Scotland, they elected me one of their own members; and after wards preferred me to another of fice, to which the abilities and virtues of the never to be forgotten Dr. Hutchefon had given a fuperior degree of illuftration. The period of thirteen years which I fpent as a member of that fociety, I remember as by far the moft ufeful, and therefore, as by far the happieft and moft honourable period of my life; and now, after three and twenty years abfence, to be remembered in fo very agreeable a manner by my old friends and protectors, gives me a heart-felt joy which I cannot eafily exprefs to you."

The fort narrative which I have now finifhed, however barren of incident, may convey a general idea of the genius and character of this illuftrious man. Of the intellectual gifts and attainments by which he was fo eminently diftinguifbed;-of the originality and comprehenfivenefs of his views; the extent, the variety, and the correctnefs of his information; the inexhaustible fertility of his invention; and the ornaments which his rich and beautiful imagination had borrowed from claffical culture; he has left behind him lafting monuments. To his private worth the moft certain of all teftimonies may be found in that confidence, refpect, and attachment, which followed him through all the various relations of life. The ferenity and gaity he enjoyed, under he preffure of his growing infir mities, and the warm intereft he felt to the laft, in every thing connected with the welfare of his friends, will be long remembered by a fmall circle, with whom, as long as his ftrength permitted, he regularly fpent an eyening in the week;

7

and to whom the recollection of his worth ftill forms a pleafing, though melancholy bond of union.

The more delicate and characteriftical features of his mind, it is perhaps impoffible to trace. That there were many peculiarities, both in his manners, and in his intellectual habits, was manifeft to the moft fuperficial obferver; but, although to these who knew him, thefe peculiarities detracted nothing from the refpect which his abilities commanded; and, although to bis intimate friends, they added an inexpreffible charm to his converfation, while they difplayed, in the moft interefting light, the artless fimplicity of his heart; yet it would require a very fkilful pencil to prefent them to the public eye. He was certainly not fitted for the general commerce of the world, or for the bufinefs of active life. The comprehenfive fpeculations with which he had been occupied from his youth, and the variety of mate rials which his own invention continually fupplied to his thoughts; rendered him habitually inattentive to familiar objects, and to common occurrences; and he frequently ex hibited instances of absence, which have fcarcely been furpassed by the fancy of Bruyere. Even in company, he was apt to be engroffed with his ftudies; and appeared, at times, by the motion of his lips, as well as by his looks and gestures, to be in the fervour of compofition. I have often, however, been struck, at the difiance of years, with his accurate memory of the moft trifling particulars; and am inclined to be lieve, from this and fome other cir cumftances, that he possessed a power, not perhaps uncommon among abfent men, of recollecting, in con

fequence

To the defect now mentioned, it was probably owing, in part, that he did not fall in eafly with the. common dialogue of converfation, and that he was fomewhat apt to convey his own ideas in the form of a lecture. When he did fo, however, it never proceeded from a with to ingrofs the difcourfe, or to gratify his vanity. His own inclination difpofed him fo ftrongly to enjoy in filence the gaiety of thofe around him, that his friends were often led to concert little schemes, in order to bring him on the fubjects moft likely to intereft him. Nor do I think I fhall be accused of going too far, when I fay, that he was fcarcely ever known to start a new topic himself, or to appear unprepared upon those topics that were introduced by others. Indeed, his conversation was never more amufing than when he gave a loose to his genius, upon the very few branches of knowledge of which he only poffelfed the outlines.

The opinions he formed of men, upon a flight acquaintance, were frequently erroneous; but the tendency of his nature inclined him much more to blind partiality, than to ill-founded prejudice. The enlarged views of human affairs, on which his mind habitually dwelt, left him neither time nor inclination to ftudy, in detail, the uninterefting peculiarities of ordinary characters; and accordingly, though intimately acquainted with the capacities of the intellect, and the workings of the heart; and accuftomed, in his theories, to mark, with the moft deli

cate hand, the niceft fhades, both of genius and of the paffions; yet, in judging of individuals, it fometimes happened, that his eftimates were, in a furprifing degree, wide of the truth.

The opinions, too, which in the thoughtleffnefs and confidence of his focial hours, he was accustomed to hazard on books, and on questions of fpeculation, were not uniformly fuch as might have been expected from the fuperiority of his understanding, and the fingular confiftency of his philofophical principles. They were liable to be influenced by accidental circumftances, and by the humour of the moment; and when retailed by thofe who only faw him occafionally, fuggefted falfe and contradictory ideas of his real fentiments. On these, however, as on moft other occafions, there was always much truth, as well as ingenuity, in his remarks: and if the different opinions which, at different times, he pronounced upon the fame fubject, had been all combined together, fo as to modify and limit each other, they would probably have afforded materials for a de cifion, equally comprehenfive and juft. But, in the fociety of his friends, he had no difpofition to form those qualified conclufions that we admire in his writings; and he generally contented himself with a bold and mafterly fketch of the object, from the first point of view in which his temper, or his fancy, prefented. Something of the fame kind might be remarked, when he attempted, in the flow of his fpirits, to deline ate thofe characters which, from long intimacy, he might have been fuppofed to understand thoroughly. The picture was always lively and expreffive; and commonly bore a [* D4 ]

ftrong

nance.

tremes.

In a

But, in whatever way thefe trifling peculiarities in his manners, may be explained, there can be no doubt, that they were intimately connected with the genuine artleffefs of his mind. In this amiable quality, he often recalled to his friends, the accounts that are given of good La Fontaine; a quality which in him derived a peculiar grace from the fingularity of its combination with thofe powers of reafon and of eloquence which, in his political and moral writings, have long engaged the admiration of Europe.

In his external form and appearance, there was nothing uncommon. When perfectly at eate,, and when warmed with converfation, his geftures were animated, and not ungrateful; and, in the fociety of thofe he loved, his features were often brightened with a fimile of inexpreflible benignity. In the company of ftrangers, his tendency to abfence, and perhaps ftill more his confcioufnefs of this tendency, rendered his manner fomewhat embarrassed; an effect which was probably not a little heightened by thofe fpeculative ideas of propriety, which his reclufe habits tended at once to perfect in his conception, and to diminish his power of realjzing. He never fat for his picture; but the medallion of Taffie conveys an exact idea of his profile, and of

Anecdotes of Mr. Robert Bakewell, of Difhley; from the Gentleman's Magazine.

He ori

MR. Robert Bakewell, the most fuccefsful and celebrated experimental farmer ever known in England, was born at Dithley in Leicesterfhire, about 1725 or 6. His grandfather and father had refided on the fame eftate fince the beginning of this century; and his father, who died about 1760, had always the reputation of being one of the most ingenious and able farmers of his neighbourhood. Mr. Bakewell having conducted the Difhley farm feveral years before the deceate of his father, began, about 40 years fince, that courfe of experiments which has procured him fuch extenfive fame. ginally adopted a principle, à priori, of which all the experience of his future life evinced the propriety. Having remarked that domeftic animals, in general, produced others poffeffing qualities nearly timilar to their own, he conceived he had only to felect from the most valuable breeds fuch as promised to return the greateft poffible emolument to the breeder; and that he fhould then be able, by careful attention to progreffive improvement, to produce a race of theep, or rather animals, poffeffing a maximum of advantage. Under the influence of this excellent notion, Mr. Bakewell made excurfions into different parts of England, to infpect the various breeds, and to afcertain those which were beft adapted to his purposes, and the moft valuable of their kinds.