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possession of Dr. Leslie's preferment, I immediately acquainted Mr. Anderson with the promise I had from your Lordship, and told him the Liv. ing was at his service, which he very willingly accepted. If that step had not been taken, I should, upon the first difficulty raised by your Lordship, have desired Dr. Lowth to put an end to it. and as I find my letter to him has not convinced you, I must desire your Lordship to dispose of the Living to whomsoever you shall think proper; and shall endeavour to serve my friend some other way. I am sorry to find myself under the necessity of letting him know exactly the state of the case; but it is very material to me, my Lord, that no man should be able to say that I have broken my word with him. I must now look upon this affair as entirely over; and therefore the only favour I have to beg is, that this may be the conclusion of a correspondence which must be as disagreeable to you, as it is to, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient humble servant,

DEVONSHIRE.

To the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of ST. ASAPH*, at Whitchurch, Salop. My Lord,-After many attempts to write to your Lordship, I have at last, by mere dint of resolution, forced myself upon it; and therefore, if I commit a fault, I hope you will give me leave to plead St. Paul's excuse, that it is not I, but something else that dwelleth in me. What it is, your Lordship will easily investigate, when I inform you that my eldest son is in Orders, and ready to labour in the Vineyard, if he could but find a Vineyard to labour in.

What can a man do in such circum

stances? If he applies to nobody, out of a modest delicacy, he will certainly get nothing: if he stays till he has a right to apply to any one, he will stay all his life-time: if he applies where he has no right, he will be looked upon as impertinent.

If your Lordship was but as much obliged to me and my family as I am to you and yours, I should make no scruple of speaking plainly, and not think of concealing myself thus in clouds and darkness: but the mischief is, the obligation lies on the wrong side. Or, if I could make it

* Dr. Richard Newcome.

out, that the receiving many favours entitles a man to more, the argument would run very prettily! but this is a maxim not universally agreed upon. In short, my Lord, let me turn the question about ever so many ways, and view it in ever so many lights, I can make nothing of it; and must therefore leave it to some greater Genius, who can raise an argument out of nothing, like the Bishop of Gloucester, or make one out of his own will and pleasure'; stat pro ratione voluntas: and content myself with what is within the reach of my capacity,-to convey by this my best wishes and compliment, (in which my wife and sons join) to yourself and Mrs. Newcome. I am, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient and obliged humble servant,

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HENRY TAYLER. Crawley, Aug. 5, 1766.

Mr. URBAN,

THE

Oct. 14.

HE just tribute of praise given in your Obituary of last Month to the character of the late Mr. Thomas Tomkins cannot but be highly gratifying to the wide-extended circle of his

friends. Possessed as he was of all the amiable qualities of the head and heart, he may be said to be truly worthy of every encomium passed upon him.

In professional abilities he was confessedly unequalled; and among the many unequivocal testimonies of admiration which his performances have excited, none could have been more gratifying to his feelings than that expressed by the Duke of Sussex, on the occasion of his Royal Highness receiving the Freedom of the City in July last t.

The finely-executed Portrait of himself, by the late Sir Joshua Reynolds, he has bequeathed to the City of London, with a request, that cannot be better expressed than in the terms of his will:

"I give and bequeath to Richard Clark, esq. Chamberlain of the City of London for the time being, and to all succeeding Chamberlains of this City, my Portrait painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, P. R. A. being the last picture. from the pencil of that celebrated Master,

with a request that it may be placed in the Chamberlain's Parlour with the Duplicates of the Honorary Freedoms and Thauks presented by the

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Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council, to the distinguished Heroes, Statesmen, and other eminent Characters, who have so ably and successfully exerted themselves to secure our invaluable Constitution from the ambitious designs of Enemies."

our envious and powerful

The Portrait was presented to the worthy Chamberlain on the 1st inst. who received it with that dignified politeness, and feeling, which marked his esteem for the Testator, and his sense of the value of the bequest. A more appropriate situation for the Portrait could not have been selected, surrounded as it is by the elaborate productions of his pen which adorn that room. Such a collection of Ornamental Penmanship-so extensive, so beautifully designed, so ingeniously varied, it may surely without arrogance be asserted, cannot be surpassed; and these memorials of Public Virtue will effectually preserve the fame of the Writer, by transmitting to posterity some of the most exquisite efforts of skill in the Caligraphic Art. Yours, &c. J. B.

Tour through various Purts of the NETHERLANDS and GERMANY in 1815. (Continued from p. 104.) Mr. URBAN,

TOURN

OURNAY, to which I introduced your Readers in my last letter, furnishes ample scope for gratifying the curiosity of the Antiquary and the Topographer. This beautiful city is the capital of a fertile and populous district called the Tournesis, the inhabitants of which were called Nervii in the time of Julius Cæsar, who, in the second Book of his Commentaries, relates their bold and desperate struggles for freedom-nor was it till the whole race was almost extinct, that the Conqueror condescended to listen to the dictates of clemency, by sparing the old men, women, and children, who had retired for safety to the fens and marshes.

No scholar should visit Flanders without Cæsar's Commentaries in his pocket. On my arrival at the capital of the Nervii (a stage of 15 miles from Lille), I sat down to breakfast with Cæsar in my hand, and got through the second book of the Commentaries "while trifling o'er cold coffee with the spoon." I could not suppress my indignant feelings at the

Tyrant's cool narrative of his having almost depopulated the country, for no other offence than their patriotic. and independent spirit; and the character which he himself ives of the for conquest, stamps lasting infamy. unhappy victims of his merciless rage upon his name: "Quorum de natura moribusque Cæsar quum quæreret, sic reperiebat: nihil pati vini, reliquarumque rerum ad luxuriam pertinentium inferri, quod his rebus relanguescere animos, eorumque remitti virtutem existimarent; esse bomines feros, magnæque virtutis, increpitare atque incusare reliquos Belgas, qui se populo Romano dedissent, et patriam virtutem projecissent, con firmare se neque legatos missuros, neque ullam conditionem pacis accepturos." Alas! for pity that a man who could handle the pen so well, had not handled the sword to better purpose: and yet, proh nefas! the extermination of this brave and virtuous people was one of the glorious exploits for which the Ronan Senate decreed religious solemnities and public processions for the space of fifteen days.

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I laid down the book, saying to myself in the words of Pope, "Heroes are much the same, the point's agreed,

From Macedonia's madman to the Swede,. The whole strange purpose of their lives

to find

Or make an enemy of all mankind."

Had my time permitted me to remain a week at Tournay, I might have selected from the researches of the Flemish Antiquaries, a digest of its history from the time of Cæsar to the destruction of the Roman Empire, and from thence through the vicissitudes of the middle ages, which I flatter myself would not be unacceptable to your Antiquarian Readers; and had your Correspondent Mr. Mot, during the while, been at my elbow, I might have furnished the lovers of Topography with accurate descriptions of the many splendid public buildings which adorn the town; but my stay was too short for any toilsome investigation, and, with every advantage of leisure, I feel my inadequacy to the task of scientific Architectaral description.-I was delighted with the situation of Tournay, surrounded by rich and beautiful meadows, and washed by the Scheldt,

which flows through the city. There are several bridges over the river, and the quays for traffick are adorned with shady walks that have a pretty effect. There are seven elegant gates leading into the town, over one of which formerly stood a fine statue of Louis XIV. which afterwards was transferred to the gardens of Blenheim-House, to swell the triumphs of our illustrious Marlborough. The great towns in the Netherlands exhibit an air of magnificence and splendour far surpassing those of any other parts of the Continent that I have seen, although vastly inferior in the present day to what they were in their most brilliant period, during the reign of the Emperor Charles V. Tournay, notwithstanding it has been so frequently exposed to the ravages of war, is still a noble city. It possesses many advantages for inland traffick, and carries on very considerable manufactures both in linen and woollen. The tradesmen, according to the antient custom of the Low Countries, form separate corporations, over whom Deacons preside, under the controul of the Magistrates; and they reckon not less than seventy of those companies in Tournay. There are a great many Churches and Priests at Tournay, and there is a considerable Seminary for the education of Students in Divinity. Popish bigotry and superstition here reign triumphant. I happened to be at Tournay on a Sunday, and was struck with the little regard that was paid to the sanctity of the day. It is true, I saw numbers of people assembled at mass; but the shops were all open, and every kind of business, in regard to buying and selling, was going on with all the activity and bustle of a market-day in England. Never did I see in any place a more striking contrast than at Tournay, to the sacred rest which ought to characterize the Lord's Day traffick in the morning, and amusements in the afternoon, appeared to be the general order of the day, with occasional interludes of the mummery of the mass, and public processions. And is this, said I to myself, the religion of the New Testament-this the manner in which the primitive Christian hailed the return of the Lord's Day? Heu pietas! heu priscu fides! I withdrew from scenes so sickening, to peruse my Bible, and

to thank God that I had been born and educated in a land of Protestant light; otherwise I might have been on that very day, to borrow the words of Whiston, "bowing before an image of St. Winifred."

The scene of the memorable battle of Fontenoy is near Tournay. I surveyed the field with more than common interest, inasmuch as I recollected that a gallant officer had fallen in that field, whose name I had been taught to lisp in infancy by one whose memory I shall never cease to honour and revere

"Dum memor ipse mei; dum spiritus hos reget artus."

A particular description of the field, or narrative of the battle, would at this day be uninteresting to your Readers. The result of that fatal day was the loss of ten thousand men to the Allies, together with a considerable part of their artillery and baggage, besides their being under the mortifying necessity of abandoning Tournay to its fate, which soon after surrendered to the Enemy.

The French King and the Dauphin were present at the battle of Fontenoy, and shewed great personal courage: on the following day they traversed the field of battle; and on viewing that scene of carnage, the Monarch appeared deeply affected, and turning to the Dauphin, addressed him in these memorable words, which ought to be inscribed on the walls of every Cabinet: "You see here, my son, the unhappy victims of political hatred and the passions of men. Never let this sight be effaced from your remembrance; and oh! beware of sporting with the lives of your subjects, and of shedding their blood in unjust wars."

We travelled from Tournay through an enchanting country, till we came to the little town of Leuse, in the, province of Hainault. In the autumu of 1691, King William deeming his presence requisite in England, left the Allied Army at Leuse, under the command of the Prince of Waldeck, who, quitting that station to gain a position more advantageous for encampment, was attacked in the environs of Leuse by the famous Marechal de Luxembourg, who, after a sharp contest of several hours, was obliged to retire, and leave the Prince to attain his object. The discom

fiture of such a man as Luxembourg, who, to use the words of another, "united the conduct of Turenne to the intuitive genius of Condé," was no small glory to any Commander. From Leuse we proceeded to Ligne, and from thence to the beautiful town of Ath, where we dined, and spent a few hours. I had as yet seen no part of the country, since my landing at Calais, so beautifully varied with hill and dale, with open field and woodland, and so prettily interspersed with villages, churches, and farm-houses, as that through which I passed from Tournay to Ath. Much as I admired the country from Cassel to Lille, I thought this, upon the whole, superior to it in fertility and beauty of scenery. I was struck with the neat and commodious appearance of the farm-houses and their adjoining buildings; no part of the land that was capable of cultivation lay neglected; scarcely was a weed to be seen, and seldom a fallow: the soil, naturally good, is saturated with rich manure collected from the surrounding populous towns and villages, and, with the excellent methods of agriculture they have adopted, repays the patient toil and persevering industry of the farmer, by a continual succession of fruitful crops; in short, Virgil's description of an industrious husbandman may be applied to the farmers of Hainault, and indeed of most of the other Provinces of the Netherlands: "Exercetque frequens tellurem, atque

imperat arvis."

Since my return home, I have said to many a L-c-t-sh-farmer, "Go to Flanders, thou sluggard, and learn to make the most of thy land." In conversing with some Flemish farmers on their modes of management, I was informed that Sir John Sinclair had been making a Tour of agricultural inquiry in Flanders the preceding spring; and I have since had an opportunity of seeing the result of his inquiries in a pamphlet* which well deserves the attention of British farthers. The Right Hon. Gentleman justly observes, that Great Britain is superior to Flanders in agricultural

machinery and live stock; but he gives the Flemish farmers the praise of superior industry and skilful management. He attempts to enumerate the causes of the higher prices of all sorts of grain in England, compared to those in Flanders, under the following heads: the price of labour, higher rents, and public burdens; greater consumption of wheat; and the use of paper money: but he affirms that the difference of agricul tural system has operated more than the combined influence of all the other causes to keep up the price of grain in England. He points out the means which have been successfully adopted in Flanders for preventing the diseases to which grain is subject, as well as the ravages of flies and insects. He enlarges upon the advantages which the Flemish farmers have derived from the general abolition of fallows, remarking that there are in Great Britain between two and three millions of acres in fallow every year, which might be rendered productive. Sir John tells us, "that the Flemish farmers are peculiarly distinguished by their great attention to manure; it being a principle with them that the fertility of the soil entirely depends on the riches you give it;" and I would recommend to the attention of our farmers the account he gives of the methods used in Flanders to collect and apply this capital source of agricultural improvement, as well as of their unwearied exertions in clearing their land of weeds. The neatness of their farm-yards, stacks, buildings, and fences, and their assiduity in keeping their land clean, form a striking contrast to the slovenly management which is too general among

us.

Sir John's observations on win ter barley, the cultivation of flax and rape, and double crops in the same year, might furnish many useful hints for the improvement of our systems. He appears to have studied the whole subject very minutely; and he writes with a full conviction that, by attention to his suggestions, the British farmers would be enabled to reduce the expence of cultivation;. to in

"Hints regarding the Agricultural State of the Netherlands, compared with that of Great Britain." Some valuable observations have been taken from this pamphlet, and introduced without any acknowledgment, into a book called "The Belgian Traveller, by Edmund Boyce, Esq.”,

crease

crease the produce of the land; and thus sell their crops of grain at a much lower rate, without losing the fair profits of their industry: at the same time, he deprecates auy attempt to reduce the price of grain, so as to discourage cultivation, as being fraught with the most injurious consequences.

In my next letter I hope to introduce you to Brussels, and from thence to the field of Waterloo.

CLERICUS LEICESTRIENSIS.

Mr. URBAN, IN your " Literary Intelligence" for August last (p. 157), you have announced that the " Biographical Dictionary" will be finished within the present year and you are pleased to add, that "6 Rarely, if ever, has a publication of such magnitude been so uniformly conducted by the Editor and Printer, not a single day's delay having taken place in the whole progress of it."

Throgmorton-street,
Oct. 25.

I shall make no apology for repeating this compliment, since it concerns a quality on which the present age seems not disposed to set the highest value, INDUSTRY; yet, as the want of it in literary undertakings is the cause of many complaints, I now not whether it may not honestly lay claim to some respect.

The "Biographical Dictionary," which commenced in May 1812, has been carried on, amidst many personal vicissitudes, and many priva tions, some of the most painful kind, without the least interruption from that time to the conclusion of Vol. XXX. which will be published before this Letter can meet the Reader's eye. Extensive, however, as this task has proved, and incessant as my labour has been, I have been repeatedly cheered by the approbation of many of that class whom it is desirable to please and I have been supported in health and spirits by the nature of the undertaking itself-by the regular devotion of my time to a study which presents a greater variety than any other.

But, Mr. Urban, in your notice of the termination of my labours, I wish to rectify a mistake; and I hope, in the very advanced state of the Work, it will be thought a small one, and that those who have borne with me

so long, will bear a little longer. It appears very improbable that the Dictionary can be finished within the present year; or that what remains can be comprised in less than Two MORE Volumes. This arises, in a great measure, from the very erroneous and defective state of the preceding Edition, from which, in what remains of letter W, and the subsequent letters, I can derive very little assistance. Indeed, a particular attention to the Lives now before me is the more necessary, as they have been neglected, from haste or want of materials, in all former Collections of which I can avail myself. And the enlarged scale on which this Work has been executed appeared to me the more requisite, as there seem no hopes of any continuation or conclusion of the " Biographia Britan

nica."

But I may announce with confidence that Vol. XXXII. to be published, D. V. on March 1, 1817, will be THE LAST. Merely as a labour, I may rejoice to be released; but as an employment delightful for its variety, interest, and curiosity, I own I shall reluctantly part with it.

I cannot conclude this short address, without offering my acknowledgments to some valuable Correspondents, who from time to time have communicated hints or correc tions in the course of the Work, through the hands of your worthy Printer. To these I have paid the most respectful attention; and should be sorry if I have been thought to have neglected my duty, in not noticing them individually as they occurred. ALEX. CHALMERS.

A CONSTANT READER, after observing that Mr. Dyer, in his History of Cambridge, vol. II. p. 106, states that "Edmund Calamy is entitled, in the list of Pembroke Hall Fellows, only B. D." and supposes therefore "that he took his D.D. during the Long Parliament,"adds, "The fact is, that Edmund Calamy, B. D. of Pembroke Hall, never took the degree of D. D. His grandson, Edmund Calamy, who wrote the Account of the had the degree of D.D. conferred on him Ejected Ministers, and who died in 1732, by the three Universities of Scotland. In confirmation of this correction, reference may be had to Kippis's Biog. Brit. vol. III. p.140; as also to Nonconformists' Memorial, vol. I. p. 76, edit. 1802.",

Mr.

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