strongest propensities was his love for animals; and he was surrounded by numerous favourites. The earliest I have on record were some cats; one, in particular, named Jerry Jerusalem, shortened into Jewsy, was the prototype of many others in the family. These cats had all their places at the good rector's table, and dined with him every day; proving the power which animals possess, when kindly educated, of accommodating themselves to new circumstances; for they were all very orderly, and waited to be helped in due turn. Trotty, the subject of this eulogy, was a spaniel of a whitish colour, who became a great favourite as early as 1799; and Spectre, also a spaniel, more of the water-dog variety, was a foundling who came soon afterwards. These fellows had their places at dinner on each side the rector, but outside of the cats; and whoever might come to dine at Boconnoc, the animals were never displaced. Not that, on this account, my uncle ever wanted society, which his high character both for goodness and affability of manners, as well as his scholarship, always insured to him.

"Scarcely was there a learned man in the county who did not occasionally dine at his hospitable board, and he, in return, visited them. He was known at Lostwithiel, Bodmin, Liskeard, and indeed in all that district of Cornwall, nearly round and as far as Warleggan, Menhenniet, Padstow, and St. Austel. His more particular friends were Sir Harry and Lady Trelawny, Mr. Borlase, Mr. Rashleigh, Mr. Trevennion, Mr. Cory, Mr. Kendall, and many other clergymen; besides Mr. John Coles, the talented steward of the estates of Sir John St. Aubyn; and he kept on a correspondence till late in life with his college friends, Mr. Gough, Mr. Haistwell, Baron Maseres, Mr. Palgrave, Mr. Tyson, and Mr. Gould. Toup, the editor of "Emendationes ad Suidam," sent him, at the instigation of Tom Warton, a handsomely bound copy of his work, as a testimony of marked respect. It was not till August, 1804, that I became acquainted with my great-uncle, when I was introduced to him, and stayed at his house with my father and family. Trotty and Spectre were then masters of the premises: they strutted about the woods and lanes together, and did as they liked both at home and abroad. They seemed to be joint consules; and one would have thought that the rector and his household were rather their subjects than their masters. Mr. Forster's fondness for all animals was carried to excess. His three horses-Loski, an active dark brown; Smiler, a large useful grey; and an old white horse called Tidy Ocean-were taken more care of than most people take of their children. In the tanks and tubs of water about the grounds were tame fish; and, nobody being allowed to annoy the birds with a gun, these vernal songsters filled the woods and groves with a delicious melody. Some of my happiest days were passed here. We rode about the country, and examined its botany and antiquities; and I particularly well remember, though a child, the early love for ancient remains which the windows of St. Neot's, the old house at Lanhydroc, and the castle of Restormel inspired me with.

"Early impressions are the most lasting; and the conversations of the worthy man, as we wandered about the woods of Pan's Parlour, or up the steeps of the Bastion Hill, evidently formed the basis of my future opinions. My uncle both conversed and preached against the sin of cruelty to animals; this was his forte; and the pointed wit with which he used to satirise the superstition and bigotry of his contemporaries, particularly the members of his cloth, was compensated by his extreme good humour, graceful manners, and the utter absence of ill-will to anybody. Many a time, when I have come home after a long ride from Polperro or Lanhivit, the question asked was, not whether I or the ladies were tired, but whether I thought they had tired their horses. My uncle had a prodigious distaste to farms and country habits; and explained this by saying, that the animals on farms were not kept for their own sakes, but to be slaughtered and eaten. He liked to see the gallant chanticleer strut to the barn door and crow at daybreak as well as anybody could do; but in farms the murderous hands of the dairymaid were associated with the idea of poultry; and he hated the very grunt of a farm pig, and the lowing of the farm cattle, as much as he did the bleating of a wattled flock of sheep at nightfall, because he could not get rid of the notion that they were in a false position, and that we were in a worse, who had no right to keep them for our eating.

"The good rector died December 2, 1805; and in his will his animals were provided for. Trotty died about the same time; but Spectre, a fine spaniel, was brought up to Walthamstow, where he lived many years; and the Governor of the Russia Company wrote some elegant Lines on him, when, by chance, he was left out of a list of his dogs.

"Despising the mendacious hand of the lapidary biographer, Mr. B. Forster ordered that an old stone found in a Cornish church, and inscribed FVI, should be his only gravestone; and to his family and friends, he

"Bid fair Peace to be their sable shroud."

"A child of nature, and despiser of the superstition, hypocrisy, and folly of mankind."*

The following letters, addressed to the Rev. Benjamin Forster, have been presented to me for publication by my friend Dr. Thomas Forster, who thought them worthy of preservation.

"Mr. BARON MASERES† to Rev. BENJ. FORSter. "DEAR SIR,

Inner Temple, July 14, 1788. "I write this from a desire of knowing what has been done by your friends in Cornwall and Devonshire towards encouraging the

* Dr. T. Forster's "Letters of the Forster Family," vol. ii. Preface, pp. vi.-ix.

† Baron Maseres died May 19, 1824, in his 93rd year. See memoir of him in Gent. Mag. 1824, pp. 569, 573, and a long Latin epitaph of him at Reigate in Gent. Mag. 1825, i. 207. There is an excellent portrait of him by Hayter, engraved by Audinet. See also Index to Literary Anecdotes, Vol. VII. p. 625.

industrious poor to buy life-annuities to support themselves in their old age. Your brother Edward has told me that he has sent you down my two pamphlets on the subject, and my treatise on Life-Annuities, in which the very Act that passed the House of Commons is printed verbatim. Do your Members of Parliament and Justices approve of it? It was the result of, I believe, eight or nine meetings at Sir George Savile's house, for two or three hours at a time, of some of the ablest members of the House of Commons, in the winter 1772 and spring 1773: and I do not think it would be easy to change it for the better. Dr. Priestley told me, a year or two ago, that his wife's brother, Mr. Wilkinson, a great manufacturer at Birmingham, was desirous of carrying such a plan into execution for his workmen; but I have not heard what has been done in it.

"I hope you continue in good health and spirits, and in full possession of your eyesight, and that you will not be obliged from that cause to come again to London, though I shall be very happy to see you here if you came every spring, or every other spring, for a month or two, which I should think a very natural and reasonable practice.

"Our friend Cay is vastly the better in his health and spirits for having given up his employment in the Excise; insomuch that all his friends agree that he has judged rightly for himself in giving it up, though most other people would have been very unwilling to part with it.

"The appeal of the Fellows of Clare Hall against Dr. Torkington, the master of the College, has been determined by the Duke of Grafton, with Dr. Wynne and Dr. Calvert for his assessors, in their favour; which I hope will restore the peace of the college, which has for this year or two been sadly disturbed. Eight Fellows had voted for a Mr. Bourdieu to be a Fellow of the College, and the Master and four Fellows had voted for Mr. Torkington, the Master's nephew. The Master refused to admit Mr. Bourdieu notwithstanding his majority of votes, and pretended that he had a negative upon the election of any Fellow, let the number of votes for him be what it will. This pretension (which was quite new) has now been overruled by the Chancellor of the University and his assessors, and Dr. Torkington is required by the decree to admit Mr. Bourdieu to the Fellowship.

"I propose to spend a few days at Walthamstow with your eldest brother at the latter end of this week. I find it impossible to persuade him to go only 22 miles from London to see me at Reigate, notwithstanding the road is as good as possible, and the country extremely pleasant, and such a one as he likes, that is, hilly in a moderate degree, so as to diversify the views.

"Your most obedient and humble Servant,
"FRANCIS MASERES."

"P.S.-I shall return to Reigate about the 2nd or 3rd of August, and stay there for the remainder of the summer."

Letters from the Rev. Thomas WARTON,* Professor of Poetry, to the Rev. B. FORSTER:

1.

"SIR,

"Trin. Coll. Oxon. March 8, 1785. "I am much obliged to you for your letter respecting Mr. Toup's papers. I have communicated its contents to the Delegates of the University Press, and will soon send you their determination. If you please, the letters may remain till I have spoken to the parties concerned.

2.

"I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, T. WARTON." "SIR, "Trin. Coll. Oxon. March 17, 1785. "The Delegates of the Press are very willing to purchase Mr. Toup's critical papers; but before we treat we wish to see them. If, therefore, you will please to send them directed to me, I will take care that none shall be copied, and that they shall be all carefully kept together, and returned in case they should not be purchased. We are told that among Mr. Toup's printed books is our late edition of Euripides,† with many of Mr. Toup's manuscript insertions. We beg the favour of you to reserve this book for us, which we would buy.

"I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, T. WARTON." "P.S. From Plymouth to Exeter, thence to Bath, and thence to Oxford, is a safe and speedy conveyance by the coaches." 3. "SIR, "Trin. Coll. Oxon. April 14th, 1785. "I should have acknowledged your repeated favours before, but waited for a Press-Board, which, consisting of eleven persons, is not to be procured without some delays.

"I am desired by the Vice-Chancellor and Board of Delegates of the Press, to return their most grateful thanks to Miss Blake for her very valuable and liberal present of Mr. Toup's papers to the University. I am also personally bound to thank Miss Blake for her intended present to me of Mr. Toup's copy of my Theocritus.

"I have received the papers on Polybius, which are much larger and more fair than I expected. They are marked with Mr. Toup's usual acumen. They will immediately be consigned to the care of the Editor of our Polybius.

"All due attention will be paid to the other papers when they arrive. I think with you, that Strabo's Epigrams may be withheld, as we have already two copies of them in the Bodleian Library. I find that at Exeter College they have no fund for purchasing books. You may, however (if you please), send the Strabo to me privately, I mean sealed up, as I wish just to see how far your copy agrees with what we have. I will return the parcel carefully. With compliments to Miss Blake,

"I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, T. WARTON. * See account of the Rev. Thomas Warton, first Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and of his works, in Lit. An. VI. 175-186, and numerous entries relative to him in Index, vol. VII. pp. 455, 704. Literary Illustrations, Index, vol. VIII. p. 115,

† Edited by Samuel Musgrave. Oxon. 1778.

+ Oxon. 1770.

"P.S. Since this letter was written, I have received your favour, dated 12th instant, which shall be answered particularly, when the papers come to hand."

4. "SIR,

"Trin. Coll. Oxon. May 2nd, 1785.

"I have just received a box of Mr. Toup's papers from your brother's in town. The Delegates of the Press hope Miss Blake will accept of a copy of the Oxford edition of Shakespeare, as a small testimony of her generosity and their gratitude.

"With many thanks from the Board for your kind attention in this business, "I am, with great respect, Sir,

5.

"Your most obedient servant, T. WARTON." "DEAR SIR, "Winchester, May 20, 1785. "I fear you will think me remiss in the acknowledgment of your favours. I left Oxford for this place, on some urgent business, on Wednesday last; but the day before received from the hands of Mr. Morshead, of Exeter College, two large packets, in blue covers, of Mr. Toup's papers, which answer the catalogue in your last. I will return the Strabo, and deliver the other papers to the Delegates of the Press.

"The Lives of the legendary Saints, which Sir J. Morshead thought to be in my possession, are in a manuscript of the Bodleian; otherwise I would have sent them to you without delay. But I will look for the Saints you mention when I return to Oxford next Friday. Wishing you much success in your design of engraving the windows of St. Neot's church,

6.

"I am, dear Sir, your most obedient servant, T. WARTON." "Trin. Coll. Oxon. June 11th, 1785.

"DEAR SIR,

"I should have answered your last favour before, but could not procure a Press-Board till yesterday. The Delegates most readily comply with your excellent proposal, of paying for the monument to Mr. Toup intended by Miss Blake; but wish to know what inscription is designed, as they would insert that the monument was erected at their expense, and for favours received. At the same time, they hope she will accept the Shakespeare, which is now ready to be sent. With many thanks for the new light you have thrown on my note, "I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, T. WARTON." "" "Winton, July 24, 1785.

7.

"DEAR SIR, "Since I had the favour of your last, I have waited to procure a Board, which I now find cannot be effected till the end of next October. The Epitaph is very just and proper, and the form you mention for the additional part will undoubtedly be followed. The whole, I think, will be completed by Christmas next. When I return to Oxford, I will attend closely to the business. You will be kind enough to pardon my delay in not answering your letter, for the reasons here given.

แ Many thanks for your excellent improvement on my note on "I am, dear Sir,

'Lycidas.'

"Your most faithful humble servant, T. WARTON."

* The Epitaph on Mr. Toup is printed in Literary Anecdotes, II. 341.