From the Rev. W. D. SHIPLEY, Dean of ST. Asaph. Bolton-street, Feb. 23, 1795. "SIR, “You will, I am sure, agree with me in thinking, that, from the very deservedly high estimation in which Sir William Jones was held in the literary world, it becomes a duty incumbent on his friends to collect and preserve such of his productions as are to be met with. Under this impression, I am desired by my Sister, Lady Jones, to request that you will favour her with any letters from her late husband (not of a private nature) which may happen to be in your possession. She proposes making a similar application to all Sir William's Correspondents, having good reason to believe that such a step would have been by no means disapproved by Sir William Jones himself. Permit me to request the honour of an answer to this house. I am, Sir, "Your very obedient humble servant, W. D. SHIPLEY." From the Rev. Dr. VINCENT, Dean of WESTMINSter. "SIR, Westminster Deanery, Nov. 25, 1808. ; "I have been put to great inconvenience for want of the books you had of me last year*; and the Herodotus in particular is an Author that I have almost daily occasion to refer to. I think the books you had were, Herodotus, - Wesseling, - Plutarch, first volume, - Vigerus,—and some others which I must trust to your kindness and memory. I will be much obliged to you if you will have the goodness to return them immediately, or inform me where I may send for them. I remain "Your obedient servant, W. VINCENT." From the Rev. Dr. JOHN EKINS, Dean of SALISBURY. "DEAR SIR, Newton Tony, Amesbury, March 1, 1795. "Your humane application to me, in favour of Mr. Collins †, whose misfortunes I sincerely bewail, is so far from requiring an apology, that it deserves my thanks, for I feel myself obliged by your kind remembrance on the present occasion. Inclosed is a draft on Messrs. Denne for five guineas, the sum which seems to prevail among the subscribers. With many wishes of success to the charitable business in which you are engaged, I remain, dear Sir, your most obedient and humble servant, JOHN EKINS." From the Rev. JONATHAN DAVIES, Provost of Eron. "DEAR SIR, No. 6, Maddox-street, April 29. "I have read with great pleasure, I assure you, the letter you sent me of Captain George Hardinge. His writing does him as much credit as his fighting. Of all those dashing actions performed by our Tars in this and the last War, I think this the most gallant. I rejoice not only in his honorary reward from the Patriotic Fund, but in his promotion to a frigate, which I have seen in the papers, and hope is true. I am, dear Sir, "Yours very faithfully, * See p. 45; and vol. I. p. 47. J. DAVIES." Of whom some account hereafter. From the Right Hon. Sir JOSEPH Banks. "DEAR SIR, March.., 1795. "Inclosed you receive five guineas, a tribute to the necessities of my old school-fellow Collins, which I beg you will apply in such manner as seems good to you to his emolument. "I have the honour to be, your very faithful and very humble servant, Jos. BANKS." From the Right Hon. SPENCER Perceval. "DEAR SIR, Lincoln's Inn Fields, March 24, 1802. "I received your letter, requesting me to apply to the Attorney General for leave to put his name to two sets of Mr. Davies's book; and I have accordingly applied to him this morning, and got his permission for that purpose. I have also authority to let you put down Mr. Richards's and Mr. Thomas Manners Sutton's names for two copies. I had previously directed my own to be set down for two copies; therefore, I say nothing upon that head. "You really do express yourself, if I may say so without offence, so extravagantly of what I have done for Mr. Davies, that I cannot help expressing a wish that you may not think it necessary to make it the theme of praise to others; and, therefore, hope you will excuse me for what, I trust, would be an unnecessary precaution, when I intreat that, if you should have occasion to print any more of Mr. Davies's letters, you will take care to expunge from them any expressions of his, which may allude to this present of mine, for I can assure you without affectation, that it would distress me very much if I was to find any intimation of it given to the publick. I am confident, your own delicacy, on a moment's reflection, would secure me from any hazard of such publication; but I was almost afraid that, in the warmth of your feeling upon the subject, you might not give it that reflection which would secure me. I am, dear Sir, &c. SP. PERCEVAL." Mr. PERCEVAL to the Rev. EDWARD DAVIES. "STR, Lincoln's Inn Fields, March 10, 1802. "Having been informed of your merit and distress, I take the liberty of inclosing you a promissory note of Messrs. Drummond for twenty guineas. I trust you will accept of this assistance, though from a perfect stranger. I should have sent it to you anonymously, if I had not thought that, by giving you my name, I might acquaint you where, in any event of increased distress, you might apply for assistance, which, if in my power, I should very gladly afford. I am, Sir, with great respect, &c. SP. PERCEVAL." From WILLIAM NICHOLL, Esq. "DEAR SIR, Wednesday morning. "It was not from any want of respect that I deferred hitherto returning an answer to your letter, but because I had not before last night an opportunity of leaving at Ransom's my poor contribution for that truly meritorious sufferer Mr. F. That such merit Sir Edward Law, Knt. now Lord Ellenborough. as as his meets with reward, gives me much satisfaction, while your recommendation effectually secures me from any apprehension of misplaced charity, and from that hesitation which every one would otherwise feel, who, like me, has it to lament that his limited circumstances forbid him to rank himself among those to whom merit in distress should never sue in vain. We shall be happy to see you in George-street, whenever you find it convenient to do us the honour of calling; and I am, dear Sir, "Yours most sincerely, W. NICHOLL." RICHARD CUMBERLAND, Esq. to Mr. HARDINGE. "DEAR SIR, Tunbridge Wells, Sept. 11, 1803. "A thousand thanks for the kind and flattering mark of your remembrance of me, which inclosed to me your admirable Charge at Cardiff, that gave me sincere satisfaction in the perusal. The whole is good; and the conclusion, with a blank calendar, excellent in every sense of the word. The gift of talents, such as you are endowed with, is a sacred trust, and you have put them to a worthy use. "I rejoice that you are pleased with my good and amiable daughter-in-law Eliza; and I had an opportunity of expressing my thanks, and paying my respects to the ladies of your house, whose loyalty and zeal have dislodged them from their own abode, and given us the honour of defending them. This we will do; and, as we are strong in volunteers, worth like theirs shall not want protection and respect.· Believe me, dear Sir, ever truly and faithfully, yours, RICHARD CUMBERLAND." Sunday, Oct. 30, 1803. "MY DEAR SIR, "Though I am conscious the praises you have so elegantly bestowed upon me are not merited on my part, yet I confess I am delighted with them, and regard them as a sample of so much genius in both languages, that I really know not to which I should give the preference. "It was for your sake I was tempted to communicate them to Dr. Knox, though I ought to have blushed for my vanity; but it is amongst the finest arts of a Poet to elevate mean objects, and dignify an humble being, whom it is his pleasure to encourage. Had such a tribute ever been offered to me in my earlier years, I would have been more careful of my literary fame, and, with your lines in my memory, would not have sent mine into the world with such precipitation and indifference. "I am now too old to speak of the future; and therefore do not presume to make any promises for time to come, except that of faithfully remaining, my dear Sir, your most obliged friend and affectionate humble servant, RICHARD CUMBERLAND." Tunbridge Wells, May 1, 1804. "I return you many thanks for the detail you send me of the very brilliant and gallant action performed by your Nephew Captain Hardinge, reflecting so much honour upon him, and affording such a high degree of gratification to you and his con "DEAR SIR, nexions. nexions. I feel greatly flattered that you are pleased to consider me amongst your Friends who participate with you in your feelings on this occasion. "I understand from the public prints that the Committee of Lloyd's Coffee-house has voted a sword of honour to your Nephew and Captain Pelly. I hope this is true. His lamentation for the fate of the Captain of the Atalante is characteristic of a real Hero, and will do him infinite credit at home and abroad. "That Providence may continue to him a long life of fame, health, and happiness, is the sincere wish of, my dear Sir, your much obliged and very faithful servant, RICHARD CUMBERLAND." "DEAR SIR, Warren's Hotel, Saturday, June 15, 1805. "I have many favours to thank you for, much unmerited applause, and several very elegant and interesting specimens of your genius Insertions of their sort would certainly ornament the Memoirs of any man. I have not yet brought mine down to that period of time which could tempt me to inform the world how much too kindly you have thought of me, and praised me. The volume which is in progress I expect to be completed, and published about November. It will leave me matter enough for a second Quarto; but whether Providence will assign me means to finish it may, at my time of life, be justly doubted. I shall therefore study not to disgust my readers by what I have said of myself in this part of my history, and so conduct it as not to disappoint them, if I am cut short, and say no more. "It is a very difficult and hazardous undertaking which I am now engaged in, and to execute it wholly without reproach is perhaps impossible. But all those difficulties and dangers which attach themselves to the work in its earlier periods, will increase as it advances towards time present, and living contemporaries. "What I shall have then to do, I must then very seriously perpend. It is idle to solicit candour if we do not deserve it; and it is not very wise to make too sure of it, even though we do deserve it. Your approbation will always be valuable; and, in the humble hope of preserving that, I have the honour to remain, dear Sir, your faithful and obliged humble servant, R. CUMBERLAND. "MY DEAR SIR, Thursday, 4 o'clock. "When you improve upon yourself, you do what nobody else could have done. "Your elegant and classical compliment comes to cheer and flatter me in the moment when I am called out to march, and am overloaded with a variety of distracting affairs, which are almost too much for a brain so nearly exhausted.-Pardon me, therefore, if I cannot express to you what I ought on this and a former occasion, because I feel more than I have expressions for. I am at this moment perfectly worn out with the labours and letters of the day. My head racks with pain, and my breast is sore with coughing. I am ill, and do not dare to own it at this time, when all depends on my exertions. Adieu. Thank you! At present I can say no more, than that I am, dear Sir, most gratefully, yours, R. CUMBERLAND." Extracts Extracts from the Correspondence of Mr. HARDINGE with Dr. RICHARD WATSON, Bp. of LANDAFF*. “My dear Sir, Oct. 28, 1800. "Though I never write to you, I am always happy to hear of yout. You must not be surprized if your genius soars above the ken of Welsh Justices and Jurors; you had better clip its wings, and keep it within their view, for then they will admire it. R. LANDAFF." "MY DEAR LORD, [1801.] "What I think of your public merits can be of no consequence to you; but what Lord Camden thought (in which I perfectly coincided with him) would perhaps gratify you to know. He never changed, but always told Pitt, that it was a shame for him and the Church, that you had not the most exalted station upon the Bench, as due to the unrivaled superiority of your talents and services. Ever affectionately yours, G. HARDINGE." [In the Autumn of 1802, Mr. Justice HARDINGE and his Nephew (the gallant Naval Hero), in a short Excursion to the Lakes of Westmorland and Cumberland, paid a most delightful visit to his old Friend Bishop WATSON; which he describes in a Series of Letters to his Mother, Sisters, and Nieces, then at the Grove, Sevenoaks,-the Nephew occasionally using the pen.] "MY DEAR MOTHER, Kendal, Thursday morning, Oct. 7. "We made the Beauty of Lancashire give us a letter of introduction to Miss Hamilton, the Authoress of The Modern Philosophers,' who is living at the Bowness inn, at the end of Windermere Lake, and writing another Novel there. We determined to see her. "The road on Wednesday gave us many unbounded varieties of scene above this world; but one so pre-eminent, that we think it surpassed all we had yet contemplated and admired. It is a summer-house, built by Mr. Curwen, upon a very bold and stupendous rock on the Northern shore of the Windermere Lake. It is built in the castellated style, and forms two of the most elegant rooms, commanding all branches of the Lake from different windows, and with an effect inconceivable, but particularly that branch of it which is tumbled into islands. In conversing with the old woman who did the honours, and who was quite an original, we picked up some very entertaining phrases. One tickled me very much: 'Mrs. Curwen often came to the summer-house at whiskey,' meaning in the whiskey. We had for this divine prospect a sun as bright and glowing as we could have desired; but a turbulent wind, that blew such a hurricane as to disable the ferry intended for our passage across the Bowness, and so on to *The Originals of most of these Letters are in my possession. But a few are here added, to complete the series, from the lately published Anecdotes of the Life of Bishop Watson, compiled by himself. + Bp. Watson had been Mr. Hardinge's Fellow Collegian at Trinity College, Cambridge, and for one year bis Tutor. Calgarth. |