OF MY LITERARY LIFE.
[]ORIGINAL CAUSE OF MY STUDIES. A PRESENT of the ornithology of Francis Willughby, eſq. made to me, when I was about the age of twelve, by my kinſman the late John Saliſbury,eſq. of Bachegraig, in the county of Flint, father of the fair and celebrated writer Mrs. Piozzi, firſt gave me a taſte for that ſtudy, and incidentally a love for that of natural hiſtory in general, which I have ſince purſued with my conſtitutional ardor.
A TOUR IN CORNWAL, 1746 OR 7. A TOUR I made into Cornwal, from Oxford, in the year 1746 or 1747, gave me a ſtrong paſſion for minerals and foſſils, in which I was greatly encouraged by that able and worthy man, the late reverend doctor William Borlaſe of Ludgvan, who, in the kindeſt manner, communicated to me every thing worthy my notice.
THE firſt thing of mine which appeared in print was inſerted unknown to me; an abſtract of a letter I had written to my ever venerated friend and uncle James Mytton,eſq. on an earth⯑quake which was felt at Downing, April the 2d, 1750. This, with ſeveral ſimilar teſtimonies, may be ſeen in the xth volume of the Abridgment of the Philoſophical Tranſactions, p. 511.
[2] ELECTED FEL⯑LOW OF THE SO⯑CIETY OF ANTI⯑QUARIES. HAVING an inclination to the ſtudy of antiquities, I was, on November the 21ſt, 1754, elected a fellow of the ſociety of an⯑tiquaries.
RESIGN. THIS honor I reſigned about the year 1760. I had married a moſt amiable woman; my circumſtances at that time were very narrow, my worthy father being alive, and I vainly thought my happineſs would have been permanent, and that I never ſhould have been called again from my retirement to amuſe myſelf in town, or to be of uſe to the ſociety.
VISIT IRELAND IN 1754. IN the ſummer of 1754 I viſited the hoſpitable kingdom of Ireland, and travelled from Dublin to Balli-Caſtle, the Giants-Cauſe⯑way, Colraine, the extremity of the county of Donegal, London-Derry, Strabone, Innis-killen, Galway, Limcrick, the lake of Kil⯑larney, Kinſale, Cork, Caſhel, Waterford, Kilkenny, Dublin. But ſuch was the conviviality of the country, that my journal proved as maigre as my entertainment was gras, ſo it never was a diſh fit to be offered to the public.
ACCOUNT OF SOME CORAL⯑LOIDS, 1756. In the Philoſophical Tranſactions of 1756, vol. xlix. p. 513, is a trifling paper of mine, on ſeveral coralloid bodies, I had collected at Coal brook-dale, in Shropſhire. It is accompanied by a plate engraven from ſome drawings by Watkin Williams, a perſon who at that time was an humble companion of my father.
IN 1757 ELECTED OF THE R. S. AT UPSAL. On February, 1757, I received the firſt and greateſt of my literary honors. I value myſelf the more on its being con⯑ferred on me, at the inſtance of Linnaeus himſelf, with whom I had began a correſpondence in 1755. I had ſent him an account of a recent concha anomia, which I found adhering to a ſea-plant of the Norwegian ſeas, ſent to me by biſhop Pontoppi⯑dan. [3]Hanc, ſays the great naturaliſt, recitavi in ſocietatis regiae Upſalienſis, publico conſeſſu, 1757, d. 17 Februarii, quam collegae et ſocii omnes avidiſſimè excipiebant et mirati ſunt; te quoque codem die membrum praefatae ſocietatis unanimo conſenſu elegere omnes, et mibi in mandatis dedere hoc tibi ſignificandi; probè perſuaſi te excep⯑turum hoc eorum officium benevolè, ob amorem quem ſers in ſcientias et omnia quae uſui publico inſerviant. My correſpondence conti⯑nued with this illuſtrious perſonage till age and infirmities obliged him to deſiſt. He did me the honor of accepting all my labors publiſhed before the year 1774. He ſpoke of them in terms too favorable for me to repeat.
FOLIO EDITION OF THE BRITISH ZOOLOGY, 1761. About the year 1761 I began my Britiſh Zoology, which, when completed, conſiſted of cxxxii plates on imperial paper. They were all engraven by Mr. Peter Mazel, now living, and of whoſe ſkill and integrity I had always occaſion to ſpeak well. The painter was Mr. Peter Pallou, an excellent artiſt, but too fond of giving gaudy colours to his ſubjects. He painted, for my hall, at Downing, ſeveral pictures of birds and animals, at⯑tended with ſuitable landſcapes. Four were intended to re⯑preſent the climates. The frigid zone, and an European ſcene of a farm-yard, are particularly well done; all have their merit, but occaſion me to lament his conviviality, which affected his circumſtances and abridged his days.
THE worthy and ingenious George Edwards, that admirable ornithologiſt, at firſt conceived a little jealouſy on my attempt: but it very ſoon ſubſided. We became very intimate, and he continued to his dying day ready and earneſt to promote all my labors. He preſented me, as a proof of his friendſhip, with numbers of the original drawings from which his etchings had [4]been formed. Theſe I keep, not only in reſpect to his me⯑mory, but as curious teſtimonies of his faithful and elegant pencil.
I dedicated the Britiſh Zoology to the benefit of the Welſh ſchool, near Gray's-inn-lane, London, and ſupported the far greater part of the expence. I loſt conſiderably by it, notwithſtanding ſeveral gentlemen contributed. My agent was that very honeſt man, Mr. Richard Morris, of the navy office. His widow was left in narrow circumſtances, I therefore permitted her to keep the plates, and make what advantage ſhe could of them. I was, at the time of undertaking this work, unexperienced in theſe affairs, and was ill-adviſed to publiſh on ſuch large paper; had it been originally in quarto, the ſchool would have been conſiderably benefited by it.
JOURNEY TO THE CONTINENT, 1765. THIS work was for a time left unfiniſhed, by reaſon of a ſhort tour I made to the continent. I leſt London on February the 19th, 1765, paſſed through St. Omer, Aire, Arras, Perron, and acroſs the great foreſt to Chantilli, and from thence to Paris. I made ſome ſtay at that capital, and was during the time made happy in the company of the celebrated naturaliſt Le Comte de Buffon, LE COMTE DE BUFFON. with whom I paſſed much of the time. He was ſatiſ⯑fied with my proficiency in natural hiſtory, and publickly ac⯑knowleged his favorable ſentiments of my ſtudies in the fif⯑teenth volume of his Hiſtoire Naturelle. Unfortunately, long before I had any thoughts of enjoying the honor of his ac⯑quaintance, I had, in my Britiſh Zoology, made a compariſon between the free-thinking philoſopher and our great and re⯑ligious countryman Mr. Ray, much to the advantage of the lat⯑ter. The ſubject was a Mole, really too ridiculous to have been [5]noticed; but ſuch was his irritability, that, in the firſt volume of his Hiſtoire Naturelle des Oiſeaux, he fell on me moſt unmer⯑cifully, but happily often without reaſon. He probably relented, for in the following volumes he frequently made uſe of my au⯑thority, which fully atoned for a haſty and miſguided fit of paſ⯑ſion. I did not wiſh to quarrel with a gentleman I truly eſ⯑teemed, yet, unwilling to remain quite paſſive, in my Index to his admirable works, and the Planches Enluminécs, I did venture to repel his principal charge, and, con amore, to retaliate on my illuſtrious aſſailant. Our blows were light, and I hope that nei⯑ther of us felt any material injury.
I MUST blame the Comte for ſuppreſſing his acknowlegement of ſeveral communications of animals which I ſent to him for the illuſtration of his Hiſtcire Naturelle. One was his Conguar Noir, Suppl. iii. 223. tab. lxii; my Jaguar or Black Tiger, Hiſt. Quadr. 1. No 190. Another was the drawing of his Iſatis, Suppl. iii. tab. xvii. which he attributes to good Peter Collinſon. The third was his Chacal Adive of the ſame work, p. 112. tab. xvi; and my Barbary Fox, Hiſt. Quadr. 1. No 171, of which I furniſhed him with the deſigns. Theſe are no great matters: I lament them only as ſmall defects in a great character.
AT MONBARD. I took the uſual road to Lyon, excepting a ſmall digreſſion in Burgundy, in compliance with the friendly invitation of the Comte, to paſs a few days with him in his ſeat at Monbard. His houſe was built at the foot of a hill crowned with a ruined caſtle: he had converted the caſtle-yard into a garden, and fitted up one of the towers into a ſtudy. To that place he re⯑tired every morning, about ſeven o'clock, to compoſe his ex⯑cellent works, free from all interruption. He continued there [6]till between one and two, when he returned, dined with his fa⯑mily, and gave up the whole remainder of the day to them and his friends, whom he entertained with the moſt agreeable and rational converſation.
VOLTAIRE. AT Ferney, in the extremity of the ſame province, I viſited that wicked wit Voltaire; he happened to be in good-humour, and was very entertaining; but, in his attempt to ſpeak Engliſh, ſatisfied us that he was perfect maſter of our oaths and our curſes.
THE forenoon was not the proper time to viſit Voltaire; he could not bear to have his hours of ſtudy interrupted; this alone was enough to put him in bad humour, and not without reaſon. Leſſer people may have the ſame cauſe of complaint, when a lounger, who has no one thing to do, breaks on their hours of writing, eſtimates the value of their time by his own, and di⯑verts their attention in the moſt pretious hours of the rural morning.
From Lyon I went to Grenoble and the Grand Chartreuſe, Cham⯑berri, and Geneva, and from thence over the greateſt part of Swiſſerland. At Bern I commenced acquaintance with that excellent man the late baron Haller, BARON HALLER. who, on every occaſion, ſhewed the utmoſt alacrity to promote my purſuits. At Zurich with the two Geſners, the poet and the naturaliſt; the laſt the deſcendant of the great Conrad Geſner.
Ulm and Augſburg were the firſt cities I viſited in Germany. Donawert, Nurenberg, Erlang, Bamberg, and Frankfort on the Maine ſucceeded. At the declining city of Nurenberg I viſited doctor Trew, DOCTOR TREW. a venerable patron of natural hiſtory. At Mentz I embarked on the Rhine, and fell down that magnificent river [7]as low as Cologne. From Duſſeldorp I went to Xanten, and from thence reached Holland; few parts of which I left unviſited.
DOCTOR PALLAS. I eſteem my meeting with doctor Pallas, at the Hague, a momentous affair, for it gave riſe to my Synopſis of Quadrupeds, and the ſecond edition, under the name of the Hiſtory of Quadru⯑peds; a work received by the naturaliſts of different parts of Europe in a manner uncommonly favorable. This and the fol⯑lowing year, doctor Pallas reſided at the Hague. From conge⯑niality of diſpoſition we ſoon became ſtrongly attached. Our converſation rolled chiefly on natural hiſtory, and, as we were both enthuſiaſtic admirers of our great Ray, I propoſed his un⯑dertaking a hiſtory of quadrupeds on the ſyſtem of our illuſ⯑trious countryman a little reformed. He aſſented to my plan, and, on January the 18th, 1766, he wrote to me a long letter, in which he ſent an outline of his deſign, and his reſolution to purſue it with all the expedition conſiſtent with his other en⯑gagements. But this work was fated to be accompliſhed by an inferior genius. In the next year he returned to Berlin, his native place; his abilities began to be highly celebrated; his fame reached the court of Peterſburgh, and the empreſs, not more to her own honor than that of my friend, invited him into her ſervice, and in 1768 placed him at the head of one of the philoſophical expeditions projected for diſcovery in the moſt diſtant parts of her vaſt dominions. This was an expedition worthy of Pallas; it began in June 1768, and was concluded on the 30th of July 1774. It unfolded all his great talents, and eſtabliſhed his fame equal at left to the greateſt philoſophers of the age. He was loſt to me during that period. On hear⯑ing of his return I wrote to him at Peterſburgh, and ſent to [8]him all the works I had publiſhed ſince our ſeparation; he re⯑ceived them with the candor which only great minds poſſeſs at the fight of the ſucceſsful labors of others. On November the 4th, 1777, I received from him the firſt letter of our renewed correſpondence, which continued ſeveral years, to my great in⯑ſtruction. He ſuppreſſed nothing that could be of ſervice to the cauſe of literature, nor did he deſiſt, till, overpowered with buſineſs, he dropt all epiſtolary duties except thoſe which were official. To this day he convinces me of his friendſhip by con⯑ſtant preſents of the productions of his celebrated pen.
MR. GRONOVIUS. AT Leyden I had the pleaſure of making a perſonal acquaint⯑ance with my worthy correſpondent doctor Lawrence Theodore Gronovius, deſcended from a race celebrated for their immenſe erudition; his own labors will remain laſting proofs of his be⯑ing an undegenerated ſon.
On February the 26th, 1767, I was elected Fellow of our Royal Society.
BRITISH ZOOLOCY, SECOND EDITION, 1768. Mr. Benjamin White, bookſeller, propoſed to me the republi⯑cation of the Britiſh Zoology, which was done in 1768, in two volumes, octavo, illuſtrated with xvii plates; he payed me £.100 for my permiſſion, which I immediately veſted in the Welſh charity ſchool. I may here obſerve, that M. de Murre, of Nurenbergh, tranſlated the folio edition into German and Latin, and publiſhed it in that ſize, with the plates copied and colored by the ingenious artiſts of that city.
IN the May of this year I met Sir Joſeph Banks, then Mr. Banks, at Reveſby Abby, his ſeat in Lincolnſhire; during my ſtay I made many obſervations on the zoology of the country, and muſt acknowlege the various obligations I lie under to that [9]gentleman for his liberal communications reſulting from the uncommon extent of his travels.
I MAY here mention, that our firſt acquaintance commenced on March 19th, 1766, when he called on me at my lodgings in St. James's Street, and preſented me with that ſcarce book Turner de Avibus, &c. a gift I retain as a valuable proof of his eſteem. An unhappy interruption of our friendſhip once took place, but it recommenced, I truſt, to the content of both par⯑ties, in a fortunate moment, in March 1790.
A THIRD VO⯑LUME OF FISHES, &c. 1769. IN 1769 I added to the Britiſh Zoology a third volume in, octavo, on the reptiles and fiſhes of Great Britain. This was illuſtrated with xvii plates.
IN the preceding year ſir JOSEPH BANKS communicated to me a new ſpecies of Pinguin, brought by captain Machride from the Falkland iſlands. I drew up an account of it, and of all the other ſpecies then known, and laid it before the Royal Society. They were pleaſed to direct that it ſhould be publiſhed, which was done in this year, in the lviiith volume of the Philoſophical Tranſactions. It was accompanied by a figure. It is not a good one, the ſkin having been too much diſtended: but in the ſecond edition of my Genera of Birds a moſt faithful repreſenta⯑tion is given, taken from the life by doctor Reinhold Forſter. I named it Patagonian, not only on account of the ſize, but be⯑cauſe it is very common in the neighborhood of that race of tall men.
INDIAN ZOOLO⯑GY, 1769. MY mind was always in a progreſſive ſtate, it never could ſtagnate; this carried me farther than the limits of our iſland, and made me deſirous of forming a zoology of ſome diſtant country, by which I might relieve my pen by the pleaſure of [10]the novelty and variety of the ſubjects. I was induced to pre⯑fer that of India, from my acquaintance with John Gideon Loten,eſq. who had long been a governor in more than one of the Dutch iſlands in the Indian ocean, and with a laudable zeal had employed ſeveral moſt accurate artiſts in delineating, on the ſpot, the birds, and other ſubjects of natural hiſtory. He offered to me the uſe of them, in a manner that ſhewed his liberal turn. Twelve plates, in ſmall folio, were engraven at the joint ex⯑pence of ſir Joſeph Banks, Mr. Loten, and myſelf; to which I added deſcriptions and little eſſays. I forget how the work ceaſed to proceed; but remember that, at my perſuaſion, the plates were beſtowed on doctor John Reinhold Forſter, together with three more engraven at my own expence. Theſe he took with him into Germany, faithfully tranſlated the letter-preſs into Latin and German, and added a moſt ingenious differtation on the climate, winds, and ſoil of India, and another on the birds of Paradiſe and the Phoenix, all which he publiſhed at Halle, in Saxony, in 1781.
OF MOSES GRIF⯑FITH. IN the ſpring of this year I acquired that treaſure, Moſes Griſſith, born April 6th, 1749, at Trygain-houſe, in the pariſh of Bryn Groer, in Llein, in Caernarvonſhire, deſcended from very poor parents, and without any other inſtruction than that of reading and writing. He early took to the uſe of his pencil, and, during his long ſervice with me, has diſtinguiſhed himſelf as a good and faithful ſervant, and able artiſt; he can engrave, and he is toler⯑ably ſkilled in muſic. He accompanied me in all my journies, except that of the preſent year. The public may thank him for numberleſs ſcenes and antiquities, which would otherwiſe have remained probably for ever concealed.
[11] FIRST TOUR IN⯑TO SCOTLAND. THIS year was a very active one with me; I had the hardi⯑neſs to venture on a journey to the remoteſt part of North Bri⯑tain, a country almoſt as little known to its ſouthern brethren as Kamtſchatka. I brought home a favorable account of the land. Whether it will thank me or not I cannot ſay, but from the re⯑port I made, and ſhewing that it might be viſited with ſafety, it has ever ſince been inondée with ſouthern viſitants.
ELECTED FEL⯑LOW OF THE R. ACAD. AT DRON⯑THEIM. IN the ſame year I received a very polite letter from the reverend Jo. Erneſt Gunner, biſhop of Drontheim, in Norway, informing me that I had been elected member of the Royal Aca⯑demy of Sciences on March the 9th paſt; of which ſociety that prelate was preſident.
IN the midſt of my reigning purſuits, I never neglected the company of my convivial friends, or ſhunned the ſociety of the gay world. At an aſſembly in the ſpring, the lively converſa⯑tion of an agreeable Fair gave birth to the
ODE, occaſioned by a Lady profeſſing an attachment to INDIFFERENCE.
CHESTER, March 1769.
1770. ADDITIONAL PLATES TO THE BRITISH ZOO⯑LOGY. IN 1770 I publiſhed ciii additional plates to the three vo⯑lumes of Britiſh Zoology, with ſeveral new deſcriptions, beſides reſerences to thoſe which had been before deſcribed; it appeared in an octavo volume of 96 pages, in which is included a liſt of European birds extra Britannic.
1771. PUBLISH THE SYNOPSIS OF QUADRUPEDS. In 1771 I printed, at Cheſter, my Synopſis of Quadrupeds, in one volume, octavo, with xxxi plates.
ON May the 11th, 1771, I was honored by the univerſity of Oxford with the degree of doctor of laws, conferred on me in full convocation. I was preſented (in the abſence of the public orator) by the reverend Mr. Foſter, who made a moſt flattering ſpeech on the occaſion.
[13]IN September, of the ſame year, I took a journey to London, to ſee ſir Joſeph Banks and doctor Solander, on their arrival from their circumnavigation. In my return I viſited Robert Berkeley,eſq. of Spetchly, near Worceſter, to indulge my curioſity with ſee⯑ing and examining Mr. Faulkner, an aged jeſuit, FATHER FAULK⯑NER, A JESUIT. who had paſſed thirty-eight years in Patagonia; his account ſatisfied me of the exiſtence of the tall race of mankind. In the appendix to this work, I have given all I could collect reſpecting that much⯑doubted people.
TOUR IN SCOT⯑LAND IN TWO EDITIONS. ABOUT this time I gave to the public my Tour in Scotland, in one volume octavo, containing xviii plates. A candid account of that country was ſuch a novelty, that the impreſſion was in⯑ſtantly bought up; and in the next year another was printed, and as ſoon ſold.
IN this tour, as in all the ſucceeding, I labored earneſtly to conciliate the affections of the two nations, ſo wickedly and ſtu⯑diouſly ſet at variance by evil-deſigning people. I received ſeve⯑ral very flattering letters on the occaſion. An extract of one, from that reſpectable nobleman, the late earl of Kinnoull, dated February the 27th, 1772, may ſerve inſtar omnium.
‘I PERUSED your book, for which I return my hearty thanks, with the greateſt pleaſure; every reader muſt admire the goodneſs of the author's heart; the inhabitants of this part of the united kingdoms ſhould expreſs the warmeſt gratitude for your candid repreſentation of them and their country. This, unleſs my countrymen wiſh to forfeit the favorable opi⯑nion you entertain and endeavor to impreſs upon the minds of their fellow ſubjects, muſt procure you their beſt thanks. [14]It would be a worſe reflection upon us, than any that has fallen from the moſt envenomed pen, if the writer of that account did not meet with the moſt grateful acknowlege⯑ment.’
DOCTOR FOR⯑STER's AMERI⯑CAN CATA⯑LUGUE. IN this year doctor Forſter publiſhed a catalogue of the ani⯑mals of North America. I had begun the work, by a liſt of the quadrupeds, birds and fiſhes. Doctor Forſter added all the reſt: and afterwards, in a new edition, favored the world with a moſt comprehenſive Flora of that vaſt country, with a catalogue of inſects, and the directions for preſerving natural curioſities. My part in this work is of ſo little merit that it need not be boaſted of. I only lay clame to my proper right.
IT was in this year that I laid before the Royal Society an ac⯑count of two new ſpecies of Tortoiſes. The one a freſh-water ſpecies, known in North America by the name of the Soft-ſhelled Tortoiſe. It is attended by a very accurate hiſtory of its man⯑ners, and two fine figures, communicated to me by the worthy doctor Garden, of Charleſtown, South Caroline. My paper was publiſhed in vol. lxi. of the Tranſactions, attended by a plate. This is the Teſtudo ferox of Gmelin, Lin. iii. 1039. and Le Molle of La Cepede, i. 13. tab. vii.
THE other is a ſmall and new ſpecies, which I name the tu⯑berculated. Le Comte de la Cepede and Mr. Gmelin err in mak⯑ing it the young of the Coriaceous Tortoiſe, Br. Zool. iii. No 1. Le Luthe of de la Cepede, i. 115. tab. iii. and T. Coriacea of Gmelin, 1036. B. T. tuberculata.
THIS year another little poetical piece was produced, by the [15]accident of a lady being choſen, on the ſame day, patroneſs of a Book-ſociety and Hunting-meeting.
CHESTER, Sept. 20, 1771.
ON May the 18th, 1772, I began the longeſt of my journies in our iſland. In this year was performed my ſecond tour in Scot⯑land, and my voyage to the Hebrides: my ſucceſs was equal to my hopes; I pointed out every thing I thought would be of ſervice to the country; it was rouzed to look into its advantages; ſocieties have been formed for the improvements of the fiſhe⯑ries, and for founding of towns in proper places; to all which, I ſincerely wiſh the moſt happy event; vaſt ſums will be flung away; but incidentally numbers will be benefited, and the paſ⯑ſion of patriots tickled. I confeſs that my own vanity was [16]greatly gratified by the compliments paid to me in every cor⯑porated town; Edinburgh itſelf preſented me with its freedom, and I returned rich in civic honors.
GENERA OF BIRDS IN 1773. I PUBLISHED the octavo edition of Genera of Birds in 1773, and gave with it an explanatory plate.
NORTHERN TOUR OF THIS YEAR. THIS likewiſe was a year of great activity. I rode (for almoſt all my tours were on horſeback) to Mr. Graham's of Netherby, beyond Carliſle, through thoſe parts of Lancaſhire, Weſtmoreland, and Cumberland, which I had not before ſeen. I viſited Sefton, Ormſkirk, Blackburne, and Clithero, in Lancaſhire; Malham Coves, Settle, and Ingleborough, in Yorkſhire; Kirkby Lonſdale, Kirkby Stephen, and Orton, in Weſtmoreland; and all the counteſs of Cumberland's caſtles in that county; Naworth, Corbie, and Beu⯑caſtle, in Cumberland. In my way I ſkirted the weſtern ſide of Yorkſhire; I paſſed ſome hours with the reverend doctor Burn at Orton, in Weſtmoreland, a moſt uſeful and worthy cha⯑racter.
FROM Netherby I croſſed Alſton Moor into the biſhoprick of Durham, made ſome ſtay with its prelate, doctor John Egerton, and entered Yorkſhire after croſing the Tees at Barnard Caſtle. From thence I viſited Rokeſby houſe; Catterick bridge; the ſin⯑gular circular entrenchments attributed to the Danes: the pic⯑tureſque Hackfall, and the venerable remains of Fountaine's abby. The laſt attracted my attention ſo much that I reviſited them in May 1777, and each time they gave full employ to the pen⯑cil of Moſes Griffith. He etched two of his drawings: I here give one of the plates, as a ſpecimen of his extenſive genius.
FROM thence I croſſed to Boroughbridge and Knareſborough.
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[17]From Harrogate I viſited the wonderful luſuſes of Bramham crags, and cauſed great numbers of drawings to be made of the moſt ſtriking pieces.
FROM Harrogate I rode to York, where Moſes Griffith was by no means idle. Among many other drawings, I cauſed him, out of veneration to the taſte of Mr. Gray, to make a ſecond drawing * of the chapel, ſo much admired by that elegant ge⯑nius. From York I rode the great diagonal of the county to Spurnhead. Near Hull, payed a ſecond time my reſpects to my friend William Conſtable,eſq. of Burton Conſtable, WILLIAM CON⯑STABLE, ESQ., a gentleman the moſt happy in a liberal and munificent turn of mind of any one I know. I kept along the Humber, and from its banks went to Howden, Pontefract, Doncaſter, and Kiveton; viſited Work⯑ſop, Welbeck, the antient houſe of Hardwick, Bolſover Caſtle, Derby, Dovedale, Buxton, Leek; and proceeded by Congleton and Cheſter to my own houſe. I kept a journal of the whole I mention, as well as numberleſs places which I omit. In every tour I made I kept a regular journal, all which are placed apart in my libra⯑ry; theſe I wiſh never to be made public, as they may contain inaccuracies, either from haſte or miſinformation: yet, as they contain many deſcriptions of buildings, and accounts of places in the ſtate they were at the time they were made, they ought not totally to be neglected.
Moſes Griffiths made numbers of drawings: my ingenious friend Mr. Groſe honored me with uſing ſeveral for his fine work of the Antiquities of England; MR. HUTCHIN⯑SON. and I believe Mr. Hut⯑chinſon, [18]of Bernard Caſtle, will do the ſame in his hiſtory of Durbam.
I COMMENCED a friendſhip with that gentleman in this jour⯑ney, in a moſt ſingular manner: I was mounted on the famous ſtones in the church-yard of Penrith, to take a nearer view of them, and ſee whether the drawing I had procured, done by the rev. doctor Tod, had the leſt foundation in truth. Thus en⯑gaged, a perſon of good appearance, looking up at me, obſerved "what fine work Mr. Pennant had made with thoſe ſtones!" I ſaw he had got into a horrible ſcrape; ſo, unwilling to make bad worſe, deſcended, laid hold of his button, and told him, "I am the man!" After his confuſion was over, I made a ſhort de⯑fence, ſhook him by the hand, and we became from that moment faſt friends.
THE ſubject of part of this journey will be found among my poſthumous works, fairly tranſcribed, neatly bound in vellum, and richly illuſtrated with drawings by Moſes Griffith, and with prints. This will take in the ſpace from Downing to Orford, the ſeat of my worthy and venerable friend the late John Blackburne,eſq. From thence to Knowſly, Sephton, Ormſkirk, Latham, and (croſſing the country) to Blackborn, Whalley-abby, Ribcheſter, Mitton, Waddington-hall, and Clithero, moſt of them in the county of Lancaſhire. In that of York, I viſited Sally-abby, Bolton-hall, Malham Coves, Settle, Giggleſwick, and Ingleton.
I THEN croſſed the Lune to Kirkby Lonſdale, and viſited all the parts of Weſtmoreland and Cumberland, omitted in my printed tours of 1769 and 1772: and finally I finiſhed this M.S. vo⯑lume at Alſton, near the borders of Durham. For a more full [19]account of my various poſthuma I refer the reader to the latter pages of this book.
IN this year I kept a regular journal of the road between my houſe and London, and did the ſame on my return, digreſſing to the right or to the left, as the places which merit notice hap⯑pened to lie.
I BEGAN the account of this excurſion with ſaying, that al⯑moſt all my tours were performed on horſeback; to that, and to the perfect eaſe of mind I enjoyed in theſe pleaſing jour⯑nies, I owe my viridis ſenectus; I ſtill retain, as far as poſſible, the ſame ſpecies of removal from place to place. I conſider the abſolute reſignation of one's perſon to the luxury of a carriage, to forebode a very ſhort interval between that, and the vehicle which is to convey us to our laſt ſtage.
1774. THIRD EDITION OF MY FIRST TOUR IN SCOT⯑LAND. IN 1774 I publiſhed a third edition of my Tour in Scotland, 1769, in quarto, with the xxi new plates; but, to accommodate the purchaſers of the firſt edition, I republiſhed, with letter-preſs of the octavo ſize, all thoſe plates.
IN this edition appeared a ſmall poem of mine, in reply to a moſt amiable dignitary, now high on the bench of biſhops, who had written to me, half-jeſt, half-earneſt, on an invidious compa⯑riſon I had made between the Engliſh and Scotch clergy. I thought it beſt to make my defence in rhyme, ſo ſent him the lines in p. 173 of that edition, and all was well again; my coloring of the portraits I gave is certainly high, but the likeneſſes are con⯑feſſed by all who have ſeen the originals. The reader need not be informed, that the ſeven firſt lines are borrowed from the ini⯑mitable author of the New Bath Guide.
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Come jolly Bacchus God of Wine!
Hear me O Lord for I am poor & needy.
Dying in all its Branches. The worst Reds dyed Black; or any Colour be it ever so bad; Enquire at the Key and Crook, in [...] & at the [...], in [...]
—put off three times— due now near six years; besides two new suits—bear it no longer— —not paid by Tuesday next— —will arrest you—go to gaol for you
I AM a ſincere well-wiſher to the pure form of worſhip of the church of England, and am highly ſcandalized if I ſee any thing wrong in the conduct of our hierarchy. Now and then com⯑plaint has been made againſt the unguarded admiſſion of per⯑ſons of the moſt diſcordant profeſſions into the ſacred pale, who, urged by no other call than that of poverty, do not prove either ornamental or uſeful in their new character. To check the pro⯑greſs of a practice injurious to the church, and highly ſo to thoſe who had ſpent their fortune in a courſe of education for the due diſcharge of their duties, I ſent a ſarcaſtic, but ſalutary print, into the world: at which even biſhops themſelves have deigned to ſmile.
VOYAGE TO THE HEBRIDES PUB⯑LISHED. IN the ſame year I publiſhed my journey into Scotland, and my voyage to the Hebrides, in one volume quarto, with xliv plates. In this work the beautiful views of the Baſaltic Staffa appeared. I had the bad fortune to be denied approach to that ſingular iſland; but, by the liberal communication of Sir [22] Joſeph Banks, who touched there the ſame year, in his way to Iceland, the loſs to the public was happily ſupplied.
VOYAGE TO THE ISLE OF MAN. IN this year I viſited the Iſle of Man, in company with the reverend doctor Lort, captain Groſe, Paul Panton, eſq. junior, of Plas Gwyn, in the iſland of Angleſey, and the reverend Hugh Da⯑vies, at this time rector of Aber in Caernarvonſhire, whoſe com⯑pany gave additional pleaſure to the tour. I kept a journal, and was favored with ample materials from the gentlemen of the iſland, moſt of which were unaccountably loſt about a year after, and my deſign of giving an account of that iſland to the public was fruſtrated.
I SHOULD accuſe myſelf of a very undue neglect, if I did not acknowlege the various ſervices I received from the friendſhip of Mr. Davies, at different times, ſince the beginning of our acquaintance. I will in particular mention thoſe which reſulted from his great knowledge in botany. To him I owe the account of our Snowdonian plants; to him I lie under the obligation for undertaking, in June 1775, at my requeſt, another voyage to the Iſle of Man, to take a ſecond review of its vegetable produc⯑tions. By his labors a Flora of the iſland is rendered as com⯑plete as poſſible to be effected by a ſingle perſon, at one ſeaſon of the year. The number of plants he obſerved amounted to about five hundred and fifty.
A TOUR, 1774, INTO NOR⯑THAMPTON⯑SHIRE. IN the ſpring of 1774, on my return from my annual viſit to London, I took the Northamptonſhire road, paſſed by Baldock, Eaton, St. Neots, Kimbolton, Thraipſton, Draiton-houſe, Luffwick and its fine tombs, Broughton-houſe, and the monuments at Warkton, Leiceſter, Aſhby de la Zouch, Bradford-hall, celebrated in [23] Grammont's Memoirs, through Burton on Trent, and by Caverſal Caſtle to my own houſe.
NEWPORT, TONG, OMBRESLEY, MALVERNE, AND TEWKESBURY. ON Auguſt the 26th I brought my ſon David to Hackney ſchool, and placed him under the care of Mr. Newcome. In my way I ſaw Whitchurch, Cumbermere, Newport, Tong Caſtle, and the tombs in the church, Ombreſley, Weſtwood-houſe, Henlip, Crome, the two Malvernes, and Tewkeſbury; and, after paſſing a few days at my reſpected friend's, the then biſhop of St. David's, at Forthampton, proceeded and diſcharged my duty at Hackney by the way of Glouceſter and Cheltenham.
I NEVER loſt an opportunity of enlarging my knowlege of topography: on my return I had the honor of paſſing ſome days with her grace the late dutcheſs dowager of Portland, at her ſeat at Bulſtrode, and viſited from thence Windſor and Eaton; BULSTRODE, WINDSOR, STOKE POCEIS, BEWD⯑LEY. I alſo one morning ſaw the great houſe of Stoke Pogeis, then the ſeat of Mr. Penn; it had gone through many great hands. In the reign of Edward III. it belonged to John de Molin, a potent baron, in right of his wife, daughter of Robert Pogeis. From Bulſtrode, I took the common road to Worceſter, paſſed a day or two, as uſual, at Beverey, with my old and conſtant friend the reverend doctor Naſh, author of the Antiquities of Worceſter⯑ſhire: from his houſe went by Stourport and Bewdley to Bridge⯑north, and from thence through Newport to Downing.
THIRD VOLUME OF MY TOUR IN SCOTLAND PUE⯑LISHED 1775. IN 1775 I publiſhed my third and laſt volume of my Tour in Scotland, 1772, which took in the country from my landing at Armaddie, on the concluſion of my voyage to the Hebrides, to my return into Flintſhire. This was illuſtrated with xlvii plates.
THESE tours were tranſlated into German, and abridged in [24] French, in the Nouveau Recueil de Voyages au Nord, &c. 3 torn, quarto, Geneve, 1785; they were likewiſe reprinted at Dublin, in octavo ſize.
TOUR IN 1776. IN my road, in 1776, from London, I viſited Banbury, Wroxton⯑hall the ſeat of lord Guildford, Buckingham, Edge-hill, Charlcot the ſeat of the Lucies, Warwick and Kenelworth, and paſſed through Coventry, Atherſton, and Temworth to Downing. At Buckingham I narrowly eſcaped a death ſuited to an antiquary; I viſited the old church at 8 o'clock in the morning of March the 26th. It fell before 6 in the afternoon, and I eſcaped being buried in its ruins.
ON July the 14th I took the route of Oulton-hall, Winnington, and Durham in Cheſhire, viſited Mancheſter, Buxton, Bakewell, Haddon-hall, Matlock, Nottingham, Southwell, Newark, and Lin⯑coln. Near Horn-caſtle I entered the Pais-bas of Great Britain. I viſited Taterſale and Boſton, Spalding, Crowland-abby, Stamford, Burleigh-houſe, Caſtor and Peterborough, Whittleſea-marſh and Ely, Newmarket, St. Edmundſbury, the reverend Mr. Aſhby at Barrow, Cambridge, Ware, and Waltham-abby; paſſed a day with Mr. Gough at Enfield, and concluded my tour in the capital.
IN this journey Moſes Griffith made ſome of his moſt beauti⯑ful drawings in the line of antiquity: of ſeveral of the moſt elegant parts of the gothic architecture in the magnificent ca⯑thedral at Lincoln; and alſo a few of the groſſer figures in the Saxon remains of the weſt front; and at Southwell he drew the exquiſite interior of the matchleſs chapter, one of the lighteſt and moſt elegant productions of the gothic chizel which we can boaſt of. I wiſh my time would permit me to make a cata⯑logue [25]of the performances of Moſes Griffith. I never ſhould deny copies of them to any gentleman who would make a dig⯑nified uſe of them.
BROWN's ILLUS⯑TRATION OF NATURAL HIS⯑TORY. IN this year Peter Brown, a Dane by birth, and a very neat limner, publiſhed his illuſtrations of natural hiſtory in large quarto, with L plates. At my recommendation, Mr. Loten lent to him the greateſt part of the drawings to be engraven, being of birds painted in India. I patronized Brown, drew up the greateſt part of the deſcriptions for him, but had not the leſt concern in the preface.
IN 1776 Mr. White publiſhed a new edition of the three vo⯑lumes of the Britiſh Zoology, in quarto, and in octavo, and in⯑ſerted in them the ciii additional plates publiſhed in 1770.
1777. TOUR IN KENT. IN the ſpring of the year 1777 I made an excurſion from town to Canterbury, along the poſt road, and digreſſed from Canterbury to Sandwich, and from thence to Deal, and by St. Margaret's church and Cliff to Dover. In this tour I had the happineſs of making acquaintance with Mr. Latham of Dart⯑ford, Mr. Jacobs of Feverſham, and Mr. Boys of Sandwich; all perſons of diſtinguiſhed merit in the ſtudy of natural hiſtory and antiquities.
IN that year I publiſhed a fourth volume of the Britiſh Zoology, which contained the Vermes, the Cruſtaceous, and Teſtaceous ani⯑mals of our country; this was publiſhed in quarto and octavo, and illuſtrated with xciii plates.
To this volume I prefixed a moſt merited eulogy on my reſpected friend Benjamin Stillingfleet, eſq. who died Dec. 15th, 1771, at his lodgings in Piccadilly, aged 71. His public and private character might demand this tribute: but the many [26]perſonal acts of friendſhip I received from that moſt amiable man, was an irreſiſtible incitement to me to erect this ſmall, but very inadequate, monument of gratitude.
TOUR IN WALES. AFTER ſeveral journies over the ſix counties of North Wales, in which I collected ample materials for their hiſtory, I flung them in the form of a tour, and publiſhed the firſt volume in quarto, 1778. with xxvi plates, in 1778.
1781. SECOND VOLUME. IN 1781 the firſt part of the ſecond volume of the ſame tour appeared, under the title of, A Journey to Snowdon, with xi plates, a frontiſpiece, and 2 vignets. The ſecond part ſoon fol⯑lowed, with xv plates, and a large appendix, which completed the work. In all my journies through Wales, I was attended by my friend the reverend John Lloyd, a native of Llanarmon, and rector of Caerwis: to his great ſkill in the language and antiquities of our country I own myſelf much indebted; for without his aſ⯑ſiſtance, many things might have eſcaped me, and many errors crept into my labors.
MOSES GRIF⯑FITH's SUPPLE⯑MENTAL PLATES. Moſes Griffith engraved a Supplement of x plates, to which I added a little preface, and a few explanatory pages. Beſides theſe proofs of his ingenuity, he etched ſeveral other (private plates) ſuch as, about a dozen North American birds, two beauti⯑ful parts of Fountains-abby, and a few other things.
HISTORY OF QUA⯑DRUPEDS. IN this year I alſo publiſhed a new edition of my Synopſis of Quadrupeds, in two volumes, quarto, with lii plates, including the xxxi from the Synopſis, which received conſiderable im⯑provements and corrections from the correſpondence of my friend the illuſtrious Pallas, who beſtowed a long ſeries of let⯑ters on this alone; this he performed, as it was a favorite work of his, and by accident transferred from his, to my infe⯑rior pen.
[27]To Mr. Zimmerman I was greatly indebted for ſeveral impor⯑tant improvements, from his able performance the Zoologia Geo⯑graphica, as well as great information from his frequent letters. It is unbecoming in me to expreſs the partiality which that emi⯑nant writer, and other of my foreign friends, have ſhewn towards me: if the reader has the curioſity to learn their opinion of me, he may conſult Mr. ZIMMERMAN's Zoologia Geographica, p. 286. The rev. Mr. Cox, in vol. II. p. 440, 441, of his travels, quarto edition, hath recorded the compliment paid to me by LINNAEUS; and PALLAS, in p. 376 of his Nova Species Qua⯑drupedum, hath dealt out his praiſe with much too liberal a hand.
FREE THOUGHTS ON THE MILITIA LAWS. The liberties which the country gentlemen, in the character of deputy-lieutenants, and militia-officers, now and then took with their fellow ſubjects, urged me ſtrongly this year to pub⯑liſh Free Thoughts on the Militia Laws.
ON Feb. the 3d, 1781, I was elected honorary member of the Society of Antiquaries at Edinburgh.
OF THE TURKY. IN the Philoſophical Tranſactions of 1781 was publiſhed my hiſtory, and natural hiſtory, of the Turky; it had been doubted whether this was not a bird of the old world; but I flatter my⯑ſelf that I have made it apparent that it is peculiar to America, and was unknown before the diſcovery of that continent. My reſpected friend, Mr. Barrington, had taken the other ſide of the queſtion; but this was not publiſhed by me polemically, or in any wiſe inimical to ſo excellent a character.
To this paper is annexed an engraving of a ſingular Luſus, the toe and claw of ſome rapacious bird growing on the thigh of a Turky, bred in my poultry court.
[28]AT the requeſt of Sir Joſeph Banks I drew up an account of the ſeveral earthquakes I had felt in Flintſhire; and remarked they were never felt at the bottom of lead mines, or coal pits, in our country. This paper was publiſhed, in the year 1781, in volume lxxi of the Philoſophical Tranſactions.
1782. JOURNEY TO LONDON. IN 1782 I publiſhed my journey from Cheſter to London; this was formed from journals made at different times in my way to town. I frequently made a conſiderable ſtay at ſeveral places, to give this book all the fulneſs and accuracy in my power. This was republiſhed in Dublin, in 1783, in an octavo form.
ON June the 5th, 1783. 1783, I was honored by my election into the Societas Phyſiographica at Lund, in Sweden; a favor I proba⯑bly owed to my learned friend, profeſſor Retzius.
IN the ſame month and year I made a ſhort elopement to meet the reverend doctor Naſh, Mrs. and Miſs Naſh, at Shrewſ⯑bury, in order to make a partial voyage down the Severn. My ſon met us from Oxford, and we took boat at Atcham-bridge. About four miles diſtant from Salop, we were highly amuſed with the pictureſque ſcenes, eſpecially thoſe from Buildas to Ombreſley. We landed oppoſite to Holmsflat, a little below that village, and concluded our tour at Beverey, the hoſpitable ſeat of doctor Naſh, about three miles diſtant.
IN 1784 appeared my letter from a Welſh freeholder to his repreſentative, 1784. to convert him from his political tenets. My then opinion of the miniſter is daily vindicated.
A WORK deſigned to comprehend the ZOOLOGY of North Ame⯑rica had long employed my mind and my pen, on which I in⯑tended to have beſtowed that name; but, for the affecting rea⯑ſon [29]given in the advertiſement prefixed to that work, (altered, indeed, from its original plan) I thought myſelf under the ne⯑ceſſity of changing the title. I did ſo; and, after having conſi⯑derably enlarged the work by the addition of the animals and hiſtory of the northern parts of Europe and Aſia, I this year gave it to the public, under the title of the Arctic Zoology. It conſiſts of two volumes, quarto; 1785. ARCTIC ZOO⯑LOGY. the firſt contains a long introduction, and Claſs I. QUADRUPEDS; the ſecond, Claſs II. BIRDS. In this work I received conſiderable improvements from the voyage of Sir Joſeph Banks, to New⯑foundland, in 1767. He added greatly to the ornithology by the communication of ſeveral new ſpecies of birds, and ſeveral other ſubjects.
GERMAN EDI⯑TION. THIS work was ſpeedily tranſlated into German by profeſſor Zimmerman, and publiſhed in two volumes, quarto, with the prints, which I permitted to be taken from my plates. The introduction was alſo tranſlated into French, FRENCH. under the title of Le Nord du Globe, in two volumes, octavo; and, what is pecu⯑liarly flattering to me is, that as much as relates to the north of Europe is to be tranſlated into Swediſh, as an introduction to the natural hiſtory of that celebrated ſeat of the votaries of the great Cybele.
THE Arctic Zoology gave occaſion to my being honored, in the year 1791, on April 15th, by being elected member of the American Philoſophical Society at Philadelphia, (in the preſident⯑ſhip of David Rittenhouſe, eſq.) My labors, relative to that vaſt continent, were there favorably received: but this honor I eſteem as a reward above my merits. There, ſcience of every kind begins to flouriſh; among others, that of natural hiſtory; [30]in which branch I may predict, that my correſpondent and friend doctor Benjamin Smith Barton will ſoon riſe into celebrity, and to his pen I truſt the many errors, reſpecting the zoology of his native country, will be corrected with tenderneſs and candor. In regard to the abilities of the ſociety, the volumes of its Philoſophical Tranſactions, already publiſhed, are moſt in⯑conteſtable proofs.
IN this year came out a ſecond edition of the firſt volume of my Tour in Wales.
IN May 1784, I had the diſtinguiſhed honor of being elected member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stock⯑holm. In Sweden I am favored with the correſpondence of doctor Thunberg of Upſal, doctor Sparman of Stockholm, Mr. Wilcke of the ſame city, and Mr. Odman of Wormden, not re⯑mote from Stockholm. I muſt not forget a grateful tribute to the memory of departed friends, to that of baron de Geer, pro⯑feſſor Wallerius, and above all doctor Solander; the laſt ſo diſ⯑tinguiſhed by urbanity of manners, and liberality of communi⯑cation of the infinite knowlege he poſſeſſed.
ON Jan. the 3d, 1785, I was elected honorary member of the ſociety at Edinburgh for promoting of natural know⯑ledge.
ON March the 5th I received the ſame honor from the So⯑ciety of Antiquaries at Perth.
AND on December the 24th was honored by being elected member of the Agriculture Society, at Odiham, in Hampſhire.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARCTIC ZOOLOGY. IN 1787 I gave a Supplement to the Arctic Zoology; it con⯑tains ſeveral additions and corrections, which I owe to the friend⯑ſhip of my ſeveral northern correſpondents, and a ſyſtematic [31]account of the reptiles and fiſhes of North America, together with two very beautiful maps of the countries I had treated of in the introduction, (corrected ſince the firſt publication) en⯑graven by that excellent artiſt Mr. William Palmer.
TOUR TO THE LAND'S END. EVER ſince the year 1777 I had quite loſt my ſpirit of ram⯑bling. Another happy nuptial connection ſuppreſſed every deſire to leave my fire-ſide. But in the ſpring of this year I was induced once more to renew my journies. My ſon had returned from his firſt tour to the continent, ſo much to my ſatisfaction, that I was determined to give him every advan⯑tage that might qualify him for a ſecond, which he was on the point of taking over the kingdoms of France and Spain. I wiſhed him to make a compariſon of the naval ſtrength and commercial advantages and diſadvantages of our iſland, with thoſe of her two powerful rivals; I attended him down the Thames; viſited all our docks; and by land (from Dartford) followed the whole coaſt to the very Land's End. On his re⯑turn from his ſecond tour, I had great reaſon to boaſt that this excurſion was not thrown away; as to myſelf it was a painful one; long abſence from my family was ſo new to me, that I may ſincerely ſay it caſt an anxiety over the whole journey.
THESE were my greater labors. I, at ſeveral times, gave to the public ſome trifles, which were not ill-received; but few knew the author. Theſe I collected ſome years ago, MISCELLANIES. and printed, for the amuſement of a few friends, thirty copies, by the friendly preſs of George Allan, eſq. at Darlington.
HISTORY OF THE PATAGONIANS. THE principal was my hiſtory of the Patagonians, collected from the account given by father Faulkner, in 1771, and from the ſeveral hiſtories of thoſe people by various writers. I believe [32]that the authenticity of the ſeveral relaters is now very well eſtabliſhed. This was printed at the ſame preſs, in 1788.
BESIDES theſe may be added, the ode on indifference, and the verſes on the lady being choſen patroneſs of a hunt and book-club in the ſame day.
AN eſſay on the improper behaviour of married ladies to⯑wards our ſex, 1774.
A RIDICULE on the bold and maſculine faſhion of the ladies wearing riding-habits at all times of the day; which was republiſhed, in 1781, by Mr. Smith, with a good mezzotinto of a modern toilet.
AMERICAN annals, an incitement to parlement-men to inquire into the conduct of our commanders in the American war. I omit this paper, unwilling to revive the memory of the moſt deplorable event in all the annals of Great Britain.
THE Flintſhire petition. The diſcontents of the year 1779 were grown to ſuch a height, that the county of Flint took ſhare in the attempt to produce a redreſs of grievances. I wiſhed to allay the popular fury as far as in me lay; becauſe num⯑bers of the complaints were excited by that bane of this king⯑dom in all ages, pretended patriots. I formed a ſpeech, which I had not courage enough to ſpeak, ſo printed the lenitive in⯑tention, as certainly it could do me no diſcredit. The event ſhewed that impoſſibilities were attempted, and that ſoon as the patriots got into power, no more was thought of the plan once urged with much violence.
AN inſcription over the entrance of the new gaol at Flint is printed in Mr. Howard's account of the principal Lazarettos in Europe.
THE following grateful epitaph, in memory of my faithful [33]ſervant and friend, Louis Gold, may be ſeen on a ſmall braſs plate in Whiteford church, cloſe to which he was interred, Auguſt the 22d, 1785.
PREVIOUS to this I could not, in the warmth of my heart, re⯑ſiſt giving, in one of the Cheſter papers, the following paragraph as a notification of his death.
‘SATURDAY ſe'nnight, in the morning, died, at Downing, in Flintſhire, Louis Gold, a Norman by birth, and above twenty years the faithful ſervant and friend of Thomas Pennant, of that place, eſq.. He left the ſavings of his different ſervices, which were very conſiderable, to ſeveral of his friends, his fellow-ſervants, and to the poor; and bequeathed to his lamenting maſter, and his four children, handſome remembrances of his affection for them: the remainder to be applied, at the diſcretion of his ex⯑ecutor, to charitable uſes.’
1790. ACCOUNT OF LONDON. THIS ſpring I publiſhed an account of our capital. I had ſo often walked about the ſeveral parts of London, with my note⯑book in my hand, that I could not help forming conſiderable collections of materials. The public received this work with the utmoſt avidity. It went through three large impreſſions in about two years and a half. The firſt, in April 1790; the ſecond, in January 1791; and the third, in the latter end of the laſt year. Many additions were made to the ſecond; toge⯑ther with three more plates by the perſuaſion of that worthy [35]character William Seward, eſq.. One was of the buſt of Charles I. by Bernini, which ſtood over one of the doors in Weſtminſter-hall, but was removed on the preparations for the trial of Mr. Haſtings. I wiſh the drawing had been better executed.
IN this year Mr. White ſent into the world a fifth edition of my Tours in Scotland, with ſeveral additions and corrections.
I AM often aſtoniſhed at the multiplicity of my publications, eſpecially when I reflect on the various duties it has fallen to my lot to diſcharge. As father of a family, landlord of a ſmall but very numerous tenantry, and a not inactive magiſtrate. I had a great ſhare of health during the literary part of my days, much of this was owing to the riding exerciſe of my extenſive tours, to my manner of living, and to my temperance. I go to reſt at ten; and riſe winter and ſummer at ſeven, and ſhave re⯑gular at the ſame hour, being a true miſopogon. I avoid the meal of exceſs, a ſupper; and my ſoul riſes with vigour to its employs, and (I truſt) does not diſappoint the end of its Creator.
So far reſpects my own labors; it will be but juſt to men⯑tion [36]thoſe of others, OF OTHERS' WORKS PRO⯑MOTED BY ME. which have been produced by my counte⯑nance and patronage; for I never can be accuſed of witholding my communications or my mite to aſſiſt my brethren who have wiſhed to aſſume the perilous characters of authors.
DOCTOR JOHN REINHOLD FOR⯑STER. I, VERY early after the arrival of doctor John Reinhold Forſter, had opportunity of introducing him to ſeveral of my friends, which proved of no ſmall ſervice to him during his reſidence in this kingdom. At my perſuaſion, and by my encouragement, he tranſlated Kalm's Voyage into North America, which was publiſhed in 1770, in three volumes octavo.
IN 1771 he publiſhed Oſbeck's Voyage to China, with that of Torcen, and Eckberg's account of the Chineſe huſbandry, in two volumes.
HE alſo added a ſecond volume to his tranſlation of Boſſu's Travels in Louiſiana, containing the life of Loefling, and a cata⯑logue of Spaniſh plants, and thoſe of part of Spaniſh America. By theſe the works of three of the moſt eminent diſciples of the Linnaean ſchool have been made known to the Britiſh nation.
I PUBLISHED, at much expence, in 1777, the Flora Scotica, in two volumes, octavo, with xxxvii plates. This was the elabo⯑rate work of my worthy friend, and fellow traveller, the rev. Mr. Lightfoot. REV. JOHN LIGHTFOOT. The lamented loſs of that admirable botaniſt, on February 20th, 1788, I have related in a ſhort account, printed 1788, to be given to the purchaſers of the remaining copies of the Flora Scotica.
MR. GOUGH. THAT indefatigable topographer Richard Gough, eſq.. paid me the compliment of ſubmitting the ſheets of his edition of Camden, which related to North Wales, to my correction; and [37]I flatter myſelf that they would not have come out of my hands unimproved. To him I alſo communicated ſeveral of my manuſcript journals, which I flatter myſelf might in ſome ſmall degree contribute to the improvement of our venerable topographer.
REV. CHARLES CORDINER. As it was my wiſh that no part of North Britain, or its iſlands, ſhould be left unexplored, or any of their advantage loſt for want of notice, I ſupported the reverend Charles Cordiner, epiſcopal miniſter at Banff, in a journey over the countries north of Loch Broom, which I was obliged to deſiſt from at⯑tempting; this he performed, much to my ſatisfaction, in 1776. I publiſhed his journal, entitled, Antiquities and Scenery of the North of Scotland, at my own hazard. It is illuſtrated with xxii plates, taken from drawings by the ſkilful pencil of that ingenious traveller. The work ſucceeded. I made him a preſent of the expences which attended his journey.
NUMBERS of other ſubjects of antiquities, views, and natural hiſtory, are now in publication by the ſame gentleman.
REV. GEORGE LOW. I WAS actuated by the ſame zeal in reſpect to the extreme iſlands of the ſame parts of our kingdom. In the reverend Mr. George Low, miniſter of Birſa in the Orknies, I met with a gentleman willing to undertake the viſitation of thoſe iſlands, and of the Schetlands, and to communicate to me his obſerva⯑tions of every thing he imagined would be of uſe to the king⯑dom, or afford me pleaſure. His ſurveys were made in the years 1774 and 1778, and he favored me with a moſt inſtruc⯑tive journal, and ſeveral drawings. It was my wiſh to publiſh his voyages, as I had the travels of Mr. Cordiner; but certain reaſons diſcouraged me. This ought not to be conſidered as [38]any reflection on the performance. Mr. Low gives a good ac⯑count of the natural hiſtory and antiquities of the ſeveral iſlands; enters deeply into their fiſheries and commercial concerns; and on the whole is highly worthy the attention of the public.
I CANNOT help mentioning the ſervices I did to the pro⯑feſſors of the art of engraving, by the multitude of plates per⯑formed by them for my ſeveral works; let me enumerate the particulars and total.
- Britiſh Zoology, folio 132
- Britiſh Zoology, octavo or quarto 284
- Hiſtory of Quadrupeds 54
- Tour in Scotland, the three volumes 134
- Journey to London 23
- Tour in Wales, two volumes 53
- Moſes Griffith's Supplemental Plates 10
- Some Account of London, ſecond edition 15
- Indian Zoology, ſecond edition 17
- Genera of Birds 16
- Arctic Zoology, two volumes 26
- Syſtematic Index to de Buffon 1
- The Rev. Mr. John Lightfoot's Flora Scotica, two volumes 37
- 802
IF I have omitted Mr. John Ingleby of Halkin, Flintſhire, I did not do juſtice to a very neat drawer. I have often profited of his ſervices: and many of the private copies of my works have been highly ornamented by his labors.
[39]NOTWITHSTANDING my authorial career was finiſhed on the preceding year, yet no ſmall trouble attends my paſt labors. The public continues to flatter me with demands for new edi⯑tions of my works: to the correction and improvement of which, I am obliged to pay conſiderable attention. Early this year appeared a new edition of my account of London, ACCOUNT OF LONDON, THIRD EDITION. as I have mentioned at p. 34.
NONE of my acquaintance will deny that I write a moſt ille⯑gible hand. In order to deliver my labors intelligible to poſte⯑rity, on January 1ſt, of this year, I took into my ſervice, as ſecretary, Thomas, the ſon of Roger Jones, our pariſh-clerk, a worthy, ſober, and ſteady young man: I determined to profit of his excellent hand-writing to copy my ſeveral manuſcripts, and he has diſcharged his duty very much to my ſatiſ⯑faction.
1792. HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS, THIRD EDITION. MR. White, at the latter end of this year, printed a third edition of my Hiſtory of Quadrupeds, with moſt of the old plates re-engraven, and ſeveral new ones. This work was always a favorite one of mine: I beſtowed very true pains on it: and added, I may ſay, every new animal which has to this time reached the knowlege of the naturaliſts.
LETTER ON MAIL COACHES. IN the ſpring of the ſame year appeared my letter on Mail Coaches. I was irreſiſtibly compelled to reſume my pen, from the oppreſſions which the poor labored under, by the demands made on them to repair the roads for the paſſage of the mails, with a nicety, and at an expence beyond their powers. Let the little performance ſpeak my apology for the publi⯑cation.
[40] INDIAN ZOOLO⯑GY, SECOND EDI⯑TION. IN this year came out a ſecond edition of my Indian Zoology, (ſee p. 9) but very conſiderably enlarged by doctor Forſter's eſſay prefixed to the German edition of that work, which was tranſlated by doctor Aikin; and by a tolerably complete Fau⯑nula; a labor taken off my hands principally by the friendſhip of the rev. Mr. Hugh Davies and Mr. Latham; the Faunula of inſects fell to Mr. Latham, and coſt him no ſmall pains.
THUS far has paſſed my active life, even till the preſent year 1792, in which I have advanced half way of my 67th year. My body may have abated of its wonted vigour; but my mind ſtill retains its powers, its longing after improvements, its wiſh to receive new lights through chinks which time hath made.
A FEW years ago I grew fond of imaginary tours, and de⯑termined on one to climes more ſuited to my years, more ge⯑nial than that to the frozen north. I ſtill found, or fancied that I found, OUTLINES OF THE GLOBE. abilities to direct my pen. I determined on a voyage to India, formed exactly on the plan of the Introduction to the Arctic Zoology; which commences at ſuch parts of the north as are acceſſible to mortals. From London I follow the coaſts ſouthern to part of our iſland, and from Calais, along the oceanic ſhores of Europe, Africa, and Aſia, till I have attained thoſe of New Guinea. Reſpecting theſe, I have collected every informa⯑tion poſſible, from books antient and modern: from the moſt authentic, and from living travellers of the moſt reſpectable cha⯑racters of my time. I mingle hiſtory, natural hiſtory, accounts of the coaſts, climates, and every thing which I thought could inſtruct or amuſe. They are written on imperial quarto, and when bound, make a folio of no inconſiderable ſize; and are illuſtrated, at a vaſt expence, by prints taken from books, or [41]by charts and maps, and by drawings by the ſkilful hand of Moſes Griffith, and by preſents from friends. With the bare poſſibi⯑lity of the volume relative to India, none of theſe books are to be printed in my life-time; but to reſt on my ſhelves, the amuſe⯑ment of my advancing age. The following is the catalogue of theſe labors, all (excepting the firſt) compoſed in the ſpace of four years, all which will be comprehended under the general title of, OUTLINES OF THE GLOBE.
ARCTIC RE⯑GIONS. VOL. I. will contain the Introduction to the Arctic Zoology, with conſiderable additions, in order to make it unite hereafter with China, which will be comprehended in the xiiith volume; but this firſt volume will alſo be augmented very greatly, by accounts of the internal parts of the country, and with the coun⯑tries to the ſouth, as low as lat. 45, to comprehend the great rivers of the north of Europe and Aſia: not only the coaſts but the internal parts of the United States of America will be de⯑ſcribed, as alſo our poor remnant, as far as the mouth of the Miſſiſſippi, and each ſide of that vaſt river as high as its ſource. The plates will be of new ſubjects, and executed by the firſt en⯑gravers of the time: the ſize of the books, that of Cook's Voyages. I feel an inclination to have one volume publiſhed in my life, as a model for the remaining twelve. It was impoſſible to omit this arctic volume, otherwiſe the work would have been very imperfect.
KENTISH TOUN, VOL. II. deſcribes a tour, commencing at the Temple-ſtairs, comprehending my paſſage down the Thames as low as Dartford Creek, and from thence to Dover.
[42] FRANCE. VOL. III. and IV. The voyage along the coaſts of France, from Calais to the frontiers of Spain, with a digreſſion up the Loire as far as Orelans; and a ſecond digreſſion from the Garonne, near Toulouſe, above Bourdeaux, along the great canal de Lan⯑guedoc, to its junction with the Mediterranean ſea near Sette; and a third from Andaye, along the French ſide of the Pyrenecs, as far as its termination on the ſame ſea.
STAIN AND POR⯑TUGAL. VOL. V. comprehends the coaſt of Spain, from the Bidaſſao to the borders of Portugal, the whole coaſt of Portugal; after which thoſe of Spain are reſumed, and continued to the Streights of Gibraltar, and its celebrated rock. This volume is particu⯑larly rich in drawings (by Moſes Griffith) of the birds and fiſhes of Gibraltar, communicated to me by the rev. the late Mr. John White, long reſident in that fortreſs.
SOUTHERN FRANCE. VOL. VI. contains the entrance into the Mediterranean ſea, and the ſouthern coaſts of Spain, to the borders of Italy at Nice, comprehending the coaſts of ſouthern France.
MR. IGNATIUS D'ASSO. MR. Ignatius d'Aſſo of Sarragoſſa, author of the Zoologia Arago⯑niae, and Flora of the ſame country, by his intelligent correſpond⯑ence, from the year 1783 to the year 1786, furniſhed me with ſeveral very inſtructive materials for the natural hiſtory of Spain, which were of conſiderable ſervice in my account of that king⯑dom. I cannot quit the ſubject of the four laſt volumes, with⯑out (I truſt) a moſt venial exultation at the ſource from whence I drew a conſiderable part of my account of the coaſts of the kingdoms of France and Spain; and alſo of ſome of the interior country. It would perhaps be affected: but it certainly would be unnatural to ſuppreſs acknowlegements which ſpring warm⯑ed from my heart, becauſe I pay them to a ſon. David Pennant [43]began his travels into foreign parts in Auguſt 1785; and from that time, (after intervals paſſed at home) has viſited Switzerland, the Griſons country, all parts of Italy, as low as Paeſtum; al⯑moſt all Germany, and a ſmall part of Hungary; Stiria, Carin⯑thia, and Carniola; almoſt every part of France, and much of Spain. From his journals, which, now fairly tranſcribed, fill eight folio volumes, I borrowed my moſt authentic materials.
NORTHERN AFRICA. VOL. VII. is an account of the coaſts of northern Africa, from Egypt, to the ſtreights of Gibraltar, and from the ſtreights, along the ſhores of weſtern or atlantic Africa, to the Senegal, or borders of Nigritia. This will include the hiſtory of the great rivers of that vaſt continent, as far as has yet been diſcovered, and in particular that of the Nile.
VOL. VIII. is deſcriptive of the coaſts of Nigritia, NIGRITIA. from the river Senegal to Cape Negro; and gives an account of the iſle of Aſcenſion, and other diſtant iſles.
AETHIOPIAN AFRICA. VOL. IX. takes in the coaſts from Cape Negro to the Cape of Good Hope, and again the eaſtern coaſts to the entrance of the Red Sea, and its ſouthern ſhores as far as the Iſthmus of Suez; Madagaſcar, and the ſeveral iſles to the eaſt and to the ſouth of that vaſt iſland.
VOL. X. contains the coaſts of Arabia on the Red Sea, ARABIA. and on the Indian ocean; and on the gulph of Ormuz or Perſian gulph. Some account of the river Euphrates, and the moſt remarkable places from its ſource to its mouth. The coaſts of Perſia, PERSIA. within the gulph, and on the Indian ocean, to the limits of Perſia, as divided from that empire by the river Indus. In this volume will be introduced accounts of ſeveral places mentioned in holy writ.
VOL. XI. gives an account of the river Indus from its ſource; INDIA. [44]of the Penjab; of the weſtern or Malabar coaſt of India to Cape Comorin; of the kingdom of Madura, and of the iſland of Ceylon.
VOL. XII. deſcribes the eaſtern coaſt of India, INDIA. quite to the mouths of the Ganges; and contains an account of that river from its ſources, and the ſeveral great rivers which fall into it; and of the Burrampooter, which, after an equal courſe, and vaſt devia⯑tion, falls into the Ganges juſt before it reaches the ſea. In theſe volumes, much hiſtory (party and controverſy avoided) will be given in their proper places.
INDIA BEYOND GANGES. VOL. XIII. reſumes the ſubject at Arracan, the firſt kingdom in the India beyond Ganges. Thoſe of Ava, Pegu, Lower Siam, the archipelago of Mergui, the Andaman and Niccbar iſles, are deſcribed. Then follow the ſtreights of Malacca, and its pe⯑ninſula on both ſides; the gulph of Siam, and the Upper Siam; the celebrated Ponteamas, Cambodia, Pulo Condor, Ciampa, Cochin-China, and the bay and kingdom of Tonquin. The two laſt favor ſo much of China, that it is in compliment to the common geographical diviſion that I do not place them out of the limits of India. The vaſt and amazing empire of China comes next: future times will read it fully explored by the no⯑bleman ſo judiciouſly ſelected for performing the celebrated embaſſy now on its way. The ſeveral countries dependent on China, bordering on the northern and north-weſtern ſides, the iſlands of Japan, and the land of Jeſo, conclude this volume.
MALAYAN ISLES. VOL. XIV. The vaſt inſular regions of India form the xivth volume, comprehending the great Malaye iſlands, ſuch as Suma⯑tra, Java, Balli, Banca, Madura, and others of leſs note. Cum⯑bava, Flores, Timor, or the iſles which ſtretch eaſt of Balli, to [45]the iſles of Arrou, not very remote from the coaſt of New Guinea.
AFTERWARDS are mentioned Borneo, and Celebes or Macaſſar; BORNEO. and to the north of them, the Manilla or Philippine iſles; and to the eaſt the rich archipelago of the ſpicy iſles, comprehending the Banda and the Moluccas, THE SPICY ISLANDS. and others which may fairly be ranged under that general name. New Holland, and New Guinea, NEW HOLLAND. with its appendages, New Britain and New Ireland, NEW GUINEA. conclude this im⯑portant liſt, New South Wales, or the weſtern portion of New Holland, is as fully deſcribed as poſſible: the tranſient wonder of the vaſt views of the Britiſh nation, which, annihilating time and ſpace, has dared a plan, which would make other countries ſtartle at the very idea.
A FAR more complete Flora of India (than any that has yet appeared) will follow theſe three volumes, as a ſeparate work, with ſmall hiſtorical notations, and references to the beſt authors on the ſubject. It certainly will prove the beſt Linnaean index to Rumphius, and others of the greater Indian botaniſts.
THE reader may ſmile at the greatneſs of the plan, and my boldneſs in attempting it at ſo late a period of life. I am vain enough to think that the ſucceſs is my vindication. Happy is the age that could thus beguile its fleeting hours, without in⯑jury to any one, and, with the addition of years, continue to riſe in its purſuits. But more intereſting, and ſtill more exalted ſubjects, muſt employ my future ſpan.