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with a repetition of the eulogiums lavifhed on the author in the literary journals of the day.

in each other's productions fomething to blame, and fomething to commend ; ⚫ and therefore you may perhaps expect alfo fome feafoning of the former kind; but really neither my leifure nor inclination allowed me to make fuch remarks, and I fincerely believe you have afforded me very small materials for them, However, fuch par⚫ticulars as occur to my memory I fhall mention. Maltreat is a Scotticifm

"The paragraphs which immediately follow are part of a letter from Mr. Hume, without any date; but written, as appears from the contents, while the Hiftory of Charles V. was fill in the prefs. The levity of the ftyle forms fuch a ftriking contraft to the character which this grave and philofophical hiftorian fuftains in his pub-which occurs once. What the devil lications, that I have fometimes hefitated about the propriety of subjecting to the criticisms of the world fo carelefs an effufion of gaiety and affection. I truft, however, that to fome it will not be wholly uninterefting to enjoy a glimpse of the writer and his correfpondent in the habits of private inter-pany. But I know your affection for

'had you to do with that old-fashioned dangling word wherewith? I should 'as foon take back whereupon, whereunto, and wherewithal. I think the only tolerable, decent gentleman of the family is wherein; and I fhould not chufe to be often feen in his com

courfe; and that to them the playful wherewith proceeds from your parand good-natured irony of Mr. Hume tiality to Dean Swift, whom I can will fuggeft not unpleafing pictures often laugh with, whofe ftyle I can of the hours which they borrowed even approve, but furely can never from bufinefs and study. Dr. Robert-admire. It has no harmony, no elo fon ufed frequently to fay, that in Mr.quence, no ornament; and not much Hume's gaiety there was fomething correctnefs, whatever the English may which approached to infantine; and imagine. Were not their literature that he had found the fame thing foftill in a fomewhat barbarous state, often exemplified in the circle of his other friends, that he was almoft difpofed to confider it as characteristical of genius.

that author's place would not be fo high among their claffics. But what a fancy is this you have taken of fay ing always an hand, an beart," an head? Have you an ear? Do you not know that this (n) is added before vowels to prevent the cacophony, and ought never to take place before (h) when that letter is founded? It is never pronounced in these words: why fhould it be wrote? Thus, I fhould fay, a biftory, and an biftorian; and fo would you too, if you had any fenfe. But you tell me, that Swift does otherwife. To be fure there is no reply to that; and we must fwallow your bath too upon the same

"I got yesterday from Strahan about thirty fheets of your hiftory to be fent over to Suard *, and last night and this morning have run them over with great avidity. I could not deny myself the fatisfaction (which I hope alfo will not difpleafe you) of ex*preffing presently my extreme approbation of them. To fay only they ' are very well written, is by far too faint an expreffion, and much inferior to the fentiments I feel: they are compofed with nobleness, with dignity, with elegance, and with judg-authority. I will fee you dd ⚫ment, to which there are few equals. 'fooner. But I will endeavour to keep They even excel, and, I think, in a ⚫ my temper. fenfible degree, your Hiftory of Scotland. propofe to myfelf great pleafare in being the only man in Eng-confequence of the treaty Wolfey land, during fome months, who will be in the fituation of doing you juftice, after which you may certainly expect that my voice will be drowned in that of the public.

"You know that you and I have f always been on the footing of finding

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"I do not like this fentence in page 149. "This ftep was taken in

had concluded with the Emperor at Bruffels, and which had hitherto been kept fecret." Si fic omnia dixiffes, E fhould never have been plagued with • hearing your praises so often founded, and that fools preferred your ftyle to mine. Certainly it had been better

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⚫ to have faid, which Wolfey, &c. That refearches ftill more laborious. I fhall relative ought very feldom to be not be involved in the fame painful ⚫ omitted, and is here particularly re-inquiries, if I undertake the present quifite to preserve a fymmetry be-work. I poffefs already as much tween the two members of the fen- 'knowledge of the British government tence. You omit the relative too often, which is a colloquial barbarifm, as Mr. Johnfon calls it. "Your periods are fometimes, though not often, too long. Suard will be embarraffed with them, as ⚫ the modish French ftyle runs into the ⚫ other extreme'. . . P. 50.

A CONTINUATION OF HUME'S HIS-
TORY PROPOSED BY DR. ROBERT-
SON.

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and laws as ufually is poffeffed by other perfons who have been well ' educated and have lived in good company. A minute investigation of facts will be the chief object of my atten'tion. With refpect to thefe, I fhall be much aided by the original papers 'published by Sir John Dalrymple and Macpherson, and lately by Lord "Hardwicke. The Memoirs of No'ailles, concerning the French negotiations in Spain, contain very curious 'information. I have got a very valu

"IN confequence of the interrup-able collection of papers from the tion of Dr. Robertfon's plans, produced by the American revolution, he

Duke of Montague, which belonged to the Duke of Shrewsbury; and I

the Duke of Marlborough, which were formerly in the hands of Mr. 'Mallet. From these and other mate.. rials, I hope to write a history which may be both entertaining and inftruc

was led to think of fome other subjectam promised the large collection of which might, in the mean time, give employment to his ftudious leifure. A letter, dated July 1778, to his friend the Rev. Mr. Waddilove (now Dean of Rippon), contains fome important information with respect to his defigns attive. I know that I fhall get upon this period.

'dangerous ground, and must relate events, concerning which our political factions entertain very different 'fentiments. But I am little alarmed with this. I flatter myself that I have temper enough to judge with impartiality; and if, after examining with candour I do give offence, there is no man whose fituation is more independent.'

"Whatever the motives were which induced him to relinquish this project, it is certain that it did not long occupy his thoughts. From a letter of Mr. Gibbon, it would appear to have been abandoned before the end of the year 1779. The paffage is interefting, not only as it ferves to afcertain the fact, but as it suggests a valuable hint with respect to a different hiftorical subject.

"The ftate of our affairs in North • America is not fuch as to invite me to go on with my Hiftory of the New World. I muft wait for times of greater tranquillity, when I can write, and the public can read, with more impartiality and better information than at prefent. Every person with whom I converfed in London confirmed me in my refolution of making a paufe for a little, until it fhall be known in what manner the ferment will fubfide. But as it is neither my ƒ inclination nor interest to be altogether idle, many of my friends have fuggefted to me a new fubject, the History of Great Britain, from the < Revolution to the Acceffion of the • House of Hanover. It will be some fatisfaction to me to enter on a do• mestic subject, after being engaged fo long on foreign ones, where one half of my time and labour were employed in teaching myself to under-fure to next fpring, when your bond ftand manners, and laws, and forms, which I was to explain to others. You know better than any body how 'much pains I beftowed in ftudying the conftitution, the manners, and the commerce of Spanish America. The review contained in the first volume of Charles V. was founded on

"I remember a kind of engage'ment you had contracted to repeat your vifit to London every fecond year, and I look forwards with plea

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will naturally become due. I fhould almeft hope that you would bring 'with you fome fruits of your leisure, had I not been informed that you had totally relinquished your defign of continuing Mr. Hume's Hiftory of England. Notwithstanding the juft and deep fenfe which I must entertain

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(if the intelligence be true) of our public lofs, I have fearcely courage enough to blame you. The want of ⚫ materials and the danger of offence are two formidable obftacles for an hiftorian who wishes to inftruct, and who is determined not to betray his readers. But if you leave the narrow limits of our ifland, there still remain, without returning to the troubled fcene of America, many fubjects not unworthy of your genius. Will you give me leave, as a vague and indigefted hint, to fuggeft the Hiftory of the Proteftants in France; the events < are important in themselves, and in⚫timately connected with the great revolutions of Europe; fome of the ⚫ boldeft or moft amiable characters of modern times, the Admiral Coligny, Henry IV. &c. would be your peculiar heroes; the materials are copious, and authentic, and acceffible; and the objects appear to ftand at that juft diftance which excites curiofity without infpiring paffion. Excufe the freedom, and weigh the merits (if any) of this propofal'." P. 83.

SKETCH OF DR. ROBERTSON'S

CHARACTER HIS DEATH.

"IN confequence of the various connexions with fociety, which arose from his profeffional duties, and from the intereft which he was led to take, both by his official fituation, and the activity of his public spirit, in the literary or the patriotic undertakings of others, a confiderable portion of Dr. Robertfon's leifure was devoted to converfation and company. No man enjoyed thefe with more relifh; and few have poffeffed the fame talents to add to their attractions.

"A rich flock of mifcellaneous information, acquired from books and from an extenfive intercourse with the world, together with a perfect acquaintance, at all times, with the topics of the day, and the foundest fagacity and good fense applied to the occurrences of common life, rendered him the most agreeable and inftructive of companions. He feldom aimed at wit; but, with his intimate friends, he often indulged a fportive and fancifil fpecies of humour. He delighted in good natured, characteristical anecdotes of his acquaintance, and added powerfully to their effect by his own

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enjoyment in relating them. He was, in a remarkable degree, fufceptible of the ludicrous; but on no occafion did he forget the dignity of his character, or the decorum of his profeffion; nor did he even lofe fight of that claffical tafte which adorned his compofitions. His turn of expreffion was correct and pure; fonetimes, perhaps, inclining more than is expected to the carelessnefs of a focial hour, to formal and artificial periods; but it was ftamped with his own manner, no less than his premeditated ftyle: it was always the language of a fuperior and a cultivated mind, and it embellished every subjc& on which he spoke. In the company of ftrangers, he increafed his exertions to amufe and to inform; and the splendid variety of his converfation was commonly the chief circumstance on which they dwelt in enumerating his talents: and yet, I must acknowledge, for my own part, that much as I always admired his powers when they were thus called forth, I enjoyed his fociety lefs, than when I faw him in the circle of his intimates, or in the bofom of his family." P. 128.

"His health began apparently to decline in the end of the year 1791. Till then, it had been more uniformly good than might have been expected from his ftudious habits; but, about this period, he fuddenly difcovered ftrong symptoms of jaundice, which gradually undermined his constitution, and terminated at length in a lingering and fatal illness. He had the profpect of death long before him; a profpect deeply afflicting to his family and his friends; but of which, without any visible abatement in his fpirits, he happily availed himself, to adorn the doctrines which he had long taught, by an example of fortitude and of Chriftian refignation. In the concluding stage of his disorder, he removed from Edinburgh to Grange Houfe, in the neighbourhood, where he had the advantage of a freer air, and a more quiet fitua tion, and (what he valued more than moft men), the pleafure of rural objects, and of a beautiful landscape. While he was able to walk abroad, he commonly pafled a part of the day in a fmall garden, enjoying the fimple gratifications it afforded with all his wonted relish. Some who now hear me will long remember, among the trivial yet interesting incidents which

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marked these last weeks of his memorable life, his daily vifits to the fruittrees (which were then in bloffom), and the fmile with which he, more than once, contrasted the interest he took in their progrefs, with the event which was to happen before their maturity. At his particular defire, I faw him (for the last time) on the 4th of June 1793, when his weaknefs confined him to his couch, and his articulation was already beginning to fail: and it is in obedience to a requeft with which he then honoured me, that I have ventured, without confulting my own powers,, to offer this tribute to his memory. He died on the 11th of the fame month, in the 71st year of his age." P. 131.

"In point of ftature Dr. Robertfon was rather above the middle fize; and his form, though it did not convey the idea of much activity, announced vigour of body and a healthful conftitution. His features were regular and manly; and his eye spoke at once good fenfe and good humour. He appeared to greatest advantage in his complete clerical drefs; and was more remarkable for gravity and dignity in discharging the functions of his public ftations, than for cafe and grace in private fociety. His portrait by Reynolds, painted about twenty years ago, is an admirable likeness; and fortunately (for the colours are already much faded), all its fpirit is preferved in an excellent metzotinto. At the requeft of his colleagues in the univerfity, who were anxious to have fome memorial of him placed in the public library, he fat again, a few months before his death, to Mr. Raeburn; at a time when his altered and fickly afpect rendered the talk of the artiit peculiarly difficult. The picture, however, is not only worthy, in every respect, of Mr. Raeburn's high and deferved reputation, but, to thofe who were accustomed to fee Dr. Robertfon at this interefting period, derives an additional value from an air of langour and feeblenefs, which ftrongly marked his appearance during his long decline." P. 135.

LETTERS FROM MR. HUME.

Mr. Hume to Dr. Robertfon. "My dear Sir, 25th January 1759. "WHAT I wrote you with regard to Mary's concurrence in the conspi

racy against Queen Elizabeth, was from the printed hiftories of papers; and nothing ever appeared to me more evident. Your chief objection, I fee, is derived from one circumstance, that neither the secretaries nor confpirators were confronted with Mary: but you muft confider that the law did not then require this confrontation, and it was in no cafe the practice. The crown could not well grant it in one cafe, without granting it in all, because the refufing of it would then have been a ftrong prefumption of innocence in the prifoner. Yet as Mary's was an extraordinary cafe, Elizabeth was willing to have granted it. I find in Forbes's MS. papers, fent me by Lord Royston, a letter of hers to Burleigh and Walfingham, wherein fhe tells them, that, if they thought proper, they might carry down the two fecretaries to Fotheringay, in order to confront them with her. But they reply, that they think it needlefs.

"But I am now forry to tell you, that by Murden's State Papers, which are printed, the matter is put beyond all queftion. I got thefe papers during the holidays by Dr. Birch's means; and as foon as I had read them, I ran to Millar, and defired him very earneftly to ftop the publication of your hiftory till I should write to you, and give you an opportunity of correcting a mistake of fo great moment; but he abfolutely refufed compliance. He faid that your book was now finished; that the copies would be shipped for Scotland in two days; that the whole narration of Mary's trial must be wrote over again; that this would require time, and it was uncertain whether the new narrative could be brought within the fame compafs with the old; that this change, he faid, would require the cancelling a great many fheets; that there were scattered paffages through the volumes founded on your theory, and thefe muft alfo be all cancelled; and that this change required the new printing of a great part of the edition. For thefe reafons, which do not want force, he refufed, after deliberation, to ftop his publication, and I was obliged to acquiefce. Your best apology at prefent is, that you could not poffibly fee the grounds of Mary's guilt, and every equitable person will excufe you.

"I am forry, on many accounts, that

that you did not fee this collection of Murden's. Among other curiofities, there are several inftructions to H. Killigrew. dated 10th September 1572. He was then fent int Scotland. It there appears, that the regents, Murray and Lennox, had defired Mary to be put into their hands, in order to try her and put her to death. Elizabeth there offers to Regent Mar to deliver her up, provided good security were given, that the should receive that the hath deferved there by order of justice, whereby no further peril fhould enfue by her efcaping, or by fetting her up again.' It is probable Mar refused compliance, for no fteps were taken towards it." P. 156.

“米 *

London, 8th Feb. 1759. *AS to the Age of Leo the Tenth, it was Warton himfelf who intended to write it; but he has not wrote it, and probably never will. If I understand your hint, I fhould conjecture that you had fome thoughts of taking up the fubject. But how can you acquire knowledge of the great works of fculpture, architecture, and painting, by which that age was chiefly diftinguifhed? Are you verfed in all the anecdotes of the Italian literature? Thefe queftions I heard propofed in a company of literati, when I inquired concerning this defign of Warton. They applied their remarks to that gentle man, who yet, they fay, has travelled. I wish they do not all of them fall more fully on you. However, you muft not be idle. May I venture to fuggeft to you the Ancient Hiftory, particularly that of Greece? I think Rollin's fuccefs might encourage you, nor need you be in the leaft intimidated by his merit. That author has no other merit but a certain facility and fweetnefs of narration, but has loaded his work with fifty puerilities.

"Our friend Wedderburn is advancing with great ftrides in his profeffion.

*

**

"I defire my compliments to Lord Elibank. I hope his Lordship has forgot his vow of answering us, and of washing Queen Mary white. I am afraid that is impoffible; but his Lordfhip is very well qualified to gild her. I am, &c,"

Paris, 1 December "Dear Robertion, 1763. "AMONG other agreeable circum

ftances which attend me at Paris, I muft mention that of having a lady for a tranflator, a woman of merit, the widow of an advocate. She was before very poor, and known but to few; but this work has got her reputation, and procured her a penfion from the court, which fets her at her cafe. She tells me that the has got a habit of induftry; and would continue, if I could point out to her any other English book fhe could undertake, without running the risk of being anticipated by any other tranflator. Your Hiftory of Scotland is tranflated, and is in the prefs: but I recommended to her your Hiftory of Charles V. and promised to write to you, in order to know when it would be printed, and to defire you to fend over the theets from London as they came from the prefs: I fhould put them into her hands, and fhe would by that means have the ftart of every other translator. My two volumes laft published are at present in the prefs. She has a very eafy natural ftyle: fometimes the mittakes the fenfe; but I now correct her render you the fame fervice, if my leimanufcript; and thould be happy to fure permit me, as I hope it will. Do you ask me about my courfe of life? I can only fay, that I eat nothing but ambrolia, drink nothing but nectar, breathe nothing but incenfe, and tread on nothing but flowers. Every man I meet, and still more every lady, would indifpenfable duty, if they did not think they were wanting in the moft make to me a long and elaborate harangue in my praife. What hap pened last week, when I had the bonour of being prefented to the Dn's children at Verfailles, is one of the moft curious fcenes I have yet paffed through. The Duc de B. the eldeft, a boy of ten years old, ftepped forth, and told me how many friends and that he reckoned himself in the numadmirers I had in this country, and ber, from the pleasure he had received from the reading of many paffages in my works. When he had finifhed, his brother, the Count de P. who is two years younger, began his difcourse, and informed me, that I had been long and impatiently expected in France; and that he himself expected foon to have great fatisfaction from the reading of my fine hiftory. But what is more curious; when I was carried thence to

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