family can give, it afforded some consolation. To visit what I have pretended to describe, is, I fear, out of my power. The shortness of time for which our Westminster Vacations last makes it next to impossible to think of it; and it still is my fate to be at the oar. However, thus far I will say should it so happen that I ever should come to Ireland, Dromore will be the first place in my thoughts. I beg to be remembered to those of your family who remember me; and am, with all respect, your Lordship's obedient servant, EDWARD SMEDLEY."

Donaghadee, Sept. 3, 1810.

Rev. Dr. RENNIE to Bishop PERCY. "MY LORD, "In consequence of publishing some Essays on the Natural History of Peat Moss,* which met the approbation of the Board of Agriculture, &c. I have been appointed to survey the Bogs of Scotland, England, and Ireland. In this arduous task I have been engaged for two months.

"Accustomed from my youth to look up to you as a bright ornament to your country, equally distinguished by literature and every amiable virtue that can adorn your high rank, I was ambitious of the honour of an interview with your Lordship. With this view, I had obtained letters of introduction from the President of the Board of Agriculture; but while I was at Collen on Saturday I received letters from Scotland which oblige me to hasten my return, without having it in my power to show that respect which I feel for your talents and virtue, and that veneration so justly due to your rank and years.

"I regret this the more, as I have reason to believe that in your Lordship's cabinet I might have seen some valuable specimens of the petrified and bituminated wood of Loch Neagh, that might have thrown much light on the natural history of that district.

"As I have had occasion to notice these productions in one of my Essays already published, and as I wish to procure the most ample and correct information on the subject,

* "Essays on the Natural History and Origin of Peat Moss: the peculiar Qualities of that substance; the means of improving it as a soil; the methods of converting it into a manure; and other economical purposes to which it may be converted. 1808." 8vo.

I hope that your Lordship will forgive me for dropping these few lines as I depart from Ireland.

"If my work ever falls into your Lordship's hands, I hope you will correct any errors with regard to the petrifactions, &c. of Loch Neagh. By doing so you may serve the public, and confer a most singular favour on your Lordship's most obedient, faithful servant, ROB. RENNIE."

Lord ELLENBOROUGH* to Bishop PERCY.
"St. James's Square, Dec. 3, 1810.

"Lord Ellenborough presents his compliments to the Bishop of Dromore, and, in deference to his Lordship's recommendation, very readily subscribes for himself and Lady Ellenborough for the picture mentioned in the within Proposals. He has lately received from Ireland a picture by the deceased artist, Mr. Robinson, of his brother the Bishop of Elphin ;† it is some likeness of him, but not a very good one; and Lord Ellenborough has some intention of having it retouched, and, if possible, improved here. He begs to be informed when and where he may pay his subscriptions in England; he could contrive, if necessary, to have the money paid for him in Ireland by Mr. Hackett, the late Bishop of Elphin's executor."

"SIR,

Bishop PERCY to Mr. JOHN JONES.

Saturday.

"I received the favour of your packet, which contains a great deal of good advice for the discharge of my duty as a Bishop, and calls upon me by many arguments, which were not wanted, to do that which I never omit (as you say, you discovered by accident, after your letter was written). In return for so much kindness, I hope you will allow me to offer one piece of advice to you, as an author, which is, never to descant on any subject relating to matter of fact, till you know whether the fact exists; much less pass a censure, till you are sure it is deserved.

Sir Edward Law, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench; created Baron Ellenborough in 1802; died Dec. 13, 1818. See memoir of him in Gent. Mag. for Jan. 1819, p. 83.

Bishop John Law. See Literary Illustrations, vol VII. p. 703.

"A little inquiry would have informed you that the Bishops are now stipulating with Trinity College for an improvement in the preparation of candidates for orders, by requiring them to attend lectures and read books (of which the Bishops are delivering in a list), which cannot but operate to the benefit of the Church. T. Dromore."

دو

1811.

Mrs. WEST to Bishop PERCY.

"MY DEAR LORD,

Doncaster, Nov. 18, 1810. As, with proper attention to the laws of our God and our country, we have only travelled one stage to day, and find my head so clear as to be able to form an intelligible letter, I am resolved no longer to repress the feelings of gratitude and pleasure which arise from recollecting my most agreeable visit to Dromore. I shall ever treasure in my mind the scenery, the inhabitants, the kindnesses I received, and the information I acquired: in the last respect I have to lament that this high treat was not afforded me at an earlier period of my life, before my brain became too dry to retain the instruction, to which I still listen with eagerness, but with only a limited power of converting it into mental stores. Had it been my lot to have passed a part of my early life where I might have occasionally enjoyed your conversation, I flatter myself I should have been better deserving the commendations which your partiality now bestows upon me. Shall I say, fortunately forgetting that constellation of wit, science, and learning, among which you passed your early life, you kindly consider me, not as what I am, but as what I might have been, had my situation permitted me to devote myself entirely to the Muses, instead of having my mind occupied with cares, and my hands with the needle? If a more intimate acquaintance with my character has not destroyed the illusion which the oddity of a writing housewife imparted to my works, I shall call myself truly fortunate, and will hope to be remembered by your Lordship and the much-respected inhabitants of Dromore in the light of a friend, highly flattered by the attention so liberally bestowed, and desirous, as far as my small power extends, to shew that they are not bestowed on an

ungrateful or unreflecting character. As long as my mind possesses the powers of discrimination, I must consider the month I spent at Dromore as one of the pleasant epochs of my life.

"You recollect, my Lord, the conversations I frequently held with you, respecting the sort of publication to which I should next direct my attention, and I still adhere to the idea of a novel, formed on a plan to recommend loyal and constitutional principles: the date to be about the time of the great Rebellion. As the plan of most of my former novels was to condemn what was wrong, I felt obliged by principle to give a melancholy termination; but, as in this my leading aim would be to recommend what is right, of course I must attach such a share of good fortune to correct principles as will induce imitation on worldly motives; my novel must therefore spin out to the Restoration. in the books that are read to you, or from the stores of your own mind, any hints should arise that might assist me, or if you should recollect any author who would guide me in the adaptation of manners suited to that age, I will rely on your goodness to let me know.

If

"In determining to think of a novel, I do not lose sight of the poem Mr. Boyd named to me. It is often a relief, when writing a long work, to take off the mind to another; and a line of poetry and prose intermingled will make a sort of layer pudding, which I think excellent food. If therefore Mr. Boyd could, without much trouble (or any unfairness to the designs of another author), procure me a sight of Deardra, I should feel an addition to the obligations which I received from his politeness when at Dromore.

"Most truly and devotedly, your most obedient servant, and obliged friend, JANE WEST."

Bishop PERCY to Mrs. WEST.

"Jan. 5, 1811.

"The Bishop of Dromore presents his kind respects to Mrs. West, whose obliging letter from Doncaster, containing a very entertaining and interesting account of her travels through Scotland and the North of England, ought long since to have been acknowledged; but he deferred writing, in hopes something might occur to him on the subject of her next intended novel, which she so

judiciously proposes shall afford an encouragement for loyalty and a reward for merit, by terminating happily in some worthy sufferer for the Royal cause, from the prosperous result of the Restoration. The more he has considered the subject, the more he is convinced of its propriety and adaptation to her views, as well as to the present times; yet no particular incident or character for her choice has fallen within his notice since she left him; but Lord Clarendon's History of the Rebellion might probably afford her both. That excellent writer, whom Warburton calls Lord Chancellor of Human Nature,' has given so large a display of the events which occurred at that period, and so copious a delineation of the characters concerned in it, that Mrs. West will probably find something of each fit for her purpose.

"Mrs. West has doubtless been secretly diverted with the Bishop's fondness for genealogical researches. She will not therefore be surprised if he is not a little proud that his young grandchildren are lineally descended from that great statesman and historian; for Lady Clanwilliam's grandmother was daughter of Edward Earl of Clarendon, his immediate descendant and representative.

"On the subject of Deardra, Mr. Boyd fears it will not be in his power to comply with her wishes, much as he would be desirous to gratify them, for Mr. Stott has already appropriated the subject, and made a considerable advance in its completion; but if he can discover any other original production of the old Irish Bards he will secure it for her, being at all times happy to obey her commands, as indeed will be every person here, who will always remember with pleasure the entertainment and instruction they derived from her conversation. Stott, who is one of her very sincere admirers, dined here yesterday, and expressed in very strong terms the pleasure he has derived from her Refusal,' which he has been perusing, and in which he observed with great justice the nice discriminations of character and the very superior knowledge of the human passions displayed in that work. He is forming a selection of his little poetical Escapes, which will form an elegant repast for a reader of taste,"

Mr.