certain imaginary spaces, and fills it 
 with objects calculated to recall to mind the things which 
 he wishes to remember. 
 
 “ The Latin author proceeds to compare the places to 
 paper, or other matter on which we write ; the images to 
 the letters ; the disposition and placing of the images to 
 the writing ; the pronunciation (by which I suppose he 
 means the mode of reciting the symbols by name) to read- 
 ing. We must therefore, he says, have many places, for 
 arranging many images : and these places must be ar- 
 ranged in order, that we may not be impeded by any 
 change in the arrangement, but may be able to point out 
 the images required, whether we begin from the top, the 
 bottom, or the middle. This he illustrates by a very apt 
 comparison : 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 621 
 
 u ‘Nam ut si in ordine stantes notos complures videri- 
 mus, nihil nostra intersit utrum a summo, an ab imo, an a 
 medio nomina eorum dicere incipiamus ; item in locis ex 
 ordine collocatis eveniet, ut in quamlibet partem, quoto- 
 quoque loco libebit, imaginibus commoniti dicere possimus 
 id quod locis mandaverimus/ 
 
 “‘For as, if we see a number of persons whom we 
 know standing in order together, it makes no difference to 
 us whether we begin to tell their names from the first, the 
 last, or the middle ; so, haying arranged our places, we 
 can, by the suggestion of the images, tell, in any order we 
 please, the things which we have assigned to the places/ 
 
 , “ He proceeds : 
 
 “‘Gluare placet et ex ordine locos comparare, et locos 
 quos sumserimus egregie commeditari oportebit, ut per- 
 petuo nobis hserere possint/ 
 
 “ f Wherefore we must provide places arranged in order, 
 and diligently reflect upon the places which we have pro- 
 vided, that they may be fixed indelibly in our minds.’ 
 
 “ It is plain from this specimen that the systems are 
 fundamentally the same. But perhaps, if you approve of 
 this specimen, I may be able to send you some other time 
 a further proof that here also, as in many other cases, 
 there is nothing new under the sun. “ Mnemonicus.” 
 
 “ Hear Sir, Reading, March 17, 1814. 
 
 “ I re-commit to your hands the very learned and im- 
 portant conclusion of the critique on Baily on Annuities,* 
 which the author consents to present to you. I have 
 written a short head to introduce it in your pages, and 
 you may be assured, I think, that it is a paper of no mean 
 consequence. The errors of the authors criticised are 
 such, that if the public take for granted that he is right, 
 they must suppose themselves cheated by the Annuity 
 Offices; and, on the other hand, if the offices were to pro- 
 ceed on his principles, they must all in a short time be 
 ruined. 
 
 tc As it is very important that it should be correctly 
 printed, if you can, send the proofs to the author, ‘ the 
 Rev. John Hellins, Potterspury, near Stony Stratford/ 
 They may, perhaps, be best sent by coach, and he will 
 pay the expense. 
 
 * Inserted in Gent. Mag. March 1814, p. 261. 
 
622 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ I thank you for giving so conspicuous a place to my 
 Mnemonical communication. 
 
 “ Yours, very faithfully, R. Nares.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Lichfield, May 23, 1814. 
 
 “ I send you now another article under the same cir- 
 cumstances as I sent that on Baily’s book upon Annui- 
 ties ; because the editors of the New Series of the British 
 Critic do not choose to insert any article that refers to the 
 former series. The author of the article. Bishop Gleig,* 
 has written a letter to introduce it. He desires me to 
 ask if you would like a review of Bishop Horsley’s 
 Charges, by him ; if so he will order it to be sent to you. 
 
 “ Yours truly, “ R. Nares.’ j 
 
 To the Gentleman’s Magazine.! 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, _ Sept. 15, 1814. 
 
 “ To the traveller of cultivated mind, who seeks for 
 objects of curiosity and attention in his native land, there 
 are no spots more attractive than those which are distin- 
 guished as the abodes of genius. Of departed genius, he 
 enjoys the recollection ; of living, the contemplation. 
 The abodes of the former, as Hagley, the Leasowes, &c. 
 have, in general, been abundantly described: of the latter, 
 many as yet want an historian ; and this I believe to be 
 the case with the enchanting residence of Bremhill. 
 
 “ Bremhill is the parsonage and the abode of a poet of 
 no small eminence ; of one whose correct taste has worked 
 only on the classical models, despising all modern tricks — 
 of William Lisle Bowles . It is a village situated on a 
 hill, about two miles north of Caine, in Wilts. The 
 church, a venerable gothic structure, with a tower, stands 
 just south-west of the village ; and the rectory, a stone 
 house of the same character, is exactly south of that, on a 
 small terrace, commanding a most beautiful view, with 
 the hill immediately sloping from it towards the south. 
 In this view the principal objects are the hills and downs 
 between Marlborough and Caine. In front, Oldborough 
 Hill, with the ancient camp and the modern White Horse, 
 
 * See Bishop Gleig’s letter in Gent. Mag. June 1814, p. 545 ; and his 
 Review of Dr. McCrie’s Life of John Knox, in the same Magazine, p. 569. 
 
 f Since this was published in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1814, an ac- 
 count of this delightful parsonage, by the amiable Poet himself, appeared in 
 his ‘ ‘ History of Bremhill ; ’ ’ but it cannot supersede the pleasing compli- 
 ment paid to Mr. Bowles by a congenial mind. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 623 
 
 executed by Mr. Alsop, now of Caine : somewhat nearer, 
 is the town of Caine, with its fine tower ; and to the right, 
 the majestic woods and hills of Bowood, the residence of 
 the Marquis of Lansdowne. A garden of about two acres 
 spreads itself immediately before the house, always a 
 beautiful spot, now embellished by the taste, and immor- 
 talized by the verses, of the owner. As it is not of suf- 
 ficient extent to fatigue either you, or me, or your Readers, 
 let me take you, Mr. Urban, by the hand, and conduct 
 you round the garden. Should you wish to exchange the 
 narrative for the reality, the Reverend Poet will, I doubt 
 not, be happy to conduct you in person. 
 
 “ Turning to the left from the house, you go through a 
 rustic arch, which leads to the eastern view. The objects 
 here are pleasing, but not distinct; and coming to a 
 handsome tree, you naturally turn to contemplate it. 
 Looking to the west from this tree, the whole extent of 
 Bowood immediately meets the eye. In allusion to which 
 you find the following elegant inscription affixed : 
 
 ‘ When in thy sight another’s vast domain 
 Spreads its long line of woods, dost thou complain ? 
 
 Nay, rather thank the God that plac’d thy state 
 Above the lowly, but beneath the great : 
 
 And still his name with gratitude revere 
 Who bless’ d the Sabbath of thy leisure here. 
 
 Deus nobis hsec otia fecit. W. L. B.’ 
 
 “ These lines evidently express the feelings of the Poet 
 himself, but may be applied by others according to their 
 circumstances. A few steps further, stands a small neat 
 obelisk of stone, with no other inscription Anno Pacis 
 1814. W. L. B. P. It might be wished that it were 
 something higher ; and, if the Peace continues, perhaps it 
 may grow. You now enter a plot of decorated garden, 
 not actually divided from the rest of the ground, but dis- 
 tinguished from it by mere interference of art — small 
 flower borders, trellis-work arbours, a fountain perpetu- 
 ally playing, and a small cold bath, encompassed by rock- 
 work. Here, over a rural seat, we read the following 
 lines : 
 
 ‘ Rest, Stranger, in this decorated scene, 
 
 That hangs its bed of flowers, its slopes of green : 
 
 So from the walks of life the weeds remove, 
 
 But fix thy better hopes on scenes above.’ 
 
 “ For the Cold-bath, where the little rill falls into it, 
 the following verses are destined : 
 
624 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 1 Mark where, above the small cascade. 
 
 Quiver th’ uncertain light and shade : 
 
 Such shadows human hopes supply, 
 
 That tremble restless, and then die. 
 
 Stranger, thoughtful tread the cave — 
 
 No light is fix’d, but that beyond the grave.’ 
 
 “ Proceeding directly up the slope from this place, you 
 meet with a root-house Hermitage, with a rude stone 
 table, a wooden chair, a small sun-dial on a fragment of a 
 twisted column, and a rustic-cross, which St. Bruno, the 
 Hermit, is supposed to have erected, and thus to have 
 inscribed : 
 
 ‘ He who counted all as loss, 
 
 Save Peace, and Silence, and the Cross. Bruno.’ 
 
 On the front of the Hermitage, and near the dial, are 
 these : 
 
 ‘ To mark life’s few and fleeting hours, 
 
 I plac’d the dial ’midst the flowers, 
 
 Which one by one came forth and died, 
 
 Still withering round its antient side : 
 
 Mortal, let the sight impart 
 
 Its pensive moral to thy heart ! Bruno.’ 
 
 “ You now pass through a completely embowered 
 filbert-walk to a large pond, into which, at the upper end, 
 falls a pleasing cascade. The pond is terminated by an- 
 other rural seat, in which these lines are written : 
 
 ‘ Quieti et Musis. 
 
 * Be thine Retirement’s peaceful joys, 
 
 And a life that makes no noise ; 
 
 Save when Fancy, musing long, 
 
 Wakes her desultory song ; 
 
 Sounding to the vacant ear 
 Like the rill that murmurs near.’ 
 
 On a gentle ascent, above the cascade, is a funereal 
 urn, embowered in shade, to the memory of the author’s 
 brother, Dr. Bowles, who fell a sacrifice, at Gibraltar, to 
 the duties of his profession. The pedestal is thus in- 
 scribed : 
 
 ‘ M. S. 
 
 Henrici Bowles, M.D. 
 
 Qui ad Calpen, 
 
 Febre ibi exitiali grassante. 
 
 Ut opem miseris prsestaret, 
 
 Publice missus, 
 
 Ipse rniserrime periit ; 
 
 Anno 1804, set. 39. 
 
 Fratri optimo moerens P. 
 
 W. L. B.’ 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 625 
 
 u From this place, by a winding and shady walk, you 
 are re- conducted to the house, and terminate this short 
 but classical tour by again enjoying the natural beauties 
 of the scene. 
 
 “ I should not, perhaps, introduce the verses of any 
 other writer with those of Mr. Bowles; but the fol- 
 lowing, being written in pencil, on the subject of the 
 place itself, may at least be read with indulgence : 
 
 ‘ To the Rev. W. L. B. 
 
 Here dwell delighted ! by these airs inspir’d, 
 
 Write what they breathe, secure to be admir’d ; 
 
 Raise here thy voice, exert thy tuneful skill, 
 
 And give to Britain one more famous Hill : 
 
 So, when the praise of her poetic race 
 Recording Verse or History shall trace, 
 
 Bremhill shall seem, what Pindus was so long, 
 
 Not theme alone, but sacred home of Song.’ 
 
 “ Who will not wish that the Poet will long enjoy the 
 place, and the place the Poet, so worthy of each other ? 
 
 « A. N.” 
 
 In May 1827 Mr. Nares continued this subject 
 by the following communication to the Gentle- 
 man’s Magazine : — 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, . May 9, 1827. 
 
 “ In Sept. 1814 I communicated a short account of 
 Bremhill in Wilts, the residence of the Rev. W. L. 
 Bowles, which you inserted in the Magazine for that 
 month, p. 203. A subsequent visit to the same favoured 
 spot has given me the opportunity of transcribing two or 
 three inscriptions, added since my former account, which 
 for their elegance will deserve preservation. 
 
 t£ Near the Cascade, mentioned in the former account, 
 p. 204, are the following lines : 
 
 ‘ As the rill that gushing near 
 Soothes with murmuring lapse the ear, 
 
 Be thine confin’d to tranquil joys, 
 
 A life that makes no ruder noise.’ 
 
 At the Hermit’s Seat : — 
 
 ‘ Dost thou lament the dead, and mourn the loss 
 Of many friends, O think upon the Cross.’ 
 
 “ In a corner of the churchyard, which commands a 
 VOL. VII. 2 s 
 
626 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 beautiful view of the country, to a considerable distance, 
 the following elegant lines are inscribed upon a small 
 tablet : 
 
 ‘ Here rest the village dead, and here too I, 
 
 When yonder dial points the hour, must lie. 
 
 Look round, the distant prospect is display’d 
 
 Like life’s fair landscape, mark’d with light and shade. 
 
 Stranger, in peace pursue thy onward road, 
 
 But ne’er forget thy long and last abode.’ 
 
 44 An anecdote is connected with this inscription, which 
 I record with pleasure, as affording a genuine trait of 
 rural simplicity. A stranger passing by the place, after 
 reading the inscription, was naturally desirous to know 
 the author of lines so unexpectedly good in so retired a 
 spot. The only person in view being the Sexton, who 
 was digging a grave, he was called, and greeted with the 
 question, 4 Pray who wrote those beautiful lines ?’ The 
 answer was, 4 The Carpenter/ 4 Carpenter? what a car- 
 penter of this village/ 4 Yes, our Carpenter/ Stranger ! 
 ‘ But are you sure he wrote them ?’ 4 Aye, Sir, quite sure. 
 
 I knows he did/ No further information was to be 
 gained ; and the stranger left the country, impressed with 
 the notion that the common peasants of that village wrote 
 excellent verses. Whoever reads them, knowing that the 
 carpenter was only employed to place on the board the 
 thoughts and expressions of the gifted Rector of Bremhill, 
 will not wonder at the merit of the lines, but will doubt- 
 less wish, with us, that the hour may be far distant which 
 the dial shall point for the departure of the Poet. 
 
 44 A. N.” 
 
 To John Nichols, Esq. 
 
 44 SlB, Reading, Jan. 8, 1815, 
 
 44 The largest of the inclosed packets I forward to you 
 for the sake of serving and pleasing a most worthy and 
 learned, but much neglected man (as to preferment), Mr. 
 Hellins, of Potterspury, an article of whose you inserted, 
 at my request, in the Gentleman’s Magazine, after my 
 concern in the British Critic ceased. The inclosed is not 
 written by him, but by a very learned Professor of Oxford 
 (Hellins was formerly of Cambridge), and may be de- 
 pended upon as perfectly correct. It was also written for 
 the British Critic, but, as my Philosophical Reviewer never 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 627 
 
 got so far in the Philosophical Transactions, it could not 
 be introduced. Your insertion of it, as it now stands, in 
 the Gentleman’s Magazine, will oblige me, as well as Mr. 
 Hellins, and the author of the paper. I have so altered it 
 that not a trace remains of its being written for a Review.* 
 * e The smaller packet is a whimf of my own, which you 
 may use or not, as you please. It was written to be sent 
 alone, but now travels with the other. 
 
 “ Yours ever very faithfully, R. Nares.” 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, Jan. 2, 1815. 
 
 “As Physiognomy is now laughed out of countenance, 
 and Craniology has taken it into his head to supply her 
 place, I cannot forbear to address a few lines to you upon 
 that event ; though I must confess I do it with fear and 
 trembling, lest I should expose myself by attempting that 
 for which my head was not originally formed. 
 
 “ If your head, Mr. Urban, has the same defective or- 
 ganisation, which I rather suspect, and you have not yet 
 attended the lectures in Rathbone-place, you will probably 
 be unable to comprehend the nature of my alarm : I will 
 therefore explain it. 
 
 “ The learned lecturer (for so I am compelled to style 
 him by the etiquette of literary intercourse) declares that 
 no person can understand his lectures unless he has the 
 organ of craniology in perfection. 
 
 “ If I could admit this dictum in its full force, I should 
 not have presumed to offer any opinion upon the subject; 
 but I rather suspect it to be a little stroke of art, which 
 has amply answered the intended purpose. 
 
 “ This age, it is well known, pretends to a more general 
 diffusion of knowledge than any which has preceded it, 
 insomuch that ignorance upon any subject whatsoever is 
 now considered as disgraceful. To avoid the imputation, 
 therefore, of an imperfection in the headpiece, and of that 
 want of knowledge which has been denounced as the ne- 
 cessary consequence, men, women, and children crowd 
 the lecture room ; for that want of the organ of craniology 
 which incapacitates them from understanding what is there 
 
 * See a discussion on two Papers in the Philosophical Transactions, on 
 the Rectification of the Hyperbola, by Mr. Woodhouse and the Rev. John 
 Hellins, in Gent. Mag. Jan. 1815, p. 18. 
 t The following Letter on Craniology. 
 
 O Q \> 
 
 IJ >3 £d 
 
 
628 ILLUSTRATIONS OR LITERATURE. 
 
 delivered does not preclude their entrance, provided they 
 have previously paid their subscription. 
 
 “This plan of operating upon the feelings of pride, in 
 order to fill the lecture room, brings to my recollection a 
 similar attempt to excite the benevolence of a congrega- 
 tion, which was equally successful. A Methodist preacher, 
 after expatiating on the excellence of the charity which he 
 was then recommending, declared it to be of a nature so 
 superior to all others, that no person could refuse to put 
 money into the plate, unless he were actually in debt. 
 The effect of this upon his auditors may easily be con- 
 ceived. No one was willing that his neighbours should 
 suspect that he was in debt, and consequently every one 
 subscribed. 
 
 “ These oratorical kinds of swindling are not, as I be- 
 lieve, yet provided against by any existing statute. 
 
 “ The lecturer labours hard to free his system from the 
 imputation of materialism ; but he does it in such a man- 
 ner as evidently proves that either he does not understand 
 the force of his own argument, or that, having craniologi- 
 cally examined the heads of his subscribers, he is con- 
 vinced they will not detect him. He reasons thus: — My 
 system is not materialism, because man, being a free agent, 
 has power to correct those evil propensities to which the 
 formation of his skull naturallv determines him. 
 
 “ Here the lecturer wisely keeps back one half of the 
 argument; and for this plain reason, that the whole would 
 at once reduce his boasted discovery to the baseless fabric 
 of a vision. For if man, by his free agency, can correct 
 the evil organs, he unquestionably has equal power to 
 pervert the good ones ; and in either of these cases the 
 craniologist cannot by any examination of the skull, which 
 will necessarily remain unchanged in its form, learn whe- 
 ther the good or evil propensities are unaltered, or still 
 retain their pristine tendency ; and consequently, as the 
 lawyers express it, he will take nothing by the examina- 
 tion. 
 
 “ That his lectures are well attended, does not in the 
 least surprise me, who perfectly well recollect what num- 
 bers flocked, in former days, to another learned lecturer, 
 in order to be instructed in the science of animal mag- 
 netism. 
 
 “ If I were worthy to offer advice to the present learned 
 lecturer, I would recommend the skull of that profound 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 629 
 
 physician to his consideration; and I have no doubt but 
 that the examination will somewhat startle the professor 
 of craniology. 
 
 “I have myself, Mr. Urban, some little judgment in 
 heads ; but, being a native of the Highlands, and gifted 
 with second sight, I do not require to handle men’s skulls 
 in order to judge of their character; and consequently I 
 can, without ever having seen the aforesaid doctor, tell the 
 professor some things which will occur in his examination 
 of the skull. 
 
 “ He will find the organ of calocagathy* outwardly so 
 perfect, that, without looking any further, he will at once 
 pronounce the doctor to have been incapable of giving his 
 pupils nonsense as an equivalent for their money. 
 
 “ But, if he extend his inquiry, he will discover that the 
 organ of covetiveness is of a capacity equal to that of calo- 
 cagathy ; and the real history of the doctor’s life will in- 
 form him, that he, being a free agent, perverted the good 
 tendency of the latter, and yielded to the evil tendency of 
 the former, until he persuaded himself that he might 
 honestly take money for instructions in an art which never 
 had existence. 
 
 “ The lecturer must be aware that it is by no means un- 
 common for men thus to deceive themselves. 
 
 “The above is humbly submitted to the professor’s 
 consideration, upon the supposition that the profound lec- 
 turer upon animal magnetism is actually dead. If that be 
 not the case, I must apprize him as a foreigner, that it is 
 not quite safe in this country to handle living skulls in 
 order to prove dishonesty, excepting perhaps in West- 
 minster Hall, the Old Bailey, and other lecture rooms of 
 the same kind. 
 
 “This, however, need not prevent the professor from 
 paying due attention to his own skull, and especially to 
 those organs which I have particularly pointed out ; and 
 I am clearly of opinion, that a candid examination of them 
 will give him an idea of the state of those organs very 
 different from that which he at present entertains. 
 
 “ I remain, Mr. Urban, with the highest consideration 
 for the learned lecturer, your very humble servant, 
 
 “ Pericranium.” 
 
 * “ I translate for your country readers, calocagathy is honesty. Now-a- 
 days terms of art are not looked at unless they be derived from the Greek.” 
 
630 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 To the Rev. Richard Polwhele. 
 
 “ My DEAR Sir, Reading, Jan. 25, 1815. 
 
 * % 5}C 
 
 (( Your critique on Sir Joshua Reynolds is in the hands 
 of Dr. Middleton,* * * § but whether he intends to use it or not, 
 he has not told me. I can see no objection to your 
 writing to him. Direct, Rev. Dr. Middleton, Rectory 
 House, Kentish Town, London. 
 
 5{s ^ ^ 
 
 “ About Malone, as a critic, I totally differ from you. 
 He was very industrious and laborious, and ferreted out 
 a good deal by these qualities ; but had not, in my opinion, 
 a spark of genius, nor even taste, where poetry was con- 
 cerned. It is capable of proof that he did not rightly 
 understand even the measure of English verse. Steevens 
 was full of genius, but not always to be depended upon. 
 Sometimes he even made a sport of misleading his readers ; 
 but his powers were infinitely above any that Malone 
 possessed. North cote is a man of true genius, though 
 occasionally defective as a writer. As to Mason, he was 
 certainly a poet ; but a malignant man, and particularly 
 malignant against the good King George III. all which 
 malignity was occasioned by some real or imagined slightf 
 shown by the King towards his imaginary merit. With 
 all his powers, Mason was a despicable man morally; and 
 that is the worst that need be said of a man.J 
 
 “ I am not at all in the secrets of the new editor § and 
 proprietors. They have not even asked me to give occa- 
 sional assistance, which I should have been willing to do. 
 But I am heartily glad to be no longer responsible for a 
 work always going on, always responsible, and never 
 thanked. Yours ever most truly, & c. &c. 
 
 “ R. Nares.” 
 
 * Dr. Middleton was consecrated Bishop of Calcutta, 8th May 1814. He 
 died suddenly July 5th, 1822. See a memoir of him in Gent. Mag. vol. 
 XCII. ii. p. 561 ; and vol. XCIII. ii. 647. 
 
 + Perhaps because the Professorship of Poetry was not offered to him, 
 when given to Whitehead. Jackson might resent Mason’s Poem, “ The 
 Tears of Isis,” which was a coarse attack on his University. — J. M. 
 
 X “ Jackson (who died Bishop of Oxford) had not less an antipathy against 
 Mason. At one of his supper parties, Mason happened to be mentioned, 
 when Jackson spoke of him scornfully. I could scarcely suppress my indig- 
 nation. Greville’s report of Mason (in accordance with Kempethorne’s) I am 
 sure comes nearer to the truth.” — Polwhele. (See his “ Reminiscences.”) 
 
 § Dr. Middleton. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 63 i 
 
 To the Gentleman’s Magazine. 
 c< Mr. Urban, _ _ Sept. 25, 1815. 
 
 44 In Park’s 4 Harleian Miscellany,’ III. p. 101, there is 
 a note on Bocardo, in Oxford, which says that it was c for- 
 merly a place of confinement, in East-gate, near Magdalen 
 College, Oxford.’ Now I well remember the said Bocardo 
 standing ; correct, therefore, 4 A prison over the gateway 
 of the North-gate, Oxford, adjoining to the tower of St. 
 Michael’s Church. It was pulled down between thirty 
 and forty years ago.’ 
 
 44 In the Castle Barber’s Soliloquy, probably written by 
 T. Warton, Bocardo is thus mentioned : 
 
 “ ‘ Then think not that I ask amiss : 
 
 My small request is only this ; 
 
 That I, by leave of Leigh, or Pardo, 
 
 May, with the Castle, shave Bocardo.’ 
 
 — That is, may be barber to one prison, as well as the 
 other. See 4 Oxford Sausage,’ p. 184. 
 
 44 By the Newsman’s Verses for 1772, in the same Mis- 
 cellany, p. 223, it appears that Bocardo was taken down 
 in that year : 
 
 “ ‘ Rare tidings for the wretch whose lingering score 
 Remains unpaid : Bocardo is no more.’ 
 
 44 A note says, 4 The City Gaol, taken down by the 
 Oxford Paving Act.’ 
 
 44 In some Verses spoken in the theatre at Oxford in 
 1773, the fall of Bocardo is mentioned as a recent event. 
 The Verses were written by Dr. Wheeler, then Professor 
 of Poetry. 
 
 “ * Multa movent bilem. Quid censes optime ? num jam 
 Antiqui muri venerabilis umbra Bocardo 
 Visitur Oxonii ? Salve, haud ignobile nomen ! 
 
 Te Gives quondam, Te quondam Academia norat, 
 
 Militise sacrum, Logicee nec inutile pugnce, 
 
 Sed neque Juridicse : quoties, Te Vindice, telum 
 Haud imbelle manu triplici Dialectica torsit, 
 
 Versutumque hostem ferventi stravit arena ! 
 
 Occidis infausto nunc alite. Fallor ? an Artes 
 Te stante, hie steterunt; Te jam pereunte peribunt.’ 
 
 44 A note on the name Bocardo savs : 
 
 •/ 
 
 “ ‘ Castellum Portae Boreali impositum, nuper dirutum ; turn re, turn 
 nomine, variis olim usibus accommodatum.’ 
 
 44 These Verses are to be found in Popham’s 4 Selecta 
 Anglorum Poemata,’ vol. III. p. 147. Soon after, in allu- 
 sion to the logical Bocardo : 
 
 “ ‘ Cui placet a solo missum enthymema Bocardo 
 
632 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ But we find this Northern Gate celebrated also in an 
 older Poem, the author of which was Bishop Smalridge, 
 entitled 4 Auctio Davisianad It is thus introduced : 
 
 “ ‘ Est locus, improbulis bene notus civibus, urbis 
 Extremse limes ; Borealem nomine portam 
 Plebs indocta vocat ; docti dixere Bocardo.’ 
 
 “ See ‘ Musas Anglicanae/ vol. I. p. 175. 
 
 “ This must have been written while Smalridge was 
 still resident at Oxford, and, indeed, before he had taken 
 orders. It was first printed in 1689. 
 
 The origin of the name is very obscure ; but, as Bo- 
 cardo is the technical word in the scholastic logic to 
 express a syllogism in the fourth figure of the third mode, 
 I should conjecture that it arose from some academical 
 jest, now lost, comparing the prison to that syllogism. 1 
 know not of the word in any other mode of application. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. A. N.” 
 
 To the Gentleman’s Magazine. 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, Dec. n, 1815 . 
 
 “ In a French journal of 1813, I find an account of a 
 great improvement of that noble instrument, the organ, 
 by giving it expression equal to that of a voice ; the only 
 thing before wanting to its excellence. As the invention 
 was received by the Imperial Conservatory of Music, as 
 it was then called, and approved publicly by the Minister 
 of the Interior, I presume that it had some merit, and 
 therefore subjoin a translation of the French paper ; wish- 
 ing, at the same time, to make inquiry of your corres- 
 pondents whether the invention has been yet brought 
 here, in any shape ? So great an improvement, if real, 
 ought to be made general. It is called f The Expressive 
 Organ and is thus described : 
 
 « e qq, e Expressive Organ, invented by M. Grenie, an 
 amateur, and executed under his direction, has been ex- 
 amined and heard, with the greatest interest, by the Com- 
 mittee named for this purpose. It had long been an 
 object of inquiry, how to give to the Organ, the most 
 beautiful, and most classical of all instruments, the varieties 
 of which the voice is susceptible. It wanted hitherto the 
 great faculty of expression, that of enforcing or diminish- 
 ing the sounds, (the swell of our common organs does not, 
 I fancy, meet the idea intended, which goes to enforce or 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 633 
 
 relax any single note,) and musicians had almost renounced 
 the hope of seeing this degree of perfection added to the 
 organ. M. Grenie, by a mechanism at once the most 
 simple and most ingenious, has enabled the organ to obey 
 all the influences of the soul. The moveable key frame 
 (clavier), applied upon the bellows themselves, seems to 
 breathe as the player wishes ; and the most practised 
 voice cannot attemper its tones (filer des sons) with a gra- 
 dation more exact. Other advantages are connected with 
 this discovery. Wooden pipes, reduced to a different 
 dimension, simplify the construction, and render it much 
 less expensive. 
 
 (U We regret that we cannot enter into the detail of all 
 the contrivances employed by M. Grenie ; and we an- 
 nounce wfith real pleasure, that, on the report which has 
 been made of it to his Excellency the Minister of the In- 
 terior,* he has been pleased to commission M. Grenie to 
 construct an Expressive Organ on a large scale, to be 
 placed in the Library of the Conservatory ; which may be 
 considered as a material point gained for the art of music, 
 and for this Institution. It is now in hand, and the pub- 
 lic may expect to hear it in the course of the current year 
 (1813). — Esprit des Journaux, Fevrier 1813, p. 137.’ 
 
 “ The invention having been so far tried and approved 
 at that period, and so far advanced towards publicity, it is 
 perhaps only the scantiness of my information respecting 
 what has since been done in France, which makes me in 
 want of further intelligence. But, as many others of your 
 readers must be, of necessity, in similar circumstances, 
 and as the invention appears truly interesting, and par- 
 ticularly so to the admirers of church music, I am con- 
 vinced that you will oblige many, as well as myself, by 
 adding your efforts to make it known among us. 
 
 “ A. N ” 
 
 To John Nichols, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Reading, Jan. 29, 1816. 
 
 “ I send you General Fitzpatrick’s epitaph on himself, 
 which you said would be acceptable. 
 
 f My own Epitaph. 
 
 ‘ Whose turn is next ? this monitory Stone 
 Replies, vain Passenger, perhaps thy own. 
 
 * “ Or for the Home Department. Edit.” 
 
634 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 If, idly curious, thou wilt seek to know 
 Whose relies mingle with the dust below. 
 
 Enough to tell thee, that his destined span 
 On Earth he dwelt, — and, like thyself, a Man. 
 
 Nor distant far th’ inevitable day 
 
 When thou, poor mortal, shalt like him be clay. 
 
 Through life he walk’d unemulous of fame, 
 
 Nor wished beyond it to preserve a name. 
 
 Content, if Friendship, o’er his humble bier. 
 
 Drop but the heart-felt tribute of a tear ; 
 
 Though countless ages should unconscious glide, 
 
 Nor learn that ever he had liv’d, or died. R. F.’ 
 
 “ Such, Mr. Urban, is the epitaph placed on a stone 
 sarcophagus in the usual form, in the churchyard at Sun- 
 ning-hill, close to the house where Gen. Fitzpatrick’s 
 friend G. Ellis, Esq. died; and still inhabited by Mrs. 
 Ellis. A. N. 
 
 “ The collation of Sir R. Fanshaw’s copy of his Lusiad, 
 perhaps, you might think, and with reason, would not be 
 gratifying to your readers. 
 
 “ Pray can you tell me what ‘ Letter on Enthusiasm ’ 
 is attributed to Colonel Hunter, in your Literary Anec- 
 dotes, vol. I. p. 339, and vol. VI. p. 89 ?* 
 
 ‘ c I suppose we shall soon have your ninth volume of 
 Literary Anecdotes. Indeed, since I wrote those very 
 words, I have seen it advertised on your cover to be ready 
 early in February. Thank you for inserting Dr. Purdy. 
 
 “ If you mean to notice all the country papers in your 
 frontispiece I can tell you of another, the Wolverhamp- 
 ton, which has published 260 numbers, completing five 
 volumes. This you have never noticed.” 
 
 cc Dear Sir, Reading, March 13, 1816. 
 
 “ I am much pleased with what I have seen of your 
 ninth volume of Literary Anecdotes, and thank you for 
 your notice of me.f 
 
 “ There is an odd mistake about my uncle, considering 
 that he died with the title of Sir George Nares. J He is 
 
 * This work has been ascribed to Swift, and still more commonly to Lord 
 Shaftesbury. See Biog. Dramatica, I. 382. 
 t Literary Anecdotes, vol. IX. p. 510. 
 
 + Sir George Nares, Knt. and his lady were buried at Eversley, Hants ; 
 where their epitaphs thus concisely record their history : 
 
 “ Near this place are deposited the remains of the Hon ble Sir George 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 635 
 
 called Edward. But it is only in the new Index. It is not 
 so in the places referred to. In the first of those he is only 
 called Serjeant (which he then was), and in the second Mr. 
 Justice, which is also right. His youngest son, nephew of 
 Mr. Strange, and now D.D. and Professor of Modern 
 History at Oxford, is rightly named Edward.* 
 
 “ Yours most truly, 
 
 “ R. Nares. 
 
 “ P.S. Macte novo opere.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, _ April 25, 1817. 
 
 “ If you have not yet given in the Gentleman’s Maga- 
 zine the Pope’s Rescript to one of his Bishops, in Poland, 
 against Bible Societies,-]' I hope you will contrive to give 
 it to your readers in this month’s number. It is the 
 strongest thing that ever was written in favour of Bible 
 Societies, and will admit of being followed by an important 
 Commentary, which I will provide against next month. 
 It has been printed in several papers, but last in a thing 
 called the Military Register or Journal, for the 23rd of 
 this month. Attention ! 
 
 “ Yours, R. Nares.” 
 
 DEAR Sir, Hatchett’s Hotel, Piccadilly, April 28, 1817. 
 
 cc I hope the inclosed will answer your purpose, and do 
 
 Nares, Knt. one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Court of Common Pleas ; 
 equally versed in the laws of his country and attentive to those of religion, 
 while he laboured unsuccessfully as a man, he approved himself continually 
 as the servant of God, uncorrupted by interest or example. Humane, affec- 
 tionate, and cheerful, he lived a proof how perfectly the reasonable enjoy- 
 ment of this life is compatible with the hopes of eternity. Born at Hanwell, 
 in Middlesex, 1716 ; King’s Serjeant at Law 1759 ; Representative in Pari 1 , 
 and Recorder of the city of Oxford 1768 ; Judge in the Court of Common 
 Pleas 1771 ; died July the 20th, 1786. 
 
 “ In a vault in this churchyard lieth Dame Mary Nares, wife of the Hon ble 
 Sir George Nares, Knt. one of the Justices of his Majesty’s Court of Com- 
 mon Pleas ; third dau. of the Right Hon. Sir John Strange, late Master of 
 the Rolls ; died August 6th, 1782, aged 55. 
 
 “ In memoriam tantse amicitise, benevolentise, charitatis, tantique amoris, 
 fidelitatis, pietatis, Deum erga, seipsum, liberos, cognatosque quantse vix 
 unquam humanam decuere naturam, H. M. flebilis moerensque posuit ma- 
 ritus.” 
 
 * The Rev. Dr. Edward Nares, D.D. died at his rectory at Biddenden, 
 Kent, Aug. 20, 1841, in his 80th year. He was Regius Professor of Modern 
 History and Modern Languages in the University of Oxford. A memoir of 
 this accomplished scholar is given in Gent. Mag. Oct. 1841, p. 435. 
 
 f Printed in Gent. Mag. 1817, i. p. 365. 
 
636 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 some justice to our departed friend.* Many interruptions 
 have prevented me from sending it sooner. 
 
 “ Yours truly, 
 
 “ R. Nares.” 
 
 Mr. Nares to the Gentleman’s Magazine. 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, j une 4 , 1817. 
 
 “ Seeing a very elegant small edition of Thomas War- 
 ton’s Poems, lately published by a most respectable 
 Editor (T. Park), I cannot but regret that he had not 
 been informed of five Latin Poems, in the inscriptive 
 style, which are the undoubted production of T. Warton. 
 In an Inscriptiohum Delectus, published by him anony- 
 mously in 1758, but known to be his, and therefore re- 
 printed in the second volume of his works by Mr. Mant, 
 these compositions stand at Nos. 41, 44, 45, 47, of the 
 collection, and in the note to the latter. A slight pre- 
 tence was made in the Delectus, that they had been lately 
 discovered in Italy ; but Warton himself throws a sus- 
 picion upon the last of them, in the very note which pro- 
 duces it. Mr. Mant, in his life of T. Warton, expressly 
 assigns these to him, saying, 4 also a few modern epigrams, 
 namely, one by Dr. Jortin, and Jive by himself, on the 
 model of the antique.” Life, p. xlii. But, as they are not 
 distinctly specified, and no more is said about them, they 
 have been overlooked by subsequent Editors. My motive 
 for writing this is to prevent their being omitted in any 
 future edition. Both Mr. A. Chalmers and Mr. Park 
 would doubtless have inserted them, had they been aware 
 of the fact. 
 
 “ Dr. Warton, though it has not hitherto been noticed, 
 let out the secret with respect to the third of these little 
 poems, ‘ O dulcis puer,’ &c. by inserting it in the second 
 volume of his Essay on Pope, p. 402, with this introduc- 
 tory sentence : 4 In which taste [that of the Anthologia] 
 a living author , who must be nameless, has written the 
 following hendecasyllables.’ 
 
 “This was published in the year 1782; but the ‘ In- 
 scriptionum Delectus ” f being scarce and little known, 
 
 * A memoir of the Rev. William Beloe. Printed in Gent. Mag. 1817. 
 i. 371. 
 
 •f* “ The whole title is ‘ Inseriptionum Latinarum Metricarum Delectus,’ 
 Dodsley, 1758.” 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 637 
 
 and still less known to have come from T. Warton, the 
 discovery passed unnoticed. N.” 
 
 (( Mr. URBAN, Reading, Sept. 4, 1817. 
 
 “ You have been misled, p. 1S6, by the i Biographical 
 Dictionary of Living Authors/ in a very inaccurate ac- 
 count of my friend Partridge, of Boston, who was a native 
 of Lincolnshire, and no more related to Mrs. Partridge of 
 Salt-hill, or her husband, than you are. Having by me 
 a sketch of dates relating to himself, which he sent me in 
 1807 ? I hasten to send you a more correct account. 
 
 “R. N. 
 
 “ Samuel Partridge was born at Lincoln, in the parish 
 of St. Swithin, July 25, 1750, probably therefore July 14, 
 New Style. If, then, he died after that day, he was in his 
 sixty-eighth year. His parents were both natives of Lin- 
 colnshire, and of genteel rank. He was never at Eton, 
 nor at any other public school, except the Grammar 
 School of Lincoln. In 1768 he was entered a Commoner 
 at Corpus Christi College, Oxford: and it was not till 
 1775 that he was chosen a Demy of Magdalen. In 1772 
 he took his Bachelor’s degree in Arts, and in 1775 was 
 elected a Fellow of that College, and in the same year took 
 his Master’s degree. He had other previous preferments, 
 but did not become Yicar of Boston till 1785. It is true, 
 therefore, that he was 32 years vicar ; and he was nearly 
 as long in the commission of the peace. In 1 797 he had 
 also the Vicarage of Wigtoft cum Quadring, from the gift 
 of the Bishop of Lincoln ; which living he held with Bos- 
 ton. He was married twice, but his first wife left no sur- 
 viving children. By his second wife, whom he lost in 
 1797, he had four children still living, a son and three 
 daughters. 
 
 “ His works, I believe, are rightly enumerated, with 
 the exception of his critical articles in the British Critic, 
 to which he was a voluntary and very useful contributor, 
 from its origin to the close of the first series ; never re- 
 ceiving any remuneration for his labour. In writing for 
 that review, he was expressing and circulating, in a man- 
 ner calculated for general utility, his very sound principles 
 in Church and State ; and therefore he considered the 
 patriotic exertion as its own reward. c Labor ipse Volup- 
 tas.’ So testifies of him one who long knew and always 
 highly esteemed his talents and worth. R. N.” 
 
638 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 To J. B. Nichols, Esq. 
 
 u Dear Sir, 22, Hart Street, Bloomsbury, Oct. 9, 1819. 
 
 “ You may depend upon it that the inclosed Review* 
 is just. If, for any private consideration, you should de- 
 cline to insert it, pray return it to yours most truly, 
 
 “ R. Nares.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Jan. 26, 1821. 
 
 “ I send you an account of Mrs. John Hunter, which I 
 hope you will insert in the next number of the Gentle- 
 man’s Magazine. Yours truly, R. Nares. 
 
 Memoir of Mrs. John Hunter, by Archdeacon Nares. 
 
 “Jan. 7, 1821. Died in Holles-street, Cavendish- 
 square, in the 79th year of her age, Mrs. Anne Hunter, 
 widow of that distinguished physiologist John Hunter. — 
 Native genius was never more pleasingly united with 
 female modesty and delicacy than in Mrs. John Hunter; 
 nor can any one more truly have deserved the eulogies of 
 her surviving friends. With every grace that could make 
 her interesting in society, she had every personal and 
 social virtue that could command respect and attachment. 
 As a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, and a friend, she 
 was anxious always to exceed, rather than in the smallest 
 degree to fail in any of her duties. The natural warmth and 
 energy of her heart prevented, indeed, the possibility of 
 such defect. In social intercourse she had the happy 
 talent of pleasing without effort ; and in the conversation- 
 parties which, in Mr. Hunter’s life-time, she frequently 
 received, she succeeded perfectly in banishing affectation, 
 pedantry, and every symptom of dulness or formality. 
 Connected by long friendship with Mrs. Carter and Mrs. 
 Delany, she well deserves to have her name recorded with 
 those amiable as well as eminent females : not, indeed, 
 for deep learning, which she neither possessed nor affected, 
 but for poetic genius, sagacity, and good taste. 
 
 “ Mrs. Hunter was the eldest daughter of Mr. Robert 
 Home, an eminent surgeon, first in the army and latterly 
 at the Savoy. He had several other children; among 
 whom another daughter was married to Mr. Mylne, the 
 architect of Blackfriars Bridge ; and a third, though no 
 
 * Of Rev. J. W. Whitaker’s Enquiry into the Interpretation of the He- 
 brew Scriptures. See Gent. Mag. 1819, ii. 340. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 639 
 
 less amiable than her sisters, died unmarried. His sons 
 were, Robert, bred as an artist, and now painter to the 
 King of Lucknow, in India; Colonel Home, an officer on 
 the Bombay establishment, now retired ; and Sir Everard 
 Home, Bart, the very eminent pupil of his brother-in-law. 
 In 1771 Miss Home was married to Mr. John Hunter, 
 and in the ensuing year, her younger brother, Everard, 
 then leaving Westminster School, devoted himself to the 
 studies and profession of that new relation, under the 
 auspicious influence of his instruction and encouragement. 
 
 “ Mrs. J. Hunter became the mother of four children, 
 of whom only two survive ; but both the living and the 
 dead have been the subjects of her poetical effusions. 
 This talent, in which for elegance of lyric strains she has 
 seldom been surpassed, was very early developed. Her 
 well-known stanzas of ‘ Queen Mary’s Lament/ were 
 produced so long ago that they are frequently thought to 
 have belonged to a prior age. Her song, f In airy dreams,’ 
 stands almost in the same predicament. The death-song 
 of Alknomook, the Indian warrior, was written before many 
 of those who sing it now were born : and throughout her 
 life, whatever strongly moved her feelings became the occa- 
 sion of some expressive strains. For her father, she wrote a 
 short but characteristic epitaph. The education, marriage, 
 or death of children, produced similar effects ; and never 
 surely was there a mother who more affectionately watched 
 or more sincerely felt for all the various fortunes of her 
 offspring. Notwithstanding this facility of writing, she 
 never assumed, or in the least affected, the character of a 
 poetess ; but with modesty delivered her productions in 
 manuscript to a favoured few. At length, on the suggestion 
 of friends, she collected those which she most approved, 
 in a small but elegant volume, which she inscribed to her 
 son, then stationed as an officer at Gibraltar. 
 
 “ When Haydn passed a season in London, Mrs. Hun- 
 ter became the Muse of that celebrated composer ; and 
 all (if we mistake not) of his beautiful English canzonets 
 were composed on words which she supplied. Most of 
 these are original, and particularly the pathetic song of 
 ‘ My mother bids me bind my hair.’ * The beautiful 
 
 * “ First written as accommodated to an air of Pleydell’s ; and then begin- 
 ning with what is now the second stanza, 
 
 ‘ ’Tis sad to think the days are gone ; ’ 
 which, for the effect of the words, was preferable.” 
 
640 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Mermaid’s Song, in the same set, was founded on an 
 Italian original, freely translated. This small volume of 
 Poems was noticed in the British Critic of October 1802, 
 with commendations, strong indeed, but not at all exag- 
 gerated ; giving one or two specimens which amply justi- 
 fied the praise. Since Mrs. H. became a widow, she has 
 lived in quiet retirement, though in London ; consoled by 
 her near relations and select friends, and mutually con- 
 soling them, in all the vicissitudes of life. It is probable 
 that her pen has not been laid aside in this last period, 
 but the fruits of its exertions have not yet been seen. 
 
 “ Mrs. H.’s daughter. Lady Campbell, now the widow 
 of General Sir James Campbell, has of late years been at 
 once her chief care, and ultimately her chief consolation, 
 as by her she was attended to the latest moment of her 
 life. The decline of her health was very gradual, and her 
 intellects were never impaired. By those who best knew 
 her, she will be lamented, in proportion to the admiration 
 and attachment which she could not fail to inspire ; and 
 it may be said with confidence, that she has not left a 
 survivor in the world who can have either a right or a 
 wish to detract the smallest particle from the commenda- 
 tions, here or elsewhere bestowed, upon her genius, her 
 understanding, or her heart.” 
 
 To Rev. Richard Polwhele. 
 
 ec DEAR Sir, 22, Hart Street, Bloomsbury, Feb. 12, 1821. 
 
 u On the receipt of your letter, I did not write to the 
 Bishop of Exeter,* because I was aware that the meeting 
 of Parliament, so speedily to follow, must bring him to 
 town. He has come accordingly ; but hitherto I have not 
 been fortunate enough to see him. I shall, however, per- 
 severe, and when I succeed I will not fail to recommend 
 you to his notice in the best manner that I can. I have 
 known the Bishop well, from the time when he was ap- 
 pointed Head Master of Westminster, now many years 
 past; and, though I cannot boast of particular interest 
 with him, I think I must have as much as any person who 
 has no other claim than that of an old acquaintance. 
 
 •JA «V- -AA -A/ -V. 
 
 •ST' vF 
 
 “ I have not been at Lichfield since the beginning of 
 
 * Dr. W. Carey died Bishop of St. Asaph, September 13th, 1846, in his 
 77th year. See a memoir of him in Gent. Mag. 1846, vol. XXVI. New 
 Series, p. 533, and his will in p. 661. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 641 
 
 last June, and I shall not go again till the beginning of June 
 next. Consequently I have not seen Bailye for near a 
 twelvemonth ; but 1 hear reasonably good accounts of him. 
 
 “ We have just lost a very valuable member of our 
 canonical fraternity in Dr. Outram, who died suddenly on 
 Thursday last.* I wish you could supply his place ; but 
 that canonry is connected with a most populous living in 
 Birmingham, which will make it no bed of roses for any 
 one who succeeds to it. The Bishop of Lichfield is the 
 sole and exclusive patron. 
 
 “ I sincerely join in lamenting the insufficiency of your 
 present livings, and the fruitless labour which you have 
 had, in endeavouring to conciliate successive bishops. 
 That the present bishop will be more attentive to your 
 merits, is more than I will venture to promise ;f but if he 
 should not be, it will be by no means the fault of yours 
 very truly, Robert Naees.” 
 
 Hart Street, Bloomsbury Square, 
 
 “ My DEAR Sir, May 5, 1821. 
 
 ***** 
 
 “ The Royal Society of Literature is gradually gaining 
 form and substance, and, I doubt not, will turn out a very 
 beneficial institution. 
 
 “ It will not be practicable, I fear, to obtain for you the 
 nomination to be one of the Royal Associates, among 
 whom the King’s bounty is to be divided — indeed, I know 
 it will not. But I have no doubt of your being named one 
 of the Honorary Associates, among which class the patron- 
 age of the Society itself will be distributed, as soon as it 
 becomes rich enough to patronise any persons. But as to 
 that point, it is still in its infancy ; though, if approved, 
 it will rapidly acquire strength. The plan, so far as yet 
 matured, I think excellent. 
 
 “ Believe me, dear Sir, yours sincerely, with much 
 regard, Robert Nares.” 
 
 To J. B. Nichols, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir, Hart Street, May 8, 1821. 
 
 “ I hope you will find an early place for the inclosed, ‘j; 
 
 * The Rev. Edmund Outram, D.D. Public Orator of the University of 
 Cambridge, and Rector of St. Philip’s, Birmingham, died Feb. 8th, 1821. 
 See memoirs of him in Gent. Mag. 1821, i. 184, 469. 
 
 t Bishop Carey presented Mr. Polwhele to the vicarage of St. Newlyn. 
 
 + A Review, it is believed, of “ Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution ; by 
 William Davis Robinson,” in Gent. Mag. May, 1821, p. 426. 
 
 VOL. VII. 2 T 
 
642 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the author being a particular friend of mine ; though I 
 assure you I have not, on that account, in any degree ex- 
 aggerated the praise of his book, as you will find, if you 
 read it. 
 
 “ Yours truly, &c. R. Nares.” 
 
 To John Nichols, Esq. 
 
 “ My DEAR Sir, June 28, 1822. 
 
 “I received with pleasure your recent volume,* and 
 am glad that you looked upon me as a certain purchaser. 
 
 lt 1 wish I could have sent you mine, but it is Trip- 
 hook’s book,t and the copies allowed to me were few. 
 
 “ Yours, very truly, R. Nares. 
 
 “ P.S. We are just leaving town.” 
 
 To J. B. Nichols, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, . Jan. 10, 1823. 
 
 “ I thank you for reminding me that Gilbert Wakefield 
 was the son of George, Vicar of Kingston ; which you 
 will see has much corroborated my previous conjecture. 
 
 “ Yours truly, R. Nares.” 
 
 The preceding letter alludes to two communi- 
 cations to the Gentleman’s Magazine by Mr. Nares, 
 signed Investigator, which, as they are on interest- 
 ing subjects, shall here be reprinted. 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, jan.4,1823. 
 
 “ That acute and indefatigable book-hunter, the late 
 Rev. John Brand, could doubtless have furnished an 
 amusing history of the manner in which his vast collec- 
 tion had been fattened by stall-feeding. He himself was 
 not so fattened. To such a narrative I could add a 
 mighty pretty supplement, having not only picked up at 
 stalls very cheap books, of which I was in search, but, 
 with still greater advantages, many excellent works, of 
 which I had never heard, and probably should never have 
 
 * Vol. IV. of Literary Illustrations. 
 
 + Mr. Nares’s “ Glossary;'’ reviewed by the Rev. T. D. Fosbroke, in 
 Gent. Mag. 1822, pp. 523, 614 ; the concluding paragraph is as follows : 
 “ Here we take our leave of a work which is exceedingly interesting, always 
 learned, and often very curious. It supplies in a very satisfactory manner, 
 as far as it goes, a great desideratum in our literature. The learning and 
 recondite reading visible throughout the whole book confers the highest 
 honour upon the author.” 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 643 
 
 known at all, but for that mode of discovery. A slight 
 inspection satisfied me of their nature and utility, and a 
 further acquaintance has generally shown that I was 
 right ; and frequently that I had even under-rated them 
 in my first hasty estimate. Were I to go over my small 
 collection now, with that particular view, you might be 
 furnished from it with no uninteresting morsel of biblio- 
 graphy. 
 
 “ Stalls are not to be despised. Some suppose that, 
 by means of priced catalogues, public book sales, and 
 other ways, all books of any value are now too well 
 known to be found in obscure corners. I deny it, and 
 could give reasons for my dissent, were it worth while. 
 But, granting it to be true with respect to the generality 
 of books sought by curious collectors, how many curious 
 or useful books are there, which no collector has yet cried 
 up, no Patterson catalogued, no Sotheby or Evans knocked 
 down ? * 
 
 “ But a truce to this for the present. I wish now to com- 
 municate to you a discovery, which I fancy I have made, 
 respecting a book lately obtained from a stall. The book 
 is neither ancient, nor perhaps very scarce, but it con- 
 tains a collection of poems of more than common merit, 
 to which no author’s name is annexed. I think I have 
 discovered the author, and he deserves to be made known. 
 The volume is a duodecimo, published in 17 67, and enti- 
 tled 4 Bagatelles, or Poetical Trifles/ This is the half- 
 title. The full title is as follows : e Bagatelles. In this 
 collection is reprinted the fragment, or Allen and Ella, 
 which (unknown to the author) appeared some years 
 since under the title of Collin (sic) and Lucy.f To which 
 is subjoined, a Journey to and Description of the Para- 
 clete, near the city of Troyes in Champagne, where Abe- 
 lard and Eloisa were buried . — Nunc versus et ccetera lu- 
 dicra pono. — Hor. All by the same hand. London : 
 printed for Walkingame, Dodsley, &c.’ 
 
 * True : one of the scarcest books relating to Milton was found by Mr. 
 Brand on a stall ; and a year or two ago an Italian novel, with S hakspere's 
 autograph on the cover, now in Mr. B. Dockray’s possession. — J. M. 
 
 t “ What Collin and Lucy is meant I know not. It cannot be Tickell's 
 beautiful ballad, which was published many years before, and besides is little 
 like Allen and Ella. It is odd enough that Moore, the author of the 
 Gamester, has two poems exactly resembling ‘ The Lover and the Friend,’ 
 and the Song to his Heart. Our author distinctly claims originality as to the 
 first. The latter he does not notice.” 
 
 2 T 2 
 
644 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ This collection was so far noticed, that both you, Mr. 
 Urban, and the Annual Register of the same year, cited 
 at full length a song, beginning e I said to my heart, in 
 the way of discourse.’ A very lively song it is, and was 
 lately reprinted in the Sun, to which I sent it. Many 
 other compositions of a similar kind are in the book, and 
 other Poems of different kinds, but all in a good style of 
 poetry. Among other things, appears the Prologue 
 which Woodward spoke at Covent Garden, on his re- 
 appearance, after having been four years absent at Dublin. 
 This Prologue, in the Gentleman’s Magazine of the time 
 (1762), and in some subsequent collections, is attributed 
 to Woodward himself, who was never known as a poet; 
 but here is claimed by the anonymous author. Here also 
 are found the two inscriptions in Jonathan Tyers’s Gar- 
 dens, on a male and female skull, beginning f Why start, 
 the case is yours,’ &c. which I have seen elsewhere ; you, 
 perhaps, Mr. Urban, can tell me where. Also some 
 stanzas left in a Temple at Hagley, e I ask’d the living 
 and the dead,’ &c. Of the poems I could send you 
 several specimens, which would please both you and your 
 readers, and will hereafter, if you desire it.* 
 
 “ But who was the author ? My conjecture is this : 
 The dedication to c Peter Yallete, esq.’ is dated, f Kings- 
 ton-on-Thames, July 10, 176*7.’ From this indication I 
 fix on the Vicar of Kingston, of that time ; who was the 
 Rev. George Wakefield, the father of the celebrated Gil- 
 bert Wakefield. He was presented to that living in 1766, 
 and held it to his death, in February 1776. Gilbert, at 
 the date of this book, was only eleven years of age, con- 
 sequently was not likely to know any thing of his father’s 
 anonymous publication ; nor does he appear to have 
 known it afterwards. But he picked up the knowledge 
 that his father had been poetical in his youth; for he 
 says, in the first chapter of his own Life : 
 
 (U My father, in his youth, had occasionally indulged 
 his fancy in poetical effusions ; one or two specimens of 
 which came into my hands. A translation of Pope’s 
 Eloisa into Latin hexameters, done by him at Cambridge, 
 I have heard Mr. Neville, a fellow of our college, speak 
 of with approbation. This I never saw; but I will sub- 
 join, for the amusement of the reader, without altering a 
 
 * “ These we shall be glad to receive. Edit.” 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 645 
 
 single word, a translation of the fifth Ode of the first Book 
 of Horace, which is not destitute of taste and spirit/ 
 
 “ It certainly is not, as may be seen in Wakefield’s book. 
 This ode itself does not appear in the Bagatelles, which 
 would indeed be downright proof ; but a very strong pre- 
 sumption arises from this, that there are several other 
 translations from Horace, exactly in the same style and 
 spirit. For instance, the 9th and 11th of book i. the 3d 
 of book ii. the 1st and 7th of book iv. Now, though 
 most of these are not in the same stanza as that quoted 
 by his son, yet many of his own original poems are, and 
 it seems to have been his favourite strain. As a further 
 proof of his attention to Horace, he has given also an 
 imitation of Sat. 9, b. i. The version of Ode 4, b. i. is 
 indeed in a stanza of eight lines, very similar to that of 
 Ode 5, b. i. 
 
 “ Putting these things together, I think there can be 
 little doubt that George Wakefield was the author. His 
 motto declares that he then relinquished all such toys, 
 which fully accounts for the little knowledge his son had 
 on the subject. His Bagatelles were anonymous ; and, as 
 he died before Gilbert was of age, it is no wonder that he 
 had not communicated the secret to him. The various 
 merits of his little volume I cannot now discuss. But if 
 you, Mr. Urban (and who so likely?), can throw any fur- 
 ther light on this subject, we can go further into it an- 
 other time. 
 
 “ Investigator.” 
 
 “ Mr. URBAN, March 1, 1823. 
 
 “ A few words more on the subject of George Wake- 
 field. It is quite clear that he and Edward Moore pro- 
 duced very similar compositions. Which borrowed from 
 the other, may not be so easy to decide. Wakefield 
 outlived Moore, and therefore had the advantage of being 
 able, without contradiction, to assert his own priority of 
 claim. Each has a poem entitled, e The Lover and the 
 Friend/ and at the end of W/s is placed this note : 
 
 “ ‘ The original copy of this bears date previous to the 
 late ingenious Mr. Moore’s production. And, as it was 
 read to him, in an hour of intimacy, perhaps somebody 
 prevailed upon him to write one similar.’ 
 
 “ Possibly Moore might think, that as W. had not yet 
 printed any poems, he probably never would. The two 
 
646 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 poems, however, have little in common, the chief resem- 
 blance being in the concluding stanza. Moore’s is, 
 
 ‘ Vain thought ! tho’ seas between us roll, 
 
 Thy love is rooted in my soul; 
 
 The vital blood that warms my heart, 
 
 With thy idea must depart ; 
 
 And Death’s decisive stroke must end 
 ‘ At once the lover and the friend.’ 
 
 Chalmers’s Poets, XIV. p. 2L8. 
 
 “ Wakefield’s is this : 
 
 ‘ Oh come, and we ’ll together haste 
 O’er life’s uncomfortable waste ; 
 
 Bear the sharp thorn to find the rose, 
 
 And smile at transitory woes ; 
 
 Keep the bright goal of Hope in view, 
 
 Nor look behind as others do, 
 
 Till Death, and only Death, shall end 
 At once the lover and the friend.’ 
 
 (i Excepting the trite and foolish conceit of the thorn 
 and the rose, Wakefield’s is evidently much superior, and 
 he deserves the preference throughout the poem. We 
 may suppose that Moore meant to take only the subject 
 of his friend’s effusion, but with unconscious recollection 
 adopted his last line. The resemblance is somewhat 
 closer in the two songs of ‘ I said to my heart.’ But the 
 author of f Bagatelles ’ still maintains the superiority. 
 He begins, 
 
 * I said to my heart, in the way of discourse, 
 
 For we often confabulate ; Madam ! 
 
 Will you never he soften’d ? and yield to the force, 
 
 Of beauty, wit, sense, and good nature of course, 
 
 When you know, and well know, who has had ’em ? ’ 
 
 “ Moore, in the same measure, but a much more com- 
 mon stanza, writes thus: 
 
 ‘ Thus I said to my heart, in a pet t’other day, 
 
 I had rather be hang’d than go moping this way ; 
 
 No throbbings, no wishes, your moments employ, 
 
 But you sleep in my breast, without motion or joy.’ 
 
 “ He then goes on about Chloe, recites his love for 
 Thais, and ends with a protestation to Phyllis. All this 
 is very flat. The other poet keeps up the dialogue with 
 spirit, and makes his heart thus conclude it : 
 
 * Then cease to condemn me, or blame your best friend, 
 
 Hence know, and rely on me better ; 
 
 The moment I hear of the girl who can tend 
 To the bliss of your life, from beginning to end, 
 
 I’ll burn, and not rest till you get her.’ 
 
 Bagatelles, p. 25. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 647 
 
 Ci The whole ballad is so full of poetic spirit, that I 
 would have transcribed it entire, had you not once before 
 printed it in your Miscellany ; where those who are happy 
 enough to possess the set may find it, in vol. XXXVII. 
 p. 423.* — Wakefield has again employed a similar thought, 
 and with good success. I will transcribe it for this place : 
 
 * When I ask my poor heart every mom 
 (As I rise to salute the new day) 
 
 Why, ah 1 why are you still so forlorn ? 
 
 I now thought ev’ry month would be May. 
 
 Fell ambition, I know, is no more, 
 
 With a struggle that passion grew tame ; 
 
 And our vanities ever give o’er, 
 
 In the moment we sutler for fame. 
 
 And can Love then obtrude on that breast, 
 
 Where dull Care has been quarter’d so long ? 
 
 Do, come tell me, my heart, ’tis a test, 
 
 And by that I can judge if I ’m wrong. 
 
 Why, my vines are all promising fair, 
 
 And my garden each product bestows ; 
 
 Nay, the lake gives fresh health and good air, 
 
 While by labour I merit repose. 
 
 And what then can my poor bosom mean, 
 
 That it languishes thus day by day ? 
 
 Yes, I guess, tho’ I dare not explain, 
 
 Ah, then, tell me, my heart, pr’ythee say. 
 
 “ Why you want to call vineyards your own, 
 
 And to plant on your family ground ; 
 
 Independents alone wear a crown, 
 
 'Tis a kingdom you never have found.” 
 
 Yes, to say that these forests are mine, 
 
 Must be pleasure I cannot express ; 
 
 These my sheep, these my lambs, these mykine, 
 
 'Tis a joy I am still left to guess. 
 
 Yet the day may once come, when, like you, 
 
 I shall find some Maecenas in store, 
 
 But alas ! ’mongst the many, how few 
 Who have feelings like my ! 
 
 Then I’ll seek one no further, but rest 
 All on him whom my fortune has found ! 
 
 Why should I alone doubt being blest, 
 
 When he blesses an universe round ? 
 
 “ What he gives, you may well call your own, 
 
 And enjoy it in freedom’s repose ; 
 
 For it comes as from Pity’s soft throne, 
 
 Heav’n grudges not what she bestows. 
 
 * “ On again referring to the volume, it appears that two other poems 
 from the ‘ Bagatelles ' are there given. It was in the Annual Register for 
 the same year, 1767, that I had seen the Author’s ‘ Dialogue with his Heart.’ 
 
648 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Ah ! then, where can the difference lie? 
 
 For kind Nature is equal to all ; 
 
 Feed your sheep then beneath his kind eye, 
 
 And obey the dear natural call.” 
 
 Yes 1 tho’ Nature but calls me in vain, 
 
 She is ready and fond to obey ; 
 
 For a summons still greater I mean, 
 
 And till then I in banishment stay.’ P. 90. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. Investigator.” 
 
 To J. B. Nichols, Esq. 
 
 “ My DEAR Sir, Hart Street, March, 1823. 
 
 “ Can you answer me this question, — 
 
 “ Who was the author of a 12mo volume of Latin 
 Poems, printed for J. Gray, London, in 1729, under the 
 title of c Umbritii Cantiarii Poemata ? ’ 
 
 “ A Kentish man, of course ; but I find no trace of 
 the person in the preface, nor, as far as I have searched, 
 in the poems.* 
 
 ce They form a volume of 150 pages, very neatly 
 printed. 
 
 “ You may answer the query in the Magazine, if you 
 can, and think proper. 
 
 “ Yours truly, R. Nares. 
 
 “ P.S. I am sorry to learn that my friend Mr. Urban 
 is become nearly blind ; pray give him my compliments.” 
 
 To the Gentlemans Magazine. 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, Nov. 6, 1823. 
 
 ee I must beg your assistance to resist the progress of 
 an error (as I think it) which threatens to become esta- 
 blished in our English literature. It relates to John 
 Chalkhill, author of the poem of f Thealma and Clear- 
 chus/ and of two Songs preserved in WaltoNs ‘ Complete 
 Angler/ An attempt is now made to annihilate the said 
 John, and to transfer the whole merit of his poetry to 
 one who needs no addition to his fair fame, even his 
 friend and editor, Izaak Walton. 
 
 i( Mr. S. W. Singer, who published a very neat reprint 
 of f Thealma/ (1820) at the Chiswick-press, said very 
 modestly, in a short Advertisement, e I have sometimes 
 been inclined to doubt whether Thealma and Clearchus 
 might not be a youthful production of his (Walton’s) 
 own. This is merely a conjecture, but the pastoral feel- 
 
 * See Gent. Mag. 1823, i. 194. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 649 
 
 ing which pervades the poem may give it some colour; 
 and I do think that he had quite enough of the poet’s 
 imagination to have produced it/ 
 
 44 Upon this, an unnamed writer in the 4 Retrospective 
 Review,’ (vol. IV. p. 231,) has founded the following bold 
 assertion. 4 Mr. Singer was the first to question the 
 authenticity of Walton’s statement [concerning the author 
 of the poem], and his researches satisfied him that Chalk- 
 hill was altogether a fictitious personage.’ Unless this 
 statement was drawn from a subsequent declaration of 
 Mr. Singer, the result of further inquiry, it is contradicted 
 by himself in the very Advertisement already quoted. For 
 he there says, of the same poem, 4 it is said to bear marks 
 of being only an unrevised fragment, and this is the only 
 circumstance, if true, that would militate against the sup- 
 position of its having been written by Walton.’ 
 
 Now this circumstance does very strongly militate 
 against it, for that it is a fragment, and not completely 
 revised by its author, is evident; and Walton, who pub- 
 lished it in the last year of his long life, would hardly 
 have left it in that state, used as he was to the exercise 
 of his pen, had it been a juvenile production of his own. 
 Mr. Singer, therefore, does not seem, when he wrote his 
 preface, to have been satisfied by his researches that Wal- 
 ton was the author. But the gentleman who conceived 
 him to be so produces other arguments of his own. — 4 It 
 is not easy to conceive, that a gentleman of his (Chalk- 
 hill’s) taste and talents, who enjoyed the friendship of 
 Spenser (as Walton asserted), should wholly escape the 
 panegyrics or censures of his contemporaries, and the in- 
 dustrious researches of poetical biographers.’ — Observe 
 here, that the industry of such biographers never existed 
 till the eighteenth century. He proceeds, 4 Had he been 
 more than a fictitious personage, honest Izaak would 
 hardly have dismissed him with such a brief and unsatis- 
 factory notice : the narrative old man would have treated 
 us with some of the delightful garrulous details, in which 
 he commemorated so many of his literary friends. The 
 author of Thealma, the friend of Spenser, and a brother 
 angler, certainly deserved, and would have received, a 
 much more ample allowance of biographical gossip. The 
 conclusion appears to us inevitable, that Chalkhill was 
 merely a mere nomme de guerre , like Peter Pindar or Barry 
 Cornwall.’ 
 
650 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 44 The writer then admits some possibility of doubt 
 whether Walton might be the author, but strongly ex- 
 presses his own conviction that he was : a conclusion 
 which he attempts to establish by arguments. 
 
 44 The arguments, however, are specious, and have con- 
 sequently convinced the Editor of a very recent and ele- 
 gant edition of the 4 Complete Angler whether Mr. 
 Major, the publisher, or some friend for him. (P. xlix.) 
 Thus the opinion gains fresh force. Yet it is, probably, 
 quite false. The honest, guileless Izaak, was little likely 
 to publish his own verses under a false name ; which he 
 did thirty years before he sent out 4 Thealma/ if John 
 Chalkhill meant himself ; for the 4 Complete Angler/ 
 where ChalkhilPs two songs are given, was first published 
 in 1655. As unlikely was he to crown such a fiction by a 
 fictitious character of the supposed author, and to assert 
 it for truth. 4 I have also this truth to say of the author, 
 that he was in his time a man generally known and as 
 well beloved ; for he was humble and obliging in his be- 
 haviour, a gentleman, a scholar, very innocent and pru- 
 dent ; and indeed his whole life was useful, quiet, and 
 virtuous. God send the story may meet with, or make 
 all his readers like him/ Could this be Walton writing 
 of a non-entity, or of himself ? 
 
 44 Still more improbable is it (if more can be), that he 
 should so bepraise the poem, if his own ; saying that in 
 it the reader 4 will find many hopes and fears finely 
 painted, and feelingly expressed : 5 and that it 4 will leave 
 in him more sympathising and virtuous impressions than 
 ten times so much time spent in impertinent, critical, and 
 needless disputes about religion/ This from the truly 
 modest and humble Walton, who seemed not to know, or 
 not to think of asserting, his own most undoubted merits ! 
 Impossible ! 
 
 44 But, to quit conjectures, what if the real John Chalk- 
 hill may yet be traced, as I think he may. 
 
 44 In the south cloister of Winchester Cathedral is, or 
 was very lately, a monument to a John Chalkhill, of that 
 very period ; a Fellow of Winchester College, whose cha- 
 racter, as given in the inscription, singularly accords with 
 part of that given by Walton. 
 
 “ 4 H. S. E. 
 
 44 4 Joan. Chalkhill, A.M. hujus Coirii Annos 46 Socius, 
 vir quoad vixit, Solitudine et Silentio, Temperantia et 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 651 
 
 Castitate, Orationibus et Eleemosynis, Contemplatione et 
 Sanctimonia, Ascetis vel primitivis par ; qui cum a par- 
 vulo in regnum coelorum viam fecit, Octogenarius rapuit, 
 20 die Maij, 1679/* 
 
 “ Now as Walton died at Winchester, in the prebendal 
 house of his son-in-law, Dr. Hawkins, which probably he 
 had always been accustomed to visit, so attached was he 
 to his daughter and her husband, he doubtless personally 
 knew and much esteemed this Mr. Chalkhill ; and knew 
 of him all that he has expressed in his eulogy. Nor is 
 it improbable that, in the records of the College at Win- 
 chester, more particulars of him may yet be discovered ; 
 which, if Dr. Nott would kindly examine, he would con- 
 fer an additional favour upon the friends of English lite- 
 rature. 
 
 “ The only objection that I perceive arises from the 
 date (1678), subjoined to Walton’s preface ; that being 
 the year previous to the death of Chalkhill, according to 
 the monument. The probability is, that this date has no 
 reference to the preface, which was most likely to be 
 written near the time of the publication, in 1683. It 
 might, therefore, only mark the time when the poem was 
 put into Walton’s hands by its author; being exactly a 
 year before his death. Be this as it may, I think we have 
 here a memorial of the real John Chalkhill. 
 
 “ I have no wish to deny the poetical powers of Izaak 
 Walton: his verses on the death of Dr. Donne, prove not 
 only that he had them, but that he was not afraid to ex- 
 hibit them with his name. He wrote also, and published, 
 verses addressed to several poets ; to G. Herbert, Alex. 
 Brome, Shirley, Cartwright, and a few lines to be sub- 
 joined to the portrait of Donne. I think it also most 
 probable that he wrote some of the anonymous songs in 
 his Angler. But let him not be made answerable for a 
 poem which he did not write ; and for artifices of fiction, 
 which he surely would have considered as nothing less 
 than dishonest. Nor let a real man be annihilated, of 
 whom more, perhaps, may yet be discovered. N/’f 
 
 * “ On the authority of a History of Winchester Cathedral, 2 vols. 12mo. 
 published in 1773, and often, though erroneously, attributed to Thos. War- 
 ton, who published only a single small volume on that subject. ” — See 
 Drake’s Shakspere, vol. I. p. 607, who refutes Nares’s idea that John Chalk- 
 hill, Fellow of Worcester College, was the poet.' — J. M. 
 
 t This letter seems to have settled the question. See a letter of Mr. J ohn 
 Major, in the same volume, p. 493. 
 
652 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 To J. B. Nichols., Esq. 
 
 Ci DEAR Sir, Hart Street, Nov. 11, 1823. 
 
 “ I sent you a paper lately on John Chalkhill, * * * § which 
 I hope you like, and will insert in your next, for I am 
 impatient to contradict those who want to annihilate him. 
 
 “ Can you help me to a copy of vol. V. of Atterbury’s 
 Correspondence. I have the four from the collection of 
 my friend the late good Dean of Westminster, and did 
 not know that a fifth had appeared till very lately. Of 
 course I have much desire to obtain it, and if you can 
 help me to it you will do me a great favour. 
 
 “ My best regards attend Mr. Nichols, Sen. and J re- 
 main faithfully yours, R. Nares.” 
 
 et Dear Sir, Nov. u, 1823. 
 
 “ I thank you for sending the proof, f I have corrected 
 some oversights of my own occasioned by hasty writing. 
 Your press was very correct. 
 
 “ I leave now an article for your Review, if you will 
 accept it. J 
 
 “ Yours truly, R. Nares. 
 
 “ P.S. I am sorry the 5th of Atterbury is so difficult 
 to be procured.” 
 
 To Rev. Richard Polwhele. 
 
 <e My DEAR Sir, Lichfield, April 5, 1824. 
 
 “ I will begin with good news, by telling you that on 
 my arrival here, I find our friend Bailye § in the highest 
 health. He is creating a villa within two miles of this 
 city — it is a beautiful spot — which occupation gives him 
 amusement, exercise, air, and does him the greatest good 
 imaginable. Mrs. Nares walked with me to the place this 
 morning, and found him there, full of his improvements 
 executed and projected. Nothing could be more pros- 
 perous. This is the man whom report dared to kill ! 
 
 ee The remainder of my communication will not be so 
 pleasant ; for I must awaken you from your golden dream 
 
 * The preceding communication. 
 
 f Of the preceding article on Chalkhill. 
 
 J Of Gleig’s Letter to Sir Edward Knatchbull. See Gent. Mag. Nov. 
 1823, p. 446. 
 
 § The Rev. Hugh Bailye, Canon of Lichfield, died June 9th, 1833. See 
 Gent. Mag. vol. CIII. ii. 89, and thirty-eight letters of his to Mr. Polwhe e 
 in the same volume, pp. 101, 231, 411. See also other letters in Polwhele s 
 “ Reminiscences,” i. 101, 131. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 653 
 
 of one hundred guineas per annum, to tell you the truth, 
 that your appointment at the Royal Society of Literature 
 gives you honour only, for the present at least. 
 
 “ The Honorary Associates form the class from which 
 the Royal Associates, under patronage, must be elected. 
 Their number is indefinite ; but the others are at present 
 limited to ten, which number is now full. The names 
 of the persons chosen you will probably have seen in the 
 papers. They are men of literary merit, whose circum- 
 stances require assistance. When the Society grows rich, 
 should it do so, the intention is to have more Associates of 
 the first class, under the patronage of the Society. But 
 at present there are none, except those endowed by the 
 munificence of his Majesty, our Founder. No access to 
 this class, therefore, can be had but by means of vacancies 
 made by death or resignation, which latter is not likely to 
 happen. The election of these is vested in the Council 
 of the Society. 
 
 “ I am happy to say that the Society prospers well, con- 
 sidering that it is only in the first year of its establishment. 
 The first anniversary will be on the 29th of this month. 
 
 “ I shall send this under cover to Mr. Davies Gilbert, 
 who will doubtless forward it to you with the first oppor- 
 tunity. I remain, dear Sir, very much yours, 
 
 u Robert Narks/’ 
 
 “ My DEAR Sir, Dawlish, Sept. 10, 1824. 
 
 # * # * * 
 
 “ You have done me a very unexpected honour in 
 addressing a Poetical Epistle to me ; * but it will be some 
 time yet before I can estimate the value of the compliment, 
 as we are returning home at a very slow pace. I doubt 
 not, however, that the production will prove worthy of 
 you, and much more than worthy of me. 
 
 “ Our worthy President, the Bishop of St. David’s, f is 
 much more able to forward your Epistle to his Majesty, 
 if he will undertake it. My own book (Glossary) was 
 dedicated to his Majesty through the intervention of a 
 friend; but I gained no approach in consequence. 
 
 “ Yours very much, Robert Nares.” 
 
 * “ An Epistle to Archdeacon Nares, 4to. 1824.” 
 
 t Dr. Burgess, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury. He died Feb. 19th, 1837. 
 See Literary Anecdotes, VII. 55, 524 ; and a memoir of him in Gent. Mag. 
 New Series, vol. VII. p. 538. 
 
654 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 To J. B. Nichols, Esq. 
 
 “My DEAR Sir, Hart Street, Dec. 11, 1824. 
 
 “ I send, for your Review, an account of a new trans- 
 lation of Terence,* by a friend and contemporary of mine 
 at Westminster. I hope you will give it an early place, 
 and will favour me with three or four copies, on slips, 
 when printed off. 
 
 “ Yours, very truly, R. Nares.” 
 
 Mr. Archdeacon Nares to the Editor of the 
 Gentleman’s Magazine^ 
 
 “ Sir, Oct. 14, 1825. 
 
 “ Affectation and ignorance are always at work to cor- 
 rupt language ; and even when it has been raised to a 
 good standard of purity, by the writings of men of genius 
 and learning, the same perverse agents are still at work to 
 introduce innovations or alterations. These spurious ad- 
 ditions afford the first symptom of the decline of any lan- 
 guage from purity, and ought to be watched and resisted. 
 There is no power so likely to effect this purpose as the 
 influence of periodical publications, among which the 
 Gentleman’s Magazine has long, very long, maintained a 
 most respectable situation. 
 
 The affected term isolated was long ago strenuously 
 opposed by a writer in the British Critic, as may be seen 
 in Todd’s Edition of Johnson’s Dictionary ; but the critic, 
 whoever he was, did not recollect that Warburton had in- 
 troduced it, as Todd proves by a quotation. Warburton, 
 however, with all his power of mind, was far from writing 
 a pure style ; nor, if Lord Chesterfield be proved also to 
 have used it, can that sufficiently defend the term, or its 
 cognate verb to isolate. Mr. Todd, therefore, unites with 
 the anonymous critic in condemning it as a most affected 
 word. Nevertheless, though the British Critic pro- 
 nounced that it was not English, and hoped that it never 
 would be, it is much to be feared that, at the present day 
 it is nearly, if not quite, established. So difficult is it 
 to resist injudicious innovation. 
 
 Against another spurious word, you, Mr. Urban, must 
 assist in defending us. This is the word compete ; which, 
 
 * “ Six Comedies of Terence ; translated by the Rev. G. Sackville Cotter, 
 M.A. formerly Captain of Westminster School, and an actor in three of the 
 Comedies.” 8vo. See the Review in Gent. Mag. Dec. 1824, p. 542. 
 
 f By some accident this letter never appeared in the Magazine. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 655 
 
 though it is not defended by a single quotation in the 
 latest edition of Johnson, nor even admitted at all, is now 
 thrusting itself into notice in almost every new publica- 
 tion. The writers, I presume, consider it as an improve- 
 ment, or as a novel elegance ; but, as the language flou- 
 rished to our days without it, we surely may reject the 
 stranger. I think, but cannot prove, that it was first in- 
 troduced from North Britain. I have remarked the fol- 
 lowing instances in very modern works. First in the 
 Retrospective Review (a very excellent publication), 
 vol. VII. p. 71- f The man who could make a brazen 
 head speak, might surely compete with the author of the 
 milk of roses/ Again, in the new edition of Cibber’s 
 Apology, by Mr. Bedchambers, p. 272, ‘This Harper 
 was a just and spirited comedian, who had the honour to 
 compete with Quin in Falstaff.’ Thirdly, in the Classical 
 Journal for June, 1825, p. 255, ‘ In grace and polish of 
 manner, few of the later Roman writers can compete with 
 him’ [Calphurnius.] 
 
 “ Now I contend that all these passages might be 
 better expressed without this unauthorised, un-English, 
 word. 
 
 “ So much for affectation. But it required the aid of 
 ignorance so to misapply a word, as the substantive avo- 
 cation is now continually misused. ‘ An avocation, pro- 
 perly speaking, is that which calls a person off from his 
 regular and chief occupation, or vocation .’ It is correctly 
 so distinguished in the letters of that very superior 
 woman, Lady Hervey. ‘ But my occupations and avoca- 
 tions have lately been so many that I have not had time,’ 
 &c. Letter xxxi. p. 79. I n the fragments of poor Ii. 
 Bloomfield’s writings, called his Remains, we have a 
 strong instance of the improper use: ‘Man neglects his 
 proper avocation, agriculture, to go in search of black 
 eyes and bloody noses, commonly called military glory,’ 
 vol. ii. p. 52. But Bloomfield is not answerable for this, 
 as he quotes it from an obscure journal, the Publicans’ 
 Newspaper. But in the best reputed journals of the pre- 
 sent day the same ignorant misapplication of the term 
 may continually be seen. Why is this ? Simply because 
 avocation is a fine sounding word, much more shewy than 
 business, employment, &c. But if a man’s regular call- 
 ing is to be termed his avocation, I would ask from what 
 it calls him off? Yet such is the etymological and neces- 
 
656 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 sary meaning of the word (composed of a from, and 
 voco to call), that common sense requires it only to be 
 used when there is a calling away from something that 
 would otherwise be done. 
 
 “ PriscianJ’ 
 
 Mr. URBAN, Bloomsbury, March 30, 1826. 
 
 “ A very neat edition (being the sixth) of the exquisite 
 ‘ Poemata * of Yinny Bourne, as Cowper affectionately 
 calls him, has very recently issued from an Oxford press ; 
 concerning which I only regret that I had not known the 
 editor and his intentions before the book appeared. I 
 could have pointed out a few of the poems which were 
 inadvertently inserted in the quarto edition of 1772, 
 though not productions of Bourne; and I could have 
 assigned them to the real authors. These notices I 
 obtained on the authority of the venerable Dr. Lloyd, so 
 long under-master of Westminster School, communicated 
 to me by the late excellent Dean of Westminster, Dr. 
 Vincent.’ I could also have furnished, from the same in- 
 telligence, an Epilogue to ‘ Terence’s Eunuch,’ spoken at 
 Westminster in 1746' ; and pointed out another Epilogue, 
 spoken after the e Phormio/ which is printed in Popham’s 
 e Selecta Poemata Anglorum ’ (vol. III. p. 9), but there 
 erroneously called a Prologue. Either or both of these I 
 will take an opportunity of sending to you, if you should 
 wish to have them.* They will then be ready for any 
 future edition, or may be added to this, on an additional 
 half sheet ; which, as there is already an Appendix of two 
 leaves, may very easily be done. 
 
 “ One of the poems, entitled f Ad Tempus’ (p. 196), is 
 the property of Dr. Jortin, and appears in his 4 Tracts/ 
 vol. I. p. 14. The first stanza is different, and there are 
 some omissions, but the composition in general is Jortin’s. 
 This was not nr the original editions of Bourne, but in- 
 troduced by the editor of the quarto (whoever he was), as 
 well as the other erroneous insertions. Another poem 
 entitled e Votum/ (p. 275) is also the property of Jortin, 
 and is printed in his f Tracts/ vol. I. p. 9. This and the 
 former were both published by Jortin, in his ‘Lusus 
 Poetici.’ These things, therefore, should be set right. 
 
 * Vincent Bourne’s “ Epilogus in Eunuchum Terentii 1746, is printed in 
 Gent. Mag. 1826, i. 450 ; and the “ Epilogus in Phormionem ” in 1826, n. 
 231. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 657 
 
 Bourne is rich enough in his own compositions to have 
 no need of borrowing. The few others falselv attributed 
 to him were written, I think, by contemporary West- 
 minsters ; whose names are noted in my copy, from Dr. 
 Lloyd’s information. 
 
 “ The new edition seems to be copied exactly from the 
 quarto, except that two very admirable Letters, which 
 there stand at the end, are here very properly prefixed, 
 preceded only by such a sketch of the author’s life as 
 the very scanty materials now to be obtained, enabled the 
 editor to supply. 
 
 si/ vL» «]/ Mr 
 
 ■'p 
 
 “ Aug 20, 1826. 
 
 “ I am, however, inclined to think that a great part of 
 “ Epilogus in Phormionem”* is wanting; and that we have 
 here only the beginning, and the final couplet. It was never 
 the custom to have Epilogues so very short : and there is 
 little in this, as it stands here, worthy the pen of Bourne. 
 
 “ Of the poems falsely ascribed to Bourne, in the 4to. 
 of 1772, that In Miltonum, p. 46, was written by Peter 
 Keith, who acted Dorothea in Ignoramus, at West- 
 minster, in 1730. 
 
 “ Rationes Boni et Mali, & c. p. 209, were by Hill ; 
 probably Joshua Hill, elected to Oxford in 1738, with 
 Abp. Markham. 
 
 “ Ad Tempus, p. 224, by Jortin. 
 
 “ Camera obscura, p. 246, by George, of whom I 
 
 know nothing more. 
 
 “ Laterna Megalographica, p. 270, by Walter Titley, 
 who afterwards left exhibitions to the School. 
 
 “ Sonus propagatur per Aera, p. 274, by Dr. Caleb 
 Hardinge, younger brother of Nicholas Hardinge, of 
 whom see Nichols, Lit. Anec. vol. V. p. 338. 
 
 “ In obitum Decani Aldrich, p, 286, by John Wigan, 
 elected to Oxford in 1714, the same year that Vincent 
 Bourne went to Cambridge. 
 
 “ Votum, p. 314, by Jortin. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. R. N.” 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, Lichfield Close, Aug. 16, 1826. 
 
 “ I need not relate to you the History of James Elphin- 
 ston, the learned schoolmaster, whose forty years’ corre- 
 spondence with various eminent persons, Dr. Johnson 
 
 * See Gent. Mag. 1826, ii. 231. 
 
 2 u 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
658 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 among the rest, was published in six volumes 12mo. in 
 1791. He formed a new system of spelling, in hopes of 
 making it agree with the sound, which certainly it does 
 not at present. But the form of his orthography, or 
 pseudography, was so disgusting and unintelligible, that 
 it gained no favour, though recommended by the author 
 in various elaborate volumes, and his correspondence 
 remains as unknown to the world in general as if printed 
 in a barbarous language. It is all printed according to 
 his system, and is really unintelligible, without some 
 study. But the six volumes contain many things of 
 value. Four only, in fact, are correspondence ; the fifth 
 and sixth consist of poetry, English and Latin, by Mr. 
 Elphinston and his friends. It is a relief when we come 
 to the Latin, for that is printed as usual ; but the English 
 is a perpetual puzzle. It is Greek to the generality. 
 
 “ The sixth volume opens with a poem in four books ; 
 the subject is education, which the author had studied 
 theoretically and practically ; and I think you will ac- 
 knowledge, from the specimen I subjoin (translated into 
 current English), that it is neither ill-conceived nor ill 
 versified. 
 
 Education. Book I. 
 
 Of all the arts that honour human-kind, 
 
 The first must be the culture of the mind ; 
 
 And of the subjects that our care employ, 
 
 The most momentous is the rising boy. 
 
 How then to form the infant head and heart, 
 
 To mould the outward with the inward part ; 
 
 To trace young genius from its latent springs, 
 
 T’ explore what each denies, and what it brings ; 
 T’ improve the powers, as Nature bids them play, 
 To make the passions own bland Reason’s sway ; 
 To rear the child to youth, the youth to man, 
 
 Be my advent’rous theme.* Behold the plan, 
 
 On which I form’d the great of ev'ry age, 
 
 Inspir’d the hero, and illum’d the sage ; 
 
 On which a Samuel or a Cyrus rose ; 
 
 Whence ev’ry art, and ev’ry science flows ; 
 
 Paths which the sons of wisdom still have trod. 
 Hail, paths thrice honour’d by the Son of God ! 
 Great Sire of all ! send thy blest daughter down, 
 My mighty parent, and my sole renown, 
 
 Wisdom ; my system and my song to guide, 
 
 And o’er Psedia’s ev’ry son preside. 
 
 The natal day begins Tuition’s plan : 
 
 For the first miniature commences man. 
 
 As from the cradle joy and sorrow flow, 
 
 Much to the tut’ress must the tutor owe : 
 
 * Psedia, or Education, is the speaker. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 659 
 
 Nay much, ye maids, it boots how first ye bind ; 
 
 And much, ye nurses, how ye mould the mind. 
 
 Health the first care commands ; avoid excess 
 Of heat or cold, of aliment or dress. 
 
 But, O ye parents, save your charming boy, 
 
 For yours it is to save or to destroy. 
 
 Ye tender dames will ne’er deny the food 
 That ev’ry dam dispenses to her brood. 
 
 Shall instinct teach the parents’ part to play, 
 
 And reason God and nature disobey ? 
 
 Has Nature pour’d her own nectareous tide 
 But to sustain your pleasure or your pride ? 
 
 Or can she substitute a foreign flood, 
 
 To mingle noblest with ignoblest blood ? 
 
 To form a changeling, or, in part or whole, 
 
 A tainted body, and a sordid soul ? 
 
 Health, trust me fair, attends on duty’s call, 
 
 ’Tis Nature’s rebel that is languor’s thrall. 
 
 But come, ye blest, ye real mothers, say, 
 
 When on the milky mount the suckling lay, 
 
 When your fond arms inclos’d the smiling boy, 
 
 Did e’er your bosoms beat with such a joy ? 
 
 Did ever Beauty’s self appear so bright, 
 
 Or Modesty afford so fine a sight ? 
 
 Did e’er the Virgin blush in higher charms. 
 
 . Than with her Son and Saviour in her arms ? 
 
 (< Thus much for a specimen. More another time, if 
 you wish it, from Yours &c. R. N.” 
 
 To J. B. Nichols, Esq. 
 
 te My DEAR Sir, Hart Street, Dec. 4, 1826. 
 
 e( Your worthy father lived so long, in so general es- 
 teem and respect, that, making all allowance for the feel- 
 ings of a good son, I cannot but think it a subject for 
 your gratitude to the Almighty, that his departure hence 
 was attended with so little of previous suffering or 
 anxiety. 
 
 “ Wishing you spirits to renew all your pursuits, and 
 success in them, I remain very faithfully yours, &c. 
 
 “ R. Nares/’ 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Feb. 19, 1827. 
 
 “ It may be of use to get the inclosed into the next 
 Magazine, if it can be done with convenience. 
 
 “ Yours truly, R. Nares.” 
 
 “ Mr. Urban, Feb. 20, 1827. 
 
 “ The Rev. Joseph Blanco White, first known to the 
 British public by his allusive names of Leucadio Doblado, 
 prefixed to his valuable Letters on Spain, has since been 
 
 2 u 2 
 
660 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 indefatigable in his endeavours to guard his adopted 
 country (the country of his ancestors) from the snares 
 and tyranny of Popery. In his ‘ Practical and internal 
 Evidence against Catholicism/* after describing the 
 struggles and fluctuations of his own mind, in his perilous 
 transition from inculcated error to discovered truth, he 
 addressed the impartial among his former brethren, on 
 the errors and abuses of their Church. In a tract of still 
 more extensive utility, he has since addressed a warning 
 to the lower classes of this country ;f thereby demon- 
 strating not only the sincerity but the disinterested cha- 
 racter of his zeal for truth . X But it is not for the sake of 
 eulogising that excellent man, much as he deserves eulogy, 
 that I now take up the pen, but to revive the knowledge 
 of a similar case, which occurred a century ago. 
 
 “ About the year 1714, a Spanish priest, whose name 
 was Antonio Gavin, being disgusted with the superstitions 
 in which he had been educated, escaped to England in 
 the disguise of an officer. He had been a secular priest 
 in the city of Saragossa, and was there known as such to 
 Lord Stanhope, and other English gentlemen. Arrived 
 in London, and understanding that our Church would re- 
 ceive him, if his claim to orders in his own church could 
 be established, and the sincerity of his conversion evinced, 
 he applied to the Bishop of London for that purpose. 
 
 * “ Reviewed in Gent. Mag. vol. XCII. ii. p. 446. 
 
 f “ Entitled ‘ The Poor Man’s Preservative against Popery.’ 
 
 J “ Having given away the copyright. — A hint or two on the subject of 
 what is called the Catholic Question, I cannot refrain from copying from this 
 tract. — ‘ There is indeed no reason for either fear or suspicion, with regard 
 to the Roman Catholics of these kingdoms, as long as both the Government 
 and the Parliament remain purely Protestant ; but I would not answer for 
 the consequences, if the Pope, through his priests, could obtain an under- 
 hand influence in either.’ P.8. 
 
 “ * Had I a voice that could be heard from north to south, and from 
 east to west, in these islands, I would use it to warn every Protestant 
 against the wiles of Rome; wiles and arts, indeed, of so subtle and dis- 
 guised a nature, that I feel assured many of the freeborn Britons who are 
 made the instruments and promoters of them, do not so much as dream of 
 the snare into which they are trying to decoy their countrymen. Such as 
 believe that Popery, if allowed to interfere with the laws of England, would 
 not most steadily aim at the ruin of Protestantism, even at the plain risk 
 of spreading the most rank infidelity, should be sent to learn the character 
 of that religion where it prevails uncontrolled ; where I have learnt it 
 during five and twenty years in sincere submission, and for ten in secret 
 rebellion.’ P. 26. 
 
 “ I have been told, and it is not improbable, that in some places endea- 
 vours have been made to persuade the common people that no such man 
 as Blanco White exists, and that the whole is a mere fabrication.” 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 661 
 
 Some temporary difficulty arose from the want of his let- 
 ters of orders, which the fear of being detected in his 
 flight had obliged him to leave behind. But Robinson, 
 then Bishop of London, being convinced of the fact, by 
 the testimony laid before him, accepted his renunciation 
 of Popery, and reconciled him to the Church of England; 
 giving him full licence to exercise the functions of a priest 
 in his diocese. The Bishop^s licence is given at large in 
 one of his publications, and is thus expressed : 
 
 Licence. 
 
 “ ‘ Whereas the Rev. Mr. Antony Gavin was recom- 
 mended to me by the Right Honourable Lord Stanhope, 
 and by the same and other English gentlemen I was certi- 
 fied that the said Rev. Mr. Gavin was a secular Priest, and 
 Master of Arts in the University of the city of Zaragosa, 
 in the kingdom of Arragon in Spain, and that they knew 
 him in the said city, and conversed with him several 
 times ; This is to certify, that the said Rev. Mr. Gavin, 
 after having publicly and solemnly abjured the errors of 
 the Romish Religon, and being thereupon reconciled to 
 the Church of England, on the third day of January, 
 1715-16, he had then my leave to officiate, in the Spanish 
 language, in the Chapel of Queeifls-square, Westminster; 
 and being now appointed Chaplain of his Majesty^s ship 
 the Preston, has my licence to preach in English, and to 
 administer the Sacraments at home and abroad, in all the 
 churches and chapels of my diocese. 
 
 “ ‘ Given under my hand in London the 13th of July, 
 
 1720. 
 
 (Signed) John London/ 
 
 “Thus, between the years 1715 and 1720, Gavin had 
 so studied the English language, that he was then com- 
 petent to officiate or preach in it, and to obtain the ap- 
 pointment of a chaplain in the British fleet. In the mean 
 time he had published a Sermon in the Spanish language 
 (in 17 16), which he had preached in London, and dedi- 
 cated it to his patron Lord Stanhope. This Sermon is 
 still extant in the British Museum. 
 
 “ But a few years later he proved himself able to write a 
 considerable work in English ; for in 1725 he published a 
 curious and important book, under the title of “ A Mas- 
 ter-key to Popery/ which contains the fullest exposure of 
 
662 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the errors and practices which had disgusted him in the 
 religion of Spain. It was followed by two other volumes 
 in the ensuing year, pursuing the same subject. A fourth 
 was promised, but does not seem to have appeared. 
 Either the author died or the booksellers found that the 
 public curiosity on the subject was satisfied for the time. 
 The three volumes, however, were published in 1726, in 
 a French translation, by a M. Janiijon. The work, how- 
 ever, was so much noticed, that it proceeded rapidly to 
 a third edition, each volume being dedicated to some great 
 person; to the Princess of Wales, to Lord Carteret, and 
 to the Archbishop of Armagh. 
 
 “ To the first edition Gavin prefixed a tolerably ample 
 preface, giving an account of himself, not so interesting, 
 but apparently not less honest than that of his country- 
 man who has lately followed his steps. This preface is 
 preserved in the French translation, and was perhaps in 
 the second edition ; but is omitted in the third, which is 
 that in my hands. The first is in the British Museum. 
 The further account given by Gavin of himself, after hav- 
 ing been chaplain in the Preston, is thus stated : 
 
 (i ‘ The ship being put out of commission, and my 
 Lord Stanhope being in Hanover with the King, I came 
 over to Ireland, on the importunity of a friend, with a 
 design to stay here till my Lord’s return to England. 
 But while I was thinking of going over again, I heard of 
 my Lord’s death, and having in him lost my best patron, 
 I resolved to try in this kingdom w r h ether I could find a 
 settlement. After a few days, by the favour of his Grace 
 the Lord Archbishop of Cashel, and the Rev. Dr. Per- 
 cival, I got the curacy of Gowran, on which I resided 
 almost eleven months, by the licence of the Lord Bishop 
 of Ossory ; who afterwards, upon my going to Cork, gave 
 me his letters dimissory.’ Pref. p. vi. 
 
 “ It appears that he continued some time at Cork, be- 
 yond which I -have not found any traces of him. It is 
 probable that there he died. But his books still live, and 
 may be consulted by the curious without difficulty. They 
 contain most horrible narratives, the truth of which 
 will perhaps be denied by those who are interested to 
 deny them ; but which agree too well with many concur- 
 ring testimonies, to be doubted by those whose minds are 
 open to fair evidence. That the writer was a man worthy 
 to be believed, there is every appearance, in what we 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 663 
 
 know of his story ; and though he was evidently a man of 
 less talents and accomplishments than Mr. Blanco White, 
 I see no reason to suspect that he was less sincere in his 
 conversion, or less veracious in his narratives. Let others 
 judge for themselves. The similarity of the two cases in 
 many striking particulars induced me to recal to notice 
 the almost forgotten Gavin, and to point out his Master- 
 key as that which will unlock as much horror and abomi- 
 nation as that which opened the secret chamber of the 
 formidable Blue-beard. 
 
 “ Wicliffe.” 
 
 ( The same subject continued.) 
 ee Mr. Urban, 
 
 “ Some time ago I sent you an account of the Rev. 
 Anthony Gavin, a volunteer convert to the Protestant 
 faith, of the same class (though not so distinguished by 
 learning and abilities) as Mr. Blanco While. I should be 
 sorry to have him forgotten again. For his book, entitled 
 4 A Master-Key to Popery/ in 3 vols. 12mo. really deserves 
 its name ; and is an excellent Manual for Protestants, at 
 this time, when so much fallacy is employed, so many 
 jesuitical arts practised, to conceal the real deformities of 
 that lamentably corrupt Christianity, which pretends to 
 be the Catholic Church. 
 
 “ Among other matters which his book contains, well 
 worthy of notice, is his demonstration against that grand 
 instrument of priestly avarice, Purgatory. Gavin denies, 
 with other Protestants, and on the same grounds, the ex- 
 istence of such a place of torment. But he reminds Pro- 
 testants that it is no place for them. No, it is a peculiar 
 favour granted to Catholics ! All heretics (among whom 
 we are the chief) and unbelievers, go straight to hell, 
 without the resting place appointed for Catholics, from 
 which prayers and money, or rather money and prayers, 
 may release them. Yet to crown the absurdity, as well 
 as falsehood of the thing, he shows, from the representa- 
 tion of the Popes themselves, that, however much purga- 
 tory may exist, it must be an empty space ; there cannot 
 be one soul in it. None go there but Roman Catholics, 
 and for them so many days of pardon exist, so many in- 
 dulgences are granted by the Popes, on various occasions, 
 that it is not possible for any soul to be left there ! His 
 
664 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 mode of calculating this is curious, but very conclusive ; 
 because he makes the amplest allowance for every thing 
 that can be stated against him.* 
 
 “ Having given these proofs, he thus winds up his ar- 
 gument : 
 
 “ ‘ So we may safely conclude, and with a Christian 
 conscience say, that, if there is such a place as 'purgatory , 
 it must be an empty place ; or that it is impossible to find 
 there any souls ; or that the Roman Catholics take every 
 year more souls out of it than can go into it : all which 
 being against the evidence of natural reason and compu- 
 tation made, it is a dream, fiction,’ &c. 
 
 “ He expresses himself awkwardly, but his meaning is 
 clear enough, and his demonstration undeniably sound. 
 
 “ On the subject of the worship of the Virgin, and 
 other Saints, &c. he is very luminous. But, in fact, how 
 do the Roman Catholics know that any one of these per- 
 sons can hear their prayers; or make intercession for 
 them, if they did hear ? We do not know that any one of 
 them is yet in heaven. Christ and his Apostles speak of 
 one general day of judgment, when all shall appear before 
 him. Yet their doctrine supposes that these multitudes 
 of real or imaginary saints are already judged, and in the 
 full enjoyment of their reward. On the Virgin, indeed, 
 (of whose reception into heaven they have no evidence, 
 except their own fable of her Assumption), on her, I say, 
 they rely more than on Christ ; since they apply to her 
 (too often) as having the influence and even authority of 
 a mother over her son ! What is this but ‘ a strong delu- 
 sion,’ leading them f to believe a lie ? * 
 
 “ WlCLIFFE.’ 5 
 
 The Rev. J. Blanco White. 
 
 The Rev. J. Blanco White, mentioned by Archdeacon 
 Nares in the preceding letter, died May 20, 1811, and the 
 following memoir of him appeared in the number for 
 August : 
 
 “ May 20. Died at Greenbank, Liverpool, at the house 
 of W. Rathbone, esq. in his 6‘7th year, the Rev. Joseph 
 Blanco White, B.D. and M.A. the author of Doblado s 
 Letters, &c. 
 
 * See p. 103 of vol. I. 3d edit. 
 
REV. J. BLANCO WHITE. 
 
 665 
 
 “ From the preface to this gentleman’s c Evidence 
 against Catholicism/ we derive the following autobiogra- 
 phical details : 
 
 “ ‘ I am descended from an Irish family, whose attach- 
 ment to the Roman Catholic religion was often proved 
 by their endurance of the persecution which for a long 
 period afflicted the members of their persuasion in Ire- 
 land. My grandfather was the eldest of three brothers, 
 whose voluntary banishment from their native land rooted 
 out my family from the county of Waterford. A consi- 
 derable fortune enabled my ancestor to settle at Seville, 
 where he was inscribed on the roll of the privileged 
 gentry, and carried on extensive business as a merchant. 
 
 “ ‘ My father was the first of his kindred that married 
 into a Spanish family, and his early habits of exalted 
 piety made him choose a wife whom few can equal in reli- 
 gious sincerity. 
 
 “ At the age of fourteen, all the seeds of devotion, 
 which had been assiduously sown in my heart, sprung up 
 as it were spontaneously. The pious practices, which 
 had hitherto been a task, were now the effect of my own 
 choice. I became a constant attendant of the Congrega- 
 tion of the Oratory, where pious young men, intended for 
 the church, generally had their spiritual directors. Di- 
 viding my time between study and devotion, I went 
 through a course of philosophy and divinity at the univer- 
 sity of Seville ; at the end of which I received the Roman 
 Catholic order of Subdeacon. By that time I had ob- 
 tained the degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of 
 Divinity. Being elected a Fellow of the College of St. 
 Mary a Jesu of Seville, when I was not of sufficient stand- 
 ing for the superior degree of Licentiate of Divinity, which 
 the fellowship required, I took that degree at Osuna, 
 where the statutes demand no interval between these aca- 
 demical honours. A year had scarcely elapsed since I 
 received priest’s orders, when, after a public examination, 
 in competition with other candidates, I obtained the stall 
 of Magistral , or Preacher, in the chapter of King’s Chap- 
 lains, at Seville. Placed so young in a situation which 
 m y predecessor had obtained after many years’ service as 
 a vicar, in the same town, I conceived myself bound to 
 devote my whole leisure to the study of religion. I need 
 not say that I was fully conversant with the system of 
 Catholic divinity ; for I owed my preferment to a public 
 
665 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 display of theological knowledge ; yet I wished to become 
 acquainted with all kinds of works which might increase 
 and perfect that knowledge. 
 
 “ My religious belief had hitherto been undisturbed ; 
 but light clouds of doubt began now to pass over my 
 mind, which the warmth of devotion soon dissipated, yet 
 they would gather again and again with an increased dark- 
 ness, which prayer could scarcely dispel. That immo- 
 rality and levity are always the source of unbelief, the ex- 
 perience of my own case, and my intimate acquaintance 
 with many others, enable me most positively to deny ; as 
 to myself, I declare most solemnly that my rejection of 
 Christianity took place at a period when my conscience 
 could not reproach me with any open breach of duty but 
 those committed several years before : that during the 
 transition from religious belief to incredulity, the horror 
 of sins against the faith deeply implanted by education 
 in my soul, haunted me night and day ; and that I exerted 
 all the powers of my mind to counteract the involuntary 
 doubts which were daily acquiring an irresistible strength. 
 In this distress I brought to remembrance all my argu- 
 ments for the truth of the Christian Religion, which I 
 had studied in the French Apologists ; I read other works 
 of the same kind ; and having to preach to the Royal 
 brigade of Carabineers who came to worship the body of 
 St. Ferdinand, preserved in the King’s Chapel, I chose 
 the subject of Infidelity, on which I delivered an elaborate 
 discourse (which was published at Seville, at the expense 
 of the brigade). But the fatal crisis was at hand. At 
 the end of the year from the preaching of this sermon, 
 — the confession is painful, indeed, yet due to Religion 
 itself, — I was bordering on Atheism.’ 
 
 “ The writer continues his affecting narrative with a 
 picture of a mind struggling in the toils of infidelity, yet 
 discharging his ministerial functions, with no choice in 
 his own country but death or hypocrisy ; — desirous of 
 flying from both, yet restrained by his affection for his 
 parents. Ten years were passed in this insufferable state, 
 till the approach of the French troops to Seville enabled 
 him to tear himself from this mental bondage, though at 
 the heavy cost of quitting for ever his country and all that 
 he loved. He found an asylum in England ; and he pro- 
 ceeds with candour to relate the changes which operated 
 upon his mind since his residence among us. The perusal 
 
REV. J. BLANCO WHITE. 
 
 667 
 
 of Paley’s Natural Theology appears to have rescued him 
 from an atheistical bias ; and he states, ‘ I had so long 
 wandered from the Roman fold, that, when approaching 
 the Church of England, both the absence of what had 
 driven me from Catholicism, and the existence of all the 
 other parts of that system, made me feel as if I were re- 
 turning to the repaired home of my youth.’ 
 
 “ In 1814, Mr. White subscribed the Articles of the 
 Church of England, and he 4 retired to Oxford, not to 
 procure admission into the university, but to live privately 
 in that great seat of learning, devoting my time exclu- 
 sively to the study of the Scriptures. I had resided a 
 year in that place, when an English nobleman [we believe 
 Lord Holland], who since he knew me in Spain has ever 
 honoured me with his friendship, gave me the highest 
 proof of his esteem by inviting me to become tutor to his 
 son. I accepted the charge, which I discharged for two 
 years to the best of my power. 
 
 “ ‘ When I quitted my charge as tutor, I had begun a 
 series of short lectures on religion, the first part of which 
 I delivered to the young members of the family.’ They 
 were published at Oxford in 1817, with the title of 4 Pre- 
 paratory Observations on the Study of Religion, by a 
 Clergyman of the Church of England.’ 
 
 “ In the same preface Mr. White relates his subse- 
 quent inclination towards' Unitarianism, but which he at 
 that time found 4 a mighty work to little purpose ; ’ and 
 he adds that the work which mainly contributed to put 
 an end to his trial, was Sumner’s (the present Bishop of 
 Chester) Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 44 Mr. Blanco White became first distinguished as an 
 author in this country by the publication of his 4 Letters 
 from Spain,’ under the assumed name of Don Leucadio 
 Doblado ; a review of which will be seen in the Gentle- 
 man’s Magazine for Nov. 1822, p. 446. 
 
 44 In 1825 he published his 4 Practical and Internal 
 Evidence against Catholicism, with occasional Strictures 
 on Mr. Butler’s Book of the Roman Catholic Church,’ 
 8vo. and in the same year 4 The Poor Man’s Preservative 
 against Popery,’ 12 mo. 
 
 44 In 1 826 the degree of Master of Arts was conferred 
 upon him, by diploma, by the University of Oxford, 4 in 
 consideration of his eminent talents and learning; but 
 more especially on account of those able and well-timed 
 
668 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 publications, by which he has powerfully exposed the 
 errors of the Church of Rome.’ 
 
 “ He subsequently published A Letter to Protestants 
 converted from Romanism. Oxford, 1827. 8vo, 
 
 “ The Law of Anti-Religious Libel reconsidered. Dub- 
 lin, 1834. 8vo. 
 
 “ Observations on Heresy and Orthodoxy. 1835. 4to. 
 “ In the last named year his friends were grieved to 
 find he had deserted the Church : a change which is re- 
 corded by c A Discourse occasioned by the Rev. J. Blanco 
 White’s profession of Unitarian Christianity. By the 
 Rev. Edward Tagart, [Unitarian] Minister of the Octagon 
 Chapel, Norwich. 1835/” 
 
 Archdeacon Nares to the Rev. Richard Polwhele. 
 
 “ My dear Sir, 1827. 
 
 * # * # # 
 
 “ I like your ‘ Constantinople.’* It has much originality. 
 The looseness of the versification is almost the only fault 
 I find in it. But such a lax contexture is far preferable to 
 the constrained or laboured stanza. 
 
 “ The first canto has some fine description ; and so of 
 the rest. But, what is an essential recommendation of 
 the poem, canto after canto still carrying on the story, 
 advances to the catastrophe very naturally. The second 
 canto, containing the story of Theon and Calirrhoe, seems 
 at first sight merely episodical ; but its incidents are seen 
 in the progress of the poem to accelerate the fate of the 
 city or to facilitate its fall. In the third canto, the transi- 
 tion from Athens to Byzantium is more happy. It is 
 founded, you say, on a real event in history : — some ad- 
 venturers from Athens or Attica built the city of Byzan- 
 tium more than 600 years before Christ. At the close of 
 the fourth canto, I observe that, even through the temple, 
 we are drawing nearer to the catastrophe. The fifth canto, 
 likewise, helps us on by the discovery of the subterranean 
 way to your conjurer Alashtar. Here I was startled at 
 Calirrhoe a second time, rushing in, and obtruding herself 
 on the conjurer or magician, as she had done on the em- 
 peror. On reflection, however, I was reconciled to the 
 
 * “ The Fall of Constantinople, a Poem.” In Polwhele’s “Reminis- 
 cences,” III. 87. 
 
REV. JOHN HELLINS, F.R.S. 
 
 669 
 
 repetition, as it was natural that she should attempt to 
 move Hell as well as Heaven in her behalf. 
 
 ‘ Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.’ 
 
 “ To have a right apprehension of your narrative, or 
 rather to see the force and beauty of your various allusions 
 to history, your readers must by all means look into 
 Gibbon. Perhaps you had better quote the passages 
 referred to. 5 ’ 
 
 Memoir of Rev. John Hellins, F.R.S. 
 
 [ Communicated to the Gentleman' 's Magazine by Mr. 
 
 Archdeacon Nares .] 
 
 “ Died, March 1827, the Rev. John Hellins, B.D. 
 F.R.S., Vicar of Potterspury, in Northamptonshire. 
 
 “ This distinguished member of the scientific world 
 was, to use the words lately addressed to the Royal 
 Society by their President, Mr. Davies Gilbert, c one of 
 those extraordinary men who, deprived of early advant- 
 ages, have elevated themselves, by the force of genius and 
 of industry, to a level above most persons blessed with 
 regular education/ In 1787, be edited ‘The Young Alge- 
 braist's Companion. 5 The first paper from his pen in the 
 Philosophical Transactions, appears in 1780, being a 
 ‘ Theorem for computing Logarithms. 5 In 1788 he pub- 
 lished a quarto volume of 4 Mathematical Essays, on 
 several subjects and in 1802, in two vols. 4to. c Analyti- 
 cal Institutions, originally written in Italian, by Donna 
 Maria Gaetana Agnesi. 3 [Translated from the Italian by 
 Mr. Colson.] 
 
 “ Having adopted the clerical profession, Mr. Hellins 
 was for some time curate of Constantine in Cornwall; and 
 afterwards of Greens Norton, Northamptonshire ; but in 
 1790 he was presented by Earl Bathurst to the vicarage 
 of Potterspury in Northamptonshire. He was elected a 
 Fellow of the Royal Society in 1796, and in 1800 took the 
 degree of B.D. at Trinity College, Cambridge. 
 
 Ci Mr. Hellins, continues the eulogium before quoted, 
 4 at one time computed for the Nautical Almanac. He 
 afterwards assisted at Greenwich. And, what is now 
 perhaps almost unknown, he furnished the late Mr. Wind- 
 ham with all the calculations and tables on which that 
 gentleman brought forward his new military system, as 
 
670 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Minister of War, in 1806. Mr. Hellins applied himself 
 with great industry to some of the most useful branches 
 of pure mathematics. No less than nine communications 
 from him appear in our e Transactions ‘ On the sum- 
 mation of series/ — ‘ On the conversion of slowly-converg- 
 ing series into others of swifter convergency/ — f On their 
 application to computing of logarithms, and to the rec- 
 tifying of circular arcs.’— f On the roots of equations/ 
 And in 1798, e On a method of computing with increased 
 facility the planetary perturbations / for the last he was 
 honoured with your Copley medal. 
 
 “ Retired to a small living in Northamptonshire, Mr. 
 Hellins became a pattern of philosophical calmness and 
 content. 
 
 ‘ Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife, 
 
 His sober wishes never learn’d to stray.' 
 
 He seems to have said — 
 
 ‘ Curtatis decimis, modicoque beatus agello, 
 
 Yitam secrete in rure quietus agam.' 
 
 “ I have known Mr. Hellins for above forty years, and 
 I can testify to his virtues. It once happened that, 
 through the late Dr. Maskelyne, I had nearly obtained 
 for him the Observatory at Dublin. The failure cannot, 
 however, be lamented, since Brinkley was appointed in 
 his stead/ Mr. Hellins also occasionally furnished Ma- 
 thematical articles to the British Critic, from the year 
 1795 to 1814. The most remarkable of these are those 
 on Mr. Wales’s Method of finding the Longitude, vol. 6, 
 p. 413. On Bishop Horsley’s Mathematical Treatises, 
 vol. 21, p. 272. On Donna Agnes/s Analytical Institu- 
 tions, of which he superintended the publication, vol. 23, 
 p. 143 ; vol. 24, p. 653 ; and vol. 25, p. 141. On Keith’s 
 Trigonometry, vol. 31, p. 489. On F. Baily’s work on 
 the Doctrine of Interest and Annuities, vol. 38, p. 622, 
 and vol. 43, p. 502. When the first series of the British 
 Critic closed, the connection of Mr. Hellins with the work 
 is supposed to have ceased. Several minor articles, on 
 scientific subjects, were written by him, which are not 
 here specified. 
 
 “He married Miss Brock, a Devonshire lady, who sur- 
 vived him but a short time, and by whom he has left an 
 only son.” 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 671 
 
 To Rev. Richard Polwhele. 
 
 “ Lichfield, Aug. 29, 1827. 
 
 # # # # * 
 
 “ I have not at present anything in contemplation to 
 suggest to you for the Royal Society of Literature, and all 
 authors write best upon subjects suggested by their own 
 minds. I hope you know your Archdeacon, Sheepshanks; 
 if so, pray remember me to him when you have opportunity. 
 
 “ Yours very truly, R. Nares.” 
 
 To J. B. Nichols, Esq. 
 
 “ My dear Sir, Oct. 16, 1827. 
 
 (i I here send you the result of a late visit to Cam- 
 bridge. If you print it I shall be glad to receive two or 
 three separate copies, also to see a proof. 
 
 “ Yours truly, R. Nares.” 
 
 t<r Mr. URBAN, Cambridge, Oct. 10, 1827. 
 
 “ The magnificent additions and improvements lately 
 made, or now in progress, at this famous University, pre- 
 sent a subject of curiosity and interest to every liberal 
 observer ; and I, though, as you know, an Oxford man, 
 have been viewing them with much satisfaction. You 
 will, perhaps, be willing to receive a few remarks upon 
 these efforts of art, from one who has no object in mak- 
 ing them, but to give due credit where it seems to be 
 deserved ; and to criticise, if at all, only in the hope of 
 suggesting further improvement, and bringing what is 
 good still nearer to perfection. 
 
 “ Of the new Court added to Trinity College, (called 
 King’s Court), nothing can, I think, be said in the way 
 of censure. It does honour, in all respects, to the judg- 
 ment and taste of the architect, Mr. Wilkins. The com- 
 munication with Neville’s Court is ingeniously contrived, 
 to unite convenience and variety with beauty ; while the 
 whole building exhibits a chaste specimen of collegiate 
 architecture. The entrance from the Walks is very grand. 
 Nor let it be objected, that the two gates within are not 
 in the same line ; this freedom being so consistent with 
 the Gothic style, as rather to conceal than betray the 
 newness of the structure. The merit of this consistency 
 will be felt the more forcibly, by a mere peep into Neville’s 
 Court adjoining, the whole of which is a Grecian building 
 united with one Gothic* side; and to increase the ab- 
 
 * “ I use the term Gothic for convenience, though I do not approve it.” 
 
672 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 surdity, that side is less than half covered by a most un- 
 meaning skreen of modern work. But the absurd con- 
 tempt of the ecclesiastical style, which prevailed for the 
 chief part of the 18th century, was carried so far as to 
 produce inconsistencies of this kind in almost every 
 antient building. The Gothic, chiefly because it was so 
 called, was deemed so barbarous, as rather to be honoured 
 than insulted by the intrusion of the Greek orders into its 
 most venerable sanctuaries. This barbarous fear of bar- 
 barism has happily ceased, and the Gothic (as it is called) 
 is acknowledged to have its peculiar beauties, and to de- 
 serve the study of the enlightened architect. That it 
 has at length been studied, with some success, will be 
 further seen in these remarks.* 
 
 ei Proceed we now into Trumpington-street, to con- 
 template Corpus Christi (or Bene’t), formerly the reproach 
 of the University, now one of its fairest ornaments. 
 
 <f A question might perhaps be raised, whether a new 
 building, unconnected with others, should at this day be 
 adapted to the Grecian or the modern antique' style. But 
 in an English University, where so much of fine old build- 
 ing remains, that neither can be nor ought to be meta- 
 morphosed, it cannot be objectionable to form new struc- 
 tures in a taste which, from its original predominance in 
 these seats of learning, may fairly be considered as acade- 
 mical. On this plan, therefore, this new and elegant 
 structure has been designed and executed. The architect 
 is Mr. Wilkins, whose works in other colleges are here 
 also noticed. It cannot, I think, be denied that he has 
 studied the best examples of this style with good success; 
 and has here embodied his knowledge in a manner that 
 commands admiration. The front towards the street 
 bears most resemblance to that of Oriel College in Ox- 
 ford ; but without minute imitation. Like a good poem, 
 written in antiquated language, it has original beauties ; 
 and may indeed have been designed without a particular 
 view to any example. Within the court, the eye is first 
 attracted by the Chapel, which occupies the central situa- 
 
 * “ This ignorant contempt of a species of architecture, for some purposes 
 preferable to every other, is no where more disgracefully displayed than in 
 the magnificent entrance court of this College. If they who rebuilt the 
 Master’s house and the rest of that side, desired a Grecian court, they should 
 have pulled down the ancient part, and rebuilt the whole. That might have 
 been fine, but the mixture of the two styles, as there exhibited, must always 
 be offensive, so entirely different are they in character.” 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 6/3 
 
 tion, presenting only its porch and west window to the 
 view; the body receding inwards towards the east. The 
 other principal parts of this Court, the Hall, the Library, 
 and the Master’s Lodgings, are well designed and placed; 
 without too much of ornament, or too little, or any mis- 
 applied embellishments. More minute observations or 
 description "I leave to the Cambridge Guides ; having no 
 object at present, but to point out beauties, or to suggest 
 improvements. But I cannot quit this renovated college 
 without expressing my satisfaction that its famous collec- 
 tion of manuscripts is at length deposited in a room of 
 noble proportions.* I trust they are also secured from 
 fire by stone work or arches underneath. 
 
 u Nearly opposite to this College, but a little to the 
 north, commence the great improvements of King’s; 
 where many shabby buildings have been removed to 
 widen the street, and afford a proper approach. The 
 same ingenious architect is here employed ; but employed 
 upon a much more difficult task. At Corpus he had only 
 to form one consistent design, from his own conceptions ; 
 here he has to place his work in immediate contact with 
 the most beautiful specimen existing of ancient art. Not 
 to obscure any part of the matchless Chapel, a low skreen 
 of architecture forms this new front, in the centre of 
 which is a noble gate of entrance. That the general ap- 
 pearance of these parts is rich, beautiful, and adapted to 
 the situation, is undeniable ; and if the skreen were made 
 a cloister (as Mr* W. is said to have planned it), all would 
 so far be right. Perhaps, indeed, four small towers, sur- 
 rounding the principal dome, would be better than the 
 eight which are there, but this may admit of a doubt. 
 But, passing through this gateway of the most highly 
 ornamented Gothic, what object now immediately salutes 
 the eye ? Gibbs’s heavy Doric building, f extending over 
 all the opposite space ! This is a fault or misfortune, 
 which nothing less than utter destruction can remove. 
 The happiest and purest modern Gothic would here be 
 offensive ; having to abut almost against that exquisite 
 chapel, which nothing of inferior building should approach. 
 To gothicise the present building (which has been pro- 
 posed) would be a truly gothic proceeding; miserable in 
 effect, and yet heavy in expense. At a cost not greatly 
 
 * “ 87 feet in length, 22 in width, and 25 in height. 
 
 t “ Usually called the New Building, containing rooms for the Fellows. 
 
 VOL. VII. 2 X 
 
674 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 exceeding this, the most magnificent result may be ob- 
 tained. 
 
 “ Levelling this incumbrance with the ground, and 
 leaving an open area to the whole extent of the Clare 
 Hall buildings, and the new south range of the College 
 itself, the finest Court may be produced that any Uni- 
 versity can boast. The sublime edifice of the Henries 
 will then be seen untouched in all its beauty, throughout 
 its whole south side and western front. These objects 
 being gained, a building fully equal in extent and accom- 
 modation to that which now offends, may be placed in a 
 line with the termination of the ProvosPs Lodge and the 
 opposite college, leaving still a decent space between the 
 new apartments and the river. All this would of course 
 be performed by the present architect, in perfect harmony 
 with what he has already built ; in which case imagination 
 could hardly form a finer picture of human art. 
 
 “ Oxonian as I am, I cannot but fervently wish that 
 this plan may be adopted. It would certainly surpass 
 any thing at present existing in Oxford. But looking to 
 the glory of England at large, I can abate my natural, 
 and I hope not culpable, preference for the place of my 
 education. May it be done, and executed in the most 
 perfect manner ! Such is my sincere wish, and no small 
 part of my motive for writing these remarks. 
 
 “ The whole range of new buildings, containing, besides 
 some private rooms, the Hall, the Library, and the Pro- 
 vost’s house, is finely conceived ; and, if the right plan 
 be followed, will form the noblest side of a quadrangle 
 that this country has yet seen. The interior of the Hall 
 is of singular elegance and richness, fine in dimensions, 
 and just in proportions. It exhibits, however, one fault 
 so glaring, that how the artist could admit or overlook it, 
 is not easily understood. A fine oriel window (as it is 
 called) in the centre of one side,* instead of extending 
 from the top to within dado height, or less, of the floor, 
 is closed with stone-work for at least seven feet ; so that 
 the eye of the spectator, who expects naturally the light 
 and airy effect of such a window, is checked and disap- 
 pointed by meeting only a range of blank masonry. 
 Among all the antient Halls no such example, I believe, 
 can be found ; and as this appears not to arise from any 
 local necessity, it will, I trust, be remedied, when the 
 * Not quite its usual place. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 67 5 
 
 architect shall have given it a second consideration. If 
 any impediment to this alteration can exist, it must arise 
 from the unusual position of the window, in the middle of 
 the side, instead of towards one end, which seems to have 
 been quite unnecessary. The pinnacle, or turret sur- 
 mounting this window on the outside, I conceive to be 
 also a fault, though not of much importance. 
 
 “ On the Library and the Provost’s Lodge I have no 
 remark to offer. Their exterior is fine ; the interior I did 
 not inspect. But I could have wished, for the sake of 
 the books, that no apartments had been formed under 
 the Library ; though precautions, to prevent the commu- 
 nication of fire, are said to have been made. 
 
 “ At St. John’s a vast undertaking is now in progress, 
 to form a new Court, on the western side of the Cam. 
 It is to be lamented that ground could not be obtained 
 on the same side with the antient College, which might 
 at the same time have added a noble ornament to the 
 town. The present building will be visible only from the 
 walks and road at the back of the Colleges; and the 
 ground is so unfavourable, that the mere foundation is 
 reported to have been made at a formidable expense.* 
 But the appearance, when finished, will be truly grand. 
 It will form a very large court, built of stone (I believe), 
 and calculated to contain more than 100 sets of apart- 
 ments. It will have a magnificent front towards the 
 walks, and is to communicate with the present College by 
 a bridge, which is to be so formed as to make part of a 
 cloister, extending through the whole length of the 
 southern front. The designs are very striking, and do 
 great honour to the artist, Mr. Rickman, here first em- 
 ployed in this University. At present the walls do not 
 rise more than three or four feet above the ground. The 
 reported cost of the foundation will hardly seem extra- 
 ordinary, when it is known that it stands entirely upon 
 arches, which rest upon piles, driven deep into the solid 
 ground below the swamp. 
 
 “ A small new Court at Peter House was begun in 
 August 1825, by Mr. Brookes, who is said to be a mem- 
 ber of the College. It is of a plain and neat Gothic style ; 
 and is built of so pale a brick, that it has nearly the effect 
 of stone, of which only the decorations are composed. It 
 contains 15 sets of apartments, and is called after the 
 
 * 20,000/f. 
 
676 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 name of the Rev. Francis Gisborne, formerly a Fellow of 
 this house, whose donation occasioned it to be built. 
 
 “ Such are the chief improvements and additions to 
 the Colleges of this University, though there are few of 
 them that have not more or less increased their buildings 
 within a few years. 
 
 “ Besides these, the chief novelty is the Observatory, 
 a handsome building of the Doric order, from the designs 
 of Mr. Mead. It is 160 feet in length, with a bold por- 
 tico, supported by four Doric columns, beyond which 
 rises a dome, made moveable, for the purposes of astrono- 
 mical observation. The sides and wings are finished with 
 plain pilasters upon a rustic wall. The building stands 
 well, towards the St. Neot’s road, about a mile from Cam- 
 bridge. It reflects no little honour upon the University, 
 that this necessary aid, to the most sublime of sciences, 
 has been obtained by the gift of its Senate, and the sub- 
 scriptions of its members. There can be little doubt, 
 when we consider the general bias of study in Cambridge, 
 that its Observatory will in time be equal in celebrity to 
 any, either here or on the Continent. 
 
 “ A warm admiration of the chief part of what I have 
 been contemplating, joined to a modest hope of being 
 able to suggest some little improvement, particularly in 
 the grand works proceeding at King 5 s College, has in- 
 duced me to offer these remarks to the public. Far from 
 viewing any of these things with a jealous or an envious 
 eye, I rejoice in their progress and sucecss. For while 
 our two famous Universities only contend which shall 
 give the best accommodation to students, or the best as- 
 sistance to learning, I shall rejoice, and say with the old 
 poet, 
 
 ayadrj b’ epis rjb>e B puTOicri. 
 
 “ Yours, &c. Wolseianus/’ 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Dec. 7 , 1827. 
 
 “ I shall be able to furnish you with a correct account 
 of the late Mr. Planta, in time for this month ; so do not 
 seek for any other. 
 
 te Yours truly, R. Nares. 
 
 “ P.S. I add a trifle for the Magazine, if you like it.” * 
 
 * Probably a Defence of the English Universities, signed “ An Oxonian 
 Graduate,” p. 594. 
 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 677 
 
 Biographical Memoir of Joseph Planta, Esq. by Mr. 
 
 Archdeacon Nares. 
 
 “ Dec. 3, 1827- Died, aged 83, Joseph Planta, Esq. Prin- 
 cipal Librarian of the British Museum, which honourable 
 and important office he had held for twenty-eight years. 
 
 “ Mr. Planta was born in the Grisons in Switzerland, 
 Feb. 21, 1744, being descended from a noble family in 
 that country. His father, the Rev. Edward Planta, resided 
 in England from the year 1752, as minister of the Ger- 
 man Reformed Church in London ; and under him Mr. 
 Planta received the first part of his education. It was 
 completed afterwards in foreign seminaries ; at Utrecht, 
 under the learned and well-known Professor Saxius* and 
 others, for a short time, and at Gottingen. He also took 
 early opportunities of visiting France and Italy, with a 
 view to add the knowledge of those languages to that of 
 German, which he already possessed. Being thus quali- 
 fied for the diplomatic line, he gladly accepted the em- 
 ployment of Secretary to the British Minister at Brussels. 
 In this line he would probably have proceeded with suc- 
 cess, had not the early demise of his father, in 1773* re- 
 called him to the care of his widowed mother and family. 
 Mr. Planta, sen. had been honoured with the task of in- 
 structing Queen Charlotte in the Italian language ; which 
 probably facilitated the appointment of his son, soon after 
 his death, to the office of Assistant Librarian in the 
 British Museum, where in 1775 he was promoted to be 
 one of the Under Librarians. In 1774 he was elected a 
 Fellow of the Royal Society, and soon after, by the recom- 
 mendation of the President (Sir John Pringle), was ap- 
 pointed to conduct the foreign correspondence of the So- 
 ciety. In 1776 he was chosen one of the ordinary Secre- 
 taries of the Society, on the death of Dr Maty ; having 
 already distinguished himself by a learned and curious 
 memoir on the Romansh language, spoken in the Grisons. 
 This, though a philological tract, received the peculiar 
 honour of being inserted in the Transactions of the So- 
 ciety.f Strong reasons are there adduced by Mr. Planta 
 for the opinion, that the Romansh was, at an early period, 
 the general language of France, Italy, and Spain ; from 
 
 * Author of the Onomasticon, who has affectionately mentioned him in 
 vol. VI. of that useful work, at p. 344. 
 
 f “ Vol. LXVI. p. 129. It was occasioned by the present made to the 
 Society of a Bible in that language. A few copies were separately printed 
 in 8vo. for the use of friends.” 
 
678 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 which the more modern dialects of those countries have 
 been formed by gradual refinement. But the Grisons, 
 unconquered and unrefined, continued still to use it, after 
 the lapse of nine centuries. After this, by the resignation 
 of Dr. (afterwards Bishop) Horsley, Mr. Planta became 
 the senior Secretary ; in which situation it was a part of 
 his duty to draw up abstracts of all the communications 
 made to the Society, to be read before the members at- 
 tending their public meetings. This task he performed with 
 the utmost accuracy and perspicuity for upwards of 20 years. 
 
 “ In June 1778, Mr. Planta was united in marriage to 
 Miss Elizabeth Atwood, a lady of no common merits and 
 accomplishments, whose death, in 1821, proved the first 
 interruption to his domestic happiness. In 1788, he was 
 appointed Paymaster of Exchequer Bills, which office he 
 held till his voluntary resignation of it, in 1811. 
 
 “ On the death of Dr. Morton, in 1799, Mr. Planta was 
 appointed by his Majesty to succeed him in the honour- 
 able office of Principal Librarian to the British Museum ; 
 and certainly a person more qualified to fill it with distin- 
 guished ability could not have been found. By his per- 
 fect knowledge of their respective languages, he was ena- 
 bled to converse with all foreign visitors ; and by the 
 polished though unaffected urbanity of his manners could 
 not fail to give satisfaction to every one. His very general 
 knowledge enabled him to assist the researches of all 
 scholars; while the excellence of his temper made his 
 superintendence no less pleasing than it was judicious. 
 
 “ When the Swiss Republics appeared to be finally 
 extinguished by the incroachments of Buonaparte, Mr. 
 Planta was induced by a laudable feeling for his native 
 country to draw up a complete e History of the Helvetic 
 Confederacy,’ from its origin, which was published in 
 1800, in two volumes 4to. It was compiled from the 
 best authorities, but principally, as the preface avows, 
 from the masterly work of Muller. Its accuracy and 
 fidelity obtained for it a respectable share of public ap- 
 probation, and it was reprinted in a second edition, in 
 1807, in three volumes 8vo. After the happy restoration 
 of liberty to that country in 1815, Mr. Planta resumed 
 his inquiries; and, from the best recent documents, drew 
 up a short supplemental history, entitled, “ A View of the 
 Restoration of the Helvetic Confederacy, &c.” This was 
 separately published in 8vo. in 1821. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 679 
 
 sc Amidst his other occupations, however, Mr. Planta 
 never remitted his labours for the Institution over which 
 he presided. The former Catalogue of the Cottonian 
 MSS. in the Museum by Dr. Smith, being found ex- 
 tremely defective, Mr. Planta went through the whole 
 collection with the utmost care, and in 1802 gave to the 
 public a new Catalogue in a large volume folio, which 
 leaves nothing further to be wished. At length, as he 
 found himself advancing in years, Mr. Planta successively 
 resigned his other employments, retaining only his situa- 
 tion in the British Museum, which he ably filled to the end 
 of his life; his powers of mind being less impaired than his 
 bodily strength, even after he had passed his 80th year. 
 
 “ Mr. Planta left no surviving offspring, except his 
 son ; whose studies he had anxiously superintended, while 
 he gave him every advantage of the best public education. 
 Nor was it a small addition to his happiness, that he 
 lived to see this son advanced by fair and honourable ex- 
 ertions to distinguished offices under the Government.* 
 We may say, in short, that few men have ever been more 
 fortunate either in their marriage or its consequences. 
 
 “ Mr. Planta was a regular churchman. His piety was 
 sincere, though unostentatious ; and his latter days were 
 duly occupied in those meditations which best employ the 
 close of our mortal existence. Amiable in all relations of 
 life, he was eminently formed for friendship ; of which 
 many persons have had proofs, but no one such as were 
 more gratifying or more valued, than were received by 
 the writer of this hasty tribute to his worth.” 
 
 To J. B. Nichols, Esq. 
 
 ec DEAR Sir, Hart-street, Dec. 18, 1828. 
 
 e£ The name of Dr. Buckeridge’s second wife was 
 Slaney ; I am doubtful as to her Christian name. But if 
 you write to the Rev. Henry White, Lichfield, he can 
 give you every particular about all the Buckeridges, and 
 Richard Wright, who was his intimate friend. Both the 
 children of the Doctor were by the second wife, who still 
 survives, and resides in Lichfield, in the house which Dr. 
 B. had as Canon, but is now Mr. Lonsdale^s. 
 
 “ Yours truly, &c. R. Nares.” 
 
 * This letter was in answer to an inquiry relative to the family of the Rev. 
 Theophilus Buckeridge. See a memoir and portrait of him in Harwood’s 
 edition of Erdeswick’s Staffordshire. 
 
680 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 To the Rev. Richard Polwhele. 
 
 “ My DEAR Sir, London, Jan. 17, 1829. 
 
 * # * # # 
 
 “Of the worthy Whitaker I knew very little personally, 
 though we corresponded for some years. But it was all 
 respecting the British Critic ; and that connection had 
 ceased before we met at all. You have given some good 
 account of him in your 4 Recollections/* and I am glad that 
 you think of building a larger monument to his memory. 
 I have been particularly pleased with your truly charac- 
 teristic account of Randolph ;f who, though a good, a 
 learned, and a well-natured man in essentials, had the 
 rudest and most repulsive manners that I ever witnessed 
 in any one. These qualities detracted much from his 
 popularity as a Bishop, though he was a valuable one. 
 
 “ I congratulate you upon getting back to the pos- 
 sessions of your forefathers ; and beg my best regards to 
 your son Captain Polwhele, whom I well recollect to have 
 met at the Royal Society Club, introduced by the Presi- 
 dent, Davies Gilbert. 
 
 “ Farewell, and prosperity attend you for this and many 
 years, wishes yours very truly, R. Nares.” J 
 
 Dr. Drake to Mr. Nichols. 
 
 Hadleigh, Suffolk, Aug. 6, 1818. 
 
 “ Dr.Drake presents his compliments to Messrs. Nichols, 
 and wishes to know whether they would have any objec- 
 tion to insert in the Gentleman’s Magazine a critique on 
 Dr. Drake’s “ Shakspeare and his Times,” from the pen of 
 the Rev. Robert Nares, Archdeacon of Stafford? It ap- 
 peared during the winter in the Sun newspaper ; but Dr. 
 Drake is desirous that it should obtain a place in a Miscel- 
 lany § calculated not only to insure it a more extended 
 publicity, but a permanent station in the annals of litera- 
 ture; and he knows not where these objects can be better 
 attained than in the highly-respectable pages of the Gen- 
 tleman’s Magazine.” 
 
 * Polwhele’s “ Traditions and Recollections,” p. 613. See Mr. Polwhele’s 
 character of Mr. Whitaker in “ Literary Anecdotes,” vol. III. p. 101 — 106. 
 
 f See Polwhele’s “ Traditions and Recollections,” p. 84, 661, &c. 
 
 X Mr. Polwhele adds as a remarks upon this letter, “ Mr. Nares was tutor 
 to the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (my contemporary at Christchurch) : it 
 was there I first knew his Lordship, and my much-revered friend. There, 
 indeed, my acquaintance with Nares was very slight. Many years passed 
 away before, through Whitaker, I was recommended to the Archdeacon as an 
 auxiliary in the British Critic.” 
 
 § See Gent. Mag. vol. LXXXVIII. ii. pp. 241, 334. 
 
NARES CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 681 
 
 Epitaph on Miss Susan Proby, 
 Daughter of Rev. Dr. Proby , late Dean of Lichfeld. 
 From “ Essays ” by the Rev . Mr. Nares. 
 
 “ In youth’s gay hour, in beauty’s loveliest bloom, 
 
 What friend shall smooth the passage to the tomb ? 
 
 Sure faith, firm trust in Him who died to save, 
 
 And humble hope that looks beyond the grave. 
 
 These were thy guides, Susanna : thus upheld, 
 
 Nor fear unnerv’d thy mind, nor anguish quell’d. 
 
 Ye fair and young ! the strong example view ; 
 
 Her suff’rings, and her patience, speak to you. 
 
 Through four long years of pain, of lingering death, 
 
 In various climes she drew uncertain breath ; 
 
 At length, her meek submission fully tried, 
 
 She view’d her native shore, bless’d God, and died.” 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 JOSEPH COOPER WALKER, ESQ. M.R.I.A. 
 
 A memoir of Mr. J. C, Walker, written by a 
 friendly pen, whilst he was yet a very young man, 
 appeared in the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1 787, 
 p. 34 ; and it has been copied into the “ Literary 
 Anecdotes,” vol. IX. p. 654. His death occurred 
 on the 12th of April 1810; and the following 
 memoir was inserted in the Gentleman’s Maga- 
 zine for that year. 
 
 “ The loss of this accomplished scholar will be 
 long and deeply deplored by all true votaries of 
 science and the fine arts ; but those only who have 
 had the happiness to be included in the circle of 
 his friends, can justly appreciate and duly regret 
 the many virtues which dignified, and the numer- 
 
 VOL. VII. 2 Y 
 
682 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ous graces which adorned his character. Never 
 was there any man who united in a higher degree 
 the accomplishments of the gentleman with the 
 attainments of the scholar. His polished man- 
 ners, his refined sentiments, his easy flow of wit, 
 his classical taste, and his profound erudition, 
 rendered his conversation as fascinating as it was 
 instructive. The rare qualities of his heart pro- 
 cured for him the most devoted attachment of 
 relatives and friends, the affectionate regards of all 
 who knew him. A frame of peculiar delicacy 
 incapacitated Mr. Walker for the exercise of an 
 active profession, and early withdrew his mind 
 from the busy bustle of the world, to the more 
 congenial occupation of literary retirement. The 
 intervals of exemption from pain and sickness, 
 which are usually passed in languor or in pleasure, 
 were by him devoted to the cultivation of those 
 favourite departments of literature to which he 
 was guided, not less by natural taste than by early 
 association. To seek for that best of blessings — 
 health, which his own climate denied him, Mr. 
 W. was induced to travel. The ardent mind 
 of this young enthusiast in the cause of letters, 
 which had drunk deep from the classic fountains of 
 antiquity, and had imbibed the most profound 
 admiration for the heroes and the sages of old, 
 regretted not his constitutional debility, but seized 
 the occasion which invited him to that sacred 
 theatre on which the greatest characters had 
 figured, and the noblest works had been achieved. 
 He visited Italy ; he embraced with enthusiasm 
 that nurse of arts and of arms ; he trod with 
 devotion her classic ground, consecrated by the 
 ashes of heroes, and immortalized by the effusions 
 of poets ; he studied her language, he observed 
 her customs and her manners ; he admired the 
 inimitable remains of ancient art, and mourned 
 
MEMOIR OF J. C. WALKER, ESQ. 
 
 683 
 
 over the monuments of modern degradation ; he 
 conversed with her learned men ; he was enrolled 
 in her academies, and became almost naturalized 
 to the country. Mr. W.’s mind having taken 
 this early direction, the study of Italian Literature 
 became his favourite pursuit ; and, to his latest 
 hour, continued to be his occupation and his 
 solace. But, though thus attached to the litera- 
 ture of Italy, Mr. W. was not regardless of his 
 native land. At a period when it is fashionable to 
 be altogether English, this true patriot felt and 
 avowed his ardent attachment to, and decided pre- 
 ference for, the country of his birth. The first 
 fruits of his genius were offered on the altar of 
 his country. He devoted the earliest efforts of his 
 comprehensive mind to vindicate the injured 
 character, and to enlighten the disputed history of 
 Ireland. He dwelt with delight on her wild 
 romantic scenery ; he loved the genius, the eccen- 
 tric character of her children ; the native language 
 of Ireland to his ears was full of harmony and 
 force ; and the songs of her bards filled his patri- 
 otic soul with rapturous emotion. He was, indeed, 
 an Irishman of Ireland’s purest times. As a critic 
 and an antiquary Mr. W. was equally distin- 
 guished. In his masterly delineation of the 
 revival, progress, and perfection of the Italian 
 Drama, the Muse of Italian Tragedy appears with 
 new grace, attired in an English dress. As the 
 restorer of the literary commerce between Eng- 
 land and Italy, almost closed since the time of 
 Milton, the name of Walker will be added to those 
 of Roscoe and Mathias. The Essays on the cus- 
 toms and institutions of ancient Ireland are written 
 in the true spirit of a native historian, and, as they 
 are eminently useful to the antiquary, must be 
 singularly interesting to every Irish breast. These, 
 his earliest works (the offspring of his vigorous 
 
 2 Y 2 
 
684 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 mind, at a period when many young men are not 
 yet emancipated from the tyranny of pupilage,) 
 evince a maturity of judgment, a soundness of 
 criticism, and a range of learning, which would 
 not disgrace the name of the venerable Vallancey. 
 
 “ Mr. Walker returned from the Continent * 
 little improved in health, but his mind stored with 
 the treasures of observation. He soon retired 
 from the turbulence of a city life to the tranquil- 
 lity and pure air of his romantic villa under the 
 mountains of Wicklow; in this lovely seclusion, 
 where the sublime grandeur of the distant view is 
 finely contrasted by the cultivated beauty of the 
 nearer prospect, he found a situation at once 
 favourable to his invalid state, and in unison with 
 his taste and pursuits. Still a martyr to his con- 
 stitutional malady, ~j~ he suffered it neither to sour 
 the unchangeable sweetness of his temper, nor to 
 relax the ardour with which he pursued his stu- 
 dies. Though enjoying his seclusion, he was not 
 deprived of the pleasures of society : his solitude 
 was enlivened by the occasional visits of friends, 
 and his connexion with the world of letters was 
 kept up by an extensive epistolary intercourse; 
 the literary traveller interrupted his studies to 
 admire the tasteful arrangement of his library, 
 and enjoy the conversation of its elegant owner. 
 This valuable collection of choice and rare books 
 was, in part, the fruit of his travels and researches, 
 and was enriched by many contributions from his 
 learned friends ; it was, in truth, an honourable 
 monument of the taste and learning of its master. 
 
 “In that liberality of sentiment, and in that 
 polish of manners, which is the natural result of 
 travel, and which an education entirely domestic 
 
 * Two Poems on Mr. Walker’s return from Italy are printed in the Gen- 
 tleman’s Magazine for July 1796, pp. 596, 5.97. 
 
 + An acute asthma. 
 
MEMOIR OF J. C- WALKER, ESQ. 685 
 
 can seldom supply, as well also as in his literary 
 pursuits, Mr. Walker resembled that accomplished 
 nobleman the late Earl of Charlemont, whose 
 friendship he enjoyed whilst living, and whose 
 memory he cherished in death. By the side of 
 this enlightened patriot he walked through the 
 fertile fields of Italian literature, and the more 
 thorny paths of controverted antiquities, until the 
 death of that venerable patriot deprived Ireland 
 of her truest friend and brightest ornament. Mr. 
 Walker did not long survive ; but, after a few 
 years of mingled bodily pain and mental enjoy- 
 ment, followed to the grave this associate of his 
 literary labours.” 
 
 The “ Memoirs of Alessandro Tassoni” had been 
 finished by Mr. J. C. Walker a short time previous 
 to his decease, and were afterwards published in 
 18 15 by his brother S. Walker, Esq. M.R.I.A. In the 
 editor’s Preface he reprints the preceding Memoir 
 of his brother from the Gentleman’s Magazine ; 
 and adds several letters to himself from his bro- 
 ther’s friends, — Dr. Robert Anderson, Miss Ander- 
 son, the Rev. John Black, author of the “Life 
 of Tasso,” Sir Richard Clayton, of Adlington, and 
 Robert Watson Wade, Esq. of London. All these 
 letters are highly honourable to the character of 
 Mr. Walker. Dr. Anderson observes : “ Of Joseph 
 Cooper Walker it may justly be said, that he was 
 known to no one by whom his death has not 
 been lamented ; endeared as he was to me by his 
 virtues, and the interchange of reciprocal ami- 
 ties, and much as I respected his attainments as a 
 classical and polite scholar, I never desire to part 
 with the remembrance of his loss. It is a satis- 
 faction to me to think that the friend and brother 
 of his heart is the faithful guardian and executor 
 of his literary fame.” 
 
 A Poem to the memory of Mr. Walker by his 
 
686 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 friend the Rev. H. Boyd, consisting of 24 stanzas, 
 is also printed in the editor’s Preface; and this 
 is followed by an extract from a Letter from Mr. 
 Hayley to Mr. S. Walker, dated 28th May 1810. 
 “ I feel a melancholy delight in what you tell me 
 of your fraternal intention to preserve the rural 
 retreat and library of your amiable brother, as 
 monuments sacred to his memory ; and I shall feel 
 particularly gratified, if the few hasty lines which 
 arose spontaneously from my heart on the perusal 
 of your letter, have any power to soothe the anguish 
 of recent sorrow, that must press very heavily on 
 the near and affectionate relatives of my departed 
 friend! Forgive their imperfection, and receive 
 them as a sincere though petty mark of my sym- 
 pathy in your loss, and of the regard with which I 
 am, dear Sir, yours, &c. W. H.” 
 
 Epitaph on Joseph Cooper Walker, Esq. 
 
 <c Of gentle manners, and a generous mind, 
 
 Friendly to Science, and to Nature kind : 
 
 Zealous to make the worth of others known. 
 
 Yet often apt to underrate his own ! 
 
 Such Walker liv’d, enjoying mental wealth, 
 
 Tho’ to retirement doom’d by failing health ! 
 
 Ye bards of Italy, and Erin, praise 
 The liberal herald of your various lays ! 
 
 Endear’d to many, tho’ he liv’d apart. 
 
 So widely spread the virtues of his heart ; 
 
 Affection grew from letters that he penn’d. 
 
 Those who ne’er saw the Man revere the Friend ; 
 And yet to meet him in those regions trust 
 Where God appoints the union of the just. 
 
 “W. H.” 
 
 This epitaph is inscribed upon an urn in the 
 library of St. Valeri ; in which library it was Mr. 
 S. Walker’s intention to preserve religiously all his 
 brother’s collection of books. He then enumerates 
 his literary friends, as follow : W. Hayley. Esq., 
 
MEMOIR OF J. C. WALKER, ESQ. 68? 
 
 Dr. John Black, Lord Woodhouselee, W. Marsden, 
 Esq. F.R.S., T. Johnes, Esq., W. Roscoe, Esq., T. 
 Pennant, Esq., J. Ritson, Rev. H. J. Todd, Dr. R. 
 Anderson, Dr. David Irving, Mrs. C. Smith, J. 
 Penn, Esq., Miss A. Bannerman, Eyles Irwin, Esq., 
 W. Preston, Esq., Rev. E. Berwick, Rev. H. Boyd, 
 T. J. Mathias, Esq., Rev. Dr. T. Zouch, Sir R. 
 Clayton, Bart., Mrs. H. Tighe, Rev. W. Parr Gres- 
 well, Rev. W. Shepherd, Isaac Ambroke Eccles, 
 E. Malone, Di Lingi Angeloni, Sig. Gaetano Poli- 
 dori. Abate Melchior Cesarotti, Sig. Tomasano de 
 Ocheda, Miss Susannah Watts, Miss Clara Reeve, 
 Bp. Percy, J. Balfour, Esq., Rev. E. Ledwich, Gen. 
 Yallancey, Miss Charlotte Brooke, Earl of Charle- 
 mont, Dr. Young, Bishop of Clonfert, R. Kirwan, 
 Esq., Rev. Dr. Beaufort, Dr. Mervyn Archdall, 
 Isaac Weld, Esq., Sir W. Ouseley, Horace Walpole, 
 Dr. J. Aikin, Miss A. Plumtree, Rev. C. Dunster, 
 Mr. Burrowes, Dr. C. Burney, Rt. Hon. W. B. 
 Conyngham, F. Hardy, Esq., and J. Pinkerton. 
 And more particularly two eminent noblemen, 
 Philip Earl of Hardwicke and the Earl of Carlisle. 
 
 On the 14th of April, 1810, Mr. Walker was 
 buried in the churchyard of St. Mary, Dublin, 
 where the following epitaph was placed on his tomb : 
 
 iS Under this stone (and adjoining the grave of his re- 
 vered father and mother) are deposited the mortal remains 
 of Joseph Cooper Walker, Esq. who departed this 
 life at St. Yaleri, co. Wicklow, on 12th April, 1810, in the 
 49th year of his age. 
 
 “ The gentleness of his manners and the purity of his 
 heart endeared him to all who knew him. His accom- 
 plished mind placed him high in society ; but his literary 
 works are the best monument of his mental powers. His 
 long-tried patience, under the affliction of sickness, was 
 supported by Christian piety and confidence in his 
 Creator. The sincere sorrow of a numerous circle of 
 attached friends bespeaks the amiable qualities of his 
 heart ; and this humble memorial (placed on his grave by 
 
688 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 his afflicted brother and sister) attests their grateful recol- 
 lection of his fraternal affection, and of his many virtues. 
 M.DCCC.XII. S. W. J. W/’ 
 
 The following are the principal works of Mr. 
 Walker : 
 
 1. Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards. 4to. 
 
 1 787 . 
 
 2. Historical Essay on the Dress of the ancient 
 and modern Irish. To which is subjoined, a Me- 
 moir on the Armour and Weapons of the Irish. 4to. 
 
 1788. 
 
 3. Historical Memoir on Italian Tragedy. 
 
 4. Historical and Critical Essay on the Revival 
 of the Drama in Italy. 
 
 5. Memoirs of Tassoni, 12mo, published after 
 his death by his brother Mr. S. Walker. 
 
 Several of his letters were published by Mr. 
 Dawson Turner, in the Pinkerton Correspondence; 
 some extracts of which, illustrative of Mr. Walker’s 
 own works, are reprinted in this collection. Some 
 of Mr. Walker’s letters are also to be found in the 
 Correspondence of the celebrated Abate Cesarotti. 
 
 (i Anecdotes of Carolan, the Irish Bard, and some of 
 his Contemporaries ; in a Letter from J. Cooper 
 Walker, Esq. to his Friend.* 
 
 ee It is a fact well ascertained, that the fame of Carolan 
 having reached the ears of an eminent Italian music- 
 master in Dublin, he put his abilities to a severe test ; 
 and the issue of the trial convinced him how well-founded 
 everything had been which was advanced in favour of 
 our Irish Bard. The method he made use of was as 
 follows : — He singled out an excellent piece of music, 
 and highly in the style of the country which gave him 
 birth : here and there he either altered or mutilated the 
 piece ; but, in such a manner, as that no one but a real 
 judge could make a discovery. Carolan bestowed the 
 
 * From the Dublin Chronicle for July 1787, and thence copied into the 
 Gentleman’s Magazine for 1814. 
 
CAROLAN THE IRISH BARD. 
 
 689 
 
 deepest attention upon the performer while he played it, 
 not knowing, however, that it was intended as a trial of 
 his skill, and that the critical moment was at hand which 
 was to determine his reputation for ever. He declared 
 it was an admirable piece of music; but, to the asto- 
 nishment of all present, said, very humourously, in his 
 own language, ta se air chois air bacaighe ; that is, here 
 and there it limps and stumbles. He was prayed to 
 rectify the errors, which he accordingly did; and the 
 Italian no sooner saw the amendments, than he pro- 
 nounced Carolan to be a true musical genius. 
 
 “ In the beginning of the last century, the then Lord 
 Mayo brought from Dublin a celebrated Italian performer 
 to spend some time with him at his seat in the country. 
 Carolan, who was at that time on a visit at his lordship’s, 
 found himself greatly neglected ; and complained of it 
 one day in the presence of the celebrated Geminiani. 
 ‘ When you play in as masterly a manner as he does (re- 
 plies his lordship), you shall not be overlooked.’ Carolan 
 wagered with the musician, that, though he was almost a 
 total stranger to Italian music, yet he would follow him in 
 any piece he played ; and that he himself would after- 
 wards play a voluntary in which the Italian should not 
 follow him. The proposal was acceded to, and Carolan 
 was victorious. 
 
 “ Mr. O’Connor, in a letter to a friend, makes honour- 
 able mention of a piece of his sacred music. f On Easter- 
 day (says the amiable old man) I heard him play it at 
 mass. He called the piece, Gloria in excelsis Deo ; and 
 he sung that hymn in Irish verses as he played. At the 
 Lord’s Prayer he stopped ; and, after the priest ended it, 
 he sang again, and played a piece, which he denominated, 
 the Resurrection. His enthusiasm of devotion affected 
 the whole congregation.’ — ‘ Le genie du musicien soumet 
 l’univers entier a son art.’ 
 
 u Charles Mac Cabe, the favourite friend and companion 
 of our Bard, had some humour, which he used frequently 
 to exercise on Carolan, generally availing himself, on such 
 occasions, of his blindness. Of this I will give one in- 
 stance : Mac Cabe, after an absence of some months 
 from his friend, met him riding one day near his own 
 house, attended by a boy ; immediately winking at the 
 boy, and totally altering his voice, he accosted Carolan as 
 a stranger. In the course of converation, the dissembler 
 
690 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 insinuated, that he had come from Mac Cabe’s neighbour- 
 hood ; on which Carolan eagerly inquired, did he know 
 one Charles Mac Cabe ? I once knew him, replied Mac 
 Cabe. How, once ! What do you mean by that ? says 
 Carolan. I mean, answered the Wag, that this day 
 se’night I was at his funeral, and few there were more 
 grieved than I was, for he was my most intimate friend. 
 Carolan, shocked and moved by this melancholy news, 
 burst into a flood of tears : but, soon recovering from 
 this paroxysm of grief, he began to lament that there was 
 no friend near him to commit to writing a few thoughts 
 which had just entered his mind. Mac Cabe offered to 
 be his amanuensis, on which Carolan dictated a quibbling 
 Epitaph, of which we have no translation. 
 
 te As soon as Carolan had finished the impromptu, Mac 
 Cabe assumed his proper voice, and rallied the good- 
 natured Bard, on giving him such a sincere proof of his 
 affection. 
 
 “ But the period was now approaching at which Caro- 
 lan’s feelings were to receive a violent shock. In the 
 year 1733, the wife of his bosom was torn from him by 
 the hand of Death. This melancholy event threw a gloom 
 over his mind, which was never after entirely dissipated. 
 As soon as the transports of his grief were a little sub- 
 sided, he composed the following Monody. — For the 
 benefit of the English Reader, I shall here give an elegant 
 paraphrase of this Monody by a young Lady, whose name 
 I am enjoined to conceal. With the modesty ever attendant 
 on true merit, and with the sweet timidity natural to her 
 sex, she shrinks from the public eye. 
 
 ‘ Carolan’s Monody on the Death of Mary 
 
 Mac Guire. 
 
 ‘ Were mine the choice of intellectual fame, 
 
 Of spellful song, and eloquence divine, 
 
 Painting’s sweet power, Philosophy’s pure flame, 
 
 And Homer’s lyre, and Ossian’s harp were mine, 
 
 The splendid arts of Erin, Greece, and Rome, 
 
 In Mary lost, would lose their wonted grace, 
 
 All would I give to snatch her from the tomb, 
 
 Again to fold her in my fond embrace. 
 
 ‘ Desponding, sick, exhausted with my grief, 
 
 Awhile the founts of sorrow cease to flow, 
 
 In vain ! — I rest not — sleep brings no relief ; — 
 
 Cheerless, companionless, I wake to woe. 
 
CAROLAN THE IRISH BARD. 
 
 691 
 
 Nor birth nor beauty shall again allure, 
 
 Nor fortune win me to another Bride : 
 
 Alone I’ll wander, and alone endure, 
 
 Till death restore me to my dear-one’s side. 
 
 * Once every thought, and every scene was gay, 
 
 Friends, mirth, and music, all my hours employed — 
 
 Now doom’d to mourn my last sad years away, 
 
 My life a solitude ! — my heart a void 1 
 Alas the change ! — to change again no more ! 
 
 For every comfort is with Mary fled : 
 
 And ceaseless anguish shall her loss deplore, 
 
 Till age and sorrow join me with the dead. 
 
 1 Adieu each gift of nature and of art, 
 
 That erst adorn’d me in life’s early prime ! 
 
 The cloudless temper, and the social heart, 
 
 The soul ethereal, and the flights sublime 1 
 Thy loss, my Mary, chased them from my breast ! 
 
 Thy sweetness cheers, thy judgment aids no more : — 
 
 The Muse deserts a heart with grief opprest — 
 
 And lost is every joy that charm’d before.’ 
 
 Carolan did not continue long in this vale of sorrow, 
 after the departure of his beloved wife. While on a visit 
 at the house of Mrs. Mac Dermot, of Alderford, in the 
 co. Roscommon, he died in the month of March, 1738, 
 in the 68th year of his age.*— He was interred in the 
 parish church of Kilronan, in the diocese of Ardagh ; but 
 e not a stone tells where he lies/ 
 
 “ Mr. O’Connor, when in the neighbourhood of Kil- 
 ronan, indulged himself in the melancholy pleasure of 
 visiting the grave of his departed friend. c I last Sunday 
 (said he) paid a visit to poor Carolan^s grave. It excited 
 some melancholy feelings, and reminded me of my 
 approaching dissolution : my feeble state convincing me 
 that the thread of my life is between the shears.f May I 
 make the proper use of this merciful suspension of the 
 cut !’ — And again, in another letter — f In my pensive 
 mood at Kilronan, I stood over poor Carolan’s grave, 
 
 * “ If ever the Publick should testify a desire to be in possession of so 
 great a treasure as a correct edition of all his compositions, you may, with- 
 out hesitation, point out Mr. L. Hunt, of Boyle, in the co. Roscommon, as a 
 proper object of choice, and as the fittest person to give universal satisfaction 
 in this particular. At an early period of his life, this respectable character 
 and valuable member of society gave specimens of an uncommon taste for 
 musick, which it has been ever after his chief study to cultivate under the 
 best masters, with all possible care and assiduity. A correct education, and 
 a congenial turn of mind, qualify him in an eminent degree to sound the 
 depth of Carolan’s genius, to discover his real beauties, his native vigour, 
 and his peculiar excellencies.” 
 
 + “ Comes the blind fury with abhorred shears. 
 
 And slits the thin-spun life.” — Milton’s Lycidas. 
 
692 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 covered with an heap of stones ; and I found his skull in 
 a niche near the grave, perforated a little in the forehead, 
 that it might be known by that mark/ 
 
 “ Though Carolan died universally lamented, he would 
 have died unsung, had not the humble Muse of Mac 
 Cabe poured a few elegiac strains over his cold remains. 
 This faithful friend composed a short elegy on his death, 
 which is evidently an effusion of unfeigned grief. Divested 
 of meretricious ornaments, it is the picture of a mind 
 torn with anguish. Though this Elegy will afford little 
 pleasure to the fastidious reader, it will gratify the reader 
 of sensibility to find it here. 
 
 “ MARBHNA. 
 
 “ Rineas Imaointe, ad mheasas nar chuis naire, 
 
 Is min tin suaighte o chailleas mo chill Baire ; 
 
 Ni’l pian, ni’l peanaid, ni’l gol nios tromm chraite 
 Na eag na cearad, no scarradh na ccompanaigh ; 
 
 Mile agus seacht ccead bliadhain bhan, 
 
 Hocht deag agus fiche, — an tiomlan, 
 
 O teacht Chriosta dhar saoradh slan, 
 
 Co Bas Thoirdheallhaigh Ui Chearbhallain. 
 
 “ It now remains to draw the character of Carolan. But 
 this has been already done by Mr. O’Connor, with his 
 usual elegance and energy ; and I shall here present the 
 picture drawn by his masterly hand. It would be an un- 
 pardonable act of presumption and temerity to alter a 
 feature in a portrait by a Lely or a Vandyck, a Rubens or 
 a Reynolds . — ( Very few have I ever known, who had a 
 more vigorous mind, but a mind undisciplined, through 
 the defect, or rather absence of cultivation. Absolutely 
 the child of nature, he was governed by the indulgences, 
 and, at times, by the caprices of that mother. His imagi- 
 nation, ever on the wing, was eccentric in its poetic flights: 
 yet, as far as that faculty can be employed in the harmo- 
 nic art, it was steady and collected. In the variety of his 
 musical numbers, he knew how to make a selection, and 
 seldom was contented with mediocrity. So happy, so 
 elevated was he, in some of his compositions, that he 
 excited the wonder, and obtained the approbation, of a 
 great master, who never saw him ; I mean Geminiani . — 
 He outstripped his predecessors in the three species of 
 composition used among the Irish ; but he never omitted 
 giving due praise to several of his countrymen who ex- 
 celled before him in his art. — The Italian compositions he 
 
CAROLAN THE IRISH BARD. 
 
 693 
 
 preferred to all others : Vivaldi charmed him, and with 
 Corelli he was enraptured. He spoke elegantly in his 
 maternal language, but had advanced in years before he 
 learned English : he delivered himself but indifferently in 
 that language, and yet he did not like to be corrected in 
 his solecisms. It need not be concealed, that he indulged 
 in the use of spirituous liquors : this habit he thought, 
 or pretended to think, added strength to the flights of his 
 genius ; but in justice it must be observed, that he was 
 seldom surprised by intoxication. Constitutionally pious, 
 he never omitted daily prayer, and fondly imagined him- 
 self inspired, when he composed some pieces of church 
 music. This idea contributed to his devotion and thanks- 
 givings. Gay from nature, and cheerful from habit, he 
 was a pleasing member of society. And his talents and 
 his morality procured him esteem and friends everywhere.’ 
 
 “ Carolan had seven children by his wife ; six daugh- 
 ters and one son. His son, who had studied music, went 
 to London, where he taught the Irish harp : but, before 
 his departure, he published, by subscription, in 1747, a 
 collection of his father’s music, omitting some of his best 
 pieces. 
 
 “ Favourable circumstances and casual advantages often 
 accelerate the progress of some to the temple of fame ; 
 while others move but slowly, and must patiently wait to 
 remove every obstruction in their passage. An Addison, 
 a Swift, and the other luminaries of the age in which they 
 flourished, had an academical education : the first dawn- 
 ings of their genius prejudiced a discerning public in 
 their favour : they obtained the patronage of the great ; 
 and printing-presses were at all moments ready to spread 
 reputations so susceptible of an increase. Far different 
 was the fate of Carolan. His first entrance into the 
 world (though below a state of affluence, yet a degree 
 above poverty), together with a total privation of sight, 
 with which he was struck at an early age, precluded 
 many opportunities of improvement. The first dawnings 
 of his genius were scarcely attended to ; nay, the preju- 
 dices against a poor blind harper must be subdued and 
 softened only by those superior powers which, late in 
 life, he manifested, and which broke forth with such 
 forcible resistance. The language, too, which he made 
 use of, was so unfashionable, that, among the great, to 
 speak or study it, was deemed a mark of vulgarity. Thus 
 
694 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 was Carolan’s merit, during his lifetime, confined within 
 the narrow circle of his acquaintance ; without the en- 
 livening prospect, or single ray of hope, that his name, 
 after his decease, should be held in veneration. 
 
 “ If some particular circumstances, then, prevent our 
 observing the great progress of intellectual illumination, 
 the same observation will equally apply to the stellce 
 minores, which generally accompany that illumination. It 
 is not my desire to assign too high a niche in the temple 
 of fame to my favourite bard; but, from the specimens he 
 has exhibited, I presume to give him the rank which, with 
 the advantages of due cultivation, it is to be supposed, he 
 would have held, rather than that which he really occupied. 
 
 “ James Whyte, of Ballymote, co. Sligo, holds the same 
 rank in the line of genius, with respect to his cotemporary 
 Carolan, that the minor poets hold with regard to their 
 superiors. Born with a rich vein of comic humour,* he 
 possessed powers sufficient to turn (if possible) things the 
 most serious into downright ridicule ; but, his talent never 
 having received a proper direction, he abandoned himself 
 to the luxuriancy of his imagination. About twenty 
 years ago his memory was fresh in the minds of many in 
 the barony of Corran, in the county of Sligo. The story 
 of a poor homely man (Cruighura bui CFGallaghure), who 
 was witness to the many calamities of Ireland after the 
 battles of the Boyne and Aghrim, and which Whyte (who 
 has often heard him boast, with a great share of vanity, of 
 the wonders he had seen during the civil wars,) has framed, 
 is a master-piece of humour not to be equalled perhaps by 
 a Farquhar or a Sheridan. His descriptions of an enter- 
 tainment and council held at Temple-house (the family 
 seat of the Percevals, co. Sligo), may be considered as the 
 ne plus ultra of all the subjects that the wit of man has 
 ever devised, to excite and continue the loudest peals of 
 laughter. A gentleman, in whose hands the salt of real 
 humour has never lost an atom of its original flavour, has 
 often repeated it to me ; never, I must confess, without 
 leaving the strongest desire upon my mind that he would, 
 for my entertainment, renew the comic scene, and hold 
 again and again so faithful and true a mirror up to nature. 
 
 * “ Mr. O’Connor, speaking of Whyte, in a letter to a friend, says : — ‘ He 
 had a genius for comedy ; and, had he been bred in the school of Moliere, 
 would have been one of the most celebrated comic poets of the age. Have 
 you heard his funeral Elegy on the death of Captain Boswell ? No ridicule, 
 with a serious air, could be more happy.’' 
 
FIL O’FEIGHNY — DAVID MURPHY. 695 
 
 “ Fil O’Feighny was another of the stellce minores, who 
 lived in the time of Carolan and Whyte. He seemed to have 
 a talent for Irish odes : but, growing conscious too soon 
 of whatever abilities he possessed, he sometimes stretched 
 his strings beyond their natural tone. Many other 
 instances could be produced in support of this hypothesis. 
 
 “ The Ode intituled £ Tiagharna Mhaighe-eo’ was 
 composed by a poor dependent of a former Lord Mayo, 
 whom he had taken, from motives of benevolence, under 
 his roof and protection ; and whom the fear of continuing 
 in his Lordship’s disgrace, after having incurred his dis- 
 pleasure, incited to give birth to one of the finest produc- 
 tions, for sentiment and harmony, that ever did honour 
 to any country. We have no other memorial of that 
 composer’s genius. Perhaps he was not conscious of the 
 powers he possessed \ or, like many other eminent men, 
 having attained the object of his wishes, and seeing him- 
 self in the enjoyment of competence and ease, he grew 
 careless about fame, and neglected all the means of per- 
 petuating his memory. Certain it is, that the £ Tiagh- 
 arna Mhaighe-eo,’ or, more properly speaking, the first 
 sketches of it, were planned in the house of a respectable 
 gentleman of the name of Finn, near Boyle, who served in 
 the late wars of Ireland in the commission of a captain, 
 and who proposed an attempt of this nature as the most 
 effectual means of reconciliation with his offended patron. 
 It is one of those compositions that please all men, of 
 whatever age or condition ; and was, for the first time, 
 played in Lord Mayo’s hall, on Christmas Eve, where 
 our penitent bard had concealed himself after night-fall, 
 from an apprehension that the most humble advances 
 would not soften his Lordship’s resentment. He con- 
 jured him, by the birth of the Prince of Peace, to grant 
 him forgiveness, in a strain of most natural pathos, which 
 he accompanied with his harp. 
 
 “ The flattering manner in which my correspondent has 
 mentioned the Tiagharna Mhaighe-eo, must undoubtedly 
 have awakened the reader’s literary curiosity. But, were 
 his curiosity to look round for gratification, it would pro- 
 bably be disappointed ; for this Ode (which, on the indis- 
 putable authority of Mr. O’Connor, I can assert, was 
 composed by David Murphy, a retainer of the Mayo 
 family,) has scarcely met the public eye. I will therefore 
 
696 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 subjoin an English version of it, by the elegant transla 
 tor of Carolan’s Monody. 
 
 4 TIAGHARNA MHAIGHE-EO. 
 
 Translated by a Lady. 
 
 * Inspiring fount of cheering wine ! 
 
 Once more I see thee flow : 
 
 Help me to raise the lay divine, 
 
 Propitiate thy Mayo. 
 
 4 Mayo, whose valour sweeps the field, 
 
 And swells the trump of Fame ; 
 
 May Heav’n’s high pow’r the champion shield ! 
 
 And deathless be his name ! 
 
 4 Of Glory’s sons thou glorious heir, 
 
 Thou branch of Honour’s root ! 
 
 Desert me not, but bend thine ear, 
 
 Propitious to my suit. 
 
 4 O ! bid thy exil’d bard return, 
 
 Too long from safety fled ; 
 
 No more in absence let him mourn, 
 
 Till earth shall hide his head ! 
 
 4 Shield of defence, and princely sway ! 
 
 May He who rules the sky 
 Prolong on earth thy glorious day, 
 
 And every good supply ! 
 
 4 O Judith fair 1 Susanna sweet I* 
 
 Mild eye, and bounteous hand ! 
 
 With Pity’s prayer the Lion f meet, 
 
 With Beauty’s power command ! ’ ” 
 
 To Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 (e SlR, Treasury Chambers, Dublin, July 9, 1787. 
 
 “ I am happy to learn from my friend Mr. Ledwich, 
 that you are now proceeding! on Ireland. As an admirer 
 of your writings, and as one who has employed some of 
 his leisure hours in making researches concerning the 
 history and antiquities of this country, permit me to offer 
 you my services. Be assured, Sir, I shall be happy in 
 promoting your inquiries in this country to the utmost of 
 my poor abilities. 
 
 “ From the crude work which I published sometime 
 since on the Irish Bards, I fear you will not derive much 
 
 * 44 Children of Lord Mayo. 
 
 + 44 The epithet of 4 Coeur de Lion ’ was bestowed on Richard I. of Eng- 
 land by the poets of his age. Vide Percy’s Essay on Anc. Eng. Min. 
 p. 30.” 
 
 In Mr. Gough’s edition of Camden’s Britannia. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 697 
 
 information ; however, it may at least serve to suggest to 
 you inquiries on the subject. I am now collecting materials 
 for an historical Essay on the Irish Dress, from the most 
 unquestionable authorities, viz. the Brehon Laws, Irish 
 Annals and Statutes, Sepulchral Monuments, &c. To 
 this little work I hope to put the last hand in the course 
 of the summer. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient, 
 humble servant, J. C. Walker.” 
 
 i( S.R, Treasury Chambers, Dublin, Sept. 4, 1787. 
 
 “ I am honoured with your polite favour of 27th July. 
 
 “ Command me to the utmost of my poor abilities. 
 You have a just claim on the services of all those who 
 devote their leisure to the study of antiquities ; they are 
 under many obligations to you. 
 
 “ I am happy to find you approve of my present under- 
 taking. I am following the safest guides, and mean to 
 illustrate with sepulchral figures, in humble imitation of 
 your superb work. Did I not mean to publish in a few 
 months, I would offer you the immediate use of the fruits 
 of my researches. Give me leave to ask you, as a literary 
 veteran, whether you would recommend it to me to publish 
 at my own expense, or dispose of the MS. in London ? 
 
 “ I can only attribute to your politeness the flattering 
 mention you are pleased to make of my former publica- 
 tion ; it was the work of a very young man of various 
 avocations, given f in giddy haste’ to the public eye. 
 Though it has obtained for me academic honours on the 
 Continent, how often have I wished it had never left my 
 closet ! at least, in its present crude state. 
 
 “ The inclosed proposals will acquaint you with an 
 undertaking to which, I am sure, you will wish success. 
 Mr. Beauford (who is a particular friend of mine) is now 
 on his tour of observation. Perhaps I may be able to 
 prevail on him to afford you some aid. He has promised 
 to keep a journal. 
 
 I presume you are no stranger to the county histories 
 of Smith, Harris, and Ferrar. A history of the county 
 of Clare is in great forwardness. I shall endeavour to 
 prevail with an ingenious friend of mine, who has a consi- 
 derable property in the county of Galway, to draw up an 
 account of its present state, which, if I succeed, I shall 
 
 VOL. VII. 2 z 
 
698 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 communicate to you. From my learned friend Ledwich 
 you may expect solid information. 
 
 “ I observe your friend Nichols occasionally touches 
 on Irish matters in his valuable Magazine. Please to 
 assure him I should have great pleasure in promoting his 
 inquiries. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, &c. Joseph C. Walker / 5 
 “ I have some reason to think, that Mr. Conyngham’s 
 Drawings will, ere long, be given to the public/ 5 
 
 Mr. Gough to J. C. Walker, Esq. 
 
 “ SlR, _ Enfield, Sept. 13, 1787. 
 
 “ I take the earliest opportunity of acknowledging your 
 obliging favour of the 4th inst. which was delivered to me 
 this morning, and to thank you for the very liberal offer 
 of assistance in my undertaking. 
 
 “ If I knew how to reimburse you, or by what hands to 
 make payment, I would beg to be set down for two copies 
 of Mr. Beauford 5 s Map. Before this, whose do you 
 esteem the best general Map ; and how are Mackenzie’s 
 Nautical Surveys esteemed ? 
 
 “ The best answer I can give you on the subject of 
 your intended publication, is my own example. I ventured 
 to publish the ‘ Sepulchral Monuments 5 at my own ex- 
 pense, but I dared not do so with the f Britannia/ 
 Aquatinta prints are more expensive than others because 
 less productive. If you have seen Mr. Douglas’s f Nenia 
 Britannica, 5 of which the plates are executed in aquatinta, 
 by himself, in a masterly style, you will be confirmed in 
 your partiality for that mode. If I may again quote 
 myself, I should prefer engraving for sepulchral monu- 
 ments. But so much depends on the style that it is 
 difficult to decide. 
 
 te The county histories you mention I am possessed 
 of, and shall be glad to add any new ones to them. I fear 
 I cannot wait for Clare and Galway, and I should be sorry 
 to forestal them.* 
 
 “ Mr. Nichols desires to return his best acknowledg- 
 ments for your attention to his inquiries, and will esteem 
 himself honoured by such a correspondent. 
 
 “ It will give me great pleasure to see Mr. Conyng- 
 ham’s drawings engraved. 
 
 * i. e. in the Britannia. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 699 
 
 “ What became of the Rev. Mr. Walter’s proposals, in 
 1774, for Observations on the North of Ireland? Could 
 the Proposals themselves, with the print annexed, be 
 obtained ? 
 
 “ Your obedient servant, R. Gough.” 
 
 Mr. Walker to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ SlR, Treasury Chambers, Sept. 26, 1787. 
 
 <c I am honoured with your favour of the 13th instant, 
 for which, but particularly for the kind advice it contained, 
 accept my warmest thanks. 
 
 “ Inclosed I have the pleasure to send you two receipts 
 for Beauford’s Map. Be not uneasy about reimbursing 
 me. I shall direct Counsellor Marsden, or some other 
 friend, to call on you or Mr. Nichols for the money. 
 
 <c I have also the pleasure to inclose a list of drawings in 
 the possession of my kinsman Cooper. Such of them as 
 you would wish to have I shall get copied for you. As 
 my little work is in great forwardness, I shall not offer you 
 copies of any of the drawings with which I mean to illus- 
 trate it. 
 
 “ In the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, 
 which will probably appear in the beginning of November, 
 you will find some valuable information with respect to the 
 ancient state of Irish Literature; also a circumstantial ac- 
 count of the discovery of the Ogham Inscription in the 
 mountains of Callan. And in less than six months, I have 
 good reason to think, the press will eject the Brehon Laws 
 which were found in the Sebright Collection. 
 
 “ I shall here mention, en passant, that it is conjectured 
 this country, as well as Italy, could once boast volcanoes, 
 from the circumstance of several craters having been dis- 
 covered on the tops of some of our mountains, and from 
 the word tiene, or fire, being generally united with the 
 names of those mountains. 
 
 “ You inquire about the best general map of Ireland. 
 Grienon’s four-sheet map is said to be the best, yet I 
 would recommend Andrews’s to you. Bowles’s is a very bad 
 map. I wish you could get a peep at Vallancey’s Military 
 Survey, a copy of which is in his Majesty’s library. Wil- 
 son, in the second edition of his ‘ Post Chaise Companion,’ 
 has given an excellent little map of Ireland. 
 
 2 z 2 
 
700 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Mackenzie’s Nautical Surveys were well received here, 
 yet are not allowed to be very correct, particularly with 
 regard to the Northern Coast. 
 
 te Walker’s Proposals I have never seen, but shall en- 
 deavour to obtain a copy for you. The work was never 
 carried into execution. 
 
 “ I presume you have seen f Views in Dublin/ by Poole 
 and Cash, and Milton’s charming ‘ Views of the Seats of 
 the Nobility and Gentry of Ireland.’ 
 
 “ Whenever you happen to visit the British Museum, 
 I would recommend it to you to run your eye through the 
 minutes of a Philosophical Society formerly held in Tri- 
 nity College, Dublin, which Bishop Pococke presented to 
 the Museum.* 
 
 “ Either in this, or in my next, I shall send you Pro- 
 posals for a tf Natural History of Ireland,’ and for a new 
 edition of ‘ Lodge’s Peerage.’ 
 
 “ Be so good. Sir, as to make my best compliments to 
 Mr. Nichols, and beg of him to command my services. Is 
 the new edition of the Spectator gone to press yet? I 
 hope he means to throw the notes into the end of each 
 volume. J. C. Walker. 
 
 “ Have you heard what is become of Wright’s Papers ?” 
 
 Mr. Gough to J. C. Walker, Esq. 
 
 “ Sir, Oct. 24, 1787. 
 
 “ I have the favour of yours of September 26, inclosing 
 a number of proposals for interesting publications going 
 forwards among you. I wish to give my countenance to 
 them all, provided I may do it in my accustomed plan — 
 of giving my name without paying a deposit, The reasons 
 for this will be obvious, and I trust my word will find the 
 same credit in Ireland as in England. If a folio plate 
 could be composed of the eighteen round towers and 
 Trim yellow steeple, from Mr. Cooper’s drawings, I 
 would gladly engrave it. The other views do not fall 
 within the plan of my work. 
 
 “ Grienon’s and Andrews’ maps of Ireland are new to 
 me ; but I shall inquire after them. In English County 
 
 * Minutes and Register of the Philosophical Society in Dublin from 1683 
 to 1687. MSS- Add. 4811 and 4812. See the contents described in Ays- 
 cough’s Catalogue, p. 473. Of Bp. Pococke see Memoirs in Literary Anec- 
 dotes, II. pp. 157, 158. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 701 
 
 Maps Andrews has not the reputation of correctness. Had 
 you not mentioned other maps I should have followed 
 Jeffery s. 
 
 “ I had the pleasure of a full view of Mr. Vallancey’s 
 Military Map when he first brought it over. Wilson’s is in 
 my copy of his f Post Chaise Companion/ though not 
 called the second edition. 
 
 “I take in Milton’s Views, but have never seen those 
 you mention in Dublin. 
 
 “ Mr. Wright’s * papers have eluded my strictest search. 
 He lived in such retirement in the county of Durham that 
 I could not get at him when I was there in his life-time. 
 
 u In what repute is Scale’s Hibernian Atlas for surveys 
 or description ? 
 
 “Mr. Nichols informs me that the new edition of The 
 Spectator is nearly finished, but on a small scale, and sub- 
 ject to future improvements. R. Gough.” 
 
 Mr. Walker to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ SlR, Oct. 30, 1787. 
 
 “ I am honoured with your favour of the 22d instant, to 
 which I shall reply, without waiting the arrival of your 
 work, that any little information in my power to afford you 
 may not reach you too late to be of service. 
 
 “ Cooper thinks that the eighteen round towers and the 
 yellow steeple of Trim may be comprised in one folio 
 plate, and will immediately set about copying them for 
 your use. He assures me that the engraving of the steeple 
 which appeared in the Gent. Mag. some time since was 
 veiy incorrect. His drawing, I am sure, is faithful. 
 
 “ Grienon’s map is not to be easily procured even here, 
 else I would send you a copy. But his son is now pre- 
 paring a new edition of it, on which he is determined to 
 spare neither pains nor expense. Wilson’s map is a good 
 one. The second edition of his e Post Chaise Companion’ 
 has, I presume, reached you ere this. In the Lambeth 
 Library there are several inedited maps of this country, 
 which I would recommend you to consult. Q. 20. 24. 28. 
 29. 32. 35. W. 304.— XX. XX. 91. XX, 135. M. M. M. 
 153. N. N. N. 87. Jefferys is by no means an unsafe 
 guide. His errors are but few. But Scale’s errors are 
 
 * Mr. Thomas Wright, of Biar’s Green, near Brancepeth. Durham. In 
 1780 he had in MS. ready for the press, a “ Journey through Ireland, with 
 drawings of the antiquities, and a second volume of his “ Louthiana.” See 
 Gough’s British Topography, vol. u. p. 8)1. 
 
7 02 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 innumerable. Several years since there was a map of Ire- 
 land, which I have never seen, published by one Plaeusin 
 Amsterdam. This map contains the territories of the old 
 septs or clans in Ireland in the sixteenth century. Colonel 
 Vallancey’s map of Killarney, taken from his Military 
 Survey, I presume you have seen. 
 
 “ I am extremely sorry you could not recover Wright’s 
 Travels. A good tour through this country is much 
 wanted. I hope the ingenious Mr. Coxe,* who was lately 
 here, visited this kingdom with a view to a tour. Though 
 I dare say you are acquainted with every description of 
 this country that the press has ejected, I shall take the 
 liberty to remind you of a Tour by two English Gentle- 
 men, published in 1748, Lond. 8vo. 
 
 “ Vallancey’s Vindication of the Ancient History of Ire- 
 land, constitutes the fifteenth number of Collect, de Reb. 
 Hib. Nothing has been published since. 
 
 “ The present Lord Kenmare, whose name is Brown, 
 excludes himself from the House by continuing a Roman 
 Catholic. His estate, which lies in the county Kerry, is 
 very considerable. The Lake of Killarney is part. 
 
 “ Soon as the sheets of your work arrive I shall do with 
 them as you direct. Ledwich and Beauford can be of 
 much service ; I, of little. If a private hand offers I ’ll 
 return the sheets ; if not, I ’ll transcribe and transmit the 
 observations. Do you mean to republish your Topo- 
 graphy ? 
 
 “ Your most obedient, humble servant, J. C. Walker. 
 
 a Do not spare me. Command me to the utmost of 
 my power. Have you Harris’s History of Dublin ? Rutty 
 published an account of the Spas, &c. in the county of 
 Dublin.” 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “ My Lord, Oct. so, 1787. 
 
 “ I am honoured with your Lordship’s favour of the 
 27 th inst. 
 
 ee As yet we are all in the dark with respect to the poor 
 Duke of Rutland’s successor. It is said there are five 
 candidates, amongst whom the Duke of Northumberland 
 is numbered. The moment I can speak with certainty 
 on this subject, your Lordship shall hear from me. This 
 
 * Of Mr. Archdeacon Coxe see Literary Anecdotes, VIII. p. 76. vol. VII. 
 .744. He died June 8, 1828. See account of him in Gent. Mag. vol. 
 XCVIII. ii. p. 86. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 703 
 
 cannot happen, I believe, before Thursday, for the mes- 
 senger did not reach London till Saturday night. Adverse 
 winds kept out the packet till Friday. 
 
 “We are also in the dark with respect to a funeral and 
 public mourning. Nothing can be determined with 
 regard to these matters till either the Bishop of Killala * 
 or Col. Pochin arrives. The Gentlemen at large and of the 
 Bedchamber, and all the officers in both Secretaries’ 
 offices, are in mourning. 
 
 “ It is presumed that the body will not be brought to 
 the Castle. It would not be decent to receive our new 
 Chief Governor in 4 the house of mourning/ 
 
 “ It is said that the Duke was several days in the fever 
 which proved fatal to him, before he would submit to 
 medicine. Even after his appetite had quitted him, he con- 
 tinued to rely on violent exercise, and to reject every 
 thing prescribed for him by his physicians. 
 
 “ Mr. Warburton is not yet returned ; nor has the 
 Auditor General been successful. 
 
 “ In looking over a list of MSS. the other day with a 
 view to the name of Percy, I found mention of the fol- 
 lowing articles : ( Epistle to the Duke of Northumberland, 
 concerning the state of Ireland, 8 May 1552, by Sir Th. 
 Cusack, Sterne’s MSS. Trin. Coll. Dub/ ‘ Letter from 
 Chancellor of Ireland to Duke of Northumberland, relat- 
 ing to the present state of Ireland, ann. 6 Edw. VI. 1551. 
 Harl. Lib/ 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, &c. J. C. Walker. 
 
 “There being no hope of the Duke on Tuesday, Sir 
 John Parnell sailed for England that night. 
 
 “ All business is at an end. The Council met, but 
 found they had no power.” 
 
 Mr. Walker to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Nov. 10, 1787. 
 
 “ I was this morning favoured with your parcel, per 
 Mr. Haffield. Soon after I received it I had a visit from 
 my friend Archdall, whom you quote so often. He and I ran 
 our eyes through the sheets in haste, and you will find our 
 observations below. I shall forward the copies intended for 
 Beauford and Ledwich. Apropos of Beauford — he is not a 
 clergyman. Lest the press should be at a stand, and no 
 
 * Dr, John Law, subsequently promoted to the sees of Clonfert and Elphin. 
 He died March 19, 1810. See Memoirs of him in Literary Anecdotes, vol. 
 VIII. p. 395. 
 
7 01 ILLUSTRATIONS OP LITERATURE. 
 
 opportunity offering, I send you a much heavier letter 
 than I wish to send. Inclosed you will find a letter from 
 Ledwich, some observations of our venerable historian 
 Ch. O’Conor (to whom I communicated the two first 
 sheets), and a few trifling remarks of my own. O’ Conor’s 
 remarks are marked with his name. To prevent future 
 delays and expense, I would recommend it to you to have 
 application made to one of the Secretaries of State to 
 permit our packets to pass through the Secretary’s office. 
 I am sure Sir George Young (who is a literary man) 
 would readily consent to this, and Edmund Burke could 
 be easily prevailed upon to apply to him, if you are not 
 acquainted with him yourself. Ponder on this. 
 
 “ I shall consider those sheets further, and you shall 
 hear from me again. In my next I shall take the liberty 
 to consult you again on my little work. I have increased 
 the number of my monumental figures, and have resolved 
 on aquatinta. In my Appendix I shall give a Memoir 
 on the Armour of the Irish, and on their Weapons. As 
 the work, though not large, will be expensive, I must 
 endeavour to agree with some London bookseller to take 
 at least 150 copies on proper credit and the usual 
 allowance. To whom should I apply? I cannot print 
 more than 250 copies. I am thinking of printing on the 
 same paper, and to match Grose on Armour, both quarto 
 and octavo size. I write so rapidly, that I fear I am not 
 either intelligible or legible. 
 
 “ I am, &c. - J. C. Walker. 
 
 “ I say 250 copies, as aquatinta seldom yields a greater 
 number of impressions. The drawings are all, I may say, 
 originals. I shall give some indited Brehon Laws. In 
 all perhaps 18 sheets.” 
 
 t( Sir, 
 
 u You inquire about ‘ Poynings’ Law.’ It was the 6th 
 George I., not f Poynings’ Law,’ that was repealed. 
 
 “ Of the old Countess of Dermond I am in possession 
 of some curious particulars, and am promised more, all of 
 which I intended to throw into the form of a Memoir. 
 
 ec The map of the county of Clare is engraved, but not 
 published. Of the map of Kerry I know nothing, save 
 what is mentioned by Ferrar. But of the county of 
 Kildare a map was long since published, of which, if you 
 please, I shall purchase and send you a copy. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 705 
 
 u In your account of Tipperary, you have forgotten the 
 venerable Castle of Ardfinnan, which stands boldly on an 
 eminence over the river Suire. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 “ J. C. Walker/’ 
 
 “ Sir, — Though you have received a letter from me 
 since I was favoured with one from you, I think it neces- 
 sary I should account for my silence. I have been in the 
 country on the business of Government ; besides, every 
 moment I could spare from the duties of station was em- 
 ployed in attending printers, engravers, &c. &c. 
 
 “ I have now the pleasure to send you a letter from 
 Mr. Beauford, from whom I presume you may soon ex- 
 pect another, containing the three last sheets you sent me. 
 Please to send the remaining sheets as soon as possible. 
 
 u Dr. Campbell has been indefatigable in your service. 
 He has drawn up for your use an admirable Memoir on 
 the Constitution of Ireland, in fact, the only regular ac- 
 count of the constitution that has ever been prepared. It 
 will be a bright ornament to your work. He expects it 
 will be printed exactly as it is written. Indeed, it will 
 not admit of being more compressed. Soon as you send 
 him a proof of the part he sent you, he will forward the 
 remainder. I hope you mean to publish this spring. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 “ J. C. Walker.” 
 
 Mr. Gough to J. C. Walker, Esq. 
 
 " Sir, Nov. 24, 1787. 
 
 et I have not that acquaintance with the Great which 
 emboldens me to solicit the favour of their conveyance of 
 my packets. Mr. Beauford promises much information, 
 notwithstanding he seems laughed at for his etymologies, 
 of which I cannot judge. Dr. Campbell has the sheets 
 corrected concerning the Government. I wish you would 
 give him a jog. 
 
 “ You cannot apply to a worse person about a literary 
 bargain. I never made one with a bookseller in my life. 
 I print for myself, and if any bookseller chooses to give 
 me my expenses and take the chance of sale, or after 
 bearing my expenses fixes a price on the work, and tells 
 me what discount he expects for publishing it — voila 
 
7 06 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 V affaire faite en deux mots. It cannot be otherwise ; for 
 no man can tell what bargain to make either way before 
 he sees the book or the MS. 
 
 “ Your obliged, humble servant, R. Gough. 5 ’ 
 
 Mr. Walker to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Sir, 3 Dec. 1787. 
 
 <( For the History of Limerick, I presume you con- 
 sulted the second edition of Ferrar’s work (1786). I 
 shall, as you desire, spur Dr. Campbell. Beauford will 
 not, I am sure, intentionally mislead ; he is a man of truth 
 as well as genius. I think you are justified in adopting 
 the amazing discoveries in the Tipperary Bogs. I have 
 seen several of the things described in ‘ Collect, de Reb. 
 Hib. 5 At this moment I have a golden amulet found in 
 the county of Wicklow in my possession, and also a 
 large silver brooch, and one of mixed metal inlaid with 
 elegant gold filigree work, both found in the county of 
 Roscommon. The story of Brien’s harp is questioned 
 (see my c Bards, 5 pp. 60, 164) ; do not then relate it with 
 confidence. The existence of the harp is unquestionable. 
 See Ledwich and Bryan on the Harp, in my Appendix. 
 Send queries about the counties of Clare and Roscommon, 
 and Galway, and they shall be answered. Ledwich will 
 answer any you may send about Queen’s County. 
 
 “ Yours, Sec. J. C. Walker . 55 
 
 “ May 3, 1788. 
 
 % 
 
 “ At length I have escaped from the press. — My work 
 has appeared here, and will soon, I hope, appear in Lon- 
 don. I have printed only about 250 copies, about 50 of 
 which I shall send to London. It has been a troublesome 
 arid expensive work. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, &c. J. C. Walker . 55 
 
 “ Sir, June 26, 1788. 
 
 “ On my return yesterday from a tour to the Giant’s 
 Causeway, I found your two favours of 23d May and 10th 
 June. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 707 
 
 “ Here let me take occasion to observe, that you had 
 better soften the passage in p. 565, respecting Tarab. 
 That the accounts of our early historians concerning the 
 triennial meetings on this hill are too splendid must be 
 admitted ; but that the Kings and Chieftains met there 
 to discuss the affairs of the nation cannot be denied. For 
 e Major Vallancey,’ in pp. 567 and 568, read f Colonel Val- 
 lancey.’ In p. 574, 1 could wish you would dilate a little 
 more on the annual prizes given at Granard, and mention 
 the name of Mr. Dungan. See “ Irish Bards.” 
 
 “ Though I cannot spare many copies of my e Irish 
 Dress” for the London market, I am vexed that the 
 parcel has not yet reached London. But no mode of 
 conveyance has offered. 
 
 “ The report of the burning mountain in the county of 
 Antrim, that lately prevailed here, is totally without found- 
 ation. 
 
 “ My ingenious young friend Ousley has retired to the 
 country. 
 
 “ Believe me to be, &c. J. C. Walker. 
 
 “ Beg of Mr. Nichols to observe, that there is an error 
 in the date of O. Cromwell’s letter in the May Magazine, 
 p. 379.” 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Sept. 9, 1788. 
 
 “I send with this, by your friend Mr. Burley, three 
 sheets corrected by Mr. O’Conor, with some curious anec- 
 dotes of the O’Conor family prefixed. I believe I forgot 
 to mention to you that Swords and Newry are the only 
 potwollopping boroughs in Ireland. 
 
 Sfc * * 
 
 “ I presume that my Essay on the Irish Dress is now 
 in the hands of Elmsly. Inclosed you have Proposals 
 for a work which I think will do this country some 
 credit. Miss Brooke is daughter of the author of c Gus- 
 tavus Vasa,’ and inherits no small portion of his genius ; 
 she is mistress of the Irish language. J. C. Walker.” 
 
 te Dear Sir, Sept. 20, 1788. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 “ I subscribed for you to Miss Brooke, who is thankful 
 for your name. You will find it a work of infinite merit. 
 
 “ I am surprised about my c Dress.’ Though many 
 months have elapsed since I sent it, I have not had a line 
 from Elmsly. When any thing shall lead you to London, 
 
708 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 will you do me the favour to call on him. He has a 
 little packet for you. 
 
 “Yours sincerely, J. C. Walker. 5 ’ 
 
 To Bishop Percy. 
 
 te My Lord, No. 1, Eccles-street, Sept. 16, 1788. 
 
 44 My absence from home has prevented me from receiv- 
 ing and acknowledging your Lordship’s obliging favour of 
 the 10th inst. sooner. 
 
 44 I think with your Lordship that the subject certainly 
 deserved a better book.* It appears to have been drawn 
 up so hastily and so carelessly, that I am not surprised it 
 should abound in errors. Though little acquainted with 
 the private history of Shenstone, I did myself detect some 
 mistakes, particularly in what he says of your Lordship. 
 Fond of the writings and character of Shenstone, I shall 
 run my eye with great pleasure over the series of letters 
 your Lordship is so good as to promise to permit me to 
 peruse. 
 
 44 A friend who has often heard me speak with rapture 
 of some of Shenstone’s little productions, has just sent 
 me a copy of 4 The Recollections ’ from London. I there- 
 fore request your Lordship will do me the favour to add 
 the copy now in your possession to your collection. 
 
 44 Accept my best and warmest thanks for White’s 
 Cicero. f Sleater sent me a copy, which I have added with 
 pride and pleasure to my little collection. 
 
 44 If your Lordship be an admirer of Ercilla’s martial 
 poem, 1 am sure you will be pleased to hear that Mr. 
 Hoole is now translating it.J This I learned from Mr. 
 Hayley, who at the same time observes (and communicate 
 the observation to the ladies of your house), that 4 Emme- 
 line, or the Orphan of the Castle,’ by Charlotte Smith, 
 considering the situation of the author, is the most won- 
 derful production he ever saw, and not inferior, in his 
 opinion, to any book in that fascinating species of compo- 
 sition. 
 
 44 It is whispered in the literary world, that Robertson’s 
 
 * “ Recollections of some particulars in the Life of W. Shenstone, in a 
 
 series of Letters from an intimate friend of his (the Rev. R. Graves) to 
 
 Esq. 8vo. 1788.” See Monthly Review, vol. LXXIX. p. 261 ; and Literary 
 Anecdotes, vol. III. p. 134. 
 
 + “ The Orations of Cicero against Caius Cornelius Verres, translated 
 from the original by James White, esq. with Annotations. 4to. 1789/’ 
 See Monthly Review, vol. LXXIX. 434. 
 
 X This translation never appeared. J. M. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 709 
 
 ‘ History of North America’ will shortly go to press. I do 
 not know whether or not this anecdote of e Charles V.’ 
 ever reached your Lordship. When the late King of 
 Prussia had read that celebrated work, he threw the ‘ His- 
 tory of Charles 5 into the fire, and ordered the f State of 
 Europe’ to be splendidly bound. 
 
 “ Ritson, who presumed to treat your Lordship, Dr. 
 Warton, and several other eminent literary characters, so 
 ungentlemanly, was lately in this city, where he spent a 
 few days incog. He means to publish a f Collection of 
 Scottish Ballads ’ this winter. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, &c. J. C. Walker .’ 5 
 
 Mr. Walker to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Dec. 21 , 1788 . 
 
 “ I am glad to find that my ‘ Dress 5 has, at length, fallen 
 into your hands, though, I fear, it will furnish you with 
 little information, however painful the research might have 
 been to me. My bookseller informs me, he has adver- 
 tised and sold several copies of it, yet you seem to think it 
 has not been advertised. Be so good as to beg of some 
 friend to inquire into this matter. 
 
 s< I am, &c. J. C. Walker. 
 
 “ Did you ever see a print of Irish Dresses from an 
 illuminated copy of Froissart, now in Oxford ? I never 
 did, but was informed that there is such a print .’ 5 
 
 Mr. Gough to J. C. Walker, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, Enfield, Jan. 12, 1789. 
 
 “ I have your two last favours, with the remainder of 
 the sheets ; which, after a delay of a full twelvemonth, 
 enables me to draw my great work to a conclusion. No 
 endeavour, on my part, has been wanting to make the de- 
 scription of Ireland as complete as I could, and to see that 
 country with more eyes than Mr. Camden is charged with 
 having done. I should hope for the candour of the na- 
 tives who may peruse it, and their further improvements 
 in a future edition. I mean to send separate copies to my 
 correspondents. 
 
 “ My distance from town prevents my seeing any 
 
710 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 newspapers, but I cannot learn that the 4 Dress * has been 
 advertised. I was much informed by your narrative, but 
 either the monuments must be infinitely ruder than any I 
 have seen in Great Britain, or the drawings fall short in the 
 representations. I proceed very slowly with my second 
 volume of 4 Sepulchral Monuments.’ 
 
 44 Accept the best wishes of the season, though I hope 
 you have it not so severe as it is with us ; and my ac- 
 knowledgments for the favour of your correspondence 
 hitherto, and, believe me, it will be at all times acceptable 
 to your obliged humble servant, R. Gough.” 
 
 Mr. Walker to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 44 Dear Sir, Dublin, Feb. 22, 1789. 
 
 e ‘ I observe my 4 Irish Dress 9 has been reviewed with 
 great candour and politeness in the 4 English Review;’ but 
 in the 4 Gentleman’s Magazine ’ I was sorry, for the sake 
 of that valuable Repository, to find it treated with great 
 illiberality. The faults on which the reviewer fastened 
 were below the notice of criticism. This you must have 
 observed yourself, if you took the trouble to read the 
 critique.* 
 
 44 J. C. Walker.” 
 
 To Bishop Percy. 
 
 44 My Lord, . Sept. 22, 1789. 
 
 44 On my return I found your Lordship’s favour. I 
 would have done myself the honour to acknowledge it 
 sooner, but I have been much indisposed. However, I have 
 not been unmindful of your Lordship^s directions. I have 
 written at considerable length to Mr. Ritson, and, I think, 
 have opened his eyes. In truth, I had little more to do 
 than to transcribe your Lordship^s letter, changing, as I 
 proceeded, the second to the first person. With respect 
 to alterations in orthography, Mr. Ritson had no right to 
 find fault ; for, in the preface to his 4 English Songs/ he 
 says, 4 No liberties, beyond a necessary modernisation of 
 the orthography, have been taken with the language of 
 these antique compositions/ &c. &c. 
 
 44 Having occasion to write to Mr. Hay ley, I also took 
 an opportunity to mention to him my having compared 
 
 * This able but severe critique was written by Mr. Gough himself. See 
 Gent. Mag. vol. lviii. p. 996. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 711 
 
 some of the printed ballads of the f Reliques ’ with the 
 originals, and expressed my surprise at the fidelity of the 
 press, if I may so express myself. 
 
 “ Poor Hunter’s indisposition has prevented me from 
 consulting him respecting Shee, but as soon as he is reco- 
 vered I shall call upon him and acquaint your Lordship 
 with the result. 
 
 “ Command me in any thing in which I can serve your 
 Lordship. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, &c. J. C. Walker.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Buxton, Nov. 7, 1789. 
 
 “ A few days before my departure from Ireland, I took 
 the liberty to acquaint your Lordship with my intended 
 excursion, entreating, at the same time, to be honoured 
 with your commands. Since my arrival here I have been 
 favoured with a Letter from Mr. Ritson, in which there is 
 the following passage : ( As a publication of uncommon 
 elegance and poetical merit, I have always been, and still 
 am, a warm admirer of Bishop Percy’s ‘ Reliques.’ And, 
 though I have been persuaded that he has not, on every 
 occasion, been so scrupulously attentive to his originals as 
 I think the work required, I shall be very glad to find the 
 idea unfounded, and readily confess that what you have 
 been so obliging as to tell me about the folio MS. has in a 
 great measure removed my prejudice on that head. The 
 limits of a letter will not permit me to enter fully into the 
 discussion of a question upon which, I believe, a good deal 
 may be said. In the course of some prefatory matter to a 
 book which ought to have come out two or three years 
 ago, but which I hope to receive and have the pleasure of 
 transmitting to you in a short time, you will perceive the 
 grounds upon which I have ventured to doubt the au- 
 thenticity, or at least the fidelity, of this celebrated publi- 
 cation. 5 He then questions the authenticity of 6 The 
 History of Han Kiou Chouan,’ and concludes this part of 
 the Letter with referring me to p. 259 in ‘Love and Mad- 
 ness.’ Thus have I, without a breach of confidence, 
 opened Mr. Ritson’s mind to your Lordship. My humble 
 pen is at your Lordship’s command if you should choose 
 to employ it further on this occasion. On Friday next I 
 intend to leave this, and hope to reach Dublin early in the 
 next week. 
 
 * The Chinese Novel, published by Dr. Percy, 4 vols. 1761. See Quar- 
 terly Review, No. LXXXI. p. 114. — J. M. 
 
712 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ I made my tour to this town a classical one. In An- 
 glesea I read Mason’s ‘ Caractacus,’ and recited Gray’s 
 ‘ Bard ’ on a rock that frowns e o’er old Conway’s foaming 
 flood.’ In the town of Conway I was so fortunate as to 
 meet with a pupil of the celebrated Parry, whose perform- 
 ance set the Ode to which I have alluded in motion. He 
 is an excellent performer, and did great justice to several 
 tunes a thousand years old, with names enough to choke 
 you, as Gray expresses it. 
 
 “ There is now in this town a Mrs. Lacy, of Carlisle, 
 who, on learning I was from Ireland, asked me if I knew 
 your Lordship. Informing her I had that honour, she 
 begged I would make her kindest wishes to your Lordship 
 and family, particularly to Miss Percy, of whom she spoke 
 in the warmest terms of praise. 
 
 {C I have the honour to be, &c. J. C. Walker.” 
 
 To the Editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine. 
 
 u Mr. Urban, Dublin, Aug. 20, 1790. 
 
 “ I am much pleased w T ith Edward Williams’s Ode, 
 imitated from the Gododin of Aneurin Gwaurdrydd, vol. 
 LIX. p. 1035 ; and should be glad to see a memoir of Wil- 
 liams prefixed to his works ; also, a particular account of 
 the congress of bards, mentioned in J. D’s Letter to Mr. 
 Urban, p. 976. I think the literary society of Welsh 
 gentlemen, formed in London, should take Williams under 
 their protection, and supply him w T ith such books as are 
 best calculated to refine his taste. Let him enrich his 
 fancy from the productions of his own bards. 
 
 “ ‘ Sullen,’ vol. LX. p. 506, is certainly a better epithet 
 for the bagpipe than f woollen.’ But see f Hist. Memoirs 
 of Irish Bards,’ p. 76. 
 
 “ J. Ussher,*' the author of f Clio,’ vol. LX. p. 511, kept 
 a school near Kensington Gravel Pits when he published 
 that work, and died soon after its appearance. John 
 Walker, who has since written on Elocution, was for a while 
 his usher. 
 
 “ I cannot think, with the editor of the late edition of the 
 ‘ Spectator,’ that the letters composing the word Clio 
 were intended to mark the places where the several papers 
 by Addison were written. I cannot suppose that he wan- 
 
 * Born 1720 ; died 1772. He wrote besides “ Clio,” ” Introduction to 
 the Theory of the Human Mind, 1771;” also, a “ New System of Philosophy, 
 1764.” A new edition of “ Clio ” was published by T. Mathew, 1809, 8vo. 
 — J. M. 
 
1 . 
 
 WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 713 
 
 dered about with a pen in his hand, writing a paper 
 wherever he happened to sit down. For this we have no 
 authority; yet this conjecture we find repeated several 
 times throughout the work. 
 
 44 For the next edition of the * Guardian ’ take this anec- 
 dote : When the Comparison between the Pastorals of 
 Pope and Phillips 5 appeared, Phillips was secretary to Pri- 
 mate Boulter, and then in Ireland. Dining one day with 
 the officers of the Prerogative Court, the 4 Comparison’ be- 
 came the subject of conversation, and Phillips said he 
 knew it was written by Pope, adding, 4 I wonder why the 
 little crooked bastard should attack me, who never offended 
 him either in word or deed.’ This I had froln a gentleman 
 who was present. Phillips resided in Bolton-street, Ad- 
 dison on Arbor-hill. The houses of both are still standing. 
 
 44 I think the 4 World’ ought to be re-published in the 
 manner of the new edition of the 4 Spectator.’ Materials 
 for notes could now be easily collected. I believe Mr. Wal- 
 pole is now the only living author of that delightful work. 
 
 44 1 am sure all the admirers of the late amiable Henry 
 Brooke will be pleased to hear that his daughter is about 
 to publish a new edition of his works, corrected by his own 
 MSS. and in which several inedited pieces will be given. 
 
 44 Yours, &c. J. C. Walker.” 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Bishop Percy. 
 
 44 My Lord, Aug. 3, 1791 . 
 
 44 1 was so fortunate as to assist at a ball given by the 
 Elector of Mentz, at which were present the following 
 remarkable personages : — King and Prince Royal of Prus- 
 sia, Emperor and Empress, two brothers of the Emperor, 
 Electors of Cologne, Treves, and Metz, Duke of Bruns- 
 wick, Abbe Mory, General Lasse, &c. &c. 
 
 44 1 trust the health of Mrs. Percy is perfectly re-esta- 
 blished. To her and the young ladies have the goodness 
 to make my respectful compliments acceptable.” 
 
 44 My Lord, Aug. 21, 1791. 
 
 44 I learned, with much pleasure, that Mrs. Percy bore 
 the passage well. The Bath waters have, I trust, improved 
 her health ; and 1 will not despair of seeing her return to 
 Ireland, with her constitution perfectly repaired. 
 
 44 I was grieved I had not the honour of seeing your 
 Lordship before your departure ; but I was unwilling to 
 
 YOL. VII. 3 A 
 
714 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 intrude upon you while you were in the act of preparation. 
 At such a time I know the visits of a friend can he dis- 
 pensed with. 
 
 “ I have put by, with much care, the books your Lord- 
 ship was pleased to commit to my care ; and have exe- 
 cuted your Lordship’s commissions. 
 
 i: Dr. Ledwich considered himself as much honoured 
 and much obliged by your Lordship’s hints, and lamented 
 he could not avail himself of them. He would be happy 
 to converse with your Lordship on the subject on your 
 return. His book is now complete, and looks extremely well. 
 
 “ White had your name down as a subscriber to 
 Grose’s Ireland. Two numbers of that work have already 
 appeared. I shall take care to keep good impressions for 
 your Lordship. Mr. Gandon is preparing a model for 
 Grose 5 s monument. I shall soon, I hope, be able to give 
 your Lordship an account of it. 
 
 es Poor Archdall* died suddenly the other day. Though 
 no genius, he is a loss to the literary world : he was an 
 an admirable ferret. An elegant little eulogy on him by 
 Dr. Ledwich, appeared in the Dublin Chronicle for 9th 
 August. I believe his living will be given to Mr, Beres- 
 ford, who was his curate. 
 
 “ Dr. Ledwich has joined the Academy, and is now pre- 
 paring Essays for our Transactions both on subjects of 
 Polite Literature and Antiquity. He is at present em- 
 ployed on the language of the Greeks and Trojans, which 
 he thinks were one and the same ; at least he will not 
 allow the language of Troy to have been any other than a 
 dialect of the Greek. f In this he and my ingenious friend, 
 Mr. Hardy, differ. Hardy, as your Lordship may recol- 
 lect, founds his opinion on a passage in Eschylus, in 
 which Clytemnestra is made to say, when Cassandra 
 appears amongst the captives of Agamemnon, that she pre- 
 sumes she cannot speak the Greek language, and desires 
 she may make her wishes known by signs. However, she 
 does speak at length in Greek, and with fluency too. For 
 this Mr. Hardy does not account; yet I think he might 
 have accounted for it, and in a manner too that would 
 
 * “In Scotland, in his 65th year, Rev. Mervyn Archdall, M.A. a member 
 of the Royal Irish Academy, author of the ‘ Monasticon Hibernicum,’ 
 1786, 4to. (of which see vol. lvi. p. 973), and editor of the new edition of 
 Lodge’s Peerage, 1790, in 7 vols. 8vo. (see vol. lx. p. 142).” — Gent. Mag. 
 1791, p. 780. 
 
 f See Bryant’s Mythology, vol. V. p. 86, on this subject. — J. M. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 715 
 
 have strengthened his argument. When the Chorus 
 express their surprise at the fluency with which Cassan- 
 dra speaks their language, she declares that she is indebted 
 to Apollo for her knowledge of it. Now your Lordship 
 knows that the gift of prophecy was generally accompa- 
 nied with the gift of tongues ; and that, therefore, Cassan- 
 dra may be supposed to have spoken the language — not of 
 Troy, but of inspiration. 
 
 “ Nothing new in the literary way has lately appeared 
 here ; nor does the political world afford me a topic for 
 my letter. 
 
 “ We are all now engaged with Mrs. Smith’s new novel 
 of : Celestinad It is certainly a work of no common merit. 
 The sonnets are charming. I have heard much of 
 4 Hermione/ but have not yet read it. I am told Lord 
 Camden extols it to the skies. 
 
 “ Colonel Vallancey has been so good as to desire me to 
 make any use I please of the MS. Tour in Ireland.* I 
 shall, therefore, I think, transcribe and publish it, since 
 your Lordship deems it not unworthy the public eye. 
 But I believe I shall confine myself to the Irish part, and 
 modernise the orthography. However, your Lordship’s 
 advice shall govern me. 
 
 ei But if a plan which I have at present in agitation 
 should be carried into execution, I must for a while sus- 
 pend all my literary schemes. The plan I allude to is a 
 trip to the Continent during the winter-months. It is 
 my wish to sail in October or November for Bordeaux, 
 and pass through Avignon to Marseilles, whence I would 
 cross in a felucca to Naples. From Naples I would 
 return through Rome, Florence, Venice, Geneva, and 
 Paris. Thus I should see the most interesting part of 
 the Continent, and render an essential service to my con- 
 stitution. But I am not yet sure that it will be in my 
 power to put my scheme into practice. In the mean time, 
 I shall travel in imagination, — a cheap, expeditious, and 
 pleasant mode. 
 
 “ Lord Charlemont, I presume, still remains at Bath. 
 I have the pleasure to hear frequently from his family 
 that his Lordship continues well, and that Lady Elizabeth 
 is receiving benefit from the waters. Perhaps you would 
 have the goodness to make my respects acceptable to his 
 Lordship ; and at the same time tell him, that I under- 
 stand the Court of Russia has presented our Academy 
 
 * See hereafter, p. 734. 
 
 3 A 2 
 
716 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 with a Greek translation of Virgil. His Lordship too 
 would, I am sure, be pleased to hear that Mr. Graydon, 
 who is just returned from the Continent, has brought with 
 him a large collection of fossils for the Academy. 
 
 “ It is reported that Mr. Stratford is to be barrack- 
 master of Dublin ; and that other branches of that family 
 are immediately to share the favour of Government. 
 
 “ If your Lordship should be induced to visit Bristol, I 
 hope you will endeavour to see Mrs. Yearsley, and the 
 Maid of the Hay-stack ; nor ought you to forget the mo- 
 ther and sister of the unfortunate Chatterton. I am told 
 Mrs. Yearsley is a remarkably fine reader. 
 
 “ I will transcribe for the Misses Percys some lines 
 attributed to the widow of the late Col. St. George, which 
 are now handing about here, and much admired. They 
 were occasioned by Mrs. Gunning’s pamphlet, and begin 
 thus : — 
 
 ‘ Here is the Note, 
 
 That nobody wrote. 
 
 Here is the Groom that nobody sent 
 To carry the Note 
 That nobody wrote. 
 
 Here is Minnifie Gunning , 
 
 Who in her great cunning, 
 
 The Groom to prevent 
 From going where sent, 
 
 To carry the Note, &c. 
 
 Here is Ma'am Bowen, 
 
 To whom it was owing 
 That Minnifie Gunning 
 Exerted her cunning, 
 
 The Groom, &c. 
 
 Here is the Maiden all forlorn, 
 
 Who now by her friends is tatter’d and torn, 
 
 But chief by Ma'am Bowen, 
 
 To whom it was owing, &c. & c. 
 
 Here are two Marquises shy of the horn, 
 
 Who flew from the Maiden all forlorn, 
 
 Who now by her friends is tatter’d, &c, &c. 
 
 Here are two Dukes, 
 
 Whose stem rebukes 
 
 Frighten’d two Marquises shy of the horn, 
 
 Who flew from the Maiden, &c. &c. 
 
 And here is a General somewhat too bold, 
 
 Whose head was too hot, tho’ his heart was too cold, 
 
 Who made himself single before it was meet, 
 
 Turn’d his wife and his daughter both into the street 
 To please two Dukes, 
 
 Whose stern rebukes, &c. &c.’ 
 
 e( I beg your Lordship will have the goodness to com- 
 municate this poem, with my respects, to your ladies. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, &c. J. C. Walker.” 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 717 
 
 ei My Lord, Dublin, Eccles-street, 14 Sept. 1791. 
 
 “ I am much obliged and much honoured by your Lord- 
 ship’s valuable favour of the 29th ult. The information 
 which it contained concerning Miss Gunning and the 
 King of France was (to me) new and interesting. I 
 trustf that a little time will brighten the characters of both. 
 
 “The translation of Virgil,* as your Lordship supposes, 
 is in modern Greek. As yet I have not seen it. 
 
 “At length Mr. Berwick and I have prevailed on the 
 ingenious and unfortunate Mr. Boyd to publish his original 
 poems by subscription. I am sure I need not recommend 
 him to your Lordship’s protection. Inclosed you have 
 a few copies of his Proposals. I have the honour to 
 inclose also a little engraving designed and executed in 
 Dublin, and which I think does honour to Ireland. The 
 engraver’s name is Mulvany. 
 
 “ I presume I need not tell your Lordship that Mr. 
 Ritson is editor of c Pieces of Ancient Popular Poetry.” 
 He is now preparing a collection of Scottish Songs for 
 the press. 
 
 “A report prevailed here lately, that Mr. Paine had 
 visited Dublin a few weeks since. I do believe he passed 
 hastily and secretly through it to the North of Ireland. 
 By the bye, it may not, perhaps, be known to your Lord- 
 ship, that Paine’s Life, said to be written by Mr. Oldys, 
 was the production of George Chalmers. This I have 
 from good authority. 
 
 “ Mr. Kirwen is just returned from Shane’s Castle, 
 where he met Mrs. O’Neil, and was charmed with her. 
 She is lately returned from Portugal in perfect health. 
 
 “ I am delighted to find that Lord Charlemont is so 
 well. His family expect him home next month. If he 
 be still in Bath, might I presume to impose on your 
 Lordship the trouble of making my respects acceptable 
 to him. 
 
 “ I was (induced) again to visit Delville, and discovered 
 treasures in it which escaped your Lordship’s notice. In 
 one of the recesses in the garden I found the original por- 
 traits of Mrs. Barber, Mrs. Sikins, and Mrs. Grierson. If 
 I were not about to leave the kingdom, I would certainly 
 
 * In 1796 appeared, in two volumes folio, a Greek translation of Virgil, 
 studio et iabore Eugenii Bulgaris, printed at St. Petersburg ; but it is not in 
 modern Greek. It was published at the expense of Prince Potemkin. See 
 Coxe’s Travels in Poland, vol. III. p. 326, and Walpole’s Memoir relating 
 to European and Asiatic Turkey, 4to, 1817, p. 200. — J. M. 
 
/18 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 get them copied. But I am deeply engaged in making 
 preparation for my intended tour. In the course of a 
 fortnight or three weeks I hope to depart, and pursue the 
 route which I mentioned in my former letter. I hope I 
 need not inform your Lordship that you would make me 
 happy by commanding my services. Might I presume to 
 hope that your Lordship would honour me with a few 
 recommendatory letters ? I am now grieved that I did 
 not take the liberty of begging of either you or Lord 
 Charlemont to make me known to Sir Wm. Hamilton, 
 while he was at Bath. Such an introduction would have 
 been of infinite service to me at Naples. 
 
 “ Perhaps I may be tempted, when at Naples, to Sicily. 
 If my health permits, few objects of curiosity shall 
 escape my notice that do not lie very wide of my route. 
 
 * # * * 
 
 “ Believe me to be, my Lord, with great respect, your 
 Lordship’s faithful, much obliged, and most obedient 
 humble servant, Joseph C. Walker.” 
 
 Bishop Percy to Mr. Walker. 
 
 “Dear Sir, Bath, Sept. 24, 1791 . 
 
 “ Returning last night from a circuit of amusement 
 (which Mrs. Percy’s convalescence has enabled me and 
 her daughters to take,) through Cheltenham, Oxford, 
 London and Windsor, during the last three weeks, I 
 found your letter of the 14th instant, which had come in 
 my absence, and from its contents am apprehensive this 
 may not arrive before your departure on your intended 
 tour. Should this come to hand in time, I flatter myself 
 that, on its being shown to Mr. Byres * at Rome, that inge- 
 nious gentleman will recollect the name of Dr. Percy, 
 who has had the pleasure of seeing him at Northumber- 
 land House, when he most obligingly interested himself 
 in procuring such valuable antiques for the late Duke of 
 Northumberland (our common friend), and also old Italian 
 Romances for me ; and that you will present to him my 
 best respects, who I am persuaded will kindly interest 
 himself in directing you, as a friend of mine, to see every 
 
 * James Byres, esq. architect, was the great English antiquary at Rome 
 in these days, as Gavin Hamilton was afterwards. In 1779 he proposed to 
 publish, by subscription, “ The Etruscan Antiquities of Cometo, the 
 ancient Tarquinii” (see Gent. Mag. 1779, p. 288). Mr. Byres at one time 
 possessed the Portland Vase, which he parted with to Sir ~W. Hamilton. 
 His profile is given in Mr. T. Windus’s “ Description of the Portland 
 Vase,” p. 101. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 719 
 
 thing, deserving the attention of a man of literature and 
 taste, to the best advantage, in that metropolis of the 
 world. 
 
 ts I will not fail to mention to your friend Lord Charle- 
 mont that part of your letter which concerns his Lordship, 
 and have no doubt but he will make similar exertions in 
 your favour. We met at Oxford last week, and I brought 
 him and the Bodleian Librarian, Mr. Price, acquainted; 
 who made him very happy by showing him some genuine 
 specimens of the handwriting of Milton, by which his 
 Lordship is confirmed that the signature and MS. notes 
 in his Lycophron * are the undoubted writing of our Epic 
 Bard. 
 
 “ I am thankful for the Proposals for Boyd’s Poems 
 which you sent me, and will not be inattentive to him. 
 
 “ With every good wish for your agreeable tour, perfect 
 health, and safe return, I have the honour to be, dear Sir, 
 your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 “Tho. Dromore. 
 
 “ P.S. I have not the happiness to be acquainted with 
 Sir William Hamilton, or I would have written to him. 
 I presume I need not inform you that Mr. Byers is the 
 Pope’s Antiquary at Rome. If you should go to Geneva, 
 have the goodness to present my respects to Monsieur 
 Mallet, whose f Introduction to the History of Denmark ’ I 
 translated many years ago ; and whom 1 consider as one 
 of the best historians in the French language of the 
 present age.” 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “ My Lord, Frankfort, 25th July, 1792. 
 
 ee Had I known your address in England, I would have 
 done myself the honour, long ere this, to have written to 
 your Lordship : but I could not learn it from my friend 
 Mr. Caldwell (to whom I applied), nor could I conjecture 
 where a letter might find you. This, I presume, will 
 find you in Ireland. I think you proposed to return 
 either in July or August. 
 
 <c Availing myself of the letter with which your Lord- 
 ship favoured me from Bath, I went in quest of Mr. 
 Byers, the day after my arrival in Rome, but was grieved 
 to learn that he had departed not long before for Scot 
 land. I am sure it will please your Lordship to hear, 
 * See before, in this volume, p. 55, &c. 
 
720 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 that Mr. Byers has realised a capital fortune, with which 
 he has retired to his native country. His nephew (Mr. 
 Moir) has succeeded him both as a banker and an anti- 
 quario ; for he, like Mr. Jenkins (the Pallet of Fielding) 
 united both characters. His success having raised him 
 enemies amongst the Romans, satire seized upon him, 
 and dragged him on the stage. In the Comedy of f Il 
 Calzolago Inglese/ he is introduced in a very unamiable 
 light, under the name of Roastbeef. This comedy does 
 not abound either in wit or humour, but it contains some 
 severe truths with regard to the English. The author, in 
 allusion to the extreme ignorance of some of our country- 
 men who make the grand tour, makes his hero (an English 
 shoemaker, who assumes in Rome the title of an English 
 lord) say, that ‘ the Amphitheatre will be a fine building, 
 when finished/ 
 
 t{ I have much reason to regret that the shortness of 
 my stay (only one day and a half) at Geneva, would not 
 allow me to make an excursion to the rural retreat of your 
 learned and ingenious friend M. Mallet. Soon after my 
 arrival I communicated to him in a billet your compli- 
 mentary message, and received in return the following 
 polite letter : — 
 
 “ ‘ J’ai un veritable regret de n’avoir pas ete informe 
 plutot qu’un ami du respectable Eveque de Dromore 
 etoit a Geneve. Je lui serois alle oifrir avec empressement 
 mes services, et Faurois prie de me recommander a son 
 souvenir, dont je serois toujours tres flatte. Sfil etoit 
 possible que Mons. Walker prolonge son sejour ici jusques 
 a vendredi, je lui serois forte oblige de me faire Phonneur 
 de venir dejeuner avec moi a ma campagrie demain, et de 
 me procurer ainsi l’occasion de faire sa connoissance, et 
 de m’entretenir de son digne ami. Si je ne puis esperer 
 faveur, je lui demande au moins celle de lui presenter mes 
 respects, et en meme terns les 2 volumes, que j’ai Phon- 
 neur de lui envoy er, C’est one nouvelle edition, tres 
 augmentee et corrigee, de Pouvrage qu’il a bien voulu 
 traduire. L’edition entiere est de 9 volumes ; mais je 
 n’ose prier M. Walker de se charger d^un si grand em- 
 barras. M. le Dr. Percy voudra bien mfindiquer quelque 
 voye de lui faire parvenir les 7 autres volumes, sfil les 
 desire. Je les tiendrai a ses ordres/ 
 
 (( Unfortunately I did not receive this letter until the 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 721 
 
 gates of Geneva were about to be closed ; so that it was 
 impossible to send for the remaining volumes, of which I 
 should most cheerfully have undertaken the charge. But 
 I left a letter for M. Mallet, pointing out a method of 
 sending them, and, at the same time, begged of a friend 
 in Geneva to assist him in forwarding them to my address 
 either in Paris or London. So that I do not despair of 
 having the honour to present your Lordship with the 
 whole set on my arrival in Dublin. 
 
 “ Italy has been so often described, that my pen can 
 add nothing to your Lordship’s knowledge of that 
 country. I will therefore only observe, that my time 
 passed delightfully there. Honoured with the notice of 
 some of the Roman nobility, I was admitted to the full 
 enjoyment of the society of Rome. But from the con- 
 versation of the Romans there is neither pleasure nor 
 profit to be derived. They neither read nor think. Love 
 and music ingross all their time, and, of course, all their 
 conversation turns upon those subjects. However, a man 
 fond of the subjects of antiquities can never suffer from 
 ennui at Rome. 
 
 “ But in the house of Sir William Hamilton at Naples, 
 I enjoyed a great deal of mental pleasure. Sir William 
 possesses a large fund of deep and elegant information, 
 and Lady H. is a being of a superior order. I considered 
 myself as very fortunate at Naples, in witnessing an 
 irruption of Vesuvius. The stream of lava which issued 
 from the crater was, at least, two miles in extent; and 
 appeared from the Mole of Naples, through the shades of 
 night, a river of liquid fire. In defiance of all danger, I 
 ascended to that part of the mountain called the Platform, 
 and thrust my stick into the running lava. In my ascent 
 I met the hermit of the mountain, and was invited by him 
 to his cell. He spread his £ frugal fare’ before me, and, 
 while I partook of it, related the adventures of his many- 
 coloured life. He had passed thirty-two years in travel, 
 and during that time had visited all the principal cities of 
 Europe, which he seemed to have viewed with the eye of 
 a philosopher. You will naturally suppose, my Lord, 
 that in the course of the relation of my venerable host, 
 the charming tales of £ The Hermit of Warkworth,’ and 
 c The Hermit’ of Goldsmith, often occurred to me. 
 
 “ Having enjoyed the ceremonies of the holy- week at 
 Rome, the Carnivals of Rome and Naples, and the Feast 
 
7 22 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of the Ascension at Venice, and having bent before the 
 high shrine of the Virgin at Loretto, I proceeded through 
 Milan to Turin, where I prepared for my Alpine tour, 
 which I commenced at Yvery. As the Glaciers were not 
 open, and as I was desirous of seeing them, even at a dis- 
 tance, I determined to pass the Great Saint Bernard, a 
 passage of great danger and fatigue. As this route is im- 
 passable for carriages, I was obliged to perform it on 
 mule-back ; often riding on the brinks of tremendous pre- 
 cipices, in paths too narrow to admit me to alight. I was 
 surprised and delighted to find in the very region of snow, 
 where the mercury stood at 21, a convent of Franciscan 
 Friars. By those hospitable fathers I was invited to a 
 blazing hearth, and a table covered with cold meats, dried 
 fruits, and generous wine. Having passed a delicious 
 hour there, I began to descend, and in about three hours 
 reached a romantic valley, which, in the course of the fol- 
 lowing day, led me back to the Lake of Geneva. Passing 
 along the borders of this lake, I was captivated with the 
 romantic charms of Vevay (the retreat of Ludlow), and 
 resolved to pass two or three weeks there; and, perhaps, 
 there are few weeks in my life on which I shall reflect 
 with more pleasure than on those which passed at Vevay. 
 Here, amidst a beauteous landscape, and among a people of 
 easy and elegant manners, I enjoyed the varied pleasures 
 of retirement and society. I found the ladies of Vevay 
 possessed of more elegant and general information than 
 almost any other ladies with whom I have conversed ; 
 they are not only acquainted with the best French au- 
 thors, but have read all the best productions of Italy and 
 England ; nay, they often discussed with me points of 
 English history, and adorned their conversation with quo- 
 tations from the Spectator. But this extensive informa- 
 tion is not peculiar to the ladies of Vevay: the Swiss 
 ladies in general are equally well informed; they are, 
 besides, attentive to their domestic duties, neat and plain 
 in their dress, and extremely rigid in their moral conduct. 
 This character, however, will not always hold with regard 
 to the Roman Catholic Cantons. There the women read 
 less, devote more time to the toilet, and cast an amorous 
 glance on every man they meet. Such are the unhappy 
 effects of that too-indulgent religion throughout the whole 
 continent. I speak from attentive observation. 
 
 “ When I left Vevay, I wandered along the borders of 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 723 
 
 the Lake to Lausanne and Geneva. At Lausanne I visited 
 the house of Gibbon. It is large and finely situated, 
 and commands a considerable extent of the lake, the bar- 
 ren mountains of Savoy, and the gloomy rocks of Meillerie. 
 From Geneva you will naturally suppose I made an excur- 
 sion to Ferney. Except the chamber-a-coucher of Vol- 
 taire, the whole house has suffered an alteration : that 
 remains in the state in which he left it, with the addition 
 of an urn containing his heart. On this urn is inscribed, 
 ‘ Son esprit est partout, son coeur est ici.’ But I have 
 hardly left myself room to add that I have the honour to 
 be, your Lordship’s faithful, much obliged, and most obe- 
 dient, humble servant, J. C. Walker.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Castle of Aclair, 6 Jan. 1793. 
 
 “ Presuming that some authentic information concerning 
 the Defenders may be acceptable to your Lordship, I sit 
 down in order to acquaint you with their late proceedings 
 in this neighbourhood. 
 
 <c A few nights since, about nine o’clock, twenty fellows, 
 armed with guns and half drunk, entered this castle, and 
 demanded the firearms of Mr. Blacker, the proprietor. 
 No resistance was made, but some reluctance to comply 
 with the demand was shewn by Mr. Blacker and three 
 gentlemen who were on a visit to him. Immediately the 
 Defenders cocked and presented their firearms, threatening 
 instant death, and Mr. Blacker, you may suppose, no 
 longer hesitated to deliver up his guns. One gun, how- 
 ever, they returned, saying, they would not take that, as 
 thty knew his heart was in it. Before they retired, they 
 begged something to drink, and whiskey and ale being 
 produced, they desired the gentlemen to drink first ; { then 
 we shall be sure,’ said they, ‘ that there is no poison in it.’ 
 They conducted themselves pretty much in the same man- 
 ner at Mr. Owen’s and Mr. Hamlin’s, two families who 
 have since fled. But they refused to take the gun of 
 Mr. Fairtlough, curate of this parish, saying, that they 
 would have nothing to do with the Church ; however, they 
 took the guns both of the Rev. Mr. Little and the Rev. 
 Mr. Gibson, and even visited the latter twice. When Mr. 
 Fairtlough offered them his gun, they said, c we must take 
 it, because our oath obliges us to do so, but here it is for 
 you again,’ assigning the reason given above for returning 
 
72 4 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 it. Mr. A. M‘Clintock, being prepared for their coming, 
 refused them admission, and returned their fire. One, it is 
 believed, was killed, and several wounded. Although no 
 resistance was intended at Mr. Sherrard’s, an agent of the 
 Primate, the windows of the house were shattered, because 
 they were not immediately admitted. After ransacking the 
 house, they attempted one of the maids. The ruffian from 
 whose arms she escaped struck at her with a hanger, 
 which was broken to pieces on the bannister. She showed 
 me the mark. 
 
 “ I presume your Lordship is not unacquainted with 
 the engagement at Carricknacross ; but, as the newspapers 
 do not always adhere to truth, I shall relate such parti- 
 culars as have come to my knowledge. On this occasion 
 the Defenders did not, as usual, wait for the mantle of 
 night to cover them ; a body of not less than GOO entered 
 the town early in the evening, headed by two men well- 
 mounted and armed with pistols and carbines. As they 
 entered, they demanded Mr. Steel, an active magistrate of 
 that town ; but Mr. Steel, taught to expect them, had 
 marched out of the town with twelve soldiers to a neigh- 
 bouring bridge, which he presumed they would have passed. 
 A corporaPs guard of six men, that remained in the town, 
 immediately turned out. This guard was soon after joined 
 by Mr. SteePs party, and a brisk fire on both sides com- 
 menced ; but the Defenders were soon discomfited. Their 
 flight was as precipitate as their defiance had been bold. 
 Two of their body were actually killed, several were 
 wounded, and ten made prisoners ; happily, not even one 
 of the soldiers was wounded. Two slugs passed through 
 the hat of Mr. Steel, but did him no other injury. This 
 was the last large body of them that appeared. On 
 Christmas Eve several hundred of them were assembled 
 on the road between Drogheda and Dunleer, huzzaing 
 and calling for the army, which was expected that night 
 from Dublin. 
 
 “ The Speaker * is taking a very active part in quelling 
 those rioters. He passes almost all his nights in riding 
 about the country, attended by a troop of horse. The 
 other night he was fired at by a fellow from a ditch, but 
 happily escaped. He has converted his house at Collen 
 into a barrack for the officers on duty there, and has an 
 
 * Rt. Hon. John Foster, late Lord Oriel. He died Aug. 16, 1828. See 
 a memoir of him in Gent. Mag. vol. XCVIII. ii. 271. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 7 25 
 
 open table for them at the Temple. A few days since 
 he called a meeting of the principal landholders of the 
 County at Dunleer, but he could only prevail on a 
 few of them to sign the Resolutions which he drew up. 
 The Roman Catholics desired a little time to consider 
 them. They have since had a meeting for that purpose ; 
 but their resolutions have not transpired. It is there- 
 fore concluded that the Defenders are not without 
 friends of property. When the Defenders are asked 
 what it is they are seeking, they answer, that they 
 think each family ought to have, at least, ten acres for 
 its support. They say something too about the Articles 
 of Limerick, yet do not seem perfectly acquainted with 
 them. 
 
 “ At such a time nothing but business, your Lord- 
 ship will naturally suppose, could have led me into this 
 part of the country. On Wednesday it is my intention 
 to return to Dublin, where I should be happy to find 
 a letter from your Lordship, acquainting me with the 
 perfect recovery of Mrs. Percy. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, my lord, with great respect, 
 your Lordship’s faithful, much obliged, and most obedient 
 humble servant, J. C. Walker.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Tuesday .* 
 
 “ I am, as your Lordship may suppose, very anxious to 
 see the passage in Mr. Ritson’s book to which your Lord- 
 ship alluded yesterday. Receiving my copy of that work 
 at a moment when I was too much occupied to read it, 
 and knowing Lady Charlotte Rawdon wished to see it, I 
 sent it to her Ladyship without even opening it. I am, 
 however, in daily expectation of it. But, in the mean 
 time, I should be much obliged to your Lordship for a 
 loan of your copy. 
 
 “ At what time I replied to Mr. Ritson^s queries con- 
 cerning Scottish music, and prevailed with Mr. Boyd to 
 afford his assistance, I cannot now recollect ; nor can I, 
 at present, lay my hand on Mr. Ritson^s letters of that 
 period. I can only say, that soon after he opened a 
 
 * This letter was written to the Bishop of Dromore when in Dublin in 
 the Spring of 1794. 
 
7‘26 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 correspondence with me in 1 789 (a correspondence unso- 
 licited on my part), he applied to me for such information 
 regarding the subject on which he was then employed as 
 I could furnish, and I did not deny him my aid. Hurt, 
 however, at the asperity and injustice with which he 
 treated your Lordship, I ventured to step forth as your 
 champion, and, if I did not absolutely conquer, I, at least, 
 obtained concessions. This will appear from the following 
 extracts from Mr. Ritson’s letters. In a letter, dated 4th 
 Nov. 1789, he says, f As a publication of uncommon 
 elegance and poetical merit I have always been, and still 
 am, a warm admirer of Bishop Percy’s Reliques. And 
 though I have been persuaded that he has not, on every 
 occasion, been so scrupulously attentive to his originals 
 as I think the work required, I shall be very glad to find 
 the idea unfounded, and readily confess that what you 
 have been so obliging as to tell me about the folio MS. 
 has in a great measure removed my prejudice on that 
 head/ In a letter, dated 1st January 1790, he resumes 
 the subject, — f I cannot say that my prejudices against 
 Bishop Percy’s celebrated publication, which I on many 
 accounts very much admire, are entirely removed. The 
 information you have so obligingly communicated has 
 certainly done a good deal ; it has established the exist- 
 ence of his famous folio MS., of which, begging his Lord- 
 ship’s pardon, I had presumed to doubt. The circum- 
 stance mentioned by the Bishop, of his being at so consi- 
 derable a distance from the press is indisputably a suffi- 
 cient excuse for even more than the mere errors of im- 
 pression. But you will perceive the justice of confining 
 this excuse to the first edition.’ Again, in Nov. 1792, he 
 writes, * In case there should be a second edition of my 
 f Ancient Songs ’ I will certainly notice what Mr. Shen- 
 stone has said of Bp. Percy’s folio MS., bat that is all. 
 Your friendship for the possessor may naturally enough 
 induce you to see what concerns him in a more favour- 
 able light than suits my purpose.’ In consequence of 
 my having written angrily to him, on seeing a passage 
 expressing a doubt of the existence of the MS. in the 
 preface to his f Ancient Songs,’ he thus exculpates him- 
 self: — f You do me great injustice to suppose, for a 
 moment, that I consider Mr. Shenstone’s testimony as 
 more respectable than or any way preferable to yours. 
 The words of my preface are: — “This MS. no other 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 727 
 
 writer (not person) pretends to have seen.” Now it 
 would be impossible, or at least absurd, to accept any 
 but a writer, i. e. one whose testimony has appeared in 
 print. But it is not the mere existence of the MS. 
 that I dispute; of that I have long had satisfactory 
 assurance. Whether it will, on a careful examination, 
 justify the use Bishop Percy has or pretends to have 
 made of it is a perfectly distinct question. This Dr. 
 Johnson, who had seen it, did not, &c.’ Does it appear 
 from these extracts that I have acted a lukewarm part on 
 the occasion ? I laboured to convince him of the exist- 
 ence of the MS., and I succeeded. More I could not 
 do. To convince him (though I firmly believe it myself) 
 that your Lordship’s brilliant fancy had not dropped 
 some (unacknowledged) flowers amongst the Reliques, 
 I must be able to speak from the authority of f a care- 
 ful examination.’ And until I can do that he must be 
 permitted to doubt my assertions. His manner of 
 expressing his doubts is certainly reprehensible. But 
 there are other authors of great respectability of cha- 
 racter not less scurrilous than Mr. Ritson. I do not mean 
 to defend Mr. Ritson. I have censured his manner, not 
 only to others but to himself. 
 
 “ If Mr. Ritson, in the warmth of gratitude for any 
 little service I may have formerly rendered him, has 
 made handsome mention of me in his last work, am I 
 to blame ? I did not offer myself a candidate for a 
 niche. Thinking I might be of service to him, Mr. 
 Ritson early applied to me for assistance ; and my love 
 of letters, and in particular of the subjects on which he 
 was employed, would not allow me to deny it to him. 
 Does that reflect on my moral character ? With his 
 moral character I had nothing to do. I observed he 
 was peevish, and I endeavoured to soften his asperity; 
 I saw his prejudices against the Editor of the f Reliques * 
 were strong, and I endeavoured to subdue them. Nor 
 is Mr. Ritson the only person with whom my friend- 
 ship for the Editor has been active. Not many weeks 
 since I tried to undeceive (at Bristol) Mr. Catcott, the 
 friend of the unfortunate Chatterton. But there is no 
 one living who has a stronger claim on my poor services 
 than your Lordship, and I trust that ingratitude is not 
 an ingredient in my composition. J. C. Walker.” 
 
728 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Mr. Pinkerton. 
 
 Bath, Nov. 16, 1794. 
 
 cc Shortly after I was honoured with your favour of the 
 8th ult. I set out for Ireland, but was seized at Chester with 
 a severe illness, which so materially injured my health, 
 that my physicians thought it necessary I should retire 
 for a while to this mild climate. 
 
 “ Your approbation of my publications is very flatter- 
 ing. But I am sorry they have not a better claim to the 
 praises your politeness has induced you to bestow on 
 them. Some claim they have to your indulgence, for they 
 were the productions of (almost) a boy. Several years 
 have elapsed since they first appeared, and I am still a 
 young man. 
 
 “ You do me much honour by desiring my correspond- 
 ence. I should be proud and happy to cultivate yours j 
 but, from my inability to make an adequate return, I do 
 not feel myself authorised to solicit such a favour. I can 
 only say that I shall always have great pleasure in pro- 
 moting any literary inquiries you may wish to make in 
 Ireland. 
 
 “ It is to be regretted that Mr. Ledwich does not con- 
 tinue his literary and antiquarian pursuits ; but I trust he 
 will resume them. He is a man of genius and deep eru- 
 dition : literature has many obligations to him. The last 
 publication he acknowledged, appeared in the fourth vo- 
 lume of the e Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy 
 but in the first volume of the e Anthologia Hibernica,’ 
 there are some ingenious little essays by him which he 
 has not publicly owned. 
 
 “ My c Essay on the Rise and Progress of Gardening in 
 Ireland 3 appeared in the fourth volume of the e Transac- 
 tions of the Royal Irish Academy.’ If one of the few 
 copies which I had worked off for my friends should re- 
 main, I shall do myself the honour to send it to you on 
 my return to Ireland. 
 
 “ I shall have great pleasure in sending you occasionally 
 any work of merit that may appear on the subject of Irish 
 antiquities. On that subject nothing has appeared of late. 
 I think with you that some bookseller in London ought 
 to be appointed to sell Irish productions. Elmsly is em- 
 ployed by the Irish Academy, and was once employed by 
 me. General Yallancey and Miss Brooke (whose ‘ Relics 
 of Irish Poetry’ I presume you have seen) employed the 
 Robinsons.” 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 729 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “ My Lord, St. Valeri, Bray, 7th March 1797- 
 
 “ Your Lordship^s obliging favour of yesterday has 
 found me in my bed, to which I have been confined some 
 days, and from which I write these hasty lines. This I 
 hope will apologise for my not acknowledging sooner your 
 Lordship’s letter of the 3d inst. 
 
 “ I lament sincerely the melancholy fate of poor Dr. 
 Hamilton* and Mrs. Waller ; and wish from my soul that 
 the arm of power may reach not only the assassins, but 
 the instigators. 
 
 “ The capture of the Spanish ships is a capital stroke. 
 
 “ I shall embrace with pleasure the earliest opportunity 
 of sending your Lordship Hayley^s c Life of Milton.’ Of 
 Roscoe I am in no immediate want ; I therefore beg you 
 may read it at your perfect leisure and convenience. 
 
 “ Your nephew has chosen a very curious subject, and 
 will I am sure treat it as it deserves. To trace to its 
 source a fabric of verse to which we owe so much intel- 
 lectual pleasure, is an inquiry of the most interesting kind. 
 Lord Surrey, you say, was the first who attempted blank 
 verse in English. Who stimulated him to make the at- 
 tempt ? Certainly not the French. Perhaps, then, it was 
 the Italians, of whose writings he was a warm admirer. I 
 wish your nephew would push his ingenious inquiries into 
 this field of conjecture. If he should discover his author 
 imitating, even in a few instances, the various versi sciolti 
 of the Italians, he may venture to conclude that their 
 writings were the models upon which he formed himself. 
 Long before the time of Surrey, as your Lordship knows, 
 blank verse prevailed amongst the Italians. So early as 
 the year 1524, Trissino ventured, with a happy boldness, 
 to introduce verso sciolto in his c Sofonisba/ the first regu- 
 lar tragedy in the Italian language. c Egli fu che primo 
 introdusse in componimenti lunghi (says Maffei) il verso 
 
 * The Rev. Dr. W. Hamilton, rector of Fanet, co. Donegal, and formerly 
 Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and Mrs. Waller, were murdered March 
 2, 1797, at the house of the Rev. Dr. Sharon. Full particulars of these cruel 
 murders will be found in the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1797, p. 180; and 
 also a good biographical account of Dr. Hamilton. His publications were, 
 “ Letters on the Coast of the County of Antrim.” “ An Account of Expe- 
 riments for determining the Temperature of the Earth’s Surface in Ireland,” 
 published in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy for 1788. “ Let- 
 
 ters on the French Revolution.” “ A Memoir on the Church of Ireland,” 
 appeared in the Royal Irish Academy’s Transactions after his death. 
 
 VOL. VII. 3b 
 
730 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 sciolto , del che non potra mai sapergli grado a bastanza la 
 nostra lingua, essendo certissimo, che quanto graziosa e la 
 rima nelle cose liriche, altrettanto necessario parebbe 
 Pabbandonarla, ove in componimenti lunghi, e gravi altri 
 volesse emulare la perfezione de’ Latini versi, e de’ Grech* 
 I will confess, my Lord, that the various measures into 
 which our early dramatic poets occasionally run, often 
 remind me of the verso sciolto of the Italians, which is 
 not always confined to the stately step and regular mea- 
 sure of what is by us denominated blank verse. And 
 perhaps it may yet appear that the Literature of England 
 has more obligations to Italy than we seem willing to 
 allow. In the times of Henry VIII. and Queen Eliza- 
 beth, Italian Literature was unquestionably more univer- 
 sally cultivated in England than it is at present. Of this 
 it would be easy to adduce proofs. Nor would it, I think, 
 be difficult to prove that Shakspeare was well acquainted 
 with the language and literature of Italy. Proud of his 
 natural, we are labouring to strip him of his meretricious 
 charms. But while we allow him genius, do not let us 
 deny him learning. 
 
 “ I have said that Lord Surrey certainly did not borrow 
 from the French the idea of clothing his thoughts in blank 
 verse. His good taste would not allow him to imitate a 
 bad example. That blank verse was used by any French 
 writers of note before, or about the time of Lord Surrey, I 
 cannot at this moment determine ; but of this we may 
 rest assured, that at no period would French blank verse 
 be likely to induce imitation, so unfriendly to that measure 
 is the genius of the language. But let us hear Voltaire on 
 this subject in his celebrated Letter to the Marquis MafFei: 
 — ‘ Paurois souhaite pouvoir, a l’exemple des Italiens et 
 des Anglois, employer l’heureuse facilite des vers blancs , 
 et je me suis souvenu plus d*une fois de ce passage du 
 Rucellai : 
 
 ‘ Tu sai pur che l’immagin della voce, 
 
 Che risponde da i sassi ov’ Eco alberga, 
 
 Sempre nimica fu del nostro regno, 
 
 E fu inventrice delle prime rime.’ 
 
 Mais je me suis apperfu, et j*ai dit, il y a longtems, qu’ 
 une telle tentative n’auroit jamais de succes en France, et 
 qu’il y auroit beaucoup plus de foiblesse que de force, a 
 eluder un joug qu’ont porte les auteurs de tant dkmvrages 
 qui dureront autant que la nation Franfoise.* 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 731 
 
 “ But if the Italians did not first teach our poets the 
 melodious flow of blank verse, they certainly taught them 
 the painful restriction of the sonnet . As this is a subject 
 which has never employed my thoughts, I am, I fear, dis- 
 playing great ignorance upon it. Pardon this intrusion on 
 your time, and believe me, &c. J. C. Walker/’ 
 
 [The first part of this Letter is wanting, and its date 
 is not known.] 
 
 <e Reliques, 5th edit. vol. III. p. 269. ‘The Birth of St. 
 George/ Gibbon’s History of St. George is perhaps the 
 most satisfactory that has yet been published. Vide c De- 
 cline and Fall of the Roman Empire,’ vol. iv. p. Ill — 115. 
 
 “ P. 94, vol. i. ( Robin pulled forth an Irish knife/ 
 Probably the Skein is alluded to in this passage. Vide 
 ( Memoir on the Armour and Weapons of the Irish,’ 
 p. 119. 
 
 “ I am sorry to observe that e L’ Amour et Glycere’ is 
 omitted. 
 
 “ Having dipped a little into your Lordship’s copy of 
 the first edition of Shakespear, I am confirmed in an 
 opinion which I have long entertained, that the original 
 text is not always improved by the alterations of modern 
 Commentators. I have only, however, collated two pas- 
 sages with the text of Dr. Johnson, but in those I found 
 that the alterations, instead of improving the sense, had 
 made nonsense of it. 
 
 “ Measure for Measure. 
 
 “ Act 1, sc. 1. 6 Since I am put to know,’ in the first 
 edition, is good sense, as must appear to any one who 
 will read the whole passage with attention. But ‘ since 
 I am not to know,’ as altered by Johnson,* is absolute 
 nonsense. 
 
 “ As You Like It. 
 
 <c Act 1, sc. 1. e Staies me here at home.’ This has 
 been altered by Johnson to e Sties me here at home.’ 
 The sense does not authorise this alteration. Shakespear 
 simply meant, he keeps me here at home. Orlando was 
 
 * Johnson’s alteration is not retained, or even mentioned, in Reed’s 
 Shakspeare, edit. 1803. — J. M. 
 
 3 B 2 
 
732 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 at liberty to range ; he could not therefore be said to be 
 kept in a sty .* 
 
 “ Learned Commentators view 
 In Shakespear more than Shakespear knew.” 
 
 44 In delineation of national character, perhaps Shakespear 
 is without a rival. This is, I think, most strikingly evi- 
 dent in Sc. 3, Act 2, of Henry the Fifth. I do not recollect 
 (and I have not the book by me) whether or not Mr. 
 Malone has made any observation on the Irish character 
 in this scene — if not, I think he might add a note to this 
 purpose. 
 
 44 Dr. Campbell, in his 4 Philosophical Survey of the 
 South of Ireland/ p. 283, observes, 4 As to the personal 
 courage of the individuals of this country (Ireland), I have 
 never heard it disputed. National reflection rather brands 
 it with a hardihood of spirit. Shakespear, who of all 
 men had the deepest insight into human nature, has left 
 us a portrait of the Irish character in this line, as like as 
 if they had sat for the picture but yesterday. The like- 
 ness is so very striking that I cannot refrain from giving 
 an extract/ The Doctor then transcribes the scene to 
 which I have alluded. But he has omitted to observe, 
 that the vulgar Irish at this day, as well as in the days of 
 Shakespear, are in the habit of swearing by the hand. 
 Da lamha mo chardais criost, i. e. by the hand of my gossip, 
 is now a prevailing oath in Ireland. We find Carolan 
 using it. 4 Hist. Mem. of Irish Bards/ App. p. 69. 
 
 44 I think the anecdote of the relation of Shakespear 
 who lived at Drogheda, given in the 4 Anthol. Hib/ not 
 undeserving the notice of Mr. Malone. I can vouch the 
 authenticity of the anecdote. 
 
 44 If your friend Dr. Warton is about to publish an 
 edition of Pope’s Works, he ought, perhaps, to be re- 
 minded that Metastasio, in his 4 Letters/ makes hand- 
 some mention of a translation of the 4 Essay on Man/ 
 printed at Turin in 1768. The title runs thus, 4 L’Uomo 
 Saggi di Filosofia Morale di Alessandro Pope. Volga- 
 rizzati dal Conte Giuseppe Maria Ferrero di Lavriano/ 
 The only copy of this translation that I have seen I 
 bought at Turin, and it is now in my possession. Of the 
 4 Rape of the Lock/ there is also an Italian translation, 
 
 * “ Styes,” or 11 Sties,” in Warburton, has been adopted by Johnson, 
 and not disapproved by Steevens. — J. M. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 733 
 
 which I likewise possess. It is in the second volume of 
 4 Prose e Poesie del Signor Abate Antonio Conti/ To 
 this translation are prefixed ‘ Osservazioni su la materia e 
 1’artifizio del Poema.’ 
 
 “ I should be happy to hear that Dr. Burney’s 4 Me- 
 moirs of Metastasio’ are gone to press. And I should be 
 likewise rejoiced to find that he means to add to his 
 valuable 4 History of Music 5 a volume on the very inte- 
 resting subject of * National Music/ If he omitted, 
 during his tour in Italy, to collect the Dances peculiar to 
 the different States, I should have great pleasure in send- 
 ing him a copy of the collection which I made. I sup- 
 pose he did not forget to remark at Bologna the different 
 musical instruments which lie at the feet of St. Cecilia, in 
 Raffaelle’s celebrated picture. 
 
 44 But I am intruding too long upon your Lordship. 
 Pardon me, and believe me to be, with great respect, 
 your Lordship’s faithful, much obliged, and most obedient, 
 humble servant, J. C. Walker. 
 
 44 P.S. Have the goodness to make my best compli- 
 ments acceptable to Mrs. and the Miss Percy’s/’ 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Mr. Pinkerton. 
 
 St. Valeri, Bray, March 13, 1797. 
 
 H: * * % 
 
 44 You are so good as to inquire after my little work : 
 it is in great forwardness. In the course of a few weeks I 
 shall begin the fair transcript. Ouseley has made a bar- 
 gain with a bookseller for me. I am obliged to Cadell for 
 not acceding to my very moderate terms. I have since 
 considerably extended my acquaintance with Italian litera- 
 ture, and received satisfactory answers to several inter- 
 rogatories which I sent to Italy. 
 
 44 As soon as I have dismissed my 4 Memoir,’ I shall 
 prepare for the press a manuscript journal in my posses- 
 sion of a very sensible traveller, who made a tour of Scot- 
 land, Ireland, and Wales, in 1634. Your learned and 
 ingenious friend, the Bishop of Dromore, read the manu- 
 script, and urged the publication.* 
 
 * See before, p. 715. 
 
734 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 * H< # 
 
 44 Poor Lord Orford ! English literature has lost in 
 him one of its most elegant ornaments. I hope some 
 friend will give us memoirs of his life in the manner of 
 4 Mason’s Memoirs of Gray/ His letters are charming. 
 He honoured me with a few, which I esteem highly. 
 His friend Lord Charlemont and I exerted ourselves to 
 prevent the publication of his 4 Mysterious Mother 3 in 
 Dublin. Failing in this attempt, I attended the work 
 through the press, and am happy in being able to say that 
 the Dublin edition is one of the most correct editions of 
 that incomparable drama. 
 
 44 1 date from a sweet little place which I have taken in 
 the county of Wicklow. At the foot of my lawn, three 
 small rivers unite, and flow in one large body through a 
 romantic valley to the sea. From the windows of my 
 study I enjoy a peep into the Dargle ; and two majestic 
 mountains form the back-ground of the picture ; but, 
 should you ever visit Ireland, I hope you will afford me 
 an opportunity of pointing out those beauties to you on 
 the spot. Pest assured you have no friend in the Island 
 of Saints who would be happier in seeing you/’ 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Bishop Percy. 
 
 My LORD, St. Valeri, Bray, March 20, 1797. 
 
 44 1 fear your Lordship did not read with sufficient in- 
 dulgence the few hasty lines which I wrote from my bed, 
 without the assistance of books, on a subject I had not 
 considered. Of Lord Surrey^s Poems I am not possessed,* 
 nor did I know that it was acknowledged he had borrowed 
 from Trissino the first idea of blank verse. It is true he 
 might have taken that measure from him, as the 4 Sofo- 
 nisba’ was published so early as 1524. But Trissino was 
 not the first Italian poet who wrote in 4 verso sciolto he 
 was only the first who introduced it into long composi- 
 tions. 44 Egli fu che primo introdusse (says Maffei) in 
 componimenti lunghi il verso sciolto/ The novels of 
 Boccacio, and the productions of several other prose writers 
 of that period, are sprinkled with versi sciolti. And Cres- 
 cimbeni observes that the famous 4 Cantico del Sole’ of San 
 Francisco of Assisi, a holy poet who flourished in the 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 735 
 
 beginning of the thirteenth century, was written in that 
 measure. It is therefore bestowing an unmerited honour 
 on Trissino to attribute to him the invention of Italian 
 blank verse. Even his friend Rucellai might dispute the 
 palm with him ; for the 4 Rosmunda/ which is in that 
 measure, was represented before Leo X. in 1516, though 
 it was not printed till 1525. Now the 4 Sofonisba J did 
 not appear till 1524, and the epic poem of 4 LTtalia Libe- 
 rata* was not, according to Trissino’s own confession, even 
 begun before 1525. Milton, who was intimately acquainted 
 with Italian literature, probably followed the example set 
 by Trissino, in his 4 Italia Liberata,’ which first appeared 
 in 1547, and by Oliviero in his 4 Alamanna/ 156‘7. But 
 these examples could not have been followed by Lord 
 Surrey if he died in 1537. It may therefore be presumed 
 that the 4 Sofonisba ’ of Trissino, or the 4 Rosmunda 5 of 
 Rucellai, suggested to his Lordship the idea of blank verse ; 
 and having learned to clothe the effusions of his fancy in 
 that measure, he applied it to heroic poetry. Or, is it not 
 still more probable that 4 LTliade et POdissea di Omero 
 tradotte dall’ original Greco, in verso sciolto, dalP Abate 
 Antonmaria Salvini. In Firenze, 1523,*’ were the examples 
 which he followed ? Of blank verse applied 4 to heroic 
 Poem,’ several instances besides those already mentioned, 
 might have fallen under the observation of Milton. I shall 
 enumerate a few. 
 
 44 4 L’Odissea, tradotta da Girolamo Baccelli. Fir. 1582.’ 
 
 44 4 Lucano delle Guerre Civili, tradotto in verso sciolto 
 da Giolio Morici. Ravenna, 1587-’ 
 
 44 4 L’Eneide di Yirgilio, tradotta da Annibal Caro. In 
 Treviso, 1603.’ 
 
 44 Indeed almost all the classic poets were translated into 
 Italian blank verse, by various hands, between 1520 and 
 1630, though Barretti, whose knowledge of Italian literature 
 was, I believe, more superficial than is generally imagined, 
 asserts that the example set by Trissino was followed by 
 very few, and the measure he used generally despised. 
 Besides translations, several admired original productions 
 in verso sciolto appeared after the death of the father of 
 Italian tragedy. 
 
 44 At what period the French first used blank verse I 
 cannot determine. But it is probable they were late in 
 
 * The Bishop has added a Note on this : “ Salvinis Odissea, in blank 
 verse, 1529. A false date ; probably 1723.” 
 
736 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 employing a measure to which the nature of their language 
 is so unfriendly. That they have compositions in blank 
 verse cannot, however, be denied. 
 
 44 Almost destitute of books, like your Lordship, for I 
 am as yet unsettled, I am perhaps again displaying great 
 ignorance on a subject which, to be treated properly, 
 requires deep research. I shall therefore waive it for the 
 present. 
 
 44 From Hayley’s 4 Life of Milton/ I did not expect your 
 Lordship would draw much information on the subject in 
 question. But his friend Cowper will, I presume, treat it 
 at length. 
 
 44 I have disposed of the inclosure in the manner your 
 Lordship desired. I cannot at present recollect whether 
 or not the circumstance you allude to, be mentioned in Mr. 
 Irwin’s Voyage, but I shall embrace the earliest opportu- 
 nity of consulting the work. 
 
 44 Of the particulars of Lord Surrey’s Life 1 know little 
 more than what is given in the 4 Noble Authors but, if 
 my memory does not deceive me, his mistress was a lady 
 of the FitzGerald family. Perhaps there are some papers 
 in the Leinster family that would throw light upon the 
 subject. 
 
 44 If it be possible, at this distant clay, to follow Lord 
 Surrey in his Travels, perhaps he might be traced to Vi- 
 cenza. If he could be found there associating with Tris- 
 sino and Rucellai, his adoption of blank verse might be 
 easily accounted for. As he seems to have formed him- 
 self upon the Italian model, all his Poems should be 
 carefully compared with the productions of the Italian 
 poets who flourished at the same time. 
 
 44 1 have the honour to be, &c. J. C. Walker. 
 
 44 P. S. I have written to Major Ouseley for the parti- 
 culars you desire, and shall beg leave to trouble your Lord- 
 ship to forward the Letter.” 
 
 44 My Lord, St. Valeri, Bray, 25th March, 1797. 
 
 44 As I cannot find amongst the Italian poets of the 
 16th century a translator of the name of Antonmaria 
 Salvini; and as the Antonmaria Salvini who translated 
 Addison’s 4 Cato ’ translated also several of the Greek 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 737 
 
 and Latin Classics, I am still of opinion that the compiler 
 of the Catalogue is in error. But we do not stand in 
 need of Salvini’s assistance on this occasion. Let us 
 therefore dismiss him. 
 
 “ When I found your Lordship asserting that Lord 
 Surrey borrowed from G. G. Trissino that species of 
 metre which we call blank verse , and the Italians verso 
 sciolto, I gave up the subject in despair. But since you 
 have in your last letter opened a new field of conjecture 
 to me, I shall beg leave to range in it for a few moments. 
 
 44 To Lord Surrey is generally attributed the invention 
 of English blank verse ; but it still remains to inquire 
 whence, or from whom he borrowed the idea. To Tris- 
 sino it is thought he is indebted for it. From Trissino 
 he certainly might have borrowed that species of metre ; 
 but there existed, at the same period, other Italian writers 
 who also might have taught him to reject rhyme, and 
 4 draw out the sense variously from one verse into an- 
 other/ Besides the 4 Sofonisba’ of Trissino, the follow- 
 ing productions in verso sciolto (all of which now lie 
 before me), had appeared prior to or were published 
 during Lord Surrey’s visit to Italy : 
 
 44 4 La Rosmunda. Tr. di G. Ruccellai. Fir. 1525/ 
 
 44 4 U Antigone. Tr. di Luigi Alamanni. Yen. 1532/ 
 
 44 e L’Epitalamio di Catullo nelle Nozze di Peleo edi 
 Teti, tradotto da Lod. Dolce. 1538/ 
 
 44 From these productions he might have learned to 
 reduce his own language to the measure of blank verse — 
 but who taught him to apply it 4 to heroic poem ?’ 
 4 L’ltalia Liberata’ did not appear till 1547, the year in 
 which Lord Surrey died; and the 4 Alamanna’ was not 
 published till 1567* Here a difficulty seems to occur. 
 Let us endeavour to surmount it. In 1556 appeared in 
 Florence, 4 Tutte l’opere di Yirgilia, tradotte in versi 
 sciolti da diversi Autori e raccolte da Lodovico Domenichi/ 
 This collection or compilation, however, Lord Surrey 
 could not have seen, for he was not then in existence ; 
 but he might have seen, in detached publications, some of 
 the pieces of which it is composed. Amongst the transla- 
 tors whom Domenichi laid under contribution, I find the 
 following — Aless. Sansedoni, Ipolito de Medici, Fr. Maria 
 Molza, Bernardino Borghesi, Bart. Carli, Aldrob. Cerre- 
 tani, and Alessandro Piccolomini. Now in 1540, 4 I sei 
 primi Libri dell’ Eneide di Virgilio, tradotti e dedicati a 
 
738 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 piu illustri ed onorate Donne (Sanesi)/ by the very writers 
 whom I have just enumerated, appeared in Venice. This 
 compilation therefore formed part of Domenichi’s; and 
 this publication might have been seen by Lord Surrey, as 
 he lived seven years after its appearance. But as Ipolito 
 de J Medici died in 1535, and Fr. M. Molza in 1540, it is 
 probable that their respective translations of the JEneid 
 had been published by themselves, or during their lives ; 
 so that Lord Surrey could not have wanted an Italian 
 example of blank verse applied to * heroic poem/ I will 
 not, however, positively deny, that the example which he 
 followed was not set him by the Spaniards. But from his 
 long residence in Italy, and his love of Italian literature, I 
 am rather inclined to think that he borrowed from the 
 writers of that enchanting country, the model which he 
 imitated. 
 
 44 If your Lordship can get access to Tiraboschi, consult 
 him on the subject of 4 verso sciolto. 5 The work is very 
 scarce, but Lord Charlemont, I know, has a copy. I 
 ordered a copy from London sometime ago, but it is not 
 yet arrived. I now regret that when I formerly consulted 
 that work, my inquiries did not embrace verso sciolto. 
 
 44 Permit me now to repeat what I mentioned in a 
 former letter, that the steps most likely to lead to certainty 
 on this occasion, are 
 
 44 1. A discovery of the Literati with whom Lord 
 Surrey chiefly associated in Italy. 
 
 44 2. A careful comparison of his poetical compositions 
 with those of his Italian contemporaries. 
 
 44 If your Lordship should extend your inquiries to the 
 origin of blank verse in Spain, as well as in England, you 
 will probably find that the Italians led the way to that 
 species of metre in both countries. I think it very likely 
 that 4 La Ulyssea’ was preceded by the following transla- 
 tions of Homer: 
 
 44 4 LTliade d 5 Omero, tradotta in Lingua Italiana da 
 Paolo Badessa. In Padova, per Grazioso Percasino, 1564.’ 
 In quarto. Blank verse. Five books only. 
 
 44 4 L’Odissea, tradotta in volgar Fiorentino (blank 
 verse) da Girolamo Baccelli. Firenze, presso il Sermatelli. 
 1582.’ 8vo. 
 
 44 In the Riccardi Library at Florence, are preserved 
 the seven first books of the Iliad, translated by Gir. Bac- 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 739 
 
 celli. It was from this library that Mr. Roscoe drew 
 some of the materials for his work. 
 
 “ As I have not a copy of Chaucer here, the sample of 
 his blank verse was very acceptable to me. Thus I find 
 that the father of English poetry was also the inventor of 
 English blank verse. Lord Surrey, like Tressino, was 
 only the first to employ it ‘ in longer works.’ Chaucer 
 probably took the hint from his contemporaries Dante 
 and Boccaccio. With Dante we know he was personally 
 acquainted. Here a new field of inquiry is opened. The 
 more I consider the subject the more curious I find it. 
 I am sure your Lordship will treat it in the manner it 
 deserves. 
 
 “ Of the origin of French blank verse I cannot speak 
 with certainty. But I presume the French were not late 
 in following the example set by the Spaniards and Italians. 
 I have not, however, any books here that can throw light 
 on the subject. I recollect to have seen some modern 
 (French) compositions in blank verse, though I cannot at 
 this moment name them. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, my Lord, with great respect, 
 your Lordship’s faithful, much obliged, and most obedient, 
 humble servant, J. C. Walker.” 
 
 Ci My LORD, St. Valeri, Bray, Sunday Morn. April 2, 1797. 
 
 “ I have just received a letter from Major Ouseley. My 
 memory has deceived me. The poem of which he is 
 possessed is a curious original poem of the Earl of Essex, 
 written while he was confined in the Tower. 
 
 “ My friend Mr. Marsden, of the Admiralty, has just 
 sent me his very curious f Catalogue of Dictionaries, Vo- 
 cabularies, Grammars, and Alphabets,’ of which I find 
 only sixty copies were printed. He has not forgotten 
 your Lordship’s ‘ Reliques.’ 
 
 “ Poor Mr. Pinkerton has lost his youngest child. 
 Lord Meath * was extremely ill last night, but is better 
 this morning. More of the shirt, &c. has been extracted. 
 
 “ I remain, &c. J. C. Walker.” 
 
 * William ninth earl of Meath was a young man of great worth and some 
 abilities. He fell a martyr to the influence of false honour, in a duel with 
 Mr. Gore; and died May 21, 1797. See Gent. Mag. vol. LXVII. p. 529. 
 
740 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ My Lord, St. Valeri, Bray, 20th May 1797. 
 
 “ I have just received the inclosed. When you have 
 read it, have the goodness to return it, that I may not 
 only answer it, but show it to some unbelievers . I am 
 happy that Catcott is undeceived. It was a wise step. I am 
 not without hopes of being able to convince some unbe- 
 lievers in the authenticity of Han Kiou Chouan. 
 
 “ If your Lordship should go to Bristol, I wish you 
 would call on Catcott, and prevent his taking any harsh 
 steps against Sir R. Chambers. He may be found in the 
 Public Library from ten till three o’clock every day. He 
 has a large collection of papers respecting the Contro- 
 versy,* which I am sure he would have great pleasure in 
 showing you. 
 
 “ Let me now express a hope that your Lordship 
 arrived safe, and found Mrs. Isted and her family well. 
 
 “ The aspect of the political world here is not less 
 gloomy than when you left us ; indeed the spirit of sedi- 
 tion seems spreading ; it has even reached the borders of 
 this county. I shuddered as I read the Report of the 
 Secret Committee. I remember Tonef in college, where 
 he was considered as a lad of great promise. He would 
 probably have risen to eminence at the bar, if his mind 
 had not taken a political turn. Marrying early and im- 
 prudently, he became embarrassed and desperate. And 
 he is now an exile, covered with infamy. His father was 
 a coachmaker. 
 
 “ I presume your Lordship has seen Dr. Hussey’s Pas- 
 toral Letter — a most dangerous production. 
 
 £< Poor Dr. Hamilton’s widow is now an inhabitant of 
 Bray. That she should abandon the North is not to be 
 wondered at. 
 
 te As your Lordship will probably expect some literary 
 news from me, I shall transcribe a passage from a letter 
 which I have just received from Dr. Browne : — ‘ I am 
 very busy, when not employed in the Courts, in Parlia- 
 ment, or in College, in preparing for the press. Lectures 
 on Civil and Ecclesiastical Law, read by me as Professor 
 in the University.’ 
 
 te When it shall suit your convenience have the good- 
 
 * The Chatterton, or Rowley controversy. 
 
 + Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the chief rebels in Ireland. He was tried 
 and sentenced to be hung, but contrived to cut his own throat. See Gent. 
 Mag. vol. LXVIII. pp. 1084, 1075 ; LXIX. 28, 193. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 741 
 
 ness to indulge me with a few lines, and you will infi- 
 nitely oblige your Lordship’s faithful humble servant, 
 
 “Joseph C. Walker. 
 
 “ Have the goodness to make my best compliments 
 acceptable to Mrs. and Miss Percy, and Mrs. Isted. I 
 am told Memoirs of Sir J. Reynolds have appeared. 
 May we not expect Memoirs of Lord Orford and Mr. 
 Mason ?” 
 
 “ My LORD, St. Valeri, Bray, 6th June, 1797. 
 
 “ I am just honoured with your Lordship’s favour of 
 the 1st inst. 
 
 “As my object in opening a temporary correspondence 
 with Mr. Catcott was merely to set him right in regard to 
 the manner in which the papers of Chatterton were lost, 
 my answer to his letter was very short. The cavil (if it 
 was intended as such) at your Lordship’s statement, I 
 thought so much beneath my notice that I was silent on 
 that subject. Nor did I say more respecting your Lord- 
 ship than this, or something to this purpose, — that if he 
 had the honor to know your Lordship as well as I do, he 
 would have thought an eclair cissement totally unnecessary. 
 
 “ I shall, as your Lordship seems to wish, take no fur- 
 ther part in regard to the Chinese Novel. My friend Mr. 
 Irwin’s testimony to its authenticity I have already com- 
 municated. Till the publication of c Love and Madness,’* 
 there were, I believe, few unbelievers. 
 
 “ Possessed, through the kindness of a friend, of the 
 first edition of the f Italia Liberata” (a book of great 
 scarcity), I find it was printed in 1547 and 1548; that is, 
 the nine first books in May 1547, and the remainder in 
 November 1548. So that if Lord Surrey died in 1545, 
 he could not have learned to employ blank verse in 
 ‘ heroic poem,’ from Trissino. I am, therefore, still of 
 opinion, that the translation of Virgil which I mentioned 
 to your Lordship, probably gave Lord Surrey the hint. 
 
 “ This kingdom is less disturbed than it was ; how- 
 ever, it is still in an unpleasant state, indeed, an alarming 
 one. We are as yet pretty quiet in this neighbourhood. 
 Last Sunday night a pike was found near my garden, but 
 nothing has happened since. In the neighbourhood of 
 
 * A novel by the Rev. Sir Herbert Croft, containing an account of Chat- 
 terton, and Hackman and Miss Ray. — J. M. 
 
742 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 poor Boyd things do not wear so good an aspect. He 
 says in a letter which I received from him this day, 4 Mur- 
 ders and robberies are so frequent here, that it is no 
 novelty to hear of a dead body or two being found within 
 a few miles of this place in a morning/ I therefore think 
 your Lordship’s absence at this time enviable. I would 
 by no means recommend it to you to hasten home. 
 
 44 I am happy to find that Mrs. Isted and her family are 
 well. Have the goodness to make my best compliments 
 acceptable to her, and to Mrs. and Miss Percy and your 
 nephew; and believe me to be, my Lord, 
 
 44 Yours, &c. Joseph C. Walker. 
 
 44 P. S. If I can be in any way useful to your Lordship 
 in this kingdom, I hope you will do me the honour to 
 employ me.” 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Mr. Pinkerton. 
 
 “June 27, 1797. 
 
 44 1 have, I fear, too long omitted to thank you for 
 
 Manso^s Life of Tasso. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 44 1 wish we had some satisfactory notices of Manso him- 
 self. We know too little of that accomplished noble- 
 man. I believe I have made the first attempt at ascer- 
 taining the site of the villa near Naples in which he 
 received Tasso and Milton. What I have collected on 
 this subject will appear in my Memoir on Italian Tragedy, 
 if the work itself should ever appear. 
 
 44 Having finished Machiavelli, I engaged in Guicciar- 
 dini, and found him an historian of the first order. I am 
 now deep in Tiraboschi, a writer of great research and 
 good taste. His life of Testi I have not yet been able to 
 procure ; but I have begged of Major Ouseley to have a 
 sharp look-out for a copy. Tiraboschi is very severe on 
 a great favourite of mine, l’Abbe de Sade. 
 
 44 You say that the first place amongst the lyric poets of 
 Italy is due to Petrarch ; the second to Testi. I cheer- 
 fully subscribe to your opinion ; and I am surprised that 
 a writer of so much merit should be neglected. You, 
 however, have made him known in England ; and to 
 know him is to admire him. Indeed Italian literature 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 743 
 
 has many obligations to the author of £ Heron’s Letters.’* 
 They abound too in what I admire, but rarely find — 
 original thinking. Amongst their warmest admirers in 
 this country is Lord Charlemont, a nobleman of exten- 
 sive learning and refined taste. He is the Manso of Ire- 
 land.” 
 
 J. C. Walker to Bishop Percy. 
 
 My Lord, St. Valeri, Bray, 8th July, 1797. 
 
 “ Presuming your Lordship is still employed on the 
 origin of English blank verse, I shall beg leave to trouble 
 you with a passage from a translation, in verso sciolto, of 
 the 4th book of the iEneid, which was made by Lodovico 
 Martelli, who died in 1527 : 
 
 4 Subito per la gran citta di Libia 
 Va discorrendo l’importuna fama. 
 
 Fama e un mal di cui null’ altra pria 
 Per continuo moto si fa grande : 
 
 Piccola in prima, e paventosa, e poscia, 
 
 Arditamente su per l'aer poggia, 
 
 E’n terra i passi muove, e’l capo in alto 
 Fra le nugole eccelse asconde e posa, &c.’ 
 
 “ When this translation first appeared I cannot say 
 with certainty, probably in the Rime del Martelli in 1533 ; 
 for in a re- publication of this work in 1548, the title page 
 sets forth, £ aggiuntovi il IV. di Virgilio tradotto dal me- 
 desimo.’ If my conjecture be well founded, Martelli’s 
 translation might have met the observation of Lord Surrey, 
 and inspired him with the idea of attempting blank verse. 
 But if his Lordship’s translation was not executed before 
 1540, it may be safely presumed that he saw l sei primi 
 libri dell’ Eneide, printed in Venice that year. 
 
 “ It must, I am sure, have surprised your Lordship as 
 much as it did me, that Dr. Johnson’s curiosity never 
 tempted him to look into Lord Surrey’s translation of 
 Virgil. The Earl of Surrey (says he, in his Life of Mil- 
 ton,) is said to have translated one of Virgil’s books with- 
 out rhyme. 
 
 “ In your Memoirs of Lord Surrey your Lordship will, 
 I presume, give some account of the origin of the Eng- 
 lish sonnet, of which the writings of that ingenious noble- 
 man is said to afford the earliest specimen. In consider- 
 
 * Heron’s Letters by Pinkerton. See on this work a note by Steevens, 
 in Shakspeare, edit. Reed, vol. XTX. p. 314 ; and some severe lines in 
 Cowper’s Letters, vol. II. p. 41, justly deserved. — J. M. 
 
744 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ing Lord Surrey’s sonnets it must have struck your Lord- 
 ship, that in some of them he admits more than two 
 rhymes into the two quatrains, and that there is one in 
 which the same rhyme runs on through the fourteen lines. 
 
 “ As I have sought in vain for Sir Edward Sherburne’s 
 translation of three of Seneca’s tragedies, allow me to 
 trouble your Lordship to turn to the preface (if you hap- 
 pen to have the book by you), and inform me if he men- 
 tions the Italian translation of those tragedies by Lod. 
 Dolce. Pardon this liberty, and believe me to be, &c. 
 
 “ J. C. Walker.” 
 
 “ My Lord, St. Valeri, Bray, 25th Aug. 1797. 
 
 “ I am honoured with your Lordship’s favour of the 1 2th 
 inst. and can venture to assure you that my brother had 
 much pleasure in forwarding your billet to Dromore. I 
 beg your Lordship may not hesitate to make use of his 
 privilege whenever you may have occasion to do so. 
 
 “ As your Lordship is pleased to invite me to resume 
 the subject of verso sciolto, I shall do so. Of the two 
 books of Virgil, translated into blank verse by Lord 
 Surrey, his Lordship might have seen Italian translations 
 in the same metre. In a former letter I mentioned to your 
 Lordship that Lodovico Martelli, who died in 1533, trans- 
 lated the fourth book into verso sciolto. And I have since 
 discovered that Ippolito de’ Medici, natural son of Giu- 
 liano de’ Medici, translated the second book into the same 
 measure, and published it anonymously at Rome, apud 
 Anionium Bladum, in 1538. As the nature of a little 
 work on which I am at present employed naturally leads 
 to an inquiry into the origin of verso sciolto , I shall not 
 fail to acquaint your Lordship with any further discoveries 
 I may make, which may seem likely to promote your 
 Lordship’s inquiry. 
 
 “ In regard to the origin of the Sonnet I must, I fear, 
 have expressed myself obscurely ; for it was to the Eng- 
 lish not the Italian sonnet I intended to direct your Lord- 
 ship’s notice. The origin of the Italian sonnet has been 
 in a great degree determined long since by Francesco Redi, 
 and has been lately traced with great ingenuity and ele- 
 gance by Mr. Roscoe. But the origin of the English 
 sonnet still, I believe, remains a subject for investigation. 
 
 * There is no Preface to Sherburne’s Seneca, only a Dedication, and Life 
 of Seneca. Nor any mention of Lod. Dolce. — J. M. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 745 
 
 If Lord Surrey was not the first, I believe he was one of 
 the earliest fabricators of the English sonnet. 
 
 “ The great rarity of Lord Surrey’s translation of Virgil 
 was unknown to me until mentioned by your Lordship. 
 When Lord Orford enumerates with the works of Lord 
 Surrey ‘one book of Virgil,’ I always thought he was 
 giving the title of a book which he had seen ; but when 
 Johnson says, ‘the Earl of Surrey is said to have trans- 
 lated one of Virgil’s books without rhyme,’ I concluded 
 he was speaking, with his usual carelessness, of a work 
 which he would not take the trouble to consult. But I 
 am delighted to find that your Lordship’s nephew means 
 to put the public into possession of a literary treasure 
 which might otherwise have remained for ever in conceal- 
 ment. 
 
 “ On consulting Dr. Johnson’s ‘ History of the Eng- 
 lish Language,’ I find he does not deny Lord Surrey the 
 honour of inventing English blank verse; nor does he 
 attribute its invention to him. He only gives a composi- 
 tion in blank verse of the same age, ‘ which is (he says) 
 the oldest I have found.’ 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, &c. J. C. Walker.” 
 
 “ My Lord, St. Valeri, Bray, March 14, 1798. 
 
 “ It is a little unfortunate that my exertions to promote 
 your Lordship’s inquiries should not be seen in their true 
 light, or even indulgently read. 
 
 “ In one of your Lordship’s former letters, you seem to 
 doubt whether Lord Surrey or the fair Geraldine be men- 
 tioned by Holinshed. Happening to have the book by 
 me, I went patiently through every page of the Irish part, 
 and reported what I found, presuming, at the same time, 
 to offer such conjectures as occured to me. Yet this your 
 Lordship is pleased to call ‘banter and badinage.’ Excuse 
 me when I say that zeal and ignorance would have been 
 better epithets ; for my report was an effusion of one cer- 
 tainly — perhaps of both. 
 
 “ I have ventured to predict that some future historian 
 of the house of Medici will dispel the clouds which now 
 hang over the fair Geraldine. Perhaps it will yet be found 
 that this is not a ‘fancy built on nothing firm.’ That the 
 fair Geraldine was the daughter of an Irish Earl, Lord 
 
 VOL. VII. 3 C 
 
746 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Surrey declares ; that that Earl was a Fitzgerald, is be- 
 lieved ; and that the lady in question resided some time in 
 Florence, is not denied. But the lady has not yet been 
 identified. e The question is/ says Lord Orford , 4 whether 
 the Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald, or her sister Lady Cicely, 
 was the fair Geraldine : I should think the former.’ His 
 reasons for thinking so are ingenious, but his proofs are 
 only presumptive. When the true Florimel was placed 
 by the false, the latter vanished into nothing. Perhaps a 
 Geraldine may yet be found in that part of the private 
 history of the house of Medici which still remains to be 
 unfolded ; at whose appearance the lady whom we have 
 been so long admiring may melt into air.* Many circum- 
 stances, not less extraordinary, have been discovered in 
 the Recordi of old Cosmo, which Mr. Roscoe dragged 
 into light from the obscurity of the Laurentian library. 
 But I have done with the subject : nor shall I resume that 
 of verso sciolto. I thought, and still think, that Lord 
 Surrey did not borrow from Trissino the fabric of verse 
 into which he translated Virgil; and what I thought I 
 took the liberty of communicating to your Lordship. 
 
 “ The author of the Orange is not known ; nor is it 
 likely that he will avow himself, lest he should be called 
 out by some of the persons with whose characters he 
 makes so free. There is so much inflammable matter in 
 the composition of an Irishman, that he is apt to take 
 fire at the slightest attack on his character. 
 
 “ Mr. O’ConoPs papers have disclosed secrets that may 
 probably save the kingdom from the demon of demo- 
 cracy. My brother informs me his troop attended five 
 coaches full of prisoners to the Custom House on Monday. 
 As yet I have not heard all the names of the conspirators. 
 Dr. M £ Nevin, Oliver Bond, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Pryme, Mr. 
 Douling, Mr. Sweetman, are amongst the principal. The 
 pursuit is now very hot after Lord Edward Fitzgerald, who 
 is supposed to be concealed in this part of the country. 
 Poor Lady Emily was searched, and some important 
 papers found in her possession ; and it is said, that the 
 whole plan of the intended attack on Dublin was found in 
 the handwriting of Lord Edward; however, this, and 
 some other circumstances which I have related, may not 
 
 * See the Memoir prefixed to the Aldine edition of Lord Surrey’s Poems, 
 12mo. 1831, pp. xx, xxi ; and Dr. Nott’s edition of Lord Surrey. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 747 
 
 be true, for the reports which now fly about the kingdom 
 are perpetually jarring. It is said, a bill of attainder is 
 immediately to be brought into Parliament. What dread- 
 ful times ! There is now a system of assassination in this 
 kingdom. No man’s life, however guarded his conduct, 
 can be valued at twelve hours’ purchase. All the horrors 
 of the secret tribunal are revived. I have the honour to 
 remain, your Lordship’s obedient humble servant, 
 
 “ J. C. Walker.” 
 
 “ My Lord, St. Valeri, Bray, 20th March, 1798. 
 
 “ I hope your Lordship has received a letter in which I 
 expressed my regret at your neither seeing in their true 
 light my efforts to promote your ingenious inquiries, nor 
 reading with indulgence my report of those inquiries. The 
 oftener I peruse the letter which gave birth to mine, the 
 more I feel hurt at its contents. e Another time you must 
 not presume quite so much on my ignorance.’ Your 
 ignorance of what ? permit me to ask. Surely I could 
 not suppose your Lordship unacquainted with the sonnet 
 to which I alluded. I have a very imperfect recollection 
 of the letter which seems to have excited your Lordship’s 
 displeasure ; but I believe it contained little more than a 
 hasty report of a research in Holinshed, with the conjec- 
 ture to which it gave rise. I found that Gerald Fitz- 
 Gerald (an Irish nobleman) had held a high employment 
 in the court of Florence ; that, after some time, he returned 
 to his native country, and at an advanced age died, either 
 in England or in Ireland, I forget which. Now it occurred 
 to me, that if that Gerald FitzGerald had a daughter, she 
 might have been the fair Geraldine, of whom (we learn 
 from the sonnet in question before it was altered by Lord 
 Orford), 
 
 ‘ Fair Florence was sometyme her ancient seate.’ 
 
 I did not then nor do I now insist on any thing. I had 
 considered the subject slightly, and had not then (nor 
 have I now) the books necessary to pursue the inquiry ; 
 above all I wanted those infallible guides, dates ; the only 
 guides on which in such inquiries we can safely rely. But 
 I have done with the subject. Nor shall I again presume 
 to meddle in any of your Lordship’s literary concerns. On 
 
 3 c 2 
 
748 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the present occasion my zeal produced displeasure ; on a 
 former it incurred reproach. 
 
 ei Since I wrote last, nothing new in regard to the traitors 
 has occurred. The result of the examination before the 
 Privy Council is kept a profound secret ; but it is pre- 
 sumed that proofs sufficient to establish their guilt have 
 been found. A report prevailed for awhile, and was then 
 contradicted, that a commission appointing Counsellor 
 Sampson Lieutenant General of the rebel army was 
 found ; but I believe it is certain that Counsellor Emmett 
 took an affecting leave of his wife, and expressed appre- 
 hensions of their never meeting again. Lord Edward has 
 escaped, and his unfortunate lady has retired to Castle- 
 town. 
 
 “ This part of the country is as yet quiet ; but I fear 
 that the flame which is at present smothered will at length 
 burst out. Government, however, are indefatigable and 
 energetic, therefore we should not despair. 
 
 “ My health, after which your Lordship is pleased to 
 inquire, is, thank God, amended, but far from being per- 
 fectly re-established. Though it would not allow me to 
 spend any part of the winter in town, it has, however, 
 permitted me to bring to a conclusion a long and laborious 
 work. 
 
 “ A brother academician who passed yesterday with 
 me, informed me that Dr. Young lately submitted to the 
 Academy a most ingenious paper on the subject of colours. 
 
 “ I have the honour to remain, &c. J. C. Walker.” 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Mr. Pinkerton. 
 
 “ May 12, 1798, 
 
 “You cannot conceive, nor I express, the pleasure 
 which the perusal of your ‘ History of Scotland ’ has 
 afforded me. The plan is admirable, and the execution 
 equal to the plan. You have attained the object at which 
 you aimed : you have rendered the work f so complete a 
 model of modern history, so perspicuous, interesting, vari- 
 ous, animating, and elegant, as to merit general approba- 
 tion/ Your style has all the strength and beauty of 
 Gibbon’s, without any of its obscurity. Your characters 
 are drawn with the masterly pencil of Tacitus ; and your 
 retrospects are pictures, in which we occasionally discover 
 the minuteness of Teniers, the grace of Raffaelle, and the 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 749 
 
 sublimity of Michael Angelo. In a word, you stand 
 unrivalled among modern historians j* and your plan is 
 infinitely superior to that of any of the historians of 
 ancient Greece and Rome ; nor are you, in my opinion, 
 inferior to any of them in the execution. Proceed, my 
 dear Sir, in the path into which you have struck with so 
 happy a boldness ; and, while laurels are showered on 
 your head, the applause of every lover of elegant literature 
 and historic truth will vibrate on your ear.” 
 
 “December 2, 1798. 
 
 fc An opportunity just occurring of sending you a few 
 lines, I avail myself of it to offer you my warmest thanks 
 for the pleasure which I derived from the perusal of your 
 i Rimes/ I read them eagerly, and can truly say they 
 answered in the fullest manner my expectations, which 
 were, indeed, very high. You seem, in fact, (to borrow an 
 expression of your own,) f to have attained the genuine 
 texture of lyric thought and style/ You have all the 
 fire of Pindar, with Gray’s happy choice of expression. 
 Your f Ode on Enthusiasm 3 hurried me out of this 
 world ; and your pathetic tale of ‘ Adelaide 9 melted me 
 to tears. I lament that the limitation of my time will not 
 allow me to point out some of the beauties with which I 
 was particularly struck. But you would be little gratified 
 by the praise of a man who has proved himself so in- 
 different a poet in the few versions which I have given of 
 the specimens in my ‘ Memoirs/ of which, I presume, 
 you have got a copy ere this. 
 
 “A thousand thanks for your portrait. Though I only 
 saw you once, and for a few minutes, I will venture to 
 pronounce it extremely like. 
 
 “ Since I read your i Rimes/ I am more anxious than 
 ever for the appearance of your play. Have you sent it 
 to Mr. Hayley ? Have you read Preston’s little Essay on 
 Lyric Poetry in his works ? I think it would please 
 you. He is a very ingenious man : I know him well. I 
 am much pleased with the critical works of Mr. Penn, 
 which I lately met with.” 
 
 * This lavish praise of Pinkerton by Mr. Walker, justifies the opinion of 
 the writer who says, “ Walker, as a critic, is so profuse and indiscriminating 
 in his eulogy, as to render him a very uncertain and treacherous guide.” 
 Quarterly Review, No. XCYII. p. 75. — J. M. — Mr. Walker is slightingly 
 spoken of by Dr. Ledwich, in a letter to Bishop Percy, Oct. 24, 1802, as a 
 “ holiday scholar.” 
 
750 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Jan. 19, 1799. 
 
 * * * 
 
 44 As my object was merely Italian tragedy, I did not 
 give as much attention as I ought to the rise of the dra- 
 matic art in Italy; but, since I was favoured with your 
 last letter, I have considered that subject deeply, and find 
 I could with ease make my Introduction the most curious 
 and not least interesting part of my work. If, therefore, 
 Harding should think that he would be able to get off a 
 second edition of my 4 Memoir,’ I shall re-write the Intro- 
 duction, and not only avail" myself of the strictures of 
 such friends as yourself on the body of the work, but 
 exert myself to the utmost to obtain further information/ 5 
 
 . “ Feb. 26, 1799. 
 
 # * >fc 
 
 44 In consequence of your hint, I am now employed on 
 an Essay on the Revival of the Dramatic Art in Italy. 
 It will extend from the earliest period to the time of 
 Trissino. I shall spare no pains to render this little work 
 at least satisfactory. I am almost daily adding something 
 to my 4 Memoir on Italian Tragedy, 5 and am now and 
 then receiving liberal communications from my friends. 55 
 
 “ St. Valeri, June 1, 1799. 
 
 * * * 
 
 44 I was much gratified by the very liberal critique on my 
 4 Memoir 5 which appeared in the 4 British Critic 5 for 
 April, and shall gladly evail myself of the hints suggested, 
 and cheerfully correct the errors pointed out by the 
 reviewer. Role, though sometimes used, is not strictly 
 English, and shall therefore be altered ; but I fear that I 
 shall not be able to find in English an equivalent of equal 
 conciseness for Scenes a Machine. I think, with the 
 reviewer, that all the important quotations should have 
 been translated ; and I now regret that I did not do what 
 might have been so easily done. 
 
 44 1 have sketched out an Essay on the Revival of the 
 Drama in Italy, which (if I should finish it to my mind) I 
 shall probably publish about September or October next. 
 To this I have some idea of subjoining (by way of pre- 
 paration for a second edition) additions and corrections to 
 my 4 Memoir, 5 with versions of all the untranslated speci- 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 751 
 
 mens, some of which my friend Boyd has promised to 
 undertake. Favour me with your opinion on this plan/’ 
 
 “June 24, 1799. 
 
 “ I am favoured with yours of 14<th instant. I lament 
 most sincerely poor Tassie.* In his death the elegant 
 arts have suffered a great loss. 
 
 “ I this day saw in the possession of Valance, a book- 
 seller here, a large collection of books which belonged to 
 the late Rev. James Johnstone, f editor and translator of 
 several curious Northern tracts. If you are still an 
 admirer of the literature of the North, I shall be happy in 
 purchasing for you any books in that way in poor John- 
 stone^s collection you may point out. The sooner you 
 acquaint me with your wishes on this subject the better, 
 lest some of the lovers of Northern literature in this city 
 should get the start of us. I shall not disclose this lite- 
 rary secret to any of my friends here till I hear from you. 
 I found Valance in the very act of unpacking the books. 
 
 “ I think with you that our inventions were getting 
 tame and vapid. But the German inventions, in my 
 opinion, bear a strong resemblance to the ravings of a 
 man in a fever. The flights of Shakspeare, Milton, and 
 Ariosto, are divine : they are the effusions of a fine frenzy. 
 Ariosto was a miracle of genius. 1 almost adore him.” 
 
 “ St. Valeri, Dec. 1, 1799. 
 
 “ If you happen to have a copy of the comedies of the 
 fair German nun, Hroswitha,| might I beg of you to tran- 
 scribe the passage (if it be not too long) in which the 
 vision of the cross that appears to Gallicanus is described } 
 It is in the comedy which bears his name. I do not be- 
 lieve there is a copy of these comedies in this kingdom. 
 Is there not some account of them subjoined to the last 
 edition of the 4 Essay on Old Maids ? ? 
 
 “ My f Essay on the Revival of the Drama in Italy ’ is in 
 great forwardness. I am rich in materials : besides a 
 large collection of rappresentazioni , I have got the 
 
 * James Tassie, the eminent gem-engraver : see a memoir of him in the 
 Literary Anecdotes, vol. III. p. 217 ; see also vol. VII. pp. 411, 687. 
 
 f He translated and edited the Death-song of Lodbrok, 12mo. See 
 before, p. 157. 
 
 X A nun of Gandersheim in Lower Saxony, who wrote some Latin come- 
 dies in imitation of Terence, at the close of the tenth century. They afford 
 the earliest specimen of dramatic composition, and have been twice printed, 
 in 1501 and again in 1707. See Warton’s Hist. Engl. Poetry, vol. II. p. 18, 
 ed. 1840.— F. M. 
 
7 52 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ‘ Timone,’ c Calandra,’ and several other comedies written 
 before 1500. Nor am I without hopes of a fresh acces- 
 sion. As you are acquainted with the nature of my un- 
 dertaking, may I beg an occasional hint ? 
 
 “As I can now supply several deficiencies in my 
 ‘ Memoir/ I am meditating a Supplement. I have got 
 the ‘ Sofonisba ’ of Galleotto del Caretto, the f Tullia ’ of 
 Martelli, the ‘ Marianna’ of Dolce, and several other 
 scarce and curious pieces, which should have been more 
 fully noticed. The three pieces, however, which I have 
 just enumerated, belong to a friend ; so that 1 cannot 
 boast of them as constituting part of my collection. 
 
 “ Though the times are not favourable for literature, I 
 trust you are not idle. If history be still your favourite, 
 I hope you have some great work on the anvil. The his- 
 tory of your own country has still claims upon you. 
 
 “ I wish you would take up some brilliant period in 
 the literary history of Spain, and pour a flood of light 
 upon it. We know too little of the literature of that 
 country. Is there much in Southey’s ‘ Letters on Spain 
 and Portugal ? ’ As yet, that work has not reached me. 
 Is it known who wrote ‘Letters from an English Traveller 
 in Spain, in 1778, on the Origin and Progress of Poetry 
 in that Kingdom ? ’ * Is the author of the 6 Letters on 
 Spanish Literature ’ in the Monthly Magazine known ? 
 By the by, that is one of the best conducted Magazines 
 in England : it is particularly acceptable to a recluse like 
 me, who wishes to know something of the state of literary 
 affairs on the Continent. On the subject of antiquities, 
 I still continue to draw information from my old friend, 
 Urban.” 
 
 “ Eccles Street, Dublin, Aug. 26, 1806. 
 
 “ Till! saw your name in the monthly list, I was igno- 
 rant of your return. I sincerely rejoice at your being 
 restored to your family, with whom 1 hope you will long 
 enjoy uninterrupted happiness. 
 
 “ I took the liberty to address a few lines to you at 
 Paris on the subject of my ‘ Irish Bards.’ But I have as 
 yet to learn whether or not the French translation of that 
 work, on which your friend was then employed, has ap- 
 peared. I have been informed that the Memoir on Italian 
 Tragedy has been translated into French ; but I am not 
 sure that the information was correct. 
 
 * Written by Mr. Dillon. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 753 
 
 “ During your absence, I published a little ‘ Essay 
 on the Revival of the Drama in Italy/ If you have read 
 that imperfect work, might I beg to be favoured with 
 your candid remarks on it ? Do not spare me.” 
 
 “ St. Valeri, Bray, Ireland, Oct. 2, 1806. 
 
 * * * 
 
 “ I am truly grateful for the trouble which you kindly 
 took in regard to my e Irish Bards/ I think Mr. Edge- 
 worth told me that he had seen a French translation in 
 Paris. Yet I cannot procure a copy in any of the book- 
 sellers 5 shops in London. I have begged of Dulau to 
 write to Paris on the subject, and at the same time to 
 order a copy of the French translation of the ‘ Memoir on 
 Italian Tragedy/ if such a publication exists. If Dulau 
 should fail, I shall perhaps take the liberty to avail my- 
 self of your kind offer. I believe I mentioned to you 
 that an Italian nobleman at Milan has undertaken a 
 translation into Italian of the 6 Memoir on Italian Tra- 
 gedy/ 
 
 “ If you have not already procured a copy of my little 
 e Essay on the Revival of the Drama in Italy/ I beg you 
 will honour me with your acceptance of the copy for which 
 I inclose an order. I shall anxiously expect your 
 remarks on that imperfect work. You will find I have 
 attempted to do what you long since recommended to me 
 to undertake. 
 
 * * * 
 
 “ I am much pleased with Lord Holland’s 6 Life of Lope 
 de Vega/ It is enriched with some excellent dramatic 
 criticism, and will, I hope, assist in rendering Spanish 
 literature fashionable. 
 
 “ I expect to derive much pleasure and information 
 from Mr. Irving’s ‘Life of George Buchanan/ His 
 e Lives of the Scottish Poets’ (of which he was so good 
 as to send me a copy) I think an excellent work — it is 
 curious and interesting. Dr. Ledwich thinks highly of 
 the author’s learning.” 
 
 Mr. Pinkerton to Mr. Walker. 
 
 “ January 15, 1807. 
 
 “ My large volumes of Geography occupied me so 
 much that I had no time to write. I read with great 
 pleasure your e Essay on the Italian Drama / but allow 
 
754 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 me to observe a radical fault. There are no great masses, 
 no striking divisions, no epochs : so that the attention is 
 bewildered, and the memory has no pause. Arrangement 
 is the first quality of a good book ; and it is proper to 
 form a skeleton or analysis, before putting pen to paper in 
 the composition. The notes are often disjointed and 
 desultory. 
 
 tc Excuse these few remarks of a friend and well wisher.” 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Mr. Pinkerton. 
 
 “ January 22, 1807. 
 
 “ I consider your kind favour of the 15th inst. as the 
 strongest proof you could give me of sincere friendship. 
 As such I accept it, and am grateful for it. I must con- 
 fess, however, that I am sorry that a work undertaken 
 chiefly at your suggestion should not be so fortunate as to 
 meet with your approbation. Should it ever reach a 
 second edition, I shall hope, by attending to your excel- 
 lent hints, to render it less unworthy the subject. In 
 order to this, it would be necessary to enlarge my plan, 
 and not to confine myself to a particular period, but to trace 
 the history of the Italian stage from infancy to maturity. 
 In the work in question, I have only (if I may so express 
 myself) played about the cradle of the Italian drama. I 
 have merely noticed its first feeble efforts to speak — the 
 imperfect accents of childhood. My specimens and re- 
 marks are therefore confined to the earliest attempts. I 
 could, it is true, have noticed many more dramas, which 
 might be said to fall within the narrow limits of my plan ; 
 but I was unwilling to weary, and perhaps disgust, the 
 generality of readers. I promised a slight Essay, and have 
 kept my word. 
 
 “ Your idea that an author should form a skeleton of 
 his intended work before putting pen to paper in the 
 composition, I think a most excellent one. Should I 
 ever engage in another work, you will find your hint has 
 not been thrown away. Something of what you recom- 
 mend was attempted on the present occasion. The pre- 
 vious arrangement in my mind was such as the subject 
 seemed to suggest. I determined to divide the work into 
 sections, allotting to each respectively the different spe- 
 cies of drama which appeared at the revival of the art in 
 Italy, and devoting some of the concluding sections to 
 the patrons of the art, and to the academies instituted for 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 7 55 
 
 promotion. This was the plan which occurred to me at 
 the time. I will not say it was the best, but it was the 
 best I could devise. Should I determine hereafter to 
 give the work a new form, I shall beg leave to consult 
 you, my kind friend. 
 
 “ Allow me now to avail myself of your kind offer in a 
 former letter. If you can with perfect convenience pro- 
 cure me the French translations of ‘ Irish Bards,’ f Me- 
 moir on Italian Tragedy/ and ‘ Essay on the Revival of 
 the Drama/ I shall most thankfully reimburse you the 
 expense. It would be obliging me exceedingly. I am 
 sorry that it was not in my power to afford you any 
 assistance in your great geographical undertaking. But 
 our public libraries do not, I fear, contain any materials 
 that would have been of use to you. If my memory does 
 not deceive me, there are in our college library some old 
 maps of the time of Elizabeth, by one Jobson, but they 
 are poor things.” 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Mr. O. Rees. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, St. Valeri, Ireland, May 2, 1807. 
 
 “ Mr. Roscoe informed me several months since, that 
 an Italian nobleman at Milan had undertaken to trans- 
 late my e Memoirs on Italian Tragedy.” Has the transla- 
 tion reached London yet? Have you seen a French 
 translation of that work, or of the f Essay on the Revival 
 of the Drama in Italy/ or of the ‘ Memoirs of the Irish 
 Bards ?’ Mr. Edgeworth informed me that he had seen a 
 French translation of the latter juvenile work at Paris. 
 Yet I have never been able to procure a copy. 
 
 ci I was lately indulged by a friend with a loan of the 
 two first volumes of 4 Censura Literaria/ which afforded 
 me so much pleasure that I now regret that I did not 
 subscribe to the work. I think the plan excellent ; and 
 the execution does much credit to Mr. Brydges. Every 
 lover of elegant literature must feel obliged to him. As 
 a literary antiquary he seems to be indefatigable, and as 
 a critic and biographer he displays admirable talents. I 
 sincerely hope he may be encouraged to proceed with his 
 undertaking. I understand he has commenced, or means 
 to commence, a new series on a new plan. Will his new 
 plan embrace very scarce works in the French, Spanish, 
 
756 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and Italian languages, which have some connection with 
 English literature ? If you are personally acquainted 
 with Mr. Brydges, might I beg of you to ask him whether 
 any of the Egerton family ever resided at Iiandford in 
 Cheshire ? 
 
 “ I have a correct list of the Strawberry- hill publica- 
 tions by the late Mr. Henry Quin ; do you think it would 
 be acceptable to Mr. Brydges, or his friend Mr. Park ? 
 
 “ Believe me, dear Sir, &c. J. C. Walker. 5 ’ 
 
 J. C. Walker, Esq. to Rev. Mr. Boyd, Dromore House. 
 
 “ My DEAR Sir, St. Valeri, Bray, 29th Nov. 1804. 
 
 “ Your obliging favour of the 4th inst. found me ex- 
 tremely ill; a violent fever had just then commenced. After 
 being confined above a fortnight to bed, I was at length 
 permitted to rise ; but I have not yet quitted the bed-side. 
 I write, as you may perceive, with a very feeble hand ; but 
 I will no longer postpone my grateful acknowledgment for 
 the Bishop of Dromore’ s most acceptable gift. His Lord- 
 ship’s goodness towards me has been invariable ever since 
 he first honoured me with his notice. Of this goodness I 
 shall ever entertain a grateful sense; please to assure his 
 Lordship of this ; and at the same time be so good as to 
 offer my warmest thanks for the Ode.* As yet that poem 
 has not reached me. It lies, I am told, at my brother’s, 
 waiting the first safe hand. Your letter was duly for- 
 warded. I am, you may suppose, extremely anxious to 
 see any attempt to do justice to the various merits of a 
 writer whom I so highly admire, and a friend whom I so 
 warmly esteem, as the Bishop of Dromore. 
 
 “ The account which you give me of the state of the 
 Bishop’s eyes distresses me deeply. I will not, however, 
 despair of the sight being saved. May God preserve it ! 
 I shall anxiously expect a favourable account. Make every 
 kind wish acceptable from me to his Lordship, and be- 
 lieve me to be, &c. J. C. Walker. 
 
 “ I am almost ashamed to send this scrawl. But I 
 flatter myself you will read it with indulgence. It is my 
 first attempt at a letter since the commencement of my 
 illness.” 
 
 * Miss Stewart’s. See before, p. 126. 
 
WALKER CORRESPONDENCE. 75/ 
 
 [The following remarks on the preceding letter were 
 dictated by Bishop Percy.] 
 
 “ Oct. 22, 1810. 
 
 “ After the very strong expressions of respect and re- 
 gard for the Bishop of Dromore, so ostentatiously displayed 
 in Mr. Walker’s letter to Mr. Boyd, Nov. 29, 1804, would 
 it be thought credible that immediately after, in the fol- 
 lowing spring of 1805, Mr. Walker, in his f Essay on the 
 Origin of Romantic Fabling in Ireland,’ which was read 
 before the Royal Irish Academy, June 10, 1805, should 
 call the reader’s attention, and in effect hold up to his 
 approbation, Ritson’s scurrilous and abusive attack on the 
 Bishop in the following note at the bottom of his page : 
 ‘ Vide Ritson’s Dissertation on Romance and Minstrelsy, 
 prefixed to Ancient English Metrical Romances, vol. I.’ 
 — He then adds, ‘ See also the elegant and accurate Mr. 
 Ellis’s Historical Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the 
 English Poetry and Language, prefixed to Specimens of 
 the Early English Poets.’ 
 
 “Here, if he had been disposed to do justice to the 
 Bishop of Dromore, he might have thrown in a few lines 
 in his vindication from Ritson’s abuse, more especially as 
 Dr. Percy’s Essay on Metrical Romances, printed in the 
 JReligues, & c. gave the first mention of the subject in any 
 English publication ; and whoever peruses Mr. Walker’s 
 letters in 1788-9, must conclude he would have been 
 anxious to seize such an opportunity. Mr. Walker’s 
 pointed reference here to the abuse of Dr. Percy of course 
 was highly censured by every impartial person that ob- 
 served it, and especially all the Bishop’s friends did not 
 fail to express the highest indignation at such perfidious 
 conduct. Among these it must be concluded none would 
 take a deeper interest than Mr. Boyd, who himself had 
 given the Bishop the letter written to him by Mr. Walker, 
 and being much in his confidence, and often his visitant, 
 must have been present at the frequent censure of Mr. 
 Walker’s duplicity, and have strongly concurred in the 
 same. How much, therefore, must the Bishop have been 
 surprised, when, after Mr. Walker’s death, he saw in a 
 Belfast newspaper a poem to his memory, written by that 
 gentleman,* holding up his character to the highest admira- 
 
 * Mr. Boyd’s Lines to the memory of Mr. Walker are preserved in the 
 Editor’s Preface to the “ Memoirs of Tassoni.” See p. 6'85. 
 
758 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 tion, wherein, among other very peculiar sentiments, he 
 speaks of Sir William Jones as the intimate friend of Mr. 
 Walker, in the following lines : 
 
 ‘ Time was when thou could’st chide the lingering sail 
 Which the kind billet from thy Jones * delay’d, 
 
 Or mark’d the swain slow winding up the vale, 
 
 With news from Allerton’s't Pierian shade. 
 
 1 But now thou meet’st thy Jones in light array’d, 
 
 Joining the chorus of the blest on high, 
 
 Or bent o’er Allerton’s Pierian shade, 
 
 Behold’st thy Roscoe bright’ ning for the sky.’ 
 
 “ On the Bishop’s expressing to Mr. Boyd how little 
 he could have expected that any friend of his, who had 
 seen how perfidiously Mr. Walker had dealt with the 
 Bishop, should load him with such unqualified praise, 
 Mr. Boyd excused himself by declaring that he had en- 
 tirely forgot Mr. Walker’s injurious treatment of the 
 Bishop, and that he had formerly conferred some favours 
 on himself. This he stated in a letter, to which the Bishop 
 replied.” 
 
 * “ Sir William Jones, whom Mr. Boyd styles in his Address to the 
 memory of Walker, ‘thy Jones, &c. &c.’ as if they had been most intimate 
 friends ; whereas in the publication of Sir William’s Correspondence, he ap- 
 pears to have been so little acquainted with Mr. Walker, that he did not 
 even correctly know his name ; for the letter which Mr. Walker had artfully 
 extorted from him is addressed only to Joseph Cowper, Esq. See Memoirs 
 of Sir William Jones, by Lord Teignmouth, vol. ii. p. 143.” 
 
 + “ Seat of William Roscoe, Esq.” 
 
759 
 
 REV. THOMAS CAMPBELL, LL.D. 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Campbell, LL.D. was bora 
 on the 4th of May, 1/33, at Glack, in the county 
 of Tyrone, the residence of the Archdeacon of Ar- 
 magh. He was the eldest son of the Rev. Moses 
 Campbell, many years curate of that Archdeaconry, 
 and afterwards Rector of the parish of Killeshill, 
 a living to which a brother of Dr. Campbell’s was 
 inducted in 1790. 
 
 Dr. Campbell was an inhabitant of the North 
 of Ireland, having the good rectory of Clones, 
 near the estate of his friend Lord Dacre, in the 
 county of Monaghan. He was also Chancellor of 
 St. Macartin’s, Clogher. 
 
 He was a friend of the celebrated Dr Johnson ; 
 and his name occasionally occurs in Boswell’s Life. 
 He was also a friend of Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. 
 That lady gives an account of Dr. Campbell in a 
 letter to Johnson, in which we catch a glimpse of 
 his manner and character: — 
 
 “ We have a flashy friend here (at Bath) already, 
 who is much your adorer. I wonder how you will 
 like him? An Irishman he is; very handsome, 
 very hot-headed, loud and lively, and sure to be 
 a favourite with you, he tells us, for he can live 
 with a man of ever so odd a temper. My Master 
 laughs, but likes him ; and it diverts me to think 
 what you will do when he professes that he would 
 clean shoes for you ; that he would shed his blood 
 for you ; with twenty more extravagant flights : — 
 and you say, I flatter ! Upon my honour , Sir, and, 
 indeed now, as Dr. Campbell’s phrase is, I am but 
 
760 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 a twitter to him.” — May 6, 1776. Dr. Johnson, 
 in answer, May 18 , 1776, replies : “Who can be 
 this new friend of mine ?” 
 
 It appears that Dr. Campbell dined with Dr. 
 Johnson at Mr. Dilly’s table, April 5, 1775, where 
 he had been introduced by Boswell, having seen Dr. 
 Campbell at Mr. Thrale’s, and been told that he 
 had come to England chiefly to see Dr. Johnson, 
 for whom he entertained the highest veneration. 
 On Boswell afterwards mentioning this to John- 
 son at Mr. T. Davies’s table, the Doctor seemed 
 angry at the observation. 
 
 “ Why, you know, Sir,” said Davies, “ there came 
 a man from Spain to see Livy and Corelli came 
 to England to see Purcell, ^ and when he heard 
 that he was dead, went directly back to Italy.” 
 Johnson. — “ I should not have wished to be 
 dead to disappoint Campbell, had he been so 
 foolish as you represent him ; but I should have 
 wished him to have been a hundred miles off.” 
 “This was apparently perverse ; and I do believe 
 it was not his real way of thinking ; he could not 
 but like a man who came so far to see him. He 
 laughed with some complacency, when I told him 
 Campbell’s odd expression to me concerning him : 
 
 £ That having seen such a man was a thing to talk 
 of a century hence,’ as if he could live so long.”J 
 On the 10th of April Dr. Johnson dined at 
 General Oglethorpe’s with Mr. Langton and Dr. 
 Campbell, whom the General had given Boswell 
 leave to bring with him. 
 
 “ This learned gentleman was thus gratified with 
 a very high intellectual feast, by not only being in 
 company with Dr. Johnson, but with General Ogle- 
 
 * Epist. lib. ii. ep. 3. 
 
 f “ Mr. Davies was here mistaken, Corelli was never in England.” 
 Burney. 
 
 $ Boswell’s Life of Johnson. C'roker’s 8vo edit. iii. 217. 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. CAMPBELL. 
 
 761 
 
 thorps who had been so long a celebrated name 
 both at home and abroad.”* 
 
 On the 8th of May Boswell dined with Dr. 
 Johnson at Mr. Thrale’s, where he met Dr. Camp- 
 bell.'!' 
 
 In May 1777, in a letter to Charles O’Conor, 
 Esq. Dr. Johnson speaks of “ having had the 
 pleasure of conversing with Dr. Campbell about 
 Mr. O’Conor’s character and literary under- 
 taking.”;}: 
 
 Another interview took place between Dr. John- 
 son and Dr. Campbell, the particulars of which 
 were thus communicated to Boswell : — 
 
 “ Sitting with Dr. Johnson one morning alone, 
 he asked me if I had known Dr. Madden, who 
 was author of the premium scheme in Ireland ? 
 On my answering in the affirmative, and also that I 
 had for some years lived in his neighbourhood, 
 &c. he begged of me, that when I returned to 
 Ireland I would endeavour to procure for him a 
 poem of Dr. Madden’s, called ‘ Boulter’s Monu- 
 ment.’ The reason (said he) why I wish for it is 
 this : when Dr. Madden came to London, he 
 
 submitted that work to my castigation ; and I 
 remember I blotted out a great many lines, and 
 might have blotted many more, without making 
 the poem worse. However, the Doctor was very 
 thankful, and very generous, for he gave me ten 
 guineas, which was to me, at that time, a great 
 sum.Ӥ 
 
 The following extract from Dr. Campbell’s 
 “ Strictures on the History of Ireland,” exhibits a 
 view of his political principles, in contrast with 
 those of Dr. Johnson. He is speaking of Henry 
 the Second’s supposed right to Ireland by virtue 
 of “conquest.” 
 
 * Boswell’s Life of Johnson, Croker’s 8vo. edit. III. p. 225. 
 f Ibid, p.224. J Ibid. p. 476. § Ibid. I. 307. 
 
 VOL. VII. 3 D 
 
762 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Yet this right of conquest was vehemently urged 
 against me by Dr. Johnson, in a conversation I once held 
 with him respecting the affairs of this country. The 
 conversation appeared to my dear friend Dr. Watkinson 
 (to whom I repeated it, within an hour or two after it 
 passed), so extraordinary, that he gave me pen, ink, and 
 paper to set it down immediately ; for, says he, it deserves 
 to be recorded, as a test of his political principles. I 
 therefore give it herewith the less reluctance, as upon the 
 whole it discovers the original rectitude of a warm heart, 
 biassed by national prejudices. But first let me premise 
 a circumstance or two. 
 
 “ Having spent the winter of the year 1777 in London, 
 I had been honoured (and it is my pride to acknowledge 
 it) with his familiarity and friendship. I had not seen 
 him from that time till the 11th of June 1781, when I 
 went to pay him a morning visit. I found him alone, and 
 nothing but mutual inquiries respecting mutual friends 
 had passed, when Baretti came in. Baretti, more curi- 
 ous than the Doctor, soon asked me, if the disturbances 
 in Ireland were over. The question, I own, surprised me, 
 as I had left all things quiet, and was not at first altoge- 
 ther aware of the tendency of his question. I therefore 
 in return asked what disturbances he meant ; for that I 
 had heard of none. What, said he, have you not been in 
 arms ? To which I answered categorically. Yes ; and 
 many bodies of men continue so to be. And do not you 
 call this disturbance? rejoined Baretti. No! said I, the 
 Irish volunteers have demeaned themselves very peace- 
 ably, and, instead of disturbing the repose of the country, 
 have contributed most effectually to preserve its peace. 
 The laws were never so well executed as since the volun- 
 teers arose. The Irish are, I own, a turbulent people, 
 and in many places, whenever they before could, they 
 have resisted even a justice of peace’s warrant ; but this 
 is now all over ; the people, even the rudest of them, are 
 every where amenable to law. You have heard of part 
 of our country being infested with a banditti called White- 
 boys ; but now we hear nothing of them in Ireland, but as 
 a tale that is told. Mr. Baretti, you have received wrong 
 impressions of these Irish volunteers ; you conceive them 
 to be the dross and dregs of our country ; but undeceive 
 yourself, the reverse is the truth ; they are composed of 
 the most affluent and respectable inhabitants of the king- 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. CAMPBELL. 
 
 763 
 
 dom, from the knights of the shire to the most trusty 
 freeholders in each parish. You are acquainted with 
 English opulence, and know how distasteful it would be 
 to Englishmen of condition, or even farmers, to serve as 
 militia-men ; but take off your eyes from this gorgeous 
 scene, and behold a poor nation, not habituated to the 
 conveniencies of life, and you may understand why the 
 lowest man who serves in the volunteer ranks is, some- 
 how, exalted above those who do not. To be a volunteer 
 in Ireland is an object of ambition, and that ambition is 
 principally checked by the poverty of the people. For, 
 however strange it may appear to you, he must have 
 been, for Ireland, a man in easy circumstances who could 
 afford to be a volunteer. The honour is attended with 
 more expense than even some of them are able to bear : a 
 handsome uniform, accoutrements, field-days, &c. are all 
 attended with great costs and charges to them. Yet as 
 they are, nevertheless, the most rich, most civilized, and 
 respectable members of the community at large, and of 
 the several parishes to which they belong, you cannot 
 suspect that they would be the people most prone to raise 
 disturbances in their country. On the contrary, the fact 
 is, that a decency, a sobriety, a principle of honour is 
 already visible where it was not before to be seen. 
 
 “ Dr. Johnson, who all this while sat silent, but with a 
 very attentive ear to what passed — and much more then 
 passed than I set down — at length turned to me with an 
 apparent indignation which I had never before experi- 
 enced from him — e What ! sir, don’t you call it disturbance 
 to oppose legal government with arms in your hands, and 
 compel it to make laws in your favour ? Sir, I call it 
 rebellion, as much as the rebellions in Scotland/ r Doctor,’ 
 said I, f I am exceedingly sorry to hear that declaration 
 fall from you, whom I always considered as a friend, 
 sometimes partial, to Ireland : but this I can say, that we 
 have always considered ourselves as amongst the most 
 loyal of his Majesty’s subjects, at the same time that, 
 though obliged to submit, we have always denied allegi- 
 ance to the supremacy of a British Parliament. We 
 have a separate and distinct legislature of our own, and 
 that we have never discovered any inclination to resist.’ 
 ( Sir,’ says the Doctor, e you do owe allegiance to an English 
 Parliament, for you are a conquered nation ; and had I 
 been minister I would have made you submit to it — I 
 
 3 D 2 
 
764 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 would have done as Cromwell did, I would have burned 
 your cities, and roasted you in the flames.’ After this 
 explosion, I perhaps warmly replied — ‘ Doctor ! your 
 advice to treat the Americans in that manner has not suc- 
 ceeded altogether to your wishes — the times are altered/ 
 To which he replied, 4 Sir, you say truly that the times are 
 altered ; for power is now no where ; our government is a 
 government of influence, but not of power. Yet had we 
 treated the Americans as we ought, and as they deserved, 
 we should have at once razed all their towns, and let them 
 enjoy their forests. But (in a jocular way repeating what 
 he before said) when we should have roasted the Americans 
 as rebels, we only whipped them as children ; and we did 
 not succeed, because my advice was not taken/ 
 
 “ As arguments would but have enraged him again, I 
 let him now settle into perfect calmness ; when, after a 
 long pause, he, with a smile, said : ‘ Though I hold the 
 Irish to be rebels, I do not think them altogether wrong ; 
 but you know that you compelled our Parliament, by 
 force of arms, to pass an act in your favour, and that I 
 call rebellion : though what you claimed ought to have 
 been granted, as you say, yet the mode of requisition was 
 rebellious/ ‘Well, Doctor/ said I, ‘let me ask you, do you 
 think that Ireland would have recovered her usurped right 
 by any other means ?’ To which he candidly answered, 
 ‘ I believe she would not : however, a wise government 
 should not grant even a claim of justice, if an attempt is 
 made to extort it by force/ We had some more conver- 
 sation on the same subject, till at length it came to this 
 issue — ‘ Why, Sir, I do not know but I might have acted 
 as you did, had I been an Irishman, but I speak as an 
 Englishman.*”’ 
 
 This conversation will form no inappropriate 
 addition to a future edition of Boswell’s Life of 
 Johnson. 
 
 Dr. Campbell first published, without his name, 
 <c An Account of the South of Ireland, in a series 
 of Letters to John Watkinson, M.D. Dublin, 1778 
 and the letters are supposed to be written by an 
 English traveller. 
 
 In 1780 he published a u Sermon preached in the 
 
 * Campbell’s Strictures on History of Ireland, p. 334. 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. CAMPBELL. 
 
 765 
 
 church of St. Andrew, Dublin, on the 6th of 
 February, in aid of a charitable fund for the sup- 
 port of twelve boys and eight girls.” The Monthly 
 Review speaks of the Discourse (from Matt. v. 48,) 
 as “ingenious and sensible.” (LXII. 414.) 
 
 In 1789, he published “ Strictures on the Eccle- 
 siastical and Literary History of Ireland ; from 
 the most ancient Times till the Introduction of the 
 Roman Ritual, and the Establishment of Papal 
 Supremacy by Henry II. King of England.”* To 
 this he appended, “ An Historical Sketch of the 
 Institution and Government of Ireland, from the 
 most early period down to the year 1783.” Dublin, 
 8vo. This was originally drawn up for the use of 
 Mr. Gough, and printed in Vol. III. of his edition of 
 “Camden’s Britannia.” This Essay Mr. Gough 
 acknowledges in his Preface, and designates it as 
 “ an excellent, comprehensive view of the govern- 
 ment of that kingdom, from the earliest times to 
 the latest revolution in it.” 
 
 Of the first part of this work the Monthly 
 Reviewers “f* observe : — “ It is the commendable, 
 because honest, intention of this performance 
 (which is in a great degree controversial) to 
 reclaim the Irish from the vanity of boasting a 
 descent from particular ancestors, of too remote 
 an antiquity to be warranted by authentic docu- 
 ments, or even by probability ; and to fix the 
 history of Ireland on the sure ground of credi- 
 bility confirmed by records.” 
 
 In the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1790, p. 318, 
 are some commendatory remarks on Dr. Camp- 
 bell’s “ Strictures,” by a correspondent who signs 
 
 * Dr. Ledwich, in a Letter to Bp. Percy, Oct. 24, 1802, says, “ Campbell 
 was my intimate friend for thirty years. His ‘ Strictures’ are an hasty 
 performance. The booksellers wanted a new edition ; but there are too many 
 things rash and unfounded, to correct which would injure, the reputation of 
 the man I very much esteemed." Seep. 826. 
 f Vol. I. New Series, p. 150. 
 
766 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 K. T. ; and in the same volume is a very able 
 review and digest of the work, written by Mr. 
 Gough (pp. 333 to 337). 
 
 “ One stroke of Dr. Campbell’s discerning pen 
 (says Mr. Gough) does away with all the visionary 
 lumber that modern antiquaries have heaped up, 
 round, and upon the foundation of Stani- 
 hurst, Giraldus Cambrensis, Usher, Ware, Lloyd, 
 and Spenser.” 
 
 The ££ Historical Sketch ” was reprinted from 
 Mr. Gough’s Camden, with a supplement of what 
 was there wanting ; and a hope was held out by 
 Dr. Campbell of a republication of it with slow 
 haste ; and for which he solicited his friends to 
 correct such errors as might have escaped him ; 
 but, we believe, no other edition was ever pub- 
 lished. 
 
 “His letters to Bishop Percy illustrate some other 
 circumstances connected with his literary history, 
 such as his controversy with General Yallancey, his 
 assistance to Bishop Percy in the Life of Gold- 
 smith, &c. The notices of Dr. Campbell are very 
 scanty ; who, judging from his writings and his 
 correspondence, was a man of good sense and 
 considerable talent.”* 
 
 Dr. Campbell died on the 20th of June 1795, 
 aged 62. •f' It is believed that he was never mar- 
 ried. He had a niece living with him in 1791. 
 His eldest nephew was in 1810 about to embark 
 from the Cape of Good Hope (where he had 
 resided two years) for New South Wales. His 
 next nephew was the Rev. Charles Campbell, who 
 resided in 1810 at Newry, in Ireland. 
 
 * These remarks are suggested by a letter of Sir F. Madden, who, in 
 1832, communicated to the Gentleman’s Magazine four letters of Dr. Camp- 
 bell to Bishop Percy, which are incorporated in this collection. 
 
 f His death is not recorded in the Gentleman’s Magazine ; but it is 
 remarkable, that on the same day, June 20, 1795, occurs the death of 
 Robert Campbell, esq. at his seat at Fulmer, Bucks. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 7<o7 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 between Dr. Campbell and Bishop Percy. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Campbell to Bishop Percy. 
 
 iC My Lord, No. 5, Anne-street, Dublin, Feb. 27, 1787. 
 
 “ I told you that I had put Mr. PinkertoiTs inquiry 
 into such a train that I had almost every hope of giving 
 him satisfaction ; but the sequel will show how far I have 
 been disappointed. The Librarian of the College, wishing 
 to further our research in the most liberal manner, sent 
 for a Mr. Flanigan, a student of Trinity College, Dublin, 
 and greatest adept he knew of in the Irish language, that 
 gentleman being, as you probably know, employed by the 
 Royal Academy in copying Irish manuscripts ; but, alas 1 
 his knowledge failed in making out the dates in the text 
 of those venerable parchments, the Annals of Tigernac 
 and Inisfall, or Innisfallen. (N.B. not Inisfail!) Inisfail 
 is a name for Ireland at large : Inisfall is an island in the 
 county of Kerry, where the monastery stood, whence ori- 
 ginated the famous Annals. And unfortunately there is 
 a chasm or hiatus valde deflendus at the period of the reign 
 of Brudi, of whom no mention is made in this copy. But 
 it is to be observed, that on the margin of this copy is a 
 regular notation of chronological dates, in our common 
 figures, by a modern hand, from which it appears, to my 
 unlearned eye, that the above chasm extends from the 
 year 577 to 590. 
 
 “ Thus far we go on sure grounds : now, it is to be fur- 
 ther observed, that in the 4 Annals of Tigernac J there is a 
 similar notation of chronology in the margin ; and oppo- 
 site to the account of Brudi Mac Milochon is the follow- 
 ing marginal note : — 4 584. Brudeus ob 1 . Ult. Annal/ 
 
 44 On this I remark, that it should from hence seem 
 that the date of Brudi’s death in the Annals of Ulster, to 
 which the writer of that note refers, is a year later than in 
 the translation which Mr. Pinkerton has seen in the Bri- 
 tish Museum. It is then natural for Mr. Pinkerton to 
 expect that I should have referred to the Annals of Ulster 
 to clear up this doubt ; and I did so : but the copy in 
 Trinity College, Dublin, has no marginal notes that we 
 could make out; and the text, as to the dates, was, like 
 that of Tigernac and Inisfallen, not intelligible to Mr. 
 Flanigan. 
 
768 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ Upon the whole, my Lord, here is a certain degree of 
 authority in favour of three out of those four years which 
 pressed Mr. Pinkerton’s accuracy with difficulty in his 
 punctum fixum , or great epoch. As it was found so diffi- 
 cult to come nearer to the death of Brudi, your Lordship 
 and he will easily see how vain it would be for me to 
 attempt any inquiry into more minute dates. But I must 
 add, that I have heard that the best copy of the Annals 
 of Ulster is in the Library of Oxford ; and whether an 
 inquiry would reward Mr. Pinkerton’s pains I dare not so 
 much as guess. 
 
 “ I am heartily vexed that I could not be of more ser- 
 vice to Mr. Pinkerton, as I am persuaded he is divested 
 of those fond prejudices which have disfigured the writings 
 of some gentlemen of his country and my own. 
 
 “ I am, &c. Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 “My Lord, _ Clones, Aug. 27, 1 787. 
 
 I last week sent to my brother in Newry Mr. Pinker- 
 ton’s last publication, and very learned it is, to be deli- 
 vered to you from the author. Indeed, my Lord, I 
 should have apologised to you for not returning to Dub- 
 lin as soon as I promised after Easter, to finish the sketch 
 I showed to you; and yet perhaps it is better as it is; though 
 I must confess that the article wffiich I intended to repro- 
 bate was of all others most urged against me in certain 
 companies, both at Paris and London. However, my 
 delay in the country was occasioned by my building a 
 gallery in my church, towards which and other repairs I 
 had contributed 50/. on condition that the parish would 
 raise 100/. The 100/. was expended, and the Easter 
 vestry expressed a wish that the gallery should be built 
 forthwith ; and in such circumstances I could not think 
 of leaving the country till this engagement was fulfilled, 
 which could not have been executed for double the sum 
 which remained in my hands if I had not superintended it 
 myself. And this, I trust, you will not consider as a 
 pitiful apology. 
 
 “ I must not here omit observing to your Lordship, 
 that in the beginning of July I met your friend (and now 
 let me call him mine) Mr. Blakeway, at the English coffee 
 house on the Pont Neuf. It was a meeting greatly to 
 my comfort and satisfaction, for I found in this worthy 
 man such a coincidence of opinions relative to Paris, & c. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 769 
 
 with my own, as confirmed me for a while in a disgust to 
 the place : so much so, that, though I had not been there 
 a week (he had been much longer), we had agreed to 
 leave Paris together in a day or two, provided his friend 
 from Shrewsbury (with whom and his wife he travelled) 
 was not so well recovered of a violent fit of the gout as to 
 return then ; but he recovered so as to travel, and I was 
 left in Paris, to my own silent mortification that I thus 
 lost the opportunity of such an enlightened fellow travel- 
 ler. But I since learned a French proverb, Toute chose a 
 le bon et le mal; the force of which I quickly experienced; 
 for a few days brought me acquainted with some of the 
 French, who by-the-bye spoke English (and French I 
 could neither speak, nor understand when spoken), 
 whose manners were so pleasing, and their sentiments at 
 once so just and so refined, that their engaging society 
 unfixed all my disgusts, and removed all those prejudices 
 which I had taken up from a hasty view of trivial things : 
 so that when I left Paris I left it with regret, bewailing 
 my sad fate that I did not understand (or rather speak) 
 the language of a people who know the value of words 
 so well, and whose peculiar felicity it seems to be sa- 
 voir vivre. But I so often found myself in the De Tris- 
 tibus — 
 
 Barbaras hie ego sum, quia non intelligor illis, 
 
 that, after balancing my accounts of pleasures and pains, I 
 was enabled to depart, after spending but a few days more 
 than I at first intended in this city of the Graces, fully 
 resolved never more to pass a censure from a transient 
 view of persons or things. My Lord, at the Opera Italien 
 I found a strong argument for an early education. There 
 I saw near a hundred children of both sexes introduced, 
 dancing ; and there I learned that the King gives pensions 
 to such as excel, or meet with accidents, or become 
 superannuated. So that there is at once a college for 
 dancers and an hospital for their invalids. And yet these 
 people, notwithstanding the cross from the Franks (as I 
 take it), are originally Celts ; to which race, as you will 
 see, Mr. Pinkerton allows not one good quality (not very 
 philosophically, in my poor opinion); but he denies that the 
 body of the French nation is Celtic; but persuaded I am, 
 from the looks of the people, that they are mostly of the 
 old Celtic race ; for of a very different aspect they are 
 from either the Germans or Normans. But, happily for 
 your Lordship, my sheet is scribbled, and I want room to 
 
770 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 express how much I am your Lordship’s most humble 
 servant, Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 u My Lord, Clones, Oct. 25th, 1787. 
 
 “ It flatters me not a little that your Lordship should 
 be at the trouble to copy even a sentence of my bagatelle, 
 even to Mr. Blakeway, for whom I entertain the highest 
 sentiments of respect, and I might add affection, for truly 
 he is an amiable man. But what will he think of my 
 fickleness in becoming all at once such a proselyte to 
 French manners ? Yet persuaded I am he would acquit 
 me if he had been but half an hour in company with a 
 lady (and she was rather elderly) to whom I was intro- 
 duced in Paris. You may judge almost from a single 
 sentence of hers, which l cannot help repeating to your 
 Lordship, the kind of woman she was. But I must first 
 observe, that she professed infinite esteem for the English 
 nation. I have, says she, spent much time in England, 
 and there is nothing I would not do to serve one of the 
 country, for they are the best of human creatures, such as 
 your human creatures are. She knew Mrs. Montague, 
 Mrs. Carter, Miss Reynolds, &c. and had Pope and even 
 Shakspeare at her finger ends. After visiting her two or 
 three times, she said to me one day, after trespassing 
 against a certain etiquette she had recommended in respect 
 to my paying regular morning visits — and upon my ex- 
 cusing myself by saying that two or three priests had 
 called upon me to conduct me through Paris (and by-the- 
 bye I found them useful in that line, as the Paris servants 
 are such varlets), she exclaimed, f Good God, Signior 
 Anglois, keep company with priests ! — why, if you keep 
 company with priests, nobody will keep company with you. 
 Priests ! the poorest creatures in the world, creatures 
 who know nothing but a point here or a point there, and 
 no matter whether the point be here or there, for it is 
 worth nothing in itself ; but then Irish priests ! the 
 foolishest of all priests, the very Swisses of theology .’ 
 Now, my Lord, this last sentence is very comprehensive, 
 considering the character of the Swiss in Paris. But no 
 more of Paris. 
 
 “ I am entirely to thank you for Mr. Pinkerton^s being 
 at the trouble to find me out in London, and, were it not 
 for those prejudices which overpower him, he would be 
 much to my taste, for his learning is solid, and he is, 
 what few bookish men are, very communicative. We 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 77 1 
 
 dined together more than once ; and when I blundered, I 
 always excused myself by being a Celt.* 
 
 “ I did not so much as know that Madam Piozzi was in 
 London (for my stay was very short) till a day or two 
 before I left it, when I heard that, seeing Mr. Murphy in 
 some shop, she stopped her carriage to upbraid him for 
 not calling to see her ; which fault he soon corrected. 
 
 <e And now, my Lord, let me congratulate this poor 
 country of mine for the part you have taken in the Royal 
 Academy. You have redeemed it from a new degree of 
 contempt, into which it must have sunk, if its corporation 
 of literati were to be responsible for those crude effusions 
 which some of its members write with much more facility 
 than I can read them. Your letter has set me upon a 
 track, which, with a digression perhaps here and there, 
 will enable me sufficiently to expose the inconsistencies 
 of our f Collectanea * scribes. I purpose, for the Dublin 
 Chronicle, a slight sketch or summary view of the Eccle- 
 siastical and Literary History of Ireland, down to the 
 establishment of our National Church on the foundation 
 upon which it now stands. This, if I could execute it as 
 I conceive it, sed videmus quid deceat non assequimur, 
 would be the best mode of answering (without seeming 
 to answer) both Papists and Presbyterians. 
 
 “ My Lord, I am safe enough in communicating this 
 my intention to you, which, if the author were known, 
 might in some measure defeat my purpose. But I am 
 not without hopes of profiting by it ; because I trust that, 
 if I fail, either in omission or commission, your goodness 
 will give me the hint in time, so as to correct what may 
 be amiss or supply what is wanting. And if, after this 
 thing shall have run through the Chronicle, it should be 
 deemed worthy of being collected in one focus, it may be 
 wrought up into a better form, and enabled to stand the 
 severity of public scrutiny, which I am persuaded it will 
 meet with. For, as you have observed, the learned 
 Colonel f has written his fourteenth volume by way of anti- 
 cipation. And I can assure you, that Charles O’ Conor, 
 Esq. had another book ready for the press (as Byrne his 
 bookseller, and Mr. Ryan his confidant, both told me), in 
 answer to two Sections of an Analysis of the Antiquities 
 
 * This alludes to Mr. Pinkerton’s “ Dissertation on the Origin of the 
 Scythians and Goths,” 8vo. 1787 ; a work, it is said, that received the praise 
 of Professor Porson. — J. M. 
 
 f Colonel Vallancey. 
 
77 2 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of Ireland, which I got printed (as I could find no writer 
 able to copy my wretched scrawl), but never published, 
 nor even thought of publishing, till I published the whole, 
 which was to contain five sections, by way of Introduc- 
 tion to that History of the Revolutions of Ireland which 
 I meditate ; and when Mr. O’Conor was told that the 
 above-mentioned two sections had never been published, 
 he sent me his compliments that, from what I had pub- 
 lished, he expected nothing derogatory to the honour of 
 Ireland, or words to that effect, and that under this im- 
 pression he would hold his hand — but if — 
 
 44 But I tire your Lordship. 
 
 44 I am, with infinite respect, your Lordship’s most 
 dutiful and humble servant, Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 Dr. Thomas Campbell to Mr. Pinkerton. 
 
 “ No. 28, Dame-street, Dublin, Feb. 6, 1788. 
 
 “ I have been but a few days in this town, and have not 
 had time to inquire for Burke’s 4 Hibernia Dominicana,’ 
 which I am pretty certain of getting for you, though I 
 never saw the book ; but I despair of getting the 4 Trias 
 Thaumaturga :’ however, my diligence shall not be want- 
 ing in looking out for it. This intelligence should, in its 
 natural course, come to you, by reflection, from our excel- 
 lent Bishop of Dromore ; but I could not lose a minute 
 to renew my intercourse with you ; and, in particular, I 
 beg that you will put me on your list of subscribers for 
 your 4 Lives of the Scotish Saints,’ which, the Bishop has 
 written to me (for I have not seen him since I saw you), 
 you are preparing upon Hearne’s plan. Mr. Ledwich 
 (Edward) F.A.S. desires also to be a subscriber. 
 
 44 I should by this night’s post send to you, in com- 
 pliance with the Bishop’s desire, a newspaper, in which is 
 a continuation of a 4 Slight Sketch of the Ecclesiastical 
 and Literary History of Ireland,’ only that I disagree 
 very much with the Bishop as to its merit ; for, in good 
 truth, I do not deem it worthy your perusal ; and I fear 
 that your lyncean eye might discern some Celtic nonsense 
 in it. However, if it should in future appear to me worthy 
 your notice, I shall send you some of the papers (espe- 
 cially when I shall be certain that a newspaper sent to 
 London in an open cover will cost you but a penny), 
 wherein the names of M 4 Pherson and Pinkerton may be 
 introduced. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 77 3 
 
 44 You must know the origin of this matter on my 
 leaving London I went to Beaconsfield,* * * § where the hos- 
 pitable owner entered very cordially into my plan, which 
 I partly communicated to you, of writing the History of 
 the Revolutions of Ireland, &c. so as to give the spirit 
 rather than the letter of our melancholy Annals. He 
 advised me to be as brief as possible upon every thing 
 antecedent to Henry II. ; and, in full conviction of the 
 force of his advice, I have been, since I saw you, weeding 
 out certain ecclesiastical and literary documents there in- 
 terspersed, and have thrown them into the present news- 
 paper form, so as to be arranged in a better form, and in 
 a book or pamphlet, if they should meet any decent share 
 of approbation, which the Bishop’s partiality encourages 
 me to hope for. Mr. Burke, however, did not content 
 himself with giving me good advice : he gave me also his 
 very valuable collection of manuscripts relative to Ireland, 
 no less than four folio volumes, of which I have already 
 considerably availed myself. I have reason to believe the 
 Bishop has wrote to you lately, though I am ashamed to 
 say I have not yet answered his letter.” 
 
 Dr. Thomas Campbell to the Bishop of Dromore. 
 
 i( My Lord, No. 28, Dacre-street, Feb. 20, 1788. 
 
 44 I received your letter (which, by- th e-bye, has not a 
 little intoxicated my weak head) when I was packing up for 
 Dublin, where I was but three days when I was attacked 
 by such a cold as obliged me to call in the faculty. I have 
 however, wrote to Mr. Pinkerton, f and begged him to 
 put me down, and Mr. Ledwich, as subscribers to his 
 work. I told him that it would be hard to get the 4 Trias 
 Thaumaturga,’ J but gave him hopes of 4 Burke’s Domi- 
 nicana.’ § I long to see your Lordship, and to know whether 
 I have gone too far respecting Colonel V. [Yallancey] as 
 
 * The seat of Edmund Burke, esq. 
 
 t See the preceding letter. 
 
 % “Triadis Thaumaturgse, sive Divorum Patricii, Columbse, et Brigidse, 
 Hibernise Sanctorum, Acta,’’ folio. Lovan. 1647 ; by John Colgan, an Irish 
 friar mendicant, and lecturer of divinity at Louvaine. — F. M. 
 
 § “Hibernia Dominicana, sive Historia Provincise Hibemiae Ordinis Prsedi- 
 atorum, per Tho. de Burgo [Bishop of Ossory],4to. Col. Agripp. 1762.” 
 The Supplement to this work, printed in 1772, is of extreme rarity. A copy 
 is in the library of the British Museum. — F. M. 
 
 f 
 
774 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 some people tell me I have, and whether I have, in other 
 matters, gone astray ; for I am now, knowingly and wit- 
 tingly, beginning to deviate, as the tenth century affords 
 so little matter. 
 
 “ I am sorry to tell you, quod propius ad nos, that Mr. 
 Grattan’s speech,* however it is censured by some, has 
 made deep impressions. Mr. Leslie, of Glaslough, whose 
 son is Sheriff of Monaghan, tells me that a meeting is to 
 be held in Monaghan next Friday, in order to consider of 
 said speech, and give it efficacy there. This, you see, is 
 but a beginning of what you will probably hear more of, 
 before the assizes are over. Were I not so subject to 
 despair, I would freely declare my opinion that a good 
 compromise should be thought of, as soon as possible. 
 Grattan has perseverance, and that perseverance has never 
 failed of success in questions where there was less prospect 
 of success than in this, where every man’s interest and 
 prejudice is in his favour. Government, to be sure, may 
 stifle this business for some sessions, but in the interim 
 the fire will be kindling, till it mounts into such a blaze, 
 as will not be in their power, perhaps not in their inclina- 
 tion, to extinguish. The queere then is, — would it not be 
 better to make decent terms, whilst the country is as yet 
 quiet? Forgive, my Lord, these crude conceptions, but 
 time will open, perhaps, a brighter prospect ; which to my 
 view was never yet so clouded. But I write from mere 
 feeling, and I hope my fears are groundless. I am, &c. 
 
 “ Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 u My Lord, Clones, Dec. 15, 1788. 
 
 “ My last was written under the impression of fear. 
 Mr. Grattan’s speech, and a consequent call from the 
 sheriff of this county to give effect to his scheme (if any 
 he had), operated, I remember, on me as the hovering kite 
 does upon the small birds, when he is going to souse upon 
 them. But I now begin to hope that I was under a false 
 alarm. However, my opinion of that gentleman has always 
 been the same, and therefore I had (I own to you) inserted 
 a stricture on another part of his conduct, towards the 
 conclusion of the inclosed sketch ; which, upon mature de- 
 
 * On the 14th Feb. 1788, on a motion for a Committee to inquire into 
 the state of Tithes. Printed in the Collection of Grattan’s Speeches, vol. ii. 
 p. 27, 8 vo. 1822.— F. M. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 77^ 
 
 liberation, I blotted out, reserving such reflections for our 
 “ History of the Revolutions of Ireland.”* 
 
 “ These sheets were drawn up last spring, at the press- 
 ing instance of Mr. Gough, who limited me to a month 
 (though I got this only last week) . At that time I had not 
 a single book in Dublin, and but few of my papers ; which 
 circumstance I observe, not as an apology for its obvious 
 imperfections, but as it afforded me another specimen of 
 the liberality of our Celtic antiquaries. Mr. Archdall, 
 author of the Monasticon,t and librarian to Mr. Burton 
 Conyngham, refused me the loan of the most common 
 books (some of which I had duplicates of in the country), 
 though formerly not only his own library, but Mr. Co- 
 nynghanfls, were, through him, as open to me as my own. 
 
 “Were I sure of meeting your Lordship in Dublin, 
 about the meeting of Parliament, I should trouble you no 
 further with deciphering my scrawl, but, like others, who, 
 having received one favour, think themselves entitled to 
 two, and so on, I cannot refrain from begging your advice 
 on the present occasion. I have a notion of republishing 
 e Jerneus ’J in a volume, next spring, after revising and 
 correcting it ; and I mean to throw it into sections, sup- 
 port doubtful points with notes and authorities, and, upon 
 the whole, illustrate and enlarge it by additions, after 
 having expunged a great deal. The interval between St. 
 Patrick and Henry II., making a period of about 700 years, 
 appears to me in itself complete, though I would call it 
 the obscure period. I know that times are divided into 
 the unknown, the fabulous, and historical ; but Ireland is 
 in almost every thing particular ; and this period, though 
 not unmixed with fable, has a certain portion of certainty, 
 which, though it may not be strictly called historical, it may 
 fairly be called the obscure period. Indeed, whatever light 
 dawns upon it, arises from the ecclesiastical quarter, and 
 
 * This work does not appear ever to have been published, although part of 
 it was printed at the time of Dr. Campbell’s death, in. 1795. See Pinkerton’s 
 Correspondence, vol. I. p. 390. — F. M. 
 
 f “Monasticon Hibernicum, or a History of the Abbeys, &c. in Ireland,” 
 by Mervyn Archdall, A.M. 4to, Dublin, 1736. — F. M. 
 
 J “ In the new evening paper, called the Dublin Chronicle, appeared lately 
 some strictures on the Ancient Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, which you 
 should by all means see. They first appeared under the signature of Jerneus 
 in the Dublin Chronicle for December 24th, and again December 27th.” — 
 Letter from Bp. Percy to Mr. Pinkerton, Jan. 16, 1788. See Pinkerton’s 
 Correspondence, vol. I. p. 390. — F. M. 
 
776 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 therefore I more willingly accorded with Edmund Burke’s 
 idea of taking little notice, in my civil history, of the times 
 antecedent to the English Revolution. So that this medi- 
 tated republication might in some measure serve as a pre- 
 liminary to my magnum opus. The title purposed for this 
 little work is e Memoirs (for I dare not call it even Sketch) 
 of the Religion and Letters (or Literature) of Ireland, from 
 the Introduction of Christianity in the Fifth Century to 
 the Establishment of Papal Supremacy, and conformity to 
 the Roman Ritual, in the Twelfth.’* Now, my Lord, the 
 question is, do you think, from what you have seen, that 
 this subject can be made of sufficient importance for re- 
 publication ? I have been also thinking of adding, in the 
 same volume, this same inclosed Sketch, purged of its 
 errors and fortified with notes, and an appendix, stating 
 ab origine the revenues of Ireland, in order to remove 
 whatever is there advanced which may seem paradoxical 
 respecting the sufficiency of the hereditary revenue for the 
 support of the establishments. This, my Lord, I conceive 
 to be a cardinal point; for the expediency of a Union can 
 never become popular in Ireland, till the nation is con- 
 vinced that a King of England has resources sufficient for 
 governing Ireland, without any new aids from his Parlia- 
 ment here ; as his predecessors have more than once done. 
 The sanction of popular consent, and the mode of collect- 
 ing the revenues, is all that makes our Parliaments 
 ostensibly necessary. I hope your Lordship will not sus- 
 pect that I mean to deprive you of your peerage. No. 
 But I have been long of opinion that the Protestant 
 Ascendancy (in so few hands) is very insecure and preca- 
 rious, till a thorough incorporation of the islands is 
 effected. 
 
 I am, &c. Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 (( My LORD, Clones, March 29, 1790. 
 
 « I should forfeit all credit with you were I to profess 
 that my gratitude to your Lordship is increased by the 
 success of your powerful representations to my Lord Pri- 
 mate in my brother’s favour. He, poor man, expresses 
 the same sentiment to me in a Letter received at the same 
 
 * This publication appeared under the title of “Strictures on the Eccle- 
 siastical and Literary History of Ireland,” &c. See p. 765. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 777 
 
 time with your favour, in answer to mine, respecting the 
 warm and generous part you had taken in his behalf, 
 adding that it was his only hope, for that his Hope’s 
 anchor at the Newry Canal had found no bottom. It 
 multiplies the magnitude of my pleasure upon this occa- 
 sion that we owe no obligations but to your Lordship and 
 my Lord Primate. 
 
 “ I am, for ever, your slave, Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 ‘ My Lord, Clones, April 6, 1 790. 
 
 “ I am sorry to hear that Mr. Hudson has declared to 
 the Collector of Newry, that he will rather stand another 
 shot than give up a better parish for a worse; for Tamlaght 
 he places at only 150/. a-year. However, he may pos- 
 sibly write in another language to you and my Lord 
 Primate. As you have done so much, I trust you will 
 bring it to a happy issue, so that Tamlaght may be given 
 to my brother. 
 
 “ I heard yesterday. that Dr. Paul’s curate has abdicated 
 his curacy, having left his wife, and gone off with her 
 servant, &c. If your Lordship is acquainted with Dr. 
 Paul, he would be glad your friend were to be his curate, 
 and might probably let him have the use of his house to 
 live in, as the country might not supply any so comfort- 
 able place to lodge in. 
 
 y? % 
 
 ee And now that our Easter business is in all respects 
 concluded to the perfect satisfaction of my own parish, I 
 turn with greater ease of mind to Goldsmith. I told you 
 I had sketched out a sort of exordium to the Life ; and I 
 have been ruminating whether I should conclude that 
 exordium by mentioning the part you have taken, and the 
 number of copies that Nichols is to give. This I wished 
 to offer (with others) as a motive and apology for my own 
 undertaking it. Your name must be introduced, where 
 you took the hints from his own mouth ; and the world 
 must know, — I mean it will find out, — whence the materials 
 come. I therefore submit it to you now, whether it will 
 not be best to make this acknowledgment at setting out. 
 It will procure the work a more favourable reading, and 
 will give me more credit. I trust it shall be conducted in 
 such a manner as not to make you blush ; but it will be 
 
 VOL. VII. 3 E 
 
778 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 always in your own power to expunge or add till it can be 
 wrought into some shape that will no way disgust you. 
 
 “ I am your Lordship’s most humble and dutiful 
 servant, Tho. Campbell. 
 
 “ Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 “ My Lord, May 20 , 1790 . 
 
 “ Among the newspaper scraps I find an imperfect one 
 from ‘ Goldsmith’s present State of Learning in Europe,’ 
 which leads me to his conversation with Gaubius in Leyden, 
 and w r ould, if entire, be very material in other respects ; as 
 both the beginning and ending of the extract is wanting, 
 it has excited my curiosity so much that I must see the 
 work, for what I have seen leads to some very important 
 reflections. I beg you may send the book if you have it, 
 or can get it. Tho. Campbell. 
 
 “ Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 a My LORD, Killyvan, June 16, 1790. 
 
 “Your letter has indeed contributed greatly to my 
 satisfaction, as his Grace’s appointment must also to that 
 of my brother ; and I hope he had got to Dublin time 
 enough to thank your Lordship, in person, for that most 
 friendly part you have taken in his behalf. The death of 
 Dr. Lyon, which I see in the papers, makes a vacancy of 
 Killeshill, the very parish my father died in possession 
 of, and which I am told is now worth near 400/. a-year. 
 Whether Mr. Hudson would get or take this parish I 
 cannot presume to say ; but, if such an arrangement 
 should take place, it might, in future, make an opening 
 for my brother at Forkhill, as at first intended, and there- 
 fore I mention the thing to your Lordship, for your con- 
 sideration, especially as you have already interested 
 yourself, with such successful zeal, in his service. 
 
 “ Goldsmith’s Life goes on without much interruption, 
 though I am now deep in mortar, and employ masons by 
 the day (in order that it may be executed in the best 
 manner) in the building of my church, of which T take 
 upon me to be architect and overseer. And at intervals 
 I retire from this employment, sometimes vexatious 
 enough, to write a paragraph as a recreation. N.B. The 
 site of the church is but two or three hundred yards from 
 my house. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 779 
 
 “ I have him now in London, and am endeavouring to 
 recollect your first visit to him, when the loan, or repay- 
 ment, of the chamber-pot of coals was asked, but I have 
 defended him as well as I could against tbe attacks of Sir 
 John Hawkins; and, unless you disapprove of my med- 
 dling with the knight, I shall, after allowing him due 
 praise for that store of anecdotes he has collected, endea- 
 vour to appreciate their value ; which appears to me 
 greatly diminished by his manner of relating them, and 
 indeed by his indiscreet choice of them, — very few of 
 them having any relation to the Life of Johnson. 
 
 “ I have the first volume of Goldsmith and would be 
 glad to have the second, for, in truth (as he used to say), I 
 have never yet read a line of his dramatic works ; and as 
 his sister says one thing and Mr. Walker says another 
 about the incident which gave the hint to ‘ She stoops to 
 Conquer,’ I must see it ; and I must observe that almost 
 every thing I read of his gives me some new hint. The 
 e Review of Polite Literature 3 has been already of great 
 use, but there are some sentiments in it which I hope to 
 see altered in his manuscript notes, and therefore long for 
 a sight of them ; and if your Lordship will be so obliging to 
 bring the book with you, not only to Armagh but to Caledon, 
 on the 29th, I shall, please God, go for it myself early in 
 the morning, so as not in the smallest degree to inter- 
 rupt your Lordship’s business. One thing, however, I 
 could wish, if it met your approbation, that I had before 
 me some hints respecting the affair of Goldsmith and Per- 
 rot : it may, without giving offence, be related ; at least so 
 as to embellish the work, by showing more of Goldsmith’s 
 character, which he himself has fairly drawn : 4 fond 
 of enjoying the present, careless of the future ; his senti- 
 ments those of a man of sense, his actions those of a 
 fool ; of fortitude able to stand unmoved at the bursting 
 of an earthquake, yet of sensibility to be affected by the 
 breaking of a tea-cup/ 
 
 “ I shall take care to write to my Lord Primate at the 
 Hot-wells, where I hope he is not worse than usual, as 
 we have had it reported here ; but I know how little 
 regard is to be paid to such reports. Mr. Allen tells me 
 that the Bishop of Clogher * is wonderfully recovered at 
 Bath. 
 
 * Dr. John Hotham. He died at Bath, Nov. 4, 1795. See an account of 
 him in Gent. Mag. vol. LXV, p. 972. 
 
 3 E 2 
 
780 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 44 May your Lordship and family enjoy long life and 
 good health, is the prayer of your most devoted and hum- 
 ble servant, Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 “ My Lord, June 30, 1790. 
 
 44 I was exceedingly concerned at the occasion which 
 broke in upon your plan of going to Armagh, &c. but am 
 happy to find that Mrs. Percy is recovering. I must still 
 be your debtor even in gratitude for the interest you take 
 in my brothers behalf. Killeshill given to him, or even 
 to Mr. Hudson, would be a most desirable arrangement. 
 I rejoice to hear that the Primate is so well, for we had 
 reports here that he was extremely ill. But Rumour is a 
 cruel being, and delights in putting people to death. 
 
 “Your anecdotes will embellish my pages highly, 
 and your picture of 4 Green Arbour-court ’* shall be closely 
 copied ; as to the rest, my account of your visit to him 
 there was almost verbatim, from my recollection of your 
 words, what you have set down in your last. But could 
 there be any harm in letting the world know Avho the 
 visitant was ? without the circumstance of the dignity of 
 the guest, the contrast will'be in a great measure lost, and 
 the matter will lose its grand authority as to the fact. But 
 in this as every thing else, your wish shall be a command. f 
 The anecdote of J ohnson I had recollected, but had forgot 
 that it was at Goldsmith’s you were to sup. The story of 
 the valet de chambre will, as Lord Bristol says, pin the 
 basket of his absurdities ; and really we may have a hamper 
 full of them. 
 
 44 One thing in chronology I cannot settle. The 4 Tra- 
 veller’ was first published in 1 7t>4, and the 4 Vicar of Wake- 
 field/ I guess, in 1766. Now, according to some accounts 
 before me, Goldsmith had wrote for Newbery in the 
 4 Ledger/ and elsewhere, some years before ; yet, from 
 Dr. Johnson’s taking the 4 Vicar of, &c.’ to Newbery, & c. 
 one must conclude it to have been otherwise : yet, as far 
 as I could arrange these and other of his publications, in 
 point of time, I went on the information that he became 
 connected with Newbery soon after his separation from 
 Griffiths. These and such like things, I well know, 4 are 
 not as deep as a well, nor yet as wide as a church door/ 
 
 * Where Goldsmith lived for some time. A view of the house is given 
 in the European Magazine. 
 
 t This passage is printed in Prior’s Life of Goldsmith, vol. I. p. 325. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 781 
 
 but one would wish to be either accurate, or say nothing 
 about the order of time. 
 
 (( Having mentioned Griffiths, I will confess to you that 
 the circumstance of him and his wife (I mean their alter- 
 ing and interpolating Goldsmith’s criticisms on books for 
 the Review) puzzles me. It is one of the most valuable 
 anecdotes before me, and my conscience bids me report 
 it, but my fears whisper to me that all the Reviews will 
 abuse me for so doing. But who’s afraid P* Yes, I am ; 
 but it is that I am tormenting you. 
 
 “ I am your Lordship’s most dutiful servant, 
 
 “Tho. Campbell. 
 
 “ P.S. Your sketch of Sir Richard Perrot will come in 
 as an episode towards the conclusion, with good effect ; 
 but there, neither that nor any thing that can sully shall 
 appear as coming from you. Having Parnell’s 4 Life,’ I 
 shall return yours safe, and shall be obliged by the dra- 
 matic pieces you purpose sending by my brother. 
 
 “ Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 “ My Lord, July 23, 1790. 
 
 “ I went last Saturday to Aghnacloy, where I met my 
 brother after his induction into Killeshill by Archdeacon 
 Friend, and the next day I went with him to hear him 
 read his assent and consent, &c. ; and from all the circum- 
 stances we could gather, the value of the parish must ex- 
 ceed our expectations, and, if well managed, may not fall 
 much short of the value it was rated at in Mr. Upton’s letter 
 to your Lordship. The glebe is very extensive, double at 
 least of what I supposed it to have been ; for, though my 
 father had it surveyed, I had either forgot or had never 
 learned its measurement ; nor could my brother, with all 
 his industry, during the three or four days he passed there, 
 ascertain it with any degree of exactness, — so close do all 
 concerned conceal these matters ! I mention these mat- 
 ters to you with a full persuasion, that your hearing the 
 parish is likely to turn out so well will give your Lord- 
 ship more pleasure than any effort I could make to express 
 my gratitude for all that happiness which the things of 
 this world could have added to either of us. 
 
 “ I am, my Lord, your most dutiful servant, 
 
 “ Tho. Campbell. 
 
 “ Bishop of Dromore, Merrion-street, Dublin.” 
 
 * This passage is copied in Prior’s Life of Goldsmith, I. 222. 
 
782 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ My Lord, Aug. 3, 1790. 
 
 “ I beg pardon for not having acknowledged the receipt 
 of your second volume of Goldsmith, which you were so 
 good as to leave with my brother ; and I thank you most 
 heartily for your amendment of my inscription — the in- 
 sertion of Dei was indispensable. 
 
 “You ask me what 1 think of the fifth volume of the 
 ‘ Collectanea ?’* I really think the Colonel is angry, and 
 that furor irce brevis est. As to ‘ Nostradamus’ (which, by- 
 the-bye, was written by Dr. Wilson, in imitation of Vol- 
 taire’s ridicule of Rousseau), I suppose the Colonel gave 
 it as a remnant of antiquity, for it is old as the morocco 
 coin, and perhaps as old as the Yola Sorg. 
 
 “ Ledwich (i. e.. Otho) writes me word, that he and 
 (Veritas) Beauford are preparing a pamphlet, which they 
 say is to be laughable ; against which side the laugh may 
 rise, is to me (I own it) problematical. They talk of Lon- 
 don for the publication, but I have told them that nothing 
 of the kind will be attended to there. Dublin is the only 
 spot where the e Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis ’ is 
 known, except to some twenty readers, and they have no 
 muscles for a laugh. 
 
 “ This same church keeps me so engaged, that I can 
 think of nothing else ; almost every workman and labourer 
 I pay by anticipation, or forehand, as they call it. I have 
 not written a line for Goldsmith t this month and more, yet 
 I meditate another Life, viz. a Vallanciad, or the life and 
 actions, sentiments and opinions of Colonel Collectaneus, 
 &c. who died of an atramental frenzy, July the — , 1790, 
 after suffering excruciating agonies of mind, since the — 
 of August, 1789. 
 
 “ The sinking of my ink in this paper proves me lite- 
 rally to be atramental, as the Colonel says I am. But no 
 character can be deep enough to express how much I am 
 devoted to your Lordship. 
 
 “ Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 * In the Appendix to the fifth volume of Vallancey’s Collectanea were 
 some acrimonious remarks on the writings of Dr. Campbell, and a reprint of 
 a letter addressed to the Hibernian Journal, May 13, 1778, signed Nostra- 
 damus Hibernicus, in ridicule of Dr. C.’s “ Philosophical Survey of the 
 South of Ireland,” 8vo. 1777.— F. M. 
 
 1* See note to the next letter. — F. M. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 783 
 
 “ My Lord, Sept. 9, 1790. 
 
 “Just returned from the visitation at Clogher, I sit 
 down to thank you for your Sermon. Your character of 
 the Irish is so just, that if I ever come to that part of the 
 History of Ireland, where it should be introduced, or, in 
 other words, to the present times, it shall be adopted. 
 Apropos ! at Clogher I received a long anonymous letter 
 from London, directed to me there at large, which, after 
 paying some compliments, and finding some faults with 
 the ‘ Strictures,’ gives me some counsel respecting that 
 same history which I meditate. 
 
 “ The writer of the review in Sleater J s paper (of whom 
 you inquire), is, I believe, Mr. Ledwich, author of the An- 
 tiquities of Ireland, published monthly. That my opinion 
 coincides with your Lordship’s, I am at once proud and 
 sorry to say — proud of agreeing with you in sentiment, but 
 sorry that the writer is so industrious to make V — y [Val- 
 lancey] a man of consequence. That unfortunate Review 
 is neither conducted with the temper, method, or judg- 
 ment of scholarship. My idea was merely, in what I men- 
 tioned to your Lordship, to give, by juxtaposition, the 
 contradictions of the Collectanea, and those risible absurdi- 
 ties (if absurdities were not too dull for ridicule) with which 
 it abounds above any farrago I have met with. But this 
 would be a task of penance, for who could read over again 
 what I have read ? — But I must do him (i. e. Y — y) justice; 
 he does not say that ‘Nostradamus Hibernicus J is antique; 
 it was only my awkwardness of expression that conveyed 
 the idea. However, Dr. Hales, who w r as here with me last 
 week, when I received your Lordship’s last favour, assures 
 me that it was not Dr. Wilson, as I supposed, who wrote 
 that really witty paper, but another of the Fellows, who 
 had the principal hand in e Pranceriana/ 
 
 “ As to Goldsmith, of which you inquire, and concerning 
 which Maurice Goldsmith has been inquiring, it is in such 
 a state, that I think I could finish the remainder currente 
 prelo.* My greatest difficulty now is to have it trans- 
 cribed so as that your Lordship could cast an eye over it. 
 
 * The work here alluded to was evidently a MS. Life of Goldsmith, and 
 apparently the same (with some alterations) prefixed to the edition of Go'd- 
 smith’s Miscellaneous Works, in 4 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1801, to which the 
 Bishop of Dromore refers in a letter to Mr. Nichols, printed in the “ Illus- 
 trations,” vol. VI. p. 584, and says, it had been compiled under his direc- 
 tion. — F. M. 
 
784 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 I have tried one or two country schoolmasters, but, though 
 they can write, they cannot read — my writing. I am sorry 
 to hear that Mrs. Percy’s illness leaves you still undecided 
 as to your time of setting out for England. I should have 
 strained a point to deliver you all the papers there ; and, 
 above all, that I might be enabled to make such alterations 
 and amendments as your better judgment might point out. 
 I have made large quotations here and there, from Gold- 
 smith’s own works, and have ventured to draw a parallel 
 between Addison’s ‘ Letter from Italy ’ and- that part of 
 ‘ The Traveller ’ which refers to it. I have also defended 
 Goldsmith's ‘ Deserted Village ’ upon the facts and prin- 
 ciples of Dr. Price, and have run the risk of censure for 
 digression in drawing some political consequences respect- 
 ing this my poor native country, and have mounted my 
 hobby-horse in recommending an Union. But, my Lord, 
 if I have digressed, and so transgressed, I am ready to 
 kiss the rod : 
 
 ‘ Audebo qusecunque parum splendoris habebant, 
 
 Et sine pondere erunt, et honore indigna ferentur, 
 
 Script a movere loco, quamvis invita recedant.’ 
 
 “ You gave me hopes that you would draw up a sketch 
 of what you would wish should appear respecting Sir Rich- 
 ard Perrot, &c. 
 
 “ I met Archdeacon Friend in the morning of the visi- 
 tation at Clogher. He told me that Mr. Moore was so 
 satisfied at the offers he made (at the meeting of which I 
 once wrote to you), that he takes no part in the business; 
 but I did not find at Aughnacloy, as I passed, that mat- 
 ters were as settled as I could wish. I gave the Primate’s 
 message to my brother. 
 
 “ I am, &c. Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Sept. 22, 1790. 
 
 “ I feel from woful experience that we Celts can hardly 
 give a direct answer. But lest I should not have room to 
 give one even now, I set it down that at page 338, vol. V. 
 Collectanea, you may find ‘Nostradamus Hibernicus,’ a 
 paper which, I own to your Lordship, made me wince about 
 fourteen years ago. Its being of so old a date, made me 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE / 85 
 
 say that I supposed the Colonel * gave it as a remnant of 
 antiquity. 
 
 “ I am, my Lord, your most dutiful and grateful ser- 
 vant, Tho. Campbell/’ 
 
 “ Bishop of Dromore, Dublin.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Killyvan, Aug. 13, 1791. 
 
 . V- vh 
 
 'ft* w w fT» *T* 
 
 “ I wish, above all things, that I could make an excur- 
 sion to England before winter, as you are so obliging to 
 propose it, but many obstacles interpose to prevent it, 
 some of which I shall enumerate. Clogher visitation is 
 not till next month, and I have not yet seen my Bishop f 
 since his return from England. 
 
 “ The steeple of my church (to be executed with hewn 
 stone) would probably be bungled in the execution (as was 
 the case with that part of the church done in my late 
 absence in Dublin), and a room which I have added to my 
 cabin, since I saw your Lordship, would run the same 
 risk, as I am my own architect. But these things I con- 
 sider as comparatively trifles. The insurmountable ob- 
 stacle is this : I have yet finally to settle an account of my 
 guardianship of an unfortunate nephew, before my Lord 
 Chancellor, in the beginning of next term. In order to do 
 this, I was summoned to Dublin soon after I left Dromore, 
 and what might have been done in a day, the litigiousness 
 of the heir apparent (who attempted to prove the young 
 man insane) prevented me from doing in three weeks, so 
 many forms, of which not even my attorney knew any 
 thing, being necessary to be complied with ; so that, after 
 long delay, I was forced to petition the Chancellor for 
 longer time, which he granted till next term. This being 
 the plain state of my case, your Lordship’s goodness will 
 see that I cannot bend my sails for England before No- 
 vember. Then I shall take with me all the documents 
 respecting Goldsmith, and shall, please God, be in London 
 early in November; and, indeed, I did not suppose it was 
 your intention to be there before that time, nor am I 
 without hopes that this delay of mine will not be any in- 
 convenience to your Lordship. 
 
 “ I am, my Lord, your most dutiful and devoted ser- 
 vant, Tho. Campbell. 
 
 * Colonel Vallancey, 
 
 + Bp. Hotham. See p. 779. 
 
786 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “P.S. You have probably seen the marriage of Dr. 
 Hales in the prints, but, perhaps, you have not heard 
 that both his sisters are gone to America ; the elder to be 
 married to a lawyer there (high in station), with whom 
 there was a long and mutual attachment, and, as the 
 mountain could not come to Mahomet, Mahomet goes to 
 the mountain. 
 
 “ Bishop of Dromore, Bath.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Killyvan, Jan. 5, 1792. 
 
 “ I set out from this house in the beginning of last 
 November for Dublin, that 1 might settle that account, 
 which I mentioned to your Lordship in my last, early in 
 the term, and from thence proceed to Bath, as I expected 
 to do ; but it was the beginning of December before I got 
 that matter accomplished (if accomplished it yet be), and 
 then the weather was so bad, and the accounts of it still 
 worse from Wales, that, as Christmas was fast approach- 
 ing, I thought it best to return to my duty at home ; and 
 fortunate it was that I did so, for my assistant, poor man, 
 had got such a fall, leading his horse down an icy decli- 
 vity, that he was disabled from going to church on 
 Christmas Day. But, as I have still a form to go through 
 in the next Term, it cannot be earlier than February that 
 I can flatter myself with the hopes of seeing your Lord- 
 ship. This, however, I trust, will be time enough for 
 your expectations ; as I never got that notice of the time 
 you would wish, of which I at once hoped and feared the 
 receipt of. But if I have any predilection for any parti- 
 cular time it w r ould be that I could with most convenience 
 to myself be absent from hence in the spring months, 
 during which anything that is to be done, with regard to 
 Goldsmiths life, may be done in London. 
 
 “ Your Lordship has, no doubt, heard somewhat of the 
 machinations of the Roman Catholics. I wish I had 
 room to tell you all I know, or at least think I know, of 
 this matter. This, however, I may say, that six editions 
 at least of the ‘ Declaration of the Catholic Society of 
 Dublin, 5 in quarto, were distributed gratis before I left 
 Dublin, and innumerable sheets of the c Declaration of the 
 United Societies of Dublin and Belfast/ Yet how were 
 these fabricated ? by two or three young lawyers and as 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 787 
 
 many physicians, who have not yet got into practice. So 
 that, instead of these Declarations being the work of any 
 Society whatever, they were only finessing instruments of 
 these young men to form Societies ; and many thousands 
 of the Declarations were distributed before any Society 
 was formed (and persuaded I am that the Belfast Society 
 does not at this day consist of more than some half 
 dozen, who throw up their sweaty caps, &c.) The Society 
 of Dublin did become numerous, and (I do not know 
 why) boasted that the Secretary* was their friend, and so 
 to the Castle they went with a memorial of grievances ; 
 but they were desired to disavow their Declarations, at 
 which they demurred, and required time, &c. &c. How- 
 ever, this, it is said, alarmed the Castle, but I cannot be- 
 lieve their information was so bad ; but certainly the 
 Secretary sailed the next day for England. 
 
 “ Since I returned to the country, I see in the papers a 
 very moderate address from the principal Catholic nobles 
 and gentlemen of the kingdom, disavowing the c Dublin 
 and Belfast Declarations/ &c., so that any panic that might 
 have been struck by those bold humbug gers (for I know 
 no word so strong as that low one to characterise them) 
 is pretty well over. One thing seems very astonishing, 
 that all the Irish newspapers of any credit are against 
 Government ; it is not so in England. But I can say no 
 more, but that I am for ever yours, 
 
 “ Tho. Campbell. 
 
 “ Bishop of Dromore, Bath.” 
 
 “ My Lord, No. 13, High-street, Dublin, Feb. 3d, 1792. 
 
 “ I take the first minute I could get of acknowledging 
 the honour of your letter, which I received the post 
 before I left the country, in hopes of receiving your 
 Lordship’s commands for getting those packets, of which 
 you speak, before I set out for London; where I have 
 promised (please God) to be about the middle of this 
 month, having business of some importance with an 
 Irish nobleman there, who is about selling some lands in 
 my parish, &c. 
 
 “ It is with unspeakable pleasure that I hear of Mrs. 
 Percy’s receiving such advantage from the Bath waters ; 
 
 * Right Hon. John Hely Hutchinson. He died Sept. 5, 1794, in his 
 79th year. See an account of him in Gent. Mag. vol. LXIV. 86 6. 
 
788 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and, as her recovery depends so much on the continuance 
 of them, it is not to be expected that you can attend to 
 anything in London before April. Now, my Lord, might 
 not I be doing something in March, so far as printing off 
 the first sheets, and sending the proofs to you at Bath ? 
 which may be easily done. The truth is, that I have not 
 opened those papers since I left Dromore, leaving what- 
 ever alterations are to be further made for the immediate 
 press copy, with which I could wish to furnish the printer, 
 not altogether, but as he shall want it ; so that while I am 
 inserting such circumstances as seem rightly stated by 
 Boswell, and writing it out fair, the printer may be going 
 on with the beginning, in which you think no alterations, 
 but such as you have noted, need be made ; and let it not 
 surprise you to be told, that with all my diligence I can- 
 not get a copy of Boswell’s Life of Johnson in this great 
 city. The only one I ever saw is now in the printer’s 
 hand ; and they say a new edition is to be out in a few 
 days. 
 
 “ My surprise on coming to town was not a little 
 respecting the Roman Catholic business, especially in 
 regard to young Burke, who, as far as I yet hear, has 
 injured the Catholic cause exceedingly, even in the 
 opinion of the Catholics ; were I to repeat the assertions 
 (which I universally hear) he has made, you would say it 
 was impossible, and that I was credulous. He has puffed 
 those ignorant people with vain hopes, and he has thrown 
 out such menaces as have disgusted every member of 
 either House with whom I have the honour of conversing. 
 The Presbyterian ministers are now beginning to think 
 that they have already gone too far, and I hear that there 
 is to be a meeting of them soon, to blot out those impres- 
 sions which may have been made by the general meeting 
 of the inhabitants of Belfast. 
 
 “ The Archbishop of Dublin was taken ill last Sunday 
 in Peter’s Church, but is well again. Every body rejoices 
 at hearing that the Primate * is so well. I wish to hear 
 from your Lordship as soon as you conveniently can, 
 that I may bring the packets you mention. 
 
 i( I am, my Lord, your most dutiful servant, 
 
 “ Tho. Campbell. 
 
 “ Bishop of Dromore, Bath.” 
 
 * Dr. Robinson, Lord Rokeby. See before, pp. 453, 456. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 789 
 
 “ Clones, June 12, 1793. 
 
 “ My good Lord and best Friend, 
 
 “ It was with more pleasure than I can express, that I 
 received the favourable accounts of Mrs. Percy^s health 
 and of your return to Ireland, which stands so much in 
 need of such inhabitants ; not that things appear to me 
 in so gloomy a light as they did some time ago, but such 
 universal ignorance in our people is a deplorable consi- 
 deration. The steps which Parliament, thanks to our 
 good King, took this session, had wonderfully damped, 
 though not extinguished, that cursed democratic rage, 
 when the Militia Act (or rather indeed, I should say, the 
 misconceptions respecting it) blew up the covered embers 
 into a blaze. I shall speak only of the county in which I 
 dwell, and persuaded I am, that, had it not been for 
 insurance offices which were set up, first at half a guinea 
 a-head, and now at 5 s. 5d., that the country would be in 
 such commotion that all our military would find it difficult 
 to quell ; they, the military, are harassed as it is ; in a 
 small village within a mile of my door, the sub-governors 
 were on Saturday last attended by two troops of horse 
 and three companies of foot; and yesterday, at Clones, 
 by a like number. This shows you the feelings of the 
 common people, whose consternation at the apprehension 
 of the ballot, and of course of being torn away from their 
 wives and children, I can compare to nothing but the 
 trepidation of small birds under the kite hovering over 
 them. When I have said thus much, I (who, however 
 sanguine in other respects, cannot be violent in party) 
 must add, that the throwing the burden of protecting 
 property upon the poor, who had little or none, appears 
 to me not altogether discreet. The Act, it is true, gave 
 full powers to the sub-governors to choose, for the ballot, 
 the most substantial men of each county — but instead of 
 doing this they have leaned to favour the rich freeholders 
 — for reasons you must see — and by this means doubly 
 exasperated the poor, who are always mutinous. I can 
 give you a strong case. I had been at great pains to hold 
 vestries, in compliance with the late Act, for exempting 
 the lower class from hearth-money, and I had in my 
 pocket exemptions for near 600 persons ; but a person 
 thus exempted is not exempted, by the Act, from serving 
 in the militia, unless the exempt from hearth-money 
 would swear that they had three children. I pleaded the 
 spirit of the Act, and because the wretches did not come 
 
790 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 forward to take the oath, my pleadings, though minister 
 of the parish and sub-governor, did not avail, so I confess 
 to you that I withdrew from acting as sub-governor; in 
 this, possibly, your Lordship will blame me, but I have 
 my justification in this : since there are two ways of 
 executing or construing a law, why not do it in the 
 manner most conducive to the peace and happiness of 
 the country? Now there were two ways here. But by 
 the time you come over, I trust that all will be quiet. 
 And now to sweeten my mind with thoughts more 
 agreeable. I am glad to find that you have brought the 
 affair of Goldsmith to so good an issue — but, alas ! poor 
 Maurice.* He is to receive no comfort from your Lord- 
 ship’s labours in his behalf. He departed from a miserable 
 life early last winter, and luckily has left no children ; but 
 he has left a widow, and ’faith a very nice one, who called 
 on me one of the few days I spent in Dublin after Christ- 
 mas, so that you will not want claimants. 
 
 “ I am, my Lord, your most devoted servant, 
 
 “ Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 “ Bishop of Dromore, 20, South Audley-street, London.’’ 
 
 “ My Lord, . Clones, Sept. 16, 1793. 
 
 u My brother acquaints me that he had lately another 
 instance of your Lordship’s friendly communications. 
 Nothing could give me so much delight as to have the 
 honour of waiting on you at Dromore. He, poor man, 
 is, I understand, though not from himself, fully employed ; 
 for, contrary to my pressing instances, he undertook the 
 setting of his own tithes. The consequence has been, 
 that he has not yet received sufficient to pay his curate ; 
 and as to his glebe (a very fine one of above 300 acres) 
 the tenants have held over, and some of them have been 
 twice ejected, as I hear, (for he is unwilling to speak or 
 write on the subject to me,) and, at present, he is only in 
 hopes of any profits. His very bills to attorneys, &c., I 
 know, cost immensely ; for once he was obliged to call 
 upon me for £100 ; which in his life he never did before. 
 
 That I am not altogether idle the inclosed will intimate. 
 My Sermon will be a very long one, and, I suppose, very 
 tedious, if not displeasing to some, for, contrary to my 
 original intention, it has taken a political direction, in 
 
 * Maurice Goldsmith was a plain unlettered man. He came to London 
 in 1771, and administered to Dr. Goldsmith’s effects. He died, it appears 
 above, at the latter end of 17.92. See Prior’s Life of Goldsmith, II. .526. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 791 
 
 opposition to that foolish and wicked doctrine of the 
 equality of men and their rights. 
 
 “ It was with great satisfaction I learned from Dr. Dui- 
 genan, at our Visitation, that you looked exceedingly 
 well. But, what surprised me, he did not like the Bishop * 
 of Cloyne’s charge ; and of all our clergy there not one of 
 them had ever so much as heard of it. 
 
 “ I am, with everlasting attachment, your Lordship’s 
 most humble servant, Thos. Campbell.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Clones, April 16, 1795. 
 
 “ I mentioned to you (pretty circumstantially) the 
 affair which happened in my parish on the 16t,h of 
 February last, and gave you what appeared to me the 
 occasion of it. But, the same spirit every where pre- 
 vailing, things are rapidly approaching to (what I have 
 been long prepared for) the totally withholding the pay- 
 ment of tithes ; the only point in which Catholics and 
 Protestants will ever unite ; and it would surprise you to 
 find, that, notwithstanding the sword may be said to be 
 literally drawn between those parties, they, in all their 
 public notices, beg of each other, that, however hostile 
 they may be in other respects, they may be firmly 
 united in resisting the payment of tithes. But, to be 
 more particular; my worthy neighbour, Mr. Roper, having 
 been obliged, for two or three years past, to live at Bath 
 (where he lately buried his wife), and having given a good 
 bargain of his tithes to a farmer, the profits became an 
 object of envy to a justice of peace in his parish, who 
 had no income that I know of but his half-pay : he was, 
 however agent to his uncle’s (Mr. E. Madden) relict, who 
 holds a large manor under the college. This man, feeling 
 the pulse of the times, called the tenants of the manor 
 together, nominated a committee of them, and desired 
 them to meet in the popish chapel, to collect a list of 
 their grievances that he might have them redressed. They 
 accordingly met ; and the first remedy they hit upon was 
 to post up notices in all quarters of the manor, threatening 
 to burn the houses of any juror who should, at their 
 next manor court, adjudge any tithe to be due. The 
 consequence of which was that the jurors, as soon as 
 appointed, added to their usual oath, that they would not 
 take any tithe cause whatever into consideration. The 
 
 * Dr. Bennet. See p. 65. 
 
792 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 next remedy devised was to beat the proctors sent out 
 with processes for the assizes most unmercifully, tear all 
 their processes, tramp them under foot, and threaten them 
 with death if they came again. Apropos ! your Lordship 
 must observe that these acts of outrage are generally 
 perpetrated by strangers, so that the proctors either cannot 
 (or will not) swear examinations against the parties. 
 These things being so, Mr. Roper has been obliged to 
 take the tithe securities into his own hands ; hoping that, 
 from the love they once professed towards him, they 
 would not refuse to pay himself. Well! the day before 
 yesterday, this good man sent out printed advertisements 
 among them (but observe, that now the whole parish is 
 in the same combination,) letting them know that he had 
 parted with the obnoxious tithe-farmer, and hoped they 
 •would pay himself ; but that was never their intention, as 
 they manifested by tearing every stitch of clothes off his 
 messenger, cutting off his hair, and beating him severely. 
 Nor did they stop here ; a party of them were going to 
 throw him down from a high bridge, when he was relieved 
 by another party of more humanity, — threatening, how- 
 ever, that, if he came again, instead of the hair they 
 would cut off the head. 
 
 “ In my own and the next parish to me (both bordering 
 on Clones) they have obliged the proctors who served 
 processes to tear the processes themselves ; and these 
 dogs (who are all of the same inclining) thought they got 
 cheaply off, and will make no prosecution of the offending 
 parties, under pretext that they do not know their persons. 
 
 “ Now, my Lord, as rights are now to be decided by 
 the logic of Kings, I think we have the worst of the 
 argument, for the King cannot spare us troops ; yet, if 
 we listen to the orations in Parliament, we should believe 
 we have 40,000 men. We have drawn up a memorial to 
 the Provost and Fellows, in hope they may take the hint 
 of refusing renewals of this manor, the agent of which 
 has fomented this contumacy. This contagion is spreading 
 on all sides. A very large body of troops should be 
 stationed in this quarter. Apropos ! I laid before the 
 late Secretary a plan for a barrack to be built, and offered 
 a site, but I never heard more of the matter ; and what 
 will troops soon avail, if they are to be billeted in the 
 country where the infection rages ? Will they not soon 
 lose the spirit of the corps, and become one with the 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 793 
 
 mass ? I ask, what lost the King of France his crown and 
 his head ? The defection of the army. Our reformers 
 lean upon the army as their future friends. I shall say 
 nothing of the militia, for they are all honourable men. 
 But,, truly, I begin to console myself under that malady 
 which so much alarmed me when in Dublin, — as I would 
 not wish long to survive my means of existence. But I 
 am always croaking ; forgive, therefore, the effusions of 
 your most devoted and humble servant, 
 
 “ Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Clones, April 22, 1795. 
 
 “ I do not mean to pester you with letters, but there is 
 a fact stated in the inclosed which I think my superiors 
 ought to know; for wrong measures generally proceed 
 from want of just information ; and, as far as I see and 
 know, falsehood was never more abundant than at present. 
 If you listen to Dr. Mac Nevin and the Dublin orators, 
 you are to suppose that all the Protestants of Ireland are 
 at present under a paroxysm of zeal for the emancipation 
 of their Catholic brethren ; and indeed Lord Fitzwilliam 
 and his court appear to have been under the same impres- 
 sion ; but of all the positions that ever impudence advanced 
 or credulity swallowed, this is the most monstrous. What ! 
 when we have seen the sword actually drawn by those 
 parties against each other, in so many places, in Armagh, 
 in Louth, in Meath, in Cavan, in Monaghan (I enumerate 
 only as far as I am acquainted) ! O, my Lord, fire and 
 water will sooner amalgamate into one mass than the Pro- 
 testants and Papists of Ireland. When I have used this 
 language to a certain Privy Councillor high in place, he has 
 said to me, ‘ But, my dear Campbell, how can all this be, 
 when I see so many addresses and applications at the Cas- 
 tle of a directly contrary tendency But what are the 
 speculative addresses of Belfast and elsewhere to the body 
 of the Protestants of Ireland ? Besides, such addresses 
 were not made out of love to the Papists, but to alarm 
 England, that it might be more disposed to remove cer- 
 tain political and commercial restraints ; and now the 
 same alarm-bell is rung in the ears of Government by the 
 Papists, and it is given out, that if Mr. Grattan’s (the 
 Irish Marat) bill do not pass there will be a general insur- 
 rection ; but if there be an insurrection more than of the 
 
 VOL. VII. 3 F 
 
794 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 vilest of the Dublin mob I am a poor politician indeed. 
 No, no ; nor will the nocturnal depredations in the 
 country parts be either more or less than at present. 
 You know that my fears have long bordered on timidity ; 
 but, though I feared robbery, murder, associations against 
 tithe, &c. I never suspected a general insurrection could take 
 place on any contingency but that of a French invasion 
 (N.B. at the Cavan assizes it was proved, that one article 
 of the Defenders* oath was to assist the French). In that 
 case, indeed, I am persuaded that the country is so 
 organised by their committees that there might be a gene- 
 ral rising ; but, in the matter of their religious rights, they 
 dare not appear in arms professedly for that purpose, at 
 least in Ulster. As the ground of my persuasion, I relate 
 you two facts. The peace (if peace it may be called) of 
 the county Cavan is at this moment preserved in the fol- 
 lowing manner : — The Presbyterians (comparatively few in 
 number) take it in their turns to watch in certain numbers 
 in certain places every night, to raise an alarm if the 
 Defenders should appear in force, and to mark the houses 
 where they issue from. This has more restored quiet 
 there than the Dublin militia. These Presbyterians are 
 stigmatised by the name of Scotch, and are so dreaded by 
 the Papists, that fifty of them would chase five hundred; 
 they have killed many Papists, and declare that they will 
 neither give quarter nor take prisoners. The other fact I 
 allude to, you can only see the force of from observing 
 that those transactions of the county of Cavan are of noto- 
 riety in the spot I live in ; and you may remember the 
 representation I gave you in Kildare Street, of the vast 
 concourse in my own parish in February last. This and 
 other circumstances alarmed the Presbvterians (viz. 
 Monaghan Scotch) of my parish, and they held an assem- 
 bly in one of their meeting-houses, whilst I was in Dub- 
 lin, in order to do as they did in Cavan ; which has so ter- 
 rified the Papists, that now you would not hear a mouse 
 stirring. Yet these Papists, these Presbyterians, and our 
 own hearers, pray each other, in all their notices set up, 
 to unite in the point of tithes. 
 
 “ If your Lordship thought it proper, I wish you would 
 speak to the Provost, if you are in habits of intimacy with 
 him ; or if you are not, to speak to the Primate to apply 
 to him, to attend to the memorial which Mr. Roper * will 
 
 * See before, pp. 791, 792. 
 
PERCY AND CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 795 
 
 present to him some day this week. The Provost is so 
 quiet a man, that perhaps he might not talk to the tenants 
 of the College manor in a tone firm enough ; and it will 
 require some strong measure to shake the resolutions of 
 an interested party, who have made tools of the people 
 (ever born to be duped) on this occasion. 
 
 “ I am your Lordship’s most dutiful servant, 
 
 “ Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 Rev. Charles Campbell to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “ My Lord, . Newry, Feb. 19, 1810. 
 
 “ I was favoured with your note of yesterday, and in 
 consequence of it waited on the postmaster this day in 
 order to obtain the information you wish, relative to the 
 forms of prayer for the Fast-day. He told me they go 
 free to your Register at Dromore under the frank of the 
 Secretary General in Dublin, but, being sent back from 
 Dromore to this place under different covers and in sub- 
 divisions, they come under the denomination of private 
 parcels, and are consequently liable to the postage. As 
 therefore he does not feel himself authorised to dispense 
 with the postage, he requests you will give directions to 
 have the forms of prayer delivered to the guard of the 
 mail-carts in Dromore, who will have directions from 
 him to bring them here free, and they shall be distributed 
 free of all charges to the clergy of the different parishes 
 adjoining. 
 
 “ I return your Lordship many thanks for your kind 
 offer of your services in obtaining for me an adequate 
 supply for this place. Owing, however, to your Lord- 
 ship’s application to the King’s Printer several years ago, 
 I am regularly supplied, though not abundantly enough 
 for so extensive a congregation, yet I believe as amply as 
 other towns of the same size. The number sent on this 
 occasion (received on Friday last free of postage) was 
 sixty forms of prayer, and two proclamations. 
 
 “Your Lordship is perfectly correct in thinking my 
 uncle’s death took place previous to the measure of 
 Union, the necessity and advantage of which he contends 
 for in his ‘ Philosophical Survey ;’ he died on the 20th of 
 June 1795. 
 
 “ My eldest brother, of whom you are so good to in- 
 quire, was (when I last heard from him about a month 
 
 3 F 2 
 
796 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ago) just embarking from the Cape of Good Hope (where 
 he had been nearly two years) for New South Wales in 
 New Holland, with strong recommendation from Lord 
 Caledon to Colonel M‘Quarrie, who is the Governor of 
 that settlement, and who, with his regiment, the 73d, 
 touched at the Cape in their passage out. My brother 
 was to accompany him, having the promise of any civil 
 employment which that place affords. He had a situation 
 in a Government Bank, established by Lord Caledon ; 
 but, as his Lordship’s patronage is very restricted, the 
 appointments to all civil employments being disposed of 
 by the Government at home, and as he was thus pre- 
 cluded from the hope of further advancement there, he 
 formed the determination of trying his fortune at the 
 other settlement. His health had been much impaired 
 during his stay at the Cape, but it was perfectly re-esta- 
 blished at the time he wrote. 
 
 “ If there is anything I can do for your Lordship in 
 this place, I shall feel much pleasure in your communi- 
 cating it to me. 
 
 “ I remain, your Lordship’s very obliged and dutiful 
 servant, Chs. Campbell.” 
 
 “ My Lord, Newry, Feb. 28 , 1810 . 
 
 “ I return you many thanks for your very kind 
 and acceptable communication relative to the flourishing 
 state of the colony at Botany Bay, and for your good 
 wishes for the success and prosperity of my brother who 
 is gone there. 
 
 “ My uncle’s birth was on the 4th May 1733, and the 
 place of his nativity was Glack, in the county of Tyrone, 
 now the residence of the Archdeacon of Armagh. His 
 death having taken place on the 20th June 1793, he was 
 of course 62 years of age. He was eldest son of the Rev. 
 Moses Campbell, many years curate of the archdeaconry 
 of Armagh, and afterwards rector of the parish of Killi- 
 shill. 
 
 “ Any further information which you might wish to 
 obtain relative to his writings, or his future progress 
 through life, within my knowledge, shall be with great 
 pleasure communicated to your Lordship. 
 
 i( With sincere wishes for a long continuance of your 
 Lordship’s health, I remain, &c. C. Campbell.” 
 
CAMPBELL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 797 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 between Dr. Campbell and Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 Lord Dacre to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ SlR, Belhouse,* June 17, 1783. 
 
 “ I was the other day favoured with your obliging letter, 
 and take the first opportunity of making you my acknow- 
 ledgments for it. As to the inconsiderable informations 
 I have been able to offer you for your new edition of the 
 ‘ Britannia/ you overrate me ; such as they are, how- 
 ever, they are much at your service, to do with them what 
 you please. It will be different in regard to what assist- 
 ance, with respect to Ireland, Dr. Campbell may furnish, 
 if his leisure permits him to do it; as he is more 
 knowing in the antiquities and particularities of that 
 kingdom than most of its best-informed natives ; and I 
 shall be happy therefore if, as he seems inclined, he will 
 set himself heartily to this business. He has already, 
 though without putting his name to it, published an 
 excellent account of the South of Ireland. It is entitled, 
 ‘ A Philosophical Survey of the South of Ireland, in a 
 Series of Letters to John Watkinson, M.D. Dublin, 
 1778/ and the letters are supposed as written by an 
 English Traveller. This work is well worth your perusal. 
 The Doctor himself, however, is an inhabitant of the 
 North of Ireland, having a good rectory near my estate 
 in the county of Monaghan. I shall take the first oppor- 
 tunity of availing myself of the permission you give me 
 to peruse the first volume of your * Britannia/ for which 
 I beg you to accept my thanks ; and am, with much 
 regard, Sir, your obedient humble servant, Dacre .’ 5 
 
 Richard Gough, Esq. to Lord Dacre. 
 
 “ My Lord, 
 
 # # # * * 
 
 “ I take this earliest opportunity of expressing my 
 obligation to you, both for your own notes, and for the 
 assistance which Dr. Campbell now holds out to that part 
 of my plan which is more immediately within his depart- 
 ment. * * * R. Gough .’ 5 
 
 * Bellhouse, near Romford, now the seat of Sir Thomas Lennard, Bart. 
 In the stables of this mansion is a large vacant stall, where, it is said, the 
 palfrey of Queen Elizabeth stood, when she came there to review the troops 
 at Tilbury. — J. M. 
 
798 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Lord Dacre to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Sir, 
 
 “ I have received real pleasure to-day, by a letter of 
 Dr. Campbell’s from Ireland, who is so well qualified to 
 be effectually serviceable to you in your account of that 
 kingdom. I had indeed almost despaired of hearing again 
 from him, but his letter too plainly indicates the cause of 
 his silence. I send it you inclosed, to show that his good- 
 will has not been wanting. 
 
 “Your most obedient, humble servant, Dacre.” 
 
 “ Sir, Belhouse, Jan. 7, 1784. 
 
 “ I have by this post had the satisfaction to receive a 
 part of those notes relating to Ireland which Dr. Camp- 
 bell is so kind as to furnish us with. I say us , because in 
 his letter to me, which accompanied them, he says that 
 he sends them me for you; and in the conclusion adds, 
 that if myself, or you, should favour him with a letter, he 
 would better know what form of writing to adopt — 
 whether as Notes or Appendix. I therefore certainly 
 think, if you will permit me to say so, that, on all 
 accounts, a few lines from you to him, without delay, 
 would be very proper. In that case, you must direct to 
 the Rev. Dr. Campbell, No. 34, Kildare-street, Dublin. 
 Upon recollection, I will inclose you a frank. One part 
 of his letter to me I must not omit, it is this : e My mode 
 of writing may not perhaps please Mr. Gough ; for I 
 cannot help making some reflections as I go along, for which 
 perhaps he would not choose to be responsible. However, 
 if any thing of that kind occurs, I would rather he should 
 use my name than suppress those ideas, which I, as an 
 Irishman, might think necessary to be inserted. My first 
 note on the article Dublin is one of this sort, and 
 others of a different kind will occur : several on the 
 article Monaghan, which I have almost finished. If 
 this my mode of observation be pleasing to Mr. Gough, 
 I shall give something in the same way on Fermanagh, 
 Tyrone, and Derry. I shall send Fermanagh and Mona- 
 ghan in a post or two. I hope what I have sent may not 
 miscarry, as I have no copy/ In regard to the Doctor’s 
 reflections, I think you need not have any apprehensions ; 
 for, even by the letter which I have before me, his can- 
 dour and dispassionateness in regard to political matters 
 
CAMPBELL AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 799 
 
 appear in the strongest light, as well as his good will to 
 England, though, in the right sense of the word, a good 
 patriot as to his own country : which indeed answers to 
 the character he bears for worthiness and disinterestedness. 
 
 “ Your most humble servant, Dacre.” 
 
 Richard Gough, Esq. to Dr. Thomas Campbell. 
 
 “ Rev. Sir, Enfield, Jan. 10, 1784. 
 
 “ By favour of our common friend Lord Dacre, I am 
 enabled to take an early opportunity to return you my 
 acknowledgments for the attention you were pleased to 
 pay to my proposed edition of Camden’s ‘ Britannia.’ My 
 plan is, to give a new translation of the original Latin, 
 and then to annex to each county all the information I 
 can procure. For this purpose your notes are well calcu- 
 lated ; and, when I have printed the several articles, I 
 propose submitting them to your correction. I am only 
 apprehensive it may be a considerable time before I arrive 
 at this part, which is, indeed, the conclusion of my work ; 
 for I have yet hardly got through the first volume of Bishop 
 Gibson 5 s edition. This leisure, however, will not be with- 
 out its advantages to me, as it will enable my friends to 
 put their thoughts together more completely, and give me 
 perpetual improvement for the work. Presuming you are 
 not unacquainted with Mr. Yallancey, I take the liberty 
 of troubling you with the inclosed to him ; and am, Sir, 
 your most obedient servant, R. Gough/’ 
 
 cc SlR, Enfield, Jan. 20, 1788. 
 
 “ When I had the pleasure of seeing you here last July 
 you expressed an inclination to assist me in drawing up 
 an account of the Government of Ireland, since the time 
 of Camden to the present. 
 
 t( Having transmitted to you some time ago that part 
 of the ‘ Britannia 5 which relates to the subject without 
 receiving your answer on it, I now send you all I can collect 
 on the article, and shall be much obliged to you for any 
 alterations or improvement of this account, or for an 
 entire new one. I have done my best. You have had six 
 months to consider the subject in. I cannot allow above 
 one more. I am, Sir, &c. R. Gough.” 
 
800 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Dr. Campbell to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Dublin, 28, Dame-street, Feb. 9, 1788. 
 
 “ The receipt of a letter from Mr. Gough could not but 
 give me great pleasure ; yet it came, like the cup of love, 
 mixed with pain, to reflect that he had transmitted to me 
 a part of the c Britannia , 5 and that it did not reach me ; for 
 from the day I parted from Mr. Gough at Enfield I never 
 heard a syllable upon the subject till this very day that I 
 received his letter, with four pages of the work, left at my 
 lodging, by I do not know whom. I have not been five 
 days in Dublin, and, except the month after I saw you, I 
 have been a close resident in my parish ; where I should 
 have found leisure sufficient at least to have undertaken a 
 sketch of the alterations in Irish Government, or consti- 
 tution, since the days of Camden, but, as even your last 
 letter has come so late to hand, above half the month is 
 elapsed which you say is the longest time you can now 
 wait for anything on the subject. But, though not a cri- 
 minal in this affair, I shall, like a criminal, beg a reprieve 
 for a longer time ; and I am persuaded I shall be able to 
 give you something on the subject much more perfect 
 than anything to be found in the c Philosophical Survey’ at 
 least ; for I shall venture to make free with that work. 
 And I tell you plainly, that I should be sorry, at this time 
 of day, to be responsible for many opinions to be found in 
 that work ; for remember, it was written a dozen years ago, 
 though since printed, when some points were not as ma- 
 turely considered as they have been since. The book was 
 undertaken merely to recommend toleration in Ireland, 
 and a more liberal communication of commercial and poli- 
 tical privileges in England ; and so far the book was not 
 without its use ; for since that time, from a happy con- 
 currence of circumstances, a wonderful revolution in both 
 respects has taken place. However, still consider that 
 it is supposed to be written by an Englishman (for what 
 could be more absurd than for an Irishman, professedly, 
 to write his travels in his own country ; though perhaps 
 some may think that absurdity is congenial with the Irish 
 character) ; and being thus supposed to be written by a 
 stranger, and in a light, airy manner, it was hoped that 
 its errors might be more venial. 
 
 “ I observe you do the 4 Philosophical Survey 5 the 
 honour to use it in proof that the forts called Danish 
 were not peculiar to that people ; but I assure you that 
 
CAMPBELL AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 801 
 
 the author has since found documents sufficient to make 
 him change his opinion ; and I inclose you a newspaper, 
 and will inclose them to you regularly (as they will cost 
 you but a penny each), in which you will find that matter 
 placed on another footing, in the course of correspond- 
 ence with the Dublin Chronicle, by Jerneus; and there- 
 fore, and for many other reasons (which this large sheet 
 of paper I have chosen for its size would not contain), I 
 could wish that, if it be possible, you would suspend 
 this part of your publication but a few weeks, and for 
 what I send you I shall venture to pledge my name 
 at full length, a liberty I have never yet taken with the 
 public except in the line of my profession as a preacher. 
 
 “ In the article of the Round Towers, you very truly 
 say, that the author of the e Philosophical Survey’ is rather 
 unfortunate in his argument for their Phoenician origin, 
 &c. &c. Unfortunate indeed ! but be assured that the 
 writer has long abandoned all those Eastern ideas, which 
 he rashly conceived, from his personal respect for a certain 
 writer, whose adherence to them, and Celtic nonsense (as 
 Pinkerton truly calls it), has brought him into as much 
 contempt on this side of the Channel as on yours. This 
 affair of the round towers you will see discussed by Jerneus. 
 There are some strictures, too, on the Brehon laws, which, if 
 I have themin Dublin, as I thinkl have,I shall transmit you. 
 And you may, if you think it worth a little trouble, send 
 me the sheets, or rather pages (inclosed in a cover open 
 at both ends), in which the changes of the Irish Constitu- 
 tion shall be inserted, that upon a revision they may 
 appear more perfect. 
 
 “ There are several documents respecting our antiqui- 
 ties and history, which my good friend Edmund Burke 
 put me in possession of (consisting of no less than four 
 folios in manuscript) since I saw you ; which have enabled 
 me to proceed with greater facility in that History of the 
 Revolutions of Ireland which I mentioned to you that I was 
 preparing ; and I now think of giving you a Sketch of the 
 Irish Constitution, from Roderic O’Conor to George the 
 Third. Adieu. Thomas Campbell. 
 
 “ P.S. Since I sealed this letter I have read over that 
 part of your pages which refers to the Constitution of this 
 country, and I will be plain to tell you, that it is such a 
 jumble of times and circumstances as would disgrace so 
 
802 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 fine a work as yours, upon the whole, is. I therefore 
 entreat and implore you to wait but for a few weeks, and 
 I assure you, upon the honour of a man and the credit of 
 a writer, that, were it not that I have not a single book 
 upon the subject in Dublin, I would not delay you even a 
 minute beyond the term you have prescribed (and per- 
 haps I shall accomplish it even in that), in giving you a 
 sketch of the Irish Constitution, at sight of which both 
 you and I would be sorry for having resorted to the ‘ Phi- 
 losophical Survey/ ” 
 
 Mr. Gough to Rev. Dr. Campbell. 
 
 “ SlR, Feb. 1788. 
 
 ee I have the favour of yours of the 9th inst. and am 
 not a little surprised to find that the sheets on the Irish 
 Government, which Mr. Nichols assured me were for- 
 warded to you about the time you were supposed to have 
 been returned from Paris to Ireland, had not reached you. 
 
 “ I gladly grant you a respite, provided you do not ex- 
 ceed a month from the time you receive this to the time 
 you return the sheets with the improvements. You will 
 not forget that you stood engaged to favour me with them 
 from the time I had the pleasure of seeing you here; that, 
 therefore, you had near nine months to draw them up, 
 and that only for want of them was I reduced to put toge- 
 ther the jumble you complain of. I shall not hesitate to 
 sacrifice it to your second and maturer thoughts, regretting 
 that I had not your guidance through the course of a work 
 which I wish to render as perfect as the most judicious 
 antiquary of the kind can enable me to make it. 
 
 “ If I err in describing this distant part, it is merely for 
 want of guides ; my correspondents in Ireland, Messrs. 
 Walker, Ledwich, and Beauford, having hitherto sent me 
 little more than corrections of press errors, which are 
 beneath their notice. In hopes of hearing from you at 
 your early leisure, 1 am, Sir, your obedient humble ser- 
 vant, R. Gough.” 
 
 Dr. Campbell to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ SlR, No. 28, Dame-street, Feb. 20, 1788. 
 
 “ Notwithstanding an illness since I wrote last to you, 
 and though I had not a book on the subject in Dublin, I 
 inclose you by this post part of a sketch (not half finished), 
 
CAMPBELL AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 803 
 
 to show you I have not been quite idle, and I have no 
 doubt that I shall be able to finish the remaining and 
 important part within less than the month from this day, 
 provided my health recovers, as it now begins to do. Had 
 I not been certain that you had totally forgot my offer 
 of writing something on this subject, I should have con- 
 sidered myself pledged ; but I now do, and I assure you 
 that I have refused to preach no less than two charity 
 sermons before May next, merely that I have more leisure 
 to serve your work, which deserves every assistance from 
 literary men, and for which they should hold themselves 
 indebted to your zeal and liberality in the cause of lite- 
 rature. 
 
 “ You will, perhaps, be surprised that I have taken up 
 the ‘ Irish Constitution 9 so early ; but be assured that no 
 account of the English settlement in Ireland can be fully 
 understood without knowing somewhat of the preceding 
 times. I have been as concise as possible ; and the 
 remainder, which I suppose will not be more than as 
 much more, will give, I expect, a very competent idea of 
 our constitution, and, at the same time, from the fact of 
 our increased revenues and other documents, show the 
 progress of our civilization, &c. 
 
 “ My present opinion is, that the place for this essay 
 is at page 483 (after the cross line), instead of the extracts 
 from the 4 Philosophical Survey,’ &c. which should be ex- 
 punged. N.B. You observe that I called it a jumble. I 
 therefore beg of you to turn to page 484, where, after citing 
 the English Act, whereby the Irish Constitution was 
 restored in 1783, it is said (from a book written in 1 776), 
 ‘ If this kingdom ever had a constitution, it has been long 
 lost,’ &c. This I only observe to show you my reason for 
 using that coarse word ; and I could point to other inac- 
 curacies; but no matter. These, I trust, will be now 
 rectified, by substituting a clear statement from the begin- 
 ning in a continued series down to 1783, when our Consti- 
 tution was put on its present footing : that this may be 
 executed with all accuracy, I am getting in all the parlia- 
 mentary journals ; and, unless you object to the length of 
 this essay, I trust you will have nothing else to complain 
 of ; as you see I am for reprobating all our chimeras of 
 antiquity, and for considering the nation originally as it 
 was, in a very rude (I may say barbarous) state ; and it 
 was the more necessary to go so far back, that the con- 
 
804 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 trast with the benefits of English laws and government 
 may be the more conspicuous. All which I shall endea- 
 vour to inculcate with all possible brevity in the subse- 
 quent part. 
 
 “ If you approve of what I now send you, I should be 
 glad it were printed off in the place I mention, and the 
 proof sent to me soon, that it may be corrected 
 and made as perfect as possible, by either notes or 
 additions, if wanting ; for I never can see the faults of 
 what I write so well as when they are printed. 
 
 “ N.B. I inclose you a newspaper, with an account of 
 e Patrick’s Purgatory,’ which may be useful in the article 
 e Dunagal.’ Adieu ! Tho. Campbell.” 
 
 Mr. Gough to Dr. Campbell. 
 
 “ Sir, Feb. 25, 1788. 
 
 “ I am favoured with yours of the 20th instant, followed 
 by two packets on the state of the Irish Government; and 
 have only to regret, that, as the sheets were forwarded to 
 you by Mr. J. C. Walker, of Treasury Chambers, he did 
 not inform you that he had received from me a mode of 
 conveying sheets to me without the enormous expense of 
 postage, which I hope you will learn in time for the re- 
 mainder of the communications. I will put it forthwith 
 to press, having no time to lose, and forward it to you. 
 Excuse this brevity, therefore ; and, with many thanks for 
 so much as you have done for me, I am, Sir, your obedient 
 humble servant, R. Gough.” 
 
 Dr. Campbell to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, March 3, 1788. 
 
 “ In the course of a week I hope to send you the re- 
 mainder of this f Sketch’; what I now send I have little 
 doubt you will approve of, for I fancy as much matter is 
 condensed into it as ever was comprised in so many words ; 
 and I trust you will perceive that what I sent you before 
 was a necessary preliminary to see the nature of the Eng- 
 lish conquest and government, &c. ; and all together will, 
 I flatter myself, give a more complete view of the revolu- 
 tions of the Irish Constitution than has yet appeared ; for 
 it is in fact the skeleton of that history which I mean to 
 
CAMPBELL AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 805 
 
 publish. I am only in pain that these inclosures could 
 not be sent free, but I thought it safer to send them by 
 post than wait for private hands, who are not so punc- 
 tual always. I beg you may send me the proof sheets in 
 the same way, for were they to cost me pounds instead of 
 shillings I would pay it with pleasure, rather than detain 
 you an hour ; therefore, as soon as you can get a proof, I 
 hope you will send it, and I shall in a single sheet mark 
 the errors (and not send the proof back), that there may 
 be no further expense to you. 
 
 “ N.B. Your account of f Bishops ’ is faulty. Cloyne is 
 in the jurisdiction of Cashel , not of Tuam ; but these are 
 matters I do not enter into. Adieu ! 
 
 “ Tho. Campbell.’ 9 
 
 “ Dublin, No, 28, Dame-street, April 11, 1788. 
 
 “Dr. Campbell presents his compliments to Mr. Gough, 
 and assures him that the latter part of the ‘ Sketch of the 
 History of the Irish Constitution 5 has been ready, at 
 much about the time to which Mr. Gough limited him, 
 and should have been transmitted, only that the Doctor 
 waited to see those sheets which he was told were com- 
 posed. As he has heard nothing of them, he begins to 
 think that Mr. Gough does not mean to use them; if so, 
 the Doctor requests that his manuscript may be returned. ,, 
 
 “ April 15, 1788. 
 
 “ I am sorry that my last was sent in the manner it 
 was, i. e. without being post-paid ; had your letter come a 
 day sooner it should have been otherwise, and our com- 
 munications shall, as you say, be in future upon the terms 
 you prescribe. I was not acquainted with your corre- 
 spondents in Ireland ; but Ireland, at your distance, sub- 
 tends but a small angle in the eye of an Englishman. 
 I have given myself much trouble and some expense for 
 the credit of that part of your publication which relates to 
 that country, and I was sorry to hear that the expense of 
 not four ounces (and I find the expense is but two shil- 
 lings an ounce) could be considered as enormous, at the 
 time that I expected to pay in like manner for your trans- 
 missions. I began to suppose that my labours were as 
 heavy as those of any other of your correspondents ; but 
 I have been candid with you, as to the ‘ Philosophical 
 
806 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Survey I therefore request that you may adopt the in- 
 closed account of the Round Towers, p. 482, and expunge 
 the last paragraph respecting Raths. 
 
 “ Anxious as you can be about whatever relates to 
 Ireland, I long to see how what I have sent you is dis- 
 posed of, for I can assure you that my friends value it 
 more than T. Campbell.” 
 
 “ SlB, April 28th, 1788. 
 
 “ As I was persuaded your limiting me to a month 
 implied your intention of publishing earlier than I now 
 find you do, I concluded you had gone on with your work 
 without waiting for my Essay on its Government, &c. and 
 therefore I wrote for the copy which, I conceived, could 
 be of no use to you; but Mr. Walker, to whose acquaintance 
 I must heartily thank you for having introduced me, has 
 given me the proof sheets. I could have wished that the 
 press corrector had compared them with the copy, and 
 then many errors would have been done away, so that I 
 could have corrected more important mistakes. One of 
 these occurs in the third paragraph of page 485, where by 
 applying to John what is said of Richard I. strange false- 
 hood in fact is produced, but this I have supplied. 
 There is another of a different sort at the 8th paragraph 
 of page 484. That paragraph seems to have been inten- 
 tionally mutilated, on account of the sentiment it con- 
 veyed. Now, my dear Sir, I have taken some pains to 
 compress as much information as possible into so small a 
 bulk, and I have given my name (i. e. my literary credit) 
 by way of responsibility for these my sentiments, or 
 rather indeed for the authenticity of the facts conveyed ; 
 and therefore I begged of Mr. Walker to mention to you 
 that all or none should be suppressed. You must observe 
 how dispassionately I have treated this subject. I have 
 reprobated our idle systems of antiquity, and have com- 
 bated Mr. Molyneux where I found him wrong — for Tros 
 Tyriusve fuerit nullo cliscrimine habebo. I therefore must 
 insist upon it that there be no suppressions in the remain- 
 ing part of the e Sketch.’ As to the 8th paragraph, now 
 printed off, I am willing to acquiesce, as it will read as 
 well by connecting it immediately with the 9th, so that 
 they both make one paragraph. But, for the future, I 
 trust you will order that no little politician about the 
 
CAMPBELL AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 807 
 
 press shall stifle facts, or even reflections upon them. 
 Your liberality will not, I trust, impute this either to the 
 fondness of an author or the native warmth of an Irish- 
 man. I am aware of both, and am not ignorant that 
 Ireland is not an enlightened country, and I wish that 
 we were all as the English are ; but that some individuals 
 of this poor country may know as much of the real facts 
 of its story as those who despise us so much that they 
 will not be at the trouble to know the truth, I am per- 
 suaded you will allow. 
 
 “ Upon perusing the whole of this 4 Sketch/ I trust 
 you will see with what an impartial hand it is drawn, and 
 that nothing more can be left out than what has been 
 already rejected by the writer. I pointed out to you the 
 inconsistencies of the passages which had been collected 
 in the first sheets you sent me. And for the reputation 
 of so great and valuable a publication, as I suppose your 
 Camden will prove, I was in a great hurry to give you 
 something like a system which might bear the test of 
 criticism — but let it not be prejudged by your composers 
 of the press ! I hope I have not said too much on this 
 subject, and therefore only add that I shall be exceedingly 
 obliged to you for sending back, as soon as possible, to 
 Mr. Walker, the sheets now corrected, that I may revise 
 them. I go to the country in a day or two, and have 
 given my direction (to Mr. Walker) near Clones. 
 
 “ I am your most humble servant, 
 
 “ Tho. Campbell. 
 
 P.S. The sheets which you sent before Christmas 
 last to the care of Mr. Hall, Basinghall Street, I only 
 received last week.” 
 
 Richard Gough, Esq. to Dr. Campbell. 
 
 “ Sir, May 3, 1788. ♦ 
 
 “ Your letter of April 28, received this morning, con- 
 vinces me of the difficulty of our coming to a clear 
 understanding of each other. When I limited you to a 
 month, I certainly meant that it was impossible for me to 
 proceed with printing when two sheets of my work were 
 detained at the press for the Memoir. Had you sent it 
 to me complete, by the mode of conveyance I pointed 
 out, all difficulty would have been removed, and the whole 
 worked off two months ago. But what perplexes me 
 
808 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 still more is the charge of mutilation and alteration which 
 you bring against my composers ; and by implication 
 against myself. The MS. remaining in my hands has 
 been carefully compared with the printed copy by Mr. 
 Ouseley (who brings this letter), and he will tell you there 
 are no material variations, and those only press errors. 
 
 “ In what you call the third paragraph of page 485, no 
 mention is made of John or Richard ; the eighth para- 
 graph in page 484 was in the MS. exactly as printed. 
 You have yourself struck out five lines, which, as far as 
 I can read them, run thus, after the three printed ones : 
 
 “ e It would have afforded a singular spectacle in human 
 nature to have seen such a promptitude in favour of laws 
 utterly unknown as these ; but it was not in the reign of 
 Edward that they began to see these advantages ; and, 
 though that prince wished to gratify them in this, he was 
 overruled by the English settlers, who rather wished to 
 make a conquest of them than a coalition in theirs/ 
 
 “ If this is the paragraph you refer to, the mutilation 
 is Dr. Campbell’s, not mine. Another misconception 
 conveyed in your letter implies that it is too late to make 
 any alteration in my sheets containing the memoir, whereas 
 they were sent to you for the express purpose of altering 
 them as you pleased, and have been kept waiting all this 
 while ; nor are they yet arrived from you. The moment 
 they come I will attend to the corrections. I hope this 
 will be sufficient to convince you that not a single altera- 
 tion or omission has been made in the paper, and that 
 you will do me the justice on your part to explain yourself 
 more fully in a future letter.” 
 
 “ SlB, < July 2, 1788. 
 
 “ I am sorry to importune you so frequently, but, as I 
 am persuaded you do not mean to leave your observations 
 on the Government of Ireland incomplete, I trouble you 
 with this one letter more, to beg the favour of you to 
 forward the remainder the first opportunity by the chan- 
 nel of conveyance which I have so often pointed out to 
 you. 
 
 “ I hope you have received my letter of May 3, by Mr. 
 Ouseley, who, I understand, is arrived in Dublin, and 
 since that the copies of the two fair sheets of the Observa- 
 
CAMPBELL AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 809 
 
 tions, and that Mr. Ouseley has explained matters to 
 your satisfaction, for your obedient humble servant, 
 
 “ R. Gough.” 
 
 “ SlR, Enfield, June 4, 1789. 
 
 “ Having at length published the new edition of Cam- 
 den’s ‘ Britannia/ which is so much indebted to you for 
 your particular department, allow me to present you with 
 the whole of it relative to Ireland. 
 
 “ I hope you received the copies you desired of the 
 Essay on its Government ; and I beg to subscribe myself, 
 “ Your obliged humble servant, R. Gough.” 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 REV. EDWARD LEDWICH, LL.D., F.S.A. 
 
 The Rev. Edward Ledwich, LL.D., F.S.A. of 
 London and Edinburgh, and Member of most of 
 the distinguished literary societies of Europe, was 
 a learned and industrious antiquary and topo- 
 grapher. He was a native of Ireland, and Fellow 
 of Trinity college, Dublin, Vicar of Aghaboe in 
 Queen’s County, Secretary to the Committee of 
 Antiquaries of the Royal Irish Academy ; and for- 
 merly a resident at Oldglas, Durrow. In 1789 
 Mr. Gough acknowledged his obligations to Mr. 
 Ledwich, and other curious gentlemen of Ireland, 
 for valuable assistance in his edition of Camden’s 
 “ Britannia.” 
 
 In 1790 this learned and elegant Antiquary 
 published a most valuable volume, entitled “ Anti- 
 
 VOLi vn. 3 G 
 
810 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 quities of Ireland,” and which came out in num- 
 bers, containing a large collection of entertaining 
 and instructive essays on the remoter antiquities 
 of that island. He opened his work with sup- 
 porting the Scandinavian origin of the Irish, 
 herein differing from their vulgar national tales 
 concerning Noah’s grand- daughters Partholanus 
 and Milesius, but grounding what he advanced on 
 the succession of writers from Camden to Warton. 
 For having called in question the legendary his- 
 tory of St. Patrick, which he invalidated as a fic- 
 tion invented long after the time when he is said 
 to have lived, besides critically examining the 
 several works ascribed to him, and other tales of 
 the dark ages, he was attacked by some Antiqua- 
 ries of the Roman Catholic persuasion, who 
 allowed their bigoted attachment to their religion 
 to supersede what had been obtained by indefatiga- 
 ble research. This opposition was predicted by 
 Mr. Gough, when reviewing the work in the Gen- 
 tleman’s Magazine, on its first appearance (see 
 vol. LX. p. 150). 
 
 The “ Antiquities of Ireland ” w r ere well spoken 
 of in all the principal Reviews. Besides Mr. 
 Gough’s notice of it in the Gentleman’s Magazine 
 (see vol. LX. p. 150; vol. XCII. p. 636, et seq.) 
 it was commended by the Analytical Review for 
 May 1792 ; the Critical Review for August 1792, 
 and in the Appendix ; and in the Monthly Re- 
 view for May and June 1793. The latter Review 
 observes : 
 
 fC When we meet with a professed Antiquary, who is at 
 the same time a man of general learning, cultivated taste, 
 liberality of sentiment, and a correct and elegant writer, 
 we accompany him in his literary and scientific excursions 
 with ease and peculiar satisfaction. Such a man, such a 
 writer, is Mr. Ledwich ; whose entertaining and instruc- 
 tive performance we now, with sincere pleasure, introduce 
 to our readers.” 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. LEDWICH. 
 
 811 
 
 An improved edition, with additions and correc- 
 tions, of “ The Antiquities of Ireland,” w T as pub- 
 lished by the author in 1804, headed by a numer- 
 ous and respectable list of Subscribers, and dedi- 
 cated to the Earl of Upper Ossory. The Preface 
 will inform the reader of the contents of the 
 work : 
 
 “ The public sentiment in favour of the first edition of 
 these Essays, expressed in the respectable literary jour- 
 nals at the time of their publication, encouraged the 
 Author to prepare a second, with considerable additions 
 and corrections. Most of the additions have already ap- 
 peared in the works of the different learned societies of 
 which he has the honour to be a member. 
 
 “ That on the origin of Saxon and Gothic architecture 
 requires perhaps some apology for its introduction here ; 
 though the subject seems to be not unconnected with the 
 beautiful specimens of these styles still remaining in this 
 kingdom. 
 
 “ The history of Kilkenny is an attempt to trace the 
 beginning and progress of an Irish city of some celebrity ; 
 and contains, probably, some memorials that may interest 
 curiosity. Was this plan generally adopted, materials 
 would be collected, valuable to future historians and anti- 
 quaries. The few topographical antiquities at the end 
 were printed and published before the Author undertook to 
 complete Grose’s c Antiquities of Ireland/ of which that 
 amiable and excellent antiquary lived to write but seven pages. 
 
 “ The view of society and manners in ancient Ireland 
 is, with little variation, the same as that of the most 
 polished nations of modern Europe in remote periods. 
 England, the bulwark of the civilized world, can behold 
 without emotion or mauvaise honte her mental and politi- 
 cal degradation at the arrival of the Romans, and smile 
 with contempt at the flattering fables of Geoffry of Mon- 
 mouth. 
 
 “ Scotland, celebrated for talents and accomplishments, 
 and rivalling her illustrious sister in her glorious career, 
 assumes no pride from Bardic tales, or the, pages of Hec- 
 tor Boethius. No longer is the wild romance of Geoffry 
 Keating the heraldic registry of the Irish nation ; its 
 learning, its valour, and fame are recorded in the more 
 
 3 G 2 
 
8J2 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 during monuments of true history. When Hibernians 
 compare their present with their former condition ; their 
 just and equal laws with those that were uncertain and 
 capricious ; the happy security of peace with the miseries 
 of barbarous manners, their hearts must overflow with 
 gratitude to the Author of such blessings ; nor will they 
 deny their obligations to the fostering care of Britain, the 
 happy instrument for conferring them. 
 
 (( In a work embracing such a variety of topics errors 
 will be found; the learned and candid can best estimate 
 the difficulty of avoiding them, and the degree of indul- 
 gence they are entitled to. The Author declines hackneyed 
 apologies ; in their place he begs leave to conclude with a 
 line of an eminent poet : 
 
 “ £ En adsum I et veniam, confessus crimina, posco.’ ” 
 
 When the late celebrated Captain Grose went 
 to Dublin for the purpose of completing his noble 
 design “ to illustrate the Antiquities of England, 
 Wales, Scotland, and Ireland,” he formed an 
 acquaintance with this gentleman, urged by the 
 above-mentioned excellent specimen of his con- 
 sanguinity in authorship. Upon his death, which 
 shortly followed, Dr. Ledwich, at the request of 
 the publisher, became the editor of “ The Anti- 
 quities of Ireland,” in two volumes, 4to. ; and with 
 great liberality, and the utmost success, engaged 
 in the laudable design of completing what his pre- 
 decessor had begun, but did not live to carry it on 
 to any considerable extent. The first volume of 
 this valuable work came out in 1/94, and the 
 second in 1796. 
 
 The Preface to this valuable work, although it 
 is generally known as Grose’s Antiquities of Ire- 
 land,* will unfold how large a share belonged to 
 Dr. Ledwich. 
 
 * The plate of Drumcondra Church in the first volume of this work is 
 particularly interesting, as on the 18th of May 1791 were deposited there the 
 remains of Francis Grose, Esq. The figure of Captain Grose there given is placed 
 on his own grave. He is standing with his back to the spectator. “ His 
 mental endowments and social qualities had long procured him the admira- 
 tion of the public, and endeared him to a numerous circle of friends. The 
 
MEMOIR OP DR. LEDW1CH. 
 
 813 
 
 u After having so lately experienced indulgence and 
 favour from the public, it is with reluctance and diffidence 
 I again obtrude myself on their notice ; a few words, how- 
 ever, seem necessary to explain my connection with this 
 work, and the manner in which it is executed. When the 
 late Captain Grose had finished the Antiquities of Eng- 
 land, Wales, and Scotland, he turned his eyes to Ireland, 
 who seemed to invite him to her hospitable shore, to save 
 from impending oblivion her mouldering monuments, and 
 to unite her, as she ever should be, in closest association 
 with the British Isles. The Captain arrived in Dublin in 
 May 1791? with the fairest prospect of completing the 
 noblest literary design attempted in this century. As I 
 had then just published a large Collection of Essays on the 
 remoter antiquities of Ireland, he naturally sought my ac- 
 quaintance on his coming to this city. His good sense, 
 easy manners, and sportive hilarity, always made an 
 instantaneous and decisive impression in his favour; I 
 confess I was pleased and flattered by his application, and 
 permitted him to draw freely on the little stores I pos- 
 sessed. But, alas' ! death closed all our pleasing hopes 
 before the end of the month, and left the world to lament 
 the loss of the eminent abilities and social qualities of this 
 amiable and excellent man. 
 
 (i The worthy and spirited publisher,* who has also paid 
 the great debt of nature, immediately solicited my aid to 
 carry on the work, Captain Grose having written and 
 printed but seven pages of Descriptions. He reminded me 
 of the promise I had made to his deceased friend, and 
 stated the large sums he had already expended in paper 
 and engravings, and that it would be no small instance of 
 patriotism to stand forward on this occasion. I acquiesced, 
 although, besides the fatal interruption which this engage- 
 ment gave to the History of Ireland, on the plan of Dr. 
 
 idea of illustrating the history and antiquities of the British Isles by existing 
 monuments was noble and magnificent ; while it shewed the vast capacity of 
 his mind, the execution of it demonstrated that talents like his were only 
 adequa'eto so arduous an undertaking. The lovers of the fine arts in Ire- 
 land, with a generosity becoming a brave and enlightened people, are about 
 to erect a monument to his memory, and an account of his life and writings 
 is preparing for the public. 
 
 ‘ Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudesque manebunt.’ 
 
 “ E. Ledwich.” 
 
 * Mr. Samuel Hooper. See Literary Anecdotes, vol. III. pp. 645, 658 : 
 vol. VIII. pp. 588, 637, 696, 723. 
 
814 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Henry’s History of England, in which I had made some 
 progress, I was well aware of the difficulty of the under- 
 taking. Ireland, the seat of turbulence and discord for 
 five centuries, and attached to barbarous municipal laws 
 and usages, which occasioned a perpetual fluctuation of 
 property, preserved, except imperfect traditions, but few 
 memorials of her ecclesiastical and military structures j 
 those that survived the ruins of time and internal convul- 
 sions being sparingly scattered in worm-eaten records, 
 and on the pages of history. The labour of collecting these 
 was greater than those who have not made the experiment 
 will believe ; and after all, for the reasons assigned, the 
 result was by no means satisfactory. I speak particularly 
 of the history of our castles. Imperfect as these accounts 
 are, they will be found of some value to the antiquary and 
 historian, while they open an untrodden path to future and 
 more successful inquirers. 
 
 “ In the introduction to the Pagan and Monastic Anti- 
 quities, I have, in a great measure, abridged what I before 
 gave in the Essays, because my most careful researches 
 supplied nothing more apposite or authentic ; the Intro- 
 duction to the Military Antiquities never before appeared. 
 Prefixed to the succeeding volume will be an historical 
 account of our ancient architecture and sepulchral monu- 
 ments. To conclude, I beg leave to join my most grateful 
 acknowledgments with those of the publisher to the 
 Right Honourable William Conyngham, who, with unex- 
 ampled munificence, generosity, and patriotism, bestowed 
 his noble collection of drawings for the use of this work, 
 and at the same time indulged me with free access to his 
 magnificent library, abounding in valuable MSS. and books 
 on this subject. The following beautiful views are the 
 truest panegyric on his taste and love of the arts. 
 
 ‘ Ante oculos interque manus sunt omnia vestras.’ 
 
 Virgil. 
 
 “ Edward Ledwich.” 
 
 In the same year that the second volume of the 
 above national work was published, he produced 
 a judicious, informing, and interesting work, in 
 imitation of the Scotch clergy, who, under the 
 encouragement of Sir John Sinclair, conducted 
 their statistical inquiries with such success in 
 
PERCY AND LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 815 
 
 their own country. It was entitled, “ A Statistical 
 Account of the parish of Aghaboe, in the Queen’s 
 County,” 1796, 8vo. (see Gent Mag. vol. LXYI., 
 
 p. 1101.) 
 
 Besides the above works, he contributed to the 
 volumes of the Archseologia, a “ Dissertation on 
 the Religion of the Druids,” inserted in vol. VII. 
 p. 303 ; and “ Observations on our own ancient 
 Churches,” vol. VIII. p. 165 to 194.* 
 
 He contributed to the Transactions of the Royal 
 Irish Academy, “ A Dissertation on a Passage in 
 the sixth Iliad of Homer.” Vol. IV. p. 3. — e£ Ob- 
 servations- on the Romantic History of Ireland.” 
 
 •/ 
 
 Ibid. p. 21. — <£ Arguments to shew that the Saxon 
 style had an Eastern origin.” Ibid. vol. III. p. 60. 
 
 £< In the first volume of the ‘ Anthologia Hiber- 
 nica’ there are some ingenious essays by him 
 which he has not publicly owned. He is a man 
 of genius and deep erudition : literature has many 
 obligations to him.” -J- 
 
 Mr. Ledwich was a member of a little society 
 for investigating the antiquities of Ireland, at the 
 head of which was the Right Hon. Wm. B. 
 Conyngham, Teller of the Exchequer at Dublin ; 
 but which was dissolved, it is said, in consequence 
 of the free pleasantry with which Mr. Ledwich 
 treated certain reveries circulated among them, 
 and occasionally alluded to in his Antiquities of 
 Ireland. 
 
 Dr. Ledwich died at his house in York- street, 
 Dublin, August 8, 1823, in his 84th year. He 
 left a large family. One of his daughters married 
 Mr. Counsellor Ridgway; and another married 
 Robert Mitford, Esq. a relative of Lord Redesdale. 
 
 * Some remarks on Mr. Ledwich’s paper on the Crypt of Canterbury 
 Cathedral, by the Rev. S. Denne, are in Archseologia, vol. X. p. 41. See 
 also Literary Illustrations, vol. VI. p. 718. 
 
 f Mr. J. C. Walker to Mr. Pinkerton, Nov. 16, 1794. See Pinkerton’s 
 Correspondence, vol. I. p. 363. 
 
816 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE 
 of Dr. Ledwich with Bishop Percy. 
 
 “ My Lord, Tuesday Evening, 1795. 
 
 “ I take the liberty of inclosing a proof of the Antho- 
 logia, wherein I have presumed to mention your Lord- 
 ship. Be so good as to correct what you dislike, and 
 return it this evening for the press. 
 
 “The person to whom I gave verbal arguments against 
 { Scrutator/ has as yet done nothing. I myself have been 
 labouring from five every morning on the Introduction to 
 the second volume of Grose. 
 
 “ Clinch, the author of c Freemasonry/ is one of the most 
 extraordinary geniuses I ever knew. I had him with me 
 all this morning ; his knowledge of Greek is unrivalled ; 
 and of every other branch of Literature, beyond concep- 
 tion in a man not thirty. 
 
 “E. Ledwich.” 
 
 “ My LORD, York-street, June 25, 1799. 
 
 “Your Lordship is acquainted with Mr. Stott of Dro- 
 more; a man, I am told, of some talents, and in the 
 cambric line. I have a son whom I wish to put to the 
 linen business, and with whom I am willing to give 200/. 
 as an apprentice fee, and no more ; probably Mr. Stott 
 could inform your Lordship of an industrious, careful, and 
 saving master, under whom he might not only learn the 
 business but economy. The boy is about 16. 
 
 “ E. Ledwich.” 
 
 “ My LORD, York-street, June 29, 1799. 
 
 “ I am told that in an edition of Faulkner printed for 
 the country, and to-night’s post, there are accounts of 
 four or five of the French Directory dismissed through 
 the Jacobin faction in France, now predominant. And, 
 also, that the Allies have penetrated into Dauphine. 1 
 hope these things are true. 
 
 “ I am your Lordship’s very faithful and obliged ser- 
 vant, E. Ledwich.” 
 
 “ My Lord, July 13> 1799 . 
 
 “ I beg leave to congratulate you on the good news 
 which a postscript in Faulkner’s conveys this night to 
 
PERCY AND LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 817 
 
 every loyal subject, the defeat of McDonald, and a confu- 
 tation of the lie of the French having landed troops in 
 Italy. 
 
 “ However, as yet matters are not quite clear, and the 
 infernal Jacobins here still keep up their spirits, and give 
 artificial ones to their eleves. 
 
 “ You have, my dear Lord, done me more real kind- 
 ness by your obliging interference about my son than I 
 have received for five-and-thirty years of hard labour in 
 the Church of Ireland. I look for no preferment; I will 
 accept of none ; but I will state why I have been passed 
 over in a Preface to four volumes 8vo. of my Works, 
 which I meditate. I will likewise freely say, why the first 
 ecclesiastical honours were not conferred on your Lord- 
 ship. Unless suddenly called away, I will leave a perma- 
 nent memorial of my love and esteem for your Lordship. 
 
 fC E. Ledwich.” 
 
 ec My LORD, York Street, July 18, 1799. 
 
 ee It was never my intention, however incorrectly I 
 might have expressed myself, to mention your Lordship 
 by name in any future publication of mine : a thousand 
 reasons occur to prevent a prudent man from holding his 
 friend up to public notice, let his merits be ever so 
 striking and conspicuous. I hope education and refine- 
 ment will never be carried so far as to make one say, he 
 has been well treated when he has been severely injured, 
 or extinguish those passions implanted in the human 
 breast for wise purposes. Thank God ! I have had warm 
 feelings : I shall always endeavour to control, but never 
 annihilate them. 
 
 ft Mr. Jonas Stott received me in that cordial manner 
 which your Lordship would wish, and promised me every 
 aid. I was not aware of the difficulty of the business, or 
 I never should have involved your Lordship in so much 
 trouble : perhaps a little perseverance may bring it to a 
 happy termination. Let the event be what it may, I 
 shall ever retain a grateful sense of your goodness. 
 
 “ Sir Richard Musgrave,* whom I see, and to whom I 
 
 * Sir Richard Musgrave, Bart, of Turin, co. Waterford. He died April 6, 
 1818. See an account of him in Gent. Mag. vol. LXXXVIII. i. 381. He 
 published, “ Letters on the present situation of Public Affairs,” 1794, 8vo. 
 “ Considerations on the present state of England and France,” 8vo, 1796. — 
 “ Short View of the political situation of the Northern Powers,” 1801, 8vo. 
 — “ Memoir of the different Rebellions in Ireland, from the arrival of the 
 
818 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 lend books, is writing hard, and I am confident will pro- 
 duce a valuable work : his engravings of maps and por- 
 traits will greatly enhance its value. 
 
 <f Mrs. Ledwich begs her respectful compliments, with 
 your Lordship’s very faithful servant, E. Ledwich.” 
 
 C( My Lord, York-street, July 23, 1799. 
 
 “ I am at length relieved from the anxiety of settling 
 my son, and the uneasiness I felt for all your kind and 
 obliging trouble, by having procured him a good situation 
 about three miles from Strabane. 
 
 “ I certainly should have preferred the county of Down 
 manufacture to that of Derry ; however, every thing de- 
 pends on his own exertions, let him be placed wherever 
 he may. I give 200 guineas. 
 
 “ I have the pleasure to inform your Lordship that a 
 match for one of my daughters with an ingenious and sen- 
 sible lawyer, and in good business, has every probability 
 of being soon concluded. However these operations 
 may deprive me of considerable sums, they add un- 
 speakably to mine and Mrs. Ledwich’s happiness. 
 
 “ I do not know whether your Lordship has recollected, 
 during your residence at Dromore, to inquire about the 
 old Irish spoken in the recesses of the Mourne mountains; 
 it is a curious subject. 
 
 “ I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s faithful servant, 
 
 44 E. Ledwich.” 
 
 “ My LORD, York-street, 6th August 1799. 
 
 ee Among the numberless instances of your Lordship’s 
 kind regards, I reckon your congratulations on the settle- 
 ment of my son and daughter ; the first has already gone 
 to his master, and the other will probably soon remove to 
 a new and excellent house in Harcourt- street. 
 
 “ The Antiquary is also obliged to your Lordship for 
 the pains you have taken to ascertain, and indeed to place 
 beyond doubt, the reality of Round Towers being origi- 
 nally Belfries. I had traced the general opinion of their 
 being so for 542 years ; the appearances at Downpatrick 
 are decisive of that opinion, and are easily accounted for. 
 The northern pirates plundered and burnt the town of 
 
 English; with a particular detail of that which broke out in 1798,” 1801, 
 
 4to ; 2d edition, with an Appendix, 1801 ; 3d edition, 1802, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 t( Observations on the Reply of Dr. Caulfield/’ 8vo. 1802. — “ Observations 
 on Dr. Drumgoole’s Speech at the Catholic Board, Dec. 8, 1813,” 1814, 8vo. 
 
PERCY AND LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 819 
 
 Down in 940, 942, 988, and 1015. (Archdall’s Monast. 
 p. 1 13.) The Round Tower at Brechin was built in 990. 
 (Pinkerton’s Scotland, vol. ii. p. 268.) I have shown that 
 our towers were in erection at the time of the Scotish 
 one, probably a century earlier, and much later ; there- 
 fore, the Down Round Tower might very well have been 
 constructed on the wall of the abbey destroyed by the 
 Northern invaders. It is extremely gratifying to be able 
 historically, and of course satisfactorily, to account for 
 these remote matters, without indulging wild conjectures, 
 the offspring of weak intellects and indigested learning. 
 
 “ I had written so far, when your Lordship’s uncom- 
 monly kind second letter arrived. It is a poor and inex- 
 pressive representation of our feelings to say that Mrs. 
 Ledwich and I shall never forget your Lordship’s good- 
 ness. I was the less anxious to* accompany my son, as 
 a cousin of his had served his time to the same master, 
 and reported most favourably of him ; besides, as he was 
 to continue but a month or two, and I personally knew Mr. 
 Lindsay, I esteemed it the less necessary to go down, 
 especially as the weather has been incessantly wet and 
 relaxing, and so continues. My daughter is not yet mar- 
 ried, but every preliminary is arranged, and we only wait 
 to get papers from lawyers. 
 
 'ff ^ 'fa ^ 
 
 “ I am grieved to inform you of a most severe loss sus- 
 tained by poor Joe Walker, by the burning of his house 
 last week. His aged father was unfortunately the author 
 of it, and is since dead, having been, I suppose, greatly 
 injured by the fire. His loss is very considerable, parti- 
 cularly in books. Between your Lordship and me, I lent 
 him by mortgage 600/. on that same house, which he still 
 owes me. 
 
 “ Have the goodness, my Lord, to accept Mrs. Led- 
 wich’s sincere and lively gratitude, with that of your 
 Lordship’s very faithful servant, E. Ledwich.” 
 
 “ My Lord, York-street, Aug. 1799. 
 
 “ I beg leave to return the inclosed,* with many thanks. 
 It will make no incurious addition to the Essay on the 
 Round Towers. 
 
 “ I lament that your Lordship’s influence does not ex- 
 tend over the mountains of Mourne, as I am sure it would 
 * The following Letter of Mr. Dubourdein. 
 
820 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 call forth some curious particulars respecting the language 
 and manners of the natives. 
 
 44 The writers in the ages of Elizabeth and James I. 
 speaking of the inhabitants of the counties of Down and 
 Antrim, call a part of them 4 Red-shanks/ On looking 
 into Camden, I see a foolish etymology, that they were so 
 calle dfrom Rheuda, leader of a Scotish colony. Red-shanks 
 are two Anglo-Saxon words, and reuda, or rather riagha , is 
 Irish, and means the conqueror or subduer. Ruadh is also 
 valiant and strong. But ruudh also denotes in Irish, red ; 
 and the Danes say, eg rioda , — I make red. But what 
 shall we do with 4 shanks ?’ Here Camden, and every 
 writer who depend on and stretch etymologies farther 
 than they will bear, must endanger his credit. 
 
 44 I find a very good writer, who dedicates his 4 History 
 of Great Britain’ to Henry, son of the elder James, con- 
 stantly discriminating between the Irish, Scots, and Red- 
 shanks : the latter were Piets. In his translations from 
 Claudian, the 4 Scriptores panegyrici,’ and others where 
 Picti are used, he interprets by 4 Red- shanks.’ Lewis is 
 the author of this work. 
 
 44 Your Lordship knows very well, that Pictish was a 
 dialect of the Scandinavian ; it therefore cannot be won- 
 dered at that Celtic should be unknown in the settlement 
 of the Red-shanks, for the latter, more warlike and 
 improved, drove the timorous Celts to remoter parts. 
 
 44 On what occasion, at what time, and from what cir- 
 cumstance the Piets got the soubriquet of Red-shanks I 
 have not discovered ; but Lewis, who was a man of learn- 
 ing, saw clearly that the Piets, who were Lowland Scots, 
 were not the same race as the Scots of the Highlands, for 
 they spoke different languages ; nor were they Irish, for 
 they inhabited a different isle. Perhaps your Lordship’s 
 extensive reading may enable you to throw light on this 
 subject. I apprehend the unintelligible language of the 
 mountains of Mourne may be very old Irish, from the 
 natives being driven there, or a good remains of the Pict- 
 ish, said to be long extinct. I wish something could be 
 done as to inquiry. 
 
 44 It is confidently said Lord Cornwallis has been sent 
 for from his tour, as the French are coming. 
 
 44 I am your Lordship’s very faithful servant, 
 
 44 E. Ledwich.” 
 
PERCY AND LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 821 
 
 John Dubourdein to Bishop Percy. 
 
 “ My LORD, Annahilt, June 20, 1799. 
 
 “ In compliance with your Lordship’s desire, I sit down 
 to relate, as well as I can at this distance of time, what I 
 saw in 1/90* immediately after the demolition of the 
 Round Tower which stood adjoining the ruins of the old 
 Abbey of Downpatrick. Happening to go into the church- 
 yard just as the foundation of the Round Tower was cleared 
 away, I observed underneath the tower part of a wall, 
 evidently a continuation of the wall of the old cathedral 
 or abbey. It immediately struck me that the Round 
 Tower must have been built upon the ruins of part of the 
 cathedral ; Mr. Lilly, the architect, who was present, had 
 the same idea, who likewise pointed out to me the conti- 
 nuation of a w r all in the same line considerably further. I 
 find that it was likewise seen by several other persons, as 
 the circumstance happened during the spring assizes. — I 
 have drawn the underneath sketch, which I think is nearly 
 the situation of the different foundations. 
 
 “ I have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship’s 
 most obedient humble servant, John Dubourdein.” 
 
 Dr. Ledwich to Bishop Percy. 
 ec My Lord, York-street, Aug. 14, 1802. 
 
 <e I am just returned from a long journey to the county 
 of Derry, where I went to take possession of a small estate, 
 under a decree of Chancery. I wished frequently I could 
 have made it any way convenient personally to have 
 thanked your Lordship for all your kindness. If I should 
 go down next year, I will pay my respects at Dromore. 
 
 “ On arriving in the city, every one asked me whether 
 I had seen the valuable Irish antiques. I immediately 
 went to De Landre, a goldsmith in Skinner-row, and there 
 indeed I was astonished at the solid ponderous mass of 
 gold and silver, valued at 800/. I suppose 600/. of it is 
 in gold. There is a solid ingot of silver, run rough from 
 the melting-pot, of about two pounds weight, with a rude 
 relievo mark, as is on pigs of lead ; neither letters or any 
 thing like them. The rest of the silver is as rude, but 
 flatted, of the thickness of a common plate, and the 
 breadth of an iron hoop, cut off, and made into circles of 
 about six or seven inches diameter ; these have rude in- 
 dents, significant of nothing, with sandy surfaces, clearly 
 from the melting pot and table on which they were run. 
 
822 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 The gold was found with the silver. Now, from the ob- 
 vious appearance of the silver ingot and silver rings, I lay 
 it down as almost certain that they are the production of 
 a country where gold and silver mines abound. 
 
 “ The gold are elliptical circles, and ornaments for the 
 wrists, a small hand hardly going through them ; some are 
 quite plain ; others (suppose on the top of the wrist) are 
 flat, and better than an inch wide, and with a beaded mould- 
 ing and a zigzag or chevron ornament. They singly are of 
 considerable weight, and, as three are soldered together, 
 they must be too heavy, and the wearers must, to speak 
 with Shakspeare, e sit state-statues only/ 
 
 “ If possible I will get drawings of these things for you. 
 Vallancey for once coincides with me, that they are orna- 
 ments for the wrists. 
 
 “ The person who sold them to De Landre either knew 
 not or would not tell from whom he got them, or exactly 
 where found. However, De Landre did say to me that 
 they came carelessly in the boot of a coach from Con- 
 naught. I believe no reliance can be placed on any report. 
 Certainly no mine has been discovered to supply such a 
 solid mass of gold and silver ; whether they came into this 
 isle by pirates, shipwreck, or other unknown means, can- 
 not now be ascertained. There are no marks by letters, 
 date, workmanship, &c. to supply data to proceed in any 
 investigation. The only datum, in my mind, is the rude 
 and rough state of the silver, and the gold being found 
 with it. If any thing further should occur to gratify 
 curiosity, I shall not fail to communicate it ; and am, my 
 Lord, your Lordship’s very obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “E. Ledwich.” 
 
 My Lord, York-street, 28 th Aug. 1802 . 
 
 ce I am just honoured with yours, and am happy to tell 
 your Lordship and the very ingenious and respectable 
 Dr. Anderson, that yesterday Mr. Beauford, who gave a 
 paper in my c Antiquities’ on Irish Music, put into my 
 hands a MS. with this title, e Notes, Critical, Historical, 
 and Explanatory, of the Poems of Ossian, as published 
 by James Macpherson, Esq. compared with the original 
 Erse and Irish Poems. By William Beauford, A.M.’ 
 These notes in MS. make forty-eight quarto pages, with 
 c A Map of the scene of action described in the 3d, 4th, 
 5th, and 6th books of Fingal.’ Also, another f Map of 
 
PERCY AND LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 823 
 
 the scene of action described in the 1st, 2d, and part of 
 the 5th and 6th books of Fingal, and the death of Cu- 
 chullin.’ Also, ‘ A Plan of the Hill and Isle of Allain, 
 county of Kildare, the scene of action of Temora.’ 
 
 “ There are two drawings : Cloch-morket, a rocking- 
 * stone, on the hill of Skrine, county Sligo ; and Cloch-glas, 
 a stone circle on the lands of Tyrrego, in same county ; 
 these to make one plate. Another plate has also two 
 drawings : Cuchullin’s grave, a stone circle, twenty-seven 
 feet diameter, on the strand of Tyrrego bay ; and Oscar’s 
 tomb and Bran’s cave at Allain. These five plates are 
 beautifully executed, and are given to illustrate the poems. 
 I say executed as to the manual part, for, not having 
 seen the originals, I by no means vouch for them. 
 
 “ I shall take the liberty (perhaps an indelicate one) of 
 transcribing a few lines from Mr. Beauford’s introduction 
 to his notes for your Lordship’s and Dr. Anderson’s 
 satisfaction. 
 
 “ 4 In respect to the origin and era of these old Ballads, 
 they are rather from Caledonia than Ireland ; nor was 
 the supposed author, by birth, an Irishman ; for, accord- 
 ing to the annals of Tigernach and Ulster, Oisin M <r Ois- 
 gar was a chief of Angus in Argyle, and slain in the year 
 650, being active against the Piets. He was much cele- 
 brated by the bards in his own and subsequent ages, but 
 it is not certain that the old chieftain was either a poet 
 or musician. Erse poems, however, under his name, 
 were brought to Ireland by the Erse Bonaghts, serving 
 under the O’Nials. New versions of these oral ballads, 
 with considerable additions and improvements, were 
 made by Torno Egis, a celebrated bard, whose family 
 flourished, according to the annals of Tigernac, about the 
 year 1426. Collections of the poems attributed to Os- 
 sian, but composed by Torno Egis, their real author, 
 were made by the Bardic College of Erris, in the county 
 Mayo, early in the sixteenth century.’ 
 
 “ He then gives the names or titles of these collections, 
 and adds f that numbers of these were carried into the 
 Highlands and Western Isles by the returning Bonaghts, 
 in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and became the original 
 of those poems found there.’ 
 
 “ These extracts will give you some idea of the author’s 
 sentiments. Though Mr. Beauford has been, for above 
 five-and-twenty years, my very worthy and ingenious 
 
824 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 friend, yet I owe too much to honour and my own repu- 
 tation to dissemble my opinion of these notes. 
 
 44 Mr. Beauford, for instance, commenting on the name 
 Ullin, says, 4 Ullin, by Mr. Macpherson, is made to signify 
 all the north of Ireland, but in the Irish poems and MSS. 
 it signifies only the county Down/ Here passages from 
 the original should have been produced to prove it. The 
 same short reference to the Erse poems is constantly made. 
 Let Mr. Beauford’s authority be ever so respectable, be 
 never will satisfy the judicious antiquary without Irish 
 and Erse citations. I have not seen him to inquire 
 whether he could supply these ; if he can, Mr. Macpher- 
 son^s own compositions, his imitations and translations, 
 will each appear prominent from Mr. Beauford’s notes. 
 Whether I am correct in this idea, your Lordship and 
 Dr. Anderson are best able to determine. 
 
 44 Mr. Beauford has opened a correspondence with Mr. 
 Morrison of Perth, a spirited publisher, to whom, if 
 encouraged, he intends sending these notes for a new 
 edition of Ossian ; therefore your Lordship and Dr. An- 
 derson will see, that what I have written is in profound 
 confidence. I understand he expects for the MS. and 
 five drawings twenty guineas ; they are certainly extremely 
 curious, and give quite a new view of the poems and Mr. 
 Macpherson’s operations. 
 
 44 It would have given me real pleasure to be able to 
 assist Dr. Anderson’s inquiries from my collections, but 
 unfortunately I have nothing in that line. If your Lord- 
 ship will have the goodness to express to him my hap- 
 piness at seeing him in York Street, if he visits our city, 
 I shall acknowledge it as a singular favour. 
 
 44 Yallancey’s ungentlemanlike treatment of every 
 writer dissenting from him, and his monstrous absurdities, 
 induced me to twit him a little under the signature of 
 Otho, in Dr. Campbell’s 4 Strictures/* in a jocular way. 
 Mr. Beauford was more serious, under the signature of 
 Veritas. 
 
 “ The gorget metamorphosed into the Urim and Thum- 
 mim, is to be found in the thirteenth number of the 4 Col- 
 lectanea,’ by Vallancey, with the certificate of Heideck, a 
 Jewish Rabbi, in London. 
 
 44 In all the statistical accounts he has most imperti- 
 nently foisted in his nonsense. 
 
 * See p. 765. 
 
LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 825 
 
 “ I entreat your Lordship to present my respectful 
 compliments to Dr. Anderson, and I have the honour to 
 be, my Lord, your Lordship’s obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 “ Edward Ledwich.” 
 
 “ York-street, 6th Oct. 1802. 
 
 (i It was a pleasant circumstance, my Lord, to receive 
 your favour and a letter from Dr. Anderson by the same 
 post, as it enables me to say that the Doctor had a 
 remarkably fine passage of thirty hours to Saltcoats. He 
 very warmly expresses his sense of your kind attentions, 
 and the friendly and hospitable treatment he met with 
 from your friends. 
 
 “ Your Lordship, who had the pleasure of his company 
 and conversation for some time, must certainly be a better 
 judge of his talents and accomplishments than I can be 
 from a transient intercourse. I remember I touched on 
 some points of critical and classical learning, and I thought 
 I perceived they were not familiar to him. The proof of 
 the contrary, and to which you refer me, I at present can- 
 not avail myself of, as the inclosed proposal will evince. 
 
 “ My health has been shaken very much within this 
 month, not from any chronic infirmity or disorder, but 
 from long wet and moist weather, which has superinduced 
 a listlessness and debility in literary exertions. This 
 happens unfortunately at present ; for, though I have an 
 overflow of materials, I can compose nothing. I flatter 
 myself that by the aid of Dr. Percival 1 am somewhat better. 
 
 “ Dr. Anderson has desired Mr. Beauford to draw on 
 Mundell and Sons for £20, for his 4 Essay on Ossian.’ 
 The Doctor unfortunately did not see Mr. Beauford, so 
 that the credit of his Essay rests on me. This I very 
 sensibly feel, and I must beg leave, as some exoneration 
 from such responsibility, to remind your Lordship that, 
 as a man of truth and honour, I wrote you very freely my 
 sentiments, which I presume you communicated to the 
 Doctor. If the Essay should not be satisfactory, I am 
 far from being instrumental in improperly serving my 
 friend, and in such an event I hope I may be permitted 
 to appeal to your Lordship and my letter. Before the 
 Essay is sent, honour me with your sentiments for my 
 conduct. 
 
 44 Dr. Ryan * desires I may present his respects to your 
 
 * See before, p. 183. 
 
 3 H 
 
 VOL. VII. 
 
826 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Lordship, and inform yon that he has left his work with 
 me, very handsomely bound. I could but slightly look 
 over it, and it appears to be laboriously collected and 
 well arranged, and to contain some valuable information. 
 He certainly has uncommon merit, as by his publications 
 and other attentions he has created a permanent fund for 
 the sick poor of his parish of £60 a-year. 
 
 “ Mr. Caldwell is returned from England. 
 
 (i Mrs. Ledwich, with the utmost gratitude, acknow- 
 ledges your kind remembrance of Master Thomas ; and I 
 am, my Lord, very faithfully your obedient servant, 
 
 “ E. Ledwich/ 5 
 
 “ My Lord, . York-street, Oct. 24, 1802. 
 
 “ I should have given some account of Dr. Anderson, 
 but I knew Joe Walker superseded the necessity of my 
 troubling you. However, I beg to offer my best thanks 
 for the favour of the Doctors acquaintance, whom I 
 found a very intelligent and correct man. He dined with 
 me, and every polite attention I paid him. His literary 
 talents are considerable, but, in a short intercourse, I 
 could not discover much genius or very profound learning ; 
 probably I am mistaken. I certainly never will form 
 my judgment from the report of such holiday scholars as 
 Joe Walker ; and I hope he has not formed his opinion of 
 the literature of the country from some trifling specimens 
 he met here. 
 
 “ The extract from Merula, which you wish, should 
 have been most cheerfully transcribed, but I have disposed 
 of that, with nearly 4000 volumes, having no room even 
 for my children. I begin to feel their loss, as I have an 
 intention to give a new edition of my ‘Antiquities/ Camp- 
 bell’s ( Strictures 5 are scarce. I have a person on the 
 inquiry. Campbell was my particular friend for near 30 
 years. His ‘ Strictures *’ are a hasty performance. I 
 pointed out some hundreds of necessary corrections ; and 
 one day, from twelve till we went to dinner, I spent in 
 authenticating what I objected to ; had he lived, I am 
 sure he would have new-written the whole. The book- 
 sellers are about a new edition, and beg my assistance ; 
 this I would willingly give, but there are too many things 
 rash and unfounded to correct, which would injure the 
 reputation of the man I very much esteemed. 
 
 * See p. 765. 
 
LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 827 
 
 “ Sir Richard* has as yet relinquished the defence of his 
 History. I hope it will not be — hce nugce in seria ducunt. 
 “ I am. my Lord, very truly your faithful servant, 
 
 “ E. Ledwich.” 
 
 ei My LORD, York-street, Jan. 12, 1803. 
 
 ci Sincerely wishing you, my Lord, and family, many 
 happy returns of the season, permit me to congratulate 
 you on the safe delivery of Mrs. Meade, announced in the 
 papers. 
 
 “ During term I have been deeply engaged in the 
 courts of law, and when they were up, my f Antiquities ’ 
 went to press ; so that I have been, and am likely for 
 some time to be, in a perpetual hurry. 
 
 “ I stated to Dr. Anderson my thoughts on Mr. Beau- 
 ford’s Essay ; have heard nothing since, and hope it has 
 dropped. 
 
 “ Sir Richard * has been near two months in the coun- 
 try, and not yet returned. He has been called on by one 
 Hay, whose brother or relation, I believe, was hanged 
 in Wexford, and I understand he has replied in the Even- 
 ing Post, but I have not seen it. I suppose he will remain 
 till the Waterford Special Assizes are over, and will cer- 
 tainly pick up some curious anecdotes. 
 
 “ I have not been able to get Campbell’s Strictures/ but 
 am on the look out. Dr. Ryan’s book f is here above a 
 month, waiting your messenger. It is extremely well 
 spoken of both here and in England, and deservedly ; as 
 it supplies one capital desideratum in support of Christi- 
 anity — its influence on mankind clearly above that of any 
 other religion. The corrections and additions are very 
 considerable, so as almost to make it a new work. 
 
 “ When I come to detail our early Christianity, it 
 would be highly valuable to be able to produce any re- 
 mains of Pelagius, which your Lordship supposed to 
 exist in the library of Mr. Brownlow. I would most wil- 
 lingly pay for a large extract, such as I could point out, 
 and for a fac-simile of the writing. Perhaps some neigh- 
 bouring clergyman would undertake the trouble, and 
 accept the gratuity. It would be creditable to all parties, 
 and an important addition to the f Antiquities.’ 
 
 * Musgrave. See p. 818, 
 
 f See pp. 185, 825. 
 
 3 h 2 
 
828 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 I hear Dr. Beaufort, who published a Map and Memoir 
 of Ireland, is, in concert with his son in law, Mr. Edge- 
 worth, about an Irish Camden, and has received encou- 
 ragement in London for an improved account of Ireland. 
 From BeauforPs abilities and time of life, I have but a poor 
 opinion of the execution. That the Edgeworths can scrib- 
 ble a great deal on nothing there are abundant proofs. 
 
 “ Master Thomas presents his most dutiful respects, as 
 does Mrs. Ledwich, with, my Lord, 
 
 “ Your Lordship’s faithful and obliged servant, 
 
 “E. Ledwich/’ 
 
 “ My Lord, York-street, Feb. 3, 1803. 
 
 ff I would have sooner answered your last favour, and 
 acknowledged with infinite gratitude your very kind invi- 
 tation, but I wished to give you satisfaction, and to see 
 with certainty what might be expected from Mr. Brown- 
 low’s MS. 
 
 “ Marius Mercator, contemporary with St. Austin, was 
 the bitter opponent of Pelagius and his dogmas. The 
 Jesuit Garner published his work at Paris in 1673, and 
 therein collected from Jerome, Austin, Orosius, and Gen- 
 nadius every thing he could find about Pelagius and his 
 heresy; and, besides numerous extracts from the foregoing 
 authors, he has inserted the following only complete works 
 of the heresiarch extant. 
 
 “ ‘ Libellus de Fide.’ 
 
 “ £ De Institutione Virginis.’ 
 
 (i ‘ Expositiones in Epistolas Apostoli.’ 
 
 <£ If the widely-extended Society of Jesuits, and the 
 libraries on the Continent, supplied nothing more than 
 what has been given by Garner, I despair of finding any 
 thing new at Lurgan.* The MS. there probably contains 
 some of the foregoing tracts. 
 
 “ But, my Lord, I am no further concerned with Pela- 
 gius, who was a British monk, than as he w r as connected 
 with Celestius, an Hibernian, and his bosom friend ; and 
 in Garner I find many anecdotes respecting him, which 
 w r ill make a pretty article in the Literary History. So that 
 your Lordship perceives into what unnecessary trouble I 
 would have fallen for want of proper consideration ; for, in 
 fact, had I the Lurgan MS. I could not introduce it. It 
 might do for an Academy Essay. 
 
 * The seat of Mr. Brownlow. See p. 827. 
 
LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 829 
 
 44 What excited a wish, at first, was a desire to acquire 
 some knowledge of the pursuits of Irish literati in the 
 middle ages, and of Celestius. Garner satisfies me fully 
 as to the last, and the former I must make out as well as 
 I can. If the genealogy of the MS. could be traced to 
 any monastery, or its age ascertained, and that it was 
 written in Ireland, it might be a matter of curiosity to 
 mention it. 
 
 “We are going on but slowly with the 4 Antiquities/ 
 having printed not more than about eight quarto sheets ; 
 but I have now set two presses at work. The Analytical 
 Review observed the want of connection in the Essays, 
 and very truly ; but he did not know that, in a novel un- 
 dertaking, to continue one subject too long would infalli- 
 bly pall the public appetite. However, I have at present 
 attended to connection, and as much as possible made 
 one Essay hang as a link from the foregoing. Here are 
 the Essays printed : — 
 
 44 1. 4 On the Romantic History of Ireland/ 
 
 44 2 . 4 Ancient Notices respecting Ireland, and of the 
 Name of the Isle/ 
 
 44 3. 4 Of the Colonization of Ireland/ 
 
 44 4. 4 Of the Druids and their Religion/ 
 
 44 5 . 4 Of the Pagan State of Ireland, and its Remains/ 
 44 6. Of the Introduction of Christianity, and of St. 
 Patrick/ 
 
 44 7. 4 Anecdotes of Early Christianity in Ireland/ 
 
 44 8 . 4 Of the Origin and Progress of Monachism/ 
 
 44 9 . 4 Of the Culdees and Monaincha.’ 
 
 44 The corrections and additions make it almost a new 
 work. Without great injury to the printer, I could not be 
 absent one day. 
 
 44 Mrs. L. is equally grateful with me for your Lord- 
 ship’s goodness, and we both join in lamenting most sin- 
 cerely the state of Mrs. Percy’s health, wdiich, from what 
 Dr. Anderson told us, we hoped was re-established. The 
 unceasing wet weather has occasioned a morbid atmo- 
 sphere, and sickness has been general through the kingdom. 
 We, thank God, have escaped tolerably well. I am, my 
 Lord, your very faithful and obliged servant, 
 
 44 E. Ledwioh.” 
 
 44 My Lord, Feb. 23, 1803. 
 
 44 It is with great concern I inform you of the death of 
 our little infant, Thomas, aged sixteen months. He first 
 
830 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 was greatly distressed by teeth ; next he got an epidemic 
 catarrh ; and on these the hooping cough. It is no wonder 
 he sunk. His mother is inconsolable, and I myself am 
 bending under accumulated afflictions. It is no small 
 alleviation of the poignancy of my feelings, to sit down and 
 write a few lines to your Lordship. 
 
 44 Usher, Primord. p. 964, quotes the legendary life of 
 St. Mocoemog, in which is told the coming of St. Colman 
 to the city of Connor, in Ulster, and then into the region 
 of Meath, where he met Onial, Columba, and Kanic : 
 that Columba addressed Onial and Edus Flan, Prince 
 of Meath, to give Colman some good land, whereon to 
 construct a monastery. 4 Let him,’ says Onial, 4 select 
 any place in my territories.’ Edus Flan pointed out a 
 situation, Linalli, which Colman accepted, and there he 
 settled and there died, A.D. 610. He was born A.D. 516. 
 
 44 Usher, p. 1065, says, 4 Colman, Bishop of Dromore, 
 sprung from the Ardes ; he was instructed by Caylan, 
 Abbat of Nendrum, and studied divinity under St. Al- 
 beus, and, by the advice of Macnys, Bishop of Connor, 
 founded a monastery on the banks of the river Loch, 
 ripa fluminis Locha construxit monasterium. 
 
 44 Usher, p. 1 126, only relates his birth above. 
 
 44 He was called Colman Elo, from the abbey he built 
 in the territory of Eile O’Carrol, or King’s County. Eile is 
 alius, to distinguish it from others ; and Landelo has been 
 changed into Linalli, a church at present in the united 
 parish of Balliboy, King’s County, and service is per- 
 formed there now. 
 
 44 All the foregoing seems to me legendary, and of no 
 authority. 
 
 44 As to the MS. I have compared the letters, and the 
 mixing Greek and Latin together, and the writing Latin 
 in Greek characters and Latin in Irish characters, with 
 specimens in Montfaucon, Astle, and others, and find such 
 modes were common in the eighth and ninth centuries. 
 In one of Usher’s Irish Epistles (Syllog. epist. p. 38,) we 
 find 4 imo ad doxam ovofxaris cyrii ? Again, 4 cat a evangelicee 
 experimentum auctoritatis.’ 
 
 44 As the Greek letters in the MS. are those called uncial 
 or square, it is a further confirmation that they are of the 
 age above stated. The life of St. Patrick might afford 
 some light as to the age, unless it is in a more recent 
 hand. It might also illustrate some obscure parts in his 
 biography, and enable us to see how it differs from Pro- 
 
LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 831 
 
 bus, Joceline, Jonas, and other writers concerning our 
 saint. 
 
 “ On the whole, a Memoir or Remarks on this subject, 
 drawn up by your Lordship’s skilful hand, would be a 
 very acceptable present to the Society of London Anti- 
 quaries. Most cheerfully will I supply from our libraries 
 here whatever might be wanting. The title — ‘Argumentum 
 Pelagii in Epist. ad Rom. 5 — is very interesting, and proves 
 that his heresy was propagated here ; and the necessity of 
 sending Gallic Bishops here to extirpate it will be appa- 
 rent. I wish there was any thing about Celestius. 
 
 “ After all, the history of the MS. should be traced ; 
 though this is not easy, from our revolutions. 
 
 “ E. Ledwich.” 
 
 c£ My LORD, York-street, April 28, 1803. 
 
 “ I was much concerned to hear from Sir Richard 
 Musgrave that your Lordship was affected with the preva- 
 lent epidemic. As he informs me, it has created a com- 
 plaint in your eyes, the disorder is more manageable, 
 and I hope will be of short continuance. People who 
 pretend to great wisdom laugh at one who thinks it pos- 
 sesses some quality of the plague; and yet from its univer- 
 sality there are grounds to believe so. I do not mean an 
 Eastern plague, or its infectious pustules, but such a morbid 
 state of the atmosphere that attacks every one. I know 
 of no one in a most numerous acquaintance who has 
 escaped ; one or other of my family have been ill above 
 six weeks, and not all perfectly recovered as yet. 
 
 “ I have just received the inclosed from worthy Dr. 
 Anderson, who desires it may be sent you, as you were a 
 correspondent of Mr. M £ Gouan’s. 
 
 “ I have just looked over Hay’s History of the Rebel- 
 lion.* It is really a low gossiping production, an obsti- 
 nate and sedulous perversion of truth, without one new 
 anecdote. He himself is the hero of his own tale. The 
 cloven feet he carefully conceals ; not a word of United 
 Irishmen, their organizations, their directory, and their 
 connection with our enemies. Not a word of the designs, 
 
 * Edward Hay, esq. M.1I.I.A. published “ History of the Insurrection of 
 the County of Wexford in 1798 ; including an Account of the Transactions 
 preceding that Event, and an Appendix,” 1803, 8vo . — “ Report of a Speech 
 delivered by John Keagh, esq. at a Meeting of the Catholics in Dublin,” 
 1807, 8vo. — “ Debates in both Houses of Parliament, April 1812, on the 
 Roman Catholic Question,” 1813, 8vo. 
 
832 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the landing, and progress of the French here, or of their 
 capture ; hardly a word of the rebel priests ; all, all arose 
 from Protestant persecution, whippings, &c. constantly 
 making the efFect the cause. E. Ledwich.” 
 
 “ My Lord, York-street, Sept. 13, 1803. 
 
 et I dined the other day with the Bishop of Elphin,* who 
 very feelingly mentioned the complaint in your eyes, which 
 I hope by this time is entirely removed. Every informa- 
 tion of what is going forward here is detailed in the papers, 
 but they are not allowed any longer to give the trials, 
 because they dwelt very much on the prisoners’ foolish 
 defence by alibis, and thereby excited doubts of the jus- 
 tice of conviction ; nor were they full enough on the evi- 
 dence on behalf of the prosecution. My son-in-law, 
 Counsellor Ridgeway, has been engaged by Government 
 to take the trials in short hand, and he is publishing them, 
 as he did the State Trials in the last Rebellion. These 
 will disclose many curious facts and horrible machinations. 
 
 “ Never were a ministry so blindfolded as Mr. Adding- 
 ton’s, by the ignorant, incapable, and contemptible func- 
 tionaries in this country ; and yet that miserable wretch 
 Marsden f is continued in office amidst universal execra- 
 tion. Things have mended since Wickham J came over. 
 We trembled at a visit from Lord Cornwallis; not ten 
 yeomen would appear in the ranks then, where thousands 
 now are found. Rely on it this country never will be 
 preserved but by the yeomen ; not one instance of the 
 want of fidelity or courage can be produced against them. 
 
 “ We much fear Lord Cathcart is a holiday General. 
 Fox and Marsden are par nobile fratrum. 
 
 “ They are very busy at the College Library, putting up 
 the Fagel collection ; and really the mind is so agitated by 
 the present situation of the country, as makes it impos- 
 sible to apply seriously to literary studies. The moment 
 a calm succeeds this storm, I will carefully attend to Pela- 
 gius, and the hints you were so good as to communicate. 
 
 u I have printed 300 pages ; there are about 250 more : 
 as things have turned out, the delay is of no consequence. 
 Sir Richard Musgrave is busy criticising Plowden ;§ had 
 
 * Dr. John Law. See p. 703. 
 
 + Alexander Marsden, esq. was under Secretary of State, Civil Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 t See p. 840. 
 
 § Francis Plowden, esq. LL.D. was formerly a distinguished member of 
 the English Chancery Bar, and author of the History of Ireland, and 
 
LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 833 
 
 he begun early in life, he would have been the author of 
 500 folios. 
 
 “ Great numbers are emigrating to England, and draw- 
 ing money from the funds at immense loss. The exchange 
 is above 20 per cent, and the difference between Irish and 
 English money 8/. 15s. per cent., so that a person loses 
 30 per cent. The reason I know this is, that Mrs. Led- 
 wich had a notion of going with some ladies to Chester 
 for the winter, but has declined it for the present, and 
 your Lordship’s example has much influenced her. 
 
 “E. Ledwich.” 
 
 u My Lord, York-street, Sept. 23, 1803. 
 
 “ I esteem it a particular favour (under your present 
 indisposition, which I hope will be soon removed) to re- 
 ceive a line from your Lordship. The papers detail the 
 political circumstances of the country, so that to dwell on 
 them is quite unnecessary. 
 
 “ Emmett’s declaration that there were no persons of 
 rank or respectability concerned with him, has in a great 
 measure appeased the public uneasiness ; and his explicit 
 abjuration of French politics and French connection, has 
 excited pity in most people, and, it is hoped, will tend to 
 weaken the attachment of even the common people to 
 such faithless and plundering allies. 
 
 “ He was assisted in his devotions by Mr. Gamble, the 
 ordinary of Newgate, and Mr. Grant, the minister of 
 Clondalkin, in which Kilmainham Gaol is situated ; and 
 from these he received the sacrament. He told them that 
 it was generally believed that rebels and innovators had 
 no religion; that for himself he was a Christian, and would 
 give them every proof of being so. This circumstance of 
 his dying a Protestant has rendered his name odious 
 among the Papists, who load him with obloquy. This 
 same circumstance unfortunately gives a handle to them 
 to vindicate their loyalty, by showing that in this and the 
 last rebellion Protestants were the principal conspirators. 
 The argument, though popular with them, is weak ; for 
 there are a few enthusiasts and bad men of every profes- 
 sion : let them look to the incalculable bands of yeomen, 
 and say whether loyalty and patriotism are not the cha- 
 racteristics of Protestants. 
 
 numerous other works. He died at Paris, at an advanced age, in 1829. See a 
 full account of him and his various publications, in Gent. Mag. for April 
 1829, p. 374. 
 
834 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “Miss Curran* was supposed to have an intimate corre- 
 spondence with Emmett, f and one of her letters to Emmett, 
 it is said, appears in the trial. Though her papers were 
 seized, yet nothing material was found. Counsellor 
 Plunket J was one of the Crown lawyers ; he made a very 
 good oration in speaking to evidence ; but it was quite 
 unnecessary, as Emmett’s counsel declined speaking, by his 
 desire. Plunket pressed to speak, which was thought very 
 ungenerous in him, as in early life he was almost an in- 
 mate in old Emmett’s family, and through their means was 
 assisted in getting forward into the world. 
 
 “ Of 3500/. left Emmett by his father, he expended 
 2500/. in his visionary schemes. Government, it is said, 
 have a book, in which the names of subscribers and the 
 sums are entered. This must discover the extent and 
 bottom of the conspiracy. I think we have done with 
 rebellions, unless the French land, when I have no doubt 
 but sad doings will follow. 
 
 “ It is a happy thing for the country that Government 
 sees its peace can only be secured by severity. It was so 
 since the English landed here in 1169, and will ever be so. 
 
 “ I made the inquiry your Lordship wished about Mr. 
 Caldwell ; he is in the county of Wicklow, at Bray, and 
 is in health. E. Ledwich.” 
 
 c * My LORD, York-street, Dec. 5, 1803. 
 
 “ Mrs. L. and I beg leave to express our best acknow- 
 ledgments to you and Mrs. Percy for your very handsome 
 present; it came safe and in perfect good order: after 
 feasting on it, we drank with sincerity health and many 
 happy days to our kind friends. 
 
 “ I read in the Review the villainous and scurrilous 
 production of Ritson ; nothing but insanity could make 
 him violate every rule of decorum, or advance gross false- 
 hoods ; for, after your leaving the MS. with a London 
 bookseller to be inspected by the public, every idea of 
 imposition must vanish. 
 
 “ Sir Richard Musgrave is indefatigable ; he is the author 
 
 * Sarah, daughter of the Right Honourable J. P. Curran, afterwards mar- 
 ried to Major Sturgeon, died about 1820. She is the heroine of a popular 
 song by Moore, and a touching tale by Washington Irving. 
 
 f Robert Emmett, Esq. was convicted of High Treason, for attempting to 
 seize the Castle of Dublin, and executed Sept. 20, 1803. See Gent. Mag. 
 LXXIII. pp. 876, 973. 
 
 X William Conyngham Plunket was born in 1764, and after passing 
 through various gradations of legal honours, was raised to the barony of 
 Plunket in 1847. He is still living. 
 
LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 835 
 
 of the Notes to Scully, and the Letters of Crito in Faulk- 
 ner’s Journal, and is preparing an admirable answer to 
 Plowden’s infamous work.* I solemnly declare, in my 
 opinion, both Church and State are more indebted to Sir 
 Richard than to any other individual. 
 
 “ Baron Smith’sf pamphlet is excellent, and universally 
 read. He is well trained by the Union, and has great 
 facility in running off such things. 
 
 “ The circumstance of the titular Bishop is very con- 
 solatory at present, and I hope is sincere; but their 
 doctrines allow such latitude, that one must not give im- 
 plicit faith to their professions. The oaths of clergy and 
 laity in Wexford, a few days previous to the burst, cannot 
 be forgotten. Reynolds, parish priest of Castledermot, 
 gave from the altar a most bitter philippic against rebellion 
 and the French ; and yet this man sent confidential per- 
 sons after the congregation to desire them not to deliver 
 their pikes, or attend to what he delivered. 
 
 “ There are about 430 pages of the ‘ Antiquities ’ printed, 
 and little more than 100 remain ; most of the plates are 
 worked off. It is a large and expensive work, and the 
 price very inadequate. Mundell and Sons would have 
 given something handsome for the copy, and good Dr. 
 Anderson would have been friendly, but my mind would 
 have been uneasy had I not the revisal of the sheets. 
 It is fortunate I am able to get on so far ; for I have got 
 a complaint in my head, which portends something either 
 apoplectic or paralytic. Dr. Percival recommended a 
 blister on my head, which I have had some time, but it 
 has not removed the complaint. In every other respect, 
 thank God, I am in perfect health. 
 
 “ Sir Richard dines with me on the 7th, when I shall 
 be happy to communicate your Lordship^s recollection of 
 him, and his failure in paying his visit. 
 
 “ Government have justly deserved and received every 
 degree of approbation for their activity and steadiness, 
 notwithstanding CobbetPs licentious strictures. So far 
 are the disaffected from exciting terror here, they them- 
 selves are thoroughly terrified. 
 
 “ The frost has set in here intensely. If the French do 
 not hasten, they will be bound up in Holland. 
 
 * See p. 833. 
 
 f Hon. Sir Vm. Cusack Smith, Bart, LL.D., F.R. S., M.R.I.A., Second 
 Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland. He died Aug. 21, 1836. See an 
 account of him and his numerous writings in Gent. Mag. vol. VI. p. 539. 
 
836 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “This family joins in most respectful good wishes with, 
 my Lord, your very faithful servant, E. Ledwich.” 
 
 “ My Lord, York-street, 15 Dec. 1803. 
 
 “Accept my sincerest gratitude for the very friendly 
 interest you take in my health, and for your excellent hint. 
 Issues have ever been esteemed the best Macrobian pre- 
 scription. I have known them to prolong life. There is 
 seldom any congestion in the head, but a distension of the 
 ventricles of the brain ; the bursting of these, as well as 
 those of the heart, is instant death. I am, thank God, 
 something better. I find much depends on regimen. 
 
 “ I was by no means inattentive to your reference to 
 Nicolson on the Culdees, but on no grounds could it be 
 supported; nor can it relate to dress. The Bishop here, as 
 on many occasions, indulged his fancy, and made out an 
 etymology from the vulgar and corrupt pronunciation of 
 the word Culdee. Giraldus Cambrensis calls the Culdees 
 Colidei and Coelibes, and assures us they were deum reli- 
 giosissime servientes. This perfectly agrees with Toland’s 
 derivation of the name — Ceili-de, the espoused of God ; 
 with Shaw, in his History of Murray, and O’Brien, in 
 his Irish Dictionary, under the word Ceile, servant ; not 
 to mention Hector Boethius and Buchanan. Lesley, in 
 his History of Scotland, calls them — Dei cultores ; Culdei 
 nostra vulgari lingua dicti. So that no writer before or 
 after Nicolson entertained his idea : I could not therefore 
 resign my reason, and these authorities, to the learned Pre- 
 late’s whimsies. 
 
 “ Besides, he shewed no great knowledge of primitive 
 monkery, when he supposed any part of the monkish 
 dress was black. The Greek fathers use a particular w r ord, 
 XevKeifxivv, which denoted the white dress with which the 
 two angels were clad, and who were, as they said, seen 
 sitting with the body of our Lord in the tomb. This was 
 also applied to monks, and called the angelical dress. The 
 same fathers declare that Elias instituted monkery, and he 
 was clad in the melote, explained by Hesychius and others 
 to be a pellis ovina , — a sheep skin. It was made so as to 
 cover the head, — Kat eTreicaXvipe to TTpocruTTOv aurov ev r?? gr]- 
 avrov. (1 Kings, xix. 13.) This was the constant habit 
 of the Egyptian monks, which was strictly followed by the 
 European for many ages, and by those of Ireland, as 
 mentioned by Bede, in his Life of St. Cuthbert. 
 
LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 837 
 
 “ Civilization introduced the alb in the place of the 
 melote, and it became the constant monkish dress. Lan- 
 franc complains, that both monks and laics in monasteries 
 wore the alb. In ccenobiis monachorum etiam laici cum 
 albis induuntur. 
 
 “ The colobium without • sleeves, according to Cassian 
 and St. Ambrose, was white. 
 
 “ The only remaining part of the monkish dress was the 
 cucullus or cowl, which in 448 covered the head and barely 
 reached the neck, as then described by Joh. Cassian. He 
 does not mention the colour, but there is no reason to sup- 
 pose it differed from the melote. 
 
 “ These, my Lord, are some of the grounds on which I 
 rejected Nicolson’s idle guess. I formerly was more full, 
 but these only remain on my memory, of the proofs which 
 convinced me. Consider the simplicity of the ages of 
 primitive Christianity in these islands, when piety and not 
 show was only attended to; when they indulged the latter, 
 they nearly lost the former. 
 
 “ It is the constant error of superficial antiquaries to 
 catch at resemblances in sounds, and make facts from ety- 
 mologies ; whereas the true antiquary will seek for inform- 
 ation from the customs and manners of the age, and from 
 contemporary writers. E. Ledwich.’ 5 
 
 (e My LORD, York Street, Dec. 5, 1804. 
 
 I beg leave to assure you, that it is with the most 
 tender and sincere regret I learn your inability at present 
 to correspond personally with your friends. Though 
 little consolation can be derived from the poet’s e Sola- 
 men miseris socios,’ &c. — yet recourse is almost constantly 
 had to it, at least, to show that none are exempted from 
 the ills incident, indeed inseparable, from human exist- 
 ence. I have been all summer in the country, and on my 
 return to town I had a violent rheumatic complaint in my 
 head, which obliged me to send for Dr. Percival ; in a short 
 time after I was alarmed by a spitting of blood, and I 
 have had a second return of it. Happily it is not from 
 the lungs, or its termination must be fatal. I am, thank 
 God, recovering. 
 
 “ I never failed, whenever I saw Sir Richard Musgrave, 
 anxiously to inquire about your Lordship^s health. 
 
 “ The evidence respecting the Round Tower at Down- 
 patrick did not occur to me, or I certainly should have 
 noticed it, with particular compliments to the eccentric 
 
838 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 General.* Your Lordship must know, that he has under- 
 taken the superintendence of all the statistical accounts 
 printed at the expense of the Dublin Society, and that 
 through him the authors receive their money ; of course 
 he has them and their works completely subject to his 
 control, nor has he in any instance omitted to take 
 advantage of this by foisting in his ravings wherever he 
 could ; and what is singular, not one author, out of I 
 believe a dozen, has had spirit to reprobate publicly such 
 improper conduct. 
 
 ££ But — £ haud moriemur multi.’ — He has, in the third 
 number of the Edinburgh Review, been so severely 
 handled, that any other man but himself would never 
 appear before the public. 
 
 ££ Nor has Mr. Davies’s Celtic Antiquities fared better. 
 The Scotch are excellent anatomists : and they never 
 showed more skill and judgment than in dissecting both 
 Yallancey and Davies. Your Lordship knows, and no 
 one better, that wild hypotheses, conjectures, and etymo- 
 logies, are very far from real antiquities. I think Mr. 
 King, the celebrated writer on Ancient English Castles, 
 in his work, £ Munimenta Antiqua/ is very little short of 
 Yallancey or Davies, when he talks of Median castles in 
 England in the remotest ages, with many equally absurd 
 whimsies. His confounding the original Druidic dogmas 
 with the Gothic, many ages posterior, shows very little 
 judgment or discrimination. Your Lordship has done a 
 great deal on that subject, and I flatter myself I have added 
 some illustrations which did not occur to you ; and yet 
 all the late scribblers on antiquities call every thing Druidic. 
 
 ££ I am too far advanced in life, and of health too deli- 
 cate, or I fancy I should be able to set this point for ever 
 at rest in an Hibernia Danica, — which I have long 
 thought of ; but — deficiunt, pater optime, vires. 
 
 “ The British Critic for September and October has 
 spoken favourably of the second edition of the Anti- 
 quities. The Analytical, Critical, and Monthly, declared 
 their opinion before. I fear the Scotch anatomist. 
 
 “ Edward Ledwich.” 
 
 C£ My LORD, York-street, April 16, 1805. 
 
 ££ I am very happy to hear from your Lordship, and 
 flatter myself that you enjoy, unless in one respect, tole- 
 rable health. I was really delighted with the very polite 
 
 * Yallancey. 
 
LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 839 
 
 and handsome compliments paid you by Lord Strangford 
 in his poems of Camoens, a very ingenious and elegant 
 little work. How estimable soever this production may 
 be, I should be sorry to see the Troubadour or Petrar- 
 chian ages revived, marked as they are by a romantic 
 softness and effeminacy, ill-suited, I hope, to the bold and 
 manly spirit of Britons. I always was afraid of too 
 much refinement, and its sure consequences. 
 
 “ I have never seen but once or twice the European 
 Magazine, nor is it to be found in Dublin. Yallancey’s 
 waking dreams are so universally reprobated, and, indeed, 
 so contemptible, that they require no aid to hand them 
 into oblivion — mole ruit sua. 
 
 “ The account of the Downpatrick Round Tower did not 
 occur to my recollection, or I certainly would have intro- 
 duced it. I believe enough is said to give a tolerable 
 idea of the age and use of such structures. 
 
 “ Our domestic literature is at a very low ebb, indeed, 
 when we cannot support a decent Magazine ; this will 
 prove the taste of the times. Our Academy is on the 
 wane, and will never improve while the supercilious sons 
 of Alma Mater rule there. 
 
 “ Sir Richard Musgrave is indefatigable in withstanding 
 the Catholic Claims, and his lucubrations are endless. 
 He is really clever in that kind of writing ; it wholly 
 occupies his thoughts and time. He is very well. 
 
 “ Your Lordship, no doubt, has got a pamphlet, said to 
 to be written by the Bishop of Meath,* signed Melan- 
 cthon ; there are many excellent things in it. 
 
 “ As to myself, I have many things, but unable, from 
 years and domestic avocations, to bring them to per- 
 fection. The little credit I have got I am unwilling to 
 lose by venturing among the shoals and rocks of anti- 
 quarian investigations. At 66 years of age, I should 
 think of emigrating to that bourne from whence no tra- 
 veller returns. I enjoy, thank God ! perfect health, as 
 does my family, who desire their most affectionate respects. 
 
 “Edward Ledwich.” 
 
 “ My LORD, York-street, 16 Aug. 1806. 
 
 “It is with the most heartfelt satisfaction that I 
 received from your Lordship the pleasing account of 
 
 * Dr. Thomas Lewis O’Beirne. He died Feb. 15, 1823, in his 76th year. 
 Of this eminent prelate a good memoir appeared in Gent. Mag. vol. XCIII. 
 p. 276. 
 
840 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 yours and Mrs. Percy’s good health. The kind regrets 
 you express at not seeing my daughter and her husband, 
 Mr. Robert Mitford, is a continuation of the same sin- 
 cere friendship which I have experienced from your Lord- 
 ship for many years. 
 
 “ Mr. Mitford’s father and Lord Redesdale’s father, I 
 think, were brothers they are certainly nearly related. 
 Mr. Mitford’s father lives at Mitford, near Morpeth, 
 whither he and my daughter are gone. Mr. Mitford was 
 Secretary to the Commissioners of Inquiry here, Deputy 
 Privy Seal, and Assistant Secretary of State, the whole 
 making up a considerable income. The first of these em- 
 ployments was soon to determine ; this, Mr. Wickham, f 
 one of the Lords of the Treasury and his steady friend, 
 knew, and therefore applied to Lord Grenville to appoint 
 him one of the ten Inspectors of Public Accounts, lately 
 established by Act of Parliament, which was done. He 
 was to be in London before the 15th of next month, to 
 enter on his office. He and my daughter would have 
 been very happy to have waited on your Lordship and 
 Mrs. Percy, had they not two young children, one but 
 four months old, which she is nursing. He is one of the 
 best of sons ; he was hastening to see his aged parents 
 before he settled in London ; without doing this he 
 would have been miserable. He expected to see his 
 brother, John Mitford, at Belfast, who commands the 
 revenue cruiser the Buckingham, and who, as your 
 Lordship observes, is a tolerable poet. He has collected 
 his verses, and was offered by a London bookseller 200/. 
 for the copyright. He had also an intention of compos- 
 ing a Life of Lord Nelson, under whom he served a long 
 time. 
 
 * This was not the case : they were distant cousins. Mr. Robert Mitford 
 belonged to the elder branch of the Mitford family ; Lord Redesdale and his 
 elder brother the historian of Greece to the youngest. 1st branch, Bertram 
 Mitford, of Mitford Castle. 2d branch, Rev. John Mitford, ofBenhall, 
 Suffolk. 3d branch, William Mitford, of Pittshill, Sussex. 4th and last 
 branch, as above. The whole Mitford family are included in these four 
 branches and the offsets. — J. M. 
 
 f The Hon. W. Wickham, D.C.L. was the eldest son of Henry Wickham, 
 of Cottingley, co. York, esq. Colonel of the 1st Foot Guards, by Elizabeth, 
 dau. and heir of the Rev. W. Lamplugh, of Cottingley, vicar of Dewsbury. 
 He was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss 
 Cantons, in 1794 ; Under Secretary of State for the Home Department in 
 1798; Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United 
 States from 1797 to 1801 ; Secretary of State for Ireland from 1802 to 1804 ; 
 sworn a Privy Councillor June 13, 1802 ; and a Lord of the Treasury from 
 Feb. 1806 to March 1807. He died at Brighton, Oct. 22, 1841, aged 79. 
 See Gent. Mag. vol. XV. p. 314. 
 
PERCY AND LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 841 
 
 “ I believe it is three years since I withdrew myself 
 from the Academy, and ceased all connexion there. They 
 were a rude, uncivilized assembly, communicating neither 
 amusement or information : they have fallen into decre- 
 pitude before they attained maturity. By what I can 
 collect from Preston and others, I think the continuance 
 of this Society is doubtful. 
 
 “ Let these things be as they may, I shall, in concert 
 with Sir Richard Musgrave, pay every attention to your 
 Lordship’s wishes. 
 
 “ Though my health, thank God, has been good, I yet 
 thought it prudent to endeavour to preserve it so, and 
 therefore I purchased a villa at Dun drum, within three 
 miles of the city ; it consists of a handsome lodge, gar- 
 dens, and fourteen acres of meadow ground. There I 
 have constantly resided since the end of last March, but 
 seldom visiting my house in York-street. 
 
 “ I have not heard that Mr. Barnard is going to the 
 Cape ; he got from Lord Hardwicke the place of Clerk of 
 the Quit Rents, about 5001 . a-year ; most people admired 
 he was not better provided for. His father died insolvent ; 
 his creditors will receive but a few shillings in the pound. 
 
 “ As to Irish literature, it is nearly in a torpid state. 
 My time of life, and a large family, have long prevented 
 any little exertions of mine. Having got some little 
 credit, as the inclosed will show, (pardon, my Lord, the 
 vanity,) I was fearful of trying again the fiery ordeal of 
 criticism. There have been 2300 copies of the f Antiqui- 
 ties ’ sold, and I am correcting and improving a copy for 
 another edition, if I should live any time. 
 
 “ As to St. Patrick, Mr. Kirwan tells me he has fre- 
 quently urged the members of Maynooth College to vin- 
 dicate the existence and honour of their patron saint. 
 O’Halloran declared he would do it ; but, after fourteen 
 or fifteen years, they still find it a crabbed business. The 
 fact is, the Irish Popish clergy are not scholars, and of 
 course not antiquaries. 
 
 e ‘ Your Lordship and Mrs. Percy will have the good- 
 ness to accept mine and Mrs. Ledwich’s unfeigned thanks 
 for your kind invitation to Dromore house. With six 
 children of different ages about me, we could hardly be 
 absent from them a day ; at the same time we are very 
 sensible what real pleasure and happiness we lose by 
 declining so highly polished and cultivated a society. 
 
 YOL. VII. 3 I 
 
842 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 “ With the most ardent and sincere good wishes for 
 your Lordship’s and Mrs. Percy’s long life and health, in 
 which Mrs. Ledwich most cordially joins, 
 
 “ I remain your Lordship’s very faithful servant, 
 
 “ Edward Ledwich. 
 
 “ Since I wrote the foregoing, Mr. Carr,* in his ‘ Stran- 
 ger in Ireland,’ has paid some compliments to me and 
 my daughter Ridgeway.” 
 
 “My Lord, Feb. 14, 18 O 7 . 
 
 “ I beg leave to assure your Lordship, that it was not 
 want but an excess of feeling that prevented my condol- 
 ing with your Lordship on a late melancholy event.f I 
 was happy to learn from Mr. Boyd, that you bore this 
 dispensation of Providence with (what I might have been 
 assured of) Christian resignation. 
 
 “ I have not been very well for some time past, and am 
 preparing to go to my country lodge, in the vicinity of 
 this city, where I always find my health improved. 
 
 “ Sir Richard has returned after a four months’ absence. 
 He is really much mended in point of health and looks. 
 
 “The country has sustained a great loss in the death of 
 Counsellor Preston.J He got wet going to Court, and sat 
 for some hours in that state, got a fever, and died in 
 about eight days. Dr. Anderson told me, he was the best 
 classical scholar he met in Ireland. I have had many 
 proofs to confirm that judgment. Indeed no further evi- 
 dence is necessary than his dissertations and notes to 
 Apollonius Rhodius. He was a man of various accom- 
 plishments, which he advantageously displayed on many 
 occasions. He has left a large family of seven children, 
 with a small property, I hear, of about 300/. a-year. He 
 married a daughter of the present Lord Carbery, who 
 succeeded his brother, the late Lord, in the title. 
 
 “ I beg to inform your Lordship that I am preparing 
 a third edition of my f Antiquities,’ with a prospect of 
 dedicating it to the King. It is to be published in Lon- 
 don, I hope in a different style from what appeared here. 
 There have been 2200 of the former impressions sold, so 
 that I fear a third, though there will be additions and 
 corrections, may overstock the market. 
 
 * Sir John Carr, the -well-known Tourist. He died 1832. See a memoir 
 of him in Gent. Mag. vol. CII. xi. 1 82. 
 
 t The death of Mrs. Percy. See p. 68. + See p. 174. 
 
PERCY AND LEDWICH CORRESPONDENCE. 843 
 
 “ My friend Mr. Beauford, who wrote on Irish music in 
 my e Antiquities,’ has sent me a MS. to read with this 
 title, e The History of Ireland, from the earliest accounts 
 to the arrival of the English ; drawn from the most 
 ancient Irish and Danish MSS. and other authentic docu- 
 ments/ 
 
 “ I have not read the work, and therefore can give no 
 opinion of it. I dipped a little here and there, and find he 
 has pillaged me, as well as Gordon. 
 
 “ I am, my Lord, wishing you sincerely many happy 
 days, in which Mrs. Ledwich and family beg to join, 
 your Lordship’s very faithful servant, 
 
 “ E. Ledwich.” 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 between Dr. Ledwich and Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 Richard Gough, Esq. to Dr. Ledwich. 
 
 “ Sir, Enfield, March 21, 1787. 
 
 “ I am encouraged by your polite offer by Mr. Norris, 
 to solicit your assistance in that part of e Camden’s Bri- 
 tannia’ which relates to Ireland. 
 
 a What I propose in the new edition is to make the 
 most correct and latest additions to those of Bishop Gib- 
 son, as far as matter-of-fact observations go, without 
 giving out any particular hypotheses. The changes of 
 property and succession of titles, or creation of new ones, 
 the progress of commerce, the advancement of manufac- 
 tures, and the improvement of the natural face of the 
 country by agriculture, drainage, navigation, canals, plant- 
 ing, inclosing : these are all within my plan. You will 
 easily see, by casting your eye over Ireland in the old edi- 
 tions, what is wanting, and how much may be added. 
 
 “ Ireland is a copious field of investigation, and owes 
 much to you, among other curious inquirers into its 
 ancient monuments. A particular account of these, whe- 
 ther newly discovered or otherwise, with those of later 
 ages, are the proper improvements of such a work as 
 Mr. Camden began. I am, Sir, your most obedient hum- 
 ble servant, Richard Gough. 
 
 “ P. S. I wrote to you to a similar purpose on the 25th 
 of September last.” 
 
 3 I 2 
 
844 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Dr. Ledwich to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 Si SlR, Oldglas, Durrow, Ireland, March 22, 1787. 
 
 “ You cannot but think it extraordinary that I should 
 not before this have acknowledged your favour of the 25th 
 of September last, but I assure you I did not receive it 
 till yesterday, owing to my having changed my residence 
 from one part of my parish (which is nine miles long) to 
 another, and, consequently, my post town. In general 
 our posts are very regular, and eight or ten days bring a 
 letter to or from London. 
 
 “ I have the same good wishes for the success of the 
 great work you are engaged in, and the same inclination 
 to assist you, as when I wrote to Mr. Norris; because I 
 thought then, and now, that there are few men in England 
 so adequate to the undertaking ; consequently, that every 
 lover of the history and antiquities of his country was 
 called on to supply such aid as was in his power. 
 
 “ I had in the year 1779 issued proposals for a History 
 of the Queen’s County, in which I reside, and expected 
 no greater emolument by the subscription than to be ena- 
 bled to pay for a map and engravings ; but either the 
 poverty of the country, or the want of civilization, soon 
 put an end to my hopes, and of course to my exertions ; 
 however, I had made some collections and drawings, which 
 I shall look out and digest for you, as they must be a real 
 addition to your work, very little having been done by 
 topographers as to this county. It is also probable I may 
 send you some valuable drawings of other objects. 
 
 “ By the late post-office arrangements in both kingdoms, 
 the conveyance of these matters is attended with heavy 
 expenses ; I therefore take the liberty of recommending it 
 to you to apply to Mr. Marsden,* a member of our 
 Society, whose relations are in the mercantile line in 
 Dublin, to assist you in transmitting or receiving papers. 
 I shall direct to you under an envelope to Mr. Marsden, 
 and you may to me thus : — ‘ Rev. Mr. L., Oldglas, Dur- 
 row, Ireland, to the care of J. C. Walker, Esq. Treasury, 
 Dublin, Ireland ;’ with an outside cover thus : — 4 J. C. 
 Walker, Esq. Treasury, Dublin, Ireland.’ This is the 
 gentleman who has published ‘ Memoirs of the Irish 
 
 * William Marsden, esq. D.C.L., F.R.S. and Secretary to the Admi- 
 ralty, died Oct. 6, 1837, in his 82d year. Of this learned member of the 
 Antiquarian, Asiatic, and other Societies, a good account will be found in 
 Gent. Mag. for Feb. 1839, p. 212. 
 
LEDWICHAND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 845 
 
 Bards/ and a constant correspondent of Mr. Marsden. 
 From his situation he has opportunities of sending and 
 receiving papers, and is my particular friend. 
 
 44 You will be so good as to inform me what progress 
 you have made at press ; and your sending me a sheet or 
 two, particularly exhibiting your improvements, must, to 
 me, be an useful exemplar. 
 
 44 I congratulate you on your 4 Sepulchral Monuments/ 
 which I have seen : it is a capital work. When I can 
 spare a little money I shall become a purchaser of that, 
 as well as of Langbek’s 4 Scriptores Danici.’ Favour me 
 with your sentiments of the latter, and its price in London. 
 
 44 Wishing you health and years for the completion of 
 your excellent literary designs, I remain. Sir, &c. 
 
 44 Edward Ledwich. 
 
 44 You must have observed, that I reject every hypo- 
 thesis, your Orientalisms and your Oghams, in my anti- 
 quarian studies : for bantering the latter Vallancey would 
 expel me human society, and has really used me very ill 
 in his 12th 4 Collectanea’ and 4 Vindication / but hand 
 moriemur multi.” 
 
 Richard Gough, Esq. to Dr. Ledwich. 
 
 44 Sir, Enfield, June 11, 1787* 
 
 44 I should certainly have sooner acknowledged your 
 favour of March 22 last, had I not waited till I could send 
 you some specimens of my plan in some of the first sheets 
 of Ireland. But I have been near a twelvemonth com- 
 piling the account of Scotland, and have not finished it 
 yet; so that, should the like delay attend me in Ireland, 
 my patience and spirits will be exhausted before publi- 
 cation. 
 
 44 Your paper of Observations on Ancient Churches 
 has been printed in vol. VIII. of Archseologia, and a few 
 separate copies are reserved for you. 
 
 44 My method is to print first a new translation of Mr. 
 Camden’s Account, and to annex to it, in form of Additions 
 to each county, whatever I can collect from modern autho- 
 rities. 
 
 44 I shall send you the whole of Ireland together, or as 
 much as I can, as soon as I have got through Scotland, 
 and the press is at liberty to compose it. You will then 
 make what corrections, remarks, or additions you please ; 
 and whatever drawings of Druidical or other monuments, 
 
846 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 plans of camps, and elevations or bird’s-eye views of 
 ancient monuments, you intend to favour me with will be 
 very acceptable ; and the sooner they are sent the better, 
 on account of the length of time that may be required to 
 engrave them. I am. Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 “ R. Gough.” 
 
 Dr. Ledwich to R. Gough, Esq. 
 
 tc SlR, Oldglas, Durrow, Ireland, June 24, 1787. 
 
 “ I received yours of the 11th instant, by Mr. Walker. 
 I am very well apprised of the importance of your engage- 
 ments, and how little leisure you possess for compli- 
 mentary epistles. I lament with you the inattention and 
 delays of your Scotch correspondents, and sincerely hope 
 you may not experience a similar conduct from those in 
 this kingdom. 
 
 <e Your plan seems to me an exceedingly good one ; all 
 we fear is, an unreasonable caution in extending it ; for 
 two folio volumes will not contain the valuable materials 
 that may be had. 
 
 ee Your sending the sheets of Ireland to me, together 
 or separately, is judicious, as I shall then see what has 
 been done, and what I can supply. It will save me much 
 unnecessary writing, and you trouble, by my properly and 
 correctly arranging such additions as I am able to make. 
 When I have done what I can, I shall endeavour to pre- 
 vail on a poor but learned friend to look over the work. 
 He is an assistant to a country school ; his name Beau- 
 ford.* Some of his papers you must have perused in the 
 Collectanea, particularly his Topography. The principal 
 aid he can give is in drawings : in some other things he 
 may be useful. I think a letter to him through me, with 
 a compliment of a copy of the work, or such other recom- 
 pence as he shall think reasonable, will engage him. I am 
 but about twenty miles from him, and we frequently visit. 
 
 “ At the same time you will be glad to know my senti- 
 ments of him, which, in confidence, I communicate for 
 your direction. 
 
 « He has not had a regular education, and is but indiffer- 
 ently furnished with Greek and Latin. He has a good 
 
 * Mr. A. Beauford, M.R.I.A. of Athy, assisted Mr. Gough in bis “ Bri- 
 tannia,” with his pen and pencil, and received the thanks of the modern 
 Camden. 
 
LEDWICH AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 847 
 
 knowledge of French, and a superficial one of Irish. He 
 has few books ; consequently what he draws from his own 
 stores must be, in a great measure, conjectural. Some- 
 times he guesses right, but, in general, it is not safe, 
 without further examination, to depend on him. 
 
 “ These hints are sufficient. My respect for you and 
 for the cause of learning, induces me to give them thus 
 early to obviate errors ; otherwise he is one of the wor- 
 thiest beings existing, and my particular friend these 
 many years. The drawings I inclose you are, 
 
 “1. The Statue of St. Edan, otherwise called Moeg or 
 Moedoc. 
 
 “ 2. Timahoe, Queen’s County. 
 
 “ 3. Castle of Ley, Queen’s County. 
 
 “ 4. Castle of Ballyadams, Queen’s County. 
 
 (( 5. Sliabh Guth, or Church Mountain, county Wick- 
 low. 
 
 “ 6. Castle of Rathsallagh, County of Wicklow. 
 
 i( 7- Reliques at Cashel. 
 
 “ If I can procure more they shall be sent. Mr. Joseph 
 Walker’s brother, and cousin (Mr. Austin Cooper), can 
 supply you with many valuable drawings ; but your parti- 
 cular application should be to Mr. Conyngham, Teller of our 
 Exchequer, who has the finest collection, made by excellent 
 artists, any where to be found.* By all means endeavour 
 to acquire some of them, as the more originals you give 
 the more valuable must be the work. But I must take 
 the liberty, entre nous, of cautioning you about Colonel 
 Vallancey’s drawings. On reflection, I believe you will 
 not adopt his whimsical, and, indeed, absurd explanations 
 of the most common things. For instance, is it not 
 laughable to find him persuading Heideck, a Jewish Rabbi, 
 in Collectanea, No. 13, p. 5, that an officers gorget, made 
 about a hundred or a hundred and fifty years ago, was 
 exactly the same as the high priesFs Urim and Thummim. 
 In short, all his other profound investigations are equally 
 ridiculous, and at some future time will be ridiculed. 
 
 “ At the same time he can be useful to you, and espe- 
 cially if you can get from him a rock-inscription disco- 
 vered on a mountain in the county of Waterford, which I 
 have not seen, but apprehend to be Danish. It must be 
 very curious. Edward Ledwich.’ 5 
 
 * See vol. VI. p. 429. 
 
848 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 U Sir, Oldglas, Durrow, Ireland, July 14, 1787. 
 
 “ I lost not a moment in answering your last favour of 
 the 11th of June, and inclosed my letter, and some draw- 
 ings, in a packet directed to the care of Mr. Walker, who 
 tells me they were to sail the 9th instant. Mr. Marsden’s 
 information respecting the absence of Mr. Walker from 
 Dublin is not accurate ; perhaps he may make a little 
 tour or excursion, sanitatis gratia , but his office keeps him 
 almost perpetually at home. You perceive, by this remark, 
 that yours of the 30th ult. came safe to me. 
 
 “Among a wide circle of learned and ingenious men I 
 have the honour of knowing Dr. Campbell, who is an 
 excellent scholar, a man of abilities and extensive inform- 
 ation; such an assistant must be exceedingly valuable. 
 I am happy to say, that our ideas of Irish antiquities 
 perfectly synchronise and symbolise. He can acquaint 
 you with what I cannot, “ the alteration in the Govern- 
 ment, Laws,” &c. : of this subject I think he is a good 
 master. In removing my books I lost Gibson’s Camden, 
 and could not get another but the old edition of 1695. 
 
 “ Archdall’s Monasticon has great merit, and may be 
 relied on. 
 
 “ The natural history of this kingdom has been shame- 
 fully neglected. A taste for this study seems to be getting 
 up ; witness Mr. Hamilton’s Tour to the Giant’s Cause- 
 way, and proposals for a Natural History by Wilson, a 
 bookseller in Dublin, who, I hear, will attempt botany, 
 mineralogy, and zoology. If Cleghorn would apply to 
 Dr. Hill, botany professor in the college, and to the said 
 Mr. Hamilton, a fellow ; and if he will get for you Dr. 
 Ellis’s collections in this way, made by a society in 
 Dublin a few years ago, you will make a tolerable figure. 
 If this cannot be done, I know of no other resource but 
 recurring to Boate and Molyneux, Threlkeld’s Botany, 
 and Keogh’s Zoology, together with what Smith has done 
 in his natural histories ; these thrown into the Linnean 
 method, and modernised with Linnean names, must do. 
 Berkenhout will also be useful to you on this subject. 
 Your own reading will supply every defect in his nomen- 
 clature. 
 
 “ The assertions of Irish historians and antiquaries rela- 
 tive to the colonization of Scotland never appeared to 
 me rational. It outrages the common sense and common 
 conduct of mankind to bring inhabitants into Scotland 
 
LEDWICH AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 849 
 
 circuitously when it could he done directly. I think it 
 therefore better for you to state the opinions of the 
 writers of both nations, and leave it in medio ; let each 
 reader and nation retain what they like. 
 
 “ Expressly to promote your views I waited this week 
 on Mr. Beauford, and am not a little pleased to inform 
 you that he will second them. I hinted to him that I 
 expected you would address him through me, and that 
 you, I was sure, would consider his warmly interesting 
 himself in your work not only as a matter of favour but 
 obligation. 
 
 “ If you admitted dissertations illustrative of the history 
 and antiquities of Ireland by way of Supplement or 
 Appendix, I would send you what would make about 
 200 folio pages. They are as original as such things can 
 be, and in the style of my essays in the Archeeologia. I 
 smile myself when I say to you, — ex pede Herculem. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, with best wishes for your health and success, 
 your most obedient servant, Edward Lbdwich.” 
 
 ec SlR, Oldglas, Durrow, Sept. 18, 1787. 
 
 {i I lost not a moment in conveying your letter to Mr. 
 Beauford, and in giving him your address. I have no 
 doubt but, as originally a Briton, and by engraftment an 
 Anglo-Hibernian, as I am, he will further your plan to the 
 utmost of his abilities. I have urged Mr. Walker and his 
 cousin Mr. Austin Cooper to assist you. In short, Sir, 
 I wish to see Camden what his work ought, and I am 
 sure will be in your hands, a capital performance. Mate- 
 rials there are enough, and no one knows better how to 
 arrange them. I therefore entreat you, for one, not to 
 abridge or condense too much, as that will absolutely 
 defeat the public expectation, and finally injure your sale. 
 Where matter and information are ample people will 
 purchase; where they are not, old Gibson will be re- 
 printed, and still sell. It is on principle I wish you 
 success, and will give any little assistance in my power ; if 
 you will not admire my complaisance, you must have some 
 esteem for my veracity and candour. 
 
 “ In my opinion the lovers of antiquity would consider 
 themselves highly obliged by an additional volume of 
 Camden’s other works ; besides those edited, we have a 
 specimen of his MSS. in Hearn e’s Langtoft’s Chronicle ; 
 
850 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 all should be published, as all are extremely valuable. 
 Do not, Sir, relinquish this idea ; its prosecution will do 
 you infinite honour, and amply repay your trouble. He 
 well merits regard from the British nation, and they will 
 not deny it, and this instant is the critical moment. You 
 see I am zealous, but I hope you will not say it is zeal 
 without knowledge. 
 
 “ As to my brochures , which I would be happy were 
 introduced into the world under your patronage, they 
 contain many curious inquiries. It would be insuffer- 
 able affectation to deny the originality of most of the 
 ideas advanced in them ; if well-founded, they effectually 
 operate the overthrow of our vulgar system, and all the 
 brainsick hypotheses of the present day. They will 
 make one handsome volume 4to, with twenty or more 
 original drawings, and embrace the most valuable objects 
 in the circle of our national antiquities. I asked but 200 
 guineas of our booksellers for the copy and the drawings, 
 and still find them reluctant. Your aid on this occasion 
 in London must lay me under no small obligations to 
 you. My History of Kilkenny, my Letters to Mr. 
 Walker in his Irish Bards, and the papers in the Archmo- 
 logia, are substrata to form some estimate of what you 
 have not seen. 
 
 “ You obligingly ask me about the Triumvirate, in 
 which I am called forth to public view. Mr. Conyng- 
 ham. Sir, formed a little society in 1780, I think, con- 
 sisting of himself as President (Yid. Collec. No. 11) ; Mr. 
 Archdall, author of our excellent Monasticon ; Mr. 
 O’Conor, the Dissertator ; Colonel Yallancey, the amazing 
 Etymologist; Dr. Ellis, a physician, who created a Society 
 of Natural History, and whose collections I already 
 wished you to have ; and your very humble servant, and 
 Mr. Beauford. This is the solid fact, and all to Ellis exist 
 to condemn, in the fullest manner, Vallancey’s want of 
 * * You are Shandean enough to interpret two aste- 
 
 risks, but, perhaps, not five. How in the nature of things 
 could the Colonel select three out of seven, and constitute 
 them a Triumvirate, in total disparagement to the other 
 five, unless he complimented them with the abilities of 
 the whole body ? Indeed, he seems to have some qualms 
 on this head ; for, in this celebrated note, he exempts 
 Mr. Conyngham, thereby contradicting himself, that the 
 society was no triumvirate. 
 
LEDWICH AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 851 
 
 “ Things, Sir, went swimmingly on till Governor Pow- 
 nall addressed a very polite letter to us, and I answered 
 it. I protest to you, in the lively jocular way I then wrote, 
 Vallancey was never in my thoughts, much less did I 
 premeditatedly think of a formal rupture. It seems my 
 TTpuror \pevbos, my grand delinquency, was not coinciding 
 with the Colonel in his Oriental ideas ; he thought he saw 
 something of banter, which his etymologies and his- 
 toric perversions could not stand, and therefore I was 
 very properly expatriated from his Irish Collectanea, and 
 from a Society which immediately ceased. I found some 
 comfort, amid these literary misfortunes, to see myself 
 most honourably enrolled with names in London, Edin- 
 burgh, and on the Continent, that reflect more honour 
 on me than I any way can claim. 
 
 “The Clare inscription and stone you may find in 
 Vallancey^s ‘Vindication/ You must be above measure 
 astonished at the modesty of Irish antiquaries, when 
 they assert their Ogum and language are as perfectly 
 intelligible after a lapse of fourteen hundred years as 
 at this moment. This has given rise to an inquiry into 
 what this Ogum and those famed Phoenician elements 
 were, and is one of the curious subjects of my work. I have 
 reviewed and written anew the Dissertation on the Round 
 Towers, and, from- new lights, I am fairly obliged to dissent 
 from myself ; but be assured my ideas are not orientalized. 
 This is another subject in my work. The ancient Irish 
 structures before and after Christianity is another topic ; 
 the literary history another ; the outline of our eccle- 
 siastical history another; dress, music, &c. others. I 
 indulge no paradoxes : I affect no ingenuity : I constantly 
 cite my authorities, and my inferences are natural and 
 obvious. Could you strike out a respectable mode of 
 publication (I am not mercenary), you would confer a 
 great favour on me. Mazell* has a very pretty drawing of 
 mine, which I shall be very glad you had ; it will serve 
 you. I suppose you must press, perhaps speak loud to 
 him, before you can get it. 
 
 “ I am, sir, with truth and respect, your very obedient 
 servant, E. Ledwich/* 
 
 * Peter Mazell was an engraver, patronised by Mr. Pennant. See Lite- 
 rary Anecdotes, vol. III. p. 658 ; vol. VIII. p. 740. 
 
852 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Richard Gough, Esq. to Dr. Ledwich. 
 
 “Sir, Enfield, Sept. 29, 1787. 
 
 “ I catch the present opportunity, as I shall every one 
 that offers, to forward to you and Mr. Walker the sheets 
 of Camden respecting Ireland. You will see what is my 
 plan, and when you compare it with my prototype you 
 will not think I condense too much. A General Survey 
 of a country should not enter into the minuteness of dis- 
 sertation ; but I need not enlarge, the papers will speak for 
 themselves. I conceive the Triumvirate, concerning whom 
 I inquired, to be yourself, Mr. Beauford, and Mr. Walker, 
 and their names will better answer to the epithet. You 
 speak of the Society of Seven as dissolved ; is there 
 then no Society of Antiquaries subsisting in Ireland, or is 
 the Society at Dublin, which published and circulated 
 queries, no longer in existence ? The best account of the 
 Ogum that I have met with seems to be Mr. Astle’s 
 idea, that it was a cypher or stenographic mode of writing, 
 but by no means of the high antiquity assigned to it. I 
 wish to know your present idea of the Round Towers, as I 
 found myself much inclined to coincide with yours formerly. 
 Your History of Kilkenny is just what it should be. I 
 wish I could as well concur with you on the Egyptian 
 origin of Gothic Temples : but we all have our peculiar 
 opinions. I am, &c. R. Gough.” 
 
 “ SlR, Enfield, Nov. 24, 1787. 
 
 “ I have yours of the 5th instant, and I am impatient to 
 receive your correction of my sheets. Have yet received 
 no communications to discriminate by initials. G. stands 
 for Bishop Gibson, and not your humble servant. What- 
 ever I adopt from my friends will be honourably mentioned, 
 as the Bishop did, in a general Preface. 
 
 “ By this time I hope you have at least 10 sheets to 
 work upon. The more you have the more comprehensive 
 will be your view, and, as I trust duplicate sheets are sent 
 through your hands to Mr. Beauford, I flatter myself no 
 time will be lost, but that the sheets will be returned to 
 Mr. Walker, who will find some method of returning them 
 to me. 
 
LEDWICH AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE- 853 
 
 ts I am sorry to find such feuds and revolutions in your 
 literary society, 
 
 ‘ Pudet hsec opprobria vobis,’ &c. 
 
 Ci I am perfectly at a loss to comprehend the complaint 
 about leaving anything out, or cutting shorter your paper 
 in the last Archseologia. Every word of it that was put 
 into my hands was published, and with interest; for I 
 added several references to like authorities. But of any 
 strictures on Mr. Warton I know nought. I fear the face 
 of no man in literary opinions ; but do not think the So- 
 ciety of Antiquaries will admit laughable jocularity into 
 their Archseologia. 
 
 “ I do not forget your questions about Langbek, but 
 I am unable to account for it. 
 
 “ I am, Sir, your obedient servant, R. Gough.” 
 
 Dr. Ledwich to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ SlR, Oldglas, Dec. 10, 1787. 
 
 “ I should not have troubled you so soon after answer- 
 ing your last favour a few days ago, but to obviate a mis- 
 apprehension, which, as I learn from my worthy friend, 
 Mr. Beauford, I fear you may have fallen into ; it is that 
 the Irish Academy is broken up. 
 
 “ That intelligence I hope is not true, as well for the 
 members as for the national honour : I again repeat it, I 
 hope it may flourish for many years, to the honour of all 
 parties. 
 
 “ When you inquired of me respecting the literary 
 societies here, I frankly expressed my sentiments of what 
 I knew of the old antiquaries, and the little corps formed 
 by the most amiable of men, Colonel Conyngham. I say 
 again, the ridiculous etymological lucubrations of Colonel 
 Vallancey were not calculated to continue the first; and I 
 positively assert, on the authority of the 12th Collectanea, 
 that his intemperance made some of that corps withdraw 
 themselves from a work which promised much amusement 
 and information, if conducted by another leader. 
 
 “ As to the present society in which he is engaged, I 
 only surmised that if they gave themselves and their reve- 
 nues for the silly purposes of translating meagre unin- 
 teresting annals, and searching for Ogum inscriptions, 
 
854 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 every person of sound learning would be disgusted, and 
 such a society could not be expected to be of long dura- 
 tion. 
 
 “ These, Sir, are my sentiments, and thus I would be 
 understood. If you have stated them otherwise, and 
 quoted me as authority, you will, in vindication of truth 
 and justice, instantly correct them, though I flatter myself 
 this has not been the case. Be assured I am very far 
 from imagining you are capable of giving an improper 
 turn to any unguarded expression, and less so to making 
 public an uninteresting private correspondence. 
 
 “ I have the pleasure of informing you, that, out of a 
 vast bundle of papers, I have picked out a great part of 
 my notes respecting the county I reside in, and that I 
 shall, if I see necessary, re-compose the account of it for 
 your valuable work; being at all times ready to prove 
 myself, Sir, your very obedient and humble servant, 
 
 “ Edward Ledwich.” 
 
 Richard Gough, Esq. to Dr. Ledwich. 
 
 “ Sir, Enfield, Dec. 27, 1787. 
 
 “ I have your favours of Sept. 29 and 10th instant. It 
 is particularly unfortunate that such a mistake should 
 have arisen, in the beginning almost of our correspondence, 
 as that which you appear to have made in regard to my 
 last of the 24th November, in which all my meaning was, 
 that I did not conceive the Society of Antiquaries would 
 be interested in papers of jocularity ; nor had I made the 
 least alteration or omission in your paper printed in their 
 last volume on Mr. Warton’s account. Partial as I am 
 to Mr. Warton’s opinions, I will never suppress any dif- 
 ference from him ; nor did I conceive the smallest idea of 
 anything in your meaning but general laugh and comic 
 turn of writing. Acquitting you therefore of everything 
 but involuntary error on this subject, I pass to a like 
 circumstance in your idea of my edition of Camden, as if 
 it was to be a Collection of Dissertations by myself and 
 friends ; an idea so foreign to the original plan of Mr. 
 Camden. But, since you have ,geen through this error, 
 enough of the chapter of mistakes. Let me pass to that 
 of information. I shall thankfully receive all you offer on 
 Glueen’s County, or any other County ; and will insert it 
 in all the extent my plan admits. 
 
LEDWICH AND GOUGH CORRESPONDENCE. 855 
 
 te I agree with you that we sadly want a scientific work 
 on the Saxon and Gothic buildings ; but so much of that 
 science expired with my poor friend Essex,* that I despair 
 of seeing it revived ; not at all knowing what Mr. W. is 
 intending to say on that subject. 
 
 “ 1 have stated nothing about the literary society of 
 Ireland. Having solicited all needful intelligence respect- 
 ing Ireland from Ireland itself, my great concern is to 
 keep clear of all possible controversy about it, or its lite- 
 rature : matters of fact, not etymology, are my objects. 
 
 “ I wish I may be able to get a clear account of the 
 present Government, but I shall studiously avoid the 
 political opinions of contending parties. 
 
 “ If I can find conveyance and time, I will submit my 
 description of Ireland complete to my friends there, who 
 honour me with their correspondence ; among these I with 
 pleasure reckon Mr. Ledwich ; and am his obedient, 
 humble servant, R. Gough.’’ 
 
 Dr. Ledwich to Richard Gough, Esq. 
 
 “ SlR, Oldglas, Durrow, 31st Dec. 1787. 
 
 “ Agreeably to my promise, I send you a few pages of 
 Additions, which I could easily have extended, but I 
 observe you do not wish to dilate too much. However, 
 if you think more than I have sent necessary, I will with 
 great pleasure go on, for in reviewing those papers, which 
 I have not looked at these six years, I find I have very 
 ample materials for a Natural and Civil History of the 
 Queen’s County, which want of encouragement alone 
 prevents me from putting together, and even proceeding 
 with other counties. 
 
 “ I sincerely congratulate you on the prospect of com- 
 pleting a laborious but very valuable work ; a work 
 which will make you remembered with gratitude by every 
 lover of history and antiquities. 
 
 “ I assure you. Sir, I should have been extremely 
 happy did my studies embrace Irish topography : unfor- 
 tunately, on the present occasion they tend another way, 
 and I have never controlled my propensities, having no 
 other object but to indulge my genius. Can I on any 
 
 * Mr. James Essex. See Literary Anecdotes, vol. VI. p.625; vol. VII. 
 pp. 128, 562. 
 
856 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 other subject be useful to you ? command me, as I shall 
 be always ready to evince, with what truth and respect, I 
 am, Sir, your very humble and obedient servant, 
 
 “ Edward Ledwich.” 
 
 Mr. Gough to Dr. Ledwich. 
 
 ec SlR, Enfield, June 4, 1789. 
 
 “ Having at length brought the new edition of Cam- 
 den’s Britannia to a conclusion, I am to thank you hr 
 the kind assistance in the part which came immediately 
 under your notice, and to beg your acceptance of a copy 
 of that part of the work relating to Ireland ; and hope 
 to be favoured with your free criticisms and remarks. 
 i( I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 “ R. Gough.” 
 
 END OF YOL. VII. 
 

 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 

 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 yefc.. mi .. 
 
 
 

 
 R* T n /a 
 
 '■V~ •; 
 
 
 
 7m' '"~ ^®k< 
 
 *rs-im§In b&%. i 
 
BOSTON COLLEGE 
 
 UNIVERSIT^^BMWT 
 
 DOES NO' 
 
 Books may be kept for two weeks and may 
 be renewed for the same period, unless re- 
 served. 
 
 Two cents a day is charged for each book 
 kept overtime. 
 
 If you cannot find what you want, ask the 
 Librarian who will be glad to help you. ' 
 
 The borrower is responsible for books drawn 
 on his card and for all fines accruing on the 
 same.