writings I saw evident marks of his genius and benevolence, but who that indulges serious reflection can read his obscenity and ill-applied passages of Holy Scripture, without horror! but enough on this theme. "I lately received a very polite letter from the elegant Dr. Hawkesworth, whose edition of Telemachus is at length printed off, and will be published as soon as the hurry of elections is over. I promise myself great entertainment from the perusal of this new translation by a person whose oriental tales in the Adventurer are much in the manner of Fenelon. I have requested the Doctor to mention my name in his list of subscribers, but not to make the addition to it of a title to which neither by birth nor fortune I have any claim. * "I have the less inclination to see the cabinet of preserved birds, as I have twice already visited; but the company of one (whose absence for so long an interval is become disagreeable) will I believe induce me to take a walk to Charlotte-row in a few days. The cabinet was last summer much repaired; several birds had lost their plumage, and seemed to sit in that despondence which the descriptive Bard mentions in his Seasons. • Est ce pour les oiseaux, Seigneur, que vous avez uni ensemble tant de miracles qu'ils ne connoissent point? Est ce pour des hommes qui n'y pensent pas ? Est ce pour des curieux qui se contentent de les admirer, sans remonter jusqu'à vous? et n'est il pas visible que votre dessein a été de nous rappeller à vous par un tel spectacle, de nous rendre sensibles votre providence et votre sagesse infinie, et de nous remplir de confiance en votre bonté, si attentive et si tendre pour des oiseaux, dont une couple ne vaut qu'une obole?' I hope to be excused for adding these remarks of the sensible and judicious Rollin, as they naturally occurred to my thoughts when meditating on this subject. "I have had little time or opportunity to employ in the diverting and instructive study of botany of late; and indeed begin to fear, however fond I am of it, I shall never become a proficient in it. Linnæus seems to have so perplexed his system (though the rigid admirer of the Swedish herbalist would scarce pardon that word), that it requires much pains and assiduous application to read his works with any degree of profit. "One of the chief advantages of this science appears to be To shine the giddy meteor of an hour. Ah! you have talents,-do not misapply; For all the filth diffus'd and evil you have done. * Esquire. This modest man, like many of his unassuming sect. shunned all titular distinctions; he wished only to be designated Mr. Joseph Cockfield. the power of assisting and relieving our fellow creatures when languishing on the bed of disease. It has been the opinion of some (and does not reason seem to pronounce that opinion just?) that every climate produces plants which are specific remedies for the diseases of that climate; thus in England, where the inhabitants are afflicted severely with scorbutic complaints, the cochleria, or scurvy-grass, grows in great abundance. But I have not leisure nor inclination to add any thing more to this already too desultory letter. Favour me with a line the first opportunity; and believe me with undiminished friendship, "Le plus sincere et affectionné, &c. &c. J. C." 32. "MY DEAR FRIEND, Upton, April 4, 1768. "I have sent on the other side a corrected transcript of my Hermitage Verses, which as they now stand are less liable to censure than the former printed copy. Most of these corrections were made by the advice of my poetical friend at Amwell, whose good taste and fine genius are equalled by few, but whose extensive benevolence must entitle him to the praise of all his acquaintance. "When shall we meet at the Museum? I hope Dr. Gifford is recovered from his indisposition, and will favour with his company through the several departments of that inestimable repository, Index, and his curious friend; on a day or two's previous notice I should be glad to devote an afternoon to so pleasing a visit. Write to me soon on this subject. The minutest insect is an object not unworthy our attention, since nature's great author has finished even the reptile creation with the most exquisite skill. May we, my dear friend, incited by every spectacle of wonder and awe, yield to this great Being the tribute of unfeigned gratitude, and praise him not only with the organs of speech which he has formed, but with our lives. "But I have done. I hope we shall not, by these unavoidable avocations, be so long separate as of late it has been our lot to be. I am most affectionately, &c. J. C. "Written at the Hermitage at Aldersbrook, 1760. The grove of tall elms and the silver spring; Blame not the man who these his choice has made. Hast thou not heard that in a venal age, Fam'd Scipio* from the walls of Rome withdrew, * At Linternum: see Cowley's Essays. Nunquam minus solus quàm cùm solus, was his constant favourite adage. T ། 33. "MY DEAR FRIEND, April 16, 1768. "I saw our friend Mr. Dorrien of Ham to-day, who has engaged himself to pass an afternoon here when he has leisure and convenience. I esteem him to be a sensible, amiable, young man, and shall be glad to cultivate his friendship. "I suppose Mr. Parkhurst's Lexicon will not remain much longer in the printer's hands. Dr. Sharpe, Master of the Temple, has lately published a little Treatise to facilitate the knowledge of the Greek tongue; his book contains a series of letters to a young nobleman, and towards the conclusion remarks on the alphabet, which show the Doctor's deep erudition and eminent critical abilities. 66 Returning from a walk the other evening, I met Mr. Courcelles; he invited me to see his little apartment, which contained, like that of Elijah, a bed, a stool, and a candlestick. I staid some time with him, and could not help thinking in my way to Upton, that content is often the attendant of men in the lower spheres of life, even when they have no superfluity at all." 34. "To Mr. BUTLER, at Dr. Dodd's, at Whitton, near Hounslow. "MY DEAR FRIEND, July 11, 1768. "Just on his own recovery, a melancholy letter from my worthy friend Scott informed me his wife was relapsed, and thought by the physicians to be in imminent danger. I paid him a visit on the occasion, and found her worse; she departed this life on the 26th instant, regretted by her acquaintance, and to the inexpressible loss of her husband *. "I hope your new situation at Whitton answers your expectation, and proves agreeable. To those resident for a long winter in town such a country retreat cannot fail to be salubrious. I am only sorry the remoteness of that village hinders us from seeing each other so frequently as we, I dare say, both wish. "I have not been able to find the lines quoted from Mason in the manuscript that I have lately read over in his Elfrida. The Natural History + is far too laconic, and may be in many * The first wife of John Scott, of Amwell, (before noticed in p. 764,) was Sarah, daughter of his friend Charles Frogley. They were married in 1767; and she died in the following year, after having given birth to a child, who survived only a few weeks; see p. 787. † A Letter on Natural History, by Mr. Cockfield; see p. 775. places much improved. Trivial compliments must by all means be erased. I have wrote a new dedication. Who is the Mr. Tasselyn mentioned, p. 47? I intend, ere long, to pay another visit to the Museum, and will then endeavour to improve the whole, conscious at the same time how very imperfect the best account of that noble Repository must necessarily be. J. C." 66 35. Aug. 8, 1768. "I returned last week from Hertfordshire, having had the satisfaction to find my valued acquaintance at Amwell more resigned to the late melancholy event that has happened in his family than I suspected. Happy those who study the science of dying, and by every dispensation of this awful kind are made sensible of their extreme imbecility, and taught to contemplate with unremitted diligence the scenes of immortality †. "I have heard nothing of late of the Lexicographer ‡ of Epsom and his work? but I should imagine from all circumstances that the book is almost ready for public inspection. I was lately informed, that another defender of the Christian faith §' was about to enter into the lists with the Catholics, and had sent to the press a Sermon against Popery; I want to have the reports confirmed from one who has the oversight of his manuscript minutiæ . "I have really been so hurried by indispensible business in town for three weeks past, that my wonted literary affairs have been neglected. The Manuscript Dialogues in the Museum remain in the same incorrect condition as when I last wrote. An unhappy poor person, who was formerly my schoolmaster, partly through the hardship of the times, and in a good degree through his own misconduct, was lately under confinement. Motives of humanity and duty induced me to exert myself in his behalf. I went to all his creditors, collected all his debts (there was an auction of his effects), paid them ten shillings in *Moriendi scientia. Seneca. "He who best knows our nature (for He made us what we are) by such afflictions recalls us from our wandering thoughts and idle merriment; from the insolence of youth and prosperity to serious reflection to our duty and to himself; nor need we hasten to get rid of these impressions, time (by appointment of the same power) will cure the smart, 'and in some hearts will soon blot out all the traces of sorrow; but such as preserve them longest, for it is partly left in our own power, do perhaps best asquiesce in the will of the Chastiser." Gray's Letter to Rev. N. Nicholls. "I have seen the scene you describe, and know how dreadful it is; I know, too, I am the better for it. We are all idle and thoughtless things, and have no sense, no use in the world any longer than that sad impression lasts; the deeper it is engraved the better." Gray's Letter to Mason, Dec. 26, 1753. Popery inconsistent with the natural rights of men in general, and of Englishmen in particular, 1768," 8vo. the pound, and after satisfying the attorney for the arrest (with a long et-cætera), procured his release. It would give me pleasure at all times thus to assist the indigent and friendless, who, having no place to lay their heads and none to commiserate their unfortunate lot, are, in the hour of exigence, often the prey of abandoned vice and rapacious cruelty. "My friend Dimsdale is gone to Petersburgh to inoculate the Empress Queen and the Grand Duke of Courland; it is considered by most people as a very hazardous enterprise. It is there said the small-pox is extremely epidemic in the city, and there is great hazard of their Majesties' taking the natural disease ere he can arrive; he went away with great cheerfulness and gaiety*. "Adieu! J. C." * Dr. Dimsdale's full success in this expedition is well known. After the grand object of his journey had been brought to a favourable termi. nation, for which he was materially indebted to the resolute firmness of the heroic Catherine, the Empress rewarded his services with extraordinary munificence. She appointed him actual Counsellor of State and Physician to her Imperial Majesty, with an annuity of £.500 sterling; conferred on him the title of Baron of the Russian Empire, to be borne by him and the eldest of his lawful descendants in succession; gave him L.10,000 sterling, and £.2000 for the expenses of his journey to and from St. Petersburgh; and presented him with miniature pictures of herself and of the Grand Duke. His second son, Nathaniel, who accompanied him in his journey, was honoured with the same title; and was presented by the Grand Duke with a superb gold snuff-box richly set with diamonds. Her Imperial Majesty was further pleased to grant to them and their lawful descendants permission to add to their family arms a black wing of the spread eagle of the Imperial Russian arms, in a gold shield placed in the centre, with the customary helmet over the shield, adorned with the Baron's coronet; and a patent was accordingly made out, embellished with her Majesty's portrait and several beautiful ornaments, and presented to them. Afterwards, a considerable number of persons of the first respectability were inoculated with great success at St. Petersburgh, and the satisfaction which this event afforded to the Russian people induced her Imperial Majesty humanely to require him to undertake a journey to Moscow for the same purpose, with which order he complied; and there also many of the nobility and principal inhabitants availed themselves of the maternal attention of the Empress to the safety of their children. The munificence of the Empress was materially enhanced by the implicit confidence she was pleased to place in the Baron; who was invited by her to take up his residence in Russia, with an assurance that every accommodation which he could desire. should be provided by her Majesty; but his fond anxiety to return into the bosom of his own family, to discharge his parental duties, obliged him to decline these very honourable offers. In his way through Berlin, on his return home with his son, the late Frederick the Third of Prussia invited him by his Prime Minister to Sans-souci, where he was received with the greatest attention and honoured with a private audience. The Baron was also at this time solicited to inoculate several distinguished personages on the continent, but he preferred returning home immediately to his native country. In 1776 he published "Thoughts on General and Partial Inoculation," a work containing a translation of two treatises written when the author was at St. Petersburgh, and published by command of her Imperial Majesty in the Russian lan3 E VOL. V. |