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 MEMOIRS 
 
 LIFE AND WRITINGS 
 
 SAMUEL PARR, LL.D 
 
 PREBENDARY OF ST. PAUL'S, CURATE OF HATTON, &c. 
 
 A SELECTION FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE, 
 BY 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, M.D. 
 
 FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY, AND OF THE KOYAL COLLEOE OF 
 PHYSICIANS OF LONDON, &C. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, 
 
 25, PARLIAMENT-STREET. 
 
 1828.
 
 J. D, NK:I10I.S and son, 25, I'AULIAMENTSTREET.
 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Chapter. Page. 
 
 I. From 1746 to 1776 . . . .3 
 
 11. From 1777 to 1786 . . . .93 
 
 III. From 1786 to 1790 . . . .175 
 
 IV. Bampton Lectures .... 216 
 V. Tracts of Warburton and a Warbm'tonian . 290 
 
 VI. Regency — Birmingham Sermons — Test Act . 327 
 VII. Sequel — Letter to Irenopolis, &c. . . 363 
 
 VIII. Wadenhoe — H. Homer — Var. Horace — Dr. 
 
 Combe . . . . .407 
 
 IX. Politics— Frend—Gerrald, &c. . . 438 
 
 X. French Revolution — Pursuits of Literature — 
 Persecutions on account of Politics — Death 
 of Sir William Jones — Bishop of Cloyne 458 
 
 XI. Irish Politics — the Alexanders — Annuity — 
 
 Warwick Meetings .... 490 
 XII. Spital Sermon — Alderman Combe — Mr. God- 
 win — Dr. Samuel Butler — Dr. Burney — Dr. 
 Charles Parr Burney — Amanuenses — John 
 Bartlam— Mr. E. H. Barker— Mr. Shackleton 512
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter. Page. 
 
 XII. B. Graffhara— Sir Francis Burdett— Fast Ser- 
 mon — Change of Ministry — Mr. Robert 
 Adair— Mr. Fox's Death . . 560 
 
 XIII. General Fitzpatrick — Death of Mr. Fox — 
 
 Lord Holland and Lord Grenville — Sir 
 Tliomas Tyrwhitt — Mr. Coke — Living of 
 Buckingham — Lord Chedworth — Rev. Mr. 
 Eyre . . . . .580 
 
 XIV. Philopatris Varvicensis — Letters from Dr. 
 
 Parr, to Mr. Coke — Letters from Mr. Fox, 
 to Dr. Parr . . . .607 
 
 XV. Persons protected .... 627 
 XVI. Family Affairs . . . .633 
 
 XVII. Toleration — Religious Opinions . . 654 
 
 XVIII. Metaphysical studies — Projected publication 
 of Collier's Clavis Universalis — Hartley — 
 Copleston — Dugald Stewart . . 700 
 
 XIX. Terentianus Maurus, &c. . . . 723 
 
 XX. Reviews — Magazines — Parr's lighter Poeti- 
 cal Compositions — Assistance given to Au- 
 thors . . . . .737 
 XXI. Inscriptions ..... 755 
 XXII. Queen Caroline . . . . 766 
 
 XXIII. Journeys — Acquaintance — Correspondence 771 
 
 XXIV. Second Marriage — Reconciliation to his 
 
 Grand-children — Habits — Manners . 809 
 
 XXV. Latter-days— Death . . .833
 
 MEMOIR S. 
 
 VOL. 1.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 From 1746/0 1770. 
 
 The papers loft by the late Rev. Dr. Samuel 
 Parr, and left by bini without any limitation to the 
 Rev. John Lynes, may be divided into three classes. 
 
 First. Irregular series of narrative, or detailed 
 relations of facts, or scraps ; sometimes entering 
 into minute family or personal history, and some- 
 times enlarging or reasoning upon events connected 
 with them. 
 
 Secondly. A collection of letters from himself 
 fo the most distinguished persons of the age, and 
 from the most distinguished persons of the age to 
 him, which, if they could be minutely looked over 
 and published in order, would in themselves be an 
 ample history of his life. 
 
 Thirdly. A vast mass of critical, metaphysical, 
 historical, political, and theological discussion. 
 
 These sources of information are invaluable in 
 establishing the certainty of facts, and in connect- 
 ing them together from the beginning to the end of 
 Dr. Parr's life — they ure invaluable as a history of 
 his friends, and in part, of the literary period in 
 which he lived. Even of the tradition of the times 
 
 b2
 
 4 MEMOIRS. 
 
 just before, there are some memorials. There are 
 parts of works which he intended to complete ; and, 
 among others, had he fulfilled his intentions in re- 
 ijard to a biographical account of his friend Dr. 
 Robert Suumer, and his ac(juaintance Dr. Samuel 
 Johnson,* we may fairly conclude, from his pre- 
 eminent learning and intellectual capacity, no works 
 
 * In Bibliotheca Parriana there are two pages of books set 
 apart for Johnson's Life. The materials for the Life of Sum- 
 ner, in their present unfinished state would fill a large volume. 
 
 " In regard to Johnson's Life I shall probably write it some 
 day or other. But I will not begin till I am master of my own 
 time. I shall write it in the spirit of a scholar. Moreover I 
 have not read more than one lialf of Sir John Hawkins, whose 
 book I met with at Crewe Hall. It was dull and confused, and 
 impertinent, and Illiterate, and with all these faults, it some how 
 or other interested me. Well, when these shallow fellows have 
 done writing, I perhaps shall begin to write, and not before." — 
 
 Parr to Homer, Nov. 20th, I7S8. 
 
 Extract of a Letter from Mr. Thomas, George-Street, Editor 
 of the Courier, to Dr. Parr, dated 
 
 2, I'hanct Place, Temple Bar, 
 
 DEAR SIR, ' ' / ' 
 
 Jan. 20, 1797. 
 
 The last part of your letter I consider as perfectly confi- 
 dential — confidential it shall remain with me, I give you my 
 word of honour. What think you of such a paragraph as the 
 following? It would seem to be a piece of intelligence, and 
 would also convey to the world information of your intentions. 
 
 The Life of Johnson, such as ought to be written^ com- 
 prising a profound and critical view of literature for half a 
 century, is still a desideratum in literature. Dr. Parr, we had 
 hoped would have undertaken the task, for we know of no man 
 so well qualified for it, but the Doctor's time is at present oc- 
 cupied, not less usefully certainly, rn the education of a select 
 number of young gentlemen in his pleasant retirement near 
 Warwick.
 
 MEMOIRS. 5 
 
 of the kind, would have comprised a larger quan- 
 tity of interesting and instructive matter. 
 
 We have to regret, however, that these intentions 
 were not fulfilled. The materials for the Life of 
 Johnson were compiled only in a selection of books 
 set apart for the purpose in his library, and the Life 
 of Sumner, though it did not die in the conception, 
 was only brought partially to maturity. 
 
 Of what Dr. Parr could impart concerning him- 
 self, the notices are so ample as to leave little to be 
 desired. In these notices we have him a writer of 
 two Sermons at Norwich, his first avowed publica- 
 tions, in the year 1780 ; then as Phileleuthcrus Nor- 
 folciensis ; then the eloquent advocate of education, 
 wuth many other displays of his vigorous and ma- 
 tured intellect, down to his posthumous work, the 
 Letter to Dr. Milner. 
 
 It is to be lamented, that w^e find him too often 
 appearing as a controversialist, on questions of a 
 personal nature. Yet even here, he is redeemed 
 from tlie general imputation cast on such disputants. 
 
 The whole strength of his mind is seen in full 
 display, and he has contrived to deck the page of 
 controversy, with the fairest flowers of learning. 
 
 Perhaps Dr. Parr intended to leave the whole of 
 what he wrote for the consideration of certain 
 
 Pray send me word whether the above meets your ideas. 
 I will put it into the Courier without" any expence to you. 
 I am, with respect and gratitude, 
 
 your very obliged servant, 
 
 T. G. Street.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 learned men who were in his confidence, that the 
 history of everything he did, might be fairly investi- 
 gated from a vast mass of papers left behind him. 
 But, unhappily, since the death of Mr. John Bart- 
 lam, (who from the beginning to the end of his life 
 in 1823, was in his confidence,) no one can give an 
 exact account of his wishes, so contradictory are 
 his directions. He said more than once to Mr. 
 Lynes, who was the depositary of his last verbal 
 directions, " burn them all ;" but this occasional or- 
 der is countermanded by the peremptory written 
 direction to preserve such and such papers — care- 
 fidhf to preserve others — to publish some, and 
 among the Sermons several are written out, and 
 many, very many, are bundled together with the 
 express desire that they may be examined by those 
 literary friends, who are finally to determine about 
 printing them. 
 
 It seems to have been Dr. Parr's practice never to 
 destroy a paper. When writing for himself, or for 
 others, he made notes, scribbled without arrangement 
 upon sheets or slips which he huddled together 
 with the main work. Now of these notes, the works 
 to which they were intended to belong being removed, 
 it is so difficult to find out the meaning, or the rela- 
 tion, that I fear much valuable matter will be lost. 
 Enough, and more than enough, still exists in these 
 stores, from which to compile the public life of Dr. 
 Parr, and that which is in some measure connected 
 with it, tlic literary history of the period in which 
 he lived. 
 
 But biography is a dry and withered branch of
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 composition, without a personal knowledge of the 
 inward and living man; and though a stranger 
 after a lapse of years, might be led by admiration 
 of his writings to analyse the distinctive merits of 
 the writer, it is only by conversing with him face to 
 face, that those nice discriminations are made, which 
 constitute the essence of any particular character. 
 Of the number of those who might be properly sta- 
 tioned in the seat of judgment, who could appreciate 
 his piety, his learning, his taste, his genius many 
 still survive ; and of his pupils, too, many remain 
 who love and follow their master. Whatsoever may 
 be my ability for executing the task which I have 
 undertaken, I may be permitted at least to declare, 
 that I feel none of the deficiencies, which the 
 ardour of friendship can in any way supply. Al- 
 though I yield to many of my learned friends 
 in the power of recording and delineating his su- 
 premacy in classical accomplishments, in diving with 
 him into the depths of metaphysical subtlety, or 
 soaring to the heights of theological sublimity, 
 yet I can appeal to my own recollection, and my own 
 personal knowledge, for such an account, as shall 
 best display him in those different points of view in 
 which it is most useful to contemplate character — 
 in the full vigour of manhood, and in the hoary ho- 
 liness of age, at home and abroad, in public and in 
 private, in the hours of business and of conviviality, 
 in the bosom of his family and employed with his 
 pupils, or when he was shewing the force of his 
 understanding in public instruction, or in some of 
 the freaks of his humour, among his familiars.
 
 8 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Had I been to seek from garbled memoirs, from 
 the murmurs of spleen, the effusions of vanity, or 
 the crude and malignant productions of hirelings the 
 documents of biography, I should have shrunk from 
 the task. Far different have been the materials 
 for my account of this man — He was the guide 
 of my youth, and the constant friend of my hfe. 
 For thirtv-five years I have seen him in number- 
 less varieties of our imperfect condition. I have 
 rejoiced with him in prosperity and in health, I 
 have sympathized with him in sickness and in sor- 
 row. We have travelled together the wearisome 
 road of life in narrow circumstances, and in abund- 
 ance ; and throughout our course our confidence 
 was mutual. I feel therefore that I have a right to 
 assume a knowledge of the character of Dr. Parr. 
 
 I have learnt something concerning him, likewise, 
 from converse with the companion of his childhoods, 
 and the tried friend of his long life. Dr. Bennet, 
 late Lord Bishop of Cloyne ; and from correspond- 
 ence with the Rev. David Roderick, also his tried 
 friend, who followed him from Harrow to Stanmore, 
 and whose admiration of his talents still continues. 
 Gratefully do I acknowledge the assistance I have 
 received during the composition of these Memoirs, 
 from other learned friends of Dr. Parr, and es- 
 pecially from Archdeacon Butler, the Rev. Dr. 
 Maltby, and the venerable President of Magdalen 
 College, Oxford. The labour of selecting from such 
 a multitude of documents has been truly Herculean, 
 but I have found it neither uiipleasing or unsur- 
 mountable. For in the life of Dr. Parr, there is
 
 MEMOIRS. 9 
 
 diversity enough to amuse, eminences enough to 
 ascend, and ample shade to repose under; and though 
 the path be occasionally intricate and overgrown, 
 yet far more often docs it wind clear and smooth, 
 among the loftiest and choicest productions of the 
 intellect. 
 
 Dr. Parr was born at Harrow on the Hill January 
 15th, O. S. 1747.* He was the son of Samuel Parr, 
 by Anne, the daughter of Elizabeth Bates, of Stam- 
 ford, Lincolnshire, and Leonard Mignard, who was 
 descended from a French refugee family, and related 
 to Mignard the painter, of whom some account is 
 given by Lord Orford. The Doctor's father was 
 the third and youngest son of the Reverend R. 
 
 * Extract from a Letter from the Rev, Robert Parr to Sa- 
 muel Parr, then settled at Harrow on the Hill as a Surgeon, 
 dated January 24th, 1740 : 
 
 " I hear you meet with good encouragement in your way of 
 business. Skill and good success, civil behaviour, and honest 
 dealing, and, above all, the blessing of God, are sufficient to 
 make a man rich and happy too. 1 hope all these are your 
 portion, and heartily pray that Almighty God will be pleased 
 to bless you here, and especially hereafter." 
 
 Another Letter from the same, dated January 7th, 1746, 
 congratulates him on his marriage. 
 
 The entry of Parr's baptism in the register at Harrow is 
 as follows : 
 
 '< Feb. 17th, 1746. Samuel, son of Samuel and Ann Parr, 
 was baptized. Extracted from the Register Book of Harrow 
 on the Hdl, Middlesex, 23d March, 1799. 
 
 (Signed) Walter L. Williams, Vicar," 
 
 *' It seems," Mr. Williams says, in his letter inclosing this cer- 
 tificate, "Mr. Saunders' Register begins the year, according to 
 the ecclesiastical reckoning at that period, 25th of March, 
 which would render that of your age 1746-7."
 
 10 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Parr, Vicar of Hinckley and Stoke Golding, Leices- 
 tershire, and Dorothy Brokesby, daughter of a non- 
 juring Clergyman in Yorkshire, who in 1715 pub- 
 lished the Life of the celebrated Henry Dodwell, 
 and who communicated to Mr. Ray, when he drew 
 up his collection of English Proverbs, a very large 
 catalogue, and a very ingenious interpretation, of old 
 words used in the North of England. Mr. Brokesby 
 his grandfather, was certainly a man of profound 
 erudition. Robert Parr, the Doctor's great uncle, 
 who lived at Hinckley, but had preferment in War- 
 wickshire, was an excellent Greek scholar, and a 
 most orthodox divine. The same praise is due to 
 the Doctors uncle, Mr. Robert Parr. This last 
 stood high in the esteem of that distinguished 
 scholar. Dr. Snape, once Master of Eton, and after- 
 wards Provost of King's College, Cambridge, was 
 himself a Fellow of that Society, and was presented 
 by it to the Rectories of Horstead and Coltishall in 
 Norfolk, where his literary attainments, his unble- 
 mished integrity, and his unfeigned piety, will be 
 long remembered. 
 
 The Doctor's father succeeded Leonard Mignard 
 as a Surgeon and Apothecary at Harrow on the 
 Hill, and died there January 2'3(\, 1 766, having lost 
 his first and justly beloved wife, Anne, who died No- 
 vember 5th, 1762. 
 
 Mr. Parr was distinguished by great professional 
 knowledge, by strong common sense, by a correct 
 taste in the English and Latin languages, by fidelity 
 and activity in his business, by the rectitude of his 
 principles, by a manly and dignified independence of
 
 MEMOIRS. 11 
 
 spirit, and by a noble disregard to the accumulation 
 of wealth. 
 
 As the Doctor himself was well known in the 
 world by a steady and disinterested adherence to 
 Whigism, it may be proper to remark that his fa- 
 mily, in its various branches, and for several succes- 
 sive generations, were firmly attached to Toryism, 
 both in Church and State. 
 
 Parr from his infancy gave manifest indications 
 of his thirst for knowledge, and of his ability to ac- 
 quire it. At Easter 1752, he was admitted on the 
 foundation of the Free-school raised and endowed 
 by John Lyon at Harrow.* He passed through the 
 
 * The following Letter of Dr. Parr's father to a friend, dated 
 Harrow, May 23d, 1760, shews that there was an intention to 
 send him to Eton, which did not succeed. His cousin Francis 
 was soon after admitted at Eton, probably by the same interest. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Presuming much on your friendship, I give you this trouble 
 to let you know that I am in some perplexity about my son, I 
 remember you some time ago hinted to me, that you thought I 
 should make him a scholar, and Dr. Thackeray has since more 
 strongly suggested the same, and encouraged me to do it, by 
 saying, he thinks that if the boy is placed in Eton School, at the 
 next election, as the Doctor thinks the boy deserves, he cannot 
 well fail of getting King's, 1 hope, therefore, you will please 
 to prevail upon Mr. Barnard of Laton, to write to Dr. Barnard 
 at Eton, to desire the Doctor to appoint a day some time in the 
 middle of next month for me to wait upon him with the boy, for 
 his examination and advice, if it is not contrary to the rules of 
 the school (if it is I shall by no means desire it). I beg you will 
 make my compliments acceptable to the ladies, and to afford 
 me your best assistance on my boy's account, and you will 
 greatly oblige, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 Saml'EL Parr.
 
 12 MEMOIRS. 
 
 (liftbrcnt classes with great approbation from his 
 teachers, and became the head boy January 1761,* 
 when he had not completed his 14th year. He 
 always spoke with a filial regard and thankfulness 
 of the kind treatment he received from the Rev. 
 Dr. Thackeray, who resigned the Mastership in 
 1700, died in the succeeding autumn, and to whose 
 memory, or for whose monument, Parr in 1817 
 wrote an inscription. 
 
 While Parr was a boy, he formed a close and 
 lasting friendship with his schoolfellows, the cele- 
 brated Sir William Jones and the learned Dr. Ben- 
 net, late Bishop of Cloync. The literary curiosity 
 of the three boys extended far beyond the regular 
 business of the school, and influenced their harm- 
 less, and even useful amusements. They assumed 
 the office of sovereigns ; they took anticnt names, 
 with little regard to chronology or geography, and 
 they selected their dominions from the neighbour- 
 ing fields. Thus Jones was called Euryalus, King 
 of Arcadia ; Bennet, Nisus, King of Argos ; Parr, 
 Leandcr, Prince of Abydos and Sestos ; and it is 
 probable that these places and these names were 
 suggested to the minds of the young men by forci- 
 ble impressions made upon them while their imagi- 
 nations were active, and before their judgments 
 
 * There is a most curious document in Parr's summing-book 
 of the death of Thomas Wright, who was drowned February 1760. 
 It appears from this, written in Parr's own hand, tliat John Cot- 
 tcrell was head, Skeffington second, Wright third, Parr fourth 
 in tlie school at that time ; of course Bennet and Jones were 
 below him.
 
 MEMOIRS. 13 
 
 were mature.* In these fields, which they visited 
 while other boys were intent upon other amuse- 
 ments, they were often engaged in intellectual com- 
 petition. They accjuired the art of logic, and dis- 
 puted in syllogism ; sometimes on subjects of natu- 
 ral history, and sometimes upon metaphysical ques- 
 tions, which were suggested to them by Dacier's 
 translation of Plato's Dialogues.-|~ They displayed 
 
 * Ii is well known that these three great scholars called each 
 other by the familiar names, Will (Sir W. J.) ; Bill (Dr. B.) ; 
 Sam (Dr. P.) ; and they had also other classical names besides 
 those here enumerated. The following letter from Bennct, 
 calling himself Flaminius, to Parr, is the only one of the sort I 
 have found, and it is the earliest letter in the collection. It is 
 directed to 
 
 Mr. Samuel Parr, jun. 
 (Free, I. Cholmondeley.) at Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, 
 
 Having occasion to put the Monitor in my study, a dispute 
 arose about the volumes, I beg therefore you will ask Theodo- 
 sius if there are more than three volumes, an appendix, and a 
 book with notes. Now 1 mention Theodosius you wonder why 
 Vespasian in the inclosed allegory has arraigned him, but it was 
 not unjustly. He attacks our sovereign covertly in the very 
 first paper, *' those who aspire to praise by ridicule," &c. &c. 
 the whole character is but too well preserved. Yes, my Lord, 
 inquiry has detected his most trifling faults, and exaggeration 
 sports with his every weakness. How much Theodosius gave 
 up the friend to the scholar, in this paper, you will easily dis- 
 cover, though I think it was his duty to have said with the 
 British writer : 
 
 Curst be the thoughts, how well so e'er they flow. 
 That tend to make one worthy man my foe. 
 
 I am, &c. Flaminius. 
 
 f About fifteen years ago, when Dr. Parr was then on a visit 
 to Archdeacon Butler, he accompanied him to spend a couple 
 of days at a gentleman's house (Mr. Pemberton of Millichap). 
 
 He
 
 14 MEMOIRS. 
 
 oratory, such as it was, in lively debates upon the 
 interests of their ideal kingdoms, in triumphant de- 
 scriptions of their success, and in trials of skill and 
 strength with some of their brave and sturdy school- 
 fellows. 
 
 The Doctor and Sir William Jones wrote trage- 
 dies upon some of the stories, by which they had 
 been interested in the course of their reading. 
 They had a custom of attempting to imitate any 
 English writer, by the excellencies of whose style 
 they had been powerfully impressed ; and the Doc- 
 tor has been known to speak with rapture of his 
 endeavours to rival Jones in the short and abrupt 
 sentences of Phalaris's Epistles, and Bennet in the 
 gaudy and captivating diction of Hervey's Medita- 
 tions. While they excelled in the ordinary exer- 
 cises of the school in the learned languages, they 
 improved their English style by a diligent perusal 
 of Addison, Johnson, and other elegant authors, 
 whose comparative merits they discussed in con- 
 versation, and whose peculiar forms of writing they 
 selected as models for imitation, according to their 
 different judgments. To these early and singular 
 operations of their understandings, may in a great 
 degree be ascribed the eminence which they have 
 since reached in the republic of letters. But for 
 the regularity and the rapidity of their progress in 
 classical learning, they were yet much more indebted 
 
 He found this book in two volumes, and seized it with great de- 
 light, and begged to have it as a memorial of his earliest ac- 
 quaintance with the writings of that illustrious philosopher.
 
 MEMOIRS. 15 
 
 to the instruction of Dr. Robert Sumner, who in 
 1760 became the successor of Dr. Thackeray, and 
 whose character is beautifully described by Sir Wil- 
 liam Jones in his Preface to the " Commentaries 
 upon Asiatic Poetry." 
 
 It is but doing justice to the late Richard War- 
 burton Lytton, Esq. and Dr. Charles Combe, to no- 
 tice that they were also the inseparable associates 
 with Jones, Bennet, and Parr, in all their literary 
 pursuits, though far behind them in accomplish- 
 ments, genius, and talents. With what unremitted 
 eagerness they endeavoured to store their minds 
 with knowledge, appears from this anecdote, authen- 
 ticated by Mr. Roderick. Jones came one day sob- 
 bing to Dr. Sumner, and addressed him, " Sir, my 
 mother has brought a medical gentleman from 
 London to examine my eyes. He says, I must be 
 taken home, because I must not be allowed to look 
 into a book. If I go home, there will be nobody 
 to read to me ; but if I am suffered to remain here, 
 I give you my word, that I will not read myself, but 
 can come into the school to hear the lessons done, 
 and Parr, Bennet, &c. &c. can read to me in the 
 evenings." 
 
 It was the happier lot of Sir William Jones and 
 Bishop Bennet to remain for several years under the 
 care of Dr. Sumner. Parr enjoyed this advan- 
 tage only from the summer of 1760, to the spring 
 of 1761, after which he was removed from school, 
 and employed in the business of his father. But 
 the progress which he had made in the writings of 
 antiquity, and the habits which he had formed for
 
 1() MEMOIRS. 
 
 the cultivation of bis mind, enabled bim to continue 
 bis studies witb unwearied industry and witb in- 
 creasing effect. 
 
 Of Parr's ebildbood, bis only sister, Mrs.Bowyear, 
 wrote the following account to Mr. Lynes, at my 
 desire. I shall divide it into two parts, that I may 
 ])r\nir it into historical order as to time. 
 
 " My brother inight be styled slovenly in bis 
 dress. I do not recollect that be entered much into 
 the usual sports of boys : he was from childhood of 
 a studious turn of mind, but with me he was play- 
 ful, though, I nuist confess, at times, rather obstre- 
 perous, as be would approach me with clenched 
 fists, though in perfect good-humour. Indeed, he 
 was for many years a kind, affectionate brother, and 
 anxious for my welfare and happiness. His earliest 
 study, and longest cherished delight, next to Mo- 
 ther Goose, was the History of the Seven Cham- 
 pions of Christendom.^ From the age of nine or 
 
 * I do not know what Mr. Brougham will say to this, but 
 Parr's fondness for such books, and recommendation of them 
 to children, lasted to the end of his life. He coincided how- 
 ever, with that illustrious man in the opinion, that books of art 
 and science ought to be placed also in the hands of the unin- 
 structed. The following books he gave to my children in 1S20, 
 and I copy tl>c list, as it contains the library he recommended 
 to children of about seven or eight years of age: 
 
 An Epitome of Modern Geography, by William Pinnock. 
 
 Ditto Ancient, by ditto. „ 
 
 Ditto Astronomy, by G. Roberts. 
 
 Catechism of Mythology, by C. Irving. 
 
 Sovereigns of England. 
 
 History of England.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 17 
 
 ten he evinced a strong inclination for the clerical 
 profession ; insomuch, that he was accustomed, 
 when our cousins from Eton were with us during 
 their vacations (they, together with myself, forming 
 the congregation), to read the Church Service (after 
 the due tolling of a bell tied to the banisters by 
 those who officiated as clerk), and sometimes he 
 preached, and we youngsters often thought him pro- 
 lix enough. He made one sermon for Christmas- 
 day (when under twelve years of age), which was 
 shewn to the vicar of Harrow, who said it was so 
 good and appropriate a composition, that no clergy- 
 man need have been ashamed to deliver it. He 
 substituted for a surplice a shirt of my father's, 
 taken from the press. This reaching the ears of 
 Mr. Saunders, the vicar, he had a gown and cas- 
 sock made for him, with which my brother was 
 highly delighted. So enwrapped was he in his pre- 
 
 Catecbism of Grecian Antiquities, by C. Irving. 
 
 Ditto Grecian History, by W. Pinnock. 
 
 Ditto Roman Antiquities, by C. Irving. 
 
 Ditto Jewish ditto, by ditto. 
 
 Ditto Modern History, by W. Pinnock. 
 
 Ditto Chronology, by ditto. 
 
 Ditto Heraldry, by G. Roberts, 
 
 Ditto Agriculture. 
 
 Ditto Navigation, by W. Pinnock. 
 
 Elements of Punctuation, by ditto. 
 At Shrewsbury, the year before he died, he bought a great 
 collection of these books, Tom Hickathrift, Red Riding Hood, 
 &c. (says Archdeacon Butler), to the great delight of myself, 
 the amusement of my boys, and the overwhelming astonishment 
 of a bookseller. 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 18 MEMOIRS. 
 
 dilectlon, as even (notwithstanding my father's re- 
 monstrances) to persist in reading the Burial Ser- 
 vice over dead birds, kittens, &c. Another of his 
 amusements was bell-ringing. With a set of his 
 schoolfellows he frequently assembled to ring a peal, 
 and he was proud of being able to raise the tenor,* 
 which the joint efforts of two of his companions 
 were unable to effect. He was likewise fond of ex- 
 hibiting his strength, to the great horror of my 
 father, in the strange exploit of knocking down 
 oxen in the slaughter-house. But he was, never- 
 theless, remarkably attached to animals ; and seldom 
 from his childhood read in comfort without a pet 
 cat seated on his table. The only battle I recollect 
 hearing of his fighting throughout his school-boy 
 days, was with Lord Mountstuart, in defence of a 
 worried cat. His attachments of all kinds were very 
 strong. His earliest favourite was his cousin, Tom 
 Parr, who died early ; and to him succeeded Frank 
 Parr, Tom's brother, wdio was captain f of Eton School 
 before he was fifteen years of age, and who also died 
 early. They were younger brothers of Mr. Parr, of 
 Norwich. He always assumed authority among his 
 playmates at home, making his cousins call him 
 uncle. He was, I think, between twelve and thir- 
 teen, when, together with Sir William Jones and 
 Dr. Bennet (Bishop of Cloyne), he wrote and acted 
 a play ; whether tragedy or comedy, I do not recol- 
 lect. It was performed in our parlour. The theatre 
 
 * He raised the tenor, and every other bell, in the steeple 
 of St. Chad's, Shrewsbury, in 1801. 
 f This is a mistake.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 19 
 
 Nvas not very spacious, but it was thronged, and the 
 youthful trio were much applauded. When I spoke 
 of recollectlntr the turbans and flowintr robes worn 
 by the characters in the play that was represented 
 in my father's parlour, I forgot to say there was a 
 female character in it, which was personated by 
 Dr. Bennet, who must have been very small for his 
 age, for he wore my best shoes, and burst them, to 
 my sorrow. Sam was the darling of his mother ; 
 and her death (which happened in 17(32) was se- 
 verely and lastingly felt. She was indeed but too 
 indulgent to him ; every wish and whim was at- 
 tended to, and his appetite so consulted, as to have 
 hot meat suppers prepared for him from early child- 
 hood. I remember, when he was lying under the 
 heavy attack of small-pox, that left its marks upon 
 him till death, in the first note he wrote to me, on 
 recovering sight from a blindness of three weeks, his 
 expressing extreme pleasure in the assurance he felt, 
 that if the disease were to reach me, I should not 
 suffer as he was suffering, because I had not been 
 indulged in hot suppers. Before this seizure, in 
 about his twelfth year, he was very fair and regular- 
 featured. I recollect well, on my being taken down 
 to him (he was nursed in a distant part of the vil- 
 lage), my feeling, in the midst of my joy, at seeing 
 him getting better, something akin to satisfaction, 
 on finding that the prettiness which had attracted so 
 much notice was completely spoiled. A little time 
 previous to my mother's death. Dr. Thackeray re- 
 signed the Mastership of Harrow School, of which 
 my broth;>r was captain (about thirteen years of 
 
 c 2
 
 20 MEMOIRS. 
 
 age), and he finished his school education under 
 Dr. Sumner. The Doctor was very partial to him, 
 had the highest opinion of his abilities, and always 
 said that Parr would wear lawn sleeves. In a little 
 more than a twelvemonth after my mother's death, 
 my father married a Miss Cox, whose father was 
 formerly Master of Harrow School. This marriage 
 was the source of great uneasiness to him and his 
 children ; and home became unbearable to my bro- 
 ther. My father was very desirous that he should 
 be of his profession ; but, after a short trial, my 
 brother could not be reconciled either to surgery or 
 physic, and Dr. Sumner strongly urged my father 
 not to oppose his adopting the profession he was 
 best fitted for. At length, a reluctant consent was 
 given ; but it being (at the instigation of our step- 
 mother) proposed that he should be entered at Cam- 
 bridge as a sizar, my brother declared that he would 
 give up all thoughts of the University, rather than 
 go in a sul)ordinate situation." 
 
 Such is Mrs. Bowyear s account ; delivered, it is 
 true, after an interval of more than sixty years, yet 
 with the clear and vivid recollections of early youth, 
 and of the scenes and events then interesting to 
 her. Most of Parr's singularities are traceable to 
 his father's fireside. His mother was a woman of 
 many household virtues ; she was the servant of her 
 husband and son ; waited upon them in that capa- 
 city, and pampered them with dainties, bringing 
 him up with many of those eccentricities which 
 through life pervaded his character. His father was 
 a firm, sturdy, inteUigent, and observing man ; the
 
 MEMOIRS. 21 
 
 petty tyrant of his fireside, but an honest, well- 
 meaning Tory. The son was opinionative, testy, as- 
 suming, but full of truth and integrity, and so eager 
 for the acquisition of knowledge, that his appetite 
 for learning was never sated. His person bore the 
 marks of his character ; stiff and strong, singular 
 and commanding. His countenance, before the 
 small-pox, so handsome, that his own sister declares 
 her complacency at finding that the small-pox had 
 destroyed his beauty. 
 
 It does not appear that he was a boy of frolic or 
 gaiety in his early years. Dr. Gabriel tells an anec- 
 dote in one of his letters, from the personal autho- 
 rity of Dr. Allen, who saw Parr when a boy of 
 nine years, sitting on the churchyard gate at Har- 
 row, looking grave and serious, whilst his school- 
 fellows were playing about. " Sam, why do you 
 not play with the others?" cried Allen. Parr looked 
 at him with seriousness and earnestness, and in a 
 solemn tone replied, " Do not you know, Sir, that I 
 am to be a parson ? " His amusements with Bennet 
 and Jones soon after this period, were, to act great 
 personages, to harangue and declaim, and to compose 
 plays. They seldom played the common games of 
 the School. Yet the only remaining juvenile per- 
 formance of Bennet proves that he and Jones joined 
 the rest of the boys in some of their active frolics. 
 This performance, called " Pugna Maxima," alludes 
 to a battle fought in December 1757 between the 
 boys at Hawkins's, "where I boarded," says Bennet 
 " and those of Thackeray, who attacked our house 
 and school-room to s^Qt some fireworks."
 
 22 MExMOIRS. 
 
 It would no doubt be a source of delight to the 
 surviviug- Harrow heroes, if they were to read the 
 exploits of th(Mr childhood, sunjjj on the very scene 
 of action, in heroic verse. Murray is the hero. 
 Parr's name is not included in the battle, perhaps, 
 because he was not a boarder ; but there are other 
 names of high renown. The Duke of Gordon, Mid- 
 dleton, Thwaites, Rawlinson, Bennet, Jones, Tufl- 
 nel, West, Earl, Norton, Wilmot, Rosse, Cranston, 
 Lord William Gordon, Brudenell, Cotton, Earl of 
 Barrymore, and perhaps every other boy who 
 boarded, is enumerated. The work extends to 
 some hundred lines ; a most exact imitation of 
 Pope's Homer, and no unworthy rival, either in har- 
 mony, or spirit of composition. I regret that the 
 whole cannot be published. The following are spe- 
 cimens : 
 
 " There, where but one could stand, from danger far, 
 A neutral chief surveyed the shifting war : 
 
 Richard Lord B , of Irish race ; 
 
 Strong were his limbs, and manly was his face, 
 But dull his mhid to honour's fairest charms, 
 His spirit mean, and small his skill in arms." 
 
 Again : 
 
 " Farran his fate by Bennet's bludgeon found, 
 And Seward fell extended on the ground ; 
 But e'en in victory Murray's arm we fear. 
 And shun to meet him in the walls of war ; 
 As when the Giants on Olympus' height , 
 With Neptune, Mars, and Phoebus dared the fight, 
 The inferior Gods with ease from heaven they drove, 
 But shrunk themselves before the arm of Jove."
 
 MEMOIRS. 23 
 
 Among the friends of his childhood Richard 
 Archdale must not be forgotten. Archdale is cha- 
 racterised by the Bishop of Cloyne " as one of the 
 finest geniuses, Harrow, England, or Europe can 
 claim ;" and there is much interesting correspond- 
 ence with him. In one of his early letters, dated 
 Aldersgate-street, 29th August 1764, he describes 
 wretched feelings from family concerns, but alludes 
 to the death of Thomas Parr, and as it proves his 
 strong attachment to our friend, I insert it. In ano- 
 ther letter, he tells of his acquaintance with Gold- 
 smith and with Johnson in the Temple, and sends 
 a portion of the poem of " The Traveller," which 
 Goldsmith had read to him, and which he was about 
 to publish. 
 
 DEAR SAM, Aldersgate-street, 29th Aug. 1764. 
 
 I rather merit your pity than resentment on account of my 
 silence, for I believe it would be difficult to alleviate, and im- 
 possible to increase my misery. Solitude and reflection are 
 my only companions, while the remembrance of what I once 
 was, and the knowledge of what I now am, drive me almost to 
 distraction. In your company I was happy ; in your company 
 enjoyed all that pleasure which friendship and Parr could give, 
 and which sincerity and Archdale could receive. (Here follow 
 some family affairs.) The death of Thomas Parr I very hear- 
 tily regret, who, as he deserved your friendship, must claim my 
 condolence. Give my love to Page, &c, and be assured that 
 among the many friends your merit claims, there are none who 
 can love and esteem you more than, dear Sam, 
 
 Your unhappy friend, R. Archdale. 
 
 Henry Hetley became acquainted with Parr on 
 his first visit at Cambridge, where he was introduced 
 to Bennet, and by him to Jones. His sweetness of
 
 24 MEMOIRS. 
 
 temper, and accomplishments of mind, endeared him 
 to the trio. He was Parr's adviser at College, and 
 through life, and continued his friend to the latest 
 period of it. I am happy to say, this venerable ec- 
 clesiastic still survives: he was tutor to Lord Her- 
 bert at Cambridge, and was preferred by the Pem- 
 broke family, 
 
 Nathaniel Brassey Halhed was another of Parr's 
 schoolfellows, or pupils, while at Harrow. I shall 
 quote some of his letters, and also some of Walter 
 Pollard and Fortescue, and other of his juvenile 
 friends, should there be space enough, in the Ap- 
 pendix. 
 
 Of the gravity and seriousness of his character, 
 the following letter, written (when he was taken 
 from school to be placed in his father's shop) to his 
 friend Thomas Fortescue, * is a proof, and also that 
 he had become a politician. 
 
 * Of this young gentleman there is the following notice, in a 
 small edition of Milton's Paradise Lost : " This book was given 
 to Dr. Parr by his schoolfellow Thomas Fortescue, cousin to 
 the Marquis of Wellesley. Some of the speeches were marked 
 by Mr. Thomas Sheridan, father of Mr. Richard Sheridan." In 
 Dr. Parr's own hand is written : " The name of Thomas For- 
 tescue is yet more endeared to me by the merits of his illustrious 
 cousin, the Marquis Wellington, S. Parr." " I give this highly 
 valued book to my most respected friend Dr. John Johnstone. 
 I know that when he reads what I have written in it, he will 
 set no common value upon it, and 1 entreat him to leave it 
 with particular directions for it to be preserved by the per- 
 son to whom he chooses to bequeath it. S. Parr, April 29th, 
 IS 11."
 
 MEMOIRS. 25 
 
 DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 The receipt of your letter was attended with no small satis- 
 faction, as it seemed to discover your real sentiments Our 
 patriot, by dint of argument, and allowed superiority in poli- 
 tical knowledge, has, beyond all reasonable confutation, proved 
 that the continuance of our troops in Germany engaged the 
 attention of the French that way ; so that they neglected the 
 safety of their foreign settlements, and consequently rendered 
 their reduction easier, and our conquests more numerous. I 
 look upon Barry as an ignorant courtier, a violent speaker, and 
 an interested partizan. " Nee vero audiendi (says Cicero) qui 
 graviter irascendum in inimicos existiment, idque magnanirai 
 et fortis viri esse censeant. Nihil enim laudabilius, nihil magno 
 et prasclaro viro dignius placabilitate atque dementia. Omnis 
 autem animadversio et castigatio, contumeli^ vacare debet, 
 neque ad ejus qui reprehendit aliquem, aut verbis castigat, sed 
 ad reipublicae utilitatem referri." What can be a mark of greater 
 impudence than to cast a slur on the proceedings of a Prince, 
 whom thisnation has found happy in the choice of able Ministers 
 and experienced officers, and whose whole conduct his subjects 
 approved and his enemies dreaded ? Mr, Pitt, in the opinion of 
 every impartial, considerate, and honest gentleman, is esteemed 
 as a patriot, unbiassed by interest, uninfluenced by party, 
 indifferent of his own glory, and consequently undeserving 
 of that imputation too generally merited in his department. 
 The applause of these, and of the public, are sufficient to prove, 
 that his conduct was consistent with justice, the honour of his 
 King, and the safety of the republic. The tenor of his actions 
 seemed to have little respect to the increase of his own honour 
 and fortune. More might be urged ; in short, he has exe- 
 cuted faithfully his duty in every particular that Cicero recom- 
 mends as incumbent on a magistrate. His modesty makes him 
 superior to this great example of patriotism, who publicly 
 professed himself the defender and sole preserver of the com- 
 monwealth, and demanded the honour due to him. I feel an 
 excessive joy, when I find you restraining your liberty within 
 bounds, which I feared would lead you to the indulgence 
 of your appetites. " Quam multa (says Seneca) ebrii faciunt, 
 quibus sobrii erubescunt ; non est animus in sua potestate, ab
 
 26 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ebrietate devinctus : onerati vino, ut cibum et potum, sic 
 secretuni non continent, quod suum alienumque est, pariter 
 efFundunt. Nihil aliud est quam voluntaria insania, et brevis fu- 
 ror," «S:c. Besides, your fortune exposes you to the allure- 
 ments of debauchees and of sycophants, who are ever ready to 
 lead the unwary youth into perdition, and deprive him of his 
 envied innocence. Avoid these sycophants, these corrupters of 
 youth, as the slaves of sin and ambassadors of Satan — more 
 destructive to listen to than the sirens that lead the pilot asto- 
 nished with their melody to ruin — more dangerous to follow 
 than the earth-born meteors that draw the deluded traveller 
 out of his way, into bogs and unknown ways and precipices, 
 whence he cannot escape. Ratione duce, per totam vitam eun- 
 
 dum est. Omnes animi perturbationes, rationem repellentes 
 
 nullum beatae vita; locum relinquunt, &c. As I think myself 
 obliged by the ties of friendship, as well as by the laws of na- 
 ture, the dictates of reason, and commands of my conscience, to 
 correct your fadings, I look upon myself as less liable to the 
 censures of a luxuriant, pardonable in your sight, and most 
 laudable in the eyes of the considerate. It is my earnest desire 
 that you would keep this letter safe, and preserve it as a re- 
 medy in all trials and temptations. This will prove Parr not 
 deficient in his advice as a friend, and may perhaps be of service 
 to you. Et nihil pro omnibus meis beneficiis, nisi hujus literae, 
 et admonitus meraoriam postulo, quae dum est animo infusa, me 
 fidelem esse ostendet. 
 
 I wish you the compliments of the season, which you will 
 not only improve in the fruition of innocent pleasures, but in 
 contemplating and giving thanks for that stupendous, unde- 
 served instance of divine love, you are at this time called upon 
 to commemorate. That you may live happy in this life, and 
 enjoy the blessings of a future one : that you may overcome all 
 the temptations in this life and enjoy its blessings, is the earnest 
 wish of, dear Thomas, ^c. &c. &c. 
 
 There are other letters about this period to cer- 
 tain of his young friends ; but this is sufficient to 
 prove the piety and gravity of Parr's frame of mind.
 
 MEMOIRS. 27 
 
 and that he had already acquired the didactic tone 
 which accompanied the whole of his existence. 
 Indeed, Bishop Bennet informed me, that he was 
 always the same person throughout. As a boy at 
 school, a youth at college, and a man of the world, 
 he always bore the same ascendency over his fel- 
 lows. 
 
 Of his juvenile compositions, several Sermons, 
 and the Drama of Esther, are preserved ; on the 
 paper inclosing this drama is the following notice : 
 "Written by Dr. Parr, when he was 16 years old, 
 at Harrow." 
 
 This composition seems not to have been revised; 
 it is written on thirty pages of copy-book, 4to, in 
 many places illegibly. The persons of the drama 
 are, Ahasuerus, Esther, Haman, Mordecai, Carsnia, 
 Haruman, the Priests, the Council; and the plot and 
 conduct of the play are the exact history of the 
 event. Haman enters triumphant, uses the abso- 
 lute will of his master to his own cruel purposes, 
 and obtains the order for the destruction of the 
 Jews. The Priests of the Jews supplicate Heaven 
 for the salvation of their nation, and I shall copy 
 the scene in which they are introduced, as a specimen 
 of the composition. The drama is unfinished ; but 
 Esther's beauty has its proper influence, Ahasuerus 
 relents, is convinced by the Queen, the Jews tri- 
 umph, and Haman is destroyed. 
 
 SCENE THE SECOND. 
 
 1st Priest. Ye sacred bands of Israel, ye sons 
 Elect of Heaven, prepare the hymn of praise, 
 The tribute of thanksgiving and of joy.
 
 28 MEMOIRS. 
 
 2(1 Priest. Lo ! Light, the glorious daughter of the skies, 
 Dawns from the East ; amazed at her approach 
 See darkness trembles, see the glimmering stars 
 Now pale, now vanished from the gazing sight. 
 Aurora, herald of the rising morn, 
 Casts a red lustre o'er the blushing sky, 
 Whilst from the womb of night the day bursts forth, 
 And steals their brightness from the setting stars. 
 
 3d Priest. The merry lark, shrill harbinger of morn, 
 Attunes her voice ; the choristers of air. 
 The feathered tenants of the grove awake, 
 And hail with sweet accord the coming day. 
 
 \st Priest. Arise, ye sons of piety, arise ! 
 With grateful hearts, with cheerful tongues prepare, 
 And drink devotion at the font of Heaven. 
 
 High Priest. To thee, o God ! who art enthroned on high, 
 Extended over all, who rulest above, 
 And governest below, to thee we sing. 
 
 3c? Priest. W^ith reverence our affections guide, with love 
 Our hearts inspire, replenish, and inflame. 
 
 15/ Priest. Whilst Chaos stretched her vast, her dreary reign, 
 Whilst horror, darkness, and confusion spread 
 Hateful dominion o'er the mass of things, 
 Thou was't beginning from eternity. 
 When after the long revolution 
 Of time, it pleased thy Avill to fix, to give 
 Shape to this earth, and being unto man. 
 At thy omnific voice the task was done. 
 By thy Almighty hand the world was made ; 
 At thy call nature rose— the universe 
 Shot into form, then rudeness order grew, 
 Light sprang from darkness, man from nothing came. 
 
 '2d Priest. Faithful to thy command, the King of day 
 Performs his wonted course, collects his beams, 
 Imparts his genial influence, and rides 
 I'riumphant on the bosom of the air. 
 By thy appointment the Sidereal host 
 With various spangles deck the firmament. 
 And light the OL'ther in a vivid glow.
 
 MEMOIRS. 29 
 
 The moon in silent majesty ascends 
 To cheer with silver rays the gloomy night. 
 The zephyrs softly murmur, gently blow; 
 From thee the lightning's subtle flame imbibe 
 Swiftness to fly, commission to destroy. 
 
 3d Priest. The lion, hardy tyrant of the wood ; 
 The steed, proud monarch of the lawn ; the beasts, 
 That guard the forest or possess the fields. 
 Ask thy protection, and confess thy sway. 
 Man he created sovereign of the earth. 
 The heir of Heaven, image of perfection, 
 The Lord of reason, his peculiar care, 
 His choicest favourite, his highest work. 
 These qualities let man improve, let man 
 These blessings value, and presume to know 
 His excellence, his duties, and his God. 
 
 High Priest. In these survey omnipotence ; in these 
 See Him, whose boundless spirit all pervades. 
 Whose unremitting energy moves all. 
 And harmony preserves; who, great and good. 
 Combines the parts and regulates the whole. 
 Let man, in wonder lost, with transport fired, 
 Adore the Deity, adore the hand 
 Which first this complex system caused, 
 First this stupendous flame produced, impels, 
 For ever permeates, and for ever guides. 
 Ye sons of Israel ! the Lord j)roclaim, 
 Declare his goodness, and exalt his name. 
 
 1st Priest. Maker of all that was, is, or will be ! 
 Parent of being, source of happiness! 
 From thee we draw our origin ; to thee 
 W^e owe our preservation and our bliss. 
 Look down, celestial parent, and infuse 
 Devotion in our breasts ; to watch our steps 
 Continue, and vouchsafe to hear our prayers. 
 
 Chorus. Ye sons of Israel, the Lord proclaim, 
 Declare his goodness and exalt his name. 
 
 The interval between the summer of 1761, when
 
 30 MEMOIRS. 
 
 he left school, and May 1765, when he was entered 
 a Sizar at Emanuel College, Cambridge, was spent 
 in his father s business. In the midst of duties thus 
 imposed, he read the best authors in Greek and 
 Latin. He applied himself most earnestly to those 
 philological inquiries which afterwards occupied so 
 large a portion of his time. He indulged the fond- 
 ness which he had very early felt for metaphysical 
 investigation. He frequently wrote upon classical 
 subjects, both in verse and prose. He improved his 
 talents for English composition by two series of moral 
 essays, in which his style was gradually formed into 
 that resemblance, which it has since preserved, to 
 the energy of Johnson's language, and the harmony 
 of his periods. 
 
 Observing the ardour of his son's spirit, and the 
 vigour of his understanding, the father, after in- 
 structing him in the elementary parts of medicine, 
 for some time meant to place him in the shop of Mr. 
 Truedale, of London, where his experience would 
 have been extensive ; and sometimes he permitted 
 the young man to indulge the expectation of prose- 
 cuting his studies upon a more enlarged scale, in 
 one of the Scotch Universities. But Parr was ne- 
 ver reconciled to any class of the medical profession. 
 Mr. Roderick assures me that some of the habits 
 then formed, as preparatory to his professional pur- 
 suits, such, for instance, as his fondness for inspect- 
 ing the slaughter and dissection of animals, con- 
 tinued when he was Assistant at Harrow, and Master 
 at Stanmore. But this fondness did not originate 
 in any desire to acquire anatomical knowledge. His
 
 MEMOIRS. 31 
 
 pleasure, Mr. Roderick thinks, was founded on the 
 gratification of seeine; a ferocious animal fall a vic- 
 tim to the dexterity of the slayer. Whatsoever 
 were his motive, pleasure or science, it certainly 
 had ceased to operate when he resided in War- 
 wickshire ; metaphysics then had driven physics 
 quite out of doors, but he ever after entertained a 
 respect and admiration for the medical profession, 
 and has frequently expressed these feelings in dif- 
 ferent parts of his published writings. 
 
 It was perhaps unhappy for the honour of the 
 art, and for the benefit of mankind, that he was not 
 one of its professors ; supported as that art ought 
 to be, by profound learning and exquisite sagacity. 
 A popular practitioner I can hardly conceive he 
 w^ould have been ; for though to affliction he was 
 always kind, yet in his expressions he was not al- 
 ways tender. In some of his moods, his appearance 
 would have been terrible to nervous ladies ; and his 
 feelings were often too intense, to authorize the sup- 
 position that they could always have been restrained 
 before the patient. He had not courage enough 
 for a physician, and too little coolness of mind for 
 a surgeon. It was his better taste, or his happier 
 lot, to choose theology as his profession. His love 
 of ecclesiastical pomp, and his gravity of temper 
 and unfeigned piety, and fondness for holy things, 
 even in his youth, superseded all voluntary pursuits ; 
 so that his father was at length induced to enter 
 him at Emanuel College, Cambridge, in the sum- 
 mer of 1765. He began his academical residence 
 in the autumn of that year, and had the good for-
 
 32 MEMOIRS. 
 
 tune to be placed under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. 
 Hubbard, and the Rev. Mr. Farmer. He was ad- 
 mitted a Sizar, but when he went to reside became 
 a Pensioner. 
 
 During his continuance at Cambridge, his spirits 
 were Uvely and his temper most social ; but his 
 companions were few, and his pleasures were inno- 
 cent. His application was incessant, and his obedi- 
 ence to the established discipline of his college was 
 most exemplary. The force of his mind was chiefly 
 directed to classical and philological reading ; yet 
 he had at the same time formed the most serious 
 determination to prepare himself for his degree, 
 and he secretly aspired to a high place in those aca- 
 demical honours, which are bestowed upon great 
 proficiency in mathematical knowledge. 
 
 The only letter of his father to him in the collec- 
 tion, points out the way for his return from the 
 University, in December 1765 ; and shortly after, he 
 w(?nt home. 
 
 He had scarcely passed a month at Harrow, on 
 his return from college, when his father died. He 
 had lost his own mother three years before. His 
 father had married again ; and it is not improbable 
 that Parr's expressions of dislike to the novercal 
 administration, had induced his father to bear the 
 expence of sending him to college. It happened 
 that he was at a play at Drury-lane, with his friend 
 and schoolfellow Mr. Mee, when his father was 
 struck with apoplexy, in January 1766. That he 
 was cast down both by the loss of his father and 
 his fortune, which appears to have been too largely
 
 MEMOIRS. 33 
 
 bestowed on his step-mother, is proved by the fol- 
 lowing letter from his friend Bennet, afterwards Bi- 
 shop of Cloyne. 
 
 To IMr. Samuel Parr, Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex. 
 
 Emanuel Collesre, Cambridge, 
 ^^-^^^-^'^«' March 9, 1766. 
 
 With little to command your attention, and less to divert 
 your melancholy, I once more interrupt the misfortunes I par- 
 ticipate, and recal the ideas that I wish were forgot. February 
 past, March departing, without either knowledge of your pre- 
 sent situation, or plan of your future life, must kindle impa- 
 tience, and awaken friendship, I buried in mathematics, tor- 
 mented with morality, forsaken by my living classics, and shut 
 up from my dead ones, must find my situation far from satis- 
 factory ; but the uncertainty of yours makes me forget my own. 
 I can overlook ray troubles, if you are happy ; or sink amidst 
 them, if you are unfortunate. 
 
 We begin to expect you in College ; but if the complica- 
 cation of affairs demands your presence, can give leave till the 
 middle of April ; by which time you will perhaps be as neces- 
 sary, as advantageous to Cambridge. The influence of Wright's 
 advice, exhortation, and example in debauchery, may perhaps 
 be strong enough to dazzle one, whom I am too sorry to behold 
 in guilt, and too weak to preserve from it. You are wanted to 
 defend modesty from ridicule, and innocence from guilt; to 
 guard Lane from unmerited insult, and Quin from unmerited 
 ruin. For the amiable softness, the winning elegance of the 
 latter, I have conceived a regard, warm as a series of years 
 could make it. In my short acquaintance (I had almost called 
 it friendship) with Quin, I have discerned in him qualities that 
 will follow the weakest hand which bends them to vice, or 
 deepens them in virtue. I have regard enough to pity, attention 
 enough to observe, but not fortitude enough to assist him. At 
 present he is in the very acme of vice, with all her beauty dis- 
 played, and all her deformity concealed ; the moment is has • 
 tening, nay perhaps has already passed, that has settled him in 
 virtue, or marked him with infamy, while I pity, condemn, but 
 pardon his infatuation, and fear lest the man who is now above 
 my praise, should too soon fall below my contempt. 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Mar. 17.— Since I finished this I received your two letters, 
 the last of which awakened equal surprise and concern. De- 
 testation at Mrs. Parr's rapacity, and pity for your loss, remain 
 equally importunate and strong in my mind, but you have still 
 sufficient for all the necessaries, all the pleasures of life ; and 
 the woman who has seized your fortune without right, will enjoy 
 it without satisfaction. My next letter, which may perhaps 
 reach you as soon as this, will discuss these points more fully ; 
 at present, my friendship for Archdale calls on me immediately 
 to mention him. He informs me, in a letter (whose elegance I 
 
 can only say is worthy of him), that he shall come to ; 
 
 and as men, as friends, as scholars, it is our interest that he 
 should not. At a College, where dissipation is encouraged, and 
 learning ridiculed, his inclinations for improvement will be 
 damped, for vice increased. I must be more concise than I 
 should chuse. If this scheme is Sumner's, make bold to shew 
 the mistake ; if a superior's, we must, I fear, acquiesce. Yet 
 even to him it may be told, that does he desire Archdale's pecu- 
 niary advantage, Trinity ; if his literary, Emanuel is the Col- 
 lege. We lose him for ever if this scheme is pursued. The 
 same hand which (certain intelligence informs me) has cor- 
 rupted Quin, will ruin him. For once, then, put on the man of 
 the world ; plead, threat, convince, it is yours by letter or 
 words to know more of this affair; to give him hopes and wishes 
 is all in the power of your sincere friend, 
 
 William Bennet. 
 
 I would not have it known that I interest myself in this 
 affair, for particular rc^asons. 
 
 Parr resided at Emanuel the whole of the year 
 1 766, under the tuition of Mr. Hubbard * and Mr. 
 Farmer,-|~ for both of whom he expressed the most 
 
 * Hubbard published one Sermon for the Widows and Or- 
 phans of the Sussex Clefgy, which was much and justly ad- 
 mired, says Parr. B. P. IJe was a jacobite and a smoaker. 
 
 t Mr. Farmer was the celebrated commentator and black- 
 letter collector, and finally Canon Residentiary of St, Paul's. 
 Some of his letters v.ill be published.
 
 MEMOIRS. S5 
 
 profound respect, as men of letters and of virtue. 
 It has already been noted how he spent his time 
 at college; but it will appear hereafter that his re- 
 spect for Mr. Farmer was damped by unkindness, 
 and that it was with difficulty he was persuaded 
 from pouring forth the bitterness of his wrath upon 
 a man who neglected^ and endeavoured to degrade 
 him. He became dissatisfied ; he thought himself 
 poor, and accepted without unwillingness-}^ Dr. 
 
 * " Farmer neglected all mankind," says Archdeacon But- 
 ler, in a remark on this passage. " He was a man of such 
 singular indolence, as to neglect the usual duties of his office as 
 Tutor of a College, in sending in the young men's accounts, 
 and is supposed to have burnt large sums of money by putting 
 into the fire, unopened, letters which contained remittances, ac- 
 companied by remonstrances, and requiring answers," 
 
 f From the Rev. Dr. Sumner, Master of Harrow School, to 
 Mr. Samuel Parr, Emanuel College, Cambridge, dated Harrow, 
 November 10, 1766. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Mr. Holmes has this morning acquainted me with his de- 
 sign of leaving Harrow next Christmas ; I immediately deter- 
 mined to mention the vacancy to you, and offer you the em- 
 ployment. 
 
 If this appears worth your acceptance, I shall heartily wish 
 to see you for an hour or two, that we may consider how far it 
 will be practicable to reconcile this scheme with your design of 
 taking your degrees. As I do not know whether you are ac- 
 quainted or not with the terms, I will mention them. 
 
 The salary I pay Mr. Holmes is ^50 per annum ; what 
 profits may arise from pupils I cannot fix with any certainty. 
 Mr. Holmes I understand receives ^40 or ^50 from them, 
 and if you think proper to succeed him, I hope it is needless to 
 say I shall do every thing in my power to make your situation 
 here respectable and profitable. Let me have your answer as 
 soon as you can determine ; if this proposal should interfere 
 with any other views you may have, I have reasons to wish you 
 
 D 2
 
 36 MEMOIRS, 
 
 Sumner's kind offer of the office of first assistant in 
 Harrow School. During- the negotiation, and per- 
 haps even immediately after the offer of Dr. Sum- 
 ner, his views were changed, and he hoped to hasten 
 the progress of his academical degrees hy becoming 
 a Fellow Commoner of Emanuel; for a Fellow 
 Commoner he certainly designed to be, as the 
 following letter of the Bishop of Cloyne will prove : 
 
 DEAR PARR, Emanucl College, Dec. 1, 1766. 
 
 As this letter has the same subject as your last, it requires 
 the same apology, I will descend therefore directly to business; 
 after promising that, though the troublesome employment of 
 doing nothing has made me so idle that I am two letters in 
 your debt, my heart was all the time at Harrow, and I thought 
 Jiot the less warmly on Parr and friendship. 
 
 I have acquainted Mr. Farmer of your design of becoming 
 Fellow Commoner, and he is busy in making a calculation, 
 which he intends to give me in a few days, and which I will 
 bring with me to Harrow, where I hope to be for a day or two 
 at Christmas. I have a notion that you pay some trifle for a 
 room whether you are real or nominal possessor, but Farmer 
 will certify me of this. The reason you have had no bill for some 
 time is, because, in character of your agent, I paid for your bill 
 in the June quarter, and carried it to your account, and have 
 just got that for Michaelmas, which I propose discharging as soon 
 as my own quarterage is due. I will forward the bills with Mr. 
 Hubbard's receipt in full, or bring them myself, as you chuse. 
 You will see by the inclosed state of the accounts, and the con- 
 siderable balance in your favour, that I can perform this office 
 with ease and advantage to us both. Your goods have been sold 
 by my leave, and Mr. Hubbard's order ; you will find the sum 
 on the side of debtor. No one congratulates the happiness of 
 
 would not speak of it. Contrive to let me see you at Harrow, 
 for I have many things, that we may settle in conversation, 
 which it is impossible to explain in a letter. I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your (be.lient humble servant, 
 . Mr. Parr. U Sumner.
 
 MEMOIRS, 37 
 
 your situation more warmly than Bennet, because no one shares 
 it more sincerely. Yet 1 cannot cease praising my own know- 
 ledge, when I so often told you that you would be rewarded for 
 your former sufferings. For my own part, I am generally con- 
 tented, and therefore, generally happy ; and as hope points out 
 something which invites me to a fresh pursuit, I scorn to leave 
 the chase for a few casual disappointments. From your Latin 
 letters (or rather from as much of your Latin letters as I could 
 read) I received great pleasure. I am with compliments to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Sumner, yours sincerely and afiPectionately, 
 
 William Benxet. 
 Sparrow desires his compliments, and wrote the sentence 
 himself. Hetley * has been ill, but is better. 
 
 He did not become a Fellow Commoner of Ema- 
 nuel; but from January 1767, having accepted the 
 place of Assistant in Harrow School, for live years 
 he sustained the office with the highest credit to 
 himself, and the greatest satisfaction to his em- 
 ployers. In Dr. Sumner he found a wise counsellor, 
 a zealous protector, and a most faithful and affec- 
 tionate friend. In his associates, the Rev. Mr, Da- 
 vid Roderick and Mr. Wadeson, kind, learned, and 
 faithful friends. His own great powers were duly 
 honoured and acknowledged by Mr. Saunders, Vicar 
 of Harrow, Mr. Williams of Pinner, and all those 
 around him who were capable of appreciating them. 
 He was constantly and usefully engaged ; and it is 
 not difficult to believe that, without care and with- 
 out anxiety, and with full employment, this must 
 have been one of the happiest periods of his life. 
 
 On Christmas Day, 1769,-^- Parr was ordained 
 
 * Now living, Prebendary of Sarum. 
 
 t The following letter shews that his ordination was at last 
 sudden. It is from his friend the Rev. David Roderick.
 
 38 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Deacon at Fulhaiii, by Dr. Terrick, Bishop of Lon- 
 don. His title was the Curacies of Willsden and 
 Kingsbury, Middlesex, where the Rev. Moses White, 
 Minor Canon of St. Paul's and Chaplain of Bride- 
 well Hospital, was the incumbent. He continued 
 diligently attending to the duties of his School and 
 his Curacies till March 1770, when his happiness 
 
 REV. SIR, Queens College, Oxon. 
 
 I heartily congratulate you on your admission into orders, 
 that principal object of your wishes and completion of all your 
 happiness. I cannot possibly conjecture what unexpected re- 
 volution in your affairs brought about this important event. In 
 general I can give as much credit to you as any person I am 
 acquainted with ; but your declarations against preaching were 
 circumstances in which I always suspected your veracity. You 
 have begun betimes to hold forth ; the very day you were or- 
 dained. I took the degree of M.A. without any trouble, and have 
 been detained here ever since, through an unwillingness to 
 leave my old acquaintance, and a fondness for a place where I 
 spent five years with so much pleasure and satisfaction, I can- 
 not possibly meet you at Buckingham, The weather is so dis- 
 agreeable that I cannot ride, and a post chaise would cost me 
 one shilling a mile, which, in the reduced state of my finances, 
 I cannot well spare. Besides, I want to stay in London for some 
 time. If I had known sooner of your intention, I should have 
 come to London to attend you. My compliments to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bowyear, I should be very glad to be introduced to Mr, 
 Bowyear's acquaintance, and to laugh a day or two with your 
 sister on your new-acquired consequence and dignity, but hope 
 they will excuse me at this time, as it was principally owing to 
 my persuasion, and engagement to meet you, that you have 
 visited them, I do not despair even of your absolution, as you 
 are now in good spirits and perfect good-humour with every 
 body. I have stolen from the common room, where I have 
 been drinking pretty freely with the Fellows, in order to send 
 you this letter. To-morrow I am to dine with the Provost, 
 and next day set out for London. I am, Reverend Brother, 
 your sincere friend, David Roderick.
 
 MEMOIRS. 39 
 
 was suddenly interrupted by hearing of the ilhiess 
 of his cousin Francis Parr, Fellow of King's College, 
 Cambridge. His friendship for this young man 
 exhibits his character in so amiable a point of view, 
 that it will form a pleasing episode to enter into a 
 detail of some length. Francis Parr was the son of 
 the Rev. Robert Parr, Rector of Horsted, in Nor- 
 folk, and elder brother of Dr. Parr's father. He 
 was educated at Eton; and at the age of 16 was 
 second boy in the school, and did not become cap- 
 tain because there were two vacancies at King's, 
 which carried off the captain and himself at the 
 same time. Hearing of his illness at Cambridge, 
 and that he was attended by Dr. Glynn, Parr de- 
 sired him to come to Harrow for further advice. 
 He was attended by Doctor, afterwards Sir Noah 
 Thomas, for what was deemed a scrofulous com- 
 plaint ; and after having undergone an excruciating 
 operation, the extraction of a tooth, and the perfora- 
 tion of the alveolar process, for the purpose of 
 draining off a supposed abscess, he was sent to 
 Margate for the benefit of the sea. No wonder he 
 suffered violent pains, for he had taken the fourth 
 part of a grain of corrosive sublimate twice a day, 
 from March 3d* probably till May the 9th, when 
 
 * R Merc, corros. sublimat. gr. ij solv. in aq. menth. pip, 
 simpl. J iv. 
 
 R Aq Cinnam. simpl. ^ i. solut. praescr'pt. ^ss. — Nuc.Mosch. 
 3ij Syr. Croc. 3J fiat Haustus sumendus omni mane et nocte. 
 
 Si tormina usui Haustus praescripti supervenerint, adde 
 Haustui nocturne Tincturae Thebaici gutt. x.
 
 40 MEMOIRS. 
 
 there is a prescription for a mixture to be injected 
 into the nostrils thrice a day; and such was the 
 
 Si Alvus "nimis soluta fuerit, adde eidem Haustui noclurno 
 Tinct. Theb. gutt. x. 
 
 Si Alvus adstricta fuerit, cap. q. n. m. vel. q. s. Electarii 
 sequentir. 
 
 R Elect. Lenitiv. ^iss Crystal Tartar. Jss Rad. Jalap. Jiss 
 Syr. Rosar. solut. q. s. fiat Electarium. 
 
 Si oris glandular afficiantur, omittatur Haustus per dies tres 
 vel quatuor, et sumatur omni mane per dies tres vel quatuor, 
 Electarii, q. s.ad alvum ter solvendam. 
 
 Mr. Parr, Mart: Stio, 1770. N. T. 
 
 R R;;d. Sarsaparill. |iij decoq. leni igne ex aq. puras Ifevi. 
 ad ifeij deinde adde liquori colato, postquam refixerit, Aq. Nuc. 
 Mosch. ^ij. 
 
 Bibat totum partltis vicibus quotidie. 
 
 Mr. Parr, April 21mo, 1770. N. T. 
 
 R Aq. Flordeat. fess. 
 
 Mell. Rosac. ^i Tinctur. Myrrh |ss. m. fiat injectio. — This 
 mixture is to be injected into the nostrils thrice a day. 
 
 Mr. Parr, May 9, 1770. N. T. 
 
 SIR, Old Burlington -street, J uli/ 13, 1770. 
 
 I should have answered your letter by the return of the 
 post, but that I thought it necessary to see your cousin first. 
 He has just left me, and I think him much better than he was 
 some days ago ; that is, his pain is greatly abated, the hectic 
 heat almost gone, and his spirits are much improved. Mr. 
 Bromfield and I are of opinion that the inipostumation, which 
 began in the left nostril, has made its way into what anatomists 
 call the antrum, or great sinus of the left upper jaw. We 
 therefore directed two of the teeth called grinders to be drawn, 
 and a perforation to be made into this antrum, that the matter 
 might have a vent into the mouth. This has been done in some 
 measure ; but we do not think the perforation large enough.
 
 MEMOIRS. 41 
 
 agony he suffered, that the operation above alluded 
 to was deemed necessary on the 8th of July. From 
 Margate he returned, unrestored to health, and con- 
 tinued growing slowly worse the remainder of the 
 year. "On Thursday, the llth of January, 1771, 
 Frank set out for Cambridge, to undergo his Col- 
 lege examination for his degree ; the weather was 
 extremely cold, but Dr. Glynn, Vice Provost of 
 King's, who was angry with Frank because he had 
 ceased to be Glynn's patient, and put himself under 
 the care of other medical men, compelled Frank in 
 this dreadful weather, and with all his alarming 
 complaints, to go into the College chapel. Frank 
 being a Fellow of King's, this examination was ne- 
 cessary to his degree of Bachelor of Arts." He re- 
 turned from Cambridge on the 19th of January; 
 on February 12th grew worse; an abscess formed 
 which required the surgical aid of Mr. Bromfield 
 on the 26th ; he gradually grew worse, and died 
 at Harrow April 28th, 1771. Dr. Parr's own me- 
 morandum goes on thus : " Frank was buried on 
 
 and shall to-morrow order it to be enlarged. He does not seem 
 to us to be in immediate danger ; we rather think he has a 
 pretty good chance to get well ; how soon, it is impossible for 
 us to say. If neither the jaw-bone nor any of the neighbouring 
 bones are foul, he will soon recover his health ; otherwise, the 
 cure will be tedious. He certainly is of a scrophulous habit of 
 body, which may retard the cure. You may be assured that I 
 shall pay all the attention in my power to Mr. Parr's case ; and 
 I make no doubt but Mr. Bromfield will do the same. I beg 
 you would be pleased to present my compliments to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Forster. I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 N. Thomas.
 
 42 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Saturday, May 4th, in the same grave wherein lay 
 the remains of my father and mother, at the West 
 end of the chureh. His hrother Rohcrt had come 
 t-o Harrow upon April the iiOth at ten o'clock at 
 night. The funeral was furnished hy at Har- 
 row. The body of Frank had been brought from 
 his lodgings at Sloughters' to my house on Friday 
 night, and deposited in the little parlour. The cof- 
 fin was very handsome, and a plume of white fea- 
 thers was placed over it. The pall was supported 
 by Mr. Browning, who had come up on Friday the 
 3d of May ; by Mr. Evans, the Curate ; and by Mr. 
 Drury, then an usher, and afterwards upper master 
 at Harrow, on the right side. It was supported on 
 the left side by Mr. Wadeson, under master; by 
 Mr. Roderick, my assistant ; and by Mr. White, as- 
 sistant to my cousin Robert Forster, surgeon. The 
 burial was about six in the evening. The body was 
 preceded by the learned Dr. Sumner, head master 
 of Harrow school. He read the service most elo- 
 quently ; and little did he foresee that I should be 
 called upon to perform the same duty for himself, 
 in a few short months after that he had performed 
 for my dear cousin Frank. My friendship with 
 this excell(;nt man continued in this world 11 years 
 4 months and 18 days. Frank's mother came up 
 twice. They loved each other tenderly. I promised 
 her at Frank's request an annuity of ^'5. I pro- 
 mised Frank to pay his Cambridge debts, and they 
 were paid faithfully. The whole amount of what was 
 paid was ^223. I was then very poor, but I could 
 not grudge my money for a dear relative and friend.
 
 MEMOIRS. 43 
 
 for whom I would gladly have laid down my life. 
 Frank Parr had much good sense, and much plea- 
 santry; and he used to laugh with perfect good- 
 humour at the peculiarities of his three comrades. 
 Topping, Paddon, and Sir John, alias Browning. 
 Frank was full six feet high ; he had a fine person, 
 and a fine countenance ; he always dressed elegantly. 
 He was very polite in his manners ; he was admired 
 by the ladies, and esteemed by all his acquaintance. 
 He was endeared to my soul by his virtues. He was 
 a good scholar, but he laughed at me as a laborious 
 student. He kept up his Greek and Latin, and I 
 approved his taste, though I scolded him for want 
 of diligence. He was beginning to write well in 
 English ; and among my letters there is one from 
 Frank, in which the composition is very good in- 
 deed. If he had lived, I should have guided and 
 goaded him into more knowledge. I shall never 
 forget his form, his voice, his friendship, and his 
 numerous moral excellencies. His complaint was 
 hereditary scrofula ; it destroyed not him only, but 
 his brother Tom ; and it appeared more or less in 
 the elder brother Robert. The disease came not 
 from his father, but from his mother."* The ad- 
 
 * The following letter is declaratory of F. Parr's sense of 
 his cousin's kindness : 
 
 MY DEAREST AND BEST OF FRIENDS, 
 
 You are too benevolent, too bountiful to me. Do not mis- 
 interpret my meaning, but I am afraid you distress yourself to 
 benefit me. I have just received your letter and present by 
 Mr. Thackeray. Notwithstanding my previous determination
 
 44 MEMOIRS. 
 
 mirable letters subjoined contain the warmest effu- 
 sions of piety, mingled with brotherly affection. 
 Parr, in his own words, has given a simple, but im- 
 pressive account, of the generous manner in which 
 he acted ; the letters will be lasting monuments of 
 his zealous affection, his devout spirit, and of his 
 unbounded confidence in the mercy of God. 
 
 MY DEAR, DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 I told you that I should write no more ; and yet, contrary 
 to my own engagements and your expectation, I have snatched 
 up the pen to write now. Well, my dear Frank, I am very sure 
 you will excuse me, and will attribute my conduct to that 
 anxious, zealous regard, I always have felt, and always shall 
 feel for you. I found Dr. Thomas at home, and sat with him 
 more than half an hour. We had much and earnest conversa- 
 
 not to write to you till I had received an answer from Dr. Tho- 
 mas, your letter obliges me to take up my pen, (which, by the 
 bye, is a very bad one,) and send you something like an answer 
 to both yours. Your heartiness of expression convinces me 
 that every moment is an age till you hear from me. To ease 
 vour anxiety take these few lines, and pray do not expect 
 many more, for I know of no occurrence worthy of my inser- 
 tion or your perusal, no account of my reading the o'l iraiv, no 
 material alteration in my health ; my old complaints still re- 
 main, though, upon the whole, I am improved. Be not alarmed 
 about my care of myself. Paddon is as unwilling to suggest 
 any thing which might hurt me, as I am to attend to his sug- 
 gestions. Gulliver's Travels, the daily papers, and the Dra- 
 matic Censor, are my studies. Of the two latter I will not say 
 much ; the former you will join me in admiring — there are 
 many severe but just reflections in them. The weather is at 
 present favourable. 1 ride every day. You shall hear from 
 me soon, till which time adieu! God bless you, and reward you 
 for your good offices to F. Parr.
 
 MEMOIRS. 45 
 
 tion about your unhappy case. He spoke to me with much 
 freedom, opennesss, and candour ; and, though I was extremely 
 dejected at the purport of his declarations, I was highly pleased 
 with their honesty. He charged me to keep up your spirits 
 and my own ; acknowledged your situation deplorable, but not 
 desperate ; and encouraged me, by very solid arguments, to 
 look for some relief from the methods you now pursue. My 
 dear friend, you know the bottom of my heart; and, if I have 
 a thought there which you do not know, 1 shall suspect myself 
 of ingratitude in desiring to conceal it from a man of your un- 
 suspecting confidence and thorough integrity. You believe me, 
 I suppose, to be a Christian. You believe me not to have taken 
 up my faith upon a careless, superficial examination ; not to 
 keep or part with it at random — not to lay it down as an ab- 
 stract truth defensible only in theory — but to consider it as a 
 constant principle of action. That I have committed many 
 mistakes, even with this steady, this hearty persuasion, that the 
 Gospel is of Divine authority, I own with sorrow; but I am 
 happy and proud to own, that my mistakes and faults would have 
 been far greater without it. From this, my dear friend, from 
 this I am seriously convinced, that Providence does rule over 
 the world, and that all secondary events are under its disposal ; 
 and that, what we unphilosophically call a particular interposi- 
 tion, makes, in reality, only one part of the general administra- 
 tion. I am convinced, too, that the Almighty is ever ready to 
 succour those who call on him with resignation to his will, and 
 trust in his mercy ; and that he can bend the course of things 
 to an accomplishment of his purposes, by means as much above 
 our comprehension, as they are for ends conducive to our hap- 
 piness. Under this sense, I look for success from the earthly 
 endeavours we are making for your recovery ; and, for the 
 same reason, I pray God to bless by his favour those means 
 which he directs by his wisdom. Under this sense, you doubt- 
 less comfort yourself with the hopes of receiving relief, and at 
 the same time look up for success only to the hand of heaven. 
 I know not how it came about ; last Saturday, my dear friend, 
 I went to London with a full resolution to open my bosom, and 
 to talk with you both seriously and copiously about the con- 
 cerns of another life. Such a conversation would certainly
 
 46 MEMOIRS. 
 
 have been not inconsistent with my Clerical character. It 
 would have been not improper from one who has that hearty, 
 earnest affection to all your interests, that I pay to yours. 1 would 
 have been not offensive to a man of your sound understanding 
 and firm faith. Yet ray unwillingness to deject you got the 
 better of all my determinations, and I kept the secrets fast up 
 within my bosom, which have now found their way in this letter. 
 In a word, my dear fellow Christian, let me beg of you to think 
 earnestly of another state. If it is at hand, such thoughts are 
 peculiarly seasonable : if it is far distant, they yet become 
 your present situation. These are moments in which I cannot 
 stoop to trifle or dissemble with you. I should disdain to dis- 
 semble myself. I should be angry if, in such circumstances, 
 you from benevolence should wish to deceive me. I know the 
 common cant of — *it will make him low — it can do him no good 
 — poor soul, he wants to be comforted' — I know, and despise 
 it. If you are unfit for another life, it is high time to rouse 
 you from your lethargy ; if you are fit, it is the only prospect 
 that ought to employ your attention, because the only one that 
 can deserve it. Ah, my friend ! address your prayers to Al- 
 mighty God in the name of his Son ; beg his mercy to all the 
 follies and irregularities of your youth. 
 
 Without sorrow you cannot repent. Without repentance 
 you cannot be saved. With it you will have comfort here and 
 joy hereafter. My dear Frank, I beg of you again and again, 
 approach in thought and prayer that God, before whom we 
 must all at some time or other appear ; before whom it may be 
 our lot to appear very soon. But why should we be shocked ? 
 Christianity unfolds futurity in every cheering, every delightful 
 representation ; it shews the mercy of our God and the love of 
 our Saviour. It shews that through the Gospel covenant, even 
 our imperfect services shall be accepted, and our numberless sins . 
 forgiven. It shews us that you and I, with all our follies and 
 all our faults, may, I trust, humbly trust we shall, meet in 
 Heaven, never, never to be separated; more virtuous, more 
 fond, more friendly yours, ray dear Frank, 
 
 S. Parr.
 
 MEMOIRS. . 47 
 
 Do not wonder at my greediness to snatch the very few 
 moments, which our gracious and wise Father will perhaps allow 
 us to have in this world. Oh, my friend ! may his boundless 
 mercy, may the merits and intercession of his most blessed Son, 
 bring us together in a future life, never, never, to be separated. 
 You know, Frank, that I have always looked on this scene as 
 only preparatory to another ; and indeed there is no one object 
 in it, that bears comparatively any value in my sight, but the 
 friendship of some good men, and yours very far above all 
 others. Yet, my soul, the very consideration which makes me 
 as a man more reluctant to lose you, ought to give me as a 
 Christian the highest pleasure. God is my witness, that I do 
 not flatter you ; but your goodness of heart, your soundness of 
 faith, all, all conspire to tie you to my heart, and to fix me your 
 friend. Such virtue I never have found ; I never can find. 
 Heaven give me grace to be thankful for it, grace to imitate it, 
 and to share with you in the final reward of our labours. Our 
 present situation calls upon me to speak in this serious manner. 
 When I weigh together what I have seen of your' case, and 
 what I have heard of it from your physician, my soul breaks 
 loose from every comfort, by which religion ought to bind me; 
 and is plunged into extreme and agonizing despair. But this 
 state of mind is not lasting. I am able to collect my disor- 
 dered thoughts ; to fix my warm heart ; and to rest my whole 
 and sincere confidence in the infinite, inconceivable goodness 
 of the Supreme. Such is the weakness of nature, that I cannot 
 be quite easy ; it is true I have great trust in the kindness of 
 God, and in the efficacy of a Saviour's intercession. I look for- 
 ward with exultation to the joys which are treasured up for you, 
 and with trembling hope make part of them my own. Yet the 
 tear will drop, and the heart will ache. Oh my dear, dear 
 Frank, oh were that day arrived to both of us, when every sigh 
 shall be stopped, and every evil done away, and our souls lifted 
 up from this vale of sorrow to boundless and heavenly joy. Let 
 me open myself yet further to you. Should it please God to 
 deprive me of you, I know it is my duty, through his grace it 
 shall be my endeavour, to bear the stroke. But if it falls, I 
 shall, I shall, my friend, have no wishes to continue : my hopes, 
 my thoughts, will follow, and I shall long, perhaps impatiently
 
 48 MEMOIRS. 
 
 long, for that hour, which shall restore us to each other, and 
 bring us to our God. My prayers, my dear friend, I do not fail 
 to offer up in behalf of your body and soul ; I dare say you do 
 the same for me. May the Almighty, for his dear Son's sake, 
 hear us both, save, preserve, bless us, for ever. 
 
 I hope to get the towels ready in a day or two. Pray 
 make yourself easy, my heart, about all money, and claim mine 
 as your own. Let no false pride, no superfluous delicacy, no 
 unfriendly, unmanly, unchristian suspicions, keep you from re- 
 peating your demands. '' Greater love,'' says our Saviour, 
 " than this has no man, than that a man should lay down his life 
 for his friend." God is my judge that I would most readily, 
 most contentedly, most gladly die, for you, my dear, dear soul ! 
 Can I then refuse you any thing else ? We have a common in- 
 terest here, a connnon hope hereafter. Heaven grant our 
 friendship to last to all eternity. If the towels are ready, you 
 will perhaps see me for an hour or two on Thursday or Friday 
 evening. Write a line by to-night's post. Write, if it be only 
 a line. Pray eat three or four jellies a day. Pray take care of 
 yourself. I commend you to the great God and his most gra- 
 cious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Through his mediation and 
 intercession may we live long on earth, and meet in Heaven ! 
 Yours, my friend, sincerely and affectionately, 
 
 Sam ufl Parr. 
 
 My distraction, dear Frank, grows intolerable. My eyes 
 are sometimes raised to Heaven with humble and pious confi- 
 dence — they are in a moment sunk down to the earth, and all 
 hope, all comfort, vanish from before me. Now I feel the 
 weakness of human nature, and the emptiness of human know- 
 ledge ; now I feel the consolations which religion only can 
 offer, which it has offered, and does offer to me, under the ex- 
 pectation of a calamity more dreadful to me than death. For 
 what, my dear soul, what have I to lose by the resignation of a 
 life whose pleasures liave been mostly borrowed from the pro- 
 spect of futurity, and whose very capacity of bestowing happi- 
 ness is destroyed when you, the last, best gift of my God, art 
 torn from me. Be not shocked — we arc men — we are Chris-
 
 MEMOIRS. 49 
 
 tians — I have lived in hopes of seeing you prosper here — I shall 
 live, perhaps, under the well-grounded assurance that you v/ill 
 be happy hereafter — happy in heaven — hai)py in the reward of 
 your virtue — in the approbation of your Redeemer, in the fa- 
 vour of your God. This joy no man taketh from you. With 
 you may I share this joy. Yes, my friend, I can without hor- 
 ror, let me add without presumption, yield myself to death, 
 and even pray for it, under the hope of seeing and living with 
 you in another and a better, far better state. Under this con- 
 viction, let us bow down our hearts, and commit our souls and 
 our bodies, to Him who judgeth righteously, to a Redeemer 
 whose love is boundless, to a God whose mercy is inexhausti- 
 ble. My dear, dear heart, I could not bear the idea of suffer- 
 ing you to feel one uneasy thought, and therefore I sent you 
 three guineas this morning, on the very moment after my ar- 
 rival. I will in a few days send you some towels, and if you 
 please a table-cloth or two, and other necessaries which you 
 find occasion for. Write me word of the consultation. Tell 
 me what say your physicians about your health and earthly 
 condition ; and tell me, oh ! my dear creature, what your own 
 heart suggests to you about your future one. May that God 
 whose mercy is over all his works; that God, who will not reject 
 the meanest of his creatures, when they approach him in the 
 the name of a crucified, interceding Saviour ; may he mitigate 
 your pains — may he restore your health — may he bless your 
 soul — even so. Lord Jesus ! amen. 
 
 Yours to eternity, S. Parr. 
 
 My respects and kindest wishes to the Baronet, Thanks 
 and compliments to Mr. Calvert. 
 
 How much his tenderness was appreciated by his 
 true friend Bennet, and how much he sympathized 
 with his affliction, is demonstrated by the two fol- 
 lowing letters ; the one written after the death of 
 F. Parr, and the other after the funeral : 
 
 Emanuel College, April 1771. 
 The melancholy occasion on which you wrote to me, my 
 dear Sam, though by no means unexpected, failed not to have 
 VOL. I. E
 
 60 MEMOIRS. 
 
 its proper force. I always feared a relapse, but I was unwil- 
 ling to embitter by my suspicions any of the agreeable hours 
 we passed together ; the stroke was indeed sudden, but your 
 mind is too strong in itself, and too well guarded by religion to 
 sink under an accident that has only anticipated the loss which 
 a very few years, or it may be a few weeks, would have brought 
 with them. When you read this, Frank will probably be no 
 more. You feel all that the most sincere tenderness can feel 
 for his death, but how would your sorrows have been increased 
 had he been called suddenly and unprepared into the presence 
 of his Creator ; or had he, after his life had been prolonged by 
 your earnest supplications, relapsed again into sin, and called 
 down a severer stroke of justice. You have now done every 
 thing in your power to assist and to save him ; you have looked 
 forward to his spiritual as well as his temporal happiness ; and 
 it is owing perhaps to your arguments or to your prayers, that 
 one more soul is added to the blessed in heaven. And have 
 you not more reason to triumph than to lament that his pains 
 are lost, his fears are conquered, his happiness ensured ? I 
 know that you repine at his not passing many more years with 
 you 5 at his falling in the prime of his youth ; but sure your 
 hopes could be few that he would pass those years in pleasure 
 and health : and with his constitution broken, his temper 
 soured, his life continually exposed, he could have afforded you 
 but little comfort. I can suppose, too, that your tenderness may 
 be hurt at the pains he suffered in his lingering illness ; but not 
 to dwell on the preparation this lingering illness gave him, 
 might not those very pains expiate, even in this life, the few 
 sins of which he had been guilty ? Forgive my visionary 
 notions, I am confident they might, I am confident they did ; 
 and Frank, cleansed from the follies as well as delivered from 
 the cares of a miserable life, will be the first to welcome you 
 into that heaven, to which your prayers and your merits have 
 introduced him. 
 
 Yet let not even suspicion breathe a hint that while I mag- 
 nify your Cousin's pains or your piety ; while I believe him 
 happy through your merits ; that I mean to discredit or to di- 
 minish, the infinite merits of our Redeemer. It was through him 
 you applied, through him you will be received ; he looked down
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 51 
 
 with pleasure on your well-meant endeavours, and perfected the 
 repentance which you awakened and promoted. 
 
 Throw then aside your partial, and in this case misplaced 
 fondness, and ask your own soul, whether she does not consider 
 Frank's release from his pains as an event not only positively 
 good, because proceeding from a positively good being, but as 
 necessary, advantageous, and happy. If you wish your Cousin 
 delivered from his distempers ; if you wish him to be favoured 
 by his God, you could never find a clearer, or more certain 
 evidence of either. Torn indeed from our arms, he is raised to 
 the embraces of his heavenly Father ; and happy in himself, he 
 no longer needs your assistance, your labours, or your tears, to 
 make and to guard him so. 
 
 Mr. Thackeray waits, and I can write no more. If Frank is 
 yet sensible, assure him of my most earnest respects, of my un- 
 feigned love ; if he is happy, receive my congratulations instead 
 of my condolements. And after indulging the tears which 
 nature excites, and religion does not forbid, settle your mind 
 into the calm i-ecollection, that having experienced every thing 
 from your (I must call it paternal) tenderness, he is now expe- 
 riencing yet higher blessings, from the tenderness of his Saviour 
 and his God. 
 
 I am, &c. &c. 
 
 W. Bennet. 
 
 To the Rev. Mr. Parr, at Harrow on the Hill. 
 
 MY DEAR SAM, Begun May 5th, ended 9th, 1771. 
 
 Do not think it unkind that I neither attended Mr. 
 Evans to Harrow, nor sent a letter by him. The short- 
 ness of his stay, and the accident of my lameness, made 
 neither possible. I could have been happy to have had some 
 little share in paying the last offices to our dear friend, and con- 
 tributing something perhaps, to alleviate the loss. Those offices 
 are now paid ; may I hope that the loss too is now alleviated ? 
 You are in good hands ; the good nature of Mr. Roderick, the 
 sense, the humanity of Sumner, and your own piety, will sug- 
 gest arguments, or invent diversions, sufficient at least to hinder 
 your mind from preying upon itself. I know, my dear friend, 
 
 E 2
 
 52 MEMOIRS, 
 
 you will not murmur openly at the dispensations of Providence ; 
 but you may think them severe, you may sink under their 
 weight. With a mind naturally firm as yours is, and made 
 much stronger by a very high sense of religion, it is particularly 
 your duty to stand up against misfortune. Considered either 
 as a philosopher, a man, or a Christian, you are an example to 
 others ; and if you shrink in the hour of danger, what will become 
 of me, who have neither your firmness or your piety? 
 
 Where, where, for shelter shall the guilty fly, 
 When consternation turns the good man pale ? 
 
 Business confines me much ; it has in one respect done me 
 service. I mean in preventing my being too melancholy at 
 misfortunes, which my melancholy could never alleviate. May 
 it have the same effect on you ! This letter, wrote at different 
 times and in different tempers, in sickness and health, leisure 
 and business, can be of no other service than to let you know 
 what you knew before, the unalterable and affectionate friend- 
 ship of your Wm, Bennet. 
 To the Rev. Mr. Parr, at Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex. 
 
 Scarcely had Parr recovered from the shock of 
 Francis Parr's death, when he was doomed to sus- 
 tain what was in fact a heavier loss to him, and which 
 marred his hopes of advancement. In Dr. Sum- 
 ner he found a wise counsellor, a zealous protector, 
 and a most faithful and affectionate friend. When, 
 with the highest credit to himself, and the greatest 
 satisfaction to his employer, Parr had for five years 
 filled the office of an assistant, Dr. Sumner in the 
 autumn of 1771, was carried off by an apoplexy. 
 Parr was in his 25th year. He was the person 
 pointed out by his learning, as the successor of Dr. 
 Sumner. But let the following letters speak the 
 sentiments of his friends, Bennet and Jones:
 
 MEMOIRS. 53 
 
 From Beiinet, without date or signature. 
 
 I am shocked to the most extraordinary degree by an ac- 
 count in the newspapers of the death of Dr. Sumner. I am yet 
 wilHng to flatter myself it is false. You have too much punctu- 
 ality and too much feeling to keep me in suspense by your 
 silence, and a letter to my father's or to College would have 
 reached me here. Judge of my sufferings by your own ; the 
 time, the manner of his death affect me. Ah ! my friend, was he 
 not too careless in his conduct ? Were his talents always ap- 
 plied to the glory of his Maker ? Hurried so soon into the 
 presence of God ! But I forbear these melancholy thoughts. 
 Gratitude looks forward beyond the grave, and hopes to meet 
 him happy. 
 
 I know no accident more contrary to your interest; nor 
 can imagine whether you lose all your expectations in my de- 
 spair, or whether adversity has only called up your talents, and 
 you have some hopes of succeeding him. Let me know your 
 resolves ; the Genius of the School w^aits for them in silence. 
 It is not my partiality ; it is nature and reason that look upon 
 you as the only person that can prevent Harrow from sinking 
 again into the lowest contempt, 
 
 God bless you, my dearest friend ! The loss of one tie here 
 only strengthens my others. I expect to hear even the mi- 
 nutest particulars. Farewell, farewell. 
 
 From Sir William Jones is the same anxious 
 inquiry : 
 
 DEAR PARR, Sept. 13, 1771. 
 
 I have just met with a paragraph in the Public Ad- 
 vertiser of this morning, which, I hope, from my soul, is not 
 true. It says that Dr. Sumner died of an apoplexy on 
 Tuesday. I entreat you to relieve my anxiety immediately by 
 writing a line to me at Mr. Brudenell's in Duke-street, West- 
 minster. 
 
 I am yoursvery t rul y, 
 
 Wm. Jones.
 
 54 MEMOIRS. 
 
 In less than two months Sir WilHam Jones writes: 
 
 To the Rev. Mr. Bennet, Fellow of Emanuel College, 
 Cambridge, 
 
 Westminster, 10th Nov. 
 I have received your letter, my dear Bennet ; but, as the Law 
 Term is begun, have not time to answer it as fully as I could 
 wish. Parr tells me he has heard from you. As his profes- 
 sion allows him more leisure than mine, I leave him to inform 
 you of the revolutions at Harrow, and of his own settlement at 
 Stanmore. He will also satisfy you with regard to the Exer- 
 cise book.* I am glad you still think of Apollonius ; though I 
 could wish you would compose some work of History or Lite- 
 rature in our own language. If you should finish any such 
 work, I will engage to dispose of it in London to the best ad- 
 vantage ; and we must not be so lost to philosophy as to neg- 
 lect every opportunity of honourable gain. Stephens (or Mon- 
 sieur Etienne, as his true name was) did not insert the Argo- 
 nautics among his other Greek Poems; I suppose, because he 
 had printed, or intended to print, it separately. How Master 
 Fabrice and vir clariss. Bennetus canie to get into a mistake 
 about it, I cannot tell. You will think more highly of my sin- 
 cerity than my gratitude, when I tell you that I was not so 
 deeply affected with the loss of Sumner as you seem to be. 
 My confidence in him had been considerably decreased for the 
 three last years, and I began to take less pleasure in his com- 
 pany than ever. As to himself, he had too many misfortunes 
 to make fife any longer desirable. I have learned so much, 
 seen so much, written so much, said so much, and thought so 
 much, since I conversed with you, that were I to attempt to 
 tell half what I have learned, seen, writ, said, and thought, 
 
 * This book was kept by Dr. Sumner for the purpose of in- 
 serting the best exercises of his pupils. Mr, Roderick tells me 
 that there were many of Sir William Jones and of Bennet in it, 
 but none of Parr, The reason probably was, that Parr had left 
 school before Sumner began to keep the book, which is now 
 in the hands of Mr. Holme Sumner.
 
 MEMOIRS. 55 
 
 my letter would have no end, I spend the whole winter in at- 
 tending the public speeches of our greatest lawyers and sena- 
 tors, and in studying our own admirable laws, which exhibit 
 the most noble example of human wisdom that the mind of 
 man can contemplate. I give up my leisure hours to a Politi- 
 cal Treatise on the Turks, from which I expect some reputa- 
 tion ; and I have several objects of ambition, which I cannot 
 trust to a letter, but will impart to you when we meet. If I 
 stay in England, I shall print my De Poesi Asiatica next sum- 
 mer, though I shall be at least ^200 out of pocket by it. In 
 short, if you wish to know my occupations, read the beginning 
 of Middleton's Cicero, pp. 13 — 18, and you will see my model; 
 for I would willingly lose my head at the age of sixty, if I could 
 pass a life at all analogous to that which Middleton describes. 
 Parr talks of being with you at Christmas ; I fear I shall not be 
 able to accompany him. Farewell. The time, 1 hope, will 
 come when we shall see more of each other than we have been 
 able to do for the last seven years. 
 
 Such were the different feehngs of the friends. 
 Parr officiated at the interment of Dr. Sumner, 
 and composed the inscription on his monument, 
 which is placed in Harrow Church. 
 
 Immediately on Dr. Sumner's death. Parr became 
 candidate for the school at Harrow, and sent the 
 following circular letter to each of the governors : 
 
 SIR, Harrotv, Sept. 12, 1771. 
 
 As Dr. Sumner was last night carried off by an apoplexy, 
 I have taken the liberty of offering myself as a candidate for 
 the Mastership, and of soliciting your support. My birth in 
 the town, my education in the school, and the employment in 
 which I have been engaged for near five years under Dr. Sum- 
 ner, will, I flatter myself, in some measure recommend me to 
 your favour. Give me leave to hope. Sir, that you will excuse 
 me from a personal attendance ; which, indeed, I am incapable 
 of paying, from the perplexity of our affairs after this unex-
 
 56 MEMOIRS. 
 
 pected and unhappy event, and from tlic necessity oF my as-! 
 sistance in the School. 
 
 I am, Sir, with great respect, 
 
 your most obedient servant, 
 
 Samuel Parr. 
 
 It appears by the two following letters that Parr 
 exerted himself mueh as a candidate. The Rev, 
 Dr. Smith, Master of Caius College, writes thus to 
 him, September 19th, 1771 : 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I wisli you success with all my heart, on account of Har^w 
 School in general, &c. and I will most assuredly sign and for- 
 ward, as I am able, your petition for a Master's degree. I am, 
 dear Sir, your obliged and humble servant, J, Smith. 
 
 From the Earl of Dartmouth to Mr. Parr : 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I have just received, with the utmost concern, the melan- 
 choly account of the death of Dr. Sumner. In the confusion that 
 such an event must necessarily create in the School, you will not 
 be surprised that I should be particularly anxious for my sons, 
 and that I should beg the favour of you to pay more than ordi- 
 nary attention to them, and to have them under your eye as much 
 as possible. As the reputation and prosperity of the School 
 will depend so much on the choice of his successor, there can 
 be no doubt that the governors will take care to supply his 
 place as worthily as possible. My wish is, that the choice may 
 fall upon you. If you should have any thoughts of the employ- 
 ment, I shall be very glad to contribute any thing in my power 
 towards your success, and to write to Sir John, and Mr. Rushout, 
 for that purpose. I shall be obliged to you, if you will let me 
 know what plan is intended to be pursued. LoVd Lewisham 
 joins very sincerely in my concern for this loss, and desires 
 me to present his compliments to you. I am, Sir, 
 Your obedient humble servant, 
 15//? Sept. 1771. Dartmouth.
 
 MEMOIRS. 67 
 
 To the Earl of Dartmouth, from Mr. Parr : 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 As Dr. Sumner had repeatedly declared to me his inten- 
 tions, in case of his resignation, and as his friendly representa- 
 tions of my conduct have estabh'shed some interest among the 
 trustees, I thought proper to declare myself a candidate. It 
 gives me, my Lord, the highest pleasure to find that such pro- 
 ceeding is agreeable to your Lordship's inclinations ; and I am 
 at a loss to express the sense I have of the great honour you do 
 me in wishing me success, and of the service you offer in for- 
 warding it. A recommendation, my Lord, to Sir John Rush- 
 out and Mr. Rushout would, I am confident, carry with it the 
 greatest weight ; and you will give me leave to hint, that the 
 sooner such a step is taken, the more likely it is to avail. Your 
 Lordship may be assured of my very particular attention to the 
 Mr. Legges at this critical juncture. The general propriety of 
 their behaviour secures them from every suspicion of irregula- 
 rity, and it is but justice to every part of the School to acknow- 
 ledge, that they have conducted themselves in the most decent 
 and respectful manner. I have the honour to be, &c. &c. 
 
 S. Parr. 
 
 This confidence of the Earl of Dartmouth in 
 Mr. Parr continued, till the education of all his sons 
 was finished. Mr. Augustus Legge, the youngest, was 
 placed under his care at Hatton. The elder branches 
 of this family boarded with Dr. Glasse, who at that 
 time lived at Harrow, and received a select number 
 of boys who were educated in the public school, 
 which he thus made subservient to the interests of 
 his own establishment. His boarders were chiefly 
 boys of fortune, attending the school without being 
 subject to biUs.=* Dr. Sumner on his accession to 
 
 * Bills of absence, or callings over, a check upon boys, to 
 keep them within reasonable bounds.
 
 58 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the mastership, issued an order, that no boy should 
 be exempt from bills.* This order deranged Dr. 
 Glasse's plan, and after some struggle he withdrew 
 his pupils from the school. In this struggle he so 
 warndy engaged the present Lord Radnor's father 
 on his side, that the Earl threatened to destroy the 
 school if Dr. Sumner would not yield. He was in- 
 flexible and undismayed. Lord Dartmouth sup- 
 ported him in the change, and took his sons away 
 from Glasse, and placed them under the care of 
 Sumner, and afterwards under Parr at Stanmore. 
 Glasse finally left Harrow, and then established 
 himself at Greenfield. 
 
 The following is an account of what happened on 
 Dr. Heath's election to the school, by an eye witness, 
 the Rev. David Roderick, then one of the assistants : 
 " Dr. Askew, with whose character for literature you 
 are I presume acquainted, was the friend of Dr. Sum- 
 ner ; and the physician who was called in, whenever 
 a physician was necessary at Harrow, unless the 
 parents had pointed out some other person. When 
 Dr. Sumner was seized by his fatal apoplexy, Dr. 
 Askew was sent for, and arrived at Harrow about 
 midnight. Dr. Sumner was then dead, or dying. 
 Parr, Drury, and I were in the house. Dr. Askew 
 then said, that Parr must offer himself for the Head- 
 ship, unless Mr. Wadeson should think of making 
 application. This, as we had foreseen, he declined, 
 and Parr immediately applied to the governors ; 
 and through the Dake of Grafton, the Chancellor of 
 
 * From Mr. Roderick's authority.
 
 MEMOIRS. 59 
 
 Cambridge, he had taken necessary steps for obtain- 
 ing by mandamus the degree of M. A. which was a 
 necessary quahfication. When it was discovered in 
 a week or more that Heath was to succeed, Parr 
 determined to give up the assistantship ; but, whether 
 setting up an establishment of his own was his 
 thought, or the suggestion of some other person, I 
 do not now recollect." Stanmore was recommended 
 by Mr. Smith the rector, who was then Parr's 
 warmest friend, as the most promising place. In 
 answer to his circular of application, his age, not 
 then 25 complete, was pleaded by the governors as 
 a reason for rejecting his pretensions. The boys, 
 whom he had instructed with so much assiduity, and 
 grounded with so much wisdom, were anxious for 
 his success ; and when the election fell upon the 
 learned Mr. Benjamin Heath, the young gentlemen 
 endeavoured to avenge the cause of their favourite 
 master, by overt acts of violent rebellion. " When 
 it was known that Heath was likely to become 
 master," says Mr. Roderick, " the upper boys consi- 
 dered it as an indignity to have an Eton assistant put 
 over them, when they had in their own school a 
 person of superior learning." This notion they in- 
 culcated into the other boys, so that a petition ably 
 drawn up and signed by every boy in the school was 
 presented to the governors on the subject.* " The 
 
 * The following is a copy : 
 
 To the Governors of Harrow School. 
 
 SIRS, 
 
 We, the senior scholars, as the voice of the whole 
 school, having received intelligence that you propose, con-
 
 60 MEMOIRS 
 
 rebellion at Harrow," continues Mr. Roderick, " was 
 totally unforeseen by Parr or me ; nor had we seen 
 
 trary to the manifest desire of each of us, to appoint Mr, 
 Heath, or some other person from Eton, as successor to our 
 late master Dr. Sumner, earnestly desire you would in some 
 measure take into your consideration the unanimous wishes 
 of the whole school, which are universally declared in favour 
 of Mr. Parr, As we most of us are independent of the founda- 
 tion, we presume our inclinations ought to have some weight 
 in the determination of your choice. We are informed your 
 only objection to Mr. Parr is his age, which indeed his sound 
 abilities and distinguished morality sufficiently obviate. If you 
 consider the age of his predecessor, (when elected,) the differ- 
 ence will be found immaterial. Our natural affection for such 
 a person educated at Harrow, enforced by the consideration of 
 his many good qualities, are sufficient reasons for our preferring 
 Mr. Parr. We cannot help being surprised at your so strongly 
 supporting a man from Eton, as there appear so many objec- 
 tions for any one from that place. Our late master's abilities 
 were such as at that time fully authorised your choice. But 
 when a person like Mr. Parr, whose capacity yourselves cannot 
 object to, assisted with so many advantages, is universally pro- 
 posed, a master from any other place would be needless, and 
 therefore we flatter ourselves our request will not appear un- 
 reasonable. A school of such reputation as our late master 
 has rendered this, ought not to be considered as an appendix to 
 Eton. Nor should the plan by which it has been raised to such 
 eminence, be subverted by continual innovations from another 
 school. Mr. Parr cannot but be acquainted with those rules 
 which his predecessor has established, and will consequently 
 act upon the former successful plan. We hope in your deter- 
 mination, private attachments, or personal affection, will not 
 bias your minds to the prejudice of the school. A school can- 
 not be supported when every individual is disaffected towards 
 the master ; neither will the disregarded wishes of numbers 
 want opportunities in shewing their resentment. It is hoped 
 that an answer will be given to our request, which, if granted,
 
 MEMOIRS. Gl 
 
 SO much as the petition to the governors. When 
 Mr. Bucknell's carriage was taken out of the inn 
 
 will ever claim our most grateful acknowledgments. Quicquid 
 necessitas coget defendet. 
 
 It was against this spirit that Mr. Heath wrote to Dr. 
 Demainbray, requesting power to enforce submission ; but 
 young Demainbray was not submitted to his authority ; he went 
 to Stanmore. 
 
 On the same day that Heath wrote his letter to Dr. De- 
 mainbray, Parr, hearing of the imputations against himself, 
 wrote the following letter to Mr. Heath : 
 
 SIR, HarroXK, Oct. 6, 1771. 
 
 In the course of common conversation I yesterday heard 
 that a report, highly prejudicial to my character, had been ma- 
 liciously and industriously propagated in respect to my con- 
 duct on Thursday last. It amounts to nothing less than that I 
 was personally instrumental in encouraging the petulance of 
 the boys, and inflaming their resentment. In answer to a 
 charge, which becomes formidable only from the delicacy of 
 my situation, I assert that neither my adherents or myself 
 either privately contrived or publicly abetted the i-iot, and that 
 every outrage was the immediate, unforeseen effect of illibe- 
 rality on the part of the Governors, and precipitation on that of 
 the boys. An accusation so improbable in itself can meet only 
 with contempt from a man of sense and candour, as I am per- 
 suaded you are ; and yet it is so pregnant with important con- 
 sequences to my reputation, that I should have been at least 
 imprudent in not standing forth, both to satisfy you and vindi- 
 cate myself. Should an aspersion of this kind meet your ears, 
 you now have the power to contradict it on the most express 
 and decisive authority ; and need I add that, to crush every 
 treacherous, malevolent calumny, is a debt you owe equally to 
 your own honour and my innocence. I will go one step far- 
 ther, and declare that these violent proceedings have met from 
 me the most positive disapprobation, and the most vigorous op-, 
 position. I am very capable. Sir, of distinguishing between
 
 62 MEMOIRS. 
 
 yard I happened to be in the street, and ran to pro- 
 tect it, and saved one side ; but on my going to the 
 other side, that which I had left, was demoHshed. 
 The carriage was taken to the Common, and com- 
 pletely destroyed. On the return of the boys, some 
 of the younger ones had stones in their hands to 
 throw at the windows of Mr. Home, another of the 
 governors. This I prevented by representing the 
 inhumanity of terrifying two elderly ladies the 
 sisters of Mr. Home. I do not now recollect, 
 whether I knew that a petition in favour of Parr 
 was to be presented, till I saw it in the hands of the 
 Governors, M^hen they asked me to continue at 
 Harrow. 
 
 " It was some years afterwards objected to me 
 that I was concerned in the rebellion at Harrow ; 
 and Dr. Heath, after his appointment, had in his 
 public advertisement and private letters* called up- 
 
 you, the involuntary instrument of my disappointment, and the 
 iniquitous authors of it; and you may be assured that my in- 
 dignation at the meanness, the injustice, and the perfidy of 
 your electors, can never lessen my esteem for your own incon- 
 testible and uncommon merit. I am, Sir, your most obedient 
 servant, S. Parr. 
 
 Mr, Heath did not answer this letter. Parr called upon him, 
 and left a card, when Heath was established at Harrow. He 
 did not return the visit. 
 
 * SIR, Eton, October 6, 
 
 I think it my duty to inform you of my appointment to the 
 School at Harrow, As I could not leave my connections at 
 Eton without proper notice to the parents of my pupils ; and 
 as Mr. Parr and Mr. Roderick, the two Assistants, have de- 
 clined all farther concern with the business of the place, the
 
 MEMOIRS. 65 
 
 on the parents to discountenance a spirit of in- 
 subordination, and to support lawful authority, by 
 sending their sons back to school, to undergo such 
 punishment as it might be thought necessary to in- 
 flict on them." 
 
 " On the sudden death of my learned friend. Dr. 
 Robert Sumner (says Parr), I became candidate for 
 the upper mastership, and I thought my claims not 
 contemptible, as I had been on the foundation of 
 John Lyon, and had served faithfully as upper as- 
 sistant for nearly five years. The Governors kept 
 me in the dark till the night before the election. I 
 flung vip the assistantship indignantly, and settled 
 at Stanmore. The boys, from their attachment to 
 me, rebelled furiously, and nearly 40 of them went 
 with me to Stanmore. My successful competitor, 
 Dr. Benjamin Heath, an assistant at Eton, was a 
 very good scholar, and by his personal merit justi- 
 fied the choice of the Governors. One or two of 
 the Governors pleaded against me my youth ; but 
 the real ground was a vote which I had given at 
 Brentford in favour of John Wilkes, and a suspicion 
 that my independent spirit would lead me to govern 
 
 Governors have thought it expedient to adjourn the School 
 until Monday the 14th instant. If you should please to approve 
 their nomination, I must request the concurrence of your au- 
 thority to enforce a proper submission to those regulations 
 which may be thought necessary for the establishment of dis- 
 cipline. With your countenance and support, I shall hope to 
 discharge the duties of so important a trust to your perfect 
 satisfaction, I am, Sir, with great respect. 
 
 Your most obedient and faithful servant, 
 To Dr. Demainbray, Richmond, Benjamin Heath,
 
 64 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the school according to my own notions, and the 
 example of my known counsellor, Dr. Sumner, who 
 in 1760 found 80 boys, and in 1771 left 250." 
 
 Parr, without submitting to the degrading toil of 
 reiterated solicitation, obtained from Dr. Terrick, 
 the then Bishop of London, a licence, which had 
 been at first refused to him with peculiar circum- 
 stances of contumely and unkindness ; and finally 
 triumphed over the calumnies of those persons who 
 had basely represented him, as an encourager of the 
 disturbance. He himself states how impossible it 
 was to describe the anguish of his honest and inge- 
 nuous mind, when he had been thus forcibly driven 
 away from the place where he had drawn his first 
 breath ; in which he had received his earliest edu- 
 cation ; in which he had formed the most endear- 
 ing cormections ; and in which he had fiiithfully 
 discharged the most important duties. 
 
 Thus it was his lot to be thwarted in the chief 
 object of his hope or of his ambition ; and thus 
 did his want of good fortune circumscribe him 
 within a narrow sphere. 
 
 His disappointment at Harrow on the death of 
 Dr. Robert Sumner, was the crisis of his fate. Had 
 he gone on regularly at the head of that great 
 school, it is impossible to say where his own im- 
 provement and elevation would have ended, and 
 how greatly the interest of letters might have been 
 promoted. At ease and in peace, many of his ex- 
 crescences of character would have had no room for 
 growth — many of his eccentricities would have been 
 limited — full scope would have been given to his
 
 MEMOIRS. 65 
 
 love of learning, to his diligence, to his great in- 
 tellectual powers, and his vast accumulations of 
 knowledge. Forced down and trampled upon, his 
 only resource, he thought, was opposition ; he felt 
 himself insulted, and was unhappily determined 
 to retaliate. He went to Stanmore without a penny, 
 followed hy his faithful assistant, the learned and 
 Reverend David Roderick ; and such was the esti- 
 mation of his integrity, that Dr. Sumner's brother 
 lent him ,^^2000 on his bond. A house, commo- 
 dious for the purpose, -was to be had ; it was ac- 
 cordingly taken, and afterwards bought under the di- 
 rection of Mr. Smith, Rector of Stanmore ; the 
 green house was converted into a school, and the 
 other offices into play room and studies. 
 
 On the paper, inclosing the accounts with Mr. 
 WiUinm Sumner is written " My account with my 
 benefactor, Mr. William Sumner, very sacred, and 
 to be most carefully preserved." The original bond 
 was for ^1600, and the whole sum w^as not paid 
 till 1782, when Dr. Parr was at Norwich. Another 
 benefactor was Mr. M^Guire. 
 
 Dr. Parr, in one of his Memorandums, incloses 
 two letters with the following notice : 
 
 I preserve these two letters from deep and unfeigned gra- 
 titude to the I'espective writers. Mr. McGuire assisted rae 
 when I was disappointed of the Mastership of Harrow School. 
 He entrusted his only son to my care. He shewed me many 
 acts of courtesy and kindness. I visited him at Valence, near 
 Westerham, Kent ; in George-street, Hanover-square ; and in 
 Norfolk-street, Strand. He lent me two hundred pounds for 
 many years, and would not accept any interest. 
 
 Mr. William Sumner was the only brother of my instructor, 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 MEMOIRS. 
 
 friend, and protector, the Rev. Dr. Sumner, Master of Harrow 
 School. At that crisis of my fortune he stood by nie. He sent 
 me his two sons ; he recommended me to the parents of the 
 other boys. He co-operated with the learned Dr. Adam As- 
 kew in protecting my slandered character, and my tottering in- 
 terests ; he lent me two thousand pounds ; he suffered me to 
 pay him gradually, in the expence of education for his son, 
 and in instalments from my own money. He charged me only 
 two per cent. I often visited him in Great George-street, West- 
 minster. I once visited him at his fine house at Hatchlands, 
 in Surrey, where he had bought an estate belonging to the late 
 Admiral Boscawen, and where his son George Sumner, M. P. 
 for Surre}', now resides. He was always polite, kind, and even 
 respectful to me. I staid at Hatchlands a much shorter time 
 than he expected and wished, because his fantastic wife would 
 not allow me to smoke. I left his house abruptly, without as- 
 signing a reason, and I never went to Hatchlands again. Wil- 
 liam Sumner v/as a man of extraordinary activity and fidelity in 
 business. His deportment was dignified, and his conversation 
 fraught with good sense. I shall ever honour his memory, and 
 acknowledge his kindness. S. Parr. 
 
 July 13th, 1822. 
 
 The letters consisting merely of compliment, I 
 shall not insert. 
 
 In November 1771 Parr married Miss Jane Mar- 
 singale, a lady maternally descended from the ancient 
 family of the Mauleverers in Yorkshire, and much 
 admired for the soundness of her judgment, the 
 keenness of her penetration, and the unaffected dig- 
 nity of her manners. There is no doubt that this 
 marriage was managed for him by Dr. Askew. 
 Mrs. Askew was the intimate friend of Miss Mar- 
 singale, and the prudence of the young lady was sup- 
 posed a necessary support to the young scholar, in 
 his establishment at Stanmore. Not that Parr was 
 insensible to the tender passions whilst at Harrow.
 
 MEMOIRS. 67 
 
 In the correspondence are letters thus labelled : 
 "• My beloved Susan Hare, afterwards Crump, and 
 her daughter." Susan Hare was a relation of Mrs. 
 Sumner, and visited at Harrow whilst he was as- 
 sistant to Dr. Sumner. She married a farmer of the 
 name of Crump, at Ledbury in Herefordshire, and 
 in one of her letters, dated 1794, acknowledges his 
 kindness and some presents he had sent her. 
 Another letter is from her daughter, who then lived 
 with Mrs. Hannah More, at Barley Wood near 
 Bristol, and both mother and daughter express the 
 highest veneration for their friend, in their address 
 to him. 
 
 At Stanmore the number of his scholars never 
 exceeded sixty ; and the profits of his labour were 
 exhausted by the heavy debts, which he was com- 
 pelled to contract in various purchases, and in 
 making proper accommodation for the reception of 
 his pupils. Among those scholars are some names 
 which have since been distinguished in life. The 
 following letter demonstrates, that the Earl of Dart- 
 mouth was one of the first to confide his children 
 to Parr at Stanmore : 
 
 SIR, Sandwell, 10th Oct. 1771. 
 
 My own inclinations concur so perfectly with the wishes 
 of my sons, that I shall not hesitate to indulge them in the re- 
 quest they have made, of being permitted to remove with you 
 to your house at Stanmore. 1 was unfortunately from home 
 when your letter came, and therefore, did not receive it till this 
 day. I hope, however, that I shall not be too late to desire 
 that they may have a room to themselves, in as airy a part of 
 the house as possible. I am sorry I shall not have an oppor- 
 funity of seeing you till after the Christmas holidays. I beg 
 
 f2
 
 68 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the favour of you to let me know when you fix the time for 
 your school to break up. 
 
 I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 Dartmouth. 
 
 The following letter of the late Earl of Dart- 
 mouth bears such strong testimony to Parr's popu- 
 larity at Harrow, that it would be unjust to his 
 memory to withhold it : 
 
 SIR, Christ Church, Dec. 26th, 1771. 
 
 1 beg leave to congratulate you upon your late acquisition, 
 wishing you all possible joy and prosperity. I also beg leave, 
 Sir, to return you my sincere thanks for your great good- 
 ness to me whilst I was at school, under your tuition, of which 
 I have, and shall always have, the greatest sense. Sorry as I 
 was for the very great loss of my very valuable master, sorry as 
 I was for the disturbance which raged in the school, I could not 
 help rejoicing that my brothers went with you to Stanmore. 
 I propose doing myself the pleasure of seeing you there, as 
 soon as an opportunity shall serve. Give me leave. Sir, to con- 
 clude myself, with the highest respect and esteem, your most 
 obedient humble servant, Lewisham. 
 
 To the Rev. IMr. Parr, Stanmore, Middlesex. 
 
 The Alexanders,* Sumners, Grahams ^ of Ne- 
 therby, Sigismond TrafFord, Maurice, Utoph, Monro, 
 Julius, Fountaine,^Dealtry,Vaughan, Dymoke, Col- 
 more, Downing, and Beloe, with the unfortunate Jo- 
 seph Gerrald, and the unhappy Marland, may be re- 
 counted among many other names ; and he endea- 
 voured, v/ith the zeal and enthusiasm of youth, to 
 
 * Dr. Nathaniel Alexander, the present Bishop of Meath ; 
 Henry Alexander, Esq. M. P. his brother ; and Monsey Alex- 
 ander, their cousin, grandson of the eccentric Dr. Monsey of 
 Chelsea. 
 
 ■\ The late Sir James Graham and his brother. 
 
 4: Son of the Dean of York.
 
 HEMOIRS. 69 
 
 justify the trust that had been reposed in him. 
 He taught the young men committed to his care, 
 with his usual earnestness and ability ; and it de- 
 serves to be remembered, that, in the presence of Sir 
 William Jones, Mr. Bennet Langton^ and other well 
 known scholars, they performed the CEdipus Ty- 
 rannus,* and the Trachiniae of Sophocles, in the 
 original language. They performed also Young's 
 
 * IlpoXoyos tTTt Tijs rpayojbias rov Kurd rov So^oicXea OI^itto' 
 bos Tov Tvpavvov, \e)(^d€is Trapa 'lepaXbov eiri t>js aKrjvrjs, os ebpa 
 OlbiTToba. 
 
 Tov OlbiTTOvv Tvpavvov, ev Tucn (T^ebuy 
 "Os' k<pep€ T apiOTeia rijs rpayiKrls TrdXae, 
 KptOevra vraerats rov iravapitXTOV tybtKws 
 Tipo(niXde6' l^eipovres, ot fiev elatbeiv, 
 01 be KXvetv, ol b^ av ^vvapTra$eiv (l)peyi' 
 Kat davfxd y' ovbev. oaios wv avrjp ^vaiVy 
 'AvotTia ToXfxq., irarepa fxij ktuvt] ^vywr, 
 Kret rei mictoTct y', ij re bvarvj^ris rv-^^rf 
 Tov ev iraQovra iravcrvbei bidjXetre' 
 Tinpa rw '!roir)Ty fdi] Tts av \peyoi Xoyous 
 AeTTTOvs, bi€(TfxiXevixex'as re (ppovribas, 
 M.f)T€ uTrpeires rt, fi^re Kadrifxa^evfxivov. 
 'F.7ra(j)p6biTos k 'ATTtKovTcirrj (ppacris 
 SttovSj/v 6' e^ovaa^ t6^ re yueyaXoTrpeTreorarov 
 npd^is, 7rpo(TW7ra crefivh, irafifieyidt] irddj], 
 'EXeou re nXiipr] vravra, davfiaros, ^6j3ov, 
 Tw 4>aaLv ovrw /xaX' vTro^wp^orot dpoyov 
 Ei»pt7rt't)tov yXvKvrarov, ev re pi'ijjiacxi 
 Bpejuovra yop^oTrayeaiy A'ictjqjXov crtpobpa, 
 fi>iXovvra 6' ecrrt bfjXa rols ttoXXoIs boKelv 
 'Ap-^aia ravra, Kai CTOTrpa, (cat prjdet'Ta dyav 
 Alviyixariobbjs' tovs b' dfxade'is wS' eKfiadelv 
 ^Koreivd. beivos dvros oljxwSeiv Xeyw. 
 Kat fxciXa biKaius' j^p?) yap fjavj^ios ej^etv, 
 "Qcrris (oXeTTiov uev fx^ /BXtTret, /zj) 6* evvoei 
 KXywv, rh be ivaXai rola veois rek/xa/perai.
 
 70 MEMOIRS. 
 
 tragedy of " The Revenge," in which GeiTcild playea 
 the ])art of Zanga. The following letters, from Sir 
 William Jones, Mr. Bennct Langton, Lord Stowell, 
 and the late Sir Thomas Plumer, will shew the pains 
 he took upon the occasion. 
 
 From Sir William Jones to Mr. Parr. 
 
 lOth Nov. Duke-street. 
 I should have answered your letter before, if the Term 
 had not intervened, which allows me no leisure from seven in 
 the morning till midnight, when I am generally overpowered 
 with sleep. I desire you to believe, that nothing can give me 
 greater pleasure, than to be in any respect useful to you ; but 
 it is impossible to foresee what answer Garrick will give to my 
 application, as I am by no means intimate with him, and never 
 visited him, nor paid him any other attention than common 
 
 'Yfxels be KierfTOf rw ^oipoKXelu) xcipa 
 ll\tL,avT€s aiiTol TroWuKis ffo0w arocpoi, 
 Eu^j/ju' "iKoiaQe, hore be tTvyyvufurjs Tv\e~iy 
 "A V rols veoKTiv Sxr av rifxaprrjiieya 
 Tpayiicwv f^oXis rh (refivu. rpavXiSoyj' cTrrj 
 To. 0' liTivol'iaj.iova KOfnToclyatceXopfnij^ioya. 
 lVw/t;;s Trap' vfily eXirib' alaiov rpecjiuj 
 "Offois deaTols kinTv^oifxi be^iois, 
 l^XwfTuiji Oiyovtri t ovk eTriXiybrjy 'ILXXdbvs, 
 'iij/ Kcd ■^dpiv, TO Kur efie, Trpyrrerat rube, 
 lot' yap (ppoyovvT ev Tviaren UTip^biws 
 MiKpols OTrrjbeJv yapha k oh irovov fiiKpui'. 
 Upus b' oh KoXGts aKMTTTOVTas e'ls upKe'i Xdyos' 
 Nfcoiro ^wjxos erd\ \v ocjidupos, rd'^a. 
 This was in the hand writing of the learned modern Greek, * 
 who was visiting me when my boys pliiyed the (Edipus Tyran- 
 nus. We were obliged now and then to talk in Greek, and I 
 endeavoured as well as I could to pronounce by accents. 
 
 * Nicolaidcs was patronized by Sir William Jones, for the 
 purpose of his learned instructions, Mr. Paradise liad intro- 
 duced him.
 
 MEMOIRS. 71 
 
 civility. I will, however, most certainly write to him (for our 
 club will not meet till the meeting of Parliament), and if he 
 comply with my request, you will send a proper person to his 
 theatre for the dresses, who will be answerable for returning 
 them undamaged. Be so good as to let me know the precise 
 hour in which the play will begin. I cannot leave till the after- 
 noon, as Friday is a day for special cases in the Courts. If 
 Garrick offers to lend the dresses it will be right to take them, 
 even if you have procured others somewhere else. Farewell. 
 Let me beg you to secure a bed for me at the inn on Friday 
 night ; for though Orme, I suppose, will return after the play, 
 yet it is best to have abed at all events. 
 
 From Mr. Bennet Langton to Mr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, London, May 8, 1776. 
 
 I received the favour of your very kind letter on Saturday 
 night, and this morning have found an opportunity of seeing 
 Mr. Garrick, and speaking to him of its contents. He says, as 
 to the dresses, that he does not see how it can be managed, un- 
 less, either the young gentlemen that are to act could come to 
 town, two or three at a time, (or any way, Sir, that you should 
 judge most proper and convenient,) to have them tried on, or 
 at least an account to be sent of their respective statures, that 
 the sizes of the dresses may be adapted accordingly. If you 
 will favour me then, Sir, with a line in answer to what Mr. Gar- 
 rick says, I will impart it to him forthwith ; and the business 
 will, I dare say, be very readily dispatched. He returns you 
 many thanks for your offer of a ticket, but says that it will not 
 be in his power to give his attendance at the performance, I 
 desire likewise to add my thanks, Sir, for your kind offer of or- 
 dering me a bed, which I do not see any thing to hinder me 
 from availing myself of, unless it should unluckily happen that 
 Lady Rothes (who is near her time) should fall ill just then, 
 which I hope will not be the case. I have only to add that I 
 am, with sincere respect, dear Sir, 
 
 Your obedient humble servant, 
 
 Bennet Langton. 
 To the Kev. Mr. Parr, at Stanmore, Middlesex.
 
 /'i MEMOIRS. 
 
 From Lord Stowell to Mr. Parr. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Oxford, May 15, 1776. 
 
 I received your very obliging invitation with a sort of mixed 
 sensation, in which I was much at a loss to say, whether shame 
 or gratitude predominated. My long silence after your former 
 favour furnished abundant matter for the first ; and the conti- 
 nuance of your friendship and pohteness after so discouraging a 
 return ought, I am sure, to excite an ample proportion of the 
 latter. I beg you to believe, that I feel them both in a due de- 
 gree, and that I embrace with pleasure this opportunity of ex- 
 pressing to you how sensible I am of the mortifyirsg contrast, 
 which the kindness on your side makes, to the inattention on 
 mine. 
 
 I have deferred ansv/ering your letter for a few days, that I 
 might be able to give you a greater certainty about my coming. 
 The case stands thus ; my colleague, who has bad health, and 
 by whose confinement to Oxford for some months I have en- 
 joyed a good deal of enlargement, wishes to go out the begin- 
 ning of next week ; his health requires it, and I had too much 
 the advantage of his confinement already, to wish him to con- 
 tinue it longer. If he should go out of town on Monday or 
 Tuesday, it will be impossible for me to attend you; if not, de- 
 pend upon it I shall fly to you with great avidity. The nature 
 of the entertainment would afford me much pleasure, and the 
 execution of it, I dare say, not less. If I should be prevented, 
 may I consider your ticket as transferable to the next time of 
 performance ? I must have some consolation under my disap- 
 pointment, if it should overtake me, which I most heartily de- 
 precate. I beg you to believe me, dear Sir, 
 
 Your much obliged and sincere friend, 
 
 W. SCOT'F. 
 
 From Thomas Plumer, Esq. to Mr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, London, May 7, 177G. 
 
 I am just favoured with your obliging letter, inclosing a 
 ticket for your play, for which I beg you to accept my best 
 thanks, and I shall not liiil to do myself the pleasure of waiting
 
 MEMOIRS. 73 
 
 on you. But not satisfied viith your kindness in granting me 
 this favour, I have the presumption to make it a ground for so- 
 liciting another, and so lay myself under a second obligation, 
 instead of discharging the first. The familiarity of friendship 
 with which you have always honoured me, encourages my hope, 
 and the experience of your goodness induces me to think you 
 will be inclined on this occasion to pardon 
 
 Depositum ob amici jussa pudorem. 
 
 Without any more preface then, I am to beg the favour of 
 you, if you have not filled your theatre, to permit a very worthy 
 clergyman, Mr. Apthorpe * of Croydon, to be present at your 
 play. He has a great veneration for antiquity, and wishes 
 much to see the representation of what has often given him so 
 much pleasure in the reading. 
 
 You will excuse the hurry I write in, having left Westmin- 
 ster Hall, and being bound for Lincoln's Inn. 
 
 You will be pleased to direct any future letter you may ho- 
 nour me with, to Mr. T. Plumer, jun. opposite Castle-court in 
 the Strand. I am, dear Sir, your very obliged humble servant, 
 
 Thomas Plumer, Jun. 
 
 The choruses were omitted, but the dialogue 
 was spoken in the most judicious and impressive 
 manner by the different performers ; the scenes were 
 furnished by Mr. Foote, the dresses by Mr. Gar- 
 rick, and some particular robes, which Parr's erudi- 
 tion pointed out to him as necessary in the repre- 
 sentation of a Greek play, were prepared under his 
 direction by his own family. 
 
 Parr has often expressed a wish that similar 
 experiments were made in our public Seminaries, 
 where detached and select speeches from the best 
 writers are now delivered. His scholars, as he ob- 
 
 * Father of the most excellent lady of Dr. Butler of Shrews- 
 bury.
 
 74 MEMOIRS. 
 
 served, with greater ease conquered the difficulties 
 of which young men complain, when their minds 
 are turned towards the dramatic writings of an- 
 tiquity. Their attention to Greek phraseology and 
 Greek metre was invigorated; their views of the 
 plans and characters in the Greek drama became 
 more correct and more enlarged ; and their recita- 
 tion in dialogue was found to be very efficacious in 
 quickening their sensibility, strengthening their 
 memory, and refining their taste. 
 
 Oppressed by the prevalence of the old and 
 extensive interests, which supported the school at 
 Harrow, Parr soon after the performance of his 
 Greek play, became desirous to procure some settled 
 situation. " Stanmore," says Mr. Roderick, " was 
 the very worst place where he could have fixed 
 himself. From the vicinity of the two places, a 
 constant intercourse was kept up for two or more 
 years between the boys of the two schools. This 
 occasioned great irregularity — Parr's situation was 
 one of extreme difficulty. The upper boys had 
 followed him from attachment, but had not that awe 
 for him that they had entertained for Dr. Sumner ; 
 and they probably conceived him under obligations 
 to them, so that they took what liberties they pleased. 
 Some would go to shoot on the heath, and it may 
 be inferred from Maurice, that they sometimes tra- 
 versed the country on horseback." Of Parr's ha- 
 bits Mr. Roderick gives the following account. 
 " At Harrow he made but very little progress in 
 smoking. The little time he had to spare from the 
 business of the school and his pupils, he generally
 
 MEMOIRS'. /5 
 
 devoted to reading and the composition of sermons, 
 which were probably from their abstruseness never 
 preached. On a night or two in the week he might 
 smoke with Dr. Sumner. It was at Stanmore that 
 he abandoned himself to smoking ; probably at 
 first, more from an affectation of singularity, and to 
 imitate Dr. Sumner, than from any great hking. 
 His favourite beverage was port wine and water : 
 the latter he drank with his pipe at his own table 
 when without company. I never knew him to 
 transgress the bounds of the strictest sobriety; and 
 as to ale, I do not remember that I ever saw 
 him take so much as a single glass." Concerning 
 his appearance at Stanmore, Mr. Roderick states 
 that he brought upon himself the ridicule of the 
 neighbourhood and passengers, by many foolish 
 acts ; such as riding in high prelatical pomp through 
 the streets, on a black saddle, bearing in his hand 
 a long cane or wand, such as women used to have, 
 with an ivory head like a crosier, which was pro- 
 bably the reason why he liked it; at other times 
 he was seen stalking through the town in a dirty 
 striped morning gown: " Nil fuit unquam, sic im- 
 par sibi." " Of Parr's manner of teaching," conti- 
 nues Mr. R., " if any fault was to be found with 
 him for his manner of hearing the lessons, it was, 
 that the observations made by him were too abun- 
 dant and profound for a great part of the form. I 
 do not think that the quantum of punishment in- 
 flicted at Stanmore was very excessive ; but it was 
 not equitably administered. In this instance he 
 paid no regard to Horace, who says :
 
 76 MEMOIRS. 
 
 adsit 
 
 Regula peccatisj qua; pcenas irrogat aquas; 
 Ne scutica dignum horribili sectere flagello, ' 
 
 As the humour mfluenced him, he punished severely 
 for many trifling offences ; and connived at, or par- 
 doned, such as were deserving of punishment. He 
 had, too, his prejudices and partiahties in regard to 
 boys, as you must know that he had with regard to 
 grown-up men. This led to injustice, which the 
 boys could not but see and condemn. 
 
 " Those of Parr's scholars who could appreci- 
 ate his abilities, and did not suffer from his preju- 
 dices, must have esteemed him, and I have heard 
 many of them, several years after they had left 
 school, speak highly of him." When he had lived 
 more than 50 years after the time Mr. Roderick 
 speaks of, I can assert the same thing. No great 
 man ever existed without his haters. But Parr has 
 suffered from the malice of one of his pupils only ; 
 and to shew in what estimation he was held 
 when a school-boy at Stanmore, I insert the letter 
 of the boys of the sixth form, sent to the father of 
 that pupil. 
 
 The late scandalous behaviour of your son hath at length 
 occasioned this final I'esolution of his school-fellows. We have 
 now determined to associate no longer with a person against 
 whom suspicions of theft are so strong, and proofs of lying and 
 scandal are so well attested. For the first, Sir, examine his li- 
 brary ; for the second, we can ourselves bring innumerable in- 
 stances. His malice, which is of the blackest and most exten- 
 sive nature, hath continually been employed in endeavouring to 
 violate the friendship of those whose esteem he could not ob- 
 tain. But his motives of resentment are as dishonourable
 
 MEMOIRS. 77 
 
 as the acts themselves; we despise them both. If breaking 
 into the bed-chamber and study of his master, examining his 
 letters and papers ; if mean familiarities with the servants ; 
 rifling their closets and drawers; if defamation, if deceit, if acts 
 of the basest kind constitute the character of a villain, we know 
 where the condemnation ought to fall. 
 
 Boys OF the Sixth Form, Stanmore. 
 Any answer, either from your son or yourself, Sir, against 
 these charges, will be duly attended to, as we doubt not 
 abundantly to prove all our assertions, to your astonishment and 
 his utter confusion. 
 
 " I have mentioned," continues Mr. Roderick, 
 " that Mr. Smith, the Rector of Stanmore, was 
 the warmest of Parr's friends when he came to 
 that pkice. Afterwards a coohiess, and at last a 
 total interruption of all intercourse took place. 
 The several steps that led to this, I do not now 
 recollect ; but it was probably occasioned by a su- 
 perabundance of advice on the part of Smith, and 
 an impatience of advice on the part of Parr. Mr. 
 Smith was a man of great abilities, and had been 
 brought up at Lichfield with Dr. Johnson and Gar- 
 rick. He also possessed great wit, in the display 
 of which he paid little regard to the feelings of 
 those on whom it was exercised. It was therefore 
 no wonder that he offended, and lost many of his 
 best friends." This quarrel with his chief and most 
 learned friend, did not add to Parr's comfort at 
 Stanmore ; and we may add, to the other causes 
 assigned by him for wishing to leave it, the death of 
 Marland one of his pupils, who was drowned by fall- 
 ing through the ice in a pond opposite to the house. 
 But the true cause was the decline of the school.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 As the upper boys went off, the supply was not 
 equal to the loss, and he took refuge in a settled 
 establishment at Colchester from the possible dis- 
 appointment of being deserted at Stanmore, as the 
 " P'lower of Chivalry," that had followed him thi- 
 ther, dropped off. Moreover, it may be presumed, 
 that the energy of his mind was imprisoned at Stan- 
 more within limits too narrow. Consumed by an 
 activity for which there was no proper outlet, like 
 Napoleon in the piping times of peace, he ran 
 himself into mischief. Far too inexperienced in 
 the world and the world's law, to proceed regu- 
 larly onward, he grappled with shadows, instead 
 of grasping realities ; and, defeated by the influ- 
 ence and power of "the neighbouring school," and 
 by a continuation of unfortunate circumstances, 
 he went to reside at Colchester in the spring of 
 1777. 
 
 Of his Stanmore pupils, Thomas Maurice, Pere- 
 grine Dealtry, Felix Vaughan, and George Down- 
 ing, deserve especial notice, for they all continued 
 friends of their Master to the last hour of their 
 existence, and did honour to him by their virtues 
 and their talents. Downing and Vaughan were 
 both lawyers, and both died prematurely. Vaughan 
 was fast rising into eminence as a barrister : his elo- 
 quence had placed him in the foremost ranks of his 
 profession, and had he lived long enough, there can 
 Ix IK) doubt he would have reaped its highest ho- 
 nours. He was the son of an honest tradesman, 
 and not of a notorious politician and learned philo-
 
 MEMOIRS. 79 
 
 logist, as was asserted. On the only letter in the 
 collection from him Parr has written the following 
 words : " Felix Vaughan was for a short time my 
 pupil, and long my friend. In eloquence at the bar 
 he was nearly unrivalled ; but his virtues outshone 
 even his talents. He, Tweddell, and Baines, died 
 far too soon." 
 
 George Downing also died young. As an orator, 
 I believe, he had not distinguished himself; but he 
 was considered by Parr to possess more extensive 
 and solid knowledge than his schoolfellow.* 
 
 * He is thus spoken of by Mr, Justice Park, in his Me- 
 moirs of William Stevens, Esq. page 116, 3d edition: 
 
 The very year in which this Club was instituted (Nobody's 
 Club), proved fatal to one of them, George Downing, Esq. 
 of Lincoln's-inn, barrister-at-law. His death was occasioned 
 by a cold caught as an officer of the Light Horse Volun- 
 teers, in being exposed to the rain, during a whole night, on 
 account of some riots in London. William Stevens, in a letter 
 dated the 16th of October 1800, to Mr. Frere, thus deplores 
 his death : 
 
 " But, alas ! this talking of Parr reminds me (not reminds 
 me, indeed, for he is continually in my mind,) of his pupil, our 
 worthy friend George Downing, who is to be buried this day 
 with military honours. The noble historian, in his character 
 of Lord Falkland, observes, ' that the loss of that one man 
 alone would make the Kebellion execrable to all posterity ;' so 
 may we say, Curse on the riots that were the occasion of poor 
 George's death !" 
 
 In another letter to Bishop Skinner, of the 9th of Decem- 
 ber 1800, he says: " As you suspcc^ted, we have lost good 
 George Downing. He was much missed at the meeting of 
 some friends to dine with Nobody, at the Crown and Anchor, 
 on the 29th of November. I never knew a man more univer-
 
 80 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Peregrine Dealtry was my own beloved friend. 
 He was the son of Dr. Dealtry of York (a pupil 
 
 sallv liiiiientccl : he was not only a loss to his friends, as the 
 Archbishop (Moore) observed to me, but he was a public loss." 
 
 Of such a man, whom I well knew, and much deplored, I 
 thought it right to procure a fuller account ; and from my ex- 
 cellent friend, the Rev. Dr. Gaskin, who long knew Mr. Down- 
 ing and his family, and wlio, with the affection of a friend, and 
 the sacred solicitude of a truly Christian pastor, attended his 
 dying bed, I have received the following particulars of this 
 much to be lamented man, of whose example the world was de- 
 prived M'hen he had only attained thirty-seven years. 
 
 Mr. Downing was the son of the Rev. George Downing, 
 one of the Prebendaries of Ely ; and the intimacy of this young 
 gentleman with Mr, Stevens arose from a friendship of long 
 standing between the latter gentleman, Mr. Downing's father, 
 Bishop Home, and Mr. Jones. Young Mr, Downing received 
 his classical education under the care of the celebrated Dr, 
 Parr ; and his eminent proficiency as a scholar, together with 
 his amiable qualities as a pupil, ever were acknowledged by his 
 learned preceptor. He was afterwards articled to Mr. Alston, 
 a respectable attorney at Nayland, in Suffolk ; and was there 
 introduced to the more immediate attention and kind offices of 
 the excellent Mr. Jones (whose life we have lately been so 
 much contemplating), who was at that time Minister of the 
 parish of Nayland, and in the full possession of his intellectual 
 vigour. Mr. Jones was well qualified to appreciate classical 
 accomplishments, and the qualities of a virtuous, unassuming, 
 and well-principled youth ; and Mr. Downing ever considered 
 his introduction to Mr. Jones as one of the most important scras 
 of his life. They became attached to each other; and, not- 
 withstanding the disparity of years, Mr, Jones was rejoiced to 
 witness such dispositions in the son of his old friend ; and Mr. 
 Downing spent all his leisiu-e hours, whilst he remained at Nay- 
 land, in the society of Mr. Jones. Under such an instructor 
 and guide, his religious and political principles were matured 
 and firmly established, on a basis which never could be shaken,
 
 MEMOIRS. 81 
 
 of Boerhaave) of whom it was said, " so great was 
 his reputation as a gentleman and a physician, that 
 
 and his classical and philosophical studies were pursued with 
 satisfaction and advantage. 
 
 Having completed the term of his engagement with Mr. Al- 
 ston, and being eminently qualified for the higher and more im- 
 portant departments of the law, he entered himself as a student 
 of the Honourable Society of Lincoln's-inn, and for some time 
 practised as a conveyancer under the bar, to which he was after- 
 wards called. In this intricate and dry department of the law, 
 his abilities soon acquired celebrity amongst professional men, 
 and business pressed upon him. The social qualities, the va- 
 riety of attainments, the benevolent, amiable, and attractive 
 manners of Mr. Downing could not fail to win the affections of 
 a large circle of friends ; amongst whom many of the hours that 
 could be spared from business were spent, and who were ever 
 cheered and delighted in his society. His attachment to the 
 Constitution, in Church and State, and his high sense of loy- 
 alty, induced him to become a member, and soon after he was 
 appointed an officer, of the corps of Light Horse Volunteers, 
 in which jiorps he soon became a most popular character, and 
 amongst whom he may be said to have lost his life. The pres- 
 sure of professional business, intercourse with his friends, and 
 frequent musters of his corps, began apparently to overpower 
 his strength ; and in an arduous service with the Volunteers, 
 during a time of public alarm, in 1800, he caught a cold, which 
 brought on an inflammatory fever, which in a few days termi- 
 nated in his death, to the great concern of his afflicted wife (the 
 daughter of his old master, Mr. Alston, of Nayland), his vene- 
 rable parents, and a numerous circle of greatly attached friends. 
 Dr. Gaskin, as a friend and clergyman, visited him on his dying 
 bed, and, happy to find him in the faith, hope, and charity of 
 the Christian, engaged to administer, on the following morn- 
 ing, to him, his afflicted wife, aud their common friend Mr. 
 Stevens, the dying Christian's most comfortable viaticum ; but 
 before the hour for this solemn administration had arrived, his 
 soul had fled to the place of departed spirits. The corps of 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 MEMOIRS. 
 
 no one in Yorkshire could live or die without him." 
 His mother, of the antient family of Langley in 
 Yorkshire, has heen characterised truly in an ela- 
 horatc inscription for her monument, written by 
 Parr. Of all men Peregrine was the most popular, 
 without being at all the obsequious companion. To 
 the fashionable world, to the quiet circle of his lite- 
 rary friends, or to the gay associates of his table, he 
 was always the same ; he was always cheerful, ra- 
 tional, and kind. This pure, single-hearted, true 
 gentleman — this sincere and zealous friend — this 
 generous benefactor, was cut off suddenly in the 
 year 1814 by apoplexy. 
 
 Mr. Roderick was Parr's classical assistant at 
 Stanmore. Mr. Drury had offered to attend him, 
 and long hesitated ; but it was his good fortune to 
 choose the better part, and remain at Harrow, for 
 he afterwards became master of the School, and ac- 
 cumulated a large fortune. " My French master 
 (says Parr) was first madcap Henry, whose life I 
 saved in France. He published a book on East 
 India matters, under the fictitious name of Grose." 
 
 When this French master left Stanmore, and went 
 to France, he was condemned to death in that coun- 
 try for enhsting soldiers in the service of Russia. " I 
 had warned him (says Parr) before he went abroad. 
 
 Light Horse Volunteers, as a testimony of their affection and 
 regard for their deceased companion, passed a resolution, re- 
 questing that his funeral might be a public one. His remains 
 were accordingly buried, with military honours, in the parish 
 church of St. Paul, Covent (nuden, attended by the whole of 
 that highly respectable body.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 83 
 
 I discovered his case one Sunday in a newspaper, 
 and dispatched instantly a messenger to Lord Dart- 
 mouth, Secretary of State, with the case, which he 
 laid before the French ambassador and Lord Stor- 
 mont. I got Sir William Jones to interfere. I 
 saved the poor fellow's life, and had a polite letter 
 from the Duke D'Aumont, Intendant of the Pro- 
 vince." 
 
 Among the scholars at Harrow who distinguished 
 themselves by learning, and by their friendship with 
 the illustrious trio, I have already mentioned the 
 name of Archdale, and now bring forward the name 
 of Richard Warburton Lytton. His father, Mk 
 Warburton, a native of Ireland, placed his son at 
 the School under the care of Dr. Sumner, where, of 
 course, he was distinguished for his talents, or he 
 would not have become the friend of Jones, and the 
 companion of Parr. Mr. Roderick was another 
 companion, and still lives to bear witness to his 
 multifold accomplishments. Mr. Warburton, in 
 process of time, married Miss Lytton, of White- 
 end, in Herts, and through her became possessed 
 of a large estate. It was from this place the fol- 
 lowing letter to Parr is dated. 
 
 Fragment : 
 
 DEAR PARR, Oct. \st, 1774'. 
 
 Various have been the disputes among the philosophers 
 and the learned men of all ages concerning the summum 
 bonum, or the greatest degree of happiness attainable in this 
 life. Now my opinion concerning it is, that, next to a good 
 conscience, there is nothing which gives such a genuine, satis- 
 factory, and unmixed delight, as, after having been shocked 
 
 g2
 
 84 MEMOIRS. 
 
 and tormented by selfisli, mean, and detestable people, to turn 
 your eyes from the odious scene, and endeavour to lose the re- 
 membrance of it in the conversation of generous, disinterested, 
 and learned friends. The contrast satisfies the judgment, re- 
 freshes and expands the imagination, &c. After I left you, I 
 canvassed for Halsey for three or four days with great success, 
 and make no doubt of his coming in. It is with no small impa- 
 tience I expect the arrival of Christmas, and am in one sense 
 turned school-boy again ; for I keep as sharp a look-out for the 
 holidays as any Stanmorian of them all, &c. Send me a full 
 account of the success of your play, as well as the merit of the 
 respective actors. Pray give my compliments to (Edipus, alias 
 Zanga, alias Gerald, but whose proper name ought to be Pro- 
 teus, as well on account of the variety of characters he assumes, 
 as also from his quick transition from one to the other, and ex- 
 cellence in them all, &c. If I can be with you at Christmas, I 
 shall not only feel peculiarly gratified myself, but likewise be- 
 come very popular at Stanmore, and perhaps may have an 
 address of thanks from both houses ; and then, as you know 
 my republican principles, I should go nigh to shake you on 
 your throne. But of this no more, for fear I should make you 
 alter your resolution. Price will certainly spend his Christmas 
 here ; and I intend to write to Williams to beg of him to come, 
 and then we shall have a true Symposium. 
 
 Believe me, dear Parr, yours most affectionately and sin- 
 cerely, R. W. Lytton. 
 
 With Mr. Paradise, who had been the British 
 Consul at Salonichi, he became acquainted through 
 Sir William Jones, and also with Mr. Nicolaidcs, a 
 learned Greek, nephew of the Patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, who fled from some massacre of the 
 Greeks. 
 
 Paradise was the particular friend of Sir William 
 Jones, who twice undertook long journies, one a 
 voyage to America, which however was prevented 
 by his own appointment as Judge in Bengal, on his
 
 MEMOIRS. 85 
 
 account, and to serve him, if possible, in his pecu- 
 niary embarrassments. 
 
 The first of the letters was written when embark- 
 ing for France, the second for America. 
 
 The first will be hereafter copied. The second 
 is dated 
 
 DEAR PARR, Dovcr, 19th Jimc, 1782, 
 
 If I avail myself of your permission to answer your letter 
 at my leisure, I clearl}'^ see that I shall hardly be able, as I have 
 no prospect of leisure, to answer it at all ; I therefore seize a 
 short interval, which the wind and tide give me at this place, 
 to assure you that my good offices, as well as good wishes, will 
 never be wanting on any occasion in which it may be in my 
 power to prove my sincere regard for you. But, in truth, you 
 greatly overrate my power, and particularly my influence with 
 Administration. It happen^, rather whimsically, that he with 
 whom I have certainly most influence (if any thing so inconsi- 
 derable admit the degrees of more and less) is the very man 
 whom you, and for reasons wholly unknown to me, so much 
 dislike. I wish that Lord Shelburne were as well known to 
 you as he is both knotvn and liked by me. 
 
 For God's sake, do not be precipitate in forming opinions of 
 men from public reports or papers, and without any personal 
 knowledge of them. With the Chancellor I have so little 
 M'eight, that I have been Jbnr years vainly striving to obtain 
 even a refusal (which would have been more eligible than sus- 
 pense) of a favour. The Duke of Manchester I barely know 
 by sight, though I have dined with him at Lord Mulgrave's. 
 Lord Rockingham, and his powerful friends, I know and re- 
 spect, but dare not yet solicit preferment for my friends. The 
 Attorney General (whom I sounded last week) told me that 
 he had been two years trying in vain to procure a living for a 
 man whom he strongly recommended to his intimate friend the 
 Chancellor, These are not unfriendly excuses, they are plain 
 facts ; but rest assured that on the first opportunity I will speak 
 of your moral and literary character in just, and consequently 
 very high terms ! As to your politics, it will be useless, if not
 
 86 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 dangerous, to mention tliem. O ! my fricml, //// o-e OeXyirbxrav 
 al arenwrai tCjv Xoyojv. I entreat )'OU not to play with vast 
 questions, for the sake of shewing how great a master you are 
 of round and forcible diction. My opinion, expressed in my 
 last letter to you, was founded on your own repeated declara- 
 tions at Cambridge, /« my hearing. I had not then read your 
 Sermon,* I had only cast my eye on the first and last periods. 
 I have since read it attentively ; and, if it can give you any 
 pleasure to know it, I think it a very masterly composition, 
 abounding with fine moral and religious sentiments. The poli- 
 tical tendency of it I neither do nor can like; and a paragraph 
 or two in pp. 24', 25, <S:c. I think highly exceptionable on ac- 
 count of their beiroTris. The reasoning in many parts appears 
 to my comprehension fallacious, especially in your favourite 
 doctrine of unanimity, a word which ministers use to express a 
 tame acquiescence in all their measures. This you did not 
 mean ; but, without perceiving it, you supplied the veKxJiai' with 
 arguments against us. Since, however, you shew an inclina- 
 tion to defend all this, I will neither arraign it, for that were 
 unfriendly, nor pretend to approve it, for that would be dis- 
 honest. When we meet, we will talk and laugh, and argue 
 and promote goodfollovciship, as long as you please. My politi- 
 cal system shall never relax my efforts to serve you : and when 
 I return from America (which will be, I hope, before Christ- 
 mas) I will catch every rising gale that may waft you to an 
 easy and respectable retirement. Not that my hopes are san- 
 guine, until my friend Lord Althorpf shall have acquired more 
 influence in the State than can be expected in so young a mi- 
 nister, though the wisest and best young man I ever knew, 
 
 America'? you will say. Yes, my friend, I shall sail in an 
 hour or two with Paradise ; and, on our return, we will explain 
 to you the nature and object of our voyage ; at present, with 
 cordial affection, I must bid you farewell ! 
 
 I am yours ever, VA^ Jones. 
 
 Though zealous and friendly to Mr. Paradise, Sir 
 
 * Phileleutherus Norfolciensis. 
 t The present Earl Spencer.
 
 MEMOIRS. 87 
 
 William Jones did not take him out to India, and 
 I refer to Lord Teignmouth's Narrative for more 
 concerning him. The only letter I find of Mr. 
 Paradise to Parr is dated from Richard Paul Jod- 
 rell's, Esq. M. P. at Lewknor, in 1790, in which 
 he addresses him " my invaluahle friend." 
 
 The following notices of Mr. Nicolaides are cu- 
 rious, and will sufficiently characterize this learned 
 Greek to the reader : 
 
 To the Reverend Mr. Samuel Parr, Stanmore. 
 
 MY GOOD FRIEND, 
 
 I intended to write lass week, and let you know that Elms- 
 ley have promised me to send you your books. Whom i went 
 to see last trursday, and put him in mind of it. he told me 
 then, that intended to send them that evening. Mr. Paradise 
 arrived from Southampton last tuesday to London, he did not 
 go abroad as he intended. 
 
 j Remember when j was at your house to have read a verse 
 of Menander, in which the Greek particle yap being long, dr. 
 Bentlee corrects it with on. Because, he says, yap is always 
 short, and never common, and you told me that it is constantly 
 short, then be so good as to correct d"". Bentlee's mistake, for 
 the prince of the poets Homer in other verses uses it short, and 
 in the following Long, and then we may conclude, that it is 
 common. 
 
 "H9eXe b' 6 TXii/xwu 'Obvffevs Ka-abvyciL o^Ckov 
 
 Tjowwi/' aiei yap o'l kvX (ppeai Ovuos trdX/xa. II. k 231, &C. 
 
 *no/\\oi' yap uTTLivevde veCJv ^lapvavTO Ooaajv. p 403. 
 
 [The other quoted passages are omitted.] 
 
 * Fop is made long by the power of the digamma, in every 
 instance but this from II. p. ^OS, where it is long by the ictus 
 metricus. See Dr. Maltby's Tractatus de Prosodia, prefixed 
 to his 2d edition of Morell's Thesaurus, pp. xxvi. xx. London, 
 1824.
 
 88 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 I beg the favour of you to send me your aprobatlon of i», or 
 disapprobation, for my information, because our grammarians 
 tell us thus — 'Ap \r]i:Tit:()i' oroj-idrwi- ij ^vybec/iwy /^pax*^ — Ntv-op, 
 avTup — 6 be yap, o Kcip, Kal u xpiip, Koci'Ci tari. But I add aiirUp 
 KOiror — wrcKTUi'' avrap o'l Upolros KaKO. fJiijaaro OvfiM Z. 157. 
 
 j beg your pardon for the liberty that I take with you con- 
 cerning such trifling subjects. Be so good as to give my best 
 compliments to Mrs. Parr. Compliments to IMr. Roderic and 
 Mr. Shillito. Your most affectionate J. Nicolaides. 
 
 Sept. 25, 1775, London. 
 
 Dr. Jonson is gon to france with Mr. and Mrs. Threile and 
 Mr. Beretti. 
 
 That the learned modern Greek had some know- 
 ledge of the metrical science of his forefathers, ap- 
 pears from the following letter : 
 
 'O HiiKoXaibris rw Ilap/w to ev Tlpdr-eiv. 
 
 'F>beL,afiT)v TO,, re Apovpiov rrpos tre ypafifia-a, Kal to. y eirl tov- 
 TOis ah TTpvs ejue. Xpvaovi' re 'AyyXiKuv ijniavp iv avro'is irpos 
 Tio tvt, (TToXevTa Trapa rwv ev ~jj '^(^apiot'iTibi (t^^oXtJ ^tXoXoywv 
 avcpwv rijs ovk els fxaicpdv rod 'AXkivoov xdpiv efiol €Kbodr](70iJ.ei'r]s 
 (ji(3Xov. 'Yirep tov (To'i re irpSJrov rfjs ffvardaetos, K^Keiynis re tjjs 
 (piXo(j>po(rvyi]s irdvv woXXas olba -^dpiTas, ttc^ttw re iibrj aoi tUs 
 Xeyofxevas v7roypa(pds, 5V e^'; eKnaTos Xa/3wv rtjv avrov. Upo- 
 repov b' ouc eirefixj^a avrdi, eTriXadofievos, ws ovic wtpeXov. To ^' 
 airioy, deu)pia re, Kai biarpil^i) irepl to. <^el ihaavTLJS eyj:)VTa, to. 
 bvra, Koi ~d uirXd, tos iviore kol ribv avvQeruv dfjy'qfioi'e'lv, ov 
 fievovv Trjs Tpo(pr}s, o'ta top Kapvea^Tj^ Xoyos. Kal ravTU fikv Trat- 
 bids ■)^apiv. 
 
 Ilept bt Tov Tup, Ibov (TOL TfuXii' eyw, ottcjs Trepl avrov yv(jjfir}s 
 c'xw. 
 
 ^rjjii ovy Trpwrov, ws ov bfiXop ro rov "Qfir}po%' -^ijaafrQai roi 
 biydfjLfjtari rw AIoXiku, F, Trpo rou o I, Kal uXXwp <po)yT}epru)y 
 batrvyofieywy' vv yup i)v dyuyKTj' dXXws re Kal dji<l>iji6Xov bi) 
 hyros, ti AloXeva o 'Avj/p yy ro yeio*. 
 
 Aevrepov. "On to bacrv Trapa ro~is Xonrols rwy 'E\X//»'wv weviia, 
 .ai ro AlvXiKcy avro Alyafifxa, ov-^ ws aroiX'^'^a rcapeXapftdyoyro
 
 MEMOIRS. 89 
 
 (^wffTrep ovce irapu 'Pconaiois to H) ware to Trpo (tv^^mvov, Ka\ 
 
 fjiatcpoy ^et, ws avTos <j>ys' et yap, TrXetorai ar, (cat /jpaj^elat <tuX- 
 Xa/3at rj Koival e'lrfcrav ovTd) det fiaKpai' olov ij es eTrt row 
 
 "AXXoi /ue>/ pa 0eot re /cat cu'c'p e s 'nnroKopvaTai. 'IX. /3'. r. a'. 
 Kal y fio s ext rou 
 
 EvSov Travvuj^toi, At'a S' ov(C e^e v)]bv /jlo s viryos. 'IX. /3'. r. /3'. 
 k'Ot y o s Kal V o s ctti tov 
 
 'E.vheis 'ATpeos vie hat<ppo v o s, lTnroba.fj.oio. 'IX. /3'. r. K'y'. 
 vat »/ o V €7rt rou 
 
 Ou XP') Travj'uj^t »' euSeiv finvXyipop o v avbpa. 'IX. /3'. 
 oi/oe yap e'lTTOis av t))v ov TcXevTatay avXXafii)y eirl tov Travvv- 
 \iov 1] l3ovXr}<p6pov elvai fiaKpay ^iet but to eirofievov baav tov ev- 
 beiv (j) biyafifxa daTepov),aXX' otl "HavTos fxeTpov abia<pop6s koTiv 
 y TeXevraia (Ti/XXa/3»), iJ/ore bvvatrQai elpai avTrjv, ical (3pa-)(e'iav, 
 kal fjLaKpdv"-^(^ll(p€(7T. <r. 14.) 
 
 'AXXa fi))v a'l TOiavTai /3pa)^eTai <rvXXa/3ot ov fjLyKvvovTai bia to 
 €ir6fi€vov baav, ij biyafifia AloXiKov, iipa cificporepa, TOyTe baav 
 <j>Tjfii, Kal TO biyafJLfia, ov (rrot^eta' ovbe (TVfx<piova, apa ovbe ued' 
 erepov ffviicpwyov ovTiyoaovv fiyKvyovai tcis Trpo avToJy avXXafias' 
 tUore ovbe fxcTU. tov p ey tS yap. "Ert ol AtoXets to biyauua 
 TrpoeraTTOv fJLoyoy tCjv oyofxaTwv utto (puyrjevTiov ap\ouey(t)v 
 
 KaTO. TO 
 
 " Nominum multa inchoata litterls vocalibus 
 ^olicus usus vertit, et digammon praeficit." 
 
 TOV TepevTiayov Maovpov, ov')(l be Kal eTrippynaTwy, y aXXwy 
 Tiyuiy jjiopiooy' bio ovbe tov cnrayevde, eTiippyfiaTOs oyTOS, to bi- 
 yafifia TrpoeTaTTOV, avTos b' e^eis to 
 
 " IloXXoj' yap uTrdvevde veiov fxdpyayTO Oodwy." 
 
 'IX. p. r. 403. 
 
 Kat fiyy, bodevTos Kal tov, oti 6 yap ^el /Spa^i/s vara ■ypoyoy, 
 aXX' ovbafiov av evpedeit] toiovtos Kal varct ye Toy aov Xoyoy av- 
 tov' y yap eTrofxeyy Xe^is y toi otto trvfjipoivov' Kal totc fiaKpos 
 bid Tu bvb) avfiipwya, y utto (pojyyeyTOS apj^erat, vat t6t€ TrdXiy 
 TrpoTaTTOfieyov biydfifiaTos AloXiKOv KUTa tov aov Xoyoj', y Saaeos 
 (el Tv\oi ye y XeUs bacrv aTravTovaa Tryev/ia) (oTrcp fxyKvyovat 
 Tas TTpo avTuty ffvXXafods, ws avTos yywfiys e)(^eis), jiaKpus eaTui 
 Kal bid TavTa. 'Act ctpa 6 Tap fiuKpos ciy yjiovov, ovbeTTOTe dpa
 
 90 MEMOIRS. 
 
 o Tap fipa-xys. Tovro 6t ovk aXrjdes' earir apa o Yap kolvos. 
 "Oirep ebei ^et^at. 
 
 Ilept be Tov, on Tray o-u^^wvov reXiKoy (ipa\v ecrrip (ws avTOS 
 d))js) (biiaei, eTrej^o*' ovbeis yap rwv TraXai e'ipj]K€ irwTrore to toiov- 
 Tov {offoy ye etxe elbevai) fiuXitrra be rtHv eTVfJ.(j)uiywy eipi'iKaai ra. 
 fiey eJyai a^wj'a, Trai'Ti] ^6(poy be Troiovvra, ra be (l>u)yr}Tif:iltTepay 
 oloy tU iifxifijya, Sffre elyai Kai ey avrols biat^opay Tiva, ijy ol 
 7roi7]Tai -o~is pvdniKo'is KaTaXelirovfnv eyaayoXovjxevoLS Trept Ti]V 
 fiovaay' tiXXa tovto ye ovbey Trpos roy yfj-erepoy Xoyoy. 
 
 Hepi rwy llepiobii:u>y <TTi\(>}v (tov cnroKpivafievov, ovbev iiXtos 
 ^vyy'iKa' {ov yap bvya^ai ^lei tci ah uvayLyuxTKeiv ypafi^ara') Ke- 
 Xeve ovv ttW^ uTrtp trov ra all irpvi t/Lze tov Xoittov ypu<peiy' ra 
 veuarl Trdyra £,vyiJKa aKpij3u)S' avyyvwfiriy e^e jjloi Trept rCJv ijprjfie- 
 tuiy' beofxai. "EppwffO. 
 
 Tw (fxp'oe'. Uvayexpiutyos, Z' tTri beicdrT]. 
 
 Compliments to Mrs. Parr. 
 
 I conclude the following note was written after 
 Dr. Drury was admitted to the school at Harrow, 
 for I do not know that Dr. Parr attended the 
 speeches in Heath's time : 
 
 " Mr. Nicolaides presents his respectful compliments to Mr. 
 Parr (the aKoreiyos for his handwriting) and is very sorry for 
 not being able to attend him to the speeches at Harrow, other- 
 wise he would think himself happy, not only for his respectable 
 friend's company, but moreover in perceiving himself in the 
 company of so many learned 'AftapibCJy (if he is allowed to call 
 them so, notwithstanding the difference of the bloud), using the 
 language of Pythagoras, Abaris's good friend." 
 
 The following Latin letter shall close my account 
 of Parr and his friends while at Stanmore : 
 
 llicardus Lytton Samucli Parr S. P. D. 
 
 Magnum certc mi Sainuelis ct pone inauditum facinus ag- 
 gredior: tibi enim linguam Latinam prope taiiquam Tullius
 
 MEMOIRS. 91 
 
 ipse callenti, literulas hasce meas parum Latinas mitto. Quo- 
 que magis tam parvuli hominis audaciam mireris, etiam fidenter 
 mitto : certo sciens te semper ad scribentis animum, potius 
 quam ad linguam, spectare, Neque dubito quin tu quamvis 
 grammaticorum qui nunc vivunt optimus, culpeculis tamen 
 meis, solcecismis scilicet erroribusque grammaticis tanto facilius 
 sis condonaturus, quanto severius in vitas meae culpas semper 
 animadversurus sis. In legendis interpretandisque literis tuis 
 duos fere integros dies contrivi, multoque labore, maxim^ in- 
 dustri^, summ&que animi intentione eo usque progressus sum, 
 ut jam epistolae tuae sensa me intelligere crediderim. Quae 
 de Nicolaide nostro, bono, et pererudito viro dicis bene et 
 vere dicta sunt. Vir probus enim mihi videtur, doctus etiam, 
 ingenuaeque indolis. In iis, quae a te de me dicuntur, amicitiae 
 tuae magis quam veritati consuluisse videris. Magna tamen 
 utilitas ex commendatione tua mihi, uti spero, continget. Dum 
 enim summis viribus enitor, ne me temere et omnino immeritis 
 laudibus videaris extulisse, hoc ipso conatu melior, cultior, at- 
 que etiam forsan ornatior evasurus sum. Desunt mihi verba 
 ad exprimendam indignationem meam in istos nefarios homi- 
 nes, qui non tam regendae, quam obruendae, reipubhcae curam 
 sibi susceperunt. O miseri cives! quibus pristina libertas a 
 majoribus nostris tam strenue, tam viriliter propugnata, obH- 
 vioni jam mandata est. Contra, O vera Britannorum soboles, 
 heroes qui antique patrum nostrorum more, paci, divitiis, vitas 
 ipsi libertatem anteponendam censuistis, vobis omnia fauste 
 feliciterque eveniant ! Quae mihi Nicolaidi nostro dicenda 
 mandavisti, ea illi omnia fideliter enarravi : qui hoc tibi respon- 
 sum ita mihi Greece dictavit. 'O e^ 'Il7re(|Oou 'NifcoXdibjjs do-Trd- 
 ierai ere ctTro ;^u^7;s, ■^^apiras ^iXocppoavyrjs rrjs aT}s irpos avrov 
 ovK oXiyas ofioXoyCjv (toi. 'ATrapel ^t avros irpos Aoybivuy ei'Tev- 
 Bey ey oh ttoXXuIs ijfiepais, ae re 6\l/6fi€yos \_6y jj-dXicrra vTrepa- 
 yaTTcf] avTO(T€ eX9eu'. Kai ry avrr] au ijfiepa oiKabe izaXiv, el 
 bvyuToy, kirayeXdeiv hiayoeirai. Jamque vale, mi Samnelis! 
 neque enim amplius sufficiunt vires. Paradisum nostrum, op- 
 timae indolis horainem meo nomine quam amice poteris salutes 
 oro. Jonesium etiam nostrum de omnibus praesertim de me op- 
 time meritum certum facias, me illi arctius officiis devinctum 
 esse, quam unquam fuit Pyladi Orestes aut Pythiae Damon.
 
 92 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Ad Pricaeura jam scripsi. Tibi, uxori, et filiolae tuae, a D. O. 
 M. omnia fausta precor. 
 
 Dabain Balneopoli, 19. Feb. 1776. 
 
 P. S. Mihi Anglice rescribas vehementer oro. Si enim 
 aliter faceres, summam industriam, patientiamque meara supe- 
 raverit labor ille stupendus epistola^ tua; legendee. Sin autem 
 Latine rescribendi te magna lubido invaserit, epistolam tuam 
 postquam scripseris, Shillitoo aut cuivis alii scribal solerti 
 transcribendam tradas — Jamque iterum vale. 
 
 Piirr had no fixed clerical duty ; he preached oc- 
 casionally for Mr. Smith, and very often for the 
 Rev. Walter Williams of Pinner, and once had the 
 care of the Church for a month at a time. Whilst 
 at Harrow, he served the church at Kingsbury from 
 Christmas till Easter 1769, immediately after his 
 ordination. His duties in the school at Harrow 
 and Stanmore fully occupied his time. 
 
 Whilst at Stanmore, Parr published nothing, ex- 
 cept in a review or magazine, some criticisms. 
 
 His eldest daughter, Sarah-Anne, was born at 
 Stanmore Dec. 3 1,1772.
 
 MEMOIRS. 93 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 From 1777 to 1786. 
 
 I HAVE alluded to the causes which more imme- 
 diately influenced Parr's determination to leave 
 Stanmore, and to become a candidate for the school 
 at Colchester. 
 
 Through Bennet Langton Esq. he applied to Dr. 
 Samuel Johnson for letters of recommendation, 
 which were kindly granted, as will be seen by the 
 following letters of Mr. Langton, and Mr. Boggis, 
 one of the Aldermen of Colchester : 
 
 Mr. Bennet Langton to Mr. Parr, dated 
 
 DEAR SIR, London, Feb. 5th, 1777. 
 
 I hope you will have received, when this arrives, the letter 
 I did myself the pleasure of writing to you on Monday, where- 
 in I mentioned my intention of applying to Dr. Johnson, as 
 you desired. Yesterday morning Mr. Paradise and I went to 
 his house, and were informed that he was expected before din- 
 ner in town from Mr. Thrale's ; we staid in that part of the 
 town as late as we conveniently could, but as he was not then 
 come we left word that we should call again as this morning, 
 which we did, and found him only then just arrived. It is, I 
 assure you, dear Sir, but doing justice to his expressions, on 
 our application to say, that nothing could be more friendly 
 than they were. He said he knew of few, if of any^ that 
 were so well entitled to success as yourself in an application 
 for presiding over a seminary of education j and expressed
 
 94 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the opinion of your possessing all the kinds of learning requisite 
 for tliat purpose, in very high terms of praise. He said we 
 might apprise you of his intention of immediately complying 
 with your request of writing, and seemed anxious to do it in 
 such a manner as might most fully evince the sincerity of the 
 testimony he should give. I remain, dear Sir, your affectionate 
 humble servant, ' Bennet Langton. 
 
 From Thomas Boggis, Esq. to Mr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favour of the 
 30th ult. Shall be glad to hear of your being rid of your cold. 
 I have now to inform you, I have fixed the election for a mas- 
 ter of our free Grammar-school to be on Wednesday, the 19th 
 of this month ; at which time, if convenient to you, shall be 
 glad to see you here, when I make no doubt shall be able to 
 give you joy of being elected. I had the honour of a letter 
 this day from your friend Dr. Johnson on your behalf. Have 
 had a meeting of our Corporation, the members of which all 
 wish you success ; and I remain, dear Sir, your humble ser- 
 vant, Thomas Boggis. 
 
 P. S. I hope to see you at my house when you come over. 
 
 By Dr. Nathaniel Forster he was received with 
 open arms, and was offered curacies in addition to 
 his school in the following letter : 
 
 Dr. Forster to the Rev. Mr. Parr. 
 
 SIR, Colchester, 291 k Jan. 1777. 
 
 Having the pleasure to find that you are now without a 
 competitor for our school (Mr. Causley having declined), I 
 beg leave to mention to you that I have the care of two 
 churches in this town, for which I wish to have a Curate. One 
 of them is small, and very near you ; the other not large, but 
 at the distance of near a mile. The duty is service at each
 
 MEMOIRS. 95 
 
 once a Sunday. The weekly duty I have for many years past 
 done myself, but am now under a necessity of giving up the 
 business of burials, on account of my gouty feet. These, 
 therefore, must be undertaken by the Curate. And I am also 
 obliged to load him with the buryings of a third parish in the 
 town, annexed to that which I serve myself. Upon a calcula- 
 tion for seven years past, I found the average number in the 
 three parishes to be 54 in the year. I still mean to do all the 
 other weekly duty. I now give ^50 a year for the service of the 
 two churches on Sundays, and I mean to make the salary 50 
 guineas, in consideration of the additional duty above-mentioned; 
 any part of which, however, I shall be always ready to do when 
 I am able. If you choose employment of this kind, I am con- 
 fident you will meet with nothing so convenient to you in this 
 neighbourhood. I have, indeed, declined engaging myself with 
 any gentleman for these churches since Mr. Smythies's death, 
 upon the idea that they might be convenient to his successor ; 
 and shall still keep them open for you, if you have any thought 
 of closing with my proposal. I must, however, beg the favour 
 of an answer, I do not mean a categorical one, as soon as pos- 
 sible, and am. Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 Nat. Forster. 
 The names of the two churches are Trinity and St. 
 Leonard's. 
 
 Parr succeeded the Rev. Mr. Smythies at Col- 
 chester in the mastership of the school, and went 
 to reside there in the spring 1777. He repaired 
 the school house ; he took a neighbouring house 
 for the reception of scholars ; and though the suc- 
 cess of his endeavours to establish a flourishing: se- 
 minary was very inconsiderable, he always looked 
 back with pleasure to that period of his life. 
 
 But at Colchester, no more than at Harrow, or 
 at Stanmore, was he perfectly at peace. He had a 
 contest with the Trustees of the School concerning
 
 96 MEMOIRS. 
 
 a lease; and on this subject printed a pamphlet, 
 which, however, he never pubhshed. Sir WilHani 
 Jones was his legal adviser, and to him the sheets of 
 the pamphlet were sent, as they came from the 
 press ; and his remarks are constantly " too violent, 
 too strong :" he seems to have considered it a 
 trifling concern. The pamphlet is marked with all 
 the peculiarities of Parr's style ; its vigour, its vehe- 
 mence, its clearness, its pointed antithesis, and its 
 copious illustration, and splendid imagery. The 
 pamphlet itself, being written on a temporary and 
 local subject, will not be re-printed. The follow- 
 ing extracts exemplify its character and manner : 
 
 That day, indeed, I expected to find a day of fierce con- 
 tention, and therefore 1 had arrayed myself in a panoply of the 
 trustiest armour ; in the breastplate of innocence, the shield of 
 the law, the sword of indignation, and the helmet of intrepidity. 
 When I first entered the lists against these hardy combatants, 
 I determined to throw away the scabbard, and, firmly as I con- 
 fided in the strength of my cause, I imagined that my antago- 
 nists would not yield me the dulcem sine pulvere palmam, that 
 they would dispute every inch of ground with me, and at least 
 save their credit, by retreating with their weapons in their 
 hands. But my expectations were altogether disappointed ; 
 instead of the fury of a contest, we had not even the mockery 
 of a skirmish ; not one threat was denounced, not one argu- 
 ment was produced, nor one allusion was dropped upon the 
 offensive topic of the agreement. 
 
 The sum of ^483 would furnish no despicable portion for 
 the daughter of a clergyman ; it would make up such a capital 
 for any man of the meanest extraction, as, with the concur- 
 rence of industry, good fortune, and avarice, might enable him 
 to amass daily wealth in his town house ; to enjoy occasional 
 relaxation, the otium cum dignitate, in his country house ; to 
 buy estates, to plant parks, to govern a borough, and even
 
 MEMOIRS. 97 
 
 aspire to a seat in Parliament, for himself or liis heir. The 
 learned reader has no doubt caught fire from the indignation of 
 Juvenal, who in such glowing colours, has described the lopid 
 exaltation, and overbearing insolence of Licinus: 
 
 Patricios omnes opibus cum provocet unus, 
 
 Quo tondente gravis juveni mihi barba sonabat. — P. 25. 
 
 " Personalities that escape a man in the turbulence of de- 
 bate, should not be tortured upon the rack of construction," — 
 P. 25. 
 
 " It is hardly necessary to tell the reader that in the learned 
 languages, and in the vernacular, the word King is often ap- 
 plied to those persons, whose heads were never invested with a 
 diadem. Tiresias calls the chief men of Thebes Qr'ijjrjs avaKres. 
 (Antig. Soph.) Horace, speaking of the patrons of his time? 
 says, 
 
 Reges dicuntur multis urgere culullis, &c. 
 
 They who are deeply skilled in the history of this country, 
 must have heard of the two Kings of Brentford, of King Cole, 
 and King Hiatus valde deflendus." — P. 27. 
 
 " Upon former occasions, when the rights of the Master 
 were invaded by oppressive and treacherous combinations, he 
 has found a safe asylum in the protection of the Visitor. If, 
 therefore, there be any persons who sport with the rights which 
 they ought to defend, it may not be unseasonable to remind 
 them, that in some luckless hour, they may be called upon to 
 contend with the penetration, the fortitude, and the integrity 
 of a Lowth. In his bosom, the clamours of a rabble, and the 
 prejudices of a party, will awaken no other emotions than those 
 of contempt. Against his qualifications, the resistance of os- 
 tentatious wealth, and of mistaken law, will be weak and un- 
 availing. 
 
 Nil desperandum est Teucro duce, et auspice Teucro." 
 
 P. 29. 
 
 The following is the only letter of the Bishop of 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Cloyne, written to Parr whilst he was at Colchester, 
 in the collection : 
 
 DEAR PARR, Chester, July 23d. 
 
 I have received several letters from you, on various occa- 
 sions, which I have not till now had time to answer. I have 
 been advised, congratulated, scolded, and trusted with com- 
 missions ; and am so distracted between compliment and abuse, 
 that I know not which to examine first. You send me your 
 congratulations on my recovery from a fever, and for which 
 attention I return my thanks. It was of the scarlet kind, at- 
 tended by its usual symptom, a putrid sore throat, and was 
 very severe while it lasted. I am happy to inform you of my 
 entire recovery. You attack me in another letter on what you 
 call the decline of my friendship, and assert, in defence of the 
 charge, that I do not write often to Colchester. But surely I 
 can be a sincere friend without being an exact correspondent. 
 You know the very high rank that Jones holds in my affec- 
 tions, though we have not exchanged a line these three years; 
 but it is not worth while to produce either example or argu- 
 gument against a charge, which you do not mean yourself to be 
 taken seriously. Be satisfied, I shall never part with my friend- 
 ship for you till the hour when I part with my existence. Y^ou 
 employ me also in negotiating an exchange of your vote with 
 one of Pearce's friends. I believe it is the etiquette of such 
 exchanges for the parties to be both absent. I know no instance 
 where a resident man has given up his vote to keep away an 
 absentee, who may be hindered by a thousand accidents from 
 coming at all ; and I suspect it would not be approved of by 
 the candidate to whom the resident vote is engaged. There is 
 also another objection ; it is so early that very few persons 
 have given promises to either. If, under these disadvantages, 
 I can find any man who will agree to the terms, you may de- 
 pend upon my engaging him. Pearce will carry the elec- 
 tion. The papers will inform you that the prize for the Greek 
 Ode came to Emanuel ; and you may easily conjecture it was 
 for the composition I sent you. Your hint of imitating the 
 rough Sapphic measure shewed great taste; but I overruled it 
 from my knowledge of the judges. The event strengthens my
 
 MEMOIRS. 99 
 
 opinion. Dr. Cooke declared himself pleased with the flow of 
 the verses ; and one of the first characters in the University 
 complimented me on the success of my pupil, observing how 
 well the verses ran off. I foresee your indignation. One of 
 the prizes for the A. B. was gained this year by your friend 
 Rennell,* of King's. His composition, though read with too 
 much action, was one of the very best for Latinity that I have 
 ever heard since my admission at Cambridge. 
 
 Yours very sincerely, W. Bennet. 
 
 At Colchester, Parr resumed the intention of 
 taking priest's orders, and was ordained by Bishop 
 Lowth in the summer of 1777. His curacies were 
 at the Hythe and Trinity Church, Colchester, where 
 the learned Dr. Nathaniel Forster was incumbent, 
 and the following letter informs us of the Bishop's 
 opinion of his qualifications. 
 
 Extract of a letter from Bishop Lowth to Dr. 
 Wheeler, Professor of Divinity, Oxford : 
 
 Mr. Parr may come to me at any of the usual times of or- 
 dination. He need not fear that his delicacy will be hurt by 
 the mode of examination. Mr. Jones gives so good an account 
 of his abilities, that a conference with my Chaplain for form's 
 sake will be sufficient. Pray present my compliments to Mr. 
 Jones, I suppose Mr. Parr has a title in my Diocese, &c. 
 
 At Colchester he had a considerable addition to 
 the number of his scholars. Several of those who 
 were placed under his care at Stanmore accompanied 
 him thither, and out of sight of the rival school, his 
 spirits were revived and refreshed by better hopes 
 and fairer prospects. Of his merits as a teacher at 
 
 * The present venerable Dean of Winchester, of whom Dr. 
 Parr speaks so highly in his Letter to Dr. Milner, pp. 49, &c. 
 
 h2
 
 100 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Colchester, the following distinguished testimony of 
 that exquisite schohir, the Rev. Thomas Twining, 
 has by good fortune fallen into my hands. From 
 the marks on the paper, it seems to have been pre- 
 pared for the press. It consists of extracts of letters 
 to his brother Mr. Richard Twining, who was to 
 send his son to Parr. 
 
 Sept. U, 1778. 
 When you talk of Mr. Parr, I confess you meet ray wishes. 
 I have often thought of it, but have been restrained from say- 
 ing anything, from the dread of advising xurong in a matter of 
 so much consequence, and in which (as in inoculation) the in- 
 clinations of jmrents ought to lead. Of Mr. Parr's abilities, 
 learning, taste, manner of teaching, and finding out the dispo- 
 sitions, talents, and characters of boys, I have the highest idea. 
 I have never met with such a man yet in the shape of a school- 
 master. How he is in point of discipline and severity I cannot 
 pretend to say ; I have been told that he flogs too much, but I 
 doubt, those from whom I heard it, think ani/ use of punishment 
 too much. In conversing with him, I have heard him disap- 
 prove of beating children. I have heard him say that words 
 were his worst rod ; that what all his boys most dreaded was 
 his talking to them, and shaming them before the whole school. 
 This also is a delicate instrument of punishment, and injudi- 
 ciously used, or carried too far, may do more harm than good. 
 But I can hardly imagine that a man of his penetration and 
 quickness in discerning the different tempers and characters of 
 boys, should use this without proper discretion and distinction. 
 Upon the whole, all I know is, that had I a son, and determined 
 to send him to any school, I should certainly send him to Mr. 
 Parr's. If one really means that a boy should learn to any 
 purpose what one sends him to learn, surely it is of great im- 
 portance that the master should be a man of sense and taste, 
 able to convey those into the boys he teaches, (if not deficient 
 in capacity,) and give them a relish of what they read. This 
 I am persuaded is the case of Mr. Parr ; the very reverse was 
 the case witli my master, and is, I doubt not, with tnost. An-
 
 MEMOIRS. 101 
 
 other reason that inclines me to wish Richard under his care, is 
 the great regard and esteem which I am sure Mr. Parr has for 
 me J for, among other of his good qualities, he is a man of sin- 
 cere and strong attachments. Richard seems to have a very 
 good capacity, and is certainly amiable in his temper. If you 
 resolve upon this step, I will write about it (if you choose it) 
 to Mr. Parr ; and if you, who know Richard's temper and dis- 
 position much better than I can do, have any particular hints 
 to give, I will convey them. The circumstance o^ Norivic/i, 
 is, I suppose, agreeable to my sister and you. I noiv wish, 
 more than ever, that Mr. Parr had continued here. 
 
 August 11, 1780. 
 I heartily wished for you last Friday, when Mr. Parr and the 
 Forsters were here. The day passed most pleasantly. The 
 party was bien assortie ; and Mr. Parr in high evdv/jia, as 
 he himself said ; and full of that social and convivial spirit that 
 is so charming a thing to me, when it animates a cultivated and 
 well-stocked mind, and sets sense, knowledge, and fancy, a 
 flowing ; and so melancholy a thing, when it produces nothing 
 but barren jollity and laughter without humour ; when it makes 
 no other difference in a man, but that his talk is louder, and his 
 face redder than at another time. By the way, Mr. Parr gives me 
 a very good account of Richard, in all respects, but particularly 
 as to his veracity. He says he is an honest little boy, and he 
 likes to talk with him. Have you read Hayley's poem to Gib- 
 bon ? by some quotations I saw, it is full of genius and excel- 
 lent versification. Mr. Parr admires it. 
 
 Mr. Roderick attended the sons of Mr. Sumner 
 as their private tutor at Colchester, but did not bear 
 any other part in the business of the school. Parr's 
 assistants were, first, Mr. Julius, a very able man, 
 who had been educated by him at Stanmore. Next, 
 Mr. Rooke, Demy of Magdalen College, Oxford, 
 who accompanied him to Norwich.
 
 102 MEMOIRS. 
 
 At Colchester he published nothing, except cer- 
 tain papers and hand-bills on the election of his 
 successor ; but the following letter proves that he 
 had some intention of printing a Sermon preached 
 there; and as that letter is from the pen of Sir Wil- 
 liam Jones, I insert it : 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, Worcester, March 8, 1778. 
 
 Your letter overtook me a few days ago, and I am so hurried 
 that I must answer it in very ^e\v words. If your Sermon be 
 not likely to hurt you and your family by giving fruitless offence 
 to men in power, I will answer for your reputation, and exhort 
 yow to ■^v'ml It •with ynur name i without it, you must not ex- 
 pect to have the charges of publication defrayed, as few men 
 read a book with so unpromising a title as, A Sermon on the 27th 
 of February, 1778. I shall not be in the Temple till the 30th 
 of April ; then I shall be wholly at your service. You will 
 send a copy of your Discourse to me, and may rely on my sin- 
 cerity, as well as on my attention ; but, in the name of the 
 Muses, let it be written in a legible hand, for, to speak plainly 
 with you, your English and Latin characters are so ill formed, 
 that I have infinite difficulty to read your letters, and have 
 abandoned all hopes of decyphering many of them. Your 
 Greek is wholly illegible — it is perfect algebra ; and your 
 strictures on my Isaeus, excellent and valuable as they are, 
 have given more fatigue to my head and eyes than the whole 
 translation. Half an hour in the day would be as much time 
 as you could employ in forming your characters ; and you 
 would save four times as much of your friends' time. I will 
 speak with the sincerity which you like : either you can write 
 better, or you cannot ; if you can, you ought to write better; if 
 rot, you ought to learn. I scribble this as fast as I can move tlie 
 pen, yet to me it is perfectly legible ; it should be plainer still 
 if my pen were better, or I were less hui-ried. Farewell, my 
 dear friend! — if I did not love and respect you, I would not 
 give you this chiding, which I know you will take in good 
 part. 
 
 Parr's residence at Colchester was advantageous
 
 MEMOIRS. 103 
 
 to him, inasmuch as it established his reputation as 
 a schoolmaster ; and gave him two companions ca- 
 pable of assisting him in his literary pursuits, and 
 well calculated to keep his mind in vigorous action. 
 
 The society of " the exquisitely learned Thomas 
 Twining," as he called him, was singularly agreeable 
 to Parr, from the simplicity of his manners, from the 
 exactness of his taste, from the elegance of his wit, 
 and from those abundant stores of classical learning, 
 of which the fruits are well known to scholars in a 
 translation of Aristotle's poetics. That work is 
 equally distinguished by correctness and perspicuity, 
 and in the notes consummate judgment is united 
 with various and recondite erudition. The conver- 
 sation of Dr. Forster was peculiarly interesting to 
 Parr, from his deep and clear views upon metaphy- 
 sical and political subjects ; nor was their harmony 
 for one moment disturbed by difference of opinion 
 upon the grounds of the American war, and the 
 maxims of Lord North's administration. Each re- 
 spected the talents, and each conj5ded in the integrity 
 of the other. 
 
 Dr. Forster was one of those great and sturdy 
 characters in which the last age was fertile. 
 Wherever Parr speaks of him, it is with reverence. 
 He calls him the profoundly wise, the upright, and 
 it is clear from the correspondence, that his charac- 
 ter was manly and undaunted ; that he was a fearless 
 speaker of his thoughts. 
 
 Dr. Forster was cousin of Nathaniel Forster the 
 Editor of Plato ; he published several single ser- 
 mons, which are characterized by Parr as very ex-
 
 104 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ccllent: and several political pamphlets which he 
 commends as very able indeed. He calls him his 
 very philosophical, very learned, and very benevo- 
 lent friend in the Bibliotheca ; and never mentions 
 him in his correspondence without some term of 
 admiration, affection, or applause. Their friendship 
 continued till it was dissolved by the death of Dr. 
 Forster, an event of which he was informed by Mr. 
 Twining, in a letter which I hope to find and to in- 
 sert, and to which the following is an answer : 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Parr to the Rev. Thos. Twining*. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Last week was heavily charged with vexation and disaster. 
 But the sharpest and deepest of my sorrows, the TrperrftuTaroy 
 Kakwi' had not overtaken me, till with half averted eye and an 
 aching heart, I read the dismal contents of your most pathetic 
 letter — worthy it was of the subject, and of the writer. I feel 
 with you, dear Sir, and I feel for you. Losses of this kind can- 
 not be sustained by the feeble and precarious consolation of 
 ])hilosophy alone. They are seldom repaired in the common 
 course of events, and happy it is for the hulk of mankind, that 
 they are seldom experienced. But let not us who do ex- 
 perience them, forget what we owe to ourselves, nor disgrace 
 the manly dignity of grief by the weakness of complaint. You 
 and I have resources in our studies and in our reflections, to 
 which the benighted understandings and ruffled spirits of ordi- 
 nary men have no access. Let us thank God for the distinction, 
 and avail ourselves of it as men and as Christians. 
 
 The masculine judgment and solid virtues of him who is now 
 no more — his rooted contempt of all that is narrow in bigotry, 
 and all that is base in hypocrisy — the ardour of his benevolence 
 and the constancy of his friendship, will never, never be effaced 
 from the tablets of our hearts. We cannot reflect upon the 
 bright assemblage of his literary and moral excellencies with- 
 out love and admiration ; wc cannot love and admire him with-
 
 MEMOIRS. 105 
 
 out catching some portion of his spirit — without a proud and 
 instinctive feeling that we are ourselves capable of improve- 
 ment — without an awful and sacred sense of duty, under the 
 influence of which we shall eventually be improved. Forma 
 mentis ceterna quam tenere, et aliqua saltern ex parte, exprimere, 
 non per alienam materiam et artem, sed nostris ipsi moribus, et 
 possumus et debeinus. Yes, dear Sir, while we cherish the re- 
 membrance of those past and precious hours in which we have 
 been enlightened by his observations, and animated by his 
 counsel, we shall feel something of a generous ardour to imi- 
 tate his example ; like him we shall look upon the errors of 
 mankind with less fretfulness and disgust, and upon their faults 
 with mitigated rigour. Our discernment, like his, will pierce 
 through the grosser surface of actions ; and our charity, like 
 his, will find abundant exercise for its activity in all their latent 
 causes, and all their concomitant circumstances of extenua- 
 tion. Feelingly and frequently recollecting that he was wise 
 and good, we shall ourselves wish to become wiser and better 
 men. We shall be conscious of having deserved to enjoy the 
 rich treasures of his friendship. We shall be prepared to meet 
 him again in a nobler scene of action, and with increased capa- 
 cities of knowledge and of virtue. But what have I been 
 writing ? A sermon or a letter ? Verily 1 know not. I throw 
 upon my paper what occurs to me on reading again your let- 
 ter ; and with such a guide I cannot be very wrong. 
 
 You tell me that he died without a groan or a struggle. I am 
 glad to hear so ; for the thought of death in some of its 
 uglier forms has now and then scared my mind with that 
 dismay which the Greeks seem to have felt, when they talked 
 of do-7ra«'peiv, afabd^eiv, SucrQaj'araj'. The mind, it is true, is 
 the best and surest source for that evdavaaia, to which good 
 men only can aspire, and which even the best cannot always 
 attain. For with all its powers and all its hopes, our mental 
 part is not in all cases a match for the infirmities of exhausted 
 and drooping nature ; for days of pain, and nights of watchful- 
 ness ; for the slow depredations of strong and stubborn disease ; 
 or for that irresistible dejection, or that inexplicable perturba- 
 tion of soul, which sometimes precedes and aggravates the last 
 pangs of dissolution. Glad I am that our friend was exempted
 
 106 MEMOIRS. 
 
 from these dreadful trials, and that in conformity to the dignity 
 and intrepidity n-hich distinguished every stage of his life, 
 constans et libcns folum excepciit. One circumstance there is, 
 upon which I congratulate him, and for which I am tempted al- 
 most to envy you. It fell to your lot to perform those interest- 
 ing and tender offices, in which I should eagerly have striven to 
 share with you if living in the neighbourhood ; I could have at- 
 tended to soften the pains of sickness, and to dispel by friendly 
 assiduities the storm which gathers over us, when we are on the 
 point of being severed from the world, and from those by whom 
 alone the world is endeared to us. 1 know from sad experience 
 what firmness is required to pay such a debt of friendship ; and 
 I also know the sweet, though melancholy reflections, which 
 arise from the consciousness of having discharged it willingly, 
 and with some effect. Once, and happily but once, I did vio- 
 lence to my own nature, and summoning by one great effort 
 the greatest collective force of my soul, I grasped the cold 
 hand, and closed the languid eyes of that man who had been 
 the companion of my boyhood and my youth, — who had been 
 the partner of all my joys and all my sorrows, and compared 
 with whom, even the name of parents and of children seems to 
 me scarcely dear. 
 
 What you say of Mrs. Forster cheers me very much. And 
 yet, though I know the soundness of her sense, and the firm- 
 ness of her resolution, I cannot help thinking how much more 
 is really felt, than is outwardly expressed. I weep over the very 
 fortitude which impresses me with astonishment and reverence, 
 and remembering how many struggles it must have cost to 
 ascend to that state of mind which you emphatically call 
 a state of ' mastered emotion,' I almost exclaim with one, who 
 was able to mark all the finer traces of female sorrow, >/ 6' 
 uyav aiyS] ftapv. Remember me to her in all the balmy 
 language of sympathy unfeigned — speak to her for me, as if you 
 were speaking for yourself. Let her receive from your mouth 
 the strongest assurances that my good wishes to her, and those 
 who are nearest and dearest to her, are most sincere and most 
 unalterable. I will not rudely break into the sanctuary of her 
 grief. But when you tell me that it is safe and proper to come 
 forward, I will say all that ought to be said to such a woman.
 
 MEMOIRS. 107 
 
 the wife, no, I must now consider lier as the widow, of such a 
 man. Perhaps after her worldly affairs are more settled, and 
 her spirits more composed, and the weather is warmer, and the 
 days are longer, perhaps she would like to breathe a little of her 
 native Warwickshire air. If it is so, and I hope it will be so, 
 tell her that she will find at Hatton those who regarded him 
 that herself most loved, and who will pay every kind and every 
 respectful attention, which is due to her melancholy situation, 
 and to her real worth. 
 
 I wish, dear Sir, that you had broken your long and mortify- 
 ing silence upon a different occasion. But upon such an occa- 
 sion as that which brought me lately within your notice, doubt- 
 less you are the first, and you are the fittest person to whom I 
 should have looked for information. Hard, very hard, was the 
 task you had to perform. But you have performed it well, and 
 you have convinced me by a fresh and illustrious proof, that 
 learning, taste, and genius, such as yours, have produced the 
 best effects; and that in their amiable possessor the best ener- 
 gies of the understanding are united with the best emotions of 
 the heart. 
 
 I return from my ramble about the end of next week, and 
 hope to hear again from you how things are ; and till then, and 
 for ever, may God Almighty bless you and yours, and them for 
 whom you so justly and so deeply mourn. Mrs. Parr begs to 
 to be remembered to Mrs. Twining and Mrs. Forster. 
 Yours very sincerely and affectionately, 
 
 Birmingham, April 127id, 1790. S. Parr. 
 
 In the summer of 1778 the Head Mastership of 
 Norwich School became vacant by the resignation 
 of the Rev. Wm. Lemon, author of an Etymologi- 
 cal Dictionary. As Parr was not without agreeable 
 connexions in Norfolk, and was most affectionately 
 attached to Robert the brother of Francis Parr, who 
 resided in Norwich, he became a candidate for the 
 free school in that city, was elected in the autumn 
 of 1778, and removed thither in Jan. 1779.
 
 108 MEMOIRS. 
 
 The following letters speak the sentiments of his 
 friends Mr. Langton and Sir William Jones on the 
 appointment : 
 
 From Bennet Langton Esq. to Mr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Warley Camp, Aug. 28, 1778. 
 
 I was very happy to hear from our friend Mr. Roderick, that 
 important concerns have fallen out since, in respect to the offer 
 to you at the school at Norwich ; yet I understood from him, 
 that you did not seem to intend employing above a fortnight of 
 your vacation in going there, and looking to that concern ; so 
 that in the remaining part of it, we being so near, I shall hope 
 for a visit from you. I conceive in general, and from what I 
 collected from Mr. Roderick's conversation on the subject, that 
 the removal will be eligible to you ; but I wish more explicitly 
 to hear from yourself how far it will be so, and as I have said, 
 hope we shall not want an opportunity of talking fully upon it. 
 Yesterday morning I was very agreeably surprised at an early 
 hour, by the arrival of our friends Mr. and Mrs. Paradise and 
 Mr. Nicolaides. They breakfasted with me in my tent, and 
 saw all that was to be seen, and left again for London very early 
 in the morning. 
 
 Dr. Johnson, when I was lately in London on leave of ab- 
 sence, expressed his wish to see a camp, which he said he 
 never had ; I assured him of the pleasure it would give me to see 
 him here, and he told me he would come, and that he had no ob- 
 jection to sleeping in a tent ; immediately on my return I pro- 
 cured him the offer of a tent to lodge in, and wrote him word of 
 it ; but have not yet heard from him. He favoured me with a 
 loan of his three lives of Butler, Waller, and Denham, and suf- 
 fered me to bring them with me to camp. I wish, dear Sir, I 
 had an opportunity of shewing them to you, as I think we 
 should readily agree in our high opinion of them. I have never 
 been more entertained with any of his works, which is saying a 
 great deal in the praise of these. I beg my best respects to 
 Mrs. Parr, and am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your affectionate and humble servant, 
 
 B. Langton.
 
 MEMOIRS. 109 
 
 From Sir William Jones to Mr. Parr. 
 
 MY DEAR PARR, 22nt/ Oct. 1778, Temple. 
 
 I persuade myself that you ascribe my long neglect of writ- 
 ing to you, neither to coldness in friendship (for who is warmer 
 than I?) nor to mere laziness, (for who is more diligent?) but 
 to the real cause ; a perpetual agitation in forensic business, 
 and to the suspense in which the minister has been pleased to 
 keep me for six months together, in the affair of the Indian 
 Judgeship. That affair is not yet settled ; and I still think it 
 possible for me to be nominated, though I assure you it is im- 
 possible for me to be at all vexed at the disappointment. I am 
 just returned from a very pleasant and prosperous circuit. At 
 Hereford I saw Bennet, who had been rambling over Wales. 
 He informed me that you were promoted to the School (I wish 
 it had been the See) of Norwich. I hope, however, that you 
 will be in town before you go thither. I wish much to consult 
 you about the prefatory part of my Isaeus ; but fear that my 
 engagements will prevent my sending you a copy of it till the 
 publication. There is a passage in a fragment, preserved by 
 Dionysius, which I cannot construe; it is this ^/3ovXo/xj/v /xev 
 ju/) Xiav oiiTios ayvor]devTa 7rpo<T^j/jua e^eiv ala'^pws. The words 
 give me no distinct idea. Can you assist me in explaining 
 them? Lowth's Isaiah is printed off, but will not be published 
 till a copy of it can be presented to the King. I am impatient 
 to see it. Farewell : I have heard of the evening which you 
 passed at Warley in Langton's tent. 
 
 MY DEAR PARR, Worcester, \Qth July, 1779. 
 
 I take up the pen, after a long interval, to answer your friend- 
 ly letter of 4th April. Remember to reserve for me a copy of 
 your book ; and by the first opportunity to send me all of 
 it that is printed, together with the preface. I shall value it for 
 the sake of the writer, and for the intrinsic merit of the writing ; 
 besides, I am resolved to spheterize some passages of it ; and to 
 apply them in the continual war which I maintain against the 
 unjust and the unprincipled. Isceus is highly honoured by you : 
 let me entreat you to take care of your observations on the
 
 110 MEMOIRS. 
 
 work, as I shall want your friendliest assistance and freest cen- 
 sure on revising the next edition. In p. 20 the word Mother is 
 left out, and I have found many typographical errors which 
 escaped the eyes of my clerk, and are not in the table of 
 corrections. In the second edition the notes shall be, at your 
 request, more numerous ; but I cannot destroy the unity of my 
 work by a minute examination of particles and points. Let me 
 beg you at your leisure to read with attention the speeches of 
 Demosthenes against Zenothemis, Aj)aturius, Phormio, Lacritus, 
 and Dionijsidorus, and inform me whether they have been ever 
 translated, except by Wolfius and Auger. It is possible that I may 
 amuse myself with translating and explaining them ; as they all 
 relate to thejcenus nauticum of the civilians, or the bottomry o^ the 
 modern commercial nations ; and I wish to be informed whether 
 any other speeches on the same subject are extant. I rejoice 
 that your situation is agreeable to you ; and only grieve that you 
 are at such a distance from London. You speak well in your 
 letter of your Dean. Yet I have been told that you are engaged 
 in a controversy with him : oh! my friend, remember and 
 EMULATE Newton, who once entered into a philoso- 
 phical CONTEST, BUT SOON FOUND, HE SAID, ''THAT HE 
 
 was parting with his peace of mind for a shadow.*' 
 Surely the elegance of antient poetry and rheto- 
 ric, THE contemplation OF God'S WORKS AND God's 
 WAYS, THE respectable TASK OF MAKING BOYS LEARNED 
 AND MEN VIRTUOUS, MAY EMPLOY THE FORTY OR FIFTY 
 YEARS YOU HAVE TO LIVE MORE SERENELY, MORE LAUDA- 
 BLY, AND MORE PROFITABLY, THAN THE VAIN WARFARE 
 OF CONTROVERSIAL DIVINITY, OR THE DARK MINES AND 
 COUNTERMINES OF UNCERTAIN METAPHYSICS. * Whether 
 
 the apia-eia have been assigned to me in Wales I know not; but 
 the knowledge of men which I have acquired in my short forensic 
 career, has made me satisfied with my present station, and all my 
 ^iXo7-t/Li/a is at an end. Now for your commission at Oxford. Do 
 I perfectly understand you? The D. of Grafton conferred on 
 
 * These are golden sentences; and it is ever to be regretted 
 that they were so often forgotten by our revered friend.
 
 MEMOIRS. Ill 
 
 you a Master's degree by mandamus at Cambridge. I honour 
 him for it — well, you desire to be admitted to the same degree 
 at Oxford. Do you mean that such admission should give you 
 the privilege of voting in our house for members of Parliament 
 and academical honours or emoluments ? In short, do you 
 wish that the D. of Grafton should confer on you a Master's 
 degree by mandamus at Oxford ? ivolov e^pdao rohi, says Archi- 
 lochus. It is impossible, my dear friend. We do admit the 
 validity of your degree when conferred, but not in our Univer- 
 sity. How can I insist upon the difference between an honorary 
 and a mandamus degree, when that difference is unfavourable to 
 you ? It is clear, that your Chancellor cannot, by conferring 
 the latter at Cambridge, give his friend the least title to the 
 same privileges at Oxford. I have mentioned this case to 
 several Oxonians under the names of Caius and Titus ; they all 
 anticipate my objections before I have fully stated my case. 
 Scott, I believe, sees it in the same light. If 1 do misapprehend 
 you, explain the matter more fully. On the whole I do not see 
 what degree at Oxford can accelerate your doctorate, except a 
 degree by diploma, which the University seldom will confer 
 even on men of their own body. This is the plain manner in 
 which I speak, and in which I desire others to speak to me ; if 
 it were in its nature offensive, it would be excused by you, who 
 know how truly and sincerely I am. 
 
 Your faithful friend, W. Jones. 
 Paradise and I spent a fortnight at Paris last May. The na- 
 ture of our business led us into the company of old Franklin. 
 We dined with him twice, and conversed with him frequently. 
 He is much respected in France. We had more success than I 
 expected ; our friend has some chance of receiving the profits 
 of his Virginian estate. Lytton is turned farmer. I passed two 
 days with him last week in Bucks. Pollard is at Paris in the 
 deepest affliction, and most pressing distress. Alas! I could not 
 relieve him without consummate imprudence ; he cannot re- 
 turn to Barbadoes without more money than I could spare. 
 He has not been to blame. 
 
 It appears by the letters of Dr. Forster and Mr. 
 Twining, that it was not till Parr got to Norwich
 
 112 MEMOIRS. 
 
 that he gave up his intention of publishing his at- 
 tack on the trustees of Colchester School.* Per- 
 haps he was somewhat influenced by the shrewd 
 remark of his friend Dr. Forster, that crape-makers 
 would sympathize with rag-makers, and that the 
 corporation spirit of trusteeship might be alarmed 
 at Norwich, by what was published against Col- 
 chester. It was happily abandoned for a higher 
 purpose: for in 1780 Parr appeared before the pub- 
 lic as an author of Sermons. He was invited by 
 the Mayor of Norwich in his official capacity, to 
 print one preached in the Cathedral, and the other 
 in the church of St. Peter's Mancroft, in that 
 City. Of these two Sermons, which came out 
 with the direct authority of his name, the first was 
 preached in the Cathedral December iio, 1779, 
 from Galatians iv. 4th ver. " When the fullness of 
 time was come, God sent forth his only begotten 
 Son."-|~ This Sermon, on the truth and usefulness 
 
 * The work alluded to in the beginning of the foregoing 
 letter. 
 
 f Mr. Greene, of Ipswich, who afterwards published some 
 Remarks on Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, and 
 on Godwin's System, was one of the persons in office at Nor- 
 wich when these Sermons were preached, and one of those to 
 whom they were addressed, thus returns thanks for them : 
 
 Mr. Greene presents his compliments, and returns his 
 thanks to Dr. Parr for the high honour he has done him, in 
 prefixing his name (and in such respectable company) to the 
 two Sermons with which Dr. Parr has obliged the public, and 
 from the perusal of which he has received the greatest and most 
 rational pleasure, satisfaction, and information. 
 Tuesday, 10 June 1780.
 
 MEMOIRS. 1 13 
 
 of Christianity, neither withholds nor dissembles 
 the doubts and difficulties which have been started 
 by sceptics, but discusses them with boldness and 
 sincerity ; it demonstrates the usefulness of the 
 Gospel scheme with irresistible argument, and un- 
 folds its excellence with all the earnestness of elo- 
 quence. " Upon the whole (says Parr, in his con- 
 clusion of the Sermon,) if Christianity, upon a fair 
 and comprehensive inquiry into its effects, be found 
 to have done much towards the improvement of the 
 world, let us cheerfully pay it that tribute of re- 
 spect, in consequence of which it will be enabled 
 to do more. If it appear to have done, what in our 
 estimation is too little, let us search for the causes 
 of every defect where alone they are to be disco- 
 vered, not in the evidences or in the precepts of 
 the religion itself, but in the infirmities of those 
 who defend, without understanding, or who profess 
 without practising it. At all events, let us not, by 
 insulting its authority, and by depreciating its ex- 
 cellence, endeavour to reduce it to a total incapa- 
 city of doing any good ; for the bulk of mankind 
 will never obey the law which they are taught to 
 despise, and we know from the melancholy expe- 
 rience of men, whose attainments and whose native 
 vigour of mind set them far above vulgar prejudice, 
 that, when the reverence for religion is once lost, 
 the love of virtue is seldom retained. 
 
 " There is a dark side belonging to all the con- 
 cerns of man. Let us turn trom it to the contem- 
 plation of those brighter scenes which unfold them- 
 selves to every unprejudiced and well-informed 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Christian. Though God had, for many ages, de- 
 hiyed the appearance of his Son, he, in the fulness 
 of time, sent him forth. Though many ohsta- 
 cles have, in our apprehensions of things, im- 
 peded the course of Revelation, it has spread itself 
 over no inconsiderable part of the world. Though 
 a variety of causes have obscured its lustre, and 
 counteracted its influence, the effects of it have been 
 sufficiently extensive and sufficiently beneficial to 
 interest our attention, to excite our gratitude, and 
 to warrant our faith. The tide of human affairs 
 which, before and after the publication of the Gos- 
 pel, has been secretly controlled by the Providence 
 of God, and invariably directed to the known or 
 unknown purposes which he had in view, is, in these 
 later ages, apjiarently turning in favour of Chris- 
 tianity. Mutually assisting, and assisted by other 
 causes, by the cultivation of polite learning, and of 
 the more profound sciences ; by experiments in na- 
 tural philosophy, and by researches in moral; by the 
 steady exercise, and humane temper of laws; by the 
 liberal and enlarged principles of civil government, 
 the Gospel is making new progress. The expecta- 
 tions of every worthy man may, therefore, be inno- 
 cently employed upon the prospect of some happy 
 period, when the belief of our holy religion shall be 
 universal, and its efficacy shall be complete. His 
 efforts, at least, may be laudably exerted in accele- 
 rating that momentous event, by which the cavils 
 of unbelievers will be effectually put to silence, and 
 by which the knowledge and the love of God will 
 be deeply fixed in the hearts of all Christians, 
 through all ages, and in all nations."
 
 MEMOIRS. 115 
 
 In this discourse he introduced himself to the 
 pubhc for the first time as a Christian teacher, and 
 as a teacher of morals and learning he never ceased 
 to inculcate '* that, when the reverence of religion is 
 once lost, the love of virtue is seldom retained." 
 
 The second of these discourses was preached at 
 St. Peters Mancroft, March 24, 1780, from Hebr. 
 xiii. 16th ver. " To do good and to communicate 
 forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well 
 pleased." The subject of this discourse is the edu- 
 cation of the poor, and ably has he pleaded the no- 
 ble cause : he recommends it as a Christian duty to 
 do good and to communicate. He may be said to 
 be one of the first divines in the crusade of educa- 
 tion, and to have answered beyond all refutation the 
 objections to a proper education of the poor. "Wide 
 indeed (says he, vol. II. p. 69,) is the gulph which 
 the Deity himself has placed between the poor and 
 the rich," &c. &c. 
 
 Of these two Sermons I insert the opinions of 
 Sir William Jones and Dr. Nathaniel Forstcr. 
 
 Sir William Jones to Mr. Parr. 
 
 9.\st July 1780. Temple. 
 I received your Sermons, and read them with no less eager- 
 ness than pleasure : they are written in a masterly style, and the 
 second must carry conviction to the most obstinate. You call 
 for censure ; I have none to send you, nor have I time to give 
 them their due praises. Let me hope that you will not sheath 
 the pen which you have so nobly drawn in defence of religion 
 and poverty, which are alike despised and unfriended by selfish 
 men. I left your Sermons with Lytton, whom I left last Wed- 
 nesday, and luckily found your letter on my table. I return to 
 him to-morrow. He has observations to impart on your first 
 
 I 2
 
 116 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Sermon, which he read to rae, and both gave and received liigh 
 pleasure from it. When I was at Oxford, there was a sullen 
 silence in all companies where I happened to be, on the sub- 
 ject of the election. What the event will be, Heaven knows. 
 I have a long tale to unfold to you when we next meet ; at the 
 end of August I too shall be in London. No literary news — ■ 
 but, pray, answer a literary question. In Thompson's Pre- 
 face to the Areopagitica he cites a passage from Alcceus, in 
 these words : " What makes a city ? Not walls and buildings ; 
 no — but men, who know themselves to be men, and are sensi- 
 ble that liberty alone exalts them above brutes." Where is the 
 original f* I cannot find it among the fragments of my favour- 
 ite poet. If you find it, I have reason for wishing you to send 
 it to me on the Carmarthen Circuit, where I shall be on 2d 
 Aug. My pamphlet, I fear, will be a weak defence against 
 mobs in rags, or mobs in lace, unless my plan be adopted : 
 Townshend moved for it in the Court of Aldermen, and lost it 
 by two votes. This vexes me ; but what vexes me most is, 
 that I shall be in Wales on the 3d of next month, when I had 
 resolved to give the County of Middlesex a little speech, and 
 to propose (if I saw myself well supported) a general measure 
 in support of the civil power, that we may have no more need 
 of the insects f mentioned by Nicnnder, 
 
 ^ibrjs v(Tyiv6€i'Tfs kirrfUvovTes 6Xo(T)(oi, 
 
 * Parr immediately sent him the original : 
 Ov Xidoi, ovbe i,vXa, ovbt 
 Te-^VT] TeKTOPWv at TroXeis, eicnv 
 'AW OTtOV TTOT cil' d)(7lV "ANAPES 
 
 AvTovs aw$eiy elbores, 
 'EyTuvOa reij^Tf) cat TrdXeis. 
 
 Alc. quoted by Aristides. 
 The well-known ode, " What constitutes a State ?" was sent 
 the following year to Parr, as appears by a letter dated April 
 10th, 1781. " Accept, for your amusement, a paraphrase of 
 the fragment of Alcceus, vt'hicli you sent me about a twelve- 
 month ago ; it is the last sigh of my departed hope for a renova- 
 tion of our free Constitution. Farewell !" 
 t This is a mistaken translation.
 
 MEMOIRS. 117 
 
 SO may the soldiers be called. I will not drop the scheme. Why 
 will not your lay-friends in Norfolk give themselves a little trou- 
 ble to preserve the Constitution ? They would take pains enough 
 I dare say, to preserve the game. A month's exercise with 
 the firelock would make them useful men. Try what can be 
 done. You must take the oaths at some sessions, or at West- 
 minster : you may take them at any quarter sessions of any 
 county, city, or place, where you may happen to reside, at 
 Michaelmas. In hunting for the political fragment of Alcaus 
 I stumbled upon a conundrum of the poet, which suits the 
 bluntness of the age : 
 
 YlopvT} KOL ftaXapevs ravroy eyovr tinrebeoos edos 
 Why so ? Take his reason : 
 
 'Ey ravT^ TTveXj* roy r ayndov, tqv re kukov Xuet. 
 
 Farewell. 
 
 Dr. Nathaniel Forster to Mr. Parr. 
 
 DEAU SIR, Colchester, Q.lst June 1780. 
 
 Thank you most heartily for the Sermons. Legi et relegi. 
 They are far above all praise of mine. Such command and 
 energy of language I never saw in any writer ; such depth, 
 and, at the same time, extent of thought, in very few. Yet I 
 like the last sermon most. The conclusion is divine; the ob- 
 jections are answered to the very root. Your first, however, I 
 a little object to. I know of no virtues approved by any ope- 
 ration of the understanding. But the meaning is perfectly 
 clear. About the first sermon I should have much to saj', 
 durst I enter the lists with you. Take, however, a hint or two. 
 Where am I to find the men who make the objections you 
 so completely answer, against Christianity in general? These 
 objections, when advanced in form, (for that they may have 
 been sometimes thrown out in a desultory way, without any 
 precise object, I deny not,) are brought against those absurd 
 and nonsensical arguments in proof of Christianit}^, which we 
 perpetually see and hear. And in this view the objections are 
 unanswerable. Wlien a solemn divine insists upon the necessity 
 of a revelation, a priori, as an evidence for the truth of Chris- 
 tianity, its late appearance, and its 2^(irtial propagation, are to
 
 118 MEMOIRS. 
 
 me unanswerable answers to that argument. To your posteriori 
 necessityy in the sense you explain it, I have not the sniallest 
 objection. I most firmly agree with you in the application of 
 the term and of the idea, after the proofs, after the fact is esta- 
 blished by satisfactory evidence. But when necessity of any 
 kind is adduced by way of proof, it may be deep metaphysics, 
 but it is to my mind the most unintelligible and offensive jargon. 
 The imperfect efficacy, too, of the Gospel, has chiefly been ad- 
 duced as an argumentum ad hominem — to those wise divines 
 who have striven to depreciate the religion of nature upon the 
 very same ground. And against these heroes I think the retort 
 is not unfair. As a direct objection to Christianity, to be sure, 
 it has not the smallest weight. You, indeed, most justly make 
 the law of revelation a part of the law of nature. If it be not, 
 it is no law for man. But 1 cannot allow quite so much as you 
 do for the positive efficacy of the Gospel. I have long thought, 
 that most of the good effects which you ascribe to it have arisen 
 chiefly, if not solely, from philosophical inquiry, and the im- 
 proved reason of modern times. This, I think, might be shewn 
 in detail. But one simple fact is enough for me. What was 
 Christian morality for fifteen or sixteen centuries? In most 
 respects contemptible — in many respects detestable. Yet the 
 Scriptures were studied, perhaps more than at present. But 
 were the efficacy of the Gospel even less than it is, even less 
 than it is admitted to be by its opponents, it would be to me no 
 kind of argument against its truth, I should be a little sur- 
 prised, perhaps, and disappointed — but no more. It would be 
 only the addition of one to the many inexplicable phaenomena 
 with which the moral world is stocked. So much for hints, for 
 which I make no apology, as I am sure of your pardon. 
 
 There was less nonsense talked in either House yesterday 
 about civil and military force than I expected. Twining had 
 written an excellent little speech for Charles Fox. But Charles 
 did not feel bold. He even calls himself a moderate man. I do 
 not love, and am suspicious respecting the patrons of the Po- 
 pery Bill, Can Burke and North, Richmond and Mansfield, 
 Saville and Thurlow, have the same insidious designs? If they 
 repeal the act, they deserve — but I will not say what, because 
 I can hardly say anything bad enough. Let them prohibit the
 
 MEMOIRS. 119 
 
 teaching of the Protestant children at Popish schools, under 
 the severest penalties. But let every man, in God's name, edu- 
 cate his own children as he pleases. Thurlow, I remember, 
 pressed this point, when the Bill was debated, with most pathe- 
 tic energy. Various, it seems, and most wide, are the conjec- 
 tures concerning the cause of these riots. But they appear to 
 me to be nothing more than the ragings of a licentious rabble, 
 — half drunk, first with enthusiasm, and afterwards with gin — 
 with a flaming sword in their mouths. Something for the ima- 
 gination to fasten upon — some fuel may possibly have been 
 thrown into the flame by French spies or American traitors 
 (the latter I should most suspect, as we have had instances of 
 it) but nothing, I think, from either quarter, that can amount 
 to a preconcerted plan. Uncomfortable reflection, that your 
 Joneses and your Scotts should rank with the fiavavaoi in any 
 respect. Tell it not in Gath, or, as it may be read, Goth. 
 Invidia siculi, &c. Yet, thank God, there are men in the world 
 whom I can sincerely envy, and yet as sincerely esteem and love. 
 I cannot stop my pen from saying that you are one of them. 
 
 Nat. Fokster. 
 
 Although the Discourse on Education, and on the 
 plans pursued in Charity Schools, by S. Parr, LL.D. L/^ 
 was not preached till 1785, I shall insert some ac- 
 count of it here. It was preached at Norwich " be- 
 fore a very respectable audience, and it is now sub- 
 mitted to the candour of the public," says Parr, " at 
 the request of some persons, the sincerity of whose 
 approbation I cannot distrust, and with the authority 
 of whose judgment I ought not to trifle. I intend 
 it, in some measure, as a sequel to a Sermon which 
 I published in 1780, at the desire of the late Mr. 
 Thurlow. In that Sermon I entered into a full 
 and elaborate vindication of the general principles 
 on which charity schools are supported. But upon 
 the present occasion I have studiously preserved a
 
 120 MEMOIRS. 
 
 plainer style ; I have chiefly attended to the practical 
 part of the subject ; I have enlarged more copiously 
 upon the best methods of religious education for all 
 young persons, and with a very few exceptions, I 
 profess only to deliver such common and useful ob- 
 servations as are adapted to the apprehension of 
 common and well-disposed readers." 
 
 If such were his aim, he certainly has not suc- 
 ceeded as to plainness of style ; for few of his com- 
 positions are more redundant in ornament. But, if 
 popularity be the seal of utility, public approbation 
 has undoubtedly stamped the Discourse on Educa- 
 tion as the best of Parr's works. 
 
 Mandeville and Rousseau, setting out from posi- 
 tions opposite in their direction, have met at the 
 same point, and arrived at the same conclusions. 
 The first, viewing man as an odious and contemptible 
 and vicious being, thinks that the education of the 
 poor will only enable them to practice simulation 
 better, and to hide their enormities under more de- 
 cent appearances. The author of Emile deems 
 education contaminating, inasmuch as it cramps the 
 energies of the young, which he always esteems a 
 character aspiring after excellence, and confines it 
 in a certain shape, or mould, which is sure to dena- 
 turalize and vitiate it.* 
 
 Parr rebuts and refutes the deductions of these 
 authors, by arguing in the words of his text : 
 
 * " In some respects, liowever, I feel no reluctance in allow- 
 ing the claims of both, to the infamy of consummate and noto- 
 rious consistency," says Parr.
 
 MEMOIRS. 121 
 
 " Train up a child in the way he should go, and 
 when he is old he will not depart from it." That 
 the success of a pious education is not perfect, fur- 
 ni hes no argument against our well-meant attempts^ 
 hut the attempt is therefore not to be given up. 
 From the constitution of the human mind; from the 
 power of habit, and the capacity which the young 
 senses have of being impressed ; from all these 
 sources different classes of intellect are formed, and 
 man is made fitter for his different social relations. 
 To a manufacturing town, charity schools he recom- 
 mended as of singular utility. " The artificer being 
 bound in closer ties to his employer, when brought 
 up from infancy under his eye and by his kindness." 
 The whole discourse is a fine effusion of eloquence, 
 learning, and benevolence, written in a style of the 
 utmost embellishment, perhaps occasionally with too 
 much ornament, but full of dignity and force, and 
 exuberant in illustration. Of the moral sentiment, 
 and particularly of tenderness to animals, that senti- 
 ment, as it operated on Parr's mind, and influenced 
 his conduct throughout life, the following passage is 
 a beautiful illustration : 
 
 Another passion arising from the activity of the mind, and 
 from the love of superiority, is cruelty. Now, of the most 
 venerable court of judicature that ever existed in Greece, it 
 is recorded that a boy was once condemned by it to the loss of 
 life for mischievously plucking out the eyes of a quail. Com- 
 mon sense and common humanity recoil at such extreme rigour, 
 and yet the principle upon which punishment was appointed is 
 certainly reasonable. Practices of this kind, though vieM^ed by 
 some persons without horror, and even encouraged by direct 
 approbation, extinguish, by degrees, compassion, and cherish
 
 122 MEMOIRS. 
 
 tyranny ; that is, they destroy the noblest, and strengtlien the 
 most detestable part of the human character. He that can 
 look with rapture upon the agonies of an unoffending and un- 
 resisting animal will soon learn to view the sufferings of a 
 fellow-creature with indifference ; and in time he will acquire 
 the power of viewing them even with triumph, if that fellow- 
 creature should become the victim of his resentment, be it just 
 or unjust. But the minds of children are open to impressions 
 of every sort ; and, indeed, wonderful is the facility with which 
 a judicious instructor may habituate them to tender emotions. 
 I have therefore always considered mercy to beings of an infe- 
 rior species as a virtue which children are very capable of 
 learning, but which is most difficult to be taught, if the heart 
 has been once familiarized to spectacles of distress, and has 
 been permitted either to behold the pangs of any living crea- 
 ture with cold insensibility, or to inflict them with wanton bar- 
 barity. 
 
 Of this Discourse I am sorry to observe, that the 
 correspondence of Sir Wilham Jones * says nothing ; 
 but there are several valuable notices of it from some 
 of his other friends ; but above all, I esteem that of 
 Mrs. Coke, the accomplished and virtuous lady of 
 Thomas W. Coke Esq. of Holkham, the most. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I venture to give you the trouble of this letter, as I had ra- 
 ther that you should think me troublesome, than that you 
 should suppose me insensible to the merit of your very valuable 
 and flattering present. I have read your Discourse upon Edu- 
 cation with the utmost attention, and with that eager desire of 
 information which a parent may be supposed to possess, who 
 has for seven years directed much serious thought to this most 
 important object ; for having only daughters, the pleasing task 
 of their instruction became my province. Here you must ex- 
 cuse my saying, that if they had been sons, it would have been 
 
 * He was then in India.
 
 MEMOIRS. 123 
 
 my earnest wish not to confine my approbation of your excel- 
 lent system to the barren tribute of my poor praise. What 
 stamps the highest value on your opinions in my mind, is this, 
 that they are not mere assertions, but the result of many years 
 extensive experience, as well as much profound meditation, and 
 diligent researches into the labours of other men ; which latter 
 your notes sufficiently testify, though those in the dead lan- 
 guages I do not pretend to understand. Whereas Rousseau, 
 and several authors I have perused, who have treated this 
 subject, not possessing the superior advantage of experience, 
 only serve to lead astray by plausible theories, which are un- 
 doubtedly not practicable. I must here observe, that I am 
 happy in having your authority, in opposition to the fashion- 
 able doctrines of scepticism, that religion is the surest founda- 
 tion on which we can raise moral virtue in either sex. After 
 what I have written, you cannot doubt the pleasure I should 
 receive from your company at Holkham when I return there, 
 and in affording you an opportunity to judge how far I have 
 been able to put in practice, with respect to my children, a 
 system of education I profess so entirely to approve. 
 
 I am, with much esteem, Sir, your most faithful servant, 
 
 Jane Coke. 
 
 Pardon the liberty I take in requesting to be informed, 
 whether you think Dr. Johnson's Dictionary the best standard 
 of the English language for the unlearned to consult concern- 
 ing orthography and pronunciation ? 
 
 Longford near Derby y Dec. 23(/, 1785. 
 
 Rev. J. Greene to Dr. Parr. 
 
 Nov. ISth, 1785. 
 Permit me. Sir, to take this opportunity of returning you 
 my best thanks for the very great pleasure and information 
 which I have received from your admirable Discourse on Edu- 
 cation. To speak my real sentiments of it^ in a letter imme- 
 diately addressed to you, might be an offence, in some mea- 
 sure, to delicacy. But surely it can be none to say that, in
 
 J 
 
 124 MEMOIRS. 
 
 my opinion, the character you give of Dr. Balguy's Discourses 
 {mutatis mutandis) may justly be applied to your own. 
 
 Your faithful and obedient humble servant, 
 
 J. Greene. 
 
 This Discourse, I find by the correspondence with 
 Professor White, was reviewed by him, art. viii. v. 
 vii. Enghsh Review, and his character of the style 
 I insert to mark the injustice he committed, when 
 thinking it necessary to make critical remarks. 
 "The style is laboured and adorned, but often dif- 
 fuse and redundant. It abounds with multiplications 
 of phrases to express the same ideas : is too regu- 
 larly divided into duads and triads, and sometimes 
 grates the ear of the reader, with those sesquipedu- 
 lia verba which, since the days of Johnson, have 
 been confounded with fine writing." 
 
 These two Sermons are not only an era in Parr's 
 life, but form an epoch in the history of education ; 
 they do honour to him as the advocate of the poor, 
 and as a pioneer in the great work of general in- 
 struction — to his moral sensibilities, and insight 
 into human character and to the foresight of that 
 progress, which intellect was making, and which 
 demands, in our days, a repeal of every law which 
 obstructs the access of the meanest individual to 
 true and vital religion. 
 
 Before the Reformation, the systems of Educa- 
 tion in England, and every where else, were purely 
 scholastic. They were entirely in the hands of the 
 clergy ; and the prince, the peer, the clerk, and the 
 apprentice in law, or medicine, were all trained up 
 in a particular system ; all different in their manner.
 
 MEMOIRS. 125 
 
 but all adapted to the person of the catechumen. 
 The prince and the noble were trained in a royal 
 road, but their instruction was small, and in some 
 instances it did not even include the art of writing. 
 The clerk and the transcriber of ancient manuscripts 
 and sacred records, were necessarily taught to write. 
 The learned in the law, and the expert Leech also 
 were so instructed ; but the poor man's son, unless 
 he was dedicated to the menial offices of the 
 Church, to sing in the choir, or respond in the ser- 
 vice, had never the advantage even of being taught 
 to read. Of the three black-letter treatises on Edu- 
 cation, published after the revival of letters, the sys- 
 tems are all grammatical and scholastic. Even after 
 the Reformation there is no general and philoso- 
 phical discussion of the subject. In " The School- 
 master, or playne and perfite way of teaching chil- 
 dren to understonde, write, and speak the Latin 
 tongue, but specially for the private bringing up of 
 Youth in Gentlemen and Noblemen's Houses 1589," 
 with the proem of a curious dialogue at the Court 
 of Windsor, concerning severity of discipline, in 
 which many of the courtiers of the Queen in the 
 presence of Elizabeth herself, were interlocutors, 
 Ascham enters into some nice and good moral dis- 
 tinctions, but the work is didactic only as to gram- 
 mar. Brinsley's Ludus Literarius, published in 
 1627, and dedicated to Princes Henry and Charles, 
 is a general system of grammar education only, yet 
 so minute in its instructions, as to give the precise 
 rule for punishment, the instrument, the mode, the 
 number of jerks.
 
 126 MEMOIRS. 
 
 During; the dark ages monasteries, priories, ab- 
 bies, and their dependant clergy, were the only 
 places and instruments of education : and we may 
 judge of the darkness which covered the people 
 from the fact, that an exemption from degrading 
 punishments was granted by the mercy of our laws 
 to those lights of their generation who possessed the 
 accomplishment of reading. But when the Re- 
 formation dawned, a better order of things was 
 opened to the eyes of the Reformers, and among 
 others education and the education of the poor was 
 glanced at in their views of improvement. After 
 the dissolution of the monasteries, ^/?ez/* alone con- 
 templated the distribution of the spoil, as a possible 
 benefit to the community — they even quarrelled 
 about it with the Court. Strype, in his Memorial 
 of Archbishop Cranmer, says : 
 
 In the year 1539, the King took occasion to be displeased 
 with the Archbishop, and the other Bishops of the nevo learn- 
 ing, as they then termed them, because they could not be 
 brought to give their consent in the Parhament that the King 
 should have all the monasteries suppressed to his own sole use. 
 They were willing he should have all the land that his ancestors 
 gave to any of them ; but the residue they would have had 
 bestowed upon hospitals, grammar-schools for bringing up of 
 youth in virtue and good learning, with other things profitable 
 in the commonwealth. — Book 1. c, xix. 
 
 In the settlement of the Church of Canterbury, 
 education was a part of the plan, and I shall give 
 
 * Certainly those gentlemen and noblemen who sought for 
 grants of estates, and enjoyed them, had no other view than 
 their own benefit and personal interest.
 
 MEMOIRS. 127 
 
 Cranmer's argument for the education of the poor, 
 to demonstrate the position, that the Reformers 
 looked to education, as a main furtherance of their 
 cause. 
 
 It came to pass, that, when they should elect the children 
 of the Grammar-school, there were of the Commissioners more 
 than one or two who would have none admitted but sons or 
 younger brethren of gentlemen. As for other husbandmen's 
 children, they were more meet, they said, for the plough, and 
 to be artificers, than to occupy the place of the learned sort. 
 So that they wished none else to be put to school, but only 
 gentlemen's children. Whereunto the most Reverend Father 
 the Archbishop, being of a contrary mind, said, " That he 
 thought it not indifferent so to order the matter ; for," said 
 he, " poor men's children are many times endued with more 
 singular gifts of nature, which are also the gifts of God, as 
 with eloquence, memory, apt pronunciation, sobriety, and 
 such like; and are commonly, also, more apt to apply their 
 study than is the gentleman's son delicately educated." Here- 
 unto it was, on the other part, replied, " That it was meet 
 for the ploughman's son to go to the plough, and the artificer's 
 son to apply the trade of his parent's vocation, and the gentle- 
 man's children are meet to have the knowledge of government 
 and rule in the commonwealth. " For we have," said they, " as 
 much need of ploughmen as any other State, and all sorts of 
 men may not go to school." " I grant," replied the Archbishop, 
 " much of your meaning herein, as needful in a commonwealth. 
 But yet, utterly to exclude the ploughman's son and the poor 
 man's son from the benefit of learning, as though they were un- 
 worthy to have the gifts of the Holy Ghost bestowed upon them, 
 as well as upon others, is as much as to say, as that Almighty 
 God should not be at liberty to bestow his great gifts of grace up- 
 on any person, nor no where else, but as we and other men shall 
 appoint them to be employed, according to our fancy, and not 
 according to His most godly will and pleasure, who giveth his 
 gift, both of learning and other perfection in all sciences, unto all 
 kinds and states of people indifferently. Even so doth he many 
 times withdraw from them and their posterity again those bene-
 
 128 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ficial gifts, if they be not thankful. If we should shut up into 
 a strait corner the. bountiful grace of the Holy Ghost, and 
 thereupon attempt to build our fancies, we should make as 
 perfect a work thereof as those that took upon them to build 
 the Tower of Babel. For God would so provide, that the off- 
 spring of our best-born children should peradventure become 
 most unapt to learn ; and very dolts, as I myself have seen no 
 small number of them very dull, and without all manner of ca- 
 pacity. And to say the truth, I take it, that none of us all 
 here being gentlemen born (as I think), but had our beginning 
 that way from a low and base parentage ; and through the 
 benefit of learning, and other civil knowledge, for the most 
 part all gentlemen ascend to their estate.'' Then it was again 
 answered, " That most part of the nobility came up by feats of 
 arms and martial acts." " As though," said the Archbishop, 
 " that the noble captain was always unfurnished of good learn- 
 ing and knowledge to persuade and dissuade his army rhetori- 
 cally, who rather that way is brought into authority, than else 
 by his manly looks. To conclude ; the poor man's son, by 
 pains taking, will for the most part be learned, when the gen- 
 tleman's son will not take the pains to get it ; and we are 
 taught by the Scriptures that Almighty God taketh up from 
 the dunghill, and setteth him in high authority. And, when- 
 soever it pleaseth him of his Divine providence, he deposeth 
 princes from a right humble and poor estate. Wherefore, if 
 the gentleman's son be apt to learning, let him be admitted ; if 
 not apt, let the poor man's child, that is apt, enter his room." 
 With words to the like effect. Such a seasonable patron of 
 poor men was the Archbishop. 
 
 The Reformation thus began the education of the 
 poor ; but it was very unequally followed up in 
 England. In Scotland,* the reformation of religi- 
 
 * Doubtless the Reformation began the education of the 
 poor in Scotland ; but the Parliament fixed it by Statute. The 
 Act in favour of Universities, Schools, and Hospitals, extends 
 the Laws in favour of Ministers of the Gospel to them. But
 
 MEMOIRS. 129 
 
 ous abuses went deeper ; and in a thin popula- 
 tion, the efforts to enlighten the poor were more 
 easy. So effectual indeed were they, that our own 
 times have witnessed that rare and happy combina- 
 tion of circumstances, poverty united with virtuous 
 habits, and religious feelings, both arising out of an 
 independent and instructed mind. Even the fana- 
 tics in England introduced no system, like that of 
 the Scotch. Archbishop Tenison recommended a 
 system of education upon a like principle ; but till 
 the last generation, charity schools were confined to 
 a few foundations ; there was no school in every 
 parish, to which the labourer could send his child ; 
 and the consequence was, that the bulk of the popu- 
 lation was never taught to read. We may consider 
 Parr, therefore, as I said before, as one of the first 
 crusaders in the cause of the education of the poor. 
 
 More than fifty years ago, the Rev. Mr. Stock, 
 incumbent of a Church at Gloucester, suggested the 
 method of instructing the poor in Sunday schools ; 
 and recommended it to Mr. Raikes of the same city, 
 who had the merit of adopting it. Not many of the 
 peasants of England were then taught to read, and 
 few to write. A grammar school, or a family found- 
 it was the " Act for settling of Schools" that did the business, 
 by ordaining " that there be a School settled and established, 
 and a Schoolmaster appointed, in every parish not already pro- 
 vided, &c. and provide a commodious house for a School, and 
 settle and modify a salary to a Schoolmaster," &c. — Laws and 
 Acts of Scotland, King William's first Parliament, vol. iii. p. 561. 
 I lament that I had not the power of availing myself of the in- 
 struction of my learned friend, the eloquent and pious Dr. 
 Chalmers, on the subject of parochial schools. I had not heard 
 of his treatise when this sheet was first before me for correction. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ation, was found hero and there, but their operation 
 was so hniited, that it tended to maintain the oH- 
 garchy of learning, rather than to diffuse its benefits 
 among the people. 
 
 The Lancaster and Bell's systems bid fair to 
 make the education of the poor as general as it 
 need be, with those various ramifications of systems 
 of instruction which embrace the infant lisping on 
 the knee, and the adult who is willing to learn, and 
 ashamed to be outstripped in the race of knowledge 
 by his own offspring. 
 
 Parr in his Sermons exposes the fallacy of the 
 assertion, that, by instructing the labouring classes, 
 you set them above their manual occupations. If 
 the whole of society be instructed together, of 
 course it will move onward in equal progression. 
 Occupation is essential to man's happiness. Where 
 there is no necessity for labour to procure daily 
 bread, even there it must be artificially sought for,* 
 or repose will be without refreshment, and case 
 without pleasure. Archdeacon Butler, in his ad- 
 mirable Charge to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry 
 of Derby, p. 12, says. 
 
 The stream of knowledge necessarily becomes shallower 
 as it is spread ; it occupies, indeed, a more widely-extended 
 sm-face, but it is stagnant, vapid, and powerless. It neither 
 roars down the cataract, sweeping away the rocks and obsta- 
 cles which oppose its might ; nor flows with deep and majestic 
 course, bearinjr on its bosom the rich and costly freight of 
 matured intellect or inventive genius ; but it presents one dull 
 unvaried surface, not deep enough to be roused by storms into 
 wholesome agitation, and shallow enough to admit the growth 
 
 * See Dr. Maltby's 18tli Sermon, vol. i. part vii, pp. 352, &c.
 
 MEMOIRS. 131 
 
 of noxious weeds, and to be kept turbid by the continual fer- 
 mentation of the indigested matter over which it stagnates. 
 
 Yes — a few sciolists and superficial thinkers or 
 smatterers in learning will necessarily arise, as the 
 scum of a general system of instruction, during the 
 process of fermentation : but the more it works, the 
 stronger it is likely to be. Premature establishments 
 of institutions for promoting the arts and sciences 
 can do no harm, unless they exhaust the resources, 
 and waste the time, of the needy. Let them pass ; 
 they arc exuberances from the regular growth, and 
 only shew its vigour. 
 
 Though experiments, says Dr. Butler, in incautious hands 
 are never free from hazard ; though they are like the letting 
 out of water, which is not always safe or salutary ; if it is di- 
 rected into its proper channels, it may nourish the plants, and 
 make the earth bring forth abundantly ; if it is suffered to flow 
 without restraint, where it ought to refresh and invigorate, it 
 may inundate and destroy. 
 
 This sentiment is justly conceived and beautifully 
 expressed ; yet it would not be wise to cut off the 
 benefits of irrigation from the soil, because a portion 
 of the water might stagnate. Every system of edu- 
 cation nmst have its restraining, as well as its encou- 
 raging powers. 
 
 I forbear entering the wide field which philoso- 
 phers have spread before our fancy, as to the per- 
 fectibility of our earthly condition, and the general 
 diffusion of imperturbable happiness. Man that is 
 bom of a woman has hitherto found his few days 
 full of misery, nor is it possible that a temporary fa- 
 bric, and a probationary state, should be exempt from 
 
 K 2
 
 132 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 mutability. What improvements of science can en- 
 tirely ward off the a\yful visitation of nature, the light- 
 nings of Heaven, or the volcanoes of earth, or the 
 pestilence that walketh in darkness ? What illumi- 
 nation of the intellect can prevent the fiercer tem- 
 pest of the passions ? I do not agree with Gibbon, 
 in his sarcastic remark on Sir John Chardin, that 
 Europeans have done the Persians an ill office 
 by diffusing among them sentiments of freedom. 
 There can be no doubt that our nature admits of 
 amelioration — that the lower orders ought to be in- 
 structed, and that a better and more happy condition 
 must spring out of proper instruction. 
 
 At Norwich also appeared " A Discourse on the 
 late Fast, by Phileleutherus Norfolciensis,* printed 
 forDodsley, &c. 1781. The author of the follow- 
 ing Discourse is a serious, and, he hopes, an unpre- 
 judiced Clergyman of the Church of England. He 
 conceals his name, because he is not impelled by 
 
 * The title Phileleutherus Cantabi'igiensis was used in the 
 Bangorian Controversy by the author of three Discourses ad- 
 dressed to Dr. Tenison ; the first, A Defence of Private Judg- 
 ment; second. Against the Authority of the Magistrate over 
 Conscience : third, Considerations of the re-uniting of Pro- 
 testants, Printed by Kempter 1718. 
 
 It is also used by the Author of Reflections upon Reason, 
 styling himself Phileleutherus Britannicus, printed by VV. and J. 
 Innys (the Nichols's of their day), 1722. It was pointed out 
 to Dr, Parr's notice by a note in Thirlby's edition of Justin 
 Martyr, a book given to him by Dr. Robert Sumner, and en- 
 riched by the marginal annotations of both. 
 
 And also by Bentley, in his immortal criticism on Le Clerc's 
 Menander, under the title of Phileleutherus Lipsiensis,
 
 MEMOIRS. 133 
 
 any motives of vanity to venture on publication ; 
 and he has pubHshed, because the sentiments which 
 he maintains seem to coincide with the most useful 
 purposes, which the late Fast could be intended to 
 promote. Those sentiments, indeed, are not likely 
 to attract popularity by slavish adulation, or sedi- 
 tious invective ; they flatter the prejudices of no 
 party, and are honestly intended to reform such im- 
 moralities as may justly be imputed to all." 
 
 It is not stated where this Sermon was preached ; 
 or whether it was ever preached at all. " Suppose 
 ye that these Galileans were sinners, &c. &c. (Luke, 
 xiii. V. 2 and 3.) was the text, and the dispensations 
 of Providence in regard to states, &c. the subject. 
 From the general subject he descends to that contest 
 which was the Fast Day theme, " where the most 
 sacred ties are torn asunder, the fondest affection 
 alienated, the most useful attachments disregarded." 
 The American war, during its progress, had brought 
 forth many an angry debate at Colchester between 
 Parr and Dr. Nathaniel Forster. Parr there was 
 a partizan of the Americans and their cause, and it 
 is probable that nmch of the matter of this Dis- 
 course, had there been discussed. " The effects of 
 luxury on states — the influence and agency of Pro- 
 vidence, as determining the fate of nations — the de- 
 pendence of public happiness on the integrity of 
 public manners — the effects of the pleasures of 
 Asia, when poured into the lap of sensuality, and 
 where her wealth is easily seized by the grasp of 
 avarice. In the higher stations of life, too, when we 
 see rank without dignity, money without wealth,
 
 134 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 and voluptuousness almost without enjoyment." 
 But I shall quote the following passages, as exam- 
 ples of the style and reasoning of this Discourse : 
 the first, on the decay of empires ; the second, a 
 character of the Constitution of England: 
 
 I. 
 
 It may be laid down as an invariable maxim, that no em- 
 pire, however fruitful in resources, extensive in dominion, or 
 conspicuous in fame, can long subsist, after it hath ceased to 
 be virtuous. Ostentatious magnificence, and the appearance 
 even of formidable strength, it may still preserve ; but on the 
 first breakings of those tempests which hang over all the aims 
 of thoughtless and aspiring men, its unsuspected weakness will 
 be inevitably exposed in its unforeseen perdition. 
 
 Curious it is to observe the rapid strides with which the 
 most celebrated States have descended from the airy and slip- 
 pery eminences of greatness, to misery and shame. When the 
 sword has been sheathed, and every alarm far removed by the 
 successes of war, ingenuity and diligence are usually employed 
 in improving those inventions to which men have been led by 
 accident or incited by necessity. Refinement succeeds to im- 
 provement, and is itself followed close by corruption. Arti- 
 ficial wants, then, multiply beyond the power of supplying 
 them ; the dominion of appetite is extended farther and far- 
 ther, till the objects of gratification, with whatever diversity 
 they have been combined, and to whatever perfection they may 
 have been wrought up, are almost exhausted. The lust of 
 pleasure gives new force to the lust of wealth, because wealth 
 only can furnish the materials of enjoyment. To the depravity 
 of private morals succeeds the extinction of public spirit, and 
 all become ripe for revolt, because all are eager for plunder. 
 Complaints are then reciprocally urged and retorted, by those 
 who cannot govern and those who will not obey. Laws, enacted 
 to prevent evasion and violation, are themselves evaded by new 
 artifices, and violated with greater audacity ; secret cabals are 
 formed ; open tumults break out ; till some daring usurper 
 rivets, in one lucky moment, the fetters of despotism on a law- 
 less, helpless multitude ; or some foreign enemy, invited by the
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 135 
 
 facility of conquest, bends down their necks to the galling yoke 
 of servitude. — P. 7. 
 
 II. 
 Venerable for its antiquity, and endeared to us by a long 
 experience of its use, the Constitution of this Country may 
 justly challenge the annals of the world to produce an equal. 
 Founded on the solid rock of justice, cemented by duration, 
 and fortified by every expedient that policy could suggest, it 
 has hitherto withstood all the shocks of external violence, and 
 all the dark machinations that have been employed to under- 
 mine it. Complaints, I know, have been urged against the 
 multiplicity of our civil and the rigour of our penai laws ; but 
 when these laws are compared with such as are established in 
 other countries, their principles will be found equitable, their 
 spirit mild, and their administration most impartial. Although 
 the discipHne of our armies be excelled in some neighbouring 
 States, where military strength is perverted into an engine of 
 oppression, their valour in every just cause has long excited 
 the admiration even of their enemies; and with regard to that 
 force which forms the peculiar and firmest bulwark of our 
 safety, the skill of our commanders, and the intrepidity of our 
 seamen, are confessedly without example. Narrow, indeed, 
 will be his views, and languid his satisfaction, who would con- 
 fine the glory of this country to the wisdom of its laws and the 
 vigour of its arms. Polite literature has been cultivated among 
 us with a success that antiquity only has surpassed. The me- 
 chanic arts have been improved by us, not perhaps to the 
 highest perfection of exterior elegance, but to the no less ho- 
 nourable purposes of general utility. In this respect they have 
 probably reached their summit ; and it might be wished that 
 the wantonness of innovation, and the debaucheries of refine- 
 ment, should be in future controled. As to the more abstract 
 sciences, so profound have been our investigations, and so im- 
 portant our discoveries, that we are permitted to take the lead, 
 I say not merely of Northern Europe, where civilization has 
 scarcely dawned, nor of those Southern parts where supersti- 
 tion blasts every effort of genius ; but of those brave and ac- 
 complished people who are alone entitled to dispute the palm 
 cf superiority with us, either in the atchievements of war or in 
 the arts of peace. But, amidst the advantages that distinguish
 
 1.36 MEMOIRS. 
 
 tills Country, a very illustrious rank must be assigned to that 
 religion, which is alike exempt from the harshness of Calvinism 
 and the corruptions of Popery ; which preserves the sacred pri- 
 vileges of Revelation, without infringing the no less sacred 
 rights of reason ; which looks, I trust, with some degree of 
 favour on the worthiest and the ablest of its teachers, who 
 have been eminent as well for their enlarged sentiments of to- 
 leration as for their exemplary piety ; and which no longer 
 lifts up the terrors of persecution over the manly and rational 
 inquirer, who, without offering any wanton insult to prescrip- 
 tion, asserts and enjoys the liberty of paying a larger share of 
 homage to the superior authority of truth. — P. 15, 
 
 Of this Discourse, which was characterized at the 
 time, as " a treatise of the highest vahie, abounding 
 with acute and important observations, striking and 
 energetic language, sublime and pathetic eloquence, 
 seldom equalled in wisdom, piety, and animation," 
 Sir William Jones thus speaks : 
 
 MY DEAR PARR, 29th Nov. 17S1, Loynb BuUdiugs. 
 
 Your eloquent figures would give eyes to Tiresias himself, 
 or compel him at least to use his tongue. The cause of my 
 silence has been a weakness in my eyes, the remains of an in- 
 flammation in the summer, which makes it imprudent for me 
 to read or write by the light of a candle, however shaded. In 
 the day-time I am obliged to write and read immoderately, 
 especially at present ; and Arthur, to whom I could dictate, is 
 in the country for his health. Of the Alcaic Ode to Liberty I 
 have not one copy; but Paradise has engaged to re-print it, 
 with notes, historical and explanatory. I was forced to tran- 
 scribe it myself for Bennet, but I cannot notv find leisure to 
 copy it. I send you, instead of it, a Pindaric ode, written al- 
 most extempore, on Lord Althorp's marriage. It is incorrect 
 and careless, but full of fire. The translation of the Ode to 
 Pyrrha was merely a whimsical contest with Milton, who pro- 
 fesses to have rendered it "as near the Latin measure as man/ 
 be." No, say I, you may approach nearer to the original
 
 MEMOIRS. 137 
 
 measure ; and I give a proof. I dkl not send the Law tract 
 to any but professional men ; and this rule made me forget 
 Hallifax, who was entitled to a copy ; but the Civilian was 
 merged, as we say, in the Divine. My lippitude, which pre- 
 vented me from writing, prevented me also from reading Phi- 
 leleutherus ; but Paradise speaks highly of it, and has promised 
 to read it to me. The style seems very masterly, and the sen- 
 timents just. I smiled at your exhortation to Jbrgive the Ame- 
 ricans; but they will forgive you, and if possible, your Coun- 
 try. I have been fighting your battles in many companies, 
 and bearing ample testimony to your integrity. I find more 
 difficulty in supporting your reasons, especially your sheet- 
 anchor — " that we should unite in upholding Government, be- 
 cause our enemies are so numerous and virulent." What! 
 must we, because we have many misfortunes already, add to 
 them the last and worst of human misfortunes, a despotism in 
 substance, with freedom in shadow ? This I cannot compre- 
 hend ; but think that wise men ought to diminish, instead of 
 increasing, the number and magnitude of their calamities. I 
 will not exult on account of the late masterly stroke of Wash- 
 ington ; but I confess, that I rejoice with an exceeding great joy. 
 I heard much of your theses,* and hope you will print them. 
 I am ever happy to receive your letters, but cannot write again 
 till Christmas. Farewell ! 
 
 What slender paramour under a rosy cave 
 
 Courts thee, sweetly bedew'd with liquid essences ? 
 
 Say, fair Pyrrha, for whom thou 
 
 Bindst thy tresses of wavy gold, 
 In plainness elegant? Often, alas ! will he 
 Weep, and fondly bewail thy mutability. 
 
 Oft, rough with many tempests. 
 
 View yon seas with astonishment, 
 Who now, credulous youth, folds thee in ecstacy, 
 Who thee, ever a kind, ever a lovely maid 
 
 Hopes, unmindful of breezes 
 
 Fallacious ! O unhappy, whom 
 
 * For Parr's LL.D. degree.
 
 138 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Thy strange beauty delights ! Me on the holy wall 
 Yon votive monument indicates here to have 
 
 Hung my watery vestments 
 
 To the stern God of Ocean. 
 
 I add Milton's translation of the same ode, for 
 the sake of comparison. 
 
 " Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa." 
 
 Hou. Lib. 1. Od.5. 
 " Rendered almost word for tvord, ivitkout rime, according to the 
 Latin measure, as near as the language tvill permit, by John 
 Milton. 
 
 " What slender youth, bedew'd with liquid odors, 
 Courts thee on roses in some pleasant cave, 
 Pyrrha ? for whom bind'st thou 
 In wreaths thy golden hair, 
 Plain in thy neatness ? O how oft shall he 
 On faith and changed Gods complain, and seas 
 Rough with black winds and storms 
 Unwonted shall admire ! 
 Who now enjoys thee credulous, all gold. 
 Who always vacant, always amiable, 
 Hopes thee of flattering gales 
 Unmindful. Hapless they 
 To whom thou untry'd seem'st fair. Me in my vow'd 
 Picture the sacred wall declares t'havc hung 
 My dank and dropping weeds 
 To the stern God of Sea." 
 
 Dr. Nathaniel Forster's opinion shall close the 
 account of this Discourse : 
 
 Colchester, 6th Jidij, 1781. 
 
 I thank you, my dear Sir, most cordially for your correc- 
 tions and hints. I wish I may have been able to make a pro- 
 per use of them. The Sermon, such as it is, may, I think, do 
 good. It will certainly mortify the man who gave occasion to it. 
 No bud efi'ect that. 
 
 I should be very sorry to have you think that I only like
 
 MEMOIRS, 139 
 
 your first Discourse. IJcast upon it, almost daily. Your poli- 
 tical representations are impartiality itself; and, as I said be- 
 fore, the colouring is inimitable. Let me single out the com- 
 parison of extended empire to gold-leaf, as what seized me at 
 the instant, and still keeps fast hold of me. If the diction 
 sometimes appears laboured, it is because we pigmies in style, 
 with all our stretchings and strugglings, cannot reach near it. 
 From you it flows with ease and rapidity. Will you now ex- 
 cuse a dab or two of criticism ? Is there not, in your repre- 
 sentations of the Deity, a tone of severity, which savours ra- 
 ther more of systematic theology, than of the benevolence of 
 your heart, or the philosophy of your head? Do you not 
 speak, too, in rather harsh terms of general unbelief and unbe- 
 lievers? The crime of unbelief remains yet to be explained. 
 Of unbelief, I mean, upon principle, and from conviction. I 
 cannot think that the popular representation of the punishment 
 assigned to States has been unjustly ridiculed. Many people 
 talk of them as if there were such existing beings. The argu- 
 ment for the necessity of such punishments, as stated, in form 
 syllogistic, by Archbishops and Bishops, as well as inferior 
 Parsons and Curates, is certainly the consummation of non- 
 sense. " Wicked States or Nations must be punished some- 
 ivhere. They cannot be punished hereafter — ergo," &c. The 
 plain fact, to my understanding, is this : the vices of certain 
 individuals, which compose a state or nation, produce, by the 
 established order of things, certain evils to such individuals, in 
 this their relative character; such as dissolution of government, 
 loss of liberty, &c. These evils, under a ynoral government, 
 are no doubt very properly called punishments. As to luxury, 
 I have one single principle. When it is pernicious, it is crimi- 
 nal. The only question is, where the line is to be drawn. No 
 general line, I think, can be drawn. But I think with you that 
 criminality begins much sooner than is generally supposed. 
 Yet luxury has been ever found to follow prosperity ; and 
 prosperity is the wish of all. But what is to be concluded 
 from this? Not that luxury is a good, because prosperity is. 
 It is only an instance of one of your former positions, of the 
 generation of evil from good, by human folly, or something 
 worse. " Private vices public benefits," is nonsense in its very
 
 140 MEMOIRS. 
 
 terms. An action that produced, not absolute, universal bene- 
 fit, whatever name might be given it, would be amongst the 
 first of virtues. To say that there is always the same quantity 
 of vice and virtue in the world, is quite as nonsensical as say- 
 ing that there is always the same quantity of motion in usuni 
 natural. Yet I think we may fairly say, that almost every vice 
 has its kindred virtue, and rfce versd. And that, therefore, each 
 throws a little bit of a weight in the opposite scale. But as 
 to a balance — no such thing. 
 
 I must beg to have a sight of your thesis, whether you print 
 it or not ; but I hope you will print it. I wish much to see a 
 style in modern Latin. I liear from Roderick a most splendid 
 account of your proceedings at Cambridge. I am very sorry 
 to find he is obliged to return to curatizing, and I heartily wish 
 him something more comfortable. Twining set out for York- 
 shire on Monday se'nnight. I hope the journey will set him 
 up. He has of late been by no means well. Hopson's theory 
 I cannot explain in detail, for I am not chemist enough to un- 
 derstand it. His general principles are, that heat and light 
 are distinct bodies ; that both together constitute phlogiston, 
 when fixed in other bodies; and fire, when detached from 
 them. His Latin, I am sure, is sui generis. And of a very dif- 
 ferent geniLs from either light or heat. With our best respects 
 to Mrs. Parr, and congratulations to our good cousin, ever 
 am, my dear Sir, yours most sincerely, Nat, Forster. 
 
 I expect Mountain* every minute with a brace of Kentishes. 
 The Rev. Dr. Parr, 
 
 Thus in these three Discourses Dr. Parr evinced 
 his piety, by soberly yet zealously defending the 
 doctrines of the Gospel ; his love of his neighbour, 
 by asking protection for the poor ; and his love of 
 his country, by advocating the cause of rational 
 
 * The late Bishop of Quebec, who married Miss Kentish, a 
 very amiable woman, who now lives with one of her sons at 
 Ilcmel Hempstead.
 
 MEMOIRS. 141 
 
 freedom. His confidence in his own powers now 
 waxed strong. His style was formed ; and, with the 
 usual tendency of superior intellect, he began to 
 project works of usefulness, or profit, or honour, to 
 raise his reputation, or to promote his interests. 
 And perhaps he viewed at a distance the execution 
 of some great performance, that might make him a 
 light to his own generation, and transmit his name 
 to a late posterity. Such is the natural aspiration 
 of genius, after " the last infirmity of noble minds." 
 Nor was it less out of the order of things for Parr to 
 aspire thus high, than his fellow schoolmaster Mil- 
 ton, " in the spacious circuit of his musings." For 
 both of them well knew " the accomplishment lies 
 not but in a power, above man's to promise," and 
 both might truly assert, " that none had by more 
 studious ways endeavoured." 
 
 At Norwich, the frequent association with Mr, 
 Windham confirmed Parr in those politics, to 
 which he had shewed an oblique tendency even at 
 Harrow. His father was a Tory, perhaps a Jacobite. 
 But ancient lore had imbued the young scholar 
 with the noblest feelings of patriotism. Declama- 
 tions on liberty, and the martyrs who sufi^ered in her 
 cause, were the objects of his daily study. His 
 friend Jones was a Republican : how then can 
 we wonder, that he himself should be strongly 
 tinctured with the generous principles of freedom ! 
 At the election for the county of Middlesex, con- 
 tested between John Wilkes and Sir William Beau- 
 champ Proctor, Parr stood forward, contrary to the 
 advice of Dr. Sumner and his own interest, as the
 
 142 MEMOIRS. 
 
 partiziin of Wilkos. lie went and voted for him, 
 and Mr. Roderick's account * of the affair will amuse 
 the reader. The sons of the Duke of Grafton, the 
 Prime Minister, and of Sir William Beauchamp 
 Proctor, wore at this time his pupils ; yet so re- 
 solved was he to he independent, that he thus man- 
 fully scorned his own decided interests. 
 
 The Phileleutherus proved that he had not for- 
 gotten politics in 1781. And in 1783 the changes 
 of ministry, the distractions of parties, the hopes of 
 the Whigs, and lastly their coalition with the 
 Tories, aroused him again into authorship, and he 
 re-printed Rapin on Whigs and Tories with notes, 
 praising the coalition and not abusing Pitt, who 
 then shone on the horizon as a star of brightness, 
 and soon became Lord of the ascendant ; but, above 
 all, maintaining the constitutional prerogative of 
 the Crown. Whether the hope of pleasing his 
 patron -|~ who was a party in the coalition, was one 
 
 * Roderick's letter to me in Appendix, 
 t Tlie following is the Earl of Dartmouth's letter, dated 
 London, 22nd Dec. 1783: 
 
 SIR, 
 
 The very extraordinary and unprecedented steps that have 
 lately been taken, must have excited in every thinking mind the 
 same alarm and indignation that they have raised in you ; and 
 I should have been happy to have concurred in pointing out a 
 man for your representative, who would have shewn a proper 
 abhorrence of a measure, so full of danger and so big with mis- 
 chief. I am highly obliged to you for your goodness in con- 
 sulting me upon this occasion ; but I believe I may now assure 
 you that you may return to the prosecution of your useful la- 
 bours : and perhaps you will think that the circumstances of the
 
 MEMOIRS. 143 
 
 of the silent inducements for undertaking this work ; 
 or whether he began to seek preferment by political 
 partizanship, I do not venture to assert. If these 
 were his hopes they were defeated. The Coalition 
 was rent asunder by the power of the Crown. Pitt 
 triumphed, and Parr from this moment became the 
 steady follower and the warm admirer of Charles 
 Fox. Rapin on Whigs and Tories, though re- 
 printed, was never published under the auspices of 
 Parr. The defeat of the Coalition was probably the 
 cause : for it would have done him no dishonour, 
 cither as a moderate Whig, or as an Ecclesiastic of 
 the Church of England, to have published it. The 
 notes illustrate the progress of our free constitution 
 from the authorities of modern date, rather than 
 those which are now of such vogue of Saxon 
 
 times render the present not an unfavourable moment for the pro- 
 duction of them, as soon as you please. All idea of dissolution 
 seems now to be totally abandoned. The Commons have just 
 voted an address to the Crown, to advise his Majesty not to dis- 
 solve the Parliament, and humbly to request him to listen to 
 the advice of his faithful Commons, rather than to that of men 
 (the substance has only been related to me, I don't answer for 
 the words,) who may have private and interested views in the 
 advice they give him. A friend of Mr. Pitt's informed the 
 House that he had authority from Mr. Pitt to say, he should 
 not advise the king to dissolve the Parliament ; and a brother 
 of Lord Temple acquainted them, that his noble relation had 
 resigned his employment, that he might stand as a private man 
 to meet the charges that had been thrown out against him. 
 Every moment is productive of some new event ; and whether 
 there will be any administration to-morrow morning or none, 
 time only can shew. I am, Sir, with great regard and esteem, 
 your most obedient humble servant, Dartmouth.
 
 144 MEMOIRS, 
 
 and Norman times. Dc Lolme, Blackstone, Bo- 
 llngbrokc, Hurd, Stewart, Hume, Jebb, with those 
 classical illustrations which his memory readily sup- 
 plied from the ancients, are his chief authorities ; 
 and it will be curious and instructive to quote his 
 opinions of some men at this period of his life, 
 and to contrast them with the opinions w^hich were 
 formed by his more mature judgment. 
 
 As an unpublished work, and a work seen 
 hitherto only by myself, I state my opinions of it with 
 little confidence. That Parr's sentiments were much 
 biassed by the events which had then occurred is 
 clear, from his addressing this work to Lord Dart- 
 mouth, who had been steadily his friend, and who 
 was associated with his kinsman Lord North in the 
 Coalition. Of the Treatise itself no more need be 
 said, than that it is a vehicle for the notes of Parr. 
 Whatsoever may have been the deep-seated princi- 
 ple of Rapin's politics, whether republican or not, 
 it is clear at all events that he was a friend of civil 
 and religious liberty. The modifications and limi- 
 tations which Parr appends to Rapin's dissertation, 
 are the points of consequence to his biographer ; 
 and I shall take occasion to illustrate his character 
 in different parts of these Memoirs, by quotations 
 from this unpublished work. Many rays of light 
 may be cast from them upon his system, whether 
 of pohtics or of pohty at different periods of 
 his life. His estimate of literary men,* who have 
 written on constitutional subjects ; his opinion of 
 
 * Jebb, Price, and Priestley, page 73, &c. &c.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 145 
 
 statesmen, then hurled from power, or attempting 
 to grasp the reins of it; his views of the progress of 
 the history of our constitution ; the feudal system ; 
 the charters of our rights ; the defeat of the despo- 
 tical aims of the Stuarts ; and our episcopal esta- 
 blishment of religion. All these topics are discussed 
 and illustrated in the notes to the repubhcation 
 of Rapin on Whigs and Tories, from which a se- 
 lection will be made in these volumes ; but, I can- 
 not resist now inserting the following quotations 
 as specimens. 
 
 There is a noble note on the Revolution in 1688. 
 
 The wants of the people vvere redressed : their claims were 
 admitted: their majesty in the language of modern patriotism 
 was respected for just and honourable reasons. At this awful 
 crisis, their resentments were not wound up to an unnatural 
 pitch; their complaints weie extorted by real misery; and 
 therefore they were both worthy of protection, and capable of 
 receiving it, without any shock to the Government, or any in- 
 sult to the laws. Galled under the pressure of wrongs they 
 had already experienced, and terrified with the prospect of 
 gieater mischiefs which they had yet to dread from the churl- 
 ish bigotry and headstrong infatuation of their king, they 
 boldly stood forth to shelter those rights, for which their fathers 
 had so lately bled, from presumptuous violation. But the 
 frightful convulsions to which they had been eye witnesses in 
 the reign of Charles, and the outrageous disorders which fol- 
 lowed the usurpation of Cromwell, were still fresh in their me- 
 mories, and deterred them from rushing again into the same li- 
 centiousness of anarchy, and the same frenzy of fanaticism. 
 The higher orders of men were, also, at this juncture too much 
 alarmed by real and imminent evils to distress themselves, or to 
 delude their inferiors by inflammatory representations of those 
 that were ideal or remote. From these events a very important 
 lesson may be derived by persons, who from the eminence of 
 their station and the extent of their influence, are enabled 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 to command the minds of the multitude; they will find that re- 
 sistance is most successful when it is well founded — that the 
 passions of the people, in the prosecution even of the best pur- 
 poses, should not be excited by artificial expedients, and that 
 their concurrence is most effectual, as well as most warrantable, 
 when it springs from sincere conviction that something ought to be 
 done for their relief, and is tempered by that good sense which 
 is content with doing enough. 
 
 Every statesman who feels his own importance, and wishes 
 to employ it for the welfare of the community, should remem- 
 ber the words of Scipio. Multitude omnis, sicut natura maris, 
 per se immobilis est ; venti et aurae cient. Ita aut tranquillum 
 aut procellas in populo sunt. Causa atque origo omnis furoris 
 penes auctores est. Lib. xxviii. page 658, edit, var. 
 
 This beautiful speech seems to be borrowed from 
 the speech of Artabanus in Herodotus : — 
 
 " 'AvdpwTTijjv KaKwy oj.ii\iai (T(j)ciX\ov(n' Ka-mrep T))y Trai rwr 
 •)(pr]ai^b}T6.T')]v aydpcjiroKTi ddXaaaav irvev^aru, (pciff), (ivtfiiov t/ii- 
 TriiTTovra ov irepiopav (l>viTei rrj ewvrijs -^piirrdai." — Herod, lib.vii. 
 page 517. edit. Wess, 
 
 But as an especial curiosity, I copy the character 
 of him who w^as styled o SeTva by the author of the 
 preface to Bellendenus, four years afterwards. 
 
 Happy shall I be to find this respectable association 
 strengthened and adorned by the accession of a rising senator, 
 whom his more rational admirers may wish to see connected with 
 other colleagues, employed in a less doubtful cause, and sup- 
 porting by his counsels that government which it were an in- 
 glorious triumph to disturb by his popularity. In the charac- 
 ter of this extraordinary man, we see a rare and magnificent as- 
 semblage of excellencies, as well natural as acquired; of at- 
 tainments not less solid than brilliant; extensive learning, re- 
 fined taste and discernment, both widely comj)rehensive and 
 minutely accurate. By a kind of intuition he seems to grasp 
 that knowledge of men and things, by which others are com- 
 [)el!c;l to ascend I/; slow and patient toil. His genius, in the
 
 MEMOIRS. 147 
 
 mean time, acquires fresh lustre from integrity hitherto uncor- 
 rupted, and, I hope, incorruptible. The fierceness of ambition 
 he tempers, or is capable of tempering, by the softest and most 
 exquisite feelings of humanity. 
 
 '12 7ra~i ytyoio Trarpos [ yn-iwrepos, ]] 
 Ta 6' aW ojuolos. — Soph. A], 
 
 To the generous ardour of youth he has added the extensive 
 views of age, and he may without flattery be said to possess at 
 once the captivating eloquence of Callidius, and the yet more 
 fascinating policy of Scipio — "Est enim non veris tantum virtu- 
 tibus mirabilis, sed arte quadam ab juvent^ ad ostentationem 
 earum compositus." — See Livy, book xxvi. page 454'. vol. ii. 
 and Tully's Brutus, p. 663. Edit. Verberg. 
 
 I would insert the whole note on Episcopalians, 
 but for the fear of rendering this memoir too long. 
 All the notes will, I hope, be published ; for Parr 
 discussed the questions contained in them, and es- 
 pecially that of liberty, with a zeal, and let me add, 
 a sobriety and right reason, that do him honour, 
 and would have done him more, had he foreseen 
 what was shortly to happen. But, those awful events 
 then hidden in the womb of night, which were des- 
 tined to convulse and deform the earth, had not deve- 
 loped even their germ. 
 
 The following letter of the present Bishop of 
 Hereford (Dr. Huntingford) alludes to a squib pub- 
 lished in the newspapers, on Parr's being supposed 
 to go up in an air balloon then recently used : 
 
 What's that ? what is it flying yonder ? 
 'Tis Doctor Parr outflying Pindar. 
 
 I have heard and read much, my dear Sir, of Pindar's flight 
 «c Multa Dircaeum levat aura cycnum" — and I remember Horace 
 L 2
 
 1 18 MEMOIRS. 
 
 prophesies to himself, " Non usitatS. nee tenui ferar penii5." — but 
 wliat are the flights of Pindar or Horace to those which )ou 
 have talien ? 
 
 Virtus, rocludcns immeritis mori 
 
 Ccelum, negatft tentatiter vifl. 
 
 I don't care in what sense you apply ririiit to yourself; 
 wJiether as moral virtue or manly courage, for you have an un- 
 common share of both, as I know from your friends in the first 
 respect, and from the papers in the second. Is it really true 
 that you have ascended in a balloon ? If so, let me first hope 
 tliat you met with no inconvenience, and then let me congratu- 
 late you on so new and pleasant an excursion. Did you meet 
 with the divine bards of other days in the heavenly regions? 1 
 am sure Homer and Sophocles would rejoice to admit into their 
 society an enthusiastic lover of their works, as you are known 
 to be. Sophocles would have asked you somewhat about your 
 intention of favouring the world with an edition of his " dulces 
 reiiquiaj;" he would have wished to know if you waited 
 for Brunck's edition ; then perhaps he would have discoursed 
 with you on what our friend Burney has pretty strongly 
 advanced respecting the power which liquids have to lengthen 
 preceding vowels. For his opinion may be urged, 
 
 1. The known usage of doubling consonants for the sake of 
 the metre, among the Attic Avriters. 
 
 2. The continual instances of A. and p being doubled for that 
 purpose, as they appear to us, though most likely they were 
 written singly originally, p especially had the force of length- 
 ening, by virtue of the aspirate. Against him will be, 
 
 1. The innumerable examples, where the i as in t,€iros and v 
 as in OvXvfjiiros are introduced. 
 
 2. That the Latin language, i. e. the iEolic dialect of the 
 Cireek, certainly knew of no such power; for it allows vowels 
 to be shortened before a nuite and liquid, if not naturally long ; 
 and if it lengthens (I mean not by nature) a vowel before a 
 mute and liquid, it is not by virtue of the liquid, but of the 
 concurrence of two consonants. 
 
 I was commending the remark to Mr. Burgess, who was un- 
 fortunately prevci'.t. (I from a discussion, but immediately said
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 149 
 
 *t had been advanced by very acute men. I had formerly ob- 
 served in AloXov, Odyss, 11, &c. &c. but I doubted whether that 
 was to the purpose, not being an Attic writer (at least not being 
 an Attic of the second age). Morell, I see in p. 41 , has somewhat 
 on the subject. I should be very glad to know your sentiments 
 on this matter. 
 
 Some weeks ago I troubled you with a letter respecting Law. 
 He is a very sensible boy, and will soon acquit himself well in 
 composition, that most material point (after good morals) in 
 school education. You promised me the sight of an epitaph. 
 I hope you will soon send it to your affectionate G.J. H. 
 
 From politics and criticism, it is delightful to pass 
 to better subjects — to justice and to mercy. I have 
 already quoted Parr's sentiments on cruelty to animals 
 from the discourse on Education ; and how much that 
 feeling was directed to his own kind, he demon- 
 strated on every occasion that could possibly call it 
 forth. His love of mercy, and his abhorrence of 
 the inflictions of the penalties of law, when they 
 were not called for by extreme iniquity, began with 
 his public life, and continued to the end. The let- 
 ters of Dr. Nathaniel Forster declare how deeply 
 both the friends were wounded by the enormities 
 of the riots in 1 780 in London ; how much they 
 hated the spirit that then prevailed ; and how much 
 they deplored the bloody results. Among Parr's 
 papers are collected narratives of the proceedings at 
 the trials of these rioters ; and he has marked with 
 unusual indignation the eloquence and austerity 
 of Lord Loughborough, who presided at them ; 
 and the extent to which he carried what he 
 called, and perhaps what he thought, justice, even 
 to children on that occasion. Norwich affords the
 
 150 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 first glowing example of the Christitiii cluiractcr or 
 Parr's active benevolence, when exerted for the pre- 
 servation of an unfortunate culprit. Matthew Bar- 
 ker was convicted at the summer assizes of 1784, 
 and condemned to death for house-breaking, and 
 was left for execution by Lord Loughborough. On 
 the day appointed for him to die, some favourable 
 circumstances were brought to light, and by Parr's 
 influence over the sheriff the execution was most 
 humanely deferred by the latter, till these circum- 
 stances could be clearly stated to the Judge and the 
 Secretary of State. Parr had been convinced by 
 his intercourse with the prisoner that he was truly 
 contrite; that his crime was the consequence, not of 
 any depraved habits, but of a sudden temptation, 
 arising from extreme poverty and a dread of being 
 arrested for debt. He was respited twice, with 
 great reluctance on the part of the Judge. 
 
 The solitude in which he is now kept, the solemn instructions 
 which are given him by several clergymen who visit him in 
 prison, and the natural goodness of his mind, present the fairest 
 hopes of his returning to society, with tlie most sincere and 
 steady resolution of avoiding future crimes, and of atoning to 
 the utmost of his power lor those already committed. From 
 our knowledge of these circumstances, we humbly implore 
 your Majesty's mast gracious clemency in granting a free par- 
 don to the unhappy prisoner, after the expiration of 
 
 months from the time of his condemnation. By this extension 
 of his imprisonment, his example will be more elHcacious in the 
 sight of the public, and his mind will be thoroughly stored with 
 virtuous principles, with due and unfeigned submission to the 
 authority of the laws, &c. Sec. 
 
 This language was employed in a petition to the 
 King, which was supported l)y all Parr's influence in
 
 MEMOIRS. l.)l 
 
 Norfolk, and backed by an application of Dr. Prety- 
 man, late Bishop of Winchester, to his pupil Mr. 
 Pitt. It succeeded ; Barker was pardoned, and 
 became afterwards a virtuous and useful member of 
 society. 
 
 This is not the only case in which Parr used the 
 whole of his interest to save miserable convicts 
 from condign punishment. Few assizes passed at 
 Warwick without application from some one of the 
 culprits, and his consequent interference. The case 
 of a gentleman, who was convicted of murder at 
 Stafford, drew forth every effort of his soul. This 
 unhappy man, indisputably a lunatic, did suffer 
 death, in defiance of the evidence of two eminent 
 physicians. Dr. Arnold of Leicester, and Dr. Edward 
 Johnstone of Birmingham ; and Parr was almost his 
 constant companion and his ghostly adviser during 
 the short interval between condemnation and exe- 
 cution. For the Rev. Mr. Brooks, who was ar- 
 raigned at Warwick for murder, but was declared 
 hmatic by the jury, he advanced upwards of a hun- 
 dred pounds, that he might not be lost for want 
 of means of defence. The case of Fenning, who 
 was executed for poisoning, he went through, and 
 discussed, and criticised, with the most laborious 
 investigation of enlightened humanity. The docu- 
 ments before me would fill a large volume of these 
 cases of misery, drawn out at length ; and it is a 
 balm to the soul of him, who sees so much of 
 afflicted humanity as I do, to contemplate this part 
 of the character of this Israelite indeed, comforting 
 him who was ready to perish, and protecting him
 
 152 MEMOIRS. 
 
 when released from bonds. Thus, in this part of 
 his character, was he an instrument by wliich, " in 
 contingent and emergent events of Providence, God 
 makes compensation to us, for all the evils of chance 
 and hostilities of accident, and brings good out of 
 evil — which is that solenni triumph which mercy 
 makes over justice, when it rides upon a cloud, and 
 crowns its darkness with a robe of glorious light."* 
 
 Whilst at Norwich, Parr introduced many useful 
 improvements in the institution and government of 
 that school. 
 
 Nor can the reader fail to have some curiosity to 
 know the sentiments of a man on the subject of 
 scholastic discipline, who added long experience to 
 great sagacity ; and who, in the general turn of his 
 mind, was solicitous to correct, rather than abolish, 
 the institutions of civihzed life. He has often de- 
 clared that, upon his intentions and his exertions, as 
 a teacher and governor of youth, he must to the 
 latest hour of his life look back with the purest sa- 
 tisfaction. He professed himself an advocate for 
 the old and salutary discipline of our public schools. 
 He resisted all the specious arguments, which are 
 employed in vindicating those refinements which 
 the partiality of parents, the ingenuity of experi- 
 mentalists, and the growing luxury of the age, have 
 introduced into the education of our youth. He 
 stoutly ajjpealed to his own personal experience, and 
 to the established practice of our most celebrated 
 seminaries, in favour of those rules, which for many 
 ages have produced the best scholars — the finest 
 
 * .Icrcniv Tavlor's E.MAI lOil, Sermon xxv.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 lo^-i 
 
 writers— the most useful members of society in pri- 
 vate life, and the most (listinij;uished characters in 
 public. Though strict in enforcing the laws, which 
 appeared to him necessary for awakening attention 
 in the indolent, and animating perseverance in the 
 ingenious, he was always liberal of praise, and always 
 anxious to rescue those w^ho were placed under his 
 care from all serious consequences of their juvenile 
 indiscretions. He secretly respected the judgment, 
 which young men might be disposed to form of his 
 talents, principles, and temper. He encouraged 
 in them the noblest sentiments of honour, and an 
 unshaken regard to truth. He took in a wide, but 
 accurate view of the courses, by which their future 
 happiness might be promoted. He was not only a 
 learned instructor, but a faithful adviser, and a 
 steady friend. Such were the opinions, and such 
 the measures of Parr in that humble path of life 
 in which he was doomed to tread, w^hile the com- 
 panions of his youth were pushing forward with 
 distinguished and merited success in that wide field 
 which was open to them, for the display of their 
 tjreat talents, and the gratification of their honour- 
 able ambition. It must be remembered, that Parr 
 was alwavs eager to do justice to the merit of con- 
 temporary teachers ; and he conceived that their 
 qualifications in the present age were sufficient to 
 support the credit of classical learning, and by the 
 diffusion of it, to correct the mischiefs which some- 
 times arose from that superficial and desultory read- 
 ing which is now become fashionable, under the im- 
 posing name of general knowledge. It is delightful
 
 154 MEMOIRS. 
 
 to inc to record a portion of the praise which he 
 has poured forth on Dr. Benjamin Heath, his suc- 
 cessful rival at Harrow : 
 
 I know the obligations under which bojs educated at Har- 
 row School lie to the activity and erudition of Dr. Benjamin 
 Heath ; and Etonians, from experience, can appreciate more 
 exactly, than common fame enables me to do, the claims which 
 Dr. George Heath may have upon their rejpect and their 
 gratitude. 
 
 He praised the proficiency made in the Greek lan- 
 guage hy the scholars of Dr. Raine at the Charter 
 House. He thought that in composition, Etonians 
 were distinguished for correctness, and Wykehamists 
 by eloquence; and he, with marked approbation, 
 would expatiate upon the Winchester practice, which 
 directs boys frequently to recite very large portions 
 of Greek and Latin verses. He maintained, that 
 inquisitive and ingenious boys, after repeating pas- 
 sages which they have not regularly learnt, would be 
 anxious to understand what they read, would re- 
 member with care what they, of their own accord, 
 and by their own efforts have understood ; and that 
 by this process they laid up for themselves a copious 
 and varied supply of poetical imagery and poetical 
 expression. He suspected that the minds of very 
 young boys were seldom improved by writing or 
 reading epigrams ; and he contended that the Psalms 
 and Scriptural History were unfit to be translated by 
 beginners, while their stock of Latin words was very 
 small, and while the mechanical structure of hexa- 
 meters and pentameters was not very familiar to their 
 ears. But the chief defects which he imputed to our
 
 MEMOIRS. 155 
 
 public seminaries were, that a sufficient portion of 
 Latin prose, especially in Cicero and Csesar, were not 
 read ; that too little time was bestowed upon prose 
 composition in that language ; and that boys were 
 called upon to invent, before materials for invention 
 could have been collected.* His scheme, therefore, 
 was not that of Milton ; he did not proceed with 
 the ambitious or novel design of infusing " extraor- 
 dinary knowledge into the youthful mind."-}- Above 
 all, the absurd idea of making children philosophers 
 never entered his mind. He knew that science was 
 not sense ; but that, to make sense, was the great 
 groundwork of the intellectual improvement of the 
 future man. He went decidedly with, or rather he 
 was the forerunner of, the opinion of his learned 
 and elegant friend Dr. Symmons ; and, to a consi- 
 derable length, with the courageous and erudite de- 
 fenders of the antient establishments. I should 
 
 * These defects, which he loudly proclaimed in the latter 
 years of his life, were materially remedied in the system of 
 Archdeacon Butler, the best teacher, as he justly styled him, of 
 his day. The name of this illustrious scholar, and, what is far 
 better, this excellent man, will be introduced at greater length 
 hereafter, not as Parr's scholar, but one of his most beloved 
 friends. 
 
 " Oh, namesake! (he exclaims, in a letter dated August 20th 
 1824', the last but one he ever wrote to him,) how my heart 
 glows when in every company Shrewsbury School is mentioned 
 as holding an equal rank with Eton and Winchester, and when 
 the Master is applauded as a most learned and judicious teacher, 
 
 and as a wise and venerable governor The Bishops of 
 
 Lincoln and Worcester are most riotous in your praise." 
 
 f Symmons's Life of Milton.
 
 156 MEMOIRS. 
 
 almost have thought that he had been the writer or 
 the dictator of the following sentence : " Many 
 able men, offended at the number of years devoted 
 by our public schools to the attainment of language, 
 have indulged in some similar speculations, and 
 have endeavoured to crowd the immature and grow- 
 ing mind with a variety of intellectual food, adapted 
 to oppress rather than to nourish it. But the suc- 
 cess of these philanthropic projectors has been very 
 partial ; and calculated, on the whole, to attest the 
 wisdom of our established system, which, instilling 
 into the boy the first principles of religion, and, with 
 them, the sanctions and the objects of moral duty, 
 contents itself with cultivating the taste and the at- 
 tention of its pupil, and w ith giving him the means 
 of access to the knowledge of his riper years." * 
 
 The essence of his observations and his practice 
 is distilled in precious abundance in the Sermons on 
 Education ; and on the power of habit and exam- 
 ple, and the mode of training different tempers, he 
 has eloquently discoursed, in vol. ii. pp. 122 — 140. 
 I long to quote the luminous and just precepts which 
 he has there delivered : they arc golden maxims, 
 and every syllable of them is worthy of remem- 
 brance. Education is in part the art of training 
 youth in good habits, by giving virtue first posses- 
 sion of the heart, and leading it on amidst the cor- 
 ruptions of nature, or the temptations of sense, in 
 a regular and undebauched course. He says. 
 
 Of what importance is it then to comply with the precept of" 
 
 * Symmons's Life of Milton, page 156.
 
 MEMOIRS. 157 
 
 my text, and how just is the promise by which we are encou- 
 raged to observe it ? To our boyhood it gives that sweet sim- 
 plicity and innocence which melts every serious beholder into 
 affection, and relieves even the most savage heart with a mo- 
 mentary feeling of honest approbation. In our youth it inspires 
 us with such a fine sense of decorum, as makes us shrink from 
 folly with scorn, and from vice with loathing ; and it animates 
 us at the same time with that unwearied activity of mind, which 
 struggles with every difficulty, and triumphsover every danger. 
 Our manhood it distinguishes by that firmness and dignity of 
 thinking, which exalts us from one degree of excellence to 
 another, which causes us to start at the smallest deviation from 
 rectitude, and impels us to recover from the shock by the in- 
 stantaneous and determined exertion of our whole strength. 
 To old age, which is itself the fruit of a well-spent life, it gives 
 a serenity of mind, which the world can neither bestow nor 
 take away — a deep and sincere love of virtue, which finds a 
 pure and perpetual source of pleasure in the effects which it has 
 v.Tought on the tempers and the manners of our friends and our 
 children — a comfortable remembrance of habitual well-doing, 
 which can alone endear to us the days which are past, and will 
 no more return, or enable us to look on to the approach of the 
 unknown world without solicitude and without dismay. 
 
 On first going to Norwich, Parr became curate 
 to the worthy Mr. Tapps, in the churches of St. 
 Saviour and St. George Colgate. The trouble was 
 too great amidst his school labours, and he resigned 
 these two curacies in three quarters of a year. In 
 the spring of 1780 he was presented by Lady Jane 
 Traftbrd, mother of his pupil, Mr. Southwell Traf- 
 ford,* to the living of Asterby, Lincolnshire, which 
 he resigned in the spring of 1783, when the same 
 
 * Mr, Sigismund Trafford, who afterwards took the name of 
 Southwell.
 
 158 MEMOIRS. 
 
 generous patroness gave him the perpetual curacy 
 of Hatton, Warwickshire. From Asterby he netted 
 only ^36 per annum. Let it not be supposed that 
 all his friends saw a man of such transcendent ta- 
 lents thus struggling against fortune, and maintain- 
 ing himself by almost slavish drudgery, with indif- 
 ference. Lord Dartmouth * confessed his merit, 
 
 * SIR, Sandwcll, 14 Dec. 1781. 
 
 You are not to be told the reason of my not having answered 
 the letter which I received from you by the hands of my son, 
 when you sent him home to me in July, My health is now, I 
 thank God, so far restored, that with a little time, and due 
 care, I may hope to be again on a par with other men of my 
 age. It is unnecessary for me to add any thing to what you 
 say of my son. I feel the truth, at the same time that I enjoy 
 the pleasure, of the commendations you bestow upon him ; and 
 it will give you some satisfaction to know, that his appearance 
 at Christ Church has not belied the expectations you have raised 
 of him. His first composition was very much approved, and 
 the Governors of the College have expressed their favourable 
 opinion of him in very strong terms. I have no doubt that he 
 will be distinguished there, both for abilities and conduct. He 
 is nmch obliged to you for the principles he carries with him ; 
 and if he is able to withstand the torrent of false maxims, and 
 more dangerous contagion of evil example, v/hich prevail too 
 generally among those of his age, there is nothing great or 
 praiseworthy that may not in time be expected from him. 
 Though my expressions will but poorly convey the sense I have 
 of the attention you have shewn him, and the pains you have 
 taken, both to form his mind and inform his understanding, 
 you will give me leave to return my most hearty thanks, and 
 to assure you, that I shall always think with great satisfaction 
 of the connection that has subsisted between us. Lady Dart- 
 mouth desires to join me in compliments to you and Mrs, Parr, 
 I am, Sir, with great truth and regard, your most obedient 
 humble servant, Dartmouth. 
 
 Rev. Mr, Parr.
 
 MEMOIRS. 159 
 
 was anxious to make some provision for him, 
 and endeavoured possibly to obtain from private 
 friendship what eould not be commanded from pub- 
 He influence. Lord Dartmouth asked from Lord 
 Thurlow, then High Chancellor of England, a Pre- 
 bend of Norwich. It is understood, that the good 
 and venerable Earl was denied his request with an 
 oath. Of Lord Thurlow thus signalizing himself 
 against the cause of learning, I have two words to 
 say, under the heads of Bellendenus, and the Re- 
 gency. It will be more gratifying to the mind of 
 every virtuous man to learn, that Lord Dartmouth 
 met with a more congenial and complying spirit 
 in Dr. Robert Lowth, Bishop of London, who in 
 1783 conferred upon Parr, at his Lordship's request, 
 the Prebend of Wenlock's Barn in St. Paul's Ca- 
 thedral. 
 
 As the Prehend of St. Paul's became not only the 
 instrument of independence, but of affluence, to 
 Parr's latter life, I insert at length the letter of that 
 great and good Prelate who presented him to it : 
 
 DEAR Sin, 
 
 When Lord Dartmouth spoke to me in your favour, I assure 
 you, I most readily and with great pleasure accepted his recom- 
 mendation. Though it is now a great while ago, I never forgot 
 it ; but have never had any opportunity of offering to you any 
 thing that would be agreeable. The Prebend of St. Paul's now 
 vacant, though of little value, yet will be attended with no sort 
 of trouble, but that of taking possession. If you come to town 
 next week, time enough to be collated before the following 
 Sunday, you may read on that Sunday the Service, and your 
 whole business will be finished. You need not bring with you 
 any testimonials ; nor so much as your letters of orders ; for I
 
 !()() MEMOIRS. 
 
 think I orddineU you Priest myselt". The conditions of the Pre- 
 bend are as follows : — An estate of ^'200 per annum is held of 
 the Prebend by lease of 2i years, which, if renewed at ^ years 
 will give a fine of a^'lOO; if at 7 years, ^2.50. The late Pre- 
 bendary was proprietor of the lease, which he took care to 
 renew every year, to keep the term always full.* So you can 
 have no fine till 4- years hence. The reserved annual rent is 
 a^lS. 105. Bread money (which I cannot explain to you) 
 £[\. 9s. First Fruits are £21. 6s. 8 J. Tenths, £2. 2s. Sd. The 
 only duty is, I think, a sermon every year. I am, dear Sir, 
 your most obedient humble servant, R. London. 
 
 London House, March Hl/i, 1783. 
 
 I found, says Parr, the llev. Mr. Newton, afterwards Mi- 
 nor Canon of Norwich, Under-Master of the School. He 
 resigned in a year or two, when I recommended Mr. Beloe. 
 In consequence of my disagreement with this worthless man, 
 he resigned in favour of Mr. Pratt, Fellow of Emanuel College, 
 Cambridge, an acute and honourable man. My assistants 
 were, Mr. Rooke, a Demy of Magdalen College, recommended 
 to me by Dr. Burrough, of the same College. Rooke was suc- 
 ceeded by Daniel Walters, a very ingenious, industrious, faithful, 
 and honourable man, recommended to me by Dr. David Hughes, 
 afterwards Principal of Jesus College, where Daniel had entered 
 as a Servitor. Daniel was too poor to sustain the expense of 
 staying at Oxford till he got a degree. He, however, though 
 not qualified, was made Master of Cardigan School, South 
 Wales, by the good-natured connivance of Dr VVatson, Bishop 
 of LlandafF, and by strong recommendations of Dr. Hughes 
 
 * Some of those persons who display their courage in assail- 
 ing a dead Won, have censured Dr. Parr for renewing this lease 
 every year, as if it were an unheard-of practice in the Church. 
 We here see that it was the practice of his predecessor, and 
 made known to him, without any expression of censure, by the 
 excellent Prelate who bestowed the Prebend. It is no wonder 
 that Dr. Parr, so notoriously ignorant in these worldly matters, 
 should have followed the example of his predecessor, when 
 stated to him by such authority.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 161 
 
 tfnd myself. He in a few years died of a consumption. The 
 father pubhshed some Welch Poems, and began a Welch Dic- 
 tionary, to which I subscribed, but he did not finish it. His 
 brother, John Walters, was a graduate of Jesus College, Ox- 
 ford, and published some good English Poems. He was more 
 ingenious, but less learned than his brother Daniel. He was 
 much esteemed by Dr. Hughes, and the celebrated Professor 
 White. He was made Master of Ruthyn School, North Wales, 
 and, Hke his brother, died while young, of a consumption. 
 Wales is not often blessed with such teachers as were Daniel 
 and John Walters. When Daniel left Norwich for Cambridge, 
 I appointed the above-mentioned Mr. Pratt my assistant. Mr. 
 Newton resumed the under-mastership, but soon resigned it, 
 after I had left Norwich, and was succeeded by Mr. Pratt, who 
 was a most valuable instructor. 
 
 I succeeded Mr. Lemon in the upper Mastership. Lemon 
 had no talent as a teacher: he had considerable learning, which 
 the good people of Norwich did not sufficiently value. The 
 Etymological Dictionary which he wrote, with the aid of papers 
 left to him by the learned Mr. Spelman of Norfolk, is a deci- 
 sive proof of erudition. The School sunk under Lemon ; and 
 the Corporation, upon his resigning the Mastership, gave him 
 a small living. I was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Forster, who 
 had been bred at Eton, and gained a classical medal at Cam- 
 bridge. He had some learning, some taste, and much good- 
 nature ; and his mild government, compared with my strictness, 
 made him for some time popular; but his popularity was not of 
 long continuance, and the School began to decline. He went 
 as a private tutor to the son of the Earl of Bristol at Eton, and 
 was deservedly preferred. Forster was succeeded by Valpy, 
 who is probably the best Master that ever adorned the School. 
 The house was much enlarged ; the scholars, both oppidans and 
 boarders, most numerous. The School has high, just, and, I 
 am sure, permanent reputation under the present excellent 
 Master. 
 
 Such was Parr's own account of his predecessors 
 and successors at Norwich. As the terms of his 
 teaching have not yet been recorded in these Me- 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 MEMOIRS. 
 
 moirs, I now insert them ; and the reader will per- 
 haps not look upon them without some surprise, 
 when he compares the terms with those of some 
 popular teaehers of the present day. 
 
 Printed Terms for Norwich School. 
 
 Admission to the school and the house, four guineas. 
 
 Teaching, four guineas per annum. 
 
 Board and lodging, twenty guineas per annum. 
 
 Washing, mending, and house necessaries, one guinea and a 
 half per annum. 
 
 A silver spoon, with the name engraven. 
 For oppidans : 
 
 Admission to natives of the City, one guinea. 
 
 Admission to scholars, who are not natives, two guineas. 
 
 Teaching for each, one guinea a quarter. 
 
 School expences for each, 2s. 6d. per annum. 
 
 Extra articles left entirely to choice ; for which masters are 
 respectively provided. 
 
 Private tuition, four guineas per annum. 
 
 Writing and arithmetic, five shillings entrance, ten shillings 
 per quarter. 
 
 Italian, one guinea entrance, four guineas per annum. 
 
 French, half a guinea entrance, three guineas per annum. 
 
 Dancing, five shillings entrance, one guinea per quarter. 
 
 Fencing, half a guinea entrance, one guinea per quarter, 
 
 N.B. As Master of a free grammar-school, both at Colches- 
 ter and Norwich, I felt it my duty to admit, and accordingly I 
 did admit, such natives of both towns as were sent to me by 
 the respective Corporations of both towns, and my salary was 
 the proper pay for my care of them. Very few boys were sent 
 me by either of these Corporations. But, soon after my arri- 
 val at Norwich, I discovered, and determined to check, a scan- 
 dalous abuse which had prevailed, with the knowledge and con- 
 sent of my predecessor. At Bene't College, Cambridge, and, 
 I believe, at Caius, there were scholarships for boys educated at 
 Norwich School ; and I found that neighbouring clergymen, 
 and perhaps gentlemen, in order to obtain these scholarships,
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 163 
 
 had been accustomed to send their boys at a pretty advanced 
 age to Norwich School, to keep them there for a short time, 
 and thus quahfy them to become candidates for such scholar- 
 ships, to the prejudice of natives who were substantially and 
 houk fide statutable candidates, because they were born in the 
 town, and had regularly gone through their education in the 
 free grammar-school. My power in the admission of oppidans 
 was a matter of mere discretion ; and therefore I announced to 
 the Corporation, and to the neighbourhood, my determination 
 not to admit boys, who boarded in my house, or other houses, 
 and who were not natives recommended by the Corporation, 
 after they were more than twelve or thirteen years old, if there 
 was any probability that boys otherwise admitted had in view 
 scholarships in the University. Yet I admitted boys of a more 
 advanced age as boarders, whether they did or did not mean to 
 go to the University. I always reserved as much as possible 
 the rights of the natives. At the same time, if boys, being 
 boarders, and not natives, passed through the ordinary course 
 of education according to the restrictions, I neither did, nor 
 could interfere with the power of the Corporation to give such 
 boys scholarships ; and in point of fact, in one or two instances, 
 such scholarships were given, but I do not remember any in- 
 stance in which such scholarships were given, when there were 
 natives qualified to be candidates. My regulation put a stop 
 to fraudulent proceedings. 
 
 To Norwich he took with him from Colchester 
 Henry Alexander, Henry Headley, Sigismund Traf- 
 ford. Honourable Henry Legge, the ingenious, 
 learned, and amiable Thomas Monroe, from Bottes- 
 dale, Suffolk, afterwards Demy of Magdalen Col- 
 lege, Oxford, and one of the authors of the Ollapo- 
 drida, and of some verses, Greek, Latin, and Eng- 
 lish. Among others, who were admitted at Nor- 
 wich, are the names of Day, Murray, two Chapmans, 
 Browne, Aufrere, Columbine, SutcliiFe, Goddard, 
 Palgrave, Love Robertson, Thomas, son of the Vicar 
 
 M 2
 
 164 MEMOIRS. 
 
 of Dereham and nephew of the worthy Bishop of 
 Rochester, and Gilbert Matthison, a favourite pupil. 
 
 I admitted Edward Maltby, aged 9, January 18, 1779 (says 
 Parr). 
 
 Let me pay a tribute of* affection and respect to the me- 
 mory of Henry Ileadley, son of Henry Headley, of North 
 Waltham. He came to me at Colchester, and was idle. His 
 idleness continued at Norwich. I wished to part with him. 
 His father, with tears, prevailed on me to make a final experi- 
 ment ; it succeeded speedily and amply. He displayed taste, 
 he acquired learning, he composed well, he went to Trinity 
 College, Oxford, and was highly esteemed by Tom VVarton. 
 His volume of Poems has some merit; his Collection of Ancient 
 Poetry, in two volumes, shews great research and great discri- 
 mination. The Preface abounds with curious learning and ori- 
 ginal thinking. 
 
 Both of the Chapmans were Wranglers, in their 
 respective years. The elder, Charles, became Fel- 
 low of Ben'et College, and afterwards incumbent of 
 St. Peter's, Mancroft, in his native city. Benedict 
 was the sixth Wrangler of his year, then Fellow and 
 Tutor of Caius College, and is now the worthy 
 Rector of Ashdon. Although the Doctor differed 
 widely in politics from his pupil and friend, yet he 
 esteemed him highly as an upright, honourable, and 
 generous man. That the confidence between the 
 master and scholar was mutual, may be inferred from 
 the single circumstance, that the latter consulted 
 him about an inscription to the statue of Mr. Pitt. 
 Some of his letters will be copied in the Appendix. 
 
 Two West Indians of the name of Cottle were 
 placed under his care also at Norwich. With Tho- 
 mas Cottle there is a good deal of correspondence.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 165 
 
 I am not sure whether a person of that name who 
 wrote an epic poem, was one of this family. 
 
 " My worthy and intelligent pupil and patron * 
 Sigismund Trafford Southwell, Esquire, married the 
 daughter of Alderman Crow, lived for some years in 
 Surry-street, Norwich, and bought an estate and 
 good house at Wrexham, where he now resides. 
 May Heaven bless his family ! " 
 
 Edward Maltby was born at Norwich April 6, 
 1770, and went to the school as soon as Parr acted 
 as Master. 
 
 For more than six years he was there guided along 
 the flowery path of learning, and the foundations of 
 those accomplishments were laid which have made 
 Dr. Maltby one of the great scholars of the age. 
 When Parr resigned the school at Norwich, as Maltby 
 was only fifteen, though head boy of the school, he 
 was sent by his venerable preceptor's advice, to 
 
 * The following letter Parr labels from " My pupil, friend, 
 and patron :" 
 
 MY KIND FRIEND, Tuesdaij IJth, 1786. 
 
 I wish you would, by return of post, let me know into whose 
 hands I can repay the money you was so friendly as to lend 
 me ; for as I have it to pay, the sooner I do it the more it will 
 be agreeable to myself, and perhaps useful to you. In the 
 spring, somewhere about the latter end of April, if convenient 
 to you and your good lady, my friendess, I will come and 
 paint your rails at Hatton, so lay in a stock of invisible green. 
 I have not called on Paradise, and what is more, I will not, for 
 a weak man I pity, a fawning one I despise, a false one I hate, 
 
 S. Trafford, 
 
 P. S. The newspaper has probably told you why I write on 
 black paper, though my being disinherited may perhaps be 
 news; but never mind, as old Bunch makes me independent.
 
 166 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Winchester, and Dr. Joseph Warton, then Head 
 Master of that school, thus speaks of him in a letter 
 to Parr: 
 
 SIR, Winchester, Feb. 9th, 17S7. 
 
 I cannot dispense with myself for not answering your oblig- 
 ing letter, though you kindly say you would yourself excuse 
 it. On account of very many and very strong solicitations, 
 
 upon an extraordinary good character sent to me of 
 
 White, from the clergyman his late master, I have taken him 
 into the school ; and your letter is an additional motive. I 
 wish he may resemble Maltby, the best and mdst amiable of 
 young men. I am. Sir, with true respect, your very obliged, 
 humble servant, Jos. Warton. 
 
 He was entered by Bishop Pretyman, who had 
 married his first cousin, at Pembroke College, Cam- 
 bridge, and gained the University Scholarship in 
 January 1791, after the most arduous contest that 
 had been then known.* His competitors were Sir 
 
 * I owe to the kindness of my learned and eloquent friend 
 Dr. Gardner, Canon of Lichfield, a copy of the minute respect- 
 ing his examination, extracted from the archives of the Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 Jan. 15, 1791. 
 
 At a meeting at the Vice-Chancellor's Lodge, in St. John's 
 College, of the Rev. Dr. Craven, V. C. Rev. Dr. Jowett, King's 
 Reader in Civil Law, Rev. Mr. Porter, King's Professor of 
 Hebrew, and the Rev. Mr. Mansel, Public Orator of the Uni- 
 versity, being the major part of the Electors into Lord Craven's 
 Scholarship, appointed such by the Will of the Right Hon. 
 Lord Craven, in order to fill up the Scholarship declared 
 vacant Oct. 28th, 1790. 
 
 It appeared that three Candidates, Sir Thomas Rivers Gay, 
 Bart. Edward Maltby, Robert Smith, had acquitted themselves 
 in their examination with great credit and ability, in a degree
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 167 
 
 Thomas Rivers, Bart, and Mr. R. Smith, afterwards 
 Advocate General in Bengal. The struggle lasted 
 three weeks, and so hot was the competition, and so 
 equally matched were the combatants, that the exa- 
 miners declared it a drawn battle, and desired the 
 youths themselves to assign the prize. Sir Thomas 
 Rivers instantly withdrew his pretensions, as less in 
 need of the pecuniary remuneration than his friends ; 
 and Mr. Smith, from some motive of like delicacy, 
 resigned the prize to Maltby. On this occasion 
 there are many notices of Parr s anxiety to know 
 the result of the contest. " Send me instantly an 
 account," he says, " send even an express, the mo- 
 ment the Scholarship is assigned ;" and on hearing 
 the result he thus writes : 
 
 DEAR EDWARD, 
 
 Let me applaud you and congi-atulate you, with an ardour 
 which is not exceeded by all that is felt for you in the bosom 
 of your parents. I applaud and I congratulate you, dear Ned, 
 again and again ; and with the more fervour, and the more 
 triumph, because your competitors have also a right to ntiy 
 applause and my congratulation. It was a furious struggle ; 
 and therefore the event is to you the more glorious. 
 
 On Sunday, for the first time, I heard a vague and loose 
 account of the business ; and yesterday, in a letter from Mrs. 
 
 so equal that the Electors were come to no decision about 
 their relative merits, when two of the said Candidates having 
 voluntarily resigned their pretensions in favour of the third, 
 Maltby, it was agreed to elect Maltby into the Scholarship 
 vacant by the resignation of John Heys. 
 
 Signed in the presences W. Craven, Vice-Chancellor. 
 
 of me George Borlase, fj. Jowett, R.L. R. 
 
 Notary Public and Re- f J. Porter, Heb. Prof. 
 
 gistrar. ^ W.L.Mansel, Public Orator.
 
 168 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Parr, I read the substance of your two letters to me. It was 
 my birthday; and your health, Edward, was proposed by me, 
 next to my own. Go on, Edward, from strength to strength. 
 Give Sir T. Rivers ray praise for his abiHty in the examination, 
 and his delicacy about the decision ; and believe me, dear Ned, 
 yours most sincerely, S. Parr. 
 
 Nando's Coffee House, Fleet-street, Jan. 2'7tk. 
 
 From strength to strength, he did proceed ; he 
 took a high degree ; he gained the classical medal, 
 and became so eminent as a scholar that he was 
 patronized by the Bishop of Lincoln, as soon as he 
 was of age to take holy orders. His Lordship 
 made him his domestic Chaplain, and the tutor of 
 his children, and settled him in his vicinity, by pre- 
 senting him with the living of Buckden. 
 
 During the whole course of Parr's subsequent 
 life. Dr. Maltby was endeared to him by all those 
 ties which especially bind such men together. He 
 was proud of him as his pupil ; he loved him as his 
 friend, and from the year 1779 to January 1825, 
 when I found Dr. Maltby beside the death-bed of 
 his master, with the exception of some occasional 
 difference of opinion, and particularly about one pub- 
 lication, there was an unabated attachment. 
 
 Dr. Maltby has never been unemployed. His 
 pen has poured forth instruction, on some of the 
 most interesting and awful topics of our holy reli- 
 gion; and learning has been adorned and promoted 
 by his profound investigations, and his unwearied 
 labours. How much Christianity owes to hirn, his 
 Sermons and the Illustrations of the Truth of the 
 Christian Religion demonstrate ; and how capable 
 he was of bedecking it with the chaste dress of an-
 
 MEMOIRS. 169 
 
 cient lore, his Concio, and his other classical com- 
 positions testify. In all these compositions doubt- 
 less he consulted his old master ; for who did not, 
 who could have the advantage of his critical advice. 
 But I see some angry discussions, that the advice 
 was sometimes asked late, was sometimes reluctantly 
 accepted, and that there were cases in which it was 
 altogether put aside. Hinc illae lachrymae ! nor do 
 I hesitate to reveal the circumstances of one case, 
 in which the friendship between the pupil and his 
 master was at least put in abeyance. Dr. Maltby 
 has sent me the following letter, written in October, 
 1815, by Parr, to him — "A specimen," as he says, 
 " of the distant manner he assumed, when any differ- 
 ence had arisen, as had been the case between him- 
 self and me, about some metrical points in Morell's 
 Thesaurus." 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Knowing well and honouring your good feelings as a hus- 
 band and a father, I hope you have no inquietude from illness in 
 your family. I hope not to trespass too far on your long-tried 
 attention to my worldly affairs, by requesting that you would 
 have the goodness to stir up my tenant, and to deduct ^1 
 for the sufferers from fire at I received a printed pa- 
 per, and promised ^1. You will pardon the liberty I take in 
 stating, that the Preface to the Thesaurus is written with great 
 perspicuity, and more than usual correctness ; especially in the 
 consecution of tenses, and the arrangement and choice of 
 moods. They are in the right manner of a scholar. I shall not 
 run the risk of displeasing you, by pointing out one, and it is 
 the only mistake. I shall return in a fortnight to Hatton, and 
 hope there to be favoured with a letter. Before I finish, let 
 me communicate to you one remark, which was made to me 
 by a most learned man, and which is peculiarly delightful to my 
 soul — he said you were a just and candid critic, and expressed
 
 170 MEMOIRS. 
 
 some surprise, as critics have rarely this transcendental excel- 
 lence. I beg compliments to Mrs. Maltby ; and am, dear Sir, 
 your well-wisher and most respectful servant, S. Parr. 
 
 In proportion to Parr's warmth of regard and 
 zeal in the service of his friends, was his disap- 
 pointment in finding any request which he made to 
 them refused, or any advice neglected. He was 
 jealous to excess in exacting a strict conformity to 
 his will, when he was consulted about any literary 
 work, nor always quite reasonable, when those 
 who consulted him, ventured to differ in opinion. 
 Thus it happened when Dr. Maltby contemplated a 
 new edition of MorelFs Thesaurus. Parr was ex- 
 tremely anxious to direct the attention of his friend 
 to many elaborate and recondite works upon metre, 
 which Dr. Maltby thought rather curious than use- 
 ful, and therefore frankly expressed his disinclina- 
 tion to bestow his time in such reading. He said, 
 " If Dr. Parr was so very anxious upon the subject, 
 and would revise Morell's Treatise himself, or draw 
 up one entirely new, he would print it as Dr. Parr's 
 without alteration ; but that, if he was to follow his 
 own ideas, he would accept no assistance whatever." 
 Parr however declined the task of compiling or com- 
 posing a regular treatise, but sent his friend an im- 
 mense mass of materials, which Dr. Maltby was un- 
 willing to use ; and therefore sent them back, with the 
 exception of some few portions, which are distinctly 
 acknowledged as Dr. Parr's. It was this rejection of 
 his counsels, and perhaps an uneasy feeling that Dr. 
 Maltby had listened more to the advice of Porson 
 than of himself in the commencement of his arduous
 
 MEMOIRS. 171 
 
 undertaking, which produced temporary estrange- 
 ment, and gave birth to letters hke the foregoing. 
 Yet, with a very few exceptions, produced by simi- 
 lar causes, the friendship between the preceptor and 
 pupil continued from the first moment of their con- 
 nection to its final termination in the death of the 
 good old man. From the time when Maltby 
 quitted him for Winchester school, the Doctor com- 
 menced a correspondence, which was pursued on 
 both sides in feelings the most friendly, and accom- 
 panied by acts the most kind. In this correspond- 
 ence, were I at liberty to publish it, or if it accorded 
 with my views as biographer of Parr to lay it 
 before the public, might be seen the whole history 
 of Dr. Maltby's life (an eventful one perhaps for a 
 literary man), the progress of his useful labours, the 
 result of his studies and his reflections. 
 
 But it may be enough to say, that in every event 
 of it, whether joyous or the reverse, he found the 
 most cordial sympathy in the bosom of his pre- 
 ceptor ; unfeigned joy at the prosperous, and poig- 
 nant affliction at such as seemed otherwise. It 
 may therefore be supposed, that Parr viewed with 
 intense anxiety the singular and severe contests 
 which his friend sustained for the distinguished 
 post of Preacher at Lincoln's Inn ; and that, al- 
 though he fully acknowledged the learning and ta- 
 lents of Bishop Lloyd ; though he revered the ge- 
 nius and amiable disposition of Bishop Heber ; yet 
 his heart was intent upon the success of his favourite 
 pupil. His anxiety was at length rewarded when, 
 in Easter Term 1823, Dr. Maltby was raised, by an
 
 172 MEMOIRS. 
 
 unanimous vote of the Benchers of that learned so- 
 ciety, to one of the most honourable, though by no 
 means lucrative situations, in which any ecclesiastic 
 in this or any other country can possibly be placed. 
 That illustrious body, which has so often on former 
 occasions distinguished itself by the choice of 
 preachers, by the election of such men as Donne 
 and Gataker, as Archbishops Usher and Tillotson, 
 and as Bishops Gastrell, AVarburton, and Hurd, no 
 less than by its general patronage of merit, and its 
 love of piety and learning, finally elected Dr. Maltby 
 their preacher. 
 
 For nearly five years has Dr. Maltby held a situa- 
 tion which has been constantly filled by the most 
 distinguished scholars and divines who have adorned 
 the annals of our Church ; and if I may judge by 
 the single specimen * of his labours, w^hich has yet 
 been given to the public, and by the character 
 which his Discourses have acquired, especially those 
 on the Gospel of St. Luke, he has fully justified the 
 choice of the Benchers, and the expectations of his 
 venerable Master. 
 
 In 1781 Parr took the degree of LL. D. in the 
 University of Cambridge, having kept two Acts 
 and supported two Theses before Dr. Hallifax, after- 
 wards Bishop of St. Asaph, from whom he received 
 the following letter : 
 
 * See the Dedication of a Visitation Sermon, preached be- 
 fore the late Bishop of Lincoln in 1825, and published at the 
 request of his Lordship and the Clergy.
 
 MEMOIRS. 173 
 
 DEAR SIR, IVarsop, Notts, 6th Jan. 1781. 
 
 Your favour of the 2d instant, sent to me at my brother's m 
 Albemarle-street, I did not receive till this day, and I hasten 
 to acknowledge it by the return of the post. I left London on 
 Monday last, the 1st inst. and mean to stay here till the end of 
 the present month. On the 1st of February I hope to be com- 
 pletely settled at Cambridge, and shall then be ready to re- 
 ceive and obey your commands. In the mean time, I wish to 
 accommodate myself to your conveniency as well as I can. If 
 you have any particular questions on which you would choose 
 to make your Theses (for I speak in the plural number, as 
 there must be two of them), let me know. I am not ignorant 
 of the merits of the person with whom I am to commit myself; 
 and will endeavour not to disgrace you or myself when we come 
 to closer quarters. I remember with pleasure the happy hours 
 we have passed together at Stanmore and Brooks Hill, and 
 shall indulge a conscious pride in shewing to the University, 
 that I know how to distinguish between a man of real literary 
 merit and a flimsy sciolist. If you favour me with a line, direct to 
 me near Mansjield, Notts, without any other towri's name. Fix 
 your own time for your acts, and I will suit myself accordingly. 
 With my compliments to Mrs. Parr, I am, dear Sir, very truly 
 your most obedient servant, S. Hallifax. 
 
 Parr's Acts in the schools excited a good deal of 
 curiosity. His Theses were fine compositions ; but 
 not having a complete command over his papers, he 
 bungled in referring to them, and thus embarrassed 
 the disputations. " I must beg to have a sight of 
 your Thesis, (says Dr. Forster, in a letter which has 
 already been copied,) whether you print it or not, 
 but I hope you will print it. I wish much to see a 
 style in modern Latin. I hear from Roderick a 
 most splendid account of your proceeding at Cam- 
 bridge." 
 
 He buried his daughter Jane in the cloisters of
 
 174 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the Cathedral Church at Norwich. She was born 
 at Colchester, and died in 1782. Mrs. Parr, in a 
 letter to her husband, then about to quit Norwich 
 for Warwickshire, entreats him not to forget the 
 tomb m the cloisters before he takes his leave. His 
 youngest daughter, Catharine, was born at Norwich 
 in 1781.
 
 MEMOIRS. 175 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 From 1786 to 1790. 
 
 What Dr. Parr's immediate motive was for re- 
 signing the school at Norwich, I do not find. In 
 August 1785 he formally sent in his resignation, 
 and went to reside at Hatton at Easter 1786. 
 Whether the charms of a country life had fasci- 
 nated his imagination, or whether his spirits wanted 
 repose and retirement, from the noise and bustle of 
 a public school, it is clear that he was not easy, 
 and his letters to the Rev. H. Homer open to us 
 some of the fancies which he then indulged. 
 
 At Norwich, in a letter to Walter Pollard, Esq. of 
 Furnival's Inn, he exposes with the greatest confi- 
 dence, many of his private feelings and anxieties, 
 and doubts about securing a moderate compe- 
 tency.* 
 
 Pollard had been his scholar at Stanmore, but 
 was obliged to flee from England, and borrowed 
 money from him in his embarrassments. Parr calls 
 him a very acute, learned, and wrong-headed man. 
 
 The following observations were extorted from 
 
 * For a minute account of Pollard, see Memoirs of the Au- 
 thor of Indian Antiquities, part 1. pp. 62 — 82, &c.
 
 176 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Parr by Pollard's representation of his own dis- 
 tresses. 
 
 DEAR SIR, March 29th, 1782. 
 
 Most sincerely do I lament the difficulties with which you 
 have struggled, and most warmly do I applaud the fortitude 
 with which you have sustained them. Let me beseech you, 
 dear Sir, not to confound omission with neglect, nor to charge 
 upon coldness towards your interest, or indifference about 
 your friendship, a silence that was really the result of other 
 causes. The fluctuating state of my body between health and 
 sickness, and even between life and death, has produced a ge- 
 neral relaxation of that activity with which I had been accus- 
 tomed to attend to the affairs of my friends. You desire my 
 confidence ; and I therefore add, that the little progress I have 
 made in worldly matters, the heavy losses I have sustained by 
 the war, the inconsiderable advantages I have gained by a labo- 
 rious and irksome employment, and the mortifying discourage- 
 ments I have met in my Clerical profession, have all conspired 
 to depress my spirits and undermine my constitution. I was 
 content to give up ecclesiastical preferment, while I had a pro- 
 spect of making some comfortable provision for my old age in 
 my business as a teacher ; but the best of my years have now 
 elapsed, and I am, through a most vexatious and trying series 
 of events, not a shilling richer than when I went to Stanmore. 
 I have this very week closed an account on which I stood in- 
 debted near ^2,000, which I was obliged to borrow when I 
 launched into active life. My house at Stanmore I sold lite- 
 rally for less money than I expended on the repairs only. To 
 this loss of more than a thousand pounds, I am to add near 
 ^700, which I may lose entirely, and must lose in a gi'eat 
 measure, by the reduction of St. Vincent and St. Kitts, My 
 patience, so far as religion prescribes it, is sufficient to support 
 me under this severity of moral trial — but the hour is past in 
 which I might hope to secure a comfortable independency, and 
 I am now labouring under the gloomy prospect of toiling with 
 exhausted strength for a scanty subsistence to myself and my 
 family. It is but eighteen months that I could pronounce a 
 shilling my own ; now, indeed, meo sum pauper in are — but my
 
 MEMOIRS. 177 
 
 integrity I ever have held fast, and suffer me to tell you that 
 you mistake in imputing to me absolutely a change of conduct. 
 To the principles of the late Administration I never acceded ; 
 and in ray conversation I have steadily and uniformly opposed 
 the subtlety of the Scotch and the tyranny of the Bedfordians. 
 I congratulate my country, and bless him who consulit et mihi 
 et urbi, that these pestilential enemies of all free and virtuous 
 Governments are at last crushed ; but the distresses and dan- 
 gers of the kingdom were so alarming that I wished for some 
 kind of union, and was unwilling to obstruct many measures 
 which seemed to tend to the common safety. You will see 
 my political principles in my Sermon ; and you will also see 
 that my politics, my morals, and religious notions, all coincide, 
 and all conspire to one great end, national happiness, built on 
 national reformation. In my words and deeds my love of real 
 liberty has never cooled for a moment ; and though, in the 
 perplexed state of our public affairs, I thought moderation a 
 temporary duty, yet I never stooped to the meanness of apos- 
 tacy, and never gave up the cause of America, and never co- 
 loured over the deformities of character which belong; to those 
 corrupt wretches who have in reality, though in secrecy, so 
 long and so fatally controlled the Counsels of this unhappy 
 Kingdom. But I begin now apaKVTrreiy Kapa. As I did not 
 disapprove of all the persons employed in the late Adminis- 
 tration, so I cannot approve of all concerned in this. There 
 is, however, a wonderful concentration of eminent and in- 
 disputable ability; and in Lord Rockingham and Lord Al- 
 thorp, in Burke, and others I could name, there is, I trust, a 
 pure and disinterested love for the public good. They have 
 my best wishes, and my firmest support, I intended writing to 
 you about a parcel for our friends Julius and Gardiner, at St. 
 Kitts, but I must wait for better, or at least further tidings. 
 Remember me to Jones and Paradise, with whom I exclaim, as 
 sincerely as they can, ehpriicafiey — o-uyx^a/pwyuej'. 
 
 You will see me in August or July. 
 
 Believe me, yours heartily, dear Pollard, 
 
 S. Parr. 
 
 To Walter Pollard, Esq. 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 MEMOIRS. 
 
 What fortune he had secured in 1785, could not 
 have gone far in maintaining him without lahour ; 
 the increase of income from Hatton and his pre- 
 bend did not amount to one hundred a year. He 
 was still therefore obliged to take pupils, a smaller 
 number at a larger price. The house at Hatton, 
 though comfortable enough, contained no room 
 sufficiently large for his library ; so he built that 
 square room, which for more than forty years was 
 one of the porches of the Academy of England, 
 and will not be forgotten whilst the present genera- 
 tion of learned men survives. 
 
 Before Parr left Norwich, it appears from the 
 correspondence, that he wished not merely to enjoy 
 the country, but to be useful to the county in 
 which he was about to reside. He applied to his 
 friend Henry Homer, whose brother was an attor- 
 ney at Coventry, for his advice how he might be 
 placed in the commission of the peace for the 
 county of Warwick. 
 
 My brother, says Mr. Homer, thinks there would be little 
 difficulty, by signifying your desires to Mr. Hewitt, of Coven- 
 try, Clerk of the Peace for the County, or to the Lord Lieu- 
 tenant, the Earl of Hertford. Let me acquaint you that an 
 acting magistrate is much wanted in your neighbourhood, and 
 that another gentleman (a Mr. Moland, of Solihull) wishes to 
 be put on, and it may save some trouble for both of you to get 
 into the same commission ; and my advice is, that you take as 
 early a step as possible. 
 
 From the Right Hon. Mr. Windham he received 
 the following answer, about the same time, upon 
 the same subject :
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 179 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I take shame to myself on various accounts, for having so long 
 delayed to write to you. To take that first which is first in order 
 of time, I should have informed you that, upon receipt of your 
 letter, I wrote immediately to Lord Beauchamp, and received 
 an answer perfectly civil, saying that from knowledge of you, 
 as well as in compliance with my request, he should not fail to 
 give your name to Lord Hertford, against the issuing of the 
 next commission. 
 
 These applications failed ; he was not permitted 
 to be useful to his neighbourhood in the capacity 
 of a county magistrate. 
 
 When a commission of the peace was issued m 
 1795, Parr wrote to Lord Warwick, expostulating 
 with him on his name being omitted in so large a 
 nomination of justices of the peace. Lord Warwick 
 sent the following answer : 
 
 SIR, Shrexi'shurij , October Q&th, 1795. 
 
 I apprehend that the proper answer to the letter which I 
 have just received from you is, that I do not consider myself 
 as responsible to any individual for the motives of my conduct, 
 when acting in the discharge of my public duty. 
 
 I am, Sir, your obedient, humble servant, 
 
 Warwick. 
 
 But it was impossible that such a mind as Parr*s, 
 now in the meridian of its brightness, should rest, 
 occupied merely with the common avocations of life. 
 Politics had induced him to think of the repubhca- 
 tion of Rapin ; and I suspect that disappointment 
 in political hopes induced him to think of some 
 other means of venting his political opinions. It 
 seems from a letter of the amiable, pious, and 
 learned Bishop of Hereford, Dr. G. J. Hunting- 
 
 N 2
 
 180 . MEMOIRS. 
 
 ford,* dated Winton College, December 5, 1784, 
 that he was then inquiring about Bellendenus. 
 
 Dr, Warton has not got Bellendenus' Book de tribus Lumi- 
 nlbus. He says the title always appeared to him a very af- 
 fected and fantastical one, and he knows not the meaning of it. 
 You say Tally is one. In what capacity ? as an orator, phi- 
 losopher, or critic? What think you of Tally, Horace, and 
 Quintilian? Or Lucretius, Catullus, and Virgil? But I am 
 rash to conjecture, when Dr. Warton will not venture to give 
 a single hint. 
 
 I find no other mention of Bellcnden in the early 
 correspondence; but it appears from "The Remarks 
 on the Statement," that Parr had conversed with 
 Henry Homer on the work of Bellendenus de tri- 
 bus luminibus Romanorum, and on the suspected 
 plagiarism of Conyers Middleton. Homer took 
 the book to him in the autumn of 178G. Parr 
 immediately went to work, and Dr. Maltby says 
 in a letter, dated, " Buckden, May 2, 1794, "That 
 in December 1786 and January 1787, I trans- 
 cribed for you the Preface to Bellenden twice," 
 &c. &c. The Honourable Augustus Legge was ano- 
 ther amanuensis ; but Parr, in his Remarks on the 
 Statement of Dr. Charles Combe, himself gives a 
 history of the republication of Bellenden at pages 
 42, 43, 51, which exactly tallies with the corres- 
 pondence that now lies before me. The following 
 criticism of his friend Dr. Bennet, subsequently 
 Lord Bishop of Cloyne, found amongst Parr's pa- 
 
 * I shall have occasion to introduce many letters of his 
 Lordship hereafter; and thankfully would insert the whole cor- 
 respondence, did the prescribed limits permit me to indulge 
 my own inclination.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 181 
 
 pers, but whether published or not in the periodical 
 Reviews of the time, I have not yet learned, will give 
 the best possible account of this celebrated work, 
 but I am obliged to lop oflf more than one half of 
 the original: 
 
 William Bellentlen, a Scotch writer, (whose name, we con- 
 fess, was more familiar to us than his worksj) flourished at the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century, and is said to have been 
 a Professor in the University of Paris. At Paris he certainly 
 sojourned long, for it was there he published, in 1608, his 
 Cicero Princeps, a singular work, in which he extracted from 
 Cicero's writings detached remarks, and compressed them 
 into one regular body, containing the rules of Monarchical 
 Government, with the line of conduct to be adopted, and the 
 virtues proper to be encouraged, by the Prince himself; and 
 the treatise, when finished, he dedicated, from a principle of 
 patriotism and gratitude, to the son of his master, Henry, then 
 Prince of Wales. Four years afterwards, namely in 1612, he 
 proceeded to publish another work of a similar nature, which 
 he called, Cicero Consul, Senator, Senatus Romanus, and in 
 which he treated with much perspicuity, and a fund of solid 
 information, on the nature of the Consular Office, and the 
 constitution of the Roman Senate. Finding the M^orks re- 
 ceived, as they deserved, with the unanimous approbation of 
 the learned, he conceived the plan of a third work, de Statu 
 prisci Orbis, which was to contain a history of the progress of 
 government and philosophy, from the times before the Flood 
 to their various degrees of improvement under the Hebrew?, 
 Greeks, and Romans. He had proceeded so far as to print a 
 few copies of this work in the year 1615, when it seems to have 
 been suggested that his three treatises, De Statu Principis^ De 
 Statu Reipublicce, De Statu Orbis, being on subjects so nearly 
 resembling each other, there might be a propriety in uniting 
 them into one work, by re-publishing the two former, and en- 
 titling the whole Bellendenus de Statu. With this view, he 
 recalled the few copies of his last work that were abroad, and, 
 after a delay of some months, published the three treatises to- 
 gether, under their new title, in the year 1615. In the British
 
 182 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Museum (that admirable repository of curious books) one 
 copy of the book De Statu prisci Orbis, dated in 1615, stiU 
 exists, which the author had probably sent into England as a 
 present, and could not recall ; and in all the others the date 
 appears, on a nice inspection, to have been originally iMdcxv. 
 and to have had an i afterwards added, on the alteration of the 
 author's plan. The Editor has shewn great ingenuity in clear- 
 ing up this typographical difficulty. The great work being 
 now completed, Bellenden looked ibrward with a pretty well- 
 grounded expectation for that applause which his labour and 
 his ingenuity deserved. But his views were disappointed, by 
 one of those events that no art of man could foresee or remedy. 
 The vessel in which the whole impression was embarked was 
 overtaken by a storm before she could reach the English coast, 
 and foundered with all her cargo. A very few copies only, which 
 the learned author either kept for his own use or had sent as 
 presents by private hands, seem to have been preserved from 
 the destruction which awaited the others; and this work of 
 Bellendenus has, therefore, from its scarcity, often escaped the 
 notice of the most diligent collectorB, It is not to be found in 
 the library of the Duke of Argyle, nor in that of the late Dr. 
 Hunter; neither Morhoffius nor Fabricius had ever seen it; 
 the Observationes Literaria;, published at Magdeburg in 1705, 
 and the Amoenitates Literarioe, at Frankfort in 1728, both of 
 which treat learnedly and copiously on scarce books, make no 
 mention of it ; in a word, the single treatises are so rare, that 
 not above ten of them are to be found in all the libraries of 
 England. And of the larger work, it does not appear that more 
 than six copies are known to exist ; one in the public library at 
 Cambridge, a second in that of Emanuel College in the same 
 University, long admired as a well-chosen collection of excel- 
 lent books ; a third in All Souls Library at Oxford ; and two 
 in the possession of the Editors.* These gentlemen appear to 
 have been stimulated to oblige the public with the present edi- 
 tion, not only from the scarcity of the original work, but from 
 another circumstance, in some degree connected with it. Bel- 
 lenden, it seems, concerned, but not discouraged at his loss, 
 
 * There is another in the library of Shrewsbury School, left 
 by Dr. Taylor, editor of Demosthenes, to that foundation.
 
 MEMOIRS. 183 
 
 determined to arrange his materials in another form. By the 
 intimate acquaintance with Cicero's writings into which the 
 nature of his plan had led him, he had learned to admire the 
 solidity, as well as feel the elegance, of that charming author, 
 who expresses stronger sense in better words than all the 
 writers of his country taken together. Bellenden, therefore, 
 now conceived the idea of a work, which he entitled De tribus 
 Luminibus Romanorum ; and in which he designed to have ex- 
 amined the characters and explained the merit of Cicero, Se- 
 neca, and the elder Pliny.* The first of these he finished ; but 
 was prevented by death from completing his plan. This cir- 
 cumstance of the tria lumina appears to have suggested to the 
 minds of the Editors the idea of re-publishing the three original 
 treatises of Bellendenus de Statu, and dedicating them to the 
 Tria Lumina Anglorum, Lord North, Mr. Fox, and Mr. Burke. 
 
 But the most extraordinary, and I know not whether we 
 may not say the most important part of the work, is a Preface 
 of 86 pages, containing the most vehement attack upon the pre- 
 sent Ministry that we have ever seen, and written in such Latin 
 as we must congratulate this Country upon being able to pro- 
 duce. We kno^v and have felt the elegant Latinity of Lowth, 
 and Barford, and Sir William Jones. We have seen a Cleruni 
 by Dr. Sumner of Harrow, which was deservedly out of print, 
 as soon as it was published; but we have never met with more 
 critical discrimination, with bolder variety of phrase, with finer 
 words, and with fuller periods, than in the composition before us. 
 
 The Preface begins with the account of Bellenden's death, 
 
 * It seems from the following letter of Dr. Eaton, Bishop 
 Lowth's Chaplain, that Parr had doubts of one of the Lumina, 
 and had conversed with the Bishop on the subject : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Dean-street, Dec. 9th, 1786. 
 
 The Bishop of London's health is so very indifferent, and his 
 memory so much affected by it, that I despaired of being able 
 to shew him your letter in dextro tempore ; but on Thursday 
 morning I found him in better spirits than usual, andimmedi- 
 ately produced your letter. He did not recollect the conver- 
 sation you mention, but, without the least hesitation, said that 
 the Phny you allude to must be the Naturalist. I am, dear 
 Sir, your obedient servant, St. Eaton.
 
 184 MEMOIRS. 
 
 while he was engaged in his work De Tribus Lumlnibus Ko- 
 nianorum. 
 
 Some pages are then taken up with a review of Bellenden's 
 three treatises ; after which the Editors hasten to what was a 
 favourite part of their work, a panegyric on the oratory and 
 abihties of the Tria Lumina Anglorum, to whom their hibours 
 are inscribed. They first lament the neglect which Mr. Burke 
 has lately experienced from those who depreciate the eloquence 
 they cannot imitate. " Fuerunt inter Romanes (say our Au- 
 thors, p. 7.) qui Marcum Tullium incessere audebant, ut tinii- 
 dum Asianumque et redundantem. Nostra etiam in aetate non 
 desunt, qui eandem de Burkio nobis insusurraverint insulsam 
 ct frigldam cantilenam." This charge they refute with the in- 
 dignation it deserves ; and conclude with a compliment to that 
 integrity of life which gives their friend's eloquence its full 
 weight and importance, The good humour and good nature of 
 Lord North, the propriety and information of his speeches, 
 form the next subject for their panegyric, where the delicate 
 mention of the American war (to which it is plain they were 
 no friends) gives us a very high idea of their own oratorical 
 abilities. They next come to Mr. Fox, on whom they are very 
 copious and discriminative, observing, what we also have ob- 
 served, his singular excellence in conducting a debate ; how 
 well he knows what ground to seize, and how to seize it. With 
 what power he throws the question into a new light; how he 
 retreats fighting from untenable ground, non abjecto, sed ne re- 
 jecto quidem scuto. Upon the dissolution of Parliament, which 
 removed their three luminaries from the helm of Government, 
 they let fall all the weight of their indignation, and attack the 
 " Oratores novi, stulti, adolescentuli," with great severity. The 
 Minister himself now becomes the object of their censure ; his 
 youth and inexperience are dwelt upon, with more elegance of 
 Latin, perhaps, than novelty of remark ; but much also is added 
 that is both forcible and new. 
 
 Continuing thus to enter into all the great questions in po- 
 litics, and the arguments usually urged for or against the mea- 
 sures of government, they proceed to a very interesting part of 
 tlieir plan, the views and characters of the minister's principal 
 adherents. The men brought forwards upon this occasion to 
 public notice are Clodius, who is supposed to be a well known
 
 MEMOIRS. 185 
 
 city officer ; Doson, a person once high in administration, and 
 remarkable for his promises more than his performances ; No- 
 vius, a great officer in the law ; Miso-Themistocles, a particular 
 enemy to military merit ; and Thrasybulus, a native of the 
 North, who takes the lead in the affairs of India. Of all these, 
 characters are given at length, sdrawn indeed in no very flat- 
 tering colours, but designed so strongly, and finished so ele- 
 gantly, as must convince the world that Mr. Fox has friends 
 who, in Latin prose as well as in English poetry, have left all 
 imitation behind them. 
 
 The rest of the Preface is taken up with editorial business about 
 the work, with some very liberal and ingenious remarks on the 
 eminence of the Scotch writers in moral philosophy, and with 
 a defence of the Authors themselves, their digressions on poli- 
 tics, their mode of writing Latin, and the length of their Pre- 
 face ; and this is glanced upon with a dignity that shews the 
 spirit of a master, and the firmness, without the insolence, ot 
 conscious merit. It has been objected, indeed, and that even 
 by friends to the work, that the political disquisitions might 
 have been compressed into a less enormous bulk, without much 
 sacrifice of their real force, and its enemies have clamoured 
 loudly against the introduction of so many Greek words in La- 
 tin sentences, and the long and frequent quotations ; while 
 others have suggested that such phrases as "nodum in scirpo 
 quaerere,'' " aquam haerere," and " fluctus in simpulo exci- 
 tare," (though nothing can be objected against the Latinity,) 
 are not well suited to the rich expressions and harmonious 
 pauses of Cicero, which are to be met with in every period. 
 For answer to these objections, we can do no less than refer our 
 reader to the Preface itself, where he will find them substan- 
 tially removed. For ourselves, we shall not cease to admire 
 the whole as a treasure of fine writing, and recommend it most 
 sincerely to the study of every young reader, who wishes to 
 comprehend the nicer elegancies of the Latin language ; the 
 use of the subjunctive moods, for instance, the force of the inde- 
 finite, thebeauty of the connecting particles, and all that variety 
 and grace of position which can neither be defined nor taught, 
 and is to be attained only by an intimate acquaintance with the 
 Classics themselves, which the best scholar finds it difficult to 
 use, and which none but a good scholar can feel when they are
 
 186 MEMOIRS. 
 
 used. With tlie party principles of the Authors \vc have no 
 concern ; in ilieir mode of defending them, we see much spa- 
 ciousness and ingenuity ; and the scholars on the Continent, 
 whatever they may think of our politics, will have no reason to 
 speak contemptuously of our Latin, after so extraordinary a 
 specimen of it. In a word, we cannot estimate too highly the 
 improvement, as well as the pleasure, we have received from 
 this work, and must apply to the Cicero of Bellenden, published 
 as it is, what Quintilian says so forcibly of the Roman writer 
 himself: " Ilium se profecisse sciat, cui Cicero valde placebit." 
 
 Henry Homer,* Fellow of Emanuel College, 
 Cambridge, of a respectable family in Warwickshire, 
 was Parr's editor of Bellendenus. There is some 
 correspondence on the removal of Parr's goods and 
 books to Hatton, and Homer is employed to ar* 
 range the carriage with a relation of his at Bir- 
 mingham. But there is no mention of Bellende- 
 nus while Parr lived at Norwich. It seems by a 
 letter from Homer, dated Emanuel College, July 
 13th, 1786, that some conversation had taken place 
 between Homer and Parr about Bellenden at Hat- 
 ton, and that he had employed Homer to collate 
 the Cambridge editions with his own. 
 
 I only wrote the title page of Bellendenus, that, if you 
 thought it worth inspecting, you might have it. I have had it 
 in my room some time, and have always forgot to send you the 
 difference of the contents from your own. I will promise you, 
 I shall not grudge copying as many sheets as you like, for the 
 purposes you mention, if you think there would be any very ap- 
 posite. 
 
 It has been so much the fashion of late years to 
 edite books, or write verses for the purpose of pre- 
 faces or the appendage of notes, that this edition of 
 
 * There is an affecting account of Parr's friendship and in- 
 tercourse with Homer, in the Answer to the Statement of Dr. 
 Combe, i)p. 20, acq.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 187 
 
 Bellcndcnus was criticised as written for this pur- 
 pose. Homer alludes to such spiteful remarks in 
 the following sentence : 
 
 Dr. James, and all Eton admire; therefore a fig for the Masters 
 
 of B 1 and E 1 ; the one I don't think could construe it, 
 
 and it would have cracked the other's skull, especially after a 
 soaking debauch ; the one must hate it, the other is not emi- 
 nent enough to despise it. If I hear F make the same as- 
 sertion' he shall know from some corner in a paper that he lies; 
 as the book was first thought of, and the Preface was of subse- 
 quent consideration. You must remember that I said, the pre- 
 face must never be lowered in point of dignity ; therefore be 
 assured, that any misconstructions thereupon would as sensibly 
 touch me as you. 
 
 Bennet was occasionally employed to inspect the 
 proof sheets ; and I insert the following letter, as a 
 proof of his opinion, and in addition to the criticisms: 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, Febriiurij 1787. 
 
 I have restrained myself from answering your letter, that I 
 might have time to give you my opinion of the three or four 
 sheets which arrived by the post this morning ; and I cannot 
 sufficiently express my obligation for the entertainment I have 
 received. With the Latinity not only no fault is to be found, 
 but every excellence of composition ; and I shall recommend 
 it to the diligent perusal of all my young men of literature here, 
 as a model to form their taste. A few errors in the press I now 
 and then correct, and such doubts as I have about matters of 
 fact (for matters of opinion are out of the question), ] take 
 the liberty to refer you to Homer. For instance, in the quota- 
 tion from jElian, p. 37, are you sure it was consulem quondam ? 
 I thought there was a particular law, that no Consul should go- 
 vern Egypt, and Tiberius in Tacitus is angry with Germanicus 
 for going there; observing in another place, Divus Augustus 
 apud equestres, qui ^gypto praesiderent ; and Muretus says in 
 his note, there was a condition ^gypt should be free, if the 
 Roman fasces ever came to Memphis : non a Proconsule aut 
 Propraetore administrabatur Alexandria, sed a Juridico aut 
 liberto Caesaris. The quotation in your book is only Fragment
 
 188 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ^1. without specifying the place ; as I would have looked and 
 settled the matter for you. Another matter of fact I venture to 
 doubt about, when you say, p. 45, the new peers are magnam 
 partem aut praedones Asiae opibus supeibientes aut vcre loco 
 infimo — of the latter description perhaps there are enough, 
 though you do not, I hope, mean to adopt the newspaper cla- 
 mours about Charles Jenkinson of Oxfordshire, one of the first 
 Commoner families in England for antiquity, and of very good 
 estate. To this, however, I say, as generally expressed, there 
 can be no objection. But I do not recollect any peer that 
 comes under the first description. Lord Clive is an Irish peer, 
 and therefore no senator, and as to Lord Pigot, whose title also 
 is extinct, if I am right, you are wrong in your assertion. I 
 cannot enough admire your quotations through the whole Pre- 
 face. They have a depth of learning with an elegance of selec- 
 tion that are seldom united. Homer has sent me down the 
 print, with the motto altered as I washed. 
 
 And so, you want me to reckon up Pitt's good actions, and 
 so fall upon me with your eloquence. No, my friend, I will 
 laugh with you on politics ; but I will dispute no more. If the 
 side you have adopted be that which means sincerely the 
 welfare of the Country, may it succeed ! At any rate, may 
 your labours in the cause lead you to those emoluments and 
 honours which neither your merits nor your virtues, ivilhout 
 party zeal, are likely in this age to obtain. If you are likely to 
 be in London at Easter, I shall hope to see you. 1 am going to 
 read the fourth sheet with care, and send it off by to-morrow's 
 post. Your's very affectionately, W. Bennet. 
 
 Sunday Eve. 
 
 P. S. You are sure )^ou are safe on the side of the law, both 
 in the quotation from Terence of Thurlow, " lubrica in verbis 
 fides ;" and from the same censure on the Duke of Richmond, 
 "Justus ipse cum neque sit ncque videatur." Might not the 
 phrase be softened by yiimis, or some such word? You think 
 that you are guarded on the side of Scotus. I am not sorry for 
 the trimming you give the rascals ; they are bad instruments — 
 I think not in a bad cause — But if you had fallen more violently 
 on Verres, I should have grieved. He is attacked on one side, 
 because they hate him ; and on the other, because they fear
 
 MEMOIRS. 189 
 
 him; and his services to his Country (for which it appears to 
 me that his worst actions were committed) are forgotten by both. 
 
 Bennet, though of different pohtics, was sincere 
 in his admiration of Bellendenus. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, Emanuel, Feb. 27. 
 
 I thank you for the confidence you have reposed in me, by 
 making me acquainted with your scholastico-pohtical plan ; 
 and rejoice most unfeignedly that you have at last undertaken 
 a work which will shew posterity your talents in Latin compo- 
 sition. Homer, encouraged by your example, lent me as 
 much of the Preface as is finished ; and you will, or at least 
 ought, to believe me, when I declare I never read a more ele- 
 gant composition in my life. I am delighted with the three 
 Dedications, and particularly that to him, cujus — nunquam 
 fides virtusque contremuit. Your motto from Aristophanes is 
 not to be exceeded ; the hunc tu Dea I think not so highly 
 of; and if you would trust my taste, I would beg you to alter 
 the secundis temporibus dubrisque rectus, because every body 
 may say that of every body — and go on with it, pray go on 
 with it, 
 
 Consulque non unius anni 
 
 Sed quoties bonus atque fidus 
 Judex honestum, &c. &c. 
 Never let us be general in a matter of this sort, when we can 
 be so strikingly particular. As to Homer's idea that Agamem- 
 non will be offended at it, depend upon it (if he can get any 
 body to construe it to him) he will never forgive what is writ- 
 ten already, so this slight addition to the offence is below your 
 notice. I repeat that I never read so fine a piece of Latin in 
 my life, and this is a great deal for me to say, when you consi- 
 der how much my principles are shocked by the matter of the 
 work. I will deny that you are the author, but I am sure it 
 will be known. Who is there else that can write any thing like 
 it ? The petty scholars of the age may publish a Latin Clerum, 
 translated from an old Sermon, (always excepting Sumner's, 
 to whom just praise is due,) or now and then, in a fit of rash- 
 ness, venture to write a line on a stone in a church-yai'd ; but 
 farther they say not. While the Editor of this work — effinxisse 
 mihi videtur vim Demosthenis, copiam Platonis, jucunditatem
 
 190 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Isocratis, I sent up Phileleutherus ; but the other two works 
 I lost, M^ith all my little Latin morsels, viz. Sumner's Clerum 
 and Taylor's Speeches, several little things of Jones, yours, and 
 Archdale's, which were stolen from me, as I suspect, by a 
 young man who was allowed a very familiar entrance into my 
 rooms, and made a bad use of it. Your friend White is said to 
 have succeeded to the living of Melton, in Suffolk ; and as he 
 will not probably reside there much, Lambert is very anxious 
 to have a relation and namesake of his, the present Curate, 
 continued. You will oblige him very much if you can assist 
 him in this view. 
 
 The Dissenters (Price at their head) are going to have a 
 motion made for the repeal of the Test Act. The Bishops had 
 a meeting at Lambeth, and all determined to oppose it but 
 Shipley and Watson. 
 
 1 have seen the Criticisms on Xenophon, which are very 
 good and scholarlike, far superior to the general turn of criti- 
 cal remarks, and on the whole too learned for the readers of 
 reviews ; and I do rejoice that you have at last published some- 
 thing, not even yet in your own name, but which will be given 
 to you. I am really glad to the heart. But to return to your 
 criticisms in the review. Though Hurd deserves punishment, 
 and severely too, for his impudent sneers at better scholars than 
 himself, yet his note against Dorville is certainly an ingenious 
 one. You must spare Cooke for every reason; but principally 
 because he is really mad, and ought long ago to have been con- 
 iSned. Person has not given up his ^Eschylus, that I can hear, 
 though he proceeds slowly. I rejoice that your daughter is re- 
 covered, and mean to see your retirement, and admire your 
 orthodoxy, in the course of the next summer. Adieu ! very 
 sincerely and affectionately yours, Wm. Bennkt. 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. Parr, Hatton, near Warwick. 
 
 On March IGtli, 1787, Homer writes to Parr thus: 
 
 Bennet longs for the completion, and writes to me in these 
 terms: " ut nihil supra, as to Latinity — read, admired, and 
 applauded, it must be, by all parties, however some may smart 
 under the rod (I mean those who can read) ; perhaps old Thur- 
 low cannot ; or, as usual, will affect to despise all knowledge 
 but that which is producible at a common forum.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 191 
 
 Again, in another letter, Homer says : 
 
 As you had explained so much to Bennet, I first shewed 
 hun the dedications ; and Lord North's he had read over two 
 or three times, saying, he thought it the most elegantly turned 
 composition he had ever read. I then shewed him the printed 
 part of the Preface, and he declared it was, by far, the best 
 Latin he had ever seen ; that he had long wished you would 
 shew your powers in this line. He says, the book will be scarce 
 again, and I believe him to be sincere. 
 
 As Bennet had touched on the question of law ; 
 it was sensitively felt by Parr, who propounded it in 
 turn to Homer. 
 
 " Conjecture was busy," says Parr, " in finding 
 personal or political allusions," in the vowels of his 
 own and Homer's name, at the end of the Preface. 
 
 The whole work came out in London, and Parr ob- 
 served all the little arts of secrecy to conceal his name. 
 It escaped not however the penetration of Mr. Reed 
 and Mr. Steevens, wTio were consulted by Homer, 
 that Parr was the author, and Reed was afterwards 
 interested and employed in the publication of the 
 Warburtonian Tracts. Of both these annotators on 
 our great Bard, there are several notices in Homer 
 and Parr's correspondence. The following letters 
 will exhibit a specimen of Parr's acrimonious feel- 
 ings, and his manner of expressing them towards 
 Steevens. 
 
 DEAR HOMER, 
 
 The more I think upon the Preface, the more I feel my 
 fears growing upon me. I am frightened about that fellow 
 Steevens ; and I do forbid, as much as I dare, your giving him 
 a copy. What right has he to know you have any concern in 
 it ? and what conclusions will he not draw from you to me ? 
 What base, and even dangerous, use will he not make of these
 
 192 MEMOIRS. 
 
 conclusions ? Make my mind therefore easy, dear Harry, and 
 bind yourself by a solemn promise to give Steevens no copy. 
 He is a bitter foe — he is incapable of being a sincere friend. I 
 am unwilHng for our correspondence to go on in the present 
 train. I wish Mr. Sheridan to be the franker, and Bruton- 
 street is less distant than Aldermanbury ; and I will give you a 
 letter of introduction, when you authorize me to do so, whereby 
 you may settle the time and manner of conveyance. Maltby 
 tells me that Steevens looked about your room with a curious 
 and inquisitive eye, I wish you would order him not to be 
 admitted, especially in your absence. Letters may come in 
 while you are absent. What do you know of the black letter, 
 to let this black man so fascinate you ? Homer, be not cajoled 
 by any compliments he may pay to you or myself. He has F — 's 
 heart and F — *s principles, with a worse character and a better 
 head. / tremble about the packets, 8^c. 
 
 Franked by Sheridan, Birmingham, August 26th, 1787. 
 DEAR H. Hotel, Birmingham. 
 
 I am just setting off for Cheshire (Crewe Hall). Critics, 
 translators, answerers, all abroad. Well ! so it should be. What 
 is much read, is not much despised ; what is opposed, is also 
 feared ; what is answered in English, must be formidable from 
 other qualities than singularity, when it is written in Latin. 
 Let them scold, and refute ; it will extend the sale, and not 
 shake the ultimate credit of the book. I answer nothing. Do 
 you collect all news, and, depend upon it, they will get some 
 able advocates — but what then? I am sure Steevens is at 
 
 work, and / have reason to suspect P . This is between 
 
 us. But you v/ill oblige me if you will take an early opportu- 
 nity of speaking thus to Mr. Steevens: " Dr. Parr thinks and 
 speaks highly of your talents, taste, and erudition, and has 
 often defended you. He is acquainted with the whole of 
 your character ; he is ready enough to own his dislike of you 
 as a man, and he says, from certain peculiarities he knows of 
 in your life and character, you are the last man he would spare, 
 if provoked. You are one of the first men he would suspect 
 of calumniating him ; and he has an immense store of facts col- 
 lected against you, which he declares, before all mankind, he
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 193 
 
 will hurl at you with all his might, if you do him any injustice 
 secretly. Of your open censure he is not afraid ; and yet he 
 sets a great value on your praise, when it is sincere. 
 
 Certainly, neither of the Editors had much con- 
 fidence in the good-will of Steevens ; for, when the 
 subject of advertising was in agitation. Homer 
 says, " Steevens has a share in the St. James's,* 
 and therefore I shall not put into that." Of the 
 immense labour of Homer in editing Bellenden, I 
 could produce some hundred documents from his 
 correspondence with Parr. On the inspection of 
 every sheet, some change of expression or senti- 
 ment, some classical illustration, or some lucky hit, 
 continually altered the page ; commas, colons, and 
 semicolons, were the subjects of many angry let- 
 ters ; one whole sheet was even cancelled for some 
 errors that might have been readily corrected ; and 
 the patience of readers in some future years will, I 
 hope, be exercised and rewarded by a perusal of the 
 whole correspondence between Homer and Parr on 
 the subjects of Bellenden and the Warburtonian 
 Tracts. The following letter I have selected as a 
 specimen of the typographical accuracy, and of the 
 moral rectitude and veracity of Parr : 
 
 DEAR HOMER, Post-mark, March 20, 1787. 
 
 I am at all times sorry to give trouble ; but I now give it for 
 the last time, and I do not only request as a friend, but I do 
 call upon you by all that can be dear to my feelings, to exe- 
 cute instantly and punctually what I now direct. In the last 
 
 * Parr angrily alludes to this in one of his letters to Dr. 
 Charles Burney, whose father was a friend of Steevens. 
 
 The letters of Parr to Dr. Charles Burney contain much mat- 
 ter concerning the Bellenden. 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 page, "latissime" is put wrong; it should be after '^ possit," 
 It is so bad, so very bad as it now stands, that no earthly con- 
 sideration shall induce me to let it go. Therefore, add to the 
 Errata, Pag. ult, pone " latissime " post " possit;" or rather, 
 pro " quam latissime fieri possit," lege *' quam fieri possit, latis- 
 sime" a comma at each. Secondly, and lastly, I have said in- 
 accurately that Bauer knew nothing of the order in which Bel- 
 lenden published his works. He knew something, but not all — 
 not enough. Now, I will not assert a false fact ; for it is worse 
 than false Latin, and therefore, if the reading sent from Ban- 
 bury be inscribed, why then you must say, linea eadem lege 
 " parum " pro " nihil," et " explorati " pro " exploratum." 
 
 I mean the passage to be, " uterque earum parum explorati 
 habuit," instead of " nihil eorum uterque exploratum habuit." 
 If it be not inserted, so far as concerns " eorum uterque," then 
 alter the whole, and say, pro " nihil eorum uterque exploratum 
 habuit," lege " uterque eorum parum explorati liabuit."' If only 
 thirty or forty are bound, unbind them again, till you can have 
 these additions made to the errata. At all events, in every — 
 every copy not bound, make the alterations. I suppose the 
 leaf can without injury be recommitted to the press ; if not, it 
 is my anxious wish, my earnest request, my peremptory com- 
 mand, that the last leaf of the Preface be re-printed totally. I 
 am sorry, dear Sir, but it cannot be helped ; and give me the 
 satisfaction of hearing that you comply, and let it be no answer 
 that some copies are dispersed, for all, all, all, that remain, 
 shall be corrected. And so farewell. 
 
 Yours truly, S. Parr, 
 
 Now this is the last instance in which you are to oblige me, 
 and do it willingly ; and these alterations must, must, must be 
 inserted. I wish " parum " before " explorati," and you change 
 the whole, and if you have corrected anything about " eorum 
 uterque," why you may say vel potius, pro 
 
 " nihil eorum uterque exploratum habuit," lege 
 " uterque eorum parum enplorati habuit." 
 Use your discretion. 
 
 This fidgctting about expressions, is trifling com- 
 pared to many other letters. Any corrector of the
 
 MEMOIRS. 195 
 
 press may judge of poor Homer's toils* from this 
 example; and if added to it, he could see the writing 
 to be decyphered, he could not fail to thank his 
 stars, that his labours had reached the last letter. 
 The Preface is dated, cal. Maii 1787. The sale 
 was not immediately brisk; Homer complains of it, 
 but exults at the praise bestowed upon the Preface by 
 scholars. In a letter, dated Windsor, Aug. 2, 1787: 
 
 Universally given to you liere — all admire — Dr. Sumner will 
 soon call upon you — immense reading — most elegant composi- 
 tion. — At Winchester Dr. W positively asserted it must 
 
 be yours, because no one else was equal to such a composition 
 — pleased with the honourable mention of himself. Has Maltby 
 informed you of this, viz. the Bishop of London's brother, a 
 very old man,t was so struck by your remarks on Middleton, 
 that it brought to his recollection a most singular circumstance. 
 He happened to be with Middleton just before his Life of 
 Cicero came out ; a gentleman came in, and, in the course of 
 
 * And indeed Parr himself seems to have been aware of the 
 necessity of inculcating patience to him. " Homer (says he) 
 your patience will now be so much exercised, that you will be 
 fitted for married life ; and if you have not your reward in this 
 life by matrimony, you will, after bearing all the trials I put in 
 your way, be qualified to contend with Job himself for half the 
 share of his reward in another. And if you were to eat eggs 
 dressed by my cook, and could prevent your eyes from swelling, 
 your teeth from chattering, your heart from heaving, your head 
 from shaking, your hands from brandishing, and your tongue 
 from railing, threatening, cursing, lying, and swearing, you 
 would thus be a match for Job in t' other half, and the War- 
 wickshire proverb would thus be changed, from patient Job to 
 more patient Homer, 
 
 <' limatiores," instead of " ornatiores." 
 " callida," — " calida," &c. 
 f The Rev. Mr, Lowth, a most learned and excellent man. 
 Prebendary of Winchester. 
 
 u 2
 
 196 MEMOIRS. 
 
 conversation, asked Middleton if he had ever seen Bellendenus, 
 He faultered, grew pale, and acknowledged he had. The rea- 
 son Mr. Lowth did not know, till he had read the Preface. Of 
 these Tracts Lowth was toially ignorant, though he had often 
 heard of the De Tribus, &c. Was the Delphic oracle once in 
 100 times so happy in its solution of difficult questions? 
 
 I have not been a})le to wade so far through the 
 correspondence, as to find the testinionia erudito- 
 rum, or clarorum viroruin, to Parr himself. Dou])t- 
 less, some incense was offered to him, from those he 
 so warmly praised, and whose antagonists he so 
 harshly blamed. 
 
 Of the sense he himself entertained of the effect 
 of his work in a high quarter, one of the following 
 letters is a ludicrous exhibition, the other an exhi- 
 larating. They are both addressed to the Rev. H. 
 Homer : 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 What will you say ? or rather, what shall I say myself of 
 myself? It is now ten o'clock at night, and I am smoaking a 
 quiet pipe, after a most vehement, and, I think, a most splendid 
 effort of composition — an effort it was indeed, a mighty and a 
 glorious effbrt. For the object of it is to lift up Burke to the pin- 
 nacle where he ought to have been placed before, and to drag 
 down Lord Chatham from that eminence to which the cowardice 
 of his hearers, and the credulity of the public, had most weakly 
 and most undeservedly exalted the impostor, and father of im- 
 postors! Read it, dear Harry, read it, I say, aloud; read it again 
 and again ; and when your tongue has turned its edge from me to 
 the father of W. Pitt — when your ears tingle and ring with my 
 sonorous periods — when your heart glows and beats with the 
 fond and triumphant remembrance of Edmund Burke — then, 
 dear Homer, you will forgive me, you will love me, you will 
 congratulate me, and readily will you take upon yourself the 
 trouble of printing, what in writing has cost me so much 
 greater, though not longer trouble. Old boy, I tell you that 
 no part of the Preface is better conceived, or better written ;
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 197 
 
 none will be read more eagerly, or felt by those whom you wish 
 to feel it, more severely. Old boy, old boy, it 's a stinger ! and 
 now to other business. The brackets at adversariorum are 
 right. Licet must have no conjunctive mark; it is a verb. Illi 
 ipsi is right : and so right, that ipsi illi would be wrong ; and 
 you know I have corrected two passages, which had escaped 
 my eye. Mind, mind once more, old boy ! in prose ipsi must 
 always follow illi. As to tanquam, I prefer the n to the m ; the 
 orthography is indifferent, and so even the correct and morose 
 Gesner acknowledges. This long addition will retard us a lit- 
 tle ; but I must see it once, and only once more. I am sorry 
 for it, but I cannot help it, and also I cannot waste such good 
 stuff. I wish you to let Payne know that I am sorry at his 
 undertaking the Translation ; and that I am not surprised at the 
 conduct of the translator, whose character I have known too 
 long and too well. Let the advertisement come out on the 
 12th of November at farthest, and say nothing, nothing, no- 
 thing about auctior atque emendatior. There is no difference 
 about baud or non before negaverint ; but remember, remem- 
 ber, remember, not merely the approaching 5th of November, 
 but ray earnest request, my explicit direction, my positive 
 command to state fully, plainly, fairly — to state without apo- 
 logy, hesitation, without disgust, any and every, the greatest 
 and least difficulty, as to spelling, punctuation, or language. 
 This is written by a Foxite, from a Foxite, to a Foxite ; and 
 kiss it and obey it. Where is Steevens ? &c. 
 
 The foregoing letter was written on adding the 
 whole of the matter, as it now is, in the second 
 edition, of the Preface, page xi. beginning with 
 " illud etiam " down to " alere atque informare," 
 page xviii. The following letter was written under 
 the fancies, which accompany the idea, " that he 
 was about to pursue the triumph and partake the 
 gale : " 
 
 DEAR HOMER, 
 
 As the contents of this letter arc of the first importance, I
 
 198 MEMOIRS. 
 
 employ a friend to write for me. The Preface will certainly 
 make a great noise ; it will give the greatest possible offence ; 
 and would subject the author, if known, to the most formidable 
 dangers, perliaps from a prosecution in the Courts of Law, but 
 certainly from implacable vengeance in the Court of St. James. 
 I found my mind so thoroughly warmed, that I neither gave, nor 
 was capable of giving, the least quarter to those whom you and 
 I consider as the enemies of their country. But they are men, 
 firmly seated in power ; they have keen eyes, and their hands 
 are both long and strong. I would assume the sophistry of Pitt, 
 and the impudence of Dundas, and perhaps I should guard 
 
 against the awkwardness of P in telling a lie — for no 
 
 human consideration will induce me to acknowledge myself the 
 author. It is a secret scarcely to be trusted to the Duke of 
 Portland himself; for I should always ascribe the merit of it, 
 if merit there be, to some friend ; hinting, or perhaps acknow- 
 ledging, that I had some share. When you see it, you will also 
 see the necessity, the urgent and supreme necessity, of this 
 caution. For, let them say what they will, I am not a mono- 
 polizer of Greek and Latin ; and besides, my friend, if politics 
 were a part, who would spare my Latinity ? Even the King's- 
 men "^ who applaud the one, would yet cavil at the other ; but 
 of criticism I am not much afraid — the law does scare me. 
 Now for the application. I have yielded to you, and after 
 yielding I heartily concur with you in some points, and in your 
 turn you must implicitly and faithfully make these concessions. 
 1. The printer's name shall on no account whatever be men- 
 tioned. The printer himself shall on no account whatsoever be 
 informed who v/rote the Preface. I say, on no account. I say 
 again, on no account whatsoever. If you say any thing, say 
 only this ; that it was written by a friend of yours ; and add, 
 with a bold face and a firm tone, that your coadjutor in the 
 mere edition is not the writer of the Preface. It shall be dated 
 from Cambridge, first, to avert suspicion, and, secondly, to 
 shew the public that all Cambridge men are not Pittites, No 
 man will suspect Henry Homer of writing, I will not even 
 
 * Follows of King's College.
 
 MEMOIRS. 199 
 
 have the name of any particular London bookseller affixed, for 
 more curiosity will be excited if we only say as follows : This 
 day are published, dedicated to Lord North, Mr. Burke, and 
 Mr. Fox, Libri tres rarissimi a Gulielmo Bellendeno, olim 
 scripti quorum tituli sunt, &c. Veneunt Londini, veneunt, with 
 the date of the year. On these matters you must let me judge. 
 Probably I can get a reviewer for the Critical, and I will my- 
 self take care of the Monthly. Maty must be left to himself ; 
 and the English Review, conducted as it is by Scotchmen, will 
 not abuse the re-publication of a book written by a Scotch 
 scholar, Harry Homer ! I wish you were now in my library. 
 Thurlow, Richmond, Pitt, Wilkes, and the Junto, and the 
 picture-mongers, and picture-buyers, and picture-drawers, are 
 most unmercifully scourged. They have it, my boy, with so 
 much classical allusion, that somebody at Windsor must send 
 for our sleek Bishop of Worcester to construe and explain it 
 for them ; and then the good Bishop will be puzzled, and con- 
 strue wrong If your Majesty pleases, I will make it in- 
 telligible by a Commentary, says the Bishop, such as I wrote 
 on Horace, or my brother Kidgell on the Essay on Man. What, 
 M'hat, what! do Bishops read that book? Yes, Sir, and like 
 it, as much as they do my Commentaries. 
 
 From two of the Lumina I find no thanks for the 
 Dedication. The Right Honourable Edmund Burke 
 writes thus to the Rev. Dr. Parr : 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I hope that my delay in making a proper acknowledgment 
 for your instructive, and what is rarely joined to instructive, 
 your very flattering present, does not make me appear insensi- 
 ble to its value, or ungrateful for the high honour I have re- 
 ceived in your associating me with persons entitled, by their 
 own splendid qualities, to a distinction which I owe entirely to 
 your indulgence and partiality. That partiality will, however, 
 pass with most people as a presumption that I am not wholly 
 without some degree of that sort of merit which is calculated 
 to affect a liberal and benevolent mind ; and which, therefore, 
 can never be considered as in the lowest class, in any just esti-
 
 200 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 mate of tilings. Excuse this delay, on the same good-natured 
 principles that made you think it worth your while to mention 
 me in such good company. I had rather incur some blame, 
 even from you, than attempt to excuse myself on account of 
 occupations which are never enough, either in quantity or in 
 importance, to serve for an apology for any omissions with re- 
 gard to the respect and gratitude I owe to my friends. 
 
 Indeed, Sir, it gives me no small pride and pleasure to find 
 my name perpetuated in the works of a man of the most exten- 
 sive and critical erudition, and who would have held that rank 
 when there were more who distinguished themselves in that 
 line than we enjoy at present in any part of Europe. This 
 poor testimony is not wholly without its weight ; because, be- 
 ing in truth myself a very incompetent judge, I do no more 
 than echo the public voice, and that is of greater consequence 
 than any individual suffrage, though from a more enlightened 
 person. I am earnest in my wishes that this sort of erudition 
 may live and flourish ; for, let persons of limited conception 
 think what they will of it, it has ever been, and ever must be, 
 the first principle of a taste, not only in the arts, but in life and 
 in morals. If we have any priority over our neighbours, it is 
 in no small measure owing to the early care we take with re- 
 spect to a Classical education, which cannot be supplied by the 
 cultivation of any other branch of learning, and which makes 
 some amends for many shocking defects in our system of train- 
 ing our youth. It diffuses its influence over the society at 
 large; it is enjoyed where it is not directly bestowed; and 
 those feel its operations who do not know to what they owe the 
 advantages they possess. 
 
 You are very generous in your condolence with me on the 
 little estimation in which it is my fortune to be held. I am, 
 however, myself not in the smallest degree affected with that 
 circumstance. Whatever attention either is, or has at any 
 time been paid to my opinions in the exercise of my public 
 duty, is certainly more than I can lay any claim to ; and I 
 ought therefore, to receive any measure of it, however small, 
 as I do receive it, very thankfully. From a confidence in my 
 own good intentions, I might wish my credit to be greater ; as 
 I might by that means become of more use to the part of af-
 
 MEMOIRS. 201 
 
 airs, which I touch. But in this respect, perhaps, I am mis- 
 taken. The effect might have been quite different. If I had 
 enjoyed a reputation of greater splendour I might have been 
 more intent on what might nourish that reputation, than 
 on those ends, for which alone a reputation ought to be cul- 
 tivated ; and with greater fame I might have done less, than 
 even the little I have been able to perform. On the whole, 
 I ought to be well satisfied, and 1 think I am, as to the 
 matter of fact ; for these three last years I cannot say that 
 my attempts have not been as favourably received as they 
 have been at any period of my life ; I mean, that they have been 
 thus received, since the adversaries of the system I have been 
 engaged in have totally prevailed. It ought to be, if not to 
 myself, to every body else, a matter of satisfaction that the 
 time in which I was the most obscured, was that in which our 
 friends have shone out with the greatest lustre, and had at- 
 tained the highest pitch of their credit and prosperity. If at 
 such times I am a little run down, exertions of more conse- 
 quence, and more wisely directed to their end, are prevalent. 
 The season for weaker talents is, when there is little to be done. 
 May we flatter ourselves that the same indulgence which 
 induced you to see us in town, will persuade you, if anything 
 should bring you towards Beconsfield, to let us have the same 
 pleasure in the country. I have the honour to be, with the 
 most perfect respect and regard, dear Sir, your most faithful 
 and obliged humble servant, Edm. Burke. 
 
 Gerard-street, June 9, 1787. 
 
 From Mr. R. Archdale to Dr. Parr, dated 
 
 Nov. 30th, 1787. 
 Halhed and I are reading the Preface to Bellendenus ; 
 therefore, my dear Ham, tell me as soon as possible, under co- 
 ver to Sir G. Collier, Bulstrode-street, what we may understand 
 by the allusion (page 37) to the Greek o£ I^refayoy Graii ver- 
 tere vocantes, &c. 'tis said to mean Lager, but how and why ? 
 We wish to know too from whence you take the motto to Mr. 
 Fox's portrait ? and shall not be unthankful, if you will construe
 
 202 MEMOIRS. 
 
 it for us. Pray do this, for the peace of mind of us both, and 
 do it soon. As to the Preface, we only beg leave to offer the 
 words of Johnson on another occasion : " Criticism would be 
 impossible, and praise useless," and tell us too — does the 
 " Scotus" mean Dundas, or Major Scott, or either, or neither, 
 or both, for to each is it by some people given. Adieu ! Halhed 
 hopes and desires to see you whenever you visit London, and 
 is sorry he was absent when you were here last. As to myself, 
 I am just arrived from, and just returning to Ireland, where 
 Lord Charleraont lent me your book, and where, as every 
 where, I shall be yours, 
 
 R. Archdale. 
 
 Of the edition of Bellendenus the Bishop of 
 Cloyne's notice is so ample, that I shall not quote 
 the opinions of other Reviewers. The original 
 work is an honour to the Country from which it 
 proceeded — that Country, which from the days of 
 Buchanan to those of Dr. James Gregory, has never 
 failed in fine writers or good scholars ; and which 
 may boast, since the establishment of the parochial 
 schools, of a more intelligent population than any 
 other on the face of the earth. The preface I consi- 
 der as a sequel to the notes, added to the suppressed 
 edition of Rapin on Whigs and Tories. The defeat 
 of the Coahtion had destroyed Parr's hopes of pre- 
 ferment — his connection with Mr. Windham at 
 Norwich pointed his feelings to certain party men 
 — he became enamoured of the leaders of Opposi- 
 tion, one of whose coadjutors had been his pupil ; 
 and the editing of Bellendenus afforded him the pre- 
 tence, and gave him the power, of attaching himself 
 to the Coalition and their allies. It gave him also 
 an opportunity of displaying his powers in Latin
 
 MEMOIRS. 203 
 
 composition, and his command of that language,* and 
 the ahnost infinite extent of his matchless learning, 
 as well as his wish of exposing the plagiarisms of 
 Dr. Conyers Middleton. It had long heen suspected 
 that Middleton borrowed largely, from some un- 
 known source, materials for his life of Cicero, 
 which has been in some measure proved by the re- 
 publication of Bellendenus, and is remarkably con- 
 firmed by Mr. Lowth's anecdote. This is not all. 
 In Parr's set of the Miscellaneous Works of Mid- 
 dleton, there are two notices on the blank leaves of 
 the fourth and fifth volumes, which I shall insert. 
 
 When Dr. Middleton published his book De Medicorum 
 Romae degentium conditione ignobiH, &c. it was answered by 
 Dr. Leatherland, and also by Dr. Ward, Professor of Gresham 
 College, who is said to have assisted Dr. Mead in writing 
 Latin. 
 
 Towards the close of the eighteenth century, a manuscript 
 of Middleton was for the first time pubHshed, in 4to, by Dr, 
 Heberden, and I have it. Now, as in the Life of Cicero Middle- 
 ton was charged with plagiarism from Bellenden, and his Letter 
 from Rome brought upon him the same charge, but with less 
 justice, from a writer whom I believe to be Otto ; so bis work 
 on Roman Physicians was accused of plagiarism, as I find from 
 the following passage : 
 
 Dr. John Christian Wolff is preparing for the press an An- 
 swer to Dr. Middleton's Dissertation de Medicorum Romae de- 
 gentium conditione ignobili atque servili. Dr. Wolff thinks his 
 adversary much obliged to a little book printed at Leyden in 
 1671, and reprinted in 1681, though he has not once quoted it, 
 
 * " There are in the Preface almost all the phraseological 
 beauties I knew in Latin, and in particular you will find the 
 subjunctive used properly, and with great wit, and yet I have 
 endeavoured to shun all appearance of affected phraseology." 
 This is his own observation to one of his friends.
 
 204 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 It is entituled, " Medicus Romanus servus sexaginta solidls es- 
 timatus." See " The present State of the Republic of Letters," 
 for February 1728, vol. i. 
 
 I never saw the work of Wolff, S. Paiir. 
 
 1 had often heard, when a young man, from scholars, that 
 much of the matter contained in Dr. Middleton's famous Letter 
 from Rome v/as borrowed, without acknowledgment, from some 
 preceding writer. (He then details the authority which fixes 
 upon Otto as the Author.) In June 1813 I bought the book 
 at Dr. Gosset's sale. It was published at Utrecht 1731, and 
 consists of three parts ; the first of which, De Diis vialibus, ap- 
 peared at Halle 1714, and consists of 14 chapters. In the 14th 
 chapter, De Fatis Deorum vialium, it takes up the very sub- 
 ject upon which Middleton wrote If Middleton ever saw 
 
 this book, it must have been of great service to him. See p, 24 
 of Middleton, and 312 of Otto, who also quotes Mabillon. 
 
 In regard to the politics of the Preface, the awful 
 verdict of posterity alone can determine the reason- 
 ableness and truth : and that verdict will decide and 
 proclaim whether the steps that led to the rejection 
 of the India Bill by the House of Lords ; and the 
 influence that seated a stripling on the Treasury 
 Bench, and bravely maintained him there, in defi- 
 ance of the votes of the House of Commons of 
 England, were not more deserving of parliamentary 
 impeachment than classical invective. But of its 
 policy there can be no doubt. None but such a 
 character as Parr's, could have risen from beneath 
 the ruins, which he had drawn down upon himself 
 by his injudicious violence. The Coalition was a 
 hateful measure to the people of England, who only 
 judge of events from their success, and the apparent 
 honesty and sincerity of the actors, whose optics are 
 not fine enough to discover possible and remote uti-
 
 MEMOIRS. 205 
 
 litics, and to whom the intrigues of courts and the 
 glozes of faction are as httle intelligible as any other 
 deviations from the usual course of natural actions, 
 and the common maxims of common sense. On 
 this occasion they adhered to their governors, and 
 even punished their representatives. The Coalition, 
 indeed, of the Oppositionists to the American War 
 with Lord North, was unnatural in all its aspects. 
 The Whig and the Tory could never amalgamate ; the 
 principles of toleration and reform, always professed 
 by Mr. Fox, could never be associated with the system 
 of passive obedience, of non-resistance, and that eccle- 
 siastical zeal which induced Lord North to go down 
 to the House, blind and led like Samson to the feast, 
 to rivet the chains of a profane test.* And lo ! how 
 few were the years about to elapse, 'ere the third of 
 the luminaries, urged on by his own pressing wants, 
 or maddened by the French Revolution, dissolved 
 the closest friendship of his whole political life with 
 insulting arrogance, and severed himself from the 
 man whom he had professed so long to love above 
 all others, on a discussion and difference about spe- 
 culative opinions. 
 
 Yet these were the three luminaries, the bright 
 gods of Parr's political day, at whose shrine he pros- 
 trated and sacrificed himself! 
 
 Eloquent, unrivalled in Latin composition, forci- 
 ble in delineation of character, more than any other 
 composition of the age, and exuberant in learning, 
 
 * The reasonableness of a test is not hard to be proved ; but 
 perhaps it must be allowed, that the proper test has not been 
 chosen. — Johnson's Swift,
 
 20G MEMOIRS. 
 
 is the Preface to Bellendeniis ; and so ni(;ely worked 
 is the picture, so well blended are the colours, and 
 so richly adorned with beautiful wreaths of foliage, 
 and flowers of learned quotation, that this produc- 
 tion of his pen will perhaps be handed down to 
 posterity. But the delicate pencilling and rich co- 
 louring of praise on one side, are merely a set off 
 against the dark and rough strokes and shades of 
 the other. Compare the Demi-god Fox, and the 
 Catiline Pitt — even Demosthenes spake not of Phi- 
 lip of Macedoh more harshly : and perhaps in the 
 delineation of the character of o oelua, the verdict 
 of posterity will be, that in the Preface of Bellen- 
 denus the Oracle of Eloquence riappi^e*. 
 
 The attack on Pitt contains one curiosity. Amid 
 the fine writing and learned (juoting, some iambics 
 from the pen of Parr, interweaving the sentiments 
 of Shakspeare with an Epigram of Epicharmus,* to 
 delineate the character of Pitt, which if they were 
 not the ground, might be supposed to give the hint, 
 for the establishment of the Porson prize in the 
 University of Cambridge. 
 
 "^VvKfwv Keap Tov Traihlov Qepfxols eiri 
 'Yhapes re ttws kuI XcTrroj' (U[i uel rpe(j)oy 
 N;y0etJ' r airicrTelv t apQpa tov (iiov Xeyei, 
 'AytXcterroi', u.(j)iXov ku Trpoiriiyopov repas. 
 
 It may be asked, cui bono was all this written ? 
 What cause of provocation had Parr ? I know of 
 none, except the general disappointment of his 
 party, and the unmannerly oaths of Thurlow. For, 
 
 * Bentl. ad Mill. p. 17.
 
 MEMOIRS. 207 
 
 in the Notes to llapin, he speaks witli hope of Pitt, 
 and docs not upbraid him. But, if th(> ecMisiins 
 were just, were they generous and wise ? What busi- 
 ness had he to call names in Greek, and to hiad 
 with insult those whom he hated o)ili/ pohtieally ? 
 This was the ol)servation of Thurlow. 
 
 Statesmen, Parr observed on another occasion, 
 have long arms : and it may be presumed they 
 have as long memories as other men, and that 
 injustice, or even injury, sinks as deep into their 
 hearts as into those of other men, when the attack 
 is unprovoked. But when it degenerates into in- 
 sult, as it did in the instances of the Duke of 
 Richmond and Lord Thurlow, it can never be for- 
 given. A public man flies to revenge, as his only 
 resource ; and when the sword of justice is not 
 within his reach, places the aggressor mider the ban 
 of his secret hatred, and bequeaths even to his suc- 
 cessor his own spirit of vengeance and retaliation. 
 Parr himself probably intended, in unsheathing the 
 sword against the Pittites, to throw away the scab- 
 bard. He entered into the centre of the battalion 
 of the Foxites, to stand or fall with his party ; and 
 if they gained the victory, to share the spoil. His 
 long life of consistency was most honourable to 
 him. He did adhere to his party, and suffered in 
 their defeat. During the perilous times of the 
 French Revolution, he was exposed to the insults 
 and malignity of the ruling faction in his own coun- 
 ty ; and, though he stood firm and unmoved, his 
 domestic peace was more than once disturbed. Vet 
 is it not certain, though his party had gained the
 
 208 MEMOIRS, 
 
 victory, that lie would have been permitted to par- 
 take the spoil. For Mr. Fox had not always the 
 power of disposing of preferment, even when minis- 
 ter. Had the Coalition succeeded, it is onli/ a sur- 
 mise that he might have been Canon Residentiary 
 of St. Paul's. On the appointment of the Regency, 
 it was said he was to be promoted to the See of 
 Bristol. But, when his friends were actually in ad- 
 ministration, it was insinuated that Lord Grenville 
 declined promising a Bishopric, on the ground of 
 Parr's unpopularity in his own profession. If it 
 were so, he had sacrificed himself for nothing ; 
 wasting his powers in praising those who could not 
 serve him, embarking those great talents in the ser- 
 vice of a party or a faction, which were intended 
 for the benefit of his country and his race — and, 
 above all, departing from the great rules of his reli- 
 gion, " not to speak evil, nor to give offence to the 
 least of his brethren." Let his example be a beacon 
 and a warning to the scholar, how he employs his 
 talents and his learning in writing for a party ! 
 Every man perhaps ought to belong to some party 
 in a free State ; but whatsoever freedom of opinion 
 he may claim for himself, he ought not to monopo- 
 lize, nor deny it to another. He may be an antago- 
 nist without bitterness, and stand up for his own 
 principles without outraging those of others. Thus, 
 while I blame Parr for throwing away his time and 
 talents on a splendid declamation, I would not have 
 it forgotten that his consistency maintained him 
 in high station in the world, and the best credit 
 among his friends. Even those who did not think
 
 MEMOIRS. 209 
 
 with him in poHtics, when the perilous times were 
 past, courted him. His hopes of high preferment 
 were blasted by his own petulance ; not by the mil- 
 dew of Bishop Hurd, nor the thunder and lightning 
 of Chancellor Thurlow. His long vernacular Ser- 
 mons would soon have been listened to with dehght 
 from the mitred chair, had he been quiet about po- 
 litical men, and not assailed them personally and in- 
 sultingly. 
 
 Parr was attacked in a poem called the Parriad, 
 and in a Latin poem, called, " Carmen Antamce- 
 boeum," and in a work styled, " An Examination of 
 the Politics of the Preface of Bellendenus ;" and of 
 the paragraph venders of the day, many spat their 
 venom with the usual insolence, and more than 
 common spitefulness of hirelings. Of the Parriad, 
 by Wilham Chapman, A. M. Bew, 1788, the 
 Monthly Reviewers say, " there is greater deficiency 
 in the decency, than in the poetry." Of the " Car- 
 men Antamoebseum, in olentem Bellendeni Edito- 
 rem," Bell, 1788, the same Reviewers say, " It is 
 called Carmen, though it has lines w^hich defy 
 scansion. The critical rod is not the only one from 
 which this writer ought to receive his reward." 
 
 Homer's letters give an account of these squibs, 
 and Parr himself also solves the mystery of the pub- 
 lication of the " Examination," in a letter to Dr. 
 Maltby, assigning the conception of it to Dr. 
 Cooper of Yarmouth, and the execution to David 
 Urquhart, a Clergyman in Norfolk. Parr's Preface 
 to Bellendenus was translated into English without 
 his knowledge, and much to his injury, as he ima- 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 210 MEMOIRS. 
 
 gincd, soon after its appearance. Mr. Homer's let- 
 ters will expose the supposed translator, and Parr's 
 feelings of resentment, at this encroachment on his 
 rights. 
 
 Mr. W. Bcloc was the transhitor, I believe, and a 
 particular mark has been set upon him by his account 
 of his old master, in a work deliberately composed and 
 printed during his life, though not published till after 
 his death, " The Sexagenarian." Beloe w'as scholar 
 to Parr at Stanmore, and removed from thence by a 
 memorial of the upper boys. In chapter X. of the 
 Sexagenarian, he has recorded the history of his feel- 
 ings, " after he was placed under the care of a great 
 dragon of learning," but has given no clue to the 
 causes of his unhappiness,save in the suspicion he fell 
 under, of one petty act of guilt, from the accusation 
 of which he could not clear himself. But Mr. Beloe, 
 as if resolved to leave no doubt of his early character, 
 has himself given an account of his conduct, when 
 first entered at Ben'et College, Cambridge. He was 
 sent from Stanmore, not by the unkindncss of the 
 master, but by the hatred of the boys. It was not 
 the cruelty of his Orhllius, but the contempt of his 
 companions, that removed him to College. When 
 " a raw freshman," he inscribed an epigram in one 
 of the Chapel Prayer Books, against two young men 
 of much higher pretensions than himself, so appo- 
 site, and severe, as unavoidably to provoke their in- 
 dignation and resentment. " I was avoided as a 
 dangerous miscreant," says Beloe himself. Sexage- 
 narian, i. p. 34: and no wonder w^as it, that the boy 
 and the youth was so avoided, who has confessed he
 
 MEMOIRS. 211 
 
 wrote an Amoebaean eclogue to expose the eccentri- 
 cities of an amiable man, (did he only write one ?*) 
 and was so well versed in writing Satanic letters. 
 P. 36. 
 
 The Sexagenarian was criticised in the Monthly 
 Review for February 1818, by a gentleman and a 
 scholar, by one who thinks only the truth, and has 
 the courage to speak it. 
 
 This criticism triumphantly vindicates Dr. Parr, 
 whose mind was sorely hurt by Beloe's attack. 
 But he was not so angry on his own account, as of 
 his friends, who had been traduced by the posthu- 
 mous slanderer. On Mr. Monro's account he de- 
 sired Mr. Maurice to make known to common 
 friends the falsehood of the assertions regarding 
 that gentleman. 
 
 Inclosed (says Maurice, March 10, 1818) is Sir William 
 Scott's answer, when I sent him that portion of your letter re- 
 specting Beloe's book, which you wished me to make known 
 to mutual friends, in vindication, I think, of your conduct to- 
 wards Tom Monro. 
 
 Sir WiUiam Scott's answer to the Rev. Thomas 
 Maurice, British Museum. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I return you Dr. Parr's letter, which is written with a proper 
 indignation against the ungrateful author of that publication. It 
 is impossible that such a publication could injure Dr. Parr in 
 any man's estimation. If Mr. N. . . . assured you that I was 
 convinced he had nothing to do with it, he rather mistakes the 
 state of my mind upon that matter, 
 
 * See the Carmen Antamoebaeum against the author of Bel- 
 lendenus. 
 
 p2
 
 212 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Thomas Maurice was received at Staninore by 
 Parr soon after his estabhshment there ; and of 
 Parr, Mr. William Lcggc, and some of the leaders 
 of the school, he has given a most interesting ac- 
 count, beginning at page (50 of the Memoirs of the 
 Author of Indian Antiquities. He there not only 
 makes us acquainted with the boys and their 
 habits, but has done ample justice to the master, 
 who almost inspired his scholars with a love of 
 learning. 
 
 It was indeed impossible, (says he,) while we were constru- 
 ing the choruses, and often very subhme speeches, of the 
 "AyycXos, or Messenger, in the Greek Tragedians, for the most 
 stupid boy not to be deeply affected with the mode in which 
 Dr. Parr — for so I shall venture to call my revered friend, as 
 a title more dignified, and more familiar to me, though he did 
 not take that degree till several years afterwards — with the 
 mode, I say, in which he treated the subject of our instruction. 
 For, in our progress through the interesting drama, to the an- 
 tient Greek and Roman authorities, brought in illustration of 
 the author, were added similar passages, generally imitations, 
 to be found in modern writers, principally English ; as, for in- 
 stance, in respect to the tragedy just mentioned, the CEdipus 
 Tyrannus, all the pathetic ejaculations of Milton, relative to 
 his blindness, were adduced to increase the interest, from Para- 
 dise Lost and Samson Agonistes. This was done in the most 
 impressive manner, by an instructor who, in addition to his 
 profound knowledge of Greek lore, accurately knew, and stre- 
 nuously exerted, all the powers of the English language, to 
 enforce them on his pupils. During his eloquent recitations, I 
 have known youths of feeling affected by them even to tears ; 
 and, I believe, none who heard them ever after forgot them. 
 
 It is not necessary to follow the Memoirs of the 
 Author of Indian Antiquities through his high 
 Cambrian origin, or his more pressing domestic ca-
 
 MEMOIRS. 213 
 
 lamities ; nor to detail the long list of magnificent 
 patrons of his oriental labours. Suffice it to say, 
 that these Memoirs, like those of the Sexagenarian, 
 are a sort of literary history of the period. They 
 record abundance of names, they copy abundance 
 of letters, they tell agreeable stories, but with these re- 
 markable differences: — Maurice is full of Stanniore, 
 of gratitude to his master, of lively interest for many 
 of his schoolfellows ; bat, unlike him, the traducer 
 of no one. Like the Sexagenarian, he loves high 
 Church politics ; but does not attempt to traduce 
 low Church politicians, as he did. Like him in- 
 deed, he courts and flatters patrons and ministers ; 
 but, unlike the other, he does not vilify benefactors. 
 I did not read the Memoirs of the Author of Indian 
 Antiquities till long after I had composed the ac- 
 count of Parr at Stanmore ; and I now beg leave to 
 direct the attention of the reader to the account of 
 Stanmore, which Mr. Roderick gave me, when he 
 was in his 83d year, after the lapse of near 50 years, 
 to shew how accurately it agrees with the younger, 
 and more gaudy account by Maurice. Mr. Lytton, 
 in one of his letters, which I have copied, bore 
 testimony to Joseph Gerald's personification of 
 Zanga. 
 
 The incomparable scholar, Gerald, (says Maurice,) went elo- 
 quently through a part of eight or nine hundred lines, without a 
 pause or a blunder (CEdipus). Would to God he had acted 
 his part with equal correctness in the great drama of hfe! 
 
 Maurice brings forward particularly Walter Pol- 
 lard, one of his schoolfellows at Stanmore, whom I 
 have noticed, and appends some very foolish observa-
 
 214 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 tions on American politics, and on certain incidents 
 of his life. But we owe to this circumstance the in-^ 
 troduction of some valuable correspondence of Sir 
 William Jones. Of Stanmore I shall conclude the 
 account, by recommending to the learned reader the 
 close of the first part of the Memoirs of A. I. A. from 
 p. 104 ; and that reader cannot fail to be impressed 
 with the striking and involuntary testimony that is 
 there borne to Parr's merits as an instructor. To the 
 teacher, who led his pupils on gradually, from poetry 
 and oratory and history to philosophy — who illus- 
 trated the leading facts by his memory, and by a 
 comparison of the respective merits of the different 
 schools, and who, by an able discrimination dis- 
 played them in opposition with the more enlightened 
 theories of the moderns. — To such a teacher, who 
 was capable from the rich stores of his mind, to 
 paint all the beauties of style and all the force of in- 
 tellect manifested in these compositions, it is no 
 wonder, should be applied the most expressive ho- 
 mage, that language could pay. The men he pro- 
 duced are evidences of the precious advantage of his 
 instruction ; and there can be no doubt that to Sum- 
 ner and to him, but especially to him, the higher 
 branches of scholastic instruction owe nmch of their 
 present improvement — for, his instructions were no 
 mummeries — learning by him was inexorably en- 
 forced ; and diligence with him was an indispens- 
 able obligation. He compelled the boy to learn, 
 who could learn, without enticing or tricking him 
 into the service of letters ; and when he was of age 
 to reflect, he made it his interest to reflect, and he
 
 MEMOIRS, 215 
 
 taught liim to reflect. He attended diligently to 
 the mental bias of every boy ; and no one capable of 
 instruction ever departed from him without receiving 
 it. Like Busby, he practised severity ; and like 
 him, I have no doubt he would have had at one time 
 sixteen Bishops on the bench, had he continued to 
 old age seated in the chair of one of our great public 
 schools. In these, and in all other respects, Mau- 
 rice has done justice to Parr's talents and merits as 
 a preceptor, and I shall print some letters, as they 
 do honour to his own character, in displaying to the 
 last, his gratitude and attachment to that master, 
 who was, and continued to be, his benefactor 
 through life.* 
 
 * See Appendix.
 
 216 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Bampton Lectures. 
 
 Whilo Parr resided at Norwich, Professor White 
 of Oxford had engaged him in his service, and em- 
 ployed his leisure in revising the Bampton Lectures, 
 about to be preached before the University in 1784. 
 
 It becomes my duty, therefore, to consider the 
 nature of his literary connection with the Professor, 
 and to trace the extent of his contributions to the 
 works of so celebrated an author. 
 
 I have no exact information of the beginning of 
 Parr's acquaintance with White — perhaps it began by 
 the introduction of Mr. Walters, his assistant in 
 Norwich School; for the following letter, which 
 shews a recent acquaintance, mentions the name of 
 Mr. Walters, as implicated in some communication 
 interesting to both parties. 
 
 From the Rev. Joseph White to the Rev. Samuel 
 Parr. 
 
 REV. SIR, Oxford, Feb. 1781. 
 
 I am ashamed to acknowledge that I had the honour of re- 
 ceiving from you, about three months since, a very polite let- 
 ter, with the inclosed biblical queries, &c. &c. I thoughtlessly 
 laid aside your letters amongst some other papers, and after- 
 wards forgot it, till I was reminded of it by Mr, Walters. 
 
 Thus early did they correspond on literary sub- 
 jects. In the next year, White continued to ask
 
 MEMOIRS. 217 
 
 literary favours, for he had received them before, 
 according to the avowal made in the following letter: 
 
 WORTHY SIR, Oxford, Nov. 25th, 1782. 
 
 My edition of Abdollatiph's History of Egypt, which you 
 have kindly encouraged by your subscription, and which is now 
 nearly out of the press, I intend to dedicate to my friend and 
 patron, Dr. John Moore, Bishop of Bangor. May I beg the 
 obliging assistance of your pen on this occasion, by throwing 
 into a compact inscription the following character of the Bishop : 
 He has long honoured me ivith his benevolence and friendship as 
 an individual, and tvith his generous protection as an author. He 
 has been always admired for the co7iscientious discharge of his 
 Episcopal function ; and amiable in the peformance of the pri- 
 vate duties of his family. A dedication is always the most con- 
 spicuous part of a book, and therefore I wish to trust to the 
 known elegance of your Latin style, for satisfying the public 
 expectation in this particular, rather than perhaps disappoint it 
 by what I might myself have written. Your kindness on a for- 
 mer occasion has caused you this trouble, from, worthy Sir, 
 your most obliged and faithful humble servant, 
 
 Joseph White. 
 
 On the same subject he addresses the following 
 letter to Parr : 
 
 WORTHY SIR, Oxford, March 13, 1783. 
 
 I had just received your very friendly and judicious letters, 
 when I was suddenly called to London to transact some lite- 
 rary business of importance. Amidst the hurry that unavoid- 
 ably attends the first day after my return to this place, and the 
 preparation I am obliged to make for a large class of Hebrew 
 pupils, I cannot forbear (in a few hasty lines) to thank you for 
 the pains you have bestowed on my dedication and prefaces ; 
 and to express my admiration of the critical skill you have be- 
 stowed in revising them. The new manner you have given to 
 the dedication is masterly, and is calculated to satisfy the ear 
 and the mind much better than in its former shape. As you 
 have authorised me to expect that in the course of your future 
 leisure, you will honour with a perusal the work you have pa- 
 tronized by your learned assistance, I am inclined to hope that
 
 218 MEMOIRS. 
 
 I may prevail with you in requesting some additional communi- 
 cations from your pen, and that you will add to its value by a 
 cursory revisal, from time to time, of the whole manuscript. 
 That part of the book for which I am responsible will extend 
 but to a few printed sheets ; and, whether you favour me with 
 substituting your elegant Latin for the phrases you dislike, or 
 by underlining them with some cautionary mark, I shall receive 
 every specimen of your criticism with the respect and gratitude 
 it must deserve. I have great pleasure in expecting your pro- 
 mised visit at Oxford, which I shall add to the number of obli- 
 gations you have conferred upon me. The occasion of your 
 journey gives me equal satisfaction; yet I cannot forbear to 
 regret that the limited and narrow patronage of these times 
 has not rendered it more adequate to acknowledged worth and 
 abilities. I remain, learned Sir, your most obliged and obedient 
 servant, J. White. 
 
 The nt^xt correspondence with Dr. White, opens 
 the whole scheme of the Bampton Lectures. On 
 one set of papers is written, " An original draft 
 for the Bampton Lectm*es, sent to Dr. Parr for 
 his correction at Norwich ;" in which the scheme it- 
 self is unfolded at large ; and but for the bulk of 
 the documents, I should have recommended their 
 publication in these works. They will perhaps be 
 laid before the public hereafter ; and curious to the 
 eyes of posterity must be the first germination of 
 such a work as fVhites Bampton Lecture. As the 
 production grew, we shall see how it was trained by 
 Badcock, and with what vigorous shoots it flourished 
 under the fostering and grafting hand of Parr. 
 
 Wadham College, Dec. 1st, 1783. 
 Mr. White presents his most respectful compliments to Dr. 
 Parr, and requests the favour of two or three lines from him, 
 on the subject of a proper introduction to the characters of
 
 MEMOIRS. 219 
 
 Christ and Mahomet. The materials are all prepared, and 
 ready to be wrought into shape. If Dr. Parr would conde- 
 scend to suggest to Mr. White how he might best open and 
 conduct the subject, he would esteem it as a very particular 
 favour. Mr. W. rests assured that he shall have the honour of 
 a line from Dr. Parr upon this business, as soon as it suits his 
 convenience. In great haste. 
 
 As the business went on, Professor White ex- 
 presses encreased earnestness for Parr's assistance. 
 
 LEARNED AND WORTHY SIR, Feb. 2Uh, 1784. 
 
 I thank you most heartily for your admirable improvements 
 of the three first sheets of Lecture I. which I have lately re- 
 ceived. The enclosed is a part of Lecture III. Another part 
 I have sent by this evening's post, addressed to Mr, Fraser, at 
 the Secretary of State's OiEce, and I have requested the favour 
 of him to forward it to you immediately. Both these Lectures 
 form the whole view of the difficulties Christianity had to strug- 
 gle with at its first appearance, with respect to Jews and Gen- 
 tiles. The remainder of the Sermon (which is no inconsider- 
 able part) will be sent to you as soon as possible. The post is 
 this moment going out, and I have only time to mention two 
 circumstances. One is, that this Sermon is to be preached on 
 the third Sunday of next month. The other, that, as I believe 
 I shall be in London the whole of next week, I particularly 
 wish that you would be so good as to send all the corrected 
 sheets addressed to me at Mr. Ellis's. If I happen not to go 
 to London, Mr. Ellis has franks enough to convey the papers 
 to Oxford; but I believe I shall be in London. I remain, 
 worthy Sir, with the sincerest gratitude, your most obliged 
 servant, J. White. 
 
 Your corrections were not admitted in the last part of the 
 third sheet I sent you, because I wrote those papers three 
 months ago. 
 
 WORTHY AND LEARNED SIR, Feb. 26, 178'1. 
 
 I hope you have before this time received the packets from
 
 220 MEMOIRS. 
 
 me, containing the whole view of the Jewish and Gentile world 
 at the time of Christ's appearance. This view is as accurate 
 as I could make it, and I flatter myself I have taken in what is 
 essential to the argument. When it has received your improve- 
 ments, I think it will be heard with attention at St. Mary's. 
 It happens fortunately that the eight Lectures are preached at 
 three different periods; three this Term (on the 7th, 14th, and 
 21st of March), three in Easter Term, two in October. This 
 exactly suits my three divisions. The introductory Lecture, 
 the History of Mahometism, and the History of Christianity, 
 form the first part. The Characters of Mahomet and Christ, 
 the Doctrines of the Koran and the Gospel, the Claims of Ex- 
 ternal Evidence urged by Mahomet and Christ, form the se- 
 cond part. And the different influence of the two Religions 
 on the welfare of the Individual and of Nations, is the subject 
 of the two last Sermons. 
 
 The conclusion of Lecture III. which will make about 20 
 pages more^ I shall forward to you as soon as I can prepare it. 
 I wish much to make this an interesting Sermon ; and as it is 
 the last Discourse I am to preach this Term, I must earnestly 
 entreat you to kindle again that fire which burns so admirably 
 in Lecture I. Apropos — I think one of the additions you sent 
 me (viz. that which begins with, " Hitherto, indeed, infidelity 
 has not been able to achieve anything," and down to, " There 
 is a Providence," contains as much masterly eloquence as can 
 be found in the same compass of sentences in any work in the 
 English language. The tliree sheets I sent you last, had been 
 written out by me two months before, and I had not leisure to 
 copy them, otherwise the passage, " amidst the claimants of 
 truth,'' &c. would have appeared according to your excellent 
 correction. I forgot to mention this circumstance to you. The 
 Latin Dedication to Abdollatiph was kindly accepted by the 
 Archbishop, and it is to be prefixed to that work when it ap- 
 pears. I purpose, likewise, to dedicate these Sermons to his 
 Grace, and have already drawn up something that I am to- 
 lerably satisfied with, " On the -proprieiy of attempting to further 
 the -progress of Christianity amongst our Mahometan Subjects in 
 India." 
 
 I remain, worthy Sir, with the sinccrcst respect and grati- 
 tude, yours wholly, J. W.
 
 MEMOIRS. 221 
 
 Oxford, May ISth, 1784. 
 
 MY MOST LEARNED AND WORTHY FRIEND, 
 
 The fame of the Bampton Lectures increases daily ; they 
 give equal satisfaction to the beaux and the belles and the doc- 
 tors. The church is crowded in the most extraordinary man- 
 ner.* 
 
 Stinton (to whom I communicated them in confidence as 
 yours) is wonderfully struck with the propriety, the strength, 
 and the elegance of your observations on the character of 
 Christ. 
 
 I sent you this morning by the coach the first Christian part 
 of Lecture VL; the enclosed is the remainder of that Lecture. 
 I earnestly request the favour of you to give a little relievo to 
 the general diction ; it is too much in basso : and if you would 
 be so good as to throw in a brilliant passage or two, particu- 
 larly a few sentences at the end, it would be esteemed a very 
 great obligation. This is the concluding Lecture of the Tei'ra. 
 Please to send the corrected copy, not to Mr. Ellis, but imme- 
 diately to mj'self, at Oxford ; or to Mr, Stinton, who will give 
 me your letter unopened. He knows your hand-writing, and 
 esteems you very highly for the essential services you have 
 done me on the present very important occasion. I remain, 
 worthy Sir, with the deepest sense of gratitude, and with the 
 most profound respect, your most obliged servant, J. White. 
 
 N.B. Lecture VI. is to be read next Sunday se'nnight. 
 
 P.S. The Porter has this moment brought me your correc- 
 tions of the first part of Lecture V. I have not time, before 
 the post goes off, to read your letter with attention. What- 
 ever your commands may be, I will obey them ; and, if an an- 
 swer be requisite, I will send it to-morrow. 
 
 * Mr. John Walters, (afterwards Tutor of Jesus College,) 
 brother of Daniel Walters, Dr. Parr's Assistant at Norwich, 
 writes thus to Dr. Parr ; 
 
 REV. AND DEAR SIR, Oxfovd, May \st, 1784. 
 
 The Professor is preaching the Bampton Lectures 
 
 with a splendour and success before unheard of in Oxford ; for 
 great part of which he expresses his obligations to your as- 
 sistance. \Yes I from this quarter he knevo that there "would be a 
 direct communication ofvohat he said to Dr, Parr. Ed.]
 
 222 MEMOIRS. 
 
 June 'id, 1784. 
 
 MY MOST WORTHY AND LEARNED FRIEND, 
 
 I now send you the continuation of the Lecture upon the 
 effects of the two Religions upon the character of the Indivi- 
 dual. It is (as I have already mentioned to you) rude and im- 
 perfect. I have in this Discourse ventured upon a species of 
 writing wherein / am wholly a stranger, but with which you 
 are most perfectly familiar. 1 must therefore put myself en- 
 tirely under your guidance and protection. The illustrations 
 of the reasoning with regard to Mahometism, I think I can 
 make out very well. . I forgot to mention to you in my last 
 (containing the four first pages of this Discourse), that I meant 
 to allude in one part to the discovery of the Magnet and the 
 invention of Printing. I fear I did not clearly explain myself; 
 I humbly beg the favour of you to make my meaning more in- 
 telligible. 
 
 As this Lecture completes the number prescribed by the 
 Founder, I wish to terminate my career with credit; any im- 
 provements, therefore, of the papers I take the liberty of send- 
 ing you, will be in the highest degree acceptable to me. The 
 particular illustrations of the two points of the Lecture, and 
 the conclusion of all, I reserve to myself — not having yet 
 finished them. The inclosed papers I humbly take the liberty 
 of requesting you to transmit to Mr. Ellis and Mr. Stinton, di- 
 rected to me. I am, my most worthy and most learned Friend, 
 yours respectfully and gratefully, J. W. 
 
 WORTHY AND LEARNED SIR, Lo7ldon, Aug.&k, IIM. 
 
 Having been called up to town for a day or two on particu- 
 lar business, I have taken the opportunity of sending you, by 
 the Norwich coach of this evening, (from the Swan with two 
 Necks,) copies of my third, fourth, and 5th Lectures. If they 
 should miscarry, I beg the favour of you to inform me of it by 
 a line directed to me at Oxford, whither I must go to-morrow, 
 and where I must stay the remainder of the summer. It is the 
 heaviest misfortune of my life, that I cannot accept your kind 
 invitation to Norwich, but the thing is impossible ; a thousand
 
 MEMOIRS. 223 
 
 pleasures and advantages would have arisen to rae from so sea- 
 sonable an interview. Your kind offer of sending me some re- 
 marks on Bayle, and the book de Tribus Impostoribus, I ac- 
 cept with the sincerest gratitude ; they will be very valuable 
 additions to the book I am publishing. I have the pleasure of 
 informing you, that your very friendly zeal in correcting so ad- 
 mirably my rude sketch, is likely to gain the end you proposed, 
 the procurement of some comfortable preferment from his 
 Grace of Canterbury. He tells me he hears from all parts great 
 accounts of the masterly elegance of the Lectures, That ele- 
 gance IS WHOLLY YOURS. The third Lecture will not be put up 
 to press till Monday sennight or Tuesday se'nnight. Any cor- 
 rections of the text, or any notes upon the text, previous to 
 publication, will be received from you with that respect which 
 is due to the first scholar of the age, and will give a lustre to 
 every page that is honoured by your animadversions. I am, 
 worthy and learned Sir, you most obliged and most grateful 
 humble servant, Joseph White. 
 
 P. S. I engage, before the end of October, to send you as 
 perfect a copy of Photius's MS. Lexicon as can be procured. 
 
 Oxford, August 9th, 1784. 
 
 MY WORTHY AND LEARNED FRIEND, 
 
 You have lately accused me of being too lazy in writing to 
 you ; I am afraid you will now think rae impertinently trouble- 
 some. 1 am under great anxiety about the just delineation of 
 the character of Christ, which is to be the last Sermon of the 
 first volume. Mahomet's is wonderfully improved, since I sent 
 it to you on Friday. Will it not be a little indecorous for the 
 character of the Impostor to be drawn with more brilliancy 
 than that of the venerable Founder of our Religion? The su- 
 perior difficulty of the task will not strike every reader who 
 perceives a difference in the style. Will you, therefore, my 
 worthy friend, permit me once more to presume on the same 
 disinterested friendship that has repeatedly exerted itself to 
 serve me, for the revisal of this Lecture in particular, and the 
 correction of whatever shall appear to your nice judgment im- 
 properly expressed? The extension of some passages that are
 
 224 MEMOIRS. 
 
 concise, the contraction of otiiers that are diffuse and redund- 
 ant, the elevation ol' those that are low, and the illumination of 
 those that are obscure, which your pen is so capable of giving, 
 would throw a wonderful lustre over this sketch of sacred bio- 
 graphy, and enable me to send it abroad to meet the scrutiniz- 
 ing eye of the public. I know how great is the favour I am 
 requesting ; I know the variety and importance of your avoca- 
 tions, and the unreasonableness of my request after obligations 
 so recent in their effects ; but I also know the unequalled ra- 
 pidity of your pen, either in the original structure or in the sub- 
 sequent improvement of composition ; and what have still 
 greater weight with me, those benevolent and friendly disposi- 
 tions with which you have honoured, worthy Sir, your most 
 obliged and most grateful servant, J. White. 
 
 Please to transmit to me my copy of the character of Christ 
 by the post, with any alterations you please to make, as soon 
 as suits your convenience. The press will soon be at our heels. 
 
 Speaking with Stinton the other day concerning the book 
 De Tribus Impostoribus,* I desired him to set down on paper 
 what he could meet with on the subject. The next morning 
 he gave me the following memorandum, which, without his 
 permission, I take the liberty of sending you. A full note on 
 the subject of so curious a book would be a singular accession 
 to my character of Mahomet. 
 
 It would take up too much space to copy the let- 
 ters through 1785 ; they are all addressed " To my 
 worthy and learned friend," and in a note, dated 
 Sept. 29th, he asks for a Sermon for Whitehall. 
 It may be on any subject, I wish it were tolerably legible. 
 
 J.W. 
 
 Oxford, December 2lst, 1786. 
 
 WORTHY AND LEARNED SIR, 
 
 I am obliged to you for your kind invitation to Hatton 
 
 the book (the accm-sed book) f is actually printing, 
 
 but the press is slow ; nothing, however, is wanting on my 
 part to expedite the publication. You will receive in a few 
 
 * See Appendix. f Abdollatiph.
 
 MEMOIRS. 225 
 
 days a satisfactory letter from J. Parsons (Bishop of P.) on the 
 subject of Bellendenus. 
 
 Of the Rector (Dr. Stinton of Exeter) I have nothing to 
 say ; but that we meet accidentally once or twice a week, 
 shake hands, walk and talk together on general subjects, but 
 never meet at each other's rooms. I remain, worthy Sir, &c. 
 yours respectfully, J. W. 
 
 Smith of Pembroke intends to accompany me. 
 
 Oxford, October Uth, 178Y. 
 
 MY MOST WORTHY AND LEARNED FRIEND, 
 
 I have been poorly in health, and not much in spirits, for 
 some time past ; otherwise I should not have failed, as bound 
 by every tie of decency and propriety, to have written to you 
 long ago. Two or three trifling matters have given me uneasi- 
 ness, and unhappily I cannot boast of your fortitude ; I am no 
 philosopher at all. However, with respect to yourself, I must 
 do myself the justice to say, that not a day has passed since 
 our last meeting, in which I have not thought of you with gra- 
 titude, with reverence, and with the most sincere and ardent 
 wishes for your happiness. 
 
 I went to the Bodleian immediately on receiving your letter, 
 but could find no manuscript notes on Terentianus Maurus. If 
 you will send me a reference to them, I will copy them imme- 
 diately. Stinton dined and supped with me on Monday, and I 
 spent a day with him in Exeter last week, by particular invita- 
 tion, I received information this morning that there is a par- 
 cel for me in town from Sir William Jones, and am curious to 
 know the contents, and hope it will contain some observations 
 on the Bampton Lectures, which I understand Sir William has 
 read with attention, &c. 
 
 In the foregoing letter, December 21st, 1786, 
 White asserts, that the accursed book is in the 
 press. I find the following lively memorandum, 
 dated "January 12th, 1787," in Parr's hand; the 
 memorandum itself by Mr. Parry, subscribed by 
 White and witnessed by Mr. Parry and Dr. Parr. 
 
 VOL. I. a
 
 226 MEMOIRS. 
 
 The Rev. Jos. White, B. D. Fellow of Wadham C. Oxford, 
 Laudian Professor of Arabic, one of His Majesty's Preachers 
 at Whitehall, sometimes Minister at Hatton, and more often a 
 lover in the same; a great promiser, and no performer; a 
 warm lover, and yet an old Bachelor ; a great scholar, but a 
 greater idler; doth hereby and herein, and in virtue hereof, 
 solemnly promise, covenant, engage, vow, and downright swear 
 by Mahomet, Hannah, Fohi, and all other Gods under the 
 earth, and Goddesses upon the earth, among whom he includ- 
 eth Beelzebub, Belial, and Abaddon, of the former, Hannah 
 the glove-maker, and the Bar Maid of Nando's, of the latter — 
 that he, the aforesaid Professor, will produce and publish, law- 
 fully begotten of his own brain, the long. expected, long-pro- 
 mised, long-neglected, long- delayed, long-hated, and long- 
 abused Latin translation of Abdolatif's History of Egypt, with 
 Notes and Preface thereto belonging, and nothing therewithal 
 connected, prints, paper, and packthread excepted, on or be- 
 fore the 1st of May next ensuing, under the penalty of one 
 guinea, to be by him the said Professor expended in Roast Beef 
 and Old Port, whereof, in consequence hereof, he is not to 
 partake. Joseph White. 
 
 Witnesses, Samuel Parr. 
 John Parry. 
 
 The Bampton Lectures and the Abdollatiph were 
 not the only demands on Parr's intellect made by 
 Professor White. The following letters will prove 
 that he not only preached for him at Whitehall, 
 but that he also furnished him with a Sermon for 
 the 5th of November, and a Consecration Sermon : 
 
 MY MOST WORTHY FRIEND, Oxford, Feb. 2Gth, 1786. 
 
 I have executed all your commissions in Oxford with scru- 
 pulous exactness. I have employed myself diligently in Ab- 
 dollatif. I have written to Schultens. I have sent the Preface 
 to the press, and you will soon see it in print. 
 
 The Bishop of London has politely excused my attendance
 
 MEMOIRS. 227 
 
 at Whitehall, upon your kind offer of supplying my place. The 
 afternoon Sermon shall be forwarded to you in two or three 
 days. 
 
 The good Proctor (Mr. Routh), Smith, Stinton, and John 
 Parsons, desire to be respectfully remembered to you; they 
 are all well. Dr. Adams* is very sorry on your account, that 
 he was absent in January. Yours gratefully, J. W. 
 
 I am extremely angry with Gilbert Stuart ; the concluding 
 part of the review is very impertinent.f 
 To the Rev. Dr, Parr. 
 
 MY MOST WORTHY FKIEND, Mcirck 29th. 
 
 I return you my sincere thanks for the great favour you 
 have done me, in supplying my preaching at Whitehall. It 
 would have been extremely inconvenient to me to have at- 
 tended myself; and the audience, I doubt not, thought them- 
 selves very much obliged to me for giving them an opportunity 
 of hearing the first preacher in England. 
 
 I have executed all your commissions to Mr. Legge, Bur- 
 gess, &c, &c. The good and the learned among us wish im- 
 patiently to see you here ; and the Proctor, in particular, de- 
 sires to know by return of post what night he may have the 
 pleasure of expecting you. 
 
 Yours wholly and for ever, J. W. 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. Parr. 
 
 It was not till near the close of White's life, that 
 Parr recovered from him two Sermons, which had 
 gained him nearly as much fame as the jBampton 
 Lectures themselves. One of them was a Sermon 
 preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, by White, on the 
 
 * Master of Pembroke. 
 
 i" Is not this the review of the Education Sermon ? I quoted 
 a sentence from it under that head as written by White. Is it 
 possible that Stuart should add this concluding impertinent sen- 
 tence, without White's knowledge ? 
 
 a 2
 
 228 MEMOIRS. 
 
 5th of November, 1787, and which I heard him de- 
 hver to a congregation, which with difficulty re- 
 strained itself from the demonstration of applause. 
 There was a low buzz, when he concluded a long 
 and eloquent discourse on the influence and strata- 
 gems of popery, with the sentence, " And now it 
 waves the olive branch, and now it brandishes the 
 sword." The other was a Consecration Sermon. 
 
 By much effort (says Parr, in a memorandum on the follow- 
 ing letter) I recovered the two Sermons which I had given to 
 Dr. White. I had forgotten them, though, in his pamphlet. 
 Dr. White had mentioned them slightly. After much evasion, 
 I obtained them ; and I endeavoured to obtain them because 
 Dr. Routh had mentioned them to Mr. Bartlam. They were, 
 at my request, delivered into the hands of Dr. Routh, who 
 gave a receipt to Dr. White. Dr. Routh was pleased with 
 them ; and at last I remembered, that when the Lambeth Ser- 
 mon was preached, Bishop Hallifax, who heard it, as White 
 told roe, said it was superior to the Bampton Lectures. I read 
 only parts of them, when I had recovered them, and I gave 
 them to John Bartlam, who now possesses them. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Birmingham, August 9th, 1808. 
 
 Mr. Warner very obligingly communicated to me the verbal 
 message which, in consequence of bad health, you, while you 
 were at Bath, had desired him to convey to me ; and I after- 
 wards wrote to him a very serious message, which it seems he 
 could not deliver to you, because you had then left that place. 
 I expected, however, to be favoured with a letter from you 
 after your arrival at Oxford; and in consequence of the deter- 
 mination which I have formed upon a very unpleasant, but a 
 very important subject, I find myself under the necessity of 
 writing to you for the third time. 
 
 It exceeds the bounds of all probability that the two Ser- 
 mons should not be within your reach ; and as, upon examin- 
 ing a copy of the first letter which I had occasion to write to
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 229 
 
 you, I think it quite superfluous to enlarge upon the reason- 
 ableness of my claim, I must again entreat you, dear Sir, by 
 every consideration which ought to weigh with you, as a man 
 of letters and a man of honour, to lose no further time in re- 
 storing to me two compositions which, having answered the 
 purpose for which they were originally intended, can no longer 
 be of use to yourself; and, therefore, instead of falling into the 
 hands of any other person, should be given back to myself, 
 their author. You and I are descending, perhaps, rapidly to 
 the grave. It is the sincere, it is the anxious, it is the most 
 serious wish of my heart to avoid altercation. For Heaven's 
 sake, then, do what I require to be done ; and what I shall 
 persist in requiring, because I feel the strongest conviction 
 that I am right. 
 
 I hope, that the Bath waters have been useful to you, and I 
 shall hear with real and great pleasure, that your recovery is 
 far advanced. I beg my best compliments to your lady, and 
 have the honour to be, with great respect, dear Sir, your faithful 
 well-wisher and obedient humble servant, 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. White. S. Parr. 
 
 Christ Church, Aug.20, 1808. 
 
 Dr. "White presents compliments to Dr. Parr, and informs 
 him, that, according to Dr. Parr's instructions, he has this day 
 delivered to the President of Magdalen College a packet, con- 
 taining two MSS. viz. a Sermon for the fifth of November, on 
 Matt. X. 34. And a Consecration Sermon on 1 Cor. xiv. 33. 
 
 After the lapse of twenty-one years Dr. White cannot under- 
 take to specify the unimportant alterations which he made in 
 these Discourses. The additions he believes to be accurately 
 marked in the margin with red ink. 
 
 After the most diligent examination of his papers. Dr. White 
 assures Dr. Parr that he possesses no other copies of these Ser- 
 mons ; and he has no reason to think, that any other copy of 
 either of them exists. 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. Parr.
 
 230 MEMOIRS. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Routli to the Rev. Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Oxford, Aug. 21, 1808. 
 
 Dr, White called yesterday, bringing two Sermons with him, 
 which he desired me to acknowledge the receipt of in writing. 
 This I did, after examining whether the Sermons agreed with 
 the form of the receipt he had drawn up. He then put them 
 in a paper, sealing it, and delivered the parcel to me. All he 
 said on the subject was, that he had long doubted whether he 
 could find these Sermons. 
 
 God bless you, my dear Sir, and believe me to be, sincerely 
 yours, M. J. Routh. 
 
 But we must go back again in order of time. I 
 insert the following letters to display the manage- 
 ment of White^ when the Banipton Lectures be- 
 came part of the triumphant literature of the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford: 
 
 WORTHY AND LEARNED SIR, Oxford, Dcc. 1, ITS'i. 
 
 I am very much ashamed to say, that since the publication 
 of the Sermons I have been a little dissipated, being over- 
 whelmed with the flattering approbation of the University, and 
 the kind invitations of friends. The period of pleasure is now- 
 past, and I am returning to serious application. 
 
 I most sincerely beg your pardon for not having paid a more 
 punctual attention to your letters. I have in this instance been 
 guilty of a great fault, for which I am heartily sorry, but I am 
 conscious of no mental ingratitude and no disingenuity. 
 
 I think myself extremely obliged to you for your kind inten- 
 tion of reviewing the Sermons ; and should much rather have 
 had them reviewed by you than by any other man in the king- 
 dom. But I had no choice at all in the matter. When I went 
 last year into Devonshire to spend a week or two with Stinton, 
 I had the honour of being invited to dinner by several gentle- 
 men in the neighbourhood. At Sir John Chichester's table I 
 MET ACCIDENTALLY WITH Mr. Badcock, who livcs at a few 
 miles distance from Youlbton, and who appeared to be a very
 
 MEMOIRS. 231 
 
 gentlemanlike, sensible man. He was extremely polite to me, 
 and kindly offered, if I should publish any future work, he 
 would represent it to the public in the most favourable light he 
 could. The fame of the Lectures (which fame chiefly belongs 
 to yourself) got into Devonshire before the Sei^mons were put 
 to press. Upon this occasion I received a letter of congratula- 
 tion from Mr. B. reminding me that he had promised to under- 
 take the Review, and wishing me to send him four or five of the 
 Sermons, as soon as such a number should be worked off; which, 
 when I came to the end of the fifth Sermon, I accordingly did. 
 When the book was published, I sent a whole copy to Mr. B. and 
 since that time have heard nothing farther concerning the Re- 
 view. I suppose the fact is, Mr. B. had prepared some observa- 
 tions on the subject; and having (as I have heard) mentioned to 
 some gentlemen of our University who are natives of Devonshire, 
 that he should write the critique, did not like to give me the 
 credit of an article which he had taken some pains about. This 
 is the simple history of the business, and I am sure you have so 
 much candour, that you will not be angry with me for what I 
 had no concern in. 
 
 I intend to write to you a letter of apology with regard to 
 the publication itself to-morrow ; and am in the mean time, 
 worthy Sir, with the profoundest respect and the sincerest gra- 
 titude, your most obliged servant, J. White. 
 
 The sale of the Lectures continues to be rapid. The last 
 Sermon is considered by every person as the best beyond com- 
 parison. 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. Parr, Norwich. 
 
 I shall now lay before the readers the correspond- 
 ence between Parr and Mr. Badcock, formerly a 
 Dissenting Minister at Barnstaple in Devon, a man 
 of great learning, and who had distinguished him- 
 self by his controversial writings against Dr. Priest- 
 ley and Mr. Madan, the author of Thelyphthora ; by 
 some other theological discussions, and various cri- 
 ticisms and Essays in the Monthly Review. It ap-
 
 232 MEMOIRS. 
 
 pears, from the letters of the Rev. Mr. Hutton to 
 Dr. Parr, that Mr. Badcock had {quitted the Dis- 
 senters. 
 
 In truth he was certainly obliged to leave Barnstaple in con- 
 sequence of embarrassments in an affair of gallantry, in which 
 his conduct gave serious offence to many of his friends. This 
 affair, I can assure you, is not forgotten by his Dissenting bre- 
 thren in Devon; and if you say that he conformed to the 
 Church towards the close of his life, when his judgmoit was 
 viost mature, I am convinced you will soon see other reasons 
 assigned for his conformity ; and I wish the subject could be 
 passed over in silence, I am confident that B.'s memory will 
 suffer by the discussion. He found that the unrelenting spirit 
 of persecution was not appeased, even when he was counte- 
 nanced by the most respectable characters in the county, and 
 the conformity to the Church was not calculated to suppress 
 the malevolence of his foes. 
 
 The hints about hterary assistance, and the insi- 
 nuations concerning the dark character of some 
 individual contained in one of Parr's letters, it will 
 be seen, were instantly comprehended by Badcock ; 
 for he was acquainted with the assistance Parr gave 
 to White, though Parr knew nothing of Badcock's 
 services in the Bampton Lectures. 
 
 From Mr. Badcock to the Rev. Dr. Parr, Norwich. 
 
 South Molton, Devon, Easter Day 1785. 
 
 REVEREND SIR, 
 
 I believe my name is not unknown to you. Yours is well 
 known to me ; and your great learning and abilities have been 
 frequently the subjects of conversation among my friends. 
 
 I am now your petitioner, and I am not ashamed to beg, if 
 Dr. Parr will vouchsafe to grant. 
 
 You had, I find, a wish to review our friend White's Sermons. 
 I had made a previous application for them ; and I suppose Mr.
 
 MEMOIRS. 233 
 
 Griffiths thought it would have been a slight to me, had he 
 afterwards accepted your obliging offer. 
 
 I have for some time been exceedingly ill with my old dis- 
 order the head-ache; and have such frequent and severe attacks 
 that I am at times alarmed at an apprehension of disagreeable 
 consequences. All the time I could redeem from the visits of 
 this most unwelcome companion, I have been obliged to devote 
 to other pursuits. The illness of my uncle, with whom I live, 
 hath given me continual anxiety ; and his present situation is 
 such as to require all my attention and care. 
 
 In this moment of distress and uneasiness I take the liberty 
 of writing to you, to solicit your remarks on White's Sermons. 
 I shall be obliged to you if you would send them to South 
 Molton to be incorporated with those I have made, and with 
 your assistance (which I shall be proud to acknowledge) I 
 shall be able to produce an article worthy of the work. Please 
 to point out what passages deserve most notice. I write in 
 great haste, amidst much distraction of mind and pain of body, 
 and have the honour to be. Reverend Sir, your very sincere 
 and obedient Sam. Badcock. 
 
 P. S. The article must be ready for the ensuing month. 
 
 Dr. Parr's Answer to Mr. Badcock. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Norvcich, April 1st, 1785. 
 
 Our friend Mr. Griffiths told me that you were subject to 
 severe head-aches, I am sorry to find the account confirmed 
 by the letter which I had the honour of receiving from you, I 
 am myself exposed to the same disaster, and when your letter 
 came I was confined to my room. 
 
 I had intended to review the Professor's Sermons, and I men- 
 tioned this intention to Mr. Burney. It gave me, however, 
 great pleasure to find that the task was undertaken in a quarter 
 where I was sure it would be well executed, 
 
 I had drawn up a long train of preliminary remarks on the 
 style and use of Sermons, and I had struggled with Hume's po- 
 sition in favour of the Pagan religion, which owed its support to 
 splendid ceremonies rather than to doctrines. As the Review
 
 234 MEMOIRS. 
 
 is begun, these remarks cannot have a proper place, and I 
 have not bestowed a thought on the Sermons in detail. The 
 new edition came out yesterday, and I shall be glad to have 
 the review adapted to it. There is one Sermon which Mr. 
 White shewed me, on the propagation of the Gospel. I think 
 it very sensible, and wish to see large extracts made from it. 
 The book will reach me, I hope, in a day or two ; and I will 
 take the liberty of pointing out in a future letter such passages 
 as seem to me deserving of notice. You cannot offend me by 
 any difference of opinion as to their merit. I am no stranger 
 to your great attainments as a critic, and thank you very sin- 
 cerely for opening with me a correspondence, which I hope for 
 an opportunity of improving. 
 
 I shall be glad to hear that you have a little breathing time 
 from your head-ache, and from the affliction you are now feel- 
 ing on account of your uncle. The observations on miracles 
 are, I think, judicious; and I am pleased with the compo- 
 sition, though I condemn the spirit of the Professor's animated 
 invective against Socinianism. I am, dear Sir, your well-wisher 
 and respectful obedient servant, S. Parr. 
 
 From the Rev. Dr. Parr to the Rev. Mr. Samuel 
 Badcock. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Nonmch, May 2nd, 1785. 
 
 Set your heart at I'est ; for 1 hear from your friends, and I 
 infer from your writings, both epistolary and controversial, 
 that it is an honest and affectionate heart. I will, ex jure post- 
 liminii, undertake the review of Professor White's Sermons, 
 and I can only say, the public has a heavy loss in the change 
 of critics. Not one syllable of w-hat I had written before can 
 be used, as you have already published an introduction, and a 
 
 masterly one, let me say On Sunday, too, I must preach 
 
 before the Bishop, certain Ecclesiastical Dignitaries, and the 
 Corporation. It is a charity sermon, and, should it be pub- 
 lished, I desire you to review it ; and I also desire you to speak 
 your real opinion, not like the versifier in Persius, 1 — 53, who 
 exclaims, Et verum inquis amo, verum mihi dicitc, but with
 
 MEMOIRS. 235 
 
 the sincerity of a man who feels some little confidence in his 
 own strength, and who feels as sincerely the greatest respect 
 for your judgment, and the gi*eatest esteem for your candour. 
 How far is Devonshire from Warwickshii'e, where I am going 
 to live ? The map frightens me ; but I hope balloons will soon 
 enable us to see each other. Towards such men as yourself, I 
 have a strong curiosity, like Horace, to know the " vultum ha- 
 bitumque hominis ;" and should our cross fate deny me the 
 satisfaction, I yet hope to meet you, and men like you, in a 
 better life, when ive shall knoiv even as tve are knoivn. I am, 
 dear Sir, your hearty well-wisher and obedient servant, 
 
 Samuel Parr. 
 
 It will be seen, in the correspondence immedi- 
 ately following;, that White's negligence, to give it 
 the mildest appellation, had excited Badcock's an- 
 ger against Parr, in consequence of the detention 
 of a letter. What White's motives might be, it is 
 not difficult to conjecture. Was it jealousy, or was 
 it fear ? The subsequent events throw a light upon 
 this dark manoeuvre ; and well might he apprehend 
 the meeting, and the growing friendship and confi- 
 dence of two men whom he had duped and cajoled. 
 It is a fine specimen of what Parr terms, in his 
 remonstrance to White, " your own dark manage- 
 ment, united with your own clumsy execution." 
 
 From the Rev. Dr. White to the Rev. Mr. Bad- 
 cock, inclosing " a copy of Dr. Parr's letter to Mr. 
 Badcock." 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Professor White drives the pen, whilst I am wielding the 
 pipe; and though the fumes of tobacco are friendly to stupe- 
 faction, the remembrance of you, of your talents, and your 
 virtues, inspires me with cheerfulness, and almost animates me
 
 236 MEMOIRS. 
 
 to eloquence. But away, my dear Sir, with studied sentences, 
 and rounded periods, and all the idle parade of literary com- 
 pliment. I, for two months, have been emancipated from the 
 galling fetters of my profession. I am at this moment open to 
 all the generous and expanded feelings of friendship ; and to 
 you, who are a scholar, a philosopher, and a Christian, I find 
 an object which calls forth their utmost vigour, and fills up their 
 most complete extent. I have read and admired your writings ; 
 I have heard, and I love your character. I long to see you, to 
 converse with you, and to enjoy, under the auspices of your 
 presence, and the animating influence of your example, those 
 pure and sublime pleasures which can only be tasted by scho- 
 lars who are without pedantry, by philosophers who judge 
 without dogmatism, and by Christians who believe without bi- 
 gotry. White tells me that you never eat, never drink, and, 
 what is worse than all, that you never smoke.; but he does 
 ample justice to the soundness of your judgment, to the copi- 
 ousness of your knowledge, to the gaiety of your spirits, to 
 the purity, to the candour, and to the benevolence of your 
 heart. Let me, then, entreat you to saddle your horse, and 
 hasten to Oxford, where I shall stay till the 1 1th of January ; 
 and where the cup which I am now quaffing will neither be full 
 nor sweet, unless you pour into it the umcov /ueXi which flows 
 in rich and abundant streams from your head and heart. God 
 bless you, dear Sir, and grant the continuance and increase of 
 your friendship, as one of the most important of those bles- 
 sings which he in his providence has in store for me. 
 
 [What follows the Doctor wrote with his own hand.] 
 
 You will read and believe, and understand, and feel, what I 
 write, when I subscribe myself, yours most respectfully and 
 heartily, Sam. Parr. 
 
 Exeter College, December 24:th, 1785. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Wadham Coll. Aug. 7,* 1786. 
 
 The above letter, of which I took a copy at the time, was 
 
 * White's note for 5^500 has the same date, and was proba- 
 bly sent as one of the " inclosed papers."
 
 MEMOIRS. 237 
 
 hastily written one night about half-past twelve at the Rector 
 of Exeter's, where Dr, Parr and myself happened to be alone, 
 and were speaking of you. It miscarried, I apprehend, through 
 my paying the postage, and sending it, together with the letter, 
 by an improper person to the office. 
 
 I am much obliged to you for the great civilities you were so 
 good as to shew me when I was last in Devon ; and am, dear 
 Sir, with the sincerest respect and the most affectionate regard, 
 Yours, J. White, 
 
 Please to present my best respects, with many thanks, to 
 your mother, your sister, and your uncle. 
 
 I am going to Dr. Parr's at Hatton, near Warwick, to-mor- 
 row morning, and shall be there at least eight days, where I 
 hope to have the pleasure of hearing from you. The inclosed 
 papers, marked on the outside, " Memorandums. Monthly Re- 
 view." you will be so good as to keep by you, and return them 
 me when I have the pleasure of seeing j^ou next in Devon. 
 
 From the Rev. Mr. Badcock to the Rev. Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, South Molton, July, 1786. 
 
 I find there hath been a misconception of certain particulars, 
 which I take the earliest opportunity to rectify. 
 
 When your admirable Sermon on Education was sent to me, 
 I was in a state both of body and mind ill qualified to do jus- 
 tice to its great and distinguishing merits. I found myself 
 every way unequal to the task of criticism, and was convinced 
 that I was incapable of expressing my own sentiments in such 
 language as I am satisfied with. I could not have stated my 
 objections with sufficient perspicuity, or expressed my appro- 
 bation with sufficient force. I therefore writ immediately to 
 Mr. G , and desired he would commit the business to bet- 
 ter hands, signifying at the same time a wish that you might 
 be informed that I had relinquished the undertaking. 
 
 To the objections, which arose from the state of my health 
 and spirits, I added another, and it was this ; that I had just 
 then formed a resolution (and from which I never intend to 
 deviate for any person, or on any occasion), that I would not
 
 238 MEMOIRS. 
 
 any longer be known to any author (if it could possibly be 
 avoided) as the reviewer of his work. I have felt the great in- 
 convenience of it. It is a damp on criticism. It represses all 
 its freedom and vigour, and, as it gives me the idea of a task, 
 I always execute it with reluctance, and never recollect it with 
 satisfaction. 
 
 I therefore ask your pardon for having precipitately given 
 you any reason to expect that I would undertake the review of 
 your Sermon ; but I concluded that it was resigned to better 
 hands, which would do it more justice, and give you greater 
 satisfaction. 
 
 This apology is due to your great talents and erudition ; and 
 I am sorry that I should so long have laid under the imputa- 
 tion of unfriendliness. I took it for granted, that you had been 
 positively assured, that / was not the author of the article in which 
 your Sermon is reviewed. 
 
 I also pledge you my honour to another thing. I never re- 
 ceived your letter from Oxford ; I never received one line from 
 you in answer to my last, and, to tell you the truth, I was 
 somewhat hurt at your neglect. 
 
 Our friend, Mr. Professor White, is now with me, and he 
 
 CONJECTURES THAT YOU NEVEK RECEIVED MY LETTER. The 
 
 contents I cannot recollect. It was an answer to one in which 
 you speak of your intended removal from Norwich, and I per- 
 fectly remember that I regretted that I could not decypher 
 some of your characters, " for I would not lose a word that 
 drops from the pen of Dr. Parr," or something like that. 
 
 I hope you will think of me with your usual respect and 
 friendship. I am sure that, in this business, I have not for- 
 feited my claim to either ; and it is my ambition to be loved 
 and esteemed by such a man as yourself 
 
 I have hastily snatched up my pen to throw out my heart to 
 you, without suffering you to think ill of it any longer. 
 
 The Professor and myself are going to make a little excursion 
 into the northern parts of the county. I only regret that his 
 stay will be so short. He hath much to see in these parts, and 
 there are many who wish to see him. To-day I shall carry him 
 to Sir Bouchier Wray's, and to-morrow to Sir John Chiches- 
 ter's. They will esteem it an honour to entertain him ; and he
 
 MEMOIRS. 239 
 
 may be as much at his ease at their houses as at his own Col- 
 lege. I hope to have the pleasure of hearing from you soon ; 
 and am, with the truest esteem, dear Sir, your very faitliful 
 and affectionate servant, S. Badcock. 
 
 Monday morning, 7 o'clock. 
 
 From tlie Rev. Dr. Parr to the Rev. Mr. Badcock. 
 
 DEAR SIR, August 2. 
 
 The Professor has, I hope, told you that the message by Mr. 
 Griffiths was punctually and faithfully delivered to me. The 
 reasons you assign amount to a full justification of your unwil- 
 lingness to be known ; and yet I cannot help confessing to you 
 that they would rarely act upon my mind with the force they 
 seem to have upon yours. I lament your hard fortune, that, 
 with a wish to be concealed, you should once have been known, 
 and when known betrayed, and vilified in the blackest terms, 
 and from the foulest motives. I thank Heaven, that my can- 
 dour, and my charity, and my heterodoxy, are of a cast so dif- 
 ferent from Dr. Joseph Priestley's ; but I must meet you a 
 little more closely on the subject of the review ; and suppose, 
 dear Sir, that you had thought, what the reviewer wrote ? You 
 must not have thought disrespectfully of me. The only room 
 I should have had for censure would have been, in the artificial 
 generality of the criticism ; in the studied detrusioti of the 
 work into the Catalogue dungeon ; in the apparent solicitude 
 to counteract extorted praise by indefinite and unanswerable 
 censure. Of such writing I do not suspect Mr. Badcock ; and 
 he may be assured this is not a friendly way of talking, and I 
 will change it. You, dear Sir, may be assured, that long, very 
 long before the arrival of your letter, on the first comparison of 
 your letter with the critique, I believed my critic not to be 
 Mr. B, I wish you to read this in the hearing of Mr. White, 
 
 I take it for granted, that his own regard for both of 
 
 us, and his own fears, least any sort of bitterness should lurk 
 in the minds of either, suggested to him the mention of this 
 affair. But he has heard nothing from my mouth that can war- 
 rant him in supposing me to have suspected you ; and he does 
 know, from a word or two I dropped on the subject once in
 
 240 MEMOIRS. 
 
 conversation, and once in a letter, that I look towards a man 
 whose obligations to me are numberless, on the score of repu- 
 tation, interest, and literary assistance, and whose heart I have 
 been exploring for three years, with anxiety to make some de- 
 termination, and with anguish from that Avliich I have made. 
 But we will talk of more cheerful subjects. An injui-ed and 
 an able man I have long thought you — I now know you to be a 
 social and benevolent one. Let me put you down in a list of 
 friends, with whom you would not shrink to be associated. 
 Come and see me — write to me when you can — and if my an- 
 swer be not quite so exact as you wish, let me say, as Milton 
 does to his friend Diodati, brjXoy on ws f^pabvs kuI oKvrjpos ns 
 tjy (pixrei irpos to ypd(p€iy. 
 
 Where is the Professor ? Will you come with him ? Desire 
 him to be very careful about my most precious books. Grif- 
 fiths, I find, is impatient to hear from him. I beseech you to 
 join with his sincere friends in endeavouring to rouse him 
 from this inattention, which (I experimentally know) is made 
 an instrument for degrading his character and retarding his 
 preferment, by certain malevolent wretches at Oxford. This 
 is an additional reason for which I long to see you, and concert 
 some measures to put these calumniating vermin to shame. 
 Take care of your health and spirits ; and be assured that all 
 the illiberal and inhuman and infernal slanders let loose upon 
 you, have produced no other effect upon wise and good men, 
 than solicitude for your interests, and a respect for your abili- 
 ties. I am, dear Sir, with great respect and very sincere re- 
 gard, your well-wisher and obedient servant, S. Parr. 
 
 From the Rev. Dr. Parr to the Rev. Samuel Badcock. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I received, and I thank you for your animated, elegant, and 
 most friendly letter. A full answer to it you shall have when 
 I have time to write one ; and yet I wish you to anticipate it 
 by a visit hither, for at Hatton we have a good house, good 
 port, good library, good company, good spirits, and good air ; 
 though Dr. J. Priestley lives in our neighbourhood, without 
 partaking of any of these good things, and, what to his mind
 
 MEMOIRS. 241 
 
 may be more afflictive, without the power of interupting them. 
 White is just setting otFfor Warwick — it is seven o'clock in the 
 morning — and I have been lining his stomach with tea, fortified 
 by rum, cream, &c. &c. not to pamper his appetite, or please 
 his palate, but to preserve his stomach from the cold, for you 
 and I know that he is a Pythagorean in abstinence, and a fine 
 lady in squeamishness. But to return from this Lucilian di- 
 gression. White is going to Warwick to hear a Sermon, he 
 knows and cares not by whom, or on what — to make himself 
 fine at the barber's, that he may frighten my parishioners with 
 his Jove-like locks in my pulpit this afternoon — and to collect 
 a precious treasure of emetics, cathartics, diaphoretics, and 
 diuretics, which a young Scotch physician has prescribed for 
 him, and which I pronounce necessary for clearing the Profes- 
 sor's intellect and stomach, both of which are sorely injured by 
 his attention, shall we say, or inattention, to Abdollatif. But 
 the work shall be done ere he leaves Hatton, Farewell, dear Sir. 
 Yours ti-uly, S. Parr. 
 
 The date of this letter must be the middle or 
 end of August 1786, for White continued at Hatton 
 till after September 6, and he had written the note 
 of hand at Oxford August 7.' The P. S. now to be 
 inserted is very curious: it seems to refer to the 
 publication of the Egyptian work : of course the 
 note of hand could have nothing to do with it. 
 
 White fills up the sheet by asking, 
 
 occur to you on the subject, I shall be very much 
 
 obliged to you for. It is my intention throughout the whole 
 work to intermix, as judiciously as I can, grave scholar-like 
 discourses with those of a lighter and more eloquent turn. The 
 Sermons are specimens of what I mean in the former case, and 
 this sketch of the life of Cleopatra is intended for a specimen 
 in the latter. Yours ever, J. W. 
 
 In 1788 Mr. Badcock died at the house of Sir 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 John Chichester in London ; and a note for ^500 
 from White was found by Sir John in his pocket 
 book. Dr. Gabriel, Preacher at the Octagon Chapel 
 in Bath, became acquainted with Mr. Badcock only 
 about six months before his death, on his offering 
 himself as assistant minister. 
 
 Death (Dr. Gabriel says) deprived me of an able and faith- 
 ful assistant — my congregation of a judicious instructor — and, 
 as Dr. White eloquently expresses himself, in his letter to Miss 
 Badcock, " Learning of one of her brightest ornaments ; and 
 religion of one of her ablest defenders." 
 
 Dr. Gabriel hastened to town immediately after 
 the death of Mr. Badcock ; and on the 4th of June 
 had an interview with Professor White, who re- 
 ceived intelligence of the note of hand, with appa- 
 rent confusion and displeasure. Dr. Gabriel then 
 related to him a conversation between Mr. Badcock 
 and himself, which seemed to prove that it was the 
 remuneration for services done by Mr. Badcock in 
 the Bampton Lectures ; but, in order to settle all 
 the affairs, it was agreed, that Dr. Gabriel should go 
 down to South Molton in Devon, where Mr. Bad- 
 cock's sister lived, and where his papers were depo- 
 sited. He did so. 
 
 Miss Badcock produced the original note, and put 
 many of her brothers papers into his possession. 
 Dr. Gabriel then followed the Professor to Oxford, 
 called on him, 
 
 and not only found him dissatisfied at the result of a 
 
 journey undertaken at his request, and performed at my own 
 expense, but I was accused of being in league with Miss R. 
 to pick his pocket {^I remember his very "words). Incensed at
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 243 
 
 tliis charge, I declared that if he persisted in it I would lay the 
 whole conduct before the University ; and I gave him till the 
 next morning to reconsider the matter. I called at the ap- 
 pointed time ; but the Doctor, during a long and warm conver- 
 sation, neither retracted the charge nor apologized for the 
 affront, — and therefore I mentioned the matter among my 
 friends at Oxford. 
 
 This mention of the matter reached Parr's ears, 
 and his astonishment may well be conceived, when 
 it is recollected, that no communication had been 
 made to him respecting Badcock's assistance. — No, 
 not even by Badcock himself during their corre- 
 spondence. At first, he did not believe the story : 
 but the undeniable testimony of Dr. Gabriel and the 
 Rev. Mr. Hutton, Chaplain of Guy's Hospital, a 
 friend of the Badcock's, dispelled the mist, and 
 cleared up all those doubts, which the shufflings of 
 Professor White had raised in his mind. For the 
 letter to Badcock, which I have quoted, proves that 
 such doubts had been raised up, by the dark ma- 
 noeuvres and ambiguous character of the Professor. 
 Immediately after the discovery of the note of 
 hand by Sir John Chichester, Dr. Gabriel wrote for 
 the first time to Dr. Parr ; and Mr. Hutton had 
 some communication with him on the subject of 
 the Bampton Lectures, and in his second letter, 
 which I now copy, nearly the whole of the plot is 
 developed. 
 
 DEAR SIR, South Molten, Devon, June 27th, 1789. 
 
 The respect which I feel for your character, and the can- 
 dour which 1 have experienced in your conduct, induce me to 
 address you again on the subject of the Bampton Lectures. 
 
 R 2
 
 244 iMEMOIRS. 
 
 The opinion which I entertained when I had tlie pleasure of 
 seeing you at Oxford, with respect to Mr. Badcock's claim, 
 and the Professor's conduct, hiis been fully confirmed since by 
 several letters which Dr. Gabriel shewed me at Bath, and by a 
 conversation with Miss Badcock. You probably recollect that, 
 when we met at Mr. Routh's rooms, Mr. Parsons declared that 
 the original note, which he had seen, was not payable at dif- 
 ferent times. I then said, that I could venture positively to 
 assert tlie contrary ; but I confess I was almost tempted to 
 doubt my own recollection. I now send you a copy of the ori- 
 ginal note, which was taken by Dr. Gabriel at Miss Badcock's, 
 in South Molton, and what inference must I draw from this 
 circumstance? Dr. White must have shewn a false note to 
 Mr. Parsons, if his memory can be relied on, which I have no 
 reason to doubt. If my inference be wrong, I shall be obliged 
 to any one w^ho will set me right. Appem-ances are certaiidy 
 bad. If Dr. W.'s friends at Oxford know any circumstances 
 which can throw new light on this dark business, and choose to 
 conceal them, they are answerable for the consequences; and 
 if I am wantonly suffered to remain in an error when I have 
 done all in my power to discover the truth, the fault is not 
 with me, nor has my own conduct merited such treatment. I 
 have acted openly in the accusation, and I only wish that the 
 defence, if any can be made, may be conducted in the same 
 manner. My own convictions will not suflFer me to let the 
 matter rest in its present obscurity. My silence would, in my 
 own opinion, be criminal ; for, though it is neither my business 
 nor my intention to be the defender of Mr. B.'s conduct, yet it 
 is my duty to vindicate any man from the charge of dishonesty, 
 when it is in my power. Justice to the memory of the dead, 
 and humanity to the feelings of the living, both forbid my si- 
 lence ; and you, I am sure, will allow that the claims of justice 
 and humanity are too sacred to be sacrificed to any private 
 considerations. I firmly believe that the note was given for 
 Mr. B.'s assistance in the Sermons ; nor can I discover a single 
 circumstance to confirm the supposition of its having been 
 given for future services. I shall be at Oxford either in the 
 first or second week in July ; I shall then wait on Mr, Routh,
 
 MEMOIRS. 245 
 
 and shall take some method of acquainting the University with 
 my opinion. I shall be happy to receive any command from 
 you at Oxford; and I hope it is needless to assure you that I 
 shall be wholly silent with regard to your claims, nor shall I 
 even allude to them, without your direction. I am sorry to in- 
 terrupt your attention to more important pursuits : but I could 
 not withhold from you my present sentiments and determina- 
 tion, without offering a violence to my own feelings. I have 
 the honour to be, Sir, with great respect, your very obedient 
 servant, H. Hutton. 
 
 I presume you have been informed of the circumstances re- 
 specting my letter to Schomberg. I write this in such haste 
 that I cannot enlarge on the business. 
 
 Copy of the Note. 
 
 ^500. Wadham College, Aug. 7, 1786. 
 
 I promise to pay to the Rev. S. B , of South Molton, 
 
 Devon, the sum of five hundred pounds at or before the times 
 hereafter specified, viz. £50 in the present month, one hundred 
 pounds in the next Oxford Lent Term, and ^350 in July or 
 August 1787. J. White, 
 
 This note was changed by Dr. White July 22d, 1788, for five 
 others. 
 
 There is along correspondence of Dr. Gabriel's in 
 my possession, in which he communicates to Parr 
 the insults he received from Professor White, on pro- 
 ducing the note, and the various steps he was taking 
 to vindicate his own character, and thereby disclos- 
 ing the secret connection of the Professor with 
 Badcock. 
 
 When White was driven from his accusation 
 that Dr. Gabriel and Miss Badcock meant to pick 
 his pocket, he pleaded that the note was intended as 
 a remuneration for the History of Egypt. I have 
 already copied the Professor's letter to Badcock,
 
 246 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 in which he sends the detained letter of Dr. Parr, 
 and " Papers and Memorandums." This letter is 
 dated " August 7th, 1786, Wadham College." The 
 note is dated "August 7th, 1786, Wadham Col- 
 lege." Not a word does he say in this letter of 
 Egypt ; not a word does he say of remuneration for 
 services to be performed ; and when he writes on 
 September 6th, 1786, he thanks Badcock for his 
 kind offer of assistance, and adds, with his usual 
 dark allusion : 
 
 All I meant with regard to the memorandum was to guard 
 against Hutton's seeing it, in case you happened to receive the 
 letter, and open it in his presence. 
 
 This letter was sent from Hatton, where he re- 
 mained a considerable time ; and as has been already 
 proved, where he signed a memorandum, promising 
 to finish Abdollatif, " the accursed book," and 
 WHERE Parr tells Badcock, " the work shall be done 
 'ere he leaves it ;" what need then of further as- 
 sistance ? 
 
 In the end Dr. Gabriel published his " Facts re- 
 lating to the Rev. Dr. White's Bampton Lectures ;" 
 and has proved to demonstration the large share Mr. 
 Badcock had in their composition. I shall quote 
 little of Dr. Gabriel's correspondence, which is very 
 voluminous, as the essence of it is contained in the 
 ' Facts.' But I insert the following " confidential 
 memorandums for Dr. Parr," from Dr. Gabriel's 
 own paper, that the reader may judge of the whole 
 truth, so far as it lies in my power to place it before 
 him :
 
 MEMOIRS. 247 
 
 Dr. Gabriel had agreed with Miss Badcock, on behalf of the 
 Professor, for whom he took a journey at his own expence to 
 South Molton in June 1788, and at the Professor's particular 
 request, that he should pay her a^lOO annually, the latter end 
 of November, for five years successively. Dr. White objects 
 to this ; and accuses Dr. Gabriel of being concerned with Miss 
 Badcock in picking his pocket, as it were, of so much money, on 
 his return to him at Oxford, by desire also, from South Mol- 
 ton ; where he then angrily said, he would go himself and 
 settle the matter with Miss Badcock. He did go, and ex- 
 changed his note for ^500, payable by instalments, in sums of 
 ^50, ^100, and ^350. dated " Wadham College, Oxford, 
 August 7, 1786, for five notes, payable in half the time Dr. Ga- 
 briel had stipulated for with Miss Badcock. 
 
 Extract from Dr. White's letter to Dr. Gabriel on 
 his way to Devon. 
 
 I have no doubt that Miss Badcock has behaved with strict 
 honour in a point of such delicacy. If she refers the matter to 
 you as a common friend, perhaps I may have the pleasure of 
 meeting you at Oxford during our week of Commemoration. I 
 leave every thing to your discretion, and shall acquiesce in 
 every thing you may think proper to do on this occasion. 
 
 Extracts of diiFerent letters from Dr. White to 
 Mr. Badcock. 
 
 Nov. 27, 1783. 
 Our correspondence must be a profound secret. The world 
 suspects that my journey* has not been a mere excursion of 
 pleasure. You will therefore please to direct your letters to 
 me thus — To John Richardsoii, Esq. Wadham College, Oxford. 
 Mr. Richardson has been a member of our College, and now 
 lives in London ; and I shall give strict orders to the porter to 
 bring all letters thus addressed immediately to me. The let- 
 
 * To South Molton.
 
 248 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ters I send to you I shall myself give into the hands of the post- 
 man, as he goes out of Oxford. Dear Mr. Badcock, your great 
 learning, your great understanding, your great virtues, have 
 not produced a more warm admirer, or a more faithful friend, 
 than you have in me. I speak truth only, when I assure you 
 that I shall rank your friendship among the very first honours 
 and happiest events of my life. 
 
 The parts I particularly wish you to undertake are Lecture I. 
 VII. and VIII. 
 
 Of the first, I have nothing farther to say, than to desire, if 
 it can be done with propriety, that some elegant compliment 
 may in some part be paid to the University. Lecture VIII. I 
 leave wholly to yourself. 
 
 Bee. 9th, 1783. 
 Your Introduction to Lecture I. dated Dec, 5th, gives me 
 the most perfect satisfaction. It is extremely ingenious, and 
 incomparably excellent. I did not think it possible for my re- 
 marks to have been introduced with such perfect propriety. 
 
 Jan. 8tk, 1784. 
 Dr. Parr is at present employed in reviewing this Lecture 
 (No. II.) and has already sent me his revision of the first half, 
 executed in a masterly manner. I request the favour of you 
 to undertake the subject from this place, and to continue it up 
 till the final establishment of Christianity. I devolve the whole 
 business on yourself, I have no hints to suggest to you, and 
 you need none. The part where we encounter Gibbon ought 
 to be brilliant, and the conclusion of the whole must be ani- 
 mated and grand I most earnestly entreat you to finish 
 
 the third Lecture as soon as it suits your convenience, and to 
 adapt your manner of writing, as much as you possibly can, to 
 the style of my printed Sermon. Your Scripture allusions are 
 extremely happy, but in the Sermons which I have already 
 preached before the University, I have used these allusions not 
 sparingly. Will it not be right to approach as nearly as we 
 can to former specimens ? &c.
 
 MEMOIRS. 249 
 
 July \Uh, 1784-. 
 Your most valuable communications during the course of 
 these Lectures have contributed very greatly to give them the 
 celebrity they possess. I have written to Murray and Cadell, 
 desiring to know whether they would choose to make me any 
 proposals, on the idea of sharing the expences and profits. I 
 expect their answer this week ; and I request the favour of you 
 to inform me explicitly which of the two modes you yourself 
 prefer, as you are solely concerned in this part of the business. 
 
 Dec. 2rf, 1784. 
 It has likewise happened, very unfortunately, that my credi- 
 tors have lately brought in their bills with some degree of im- 
 pertinence ; and I have been obliged to divide amongst them 
 £25, vv-hich I had destined for Mr. Oliver. Permit me again 
 to return you my most grateful acknowledgments for the very 
 friendly and essential services you have done me on this occa- 
 sion. Without you the work could not have been produced, 
 and all my prospects must have been for ever closed. Yours, 
 with the sincerest respect and affection, J. W. 
 
 MY DEAR AND WORTHY FRIEND, NoV. 23d, 1785. 
 
 I have received your affectionate letter, and am extremely 
 ashamed to have given occasion to the purport of it. Appear- 
 ances are against me ; but at bottom, I hope, every thing is 
 sound. There is no man in the world for whom I have a greater 
 esteem than yourself; no man whom I view in a more liberal 
 light ; no man whom I would serve with more sincerity of 
 mind, &c. &c, &c. In the present instance, I waited for an 
 opportunity of testifying my civility in another manner, which 
 I had not an opportunity of doing till yesterday, and which I 
 forbear to do at present, for fear of giving offence. 
 
 Hatton near Wartoick, Sept. 6th, 1786. 
 All I meant with regard to the memorandum was to guard 
 against Hutton's seeing it, in case you happened to receive the 
 letter and open it in his presence. 
 
 March 5th, 1787. 
 I request the favour of you to supply me with doctrine for
 
 250 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Whitehall on Sunday se'nnight. I have heard you once men- 
 tion a Sermon, which you considered as one of your happiest 
 productions, which you kindly offered to lend me. May I hope 
 for the communication of this favour by post (directed to me 
 at Oxford) in seven or eight days. Yours sincerely, gratefully, 
 and affectionately, J. W. 
 
 MY DEAR AND WORTHY FRIEND, April 27th, 1787. 
 
 I am extremely sorry that I have been the cause of so much 
 uneasiness to you. Your kind (theological) communications 
 came all safely to hand — they were excellent in themselves and 
 answered in the highest and most perfect degree, your friendly 
 intentions. I confess, with shame, I behaved extremely ill, in 
 not gratefully acknowledging the receipt of your admirable 
 Discourses, and not thanking you immediately for your affec- 
 tionate letters. What then can I say in excuse for the neglect? 
 I might indeed plead, and most truly, that some matters of a 
 private and domestic nature have lately given me much uneasi- 
 ness, and occupied all my thoughts. But this, I know, would 
 not be a sufficient apology. I must therefore throw myself en- 
 tirely on your generosity, and if you can once more pardon 
 such very blameable omissions of attention, I pledge myself, 
 and most solemnly engage, never to give you any just ground 
 of complaint and reproof on a similar occasion. 
 
 MY DEAR AND WORTHY FRIEND, November 2d, 1787. 
 
 I think I can promise absolutely to send you a twenty pound 
 note within this fortnight, and if you want fifty pounds more 
 I will endeavour to procure it for you. I understand the tithes 
 of my living for the first year are to be paid me about the 10th. 
 Make yourself perfectly easy about pecuniary matters. 
 
 The injury Parr had received from White, by his 
 disingenuous concealment of Mr. Badcock's part of 
 the composition in the Bampton Lectures, roused 
 his indignation. On the first mention of Badcock's 
 share in the work, Parr denied the possibihty of its 
 being so ; and with his usual fervour launched forth
 
 MEMOIRS. 251 
 
 in praise of the Professor — of his knowledge — of 
 his accomplishments — and his capacity for perform- 
 ing the task which he had undertaken. So earnest 
 indeed was he, that Badcock should have no share 
 in the honour, that, in an unguarded moment, he 
 let loose an intimation, that he was the only man in 
 Dr. White's confidence, and acquainted with the se- 
 crets of the composition. In fine, he told it as a se- 
 cret to Mr. Smyth, of Pembroke College, Oxford, 
 that it was not Badcock, but himself, that had given 
 assistance to the Professor. 
 
 The disclosure of his assistance in the Bamp- 
 ton Lectures was at first whispered through the 
 University of Oxford ; but at length was clamoured 
 through every Hall and College, and exposed to the 
 public by the newspapers. Many were the reflec- 
 tions cast upon Dr. Parr by certain members of the 
 University. By some, his claims were discredited 
 altogether ; by others, they were depreciated as of 
 no importance ; and by none were they supposed to 
 extend far, until they had been examined by a dele- 
 gation of gentlemen in the presence of Professor 
 White and Dr. Parr, and found to consist of about 
 one fifth of the whole composition. From the mo- 
 ment of detection, the Professor threw off the mask 
 of being Parr's gratefully obliged servant ; and with 
 difficulty any answers to his letters could be ex- 
 tracted from him. His friends, however, deemed an 
 inquiry necessary ; and accordingly Dr. John Par- 
 sons, late Lord Bishop of Peterborough, and Dr. 
 Richards, late Rector of Exeter College, accompa- 
 nied Dr. White to Dr. Parr's at Hatton. The fol-
 
 252 MEMOIRS, 
 
 lowing letters will explain the nature of the inter- 
 view and its results : 
 
 From Rev. Dr. Parr to Professor White. 
 
 Rev. Sir, 
 During the course of my enquiries into the valuable assist- 
 ance which you had received from Mr. Badcock, and the 
 strange concealments which you had practised towards me, I 
 last year had the honour of receiving from you one note, and 
 three letters. The note was written from Gloucester about the 
 beginning of May. The letters are dated from Oxford June 
 2d, 13th, and 18th, The note contains a general and guarded 
 acknowledgment of two letters, which you had received from 
 me upon a very " unpleasant subject ;" and to the first of which 
 you sent no answer, till an answer was extorted by the indig- 
 nant expostulations of the second. The letter of June 2d, an- 
 nounces your compliance with my requisition for examining the 
 Lectures ; and your intention of calling upon me with Mr. 
 Parsons and Mr. Richards for that very important purpose. 
 The letter of June 13th, refers to some enquiries, made after 
 the examination, concerning certain passages, which I supposed 
 to have been overlooked during that examination ; but evades 
 all specific and unqualified answer to the specific and qualified 
 claims enumerated in a letter which I wrote to Mr, Parsons 
 upon June 11th, and the contents of which were communicated 
 by Mr. Parsons to you. The letter of June 18th was occasioned 
 by one which I had written to you upon the 15th, in answer to 
 yours of the 13th. It includes both your refusal to undertake 
 a second and early journey into Warwickshire, which I pro- 
 posed as the best expedient for a second and ultimate revisal ; 
 and your profession " to consider duly those new claims which 
 I might produce, when they should be clearly stated in the 
 margin of a copy of the Lectures you had left with me at Hat- 
 ton, and when they also should be accompanied with a final de- 
 claration, that I neither could nor would produce any more. But 
 neither of the two last letters contains the smallest explanation 
 of that ambiguous and unbecoming language, which you had 
 suddenly eissumed towards an acknowledged coadjutor, nor the
 
 MEMOIRS. 253 
 
 slightest attempt to vindicate yourself from those charges 
 which I had peremptorily alledged, and repeatedly enforced 
 against you, for affording me less of your time at Hatton than 
 I expected you to afford ; less than upon such an occasion you 
 ought to have afforded ; less than in reality you could have af- 
 forded ; and for pleading a pretended necessity to return to 
 Oxford by a day upon which you actually did not return. I 
 particularize, Sir, these circumstances, in conformity to a rule 
 which I hcxve lately prescribed to myself in conducting my 
 correspondence with Dr. White, and the propriety of that rule 
 will be readily admitted by a scholar, who, like yourself, has 
 been taught by some recent events to see and to feel the im- 
 portance, both of accuracy in recollecting, and fidelity in state- 
 ment. 
 
 It is very true, Sir, that, in consequence of your letter dated 
 the 18th day of June, I sent to Mr. Routh for the marked copy 
 in his possession ; and that^ in pursuance of my intention to re- 
 vise the Lectures again, and to acquaint you with the result of 
 that revisal, subject, no doubt, to the conditions which you had 
 stipulated, and to which I had myself acceded. I first em- 
 ployed Mr. Bartlam in marking my copy by Mr. Routh's, and then 
 compared the two copies so marked. It is also true that, from 
 the time of that comparison to the present hour, I have not 
 taken the trouble of examining whether any other passages 
 were corrected, substituted, or added by me, beyond those 
 which I had mentioned in my letter to Mr. Parsons. To this 
 plain account of the fact, I shall as plainly subjoin my reasons. 
 I had heard from your opponents that you professed a very 
 heroic indifference about the Bamptonian Controversy ; and I 
 had also heard, from some of your acquaintance, that you were 
 likely to persevere in preserving a prudent, and it may be a 
 dignified silence. As, therefore, I did not design to assert my 
 pretensions directly and publicly, till I should find that you 
 had directly and publicly depreciated them, I felt no very 
 strong impulse to gratify my curiosity more than it was already 
 gratified ; or to fortify my rights more than they were already 
 fortified. Here, Sir, it is proper for me to remind you, that if 
 I had not found myself deceived about the whole train of your 
 transactions with Mr. Badcock, I should never have brought
 
 254 MEMOIRS. 
 
 forward any claims at all ; and that, if I had not been again de- 
 ceived, about some circumstances in your visit at Hatton, I 
 should never have had a thought of looking after any additional 
 claims. My declaration at first was aimed against Mr. Bad- 
 cock, whose pretensions, as I was informed, and it should now 
 seem misinformed, at Oxford, covered exclusively all the Lec- 
 tures. My enquiries afterwards were addressed to you and to 
 Mr. Parsons, because, during our interview, we seemed to have 
 overlooked a part of what I had written. 
 
 Mr. Routh's copy was returned to him in the October Term. 
 But having heard some injurious and groundless reports, which 
 were circulated by your partizans, and which do not appear to 
 have been checked by yourself, 1, in a spirit of sincere confi- 
 dence, and for the purposes of self-defence, lent my copy to a 
 particular friend, who lives at a great distance, and from whom 
 I have not yet received it. Whether or no, after receiving it, 
 I can, upon further examination, ^'set up," as you rather invidi- 
 ously phrase it, any further new claims, I confess myself un- 
 able to determine. But as by your letter, which is dated 
 March 2d, 1790, and which I received last Wednesday, you 
 signify some kind of intention " to make a speedy and public 
 avowal of the obligations you were under to me for the assist- 
 ance I so kindly afforded you in the Bampton Lectures," and 
 as you assure me " of your wishes not to conceal or depreciate 
 a single word which really came from my pen," I now send 
 you the fairest and fullest answer which, in the absence of my 
 
 marked copy, it is possible for me to give I perceive, 
 
 Sir, that, in your polite and elegant epistle of March 2d, you 
 do not take any notice of a letter which I wrote to you about 
 the end of last August; a letter, in which I told you of my inter- 
 view with Dr. Gabriel ; a letter, in which I assured you of my 
 having endeavoured to do you some service ; a letter, to which 
 you vouchsafed to send no answer ; and of which, I am told, 
 that you have been pleased to speak in very unjust and very 
 opprobrious terms. Indeed, the particular allusion which has 
 been made to that inverview, and the perverse inferences which 
 have been drawn from it, by one of your anonymous panegy- 
 rists, convince me, that my conduct has been grossly misrepre- 
 sented, not by yourself, I would hope, but by some injudicious
 
 MEMOIRS. 255 
 
 and precipitate zealots, in whom you have condescended to 
 
 confide After what has passed between us about Ab- 
 
 dollatif, I will make no apology for remarking, that the Latin 
 quotation in your last letter is in all respects but one justifiable 
 as to the phraseology, and seems to proceed from some very 
 learned friend, who is no less conversant than Dr. Parr in Pre- 
 face reading, and somewhat more conversant than the Laudian 
 Professor in Preface writing. 
 
 To foresee your future measures, is certainly not in my 
 power, and as certainly it is not my business to scrutinize their 
 various motives. But whatever those motives may be, I am 
 not wholly unconcerned in the measures themselves 5 and there- 
 fore I feel myself neither inclined to oppose, nor obliged to 
 thank you for a seeming act of justice performed under such 
 circumstances, which leave me in great doubt as to its real qua- 
 lities, and as to its proper application. I am ready, Sir, to ac- 
 cept, but disdain to require, the insertion of my name in a new 
 edition of the Lectures, and in your translation of Abdollatif. 
 I shall consider that insertion, not as owing to any right which 
 I had myself originally urged, or the indulgence of any expec- 
 tation I had originally formed, but as the effect of certain un- 
 foreseen circumstances, which chiefly respect yourself, and by 
 which you are induced to declare, what, however, some time 
 ago, you would have desired even to conceal. All I have to 
 add for the present is, that I wish you to publish in a note, or 
 in any other form which you may prefer, the Memorandum 
 which is inserted in our copies, and which was signed by you, 
 by Mr. Parsons, by Mr. Richards, and by myself. Such a pub- 
 lication will answer many useful ends ; and among the rest, it 
 will lend to establish the validity of your title to the plan, and 
 it will explain the extent of my assistance in substitution. 
 With great respect, I have the honour to be your most obedient 
 servant, S. Parr. 
 
 March 7, 1790. 
 
 The letter just quoted of Dr. Parr is out of the 
 order of time, but it so clearly distinguishes the 
 order of the transactions, that I have made it the
 
 256 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 introduction to the statement, testified by the letters 
 now to be inserted. 
 
 From the Rev. Dr. White to the Rev. Dr. Parr. 
 
 REVEREND SIR, Oxford, June Id, 1789. 
 
 Before the receipt of your favour, Mr. Parsons had told me 
 the result of your interview vi'ith Mr. Hutton. He has also sig- 
 nified his willingness to accompany me into Warwickshire, as a 
 witness to our intended conference. This, he says, was the 
 only character in which he undertook to act. But as he so- 
 lemnly declines acting a second time, even in this character, I 
 am confident you will pardon my requesting that a fourth per- 
 son may be present at our meeting, particularly as the gentle- 
 man I mean is Mr. Richards, of Exeter College. Unless you 
 should object to this proposal we intend being at Hatton about 
 eleven o'clock on Tuesday next ; when the joint testimony cf 
 any one who is honoured with your confidence, will be perfectly 
 acceptable to, Reverend Sir, your obliged and faithful humble 
 servant, Joseph White. 
 
 I beg my most respectful compliments to Mrs. and Miss 
 Parr. 
 
 Of this interview Parr himself has given an ac- 
 count in a letter to the Rev. Henry Kett, for which 
 see Appendix. 
 
 From the Rev. Mr. Parsons to the Rev. Dr. Parr. 
 
 dear sir, BallioL College, June ISth, 1789. 
 
 I received your Letter dated Thursday, June 11th, and have 
 communicated the contents of it to Mr. Richards, Mr. Routh, 
 and Dr. White, who will return an answer for himself. With 
 respect to what concerns myself, I must inform you that I have 
 this day delivered the marked copy of the Bampton Lectures, 
 which you entrusted to my care, into the hands of Mr. Routh. 
 After a most careful collation of the two copies, made by Mr. 
 Richards and myself, in the presence of Dr. White, no one im- 
 portant difference was found to exist. The few and trifling 
 differences, which had arisen cither from the incorrect or indis-
 
 MEMOIRS, 257 
 
 tinct marks of Dr. White, have been corrected by Mr, Richards 
 agreeably to those marks which were made by me under your 
 directions. So that tlie two copies now agree most perfectly ; 
 and at the same time, the alterations which have taken place in 
 Dr. White's copy, since we left Ilatton, being made by a dif- 
 ferent hand, may be clearly and distinctly ascertained. 
 
 I have compared the passages to which you refer in your 
 letter with the marked copy, and I find that in page 32, from 
 "To the word of God," down to "dangerous mistake," is not 
 marked. In page 229, from "He disdained (o conciliate," 
 down to "class of men," is not marked. The rest of the sen- 
 tence, from " However dignified," down to " enthusiast," is 
 marked little corr. The whole of page 402 is already marked 
 Add, Page 403, from "When, therefore, any religion," down 
 to " circumstances of man,'' is not marked ; but from " And as 
 its," down to "Deity," is marked little corr. The remainder 
 of the passage to which you refer is not marked. Page 435j 
 from "The moral influence," down to the end of the paragraph, 
 is marked Q. corr. 
 
 And now, dear Sir, you will permit me to repeat most re- 
 spectfully, indeed, but most firmly, my fixed and unalterable 
 resolution, to abide by the declaration which I made at Hatton, 
 viz. that I will not interfere any further in any way, or under 
 any character, between you and Dr. White, in this most deli- 
 cate, and in every point of view most unpleasant business. I 
 am, dear Sir, with very great respect, your most obedient, 
 humble servant, John Parsons, 
 
 Under the guidance of Mr. Parsons, the Professor 
 was secure of steering a discreet course ; and so, on 
 the very day on which Mr. Parsons wrote the ahove, 
 he writes as follows : 
 
 REV. SIR, Oxford, June IStli, 1789. 
 
 If you will please to signify to me, in your ov-^n hand-writ- 
 ing, that the new claims t/ou have set up respecting the Barap- 
 ton Lectures, in your letter to Mr. Parsons dcited Thursday, 
 June 11th, 1789, are all the claims you ever can or will make, 
 I will immediately take them into consideration, and allow 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 MEMOIRS. 
 
 every thing to your pretensions which I can allow, consistently 
 with truth. I am, Rev. Sir, your respectful humble servant, 
 
 Joseph White. 
 
 In answer to this Parr replies 
 
 That more time and consideration are necessary. With 
 your requisition about my own hand-writing I cannot safely 
 comply. What I write I mean sincerely; what I mean sin- 
 cerely 1 wish you to understand completely ; and this end can- 
 not be answered if my letters be written by my own hand. 
 You formerly condescended, without hesitation and without 
 complaint, to receive some of my alterations in the Bampton 
 Lectures, though conveyed in the hand-w^-iting of other per- 
 sons 3 yet secrecy was then much more necessary than it is 
 now. You seem to say that you will not immediately take into 
 consideration the new claims made in ray letter of Thursday 
 last, unless I give you some assurance that they are all the 
 claims I e\er can or will make. Permit me to tell you, Sir, 
 that I cannot, without extreme folly, and extreme injustice to 
 mj'self, give you any such assurance. It is my right to bring 
 forward any fresh claims which, upon any fresh perusal, may 
 appear to me in any degree probable, provided I reserve, as I 
 always have reserved, a peremptory determination upon the 
 validity and extent of those claims, till I hear what you have 
 to say about them. It is your duty to examine my claim, as 
 soon and as far as I make it. Such an employment may be 
 troublesome, but it is a trouble of your own creation, and if 
 you will not take it there can be no doubt, in my mind, about 
 the motive, as there ought to be none in yours about the con- 
 sequence. What you avoid doing in a private correspondence, 
 you may be compelled to do by a public appeal. If you had 
 given a longer time, when you were last at Hatton, for doing 
 what could not be fully done in the time you actually allotted, 
 and even if you had been pleased to spend with me that time 
 which you did spend at Warwick, there could have been no 
 neccissity for a second examination, nor any distrust in my 
 mind about the sufficiency of the first. 
 
 Sir, I have proposed nothing but what was submitted to your 
 inspection, and I have decided upon nothing but what was au-
 
 MEMOIRS. 259 
 
 thorized by your approbation. In a case so extraordinary, 
 justice almost excludes the ordinary restraints of delicacy. 
 Hitherto, however, I have endeavoured to be delicate as well 
 as just. But I now begin to feel what is due to my friendship 
 and to my honour ; and in the support of them I may be in- 
 duced to set up such claims as you can neither resist or evade ; 
 and in such a manner, too, as may leave you without an apolo- 
 gist among the wise, without a patron among the great, and 
 without a friend among the good. 
 
 I have extracted the above, which In Parr's own 
 hand writing is inscribed, " in answer to the 13th." 
 It is dated June 15th, 1789. It is interlined and 
 careted, so that I may not have been correct in the 
 location of the sentences. 
 
 In answer, the Professor dated his letter, Ox- 
 ford June 18th, 1789. 
 
 REVEREND SIR, 
 
 I have received your letter of the 15th, and must beg leave 
 to reply, that when I left Hatton on the 9th you never 
 even hinted that your claims were not completely ascertained. 
 You must therefore excuse my undertaking a second journey 
 into Warwickshire, How far you could reasonably desire me 
 to do it, must depend on the magnitude and justice of your 
 new claims. 
 
 I am, however, willing to comply with the spirit of your 
 request. These new claims (if any such can be produced) 
 may be clearly stated in the margin of the copy of the Lectures 
 which I left with you at Hatton, and the book .thus marke 
 may be transmitted to me at Gloucester. Whenever you send 
 them they shall be duly considered ; but I beg that they may 
 be accompanied with a full and final declaration, that you nei- 
 ther will nor can produce any more. I am. Rev. Sir, with 
 great respect, your humble servant, J, White, 
 
 Parr in his answer to the 18th : 
 
 REVEREND SIR, 
 
 Had you stayed at Hatton, instead of hastening back to 
 
 s 2
 
 260 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Warwick, there would have been no room for further inquiry ; 
 and had you been at first disposed to answer the questions 
 which further inquiry miglit have produced, there woukl have 
 been no necessity for a second journey into Warwickshire. 
 Why the first journey was inefficacious, I explained at large in 
 my letters to you and Mr. Parsons. And I observe that in your 
 letters no direct attempt is made to show why you spent so 
 little time at Hatton, and so much at Warwick. The plain 
 fact I take to be this: the business was unpleasant, and you 
 therefore wished it over soon. But it was also important, and 
 I therefore wished it to be done well, especially when by doing 
 it \\\ you, or, it, may be, your dead coadjutor, had something to 
 gain, and I, your living coadjutor, had something to lose. I 
 do not charge you with a deliberate intention of injustice ; but I 
 do suspect you of not being sufficiently careful to render jus- 
 tice. I do not maintain that the want of correctness with me 
 arose from an excess of partiality towards Mr. Badcock, but I 
 do suppose that the embarrassment which you felt from his 
 claims and from mine, left you v/ithout much solicitude to as- 
 certain what belonged to me rather than to him. You will 
 permit me to add, that, after having obtained from my own in- 
 quiries, a complete knowledge of what I myself have done, I 
 shall soon be enabled, by the candour and politeness of Dr. 
 Gabriel, to know what was done by Mr. Badcock ; and it is 
 now proper for me to tell you yet further, that as Dr. Gabriel 
 enters into detail with me about his friend, I shall be equally 
 explicit with him about myself. 
 
 After discussing the question of the additional 
 claims, he concludes : 
 
 As we are neither of us at present disposed for interviews, I 
 shall take the liberty of urging a new claim unconnected with 
 the Bampton Lectures ; and my chief reason for producing it 
 now is, to prevent a repetition of such treatment as I have 
 lately experienced. I therefore beg of you to seal up all my 
 papers relative to the vohole ordination Sermon at Lambeth, 
 and to deliver them sealed to Mr. llouth. 
 
 In consequence of these expostulations, some-
 
 MEMOIRS. 261 
 
 thing more was conceded, and in the end " a State- 
 ment" was published " of Dr. White's Literary Ob- 
 hgations to the Reverend Samuel Parr, LL. D.'' 
 which the Professor sent to him with the following 
 Letter : 
 
 REVEREND SIR, Oxfovd, May Wth, 1790. 
 
 At length I send you all that part of my pamphlet which re- 
 spects yourself; and having now acceded to all your requisi- 
 tions, and adopted all your alterations in your own words, I 
 hope soon to be honoured by your express attestation of the 
 fullness and fidelity of ray statement. You have desired me to 
 specify " the points which I gave up by way of accommoda- 
 tion." I alluded to the sentences by which the hnes from Ho- 
 mer and Lucan were introduced, to the passage in p. 116, and 
 to two or three of your lesser emendations, where I had some 
 doubt about the precise quantity of the alterations. 
 
 You have wished me also to inform you whether I decided 
 (with respect to certain passages of the Lectures) fi'om the 
 suggestions of mere memory, or from communications of yours 
 transcribed into some of my own papers. I answer, that I de» 
 cided from the suggestions of mere memory, and that I had no 
 written documents whatever to direct me. 
 
 With regard to the three Gloucester Sermons, I omitted the 
 mention of them for the very excellent reasons suggested by 
 yourself. 
 
 In pages 267 and 435, I believe that you neither corrected, 
 substituted, or added, a single word ; and nothing can be 
 stronger than my conviction on this head. 
 
 As this letter will, I trust, be the last I shall have occasion to 
 write to you on a subject so irksome to us both, permit me. Sir, 
 to take this opportunity of thanking you for those expressions 
 of esteem and good will which are sometimes mixed with your 
 reproaches, and which remind me of those happier days, when 
 the manly frankness and elegant pleasantry of your letters, 
 were exceeded only by the kindness of your professions, and 
 by the ardour and sincerity of your friendship. How effectually 
 your talents enable you to assist those for whom your heart is
 
 262 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 interested, the world has long known ; yet no man, Sir, can 
 bear more unequivocal and more willing testimony to all that is 
 great and good in your character, than your most obedient and 
 respectful servant, J.White. 
 
 P. S. I should be particularly obliged to you for the list of 
 Corrigenda that is to be subjoined to the Latin version of Ab- 
 dollatif. The variations I have written in the margin of the 
 printed copy are taken from a lately discovered Translation of 
 Pocock. 
 
 There is another long explanatory letter from the 
 Professor, most of the matter of which is printed in 
 his Statement, and with that letter all correspond- 
 ence dropped till the year 1793, when he, good-na- 
 turedly enough, accedes to Parr's good-humoured 
 request of a guinea for the decoration of Hatton 
 Church ; and in 1801, when the Professor sent him 
 the quarto edition of Ahdollatif, Parr wrote him the 
 following letter : 
 
 LEARNED AND DEAR SIR, 
 
 By some strange fatality the box which contained your book 
 did not reach me before Monday the fJOth of March, though I 
 find the l'5th of March written upon the card. Some years ago 
 I understood you did not mean to publish the Preface which I 
 had corrected, and therefore I gave myself no further trouble 
 about it, and, indeed, I remember that you had prepared a sub- 
 sequent and short Preface. Had I known your final intention 
 of publishing that in which I was concerned, I should have re- 
 quested your permission to examine it, for you must recollect, 
 quite as well as I do, that I vmifbrmly spoke both of the Preface 
 and of the Translation, as requiring further care; that I told 
 you so when you hastily printed an octavo to be shown to the 
 Archbishop, and that I told you so, when you informed me of 
 your polite and friendly determination, to make some acknow- 
 ledgment of my assistance. From the day that you left Hatton 
 to carry the book to the Archbishop, even to this hour, nothing 
 has been done by me to the Preface, and as you took away a
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 263 
 
 copy of the octavo which I had desired you to leave, I could 
 employ no care upon the Translation until I received the quarto, 
 and I well remember that when I heard of the quarto's being 
 in the press, I begged the favour of you to send me proof sheets 
 that I might correct them ; you did send me one, but no more, 
 and I forget whether any alterations were made in it, and even 
 whether 1 had time to alter. Indeed, I am inclined to think 
 that the one proof, of which I speak, had been finally printed 
 off. Since that time I repeatedly have requested you to indulge 
 me with your presence and aid while we went over the quarto 
 together, and when I found this proposal either inconvenient or 
 disagreeable to you, I took the liberty of transmitting to you 
 many passages which I had marked as inaccurate in the quarto, 
 and I should have asked your leave to see your manuscript of 
 the Preface, if I had been aware of your purpose to make me 
 responsible to the public judgment for a composition which I 
 considered as not sufficiently prepared for the public eye, and 
 now these evils are in part unforeseen, and are now altogether 
 irremediable. In the Preface, page 12, 1 should have put "inter'' 
 before "has,'' and I should have objected to the expression "pu- 
 ritati Sermonis," which I have been accustomed to condemn 
 from the time that I was eighteen. But my hope is, that the 
 words in which you speak so handsomely of me, will not be con- 
 sidered as flowing from me. I wrote " has inter," and should 
 have changed it into, " inter has." You wrote puritati Sermonis, 
 and I should have recommended some alterations. In the life of 
 Abdollatif, and in some parts of the Preface to the Notes, I trace 
 my own style ; I am very sorry you left solummodo, of which I 
 took notice when I pointed out many passages that required al- 
 teration. Well, I have great satisfaction in telling you that 
 your translation is far superior in perspicuity, elegance, and the 
 correctness of the Latinity, to that of Pocock and to the Preface, 
 to your friend Paul us. I say again it is far superior. I am 
 glad that you dedicated the book to Sir William Scott, and I 
 am pleased with the Dedication, though not a word of it was 
 ever shown to me. In a few days I will send the critique, 
 which will be very plain, and very short, but you will give me 
 leave to perstringe the unfortunate " puritas Sermonis." It is 
 unnecessary to trouble you with the faults that I meet, or the
 
 264 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 alterations I should propose, as I turn over the pages. You 
 would have laughed, learned Sir, at my distress when I met with 
 strange tenses, strange constructions, and strange words, and at 
 my joy when I found that they were the faults of Pocock, whom 
 you certainly v/erc not obliged, and perhaps not authorised to 
 alter. I wish you had said that I know nothing of Arabic, or 
 Persic. I knew a little of Hebrew, when you and I used to 
 meet ; and now I know a good deal more, I cannot say that my 
 veneration for oriental learning is much increased. Again I 
 congratulate you upon the general merit of your translation, 
 and upon the appearance of a work, Avhich your friends have 
 long desired to see. I had occasion to mention you respectfully 
 in something, which is likely to meet with your approbation, 
 and will appear in three weeks or a month. I have done the 
 same justice to Dr. Parsons, and soon you will see why. 
 Ajml 2d, 1801. 
 
 The last communication was the recovery of the 
 two Sermons, which Parr so feehngly and solemnly 
 requested of him, and which White after long delay 
 gave up, without expressing any remaining grateful 
 feeling for past favours. For not only had Parr as- 
 sisted him on the various occasions which have al- 
 ready been noted in the correspondence, but I have 
 two papers * before me, one dictated by Parr to the 
 Honourable Augustus Leege, whicli, whether it were 
 inserted or not in the Gentleman's Magazine I can- 
 not find ; the other, a Review of Abdollatif's History 
 of Egypt, and both, as everlasting memorials of 
 Parr's friendship to White, and of White's merits 
 till he was convicted as a plagiary, or as a borrower 
 
 * It will be recollected also that Parr finished the review of 
 the Barapton Lectures, begun by Badcock in the Monthly lie-
 
 MEMOIRS. 265 
 
 without acknowledging his obligations, I here insert. 
 It was intended as a strong plea, or exposition of the 
 Professor's merits, entitling him to a Canonry of 
 Christ Church, which indeed he "afterwards obtained. 
 
 The succession to the Canonry of Christ Church, which be- 
 came vacant by the death of the learned Dr. Jebb, has been the 
 subject of much conversation, not only in the University of Ox- 
 ford, but in all literary and even polite circles in London. It 
 reflects great honour upon Oxford, that each of the three can- 
 didates was indisputably and eminently qualified for the distinc- 
 tion to which they aspired. I mean not for the present at least 
 to examine their comparative merit. But on the positive ex- 
 cellence of Mr. White, 1 beg leave to say a little in your 
 Magazine, reserving to myself the power of saying much 
 more upon it, if there should be occasion, at some future period, 
 and through a different vehicle. The learned world is indebted 
 to Mr. White, for a judicious letter to Bishop Lowth, on the 
 Septuagint version, for an elegant Latin oration, when he en- 
 tered upon the office of Arabic Professor, and for a beautiful 
 edition of the Syriac version, in which the correctness of the 
 text and the treasures of oriental learning displayed in the cri- 
 tical notes have established Mr. White's reputation among the 
 greatest oriental scholars, of whom Europe can now boast. To 
 these professional publications must be added, an occasional 
 Sermon, and the Bamptonian Lectures, which certainly place 
 him in the first class of English writers. The unprejudiced and 
 truly learned members of Oxford will anticipate me in the men- 
 tion of several excellent Sermons, which he has preached be- 
 fore the University, and which it is to be hoped will soon appear 
 for the satisfaction of his friends, and the improvement of his 
 readers. He has written for the instruction of the public — he 
 has appealed to the judgment of the public — he has been ho- 
 noured with the approbation of the public — he undoubtedly 
 possesses great talents and great attainments, and, as undoubt- 
 edly, he is not without a portion of infirmities and wrongnesses. 
 But those infirmities and those wrongnesses are not marked by 
 the extinction of virtuous principles, or by radical depravity of
 
 266 MEMOIRS. 
 
 heart. They involve no inveterate habits, and, I will add, no 
 gross overt acts of lewdness, or intemperance, or profaneness. 
 They amount at the worst, not to crimes surely, which we are 
 to detest, but to faults which we should lament, and perhaps 
 with some reluctance condemn. They are more than counter- 
 balanced by moderation upon controversial topics of religion, 
 by diffidence and modesty on all subjects of literature, by can- 
 dour to the failings of other men, by justice to the attainments 
 of other scholars, by sincerity to his friends, and by a forbear- 
 ance almost unexampled towards those, who, without provoca- 
 tion, are his enemies. For the truth of these assertions, I ap- 
 peal to many wise and good men who reside in the University 
 of Oxford, and who know Mr. White, as I myself know him, 
 and love him, and reverence him, with all his real imperfections, 
 and all his real excellencies. 
 
 There is one subject upon which, as others will be forward 
 to proclaim his misconduct, I will endeavour not to justify, in- 
 deed, but to explain, and to extenuate. 
 
 Vexation?, wants, unavoidable labour in composing Sermons, 
 unforeseen and almost insurmountable difficulties, in translat- 
 ing Abdollatif — all these cases have contributed to prevent 
 Mr. White from fulfilling his engagements with the Subscribers 
 to that work. Indolence, no doubt, and irresolution ; indo- 
 lence, which often accompanies exalted genius ; and irresolu- 
 tion, which springs from depressed fortune, may have had their 
 fatal share. But while we expatiate inindiously on what Mr. 
 White is capable of doing, let us seriously consider what he 
 has already done ivell ^ and, at all events, let the severity of 
 distinguishing censure be restrained among those who are pro- 
 tected by their own dulness, or their own obscurity, from ex- 
 citing expectations, which men of brighter intellects are some- 
 times tempted to disappoint. If this representation should be 
 thought too favourable, I will venture to produce a tale, which, 
 I trust, will console the well-wishers of Mr. White, and in some 
 degree propitiate even his foes. 
 
 The Arabic text and the Latin translation of Abdollatif, at 
 this moment are in great forwardness in the Clarendon Press. 
 The Notes, which are preparing on a much larger scale than 
 was originally intended, will be completed in five months; and
 
 MEMOIRS. 267 
 
 when the work itself appears, the splendour of the performance 
 will, I hope, amply compensate for the delay of the publica- 
 tion. I am, your constant reader, Philalethes. 
 
 Parr's Review of AbdoUatif is prefaced by the 
 followins; letter : 
 
 I have, without asking your permission, taken a liberty, for 
 which I would readily apologize to you, if I thought of you less 
 highly, or felt for you less warmly than I do. I doubt not but 
 you have read, and with surprise too, and with pain, and it 
 may be with some anger, the close of the Review of your 
 Translation of AbdoUatif. On a subject which so nearly touches 
 your personal honour, your literary fame, and it may be your 
 worldy interest, I shrunk from secrecy, as from something not 
 only unfriendly but base. Know then, that I am the writer of 
 that review, and if occasion oifers, let others know it. As to 
 me or White, I cannot want defence, for I have spoken with 
 firmness indeed, but I trust vvith decency, some indisputable 
 but important truths. 
 
 The delicacy either of your feelings or your situation may 
 make it necessary for you to explain, and authorized as you 
 are to proclaim me, or, if you please, to give up the writer, that 
 explanation I hope will serve all the purposes of defence. Dear 
 Sir, you know my respect for your patron, as well as my regard 
 for you. You also know my love of letters, endeared as they 
 are to me by along and laborious course of application. You 
 know, let me add, what is yet dearer to me, my firm and sin- 
 cere attachment to the Church of England, an attachment, not 
 arising from the honest prejudices of education, or upon any 
 sordid views of interest — but upon a sincere and well founded 
 conviction of its transcendant excellence and solid utility. You 
 will not therefore suspect me of meaning offence to any men or 
 set of men, while I am anxious to do justice to you as a scho- 
 lar, as a man, as one whom I am happy and proud to rank 
 among my best and dearest friends. Mix discretion with your 
 zeal, do not condescend to mention my name to every inqui- 
 sitive and impertinent babbler ; do not conceal it from any man 
 of sense and virtue, whose judgment is worthy either of your 
 attention or my own.
 
 268 MEMOIRS, 
 
 The review: 
 
 And now, gentle reader, we will gratify thy curiosity, for 
 curious thou must be, to know the labours of the writer, and 
 the situation of the man. We will not enter into invidious 
 comparison between Mr. W. who is said to be an idle man, and 
 other Professors of his own University, whose diligence we are 
 ready to admit from candid presumption, till they shall give us 
 a more direct proof from some publications. Suffice it to 
 speak the truth, and the whole truth, of Mr. W. alone. He is 
 well skilled in the French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, Sy- 
 riac, Persic, and Arabic languages. He is intimately acquainted 
 with the eminent scholars of his own country, for such we sup- 
 pose Sir William Jones, the late Dr. Hunt, the late Dr. John- 
 son, Mr. Bryant, Dr. Scott, Dr. Parr, Dr. Adams, and the late 
 Dr. Hunter. He has lived on terms of the closest intimacy, 
 and most cordial friendship, with Dr. Routh, the learned editor 
 of Plato's Dialogues ; with Mr. Badcock, the well-known re- 
 viewer of Dr. Priestley's Ecclesiastical History ; with Mr. Per- 
 son, on whom, with Mr. Burgess, the task of supporting and 
 adorning Greek literature in this country has devolved after the 
 death of a Toup, a Musgrave, and a Tyrwhit. He is men- 
 tioned with applause by Reiske, the editor of Demosthenes, 
 who was one of the best Arabic as well as Greek scholars of 
 his age. He corresponds with Michaelis of Gottingen, with 
 Schweigaeuser of Strasburg, with Villoison of Paris, with 
 Schneider of Tubingen, with Schultens of Leyden, and Bjorn- 
 stahl of Copenhagen. He has published an inaugural oration 
 in excellent Latin ; a Sermon on the Revisal of the English 
 Translation ; a Letter to the Bishop of London, on the Septu- 
 agint ; the Syriac Gospels, in two vols. 4to ; the Sermons on 
 the Bampton Lectures. He has also translated this very diffi- 
 cult work of Abdollatif ; he wrote the Preface to the Transla- 
 tion of Tamerlane ; he corrected the text and the translation ; 
 and he is said to be now preparing materials for a history of 
 Egypt, which is to be published by subscription. 
 
 So much we have to say for the talents, and attainments, and 
 works of the writer. Upon the virtues of the man we might 
 say much more ; but our present business is with his success in
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 269 
 
 life. By the noble liberality of many worthy individuals, he 
 was extricated from distresses in which he was involved by in- 
 discretion without vice, or the appearance of vice ; by gene- 
 rosity of temper, by simplicity of heart, and by ignorance of 
 the world, neither surprising in the academic, nor dishonour- 
 able to an ecclesiastic. By regular succession in his College, 
 in which there is little or no preferment, for the space of fifteen 
 years he has received an income of £10 from a fellowship, 
 which he must vacate in two years. By the favour of the Uni- 
 versity he enjoys ^70 per ann. for his Laudian Professorship ; 
 and this he will be permitted to enjoy for the rest of his life. 
 
 In the truly amiable and truly venerable Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, Mr, White has had the honour of experiencing an 
 adviser, a friend, and a benefactor. Our readers will hear this 
 with pleasure, and yet perhaps they may be tempted with us to 
 ask. Where in this enlightened and Christian country, where 
 in the gratitude or in the wisdom of his contemporaries, where 
 among the luminaries of the Church, or the governors of the 
 State, where are we to look for his patrons ? On this subject 
 our readers may be impatient, but we are quite silent. With 
 ourselves, who are only humble reviewers, 
 
 /3oDs tTTt •yXai£7(7}js fxeyas. 
 
 Notwithstanding this full conviction of his having 
 received the most important literary assistance, with- 
 out any acknowledgment of it, and even after the 
 puhlication of the two pamphlets. White's character 
 was still supported by some persons of great name 
 in the University of Oxford ; and the Government 
 thought so highly of his talents, and so little of his 
 detection, that they rewarded him with a Canonry 
 of Christ Church, which Parr had vainly solicited 
 for him in the foregoing memorial, when the Pro- 
 fessor's character was without impeachment. 
 
 That all men did not participate in those senti- 
 ments, which seemed to justify the worst literary
 
 720 MEMOIRS. 
 
 frauds, will appear in the letters of Mr. John Bart- 
 lam and of Dr. Gabriel, placed in the Appendix, 
 and which will dilute the gravity of the subject with 
 a portion of the levity and gossip of the day, and 
 the following from the Rev. Dr. Smyth, Master of 
 Pembroke College, Oxford, to Dr. Parr : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Dec. 12th, 1789. Pemb. Coll. 
 
 An illness, which has confined me to my room for some days, 
 prevented my answering your obliging letter so soon as I ought 
 to have done. It gives me no small pleasure to find that you 
 sometimes think of me, and recall to my remembrance the 
 many happy and improving hours I spent in my last visit to 
 Hatton. We had then a common friend, whom we both of us 
 loved and respected for talents which, I am afraid, he is found 
 no longer to possess ; and for virtues, which reproach us for 
 our credulity, and the unguarded simplicity with which we re- 
 signed our affections. Firmly persuaded that all his faults 
 were but the amiable infirmities I had often observed in the 
 train of the greatest virtues, and believing that the harmless 
 levity that accompanied all his actions indicated a mind pure 
 and unsullied, but, at the same time, inattentive to its own con- 
 sequence ; I soon became the dupe of my heart. I loved him 
 from principle ; and, notwithstanding some few untoward cir- 
 cumstances that frequently occurred, I forced my understand- 
 ing to submit. Occasional suspicions, it is true, insinuated them- 
 selves from time to time; but I either lulled them to sleep, or ba- 
 nished them as unvvelcome and uninvited guests, whom my 
 breast was not made to harbour. Had White been indifferent 
 to me, it is more than probable I should have comnared his ap- 
 parent incapacity with the real and brilliant talents that are 
 displayed in almost every page of his incomparable Sermons; 
 and much weaker evidence than is now produced against their 
 authenticity would have been sufficient to have satisfied me that 
 he could not have wrote them. No arguments, however spe- 
 cious, or however confidently insisted on, would have convinced 
 me that he was equal to composition which required the union
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 271 
 
 of so many and so great powers of the mind, but such as went 
 directly to prove that he was at one particular period of his life, 
 and at no other, under the immediate influence of inspiration. 
 Had I consulted my reason, as much as I did my affection for 
 him, I should very soon have arrived at a conclusion not very 
 favourable to his pretensions. Here, I might have said, is 
 an instance that puzzles and confounds the powers and abilities 
 of our most intimate acquaintance, without ever betraying by 
 design, in any one solitary moment of his life, the most slender 
 proof of genius or learning ; without ever deviating by accident 
 from the line of folly and insipid levity, that marks his conver- 
 sation into even the humble path of common sense. This ex- 
 traordinary phaenomenon bursts upon us like a comet, whose 
 trackless path the eye pursues with wonder and amazement, not 
 at the magnitude or brilliancy of its orb, but because it knows 
 not from whence it comes, and is ignorant whither it is going. 
 Providence, in the place of genius and industry, so necessary 
 to the attainments of other men, seems to have sent him into 
 the world, furnished and accommodated, like the inferior parts 
 of the animal creation, whom the strong and unerring instmcts 
 of nature conduct, without labour, without education, and al- 
 most without effect, to the ultimate point of perfection they are 
 capable of realizing. 
 
 It is true, as you observe, he has a strong party in Oxford ; 
 but a party, I think, not of much weight, either of talent or 
 authority ; whose strong, but unprincipled zeal has hitherto 
 proved fatal both to his moral and literary reputation. They 
 very early took offence at the slow and timid caution with which 
 their hero was retreating from a contest which he very well 
 knew would in the end cover him with shame and remorse. 
 The Professor, whose real pace is a heavy trot, was extremely 
 unwilling to be thus pricked by their indiscretion into a full 
 gallop. Had these kind gentlemen left him to the guidance of 
 his own natural sagacity, he would have given a glorious day, 
 and afforded excellent sport to the liunters of his reputation. 
 He would have beat a long time about the bush, nor would he 
 have quitted a country so dear to him, from a long and intimate 
 acquaintance, till the united cry of horses and hounds pressing 
 close on his brush, and v/hich every gale brings nearer to him, 
 puts him in mind that h'" course is nearly at an end.
 
 272 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Animating as this chace may be, permit me, my friend, to 
 declare, that I by no means wish to see you the first and most 
 conspicuous figure. 1 am very well apprized that you come to 
 the field, mounted on a high-bred Pegasus, whose strong bone, 
 and impetuous mettle, will outstrip the speediest of the pur- 
 suers, and secure the whole sport to yourself. Suffer not, how- 
 ever, this noble animal, who has already proved his vigour in 
 hunting down a Bishop, to consume his fire in the vile pursuit 
 of an Oxford Professor, Priestley, Price, the enemies of the 
 Established Religion, and the Government of your Country, the 
 enemies of Johnson, remain yet in their kennels, and invite him 
 to the chase, 
 
 Optat aprum, aut fulvum descendere monte leonem. 
 
 To be free with you, I think you cannot enter into this in- 
 quiry without the hazard of having your real motives wilfully 
 mistaken. I need not inform you, that your literary fame rests 
 on too solid a basis to acquire any additional support from the 
 share you may have had, or may be supposed to have had, in 
 the composition of the Bampton Lectures. Your enemies may 
 say, for they have said it, that, influenced by a rapacious de- 
 sire of distinguishing yourself, you could not suffer the assist- 
 ances you afforded in the liours of friendship, and which came 
 from a mind like yours without much effort, to pass into the 
 world unappropriated. It may be, that any declaration on your 
 part of the disinterestedness and purity of your intentions, will 
 not meet with such a favourable reception as you have a right 
 to expect. A character like yours, so much and so deservedly 
 an object of public attention, should not only be free from 
 such imputations, but even from the most remote suspicion of 
 them. 
 
 I am persuaded, that your soul is animated with too noble a 
 flame, to be touched with those senseless and wretched attacks, 
 which owe their birtli to a morning paper ; whose sickly and 
 abortive existence may, by the aid of some favourable circum- 
 stance, trail on till the evening, when it dies away, and is heard 
 of no more. I must add, that you have not a friend in this 
 place who wishes to see you take an active part in this dispute. 
 
 There are a sort of sententious and half-smothered hints in 
 circulation through this University, which, I must confess, lay
 
 MEMOIRS. 273 
 
 too deep for my comprehension. I am very frequently desired 
 to suspend my opinion of Professor White ; that something is 
 soon to make its appearance that will satisfy all my doubts, and 
 remove all my suspicions. I am assured that I am all in the 
 wrong ; that a certain fatherless publication is soon to be 
 brought forward (from what quarter I know not, whether from 
 above or from below) that will restore White to his property, 
 and me to my senses ; an event, I doubt not, he waits for with 
 full as much anxiety as myself. I am content to stand neuter, 
 till the great day of retribution arrive, and, in the mean time, 
 am reduced to the vuifortunate necessity of resting my opinions 
 on the facts ascertained by Dr. Gabriel, and on many other 
 facts not less certain, because they have never yet been pub- 
 lished. 
 
 We are very much at a loss to account for the famous bond 
 for ^500. Am I founded in my conjecture, that it was given 
 to Badcock as a retainer to engage him to fight White's battles 
 with Dr. Priestley ? The Egyptian History, the ostensible 
 cause alleged by his friends, is, I think, clearly out of the case. 
 The bond was given in August, and in the following September 
 he writes to Badcock, and thanks him for his proffered assist- 
 ance in that projected work. This opinion of mine is confirmed 
 by White's frequent and affected eagerness to engage in that 
 controversy ; which you may possibly recollect, as well as the 
 pains you took jointly with myself to persuade him that he was 
 not an equal match for his formidable antagonist. This had no 
 other effect than to increase his confidence. He talked big ; 
 vaunted his own powers, which he thought were fully sufHcient 
 to lay the great apostle of heterodoxy completely on his back. 
 Yes ! He came forward with bolder pretensions than any. He 
 blew the horn of battle with a louder blast than his followers ; 
 not to provoke the fight, nor to summon contending heroes to 
 the lists. It was the trumpet of the last day of his reputation, 
 whose deep and warning voice called him with all his blushing 
 honours to judgment; a tremendous signal to the scattered ma- 
 terials of nature, the vagrant atoms, the disunited elements to 
 forsake their borrowed and assumed habitations, which they 
 were destined to occupy only for a limited time, and to return 
 to their ancient and undisputed proprietors. 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Ml*. Bartlam, your late pupil, very frequently pays me a vi- 
 sit, lie has very much the appearance of a well-informed and 
 most respectable young man. He discovers on every occasion 
 an innocent and amiable impetuosity, which pleases me infi- 
 nitely, and leaves me at no loss to conjecture at whose feet he 
 has imbibed it. I have endeavoured to persuade him to quit, 
 at least for a season, the fairy and enchanting prospects of clas- 
 sic lore, and to dig in the mines of science. I made enquiry 
 into the mode of his education at Merton. He informs me that 
 he construes Tully's Offices to one tutor, and the Greek Testa- 
 ment to the other, both of which books, to a boy who has been 
 educated at Hatton, must be extremely interesting and im- 
 proving. The book you was so kind as to lend me is in the 
 hands of Mr. Bartlam, who will convey it to you. I must beg 
 pardon for not having sent it before. 
 
 You will, I am sure, be happy to hear of the powerful exer- 
 tions the Curators of the Bodley Library have made this year. 
 Their Catalogue is very splendid from the Pinelli Collection. 
 Unfortunately, they have exceeded their commission by above 
 ^480. This is a crime that, in the opinion of many worthy 
 members of this University, is never to be forgiven. Some of 
 the Heads of Houses, the Goths and Vandals of literature, who 
 dare not attack in front, but are sure to hang heavy on the rear 
 of every improvement, are extremely indignant. The rest of the 
 University applaud the Curators for their judgment and spirit. 
 It is proposed at present to set on foot a new kind of benefaction, 
 to enable the Curators to make an extensive purchase in the Cre- 
 venna Library in Holland, which, I understand, will be soon ex- 
 posed to sale. It is proposed to the different Colleges who may 
 have monies laying in their chest, to lend such sums as they can 
 aftbrd to part with, to the Curators, who are to pay no interest, 
 but to return the sum by instalments from the annual fund. 
 Magdalen College has sent 100, Queen's 200, All Souls 200, 
 Christ Church 300, besides a subscription of all their members. 
 Dr. Scot 100. It is supposed the other Colleges will follow 
 these noble examples. I am striving with all my might to in- 
 troduce my own College. H you know of any country gentle- 
 man, who is in the habit of suffering considerable sums to lie in
 
 MEMOIRS. Z/O 
 
 his banker's hands without interest, persuade liim, if you can, 
 to deposit them where they may really do some good. 
 
 Your obedient humble servant, T. SiMyth. 
 
 Thus have I laid before the reader, most of the 
 facts concerning the assistance received by Profes- 
 sor White, in the composition of his Bampton Lec- 
 tures. These Sermons, so happy in their subject, 
 and so well wrought throughout their whole texture, 
 both in matter and in style, now form part of the 
 classical literature of our country. It well became 
 me, therefore, to trace them through the hands of so 
 great an artist as Parr ; and it was the necessary 
 consequence of the discussion, not m,y fault, that 
 the name of Badcock, and his share in the work, 
 were mentioned. 
 
 Whether the plan of the Bampton Lectures was 
 solely White's, may be doubted. Much of the exe- 
 cution lay between him and Badcock ; but the whole 
 was superintended and revised by Parr ; and if we 
 admit the calculation that one fifth of the whole is 
 Parr's, and that the w^hole was twice submitted to 
 his revisal, and twice received material alterations 
 from his keen eye and critical pen, we must admit 
 him into a co-partnership in the work. 
 
 It will naturally occur to the reader, how could Parr 
 be so deceived and misled, by such a man as Profes- 
 sor White; and how was it possible, that some suspi- 
 cion should not enter into his mind, considering that 
 White was in the utmost degree of confidence with 
 him, and his frequent companion for five years — 
 " who had consulted him (as Parr says) before the 
 work was drawn up, and during its progress, and be- 
 
 T 2
 
 276 MEMOIRS. 
 
 fore and after its publication ; who had conversed with 
 him upon every topic that was discussed in it, upon 
 every opinion that is formed about it, and upon 
 every defect and every excellence that may be found 
 in it." — How was it possible to imagine that he 
 would deceive such a coadjutor, and such a friend? 
 It was the very awkwardness and apparent simplicity 
 of White's character, that beguiled his friend. 
 
 Under the lounging and negligent exterior of a rus- 
 tic, White concealed many of the qualities of a refined 
 thinker ; and though he looked wild and weak, he 
 was actually a man of extreme acuteness. But the 
 slovenly habits, which altered his appearance, sunk 
 into the texture of his character, and deformed the 
 whole construction. So great was his quickness in 
 acquiring languages, that his studies were flighty 
 and incidental ; nor could any thing but dire com- 
 pulsion drag him out of the mire of indolent pro- 
 pensities. Yet, even by such casual starts of appli- 
 cation, he gained a stock of learning. His taste was 
 purified, and he attained "that rich and copious 
 style which has accommodated itself to a boundless 
 variety of subjects^ and which rises into grandeur, 
 or shines with elegance, according to the occasion." 
 Nevertheless, whilst as an author his thoughts 
 and language were elevated, as an actor in society 
 he was low ; and he sunk into petty difficulties be- 
 cause he had not diligence or courage enough to 
 raise up his hand against them. Thus he lost con- 
 fidence in himself when any deed of importance 
 was to be performed; floundered on, when he ought 
 to have stood erect ; and became a mendicant for
 
 MEMOIRS. 277 
 
 literary favours from others, at the very time that 
 he possessed within himself the potentiality of intel- 
 lectual wealth. It has heen seen from the corre- 
 spcndence, how soon he sought the literary assistance 
 of Parr ; and had he always sought it as fairly as 
 he did when begging the Preface of Abdollatif, or 
 the Dedication to Archbishop Moore, none could 
 have objected to his obtaining it. The Bampton 
 Lectures led him into irresistible temptation, by 
 opening wider prospects to his ambition. He had 
 chosen a lofty theme. He distrusted his own ta- 
 lents, or his own industry, to handle it with that 
 dexterity which should insure fame ; and so warily 
 did he solicit and gain support, that he vainly flat- 
 tered himself it was impossible but that he must 
 escape detection. 
 
 We have already laid open some of his saps and 
 mines — his " dark management, united with his 
 clumsy execution" of some of the manoeuvres prac- 
 tised by him. He was resolved to carry reputa- 
 tion by storm, and therefore employed not only 
 the best swordsman in controversy, but the greatest 
 luminary in classical lore, as his allies. But, unfor- 
 tunately, he did not bring them together into the 
 field ; he kept Parr in reserve ; whose opinion it 
 always was, that Dr. John Parsons, late Lord 
 Bishop of Peterborough, was a main auxiliary in 
 the formation of the work from beginning to end, 
 without being let into the secret of other persons 
 being also employed. 
 
 I know, Sir, (says Parr, in his remonstrance, or expostula- 
 tion with the Professor,) Mr. Parsons to be your friend ; I hear
 
 278 MEMOIRS. 
 
 that he is your advocate ; and I suspect him, Dr. White, of 
 being your avenger. But whatever opinions he may hold, or 
 whatever conduct he may have adopted on this particular occa- 
 sion, never shall I lose sight of his great and general merit. I 
 admire his learning, I respect his integritxs and I do not Con- 
 demn even the excess of his zeal. 
 
 But Parr's assistance was not confined to the 
 Bampton Lectures. There is mention of three Ser- 
 mons lent to l}c preached at Gloucester, and one at 
 Whitehall ; and the correspondence will shew the 
 difficulty with which two other Sermons (5th of 
 November and Consecration) were drawn from the 
 Professor. The Preface to White's Diatesseron was 
 also written by Parr. Indeed, from beginning to 
 end, there was nothing but dark management, dis- 
 ingenuous concealment, and frigid insolence on the 
 part of the Professor ; and but for the mighty pro- 
 tection apparently extended to him, by the learned 
 majority of the University of Oxford, he would for 
 ever have been branded with the epithet of an im- 
 postor. It was a theme of reproach at the time, 
 that Parr assisted Dr. Gabriel in his Statement; 
 and that he betrayed White, by divulging his own 
 share in the Lectures. Till March 1789 Parr knew 
 nothine: of Badcock's share in the work. Mr. 
 Hutton informed him of it. He wrote to White 
 his determination to crush the calumny, and that he 
 should come to Oxford. White answered in a 
 strange, obscure, and unaccountable letter, in which 
 he desired him to say nothing of the matter. Not- 
 withstanding this mvsterious recpiest, he went to 
 Oxford.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 279 
 
 I was there attacked (says Parr, in a letter to Mr. Glasse) 
 by friend and foe. I was silent, till silence was impossible ; 
 and, indeed, till it must have amounted to an indirect confes- 
 sion of such guilt, as I did not at that time impute to White. 
 I exchanged, however, that silence for good words, warmly 
 pronounced, and not weakly supported. But ray opinions and 
 my reasoning were overpowered by opinions more probable, 
 and by reasoning more powerful. Hearing that Badcock set up 
 unqualified and unlimited claims, I, in a moment of honest rage, 
 determined to hew t'hem down, by saying, that I knew him not 
 to be writer of all the Sermons. How, it was asked, did I know 
 it ? Because, answered I, part was written by myself; and if 
 Badcock lies in one particular, he may lie in all. Here then, see, 
 dear Sir, that resentment against Badcock, not jealousy of White, 
 drove the seci-et out ; and that my intention was to protect 
 White by confuting Badcock. Well, this strong declaration pro- 
 voked new proofs, till 1 was staggered, alarmed, and to my sor- 
 row in part convinced. In this agony of surprise and indig- 
 nation at finding myself deceived by White, I wrote to him a 
 bold letter, in which reproach was mingled with inquiry. He 
 was at Gloucester, but sent me no answer while I remained at 
 Oxford. I proceeded to London ; and when a fortnight had 
 elapsed from the date of my first letter, I wrote a second, which 
 did produce an answer ; and indeed it was a most guarded and 
 a most offensive one, though consisting only of four or five 
 lines. It began, not in his usual form of. Worthy and learned 
 Sir, nor of Dear Sir, nor of Reverend Sir, nor Sir, but, Dr. 
 W^hite presents his respects, &c. This shocked me, for no one 
 of my questions was answered. Then having a right to search 
 into the business, I renewed my application to Badcock's friends, 
 and from them, who were perfect strangers to me, I obtained 
 part of the intelligence which Dr. White had not thought pro- 
 per to give me. 
 
 This avowal was a sore subject to White's friends, 
 and caused a coolness between Dr. Parr and Dr. 
 Parsons ever after. Yet was it not unreasonable to 
 expect that Parr should not claim his part, when
 
 280 
 
 MEMOillS. 
 
 White's connection with Badcock was proclaimed ? 
 Nor can White ever be excused for his conduct to 
 Parr on this occasion. He instantly changed his style. 
 " My most worthy and learned friend " is altered for 
 the cold address of " Reverend Sir ; " " grateful " is 
 laid aside ; past obligations are forgotten, and Parr 
 is even attacked for avowing the assistance he gave. 
 An ingenuous and an honourable man would in- 
 stantly have avowed his error, begged pardon for 
 his weakness or his treachery, and made the best 
 atonement in his power. White's conduct and feel- 
 ings were exactly the reverse of repentance. He 
 had even the audacity to attack ; he assailed Parr 
 for having betrayed him. 
 
 White's own statement, cautious and cold as it is, 
 bears testimony to Parr's essential help in the com- 
 position of the Bampton Lectures. The particulars 
 of his assistance are there reluctantly unfolded, and 
 the correspondence tells the tale of the manner in 
 w^hich White and his friends managed the business. 
 But let me remark, that until 1789, during the lapse 
 of five years, there had been no demurs, no doubts. 
 Parr's mind had been busily employed on Bellen- 
 denus, and the Warburtonian Tracts : and I believe 
 I am not singular in the idea that, much more of 
 the Bampton Lectures was written by Parr, than has 
 been assigned to him ; and that the internal evidence 
 of many passages, proves it to moral demonstration. 
 
 In this controversy the name of Dr. Routh occurs 
 for the first time in connection with that of Dr. Parr ; 
 and I am comforted and refreshed to gain a moment's 
 repose, after the toil of developing White's dark and
 
 MEMOIRS. 281 
 
 odious manoeuvres, under the shade and protection 
 of his unimpeached and unsullied virtues. Dr. 
 Routh and another friend were applied to by Parr, 
 as scholars, who loved the University much, but 
 truth more, and to them he confided his statements. 
 So bitter, however, was the spirit raised against 
 him, that at one time he intended to avenge himself 
 by publishing an " Expostulation with Dr. White." 
 But Mr. Burke stayed Parr's angry hand. 
 
 From the execution of this design (says Parr) I was dis- 
 suaded by the earnest and authoritative counsel of one of the 
 wisest, worthiest, and noblest instruments whom the Deity, in 
 the ordinary course of his providence, has vouchsafed to employ 
 for the instruction and happiness of mankind, I do not as- 
 sume this most serious language without a most serious sense of 
 its truth and its propriety. No good man will charge that lan- 
 guage with exaggeration or paradox, when it is applied, where 
 I am sure he will join me in applying it, to Mr. Edmund Burke. 
 
 This Expostulation is now before me ; and the 
 sentences which I have copied from it are some 
 of the purest examples of his impassioned style, 
 when the gravity of the subject, and the homage 
 due, even to violated friendship, had banished all 
 rhetorical flourishes, and given his mind its pro- 
 per and deep tone of thinking. Had Parr been con- 
 cerned alone. White would have enjoyed his glory 
 without diminution ; but we cannot regret that he 
 was detected, for his detection has placed the laurel 
 on those brows which were uncrowned by patron- 
 age ; and in the detection the University of Oxford 
 has nothing to lament, in the exposure of an un- 
 worthy son, when she has a numerous host of the 
 good and great whom she may justly love.
 
 282 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Whilst engaged in the service of White, Parr 
 became acquainted with Dr. Uri . This learned man 
 had been recommended as a great Oriental scholar 
 by Sir James Yorkc, while ambassador at the Hague, 
 to the University of Oxford. The following facts 
 relative to him are thus stated in " The Case of 
 John Uri, a Native of Hungary, and D. D. in the 
 University of Harderwick :" 
 
 Dr. Uri has been employed in the University of Oxford for 
 more than twenty years in making a Catalogue of the Oriental 
 MSS. in the Bodleian Library. His engagement having ceased, 
 and with it his annual salary, all that remains for his future 
 subsistence is o. hundred pounds, which he received as a gratuity 
 from the delegates of the press, at the conclusion of his employ. 
 
 He is now sixty years of age ; has been absent from his own 
 country ahoutjvrty years ; has no connection or friends remain- 
 ing there, nor any prospect of future employment. 
 
 The subscriptions of the friends of humanity and literature 
 are therefore earnestly requested to rescue a man of letters 
 from want, and to secure him a decent provision for life, that 
 he may not add the evils of poverty to the infirmities of old 
 age. 
 
 In addition to this statement. Dr. Uri addressed 
 a petition to the Members of the University, and 
 states. 
 
 That your Petitioner was invited to this place from the Uni- 
 versity of Leyden, where he was engaged, under Professor 
 Schultcns, in a literary employment. 
 
 That he has been engaged here for twenty-two years, in 
 which time he has catalogued and described 2,358 MSS. in 
 nine Oriental languages, many of these MSS. containing seve- 
 ral distinct Treatises, and four of these languages have been 
 learned by him since his engagement. 
 
 That your Petitioner is now dismissed from his employment » 
 that his annual salary of seventy-two guineas did not afford him
 
 MEMOIRS. 283 
 
 any savings ; and that he has only a hundred pounds to subsist 
 on, given to him by the Delegates of the Press, on his dis- 
 mission. 
 
 If this was all he had to subsist on — if these were 
 the only gains of such long-continued and learned 
 labours, he had right not only to petition, but to 
 complain, and even to demand a viaticum for his 
 grey hairs. He was preservedby the exertions of Dr. 
 Cyril Jackson, Dr. Routh, Dr. Smyth of Pembroke 
 College, and Dr. Parr, but more especially of Mr. 
 Kett of Trinity College, and Mr. Agutter of Mag 
 dalen. One of the following Latin Letters was writ- 
 ten to Dr. Parr, and the other about him. 
 
 Celeberrimo ac doctissimo viro, Domino Doctori Parr, 
 Joh. Uri, S.P.D. 
 
 Quanquam saepe in animo habebam, vir Parissime, te per 
 literas afFari ; nam comitas et commoditas morum tuorum banc 
 mihi licentiam indulgere videbatur : nihilominus tamen, nomi- 
 nis tui ac doctrinae quodam quasi splendore deterritus, hactenus 
 exefivdiav Pythagoricam servavi. At nunc impium mihi sit 
 nefasque tacere. Ita namque meritus de me immerente es, 
 ut nullum officii studiique genus praetermittere posse videar, 
 sine nota, hominis ingratissimi. Quippe, quum ex quodam de 
 heroibus, qui pro salute me& et incolumitate fortiter propug- 
 nant, fatalem fundi mei calamitatem cognovisses, adductus 
 communi huraanitatis officio, quo censetur interesse hominis, 
 hominem beneficio afficere, egregium rebus meis adjumentum 
 opemque attulisti. Quod si secus esset, meum tamen de singular! 
 tuS, virtute judicium efficeret, ut te semper omni observantifi, com- 
 plectendum haberem. Verum enimvero ovk cnrofSXrjr earl 6ewv 
 epiKvbea bwpa. Grata igitur beneficii tui recordatio vivet in ani- 
 mo meo, donee inter o-Irov ebouras oculis usurpabo yXvi^epbv <pdos 
 iieXiuio. Sed cogitata digne proloqui non possum; quicquid enim 
 dico, minus est, quam dicere volo. Utinam ergo superi earn mihi 
 aliquando facultatem concederent, ut re potius possem, quam
 
 284 MEMOIRS. 
 
 verbis, animum meum tui ardentissimum declarare. Hir.c, etsi 
 penia a nequitiae arbitro bonae mentis soror vocatur, mallem 
 tamen ego, ut Porus earn els jiaKnp'iav niitteret, angustumque 
 larem meum eo beare vellet imbre, qui fluxit in sinum Danaes. 
 'AX\' hepios tiJuXot'Tu Oeoi (oa/ca (.in^riom'Tes. Proin unum illud 
 abs te contendo, ut gratiam relatam fore sic interpretere, si 
 eadem mihi et vivendi et de te cogitandi fuerit meta. Id autem 
 me praestiturum sanctissime recipio. Vale. 
 Dat. Oxon. 1787, Mart. 25. 
 
 Venerande Domine Kett, Feb. 18. 
 
 Rogo te, perquam honorifice, ut Chirographum tuum, Domino 
 Brookes tradendum, transmittere ad me digneris una cum qua- 
 tuor guineis. 
 
 Fons benevolentiae et candoris lleverendus A gutter, post- 
 quam te convenerat, me quoque convenit. 
 
 Nimia festinatio, qu& Xeixparvy y^pvaov yivovs Doctor Parr 
 nuper usus erat, prascidit mihi omnem opportunitatem vos al- 
 loquendi. Promiserat se sequenti die ante meridiem venturum. 
 Itaque expectans eum lapides nigros super foco large reposui ; 
 tubes candidos, quibus fumus tabaci exhauriri solet, praeparavi ; 
 sellas, remote, paululum men&&, ad ignem admovi : at eheu! non 
 contigit mihi ipsum videre. Vale, Sum, et ero, nominis tui 
 cultor perpetuus, J. Uri. 
 
 It has been mentioned in the foregoing pages 
 that White corresponded with several learned fo- 
 reign scholars, and Parr, in his exposition of the Pro- 
 fessor's merits, alludes to some illustrious names. 
 There is one letter of Michaelis of Gottingen ; one 
 of Reiske of Leipsic, in Latin ; two of Mons"" de 
 Villoison of Paris, in French ; and two of M. Bjorm- 
 stahl of Copenhagen, in French also. These letters 
 are of great curiosity and interest, but they do not 
 belong to my work. I sluiJl, however, anticipate
 
 MEMOIRS. 285 
 
 the order of time, to bring in a portion of the cor- 
 respondence of Dr. Parr himself with certain fo- 
 reign scholars, and to take note of the publication 
 of the Analogical Dictionary of Hoogeveen, senior. 
 Through Dr. Symmons an application of Dr. In- 
 genhousz, the celebrated naturalist, was made to Dr. 
 Parr for his patronage of the posthumous works of 
 Hoogeveen, senior. These works it would appear, 
 from the following extract, were very numerous. 
 
 Amicorum optimo intimo 
 Janni Ingen Housz 
 
 S. P. D. 
 Janus Hoogeveen. 
 
 Consilium tuuni, vir amicissime, de edendis defunct! 
 
 patris poematibus, pra;sertim de apologia poetarum in lucem 
 proferend&, lubens equidem araplector : nonnulla tamen dantur 
 impedimenta, animum hactenus suspensum tenentia, qualia sunt 
 lo operis illius prolixitas, quippe sexdecim mille, ducentos et 
 quadraginta versus continentis, inque libros octodecim divisi; 
 2o, notee marginales, per integrum opus dispersae, ciim copio- 
 siores, turn idiomate Grasco expressae ; siquidem pleraque loca, 
 ex Platone desumpta, ipsis verbis auctoris, adeoque Gra3ce ex- 
 hibentur. Neque tuto poterunt haec omitti, neque levi tantum 
 digito tangi ; quoniam non solum ad interiorem carminis intel- 
 lectum summopere conferunt, verum et consectationibus argu- 
 mentorum Platonicorum majorem lucem plerumque adsper- 
 gunt. Atqui vide sis, quantos sumptus exigeret illud opus, si 
 praelo subjiceretur ! Denique 3°, si materiam carminis ipsam 
 contemplemur, solius delectationis gratia scriptum illud confix 
 teberis, ideoque rarissimos emptores, saltem inter nostrates, al- 
 liceret : atque ita spes omnis impensas graviores recuperandi 
 prorsus evanesceret. 
 
 At propter illam apologiam, omnibus numerisabsolutam, aliud 
 item opus postumum reliquit Auctor defunctus, Analogicum
 
 286 MEMOIRS, 
 
 ncmpe, et simul ordine alphabetico concinnatum, ultra septua- 
 ginta niille vocabula Graeca exhibens, cujus specimen, a me 
 perscriptum, paginii. leges proximo, quo accuratiiis a te feratur 
 judicium de naturfi. et usu totius operis ; quale, ni fallor, orbis 
 eruditus etiamnum desiderat. Opus illud Analogicum totius 
 linguae Graeca^, itidem ad finem perductum, continet paginas 
 septinger.tas et nonaginta quinque, quibus forma datur maxima, 
 qualem barbaro nomine Jbliant vocamus. Importuna mors Auc- 
 toi'is praefatione operis, ab ipso elaborand^, nos privavit. Prae- 
 cipua interim ejus capita in limine operis inveni. Schedulac 
 inscripta, quorum exemplar his Uteris separatim adjectum 
 deteges. 
 
 Tu, Amicorum ocelle, quem vero nomine editorem suarum 
 Particularum vocat extinctus Auctor, Britannorum tuorum ani- 
 mos perscrutares, an pari enthusiasmo a te possint inflammari 
 ad opus illud Analogicum simillimae sortis beneficio e tenebris 
 in lucem protrahendura. 
 
 Caeterum prater haec duo opera, de quibus hactenus egi, in 
 Musaeo patris insuper inveni novas observationcs, quibus suam 
 de particulis L. Gr. doctrinam auxit, ut et varias animadver- 
 siones ad loca Foederis Novi difficiliora. Priores separatim edi 
 possent in gratiam eorum, quotquot opus ipsuni possident. 
 De posterioribus autem quid sis suasurus, proximae literal indi- 
 cent. 
 
 Exemplar orationis meae inauguralis, sub praelo jam sudantis, 
 tibi reservabo. Vale ! 
 
 Delphis, A. D. viii Octobr. cbloccxcii. 
 
 This letter of Janus Hoogeveen was sent to Dr. 
 Parr, and he has himself given an account in the 
 Bihliotheca P. App''. 697. of the line he pursued. 
 To this account, I subjoin the following letter to 
 Dr. Huntingford, Bishop of Hereford, as a speci- 
 men of his zeal in the cause :
 
 MEMOIRS. 287 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I should not act consistently with the respect I have for your 
 literary attainments, or with the opinion I entertain of your rea- 
 diness to promote the cause of learning, if I were not to lay 
 before you that intelligence, which I have communicated to 
 many other scholars with considerable effect, 
 
 Hoogeveen, the editor of Vigerus, and author of a well-known 
 book on the Greek Particles, has left behind him an Analogical 
 Dictionary, the plan of which is entirely new, and is so formed 
 as to shew the powers and mutual dependences of Greek words 
 by the arrangement of their terminations. I have seen a spe- 
 cimen of it, and I entirely concur in opinion with Sir George 
 Baker and Dr. Warton of Winchester, that it is worthy of the 
 same encouragement which English scholars gave to Hooge- 
 veen's work on the Particles. The manuscript is in the hands 
 of his son ; the publication depends on the number of sub- 
 scribers in this country : the contents will fill a large quarto, 
 and the price of the subscription is one guinea and a half 
 
 I ought to state that some heads of houses and other respect- 
 able members of the University of Cambridge have promised 
 to subscribe, and I have great satisfaction in adding that the 
 Dean of Christ Church and the President of Magdalen College 
 have authorized me to put down their names. 
 
 The great distance at which I live from Hampshire — the few 
 intervals which I have from labour, and the numerous engage- 
 ments which crowd upon me in my vacations hitherto, have pre- 
 vented me from trespassing upon your hospitality. But I will 
 uot abandon all hope of refreshment from orthodox tobacco, 
 and of instruction from your conversation upon Greek criti- 
 cism at Winchester Lodge. I have the honour to be, dear Sir, 
 your very faithful well wisher, and obedient servant, 
 
 Samuel Parr. 
 Hatton, near Warmch, March 6, 1793. 
 
 Of the success of this publication I can speak 
 from no authority. Added to that satisfaction 
 which Parr always derived from doing good, he re-
 
 288 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ceived a copy of verses, the grateful effusion of the 
 younger Hoogeveen, of which I shall quote a few. 
 
 Viro plurimum Reverendo 
 
 PARRIO 
 
 S. P. D. 
 
 Janus Hoogeveen, 
 
 Palladis Argiva^ cultor celeberrime, Parri ; 
 
 Grande decus sacri proesidiumque gregis. 
 Nos intermedium mare separat, optime Parri ! 
 
 ****** 
 Obsequor, ut votum quantocius exequar, estque 
 
 Summa mihi summo laus placuisse viro, 
 Haec tua si scirent manes benefacta Paterni, 
 
 Conciperent tacito gaudia quanta seni ! 
 Acturi meritas gratas ferrentur ab urn^ 
 
 Patris, in amplexus proruerentque tuos ! 
 ****** 
 Non quantas debet, sed quas habet, optime Parri, 
 
 Defuncto grates pro patre natus agit. 
 iEternis meritis summo devincta Patrono 
 
 Serviet aeternum mens tibi grata. Vale ! 
 
 Delphis, A. D. v Maii cloloccxciir. 
 
 I shall dismiss Dr. Parr's foreign correspondence 
 for the present, after the insertion of one letter 
 from Professor Bekker, who had seen him in Eng- 
 land, and one from Professor Hermann of Leipsic. 
 I understand that there were letters of the grreat 
 Heyne in the collection. They are not to be 
 found. 
 
 Saraueli Parrio, S. P. D. Immanuel Bekkerus. 
 
 Indignari se arbitrabar, vir venerande, silentii mci diuturni- 
 tatem, qui post singularia tua in me officia annum totum sine
 
 MEMOIRS. 289 
 
 uUa litterula observantiae et anion's teste praetermisissem. Tu 
 vero ne indignare. Neque enim defuit mihi, quern deesse nefas 
 sit, animus dierum apud to jucundissime actorum cum pictate et 
 desiderio memor, virtutumque tuarum ipso aspectu et brevis- 
 simo usu manifestarum admirator: defuit otlum ettranquillitas. 
 Cfim enim redux incidissem in tempora publice privatimque 
 gravissima, quae me ad vos rejecissent, si ullus in museis vestris 
 homini peregrino locus pateret, feci quod reliquum esse vide- 
 bam, ut mente a rerum externarum taedio avocata, et in bona- 
 rum artium studiis defixatemperarem a querelarum frustra nee 
 tuto jactandarum impotentia, quae aegritudinem nee levaret, et 
 cum amicis meis communicaret. Id consilium an cum aliquo ad 
 litteras fructu ceperim, tu existlmabis, quando Thucydides meus 
 et oratorum Atticorum volumen primuni ad te deferentur ; id 
 quod spero hac aestate fieri posse. Existimabis autem huma- 
 nius quam severius, neque ab homine male vexato rerumque 
 suarum jamdudum pertaeso, earn posces operis absolutionem et 
 perfectionem, quam assequi soleat animus, liber, erectus, curis 
 invictus, talis denique qualem tuum cognovi. 
 Vale, vir praestantissime, et me, ut amabas, ama, 
 Scrib. Berolini, A.D. 21 Julii, a. 1821. 
 
 Samueli Parrio, viro summb reverendo, S. D. 
 Godfredus Hermannus. 
 Magnopere gavisus sum, Parri, vir summb reverende, qutim 
 quod prius a Barkero acceperam, a Gesenio, qui te valde lau- 
 dat, et Bohtio confirmatum vidi, bene te mihi velle, et in multis 
 rebus mecum consentire. Non potest enim mihi non esse gra- 
 tissimum, amicum et consentientem habere virum, quem omnes 
 in litteris antiquis primarium esse fatentur. Accepit autem 
 quasi cumulus gaudio meo, quiim cognovi consentire nos etiam 
 aliis in rebus, qukm in solis litteris. Nam quiim tu, ut ex Ge- 
 senio audivi, Reginae partes in infelici ilia lite acerrimfe tu- 
 ereris, suas velim me quoque, quum etiam hie duae essent fac- 
 tiones, plerisque culpantibus Reginam, paucis defendentibus, in 
 his fuisse, qui eam strenufe defeuderent. Itaque quod his litteris 
 adjeci exemplum Trachiniarum, si exiguam a se ipso habet, ali- 
 quam velim ab animo meo commendationem habere, qui tibi 
 etiam ob illam consensionem deditissimus est. Vale. D. Lipsiae 
 d. xix. Maii a cioidcccxxii. 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Tracts of Warburton and a Warbutonian. 
 
 The labours attendant on the care of his pupils 
 and his parish, were insufficient to satisfy the crav- 
 ing activity of his mind. Bellenden was hardly 
 ushered from the press, ere he began to meditate 
 another attack ; and no doubt, some of the materials 
 for the fresh warfare were collected before the se- 
 cond preface saw the light. 
 
 At Colchester, even part of these materials ap- 
 pear to have been in preparation. Parr, at this 
 time, engaged in correspondence with Mr. Potter,* 
 then about to publish his Euripides ; and who, in 
 one of his letters, writes thus : 
 
 I understood you that you wished to see Lowth's letter and 
 Brown's, I should not else have sent them ; they will serve to 
 light your pipes, if you are not afraid they will give your to- 
 bacco a brimstone smell. I the more readily recommend Le- 
 land to this use, as you think it true Virginian, I am, dear Sir, 
 your most obliged and obedient servant, 
 
 Seaming, April i-, 1778. R. Potter. 
 
 * Mr. Potter, well known in the learned world as the trans- 
 lator of the Greek tragedies, was much indebted to Parr for 
 critical and literary aid. There is a large correspondence.
 
 MEMOIRS. 291 
 
 During his abode at Norwich, Parr had caused 
 a tract, said to be written by Dr. Hurd, Bishop of 
 Worcester, entitled, " The Dehcacy of Friendship, 
 a 7th Dissertation, addressed to the Author of the 
 6th, printed 1755," to be copied in MS. as the 
 printed work w^as seldom to be found. The copy 
 was superscribed thus : 
 
 Transcribed at Norwich in 1779, by Shelford and Kett, 
 Norwich boys of great worth, who are now dead. Kett died 
 in 1780, and Shelford in 1781, much esteemed by their friend 
 and master, Samuel Parr, 
 
 This 7th Dissertation is so styled, because Dr. 
 Jortin had published " Six Dissertations on different 
 subjects ;" in the 6th of which, he had criticised 
 some opinions of Dr. Warburton. The " Delicacy 
 of Friendship," therefore, was an ironical attack on 
 Jortin, and as it w^as anonymous, was warmly repro- 
 bated by Dr. Lowth, and most learned men of the 
 day. Whether Parr had secured it as a curiosity, 
 or an instrument of annoyance, is unknown ; cer- 
 tain it is, that soon after Dr. Hurd was his Dio- 
 cesan, he converted it to the latter purpose. In 
 1788, Bishop Hurd published a new edition of 
 Bishop Warburton's Works, leaving out certain 
 juvenile tracts and translations, w4iich w^ere pro- 
 bably thought unworthy of the matured talents of 
 this great man ; and, instead of "a Life," a note was 
 added, promising one to the purchasers of the 
 Works. Parr immediately laid hold of these omis- 
 sions, as pretences for warfare. 
 
 It appears from his correspondence, that, when 
 Henry Homer was at Hatton in the summer of 
 
 u 2
 
 292 MEMOIRS. 
 
 1787, Parr shewed him the Warburtonian Tracts, 
 
 which he had then determined to repubhsh. In 
 
 March 1788, in a letter to Homer he says, 
 
 I desire you would find some opportunity of looking into 
 Hurd's works, and of seeing whether his Letter to Leland, and 
 the Delicacy of Friendship are in them ; I think not. I shall 
 bring some papers with me to London, connected with this 
 question. 
 
 In London then, probably, these matters were 
 settled; for, in a letter dated October 1788, Parr 
 says to Homer : 
 
 I have this day committed to the coach at Stratford, the ma- 
 nuscript ; it is in a state so perfect, that no addition will be 
 made, and all that is wanting is a reference, which Bennet is to 
 send me, to Hallifax's Sermons ; and one correction, which you 
 can easily make in the second preface, and which I desire you 
 to make, before the manuscript goes to press, in the beginning 
 of a paragraph which runs, " Leland and Jortin are now 
 placed;" but which, when corrected, should run, " Leland and 
 Jortin now repose in the sanctuary of the grave, and are 
 placed," &c. This is an easy short alteration. I desire you to 
 read it over with great care, and tell me your opinion ; and I 
 cannot help saying again and again, for I think it a fine compo- 
 sition in satire, learning, and eloquence. 
 
 Homer answers November 4th : 
 
 DEAR DOCTOR, 
 
 I received yours to day, but have not time to answer a sylla- 
 ble of it further than to say, that as far as my little judgment 
 goes, no one can think higher of your composition than I do. 
 I am only afraid it will be overloaded with notes and refer- 
 ences ; which, you must allow, diminishes the pleasure of read- 
 ing a fine composed text. I have just been at Reed's near six 
 o'clock. You set out with two false facts ; the following is the 
 extract : " It is mentioned that Sir John Hawkins printed the 
 Marmor Norf. in his edition of Johnson's works," This is not 
 a fact. It is not inserted in that edition: but it is in a sup-
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 293 
 
 plemental volume, with which Sir J. had nothing to do. The 
 first piece pubhshed of Johnson's was not the translation of 
 Lobe's Voyage, bat of Pope*s Messiah. Warburton wrote four 
 prefaces himself, viz. to Clarissa, to Towne's Philosophers, to 
 his Examination of Sherlock's Sermons, to Mrs. Cockburn's 
 Remarks on Rutherford's Book on Virtue. Pray return the 
 short preface and Horace soon to Smith's. Yours, truly, 
 Friday. H. Homer, 
 
 In the following letters Parr gives his directions 
 and his opinions to Homer in the same style, as we 
 have already seen in the editing of Bellendenus. 
 Homer, however, was not so submissive ; he was 
 now employed in the Variorum Edit, of Horace, 
 which was, after his death, edited by Dr. Combe ; 
 and the correspondence is therefore naturally inter- 
 mingled with remarks on his own concern, as well 
 as his correction of the Warburtonian publication. 
 
 It will all be ready, says Parr, I suppose by Christmas. 
 Having a great opinion of Reed's judgment and secrecy, I de- 
 sire him to look it over, though not before printing, as he may 
 not be returned from Cambridge. You will roast me alive at 
 Emanuel ; I shall be excommunicated at Lambeth, and ana- 
 thematized by half the bishops, and abused in the Critical Re- 
 view. Copies must be given to Reed and Steevens, but un- 
 bound to Steevens. No, no ; they shall both be bound. Stee- 
 vens will envy me my severity. 
 
 DEAR HOMER, NoV. 7, 1788. 
 
 Your admonitions and hints are judicious and reasonable; 
 and in your allusion to the sword of Brutus you rise even to 
 eloquence. Consider, however, that we are aiming at the 
 breast of a strong man ; that he has powerful auxiliaries, and is 
 himself armed in a coat of mail. I will therefore give no fur- 
 ther polish to my steel than is necessary to sharpen it and
 
 294 MEMOIRS. 
 
 make the blow sure. I wish it to be speedy, and in truth, 
 Homer, I want expression to tell you how sincerely and pain- 
 fully I am solicitous to do the business soon. We have, in- 
 deed, a faithful, wise, and active ally in Mr. R. whose judg- 
 ment upon the merits of the composition confirms my very un- 
 usual fondness for it. But you say nothing of your own : — 
 work away, work away. Fib is too common a word in the 
 note; suppose you correct it thus. Rhetorical Hyperbole. These 
 are trifles, — true ; but I want to avoid blackguard words. Work 
 away. I have written to Lord John, but have had no an- 
 swer. Yesterday, 4th Nov., I celebrated in Tokay and Cham- 
 pagne, and with loyal toasts ; that is, patriotic, at the house of 
 Mr. West, a good Foxite. Mr. Coke has sent me twenty 
 guineas for Dr. Browne's* family; a noble Foxite, is he not? 
 Who is to correct the press, the first sheet ; who is to take 
 care of the Greek? I never felt such impatience; indeed, I 
 will keep my thoughts and time disengaged to prevent addi- 
 tions, and to forward the return of proof sheets. Give me in- 
 formation — give me encouragement — give me at least consola- 
 tion : as for instance, how many pages are working oft" at a 
 time, and when it is likely to be finished. I hope, I hope, I 
 hope by Christmas day. At least the preface and dedication 
 and testimonia auctorum. 
 
 In a letter dated Nov. 20th, 1788, Parr says, 
 
 I was very glad to find that Reed does not approve of 
 Bishop Smooth's attack, which for a time was very popular, 
 so I say in the text to the Preface, and after the word " po- 
 pular," I wish you to insert in the text, " but I cannot add the 
 victorious antagonist." I thought it better to add something 
 to the quotation, and I have omitted some parts, to which I do 
 not assent quite ; for Warburton, though proud and impatient, 
 had a great store of cheerfulness and good nature in private 
 life ; and when I consider how long he was neglected, and how 
 much he was abused, I by no means wonder at the violence of 
 
 * Dr. (the celebrated John) Browne, for whose family, left 
 destitute by his death, Parr collected a considerable sum of 
 money.
 
 MEMOIRS. 295 
 
 Jiis writings ; which, however, I am not concerned to vindicate. 
 It will be curious to see how Master Hurd will get off upon 
 this ticklish subject ; because he stands engaged to vindicate 
 the Bishop's candour and benevolence ; and my republication 
 will make his task ten times more difficult. You see clearly 
 that I love and respect Warburton, though I sometimes lay it 
 on pretty heavily. He w as worth a thousand Hurds, and five 
 hundred Hallifaxes, and a hundred Popes. Shew Reed the 
 note. Stop at " disregarded,'' and put six asterisks to shew 
 that something is omitted. I do not choose in this work even 
 to quote anything in favour of Sidney or Harrington, or even 
 Hoadley, though 1 have read them often, and am an advocate 
 for the rights of mankind. 
 
 When the work was nearly printed off, Parr, with 
 his usual fastidiousness, was continually making 
 alterations ; and writes thus to Homer on his agree- 
 ing to cancel a portion of the work already printed. 
 
 Peace be to the manes of him who invented the art of 
 cancelling. He would have been a better lawyer than Pep- 
 per Arden, and a greater orator than Billy Pitt. Peace, there- 
 fore, everlasting peace be to his manes ; and blessed be all 
 those who, like you, cultivate his art ! Why, Homer, my 
 stomach before had qualms and twiches, such as a sour crab 
 would have produced in a stomach overloaded with rich 
 mince-pies ; but I now feel at once the strong savour of a 
 French ragout, and the wholesome solidity of English roast 
 beef. In plain truth, I am all over in love with myself when 
 I read these dear and precious cancelled pages ; and were 
 you sitting by me, you might harangue for half an hour with- 
 out one word of contradiction, or one look of disdain, upon the 
 science of boiling eggs and the luxuries of Warwickshire pork- 
 pies. You are a right good fellow, for you have printed with- 
 out one mistake ; so that great and glorious is the art of cancel- 
 ling. I'faith, my Master Homer, there are four or five pages, 
 and I will stake my chance of a bishopric upon the credit of 
 them, compared with the writers I have so eloquently praised ; 
 yet I am such a restless, querulous, surly sort of critic, that I
 
 296 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 have found room to make perfection more perfect, and so you 
 will say when you read the alterations. For " luminous and 
 appropriate imagery of Bishop Taylor," read, "the crowded, 
 yet clear and luminous galaxies of imagery diffused through 
 the works of Bishop Taylor." 
 
 In another letter he says, 
 
 I am now going to part with my dear, darling favourite, be- 
 loved, admired, corrected, improved, perfected, cancelled 
 sheet ; and, old Homer, you have got more credit by your pa- 
 tience and care in this sheet, than by all the rest of your typo- 
 graphical assiduity ; and so rejoice with me, and praise with 
 me, and bless with me, the noble art of cancelling. It is a 
 glorious art, and I will proclaim its praises to all scholars, and 
 all critics 
 
 I am glad my plague and your plagues are at an end, or 
 at least your's will be when this letter is complied with. Do 
 not let Steevens have a copy before Monday, and make a 
 friend of him if you can. Tell me some news? I am de- 
 lighted with the Prince's Letter to Pitt, I suppose Steevens 
 is against the Regent, and pleasant it will be to hear Farmer, 
 the redoubted Tory, defending these republican attacks upon 
 the Crown. Well, I never liked him or trusted him, and he 
 is not behind-hand with me, whom he hates, distrusts, and fears. 
 I suppose the Regent will be created this week. I am sorry to 
 find the City Address of Bankers so numerous and respectable. 
 You have not told me, nor any body else, how Markham came 
 to vote with Pitt. Is he gone over to Pitt quite ? I hope not. 
 I have told Lord John Townshend about the Household ; and 
 hinted that it might be Lord Mansfield's opinion. But surely 
 the Prince must have influence from his own Household to 
 counterbalance the Queen's. 
 
 Monday night, Jan. 26, 1789. 
 
 The following letters exhibit the editor and the 
 corrector of the press in new characters. The 
 Coalition had opened the door to Parr's ambition ; 
 but the defeat of the Coalition so quickly closed it 
 again, that there was only room left for attaching
 
 MEMOIRS. 297 
 
 himself to his party by writing ; there being no 
 prospect of any other course of action, that would 
 raise him to preferment. But in Nov. 1788, the 
 King's health was so disturbed, as to render a pro- 
 vision for carrying on the business of the executive 
 part of the Government immediately necessary. 
 On Dec. 16th, 1788, Homer thus writes : 
 
 DEAR DOCTOR, 
 
 It was my intention yesterday to have sent an extract from 
 the Review on Dr. Browne's Letter to Lowth, which Mr. Reed 
 thought very apposite, and which he himself transcribed, but 
 unfortunately both that and a proof of the second sheet of 
 the Delicacy were lost in the streets by the young Devil, who 
 had the custody of them, with some other things for me. I 
 was thrice at the Broiuns" from Portland Street (where I now 
 am at Jones's), and in order to be satisfied of the truth of this 
 accident, went down thither in a coach at half past ten at night. 
 My name is on both the parcels. They may fall into the hands 
 of an orange-woman, or they may alight upon one of the pene- 
 tration of G. Steevens. 
 
 The unremitted attention I have paid to your concerns for a 
 very long period, indeed would, I was in hopes, have procured a 
 more favourable interpretation to many of my letters than what 
 you have seemed disposed to put upon them. My sensations 
 at the time 1 addressed you about Livy were, if there is any 
 sincerity in man, couched in a very different meaning from those 
 of high toned. They were meant rather in the style of the 
 supplicant ; but I cannot suppress the emotions which I feel 
 upon this occasion ; and shall be free to tell you, that I hope I 
 never shall have a heart that will not upon every occasion be 
 ready to return a grateful acknowledgment for any favour con- 
 ferred; but at the same time, I trust it will always revolt at the 
 idea of an abject prostration at the feet of any man. I only 
 expressed my wishes that you had thrown out a hint before. 
 I must necessarily be put to great inconvenience by making 
 any alteration. I by no means expected you would give more 
 than a cursory glance over the notes, and from the repeated
 
 298 MEMOIRS. 
 
 professions of your friendship to me, I had every reason to be- 
 lieve you would long ago. In the spring I was shy of giving 
 you any trouble, as you complained of hurry from other quar- 
 ters. Still, I believe you were made very sensible of my un- 
 easiness both from Combe and Okeover, as well as from my 
 own feelings, which 1 could not totally suppress. 
 
 However, had you read the whole through eight or ten times 
 I do not believe you would have expended anything like the 
 time which I have devoted to your English publication alone. 
 The blunders which you have mentioned are capital ones in- 
 deed. You have my thanks for them now ; but that gratitude 
 would have been much enhanced by a more early communica- 
 tion. I have just received your letter in the city, and shall ex- 
 amine the copy when I get home. 
 
 I am sorry you have had occasion to send up a fresh copy of 
 what was already in possession. For the Jirst, Reed and the 
 printer were in fault, viz., for the omitted paragraph at the be- 
 ginning of the preface, as it is in the original MS, I interro- 
 gated Warren to-day, and accused him of being doubly culpa- 
 ble in this respect. In the Jirst place, neither he or Brown 
 could possibly have revised the copy fairly. In the second 
 place, I suspect, they sent only to the end of the dedication to 
 Mr. Reed; and as the beginning of the preface made the last 
 leaf of the dedication second sheet, and consequently might com- 
 prise the prima of the following sheet of the preface, it might 
 possibly be kept back ; otherwise it is almost impossible it should 
 have escaped both printers and Reed with the MS. before them. 
 This is only conjecture, but I think it highly plausible. 
 
 Now, then, with regard to the Critical Review, As that 
 extract came up a long while ago, and was accompanied 
 with several other matters relating to dedication and preface 
 (which had been cut oif and sent to the printers), it by 
 chance escaped me, having lain by so very long ; however, I 
 assure you, 1 found it the very evening I sent you word that it 
 had not beea received. I have not seen the papers of to-day 
 or yesterday ; but hear there was warm work in the House of 
 Lords yesterday, and that both the Dukes of York and Glou- 
 cester spoke. 
 
 I met Mr. Cracherode at Jones's yesterday, who paid for a
 
 MEMOIRS. 299 
 
 proof of your head, and told Jones it was well worth one 
 guinea, that it was a shame to go for half one. From him I 
 learned, that it was expected Fox would to-day move the pre- 
 vious question, and that it was thought Pitt would pin him 
 down to the question of right, which Mr. C. thinks had better 
 have been kept back. It has been rumoured by some, that 
 Pitt would go back to the bar; but Mr. C. told me (so infatu- 
 ated are they) that many merchants of London were ready to 
 subscribe ^^50,000 in case he were turned out ; and yet what 
 is he but a mixture of republicanism and aristocratlcism ? 
 
 As your proofs only arrived yesterday, it will be impossible 
 for them to be returned till to-morrow, as they were not cor- 
 rected till late this morning. If there should be much over- 
 running, I am afraid you must wait another day. All I can 
 say is, that I always prepare the corrections faster than I have 
 occasion to do, or they can execute them. Your print, as to 
 likeness in ^ar^fcw/«r, and as to finishing, is here admired by 
 every one ; if the features are not harsh enough, tlie painter, 
 not the engraver, is here culpable. Would you have your three 
 or four sent into Warwickshire ? As to a dozen copies, I suppose 
 there can be no objection ; but I have made such a bargain as 
 I trust will tend to your greater emolument by waiting the 
 event of the sale, rather than receive any stipulated sum. 
 
 Yours truly, H. Homer. 
 
 London, Dec. 16, 1788. 
 
 P. S. You have a specimen of the finished proof in i\\e Jirst 
 sheet of the dedication now by you. The Greek and notes are all 
 too small, but from a calculation first made, it was thought not 
 safe to risk a larger type for one volume, I thought your mat- 
 ter would have been more, and as it turns out it might have 
 been extended; but booksellers do not like great risks in 
 paper, &c. On Sunday night, I took it into my head to turn 
 over some of the returned proofs from you, and to compare 
 them with the MS. I see that there are often little omissions, 
 but at the same time, I must say, that the MS. is very faulty 
 in many commas, &c. which you have noticed. Your own last 
 correction made, is bi€<pope with an omicron. 
 
 The following letter, without a date, was written
 
 300 MEMOIRS. 
 
 sometime in January, by Parr, to the Rev. Henry 
 Homer. 
 
 DEAR HOMER, 
 
 I thank you for the squibs, which are preciously dull and 
 impudent. You see that, with all their eagerness to find some 
 fault with me, they cannot find me guilty of a greater sin than 
 smoaking ; and smoaking is no reproach upon my learning, 
 taste, manners, or morals. Pitt, for a time, will triumph with 
 his majority. But his real character is coming out more and 
 more, and his popularity will not long survive his power, 
 
 I must see the cancelled sheet once more ; to this, I do not 
 mean to add many words. I find I must alter the beginning of a 
 paragraph, because I now see that three succeeding paragraphs 
 begin with infinitive moods. I did take it for granted, and al- 
 ways shall take it for granted, that you allow me one day after 
 receiving a fiat, and I have told you so before, and therefore I 
 sent a correction to Brown's on Friday. The word task, must 
 be altered, as it occurs in the preceding page, 1 am particu- 
 larly anxious to have this cancelled sheet very perfect, and, in- 
 deed I never yet wrote any thing to satisfy myself. But there 
 is time before us, and I shall keep the cancelled sheet two days, 
 to prevent further trouble and vexation to you and myself. 
 
 I read that the London vote of thanks is now signed by two 
 thousand people. But as the Prince will be firm, he will soon 
 conquer all these addresses. He acts with great delicacy and 
 dignity, which, in the long run, will be of solid and signal ser- 
 vice to him. I have now no impatience about the book, and I 
 would by no means have it come out till the Regency is actu- 
 ally conveyed to the Prince, It is very fortunate for me that 
 Bishop Hurd voted against his pupil, and, indeed, the Prince 
 will now be able to distinguish between friends and foes. It 
 will be a very able Ministry, and Pitt in opposition is not worth 
 a rush. There must be a new Parliament ; in obtaining which, 
 prodigious sums of money must be spent by the Prince and his 
 friends. I wish you would find out how Markham came to vote 
 for Pitt. I think the restrictions will not be carried by so great 
 a majority. I am glad the royal treasures will be no longer 
 employed in parliamentary and electioneering cabals. This is
 
 MEMOIRS. 301 
 
 of great consequence. " Stately array " I shall correct, but 
 I have not made up my mind as to the beginning of the sen- 
 tence, which, being a very good one, must not be left muti- 
 lated. 
 
 My cold is a little better, and I have ventured to ride out — 
 but I am very much afraid of my horse, whose starts, and sud- 
 den stops, are absolutely dangerous, and even my boys say so. 
 I return the Horace, which is very correct. I doubt about bis; 
 should it be hie or bis? I suspect bis. But you must look, for I 
 cannot construe it. I now thank you finally and cordially for 
 your trouble about my book ; and I think that a few splendid 
 quotations will be of use to the sale, if you can get them in- 
 serted in the Foxite papers, especially the praises upon Kurd's 
 style, and Jortin's character, which is executed well, and will 
 be popular ; but I do not wish anything severe to get into the 
 newspapers ; and my friends must make up a few defensive 
 paragraphs for the editor. I think Steevens might be allowed 
 to do this ; but pray stop him from quoting anything severe, 
 and tell me what he says of the composition. I must give 
 away two more copies. But more of this hereafter. I have 
 got two hundred and forty-five pounds for the Browns, and this 
 is more than Pittite parsons do. 
 
 Pray call on Mr. Hall, and settle about my arrears at the 
 Whig Club. If there be a difficulty to get in the text, the in- 
 closed alteration will be again transcribed and sent up to you. I 
 will shorten one of the notes, and I suppose, that a note is more 
 manageable in printing. Send me an answer to this query be- 
 fore I give final directions. The alteration will probably run 
 thus, and requires little breaks or lines in the first sentence — 
 " I am unwilling to shock your Lordship's delicacy by saying 
 
 all that might be said with truth upon your romantic freaks 
 
 of affectation, or caprice, in the choice of your subjects — upon 
 the stately array or the grotesque machinery of your argu- 
 ments — upon the rambling digressions and intricate labyrinths 
 into which we are drawn by your notes— upon the vicious, as 
 well as the more chaste and more happy embellishments of 
 
 your style ; I therefore pass on to those unsparing" all in 
 
 italics.
 
 302 MEMOIRS. 
 
 The following letter is from the same to the same. 
 
 I thank you for your letter. There is war at Warwick ; and 
 Parson Weale, the only writer of the enemy, has been ex- 
 tremely abusive to me for saying that Mr. Greville would be a 
 candidate. The case is this. When Lord Warwick's candi- 
 dates came, the mayor put out a hand-bill saying he had a 
 letter from London, which authorised him to declare that Gre- 
 ville would not stand. Frightened at this, I put out a hand- 
 bill to inquire from whom the letter came, and to say, that 
 Greville had written to Ladbroke upon the 6th, that he would 
 come. This produced the name of Lord Warwick, and here 
 it rested till Saturday. Then I had a letter from Greville, de- 
 claring he would come, which fact I published with my name. 
 As the quotation was very short, I was charged with concealing 
 and interpolating. I instantly with my name produced a fuller 
 quotation, repeated my assertion, and trounced the anonymous 
 hand-bill writer. He replied, but so vulgarly and nonsensically, 
 that it was not worthwhile to say any more. We have now got 
 a printed address from Greville, which justifies me and con- 
 victs Lord of the lie direct ; and such a fact we shall 
 
 turn to account. I have been abused for something Bartlam 
 wrote ; and, as he writes well, I was suspected. Bartlam has 
 rejoined vigorously. We have beat them about two other facts, 
 and so fully, that they deny having said at all what they abso- 
 lutely did say in a hand-bill ; but our proofs were too strong for 
 equivocation, and so they were obliged to lie. Greville's address 
 bears hard upon the Castle, and Lord lie has sepa- 
 rated the brothers. Ask no questions at present about my 
 Junius ?.* It is far better than anything in my predecessor 
 Junius : and far better than my dedication. It will not be 
 published, as I must not be an author about elections. But 
 you shall see it, and, if it is printed, there will be a job for 
 Poppin's Court. But mind this ; if it is printed there, you 
 
 * Referring to the letter to Lord W , which was given 
 
 to Mr. Ladbroke, who had it printed for circulation among 
 his friends.
 
 MEMOIRS. 303 
 
 must be upon the spot the whole time to see it composed and 
 printed oft', and to prevent surreptitious copies ; and your re- 
 ward will be a copy — and a great reward, let me tell you. 
 Well, I have written to Lord Dartmouth about Combe, and 
 Lord John has got him a great number of votes, for which he 
 must call and thank him, as it is done out of friendship to me. 
 I wish my friends would consider, that I cannot be always 
 applying for them, and that they may chance to ask my as- 
 sistance when I have been applying for something else the 
 week before. However, all is done for Combe I could do, and 
 I heartily wish him success, for he is a sincere friend ; which 
 word brings to mind a cold, delicate, Hurdian letter from 
 Bennet, about the book. I have sent him the devil of an 
 answer. As to a new edition, I forbid it for the present, and 
 shall alter and add, and shall thank Steevens for any kind of 
 communication. I suppose it will go hard with me in the 
 Gentleman's Magazine. But I don't care ; and if Nichols is 
 very bad he shall suffer for it. Be assured. Homer, that I 
 treasure up what j^ou say about Reed, and will do my best to 
 serve him when there is a proper opportunity. This you will 
 consider as a promise ; but I cannot answer for the event, 
 and I must reserve to myself the right of settling the time. 
 
 The King is very little better, as I know upon good authority. 
 Let us praise Ireland. This is a glorious trial. Bennet has 
 found out Steevens, and in his courtly way, complains. But he 
 funnily says, the style is like Scale's, and Scale* will get into 
 a scrape with the Archbishop, whereat I rejoice. My reasons 
 are to be found in Kurd's pamphlets, and I shall give no other. 
 Personal reasons are out of the question. I hope Reed will do 
 something in a Magazine, and I shall be glad of Steevens's 
 strong faulchion, to repel the army of Nichols. But never 
 mind abuse ; I have spoken the truth ; and, if not, let them 
 convict me, for I have laid all the evidence open. Take care 
 to re.«5ist the new edition at present. I dare say this impression 
 
 * Dr. Scale was the Archbishop's domestic chaplain, but 
 left Lambeth on some petty pique, of which he gives an ac- 
 count to Parr in his correspondence.
 
 304 MEMOIRS. 
 
 will go off in a year. Wliat says Dr. Hurd himself? make me 
 a good budget of anecdotes. Bennet says. Farmer will be 
 pleased at finding himself not only spared, but praised. I have 
 been a generous enemy to him always, and so I am to every 
 body, even to Hurd. Why now, the sneer in Cadell's shop is 
 of piece with the rest. There is no sense. Homer, in these 
 sneers,* Do you think there is ? for 1 swear that I find none. 
 Bartlara says, they are full of roguery ; a naughty word, not 
 fit to be used about Bishops ; though I think three out of 
 five most desperate knaves, and this is a pretty word ; but 
 for heaven's sake, don't say so to Steevens, for Bartlam says 
 it would be paragraphed. 
 
 Did you ever read anything so insolent and venomous as 
 Kurd's two pamphlets ? I wish Seale would try to defend 
 him. By the way, Bennet says, he told me. Lord W. would 
 leave us at the push — a concession for which both the tutor 
 and pupil have been trounced, as I say. I suppose at Cam- 
 bridge they are all in arms against me. Let them fear me, 
 and I care not how they abuse me. I wish for testimonia ; 
 where are Tyrwhitt's ? I wish to encourage an idea, that in 
 the Horace, Master Hurd will be oiled and perstringed most 
 confoundedly. I think Steevens would work this very well, 
 
 * A certain Bishop, on hearing the sermons of Dr. W. (now 
 Bishop of L.) extolled, replied, " Sir, he may do well at 
 Cambridge, but not in London. We know there is nothing at 
 all in him." And again, when the same learned writer's Re- 
 ply to Gibbon was commended, answered with the following 
 sneer : " But do you think his Defence of Christianity would 
 have been the worse, had he appeared a little more in earnest 
 about it?" 
 
 A few years ago the Bishop of W. hearing a bookseller speak 
 with satisfaction of the rapid sale of some new edition of Shak- 
 speare, replied, with one of his customary sneers ; " These 
 trifling fellows know nothing of our great dramatic poet's 
 manner. When the public recover their senses, Warburton's 
 comment will be the only one held in esteem." Surely, says a 
 correspondent, the antient coalition of priest and prophet, in 
 this instance, has not been hitherto ascertained.
 
 MEMOIRS. 305 
 
 and frighten Hurd devilishly. Perhaps, too, it may be done, 
 if I am well in health, and ill in humour. Mind, your edition 
 will be worth a guinea more if you publish Jason de Nores J 
 and we must get Colman's translation for the sake of two or 
 three judicious transpositions in the text. Mind, I think of 
 nothing now but Warwick politics. But send me all news 
 
 worth hearing. Barrington has been prating. He is a 
 
 ; but as he don't write he must escape. — Friday, Feb. 
 
 20, 1789. 
 
 The work was published early in the year 1789, 
 under the title " Tracts by Warburton, and a War- 
 burtonian, not admitted into the collections of 
 their respective works." Before the Tracts of War- 
 burton is a short Preface of the Editor ; before 
 the Tracts by a Warbuilonian, a Dedication and a 
 Preface. Had the Prefaces been prefixed to the 
 respective works alone, some obligation might have 
 been owed by the Republic of Letters to the exer- 
 tions of Dr. Parr. " They who mark, with philo- 
 sophic precision, the progress of the human un- 
 derstanding," must thank him for giving them an 
 opportunity of " comparing the better productions 
 of Warburton's pen with the worse ;" nor was it 
 unworthy of his love of ingenuousness and fairness 
 in literary controversy, to unscreen a critic who 
 anonymously employed an " offensive spirit of con- 
 tempt for the purpose of degrading" a learned 
 writer. The Preface, however, has a better claim 
 on our gratitude than any it can derive from the 
 unveiling of dark manoeuvres, or the indignation 
 it expresses against " the foul arts of detraction so 
 Often practised by men of letters." The characters 
 of Warburton, and Leland, and Jortin, can never be 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 MEMOIRS. 
 
 read without delight. " He that speaks of them 
 without approbation must renounce his pretensions 
 to impartiahty of taste, to exactness of discrimina- 
 tion, or delicacy of feeling." 
 
 The Preface is written in a more dignified tone 
 of mind, and with a better spirit than the Dedication, 
 which is directed as a death-blow at Bishop Kurd's 
 literary reputation ; and certainly its venom, its sly 
 aims, its dexterous thrusts, as well as its furious 
 blows, are unparalleled. Rarely does the Edi- 
 tor use " the lighter missive weapons of the con- 
 troversial armoury — rarely does he pelt his adver- 
 sary with trim urbanity or oblique insinuation." 
 When he does, it is only to gain time, and to take 
 breath to gather up his might, and to assail with 
 recruited vigour. Wheresoever such powers are 
 employed for any purpose, it will naturally be 
 asked why were they so employed? 
 
 I am fearful that a candid perusal of the Dedi- 
 cation will generate the same opinion in every 
 reader of sense and virtue. Why should so learned 
 a man as Dr. Parr attack so venerable and so re- 
 spectable a man as Dr. Hurd in this bitter manner ? 
 What could be his motives ? What motives could 
 justify such an attack ? 
 
 In order that we may be just, let us briefly survey 
 the Dedication with these views, and, at the same 
 time, take a glance at some of Dr. Parr's deliberate 
 writings hitherto unpublished, so as to judge 
 whether the motive was general or personal, of 
 remote or recent date ; and, finally, whether he was 
 oot, after all, hurried away by one of those torrents
 
 MEMOIRS. 807 
 
 of passion, of which there are too many instances 
 in his hfe, as in the hves of us all. For, although 
 his talents were enlisted on the side of virtue, 
 our friend was sometimes deceived — he was often 
 duped — and he was always jealous of attention, and 
 indignant at neglect. The sounding name, too, of 
 independence, and still more, his apprehension of 
 apostacy, swerving, and inconsistency, were sure to 
 open the sluices of his resentment. Now I think 
 a gleam of light illumines the subject if we advert 
 to the patronage of the Doctor by Bishop Lowth, 
 who was one of the antagonists of the Warburto- 
 nian school. By the Bishop's patronage Dr. Parr 
 was promoted to a Prebend of St. Paul's ; by other 
 patronage he was made Curate of Hatton, and thus 
 Bishop Hurd became the Diocesan of Dr. Parr. 
 
 Dr. Parr went to Hartlebury necessarily on this 
 occasion. He was treated coldly : not even a re- 
 past was oilered to him. This slight roused his 
 indignation. He probably, during the effervescence 
 of his rage, recollected the " Delicacy of Friend- 
 ship," which he had caused to be copied at Nor- 
 wich, and perhaps he did not forget the sneer con- 
 cerning the long vernacular Sermons at Whitehall ; 
 and his fancy, under such influence, would natu- 
 rally conjure up a phantom in the shape of Bishop 
 Hurd, which had marched across the high road of 
 his interests, and blighted the prospects of his 
 preferment. 
 
 From a comparison of Dr. Parr's opinion of 
 Bishop Hurd, at the time he edited the Warbur- 
 tonian tracts, with his former opinion, my theory 
 
 x2
 
 ,*308 MEMOIRS. 
 
 will receive support and justification. On the Con- 
 stitution of Parliaments, and the real foundation of 
 the English Constitution, in the Notes on Rapin, 
 he calls Bishop Kurd's a more decisive opinion 
 than De Lolme's, p. 13. He speaks of Bishop 
 Kurd's " acute reflection." Ke quotes, then, nearly 
 two close sheets of the Dialogues, p. 16. He quotes 
 Kurd's authority as supreme on the limitation of 
 feudal authority, as introduced by the Conqueror. 
 And again, p. 18. Bishop Kurd elucidates Hume, 
 p. 23. Bishop Kurd happily reconciles some con- 
 tradictions of opinion about the feudal system, 
 p. 35. 
 
 Concerning the Tudors, Kurd is the first autho- 
 rity quoted, p. 29. 
 
 The various and uncommon causes of Henry the Eighth's 
 power are most profoundly traced and most exactly described 
 by Bishop Hurd. 
 
 In p. 32 is the following general character : 
 
 The Dialogues of Hurd on the reign of Elizabeth are written 
 with great delicacy of sentiment, and the most finished elegance 
 of style. They abound with curious remarks on the pei"Sonal 
 qualities of the Princess, and the peculiar manners of her 
 times ; but they throw a very feeble light on the political his- 
 tory of her government ; they are not marked by the strong 
 features of sagacity and of impartiality, which distinguish the 
 investigation of Hume. 
 
 James's notions of prerogative ably discussed by 
 Kurd, p. 33. Sensible observations of Hurd to be 
 impressed on the mind of the reader, p. 35. P. 54, 
 Hurd quoted for producing a striking coincidence 
 of sentiment in his letter " On the marks of Imita- 
 tion," in his Horace, vol. II. p. 35.
 
 MEMOIRS. 301) 
 
 I think myself justified in thus comparing Dr. 
 Parr with himself at two different periods, by the 
 authority of an unpublished work. He had evi- 
 dently some doubt of Dr. Hurd when he got the 
 Delicacy of Friendship copied at Norwich in 1781. 
 He had evidently no dislike to Dr. Hurd when he 
 wrote the Notes to Rapin in 1783; and yet when 
 he came to reside at Hatton he writes the bitter 
 satire contained in the edition of the Warburto- 
 nian Tracts, with a gorgeous phrase of qualified 
 approbation tacked to it occasionally ; but only so 
 tacked when he had rent asunder the whole texture 
 of the Bishop's literary character. Be it remem- 
 bered, likewise, that Hurd had, at this time, kept 
 back his Life of Warburton. Parr, therefore, had 
 no pretence for attack on the particular ground 
 that his patron, Bishop Lowth, had been abused by 
 faint praise, however he might have deemed him- 
 self bound to him by general partizanship. 
 
 Had the Life of Warburton been published. Parr 
 would have had some reason for vindicating the 
 character of his Patron from the contemptuous ex- 
 pressions and sneers of Hurd, who says. 
 
 His reputation as a writer was raised chiefly on his Hebrew 
 literature, as displayed in those two works, his Latin Lectures 
 on Hebrew Poetry, and his English Version of the Prophet 
 Isaiah. The former is well and elegantly composed, but in a 
 vein of criticism not above the common ; the latter, I think, is 
 chiefly valuable, as it shows how liitle is to be expected from 
 Dr. Kennicot's Work, and from a new translation of the Bible 
 for public use. 
 
 There is here some ground for complaint ; but, 
 perhaps, he would have been still less spared had
 
 310 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 his remarks on Archbishop Seeker come under the 
 observation and the lash of Parr. To talk of " the 
 narrow walk of literature, he most affected that of 
 criticising the Hebrew text," &c., when apphed to 
 such a man as Seeker, is surely monstrous ; and 
 Parr, after the publication of the Life, often ex- 
 claimed, that " all Scholars would now justify 
 him." Doubtless he would have been more jus- 
 tified had he waited for the publication of the Dis- 
 course, and still more had Hurd then unfolded his 
 Warburtonian letters. Yet even then, should I 
 have exclaimed to him, et nomen pacis dulce 
 est, et res ipsa salutaris. Beautiful and excellent 
 are these compositions ; yet I must be allowed to 
 wish that the Dedication, at least, had never been 
 written ! 
 
 The Tracts, it is true, were scarce ; but they 
 elucidated no important ]3oints of controversy nor 
 of character. Warburton's Tracts are confessedly 
 of no importance towards substantiating his fame ; 
 neither, as the compositions of a young man, do 
 they lessen his reputation. As means of comparison 
 they may be of some curiosity ; but they are nei- 
 ther very learned nor very instructive. 
 
 The Delicacy of Friendship, published without a 
 name, was not ingenuously ushered into the world ; 
 and as it was also an instrument of flattery to a 
 patron, and as its tendency was to decry that pa- 
 tron's antagonist, it was not very creditable to the 
 moral sense of the writer. But surely, with these 
 exceptions, there is little mischief done by it. Jor- 
 tin's character, though sneered at, could not be
 
 MEMOIRS. 311 
 
 laughed down, even if ridicule were allowed to be 
 the test of truth ; and Lowth and Brown had suffi- 
 ciently chastised these sneers by their reprobation. 
 But, though they spoke out, Warburton was not 
 convinced by their arguments or expostulations, and 
 hugged with the fondness of a father this sycophant 
 production. 
 
 Dr. Parr, by a thousand delicate hints, insi- 
 nuates the undermining of other men's fame, 
 and sneering at their merits. Prove the fact, and 
 let due punishment be awarded for the offence. 
 But is there in the Delicacy of Friendship, or 
 the Letter to Leland, any thing more than syco- 
 phancy proved to conviction ? No. There was 
 disingenuousness in concealing the name of the 
 writer — there was a wrong spirit in the manner. 
 And did these deserve condign punishment ? 
 Contemptuousness, indeed, is, of all methods 
 of expressing dislike, the meanest. Sitting in 
 the seat of the scornful has been always so cha- 
 racterized. It is the truest sign of a' mean under- 
 standing and of a cold heart. Hurd, in the be- 
 ginning of his career, had not cast off the slough of 
 his early education. It required all his original 
 capacity and good sense to do it. But he did it at 
 last; and then came out the elevated character 
 which disdained the ignoble strife, and even the most 
 splendid gains of ambition.* The Political Dialogues 
 prove his great improvements as well as his accom- 
 
 * Dr. Hurd was offered, and declined, the Archbishopric oi' 
 Canterbury, on the death of Dr. Cornwallis.
 
 312 MEMOIRS. 
 
 plishniGiits ; and tJiese, the old King exclaimed, 
 made Hurd a Bishop. But to have been the friend 
 and companion of Yorke, and Murray, and War- 
 burton, prove incontestably the merits of the man, 
 and the elegance of the scholar ; and whatever were 
 the demerits, and even the vices that produced these 
 works, where was the use in bringing them forward 
 when most of the parties concerned were laid low 
 in the grave ? Was it necessary to lift them up as 
 a beacon to warn others? or were they so important 
 in themselves as to be memorials for future gene- 
 rations ? 
 
 There can be no doubt (says Dr. Lucas, or perhaps Bishop 
 Hurd himself) but all the learned disputants concerned in this 
 controversy gave a common and generous consent to the 
 quiescence of this subject. In the strength and vigour of in- 
 tellect, men of learning and ability seize the opportunities that 
 offer for displaying tliem ; and in the cause of what they deem 
 the truth, they arc anxious, and even angry, in the struggle. 
 The hand of time, however, softens and quiets the dispositions 
 for combat, and even for victory. The fermentations of dis- 
 putes, like the grosser particles in the composition, sink gra- 
 dually to rest, under the mild and clearer influence of religion 
 and philosophy. That this. Sir, was the desirable issue of the 
 present controversy, and that all the distinguished characters 
 concerned in it, before they were separated by the great de- 
 terminer of all questions, regarded each other with mutual re- 
 spect as scholars, as men, and as Christians, there cannot be 
 the least doubt. — Lucas, pp. 33, 34. 
 
 Dr. Lucas of Ripple, who married one of the 
 Bishop of Worcester's nieces, and who had been 
 preferred by him on account of this connection, 
 wrote an answer to Dr. Parr's Preface and Dedica- 
 tion of the " Tracts bv Warburton and a Warbur-
 
 MEMOIRS. 313 
 
 tonian," entitled, " A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Parr, 
 occasioned by liis re-publication of the Tracts of 
 Warburton," &c. published for Robson and Clarke, 
 1789. Dr. Parr has written, in his own hand, in 
 the copy of the tract in his library, "From the 
 author, whom I believe to be a man of wit ;" and 
 in a notice before the title-page, 
 
 ** A Letter to Dr. Parr,'' very witty, supposed by a Pre- 
 bendary of Dublin. The book is said to be printed by Rob- 
 son (and so it was) ; but Mr. Robson rejected it, as scurrilous 
 in his opinion, from his knowledge of Dr. Parr's character ; 
 and of this circumstance he informed Dr. Parr in a very polite 
 and friendly letter. Before the publication it was sent to Dr. 
 Parr, by the author, with his written compliments, and was 
 read by Dr. Parr with much entertainment from its vivacity, 
 with no conviction from its arguments, and with calm contempt 
 at the false and injurious insinuations contained in it. 
 
 S. Parr, May 2, 1792. 
 
 In the first instance. Parr does not appear to have 
 been acquainted with the name or station of the real 
 author, and never with his connection with Bishop 
 Hurd. In another part of the book he writes, " Dr. 
 Lucas, Rector of Ripple, Worcestershire, wrote this 
 letter, August 24, 1812." Such had been his little 
 care, or little inquiry about the question, who 
 wrote it. 
 
 Dr. Lucas was the nominal author, but probably 
 wrote a part down from the dictation of his vener- 
 able uncle. Perhaps he did not write himself what 
 follows : 
 
 Little thanks, therefore, are due to him who, to gratify his 
 own spleen and malignity, phaigcs iiilo i/ic regions of oblivion ;
 
 314 MEMOIRS. 
 
 and with ruffian violence drags forth a reposing spirit of conlen- 
 tion into nexu agitation and tumult. 
 
 And certainly the next paragraph is worthy of 
 Kurd's manner : 
 
 If, however. Sir, you had been determined to mix a spirit of 
 theological controversy of some sort (which seems to have been 
 the case), it had been more for the credit of your incantations 
 to have brought one of a more captivating form ; one that 
 might have answered your purpose by the allurements of no- 
 velty ; and not, by the lowest degree of necromancy, a sort of 
 palmistry, to have conjured up a dry, battered, antiquated 
 spirit, a very hag, that, by the bandying and repercussions of 
 the disputants, had been absolutely worn out and put to rest. 
 
 There is a good deal of humour, and wit perhaps 
 not of a very high kind, at pages 61, 62, 63, &c. 
 and Dr. Lucas's play on Parr's boast, 
 
 Optat Aprum, autfulvum descendere monte Leonem, 
 
 is amusing. But these light missiles were not 
 the proper weapons for assailing him ; and Dr. 
 Lucas would have done himself more honour had 
 he come forward in person boldly, and employed 
 his whole powers, and they were highly respect- 
 able, in defending or avenging the character of his 
 Patron. 
 
 But the angry feeling against Hurd did not end 
 here. Dr. Parr says, in a note to his Dedication, 
 
 I am told by one whom I esteem the best Greek scholar in 
 the kingdom, and to whom the hat of Bentley would have 
 vailed, that many notable discoveries might be made, by com- 
 paring the variaj lectiones, the clippings and the filings, the 
 altorings and the varnishings of certain constitutional doctrines, 
 as they crept by little and little into the diftcrent successive 
 editions of ccitain Political Dialogues.
 
 MEMOIRS. 315 
 
 The first edition of Kurd's Political Dialogues, 
 was in one volume 8vo. printed by Millar, 1759, 
 and is now before me,* with the following notice 
 written on the fly leaf, and varise lectiones noted 
 at pp. 139, 142, 150, 165, 171, 2, 5, 8, 182, 4, 6, 
 194, 203, 7, 9, 210, 14, 20, 36, 44, 45, 60, 69, 85, 
 89, 95, 96, 7, 9, 300, 301, 304. 
 
 WARBURTON TRACTS. — MEMORANDUM. 
 
 This bit of paper is transcribed from a copy of the first 
 edition, lent rae by the learned Mr. Green of Ipswich ; and it 
 contains references to the various readings between the first 
 and third editions. I have compared them carefully. I have 
 found Mr. Green's statement very correct, and I see no reason 
 from my own researches to retract, or even to qualify, what I 
 had said in the Warburtonian Tracts upon the authority of Mr. 
 Porson. My dispute with the Bishop of Worcester did not for 
 one moment suspend my great respect for his talents ; and if, 
 upon a fair and full inquiry, I had discovered that my words 
 were in the slightest degree too strong for the facts, I intended 
 to take the earliest opportunity of declaring the change in my 
 opinion, and making a proper and public apology for my error. 
 I examined Mr. Green's book in 1802, and I was presented 
 with this very scarce and valuable first edition, by the very 
 learned Dr. Charles Burney, vphen I visited him at Greenwich 
 early in the spring of 1803. S. Parr, April 9, 1803. 
 
 I am of a different opinion. I have collated the 
 first, the third, and fifth editions, and have marked 
 
 * It was given to Parr by Dr. Burney, with the following 
 inscription : 
 
 De sua in bibliothecam 
 
 Samuems Parr 
 
 Honoris et amicitiae causa 
 
 ponendum vult 
 
 C. B. 
 
 M.DCCC.III.
 
 316 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the clippings, filings, softenings, and varnishings 
 with my pen, and to my weaker optics of criticism 
 it appears wonderful where such great wits and 
 profound scholars could find these marks of calm 
 progressive apostacy. Without doubt Bishop Hurd 
 thought differently on many subjects of history^ 
 religion, morals, and politics in the interval between 
 1759 and 1776; and I know that Dr. Parr did so. 
 But it would be unjust to charge him with apos- 
 tacy because he modified his opinions or his ex- 
 pressions. For my part, I see no change but for 
 the better in the Dialogues in the last edition, 
 which, moreover, contains the 7th and 8th Dialogues 
 on Foreign Travel, and the letters on Chivalry and 
 Romance, intended to illustrate them. When Dr. 
 Parr was writing his notes to Rap in, and read- 
 ing accurately Bishop Kurd's Dialogues, he, of 
 course, had the third edition (his own copy) before 
 him. How strange that he should not have noted 
 the courtly opinions changed from the uncourtli/, 
 when he was criticising Hume for too great fond- 
 ness for the Stuarts, and praising Hurd's juster 
 views. I lament my honoured friend's attack upon 
 Hurd the more, because I think I have proved, that 
 the general cause of letters had little to do with it. 
 But the proof of that which he had seen only 
 through the medium of his sagacity, was at length 
 spontaneously offered to the public gaze, 1 wish I 
 could add, to the public admiration. 
 
 After the Bishop of Worcester's death, " Letters 
 from a late eminent Prelate to one of his friends," 
 were published in 1808-J), containing 257 of War-
 
 MEMOIRS. 317 
 
 burton, and 26 of Hurd, all characteristic of the 
 school and of the writers. In Letters 28, 29, 30, 
 45, 46, 74, 88, 89, 96, 102, 104, 154, 164, W.— 
 75, 79, 92, 94, 97, 182, H.— there is an inter- 
 change of compliments, and abuse of literary men. 
 
 Burton, a puppy, 19, W. Potter, mean. 47, W. Ruther- 
 forth, the meanest pedant of the age, 22, W. Stebbing, toler- 
 able, from supporting others' nonsense rather than his own. 
 Spence, an extreme poor creature, 45 — 128, W, Law, hcen- 
 tious and paradoxical, 58, W. Jortin's meanness, and the ma- 
 lignity of his friends excessive. 124, W. Young, the finest 
 writer of nonsense of the age. 129, W. Clarke, miserably 
 cold, lifeless; no invention or dignity. 158, H. Johnson's 
 Edition of Shakspeare, full of insolence and malignant reflec- 
 tions, which have in them as much folly as malignity. 175. W. 
 Lowth, his wit and reasoning below common. 176, W. Lyttle- 
 ton. Bishop, dull, wrong-headed. 211, W. Tucker, his flow 
 of transcendent nonsense. 221, W. Bench of Bishops, a 
 wooden bench. 208, W. The Court an earthly Pandemonium. 
 7, W. Zachariah Brooke, shallow, dirty, 20, W. Home, 
 sneered at. 35, W. Drivel of the Hoadleians., 37 W. Or- 
 rery's detestable Letters upon Swift. 37> W. Harris, now to 
 sense, now nonsense leaning, 38, W. N.B. The Church, like 
 the ark of Noah, 46, W. Jackson's Chronology, diving Anti- 
 quarian, the wretch, 47, W. Prophecy of the fate of the 
 Church. 47, P. 119. W. bestrid by some lumpish Minister 
 of State, who turns and winds it at his pleasure, Goths 
 and Vandals, return when they will, cannot hurt Cambridge. 
 51. The angel of dullness ready to pour his vials into the 
 waters of the Cam, 69, W. Brain painted with hierogly- 
 phics. Jortin, played the hypocrite, Combe's vanity. Heath- 
 cote's pride, 96, W. Pack of wretches, 97, H, Worthington. 
 Lowth, Garnet, Chappelow, ignorance, ill-faith, 98, W. People 
 devoid of principle, N,B. 100, W. Brown perter, no wiser. 
 113, W. Rousseau, a seraphic madman, 134. Walpole, an in- 
 superable coxcomb. 187, W. Toup, a coxcomb. 182, H. 
 
 Such are the opinions concerning learned men ;
 
 318 MEMOIRS. 
 
 some of them the most learned of their generation, 
 which passed between these Correspondents, and 
 which Hurd kept in his closet for more than thirty- 
 years after the death of Warburton, and then deli- 
 berately gave to the public, a memorial of Warbur- 
 ton's character as well as his own. It is true, that 
 united with them are sage observations, the results 
 of his " acute penetration, his various erudition, and 
 the inexhaustible fertility of his fancy." But " the 
 contemptuous and domineering spirit" of the Con- 
 troversialist breaks out to the last ; and I am forced 
 to confess that, throughout the letters of Warburton, 
 I am continually reminded of Parr. There is the 
 same unyielding firmness ; courage even to daring ; 
 strong expression, elevated thought, and bitter 
 and caustic remark. They both were fond of 
 displaying their strength of understanding in con- 
 troversy, but each according to his own manner. 
 Warburton was " an eagle towering ;" but in- 
 stead of " kindhng his undazzled eyes at the mid- 
 day beam, purging and unsealing his long obscured 
 sight at the fountain itself of heavenly radiance," 
 never could refrain from pouncing down on the 
 chirping flock below him, and tearing them to 
 pieces. Every little fluttering pecker at the Divine 
 Legation was sure to be darted upon ; and when he 
 got nobler game he scarce could sate himself with 
 the carnage. " The View of Lord Bolingbroke's 
 Philosophy" will prove my assertion ; and, only ex- 
 cepting Milton's Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio, 
 and his chastisement of Alexander More, there is 
 no harsher composition from the pen of any of
 
 MEMOIRS. 319^ 
 
 our learned countrymen.* The Dedication of the 
 Tracts of a Warburtonian is elaborately artful, 
 ostentatiously severe, and, though terribly just, 
 never ferociously cruel. The Editor brings out 
 both the friends superbly adorned for sacrifice ; he 
 brings them to the altar of criticism, chaunts their 
 praises and their demerits in strains divine, and 
 then, with a mortal blow, consummates the fate of 
 one while he dismisses the other in peace. 
 
 Mighty in learning and in critical acumen 
 were both Warburton and Parr. Parr had more 
 taste, more exactness, and more depth. War- 
 burton had more rankness, more force, and 
 more wit. Warburton delighted in wild theory 
 and paradox. Parr in laboured elucidation and 
 illustration. Warburton covered himself over 
 with hieroglyphics and mystic figures. Parr with 
 gaudy images and innumerable decorations. In 
 temper, Warburton was boisterous, haughty, un- 
 controlable, sometimes coarse. So was Parr when 
 contradicted or opposed. Both required uncondi- 
 tional submission. Both were kind and placable 
 to prostrate and repentant antagonists, and theriy 
 glowing with friendly feelings ; both sincere, 
 and honourable ; both vain, and open to flat- 
 tery. Warburton had less kindness of disposition, 
 and a tendency to more general contemptuousness. 
 Parr had less magnanimity. Warburton had fewer 
 personal friends. Parr had as many political and 
 
 * Foreigners, and especially the Italians, beat us out of the 
 field. See Poggius against L, Valla and Philelphus.
 
 320 MEMOIRS. 
 
 theological enemies. Warbiirton had better tact 
 and sought higher game. Parr was less settled 
 in his views, and deficient in a grand aim for the 
 estabhshment of his reputation. Both were hated 
 at Court ; both were neglected at Court : and the 
 characters of both were influenced by that neglect. 
 If Warburton had been imbued with a spirit of 
 gentleness and humility ; if Parr had been tutored 
 and trammelled in the paths of peacefulness ; both 
 woidd have been greater and more useful to man- 
 kind. It was the fortune of Warburton to be 
 placed early in good society ; Pope, Charles 
 Yorke, and Murray, were his companions; they 
 restrained, or corrected his bad habits, they en- 
 couraged his lofty propensities, and they insured 
 his ultimate station. Parr, when driven from 
 Harrow, found few associates at Stanmore. At 
 Colchester, Dr. Nathaniel Forster and Mr. Twi- 
 ning were his only Jit companions ; and at Nor- 
 wich, what did the friendship of Mr. Windham 
 eftcct for him? His works attached him only 
 to a party, not to the individual members of 
 the party; though he corresponded with every 
 body, he was fixed to nobody. 
 
 The follower of Warburton, with a better instinct, 
 secured his station by a system exactly the reverse. 
 When once adopted by his friend, or master, he 
 never let him go ; their friends were mutual, their 
 pursuits were the same, and in the whole corre- 
 spondence we see omitted no opportunity of se- 
 curing a patron, by caresses, by flattery, and even 
 by taking arms in his defence, and thereby becom-
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 321 
 
 ing the partner of Warburton's projects and of his 
 fortune. Never perhaps before, did any man so 
 clearly display his plans and his objects, as Hard 
 has done in this correspondence with Warburton. 
 Had the letters been stolen from their reposi- 
 tories and published surreptitiously, something 
 might have been forgiven to the careless effusions 
 of confidential intercourse. But the Bishop of 
 Worcester has left himself without excuse. In the 
 first instance he withdrew some account of the life, 
 writings, and character of Warburton, that had been 
 prepared, but the publication of which was delayed 
 for reasons to be explained hereafter. A meagre 
 discourse was actually published afterwards ; but 
 the letters were kept back, and brooded over in 
 silence, and not published till after the Bishop's de- 
 cease. Had not the sentiments contained in them — 
 the scoffs and sneers at private character — and the 
 defamation of most learned men been approved and 
 justified in his mind, they would have been altered — 
 they would have been expunged during so long a 
 period of suppression. They were neither withheld 
 nor expurgated ; and Hurd has stamped on himself 
 and his friend an everlasting seal of reprobation, by 
 this posthumous promulgation of their rancorous 
 communications. 
 
 Having thus discharged, as he wished to think, 
 an important duty to literature ; or having thus 
 vented his spleen in the republication of the "Tracts 
 of Warburton and a Warburtonian," Parr became 
 the declared antagonist of his Diocesan. But he 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 322 MEMOIRS. 
 
 was not an ungenerous enemy ; though he could 
 not always approve, he did not always condemn. 
 
 As an Episode to Parr's attack on Bishop Hurd 
 in his Preface to the Warburtonian Tracts, repub- 
 lished by him and dedicated to that venerable Pre- 
 late, I shall introduce the following conversation be- 
 tween His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, our 
 present honoured Sovereign Lord the King, and 
 Dr. Parr : it took place at the Duke of Norfolk's 
 table in St. James's Square, in the presence of Mr. 
 Fox, Mr. Sheridan, Lord Erskine, and a large 
 party of distinguished persons. The name of the 
 Archbishop of York, who was then in a declining 
 state of health, having been alluded to, the Prince 
 observed, 
 
 I esteem Markhani a much greater, wiser, and more learned 
 man than Hurd, and a better teacher, and you will allow me 
 to be a judge, for they were both my Preceptors. — Sir, said Dr. 
 Parr, is it your Royal Highness's pleasure that I should enter 
 upon the topic of their comparative merits as a subject of dis- 
 cussion ? — Yes, said the Prince. — Then, Sir, said Dr. Parr, I 
 differ entirely from Your Royal Highness in opinion. — As I 
 knew them both so intimately, replied the Prince, you will not 
 deny that I had the power of more accurately appreciating 
 their respective merits than you can have had. In their man- 
 ner of teaching you may judge of my estimation of Markham's 
 superiority — his natural dignity and authority, compared with 
 the Bishop of Worcester's smoothness and softness, and I now 
 add, with proper submission to your authority on such a sub- 
 ject, his experience as a schoolmaster, and his better scholar- 
 ship, — Sir, said Parr, Your Royal Highness began this conver- 
 sation, and if you permit it to go on, must tolerate a very dif- 
 ferent inference. — Go on, said the Prince, I declare that Mark- 
 ham understood Greek better than Hurd ; for when I read
 
 MEMOIRS. 323 
 
 Homer, and hesitated about a word, Markham immediately ex- 
 plained it, and then we went on ; but when I hesitated with 
 Hurd, he always referred me to the Dictionary ; I therefore 
 conclude he wanted to be informed himself. — Sir, replied Parr, 
 I venture to differ from Your Royal Highness's conclusion. 
 I am myself a schoolmaster, and I think that Dr. Hurd pursued 
 the right method, and that Dr. Markham failed in his duty. 
 Hurd desired Your Royal Highness to find the word in the 
 Lexicon, not because he did not know it, but because he 
 wished you to find by search, and learn it thoroughly. Dr, 
 Hurd was not eminent as a scholar, but it is not likely that he 
 would have presumed to teach Your Royal Highness without 
 knowing the lesson himself. — Have you not changed your 
 opinion of Dr. Hurd, exclaimed the Prince, I have read a work 
 in which you attacked him fiercely. — Yes, Sir, I attacked him 
 on one point, which I thought important to letters, and I sum- 
 moned the whole force of my mind, and took every possible 
 pains to do it well, for I consider Hurd to be a great man. He 
 is celebrated as such by foi'eign critics, who appreciate justly 
 his wonderful acuteness, sagacity, and dexterity in doing what 
 he has done with so small a stock of learning. There is no 
 comparison, in my opinion, between Markham and Hui'd as 
 men of talents. Markham was a pompous schoolmaster — Hurd 
 was a stiff and cold, but correct gentleman. Markham was at 
 the head of a great school, then of a great college, and finally 
 became an Archbishop. In all these stations he had trumpeters 
 of his fame, who called him great, though he published one 
 Concio only, which has already sunk into oblivion. From a 
 farm-house and village school Hurd emerged the friend of 
 Gray, and a circle of distinguished men. While Fellow of a 
 small College he sent out works praised by foreign critics, and 
 not despised by our own scholars. He enriched his under- 
 standing by study, and sent from the obscurity of a country 
 village, a book. Sir, which your Royal Father is said to have de- 
 clared made him a Bishop, He made himself unpopular in 
 his own profession by the defence of a fantastical system. He 
 had decryers — he had no trumpeters ; he was great in and by 
 himself; and perhaps, Sir, a portion of that power and 
 
 y2
 
 324 MEMOIRS. 
 
 adroitnesss you have manifested in this debate, might have 
 been owing to him.* 
 
 . * While this part of the work was passing through the press, 
 Feb. 14, 1828, I for the first time saw Mr. Cradock's Literary 
 and Miscellaneous Memoirs, vol. iv. The anecdote of the con- 
 versation of the King is imperfectly told ; and as to another anec- 
 dote, I was present on an occasion in the summer of 1793, 
 when the same subject M'as started. At the Bishop's Palace in 
 Worcester, the Prebendaries of the Cathedral, then in resi- 
 dence, my father, myself, and some other company, perhaps 
 Mr. Professor Mainivaring, drank tea after evening service, 
 when the Bishop called the French fugitives emigrants ; and on 
 somebody asking his reason for this deviation from common 
 pronunciation, expressed his astonishment that it should be pro- 
 nounced otherwise. My father, with his wonted quickness, 
 replied, " I presume your Lordship does not always adhere so 
 strictly to the quantity of the original, when you pronounce 
 words derived from Latin. Would you in any case say to me, 
 * Doctor, your medicinal prescription irritates me." The 
 Bishop very sensibly replied only with a hearty laugh. 
 
 The statement about the Professor and the reflections on the 
 Bishop appear to me of very doubtful character. The Bishop's 
 intellect at this time was unchanged. He had no public days 
 after, and saw little private company. The observation 
 that he became childish is quite incorrect ; and that he 
 suffered any company so to treat him like a child as to desire 
 him to name the trump, is perfectly untrue. This is a reflex 
 anecdote, from a neighbouring Diocese and a contemporary 
 Right Ilononrahle Bishop. Lideed, except on his birth-day, 
 about Christmas, which we always spent at Hartlebury 
 Castle, I never saw cards ; we played for sixpences. The last 
 letter I received from Bishop Hurd was in 1801, on the death 
 of my father ; it was written without tremor, in his usual beau- 
 tifully distinct hand. I saw him for the last time the next 
 year, when he was more than 80, and his intellect was then 
 unimpaired, and I have indisputable authority for asserting, 
 that he continued unchanged in mind and manners to the end
 
 MEMOIRS. 325 
 
 Fox, when the Prince was gone, exclaimed, in his high tone 
 of voice, " He thought he had caught you, but he caught a 
 Tartar. " 
 
 I took down this conversation from my revered 
 friend's dictation. He averred that he was put on 
 his defence, and that the argument was maintained 
 with some heat. 
 
 The dedication of the two Tracts of a Warburto- 
 nian, addressed by the Editor to a learned Critic, is 
 one of the most striking monuments of Enghsh 
 Hterature. There is no equal quantity of fine 
 writing in the same quantity of any other composi- 
 tion with which I am acquainted ; nor from which 
 a richer selection of phrases, strong expressions, 
 bitter allusions, sarcastic turns, and happy illustra- 
 tions, can be more frequently quoted.* They are 
 in the mind of every English scholar, ready or- 
 naments of conversation, nor has the attempt to 
 decry this fine specimen of our literature, by deno- 
 minating it a series of antitheses, at all succeeded. 
 The very nature of the subject made it antithetical. 
 One object of the work was, to compare Hurd 
 with Warburton, to display the mighty Contro- 
 versialist, and to throw a gleam of light upon 
 the learned Critic, who had crept under the shadow 
 
 of life. The letter to Mr. Cradock from Dr. Parr, p. 326, 
 is a proof of the vigour and serenity of our revered friend's 
 mind within a few days of the attack which brought him to the 
 grave. 
 
 * Tom Warton professed to Dr. llouth, that if he were called 
 upon to point out some of the finest sentences in English pi-ose, 
 he should quote Parr's preface and dedication of the Warbur- 
 tonian Tracts,
 
 326 MEMOIRS. 
 
 of his friend's wings, and shrouded himself in an 
 obscurity in which he laid snares, and from which 
 he launched his shafts of malignity. So far as a 
 disapprobation of insidious detraction goes, the 
 attack of Parr is just. The Delicacy of Friendship, 
 in its conception, was parasitical ; in its composition, 
 was petulant ; in its anonymous publication, unge- 
 nerous. But the punishment exceeded the offence ; 
 and Parr, in pursuing justice too far, has excited 
 a sentiment of re-action, and even of compassion 
 in the mind of his reader ; who then remembers 
 that Dr. Hurd was a man of learning, of taste, 
 and of virtue, — that although he began his public 
 career by being the flatterer of Warburton, he was 
 at last his true friend ; and compensated for the 
 less worthy part of his life by an old age adorned 
 with hoary holiness, and passed in dignified seclu- 
 sion. 
 
 The criticisms on this publication of Dr. Parr 
 w^ere very numerous. I shall only now notice one ; 
 having already pointed out the material part of Dr. 
 Lucas's authorised or official attack, viz. " Quarrels 
 of Authors," &c. by the author of the " Calamities 
 of Authors." Here Parr is feebly impugned, — War- 
 burton bitterly attacked, — and Hurd insolently de- 
 famed. The author even calls him a toad-eater. 
 If I were to select the worst-composed character 
 of Parr, for want of correctness In the matter of fact, 
 for rabble of metaphor and false glare. It would be 
 from the Note on the Warburtonlan Tracts in 
 " Quarrels of Authors," p. 12.
 
 MEMOIRS. 327 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Regency. — Birmingham Sermons.- — Test Act. 
 
 While thus busied with his attack on Hurd, a 
 poHtical event occurred^, naturally tending to excite 
 the hopes of so sanguine a man as Dr. Parr, who 
 had so entirely devoted himself to the politics of 
 Mr. Fox and his party. The health of the King 
 had been manifestly impaired to common observa- 
 tion during the summer of 1788. He was sent to 
 Cheltenham for the benefit of the waters, and from 
 thence visited his favourite the Bishop of Worcester, 
 and attended the music-meeting established for the 
 benefit of the widows and orphans of the Clergy of 
 the three Choirs. It was observed by some who 
 attended the levee at the palace at Worcester, that 
 the King's appearance was such as to excite alarm ; 
 and that his conduct, during his public appearance 
 in the City, was at least extraordinary. On his 
 return to Windsor, the King's illness was divulged 
 to the public by the attendance of his physicians ; 
 but the particular disease was kept secret, and it 
 was not till November that the real disorder was 
 proclaimed, by the notice of the great question left 
 by Dr. Warren at Dr. Heberden's house in Pall Mall. 
 
 It is no part of my business to enter into the his- 
 tory of opinions on the supposed deviation from the 
 great constitutional rule, on the question of appoint- 
 ing a Regent, when the Royal authority was
 
 328 MEMOIRS'. 
 
 unable to give its sanction to the resolutions of the 
 two Houses of Parliament. 
 
 There are many letters from Dr. Parr on this 
 delicate subject ; I subjoin the following, as it con- 
 tains a very full view of it. 
 
 To the Rev. Henry Kett, Trinity College, Oxford. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Dec. 31, 17S8. 
 
 I return you my best thanks for a note, value ^35 odd, 
 which I this day received. Again I thank you, and I desire you 
 also to give my thanks to all the worthy persons who have con- 
 tributed in this good cause. It will please you to hear that the 
 collection already amounts to i^200, and that I expect to get 
 ^30 more. My stewardship has been laborious, and it has 
 also been successful. 1 cannot help smiling at your patriotic 
 pertinacity about the marble. I assure you that I sat down to 
 the book v.ithout expecting or desiring to be convinced. I am 
 not a professed Antiquary ; and I never read five Greek 
 marbles in my life. But I have read, in books, what is said at 
 least to be written upon five hundred, and I believe myself 
 versed in this sort of lore pretty accurately. The opinion I 
 gave of Robinson's book is founded upon a very careful peru- 
 sal ; and whether he be right or wrong, his reasoning is perti- 
 nent and solid, and deserves to be treated with more respect 
 than is shewn to it in your letter. I have very few doubts 
 remaining, and I wish the men of Oxford to reserve their tri- 
 umph till they produce a good book, which 1 shall be very 
 happy to see. It is not without reluctance that I give up any 
 monument of antiquity, and especially one which furnishes 
 Bentley with so many illustrious opportunities of displaying his 
 matchless skill in conjectural criticism. The authenticity of 
 the Marble never came before his penetrating mind as a sub- 
 ject of dispute. I wish it had, for he would have written better 
 than Salmasius has written upon a similar topic, and would 
 have thrown out much curious information upon the history of 
 the Greek letters, and upon Chronology. His book would 
 have been most entertaining, and far more instructive than 
 Robinson's, but I doubt whether it would have been more satis-
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 329 
 
 factory, and half so candid. Robinson's proofs are not, in^my 
 estimation, or his own, all of them equally decisive ; but'their 
 united forces seem to me irresistible, so far at least as to create 
 strong doubt, and so long as they are opposed only by general 
 remarks and incidental objections. When I was in London I 
 spoke to Porson and Burney about the book, not having then 
 read it myself. I heard only one specific objection, which is 
 obvious, and no doubt pertinent, in a general way of speaking, 
 and no more. It amounted only to this, that of Ford's Inscrip- 
 tions upon Stones there are very few instances, and that we 
 cannot argue rapidly and indiscriminately from Ford's manu- 
 scripts. All this is very true in itself, but had little weight 
 upon my mind when I read the book ; which I did with great 
 attention, great surprise, and a conviction greater than I ex- 
 pected or desired. At all events some of your Oxford heroes 
 must come forth. I think Chandler a good scholar, but know 
 nothing of the force of his mind, or the real extent of his 
 reading ; for what I have seen of his erudition is common 
 enough. I have seci'et reasons of delicacy for laying no stress 
 upon the shewy and positive way of talking in one of your wit- 
 nesses, whom I know intus et in cute. But after all I am glad 
 to find you zealous at Oxford ; as zeal, even in the defence of 
 error, exercises ingenuity, invigorates literary curiosity, and, 
 in the event, adds to the general stock of knowledge. Let me 
 see an answer, and if it be a good one, I shall not be stubborn. 
 As to political matters, I will just say a word, Mr. Fox's 
 position is true, according to the sense in which it was 
 explained. — It is not true, according to the sense in which 
 alone it has been opposed ; it is doubtful in part of the sense, 
 according to which it has been defended. My idea is this : 
 The Prince has no legal right; i^ legal means either an express 
 declaration of law, or a positive and explicit proposition laid 
 down generally in Pariia.ment; but has a fair constitutional 
 right, by which I mean as follows : It is a right, founded upon 
 analogy, from the elective nature of the monarchy. Upon 
 analogy, from practice ; according to which the heir apparent, 
 unless absent from the country, or labouring under some legal 
 disability, has been made Regent. It is a right not indirect or 
 analogical, but direct upon principles of expediency ; and
 
 330 MEMOIRS. 
 
 those principles weigh with me more than any other considera- 
 tion. I hold, that the right is not to be created by Parliament, 
 but to be recognised and conveyed by it. I have told you that 
 claim, as distinguished from right, pre-supposes the existence 
 of right, and implies only the act of asserting it. If the Prince 
 has no right, it plainly follows that the meanest subject is upon 
 a footing with him ; and yet they, who hold one, do not hold 
 the other, which is to me a gross absurdity. What is meant by 
 the word "right?" Look into Burlamaque, and there you 
 will find a clear, sound, metaphysical explanation : in confor- 
 mity to which I maintain the Prince's right, and Mr. Pitt's 
 speech does not in any way touch the real jet of the question. 
 He pranced about the precedents, but did not entangle himself 
 in the briers of logic. The business took a turn, a vile popular 
 turn, which prevented all deep and sound discussion. If the 
 decision be really favourable to liberty, I am glad of it, though 
 I am at a loss to conceive it is so. " Servet in ambiguo, qui 
 consulit urbi," was the prudent language of Opposition. But to 
 Mr. Pitt, aliter visum est. 
 
 What has been done tends only to bewilder the judgment of 
 men, to inflame their passions, and to weaken a Regency go- 
 vernment, which in its own nature can seldom be vigorous 
 without being oppressive. The great seal business is to all 
 intents and purposes a legislative act, and an act of usurpation 
 too. But necessity is pleaded. If necessity really exists, all 
 reasoning is silenced. In my opinion the necessity was 
 assumed, but never proved ; and in the House of Lords, as 
 well as Commons, the speeches, though able on the side of the 
 Ministry, very able, yet one and all stray wide of the real ques- 
 tion about right and necessity. Now I have told you my 
 creed, and am ready to hear yours, for which I give you my 
 word, that I will not burn you, be it ever so heterodox. How 
 is my friend Routh ? for he is a truly learned, modest, saga- 
 cious, and in)partial scholar. Warton is idle, I suppose; or 
 rather has holidays this new year. Does he know that I once 
 intended to review his Milton ? I read stoutly old English 
 near a month for the purpose ; and White, who has seen my 
 references, will make a good report. If he re-publishes Mil- 
 ton, I may be disposed to say something. I send one detection
 
 MEMOIRS. 331 
 
 of a plagiarism, and another of a false fact in the margin of 
 one of the answers ; but it was not produced in the review, 
 which was general. You deserve to be trounced for saying 
 that Robinson is short-sighted, and I must retort the charge. 
 Pray, are not the contents of your Marble to be found edited 
 again and again, so as to be like a bieaKcvaafikvi] Tpayubiuy and 
 have they not been accompanied by emendations, notes, and 
 the whole editorial train ? 1 hope we may depend upon what 
 you read in them, and that you are not now, as you were in 
 the days of Bentley, unable to read, Robinson is not TvipXos 
 Tov vovvf and it would be well for his opponents if they are not 
 Tv^Xoi TO. wra, as Tiresias says. I beg my compliments to all 
 friends ; and I hope Mr. Burney has got leave to transcribe 
 Photius's Lexicon, of which there is a much better copy, once 
 belonging to Gale, in Trinity College, Cambridge. Your 
 friend, the Marquis of Worcester, is converted to Pittism, I 
 perceive, for which I heartily despise him. As to political 
 right and wrong, men will differ ; and if they are tolerably 
 endowed with common sense and common honesty, I forgive 
 them ; but what strikes rae most painfully is this, that Pitt's 
 example has produced a most inordinate degree of premature 
 ambition, premature cenceit, and premature profligacy in 
 almost all the young men of the age ; and I do not think Ox- 
 ford or Cambridge favourable to the education of good citizens. 
 I should extend the catalogue, but I forbear. If you do not 
 reform yourselves soon, you will sink under the spirit of the 
 times, which too many of you have adopted in your own con- 
 duct, and cherished in those who are committed to your care* 
 I am your very faithful and obedient servant, S. Parr. 
 
 During the two first months of the year Parr's 
 hopes were kept up by the prospect of the esta- 
 bhshment of the Regency on any terms ; disap- 
 proving, as he utterly did, of Pitt's repubhcan 
 doctrine on the question of the right of the Prince 
 of Wales to the Regency, and declaring that " I 
 shall not be entirely discontented if Pitt will agree, 
 upon a vacancy, not to aspire to the throne itself!"
 
 332 MEMOIRS. 
 
 The recovery of the King dispelled every illusion 
 in the month of March. The mitres which had 
 floated in his fancy, or the snug arm-chair* in the 
 Residentiaryship of St. Paul's, had all vanished into 
 thin air ; and on this subject the following letter 
 will say all that is necessary. 
 
 From Dr. Parr to the Rev. Mr. Homer. 
 
 IIatt07i, March 6, 1789. 
 I received yours at Warwick ; and I roared with laughter 
 all the way home at Steevens's tricks upon you and me. I shall 
 keep the paper till my dying day. But you must get " vendure- 
 tur" altered, and make the printer of the St. James's correct it. 
 By all means make him. As to politics, Master Homer, we are 
 all in the wrong box ; and I must go without my arm-chair at 
 Amen Corner. But never mind ; these are the changes and 
 chances of life. Don't you think Billy Pitt a lucky dog? I see 
 they attack the Irish in all the Pittite papers. But this don't 
 prove them wrong, and they are likely to be troublesome ; es- 
 pecially, if a war breaks out. Not a word do you write about 
 my law and Stationer's-hall ; and so I suppose that I am safe 
 with Dilly, and Dilly will look to himself. To be sure, it would 
 have an ugly look for a bishop to avow such a book, at such a 
 time, merely for the purpose of prosecuting. But what is to 
 be done with the second Edition, and how goes the contract on 
 about the Sermons ? Who goes to Ireland ? I hope Lord W., 
 for, though I dislike him heartily, he will infallibly make Ben- 
 net a bishop, and this will be a thoroughly good thing. He is 
 cold and proud; and, therefore, depend upon it, a favourite 
 with Pitt. But the Irish will not like him. I hope you illumi- 
 nated to save both your windov/s and your credit. I suppose 
 we are to have a Thanksgiving ; and, of course, I must preach. 
 But I'll take good care what. It would not be safe to give them a 
 
 * Which had belonged to Taylor, the editor of Demos- 
 thenes, and was pointed out to Parr by Dr. Farmer, if he had 
 succeeded to a Residentiaryship.
 
 MEMOIRS. 333 
 
 second Phileleutherus ; and then Warwickshire would not sound 
 well in Latin ; so I shall say a little about death, and about the 
 king, and conclude. A man of sense is not embarrased by 
 these things. But we shall have, what Jack Bartlam calls plenty 
 of loyal sermons, with nonsense and flattery, and I suppose, 
 praise to Pitt, and abuse upon the Opposition. I shall lie by to 
 catch the House of Lords' Sermon ; for if it is very bad, I will 
 chastise it. Your letter was a good while in coming, and did 
 not tell me enough about my own affairs. If Farmer is in resi- 
 dence when I'm in town, I must see Dr. Taylor's chair. Well \ 
 I should fill it better than it has been filled since Taylor died. 
 But no more of this. I suppose Nichols will be at me, and I 
 shall know it in a day or two. The Junius you shall see when 
 I go to town. I suppose it will be a short Session, and then a 
 dissolution. Somehow or other, I don't believe the King well. 
 I wish the Prince, in decency and prudence, to take a share in 
 the Regency. It will be irksome, but it is right, and it will look 
 magnanimous, and he must be some check, and have some 
 weight. I hope Combe will succeed. I hear Lawley is very 
 bad; and I am sure that Mr. Legge * would come in, if he 
 thought proper to stand. I want to have Sir George out. 
 
 Homer! you are a monstrous nincompoop about Warwick- 
 shire; an incorrigible fool ; a prejudiced and credulous booby; 
 a tasteless admirer of pork pies and Epiphany Sessions. Our 
 jail is full, and the gallows will be loaded. Elliot continues 
 sheriflF. The sherifF-elect got twelve or fourteen votes against 
 us, by promises and threats. It would take me up two days to 
 tell you W^arwick news, I expect to be murdered before the 
 election ; for mui'der is quite in fashion here. Homer ! War- 
 wickshire is two centuries behind in civilization. I say positively 
 it is. Good bye. Have some good port ready for me in April ; 
 for I am not at all downcast, and am glad to be out of suspense. 
 
 In autumn of 1 789, Parr was invited to preach 
 charity sermons at Coventry and Birmingham. 
 
 * Mr. Heneage Legge, of Aston Hall, a gentleman univer- 
 sally esteemed and respected.
 
 334 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Though associated with the Whigs in opinion, he 
 was connected with the high church party of War- 
 wickshire, in resisting the repeal of the Test laws, 
 and therefore was selected on these public occa- 
 sions. His acquaintance with Henry Homer was 
 another reason for his being chosen, as his re- 
 lations, both at Coventry and Birmingham, were 
 leading persons, and Parr visited at the houses of 
 both. The correspondence with Henry Homer 
 continues to throw light on this part of the life of 
 Parr, and the reader will be amused by the ludicrous 
 account of the personal preparations for the Bir- 
 mingham sermons, and the appearance before a 
 Birmingham audience. 
 
 From the Rev. Dr. Parr, to the Rev. H. Homer. 
 
 September 21, 1789. 
 
 Great is your zeal, and great your diligence, and great your 
 
 sagacity, and great your agility, unless when the is over 
 
 and above troublesome. At your cousin Homer's request, I am 
 going to preach two charity sermons at Birmingham ; therefore, 
 upon principles of cousinship, you must assist, not in making 
 sermons, but in procuring a wig. Therefore, without delay, 
 step down to Mrs. Bathurst's and enquire of her servant, where 
 my old barber lives, for I forget his name. It is just by. Bid 
 him directly put my very largest wig into curl, fence it with 
 plenty of paper, and inclose it safe, safe, safe, in a wooden box, 
 for which do you pay and forward to me directly, directly, by 
 the Birmingham and Warwick Mercury coach, which sets off 
 from the Saracen's Head, Ludgate-hill ; and do you write a di- 
 rection upon a card, and let him write another on the box : you 
 must be expeditious. 
 
 I have lately been at Rugby and dined with your brother 
 and James, and scolded James about the Eton Tacitus, which
 
 MEMOIRS. 335 
 
 is a vile book, but yours, every body says, is a very fine one. 
 Take care of the wig, great care ; let me have it before Fri- 
 day, for the coach goes by my door, and began to run yes- 
 terday. I have been upon a visit at Combe Abbey, and I 
 own the piece of water far, very far, surpassed my expecta- 
 tion. Yours, S. P. 
 
 Friday, black Friday, Sept. 25, 1789. 
 While I was applauding your zeal, and exulting in your 
 success, and laughing at your drollery, behold the coach had 
 passed by, and when the concluding paragraph drove me to the 
 coach card, I found, to my extreme mortification, that it sets 
 off, not from Ludgate-hill, but from Snow-hill, as you most in- 
 auspiciously foreboded ; and then Jack Bartlam screamed in 
 my ear, " How, Sir, could you forget Snow-hill? The road 
 to Smithfield, where proceed the droves of oxen which scare 
 you in London, the road from Newgate to Tyburn, where once 
 were exhibited your favourite executions ; a road, which having 
 lost much of its dignity since the erection of scaffolds before 
 Newgate, was beginning to recover that dignity by being the 
 road for the conveyance of your stupendous wig. You, Sir, 
 are the last man who should have forgot Snow-hill, the road of 
 oxen, which you hate ; the quondam road of hanging proces- 
 sions, which you love ; the intended road of wigs, which you 
 admire." Master Homer, this was no consolation to me ; 
 and I am half distracted at what has happened. I should 
 be quite distracted if next Sunday were the day ; especially 
 after your brilliant encomiums upon magnificent perukes, 
 and your animated description of the respect in which they 
 are held at Birmingham by your friends. But, thanks to 
 my stars, I have time before me. Fly then, fly — hasten to 
 my barber, correct my mistake, and let no time, no exertion, 
 no shift be lost in recovering the wanderer. Recover it, 
 recover it, recover it, and assist with your sagacious counsel 
 the astonished and frightened barber. Bon't roll your eyes; 
 don't raise your voice ; and let all your scolding, for scold 
 you must, and scold you will, let it all now — let it all be laid 
 upon me. I fear it not ; and I should not regard it if I did. 
 But pity the barber, pity me, pity the wig itself. For who
 
 33G MEMOIRS. 
 
 knows but it is seized to cover the pate of some fat and greasy 
 alderman, or to be chopped down into three Bob Jeroms, to 
 adorn the empty scull of some spruce and prig Divine at Oxford 
 or at Bath. Oh Homer ! what degradation, what profanation 
 is this ! Prevent it, dear Homer, for my sake and for your 
 own, since your own credit is concerned in the solemnity of my 
 appearance among your Birmingham friends. I am too much 
 shocked, and too much dismayed, to rail at White, or to talk of 
 the Prince's answer, or to abuse Dundas, or to sing the praises 
 of Hare. Recover my wig, and you shall be my groom, or my 
 valet-de-chambre, or my curate, or my press devil, or m}' er- 
 rand-boy, for twenty-OHe years, added to fourteen ; and I will 
 pay you better than Hare pays his servants ; that is, in better 
 coin, and with more good will ; for I shall pay you by con- 
 sulting you, and by employing you, and by jobing you; all of 
 which is right good payment, and such as you deserve. These 
 are your rewards if you recover the wig. What shall, what 
 can I do without it ? Vain will be the silken cassock, vain the 
 swelling scarf, vain the snow-white band, vain all my metaphy- 
 sical reasoning, vain all my vernacular eloquence ; yea, vanity 
 of vanities will they be without a wig. Farewell, but remember 
 the wig. How I shall hug it, and bless you, and proclaim your 
 praises among your friends ! I have half a mind, as my sermon 
 turns upon benevolence, to introduce this story as an example ; 
 and then what praises shall I bestow upon yourself! commend 
 your self-denial, your encountering long walks, dirty streets, 
 saucy coachmen, and all the .... evils of London for the love 
 of your poor neighbour, S. Parr. 
 
 The coach sets ofFevery day but Sunday. Oh let me have it 
 on W^ednesday ! I shall have no heart to go through the ser- 
 mon without it, nor even to make it with a polish fit for the 
 congregation you admire at St. Philip's, What says Bartlam ? 
 A bunting, beggarly, brass-making, brazen-faced, brazen- 
 hearted, blackguard, bustling, booby, Birmingham mob ? For 
 shame, I say. Does not Homer admire them? Are they not 
 your countrymen ? And is Alcester, in all its glory, to com- 
 pare with Birmingham ? Hanover-square Church, St. James's 
 Church, West end of the town Chapels, are nothing, quoth 
 Homer, when opposed to St. Philip's. Homer ! I'll tell you
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 337 
 
 all the news ; and I'll tell you truth if it suits me. Who is the 
 druggist .^ Must I take pills or an emetic ? Pray scold Bart- 
 lam, All hands aloft to dress me over the wig. 
 
 Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1789. 
 The enclosed was written the day your letter came, and the 
 wig came not. On the next day the letter was given to Sharp 
 to carry to Warwick ; and he was just setting off with it, when 
 to our surprise, and our wonder, and our amazement, and our 
 astonishment, and our stupefaction, and our delight, and our 
 joy, and our comfort, and our transport, and our rapture, and 
 extacy, behold, behold, behold, a box, a box, a box, and in it 
 a WIG. Old boy ! all is well that ends well, and now, now, 
 two wigs go to Birmingham, and each a good wig, good origi- 
 nally, but now making better; and Sharp said that he never 
 saw a better wig than the Pauline. It was the work of a 
 Master. I do not know any fine barber at Birmingham, and 
 what signifies a fine wig not finely dressed. I don't believe 
 there is one in the town. Will you advertise for me in the Bir- 
 mingham papers, or, to save expences, send a good saucy sort 
 of message to your cousin, and desire him to enquire who is 
 the best, the very best, by far the very best wig-dresser in the 
 town. Look you, often as I have been there, I never saw a good 
 wig, and so I almost despair, but your advice and aid may do. 
 
 And now as to the Divinity ; I intended to make one, and to 
 preach again the Coventry tit in the afternoon. I sat down to 
 this said one, and it grew, I thought, big enough for two ; we 
 were just beginning to transcribe, and we found it would make 
 
 three But to proceed, that is to say, to go back again to 
 
 our subject, that one head and a tail-piece will do for each 
 sermon, and so there will be three heads remaining, which I 
 intend to clap upon some Cerberian monster of divinity when I 
 am a Bishop. Homer ! they are spick-and-span new, in compli- 
 ment to your cousin, and braziers, and ironmongers. What I 
 shall preach will be very good stuff. But the stuff omitted is 
 philosophical ; and Jack Bartlam owns he does not understand 
 a great deal of it; wherein he speaketh truth. The two books 
 VOL. I. Z
 
 338 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 into which we transcribe contain the first sixty-three leaves, 
 and the second seventy-tliree ditto. None of" your Httle short 
 tits, fit for Bob Jerome Caxons. No, no, no. By the way, 
 Caxon is like Caxton, and Caxton was one of tlie first Printers, 
 and printing is your trade, and so how go you and the Devils 
 on in Fleet-street. But surely the Pittites don't talk of paying 
 
 debts. Let them remember Billy and Billy's papa Oh ! 
 
 Homer, Homer, if Sam would execute the plot, what a maga- 
 zine of paragraphs would you play off from your newspaper 
 batteries ! After all^ I do but laugh with you about a . . . . 
 writing to your cousin, though I confess I have fears of infra 
 dignitatem for me, and so I take my chance. We shall be more 
 than a week, I think, in transcribing. A friend of White's has 
 laid me on most unmercifully in the Monthly Review. I find 
 that I shall be under the necessity of proving him a scoundrel 
 and an ingrate, neither of which you are. Farewell. 
 
 DEAR SIR, prida}/ Afternoon, Oct. 23, 1789. 
 
 The Doctor being at present much engaged in business, and 
 sorely tormented with a boil, I write to give you some account 
 of our Birmingham expedition. 
 
 We left Hatton on Saturday the 10th inst., and dined at Bir- 
 mingham with a Mr. Brook, a very worthy, pleasant, and sensi- 
 ble man, and one of the learned profession of the law. We 
 supped in the evening at the house of your relation in New Hall 
 Street, where the Doctor slept during his stay at Birmingham, 
 and where he received every possible mark of civility, and 
 on the ensuing morning the Doctor was to preach at St. 
 Martin's, the old Church, and the arrangements for the sermon 
 were quite superb in decoration, and quite flaming in ortho- 
 doxy ; when lo ! to our sorrow, to our surprise and vexation, 
 that which was to give the closing dignity of appearance and 
 air of solemnity to the whole, was spoiled by the tastelessness, 
 clumsiness, and ignorance of a Birmingham barber. The top 
 of the wicT, which ought to have been smoothed down with un- 
 common exactness, and rounded with the nicest precision, was, 
 by the rude hands of this execrable dunce, deformed and ruffled
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 339 
 
 like unto the feathers of an enraged hen. There was not to be 
 found, in the whole town of Birmingham, a man whose profes- 
 sional knowledge could give propriety and beauty of appear- 
 ance to this most mighty adjunct of theology. Such a wig had 
 never even been seen by them before. There was, however, a 
 tradition in the town of a peruke, once belonging to a Mr. 
 Newling, a Parson, of about half the size of the Doctor's, and 
 which was known to have employed a Barber for the space of 
 three whole days to prepare it for Sunday. How great then 
 would have been your mortification to have viewed one slight 
 defect in your friend, the representation of whose outward form, 
 as well as of his words, would meet with no indulgence from 
 the narrowness and bigotry of the Methodists, from the mis- 
 chievous cunning and unsparing rancour of the Priestleian 
 sect. But I tell you, with triumph and with joy, that the 
 uncommon eloquence of the composition, as well as the match- 
 less propriety of the sentiments, equally mortified their infernal 
 malevolence, and disappointed their prying activity. There 
 was, however, a slight clamour raised against the sermon in the 
 afternoon, because the Doctor, after having severely trounced 
 the opinions, and most loudly condemned the spirit of Priest- 
 ley's controversial writings, yet chose to pay him a sincere 
 tribute of applause for two sermons, written upon the nature 
 of benevolence, and which were not "fettered by any limita- 
 tions from particular forms of theological doctrines, or particu- 
 lar modes of ecclesiastical discipline." This clamour was 
 raised by the Methodists, who styled it " a rank Presbyterian 
 sermon : " but the Doctor's opinion of it is, that it was rather 
 of the high-flying turn. He has received a private application 
 to print it, but he is too firm and too proud to give any satis- 
 faction to the ignorance and calumnies of such gross and exe- 
 crable enthusiasts. We dined at the hospitable house of your 
 relation on Sunday, who expressed himself much mortified at 
 the clumsiness of the barber, whom he had the very day before 
 most proudly praised, and most confidently recommended. 
 I am, dear Sir, with great respect, truly yours, 
 
 J. Bartlam. 
 z 2
 
 340 MEMOIRS. 
 
 The Doctor now for the first time dictates. He begs you would 
 not fail either to write or to call upon Dr. Thompson, to assure 
 him that nothing has been ill between us, that everything is 
 perfectly well, that his last very sensible and obliging letter 
 was received by me, and will be answered when I have had one 
 night's rest, which I have not had these seven nights, and last 
 night very bad. Jack Bartlam and myself went to Lord Dart- 
 mouth's on Monday, and returned to Birmingham the next 
 day. I reached home on Wednesday morning. My eloquence 
 produced the effect I most wished ; for the collections at the 
 Church exceeded the usual sum collected upon these occasions 
 by s^20. I will write to you in a few days, and desire you to 
 get not only the new Heyne's Virgil and Villoison's Homer for 
 me, but for Mr. Dewes, viz., two sets of each, one for me, and 
 one for Dewes, get them directly. Yours, S. Parr. 
 
 To the Rev. Mr. Homer. 
 
 The sermons preached at Birmingham are pre- 
 served, and are puljlished in this collection of the 
 works ; they are deemed worthy of Parr's fame, and 
 doubtless will be esteemed so by the pious and the 
 learned, notwithstanding the verdict of the Bir- 
 mingham audience. That verdict, perhaps, was 
 given under the influence of prejudice. Dr. 
 Priestley was then at the height of his controversial 
 career ; at war with the friends of the Establish- 
 ment, and personally engaged in angry debate with 
 some of the Clergynien of his neighbourhood. 
 
 In October, 1789 (says Dr. Parr in the Sequel, p. 99), when 
 I preached for the Charity Schools at Birmingham, I earnestl}'^ 
 recommended to the audience two admirable sermons which 
 Dr. Priestley had written, &c. &c. 
 
 This commendation gave threat offence ; the
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 341 
 
 name of the arch-heritic was poison to the ortho- 
 dox ears of many of the congregation. One of 
 them in the vestry, immediately after the sermon, 
 ventured even to expostulate with the preacher; 
 and to represent to him that the sermon recom- 
 mended might be admirable and good Christian 
 doctrine, but that the author was an enemy to the 
 Church, and therefore ought never to be named 
 within its sacred precincts. Parr heard him out, 
 and then calmly replied, " Sir, you are the best 
 vindicator of Churchianity I ever knew." 
 
 Party, at this time, ran high on all questions of 
 public interest ; and religious party, the most 
 relentless in its spirit, and the most cruel in its per- 
 secutions of any, led the way. The French Revo- 
 lution had mixed its leaven with the mass of human 
 society, and on every side it began to heave and to 
 ferment. 
 
 I find from the Memoir of the Rev. George 
 Walker, F.R.S. prefixed to " Essays on various Sub- 
 jects," in 2 vols., that in 1787, 
 
 A variety of circumstances had concurred to favour an appli- 
 cation to the Legislature for a repeal of the Corporation and Test 
 Acts ; and very strenuous exertions were made, on the part of 
 the whole Dissenting Interest of the kingdom, to effect a libera- 
 tion from the pains and disabilities of those disgraceful and 
 vexatious statutes, p. clvii. 
 
 But it was not till the plan of union, proposed 
 by the Birmingham Committee in October, 1789, 
 was generally adopted, that they felt themselves 
 entitled to declare, that they acted in the name 
 and by the authority of the whole body of Dis-
 
 342 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 senters tlirouiihout the kingdom. The object of 
 this plan was to form a well-connected union of 
 the Dissenters throughout England, by a chain 
 of intercourse ; the adoption of it was strongly 
 enforced by Mr. Walker in a letter addressed to 
 the general meeting at Leicester in Dec. 1789, &c. 
 His counsel vras followed ; the Dissenters were en- 
 couraged to more vigorous exertions, and resolu- 
 tions, declaratory of their principles, were drawn up 
 by Mr. Walker, and unanimously approved at a 
 meeting of deputies from the counties of Derby, 
 Nottingham, Lincoln, Warwick, Salop, Stafford, 
 Leicester, Rutland, and York. From the publication 
 of these Resolutions a tempest of opposition arose, 
 and Parr wrote thus to Henry Homer. 
 
 Friday, Jan. 22, ^90. 
 
 I think White given over to a reprobate mind. But, though 
 defeated and disgraced, he will turn the Bath journey to ac- 
 count with those who are in the habit of believing him ; and 
 my opinion is, that Gabriel should be prepared for publishing- 
 all that past; and actually publish, when White's misrepre- 
 sentations get abroad. W. is so very bad a man that I feel 
 very little pity for him ; and if the truth were known, I dare 
 say it would come out from his dark, secret, and crooked cor- 
 respondence, that he has told lies and done mischief to every 
 friend he was ever connected with ; and that we none of us 
 know or can trace the mischief. But the Prior Park story will 
 put every body upon their guard : and it ought to be pro- 
 claimed ; it ought, it ought. 
 
 As to the pamphlet, I am sorry to say that it seems to 
 me very dull, and ill written. 1 have not the smallest anger 
 towards the writer, who, I dare say, is some self-important 
 country parson, who looks and talks big at a visitation, hugs 
 the church, and looks up to Bishop Ilurd as one of its 
 columns. But as to wit, argument, learning, and com-
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 343 
 
 position, he is a total stranger to them. Be not afraid ; 
 Augustus,* who writes for me, will vouch that I have now- 
 abandoned all idea of delicacy to White ; that 1 had formed 
 and avowed my intention of publishing a volume long ago, 
 before I heard the slightest whispers of the Bampton business ; 
 that I then dropped it ; that I have now resumed it ; that he, 
 the said Augustus, did spend nearly one whole day in rum- 
 maging my paper closet with me ; that the sermons had hardly 
 one of them been unbundled since they came from Norfolk ; 
 that some were scattered and in corners ; fragments of others 
 found among letters and various sorts of papers ; that it was 
 extremely difficult to collect either the sermons or their de- 
 tached parts ; that not one is regular or legible ; that all are 
 full oftwistings, turnings, and references backwards and for- 
 wards ; that such a chaos probably never existed in the world; 
 that they are now put together into one box by themselves, 
 which is a grand slep towards publication ; that the list of the 
 favourite ones is made out in the said Augustus's hand-writing; 
 nay, that I have almost settled whether there should be two 
 volumes or three ; that I mean to read them over next summer ; 
 and that this very job will take up many months; then Bart- 
 lam is to transcribe, and I will get rid of them, for at present 
 they are a reproach to me. But I will not take a peep till 
 May or June. This read to Hutton. Now to business. 
 
 Pray get the parcel from Dilly's, and forward it with the 
 Meursius, and any other single books you may have for me. 
 But pray put them into paper, not forgetting Armstrong ; and 
 let them, with your own hands, be carefully put into the parcel 
 from Davis. Go as soon as possible, and pray desire Mr. 
 Elmsly to add the second edition of Timaeus's enlarged Lexi- 
 con Platonicum, which came out lately ; and let his parcel and 
 Davis's parcel, and Shepperson's parcel, all be sent by Hands's 
 waggon, from Friday-street. 1 shall not have one good book 
 left if the booksellers will not send me their catalogues 
 by the coach from Snow-hill. Pray, my friend, pray do 
 all this speedily. Moreover, Mr. Reed's Westminster Maga- 
 zine is safe, quite safe, in my library. Make my best compli- 
 
 * Honourable and Reverend Chancellor Legge.
 
 344 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 meats to liim ; and, above all things, Homer, above all, let me 
 know whether I can get the separate volumes of the ancient 
 Universal History; and whether that I sent for from Shepper- 
 son is to be had, and what Dilly says about our business, for I 
 shall take out my profits in modern books, half-bound. The 
 letter sent to Dr. Combe contained a request for me to write 
 Johnson's epitaph ; and an application from Cadel) for me to 
 write the life of Johnson, to be prefixed to a new edition of 
 his Works. But I declined both, I feel myself most sincerely 
 grateful to Mr. Steevens for his application about Shakspeare. 
 He does me great and real honour ; indeed I think so, and I 
 charge you without delay to tell him so in my own words. 
 
 Now I have marked most of the plays ; but my observations 
 are chiefly verbal ; that is,, they relate to peculiar modes of 
 phraseology similar to those which I have found in the Greek 
 tragedians ; not imitations, mind you, but resemblances, and 
 this is a sort of lore not worth Mr. Steevens's having ; espe- 
 cially as Upton has done something of the kind, though upon 
 different principles from me. However, I am delighted with 
 this instance of respect from Steevens, whose learning, taste, 
 and acuteness, I have always, both publicly and privately, 
 spoken of with admiration. All this you are authorised to 
 say to him, and say it soon. It is not necessary for the 
 pamphlet-writer to have seen my library, or my countenance, 
 as both are well known by common fame. 1 give you credit 
 for the conjecture about Gloucester, and agree with you. 
 
 We are all in a ferment about the Test Act. Last night I 
 received the dissenting resolutions of the midland counties. 
 They are wonderfully animated, elegant, energetic, determined, 
 and rebellious ; and they are written by a Mr. Walker, whom I 
 knew in Norfolk. He lived formerly at Yarmouth, but now at 
 Nottingham. He is an ingenious, open-hearted, enthusiastic, 
 intrepid dissenter, and would die for the cause. Fox is men- 
 tioned, but in such a sort as convinces me, that the Presbyte- 
 rians are not with him. We shall in Warwickshire make a 
 grand push ; I shall attend and give my consent ; but I will not 
 speak, nor write, nor take the lead, as I have no property in 
 the county; but I will encourage; and this I do, not only 
 from my regard to the Establishment, but to the true interests
 
 MEMOIRS. 345 
 
 of Mr. Fox and the Prince ; for I am persuaded that things 
 are ripening for a revolution ; and that, in case of a new reign, 
 dreadful mischief will ensue — dreadful indeed. Fox is in a 
 difficult situation. I thank you for the Birmingham story, 
 every word of which I believe. I wish I could send you the 
 last Birmingham paper. They are publishing, in weekly num- 
 bers, books about the Test : but the Church slumbers ; and 
 forsooth, a Bishop's Chaplain, Burgess, has been urging me to 
 write ; a pretty story. So the Bishops would employ me, and 
 abuse me, and let me starve. Not I, indeed ; I will not be their 
 dupe. I am only a curate but I will do my duty as a private 
 Clergyman. I beg of you to look after all my books, and am 
 fretted at their noc coming. A storm is gathering, depend 
 upon it. Homer; and if the Church does not exert itself, it 
 will fall ; however, 1 shall have no share in the guilt. The frost 
 is going. Gabriel is in great spirits, and now he may have a 
 complete triumph. If you can get the Virgil in time, put it 
 into the parcel, but I am in no hurry about it. Does Combe 
 yet defend White after the Prior Park story ? The Doctor has 
 many good qualities, but I do not confide in his judgment 
 about literary men. I hear from Ireland that Bennet is consi- 
 dered as the manager of all the politics there, and I long to 
 hear of his being a Bishop, for he deserves a mitre. I never can 
 excuse Dr. Farmer, though I do not even allow personal consi- 
 derations to make me overlook the virtue and talents of those 
 Vv'ho use me ill. Where does Lord John live ? I want to write 
 to him. Yours, S. P. 
 
 Again, to the Rev. H. Homer, 1790. 
 
 We had a grand Epiphany Sessions. I long to tell you a 
 Presbyterian plot about the County Treasurer's Office, which 
 was detected, and to their honour defeated by the magistrates. 
 We shall do what the Bishops ought to do, we shall oppose 
 the repeal of the Test Act. After a little evasion and i-ebuff, 
 my firmness got the question into the hands of the chairman, 
 and at twelve o'clock at night we were tolerably unanimous. 
 I was obliged to lie a-bed the next morning, when it was 
 resumed ; but I had got things in train by drawing up a paper
 
 346 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the night before ; we are to meet upon it the 3d of Feb. and 
 the sheriff will then call a county meeting, which will be well 
 attended ; and we shall have the honour of being the first to 
 oppose the Presbyterians, who have most infernally and most 
 malignantly abused Mr. Fox and his party for their bad morals 
 in Dr. Price's last famous sermon. I must and will act from 
 my conviction ; and I am concerned to see Fox a dupe to their 
 cunning. At this very moment they are traducing him as a 
 very wicked man, in the very sermon which their great bell- 
 wether has published upon this very subject ; so that the old 
 poison still remains. Fox will only make enemies in the 
 Church, without gaining any friends among the Presbyterians, 
 who are all with Lansdowne, Lord Stanhope, and Pitt ; and 
 Sheridan owns, that out of eleven Presbyterian members they 
 never have one vote with them except upon the Test. I think 
 it downright infatuation to support them ; and they certainly 
 mean rebellion, with which they will disquiet the Prince, if 
 they are not checked during the reign of his F'ather, especially 
 after what has happened in France, There never was anything 
 so impudent, so insidious, and so base, as their intended plot 
 
 in this county There will be no contest in this county ; 
 
 and Pitt is here triumphant, and his opposition to the Presby- 
 terians will do him good and Fox harm ; yet these very fellows 
 
 will adhere to Pitt I am sorry to say we do not go the 
 
 way to get friends either with nabobs, churchmen, or fanatics. 
 The King I think is poorly, and the reconciliation with the 
 Prince I think will do us some good; but these Utopian 
 schemes of liberty in the Slave-Trade and Test Acts are all 
 wrong, and alarm serious men, &c. &c. Yours, S. P. 
 
 I have not withheld these expressions of Dr. 
 Parr's opinion on the Test Act and Slave Trade, 
 though they were entirely changed in the after part 
 of his life. Indeed, he soon began to modify 
 them ; for I find, in a collection of Tracts on 
 the Test, the following note, in " The Right of 
 Protestant Dissenters to a complete Toleration, by 
 Serjeant Hey wood ; second edition."
 
 MEMOIRS. 347 
 
 This very able book was published on the application of the 
 Dissenters for the repeal of the Test Act. It has been ascribed 
 to Serjeant Heywood, who probably was assisted by lawyers 
 and dissenting Clergymen, It is the only powerful book pro- 
 duced by the Opposition, and it wrought a total change in Dr. 
 Parr's mind on the general principle of Tests. He always dis- 
 approved of the Sacramental Test,* and he now sees the ineffi- 
 cacy and the injustice of all religious Tests whatsoever. S. P. 
 
 And in the Sequel, p. 99, he thus expresses 
 himself: 
 
 Early in 1790 I resisted Dr. Priestley and his friends in their 
 endeavours to procure the repeal of the Test Act ; and on this 
 occasion, I not only saw the venerable person, and heard the 
 orthodox tongue of Mr. C. but had the pleasure of acting with 
 two or three worthy laymen of Birmingham, and with one 
 clergyman for whom I have a great esteem. 
 
 About a month or two after Dr. Priestley and I met, and here 
 begins a black catalogue of crimes, which have long been en- 
 veloped in darkness, but which I am now audacious enough to 
 plant before legions of senseless and merciless calumniators in 
 open day. 
 
 Again, at p. 52-3 : 
 
 In the earlier part of my life I thought the Test Act oppres- 
 sive; but in the year 1782 I very carefully and very seriously 
 re-examined the subject, and changed my opinion. In 1790 
 I strenuously opposed the attempt to procure a repeal ; and 
 yet I cannot help indulging the comfortable hope, that in the 
 progress of intellectual and moral improvement, religious ani- 
 mosities will at last subside ; and that the restraint for which 
 I have contended, and do now contend, will no longer be 
 thought necessary for the public safety by the heads of that 
 
 * The reasonableness of a Test (says Johnson, Life of 
 Swift) is not hard to be proved ; but perhaps it would be 
 allowed that the proper Test has not been chosen.
 
 348 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Church, which I have never deserted, and by the members of 
 that Legislature, which I have never disobeyed. 
 
 He did indeed on this occasion most strenuously 
 oppose the repeal. He leagued himself with the 
 High Church party to oppose it ; and has left his 
 opinions on record, in a string of resolutions which 
 are an answer to those of Mr. Walker, and were 
 composed controversially. They were adopted by 
 the Warwickshire county meeting, convened to op- 
 pose the repeal, with some alterations, and I am 
 indebted to the kindness of my worthy and reverend 
 kinsman, Mr. Charles Curtis, for a copy of them 
 so altered, and I place them together as a literary 
 curiosity. 
 
 Mr. Walkers Resolutions. 
 
 1. That it is not the province 
 of the civil magistrate to di- 
 rect, or to interfere with the 
 religious opinions or practices 
 of any members of the state, 
 provided their conduct be not 
 injurious to others. 
 
 2. That all the subjects of 
 the state, conducting them- 
 selves in an equally peaceable 
 manner, are equally entitled, 
 not only to protection in the 
 possession of their civil rights, 
 but also to any civil honours, 
 or emoluments, which are ac- 
 cessible to other subjects, with 
 
 The Resolutions of the JVar- 
 xvickshirc Meeting. 
 
 1. That however the reli- 
 gious tenets of men may in 
 theory be separated from their 
 civil conduct, the strong and 
 sometimes fatal influence of 
 the one upon the other, has 
 been shewn by experience in 
 all ages and in all countries. 
 
 2. That it is the province 
 of the British Legislature, not 
 indeed to direct the religious 
 opinions of any subject, but to 
 prevent all such actions as, 
 through the prejudice, the pas- 
 sions, the partial interests, or 
 the vmwarrantable claims of
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 349 
 
 out any regard to their reli- 
 gious opinions and practices, 
 
 3. Desiring nothing for our- 
 selves, but the same equal and 
 liberal treatment, to which we 
 think all other persons, in a si- 
 milar situation, are equally en- 
 titled ; it is our earnest wish, 
 that an equal participation in 
 all civil privileges may be ob- 
 tained for Dissenters of every 
 description, to whom nothing 
 can be objected, beside their 
 religious opinions or practices, 
 and who can give that security 
 for the civil allegiance, which 
 the State ought to require. 
 
 4'. That the Protestant Dis- 
 senters of this country have 
 always had reason to complain 
 of unjust treatment, in being 
 disqualified to hold offices of 
 civil trust or power, though 
 their behaviour has ever been 
 peaceable and legal, and though 
 they can even boast peculiar 
 merit, as friends to the pre- 
 sent government. 
 
 5. That it becomes Dissen- 
 ters as men, feeling their own 
 disgraceful situation, and the 
 opprobrium which this reflects 
 upon their country, to adopt 
 every constitutional method of 
 procuring the redress of their 
 grievances, and thus retrieve 
 the honour of the nation. 
 
 particular men, and combina- 
 tions of men, may result from 
 those opinions, and endanger 
 the ecclesiastical or civil con- 
 stitution of this kingdom. 
 
 3. That while all subjects 
 of the State, conducting them- 
 selves in an equally peaceable 
 manner, are equally protected 
 in their civil rights, the dispo- 
 sal of civil honours and emo- 
 luments is, with proper restric- 
 tions, submitted by law to the 
 judgment of the civil magis- 
 trate alone. 
 
 4. That the Dissenters, dur- 
 ing the mild and auspicious 
 reign of his present Majesty, 
 have been completely exempt- 
 ed from every restraint upon 
 religious liberty, and that, 
 without being admitted to pub- 
 lic offices of dignity and profit, 
 they are legally secured in the 
 ample possession of civil free- 
 dom, and in the full enjoyment 
 of all personal rights and pri- 
 vileges, which appear consist- 
 ent with the public safety. 
 
 5. That the ultimate object 
 at which the Dissenters are 
 now aiming is evidently, and 
 almost professedly, not so 
 much the enlargement of li- 
 berty as the acquisition of 
 power.
 
 350 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 6. As one principal ground 
 of our abhorrence of the Test 
 Laws is the prostitution of re- 
 ligion to interested and secular 
 views, and as these laws there- 
 fore ought to be equally ab- 
 horred by every friend of pure 
 religion, we invite every con- 
 scientious fellow subject of the 
 Established Church to concur 
 with us, assuring them that in 
 this proceeding we sympathize 
 with them, and we wish them 
 to sympathize .with us, and 
 each contribute to do away 
 this reproach and profanation 
 of our religion. But if it should 
 be deemed more honourable to 
 themselves to act apart from 
 us, we invite them, as a sepa- 
 rate body, to come forward, 
 and, in some decided manner, 
 bear their testimony to a cause 
 which does equal honour to 
 both. 
 
 7. That with the same de- 
 cided tone with which we as- 
 sert our rights as men and 
 Christians, and protest against 
 all interference of the magis- 
 trate in the proper cause of re- 
 ligion, we repel with scorn the 
 imputation of all meaner and 
 baser views. We have no la- 
 tent ambition under the mask 
 of religion. We are as supe- 
 rior to hypocrisy as we are to 
 fear. We aspire not to one 
 
 6. That the Legislature has 
 a right to prescribe such secu- 
 rities as shall seem to its wis- 
 dom most expedient, for the 
 present and future allegiance 
 of all subjects. 
 
 7. That the Corporation 
 and Test Acts are designed, 
 not as instruments of persua- 
 sion to those who dissent from 
 the Church, but as a security 
 to the Church against all per- 
 sons who may be disposed to 
 subvert it ; that they are 
 founded upon principles, not 
 of persecution, but of self-de- 
 fence ; that they are meant to 
 operate, not against probable 
 mischiefs, and that, in fact, 
 they do operate, not as harsh 
 punishments, but as salutary 
 restraints. 
 
 8. That no test can, in the 
 view of a wise Legislature, be 
 considered as effectual without 
 a religious act of some kind or 
 other; that the Sacrament, 
 when employed by the State 
 as a civil test, does not there- 
 fore cease to be a religious 
 act ; that upon the very cir- 
 cumstance of its being receiv- 
 ed with the seriousness and 
 sincerity which ought to ac- 
 company such an Act, the 
 British Legislature found its 
 confidence in the allegiance
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 351 
 
 emolument or honour of the 
 Church, In our civil capacity 
 we vow as pure a loyalty, as 
 generous and ardent an affec- 
 tion, as liberal exertions, and 
 as well-informed and well- 
 principled an attachment to 
 the constitution of our coun- 
 try as its most favoured and 
 honoured subject can pretend 
 to. Our reverence of Britain, 
 her government and laws, is 
 only in subordination to our 
 reverence of God and of hu- 
 man nature. 
 
 8. That though the parti- 
 cular grievance of the Corpo- 
 ration and Test Acts has been 
 the means of convening us, as 
 part of the body of Dissenters, 
 we think it our duty to use 
 our utmost endeavours to pro- 
 cure the repeal of all penal 
 statutes in matters of religion, 
 as this is clearly comprehend- 
 ed within our just rights ; and 
 are persuaded that in this we 
 meditate nothing new, as re- 
 ligious liberty ever will, and 
 must be defective, while one 
 such penal law is suffered to 
 exist. 
 
 9. That in contending for 
 our civil rights, we mean no- 
 thing hostile to the religious 
 principles of the Church of 
 England, or to any religious 
 
 of the communicant, and that 
 the voluntary and aggravated 
 guilt of insincerity is no more 
 chargeable on the law which 
 appoints the Sacrament as a 
 qualification for civil offices, 
 than the guilt of perjury can 
 be charged upon the Jaw 
 which, for any purpose of 
 public utility, imposes an oath. 
 
 9. That the Corporation 
 and Test Acts are known to 
 have been highly salutary 
 during the reign in which 
 they were first passed ; that 
 every attempt made to obtain 
 the repeal of them at the glo- 
 rious aera of the Revolution 
 was happily defeated, and that 
 reasons of solid justice and 
 sound policy for their conti- 
 nuance exist now, some with 
 equal, and some with superior 
 force, 
 
 10. That at a period like the 
 present, when opinions, most 
 widely different from the fun- 
 damental doctrines of the Es- 
 tablished Church, and most 
 pointedly hostile to the prin- 
 ciples upon which religion in 
 any form can be established 
 in any State, are taught and 
 disseminated with uncommon 
 zeal and boldness, the peace 
 and the very existence of that 
 Church are exposed to un-
 
 352 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 principles whatever, holding it 
 as a maxim, that nothing of 
 this nature is within the pro- 
 vince of the civil magistrate j 
 we therefore will not be con- 
 sidered as responsible for 
 whatever any individual be- 
 longing to any part of the 
 body of Dissenters, may pub- 
 lish for or against any religious 
 tenets ; we consider it as 
 every man's right to do what- 
 ever, under the influence of a 
 love of truth, he may think 
 proper in that respect ; but 
 publication not expressly au- 
 thorized by any body of men 
 should not be imputed to that 
 body. 
 
 10. That a permanent mode 
 of collecting the sense and 
 uniting the efforts of the whole 
 body of Dissenters of every 
 denomination, so that they 
 may have their representatives 
 to meet in London or else- 
 where, and make proper ap- 
 plication to the Legislature 
 as circumstances may require, 
 appears to be a measure well 
 calculated to promote the de- 
 sirable end above mentioned. 
 
 Samuel Siioue, jun. 
 Chairman. 
 
 common danger; and that 
 while the liberality of the Go- 
 vernment is shewn in permit- 
 ting such persons to propagate, 
 without restraint, their reli- 
 gious tenets, it highly con- 
 cerns the wisdom of the Le- 
 gislature to guard against their 
 political opinion, especially 
 when produced and urged 
 with all the formalities of civil 
 claims, and under the spurious 
 but perverted name of natural 
 and unalienable rights. 
 
 11. That publications pro- 
 fessedly and repeatedly pro- 
 ceeding from individuals of 
 great and acknowledgedweight 
 among any bodies of men, are 
 the surest grounds for deter- 
 mining what are the real 
 tenets and the real views of 
 the bodies, to which those 
 individuals respectively be- 
 long. 
 
 12. That without entering 
 into invidious comparisons be- 
 tween the religious opinions 
 of different sects, we think the 
 conduct of those persons who 
 have conscientiously submitted 
 to the Test and Corporation 
 Acts more honourable in itself, 
 more beneficial to society, and 
 more consistent with the dic- 
 tates of morality and the pre-
 
 MEMOIRS. 353 
 
 cepts of the Gospel, tlian tlie occasional conformity of certain 
 Dissenters, who, mingling ambition with insincerity, have 
 deliberately violated the spirit of the law, while they exter- 
 nally complied with the forms prescribed by it. 
 
 13. That the spirit of encroachment and exclusion which 
 marks the behaviour of some Dissenters, who, in corporation 
 towns and in other places, liave gained an ascendency, is no 
 very honourable proof of their own proficiency in that liberality 
 which they require from the members of the Established 
 Church, and no very favourable presage of the consequences 
 that would arise if they should require a larger share of 
 power. 
 
 14. That the moderation of the teachers and governors of 
 the Established Church is worthy of the enlightened age in 
 which they now live, and that the acknowledged and exem- 
 plary piety of all its members emboldens them to confide in the 
 Legislature for the continuance of that protection, and of those 
 favours which have so long been thought consistent with the 
 dignity of Government, and so often found conducive to the 
 general peace and prosperity of the kingdom. 
 
 15. That the connection now subsisting between the interests 
 and honour of the Church and State has ever been found 
 equally useful to both in times of public danger as well as of 
 public tranquillity ; and that all experiments tending to loosen 
 that connection, should be discouraged as unwise in their prin- 
 ciple, and unsafe in their effects. 
 
 16. That being actuated in this public declaration of our 
 sentiments only by an unfeigned and anxious regard for the 
 welfare of the country, and submitting the merits of the cause 
 in the support of which we are thus honourably engaged, to 
 the free representatives of a free people^ we disdain to employ 
 those instructions which are too often calculated to conti'ol 
 the members of the Legislature, in the discharge of their most 
 iriportant trusts. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 A
 
 lioi MEMOIRS. 
 
 17. That knowing the rapid progress of innovation when 
 encouraged by success, and marking the tendency of the poli- 
 tical as well as the religious tenets avowed by some persons, 
 whose example and whose writings have invigorated the at- 
 tempts now making to obtain the repeal of the Corporation and 
 Test Acts, we earnestly and respectfully invite all the counties 
 to fix their attention upon the great object which has occasi- 
 oned our present meeting, and to concur with us in opposing 
 those efforts, which, after repeated disappointments, the Dis- 
 senters are prepared to renew through the whole kingdom. 
 
 That copies of the Resolutions be sent by the Chairman to 
 Sir Robert Lav/ley and Sir George Shuckburgh, Barts., our 
 worthy and independent representatives; and that the same be 
 published in the London, Birmingham, Coventry, Oxford, 
 Worcester, Leicester, and Northampton papers. 
 
 That the thanks of this meeting be given to the Chairman. 
 
 The confidence expressed in the Resolutions com- 
 posed by Mr. Walker, and afterwards enlarg(;d by 
 him in an appeal to the nation, published under the 
 title of "the Dissenters' plea," proved at least that 
 his hopes were excited, and that he expected his 
 cause to be benefited in the general reforms that 
 were going on. Parr confesses that he was in- 
 clined, at this time, "to wrap up the Church in the 
 State mantle," according to Hoadly's phrase in the 
 attack on Sherlock.* In the application to Parlia- 
 ment for the repeal of the Test Act in May 1789, 
 the majority against it was 24. In March 1791, 
 the majority against its repeal increased to 189. 
 Although it was then brought forward by Mr. Fox 
 
 * Sec Parr's letter to Lord Holland, Dec. 28, 1807, on test, 
 toleration, S:c.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 355 
 
 himself, and much to Parr's disapprobation, and 
 others of the party, as appears by the following ex- 
 tract from a letter to the Rev. Mr. Homer, dated 
 Feb. 16, 1790. 
 
 I think Mr, Burke totally wrong, and that he has 
 
 done more harm than ever was done before. Indeed, he never 
 was of much use to the party, and has himself domineered over 
 Mr. Fox's better judgment. He and Sheridan are not yet 
 reconciled I assure you. But what signifies private reconcilia- 
 tion ? In Parliament he accused him of something like treason; 
 and in Parliament he should be forced to support or to retract 
 the charge. The evil lies deep in jealousy of Sheridan's supe- 
 rior popularity and superior influence with Mr. Fox; and you 
 see Pitt is taking great advantage ; and sorry I am that Mr. 
 Fox is to have the lead in the repeal business, for it will alarm 
 the country, and not fix the Presbyterians, Have you seen 
 Wesley's libellous and most inflammatory pamphlet, called 
 Theodosius ? 
 
 Yours, &c. S. Parr. 
 
 And the following from Lord John Townshend, to 
 Dr. Parr : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Beiitinck-streef, Maixh 1, 1790. 
 
 I am disposed with you to dread the effects of that ferment 
 which has arisen, and which seems likely to spread so wide, 
 and with such violence about the Test business, I regret, 
 most heartily, that Mr. Fox did not decline to make the 
 motion for the repeal ; as I think he has unwarily plunged 
 himself into a post of difficulty and danger into which it 
 appeared by no means necessary for him to enter. I shall be 
 under the necessity of giving my vote to-morrow with Mr, Fox, 
 as I did last year on this subject. I* followed my own inclina- 
 tion in absenting myself from their great meeting the other 
 day ; and I was glad to find that very few of the friends of our 
 party attended the dinner. Mr. Fox's speech on the occasion 
 was, 1 hear, admirable ; and received with unbounded applause. 
 
 2 A 2
 
 356 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Not without loud professions of future attaclimenl to him on 
 the part of most of them. I am very much, however, of your 
 opinion, respecting the degree of reliance which is to be placed 
 on the sincerity of anj^ professions from such a quarter ; nor is 
 it easy to forget their former personal rudeness to Mr. Fox, 
 and their shameful conduct in the year eighty-four. 
 
 Excuse the haste in which I write, and believe me to be, 
 dear Sir, with the truest respect and esteem, 
 
 Your faithful humble servant, J. Townshend. 
 
 Whether by such decisions " the unalterable 
 laws of justice arc sacrificed to the views of specu- 
 lative utility, and the most sacred acts of devotion 
 subjected to the profanation of interested and 
 wordly views,*" I judge not. Certainly, though 
 Mr. Pitt did not venture to repeal the Test Act, he 
 virtually annulled it by making it impracticable to 
 levy the penalties of the law. A Bill of Indemnity 
 is passed annually before the period arrives at which 
 the penalties are claimable. 
 
 Blessed be they who have contributed to so 
 good a work (said Hoadly, in answer to Hare, 
 p. 207), but far more statesman-like and more 
 manly would have been a manifest repeal ; with a 
 declaratory law, giving toleration on its broadest 
 practicable basis to all Christians of all denomina- 
 tions, taking away civil punishments, or civil suffer 
 ings, or civil inconveniences, on account of what are 
 the dictates of men's private consciences, unless it 
 immediately affect the civil government. 
 
 The practice of the American constitution proves, 
 that the broadest practicable basis of toleration may 
 
 * Memoirs of the Rev. George Walker, p, 170.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 357 
 
 extend not only to all sects of Christians, but even 
 to the Jews. Yet neither to this unbelieving race, 
 nor to the professors of Islam, can the terms futile 
 and sophisticated be apphcable, when Christian 
 benefices are the objects of a Test, and perhaps 
 " the unalterable law of justice " would not be quoted 
 in their case, should they start up as popular sects, 
 and the Mosque or the Synagogue become fashion- 
 able resorts, like the New Jerusalem, the Rehoboth, 
 or the Cave of Adullam. 
 
 Opposing, as he did on this occasion, the preten- 
 sions, and answering the arguments of the Dissen- 
 ters, nevertheless, in truth and in deed, was Parr a 
 friend to toleration. 
 
 At Norwich, he admitted to his acquaintance, and 
 served, with all the ardour of friendship, Mr. Bourn, 
 the Minister of the congregation of Presbyterians 
 there ; and w^ien, on a change of sentiments, or 
 from the hope of increasing fortune, Mr. Bourn 
 sought to be admitted into the Orders of the 
 Church of England, he subscribed his testimonials, 
 and made interest with Doctor Yonge, Bishop of 
 Norwich, and other Prelates, in his favour. The 
 endeavours of Mr. Bourn to obtain orders failed ; 
 but Parr's zeal did not fail. He set on foot a sub- 
 scription for Mr. Bourn, and obtained a sum suffi- 
 cient for the purchase of a small annuity. Of the 
 commencement and progress of his acquaintance 
 with Doctor Priestley he has himself given an 
 account in " The Sequel ; " and though there are 
 many passages in his letters and writings in which 
 he criticises the opinions, and blames the conduct of
 
 358 MEMOIRS. 
 
 tlicit great Philosopher;, he never fails to do justice to 
 his great talents, his pure intentions, and his 
 almost enthusiastic zeal. At Warwick, some of 
 Doctor Parr's most intimate acquaintance were Dis- 
 senters. The two respectable families of Parkes,* 
 
 * To the kindness of Mrs. H. Hunt I am indebted for 
 the following character of her father, written by Dr. Parr. 
 
 "Died, July 3, 1806, on Thursday Evening, in the 49th 
 year of his age, Mr. William Parkes of this Borough. This 
 excellent man discharged all the various and sacred duties of 
 domestic life with the most irreproachable exactness and 
 amiable tenderness. He was intelligent, punctual, and dili- 
 gent in conducting the numerous and important concerns 
 of a very extensive business ; and unwearied in his en- 
 deavours to relieve the indigent, and to protect the op- 
 pressed. The activity of his benevolence was unrestrained 
 by any narrow and invidious distinction of sect or party. 
 His equanimity was alike undisturbed by adverse or pros- 
 perous fortune. His patriotism was firm and temperate, 
 and his piety was rational and sincere. By constancy in his 
 friendships, by placability in his resentments, by the ingenuous 
 openness of his temper, by the manly independence of his 
 spirit, and by the general conformity of his moral habits to his 
 religious principles, he obtained, and deserved to obtain, the 
 esteem of his neighbours, the confidence of his employers, and 
 the unalterable regard of an enlightened and respectable 
 acquaintance. The memory of such a person will ever be dear, 
 and his example instructive to the poor who shared his bounty, 
 and every class of men that had an opportunity of comtempla- 
 ting his virtues. 
 
 *' For the space of twelve months he laboured under a lin- 
 gering and complicated malady, of which neither the causes 
 could be ascertained, nor the effects resisted by the most skilful 
 physicians both in the capital and in the neighbourhood. But 
 he supported with unshaken fortitude the pains of disease and 
 the languor of decay ; and, with the unfeigned resignation 
 of a Christian, he looked forward to death as the passage ap- 
 pointed by heaven to a glorious immortality."
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 359 
 
 Mr. Twamley, Mr. Field, and the elder Mr. Cromp- 
 ton, and the Cottons of Kenilworth, were in the list 
 of his nearest friends ; and he continued intimate 
 with most of them till his death. Mr. Field, by 
 Parr's appointment, attended his funeral ; and of 
 his own accord delivered an eloquent discourse 
 on his death the Sunday after. 
 
 For Mr. Corrie and Mr. Yates he entertained 
 sincere respect ; he justly appreciated their learning 
 and their worth ; nor did the differences of opinion 
 on religious subjects in any degree weigh against 
 them in his esteem, nor against the amiable Dr. 
 A. Rees, the truly conscientious Mr. Lindsay, 
 the firm controversialist and staunch polemic Mr. 
 Belsham, nor against the accomplished Mr. Shep- 
 herd; with all of whom he occasionally corres- 
 ponded. His own opinions were the mature fruit 
 of study. The first beam of the morning, and 
 sometimes the midnight lamp, were the witnesses 
 of his intense lucubrations ; and that which made 
 him wise conduced to make him charitable. His 
 religion was that of Jesus ; but it was not " zeal 
 without knowledge." — It was not the wild fanati- 
 cism of the heated brain, nor the sordid calculation 
 of the hardened heart. — It was not the fer- 
 mentation of Methodism, nor the bitter sediment 
 of Pharisaical pride. Though warmed by fervour, 
 it never was heated to fanaticism. He had 
 drank of the living water to the refreshment of his 
 soul ; and his piety, ardent in youth, settled into 
 sober practical habits of thinking for, and acting 
 with, his fellow men. It adorned his life — it com-
 
 360 MEMOIRS. 
 
 forted his age ; and it so elevated his departing 
 spirit, that he expired after long suft'ering with a 
 placid expression upon his countenance, and with an 
 ejaculation of hope and trust upon his lips. 
 
 Of his particular religious opinions I shall leave 
 him to speak for himself. Because he tolerated all 
 opinions, he has been sneered at as believing luke- 
 warmly. Such a calumny could only arise from his 
 warm expressions in favour of charity and toleration. 
 All sober discussion of religious opinions he admitted 
 and entered into. Often would he concede to a cer- 
 tain point ; and this concession has been mistaken 
 and represented as entire. The virtues of particular 
 men belonging to particular sects, he honoured, as 
 he did all virtue. The views of such men he would 
 promote, when he knew them to be sincere ; and 
 he would often teach them where the strength of 
 their cause lay. Knowing very much, he was not 
 fearful to discuss, nor penurious in imparting a por- 
 tion of his knowledge. Thus was he sometimes 
 mistaken for a partisan, where he was only an in- 
 structor and enlightener. How truly he was at- 
 tached to the Church of England, all the dissenters 
 with whom he conversed on the subject could 
 prove, if they would. 
 
 You are aware (says the manly Mr. Shepherd of Gateacre to 
 me in a letter dated August 12, 1827), that our late friend's 
 friendly intercourse with Dissenters has caused his sincerity as 
 a Churchman to be called in question. But I can testify that, 
 from many communications with him in free conversation, I am 
 sincerely of opinion, that the Established Church had never a 
 more zealous admirer or a firmer friend.
 
 MEMOIRS. 3GI 
 
 His epithet '' non-con." was never spared to their 
 faces ; and I have reason to beheve that to some it 
 gave offence. The sectarian spirit he abhorred — 
 the sincere worshipper, of whatever sect he might 
 be, he loved. Even the Theist, when sincere, un- 
 ostentatious, unpresuming, and not profane, was 
 not merely tolerated by Dr. Parr, himself a firm 
 believer in the truths of the Gospel. In a volume 
 of Tracts, formerly in his library, the first of which 
 is " Hollis's Free Thoughts," &c. &c. he makes the 
 following notes. 
 
 Mr. Hollis gave Dr. Parr his " Apology" in the year 1809, 
 and in the summer of" 1812 he sent him his other works. Mr. 
 Holh's leads a studious and blameless life at High Wycombe, 
 Bucks, where Dr. Parr sometimes visits him. Dr. Parr had the 
 good fortune to introduce Mr. H. to his enlightened and re- 
 spectable pupil, Peregrine Dealtry, who lives at Bradenham, 
 four miles distant from Wickham, and, though Mr. H. seldom 
 pays visits, he never fails to visit Mr. D. when Dr. P. is with 
 him. Mr. H. is confessedly an unbeliever ; and his unbelief 
 is certainly the result of laborious and serious enquiry; but 
 he never writes profanely ; he is charitable and respectful in 
 his judgment upon the character of Christians ; he devotes 
 his time and his fortune to doing good; and, be his errors 
 what they may, Dr. P. is bound, by the principles and spirit 
 of Christianity, to love and to honour such a moral agent as 
 Mr. Hollis. S. P. 
 
 Dr. Parr knew Mr. Hollis personally, and considered him 
 one of the most serious, upright, and benevolent of human be- 
 ings. They often conversed upon the most important sub- 
 jects ; and whatsoever be the errors of Hollis, he supported 
 them with much ability, and without any taint of acrimony or 
 profanencss. 
 
 The uncharitable and sour worshipper of the 
 skeleton and dry bones of doctrine, the bigot, and
 
 ,362 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the scorner, and the sncerer, were sure to meet with 
 summary and condign punishment at his hands. I 
 have more than once seen him rise up to smite the 
 scorner who interposed his jests, in the discussion 
 of the awful subject of rehgion. 
 
 He believes that, wheresoever imperious and turbulent 
 teachers have usurped an excessive ascendency over the minds 
 of an ignorant and headstrong multitude, religion will always 
 be disgraced, morals always vitiated, and society always en- 
 dangered. But the real interests, the real honour, the real and 
 most important cause of the established Church, he ever has 
 supported, and will support, as he also ever has contended, and 
 will contend in favour of a liberal, efficient, dLX\f\. progressive toler- 
 ation.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Sequel — Letter to Irenopolis, 8^c. 
 
 But the test, and all party discussions, were 
 shortly after swallowed up in another vortex; 
 in attacks and defences, in Burke, Paine, Rous, 
 Mackintosh, and a variety of other writers, the 
 approvers or disapprovers of the Revolutionary 
 system. The first act of that terrible drama, the 
 French Revolution, was now over, and the curtain 
 had fallen upon the ruins of the chief distinctions 
 of the privileged orders, titles, and feudahties. 
 More awful scenes and events were preparing ; and 
 all men in all nations, capable of ratiocination, sym- 
 pathized or participated in the gathering interest. 
 
 The hosts of civilized men were arrayed against 
 each other in two mighty phalanxes ; and expecta- 
 tion stood breathless awaiting the stormy fury, and 
 the hideous shock of battle. In the beginning the 
 battle in this country raged only in words and me- 
 naces ; in the din and clamour of dispute, in re- 
 proaches and insults ; and the actions and words of 
 men were watched, and noted so jealously, that it 
 was not easy for the most innocent and unassuming;
 
 364 MEMOIRS. 
 
 to pass without caliiiiiny. At this crisis Parr, who 
 had separated himself from the high church party, 
 and became intimately connected with Mr. Fox and 
 the Whigs, stood eminent as a butt for the shafts 
 of faction to aim at. In consequence, he was 
 assailed by all the warfare of petty malignity ; some 
 of his parishioners were insulted as disaffected, and 
 he himself was privately traduced as a Jacobin. 
 At length he was exhibited publicly as disloyal in 
 the newspapers of the Government ; and thus, from 
 an anonymous letter, w as induced to vent his feel- 
 ings on the subject of politics, and the French Re- 
 volution, in a work intitled, " A Sequel to the 
 printed Paper lately circulated in Warwickshire, by 
 the Rev. Charles Curtis, brother of Alderman Cur- 
 tis, a Birmingham Rector; London, for Charles 
 Dilly, 1792." The Preface to " The Sequel" is one 
 of the most finished morsels of Parr s pen. It is a 
 little cabinet memorial of his literary powers, and 
 one of the best patterns of his laboured style. It 
 is, moreover, full of fine sentiments on the evanes- 
 cent nature and the small interest of personal 
 quarrels. Yet this gem is not unsullied and of the 
 purest water ; it is too much bespotted with imagery, 
 and there is surely no propriety in the expression 
 " noise of a bubble," or in the sentiment that oppo- 
 sition is likely to bestow " a rich plumage upon 
 noisy flutter and unavailing struggles." Surely it 
 is much more likely to snatch it away. 
 
 As to the controversy introduced and carried on 
 in "The Sequel," I fL'iir ft^w persons at the time 
 deemed it of much importance ; most men, indeed.
 
 MEMOIRS. 365 
 
 thought the solemn asseveration of a gentleman 
 should have been admitted ; and, after all, there 
 was not much dignity in drawing together this 
 artillery of learning and argument, //"there were no 
 solidity to be crushed, and only feebleness to be 
 annoyed. And, let me add, that, in the introduc- 
 tion of the name of Alderman Curtis, and of the 
 subsequent remark in the note,* about his personal 
 appearance, there was not only no dignity, but there 
 was great indecorum and petulance. As a party 
 man, Sir William Curtis had risen to eminence 
 among his fellow-citizens, and to high reputation 
 as an Englishman. By a popular election, in the 
 most populous and most commercial city of the 
 most enlightened country in the civilized world, he 
 was chosen to represent the freemen of London in 
 Parliament ; and for thirty-six years, with the ex- 
 ception of one Parliament only, he continued their 
 representative. By his activity in business, his 
 deep-searching sagacity, and his native powers of 
 intellect, he gained their confidence, and deserved 
 it. With manly boldness he avowed his opinions, 
 and his constituents were never deluded by false 
 colours, or hypocritical pretences. During the 
 whole of his political life he was a Tory in principle 
 and in practice ; and with a firm step, and unalter- 
 able steadiness, he supported the measures of the 
 Government during the perilous times of the French 
 war. I hope he will long enjoy, in health and 
 peace, the honours and the fortune he has acquired 
 
 * Sequel, p. 33.
 
 366 MEMOIRS. 
 
 by consistency and integrity ; and if this page 
 should ever meet his eye, that he will consider it 
 as a tribute of affection, as well as a declaration of 
 the truth. 
 
 The political part of the Sequel, divested of the 
 personal matter, will alone be re-publishcd; and it 
 treats of a subject so momentous that it redeems, 
 in great measure, this miserable squabble from the 
 imputation of unnecessary and venomous aggres- 
 sion. For if Parr deemed that these anonymous 
 letters were only a portion of the attack upon his 
 character, encouraged by a faction, and circulated 
 as a slow poison through society, he was justified 
 in vindicatine: himself. 
 
 I know it was the fashion to brand him as a Jaco- 
 bin ; because he advocated the cause of freedom, 
 and enlisted himself under the political banner of 
 Mr. Fox. Yet how little his sentiments favoured 
 democracy, and how averse he was to the excesses 
 of the French revolutionary party, he here shews ; 
 and in reviewing some of his other works, we shall 
 find that true Whig principles, the real English 
 Constitution in Church find State, were solidly and 
 immoveably engrafted in his mind. 
 
 Copy of a letter from Dr. Farmer to Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Anien Corner, June 15, 1792. 
 
 At my last return to Cambridge I found you had honoured 
 the College with your portrait, and I am happy to thank you 
 in the name of ourselves and our successors. Since I have been 
 in town I have seen a portrait of your mind, in whicli I (an old 
 Tory) can scarcely wish for an alteration of a feature. I am 
 dear Sir, yours, <!v;c. <S.c. R. Fa a m eh.
 
 MEMOIRS. 367 
 
 The question of prerogative, discussed by him in 
 the Sequel, had been discussed by him before, when 
 he was about to re-publish, with notes, the Disser- 
 tation on Whi^s and Tories, by Rapin ; and his 
 remarks on the subject will be found among those 
 notes which are now re-printed. 
 
 The Sequel touches upon another subject of great 
 interest ; and that subject it was, probably, which 
 roused Parr's resentment, and led the way to this 
 attack. His house was threatened by the Bir- 
 mingham incendiaries at the time of the riots in 
 1791, and his library* was removed from his house 
 in his absence, to secure it from the fancied danger, 
 by Mrs. Parr. Considerable expense was incurred, 
 and much injury done to the books; so that 
 Parr could not but feel some bitterness on ac- 
 count of that which he had suffered. Of the Bir- 
 mingham riots the Sequel contains an everlasting 
 memorial. 
 
 Of the seeming regularity of contrivance, the strange 
 chaos of levity and ferocity, the temporary extinction of com- 
 mon prudence, common justice, and common humanity in 
 private companies, the most shameless language of triumph in 
 some diurnal and monthly publications, tlie vestiges of such 
 remorseless and ill disguised approbation in certain well edu- 
 cated men, as in times past would have steeled the heart, for 
 participation in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, 
 
 By remonstrance in conversation, and sometimes 
 
 * The books were at first hastily huddled together in a barn 
 near Hatton, and afterwards sent to Magdalen College, Ox- 
 ford, when the packages were piled up under the principal, 
 but disused, gateway of the College, by permission of the Pre- 
 sident, Dr. Routh, and the expense of near ^100 was in- 
 curred.
 
 368 MEMOIRS. 
 
 by instruction from the pulpit, he most pointedly 
 condemned this unsocial spirit,* and one phrase he 
 has marked with indelible reprobation. " Church 
 
 * Bishop Bennet thus expresses himself in the following ex- 
 tract from a letter, dated 
 
 " Dublin Castle, Jan. 11, 1792. 
 
 You do justice to my sentiments of Mr. Fox, whom I 
 
 have always esteemed as a man and a minister, and wish poliii- 
 cal accidents had thrown him on a different side. Party runs 
 high here also ; but it is a party, not against English ministers, 
 but English government. On the eminence on which I am 
 placed, I hear the whistling of the storm before it has reached 
 the lower regions. 
 
 Et mea parva rates vicinis sueta movere 
 Liltoribus, notique legens confinia ponti. 
 Nunc primum dat vela Notis, portusque fideles 
 Linquit, et Hadriacas audet spectare procellas. 
 
 Your book, I suppose, is not out yet. I am sorry you attack 
 the Church, for fear of consequences to your own advance- 
 ment i and hope you mean individual Churchmen, whose nar- 
 row and illiberal bigotry you are welcome to lash till you are 
 tired. 
 
 I tremble for your books and property, and rejoice such 
 villainy was prevented (when the former are in order, remem- 
 ber that you have a claim on me for several which you wanted). 
 The rascals who call themselves Churchmen, and disgrace the 
 cause they pretend to serve, are in fact indifferent to any cause 
 or any motive but plunder, and would burn our houses just as 
 readily as yours." 
 
 I shall have occasion to mention the names of Bennetand Burke 
 hereafter in connection. Mark here the difference of language 
 and of sentiment between the staunch Tory and the apostate 
 Whig. See " Epistolary Correspondence of Right Hon. Edmimd 
 Burke and French Lawrence, LL.D." letter 2, page 240, 
 from Burke to Lawrence. *' I think the efforts of the faction
 
 MEMOIRS. .'369 
 
 and King" was the watch-word, or yell of encourage- 
 ment of the incendiaries whilst they were commit- 
 ting their outrages, and at the time the constant 
 toast of the high party. " I will not drink that 
 toast (cried Parr at a puhlic dinner), nor will I suffer 
 it to be given in my presence. It was the toast of 
 Jacobites, and it is the yell of Incendiaries : it means 
 a Church without the Gospel, and a King above 
 the Laws." 
 
 I shall not enter farther into this topic. Far be 
 it from me to rake together the embers of this de- 
 testable story ! Of those concerned in it many are 
 gone to their account ; and of the active incendia- 
 ries, if any still survive, none are so shameless as to 
 boast of their exploits. 
 
 Whatsoever were the sentiments, or even the bit- 
 terness of mind, that induced Dr. Parr to open the 
 sluices of his anger in " The Sequel," it is consola- 
 tory, on reflecting, to know that they were soon 
 appeased or neutralized. " The Sefjuer' is dated 
 January 1792, and in May of the same year ap- 
 
 are not at all abated, and that the evil they intend equally ap- 
 pears in their desperate boldness, and in their insidious hypo- 
 ci'isy. They have changed some of their notes since the riots 
 at Birmingham. Now that their anniversary of toryism has 
 produced arson, and given it a direction they did rjot wish, they 
 are the martyrs of order, good government, and sobriety. But 
 " peace* to all such ;" a thing, by the by, they do not over 
 eagerly desire," &c. 
 
 * The sentence on Constance and her paramour, worked so 
 admirably into the utmost pathos of tragedy by Sir Walter 
 Scott, forcibly reminds us of this Burkeian phrase. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 B
 
 370 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 peared " A Letter from Ircnopolis to the Inhabits 
 ants of Eleuthcropolis ; or, a Serious Address to 
 the Dissenters of Birmingliani ;" and in 1809 I 
 dined with Dr. Parr at the Rev. Mr. Curtis's table. 
 
 The provocative cause, or that which was at least 
 pretended by the incendiaries of Birmingham at 
 the time, as productive of the riots, was a dinner, 
 held in the town of Birmingham, to commemorate 
 the French Revolution. 
 
 The party of gentlemen who met upon that oc- 
 casion were of opinion, that the dinner was not the 
 real cause ; that it was averred as such only to 
 serve the purpose ; that, in fact, the riots had been 
 planned under the dark influence of a Machiavelian 
 policy to strike terror into the revolutionary faction, 
 and to shew the country, by a salutary example, to 
 w'hat horrors anarchy must lead;* at all events, 
 that the Government was criminal for not providing 
 against any possible commotion, arising out of the 
 treasonable libel then published. So they were 
 resolved to hold another Meeting, to show their 
 fellow-subjects and the Government that they had 
 been calumniated on the former occasion. 
 
 The letter to Ircnopolis was written hastily ])y 
 Parr to dissuade the party from holding their dinner ; 
 and perhaps no effusion from the pen of any learned 
 man was ever poured out so rapidly, with so much 
 soundness of argument, and clearness of style, and 
 vigour of sentiment. As the publication of this 
 
 ■* See debate in the House of Commons on Mr. Whitbread's 
 motion; and Mr. Burke's letter, before quoted.
 
 MEMOIRS. 371 
 
 letter was committed to my charge by Dr. Parr, and 
 as it will illustrate the method followed by him in 
 writing, and show some of his habits of thinking 
 and acting, it will not be superfluous to enter into 
 a detail of it. 
 
 Extract from Dr. Parr's first letter to my brother 
 Dr. Edward Johnstone, dated May 14, 1792, Monday. 
 
 This is an important letter, and keep the contents of it 
 secret. At our Quarter Sessions I was told that the Dissenters 
 intended to meet again in July, but I thought it impossible. 
 More or less of the same report I heard afterwards, and still 
 was unwilling to believe. But yesterday I heard it again, and 
 I believe it. Dear Sir, I am frozen with horror j tell me, I 
 beseech you, whether it is so, and if it is, grant me a request, a 
 great request. Some thoughts occurred to me last night, 
 which I will throw into a friendly pamphlet to dissuade the 
 Dissenters from this frenzy. This morning I have written half 
 the pamphlet, and by to-morrow I will finish it. It will be 
 short and serious. It shall be written over again and printed 
 by Thomson at Birmingham, who shall have the profits, and 
 give me twelve copies. I hope that you or your brother will 
 undertake to correct the press, and Thomson must be in- 
 structed to finish most expeditiously and carefully. My name 
 must not be prefixed, or indeed, known. Write to me directly, 
 and be sure send me exact information. I am, dear Sir, yours 
 most sincerely, S. Parr. 
 
 This was written about 3 o'clock ; it is now 6, and the 
 pamphlet is finished. It cost mg six hours and an half, and was 
 done at two sittings in one day. I am getting it transcribed 
 for the press. 
 
 2nd Letter, May 16th. Extract. 
 
 This letter shall not depend upon the Dissenters not having 
 made up their minds to dine, for I shall publish it if they have 
 taken any one step to give alarm, and I am doing them a sub- 
 stantial act of friendship if they have wisdom enough to think 
 so. My judgment is unalterably fixed upon every line of the 
 
 2 B 2
 
 37*2 MEMOIRS. 
 
 book. I liave written with great politeness, impartiality, and 
 vigour. 
 
 3d Letter. Extract May 17. 
 
 It was at Mr. Brce's, where I drank tea on Sunday, that I 
 heard a confirmation of the report, and as I rode home at night 
 a thouglit struck me that I should endeavour to prevent 
 it. The forge was set to work on Monday morning, and the 
 furnace was very hot till about six in the afternoon, and though 
 the work has not been much upon the anvil, it is pretty well 
 done. Now, John, as I have not had time to polish, and 
 scarcely even to correct, a few expressions will sometimes float 
 in my mind as capable of improvement, and to prevent all re- 
 tardation of the press, I will put down a few to paper. You 
 must know, John, that the Socinian writers publish their books 
 in Holland or Poland with the quaint names of Eleutheropolis 
 or Irenopolis, and I think it wont be amiss to imitate them in 
 the title page (though to be sure, my boy, very few of your Ox- 
 ford Doctors will understand it), let therefore the title run thus : 
 
 A Letter from Irenopolis, See. &c. 
 
 Letters 4, 5, 6. Extract, corrections and additions. 
 
 Date the book Thursday, 17th May. Pray do me not the 
 favour, but the justice, to correct two enormous errors in my 
 London book, '< the Sequel." Read, and tell everybody else to 
 read, page 42, for " luminous," " profound," twice it was cor- 
 rected — twice the printer blundered, I wu-ote sense, and meant 
 to be polite to Hurd. Nonsense and rudeness were printed. 
 
 Letter 7. Extract. Monday 21st. 
 
 Bishop Hare and Dr. Bentley read quo, not quod, never 
 mind your, editions, they are Birmingham coin. 
 
 8th Letter. 
 
 John, John, as you are only a novitiate, my boy, in correct- 
 ing the press, I must desire you to have a hawk's eye, before 
 the final printing off. Get the credit of sending out the only 
 correctly printed book I ever did send out. This is the ex-
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 373 
 
 cellence of living in a town where there is a printer; an au- 
 thor can then do as he will. Priestley is a veteran in correcting 
 the press, and a sloven about style ; in both points the very re- 
 verse of me. Farewell. Urge Thomson, assist, watch, en- 
 courage him, and if needs be, scold him. You see the pro- 
 priety of my joining Dilly's name with Johnson's. It so happens, 
 I believe, that they are both Dissenters ; and it further hap- 
 pens, that they are both as honest friendly men as ever lived ; 
 and so I don't think it impossible for both to escape everlasting 
 flames in hell. But you know I never dogmatize on theologi- 
 cal subjects, and therefore, if Dilly or Johnson have fears, I 
 must refer them to deeper casuists and sounder divines than 
 myself; and you know that of those there is a plentiful store in 
 your beloved Oxford. They catch at a glance what I cannot 
 discover in a year. They are bold where I am timid — they 
 hate where I love. They call down tlie thunderbolt upon per- 
 sons whom I hope to meet in the portals of the third heaven. 
 Christianity is with me, and its pretended offspring, Orthodoxy, 
 is with them. 
 
 9th, 10th, and llth, fidgetty letters, about de- 
 lay, stops, alterations, and additions. 
 
 12. Extract. 
 
 I wish to close with a vigorous declaration of my principles, 
 and shew respect to the church, as well as contempt for high 
 church. I have therefore altered and rather enlarged the 
 conclusion, and your own good sense will shew you the pro- 
 priety of this. The book must come out on Monday, &c. 
 Mind, in p. 39, I have put a double line under real, because 
 it must be printed, not in Italics, but small capitals in all three 
 places, and so must the word important be in small capitals, 
 for this is an act of respect and justice which I owe to the 
 church, and my own situation and opinions as a churchman. 
 You will not be surprised at the anxiety I feel, when I consider 
 how many alterations there were yesterday and to-day, and 
 before I see them the book must come forth. John, you have 
 a very weighty task, a very serious charge. I confide in your 
 sense and friendship to perform them well, I take it for
 
 374 MEMOIRS. 
 
 granted, my boy, that suspicion will fall on me. You will not, 
 I know, tell lies, but will, perhaps, put oft' by saying it is my 
 style.* I have just received a pompous foolish book addressed to 
 Priestley. It was given to me by an orthodox Doctor, and it was 
 written by a noisy priest. He gave only one copy of his book 
 away, and that to the Lord Chancellor, and luckily too, just as he 
 was going out ; and so he will get nothing, which is all he cares 
 about. He is a fine pompous fellow, and if Priestley had a 
 grain of common sense he would not answer him. He calls 
 himself a Foxite, and yet he has been trying, to my knowledge, 
 what he can get among the Pittites, and he is of a very bad 
 breed. I shall not read his book. I think Priestley will stare 
 at this address, for he is a thorough partizan, and so are you. 
 Jack, disposed to be, and so you would be, were it not for my 
 admonitions. 
 
 John, my love of truth makes me say, p. 35, the preceding 
 parts, &c. You see that I turn the scale even against myself, 
 for you know it went to press on Wednesday, but I date 
 Thursday. You will have a hard day's work of it, and I think 
 the book cannot be out till Monday afternoon. 
 
 Remember the old proverb, " most haste worst speed," for 
 I would rather have the book delayed for a day than permit 
 one single blunder in a word, a syllable, or even a stop. 
 
 Upon the whole I think it a good pamphlet, and hope it will 
 do good, and either terrify or convince your mad caps. I 
 hope you like the idea of a progressive toleration, because it is 
 mine. For instance, I would have voted with Fox the other 
 day, and at better times, and with a much better spirit between 
 Churchmen and Dissenters, and not till then would I repeal 
 the Test Act. I do not love tests a bit better than you do ; 
 but I understand them better, and they are evils, which evil 
 
 * In his correspondence with the printer and bookseller, 
 when Bellenden was in the press. Parr always feigned another 
 name; Richard Davy, when Dr. Davy was the amanuensis, and 
 other names according to his whim. Whether the secret tran- 
 spired, I know not. Steevens he hated, and suspected, so 
 was particularly dcsiious to keep the real author unknown to 
 him.
 
 MEMOIRS. 375 
 
 spirits make necessary evils. Neither Priestley nor Hoadly 
 are adepts in moderation. It is a rare, and, I therefore believe, 
 a difficult virtue; but when once understood and seriously 
 attempted, it becomes easy and comfortable. 
 
 13. Extract. 
 
 Let me have sixteen copies ; six sent hither, and ten John- 
 son must be directed to dispose of thus : one Prince of Wales ; 
 one Duke of Portland; one Earl of Dartmouth; one Mr. Sheri- 
 dan, at Nerot's Hotel ; one Mr. Mackintosh, 32, Charlotte- 
 street, Portland-place ; one Mr. J. Tweddell, 2, Brick-court, 
 Temple ; one Dr. Priestley ; one Mr. Wakefield ; one Rev. Mr. 
 Martyn; one Lord Grey. Where I say, "I confess with sor- 
 row," put " I must confess then with sorrow." You see the 
 alteration includes only two words, must and then. I am fond 
 of these particles, and I am sure that Vx)liaire and Marmon- 
 tel in French, and our Johnson, neglected them too much. 
 But with me it is not so, nor with other writers. I feel the 
 anxiety of Addison, who would cancel a sheet to alter the 
 position of a common particle, and it was by this parental care 
 of his words, that they put forth such beautiful blossoms, and 
 such delicious fruits. You have done well, well, well. 
 
 14. Extract. 
 
 Let me know how your book sells at Birmingham, and how 
 the Dissenters and Churchmen take it. I am very just to both, 
 of which, however, they may not be sensible, as some of thorn 
 are so little in the habit of practising justice. I forgot to send 
 a copy to Mr. Fox, but have written to Johnson to send him 
 one. Thomson must allow me this. 
 
 15. Sunday, June 4th. 
 
 16. Soliciting subscriptions for a certain Greek 
 scholar, to preserve him from want, and to buy him 
 an annuity. 
 
 Yesterday I received a very handsome acknowledgment 
 from the Dissenters of your town, and a most friendly well- 
 written letter from Mr. Russell.
 
 376 MEMOIRS. 
 
 The following are copies of the acknowledgment 
 and letter here alluded to, and of Parr's answer. 
 
 At a meeting of tlie Committee appointed by the Societies 
 belonging to the new and old Meeting Houses in Birmingham, 
 held on Friday, June 22, 1792. 
 
 Ilesolved unanimously, that the thanks of the Committee be 
 respectfully presented to the Kev. Dr. Parr, for the candour, 
 urbanity, and benevolence which he has displayed in the elo- 
 quent and energetic pamphlet lately addressed to the Dissenters 
 under the title of " A Letter from Irenopolis to the Inhabitants 
 of Eleutheropolis." William Russell, Chairman. 
 
 REV, SIR, Birmingham, June 23, 1792. 
 
 It is with much satisfaction that I enclose you the Resolu- 
 tions of a Committee who are the representatives of as honest 
 and independent a Jaody of men as the kingdom contains. 
 Smarting under unmerited suffering and disgrace, they are 
 feelingly alive to every generous and benign attempt to restore 
 peace, order, and good neighbourhood in this distracted town. 
 Their tribute of thanks theiefore naturally follows your excel- 
 lent and nervous address, and I assure you they are deeply 
 sensible of the dignity of your sentiments, and the uprightness 
 of your intentions ; and that they will long retain their grati- 
 tude and respect for a chai-acter which so forcibly delineates 
 the man of honour, the Christian, and the good citizen. 
 
 I am gratified in the present opportunity of begging you to 
 accept my fervent wishes for the prolongation of your valuable 
 life, and for the still further extension of your sphere of use- 
 fulness and enjoyment, and of assuring you that I remain with 
 very high respect^ Rev. Sir, your sincere and obedient, 
 
 William Russell. 
 
 Dr. Parr's reply to Mr. Russell. 
 
 DEAR SIR, June 26, 1792. 
 
 On Sunday last I had the satisfaction of hearing from you 
 that the Committee appointed by the members of the new and 
 old Meeting Houses at Birmingham, had unanimously resolved
 
 MEMOIRS. 377 
 
 to present their thanks to me, as the writer of a "Letter from 
 Irenopolis to the Inhabitants of Eleutheropohs." 
 
 Permit me to request, that you would convey to the gentle- 
 men of that Committee my respectful acknowledgments for 
 the honour which they have done me ; my earnest wishes for 
 the speedy and total extinction of those animosities which have 
 lately disgraced this neighbourhood, and my sincere approba- 
 bation of the judicious and temperate measures which the Dis- 
 senters of Birmingham have adopted for preserving the tran- 
 quillity of their town. I beg leave to thank you personally for 
 the very polite and friendly wishes you have expressed towards 
 myself. Be assured. Sir, that my talents such as they are, will, 
 upon every proper occasion, be employed in discountenancing 
 or correcting those prejudices which my heart is incapable of 
 feeling for one moment, and which my judgment represents to 
 me as irreconcileable to the interest of society, to the pre- 
 cepts of religion, and to the benevolent spirit of that heavenly 
 teacher, whose authority we all reverence, and whose example 
 we are all bound to imitate, however divided we may be in our 
 opinions about the metaphysical explanations of his nature. I 
 have the honour to be, dear Sir, your very faithful well-wisher 
 and obedient servant, S. Parr. 
 
 Perhaps it is not improper for me to add, the very day after I 
 had received the advertisement, in which they renounce all 
 intention of meeting on the 14th of July next, I took an oppor- 
 tunity of sending it to my printer, and of accompanying it with 
 such observations as will probably do them no discredit. 
 
 Such was the effect of this extraordinary pam- 
 phlet — the best, the calmest, the purest of all 
 Dr. Parr's literary productions ; and the most 
 approved by all sober thinkers. One part of its 
 excellence arises from its being an extemporaneous 
 production. It was the composition of eight hours 
 at most ; and is, therefore, less loaded with learning 
 and illustration than any other of his printed works. 
 He had no time to trick out the phraseology in the
 
 .S78 Memoirs. 
 
 borrowed garb of quotation, of which he was so 
 fond ; nor to spoil the freshness of his first thinking 
 by closer, or tighter, or more gaudy phrases. The 
 letter is the best model of Parr's didactic and imla- 
 boured style. It is a work of peacefulness, written 
 in the spirit of peace, and to insure the practice of 
 it. Whether Mr. Pitt ever read Bcllendenus or its 
 learned preface I am not informed ; but I do know 
 that he read " The Letter of Irenopolis to Eleuthe- 
 ropolis," and that he was lavish in his commendation 
 upon it. It was put into his hands by Dr. 
 Maltby when Mr. Pitt was upon a visit at Buckden 
 Palace. 
 
 These letters, and extracts from letters, suffi- 
 ciently illustrate the manner of Parr towards his 
 younger correspondents, and his manner of doing 
 business, and the constant stream of instruction that 
 flowed from him. In the winter, 1790-1791, I 
 passed some weeks at Hatton, when Mr. Richard 
 Porson was one of the guests, and became then 
 conversant with Parr's domestic habits, and formed 
 the beginning of that intimate acquaintance and 
 progressively confidential friendship, on which he 
 put an indelible stamp by his dying declaration in 
 March 1825. During this long interval of thirty- 
 five years, his mode of living, and his habits of 
 thinking and acting on common occasions, were so 
 frequently displayed to my observation, that it 
 would be no difficult task to write the annals of his 
 busy life. But I have intentionally abstained from 
 entering into minute detail. " Destitute of dignity 
 and barren of utiUty" do I deem it to drag the
 
 MEMOIRS. 379 
 
 illustrious man out of his privacy, where he only 
 does what every other man is compelled to do, and 
 says, with no hctter grace, what every other man 
 must say. 
 
 From the ordinary occurrences of life, as they influence the 
 conduct of extraordinary men, tlie biographer collects such 
 scattered rays as may be concentrated into one bright assem- 
 blage of truth, upon the tharacter which he has undertaken to 
 dehneate. — Parr's Sequel, preface, p. 5. 
 
 The mention of a certain Greek scholar, and the 
 desire expressed in the 13th extract, that copies of 
 the Ircnopolis he sent to Mr. J. Tweddell, Mr. 
 Mackintosh, and Mr, Wakefield, naturally introduce 
 some account of Parr's connection with these cele- 
 brated men. 
 
 Mr. Richard Person remained at Hatton in the 
 winter, 1790-1, collecting materials for future 
 works, and enriching his mind with the stores of 
 Parr's library, and of his conversation. He rose 
 late, seldom walked out, and was employed in the 
 library till dinner, reading and taking notes from 
 books, but chiefly the latter. His notes were made 
 in a small distinct text of the most exquisitely neat 
 writing I have ever beheld. He was very silent ; 
 and except to Parr, whom he often consulted, and 
 to whose opinions he seemed to defer, he seldom 
 spoke a word. His manners, in a morning indeed, 
 were rather sullen, and his countenance gloomy. 
 After dinner he began to relax, but was always 
 under restraint with Parr and the ladies. 
 
 At night, when he could collect the young men of 
 the family together, and especially if Parr was absent
 
 380 MEMOIRS. 
 
 from home, he was in his ^lory. The charms of 
 his society were then irresistible. Many a midnight 
 hour did I spend with him, Hstening with dehght, 
 while he poured out torrents of various literature — 
 the best sentences of the best writers, and 
 sometimes the ludicrous beyond the gay — pages of 
 Barrow, whole letters of Richardson, whole scenes 
 of Foote, favourite pieces from the periodical press ; 
 and, among them, I have heard recited " The Orgies 
 of Bacchus." 
 
 His abode in the house became at last so 
 tiresome to Mrs. Parr, that she insulted him in a 
 manner which I shall not record. From this time, 
 the visits of Porson were not repeated at Hatton ; 
 and though there was no open breach of friendship, 
 on his part, there was no continuance of kindness, 
 notwithstanding Dr. Parr's strenuous endeavours to 
 secure his comforts and independence, by combining 
 with other scholars, and using every effort of his in- 
 terest to obtain an annuity for him. The follow- 
 ing letters will demonstrate how zealously affected 
 he was to the cause. 
 
 From the Rev. John Cleaver Banks, to the 
 Rev. Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, JVest Wickham, near Croydon. 
 
 On my return to this place yesterday I was favoured with 
 your letter of the 6th, containing a draft upon Messrs. Down 
 and Thornton for fifty pounds, which should be placed to the 
 account of Mr. Coke's liberality, and thirty-one pounds ten 
 shillings to that of Mr. Dewes, the Rev. Mr. Willes, and Dr. 
 Johnstone; the receipt of which I hereby acknowledge (.^^10. 
 10s. for the Bishop of Cork, and a draft for ^25. \0s. on 
 account of Dr. Kouth and Lord Ferrers ; that is, £\5 for Dr.
 
 MEMOIRS. 381 
 
 Routh, and ^10. IO5. for Lord Ferrers. Raine received 3^15 
 on your own account). IMany thanks are due to you for your 
 unremitting zeal in the cause of our worthy friend, which I am 
 persuaded no one has more at heart than yourself. We have 
 received the most encouraging professions from all quarters ; 
 and I believe if we were to cast up the sums already secured, 
 they would exceed fifteen hundred. When they verge upon 
 ^2000 we shall stop. Lambton wrote a very handsome letter 
 to Raine upon the subject, which seems to have excited in him 
 the most lively interest, as it will do in every lover of learning 
 and strict integrity. On Saturday last I was at Windsor, and, 
 during my stay there, took an opportunity of calling upon 
 Goodall. I am sorry to say his health is not so well as all his 
 friends must wish. We conversed sometime upon the subject 
 of our friend's case. It appears that he has many zealous friends 
 at Eton, who are warmly disposed to countenance our plan with 
 all its imperfections. He, as well as many other of his acquaint- 
 ance, seemed to think we had been too indiscriminate in our 
 applications ; which should have been regulated by the known 
 dispositions and wishes of the object and friends of this contri- 
 bution, I was exceedingly pleased with an instance of 
 candour and liberality, which, as times go, are articles of rare 
 occurrence in Bishops. Jacob Bryant takes every opportunity 
 of shewing his resentment against Person, and was one day 
 proceeding in his usual invectives, when the present Bishop of 
 Salisbury checked him with a severe rebuke for his want of 
 charity. Such things are not to be expected from Bishops 
 
 now-a-days. Your account of the Bishop of C 's 
 
 behaviour amazes me. I was, indeed, aware of the intemper- 
 ance of his politics, and the austerity of his religion, but I 
 never before had reason to doubt his sense of decency and pro- 
 priety. His behaviour in a former instance might have 
 awakened my suspicion, but I was willing at that time to 
 impute it to cai'elessness, and want of leisuie ; or, in short, any 
 other cause, rather than the true one. But surely such a fla- 
 grant breach of decorum cannot be ascribed to any other 
 motive than a rudeness of disposition, which, in this instance, 
 seems to have been irritated by some wound or assault on his 
 orthodoxy. Believe me, Sir, your faithful and sincere humble 
 servant, John Cleaver Banks.
 
 382 MEMOIRS. 
 
 There are other letters to the same eiFect from 
 Dr. C. Burncy. 
 
 Extract of a letter from T. W. Coke, Esq. dated 
 " Holkham, June 23, 1792," to Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Less said by you in behalf of Mr. Porson's great mind would 
 have been sufficient, without referring me to a second person 
 to induce me to contribute by a small gift of ^50 to his future 
 comfort (which I send a draft for).* 
 
 The Bishop of Cork says, 
 
 MY DEAR DOCTOR, .Dublin, Oct. 27, 1792. 
 
 With this you will receive a note, payable at sight, for my 
 Porson account, &c. 
 
 So active was Parr in Porson's behalf ! 
 
 Notwithstanding these endeavours, Porson pri- 
 vately sneered and jeered, and even once lampooned 
 him under the name of Doctor Bellenden. Parr, 
 however, always did justice to the accomplishments 
 
 * Mr. Coke's correspondence contains his acquiescence in 
 many requests of the same kind, for Parr was himself always 
 ready to comply with demands from others, and never hesitated, 
 therefore, to beg for objects he deemed deserving, Mr. Coke's 
 correspondence with Dr. Parr begins with the publication of 
 Sermons on Education, and ended only in January 1825, with 
 the usual present of Holkhaui game for the birthday. The 
 consistency maintained in politics by this chief of the country 
 gentlemen of England, his elevated and independent spirit, his 
 love of civil and religious liberty, his devotedness to the whole 
 old English constitution, his domestic virtues, his munificent 
 hospitality, and his liberality, are all illustrated by his own 
 correspondence ; but I hope to obtain from Dr. Parr's letters 
 to Mr. Coke words and expressions which will enable me to 
 j)0urtray with accuracy his character.
 
 MEMOIRS. 883 
 
 of this wonderful man. In his copy of Porson's 
 letters to Archdeacon Travis arc these words, " By 
 the learned Author I was presented with this book, 
 and let him who will answer it, I shall exclaim, 
 jxera Aec^jov ttoiijtt^v."* 
 
 And in the remarks on Combe's statement he 
 says. 
 
 But Mr. Person, the re-publisher of Heyne's Virgil,t is a 
 giant in hterature, a prodigy in intellect, a critic, whose mighty 
 atchievements leave imitation panting at a distance behind 
 them, and whose stupendous powers strike down all the restless 
 and aspiring suggestions of rivalry into silent admiration and 
 passive awe. He that excels in great things, so as not to be 
 himself excelled, shall readily have pardon from me if he errs 
 in little matters better adapted to little min'ds. But I should 
 expect to see the indignant shades of Bentley, Hemsterhius, 
 and Valckenaer rise from their grave, and rescue their illus- 
 
 * Erasmi adagia " Post Lesbium Cantorem," p. 186. — 
 Franc. 1646. folio. Lacedaemonicum proverbiura, h^c natum 
 occasione, quemadmodum narrat Suidas. Cum Lacedaemonio- 
 rum res seditionibus tumultuarentur, consultum oraculum 
 jussit, uti Lesbium cantorem accerserent. Accersitus itaque 
 Terpander Lesbius, nimirum, Antissaeus, et ad Lacedaemonios 
 missus. Is canendo sic illorum animos delinivit, ut seditionem 
 omnem sedaret, redactis in concordiam civibus. Quft ex re 
 factum est, ut Lacedaemonii Lesbiis cantoribus primas in arte 
 musicti partes tribuerent, et si quem alium canentem audissent, 
 protinus dicerent : yuera Xicrfjiov whov, id est ; Post Lesbium 
 musicum. 
 
 f In this re-publication there are many errors of the press — 
 but Porson is not to be blamed for them. They arose from the 
 negligence of a stupid corrector. The book was published 
 professedly as Porson's — in fact, he furnished a ^ew meagre 
 notes only, and had nothing to do with the printing.
 
 384 MEMOIRS. 
 
 trious successor from the grasp of his persecutors, if any at- 
 tempt were made to immolate him on the altars of dulness and 
 avarice, for his sins of omission, or his sins of commission, as a 
 corrector of the press. Enough, and more than enough, have 
 I heard of his little oversights, in the hum of those busy inspec- 
 tors who peep and pry after one class of defects only, in the 
 prattle of finical collectors, and the prattle of unlearned and 
 half-learned gossips. But I know that spots of this kind are 
 lost in the splendour of this great man's excellencies. I know 
 that his character towers far above the reach of such puny ob- 
 jectors. I think that his claims to public veneration are too 
 vast to be measured by their short and crooked rules, too massy 
 to be lifted by their feeble efforts, and even too sacred to be 
 touched by their unhallowed hands. Be it granted, then, that 
 the difference between the critiques is great. But I contend 
 that the difference between the works themselves is viore great, 
 and I add, that the difference between the artists \s greater still. 
 — Remarks, p. 13. 
 
 His metrical conundrums lie was wont to smile 
 at,*= and in the correspondence with Archdeacon 
 Butler this phrase is used more than once. There 
 is only one short note of compliment from Porson 
 among Parr's correspondence, the rest having been 
 
 * Archdeacon Butler will not allow this term to be applica- 
 ble to Porson ; " Porson's metrical canons are perfectly just, 
 and infallible, and clear, and therefore not conundrums. Bur- 
 nei/s are mere conundrums in many cases. I think I was the 
 first to give them that name, and that Parr adopted it, thinking 
 it just." 
 
 Dr. Maltby entirely agrees with Archdeacon Butler about 
 the soundness of Porson's metrical canons, and thinks that the 
 term " conundrum" might be applied with far more justice 
 to some of the fiats of foreign scholars, whom Parr, in the 
 decline of his life, was wont to praise for their metrical 
 knowledge above that of Porson.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 385 
 
 purloined. There is one from Porson's brother the 
 schoolmaster. 
 
 There are many other of Dr. Parr's remarks on 
 the character of Porson interspersed throughout 
 the correspondence. I shall close this account with 
 an extract of a letter from Mr. Cleaver Banks to 
 Dr. Parr, as it throws light on the theological 
 opinions of Professor Porson. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, West WicJcham-, near Croydon, Surrey. 
 
 Our correspondence has been so long interrupted, that I 
 scarcely remember how the account stands, but in either case I 
 am resolved not to remain long in arrear ; and therefore ac- 
 quaint you that, I went to Cambridge on Tuesday last with 
 Porson, who has offered himself a candidate for the Greek Pro- 
 fessorship. Dr. Postlethwaite had written a letter to apprize 
 him of the vacancy some time before it happened ; on Mon- 
 day, if I am not mistaken ; but he was told that some subscrip- 
 tion either to the 39 Articles or the 36th Canon is required. 
 He therefore gave his negative in his answer to Dr. P. who 
 upon that acquainted him that his objections were unfounded, 
 and likewise, that the day appointed for his examination is Tues- 
 day, if any one xvill have the courage to attempt it, to use the 
 Doctor's words. The offer looks very much like an atonement 
 for past injuries, and I am afraid the Doctor would have us 
 construe it into a compcHsation. Porson talked of writing to 
 acquaint you with the issue of this business as soon as it is de- 
 termined. 
 
 It has been not uncommon to compare Parr and 
 Porson together as Greek scholars. Perhaps, in 
 some niceties of metrical arrangement, Porson 
 might be styled rrj^ 'ExXoiSoy Tr^o^a^ov, and on con- 
 jectural criticism and verbal emendation he had so 
 much more time to bestow, that he probably ex- 
 celled Parr in skill and accomplishment. But with 
 
 VOL. I. 2 c
 
 386 MEMOIRS. 
 
 these exceptions Parr's name may be fearlessly ad- 
 vanced as that of the superior scholar, " Ultimus 
 ille €K rwv MctKctpiTcov, parco enim viventium 
 nominibus, Anglorum flAEIAAI — Magnanimi 
 Heroes ! En. Ricardus Bentleius — Ricardus Dawe- 
 sius — Jeremias Marklandus — Joannes Tayloriis — 
 Jo. Toupius — Car. Biirneius — Thomas Tyrwhittus — 
 Ricardus Porsonus — Samuel Parrius meo periculo. 
 Vide Dr. C. Burney's Tentamen De Metris. 
 
 Let me hope for forgiveness when I add, that in 
 the " Imperfect outline of the life of R. Porson," 
 l)y the Rev. Thos. Kidd, " the illustrious scholar 
 who knows when to doubt and when to decide," is 
 not once mentioned by the Professor ; and 
 
 That with him true criticism expired ; and that the stars 
 which adorn our hemisphere in his absence, shine with those 
 rays which have been principally borrowed from him — * 
 
 is more true of Parr than of Porson. 
 
 Tlie Rev. Thos. Kidd was praised and patronised 
 by Dr. Parr as one of the living Pleiad of Greek 
 scholars. I shall insert in the Appendix two of his 
 letters, not without the hope of being enabled to 
 insert some of Dr. Parr's to this eminent scholar. 
 
 Dr. Parr had been introduced to Mr. John Twed- 
 dell in the summer of 1790, at Cambridge, and 
 became warndy interested in the advancement of 
 this young schohir, who, no less by his great ac- 
 complishments than his amiable qualities, had won 
 his favour. The first epistolary correspondence on 
 the part of Mr. John Tweddell, was by sending an 
 
 * Kidd, xvii.
 
 MEMOIRS. 387 
 
 Essay for a College Prize. This Essay, the subject 
 of which was " Quid pur^ tranquillctj" is published 
 among the Prolusiones Juveniles of Tweddell, a work 
 containing all his University and College Prizes. 
 It does not fall within the compass of my duty to 
 discuss the merit of these compositions ; they have 
 stamped the merit of Tweddell, as a young scholar, 
 in a deep and lasting die ; and coupled with his 
 premature fate, and the locality of it, have associ- 
 ated his memory with some of the most interesting 
 classical recollections of modern times. Tweddell 
 was employed by Dr. Parr in the publication of the 
 Sequel. I shall insert a few letters which will dis- 
 play the temper of his mind, and the difficulty of 
 his task, and it will be seen that Mr. Tweddell was 
 not quite so submissive and tame an editor as one 
 or two of those who were employed before and after 
 by Dr. Parr. 
 
 While Mr. Tweddell was occupied in the publi- 
 cation of the Sequel, French politics had risen to 
 their highest phrenzy ; and it does honour to 
 the College of which Mr. Tweddell was a mem- 
 ber, that they rewarded his great accomplishments 
 with a Fellowship, notwithstanding his professed 
 republican principles. He announces his election 
 in the following letters to Dr. Parr, and the publi- 
 cation of his Prolusiones at the same time. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Triti. Coll. Oci. 1, 1792. 
 
 As I am sure you will feel more than curiosity to know the 
 issue of this clay's decision, I therefore have the pleasure to 
 acquaint you, that I am made one of the people called Fellows. 
 
 2c 2
 
 388 MEMOIRS. 
 
 This is very odd ; for after the villainous election of last year 
 I thought I had been deemed too reprobate to become one of 
 so immaculate a society. An odder thing still is, that all par- 
 ties are satisfied with the five men that are elected, as well ins 
 as outs. But the oddest thing of all, and that is a very odd 
 thing indeed, is, that I believe all parties oiiglit to be satisfied. 
 It is a just election altogether. More I have not to say to you 
 just now, being far from well, and further, having to satisfy 
 the doubts of some dozen of correspondents. You will, there- 
 fore, be so good as to excuse my brevity ; the rather as brevity 
 is said to be the soul of wit, which is a refinement of the under- 
 standing that you much admire. I beg compliments to Mrs. 
 and Miss Parr. 1 hope you had a pleasant excursion into the 
 north. Believe me, dear Sir, your ever obliged and faithful 
 servant, John Tweddell, 
 
 MY DEAU SIR, Trill. Coll. Cambridge, Nov. I4f, 1792. 
 
 This letter accompanies that collection of prize exercises 
 of which you have been so good as to undertake the revision 
 and correction. I have myself revised them, as you desired, 
 with some care, though I fear you will still find in them more 
 room for censure than for praise. There are many phrases, I 
 doubt not, that are not legitimate, and such as, were I to write 
 on the subjects now, I should not again adopt. At the same 
 time, that I have found no little difficulty very often in detecting 
 such inaccuracies, from the circumstance of my ears being 
 familiarized with the former sound, and reconciled by habit to 
 the old error. My last exercise of all, I have not written in 
 the book, not having quite revised it ; as soon as I have it shall 
 follow the others. I have in different places marked at the 
 side of the paper a different reading with the mark al prefixed, 
 when I was doubtful which to prefer. You will in such cases 
 reject the one. I repent of the subject Batavia Rediviva, not 
 merely as being altogether bad, though I think it one of the 
 worst I ever knew, but as it tempted me to pay a compliment 
 in each ode to the Duke of Brunswick, with whose conduct in 
 that very business I am not now so well pleased, and whose
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 389 
 
 subsequent generalship must, I think, extort from me a note 
 on his name in the Latin ode, retracting my good wishes, I 
 have written them in the order in which they obtained prizes, 
 Greek, and Latin, and English promiscuously. I send at the 
 same time some Greek and Latin Epigrams, which, if you ap- 
 prove them, shall appear in the way of Appendix, I have given 
 up all intention of publishing the Dedications, as you desired 
 me to do. Upon the whole, I think, when you shall see how 
 much writing these exercises must have taken during this 
 vacation, you will not think I have been quite idle. The truth 
 is, that being conscious of numberless juvenilities in them, I 
 wished them to make their appearance while they may consi- 
 dered as pardonable, and to have A. B. tacked to my name 
 rather than A, M. I am confident you will agree with me in 
 that opinion, and therefore, that you will have the goodness to 
 revise them as soon as, consistently with your own convenience, 
 you can. A short preface will be wanting, which I will not 
 lose time about ; and if any thing strikes you as requiring men- 
 tion in it you will tell me. I am in hopes I may get the Uni- 
 versity to print it for me. This would be very convenient, as 
 by that means the sale of the volume might chance to bring me 
 in as much as would treat me with a view of Paris for a couple 
 of summer months. It is at least worth while to try, and as 
 soon as you shall be enabled to afford me any guess at the time 
 when you shall finish the revision, 1 will return to Cambridge, 
 and endeavour to coax the Syndics of the press. I have sent 
 at the same time a blank paper book, in ivhich, rather than in the 
 MS. itself, you ivill please to insert your corrections, for which 
 step many reasons will appear to you sufficiently obvious. I 
 will thank you to be cautious whom you trust as an amanu- 
 ensis in this business, as Malice might take it into her head to 
 say unpleasant things, and to whisper that correction was the 
 least, as was the last, assistance lent by you to these composi- 
 tions. Do not let M. write for you. I shall page the two books 
 to correspond, which you will observe. 
 
 To any one else I should now make many apologies for 
 the trouble I was about to give them, by the correction of 
 such unworthy effusions. But to you, at the very time that I 
 inwardly feel such a necessity, most of all urgent, I forbear to
 
 31)0 MEMOIRS. 
 
 do so — because I am sure you could not but think nic ungrate- 
 ful should 1 distrust the sincerity of any offer you tender for my 
 interest, after so many and so strong proofs of your unmerited 
 kindness to me. It is, I hope and believe, equally needless for 
 me to assure you how warmly I feel, and how sincerely I prize 
 the repeated attentions and good offices which you have been 
 pleased to shew to your ever obliged, and most faithful 
 servant, John Tweddell. 
 
 Pray do you write quicujwque or quicunque ?" 
 
 DEAR siu, Temple, Mondai^. 
 
 CurtcB nescio quid semper abest rei : * Anglic^ — You will 
 never have done with ; however, you say the last alter- 
 ation shall be the last, and I will take care that it be made. 
 And now, as I suppose I am freed from the danger of any more 
 headaches occasioned to me by your amanuensis, let me request 
 of you to give him a jobation upon his villainous penmanship. 
 
 * The Sequel was answered by Mr. Cumberland, as he him- 
 self gives an account : — " As I have dealt extremely little 
 in anonymous publications, I may as well confess myself in 
 this place the author of a pamphlet entitled, * Curtius rescued 
 from the Gulj)h.' I conceived that Dr, Parr had hit an unoffend- 
 ing gentleman too hard, by launching a huge fragment of 
 Greek at his defenceless head. The subject was started, and 
 the exterminating weapon produced at one of my friend Dilly's 
 literary dinners : there were several gentlemen present better 
 armed for the encounter than myself, but the lot fell upon me 
 to turn out against Ajax. I made as good a fight as I could, 
 and rummaged my ideas for quotations, which I crammed into 
 my artillery as thick as grapeshot, and in mere sport fired them 
 off against a rock invulnerable as the armour of Achilles. It 
 was very well observed by my friend Mr. Dilly upon the pro- 
 fusion of quotations, which some writers affectedly make use 
 of, that he knew a Presbyterian parson, who for eighteen-pence 
 would furnish any pamphleteer with as many scraps of Greek 
 and Latin as would pass him off for an accomplished classic."
 
 MEMOIRS. 391 
 
 To a nervous man he is as fatal as a physician. Small, indeed, 
 are the hopes of life if you enter a correspondence with him. His 
 abominable hieroglyphics shake you from top to toe. Pray, 
 my good Sir, do labour to convince him that letters were de- 
 signed to be the intelligible expression of ideas to convey dis- 
 tant meaning by legible characters, to be the faithful inter- 
 preters of thought between remote friends. But Martin, I per- 
 ceive, has formed a directly opposite opinion. He thinks that 
 they were framed for the purposes of perplexity. Why else is 
 is he more obscure than the Prophetess of Cumae ? He differs, 
 indeed, from the sybil in this respect, that her leaves were 
 worth the pursuit, and rewarded the pains of him who found 
 them. Martin does not commit his to the winds, knowing, 
 that from their perfect inutility, his correspondent will perform 
 that office himself. You, as a moderate man, ought not to em- 
 ploy Martin as your amanuensis. For why ? His letters put 
 one in mind of tumult and anarchy : there is sedition in' every 
 sentence ; syllable has no longer any confidence in syllable, 
 but dissolves its connection, as preferring an alliance with the 
 succeeding word. A page of his epistle looks like the floor of 
 a garden-house, covered with old and crooked nails which have 
 been just released from a century's durance in a brick-wall. I 
 cannot cast ray eyes on his character without being religious. 
 This is the only good effect 1 have derived from his writings ! 
 he brings into my mind the resurrection, and paints the tumul- 
 tuous resuscitation of awakened men with a pencil of masterly 
 confusion. I am fully convinced of one thing, either that he 
 or his pen is intoxicated when he writes to me : for his letters 
 seem to have borrowed the reel of wine, and stagger from one 
 corner of the sheet to the other. They remind me of Lord 
 Chatham's administration, lying together heads and points in 
 one truckle-bed. And could you, notwithstanding, Sir, think 
 that I was so infatuated with Martin's handwriting, that for the 
 sake of perusing it one half hour earlier, I should all along pre- 
 fer paying the price of double and treble, and quadruple 
 postage to having it enclosed to Mr. Wilbraham ? If it could 
 answer any end of yours better by sending it to me than under 
 cover to Mr. W. I should not have mentioned this. But really 
 I receive it within half an hour of the same time. And as for
 
 392 MEMOIRS. 
 
 your writing on the outside oF your letter single sheet, it answers 
 no one purpose. They consider the weight, and charged me 
 for the last Is. 3d., and for the one before 2s. 6d, and in the 
 same way various times of our correspondence lately. In 
 future, therefore, I will be obliged to you to convey every 
 hundred xi'eight of letters '\n Martin's writing by separate packets 
 to Mr. Wilbraham's. Though now, indeed, I apprehend I shall 
 not receive many more. I really do, as you say, most heartily 
 and unfeignedly rejoice, that our joint task is at an end. I had 
 put out your amanuensis's apology, and now find that I must 
 put it in again. 
 
 I differ with you materially as to the conduct of the Lords. 
 As one of the young Guelphs has delivered his sentiments on 
 that sanguinary traffic, I suppose they will not only not abolish 
 the Slave Trade, but give it their express sanction. They are, 
 in my mind, a sad set. 
 
 Nee pater iEneas, nee avunculus excitat Hector. 
 
 Burke, you know, said he would turn soldier in his old days, 
 and turn his coat into a coat of mail, for the defence of the 
 Constitution. Non tali auxilio, &c. " But I will confess, my 
 suspicions did not carry me so far as to conjecture that this 
 venerable champion will be in such mighty haste to come into 
 the field, and serve in the quality of an en/atit perdu, armed 
 only with a pocket-pistol, before his great blunderbuss could be 
 got ready, his old rusty breastplate scoured, and his cracked 
 head-piece mended." — Smith's Pref. to the Bp. of S.'s In- 
 troduction, 
 
 Insani sanus nomen ferat. 
 
 Believe me, my dear Sir, your very much obliged and most 
 sincere servant, J. Tweddell. 
 
 I will transcribe for your jjcrusal what I have written, since 
 what you saw before, of my exercise. You told me that Ger- 
 many has some properties that might render it possible to intro- 
 duce there, liberty — I say so— but I am not quite convinced of 
 that, neither do I see how in Spain it could be effected but by 
 convulsion. I have not mentioned Spain: ought I to notice 
 any of the Asiatic Emperors ? In what part of Cicero shall I 
 find his reasoning on the jus ajquabile ? 
 
 I have received from (jiasse a Sermon for you.
 
 MEMOIRS. 393 
 
 No. 2, Brick Court, Temple^ London. 
 DEAR SIR, Wednesday. 
 
 Your letter surprises me exceedingly — you ought to have 
 had the preface long ago, I corrected it a full week since. I 
 have, in consequence^ given the printer such a jobation this 
 morning as he will not mightily relish. His negligence has 
 been insufferable. The journey, I assure you, has not been 
 more tedious to you than it has to me, nor, I believe, quite so 
 nmch so. The mire which I have been dragged through by 
 that fellow's stupidity, and the dull slow movement which he 
 has constrained me to observe, would have wearied me most 
 thoroughly, if I had not had much inducement to bear against 
 all difficulties in the thought that I was serviceable to you. 
 The books, which you desire to be given away, shall be given 
 as you desire. For mine, I beg leave to thank you, I would 
 certainly send one to Curtis, otherwise that sentence where 
 you accuse him of not complying with the rules of authorship, 
 inasmuch as he did not send you a copy of his printed paper^ 
 will be directed in part against yourself. 
 
 Lord Lauderdale's address is No. 2, Hanover-square. I dine 
 with him to-morrow, and will give your compliments to him, 
 and your thanks. I have never had time to mention to you a 
 society to which I belong, and of which he is a member also, 
 lately instituted ; nor have I time now to say much of it. The 
 object of it is two-fold. 1st, to obtain by all possible exertion, 
 consistent with peace and good order, a full, free, and equal 
 reputation of the people in Parliament. 2dly, the frequent 
 exercise of the people's right to elect their representatives. 
 The number of persons who first met to dine (in which number 
 I was) was twenty-two. Last Friday, forty-seven. We shall 
 be about one hundred and twenty next meeting ; and these are 
 to be considered as original members, being introduced by 
 those who met first. Afterwards we elect by ballot. I will 
 enumerate some of the members belonging to it : Mr. Grey, 
 Lord Lauderdale, Lord Kinnaird, Mr. Sheridan (he came last 
 time), Mr. Baker, Mr. Whitbread, Mr. Sawbridge, Mr, Lamb- 
 ton, Mr. Mackintosh, Mr, Christie, Mr. Tierney, Mr, Courtney, 
 Mr. Francis, Mr, Goring, two Mr. Godfreys, Mich, Angelo 
 Taylor, cum multis aliis, Mr. Grey nominated a committee
 
 394 MEMOIRS 
 
 last week of eight persons, of whom I was one, to draw up 
 regulations, &c. These were submitted to the society last 
 Friday. When anything more of our plan is determined on I 
 will tell it you. The object, I think, you will grant to be good. 
 It is now become absolutely requisite to check the hitherto un- 
 controuled domination of Pitt ; and if it is not effected by 
 peaceable means, the eyes of the people will be directed to 
 other means, from which it is the duty of every good man to 
 keep them averted. It would not be amiss if you were to write 
 to Chapman a letter yourself, saying, how repeatedly he has 
 delayed the work, contrary to his promises, and how mysterious 
 his conduct has been, particularly with regard to the preface. 
 it is very necessary that he should not conceive that you are 
 satisfied with his conduct, which, from beginning to end, I 
 must acknowledge, is full of mystery. He tells me, first of all, 
 that it should be printed in three weeks. We must allow for 
 your own delays, and i. e. say it ought to have been out in six, 
 which is double the number ; instead of which he has had it in 
 hand almost from Christmas to the present time. He has one 
 day promised that I should have three sheets to correct, and 
 two or three days after he sends me one ; and, after all, he 
 affects to say that he has been expeditious, and that all the 
 delay has proceeded from you. He has added impertinence to 
 his other faults. His conduct is in every light highly reproach- 
 able, and I beg you will tell him so. This will have the effect 
 of bringing the book out before Parliament separates—nothing 
 else will. I am, dear S ir, yours most truly, 
 
 John Tweddell. 
 
 It has been seen in the review of the publication 
 of the preface to Bellenden, that Mr. Burke was 
 ahnost an idol of Parr — that he considered his 
 talents and his learning far above those of any of 
 his contemporaries, and that he lost no opportunity 
 of offering him the incense of his praise. Mr. 
 Burke's Letter on the French Revolution had 
 scattered the seeds of discord through the nation. 
 Public opinion, which before had been at variance.
 
 MEMOIRS. 395 
 
 now distinctly arranged itself under separate ban- 
 ners ; and Mr. Burke became the leader of that 
 party which opposed itself to reform or republican- 
 ism. Among the controversial writers on the other 
 side, Mr. Mackintosh distinguished himself by his 
 style and his eloquence ; and I believe that his 
 book first introduced him to the notice of Dr. Parr. 
 Whensoever the introduction took place, I know it 
 was continued with intimacy in the autumn of 
 1791, for I then met Mr. Mackintosh at Hatton, 
 and, from my brother's house in Birmingham, 
 accompanied him to the scenes of devastation occa- 
 sioned by the riots, which had then scarcely ceased 
 to smoke. 
 
 He had been enlisted in the cause of the Dissen- 
 ters of Birmingham by the zeal of Dr. Parr, to 
 whom he thus writes on the publication of the 
 Sequel. 
 
 T^,..r. CTT, SI, Charlotte-street, Portland-place, 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, ■' 
 
 Thursday, May 17, 1792. 
 The tumult of admiration, and the fervour of gratitude, leave 
 me leisure and calmness only to say, on the subject of your 
 Sequel, that I have read it, that its principles have always com- 
 manded my reverence, and its reasonings generally produced 
 my conviction that, your eloquence has filled me with rapture, 
 and your kindness melted me into tears. On the petty aids by 
 which my influence or my exertions can hasten its popularity 
 you will, I am sure, depend. I have already begun what you 
 hinted at. Write me, my dear Sir, any other passage you par- 
 ticularly think proper for insertion. In the embarrassing va- 
 riety of excellence, I have recourse to you for selection. On 
 the subject of our Association for Reform 1 have not now time 
 to enlarge. One thing I will say. I may have been deluded 
 in my historical judgment of characters and events, — I may 
 have stated principles too widely, and expressed sentiments too
 
 396 MEMOIRS. 
 
 warmly (it was easier to imitate my illustrious antagonist in 
 these defects than in his inimitable excellencies) ; but whatever 
 may have been my historical delusions, or my speculative ex- 
 cesses, my sentiments, and my conduct as a citizen, shall ever 
 be those of a man who " has no choice to make between slavery 
 and anarchy," and who hates the quiet of servitude only a little 
 more than he dreads the convulsions of freedom. I am ready, 
 with Sir Brook Boothby, to fulminate the civic excommunica- 
 tion, " Quem ca;des civium quern bellum civile delectant, eum e 
 numero hominum ejiciendum atque exterminandum puto." To 
 confess a truth, many of my principles are not a little mitigated 
 and qualified ; but I must quit this subject for another of more 
 immediate urgency. 
 
 Mr. Whitbread, a young gentleman of very vigorous 
 talents, pure sentiments, and elevated spirit, has announced 
 an inquiry into the Birmingham riots. Dundas, with the 
 usual correctness of his morality, deprecated the inquiry 
 on the principle that the impunity of crimes is the surest 
 preservative of public quiet. Mr. Whitbread, however, un- 
 shaken by this new doctrine of moral wisdom, resolutely per- 
 sists in his attempt to drag forth into broad day the instigators 
 and accomplices of these infernal proceedings. Now I know, 
 my dear Sir, that you are complete master of this subject ; I 
 know how powerfully you could state it ; and I know that you 
 will never permit your exertion in the cause of virtue, and of 
 your country, to be considered as a favour done to any man. 
 As such, therefore, I will not request it ; but I think it would 
 be an act worthy of you to put Mr. Whitbread in possession of 
 the facts which you know, the conclusions which you have 
 formed, and the sentiments which you have felt. A statement 
 so powerful and luminous as yours must be, would, I am confi- 
 dent, inform his judgment, animate his genius, and, in every 
 respect, enable him better to perform that sacred duty which 
 he has so nobly undertaken, and which, I trust, he will so ho- 
 nestly and so ably fulfil. The time, my dear Sir, is pressing. 
 His motion comes on next Monday. In a letter to me you 
 could unbosom yourself with the most perfect safety. You 
 could instruct nie what was to be connnunicated, and what to 
 be suppresbed ; what was to be unfolded, and what was only to
 
 MEMOIRS. 397 
 
 be hinted at. Let me entreat you, my dear Sir, not to disap- 
 point me. I am sure if you do you will let slip an occasion of 
 doing public good, and I am sure you would lament as much 
 and as sincerely as Titus the loss of such a day Vale nostri 
 memor. James Mackintosh. 
 
 Dr. Parrs opinions of Mr. Mackintosh's talents, 
 thus founded on personal observation, he has deli- 
 vered in the fullest terms when speaking of his 
 publications and his political character, and I shall 
 quote them in his own words : 
 
 In Mackintosh, then, I see the sternness of a Republican 
 without his acrimony, and the ardour of a Reformer without 
 his impetuosity. His taste in morals, like that of Mr, Burke, 
 is equally pure and delicate with his taste in literature. His 
 mind is so comprehensive that generalities cease to be barren 
 and so vigorous that detail itself becomes interesting. He in- 
 troduces every question with perspicuity, states it with preci- 
 sion, and pursues it with easy and unaffected method. Some- 
 times, perhaps, he may amuse his readers by excursions into 
 paradox, but never bewilders them by flights into romance. 
 His philosophy is far more just, and far more amiable than the 
 philosophy of Paine, and his eloquence is only not equal to the 
 eloquence of Mr. Burke. He is argumentative without so- 
 phistry, fervid without fury, profound without obscurity, and 
 sublime without extravagance. 
 
 He afterwards often took occasion to eulo"^ize 
 " The Discourse on the study of the Law of Na- 
 tions,," as excellent and noble. 
 
 In the year 1795 some cause of discontent sprang 
 up in the mind of Parr, in consequence of Mr. 
 Mackintosh having imperfectly performed a com- 
 mission for the service of Gerrald, A good deal of 
 altercation took place between the friends, and was 
 continued up to the time of Mr. Mackintosh's de- 
 parture for India, when it was extremely aggravated
 
 ^9B MEMOIRS. 
 
 by the misrepresentation of Mr. Perry, and they 
 continued aliens to each other after Sir James's 
 return from India until 1820. In that year they 
 met at Holland-house, and Dr. Parr, approaching 
 Sir James Mackintosh, said, " Shall I address you 
 as Jemmy, or Sir James ?" " Call me by that name 
 (was the reply) which may best remind you of our 
 ancient friendship." 
 
 As the papers had been circulated in many quar- 
 ters containing Dr. Parr's accusations, he was in- 
 duced to make the following declaration, which I 
 transcribe from his own copy. 
 
 Before the departure of Sir James Mackintosh for Bombay, 
 very warm words had passed between Sir James and myself 
 upon the politics of the day, and our intercourse was less con- 
 fidential and less kind than it used to be. Causes naturally 
 connected with the gradual dissolution of intimate friendship 
 prevented the above facts from being stated in their true light 
 for many years. At last an interview which I had myself de- 
 sired in the summer of 1820, led to another interview in the 
 summer of 1821, which furnished an opportunity for the proper 
 and full communication of these facts. This communication 
 corresponds with the preceding statements which Sir James 
 Mackintosh has laid before me lately, and instantly produced 
 its natural effect. I felt, and therefore I declare myself really 
 and entirely satisfied with the statement. I pronounce the 
 honour of Sir James Mackintosh to be clear from any kind of 
 objection whatsoever, and consequently, in the most express 
 terms, lamented as a friend, and retracted as an honest man, 
 any language of a different tendency, which imperfect informa- 
 tion alone had formerly led me to use. 
 
 This is a correct copy of the Declaration, which Dr. Parr 
 received from Sir James Mackintosh on Tuesday the 15th of 
 January, 1822, which the Doctor had previously seen and ap- 
 proved ; and which, upon Wednesday, 16th of Januaiy, 1822, 
 he signed with his own name, and enclosed under a cover
 
 MEMOIRS. 399 
 
 directed to Sir James Mackintosh, Mardocks, near Ware, 
 
 Herts. 
 
 Such, happily, was the reconciliation of Dr. Parr 
 to Sir James Mackintosh, which continued un- 
 broken to the end of Dr. Parr's life. The honour 
 of Sir James Mackintosh has been vindicated from 
 every accusation, except that of want of activity in 
 the service of his old friend. But want of activity 
 in such a cause is more than a fault, and Mr. Perry, 
 by malicious insinuation, converted it into a crime' 
 Happily he lived long enough to see his error, or to 
 find out the truth. He recanted that first flippant 
 declaration which set rumour afloat, and Dr Parr 
 signed it with a hand which for more than seventy 
 years had only borne witness to the truth. A 
 friendship then was renewed which wiir couple the 
 names of Parr and Mackintosh to a late posterity - 
 and m his will he has signed and sealed an unfodin- 
 testimony of his respect and admiration in the fol- 
 lowing terms : 
 
 To Sir James Mackintosh, Member of Parliament, as a 
 mark of my unfeigned respect for his deep researches in me- 
 taphysics, ethics, history, and literature, for his splendid elo- 
 quence, and for his meritorious parliamentary exertions in 
 mitigating the severities of our criminal code. 
 
 The Rev. Gilbert Wakefield was another of Parr's 
 friends, who became a victim to his own indiscre- 
 tion and the proscription of the Government, dur- 
 ing the French war. He had Introduced himself 
 early In life to Parr's acquaintance as a young 
 scholar seeking preferment, and talks In that letter
 
 400 MEMOIRS. 
 
 of Mr. Bennct* as their common friend. The 
 correspondence with Mr. Beloe, long afterwards, 
 mifolds Parr's kindness to him in influencing the 
 editor of the British Critic to admit a favom-able 
 criticism of one of Wakefield's works into his Re- 
 view, and the letter of Mr. Wakefield in the Ap- 
 pendix, and those of Mr. Beloe, which will be pub- 
 lished hereafter, will luminously display the feel- 
 ings of the parties towards each other. The let- 
 ters from Dorchester Gaol refer to a part of Mr. 
 Wakefield's life which can only be contemplated 
 with sorrow ; and that of Dr. Parr, on the death of 
 Mr. Wakefield, will say all the rest which his friends 
 can desire. Had Parr even only expressed the 
 sentiment in the Remarks, it would have been 
 enough to stamp his reputation, " a man whose 
 virtue I so much love, and whose talents and learn- 
 ing I so highly admire." 
 
 Dr. Parr, to Mr. Arnold Wainwright. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I was yesterday evening honoured with your letter ; I read 
 the contents of it with inexpressible anguish. I passed a com- 
 fortless night, and this morning I am scarcely able to thank 
 you, as I ought to do, for your delicacy in averting the shock 
 which I must have suffered, if intelligence so unexpected and 
 so distressing had rushed upon me from the newspapers. In 
 the happiness of the late Mr. Wakefield I always took a lively 
 interest. Many are the inquiries I made about the state of his 
 health and the course of his studies while he was at Dorchester. 
 Great was my anxiety to see him after his sufferings were at 
 
 * Late Bishop of Cloyne.
 
 MEMOIRS. 401 
 
 an end ; and when his name was announced to me at my 
 lodgings in Cary-street, I seized his hand eagerly, I gazed sted- 
 fastly upon his countenance, I was charmed with the freshness 
 of his spirits, and the apparent stoutness of his constitution. — 
 I anticipated for him a succession of years after years, during, 
 which he might have smiled at the maUce of his enemies, and 
 enjoyed the sympathies of his friends ; and at parting I received 
 from him a book, which the circumstance of captivity under 
 which it was written endeared to me, and which his death has 
 now consecrated. 
 
 *' Auget etiam molestiam quod magna sapientum civiura 
 bonorumque penuria, vir egregius conjunctissimusque mecum 
 studiorum multorura societate, alienissimo reipubhcae tempore 
 extinctus, et auctoritatis et doctrinae suae triste nobis desideriura 
 reliquit, doleoque, quod non adversarium aut obtrectatorem 
 laudium mearum, sed sociuni potius et consortem gloriosi labo- 
 ris amisi." 
 
 The illustrious man who wrote nearly these words upon the 
 loss of Hortensius, would not complain of any diminution in 
 their truth or their dignit)'^, if he could know that I had applied 
 them to my own feelings on the decease of Gilbert Wakefield. 
 
 To the learning of that excellent person my understanding 
 is indebted for much valuable information ; but my heart ac- 
 knowledges yet higher obligations to his virtuous example. I 
 loved him unfeignedly ; and though our opinions upon various 
 subjects, both of criticism and theology were different, that 
 difference never disturbed our quiet, or relaxed our mutual 
 good will. 
 
 When we reflect upon the injury which literature has sus- 
 tained from the numerous cessations, of his disappointment of 
 his plans and labours, we may be tempted perhaps to exclaim: 
 " O fallacem hominum spem fragilemque fortunam et inanes 
 nostras contentiones ; quae in medio spatio falsfe franguntur et 
 corruunt, et ante in ipso cursu obruuntur quam portum con- 
 spicere potuerunt !" 
 
 Yet scarcely our regret for the loss of future instruction will 
 be much allayed by the remembrance of that which he has 
 already communicated to us, and of his merit in the communi- 
 cation. " Whatsoever the hand of Mr. Wakefield found to do 
 
 VOL. I. 2d
 
 402 MEMOIRS. 
 
 he habitually and instinctively did with all his might;" he 
 knew the value of every fleeting moment, he improved every 
 talent which a gracious Providence had entrusted to him, and 
 in the course of his whole life how few are the hours which 
 he wasted in idleness, in folly, or even in those innocent amuse- 
 ments which " pass away like the trace of a cloud." In dili- 
 gence, doubtless, he far surpassed any scholar with whom It is 
 my lot to have been personally acquainted, and though his 
 writings now and then carry with them some marks of extreme 
 irritability, he was adorned, or I should rather say, he was 
 distinguished by one excellence which every wise man will 
 admire, and every good man will wish, at least, to emulate. 
 That excellence was in truth a very rare one ; for it consisted 
 in the complete exemption of his soul from all the secret throbs, 
 all the perfidious machinations, and all the mischievous mean- 
 nesses of envy. They who undertake the office of writing his 
 life will do well to record this singular amiable quality, and 
 they will do so, not merely in justice to his memory, but for 
 the edification of all readers in all classes, and for the humilia- 
 tion, let me add, of every insolent pedant who would depreciate 
 his attainments, and every vindictive partisan who would 
 triumph over his infirmities. Tor my part, Sir, I shall ever 
 think and ever speak of Mr. Wakefield as a very profound 
 scholar, as a most honest man, and as a Christian who united 
 knowledge with zeal, piety with benevolence, and the simpli- 
 city of a child with the fortitude of a martyr. After the deep and 
 solemn impressions which his recent death has made upon my 
 mind, I cannot but derive consolation from that lesson which 
 has been taught me by one of the wisest among the sons of 
 men : " The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, 
 and there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of the 
 unwise they seem to die, and their departure is taken for 
 misery, but they are in peace. Having been a little chastised 
 they shall be greatly rewarded, for God proved them, and 
 found them worthy for himself" I beg the favour of you to 
 present my best respects and best wishes to Mrs. and the Miss 
 Wakefields, together with my thanks for the attention which 
 they have shown to me on this melancholy occasion. I shall 
 be much obliged to you for informing me, at your leisure, in
 
 MEMOIRS. 403 
 
 what place my beloved friend is interred ; and I anxiously hope 
 to hear that he has left his family in comfortable circumstances. 
 I have the honour to be, Sir, your respectful and obedient 
 servant, S, J'aku. 
 
 The Rev. George Henry Glasse, son of the Rev. 
 Dr. Glasse, whose removal from Harrow to Green- 
 ford has been mentioned in the early part of these 
 memoirs, opens his correspondence with Dr. Parr in 
 the following terms : 
 
 iiEV. Hiii, Greenford, Feb. 26, 1784. 
 
 I am at this moment so situated, that I am only able to ac- 
 knowledge, with all possible gratitude, the honour of your 
 letter. My life is iu)\. of consequence enough to merit such 
 praises. 
 
 You will be pleased to be informed that the delight I received 
 from seeing the OEdrpus Tyrannus represented at Stanmore, 
 gave me the first idea of a work which you .re pleased so highly 
 to approve, and which less liberal minds discountenance and 
 condemn. Your letter shall be my comfort when the thoughts 
 of the cruel treatment I have received hang heavy upon me. 
 
 I had designed an eternal adieu to the Grecian Muse ; if 
 ever I resume the study it is because I regard your approba- 
 tion more than the censures of the Critical Review, or the in- 
 difference and coldness with which an attempt (as an attempt 
 laudable) was received at Christ Church. 
 
 My father desires his most respectful compliments, and I 
 am, and ever shall be, Sir, your most obliged and most devoted 
 servant, Gkohge IIksuy G;>a.ssk. 
 
 This letter refers to Caractacus, tlien published, 
 and rath(;r unmercifully lashed, I Ijelieve, by Dr. 
 Biirney, as the Samson certainly was afterwards, in 
 the Monthly Review. The letters of Mr. Glasse 
 are full of asknowledgments of Dr. Parr's valuable 
 a.ssi.stanre — liis emendations of the Samson, and 
 his alteration of some Latin composition, 
 
 2 u 2
 
 404 MEMOIRS. 
 
 As to the declaration (he says in one of them) that I will 
 write no more in the Greek Drama, I hope it may be suffered 
 to pass, as it is the fixed resolution of my soul. The burthen 
 of a parish, the fatigue attending my engagements at Green- 
 ford, and the necessity I think myself under of studying divi- 
 nity in the few hours I shall be able to call my own, are motives 
 irresistible to this determination. But of your goodness to me, 
 my dear and honoured patron, I will retain a grateful sense to 
 the last moment of my existence ; and I trust I shall ever pre- 
 serve a share in your friendship and regard. I remain, your 
 obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 Nov. 28, 1787. George Henry Glasse. 
 
 If I were to publish the whole of Mr. Glasse's 
 letters to Dr. Parr from 1784 to 1807 inclusive, in 
 which last year he sends him a Clerum for his 
 B.D. degree, they would but exemplify the assist- 
 ance which Dr. Parr was called upon to give, and 
 did frequently contribute, to young scholars and 
 ambitious authors. Perhaps not in the same quan- 
 tity or in the same degree, for Mr. Glasse was 
 certainly not one of the Pleiad of English Greek 
 scholars of the day. This he acknowledges him- 
 self in the following letter, at least by implica- 
 tion ; and I shall close the whole account with 
 another letter, curious from its hopes, its fears, 
 and its requests. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Greenford, Dec. 2, 1789. 
 
 Mr. Burney has had the candour to publish my letter entire, 
 with a postscript very flattering to me. Having the praise to 
 which I felt myself entitled, I will sit down under the censure 
 I cannot but feel I deserved. I hope you will not disapprove 
 any thing I have said in my address to the Reviewer. The 
 ground was not tenable ; and I endeavoured to make as hand- 
 some a retreat as I could. 
 
 I have had a most pleasing letter from Mr. Twining ; he still
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 405 
 
 asserts that I undertook more than could be performed, but 
 adds that, I performed more than could be expected. 
 
 On this, and on every other occasion, my gratitude to you is 
 justly due. I glory in the support and assistance you gave me; 
 I rejoiced in the opportunity of proclaiming it to the veorld. 
 
 Had White done as much ; but I will pester you no 
 
 more on that subject, nor detain you longer than while I return 
 you my best thanks for your last obliging favour, and testify 
 my regret at not being able to obey your commands, touching 
 some detestable and despicable paragraphs which never were 
 in my possession, but which, at the houses of some of my 
 neighbours, passed under my indignant eye. 
 
 That your health may be fully restored, and that those pub- 
 lic honours to which you are entitled may be added to those of 
 less profit, but more value, which you enjoy in the hearts of 
 your friends, is the earnest wish and prayer of, dear Sir, your 
 ever grateful and obliged servant, George Henuy Glasse. 
 
 REV. AND DEAR SIR, Jan. 20, 1789. 
 
 I do assure you I have not been inattentive to the subject of 
 your last interesting letter, and I should sooner have answered 
 it, had I not expected from my friends, to whom I had stated 
 the particulars, a greater number of subscriptions than the 
 inclosed bill amounts to. However, if I hear from any more of 
 them, I will, with great pleasure, send a second remittance. 
 
 My father desires his best compliments to you, and cheer- 
 fully contributes his donation, on the account you gave of the 
 urgent necessity of the case. 
 
 Your kind acceptance of the effusions of my well-meant zeal, 
 demands my best thanks. I do most sincerely rejoice in your 
 approaching honours, and I ought to have something to com- 
 fort me, for I lose all my hopes of advancement with the pre- 
 sent Administration. These, you will say, were at best but 
 slight ones. I allow it. And the experience of thirty years, 
 in the case of my father, should reconcile me to disappointment. 
 
 But waving all personal considerations, 1 really feel so much 
 for tile situation of the King, and the afflictions of his family, 
 particularly his wife, that the happiness of my life is affected 
 by it.
 
 406 MEMOIRS 
 
 You, dear Sir, love sincerity too well to be displeased with 
 the above honest declaration of my sentiments. But heartily 
 shall I take pleasure in your promotion, and if such a thing 
 should be, that merit like yours should, for once, be exalted to 
 its deserved honours, I hope you will not think it too great pre- 
 sumption in me to solicit the office of one of your chaplains. 
 I should esteem it my pride and pleasure to receive a scarf from 
 your hands; and my present patron (an Irish Peer) would, I 
 know, very readily relinquish me, 
 
 facilis jactura patroni. 
 
 But to return from these pleasing visions to matters which 
 demand more immediate consideration. 
 
 I have had a little correspondence with the doers of the Ana- 
 lytical Review. 
 
 I wrote to the Editor, to say that I wished for an hour's con- 
 fidential conversation with liim, and subscribed my name and 
 place of abode. In a ^GVf days I received an answer from 
 Johnson, the bookseller. No. 72, St. Paul's Church-yard, stat- 
 ing, that to preserve the Review as independent as possible, 
 the editor wished to be concealed ; but that any communica- 
 tions made to him (Johnson) would be faithfully transmitted, 
 &c. &c. I wrote in reply, that my late Greek Translation 
 of Samson Agonistes had been reviewed by one of the first 
 scholars in the kingdom. That the critique was not published, 
 and that the writer, "who was not accustomed to seek, but to 
 be sought by, the dispensers of literary fame," might possibly, 
 by proper application through me, be induced to favour them 
 with his remarks. 
 
 I enclose you Johnson's second answer. 
 
 ******* 
 
 You, dear Sir, are not in the least committed, otherwise than 
 by the pointedness of the above description. And, therefore, 
 if it is not your pleasure, that your observations should find a 
 place in the Analytical Review, here let the business rest. If 
 otherwise, be pleased to favour me with your sentiments. 
 Should you be inclined to comply with my ardent wish on the 
 occasion, it may perhaps be best to wait till after the Monthly 
 Review has appeared, for which I wait with a trembhng im- 
 patience that savours little of my honoured patron's intrepidity. 
 Your ever obliged and most faithful servant, G. H. Glasse.
 
 MEMOIRS. 407 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IVadenhoe — H. Homer — Var. Horace — Dr, Comhe. 
 
 About this time, Parr exchanged the curacy of 
 Hatton for the rectory of Wadenhoe, with Dr. 
 Bridges, bargaining to retain the house at Hatton, 
 and to do the duty there. The real motives of this 
 exchange were kindness to Dr. Bridges, who could 
 not hold the preferment he then possessed, with 
 Wadenhoe : certainly there was no real gain to 
 Parr in it, of a pecuniary kind. At Hatton he still 
 received pupils into his house, and still laboured 
 incessantly in his calling, as a parish priest. Hat- 
 ton indeed was no less the seat of the Muses, than 
 of hospitality, during the whole of Parr's abode 
 there. His table was well replenished with simple 
 fare, his cellar was amply stored ; and he was no 
 churl, or economist in his bounteous giving. Not 
 only his own friends, but the friends of his friends, 
 were welcome, especially if they were Foxites, or 
 Whigs ; nor was the well-behaved Pittite or Tory, 
 unwelcome, if they could bear with composure, cer- 
 tain tirades on their leader and their politics. 
 
 There could be no higher treat than to witness 
 his manner of conversing with those he loved or re- 
 verenced, whatsoever were their differences in opi- 
 nion — with Bishop Bennet's soft and graceful tone of 
 thinking and speaking, and with that mild, calm,
 
 408 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 evening lustre, which sheds such a charm over Dr. 
 Routh's society. I have seen him with these illus- 
 trious men, separately, playful and grave, lively 
 and solemn ; but in every state of mind happy, 
 and elevated to a higher flight of intellectual ex- 
 pression, if I may so say, by the genial atmosphere 
 that breathed around. Whether the three ever 
 conversed freely and unreservedly together, unem- 
 barrassed by any restraining troublesome compa- 
 nion, I know not. Such a communion of high and 
 holy spirits this earth does not often witness. 
 When both had lived more than threescore years 
 and ten, I was admitted by Parr to enjoy his and 
 Bennet's society alone ; they addressed each other 
 in the affectionate language of Bill and Sam, and 
 they were as cheerful as when they used the names 
 sixty years before at Harrow. The last even- 
 ing I spent with Bishop Bennet, he sat up with me 
 more than half the night, relating anecdotes of his 
 friend ; and to him I am indebted for the authen- 
 tication of some facts belonging to Parr's early life. 
 Henry Homer died early in the summer of 1791. 
 What Parr has written in the Statement is Homer s 
 best character ; and what I have inserted, as illus- 
 trating the publication of Bellendenus and the 
 Warburtonian Tracts, the best evidence of the near 
 and cordial intimacy that subsisted between them. 
 Bishop Bennet had been Homer's friend from his 
 first becoming a member of Emanuel College, and 
 when from scruples of conscience he was about to 
 resign his Fellovvship, the Bishop not only felt 
 warmly for his situation, but showed an anxious 
 desire to serve him. . He had been suspected,
 
 MEMOIRS. 409 
 
 indeed, of lukewarmness on this occasion ; but the 
 Bishop's letter of explanation, which is preserved in 
 this collection, places the fact in the clearest colours, 
 and displays the warmth of his friendly zeal : and 
 Parr was finally convinced of his sincerity, and has 
 coupled their names together in a masterly panegy- 
 ric. The death of Homer is recorded in the follow- 
 ing interesting letter from Bishop Bennet to Dr. Parr. 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, Dublin Castle, May, 16, 1791. 
 
 The seasons, as they fly, 
 
 Steal from us in their course, year after year, 
 Some fond connection, some endearing tie ; 
 The parent, ever honoured, ever dear, 
 Claims from the filial breast the grateful sigh ; 
 A brother's urn demands the kindred tear. 
 And pious sorrows gush from friendship's eye. 
 
 So says Emily ; and the death of poor Homer has brought the 
 reflection strong upon my mind. I knew nothing of his ill- 
 ness ; I looked forward with eagerness to the time when I 
 should again see and embrace him ; and I have now only to 
 lament (as so many have done before me) esse nescio quara 
 quae spes nostras decerpat invidiam. I am led, by a connection 
 natural enough to the subject, to inform you that our friend the 
 Bishop of Waterford preached the other day at his cathedral, 
 on the probability of our knowing each other after death. 
 The Bishop has too much sense and too many virtues to be per- 
 Jectly decisive in maintaining a system on tvhich the Scrip- 
 tures say so little, and the imagination is apt to say so much. 
 His Dean, a pert and bigoted ecclesiastic, took offence, and 
 preached the next Sunday against the Bishop with great aspe- 
 rity. Newcorae sees the impropriety of a contest, which he 
 never meant to provoke, and hardly knows how to avoid ; I 
 should advise him to publish his sermon, and leave it before 
 the world, without taking any notice of his adversary. 
 
 Did I ever tell you the handsome and eloquent manner in 
 which Grattan introduced the characters of Bishop Newcome
 
 410 MEMOIRS. 
 
 and the Primate, in the midst of a violent invective against tlie 
 clergy. He paused, in a description of episcopal pride and 
 extortion :— " I speak of many, not all ; for there are among 
 them some whom I love, and some whom I revere. Such is 
 one whom 1 do not name, because he is present ; mild, learned, 
 pious, and benevolent ; a follower of the gospel, and a friend to 
 man. Such is another, whom I may name because he is not 
 present. He has the first dignity in the land, and holds it by 
 the strongest claim, by the claim of his virtue. I see every 
 where hospitals that he has founded, villages that he has built, 
 a country that he has civilized ; as to the man, I know him not, 
 or know him as we know superior beings, only by his works." 
 
 Your conjecture concerning my sight is too well founded. 
 I am an heteropthalmist, and I am not an heteropthalmist ; this 
 Athanasian statement of my eyes is perfectly correct; for 
 though to outward appearance I have lost the sight of my left 
 eye, it is still so far useful as to enable me, if I shut the other, 
 to walk about my room with convenience, and even the streets 
 with safety ; and this recovery has been gradual, so as not to 
 leave me without hope that it may yet substantially improve. 
 
 You complain I write little Greek, but you should recollect 
 I have no books, scarce any leisure hours, much to say and 
 much to do on very important subjects, often on the life and 
 death of unfortunate individuals, sometimes on the welfare of a 
 nation held to England by most complicated and delicate ties. 
 Remember, that of the four millions of inhabitants this country 
 is said to contain, three millions at least are interested to over- 
 throw the present constitution. Pitt and Fox are out of the 
 question. They want Barnave and Mirabeau. Yours, most 
 affectionately, Wm. Cork. 
 
 But it is necessary that I dwell longer on the 
 name of Homer, from the virulent attack made on 
 Parr (in consequence of his strictures on the Va- 
 riorum Horace) by Dr. Combe after Homer's death. 
 This edition was designed as early as 1787. 
 
 I will write more about Horace (Homer says to Parr, June
 
 MEMOIRS. 411 
 
 28, 1787; and at Christmas, in the same year) as to Horace 
 matters may stand thus, I have been once to the Library (the 
 King's, ) the types are not even yet cast for it. I have not 
 studied the selection of a single note ; have scarce peeped into 
 what you pencilled out ; the essential part of the index was 
 finished, I believe, certainly before you talked of reprinting. 
 Combe and I, at our leisure, and for the sake of an evening, 
 have since compared with the Delphin, but this never till your 
 work was despatched by the post.* 
 
 Nov. 14, 1788. 
 I am obliged to you for your emendations. Alphabeticum I 
 did not think of at the time, but dare to say there is no such 
 word in Latin ; utriusque, I see fully, was wrong. H. H. 
 
 Thus anxious was Homer to convince Parr this 
 new work did not interfere with the pubhcation of 
 the Warburton Tracts. 
 
 Nov. 17, 1788. 
 I send Janus, who is only marked for our use to Ode 20. 
 Combe and I have been long on the look out for a complete set 
 of Janus's Horace to send to you. 
 
 Dec. 6, 1788. 
 I did not receive any of yours till to-day, since the Horace 
 proofs. 
 
 So of course the Horace was now printing, and, 
 indeed, there is direct evidence of it in a letter dated 
 Nov. 29, 1788: 
 
 Upon looking at some letters to-day, I see the post-mark is 
 Nov. 10, when you received the last proof of Horace. I hope 
 you will not grudge revising what I enclose at this distance. I 
 told Combe I would send nothing till I had despatched some- 
 thing for yourself J so that ours has been printed some days. 
 
 1 have left a space for any note respecting iracunda classis, 
 
 * This letter contains a ludicrous account of a game of 
 forfeits at Cambridge, and of the crawhng about of one of the 
 heads of College.
 
 412 MEMOIRS. 
 
 but there is no note, as you thought, in Lambin, nor yet in Tor- 
 rentius, on these words, &c. &c Combe has a vast objection. 
 What say you ? 
 
 In all his letters to Homer during the months of 
 November and December, 1788, Parr takes some 
 notice of the Horace, though the anxious business 
 is always the preface, the dedication, the poignant 
 remark, or the sly cut at Hurd. 
 
 After correcting Horace, &c. I will give up a fortnight to 
 Bentley's Horace, to mark the passages which should be in- 
 serted, &c. Davy was ordered to leave his Gesner's Horace 
 with you. I am sure nothing will be done in Horace unless you 
 are here. Shall I write your Livy preface ? 
 
 Again, 
 
 You see I am punctual with your Horace. 
 
 In Dec. 1788, he writes, 
 
 The same post brings me a huge parcel of Latin from Glasse 
 to be revised immediately, and your queries, &c. to be answered 
 immediately. 1 growl at both, and will despatch both. I tell 
 you that you are not yet at home in your business. Nothing 
 can be done without consulting Bentley and Cunningham upon 
 every reading in every line. Every, every, every. With all 
 his absurdities, Bentley is still the first critic ; and yet you give 
 no one note from him. Good God, you ought to know all his 
 criticisms, and have them ad unguem, right or wrong. For 
 whichever they be, they are instructive : but how to use them 
 is the question. I tell you you must follow your own judg- 
 ment ; you know I offered to examine my own Bentley, and 
 mark it. In shorty you are vastly learned about typogra- 
 phy and paper, and so on, which is all very well ; and I am 
 disposed to flog you both for every thing else. To leave 
 out Bentley, and to let that French Sanadon in, who under- 
 stood very little more Latin than Bishop Hurd, and was as 
 great a coxcomb ! My dear Harry, everybody reads Horace 
 for his sense, and may get some of it. But as to his
 
 MEMOIRS. 413 
 
 Latin, very few understand it indeed. In short, I am all over 
 wrath with you, and this gentleman idea will ruin you ; for I 
 shall say of you, as the King of Prussia did of the English in the 
 American war, <' for scholars too little, and for gentlemen too 
 much." Now mind, yours is a Variorum Edition ; your judg- 
 ment in one respect is, and in another is not, decided. It is de- 
 cided, so far as you collect what appear to you the best read- 
 ings, and the best notes. It is not decided, unless you choose 
 to make it so, when the notes you produce are at variance 
 with each other. This is plain, and this is true. Now I come 
 to advice ; and if it is not followed I will not look at one more 
 syllable. Get Bentley's Horace upon every various reading 
 which he states ; collect as well as you can how many edi- 
 tions, or MSS. or critics, read this way or that ; compare him 
 also upon every passage with Cunningham. You must abridge 
 even to dwarfishness every giant note ; but give what Bentiey 
 says in substance ; and moreover, where you assent to his in- 
 terpretation, or at least think it plausible, then produce it con- 
 cisely. Now, for instance, upon the 7th line of Ode I, I 
 should quote Bentiey 's note from mobilium down to scholastes ; 
 then I should draw a line and quote his interpretation and au- 
 thorities from kirieero down to vulgus. Again (and pray, dear 
 Harry, mind what I am saying), it is often worth while, even 
 where you don't immediately quote any part of a note, yet to 
 mark some curious canon, and introduce under the passages 
 which he quotes in some other Ode. Now, I will give you two 
 instances : you do not read with Bentiey, nobilis evehere, and 
 you are right. No, but you will, by and by, come to impotens 
 sperare, in the 37th Ode ; and then I should quote what Bent- 
 ley has written in this note, beginning Non loquendi genus, and 
 ending at status. Again, you ask about rubente ; nor is it too 
 late for you to print anything in vindication of this spelling. 
 But Bentiey, in a note upon another verse of this Ode, says* 
 Horace is fond of te in preference to ti, where the verse admits', 
 and though his note be upon verse 31, I should have quoted it 
 from illud, leaving out deinde down to the first reference ; 
 and I tell you once for all, that your edition may be made va- 
 luable by collecting and abridging the readings noticed and 
 the phraseologies explained by this great man. All I can say
 
 414 MEMOIRS. 
 
 is, that if you command me T will instantly look through my 
 Horace, and bring it up with me. Moreover, at almost every 
 line I read I panted, and was ready to burst, to make some re- 
 mark of my own. I have marked with a pencil several various 
 Greek passages, produced by none of the critics, which you 
 also might have produced. This being work of the head, 
 would employ me every day, and I cannot do so. I am afraid of 
 your using Davy's (Gesner) book till I have seen it. Again, 
 shall I from my philological books collect, before I come to 
 town, conjectural readings upon Horace, scattered in my book ? 
 This alone will require more leisure than I have before Easter. 
 The note Linn, upon Hedera I don't understand. Again, 
 upon me or te Bishop Hare has written ; and I want to detect 
 Hare, whom all the Etonians quote, in having pillaged almost 
 every one of his emendations in his famous Letter to Dr. Bland, 
 that is, famous among the Etonians. Again, Klotzius under- 
 stands dominos terrarum in opposition with Deos, and so do I 
 with your reading and punctuation. But my own opinion of 
 the passage is different ; and I am sure few people will be the 
 wiser for the notes on this passage. Now, you see Baxter says, 
 nobiles evehere is duriusculum. Pray look at three passages, 
 which Bentley quotes perfectly analogous. Yet you have left 
 Baxter's nonsense uncontradicted, I could say fifty things 
 more, but have said enough to frighten any reasonable man, 
 I proceed to your spelling. Maecenas is right — quicquid is 
 right — nunquam is right — permistus is right — I prefer hedera^, 
 always spell it diis — rubente, right^-literae, with a single t — 
 Etrusci without the H — sseculum with a diphthong letter. 
 Whatever spelling you adopt, be uniform ; and, in adopting it, 
 you must use your own judgment, or apply to me. I do not 
 see justice done to the old reading of nobilium, though I do not 
 admit it. In the text you must follow Gesner always. But you 
 ought to have quoted Cunningham for Olympium beyond the 
 mere various section. And again, though I think with Gesner 
 about Columbus, yet I should have said a little more for palum- 
 bis. Different interpretations are not only not inconsistent 
 with, but actually implied in, a good Variorum Edition. In 
 giving Gcsner's note you must omit nothing. The reader is to 
 decide. Never mutilate Gesner. Receive Greek imitations 
 and notice Grecisms.
 
 MEMOIRS. 415 
 
 In the Dedication there should be no stop at sasculi ; and 
 nusquam should be nunquam ; and, for the sake of common 
 sense, let there be some nominative case to the verb. What you 
 mean by notes about syntax, I don't know. As to the double let- 
 ter, it was written in a great hurry, and sent express to Stratford 
 to catch the post. I say, finally, reprint the Corrigenda, and 
 paste them on. Whether 3'ou do or do not cancel the obnoxious 
 page I know not from your letter. But upon one thing I in- 
 sist, that, in reprinting for the purchasers of Bellenden, you 
 print the passage softened. I also require of you to reprint 
 the Proem for them, and to add what 1 have there proposed 
 to be added about Hastings ; and I have two or three more 
 alterations, which I mean to make in the Proem, as fervebat 
 for laborabat, p. 1 ; ex rumoribus for a rumore, p. 2 ; and to 
 omit lectorum after turba ; and in the addendum to print, at 
 all events, committam rather than efficiam ; and I now wish, 
 having got rid of efficiam, to put effutiam instead of effundam ; 
 and several other things ; for you will certainly take care to 
 print nihil attinet disputare, and est quaedam similitudo, and 
 moreover, in the new matter about Burke, I prefer operam 
 dederit to se dedit, though both are equally Latin. — To re- 
 turn to Horace. There are no prior marks, and every 
 thing marked must be printed. — To return to Bellenden. If 
 you think it worth while to re-print the last page of the Proem, 
 insert what I write about Hastings ; if you do not, then do not 
 make that long addendum in the list of corrigenda. But, in 
 the corrigenda, remember cadit pati ; and moreover, when the 
 whole of the Proem is re-printed, I repeat my injunction for 
 the insertion of the passage about Hastings, as well as for the 
 softened passage about Novius, v/ho, with all his impudence, 
 would, I think, be afraid of owning to a Court that himself 
 is the man meant^ an ugly, bullying, old master. Be this 
 as it may, I love safety, and I love decorum, and because I do 
 so, I wish the leaf cancelled ) first, we get rid of some errata ; 
 secondly, we can supply the corrigenda last, with fervebat for 
 laborabat, and with cadit pati for cadere solent, which cadere 
 Solent must, must, must be corrected, but not noticed, or it 
 may be noticed in the new list of corrigenda ; and mind, Harry,
 
 416 MEMOIRS. 
 
 two things, which belong to me and not to you. First, I un- 
 derstand Latinity ; and secondly, I am answerable for it. — To 
 return to Horace. The first note from Cruq. is nonsense, for 
 ut qui refers to Horace, who is never mentioned in the note. 
 Secondly, Varietas et Poetica I barely understand. Thirdly, 
 sit, in Lambin's note, p. 7, should be est, if Lanibin did not 
 himself blunder ; however, do you print est. Torrentius is a 
 good scholar, and his notes in my hands might be turned to ac- 
 count. But beware of that rascal Sanadon, and be sure to 
 quote what Klotzius says of him, and I say too. But why do 
 you go on without Janus ? Burney will lend you the edition. 
 There ought to be a mark at all the unmarked notes. If 
 Baxter, put Bax. or B., but I prefer Bax. to distinguish him 
 from Bentley. — Send Gibbon a copy in my name, with my 
 respects, thus : from the Author, though unknown to Mr. Gib- 
 bon, with his best respects. One or two copies will serve me. 
 1 like the idea of pasting the errata, if you do not re-print the 
 last page of the Proem ; but if you do, there will be no occa- 
 sion. My other letters have all been in a great hurry, but 
 this is not so. Saturday morning. 
 
 In March, 1788, Parr announces to Homer his 
 intention of being in town at Easter, and says, 
 
 Do not send any books to me. I shall bring up Pulmannus, 
 Markland, Bentley, Wadelius, and some extracts from Bishop 
 Hare, Much of this will be new matter to your edition ; and 
 while I am in London, I will mark the whole of Bentley's Ho- 
 race for you. Trust me, this is the true way of elucidating the 
 mere text. As to mythology, the less of it the better. Only 
 let me first observe, in Spence's Polymetis there are two or 
 three exceeding good illustrations, the pages of which I will 
 look out before I come ; the book you can get in London. 
 
 P, S. We shall go on well in Horace after we talk. 
 
 Again, 
 I cannot command my health, and my time wears away, like 
 my spirits, unprofitably, and in cares for others. This week I 
 
 must employ in writing the Assize Sermon for Jack S , 
 
 but this is a secret. Then, and not before then, I look at 
 Horace. I have been ill and confined, and not a moment have 
 I any rest."
 
 MEMOIRS. 417 
 
 Again, near the same period. 
 
 My head is so confused I scare know what I write. I can- 
 not help Combe's eagerness, nor do I understand why my busi- 
 ness is to stand still for this other business, which was subser- 
 vient, and requires no other expedition, but what is occasioned 
 by the precipitation of its managers. It was for others to feel, 
 as I do, for their own literary credit; and whatever there is of 
 serious earnestness and friendly indignation in such words, I 
 desire you will understand from me one thing at one time, 
 Harry ; and consider, that ours has botli a prior and superior 
 claim. 
 
 At another time, 
 
 I shall send Cunningham marked as well as Klotzius, and 
 of Klotzius, which is scarce, half the volume is marked ; it 
 will be so nearly with Cunningham ; to these you will add the 
 best notes of Bentley and Torrentius, a few Editorial, something 
 from Janus and Hurd and Colman, and I wish you were here 
 to select from my Philosophical books of detached emenda- 
 tions, &c. This must be done, and I have nobody to do it but 
 yourself, therefore, let there be a second volume for such 
 notes. 
 
 Janus and the Glosses were sent to town by Mr. 
 Legge, Dec. 15th, 1788. He had previously marked 
 Janus. 
 
 The book will be a Christmas pie, at least a new year's 
 gift to Dr. C. I hope. 
 
 There are many other notices of a like kind in the 
 Correspondence, and critical remarks on Horace : 
 but these are enough to prove that Parr was not 
 inattentive to the wishes of Homer, who seems much 
 less eager than Combe. The Correspondence now 
 to be inserted, goes down to the mark, and will 
 prove that Parr was not very zealous, and perhaps 
 
 VOL. I. 2 E
 
 418 MEMOIRS. 
 
 even unfriendly to the progress of the work, in the 
 manner in whieh it was conducted : 
 
 You must go on with the Horace, though I certainly think 
 it a bad business, a very bad one. I shall soon glean a few 
 readings which have escaped Janus. — Parr to Homer, 1790. 
 
 The two last letters of Homer to Parr are in 
 the same tone of thinking and expression as the 
 others I have transcribed. One is fretful ; the other 
 was written when the angel of death was about to 
 arrest the hand of the writer, and expresses the 
 sentiment — " my greatest consolation will be to see 
 you. 
 
 The Rev. H. Homer to Dr. Parr. 
 
 Eleven o'clock, Wednesday, 
 DEAR DOCTOR, Dec. 15, 1790. 
 
 General Adeane has just been here, and though I am pro- 
 vided from him of a frank to you on Saturday, yet I shall not 
 delay answering yours, which I have this moment received. 
 As it was morally impossible for me to comply with your re- 
 quest of coming to Hatton, I thought it useless to trouble you 
 with a letter in Warwickshire, and since my return here I have 
 been so harassed for two or three months, as not to have had 
 a mind at leisure to write merely for writing sake, (and you 
 liave often cautioned me about unnecessary letters, and request- 
 ed me to get franks). Before I left London I had finished a 
 large merely typographical voork, for I affect not any other dis- 
 tinction, and immediately upon my return had nearly -£300 
 to pay upon it ; it was completely ready for sale (as far as my 
 part went), but I have been deceived by an artist for two 
 months. This you would think hard, especially when one per- 
 son upon the finishing had agreed to take the whole impression. 
 I have had other very expensive concerns and difficulties to 
 struggle with, such as if you had I should feel for you ; add 
 to this, I have never received any pecuniary favours but 
 what I have somehow or other paid for, often very dearly,
 
 MEMOIRS. 419 
 
 I should have written on the subject of business, but it is 
 very lately that I have had a final settlement with Payne, 
 in whose account are many articles I bought for you, and I 
 only lament that I have not been able to prepare a full state- 
 ment of our accounts, as I promised, though I assure you I 
 have paid very largely on your account, and till I see the turn 
 of Christmas, my conscience is little at ease on that score, as I 
 can safely say that by the Preface I am at present at least ^40 
 out of pocket, so well have our Foxite friends supported it. 
 Reed I have not seen these four months, and for the same rea- 
 son that I have not written to you, so I can give you no ac- 
 count of Dilly. Your commissions have, I hope, been always 
 punctually executed by me, if not instantly, and I shall do 
 these very readily. I have been waiting some time in hopes of 
 sending you a small packet of books, handsomely done up, 
 (how far acceptable they may be I know not,) but have been 
 prevented by others. What common friend you allude to I 
 know not. I should hardly think him a friend of mine, but I 
 am not afraid to avow any thing, if true, conscious that I have 
 said nothing which you ought to take wrong. My health is 
 never good, as I never expect it will be, and on that account I 
 am chiefly alone ; I always suffer if I mix much in company, 
 and two nights ago I had three not small pieces of calculi come 
 from me. 
 
 I am sorry yours has been the same, and sincerely wish a 
 journey to Bath may restore you. Dr. Farmer told me that 
 Wilkes had said in his company that Burke's book was the best 
 written of any he knew, but the greatest libel upon the Eng- 
 lish constitution he ever saw. The sale has been wonderful, 
 i. e. about 13,000. Lord Lansdowne has made the most vio- 
 lent speech against Pitt I ever saw, upon the subject of the 
 convention, new taxes, porter, rum, sugar, and cottons, insur- 
 rections — exit the same as other ministers. Taxo vitam exa- 
 nimavit will, I trust, ere long be said of Billy. With compli- 
 ments to Mrs. and Miss Parrs, Mr. Person, and your family, I 
 remain, dear Doctor, yours sincerely, 
 
 Henry Homer. 
 
 'i E 'i
 
 420 MEMOIRS. 
 
 MY GOOD FRIEND, Burdingbury, May 4-th, 1791. 
 
 I thank you much for your kind letter, which it is impossible 
 for me to answer on account of my very infirm state ; for a 
 month I have not ate an ounce of meat. I am wonderfully re- 
 duced, and shall be particularly happy to see you, if but for 
 one half hour. I was in hopes you had heard of me before. 
 My father and mother will be very happy to see you. 
 
 I live upon snail custard, and other mucilages, but I think I 
 want support with stronger things. You are a physician, and 
 I should be glad to hear what you say. My mother mentions 
 that your man has some verbal message about my father's 
 coming to Hatton. I am sure he would cheerfully obey your 
 summons, but I don't see any thing of it distinctly in your 
 letter. My greatest consolation will be to see you. 
 
 I have not looked at a book or proof these six weeks. 
 
 With the united compliments of our family to yourself, Mrs. 
 Parr, and family, I am dear Doctor, yours with the greatest 
 sincerity and esteem, H. Homer, jun. 
 
 The following letter from Mr. Homer, senior, 
 enclosed his son's, and on it Dr. Parr wrote, " en- 
 closed is the last letter I ever received from my 
 beloved friend Harry Homer, received May 4th, 
 1791." 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Your servant says you wish to see me at Hatton ; but I have 
 no inclination to leave home in the present state of my son's 
 health, which is by far worse than you suspect, and such as 
 leaves us very little reason to flatter ourselves with hopes of his 
 recovery. He will be very happy to see you, but when you see 
 him, you will be sensible that he is not able to hold any long 
 conversation with you, how much soever his inclinations might 
 lead him to it. We are much distressed for him, but still it is 
 a comfort that we have got him to Birbury, where he has friends 
 wlio will make a point to attend to him, and administer every 
 relief which is in their power. — I am your most obedient hum- 
 ble servant, Henry Homer.
 
 MEMOIRS. 421 
 
 Mr. Homer in his last illness, 
 
 Says Parr (in his Remarks on the Statement of Dr. Charles 
 Combe, vide 33 to 50), had been for three or four weeks with his 
 father in Warwickshire, before I knew that he was ill. I heard, 
 indeed, jn a promiscuous conversation, that a son of Mr. 
 Homer's was ill at his house, and I supposed it to be another 
 son. But in the very day after the evening I had found that 
 son to be my Jriend, I sent a special messenger with a 
 letter full of anxious and affectionate inquiry. I received 
 an answer which I clasped to my bosom, and which I, at this 
 moment, keep deposited among the most precious records of 
 friendship. In a day or two I hastened in person to the father's 
 house. With anguish of soul I found Harry pale, emaciated, 
 and sunk beyond the power of recovery. I talked to him with 
 all the tenderness which the sight of such a friend, in such a 
 situation, could have excited in the most virtuous breast. I 
 came away with a drooping head, and with spirits quite dark- 
 ened by the gloom of despair. Again I hastened to see him, 
 while the lamp of life should not be wholly gone out; and 
 again I did see him on the evening before his eyes were closed 
 in death. With tears, not easily stifled, and with an aching 
 heart, I accompanied his sad remains to the grave; and in 
 many a pensive mood have I since reflected upon the melan- 
 choly scene. Many a look of fondness have I cast upon his 
 countenance, which meets me in an excellent engraving as I 
 enter my study each revolving day. Many an earnest wish 
 have I formed, that my own last end may be like his, a season 
 of calm resignation, of humble hope, and of devotion, at once 
 rational, fervent, and sincere. 
 
 After Henry Homer's death there are five letters 
 from Mr. Homer, sen. settling the accounts of his 
 son, one dated May 24th 1791, in which is the fol- 
 lowing sentence : 
 
 Dr. Combe was much disappointed in finding you had made 
 no progress in marking the Horace.
 
 422 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Another, dated May 30th, 1791, in reply to Dr. 
 Parr's answer to the above, in which is the follow- 
 ing notable sentence : 
 
 I am sorry that you had the trouble of writing so long an an- 
 swer to my letter. Your undertaking in the business of Horace 
 was certainly voluntary and disinterested, &c. &c. 
 
 I shall, moreover, insert letters of Parr and Ben- 
 net, which will settle the question for ever ; nor let 
 me be blamed for thus entering at length, and in- 
 serting so many vouchers on this painful and mor- 
 tifying subject; painful as it touched him on his 
 friendship for Homer in particular, and the perma- 
 nency of his attachments in general ; mortifying as 
 it impeached his honour on a miserable score of 
 money : 
 
 From the Bishop of Cloyne to Dr. Parr. 
 
 MY DEAR FUiEND, DubUn, Feb, 9th, 1796. 
 
 The Primate sent me your pamphlet ; it is wretchedly print- 
 ed, and almost blinded me, for my curiosity was much stronger 
 than my eyes. I am glad, for the satisfaction of others, that 
 the money part is cleared up so satisfactorily ; there cannot be 
 a suspicion on the subject. I am not less pleased with the 
 general civility to Combe, though I less expected it. Upon the 
 part that regards myself I have already told you I feel the ut- 
 most sensibility and gratitude.— Yours, &c. &c. 
 
 Wm. Cloyne. 
 
 The letters of Mr. Homer, sen. do equal justice 
 to Parr's honour in this, and every other particular, 
 and I shall retain them as satisfactory documents 
 for Dr. Parr's posterity, and to be published in series, 
 if hereafter the ba])ble of malignity shall be heard 
 traducing him on this subject. For against malig- 
 nity, even the " Murus Aheneus" is no security ; es-
 
 MEMOIRS. 423 
 
 pecially in the metropolis, against him who lives re- 
 tired and in seclusion. There, in the centre of all 
 that is great, and polished, and learned, the facili- 
 ties of communication, lubricated by every possible 
 art of refinement, give increased power to that which 
 is put in motion, whatever it be. Narrative, whe- 
 ther true or false — learning, whether real or spu- 
 rious — defamation in the shape of information — ma- 
 lignity in the form of warning — pharisaical blame, 
 or hypocritical praise — the dulcet murmurs of cant, 
 or the faint whispers of insinuation : by the learned 
 gossips of the bookseller's shop — by the story tellers, 
 and tale bearers of the drawing-room — by the levee 
 hunters of the great — by the striphng in his first 
 flirtation with letters in magazines — by the hireling 
 of party in newspaper paragraphs — by the enve- 
 nomed bigot — and lastly, by the leech which fills its 
 famine at your table, only that he may disgorge and 
 defile. From these, and a thousand other invisible 
 sources " per umbram stridens," is rumour circulated, 
 and reputation often destroyed ; nor can prudence 
 ever be too watchful in laying by the materials and 
 instruments of defence, when she has to do with 
 that world which so frequently smiles only to betray. 
 " The great prerogatives of innocence," " the dread 
 of no eye, and the fear of no tongue," uphold the 
 conscience, and will uphold it at the hour of death, 
 and at the day of judgment, but they restrain not 
 the tongue or the sting of the maligner. 
 
 Thus far it is clear that Dr. Parr had been en- 
 gaged as Mr. Homer's friend, to give assistance in 
 the Variorum edition of Horace. That he was
 
 424 MEMOIRS. 
 
 sometimes less eager to communicate than Homer 
 wished, but that Homer always considered the help 
 gratuitous — that there was no breach or discontinu- 
 ance of friendship on account of Parr's delays, or 
 paucity of communication — that Parr actually did 
 communicate much — and finally, that Henry Homer 
 died in peace with him, declaring almost at his last 
 breath " my greatest consolation will be to see you." 
 Yet scarcely was he settled in his grave, ere Parr 
 had occasion to write the following letter to the 
 Rev. Mr. Homer, of Birbury, in consequence of 
 receiving the letter which precedes it from Dr. 
 Combe : 
 
 MY DEAR DOCTOR, Lotidon, July 13ih, 1791, 
 
 You begin your last letter to me in so strange a manner, 
 that I shall, without any comment on it, begin mine with a jus- 
 tification of poor Homer, who was certainly at times very angry 
 on account of delays. Bentley was twice kept at Hatton near 
 seven months, a time more than sufficient to have printed one 
 volume. Now, if you consider the eagerness, accuracy, and 
 dispatch with which he executed all your commissions, the 
 natural friendly warmth of his temper, his irritability, and im- 
 patience at whatever had the appearance of cold neglect, and 
 this increased by having expended 18 or ^1,900 in printing, 
 &c. The returns slow, and more money wanted. Put, my 
 dear Doctor, this together, and your good heart, for a very 
 good one 1 know you have, will pity his anger, and shed a 
 silent tear in recollecting the anguish of his mind, (which cer- 
 tainly shortened his stay here,) and wish that seven months 
 had never exceeded seven days; and you must remember that 
 it was your encouragement and promise of assistance that made 
 us undertake it. 
 
 I shall put the introduction together soon, and send it for 
 your friendly correction. To this, if you approve it, I shall 
 add the life of Horace, by Suetonius Tranquillus, an account 
 of the different editions from Janus, and subjoin Aldus Manu-
 
 MEMOIRS. 425 
 
 tius on the metres of Horace. I have now sent the two first 
 sheets of the Epodes for your examination, but I dread the 
 delay that must naturally ensue from sending the whole. I did 
 put the notes together, in order that you might have the part 
 you complain of as being all confusion ; you would have inr 
 stantly seen that the latter part of the note was in my hurry 
 parted on the wrong side. As to sending the remainder of the 
 sheets I shall obey your next letter. I don't mind expence, 
 and would in general rather pay than ask for a frank, therefore 
 all expence of postage I will repay you. You may direct mine 
 to the Earl of Mansfield, Lincoln's-inn-fields, only remember 
 to write Combe plain on the back of the letter in the place 
 where you will see that I have wrote Parr, that I may know 
 them. Note to 1. 69, Ep, 2, you have put, then add all the 
 references, the quantity would so entirely spoil the look of the 
 page, and the quotations as far as you have marked them» 
 seem so satisfactory, that if you think it will do, the page shall 
 stand as it is, or it shall be altered if necessary. Mr. Reed is 
 much obliged to you for the offer of some account of poor 
 Homer, and shall be very glad to have it for the European Ma- 
 gazine. I am, my good Doctor, yours most sincerely, 
 
 C. Combe. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I am very sincerely concerned to inform you, that in conse- 
 quence of a letter received last night from Dr. Combe, on my 
 return from Oxford, I shall continue to revise and assist in the 
 Epodes, but shall decline all further concern, either with the 
 preface to the first volume, or the contents of the second. I 
 have, with much inconvenience to myself (and I am going to- 
 morrow into Shropshire, and have only one day to settle all my 
 own business) revised two sheets this morning. It does not 
 quite suit my feelings to be lectured as a hireling; and as to 
 the energies of zealous and disinterested friendship, my time 
 and talents have never been spared for the aid of others. But 
 I say no more. You will hear from Dr. Combe ray determi- 
 nation.
 
 426 MEMOIRS. 
 
 I beg my compliments to Mrs. Homer, and all your family, 
 and I am, dear Sir, your very obedient servant, 
 
 Saturday, July \6th. S. Parr. 
 
 It appears from Dr. Combe's letter that the Odes 
 had been printed, for it is not probable that the 
 Epodes would have been sent to Parr for examination 
 first. In his letter to Mr. Homer, he declares 
 that he will assist no farther, and proudly protests 
 against being considered as an hireling, and some- 
 what boasts even, " that the energies of zealous and 
 disinterested friendship had never been spared by 
 him for the aid of others." Truly might he pro- 
 claim, and proudly might he boast of this fact. It 
 would be an interesting dissertation to show the in- 
 fluence of those energies on the cause of learning 
 during his active life. Even at this very period 
 White had decked himself in plumes borrowed from 
 him. Homer himself was adorning his classical 
 productions with Parr's taste, and enriching them 
 with his learning. Many a cathedral had resounded 
 with the eloquent effusions of his pen, though not 
 of his voice. On many public occasions his lite- 
 rary aid was sought for and obtained by other friends 
 
 and neighbours beside John S . His house wa,s 
 
 the refuge of distressed poets — of ambitious scholars 
 — of disappointed politicians and of bewildered 
 metaphysicians. Any person endowed with any de- 
 gree of intellect, supported with speciousness, had 
 at least audience of him ; and it was the fiend-like 
 remark of one who eat bread daily at his board, 
 that every one professing infidel principles and de- 
 magogue practices, was welcome at Hatton. I will
 
 MEMOIRS. 427 
 
 not venture to use the expression of an English 
 Judge, that the assertion was false as hell. The 
 Searcher of Hearts knows it was not true ; and yet 
 Mr. Godwin, who has ventured to write the follow- 
 ing sentence — " and independently of Dr. Parr's 
 sanction, which is too easily gained, and too easily 
 forfeited for me to lay much stress upon it," was 
 twice an inmate at Hatton Parsonage in my recol- 
 lection, and the unhappy and mistaken Joseph 
 Gerrald, when a convict and in bonds, was protect- 
 ed by the active benevolence, and the fervent pray- 
 ers of his master. 
 
 But to return. Homer died May 1791. Dr. 
 Combe's letter is dated July 1791, and Parr's let- 
 ter to Homer's father, declaring that he will not 
 engage any further in Horace Var. than the Epodes, 
 is dated July 16th, 1791. So far Parr is exone- 
 rated from responsibility. There was no written 
 engagement, no verbal engagement has been hint- 
 ed at. That Parr gave his assistance only as a 
 friend, appears from the letters, and Henry Homer 
 does not complain of his want of friendship in with- 
 holding help, but frets at his detaining one or two 
 books too long. In 1791 Parr says to Combe, " After 
 the Epodes I will do no more," and Combe does not 
 complain of his doing no more. He goes on by 
 himself and edits the Horace. 
 
 But Parr declares he has written no notes in the 
 Horace, and publishes this declaration in the Bri- 
 tish Critic. Hinc illae lachrymae ! And then Combe 
 sends forth his threats of " A Statement of Facts,'* 
 &c. &c. &c. with a formidable appendage " of False-
 
 428 MEMOIRS. 
 
 hood and malignity of Dr. Parr's attack in the Bri- 
 tish Critic on the character of Dr. Combe." 
 
 So from July 16th, 1791, when Parr makes the 
 declaration he will give no further assistance than 
 the Epodes, till December 1793, after the publica- 
 tion of the notice. Combe is silent ; thus proving 
 that the statement is rather an answer to the notice 
 of the British Critic than to Parr's previous behavi- 
 our either to Dr. Combe, or to Mr. Homer. 
 
 "When Dr. Combe did write, before he did pub- 
 lish. Dr. Parr supposed him to receive assistance 
 from a gentleman of great celebrity among wits and 
 scholars, and this supposition furnished Mr. Rich- 
 ardson with the plea of defending himself, and of 
 proposing his mediation of peace in the following 
 letter : 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I take the liberty of following you into your country retreat, 
 because for more reasons than one, I have taken an interest in 
 the subject on which I am about to speak, and because I do 
 not think it wholly unimportant to yourself. The points which 
 have personally touched me in this affair are these, that I like 
 to obviate an undeserved, and, I think I might add an unkind 
 suspicion conceived about myself, and that I like still more to 
 do my best to keep two men, for both of whom I entertain a 
 sincere esteem, from the perilous frivolity of a pamphlet war. 
 But let us get i7i medias res. A day or two before you left 
 town. Dr. Combe called upon me, under a professional call to 
 one of my family, and in the course of conversation your name 
 having been mentioned, related to me a recent discussion that 
 had sprung up between you. He read to me a correspondence 
 which had passed between you while you were in town. Here 
 I must interrupt my narrative, to say a word or two about my- 
 self Towards the beginning of your second letter to Dr. 
 Combe you threw in a few sentences which it was impossible
 
 MEMOIRS. 4*29 
 
 for me to misunderstand, as being applicable to myself. If 
 there be an appearance of vanity in this supposition, I have 
 only to say, that I am not apt to be much flattered by an insi- 
 nuated compliment to my abilities at the expence of a direct 
 attack upon the simplicity and fair play of my conduct, I as- 
 sure you, upon my honour, I had not even seen Dr. C. for, I 
 believe, three months before the morning on which he read me 
 the letters to which I allude, nor was I in the smallest degree 
 aware that any ground of enmity had been laid between you. 
 But I cannot content myself with this assurance only. I must 
 endeavour, at least, to establish myself upon a broader princi- 
 ple, for this is not the first time in which I have been suspect- 
 ed with equal levity in its foundation of clandestine hostilities 
 towards you. Indeed, Dr. Parr, you do no justice to any part 
 of my character, by indulging yourself in these suppositions. 
 I am sure you are unjust to the plainness, I think I may add 
 to the honour, and to the spirit, or, if you like it better, to 
 the conceit of my nature, by entertaining any such notions, 
 notwithstanding the many splendid examples that might be 
 quoted for hiring one-seif out as the cold-blooded mercenary 
 abettor of unjust enmity ; I beg to assure you, I am nothing 
 such. I have no Swiss or Hessian words to let out, to mangle 
 the credit of an unprovoking foe. If ever the deprecated day 
 should arrive when any hostile sentiments are to prevail be- 
 tween Dr. Parr and myself, he may rely on seeing me descend 
 into the arena in my own proper person, equally with the 
 means, the disposition, or the possibility of indirect injury or 
 foul conquest. I hope this declaration will secure me in future 
 against the painful injustice of these humiliating suspicions : 
 with which hope, and with a sincere remission on my part of 
 every thing that is past, I dismiss myself. 
 
 About a week after Dr. Combe had read to me the corres- 
 pondence to which I have above alluded, and in which I took 
 no part one way or another, he called upon me again, and 
 brought with him a pamphlet in MS. into which this corres- 
 pondence had been incorporated, and in the course of which 
 there are, undoubtedly, many warm and sharp expressions, 
 such as the irritation of offended literature seldom fails to pro- 
 duce. The use which I made of this communication was, to
 
 430 MEMOIRS. 
 
 request Dr. Combe's permission for me to wait upon you, as 
 from him, to institute a negociation, which I flattered myself 
 would end in peace. I called at your lodgings, but finding 
 you gone out of town, I have been led from the same mo- 
 tive by which I was originally governed, to trouble you with this. 
 And now, Sir, having as other great men have done, obtained 
 my own leave to appoint myself to a high and proud employment, 
 I mean that of a mediator, I shall endeavour to acquit myself 
 with all the dignity belonging to my new function. But, as 
 true dignity is not a little dependent upon plain dealing, I shall 
 avoid the little shabby policy by which gentlemen exercising 
 this important trust are sometimes actuated, and by which the 
 object of mediation is often defeated, and the office itself de- 
 graded, I mean the crafty selfishness of administering flattery 
 to both parties, and telling the honest truth to neither; by 
 which means they are confirmed in their enmity, and the medi- 
 ator receives the disingenuous recompence of an unwearied 
 affection, at least for a little time, from both. And now, Sir, 
 to act up to the threat of dignity with which I have just 
 alarmed you, I demand to have it admitted, that there are some 
 requisites for the formation of a right and sound judgment in 
 the case between you and Dr. C, which I possess in a 
 superior degree to yourself. In the first place, I am a 
 byestander. In the next, living, and having long hved in 
 London, I am a better judge of the whims and caprices of the 
 bouncing braggadocio, called the Tow7i, than any pastoi'al 
 Aristotle in all England. And, Sir, having sifted this fellow's 
 character to the bottom, I do declare it to be one of his con- 
 firmed distates, to see the same individual too frequently pre- 
 sented before his eyes in the attitude of literary pugilism. 
 Another discovery, which my profound and indefatigable 
 researches into the very heart and marrow of this imperious 
 demagogue has enabled me to make, is this : that it is always 
 dangerous, so far as his opinions are concerned (and with all 
 his faults, no wise man will wholly despise it), to have his curi- 
 osity too strongly excited by the charm of a great name, where 
 that name is neither connected with, nor sustained by an ade- 
 quate subject. In that case, his curiosity is apt to dwindle, 
 his natural ingratitude begins to work, he feels a base but vio-
 
 MEMOIRS. 431 
 
 lent Inclination to forget the delight and instruction he has ex- 
 perienced from former exertions of the same person, and though 
 he cannot always succeed, as in the present instance, in pre- 
 venting the individual from holding a prominent rank in his 
 recollection, he is always sure to regard him with a certain 
 degree of comparative indifference. The above are general 
 truths in the character of that gigantic fribble, the Toton. 
 
 Another peculiarity of his is brought to my recollection by 
 the particular circumstances of your case with Dr. C. ; for, 
 though he (the Town) is only apt to be a little drowsy when 
 the most brilliant performer presses himself too much upon his 
 observation, yet, when a point of moral character comes under 
 his judgment, he is sure to atone for his inertness in the former 
 instance. He works in such matters double tides. He 
 despatches such a cause with " wicked speed," and with a sort 
 of summary impartiality of ill nature, is very prone to conclude 
 that each party is equally guilty. Now this is precisely the 
 situation of things in this menaced dispute between you and 
 Dr. C. ; for though the quarrel has its foundation in a subject of 
 literature, yet the issue to be finally decided is a mere point of 
 personal veracity. 
 
 Having satisfied ray magisterial stomach by asserting and 
 demonstrating my peremptory claims to superiority in the 
 above points, I now let myself down to a much humbler style of 
 character, my natural self. Indeed, Dr. Parr, personal dis- 
 putes, unless when coupled with subjects in which the public 
 take an interest, are not only an useless expenditure of valuable 
 ammunition, but have a wasting influence upon the general 
 fund of a man's literary estimation. Garrick would have added 
 nothing to his character by the most happy performance of his 
 best part, if given at Astley's ; Fox or Sheridan would gain no 
 accession of opinion by even exceeding themselves in speeches, 
 delivered at Coachmaker's Hall. I by no means wish to insinu- 
 ate by this that Dr. C. is an unworthy combatant for any man 
 to contend with ; I am only anxious to establish the principle, 
 that where the sicbjecta materia is below a man's reputation, 
 there is no felicity in the execution, that can rescue him from 
 hazard in the mixing with it. I have argued this matter upon 
 general principles, because, to have discussed the particular
 
 432 MEMOIRS. 
 
 case would have been to have made myself an advocate, where, 
 under the impartial nomination of my own authority, I was act- 
 ing the part of a judge. It is now pretty nearly time that I 
 should tell you what Dr. C. expects. He says that you struck 
 tlie first blow by the criticism which appeared in the British 
 Critic respecting his Horace. Some mistake was alleged to 
 have been made in that criticism as to the part he (Dr. C.) 
 had in the original planning of the work, and the subsequent 
 execution of it. You will consider how the tale will tell. Dr. 
 C. was till very lately your friend. He brings out a work of 
 labour, and you are the confessed author of a criticism, calcu- 
 lated to undervalue, if not the reputation of the book, the 
 quantum of individual merit ascribable to the man who 
 brings it out. All he wishes in order to set all things to 
 rights again, is, that you will acknowledge, not in your own 
 person, but in the same way in which the original criti- 
 cism first appeared, that there were some mistakes in the 
 supposition concerning what hand the united editors had in 
 the first formation, and further progress of the work. This 
 seems to me a cheap propitiation, and which I cannot help 
 taking the liberty to recommend, but, at all events, as I have 
 no motive for interfering, but good-will to both parties, I shall 
 in no way mix with the dispute, but after this long tire, close 
 my batteries for ever upon the contest. As Dr. C. proposes 
 bringing out his pamphlet by Monday next, I shall be very 
 happy to receive a peaceful answer from you to this unreason- 
 ably long letter, which is not an habitual sin of mine, before 
 that day, I am, dear Sir, very sincerely yours, 
 
 Jos. Richardson. 
 Essex-street f Strand, Feb. 24:fh, 1794'. 
 
 This mediation was of no avail ; Dr. Combe pub- 
 lislied his statement in the spring of 1794, and 
 Dr. Parr's remarks in 1795 were pubhshed in an- 
 swer. 
 
 Some other of Dr. Parr's friends were extremely 
 unwilling that the peace should be broken, but all 
 thought that the pecuniary accounts required expla-
 
 MEMOIRS. 433 
 
 nations after Dr. Combe's charge. The following- 
 letter contains the opinion of Sir James Mackintosh : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have been so very much hurried these few days past, that 
 I have not had a moment at my command. To-morrow, how- 
 ever, I shall certainly go to Beloe, read the papers, and write 
 you my unbiassed and deliberate opinion upon the propriety of 
 answering Combe. I am at present divided between a solici- 
 tude not to suffer the smallest imputation on you to pass in 
 silence, and a dislike at seeing the dignity of your character 
 degraded by petty altercations. I hope from the efforts which 
 I have made that you will hear to-day, or to-morrow, from 
 Lord Lauderdale ; if not, I beg that you may put off, at least 
 till the beginning of the week, any decisive step, as I shall an- 
 swer for your hearing satisfactorily before that time. I ever 
 am, dear Sir, most truly yours, James Mackintosh. 
 
 Poor Gerrald I have seen in Newgate. He is in pretty good 
 spirits. 
 
 The letters and extracts now published fill up 
 the chasms left in this angry controversy; very angry 
 on the part of Combe, generally moderate on Parr's 
 side ; always potent in statement and rejoinder, but 
 less sarcastic and bitter than might have been ex- 
 pected from him, considering the abominable allu- 
 sion to politics, and the baseless attack upon his 
 honour. In the directions for the disposal of his 
 papers and printed works, a notice has been found 
 declaratory of his intentions with regard to the 
 future publication of these remarks, and of his sen- 
 timents in regard to Dr. Combe, which does him 
 no less honour as a man of correct judgment, than 
 of Christian and forgiving temper : 
 
 I will myself make, or rather mark in my book, extracts 
 from my letter to Dr. Combe. He injured my honour most 
 VOL. I. 2 F
 
 434 MEMOIRS. 
 
 cruelly, but he is a worthy man, and has many intellectual 
 attainments, and I therefore wish our controversy quite forgot- 
 ten. The extracts shall be merely critical, or political, or cha- 
 racters of illustrious men. 
 
 Those who knew Dr. Parr must have been always 
 aware that the quickness of his resentments were 
 accompanied by an amiable placability. And those 
 who have had access to the real feelings of his heart 
 will hear, without surprise, that he has frequently 
 visited one of the gentlemen who formerly gave him 
 offence, and spoke with esteem and kindness of the 
 other. As the critique on the Var. Horace in the 
 British Critic is ultimately connected with, and, in 
 fact, did spring out of the help given to Homer 
 whilst he was employed in this work, it will be 
 necessary to take some notice of Parr's reasons for 
 so hostile a denunciation of a work in which he had 
 been much engaged, for such the papers in the British 
 Critic manifestly were. The Var. Horace had been 
 announced, or advertised, as to be enriched with 
 notes by Dr. Parr. To set this matter right. Dr. 
 Parr authorised Mr. Nares, one of the editors, to in- 
 form the readers, " that the edition in quarto of 
 Horace, which we announced in No. 3 of the Bri- 
 tish Critic, does not contain any notes written by 
 himself." This notice sounded the alarm to Dr. 
 Combe, and begat his angry pamphlet, if not his 
 angry feelings. Whether any statement of Mr. 
 Bcloe has been published in the British Critic 
 I know not. But the letters, both of Mr. Beloe* 
 
 * The letters of Beloe commence with his resignation ot 
 Norwich School in December, 1783, when he submits the
 
 MEMOIRS. 435 
 
 and Mr. Nares, will furnish abundant evidence of the 
 eagerness of these Reviewers to take advantage of 
 Dr. Parr's learned contributions to their Review. 
 How far Dr. Parr was justified in criticising this 
 particular edition of Horace, considering his ac- 
 quaintance with Combe, his friendship for Homer, 
 and what he had promised, and what he had actu- 
 ally done to help them, may be a matter of doubt. 
 To classical learning these essays are important ac- 
 quisitions, and are hailed as such by the commen- 
 dation and gratitude of scholars.* Their publica- 
 tion jW^ at this period may be perhaps lamented as 
 not quite consistent with delicacy. This is Combe's 
 
 mode of resignation to Parr, and parts with him on friendly 
 terms. It recommences in 1787, when he is thinking of his 
 translation of Aulus Gellius ; is thick at the end of the year 
 1793, and the beginning of the year 1794', when Aulus Gel- 
 lius, Wakefield, Horace, the British Critic, and Combe are the 
 interesting topics. The correspondence with Mr. Nares begins 
 with the close of the year 1793, is continued through 1794, 
 all through concerning Horace and Combe ; is commenced 
 again about the collation of Manuscripts in the British Mu- 
 seum, and is carried on in the years 1813 and 1817, in asking 
 for and acknowledging kindnesses for Beloe and his family. 
 In this respect the correspondence of Nares exhibits a rare 
 curiosity. He asks Parr, during the life of Beloe, to get some 
 of the money subscribed for Person transferred to Beloe, and 
 after Beloe's death there is the acknowledgment of a subscrip- 
 tion to Mrs. Beloe, half as large again as that which Parr had 
 generously promised to the relict of him who wrote the Me- 
 moirs of a Sexagenarian. His publication was printed during 
 Beloe's life, and published after his death. I have taken occa- 
 sion to speak of it under the head of attacks on Dr. Parr. 
 
 * One of the special merits is the notation of spurious pas- 
 sages in Horace. 
 
 2f2
 
 436 MEMOIRS. 
 
 only justification. The rest was either assumption, 
 misconception, or malice. It was not a fact, that 
 Henry Homer's health was destroyed by Parr's neg- 
 lect. Henry's constitution concealed at this very time 
 the seeds of mortal disease. He was consumptive — he 
 was embarrassed too in his circumstances, not from 
 printing alone. In the money matters Dr. Combe 
 was evidently mistaken — in his political charges 
 and insinuations he was malicious. Nor is Parr 
 quite exonerated from blame in one respect. He 
 more than once hints at Combe's insufficiency, as 
 the editor of Horace, and yet he suffered him to go 
 on in this capacity as Homer's colleague without 
 protest or declaration against it. This was a main 
 error. He ought to have uttered his opinions in 
 plain terms, and not to have suffered even the pre- 
 tence of a literary co-partnership to be pleaded, un- 
 less, indeed, he had intended to support his medical 
 friend as a sleeping partner in the concern, but ac- 
 tually to do the business himself. Such a master 
 of scholars could not hold communion of intelli- 
 gence with the under workmen of literature. He 
 might command — he might instruct his labourers — 
 he could not receive instruction from them, and in 
 this instance we must blame him for sparing expli- 
 cit declaration, and his usual loud and manly no. 
 On the other hand, it cannot be deemed an unwor- 
 thy compliance to be the assistant of those who 
 have intellectual attainments — of whom one can 
 speak with esteem and kindness. Such men have 
 more than the claims of good nature upon us, and 
 so upon any proper occasion Dr. Combe had claims
 
 MEMOIRS. 437 
 
 on Dr. Parr. They were school-fellows at Harrow 
 — they had passed through life in intimate acquaint- 
 ance, and upon all common occasions were called 
 upon to give cordial assistance to each other. The 
 task of editing the Var. Horace was no common oc- 
 casion. Dr. Combe was not fitted for suck a work, 
 and it was weakness in Parr to encourage him in it, 
 if ever he did, whatsoever might have been his pri- 
 vate encouragements to Henry Homer. But Parr 
 was a prodigal in literature, who threw away thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands, and in the case of Dr. 
 Combe we see how he was recompensed.
 
 438 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Politics — Freud — Gerrald, 8^c. 
 
 It was my plan not to mingle politics of any kind 
 in this piece of biography, when I commenced the 
 work: but it must have been already remarked that 
 such a plan would have narrowed my scheme, and 
 deprived it of many of its most essential and useful 
 qualities. The preface to Bellcndenus, though a 
 specimen of Latinity, which marked the period of 
 its publication as a kind of classical era, was full of 
 party allusions, and of the delineations of the cha- 
 racters of party men, and could not therefore be 
 treated of without some allusion to the politics of 
 the day. After this publication Parr himself be- 
 came a political character by profession, connected 
 with the Whigs in opinion, and almost enthusiastic 
 in supporting their cause on every public occasion. 
 Of the Right Honourable Charles James Fox he 
 was the devoted partisan to the end of that states- 
 man's life ; and to the end of his own his enthu- 
 siastic admirer. He was zealous in defending the 
 characters, and promoting the interests of all good
 
 MEMOIRS. 439 
 
 Foxites, the Cokes, the Russells, the Spencers, 
 and all other distinguished persons who held the 
 same sentiments. He obtained votes in several 
 places merely to serve their cause, and instantly 
 obeyed the call to every election in every place 
 where he had a vote. He paid no attention to 
 distance of place, length of time, trouble, or ex- 
 pense ; though his friends were neither in power, 
 nor had any chance of being so, he adhered to them 
 with the same ardour, and same fidelity, as other men 
 do to Ministers, from whom they have received pre- 
 ferment, or expect to receive it. 
 
 About the elections at Warwick, he was ever 
 most anxious, and there remain many documents 
 proving his desire to serve the candidates of the 
 representation of that borough who opposed the in- 
 terest of the Castle. Mr. Greville, Mr. Ladbroke^ l^^ 
 Mr. Knight, Mr. Greatheed, all appear to have 
 received his most zealous support, and I find by 
 the following letter that Mr. Charles Mills began 
 his political career under the same banner : 
 
 DEAR SIR, IVanvick, 27th June, 1802. 
 
 I am sure it will give you sincere pleasure to hear that the 
 cause of freedom is likely to prevail, owing to the great and 
 generous exertions of my friends belonging to this borough. 
 Mr, Gaussen having, upon a vigorous canvas, been unable to 
 make any considerable impression upon the voters in our inter- 
 est left the town yesterday morning, first signifying to me his 
 determination to relinquish the contest. Amongst those who 
 have come forward to support my cause, and that of indepen- 
 dence, I know no person to whom I have greater obligations 
 than yourself. I have the honour to remain, dear Sir, your 
 very faithful and obedient servant, Chas. Mills. 
 
 Though in his general habits of thinking as he 
 professed.
 
 440 MEMOIRS. 
 
 He did actually dread all extremes under all pretences, and 
 was not very forward in recommending sudden and strong ex- 
 periments ; though he did look with dismay and with horror on 
 the poisonous maxims which have been broached in a neigh- 
 bouring country, yet he felt no obligations to speak smooth 
 things upon all that is passing at home.* 
 
 In politics, from the end of 1 792, he thought there 
 was, as Warburton said of those in 1756, "neither 
 end, nor measure, nor sense, nor honesty." -j^ The 
 nation ran stark mad into the French war, goaded on 
 by a Minister, of whom, in the notes on Rapin in 
 1783, he spoke with applause. He looked forward, 
 perhaps, to an association of his rising talents, and 
 his then professed principles, as auxiliary in future 
 to the establishment of his own party, and of his 
 own political opinions. But when that party had 
 been routed by the striphng, he could not hold in 
 the reins of his anger : 6 SeTva has been pourtrayed 
 in unfading colours : he disdained to use common 
 terms \}/up^pa re Koi dva)i^ekr\ ovo^ara kcu dvor^raiv 
 avTtpuiV 4^iAorj]X73jxara : he could not laugh him to 
 scorn : he collected the whole armoury of his elo- 
 quence, and hurled the sharpest weapons at the 
 hateful foe. And the Preface to BcllendenusJ 
 will be hereafter studied as a catalogue of the chief 
 errors of Pitt, dressed up in the most classical and 
 eloquent terms that the fancy of the Editor could 
 devise. 
 
 * Remarks on Combe's Statement. 
 
 t Letters to Hurd, p. 373. 
 
 X Bellendenus de Statu, wozu dieses Herausgebers Vorrede 
 wegen ihres echten Lateins so hochberuhmt ist, &c. «S:c. F. 
 A. Wolf, Lit. An. iv. 554—1820.
 
 MEMOIRS. 441 
 
 But the year 1792 was to him, as well as all his 
 contemporaries, the era of promise* and disappoint- 
 ment — that proud era in our history, when holding, 
 as we did, the destiny of the world in our hands, 
 we suffered it to slip from our grasp, and thus in- 
 volved ourselves in trouble, greater at the moment 
 than he who was not conversant with the transac- 
 tions of the time can well conceive, and so preg- 
 nant with consequences, that it is impossible to 
 look through the long vista of futurity without the 
 most awful apprehensions. 
 
 Great in arms, in arts, and science ; refined above 
 all other nations, perhaps virtuous above them all ; 
 industrious, active, enterprising, brave, our empire 
 stretching on either side of the globe, our language, 
 our habits establishing themselves in the east and in 
 the west ; with a polite literature equalling the most 
 vaunted compositions of Athens or of Rome, and 
 with science and philosophy far exceeding all that 
 the known earth had hitherto produced, the year 
 1792 beheld us emerging from the difficulties of an 
 unprosperous war, our resources increasing, our 
 wounds healing, and the form and feature of our 
 constitution regaining all its pristine beauty. At 
 this very period France had broken her bonds asun- 
 der, and like a froward and wanton youth, wasted 
 her strength, and frolicked in every abomination of 
 restraint thrown off, and freedom newly acquired. 
 It was the part of wisdom to watch the temper and 
 disposition of our neighbours, whilst this tendency 
 
 * See Mr. Pitt's speech, displaying the resources of the em- 
 pire, in a blaze oF eloquence seldom paralleled.
 
 442 MEMOIRS. 
 
 to insubordination and delirium lasted. To stand 
 on guard, not to assail, even to protect rather than 
 annoy. Our insular situation gave us sufficient 
 arms for defence, even if our greatness had not 
 placed us out of the reach of our enemies. 
 
 The time had come, too, when our national riches 
 offered at least the hope of paying off our national 
 incumbrances. Our repose was in some measure 
 insured by the disturbances of France, and the 
 dissolution of credit occasioned by those disturb- 
 ances, made the commerce of the world safely 
 our own. In fine, the pinnacle of our greatness 
 seemed placed on a base which nothing but our 
 own folly could undermine. Our power made us 
 the arbiters of nations, and even France herself 
 might have been restrained in her madness, and half 
 her enormities prevented, had we been wise. At 
 this crisis, had Mr. Fox been the confidential Mi- 
 nister of Great Britain, I agree with Dr. French 
 Lawrence in his letter to Mr. Burke, it would have 
 been well for us, and for our posterity. Perhaps he 
 was the fittest individual of the human race to be 
 made mediator of the world's debate ; and though 
 the storm of dissension and discussion ran too high 
 to be at once lulled and assuaged by human power, 
 yet might his influence have prevented the pouring 
 out of more bitter waters, and at length restored the 
 calm. But at this crisis peace no longer continued 
 to govern the counsels of our rulers, they held up 
 their heads proudly against a system which they 
 were determined to crush, but did not attempt to 
 modify or control. The passions were roused, the
 
 MEMOIRS. 443 
 
 voice of reason was silenced, and, with more than 
 infatuation, the British nation was hurried into a 
 war against a people frantic with all the licentious- 
 ness of newly acquired liberty. The events of that 
 war are scarcely yet digested into historical order ; 
 but some of the opinions of Parr and his friends 
 shall be recorded in his language and their own. 
 I insert two letters, one from Mr. J. Tweddell, and 
 one from Bishop Bennet, and several others will be 
 found in the Appendix : 
 
 Mr. J. Tweddell, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, London, May 1792. 
 
 You hope our Club is not too violent. There is no danger of 
 that. At the same time it will never have the concurrence of 
 " the Duke of Poi'tland, and those temperate Whigs." Do not, 
 ray dear Sir, call these men Whigs ; they are Tories to the 
 bone. What do you think of a man who could be absurd 
 enough to profess himself an enemy to all innovation, to all 
 change, all reform ? This did the Duke of Portland at Burling- 
 ton-House, no longer ago than five weeks. I had it from one 
 who dined with him. Mr. Fox told his Grace that, on subjects 
 of reform they held no principle in common — that he heartily 
 agreed in principle with Lord L, and Mr. Grey — that a tho- 
 rough reform was wanting, though not quite so immediate as 
 they wished. Lord L, said he did indeed wish for a thorough 
 change, and the sooner it took place the better. Lord Guild- 
 ford joined in sentiment with the Duke of Portland. Are these 
 men Whigs ? Yes, for why ? They are, an please you, mem- 
 bers of the Whig Club ; which Club consists at present of To- 
 ries under the name of Whigs. They black-balled Mackintosh 
 twice ; there appeared almost as many black-balls as white ones. 
 I heard Mr. Sheridan com.plain of this outrageous expression 
 of Toryism. This instance, among many others of their late 
 conduct, has convinced every one that they are not the men 
 they profess to be, and you will soon see that society de- 
 serted by every respectable man in it. Mr. Fox was much
 
 444 MEMOIRS. 
 
 enraged when they black-balled Mackintosh, After what I 
 have told you of the Duke of Portland's sentiments on the sub- 
 ject of reform, I am sure you cannot say that he is one of 
 " tliose temperate Whigs with whom you would act." Your 
 opinions are directly opposite. He is against reform, and you 
 are for it. A society of the kind newly instituted, is one of 
 those trials which are sure to separate the sheep from the goats. 
 The Duke of Portland is, I believe, a very good man {ris yap 
 dvTuy xltyei) in private life. But, though he has professed 
 himself a friend to liberty, now that a measure of that kind is 
 actually brought forward, he takes the alarm of aristocracy, 
 and trembles for the downfal of Mr. Burke's pillar. He is in 
 my opinion a rash Tory. As for poor Edmund,* he is mad, and 
 something is to be said in behalf of a lunatic. Besides, 1 could 
 praise him on another account : he serves the good cause by 
 showing the bad cause in the worst light. But what bad enough 
 can be said of 6 ^eTya a driveller, who has had the presump- 
 tion to domineer for nine calamitous years over these insulted 
 kingdoms, in contempt of right reason, in defiance of common 
 sense> in violation of justice, and in mockery of legislation ? 
 Wlieresoever is he virtuous, but in nothing ? Wheresoever is he 
 . . . . but in all things ? I am glad, however, that he is 
 alarmed ; I should be sorry if a man reputed Z»j/ hisjriends to be 
 so wise, should have no ground for his apprehension. On 
 Monday you shall receive the last sheet. Believe me, dear 
 Sir, with all possible respect, yours most faithfully, 
 
 John Tweddell. 
 
 An Extract from a letter of Bishop Bennet, to 
 Dr. Parr. 
 
 MY DEAR FKIEND, 
 
 But what ought to give you more satisfaction, is 
 
 your success in having made a subject of little importance in 
 itself the vehicle of so much good writing, such fair apprecia- 
 tion of different authors, and so much political good sense, 
 while Sir William Jones, with a bigotry that astonishes and of- 
 fends me, declares he never has read, and never will read, a 
 
 * See Mr, Fox's letter about Burke, in Ap.
 
 MEMOIRS. 445 
 
 line of Burke's book, which, however, without having read it, 
 he pronounces a weak and a wicked one. Your truest com- 
 mendation of his merit, and your public censures of his faults, 
 explained and sanctioned by very strong reasons for both, do 
 you far more honour, in my eyes, as a scholar and a man ; 
 and this I repeat, though I have a veneration for Jones's abili- 
 ties and integrity approaching nearly to enthusiasm. I need 
 not express how much pleasure I felt on finding your opinions 
 concerning the French Revolution in the 57th and 58th pages 
 agree so nearly with my own ; or rather, were my own reflected 
 back upon me with the utmost precision. Even on a much 
 nearer point, the topics of reformation in our own country, I 
 see very small shades of difference, except that I do not appre- 
 hend much danger from the rotten boroughs allowing people in 
 the monied interest a fair door to enter Parliament ; that I 
 would destroy the Ecclesiastical Courts (absit verbo invidia) 
 without mercy ; and that I fear severity in the excise laws is, in 
 some degree, necessary in a commercial country, at least, if 
 revenue is expected from commerce. 
 
 Perhaps the correspondence already quoted is 
 more than enough to prove that his pen had never 
 been employed upon any political topic for inflam- 
 matory purposes, not to facilitate, but to prevent the 
 introduction of Gallic extravagances. 
 
 But while I look with dismay (says Parr) and with horror on 
 the poisonous maxims which have been broached in a neigh- 
 bouring country, I feel no obligation to speak smooth things 
 upon all that is passing at home. I do not confound the French 
 people with the French government. I distinguish between 
 the instruments and the principles of the war. I hold that the 
 complicated, momentous, and comprehensive questions arising 
 from it are not to be scanned by the hireling retailers of tem- 
 porary events, or the shallow dupes of imposture, for the mo- 
 ment popular and triumphant. 
 
 It is true, he was not inclined to speak smooth 
 things ; but it is false that he was either a dis-> 
 tinguished proficient in Jacobin logic, or a luke-
 
 446 MEMOIRS. 
 
 warm enemy to Jacobin cruelty. He took a wide 
 survey of the Leavings of the troubled ocean ; but 
 his passions were excited only against cruelty, 
 and against those fiends who had shut the gate of 
 mercy on mankind. The two following letters of 
 Dr. Parr to the Rev. Mr. Willes,=^ of Newbold 
 Comyn, glow with the feeling which burst from his 
 bosom, and that of every other Englishman I am 
 acquainted with, on the execution of Louis XVI. 
 
 London, Jan. 23d, 1793. 
 The deed of hell is done. On Sunday morn the final sen- 
 tence passed for death. Execution was fixed for twelve on 
 Monday, on the Place de Greve. His appeal to the people 
 was dreaded, and on Sunday evening this most unfortunate of 
 princes, and most injured of men, was beheaded in the Temple. 
 May the righteous wrath of Heaven overtake his barbarous 
 murderers. A general massacre is expected, as Marat's legion 
 of fiends are in full force. May God bless you, and preserve 
 this country. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Thursday, Jan. 24;th, 1793. 
 
 He ivas not murdered in the Temple, but at the Place de 
 Greve. Yesterday I dined where Home Tooke was, and my 
 toast was " Destruction to the destroyers of Louis Capet." 
 
 God bless you. All reports are in favour of the firmness 
 and courage of this injured prince. There is great ferment, 
 but the general sentiment is nobly on the side of humanity. 
 
 After the death of the French King, Ministers 
 drew the sword, and threw away the scabbard ; and 
 the nation went hand in hand with them. On every 
 side the fiend of persecution reared his head, and 
 
 * I am favoured by Edward Willes, Esq., the worthy and 
 only son of Mr. Willes, of Newbold Comyn, with the sight of 
 these letters.
 
 MEMOIRS. 447 
 
 sought to fasten his envenomed fangs on opposi- 
 tion of every description, whether rehgious or po- 
 litical. 
 
 At Cambridge, Mr. Frend, of Jesus College was 
 ejected from his fellowship for sentiments deemed 
 unstatutable, and the University sanctioned the sen- 
 tence. Parr zealously espoused the cause of Frend, 
 and the following letters of Dr. Farmer, Master of 
 Emanuel College, will display the spirit of the writer : 
 
 Dr. Farmer, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Amen Corner, June 12ih, 1793. 
 
 . . . . I suppose you hear that poor Charles Fox is fallen 
 into the pity of his enemies. Dr. Brocklesby assures me he 
 lost ,^40,000 at Ascot Races, and his friends are putting about 
 the hat for him. Much money is talked of, but I wish it proves 
 not assignats only. Dear Sir, yours sincerely, 
 
 R. Farmer. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Si. Paul's, June IQith, 1793. 
 
 I am greatly obliged to you for a long letter of instruction 
 and entertainment, and perhaps I might have thanked you for 
 a while in silence, had not my hasty xvriting, or your hasty 
 reading, led you into what we had used to call a non sequitur. 
 Mr. Fox could not lose forty, or any other number of thou- 
 sands, at Ascott races, because the subscription for him was 
 heard of in February, but the races which I believe began and 
 ended last tveek were not meant. The old Doctor's information, 
 whether true or not, was long before, and referred to races a 
 year old or more, for aught I know. 
 
 With respect to the Cambridge business, it was begun whilst 
 T was last in residence, and all my concern in it has been as 
 an assessor in conjunction tvith the rest of my brethren, where, 
 perhaps, I was instrumental in the mildness of the sentence, 
 which, in truth, added nothing to the College rustication. The 
 pamphlet is a poor business, and certainly would not have been 
 noticed at any other time, but the damned iteration (as Master
 
 448 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Falstaff says) of appendix upon appendix, to call up the mob, 
 was intolerable. If any individual among us has misbehaved, 
 let them be, as Scale says, perstringed. Let no man even pre- 
 sume to kick the alma mater herself without feeling his toes as 
 sore afterwards as if he had kicked the Monument itself. 
 Yours sincerely and affectionately, R. Farmer. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Emanuel, Oct. 7th, 1793. 
 
 Put me down two guineas for the tvindoxv, and thank i/our- 
 selfin my name for the opportunity. I would give twenty to 
 cure your prejudices about Frend. This poor man still hovers 
 about the University, and now and then attempts to break into 
 the College. He cries out for persecution like his brother 
 Jach in the Tale of the Tub, and wishes to enlist with the army 
 of martyrs. Indeed, as matters have gone lately, it may prove 
 0. profitable cor ^s. Yours sincerely, R. Farmer. 
 
 Calamo rapidissimo. 
 
 The desertion of the Portland party, and their 
 union with Mr. Pitt, was the signal for proscribing 
 all opposition to the government ; Mr. Burke had 
 now thrown down his dagger on the floor of the 
 House of Commons ; the minds of partisans were 
 infuriated against each other ; the still small voice 
 of reason was no longer heard, and but for the hand- 
 ful of patriots who, true to their political principles, 
 and to the rightful cause of liberty, still remained 
 firm at their post, the rashness and madness of 
 alarm might have shipwrecked even the constitution 
 itself. 
 
 Among the proscribed, the unhappy Joseph Ger- 
 rald was a prominent character, and as his history
 
 MEMOIRS, 441) 
 
 will illustrate the kindly, humane, and Christian 
 feelings of Dr. Parr, I shall consume a few pages in 
 recording it. 
 
 Joseph Gerrald, a West Indian of some property, 
 was sent to England after his father's death for edu- 
 cation. I believe by the advice of Mr. Bromfield, 
 the surgeon, his guardians placed him at Stanmore, 
 under the tuition of Dr. Parr ; and much was he 
 distinguished by his talents for a time, but was at 
 length expelled for extreme indiscretion and sent 
 home. On his return from the West Indies in 1788, 
 where he had resided several years, and from the 
 United States, where he became a Barrister, he was 
 anxious to renew his acquaintance with Parr, and 
 in consequence addressed the following letter to him: 
 
 DEAR AND RESPECTED SIR, 
 
 I take the liberty of acquainting you, that after a residence 
 of some years in different parts of the West Indies, and on the 
 Continent of America, I am now arrived in England. I have 
 the happiness to add, that after having experienced much ad- 
 versity, my prospects in life are considerably brightened ; and 
 that, by a train of incidents as fortunate as they were unex- 
 pected, I am likely to obtain a solid and comfortable independ- 
 ence. My conduct, as a member of society, has of late years 
 been such as to procure the esteem of my friends, and the ap- 
 probation of my fellow-citizens, and to wear out those unfa- 
 vourable impressions which my former indiscretions, I must 
 with regret confess, gave them too just reason to entertain. 
 
 Whatever may be my future portion of reputation or prospe- 
 rity, 1 shall ever. Sir, principally attribute it to those early ad- 
 monitions which, with a tenderness truly paternal, were so fre- 
 quently poured forth upon me by my esteemed benefactor j 
 admonitions which, however restrained in their intended ope- 
 ration by the wild impetuosity of my passions, could not fail 
 ultimately to produce a serious influence on my conduct, and 
 
 VOL. I. 2 G
 
 450 MEMOIRS, 
 
 which no change of place in any trying vicissitude of fortune, 
 nor a lapse of thirteen years, have been able to eradicate from 
 my mind. 
 
 There are many letters of Gerrald to Dr. Parr, 
 and he appears from them to have been a man of 
 very strong feeling, a true child of the sun, and 
 extremely imprudent in his conduct. Parr had 
 dissuaded him, in the most solemn manner, from 
 joining political societies ; and particularly the Bri- 
 tish Convention, which assembled in Edinburgh the 
 latter end of the year 1793. For attending this 
 meeting he was unanimously found guilty of sedi- 
 tion by a Scotch Jury in March 1794, and was sen- 
 tenced by the Court to fourteen years transporta- 
 tion. He might easily have escaped, even after he 
 was accused, had he listened to the advice of Parr, 
 and had he yielded to the suggestions of other 
 friends, who entreated him to absent himself till the 
 storm had passed by ; but he was eager to become 
 a martyr in the cause of liberty, and rushed for- 
 ward to destruction against every warning. After 
 conviction all his acquaintance succoured him with 
 generous eagerness ; and when actually embarked 
 on board the vessel destined to transport him, a 
 considerable sum of money was collected to give 
 him all the possible comforts which a man of edu- 
 cation, imder such degrading and horrible circum- 
 stances, could receive. 
 
 Parr was foremost in the cause ; not only did he 
 use every effort to raise money for his unhappy 
 pupil, but he endeavoured to enlist a higher and 
 greater power, if not in the cause of Gerrald, at
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 451 
 
 least in the cause of humanity. He wrote the fol- 
 lowing letter to Mr. Windham, then in office : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Hatton, Sth May, 1795. 
 
 You will excuse me for trespassing so far on your remem- 
 brance of past events as to believe that you will not refuse 
 what I am going to ask to one who has never been disposed to 
 refuse you greater things. Yesterday I was struck down with 
 horror and dismay, upon hearing that an order for going on 
 shipboard had been suddenly given to Mr. Joseph Gerrald, a 
 scholar of mine, whom Mr. Pitt, furnished as he is with infei'ior 
 learning, endowed with talents certainly not superior, and 
 actuated by a spirit more adapted to the coarseness of a Con- 
 vention than to the gravity of a Parliament, has once, or more 
 than once, called Gerrald. Though I most widely differ from 
 Mr. Gerralds fantastic opinions — though I entirely disapprove 
 of his impetuous behaviour — though I have often warned him 
 of danger, and often endeavoured to preserve him from guilt, 
 yet I must, in common with many wise and good men, repro- 
 bate his sentence as wholly unwarrantable by sound law, and 
 ever shall I deplore that ungracious and most inauspicious po- 
 licy which is now on the point of carrying that sentence into 
 plenary execution. From the relation which I bore to Mr. 
 Gerrald in his happier and better days — from the admiration I 
 feel for his mighty talents — from the opportunities I have had 
 for tracing many of his misfortunes, and much of his miscon- 
 duct to their earliest sources, I cannot think of his present or 
 his future condition, without the keenest anguish of pity, min- 
 gled with indignation. To you, dear Sir, I say this without 
 disguise, for you are a man of letters ; and without apology, 
 for you are a man of honour. Yes, with genius such as is 
 rarely to be found at the bar or in the senate, Mr. Gerrald after 
 a iew hours notice, and in the dreary silence of night, was hur- 
 ried away from his prison in Scotland, and now scarcely with 
 a change of apparel, and without books to console him amidst 
 the sorrows he is doomed to suffer, on a spot where solitude 
 itself would be a blessing, he has been summoned very sud- 
 denly from his confinement, and thrown into the transport. 
 
 Tlie rapidity of the former measure may, for what I know, 
 2g2
 
 452 MEMOIRS. 
 
 be justified by the circumstances of the moment, but the seve- 
 rity of the latter is most wanton indeed. 
 
 What I have to request from you is, that you would prevent 
 for a few days his being sent from England, till, by the kind- 
 ness of his friends, he is furnished with some clothes and a few 
 books. I have the honour to be, with great respect, dear Sir, 
 your very obedient faithful servant, S. Parr. 
 
 The following is the answer : 
 
 SIR, Hill-street, 11th Mai/, 1795. 
 
 I am directed by Mr. Windham, who is prevented from want- 
 of time from writing himself, to send you the enclosed extract 
 of a letter from the keeper of Newgate, which contains all the 
 information which he at present possesses respecting the sub- 
 ject of your letter, except that orders are given that any pac- 
 ket, addressed to Mr. Gerrald, shall be sent after him, and re- 
 ceived on board the vessel. The name of the vessel will be 
 seen in the extract. 
 
 Mr. Windham does not know the time fixed for her sailing, 
 but considers it as impossible to send any orders to detain a 
 vessel destined for so long a voyage, and having so many per- 
 sons on board. I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedi- 
 ent humble servant, Robert Lukin. 
 
 The Keeper of Newgate's letter : 
 
 I wont say that Mr. Gerrald had notice of the moment of 
 his being sent off; but be assured he had sufficient intimation, 
 and more than a month ago, of his departure, and that sud- 
 denly. 
 
 Having thus failed in his application to Mr. 
 Windham, and left to his own resources, he shov/ed 
 how full his heart was of every sentiment that can 
 honour man's nature, in the defence of his forlorn 
 and degraded scholar. The moment that he heard 
 of his being shipped suddenly without notice, and 
 without necessaries, he wrote him the following let- 
 ter, labelled with his own hand — " Copy of my let-
 
 MEMOIRS. 453 
 
 ter to Mr. Gerrald, written in the summer of 1795, 
 and sent to Mr. Mackintosh the next day :" 
 
 DEAR JOSEPH, 
 
 I hear with indignation and horror, that the severe sentence 
 passed upon you in Scotland is shortly to be carried into exe- 
 cution ; and, remembering that I was once your master, that 
 I have long been your friend, that I am your fellow-creature, 
 made so by the hand of God ; and that, by every law of that 
 religion, in the belief of which I hope to live and die, I ought 
 to be your comforter, now, dear Joseph, I am for the last 
 time writing to you. Oh ! my friend, at this moment my heart 
 sinks within me, and with a wish to say ten thousand things, I 
 am hardly able to say one. But you shall not leave this land 
 without one affectionate, one sincere, one solemn farewell. 
 Joseph^ before we meet again, that bosom which now throbs 
 for you, that tongue which dictates, will be laid in the cold 
 grave. Be it so. Yet, my dear friend, I must cherish the 
 hope that death is not the end of such a being as man. No, 
 Joseph, no, there is a moral government going on, and in the 
 course of it our afflictions will cease, and compensation will be 
 made us, I trust, for all our unmerited sufferings. 
 
 There is another world, and a better ; and in that world I 
 pray to God that I may meet your face again. Bear up, I be- 
 seech you, against the hard and cruel oppression which the 
 evil spirit of these days, and your own want of discretion, have 
 brought upon you. Mackintosh has informed me of that which 
 is about to happen, and I have done all that I can in your 
 favour. Let me conjure you, dear Joseph, to conduct yourself 
 not only with firmness, but with calmness. Do not, do not, by 
 turbulence in conversation, or action, give your enemies occa- 
 sion to make the cup of misery more bitter. Reflect seriously 
 on your past life, and review many of those opinions which you 
 have unfortunately taken up ; and which, as you know from 
 experience, have little tended to make you a happier or a bet- 
 ter man. I do not mean, Joseph, to reproach you ; no, such 
 an intention at such a crisis, is, and ought to be, very far from 
 my heart ; but I do mean to advise you, and excite you to such 
 a use of your talents, as may console you under the sorrows of
 
 454 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 this life, and prepare you effectually for what is to follow. I 
 will send you a few books in addition to other matters ; they 
 will cheer you in the dreary hours you have to pass upon that 
 forlorn spot to which the inhuman governors of this land are 
 about to send you. 
 
 Some time ago I saw your dear boy, and depend upon it 
 that, for his sake, and your own, I will show him every kind- 
 ness in my power. I shall often think of you ; yes, Joseph, 
 and there are moments too, in which 1 shall pray for you. 
 Farewell, dear Joseph Gerrald, and believe me your most un- 
 feigned and afflicted friend, S. Parr. 
 
 Pray write to me, God Almighty bless you ! — Joseph ! 
 Farewell ! 
 
 Gerrald bore his afflictions with magnanimity ; 
 his mind was even elevated by his sufferings, he felt 
 as a martyr to a cause always feels, a satisfaction 
 even in the wrongs that were inflicted upon him. 
 That such was the enthusiastic tone of his mind 
 might appear from his own letters, and from the 
 evidence of those who witnessed his brave and 
 manly bearing. Whether he suffered justly or not 
 I do not pronounce, though history will ; but what- 
 ever may be our opinions, his fortitude must ever 
 command admiration. I shall copy only a part of 
 one letter to William Phillips, Esq. when on board 
 the Sovereign : 
 
 MY DEAR MR. PHILLIPS, Spithead, May 16th, 1795. 
 
 I have repeatedly attempted to write to my 
 
 ever honoured and loved friend and father. Dr. Parr, but it is 
 impossible. The tender and filial affection which I bear to him, 
 the recollection of the many endearing scenes which we have 
 passed together, the sacred relation that subsists between Jo- 
 seph Gerrald, and that Samuel Parr who poured into my un- 
 tutored mind the elements of all, either of learning or morals, 
 which i$ valuable about me ; whose great instructions planted
 
 MEMOIRS. 455 
 
 in my bosom the seeds of that magnanimity which I trust I 
 now display, and at which persecution itself must stand abashed ; 
 — all these, my friend, rush at once upon my mind, and form a 
 conflict of feelings, an awful confusion I cannot describe, but 
 which he who is the cause I know can feel, and can feel in 
 their most full and virtuous extent. 
 
 To the greater part of my friends / have written, but to Dr. 
 Parr I have not written. But to his heart my silence speaks. 
 The painter, who could not express the excessive grief, covered 
 with a veil the face of Agamemnon. Tell him, then, my dear 
 Mr. Phillips, that if ever I have spoken peevishly of his sup- 
 posed neglect of me, he must, nay I know he will, attribute it 
 to its real cause. A love vehement and jealous ; and which in 
 the growth of a temper like Gerrald's, lights its torch at the 
 fire of the furies ; and when my tongue uttered any harshness 
 of expression, even at that very period my heart would have 
 bled for him, and the compunction of the next moment inflicted 
 a punishment far more than adequate to the guilt of the pre- 
 ceding one. Tell him to estimate my situation not by the ten- 
 derness of his feelings, but by the firmness of mine. That if 
 my destiny is apparently rigorous, the unconquerable firmness of 
 my mind breaks the blow which it cannot avert; and that, enlist- 
 ed as I am to the cause of truth and virtue, I bear about me a pa- 
 tient integrity which no blandishments can corrupt, and a heart 
 which no dangers can daunt. Tell him in a word, that as I 
 have hitherto lived, let the hour of dissolution come when it 
 may, I shall die the pupil of Samuel Parr. Once more then, 
 my dear friend, adieu ! I am convinced that no long period 
 will elapse before I shall see you. In the mean time I shall 
 prepare to govern my conduct by that stern, but virtuous in- 
 flexibility, of which, upon all great and trying occasions, I 
 feel myself capable, and which, upon such occasions, it is the 
 duty of every moral being to practice, whether he be called' 
 upon to act or to suffer. Your sincere and affectionate friend, 
 
 Joseph Gerrald. 
 
 There are other letters from Gerrald during the 
 course of his voyage, all written in the same spirit. 
 The following letter from Governor Hunter closes 
 the scene :
 
 456 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Si/dneij, Nexv South Wales, 25th April 1796. 
 
 MY DEAR COOPER, 
 
 Having, by the Sovereign store-ship, received a letter from 
 you, which was committed to the care of Mr, Gerrald, a per- 
 son who had by his mistaken political opinions, and probably 
 too much violence of disposition on subjects of such a nature, 
 brought himself into the situation in which I found him on 
 board the above ship. When he arrived in the harbour he ap- 
 peared in a very ill state of health ; he had a few acquaintance 
 here who accommodated him for a time, when application was 
 made to me for permission for his purchasing a small house and 
 garden in this neighbourhood; but in so quiet and retired a 
 situation as would suit the weakly habit he seemed to be in. 
 To this he received my consent, and the Surgeon of the set- 
 tlement, or any other he might desire, was directed to attend 
 him. He was soon pronounced to be in a confirmed and rapid 
 decline. Of this truth every day convinced us by the changes 
 which took place. I have therefore only now to inform you, 
 that he departed this hfe on the 16th of March, and was de- 
 cently interred in his own garden, agreeable to his wishes, as 
 signified a day or two before he expired. Soon after Mr. Ger- 
 rald's death, a Mr. Skirving, who had come to this country 
 under similar circumstances, and who had purchased a little 
 farm already cleared, was industrious and indefatigable in his 
 attention to it, and was in a fair way of doing well, was, after 
 the labour of the last harvest, seized with a severe dysentery, 
 of which he died 19th March. The others who came out in 
 the same ship, under the same situation or circumstances, are 
 living in this town and in health, except Mr, Muir, who made 
 his escape from hence in an American ship about two months 
 ago. Let me hear from you, and you'll oblige, my dear Cooper, 
 yours affectionately, John Hunter. 
 
 After Gcrrald's death, Parr did not fail in his 
 promise of protecting his son. The letters of Dr. 
 Rayne, to Dr. Parr, and Mr. Jones, in the Appen- 
 dix, will relate the conduct pursued in the manage- 
 ment of his education, and will be an example of
 
 MEMOIRS. 457 
 
 the uprightness and firmness of hirn who protected 
 the fatherless, not only by professions, but in deed 
 and m truth. At the dose of the year 1 800, Joseph 
 Gerrald, the only son of his unfortunate father, was 
 sent to Cambridge to be entered at Trinity College
 
 458 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 French Revolution — Pursuits of Literature — Per- 
 secutions on account of Politics — Death of Sir 
 IVilUam Jones — Bishop of Cloyne. 
 
 Like his friend Sir William Jones, 
 
 Of the French Revolution, in its commencement, he enter- 
 tained a favourable opinion ; and, in common w^ith many wise 
 and good men who had not yet discovered the foul principle 
 from which it sprang, wished success to the struggles of that 
 nation for the establishment of a free constitution.* 
 
 His sentiments on this most important question 
 will be best understood from his own words. He 
 thought 
 
 That the maladies of France had reached almost the last 
 stages of malignity, and threatened a speedy dissolution of all 
 government, it were folly to controvert, f To the mighty de- 
 cision of experience (he again says, Sequel, p. 60) I leave the 
 ultimate event : not, indeed, without a fearful sense of the 
 uncertainty which impends over all the judgments and all the 
 affairs of men ; nor yet without a high and animating affiance, 
 that partial evils will at last work together for the general 
 good; that the noblest powers of the human mind will be called 
 into action ; and that the public stock of human happiness will 
 be secured and enlarged. 
 
 We have seen the sturdy Tory, Dr. Farmer, ap- 
 
 * Lord Teignmouth's Life, vol. ii. p. 289. 
 t Sequel, p. 63.
 
 MEMOIRS. 459 
 
 proving of Parr's opinions on the French Revolu- 
 tion. The moderation of those opinions was, in- 
 deed, applauded by all sober and reflecting men. 
 Nor was Parr's sensibility less excited than Lord 
 Teignmouth's, or Mr. Burke's, at the enormities, 
 " the deeds that blotted out the sun," which sprung 
 out of the Revolution. His disgust, nevertheless, 
 was not unspeakable; he vented his wrath in the 
 language of heartfelt indignation on the murder of 
 Louis XVI. ; and looked with dismay and with hor- 
 ror on the poisonous maxims of a Marat, a Dan- 
 ton, and a Robespierre, whose dogmas he reprobat- 
 ed, and whose outrages he detested. He had view- 
 ed with admiration the monarchy of France, flou- 
 rishing in the field. For many of the French no- 
 blesse " who worshipped," as Mr. Burke most beau- 
 tifully says, " their country in the person of their 
 king ;" and " whose blood," as Shakspeare says not 
 less beautifully, " is fetched from fathers of war- 
 proof," he had a sincere veneration. But against 
 the despots who threatened to invade France under 
 the pretence of re-establishing her monarchy, he 
 thus declaimed. 
 
 If, indeed, the threatened crusade of ruffian despots should 
 be attempted, it will, in my opinion, be an outrageous infringe- 
 ment upon the laws of nations ; it will be a savage conspiracy 
 against the written and the unwritten rights of mankind ; and, 
 therefore, in the sincerity of my soul, I pray the righteous 
 Governor of the Universe, the Creator of Men, and the King 
 of Kings, I pray Him to abate the pride, to assuage the malice, 
 and to confound all the devices, of all the parties, directly or 
 indirectly leagued in this complicated scene of guilt and hor- 
 ror! this insult upon the dignity of human nature itself!
 
 460 MEMOIRS. 
 
 this treason against the majesty of God's own image, rational 
 and immortal man. — Sequel, p, 63. 
 
 The rabble of barbarous nations'''^ did enter the 
 field, and did give to spoil the innocent and labour- 
 ing soul, did empty the cities of the world of their 
 ancient inhabitants, and filled them again with many 
 and variable sorts of sorrow ; but, in the event, a 
 conqueror arose with the port and bearing of an an- 
 cient, who avenged his country, and bowed the dy- 
 nasties of Europe beneath his sword. During the 
 progress of the awful events above alluded to, Parr 
 was called upon by two attacks to vindicate his 
 character. We have already seen how he answered 
 the charge of Dr. Combe : 
 
 I pronounce him an atrocious slanderer who would torture 
 any undisguised scruples as to the irresistible necessity of an 
 Anti-Gallican war, into a proof of the slightest propensities to- 
 wards Galilean theories, Galilean extravagancies, or Galilean 
 enormities. — Remarks, p. Q5. 
 
 The other attack in the Pursuits of Literature I 
 shall consider at greater length. It is now gene- 
 rally acknowledged, that the Pursuits of Literature 
 was a book of proscription, I do not say the book, 
 for it was only one of many in which the names of 
 the intended victims of a cruel policy were inserted. 
 In Anti-Jacobin reviews and magazines, in daily, 
 weekly, monthly, and quarterly pamphlets, political 
 rancour emitted its deadly venom ; writers sprang 
 up, who raked together the private incidents of life 
 to extract noxious matter wherewith to taint the 
 reputation of all those who went not with the ruling 
 
 * See Raleigh's Hist, of the World — ad finem.
 
 MEMOIRS. 461 
 
 party in opinion ; and who assembled in a body all 
 the authors^ and all the distinguished persons sus- 
 pected of favouring the Revolutionary system, to 
 destroy them at a blow. Thus, in effect, imitating 
 the savage cruelty of the Maratists in France, in 
 their massacres, whether by noyade, fusillade, or 
 guillotine. In the Marian, the Syllan, or the Tri- 
 umvirate proscriptions, the blow instantly followed, 
 or mercy was conceded. But in this Anti-Jacobin 
 proscription, the favour of speedy liberation, either 
 by death or respite, was not granted ; the victims 
 were dragged before the public, and not dismissed 
 by a merciful extinction ; their good name was ex- 
 posed to every possible reproach, and the maxim of 
 Caligula was adopted in the prolongation of their 
 torments, " Ita feri ut se mori sentiant." 
 
 This atrocious principle of wreaking political ven- 
 geance by sullying a man's good name, by accusing 
 him of republican principles if he does not support 
 your political idol, or of a tendency to Socinianism 
 if he does not explain the true doctrines of the 
 church exactly according to your own notions, 
 though very greatly abated since the days of Mr. 
 Pitt, yet is not wholly extinct. The favour with 
 which some odious journalists have been received, 
 and the proscription under which some most ex- 
 cellent men are known to labour, even at the pre- 
 sent day, are melancholy proofs of what I am as- 
 serting. 
 
 In May 1794, Dialogue the first of the Pursuits 
 of Literature, a political poem, was published. In
 
 462 MEMOIRS. 
 
 this poem Dr. Parr is called " a puny whipster," 
 and is accused of using " unbridled license of lan- 
 guage, and of indecent conduct, unmeaning vanity, 
 and silly cruelty." The reader then is referred " to 
 the third part, in which the Doctor makes a more 
 distinguished and public entry." The literary rack 
 thus anticipated and promised was not threatened 
 in vain. The third Dialogue of the Pursuits of 
 Literature was published in 1796, when every pre- 
 paration had been made for public vengeance against 
 all the victims of political animosity. I copy the 
 following lines : 
 
 Nares rising paus'd; then gave (the contest done) 
 
 To Weston, Taylor's hymns and Alciphron ; 
 
 To Tew, Parr's sermon, and the game of goose, 
 
 And Rochester's address to lemans loose ; 
 
 Who now reads Parr ? whose title now shall give ? 
 
 Doctor sententious, hight, or positive ? 
 
 From Greeek, or French, or any Roman ground, 
 
 In mazy progress and eternal round. 
 
 Quotations dance, and wonder at their place. 
 
 Buz through his wig, and give the bush more grace. 
 
 But on the mitred oath that Tucker swore 
 
 Parr wisely ponder'd, and his oath forbore. 
 
 He prints a sermon j Hurd with judging eye 
 
 Reads, and rejects with critic dignity : 
 
 Words upon words, and most against their will, 
 
 And honied globules dribble through his quill. 
 
 Mawkish, and thick ; earth scarce the tropes supplies, 
 
 Heav'n lends her moon and clouded galaxies : 
 
 Polemic frenzy, and irreverent rage, 
 
 And dotard impotence deform the page. 
 
 Let him but wrangle, and in any shape 
 
 Not insignificance itself can 'scape : 
 
 Horace and Combe go forth, a gentle pair, 
 
 Splendid and silly, to unequal war ;
 
 MEMOIRS. 463 
 
 But while tho midwife to Lucina prays. 
 
 The Gorgon glares, and blasts the Critic's bays, 
 
 Parr prints a paper ; well in all things equal, 
 
 Sense, taste, wit, judgment ; but pray read the Sequel. 
 
 Sequel to what ? the Doctor only knows. 
 
 Morsels of politics, most chosen prose. 
 
 Of nobles, Priestley, Plato, democrats, 
 
 Pitt, Plutarch, Curtis, Burke, and Rous, and Rats ; 
 
 The scene ? 'tis Birmingham, renown'd afar 
 
 At once for half-pence, and for Doctor Parr. 
 
 But not only in the text is Parr traduced for 
 *' polemic frenzy," and " dotard impotence ;" in the 
 notes the attack is followed up with redouhled 
 malice : 
 
 I really think (says the author) it is impossible to point out 
 any man of learning and ability (and Dr. Parr has both), who 
 has hitherto wasted his powers and attainments in such a desul- 
 tory, unmeaning, wild, unconnected, and useless manner, as 
 Dr, Parr. In nullum reipublicae usum ambitiosa loquela incla- 
 ruit. I have done with him. 
 
 No ! the beast of prey never loses his victim till 
 he has torn him to pieces ; and of all monsters the 
 polemical or political bigot is the most cruel. Lo ! 
 in the year 1797 this, " I have done with him" has 
 an adjunct : 
 
 It would be ridiculous indeed to compare the Birmingham 
 Doctor with Dr. Samuel Johnson .... What has Dr. 
 Parr written ? A sermon or two, rather long ; a Latin Preface 
 to Bellendenus, (rather long too,) consisting of a cento of 
 Latin and Greek expressions applied to political subjects; 
 another Preface to some English Tracts, and two or three Eng. 
 lish Pamphlets about his own private quarrels ; and this is the 
 man to be compared with Dr. Samuel Johnson ! i ! Why am I 
 forced into a confirmation of my opinion stronger and stronger.
 
 464 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Pursuits of Literature, 7th edition revised. Note to the 3d 
 Dialogue additional, p. 219. 
 
 That Mr. Mathias was the author of this libel 
 has been asserted ; but has never been proved, and 
 I agree with the opinion of Bishop Bennet, in the 
 letter annexed, that he was not the man. He 
 might have aided in furnishing some of the learn- 
 ing; but his subsequent correspondence with Dr. 
 Parr exculpates him from the charge of being the 
 libeller. The note in P. L. including the quotations 
 from the Wasps of Aristophanes, and that from 
 Rabelais, might have been contributed by him ; but 
 the scorpion sting, and the lethal venom proceeded 
 from another quarter ;* from a quarter which will 
 not for ever be shrouded by the immunities of invi- 
 sibility. 
 
 It may be regretted that, with such powers and 
 such means of gathering information from every quar- 
 ter, Dr. Parr did not produce some great work, on 
 some great subject. That, like Clarendon, he did not 
 give the history of the awful period of which he saw 
 the spring-tide, and in part the issue ; or, like Bur- 
 net, that he did not relate, in a familiar manner, the 
 transactions of the period in which he lived ; or like 
 Tacitus paint in caustic and living colours the atro- 
 cities of some of which he was a witness, and 
 deliver, as an everlasting memorial to posterity, the 
 characters of those who bore a part in them. But 
 
 * There are two venerable personages still living who 
 could tell something of the matter. Let me whisper the name 
 of BoscAWEN in the ears of one of them ; the other was always 
 cold and wary.
 
 MEMOIRS. 465 
 
 though he did not this, some of the most rewarded 
 and preferred of his contemporaries did still less. 
 What did Archbishop Markham ? What did Dean 
 Cyril Jackson ? Both, I grant, knew the tact of the 
 world better, and presided with dignity and ability 
 in their high stations. But what have they com- 
 posed that will make their names known twenty 
 years hence? They were wise in their genera- 
 tion — they were men of honour, of learning, and 
 of virtue ; but though they have published little, 
 and that little is not likely to be quoted hereafter, 
 it would be the height of injustice to say that they 
 wasted their powers and attainments. They em- 
 ployed those powers as teachers and preceptors, and 
 so did Parr, but with a very different fortune. The 
 Works that are now published will prove how false 
 was the assertion that " he had wasted his powers 
 (even then) in a desultory, unmeaning, wild, uncon- 
 nected, and useless manner." These Works will 
 show that he did not succumb to wealth or power — 
 that his intellectual efforts were not damped by dis- 
 couragement or distress — that of all learned men of 
 character who sought his assistance, he was the ad- 
 viser, the patron, and the friend — and that, to a late 
 old age, he continued the studious promoter and 
 encourager of learning, though he never received 
 any of its national rewards. In one sense, indeed, 
 his powers and attainments had been wasted in the 
 daily labours and duties of a schoolmaster for the 
 space of more than thirty years. And what is the 
 natural inquiry ? Why was he not called to the 
 discharge of those more elevated duties for which 
 
 VOL. I. 2 H
 
 466 MEMOIRS. 
 
 his learning and talents so pre-eminently qualified 
 him ? Whatsoever may be the answer to this ques- 
 tion, and whatsoever may have been the causes of 
 his failure, I will venture to pronounce, that it was 
 neither his fault nor his disgrace. 
 
 With Birmingham, unfortunately for that impor- 
 tant and prosperous town, he was not at all con- 
 nected, except by his friendship for him who writes 
 this Memoir, and some few others. Had it been 
 otherwise, it could neither be derogatory from his 
 honour or the credit of the town. For Birming- 
 ham has produced men who have conferred benefits 
 upon their country and their kind — who have ad- 
 vanced the arts of civilization, and assisted in dif- 
 fusing them among the nations. The names of the 
 eldest Taylor, and of the elder Boulton can never 
 be forgotten in the arts ; and science will long che- 
 rish the recollection of the virtues of some profes- 
 sional men, inhabitants of this town, with gratitude 
 and respect. 
 
 To a centre of commerce and of arts, enriched with 
 so great a population as Birmingham, what might 
 have been the influence of such a character as that of 
 Dr. Parr, had he resided within it, cannot now be esti- 
 mated; but I rebut with scorn the imputations that 
 have been thrown upon him, and assert with the 
 greatest confidence, that had he been a Birmingham 
 Doctor, SamuclJohnson might in some respects have 
 yielded to him in comparison; and that men * of ac- 
 complishment and genius have had that appellation 
 there, whom libellers alone would venture to malign. 
 
 * Dr. Ash, Smith, Withering, cum multis aliis.
 
 MEMOIRS. 467 
 
 Sir William Jones died in Bengal April 1794. 
 His noble biographer has done ample justice to his 
 purity and his piety ; but it must be lamented for 
 ever that Parr was not employed the eternal form of 
 mind to emblazon : for with a pencil dipt in light, 
 he has traced some outlines of the character of his 
 school-fellow, and who was his friend, when in sta- 
 tion and power, as I am happy to prove by the fol- 
 lowing letter, dated 
 
 Chrishna-nagar, Bengal^ 
 MY DEAR PARR, Sept. 28, 1787- 
 
 You, who are an honester man than Cicero, never write a 
 recommendatory letter without expecting that attention should 
 be shewn to it ; and I, who have known and esteemed you above 
 thirty years, am too honest to delude you by pretensions to 
 interest which I neither have, nor (as a magistrate) ought to 
 have. Your first letter was to recommend a Mr. Keating, vvho 
 is high in the Company's service, has a larger income, and far 
 more power than myself, and consequently would have no need 
 of my assistance, even if I could give him any. Next you re- 
 commend two barristers, to whom I have shown, and will con- 
 tinue to show, all possible attention ; but the Court has nothing 
 to give that a barrister in good business can accept, and if they 
 expect that I should solicit favours for them (which is generally 
 meant by the word introduction), they will be disappointed. 
 Urbanity and hospitality they will ever receive at my house, 
 both for their sake and for yours. After a severe seasoning, as 
 it is called, my constitution has overcome the climate, and I 
 have been for two years in perfect health ; could I say the 
 same of my beloved wife I should be the happiest man alive. 
 I heard with pleasure of your retirement in Warwickshire. 
 You will now have leisure to adorn your Spartay which is phi- 
 lology ; and I hope you will write of the Greek authors as 
 Tully (who understood Greek tolerably well for the age in 
 •which he lived) wrote of them, or at least as Politian wrote 
 after the revival of literature. It is wonderful that, with such 
 models before them, our scholars should compose' such bar- 
 
 2h 2
 
 468 MEMOIRS. 
 
 barous works as their commentaries and notes. You will be an 
 excellent pastor if you feed your sheep with practical instruc- 
 tion. Have you seen Price's Sermons ? Send instantly for the 
 book if you have not yet seen it : the good old man has left a 
 precious legacy to all believers in the Gospel. The duties of 
 my station occupy me nine months in twelve ; but I generally 
 have three months to myself, and pass them in a charming cot- 
 tage near an ancient university of Brahmans, with whom I 
 begin to converse fluently in Sanscrit. Farewell, my dear 
 Parr ; to know that you and yours are happy will ever give 
 real pleasure to your faithful and affectionate, W. Jones. 
 
 P.S. It was said by a Roman poet, when he imagined that 
 Caesar would not approve some of his verses, " Ego ne pilo 
 quidem minus me amabo ;" so I can assure you, that, whatever 
 may be your opinion of mine, I shall not think a jot the worse 
 either of you or of them. It is natural for men to feel and taste 
 differently, and our friendship suffered no shock when you 
 published your Political Sermon, though part of it I did not 
 understand, and what I did understand I did not like : yet 
 << ne pilo quidem minus te amabis." I like this country so well 
 that I shall continue in it, if I can, ten years longer. The 
 pleasure of conversing with those sages, with whom Plato, 
 Solon, and Pythagoras could not converse without interpreters, 
 is too great to be abandoned without reluctance, especially as 
 their ancient language is clearly a sister of the Greek and 
 Latin, and equal to either of them in precision and harmony. 
 Farewell ! 
 
 The following letters of Dr. Bennet also touch on 
 the subject of Sir W. Jones's death, as well as his 
 own probable advancement : 
 
 MY DEAR DOCTOR, Dublin, March 4, 1795. 
 
 I thank you for conveying Halhed's * book ; he is stark mad 
 in my opinion. The Primate says no; he is only an unbe- 
 
 * Nathaniel Brassey Halhed was one of the scholars of Har- 
 row, and on intimate terms with Parr. His Gentoo Code gave 
 him a favourable reputation among the students of Indian anti-
 
 MEMOIRS. 469 
 
 liever, and every word is in ridicule of the scripture and pro- 
 phecy. I cannot think so. 
 
 I am to subscribe a guinea for something more about your 
 church, but I am now at a loss to convey it, and it appears to 
 me as the best mode for you to take that sum from Archdale, 
 
 quities and customs, but his subsequent publications and con- 
 duct impressed people in general with the opinion expressed 
 by Bishop Bennet as follows. As a public man, and a man of 
 letters, his character is so well known that I shall only insert 
 the following memorials of his connexion and correspondence 
 with Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIB, Calcutta, Nov. 5, 1773. 
 
 Although, after a silence of two years, I cannot suppose 
 myself to hold a very considerable place in your memory, yet 
 I cannot give up my own consequence so entirely as to imagine 
 you have altogether forgotten me. Indeed I do not think the 
 flame of friendship needs quite so much of the fuel of cor- 
 respondence as some of my scribbling acquaintances exact, 
 especially when there is no particular information to be given 
 on either side, no business to be transacted, and no regular 
 intercourse immediately necessary. Could I at any past period 
 have written you a single circumstance of utility or amusement, 
 I should certainly have done it ; but my life hitherto has been 
 conducted by set forms so much, that even a voyage from Eng- 
 land, and a year's residence in Bengal, has scarce afforded the 
 least novelty. Now, indeed, that my life is likely to take a 
 more romantic turn, that I am going to launch into the stream 
 of adventure, I take the earliest opportunity of preparing 
 yourself, and the very few I call friends, for strange and unac- 
 countable recitals. 
 
 Give me then leave to inform you that India (the wealthy, 
 the luxurious, and the lucrative,) is so exceedingly ruined and 
 exhausted, that I am not able by any means, not with the as- 
 sistance of my education in England, and the exertion of all 
 my abilities here, to procure even a decent subsistence. I have 
 studied the Persian language with the utmost application in 
 vain ; I have courted employment without effect ; and, after 
 having suffered much from the heat of the climate, spent what-
 
 470 MEMOIRS. 
 
 or Alexander, or any Irish friend of mine who may visit you, 
 and I will repay him on demand ; though I still propose sleep- 
 ing a night under your roof in the course of this summer. 
 The folly and rashness of the governors you have sent us, 
 
 ever money I brought into the country, and seen the impossi- 
 bility of providing for myself for some years to come, I have 
 taken the resolution of quitting so disagreeable a spot, before 
 the necessity of running deeply into debt confines me here for 
 years (perhaps for life). You are not ignorant, though your 
 good-nature might never have hinted it, yet you are not igno- 
 rant that my own extravagant behaviour was one great cause 
 of my leaving England ; indeed, I found bad habits rooted so 
 deeply in me, and bad connexions linked so closely to me, that 
 I really felt no less than a distance of half the globe could se- 
 parate me from them thoroughly. Thank God, I had fortitude 
 sufficient to bear me through the trial, and as I at once quitted 
 all my infamous acquaintances on leaving England, so I gradually 
 acquired strength of mind and firmness of reason sufficient to 
 see the important errors of my own conduct, and to correct 
 them. But, granting my own labours insufficient for this end, 
 I have had the best of all instructors, necessity, for my teacher. 
 Without that, I am thoroughly convinced, I should never have 
 learned any economy, and must have continued the slave of 
 every ridiculous whim that my pocket or my credit enabled me 
 by any method to gratify. J3ut here I have learned that lesson 
 by dear and daily experience, and I hope it will in some mea- 
 sure compensate for the time I have unavoidably lost in quit- 
 ting England. You must grant, as my postulate, that Bengal 
 is beyond conception exhausted. I say you must grant it, 
 because, although I have fully sufficient reasons to urge, and 
 proofs to bring, (many of which I have already laid before my 
 father) yet in this place I have neither time nor room to ex- 
 plain them, I say, therefore, that as Bengal is so much altered 
 for the worse that I find it impossible to get my bread, I have 
 formed the plan of leaving it before my health and constitution 
 be totally debilitated. I have written to my father in the 
 strongest terms for his permission to quit it ; but as it would 
 be two years ere I could possibly receive his answer, that time
 
 MEMOIRS. 471 
 
 and the instability of English counsels, have hastened the event 
 I have so long dreaded, and I fear very much we are at the eve 
 of a civil war. By well-judged concessions we had succeeded 
 in putting off the evil day, by rash ones it is accelerated. But 
 
 is much too precious to be spent here, and also it would in- 
 volve me in difficulties from which seven years of hard labour 
 might not relieve me. My plan is to go to some other part of 
 Europe for the present, and endeavour to procure my own 
 living. What part of the world I have chosen for my residence, 
 or may choose, and what plan of conduct I mean to pursue, 
 shall hereafter be the subject of a letter from another spot ; 
 but I mean immediately on my arrival at my port of destination 
 to write to my father. I have already requested him to permit 
 me to take orders ; I do not wish to be a burthen upon him, 
 as I think my education, with the assistance of holy orders, and 
 the recommendation of having been abroad, will enable me, 
 M'ithout vanity, to get a decent subsistence by the tuition of a 
 single pupil, or the joint instruction of many. My views, if 
 ever they were higher, are now sufficiently humbled for any 
 employment that can possibly be reconciled to gentility ; and 
 if a cacoethes of wealth had not dissipated all my thoughts, I 
 should have pursued at first, with ease, the path which I am 
 now taking infinite pains to strike into. But I have in several 
 letters promised my father that I will not return to England 
 without his consent ; therefore, till I obtain that, I am deter- 
 mined to remain abroad ; and though I am now fully old 
 enough to see the ruin that awaits me if I stay here, yet I shall 
 not break my promise in surprising him with a visit before his 
 permission gives him room to expect me. I hear of your health 
 and of your success by Mr. Pleydell's family, whose son I am 
 very glad to find is with you. I live almost entirely in Mr. 
 P.*s family, and they beg to be remembered to my quondam 
 school-fellow. I am, my dear Sir, with much sincerity, your 
 affectionate friend, Nathaniel Brassey Halhed. 
 
 DEAR SAM, London, i. e. Pall-Mail, No. 16. 
 
 As you express so tender a concern for the state of my soul, 
 and, in the true spirit of the Christianity of the tenth century,
 
 472 MEMOIRS. 
 
 things are far more serious than you have any idea of, but we 
 are in the hands and under the direction of Providence, and 
 I hope I shall have no occasion to complain, with our favourite 
 orator, of the violence of those tempests, " Quae per nos a 
 communi peste repulsse, in nosmet ipsos redundarunt." 
 
 Your friend. Dr. Routh, has not sent the fac-simile. I re- 
 ceived from you the first melancholy news of the death of our 
 invaluable friend in India ; an event I shall not easily cease to 
 deplore. For, independent of the personal obligations my 
 youth has to him, how few men would be so great a public 
 loss, in point either of ability or integrity. A tendency to 
 
 are content to absolve me of the crime of voting for the war, on 
 my giving up to you the full direction of my conscience in voting 
 for a Warwickshire canal, I shall snatch, like a true dying de- 
 votee, at the proffered commutation, and give up to my ghostly 
 guide the entire application of my parliamentary independence 
 to the holy purposes of Mother Church ; and also, in the ge- 
 nuine ardour of proselytism, disseminate the netv faith among 
 as many as I can of my brothers in iniquity. I am ever, dear 
 Sam, yours most sincerely, N. B. Halhed. 
 
 Mark, I live in Pali-Mall. 
 
 DEAR PARR, Pail-Mall, Feb. 11, 1795. 
 
 I wrote you some time ago that I should certainly vote with 
 the minority on the question for peace. Of course I fully in- 
 tended it ; but I have each time been prevented by indisposi- 
 tion. That you may, however, be perfectly satisfied of the 
 sincerity of my resolution, I have sent you, by the coach of 
 this day, a pamphlet, to the perusal of which I owe my deter- 
 minate attachment to the cause of peace, together with an- 
 other pamphlet, written by myself, that my constituents and 
 tl)e people at large may see my conduct in its true light, and 
 judge it accordingly. I have only to add, that I beg you will 
 not be deterred by grammatical minutise from giving the first 
 pamphlet, a fair perusal, and that, previously to any inspection 
 oi mine, which is of infinitely less importance. I am ever, dear 
 Parr, yours most sincerely, N. B, Halhed.
 
 MEMOIRS. 473 
 
 very free principles in religion, and in government, was the only- 
 blot in his great character ; perhaps he would have corrected 
 it as he grew older. The Dean of St. Asaph has sent to me, 
 and undoubtedly to you, a circular letter, begging to have 
 any of our friend's letters that may be in our possession deli- 
 vei'ed to him ; and adds, he believes Sir William himself would 
 have had no objection to such a proceeding. Perhaps not; but 
 I am the guardian of my friend's honour ; and though I shall 
 have no scruple in giving the Dean every information in my 
 power, concerning his relations, youthful habits, and pursuits, 
 I do not think myself justified in sending letters ; and I have 
 some of a late date, containing bold opinions about men and 
 manners. " Qukm multa enira joca solent esse in epistolis, 
 quae, prolata si sint, inepta esse videantur; qukm multa seria, 
 neque tamen ullo modo divulganda." 
 
 I have no longer the power of franking, but I enjoy liberty, 
 to which I have been for five years a stranger ; and it is some 
 compliment to my industry, that Lord Fitzwilliam keeps three 
 gentlemen to fill the station I had, though he sees people * 
 twice a week, and Lord W. saw every man at every hour. In 
 consequence, as the information received or request made is 
 
 * It is scarcely necessary for me to state that, when I am 
 recording the sentiments of Dr. Parr and his correspondents, I 
 am not always expressing my own. Still less must I be supposed 
 to approve the remarks made by Bishop Bennet, as a political 
 partizan, upon that most amiable and respectable nobleman. 
 Earl Fitzwilliam. Indeed, in such veneration do I hold his 
 character, in common I believe with every one who wishes 
 to be thought wise or good, that I hesitated about publishing 
 these letters of the Bishop of Cloyne till they were shown to 
 the noble Lord. He made no objection whatever to the pub- 
 lication, but wished that the following note should be inserted 
 upon his authority : 
 
 " Dr. Bennet is not mistaken in asserting that Lord Fitzwil- 
 liam saw people twice a week, because he saw them twice a 
 week, and at all other times : the Bishop is therefore strictly 
 exact in his assertion, though the manner in which he makes 
 it may possibly lead to an unfounded inference." 
 
 VOL. I. 2 H 5
 
 474 MEMOIRS. 
 
 always committed to the private secretary, my business was 
 incessant. The sensation I now feel is very like that of taking 
 my first degree at Cambridge, when I quitted the study of the 
 mathematics, and directed my course to amusement or to im- 
 provement, as either suited the fancy of the moment. 
 
 I honour Lord F. for the Primate he has given us ; I am also 
 very much pleased, and so will you be, to learn Bishop Law 
 goes to Elphin, a very good bishopric, in a more civilized 
 country, with a good estate hkely to fall in after a few months. 
 His hopes and his fears, which are both excessive on this occa- 
 sion, delight me much ; but I have encouraged him, amidst all 
 the uncertainty and instabihty of public counsels, and this 
 morning he tells me he is safe. 
 
 I would write to you at length on the present delicate state 
 of the Catholics in Ireland, but you now pay for my letters, 
 and I must check my hand. I shall, however, get this franked 
 if I can. You have never sent me your opinion of Paley's 
 Evidences, which I think a most capital work. I am, my dear 
 friend, yours, very sincerely, W. Cloyne. 
 
 From the same to the same. 
 
 MY DEAR DOCTon, Dublin, April 3, 1795. 
 
 I shall, in consequence of your advice, return Shipley a 
 guarded answer. I do not know him, so you need not fear I 
 shall receive any harm from the intercourse we may have on 
 this subject. I send you Lord Fitzwilliam's defence, observing 
 only, that, though he left this a distracted country, he did not 
 find it one ; and also, that a man who can believe, as he does, 
 that the parliament gave him the supplies out of regard to his 
 personal character, can believe any thing. He was a worthy 
 well-meaning man, in the hands of violent and ambitious ones > 
 whether he was well or ill used by the British Cabinet I care 
 not. I know they may thank themselves for whatever conse- 
 quences may arise by sending him here, for they did it with 
 their eyes open. A large body of men here look, first, for 
 Catholic emancipation ; secondly, reform of parliament ; and, 
 thirdly, separation from England. Lord F. has rashly, and I 
 can pawn my Jionour to you that he has needlessly, brought
 
 MEMOIRS. 475 
 
 forward the first question. By thus committuig the two coun- 
 tries he has staggered me in my pohtics, for, I protest to you, I 
 know not whether it were wiser at this moment to concede or 
 resist ; I know whichever is done should be done decidedly ; 
 but peace, my dear friend, I have often said to you, peace 
 alone can save us. 
 
 When you have read the letters over, if you find any diffi- 
 culty, ask me. On his publication of the private despatches 
 we must be of the same opinion, and I could point out many 
 instances of deplorable ignorance, some of unfair statement, in 
 his whole defence. Your party has, however, now gained him 
 decidedly, so I believe you must defend him. But why did 
 not Pitt, if he must coalesce, join with Fox ? I believe he 
 could. I am sure, if he could, he ought. Now I will tell you 
 a secret. The Primacy was offered to Sutton, and, if he had 
 accepted it, I was to have gone to Norwich. Just as I thought 
 my ground there firm it gave way under me. It was, perhaps, 
 the fairest opportunity that could be held out to me of quitting 
 a country rushing ignorantly and idly into a collision with 
 Britain. I know it too intimately not to wish to leave it, but 
 personally I have no reason for dislike. No man has been 
 better treated than I have been by the natives, both in and out 
 of office. 
 
 Now I am in habits of confidence, though not like 
 
 of revealing private letters, I will bring you acquainted with 
 another curious fact. Every government, you know, has spies, 
 (men, often, of great character in their party,) who give in- 
 formation of important points, by which we, I am sure, wei'e 
 enabled once or twice to steer clear of very dangerous rocks. 
 When Lord F. dismissed the two head clerks, he cut off the 
 thread of this intelligence. He does not appear to me to have 
 even suspected any such thing. With Grattan* and, particu- 
 
 * The following notes were added by one of Lord Fitzwil- 
 •liam's particular friends : 
 
 " When Dr. Bennet boasted that his informers would hold no 
 communication tvitk Grattan, he little anticipated the justice 
 which would be done in subsequent times to the character and 
 conduct of that great man."
 
 476 MEMOIRS. 
 
 larly, with Curran (the counsellor of every democrat) our in- 
 formers would hold no communication. With us, from habit, 
 they continued it. So that we,* who were out of office, were 
 acquainted with every secret plan agitated by the Catholics 
 and Republicans, while the Ministers of the Castle were totally 
 ignorant of them ; of which they gave in their public conduct 
 many proofs, some of a very serious and some of a very ludi- 
 crous nature. Indeed, one of the most entertaining conse- 
 quences of having been concerned in the interior of a govern- 
 ment, is to see the odd mistakes made by persons not in the 
 secret. 
 
 I have but one objection to preach at Hatton, and that is, 
 my having no sermon. I have made none but Charity or Easter 
 ones. That I know is, with you, no objection at all. If our 
 Parliament breaks up when it ought, I hope to spend a day at 
 Hatton before June is ended, and to assure you how sincerely 
 I am, my dear Parr, your faithful friend, 
 
 William Cloyne. 
 
 It seems, from these letters, that Parr had desired 
 the Bishop to be very careful in his communications 
 with Dean Shipley; and, indeed, there is some 
 reason to believe that he had himself expected to 
 be the biographer of Sir William Jones. When 
 Jones was about to set out for Paris, he writes thus 
 to Parr : 
 
 MY DEAR PARR, Sept. 17, 1780. 
 
 To-morrow I set out for Paris, in dangerous times, and at a 
 dangerous season. I hope to return in a month ; but if it 
 should please the Author of my being to put an end to my 
 existence on earth, I request you and Bennet, my oldest friends, 
 
 * " If the Bishop and his friends were acquainted with all 
 these secret plans, their conduct approached very nearly to 
 misprision of treason ; but in all probability he was only making 
 a little display of his own importance, and was as guilty of 
 ijrnorance as the ministers whom he accuses of it."
 
 MEMOIRS. 477 
 
 to examine all my papers and letters, which you will find in my 
 chamber, and to compose an account of my life, studies, and 
 opinions (as far as you know them) ; but to take care that no 
 unfinished work of mine shall see the light, much less any idle 
 thing that you may meet with in my drawers. 
 
 I hope you are restored to health and strength. I would 
 write more, but am very much engaged. Farewell, and be- 
 lieve me wholly yours, W. Jones. 
 
 After Sir William Jones's death, his papers were 
 placed in the hands of LordTeignmouth by his widow, 
 and have been published, with ample illustration, 
 and with great ability and fidelity. We have seen the 
 reason why so little of the correspondence of Dr. 
 Parr, or with Bishop Bennet, his two most intimate 
 friends, is inserted. But it is not easy to conjecture 
 why their letters to him between 1768 and 1783, 
 the period when the Biographer declared his infor- 
 mation less complete, should be omitted. It may 
 be hoped that, as the delicacies of personal consi- 
 deration are extinguished by time, many documents 
 illustrative of the character of this wonderful man 
 will be published. Those I have given from the 
 stores of Dr. Parr in this work are of some im- 
 portance ; but there are others, perhaps, in the re- 
 positories of the great and the learned, which would 
 complete the history of his mind — of a mind whose 
 irradiations illuminated both hemispheres of the 
 globe, and whose intellectual powers have founded a 
 new dynasty of learning in the colleges of Brahmah, 
 and by a surer though slower method than that of 
 conquest, will finally overturn the superstition of 
 Islam, and the idolatries of the Vedas. 
 
 I owe to the kindness of His Royal Highness
 
 478 iMEMOIR^. 
 
 the Duke of Sussex the following sarcastic character 
 of Parr, hy Sir William Jones ; 
 
 "EoTt ^e Tis ov Kokws biopiSeadat ovk ev/Aapis' Cnratnv yup rols 
 (iWois avofiotos u>v, avros ahr^ ciyofiowraTCi Kcii Xeywp Kai ttoiuiv 
 (payepos kariv. 'A/ieXci toiovtos kari tis o'los irdjcppdjv Kai fierpws 
 Trep u>y, Ofiios yXihfj iravrobairfj Kai rpv(prj €L,aipiros aydWeadai, 
 (Cat Tw%' o'lvoju TTtcTv, oaa e'ibr] ri^a\<pecrTaTa, Kai rioy TrXuKovyrwy 
 (bayeiy, utjovs ^hiarovs, Ka\ Kadevbeiy fxaXduKius, Kai Xe^"^^ kokki- 
 vofia(p€S uyrt tov afiaTrrov irpoatpeiffdai) cat bvo) avd' eyos. Kai 
 Trpdos i-iey I'jdei ep€cr)(^eXely Kai (piXoveiKws ex^iv Kai epi^eiy, ras 
 be tpibas a.yadt)y Koivwviav 6vofxu$.€iy, Kai Xeyeiy ws yj))] rovs 
 f3apftcipovs cLTrayras, wanep ^aXayyia iraptjdpa) inrwde'iffdai Kai 
 €^ aydpu)Tro)y a(payiadrjyai, Kai U)S bei ciiral, rCjy Treyre kruiy tov iv 
 TToXiTEig. TrpioTEvovTa TreXiKi^eirdai, oi/)^ «!»$ Troyrjpby ovTa ttW oti 
 TTpwrevei' i'jbt] be Kai TrXelovs f/ rerrapocoira aybpas fivr^noveveiv 
 ovs cnroTryiyeadat 0>j(7i beTy, Kai tov eiriTpiTrTOv tivos beybpwva 
 eaTT]Kb)s (Twdeiopely , Kai XoyiS^eadai Trpos eavToy, ck tivos av 
 beybpov 6 KeKTruieyos evcr-^^rjiioyeaTaTws Kpe^aaQai, Kai Toy fip6-)^oy 
 (hciyai TTavTujy voorrjuciTioy iaariy irope'iadai, Kai ti/v tov brjuoKoivov 
 Tcyyriy uKpifieiTTaTios tTriaTavai, Kai irepl Tuiy TreireXeKiT^eywy Kai 
 KeKpeua(Tfiey(i)y oyofiacrTi fj-efxyqcrdai, Kai tov avTov br}^iov aTrofi- 
 jAytJiioyevfia <TU)^>'ax's ciyayiywaKeiy, Kai biKrjy ojipXrjKibs top vi- 
 KacTTiiy ftovXeadai Kpe/iavyveiy' Kai irepl tovs Xoyovs beivos uiv 
 TpayiKov Ti t7] beL,i(} Kporelv Kai aofoapoy XaXe'iy, Kai /uera^u Itt- 
 Tra^ofievos biayuvi^eadai Kai SiayL/0io-/3ijre7v, 'iinrb) rw reraXatTrw- 
 prf^ieyio bia Ti)y ey rw Xeyetv beiyoTrjTa TrXrjyas eKTiveiy, Kai to 
 oXov Kwb(oyi$€iy bvyaTOS, Kai Trapovo^dSieiy, Kai bitTKeveiv, Kai 
 TavpoKOTreivy Kai TpayrffxaTi$.e(jQai, Kai aiXovpov 6pe\paif Kai 
 Tp'iyyi(Tfiov Tpiyyi^eiv, Kai eavToy XavQdveiv twv aXXwv bia(f>ep(i)v. 
 
 Dr. Bennet, Lord Bishop of Cloyne, naturally 
 comes next to Sir Wilham Jones as the friend of 
 Dr. Parr ; indeed, he far exceeded him in warmth 
 and length of attachment. I cannot select, there- 
 fore, a fitter place, or a better time to speak of him 
 than the present, although much of his correspond- 
 ence, from its length, must be transferred to the
 
 MEMOIRS. 479 
 
 Appendix. That correspondence began in child- 
 hood, and, with the exception of two or three years 
 at the beginning of the present century, continued 
 with unabated affection till the Bishop's death, in 
 July 1820, when his friend followed him to the 
 grave at Plumstead, in Kent. In the latter part 
 of Lord Westmoreland's Administration, he had 
 been flattered with hopes of advancement in Eng- 
 land, which he ardently aspired after ; and had Dr. 
 Sutton been elevated to the Primacy, Bennet was 
 to succeed him in the See of Norwich. When 
 this scheme failed, he was actually nominated to 
 the Provostship of Trinity College, Dublin ; and 
 most eminently qualified was he for that high office 
 by his former habits, as a teacher of youth ; by his 
 unrivalled learning (unrivalled at least in Ireland), 
 by his exquisite taste, by his soHd judgment, by his 
 firm but placid temper, and his unsullied purity of 
 life and conversation. Yet, notwithstanding all 
 these accomplishments, he was thus fiercely at- 
 tacked by Mr. Burke : 
 
 I wrote to Grattan to exert himself to prevent that seminary 
 of the Church of Ireland from becoming a matter of state 
 accommodation or private patronage. I wrote to the Duke of 
 Portland a long letter to the same effect. I wrote and spoke 
 my mind fully to him against this radical job which struck at the 
 rising generation, and poisoned public principle in its first 
 stamen, and when I heard that one Dr. Bennet, not content 
 with his bishopric, was so greedy and so frantic at this time, 
 when the church labours under so much odium for avarice, 
 as to wish to rob the members of its seminary, men of the first 
 characters in learning and morals, of their legal rights, and by 
 dispensation to grapple to himself, a stranger, and wholly un- 
 acquainted with the body, its lucrative Provostship as a com-
 
 480 MEMOIRS. 
 
 mendam. — See Epistolary Correspondence with the Right 
 Honourable Edmund Burke and Dr. Lawrence, page 307. 
 
 Of this transaction the Bishop gives an account 
 in the following letter to Dr. Parr : 
 
 DEAR DOCTOR, 
 
 The Duke of Portland having acted as Lord Lieutenant 
 
 ever since he came into office, has set aside my recommen- 
 dation to the Provostship, for which I know not whether to 
 blame or to thank him. 
 
 I did not answer the College address argumentatively, but 
 gave them back their own words ; that I should, both for their 
 sakes and my own, " weigh maturely the reasons for my de- 
 termination," <S:c. I hear they were astonished at the polite- 
 ness of their reception, so conclude they were conscious of the 
 malice concealed in their address, and expected to be kicked 
 down stairs. 
 
 Burke and the Ponsonbys govern Ireland ; and I fear you 
 will see in the next session the fruits of the high-flown ima- 
 gination of the first, and the ignorant impetuosity of the others. 
 It gives me pleasure that the departure of Lord Weymouth, under 
 every foolish insult the party can heap upon him, is attended 
 by general civility here, addresses from cities and counties, 
 and marks of popular esteem which few falling ministers ex- 
 perience. He leaves us at a most fortunate moment for his 
 own character, and England will receive him back matured by 
 five years passed in managing points of the most delicate and 
 important nature, cool, decisive, industrious, and intelligent. 
 I see with pleasure the hour of my liberty approach, and am 
 not without hopes of paying you a visit next summer. Yours 
 very sincerely, William Cloyne. 
 
 It was at the end of the year 1798 Bishop Bennet 
 cut off his epistolary correspondence with Parr for 
 a season. Without ceasing to love and respect him, 
 he dreaded his violence of temper and strong ex- 
 pressions on subjects of such intense public interest, 
 and probably even felt some alarm lest he himself
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 481 
 
 should be implicated in the sentiments or conduct 
 of his correspondent. It appears that he had sus- 
 pended the correspondence occasionally after 1796. 
 From 1798 to 1802 there was a complete suspen- 
 sion of all intercourse, and the two following are 
 the last and the first letters on the discontinuance 
 and resumption of the correspondence. 
 
 DEAR DOCTOR, DubUn, July 10, 1798. 
 
 As to more serious matters, "What can you mean 
 
 by wrongs and insults ? It is not my nature to insult any one ; 
 and indeed I can say, as in the presence of God, that, to the 
 best of my knowledge and recollection, I never did knowingly 
 insult any human creature ; and if this were not my disposition, 
 I cannot imagine upon what grounds I could insult you. I 
 may have wronged you, that is, I may have attributed to you 
 sentiments which you do not entertain. For I thought, and 
 still think, I have proof, that you have given every encourage- 
 ment in your power to , and others, who are enemies 
 
 to all the prospects of happiness I have in this world. But even 
 with this impression on my mind, I did not accuse or upbraid 
 you. You have a right to think as you please ; and I am con- 
 vinced, whatever misery you may occasion, you do it without 
 malevolent intention. But with a French army within thirty- 
 five miles of my house, and a band of assassins about my doors, 
 if, in the bitterness of that moment, I suspended my corres- 
 pondence with youj as the friend of men who had invited the 
 one and encouraged the other, I cannot but think my offence 
 was a very venial one. I took the step to avoid, not to accu- 
 mulate insults. It was always my design, if I am happy enough 
 to outlive the dangers which still threaten every thing that is 
 dear to me, and to see peace once more, to write to you and 
 make my apology ; for, as the suspension originated with me, 
 it was my business to solicit your pardon for the interruption. 
 I do not therefore admit your quotation of irawaTarov h-q. 
 
 If you feel any interest in my private affairs, I would tell 
 you that the whole of my property, in spite of my utmost effort, 
 is still entangled in this miserable country, except ^1000 
 VOL. I. 2 I
 
 482 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 which, with great difficulty, I have remitted to England, My 
 bishopric has paid little or nothing for these two years ; and is 
 in arrears to me full ^7000, the whole of which probably, and 
 a great part (being tithes) will certainly be lost. I have for 
 some time let my house, dismissed my servants, and endea- 
 voured to contract my establishment within the small circle of 
 my remaining income. 
 
 I have also had a severe attack of the gout in my right foot, 
 which exerted all its force and went through all its forms. It 
 was a very unexpected and painful guest to me, 
 
 Parous qui cultor ad aras, 
 
 Aut Baccbi aut Veneris. 
 
 May God protect you, and grant all your wishes, and may 
 you retain some affectionate regard for one who, though your 
 silent, is still your sincere friend, William Cloyne. 
 
 DEAR PARR, Dublin, April 12, 1802. 
 
 The war being at last ended, I hasten, as I promised, to so- 
 licit the renewal of our correspondence; and to explain the 
 motives which influenced me to interrupt it. I have reason, 
 indeed, to fear that this measure, which I considered as the 
 only wa}' to preserve our friendship, has been looked upon by 
 you as the destruction of it; and that either the resolution 
 itself, or the words in which it was conveyed, made me appear 
 in your eyes, both unjust and insolent. From these charges 
 my heart acquits me. So far from insulting, I had not an idea 
 of offending you ; and I am therefore, in justice to myself, anx- 
 ious to explain upon what reasons I wished for a temporary 
 suspension of our writing, and why I accused you of unfriendly 
 conduct towards me. 
 
 We had very early taken different sides in the parties that 
 divided our country. I presume you were willing to allow me, 
 what you certainly exercised yourself, the right to form an opi- 
 nion ; and on my side, I felt no diminution of regard for you, 
 because you chose to form your own. The breach grew wider; 
 and in Ireland it was no longer a question between Fox and 
 Pitt, but between the Protestant and the Papist ; between de- 
 cided republicans on one side, and those, whom you termed in
 
 MEMOIRS. 483 
 
 your letters to me stupid loyalists, on the other : and it in- 
 volved in it the loss or the preservation of our properties and 
 lives. 
 
 Such is the justification of my conduct, which I promised to 
 send you, if I lived to the conclusion of the war. We are both 
 old enough, and I hope wise enough, to be sincere with each 
 other. I, for my part, shall be really happy to hear your con- 
 duct fairly explained, or, if convinced of any impropriety in 
 my own, to make an apology for it. I am ready to forgive, or 
 to be forgiven ; and if I see you, when I attend Parliament 
 the year after next, you will find no trace of any unpleasant 
 feeling in the mind of your sincere friend, Wm. Cloyne. 
 
 Bishop Bennet was born on the 4th of March 
 1746, in the Tower of London, and was sent to 
 Harrow at a very early age. We have already noticed 
 the juvenile, we might almost term it the friend- 
 ship from infancy of the three illustrious scholars. 
 Will. Bill, and Sam. and I could easily have added 
 much more from the papers in my possession. He 
 was entered of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, be- 
 came one of the fellows and tutors of the college, 
 and took his Doctors degree in 1789, having been 
 appointed private secretary to Lord Westmoreland, 
 and successively Bishop of Cork and Cloyne, in 
 1790 and 1794. In these high stations, it was na- 
 tural enough for Parr to have some feelings of jea- 
 lousy on the comparison of his own condition 
 with that of the Bishop, and accordingly the cor- 
 respondence exhibits him exacting more than or- 
 dinary attention from his exalted friend. Parrs 
 mind was nevertheless full of affection and confi- 
 dence. He has not left Bennet's character to be 
 pourtrayed by a feeble hand ; he has done it him- 
 self in the " Remarks on the Statement of Dr. 
 2 I 2
 
 484 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Combe ; " and his own words will probably deliver 
 to posterity the merits of his friend. 
 
 Among the Fellows of Emmanuel College who endeavour- 
 ed to shake Mr. Homer's resolution, and preserve for him his 
 academical rank, there was one man, whom I cannot remem- 
 ber without feeling that all my inclination to commend, and 
 all my talents for commendation, are disproportionate to his 
 merit. From habits, not only of close intimacy but of early 
 and uninterrupted friendship, I can say, that there is scarcely 
 one Greek or Roman author of eminence in verse or prose, 
 whose writings are not familiar to him. He is equally success- 
 ful in combating the difficulties of the most obscure, and catch- 
 ing at a glance the beauties of the most elegant. Though I 
 could mention two or three persons who have made a greater 
 proficiency than my friend in philological learning, yet, after 
 surveying all the intellectual endowments of all my literary ac- 
 quaintance, I cannot name the man, whose taste seems to be 
 more correct and more pure ; or whose judgment upon any 
 composition in Greek, Latin, or English, would carry with it 
 liigher authority to my mind. 
 
 To those discourses which, when delivered before an acade- 
 mical audience, captivated the young, and interested the old, 
 which were argumentative without formality, and brilliant 
 without gaudiness, and in which the happiest selection of topics 
 was united with the most luminous arrangement of matter, it 
 cannot be unsafe for me to pay the tribute of my praise, be- 
 cause every hearer was an admirer, and every admirer will be 
 a witness. As a tutor he was unwearied in the instruction, 
 liberal in the government, and anxious for the welfare of all 
 who were entrusted to his care. The brilliancy of his conver- 
 sation, and the suavity of his manners, were the most endear- 
 ing, because they were united with qualities of a higher order, 
 because in morals he was correct without moroseness, and 
 because in religion he was serious without bigotry. From the 
 retirement of a College he stepped at once into the circle of a 
 Court. But he has not been dazzled by its glare, nor tainted 
 by its corruptions. As a prelate, he does honour to the grati-
 
 MEMOIRS. 485 
 
 tude of a patron who was once his pupil, and to the dignity of 
 a station where, in his wise and honest judgments upon things, 
 great duties are connected with great emoluments. If, from 
 general description, I were permitted to descend to particular 
 detail, I should say, that in one instance he exhibited a noble 
 proof of generosity, by refusing to accept the legal and cus- 
 tomary profits of his office from a peasantry bending down 
 under the weight of indigence and exaction. I should say, 
 that, upon another occasion, he did not suffer himself to be 
 irritated by perverse and audacious opposition ; but blending 
 mercy with justice, spared a misguided father for the sake of a 
 distressed dependent family, and provided at the same time 
 for the instruction of a large and populous parish, without 
 pushing to extremes his episcopal rights when invaded, and 
 his episcopal power when defied. While the English Univer- 
 sities produce such scholars, they will indeed deserve to be 
 considered as the nurseries of learning and virtue. While the 
 Church of Ireland is adorned by such prelates, it cannot have 
 much to fear from that spirit of restless discontent and exces- 
 sive refinement which has lately gone abroad. It will be 
 instrumental to the best purposes by the best means. It will 
 gain fresh security and fresh lustre from the support of wise 
 and good men. It will promote the noblest interests of society, 
 and uphold, in this day of peril, the sacred cause of true 
 religion. 
 
 Sweet is the refreshment afforded to my soul by the remem- 
 brance of such a scholar, such a man, and such a friend as Dr. 
 William Bennet, Bishop of Cork ; and happy am I that, before 
 my return to the variorum Editor, my best feelings will have 
 the most exquisite gratification from another fact, which I am 
 now preparing to lay before the reader. 
 
 In one of his last letters to Dr. Parr, dated Mon- 
 tague-square, February 15, 1820, he speaks of a 
 friendship which had lasted for more than sixty 
 years. Another in the following April. 
 
 I am not among the worldlings who blame you for your 
 behaviour to your tenantry ; your heart is always not merely
 
 486 MEMOIRS. 
 
 right, it is of the highest degree of excellence, and I rejoice 
 most heartily at this and every opportunity you have of shew- 
 ing it. We have both of us much to be thankful for, but the 
 difference is, you have deserved it, I have not. I am, with my 
 best regards to Mrs. Parr, your very sincere friend, 
 
 William Cloyne. 
 
 And in his last letter : 
 
 MY DEAR PARR, Montague-square, May 11, 1820. 
 
 I have delayed for some time sending an answer to your 
 letter in expectation that your friend, the President of Mag- 
 dalen, would have enclosed one for you before this time. My 
 health will not allow me to run about, as I used to do, and get 
 a sight, at least, if I could not make myself master of such 
 works of literary curiosity as you recommend me to read, and 
 which never disappoint me. But since the last attack of my 
 gout I am subject to shortness of breath and a pain in my left 
 side when I venture either to walk or drive out, and I have not 
 yet even been able to go down to the House to take ray seat, 
 and leave my proxy, for I dare not encounter the long nights 
 of the approaching session. I agree with you as to hating, and 
 as to not fearing the radicals. Go on with your catalogue, and 
 let the foreign scholars know what a library you have had the 
 taste and spirit to form. I shall not fail to get a sight of 
 I.owth's Assize Sermon if it is at Lambeth, but I have not yet 
 been there, or even seen the Archbishop. I am refreshed 
 with the recollection of your returning health and increasing 
 opulence. God bless you. If Bartlam is with you give my 
 kindest wishes to him, and, though unknown, the same to Mrs. 
 Parr. Ever yours, William Cloyne. 
 
 The following letters of Archdeacon Leman will 
 relate the progress of decline, and the close of Bishop 
 Bennet's life : 
 
 From Archdeacon Leman, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Cresccnt, \3th Feb. 1820. 
 
 I have the great satisfaction of being able to contradict the 
 cruel report of the death of my beloved friend the Bishop of
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 487 
 
 Cloyne ; for at the very time the account of his loss appeared 
 in the public papers, I received a letter from him on the morn- 
 ing of the 9th instant, and as you are equally interested with 
 myself in his welfare, I send you his oxon accoimt of his situa- 
 tion at that time. 
 
 " The gout (he says) has been more tedious, as well as more 
 severe this winter than I ever experienced. It is now ten 
 weeks since I have ventured to cross the threshold, once ex- 
 cepted, when I drove out in the carriage, and was so much 
 shaken that it did me more harm than good ; and these con- 
 stant attacks of pain depriving me of sleep and exercise, and 
 coming upon me when I was beginning to recover a little my 
 loss of appetite, and of flesh, has been very hard upon me. I 
 literally do not think that I could have stood it if my niece had 
 not been with me ; and women, I have always agreed with you, 
 are so careful and tender, and such excellent nurses, and so 
 anxious to amuse one, as well as capable of doing it, that one 
 of them is worth a host of male creatures," 
 
 Such, my dear Sir, is the private and confidential account I 
 have received from my dearest friend, and although it still 
 leaves me greatly uneasy about him, yet I hope that the change 
 of air, and a milder climate, may thereby restore him to his 
 former health. As soon as he can travel with comfort to him- 
 self, I shall press upon him his coming down to this place, 
 where I know that he will have every comfort and attention 
 which I can give him. 
 
 It is with great pain that I read the unpleasant account you 
 give of yourself; and the injluenza which has been laying waste 
 all around me, has fallen upon me also with a very heavy hand ; 
 for I have been almost confined for nearly three weeks ; I hope, 
 however, I shall get over it, and nothing would give me greater 
 pleasure than to have the satisfaction of seeing you quite well 
 at Batl\. I scarce know what I write, but I remain very faith- 
 fully your very obedient humble servant, 
 
 Thomas Leman.
 
 488 MEMOIRS, 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Cresceiit, Bath, July 18, 1820. 
 
 The loss of my dearest friend has so overpowered me that I 
 can scarce see to write to you. By a letter I have this moment 
 received from his excellent niece, 1 find he has appointed me 
 his sole executor in England, which will oblige me to be in town 
 the beginning of next week. This painful office, which millions 
 would not have tempted me to accept, he pressed upon me so 
 urgently when I last saw him, that I could not refuse him. He 
 is to be buried in Plumstead Church, somewhere near London. 
 Should you like to attend the funeral, you have nothing to do 
 but to send word to Montague-square. I trust to your friend- 
 ship to mention his death in the public papers. Alas ! / am 
 incapable of doing any thing but to lament the irreparable loss 
 I have sustained. Yours most truly, Thomas Leman. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Crescent, Dec. 1, 1820. 
 
 Being now able to read your letter, I can return you specific 
 answers to all your queries. The monument, or tablet, is di- 
 rected in his will ; and in a private paper, left to me as his exe- 
 cutor, he adds, " I hope the Master and Fellows of Emanuel 
 College will let my monnment be (after the design, and with 
 the inscription affixed to my will) placed at the north end of 
 the cloisters." As to any alterations that you may think neces- 
 sary, I leave them entirely to your pure taste and sound critical 
 judgment ; and I add only, that I shall readily pay any expense 
 relative to the having it written by your schoolmaster. I never 
 saw Mr. Shout, nor do I know any thing of him ; but I suppose, 
 of course, that he will rigidly follow any orders you are so good 
 as to give him. 
 
 You cannot conceive what a weight you have taken off my 
 mind by employing an amanuensis ; for since I received the 
 stone from Rosetta, and the brick from Babel, I have never 
 been so completely puzzled. Your writing certainly is more 
 mysterious than the former, and more inexplicable than the 
 latter. 
 
 Sir William Scott has written to me to inquire if I had found 
 among my friend's papers some letters relating to the late Dr.
 
 MExMOIRS. 489 
 
 Goldsmith, and which had passed between him and Burke, and 
 Johnson and Marley, and were supposed to be in the Bishop's 
 possession. There are none such in England, and I do not re- 
 collect ever having heard of such having been in his possession. 
 Can you, who lived in such intimacy with the Bishop, recollect 
 any thing about them ? 
 
 I do hope, and even entreat you to pay some attention to 
 your health, and not to neglect the trifling complaint in your 
 leg ; for your life is of consequence to the world, and more 
 particularly to your friends, I remain, with great respect, my 
 dear Sir, yours very faithfully, Thomas Leman.
 
 490 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Irish Politics, — the Alexanders, — Annuity, — 
 Warwick Meetings. 
 
 Irish politics are so much the topics of Bishop 
 Bennet's correspondence, that under this head Dr. 
 Parr's Irish friends will be properly associated. The 
 Alexanders, now ennobled under the title of Earl of 
 Caledon, became Parr's friends at Stanmore, and he 
 has left a notice of the commencement of his ac- 
 quaintance. 
 
 The writer of the enclosed, William Alexander, was not only 
 a very sensible man, but the best mannered man I ever saw on 
 the east side of Temple-bar, He lived in Cateaton-street, 
 where I often visited him : he married a very sensible woman, 
 daughter of the very odd, but ingenious and scientific physician, 
 Dr. Monsey.* After his death she lived at Acton, Middlesex. 
 He was uncle to Harry Alexander, M. P., and to Nathaniel 
 Alexander, Bishop of Down, He was father of Monsey Alex- 
 ander, who removed from Harrow to my school at Stanmore. 
 He was an excellent scholar, and his recitation and tones were 
 exquisite. He was an acute reasoner; he, by my advice, was 
 made pupil of Sir William Scott, tutor of University College ; 
 and at lectures, whether in logic or classics, he was selected 
 by Sir William Scott as the cleverest youth in the lecture- 
 room ; he was the friend also of the ingenious Tom Maurice. 
 He went into Ireland, and took a country living. William, the 
 father, died of an apoplexy : he had been sorely afflicted by the 
 
 * Mrs, Montague compared Dr. Monsey's mind to the 
 wrong side of a piece of embroidery. With great oddities he 
 had considerable scholarship, and he was a frequent guest in 
 Portman-square.
 
 MEMOIRS. 491 
 
 gout, and went into the extreme of abstinence in food and wine. 
 He was a truly respectable man and my friend. 
 
 Henry Alexander, Esq. M. P. and the Right Hon. 
 and Right Rev. Nathaniel Alexander, D. D. Lord 
 Bishop of Meath, were Dr. Parr's pupils at Stan- 
 more, and continued his friends ever after. On 
 one part of the politics of Ireland the following 
 letters will display Mr. Alexander's opinions ; and 
 those letters of the Bishop, which are copied in the 
 Appendix, will amply testify his Lordship's affec- 
 tionate attachment to his old master. 
 
 MY DEAR DOCTOR, Jan. 8, 1799. 
 
 Laudari a laudato viro ea vera laus est. The agitation of 
 the question of Union, will, in all probability, expatriate me. It 
 is severing the families of this kingdom, and men who never 
 differed before now differ. The remote contingencies of poli- 
 tical results have never struck me as justifying deviations from 
 private gratitude and private ties. I am sorely pressed upon 
 that subject, and am reduced to one of those practical para- 
 doxes where my gratitude to my uncle. Lord Caledon, and my 
 duty to the country, militate most strongly. Bred a Presby- 
 terian, his loyalty is inflexible 5 but it is a constitutional rather 
 than personal loyalty ; and in the union of the legislatures he 
 sees extinction of the Irish, not a modified existence, according 
 to the imperial interests of both. 
 
 I feel his fortune has formed the basis of our influence in 
 Ireland. His unlimited confidence has given me a weight 
 beyond my talents and age ; I can assure you I have not been 
 an unprofitable servant to the common interests of my family. 
 Ten years ago, when I entered into public life, we were with- 
 out a name in Ireland ; now he is a Viscount, married his 
 eldest daughter to the third oldest peer in Ireland, Lord Blay- 
 ney, with his estate clear of debt. He possesses a borough ; 
 his two nephews represent Londonderry, and I hope a third 
 will be a Bishop. All these prospects are blasted, and this 
 edifice destroyed by this question of Union. The old man is
 
 492 MEMOIRS. 
 
 also torn with an idea of its removing an only and delightful 
 son to England ; and that his life, spent in the service of his 
 country, a family of his creation, and all the imaginary and 
 lengthened honours of his race, must be lost to Ireland, or 
 excluded from the exertion of their political faculties possibly, 
 except gaining the only employment that excludes satiety— 
 I speak not of religion. 
 
 I inclose you by to-night's post two pamphlets, the best that 
 have appeared. My uncle's hesitation forbids my taking a 
 part one way or the other. Whether he will yield to me, or I 
 give way to him, depends much upon collateral impressions. 
 Should he persist, I will leave Ireland. I think it disgraceful 
 to hold office under any administration you differ from on a 
 substantial question. I therefore resign my situation, both as 
 representative of Londonderry, and as a member of the Board 
 of Ordnance. 
 
 My friends have suggested to me the possibility of going to 
 India, connected as I am in a very advantageous situation ; but 
 I fear my want of influence, and doubt my capabilities for the 
 situation, I mean that of a Judge. Dublin and the Midland 
 Counties outrageous on the question, and men, otherwise not 
 dispassionate, threatening destruction to individuals, and re- 
 bellion against the state. 
 
 The North, like their Scotch ancestors, plodding and calcu- 
 lating the commercial advantages, principally anxious for the 
 continuance of the preferences now given to Irish linens. 
 
 If I encouraged instructions from my constituents, I could 
 procure orders to support the Union ; but at some other time, 
 when they had fitted the bridle to my mouth, they might use 
 if I once gave up Londonderry, because I consider implicit 
 obedience an unconstitutional and unmanly promise. Cork, 
 and the South generally, from ideas of self-interest, are in 
 favour of the measure. 
 
 The women in Dublin, who apprehend the diminished charms 
 of the metropolis, young lawyers, all classes of Dublin, mercan- 
 tile interests, and all that low ballads, desperate caricatures, 
 tending to every thing ferocious, and a storm of pamphlets 
 can influence, are adverse. 
 
 But the real opposition lies in our great law officers, who,
 
 MEMOIRS. 493 
 
 contemptible to their profession, must sink the statesman here- 
 after (should an Union take place). They give a hollow 
 and treacherous support, whilst their creatures excite public 
 clamour. 
 
 The Speaker of the House of Commons, whose mind, un- 
 appalled by danger, fixed and determined in his purpose, ver- 
 satile in his mode of accomplishing that purpose, and who has 
 every quality of the fox, the lion, and the elephant, combined 
 in him, still adheres to his opposition. The cudgel-play does 
 not take place until his arrival. 
 
 Lord C has been a young Statesman, as I prophesied 
 
 to him, in taking the Speaker to England. He now returns, 
 endeared to the anti-unionists, a miracle of disinterestedness ; 
 whereas, had he been uncourted, unsolicited, the public would 
 have listened to him as a man offended by inattention, an am- 
 bitious man struggling for a situation for which no pecuniary 
 income can compensate. He has had time to feed the English 
 oppositionists with a knowledge they did not possess, to take 
 his measures, and, if my fears do not deceive me, to lay the 
 grounds of apprehensions for the Church establishment that 
 will shake England as well as Ireland. I have often chatted 
 with him to day-light, and never upon any subject without 
 conceiving him the first man in detailed knowledge and precise 
 ideas in the universe. You will laugh at an Irishman's logic. 
 Believe me, you are deceived. Proud and glorious as England 
 ought to be of her talents, you have no man in England equal 
 to the Irish Speaker. His varied character as a lawyer, a 
 statesman, an artist, a mechanic, a botanist, the best planter, 
 the best farmer, a memory that retains omne scibile de quolibet 
 ente in Hibernia. Powers, that either in principle oppose, or, 
 when they are defeated in detail, baffle or dwindle away all 
 objects he dislikes, probably never existed more variously in a 
 man. Neglected by Lord Westmoreland's Administration, 
 postponed to the Chancellor, his mind, like the tiger's crouch, 
 is now sprung for the leap. But should he, pray, escape that 
 leap ? It will be pursued with all the sagacity of a blood- 
 hound, and the swiftness and the terrifying yells of our wolf-dog. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer, your old school-fellow, 
 Parnell, bold artificially, but sagacious, and, as once described,
 
 494 MEMOIRS. 
 
 like the whale ia the ocean, lashing a foam around him that 
 secures him from observation, when it augments his apparent 
 dimensions, attaches himself to the Speaker, and acts against 
 Government. But he will desert the Speaker when he sees 
 reason, and will not fight longer ; but, in his first affray, he has 
 strength enough to injure the country. 
 
 I write in a great hurry as to general politics ; but I appre- 
 hend this pamphlet of Cooke's you must have seen. I send it 
 to you, however. The other is the production of a young 
 lawyer, I believe, of the name of Burke. He pubHshed in sup- 
 port of Burke's Reflections ; distinguished himself as possibly 
 the most eloquent Speaker we have in Ireland ; but his mind 
 does not gather quick, and when he has unloaded himself once 
 of the collection of the vacation, he is useless as a debater in 
 Parliament ; but he certainly is a man of talents, connected 
 with the Agar family, I mean Lord Callan. Lord de Clifford 
 is strong for the Union, The great southern interest of Lord 
 Shannon fluctuates ; the experience of the father for the 
 Union ; the youth of the son adverse. But they have mutually 
 offered concession ; and the son is the most valuable of our 
 young Irishmen of rank. I think, however, he will not be out- 
 done by the father in liberality, and force age to lead. 
 
 In short, my dear Doctor, the doctrine of probable opinions 
 has a greater influence than we Protestants allow j and men 
 yield to affection and honour when they can attribute no dis- 
 graceful or weak motive in their friend, and, in the common 
 intercourse of life, find that friend their superior in wisdom. 
 
 I own (although never breaking bread in his house) I 
 feel an obligation to Bennet for giving a living to a distant 
 cousin of mine. I will only observe that we have little inter- 
 course, not likely to increase, and yet, which I do not wish on 
 my side (for my brother's sake) to diminish ; for many who 
 will not take any trouble to confer an obligation, will to deserve, 
 and there is an extreme communication between Clerical men 
 as to all Church candidates in the two countries. 
 
 I am, yours truly and sincerely, H. A. 
 
 P. S. My struggle is over with Lord Caledon : we differ, 
 in all probability, but, with his usual magnanimity, he has told 
 rae, until I forfeited my own good opinion by acting contrary
 
 MEMOIRS. 495 
 
 to my own sense of right and wrong, I could not forfeit his. 
 That he would preserve the same right, and felt inclined to 
 oppose the Union to a great risk j but that, however, he would 
 communicate with me, and if I could change his opinion so 
 much the better. 
 
 I go off to-morrow for Londonderry, to attempt to raise the 
 North. Dublin has its Heberts, Marats, and Robespierres ; 
 but the northerns will not fall as tamely as the Gironde Fe- 
 deralists. 
 
 MY DEAR DOCTOR, 
 
 The question is decided by a majority of 106 to 105 in favour 
 of the measure. The question came on in the shape of an 
 amendment proposed to the address to his Majesty moved by 
 George Ponsonby, whose eloquence in some degree overcame 
 the prejudices created against him by his inaction and pre- 
 sumed connection with rebels during the late rebellion. The 
 King's speech recommends the consolidation of the two king- 
 doms into one fabric. That was construed a legislative union 
 and that construction acceded to by the Governor. He moved 
 an amendment, that, by the resolution of the House, approved 
 of by his Majesty in 1782, the residence of the Irish legisla- 
 ture in this kingdom was absolutely necessary. All our zeal 
 and enthusiasm was, I foresaw, successfully directed by the 
 Speaker. Parnell, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, your old 
 schoolfellow, a man of great capability to get into office, or 
 when irritated, but in the discharge of his duty negligent, in- 
 dolent, and overbearing — a great versatility of a rough manner, 
 that either overawes delicate minds by its brutality, or, on 
 minds of a similar mould to his own, assumes the affectation of 
 
 ostentatious familiarity. The Prime contemptible for 
 
 a low cunning, sordid in avarice, but that superseded bv the 
 love of life, that has rendered him to the close eye-witnesses 
 of his conduct in our trying times despicable, and has in this 
 instance produced a sacrifice of his place, which he is attempt- 
 ing to regain by the low artifice of procuring a Bar Round 
 Robin. I need not tell you about forty gentlemen declared 
 rebellion their choice in case the measure passed, that they
 
 496 MEMOIRS. 
 
 would recur to first principles, and that a legislature might 
 abdicate as well as a monarch. 
 
 The Speaker is chaired from the house. A young and elo- 
 quent lawyer of the name of Plunkett, who distinguished him- 
 self by an able and acrimonious strain of invective, was also 
 chaired. Lord Castlereagh spoke in a most manly and bold 
 manner, I bore a considerable share in the debate, but as I 
 never send forward any thing to print, I can only give you my 
 sentiments on the general measure, only assuring you that, as 
 the )'/ beivorr^s forms almost the only merit of a very loud and 
 rapid elocution, my manner is more than my matter. You 
 will laugh at me when I tell you (which you will probably 
 doubt) that I possess the riiv Trappi'icriav as completely as if the 
 waters of the Shannon had never been mingled in the Aga- 
 nippean stream. You first led me there, and the two last years 
 I was at school have given me a great many first principles 
 from the analysis of words, which leads to an accuracy of 
 guarding against very different propositions conveyed in terms 
 nearly synonymous. I am therefore a debater, no speaker ; 
 but useful in our arena. The credit of Government is saved 
 only by one vote. Government have taken until to-morrow to 
 consider. There is a great fund of what is good or evil in our 
 national character. Numbers of gentlemen resigned their par- 
 liamentary situations ; others broke through all engagements 
 and intentions declared. So far the dulce decus patriae et 
 fsedum servitutis nomen, overpowers all sense of private obli- 
 gation and personal interest, when both were nearly highly 
 connected with and material to public benefit. Although I 
 write with the elasticity of mind subsequent to a great exer- 
 tion, for I, with a few others, formed a phalanx round a very 
 gallant fellow from four o'clock yesterday to one this day, and 
 although I am seriously depressed at the licentious and anti- 
 Anglican spirit that displayed itself, I find that, without eating 
 or drinking, I have almost the intoxication of ebriety agitating 
 rae, or the flurry of spirits of a returned fox-hunter. 
 
 Arguments pro England — guarantee of our loans — military 
 aid — commercial preferences in our linens — our country shaken 
 to its basis by disturbances — continental influence — Irish Jaco- 
 binism, headed by factious parliamentary interest — jealousies.
 
 MEMOIRS. 497 
 
 to which independent legislatures, however united by alliances, 
 are subject — our impossibility of bearing our own expenses — 
 that national glory was the reputation of strength w^ith foreign 
 powers, and that at home our glory was founded on victories 
 obtained by valour or conduct over our new neighbours' an- 
 cestors. 
 
 I alluded to the Amphictyonic fine, or the trophy raising in 
 domestic wars on the other side — Irish name and character — 
 abdicated rights of the people — injuries of 700 years standing 
 — commercial jealousies — want of security — all that occurred 
 at the Scotch union — nothing further attainable for Ireland, 
 Eljgland having conceded all — British forces in Ireland — cor- 
 ruption — the speaker's character — Lord — the disin- 
 terestedness of the discharged statesmen — imputed bribery and 
 corruption, &c. &c. 
 
 I will certainly call upon you in England. As all ministerial 
 men are gone to bed I send you this without a frank, as pos- 
 sibly the intelligence may be grateful to you. I am not as 
 great an admirer of talents as you are, but if I go to England, 
 although disapproving of their politics, I should like to know 
 Fox and Sheridan, not introduced for the purpose of knowing 
 them insidiously ; I wish an introduction to them, subject to 
 the express understanding that I was not an admirer of their 
 principles ; and that my own are almost enthusiastically anti- 
 innovatory and monarchical. Yours, truly, 
 
 Henry Alexander. 
 
 The disappointment of his hopes of preferment 
 in the year 1789, and the desperate state of the 
 party to which he had attached himself during the 
 whole of the progress of the first part of the French 
 war, made Parr almost entirely dependant on his 
 labours as a schoolmaster. He had followed this 
 irksome occupation upwards of thirty years, and 
 now, being without an assistant, it became oppres- 
 sive to his spirits, and affected his health. I touch 
 with reluctance on the subject of the annuity ob- 
 VOL. I. 2 k
 
 498 MEMOIRS. 
 
 taincd for him in the year 1795. Some of those, 
 who, in their visits at Hatton, witnessed the anxious 
 and perturbed state of his mind, arising out of the 
 smallness of his income in the first place, and in the 
 second from his ill-paid labours, thought they 
 might take advantage of the example afforded, and 
 shelter themselves under the precedent of a sub- 
 scription solicited for a most illustrious man, to 
 reward him for those exertions which his ungrate- 
 ful country had not rewarded. In the first instance 
 it was pleaded that it was a reproach to the country 
 that such learning and such labours as those of Dr. 
 Parr should remain at any rate unnoticed ; that 
 such a man should be suff'ered to remain dependent 
 and in penury was unpardonable. It was therefore 
 suggested, first by Mr. Kett, of Trinity College, 
 Oxford, to Dr. Maltby and Dr. Routh, and by them 
 to other friends, that Parr should be raised above 
 dependence by an annuity. It was justly thought 
 that he had done enough to be entitled to recom- 
 pense, and that his accomplishments were too great 
 to suff'er him to be the slave of exigencies ; that it 
 would be munificent in his friends to give, nor de- 
 rogatory to his character for him to receive, that 
 remuneration which the dispensers of patronage 
 had not bestowed. The subscription was soon filled 
 to the proposed amount, and Parr, from the year 
 1795, enjoyed an annuity of ^300 a year paid by 
 the Dukes of Norfolk and Bedford from the pro- 
 ducts of it. This subscription was the subject of 
 much observation at the time, was sneered at as 
 having made another beggar patriot, and as having
 
 MEMOIRS. 499 
 
 lowered the estimation of him who accepted it to 
 the condition of a dependant and a mendicant. 
 Nor was it approved by some of his warmest and 
 most attached friends. Mr. Henry Alexander thus 
 expressed himself on this occasion: 
 
 I regret extremely what you write of your situation, the 
 more so as I considered you (to your wants comparatively) 
 rich. If the measure of accepting a subscription is not decided 
 upon, I should advise its suspension. If decided upon, I would 
 not, in that instance, state my reasons ; but if not entered 
 upon, when I hear from you, I will. 
 
 There is generally good reason for objecting to 
 the aid of a public or even private subscription. It 
 is a gift, without the pretence of professional ser- 
 vice, and may therefore be pleaded as a charitable 
 donation. But there are services which claim it, 
 and there are oppressions and neglects which make 
 it right and just. Be it observed that Parr had 
 spent two-thirds of his life in uninterrupted drud- 
 gery; that he had risen to supereminent rank as 
 a scholar and a divine, and that his only per- 
 manent sources of income, besides his small private 
 fortune, were a living of ^90, and a prebend of 
 ^17 a year. The prebend, it is true, was likely 
 to encrease ; but life was uncertain ; farther pa- 
 tronage seemed hopeless. It was necessary there- 
 fore to redeem him from the pressure of indigence ; 
 not that he had ever squandered in profusion the 
 produce of his labours, for he had been rather 
 thrifty than profuse ; but still something was due 
 to encreased renown, to enlarged acquaintance, and 
 to the possible conveniences of a longer life. It 
 
 2k2
 
 500 MEMOIRS. 
 
 was right, therefore, and hheral in his friends to 
 bestow, it was proper in him to receive, the sub- 
 scription and annuity arising from it ; and though 
 we may regret that it did not place him sufficiently 
 at his ease to live without the superintendance and 
 education of pupils for some time, yet it led the 
 way to this desirable end. 
 
 In the mean time the political horizon grew 
 blacker and blacker, and more violent and more 
 alarming measures were contemplated; even the 
 suspension * of the most sacred part of the charter 
 of our liberties, the habeas corpus act. This Pal- 
 ladium of the British Constitution had sometimes 
 been removed out of sight in times of invasion or of 
 rebellion ; but now, the supposed reason for the 
 suspension was founded, as Mr. Fox affirmed in his 
 place in the House of Commons, " on stale, ridi- 
 culous, and contemptible facts, and on pretences 
 on the part of the Government of an alarm which 
 was gross affectation ;" and yet such was the spirit 
 of the times, that only twenty-eight members of 
 the House of Commons were found to oppose it. 
 The Act of Suspension passed. A system of rigour 
 was acted upon by the Government, and there is a 
 letter of exultation, written by Mr. Godwin to Dr. 
 Parr, on the acquittal of Hardy, one of the persons 
 arraigned for high treason, dated " this ever-me- 
 morable and ever-honoured fifth day of Nov. 1794." 
 There are many letters of statesmen, celebrating in 
 a tone of triumph the acquittal of this obscure in- 
 
 * Dr. Parr's constant toast was, at this time, " Qui suspen- 
 derunt, suspendantur,"
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 501 
 
 dividual, as saving this country from the horrors of 
 despotism ; and Mr. Fox loudly proclaimed, when 
 the Suspension Bill was about to be renewed the 
 following year, " that if there had been a conspiracy, 
 it was a conspiracy without conspirators ; for, since 
 the epoch of the French revolution there had been 
 no actual insurrection in the kingdom, save that in 
 which the zeal for Church and King had actually 
 exerted itself in burning the houses of the dissenters 
 in Birmingham." However, the scarcity in the 
 latter part of the year, the extreme profusion of a 
 disastrous war, and the gloomy prospect of future 
 events, which the continuance of that war too 
 clearly furnished, gave occasion to a seditious move- 
 ment, which dared even to exhibit itself in outrage 
 against the sacred person of Majesty itself. The 
 nation, notwithstanding its distresses, generally de- 
 monstrated its loyalty on this occasion; and Dr. 
 Parr, with his own true Enghsh spirit, sympathised 
 with his fellow-subjects, and v^ as active in promoting 
 an address of congratulation from the Borough of 
 Warwick to the King on his escape. 
 
 At the public meeting convened for this purpose, 
 it was his anxious desire to promote the union of 
 all parties, and therefore did he dissuade his friends 
 from mingling any other question with the present 
 address : 
 
 There can be but one heart and one voice (said he) in this 
 assembly, and sure I am that every sincere advocate for the old 
 and fundamental principles of our constitution, every loyal 
 well-wisher to the honour of the crown, and to the safety of 
 the august person whom Providence has appointed to fill it, 
 every real friend to the peace and credit of this county, will
 
 502 MEMOIRS. 
 
 concur with me in thinking that the strongest effect, the bright- 
 est lustre, will be given to our present measure by unanimity. 
 Whatever differences of opinion may subsist between us on a 
 variety of political subjects, this 1 am sure is not a time to dis- 
 cuss such subjects, and it is a time when we ought to let all 
 such differences lie quiet. Our prejudices, and our passions, 
 ought to bow down in obedience to our loyalty, and if we have 
 a real sentiment of respect to our Sovereign, we shall not^ 
 upon such an occasion as this, disgrace an act of homage by 
 division or dispute. 
 
 To request that his Majesty will be pleased to encourage any 
 alteration in the venerable laws of this country, must at all 
 times be a work of great delicacy, and at this time many well- 
 meaning and well-informed men may shrink from it as big with 
 danger. 
 
 After arguing the admission of such topics in an 
 address of congratulation, he concluded thus, 
 
 To feel and express detestation of the outrage that has lately 
 been offered to his Majesty, well becomes the sacred profes- 
 sion to which I have the honour to belong, and is well adapted 
 to those principles of attachment which I have ever avowed, 
 and shall ever retain, in favour of limited monarchy, and of 
 our own free and excellent, but mixed form of government. 
 It is therefore my firm resolution, nay, 'tis my bounden duty to 
 convey in some form or other, or through some medium or 
 other, a public and unequivocal tribute of loyalty to my Sove- 
 reign. Standing in this place, I confess myself most solici- 
 tous to act with those that are present, and to confine the ad- 
 dress to an explicit reprobation of the daring indignity offered 
 to his Majesty, and to strong expression of joy and satisfac- 
 tion we in common feel at the safety of our common protector 
 and Sovereign. 
 
 What address was adopted by the meeting I do 
 not now recollect ; but the following was written 
 by Dr. Parr: 
 
 We, your Majesty's dutiful subjects, the under- written inha-
 
 MEMOIRS. 503 
 
 bitants of Warwickshire, beg leave to lay before you our most 
 sincere assurances of attachment to your Majesty's person and 
 illustrious family, and our most unfeigned and solemn congra- 
 tulations upon your deliverance from the danger by which you 
 were threatened. We feel it a sacred duty to your Majesty, 
 and to all our fellow-subjects, to express our abhorrence of the 
 outrages which have lately been committed in the capital, when 
 going to perform the momentous and constitutional functions 
 of the regal character in the House of Parliament ; and con- 
 fiding, as we do, in the strength and sufficiency of those laws 
 which the wisdom of our ancestors have provided for the safety 
 of your Majesty's august person, and for the dignity of your 
 throne, we anxiously hope that every secret contriver, and 
 every daring abettor of those shocking enormities will be spee- 
 dily detected, and exemplaril}'^ punished. Convinced that your 
 Majesty looks with an eye of compassion on the privations with 
 which your subjects are now afflicted through the dearness and 
 scarcity of provisions, the accumulation of taxes, and the dis- 
 astrous events of war, we rely upon your Majesty's paternal 
 goodness to employ such measures as may I'estore to an affec- 
 tionate and dutiful people the inestimable blessings of plenty 
 and peace. 
 
 This outrage furnished a further pretext for en- 
 croachments on the British constitution, ushered in 
 by a proclamation, commanding the magistrates to 
 discourage, prevent, and suppress, all unlawful as- 
 semblies, and the distribution of all seditious pub- 
 lications ; and followed up by the enactment of two 
 bills brought in by Lord Grenville and Mr. Pitt, 
 one " an Act for the safety and preservation of his 
 Majesty's person and government against treason- 
 able and seditious practices and attempts ; the other, 
 " an Act for the more effectually preventing sediti- 
 ous meetings and assemblies." These l)ills were 
 esteemed by Dr. Parr as aiming a deadly blow at 
 the vitals of the constitution, and nearly establish-
 
 504 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ing a despotism. Boldly did he proclaim his opi 
 nion, that they constituted a treasonable attempt 
 against the liberties of the country ; and before a 
 lar2:e company assembled to celebrate his birth-day 
 on Jan. 2Gth, 1796, he stoutly proposed the toast, 
 " Bills for the necks of the authors of the two 
 Bills." 
 
 The fatal measure of suspending cash payments 
 by the Bank of England in the following year, gave 
 Ministers an unlimited command over the resources 
 of the country. The practice of borrowing was 
 thus trained into a system, admitting every excess 
 of profusion and prodigality. The future was mort- 
 gaged at an easy rate, and ruin thus crept into the 
 estates and concerns of men, without their being 
 aware of the slow-speeding mischief. That mis- 
 chief, indeed, was foreseen by the prudent, and the 
 ruin likely to flow from it was not left to proceed 
 without the warning voice of the wise. Other fear- 
 ful events occurred daily ; a mutinous and revolted 
 navy — Ireland nearly in arms, together with the me- 
 naces of additional calamity, at length roused a part 
 of the people to petition for a removal of Ministers 
 and a change of system. Warwickshire, as a coun- 
 ty, had seldom acted on Whig principles. In this 
 emergency it was stirred with difficulty, yet, by the 
 perseverance of Dr. Parr, at last effectually. A 
 requisition, highly respectable, was signed and sent 
 to the High Sheriff, Robert Knight, Esq. of Bar- 
 rells, who convened the meeting on the 31st of 
 May, 1797. The following letter of Mr. Greatheed, 
 of Guy's Cliff; near Warwick, to Dr. Parr, breathes*
 
 MEMOIRS. 505 
 
 a spirit which the awfulness of the times had in- 
 spired into many other gentlemen in the county : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 If Lord Guildford and Sir Francis Burdett have joined us it 
 is very good. I did not know the latter had any property in 
 
 the county. As to Sir I like not neutralists in such 
 
 times as these, however politely it n:ay be garbed; it is one 
 thing to think a measure impolitic, and another not to supporc 
 it when once embraced ; and as to his fear of producing dis- 
 union in the county, that paltry excuse of paltry and selfish 
 politicians, I am sick of it. God grant that we may produce 
 disunion in the county ! The union we have had has nearly 
 proved fatal to England. There is one passage in the address 
 which requires alteration ; it is this, "■ a contest which, having 
 ceased to be necessary, can scarcely be deemed just." We, as 
 well as our friends in Parliamenl, have constantly and invaria- 
 bly denied that it ever was either necessary or just, which this 
 sense adi»its it to have been ; nay, after this necessity, so 
 granted, has ceased, it hesitates to pronounce it unjust. Adieu, 
 ever yours, Bertie Greatheed. 
 
 The majority of the aristocracy of the county 
 was against the Petition. It was, however, carried 
 by a majority of those present, though some doubts 
 have been cast upon the propriety of Mr. Knight's 
 determination. All doubts, however, must end, 
 since we have the evidence of that upright and ac- 
 complished gentleman, the late Sir John Throck- 
 morton, in the following letter to Dr. Parr : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Curzon- street, June 13, 1797. 
 
 Having been witness of the proper and impartial conduct of 
 Mr, Knight, as Sheriff, at Warwick, on the 31st, I shall seize, 
 with pleasure, the opportunity of signing any paper which will 
 make a public attestation of my sentiments on the subject. 
 
 Mr. Knight has just been with me, and shewn me a letter he 
 has received from Lord Warwick, in which he disclaims all per-
 
 506 MEMOIRS. 
 
 sonal reflections, though he adheres to his opinion that they 
 had the majority of numbers. This, I beheve, will finish the 
 correspondence, and Mr. Knight will now draw up his state- 
 ment of what has passed. I am, dear Sir, yours very sincerely, 
 
 J. Throckmorton. 
 
 Mr. Fox's opinion of the Petition is contained in 
 the following letters to Dr. Parr : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, South-street, Nov. 19, 1795. 
 
 I return you many thanks for your two letters, and am very 
 glad things were so properly settled at Warwick. If you think 
 there is a reasonable prospect of success, I own I could wish 
 there were some attempt made to get a petition from your part 
 of the country against the two Bills now pending. It is impos- 
 sible, even for those who most wish to be blind, not to see that 
 they are a part of a decided system calculated to bring on, as 
 speedily as possible, what Mr. Hume calls the euthanasia of the 
 British Constitution. 
 
 I am, very sincerely, dear Sir, yours ever, C. J. Fox. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Soutk-street, May 12. 
 
 I received your letter last Monday upon coming to town, 
 after a few days holidays in the country ; and I hope you will 
 think the agitation we have all here been in, on account of the 
 state of things at Portsmouth, a sufficient excuse for my not 
 having till this day found an opportunity of answering it. 
 
 I think nothing can be more proper than the draft of the 
 petition you inclose, and shall think it a great triumph if it 
 succeeds in a county so little disposed to Whig modes of think- 
 ing as Warwickshire is supposed to be. Sir George Shuck- 
 burgh has voted with us pretty steadily this winter ; whether 
 this is likely to have any effect among his constituents you can 
 judge better than I. 
 
 Affairs at Portsmouth, by this morning's account, seem to 
 have a far better aspect, and, for the j^^^sent, 1 should hope 
 things will be quiet. The worst news is every day apprehended 
 from Ireland. Yours most faithfully, C. J. Fox.
 
 MEMOIRS. 507 
 
 In preparation for the Warwick meeting, Dr. 
 Parr wrote down a speech, which he intended to 
 deliver in moving the address and petition. That 
 petition went to the removal of Mr, Pitt, and, as 
 Mr. Pitt's financial abilities were the ground of his 
 support by the nation, Parr entered into minute 
 calculation to show his errors and his profusion. 
 He showed that the actual charge for interest of 
 the debt, accumulated in one year of the French 
 war, exceeded, by more than a quarter of a million, 
 the whole charge for eight years of the American 
 war. Again ; 
 
 Let us compare (said he) the debt as it was found by Mr. 
 Pitt in the year 1782, ^6,688,000. per annum, and as he made 
 it up from 1792 to December, 1796, ^6,701,000, and we shall 
 find that the debt produced by all the wars in the reigns of 
 William, Queen Anne, George I., II , III., up to the last year 
 of the American, fell short of the annual charge made upon us 
 for four years during Mr. Pitt's war, up to December 1796, by 
 ^13,000. 
 
 He then enters further into long calculations, 
 and, after detecting some gross errors, ends with 
 the following animated declamation : 
 
 Whether this difference is to be imputed to want of penetra- 
 tion, or want of veracity, I shall not determine; but in either 
 case he forfeits his title to the confidence of every man who, 
 with the smallest appearance of consistency or sincerity, can 
 pretend to common sense or common honesty in matters of 
 calculation. I do not deny that the Minister has done his best, 
 I am not eager to convince his prejudiced or venal admirers 
 that other Ministers would have done better ; but I contend, 
 in defiance of refutation, that the most negligent blunderer, or 
 the most adventurous spendthrift, or the most dexterous de- 
 ceiver, could not have done worse. By squandering the public 
 money with such prodigality, lie resembled what Montesquieu
 
 508 MEMOIRS. 
 
 says of the tyrant's laying lieavy imposts upon his miserable 
 slaves. He is like him who takes his axe, cuts down the tree, 
 eager to gather the fruit. 
 
 The Petition itself was conceived In the same 
 spirit, and couched in the same forcible terms ; and, 
 for the second time, the great aristocratical influence 
 of Warwickshire was obliged to yield to a renovated 
 spirit of opposition. 
 
 These views of politics met with few reciproca- 
 tions of sentiment from the great majority of those 
 who had power or votes in the nation. The little 
 band of Opposition went on, however, in steady 
 phalanx ; they stood like a rock of adamant in the 
 midst of the battle ; faithful to freedom and to the 
 true cause of their country ; unmoved by the scorn 
 or the menaces of the besotted, or the misguided, 
 or the mistaken. Nor did it require any common 
 degree of fortitude to repel the base attempts, or to 
 withstand the hostile attacks, of the armed majority. 
 From 1793 to 1800, the friends of Mr. Fox were, 
 in fact, the friends of their country. Yet were they 
 despised, and taunted, and almost hissed out of the 
 social intercourse of their countrymen. 
 
 After the passing of the two Bills, the hand of 
 power pressed heavily on the lowest classes of op- 
 position, and an example of its ridiculous excess 
 was exhibited at Hatton in the treatment of one of 
 Parr's parishioners. By some foolish frolic of one 
 of Parr s pupils, a tailor at Hatton, of the name of 
 Smallwood, was represented to the Earl of Warwick, 
 Lord Lieutenant of the county, as entertaining re- 
 volutionary projects, and concealing arms for the
 
 MEMOIRS. 509 
 
 purpose of overthrowing the government. The 
 Lord Lieutenant, impelled probably by the duty 
 which belonged to his high station, commanded the 
 tailor's house to be searched. His lordship had 
 himself an interview, either at the time, or soon 
 after the search, with the family of Smallwood, 
 and, it is said, excused himself for so rigorous an 
 exercise of his power by the notoriety of the Jaco- 
 binical principles of the parson of the parish. It is 
 believed that neither arms nor ammunition were 
 found ; that the implements of his trade were the 
 only offensive or defensive weapons possessed by 
 the suspected mechanic ; * and I can readily conceive 
 that the Lord Lieutenant, who was a very good- 
 natured man, would laugh at the consequences of 
 the frolic when he became undeceived. Dr. Parr 
 was more aggrieved by the term applied to him, and 
 less readily appeased. He wrote a very angry letter 
 to Lord Warwick, who very faintly denied having 
 called him a Jacobin, and, indeed, did not appear to 
 be very anxious about keeping on terms with the 
 Doctor. Dr. Parr must have deeply offended him 
 by his conduct in the election for the borough of 
 Warwick, in 1789. He then pledged himself, by 
 public advertisements, for Mr. Greville, in direct 
 opposition to the interest of the Castle ; and there 
 is an interesting correspondence between him, Mr. 
 Ladbroke, and Mr. Greville, on the subject, which, 
 
 * The tailor's wife sent the searchers into the garden, after 
 they had looked over the house ; intimating that their only 
 arsenal wais there.
 
 510 MEMOIRS. 
 
 with the electioneering hand-bills, are now before 
 me. Dr. Parr was so angry with Lord Warwick 
 on this occasion, for what he conceived his encroach- 
 ments on the independence of the borough, this 
 unkind treatment of his brother, Mr. Greville, that 
 he printed, or rather gave to Mr. Ladbroke to print, 
 an invective against Lord Warwick, which, for 
 poignant satire, and vigorous elegance of style, 
 might be compared with the best or the worst pro- 
 ductions of political rancour. This letter is pre- 
 served, and was designed to be published without 
 inserting the names ; but I think we have consulted 
 the real dignity of our friend's character by omitting 
 it. In a happier moment, and with the best feel- 
 ings, he commanded the memorials of his angry 
 controversy with two other gentlemen to be buried, 
 as much as they could be, in oblivion. He had 
 vented his rage against Lord Warwick when in the 
 height of his controversial career ; and, perhaps, 
 had not fresh bitterness been poured into his soul, 
 there can be little doubt that the resentment itself 
 would have passed away. But when the Lord Lieu- 
 tenant of the county had almost officially exhibited 
 him as a traitor, he was quite right to demand sa- 
 tisfaction, and by every means to enforce justice. 
 He did demand satisfaction, but justice he did not 
 obtain. He threatened — his menaces were scorned ; 
 and Lord Warwick insultingly desired to be one of 
 the subscribers to any work which Dr. Parr might 
 publish against him. Parr did not print his second 
 letter ; but he never forgot the wrong he liad sus- 
 tained. Both the letters remain ; and when all the
 
 MEMOIRS. 511 
 
 delicacies of personal consideration, and all the 
 ranklings of party jealousy, shall have died away, 
 they may be published as specimens of the enor- 
 mous power of vigorous and enlightened intellect, 
 when it holds the thunder-bolt in its hand, and 
 darts the lightning of invective. 
 
 It is my painful duty so frequently to exhibit Dr. 
 Parr under the influence of the angry passions. No 
 man, however, indulges in them with impunity : 
 they shake the bosom in which they rage, and the 
 moral, no less than the physical man, becomes dis- 
 eased and deformed when they agitate him unduly 
 and unceasingly. It is our interest, therefore, as 
 much as it is our duty, to put an end to them in 
 time : for an end to them there must be ; we cannot 
 live in whirlwinds and in hurricanes.
 
 512 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Spital Sermon, — Alderman Combe, — Mr. Godwin, 
 — Dr. Samuel Butler, — Dr. Burney, — Dr. 
 Charles Parr Burnei/, — Amanuenses, — John 
 Bartlam,—Mr. E. H. Barker,-~Mr. Shackle- 
 ton. 
 
 Mr. Alderman Combe was chosen Lord Mayor 
 of London in the latter end of the year 1799, and 
 in his official capacity, appointed Dr. Parr to preach 
 the Spital Sermon. Dr. Parr performed this duty 
 with great ability. As a composition, his discourse 
 will not suiFer by a comparison with any of his 
 predecessors, and even in length, it, perhaps, ex- 
 ceeded most of them, though in this respect, Dr. 
 Isaac Barrow was longer in delivery by an hour. 
 Dr. Parr was not quite two hours ; Dr. Barrow, it 
 is said, was three.* Whatsoever might have been 
 the fondness for long sermons, and it was a fond- 
 ness certainly not patronised by the Court ; a fond- 
 ness much lessened even from the good old times ; 
 certain it is, that our contemporaries shewed some 
 sign of impatience at the additional hour, and that 
 
 * "Marshal and Burgess (says Hume), two puritanical cler- 
 gymen, were chosen to preach before them (Long Parliament), 
 and entertained them with discourses seven hours in length."
 
 MEMOIRS. 513 
 
 even the Court of Aldermen was not quite exempt 
 from some manifestations of restlessness. Barrow's 
 sermon, as it is printed, consists of 39 folio pages : 
 Dr. Parr's of 51 large octavo, with 212 of notes. 
 
 This sermon may be considered as the first direct 
 metaphysical effusion of Dr. Parr's pen. Part of 
 it, indeed, was professedly pointed at Mr. Godwin, 
 and we shall soon take occasion to notice Dr. 
 Parr's most vigorous and satisfactory answer to this 
 able writer. The metaphysical part, however, is 
 not that which stamps the highest value on this 
 composition. It was the last public effusion of 
 his sentiments on general education, now matured 
 by the experience and studies of more than fifty 
 years ; and closes a series of didactic discourses, un- 
 rivalled in our own language, for originality, learn- 
 ing, and eloquence. For, in the intermediate time 
 between the sermons preached at Norwich and the 
 Spital, Parr frequently proclaimed his sentiments 
 on popular education from the pulpit, and four 
 sermons are published in these works, for the first 
 time, on Liberality and Charity, the beneficial 
 effects and right application of labour, and on Be- 
 nevolence in all its relations to man. The first of 
 them was preached at Coventry ; the second at 
 Bewdley ; the two others at Birmingham. 
 
 In his first discourse at Norwich, Parr had advo- 
 cated the cause of the poor, in the most simple 
 form of public address. He spoke of no systems, 
 he condemned no theories. As a Christian minis- 
 ter, he pleaded for his kind, and sought instruction 
 for him that had it not. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 L
 
 514 MEMOIRS. 
 
 In the enlarged discourse, he not only advised ; 
 he attacked. The systems of the author of the 
 fable of the Bees, and of Emile, were his marks ; 
 and he directed the shafts of his learning, his rea- 
 soning, his wit, and even his satire, with irresistible 
 force against the theories of those sceptical and 
 eloquent innovators. 
 
 His first sermon was practical ; his second was 
 polemical and philosophical ; the four others were 
 practical and philosophical. The Spital Sermon 
 associated all these qualities together. It, perhaps, 
 may be regretted, that Dr. Parr wasted so much 
 power in overthrowing a neglected dogma in the 
 Spital Sermon. The poet* had already put the 
 philosophy of the question in its proper light ; 
 and the gigantic theologian -j- had made that phi- 
 losophy accommodate itself to the tenets of ortho- 
 doxy. The massive club of his learning was not, 
 therefore, required to crush it. 
 
 Universal, or unlimited philanthrophy, as the 
 key-stone of a system of ethics, has neither cohe- 
 rence nor solidity. To feel kindly towards all men, 
 and to wish well to all men, is the natural bent of 
 every undebauched mind ; for he who protects his 
 own household, and has no unjust propensities, 
 either in regard to gain, or irregular desire, can 
 have no bad feelings. The high-wrought sensibi- 
 lities of romantic life indeed, may picture the ideal 
 
 * " Self-love but serves the virtuous mind to wake, &c." 
 t The sturdy antagonist of Crousaz in " The Republic of 
 Letters," 1742-3, and the author of a " View of Lord Boling- 
 broke's Philosophy," particularly the third letter.
 
 MEMOIRS. 515 
 
 form of entire perfection. Perfectibility thus be- 
 comes a part of the philosophy of such heated fan- 
 cies — and fancy, when it moves only in its peculiar 
 sphere of action, is an useful adjunct to our exist- 
 ence. But if it ever interfere with our sober duties, 
 it is no longer innoxious ; by stirring up the more 
 solid qualities into froth, they lose their powers, 
 they cease to invigorate, and end in nothing. 
 . ! Formed for particular offices, fathers, mothers, 
 brothers, sisters, friends, protectors, all our duties 
 are proximate not remote, social and co-relative. 
 The laws of society, and common humanity, ex- 
 actly define our duties as citizens ; and whenso- 
 ever we endeavour to expand them into universal 
 philanthrophy, they elude our grasp, and become 
 incontrolable and impracticable. How absurd 
 would it be, to spend our main efforts, and wishes, 
 and fortunes, in making and devising comforts for 
 the Esquimaux. Our estimate of human misery, 
 and our wishes to relieve it, must be formed under 
 our own observation, and made with our own 
 hands, or by our own efforts, to be just and to be 
 beneficial. If we have a superflux, to be sure, we 
 may send it abroad. In general it is better for us 
 to look and work at home ; and if we look keenly 
 and honestly, we have business enough to do. 
 
 Parr's Spital Sermon is especially valuable, by 
 directing us to this practical view of men and 
 things. " Let us do good unto all men, especially 
 to those that are of the household of faith," was 
 hjs text. Particular benevolence is our main duty. 
 
 2l2
 
 516 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Christian benevolence points out the course of 
 performing that duty — the household of faith. 
 Not confining our benevolence within a narrow 
 range, but specifying the household of faith as the 
 chief objects, that the principle might not be left 
 without limitation. 
 
 The notes to the Spital Sermon take a compen- 
 dious view of the systems of ethics of the philo- 
 sophers of all ages, and the compendium is illus- 
 trated copiously from the vast magazine of Parr's 
 learning. 
 
 I have ventured to make the notes very copious (says he) 
 because I wish to save my reader the trouble of consulting 
 books, and because I was anxious to place distinctly in his view, 
 the opinions of eminent writers, on the interesting subject of 
 benevolence. 
 
 On justice, in which term, " all our social virtues 
 have been resolved, by one writer, and all our 
 duties included by others," he has set forth such 
 premises as will enable the reader to form a judg- 
 ment of the use to which all writers have applied 
 it ; and showing 
 
 That the ancient writers did not set justice in opposition 
 to any other social virtues, such as gratitude, liberality, or pa- 
 rental affection ; that they did not erect systems upon the basis 
 of justice, nor employ the colossal weight of the term, in crush- 
 ing other moral excellencies, which, together with justice, were 
 considered as pillars in the temple of virtue. 
 
 The great note on benevolence, at page 65 ; on 
 atheism, at page 91 ; the defence and praise of the 
 universities, at 107 ; and the long list of great and
 
 MEMOIRS. 517 
 
 good men which they have produced, admit of no 
 abridgment. The connection of Ethics with Theo- 
 logy, and the doctrine of rewards and punishments, 
 as it is really laid down in Scripture, close this 
 extraordinary volume, in which Parr unfolds his 
 metaphysical modes of thinking, and his Ethical 
 code, and some even of his theological opinions 
 more at length, than in any of the works he had 
 hitherto published. I wish there were space enough 
 to include every word he has written in defence of 
 the old establishments, the English Universities. 
 
 The vulgar opinions, and erroneous judgments, 
 formed by those who are not acquainted with them, 
 shrink to nothing at the touch of Parr's Ithuriel 
 spear, and overwhelmed in prejudice must that in- 
 tellect be which is not enlightened by his argument, 
 although dazzled by the blaze of illustrious names 
 with which he has adorned his page, and demon- 
 strated his position. 
 
 Before I advert to some of these names, the dear 
 friends, or the learned correspondents, of Dr. Parr, 
 it behoves me to take notice of certain criticisms 
 and attacks made on the Spital Sermon and its 
 author. 
 
 In the first place, we have seen in reviewing the 
 attack made on Dr. Parr by the author of the Pur- 
 suits of Literature, that it was deemed ridiculous 
 to compare the Birmingham Doctor with Dr. Sam. 
 Johnson ; and yet it was unjustly urged against him 
 that he mimicked Johnson's style.* Wishing to 
 
 * See Cradock's Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 325,
 
 518 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 speak with due reverence of so great a man as 
 Johnson, I Hsten, however, with impatience to such 
 observations. In his early life, indeed, he did not 
 disdain to imitate and applaud that style, and 
 throughout life he was the sincere and the warm 
 admirer of Johnson's great powers, and of the 
 developement of them under such unpropitious cir- 
 cumstances. None, however, but silly worship- 
 pers, or zealot partisans, could deem it ridiculous to 
 compare Johnson and Parr. In weight of intellect 
 they were nearly matched; in copiousness of dic- 
 tion Parr was superior, though the indistinctness of 
 his utterance made Johnson's slow and ponderous 
 elocution more impressive. In learning Parr was a 
 thousand strong, where Johnson had only his hun- 
 dreds ; but he had a tenfold superiority in another 
 and a more important quality of a debater. Those 
 who were in the habit of frequenting Johnson's 
 company, however awed they might be by his 
 gigantic strength, could not fail to observe that he 
 too often used it like a giant. The centre of a cir- 
 culating system of his own, a sort of literary despot, 
 he suffered no rival near the throne, and when he 
 was contradicted he always resented. His conver- 
 sations of course generally became contests, and in 
 these contests his chief struggle was for victory. 
 In the heat of argumentation I fear it cannot be 
 denied that he was accustomed to use unlawful 
 weapons ; and that he voluntarily confounded some 
 of the distinctions, veri et falsi, to bewilder his an- 
 tagonist. I speak this onli/ of his verbal disputa- 
 tions, not of his writings.
 
 MEMOIRS. 519 
 
 Parr was as eager for victory as Johnson, but his 
 scymitarwas never drawn or wielded against the truth. 
 He would sometimes parry the brave thrusts, and 
 sometimes play with the feeble assaults of his anta- 
 gonist ; but never, never did I hear of his striking at 
 the naked truth. The wily sophist he was sure to 
 expose — the frothy wrangler he was sure to over- 
 throw. But he met with few rivals in disputation, 
 because he had few equals in eloquence or learning ; 
 and perhaps there is no instance in the records of 
 learning in which a mighty mind scattered its great 
 stores with such prodigality as did Dr. Parr. What 
 lighted his pipe would have been illumination 
 enough for many an ordinary scholar. Burke was his 
 chief idol — Johnson he worshipped also. His house- 
 hold gods were the sages of all periods of civiliza- 
 tion, and of all nations. — His style sprung out of 
 his profound learning, and his intellectual energy 
 and dexterity ; and became less perfect only when he 
 chose to select from the stores of others that which 
 he possessed in greater abundance and excellence 
 among his own. 
 
 The Spital Sermon brought forth a reply from 
 Mr. Godwin. He had visited Hatton in October 
 1794, and professed that he recollected with singu- 
 lar satisfaction the happiness he enjoyed in Dr. 
 Parr's company and conversation, and that he never 
 spent a week with higher personal pleasure. He 
 afterwards spent several days at Hatton in 1795, 
 with as much satisfaction. They corresponded, and 
 it does not appear that the correspondence was 
 broken off till December 1799. In that month a
 
 520 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 letter, supposed by Mr. Godwin to be important, 
 remained unanswered, and there is no other letter 
 till April 24th, 1 800. In the mean time Dr. Parr 
 preached his Spital Sermon. Mr. Godwin either 
 heard it preached, or somehow became acquainted 
 with the language and sentiments of it, and wrote 
 a complaint to Dr. Parr in consequence. The fol- 
 lowing is Dr. Parr's reply : 
 
 SIR, Tuesday, April 29th, 1800. 
 
 I have read your letter attentively, and I believe that you 
 know enough of my various and importunate avocations in 
 London, to consider them as a sufficient excuse for the delay 
 of my answer. " You designed (it seems) to ask me whether 
 I had received a letter from you written in December last?" 
 " You meant" also " to have listened to know whether inten- 
 tion, or simple forgetfulness, had caused it to remain unan- 
 swered?" You further represent it, " as appearing to yourself 
 not an ordinary letter, but one the author of which was enti- 
 tled to a reply." If you had seen me, and spoken what you 
 thus wrote, 1 should not have given you the trouble of listen- 
 ing to hear my answer. Without professing to adopt your sys- 
 tem about the undistinguishing disclosure of truth, I shall fol- 
 low my own, which appears to me equally sound and salutary. 
 
 A parcel came to my house in December last when I was 
 absent. Upon my return I opened it, and found four volumes, 
 together with a letter, which, from the direction, I knew to be 
 from you ; I read only the preface to your novel, and after- 
 wards having heard from Mrs. Parr some account of its con- 
 tents, I felt no curiosity at the time to look into them, I hap- 
 pened to be then very busy upon subjects which were far more 
 interesting to me, and perhaps if I had been more at leisure, 
 yet I might not have found myself disposed to read your book, 
 till I knew tlie opinion entertained of it by the very sagacious 
 person whom I had desired to peruse it. Certainly, Sir, I was 
 not for one moment insensible of your civility in sending it to 
 me. But I had determined to return it to you ; and the reluc- 
 tance I folt to do what might seem to you ungracious, made
 
 MEMOIRS. 521 
 
 me put off from day to day the execution of what I intended. 
 I now thank you, Sir, for sending me the book. I apologize 
 to you for not making any acknowledgments sooner ; and after 
 my arrival at Hatton I will take the earliest opportunity of con- 
 veying back to you the volumes, which, for obvious reasons, I 
 cannot keep without impropriety. 
 
 Your letter I laid aside, and as I did not expect to find the 
 contents of it agreeable to me, I left it unopened. With some 
 uncertainty whether I should or should not venture to read it, 
 I afterwards looked for it in my library and could not find it. 
 But my search was not very diligent, and I suppose that some 
 day or other it must fall into my hands, I cannot, however, 
 pledge myself either upon finding to read, or, upon reading, to 
 answer it. 
 
 I have told you. Sir, with all possible plainness every cir- 
 cumstance I remember about your letter and the books ; and 
 in consequence of what you wrote to me the other day I think 
 myself justified in confessing that I now am not disposed to- 
 wards you entirely, as I once was. 
 
 Your letter of April 24th goes on thus — " This subject dis- 
 missed, I should then have mentioned your Sermon of Easter 
 Tuesday. I spoke in the letter above referred to of Mack- 
 intosh's lectures, in which that gentleman, without the manli- 
 ness of mentioning me, takes occasion three times a week to 
 represent me to an audience of an hundred persons as a wretch 
 unworthy to live." Indeed, Sir, I must congratulate myself 
 upon not opening a letter containing a passage so offensive to 
 me as this misrepresentation of Mr. Mackintosh, be it acciden- 
 tal or voluntary. From various quarters I had heard of the 
 ability and success with which Mr. Mackintosh had combated 
 opinions which you are supposed to hold, and of which I am 
 accustomed to disapprove. But I never was told by other men 
 that he had been guilty of any unbecoming personalities to- 
 wards you ; and by Mr. Mackintosh himself I have been in- 
 formed that he never insulted your character, never pro- 
 nounced your name, never even opposed your tenets as holden 
 by yourself exclusively. You will, therefore, permit me to 
 express my fixed belief, that what you wrote in your former 
 letter, and have repeated in your last, is utterly unwarranted
 
 522 MEMOIRS. 
 
 by the conduct of Mr. Mackintosh in his lectures. Of his 
 genius, his judgment, his erudition, and his taste, I have al- 
 ways thought and spoken with high admiration. From the 
 doubts which I may now and then have entertained of his firm- 
 ness, I am happily relieved ; by experience I am convinced of 
 his sincerity in friendship, and for the important services which 
 he is now rendering to a cause which is most dear to my heart, 
 I gladly give him the tribute of my thanks and my praise. 
 
 I return to your letter, in which you say " your Sermon, I 
 learn from all hands, was on the same subject, handled I take 
 it for granted, from what I know of your character, in a very 
 different spirit. 1 am sorry for this." Be assured. Sir, that 
 you have done no more than justice when you acquit me of 
 describing you as a wretch unworthy to live. I hope, Sir, you 
 are not sorry Jbr this. 
 
 For the principles which I defend in the pulpit I am con- 
 scious of an awful responsibility, not only to society, but to 
 Almighty God, and it is at my own peril that in speaking of 
 my fellow creatures I forget the obligations which lie upon me 
 to preserve the candour of a gentleman^ and the charity of a 
 Christian. Let me hope for this also you are not sorry. 
 
 In your letter you thus proceed : " Since Mackintosh's 
 lectures it has become a sort of fashion with a large party to 
 join in the cry against me. It is the part, I conceive, of ori- 
 ginal genius to give the tone to others, rather than to join a 
 pack after it has already become loud and numerous." 
 
 So far as the foregoing passage contains a statement of facts 
 relating to other men, it may, or it may not be just ; so far as 
 it contains your general opinion upon the duty of men who are 
 endowed with original genius, I am inclined rather to admit 
 than to controvert it. But if it be meant in any degree what- 
 soever to contain a particular accusation against me, I must 
 lament the want of precision and the want of fairness in the 
 writer. Sir, I lay no claims to that original genius which is 
 to give the tone to others. But I have too delicate a sense of 
 decorum to join a pack because it is loud and numerous, or to 
 act with a party because it is large, or to repeat any cry against 
 you because it is fashionable. I trust. Sir, that upon re-con- 
 sidering 'what you have thus written, you will be very sorry for
 
 MEMOIRS. 5^ 
 
 it ; and let your motives be what they may when you wrote 
 the passage above mentioned, and let your feelings be what 
 they may when you have re-considered it, I have no hesitation 
 in pronouncing it quite unauthorized either by what you know 
 of my general character, or from what you can have heard from 
 any man of sense about my late sermon at Christ Church. 
 
 " These subjects," you proceed to say, " were better adapted 
 for a conversation than a letter ; and I much wish they had 
 been so treated. Every difference of judgment is not the pro- 
 per topic for a grave complaint." 
 
 Confessing myself at a loss to find any close connection be- 
 tween the beginning and the conclusion of the foregoing para- 
 graph, I am under the necessity of replying to them separately. 
 If the subjects upon which you meant to speak to me were 
 those upon which you actually have written to me, I think that 
 they may be discussed more temperately and more correctly 
 by letter than by conversation ; and, of course, I very much 
 rejoice that they have not been treated in the manner in which 
 you very much wish to treat them. True it is, that every dif- 
 ference of judgment is not the proper topic for grave complaint. 
 But if I had joined a pack against you, there would have been 
 reason for very loud complaint on your part ; and if you la 
 conversation had accused me, as you seem to accuse me in 
 writing, of having acted thus unbecomingly, I should have com- 
 plained of you not for weakness of judgment, but for rashness. 
 in reproach, not for differing from me on a point of opinion, 
 but for calumniating me on a point of fact. 
 
 I now quote your concluding paragraph : " If, however, both 
 my letter and my visits would have passed unnoticed, I am 
 entitled to conclude that you have altered your mind respect- 
 ing me. In that case I should be glad if you would answer to 
 your own satisfaction what crime I am chargeable with now in 
 1800, of which I had not been guilty in 1794, when with so 
 much kindness and zeal you sought my acquaintance ?" 
 
 The letter you wrote to me on the 24th of April does not 
 pass unnoticed. Your visit entitled you to civility : and yet 
 I am under the painful necessity of acknowledging that I do 
 not wish you in future to give yourself the trouble of writing 
 to me any more letters, or favouring me with any more visits.
 
 624 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Upon the alteration of- my mind respecting you, I can speak 
 entirely to my own satisfaction, though not without some 
 doubts upon the degree in which you will be glad to find that 
 I am satisfied. 
 
 I never sought your acquaintance. Sir, with any zeal. I 
 received you with kindness when you were introduced to me 
 by Mr. Mackintosh ; and in all our subsequent interviews I 
 have treated you with the respect that is due to your talents 
 and attainments. But before the year 1800 T had ceased to 
 think of you so favourably as I thought of you in 1794. 
 
 I had not in 1794 read in your Enquirer the passage where 
 you speak so unjustly and so irreverently about the founder 
 of that religion of which you know that I am a teacher, and of 
 which you can have no reasons for doubting but that I am a 
 sincere believer ; and in truth, Sir, though I found in that 
 book many judicious observations upon life, and many pleasing 
 instances of your improvement of style, still your misstatement 
 of Christ's meaning, and your insinuations against his bene- 
 volence, have recurred to me again and again, and from the 
 resemblance they bear to the impious effusions of M. Voltaire, 
 which I have lately read, they have displeased, and ever will 
 displease me more and more. 
 
 I had not, in 1794, been shocked in common with ail wise 
 and good men by a work which you entitle " Memoirs of the 
 Author of the Rights of Woman." 
 
 I had not discovered the dreadful effects of your opinions 
 upon the conduct, the peace, and the welfare of two or three 
 young men whose talents I esteemed, and whose virtues I 
 loved. 
 
 I had not then seen your eagerness and perseverance in 
 employing every kind of vehicle to convey to every class of 
 readers those principles which, so long as they appeared only 
 in the form of a metaphysical treatise, might have done less 
 extensive mischief. 
 
 Above all. Sir, I had not considered the dangerous tendency 
 of your tenets, with the seriousness which the situation of the 
 moral and political world has lately produced in my mind, upon 
 subjects most interesting to the happiness of society, and to 
 the preservation of that influence which virtue and religion
 
 MEMOIRS. 525 
 
 ought to have upon the sentiments and the actions of mankind. 
 I am, Sir, very sincerely your well-wisher and obedient humble 
 servant, Samuel Parr. 
 
 I believe Dr. Parr's acquaintance with Mr. God- 
 win was not renewed, for I find that he returned 
 St. Leon, one of his works, with the following 
 note. 
 
 For reasons which were some time ago communicated to 
 Mr. Godwin, Dr. Parr takes the liberty of returning him a 
 book which has been read by Mrs. Parr, Mrs. Wynne, and 
 Catharine, and he begs leave to unite with them in thanks to 
 the courtesy of the writer. In the sincerity of his soul Dr. 
 Parr wishes Mr. Godwin health, prosperity, and such a state 
 of mind as, united with the possible and proper use of his great 
 talents, may obtain for him a lasting reputation among wise 
 and good men, and secure his happiness both now and here- 
 after. 
 
 Mr. Godwin replied in a pamphlet, after the 
 publication of the Spital Sermon, entitled, "Thoughts 
 occasioned by the perusal of Dr. Parr's Spital Ser- 
 mon ; being a Reply to the attacks of Dr. Parr, Mr. 
 Mackintosh," &c. In this reply he says (alluding to 
 Dr. Parr), 
 
 He is not an apostate, or not an apostate in the sense in which 
 the persons there referred to are such. 
 
 Thus, directly asserting, in some sense, he is an 
 apostate. Again, 
 
 Though I do not accuse Dr. Parr of tergiversation, or tergi- 
 versation of the same sort as theirs whose conduct he is now 
 imitating, 
 
 is language accusing him of some sort of tergiver- 
 sation. Again,
 
 526 MEMOIRS. 
 
 His head and his logic have, I believe, scarcely ever been 
 favourable to experiments, or to speculations which might lead 
 to experiments for meliorating the political condition of man- 
 kind. I have always found him the advocate of old establish- 
 ments, and, what appeared to me, old abuses. But in this 
 respect his heart seemed to my apprehension much better than 
 his logic. 
 
 Again, 
 
 And, independently of Dr. Parr's sanction, which is too easily 
 gained, and too easily forfeited, for me to be disposed to lay 
 much stress upon it. 
 
 This last sentiment has at least been copied by 
 one of Mr. Godwin's friends, and quoted against 
 Dr. Parr ; and it is not improbable that the others 
 have been re-echoed by his disciples. Whether 
 Mr. Godwin had any right to complain, or to com- 
 plain in the way he does, of the desertion of Dr. 
 Parr and Mr. Mackintosh, I decide not. 
 ; In the list of those scholars who distinguished 
 themselves in the English Universities, Parr has 
 noticed only those of his own personal friends and 
 pupils who had become eminent by authorship or 
 station, or who had sunk prematurely into the 
 grave. Among the former he has spoken of Rich- 
 ard Porson, Tou TTOLVu ^aujxao-Tou ; Dr. Charles Bur- 
 ney, toG KpiriKioTarou kou TroXu/AaQeerraToy ; Dr. Routh, 
 TOO iraipou ejxou ^poviu.(OTaToo koli hiKaioTarou ; Mr. 
 Twining, of Colchester, roG ArTi/ccorarou. The late 
 John Tweddell of Trinity College, Cambridge, he 
 characterised, 
 
 Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit, 
 Nulli flebilior quam mihi.
 
 MEMOIRS. 527 
 
 Among other names are Thomas Maurice, Henry 
 Headley, Thomas Monro, Dr. Martin Davy, and 
 Sir Thomas Rivers, " my worthy and accompHshed 
 pupils ;" and such was his sense of what was due, 
 even to partial merit, that he did not forget the 
 name of William Beloe. The general enumeration 
 renewed many old acquaintances, and healed some 
 misunderstanding between Parr and his friends. 
 
 On the occasion of his name being inserted in 
 this list of worthies, Mr. Butler, Head Master of 
 the school at Shrewsbury, wrote to acknowledge 
 his sense of the compliment. In September, 1791, 
 began Dr. Parr's acquaintance with him, then a boy 
 leaving Rugby School, and actually, or about to be, 
 entered at Christ Church, under the tuition of the 
 present Dean. By Parr's interference this plan was 
 changed, and Cambridge was chosen, as more likely 
 to be conducive to the interests of the young 
 scholar, who had been introduced to his notice by 
 the merit of a copy of Latin verses. Mr. Butler 
 was entered at St. John's in 1791, and the following 
 year distinguished himself by gaining two Univer- 
 sity prizes, and, during his residence, by securing 
 every classical honour of the University, and, at 
 last, a Fellowship of his College. From 1793 to 
 1801 there appears to have been no intercourse. 
 It was in this interval that Butler established him- 
 self as a scholar, was preferred to be Head Master 
 of Shrewsbury School, and was, in 1802, presented 
 to the living of Kenilworth, his native place. In 
 1806, on the resignation of Dr. Ingles, he was can- 
 didate for the place of Head Master of Rugby 
 School. Parr felt the utmost zeal on this occasion;
 
 S28 MEMOIRS. 
 
 but his zeal was unavailing, though exerted for the 
 interests, and on the behalf of one whose learning 
 was scarcely surpassed, and whose dihgence and 
 skill in the instruction and management of youth 
 were unrivalled, and who appears to have been the 
 only candidate on the day of election who had been 
 educated at the school; a qualification which, inde- 
 pendently of the credit he had obtained for the 
 school by gaining more classical prizes at the Uni- 
 versity than all the scholars which had been sent 
 from it, gave him a claim to preference, cceteris 
 paribus, above the other candidates, under the Act 
 of Parliament then existing for the regulation of 
 the school. 
 
 The following letter contains the only testimonial 
 given by Parr, who did not choose to make any 
 personal application or appeal to the trustees, as he 
 himself has stated in the following letter : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Cuius Coll. Cambridge, Dec. 12, 1806. 
 
 When the Head Mastership of Harrow was vacant, I pointed 
 out a plan to your learned namesake, which he followed punc- 
 tually and successfully ; and when an appeal to the Archbishop, 
 as visitor, had become necessary, from equality of votes among 
 the electors, I wrote to Sir Samuel Romilly a letter, which 
 found its way to his Grace, and to which he paid the attention 
 due to my experience as a teacher of young men, and to my 
 fidelity in the recommendation of a candidate. 
 
 During my residence at Hatton I have not been a careless 
 observer of the events which have occurred at Rugby, and 
 much information has reached me about the choice of Masters, 
 the appointment of trustees, the disposal of scholarships, the 
 process of examination, the general plan of instruction and 
 government, and the constitution of the school, as regulated by 
 Parliament. In regard to the present trustees, I understand 
 them to be men respectable for rank and fortune, and I think
 
 MEMOIRS. 529 
 
 that they must have the advantage of many local circumstances 
 to direct their judgment. But 1 have the honour to know 
 some of them, I am slightly acquainted with the rest, and for 
 these, as well as other and perhaps weightier reasons, I feel a 
 considerable reluctance to address them in the language of 
 direct and formal recommendation. If I were writing a book, 
 you should find me ready and earnest in doing justice to your 
 meritorious exertions, and your judicious opinions on subjects 
 of literature. On the present occasion I have no hesitation in 
 communicating to you what I have ah-eady stated, and shall 
 hereafter state, to the scholars of this kingdom, on the marked 
 and solid pretensions you have for Rugby. You were educated 
 on the spot, and must thoroughly understand the peculiarities 
 of the system which is established there. You stood high in 
 the esteem of Dr. James, to whose erudition, and activity, and 
 integrity, every boy, every parent, every trustee concerned in 
 the school, must owe the most important obligations. You did 
 credit to your Master by the whole course of your academical 
 life, and it will give you pleasure to be told that your literary 
 qualifications are highly valued in this place, and that a great 
 anxiety for your success has, in my presence, been repeatedly 
 expressed by persons whose praise must be animating to you, 
 and whose good wishes are founded on their conviction of your 
 distinguished merit. 
 
 To ample, and, I add, more than sufficient store of erudition, 
 you add acknoM'ledged diligence, long experience, and, what I 
 value yet more, a sincere and generous zeal for the improve- 
 ment of every person entrusted to your care. Mr. Butler, I 
 know the extent and variety of the qualifications upon which 
 you may rest your claims, and therefore, not so much from 
 personal friendship for yourself, as from a well-grounded and 
 well-directed anxiety for the intellectual and moral interests of 
 our youth, I most unfeignedly wish you success. 
 
 You have my prompt and full permission to shew this letter 
 to your friends; for I consider myself, not as conferring a fa- 
 vour, but as discharging a duty, when I send you this memo- 
 rial of my approbation, respect, and confidence. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, your faithful well-wisher, and obedient ser- 
 vant, S. Parr. 
 VOL. I. 2 M
 
 530 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Dr. Butler did not succeed. It was the good 
 fortune of Shrewsbury not to lose him : for from 
 thence have proceeded, since Dr. Butlers system 
 has been in full work, more prize scholars than 
 from any one other establishment, of similar mag- 
 nitude, in England. The letter to Mr. Brougham 
 may this year (1828) be enlarged by the addition 
 of 23 public prizes gained in the English Univer- 
 sities,* besides far more numerous ones in their 
 several colleges, and various other academical ho- 
 nours and emoluments gained by his scholars, 
 among whom my affectionate friendship for an emi- 
 nently learned and distinguished young man irre- 
 sistibly impels me to insert the name of Benjamin 
 
 * Dr. Butler, I trust, will pardon me for making public a 
 list of honours gained by his pupils to the present time, March 
 31, 1828, which admits of few parallels. 
 
 Browne Medals, Cambridge 8 
 
 Chancellor's Medals 5 
 
 Porson Prizes 4 
 
 Members Prizes 7 
 
 Bell Scholars 3 
 
 Ditto voted equal (one of them his own son). . 2 
 
 Senior Classic 1 
 
 First Class Classics 6 
 
 University Scholars 3 
 
 Ireland Scholars, Oxford 2 
 
 Vice Chancellor's Prizes, Dublin 7 
 
 48 
 To these may be added : — 
 
 Seatonian Prize, Cambridge. 1 
 
 Norrisian ditto 1 
 
 50
 
 MEMOIRS. 531 
 
 Hall Kennedy, Fellow of St. John's College, Cam- 
 bridge. 
 
 Some domestic disturbances having occasioned 
 the removal of Mrs. Wynne (Dr. Parr's eldest 
 daughter) to Shrewsbury, she received the kindest 
 attentions that declining health and unhappy cir- 
 cumstances admitted, from Dr. and Mrs. Butler. 
 Their kindness was of such a nature, and was so 
 bestowed, as to demand more than common 
 gratitude. The two great scholars were united 
 inseparably, and when, in a moment of anguish, 
 Parr, torn from the natural ties of his family, 
 was obliged to look out for heirs to his fortunes in 
 aliens to his blood, he fixed on John Bartlam and 
 Samuel Butler. In happier times, restored to his 
 grand-children, and with increased resources, he 
 finally bequeathed to Dr. Butler ^1000, with many 
 smaller tokens of kindness to his family. 
 
 In a letter, dated October 7, 1816, Parr's opinion 
 of Dr. Butler is so fully stated in a few words, that, 
 reserving an account of the funeral sermon for the 
 close of this work, I shall quote it, such as it is, a 
 true and affectionate memorial of friendship. 
 
 DEAR NAMESAKE, 
 
 O namesake, namesake, how affectionate is my regard for 
 you, how deep and sincere is my respect for you. Yesterday I 
 
 saw for an hour. He is a noble fellow, and his intellect 
 
 might be parcelled out with advantage among half a dozen 
 Porsonians. Let us meet at Christmas, and meet often. I am 
 bound to silence about the Professorship. It is a chaos of con- 
 fusion : there is intrigue, and there is artifice, and twenty other 
 vile things, in which you and I should disdain to have any con- 
 cern. When you come hither my lips will be unsealed. 
 
 2m2
 
 532 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Maltby is the man who ought to be preferred, I am indignant 
 
 at the Lambeth interposition 
 
 God bless you. Dr. Samuel Butler, you arc a real Scholar, 
 You have taste and sense ; you have integrity and magnanimity. 
 You are ray esteemed, beloved, and respected friend, and there- 
 fore I am yours heartily, S. Parr. 
 
 Aiid again, in a letter to Dr. Burney, dated Feb. 
 
 5, 1818, he says : 
 
 In heart, Samuel Butler, of Shrewsbury, is equal to any man 
 in Christendom — in head, he has only two superior through the 
 whole circle of my friends. He has no envi/ — no insolence — 
 no servility. 
 
 With the celebrated Charles Burney, D.D. Dr. 
 Parr became acquainted in 1783, and their corre- 
 spondence, which commenced at this period, con- 
 tinued till Dr. Burney's death in 1817. The early 
 correspondence is chiefly employed on critical sub- 
 jects, on reviews written by Dr. Burney, with soli- 
 citations that Dr, Parr would undertake certain 
 reviews himself, and give literary assistance to the 
 London Magazine, of which Dr. Burney undertook 
 the editorship, as appears by the following letter : 
 
 ChisiKiclc, Aug. 7, 1783. 
 How ungrateful must I have appeared to you, my dear Sir ! 
 How unworthy the kindness I have experienced from you ! 
 But while you, in all probability, have been condemning me, I 
 have been praying in the words of Dioscorides : 
 
 AvTOjxaTai crol Kpijpai avalo\v$,OL€U aKpr]TOi', 
 K' i'ik' fiaKapuJV Trpo^oat veVrapos ayu/ojoocr/r/v. 
 
 Avroyuorai be (jtepoiey lor, ru (l)i\e(7Trepov ciyOos, 
 Ki/TTOi, Kal fxaXai^}) fivpTa rpu(j)evTa bpoao). 
 
 In short, I have never for a moment forgotten your good- 
 ness. But you shall hear how I have been engaged, and then 
 I am sure you will relent and forgive me.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 533 
 
 Soon after I received your last packet, which contained a 
 treasure of learning and taste, I sent the former part of the 
 article to the Review. I then had the editorship of the London 
 Magazine offered me, with a very handsome salary. I was not 
 in a situation to refuse so tempting an offer ; but, as the size 
 of the book was to be doubled, and the price raised, I was 
 obliged to employ every leisure moment in collecting materials 
 for the first number. Towards the end of June, as the papers 
 probably informed you, I commenced Benedict, and immediately 
 after the ceremony Mrs. Burney and myself set off for Bir- 
 mingham, and were absent from Chiswick almost five weeks. 
 On my return I found your kind letter, but my every hour was 
 now employed in getting the Magazine ready for publication 
 by the 1st of August, which was no easy task to achieve, as 
 we began to print on the 15th of July instead of the 1st. I 
 was, however, the printer allowed, indefatigable ; and the book 
 was ready in time. I have now a little leisure, and employ it 
 in pleading my defence before one whom I would not, on any 
 consideration, offend. Am I forgiven ? Pray let me know, 
 or at least inform me, how I may gain the place I once flat- 
 tered myself I held in your favour. Will you write? 
 
 Ale) $r]Ty](Tii) ue av b' 
 
 Tov A{]dr]s Itt' ifiol fiii ri Trirjs izo^aTOS. 
 
 or, as Jortin has imitated it : 
 
 Tu cave Lethaeo continguas ora liquore. 
 
 I have sent the conclusion of the article H d to 
 
 Griffiths, and have finished with the passage of Cicero about 
 the school of Isocrates, for which I am much obhged to you. 
 It is an excellent ivinding up. 
 
 Quod spiro et placeo, si placeo, tuum est. 
 
 The Mag. will, I find, employ much of my leisure time, and 
 half the Greek I was wont to read must content me. This is a 
 circumstance which I most sincerely regret ; but the offer was 
 too lucrative in my situation to be rejected. 
 
 Might I ask Dr. Parr, do you think, my dear Sir, — Remem- 
 ber, I request your advice as a friend ; might I ask him if he 
 ever scratched down any critical or miscellaneous morsels on
 
 534 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 any subject, no matter what, which he would wish to be pub- 
 lished, so that the author's name was unknown? May I trouble 
 you to put this question to him, as I should insert any thing 
 from him with infinite pleasure, and could venture to assure him 
 that no human being should ever know from whom the com- 
 munication was received. 
 
 J\dieu, my dearest Sir. Pray favour me soon with a letter, 
 and believe me to be ever, with real respect and the greatest 
 regard, your most obliged friend and servant, 
 
 Charles Burney. 
 
 In another letter, which is of great interest on 
 account of a mention of the last days of the critic 
 Toup, he says : 
 
 Pray have you heard lately of Toup. I last week received 
 an account from a friend, who lives near Exeter, which grieved 
 me excessively. He says, " You inquire about Toup. He 
 lives (if he may be said to live at all) at Loo in Cornwall, the 
 other side of the Plymouth river. He is reduced to a state of 
 almost total idiotism ! Canon Moore of Exeter was lately 
 lamenting him very bitterly to me ; and Archdeacon Hole in- 
 formed me, about two months since, that three of his co/Zea^we* 
 were nearly in the same state, viz. Dr. Dodwell, Mr. Toup, 
 and Dr. Colwell, a physician of Plymouth. They were all of 
 Exeter College in the Archdeacon's time, and all eminent for 
 their abilities, though in a different way." 
 
 I cannot describe the painful feelings to which the perusal 
 of this account gave rise. I know him only from his works« 
 I need not cry out, with the chorus in CEdipus : 
 
 Ei0e 0-' e'iBe jxiittot ihofxav. 
 But yet, 
 
 <^eu, <pev' hvarav . tiW ovh' effibeiv 
 ^vyajjiai a, edeXioy ttoW aiepeadai, 
 iloXXci TTvdetrdai, TroXXa ^' udpijfrui. 
 
 In another of his letters he speaks of the de- 
 clining health of another great man :
 
 MEMOIRS. 535 
 
 I sat with Dr. Johnson for an hour last week ; he received 
 your comphments very thankfully, and was very sorry for your 
 misfortune.* I am sure he will be glad to hear that you are 
 so well recovered as to write yourself. He is far from well, 
 and I shall be much afraid for him if the winter be severe. I 
 am rather a favourite with him, and seldom go to town, if I 
 have any time to spare, without calling on him. His faculties 
 were not at all impaired by the paralytic stroke in the spring, 
 though he does not articulate long words so clearly as he used 
 to do. 
 
 In another letter, dated Dec. 21, 1784, he says : 
 
 Yesterday, my dear Sir, I followed our ever to be lamented 
 friend. Dr. Johnson, to his last mansion — non omnis moriar— 
 multaque pars mei vitabit Libitinam — should be engraven on 
 his stone. He died with the same piety with which he lived ; 
 and bestowed much pains during his last illness in endeavouring 
 to convince some of his friends, who were in doubt, about the 
 truth of the Christian religion. He has left behind him a col- 
 lection of small Latin compositions in verse. They are princi- 
 pally translations of Collects and Greek epigrams. He was 
 followed to the Abbey by a large troop of friends. Ten mourn- 
 ing coaches were ordered by the executors for those invited. 
 Besides these, eight of his friends or admirers clubbed for two 
 more carriages, in one of which I had a seat. 15 ut the exe- 
 cutor. Sir John Hawkins, did not manage things well, for there 
 was no anthem, or choir service performed — no lesson — but 
 merely what is read over every old woman that is buried by 
 the parish. Surely, surely, my dear Sir, this was wrong, very 
 wrong. Dr. Taylor read the service — but so-so. He hes 
 nearly under Shakspeare's monument, with Garrick at his right 
 hand, just opposite to the monument erected not long ago for 
 Goldsmith by him and some of his friends. His Latin pieces 
 will be published, but when, or how, I have not yet heard. 
 They are principally in the hands of the worthy Mr. Langton. 
 Poor Frank is left £10 a year for his life, and residuary le- 
 gatee. ****•»**** 
 
 * Dr. Parr had hurt himself by a fall from his horse.
 
 536 MEMOIRS. 
 
 You will find Griffiths very glad to see you, though his me- 
 mory failed him, with regard to White's Sermons, about which 
 I spoke, as soon as I arrived from Norwich ; yet he thinks of 
 Dr. Parr as I would wish him to think. He begs his best com- 
 pliments to you, and if you can return the proof in a very few 
 days, he shall be much obliged to you ; but if you cannot, he 
 proposes reserving it till next month. So his note of this 
 morning says. You will, therefore, my dear Sir, act as you 
 think right. The Cicero, at any rate, must wait. The Mani- 
 lius, you see, makes about ten pages. It is set up in this form, 
 in order to enable you to add, or diminish, or alter, as you 
 please, which if it had been set up in pages of the review size, 
 could not have been done so conveniently. Believe me, ever 
 truly yours, C. Burney. 
 
 There is an interesting letter from Dr. Burney, 
 father of Dr. Charles Burney, to Dr. Parr, dated 
 Sept. 7, 1783, concerning the last sickness and 
 death of Mr. Bewley of Massingham, the philoso- 
 pher, who, " for more than twenty years supplied 
 the editor of the Monthly Review with an exami- 
 nation of innumerahle works in science, and arti- 
 cles of foreign literature, written with a force, spirit, 
 candour, and, when the subject afforded occasion, 
 humour, not frequently found in critical strictures." 
 In the correspondence, there are several secrets 
 with respect to reviews, and especially the Monthly 
 Review : a few of these, and of Dr. Burney's other 
 letters, containing notices of his classical occu- 
 pations, and of Dr. Parr's two celebrated publica- 
 tions, will be published in the Appendix. Among 
 the closing correspondence is an official note 
 from Dr. Burney, who is employed by the Princess 
 of Wales to invite Dr. Parr to dine at Montagu- 
 house, Blackheath ; and in the other papers are
 
 MEMOIRS. 537 
 
 some classical compositions in Greek and Latin, 
 sent by Dr. Burney to Parr for criticisms and cor- 
 rection. ' The following is the dedication of Sca- 
 pula's Lexicon from the manuscript of Dr. Askew, 
 printed, as it was, in the ancient characters, from 
 the correction of Parr ; but containing four typo- 
 graphical errata, which are now removed : 
 
 ANTONim • ACKEOYIOI • 
 
 Tm • MAKAPITHI • 
 
 Xm • THN • lATPEIAN • AEINilC • EPrACAMENQI ' 
 
 KAI • 'AHACIIC • CXEAON ' HAIAEIAC • 
 
 MAAICTA • AE • TIIC ' 'EAAHNIKHC * 
 
 AKPIBtiC • TE • KAI • cnOYAAiaC ' 
 
 TETYXTIKOTI • 
 
 TO • ae;e:ikon • toyto- 
 
 '01 • I2NHCANTEC • HOTE • EK • TON • AYTOY • KEIMIIAmN- 
 
 KAI • EC • TO • KOINON • HPOTON ' EKAIAONTEC • 
 
 EYEPTECIAC ' KAI • nOAYMAGIAC ' XAPIN • 
 
 r • A • KAI • I • c- 
 
 BIBAIOnOAAI • AONAININOI ' 
 
 ANETPA^AN • 
 
 OTAOHI • Eni • EIKAAI • lANOYAPIOY • MIINOC * 
 
 X • FHH ' P"AAA • n IIII. 
 
 Throughout the whole of Dr. Parr's letters, will 
 be seen his estimation of Dr. Burney's great learn- 
 ing, " the deeply learned," " the very learned," 
 " KojTJKcuTaToy Ka\ 7roXu|xa9e(rTaTos' ; " but the in- 
 scription which he has written for his tomb in 
 Westminster Abbey, and which was erected to his 
 memory, at the expense of his grateful pupils, is a 
 public and lasting memorial, no less of Dr. Parr's 
 exquisite taste and profound learning, than Dr. Bur- 
 ney's merits, as a man, a teacher of youth, a Chris- 
 tian, and a scholar.
 
 538 MEMOIRS. 
 
 The correspondence bears ample testimony, like- 
 wise, to the merits of Dr. Charles Parr Burney, of 
 Greenwich, Dr. Parr's godson, the inheritor of 
 many of the best social qualities of his father, and 
 of a large portion of his learning and accomplish- 
 ments. Vide Appendix. 
 
 Parr, perhaps, was unjust to some of his amanu- 
 enses, by not including them in the large list of 
 academical worthies noticed in the Spital discourse ; 
 at least writing at this day without exact information 
 respecting the ages of those who are now eminent, 
 and of the publicity of their performances at that 
 time, it appears strange that some noted names 
 should have been omitted. Plures aliorum indus- 
 tria facile adjiciet, was his own remark. The best 
 scholars, and the best writers among his pupils, 
 were generally employed by him as his amanuenses, 
 when he was composing. At Norwich, Dr. Maltby 
 was very frequently employed ; at Hatton, Dr. 
 Davy, and the present Chancellor of Winchester, 
 the Honourable Augustus Legge ; but the lot soon 
 fell on John Bartlam, after his arrival at Hatton, 
 and in after-life, when Parr could get him to Hat- 
 ton, or catch him any where else. Of this dear 
 friend and companion of my life, I shall say a few 
 words. 
 
 He was sent from Rugby, for an offence against 
 discipline, and was received by Parr, with the 
 consent of Dr. James, Master of Rugby school, 
 with almost fatherly kindness. He deserved this 
 protection ; he was a boy of the kindliest disposi- 
 tion, of the highest powers, and considerable learn-
 
 MEMOIRS. 539 
 
 ing ; but he required such a master as Parr to urge 
 him on ; for nothing but force could overcome his 
 natural indecision, and his constitutional idleness. 
 And now he wanted the guardian eye of a father, 
 no less than the restraining hand of a master : 
 for John Bartlam's father, who, through the in- 
 fluence of the late Marquis of Hertford, became an 
 officer in the militia, whilst in attendance on his 
 patron at Sudbourne, was drowned within view 
 of the mansion. His excellent widow did her 
 utmost for three surviving children, thus bereaved ; 
 she placed them all at Rugby, and had the satis- 
 faction before she died to see them all in ho- 
 nourable stations. Thomas, the eldest, afterwards 
 became Precentor of the Cathedral Church of Exe- 
 ter, his father's patron having become his patron 
 also ; and John, from the tuition of Parr, became 
 successively Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, 
 Vicar of Tettenhall by the patronage of Sir John 
 Wrottesley, Bart. Minister of Studley by the patro- 
 nage of Robert Knight, Esq. of Barrels, then Vicar 
 of Beoley by the patronage of Holmes Hunter, 
 Esq. and finally of Ponteland, by the patronage of 
 his College. With every capacity for acquiring 
 the higher degrees of human knowledge, and with 
 the actual acquisition of some very useful and orna- 
 mental branches of it, John Bartlam throughout life 
 never pursued any regular system of learning, 
 when the eye and the hand of the master were with- 
 drawn. His love of company, and his convivial 
 qualities, were a snare to him ; he loved his friends, 
 who were many, and was beloved by all who knew
 
 540 MEMOIRS. 
 
 him. No man ever entered so warmly into the in* 
 terests of others, and none more earnestly expressed 
 their zeal for objects of his humanity, when he was 
 once engaged. Yet had his idleness lucid intervals ; 
 he composed his essay on liberty in the midst of 
 gay society, and no one knew that it had been com- 
 posed, not even Parr himself, till the Chancellor's 
 prize of the University of Oxford was adjudged to 
 him. For his hospitality let me appeal to all those 
 who remember Alcester, and that well-furnished 
 table, long gladdened by the presence of the kind- 
 hearted and generous Robert Bartlam his brother. 
 To his learning, and his taste, and his good heart, 
 the large circle of his friends, both in the Univer- 
 sity and throughout the country, will bear witness ; 
 nor can it be doubted, had his diligence kept pace 
 with his capacity, or if he had taken advantage of 
 the previous instructions of his master, to whom he 
 was the child of his fond affections at first — in after 
 time his bosom friend, and finally destined to be 
 one of the heirs of his fortune, there can be no 
 doubt that he would have been a shining light in 
 his generation. John had suffered often from pa- 
 roxysms of despondency and melancholy. In one 
 of these fits he came to me, as he was wont, for 
 comfort ; he went back with his brother the Precentor, 
 to Exeter, much recovered. At Exeter he was entirely 
 recruited by the brotherly kindness of the Precentor, 
 went to London apparently in good health to visit 
 the Hon. S. Eardley, and died in a moment in the 
 public room of a bookseller. He was buried at 
 Alcester, and was followed to the grave by his mas-
 
 MEMOIRS. 541 
 
 ter (Parr), the head of his College Dr. Peter Vaugh- 
 an, his dearest friends Mr. Eardley, and the writer 
 of this narrative ; besides Mr. Palmer, the Rector 
 of Alcester, the Rev. H. Holyoake, Rev. Mr. Heath, 
 Mr. Jones, and several other clergymen and gen- 
 tlemen of the neighbourhood. 
 
 Of Parr's wants, an amanuensis was the most 
 pressing, next to his pipe. His hand-writing, indis- 
 tinct at best, became perfectly chaotic, and a scrawl 
 not to be unravelled, when his mind was in the heat 
 of composition.* 
 
 Sir William Jones and Bishop Bennet often 
 charge him with this defect early in life, and in the 
 correspondence there are innumerable complaints of 
 readers being unable to decypher his letters. INIr. 
 Roderick says, " Parr wrote well, or better when a 
 boy. The earliest copy of his writing, the narra- 
 tive of the drowning of Thomas Wright, written 
 when he was scarcely thirteen, his early sermons, 
 and his Esther do not prove this assertion ; they 
 are truly what he himself termed a chaotic scrawl. 
 When in a hurry, in all parts of his life, it was the 
 same ; a sort of hieroglyphic. 
 
 The character of men's minds, it has been said, may 
 be discerned in their hand-writing. When the hand 
 is for a longtime, and almost solely directed to fine 
 writing, it is certain that the art may be acquired, 
 and that early habit and instruction will tend to perfect 
 
 * The editor of these volumes fears that, in transcribing 
 from Dr. Parr's manuscripts, errors may sometimes have been 
 made which are not attributable to the press. In fact, the dif- 
 ficulty of ascertaining some words correctly is inconceivable to 
 those who are unacquainted with Dr. Parr's hand.
 
 542 MEMOIRS. 
 
 it. But in those plans of instruction which make fine 
 writing subordinate to quickness of conception, and 
 the necessity of learning a given quantity of task in 
 a limited time, the hand-writing is sure to be 
 neglected. Haste will at first form characters of 
 writing less distinct than those manufactured at lei- 
 sure, in repose, and slowly distilled, drop by drop, 
 from a cold and wary intellect.* Parr always re- 
 gretted the defects of his hand-writing as mainly 
 diminishing his capabihty of usefulness, and his 
 means of independence; for dependent he was 
 whensoever he had any important work to execute, 
 on the assistance of his pupils, or his friends. It is 
 infinitely to be regretted, therefore, that he had not 
 employed from the beginning of his literary career 
 some one regularly in this capacity. Had such a 
 secretary been constantly at his command — had he 
 not depended on casual services, it is more than 
 probable that he would have been induced to pro- 
 secute some great v>-ork to its termination. Two 
 or three such works were conceived by him, but 
 never completed. 
 
 Mr. E. H. Barker was the amanuensis who re- 
 mained the longest with him of those who had not 
 been his pupils at Hatton. During his stay with 
 Dr. Parr he was employed to copy multitudes of 
 letters, to take note of an infinity of classical and 
 
 * Yet the author of those books will not be envied, of whom 
 it can be said, " Quos non minori in meditando quam scribendo 
 cura et industria edidit, KaX\typa0tas pariter et KaXoypa^ms 
 ceque studiosus." — Bajerus de elegantia manuum erudit. Re- 
 giomont. 1719. Surely the mechanical cannot be put on an 
 equality with the intellectual part of writing.
 
 MEMOIRS. 543 
 
 theological remarks, to transcribe some sermons, 
 and to catalogue a part of his library. The longest 
 composition undertaken by Parr in his time was a 
 treatise on the Sublime, intended for the use of Mr. 
 Dugald Stewart ; but I fear that this learned treatise 
 cannot now be published with the other works. Of 
 Mr. Barker, in the capacity of Dr. Parr's amanuensis, 
 I shall not take a final leave. His great learning 
 and unwearied diligence have since been employed 
 on more than one literary labour of importance, 
 and Dr. Parr has inserted him among the Pleiad of 
 English Greek scholars, which are named in an- 
 other place. 
 
 Mr. Shackleton w^as another young scholar who 
 served Dr. Parr in the capacity of amanuensis, and 
 was protected by him, for a time, with parental 
 kindness. 
 
 To all these individuals, and to all young men of 
 letters, however irksome the task t)f an amanuen- 
 sis, the benefit and instruction derived from the 
 labour was inestimable. To be the instrmnent of 
 recording the thoughts of such a man as Parr — to 
 see the workings of his rich mind, and to be the 
 dispenser of the stores which it poured out, could 
 not fail to be a source of lasting advantage to any 
 one capable of receiving instruction. Something 
 must have adhered while the young intellect was 
 plastic, and something must have been impressed 
 from a stamp of such force. Perhaps most of Parr's 
 pupils received an indelible impression of the master 
 from this exercise, for there were very few of the 
 more competent who were not employed by him at 
 some time or other.
 
 544 MEMOIRS. 
 
 In 1805, Parr was called, by his friend and 
 pupil, the Rev. Martin Davy, D.D. Master of Caius 
 College, Cambridge, and Vice-Chancellor of the 
 University, to preach the Commencement Sermon. 
 The name of this learned and excellent man was 
 introduced among the worthies of the Spital Ser- 
 mon, for he had risen to great and deserved emi- 
 nence in his Profession, in his College, and in the 
 University. Nor could even the fastidiousness of 
 Porson withhold from him the just meed of praise 
 in characterizing him 
 
 AmicLim acerrimum Graecarum litterarum cultorera, 
 
 patronum, vindicem, Cantabrigioe nostra? decus, et delicias, ac 
 Collegii Gonvilli et Caii Magistrum, Martinum Davy, S. T. P. 
 Ta lepa toyra Troj/yjuor^f lepdl(Tiv ayOpwTroiai heiKwrai. — Kidd, 
 p. 321. 
 
 And on his election to the Mastership of his Col- 
 lege he thus congratulates him : 
 
 DEAR DOCTOR, 
 
 I heartily congratulate you, and your friends, and the Col- 
 lege, and the University, on your well-deserved promotion. Z>;\w 
 re aov fiev 'EWab', 'FAXabos be are. I shall not trespass upon 
 your time with a long letter, occupied, as I take it for granted 
 you must be, with the circumstances attendant on your eleva- 
 tion, and with the swarm of addresses that invade you from all 
 quarters. Neither shall I amuse myself with foretelling the fu- 
 ture glories of your reign. I never but once ventured on a similar 
 prediction, and then my success was such as completely discou- 
 raged me from setting up for a prophet again. But a passage 
 from Cicero had long lain rusting In my mind, which passage I 
 had almost despaired of introducing, when lo ! the occasion, 
 which the gods hardly durst have promised to my wishes, revolv- 
 ing time threw In my way. Est tibi gravis adversatio constltuta 
 et parata incredibilis quaedam expectatio : quam tu una re facil- 
 Vimh vinces, si hoc statueris, Quarum laudum gloriam adamaris, 
 quibus artibus ex laudes comparantur, in iis esse laborandum.
 
 MEMOIRS. 545 
 
 I venture to copy one public document with 
 which Dr. Davy is supposed to have aided the cause 
 of a friend, as an example of the Junian proper- 
 ties of his style and composition. 
 
 Extract from The Sun of 27th of March. 
 To Dr. . 
 
 SIR, St. John's College, Cambridge. 
 
 That I may, in no instance, appear to imitate your example 
 by committing an offence which I am too obstinate to retract 
 and too weak to defend, I must bespeak your indulgence for a 
 deviation from justice, into which the nature of the present 
 subject has unavoidably led me ; I mean- the impossibility of ad- 
 dressing you in terms at once appropriate to your conduct and 
 becoming my own character. Suffer me, however, to remind 
 you that a week has now passed away in silence since the pub- 
 lication of my letter ; and give me leave to inform you that, 
 after an imputation upon their honour and morality, men sus- 
 ceptible of those sentiments but ill brook such an irksome 
 delay. You must excuse me then, if, for a "moment, I disturb 
 the solemnity of your repose, by telling you that your substitut- 
 ing sullenness for dignity, and obstinacy for firmness, is an 
 artifice which can impose only on yourself; and your enemies 
 will but be too apt to recollect and apply, as expressive of the 
 present state of your mind, a much admired passage of a cele- 
 brated historian : " Non tumultus, non quies, sed quale magni 
 metus et magnae iras silentium est." Do not apprehend that it 
 is my intention to require of you to come forward and prove 
 your charge, or apologize for your accusation, for this would be 
 a measure at once manly, spirited, and open, and therefore 
 such as, under the present circumstances, I will not insult you 
 by expecting ; but I mean merely to caution you against mis- 
 taking impunity for success, and to assure you that there are 
 few, even of your own friends, who can look without strong 
 marks of disgust upon a conduct which so grossly violates the 
 best established laws of polished society. 
 
 I cannot, however, conclude without adding this consoling 
 
 VOL. I. 2 N
 
 546 MEMOIRS. 
 
 circumstance (which, to a mind like yours, must be productive 
 of the greatest happiness and exultation), that at the bar of 
 truth to have been at once the convict and the accuser, to have 
 been insolent without power, and daring without spirit, will 
 hereafter mark you out only for contempt, and screen you 
 from resentment, I am, Sir, &c. M. D. 
 
 The altercation which gave rise to this, and to 
 the former letter to Dr. Pennington, happened in 
 consequence of Dr. Harwood's having had occasion 
 to observe that 
 
 He believed it to have been pretty generally understood that 
 Dr. P. had for some time past deputed his practice at the Hos- 
 pital to another person ; and Dr. H. is both ready and able to 
 prove his assertion incontestibly when called upon. 
 
 Of the estimation in which Dr. Davy was held 
 by his Master there are many notices in the book, 
 of " Vir optimus," the " very learned," the " sin- 
 gularly acute," and a variety of other epithets which 
 his intimate knowledge, his confidence, and his 
 friendship, enabled him to employ. Dr. Davy has 
 published very few of the learned effusions of his 
 pen, compared with the stores which he is known 
 to possess. He re-published at the Cambridge 
 University press, by Parr's desire, " Cattieri Gazo- 
 phylacium Graecorum :" an elegant brochure on the 
 note of the nightingale ; and some mention is made 
 of other compositions in his own and Dr. Burney's 
 letters. I lament that 1 have no letters of Dr. Parr 
 to Dr. Davy. Some of Dr. Davy's will appear in 
 the Appendix. 
 
 Parr's Commencement Sermon, preached when 
 Dr. Davy was Vice-Chanccllor of Cambridge, is
 
 MEMOIRS. 547 
 
 not published in the collection of his works. From 
 an University pulpit, perhaps, it may be useful or 
 ornamental to pour forth Greek quotations on a 
 solemn occasion, when the most learned Members 
 assemble together. That which is unusual re- 
 quires, however, more than common dexterity to 
 recommend it ; nor can all the learning of the 
 deepest scholar command attention, if the enuncia- 
 ciation of the scholar be imperfect, and his sen- 
 tences are not understood. With the utmost em- 
 phasis and ardour did Parr declaim pages of Greek 
 quotation to illustrate his subject. The audience 
 listened, but they smiled, and I fear they compre- 
 hended too httle heartily to approve. 
 
 Dr. Parr unfolded a portion of his metaphysical 
 system in the notes to the Spital Sermon, but that 
 system was greatly enlarged, when he became ac- 
 quainted with the work of Collier, and corresponded 
 with Dugald Stewart. Besides the ancient philo- 
 sophers, Tucker's Light of Nature, Adam Smith's 
 Moral Sentiments, Bishop Butler's Sermons, Hutche- 
 son's Inquiry, Hume, Lord Kaimes, Reid, Mr. God- 
 win, and Mr. Jeremy Bentham, afforded him his 
 chief authorities, and the chief topics of disquisition. 
 
 The criticisms on Mr. Jeremy Bentham's Dis- 
 course on Legislation began their friendship, and 
 Mr. Bentham * addresses Dr. Parr, in the second 
 
 * The following memorandum of Dr. Parr, is historical of 
 Mr. Bentham's early life : " Mr. Lind, vicar of Wivenhoe, was 
 father of the celebrated Mr. Lind, tutor to the late King of 
 Poland, the friend of Jeremiah Bentham, A. B. of Baliol Col- 
 lege, a deacon of the Church of England, and afterwards, by 
 Lord Mansfield's management, admitted as a barrister." 
 
 2 N 2
 
 548 MEMOIRS. 
 
 letter he wrote to him, that I find in the collection, 
 thus : 
 
 MOST HIGHLY VALUED, 
 
 THOUGH SO LATE FOUND FRIEND, Sept. 16, 1803. 
 
 Reason in abundance, in that vocative, besides the capacity 
 for rhyme. Whereabouts and what doing will this find you, I 
 cannot so much as conjecture, without a degree of anxiety, 
 which I hope an answer from you will put an end to. It was a 
 long, long while ago, it is scarce worth while to hunt after your 
 letter to see how long, that you alarmed me with hints about 
 severe shocks, and but inchoate and even precarious conva- 
 lescence. One thing is still certain. PaiT is still in the land of 
 the living, or all the living (besides the living-hunters) would 
 have known of it, 
 
 I have two calls for the remnant of the travelling season ; 
 one to Birmingham, the other to Essex, not very far from Cam- 
 bridge. Between Cambridge and Birmingham I hear there is 
 a coach ; ergo, a road. The coach may travel to Old Nick for 
 me, for I am sick in the stewing boxes they call coaches, but 
 the road may possibly be of use to me. Which visit to pay first, 
 I cannot decide. My Essex friend pleads, I wish I could say 
 shams, as you did. But once more I hope to find the plea 
 withdrawn on your part. As for Hatton, should the parson 
 be as lively as a turtle, I have for the present only time to re- 
 connoitre. 
 
 About the 20th of last month, called liere your friend Mr. 
 Symmons, and left the philippic. I am glad my name is not 
 Antony. A few weeks ago I head from Romilly that Antony 
 had an execution in his house, and was, for the hundredth time, 
 ruined ; but more completely and irretrievably than in any of 
 the ninety-nine. A few days after, what should I see in the 
 newspaper, but his free will offering of ^10,000. Mr. Sym- 
 mons I had not the pleasure of seeing ; the servant announced 
 a name that was unknown to me ; I sent H. K. * to speak to 
 him, and before I understood where he came from, the bird 
 was flown. A few weeks, or rather months ago, I was at 
 
 * Herbert Koe, Mr. Bentham's amanuensis.
 
 MEMOIRS. 549 
 
 length honoured with a long expected letter from Mrs. Wynne. 
 A pretty trick you served me. You dressed up an old scare 
 crow in a cast off wig of your own or Dr. Price, with a ban yan 
 under it, and then said to her, Molly, or Jenny, or whatever 
 else is her name, this is the man you are to write to, and so the 
 poor dear lady sat down to write with the fear of the rod before 
 her eyes, frightened out of her pretty wits, forsooth, for terror 
 of having offended me. Well and true it was that a rod was 
 already between us on the carpet; but the proposed wielder of 
 it was the lady ; whereupon my business with it, as I well re- 
 member, was, not to wield it but to kiss it. Whereas, bating a 
 few grey hairs of so, &c. &c. &c. of which the less is said the 
 better ; the man you took upon yourself to bedizen, is a gay 
 Lothario. Action B. against P. in the Court of Gallantry ; 
 damages equal, at least, to the amount of your noble neigh- 
 bour's patriotic gift; evidence, certificates of dangerousness, 
 from ladies, more in number than the bishops, from whom de- 
 fendant could have obtained certificates of orthodoxy. On that 
 very day on which we fought upon the question debeam and 
 debeo ; and on which, on pretence of defiance, you sought to 
 palm off a bad shilhng on me, I can produce evidence of kisses 
 imprinted on two pair of fair hands ; the only fair hands in my 
 way. One of them the same that the doctor irrefragabilis 
 forced wine into, I thought it but fair to mention this, as you 
 might get your padlocks in order, and Mrs. Parr take care of 
 herself, should it ever be my felicity to come across her. To 
 fill up my bavardage, Romilly has received within these three 
 months, three letters from Dumont, at Petersburgh. Le- 
 gislation book in the highest odour there. More copies sold 
 than in London, Translation going on by authority. Men at 
 the head of things delighted with it, and impatient for a 
 continuation of it. Empress Dowager the only one of the 
 family who sees anybody, hearing the editor was there, de- 
 sired to see him, and saw him accordingly, A man who has 
 a commission from the Emperor to put the laws in order, shut 
 himself up with it for a fortnight ; moreover, one of the last acts 
 of the miserable troop of slaves called, in France, the Legisla- 
 tive Body, was to hear a panegyric on it, copy of which has been 
 sent me. So much for my existence, now let me hear of yours.
 
 550 MEMOIRS. 
 
 In the latter end of October 1803, Mr. Bentham 
 visited Dr. Parr, at Hatton, and his notification of 
 the intended visit, is so characteristically curious, 
 that this, and the other letters I have copied, and 
 shall copy, will furnish a good portraiture of this 
 light-hearted, but deep-thinking, and celebrated po- 
 litical economist. 
 
 Q. S. P. Oct. 17, 1803, Monday. 
 
 March. — Route of Queen's-square-place Volunteers, Set 
 off on Tuesday ; reach Birmingham Wednesday evening ; on 
 Thursday evening, or Friday morning, retreat to Hatton ; then 
 storm the vicarage, giving no quarter ; after committing ra- 
 vages indescribable, evacuate the place on Sunday morning 
 early, continuing the retreat to Oxford. In quarters there on 
 Monday, and possibly Tuesday. 
 
 None of your Alcandrumque, Hallumque, Noemonaque, 
 Prytaminque, under the notion of helping to disennui the tra- 
 vellers. For what is it that you go forth for to see ? Answer : 
 Parr, and Parr only (a reed lately shaken by the wind, but 
 now, we hope, stout and strong again). Time, according to 
 our estimation, not by a great deal enough for that — but more 
 at present cannot be found. 
 
 Stay the hand of the Vicar's wife, and say unto her — Slay no 
 fatted calves ; the elder boy hath outlived that branch of the 
 lusts of the flesh (not to speak of others) : the younger, he 
 hath never known it. 
 
 Step not, nay although it be but a span's breadth, out of the 
 path to which thou art accustomed, and remember we are Re- 
 chabites. Is it not written 
 
 Ov/ct rpvtprjs irapa aoi ')(^pyi$.oj.iai, uWa jxovris. 
 
 Not improbably, a boy, sent to me by Mr. Strutt, of Derby, 
 from a place of his brother's, called Belpar, six miles from 
 thence, boy's name unknown ; age about twelve ; may inquire for 
 me, either on Friday or Saturday, at the Parsonage. Should 
 death have disposed of me in the meantime, pay the boy liis 
 expenses thither and back again I pray j'ou, and bring your 
 action against my executors and adminis^irators.
 
 MEMOIRS. 551 
 
 . At Queen's College, Oxon, men keep the Devil's hand- 
 writing with due care. Whose is it, yours or mine ? 
 
 " The system of Mr. Bentham measures benevo- 
 lence by utility," (says Parr) and he makes very few 
 critical observations or objections, and even adopts 
 some of his language in the Spital Sermon. In the 
 note on words, at page 56, he looks over Mr. 
 Bentham's discussion on the imperfection of lan- 
 guage, and in exposing the selfish system, takes 
 occasion to criticise the way in which he speaks of 
 Rochefoucault, Mandeville, and Helvetius. I wish 
 I could spare room for the character of the writings 
 of Helvetius. Dr. Parr, at the end of this character, 
 bavards a little in Mr. Bentham's own manner, 
 when he says, 
 
 Mr. Bentham may smile at my want of discernment, but he 
 will not impute to me want of probity. 
 
 When examining the opinions of such an able writer again 
 (says Parr), I thought it necessary to go into detail, and no 
 place, surely, can be more proper for the vindication of those 
 who have defended the benevolent system, than in the notes 
 upon a sermon which is intended to explain and enforce bene- 
 volence. 
 
 In the Philopatris Varvicensis, the works of 
 Jeremy Bentham are more frequently quoted. He 
 is there called, at p. 320, " a great writer ;" at p. 
 332, " superior to Dagge in depth of research and 
 precision of reasoning." " His peculiar precision," 
 at p. 387. He quotes largely from Bentham's ob- 
 servations on the judicial establishments proposed 
 in France ; and in the reformers of our penal code, 
 I shall ever deplore the causes (says Parr) which prevented 
 Mr. Pox from having any opportunity to direct the whole force
 
 552 MEMOIRS, 
 
 of his mind to the redress of what appeared to me our most in- 
 disputable and intolerable grievances. Keener, too, must be 
 our mortification, because in this arduous, but glorious achieve- 
 ment, he might have called in the aid of Lord Erskine, Earl 
 Grey, Lord Grenville, Lord Auckland, Lord Holland, Mr. 
 Whitbread, INIr. Wyndham, the Hon. Mr. Ward, of three 
 Judges, whom I forbear to name, of Sir Arthur Pigott, Sir 
 Samuel Romilly, Sir James Macintosh, Mr. Serjeant Lens, Mr. 
 Robert Smith, Dr. Colquhoun, Mr. Francis Hargrave, and, 
 above all, Jeremiah Bentham. 
 
 One of the persons Dr. Parr was accustomed to 
 meet at Mr. Bentham's, Queen-square-place, was 
 the late Sir Samuel Romilly, who had visited him 
 when he attended the Circuit. Sir Samuel's name 
 is much coupled with that of Monsieur Dumont, 
 the Editor of one of Bentham's works, and it may 
 be presumed that he had enlarged his views on the 
 subjects of jurisprudence, of morals, and legislation, 
 by frequent discussions with these celebrated men. 
 Whatsoever had been the sources of his informa- 
 tion, so deeply had he drawn from them, with un- 
 wearied diligence, keen discernment, and sober judg- 
 ment, that his knowledge at last was refined by 
 wisdom into applicability for the most salutary 
 practical purposes. He devoted himself with too 
 much ardour, alas, to the cause of his country 
 and her laws. By giving himself too bttle relax- 
 ation from these hallowed, but toilsome pursuits, 
 the mortal frame was too soon worn out. But 
 he has left a name consecrated by his aim to 
 amchorate the penal code of his country, and to 
 improve the condition of his countrymen, which 
 will never die. His correspondence with Dr. Parr
 
 MEMOIRS. 553 
 
 is voluminous. I regret that I have not succeeded 
 in finding any of the Doctor's letters to him. Of 
 their friendship both gave or left memorials. Parr 
 gave Romilly, during his life, a valuable service of 
 inscribed plate : Sir Samuel bequeathed the plate 
 back again, with the princcps edition of Aristo- 
 phanes, and an inscription in his own hand. The 
 name of Romilly is never mentioned by Parr with- 
 out praise ; indeed, who would ever dare to subject 
 himself to the reproach of attacking it with blame. 
 He was his beloved friend, and his faithful adviser; 
 nor had he more confidence in any one man in the 
 whole circle of human society than in Sir Samuel 
 Romilly. Could the letters be collected which he 
 wrote to several friends on his death they would 
 combine almost every topic, and every phrase of 
 eulogy. In the Philopatris he thus writes : 
 
 As to Sir Samuel Rorailly, who has more sense, as well as 
 more tendenaess, I honour him for his noble effort, I anticipate 
 
 the happiest effects from the example of his success, and I sup- 
 pose that his reputation will not descend to posterity with much 
 less advantage than that of other contemporary sages. 
 
 The letters of this great and good man, which 
 are copied in the Appendix, will speak for them- 
 selves. 
 
 The following letters of Sir Samuel Romilly to 
 Dr. Parr declare his opinions of Mr. Bentham's 
 works : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Russell-square, August 19. 
 
 I am longing for the country as much as your kindness 
 
 prompts you to wish that 1 was enjoying it. For some time 
 
 past the Chancellor has been sitting an unreasonable length of 
 
 time every day. He publicly announced, about a fortnight
 
 554 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ago, that he should not sit after next Saturday, and I have 
 therefore thought myself justified in making arrangements to go 
 out of town immediately after that day, and if he should not 
 keep his word, yet I shall. I agree with you entirely in the 
 opinion you have formed on Bentham's book on Reform. Not- 
 withstanding all the merit of it, it is scarcely readable ; to be of 
 any use, it ought, as you observe, to be re-written, and to be 
 . shortened. I must confess, however, that I am not sorry that 
 it is not likely to be read, for I doubt greatly its being likely to 
 do much good. In his admiration of the Americans he hardly, 
 1 think, conceals that he prefers a Republican to all other forms 
 of government ; but surely the worst service that can be ren- 
 dered the cause of reform, is for its advocates to profess that 
 their real object is to establish a republic. It was with great 
 concern, too, that I observed him acting upon the system of 
 Cobbett and Hunt, and endeavouring to destroy all confidence 
 in all public men, and therefore representing the Whigs as 
 more unprincipled and profligate politicians than even the 
 Tories were. 
 
 I hope you do not give any credit to the accounts published 
 in the Morning Chronicle of what passes in the Court of Chan- 
 cery ; much of what is there stated is the pure invention of the 
 Keporter, He has lately made Sir Arthur Piggott and me pay 
 high compliments to the Chancellor, of which not a single word 
 was uttered ; and he has made me express myself with a degree 
 of incivility towards Basil Montagu, which I never shewed to 
 any man at the bar, much less to one whom I esteem so highly 
 as I do him. 
 
 With great respect and sincere attachment, your affectionate 
 friend and servant, ' Samuel Romilly. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Russell-square , May 18, 1818. 
 
 I hope you have received Bentham's Church of Englandism 
 examined. I sent it by the Crown Prince coach to Warwick, 
 which set out yesterday morning, directed to you at Mr. 
 Parkes's. The copy is entirely at your service, if you think it 
 worth keeping. I have no doubt that you will agree with me 
 that it is a book which ought not to be published. Indepen-
 
 MEMOIRS. 555 
 
 dently of the danger to which the author and pubb'sher would 
 expose themselves, there appears to me to be very strong ob- 
 jections to its publication. The irreverent manner in which 
 opinions and ceremonies, which most men in this country re- 
 gard as sacred, are spoken of, is quite unjustifiable, and is 
 likely to prejudice what is good in the work, and I really think 
 that there is a great deal which is extremely good. It appears 
 to me too, to be much better written than most of our friend's 
 late publications. I shall be very anxious to hear what you 
 think of it. I have communicated to Brougham what you 
 say respecting the Warwick school. I remain ever, my dear 
 Sir, with great respect and sincere attachment your faithful 
 and affectionate friend and servant, Samuel Romilly, 
 
 There is only one short letter from Sir Samuel 
 after Lady Roniilly's illness was declared alarming, 
 of which Mr. Whishaw had given Dr. Parr an ac- 
 count. But Mr. Basil Montagu and his accom- 
 plished lady warned him of her hopeless state, and 
 entreated him to be with Sir Samuel at the close 
 of the scene : unfortunately this humane foresight 
 had not its intended eifect ; for although Parr de- 
 clared his opinion to me that Sir Samuel would not 
 survive Lady Romilly long, he either thought him- 
 self incapable of doing the good desired, or some 
 impediment lay in the way. 
 
 The following letter of Mr. Whishaw, Su- Sa- 
 muel's executor and friend, inclosed a prayer and a 
 critique ; the prayer v.as written in the year 1812, 
 the critique was published in the Edinburgh Review, 
 1817: 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Liucohis Inn, May 31, 1819. 
 
 In looking through the prodigious mass of papers left by our 
 invaluable friend, I have found a few more of your letters, 
 which I nov/ transmit ; and I cannot forbear sending you, at
 
 556 MEMOIRS. 
 
 tlie same time, the copy of a prayer which 1 find in one of his 
 journals. 
 
 I do not know whether you are aware that he wrote one 
 article in the Edinburgh Review, on a pamphlet of Mr. Ben- 
 tham, which appeared in that journal in November 181Y. It 
 excited a good deal of curiosity at the time. But the secret 
 was well kept, and the author was not suspected. Who, in- 
 deed, could have supposed that a person overwhelmed by 
 such important and constant occupations, could find time for 
 writing an article in a review ? I send you the original MS. 
 of this article, of which I request your acceptance, in the name 
 of his family, as being a curious literaiy relique of one of the 
 best of men, with whom you were united during a long series 
 of years in public principles, and by the strictest ties of friend- 
 ship. 
 
 In closing the accounts of the executorship, I may perhaps 
 have occasion to trouble you for your signature to a receipt 
 for the plate which you have so handsomely presented to 
 William llomilly. I have the honour to be, my dear Sir, your 
 most faithful and obedient servant, J. Whishaw. 
 
 " Almighty God ! creator of all things ! the source of all 
 wisdom, and goodness, and virtue, and happiness ! I bow down 
 before thee, not to oft'er up prayers, for I dare not presume to 
 think, or hope that thy most just, unerring, and supreme will 
 can be in any degree influenced by any supplications of mine, 
 nor to pour forth praises and adorations, for I feel that I am 
 unworthy to offer them, but, in all humility, and with a deep 
 sense of my own insignificance, to express the thanks of a con- 
 tented and happy being for the immmerable benefits which he 
 enjoys. I cannot reflect that I am a human being, living in 
 civilized society, born the member of a free state, the son of 
 virtuous and tender parents, blest with an ample fortune, en- 
 dowed with faculties which have enabled me to acquire that 
 fortune myself, enjoying a fair reputation, beloved by my rela- 
 tions, esteemed by my IVicnds, thought well of by most of my 
 countrymen to whom my name is known, united to a kind, 
 virtuous, enlightened, and most affectionate wife, the father of
 
 MEMOIRS. 557 
 
 seven children, all in perfect health, and all giving, by the 
 goodness of their dispositions, a promise of future excellence, 
 and though myself far advanced in life, yet still possessed of 
 health and strength, which seem to afford me the prospect of 
 future years of enjoyment ; I cannot reflect on all these things 
 and not express ray gratitude to thee, O God ! from whom all 
 this good has flowed. I am sincerely grateful for all this hap- 
 piness. I am sincerely grateful for the happiness of all those 
 who are most dear to me, of my beloved wife, of my sweet 
 children, of my relations, and of my friends. 
 
 *' I prostrate myself, O Almighty and Omniscient God ! be- 
 fore thee. In endeavouring to contemplate thy divine attri- 
 butes, I seek to elevate my soul towards thee. I seek to im- 
 prove and ennoble my faculties, and to strengthen and quicken 
 my ardour for the public good ; and I appear to myself to rise 
 above my earthly existence whilst I am indulging the hope 
 that I may at some time prove a humble instrument in the 
 divine work of enlarging the sphere of human happiness." 
 
 Dr. Parr was for many years intimately acquainted 
 with Mr. Basil Montagu, and visited him in New- 
 man-street. Mr. and Mrs. Montagu were, as Mr. 
 Bentham significantly relates, his almoners ; and I 
 see in the correspondence, that Mr. Montagu often 
 consulted him on his publications, and especially 
 on his wise and merciful project of taking away the 
 punishment of death from all crimes unaccom- 
 panied in their commission with violence. 
 
 The mention of John Baines, who is also one of 
 the worthies of the Spital Sermon, induces me to 
 add the note made by Parr on the only two letters 
 in the collection relating to his family, and a copy 
 of Greek verses. It appears from the inscription 
 that Mr. Baines died at the early age of twenty- 
 nine.
 
 558 MEMOIRS. 
 
 He had few equals in learning and genius, and yet fewer in 
 virtue and genuine piety. He was the intimate friend of Sir 
 Samuel Romilly; he and John Tweddell were the brightest 
 ornaments of Trinity College, Cambridge. Dr. Parr sent him 
 the following verses inscribed in some book : 
 
 T(s bi) vofii$oi flavv^ ay w§' hirijvv^ov 
 'AWoTpiois aov oyofxa (TV[ji<pepeiy kukoIs' 
 Oil yap fidvavffos ovb' a)(^apis wv Tvy)(av€is, 
 'AXX' ej' rcois veos re (cav ypwfii] yepwv, 
 ('ils Wivhapos TTOT etTre) r' ctptorei' e^eis 
 'Ev rots TlXariovos inrepoxos dpvXKovfxeyois, 
 Tlpos TO. KaXa k ayaQ' ovy ciKoveis €V(pvy)s, 
 Myi'ifiioy, (piXofiadijs, (piXoiroyos, (j)iXi]Koos, 
 Zi]Tr}TiKos, (piXoTifxos, tort davfi vaoy. 
 "ils 7ruy(TO(p6v ri ^pij/^a (t ovt Iblg. ftXinw. 
 Tipos 6' av TO. Koiya vi] Am Kay i/7rcjo/3oX»/. 
 ^iXohrjfiOS 11 be ^iXoiroXis el, trci^' o'lb' on' 
 Ov yap n vvy re (caj^oes dXX' aei Trore 
 'EXeuSepoTrpeTTws eXevBepooTO^wv, 
 Mi/pta Ta rrjs iravwXedpov rvpayyibos 
 HayTU)y fieyiaroy e^dos e'^^Oalpeis KaKa. 
 Twy b' oib' ej^ojTwv, rovro fiov bwpoy Xa/3e 
 To fii^Xiov TToXv^ades aybpl TroXv/iadel, 
 ^Aperijs re rfjs crfjs Tfjs re efiijs ^iXias -^^apiy. 
 'Yyiaive, X"'P > ^^ irpdrre irayra Trayraxov. 
 
 Haec ey irnpepycf lusit, qui te juvenem optimarum artium, op- 
 timarum partium, sumrao amore cwovbaibjs atque ex animo 
 complectitur, S. Parr. 
 
 Dabam Norvici, 15 Cal. Jan. 1783. 
 
 Thomas Monro, his pupil at Colchester, is the 
 last of the names I shall take from the Spital Ser- 
 mon. There are several letters from him, and it 
 appears from them that Parr was not only his kind 
 friend and instructor, but his protector also and 
 guide in some dangerous passages of his early life.
 
 MEMOIRS. 559 
 
 He was Demy of Magdalen College Oxford, and 
 one of the authors of the Ollapodrida. He after- 
 wards took pupils and was respected throughout 
 life for his sterling worth and considerable learning 
 by Parr and all who knew him. He was related to 
 the eminent physician. Dr. Parr's pupil at Stanmore.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Oraffham, — Sir Francis Burdett, — Fast Sermon , 
 
 — Change of Ministry, — Mr. Robert Adair, 
 
 — Mr, Foxs Death. 
 
 It cannot be supposed that Parr's mind was at 
 rest on the subject of politics while so many dread 
 events were in progress, among which, scarcity, at 
 the close of 1800, added all its miseries to the hor- 
 rors of war. On this subject he was particularly sen- 
 sitive ; his efforts were not confined to the relief of 
 the poor of his own neighbourhood; in higher 
 quarters he strove to stir up more effectual exertion, 
 and the following is the answer of the Right Hon. 
 Charles James Fox to him on that occasion. 
 
 DEAR SIR, St. Anne's Hill, Nov. 18, 1800. 
 
 On my return home yesterday I found yours of the 10th, 
 and am always obhged to you for communicating to me your 
 sentiments. With respect to the business of the scarcity, if I 
 liad any notion that I thought could be useful to the poor, I 
 would certainly attend Parliament for the purpose of suggesting 
 it J but I confess myself to be wholly without resource upon 
 the subject. 
 
 That part of the evil which arises from bad harvests, may 
 in some degree be lessened by importation, and the consump- 
 tion of rice and other substitutes for bread ; that part which 
 arises from the depreciation of money, and the consequent in- 
 crease in the price of all articles of every denomination, seems 
 to be chiefly imputable to the enormous debt and revenue, and
 
 MEMOIRS. oGl 
 
 is therefore remediless, except by measures which I am sure 
 I shall never propose. Even peace, in my view of the subject, 
 would not so much tend to diminish the evil, but it would un- 
 doubtedly prevent its increase, and therefore is the only mea- 
 sure I have to advise. 1 am afraid your alarm is well grounded, 
 especially in the midland counties, but what would you do ? 
 Surely the general principles in the Duke of Portland's letter 
 are right, though there are some very improper expressions in 
 it. I am most truly, dear Sir, yours ever, C. J. Fox. 
 
 On all public occasions he religiously obeyed the 
 letter of the law in reading proclamations and state 
 papers in his church ; but at several times he marked 
 his sense of these state papers by the particular em- 
 phasis with which he read them, or the annotations 
 with which he accompanied the reading. The pro- 
 clamation on the scarcity afforded a fine field for 
 his scorn, and he did not fail to observe, that the 
 poor would be more effectually served in relinquish- 
 ing the enormous expense of a ruinous war, than by 
 any recommendation " /o save jiour in pastry T* 
 
 The friends of peace were buoyed up with some 
 hope at the beginning of the following year, by 
 the resignation of Mr. Pitt and some of his col- 
 leagues, and perhaps Parr began to entertain ex- 
 pectations that his own friends might be called into 
 power, and- that he himself might not be forgotten 
 in the distribution of preferment. But, whatsoever 
 might have been the change of opinion in the 
 country with respect to the war, we have Mr. Fox's 
 authority that he did not see any approach to any 
 good general principles. 
 
 * The words of a proclamation issued Dec. 3j 1800. 
 VOL. I. 2 O
 
 562 MEMOIRS. 
 
 DEAR SIR, St. Anne's Hill, Wednesday, April 15, 1801. 
 
 I shall be much obliged to you for your Sermon and the 
 notes upon it. If you will direct the bookseller either to leave 
 it for me at Gen. Fitzpatrick's, Arlington-street, or to send it 
 to me in a packet by the Chertsey coach to this place, it will 
 reach me safe. If I should be in town in Whitsun week it will 
 give me great satisfaction to meet you. 
 
 I have heard a great deal of the country's being materially 
 turned with respect to the war, and I believe it in a great mea- 
 sure ; but I do not see any approach to what I consider as 
 good general principles. I am very sincerely, my dear Sir, 
 yours ever, C. J. Fox. 
 
 But the year following realised the hopes of peace, 
 and secured Parr competence, if it did not endow 
 him with affluence. In Sept. 1802 Sir Francis 
 Burdett presented him to the rectory of GrafFham 
 in Huntingdonshire in the following handsome 
 terms : 
 
 SIR, Wimbledon, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 1802. 
 
 I am sorry it is not in my power to place you in a situation 
 which would well become you, I mean, in the episcopal palace 
 at Bugden ; but I can bring you very near to it, for I have the 
 presentation to a rectory, now vacant, within a mile and a half 
 of it, which is very much at Dr, Parr's service. It is the 
 rectory of GrafFham, at present worth two hundred pounds a 
 year, and, as I am informed, may soon be worth two hundred 
 and seventy, and I this moment learn that the incumbent died 
 last Tuesday. Dr. Parr's talents and character might well en- 
 title him to better patronage than this from those who know 
 how to estimate his merits ; but I acknowledge that a great 
 additional motive with me to the offer I now make him, is, that 
 I believe I cannot do anything more pleasing to his friends, 
 Mr. Fox, Mr. Sheridan, and Mr. Knight ; and I desire you. 
 Sir, to consider yourself obliged to them only. I have the 
 honour to be, Sir, with the greatest respect, your obedient 
 servant, Francis Burdett.
 
 MEMOIRS. 563 
 
 Tho history of this presentation was curious. 
 Home Tooke, who was particularly disliked by Dr. 
 Parr, had declared to Mr. Knight, of Barrels, that 
 it would probably fall to his lot to have the presenta- 
 tion of a living, and, if it did, that he would cer- 
 tainly give it to Parr, as, though he differed from 
 him in sentiment, he thought him too learned and 
 too much neglected to remain unpreferred. It is 
 understood that Sir Francis Burdett thought Tooke 
 not rich enough to be so great a patron, and there- 
 fore bought the presentation, and bestowed it as he 
 wished. In every part of the transaction the gene- 
 rosity of Sir Francis's mind is strongly displayed, 
 and in none more than in the mention of the names 
 of Fox, Sheridan, and Mr. Knight of Barrels, and u-- 
 thus making the preferment the gratuity of Parr's 
 own personal friends. The intimacy of Parr with 
 Sir Francis, thus began, continued for some years, 
 but on one of those occasions in which Sir Francis's 
 political zeal was supposed by his friend to transcend 
 the bounds of prudence, and even of constitutional 
 privilege, Parr wrote him a letter which gave offence, 
 and was the occasion of a discontinuance of ac- 
 quaintance for some years. It was, however, re- 
 newed at length. Sir Francis and Dr. Parr met in 
 Gloucestershire, at Mr. Hanbury Tracy's, peace was 
 renewed, and continued to the end. The following 
 is the letter alluded to : 
 
 DEAR SIR FRANCIS BURDETT, Oct. 31, 1806. 
 
 My heart aches for you. 
 
 I cannot assent to the principles, or approve of the spirit, 
 which appear in your advertisement. I do not forget that you 
 
 2g 2
 
 564 MEMOIRS, 
 
 were in the most disinterested manner my patron. I sliall 
 never cease to keep in view the nobler qualities of your mind. 
 jNIucli I lament your errors, and I tremble at the prospect of 
 their consequences. I think it my private duty to tell you so, 
 and my public duty to support the administration, which you, 
 to my surprise and sorrow, have determined to oppose. From 
 the bottom of my soul, dear Sir Francis, I wish you health and 
 every worldly blessing, and I pray God Almighty to deliver 
 you from counsellors who mean little good to you, and will 
 do less to their country. I shall strive to give my vote for you 
 and Mr. Byng on INIonday. Farewell ! Heaven is witness to 
 my sincerity when I subscribe myself, with great respect, your 
 well wisher, S. Parr. 
 
 In the year 1803, war again was declared by ac- 
 clamation, against France, during the ministry of 
 Mr. Addington ; and two sets of opposition, com- 
 prising the greatest statesmen of the empire, were 
 embodied against this administration, but in differ- 
 ent parties. The awful crisis to which the empire 
 was brought by renewed hostilities had nearly 
 united them. But coalition was still an odious 
 name to the English nation, and though, perhaps, 
 both Pitt and Fox equally disliked an union with 
 the Minister of the Crown, yet was the influence 
 of the Crown sufficient to baffle, and outweigh all 
 the power of their talents : and the Administration 
 was still upheld by the persevering exertion of 
 Prerogative. A sort of Revolution had superseded 
 the ancient authority or controul of a majority 
 of the House of Commons over the opinions and 
 actions of the Executive, at that time, when Mr. 
 Pitt had retained his seat as a member of the 
 Ca})inct, and as the minister in spite of such a 
 majority. Mr. Addington's Cabinet, without Mr.
 
 MEMOIRS. 565 
 
 Pitt, Mr. Dundas, Lord Harrowby, or Lord Cam- 
 den, had rushed into a tremendous war ; but these 
 persons were soon associated in a new adminis- 
 tration to support it, and Lord Grenville's hope 
 of uniting in the pubHc service " as large a propor- 
 tion as possible of the weight, talents, and charac- 
 ter to be found in public men of all descriptions, 
 and without any exception," was baffled. Mr. Fox 
 and his party were excluded for the present. A Fast 
 had, however, been ordained to propitiate heaven, 
 and obtain deliverance from the might of our foes. 
 Invasion was threatened ; the means of invasion 
 were certainly preparing. A number of flat-bot- 
 tomed boats were collected in the inner basin of 
 Boulogne, an army was encamped in its neigh- 
 bourhood, and Napoleon inhabited the chateau de 
 pont du Brique, near that town, for some time. 
 
 On the occasion of this Fast, Parr preached Oc- 
 tober 19, 1803, in the parish church of Hatton. 
 Most serious was he in his exhortations to his pa- 
 rishioners to be patriotic. He calls upon them, as 
 the patriots of old called upon their children to de- 
 fend their country : 
 
 <L Traibes'^Wrjreop, 'ire, 
 'EXeuSepourc Trarpib', eXevdepovTe be 
 Tlaibas, yvvaiKas, dewp re Trarpwwv ebrj, 
 Qr'iKas re irpoyoi'MP' vvv vfrep ttciptiov aywp. 
 
 iEschyli Persae. 
 
 From the text " we fight for our lives and our 
 laws," in this Fast Sermon, Parr examined whether 
 the spirit of patriotism be warranted or not by the 
 Gospel, and thence whether it ought to be recom-
 
 56() MEMOIRS. 
 
 mended as a duty. He reasons that it is a gross af- 
 front to religion, to suppose that it was intended to 
 thwart the suggestions of common sense, to cramp 
 the efforts of common justice, and to throw down 
 every security for that national independence, with- 
 out which society would resemble a state of nature. 
 He then criticises the doctrines of Lord Shaftes- 
 bury and Soame Jenyns, both of whom assert that 
 Christianity is silent about patriotism, which one 
 mentions as a defect, the other as a singularity. 
 But the Gospel, he asserts, "has recognized and ap- 
 proved a genuine, a salutary patriotism, whilst it 
 neither directly or indirectly favours that which is 
 spurious and dangerous." 
 
 Harsh, indeed, as I have often thought, when communing 
 with my own heart, and often lamented, when I have been in- 
 structing you, my brethren, who are committed to my charge, 
 very harsh, and very unfair is the treatment which Revelation 
 has experienced in the doctrines which it propounds for our 
 belief, and in the rules which it prescribes for our conduct. 
 Those doctrines, though few and simple, have been multiplied 
 by the misguided zeal of its followers, and encumbered with 
 dark and mystical interpretations, which, under the venerable, 
 the usurped, the prostituted name of orthodoxy, have con- 
 founded the judgment, and inflamed the passions of the Chris- 
 tian world. Those rules, however agreeable to the common 
 sense, and however conducive to the common interests of man- 
 kind, have been distorted by ingenious sophistry, by monastic 
 gloominess, or by frantic enthusiasm, and instead of making us 
 " wise unto salvation," they have sometimes degenerated into 
 frivolous and unprofitable austerities, and sometimes been 
 pleaded in vindication of the most desperate outrages. For 
 purposes of superstition or fanaticism ; for the support of me- 
 taphysical reveries, or the disguise of spiritual domination, the 
 believer appeals to the authority of Christ and his Apostles for
 
 MEMOIRS. 567 
 
 the truth of dogmas, which they, in reality, never taught, or the 
 necessity of observances which they never imposed. The un- 
 believer craftily admits the propriety of the appeal, and then 
 charges upon the Christian law those absurdities which exist 
 only in the extravagant conceits, or arbitrary practises, of 
 Christian interpreters. But " the wisdom which is from above, 
 will ever be justified of her children," and this, too, effectually 
 and eminently, in the question which we are now discussing. 
 
 Universal good, as an immediate object, is per- 
 haps far too extensive for the efforts, and even the 
 comprehension of one moral agent. But patriot- 
 ism is implied in the duty of universal benevolence, 
 and to far the greater part of mankind, the country 
 in which they live is the noblest object upon which 
 their benevolence can be expended. 
 
 Patriotism, thus understood, is a deduction from 
 the principle of general benevolence. Had it been 
 broadly inculcated as a duty, by the weakness and 
 caprice of man's nature, it would have soon been 
 employed as an implement of fanaticism. There 
 are various other doctrines, delivered in splendid 
 diction, in various other parts of the sermon. On 
 false interpretation of the Scriptures ; on fanati- 
 cism ; on political discussion in the pulpit ; on false 
 and true patriotism ; on the duty of repelling inva- 
 sion ; on Popery, and the Catholic question ; on 
 the French Revolution, and liberty ; and on our 
 own country. 
 
 On former occasions, he had seldom found room 
 to praise the conduct of our rulers, to add " appro- 
 bation, to obedience," or to give the sanction of his 
 eloquence to the dictates of their authority. But 
 now that invasion was threatened by " mighty and
 
 568 MEMOIRS. 
 
 unprecedented armaments," he felt it his duty to 
 summon the whole force of his juind, to rouse his 
 hearers to patriotic exertion, — to make every heart 
 inaccessible to fear, — to put into every hand, to de- 
 fend their liberties, their laws, and their religion, — 
 and so well has he done it in this noble discourse, 
 that I have no doubt it will be quoted in after ages, 
 as one of the " best arguments of the wise, and ex- 
 hortations of the good," for the love of our country. 
 The following letters of Mr. Fox are inserted, 
 the first, as noticing the sermon ; the second, as 
 leading to a review of certain political occurrences 
 connected with the war : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, St. Auns-hill, Saturdaij, Jan. 29, 1804-. 
 
 I have at last had the Sermon, and have read it with the 
 greatest satisfaction ; it is both spirited and moderate. Though 
 I think the present war, at least, as unjust as any that was 
 ever undertaken on our part, yet the duty of defence against 
 invasion is clear in all cases. Perhaps I think you ■puff' us a 
 little as to constitution and liberty ; but that may be right in 
 such a case. The negative merit of abstaining from abuse, 
 is, with me, a very great one. The unspeakable wicked- 
 ness of making the pulpit the vehicle for calumnies against 
 our fellow- creatures, is most odious to me; and, surely it is not 
 pushing this sentiment too far, when I say, that no ill ought to 
 said there, even of an enemy, without the preacher's knoxving it 
 to be true ; believing it is not sufficient. Besides, in a political 
 point of view, what is the use of resorting to such base means ? 
 If Henry the Fourth were now King of France, and Henry the 
 Eighth, of England, would that be any reason for submitting 
 to invasion. 
 
 I am very happy to find your prebendal estate turns out so 
 well. I am, dear Sir, yours ever, C. J. Fox.
 
 MEMOIRS. 569 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, St. Anties-hUl, Sunday, Sept. 0.5, 1803. 
 
 Nothing could give me greater pleasure, than to be of ser- 
 vice to Mr. Greatheed, but I have been forced to refuse so 
 many applications of the kind, that I cannot comply with that 
 of Mr. Parkes, upon this occasion, to whom I should be happy 
 to shew any mark of attention. 
 
 I did, at first, write in favour of one or two friends, but as 
 they are not returned, I conclude that (as I foresaw) my ap- 
 plication was fruitless. Neither Mr. Hare nor Lord Duncan- 
 non obtained their permission through me ; though with re- 
 spect to the former, his connection with me, may have helped. 
 The minister of war, who is a friend of Lord Besborough's, got 
 the leave for Lord Duncannon with a facility that surprised 
 every one, and which was owing (as I believe) to Lord D.'s 
 being in a remote province. 
 
 I feel as bold as you about repelling the invasion, if it is at- 
 tempted, but yet all that mismanagement can do in favour of 
 the enemy, is doing, and will continue every day to be done ; 
 and peace further off than ever. Yours ever, C. J. Fox. 
 
 From R. P. Knight, Esq. to Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Whitehall, Friday. ^ 
 
 I have read your excellent discourse, with all those senti- 
 ments of interest and approbation, which your compositions 
 have never failed to inspire. The force and spirit of your style 
 and arguments must be felt by all j but the justice, temper, 
 and moderation of them peculiarl)' delight me, and I only la- 
 ment that you cannot convince other public teachers, that as- 
 perity is not energy, and that railing may make enemies, but 
 can neither weaken, disarm, or destroy them. Government is 
 about to bring forward a most momentous (I fear I might say 
 portentious) question relative to the Volunteers. I shall go to 
 it with a mind wholly free from all party favour or affection ; 
 for the subject is in itself, too awful to admit of any such con- 
 siderations ; and whatever measures Parliament may adopt, I 
 see, but too plainly, that the very discussion of them must ex- 
 cite discord and distrust, and consequently lead to danger. The
 
 570 MEMOIRS. 
 
 system adopted, may be, in some respects, defective, and in 
 others, erroneous ; but to make any fundamental alterations in 
 it after it has been so extensively acted upon, will, I fear, de- 
 stroy all the good, without correcting any of the evil arising 
 from it. 
 
 Mr. Addington, driven from power, was succeeded 
 by Mr. Pitt, who was opposed by his old colleague 
 Lord Grenville, and had to defend another old col- 
 league against the charge of high crimes and mis- 
 demeanors. It was honourable to Lord Grenville 
 to resist becoming a party " to a system of govern- 
 ment which was to be formed at such a moment on 
 a principle of exclusion." But it was fatal to the 
 Minister in this second administration, and at this 
 awful crisis of public affairs, to be deprived of his 
 assistance. Instead of receiving the wonted and 
 powerful voice of Lord Melville in his favour, he 
 had to defend him against a public crimination ; 
 and though he was certain of his council in the 
 closet, yet his open delinquency had compelled Par- 
 liament to drive him out of the cabinet, and to 
 bring him to the bar of public justice. 
 
 To these defalcations of domestic support, the 
 war with Spain added its political embarrassment. 
 The Minister was forced into a coalition to support 
 his tottering power, which, like all other weak ex- 
 pedients, proved frail, and tended in the end only 
 to embarrass him the more, and he began to lose 
 his health. Till the fatal surrender of the Austrian 
 troops at Ulm, an event, too, probably occasioned 
 by his precipitating the German campaign, he had 
 held up his head with prouder confidence than ever.
 
 MEMOIRS. 571 
 
 He was alone the Minister. The other Ministers 
 were the messengers of his will, and the executors 
 of his commands. He had no rival on the throne, 
 but he was watched by men of higher mind than 
 himself, and of equal experience in public affairs, 
 and who warned him in vain of his errors and his 
 rashness. The battle of Austerlitz crushed his 
 hopes, and he fled to Bath as the last resource of a 
 sick heart and a broken constitution. But though 
 Mr. Pitt was destroyed, England was not. A Spa- 
 nish war had inspirited her mariners ; and her wood- 
 en walls, her bulwark and her pride, now became 
 her salvation. At Trafalgar, England found that 
 every man did his duty, and though our hero died 
 like another Epaminondas, leaving two immortal 
 victories behind him, it was not till he had secured 
 the glory and safety of his country. 
 
 The Pittite administration was virtually dissolved 
 by the death of its leader in January 1806, Lord 
 Liverpool not chosing to retain the reins of govern- 
 ment in his hands. In this state of defeasance 
 Lord Grenville was sent for by the King to consult 
 about the formation of a new ministry. In the first 
 instance Lord Grenville included Mr. Fox in the 
 consultation. The King consented, and at length 
 after many discussions, and it is said many doubts 
 about the admission of Lord Sidmouth into the 
 cabinet. Lord Grenville was appointed first Lord of 
 the Treasury, Mr. Fox Secretary of State, and the 
 administration of " the Talents" was seated in 
 power. 
 
 Here then for the first time in Parrs life his ex-
 
 572 MEMOIRS. 
 
 pectations of preferment may be supposed on the 
 eve of being realized. At the period of the Re- 
 gency the cup was dashed from his hps just as it 
 approached them. The Regency was not estabh sh- 
 ed, and his friends did not come into power. But 
 now they were actually seated ; Mr. Fox was one of 
 the ministers, but unhappily, even at last, he was 
 a minister of coalition. 
 
 The following letters tell part of the story, and 
 are introductory to another fatal event, which though 
 less sensibly felt by the nation, was in fact its great- 
 est loss. The most able counsellor which England, 
 or any other country could possess, was soon to fol- 
 low his great rival to the grave : 
 
 From Mr. Adair, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, London, Jan. 20th, 1806. 
 
 Of the Continental peace the newspapers 
 
 will have already informed you ; but the conditions of it arc 
 not certainly known. As far as any future balance of power 
 against France may be concerned in it, I should suppose that 
 one condition of the peace with Russia, as well as with Aus- 
 tria, would be the perpetual exclusion of Russian troops from 
 the territory of Germany, Moravia, and Bohemia. Italy of 
 course Bonaparte takes entirely to himself, and it will remain 
 to be seen whether we can maintain the King of Naples in Si- 
 cily, after having so childishly provoked him to break his neu- 
 trality, and so ignominiously deserted him afterwards. In the 
 North of Germany it appears, that we are about to undergo a 
 disgrace ten thousand times more humiliating than any capitu- 
 lation we could be forced to sign, namely, the permission to 
 our troops, obtained for them by the very King of Prussia who 
 had invited them over to take possession of Hanover, to retire 
 back again to England ! What further conditions are to be 
 imposed upon that Monarch do not seem to be known, but it
 
 MEMOIRS. 573 
 
 would not be surprising, at least to those who have attended 
 to Bonaparte's particular policy with respect to this country, if 
 he made the exclusion of British commerce from the Elbe, the 
 Weser, and the whole of the North of Germany, a sine qua 
 non of peace. In this state of aftiiirs on the Continent, I should 
 not be very much surprised if Bonaparte were to make us ano- 
 ther offer of peace, and if he were novo to propose to give us 
 our choice of two principles of negoclation in which Austria 
 must be considered as our ally, and equivalents would be de- 
 manded from us for what should be restored to her. A diffi- 
 cult question would then occur. Ought we to take the treaty 
 of Amiens, and exclude ourselves from the Continent for ever, 
 or ought we to negociate jointly with Austria, and for the sake 
 of re-establishing her political existence, admit France to share 
 with us in " ships, colonies, and commerce." 
 
 So much for foreign affairs. At home, the first thing I have 
 to say is, that we are alljirmly united. An amendment will be 
 moved in both Houses, and divided upon ; nothing will be said 
 in it about peace ; it is to be strictly confined — Inquiry into the 
 causes of our failure upon the Continent, and the obtaining 
 some security against the misapplication of those means which 
 it may be right still to employ towards reducing the power of 
 France. No disunion can arise from the discussion of any of 
 the topics connected with this amendment, which in the Com- 
 mons is to be moved by Lord Henry Petty. 
 
 Of the state of parties I know nothing beyond what relates 
 to our own ; but it is stated with great confidence by many 
 persons, that Addington is to join us in condemning the 
 conduct of the war. Lord VVellesley has not declared him- 
 self. 
 
 Mr. Pitt is very ill ; in no immediate danger ; but in such a 
 state as to preclude the possibility of his attending to public 
 business. Lord Castlereagh is to be his substitute until he 
 recovers; but 1 have some hopes, though not in my nature 
 much given to hope, that the House of Commons will not bear 
 this trifling. 
 
 You see that every thing promises an interesting Session ; 
 and indeed I hope it will not be long before you come among 
 
 us Believe me, dear Sir, ever most truly yours, 
 
 R. Adair.
 
 574 MEMOIRS. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Tucsday, Jan. 2St/i, 1806. 
 
 I have only time to say, that nothing is as yet finally ar- 
 ranged, but that every thing is going on well. Ever yours, 
 
 R. Adair. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Feb. Ist, 1806. 
 
 Had any thing been concluded in the interview at Bucking- 
 ham-house yesterday, I should undoubtedly have sent you a 
 line, but to all appearance it will yet take some time to settle 
 affairs. Yours ever truly, R. A. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, ' Feb. 5th, 1806. 
 
 Do not make yourself uneasy at not seeing my name among 
 those who form the new arrangement, as you may rely upon it 
 every thing will be as I could wish it. Ever yours, 
 
 R. Adair. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, London, Saturday, 8th Feb. 1806. 
 
 Mv station is certainly a foreign one, but whither I am to 
 be sent Mr. Fox does not yet know. It will be where I can 
 be of the most service to him, 
 
 I have already spoken to Erskine, and to Fox likewise, about 
 so many people, that 1 cannot venture to add Mr. Hargrave to 
 the list, but there would not be the smallest objection to your 
 writing to either, or to both. I lament greatly your not being 
 able to join us. Ever truly yours, R. Adair. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, March llih, 1806. 
 
 I write you these few lines in answer to your last, merely to 
 join my regret to yours upon the subject of inferior appoint- 
 ments. We never can be a strong administration without a 
 thorough excision. It must go to the bone, or we, the Whig 
 part of it at least, are sure to be counteracted in every thing. 
 The complaints I hear upon this subject are numerous, and
 
 MEMOIRS. 575 
 
 many of them, I assure you, are connected with ch-cumstances 
 most painful to me to know. I can do nothing in it, neither 
 can Mr. Fox. 
 
 I should have much to say to you if we were together. Is 
 there no chance of your coming to town soon? I know nothing 
 concerning myself, but that I am to go abroad somewhere. 
 By Bonaparte's proceedings, however, there will soon be 
 scarcely a place where I can venture to show myself. 
 
 I do not hear of the Duke of Norfolk's dissatisfaction, fur- 
 ther than that he never is quite satisfied. Erskine is said to do 
 his business admirably well. I am, dear Sir, ever truly yours, 
 
 R. A. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, May 3d, 1806. 
 
 I see so little of Mr, Fox, except when he is in the House of 
 Commons, that 1 have no opportunity of pressing any subject 
 upon his attention. He certainly is far from well, although his 
 complaints are much exaggerated ; indeed I may say that he 
 has no complaint, properly so called, but merely a tendency to 
 inflammation in his bowels. Vexation, too, has greatly affect- 
 ed him. The state in which he found public affairs, and in 
 which they still continue, is beyond imagination distressing, 
 and our difficulties seem increasing every day. The other day 
 Prussia, now Austria, surrenders to Bonaparte j and from what 
 I can collect, his proposals for negociation are such as cannot 
 admit of any discussion. All this together has affected Mr. 
 Fox's health, but I really am not alarmed, especially as the 
 summer is advancing, and his fondness for the country in- 
 creased by his difficulty of enjoying it. 
 
 I wish Parliament would let him get there soon, but we shall 
 have a severe Session. I am afraid there is some mischief 
 brewing against our military plans. The Castlereaghs, as a 
 Jaction, are mischievous, and supported, as I hear they are on 
 this point, by no means contemptible. I am not daunted at 
 their numbers on Wednesday last, nor at their threats for next 
 Tuesday, but in the progress of our great measure I am afraid 
 of a difficulty arising of a nature to draw around it, and em- 
 body all the other floating materials of discontent to which
 
 570 MEMOIRS. 
 
 taxation, and the prospect of extended and endless warfare 
 has given birth. I believe Mr. Fox to be greatly gaining with 
 the people ; they would be sorry to part with him, but he has 
 not got them into that state of discipline in which Mr. Pitt 
 had tiiem, and in which by receding from an unpopular mea- 
 sure he would gain nearly as much credit as he would by pro- 
 posing a popular one, I am truly sorry to hear you still con- 
 tinue unwell. Ever yours, R.Adair. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, LoJidou, May lOth, 1806. 
 
 My fate is now definitively fixed, and 1 go on Thursday to 
 Vienna. An Ambassador will soon be sent thither, but in the 
 mean time it is necessary that Mr. Fox should have a person 
 upon the spot acquainted with his views, and on whose fidelity 
 he may rely. I am afraid there will be but little opportunity 
 of doing good, but we must try. 
 
 The shortness of the time between this and my departure, 
 leaves me in great doubt whether I can write to you again. 
 If I do not, receive I pray you my most sincere and affection- 
 ate good wishes. I have ever felt the highest respect for 
 you, and a confidence without bounds in your judgment and 
 honour. 
 
 Employ me without scruple if I can be of any use to you at 
 Vienna. It is not likely that you should have any literary cor- 
 respondent there j but if there should be any subject of criti- 
 cism, or philology which occupies you at present, and my aid 
 could be of any avail in procuring you materials, I will with 
 pleasure contribute all in my power. Your letters will come 
 safely to me through Mr. Fox's office, 
 
 I leave you all with great anxiety of mind as to the event of 
 many matters now pending of serious domestic import. We 
 have been too much used to think alike to make it necessary 
 that I should speak plainer. 
 
 God send you health, my dear Sir, and trust me that I am 
 faithfully yours, 11. Adair.
 
 MEMOIRS. 577 
 
 Wc have seen with what coldness, and ahnost in- 
 solence, Mr. Windham conducted himself towards 
 Dr. Parr whilst he was in office, on application 
 being made to him in the afiair of Gerrald. They 
 met, however, at Cambridge in 1803, and Parr in 
 a letter to Mr. Coke of Holkham, shows himself 
 reconciled ; and from this time they were recon- 
 ciled, as appears from many letters in the Ap- 
 pendix. 
 
 The agitated state of Ireland, and the political 
 station of Dr. Bennet in the administration of the 
 government of that unhappy country, had separated 
 Parr from all communication with his friend. The 
 blessings of returning peace, and the abatement of 
 the storm of factious and angry passions, brought 
 about a correspondence again with all the wonted 
 ardour of friendship, and with the usual flow of 
 confidence. From 1802 the Bishop of Cloyne re- 
 newed his public communications with Dr. Parr, 
 and there are many letters which will testify how 
 anxiously he desired his promotion. The exalta- 
 tion of Parr's friends to power naturally led to the 
 expectation of his own preferment, and accordingly 
 we find Bishop Bennet looking forward with con- 
 siderable pleasure to his advancement, and his in- 
 crease of comfort : 
 
 MY DEAR PARR, DiihUn, April 16, 1806. 
 
 I hope your change of air and scene lias contributed to 
 amuse your mind, and perhaps that of the Ministry may not be 
 without the same effect. I am not displeased with the public 
 conduct of your friends since they have been in office, but I 
 think they were unwise in making so general a proscription of 
 Pitt's friends, and if they had retained two of them, at least, 
 VOL. I. 2 P
 
 578 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Hawkesbury, for instance, on account of his ability, and Lord 
 Chatham, from his connection with the deceased minister, it 
 would have given England more weight with foreign powers, 
 and some foundation for the boast of their addressers and party 
 writers, that it is an union of all the knowledge, wisdom, re- 
 spectability, <S:c, &c. of the country ; and this strikes me as 
 more ungracious, because Pitt had declared himself ready to 
 take in Fox to his ministry, as the latter has honourably con- 
 fessed in the House of Commons. I look, however, on Mr. 
 Fox, from his talents and character as worth fifty Lord Sid- 
 mouths to take the lead in our national councils, and I feel 
 considerable pleasure in the consideration that he cannot avoid 
 putting you into some comfortable deanery, or other respect- 
 able station. 
 
 I agree in all your emendations of the epitaph, which is now 
 perfectly to my satisfaction. I inclose the only word I cannot 
 make out. In reading Boswell's Life of Johnson, the other 
 day, I found an observation of your friend Samuel's, that 
 much puzzles me. He says that there is a quotation from 
 Homer in Thucydides not to be found in any copy vve now 
 have of Homer's works. I have no doubt, as Johnson asserts 
 the fact so positively, that it is true j but I was once a great 
 reader of Thucydides, though not so accurate or diligent as 
 you were, and if I ever took notice of the passage in question, 
 it has entirely gone from my mind. If you can recur to it, 
 pray point it out to me. My edition is Duker's, I have ano- 
 ther literary, though not classical enquiry to make. You 
 know the dispute there was about the manuscript history of 
 Lord Clarendon, whether the Christ Church Tories, had or had 
 not interpolated the celebrated passage of Hampden, having " a 
 head to contrive, &c. &c. any mischief; " the original was given 
 a few years ago to the University of Oxford, and I am very 
 much mistaken if Archbishop Newcome did not tell me, he had 
 written to one of his friends to examine the passage, and the 
 whole was an interpolation ; if so, what are we to think of At- 
 terbury's solemn appeal to heaven ? 
 
 We seem to like our new Lord Lieutenant very well. He is 
 extremely civil, and lives in great state : two things which al- 
 ways delight and flatter the Irish. The Catholics are quarrel-
 
 MEMOIRS. 579 
 
 ling among themselves whether to press what is called their 
 emancipation, now, or delay it. They will give your Ministry 
 a great deal of trouble ; for at least half of them do not care 
 about the emancipation itself, but only make it a handle to 
 abuse the English connection, which is the real, and, honestly 
 speaking, the sole grievance at present. You know I look 
 upon the few disabilities they are under now, as of no great 
 weight, and I am well inclined to remove them, but if you ask 
 me whether they will be satisfied with the removal of them, I 
 answer, without hesitation. No. I have seen a very serious 
 and intolerable yoke removed from their shoulders without any 
 gratitude, and though I do not go so far as the Bishop of El- 
 phin, who says every where, they must be conquered over 
 again, T. have no hesitation to say, you will find them some of 
 your worst enemies. 
 
 Adieu ! my dear Parr, believe me to be, yours very sin- 
 cerely, Wm. Cloyne, 
 
 2p2
 
 580 
 
 CHAPITER XIII. 
 
 General Fttzpatrich, — Death of Mr. Fox, — 
 Lord Holland and Lord Grenville, — Sir Thomas 
 Tyrivhitt, — Mr. Coke, — Living of Buckingham^ 
 — Lord Chedworth, — Rev. Mr. Eyre. 
 
 On the establishment of the Fox and Grenville 
 administration, although Dr. Parr jjiade no ap- 
 plication for his own promotion, he pointed out 
 Mr. Hargrave to the patronage of the Govern- 
 ment ; and I insert the following letter, as it will 
 prove that he did the same for Mr. Lefanu, who 
 married Mr. Sheridan's sister, and also that he 
 himself was not indifferent to some of the ruling 
 powers, although he had not been forward in obr 
 truding himself upon their notice : 
 
 From the Right Honourable Richard Fitzpatrick, 
 Secretary of War, to the Rev. Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, War Office, May 30, 1806. 
 
 I owe you many apologies for having so long delayed an- 
 swering your letter, inclosing that of Mrs. Lefanu, which I 
 trust you will have ascribed to its true cause, the great pres- 
 sure of public business, which has, for some days past, both in 
 and out of Parliament, wholly occupied my time. With re- 
 spect to the lady's application, I can with truth assure you,
 
 MEMOIRS. 581 
 
 that your taking an interest in her behalf, would be, indepen- 
 dently of all other circumstances, a sufficient reason to insure 
 my giving it every attention in my power. I have already given 
 Mr. Lefanu repeated assurances that whenever an opportunity 
 should offer itself, which would enable me to remove him from 
 his present to a more eligible and healthful situation, it should 
 not be neglected. I am not sorry, however, that he does not 
 appear to place much reliance on these assurances, since his 
 want of confidence in them has procured me the pleasure of a 
 letter from a person for whom I entertain so high and unfeigned 
 an esteem and respect ; and of expressing the regret which I, 
 in common with many of his friends, feel, in not having yet 
 had the satisfaction of seeing amongst them, since the late po- 
 litical change, a person, the value of whose attachment and 
 support all the well-wishers of the present Administration must 
 highly appreciate. 
 
 You will be glad to hear that your friend Mr. Fox left town 
 last Saturday, in good health, to enjoy, for a few days, some 
 relaxation from the very laborious duties of his official and par- 
 liamentary occupations. It is very unnecessary for me to add, 
 that I reckon him in the list of persons to whom I before al- 
 luded, as one who will have the greatest pleasure in seeing 
 you, whenever your avocations may occasion your travelling 
 to this part of the world. I have the honour to be, dear Sir, 
 with the greatest esteem, your very obedient humble servant, 
 
 Richard Fitzpatrick. 
 
 This letter, written the latter end of May, was 
 well calculated to encourage Parr's hopes of pre- 
 ferment ; General Fitzpatrick was the confidential 
 friend and relation of the minister, and knew, not 
 only the secrets of government, but the private sen- 
 timents of his mind. Of course, he would not have 
 invited him to join friends who did not like his 
 company, and thus to have raised expectations not 
 intended to be gratified. Had Mr. Fox lived, there 
 can be no doubt that he would have advanced him.
 
 582 MEMOIRS. 
 
 For great as he was, the amiable quaUties of his 
 heart, and the firmness of his friendships, at least 
 equalled his intellectual accomplishments. 
 
 But at the moment General Fitzpatrick wrote, the 
 seeds oF mortal disease were concealed within Mr. 
 Fox's bosom ; " and the fatal 13th of February (as 
 Mr. O'Bryen terms it in his letter to Mr. Alder- 
 man Combe), with the aid of some kind friends, 
 sent him, within a few months to the tomb." There 
 can be no doubt that the fatigues of office, which 
 began in that fatal February, connected with his 
 anxieties about public affairs, and the bad hours, 
 and harrassing debates of Parliament, hastened on, 
 and at last ripened the mischief. During the whole 
 summer, Mr. Fox was incapable of attending to 
 public business, and it is very remarkable, had he 
 been in the utmost vigour of health, and plenitude 
 of power, that no occasion presented itself of 
 endowing Dr. Parr with high ecclesiastical pre- 
 ferment. I believe that no deanery or canonry 
 in the gift of the Crown became vacant during that 
 time ; and certainly the first English bishopric was 
 that of St. Asaph, wdiich became vacant, on the 
 death of Dr. Horsley, early in October, and which 
 was given to Dr. Cleaver, formerly tutor in the 
 Grenvillc family, while the bishopric of Bangor, 
 from which he was translated, was given to Dr. 
 Randolph, of Christ Church. There was one Irish 
 bishopric vacated also by death during this period. 
 Dr. Parr was deeply affected by the loss he was 
 about to sustain, and with the eager solicitude of 
 friendship, unmixed, as much as it is possible for
 
 MEMOIRS. 583 
 
 the human mind to bo, with any sordid views, 
 sought and obtained intelHgence from his political 
 friends of the decHning health of the great States- 
 man. In the beginning of August some hope was 
 entertained. 
 
 From Lord Holland, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, August 5, 1806. 
 
 In hopes this letter may yet reach you at Oxford, I write to 
 thank you for your kind expressions towards me, but more par- 
 ticularly to convey to you the agreeable intelligence that Mr. 
 Fox is sensibly better, and that we have every day more ground 
 to hope and expect that he will be finally restored to his health. 
 It must, however, be the work of time. 
 
 1 have here a volume (which, superficial as it is, I have been 
 induced to publish) directed to you, and if you will do me the 
 honour of accepting it, and let me know where to send it, I 
 will lose no time in forwarding it to you : in doing so, I must 
 deprecate your criticism, or at least lenis incedas, and not in 
 your Gorgon terrors clad, for I assure you it is ill prepared to 
 meet you or any body else in that character. I am, sincerely, 
 your obliged humble servant, Holland. 
 
 After Mr. Fox's removal to Chiswick, early in 
 September, when the prospect of speedy dissolution 
 was announced to him. Parr wrote to Lord Holland 
 requesting that he might be permitted to perform 
 the last offices of religion. The following is Ge- 
 neral Fitzpatrick's reply : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Chisivick House, Sept. 13, 1806. 
 
 I am sorry to announce to you that our excellent and dear 
 friend has, in all probability, few hours to live. Happily, he 
 appears to suffer no pain, and it seems likely that he will close 
 his da3's without suffering. I mentioned the subject of your 
 letter to Lord Holland : he concurs with me in feeling that 
 your wish should be complied with, upon every consideration,
 
 584 MEMOIRS. 
 
 both public and private ; but, at the same time, in the present 
 melancholy moment, when it Is impossible to speak upon such 
 a subject to Mrs. Fox and others of his nearest connection, he 
 can say no more than that he feels all the propriety of your 
 performing the last sad and solemn duty upon this grievous and 
 distressing occasion. 
 
 I am, Sir, with most sincere respect, your very humble 
 servant, R. Fitzpatrick. 
 
 Dr. Parr was invited to attend the funeral of his 
 ilhistrioiis friend, but did not read the service. 
 Upon that occasion, rendered infinitely more solemn 
 by the unaffected, and affectionate, and voluntary 
 homage of sympathy of a train of mourners of the 
 first consideration for rank, and genius, and learn- 
 ing, in the empire, the interest was redoubled by 
 the accident, or the design, which placed the bodies 
 of Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt within a span of each 
 other. Well might the moralist exclaim, who had 
 witnessed the contention of the orators in parlia- 
 ment, and the eager grasp with which they clung 
 to power : 
 
 Hi motus animorum atque haec certamina tanta, 
 Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescent. 
 
 Of Mr. Fox's public life, the simple greatness of 
 his mind, his political wisdom, and the transcendent 
 (|ualities of his oratory, the history of our country 
 cannot be silent, and future ages will judge better 
 of him than we his contemporaries, who sec him 
 through the mist of our partialities and our preju- 
 dices. Of his private life, I insert an affecting ac- 
 count from the pen of his widow, tlie Honourable 
 Mrs. Fox, in a letter to Dr. Parr.
 
 / MEMOIRS. 585 
 
 DEAR SIR, St. An7ies Hill, Feb. 26, 1807. 
 
 I do, indeed, feel ashamed at having so long delayed thanking 
 you for your very kind and friendly letter; but you, who have 
 met with affliction, can judge how little those so deeply 
 wounded can command themselves even to write a few lines, 
 and many have been the days that I have been quite unable 
 even to hold my pen. Ah ! my dear Sir, you say very true, 
 " Resignation to the will of Heaven is the duty of us both." 
 I do try to be resigned, God knows ; but the magnitude of my 
 loss is so weighty, that it is, indeed, very, very difficult for me 
 to bear up at all. The way in which my angel husband lived 
 with me was so different to that of most men, it makes my loss 
 so much the greater, as he was so much the kindest lover, hus- 
 band, and friend, that woman ever had, that I now feel alone 
 in the world. For years he had not a thought of which I was 
 not apartiikcr: can I, then, feel comfort here without him? 
 Alas ! I think not. Time may soften my present agonizing 
 sufferings, but it can never make me forget how happy I have 
 been, and that he who was the source of all my happiness is 
 gone, for ever gone from me in this world. Alas ! alas ! why 
 was I so happy ? You, my dear Sir, have lost a friend, a sin- 
 cere one : the world has also lost a friend ; for all his dear and 
 noble mind was ever at work to try to be of benefit to his fel- 
 low-creatures, and he has, thanks to the Almighty, at length 
 succeeded in relieving half the world from misery ; and though 
 he was not allowed to stay with us to enjoy the glorious triumph 
 of last Monday's majority, he is, 1 am sure he is enjoying it 
 near the throne of his Heavenly Father, in a far higher degree of 
 perfection than he could have done here. Yes, he was as good 
 as he was great, and innocent as a child. Nobody could know 
 but myself what an angelic mind his was ; and the greatest 
 consolation I have is in reflecting how good he was, and how 
 happy he must now be. His friends are all very kind to me, 
 and the attention of many of them is certainly very soothing, 
 and will always be the highest satisfaction I can enjoy in this 
 world. I am rejoiced to hear that Lord Holland has behaved 
 to you so as to give you any gratification ; he is a good young 
 man, and his dear uncle loved and thought very highly of him. 
 It will give me real pleasure to see you here, where you have
 
 586 MEMOIRS. 
 
 often been expected in happier days. Adieu ! my dear Sir. 
 Harriett is greatly flattered by your kind remembrance, and 
 joins in best regards with your ever obhged and sincere 
 
 Elizabeth Fox. 
 
 The following letter of the Bishop of Cloync is 
 too declaratory of the truth, and, alas ! too prophe- 
 tic of the fact of Parr's chance of preferment after 
 Mr. Fox's death, to allow me to omit it : 
 
 MY DEAR PARR, DubHu, Jan. 13, 1807. 
 
 My fatiguing winter journey being now over, I sit down to 
 inquire after your health, your studies, and your prospects. I 
 found your statement of the ministerial changes at my return 
 from my progress through the western part of my diocese, and 
 it gave me much information at a time wjien we were particu- 
 larly anxious for it. How far the death of your respected 
 friend may impede you in the way to church preferment I 
 know not. Lord Grenville is providing fast for his own friends, 
 I hope not without some consideration for those of Mr. Fox ; 
 but my hopes are blended with a certain degree of apprehen- 
 sion, and a wish which I once never thought I should have en- 
 tertained, that so great a man had lived longer. In fact, it is 
 disgraceful to the church and the nation, that such a man as 
 YOU should not pass the evening of his days in one of those 
 highly comfortable, if not one of those splendid situations which 
 our profession holds out to so many of us. 
 
 I am afraid your friends here find themselves in a very un- 
 pleasant state. The peasants are associating every where 
 against tithes and rents ; and in the usual blundering spirit of 
 the country have risen in the greatest numbers in the precise 
 part of Ireland (the north-west) where tithes are compounded 
 for on the easy terras of eighteen pence and two shillings an 
 acre, and where there is no tithe at all on potatoes, the great 
 food of the poor, or on grazing cattle, the principal support of 
 the farmers. It will creep on southward, and we shall have 
 our share. Now as your friends have declared so loudly 
 against the strong measures of their predecessors, they are 
 ashamed to have recourse to them ; and lenient ones are never
 
 MEMOIRS. 587 
 
 effectual here. The Duke of Bedford, with the humane spirit 
 and generous prejudices of an Englishman, sends down a spe- 
 cial commission to try the offenders. What is the consequence? 
 The principal leaders have uniformly been acquitted, and the 
 persons who dared to give evidence against them as uniformly 
 murdered on returning home. The spirit is checked, the 
 newspapers tell us, but every private letter, and every public 
 fact, declare the contrary. I assure you I am very fearful of 
 the consequences, for after sixteen years I know the people 
 well ; at the same time I commend the Ministry for sending a 
 strong reinforcement to the army here as they have lately done, 
 sincerely wishing, however, that Lord Cathcart had been left 
 in command of it, for it is provoking when a man has, by per- 
 sonal inspection and activity, made himself master of all the 
 difficult passes of a country, knows the army and is known, and 
 trusted by it, that he should be sent to be Commander in Chief 
 in Scotland, and a stranger succeed him here, gouty and in- 
 active, and whose name appears in no military transaction of 
 consequence. Will the English never learn that this is the 
 really vulnerable part of the empire, and that whatever enemy 
 lands, he will be joined by thousands. The mass of people 
 here hate you all, and indulge them as much as you can, they 
 will not hate you less. 
 
 I differ extremely from Opposition on the subject of the 
 negociation for peace. Your friends acted a most honourable 
 part towards their allies, and for which I admire their good 
 sense and spirit, and lament their efforts were unavailable. 
 What can have induced your pupil, Henry Alexander, with his 
 fullness of habit, to trust himself to the East or West Indies? 
 Will he, istis faucibus atque lateribus, ista prodigiosa totius 
 corporis rotunditate (I am not certain that my emendation is 
 Ciceronian Latin), encounter the rage of the yellow fever with 
 any hope of safety ? Yet he tells me Lord Caledon's appoint- 
 ment is still undetermined, whether to the Cape or Jamaica. 
 
 I inclose this letter to Alderman Combe, as the best chance 
 of finding you out. T hope you are in London convincing your 
 friends you are in existence. I shall never forgive them if I 
 do not soon hear you have a Deanery at least. Adieu. I am, 
 ray dear Parr, your sincere friend, William Cloyne.
 
 588 MEMOIRS. 
 
 I have not asked Lord Holland's leave to insert 
 the two following letters, but have ventured to do 
 it, as they prove the steady purpose of that illus- 
 trious nobleman, and his good will towards Dr. Parr. 
 They are doeunients, indeed, owed to the public, as 
 clearing up all doubts about the intentions of Lord 
 Holland and the real Foxite party, both in regard 
 to their estimation of Dr. Parr, and their attachment 
 to him. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 Of my anxiety to serve you I am sure you can have no doubt, 
 and of your claims upon all that were connected with my uncle, 
 and are attached to his principles, I have as little. I have 
 written to Lord Grenville. The bishopric is promised, and I 
 know his engagements are so deep, unless my poor uncle may 
 have mentioned your name to him (which if ever they had 
 spoken of ecclesiastical preferment he most certainly would 
 have done), I fear the chief use of my letter will be laying the 
 ground for a future occasion, which cannot be long now be- 
 fore it occurs. Yours very sincerely, Holland. 
 
 I send you a copy of my letter to Lord G. 
 
 MY DEAR LORD, Holland- House, Oct. 7. 
 
 After the obliging manner in which you received my mention 
 of Mr. Neve, and your account of your promises. of church pre- 
 ferment, I hope you do me the justice to believe that nothing 
 would induce me to trouble you so soon with another appli- 
 cation connected with ecclesiastical patronage, if it arose solely, 
 or even chiefly, from personal friendship and interest for the 
 individual. But as it is possible from the very circumstance 
 of no vacancies having occurred in the church since last Ja- 
 nuary, that my uncle may never have spoken to you of the 
 situation in which he and his political friends stood with respect. 
 to Dr. Parr, and consequently that his name may not be in- 
 cluded in the list of applications to which you allude; injus- 
 tice to him and many common friends, I think I am bound to
 
 MEMOIRS. 589 
 
 state to you at a time when ecclesiastical arrangements are 
 making, and there is a prospect of yet more to be made, that 
 it was the sincere desire of my uncle, and would be, I am sure, 
 a real gratification to many of his friends, to see Dr. Parr in 
 some high situation in the church, suitable to his great repu- 
 tation for learning, and due from my uncle and his political 
 supporters to his long and unalterable attachment to him and 
 them. 
 
 If I am officious in sending you this statement, it is from an 
 apprehension that what many would be inclined to do, they 
 might neglect from the probabihty of its being done by others, 
 and I am sure no promotion in the church would give more ge- 
 neral satisfaction to some of the steadiest and most powerful 
 supporters of govei'nment than that of Dr. Parr. I am, my 
 dear Lord, your sincere and obhged friend and servant, 
 
 Right Hon. Lord Grenville. Holland. 
 
 I know not whether any other effort was made to 
 advance him during the remainder of the short ad- 
 ministration of the Talents. If such effort were 
 made it did not succeed ; yet a whisper has gone 
 forth that he was not to be passed by altogether ; 
 and the Deanery of Lincoln was said to be allotted 
 to him in case of its becoming vacant. And some 
 have even dared to say, that in the last reign there 
 were insuperable obstacles to his being promoted to 
 the episcopal bench, and Lord Grenville is said to 
 have apologized for not raising to the bench the 
 greatest scholar of his age, who was also a man of 
 the most unblemished character, on the plea that 
 this Divine was not popular among his brethren. 
 Whatsoever his Lordship's expressions or opinions 
 might have been, it is probable that in a much 
 higher quarter there were no insuperable obstacles 
 to Dr. Parr's promotion, and that the Prince justly 
 appreciated his talents, and the manner in which
 
 590 MEMOIRS. 
 
 they had been politically employed. The following 
 letter of Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt is evidence of the 
 assertion. And it is known that on the unfortu- 
 nate aftair of the Queen's return, his present Ma- 
 jesty expressed his surprise and regret that Dr. 
 Parr, for whom he had great t^egard, should liitigue 
 himself by a journey to London to interfere in a 
 (juarrel between man and wife : 
 
 From Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, to Dr. Parr, dated 
 
 SIR, Truro, Jan. 8th, 1804'. 
 
 Though at a great distance from the Prince, I am persuaded 
 I should not do him justice, if I did not in his name give his 
 most ready assent to the request contained in your letter of the 
 3d instant. 1 write to his Royal Highness by this post, and I 
 will trouble you to convey your sermon * to Brighton, address- 
 ed immediately to the Prince. I know no gentleman of whom 
 I have heard his Royal Highness speak' with more veneration 
 than of Dr. Parr. He justly appreciates your great talents, 
 and feels they have ever been most constitutionally employed. 
 
 You will permit me to express a sanguine hope, that a ru- 
 mour I heard by accident at our friend Mr. Knight's, respect- 
 ing your health is unfounded ; it will be a great pleasure to me 
 to prove it to be so, by meeting you there on my return to 
 town at the meeting of Parliament. In the mean time I re- 
 main. Sir, with the highest esteem, your faithful and obedient 
 servant, Thos, Tyrwhitt. 
 
 Whether it were the fault of any administration, 
 his own imprudence, or his misfortune, that he wi s 
 not promoted, would lead to a discussion, if discus- 
 sed at all, productive only of angry feeling, and des- 
 titute of solid utihty. It was a subject of jocula- 
 rity rather than of anger, when he himself convers- 
 
 * The Fast Sermon.
 
 MEMOIRS. 591 
 
 ed about it with his intimate acquaintance. Still 
 he could not but be conscious of his own right to 
 advancementj a right springing out of his ji-reat 
 acquirements, his unsullied purity of life, his long 
 continued labours, and the general homage that was 
 paid to his learning. When his friends were ask- 
 ing him why so many ecclesiastics were made bishops 
 and he was not ? He would reply sarcastically, " If 
 it did not bear the appearance of pride, I should be 
 almost tempted to apply to my case what is record- 
 ed of Cato, when it was asked why other men had 
 statues and he had not ? IIoAXcov Ss opcou avKTraju-eyou? 
 dv^piavras, e^oD 3e, (e<pry) ipcoroiv j3ojAo|xat jxaAXov 
 Touy av^puiTTous Sia ri av^pias ou Kelrai Kar^ovos*, ^ 
 ha t/ Keirai. Plutarchi Apophthegmata Regum, 
 vol. II. p. 198, edit. Xyland. 
 
 I know that some men indulge a latitude of ex- 
 pression not warranted by the fact, that Parr was 
 unBtted by his habits and his manners for the epis- 
 copal station ; that he wanted the reserve, the dis- 
 cretion, and the delicacy requisite to the prelacy. 
 I have already quoted the authority of Mr. Burke 
 for Parr's superior fitness for a seat in the House of 
 Lords. For his superior knowledge of theology I 
 appeal to those Bishops who were wont to consult 
 him on sacred subjects. For his supreme acquire- 
 ments as a scholar, I appeal to all scholars — for his 
 paternal and religious care of his flock I appeal to 
 his parish — for his generosity I appeal to the poor 
 — for his kindness, openness, and dignity of demea- 
 nor, I appeal to the rich — for the purity and since- 
 rity of his heart, J might with reverence appeal to
 
 592 MEMOIRS. 
 
 that Being to whom all hearts arc open, all desires 
 known, and from whom no secrets are hid ; and if 
 such a man was not fit to be a Christian Bishop, I 
 will no lonirer insist on the claim of Dr. Parr to 
 preferment. Yet I must assert, that he would not 
 have been more arrogant than Warburton — that he 
 would not have been less orthodox than Law — and 
 that with the eloquence of Bossuet, he would have 
 carried the merciful spirit of Fenelon into the chair. 
 His pipe might be deemed in these fantastic days a 
 degradation at the table of the palace or the castle ; 
 but his noble hospitality, combined with his habits 
 of sobriety, whether tobacco fumigated his table or 
 not, would have filled his hall with the learned and 
 the good ; and his love of state, perhaps of pomp, 
 would have done all besides, that general usage 
 demanded from the episcopal character. 
 
 He was not cast down, however, because he was 
 not advanced in ecclesiastical dignity ; nor amidst 
 the changes of most eventful times did he ever re- 
 nounce or dissemble his opinions upon measures or 
 men. 
 
 Some men will ask (he said), was I not personally interested in 
 the continuance of their power ? For aught I know I might be, 
 and for aught I know I might not be. But thus much I do 
 know, and to those who would insult me with the question I 
 should confidently say thus much, that from my youth upward 
 to the present moment, I never deserted a private friend, nor 
 violated a public principle ; that I have been the slave of no 
 patron, and the drudge of no party ; that I formed my politi- 
 cal opinions witliout the smallest regard, and have acted upon 
 them with an utter disregard, to personal emoluments and pro- 
 fessional honours ; that for many, and the best years of my 
 existence, I endured very irksome toil, and sulfered very gal-
 
 MEMOIRS. 593 
 
 ling need ; that measuring my resources by my wants. I 
 now so abound as to unite a competent income with an 
 independent spirit; and above all, that looking back to this 
 life, and onward to another, I possess that inward " peace of 
 mind which the world can neither give nor take away." Phi- 
 lopatris Varvicensis, vol. i. pp. 306, 7. 
 
 Nor did Parr's mind cherish either chagrin or 
 resentment against the enhghtened Minister who, 
 whether he intended it no, did not remain long 
 time enough in office to promote him. On the oc- 
 casion of the contest for the Chancellorship of the 
 University of Oxford, he exerted all his efforts in 
 favour of Lord Grenville ; and those efforts called 
 forth the letter of his Lordship, and the answer to 
 it here inserted : 
 
 Lord Grenville, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 SIR, Dropmore, Nov. 26th, 1809. 
 
 A letter which Lord Holland inclosed to me two days ago, 
 reminds me that in the inevitable hurry of so extensive a canvas 
 as that in which I have been engaged, I have omitted to thank 
 you for the flattering expressions which he has before conveyed 
 to me of your interest in my success, and for the exertions 
 which you have made to promote that object. These testimo- 
 nies of good opinion on your part have been the more gratify- 
 ing to me, because I flatter myself that they have in part been 
 called forth by your known attachment to, and eminence in 
 those literary pursuits, to which, in the midst of an active life, 
 so much of my time has been devoted. 
 
 You will be pleased to hear that the result of the canvas is 
 very favourable to me ; and although I do not allow myself to 
 form too sanguine expectations as to the final issue of a contest 
 in which I have had to encounter both powerful opponents, and 
 prejudices still more powerful, yet I really believe my chance 
 of success is at this time better than that of either of the other 
 
 VOL. I. 2 a
 
 594 MEMOIRS. 
 
 two candidates. I am, Sir, with great esteem and regard, your 
 most faithful and most obedient humble servant, 
 
 Grenville. 
 
 From Dr. Parr, to Lord Grenville. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 Permit me to make my very respectful and very thankful ac- 
 knowledgments for the letter, which I yesterday had the 
 honour of receiving from your Lordship. I consider the cause 
 in which you are now engaged as connected more immediately 
 with the credit of a learned University and remotely with the 
 best interests of the Church and the State. I cannot, there- 
 fore, look back without the purest satisfaction upon the share 
 which I have taken in the contest, and most seriously do I 
 lament that it was not in my power to do more in favour of a 
 candidate, whose pretensions to success are so numerous, solid, 
 and I must beg leave to add, unusual. 
 
 As your Lordship has adverted to the motives which chiefly 
 influenced my conduct, I trust that without any violation of pro- 
 priety, I may venture to open to you what has passed in my 
 mind. 
 
 Of your Lordship's great proficiency in literature, and your 
 great zeal to promote it I am convinced, not only from the re- 
 presentations of learned and observant men, but from proofs 
 more direct, and to me at least decisive. 
 
 Some years ago, when I was visiting the President of Magda- 
 len, who is a Delegate of the Clarendon Press, I met with that 
 splendid edition of Homer which had been published under 
 your auspices ; I read with the utmost attention the new and 
 valuable matter it contains, and I made some useful extracts 
 from the various sections, and from the Criticisms of Professor 
 Porson. It so happens, that my own reading, either in ancient 
 or modern books is not very confined, and the result of my ob- 
 servation is, that classical learning enables men to lay the 
 strongest and broadest foundation for zeal and knowledge — that 
 it qualifies them in the best manner for the duties of public as 
 well as private life ; that it prepares them to advance with a 
 sure and steady step, from the refinements of taste to the re-
 
 MEMOIRS. 595 
 
 searches of philosophy ; and above all, that in well-stored and 
 well disciplined minds it forms a most effectual barrier against 
 the encroachments of those delusive and pernicious principles 
 which have disturbed the repose, and obstructed, I am sure, 
 both the intellectual and moral improvement of the civilized 
 world. With opinions thus rooted upon the extensive and 
 diversified utility of those studies which are begun in our pub- 
 lic schools and continued in our Universities, I felt, my Lord, 
 a kind of honest and proud triumph in bearing testimony 
 to the services which you had rendered to a cause which 
 had engaged so large a share of my own attentions as an 
 instructor of youth, as a man of letters, and as a serious 
 and vigilant observer of causes and effects in these most event- 
 ful times. 
 
 Pardon me, my Lord, for stating yet farther to yourself, as I 
 have done more than once to other men, who possess and de- 
 serve your esteem, that I read with the greatest delight a pre- 
 face which is published with the correspondence between the 
 late Lord Camelford and Lord Chatham, and which is ascribed 
 to your Lordship. The firm tone of the style, the justness of the 
 remarks, and the rational and dignified spirit of morality which 
 pervaded the whole composition charmed me, and never will 
 be effaced from my memory. Permit me to add, that I saw, 
 with no common degree of pleasure, the use you had made of 
 Plutarch, who is one of my favourite authors, and whose lan- 
 guage teems with beauties, though it is not adorned with the 
 peculiar and exquisite graces of those earlier rvriters^ who have 
 left us such inestimable, but I believe, inimitable models of dic- 
 tion purely attic. You now see, uiy Lord, the sources of that 
 unfeigned respect which I feel for your erudition ; and surely, 
 in my humble but well-meant endeavours to promote your suc- 
 cess as a candidate for the Chancellorship of Oxford, I have 
 performed an act not only of gratitude to a friend of learning, 
 but of unequivocal propriety and substantial use to a learned 
 society. 
 
 I was aware of the formidable difficulties which you must 
 have to encounter from the prejudices of academical men upon 
 a subject which is of the highest moment to the civil and reli- 
 gious concerns of this empire, and upon which I with great 
 
 2 a 2
 
 596 MEMOIRS. 
 
 wariness, but great sincerity, have lately communicated to the 
 public some opinions, in the soundness of which I have in- 
 creased confidence because they have the sanction of your ap- 
 probation. 
 
 I rejoice at the account with which you have condescended 
 to favour me of the situation in which matters now stand ; but 
 I well know how uncertain must be the termination of the pre- 
 sent conflict at such a juncture. 
 
 IMy anxiety till the day of election is past will therefore 
 be incessant and painful. But for the sake of your Lordship, 
 of the University, and of our national credit ; for the advance- 
 ment of learning, and the extension of toleration, I shall be 
 most happy indeed, to congratulate you upon the prosperous 
 issue of your various and pre-eminent claims to be elected to 
 the Chancellorship of Oxford. I have the honour to be, my 
 Lord, with the most sincere and profound respect, your Lord- 
 ship's very faithful and obedient humble servant, 
 
 Samuel Parr. 
 
 Being thus left by those who dispensed the 
 favours of the Crown without preferment, he was 
 not, however, deserted by his personal friends. 
 Under limitations he might have held one of the 
 Duke of Norfolk's livings in Herefordshire. In 
 1801 and 1802 he also might have had two livings 
 of Lord Chedworth in Wiltshire. 
 
 In 1807 (says Parr) Mr, Coke of Norfolk obtained from his 
 mother permission to give me the living of Buckingham, I 
 found the house ruinous, and the situation inconvenient, and 
 therefore I declined the offer of my inestimable friend Mr. 
 Coke. 
 
 We have already seen that the heads of the 
 house of Holkham were patrons and admirers of 
 Dr. Parr. Even in the year 1788 it will appear 
 from the following letter that Mr. Coke was in- 
 terested for his advancement :
 
 MEMOIRS. 597 
 
 DEAR Sin, Holkham, Oct. 30, I788. 
 
 Though my time is much engaged at present, I cannot re- 
 concile to my feelings the delay even of a few days in answer- 
 ing your most flattering letter, or to express Mrs. Coke's and 
 my concern that the illustrious author of the Preface to Bel- 
 lendenus should not be able to attend our secular commemora- 
 tion of an event which preserved to us our religious and civil 
 liberty. As a friend to my country I must lament that your 
 talents should be buried in the obscure corner where you now 
 reside, not but that you must be sensible your writings are 
 far better calculated to secure fame than to obtain preferment. 
 The approbation of such men as yourself I shall ever esteem as 
 the highest gratification I can derive from being in Parliament, 
 and affords me ample consolation in my private station, I in- 
 close you a small bill for the distressed family you mention ; 
 and remain, dear Sir, with sincere regard and esteem, your 
 obliged and faithful humble servant, Thos. W. Coke. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Lotidoti, April 11, 1808. 
 
 I am particularly gratified by this opportunity of testifying 
 my very sincere regard for you. My mother having allowed 
 me to present to the living of Buckingham, I wish you may 
 think it worth your acceptance. Its value is about ^300 per 
 annum. The church is lately built, and very handsome. I can- 
 not say so much for the parsonage, which is but indifferent 
 at present. I am going down to Holkham to-morrow and 
 shall stay there a fortnight. I hope I shall hear from you 
 that your health is improved, and that the holding of Bucking- 
 ham is not incompatible with your other church preferments. 
 
 Believe me at all times with much esteem, yours, my dear 
 Sir, most faithfully, Thos. W. Coke. 
 
 From Dr. Parr, to Mr. Coke. 
 
 April 13, 1808. 
 
 MY MUCH RESPECTED FRIEND AND PATRON, 
 
 This morning, as I was setting out on my return to Hatton, 
 I had the happiness and honour to receive the letter in which
 
 598 MEMOIRS. 
 
 you most obligingly offer me the living of Buckingham, The 
 gracious and friendly manner in which you expressed your 
 intention to do me this important service, pierced my very soul. 
 Accept, dear Sir, my most unfeigned and most cordial thanks, 
 and be assured that I shall live with more cheerfulness, and die 
 with more comfort, if possessed of such a mark of regard from 
 such a patron as Mr. Coke. 
 
 I am not only desirous, but most solicitous, to avail myself of 
 your kindness. I am very imperfectly acquainted with matters 
 of ecclesiastical preferment, and therefore I have written to 
 the Bishop of Lincoln to request that his lordship would inform 
 me whether Wadenhoe or Graffliam be tenable with Bucking- 
 ham. I shall jump for joy to give up one, for the sake of re- 
 ceiving Buckingham from you. I wish I were knowing enough 
 to decide this question myself. But the Bishop of Lincoln is the 
 most intelligent of all our prelates, and will, I dare say, favour 
 me with the earliest and best advice. The very moment I hear 
 from the Bishop I will send you a definitive answer ; and I 
 enti'eat you, in your candour aud well-tried friendship, to par. 
 don me for waiting to receive the Bishop's answer in a point so 
 interesting. I shall immediately write to the President of Mag- 
 dalen, and with my usual, or more than my usual activity, I 
 shall explain to him my earnest wishes in favour of the gentle- 
 man whom you recommend. Yesterday I sent a letter directed 
 to you in London, and I hope it will reach you. Your heart 
 will be gladdened to see the effect produced by your generous 
 offer on Mrs. Parr and Mrs. Wynne. I am afflicted with a 
 dreadful cold. I hope you have escaped all bad effects from 
 this fickle and harsh weather. Once more, dear Sir, let me 
 beg of you to accept my most sincere and grateful acknowledg- 
 ments, and to present my blessing to your accomplished and 
 beloved daughter, Miss Coke. I have the honour to be, dear 
 Sir, with great respect, your faithful friend, and very thankful, 
 obedient servant, S. Parr. 
 
 Parr did apply to the Bishop of Lincoln, and his 
 own observation on the result of that application 
 is this :
 
 MEMOIRS. 599 
 
 When Mr. Coke offered me the living of Buckingham, in the 
 diocese of Lincoln, I gave Dr. Pretyman to understand that I 
 should, perhaps, resign one of my livings and retain the other. 
 He told me if I took Buckingham I must reside. The Hving 
 was given to Mr. Crowe, who never did reside, and at whose 
 non-residence the Bishop connived. His rigour with me arose 
 from his dislike of my supposed religious, and my avowed poli- 
 tical tenets. 
 
 But there were other impediments. The house 
 was in an extremely dilapidated state, and was inca- 
 pable of being made comfortable. Parr notices 
 this circumstance on resigning the appointment. 
 
 From Dr. Parr, to T. W. Coke, Esq. 
 
 DEAH SIR, Wednesday, May 25. 
 
 Yesterday I received your letter, and being at a distance 
 from the Post Office, I could not answer it before to-day. 
 
 On Friday last I wrote to you, my most kind friend and ever 
 honoured patron, for the purpose of communicating to you the 
 judgment I had ultimately, and with much deliberation, and 
 great regret, formed about the vicarage of Buckingham. I 
 sent also several papers, which I trust have reached you, and 
 from which you may, as a man of business, discover the 
 wretched state of the Parsonage, and the very unusual want of 
 capability, as Browne called it, for convenience. 
 
 I rejoice that you think of visiting the spot. I am sure that, 
 somehow or other, great injury has been done to the Patron. I 
 have no confidence in surveyors, stewards, and especially in 
 attornies, who are at a distance from their employers, and also 
 have views of their own, for the benefit of clients who are 
 nearer to them. Your agent, from his acconnt of the premises, 
 seems disposed to do justice ; but if it be possible, dear Sir, 
 
 look yourself to them 
 
 You are well employed for the public, and my hope is that 
 the country gentlemen will at last see it to be for their interest, 
 and their honour, to resume that importance which was filched 
 from them during the reign of Mr. Pitt, and which they,have
 
 600 MEMOIRS. 
 
 tamely resigned on many great questions of legislation and 
 
 politics 
 
 I have the honour to be, with deep and unfeigned respect 
 and gratitude, &c. &c. S. Paiui. 
 
 In 1801 (says Dr. Parr) my old acquaintance, Lord Ched- 
 worth, offered me the living of Winterbourne Stoke, in the 
 diocese of Salisbury, in the county of Wilts. I declined taking 
 it, and recommended my friend, James Eyre, who had neither 
 preferment nor patron. His lordship kindly granted my re- 
 quest. Afterwards, Lord Chedworth spontaneously offered 
 Mr. Eyre the living of Nettleton ; and at the time it might 
 have been convenient for me to get Nettleton, and exchange it 
 for a living which the Duke of Norfolk wished to give me. I 
 wrote to Mr. Eyre, who was perfectly satisfied with my inten- 
 tion not to let him be loser if he gave up Nettleton. But Lord 
 Chedworth would not consent, because he thought, whimsi- 
 cally, that it was the transfer of patronage from himself to the 
 Duke of Norfolk. I thought it not worth while to explain, and 
 the business ended amicably, honourably, and with delight to 
 me, that James Eyre had a second living. Lord Chedworth 
 never saw him, but promoted him in consequence of my state- 
 ment of his merits. 
 
 Lord Chcdwortli's acquaintance with Dr. Parr 
 began when his lordship was a boy at Harrow- 
 school, and continued, with frequent interruption 
 both of correspondence and personal intercourse, 
 till the summer of 1804, when he saw him for the 
 last time in London. Lord Chedworth died at 
 Ipswich, Oct. 29, 1804 ; and Parr pourtrayed him 
 in the following character, when he was called to 
 give evidence in the Court of Chancery on the 
 question of his insanity : 
 
 That with great talents, attainments, and virtues, his lordship 
 united an understanding not completely sound, and liable to be 
 much affected by that propensity to insanity, to which, perhaps,
 
 MEMOIRS. 601 
 
 his lordship was subject from his birth, and which, in the judg- 
 ment of this deponent, was increased by some unfortunate 
 events in his lordship's life. 
 
 The letters of Lord Chedworth to Dr. Parr, 
 begin in 1782, and end July 1804. They are full 
 of respect and complaisance. I shall copy a few 
 to show his manner, and to prove the falsehood 
 of what has been asserted about the present of a 
 piece of plate, on which Parr has been so often 
 vilified by anonymous writers. The simple fact 
 was this : Lord Chedworth offered his old school- 
 fellow, Dr. Parr, a living in Wiltshire. Parr could 
 not accept it, as it was beyond legal ecclesiastical 
 distance of his other livings ; but requested his 
 lordship to give the preferment to his friend, the 
 Rev. James Eyre, who had no provision for a very 
 large family. Lord Chedworth acceded to the pro- 
 posal, made an honourable and virtuous man happy 
 in a small independence, and filled his friend's 
 breast with joy and gratitude. To commemorate 
 this kindness, Parr begged of Lord Chedworth a 
 lxvriy.6(ruvov. His lordship willingly granted the re- 
 quest. Mr. Eyre wrote the inscription : and, to the 
 last hour of his life, Lord Chedworth neither changed 
 his style nor his sentiments towards Dr. Parr. It 
 has been asserted that Lord Chedworth had, at one 
 time, left him ^10,000, but expunged his name 
 from the will when asked for the plate. I question 
 the fact. The whole of the calumny, and the offici- 
 ousness with which it was circulated, arose out 
 of Parr's incautiousncss in talking of Lord Chcd- 
 worth's tendency to mental derangement, on which
 
 602 MEMOIRS. 
 
 he was called to make affidavit by Colonel Wright, 
 Lord Chedworth's nearest kinsman, and to disavow 
 which he was subpoenaed by Mr. Wilson, to whom 
 Lord Chedworth bequeathed a considerable part of 
 his fortune. Mr. Eyre published a statement of 
 the matter of the plate in the Gent. Mag. vol. lxxvii. 
 p. 120. There are many letters of explanation to 
 and from Mr. Fonblanque, Sir Samuel Rom illy, &c. 
 &c., for the business went through the regular in- 
 vestigation of a court of law. Parr was rendered 
 extremely uncomfortable by being publicly dragged 
 forth to give evidence, and there are some letters 
 which explain how unavoidably on his part. 
 
 Lord Chedworth, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 No, 31, King-street, Covent-Garden, 
 DEAR SIR, Thursday, Sept. 3, 1801. 
 
 I am aware that the liberty I am about to take demands an 
 apology ; but as I liave experienced your indulgence too fre- 
 quently to doubt of your pardon now, I will not waste your 
 time with any farther preface, but proceed at once to the busi- 
 ness which occasions my troubling you with this letter. 
 
 The vicarage of Winterbourne Stoke, in Wiltshire, which is 
 in my gift, is lately become vacant by death. Its value is very 
 small; the late incumbent (who was presented in 1762) did 
 not, as I am informed, make more of it than between j^60 and 
 a^70 a year : I think it possible that it may be improvable, but 
 for this I cannot answer. It is rated in the King's books at 
 upwards of ^11 a year. I am conscious that there may seem 
 something ridiculous in offering so trifling a piece of prefer- 
 ment to a man who is unquestionably entitled to fill the highest 
 dignities in the church ; but I have nothing better to offer, 
 and I persuade myself that you will do me the justice to be- 
 lieve that I am not actuated by the vanity of wishing to have 
 it in my power to say that you have condescended to accept a
 
 MEMOIRS. 603 
 
 living from me. If you do not accept it, I particularly request 
 that you will not make the offer known. How far this vicar- 
 age may be tenable with your present preferment, I know not ? 
 but if it should suit you to take it^ you may resign it whenever 
 your convenience may require it. The place is situated about 
 nine miles to the north-west of Salisbury. I really feel greatly 
 alarmed when I consider my presumption, and shall be anxious 
 to be assured of your forgiveness. I have the honour to re- 
 main, with the most profound respect, dear Sir, your very faith- 
 ful and obedient servant, Chedworth. 
 
 DEAR SIR, June 1, 1802. 
 
 I cannot adequately express my thanks for the signal mark 
 of your kindness with which you intend honouring me. You 
 will, however, I trust, believe that I feel most strongly the 
 value and importance of your favour, and that I shall carefully 
 attend to your injunction. I am sure Mr. Green will be highly 
 gratified by your obliging message ; he has left Ipswich on 
 a tour westward, and intended being absent three or four 
 months. 
 
 Had I not received your letter it was my intention to write 
 to you by this post, to inform you that the little rectory of 
 Nettleton, in Wiltshire, which is in my gift, is on the point of 
 becoming vacant by the promotion of the present incumbent 
 to a living not tenable with it. I am afraid it will be impossible 
 to bring Nettleton within forty-five miles of your living in 
 Warwickshire ; but it is considerably within that distance of 
 Winterbourne Stoke ; and I should have the greatest pleasure 
 in presenting Mr. Eyre to it, provided he can qualify to hold 
 it with his vicarage by becoming a Master of Arts in time to 
 prevent any risk of my incurring a lapse. I have a chaplain- 
 ship at Mr. Eyre's service, in order to entitle him to a dispen- 
 sation, but he must, you know, be also a Master of Arts. As 
 I would on no account raise hopes which are not likely to be 
 realized, I must request that you would not mention this matter 
 to Mr, Eyre at present, but do me the favour to inform me 
 how soon he can obtain a Master's degree. I would most 
 gladly advance him SSQ for his expences on that occasion.
 
 604 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Nettleton is situated in the N. W. part of Wiltshire, near Chip- 
 penham, and (as I beheve ) about twelve miles from Bath. The 
 gross receipt of the present incumbent is somewhere about 
 ^] 90 a year, but I suppose it may be improvable, though 
 perhaps not very much ; but of this I speak from a very loose 
 conjecture. It is rated in the King's books at ^18. 12s. Id. 
 The parsonage house I have understood to be small and in- 
 commodious. As I am desirous of learning as soon as possible 
 whether Mr. Eyre can obtain a degree in time, I shall address 
 this to Hatton, with a direction to be forwarded to you if from 
 home, and sliall esteem myself particularly obliged to you if 
 you will favour me with as early an answer as you can, direct- 
 ing to me at No. 9, Henrietta-street, Covent-Garden. I feel 
 much interest about Mr. Eyre, and shall consider myself as 
 particularly fortunate if I can be the instrument of rendering 
 him comfortable. I will not intrude longer on your time than 
 while I assure you that I am, with the deepest sentiments of 
 respect and gratitude, dear Sir, your very faithful and much 
 obliged friend and servant, Chedworth. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I hope you will believe that I am fully sensible of the honour 
 you confer on me, and that I shall have great pleasure in obey- 
 ing your commands, I am sure your candour will not inter- 
 pret delay as neglect. 
 
 I believe I shall hardly be in town before May, and I shall, 
 with your permission, defer the execution of my design till I 
 get thither. One difficulty which you have brought on me, 
 and which distresses me a little, I will not conceal from you. 
 The plate must have an inscription, and though, as the inge- 
 nious Governor Malcolm once said to you at Yarmouth, "I 
 know a little of Latin," no consideration could induce me to 
 put two Latin words together if I knew they were likely to 
 meet your eye. I would not have the plate blemished by bar- 
 barism ; and were I to attempt to write an inscription myself, 
 it would be much in the manner of an honest gentleman of this 
 county, who, intending to build a mausoleum for himself and 
 his family, gave out that he had fixed on a motto for it, which
 
 MEMOIRS. 605 
 
 nothing could induce him to alter. " Pro sibi et suis ;"' but 
 the mausoleum was not built, and the gentleman lost the oppor- 
 tunity of recording his skill in Latinity. 
 
 I received a letter from Mr, Eyre on Friday last, in which 
 he informs me that his neighbour, Mr. Lewis, the High Sheriff 
 of the county, had appointed him his chaplain j he lamented 
 your absence, as he had much wished for your advice and 
 assistance respecting his Assize Sermon. Ludicrous as it will 
 appear to you, he asked my opinion, and I presumed to tell 
 him, that I thought in an Assize Sermon it was by no means 
 necessary that he should advert to what you have somewhere 
 called " the fleeting politics of the day ;" that to avoid oflPence 
 was extremely desirable ; that though an honest man would 
 never say what he did not think, a prudent man would not 
 always say what he thought ; that general recommendations 
 of mutual forbearance and charity were never unseasonable ; 
 and I took the liberty of recalling to his memory the following 
 passage, which is towards the end of Archdeacon Balguy's 
 first charge : *' In obedience to law, and submission to lawful au- 
 thority, all reasonable men will unite ; in other matters let us be 
 content to differ. It is scarce probable that the points for which 
 we contend are of more importance than the reciprocal good 
 offices of private friendship, and the preservation of the public 
 peace ; neither of which can be long maintained among men 
 whose affections are mutually alienated by the rage and violence 
 of party spirit." 
 
 I regret very much that I have missed the pleasure of meet- 
 ing you in town, and am very sorry to learn that you have 
 been oppressed by the prevalent disorder. I have for some 
 time been much indisposed. I remain, with all possible re- 
 spect, dear Sir, your very faithful friend and much obliged 
 humble servant, Chedworth. 
 
 The Rev. James Eyre, to whom Lord Chedworth 
 gave the Uvings in Wikshire, was one of those 
 friends in whom Dr. Parr placed his greatest confi- 
 dence. He became acquainted with him soon after 
 his abode in Warwickshire, and it appears by the
 
 GOG MEMOIRS. 
 
 Sequel that in the year 1791 there was confiden- 
 tial intimacy. In many phices he has praised the 
 uprightness and the learning of Mr. Eyre. He 
 calls him, " My sensible, honest, clear-headed, and 
 well-informed friend;" and there are letters in 
 which he asks preferment for him : for Mr. Eyre 
 was burdened with a large family, without any pro- 
 vision except that which depended on his own ex- 
 ertions as a schoolmaster and a curate. Mr. Eyre 
 published no regular work : but his interleaved 
 copy of Johnson's Dictionary, containing some cor- 
 rections and additions, after his death was given up 
 to the booksellers who published Todd's edition, 
 and procured from them the sum of ^50 for his 
 family. He also printed in the Gentleman's Maga- 
 zine a statement concerning the plate given to Dr. 
 Parr by Lord Chedworth. Dr. Parr's patronage of 
 Mr. Eyre's family continued long after his death ; 
 he might be styled their second father, and in the 
 year 1817 became more closely connected to them 
 by his union with the amiable sister of his old 
 friend. Moreover, his benevolence lasted beyond 
 the grave. He left handsome legacies to the ex- 
 cellent and accomplished eldest daughter, and other 
 children of Mr. Eyre.
 
 C07 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Philopatris Varvicensis — Letters from Dr. Parr, 
 to Mr. Coke — Letters from Mr. Fox, to Dr. 
 Parr. 
 
 From the time of Mr. Fox's death, Dr. Parr me- 
 ditated some composition in honour of the states- 
 man, his personal friend and his intended pa- 
 tron. He had praised him in the Preface to Bel- 
 lendenus, and now acknowledged himself to be the 
 author of that panegyric. He collected materials 
 for biography, but found that politics were so mixed 
 with any composition of the kind, that it would be 
 impossible for him to write historically without 
 writing voluminously ; it was therefore his choice 
 rather to publish the compilations of other men 
 than a discourse of his own. Perhaps the demise 
 of Mr. Fox was too recent for his life or his cha- 
 racter to be the subject of history : perhaps he 
 who would have collected materials for his biogra- 
 phy, was too much implicated in the matter, and 
 his own fortunes were too much interested, to per- 
 mit him to write impartially. Whatever were the 
 causes. Dr. Parr did not fulfil his original intention, 
 but has collected a series of accounts, all of them
 
 ()08 MEMOIRS. 
 
 bearing Strong marks of authenticity, many of them 
 composed with a high spirit of eloquence, and all 
 of them fitted for furnisliing the future biographer 
 with good materials. From these accounts it is 
 satisfactory to the friends of liberty to believe that 
 only one inference can be drawn ; that Mr. Fox, 
 whatsoever were the follies of his youth, was, in 
 mature age, a good and a wise man, a lover of his 
 country, and a benefactor of his kind; a man amiable 
 in his domestic relations, so steady and so warm 
 in his friendship, that he never even lost a personal 
 friend, except him who became an apostate ; a man 
 who retained the same simplicity of manners, whe- 
 ther in the first office of a free state, or in the sta- 
 tion of a private gentleman, and whose demise might 
 truly be said to put, not only his friends and his 
 countrymen, but the whole of the civilized race of 
 mankind, in mourning — Be it remembered that the 
 abolition of the slave trade was not the speculation, 
 but the deed of Mr. Fox's administration. 
 
 Philopatris Varvicensis is not a life of Mr. Fox ; 
 it is the homage of learning to political wisdom ; 
 an eulogy, as well as a disquisition, on several im- 
 portant topics of jurisprudence and history, and is 
 full of the best sentiments in the best language of 
 the age. The discourses that have been drawn toge- 
 ther from other sources and from other authors, 
 will not be republished in these volumes, but the 
 letter which portrays the mind and the princi- 
 ples of Mr. Fox, will. It is written in characters of 
 light, and as long as letters shall be read, will be co- 
 pied with those memorials of great men which have
 
 MEMOIRS. 609 
 
 been transmitted from the past to the present age, 
 and which will doubtless be passed on to the future. 
 The kinsman of Agricola has not painted his hero 
 in brighter colours, nor will posterity read with less 
 interest the short and affecting narrative of the in- 
 terment of Fox, than of the death of the persecuted 
 general of Domitian. The Preface to the Philo- 
 patris is another of Parr's little cabinet, sketches 
 beautiful in its drawing and its colouring, and par- 
 ticularly valuable as guarding against the dangerous, 
 pestilent practice of writing indistinctly, under the 
 pretence of writing quickly and learnedly. The 
 Notes on Jurisprudence and history, especially the 
 great note, abound in right reason and learned inves- 
 tigation. This note alone would have been the 
 foundation of the fame of any common author, 
 and though the microscopic observer may discover 
 one little spot, it is only one, and that, perhaps, 
 may be ascribed to the purity of mind of the com- 
 poser ; at least it is an effusion of bonhommie 
 which every man of taste and of candour would be 
 glad not to observe, or comment upon. 
 
 The Philopatris is dedicated to Mr. Coke of 
 Norfolk, and the two following letters gave notice 
 to him of the publication. 
 
 From Dr. Parr, to Mr. Coke. 
 DEAR SIR, Dec. 3, 1808. 
 
 You will have the goodness to consider this letter quite 
 confidential. I have collected, and shall re-publish, some of the 
 best written accounts of Mr. Fox which appeared after his 
 death, and I have given noy own opinion of him in that fair and 
 full way of which you and many of his friends are likely to ap- 
 prove. I have written also some copious and even learned 
 VOL. I. 2 R
 
 610 MEMOIRS. 
 
 notes, and the important subjects discussed in them must be 
 my apology for their length. Now, dear Sir, you will gratify 
 me very highly by permitting me to dedicate the work to 
 yourself. I have, in truth, written the dedication, and you 
 will believe me when I tell you that it contains, not fulsome 
 flattery, but well-founded and well-earned praise ; such, rny 
 friend, as will be most acceptable to yourself, and such as is 
 most worthy of the plainness and sincerity which distinguished 
 Mr. Fox. I beg the favour of you to let me know by what 
 conveyance my picture may be best forwarded to you at Holk- 
 ham. Pray give my best respects and best wishes to all your 
 family there, and more especially to your accomplished and 
 much beloved daughter, Miss Coke. I have the honour to be, 
 dear Sir, with respect and gratitude unfeigned, your sincere 
 friend, and obedient humble servant, S. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Dec. 12, 1808. 
 
 I thank you for the kind inquiries after my 
 
 health. This is a dismal season to me, from the remembrance 
 of a domestic and irreparable loss. But I bear my affliction 
 pretty well, and, dividing my time between study and society, 
 I go on quite as comfortably as 1 can expect, 
 
 I have not written the life of Mr, Fox, I say nothing of his 
 parentage, education, or connections ; nor do I enter into any 
 detail of his measures. But I have laid open his mind. I have 
 selected the best characters written of him after his death, and 
 then comes my own view of him, which, as you will readily 
 believe, is copious, discriminating, and animated, I have 
 thrown some of the matter into the more convenient form of 
 notes. I have added two notes, which are not sufficient to 
 make a pamphlet. One is upon a subject most important in 
 itself, and which becomes more pertinent on this occasion, as 
 it is the last upon which I had any serious conversation with 
 Mr. Fox. The other contains an elaborate and grave vindica- 
 tion of his memory from a malicious insinuation that he was an 
 advocate for the assassination of European sovereigns, and an 
 open charge that he was a relentless bigot in the cause of in- 
 fidelity.
 
 MEMOIRS. 611 
 
 I leave them to their own opinions upon the politics of our 
 friend ; but, while I have a pen at my command, or breath in 
 ray body, no human being shall with impunity slander his in- 
 tegrity or his benevolence. 
 
 As to the Dedication, be assured, dear Sir, that it will not 
 offend your delicacy. You are too magnanimous to endure 
 adulation, and I am too proud, or too honest to offer it. No, 
 no, it is contained in one sentence. Your well-wishers will ac- 
 knowledge the truth of what T say. Your worst enemies will 
 not attempt to convict me of falsehood, or even exaggeration. 
 It was impossible for me not to state your attachment to Mr. 
 Fox. It is the very first article, and prepares the mind for 
 what follows. 
 
 I have the honour to be, dear Sir, with much respect, your 
 most faithful friend, and obedient and much obliged servant, 
 
 S. Parr. 
 
 In the foregoing correspondence, the turn of Mr. 
 Fox's mind to classical literature must have been 
 noticed. In most of the letters, there is some allu- 
 sions to classics, or classical lore, and I have heard 
 from Parr, that when he has met the great senator 
 in parties, in London, after wearisome debate in 
 parliament, he would generally turn to such topics 
 as his relaxation, preferring and substituting them 
 to politics, or political economy, as they now term 
 it. — Sometimes playfully entering on lighter sub- 
 jects, and sometimes on graver, according to the 
 tone of his mind, or that of the company. The 
 discussion, whether the song of the nightingale was 
 merry, or melancholy, took place at one of these 
 parties, and afterwards was pursued by certain of the 
 company, as a cjuestion of learned inquiry, and 
 finally appeared in the public prints. Of such 
 a mind as Mr. Fox's, every notice is precious, 
 2r2
 
 G12 MEMOIRS. 
 
 and the reader will not fail to remark his preference 
 of Euripides to the other Greek tragedians ; his 
 enthusiastic admiration of Homer ; and his distinc- 
 tion between the orations of Cicero and Demos- 
 thenes — That the former are more agreeable to 
 the reader, but that the latter must have been much 
 more impressive on the hearer. 
 
 The letter of Mr. Fox, containing the verbal cri- 
 ticisms, I believe refers to his speech on the death 
 of Francis Duke of Bedford. That on the epitaph 
 refers to Mrs. Coke's. 
 
 From Mr. Fox, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, St. Annes-hill, April 26, 1802. 
 
 Though the melancholy event which gave occasion to the in- 
 closed, disturbed our correspondence for the time, I have not 
 been unmindful of your obliging answers to my questions, or of 
 your communication of the epitaph, upon which subjects, I will 
 shortly again trouble you If there be anything in the lan- 
 guage of the inclosed, which you think faulty, or even doubt- 
 ful, I shall be extremely obliged to you for your observations 
 on such parts. I do not promise to submit, but it is of great con- 
 sequence to me, in my present pursuits, to have questions of 
 language discussed by those who are competent to such dis- 
 cussions, In some instances I may not be quite orthodox, and 
 perhaps, even an obstinate schismatic ; but it is likewise possible 
 that, in many I may err from inadvertence and ignorance of 
 what is the true Catholic doctrine. Yours ever, C. J. Fox,
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 613 
 
 Mr. Fox, to Dr. Parr, without date. 
 
 My DEAR SIR, 
 
 I did not get your letter till my return from London, Satur- 
 day, or I should sooner have thanked you for it ; for I am really 
 more obliged to you for your observations, than I can express, 
 not on account of the composition itself (you will not suspect 
 me of such ridiculous vanity) which is the subject of them, but 
 because discussions of this sort, which were always delightful to 
 me, are now, I conceive, exceedingly useful. I had read the pas- 
 sage of Vicentius Lipsinensis, before quoted, I believe, by Dr. 
 Geddes in some tract of his, and was very much struck with 
 it at the time, and if it were applied in the following manner, 
 it would be an excellent definition indeed. " Let no man be 
 angry with another for disbelieving any thing except quod 
 ubique, quod semper," &c. I have never read Aristotle's topics, 
 but, though I conceive it is a difficult book, if you fairly tell 
 me that you think my labour will be paid, I will read it. One 
 of the extravagant admirers of Aristotle (D. Hensius) says, " ne- 
 minem tam studiosum compositionis in oratione fuisse quam 
 hunc divinum virum ; qui, cum aures consuleret suas, malebat 
 obscure loqui quam illis non satisfacere." This is not encou- 
 raging, and one would be almost tempted to say, if he suited 
 his style to his own ears, rather than to my understanding, he 
 may listen to himself without my puzzling my head about him. 
 Now to the criticisms ; and first, let me tell you, that Lord J. 
 Townshend had mentioned his objections to several of the 
 passages you notice, and they were generally the same as 
 yours. Both his and yours came too late to enable me to make 
 any alterations in the last edition, though in conformity with 
 one of them (I cannot take the merit of compliance, for it was 
 before I had your letters) I had put out exit, which I think a 
 vile word on such an occasion. First, however heavy, I admit 
 to be, strictly speaking, an inaccuracy, but I confess at the 
 same time that it is one of those carelessnesses which in anything 
 that purports to be a speech, is to my taste. There are dulcia 
 vitia, besides those of that particular kind, to which Quintilian 
 alludes, and those of the class and order (as a naturalist would 
 say) of negligence, are great favourites with me, and most es-
 
 614 MEMOIRS. 
 
 pecially in u speech. Postponed was found fault with, by Lord 
 John, though upon a ground somewhat different from yours. 
 He thinks it does not imply so long a postponement as is ne- 
 cessary to my sense, and in truth I do not like the word there 
 at all. However, to your objection it might be answered, that 
 it does not imply exclusively, or even particularly human 
 volition, and that as it is used here, it may mean if God 
 had postponed; but I repeat it, I dislike the word in this 
 place, and would alter it if I were to republish. Can or 
 ought to conciliate, is no doubt liable to some objection, but 
 whether it be, strictly speaking, ungrammatical, may be 
 doubted, can, or might to, conciliate, so divided is harsh or un- 
 couth, but not wrong. It is not a mode which I approve, but 
 if one were to make it a rule to avoid it, the circumlocutions 
 Avould be infinite. There is another part, compassionate and 
 condole with his friends, &c. which appears to me to be ejusdem 
 generis, for there is a close analogy between the cases of nouns 
 following verbs, and the manner in which one verb of one de- 
 scription follows that of another. With respect, to in so far con- 
 siderable, &c. Lord J. objects just as you do, and, as you sus- 
 pect, I am here inclined to obstinacy. I presume it is not the 
 peculiar use of the word considerable in its original sense to 
 which you object. You allow the sentence to be English, and 
 if it is mere matter of taste, or of ear, it is difficult to argue 
 upon it. My reason, such as it is, for insisting on in so far, or 
 at least some qualifying expression, preceding considerable is, 
 that without it, the first impression in reading would be, that 
 considerable is to be understood in its more usual sense, great, 
 xveighty, &c., and I, who am much in the habit of reading aloud, 
 cannot bear to have to conceal my first conception, in the mid- 
 dle of a sentence. There is not much in this I grant ; but I 
 think there is not much either in the cluster of particles ; espe- 
 cially as in so far is, in this passage, naturally read like a tri- 
 syllable with an accent on the second, and thus there is nothing 
 inharmonious. To contribute^ &c. has, I fear, some awkward- 
 ness ; I feel that it has, and yet, I cannot for my life find 
 wherein it consists ; an and would not, I think, mend the mat- 
 ter. To do this xuas his object ; then comes the explanation, by 
 such and such means. I am clear, bad as it may be now^ that with
 
 MEMOIRS. 615 
 
 an and it would be worse. I do not know that I was ever puz- 
 zled to find out in a matter of this sort, the cause of a feeling 
 which, however, I acknowledge of dissatisfaction. Susceptible 
 is, as you say, without an adjunct, a very unsatisfactory ex- 
 pression, and I would endeavour to alter it, if I were to repub- 
 lish, though I own no good word for that place occurs. I did 
 not mean to connect it with virtue, I meant rather what is 
 called a-Jeeling heart. In his friendship, not only, &c. ; hut in 
 him, may be an irregularity, if you refer to general and ab- 
 stracted grammar, but I think it a true English idiom ; and 
 where our ancestors have fairly gained a conquest over the na- 
 tural enemy of writers, which I consider strict grammar to be, 
 I do not see why we should give it up, especially when we have 
 enjoyed it long enough to have a prescriptive right to it, much 
 less, if the acquisition has been so cultivated as to render it va- 
 luable. In this case, &c. the grand question of repetitions is 
 one upon which I have thought not a little, and I remember 
 to have read what you quote, and, as I suspect, in Quintilian. 
 If I were to lay down a general rule, it would be in xvriting to 
 avoid them where they can be avoided, without using a weaker 
 expression, and above all, without discovering to the reader 
 that your object has been to avoid them, In speaking, I would 
 never bestow a thought upon them, for while you are speaking, 
 you ought to have your mind intent upon your matter, and any 
 consideration which diverts your mind from your matter would 
 really injure your argument, or whatever other part of oratory 
 you are employing. Now this would be a great evil, even if 
 you were not detected by your audience, in your attention to 
 words ; but this will seldom happen, and nothing can indispose 
 an audience to listen so much as wljen it is perceived that you 
 are not speaking from the fulness of your mind, and that your 
 words are not the immediate, instantaneous expression of your 
 thoughts. In writing, the case is wholly different. A man 
 may have written with all the energy of his mind, nay, with 
 warmth and passion, and afterwards sit down coolly and cor- 
 rect his style without employing himself any further upon the 
 matter. Even here he must do it judiciously, and take care 
 that by a high finish, he do not destroy the spirit of his perform- 
 ance. The chief objection in my mind to repetitions is a sort
 
 ()16 MEMOIRS. 
 
 of heavy effect they Iiave upon the ear, but this effect in many 
 instances is much lessened in speaking. " I will in my present 
 situation act as you acted in a similar situation,^' is a very heavy 
 sentence to read ; but a speaker, by laying, as he naturally would 
 do, a great stress upon yon and simiiar, the repetition would be 
 in a manner sunk. It is certain, as you say, that neither De- 
 mosthenes or Cicero, though they reviewed their speeches with 
 great care, were nice in this point. Of all authors Homer is 
 the least so. In the short but divine speech of Sarpedon to 
 Glaucus, Avdoiai id€Tu npioToiai occurs twice, besides ev\ Trpw- 
 TOKTi yuaxo('f(^/^' just after, A. fx. tt. ^axovrui. Virgil is perhaps 
 more nice than most of the ancients upon this point, but I 
 believe " loca node silentia late umbraeque silentes," is the 
 right reading, and not tacentes. There is a passage ^in the 
 eighth ^neid where (whether it "be chance or design) there is 
 a most remarkable successive change from singular to plural, 
 which, fiom its regularity, has the effect of uniformity instead 
 of variety : 
 
 Omnis eo terrore i^gyptus, et Indi, 
 Omnis Arabs, omnes vertebant terga Saba'i. 
 
 Of your next objection, doubt ivifhout throughout, I acknow- 
 ledge all the force, and think it as ill sounding a sentence as 
 ever was put together, but I had not attended to it till you 
 pointed it out. Obligations in the plural I likewise admit would 
 be better. Exit has already been given up. A man's every 
 feeling, &c. to tell you the truth I do not quite understand your 
 objection, nor to what affected use of such expressions by 
 Mason (whom however I can very well suspect of any affecta- 
 tion) you allude. Surely every feeling of a man may be con- 
 verted, both rationally and grammatically, to a mans every 
 feeling, and in like manner with the pronouns his every, &c. 
 With regard to that calmness and serenity, the only question 
 with me is whether there be not a subauditur of that before se- 
 renity, otherwise the singular verb, though a little hard, would 
 be preferable. To savour of the vieivs, is, I am afraid, liable 
 to the censure you pass upon it, but besides that I am not 
 among the over scrupulous upon this point, here again there 
 may be a sort of ellipsis, to savour of that ivarmth, or ivhat you
 
 MEMOIRS. 617 
 
 tvill, ivhich causes the views of youth to be sanguine, but the best 
 way would be to alter the expression altogether. 
 
 I am exceedingly concerned to hear you have been so much 
 indisposed, but I hope from what you say that you have no- 
 thing remaining of your illness except that weakness which 
 must attend convalescence. I do not know your four physi- 
 cians, but if they have been serviceable in restoring you to 
 health I am sure I shall always feel grateful to them for it. 
 
 I have just been reading Dr. Vincent's Letter to the Bishop 
 of Meath, and am much pleased with it. I suspect his two 
 adversaries to be two as vile hypocrites as any in the country. 
 I am very truly, my dear Sir, yours ever, C. J. Fox. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Bee. 23, 1801. 
 
 I received a few days since your letter of the 18th, with its 
 inclosure, I do assure you, without any compliment, we ad- 
 mire the epitaph to the greatest degree. Words could not have 
 been more happily chosen to describe a pious and domestic 
 woman, with a cultivated understanding and an affectionate 
 heart. Win is certainly a much better word in that place than 
 command, but I doubt whether court was not full as proper as 
 seek, in a case where the courting or seeking is a subject rather 
 of reprobation. However, it does very well either way. I 
 suppose there is to be something of a hie jacet prefixed. But I 
 know many who think that these words of form ought to be 
 connected with and make a part of the body of the epitaph. 
 Dr. Johnson rather seems to have been of this opinion. Whe- 
 ther, in another emendation, sincere is the testimony, be not du- 
 riusculum, I am not quire sure ; perhaps my general taste leads 
 me rather to feel faults of this side too nicely, and to overlook 
 proportionately those of negligence and carelessness. You see 
 I criticise freely, and always expect my friends to do the same 
 bv me. Yours ever, C. J. Fox. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Aprils, 1804. 
 
 I have this day received yours of the 2nd, with its inclosure, 
 which I have sent to the person who has the care of transmitting
 
 618 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Lord Holland's letters to him. I acquainted my nephew three 
 weeks since with the likelihood of a vacancy happening imme- 
 diately at Winterslow, but did not make any suggestion to him 
 on the subject, and he will of course decide among his own 
 friends. My wife desires to be remembered to you, and expects 
 the sermon from Mawman every day. 
 
 I have been looking into some of Euripides's plays again, 
 and am as usual delighted, bat I do not know whether you will 
 support me in my opinion that he is far, very far, superior to 
 the other two Greek tragedians. I dare say you will agree in 
 feeling the truth of what Quintilian says of his utility to orators. 
 If I had a boy whom I wished to make a figure in public 
 speaking, I would recommend Euripides to him morning, noon, 
 and night, perhaps preferably to Homer and Virgil themselves. 
 Yours ever, C. J. Fox. 
 
 Of Mr. Fox's playful compositions the corre- 
 spondence between Parr and his friends enables me 
 to furnish a specimen. One of the following letters 
 from Sir Uvedale Price, Bart, who was Fox's school- 
 fellow at Eton, and afterwards fellow-collegian, en- 
 closed the Faddle ; the others give a history of it. 
 
 SIR, Foxleif^ June 5, 1799. 
 
 During the course of the last winter some of your friends and 
 acquaintances have been amusing themselves with writing epi- 
 taphs on a dog, or rather two dogs, of Gen. Fitzpatrick's. 
 They are become so numerous, that, in order to preserve what 
 has occasioned so much pleasant correspondence and criticism 
 between me and my friends, I have some thoughts of printing 
 (not publishing) them all together, in which case you shall 
 certainly have a copy, should you think them worth your ac- 
 ceptance. In the meantime I send you some specimens of the 
 English, and, if you encourage me, will send you those in 
 Latin and Greek, in hopes that you will honour them with 
 your criticisms, and possibly condescend to strew a few flowers 
 yourself over the graves of these two celebrated dogs. The 
 present authors are Fitzpatrick, Charles Fox, Knight, Sir Ed- 
 ward VVinnington, and myself. Besides the English, the Latin,
 
 MEMOIRS. 619 
 
 and the Gi-eek, there are some in French, Italian, and one in 
 Spanish. If you are not more acquainted with this last lan- 
 guage than I am, you will not be particularly desirous of seeing 
 any poetry in it ; and as little in French, if you have as great a 
 contempt for French poetry as our friend Knight. I will go on, 
 however, giving you a specimen or two of each kind, as far as 
 
 the bounds of my paper will allow me 
 
 I am. Sir, with great regard, your very faithful humble 
 servant, Uvedale Price. 
 
 SIR, June 12, 1799. 
 
 I thought it so unlikely that you should have no curiosity to 
 see any thing that Charles Fox had written (not to mention 
 any other friend's composition) on whatever subject, or in 
 whatever language, that I had copied out the Latin and Greek 
 Fadleiana, meaning to send them as soon as I had the pleasure 
 of hearing from you. I have now taken the opportunity of 
 getting a frank from Lord Oxford, and of sending them to you 
 at once. I shall be very glad if they afford you any amusement, 
 and I hope we shall all receive some instruction in return. The 
 Greek, I fear, is very inaccurately written ; 1 trust, however, 
 you will be able to make it out. I am. Sir, with great regard, 
 most sincerely yours, U. Price. 
 
 SIR, Foxleyy August 18, 1799. 
 
 Though you have not honoured the Faddle with any verses 
 of your own, you have given a most gracious reception to those 
 I took the liberty of sending you ; the defects in many of the 
 Latin and Greek ones I knew could not escape you, but you 
 really have touched upon them with so light a hand, and have 
 made so pleasant and flattering an apology for them, as almost 
 to convert the criticism into a compliment. I was aware of the 
 licentious use that had been made of Homeric Greek, princi- 
 pally, I believe, by myself, and perhaps also by Fox ; indeed, 
 he said in one of his letters to me upon Knight's objecting to 
 Homer's authority for some expression, " if they take Homer 
 from us they will leave us little else," an acknowledgment that
 
 620 MEMOIRS. 
 
 is perfectly true as far as it regards nie. Knight told me the 
 other day that he had written to you to desire your opinion of 
 his two Epigrams. I should imagine they are mere free from 
 Archaisms, as well as from other defects, than either Fox's or 
 Winnington's. Mine are out of the question, and I must own it 
 is a very imprudent thing in any one to attempt to write poetry 
 in a language in which he can hardly construe the easiest prose. 
 I send you the French verses, as you desired : the first is mine, 
 the others are Fox's, and as you may have some curiosity to 
 know the respective authors of those I sent you before, I shall 
 mention them. 
 
 I do not exactly recollect all the English ones I sent you; 
 but among those you took notice of, " The Bachelor in Faddle's 
 fate," is Fitzpatrick's. " In beauty's arms," Fox's. " Fatal 
 alike," mine ; the Sonnet, Fox's. Lady Oxford's favourite 
 among the English ones (I think it is among those I sent you) 
 begins " A garden's bounds ;" it is on the idea that Venus pre- 
 fers the full expanded rose to the bud, as well as to the fading 
 flower. We laugh at her, and tell her that she thinks herself 
 the full expanded rose, in the exact medium between crude 
 and stale, and that she will be less fond of the Epitaph in ten 
 or fifteen years. 
 
 The Latin Elegy (if it may be so called), " Flora venusta 
 vale," is mine; the three in Horatian metre are Fox's ; and the 
 Epigram, whose sting disarmed your criticism, Fitzpatrick's. 
 The Greek are as follows : 
 
 Fox. 
 
 Zr]y ayafiov, 
 'Whv fi€v. 
 Tts be fttos. 
 FA'Ocibe Kotfiaudoi'. 
 
 Mine (Price). 
 Etws TtjXedaeu 
 
 Sir Edward Winnington. 
 il Seiv^ ovk" atbpos. 
 Aaifiwi' ris fdoyefws. 
 Svpos Api]s arhpeatT. 
 
 Knight, 
 Ej' Xey^eetTfTi kvpos, 
 KeiTcii Ejowri ba/xeis. 
 
 I am, Sir, with great regard, your most obedient servant, 
 
 U. Pkice.
 
 MEMOIRS. 621 
 
 Mr. Payne Knight, who was another of the party, 
 writes thus concerning his share of the Faddle : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Downton, July 19, 1799. 
 
 When, to amuse our friend Fox, I ventured, for the first time 
 (anno aetat. 49), to write in Greek, I did not imagine that my 
 hasty and imperfect productions were to appear before so 
 learned a judge as yourself; but, nevertheless, as I know your 
 candour to be in proportion to your learning, I cannot regret 
 that the zeal of my friend Price has induced him to submit 
 them to your inspection. I need not, I believe, inform you that 
 only two of the collection sent you are mine, the one of four 
 lines, beginning with ej^ Xt^eerrai kvvos, &c., and the other of 
 six, beginning with Keirai epu)Ti ba/jLeis, and I shall be obliged 
 to you to inform me whether or not they are real Greek; for I 
 do not flatter myself with their possessing the ■^(^I'ovs ap^^aioirirris 
 Kai x"P" a(3ia(TTa, which constitute the merit of such light 
 compositions. As I ventured to criticise some of Mr. Fox's 
 verses, I thought it right to produce some of my own that he 
 might retaliate ; but he rather chose to wage defensive war 
 (charitably, perhaps, against so unequal an opponent), and we 
 had consequently some very stout controversy. I have the 
 satisfaction, however, to find, from your letter to Price, that 
 you would probably have been my ally in the dispute, since my 
 attack was principally directed against the use of Homeric 
 phrases, and antiquated words and flexions in these lighter 
 compositions, or, indeed, in any compositions that are not 
 written wholly in the ancient language. The authority of 
 Homer ought not to be admitted at all, or admitted solely ; 
 otherwise there ensues a sort of mixt jargon, or Babylonish 
 dialect, which was never the colloquial speech of any age or 
 nation, and which must therefore always have a certain degree 
 of unnatural stiffness and harshness. Such, however, was the 
 language of the Alexandrine poets, with whose authority Fox 
 overruled, though he did not convince me ; for I cannot recon- 
 cile myself to such expressions as r;rot yap, to the terminations 
 of the genitives in oio, or to such verbs as ttcXw, &c. in Epi- 
 grams; or, indeed, in any compositions where atticisms are 
 allowed ; except, perhaps, in the tragic lyric, the very exalted
 
 622 MEMOIRS. 
 
 character of which may, perhaps, admit of a httle artificial 
 stiffening. 
 
 I shall be extremely happy to hear your opinion at large upon 
 this subject, and shall, on every account, be very happy to see 
 you whenever you find it convenient. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, truly yours, R. P. Knight. 
 
 1 Faddle, (says Sir U. Price) the subject of as 
 
 much poetry as any hero of the Trojan war, was 
 an old dog belonging to General Fitzpatrick, at 
 Sunning Hill. A fair lady in the neighbourhood^ 
 who had a favourite female of the same species, 
 called Flora, wished that a marriage should take 
 place. Faddle did not long survive it, but his race 
 is preserved, and his name immortalized. 
 
 The whole of the Faddle would fill a small vo- 
 lume. I shall copy only one of Mr. Fox's parts. 
 
 O Kviov beoi.i€vos \aXei» 
 Mjj fje berjs aeipr](nv eXevdepov rffiap aTrovpas' 
 
 Ov (j)(i)p €ij.ti eyix), ov (j)vyas, ovbe (povevs, 
 AecnroD] aWa (piXos, ttiotos re, Kai aiev OTrrjbos' 
 
 Os vvv eivei:^ efiov Treydos cnrXrjaToy ex^'* 
 Kot Ta(p()i' ihpvvei Kereoy tlvl ev irepiwirr], 
 
 IloWa Kcii aia^ijjv beiX eXeyeia X^^'» 
 AvfToy fi ovv aKuKov, Kai enrep XvTpov aTrairris, 
 
 Toy irepi Beipeioy ^(aXKOv ayrayra Xa/3e. 
 
 Several of Mr. Adair's letters have been cited 
 before, and I now revert to his correspondence with 
 Dr. Parr to prove the reliance he had on his counsel 
 and advice on literary subjects, composition, and 
 matters of taste. It is agreeable to observe that 
 polite letters were the recreation of almost all the 
 personal friends of Mr. Fox. The Faddle is, in- 
 deed, a trifle, but it is an elegant trifle ; and happy
 
 MEMOIRS. 623 
 
 would it be for mankind if the leisure of those who 
 rule the destiny of nations was often employed in 
 the same innocent manner. It is more than pro- 
 ])able that Mr. Fox gave a fashion and a currency 
 to classical discussions ; for we see him in the 
 letters which I have inserted in the Appendix, re- 
 ferred to as an arbitrator on the meaning of the 
 most celebrated of all Greek Odes. 
 
 The name of Lord Holland, connected by the 
 ties of blood with that of Mr. Fox, naturally coheres 
 to it also, from many kindred qualities of the heart 
 and understanding, and from a like course of politi- 
 cal sentiment and conduct. Dr. Parr became ac- 
 quainted with this illustrious nobleman when he 
 was pursuing his studies at Christ Church,* and 
 they occasionally corresponded ever after. Their 
 more intimate acquaintance displayed itself, how- 
 ever, during the latter days of Mr. Fox, and after 
 his death their friendship was cemented by their 
 mutual reverence for the departed statesman. It 
 would be a useless task to enumerate those high 
 qualities which peculiarly attached Dr. Parr to 
 Lord Holland — his large views of foreign and do- 
 mestic policy — his patronage of unlimited tolera- 
 tion — his love of liberty — his supereminent accom- 
 plishments as a scholar, both in ancient and modern 
 lore — his correct taste — his unswerving attach- 
 
 * About the same time he became acquainted with the late 
 Mr. Canning, having been introduced to him by Mr, Sheridan ; 
 but his acquaintance with him was not continued after Mr. C. 
 had a seat in ParHament.
 
 624 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ments — all, and more than all could be proved from 
 the correspondence which has been placed in my 
 hands. I shall publish only a portion of it, regret- 
 ting that the space will not allow the insertion 
 of every word written by such men as Lord Hol- 
 land and Dr. Parr, when their minds were in free 
 communion one with the other. 
 
 To Mr. Coke, his patron, Parr dedicated Philo- 
 patris Varvic, in which his character is so justly de- 
 lineated, that it is superfluous to add the language 
 of any other feeble testimony ; a few letters, how- 
 ever, will at once gratify the reader, and bear wit- 
 ness to the fact, that the friendship of Mr. Coke 
 and Dr. Parr was continued to the last hour of Dr. 
 Parr's life, and that it survives m the breast of Mr. 
 Coke, and still sheds a lustre over the character of 
 our friend. — Vide Appendix.
 
 625 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Persons protected. 
 
 The Philopatris Varvicensis was read throughout 
 with unusual interest ; but the note on the re- 
 visal of the laws met with general approbation. 
 The Appendix contains all that encomium can utter 
 on these profound inquiries, and the spirit of mercy 
 in which they are conceived and composed. To 
 love mercy was a part of Parr's nature, and his ab- 
 horrence of capital punishment was always expressed 
 when justice was too rigorously exercised, especially 
 on juvenile offenders. This happened to be the 
 case, in his estimation, in one of the sentences of 
 Mr. Burton, a Welsh Judge, and he stated it erro- 
 neously, according to the following letter of Mr. 
 Leycester, in the notes to Philopatris : 
 
 SIR, Cheltenham, July 18, 1809. 
 
 In a dissertation upon the criminal law, understood to be 
 written by you, which I was turning over a few days ago, you 
 quote part of a speech of Mr. Burton upon a motion made by 
 Sir S. Romilly on the 15th June, 1808, in which Mr. Burton is 
 supposed to say, that two boys were capitally convicted and 
 suffered judgment (meaning a judgment of death) for privately 
 stealing ; this you state on the authority of a newspaper, and 
 though you say you set it forth without venturing to answer for 
 VOL. I. 2 s
 
 626 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the correctness of a newspaper, yet, without inquh-ing whether 
 it was correct or not, you do venture upon assumption of its 
 correctness, to publish several sarcastic remarks, much to the 
 prejudice of the supposed speaker, a gentleman as respectable, 
 and of as much rational humanity, and sound discretion in the 
 administration of the criminal law as any man intrusted with it. 
 As a particular friend of Mr. Burton, I think it proper to in- 
 form you that no such punishment was inflicted upon the boys 
 alluded to, and that Mr. Burton never said so ; but that " of 
 four boys convicted of that offence, two were transported for 
 seven years and two for life." Whatever concern you may feel 
 for the reflection of your having given publicity, duration, and 
 credit to the misrepresentation of a newspaper, and still more for 
 the unmerited imputation you have thought fit to found upon it, 
 I have no doubt you will be glad to be set right, and to have 
 an opportunity of showing your regard to truth and justice, 
 which I am most ready to believe nobody feels more than you 
 do, by correcting the mistake in such manner as you may judge 
 most expedient for that purpose. I must also take the liberty 
 of observing, that if in the proclamation of impunity, p. 401, 
 you refer, as I presume you do, to the expression of Mr. Bur- 
 ton in the same speech, and if by the blockhead, however stupid^ 
 you meant to refer to Mr. Burton, or to associate him with that 
 idea, you will find the expression was applied by him to a 
 transportation for years, I think for seven years, and certainly 
 not for life; and that it clearly appears so from the very words 
 of the speech as you yourself have quoted them. I cannot 
 help adding that your information, mentioned in p. 777, that a 
 Scotch lawyer, high in station, had moved for leave to bring 
 in a bill to extend the English punishment of child murder to 
 Scotland, is still less founded, the motion alluded to being for 
 a purpose directly opposite to your representation of it. I 
 trust you will think the occasion justifies the liberty I have 
 taken in giving you this trouble, I am, Sir, your obedient 
 servant, H. Leycester." 
 
 This letter produced an answer, for which see 
 Appendix, dated July 26. 
 
 Against general philanthropy and benevolence.
 
 MEMOIRS. 627 
 
 unsupported by particular acts of kindness and un- 
 directed to private and to local circumstances, all 
 those who can read, must have read with pleasure 
 the theological and moral discussions of Dr. Parr, 
 in all his discourses, and especially in the Spital 
 Sermon and the notes attached to it. A kind feel- 
 ing towards his fellow-creatures, and above all to- 
 wards his kindred and his friends, we have seen, 
 was an early part of his nature. I trust the affect- 
 ing narrative of the declining health and the death 
 of his cousin, Mr. Francis Parr, cannot have failed 
 to impart some impression of his benevolent feel- 
 ings and munificent actions, and more than all 
 of his holy-mindedness and piety. The short abode 
 at Stanmore and Colchester witnessed examples of 
 the same character : and at Norwich they were em- 
 blazoned in charity and mercy to many of those 
 who were sick, and needy, and in prison. The case 
 of Matthew Barker, the protection of Mr. Bourn, 
 a learned man of sentiments directly contrary to his 
 own, were specimens of his active and personal be- 
 nevolence at Norwich. I have hinted at some of 
 the cases which might be adduced to illustrate it 
 in Warwickshire, particularly those of Mr. Oliver 
 and Mr. Brooke, both persons labouring under 
 mental derangement ; and perhaps there was no 
 Assize at Warwick in which his humanity was not 
 appealed to, and in which he did not endeavour 
 to mitigate the harsh penalties of law to one or 
 other of the prisoners. Nor did his endeavours and 
 personal exertions stop there. I will appeal to a 
 competent witness, and to a person exejaaplary and 
 
 2s2
 
 628 MEMOIRS. 
 
 above common excellence in her situation, to Mrs. 
 Tatnell, wii'e of the keeper of the prison for the 
 county of Warwick, whether he did not frequently 
 administer to the wants of him who had no other 
 friend, and w ho was in prison ? * 
 
 Small is the power, and few are the opportu- 
 nities of private men to do good; but I cannot 
 resist the impulse of my mind to record his entire 
 agreement in opinion with some enlightened men 
 in regard to the operation of a paternal juris- 
 diction over juvenile offenders, rather than com- 
 mitting them to the doubtful operation of penal 
 severity. Parum est improbos coercere poena, nisi 
 probos efficias disciplina, was a maxim to which 
 he gave unquahfied assent. From an education 
 of debauchery, and from the haunts of impurity, 
 which manufacturing towns too often afford, the 
 great body of such offenders is engendered. They 
 proceed from the corruption of the mass — they are 
 its natural swarm. Let us hive them if we can then, 
 ere they are capable of imparting their venom ; and 
 neutralize if we can by education, those bad pro- 
 pensities which are sure to be hatched into the 
 worst and most pernicious moral disorders, when 
 they are concentrated and fomented by the associa- 
 tions of bad companions. The separation of ju- 
 venile offenders in prisons from the company of the 
 hardened and the guilty, is hardly a question of 
 mere prudence — it is a moral obligation. Shallow 
 is the intellect, and cloudy the optics of him who 
 
 * He left a donation to the prisoners iu his will.
 
 MEMOIRS. 629 
 
 <loes not see the difference between the wily and 
 calculating spoiler, and the inexperienced instrument 
 of his temptation ; and I shall welcome it as fore- 
 most in the amendments of jurisprudence, when, ac- 
 cording to the system of my honourable and enlight- 
 ened friend Sir John Eardley Wilmot, the juvenile 
 offender shall be placed under a sort of paternal ju- 
 risdiction — when he shall not be compelled to mingle 
 with ruffian companions in a prison, who will harden 
 the follies of inexperience into the callosity of guilt 
 — but be placed where he shall receive punishment 
 according to his crime and his age, without aban- 
 doning him to the horrors of unredeemed, unmiti- 
 gated, unedifying general condemnation. 
 
 There are some words on this subject in the Phi- 
 lopatris. But the whole of the great note on juris- 
 prudence in that work is a body of light — it is a 
 blaze of mercy ; and if we may venture to contem- 
 plate the progress of opinion, slowly creeping on, 
 yet certainly advancing in all matters of truth, from 
 the darkness of midnight to the dawn, and at length 
 bursting out in full illumination, such opinions as 
 Dr. Parr's must be considered as those occasional 
 lights which break upon our minds, when the clouds 
 are withdrawing. I have alluded before to the 
 particular cases ; it will not therefore be neces- 
 sary for me to pass over this ground again. But 
 benevolence being the topic, we pass by a natural 
 transition to the other ways by which offices of 
 kindness were performed by him. 
 
 In various places he had almoners o his bounty ; 
 but in his own parish almost every individual was
 
 (330 MEMOIRS. 
 
 considered as a member of his family, and the ne- 
 cessitous were generally relieved from his table : 
 
 I rarely (says Parr) sent from my door a beggar unrelieved ; 
 for, to a great extent, I felt and I reasoned like Dryden's 
 parson : 
 
 " True priests, he said, and preachers of the word, 
 Were only stewards of their Sov'reign Lord ; 
 Nothing was theirs, — but all the public store 
 Intrusted riches to relieve the poor ; 
 Who, should they steal, for want of his relief, 
 He judg'd himself accomplice with the thief." 
 
 The fear that a poor man unrelieved might steal, laid deep 
 in my heart ; it occurred to me continually, and I acted upon 
 it accordingly. I was much pleased with Montesquieu's answer 
 to Bayle's Paradox, book ii. chap. 2k 
 
 For the relief of beggars, money was daily placed 
 in the hands of his servants, and he never suffered 
 the general abuse of charity to counteract the possi- 
 ble use. " Some were rogues, probably most of 
 them. But others were pressed with grievous ne- 
 cessities : and it was better, he thought, that twenty 
 should cheat him rather than one should perish for 
 want of small relief." That unmeasurable desire of 
 accumulating wealth was not his. He had a soul 
 enlarged above the mean appetite of loving money, 
 and in his bounteous giving, he sometimes embar- 
 rassed himself. 
 
 In other directions too, in the education of young 
 men, of whose capacities he thought highly, his 
 bounty was bestowed largely. Some of his allow- 
 ances extended to thirty or forty pounds a year— 
 in other directions, some of his annuities to ten and 
 to twenty : and when he was not himself perfectly
 
 MEMOIRS. 631 
 
 at ease in his circumstances, / know that to one 
 family, in one year, bis largess amounted to more 
 than eighty pounds. I dwell upon these little cir- 
 cumstances, because, as was the case in the gift of 
 Lord Chedworth's tureen, and afterwards, when he 
 was restored to his grand-children, in his asking 
 back certain pieces of plate, he was accused of 
 littleness. These were false accusations. His mind 
 was large and liberal, but his manner of bestowing 
 exposed him to misrepresentation and censure. The 
 generous and the just never doubted him, and it 
 was impossible that they should malign him. 
 
 The enlightened teachers of our public seminaries 
 are called upon daily to exercise a sort of public 
 charity in either granting education, on a smaller 
 allowance, to the sons of the needy and the learned, 
 or sometimes in remitting altogether their fees 
 for instruction. Johnson says of Addison, that it 
 was his rule never to remit his fees of office even 
 to a personal friend, when he was the Irish Secre- 
 tary. Morals, which are permitted to extend their 
 scale of action almost beyond the boundary of strict 
 Christian principle In politics, were not associated 
 in Addison's code with generosity. Proudly may 
 all the professions boast that In this regard they 
 surpass the politician. What Lawyer, Divine, or 
 Physician, ever thought of taking his professional 
 dues from a needy friend? But the Teachers of 
 youth beat us out of the field In munificence. I 
 could record acts of kindness and liberality In this 
 way which honour our nature ; and, though I am 
 not permitted to mention what has fallen under
 
 632 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 my own notice — " Verily they will have their 
 reward." 
 
 Dr. Parr's heart was enlarged, especially towards 
 unprotected, intelligent youth. At Stanmore, Col- 
 chester, Norwich, and at Hatton, he received many 
 boys for smaller stipends, and some he educated 
 for nothing. Some he rescued from the infamy 
 of expulsion from public schools by receiving them 
 into his own, after a due and cautious ceremo- 
 nial wuth the angry master ; and the vigour with 
 which he exacted submission from the scholar, 
 and the politeness with which he yielded to the 
 representation, and the views and authority of the 
 master might be displayed in several instances. The 
 correspondence of Dr. James, of Rugby, and Mr. 
 Henry Homer, on two special cases, are strongly 
 illustrative of his kindness and his caution, and 
 w^itli many other memorials of his benevolence, 
 w^ill probably appear hereafter, when delicacy and 
 personal feelings are no longer an obstacle. 
 
 I could here insert names of others who, not re- 
 ceived into his house, were yet relieved by his boun- 
 ty, and protected by his patronage, and enlightened 
 by his advice. The gratitude of these persons, in 
 various instances, reveals their benefactor's praise, 
 and the secret of his liberality in the course of the 
 correspondence.
 
 John James lljills I'liixil iHiJ. 
 
 W. Skeltott Sriilpsit. 
 
 kev? Samuel parmjl^il. 
 
 Aiitograpln. 
 
 /'/'/■// f/'i-^ y/in-y I i"i('i,f>v Jr/i/i /Ill/ill. /frrirtf//ii X/rrrf.i ,>i tii/ ( :,ir,/ri
 
 633 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Family Affairs. 
 
 Dr. Parr lost one of his children at Norwich. 
 Of his two other children, Catharine died of a con- 
 sumption at Teignmouth, in the winter of 1805. 
 It was too clear during the summer that she 
 was sinking under pulmonary consumption, and the 
 following letter of condolence, after her death, is too 
 descriptive of her indisposition at that period. Va- 
 rious were the experiments tried to relieve her, 
 and a thousand projects were entertained. It was 
 in the progress to put one of these in execution, 
 viz. saihng, that she stayed at Shrewsbury, and 
 came under the observation of Dr. Butler : 
 
 From the Rev. Dr. Butler, to the Rev. Dr. Parr. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Shretashury, Dec. lOth, 1805. 
 
 I learnt yesterday from the public papers tlie calamitous 
 event which has taken place in your family, and, though to a 
 great and capacious mind like your own, it would be in vain 
 for rae to offer topics of consolation, allow me at least to ex- 
 press how much myself, my wife, and all your friends at Shrews- 
 bury, participate in your affliction. I may now confess to you 
 that the perfect pleasure we should otherwise have experienced 
 in your company last summer, was clouded by the prospect of
 
 634 MEMOIRS. 
 
 an event which any eyes but those of fond parents, eager to 
 hope even against hope, must have foreseen ; I read them but 
 too clearly in the looks of Dr. Dugard, what he confirmed to me 
 the next day, and, indeed, I saw myself that the intellect was 
 too quick, and the mind too active for the feeble frame in 
 which it dwelt. Of this be assured, my dear Sir, that we shall 
 often revert to the amiable and interesting subject of our regret, 
 whom even a short acquaintance sufficed greatly to endear to 
 us. I shall be in Warwickshire in a short time, and shall take 
 an early opportunity of personally inquiring for yourself, Mrs. 
 Parr, Mrs. Wynne, and my little Mary's rival. Mrs, Butler 
 charges me to say, that she unites in every sentiment of ge- 
 nuine concern, and of unfeigned respect for yourself and your 
 family, with, dear Sir, your obliged and affectionate servant, 
 
 S. Butler. 
 
 Of Parr's feelings under this affliction, his own 
 letters will speak in the truest and strongest terms. 
 
 From Dr. Parr, to Mrs. Wynne. 
 
 DEAR SARAH, Teignmouth, Nov. 2lst. 
 
 After many provoking disappointments and obstacles, 1 got 
 from Bristol to Bath, and from Bath to Exeter, on Tuesday 
 morning between one and two. I slept four hours, and reached 
 Teignmouth on Wednesday, at half an hour after two. I am 
 most happy in having come so rapidly. My determination was 
 to take my dear Catharine back to Hatton, by slow stages, if 
 she could bear the journey, but she cannot. Mr, Cartwright 
 assures me she will die on the road ; she is carried up and down 
 stairs — she cannot read a book — she has no appetite, no sleep, 
 no mitigation of pain by day or night. Death, my dear Sarah, 
 is the only deliverance now to be wished for from insuperable 
 anguish. Mr. Cartwright will assist me in making arrange- 
 ments to carry the breathless corpse from Teignmouth to Hat- 
 ton. I shall return and attend the funeral, so must you. Now, 
 I will send particulars in a day or two, if I am able. You must 
 exert yourself to see part of them executed. Think if you can 
 of four unmarried persons to support the pall ; the rest I will 
 manage. The grave must be so contrived as to let her lie between
 
 MEMOIRS. 635 
 
 your mother and myself. Your letters came to day. They 
 were glad to see me so much sooner than they expected. I am 
 dying a thousand deaths. 
 
 Tell Mr. Marshall, if he and the parishoners approve, the 
 bell should be tolled all day, with one side muffled as on the 
 day of Lord Nelson's funeral. My heart aches — I will write 
 again soon, be prepared for the worst. My love to the children. 
 God bless you. I am, your affectionate and afflicted father, 
 
 S. Parr. 
 
 The next day he wrote as follows : 
 
 DEAR SARAH, Friday y Q. o'cloclc, Nov. 22. 
 
 My beloved child is dying. 
 
 Ten minutes before five — She is no more. She died easily. 
 I shall stay a day or two to manage matters, and then we come 
 home. The body will be brought in a hearse. Your mother 
 and I will come in a mourning coach behind the hearse. The 
 body to lie in the library. Think of pall-bearers. She shall 
 be buried as Catherine the daughter of Samuel Parr. Yes, yes. 
 We shall be with you on Monday, or Sunday sen'night. God 
 bless you, my only child, my Sarah. Your affectionate and 
 afflicted father, S. Parr. 
 
 Catherine was buried at Hatton ; Dr. and Mrs. 
 Parr followed the body from Teignmouth into War- 
 wickshire in funeral procession, and this trait serves 
 to exemplify both his paternal fondness and his love 
 of ceremony. When Mrs. Parr, some years after- 
 wards, died in Devonshire, he exacted the same at- 
 tention from Mrs. Wynne, who was then in the last 
 stage of consumption. She followed her mother's 
 corpse in the same manner ; nor could she fail to 
 contemplate, during the long and sad procession, 
 the near approach of her own fate, and thus to 
 drink some of the bitterest dregs of sorrow. — Not 
 quite the bitterest, though of these she partook to
 
 63G MEMOIRS'. 
 
 loathing, and from which, the grave was to her a 
 resting place, as it is a refuge to all those who suffer 
 from the incurable disorders of the wounded heart. 
 
 I have said that Parr's character was strongly ex- 
 emplified in the funerals of his family, and this is 
 strictly true. For in them he displayed not only his 
 fondness for his children, but his love of pomp and 
 ceremony, and his attention to minute circumstances. 
 On these occasions expense was never spared. 
 The illness of Catherine was very burdensome to 
 him, yet he did not repine, or study economy, and 
 even borrowed money to supply the expense. Far 
 remote, indeed, was the anguish that preyed on his 
 soul, during her sickness, from any sordid calcula- 
 tions. He was doatingly fond of her. And so un- 
 diminished was her cheerfulness, and so brilliant 
 were the faculties of this charming female, during 
 her too manifest, but protracted consumption, that 
 we were all, perhaps, led on by an unjustifiable hope 
 of recovering her, never to be realized. 
 
 The loss of his daughter Catherine, though it 
 became an affliction mellowed by time in the latter 
 years of Dr. Parr, was always sanctified to him by 
 religious hope, and the expressions which I shall 
 now quote, written on the anniversary of her de- 
 cease, by her mother, will be re-echoed from the 
 bosom of every Christian parent who has lost a 
 worthy child. Extract of a letter from Mrs. Parr 
 to Dr. Parr: 
 
 Nov. 9.2, 1806, Southampton. 
 But, alas ! what can relieve a sorely-wounded heart, God 
 alone : and we can only reach him by the grave. You will
 
 MEMOIRS. 637 
 
 rieceive this on the day which bereaved us of our greatest 
 worldly comfort. She is now rejoicing in the presence of her 
 God, for the pure in heart shall see his face. Oh ! how my 
 heart rises with gratitude to the Throne of Mercy, for his 
 blessings to her, and for ordaining me the parent of such a 
 child. But I will not revive your sorrows, and my mind is in 
 such a state, that I cannot think or write on any other subject, 
 so adieu. 
 
 I shall insert only the following letter of condo- 
 lence from the Bishop of Cloyne. There is a 
 character of Catherine Parr in the Gentleman's 
 Magazine. 
 
 My DEAR FRIEND, Cloyne, Dec. 7, ISOo. 
 
 Since Mrs. Wynne's letter to me, which conveyed a most 
 melancholy account of her sister's health, I have not dared to 
 trouble your family with letters of inquiry, but I did not cease 
 to cast many anxious wishes towards Hatton, and augured 
 every thing that was bad from your long silence. Severe, how- 
 ever, as the calamity is, there is some little room for comfort 
 in the reflection of her being removed from all further suffer- 
 ing, and in the consciousness how much, what she did suffer, 
 was alleviated by your paternal and exemplary kindness. 
 Numbers in the late bloody victory of Trafalgar have been, like 
 you, deprived of their children ; and of children strong in 
 health, and likely, unless cut off by this sudden stroke, to have 
 added for many years to the comforts of their parents ; but 
 how few have, like you, been warned to expect the evil long 
 before, to sooth the last hours of the afflicted by affectionate 
 cares, and to pay every mark of respect and kindness to their 
 remains. Perhaps, at present, this circumstance may have 
 added to your griefs ; but, in time, the remembrance of it will 
 tend to diminish them. Man has done his part when he has 
 spared no expence or attention to avoid the evil, and when he 
 has at last submitted to it in patience. 
 
 I got safe here in August, after a fatiguing journey with a 
 heavy coach, and a sea voyage still more fatiguing, being 
 stowed in a crowded packet, with an unfavourable wind ; and
 
 638 MEMOIRS. 
 
 I am afraid, too, that I remained too long in England to submit 
 with patience to the inferior accommodations of this country 
 for some months, till we have learned to grow callous, and 
 make shifts like our neighbours. My time, too, has passed un- 
 pleasantly. For a triennial visitation of the Archbishop having 
 just taken place, I have been plagued with the defence of one 
 man, and the explanation of another, and the expostulations of 
 a third, and the exclamations of a fourth. Nor does this last 
 period (though its composition would do honour to the Duke 
 of Mimbro himself) express sufficiently half the wearisome 
 task I have to sustain. My Archbishop, a well-meaning and 
 honourable man, but irritable and requiring management, is 
 like our old master Dr. Richardson, tediously and offensively 
 particular. Not the rim of a sacramental cup in the diocese, 
 if it happens to be bruised, escapes his notice ; and he searches 
 into all our secret grievances with the zeal and minuteness 
 with which my old aunt, many years ago at Shooter's Hill, to 
 your extreme amusement, pulled up the petticoats of little Ned 
 Miles, to find out a wicked pin, or thorn, which ran into the 
 poor boy's posteriors. With a grave face, and laughing eye, I 
 reprove or excuse the offenders, conscious, however, that many 
 serious evils are prevented, by the inspection of superiors into 
 trifles ; and, indeed, that the Irish church, detested by the 
 Papists, and plundered by the Protestants, could not exist at 
 all, without some institution of this sort. The great evil I 
 complain of on this side of the channel is want of principle. 
 The man who receives you at his table with the most lavish hos- 
 pitality, would too often plunder you of your property, and if 
 you left him a legacy to distribute to the poor, would put it 
 without scruple into his pocket. 
 
 Let me beg of you, my dear Parr, rather to dwell on these 
 lighter and less interesting topics, than to feed your grief by 
 the serious reflections which your mind, strong in itself, and 
 habituated to view every subject in all its bearings, would be 
 more apt to suggest. Fly from the subject ? Learn to trifle, 
 rather than feel ? And, above all things, encourage the consi- 
 deration of the short space of time during which we are separated 
 from those we love ? In the mean time, be assured that all 
 who know you must feel deeply for your loss, and will hear with
 
 MEMOIRS. 639 
 
 the sincerest pleasure that though you can never forget, you 
 have learned to endure it. I remain, yours affectionately and 
 truly, W. Cloyne. 
 
 It cannot be concealed, and, indeed, it becomes a 
 part of my duty to relate, that events connected 
 with the marriage of his daughter Sarah became a 
 source of great unhappiness to him. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Wynne, of Plasnewydd in Denbighshire, placed 
 their eldest son under the care of Dr. Parr, at 
 Hatton, in the year 1796, In this situation, towards 
 the end of that year, he became attached to Miss 
 Sarah Parr, and during the Christmas holidays, in 
 some way or other, his attachment became known 
 to his family. On his return to Hatton, in Fe- 
 bruary, 1797, it became obvious also to Mrs. 
 Parr, who instantly made the circumstance known 
 to Mrs. Wynne, Mr. John Wynne's mother. He 
 was sent home in February, but, by a singular fata- 
 lity, sent back again, " duly cautioned by exhorta- 
 tion," to guard against those " susceptibilities and 
 facilities which had shown themselves in him from 
 his earliest infancy." Mr. and Mrs. Wynne were 
 fully apprised of every circumstance as it passed, by 
 Mrs. Parr ; and, whatever might have been her 
 secret wishes, it is due to her to state, that she 
 more than once recommended Mr. John Wynne's 
 removal. Unhappily, for all parties, the advice that 
 was given was not followed, and the plot began to 
 thicken so much, that, in the middle of May, Mrs. 
 Parr deemed it necessary to repeat her warnings. 
 Mr. Wynne's answer, full of wavering and weakness 
 as it is, proves the fact, that Dr. Parr was purposely
 
 640 MEMOIRS. 
 
 kept in the dark, and that on the 17th of May, the 
 date of his letter, he first thinks it necessary to 
 inform Dr. Parr of the transaction. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 The subject of your letter distresses me much ; I fear there 
 is no alternative but to remove John from those advantages 
 M-hich I had so fondly proposed for his future good and happi- 
 ness ; I think, on the most mature deliberation of which I am 
 capable, that the best thing is to inform the Doctor of every 
 thing to this very period, and this also ; for, as I could not re- 
 concile to my feelings removing John abruptly from under his 
 care, either in honour to the Doctor, or in justice to myself, 
 without assigning a cause (and my mind would recoil at giving 
 any but the true reason), therefore, as he must know it ulti- 
 mately, I think the sooner the better ; but on no account would I 
 have the young ones know that we are now corresponding. It 
 must not be divulged to them that you have acquainted me with 
 these new circumstances ; but perhaps the Doctor's authority 
 united to yours, and threatening to inform me if every thing is 
 not immediately dropped, may at least act as a temporary 
 check. Pray when will the Doctor's next vacation be ? I am, 
 dear Madam, yours very faithfully, R. W. Wynne. 
 
 When the Doctor was informed of the attach- 
 ment of Mr. John Wynne he shut up his daughter, 
 and instantly sent off a messenger, to beg Mrs. 
 Edward Johnstone to receive her under her pro- 
 tection. This was the signal for elopement. The 
 young couple fled to Gretna Green. When they 
 returned. Dr. Parr would not receive them at Hat- 
 ton. They took refuge in a farm-house in the 
 neighbourhood. And Mr. John Wynne's letter to 
 his uncle, Mr. Dodd, on June 17th, contains the 
 following sentence : 
 
 We have, both Mrs. Wynne and myself, been very wrongfully 
 suspected by Doctor Parr till Monday night, who was then,
 
 MEMOIRS. G41 
 
 upon the relation of the whole business, confounded, and ex- 
 tremely surprised to hear with what openness and honour we 
 had both behaved, and not only arose out of his insensibility on 
 the subject, but even pitied us exceedingly, who till then was all 
 fire and fury against us. He promised my father that he would 
 not confirm the marriage, and that he would turn us out of 
 doors ; he therefore has kept his promise, but most sincerely 
 and bitterly repents. Had the relation of the business been 
 opened to him before, we should now be his inmates, and our 
 marriage confirmed, so truly does he pity us for the manner in 
 which we have been treated by others, and for the manner in 
 which he himself ti-eated us. 
 
 Thus it appears that Dr. Parr was very harsh to 
 the young couple, after their return, till an explana- 
 tion had taken place. Nor would he suffer the 
 banns for a second marriage to be proclaimed ; but 
 after a letter from Mr. Wynne, dated June 8, 1797, 
 his paternal affection revived, and his heart 
 yearned towards his daughter, and shuddered at the 
 possibility of her disgrace. 
 
 Surely nothing is valid, as he is under age, and if you retain 
 your daughter and turn him out of your house I shall thank 
 you ; for if they come here together, I shall be forced to turn 
 them both out ; every thing I possess in this world I can give to 
 whom I pleascj and he shall never have a farthing while he 
 lives, unless he entirely disengages from this business ; if this 
 should be impossible, they are both ruined for ever — I am sorry 
 for them ; but I must put my next son into the place that was 
 intended for him ; and on this I am most peremptorily resolved. 
 I am, my dear Sir, with great regard, yours most truly, 
 
 R. W. Wynne. 
 
 Dr. Parr wrote a long and elaborate reply to this 
 
 letter, dated Magdalen College, Oxford, June 25, 
 
 1797, of which I shall only copy the close. 
 
 You will observe, dear Sir, the delicacy and faithfulness with 
 which I have acted in taking no step to marry again my own 
 VOL. I. 2 T
 
 642 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 dear child, in resisting the warm but pardonable importunity 
 of my wife, for me so to do, and in requesting a neighbouring 
 clergyman not to ask the banns. Here the measure of my 
 duty to you under the present circumstances is filled up. Other 
 duties may and even must arise in other quarters ; and I tell 
 you unreservedly and seriously, that having acted like an 
 honest man and a gentleman to you in this point, I shall with 
 equal firmness and equal propriety act as the guardian of my 
 daughter's honour, if I should find occasion so to do. Let her 
 be punished hy poverty, but to disgrace she shall not be ex- 
 posed. These words are full of meaning, which is to be called 
 out more or less by your actions, and by my own actions de- 
 pending upon yours. What I have to add is, that important 
 as my meaning is in the foregoing sentence relating to my 
 daughter, it does not include the yet higher and more interest- 
 ing subject to which I called your serious attention in the fifth 
 and sixth pages of this letter. I shall not intermeddle with per- 
 suasion and advice ; but whatever is beyond persuasion and ad- 
 vice flings us all into another situation, accompanied in my mind 
 by other and loud calls to other and sacred duties in my conduct. 
 In what those duties consist I shall at a proper time explain by 
 words, and if need be, by actions ; by words the most unequivo- 
 cal, and by actions the most undisguised and decisive. What- 
 ever may be included in my resolutions, I assure you. Sir, as a 
 man of honour, and for your entire satisfaction, I now make the 
 assurance in xuriting, that I have no right whatsoever, and no 
 ixish whatsoever to interfere, directly or indirectly, now or here- 
 after, in any pecuniary matters between yourself and Mr. John 
 Wynne, Compared with two subjects which stand at this mo- 
 ment arrayed in all their possible consequences before my 
 judgment, my feelings, and my conscience, all the wealth in the 
 world is to me, and may be to others, lighter than the dust in 
 the balance. I beg my best compliments to Mrs, Wynne and 
 your family, I have the honour to be, dear Sir, yours truly, 
 
 S. Parr, 
 
 Soon after, the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. John 
 Wynne was solemnized according to the rites of the 
 Church of England, and they went to reside at Ox-
 
 MEMOIRS. 043 
 
 ford, whither Mr. Wynne was sent to complete his edu- 
 cation at Jesus College. By degrees, peace was appa- 
 rently restored, Mrs. John Wynne was introduced at 
 Plasnewydd, and finally on the death of the elder Mr. 
 Wynne, they took possession of and resided at an 
 ancient seat of the Wynne family, Garthmeilio, in 
 Denbighshire. But dissensions arose, and in the 
 end a separation took place. Mrs. Wynne went to 
 reside at Shrewsbury, where she instituted a suit for 
 maintenance against her husband. In the mean 
 time her health declined, symptoms of consump- 
 tion appeared, and she sought relief in the air of 
 Devonshire, whither Mrs. Parr accompanied her. 
 On the trial coming on at Shrewsbury at the spring 
 assizes of 1810, Mrs. Parr was hurried from the 
 coast of Devon to give evidence, and by exposure to 
 cold on her return, was affected with a pulmonary 
 disorder of which she died. She was brought to 
 Hatton, followed by her daughter : and the like cere- 
 mony was observed on her interment as on the oc- 
 casion of the death of her daughter Catharine. In 
 the earlier periods of his life Mr. Roderick assures 
 me, that Dr. Parr was tenderly attached to his wife. 
 He relied upon her judgment, and committed the 
 care of all his concerns to her management. But 
 it was a match imposed upon him by Dr. Askew, 
 for temporary convenience. Mrs. Parr was not a 
 woman to be loved, and Parr was too inexperienced 
 in the world to make the choice of life at so early 
 an age. Indeed, of this inexperience, Mr. Hetley 
 could tell some ludicrous instances, and from his au- 
 thority I assert, that Mrs. Parr herself was not cal- 
 
 2 T 2
 
 644 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 culatcd to conduct a large establishment well, and 
 that she defeated in the house what Parr did in the 
 school. Mr. Roderick talks of the dignity of her 
 manner. What might have been dignity too often 
 degenerated into haughtiness, and sarcasm, and inso- 
 lence at Hatton. But there an entire revolution had 
 taken place : there Parr took the whole concerns 
 of his household into his own hands, and this habit 
 continued to the end of his life. Whatsoever was 
 the reason for establishing such a system, it was ill- 
 calculated to produce union, and though he conti- 
 nued to express the sense he had of his first wife's 
 sound judgment and understanding, and was always 
 biassed by her opinions, it was too cleiu" that the 
 bonds which held them together, were not those of 
 affection. In certain matters of family interest she 
 continued his friend and adviser ; but her sarcasms 
 often wounded his spirit, her want of temper di- 
 minished his domestic happiness, and her bitter and 
 false representations sometimes tended to injure his 
 fame.* It is due to the purity of his life and con- 
 versation, that I say thus much ; for many still 
 survive who might otherwise repeat to his disad- 
 vantage the bitter invective, the dark insinuation, or 
 the sly complaint which were too often heard in 
 former times at Hatton. To her children she was 
 as devoted as her husband was. 
 
 In a short period all the remainder of Parr's 
 
 * I speak this solemnly from a knowledge of the fact, and 
 record it, now my spirit is wounded by hearing imputations 
 cast upon Dr. Parr's moral character.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 645 
 
 family that he could call his own, fell victims of dis- 
 ease ; for Mr. "Wynne's two eldest daughters were 
 separated from their mother, nor could the strongest 
 efforts of a kind and affectionate friend bring them 
 to receive the last blessing of their dying parent. 
 With all the warmth of affection, and all the ardour 
 of friendship — with all that force of kindness which 
 so well marked her character, Mrs. Holyoake made 
 a last endeavour to bring the mother and her chil- 
 dren together before the curtain was drawn for ever: 
 but it failed, as the following lettej- of my dear de- 
 parted and accomplished friend will testify : 
 
 From Mrs. Holyoake, to the Rev. Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Tettenhall, Tuesday night, May 29, 1810. 
 
 I cannot express my concern for all the sorrow and affliction 
 at Hatton ! And pray accept my kindest thanks for your at- 
 tention to me when your mind was so painfully occupied. Poor 
 dear Mrs. Wynne ! I fear this last blow will be too much for 
 her ; I had vainly hoped for some consolation to offer her, but 
 alas ! Mr. Wynne in his better judgment has found in his 
 heart to invent some excuses to refuse my request. His letter 
 I got by to-day's post, and (as contrary to my intention) 
 you knew of my anxious undertaking, I do not keep the result 
 of it an hour from you. I never set my heart upon anything so 
 much in my life as obtaining the dear children to convey to 
 Hatton ; and though your most melancholy letter made it ache 
 yesterday, it would now jump with joy if my undertaking had 
 been crowned with success. Had it not been for the assistance 
 of Mr. Holyoake's warm heart, and interest in Mrs. Wynne, 
 together with his good head, I should most earnestly have 
 wished the cause in a more able hand than mine. But I do as- 
 sure you, my request was so replete with plans for the perform-
 
 646 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ing of it, that had not Mr. Wynne fully made up his mind upon 
 the subject, I am vain enough to believe he could not have re- 
 sisted. I told him I did not presume to suggest any mode of 
 conduct for himself to adopt, but that if he would allow Mrs. 
 Wynne to see the children, and would do me the honour to 
 entrust them to my care, I would strictly fulfil every wish he 
 expressed, and undertake to restore them to him at any pe- 
 riod and place he would appoint. I invited him to bring them 
 here, that Mr. Holyoake v/ould be glad to see him, and in case 
 of that not being convenient, I proposed his conveying them 
 to Shrewsbury, where I would meet them, and convey them to 
 Hatton in my own carriage, and restore them to him there 
 again. In short, my dear Sir, I said every thing that our friend- 
 ship and Mr. Holyoake's better judgment could suggest to 
 obtain this most desirable end ; but I clearly see it never will 
 happen. I hope Mrs. Wynne does not know such a business 
 has been in agitation — I am truly sorry you do, since you con- 
 sider me entitled to those acknowledgments which in better 
 success we should have been repaid ten-fold. Mr. W^ynne 
 says, that an interview between Mrs. W. and her children, 
 although momentarily gratifying, would be the cause of future 
 additional misery to the latter, should their mother die during 
 their stay with her, and to the former, should she survive her 
 present illness, to be again deprived of them, when he might 
 wish to have them returned to him, and he exceedingly laments 
 Mrs. Wynne's present melancholy situation ! The letter in ge- 
 neral to me is as civil as any refusal can be ; insomuch that I do 
 not despair but some future time he M'ill let the little girls come 
 here, and that I am sure would be a pleasure to my poor friend. 
 I was so anxious for this letter, and so was our excellent friend 
 Mr. Butler, that in order to give him the earliest intelligence, 
 I have sent up to the office every day the moment the Shrews- 
 bury mail went by, that I might write to him by its return in the 
 evening, and that I did this day, though ill in bed. Since I 
 can do Mrs. Wynne no service, and she, alas ! cannot come 
 here, I am now going to Cheltenham next Saturday in search 
 of better health for one fortnight, and an address to the post- 
 office will find me, in case you should have any communication
 
 MEMOIRS. 647 
 
 you are so good to intrust me in. With kind regards to dear 
 Mrs. W., I have the honour to be, dear Sir, your most obHged 
 servant, D. E. Holvoake. 
 
 Mrs. Wynne's health, thus broken by domestic 
 affliction, rapidly dechned after the funeral of her 
 mother. Her little child Madalina sickened of the 
 small pox and died. Bereaved of the comfort of 
 the society of her other children, nothing was left 
 for her but to die, and she prepared for the last 
 scene with decent composure. I have now before 
 me the expressions of her last will, the disposition 
 of her effects, of her wardrobe, and her trinkets, and 
 there is a melancholy pleasure, even after the lapse 
 of years, in reassembling these last fond associa- 
 tions, these evanescent records of the departing 
 spirit. Mrs. Wynne died at Hatton, July 1810 : 
 she bore her grievous afflictions with magnanimity. 
 To the last even, she retained a portion of her 
 cheerfulness and her gaiety ; for, notwithstanding 
 the kindness of her father, the^rave was indeed a 
 refuge to her. 
 
 Character of Mrs. Wynne. 
 Died July, 1810.— Mrs. Sarah Anne Wynne, aged SS, at Hat- 
 ton, near Warwick, the only remaining daughter of the Rev. Dr. 
 Parr. The brilliancy of her imagery in conversation and writing, 
 the readiness, gaiety, and fertility of her wit, the acuteness of her 
 observations upon men and things, and the variety of her know- 
 ledge upon the most familiar and most profound subjects, were 
 very extraordinary. They who lived with her in th e closest 
 intimacy, were again and again struck with admiration at the 
 rapidity, ease, vivacity, and elegance of her epistolary compo- 
 sitions. Whether upon lively or serious topics they were 
 always adapted to the occasion ; they were always free from 
 the slightest taint of affected phraseology and foreign idiom ;
 
 648 MEMOIRS. 
 
 they were always distinguished by a peculiar felicity and ori- 
 ginality of conception and expression ; and the genius displayed 
 in them would most undoubtedly have placed the writer in the 
 very highest class of her female contemporaries, if she had em- 
 ployed her pen upon any work with a deliberate view to publi- 
 cation. Her reading in the most approved authors, both French 
 and English, was diversified and extensive ; her memory was 
 prompt and correct ; and her judgment upon all questions of 
 taste and literature, morality and religion, evidently marked 
 the powers with which she had been gifted by nature, and the 
 advantages which she had enjoyed for cultivating those powers 
 under the direction of her enlightened parents, and in the so- 
 ciety of learned and ingenious men, to which she had access 
 from her earliest infancy. With becoming resignation to the 
 will of heaven she endured a long and painful illness, which 
 had been brought upon her by a pressure of domestic sorrows 
 on a constitution naturally weak. Her virtues as a friend, a 
 child, a wife, and a mother, were most exemplary; and her 
 piety was sincere, rational, and habitual. — Otridges Aimual 
 Register for 1810. 
 
 The above character, dictated by parental tender- 
 ness, is, in the main, true. But those who remem- 
 ber Mrs. Wynne cannot fail to recollect that her 
 wit had often too keen an edge, and that she often 
 viewed things through a coloured and partial me- 
 dium, and represented them accordingly in sarcastic 
 and bitter terms. There are several specimens of 
 her poetry and her composition among the papers ; 
 one particularly on Lord Kirkwall's birth-day ; but 
 all of little importance. I shall, however, quote 
 one specimen of her sarcastic wit on a more im- 
 portant subject. To gratify her spleen, or her 
 humour, she wrote the following letter, under the 
 signature of Ralph Bincks, a name which she had 
 seen subscribed to some documents in the news-
 
 MEMOIRS. 649 
 
 papers on vaccination, to a Committee at Warwick, 
 established to promote that important object. By 
 the ill-natured sagacity of some persons, this paper 
 was, at the time, falsely attributed to the writer of 
 this memoir. He takes occasion now, in declaring 
 the truth, to express his continued approbation of 
 this experiment — his conviction of the advantages 
 it has already produced — his knowledge of the 
 misrepresentations of its use, and even of its failures 
 — his continued perseverance in recommending the 
 practice of it, and his sincere hopes that time will 
 set the lasting stamp of benefit upon the experi- 
 ment, for such it is. 
 
 To the Committee of Vaccination at Warwick. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Having seen, by favour of a medical friend, the late most 
 judicious and irrefragable publication of the Warwick Cow-Pox 
 Committee, I am induced, by their conspicuous wisdom and 
 science, to lay before them an accurate account of a new me- 
 thod of annihilating that scourge of mankind, the small-pox. 
 I think. Sir, that the virtuous abhorrence in which the Com- 
 mittee hold this destructive enemy of the human race, will pre- 
 clude all objections to my methods, and obviate the stale and 
 narrow prejudices which might arise against it as a novelty. 
 It is now. Sir, three years since I was summoned to a young 
 gentleman belonging to Westminster School, who laboured 
 under a disease which greatly alarmed his boarding dame by 
 the strangeness of the symptoms and the suddenness of the 
 attack. 1 found the patient with a slight degree of ?e\cr, at- 
 tended with a trivial elongation of the ears. I confess, Sir, 
 these symptoms at first distressed me ; but upon observing a 
 number of small pimples of an ash-coloured hue, I exclaimed 
 " Eureka," and hailed myself as the discoverer of the ass-pox ; 
 for, Sir, upon making the common inquiries, I found the 
 patient had been accustomed to ride in 'I'othill-fields upon
 
 650 MEMOIRS. 
 
 jack-asses, and he had assisted in rubbing down one which was 
 much diseased, shortly after which he became rather stupid, 
 and the above-mentioned symptoms increased. For the ears I 
 ordered an oleaginous liniment, and then a strengthening em- 
 brocation, which soon contracted the ears within their accus- 
 tomed limits. The patient's dislike to usual nourishments was 
 vexatious, till I luckily ordered thistle brotli, with soaked oats, 
 to be administered. On the fourth day he became convales- 
 cent, and on the sixth every symptom subsided. He returned 
 to school, and has since been esteemed more acute and docile 
 than before the ass-pox. This young gentleman and many hun- 
 dreds of patients who have, under my inspection, been favoured 
 with Zebrine inoculation, have since been eighteen, twenty, and 
 even forty times inoculated without any effect. About this 
 time I was called to attend the late patient's brother in the 
 cow-pox, and found. Sir, the horny excrescences on the os 
 frontis had already attained to a most formidable height, that 
 the hoofs were hard and thick, and though I had sustained some 
 surprise from the voice of my other patients, it was nothing 
 when compared with what I endured from the bellowing of a 
 bull in a bed-chamber ; indeed, the patient told rae, with tears 
 in his eyes, that when he first made complaint of illness, the 
 master, usher, and boys ran with all speed out of the school. 
 I assure you. Sir, that I treated this case according to the 
 Jennerian rules, but more than once I found it would be neces- 
 sary to have recourse to the knife, in order to eradicate the 
 horns and hoofs, which even resisted the lunar caustic. After 
 a tedious and painful confinement, we at length obtained hope 
 of recovery, which was, however, retarded by the accident of 
 my patient going to wash his hoofs in the Thames just at the 
 moment when a fanatical Methodist preacher was haranguing 
 his congregation on the Devil's visible appearance to sinners. 
 The mob, Sir, espying the hoofs of my patient, exclaimed 
 '< that Satan was at hand ;" and forthwith his disciples, by their 
 outrages, so disturbed the gentleman's spirits, that his fever was 
 much prolonged. It cannot escape the observation of so wise 
 a Committee," that the symptoms of Zebrine inoculation are 
 even less alarming than those of the inestimable cow-pox, nor 
 can there exist the smallest objection to the propagation of a
 
 MEMOIRS. 651 
 
 disease among the poor, of which the remedy is cheap and so 
 easily procured. In short, Sir, I expect, nay almost demand 
 of your Committee that, in return for my communications, you 
 shall compose another little book and exhortation, recommending 
 inoculation in the ass-pox in Warwick and its vicinity, which 
 places, I am told, are remarkably favourable to a trial of this 
 new disease. I shall now. Sir, proceed to state some further 
 most important discoveries, to which 1 was led by my detesta- 
 tion of the small-pox — ray incapacity to endure bellowing — 
 the want of Zebrine matter, and the destruction of four cases 
 of surgical instruments by attempting to conquer horns and 
 hoofs. By accurate investigation I found that matter was fre- 
 quently formed at the bottom of the quills of diseased geese, 
 and I proceeded to inoculate my two apprentices therewith. 
 The disease answered my most sanguine expectations, except 
 that the intellects of these lads have not been so lively since 
 inoculation, but, as they are intended for country practitioners, 
 this accident is of no consequence. I desisted, however, from 
 Anserine inoculation in London, and, after various experiments 
 on different animals, I was so lucky as at lengtli to find blotches, 
 containing laudable pus, behind the ears of a hog. I imme- 
 diately requested my wife to be the first porcine patient, but 
 my arguments and entreaties were vain ; Mrs. Bincks actually 
 refused so resolutely, that I was obliged to perform the opera- 
 tion upon myself, and found the result favourable. My wife, 
 however, who is strangely prejudiced against novelties, pre- 
 tends, indeed, to have discovered in me an unusual degree of 
 obstinacy lately; but that I consider as mere calumny. 
 I am. Sir, your most obedient and humble servant, 
 
 Ralph Bincks. 
 
 Thus was Parr deprived of the society of all his 
 children. He outlived them all ; and as his grand- 
 children were not permitted to approach him, he 
 was cast again upon the ocean of life, to seek other 
 connections and other props for his declining age. 
 His grand-children, indeed, were restored to him for 
 a short time, but were snatched back again, and the
 
 652 MEMOIRS. 
 
 family breach was widened by the short and ilkisory 
 interval of reconciliation. Nor can it be esteemed 
 at all his fault that the reconciliation was not then 
 complete. What motive could he have, now that old 
 age was approaching, to separate himself from his 
 own flesh and blood, and remove those far off who 
 were the natural heirs of his fortune, and the natural 
 props of his old age ? The event proved that it 
 was not his wish ; kindness was a portion of his 
 very nature ; his love for his cousin Frank was al- 
 most a morbid sensibihty. It is unnatural, there- 
 fore, to suppose that he was in any degree instru- 
 mental in the breach, much less can the children be 
 supposed to have been influential in it. They, in- 
 deed, were the suflx^rers. Events, however, those 
 great controllers of all our actions, led the way to 
 that ultimate reconciliation which took place, as we 
 shall see hereafter. 
 
 Soon after the death of Mrs. Wynne he received 
 an anonymous letter purporting to be from his 
 daughter in another world. It was a solemn appeal 
 to his feelings ; and, though written feebly, he pro- 
 fessed to set a high value upon it. He did not 
 want such a memorial as this to remind him of his 
 religious duties, and, thoroughly impressed with a 
 sense of the parental duties imposed upon him by 
 the almost orphan state of his grand-children, he 
 smnmoned up his resolution : 
 
 My domestic sorrows weigh me quite down, but I shall sum- 
 mon all my courage; and in truth, dear Sir, I have a very deep 
 and serious sense of the duties which I owe to my grand-chil- 
 dren as their protector. I had reckoned much upon the judi-
 
 MEMOIRS. 653 
 
 cious and affectionate aid they and their poor mother would 
 have had from Mrs. Parr. But these hopes are no more. I 
 have long learned to value life chiefly as a sort of trust reposed 
 in us by the Almighty for promoting the good of his creatures, 
 and as a state of discipline preparatory to a nobler sphere of 
 agency. This conviction is firmly seated in my mind ; it docs 
 not weaken any of the feelings which are natural to the human 
 heart. No, Charles, But it invigorates them, and purifies 
 them, and exalts them from the rank of weaknesses into incen- 
 tives to virtue : and virtue, mingled with reflection, intention, 
 and active exercise, raises the soul of man to the most becoming 
 and the most animating piety. — Letter to Dr. C. Burney, April 
 27, 1810,
 
 654 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Toleration, — Religions Opinions. 
 
 The Union of Ireland with England, brought 
 about by Mr. Pitt to consolidate the resources of 
 the empire, had seemed to promise, not only tolera- 
 tion of the Catholics, but their introduction into 
 power. To a certain extent, the grievances they 
 laboured under had been removed. They were per- 
 mitted to enlist in the service of their country in 
 all subordinate capacities — they might shed their 
 blood in the field, or display their talents in the 
 forum ; but it was deemed unsafe to give them the 
 power of supreme command, and of a vote in the 
 senate, or to place any portion of the patronage of 
 the Church and the State in their hands. 
 
 The Catholic question very early became one of 
 the points of discussion between Parr and Bennet. 
 The Bishop had been dislodged from power by 
 those who advocated the Catholic claims, and con- 
 sequently was not very friendly to them. He says, 
 in a letter, dated 
 
 Bath, Aprils, 1805. 
 You are already in possession of my sentiments on the Ca- 
 tholics. As an Irish question I esteem it of no great import. 
 By agreeing to the Petition you will not endanger the Consti- 
 tution on the one hand, and you will not conciliate the great 
 mass of the Catholic body on the other. Yet these are the 
 points on which, I dare say, both the friends and the enemies
 
 MEMOIRS. 655 
 
 of the question will make their principal stand. I have no 
 doubt of its being rejected in both Houses for the present, by 
 a considerable majority. The time will come when the battle 
 will be fought on other grounds, and with more reasonable 
 hopes of success. I feel, however, no small temptation to be 
 a spectator of the skirmishing on the 9th of May, and, as I dare 
 say you will also have curiosity enough to stay, I flatter myself 
 with the hopes of again seeing you at a quiet dinner, wherever 
 my lodgings may be, sine aulaeis et ostro. 
 
 The agitation of this question in the diocese of 
 Worcester, and the Petition agreed upon on the 2d 
 of January, 1813, called forth Dr. Parr's particular 
 attention to the subject. The Petition was couched 
 in the following terms : 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Par- 
 liament assembled. The Humble Petition of the Reverend 
 the Dean and Chapter, Archdeacon and Clergy, of the Ca- 
 thedral Church and Diocese of Worcester : 
 
 Sheweth, 
 That we are justly alarmed at the high tone assumed by the 
 Papists in Ireland, in their late Petitions to Parliament, 
 
 We have no wish, whatever, to abridge the religious toleration 
 they enjoy, but we dread an increase of their political power. 
 We do, therefore, most earnestly entreat this Right Honourable 
 House, in their wisdom, to consider whether such power, if 
 conceded, would not tend to endanger the Protestant establish- 
 ment, interwoven with the Constitution of these realms. By 
 the statement of the Roman Catholics themselves, the character 
 of their Church is known to be inconsistent with our civil and 
 religious liberties, and to be subversive of the King's ecclesias- 
 tical supremacy. 
 
 Dear to us is the liberty we enjoy, and revered the constitu- 
 tional power of the Monarch ; but dearer still are the tenets of 
 our holy faith, and the pure doctrines of our Apostolical Church, 
 which, by the most sacred ties, we are bound to continue and 
 uphold.
 
 656 MEMOIRS. 
 
 On the subject of this Petition, and the conduct 
 he meant to pursue in consequence of it, the fol- 
 lowing letter to Lord Holland gives an account : 
 
 MY LORD, Hatton, January \6^ 1813. 
 
 To the same extent with your lordship, for the same reasons 
 of sound pohcy and justice, and perhaps with yet stronger im- 
 pressions from rehgious considerations, I hokl the plain and 
 broad principle, that no man, merely in consequence of his 
 creed, ought to be subject to the inconveniences and the insults 
 practically inseparable from civil disabilities. I look with in- 
 dignation upon that which is now passing among my clerical 
 brethren, and with terror to the remoter consequences which it 
 will infallibly produce upon the interests and the credit of our 
 ecclesiastical establishment. I see not the possibility of danger 
 from concession ; but the evils of resistance arc inevitable and 
 incalculable. 
 
 Yesterday I received from my Archdeacon a circular letter, 
 inviting me to sign a Petition drawn up by a numerous body of 
 Clergy assembled at Worcester, and sent to seven of our great 
 towns for the edification (no doubt) and encouragement of my 
 reverend brethren. I shall not content myself now with silence. 
 I have drawn up a letter, which our Bishop and his orthodox 
 associates will not be much pleased to read, and which the 
 Archdeacon will not fail to show as a proof of my heretical 
 and ungodly propensities. It was not a season for argument, 
 and, to say the truth, the very best arguments would be thrown 
 away at such a time upon such zealots ; but they unwisely gave 
 me an opportunity of telling them my mind, and told it shall 
 be, unreservedly and indignantly. I will not annoy them till 
 they have completed their regiment. 
 
 In answer to this Petition Dr. Parr wrote an ela- 
 borate letter to Dr. Evans, Archdeacon of Wor- 
 cester, containing his objection to the Petition, and 
 which I shall insert in the Appendix, as compre- 
 hending his views of the subject. Dr. Evans, who 
 was a most amiable and exemplary ecclesiastic, re- 
 plied to him in the kindest terms.
 
 MEMOIRS. 057 
 
 As a question not of toleration, but of political 
 expediency, the " Calm Statement" ascribed, and I 
 believe justly, to a favourite pupil and friend of Dr. 
 Parr, contains plain and irresistible argument, and 
 by one fact demonstrates that those who puhlicly 
 objected to the extension of political privileges, 
 silently conceded them to the Catholics. The 
 Grenville administration were thrown out for advo- 
 cating the principle, the real practice of which was 
 estabhshed on "the 10th of July, 1817, under the 
 government of Lord Liverpool, and almost without 
 notice in either House of Parliament." But the 
 question assumes another aspect, and becomes of 
 vital interest and importance, when it is viewed sole- 
 ly as it relates to the pacification of Ireland. 
 
 Warburton has endeavoured to prove, in his "Alli- 
 ance between Church and State," that utility, not 
 truth, is the proper and immediate object of the magis- 
 trate ; the majority interested in the question have a 
 right therefore to command the species of church ; 
 but that church, whatsoever it be, must be useful to 
 the state. Without adverting to that experiment 
 which is now making in the new world, and which 
 seems to prove that there is no necessary alli- 
 ance between Church and State, Ireland on this 
 ground has a right to command her own establish- 
 ment. Whatsoever order of things she may pre- 
 fer, and she has a claim on us for a different order 
 from that which now prveails — for one more useful 
 to her — she must be pacified, she must be in- 
 structed, she must have a larger share of the bless- 
 ings of the British constitution, or she will become 
 
 VOL. I. 2 u
 
 658 M£MOIRS. 
 
 our weakness, not our strength or salvation. If 
 this be opposed on the pretext of conscientious 
 scruples, such as a late correspondence with Lord 
 Kenyon has developed, it may be answered : 
 
 Let us, however, suppose (says Parr,), that after diligent, 
 
 impartial, and serious investigation, a King of England should 
 
 prefer the Greek Church, the Church of Rome, the Church of 
 
 Holland, the Church of Geneva, or that he should be even led 
 
 to admit natural religion to the exclusion of revealed, what 
 
 conduct is he then to pursue ? His duty to God certainly 
 
 requires that he should profess and worship only according to 
 
 that which he thinks true, and in the opinion of an enlightened 
 
 sovereign it might, under some circumstances, require no more : 
 
 but the wise and wholesome jealousy of the laws is not so easily 
 
 satisfied. They suppose that a sovereign would be languid or 
 
 insincere in protecting what he thought false, that he would 
 
 directly or indirectly endeavour to introduce what he thought 
 
 true, and considering public utility as inseparably connected 
 
 with our religious establishment, they have provided against 
 
 the possibility of the case just now mentioned, and virtually 
 
 have left no alternative between conformity and resignation. 
 
 Conceivable it is that a sincere and virtuous King might, in 
 
 his own mind, enter into all the distinctions between religious 
 
 and philosophical truth, and that while, as an individual, he 
 
 practised one mode of worship, he might be disposed, as a 
 
 magistrate, to protect another. But the laws have not trusted 
 
 him with the power of thus exercising his own judgment upon 
 
 the union of his private and his public duties. They have 
 
 assumed that general utility makes it necessary for him to be 
 
 bound by express compact to conformity with the established 
 
 religion ; they have placed him in circumstances where he 
 
 cannot, as a moral agent, withdraw that conformity and wV- 
 
 tuously, as well as legally, retain his throne ; for surely there 
 
 cannot be a more intelligible or a more important mean of 
 
 public utility than the observance of a compact made by a 
 
 sovereign with his people. By surrendering his crown he 
 
 would be at full liberty to act according to his own views of
 
 MEMOIRS. 659 
 
 religious truth, and he would act conformably to philosophical 
 truth, or things as they really are, and as they are known by 
 himself to be, when in obedience to the authority of human 
 laws, and by virtue of conditions which he is no longer able 
 to fulfil, he ceased to claim the power of maintaining the esta- 
 blished religion, after he had ceased to consider it as the true 
 one. Such is the vigilance of our forefathers in guarding our 
 ecclesiastical establishment, that neither the King, as head of 
 the church, nor the two Houses of convocation co-operating 
 with the King, can introduce any material change in doctrine 
 or discipline without the concurrence of both Houses of Par- 
 liament. To the collective wisdom and the collective authority 
 of the legislature is entrusted the power of examining things 
 as they are, and of providing for public utility by the accom- 
 modation of their measures to the result of that examination. 
 
 To that collective wisdom the scruples of every 
 sound mind must ultimately yield, when sufficient 
 time has been given for matured experience. When 
 the two Houses of the British Parhament will, 
 and the King wills not, the consequence must be 
 an immediate appeal to the people, and a new 
 election must determine whether the people coin- 
 cide in sentiment with their former representatives. 
 A British monarch has no other alternative than 
 by thus appealing to his subjects ; and the history 
 of our country has not hitherto furnished us with 
 any other mode of action. 
 
 Though Dr. Parr wished to extend the benefits 
 of toleration to all Catholics, as well as to Chris- 
 tians of all sects and denominations, he was neither 
 luke-warm in the cause of Protestanism, nor of that 
 best establishment of it, as he deemed the Church 
 of England to be. When Dr. Milner, the Catholic 
 Bishop, pubHshed his End of Controversy, Parr 
 2u2
 
 660 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 was struck with the boldness and manliness with 
 which the Bishop asserted his cause, and with just 
 admiration of the vigorous and comprehensive mind 
 which could place that cause in such a conspicuous 
 and almost dazzling light. He was, however, not 
 dazzled ; he investigated the work with sobriety 
 and diligence ; he criticised it with candour, and 
 has left some remarks on it which will be a guide 
 to future inquirers. Nor did he stop here. Think- 
 ing that the Bishop had overstepped the boundary 
 of historical testimony, he wrote him a letter, des- 
 canting on some of his general principles, and 
 denying the inference he had drawn from some 
 partial and unrevealed testimony. In removing 
 doubts concerning the opinions expressed by Bishop 
 Hallifax on his death -bed, he has defended the 
 Church of England ; and it is fortunate that this 
 appeal was made to Bishop Milner before he him- 
 self quitted the scene of earthly contention. Of 
 Bishop Milner, now that he is incapable of being 
 affected either by praise or blame, I should decline 
 saying any thing, did not my personal knowledge of 
 him give me some right to declare an opinion. In 
 his College at Oscott I have frequently seen him 
 preside with dignity, with his amiable and learned 
 colleagues the late Rev. Thos. Potts, the Rt. Rev. Dr. 
 Walsh, and the Rev. Mr. Weedall. Perhaps he was 
 not always very courteous, perhaps even he was above 
 the common arts of seeking popularity. Yet was he 
 truly hospitable, and when he deigned to converse, 
 the strength of his mind always broke forth. He 
 asserted and maintained his 0])inions with the tone
 
 MEMOIRS. 661 
 
 and manner of one who did not deem that he could 
 be in error: he shnink not from any statement, 
 nor any opinion which he had once uttered ; he 
 told all he thought without hesitation, nor do I 
 believe that he would have suffered much rejoinder 
 with patience. Had Parr met him in the field of 
 argument, I can hardly conceive how the fierce 
 encounter would have ended ; and had he con- 
 ([uered him, his letter is a record of the respect he 
 would have expressed for his vigorous intellect and 
 courageous bearing, though it also shows how he 
 would have resented some of his intemperate sallies, 
 and hurled back again some of his insolent defiance. 
 But he never would have attacked the sturdy po- 
 lemic with unlawful weapons. It was his opinion 
 that on the grounds taken up by certain ecclesi- 
 astics, the reformed Church of England can never 
 be defended against such assailants as Dr. Milner. 
 If any other authority besides the Holy Scriptures 
 be allowed, no church can stand against the church 
 of Rome. 
 
 Tradition may impart whatsoever fable, super- 
 stition, or hypocrisy can invent ; the fathers, and 
 the interpretations of the fathers, may be wrested 
 by schohasts into the most different meanings. 
 In councils and synods, as in all other large assem- 
 blages of men, the passions of the human breast 
 are naturally puffed up by the presence and support 
 of multitudes : and that of Constance is an everlast- 
 ing example, how mercy may be forgotten by those 
 who pretend to legislate for religion. The history 
 of our frail and imperfect condition proves that
 
 662 MEMOIRS. 
 
 man is never to be trusted when his stronger 
 interests, or more violent passions, agitate his bosom. 
 Every phantom of his imagination then turns him 
 aside from right reason : he becomes the sport of 
 the dreams of ambition, or of the licence of uncon- 
 trolled power, nor can his moral duties ever be se- 
 cured but by a divine code of restriction or com- 
 mand. That code has been given him in a prepa- 
 ratory religion which opened the way for intro- 
 ducing THE DISPENSATION, the prop and the com- 
 fort of human kind, and its everlasting hope. — 
 " There is but one instance in the world, and never 
 will be another" (says Warburton). 
 
 In the defence of Protestantism, be it remember- 
 ed, he never sought the aid of those harsh terms 
 which have so often disgraced the writings of pole- 
 mical Divines. The whole of the letter to Dr. Mil- 
 ner is a specimen of calm discussion, perspicuous 
 statement, and manly declaration. Nor is it cloud- 
 ed by one acrimonious phrase, or insolent person- 
 ality. He was content to speak of some of the 
 tenets of Popery as erroneous and unscriptural 
 only ; and in his note on Heshusius (T) Sexcenti 
 Errores pleni Blasphemiis, &c. he says, 
 
 He read this book carefully. He found in it often what 
 seemed to him errors in the Church of Rome, but no one doc- 
 trine he would venture to call blasphemous. In the late con- 
 troversy with the Romanists, he was shocked to find this word 
 in the writings of English Protestants ; and he would set a 
 mark of the very strongest reprobation upon the word as ap- 
 plied by Barrington, Bishop of Durham, to the sacramental 
 tenets of the Romanists. S. P. 
 
 Nor did he ever venture to pronounce that the
 
 MEMOIRS. 6()3 
 
 Church of Rome was prefigured by those expres- 
 sions in the Apocalypse, " Mystery, Babylon the 
 Great/' &c. He acknowledged her errors, but dis- 
 cussed them with sober argument, not rancorous 
 invective, and enlightened Catholics were often ad- 
 mitted to his confidence and friendship. 
 
 Dr. Parr is requested, by the autlior of these works, (writes 
 the learned Mr. Charles Butler, of Lincoln's-inn,) to accept 
 this copy of Phil, and Bib. Works, as a testimony of his high 
 sense of the Doctor's extensive erudition in sacred and profane 
 literature, his exquisite taste., classical eloquence, and unde- 
 viating attachment to civil and religious liberty ; and as a grate- 
 ful acknowledgment of the Doctor's repeated kindness to him. 
 Signed, Charles Butler, 
 
 <j)i\6fiovaos, et forsan haud plane afiovaos. 
 
 Doubtless Mr. Butler has deserved both these 
 titles. Dr. Parr respected him highly, and I in- 
 sert some letters in the Appendix, relating to sub- 
 jects, the answers of which have already been pub- 
 lished by Mr. Butler. The letter about Cranmer 
 will be recollected by posterity, when the calumnia- 
 tors of the " blessed Martyr" lie forgotten in the 
 dust. 
 
 I might also adduce other correspondence with 
 enlightened Catholics. With the present Earl of 
 Shrewsbury ; with that hberal, high-minded, and 
 highly polished gentleman, the late Sir John Throck- 
 morton ; with Lord Dormer ; with Francis Canning, 
 Esq. ; the Hon. Mr. Arundel ; and with the Rev. Jo- 
 seph Berington, well known for his cool, candid, 
 and elaborate inquiries into many parts of sacred and 
 profane learning. But his sentiments are so well 
 known from his correspondence, his conversational
 
 664 
 
 MEMOIRS, 
 
 discussions, and his writings, particularly from that 
 part of the note on Mr. Fox's history which touches 
 on all the bearings of the Catholic question, that I 
 forl)ear enlarging further on this part of the sub- 
 ject. On that question Parr has laid prostrate a 
 host of prejudices by a single quotation: 
 
 HXeid-]} be ^fipis, tciTTuyr] r oXiyiiTTi]. — Hesiod. 
 
 Gladly, therefore, should I hail the day in which the religi- 
 ous tenets of the Roman Catholics should not be permitted to 
 obstruct the full recovery of their civil rights, and in which 
 the Church of England, providing at once for its own interest, 
 and its own honour, should display to every other Church in 
 Christendom a glorious example of " holding the faith in unity 
 of spirit, and the bond of peace." — Philopatris Varvicensis, vol. 
 ii, p. 620. 
 
 When the mind is solely and intensely fixed on 
 one subject, it is very apt to over-rate the import- 
 ance of the studies that occupy it ; but I am very 
 much deceived if every inquirer after truth, as well 
 as every friend of toleration, will not hail the fol- 
 lowing letter as a precious addition to his know- 
 ledge, or to his recollections : 
 
 From Dr. Parr, to Lord Holland. 
 
 MY LORD, April 26th, 1819. 
 
 I am charmed with your wise and interesting letter, and I 
 consider all your distinctions as just. Now, for these fifty- 
 three years I have been a studious reader in theology, and a 
 vigilant observer of theologians. Through the whole time I 
 have been a stedfast advocate for freedom of inquiry, and for 
 toleration more or less extended. Till the year 1793 I held 
 the principle of a test, but avowed my disapprobation of a sacra- 
 mental test, because it makes religion the stalking-horse of 
 politics ; but on reading a work which is ascribed to Sergeant 
 Heywood, who evidently was assisted by several enlightened
 
 MEMOIRS. 665 
 
 Dissenters, I gave up the whole principle of a test. Get this 
 book if you can, and remember, my Lord, that it is the onlij 
 sensible book which the attempt to procure a repeal of the Test 
 Act produced from our contemporaries. There were two or 
 three paltry pamphlets from Churchmen, and one very acute 
 book written by Sherlock was republished. My Lord, I have 
 read carefully the whole Bangorian controversy, in eleven vo- 
 lumes, and I am acquainted with no Ecclesiastic who, like my- 
 self, has gone through the whole. Hoadly saw, and enabled 
 his discerning reader to see, what was the province of the Ma- 
 gistrate. Warburton in his Alliance boldly proclaimed the fact, 
 " the Magistrate (he says) finds his proper concern in utility, 
 not in truth ;" and then, to shelter himself from his brethren, 
 he runs out into an elaborate and useless metaphorical disser- 
 tation, on the coincidence of utility and truth. I told this to 
 your uncle, when somebody had furnished him with some idle 
 paradoxes which are to be found in Warburton, and I added 
 for his amusement, that the Alliance to which Ecclesiastics then 
 appealed was reprobated upon its first appearance, and ludi- 
 crously called an alliance between William and Warburton. I 
 cannot help scribbling as a Parson, and delighted I am with 
 the shiftings and inconsistencies of my Reverend brethren. 
 My Lord, I wish, but perhaps in vain, that you would employ 
 your sound judgment and ingenuous spirit upon the subject of 
 toleration. I shall venture to point out the best books. The 
 Preface to Thuanus, which extorted praise even from Lord 
 Mansfield ; Locke on Toleration ; the Bangorian controversy ; 
 the Jirst English book and the best, written by Jeremy Taylor, 
 and called the Liberty of Prophecying. Well must your time 
 be employed in Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, and your own 
 sagacity will suggest to you that many parts relate to the dis- 
 putes of the times. Do not forget John Hales of Eton. Of 
 course you will study Warburton's Alliance ; Voltaire's book 
 upon toleration is worth reading, though not profound. There 
 are minor works by Turneaux and others, but I point out the 
 best books. Well, I have now to tell you one striking fact. 
 In the last century, and part of the preceding, all the writers 
 in favour of bold inquiry in rehgion are hostile to the Roman- 
 ists. Jortin, descended from a family which emigrated after the
 
 666 MEMOIRS. 
 
 revocation of the Edict of Nantz, imbibed such a hatred of 
 Popery as often counteracted the dictates of his benevolent 
 mind. Hoadly, the great champion of religious liberty, was 
 equally hostile ; but Archdeacon Blackburne, who had more 
 acuteness, and more historical reading than Hoadly or Jortin, 
 was the fiercest of all the Anti-Romanists ; he dreamt of Po- 
 pery — he raised against it a hue and cry — he saw, and in this 
 perhaps he was not singular, some traces of the Romish intoler- 
 ance and hierarchy in his own church. I have had some vehe- 
 ment controversies on the subject with Dr, John Jebb, and 
 once he pleaded guilty to the charge of inconsistency. Bishop 
 Waison was merciless towards the Romanists. This, my Lord, 
 is the history of my own times. All the writers were not only 
 disgusted with the doctrines, but alarmed at the intolerant spi- 
 rit, of the Church of Rome. They did not sufficiently distin- 
 guish between time past and time present. I allow with them, 
 that in the constitution of the Church of Rome there is a 
 direct tendency to intolerance, and that which is now passing 
 in Spain, and in other countries, is a decisive proof of the 
 fact. No wise statesman will ever trust the priesthood with 
 power, and this, mutatis mutandis, may be said of our own 
 country. Bishop Milner, the great advocate of the Roman- 
 ists, is a persecutor of the veiy worst order ; but how does this 
 reach the question before your House ? You are not going to 
 increase the power of the priesthood — you are going to extri- 
 cate the laity from a part of the priestly power — you are going 
 to soften the angry passions to which the priests appeal — you 
 will enable and encourage the nobility and gentry to be on 
 their watch against their pastors, and to employ their secular 
 influence in relieving their inferiors from bondage. Be assured, 
 my Lord, that the Romish priesthood foresee and dread the 
 consequences of emancipation. They get nothing by it direct- 
 ly, and indirectly they apprehend a diminution of their autho- 
 rity. Eldon is going to take the very ground which has been 
 already taken by Dr. Burgess, the Bishop of St. David's, and 
 Burgess has been quite confuted by Milner, in the preface to a 
 book which he published last year, called the " End of Con- 
 troversy." There are three volumes, and for thirty reasons I 
 wish you to look at them. Burgess is a good scholar, and a
 
 MEMOIRS. 667 
 
 good man, but he is a weak reasoner, and he is also an 
 intolerant bigot, without the consciousness of being so. — 
 Lingard, the Catholic, is a mighty reasoner — he is a pro- 
 found thinker — he is a conqueror in his conflict with the 
 Bishop of Durham, Le Mesurier, and the doughty polemic, 
 Herbert Marsh. If you were an ecclesiastic, I could show 
 you the dangerous tendency of some tenets in our church- 
 men, who have very incautiously stirred the question of 
 tradition. I could point out safe distinctions which they knew 
 not, but they have given very great advantages to their Catho- 
 lic antagonists. My Lord, if you and I conversed together 
 two or three mornings, you would drive Eldon from his post, 
 when he tries to defend it by such as Locke, Hoadly, and 
 Milton ; they were enemies to a Protestant hierarchy, such as 
 what we now have. While Eldon, &c. set these heroes in array 
 against the Catholics, will they adapt their objections to church 
 power as it now exists in England? Apparently Locke, &c, 
 disapproved of that power, and such disapprobation was the 
 legitimate result of their general attachment to toleration. 
 Will Eldon, &c. follow up Blackburne, who was a root and 
 branch man against the doctrine and discipline of the English 
 Church, and an enemy to all subscription to Articles ? Will 
 they follow Jortin, who wished for a very extensive reform 
 among ourselves, and who hated, what he thought, intolerance 
 in all Christian communities ? Were I in the House of Peers, 
 I should check the exultation of Eldon in his new allies. No- 
 thing, ray Lord, can be more pertinent than your distinction 
 about times. 
 
 When Locke and when Hoadly wrote, there ivas some 
 danger of Popery ; they saw that danger and raised the alarm. 
 If the Jacobites could have restored the Stuarts, despotism in 
 the state would soon have been followed by Popery in the 
 church. Pray remember what passed in the days of James the 
 Second ; the clergy preached as their fathers had done through 
 three, if not four preceding reigns, in favour of passive obedi- 
 ence ; but when the proceedings at Magdalen College, and the 
 trials of the seven Bishops brought within their view the danger 
 of their own church, then, and not till then, they opposed the 
 Crown, Somehow or other priests are not friendly to liberty.
 
 668 MEMOIRS. 
 
 You have seen Lesley's book, chiefly taken from those manu- 
 scripts of James the Second which your uncle could not 
 iind. By the words and opinions of James himself the Revo- 
 lution is completely justified ; but he strikes a home blow 
 at the English Bishops, who had been preaching up passive 
 obedience in the state, and then opposed their Sovereign upon 
 the concerns of the church. What could induce the Prince 
 Regent to encourage the publication of such a book ? You 
 and I exult in it. My Lord, you must take your stand upon 
 the difference of times— there is no Popish Pretender — there is 
 no danger of Popery — the Catholics are not very numerous in 
 England or Scotland; a civilized age is unfriendly to their 
 doctrine and their discipline. The Union with Ireland will ex- 
 clude Popery there, because English and Scotch members 
 must out-number and outweigh the votes of Catholics ; the pre- 
 sent danger of the Church is from Methodists, not Papists; the 
 poUcy of the Church is to conciliate the Papists and the Unita- 
 rians, and to get their aid against the Methodists within the 
 Church and without it. If Locke were now living, he would 
 extend toleration to Papists. Hoadly, who wrote when there 
 was a rebellion, and when the Jacobites were numerous, would 
 have reasoned as you and I do now. As to John Milton, he 
 would have subverted every kind of hierarchy — he hated Pro- 
 testant Bishops — he hated even Presbyterian discipline — he 
 would have hated the most temperate establishment of a nati- 
 onal religion. As to Middleton, what shall we say ? As the 
 ally of Protestants I could convince you, as I did convince Sir 
 William Jones, that Middleton was secretly a Deist ; his opi- 
 nion about the time when miracles ceased is secretly adopted 
 by such of my brethren as deserve the name of inquirers, and 
 that opinion is a barrier against Popery. He said so, and he 
 said it at a time when the Stuart race was not extinguished ; 
 when their adherents were numerous, and when high church- 
 men were contending for principles not altogether at variance 
 with the spiritual views of Catholic Ecclesiastics. How far 
 will Eldon go with such heretics as Hoadly, Jortin, Locke, 
 and Middleton ? It was the poiver, my Lord, of the Church of 
 Rome which alarmed all of them — Iterc we have the real mo- 
 tive of their antipathy ; but in our times there is no danger of
 
 MEMOIRS. 669 
 
 such power In these reahns. My Lord, you, and Lord Grey, 
 and Lord Grenville, will stand aloof from doctrines, and leave 
 them open to discussion, and I add the very freest discussion, 
 among the contending parties. You are to look only to the 
 interests of society, and those interests must always be secured 
 by toleration. My Lord, I hope you have Sir Richard Steele's 
 History of the Roman Catholic Church ; it is a duodecimo. 
 Read the dedication to Pope Clement, and you will see that the 
 writer discerned both intolerance and dogmatism in another 
 church. What will Eldon say to this? The wit and the argu- 
 ment were above Steele. The dedication was written by Hoad- 
 ly, who, for a time, concealed his name; he afterwards avowed 
 himself the author, and I entreat you to consult the first vo- 
 lume of Hoadly's works ; there you will find the dedication, 
 and it will supply you with powerful arguments ad hominera. 
 They who call in the aid of Locke, Milton, &c. are short- 
 sighted polemics. They not only confound the distinctions of 
 times, but they are blind to such consequences as require a 
 very extensive reform in our own Church. Let me once more 
 express my unqualified assent to the arguments which I found 
 in your admirable letter. The most ferocious enemy of the 
 Church would rejoice when the appeal is made to the writer 
 whom Eldon has shaken hands with, and, after all, he is only 
 the echo of Burgess ; and I, who from conviction am a Protes- 
 tant, must be compelled to acknowledge that Burgess has 
 deeply injured our cause. Let me now tell you of another 
 ally, who, perhaps, is unknown to Eldon. There is now living 
 at Exeter a restless, acute, violent parson, whose name is 
 . . . ; he has lately stirred up his brethren against the Ca- 
 tholics; he is a most intrepid fellow, and a very industrious ' 
 reader of ecclesiastical laws and civil statutes. Now mark 
 what at the present moment is doing by this Anti-Catholic 
 hero ; he wanted to be returned as the representative of Exe- 
 ter Diocese. At the last Convocation he was in a minority of 
 eight. He appealed to the Convocation against the persons re- 
 turned ; his appeal is no'.y before the Convocation, and in con- 
 sequence of it they did not venture to adjourn sine die, as they 
 had been accustomed to do for near a century. The tumult is 
 serious ; but this is not all. He is determined to move the
 
 670 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Court of King's Bench against the Bishop of Exeter for hold- 
 ing an Archdeaconry with the Bishopric, and here I think he 
 will fail. He is determined to move the Court against Dr. 
 Barnes for holding an Archdeaconry with the Chancellorship, 
 and here, perhaps, he will succeed. He is determined to move 
 the Court against four minor canons of Exeter for holding liv- 
 ings which he says are incompatible with their minor Canonries. 
 All these things are now going on. He is at war you see with 
 Dignitaries of his own Church as well as with the Catholics. 
 What will Eldon say to this zealous ally ? And pray observe, 
 that he not only has a resolute and vindictive spirit, but he is a 
 very shrewd fellow, and is largely furnished with arguments 
 from ecclesiastical laws. 
 
 He it is, who circulated the report that the Regent told the 
 Bishop of Exeter that he would put in his veto if the two 
 Houses voted in favour of the Catholics. Somebody should ad- 
 vert to this in Parliament. What the truth may be I know not. 
 .... will hardly lie ; yet I cannot believe the Regent made 
 such a declaration, or that Pelham is foolish enough to report 
 it, even if it were made ; but the story is in circulation, and 
 ought to be noticed. Pray let Eldon be worked upon his new 
 alliance with republics, heretics, and perhaps one infidel, and 
 I have the honour to be, &c. &c. 
 
 April 26th, 1819. S. Parr. 
 
 There is another topic of great importance which 
 I shall enter upon, deviating from the chronological 
 order, because it is essentially connected with Dr. 
 Parr's religious opinions. On the question of re- 
 peal of the test laws, I took occasion to treat on 
 the liberality of his views, and the candour of his 
 opinions, and the generosity with which he met 
 men who thought differently from himself. 
 
 In the republication of Rapin he has very often 
 quoted Dr. Priestley with honour ; but it was 
 chiefly in regard to his political opinions. He
 
 MEMOIRS. 671 
 
 there speaks of the " hasty, but well-meant and 
 ingenious effusions of a Priestley." And in a long 
 critical note, he concludes : 
 
 The sentiments of Dr, Priestley upon every subject are en- 
 titled to respectful attention. To /ix?) aiwir^v aiaxpov. 
 
 In a noble note on ecclesiastical establishments 
 he takes, however, occasion to mark the attacks of 
 this great philosopher with a certain degree of re- 
 probation when those attacks were directed against 
 the Church. He speaks of 
 
 The peevish sarcasms of certain fashionable writers, who 
 have set up I know not what exclusive claims to every social 
 virtue, and to every literary accomplishment, to the urbanity 
 of scholars, and the impartiality of philosophers. But these 
 men give no very honourable proofs of their sincerity when 
 they measure their own importance by the degradation of an 
 order of men, in consequence of whose exertions religion and 
 learning have been rescued from false refinement, placed upon 
 the broadest foundations, and applied to the most salutary 
 purposes. 
 
 What he said of Dr. Priestley in the Sequel I 
 have noticed before. 
 
 It is fortunate for the memory of Dr. Parr that 
 the history of his opinions does not depend on tra- 
 ditional testimony or on recollection. I shall be 
 able to deliver it in his own words, and nearly to 
 the last period of his life. 
 
 With Dr. Magee, Lord Archbishop of Dublin, 
 so celebrated for his work on " The Atonement," 
 Parr became acquainted at Leamington, in 1823. 
 He had been accustomed, before this time, to speak 
 of his Grace's writings in measured terms of eulogy ;
 
 672 MEMOIRS. 
 
 but personal acquaintance compelled him to alter 
 some of his pre-conceived opinions concerning this 
 most enlightened prelate, whom, although stedfast 
 in the highest dogmas of orthodoxy, he found li- 
 beral in discussion, tolerant of contradiction, and 
 most agreeable to him as a companion, capable of 
 entering upon the most abstruse points of religion 
 and metaphysics, and the most refined delicacies of 
 polite literature. We may judge of the spirit of 
 their conversations and communications by the fol- 
 lowing letters : 
 
 From Dr. Parr, to Dr. Magee, Lord Archbishop of 
 Dublin. 
 
 MY LORD, Hatton, Sept. 25. 
 
 Though differing widely from your Grace upon some impor- 
 tant subjects of controversial theology, I hold, and therefore 
 always shall avow, a very high opinion of your talents and 
 attainments. With much pleasure have I read tA'o of the 
 Charges which your Grace has lately published. I have praised 
 them in the hearing, and recommended them to the perusal, of 
 some enlightened Clergymen. I found in them very useful 
 matter, and very splendid diction. But, with surprise and with 
 concern, I observed that in one of them your Grace has spoken 
 sweepingly of the Unitarians as illiterate. The expression, my 
 Loi-d, astonished me, and called to my mind the language 
 which Cicero, in his celebrated speech for Ligarius, employed 
 about the cause of Pompey ; and which, mutatis nmtandis, I 
 shall apply to your severe and contemptuous animadversion 
 upon a well-known, and, perhaps, increasing sect. Speaking 
 of Unitarianism, " alii errorem appellant, qui durius, pertina- 
 ciam, qui gravissime, impietatem — ufiudlap prseter te adhuc 
 nemo." In a dispute, which about one hundred and fifty years 
 ago was carried on with great violence, Bishop Wettenhal wrote 
 a very judicious, candid, and conciliatory pamphlet, which I 
 found in a huge mass of controversial writings, in which he
 
 MEMOIRS. G73 
 
 describes the Socinians* as active, as zealous, as acute, as dex- 
 terous in disputation, as blameless in the general tenour of their 
 lives, and, he adds, even pious, with exception to their own 
 peculiar tenets. Every man of common sense, my Lord, will 
 perceive that the qualifying words are the result of discretion 
 and episcopal decorum, and were intended, probably, for a 
 kind of sop to soften the Cerberean part of the priesthood. Be 
 this as it may, the representation which Bishop Wettenhal gave 
 of his Socinian contemporaries corresponds nearly with my 
 own observations upon my own Unitarian contemporaries. 
 
 Now, my Lord, I know nothing either by report, or my own 
 reading, about the number of Unitarians in Ireland, or their 
 writings, or their erudition, or their want of erudition. I, at 
 the same time, am justified in saying, that among my own 
 learned acquaintance in this country there is not one teacher 
 in the established church whom I could safely pronounce an 
 Unitarian. Without the pale of that church, indeed, there are 
 several Unitarians with whom I think it an honour to be 
 acquainted, and I shall make no apology for introducing into 
 this letter their names, and avowing the sincere respect which I 
 feel for tlveir intellectual powers, their literary attainments, and 
 their moral worth. Let us look round a little, my Lord. Will 
 any scholar apply the word " illiterate " to Grotius, to Curcel- 
 laeus, to Susius, or to Le Clerc? These are the distinguished 
 Unitarians of former days. I have not been a slovenly reader 
 of the Fratres Poloni, and I could mention the names of several 
 persons whose tenets seem to me erroneous, but whom I should 
 not dare to call illiterate. In the last century lived Dr. Lardner, 
 Dr. John Jebb, Mr. John Baynes, of Trinity College, Cam- 
 bridge, the friend of Sir Samuel Romilly, and an academic dis- 
 tinguished in his day for his proficiency in science and his skill 
 in classical learning. Perhaps Edmund Law, Bishop of Carlisle, 
 
 * The appellation Socinian might have been taken from the 
 Soccini, a family which submitted to voluntary exile from 
 Sienna with Lactantio Ragnoni and Mino Celso, on account 
 of the persecutions they suffered for having adopted the 
 reformed opinions in religion ; as well as from the writer Soci- 
 nus. — M'Crie's H story of the Reformation in Italy, p. 130, 
 and Giannone Storia de Nap. iv. 149. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 X
 
 674 MEMOIRS. 
 
 may, without injustice, be supposed to look upon Unitarianism 
 rather with a favourable eye towards the close of a studious 
 life. Was Bishop Law illiterate? Was Dr. John Taylor of 
 Norwich illiterate? And, slender as might be the pretences of 
 Dr. Priestley and Theophilus Lindsay to any critical accuracy 
 in the languages, or to any delicate taste of the elegancies of 
 profane authors, Greek and Latin, yet their attention to scrip- 
 tural Greek, though it did not preserve them from what you 
 think heresy, was more than sufficient to protect them from the 
 application of illiterate. Was the late Duke of Grafton illi- 
 terate? Were the writers of the Free and Candid Disquisitions 
 ilhterate ? I was not personally acquainted with the late Mr. 
 Cappe of York, but his writings furnish abundant proofs of elo- 
 quence, acuteness, and, I add, erudition. Was Encedinus 
 illiterate? Is Wegscheider illiterate? Was Semler illiterate ? 
 Is Eichorn illiterate? Let me not pass by some dissenting 
 Clergymen who are avowedly Unitarians, and upon whose 
 claims to be considered as scholars I can speak, and therefore do 
 speak, with confidence. Mr. Berry of Leicester, who to Greek 
 and Latin erudition adds no inconsiderable portion of oriental ; 
 Mr. Cogan, a school-master at Walthamstow, whom from con- 
 versation and correspondence, I know to be an accurate Greek 
 scholar, and a diligent and discriminating reader of the best cri- 
 tical books which have of late been published at Berlin, Ley- 
 den, Gothingen, Leipsic, and Paris ; and at home, by Person, 
 Blomfield, Gaisford, Elmsley, &c. Is Cogan illiterate ? No, no. 
 My mind passes on to Mr. Corrie, of Birmingham, who not 
 only is well acquainted with natural philosophy, and is a fine 
 writer of English prose, but has an exquisite taste for the com- 
 positions of Greek and Roman writers, and is a reader of what 
 Bentley, Dawes, and Toup have written upon philology. My 
 neighbour, Mr. Yates of Birmingham, is one of the most studi- 
 ous men I know. I have seen his admirable collection of books, 
 and I consider him as a diligent and intelligent reader of the 
 most abstruse and elaborate writings of theologians, both in 
 Greek and Latin. Mr. Roberts of Manchester, had a classical 
 education in Norwich school. He is an excellent writer of 
 English prose, and can such a man be called illiterate ? It 
 becomes me after many interviews, to bear my testimony to
 
 MEMOIRS. 675 
 
 the merit of Mr. Shepherd of Liverpool, and in truth, so far as 
 classical learning is concerned, his proficiency would do him 
 honour, if he sat upon the episcopal bench. My lord, from 
 motives of delicacy, I will not enlarge upon the learning of Mr. 
 Belsham. He neither understands, nor professes to under- 
 stand, very critically, those profane authors who are taught in 
 our public schools and our two universities; yet I think and 
 speak respectfully of his biblical learning; and I am pretty sure 
 that Archbishop Newcome, if he were now living, would, upon 
 this subject, speak and think as I do. In my own neighour- 
 hood lives a lineal descendant of Oliver Cromwell. He does 
 not pretend to be a profound classic, but he is largely furnished 
 with general knowledge ; he is a diligent reader of the Greek 
 Testament ; he has great dexterity in reasoning ; he excels in 
 clearness and vigour of style ; he is not contentious ; he is not 
 conceited ; but upon two or three occasions, when provoked by 
 insulting calumnies against himself and his sect, he has con- 
 futed and silenced some accusers, whose orthodoxy was not ac- 
 companied by a due share of sense, learning, or moderation. 
 Your Grace will do me the justice to observe, that I mean not 
 directly or indirectly to defend the heretical opinions adopted 
 by any of the worthies whom I have enumerated. But I should 
 say of them, whether I adverted to them in the senate, or from 
 the pulpit, or from the press — yes, my Lord, I should say in 
 the hearing of all the conclaves, and all the convocations in 
 Christendom, " utinam essent nostri," I hope, therefore, my 
 Lord, and if you were not an Archbishop I should advise, that 
 in some future edition of your excellent Charge, you would 
 withdraw the word illiterate. There are many other points 
 upon which your sagacity, learning, and eloquence, • may be 
 employed with the greatest propriety, and far better effect. If 
 you were more intimately acquainted with myself, you would 
 find that no man is more ready to bestow prompt, sincere, and 
 ample praise upon the talents and the learning, which the ec- 
 clesiastics of the Established Church have in our own days dis- 
 played in the defence of their tenets. Glad I am, that so large 
 a part of that praise falls to the share of the distinguished pre- 
 late to whom I am now writing. In natural religion, and in re- 
 vealed, there are some truths bright as the sun in meridian, and 
 2x2
 
 676 MEMOIRS. 
 
 solid as adamant itself; but in both there are quaestiones perdif- 
 ficiles et perobscurae, upon which a man of reflection will often 
 think it his right and his duty enexeir, and will apply to spe- 
 culation what has been well said of practice : 
 
 Nunquam ita quisquam bene subductS, ratione ad vitam fuit, 
 Quin res, a^tas, usus semper aliquid adportet novi ; 
 Aliquid moneat, ut ilia quae te scire credas, nescias: 
 Et quae tibi putaris prima, in experiundo ut repudies. 
 
 For more than fifty years I have attended diligently and se- 
 riously to theology ; at me ipsum, quondam et animi quodam 
 impetu concitatum, et vi naturae elatum, et recentibus praecep- 
 torum studiis flagrantem, dies tandem aliquando leniit, aetas 
 mitigavit. As to the conflicts in which other men are engaged, 
 I cannot, from habit, and perhaps nature, be a careless specta- 
 tor, but being far advanced in my 77th year, I am upon my 
 guard against the perils to which partisans are exposed ; and, as 
 a lover of letters, and a religionist, I am content yrjpuaKeiv akl 
 TToWa bibatrtconevos. 
 
 It was acknowledged by the Archbishop in the 
 following terms : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Leamington, Sept. 26, 1823. 
 
 Accept my best thanks for your letter of yesterday. 
 
 Any remarks coming from your pen, I deem of value. So 
 that (independently of the kind things you have done me the 
 honour to say of myself) I feel grateful for those which your 
 letter contains, however we may differ on the subject with which 
 they are connected. 
 
 One of the chief graces of the literae humaniores is, that they 
 enable those, who have felt their influence, to differ amicably. 
 
 When I have the pleasure of seeing you, I hope to satisfy 
 you, that you and I have been looking to difterent descriptions 
 of persons in the different estimates we have formed of their 
 knowledge and acquirements. At the same time, I must con- 
 fess, you have named some, whom, even the mighty impress of 
 your judgment cannot induce me to acknowledge as compe- 
 tent expositors of Holy Writ. 
 
 Indeed, you can hardly expect this from one who has la-
 
 MEMOIRS. 677 
 
 boured through three bulky volumes (I trust to your genero- 
 sity not to substitute the word heavy) to prove the contrary. 
 
 It has mortified me much, that I have not yet had it in my 
 power to solicit the pleasure of a morning's conversation with 
 you at Hatton. I have been looking forward to that gratifica- 
 tion from time to time ; but have been obliged to devote my 
 horses and my time to the service of an invalid daily. I hope 
 in a short while to be able to accomplish what I so much wish 
 for. 
 
 Mean time, believe me to be, my dear Sir, with great re- 
 spect, your very faithful and obedient servant, W. Dublin. 
 
 Some calumnies having been circulated in Ire- 
 land against the Archbishop, they were sent by his 
 Grace to Dr. Parr, with the following letter : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Leamington, JVanvick, Sept. 30, 1823. 
 
 I thank you cordially for the two instances of your kind at- 
 tention which this day (cret^ notandus) has so richly supplied. 
 
 How refreshing ! amidst the weariness and disgust of vulgar 
 and malignant ribaldry to be treated with the effusions of a 
 scholar and a friend ! 
 
 Your first letter abounds with the overflowings of the for- 
 mer, and you must allow me the liberty of tracing in the se- 
 cond the feelings of the latter. The interest it so warmly 
 manifests, in what affects the credit of my name, bespeaks a 
 something which I have a pride and pleasure in classing as I 
 have done. And I know too well, the value of the service 
 which it proffers, not to be gratefully affected by the conside- 
 ration of the boon, no less than of the motive. 
 
 You will, I know, enter into my feelings, when I say, that I 
 rate my own estimation in society (and in this I include the 
 idea, not only of the present, but of the future) too high, to 
 think it necessary to present myself in its defence against every 
 low and scurrilous attack. On this principle I have uniformly 
 declined giving any answer to the numerous falsehoods that 
 have been industriously circulated against me, in newspapers, 
 placards, and pamphlets, for the last twelve months. And on 
 the same principle I am unwilling now to descend to the con-
 
 678 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 tradiction of the lies at present current respecting my share in 
 the transactions of the late funeral in Dublin, which has been 
 literally nothing. 
 
 Fortunately, the sworn testimony of the sexton (a copy of 
 which has been sent to me by the Archdeacon of Dublin, in 
 whose church-yard the disturbance arose) relieves me from 
 any necessity that might even be supposed to exist for such 
 cwitradiction. The deposition of the sexton, the government 
 ordered to be taken by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, to be sub- 
 mitted to the law officers of the Crown, for their opinion on the 
 case. To avoid the trouble of transcribing, I have had a few 
 copies of this statement printed, one of which I have the plea- 
 sure of sending you. 
 
 You will see from this, that one great object with the parties 
 concerned was, to draw from the sexton some admission of my 
 connection with the proceeding. That object was particularly 
 laboured at, but in vain, as, indeed, must have been the case ; 
 for neither in general, nor in particular, on any recent or remote 
 occasion, had I ever given any order whatever upon the sub- 
 ject, or supposed any order to be necessary ; the uniform prac- 
 tice, and undisturbed law would have rendered any such order 
 (in my mind) altogether superfluous or indeed visionary. As to 
 the occurrence itself, you will see that it took place on the 4th 
 of September ; and I beg leave to remind you that the alleged 
 author of all the dreadful turmoil and savage barbarity of that 
 day had the pleasure of paying you a peaceful visit on the 5th, 
 and has been passing his time in this town since the 3rd quietly 
 and unoffendingly, and until awaked from ignorance by the 
 friendly flapping of the Irish papers, altogether unknowing of 
 the great deeds which had gained him such unenviable distinc- 
 tion. 
 
 If you happen to have a copy of priest Blake's letter, it will 
 amuse you to compare the language of that, with the sexton's 
 sworn report. Please to recollect that the letter, or avowed 
 publication of a Popish priest in Ireland, is always the deliberate 
 production of a conc/at)e. That is the established rule. The sex- 
 ton, it is to be observed, uses an expression, which, did it stand 
 alone and uncontradicted by the rest of his narrative, might be 
 argued as implying an admission that there was sovie order
 
 MEMOIRS. 679 
 
 from the archbishop ; " the sanction of the bishop." But it 
 appears, as he denies the knowledge of any order from the 
 archbishop, that he meant by these words nothing more than 
 the generally received and established usage of church autho- 
 rity. Whereas, fe contra, "Dr. Magee's name was rung in" 
 priest Blake's "ears," &c. There was, as I said before, no 
 order in any shape, or at any time, issued by me relative to the 
 Catholic interments. Whilst, however, I say this to you, I 
 shall offer no such statement to the public. These matters ul- 
 timately right themselves. And whilst I have the approbation 
 and the testimony of such men as Dr. Parr, I shall feel but 
 little concern about the crowd. 
 
 I must conclude. Indeed, [ fear I have wearied you ; your 
 eyes I mean, certainly not your good nature. 
 
 I should, indeed, like to turn back to your " philologies." 
 But this is forbidden to me. Stern necessity commands me in 
 another direction ; and I must only treasure them for a future 
 regale. I am now preparing to set out for London and Albany, 
 1 move to-morrow, and have much to do. 
 
 Believe me to be, my dear Sir, with a high sense of your su- 
 perior talents and acquirements, and a grateful feeling of your 
 kindness, your faithful and obliged friend and servant, 
 
 W. Dublin. 
 
 Whatsoever might have been the differences of 
 opinion on certain theological subjects, between his 
 Grace the Archbishop and Dr. Parr, we have seen 
 even that a strong representation only called forth 
 expressions of approbation and esteem. In the fol- 
 lowing year, and within a very few weeks of that 
 period which was to put an end to Dr. Parr's mor- 
 tal existence, the Archbishop wrote to him as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Leamington, Oct. 4;, 1824. 
 
 I am truly concerned to find by your report of yourself, that 
 you have not benefitted by your visit to Worcester, and must 
 request that you will not think of coming over to Leamington,
 
 680 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 on a point of etiquette. As soon as my coachman returns from 
 town, and enables me to use my carriage (I have no riding 
 horses with me at present), I will have the pleasure of calling 
 upon you, instead of giving you the trouble of calling on me, and 
 thereby effect the only rational object of a call from either side, 
 the having the satisfaction of half an hour's conversation with 
 you. 
 
 I must return you my best thanks for your kind wish that I 
 should partake of your hospitality on Friday next. Part of my 
 family is setting out for Ireland this day ; and the rest of us 
 follow (according to our present plan) in the end of the week. 
 I am therefore afraid, though very desirous to avail myself of 
 your polite invitation, to answer in the affirmative. Another 
 day, however, will fix certainly our movements, and if you per- 
 mit me the liberty, I will withhold till to-morrow, a definite an- 
 swer on the subject. 
 
 I had hoped to have the pleasure of meeting you at the 
 Worcester Meeting ; but various difficulties prevented With 
 best respects to Mrs. Parr, I have the honour to be, my dear 
 Sir, your very faithful and obedient servant, W. Dublin. 
 
 I shall close with another document, which will 
 prove that his conduct, and his manner of perform- 
 ing the service were watched by the zealots on all 
 sides. Not only by those who had the folly and 
 insolence to remark to the congregation of Hatton 
 that a stranger should be introduced to them, viz. 
 Jesus Christ ; but by one who, from his having 
 published the document in a party work, obviously 
 came to watch and to detect, not merely to pray. 
 
 From the Rev. Dr. Parr, to the Conductor of the 
 Christian Reformer. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 In number xxxviii, page 68, of the " Christian Reformer," 
 a correspondent, who dates his letter from Warwick, January 
 4, 1808, and who evidently bears towards me the greatest good 
 will, has communicated some particulars about my manner of
 
 MEMOIRS. 681 
 
 performing the service at Hatton, on the preceding Christmas- 
 day. He relates very correctly, what I said about the first 
 lesson from Isaiah, and about the introduction to St, John's 
 Gospel. He is not incorrect when he describes me as not read- 
 ing all the sentences of the Athanasian Creed, as it is usually 
 denominated, with the same slowness and the same solemnity ; 
 and as I profess to have read the writings of St. Athanasius, and 
 did not believe it the production of that great polemic. 
 
 I cannot, at this distance of time, take upon myself to say what 
 precise terms I used about the contents of the creed. I was 
 not very likely to express any marked approbation. But I am 
 inchned to believe that your correspondent has inadvertently 
 imputed to me language somewhat stronger than I really used ; 
 and probable it is, that my strictures were pointed more di- 
 rectly to the writings of Athanasius himself, than to the creed, 
 which is commonly, but improperly called by his name. 
 
 While that creed is retained in our venerable church, I hold 
 it my duty never to omit it. But while I read it faithfully and 
 audibly, I think myself quite at liberty to lay more or less 
 emphasis upon particular parts according to my own discretion, 
 and for the benefit of my hearers. I have now and then taken 
 occasion to select some passages from a celebrated history of 
 the creed written by the learned and orthodox Dr. Waterland, 
 who, like myself, does not ascribe the composition of it to 
 Athanasius. 
 
 Your correspondent, in another sentence, writes thus : " as 
 Christmas day- happened upon a Thursday, the Litany was 
 not appointed to be read, but I have before heard it read there, 
 and instead of saying, as it is at the commencement, < O God 
 the Son, have mercy upon us miserable sinners ; O God the 
 Holy Ghost, have mercy,' &c. the following was substituted, 
 ' O Son have mercy upon us miserable sinners ; O Holy Ghost, 
 have mercy,' &c." Your correspondent does not distinctly say 
 whether the above mentioned omission was made by myself or 
 any other clergyman, nor do I know whether by the word here 
 he means Warwick, from which town he dates his letter, or 
 Hatton, where he attended on Christmas day, 1817; but I beg 
 leave to assure him that neither at Hatton, nor any other place 
 whatsoever, did I ever omit the important word of which he
 
 682 MEMOIRS. 
 
 speaks, when the Church requires it to be used in the Litany, 
 the Nicene Creed, or the Sacramental Service. He will ex- 
 cuse me for adding, that his premises will not bear him out in 
 a broad and unqualified assertion, that I neither believe nor 
 inculcate the doctrine of a Trinity, But he will, at the same 
 time, permit me to declare, that I do not inculcate what I do 
 not believe, and that upon abstract and controverted points of 
 theology, I very rarely introduce any observations of my own 
 into the pulpit. My talents, such as they are, seem to me 
 much better employed in reasoning of righteousness, temper- 
 ance, and a judgment to come. I am your correspondent's 
 sincere well-wisher and respectful obedient servant, S. P. 
 
 The Sermons, published for the first time in the 
 5th and 6th volumes of these works, coincide with 
 this document in proving Dr. Parr's sentiments con- 
 sistent with his practice ; and that, although settled 
 in his own creed, he did not suffer differences to 
 weigh against his intercourse with men of all per- 
 suasions, whose lives were in the right. We have 
 seen how manfully he stood up against the cham- 
 pion of orthodoxy, when he denominated the Uni- 
 tarians illiterate ; and how fully he acknowledged 
 his intimacy with them. Like his divine Master, 
 he had no exclusions ; and genius and virtue were 
 his delight, wherever he could find them. 
 
 Mr. Robert Hall was one of those conscien- 
 tious dissidents from the Church, for whose talents, 
 and rich and impressive eloquence. Dr. Parr enter- 
 tained the highest respect. He had not frequent 
 opportunities of personal communication with Mr. 
 Hall, but I have seen them together. There was 
 no distance or distrust ; and though there were none 
 of those nice attractions which insensibly draw 
 men's minds together, when the idem vclle and the
 
 MEMOIRS. 683 
 
 idem nolle are reciprocal parts of character, yet 
 there were admiration, frankness, esteem, and respect. 
 
 Mr. Hall, like Bishop Taylor, has the eloquence of an orator, 
 the fancy of a poet, the acuteness of a schoolman, the profound- 
 ness of a philosopher, and the piety of a saint. 
 
 With the Rev. Edward Irving Dr. Parrs ac- 
 quaintance began in 1824. They afterwards en- 
 joyed the company of each other, and warmly did 
 our friend express his admiration of this singularly 
 talented orator and truly pious man. 
 
 From his earliest life Parr's mind v/as deeply 
 impressed by religious feelings, and his inclination 
 devoted him to the church. At school and at col- 
 lege, but especially at the time he received holy 
 orders, his piety was conspicuous. He has himself 
 said, that his first profound theological studies had 
 infused doubts into his mind, which were afterwards 
 cleared up. For the established religion of his 
 country he ever professed and manifested by his 
 conduct the most unfeigned respect. But as a 
 moral being, deeply interested in the genuine doc- 
 trines of Christianity, and firmly convinced of their 
 truth, 
 
 I cannot (said he) condescend to learn my creed from the 
 sophistry of the hypocrite, or the dogmatical jargon of the 
 bigot. I cannot aspire to the smallest participation of popu- 
 larity with those who are eager to guide, or with those who are 
 content to follow, the groveling and vulgar prejudices of hood- 
 winked superstition and unhallowed zeal. At the close of the 
 18th century, I think myself excusable for some hesitation, when 
 I am called upon to believe that any honourable cause of any 
 Christian church, is to be with propriety supported, not by the 
 efficacy of virtuous example, nor even by the weight of rational
 
 684 MEMOIRS. 
 
 argument, but by calumny, by plunder, by conflagration, and 
 the sword. 
 
 This noble sentiment, which he put into the 
 mouth of Mr. Greatheed, contains the first princi- 
 ples of toleration. Those principles he now admit- 
 ted to the fullest extent, and wished to put them 
 in exercise, wherever professions were made with 
 sincerity and truth. The weight of rational argu- 
 ment, he contended, should never be put aside by 
 power, or by superstition. 
 
 And it ought to be made impossible for men, to unchristian, 
 unchurch, or declare out of God's favour, any of their fellow- 
 creatures, upon any lesser, or indeed any other consideration, 
 than that of a wicked dishonesty and insincerity ; of which, ni 
 these cases, God alone is judge.* 
 
 I enter on the subject of his religious opinions 
 with awe ; nor should I venture upon any detail, 
 was I not fortified at every step with the support 
 of his own written documents. Mr. Courtcnay, on 
 account of some sceptical doubts, had been advised 
 by Dr. Blair, the celebrated Scotch divine, to read 
 Butler's Analogy, which he did, but was not con- 
 vinced, and his doubts were finally communicated to 
 Dr. Parr, who sent him an analysis of the Analogy, 
 which is copied in the Appendix. These discus- 
 sions were contained in a series of letters ; part of 
 which I possess, through the kindness of Lord 
 John Townshend, but many others are quoted, 
 which I have not. 
 
 The belief of a future state (says Parr in one of them) may 
 be a part of natural religion, but it is not a proof of it. Again, 
 
 * See Sherlock's Apostrophe on Sincerity, in answer to 
 Hoadly's demonstration in the Preface to Stcbbing's Remarks.
 
 MEMOIRS. 685 
 
 the belief of a future state is necessarily a part of the religion 
 of a Christian ; but it is the religion which proves to his mind 
 the future state, and not the doctrine of a future state itself, 
 which merely, as such, proves the religion ; though, as I told 
 you before, the conditions and the circumstances attending the 
 doctrine, may give additional strength to other direct proofs for 
 the credibility of Christianity. 
 
 The analysis gives a full account of Parr's view 
 of Butler's (" the profound Bishop of Durham") 
 Analogy of Religion, natural and revealed, to the 
 constitution and course of nature." Butler was the 
 theologian whose tenets he professed to follow. I 
 have heard him repeatedly declare that his notions 
 of the Trinity were precisely those of the profound 
 Bishop : 
 
 On the Trinity I thus think, (says Parr in one of his Mem. 
 books,) " Dogmate Ecclesiastico ad sanae rationis principia 
 revocato, ignorare non licet, primum, omnem pluralitatem in 
 Deo rationi aperte repugnare, deinde quamlibet Trinitatis ex- 
 plicationem philosophicam, vel unum subjectum et triplicem 
 ejus rationem sive operationem, vel tria subjecta intelligendi et 
 volendi (Matth, 26, 39) facultate praedita defendentem, (ne- 
 cessario says my book, but I substitute) posse abire vel in Sabel- 
 
 lianismi, vel in Trifheismi aut Arianismi errores 
 
 Quod si autem dogma illud ex fundamento suo biblico atque 
 ex historia dijudicatur, clarissime patet, formulam ejus publice 
 receptam nusquam a scriptoribus ss. disertis verbis traditam, 
 nee nisi tribus fere seculis prgeteriapsis in ecclesia effictam et 
 sancitam esse. 
 
 Quo plura ac graviora damna et nefanda facinora per male 
 sanum dogmatis illius tuendi studium in ecclesiam Christianam 
 illata sunt, eo minus symbolica ejus forma, quae simul tot tan- 
 tisque opprobriis contra religionera Christianam ansara prae- 
 buit, nostris temporibus urgeri ac prerai debet. 
 
 Trinitatis dogma ad hancce formulam revocare licet : Deus 
 pater, per Jesum Christum {my book says ut, / substitute et,)
 
 686 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Spiritum Sanctum hominibus se manifestavit.* Ut autem quae- 
 vis super hoc dogmate opinio, dummodo ne virtutis nervos in- 
 fringat, sumnia cum indulgentia tolerari debet, ita caute ver- 
 sari doctores publicos oportet in pertractanda ista doctrina, ne 
 vel conscientia oneretur Christianorum fide provectiorum, vel 
 inibecilliorum religio ofFensionis aliquid expcriatur. Wegschei- 
 der, Institutiones TheologiiE Dogmaticae. Hala?, 1819, p. 223, 
 225. 
 
 I am pleased with this passage in Doederlein. 
 
 From the Synodus Illyricana he quotes, 
 
 Q«/ consubstantialem Trinitatein non prcedicant, aitaihema 
 sint. Nempe sua cuique vera primum, dein gravia ac pia, de- 
 nique necessaria creditu videntur ; quod si quis contra ausit 
 statuere, haereseos primum, post usitato cognomine impietatis 
 arguitur, e quo crimine sententia damnatoria sponte profluit. 
 Vol. i. p. 397. 
 
 Every heterodox and every orthodox man would 
 do well to consider the following passage in Doe- 
 derlein : 
 
 Quanquam igitur hoc dogma ob baptismi fidem pro praecipuo 
 et Christianae religionis characteristico habere baud dubitemus 
 cum Basilio adv. Eunomium, 1. 11, p. 58, tamen refugiamus in 
 judicio de eo temeritatem niultorum, qui unani fidei normam 
 omnibus scribunt, quae nee extitit olim, nee esse potest, nee 
 sine injuria ergo Deum ponitur, penes quem solum esse profi- 
 tear arbitrium, in salutis conditionibus statuendis. Sed hoc 
 vitium, cum saipe objiciunt Antitrinitarii orthodoxis, ipsi baud 
 raro committunt, invidiosis criminationibus ac claraoribus, qui- 
 bus catholicas hypotheses, ut absurdas, lacerant, irrident ac 
 condemnant. Finiam pio ac gravi Lessii fpractische Dogni. p. 
 151) monito: Tu quisquis ingenue scrutaris sacras literas, si 
 Trinitatem non vides, tene, ignorantiam vel errorem, qui baud 
 venit a culpa tua, non verti crimini : sin contra vides : noli, 
 
 * In speaking of this mystery, Paii (Sermon xl. p. 453, vol. 
 vi.) says, " The Son was united to the Father by a principle of 
 union utterly incomprehensible."
 
 MEMOIRS. 687 
 
 temerltatis humanae conscius, veritatem divina authoritate suf- 
 fultam ac commendatam, etsi difficilem ac non omni dubio ca- 
 rentem, repudiare. (cf. Toellner vermischte Aiiffaeze, T. 11. 
 Samb. 1. et theol. IJjitersuch. 1 B. 1. st. p. 18.) Vide Doeder- 
 lein, vol. i. p. 398. 
 
 This precise declaration serves to prove how un- 
 justly he has been aspersed by those who, mistak- 
 ing the veracity of religion for the liberality of phi- 
 losophy, have chosen to represent him as all their 
 own. No, he was not a partisan — he was neither 
 of Paul nor of Apollos — he was the follower of 
 Jesus, and the preacher of him crucified. 
 
 " The bigot has spyed in me the taint of heresy," 
 said Parr ; and many worldly aspirants have raised 
 themselves into notice, since his death, by kicking 
 at the dead lion under this pretext. Trinity Jones 
 openly attacked his orthodoxy in the life of Bishop 
 Home, and he was about to avenge himself, but 
 was dissuaded by Dr. Routh and Mr. Glasse : 
 
 The language of which you so justly coraplain (says Glasse), 
 made little impression upon me. We will consider the whole 
 aflfair as at an end. The peculiar situation of the poor old phi- 
 losopher, who is now in a state of living death (a wretched 
 cripple of paralysis), would alone plead any apology. Hanwell, 
 Aug. 13, 1799. 
 
 His notions of the Deity were lofty and noble. 
 He was an entire truster in the immutable " verity 
 of the Divine veracity ;" and though he hated to 
 look at that Being as an avenger, yet he feared 
 " the great and terrible God that keepeth covenant 
 and mercy." He never mentioned that name with- 
 out lowly reverence. The moral government of the 
 world, and the order of the universe, were the me-
 
 688 MEMOIRS. 
 
 dium through which he contemplated the Creator. 
 In the moral government he saw the goodness of 
 paternal Deity demonstrated, and in that order his 
 omnipotent wisdom. His views of religion were en- 
 larged beyond the boundary of all sects ; he troubled 
 himself little about " Pelagian pride," or " Antino- 
 mian licentiousness," or any distinction of polemics 
 or schoolmen : — he knew that the grace of the 
 Gospel would work its way through God's pro- 
 tection, in spite of what man could do against it. 
 Wliatsoever the nature of the Godhead might be — 
 whatsoever its essence, or the form of its existence, 
 those dark subjects not having been revealed, w^ere 
 esteemed by him of minor importance, and fitter for 
 the bandying and tanglings of sophists and casuists, 
 than for the discussions of sober and practical Chris- 
 tians. Well he knew the distractions that had been 
 occasioned by forms of words, and justly did he con- 
 sider the conversion of religious controversy into 
 malignant animosity, as one of the most contempti- 
 ble, although one of the most mischievous, of the 
 perturbations and insanities of the feeble race of 
 man. With pity and compassion, like a being of 
 a superior nature, did he look on these heavings of 
 the ant-hill of human society ; those wretched 
 squabbles which had spilt the blood of nations, and 
 destroyed the happiness of generations. In fine, 
 he was tolerant towards all those who differed from 
 him, and a protector of all who suff'ered for conscience 
 sake. He wished to place all the religious duties 
 and feelings of man in a perfect reliance on God 
 through Christ in that theocracy which looks to
 
 MEMOIRS. 689 
 
 immeasurable happiness, which makes evil itself 
 a part of good — of that good which by a slow and 
 certain progression, invisible to us, is gradually as- 
 cending its highest ratio : 
 
 The wheels of nature are not made to roll backward ; every 
 thing presses on towards eternity ; from the birth of time an 
 impetuous current has set in which bears all the sons of men 
 towards that interminable ocean. Meanwhile heaven is attract- 
 ing to itself whatsoever is congenial to its nature, is enriching 
 itself by the spoils of earth, and collecting within its capacious 
 bosom whatever is pure, permanent, and divine,* 
 
 On the subject of miracles, he has not only deli- 
 vered an opinion, but written a discourse in White's 
 Bampton Lectures ; and this opinion, founded on 
 the theocratical system on which the universe is 
 governed, supports the doctrine of Revelation. He 
 followed up this discussion in some of the sermons 
 now published for the first time, with a devotion, 
 and earnestness, and conviction, which must demand 
 the respect of the infidel, and which adds stability to 
 our faith. 
 
 Of his particular opinions concerning those mys- 
 terious doctrines, some of which are laid down as 
 articles of faith necessary to be believed by the 
 Church of England, he has delivered some sketches 
 in divers parts of his works already printed, and 
 more will come forth in those now published. On 
 the subjects of justification, election, and predestina- 
 tion, he was not a Calvinist ; nor was he fond, like 
 Milton's angels, of reasoning 
 
 * Hall's Life of Rylaud, p. 49. 
 VOL. I. 2 Y
 
 690 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Of Providence, fore knowledge, will, and fate, 
 Fix'd fate, free will, fore knowledge, absolute, 
 And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost. 
 
 On such abstract and controverted points of theo- 
 logy he seldom entered into argument, whether in 
 or out of the pulpit. On these points, indeed, he 
 appears to have been of opinion, that the articles 
 of the Church needed reformation.* That the Li- 
 turgy itself required alteration to adapt it to the 
 spirit of the times, and he looked on the lukewarm- 
 ness of the present age, and the obdurate resistance 
 to all change as demonstrating a pusillanimous 
 temper in those who govern the Church. That 
 when the articles were first adopted, they were as 
 much articles of conciliation as of faith. That so 
 far did this conciliation extend, that at first the doc- 
 trine of purgatory was admitted in a 40th article ; 
 and that the Liturgy itself had been altered no less 
 than fifteen times — that opinion, like every thing 
 else that proceeded from man, was mutable — that to 
 talk of " man," and " for ever" in alliance, was fu- 
 tile and absurd — that the progression of things de- 
 manded change, which, if not conceded in time, 
 would be compelled and enforced by subversion and 
 revolution. He believed that it was entirely impos- 
 possible to attain unity in religious opinion, and 
 therefore that the endeavour to maintain unifor- 
 mity of worship was as tyrannous as the aim of 
 Procrustes himself. -|- 
 
 * See Sermon on Justification. 
 
 \ See Philopatris Varv. vol. ii. p. 641.
 
 MEMOIRS. 691 
 
 Nevertheless, he was a strict enforcer of regular 
 attendance on Divine worship : 
 
 In regard even to men of literary accomplishments, and dis- 
 tinguished talents, let them boast as loudly as they will of the 
 strength which is not, and let them varnish over as skilfully as 
 they can the weakness which really is, devotion even in their 
 minds will languish, and faith will waver, unless reinforced by 
 the aids which stated and exterior acts of devotion can alone 
 supply. 
 
 '' It is dangerous to be of no church," said one who believed 
 and revered his Bible, and who saw through all the proud and 
 shallow features of that which calls itself liberality, and of that 
 which is not genuine philosophy, I am no advocate, be as- 
 sured for the abject prostration of the devotee, or the frantic 
 extacies of the fanatic, but there is a superstition (says the 
 immortal Bacon) in shunning superstition; and he that dis- 
 dains to follow religion in the open and the trodden path, 
 may chance to lose his way in the trackless wilds of experi- 
 ments, or in the obscure labyrinths of speculation. 
 
 His aversion to intolerance did not, however, bias 
 his judgment, nor induce him to separate the in- 
 terests of the Church of Christ from those of the 
 State, nor to act upon those abstractions* which 
 naturally sprang out of an enlarged view of the 
 question. Of the utility of establishments he was 
 convinced : 
 
 After a serious and diligent attention (said he) to the sub- 
 ject, I am led by reasons of public utility to declare myself a 
 most decided advocate for a National Church ; and for reasons 
 of the same kind I should wish to see it erected upon the broad- 
 est and most comprehensive plan. Thus I should despise the 
 narrowness, and detest the intolerance of a system, which ad- 
 mitting the Socinian should exclude the Athanasian. But I 
 
 * See Notes to Rapin on Whigs and Tories. 
 
 2 Y 2
 
 692 MEMOIRS. 
 
 should venerate the wisdom and the generosity of an establish- 
 ment into which the Pelagian and Predestinarian might be 
 allowed to enter, without the necessity of declaring their sen- 
 timents, without the power of defending them in a controver- 
 sial form from the pulpit, and without the slightest restraints 
 from declaring and defending them through the medium of the 
 press. 
 
 By reducing the number, and changing the form of doc- 
 trinal points, by substituting intelligible terms for confused 
 ideas, by excluding the obscure jargon which philosophy has 
 introduced, and by employing the simpler language in which 
 the Scriptures are written, we might avoid the supposed incon- 
 veniences of a subscription, either to articles as they are now 
 framed, or to the Bible oiily. — Non enim pietas subtiles ardu- 
 arum et difficilium quaestionum disceptatores, et curiosos laten- 
 tium et abditarum rerum investigatores, sed simplices verissimf 
 verbi hoc est, mortui et resuscitati Christi Professores, et fidos 
 voluntatis suae executores requirit. G. Cassander de officio 
 pii et Publicae Tranquillitatis vere Amantis Viri. p. 29. 
 
 Between dogmatism, which decides too much, and latitudi- 
 narianism which confounds all distinctions, there is a middle 
 point where good men may safely rest, and which candid men 
 may easily find. There is a spirit which, by moderation is able 
 to multiply the friends of the Church, and by firmness to coun- 
 teract the designs of its enemies. There is a possibility, at 
 least, for wise and good men to unite in constructing a system 
 with precision sufficient to secure the great interests of religi- 
 ous truth, with discrimination sufficient to accomplish all the 
 purposes of political utility, and with purity sufficient to give 
 the Church of England a decisive superiority over every esta- 
 blishment, and every sect which have hitherto appeared in the 
 Christian world. Under such a system we might look for that 
 peace which Bacon has so beautifully described. " It esta- 
 blishes faiih, it kindleth charity, the outward peace of the 
 Church distilleth into peace of conscience, and it turneth the 
 labours of writing, and reading controversies into treatises of 
 mortification and devotion." We should be rescued from the 
 false unities which the same writer thus laments; — *' the one is 
 when the peace is grounded upon an implicit ignorance, for
 
 MEMOIRS. 693 
 
 all colours will agree in the dark, the other when it is pierced 
 up upon a direct admission of contraries in fundamental points." 
 But these surely are few and simple ; they require little expla- 
 nation, and admit little controversy. 
 
 When the artless perspicuity of Scripture is overlaid by the 
 abstruse subtleties of metaphysics ; when reason either refines 
 away what is made clear, or dogmatizes on what is left doubt- 
 ful by omniscience ; when ceremonies, which ought to adorn 
 religion, engender a motley brood of doctrines which deform 
 and disgrace it, it is to be feared that assent will often be pro- 
 fessed without conviction, and conformity often practised with- 
 out approbation, " Truth and falsehood," as Bacon says, 
 *' would then become like the iron and clay in the toes of 
 Nebuchadnezzar's image ; they might cleave, but would not 
 incorporate," 
 
 From his earliest youth he had been caught by 
 the attire in which the Church of England clothes 
 her service, and his fondness for the ceremonial of 
 her worship continued to the end of his life. At 
 the beginning the ardour of youth made him, if 
 not superstitious, at least enthusiastic. In the first 
 period of manhood he caught the tone, and as- 
 sumed the habit of a dignified ecclesiastic. In the 
 print of the arrow shooting at Harrow, he is 
 dressed in the gown and band of an ecclesiastic^ 
 and Dr. Sumner, who accompanies him, can hard- 
 ly be distinguished by any other mark than the 
 staff in his hand. In his own little church he dis- 
 played the same fondness for ornament and cere- 
 mony ; the service was performed with all possible 
 order. He loved, indeed, the " gaudy trappings of 
 the hierarchy." I do not wish to conceal that he 
 was no Iconoclast. He admired the productions of 
 the arts, and he would have been glad to employ
 
 694 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 them in architecture, in pictures, in statuary, in 
 every ornamental decoration in the sanctuary. So- 
 lemn music also was his delight — the pealing 
 organ — the choir — the chaunt — the hymn, he em- 
 ployed to the utmost of his power, and I know 
 that it would have feasted his soul could he have 
 seen St. Peter's illuminated with her myriad lamps, 
 perfumed with rich odours, and sending up a still 
 more grateful incense in the song of praise, of 
 a peerless and triumphant choir. Philosophical 
 as his views were of the usefulness of public wor- 
 ship, he knew that these auxiliaries could not be 
 disdained by beings whose reason was originally 
 grounded on the senses, and who, though they are 
 called upon to worship God as a spirit, yet are of 
 too gross materials to worship only in spirit and in 
 truth. 
 
 Was he then superstitious ? No. Was he fana- 
 tical ? No. Was he a latitudinarian ? No. Was 
 he dissident in any form or in any respect ? No. 
 I maintain that he was a true son of the Church of 
 England ; an admirer of the " majestic simplicity 
 of her prayers," and of the " sober dignity of her 
 ceremonies," One who loved her as a dutiful son, 
 though he had no great reason to be grateful to 
 her, as a bountiful mother ; who thought her esta- 
 blishment founded by wisdom, though the original 
 intentions of her founders were not carried into full 
 effect. He wished to see her lift up her mitred 
 head in courts and parliaments. He wished to see 
 her house decorated with all the splendour of 
 virchitccture and of arts, rich in all that could em-
 
 MEMOIRS. 695 
 
 bellish the sanctuary, and by embellishment elevate 
 the soul. But, above all, he wished to see her 
 priests clothed with righteousness. A band, who 
 despising the grovelling measure of earth, aspired 
 to things eternal. 
 
 Men pursuing a different course, he knew would 
 become zealots for worldly policy, without being 
 zealots for God, who, assuming that perfection is 
 unattainable, dismiss all improvement, and repro- 
 bate all change. Hence they become impatient of 
 contradiction, and finally intolerant, and 
 
 For the sake of a false and corrupt persuasion, set the world 
 on fire, dissolve all the bonds of natural and revealed religion, 
 and sanctify even the cruelties of an inquisition.* 
 
 Such a Church of England man Dr. Parr was 
 not. He loved her as founded by Cranmer, as 
 blessed by Latimer, as defended by Hooper, by Rid- 
 ley, and the holy army of martyrs, their brethren 
 of the Reformation. 
 
 From many of those who were her supporters, 
 he drew his chief intellectual sustenance. From 
 Jewell, Hooker, Hales, ChiHingworth, Pearson, 
 Barrow, Taylor, Stilbngfleet, Tillotson, and the 
 hundreds of learned authors of less name, though 
 still of great account ; and in later days, from those 
 who mingled in controversy, Hoadly, Sherlock, 
 Waterland, Warburton, aye, and even Hurd, be- 
 sides those dear friends to whom he has done am- 
 ple justice, and some of whom are yet alive. 
 
 In the days which are past, indeed, (says he) but to which 
 * Sherlock.
 
 696 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 every scholar looks back with gratitude and triumph, the 
 Church of England was adorned by a Gataker, a Pearson, a 
 Casaubon, a Vossius, a Bentley, a Wasse, and an Ashton. 
 Within our own memory it has boasted of Pearce and Burton, 
 of Taylor and Musgrave, of Toup and Foster, of Markland and 
 Tyrrwhitt.* 
 
 His own writings can now be added to the list ; 
 and perhaps I am too enthusiastic a disciple to speak 
 of them in the more subdued terms of admiration. 
 They appear to me unrivalled, as pure and classical 
 compositions, as eloquent and wise discussions, and 
 lessons fitted for improving man's condition. The 
 sermons on education are a code. The doctrinal 
 discourses, twelve in number, strengthen the foun- 
 dations of our holy faith, not in " rash curiosity 
 about mysteries," but by the justest positions con- 
 cerning miracles and prophecy, and the right in- 
 terpretation of scripture. In the rest, those sacred 
 duties resulting from piety to God, firm faith in 
 his revealed word, and from love to our neighbour^ 
 are enforced by the strongest arguments of exalted 
 and enlarged intellect, in the most select and puri- 
 fied terms of human discourse. 
 
 Although thus firmly attached to the Church in 
 reality, yet was he often libelled as an unbeliever, 
 or a sceptic, oralatitudinarian.-j- In the John Bull 
 
 * British Critic, Review of the Var. Hor. 
 
 t A clamour has been raised by the assertion of one signing 
 himself Frederic Bewley, Salisbury, in Gent. Mag, Sept. 1827, 
 that the words " he does not convince me," alluding to a writ- 
 ten opinion of Parr on Bishop Burgess's " Divinity of Christ 
 proved from his own declaration, attested and interpreted by his 
 own living witnesses, the Jews," are suppressed in B. P. Dr.
 
 MEMOIRS. 697 
 
 newspaper he was accused, in a squib, of being a 
 disciple of Voltaire, ; and we have seen how he 
 spared the attack of one zealot, because he was en- 
 feebled by disease. The documents I have pro- 
 duced are triumphant refutations of all these ca- 
 lumnies. He was nevertheless, left unnoticed by 
 his clerical superiors, in every act of public display 
 of duty to a late period. 
 
 In a letter to Dr. C. P. Burney, in 1816, he says : 
 
 1 read in the newspapers that you had preached the Conse- 
 cration Sermon for Bishop Legge ; and Bartlani and I are glad 
 you mean to publish it. As a novitiate in theology, you have a 
 triumph over your veteran god-father, who has holden pre- 
 ferment in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, 
 Warwickshire, and Huntingdonshire, and yet never received 
 the ordinary courtesy of being desired by any prelate or arch- 
 deacon, to preach a Visitation Sermon, He perfectly under- 
 stood the spirit which from time to time has exposed him to 
 studied and marked neglect. 
 
 Life did not close, however, without this mark 
 of respect being paid to him. In the spring of 
 1822 he was regularly invited to preach at the next 
 visitation of the Archdeacon of Huntingdon, either 
 in person, or by deputy, both which he declined on 
 
 Parr has so often attested his own belief, that I refer to his oivn 
 writings for proof of his orthodoxy. That Bishop Burgess's 
 " living witnesses" may not have convinced him is very proba- 
 ble. The question turns not on Parr's conviction of the doc- 
 trine itself but on his opinion of the Bishop's arguments ; and 
 with this learned Prelate Parr did not agree in his pertina- 
 cious adherence to the interpolated passage about the " three 
 heavenly witnesses." Mr. Nichols has not discovered such a 
 person as Frederic Bewley. The communication therefore may 
 be considered as anonymous. Surely Dr. Parr should only be 
 
 made responsible for that which is published from authorised 
 
 documents !
 
 698 MEMOIRS. 
 
 account of age. " On Sunday June 16, 1822, Dr. 
 Parr, at Hatton, had the honour to receive from 
 the Rev. Dr. Hook, Archdeacon of Huntingdon, 
 late Dean of Worcester, (says Parr himself,) a letter, 
 of which the following is a copy :" 
 
 Whippingham Court, Isle of Wight, 
 REVEREND SIR, June 14, 1822. 
 
 I have just received a letter from my Registrar at Hunting- 
 don, enclosing your answer to an official request, on my part, 
 that you would undertake the office of preacher at my next 
 visitation. 
 
 I will say nothing respecting my present regret in being de- 
 prived of the honor your attendance on that occasion would 
 have conferred upon me, a regret which is not diminished by 
 the circumstances which compel you to withhold it ; but when 
 I recollect that it is just seven years since the present Bishop 
 of Winchester nominated me to the Archdeaconry of Hunting- 
 don, and now learn from yourself, that within that period you 
 would gladly have complied with my wishes, had they been 
 made known to you, I cannot but reproach myself with an 
 omission, however occasioned, through which I am so severe a 
 sufferer. It would savour of presumption in me to labour at 
 extenuating this apparent inattention by any assurances that 
 it arose not from a want of due respect and veneration for the 
 character of Dr. Parr. 1 will simply advert to the general rule 
 observed in these cases, of naming the incumbents in succes- 
 sion, to the office of preacher at the archdeaconal visitations, 
 and the very natural conclusion on my part, that this rule had 
 been strictly complied with in your case, as in that of others. 
 It was the casual observation of an individual, when I was last 
 at Huntingdon, who expressed a doubt, whether Dr, Parr had 
 ever preached on such an occasion, that induced me to decide 
 the question, and place it at your option to comply with or de- 
 cline the invitation, I felt myself deeply interested in making. 
 To you, reverend Sir, this explanation can be of little value, 
 but it is essential to my own satifaction, and your well-known 
 liberality will, I feel confident, pardon my forcing it upon you.
 
 MEMOIRS. 699 
 
 As there can be no substitute for Dr. Parr, I have only to re- 
 quest that you will give yourself no further trouble on account 
 of this unseasonable application, as we have only to revert to the 
 roll for the next incumbent in succession. I have the honour 
 to be, reverend Sir, with the most perfect respect, your obedi- 
 ent and faithful humble servant, John Hook. 
 
 Dr. Parr's answer : 
 
 REVEREND SIR, Hattou, JuTie 19, 1822. 
 
 I beg leave, respectfully and thankfully, to acknowledge the 
 letter with which you have honoured me. The matter and the 
 spirit of that letter, convinced me that I should have had great 
 pleasure in your society, if it had been in my power to attend 
 your visitation in May 1823. Be assured, reverend Sir, that 
 your explanation does not appear to me of little value. On the 
 contrary, I feel myself very much obliged to you for it ; and I 
 should be happy to shake you by the hand, at my parsonage, 
 and to thank you personally if you were to come into my neigh- 
 bourhood. I have the honour to be, reverend Sii', with great 
 respect, your well-wisher, and very faithful, obedient servant, 
 
 Samuel Parr.
 
 700 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Metaphysical studies — Projected publication of 
 Colliers Clavis Universalis — Hartley — Cople- 
 ston — Dugald Stewart. 
 
 Philology was one of the favourite studies of 
 Parr — not philology concerned in the weighing of 
 phrases — not philology digging out bare meaning 
 and bald derivations — not philology connected mere- 
 ly with etymology, but occupied with the philoso- 
 phy of mind itself. 
 
 As a teacher, the use of words was continually 
 before him. From the beginning of his labours he 
 was accustomed to hear the luminous and elaborate 
 instructions of Sumner, delivered as they were, 
 like lectures to the elder boys. He owed an im- 
 portant part of his mental progress to the hints 
 given in these lectures. But with a more capable 
 and capacious intellect he reaped greater fruit. The 
 philology and etymology of Sumner were converted 
 by him into metaphysics and philosophy. 
 
 The profound dogmas of religion are nearly allied 
 to the abstruse speculations of metaphysics, and from 
 his early life Parr was a diligent student of theology, 
 and thinker for himself His Norwich sermons are
 
 MEMOIRS. 701 
 
 deeply tinctured with this lore, and we may observe 
 in the Bishop of Cloyne's early letters, that he is 
 sometimes laughed at for his doubts and refine- 
 ments. Those doubts were the serious reflections of a 
 searching mind ; and those speculations and refine- 
 ments, if they were not borrowed from Butler and 
 Waterland, were justified by their hypotheses. 
 
 Parr's strength lay not merely in transcendental 
 metaphysics. Like every other superior mind, he 
 loved to try his power occasionally on these sub- 
 jects, and to soar in the upper regions of mys- 
 tery, or to pursue those wandering mazes in which 
 all human reasoning is finally lost. Such sub- 
 jects were, however, not his chief study. Bene- 
 volence, utility, the vindication of God's ways to 
 man — the virtue of real sincerity, and honest in- 
 dustry to find out what God requires of his crea- 
 tures to believe — the power of conscience ; these 
 were the topics he delighted in, and to make reli- 
 gion practical, he has poured forth the whole riches 
 of his learning and intellect upon them. All his 
 Sermons will prove this assertion; and those on 
 Conscience, in the following volumes ; on the 
 Habit of Judging unrighteously ; on avoiding the 
 appearance of Evil ; and on Prayer, and on Bene- 
 volence, are of themselves a code. Still philologi- 
 cal inquiries, and metaphysical disquisitions were 
 favourite studies. In searching into the meaning 
 of words, and their etymology, he laboured with 
 indefatigable industry to trace the word to its root, 
 and its root he dug out of the soil of intellect in 
 which it had been planted. He investigated the
 
 702 MEMOIRS. 
 
 seed from which it sprung, the waters which had 
 nourished it, the support it had received from all 
 adventitious aids, and thus his philology became 
 the history of the human mind, so far as any one 
 word belonged to it. 
 
 The treatise on Sublime, written in illustration 
 of Dugald Stewart's philosophy of the human mind, 
 will be evidence of his diligence, his zeal, and his 
 learning in this branch of knowledge. 
 
 Parr's system of metaphysics is unfolded in the 
 Spital Sermon, and the notes: and in the 24th Sermon 
 of vol. VI. more at large than in any of his other 
 publications. All his charity sermons touch upon it ; 
 but he has there pointed out the sources he drank 
 most freely of, Locke, * Tucker's Light of Nature, 
 
 * The following letter of Sir J. Mackintosh was an answer 
 to inquiries about Tucker : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Serle-strect , 1st Dec. 1800. 
 
 I thought it useless to answer your letter till I could answer 
 your inquiries about Tucker, which I now do by informing 
 you that he was of Merton College, Oxford. Whether he 
 took a degree there or not I could not ascertain, but you will 
 easily ascertain that point by inquiries at Oxford, The person 
 whom I employed to make these inquiries was Malthus, the 
 author of the essay on the Principle of Population, who lives 
 in the neighbourhood of what was Mr. Tucker's seat. Sir H. 
 St. John Mildmay, to whom Malthus applied for information, 
 is the grandson of Tucker, and has an intention of publishing 
 a complete edition of his grandfather's works, including some 
 detached tracts, and an unpublished Dissertation on the Logos. 
 He is to send me a sketch of the life of Tucker, written by his 
 daughter Mrs. Tucker. I am very willing to assist him in his 
 edition, and I hope it is not too late to recover more particu- 
 lars of the life of this great philosopher than are contained in
 
 MEMOIRS. 703 
 
 and Hartley, whose first work he had some inten- 
 tion of pubhshing.* Fifteen years afterwards he 
 
 his daughter's sketch, as some of his contemporaries are still 
 alive. It seems to me, that an analysis of the Light of Nature 
 would be an useful part of such a republication. It is a work 
 which needs to be analysed. It is never concise, and not always 
 methodical. I should be under the necessity of charging Search 
 with ungrateful plagiarism from Hartley. His chapter on 
 ♦< translated passion" is a very mean attempt to hide his theft 
 by a paltry change of expression. It will be painful to lay 
 such an offence to the charge of a great and a good man; but 
 the morality of literature requires that severe justice should be 
 executed on such thefts, and especially on those men of genius 
 who stoop to such petty larcenies, &c. &c. Ever yours, 
 
 James Mackintosh. 
 
 * Whose first work he had some intention of publishing. War- 
 burton (in his true slashing style) calls Hartley a philosophic vi- 
 sionary. Hartley published a Latin treatise, conjectures on the 
 origin of ideas, and afterwards an English Precursor, as Hartley 
 calls it, to his celebrated theory. His Latin treatise was pub- 
 lished in the same volume with a treatise on Mrs, Stephens's 
 Lithontriptic. " De Lithontriptico a Joanna Stephens, nuper 
 inventa, Dissertatio epistolaris auctore Davide Hartley, A.M. 
 R.S.S. &c. accedunt etiam quaedam conjecturae de sensu, motu, 
 et Idearum generatione. Baihoniae, 1746." What a very cu- 
 rious coincidence in the history of the human mind is Hartley 
 troubling himself about Mrs. Stephens's Lithontriptic, and 
 Berkely about tar water ! 
 
 The two following letters from David Hartley, the diploma- 
 tist, give some account of his celebrated father : 
 
 DEAR SIR. Bath, Jan. ^\st, 179L 
 
 I am very much obliged to you for the favour and assistance 
 of your observations when 1 had the pleasure of seeing you at 
 Bath. I will only trouble you with the reformation of the 
 principal topic which you pointed out respecting the subscrip- 
 tion to the 39 Articles. I wish to hold out a flag of truce, and
 
 704 MEMOIRS. 
 
 took up another metaphysical writer, and at that 
 time actually reprinted Collier's Clavis Universalis, 
 and intended to add a large introduction of his own. 
 
 to avoid all possible constructive offence either to church or 
 lay subscribers, viz. 
 
 He was originally intended for the church, and proceeded 
 for some time in his thoughts and studies towards that object ; 
 but upon a closer consideration of the conditions attached to 
 the clerical profession, he was restrained by some scruples 
 which made him reluctant to subscribe the 39 Articles, la 
 consequence of these scruples he became disqualified for the 
 pursuit of his first plans of devoting himself to the personal 
 functions and service of the church. However he still conti- 
 nued to the end of his life a well-affected member of the Church 
 of England, conforming to its general doctrines, and to its pub- 
 lic worship. Though his talents were very general, yet un- 
 doubtedly his pre-eminent faculties were formed for the moral 
 and religious sciences. These talents were displayed in the 
 earliest parts of his life with so much distinction, as could not 
 fail to hold out to his ambition a future career of honest fame 
 in the service of the National Church, if he could have com- 
 plied with the conditions, consistently with the satisfaction of 
 his own mind. But he had at all times a most scrupulous and 
 disinterested mind, which disposed him in all parts of his life, 
 and under all circumstances, to adhere firmly to those princi- 
 ples which appeared to him to form the strict and conscien- 
 tious line of moral duty. It proceeded therefore from the most 
 anxious scruples irresistibly impressed upon his mind, that he 
 relinquished the first favoured profession, which may properly 
 be called the prerogative profession of moral and religious phi- 
 losophy. 
 
 I think no oblique reflection can be construed out of those 
 words that he adhered firmly to those principles which appeared 
 to him to form the strict and conscientious line of moral duty. 
 It is simply the relation of a personal sentiment without in- 
 ferential strictures upon conformists, which I take to be your 
 sentiment, and if it is not now fully and properly expressed, I
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 705 
 
 Some of the materials for this introduction are left; 
 but I am doubtful whether they are copious enough 
 to form even a syllabus of what was originally con- 
 
 shall be much obliged to you for your assistance to express it 
 in an adequate manner. 
 
 I shall be very happy at all times to cultivate your friendship 
 and good opinion, and to derive instruction from your commu- 
 nications. I beg my best compliments to Dr. Gabriel, I am, 
 dear Sir, your much obliged, and most obedient servant, 
 
 To the Rev. Dr. Parr. D. Hartley. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Bath, Jan. 22, 1791. 
 
 A thought has occurred to me respecting my flag of truce, 
 " a well affected member of the Church of England." The 
 Dissenter denies the consistence of this with non-subscribing- 
 I prove it thus — because he was a metaphysician, a moralist, a 
 religionist, and not a pohtician. That was not his province — 
 Ne sutor ultra. The Dissenter replies, if there had been no 
 political spirits to resist usurpation over the temporal and men- 
 tal rights of man, the bloody flags would still have been flying 
 over the Bastile and the Inquisition. Granted. But the moral 
 philosopher has with meekness and fortitude expounded the 
 rule of life equally to tyrants and Popes, and spiritual princes 
 and hierarchies. His sphere of duty is didactic and spiritual 
 counsel, not the secular arm of resistance. He leaves it to the 
 will of Heaven to raise up more fiery spirits from the deep, to 
 avenge the insulted rights of mankind. The meek moralist 
 renders to Caesar ; whether given or granted by the Commons, 
 are terms not in his vocabulary. He (the moralist) is a true 
 labourer, glad oi other men's good, content with his own harm. 
 If it be not Caesar's, let Caesar answer it. To rescue our philo- 
 sopher from the construction of bending the knee to spiritual 
 or temporal idols, I think the argument should be put upon 
 that character. I have, therefore, inserted the following solu- 
 tion of the enigma, " well affected to the church," &c. 
 
 After the words, " to its general doctrines, and to its public 
 
 VOL. I. 2 z
 
 706 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ceived. They shall be collected and printed here- 
 after, if they can be compounded into any satis- 
 factory shape. 
 
 worship." As the Church of England maintains all the useful 
 and practical doctrines of Christian morality, he did not think it 
 necessary to separate himself from their communion on account 
 of some excepted articles of speculative and abstruse opinion. 
 He was unconditionally a Catholic Christian, in the most ex- 
 tensive and liberal sense of that term. On the subject of reli- 
 gious controversy he has left the following testimony of his sen- 
 timents in the last section of proposition 88, on religious know- 
 ledge: " The great differences of opinion and contentions 
 which happen in religious matters, are plainly owing to the 
 violence of men's passions, more than to any other cause. 
 Where religion has its due effect in restraining these, and be- 
 getting true candour, we may expect an unity of opinion, both 
 in religious and other matters, as far as is necessary for useful 
 practical purposes." 
 
 Again — to stand in a short paragraph by itself next after the 
 words — He has left no additional papers whatsoever. 
 
 The learned and ingenious Dr. Priestley published, in the 
 year 1775, some parts of Dr. Hartley's works, in an octavo 
 volume, intituled ; " Hartley's Theory of the Human Mind on the 
 principle of the Association of Ideas, ivith Essays on the subject of 
 it." He had commenced a correspondence with the author a 
 short time before his death, and has remained ever since a 
 constant and zealous advocate for his metaphysical and moral 
 system. 
 
 Do you like this? If not, pray give me a philosophical and 
 metaphysical nosegay, liberal but not lavish. I am, dear Sir, 
 your much obliged friend, and most obedient servant, 
 
 D. Hartley. 
 
 1st P. S. I have this moment thought of a final compromise 
 under my flag of truce; viz. to insert practical doctrines in- 
 stead of general doctrines — thus : He continued to the end of 
 his life a well-affected member of the Church of England, con- 
 forming to its practical doctrines and to its public worship.
 
 MEMOIRS. /(); 
 
 Collier's system resembles that of Bishop Berke- 
 ley: 
 
 Every thing not absolutely impossible, or implying a direct 
 contradiction in terms, may be equally proved by this covipre- 
 hensi'rc logic. Thus the external material n:orld is proved not 
 to exist, because it is possible, and in their language who use 
 this argument more than possible, that it may not. 
 
 Such is Hoadly's sly observation on Collier's 
 system, as, I believe, while he laughs at Dr. Snape, 
 and converts him into a Papist by the same sort of 
 
 It certainly docs require some explanation that non-subscrip- 
 tion should be called ii:cll affected. But I think the phrase 
 " practical doctrines" is the onme punctum, and perfectly coin- 
 cides with my father's words., as far as ^is necessary Jor useful 
 and practical purposes. 
 
 The truth of the matter is, that my fother had some partia- 
 lity for the Church by habit and inheritance, but was totally 
 cold to every other Communion. His idol was useful, practical, 
 (and, if you please, mechanical,) Christian morality, quocunque 
 modo. He would have joined hands with Roman Catholics, or 
 Dissenters, or any other sect for that object, leaving the sect 
 to God and the sectarist. I have now advanced my flag of 
 truce to the Church as far as I can go, especially as thev have 
 done so little for my father's memory, and the Dissenters all. 
 
 2d P. S. I have this moment received a letter from my bro- 
 ther, in which he says: " I think all mention of any person's 
 approving our father's work had better be left out, that it may 
 proceed upon its own merits." I entirely agree in this, not to 
 adduce testimonia. Suppose it should be altered thus : instead 
 of — and has remained ever since a constant and zealous advo- 
 cate, &c. — and has, in subsequent literary works, commented 
 with great acuteness and erudition upon his metaph^-sical and 
 moral system. 
 
 Be so good as to give me a little assistance — it is a delicate 
 point. 
 
 2 z i>
 
 708 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 logic* This remark of Hoadly is the first notice 
 I have ever seen of Collier's system. Parr had not 
 observed it. In the Grub-street Journal, No. 107, 
 the following notice is taken conjointly of Berke- 
 ley's theory with that of Collier. Colher was the 
 first: he pubhshed his Clavis Universalis in 1713. 
 I have not the first edition of Berkeley's treatise 
 before me. 
 
 Some years ago, Mr. Berkeley, of Trinity College, Dublin, 
 and Mr. Collier, of Langford Magna, near Sarum, without hav- 
 ing communicated their thoughts to each other, hit upon a new 
 scheme of the principles of philosophy, which, notwithstanding 
 the character of the Authors, and the importance of the thing, 
 has not yet been publicly canvassed. 
 
 The titles of their Essays are " The principles of human 
 knowledge, and the impossibility of an external world." The 
 great point they advance is, that in nature there is, there can 
 be, nothing but spirit and ideas. 
 
 Mr. Norris, incumbent of Bemerton, in the 
 neighbourhood of Langford, published some work 
 on humility, so excellent in sentiment and compo- 
 sition, that Sir James Mackintosh recommended it 
 to the notice of Dr. Parr, and advised him to follow 
 it up by a treatise of his own on the same subject. 
 Mr. Norris was Editor also of some Poems, of con- 
 siderable merit for the thoughts, though not of a 
 high cast of poetry. He was a disciple of Mal- 
 branche, of course, as seeing all things in God, an 
 anti-materialist. Sir J. Mackintosh thinks it pos- 
 sible that Collier may have taken a hint of his 
 system from Norris. Parr had noticed this before 
 
 * Letter to Dr. Snape, by Lord Bishop of Bangor^ prefixed 
 to Mr. Pilloniere's reply to Dr, S.
 
 MEMOIRS. 709 
 
 from Reid, who gives a sketch of Collier's opinions, 
 which he somewhat underrates. 
 
 Professor Dugald Stewart, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 KuiJieil House, Jan. 11, 1820. 
 
 MY DEAR DOCTOR PARR, 
 
 I would have written to you long ago, had not our friend 
 Leonard Horner led me to expect a letter from you on your 
 arrival at Hatton. Your portrait (with your kind note) I am 
 happy to say arrived safe here without suffering the slightest 
 injury from its long journey. Mrs. Stewart and my daughter 
 agree with me in thinking it an admirable likeness. Of the 
 quick and varied play of your features it was impossible even 
 for the skill of Opie to convey an idea ; but he has done all that 
 was within the compass of his art. He has seized a fortunate 
 moment, and has produced one of the most pleasing as well as 
 powerful pictures I have ever seen. In this light it strikes even 
 those who are strangers to your person ; but how much more 
 does it present to the imagination of your friends! To myself 
 it recals the original so very strongly, that I never look at it 
 without being somewhat provoked that it cannot answer the 
 questions I would wish to put to Dr. Parr, were he sitting 
 beside me. 
 
 Along with the engraving I received your most acceptable 
 present of Reinhold's work. No book could possibly have 
 reached me more opportunely at the pi-esent moment, when I 
 am employed in filling up, as I best can, that part of my Disser- 
 tation which relates to German philosophy. 
 
 I need not say how much the value of the present was en- 
 hanced by the affectionate, though much too flattering, inscrip- 
 tion in your own hand. I have also to thank you for a present 
 which, through your means, I received very soon after you left 
 Scotland, of Dr. Kaye's Concio ad Cleriim. I read it with 
 much admiration of the talents, sound judgment, and classical 
 taste of the Author. It was accompanied with a very obliging 
 note, in which he expressed his apprehensions that " the kind- 
 ness of Dr. Parr's heart, and the fervour of his eloquence," 
 might have led me to expect more from his Sermon than its
 
 710 MEMOIRS. 
 
 merits would be found to justify. I can very truly say that this 
 was not the case. 
 
 In mentioning these instances of your kind attention, I must 
 not forget to acknowledge the heartfelt, though melancholy, 
 satisfaction I received from your eulogium on our inestimable 
 friend, Sir Samuel Romilly. It touches, with singular preci- 
 sion and felicity, on the chief features of his character, both 
 intellectual and moral, and conveys a more perfect idea of his 
 peculiar style of eloquence, than I should have thought possible, 
 in the same number of words. From the manner in which you 
 propose to record it, I am somewhat afraid that you may think 
 the publication of it during your own life-time improper; but if 
 this objection (which does not appear to me very weighty) 
 could be got over to your own satisfaction, I cannot help think- 
 ing that it would be of more use to our friend's memory at the 
 present moment than at the future (I trust distant) period, 
 when the book is to be deposited in the library of Emanuel 
 College. You are the best judge, through what channel it 
 would be most expedient to give it to the public ; but I shall 
 not be happy till I see it in print. 
 
 I wish much for some information about Arthur Collier, 
 author of a book entitled Clavis Universalis, &c. (London, 
 1713.) The book is now so scarce that I never saw it till about 
 a year ago, when I met with a copy of it (at Bowood) belonging 
 to my old friend, Dr. Fowler, of Salisbury. I think you told 
 me that you either had printed, or intended to print, a small 
 edition of it. If this be already done, I should like extremely 
 to have a copy of it in my own possession. But, at any rate, 
 if you happen to know any thing of the Author (whose name I 
 cannot find in any of our biographical dictionaries) you will 
 oblio-e me extremely by sending me some short notice of his 
 history, such as I can easily comprise within the limits of a 
 foot-note. 
 
 Do you understand the meaning of the following passage in 
 one of Locke's letters to Anthony Collins, dated 6th March, 
 1703? 
 
 " Were you of Oxenford itself, bred up under those sharp 
 heads which were for damning my book, because of its discou- 
 raging the staple commodity of the place; which, in my time, was
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 711 
 
 was called hog's shearing (which is, as I hear, given out for 
 the cause of this decree), you could not be a more subtle 
 disputant than you are." Will you have the goodness to ex- 
 plain to me this sentence ; and more particularly to tell me 
 what Locke points at, when he speaks of the staple commodity 
 oj" Oxford? Does he mean any thing more than the study of 
 the Aristotehan logic ? 
 
 When I had the pleasure of seeing you at Kinneil, I men- 
 tioned an expression which Gibbon applies to Mr. AUamand, 
 a very learned clergyman of the Pays de Vaud ; est sacrijiculus 
 in pago et vulgus decipit. You told me that this phrase was 
 borrowed from Vossius. May I beg of you to tell me in what 
 part of his works it is to be found? 
 
 I have heard from my son since his arrival at Malta. He 
 assures me that he has not forgotten his promise to send Dr. 
 Parr some Lyrian tobacco. I shall be glad to hear from you, 
 if it ever should reach Hatton. I hope you found Mrs. Parr 
 in good health, and that you will bring her along with you to 
 Scotland on your next visit, which all your friends at Edin- 
 burgh look forward to with eagerness and confidence. I was 
 delighted to find what an impression you had left behind you. 
 Mrs. Stewart and ray daughter unite with me in best and most 
 affectionate respects, and I ever am, my dear Dr. Parr, with 
 the sincerest and highest regard, your most obliged and most 
 faithful friend and servant, Dugald Stewart. 
 
 Collier, besides the Clavis, published afterwards 
 a " Specimen of true Philosophy, or a Discourse on 
 Genesis, chap. 1. ver. 1." In this he says, p. 21, 
 
 In truth, however intelligent I would willingly suppose my 
 reader in this place, yet I cannot proceed with a quiet mind 
 till I have told him, that unless he has perused and seen the 
 Evidence of the little hook {the Clavis) before mentioned (which, 
 except a single passage or two in Dr. Berkeley's three Dis- 
 courses, published in the same year with the "other, is the only 
 book on that subject which 1 ever heard of in the world), it 
 will be as much in vain for him to go with me any further in
 
 712 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 this discourse, as if he was one of those whom I took my leave 
 of in a former paragraph. 
 
 I presume Parr's intention in re-printing Collier 
 was not merely to display his author. Collier is 
 not very attractive in style, nor very methodical in 
 composition, but inventive and original ; whatever 
 may be objected to him concerning Norris, or sus- 
 pected concerning Berkeley. Parr's metaphysics 
 were clearly those of Locke, expounded as Locke 
 had been by Law, and illustrated by himself from 
 Plato, Aristotle, and the philosophers of antiquity. 
 Masses of learning of this sort have been copied by 
 him from the books, and two good boys at Shrews- 
 bury, and Mr. Fonblanque at Cambridge, were 
 employed many a wearisome hour to copy pages 
 from Petrus de Valentia, Olivet, and other learned 
 commentators. On personal identity Parr thought 
 with Bishop Law ; and this question he has laboured 
 under most of its aspects. In reviewing the meta- 
 physicians, Kant and the Germans were brought 
 before him ; but their complex and peculiar language 
 could only be construed by one of those initiated 
 into the mysteries of German metaphysics, as they 
 are involved in the German language. In this he 
 was no Hierophant, and being obliged to employ 
 a translator, who could only expound by peri- 
 phrasis, he was at length either wearied, or satiated, 
 or disgusted. His endeavours to understand Kant, 
 brought the sublime before him in a novel point of 
 view ; and I believe led to those profound specu- 
 lations which afterwards flowed from his pen, in 
 his correspondence with Professor Dugald Stewart
 
 MEMOIRS. 713 
 
 and Dr. Copleston, then Provost of Oriel College, 
 Oxford, and now Lord Bishop of LlandafF. 
 
 With the latter he began to correspond in 1808, 
 and I add the Bishop's first letter, in answer to 
 Dr. Parr, as a testimony of the value he set on his 
 acquaintance. Parr had met Dr. Copleston at 
 Oriel, and on March 15, 1808, wrote him a letter of 
 which I shall copy only a few sentences. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The satisfaction I felt in your conversation, the respect I 
 owe to your learning, and the favourable accounts I have heard 
 of your moral character, dispose me very strongly to cultivate 
 your acquaintance, and to tell you frankly and fairly my opi- 
 nions upon any doubts which may occur to you in the course 
 of 3'our reading. After this declaration, to which they who 
 have known me longer and better than yourself, would readily 
 give credit, I shall proceed to resume some of the topics on 
 which we entered when I chatted with you at Oriel. 
 
 The letter dated Nov. 10, 1816, reveals a a-Konav 
 oiTTOKpu^iv, now known to all the world ; but it also 
 contains a generous appeal, which must sink into 
 the heart of every scholar. Two other letters enter 
 on the theory of the derivation of sublimis. Dr. 
 Parr's theory is, that sublimis is derived from 
 limus ; Dr. Copleston reasoned at first that it came 
 from super limen ; but at length yielded. The letter, 
 in which Dr. Parr assigns his reasons, and supports 
 them with his criticisms and authorities, occupies 
 twelve pages of forty lines each, and in each line 
 eleven words ; so that I must reluctantly refer it, to 
 be published hereafter with the work on Sublime 
 sent to Professor Stewart. Of the other letters
 
 714 MEMOIRS. 
 
 of Dr. Parr to Dr. Copleston I subjoin the fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 Dr. Copleston, now Bishop of LandafF, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Oriel College, April 29, 1808. 
 
 Nothing but the strong desire I felt of doing something 
 more than make acknowledgments for your kindness, has pre- 
 vented me hitherto from saying how much I feel indebted to 
 you. The few hours during which you favoured me with your 
 company were among the pleasantest I ever passed, and I shall 
 greedily embrace the offer you kindly make of cultivating an 
 acquaintance, which has already afforded me so much happi- 
 ness. All this, and more than this, is due to the friendly tone 
 of your letter; but the criticism which it contains deserves 
 more than thanks, and it was from the hope of more leisure 
 than I have met with, that my answer has been delayed so 
 long. 
 
 I perfectly understand the friendly intention with which you 
 have opened the way to similar communications from me, and 
 as no man has a higher sense of the advantage thus held out 
 to me, so there is none who is less disposed to neglect it. But 
 to speak plainly, I have been of late distracted with such a 
 variety of cares that I have literally had no time for gratuitous 
 researches. Sufficient for the day has been the evil thereof. 
 My Lectures in the schools, added to very extensive employ- 
 ment as tutor, and the duties of the Proctor's office, have hardly 
 left me a moment's interval; for the different capacities in 
 which I have been compelled to act, have involved also a pretty 
 extensive correspondence. But of this enough. My anxiety 
 to stand well with you, and to clear myself of the most distant 
 suspicion of indifference, have led me into a tedious apology. 
 
 Be assured, however, dear Sir, that I have read your cri- 
 ticisms more than once with great interest; and I will tell you 
 honestly that the interest has not arisen so much from the 
 fame of the writer and from the learning they display, as from 
 their candid and philosophic cast. It is a vein of criticism 
 which the ordinary run of scholars never open ; for, in truth, 
 it requires a frame of mind and habits of reflection which mere
 
 MEMOIRS. 715 
 
 philologists seldom possess. But in the little excursions which 
 I have made (and they have been, I confess, few and desultory), 
 I have always derived more satisfaction from being able to 
 elicit a canon which approved itself to my reason, than to fix 
 the use of a word by authorities, or to correct a reading by 
 lucky conjecture. It is this union of philosophy with criticism 
 which dignifies the art, and, in my opinion, tends to soften and 
 subdue the acrimony which is apt to mingle itself with philo- 
 logical disputes. Certainly the nearer we approach to demon- 
 stration the less room is there for angry contention. For in 
 pure science it finds no place. And I believe that personal 
 jealousy, with which critics have been reproached, arises chiefly 
 from this, that their opinions depend upon individual expe- 
 rience, and cannot therefore be opposed without calling in 
 question the judgment and authority of those who hold them. 
 
 There is besides a delightful sensation which accompanies 
 the discovery of these principles, analogous to that which 
 springs from the contemplation of final causes in nature, the 
 most beautiful as well as the most edifying part of natural 
 philosophy. To know not only that a thing is so, but why it 
 is so, gives unmixed satisfaction. It is a pleasure which, to 
 use the words of Aristotle, reXeiol 7»)v kvepyeiav. In this 
 branch of literature it appears to me that much remains to be 
 done. A theory of language, not so refined and abstract as 
 to carry us up to the first elements of speech, but which will 
 serve to explain the phenomena that occur in all languages, 
 and point out their connection with the laws of human thought, 
 a collection and system not of the highest principles, but of 
 those media axiomata, which are useful in practice, as well as 
 delightful in speculation, is a work which the world has not yet 
 seen, but which I do not despair of seeing, if the talent and 
 learning the world possesses were directed towards it. 
 
 To the particular points of your discussion I must, at present, 
 omit to give any answer. The rule respecting non moclo and 
 non solum, is indeed impregnably established. On the sub- 
 junctive mood I have some loose and unsettled opinions, which 
 I will endeavour to render more worthy of being compared 
 with yours by the time we meet. It will not be long, I trust, 
 before you give me an opportunity of shewing how desirous I
 
 716 MEMOIRS. 
 
 am of improving the acquaintance with which you have ho- 
 noured me. I remain, dear Sir, with unfeigned respect and 
 esteem, your very obhged and faithful servant, 
 
 E. COPLESTON. 
 
 Dr. Parr, to Dr. Copleston. 
 
 DEAR, LEARNED, AND WISE DR. COPLESTON, 
 
 I throw myself upon your candour to excuse me for troubhng 
 you with this letter. In Dugald Stewart, and in Mr. Napier, 
 you have quite as warm admirers as I am of your profound 
 erudition, your correct judgment, your well-regulated taste, 
 and your rare and exquisite talent for philosophical research. 
 Mr, Stewart laments that he has not the honour of knowing 
 you personally, and therefore was compelled to put to me a 
 question, which, under other circumstances, he would have ad- 
 dressed to yourself. In his letter, which now lies before me, 
 he states the anxiety of Mr. Napier, and his own, to know dis- 
 tinctly what person you had in view, when at the close of some 
 sentences most worthy of you as a scholar, and as a sage, you 
 say " there have been men so variously gifted, though few, 
 and some perhaps there still are ; one I know there is, who 
 could not render a more acceptable service to the lovers of 
 ancient learning, than by guiding their footsteps through this 
 perplexing labyrinth." 
 
 The two celebrated North Britons, whom I just now men- 
 tioned, are strongly impressed with language which bears upon 
 it the stamp of your authority. I this morning told Mr, Ste- 
 wart that I could not solve the difficulty, but that I would go 
 a short and a sure way by writing directly to Dr. Copleston. 
 Now, dear Sir, I leave it entirely with your wisdom and deli- 
 cacy to grant, or not to grant to me this favour of enabling 
 me to answer the question which has been sent to me. 
 
 I was much struck with some observations which you once 
 made in my hearing, on the importance and the difficulty of 
 such a work as you describe in the passage to which Mr. Ste- 
 wart alludes, and from two or three hints I inferred the possi- 
 bility of your own undertaking it j I will not yet relinquish the 
 hope. Again, and again, I have inquired about your health ;
 
 MEMOIRS. 717 
 
 1 rejoiced to hear favourable accounts of it, and I am sure, that 
 knowing the importance of it to literature, criticism, and the 
 philosophy of the human mind, every enlightened contempo- 
 rary will join with me in my wishes, and let me add my prayers, 
 for the continuance of your life, and will exclaim as I do 
 
 Nae istiusmodi jam nobis magna Civium 
 
 Penuria 'st, 
 
 I have the honour to be, dear Sir, with great and unfeigned 
 respect, your well-wisher, and obedient, humble servant, 
 Hatton, Nov. 9ih, 1816. Samuel Parr, 
 
 Dr. Copleston, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Oriel College, Nov. 10, 1816. 
 
 There is only one scruple in the way of my returning a 
 direct answer to Mr. Stewart's question. It will be an admis- 
 sion that I am the author of publications which I have never 
 avowed, except to confidential friends, and which, notwith- 
 standing the approbation you have kindly pronounced, contain 
 in them many things which I am now heartily ashamed 'of. 
 From you I have certainly no wish to conceal any thing; and 
 therefore I state at once that you were in my contemplation 
 when that sentence was written ; and I am still convinced, as 
 firmly as ever, that if there is a person living qualified to throw 
 light on the structure of the Greek and Latin languages, by 
 the aid of philosophical investigation, it is yourself. 
 
 I do not wish, my dear Sir, to restrain you from making 
 known this admission of mine to your learned correspondents, 
 because I am sure you will do it in such a manner as will se- 
 cure to me the privilege of that secresy which I have hitherto 
 maintained. At the same time allow me to express my joy at 
 this inquiry, because I regard it as a ground of hope that you 
 will exercise that rare combination of talents which every one 
 knows you to possess, in the prosecution of a work much want- 
 ed, and not unworthy of your hand. 
 
 Perhaps, indeed, you may meditate some greater task, and 
 instead of employing metaphysics as a key to the difficulties of 
 language, turn these philological facts into a means of disco- 
 vering more important truths ; the laws of human thought, and
 
 718 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the causes of popular error. The influence of opinions and 
 habits upon language has been long observed, and pretty well 
 illustrated. The re-action of language upon opinions has also 
 been observed, but how little has the observation been followed 
 up? From beginning the inquiry at this end it is, that I sus- 
 pect much useful and surprising truth might be discovered ; 
 and in the course of the inquiry such principles might be eli- 
 cited as would form the basis of a philosophical language. 
 This has been long a favourite speculation of my mind ; not 
 because I think myself capable of doing it, but because I wish 
 to see it done, and am persuaded that it would tend more than 
 any thing else to strengthen the human faculties, and to enlarge 
 the empire of human intellect, by perfecting its great, and, I 
 may say, its only instrument. 
 
 I must, however, apologize for indulging thus far in the 
 statement of my own reveries. Be assured, I am not the only 
 one of your friends and admirers, who v/ish to see your great 
 stores made productive of some proportionate work. We all 
 draw upon you freely, as occasional criticism has need; but 
 yours is a capital which ought also to be employed in some 
 great and independent concern. May you long enjoy health 
 and spirits for such occupations. Believe me ever, my dear 
 Sir, with the greatest respect and esteem, your most obedient 
 servant, E. Copleston. 
 
 The tract on the Sublime, sent to Professor Ste- 
 wart, to be introduced into his work on the Philo- 
 sophy of the Mind, consists of more than one hun- 
 dred pages, with thirty or forty of notes. It is so 
 rich from the stores of Parr's classical, philological, 
 and metaphysical learning, that the Professor was 
 desirous of having it published of the same size, 
 and in a like type with his own book, that they 
 might go together, but declined accepting it as a 
 gift, and incorporating it in the body of his work, 
 on account of its importance and magnitude. 
 
 I trust neither this essay, nor the letter to Dr.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 719 
 
 Copleston, will be lost to the public. At present 
 they cannot be printed, as the works already exceed 
 the bounds prescribed, and we are anxious not to 
 expand them over too many volumes. If the public 
 receive the present volumes with the favour which 
 we presume to hope for, these works, with the ma- 
 terials for the life of Dr. Sumner, and divers clas- 
 sical morsels, with a further selection from the cor- 
 respondence, may appear at some future time. 
 Meanwhile, I shall close this part of the subject 
 with repeating Dr. Parr's opinions of a friend and a 
 philosopher, which cannot be misapprehended, and 
 to which the following letter will be a proper sequel : 
 
 Of one whom I am proud to call my friend, because he has 
 explored the deepest recesses, the most complex qualities, and 
 the remotest tendencies of human action ; because, to the re- 
 searches of philosophy he adds the graces of taste ; because 
 with powers commensurate to the amplitude and dignity of his 
 subject, he cmi, and he also will state without obscurity, reason 
 without perplexity, assert without dogmatism, instruct without 
 pedantry, counsel without austerity, and even refute without 
 acrimony. 
 
 Such is his opinion of Professor Dugald Stewart, 
 of Edinburgh : whose own letters display the confi- 
 dence which he reposed in Parr, and his admiration 
 of his learning and talents. I lament that it has 
 not been permitted me to insert the letters of which 
 they are the answers, or to which they reply. 
 
 They were personally acquainted in London, and 
 Parr visited him at Kinneil, a place which had fur- 
 nished another great philosopher with a retreat ; 
 for here resided Dr. John Roebuck, one to whom 
 Scotland owes a statue for his advancement of the
 
 720 MEMOIRS. 
 
 arts and sciences in that kingdom, and for his pa- 
 tronage of the celebrated James Watt, who, under 
 his roof, brought to maturity his own improvement 
 of the steam engine : so that Kinneil may be con- 
 sidered as an academy of the two philsophies. 
 Thither Parr went in 1819, and there was received 
 as one great man must be received by another ; and 
 how he was estimated we may learn from Mrs. 
 Dugald Stewart's declaration, that she had never 
 seen any one there before who was equal to her 
 husband, but she was proud to have Parr under 
 her roof, who was his superior. 
 
 Professor Dugald Stewart, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Edinburgh, 30th May, 1801. 
 
 The pleasure I received from your very kind and flattering 
 letter was increased to a degree, which I am unable to express, 
 by the subsequent perusal of your sermon, A coincidence of 
 opinion with so superior a mind on some of the most impor- 
 tant subjects of human speculation, I feel as a substantia) ad- 
 dition to the happiness of my life. Nor can I help reflecting, 
 with a new satisfaction, on the tendency of what I have writ- 
 ten, when I find myself numbered by Dr. Parr among the 
 authors who have attempted to throw " a pure and steady light 
 upon moral truth." 
 
 The general train of thought and reasoning which runs 
 through your discourse, meets with my warmest approbation ; 
 and the powerful effect of your eloquence in all your appeals 
 to the heart, I consider as the most unequivocal test of the 
 soundness of your philosophy. The admirable strictures on 
 Godwin are, at the present moment, peculiarly seasonable. I 
 know of no book, in our times, which has done so much mis- 
 chief among half-informed readers ; nor, indeed, can I conceive 
 a system more dextrously contrived in all its parts for retarding 
 the progress of human improvement, or the cause of rational 
 freedom.
 
 MEMOIRS. 721 
 
 Your sermon, however, (luminous as it Is in its principles, 
 and pathetic in its practical application, ) has scarcely instructed 
 and delighted me more than the philosophical erudition, and 
 discriminating criticism, displayed in your notes. The liberal 
 and benevolent spirit so conspicuous in all of them cannot fail, 
 with candid minds, to operate powerfully in favour of the truths 
 which you have laboured to recommend. 
 
 In looking over the works of our modern Divines, I have 
 been often astonished and mortified to observe the facility with 
 which so many of them have joined issue with Mr. Hume and 
 Helvetius, in depreciating the powers of the human intellect, 
 and in ridiculing what is commonly called the light of nature. 
 That " to be a philosophical sceptic is, in a man of letters, the 
 first step towards being a sovmd, believing Christian," is a maxim 
 which might have been expected to awaken some suspicion, 
 when connected with the general scope of Mr, Hume's writ- 
 ings. That " Christianity, on the contrary, presupposes the 
 truth of natural religion, and that whatever weakens the evi- 
 dences of the latter, must a fortiori injure the interests of the 
 former," is a proposition sanctioned by the opinions of Dr. 
 Clarke, and consonant to the common sense of mankind. And 
 yet I am much afraid that the language of the Divine, in this 
 instance, accords less than that of the philosopher, with the 
 theological doctrines of the present day. 
 
 The eloquent and philosophical strain in which you have 
 expressed yourself on this subject, added to the just celebrity 
 of your name, and to the authority of those earlier writers of 
 the English Church whom you have called to your aid, will, I 
 trust, go far to discountenance so dangerous an error. Many 
 of the passages which you have collected from these are highly 
 valuable ; and they contain, (as you have justly remarked,) 
 " without any attempt to preserve the peculiaryorms, or to em- 
 ploy the technical language of philosophical investigation, the 
 germ of thoughts which have been expanded into fuller luxuri- 
 ance, in the more popular productions of latter times." 
 
 Among your predecessors of a more modern date I am par- 
 ticularly delighted with the praise you have bestowed on But- 
 ler, whose conclusions concerning the productions of morality 
 (although they seem to me to approach nearer to the truth 
 VOL. I. 3 A
 
 722 MEMOIRS. 
 
 than those of any other author) have had hitherto very little 
 influence on the speculations of subsequent writers in the 
 southern part of the island. Nothing has indeed surprised me 
 more, among the capricious directions which public opinion 
 has taken, since I first began to reflect on such questions, than 
 the popularity which has been acquired by such ethical systems, 
 founded on principles long ago exploded, so completely, by 
 that excellent author. 
 
 I am by no means insensible to the merits of Mr. Paley ; but 
 I can scarcely persuade myself that Butler's discourses on 
 Human Nature, and his Dissertation on Virtue, have been pe- 
 rused by him and his followers with the attention which the 
 importance of the argument demanded. 
 
 Upon the whole, I can with great truth assure you, that I 
 regard your volume as a lasting and splendid monument to 
 your learning, eloquence, philosophy, benevolence, and piety ; 
 and I shall indulge the hope, that it may prove the precursor 
 to other works from your pen, in further illustration of the 
 same doctrines. 
 
 I am very sorry to learn from your advertisement that your 
 health has been indifferent ; and from your letter that your 
 sight is weak. I hope, however, that these circumstances will 
 induce you the sooner to accomplish your visit to Edinburgh. 
 You will find a comfortable and quiet apartment in my house 
 ready for your reception, and a most cordial welcome from 
 Mrs. Stewart and myself. 
 
 I shall request your acceptance, in a ^ew weeks, of a bio- 
 graphical account of our late principal, Dr. Robertson. The 
 undertaking was not altogether a matter of choice, as I have 
 neither talents nor inclination for that species of writing ; but 
 some particular circumstances rendered it, on my part, an 
 indispensable duty. I have found myself also obliged to yield 
 to the wishes of some of my friends in drawing up a short me- 
 moir with respect to the life and writings of Dr. Reid. With 
 this performance (which is now nearly finished) I hope to close 
 for ever my attempts as a biographer. 
 
 I ever am, with the greatest respect, my dear Sir, your 
 much obliged, and most obedient friend and servant, 
 
 DuGALD Stewart.
 
 723 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Terentianus Maurus, ^c. 
 
 Among Parr's other projected works, when he 
 was released from the drudgery and cares of a Pre- 
 ceptor, was an edition of Terentianus Maurus de 
 Literis, Syllahis, Pedibus, et Metris. This book 
 had been sent forth from the press of CoUnaeus by 
 Nic. Brissaeiis, with a very imperfect Commen- 
 tary, and there were other editions so httle iUustra- 
 tive of the obscure subjects, that Mr. Tunstall, of 
 Christ's College, Cambridge, was encouraged to 
 publish a new edition ; for which purpose, through 
 the patronage of Dr. Scale,* Chaplain to Archbishop 
 Moore, the MS. notes of Dr. John Taylor on Te- 
 rentianus Maurus, belonging to the University of 
 Cambridge, were confided to his care. There are 
 several letters from Mr. Tunstall on this subject, 
 written to Dr. Parr, of which the following will 
 display sufficiently Mr. Tunstall's occupation, and 
 Dr. Parr's assistance in it : 
 
 DEAR .SIR, London, June 21, 1787, 
 
 I have met with nothing but disappointments in the very ob- 
 jects where my success could have made me happy. The 
 world, I am afraid^ is not much my friend, and therefore, what- 
 ever may be the occasion of my misfortune, the fault will be 
 said to lie in myself, and not with my employers. As I feel 
 
 * John Barlow Seale, D. D. Fellow of Christ College. 
 3a2
 
 724 MEMOIRS. 
 
 within myself the greatest reverence for the generosity of that 
 patronage which has already protected me, I should be most 
 miserable were I to appear as an object where your favours 
 had been misapplied. But I think a detail of the littlenesses of 
 my accusers, and the unimportance of the accusations, below 
 the dignity of epistolary correspondence, and hope you will 
 extend your usual candour to me till Dr. Shepherd or myself 
 may have the pleasure of seeing you. As you had the good- 
 ness to say that you would revise the collection that I should 
 make of Dr. Taylor's notes, I have taken the liberty of sending 
 it to you. My poor thanks for your kindness are but of little 
 moment ; but Terentianus Maurus will be a testimony to the 
 world how much I am indebted to you. Mr. Scale, who has 
 just left London and gone into Kent, tells me that he thinks it 
 will be two months before I can get Terentianus Maurus to the 
 press ; and I am not very sorry for it. Taylor seems to me to 
 have made little progress in the final execution of his work. 
 There are not, I think, complete notes to above 200 lines. But 
 though the ground-work still i-emains, yet the superstructure 
 will be much lost ; for Taylor seems to have had an excellent 
 method of embellishing and raising his work. I have collected 
 all his notes, references, &c,, which are more dispersed and 
 confounded than ever the Sybil's leaves were. I have aimed at 
 accuracy, though there are yet some references whose aflBnity 
 I cannot discover. I have found great inconvenience from his 
 short hand, and not being able to apply to his references. In his 
 Analecta he seems to have taken no notice of the annotations 
 of Mr. Hotchkiss and some others ; but I have given place to 
 all those I thought the most plausible. I rather suspect he 
 must have had some other manuscript; for in the Sanct. edition, 
 which I have sent you, and which I suppose he meant to have 
 printed by, there are many observations which I have not met 
 with in the old Adversaria. The punctuation, as far as it goes, 
 seems much the same as this edition of Brissaeus ; I have there- 
 fore proceeded in the Sanct. edition, where Taylor left off, with 
 the punctuation after the old Adversaria. As to the Gerund 
 in do, I find that Terentian has made it short in four instances. 
 Taylor refers to Servius, Mn. 4th, 413. So upon the diph- 
 thongs, rhythm, &c. he gives references without drawing any 
 conclusions. Are the references sufficient?
 
 MEMOIRS. 725 
 
 I have made the alterations which you hinted at, and beg 
 leave to send the Preface at a future opportunity. 
 
 I have to add in English, and, what is much more to me, the 
 great respect with which I am, dear Sir, your most affectionate 
 servant, James Tunstall. 
 
 Mr. Tunstall failed in his purpose. Terentianus 
 Maurus was not edited by him, though he hved 
 some time at Hatton to be imbued with the neces- 
 sary qualifications, and had obtained divers MSS. 
 from the University of Cambridge. 
 
 After he left England (says Parr) I employed his uncle, the 
 late Dr. Shepherd, Plumian Professor of Astronomy, to restore 
 them to the University. 
 
 There are several letters of Dr. Scale on this part 
 of the subject, and in one letter there is a note of 
 Archdeacon Paley, who wanted to send a clever boy 
 to be under Parr's tuition, at Hatton, in 1795, but 
 he then declined taking fresh pupils. 
 
 On Tunstall's failure. Dr. Parr strongly advised 
 Dr. Charles Burney to undertake this learned work 
 in the following letter : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Oct. 26, 1789. 
 
 The random reports I heard at Oxford of your intending, at 
 that time, to be the Editor of Terentianus Maurus, raised only 
 a smile. I had often talked with you on the subject, and could 
 not suppose a design quite concealed from me, which you had 
 so far formed as to proclaim it at Oxford. You had read, I 
 knew, as every good scholar in our sense of the word has^ 
 some difficult metrical parts of Terentianus Maurus. You had 
 a general view of his subject and his merits — you had a curiosity 
 to see Taylor's papers — you had met, and, it may be, made 
 particular remarks and emendations upon him. Here my mind 
 stopped, or, if it went farther, it only suggested to me that, if 
 Tunstall had sent forth his edition, you would have bestirred 
 yourself and written a good critique. As I have carefully
 
 726 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 examined Taylor's papers, and have twice read his Author, 1 
 have some right to judge about the qualifications of an Editor, 
 and I wish you to undertake the work, as it will be very pleas- 
 ing to the Cambridge men ; if not, resolve boldly at once upon 
 Photius, and propose the Epitome of Athena^us. 
 
 I am glad you are so well with Glasse. I read the last Re- 
 view, and, as you ask my opinion, I must add that I did not 
 read it with approbation. You and Porson have directed your 
 minds with great earnestness and splendid success to what is 
 wrong. I once intended to show, not merely the diligence— it 
 is a very unjust and unseemly word — but the erudition and 
 taste Glasse shows where he is right ; and I should have 
 brought a long list of critical auxiliaries, but I long ago gave 
 up the design, and shall not resume it. I consider Glasse as 
 having done what no scholar since the revival of letters has 
 done at all, and which no scholar within the circle of my ac- 
 quaintance could have done so well. I mean not to palliate his 
 faults ; and I never shall cease to insist upon his excellencies. 
 
 And in the following letter, dated Nov. 9, 1789 : 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I am delighted to hear that you will think of Terentianus 
 Maurus, and undertake him under the very judicious restric- 
 tions which you mentioned to Dr. Farmer, 
 
 I had a letter from Scale, quite in his manner, unguarded, 
 but zealous and full of right meaning. I answered him in 
 such a manner as to confirm his resolution, quicken his 
 activity, and at the same time restrain his tongue. By all 
 means let Santen finish and insert his notes — by all means re- 
 publish Brissaeus's notes, and let the Cambridge edition contain 
 every thing. Great as are the blunders of Brissaeus, his erudi- 
 tion is vast, and his notes are what all scholars must wish to 
 possess and to read. Insist upon this with the University, and 
 remember, I insist upon it, dear Sir, with you. The fundus of 
 Taylor's edition is the Sanctandrean edition, and into the inter- 
 leaved copy are already inserted the readings Taylor had col- 
 lected or made. Bentley's are in red, and worthy of hira. 
 Hotchkiss's are numerous, and many of them happy. Tunstall, 
 with Scale's aid, and after many quarrels with Scale, supplied
 
 MEMOIRS. 727 
 
 rnetncaHy much of what is wanting. I am in possession of his 
 papers, and will apply for leave to send them you, when you are 
 in the way of being able to use them. But pray mind what I 
 say about Brissaeus. You will be puzzled at Taylor's short- 
 hand, and amused with his diagrams. 
 
 Believe me most truly yours, Samuel Parr. 
 
 Remember me to Porson. 
 
 There is a good review of Gregory's Chatterton, and a letter 
 of Taylor. Did you write the last. ^ I do not like the close. 
 He is an odd, absurd, ingenious sort of fellow, and is not to be 
 pelted with nouns in apposition. And as to the blunder, gross 
 and palpable as it is, I have seen worse in our Scaligers and 
 Bentleys, and where not. Downright right was Partridge, 
 when he said. 
 
 Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit. 
 
 Dr. Burney replied : 
 
 Oct. 1789. 
 As to Terentianus Maurus, I certainly, earli/ in life, before I 
 had seen Dr, Parr, formed an idea of publishing him ; but I 
 dropped the scheme from the difficulty of the writer, and from 
 my studies taking a different turn. When Askew's MS. library 
 was sold, my intention involuntarily revived. I copied, with 
 Dr. Farmer's permission, Taylor's notes; but again the crab- 
 bedness of the text, and the particular kind of reading, (namely, 
 the Greek and Latin grammarians and musical writers, and, 
 above all, every Moorish Latin author, with Apuleius and Isi- 
 dorus at their head,) again made me shrink from the under- 
 taking. I did not yet quite give it up, but absolutely paid thir- 
 teen guineas for the ecUtio princeps at the Pinelli sale ; though I 
 have looked forward to my edition as a work of a distant period, 
 and have ever and ajion set down a reference, &c. in an inter- 
 leaved copy. That I never mentioned such a scheme to you 
 may .seem strange ; but I was myself too irresolute about it to 
 think it worth while, nor should I have had an idea of stating 
 to Burgess that I ever had such a design, if he had not men- 
 tioned Santen's desire of an application for the use of Taylor's 
 papers. So much for Ter. Maurus. Now to business in order. 
 Berdmore met Farmer and Scale on Sunday, and then re- 
 lated my wishes respecting Photius, and my assent to Ter.
 
 728 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Maurus. They then settled that we should all dine together at 
 Berdmore's on Thursday. 
 
 We met yesterday. The sum of what was said by nie 
 amounted to my perfect submission to the wishes of the Univer- 
 sity, and my readiness to perform, to the best of my ability, any 
 work which they would honour me with a permission of pub- 
 lishing under their auspices. If it were Ter. Maurus, I begged 
 leave to have it understood clearly, that I could not attempt a 
 Jull^ complete., and regular edition, such as I knew ought to ap- 
 pear, and would supersede the necessity of any future re-pub- 
 lication, but that I would, first, transcribe and arrange Taylor's 
 and Bentley's notes; secondly, collate all the editions which I 
 could procure, of which I had iujo in my own possession, which 
 were no where scarcely to be found ; thirdly, add such notes 
 and references as were to be gleaned from the works of modern 
 Critics ; to which, fourthly, I would add such remarks of my 
 own as might occur, which would probably beyetc in number, 
 and trijling in value. 
 
 My own wishes, I confessed, led me to Photius, which I 
 would transcribe for the press, and add a completer index of 
 authors cited than Alberti's, which is deficient ; and mention 
 the passages in which this Lexicon is quoted by modern Critics. 
 Still, however, I had no xmsh but to comply with the wishes of 
 the Syndicate. Athenaeus was scarcely mentioned. Scale was 
 warm for Ter. Maurus, and I could discover that his eagerness 
 proceeded from an idea that the University thought him in 
 some degree, bound to the work, from the share which he had 
 in Tunstall's recommendation, &c. Farmer appeared to under- 
 stand the matter thoroughly, and said that, because Ter. 
 Maurus appeared an object to Scale, Mr. Burney was not to be 
 tied down to a book which he disliked. He, however, promised 
 to set the matter in agitation as soon as he returned to Cam- 
 bridge, and in about a month he is to write to either Berdmore 
 or me. 
 
 Again, dated Nov. 20, 1789 : 
 
 Affairs remain much as before. I have, indeed, twice seen 
 Farmer, and put Photius into the back ground, and have bidden 
 the honest Black stand forward. I have also written lo Scale to
 
 MEMOIRS. 729 
 
 State thus much to him. All my Greek volumes I have restored 
 to their due places, and my table is covered with Moorish trap- 
 pings. My own editions are these : 
 
 Editio princeps Milan . . . ] 597. Folio. 
 
 — Colinaei Parisiis. . 1531. Quarto. 
 
 — Petrecini Venetiis . 1533. 12mo, 
 
 — Sanctandreani. . . Heidelb. 1584. 12mo. 
 Putschius, Maittaire, and some other incorporated editions^ of 
 little value. But I want the rarest of rare books ; a quarto 
 Venice edition of 1503, apud Joan, de Ceret. A folio Milan 
 edition of 1504, by Janus Parrhasius, in a collection of gram- 
 marians, and an edition, by Jacobus Micyllus, published at 
 Francfort, 1532. These three editions, or any of them, I would 
 purchase at any price, and think exorbitancy cheapness; but 
 alas ! they are not to be had in England I fear. Santen, I find, 
 by the sheets which Burgess brought over last year, has either 
 collations o^\hetwoJirst, or the books themselves. 
 
 The Cambridge edition must surely contain all ; nor should 
 a line of Brissseus be omitted, though he is sometimes most 
 wrong. In due time I will submit to you two plans for the 
 management of the edition, \^ it will ever be allotted io hixsQ 
 a title to that name. Brissaeus's erudition and reading were of 
 no common magnitude. I propose, among other things, to 
 collect what anecdotes I can about him and other Editors, 
 
 I am carefully reading Ter. Maurus through in his edition, 
 and marking the lines to which the notes belong. I can read 
 but slowly. My avocations are so numerous, and my business 
 so unremitting, that I can do but little — very, very little every 
 day. Many thanks for the offer about Tunstall's papers. In 
 the use of them I must be guided, I suppose, by the University. 
 The fundus of my edition should certainly, with my own good 
 will, be the Milanese of 1497 ; that is certainly from a MS. 
 All the subsequent editions which I have examined have been 
 unmercifully, and too often injudiciously garbled. Putschius 
 follows the 8anctandrcan ; but you, who know his Corpus^ 
 know how licentiously he has edited every Grammarian whom 
 he has inserted, and particularly Priscian, which circumstance 
 much lessens the value of his stupendous volume.
 
 730 MEMOIRS. 
 
 To this letter Parr replied, Nov. 23 : 
 
 You are sure of having me on the side of the Moor, for I am 
 already with the Turks, and White will unload Mahomet of his 
 old name by sharing it, &c. 
 
 The books may be consulted, and Porson shall do it, and he 
 will do it, I know his price when he bargains with me ; two 
 bottles instead of one, six pipes instead of two, burgundy in- 
 stead of claret, liberty to sit till five in the morning instead of 
 sneaking into bed at one : these are his terms. 
 
 Again, Nov. 25, 1789: 
 
 Did I mention my having Burman's Valesius, and having long 
 since marked the reference ? The note, I remember, is full, 
 and will not, I fancy, admit o^ large additions, though it may of 
 some. As to books, I have most of the Authors modern, and 
 all the ancient whom I want, and nearly all those cited by 
 Brissaeus, and those which I have not I will purchase if possible ; 
 and if not, these the Museum, Bibl. Reg. or Oxon.may supply. 
 I shall, however, take the liberty of sending you a list of my 
 wants, as your library, I well know, contains many, many trea- 
 sures. Do you know how much Ben Jonson has quoted Ter. 
 Maurus in his Enghsh Grammar? Had I full time, I do think 
 that I could make a good, an useful, and even a valuable book. 
 I have read and marked Brissaeus nearly to the 900th line, and 
 have started a copia of emendations. Porson will do more for 
 me than for most men, and I shall try to rouse him when occa- 
 sion requires. Of the authors who quoted Ter. Maurus I have 
 a long list ; and they are on my shelves, except St. Augustin 
 and Lud. Vives. The former, from his situation in Africa, 
 would naturally enough quote a Moor, Brlssaeus's edition, in 
 some places, is far inferior to Petrecinus's, who also gives a 
 short Commentary, which shall be re-printed. I am taking 
 measures to get over Santen as soon as he is out. You have one 
 of Micyllus's works I think. His great one, in three vols,, De 
 Re Metricd, 1530, is, I believe, in the possession of Sir William 
 Burrell, In the winter I fancy I shall be able to get at it. 
 But, for his edition of Terentian, where is it to be found ? I 
 propose rummaging all the libraries in London, those of the 
 Inns of Court, Royal Society, &c. &c. Where did Bondam get
 
 MEMOIRS, 731 
 
 his copies of the Venice, 1503, and Micyllus, 1532 ? The first 
 edition must be the fundus of the Cambridge. It is often right 
 
 where Brissaeus and Commehn are wrong. Dr. Milman, by 
 
 the way a good Foxite, and a good physician, — is delighted 
 with the Warburtoniana. " That a man who can write such 
 wonderful English should ever write Latin," exclaimed he. I 
 love both, retorted your faithful C. Burney. 
 
 Burney did not edit Terentianus Maurus, and it 
 is possible that he slept on the shelf of Parr till 
 fresh occasion recalled his attention to him. At 
 the end of 1804 is the following letter from Burney 
 to Parr, accompanied with a large mass of emenda- 
 tion and criticism : 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, NoV. 12. 
 
 A most puzzling MS. finds me deep in your seventeen ques- 
 tions. I will send you a satisfactory reply to all, and soon. I 
 have returned to my old Moorish flame, after fourteen or fifteen 
 years' neglect, with all the ardour of a gay lover. 
 
 I am glad that my notions please you. It is so long 
 
 since I studied Terentian that his peculiarities, and the blunders 
 of his Editor Brissaeus, had almost escaped from my memory. 
 As I read, however, my former notions revived, and though I 
 have not been able to find my cargo of notes and memoranda, 
 yet my editions are all safe, and form such a collection as no 
 library, public or private, in this kingdom can show. 
 
 Beware of Brissaeus, and be assured that the omission of the 
 TO/IT) in the Trochaic verse, whenever it occurs in Terentian, 
 arises from corruption ; so does the non-elision of Maurus, and 
 the hiatus. These are three points about which I had formerly 
 made up my mind, and they may be proved to demonstration. 
 
 Terentian is incomplete. He illustrates metres, indeed, 
 which are not in Horace, but then he omits some which are. 
 Do not, my dear learned friend, with sword in hand, cut 
 knots which you may untie. Dia as a monosyllable cannot be 
 justified. Down with the dactyls in those trochaics, they are 
 but few, and all corruptions. Pray make them not worse. The 
 passage which justly offended you, in p. 1248, is thrust into the
 
 732 MEMOIRS. 
 
 text by Maittaire, from the notes of Brissaeus. I do not think 
 that Terentianus is a book fit for a young man. 
 
 Terentian shortens all gerunds in do, adverbs in o, and dis- 
 syllabic verbs in o, of which the former syllable is long. This 
 the poets do easily. Yours in haste, but always with affection- 
 ate and kindly respect, C. BURNEY. 
 
 P. S. I have by no means given up all thought of publish- 
 ing Terentianus myself. 
 
 Dr. Parr, in his Appendix to the Memoirs of 
 Dr. John Taylor,* pubhshed by Mr. John Nichols, 
 in 1819, gives an account of some of the foregoing, 
 and of many other particulars respecting the edi- 
 tions of Ter. Maurus ; and from this work it appears 
 that he was diverted, and estranged from his purpose of 
 editing the book himself, by Dr. Burney's withholding 
 his collection of the different editions from him. 
 
 Dr. Burney had all the editions I desired him to lend them 
 to me, because ivitk very little trouble I could have made no very 
 contemptible edition of Terentianus Maurus. But Burney 
 told me that they were pre-engaged by the very learned Mr. 
 Gaisford.f Gaisford asked me whether I had any Collec- 
 tanea, and I gave such an answer as ought to be given to a 
 scholar, with whom I had not the honour of being much ac- 
 quainted. I should have answered honest John Taylor very 
 differently. 
 
 * The notes to the Memoirs of Taylor, and to his Sermons, 
 both written by Parr, are choice literary morsels. The dis- 
 tinction between preceptor and pedagogue is marked in the 
 latter, and the former contains an account of Parr's inquiries 
 about Ter. Maurus, 
 
 f Parr obtained part of Santenius's edition of Terentianus 
 from Holland, by the kindness of Mr. Walpole, in 1810, and 
 afterwards through Mr. Palgrave, of Yarmouth, another por- 
 tion ; but both were much mutilated on account of the inter- 
 ested views and fears of the Dutch booksellers. The work of 
 Van Santen is now completed and published. (Vide Bibl. Par.)
 
 MEMOIRS. 733 
 
 On this part of the subject Parr wrote to his 
 learned godson Dr. Charles Parr Burney, in 1819, 
 as follows: 
 
 Charles, exert yourself— look in your father's catalogue for 
 a quarto edition of Terentianus Maurus, It is not the edition 
 of Brissaeus. It has a few, and a very few notes, and a few 
 various lections. But both are very good. I forget the name 
 of the editor. It is a scarce book. There is a copy in the 
 Bachelor's Library at Trinity College, Oxford, which had been 
 long lost. But I set Kett and Benwell upon the look out, and 
 they found it. John Taylor, in his MSS. upon Terentian, refers 
 to it. If you can ascertain it, send word immediately to John 
 Nichols, But be sure, and remember my stern accuracy- 
 Set about this directly, for we have no time to lose. Good by. 
 I was not quite pleased with your Daddy, when he told me 
 that he had engaged his precious editions of Terentian for the 
 use of Gaisford. I now and then wrote to your Daddy about 
 particular passages, and he helped me out from his precious 
 stores. I believe that I have noticed all and every of the pecu- 
 liarities both of metre and language in Terentian. Your 
 Daddy told Gaisford something about Alterius ; I have found 
 another, and an earlier instance, and some day or other I will 
 tell you another story about another writer, and your Daddy, 
 and myself. 
 
 The question which Parr declined to answer, I 
 can distinctly reply to. He thought Professor Gais- 
 ford somewhat hasty in making this inquiry about 
 Collectanea; but Parr could not be unjust, and 
 has left among his classical papers the following 
 tribute to his merits : 
 
 Mr. Gaisford, who, like his amiable and venerable country- 
 men, Mr. Tyrwhitt, and Bishop Burgess, unites the best sense, 
 and the best spirit, with the best learning, has, in his notes on 
 chap. 16th of Hephaestio de Polyschematistis, quoted from Cra- 
 tinus a series of verses, &:c. &c.
 
 734 MEMOIRS. 
 
 The remainder of the quotation, had I room to 
 insert it, would prove to Professor Gaisford that 
 Dr. Parr had made some Collectanea. There is not 
 only a large bundle of references and remarks, but 
 there are emendations of passages and notes in 
 books ; and the correspondence with Dr. Burney, 
 and many other of his most learned friends, is full 
 of it. On the hiatus, the gerund in do, and seve- 
 ral grammatical peculiarities, and critical niceties, 
 there are distinct treatises. 
 
 Perhaps of all modern scholars Dr. Parr was best 
 qualified to edit and improve Terentianus. In his 
 first studies, metre, and the structure of language, 
 held a prominent place ; and in the progress of 
 his education, and the exercise of his duty, they 
 were so diligently studied that, in the esteem of 
 all his contemporaries, he was considered the master. 
 He was constantly appealed to, and it was deemed 
 oootless inquisition to seek further, when he was 
 at hand to give an opinion. The hyperbole of Lon- 
 ginus may be almost applied to his devotedness to 
 metre, TrpoT^xQe he to [j.€rpov €k Seou k. r. X. — E cod. 
 Par. He was so full, indeed, of learning on all 
 questions relating to language and metre, that you 
 had only to touch any one of his associations re- 
 garding them, and instantly you were overwhelmed 
 with a torrent of illustration. The Appendix is 
 full of proofs of this assertion ; and if the walls of 
 the library, or the summer-house, at Hatton, could 
 re-echo* what has been declaimed or taught within 
 
 * Rabelais, book iv, ch. 55, 56. for the unfrozen or thawed 
 words heard by Pantagruel.
 
 MEMOIRS. 735 
 
 them, there is no part of the history of language, 
 and of its connection with intellectual operations, 
 that would not be illustrated. 
 
 On the particular qualities of Parr's scholarship, 
 its comprehension and depth, it may be expected 
 that something more be said. By consent of the 
 most learned men of his day, he was proclaimed the 
 master of scholars, and, as Archdeacon Butler em- 
 phatically characterised him, " in classical know- 
 ledge supreme." But he has done nothing, say the 
 objectors, which places him on a level with Bentley, 
 with Toup, or with Dawes, or Porson. This I 
 deny. Hitherto I have not failed in my duty when- 
 ever these topics were started; and I hope that I 
 am sufficiently impressed with the yvSSi ceauTov, not 
 to venture on particular disquisitions beyond my 
 depth. The preface to Bellenden is a conspicuous 
 specimen of Latinity, which admits of fair criticism 
 and comparison, and concerning which we may ask, 
 without invidiousness, what composition of the age, 
 and of the kind, is better ? If it be called a cento 
 of quotations, let him who calls it so bring a hun- 
 dredth part of its erudition out of all his stores, 
 and he will be still a learned man. The series of 
 inscriptions now published is another example. So 
 much for his published Latin. But do we not 
 know, that his Latin compositions are in a hundred 
 hands ; and that he was the writer in a hundred 
 places from which the voice of acknowledgment 
 and gratitude has not yet been heard ? Besides the 
 grammatical treatises he wrote, which are so nu- 
 merous, the concios, acts, orations, letters, prefaces,
 
 736 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the treatises on the Sublime, and other philological 
 works, would supply volumes. Of some of his 
 lighter Greek compositions one or two specimens 
 will be furnished in another chapter. These alone 
 would prove the sort of scholar he was, did no other 
 proofs of his Greek and Latin learning exist ; but the 
 criticisms in the British Critic, are before all other 
 proofs of his peculiar talents for erudite contempla- 
 tion. Wheresoever he stepped over the classical 
 arena he has left traits of his judgment, his pene- 
 tration, his quickness, his subtlety ; of his assi- 
 duity, and unwearied industry in seeking out illus- 
 tration ; of his full and bursting memory ; of the 
 acumen and velocity of his genius, and the zeal 
 which animated him in the cause of letters. These 
 talents and accomplishments in which he so much 
 excelled all other men, are, however, infinitely less 
 estimable in their importance, than his labours in 
 the cause of virtue and religion. He was truly, with 
 Socrates one of the auroupyo) rrJ9 o-o<p/as', and his 
 noble exertions for the uninstructed — his treatises 
 on Benevolence, on Education, on Faith, and Mo- 
 rals, will survive, when the writings of the Scali- 
 gers, the Salmasiuses, the Casaubons, and the Ste- 
 phenses shall be sunk in oblivion.
 
 737 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Reviews, — Magazines, — Parrs lighter Poetical 
 Compositions. — Assistance given to Authors. 
 
 Dr. Parr's contributions to Reviews he has him- 
 self noted; but I beheve we may trace him in the 
 correspondence further than he at last recollected- 
 In the Remarks, pp. 37, 38, he says : 
 
 The reader will, I trust, excuse me, if, for reasons of deli- 
 cacy, I now take an opportunity to state the whole extent of 
 the share I have ever had in Reviews, To the British Critic 
 I have sent one article, besides those which were written for 
 the Horace. For the Critical Review I have furnished a few 
 materials for two articles only. For the Monthly I have as- 
 sisted in writing two or three, and the number of those which 
 are entirely my own does not exceed six or seven. In almost 
 all these critiques my attention was to commend rather than to 
 blame, and the only one in v/hich I ever blamed with severity, 
 related to a classical work, the editor of which deserved reproof 
 for the following reasons : He clothed bad criticisms in bad 
 latinity. He had not availed himself of that information which 
 preceding editions would have supplied to any intelligent editor. 
 From the stores of other critics he collected very little, and 
 from his own he produced yet less that was valuable. But he 
 had indulged himself in rude and petulant objections against 
 Dr. Bentley, and for this, chiefly, I censured him. Here ends 
 the catalogue of my crimes hitherto committed in Reviews ; 
 and as I now have somewhat more leisure than I formerly 
 enjoyed, it is possible that I may now -and then add to their 
 number, 
 
 VOL. I. 3 B
 
 738 MEMOIRS. 
 
 I should be glad to transcribe here the whole 
 that he has written 
 
 On the utility of Reviews, and upon the opportunities which 
 they furnish to men of learning, for rendering Some occasional 
 service to the general cause of literature. There is no one 
 Review in this country but what is conducted with a consider- 
 able degree of ability. By posterity, too, Reviews will be con- 
 sidered as useful repositories of the most splendid passages in 
 the most celebrated works. They will show the pi-ogress of a 
 country or an age in taste and arts, in refinement of manners, 
 and in the cultivation of science. They mark the gradations 
 of language itself, and the progressive or retrograde motions of 
 the public mind upon the most interesting subjects in ethics, 
 in politics, and religion. 
 
 In regard to particular Reviews, his connection, 
 while at Norwich, was chiefly with the Monthly. 
 There was also some contribution to the Critical, 
 which Mr. Griffiths looked at with a jealous eye. 
 From the correspondence with Dr. Charles Burney, 
 it appears that he revised the critique on Hunting- 
 ford's Monostrophics ; and that he protected this 
 early work of a most learned and venerable ecclesi- 
 astic from the harsher fangs of criticism. In the 
 same manner he threw his shield over the Greek 
 translations of George Henry Glasse ; and how he 
 estimated them will be seen in the letters. The 
 critique on Manilius, in the Monthly Review, was 
 one of the first of his contributions. How far his 
 additions to Badcock's review of White's Bampton 
 Lectures were carried, the papers in my possession 
 give no account. It is unlikely that Badcock's re- 
 quest would be denied ; and if it were granted, the 
 combined review of two authors, criticising or pane-
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 739 
 
 gyrising their own work, one being entirely ignorant 
 of the share the other had in it, must be considered as 
 a great curiosity. It also is proved by the correspon- 
 dence that he was engaged in a review of Warton's 
 Milton when Mr. Colman gave it up on account of 
 bad health ; and the Bishop of Cloyne speaks of a 
 review of some edition of Xenophon, in which 
 Bishop Hurd's sneers at D'Orville are severely re- 
 primanded. He also reviewed some of the works 
 of Gilbert Wakefield, and probably the Plato of the 
 President of Magdalen. I fear he did not carry 
 into effect his intention of publishing a review of 
 the Reliquiae Sacrae. There can be no doubt, that 
 through various channels he sent a little stream of 
 praise, or cast a small beam of sunshine over the 
 works of most authors who sought his patronage. 
 There are many such applications. That which was 
 fairly asked, and hberally granted, it is not my 
 business to reveal, while the parties survive. 
 
 The British Critic received his most elaborate 
 article on the variorum edition of Horace ; and a 
 letter published in 1802, containing criticisms on 
 Horace, occasioned by a quotation in Dr. Maltby's 
 Concio, which Dr. Parr thought had not been suffi- 
 ciently noticed by Dr. Marsh, who reviewed the 
 '' Illustrations of Christianity." I have entered 
 so much at large on the controversy that sprung 
 out of this review of the Horace, that I must 
 refer to what has been said before on the subject. 
 
 Let me, however, (says Parr) hope to be excused, if I feel 
 some little predilection for a work which T suppose to be patro- 
 nized by many distinguished members of the Established 
 
 3b 2
 
 740 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Church, and which I know to be in part conducted by a learn- 
 ed man, who was once my own scholar. With sincerity do I 
 say, at the same time, that I harbour no prejudice against the 
 characters, and that I entertain a very high respect for the 
 talents of the gentlemen who are employed in the Critical, the 
 Monthly, the Analytical, and the English Reviews. Among 
 the writers in the three last, there are persons whom no enlight- 
 ened and ingenuous clergyman would blush to call his friend ; 
 and, in truth, 1 think it a circumstance equally advantageous 
 and creditable to myself, that I live upon terms of great inti- 
 macy with some of them, and even of confidential intercourse 
 with others. 
 
 To the Gentleman's Magazine there are very 
 many contributions ; for Mr. John Nichols, though 
 a Tory and a high churchman, was respected and 
 esteemed by Dr. Parr, as one of the most worthy 
 diligent, steady, sensible, and honourable of men. 
 In 1785, 1795, 1796, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1809, 
 1810, 1813, 1814, 1819, 1822, are contributions 
 from him, besides numerous epitaphs and charac- 
 ters. 
 
 The correspondence of Mr. John Nichols, sen. 
 begins with 1786, and continues to the end of Dr^ 
 Parr's life. There is one letter which he never read 
 dated Feb. 1825. These letters, with few excep- 
 tions, relate to contributions to the Gentleman's 
 Magazine, which Sylvanus Urban solicits with great 
 eagerness, and always receives with thankfulness ; 
 for hints given for various publications of Mr. Ni- 
 chols ; the Memoirs of George Hardinge ; the His- 
 tory of Leicestershire ; and the Literary Anecdotes. 
 At the table of Mr. Cradock, of Gumley-hall, the 
 merits of the Music-speech of Dr. John Taylor, and 
 his Oration on the 30th of January, became the
 
 MEMOIRS, 741 
 
 topics of discussion between the learned host and 
 Dr. Parr, in the presence of Mr. John Nichols, who, 
 taking the hint, determined to reprint them. This 
 he has done with various additions, and with me- 
 moirs of Dr. Taylor, to which Dr. Parr contributed 
 an appendix. By the same advice Mr. Nichols after- 
 wards published Four Sermons, two of Dr. Taylor, 
 one of Bishop Lowth, and one of Bishop Hay- 
 ter. To Dr. Taylor's sermon, preached at Bishop- 
 Stortford school feast. Dr. Parr has appended five 
 learned notes ; in the fourth he has made remarks 
 on the distinction between pedagogue and precep- 
 tor, which Dr. Taylor seems to have confounded. 
 The others have the usual characteristics of Dr. 
 Parr's luminous and exact comments. There are 
 several particulars in both appendixes extremely 
 interesting to scholars — Taylor's connection with 
 Charles Yorke — his MS. notes on Ter. Maurus, and 
 his spirit free from all acrimony in controversy. 
 Perhaps a portion of Dr. Parr's fondness for Dr. 
 Taylor may have had another and more amiable 
 foundation. Taylor w^as the friend of Mr. Henry 
 Hubbard, of Emmanuel, Dr. Parr's tutor, and in 
 his favour resigned the registrarship of the Univer- 
 sity, on obtaining the Canon Residentiaryship of 
 St. Paul's. 
 
 Mr. Griffiths, editor of the Monthly Review, was 
 Parr's correspondent while he lived at Norwich, and 
 to the end of 1790. His letters chiefly contain 
 acknowledgments of contributions to the Review, 
 solicitations for others, and in one or two instances 
 complaints that articles promised were long and
 
 742 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 inconveniently delayed. It may be noticed, as 
 proved by this correspondence, that Dr. Parr always 
 disdained to receive pecuniary remuneration for his 
 labours. I shall only copy one of Dr. Griffith's 
 letters ; but that letter touches on Manilius and 
 Cicero, Bishop Bagot, Professor White, and Mr. 
 Badcock : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Turnham Green, Nov. 28, 1784. 
 
 I am favoured with yours, dated this day se'nnight, and am 
 very much obliged by the contents. When your articles relat- 
 ing to Manilius and Cicero arrive, you may depend on all pos- 
 sible care being taken as to correct printing, &c. but I do not 
 conceive that it w'lW be advisable to insert them both in the same 
 Review, as the disproportion in quantity of that kind of learn- 
 ing (which is, certainly, not for the million) might be deemed 
 too great for one number of a miscellaneous, and rather popu- 
 lar work. With your leave, good Sir, Mr. Burney and myself 
 Avill lay our heads together, and manage the matter in such a 
 way as to us shall seem best and fittest. 
 
 I was much pleased with your well-written accounts of the 
 two sermons inserted in our last ; but have been at once asto- 
 nished, vexed, and diverted at the printer's rabbinical blunder, 
 which most unaccountably escaped the press-corrector, Mr. 
 Burney, and myself; though I well remember, that in ritiming 
 through the proof, (for our last sheet never affords us time for 
 a due reading,) I thought it a very strange word, and at last 
 v/isely accounted for it by concluding that you referred to 
 Biblical learning ; not once adverting to the Irishism of Rabbi- 
 nical Christians. 
 
 I did not recollect that Dr. Bagot is Bishop of Norwich • if 
 I had, I certainly should have objected, (as many here now do) 
 to the praise you have so liberally bestowed on him ; for he is 
 generally looked upon, in this part of the world, as a high church 
 bigot, ( I do not mean to jmn on his name,) and therefore the 
 wonder will be to see him so complimented in the Monthly Re- 
 view, where he was never complimented before. Even Dr. Priest- 
 ley's " Criticism"* exclaims much against it, apprehending, I
 
 MEMOIRS. 743 
 
 suppose, that it will be put to his account. I hope, however, 
 that if the Bishop is not all that he is said to be, your praise 
 will give him a good hint of what he ought to be, and eventu- 
 ally tend to make him such. After all, it is probable that you 
 know him better than we do ; and on that supposition I make 
 myself easy with respect to this matter. 
 
 Mr. Professor White has sent a copy of his Bampton Ser- 
 mons to the Reviewer above alluded to, who is now on a visit at 
 my bouse ; and who (at his own desire) has undertaken the 
 critique. The book arrived last night ; my friend is busy in 
 reading it, and promises to execute the article con amove, in 
 his best — his very best manner. 
 
 I beg. Sir, that when any new work comes out which you 
 would like to peruse, with your critical pen in your hand, you 
 would favour me with an early intimation of the matter, that I 
 may procure the work immediately, and that I may also be pre- 
 vented from engaging other assistance, perhaps less to my own 
 satisfaction, possibly, too, less to the advantage of the Review. 
 
 When you do me the honour of your further commands, 
 please to direct to me at this place, where I shall be very happy 
 to see my present highly honoured and esteemed correspon- 
 dent, whenever he revisits these parts. I remain, dear Sir, 
 your much obliged, humble servant, R. Griffiths. 
 
 I must remain your debtor for this postage, as well as for 
 more important considerations, of which I shall not be un- 
 mindful. 
 
 These remarks on the Bishop of Norwich drew 
 forth a warm eulogy from the pen of Dr. Parr. 
 
 While Mr. Fellowes was editor of the new series 
 of the Critical Review, there are notices of several 
 contributions of Parr to that work ; I am not at 
 liberty to publish Mr. Fellowes's letters to Dr. Parr ; 
 and lament that I have had no communication with 
 Mr. Fellowes, though I did seek it. I understand 
 
 * Mr. Badcock.
 
 744 MEMOIRS. 
 
 that Mr. Fellowes has intimated his intention of 
 publishing a survey of Dr. Parr's Philosophical and 
 Theological sentiments. I shall not, therefore, at 
 present anticipate what doubtless he will deem just 
 to the memory of his friend, an exact account of 
 those literary effusions of Dr. Parr's mind, which 
 were permitted to pass through Mr. Fellowes's hands 
 for public service. 
 
 I have alluded before to Dr. Charles Burney's 
 connection with the Westminster Magazine in his 
 early life, and his request that Parr would give him 
 assistance. Probably some of the classical disserta- 
 tions, with which the correspondence of these great 
 scholars is enriched, were printed in this miscellany ; 
 but I have no leisure to collate and compare, and 
 therefore cannot point out particulars. 
 
 With Dr. Thomson, editor of the English Re- 
 view, Parr was on the most intimate terms, and cor- 
 responded with unbounded confidence. The letter 
 at the end of the Sequel was much admired by him 
 to whom it was addressed, but like many of Dr. 
 Thomson's other letters to Dr. Parr, has been con- 
 sidered magna et verbosa, and therefore has not 
 been reprinted. Dr. Thomson was less fortunate 
 than his learning and his diligence entitled him to 
 be. He often sought Parr's literary assistance, and 
 Parr in his turn used him frequently as a political 
 writer. For these services he claimed a larger remu- 
 neration than the party thought fit to give him, and 
 hence coldness arose. 
 
 The editors of newspapers were among the other 
 petitioners for the favours of the great scholar.
 
 MEMOIRS. 745 
 
 With Mr. Perry, editor of the Morning Chronicle, 
 he was on good terras ; but Mr. Perry finally led 
 him into an error, which occasioned a breach be- 
 tween him and one of his most accomplished friends. 
 Happily the breach was not irreparable, and Mr. 
 Perry himself helped to make it up. 
 
 With Mr. George Street, sometime editor of the 
 Courier, Dr. Parr was also in correspondence ; Mr. 
 Street was nephew to one of Dr. Parr's parishion- 
 ers ; he was employed by him to superintend the 
 press on the publication of the remarks on Dr. 
 Combe's pamphlet, and he discarded him from his 
 acquaintance when Mr. Street turned round in his 
 politics. 
 
 The superintendants of the press have, from the 
 invention of printing, consisted chiefly of men of 
 the higher class of intellect. Wliat could have 
 brought printing to bear, and what could have brought 
 it to perfection, but zeal combined with knowledge ? 
 The Stephenses and Alduses of former times ex- 
 ceeded in learning the printers of our own country, 
 and our own day, but have hardly equalled them in 
 zeal and intelligence; and so large is the list of 
 those deserving to be enumerated, that I shall not 
 enter upon the invidious task of making the excep- 
 tions. 
 
 Mr. Bathurst, of Fleet-street, was Parr's first 
 bookseller, and his devoted friend ; from him he fed 
 on paper, and it would be a curious document to 
 produce and compare the shiUings set down for the 
 price of books with the high prices of a subsequent 
 period.
 
 746 MEMOIRS. 
 
 With Mr. Dilly, Mr. Mawman, Mr. T. Payne, 
 and Mr. Nichols, he was on visiting terms ; and 
 whenever he came to Birmingham he never failed 
 to smoke his pipe with Mr. Belcher. 
 
 The affecting preface he wrote for the catalogue 
 of Mr. Lunn, is only one out of the many memo- 
 rials of kindness he wrote for members of the trade 
 when they were in distress ; but this memorial is a 
 tribute to humanity as well as letters, that will not 
 soon perish. The Messrs. Valpy, sons of his friend 
 Dr. Valpy, of Reading, were entitled to his esteem, 
 no less on this account, than that of their own per- 
 sonal merits ; but their intimacy was cemented by 
 the connection of Edmund Henry Barker with 
 them. The republication of the critique on Horace, 
 and various articles furnished for the Classical Jour- 
 nal, proceeded from his influence, and by his solici- 
 tation. 
 
 Dr. Parr has left other Classical compositions 
 behind him besides those already enumerated. 
 
 There arc Greek verses on Bishop Horsley, with 
 Latin and English translations, which have been 
 long circulated among scholars. The topic on 
 which they turn is the Bishop's assertion in the 
 House of Lords, that " Laws were made to be 
 obeyed, not discussed, by the people." 
 
 The Greek alone follows : 
 
 AvTov Ypa<p<i>u KripvKct rwy Oe'iwv (T0(j>6y 
 ' iTTTrioTToy clvai (prjal Kal bibuiTKuXov, 
 lial biiXos can /coyuipa 7rota'X\w^ e'7r>;" 
 Aetfos (pXvupely kuI (jjcfaid^eii' oj^Xoi^
 
 MEMOIRS. 747 
 
 UaXaicTfiaffiy xaipovTu, kul tikjiu kevw, 5 
 
 BouXj; be fxf)^deis To'is fteftibcnv ev reXet, 
 
 Tots fxey (TO^iarals, toIs be fxri-)(avo(>()u(poLS , 
 
 "'EXe^ej', VTTO rots bvyafievoLtrii' Sip aei, 
 
 " Af)^cfiv6u," Xo^ios ffArXjjpa (TvyKoXXQv KuXoli' 
 
 Newofri ^' ayopevovros w6' elyjev (jpo/xos' 10 
 
 ** Koiyij fxeXeiv ^ev 7rXoi/<7«ots koivCjv virep, 
 
 " ToTs y' eu (ppovovai rrj 'yadfj ra^ei fiovois, 
 
 ' ndXews fiioyois t o'iaKa r'ojfiav elboai, 
 
 '' Movois re y>7»' (Tui^ovcnv ev -^peias uk/jtj' 
 
 " Ilti'Tjra 6' ai be'iy (T-)(^eTXiov arepyeiv f3iop, 15 
 
 " Kat /xj; /3Xen-et}' /3Xe7roj'ra, fxrjbe ttov KaKutv 
 
 " KXuoi-r' iiKoveiv, fiijbe Trac^oj'ra trrevetv. 
 
 '' 'AXX' ijav')(OP, raireivov, avrovpyov t aei, 
 
 ""l(T(i)S biKaiovs Kabii^ovs alvelv vojxovs, 
 
 " 'Eav r' cnrr]ve~is, ovb' virevQvvovs Kparely. 20 
 
 " Toy b' aypiioi OKyovyra firj ov iroifiv rabe, 
 
 " A"KT-)(^L(Tra Koi, rt'tj^tora fiaydayeiy, ocrw 
 
 " Avdabias a^eivoy i] TreiBap'^ia, 
 
 " "Oaoy T€ ^eipwvastai' yiKo. yeyos, 
 
 ''"0(7(0 T€ Treyias ttXovtos £(tO' vTrep^epbjy, 25 
 
 " ^Cj(Toy TO -' apyeiy koX to bovXeveiy bi'^a." 
 
 OiiTU) fxey avi)p, advp6yX(i)(r(T0S ey Xoyois, 
 
 'IlXevdepo(TT6/jr](7e, cat 7ri(Tvyos Opciaei, 
 
 BXo(7upo^povt xXt5^ re, /cai aKvQpw pedei, 
 
 KaTe(pp6yr](Te br]iJ.0Twy — " tu 6' o/ufxaTa 30 
 
 " ^albpojw ebtjjtce to'ktl ftacriXeoos (piXois' 
 
 " To yao yevos toiovtoV cttI Toy evTV^fj 
 
 " IIt/Swo-' aei Ki'ipvices, obe b' avTols (j)iXos 
 
 *' 'Os ay bvyijTcti, TroXeos ey -' up-)(^ci~i(Tiy ?)• ' 
 
 VERSES ON PHRYNE. 
 
 $pwvjjv XotSofx'cns vftplaas, cat beiya ftor}(Tas, 
 
 Fi'iTiiJp Tis fioyoy ovk i'lyayey els 'A'lbov' 
 Tov yap v7ra-)(depTes yXbj(Tcrr]s lieXeecrm biKaa-al 
 
 HaiS' ay b^traiey TXiijxoya irpos (ravibu 
 "H5e icaTit) fiXe\pa(ra KpiTuiy Tcapa iroaaXv eKeiTo 
 
 Siyjf, Ka\ TToXXas k'ieTUvvaae xepas.
 
 748 MEMOIRS. 
 
 MaSov b' €i,i(j)ep€V, dafifios b' ey^ev elaopowvras, 
 
 Kat deX^as eXadev irevKaXiixovs eXeos' 
 ToTov UTTO arrjduiy otTraXwv ia-riXftero KaXXos, 
 
 Kat Toiov TreiSovs o^^aariv (ivQos €vr}v, 
 Ovrws r\ (pevyovff airocpevyeiy Ilapdh'ot rjoei, 
 
 'H yvfiyi) viKq.v, i'l T aKeovaa Xeyeu'. 
 
 There was also a Greek Epithalamium on the 
 marriage of Dr. Charles Burney, of which I have 
 no copy. 
 
 The Episcopal Gallery is another composition of 
 Dr. Parr, esteemed by him the child of his old age, 
 and nursed with parental tenderness. I shall copy 
 the beginning and the end as specimens of his skill 
 in writing English poetry. He had not practice 
 enough to write smoothly, and perhaps he thought 
 too vigorously to be a good versifier. 
 
 GALLERY OF DIGNITARIES, 
 
 By Episcopus Episcoporum. 
 
 In the Epilogue to his Epistles Pope writes thus : 
 " E'en in a Bishop I can spy desert ; 
 Seeker is decent, Bundle has a heart ; 
 Manners with candour, are to Benson giv'n, 
 To Berkeley ev'ry virtue under Heaven." 
 
 Keeping these verses in view, 6 belva sketched a rough out- 
 line of his opinion of the Prelates of our own time. 
 In Bishops I can see and praise desert ; 
 Burgess is learned, Bathurst has a heart ; 
 Lambeth and York two well-bred Prelates grace ; 
 Nor pride, nor selfishness, in Van I trace. 
 King mild and noiseless o'er his Church presides, 
 Nor basely for translation changes sides. 
 Taste charms in Howley, science Kaye explores, 
 And each of learning has abundant stores.
 
 MEMOIRS. 749 
 
 To Lambeth's turrets well may one aspire, 
 And London's mitre raise the other high'r. 
 Grey hairs to Buckner are a crown of glory, 
 And Majendie is pleasant, though a Tory. 
 A scholar, free from pedantry or spleen, 
 In thee, kind-hearted Huntingford, is seen. 
 Unsoil'd by Courts, and unseduc'd by zeal, 
 Fisher endangers not the public weal. 
 True piety in Ryder I admit. 
 Manners in Pelham, and in Cornwall wit. 
 Turn we to Exon, Lichfield, and Carlisle, 
 None frown indignant, some approving smile. 
 To Law and Legge candour and sense are giv'n. 
 Bright gems on earth, and surest lights to Heaven, 
 * * * * ^ 
 
 Yet some there are whose merits I proclaim, 
 As shedding lustre on a Patron's name. 
 
 Thy virtues, B ss, consecrate the choice. 
 
 And favoured P y wins the public voice. 
 
 Talent in P 1 would more brightly shine 
 
 With less prostration at his idol's shrine ; 
 Why hurls he curses at the Church of Rome, 
 And strives to thwart a Patriot's views at home? 
 Why, but to prop his Patron's tottering fame, 
 His weakness flatter, and his favour claim ? 
 Prelates of ages past, whom, blest above, 
 Nor praise nor censure from this earth can move ; 
 Martyrs who form'd our Church in days of old, 
 Cranmer the mild, and Latimer the bold ; 
 And later Sages, whom, to science reared, 
 True moderation to the good endear'd ; 
 Omniscient Taylor, spotless Tillotson, 
 Hoadly the calm, and dauntless Warburton, 
 Brave Watson, steady Shipley, Law profound. 
 And Newcome, 'midst the best and wisest found ; 
 Pour forth your prayers before th' Almighty throne, 
 To guard those altars which were once your own : 
 Long may your writings charm our rising youth. 
 And point the way to wisdom and to truth ;
 
 750 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Long. your example their affections guide, 
 
 From mean ambition far, and far from pride ; 
 
 Long may our Church teach Kings what Kings should be. 
 
 And form a people worthy to be free : 
 
 And long our Pastors, faithful to their Lord, 
 
 Receive in Heavenly bliss their just rev.ard. 
 
 Of the exercises Parr wrote at school and College, 
 some are retained; but they are scarcely to be de- 
 cyphered. There are many of Jones's and Bennet's 
 exercises preserved in Dr. Sumner's book of the best 
 exercises of his pupils, which is now in the hands 
 of Mr. Holme Sumner ; but none of Parr's, because 
 he left school before Sumner began to keep this 
 book. 
 
 He who attacks must not expect to remain un- 
 attacked. Besides the regular answers to his printed 
 controversial works, there are some characters of 
 Dr. Parr, and some squibs upon his character, de- 
 serving of notice. 
 
 That of Mr. Phihp Homer, a learned and ex- 
 cellent clergyman, and teacher in Rugby school, 
 for whom Parr entertained sincere regard, is the 
 best, evidently imitated from Martial. 
 
 To brutes humane, to kindred man a rod. 
 
 Proud to all mortals, humble to thy God — 
 
 In sects a bigot, and yet lik'd by none. 
 
 By those most fear'd whom most you deem your own. 
 
 Lord o'er the greatest, to the least a slave. 
 
 Half weak, half strong, half timid, and half brave ; 
 
 To take a compliment of too much pride. 
 
 And yet most hurt when praises are denied. 
 
 In dress all negligence, or else all state, 
 
 In speech all gentleness, or else all hate. 
 
 There most a friend where most you seem a foe. 
 
 So very knowing that you nothing know ;
 
 MEMOIRS. 751 
 
 Thou art so deep-discerning, yet so blind, 
 So learn'd, so ignorant, cruel, yet so kind, 
 So good, so bad, so foolish, and so wise, 
 By turns I love thee, and by turns despise. 
 
 These very animated verses were written by Philip Homer, 
 when, from some unknown cause, he was extremely angry 
 with me. I was pleased with the verses, and I took proper 
 and effectual measures for explanation. He is rather irascible, 
 but sincere, honourable, generous, learned, ingenious, and 
 truly pious. He is the brother of my ever-to-be-lamented 
 friend Harry Homer ; and happy am I to add, that my friend- 
 ship with Philip Homer was quickly restored and permanently 
 established. S. Parr. 
 
 July 11, 1822. 
 
 I do not reveal any confidence that has been 
 reposed in me, nor any secret contained in the 
 correspondence, when I touch upon the literary 
 assistance given by Dr. Parr from the beginning 
 to the end of his hfe to his pupils, his friends, and 
 sometimes even to those who were little acquainted 
 with him. His knowledge of the construction, and 
 of all the niceties, intricacies, and idioms of the 
 Latin tongue, from a very early period of his life, 
 made him the constant referee, when any difficulty 
 was started ; and after the death of Dr. Sumner, 
 the master and decider of doubts. We shall see 
 with what deference Sir William Jones bows to his 
 opinion in the critical letter on the Epitaph on 
 Sumner ; and the Bishop of Cloyne frequently 
 alludes to his superiority above all his fellows. In 
 process of time it seems to have been a common 
 wish, that he should publish some piece of Latinity 
 to prove that superiority. The Preface to Bellen- 
 denus left all competition behind ; and notwith-
 
 752 MEMOIRS. 
 
 standing the infelicity and impolicy of its leading 
 topic, has ever since continued, the admiration of 
 scholars. His duties as a schoolmaster kept him 
 in practice ; and his superiority as a Greek scholar 
 was also generally acknowledged, excepting by the 
 few who had risen to fame by their attention to 
 metre, in which department, however, he was him- 
 self inferior to none, and more extensively informed 
 than any of them. In general classical sense, and 
 an entire knowledge of the structure of the lan- 
 guage, and of the finest compositions belonging 
 to it, I would venture to ask which of the living 
 Pleiades* would say, I am better than he. But I 
 have before alluded to this topic, when Mr. Porson's 
 name was before me. 
 
 Where such supereminent learning was generally 
 acknowledged, we cannot wonder that it should be 
 often appealed to, and it was appealed to from the 
 east to the west, from the north to the south, from 
 the beginning of his didactic labours even to the 
 end ; for in the winter of the year 1824 his last 
 task was the composition of a Latin Concio for a 
 friend about to take the degree of S. T. P. 
 
 Of this sort of assistance there are so many no- 
 tices scattered through the works of authors, that I 
 
 * In his Diary Parr writes thus : " In the reign of Ptolemy 
 Greece boasted of her Pleiad ; England, in ray day, may boast 
 of a Decad of literary luminaries — Dr, Samuel Butler, Dr. 
 Edward Maltby, Bishop Blomfield, Dean Monk, Mr. E. Barker, 
 Mr. Kidd, Mr. Burges, Professor Dobree, Professor Gaisford, 
 and Dr. Elmsley. They are professed critics : but in learning 
 and taste Dr, Routh of Oxford is inferior to none."
 
 MEMOIRS. 753 
 
 forbear to make any enlarged enumeration. To 
 some living authors the exposure would be unpleas- 
 ing ; to others the display would be invidious ; I 
 therefore select myself as an example of the wil- 
 lingness with which he bestowed these literary kind- 
 nesses. Of those imperfect treatises of which I am 
 the author, the Reply to Dr. James Carmichael 
 Smyth, and my Harveyan Oration, are those alone in 
 which he favoured me with his assistance. In the 
 reply to Dr. Smyth he suggested none of the topics ; 
 but he corrected many of the errors into which I 
 should have fallen from the use of strong and need- 
 less expressions, and very much spread out the nar- 
 ration from pages 151 to 181. 
 
 The only alteration in the topics of my Harveyan 
 Oration which he proposed, was the introduction of 
 some metaphysical doctrines. 
 
 Multa Glissonius de materia prima et secunda, multa de 
 causa format materiali, multa de natura substantiae energetic^, 
 subtiliter disputat. Ingenii autem vis ejus maxime splendescit, 
 illo in capite, in quo axiomata quaedam, etsi Suarius et Carte- 
 sius obnixe ea defensitassent, vitas naturae ostendit repug- 
 nare," &c. 
 
 But I was indebted to him for clearing my Latin of 
 all its rubbish — my oration is, in fact, what it is, 
 from his corrections. 
 
 To men of celebrity, who had no claims upon 
 him, he was equally liberal in lavishing his assist- 
 ance. 
 
 Malcolm Laing, an advocate at the Scotch bar, 
 became known to him by the part which he took 
 in the continuation of Henry's History of Great 
 
 VOL. I. 3 c
 
 754 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Britain, a work devolved to his care after Dr. 
 Henry's death. He was struck by the manly tone 
 of freedom which characterised his opinions, by the 
 general philosophy of his views, and the harmony 
 of his style. But he was shocked by his Scotticisms, 
 and took occasion therefore to make known to Mr. 
 Laing the faults of his composition through Mr. 
 Mackintosh. Mr. Laing acknowledged the justness 
 of Dr. Parr's objections, which were more copiously 
 communicated to him when he published the His- 
 tory of Scotland, and when the second edition was 
 coming out. The letters in the Appendix will shew 
 the course of the communications, and the manner 
 in which the emendations were received.
 
 755 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Inscriptions. 
 
 Among the writings of Dr. Parr none have been 
 so much sought for as his monumental, or tabular 
 or biblical inscriptions ; and in no part of learning 
 has his supremacy been more fully acknowledged. 
 In the earliest part of his career, inscription compo- 
 sition appears to have been his study ; and his first 
 known endeavour proves the justness of his taste. 
 In a copy of the Aristarchus of Gerard Vossius, 
 we have the following : 
 
 Die Veneris septimam ad horam id. Jun. 
 mortem sibi invitus contulit, catapultae nimirum ictu confectus, 
 Carolus Williams, Scholae Etonensis olim alumnus, 
 Trin: Aul: Cantab: socio-commensalis, 
 A. D. 1766. aet. suse xx. 
 Fortuna juvenis amplissimus, 
 forma pulcherrimus, 
 moribus optimus. 
 Vixit omnibus amabilis, 
 cecidit omnibus deflendus, 
 Die Lunae sequenti templo Sancti Edwardi 
 inhumatus est, circum horam undecimam, 
 G. Hallifax, LL. Professore, et CoUegii ipsius tutore preces 
 legente. 
 3c2
 
 756 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 This is rather a history than an inscription, never- 
 theless it was a good beginning. The book itself 
 in which it is written is inscribed, ex Hbris Sam. 
 Parr, Coll. Eman. 1765. 
 
 I know not whether he wrote an inscription for 
 his father, mother, or Francis Parr. The next 
 public exhibition of this talent was for the tomb of 
 his master, Robert Sumner, D. D. This epitaph 
 has been criticised by the pen of Sir WiUiam Jones, 
 whose fastidiousness of taste, and copiousness of 
 learning, leave nothing unsaid concerning it. Cer- 
 tainly it is too redundant, and in this respect may 
 be placed on a like footing with the inscription 
 written by Parr for the monument of Dr. Charles 
 Burney in Westminster Abbey. But redundance 
 was not the usual fault of Parr in penning these 
 compositions ; his only fault, as some may have 
 thought, was too closely following the antient me- 
 thod. The unspeakable trouble he gave persons who 
 applied to him for inscriptions, will be, in part, 
 revealed by the correspondence. In the computa- 
 tion of time he sometimes counted minutes. In 
 the inscription on Johnson, he employed his pupil 
 Maltby to count correctly as to the years, months, 
 and days the great Moralist lived, as some per- 
 plexity was occasioned by the change of the style. 
 The monumental inscription on Smitheman, in 
 Hatton church, is a specimen of the most affect- 
 ing simplicity. In this case he counted hours, 
 from the extreme youthfulness of the deceased. 
 
 His inquiries about the person were not confined 
 to age. He required general information about
 
 MEMOIRS. 757 
 
 marriage, children, fortune, station, exact dates ; 
 and generally bargained for arbitrary and un- 
 controuled power over the expressions, and the 
 manner of engraving. Nor did he suffer any of 
 his terms to be changed without vehement expos- 
 tulation. There is a long correspondence about 
 probabilis poeta,* as affixed to Johnson, and he 
 referred to so many scholars to justify his choice 
 of the phrase, that a volume might easily be formed 
 out of his correspondence on this subject only. 
 It must be confessed indeed, that his terms, phrases, 
 and expressions, can seldom be changed without 
 injuring the sense, or altering the turn of the whole 
 composition. In no compositions is his exactness 
 in thinking and expressing his thoughts, so finely 
 displayed as in his epitaphs. Who reads the words 
 " infelicissimi parentes," apphed to a father and 
 mother erecting a simple monument to an amiable 
 and only son, without tears ? And who does not feel 
 that Johnson is magister virtutis gravissimus ? 
 
 Et dum aegris in carcere inclusis 
 
 opem ferebat, 
 
 contagione ipse correptus, 
 
 is a much more affecting history of the fate of a 
 young physician than any elaborate accumulation 
 of panegyric. 
 
 The inscriptions are many of them illustrated by 
 the correspondence of the parties concerned about 
 
 * Celsus. in his directions for feeling the pulse, says, "Si 
 quis ejus metus est, eum probabili sermone lenire, turn deinde 
 ejus carpo manum admovere." — Lib. iii. cap. 6.
 
 758 MEMOIRS. 
 
 them ; and these illustrations render it unnecessary 
 for me to expatiate longer on the subject. The best 
 eulogy of Dr. Parr's inscriptions will be comparison. 
 Let the inscriptions of any other scholar, whether 
 at home or abroad, since the revival of letters, be 
 weighed and criticised with his, and it must be 
 acknowledged that he is superior to all but Mor- 
 celli in number of compositions, and in a close 
 imitation of the ancient style. He has succeeded 
 in banishing those pompous and rhetorical flourishes 
 which so much disgrace the walls of our cathedrals, 
 and more especially Westminster Abbey. 
 
 You know, Edward (says Parr in a letter to Dr. Maltby), that 
 my taste compels me to disapprove of the rhetorical and pom- 
 pous style in which modern epitaphs are written ; and it is no 
 less provoking than true, that in Westminster Abbey I do not 
 know one inscription that is formed upon the models of anti- 
 quity ; and even in Oxford I have met only with one which 
 resembles them. In the Abbey there are a few attempts at 
 conciseness, but then it is conciseness without simplicity ; and 
 there is an apparent offensive effort to grasp some vast and 
 pompous thought into a small compass of expression. What 
 ought to be done in Latin by us is known to ine, after a care- 
 ful perusal of what has been done by the ancients ; and my 
 opinions are founded upon a diligent and critical inspection of 
 what has been published by Sponius, Reinsius, Fabretti, Gru- 
 ter, Muratorius, and Morcellus, The latter has written one of 
 the most elegant and judicious books I ever read ; and he more- 
 over has published a volume of inscriptions written by his own 
 pen, in conformity to his own rules. None of the common 
 classical writers are of much use, and indeed / venture upon 
 monumental phraseology, for which no example is to be found 
 in their works. I do not say that their expressions are to be 
 neglected, but they must be chosen with care, and with great 
 nicety must be incorporated with the peculiar and appropriate 
 language which occurs in inscriptions, &c. &c.
 
 MEMOIRS. 759 
 
 The inscriptions contained in the Fourth Vo- 
 lume will justify my assertions ; but I am impel- 
 led to dwell at greater length, on the inscription for 
 Merton College, Oxford, from the connection of 
 that place with some of the most interesting associ- 
 ations of my early life. 
 
 When the Emperor of Russia, and King of Prus- 
 sia, visited Oxford with the Prince Regent in 1814, 
 the Emperor and his august sister were stationed 
 and accommodated in the Warden's lodgings at 
 Merton College. 
 
 Dr. Peter Vaughan, Warden of that College, was 
 host, and in return for the hospitality received, the 
 Emperor presented the Warden and Fellows with a 
 vase of Silesian jasper, for which Dr. Parr was ap- 
 plied to for an inscription. 
 
 The following letter displays the titles of the 
 auTOKparwo. The others give the inscription, and 
 its history : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Mcrton College, July 17, 1816. 
 
 It is more than probable that this letter will reach ji-ou as 
 soon as the one I sent from Cheltenham yesterday. In that 
 letter I have mentioned my readiness (if you should wish it) to 
 pay you a short visit at Hatton ; but at the moment I wrote I 
 did not recollect that my presence would be required in Mer- 
 ton till after eleven o'clock on Saturday morning next. I am 
 now enabled to send you a most accurate account of the titles 
 of the Emperor, taken from the diploma presented to him by 
 the University ; and from which you may select what you think 
 proper. It runs as follows . 
 
 " Cum Princeps Augustissimus Alexander, Dei Gratis, Rus- 
 siarum, Moscoviae, Kirvise, Vladimiriae, et Novogardiae Impe- 
 rator et Avrok-parwp ; Casani, Astrachani, Siberiae, et Cherso- 
 nesi Tauricse CZAR : Dominus Plescoviae; Smolenscii, Lithu-
 
 760 MEMOIRS. 
 
 aniae, Volhiniae, et Podoliae Dux Magnus ; Esthoniae, Livonisc, 
 Curlandrias, Semigalliae, Samogltiae, Carelice, I'evereoe, In- 
 gorise, Permiae, Viatkas, Bulgariae et caeterarum Dux ; Novo- 
 gardiae Inferioris, Czernihoviae, Pelocii, Rostoviae, Jarostarise, 
 Abdorae, Vitepsiae, et Mitishaviae Dux Magnus ; orae totius 
 septentrionalis Imperator ; Iberiae et Georgiae Dominus ; Circas- 
 siae et ceeterarum Princeps Haereditarius, et Principum Sum- 
 mus ; Norvegiae Haeres ; Slevici Holsatiensis, Stormaniae, Dil- 
 marsiae, et Oldenburgi Dux : J^verae Dominus," &c, &c. &c. 
 
 You may depend upon the correctness of this transcript. I 
 cannot refrain from expressing a wish, that the Emperor would 
 have given me some httle memorial, however trifling, but yet 
 distinct from the present he may intend for the College. 
 
 If you should not be able to find the list of persons who at- 
 tended the Emperor, I will endeavour, as well as I can, to sup- 
 ply the defect. 
 
 I heard a very pleasant account of you from Mr. Rollestone, 
 yesterday, [f I can be of no service by visiting you, I should 
 be glad to continue at my post here without interruption till 
 after the Merton election. Believe me, my dear Sir, your 
 much obliged and faithful servant, P. Vaughan. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Granby, Harrotvgate, Aug. 28th, 1814. 
 
 I am very much obliged to you for the letter which 1 have 
 received from you this morning. 
 
 I will take immediate steps to get the most accurate infor- 
 mation upon the several particulars which you have stated, and 
 will communicate it to you, as soon as I have received it. 
 Some of the queries I can answer without difficulty. 
 
 Alexander is the first Russian Emperor of that name. 
 
 I rather think the Duchess of Oldenburgh is the only sister 
 of Alexander, but of this, as well as of her Christian names, I 
 will seek further information. The King of Prussia is Fre- 
 derick the Fourth. The Emperor and Duchess of Oldenburgh 
 arrived at Merton about one o'clock in the afternoon of Tues- 
 day the fourteenth o^ June, and left it in the afternoon of Wed- 
 nesday ihejifteenth.
 
 MEMOIRS. 761 
 
 The chamber where the Emperor slept has a common roof 
 or ceiling. 
 
 The painted part of the window will occupy the upper sash 
 entirely/, and that onl^. 
 
 From the letter I received from Egginton a few days ago, I 
 am willing to hope that you may have seen him, ere this ; and 
 if so, that he has submitted to your inspection the sketch of 
 the window, &c. I will not fail to call his particular attention 
 to your suggestions with reference to that part of the window 
 that is not painted. 
 
 May I now ask, whether you have any particular lapidary, 
 either in London or elsewhere, whom you would recommend as 
 a proper person to prepare the marble tablet ? I beg to be 
 considered as having retained your village schoolmaster for his 
 services in both inscriptions immediately. 
 
 I cannot but think it probable that John Bartlara will call 
 upon us in his way from the north. 
 
 I believed myself to be very well when I arrived here, but 
 I am certainly much better in every respect. Believe me, my 
 dear Sir, your much obliged and faithful servant, 
 
 Peter Vaughan. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Mertou Coll. March 3, 1822. 
 
 The long expected present from the Emperor of Russia is, at 
 last, safely deposited in the centre of the entrance leading from 
 the street to my lodgings. Notwithstanding the nature of the 
 material, the immensity of the weight, and the distance of the 
 journey, it is arrived without a single blemish. 
 
 It is, in truth, my dear Sir, a most magnificent present, and 
 well worthy of an Emperor. It is a vase of Siberian jasper, 
 manufactured on the spot where this rare mineral is found. 
 Its form is oblong, and the workmanship excellent. The 
 length of the vase is four feet nine inches ; its width three feet 
 seven inches; from the bottom of the pedestal to the top of the 
 bason four feet nine inches. On two sides of the pedestal are 
 two inscriptions, one in Latin, the other a translation of the 
 Latin into the Russian language. On reading the Latin in- 
 scription I was grieved to find, that it did not exactly corrcs-
 
 762 MEMOIRS. 
 
 pond with what I was prepared to expect. There is an omis- 
 sion of a most important line. On the vase it stands thus: 
 
 Collegii Mertonensis 
 
 Custodi Sociisque 
 
 V. V. doctissimis et sanctissimis 
 
 a quibus 
 
 cum Oxonium inviseret 
 
 liberali hospitio receptus erat, 
 
 Hoc Vas 
 
 e lapide Siberiano factum 
 
 memoris gratique animi specimen 
 
 D.D. 
 
 Alexander omnium Kussiarum Imperator, 
 
 anno sacro mdcccxvi. 
 
 The inscriptions are in raised gilt letters, on a very rich gilt 
 ground, and well executed. 
 
 I had been in correspondence with Lord Grenville and Count 
 Lieven, about a fortnight ago, as to the best mode of trans- 
 porting the vase to Oxford, Immediately after its arrival, I 
 wrote to Count Lieven, requesting him, in my own name and 
 that of the Society over which I presided, to take a proper 
 opportunity of laying before his Imperial Majesty our most 
 grateful acknowledgments for this distinguished mark of his 
 favour, &c. &c. «&c. or something to that purpose. 
 
 Before the summer wears away, I cannot but wish that some- 
 thing may bring you to Oxford, I shall not be satisfied till 
 you have seen this present. 
 
 I am still suffering from my old complaint, which, I fear, I 
 shall carry to my grave. Believe me, my dear Sir, your truly 
 obliged and faithful servant, Peter Vaughan. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Mcrton College, March 7, 1822, 
 
 The line in the original Latin inscription, omitted in the 
 one upon the vase, is, 
 
 " Quo suam in eos voluntatem significaret." 
 
 I will transcribe the original one, as you was so kind as to send 
 it to me.
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 763 
 
 CoUegii Mertonensis 
 Custodi Sociisque 
 V. V. doctissimis et sanctissimis 
 a quibus 
 cum Oxonium inviseret 
 liberali hospitio receptus erat, 
 quo suam in eos voluntatem significaret, 
 Hoc Vas 
 L. MM. D.D. 
 Alexander omnium Russiarum Imperator, 
 anno sacro mdcccxvi. 
 Every body admires it as it now stands, and though there 
 may be here and there a slight pause made at the word " spe- 
 cimen," some good reason is given for it, and the visitor walks 
 away perfectly satisfied. I stated the circumstance slightly 
 when I wrote to Lord Grenville, but in his reply he does not 
 
 notice it. 
 
 In answer to the other plain questions I have only to add, 
 that it will be really agreeable to me, and really convenient for 
 me, that you should sojourn, as you propose, at my lodgings 
 whenever you may have occasion to pass through Oxford, 
 whether I may be absent or present. 
 
 Very little is said, and perhaps very little known here, as to 
 the comparative chances of success between Reginald Heber 
 and Maltby. When the subject was last discussed in my hear- 
 ing, Maltby was thought the most likely to succeed. But it 
 seemed to me a conjecture. Charles is very well, and enjoys 
 his Secretary's hfe at Paris. Believe me to be, my dear Dr. 
 Parr, yours ever most gratefully and affectionately, 
 
 P. Vaughan. 
 
 The inscription, of which the foregoing is 
 the history, has introduced the name of Dr. Peter 
 Vaughan to the reader, and I take a melan- 
 choly pleasure in this short notice of a most ami- 
 able and learned man, another companion of my 
 early life, whom it has been my lot to survive. He 
 gained the prize for Latin verses in the University
 
 764 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 of Oxford when he was an Under-graduate, and 
 successively became Fellow and Warden of Merton 
 College. The following are the warm communica- 
 tions he made to Parr on his promotion to the 
 Wardenship and to the Deanery of Chester, which 
 he possessed till his death, in the summer of 1826. 
 The last time I saw him was at the grave of John 
 Bartlam, to attend whose remains was the sole pur- 
 pose of a journey from Oxford to Alcester. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, MertoTi Coll. Jan. 26, 1810. 
 
 I thank you most sincerely for your kind congratulations. I 
 value them as I ought to do. The unanimity that marked my 
 election in College, could not but be gratifying to my feelings, 
 and the liberality of the Society in their proceedings since my 
 appointment, has been such as, I trust, I shall not easily forget. 
 If I know myself, 1 am sure I shall not be backward in repaying 
 them in their own coin. When I shall find myself in the 
 lodgings heaven only knows, but whenever that hour arrives, 
 be assured there will always be a well-aired bed at your service. 
 
 Bartlam is just arrived, and goes into Warwickshire to- 
 morrow. I wish he had been at a College meeting this morn- 
 ing, I have not yet seen him. Sir H. Halford is very well, 
 and never fails to inquire when you mean to visit London. 
 Charles is, I believe, on his way to Portsmouth. It was a great 
 comfort to me to meet a large family-party in London, before 
 Charles quitted England. Pigou and Griffith desire me to 
 give their best compliments, and believe me, my dear Sir, ever 
 your much obliged and faithful servant, P. Vaughan. 
 
 MY DEAR DR. PARR, Mcrton Coll. April 17, 1820. 
 
 I am confident I have no relative belonging to me who will 
 receive with more heart-felt pleasure than yourself the informa- 
 tion of my appointment to the Deanery of Chester. It is of 
 itself, as you may be aware, o^ small value, but, in the words of 
 Lord Liverpool's Letter, "it is one of rank and consideration,"
 
 MEMOIRS. 765 
 
 and as such (his Lordship hopes) it may not be unacceptable 
 to me in the situation I hold in the University of Oxford. 
 
 If I write more I shall be too late for the post ; but I could 
 not sleep unless I had given you this little news under my own 
 hand. Believe me, my dear Dr. Parr, your very grateful and 
 obliged faithful servant, Peter Vaughan. 
 
 With Sir Henry Halford Parr was well acquainted, 
 fully appreciating his great accomplishments, his 
 classical taste, and his elegant suavity of manner. 
 Parr was fond of physicians, and would have feasted 
 with delight on the good Latin and good sense of 
 Sir Henry's address to a royal, noble, and learned 
 audience,* such as human society seldom presents, 
 at the opening of the New College of Physicians. 
 There is one letter of civility from Baron Vaughan, 
 when, as a Barrister, he went the Midland Circuit. 
 
 * Three Princes of the bloody Prince Leopold, the Great 
 Captain, the Prime Minister, and a multitude, 
 
 O'inves ijyefj-Si'es Aayawv icai Koipavoi ijcrav.
 
 766 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Queen Caroline. 
 
 The arrival of her late Majesty Queen Caroline 
 in England, became an important era in the life of 
 Dr. Parr. Severe reflections have been cast on the 
 warm and eager espousal of her cause by a Divine 
 of the Established Church, who had passed his 
 seventieth year. But if here, as on other occasions, 
 his prudence and discretion may be questioned ; on 
 the purity of his motives, the honesty of his zeal, the 
 disinterested and conscientious feelings that prompt- 
 ed him, no suspicion has been, or ever can be, cast. 
 
 He had been presented to the Queen, and was 
 received as a visitor at Connaught-House in 1814, 
 when she was Princess of Wales. His venturing to 
 expostulate with her on the indiscretion of quitting 
 England, and the following short note, which he 
 received in answer, prove that, at that early period, 
 he was admitted to a considerable share of her con- 
 fidence: 
 
 The Princess of Wales acknowledges the receipt of Dr. 
 Parr's letter, and regrets that he leaves the metropolis so soon, 
 which will prevent her from talking over the subject with Dr. 
 Parr, to which he alludes in his note. 
 
 The Princess trusts to the Almighty, who has been her pro- 
 tector hitherto, and will still continue to protect her through 
 her remaining trials. 
 
 The Princess accepts the good wishes of Dr. Parr with the 
 best thanks. — Connaught-House, June 29th.
 
 MEMOIRS. 767 
 
 When, on the death of the late King, the name 
 of the Queen Consort was ordered to be erased 
 from the Liturgy, he recorded his sentiments on 
 that subject in the Prayer-book of Hatton Church, 
 in the following terms : 
 
 Numerous and weighty are the reasons which induce me 
 deliberately, and solemnly, to record in the Prayer-book of my 
 parish the following particulars. With deep and unfeigned 
 sorrow I have read a London Gazette, dated February 12th, 
 1820, of which a faithful copy is here inserted : 
 
 " At the Court at Carlton-House, Feb. 12, 1820, &c. signed 
 James Buller." 
 
 It is my duty as a subject, and an Ecclesiastic, to read what 
 is prescribed by my Sovereign, as head of the Church of Eng- 
 land. But it is not my duty to express my approbation, as well 
 as to yield obedience, when my feelings as a man, and my prin- 
 ciples as a Christian, compel me to disapprove and to deplore. 
 If the person who, for many years, was prayed for as Princess 
 of Wales, has not ceased to be the wife of the Royal Person- 
 age who was called Prince of Wales, most assuredly she be- 
 comes Queen when he becomes King ; and Queen she must re- 
 main, till by some judicial process her conjugal relation to our 
 legitimate Sovereign be authoritatively dissolved. 
 
 Whensoever I pray for " all the Royal Family," I shall 
 include Queen Caroline as a member of it. Though forbidden 
 to pronounce her Royal name, I shall, in the secret and sacred 
 recesses of my soul, recommend her to the protection of the 
 Deity. I shall pray that God may " endue her with his Holy 
 spirit, enrich her with his heavenly grace, prosper her with all 
 happiness, and bring her to his everlasting kingdom through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord." Thursday, Feb. 17th, 1820, 
 
 Samuel Parr, LL.D. Resident Minister of Hatton for 
 thirty- three years and eleven months. 
 
 During the interval between the death of George 
 III. and the landing of Queen Caroline in England, 
 Parr continued a zealous defender of her cause, and 
 openly expressed his determination to give her every 
 personal assistance that coiUd be derived from his
 
 768 Memoirs. 
 
 talents, and weight of character, whensoever she 
 might think proper to call for his services. Her 
 arrival gave fresh ardour to his feelings ; but 
 he probably might not have taken so very promi- 
 nent a station, but for an incident calculated to 
 produce the contrary effect. A message was sent 
 to him from a distinguished nobleman, earnestly 
 begging that he would abstain from all interference. 
 Ascribing this advice not to the good-will which 
 dictated it, but to an improper officiousness in 
 furtherance of the prosecution, he instantly had his 
 trunk packed up, and started for London. 
 
 In defiance of frowns from the powerful, and reproaches from 
 the servile (such was the language of Dr. Parr, in a letter ad- 
 dressed, about this time, to Lady Anne Hamilton), I have 
 obeyed the dictates of my conscience in making known my 
 judgment on the Queen's honour, my anxiety for her welfare, 
 and my indignation against the multiplied, aggravated, and 
 most unmerited injuries which she has received. 
 
 I hear, with heartfelt satisfaction, that her Majesty's courage 
 is unshaken ; and I am confident that she will, in due time, ex- 
 pose the wickedness and falsehood of the evidence on which 
 her adversaries profess to rely. They have accused — they may 
 condemn — but they cannot prove to the satisfaction of an en- 
 lightened and generous public. 
 
 Dr. Parr was assiduous in his attention to her 
 Majesty, and frequently performed divine service at 
 her house in Portman-street, and afterwards at 
 Brandenburgh House. He certainly possessed con- 
 siderable influence as one of her advisers, and re- 
 commended the employment of the Rev. Mr. Fel- 
 lowes, well known as the writer of her answers to 
 most of the Addresses presented. When the pro- 
 ceedings were closed, and her Majesty's establish- 
 ment formed. Dr. Parr's name was placed, by her 
 Majesty's desire, at the head of her list of Chaplains.
 
 MEMOIRS. 769 
 
 He was in constant correspondence with Alder- 
 man Wood, pending the Bill of pains and penalties 
 in the House of Lords ; and numerous letters, re- 
 turned to me by the persons to whom they were 
 written, attest the lively and indignant zeal with 
 which he watched the events of that perilous crisis. 
 He studied the evidence with intense anxiety ; fre- 
 quently tendered his counsel on the conduct which 
 her situation seemed to require, and suggested to 
 her legal advocates many topics for discussion in 
 the long and numerous speeches they were called 
 upon to make. 
 
 It is due to his memory, however, to state, that 
 the celebrated letter to the King, published on the 
 eve of the Parliamentary investigation, was errone- 
 ously attributed to his pen. He was even ignorant 
 of its being written, and expressed his sentiments 
 on its impropriety, when she herself placed in his 
 hands the newspaper containing it, in no measured 
 terms. It has been asserted that his remonstrance 
 gave so much offence, that the Queen inquired 
 upon that occasion whether he was not about to 
 return to his parochial duties. 
 
 If, however, this sHght, the probable effect of 
 momentary irritation, induced his absence from her 
 Majesty's little court, it diminished in no degree 
 his attachment to her cause. He still informed 
 himself of all that was going forward ; and when 
 the question of attending at the Coronation fell to 
 be considered, he endeavoured to dissuade her from 
 that unfortunate step by an eloquent but tempe- 
 rate remonstrance, full of good sense and feehng. 
 
 VOL. I. 3d
 
 770 MEMOIRS. 
 
 During the illness which ensued, and up to the hour 
 of her unexpected death, his inquiries were unre- 
 mitted, his solicitude always increasing, and his 
 sorrow sincere. 
 
 I might add a multitude of interesting documents 
 to those already before the public, detailing, at 
 length, the views entertained by Dr. Parr and his 
 various correspondents on almost every point m the 
 history of this unhappy Queen, whose fate furnishes 
 another page for the volumes already written on the 
 infelicity of Princes. But I forbear. The angry 
 passions attendant on the discussion have not, it 
 seems, even yet settled into calm ; nor has the efter- 
 vescence occasioned by them so much subsided as 
 to give a clear composition fit to be deposited among 
 the stores of history. 
 
 Even after the grave had sheltered her from the 
 oppressor's wrong, Dr. Parr continued to defend 
 the memory of Queen Caroline. He was wont to 
 speak of her intrepidity, courage, and elevation of 
 spirit enthusiastically, and as demonstrating that 
 she was the legitimate offspring of the house of 
 Brunswick. He always denied the right, and ar- 
 raigned the wisdom, of instituting a charge for 
 misconduct, which, even if true, and proved, would 
 have been but a natural consequence of her deserted 
 and unprotected condition. He deprecated the 
 obscenity cf the details, and the foul practices by 
 which testimony was obtained. With chivalrous 
 zeal he espoused the cause of the injured woman, 
 and asserted the rights of the fallen Queen with 
 unshaken and disinterested loyalty.
 
 771 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Journeys — Acquaintance — Correspondence. 
 
 From the beginning of Dr. Parr's life he was fond 
 of excursions, and there is a very curious account of 
 his own, when a boy, of a journey to Hinckley, to 
 visit his relations, when he fought a battle in de- 
 fence of his cousin Dorothy. To Oxford he was 
 led by Mr. Roderick, and afterwards by his friend 
 Sir William Jones, who introduced him to Dr. John 
 Vansittart, Professor of Law, Dr. Lawrence, Pro- 
 fessor of Modern History, and Sir William Scott, 
 now Lord Stowell, then Tutor of University Col- 
 lege. It would lead me too far out of my way to 
 mention the respectful terms in which he speaks of 
 many of the Members of this University, but he 
 has distinguished one gentleman so much, that it 
 would be unjust not to record his words. 
 
 Dr. NicoU, the sensible, the very learned, the modest, the 
 ingenuous, who having no visible patron, was, to the delight of 
 the University, and to his own utter astonishment, suddenly 
 and deservedly made Canon of Christ Church, and Professor 
 of Hebrew. 
 
 In 1774 (says Parr) I by invitation visited William Sumner, 
 Esq. brother of Dr. Robert Sumner, at Hatchlands. I 
 preached at the Parish Church of Hatchlands, and left the 
 
 3 d2
 
 772 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 place ratlier suddenly, because * x- * * * * would not 
 permit me to smoke. Though often asked, I never would 
 go again. She had played the same trick to her husband's 
 brother, Dr. Sumner, in (Jreat (Jeorge-street, Westminster. 
 The Doctor resisted and prevailed. Her maiden name was 
 Holmes. Her brother was an attorney in the north. She 
 was born in the north, and went to make her fortune in India. 
 She died while I lived in Colchester, and, at the request of 
 her husband, I wrote the Epitaph for her, but without much 
 praise. In going to Hatchlands I passed by the house of 
 Lord Keeper King, and, in several places, I saw Harrow 
 Church. I did not meet Mr. Godschall, who lived in the 
 neighbourhood of Hatchlands. He was a well-bred, enlighten- 
 ed gentleman. He was the friend of the celebrated Abraham 
 Tucker. He visited me at Colchester, where his ward, Moli- 
 neaux, was my scholar. I ought ever to be grateful to Mr. 
 William Sumner, because, when I was driven from Harrow, 
 after the death of Dr. Sumner, and settled at Stanmore, Mr. 
 William Sumner not only put his two sons under my care, 
 and co-operated with Dr. Monroe and Dr. Askew in recom- 
 mending my school, but lent me two thousand pounds at 
 the moderate interest of two per cent, and permitted me to 
 repay by instalments, and by expences for the education of 
 liis sons. 
 
 In 1815 or 1816, I visited Lord Tamworth at Staunton 
 Harold, the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, and Lord 
 Scarsdale near Derby. At Lord Tamworth's I saw Sir Ralph 
 Milbanke, his wife, and his daughter, now Lady Byron. I have 
 twice visited the Duke of Bedford at Woburn, once Lord Ta- 
 vistock, and twice Lady Madelina Palmer at Bedford. Again, 
 again, and again I have visited my honoured Patron, Thomas 
 William Coke, of Holkham. I once visited the enlightened 
 and truly honourable Sir Edward Winnington in Worcester- 
 shire, and saw his fine collection of books ; and there I met his 
 relative, the Rev, Dr. Ingram, well known as an epicurean 
 feeder upon crimped salmon ; but he was a gentleman and a 
 man of sense. Once, with Johnny Bartlam, I visited the ac- 
 complished and most respectable Mr. Hanbury at his line seat 
 in Gloucestershire, I visited Caroline, Princess of Wales, at
 
 MEMOIRS. 773 
 
 Bliickheath and in Connaught-place, and when she was Queen 
 I visited her often in Portman-street and Brandenburgh House. 
 I visited the Princess of Wales also at the apartments given her 
 by George the Third in Kensington Palace. 1 have oiten vi- 
 sited the Duke of Gloucester near Hyde-park-corner. 
 
 I saw the * * * * Tory Parson, of Abergavenny. I 
 saw and I visited Mr. Stowton and his beautiful wife at their 
 house and park, now belonging to Mr. Hanbury Williams. 
 I saw Mr. Kempson, who then went under the assumed name 
 of Kirby. He was a native of Tettenhall, Staftbrdshire. He 
 had been educated at Christ Church, had been Secretary to 
 the Duke of Richmond, and he showed me a manuscript copy 
 of some wise and honest instructions of Mr. Fox to the Duke 
 of Manchester, our Ambassador at Paris. Kempson had some 
 learning, a large portion of general knowledge, much acuteness, 
 much vanity, and strong tincture of infidelity. I did not like 
 him, but I could not despise him. I must not forget Mr. 
 Tudor, a rich shop-keeper, of Abergavenny, who boasted of his 
 descent from his namesake, Henry the Seventh. I saw Squire 
 Lewis, of Landilo, his sensible wife, and agreeable daughters. 
 Mrs. Lewis was aunt to Mrs. Green. I was twice attended for 
 a lame leg by Mr. Prosser, the skilful Surgeon of Monmouth. 
 Once we went down the river Wye, and dined in the south 
 aisle of Tintern Abbey. We went into Chepstow, and there 
 saw the beautiful grounds of Mr. Morris; and in Chepstow 
 Castle we saw the room inhabited by Henry Martin, the Regi- 
 cide. We dined under a tent at the top of Pontypool, and 
 there was a violent storm of thunder and lightning. 1 had been 
 taken out of my bed in a blanket to marry Miss Mary Green 
 to Mr. Freere ; and one day we went up to Blorenge to see the 
 iron forge of Mr. Freere, and to dine with him. I was much 
 struck with the flaming torrents of melting iron. The best 
 scholar I saw was William Powell. I knew his father and his 
 brother Charles, who were parsons ; and I also visited his mo- 
 ther and his sensible sisters. William Powell was nephew of 
 my banker. He once took pupils, and lived within sight of the 
 camp of Owen Glcndower. William was a very well-behaved, 
 well-informed man, and happily he is now Incumbent of Aber- 
 gavenny. Jemmy Green and I went several times to Newland,
 
 774 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the seat of Mrs. Probin, in the forest of Dean, Mr. Probin 
 was a contemporary at College with the Duke of Portland, and 
 remained a steady Whig when the Duke had apostatized. 
 
 In my Durham tour I ought to have stated that the sensible 
 Mrs. Ciapham, with whom I sojourned at Yarm, was related 
 to the respectable family of Slingsby. I there saw Mr. Burton, 
 the guardian of my favourite pupil, Jockey Hall, of Hatton. I 
 have said that I met Dr. Scott at the Durham Visitation. He 
 was called Antisejanus, because, in the great Cambridge con- 
 test for the High Stewardship, between Lord Sandwich and 
 Lord Hardwicke, Scott wrote some witty, acrimonious papers 
 under the signature of Antisejanus. His dress was elegant, his 
 demeanour was dignified, his eyes were piercing, and his nose 
 very sharp. He was rewarded with the great government 
 living of Simonburn, which is now wisely divided into si.x por- 
 tions, for the benefit of Navy Chaplains. 
 
 In all these places he was induced to visit by his 
 personal friendships or his respect for literary men ; 
 he has mentioned the names of many of them in 
 their several places ; but it is fit for me to pause 
 awhile, and to insert the names of several of those 
 who have distinguished themselves by their profes- 
 sional celebrity or their literary productions. 
 
 Manchester and Liverpool were both fertile in 
 acquaintance of the higher order of intellectual 
 acquirement. In Dr. Holme, of Manchester, he 
 found a Scholar and a Philosopher, and during 
 his long visit to this amiable man he formed 
 most of those acquaintances marked so charac- 
 teristically by him in the account of his jour- 
 nics. At Liverpool, the name of Mr. Roscoe 
 stands pre-eminently forward, and I lament that I 
 am debarred the correspondence of this elegant 
 writer, who, by his example as well as his exertions, 
 has decorated one of our most busy mercantile
 
 MEMOIRS. 775 
 
 sea-ports with some of the fairest wreaths of letters, 
 whilst he has imbued its inhabitants with the love 
 of books and of intellectual acconiphshments. In 
 his journey to Edinburgh and the north, his mind 
 was almost satiated with the highest enjoyments. 
 In Scotland, it was his delight to say, and it is my 
 delight to repeat his words, that he had met with 
 men, with gentlemen, with freemen, with wise men 
 — that during the whole time of his abode there his 
 mind had been feasted with dainties no less than his 
 appetite, and that, in the same period of time, his 
 soul had never been gratified in the same degree. 
 Dr. Gregory, Mr. Dugald Stewart, Professor Young, 
 Professors Brown, Napier, and Pillans, Mr. Thom- 
 son, Mr. Parish, Mr. Mackenzie, Mr. Jefirey, Mess. 
 Horners, the virtuous and accomplished father and 
 brother of the ever to be lamented Francis Horner : 
 all these, and more than my page would contain, 
 were his companions ; and it would be difficult to 
 calculate whether, in this visit, he gave or re- 
 ceived most pleasure. 
 
 Some of the Ecclesiastics at Durham received 
 him with honour ; and at York the polished and 
 venerable Archbishop evinced his love of learning, 
 and the kindness of his disposition, by receiving 
 him with hospitality. On this visit Parr exhibited 
 an instance of his prodigious memory and his know- 
 ledge of books. Soon after his marriage, in 1772, 
 he visited the Mauleverers of Arnclift'e, his wife's 
 relations, and in passing through York went into 
 the Library of the Cathedral. At the Archbishop's 
 table, in 1819, he referred to a rare book which he 
 had seen on that former visit, and said that at such
 
 776 MEMOIRS. 
 
 a page there would be found a sentence which he 
 repeated. He was accompanied to the Ubrary next 
 morning by one of the Canons of the Church, and 
 some of the company, and great was the surprise of 
 all to find that he was verbally correct. 
 
 To Birmingham his visits were very frequent. 
 After the Charity Sermons, my brother's house was 
 his abode : then mine, and mine continued to be his 
 abode till the end of his life. In the Irenopolis he 
 characterized the Clergy of the time ; but his chief 
 ecclesiastical friend, at last, was Mr. Kennedy. 
 He was acquainted with all the Physicians, and 
 Dr. Male was often at his birth-day. In the latter 
 years of his life he was invited to the Bailiff's 
 feasts, and it is needless to say that his presence 
 added dignity to these civic meetings, at which his 
 health was always drank with loud applause. 
 
 After Leamington became a celebrated watering- 
 place, it was one of his favourite rides. He visited 
 most of the distinguished strangers, and received them 
 at his hospitable board. He has himself mentioned 
 the names of the Princesses, and besides them, the 
 Duchess of Gordon, and the Duke and Duchess of 
 Bedford, &c. &c., were very gracious to him. The 
 Duchess of Gordon, so celebrated for her knowledge 
 of human (character, and for all the agreeable qualities 
 which adorn elevated and polished life, particularly 
 delighted in his society. Mr. and Lady Madalina 
 Palmer, eldest daughter of the Duke of Gordon, were 
 kind friends of Dr. Parr. Mr. Palmer was M. P. for 
 Reading, a true Whig, whose cause was warmly 
 espoused by the Doctor. There are many letters of
 
 MEMOIRS. 777 
 
 her ladyship, written in the most easy flow of the 
 epistolary style, and with all that frankness and 
 kindness which distinguish the writer. 
 
 It will be seen hereafter that Dr. Parr's corre- 
 spondence was so large as to render it impossible 
 to compress it within narrow bounds. I have 
 therefore published only such parts of it as threw 
 a particular light on the more distinguished features 
 of his literary or political life. 
 
 Amongst his acquaintance are some illustrious 
 names, his school-fellows, or pupils at Harrow. 
 The present Duke of Grafton, the Marquesses Wel- 
 lesley, Hastings, and Abercorn ; the Earls Pem- 
 broke, Radnor, Dartmouth, Spencer, Hardwicke, 
 and Lord Teignmouth. But with most of these 
 no intimacy was maintained, though there is some 
 correspondence with the greater number. 
 
 The old Earl of Dartmouth continued Parr's 
 patron to the end of his life ; and it was that 
 patronage which gilded his latter days with afflu- 
 ence. Of the other noblemen, and even some of 
 the members of the Royal Family with whom he 
 corresponded, the acquaintance was formed by the 
 gradual expansion of his own public character ; and 
 I shall take pride in copying the letters of men, 
 although illustrious in rank, yet as much distin- 
 guished by their talents and their virtues. 
 
 The letters of his Royal Highness the Duke of 
 Sussex exhibit that accomplished Prince, 
 
 ("whose society is inestimable," says Parr in a letter to Mr, 
 Coke, "because he is endowed with a masculine understanding, 
 with a spirit quite princely, and with those salutary and sacred
 
 778 MEMOIRS. 
 
 principles upon which you and I look for the security of the 
 constitution,") 
 
 in the most amiable light. The spirit of concilia- 
 tion and toleration which breathes throughout ; the 
 almost enthusiastic love of learning, his condescen- 
 sion to his inferiors, and his attachments to his 
 friends, display an assemblage of qualities rarely 
 united in one character, but which particularly em- 
 bellishes that of Princes. How much beloved and 
 esteemed Parr continued to be by the Prince, was 
 not only demonstrated during the latter part of his 
 life, but continues even now. The Prince has 
 placed his marble bust in that noble repository of 
 learning, his library in Kensington Palace. 
 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, to Dr. 
 
 Parr. 
 
 MY DEAR DOCTOll, 
 
 As the 26th falls on a Monday, and that no post goes from 
 the metropolis on a Sunday, I am under the necessity of an- 
 ticipating the day, which I do most sincerely, offering you my 
 hearty congratulations on the occasion, and at the same time 
 reiterating to you those assurances of friendship and esteem 
 which the longer they last the sweeter they become. The 26th 
 is the previous day to my own festival, so that I shall contrive 
 by some conjunction to bring them, in a nautical sense, to bear 
 together. It affords me sincere pleasure to hear that your 
 health continues good, but I am sadly grieved to find that we 
 have little hopes to see you this spring in town. To have 
 shewn you my gallery, which, thank God, is completed, and to 
 have received your critical sanction as to the arrangement of 
 my biblical line, would have made me both proud and happy. 
 You would have found your own picture presiding at the head 
 of the establishment, and our excellent noncon, dog friend Dr. 
 Kees, fixed at the bottom of the gallery, as Vice-President.
 
 MEMOIRS. 779 
 
 Such are the characters with which I am to ornament my 
 library, and although not in a situation to confer dignities, yet 
 I am delighted in having an opportunity of paying to him and 
 you that tribute of esteem and regard which I think you de- 
 serve, and which, were I able to do in a more splendid manner, 
 would afford me a greater satisfaction. It is a beautiful thing, 
 and well calculated for the purpose for which I intended it. 
 It is quite full of every thing that is Christian, liberal, and 
 good, while, of course, it contains many excrescences and dis- 
 crepancies, which, for the welfare and good of mankind, I 
 could have wished never had existed ; but still, in fairness, 
 ought to be placed in a library like mine for the philosopher 
 and Christian to form his own conclusions. 
 
 I think, my dear Doctor, you would enjoy the sight, and you 
 would applaud my friend Pettigrew's industry, as well as his 
 clear head and classical decisions, which materially tend to 
 fix the date of every book ; it is a beautiful chronological series, 
 and every department follows so judiciously on each other, that 
 one can carry the whole with the greatest facility in one's head. 
 Excuse these details, but my library is a child of my own 
 creation, and, of course, one very dear to my heart. My friend 
 Roger Wilbraham, has made me a most valuable present of 
 Lewis's first edition of his translation of WiclifFe's New Testa- 
 ment, illustrated by Ames, the editor of Herbert's Typographi- 
 cal Antiquities. There are several scraps by way of specimens 
 of ancient editions of the Bible and New Testament in English, 
 some ancient engravings, and several original letters of Bishop 
 Kennet to Dr. Lewis, and a copy of a part of a MS. Bible at 
 Oxford, in the hand-writing of Lewis. On Wednesday last 
 I dined at the Old Bailey with your pupil the Common Ser- 
 geant, who spoke in the most affectionate terms of his old 
 master. What a pride to have educated such a man as Den- 
 man. Believe me, dear Doctor, with great sincerity, most 
 affectionately, yours, Augustus Frederick. 
 
 DEAR AND REV. DOCTOR, 
 
 Our mutual friend, my chaplain, Mr. Glover, requested of 
 me, previous to his departure from this hospitable mansion,
 
 780 MEMOIRS. 
 
 that I would forward you one of his sermons lately preached 
 for the relief of the starving Irish, and which he has printed 
 and dedicated to the Forty-eight Archbishops and Bishops who 
 preside over the Established Church of England and Ireland. 
 Whether I am right or not in my designation of them, you can 
 best tell ; but I conceive that when talking of Ireland we must 
 call the Church of England professed there the established 
 Church, not by justice but by law and conquest (so it ought to be). 
 In my humble opinion the letter is most powerful. It will be a 
 lasting monument of his correct principles, but I fear, unless a 
 great change should take place in the councils of the state, that 
 he will be doomed for his life to be confined to his parochial 
 duties. I am happy to say that he has likewise finished for me 
 the small tvork I am about publishing, called the Ecclesiastical 
 History of Great Britain, so that I may hope for its circulation 
 previous to the meeting of Parliament, which is not likely to 
 take place before the end of January or the beginning of Fe- 
 bruary. Since my residence at this place I have made frequent 
 visits to Mr. Coke's library, and have finally got him to agree 
 to the one room and the two long passages being entirely de- 
 dicated to his library, by ukich means we shall be enabled to 
 preserve that treasure from the dilapidations of the curious, as 
 ivell as from the destruction of the ignorant. Indeed it is a most 
 valuable collection, and had our excellent friend been per- 
 suaded at his first outset to have appropriated from ^500 to 
 .^1000 a year towards completing the different compartments 
 of it, he would now have to boast of the finest library in Eng- 
 land. The number of first editions is quite extraordinary ; 
 in short, such a collection alone, were not Holkham standing, 
 would be a proof of the chaste, cultivated, and luminous mind 
 of the Earl of Leicester, About Monday next I propose 
 leaving my excellent friend, and moving towards the metro- 
 polis, but not without making a visit of two days to Cambridge, 
 where still one can find some liberal men and ideas. I under- 
 stand that at Oxford the choice of the new master of New 
 College, has fallen upon an intelligent and a deserving 
 man ; so far good, but it is a singular proof that even in 
 these times miracles do exist. The tour which I have made 
 through the country has been one of pleasure and of signal
 
 MEMOIRS. 781 
 
 gratification to myself. I have seen many valuable men, and 
 have made the acquaintance of many others. I have satisfied 
 myself of the loyalty of the country, and consequently I feel 
 convinced, as I have always been, that the sovereign of these 
 realms may be always secure of the affection of his subjects, 
 provided he will but shew himself among them, and be per- 
 suaded that his interests and theirs can never, and ougJit never, 
 to be separated from each other. How well O'Meara makes 
 Napoleon to speak on the feelings of a sovereign. What a 
 book ! what an extraordinary man ! what a shame for this 
 country ! Such are the impressions produced upon my mind 
 by the perusal of a plain unvarnished history, which is by far 
 the most interesting modern work I have read, and which bears 
 upon the face of it truth, an article not very common in these 
 days. I fear, my dear Doctor, I have run on too long, but I 
 have been writing until I have persuaded myself that we were 
 conversing together in my study at Kensington Palace, where 
 I hope, please God, to see you in the course of a few months, 
 and to indemnify myself for the loss of your valuable company 
 here, upon xvhich I had reckoned. Upon this subject I am a 
 little angry, but I will shake it off, and congratulate you upon 
 the marriage of your granddaughter, an event, I understand, 
 that has met with your entire approbation, and therefore must be 
 most satisfactory to one whose pride is to sign himself one of 
 your warmest admirers and most sincere friends, 
 
 Augustus Frederick. 
 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, and 
 his Royal Consort, deigned also to honour Dr. 
 Parr with their patronage. There are several very 
 kind letters of his Royal Highness, with whom he 
 sometimes dined at Gloucester-house. He warmly 
 interested himself for his Royal Highness's election 
 as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge ; not 
 only supporting him as an advocate of Whig prin- 
 ciples, on which footing he was canvassed by Mr.
 
 782 MEMOIRS 
 
 L. B. Allen, but opposing the Duke of Rutland's 
 pretensions with all his power. 
 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, to 
 Dr. Parr. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Bagshot Park, April 20, 1811. 
 
 I cannot refuse myself the pleasure of writing you a few lines, 
 to offer to you my sincere thanks for the warm interest you 
 have had the goodness to take in the late contest for the 
 Chancellorship of the University of Cambridge, that has ter- 
 minated in a manner so truly gratifying and flattering to me. 
 I have, I assure you, experienced the greatest satisfaction at 
 seeing myself supported, on this occasion, by persons so dis- 
 tinguished for their superior talents and constitutional prin- 
 ciples ; and this circumstance has increased the pride and 
 gratification I must feel at being chosen to preside over a 
 University so conspicuous for its learning, and at receiving this 
 mark of confidence, and this testimony of attachment from 
 those who educated me. I am the more anxious to convey to 
 you my warmest acknowledgements for the great exertions 
 you were so good as to make towards forwarding my cause, 
 and to express to you my perfect sense of your attention to 
 me, as it affords me an opportunity of making my inquiries 
 after your health, and of renewing to you the assurance of the 
 high esteem and great personal regard with which I am, dear 
 Sir, very sincerely yours, William Frederick. 
 
 With the first nobility in the land, the Dukes of 
 Norfolk, Bedford, Portland, Grafton, Gordon, Marl- 
 borough, and Devonshire, there is correspondence. 
 He visited at Arundel, Woburn, Burlington House, 
 and Chatsworth, and was particularly esteemed by 
 the Duke of Bedford, some of whose kind, friendly, 
 and excellent letters I shall copy in the Appendix 
 to the Eighth Volume. 
 
 The Earl of Hardwicke, I have stated before, 
 was one of the pupils at Harrow. I have only room
 
 MEMOIRS. 783 
 
 to insert the following letter, being obliged to refer 
 the amusing correspondence of his lordship's rela- 
 tion, Philip Yorke, to the Appendix. 
 
 The Earl of Hardwicke, to Dr. Parr. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Si. Jamess-squure, Sept. 13, 1810, 
 
 When your obliging letter reached me the beginning of last 
 month, I was so deeply engaged in the un-classical but neces- 
 sary occupation of going through a long arrear of accounts 
 with my steward, that I was obhged, however unwillingly, to 
 delay my acknowledgments for your attention. I have since 
 been passing some time at Holkham, from whence I fully in- 
 tended to have returned you my thanks, having carried with 
 me M. Tullii Ciceronis quae vulgo feruntur, Orationes quatuor, 
 &c., printed at Berlin in 1801, which I was fortunate enough 
 to procure at Leigh and Sotheby's before I set out on my tour. 
 I found, however, what I ought to have foreseen, that the ob- 
 jects of interest at Holkham, which Mr. Coke was so good as 
 to show me in the most satisfactory manner, were so numerous 
 in themselves, and so completely employed my time, that I was 
 again prevented from writing. I have, therefore, now to re- 
 quest you to accept my apology for an apparent inattention to 
 your kindness. 1 have been much entertained and instructed 
 by reading the Introductory Address and the Prefaces that 
 follow it, by Markland and Gessner. They are extremely in- 
 teresting, particularly the Introductory Address, by Wolff, 
 which gives a detailed account of the controversy concerning 
 the authenticity of the Letters to Brutus, which has been long 
 since forgotten in the University of Cambridge, as well as in 
 other places. I have no recollection of my father's opinion on 
 the authenticity of the Letters to Brutus being introduced in 
 the " Considerations on the Law of Forfeiture ;" but as there 
 possibly may be some allusion to it, I would rather trust to the 
 correctness of your memory than my own. There is, however, 
 a letter on the subject, of some length, written by my father to 
 Dr. Newcome, of Hackney, soon after the publication of Mr. 
 Tunstall's letter to Dr. Middleton. From a passage in the 
 letter to Dr. Newcome, it does not appear that Tunstall's ar--
 
 784 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 gument excited much interest at the time, as I judge from the 
 following passage : 
 
 " As I shall probably grow tedious before I have scribbled 
 half my thoughts on those parts of the Letter (Tunstall's) to 
 which I mean to apply myself, you may be desirous that I 
 should enter into it without any apology ' et in medias rapere 
 res ••' yet you must give me leave to ask pardon for presuming 
 to commit my particular sentiments to paper upon a perform- 
 ance on which (as far as I can find) not even a general opinion 
 has been formed ; and which is so far from having been read 
 vpith the attention it deserves, that scarcely any one has fairly 
 read it through." 
 
 The letter itself, though my father desired Dr. Newcome not 
 to communicate it to any body, appears to me deserving at 
 least of being transcribed^ if not of being printed. At all 
 events, I will print off a few copies, and send you one of them 
 as soon as I receive any from the Printer. If your opinion 
 shall be in favour of its being printed for more general circula- 
 tion, I shall have no objection to print it as a juvenile perform- 
 ance on a controversy that excited some interest at Cambridge 
 between fifty and sixty years ago. The " Remarks on the 
 Epistles of Brutus," by Markland, is not in my library, but I 
 shall probably be able to obtain it from some of the London 
 booksellers. The other publication you mention, viz. M. Tullii 
 Ciceronis, quae vulgo fertur pro M. Marcello, &c. &c., printed 
 at Berlin, in 1802, I have never seen ; but Payne will, I hope, 
 be able to procure it for me, as well as the other ; viz. Com- 
 mentarius perpetuus et plenus in orationem M. T. Ciceronis, 
 Pro M. Marcello, &c. Auctore Benj. Weiske, printed at 
 Leipsic in 1805, It is impossible these two last publications 
 can be difficult to procure from any other cause than the inter- 
 ruption of our intercourse with the Continent. As soon as I 
 can get the letter to Dr. .Newcome printed, I will send you a 
 copy of it, as well as a copy of the defence of Demosthenes. I 
 am very much obliged to you for your kind and friendly invita- 
 tion to Hatton, of which, I assure you, I shall have great plea- 
 sure in availing myself, whether any other object should bring 
 me that way or not. At present, my time is likely to be en- 
 gaged for a i'^w weeks by a circumstance which, I trust, will
 
 MEMOIRS. 785 
 
 contribute to my family happiness, I mean, the marriage of one 
 of my daughters to Lord Caledon, who is daily expected from 
 the Cape of Good Hope. We have known him sufficiently to 
 justify me in being very sanguine in hoping that the connection 
 may be productive of happiness and comfort. 
 
 I remain, my dear Sir, with every sentiment of respect and 
 regard, your faithful and obliged servant, Hardwicke. 
 
 With the most reverend Archbishops of the two 
 provinces of England, Dr. Parr had some corre- 
 spondence, and also with the Archbishop of Dublin. 
 
 The letter of Archbishop Moore is merely a letter 
 of civility, excusing him attendance at Lambeth. 
 Dr. Moore had met Dr. Parr at Canterbury. With 
 Dr. Sutton he renewed an acquaintance at Lea- 
 mington, begun at Cambridge. From Dr. Vernon, 
 Archbishop of York, he received very marked kind- 
 ness and respect. Dr. Terrick, Bishop of London, 
 treated him harshly when he asked a licence for his 
 school at Stanmore, and it was not till after some 
 remonstrance that he obtained it. But the Bishop 
 spontaneously did him justice when he was candi- 
 date for the school at Colchester. 
 
 From the great scholar, Dr. Lowth, I have al- 
 ready stated that Dr. Parr received that ecclesiasti- 
 cal benefice, which gilded his last days with afflu- 
 ence ; — the Prebend of Wenlock's Barn, in the 
 church of St. Paul. There is only one communica- 
 tion from this illustrious prelate touching on lite- 
 rary subjects, and which Parr has noticed in his 
 Bellenden. The other letters concerning the Pre- 
 bend have been copied. 
 
 There is a good deal of correspondence with Ran- 
 dolph, Bishop of London, on the prebendal business ; 
 
 VOL. I. 3 £
 
 786 MEMOIRS. 
 
 but his name was always mentioned with reverence 
 by Dr. Parr, on account of his kindness to the 
 younger Gerald, to whom he gave money when he 
 was obliged to delay his admission into orders ; into 
 which, however, he did finally admit him with the 
 true spirit of a Christian father. There are two 
 letters copied in the Appendix. 
 
 The letters of Bishop Porteus simply treat of 
 business. 
 
 With Dr. Howley, the present Bishop of Lon- 
 don, Dr. Parr's correspondence appears to have 
 been of the most friendly kind, embracing literary 
 topics and subjects of benevolence, as well as mat- 
 ters of business. To few of Dr. Parr's correspond- 
 ents, indeed, was the subject of benevolence a 
 stranger. He never hesitated to ask charity for 
 worthy persons, when such cases presented them- 
 selves to him at the time he was writing to the rich 
 and the great. The Bishop's letters contain a very 
 important recommendation to Dr. Parr to publish 
 something philological, with many other pertinent 
 suggestions and literary remarks. 
 
 The letters of Dr. North, Bishop of Winchester, 
 and of Dr. Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, are merely 
 letters of business. Let me add, that Dr. Hurd does 
 not subscribe himself to Dr. Parr as his " loving 
 brother," which I believe is the accustomed ad- 
 dress of bishops to curates. And, indeed, I must 
 confess, that the exercise of the Christian spirit 
 must have ])een in unusual force, if the learned 
 Critic, to whom the two Tracts of a Warburtonian 
 are dedicated, could have forgiven the Editor.
 
 MEMOIRS. 787 
 
 Dr. Cornewall, Bishop of Worcester, could not 
 fail to admire Dr. Parr as a scholar, being himself 
 a sound and a good one. 
 
 I should not have copied any letter of Thurlow, 
 Bishop of Durham, had not that in the Appendix 
 made mention of Parr's two sermons published at 
 Norwich. 
 
 Whether Dr. Parr's acquaintance with Dr. Prety- 
 man. Bishop of Lincoln, first began with the fol- 
 lowing letter, I know not. But as it is a striking 
 document, both as it relates to that learned prelate 
 and Mr. Brooke, the person who wrote it, I insert 
 the whole. Dr. Parr's memorandum on the letter is. 
 
 This letter was written by my admirable friend Brooke, rec- 
 tor of Kirby near Norwich. He was the personal friend of 
 Pretyman, whom he describes as gay, convivial, and warm- 
 hearted. Pretyman, Brooke, and myself, were to meet toge- 
 ther at Norwich and at Kirby. Brooke had sense and learn- 
 ing. He was a Whig ; he was a truly honest man. He was 
 my very dear friend ; he died of a fever ; he left a widow and 
 six children. Her maiden name was Girdlestone. I deeply la- 
 mented the loss of him. S. P. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 I have the satisfaction of assuring you, that no consequence 
 is hkely to ensue from the violence sustained by my pony yes- 
 terday, and I doubt not of your performing the journey with 
 ease; therefore, macte animo. Should you stay longer than 
 you now propose, 1 should wish you to keep the carriage, and 
 not entrust the care of it into Norfolk to any body else. If your 
 business will permit you to spend an hour or two with Prety- 
 man, the letter which T shall be obliged to you to convey may 
 serve as an introduction. He is as studious and inquisitive in 
 private, as he appears light and thoughtless at a College feast, 
 and unless I am much mistaken, can be serious to very good 
 
 3e2
 
 788 MEMOIRS. 
 
 purpose; his noisy mirth is the effect of an honest heart, and 
 a frequent good flow of spirits. I shall rejoice to shake Dr. 
 Parr by the hand. 
 
 The first part of Dr. Parr's acquaintance with 
 Bishop Pretyman, drew from him two official 
 letters. In the one he receives notice from him as 
 the Secretary to Mr. Pitt of the respite of Matthew 
 Barker, whose case has been mentioned before ; and 
 in the other he very kindly declines the grant of a 
 favour. On being advanced to the Bishopric of 
 Lincoln, his answer to Parr's congratulations is well 
 worthy of notice; and the mention of Edward, now 
 the celebrated Dr. Maltby, — a relation of Mrs. 
 Pretyman, is a fertile source of reflection. There 
 is a long correspondence of the Bishop whilst he 
 resided at Buckden, on business ; but I shall only 
 quote two other letters, one on account of the ob- 
 servations contained in it on the Spital Sermon, 
 and the other on the translation of the Bishop to 
 Winchester. 
 
 Dr. Pelham, Bishop of Lincoln, was also Dio- 
 cesan of Dr. Parr and his correspondent. The 
 mention of the lamentable case of Mr. Morley, 
 Vicar of Aylesbury, and his family, naturally brings 
 to my mind the patronage exercised towards these 
 unfortunate persons, during the whole time that 
 they resided in Warwickshire, by Dr. Parr ; and his 
 zealous efforts to promote that subscription for 
 them, which was crowned by the beneficence of the 
 public with such complete success. 
 
 During his residence at Norwich, Dr. Parr was 
 on friendly terms with the Bishops of that Diocese;
 
 MEMOIRS. 789 
 
 with Dr. Yonge, and especially with Dr. Bagot, as 
 appears from the following kind letter : 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 On my return to this place I was sorry to find I had lost the 
 opportunity you were so good as to intend me, of seeing you 
 once more before your final departure. As it so happened, I 
 take this method to assure you of my warmest wishes for your 
 success and happiness. Whatever may be your lot in the 
 world, your great talents will go with you, and be employed, 
 I trust, some way or other in furthering that cause to which I 
 know you are zealously attached, the cause of Christian truth. 
 It is but too evident how much your best services are wanted. 
 
 The inclosed letter came under cover on Saturday. As I 
 understand you are to be in London, I conclude you will see 
 something of Lord Dartmouth, and that I cannot be wrong in 
 consigning my packet to his care. The Dean and his family 
 are just come, and lament having so narrowly missed you. 
 Mrs. Bagot sends her best compliments, I am, my dear Sir, 
 with great regard, your very faithful and affectionate servant, 
 
 L. Norwich. 
 
 Dr. Batliurst, the present worthy Bishop of Nor- 
 wich, has been characterised by Parr, in many parts 
 of his writings, but especially in his will on be- 
 queathing his Lordship a ring : 
 
 To the Right Reverend Dr. Bathurst, Lord Bishop of Nor- 
 wich, as a mark of my reverence for his learning and his wis- 
 dom ; for his inflexible firmness in supporting the sacred cause 
 of toleration, and for those pure and hallowed principles of 
 Christian charity, which adorn every part of his character, 
 social and religious. 
 
 Their agreement in religious and political senti- 
 ments is obvious from the letters. 
 
 Of his three Diocesans, Bishops of Peterborough, 
 Dr. Spencer Madan, Dr. John Parsons, and Dr. Her- 
 bert Marsh, there are many letters, chiefly relating to 
 the business of his parish, and his non-residence. 
 
 The coolness arising out of the exposure of
 
 790 MEMOIRS. 
 
 White's obligations for literary assistance in the 
 Bampton lecture, continued between Dr. Parsons 
 and Dr. Parr to the end. I shall quote a few let- 
 ters only in the Appendix, as the connection be- 
 tween those two great scholars has been sufficiently 
 displayed. 
 
 Dr. Watson, Bishop of Landaff, was the friend 
 and correspondent of Dr. Parr. Their opinions on 
 many political and religious subjects were the same. 
 The following letter, it would appear, was in answer 
 to a complimentary letter from Parr on one of the 
 Bishop's Political Treatises, in which he at the same 
 time announced his own publication of The Sequel. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Great George-street, Jan. 11, 1792. 
 
 Your letter is the letter of a friend. I accept it as such, 
 and tender you my thanks. I expect much Tory trumpery 
 will issue from some quarter or other. I have an aversion 
 from controversy, and my health is infirm ; if I make any 
 reply, it will be short. Every publication of yours will be read 
 by me with the greatest pleasure, for few men can have a 
 higher opinion of your talents. I have the honour to be, dear 
 Sir, your much obliged servant, R. Landaff. 
 
 With their Lordships of Gloucester there is some 
 Correspondence. I shall introduce one note of Dr. 
 Beadon, on account of a significant allusion, and 
 one letter, when he was syndic of the press in Cam- 
 bridge, as it relates to Tunstall's edition of Te- 
 rentian. 
 
 There is one letter from Dr. Ryder,* " the amiable 
 and accomplished," as Dr. Parr terms him in his 
 will, Lord Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. 
 
 * Vide Bibl. Parr. 567, and 603, for commendation of Bishop 
 Ryder's works.
 
 MEMOIRS. 791 
 
 The respectful opinion which I entertain of many prelates, 
 •who now adorn the bench, may be known from the catalogue 
 I have given of academical worthies in the notes subjoined to 
 my Spital Sermon. I cannot however neglect the opportunity 
 now afforded me for congratulating every well-wisher to the 
 Established Church, and indeed, every man of letters in Europe, 
 on the late elevation of Dr. Burgess to the see of Saint David's, 
 and of Dr. Huntingford to that of Gloucester. They are uni- 
 versally good scholars, they are honest and amiable men, and 
 long may they enjoy the rewards of their learning and their 
 virtue, which, magna dantis cum laude tulerunt." 
 
 Dr. Huntingford, Lord Bishop of Hereford's cor- 
 respondence, I have the power of detailing at some 
 length. It began in 1777, and continued most con- 
 fidential till Parr's death. The letters of Dr. Hun- 
 tingford afford the most lively picture of an accom- 
 plished, pious, liberal, and amiable mind. 
 
 The correspondence of another Wyckamist is 
 that of a profound and elegant scholar, and of a 
 wise and amiable man. Dr. Gabell's name cannot 
 be placed here by right, though it would decorate 
 the highest station of his order. His letters 
 prove how easy it is for good and learned men, to 
 differ in politics and doctrines, when they agree in 
 morals and right principles. 
 
 From " the truly learned and most exemplary 
 Dr. Burgess, Lord Bishop of St. Davids,"* there is 
 a large correspondence, beginning in 1 788, and con- 
 tinuing till Parr's death. Among other works sent 
 by Dr. Burgess, Dr. Parr notices a Catechism in 
 the following terms : 
 
 To the patrons of Charity Schools I would earnestly re- 
 commend a very judicious catechism, which has been lately 
 
 * Dr. Parr's words in his will.
 
 792 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 drawn up for the use of those institutions, by one of tlie most 
 profound scholars and exemplary Christians of whom our 
 country, and I will add even our age, can boast. When the 
 illustrious editor of Dawes's Miscellanies is thus employed, his 
 classical readers will apply to Mr. B. in Theology what Quin- 
 tilian says of Aristotle, who was appointed by Philip to instruct 
 his son in the first elements of learning, " Si non studiorum initia 
 et a perfectissimo quoque tractari, pertinere ad summam credi- 
 disset ? " The Christian will recollect with equal conviction, and 
 greater pleasure, the similarity between Dr. Walts and our au- 
 thor, and will look with veneration on the writer, who is at one 
 time combating Dawes and Bentley, and at another making a 
 Catechism for children in their fourth year. — See Johnson's 
 Life of Watts. 
 
 From Dr. Mansell, Lord Bishop of Bristol, there 
 is one letter, public in point of fact, as the purport 
 of it has transpired through many other channels ; 
 but which ought to be private from the extreme 
 delicacy of its contents, as they relate to a learned 
 editor of Thucydides. Whether Dr. Mansell had 
 ever exercised his well-known satirical talents on 
 Dr. Parr, I am not informed. 
 
 Towards Dr. Kaye, now Lord Bishop of Lincoln, 
 he inclined with that just respect for his solid vir- 
 tues and great learning which were justly due to 
 them. Dr. Kaye's correspondence proves the reli- 
 ance, even of great scholars, on this master of scho- 
 lars. He asks for an epitaph upon Dr. Burney, 
 whose pupil he had been, and for other assistance 
 of a literary nature. 
 
 From Dr. Majendie, Bishop of Bangor, there is 
 only one note of civility. To Dr. Fisher, Bishop 
 of Salisbury, it would appear from his Lordship's 
 letters, he often applied for charity. The letter 
 now copied is in answer to an application for Mr.
 
 MEMOIRS. 793 
 
 Eyre's family, who at Winterborn was in the Bishop's 
 diocese. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Palace, Salisburj/, July 28, 1815. 
 
 Our good friend, the Bishop of Cloyne, encouraged me to 
 address a letter to you on the subject of the distressed family 
 of Mr. Eyre, 
 
 You possibly may have heard that the present Bishop of 
 Durham, some fev/- years since, I'ecovered a very large sum of 
 money, of which he had been defrauded in the settlement of a 
 fine upon a coal estate. The sum was ^60,000. One half of 
 which he dedicated to charitable purposes. One hundred 
 pounds he settled upon the diocese of Salisbury, over which he 
 had formerly presided, to be disposed of annually, at the discre- 
 tion of its Bishop. Ten pounds of this sum I now send you by 
 draft, which you will have the goodness to apply to the assist- 
 ance of the Eyre family, in any way you may think most for 
 their comfort, 
 
 I must trouble you to acknowledge the receipt of this letter 
 and at your leisure to give me some account of the Eyre family. 
 I am, dear Sir, your faithful servant, J. Sarum. 
 
 Three Lord Bishops of Chester enjoyed the 
 friendship of Dr. Parr. Dr. Cleaver was less ac- 
 quainted with him than either Dr. Law, or the 
 present most learned Prelate, Dr. Blomfield. I copy 
 the letter of Dr. Cleaver, which is only one of many 
 on a book lent to him, to shew how extremely 
 precise Dr. Parr was in looking up his lent books. 
 
 The letters of Dr. Law are of an interesting cha- 
 racter ; they relate to friendly intercourse, unaccom- 
 panied by any breaks or disjointures ; they touch 
 on the writings of that great metaphysician and 
 divine. Dr. Law, late Lord Bishop of Carlisle, father 
 of the first Lord Ellenborough, of the Bishop of 
 Elphin, and of Dr. George Law, Dr. Parr's corre- 
 spondent.
 
 794 MEMOIRS. 
 
 Dr. C. J. Blom field is characterized by Dr. Parr, 
 in his bequest of a ring, as the " most eminently 
 learned ;" and his Lordship styles Dr. Parr in one of 
 the letters, " the profoundest scholar and the most 
 sagacious critic of the age." 
 
 The letters will be a feast to the reader; and 
 the banquet would be perfect, could I prevail 
 upon the Right Reverend Prelate who wrote them 
 to permit me to add a copy of Dr. Parr's letters, 
 which answered them, or to which they are an 
 answer. 
 
 Dr. Nathaniel Alexander, first Lord Bishop of 
 Down and Connor, and then of Meath, was pupil 
 to Dr. Parr at Stanmore, and Colchester, and his 
 friend through life. Dr. Parr, in bequeathing a ring 
 to him calls him his " excellent friend and pupil ;" 
 and notwithstanding the difference of opinion about 
 politics, we shall see by the letters in the Appendix, 
 that his pupil continued ardently attached to him, 
 and longed to see him elevated to the episcopal 
 station. 
 
 In another place I have recorded the friendship 
 which subsisted between Parr and Bishop Bennet, 
 from infancy to old age. But of the amiable and 
 candid texture of that most accomplished Prelate's 
 mind, his own letters will l)e the best evidence. It 
 has been a delightful solace of my labour to peruse 
 them; and if the reader receive even a small portion of 
 the pleasure and satisfaction which I have derived 
 from them, the name of Dr. William Bennet, Lord 
 Bishop of Cloyne, will establish itself in his memory 
 as one of the most agreeable and most instructive
 
 MEMOIRS. 795 
 
 points of his associations. It will couple the names of 
 Parr and Bennet indissolubly together ; it will make 
 an illustrious trio by adding that of Sir William Jones 
 to the number : and I think I may challenge the 
 annals of modern literature to produce a fellowship, 
 beginning with early childhood and continuing to 
 the death of all the parties, to match it, either for 
 strength of attachment, for rich, copious, and varied 
 learning, for liberahty of sentiment, and for all those 
 high gifts which it has pleased God to bestow on 
 those of his creatures, who, supereminent above 
 others, have distinguished themselves by ardent 
 thirst after knowledge, and by liberality in bestow- 
 ing, and diffusing it — by their enlargement of heart, 
 and their love of their kind — by their piety towards 
 God, and their endeavour to be useful to man. 
 
 Dr. Reginald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta, is praised 
 by Parr in two or three places, and this accomplished 
 divine has done justice to the great scholar. There 
 is no letter. 
 
 Dr. Mountain, Bishop of Quebec, was one of 
 Dr. Parr's friends while he lived at Norwich, and 
 there are some letters, but I shall not insert them. 
 Misunderstanding on some trifling occasion de- 
 stroyed the confidence of the friends, and the in- 
 flexibility or irascibility of the Bishop prevented 
 reconciliation. 
 
 There are many letters from the late celebrated 
 Lord Erskine to Dr. Parr, which I shall reserve 
 for the Appendix to the eighth volume. 
 
 Lord John Townshend, the personal friend of 
 Mr. Fox, became also much attached to Parr. The
 
 796 MEMOIRS. 
 
 letters given in the Appendix to the eighth volume, 
 form a small part of the correspondence. 
 
 Richard Brinsley Sheridan, M. P. the greatest 
 wit, and one of the greatest orators of his day, was 
 in the school at Harrow under Dr. Sumner, and for 
 a short time Parr's pupil. He has been eulogised 
 in the Bellendenus and in other places by his Master; 
 but I see few other traces of intimate acquaintance. 
 Sheridan's father was invited to the Stanmore play, 
 and Mr. Tickell, his brother in law, introduced the 
 subject, and perhaps renewed the acquaintance with 
 Mr. Sheridan, by proposing that his son should be 
 placed under Parr's tuition. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Gunton Hall, Lovoestoff, Augusts, 1785. 
 
 From the moment that Mrs. Tickell and I heard of your in- 
 tended resignation, and subsequent plan, it occurred to us how- 
 fortunate it would be, if Sheridan's son could become one of 
 the few scholars, whose education you would still undertake ; 
 and having in our letters mentioned the idea, I now find that it 
 strikes Sheridan exactly in the same way. His son has very 
 good talents, and uncommon vivacity. On the due manage- 
 ment of the latter, the proper direction of the former will 
 chiefly depend. He is ten years old, and, to say the truth, 
 rather backward at present, but this has arisen merely from his 
 being an only child, doated on by both his parents. Sheridan 
 and Windham agree that no place could be so well calculated 
 for the boy's advantage as placing him under your care. vVnd 
 Sheridan has written to me to open the matter to you. I re- 
 collect with pleasure the ardent friendship you expressed for 
 Sheridan. And I know you are too well acquainted with his 
 character not to value very highly the opportunity of serving 
 him in this dearest concern. No man is more generous, more 
 grateful, than our friend. To me it would give double satis- 
 faction to see his son placed under your care, and new ties of 
 friendship formed between two men who might do mutual 
 honour to each other. If you will encourage the hope that this
 
 MEMOIRS. 797 
 
 matter can be arranged, I will ride over to Norwich any day 
 next week that you appoint, to speak more particularly on the 
 business. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Leigh, and INIrs. Tickell, present their best 
 regards to Mrs. Parr and yourself. May I beg you to add mine, 
 and to believe me, dear Sir, with the truest respect, your most 
 obedient and faithful servant, Richard Tickell. 
 
 Mr. Moore's History is so copious a record of 
 Sheridan's life, and illustrates its early and happier, 
 as well as its later and more calamitous, days so 
 fully, eloquently, and veraciously, that I shall not 
 enter into any detail, on those topics which he has. 
 introduced. Mr. Roderick, Dr. Sumner's assistant 
 during the time that Sheridan was at Harrow, says, 
 that he was a shrewd, artful, and supercilious boy, 
 without any shining accomplishments or superior 
 learning. His correspondence with Dr. Parr is un- 
 important, yet the following letters are characteristic. 
 That from Crewe Hall was written when he was 
 preparing for his great oratorical exertion on Hast- 
 ings' business ; the second does him honour as dis- 
 playing some of his domestic affections ; and the 
 third exhibits him sinking into that gloom, the na- 
 tural consequence of his irregularities and extrava- 
 gance, and which spread darkness and sorrow over 
 his closing life. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Crcive Hall, January 20. 
 
 I have twenty times meant to write to you since I saw you, 
 and at times when I should have had more to say. At present 
 I only take a pen to say that we threaten, Mrs. Crewe being of 
 our party, to call at Hatton in our way to town the third or 
 fourth of next month. You are not however to make any 
 provision for us, for our party is such that we must sleep at 
 Warwick, and we must not separate. I hope Spencer is with
 
 798 MEMOIRS. 
 
 you ; he will get a letter from me which he ought to have had 
 long since. Tom is in great disgrace with his mother. I hope 
 he can plead diligence in other respects to atone for his neg- 
 lect towards her: there was some trial or argument or speech 
 which you pointed out to me at Crewe, and advised me to read 
 with a view to Hastings' Trial. I have forgot what it was, pray 
 if you recollect, favour me with a line while I am at this place. 
 I was very busy about other matters while in town, and have 
 been a little idle since I have been here, so that T have a tru- 
 ant's feeling about my India task. Have you seen a Latin poem 
 abusing us all, which I see mentioned in the papers? All here 
 desire to be particularly remembered to you, and we hope Mrs. 
 Parr and your daughter are well. Dear Sir, yours most sin- 
 cerely, R. B. Sheridan. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Monday, May 1. 
 
 It is a bad thing for one so averse in general to writing to 
 resolve to write a very long letter. This for a long time I have 
 meant to do in reply to a former one of yours, and so have not 
 written at all. At present I can only send a line with the en- 
 closed. We had a furious wrangle on the notice yesterday in 
 the House, when Pitt steadily avowed his having in effect aban- 
 doned all his principles upon this subject. Each member of 
 our association proposes an honorary non-resident member on 
 Saturday next. There are those who have persuaded me that it 
 is not improbable that we might have the sanction of your 
 name. I cannot myself form a decided opinion whether, sup- 
 posing you approved our principle and proceeding, it would be 
 prudent to appear to do so in this manner. 
 
 I have been much occupied by the state of Mrs. Sheridan's 
 health. She is going to Bristol. A week ago we thought there 
 was nothing to apprehend. But my anxiety and apprehensions 
 are greatly encreased. I leave town soon to follow her, for I 
 can put nothing in competition with my feelings for her. Pray, 
 my dear Sir, talk quietly to Tom on this subject, and desire 
 him to write to her. He shall hear from me to-morrow. Yours 
 ever most truly, R. B. Sheridan.
 
 MEMOIRS. 799 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 My life is so irregular, and the present state of my mind so 
 much so, that I pursue nothing almost that I ought ; and among 
 my omissions there is not one, for which I reproach myself so 
 much as my seeming neglect towards you. 
 
 I give way unpardonably at times to gloom and fancifulness, 
 and put off from day to day things which I ought immediately 
 to decide upon. I am uneasy at not having a line from Tom. 
 T send a servant for fear of further mistakes. I know not how 
 to thank you for your goodness to Tom ; but I will write when 
 I am not so pressed for time, and explain myself more on this 
 subject and entreat your counsel. Yours ever obliged, 
 
 R. B. Sheridan. 
 
 Mr. Moore has recorded the romantic passion of 
 Sheridan for his first lady, and his chivalrous exploits 
 to obtain her hand. That his love had not abated 
 at the close of her life is proved by the following 
 letter : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Hotwells, Bristol, Monday morning. 
 
 Dr. Bain of this place has just seen Mrs. Sheridan for the 
 second time. She is certainly in a most critical state, and I 
 feel wholly disconcerted and dispirited. The affections of 
 habit and of so many years various trial seem stronger from the 
 accidental interruption of past dissipation or business, when 
 such times as these come. I know not how to act about Tom. 
 In her low moments she is wishing anxiously to see him, and I 
 can put no consideration in doubt with what tends to please or 
 sooth her. We will wait a day or two more however. She has 
 borne the journey well, and all about her are very sanguine ; 
 but though I have said but little to Bain, I fear his manner, and 
 he is said to be very skilful. I am, dear Sir, yours truly, 
 
 R. B. Sheridan. 
 
 I write to Tom. 
 
 There is one letter inclosing the Inscription on 
 Lord Nelson's monument in Guildhall, written by 
 Sheridan, which it is unnecessary to quote.
 
 800 MEMOIRS. 
 
 The career of Mr. Thomas Sheridan was brilliant, 
 but short. As a boy at Hatton none was more viva- 
 cious or more mischievous, and few more ingenuous 
 and good-humoured. His exquisite talents for so- 
 ciety made him the delight of his friends and his 
 companions. " Studying behaviour more than no- 
 tion, to be accomplished, rather than knowing," 
 were his motives ; and " all such as made his early 
 vices blush, and his riper virtues shine."* His ca- 
 reer was rapid and brilliant ; but his hereditary and 
 constitutional infirmities clouded his short life, and 
 hurried him prematurely to the grave. 
 
 Of some other branches of the Sheridan connec- 
 tions there are a few letters : first, from Mrs. Le- 
 fanu and her ingenious daughter ; and secondly, 
 from Mr. Linley, Mrs. Sheridan's brother. One 
 letter to him, when he was Manager of Drury-lane, 
 I shall copy : 
 
 DEAR SIR, 4:9, Frith Street, Soho, Jan. 26, 1794*. 
 
 I came to town late on Thursday night, and on Friday morn- 
 ing I did myself the pleasure of calling at your house; but with 
 little success, for I rang three or four times, and I rapped with 
 the knocker at the door more than twenty times, and yet I was 
 not able either to summon the living or raise the dead. I 
 desire that you, to-morrow, would give me permission to see 
 the new theatre in Drury-lane, and I shall bring with me three 
 friends, whom it may be necessary to describe. They are not 
 incendiaries, they are not pickpockets, they are not spies. One 
 is an orthodox divine, another is a sage philosopher, and a third 
 is a critical templar, who writes epigrams against doctors, pa- 
 ragraphs against play-writers, and panegyrics upon sans cu- 
 lotterie. I venture to assure you that they have all talents for 
 conversation, such as you would relish, such as Mr, Sheridan 
 
 * Lloyd's Life of Sir William Petre.
 
 MEMOIRS. 801 
 
 would not despise, and such a? Mr. Pitt is equally unable to 
 comprehend, and unworthy to enjoy. Still I am afraid they 
 are three mischievous dogs, and therefore I shall have their 
 hands pinioned, and their legs fettered ; but as they wish to see 
 the theatre, their eyes shall not be blind- folded, and as you 
 would wish to hear, their tongues shall not be tied. Pray tell 
 me what hour would suit you for us to wait upon you, and to 
 be favoured with a card of admission to the theatre. It will 
 suit us to be there about one o'clock. But we shall obey your 
 commands. I beg my best compliments to Mrs, and Miss 
 Linley, and I am, dear Sir, your very faithful obedient servant, 
 
 S. Parr. 
 
 It must be seen, by consulting the lists of corre- 
 spondents, that 20 volumes might be filled with the 
 letters of Dr. Parr's friends, and that only two is 
 allotted to receive that selection appointed to ac- 
 company and to illustrate these Memoirs. Such 
 being the stern necessity of the case, I have only to 
 state the fact, and to express my regret that 1 am 
 thus deprived of the power of paying homage to 
 many very distinguished and excellent persons, 
 some of them my own personal friends, and all of 
 them friends of Dr. Parr. I shall close with a brief 
 notice of his connection with some members of the 
 learned professions of law and medicine, and his 
 correspondence with certain illustrious foreigners, 
 with ladies, and his pupils. 
 
 Dr. Parr found pleasure in the company of law- 
 yers, principally, perhaps, on account of the warm 
 interest he always took in the administration of 
 criminal justice. No discussion of its leading prin- 
 ciples, more liberal, enlightened, or just, is to be 
 found in the English language, than in his cele- 
 brated note on Philopatris Varvicensis. His friend- 
 
 VOL. I. 3 F
 
 802 MEMOIRS. 
 
 ship, and even veneration for Sir Samuel Romilly, 
 Mr. Denman, and Mr. Brougham ; his admiration 
 of Lord Erskine's great genius ; his occasional in- 
 tercourse with Mr. Justice Holroyd, the late Mr. 
 Baron Graham, Sir James Mansfield, Sir A. Pigott, 
 Sir James Scarlett, Mr. Serjeant Lens, Mr. Serjeant 
 Rough, Mr. Basil Montagu, Fiancis Hargrave, sen. 
 and jun., Mr. Fonblanque, and Mr. Lowndes, will 
 be seen in the correspondence. Dr. Parr's inter- 
 course with Mr. Denman was frequent, on account 
 of his travelling the Midland circuit. He was made 
 acquainted with him (as well as with the present 
 Lord Chancellor) by Serjeant Rough, and for the 
 last ten years of his life regularly entertained him 
 on the Assize Sunday, with other gentlemen of the 
 circuit, including Samuel March Phillips, Esq., F. 
 Dwarris, Esq. the Commissioner for enquiry into 
 the abuses of West Indian Courts of Justice, Mr. 
 Hildyard and Mr. Amos, distinguished barristers, 
 and the latter now Professor of English law in the 
 London University, 
 
 No dinners (Mr. Denman tells me) could be more 
 delightful ; the conversation of the host rich, ani- 
 mated, various, and playful, forming their principal 
 charm. Doubtless this was the case ; but the con- 
 versation of Mr. Denman himself had a peculiar 
 charm in Parr's estimation, arising out of his mel- 
 low, impressive tone of speaking, as well as his 
 grave, perspicuous argumentation, his luminous il- 
 lustration, and, above all, that probity of mind 
 which, though it may not always suit the intrigues 
 of Courts, will always make him a fit advocate for 
 a free and enlightened people.
 
 MEMOIRS. 803 
 
 With Mr. Brougham, Dr. Parr's acquaintance 
 was later. At the time of what was called the 
 Queen's trial he might have seen him, but did not 
 correspond with him ; and he had even been im- 
 pressed with an opinion that he was lukewarm in 
 her cause. His admiration was naturally increased 
 by more intimate acquaintance. He visited him in 
 London and at Brougham, and he sympathized and 
 partook of the universal feehng, $avy.a§a} /3gouap,. 
 
 Dr. Parr, to Mr. Denman. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The distinction between a wise and silly judge, in the ex- 
 amination of witnesses, is very well stated in what remains to 
 us of the speech pro M. Fonteio. 
 
 The most powerful and the most copious ridicule upon Law- 
 yers, as word-catchers, is in the speech, pro A. Caecina. I be- 
 seech you to read the whole of it once, and then of your own 
 accord you will read it three or four times. 
 
 Take as a specimen. " Quae lex, quod senatusconsultum, 
 quod magistratus edictum, quod faedus, aut pactio, quod (ut 
 ad privatas res redeam) testamentum : quae judicia, aut stipu- 
 lationes, aut pacti et conventi formula non infirmari, aut con- 
 velli potest, si ad verba rem deflectere velimus : consilium autem 
 eorum, qui scripserunt, et rationem, ec auctoritatem relinqua- 
 mus ? Sermo me hercule et familiaris, et quotidianus non co- 
 hserebit, si verba inter nos aucupabimur." S. 18. 
 
 You will be very much amused with the description Cicero 
 gives of your brethren, when it suited their purpose to defend 
 things against words, and equity against the strict interpreta- 
 tion of law. Erskine in his happier moments could not excel 
 the following passage, " Si contra verbis et literis, et (ut dici 
 Solent) summo jure contenditur : solent ejusmodi iniquitati boni 
 et aequi nomen, dignitatemque opponere. Tum illud, quod 
 dicitur, sive, nive, irrident: tum aucupia verborum, et litera- 
 rum tendiculas in invidiam vocant : tum vociferantur, ex aequo 
 et bono, non ex callido versutoque jure rem judicari oportere : 
 
 3f 2
 
 804 MEMOIRS. 
 
 scriptum sequi, caluraniatoris esse : boni jucllcis, voluntatem 
 scriptoris, auctoritatemque defendere." S. 23. 
 
 You would be delighted, and perhaps edified, by the wran- 
 gles upon " dejeci" and " ejeci," and " unde." Every pleader, 
 who, like yourself, has a fondness for classical learning, should, 
 upon the approach of an election, read the speech of TuUy for 
 Muraena, and you would do well to read also a very able and 
 animated answer to it, written by a modern scholar, Palearius. 
 Pray get it. Now in Tully's speech, he ridicules the formulse 
 and carmina of lawyers, because Sulpicius was opposed to him 
 at the time. But in his book de Oratore, he very properly de- 
 fends the study of the jus civile, and he thought highly of Sul- 
 picius, not only as a lawyer, but as an orator. I will refer you 
 to a very common book, the works of Cicero, in two volumes 
 folio, by Graevius. See page 144, and page 147, of part the 
 first, which contains the Brutus, and part second, page 415, 
 where in the speech de haruspicum responsis, &c. he pronounces 
 a fine eulogy upon the eloquence of Sulpicius. The fourth 
 book of Tully's letters, ad Familiares, contains several letters to 
 Sulpicius, and among them is the charming answer, v/hich Sul- 
 picius wrote to Tully upon the death of his child. Now in his 
 oration for Muraena Cicero attacks Cato for his stoical principles; 
 and I am sure that a man of your taste and sagacity will be eager 
 to refresh his memory with a series of luminous description, 
 and grave derision, which Cato himself could neither resist 
 nor resent. 
 
 During the assizes, all is hurry ; but I should like to tell you 
 in detail, what are the writings of antiquity, which an accom- 
 plished and enlightened pleader in Westminster Hall ought 
 even to study. I hope that at some future time we shall have 
 more leisure to converse. You will pardon me for stating, that 
 from one Greek, and two Roman writers, I have learned far 
 more upon the principles of evidence, than any Chief Justice 
 could ever extract from Gilbert's treatise. Upon this curious 
 and interesting topic, my opinions have long been the same 
 with those of Jeremiah Bentham. He has prepared a long, 
 and a very elaborate treatise upon evidence ; and if he were to 
 send it forth, Vickery Gibbs and Ellenborough would toss 
 him into the pillory three times, or shut him up in Newgate
 
 MEMOIRS. 805 
 
 for three years. Have you seen the proem ? It is printed, but 
 not published ; and when reading it, I thought I was reading 
 my own opinion in my own words. 
 
 Pray give my best compliments to our excellent friend Mr, 
 Dwarris. I have the honour to be, dear Sir, with great and 
 unfeigned respect, your well-wisher, and obedient humble ser- 
 vant, S. Parr. 
 
 Do not forget the speech for Muraena, especially as you are 
 candidate. 
 
 I dare not interfere with your professional engagements, but 
 I should be most happy to see you to-morrow at 5 o'clock, if 
 you and Dwarris can make your escape from Warwick. Pray 
 look at the speech pro Iloscio Amerino. S. 20. — there you will 
 find the famous passage, " Simillima est accusatorum ratio. 
 Alii vestrdm, anseres sunt, qui tantummodb clamant, nocere 
 non possunt : alii, canes, qui et latrare, et mordere possunt." 
 The force of the wit lies chiefly in some preceding allusions, and 
 for them you must look at the context. You cannot transplant 
 the allusions. But for the general proposition you may now 
 and then have occasion in an English Court of justice, and 
 perhaps in Parliament. G. is an anser, and E. is a canis. 
 
 For ray way of spelling Ellenborough I say, as Cicero did 
 about amicus, and arnica, " hie semper erro." 
 
 Some account of his medical correspondents will 
 be seen in the Appendix. 
 
 Among the Foreigners of high distinction, who 
 corresponded with Dr. Parr, was Lucien Bonaparte. 
 The correspondence began by a complimentary let- 
 ter on the "Charlemagne" by Dr. Parr. I lament 
 to say, that the letters are mislaid. 
 
 I shall leave the following letter of Thomas Jef- 
 ferson, late President of the United States of Ame- 
 rica, to speak for itself. Mr. Gilmer purchased up- 
 wards of ^4000 worth of books, specified and re- 
 commended by Dr. Parr. The negotiation with 
 Mr. Lynes, alluded to in Mr. Gilmer's letter, was
 
 806 MEMOIRS. 
 
 for the library of Dr. Parr. There has been no 
 subsequent communication respecting it. 
 
 President Jefferson, to Parr. 
 
 Monticello in Virginia, April 26, 1824. 
 
 MUCH RESPECTED SIR, 
 
 A letter addressed to you from a perfect stranger, undoubt- 
 edly requires apology. This I can only find in the character 
 of the subject producing it, a subject cherished in every lite- 
 rary breast. The State of Virginia, of which I am a native and 
 resident, is engaged in the establishment of an university, on a 
 scale of such extent as may give it eminence on this side of the 
 Atlantic. I am entrusted with a share in its administration and 
 government. We are anxious to place in it none but profes- 
 sors of the first grade of science in their respective lines ; and 
 for these we must go to countries where that highest grade ex- 
 ists, and of preference to Great Britain, the land of our own 
 language, morals, manners, and habits. For a professor of 
 the classical languages particularly, of the highest attainments 
 in them, Oxford necessarily offers itself as the institution most 
 eminent in the world, in that branch of learning. And of whose 
 judgment there, could we so much wish to be availed as that 
 of the oldest and purest classic now living ? this then. Sir, is 
 the object which produces the obtrusion of this letter on you. 
 It will be handed you by Mr. Francis Walker Gilmer, a gentle- 
 man of high qualifications in various branches of science, of a 
 correct and honorable character, worthy of all confidence, and 
 of any attention you may be pleased to bestow on him. He is 
 authorised to select professors for us ; but being an entire 
 stranger in the country to which he is sent to make this selec- 
 tion, if unaided by faithful advice from others, he may be liable 
 to gross imposition and error in distinguishing characters of 
 the degree of science we seek, of sober and correct morals and 
 habits, indispensable qualities in a professor in this country, 
 and of accomodating and peaceable dispositions, so necessary 
 for the harmony of the institution. Your knowledge, respected 
 Sir, of persons, characters, and qualifications, may guide and 
 guard him in this difficult research. May we venture to ask
 
 MEMOIRS. 807 
 
 the benefit of it, and your patronage of the mission on which 
 Mr, Gilmer goes ? to myself it would be a peculiar gratifica- 
 tion to have an associate so eminent in the performance of 
 offices promising so much good to those we are to leave behind 
 us, and at an age so advanced, as to indulge us in the prospect 
 of few remaining occasions of being useful to the generations to 
 come. With my thanks for any good offices you can render 
 our infant institution, be pleased to accept the assurances of 
 my high veneration, esteem, and consideration. 
 
 Thos. Jefferson. 
 
 Francis W. Gilmer, Esq., to Dr. Parr. 
 
 London, August 23, 1824. 
 
 MOST LEARNED AND VENERABLE FRIEND, 
 
 I regret extremely that my delay in returning to London (I 
 reached town only three days ago) should give even the ap- 
 pearance of neglect, in answering your two very flattering let- 
 ters, which I received only this morning. 
 
 I pray you again to accept my most sincere thanks, and I 
 may add, those of Mr. Jefferson, and of my country, for the in- 
 terest you so kindly take in our university. The catalogue of 
 books you have furnished, I shall not only have copied, but the 
 original shall be deposited among the archives of the university 
 as a precious legacy from the last scholar of Europe, who was 
 the friend of Johnson, of Jones, of Fox, and of Sheridan ; 
 whose vast erudition and inflexible principles, have already 
 made him known to every man of education in the United 
 States, and whose name will naturally be connected with our 
 universit}'^, from which we hope so much. 
 
 I shall undoubtedly thank you for the further catalogue you 
 promise, and shall wait for it with anxiety in London. I 
 wished you to be as full as you could, in every department of 
 learning. 
 
 I have received with your letters, one from the Rev. Mr. 
 Lynes, and shall answer it immediately. It occurred to me 
 while at Hatton, that the University of Virginia should possess 
 your whole collection of books ; there they will all be useful, 
 and may serve as the foundation of the future learning of the
 
 808 MEMOIRS. 
 
 country ; they will be identified with it, and will form an sera 
 in the history of American literature. They are of too great 
 value for the funds I brought with me; but I shall certainly re- 
 commend to Mr. Jefferson, to lose no time in entering into 
 some arrangement with Mr. Lynes for their purchase. 
 
 True, as you say, " we shall meet no more in this world,' 
 but I shall ever remember with interest, the happy hours I have 
 passed with one whom I am proud to call my friend; one, 
 whom I beg to assure in all sincerity, I honour and esteem 
 most cordially. Francis W. Gilmer. 
 
 P. S. I am sorry I did not meet Mr, Kennedy. I heard his 
 recitation at Cambridge with much pleasure. 
 
 Among the female correspondents of the scholar, 
 are names of high account in fashion, as well as ac- 
 complishment, and a large volume could easily be 
 selected of their letters. Dr. Parr's own remarks 
 sufiiciently characterise some of the writers, and 
 others are too well known to require a comment. 
 It hehoves me, however, to single out Miss Emily 
 Calcraft, on account of the elegant tribute she has 
 paid to our friend's memory in the exact and lumi- 
 nous " Sketch of the Character of the late Rev. 
 Samuel Parr, LL.D." 
 
 The correspondence of Dr. Parr with his pupils, 
 was often too personal to admit publication, and in 
 some instances I am forbidden to publish what 
 would be elucidatory of character and events. Those 
 printed in the Appendix, are selected from a large 
 mass, with every attention that I could pay to feel- 
 ings of delicacy and decorum. To have expunged 
 every sentence of a personal nature, instead of cha- 
 racter, would have exhibited only a caput mortuum 
 of insipidity.
 
 809 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Second Marriage — ReconciUation to his Grand- 
 ch ildren — Habits — Manners. 
 
 The second marriage of Dr. Parr was an event 
 contemplated by him soon after the separation of 
 his interests from those of his grandchildren. It 
 was not carried into execution till December 1816. 
 
 This connection with Miss Eyre, the sister of his 
 friend the Rev. James Eyre, was much opposed by 
 those who were intimately acquainted with Dr. 
 Parr's internal domestic economy ; by John Bart- 
 lam especially, who knew, that the entire confi- 
 dence placed by Parr in his household at Hatton, 
 and his determination not to suffer the existing ar- 
 rangements to be disturbed even by a wife, could 
 only be productive of disagreement. Fortunately, 
 the good and amiable qualities of the second Mrs. 
 Parr neutralized, to a considerable extent, many 
 otherwise irreconcileable matters. Parr continued 
 to act on his former plans, his old servants were 
 continued in their places, and it is possible that 
 Mrs. Parr found the part she had to act, was not 
 always without difficulty. She maintained her part, 
 however, with honour, and to the end did all that a 
 good wife could do, to the entire satisfaction of Dr. 
 Parr's true friends. 
 
 The immediate cause of Dr. Parr's reconciliation
 
 810 MEMOIRS. 
 
 to his grand-daughtersj was the marriage of their 
 father, Mr. Wynne. A diminished fortune, and an 
 entailed estate, rendered a second marriage particu- 
 larly desirable to a gentleman in his circumstances. 
 But a second marriage placed two daughters, grown 
 up to woman's estate, in a situation with a step- 
 mother of their own age, far different from that in 
 which they were placed with their father alone. 
 On the event therefore of his marriage, they took 
 shelter with their grandfather, who received them 
 with open arms, and gave them the whole shield of 
 his protection. Thus was his household full of 
 gladness. His beloved grand-daughters were re- 
 stored to him. Mrs. Parr received them with un- 
 feigned satisfaction, as the natural heirs of her hus- 
 band's fortunes, and in no part was her conduct 
 more disinterestedly good, than in the generous re- 
 ception of the Miss Wynnes. I am more than hap- 
 py to record the fact, that they lived happily toge- 
 ther, till Caroline became the wife of the Rev. John 
 Lynes,* rector of Elmley Lovett, Worcestershire. 
 
 With the increase of Dr. Parr's real happiness, came 
 the external shew of it in the increase of his fortune. 
 
 To no one had been more fully exemplified the 
 
 * I have mentioned Dr. Hughes's name before, on the affairs 
 of the Queen. It was he who revealed Lord Cholmondeley's 
 opinion on that business, to Mr. Lynes, 
 
 MY DEAR DOCTOR, CholnioTideley Castle, Oct. 1. 1822. 
 Permit me to offer you my sincere and most hearty congra- 
 tulations on the marriage of your amiable grand-daughter to 
 our worthy excellent friend. I am confident, with all your elo- 
 quence, you could not express the happiness you feel on the
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 811 
 
 truth of the maxim, "throw thy bread on the wa- 
 ters, and it shall return to thee after many days." 
 Struggling with narrow circumstances, and fight- 
 ing for reputation, half his life had been spent in 
 drudgery or in battle. The defeat at Harrow was 
 the main misfortune of his hfe. There he had 
 thrown his fate upon a single cast, and with too 
 much precipitancy had declined all contest, save 
 where the crown was in strife. This defeat led 
 him into many errors, and above all his retreat to 
 Stanmore. 
 
 I would repeat, that had Parr remained in his si- 
 tuation at Harrow, or had he taken shelter quietly 
 at Cambridge, after the defeat at Harrow, his for- 
 tunes would have been different; that he would 
 not have failed, as he did fail, at Stanmore ; and that 
 he would have succeeded, as he must have succeeded, 
 greatly, in some other situation. Society nmst 
 always want, and will always necessarily employ, 
 such characters. 
 
 We have seen Parr rising up against all the dis- 
 advantages which tended to fix him to the ground. 
 In early youth, arriving at great eminence for 
 learning ; then disappointed in his fondest and just- 
 est hopes ; then rashly embarking in an enterprise 
 of peril, and staking the fortune of hfe upon the 
 
 occasion ; as I well know the high situation Mr. Lynes pos- 
 sesses in your esteem for honour, integrity, and true benevo- 
 lence of heart. That high esteem and unalterable friendship is 
 now cemented by a union still nearer, dearer, and most amiable. 
 Esto perpetua — with the venerable name of Parr. I re- 
 quest my best remembrances and congratulations to Mrs. Parr. 
 I am, my dear Doctor, with high respect and sincerest esteem, 
 yours faithfully, J- Hughes.
 
 812 MEMOIRS. 
 
 issue of a die : embarrassing himself with immove- 
 able engagements ; then changing his scheme again 
 and again. At length, embarking on the sea of 
 politics, he becomes attached to the greatest political 
 men of the day ; he is looked up to by scholars, and 
 his learning is admitted on all sides. His political 
 party flatter him with the phantom of preferment, and 
 yet he is left with nothing to boast of but that he 
 deserved preferment without possessing it. In the 
 midst of these public disappointments, beloved by 
 his friends, and respected even by his adversaries, 
 his age advances. Such is the picture of his life at 
 the period to which I have brought it — the reconci- 
 liation of his grand-daughters. I shall therefore now 
 endeavour to trace the outlines of some parts of 
 character, which my intimacy with him enables me 
 to do with freedom, dare I say ? with exactness. 
 
 In domestic life. Parr was too great a scholar, 
 and too studious a man, to be the exact favourite of 
 the drawing-room. All was to yield to his wishes, 
 all was to be regulated by his habits. The ladies 
 were obliged to bear his tobacco, or to give up his 
 company ; and at Hatton now and then, he was the 
 tyrant of the fire-side. But he was so good hu- 
 moured in his disposition, and was so easily led by 
 kindness, that the cloud never lasted long, and 
 the thunder was soon succeeded by sunshine and 
 by calm. At table he has been called an Epicu- 
 rean glutton. In society he has often been deno- 
 minated a bear, and his moroseness, and impracti- 
 cability, and severity, were the terror of many weak 
 and effeminate spirits. It is not true that he was 
 a glutton. He only loved a good dinner, as all
 
 MEMOIRS. 813 
 
 healthy men with good appetites, and many studi- 
 ous men without them, love it. 
 
 He had some peculiarities in feeding, which 
 lasted through life. He could seldom be prevailed 
 on to sit at table where there was salmon or cheese. 
 And he had some likings which were equally re- 
 markable.* These, from the habit of sitting at 
 table with his pupils, he used to appropriate in 
 such a manner, that to a stranger he might appear 
 greedy ; but it was not so. He had a good appe- 
 tite, and ate heartily, and from the necessities of 
 his pedagogic life, quickly. When he was living 
 with his friends quietly, he was contented with the 
 plainest fare ; and at my table, he more than once 
 tried to conquer his repugnances. I contend, 
 therefore, that he was not a glutton, and that only 
 a casual observer could have so designated his table 
 habits. The table indeed is so much the resource 
 of civilized life, and of refinement, that he who de- 
 spises its comforts, or decries its luxuries, must be 
 either a cynic or a hypocrite, if he be not a philoso- 
 pher. One fourth of the latter part of the day is 
 spent at table equally by the diligent and the gay ; 
 among these classes of society, therefore, it is of 
 prime necessity. To the man of study it is a ne- 
 cessary recreation ; and even in the most humble 
 walks of life the spread board, the comfortable re- 
 past at night, prepared by the careful and cleanly 
 housewife, the nitida conjux\ is the reward of him 
 
 * Dear Parr (says the Bishop of Cloyne), send me a two- 
 penny post letter what fish you like. I have ordered hot lob- 
 ster, grass, and roast chicken.
 
 814 MEMOIRS. 
 
 who has toiled all day, and gained his bread by the 
 sweat of his brow. I never yet saw the individual, 
 sound in body and mind, who really despised the 
 pleasures of the table. Providence has made the 
 desire of food our chief need. The habits and the 
 opportunities of individuals modify the indulgence 
 and the manner of using the need. Still, to the 
 healthy man, it is an indulgence as well as a need, 
 and he will be sure to gratify it according to the 
 demands of his appetite, or the suggestions of his 
 prudence. . Milton has made the table one of the 
 enjoyments of heaven : 
 
 They eat, they drink, and with refection sweet, 
 Quaff immortality and joy ; secure of surfeit 
 Where full measure only bounds excess 
 Before the all-bounteous King. 
 
 The question turns entirely on excess ; and what 
 physician will dare to account that excessive in A, 
 who requires full measure, because B. only requires 
 half measure? It is only the surfeited, bloated 
 selfish gourmand, who can be truly called a glutton. 
 And he is a poor logician or a cynical observer, who 
 mistakes relish and appetite for epicurism and sen- 
 suality. Such was Dr. Parr's case ; his frame re- 
 quired full measure, he took it with relish, he was 
 not particular in his choice; his habits were not nice 
 or exact, on account of the short time he could spare 
 for the table when he was a schoolmaster ; and hence 
 he has been maligned in this particular. He drank 
 wine copiously, but not profusely, at dinner, but 
 seldom after it; and he mixed water frequently 
 with his wine. His pipe was his excess; and to
 
 MEMOIRS. 815 
 
 great excess he used it. He was taught to smoke 
 by his friend David Roderick, who brought the 
 practice from Queen's College, Oxford, of which he 
 was a member. In process of time, Dr. Sumner, 
 and several of the assistants of Harrow, acquired 
 the bad habit ; and it was one of Dr. Sumner's arts, 
 in the latter period of his life, to fill his pipe aside, 
 again and again ; at the same time begging Parr 
 not to depart till he had finished his pipe, in order 
 that he might detain him in the evening as long as 
 possible. Mr. Roderick now laments that he ever 
 introduced the pipe, from the excess in which Parr 
 indulged in tobacco ; not indeed at Harrow, but 
 after he went to Stanmore, and during the remain- 
 der of his life. * I am not convinced that this 
 habit was productive of bad consequence to his 
 health, though it was often inconvenient to his 
 friends. Tobacco has been called the anodyne of 
 poverty, and the opium of the western world. To 
 Parr, whose nerves were extremely irritable, and 
 sensibility immoderate, perhaps it was a neces- 
 sary anodyne. It calmed his agitated spirits ; it 
 assisted his private ruminations ; it was his compa- 
 nion in anxiety ; it was his helpmate in composi- 
 tion. Have we not all seen him darkening the air 
 with its clouds, when his mind was labouring with 
 thought ? 
 
 His pipe was so necessary for his comfort, that 
 he always left the table for it, and the house of the 
 
 * Wolf, in Litt. Anal. iv. 553, states incorrectly, " Er soil es 
 manchmall an einem Abend, bis zu 20 pfeifen gebracht haben," 
 Perhaps a fourth part of the number would be nearer the mark.
 
 816 MEMOIRS. 
 
 person he visited, if it was not prepared. His pipe 
 produced another inconvenience at table. At one 
 time he selected the youngest lady to light it after 
 the cloth was drawn ; and she was obliged to stand 
 within his arms and to perform various ludicrous 
 ceremonies. Latterly his best friends persuaded 
 him to decline this practice. 
 
 Another peculiarity of habit was, to open the 
 windows of the dining-room for air, as he termed 
 it ; thus exposing ladies, when dressed, to the cold 
 current of air. This inconvenient practice, he was 
 often persuaded to modify, but never entirely to 
 abandon. 
 
 To the lady of the house, though a ceremonious. 
 Dr. Parr was sometimes a troublesome guest. 
 When he was thwarted or attacked, or in company 
 of those he disliked or suspected, he certainly had 
 the power of being most exquisitely disagreeable. 
 
 His fondness for ringing, and knowledge of bells 
 is well-known. I find among his papers various 
 notices of his ringing certain bells ; the tenor here 
 and there ; and he could tell the weight and tone 
 of almost every great bell in Europe. He was ac- 
 customed to ring peals on bells at Harrow. All 
 his personal friends knew, and paid for, his attach- 
 ment to the little peal of bells in Hatton church. 
 In 1794 there was a subscription, and in 1807 
 another. The bells cost upwards of ^300, and 
 Parr himself gave the tenor, which weighs upwards 
 of 13 cwt. I shall only copy one letter from the Rev. 
 B. Chapman, of Caius College, on this subject ;
 
 MEMOIRS. 817 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 The Master gave me your letter ; the whole of it I have not 
 been able to make out, even with his assistance. We were able 
 however, to understand the peal you are desirous of ringing ; 
 and I shall inclose a note towards it ; it is not a bob-major, but 
 as it is according to your own suggestion, I trust it will har- 
 monize properly. Such as it is, I send it with great pleasure. 
 I am very fond of bells ; and moreover in these times, we Tories 
 are glad of an opportunity of supporting church or steeple. 
 Believe me to remain, dear Sir, yours very faithfully, 
 
 B. Chapman. 
 
 The liberalities to the church of Hatton were 
 not confined to the bells. The pockets of his 
 friends were twice taxed for the painted windows, 
 and twice for other decorations. He also instituted 
 a little choir, and himself endowed it with an or- 
 gan. 
 
 He was fond of the pomp and ceremony of ca- 
 thedral worship, and was led by it probably, to at- 
 tend oratorios, rather than by love of music. For 
 though he listened for a short time, he always 
 joined his own chords in songs, seldom very hap- 
 pily. He was soon tired, and I never observed in 
 him that wrapt feeling described by Petrarca, as 
 the effect of music, 
 
 che neir anima si sente 
 L'andar celeste, e'l vago spirto ardente 
 Ch'ogni dur rompe, et ogni altezza inchina. 
 
 Had that high feeling of the elevated and the 
 sublime, which constantly was marked by manner 
 and expression, on his hearing or reading the 
 heroic deeds and magnanimous sentiments of the 
 great and the good, been excited in his mind by 
 
 VOL. I. 3 G
 
 818 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 music of any kind, it must have been observed ; for 
 he never concealed his feehngs. When he chose 
 to enlarge on the powers of music, no man could 
 do it more copiously or more appropriately. In 
 like manner his speech was rich in illustration of 
 every kind, on every subject ; and he could be apo- 
 phthegmatic, or sententious, or vehement, according 
 as he wished to impress his hearer, or awe his 
 antagonist, by some sudden burst of massive or gor- 
 geous declamation. On these occasions he never 
 wielded the light arms of the skirmisher, but always 
 stept forth with his Herculean club. His merriment 
 was never light. 
 
 Laughable images sometimes played about his 
 fancy : he was happy, he was gay, he was merry ; 
 but his gaiety was boisterous, his merriment was 
 not hearty long. He soon relapsed into the grave, 
 didactic, and the conversational; and if he dis- 
 charged a witticism, it was a sarcasm. He thought 
 with Martial, 
 
 Dulcia cum tantum scribas epigrammata semper, 
 
 Et cerussata candidiora cute, 
 Nullaque mica salis, nee amari fellis in illis 
 
 Gutta sit; o demens, vis tamen ilia legi. 
 
 His conversation, like his writing, had plenty of 
 grains of salt, and drops of bitter gall. 
 
 His greatest powers, even greater often than those 
 exhibited in his laboured compositions, were called 
 forth by conversation. In society, where he chose 
 to display himself, he neither was nor could be 
 equalled. Of course he was not always agreeable 
 in common and iicneral socictv. Those wlio were
 
 MEMOIRS. 819 
 
 fond of display could not bear being out-displayed, 
 and I have seldom seen him in company that he 
 bore contradiction without indignation.* 
 
 It was in his cheerful hoiu when, in the society 
 of men and women he respected, or who looked up 
 to him for improvement ; w^hen his spirits were 
 calm, his temper unruffled ; when the atmosphere 
 around him was genial and placid ; when no one 
 dogmatised, or dictated, or contradicted, or uttered 
 sentiments derogatory from truth : in the society of 
 those whom he did not suspect, his mind, grave and 
 collected, then showed the amplitude of its power, 
 and his heart the depth of his goodness. He would 
 then pour forth the stores of his understanding 
 in language pure as that of Plato, and utter truths 
 worthy of Socrates. Sometimes he would play- 
 fully illustrate the wild or sweet fancies of poesy ; 
 sometimes link together the mingled facts of his- 
 tory ; and sometimes, in his graver moments, enter 
 into the sanctuary of truth itself, and expound the 
 weighter matters of the law. Then, would he 
 display the intrinsic worth of his character; his 
 deep and devoted piety, his unsullied purity of 
 mind, his probity, his integrity, his mighty intellect, 
 his unrivalled accomplishments, his supreme com- 
 
 * Smarting under the lash (he said) I sometimes brandish 
 against dullness combined with conceit and ignorance, har- 
 dened by effrontery. Blockheads have imputed to me literary 
 pride. Insolent and low-minded sciolists have murmured 
 against me for having a churlish temper, when they themselves 
 had insidiously and wantonly, but not with impunity, provoked 
 me. — Remarks, p. 44. 
 
 3 G 2
 
 820 MEMOIRS. 
 
 mand over language — then, like an angel would lie 
 instruct. Often and often, have I at such times 
 listened to him with rapture, and caught eagerly 
 every syllable that passed from his lips ; and as 
 long as I live, or at least, as long as I have reason, 
 I beheve that no hour will pass over my head, in 
 which I cannot trace from recollection or asso- 
 ciation, some advantage derived from his precepts, 
 his writings, or his conversation. 
 
 Against such a character as Dr. Parr's the nature 
 of human infirmity does not permit us to suppose, 
 but that prejudices must have been formed and en- 
 couraged. Against so sturdy a political partizan, 
 pohtical partizans on the other side, equally sturdy, 
 would necessarily conflict — nor is such warfare, fairly 
 carried on, entirely to be deprecated. But the crea- 
 tures and sub-ministers of political faction are not 
 always kept in restraint by their leaders. The under 
 dogs of war will growl and chafe, even when the 
 chase is over. We have seen how Parr was pursued 
 during the perilous times of the French war by po- 
 litical animosities. Indeed, he was so much dreaded, 
 or hated, on account of his politics at that time, 
 that some persons thought it almost a crime to meet 
 him in society, and most narrowly was he watched 
 by political bigots, and sometimes even his most 
 innocent expressions were misstated or mistaken. 
 
 A ludicrous instance of the perversion of his 
 meaning, occurred when he was dining at Mr. Cox's 
 of Wootton, with the Rev. Robert Sumner, vicar of 
 Kenilworth, father of the learned and highly pre- 
 ferred Dr. Sumner of our own day, and nephew to
 
 MEMOIRS. :^1 
 
 his beloved preceptor the master of Harrow. After 
 dinner, some Cambridge topics were discussed, of a 
 Hterary kind, on which Mr. Sumner differed from 
 Parr, who good humouredly said, " Pooh ! Sumner, 
 you are a King's man, you have a licence to be a 
 fool." This speech was soon circulated through the 
 neighbourhood, and interpreted of course in a poli- 
 tical sense, as if Dr. Parr had applied this expression 
 to every friend of the King : whereas he merely 
 meant (and that only in good-humoured playful- 
 ness) to allude to the exemption of the members of 
 King's College, of which Mr. Sumner had been a 
 fellow, from the usual Senate House examination 
 for their degrees, they having a right to demand 
 their degree, and succeeding of course to a fellow- 
 ship at their college without examination, as vacan- 
 cies occur. Perhaps he alluded to Bentley's parody 
 on a well-known Greek epigram, when, speaking 
 of Nicholas Hardinge. 
 
 '< Regii raali sunt, non unus et alter ; omnes pi'aeter Hardin- 
 giura, et Hardingius Regius est." 
 
 That Parr did not apply this in a bad sense, may 
 be inferred from the estimation in which he held 
 his learned friends, the present Provost of King's, 
 and Master of Eton — as well from the praises he has 
 poured forth on Doctors George, Barnard, Heath, 
 Barford, and Mr Gaelics, and his particular ap- 
 probation of Eton, as a seminary of learning. It 
 was said in playfulness, of a college which he really 
 held in honour, to a person for whom he had sincere 
 esteem. 
 
 On the score of discipline he was often attacked.
 
 822 MEMOIRS. 
 
 not only as an Orbilius, but as one who transgressed 
 against the hberal views of the enhghtcncd age in 
 which he Hved. At a pubHc dinner in Liverpool a 
 gentleman, more distinguished for his worth than 
 for his courtesy and politeness, cried out to him 
 from one end of the table to the other, " I hope. 
 Dr. Parr, that you have given up that abominable 
 system of flogging which you were formerly so 
 fond of." Parr did not choose to hear him, upon 
 which he in a still louder tone repeated the remark, 
 and insisted on being informed of his opinion on 
 discipline, and whether he did not think it a good 
 thing. Parr then put down his pipe, and solemnly 
 addressing Dr. C. said, 
 
 ** Yes, Sir, I do think discipline a good thing ; for it is disci- 
 pline that makes the soldier, it is discipline that makes the 
 scholar, it is discipline that makes the gentleman. And, Sir, 
 it is the want of discipline, which has made you what you are." 
 
 My excellent friend Mr. Joseph Strutt, of Derby, 
 w^as present on the occasion, and related to me the 
 anecdote. 
 
 On his first settling in Warwickshire, Dr. Parr's 
 acquaintance was with the High Church Party, and 
 we have seen how he was associated with them 
 against the repeal of the Test laws. The change 
 of his opinions, and his avowed declarations concern- 
 ing the French Revolution, soon connected him with 
 other associates. In the borouc:h of Warwick he 
 was an active partizan against the Castle, and even 
 obtained a vote to oppose it. Yet was he acquainted 
 intimately with many Tories of the country. Mr. 
 Court Dewes, senior, of Wellesboume, was not
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 823 
 
 only his visitor, but his correspondent ; Mr. Bromley, 
 of Bagington, Dr. Bree, of Stratford, Mr. Lewis, of 
 Malvern, Mr. Leigh, of Stoneleigh, Mr. Wise, of 
 the Priory, Mr. Webb, of Sherburne, were some of 
 his friends, and all of them his visiting acquaintance. 
 Mr. Greatheed, of Guy's Cliff, Mr. Willes, of New- 
 bold, Mr. Gaches, of Wooton, Mr. Knight, of Bar- 
 rels, Mr. Ferrers, of Baddesley, the Lords Dormer, 
 formed a circle about him of true friends, who 
 valued and could appreciate his qualities. The kind 
 hearted, high principled, and true country gentlemen, 
 Mr. West, Mr. Middlcton Biddulph, and Mr. Can- 
 ning, of Foxcote, though less v/ithin reach, gladly 
 embraced all opportunities of showing him respect ; 
 and his friends at Warwick, Kenilworth, and Leam- 
 ington, were constantly his associates w^hen he mi- 
 grated from home, and not to the distance of Bir- 
 mingham, or Alcester, or Shrewsbury, or finally of 
 Elmley. There are many names not inserted here 
 to whom I should wish to pay that tribute of respect, 
 which is due to every friend of Dr. Parr from me, 
 but I believe that some mention has been made of 
 every one in the course of these memoirs. 
 
 The correspondence will have shown that Dr. Parr 
 celebrated his birth-day regularly, either at his own 
 house, or at some one of the houses of his friends, 
 for many years previously to his death. At Dr. E. 
 Johnstone's house, at Lady Wood, he celebrated it 
 in the year 1803 ; and successively at my house, at 
 Dr. Butler's, at Mr. John Bartlam's, at Mr. Dealtry's, 
 at Lord Tamworth's, and elsewhere was the feast 
 held. The company consisted of those friends, who
 
 824 MEMOIRS. 
 
 were within visiting distance, and varied accordingly. 
 At Hatton, during the four last years of his life, it 
 was attended by Lord Dormer, Mr. Leigh, and Mr- 
 Chandos Leigh, Mr. Hanbury Tracey, Mr. Talbot, 
 the present Earl of Shrewsbury, Mr. Greatheed, Mr. 
 Willes, of Newbold, and Mr. Edward Willes, Mr. 
 Holyoake, of Studley Castle, Mr. West, the Mr. 
 Parkes, of Warwick, Mr. Archdeacon Butler, the 
 Rev. Mr. Brooks, of Coventry, the Rev. Mr. Pod- 
 more, of Monk's Kirby, the Rev. Mr. Kendall, of 
 Warwick, the Rev. Rann Kennedy, of Birmingham, 
 Mr. Canning, of Fo^cote, Dr. Male, Dr. Middleton, 
 Dr. Hill, Dr. Bourne, Dr. Marsh, with many other 
 occasional guests from a distance and the neighbour- 
 hood. The feast was sumptuous, the wines were 
 rich and various, and the master was always in his 
 glory. I shall copy* two or three lists of toasts, and 
 it will be amusing to the reader to observe how de- 
 licately the choragus introduced his own political 
 sentiments into a company, materially differing in 
 their opinions. The waters of the Rhone and the 
 Arve never passed in current together more equably 
 without mingling, than did these meetings, notwith- 
 standing. But upon these occasions the company was 
 called upon more than once to witness an exertion 
 of his fortitude. In the year 1821, from the same 
 causes which produced his ultimate disorder. Parr 
 was afflicted with incipient mortification of the fin- 
 gers of his right hand. Two days before the feast 
 even his safety was doubtful. But the sphacelating 
 
 * Appendix.
 
 MEMOIRS. 825 
 
 process was stopped, and in spite of the intreaties of 
 myself, Dr. Hill, Dr. Middleton, and Dr. Male, he 
 resolved to appear among his friends. And he did 
 appear. He was dressed out in his best apparel 
 — his fullest wig — his velvet coat, with the scarf 
 bound in the frogs — his hands were muffled and 
 enveloped in ferment, and one of the servants at- 
 tended to feed him. In this apparel he conversed 
 as usual with gaiety ; nor was it obvious, except 
 to a few who knew him best, that the tone of 
 his mind was more sober, and more grave. To the 
 common class of readers it is impossible to convey 
 the ideas that pervaded such a mind as his, under 
 such circumstances ; or to show how little it 
 is under the command of those who are deemed 
 responsible for their advice. Even in the dying 
 hour it is not obedient to common rules, and I could 
 mention my own father as an example of like con- 
 duct. When labouring under mortal dyspnsea six 
 and thirty hours before his death, no persuasion 
 could induce him not to undertake a long profes- 
 sional journey during my absence. It can only be 
 said that he did not die in his carriage. 
 
 o 
 
 On the occasions of Dr. Parr's birth-day his table 
 was most abundantly supplied with game, and provi- 
 sions, and delicacies, from all quarters. The supply 
 from Holkham was worthy of the donor. The Duke 
 of Sussex, the Duke of Bedford, many of his old pu- 
 pils, many of the followers of the Queen, and many 
 of his own neighbours, were the contributors. The 
 Episcopal Park at Hartlebury supplied him with 
 venison several times, and the present was accom-
 
 826 MEMOIRS. 
 
 panied in January 1825 with a Latin epistle from 
 the learned and dignified prelate who now adorns 
 the see of Worcester, written in a style and with a 
 purity, which Bentley would have been compelled to 
 praise in his fellow Johnian. Dr. Parr did not live 
 to read it, and I lament to say that I am not per- 
 mitted to publish it. 
 
 It was said that a great statesman objected to 
 the promotion of Dr. Parr to ecclesiastical dignity, 
 because he was not popular in his profession. The 
 time will come, when all rivalry is silenced by the 
 unconquerable leveller, that this subject may be 
 discussed without passion and without prejudice — 
 when the hireling aspirant shall be dumb, and his 
 malignant services, and the high rewards he re- 
 ceived for them, shall be forgotten ; and when the 
 hypocritical time-server shall give an account, not 
 to corrupt masters, but to a righteous judge. In 
 the mean time I assert that, except to such charac- 
 ters. Dr. Parr was not unpopular among his own 
 brethren. Let me call the cloud of witnesses, 
 bishops, priests, and deacons, who bear witness to 
 his merits by their written testimony.* In his own 
 neighbourhood he was courted by the main body of 
 the clergy, he was the patron of all the needy, and 
 the friend of the learned and the good. Prejudice 
 or humour offered occasional exceptions ; but I 
 speak of the main body, and with pleasure do I pro- 
 nounce the names of the Rev. Daniel Gaches, of 
 Messrs. Kendal, Howel, Evans, Wise, Roberts, 
 
 * Appendix — Correspondence,
 
 MEMOIRS. 827 
 
 Short, Blyth, Barker, Ellis, Wren, Palmer, Heath, 
 RufFord, Annesley, Carleton, Dolben, Cormouls, 
 Webb ; the Mr. Williams, Dr. Davenport, Dr. Wade, 
 Mr. Cattell; Messrs. Langhame,Woodington, Leigh, 
 John Morley, and James Eyre. He had an alterca- 
 tion with Mr. Boudier, and entertained prejudices 
 against some of the Birmingham clergy ; but in ge- 
 neral, whether high or low church. Whig or Tory, 
 Tros Tyriusve, he was respected by his brethren. 
 
 As a Parish Priest he said of himself, " I have in 
 two instances made Dryden's ' Good Parson ' my 
 model. 
 
 I've preach'd the joys of heav'n and pains of hell : 
 And warn'd the sinner with becoming zeal ; 
 But on eternal mercy lov'd to dwell. 
 I've taught the Gospel rather than the Law ; 
 And forc'd myself to drive, but lov'd to draw. 
 
 These, and various other quotations from Dry- 
 den's " Good Parson," he adopted as his own senti- 
 ments. But I must descend to particulars to make 
 his qualities as a Parish Priest more distinctly un- 
 derstood. 
 
 When he first came to Hatton, in a letter to 
 Homer, dated July 3, 1786, he writes thus : 
 
 I have an excellent house, good neighbours, and a Poor, ig- 
 norant, dissolute, insolent, and ungrateful beyond all example. 
 I like Warwickshire very much. I have made great regula- 
 tions, viz. bells chime three times as long ; Athanasian Creed ; 
 Communion Service at the altar; Swearing Act ; children ca- 
 techised every first Sunday in the month ; private baptisms 
 discouraged ; public performed after second lesson ; recovered 
 ^100 a year left the poor> with interest amounting to ^115, 
 all of which I am to put out and settle a trust in the spring ; 
 examining all the charities.
 
 828 MEMOIRS. 
 
 He endeavoured to make himself acquainted 
 with every individual in his parish ; and he would 
 have been friendly to all, had he not been some- 
 thwarted by the churlish, or the avaricious. But 
 these were merely exceptions, and even these ex- 
 ceptions were rare. From the beginning to the 
 end he was generally on the best terms with all his 
 parishioners. He visited them all ; he attended their 
 clubs ; he went into their cottages, and smoked his 
 ])ipe with the meanest of them. At the table of 
 Mr. Bellamy, his most opulent neighbour, he was a 
 very frequent and welcome guest ; and after his de- 
 cease, at the board of his most excellent and sensi- 
 ble widow. It would be unjust, indeed, to this lady 
 not to remark that, as Miss Wilson, Mrs. Bellamy, 
 and now Mrs. Edwards, she was the friend and 
 companion of Mrs. Parr and her daughters ; and 
 held in the highest estimation by the doctor. 
 
 Parr v.as the father of his parish. His manner 
 of instructing them was affectionate and familiar, 
 and well adapted to the meanest capacity. He ex- 
 plained as he went along ; and if any particular 
 occurrence in regard to morals or discipline, had 
 taken place during the week, he was sure to no- 
 tice it. 
 
 In contingent emergencies he was zealous for, 
 and watchful over the interests of his parishioners, 
 nor did any local occurrence, involving guilt, or 
 even faultiness, of a higher class, escape his public 
 notice. From the desk or the pulpit, in the more 
 atrocious cases, he even mentioned the parties by 
 name, and always designated them and the fault
 
 MEMOIRS. 829 
 
 that had been committed, in such a way that the 
 picture could not fail of being recognized. How- 
 much he was observed in the discharge of his cle- 
 rical duty by zealots on all sides, I have before re- 
 marked ; and fortunate it is for his biographer, that 
 his own written documents can be always produced 
 to vindicate his conduct.* 
 
 Of his manner of performing the service, the re- 
 collection cannot yet have passed away. After Lea- 
 mington became a popular watering place, many of 
 the visitors there were frequently allured to his 
 church, and few Sundays passed without some 
 other strangers being led to it by the celebrity of 
 the minister. 
 
 Political subjects were never introduced into his 
 discourses, except on those days appointed by the 
 government for Thanksgiving or for Fasts. But on 
 two occasions he departed from his general rule. 
 Before he read the prayer appointed in the service 
 on the escape of the Regent in 1817, he explained 
 his own opinions on the danger incurred, and on 
 the necessity of introducing it among the devotions 
 of the sanctuary. The omission of the Queen's 
 name in the Liturgy, on the accession of her hus- 
 band to the throne, induced him to make an entry 
 in the Prayer Book of Hatton church. On other 
 occasions of a more personal and private nature, 
 either in the bidding prayer, or the prayer of sup- 
 plication, or thanksgiving, his introduction of the 
 topics was marked by that fervency and unction, 
 
 * See the Appendix, at the close of vol. viii.
 
 830 MEMOIRS. 
 
 which always filled his mind when sacred matters 
 were the theme. 
 
 On his recovery in 1821, from the sphacelation 
 of his fingers, he thus addressed himself: 
 
 For reasons which you will hear presently, your minister de- 
 sires publicly to return thanks to Almighty God: 
 
 Particularly for the late recovery of me, thy suppliant, upon 
 whom, amidst many imperfections, Thou hast vouchsafed to be- 
 stow: — the advantages of a learned education ; the sweet and 
 hallowed pleasures of friendship with wise and virtuous men ; 
 an early and unfeigned love of sincerity and conscious inte- 
 grity, as far preferable to the allurements of worldly profit, and 
 worldly honours ; a spirit too well disciplined by serious reflec- 
 tion to be either swollen with pride in the sunshine of prospe- 
 rity, or crushed into despondency under the pressure of adver- 
 sity ; principles of candour and moderation towards the teach- 
 ers and members of all churches, and all sects, professing to 
 bow the knee in the adorable name of our common Redeemer ; 
 an earnest desire to obtain, by Thy aid, that gift of charity 
 which is the very bond of peace and of all virtues, and therefore 
 which the apostle pronounces to be more excellent than the 
 knowledge of mysteries, and even the faith which can remove 
 mountains ; sympathy to visit the fatherless and widows in their 
 afflictions ; promptness to relieve the indigent ; firmness to de- 
 fend the calumniated, and to succour the desolate and op- 
 pressed ; a competency for the support and comfort of old age; 
 the enjoyment of bodily health, rarely interrupted ; the use of 
 intellectual faculties, hitherto little impaired ; and such a con- 
 tinuance of existence, that at the close of January last I, under 
 Thy protection, completed a sixth year beyond the three score 
 and ten, which the Psalmist describes as the usual term of hu- 
 man life. 
 
 Parent of Good, it is a joyful and a pleasant thing to be 
 thankful for these Thy blessings, temporal and spiritual. 
 
 It is very meet, right, and my bounden duty to meditate upon 
 them in the closet, and to declare them in the sanctuary. May I 
 then hope to be so guided and governed by Thy holy spirit, that
 
 MEMOIRS. 831 
 
 as long as I have any being, so long with my voice, and in my 
 heart, I may sing praises unto Thee in this world ; and that in 
 the world to come, I, through Thy mercy, may be admitted into 
 the glorious company of archangels, angels, and just men made 
 perfect ; and bending before Thy throne, may join with them 
 in extolling 
 
 " Thee first, Thee midst. Thee last, and without end." 
 
 Furthermore they who now hear me, as well as myself, do 
 bless Thee for our creation, preservation, &c. 
 
 And at the end of his Sermon on the death of 
 George III. he has beautifully enlarged on this 
 topic. 
 
 During Assize times, and seasons of public or 
 private happiness or calamity, he offered up prayers 
 adapted to the occasion : 
 
 Prayer for Assize time. 
 And at this solemn season appointed for the administration of 
 public justice, more especially we supplicate Thee in behalf of 
 those unhappy fellow-creatures, who by the tremendous seve- 
 rity of the laws are doomed speedily to die. Take from them, 
 we beseech thee, all ignorance and hardness of heart. Pour on 
 them that spirit of humble resignation and penitence unfeigned, 
 which may console them amidst the gloom of dungeons and 
 under the pressure of chains. Support their drooping spirits 
 in the hour of death, and of thy infinite goodness and mercy 
 forgive their sins in the awful day of judgment. 
 
 Dr. Parr's duties as a parish priest did not end in 
 the pulpit or in the church. What he did there 
 was done with dignity, and with the most emphatic 
 devotion. He was the Patriarch addressing his 
 children — he was the Seer declaring the will of his 
 Maker — he was the Apostle dispensing the gracious 
 promises of his Redeemer. If he had any defect, it 
 was the same that Mr. Roderick complained of in
 
 832 MEMOIRS. 
 
 his instruction of youth. His capacity was too 
 high, and elevated above that of his congregation ; 
 and though he endeavoured to descend and adapt 
 himself to his hearers, his intellect was not proximate 
 enough to theirs to make him always understood. 
 On this account he often took a printed book of 
 practical discourses into the pulpit, but seldom ad- 
 hered to his text. He flew off from the text before 
 him, and let loose a torrent of illustration from his 
 own recollections and associations. His enuncia- 
 tion too, was sometimes defective. The lisp which 
 naturally belonged to his speech, marred the distinct- 
 ness of his public speaking at all times, and when 
 he was warmed, he was too emphatic. 
 
 In the administration of the charities, he was 
 watchful and impartial. In his attendance on the 
 poor, he was unwearied and humane. The sick 
 were fed from his table, and the necessitous relieved 
 by his bounty. In no part of his character indeed 
 was his goodness more conspicuous, than in the 
 manner in which he performed his religious duties 
 as a pastor, aiid his social duties as a neighbour ; 
 and were his reputation to rest only on these two 
 points, we must be compelled to pronounce that he 
 was of the number of those tvHv elSorwv a SeTTrparTeiV 
 Kai 7\.€y€iVf Kou 7r^09 Oeouy ku) ttoos' dv^qcoTrou^. — Plat. 
 Ale. II.
 
 833 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Latter days — Death. 
 
 In the year 1822 Dr. Parr continued to take his 
 usual excursions, and to visit among his friends. He 
 dined at Fishmongers' Hall, meeting Lord Erskine 
 and Lord St. Vincent, during his visit to the metro 
 polls that summer, and there seemed no tendency to 
 decay, and certainly there was no failure in his me- 
 mory. The following year his feebleness of body 
 began to manifest itself; but though his friends 
 watched him with anxious and affectionate interest, 
 no one could dare to say that his intellect waxed old. 
 His habits were as industrious as ever, and he cor- 
 responded with his usual punctuality, and in his 
 usual style. 
 
 In the summer of 1824 Dr. Parr's strength visi- 
 bly declined — he lost his appetite, and, in part, his 
 spirits; but the diminution of a certain portion of the 
 buoyancy of his spirits added interest to his conver- 
 sation, by giving a deeper and a graver tone to it. 
 He went to the music meeting in Worcester, and 
 though refreshed by the honours and kindness which 
 were paid in homage to his character and learning, 
 it was still obvious that his strength was declining. 
 To Worcester he went in his coach and four, with 
 
 VOL. I. 3 H
 
 834 MEMOIRS. 
 
 all the proper appointments and state. With 
 this incumbrance he had embarrassed himself 
 the year before on the increase of his prebendal 
 income. That income, with the resources of his 
 fortune, gave him upwards of three thousand a 
 year, and it was one of the very early aspirations of 
 his vanity, or love of pomp, to keep a coach and 
 four. He now possessed what he wished for, but 
 was not to enjoy it long. He came to me in Oc- 
 tober extremely debilitated, but in some measure 
 recovered his appetite during his abode under my 
 roof. Fifteen years before he had laboured under 
 vertigo, the effect of his anxiety, not of repletion. 
 He had been subject occasionally to erysipelatous 
 eruptions : once he had a carbuncle ; and I have 
 stated before that in 1821 his hand had mortified. 
 From this tendency to diseased action of the skin, 
 he was easily affected by cold, and it was always a 
 main endeavour with me to guard him as much as 
 possible against its influence. Notwithstanding the 
 coach and four, in the last month of 1824 he had 
 been too fond of using a little open carriage, when 
 he went to Warwick, or about the neighbourhood. 
 
 On the 16th of January 1825 Dr. Parr was as 
 well as he had been for a long time before ; he ate, 
 he drank, he laughed, he enjoyed, he studied, he 
 instructed. On that Sunday he did the whole 
 duty in the church at Hatton, prayed, preached, 
 christened a child, and, alas ! buried a corpse. 
 In this last duty he was probably overcome by fa- 
 tigue, and probably benumbed ])y cold. For in the 
 succeeding night he was seized with a long con-
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 835 
 
 tinued rigor, followed by fever and delirium. On 
 the 18th appearances of erysipelatous inflammation 
 spread over the right foot, the fever and delirium 
 recurred, and on the 19th some tendency to spha- 
 celus manifested itself in the skin of the heel. 
 Prostration of strength, loss of appetite, and all the 
 worst constitutional symptoms accompanied the local 
 disorder, and in the progress of it, though the spha- 
 celation did not spread, and though the left leg 
 was aflPected by inflammation only, the powers 
 of nature did not rally, the decline w^as gradual, 
 and after the lingering of a month some of those 
 local maladies incident to long illness and con- 
 finement to bed, contributed to render the case 
 hopeless and remediless. Yet there were gleams 
 of reason and consciousness, which w^ould have 
 been incredible in any other person. Even his 
 delirium partook of his wonted elevation of mind, 
 his courage was unsubdued, his piety increasing ; 
 and though he prayed for the release of death, 
 he seldom murmured at pain. There appeared in 
 the middle of February to be some chance from the 
 longer cessation of delirium. About this time he 
 called his wife, his grandchildren, and servants 
 around him, and by a strong effort of voice and of 
 mind, endeavoured to make his death-bed a place of 
 instruction and of moral recollection. He confessed 
 his weaknesses and his errors, and asked their forgive- 
 ness for any pain he might have inflicted upon them 
 by petulant expressions, and haste of temper : 
 
 " I wished to be just and kind, as you know. My aim lias 
 been to make all about me happy. Pardon the infirmities 
 
 3 H 2 '
 
 836 MEMOIRS. 
 
 which have sometimes prevented me from carrying my inten- 
 tions into effect. From the beginning of Hfe I am not con- 
 scious of having fallen into a crime ; my life, even my early 
 life, was pure ; and I believe I was never false, though I have 
 been faulty. This conviction is now my main consolation. I 
 trust in God through Christ for the pardon of my sins, I wish 
 to die, though I am afraid to complain of my sufferings ; I hope 
 when I am gone that you will reflect upon these my last words, 
 and that my blessing may be blessed to every one of you." 
 
 His voice before scarcely articulate, was audible 
 and intelligible during this discourse, and the man- 
 ner in which it was spoken was such, that a seer of 
 Israel could hardly have rendered it more impressive. 
 
 During fifty days of suffering, and during which 
 time he was more helpless than the new-born babe, 
 it needs no great flight of the imagination to con- 
 ceive that his fortitude and magnanimity were drawn 
 upon to the utmost. Except, indeed, when his po- 
 sition was obliged to be moved, and the cry of an- 
 guish could not be repressed, he never repined, he 
 never complained. Ejaculations of pious hope, and 
 unfeigned confidence, frequently broke from him in 
 murmurs of thankfulness or prayer : and his coun- 
 tenance, except when he was tortured with pain, had 
 that pleasing expression which usually attended his 
 calm and more agreeable conversations. From the 
 first he was attended professionally by his friend 
 Dr. Middleton, of Leamington, whose unwearied 
 kindness and professional skill were successfully 
 exerted to mitigate a part of those evils which it 
 did not belong to medicine to cure. To Dr. Mid- 
 dleton he was warmly attached ; under his advice 
 he frequently used the baths of Leamington, and the
 
 MEMOIRS. 837 
 
 medicated waters, and visited him familiarly. Dr. 
 Parr was under the surgical care of Mr. Richard 
 Jones of Leamington, and gratefully did he ac- 
 knowledge the humane and skilful treatment of 
 this worthy practitioner. On Sunday the 6th of 
 March the approach of death became more mani- 
 fest ; the pulsation of the artery at the wrist was 
 imperceptible, yet he awoke conscious, spoke to 
 Mrs. Lynes, and knew those around him. Grate- 
 fully affected by the attention I endeavoured to 
 shew him, he appeared, from his attitude, repeat- 
 edly to bless me, and with the utmost emphasis of 
 his dying voice, saluted me as his most dear friend. 
 The expression of his countenance during the 
 greater part of the day was almost divine. He 
 could take no food, yet with short intervals of de- 
 lirium had the most complete possession of his in- 
 tellect. Not a murmur of impatience escaped him, 
 except the words of kindness he whispered to those 
 about him ; all he uttered was devotional ; and 
 such was his frame of mind till five minutes before 
 his death. He then became insensible, and de- 
 parted by an inaudible expiration at six in the af- 
 ternoon. Dr. Maltby attended the death-bed of 
 his old master, and performed the duty in Hatton 
 church on one of the Sundays when his condition 
 had become hopeless. The impression of such a 
 pupil praying for such a master, in that place where 
 that master was never to appear again, may be 
 more readily conceived than described. 
 
 On the 26th of January, his birthday. Archdea- 
 con Butler came ; I took him " to the bed-side of
 
 838 
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 his dying friend, whose countenance beamed with 
 joy at his approach. The manner in which he 
 clasped our hands together and blessed us, as the 
 two friends whom, next to his own grand-children, 
 he loved best on earth, can never be forgotten by 
 Dr. Butler or myself. 
 
 Dr. Parr was buried at Hatton on the 14th of 
 March 1825, and the funeral was attended by Mr. 
 Belcher, Mr. Sharpe, Mr. Jones, Rev. Mr. Lang- 
 hane. Dr. John Johnstone, Dr. Middleton, and 
 Dr. Bourne, Rev. Mr. Kennedy, Archdeacon 
 Butler, D. D. ; pall-bearers. Rev. Mr. Field, Rev. 
 Mr. Newby, Rev. Dr. Wade, Rev. Mr. Kendall, 
 Rev. Mr. Webb, Rev. Mr. Palmer, Rev. Mr. Pod- 
 more, Rev. Mr. Brooks ; mourners, Rev. John 
 Lynes, Mr. Harding, Mr. Eyre, Mr. Barnitt, Mr. 
 Cotton, Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Aston, Mr. Thomas 
 Ball, Mr. Abraham Ball, Mr. Payne, Mr. Morris, 
 sen., Mr. Barnitt, Mr. May, Mr. Cattle, Mr. Mor- 
 ris, jun. Mr. Sturly, Mr. Styles, Mr. Chandler, Mr. 
 Stowell. 
 
 Shortly before his death he wrote to Dr. Butler 
 himself : 
 
 DEAR AND LEARNED NAMESAKE, NoV. 2, ISS^. 
 
 This letter is important and strictly confidential. I have 
 given John Lynes minute and plenary directions for my funeral. 
 I desire you, if you can, to preach a short unadorned funeral 
 sermon. Rann Kennedy is to read the lesson and grave ser- 
 vice, though I could wish you to read the grave service also. 
 Say little of me, but you are sure to say it well." * * * 
 
 In consequence of this letter. Dr. Butler preached 
 the funeral sermon, and the Rev. Rann Kennedy 
 read the burial service with affecting solemnity, and
 
 MEMOIRS. 839 
 
 with a mind tuned for his sacred office. The 
 sermon was one of those impressive discourses, 
 which, independent of the scene around, and the 
 particular occasion, both almost awful in their so- 
 lemnity, filled the mind with a mingled feeling of 
 admiration, respect, and regret. 
 
 It was impossible not to lament the occasion. 
 Though our friend had fallen ripe, and in due season, 
 he had left no one behind to fill his place. No Parr 
 was to be counted among the living. The preacher 
 himself was not only a dear and confidential friend, 
 but a distinguished scholar and divine, qualified to 
 appreciate the powers and accomplishments of the 
 mighty dead. He did appreciate them justly. He 
 weighed his virtues and his piety in the balance of 
 the sanctuary. He took gauge of his failings, and 
 shewed where our friend was most a mortal man. 
 He taught us where to respect and honour, and 
 where to take warning. He, himself a superior 
 scholar, taught us to reverence this master of scho- 
 lars. In fine it was no common spectacle to view 
 Samuel Butler in the pulpit of Samuel Parr, the 
 mantle of the Elijah on the shoulder of Elisha, com- 
 mitting that prophet's body to the earth, and tell- 
 ing the people what was true concerning him, and 
 instructing them with Gospel lessons, and fixing 
 those lessons in their hearts, by the charms of his 
 eloquence. 
 
 Dr. Butler was charged with introducing too 
 many defects, and resting upon them too long, in 
 his delineation of Dr. Parr's character. It was 
 without reason that this blame was cast upon the
 
 840 MEMOIRS. 
 
 sermon. To have eulogized only, might have been 
 stigmatized as sycophancy or partiality. When 
 speaking from that pulpit ; when looking into that 
 grave, he might have exclaimed with Flechier ; 
 "Oserois-je employer le mensonge dans I'eloge 
 d'un homme qui fut la v^rit(^ meme ? ce tombeau 
 s'ouvriroit, ces ossemens se ranimeroient pour me 
 dire ; pourquoi viens-tu mentir pour moi, qui ne 
 mentis jamais pour personne?" He could not have 
 dared to equivocate, nor did he colour the defects 
 too highly. The praise was appropriate ; the blame 
 was just. He plainly discovered himself to be 
 the friend, though not merely the panegyrist, of the 
 departed. The estimation of character was fair and 
 impartial ; the composition was perspicuous, and 
 elegant ; the topics were appropriate, and the deli- 
 very manly and affectionate ; and though there was 
 no aim at pathos, or affectation of tenderness, so 
 really affecting was the conduct of the whole cere- 
 remony, that many a sob was heard, and every eye 
 was moist, and every bosom heaved with emotion. 
 
 This Memoir must have failed entirely in its pur- 
 pose, if it has not already placed the character of 
 Dr. Parr in a strong light before the reader. Gifted 
 by nature with a vigorous and capacious mind, his 
 appetite for knowledge enabled him to provide for 
 the gigantic growth which it attained. 
 
 In his fourteenth year, his talents placed him at 
 the head of his schoolfellows in a large seminary ; 
 and the fortunate coincidence of such a master as 
 Dr. Sumner, and such juvenile friends as Sir Wil- 
 liam Jones and Bishop Bennet, gave a form to his
 
 Georg'e Clarke fecit 1826. 
 
 W. Skell.._ U Iciilpsit. 
 
 lEV? SAMX^KJL FAlili JLX»B.. 
 
 c / 
 
 LLC*-/: / (^ 
 
 Aiitoglraiji)!!!, 
 
 9 (^ c/ ^ 5~ (To <r? t^ ^ ^ o / ^ 
 {T^^ '-V^ — / —
 
 MEMOIRS. 
 
 841 
 
 character, which was only checked in its palmy 
 towering by poverty and misfortune. When first 
 launched on the ocean of life, he suffered shipwreck, 
 but was not destroyed. He rose up in spite of a 
 hasty marriage and indiscreet settlement, and gi-a- 
 dually toiled his way to celebrity, though not to 
 riches. Again he suffered shipwreck, by mingling 
 too fiercely in political discussion ; and by a strange 
 chain of events never received even the pittance of 
 the refuse of the spoil, which usually falls to the 
 lot of those, who are only followers of the political 
 army. But time did that for him which fortune re- 
 fused to do, — his little barrel of meal and his little 
 cruise of oil did not fail, and old age met him in 
 abundance, and even aflfluence. 
 
 But it is necessary that I descend from these 
 generalities to survey his character under those 
 peculiar aspects, in which it was most conspi- 
 cuously useful. As a teacher, I have already en- 
 larged on those qualities, which placed him at the 
 head of that most important part of the community 
 — his profound knowledge — his accurate taste — 
 his command of language — his authority over the 
 minds of those he instructed, and his power of stir- 
 ring up capacity and forming intellect, and his in- 
 creasing endeavour to employ and redeem time. 
 
 Among the other powers of his mind, his memory 
 was to the last conspicuous. Not that kind of me- 
 mory which retained volumes of trifles, and poured 
 out page after page of recollected matter indiscrimi- 
 nately, whether from a novel, a farce, or a sermon. 
 Not a memory of detail, if the expression is fair,
 
 842 MEMOIRS. 
 
 but a memory of fact ; the faculty of recollecting: 
 all the abstract knowledge of a subject, of the con- 
 troversies about it, and of the writers upon it. 
 Every conversation of his was in some sort a lec- 
 ture ; he declared the matter, he expounded it, he 
 illustrated it, and nothing that bore the slightest 
 relation to it was either unknown to him or forgot- 
 ten by him. It was impossible not to be lost in ad- 
 miration, whilst hearing him declaim on some topic 
 started without premeditation, which was deemed 
 remote from his usual course of study, at the pro- 
 fundity of his knowledge, the copiousness of his 
 diction, and the richness of his illustration. 
 
 Of the peculiar faculties of his mind, judgment was 
 not the most conspicuous, " magis magnos clericos, 
 non esse magis magnos sapientes," and I think no 
 other proof of this assertion is required, than the pub- 
 lication of Bellendenus. If the praise of the Coali- 
 tion was the object, and this object seems to have 
 been anxiously followed up from the republication 
 of Rapin to the actual publication of the preface 
 to Bellendenus, there were many better ways of 
 conciliating the regard of a patron, and the esteem 
 of a party, than fulsome praise or unqualified 
 blame. The direct panegyric is as coarse, as the 
 direct attack is virulent ; and though both are fla- 
 voured with the salt of classic lore, they are too 
 highly seasoned to be perfectly attic. Yet do I be- 
 lieve that he was not seduced by envious or sordid 
 motives to this attack, for he was utterly " exempt 
 from all the secret throbs, all the perfidious machi- 
 nations, and all the mischievous meannesses of envy."
 
 MEMOIRS. 843 
 
 The consciousness of his own unrivalled superiority 
 saved him from this base passion. No man ever ac- 
 knowledged the merit of other men with greater 
 alacrity and warmth, or was less susceptible of 
 damning with faint praise the talents with which 
 he himself was not endowed. He loved learning 
 and piety, and cherished and encouraged their 
 growth wheresoever he found them ; but was 
 somewhat jealous of those who had passed him in 
 the race of preferment, with qualifications less, or 
 not greater than his own. Hence his injustice to 
 Paley ; and hence too his constant exactions from 
 Bishop Bennet and his more fortunate schoolfel- 
 lows, of never-failing observance and respect ; and 
 hence too that suspicion which was a cloud hanging 
 over his character, and often darkening his partiality 
 for those persons who, in their attempts to soar, for- 
 got any one of their old friends or former opinions. 
 Of his skill in saying all that could be said on 
 every side of every question, the comparisons of 
 Warburton, and Hurd, and Fox, and Pitt, are strik- 
 ing examples ; but this power of antithesis is con- 
 spicuous throughout all his compositions : 
 
 €7r€cou 0€ TToXwy voixoy ev^a koli evoa* 
 
 The putting of questions in all shapes and posi- 
 tions was his delight, as to think vigorously and 
 accurately w^as his talent. But of all his powers, 
 sagacity was the most extraordinary. When he 
 had considered a question dispassionately and tho- 
 roughly, his determination was wise and just, and 
 the terms in which it was conveyed somewhat ora-
 
 844 MEMOIRS. 
 
 cular. How frecjuently have I heard him predict, 
 without effort, and by a sort of inspiration, the cer- 
 tain consequences of certain actions or events, and 
 the fate of the actors. Others knew as well as I 
 do, this faculty of Dr. Parr, and could relate many 
 instances of the fulfilment of his predictions. But 
 this biographical sketch is not intended to be the 
 vehicle of anecdote ; I shall therefore content my- 
 self with stating the fact. 
 
 It may be, however, useful to pause awhile, to 
 consider this remarkable faculty, remarkable as it 
 was in him, from his instantaneous perception of 
 the common effect of causes ; for it cannot be 
 supposed that I assign to it any thing super- 
 natural, or any thing out of the ordinary progress 
 of human effort. Sagacity, in its general accep- 
 tation, is a sharp insight, an acute penetration, 
 a quickness of understanding and of discovering. 
 Locke says, sagacity finds out the intermediate 
 ideas, to discover what connection there is in each 
 link of the chain whereby the extremes are held 
 together ; or, in other words, sagacity sees at once 
 the whole chain of the reasonings on a specific sub- 
 ject, and the connection that holds it together. It 
 is the pont-volant of the mind, which carries thought 
 by a quick progress over the stream of speculation. 
 Whence arises this faculty ? Is it common to men 
 of learning and accomplishments ? How is it ge- 
 nerated ? Who are those who possess it ? 
 
 Of the sagacity of Dr. Parr I do not speak in the 
 sense of worldly feeling — of being wise in his genera- 
 tion. Certainly he was one of the children of light
 
 MEMOIRS. 845 
 
 in this particular. No man ever knew so little how 
 to apply his mighty talents to a great purpose. He 
 was perpetually combating shadows ; his skiomachy 
 became proverbial. He was not wise in his gene- 
 ration. His original education, the fondness of his 
 mother, the oddities of his father, his genius, his 
 conformation, his studies urged on from infancy, 
 then intermitted and interrupted by his occupation 
 in his father's shop, then begun again, and pursued 
 with redoubled ardour ; his intimate connection 
 with Jones and Bennet ; his emulation, his pride, 
 the praises of Dr. Sumner, the ambitious views 
 encouraged by him : all these, intermingled with 
 his defective academical education, and the excite- 
 ment of a college life, from which he was with- 
 drawn by necessity and poverty, formed a web and 
 woof of character so strangely diversified, that no 
 wonder the pattern was confused, the general effect 
 of the whole fabric spoiled, and that a man of the 
 world was not wrought out of the discordant mate- 
 rials. Dr. Parr, affecting, as he always did, this 
 character, was quite remote from it. He had no 
 tact, no giving way, no yielding property of mind. 
 He was Dr. Parr wheresoever he was ; and though, 
 as John Bartlam used to say, he frequently ima- 
 gined himself only a mouse in a corner, his roar 
 was ever heard, he could not be concealed. 
 
 But though he was not acquainted with himself, 
 though he pursued not his own private and personal 
 interests, though the least accommodating of men, 
 w^hen he imagined himself the most so, yet when 
 knowledge of certain kinds was concerned, he was
 
 846 MEMOIRS. 
 
 transcendent. In classical literature he was su- 
 preme. In theology, in history, in metaphysics, he 
 was more knowing than most men. As a teacher 
 of youth, he knew the wayward character of man 
 in the early stages of the formation of his in- 
 tellect ; he knew all the trickery, the wild wit, 
 the invention of childhood. From his own ear- 
 liest life he had been occupied as a teacher, and as 
 the companion of boys, so that in estimating the 
 quality of actions and their consequences, he ac- 
 quired almost an intuition. The same has been 
 the invariable character of great generals, and great 
 statesmen ; they saw at a glance, without apparent 
 reflection. It has been also remarked of celebrated 
 physicians, that they had a sort of instinctive know- 
 ledge of diseases, that they saw at a glance, without 
 much meditation. This has been often the fact ; 
 but it has been only the fact where the mind was 
 acute, where it was well-informed, where it had 
 been early informed, where the opportunities of 
 seeing disease and studying it had been many, and 
 the opportunity constantly employed. Under such 
 circumstances the character of Hippocrates, of Rad- 
 cliiTe, of Sydenham, and of Boerhaave were formed. 
 By such an education the accuracy and quickness 
 of observation became almost instinct — an electric 
 dart to the conclusion, without any apparent stop at 
 intermediate reasoning. They perceived in an in- 
 stant what other persons were obliged to acquire 
 the knowledge of by long looking, their optics 
 having been cleared, their visual nerves of intellect 
 purged by early training and application.
 
 MEMOIRS. 847 
 
 In no way was this sagacity more frequently ex- 
 ercised by Parr, than in detecting aberrations from 
 truth or consistency. Of all men I ever knew, he 
 was the greatest truth-thinker and truth-teller. He 
 never suffered in conversation a falsehood even in 
 joke ; and hence arose, not uncommonly, his embar- 
 rassment in understanding jokes, bon-mots, and 
 equivoques. Against falsehood he made war ad 
 internecionem, and many of his misunderstandings 
 and quarrels may be traced to this principle, and to 
 the castigations he gave his dearest friends, when 
 he suspected them of tergiversation. 
 
 Such was Dr. Samuel Parr : fit to be the compa- 
 nion of the mighty, and the instructor of the wise. 
 Half his life was wasted in the drudgery of a peda- 
 gogue and a preceptor. 
 
 Had be been trusted with a high station, there is 
 no doubt that he would have filled it with high ac- 
 tions, for his learning exceeded that of any one of 
 his contemporaries, and the works he has left behind 
 him will bear comparison with the classical compo- 
 sitions of antiquity, for elegance of style ; and of our 
 own or any other country, for purity of sentiment. 
 
 The great bulk of Dr. Parr's property depended 
 on the beneficial lease of his prebendal estate. His 
 Norfolk estate had been settled on the marriage of 
 Mr. Lynes with Miss Wynne. He had left legacies 
 to the amount of near ^6,000. The library was to 
 be sold for a smaller sum if it could ])e kept toge- 
 ther ; so that the provision he had made for Mrs. 
 Parr would have swallowed up every thing, had not 
 the lease been valid. In the construction of this
 
 848 MEMOIRS. 
 
 lease Dr. Parr had taken the utmost pains to secure 
 its validity. He had consulted the Bishop of Lon- 
 don, who had referred him to his Secretary, Mr* 
 Hodgson, for advice how to render it valid. The 
 lease had been renewed every year, and yet, after 
 Parr's death, we had the mortification to find that 
 by the 80th clause of an Act of Parliament passed 
 in 1820, for another purpose, prebendal leases were 
 rendered voidable under certain circumstances con- 
 nected with the purchase of the land-tax, and that 
 the lease granted by Dr. Parr was exposed to some 
 peril by the ignorance, or the neglect of the provi- 
 sions of this Act. Though it cannot be conceived 
 that advantage could, or would, have been taken 
 after such an appeal as that I have stated to the 
 patron of the preferment and his confidential agent, 
 still it became the duty of those to whom Dr. Parr 
 had intrusted the security of his property, to provide 
 against all possible failure. It was a painful di- 
 lemma to which they were reduced, but they were 
 advised by wise and honourable men to run no risk, 
 to avoid litigation, and the consequences which 
 result from the uncertainty of law. No less a sum 
 was sacrificed, in pursuance of this advice, than 
 ^9000, the price demanded for the renewal of a 
 lease for twenty-one years. This sum was actually 
 paid to Dr. Parr's successor, the present Prebendary 
 of Wenlock's Barn, in the Cathedral of St. Paul's. 
 It will be gratifying to the lovers of learning, and to 
 the surviving friends of Dr. Parr, to learn that his 
 wishes and intentions were not finally frustrated by 
 this unforeseen demand. In consequence of an Act
 
 MEMOIRS. 849 
 
 of Parliament which enal)les the Prebendary of 
 Wenlock's Barn to grant building leases, the lease 
 granted to Dr. Parr's executors was bought under 
 legislative sanction for ^29,000 out of the money 
 which had been paid by the Regent Canal Company 
 for some of the prebendal land, and thus we have 
 been relieved from vexatious litigation, great expen- 
 diture has been spared, and Dr. Parr's estate has 
 received benefit to the full amount originally con- 
 templated. 
 
 The sale of the library is now the only remaining 
 source of anxiety. The premature disclosure, and sur- 
 reptitious publication, of some of Dr. Parr's private 
 memorandums, are very vexatious ; but the explana- 
 tion which has already appeared in the Catalogue 
 will, I trust, exonerate us from blame. As a library 
 on sale, it would have been a foolish attempt to sup- 
 press all the entries ; nor would the Catalogue have 
 answered the purpose he himself intended, had the 
 notices inserted by himself in the books been cut 
 out. Many were erased which tended to asperse the 
 characters of individuals, and three, by accident, 
 were retained which were intended to be omitted. 
 This library, founded by himself, is alone a monu- 
 ment of the intellectual courage and capacity of 
 Parr. It was begun when he was a boy at College, 
 and when the price of a book deprived him of some 
 other need or comfort ; it continued to accumulate 
 when he was bowed down by penury and opposi- 
 tion ; whatever else he wanted, he always found 
 money to buy books, and the sums he expended in 
 
 VOL. I. 3 I
 
 850 MEMOIRS. 
 
 the year 1824, when his hfe was waning, shew that 
 his ardour in the cause of letters was inextinguish- 
 able. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 198, line 21, for a part, read apart. 
 
 393, — 27, for reputation, read representation. 
 
 493, 5 from bottom, ybr "he, pray, escape that leap?" read "the 
 
 prey escape that leap,' &c. 
 686", note, for Pali read Parr. 
 
 687, line 27, read " veracity of the Divine verity," — a quotation from 
 
 Chiliingworth. 
 
 688, last line, after Clirist place a — 
 
 703, dele " whose first work he had some intention of publishing." 
 828, line 3, ^or some reatZ sometimes. 
 847, — 17, </eZe a before high. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, 2'j, TARLI AMENT-STREET.
 
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