am at a loss indeed to say, whether the great historian of empires and of the changes and chances of the world in general, may be of more use and consequence than the faithful narrator, as he appears in your Lordship's representation, of the humbler incidents of private life, of the occasional reflexions that arise upon them, and the happiness of a sincere, long-continued, and uninterrupted friendship. The last I am sure come much more closely home to our personal businesses and bosoms, and must have a greater influence on our own immediate con. duct; nor can I hesitate to affirm, in an allusion which Mr. Gibbon himself, if he could have known the posthumous care and attention to his fame and character, would have applied, Fortunati ambo! Nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet ævo— You will go down together to late posterity with as much just distinction as any of the memorable duets of antiquity. While I congratulate your Lordship on the close of your meritorious labour for one friend, let me intreat your intercession with Lady Sheffield for my not having particularly expressed the high sense I have of the honour of her Lady- ́ ship's late notice with which she so obligingly favoured me: nor will it be a slight gratification, if Miss Holroyd may retain any memory of a former admirer, or Miss Louisa, of the happiness she communicated by a few transient interviews at Bath. May every blessing attend your Lordship, and all who are dear to you! so prayeth most heartily Your ever most truly obliged and most WILLIAM COOKE. No. LXXII. The Rev. NORTON NICHOLLS to Lord SHEFFIELD. Blundeston, June 2d, 1796. I HAVE delayed so long to write to you, my dear Lord, not certainly from indifference to you or to the posthumous fame of Gibbon which Owes owes so much to your friendly and judicious exertions-The work more than answers my expectation; such a faithful, interesting, and agreeable portrait of a human mind endowed with the most extraordinary powers, enriched with all the treasures of learning, embellished with all the graces that good taste and polished society can bestow; impelled by an insatiable desire of knowledge to an activity in the pursuit of it, the eagerness and constancy of which has seldom been equalled; such a portrait has scarcely ever been given to the world, and never with such a curious and happy detail. As for his moral character, you have exhibited it in a new point of view even to me; till that admirable letter preceding his last departure from Switzerland I had no idea of the warmth and energy of his friendship; but the incomparable letters which you have published teem with proofs, most honourable to the heart and sentiments of their author. The account of his studies is as useful as it is singular, and may serve to point out to others the path to literature which so few pursue. Nothing ran through his mind; every subject worthy of attention was sifted, examined, and dissected. The ideas of others produced a new train in him which he generally carried far beyond the original. The style of his letters is perfect,-equally easy, elegant, accurate, pleasant, and even playful. The outlines of the History of the World (which I had not seen) is masterly. It was impossible for him to be superficial. I cannot help congratulating you on having produced a work as honourable to you, as to your friend; and I am convinced that its popularity will be equal to its merit. Adieu, my dear Lord, believe me to be ever most faithfully yours, N. NICHOLLS. No. LXXIII. Extract of a Letter from GREGORY LEWIS WAY, Esq. to Lord SHEFFIEld. Spencer Farm, August 28th, 1796. I HAVE finished the first volume of the Gibboniana. With parts of it I was delighted and interested extremely. Of his satire on Oxford I can can hardly be deemed an impartial reader. His opinions on public affairs and public men, I swallowed with avidity and approbation. But his French letters of courtship to Deyverdun are delicious indeed: and in the minute incidents connected with his Work, I stand invisible behind him; I steal along his grove of Acacias, and my mind participates in his exultation and in his gloom. Shall I add, that in his honest and manly retirement from public life, and in his estimate of the comparative charms of politics and philosophy, he has also a powerful echo in my bosom? I trust that, like him, I should have been able, in spite of "mes amis, qui ne veulent pas me permettre d'être heureux suivant mon goût, et mes lumières," to have persisted in a like line of conduct; since I have his authority for flattering myself that I " possess a disposition somewhat similar to his own." The names of Chelsum and Randolph I have not forgotten, though I suspect myself of never having read their books. No. LXXIV. SAMUEL ROSE, Esq. to Lord SHEFFIELD. MY DEAR LORD, Denham Lodge, Sept. 7th, 1796. I HAVE been in Oxfordshire, and am now in Norfolk, visiting my valuable but unhappy friend Cowper, who, though certainly better than he has been, still continues a victim to melancholy and despair. It is a dreadful sight!-such talents so laid waste by so merciless a disorder claim our pity now, as much as, in a different state, they before excited our admiration. But it is not the object of this letter to communicate to your Lordship those painful sensations which must necessarily be felt by every benevolent mind at hearing of the continued misery this gentleman suffers. It is rather the object of this letter to give you pleasure, who are ever so active in creating and promoting the enjoyment of others. I lately heard from my friend Mr. Mackenzie of Edinburgh, who has distinguished himself in the literary world by his Man of Feeling, and other ingenious publications. He speaks in the following just and appropriate appropriate terms of your Lordship's last work, which I transcribe with great satisfaction, as they express my sentiments upon the subject, and as they come with weight from so distinguished a character as Mr. Mackenzie: "With Mr. Gibbon's volumes, particularly the first, I was much entertained and gratified. To see so much of the life and manners of a celebrated man, is always gratifying; in this case it was peculiarly so, from the increased esteem which it excited for that man, by exhibiting him in so amiable a view as a relation and a friend. Lord Sheffield and. his family formed a very interesting group in the picture. Among authors and public men it is not very common, and it is very pleasing, to find such continued and warm affection and attachment; and the man of taste, as well as of virtue, is deeply indebted to the editor, who can thus unfold to him such sources of moral as well as literary pleasure." This is one, among many honourable testimonies, you have received of the value and importance of your very entertaining publication; a publication which will increase in the good opinion of the public, in proportion as they become better acquainted with its contents. Your Lordship's obliged and affectionate, The Remains of Mr. Gibbon were deposited in Lord Sheffield's Family Burial-Place, in Fletching, Sussex; whereon is inscribed the following Epitaph, written at his Lordship's request by a distinguished scholar, the Rev. Dr. Parr :— EDVARDUS GIBBON CRITICUS ACRI INGENIO ET MULTIPLICI DOCTRINA ORNATUS IDEMQUE HISTORICORUM QUI FORTUNAM IMPERII ROMANI VEL LABENTIS ET INCLINATI VEL EVERSI ET FUNDITUS DELETI LITTERIS MANDAVERINT OMNIUM FACILE PRINCEPS CUJUS IN MORIBUS ERAT MODERATIO ANIMI CUM LIBERALI QUADAM SPECIE CONJUNCTA IN SERMONE MULTA GRAVITATI COMITAS SUAVITER ADSPERSA COPIOSUM SPLENDIDUM CONCINNUM ORBE VERBORUM ET SUMMO ARTIFICIO DISTINCTUM ORATIONIS GENUS RECONDITÆ EXQUISITÆQUE SENTENTIÆ ET IN MONUMENTIS RERUM POLITICARUM OBSERVANDIS VIXIT ANNOS LVI MENS. VII DIES XXVIII DECESSIT XVII CAL. FEB. ANNO SACRO MDCCLXXXXIV ET IN HOC MAUSOLEO SEPULTUS EST EX VOLUNTATE JOHANNIS DOMINI SHEFFIELD QUI AMICO BENE MERENTI ET CONVICTORI HUMANISSIMO H. TAB. P. C. |