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DEPOSITED BY THE

LINONIAN AND BROTHERS LIBRARY

PARRIANA: OR
NOTICES OF THE
COLLECTED FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES, PRINTED AND iVIANUSCRIPT,
AND IN PART WRITTEN
By E. H. barker. Esq.
OfThetford, Norfolk.

" I love to exhibit sketches of my illustrious friend by various eminent hands.*'
f Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson 1, 296.
"He descended from his station to take notice of mine; and he honoured me with
repeated marks of his favour and protection. How wannly, ia return, I was attached
to his person, and how I have been grateful to his memory, they, who know me, know.
I admired him as a great, illustrious, faulty, human being, whose character, Hke all the
noblest works of human composition^ should be determined by its excellencies, not by its
defects." SirPMHp Francis's Speech, Febr. 12, 1787.

VOL. I.
LONDON :
HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

1828.

1. « We are naturally led to enquire after those, whohy their wntings have contnbuted
to our instruction and entertainment. So great is our curiosity in this respect, that
scarce a single circumstance, which bears the most distant relation to a man, who has
distinguished himself by his virtue,]earning, and abiJity,can be called an uninteresting
event." Memoirs of the Life and WHtings of the late Rev. John Jackson, Master of
Wigston^s Hospital in Leicester^ Lond, 1764. p. 1.
2. " Philosophers suppose more perfection in the nature of man than it really posses
ses." A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Richard Watson, Lond. 1780. p. 18, And the vulgar ,
estimate character rather by the absence of human failings, than hy the presence of
godlike virtues ; suffering the failings rather to detract from the virtues, than the vir
tues to overshadow the failings.
3. O think not of his errors now: remember
His greatness, his munificence, think on all
The lovely features of his character,
On all the noble exploits of his life,
And let them, like an Angel's arm, unseen
Arrest the lifted sword !
Ft. Schiller's Death of Wallenstein, translated by S. T.
Coleridge, Esq. Lond. 1800. p. 93.
4, " Though he shone in the ^wZ/)i(, he did not shine onii/ there ; nor was he like those
physicians, who prescribe large or unpalatable doses of physic to their patients, but
take none themselves. He lived the truth he preached ; and did not stand as a. Mercury
on the highway, that shews ti'avellers the road, but keeps its place, while they pass on.
He did not press on you humility and lowliness of mind, with a proud heart of his own.
He did not recommend temperance, and go into excesses himself. He did not rally
against oppression, and in the mean time bear hard on the pool". He did not beg cha
rity to the distressed, to the lecture, for building houses of worship, and withhold his
own. He did not preach up the heavenly world to you, and all the time pursue only
this world. He did not put you on diligence in your proper callings, and neglect his
own calling ; for to this work, the work of the ministry, he gave up all his strength. He
visibly wore away in his work, and did not rust away." A Funeral Sermon by the
Rev. S. Bourn, on his Father^ the Rev. S. Bourn, quoted in Dr. Joshua Toulmin*s Me
moirs of the Rev. S. Bourn, Birmingham, 1808. p. 6.
5. " No man ever more merited the regret of his friends ; for no man was ever more
ardently devoted to their service. Yet not to his friends alone was his beneficence con
fined ; — whoever wanted assistance, was sure of his hand, — whoever was in distress,
had the command of his purse. And, while nothing was either too diflScult, or too costly
for his indefatigable efforts to do ^ood, he thought nothing unbecoming, nor beneath him,
that could conduce to oblige. His conduct was still more courageous and disinterested,
than his sentiments were elevated and kind ; for in the service of others, he held none
too high for exhortation, and no one too mean for entreaty. It seemed, indeed, whether
for friends or for strangers, — whether for those, in whom he delighted, or for those, of
whom he knew nothing but their wants, to be the very necessity of his existence to be
active in good offices. Such a man must not die without a tribute to his memory, 
such a man cannot die without still living in the memory of his surviving friends." The
Monthly Review, July 1799. in speaking of William Seward, Esq.

PREFACE.

 ¦;
The intention of the Author to communicate to the world
some Notices of his late learned and amiable friend. Dr. Park,
has been long known to his literary associates. Many persons,
with whom he has not the honour of being acquainted, have,
from the interest, which they take in the biography of Dr. Parr,
expresseda desire forthe early appearanceofapublication, which,
with reference to the grandeur and the importance of the sub
ject, stands a fair chance of disappointing their expectations,
and of injuring, by the demerits of the Author on this occasion,
the little literary reputation, which he possesses in their eyes.
He can exhibit to their contemplation only the fragments of
a great mind — in abler biographers, and in the Doctor's own
Works, they may view the "^ temple's pride',
" Its southern site, its truth complete:"
by him, — such is the imperfection of his nature, or the failure of
his endeavours, — they must be content to be shewn mere " bro
ken arches and fallen columns"; and if he, nevertheless, succeed
in exciting in the minds of those younger persons, who survey
the remains, such as they are, an " enthusiast heat," — if he in
spire them with a love of genius, erudition, and goodness, — if he
teach them to bless the name, and hallow the memory, and study
the virritings, and exemplify the morality and the piety of Dr.
Parr, his labours will have produced golden fruit, and he will
not be ashamed to own the work of his hands.
It may be proper to explain to the reader that the causes of
the delay in the appearance of this Volume are to be found, 1 .
in the desire of the Author not to anticipate the authentic
Memoirs of Dr. Parr, which the public have long been impa
tiently expecting from his excellent and enlightened friend,
a2

IV PREFACE.
Dr. John Johnstone, as an accompaniment to the forthcoming
collection of Dr. Parr's Works, edited and inedited ; 2. in the
anxiety, rather to secure what was of a perishable nature, viz.
the reminiscences of Dr. Parr's personal friends and acquaint
ance, than to arrange and edit what was already preserved from
the chance of perishing ; 3. in the wish to obtain the fullest pos
sible information on every subject ; 4. in the necessity of com
pleting some previous literary engagements, more particularly
the Index to the Greek Thesaurus of Henry Stephens, on which
he has been employed far beyond all the calculation of time,
which was made, and on which he fears that he will stiU conti
nue to be employed for several weeks. Yet he was most soli
citous to convince those friends of himself or of Dr. Parr, who
had honoured him with their communications, that he was serious
in his intentions of editing them with his own recollections ; and
such is the uncertainty of human life and of human ex
pectation, that many, whom he wished to read his publica
tion, and many, who were desirous of reading it, have alike
gone down into the grave. He has, therefore, contrived to de
vote his hours of leisure to the preparation of the First Volume,
and he indulges the hope that it wiU become instrumental in
obtaining further contributions from those fripids of Dr. Parr,
whose dormant reminiscences may be roused by the perusal of
the facts and the circumstances, which are now brought before
their minds. In the selection of the topics for this Volume, he
has been guided chiefly by the facility, with which they could
be put into the hands of the printer. Hence the reader will
find the book to consist of articles coUected from printed sources,
and from manuscript contributions, rather than from his own
memorandums, taken during his long residence at Hatton,
which could not be arranged without more time than he could
command. On some parts of these articles he has made his free
comments, and on some other parts he could have wished to
comment, had time and space been allowed to him ; but he will
find an opportunity of commenting in the Second Volume. He
trusts that he has throughout the work entitled himself to the

PREFACE. V
praise of candour and impartiality, notwithstanding his enthu
siastic attachment to the memory of the illustrious individual,
to whom the book relates.
But his enthusiasm finds aliment enough to maintain its vita
lity, activity, energy, and brightness, (materia alitur, motihus
excitatur, et urendo clarescit, J in the acknowledged talents, and
the undeniable moral excellencies of Dr. Parr, without claim
ing for him universal knowledge and infallible virtue. He so
accustoms himself to look at human nature, that he is not dis
posed either to magnify failings till merits are obscured, (Hke
" a mountain remarkable for sterility and barrenness, which
incumbers the earth with its pressure, whilst it chiUs all around
with its shade,") or to withhold the due tribute of admiration
from merits, which pass the ordinary bounds of human virtue,
because they are accompanied by failings, which are the common
lot of humanity. The venerable oak of the forest commands
his approbation in spite of the knots, which deform its trunk ;
the vast expanse of water in the hoary ocean is to him an object
of sublime contemplation, whether it be like " the smooth sur
face of a summer's sea," or be lashed into tremendous fury by
a wintry virind. " It is the nature of everything, that is
great and useful, both in the animate and inanimate world, to
be WILD and irregular, — and we must be contented to take
them with the aUoys, which belong to them, or live without
them. Genius breaks from the fetters of criticism, but its
wanderings are sanctioned by its majesty and wisdom, when
it advances in its path ; — subject it to the critic, and you tame
it into dulness." Lord Erskine's Speech on the Trial of John
Stockdale. " The human eye soon grows weary of an unbound
ed plain, and sooner, I believe, than of any limited portion of
space, whatever its dimensions may be. There is a calm delight,
a dolee riposo, in viewing the smooth-shaven verdure of a
bowling-green as long as it is new. You must learn from re
petition that those properties are inseparable from the idea of a
flat surface, and that flat and tiresome are synonymous. The
works of nature, which command admiration at once, and never

VI PREFACE.
lose it, ai-e compounded of brand inequalities." Sir P.
Francis's Letter Missive to Lord Holland p. 50.
The views, by which the Author is actuated in this publica
tion, are twofold, 1. to illustrate the conduct, the character,
and the wi-itings of Dr. Parr ; 2. to lay before the public his
own feelings, sentiments, and opinions, as connected either
with the name of Dr. Parr, or with the general interests of lite
rature, which are involved in the mention of it.
Hence the reader wiW perceive that the Author does not hesi
tate to step aside from the contemplation of Dr. Parr to the
consideration of literary questions ; and for having done so he is
responsible only to himself. He is under no obligation, and
finds ho necessity, to foUow any strict plan of biography, and he
conceives the province of the critics to lie rather in surveying
what has been done with the limited means at his disposal, than
in lamenting or blaming what has not been done, without a due
regard to the circumstances, in which he was placed, or in
pointing out what might have been done, without a proper
consideration for its practicability in his situation. When cri
tics have the- power of prescribing to writers the plan, on which
works should be conducted, they will acquire the right of judg
ing the execution of them by that plan ; and when writers have
pledged themselves to the adoption of a particular plan, the
critics may have a better right to complain of any deviations
made from it. The Author is too siiicere a lover of candour
and of truth to object to any free spirit of inquiryinto the intrinsic
merit and the public utility of works — he only wishes the critics
to confine their censures within reasonable limits, and not to
invade provinces, which belong to other consuls.
The reader will also remark that the Author manifests no par
ticular zeal for one branch of literature, more than for another ;
and he has never been disposed so to narrow his mind, as to
condemn what he does not understand, (damnant quod non in-
telligunt.J All literature and all science, however imperfectly
he may be acquainted with either, (and the imperfection may
be supplied in time,) are equally dear to him, from men of every

PREFACE. VIJ
tongue and every clime, of every church and every sect With
him truth has no gradations — he finds no pleasures, which this
world can aiFord, superior to the acquisition and the communi
cation of knowledge — and in disposition, though not in means,
he is a determined promoter of talent and learning. It will not,
therefore, be a matter of surprise that the Author should, with
these feelings, have given a place to the strictures of his friend,
Thos. Taylor, Esq., on Dr. Parr's superficial acquaintance with
the philosophy, however weU read he may have been in the
language, of Plato ; and that he should have aUowed " ample
room and verge enough" for the phUosophical discussions, (how
ever diiFerenfr from those strictures,) of his friend, John
Fcarn, Esq. To the very important papers of the latter gen
tleman, he would invite the particular attention of those, who
are interested in the progress of pneumatological science, and
in the analysis of language. The reader wiU peruse with pain
ful feelings the account of the treatment, which Mr. Fearn has
experienced from Dugaid Stewart, Esq., and he wUl not fail to
require proper reparation from the latter, by aU that is sacred in
the CANDOU'R, which Mr. Stewart has manifested towards other
writers, and in the honour, which he has maintained in aU the
other transactions of life ; — by the philosophy, which he has
promulgated to the world as a system of truth, because he be
lieves it to be the truth,, and because the investigation of truth
has been the dearest object of his life ; — by the reputation,
which he enjoys in lettered society as the merited reward of his
own labours, — which he should readily assign to other meritori
ous phUosophers, (so far as the fame of his writings extends, — )
and which he wiU naturaUy desire to leave to his descendants, in
unsuUied- purity, as a right noble inheritance ; — by those
HOARY LOCKS, which remind him that the night cometh, in
which no man can work ; — and finaUy, by that religion, which
he professes, and which proclaims as its distinguishing charac
teristic doctrine. To do unto others as we would that men should
do unto us !
The reader will find the Author to be actuated by the^

via PREFACE.
desire of iUustrating the conduct and the character of Dr. Parr,
not so much by an appeal to himself, who was honoured with
the confidence, and the esteem, and the regard, of Dr. Parr,
during a long period of time, as by an appeal to the authority
of many most respectable, and some eminent pupils, and friends,
and neighbours, and acquaintance of Dr. Parr, who must be
considered as more impartial judges than a professed biographer
and panegyrist of the Doctor, and whose sole motive for pro
ducing their information is either their obUging disposition to
wards the Author, or their sympathy vidth him in his object.
The reader wiU also observe that the statements of these gen
tlemen are not garbled to serve the particular purposes of the
Author, but presented entire to the view of the reader, partly
to enable the reader to form his own judgment, and partly as
vouchers to confirm the opinions, which the Author wiU here
after deliver in his own biographical sketch of Dr. Parr. He
does not know that he could have adopted any plan more satis
factory to himself, more acceptable to the pubUc, or more use
ful to the readers of future times ; — none can be more calcu
lated effectuaUy to dissipate the erroneous impressions, which
have been formed, or indirectly to refute the malicious repre
sentations, which have been given of Dr. Parr, in many and
even high quarters.
The Author wiU conclude his Preface with two quotations,
the appUcation of which to Dr. Parr wiU be well understood by
many of his readers, and -with these remarks — that the Second
Volume wiU be prepared for the press with all possible expedi
tion, and that it Avill contain many articles, which, the Author
believes, wiU be most interesting to the pubUc, one in particu
lar, A MS. Memoir of John Lind, the writer of the celebrated
Letters concerning ihe present State of Poland, Lond. 1773.
edn. 2., with which he has been furnished by Jeremy Bentham,
Esq., and which abounds with curious anecdote and important
information. I. " But to return from phUosophy to charity : I hold not so
narrow a conceit of this virtue, as to conceive that to give alms,

PREFACE. IX
is only to be charitable, or think a piece of libsraUty can com
prehend the total of charity. Divinity hath Avisely divided the
acts thereof into many branches, and hath taught us in this
narrow way, many paths unto goodness. As many ways as
we may do good, so many ways we may be charitable. There
are infirmities, not only of body, but of soul and fortunes,
which do require the merciful hand of our abilities. I cannot
contemn a man for ignorance, but behold him with as much
pity as I do Lazarus. It is no greater charity to cloath his
body, than apparel the nakedness of his soul. It is an honour
able object to see the reasons of other men wear our liveries, and
their borrowed understandings do homage to the bounty of
ours. It is the cheapest way of beneficence, and, Uke the
natural charity of the sun, illuminates another without ob
scuring itself. To be reserved and caitiff in this part of good
ness, is the sordidest piece of covetousness, and more contemp
tible than pecuniary avarice. To this, (as caUing myself a
scholar,) I am obliged by the duty of my condition. I make
not, therefore, my head a grave, but a treasure of knowledge ;
I intend no monopoly, but a community in learning ; I study
not for my own sake only, but for theirs, that study not for them
selves. I envy no man, that knows more than myself, but pity
them, that know less. I instruct no man as an exercise of my
knowledge, or with an intent rather to nourish and keep it
aUve in mine own head, than beget and propagate it in his ;
and in the midst of aU my endeavours, there is but one thought
that dejects me, that my acquired parts must perish with my
self, nor can be legacied among my honoured friends. I cannot
fall out or contemn a man for an error, or conceive why a dif
ference of opinion should divide an affection : for controversies,
disputes, and argumentations, both in phUosophy and in divi
nity, if they meet with discreet and peaceable natures, do not
infringe the laws of charity. In all disputes so much as there
is of passion, so much there is of nothing to the purpose ; for
then reason, like a bad hound, spends upon a false scent, and
forsakes the question first started. And this is one reason why

X PREFACE.
controversies are never determined ; for, though they be amply
proposed, they are scarce at all handled, — they do so sweU with
unnecessary digressions ; and the parenthesis on the party, is
often as large as the main discourse upon the subject."
SirTh. Browne's jRcSjfio Medici, Lond. 1736. p. 159,
2. " But are Books the only channel, through which the
stream of inteUectual usefulness can flow ? Is the diffusion of
truth to be estimated by Publications; or Publications by
the truth, which they diffuse, or at least contain.? I speak it in the
excusable warmth of a mind stung by an accusation, which has
not only been advanced in Reviews of the widest circulation, not
only registered in the buUdest works of periodical Uterature,
but by frequency of repetition has become an admitted fact in
private literary circles, and thoughtlessly repeated by too many,
who caU themselves my friends, and whose own recollect
ions ought to have suggested a contrary testimony. Would
that the criterion of a scholar's utiUty were the number and
moral value of the truths, which he has been the means of
throwing into the general circulation ; or the number and value
of the minds, whom (which) by his conversation or letters
he has excited into activity, and supplied wth the germs of
their after-growth ! A distinguished rank might not indeed,
even then, be awarded to my exertions ; but I should dare look
forward with confidence to an honorable acquittal. I should
dare appeal to the numerous and respectable audiences, which
at different times and in different places honored my Lecture-
rooms with their attendance, whether the points of view from
which the subjects treated of were surveyed, whether the
grounds of my reasoning were such, as they had heard or read
elsewhere, or have since found in previous pubUcations .? I can
conscientiously declare that the complete successof theREMORSE
on the first night of its representation did not give me as great,
or as heart-felt a pleasure, as the observation that the pit and
boxes were crowded with faces famUiar to me, though of indi
viduals, whoso names I did not know, and of whom I knew
nothing, but that they had attended one or other of mv course.s

PREFACE. XI
of Lectures. It is an exceUent, though perhaps somewhat vul
gar proverb, that there are cases, where a man may be as well
' in for a pound as for a penny.' To those, who from ignorance
of the serious injury I have received from this rumour of having
dreamt away my Ufe to no purpose, — injuries, which I unwil
lingly remember at aU, much less am disposed to record in a
sketch of my Uterary life ; or to those, who from their own
feelings, or the gratification they derive from thinking contempt
uously of others, would, Uke Job's comforters, attribute these
complaints, extorted from me by the sense of wrong, to self-
conceit or presumptuous vanity, I have already furnished such
ample materials, that I shaU gain nothing by withholding the
remainder. I wiU not, therefore, hesitate to ask the consciences
of those, who from their long acquaintance with me and with
the circumstances, are best qualified to decide or be my judges,
whether the restitution of the suum cuique would increase or
detract from my literary reputation.? In this exculpation I hope
to be understood as speaking of myself comparatively, and in
proportion to the claims, which others are intitled to make on
my time or my talents. By what I have effected, am I to be
judged by my feUow men ; what I could have done, is a ques
tion for my own conscience. On my own account I may per
haps have had sufficient reason to lament my deficiency in self-
controul, and the neglect of concentering my powers to the
reaUzation of some permanent work." Biographia Literaria, ¦
or Biographical Sketches of my (his) Literary Life and Opi
nions. By S. T. Coleridge, Esq. Lond. 1817- V. 1. p. 218.
Thetford, May 4, 1828. ' E. H. BARKER.

P.S. May 1 2. The Author is fortunately able to add a Letter from Mr.
Fearn, which has just reached his hands : —
" London, May 8. Mr. Stewart's hook. The Philosophy of the Active and
Moral Pmiiers of Man, is out. I have run my eye over the pages ; and,
1 believe, I may venture to say, he has not therein attempted any defence
of the contradictions, or defence whatever. Upon this my long-past

Xll PREFACE.
conjecture continues to strengthen, namely — that some friend may
have concealed the Newspapers and other such matters from him ; and
that he is actually not in the least aware of the situation, in which his
conflicting assertions have placed him. The solemn voice of Dr. Parr,
and the statement of the whole matter in your work, cannot be dealt
with in any such way, whether the former have been so or not. I
am glad to inform you that Mr. Stewart has, (as I also have myself,
and where is the man who would not have.') been happy to avail
himself publicly, (in a note at the very end of his first Volume p. 414,)
of both the intellectual and the moral approbation of Dr. Parr, a
copy of which note 1 now enclose. And, since he has thus appealed to
CssAR, to CiSAB I consign hira. I believe, he little dreams how near
he is to his journey's end, toward his chosen tribunal of the ' mighty
DEAD.' Or can it be that he can resolve to stalk, with a serene as
sumption OF DIGNITY over and off the stage of life, without deigning
to show that amenableness or respect to public opinion, (setting that
of any individual out of the question,) which every man of high feeling must
feel dear to hira to manifest. I cannot believe that Mr. Stewart wUl die
in this predicament, with his own deliberate knowledge and intention,
any raore than I can believe the country would suffer any man to do so,
in such a case."
Mr. Stewart's note is this: — "The following Note, (which was kindly
transmitted to me by Sir James Mackintosh,) contains the opinion of
Dr. Parr upon the much controverted point, whether Aristotle was really
the author of the Treatise De Mundo, commonly printed as part of his
Warhsl It was, alas! the last communication I had with that truly
learned and excellent person.
' Dec. 10, 1821. I told Sir James Mackintosh and Mr. Dugaid Stewart
' that the book De Mundo was not written by Aristotle : and to such illus-
' trious men I ought to state my reasons for an opinion so confidently
• expressed. In my Aristotle I have marked other Worlcs, which I hold
' to be spurious. I stated before, and I now state again as the ground of
' my opinion, the total want of resemblance to the style of Aristotle. My
' sagacious friends will promptly assent, when I tell them, that in the
' third chapter of the Liber De Mundo p. 609, the writer mentions the
' Islands of Great Britain, quite unknown to the Greeks in Aristotle's time ¦
';EvTw^K,av&vn<70tiM^r^iaTaL re Tvryxdvov<rtv odaat
8vo,BpeTavvi,>cal Xeyo^evat, "AX^iov kuI 'Upvy,, t5>v
¦,rpo,aropr,p.ev<ov ^d^ov,, «. r. X. i suppose Mr. Stewart and
' Sir James to have access to Fabricii Bibliotlieca Grceca by Harlcs. Now
• m 3, 232-3. there is much learned matter upon this. work. The title

PREFACE. Xill
' is wrong ; for it should bo, as we learn from Stobaius, a Letter Trepl
' TOi; Uavios. Towards the close of the addition by Harles and his
' friends we have these words : — M. Garenz, in Disp. de Libri Trepl
Ko(Tp,OV, qui inter Arislotelis Scripta reperitur, Auctore, Witteherga;
' M. Aprili 1792, 4. illam. sententiam, qute Aristotelem auctorem respuit,
' probabiliorem animadvertens, primum examinat dissentienlium rationes, turn
' argumenta alia, ab aliis omissa, a Kappio tamen partim adlata et exposita,
' cogit, et contra Petitum et Battesiuni tela potissimiim dirigit. Donique su-
'¦ spicatur, auctorem Aristotelis nomen libro suo queestus causa supposuisse, qui
' eum regi Ptolemaio Philadelpho pro Aristotelis libro venderet. Quidquid est,
' satis evictum esse puto u, Kappio et Gcerenzio, superiorum V. D. vestigia
' prementibus, Aristotelem nonfuisse libelli parentem. — J, G. You will find
' that Harles thinks as I do. In p. 347, you will find among the editions
' of parts of Aristotle, some account of this book de Mundo. Vulcanins
' says, the arguments of those, who deny the book to be Aristotle's, are
' plumbea. Vulcanius mire laudat the version of Apuleius. Now hear
" what is said p. 232, on this work of Apuleius, and said well. Quum
' Apuleius libri sui de Mundo initio non dicat, se versionem libri Greed scri-
* bere, sed se satis clare conditorem illius libri profiteatur, hinc credo, Apuleium
' verum esse illius libri auctorem; Grtscum textum esse versionem. Heu-
' MANN. ' I agree with Heumannus ; for the matter and the manner suit well
' the known age of Apuleius. Let me advert to another subject. Mr.
' Stewart has written wisely and virtuously upon atheism, direct or in-
' direct. I agree with him about Spinoza, and I almost agree with him
' about Hobbes. But I do earnestly entreat Sir James and Mr. Stewart
' to bestow great attention to what is said 3, 377 — 8. of Fabrieius. The
' observations and cautions of Harles should be attended to. I am sure
' that Sir James and Mr. Stewart will thank me for pointing out these
' two pages. S. PARR.' "
In the Second Volume the reader will find a communication, addressed
to me by my philosophical friend, Thomas Taylor, Esq., on this subject.
E. H. BARKER.

ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA.
The following observations, extracted from the Letter of a very
distinguished Dissenter, and a very excellent man, dated May 8,
1828. are highly honourable to Dr. PaiT's memory, as weU as to the
writer himself, and wiU serve to disabuse the public mind on the
subject of Dr. Parr's supposed tendencies to sectarianism and
disaffection to the established Church : — " I see in a publica
tion, called the Imperial Magazine, an attack on Dr. Parr's ortho
doxy, founded on some of his remarks in the Catalogue of his
Library, (Bihl. Parr.) A note in Field's Life of Parr will also
open this idle and invidious question. As to the Doctor's senti
ments on minute points of controversy, I had never the imper
tinence to enquire ; nor did I ever lay any train to take advantage
of his open and kind temper to catch admissions, from which to
draw conclusions ; but this I know that I never met with a more
zealous friend, or a more stout advocate, of the Church of England
than he was."
By the side of this extract I would place the following remarks,
made, in a Letter dated March 15, 1828, by a very enlightened
Minister of the Church of England : —
" What you say of Mr. Field's work is true — the style is some
what too pompous for easy biography. But I do not think any
sensible stranger to Parr's character would rise from the perusal
of this First Volume with any misconstruction as to his religious
feelings. It is clear that Parr's mind was of too Cathohc a cast,
and of larger views than, to admit of his being exclusively identi
fied with any particular sect of Christians. He was neither of
ApoUos, nor of Cephas, and spurned at those petty, artificial dis
tinctions, flchich keep the world in hot water. With a multitude
of high-toned Church-zealots the circumstance of his livino- in
habits of civility and friendship with a dissentmg clerical neighbour
is enough to fix the mark of the beast upon him ; and on the other
hand, with violent sectaries, his handsome ecclesiastical endow
ments wiU be enough to stamp hhn a prevaricator and hypocrite
But temperate persons of aU denominations wiU do Dr Parr the
justice of believing him to'have been a Christian of enlai^ed bene-

-VDDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. XV
volence, who could look down on the bickerings of party-spirit,
and tlie squabbles of bigots from the purer heights of religious
philosophy — the
Edita doctrina sapientum templa serena,
Despicere iindp. qneas alios passimqve videre
Err are 
This is the strong and impregnable point in Parr's character, and
I must give Mr. Field credit for not in any degi'ee degrading him
as one that ' to party gave up what was meant for mankind.' In
accuracies I think it probable there are, considering how late in
Parr's life his acquaintance commenced, and multitudes of inter
esting particulars, doubtless, may be added to his narration^ which,
so far as it has yet proceeded, is somewhat meagre in respect of
anecdote. There is also a little too much of preciseness and verbiage
in giving his estimate of the different contemporaries of Parr. But
to one, who reads with a willingness to be pleased, I see nothing
offensively narrow-minded, — no ill-natured, symptoms of the
nigra succus loUginis in the matter, or of pus atque venenum in
the manner. Hence for my own part I shall peruse his work, and
yours, and that of Dr. Johnstone with an equal readiness to be
pleased, and it seems to me that your views are sufficiently separate
to afford of your all saying to one another, like Sterne to the fly —
' There is room enough in the world for me and thee.' "
I have in pp.295 — 314, introduced much matter on the subject of
Dr. Parr's opinion about the Sacrament which he has declared to
coincide with that of Bishop Hoadly, and I would submit to the con
sideration of Churchmen the following most honourable and most
unsuspicious testimony from one of the most virtuous and enlight
ened men, who have graced the mitre of Canterbury, and dignified
the clerical character of England : —
" I see no reason for such a prodigious outcry upon the Plain
Account of the Sacrament (by Bishop Hoadly.) I reaUy think it a
good hook, and as to the Sacrament in particular, as orthodox as
Archbishop TUlotson. His prayers are very long, but in my poor
opinion, some of the best compositions of the sort, that ever I read ;
and, if I could bring my mind to that steady frame of thinking,
with regard to the Deity, that is prescribed by him, I believe I
should be so far as happy as my nature is perhaps capable of being.

XVI ADDENDA ET
There is something comfortable in addressing the Deity, as the
Father, not the Tyrant, of the Creation." Letters from ttie late
Most Reverend Dr. Thomas Herring, Lord Archbishop of Can
terbury, to William Buncombe, Esq., Lond. 1777. 12mo. p. 28. In
another Letter, dated Nov. 5, 1753. p. 133. he uses most memora
ble words, which cannot be impressed too strongly on the minds of
Churchmen : — " Your friend. Dr. Carter, is grievously teased by
folks, who caU themselves the orthodox. I abhor every tendency
tothe Trinitarian controversy. The manner, in which it is
always managed, is the disgrace and ruin of Christianity.''
That Mr. Field, himself a dissenter, and the party, whose senti
ments he represents, should endeavour to connect Dr. Parr's name
with the Dissenters, is perfectly natural and blameless ; but that
a high Churchman, like the Reviewer in the British Critic, shoiJd,
•on very insuifficient evidence, and in spite of very stubborn facts,
labour to prove the heterodoxy of Dr. Parr, is very mar veUous. For
the established Church has something to lose by the secession or
dismissal of Dr. Parr, and he is a good and right-minded friend to
the Church, who is prepared to shew that Dr. Parr was not in
principle, in affection, in habit, in private conversation, in public
discussion, or in secret thought a Dissenter, but only a Latitudi-
narian Divine of the Church, though one of its warmest weU- wishers
and ablest champions. That the reader may not on so important
;a subject be left in doubt as to the propriety of any person's re
maining in the bosom of the Church, though that person may not
whoUy approve of its doctrines and discipline, I would entreat his
particular attention to the foUowing observations, which have
been extracted for me from the ^oj-to of Archdeacon Blackburne
hut I am not able to furnish the exact reference : 
" Had the first founders of particular Churches foreseen, how
much their decisions would have perplexed men more diffident than
themselves, or, if you please, of capacities less comprehensive than
their own, they must have been very wicked to have laid such
snares in the way of posterity. I speak of Christian and Pro
testant founders. But we are taught to believe, and indeed upon
probable evidence, that the first framers of our estahlished forms,
were pious and humble men, who had the best meanings, as well
as the strongest convictions, that the system of theology they com-

CORRIGENDA. Xvii
posed for public use, was in every respect in perfect conformity
with the word of God. We now perceive, however, that they pre
sumed too far on their own abUities and discernment, and the least
we ought to do, is so far to retrench their plan, as to release our
selves and our conscientious brethren, from the necessity of de
claring assent and consent to points of doctrine, concerning which
our reformers could know nothing, any more than we, or nothing
more than they could gather from the general doctrines the Spirit
of God hath thought fit to communicate in the Scriptures, the com
mon directory of our faith, as weU as theirs.
" But, as their system continues to be bound upon us by the laws
of a civU establishment, and is not UkeLy to be reduced, in the
present age, to a more liberal standard of confoiinity, and is yet
adhered to by so large a majority of our feUow-Christians, and has
in it so many exceUent things, which may be turned to the use of
edification, without any especial respect for the abstruse and scho
lastic doctrines, that are held up as the shibboleth of the Church,
(which after aU aUows us to bring them to the test of the Scrip
tures,) it may be worth the consideration of a serious Minister of
the Gospel, how far he may be justified, upon the whole, in leaving
his station, where he hath so many fair occasions for being profit
able to the people under his care, or exchanging it for another,
where the very circumstance of his having a new foundation to lay,
must make his success in the practical and more important part
of his duty, extremely precarious.
" A sensible man, who has objections to the forms and ordi
nances received in the religious society, with which he is in com
munion, may have reasons of conscience inducing him seriously to
deliberate whether he is obliged to separate from it on account of
those objections. There have been, both in former and later times,
many wise and good men, who have thought it a matter of Uttle
consequence, to separate from a society professing itself a Chris
tian Church, and adopting the Scriptures, as the only authentic
rule of the faith and duty of its members, even though it should
have adopted some very exceptionable principles and parties into
its established constitution. The sense that one man has of the
Church's deviations from her acknowledged rule, would not pro
bably justify him in separating from communion with her ; at the

XVUl ADDENDA ET
same time that another m.in, who considers her de^'iations in an
other part of view, may think his separation from her, not only
justifiable, but necessary. Both may agree that she does in fact
deviate from her rule ; but a question still remains between them,
what those deviations are, and how far they make conformity to
her ordinances sinful and criminal .''
" I do not apprehend, that tlie most zealous defenders of the
established Church are so perfectly agi-eed in the sense of parti
cular Scriptures, as to pronounce with united voice, how far any
religious society of Protestants among us, deviates from this ca
pital rule in every instance. We must, therefore, necessarUy
differ, both with respect to the instances, wherein even our own
Church is supposed to deviate, and, with respect to the degree of
blame, or if you wiU of guUt, imputable to the Church for persist
ing in such deviation.
" If any man should be so rash, or so void of candour, as to pass
an indiscriminate censure upon the conforming Clergy, as if lucra
tive tRospJEOTB were In general the motives of their entering upon,
or continuing in their respective stations, he must be very imper
fectly acquainted with the sentiments, the understandings, or the
circumstances, of perhaps the most serious and useful part of them.
Among these are numbers, who have very different notions con
cerning human establishments of religion, and particularly con
cerning the forms and ordinances in our own. They, who have
their suspicions, or even a strong persuasion, that many things in
them are wrong, and ought to be reformed, may stUl have substan
tial reasons for not leaving their station in the Church, and I will
venture to name, for one, the impossibUity of their being in any
degi-ee so useful in any other.
" It seems to be a matter of indifference with these zealous and
disinterested censors, who would have every Clergyman to leave
the Church, unless he is perfectly convinced that the Church wants
no reformation, that many hundreds by such secession might want
bread to eat, and raiment to put on. They would probably teU
the sufferers, that they are not to look at the temporal conse
quences of their self-denial, but leave their future provision to
Providence. Such suggestions come with great ease from those
who are not to be at the expence of mamtaimng these outcasts!

CORRIGENDA. xix
But, though that may be none of their concern, it certainly would
become their candour and their charity, to point out the provin
ces, in which these honest separatists might be equaUy useful,
though not so fat and well-liking, as they are in the Church of
England. " It would look invidious to pursue this subject as far as it would
lead us. Recrimination is not the way to sow those grains of al
lowance, (pardon the quibble,) that might bring forth the amiable
fruits of mutual forbearance, which aU of us want in our turn.
" In the mean time, the fact is, that numbers of our brethren
remain in the Church, (whatever their motives may be,) who have
very different conceptions, concerning her established doctrines,
and the forms, by which the law obliges them to officiate. Con
cerning these, or at least a majority of them, I am persuaded, they
may do much more service in their respective stations, in a hun
dred instances, where neither the Church nor the State would in
terfere with them, than they can do harm hy their conformity, or
than they can do good by separating from the Church."
P. 79. With what Dr. Parr says about clerical magistrates, the
reader should compare the remarks of Mr. Brougham : — "On look
ing, however, at the description of persons, who are put into the
commission (of the peace,) I am not at all satisfied that the choice
is made with competent discretion; and upon this part of the
question I may as weU declare at once, that I have very great
doubts as to the expediency of making clergymen magistrates. This
is a course, which, whenever it can be done conveniently, I should
certainly be glad to see changed, unless in counties, where there
are very few resident lay-proprietors. My opinion is that a cle^'i-
cal magistrate, in uniting two very exceUent and useful characters,
pretty generaUy spoUs both ; that the combination produces what
the alchemists caU a tertium quid, with very little indeed of either
ingredient, and no little of the bad ones of both, together with new
evUs Superinduced by the commixture. There is the activity of
the magistrate in an excessive degree, — over-activity is a very
high magisterial offence, in my view ; and yet most of the magis
trates, distingtdshed for over-activity, are clergymen : joined to
this are found the local hatings and likings, and, generally, some
what narrow-minded opinions and prejudices, which are apt to at-

XX ADDENDA ET
tachtothe character oHhe parish-priest, one of the most valuable
and respectable, if kept pui-e from poUtical contamination. There
are some Lords-lieutenant, I know, who make it a rule never to
appoint a clergyman to the magistracy ; and I entirely agree in the
policy of that course, because the education and the habits of such
gentlemen are seldom of a worldly description, and therefore hy
no means quaUfy them to discharge the duties of such an office ;
but, generaUy speaking, as the House must be aware, through the
country the practice is far otherwise.'' Mr. Brougham's Speech on
the Present State of the Law, p. 36.
P. 161. The statement of this writer that the " mode of animad
version," adopted by Cumberland in the pamphlet entitled Curtius
Rescued from the Gulph, or the Retort Courteous to the Rev. Br.
Parr, " was so offensive to the vanity of our learned divine, that
he frequently spoke of it in terms of disgust and indignation, and
characterised Mr. Dilly's authors as ' hornets and scorpions,' " is
directly opposed to what I have myself heard the Doctor say on
this subject — he laughed heartily at the fun of the pamphlet, and
it is paying but a very sorry compliment to his good nature, as weU
as his understanding, to suppose that such a Retort Courteous
could have given any real annoyance to its object. Mr. Cumber
land gives a very honest and amusing account of this production,
in the Memoirs written by himself, 2, 226. : — "As I have dealt
extremely little in anonymous publications, I may as weU confess
myself in this place the author of a pamphlet entitled Curtius
Rescued from the Gulph. I conceived that Dr. Parr had hit an
unoffending gentleman too hard by launching a huge fragment
of Greek at his defenceless head. The subject was started, and
the exterminating weapon produced at one of my friend, DUly's
literary dinners; there were several gentlemen present better
armed for the encounter than myself, but the lot fell upon me to
turn out against Ajax. I made as good a fight as I could, and
rummaged my Indexes for quotations, which I crammed into my
artUlery as thick as grape-shot, and in mere sport fired them off
against a rock invuhierable as the armour of AchUles. It was
very weU observed by my friend, Mr. DUly, upon the profusion of
quotations, which some writers affectedly make use of, that he
knew a Presbyterian Parson, who for eighteen-pence would fur-

CORRIGENDA. xxi
nish any pamphleteer with as many scraps of Greek and Latin,
as would pass him off for an accomplished classic."
P. 214. The work entitled^ Catalogue of 600 Celebrated Authors
of Great Britain jurw Living, Lond. 1788. 8vo. is, in Dr. Watt's5i-
bliotheca Britannica, attributed to a person caHei Marshall ; but of
him Dr. Watt seems to have known nothing. I think that I re
member to have seen it attributed to one Abercrombie, who is
equaUy unknown to me.
P. 229. With this story of the wig and the twisted papers compare
the foUowing, communicated to me by another friend in a Letter
dated AprU 12, 1828. : — " Mentioning Parr's good-nature to me,
gives perhaps a sort of d-propos-ism to the foUowing anecdote.
Very many years ago a person, to whom it was an honour to he in
timately known, said to me one day : ¦ — ' VThen I was a pupil of
' Parr, I was one day struck with the inviting appearance of his
' wig. I had been an exceUent shot with paper-darts, and having
' prepared a sufficient number to keep up a continued fire for some
' time, I placed them between my forefingers, and lodged . them
' felicitously in the lower part of his hinder wig. I never once
' missed my aim. No dart feU short of its aim, or feU from its
' lodgment. I pursued my attacks tUl Parr had finished with us
' for the morning, and the Doctor left his room quilled like a por-
' cupine. Proud of my success, and believing him quite uncon-
' scions of my having been so insolent to his glorious periwig, I
' pursued my sport, nothing doubting. But I was quite wrong.
' My next shot at our next meeting missed the mighty wig, and
' spent its force against the waU. Parr, without turning his head,
' or looking in the direction of the assailant, said very quietly : —
' My Lord,' (here I fail, and must terribly emasculate my anec
dote, for I forget even what language his quotation was made in,
hut it was mm-e than neat,) ' you should have been content with your
' morning's, (or yesterday's,) laurels.' ' He saw me,' said this gen
tleman, ' at first ; but he knew that my occupation must have
' amused me beyond expression, and he was, I dare say, as much
' pleased almost as myself. He participated in my fun.' "
P. 251. On the distinction between creation and formation Dr.
Parr, (Catalogue of the Valuable and Extensive Library of the late
Rev. S. Parr LL.B. Part 1, p. 15.) has written the foUowing note
b

XXII ADDENDA ET
in his copy of the Bihliotheca Grcecorum Patrum, Auctarium No-
vissimum, Ciira Combefisii, Paris 1 6 72. : — " In p. 21 5, <fe Creatione
Mundi we have the distinction between making and forming,
and the same distinction occurs p. 263. In p. 215, we read:
Ilvevfia yap ov to ar/iovXeyei ivravda' ov yap rfj KTiaei
(Tvvapi&fielrai ro aKTCCTTOV dXXairvevfia KcCKei rrjvrou
aepos Kbvr]cn,v. S. P."
P. 273. In the London Weekly Review, Jan. 19, 1828. was in
serted a notice of Mr. Dyer's Academic Unity, and, as it is caUed
' a second notice,' there had probably been a notice in the No. of
the previous week.
P. 279. I wiU add a further communication, which I have subse
quently received from the same friendly hand : —
" April 8, 1828. My late brother was a pupU of the Doctor
some time before I was : I should rather say a pupU of Mr. Beloe;
for he never was under the Doctor, and probably never stood be
fore his awful presence except on some of those occasions, when
the Doctor, having spent his time and the strength of his arm on
the higher boys, had little of either left for the juniors, who hap
pened to be summoned before him. Such, however, was the gene
ral apprehension, throughout the school, of the master's severity
that my brother, being more timid than myself, would sometimes
counterfeit indisposition in excuse for absence. After he went to
reside in London, he sometimes visited Mr. Beloe, at whose house
he had seen Mr. Person. One or two things I have mentioned
from him ; but he knew very little of the Doctor, having, I believe,
never seen him since he was a boy.
" It now comes into my mind that our holidays were very uncer
tain. One whole day in the week, besides saturday-afternoon,
was in our expectation ; but the day was often a secret tiU we as
sembled before the school in the morning, when the closed outward
door, or a boy with a smUing countenance, announced the joyful
tidings. This would often occasion us to stroU into the country,
when we might have been employed on our verses or themes at
home. " (P. 248.) Among the Works of Warburton is a piece in two
Parts, entitled Remarks on several Occasional Reflections. /Ihe
first Part is in answer to some of the most distinguished scholars

CORRIGENDA. XXUl
of the day. Doctors Middleton, Pococke, Grey, the Master of the
Charter-House, and others. The second Pa/rt is in reply to two
sturdy polemics. Doctors Stebbing and Sykes ; and the quotation,
Arcades ambo
Et cantare pares, et respondere parati,
is the motto to this Part ; but this is only the humour and wit,
with which Warburton abounds : he has much stronger character
istics, and on the other side of the page is a quotation from
Horace (Epode 6, 1.)
Quid immerentes hospites vexas, canis,
Ignavus adversits lupos ?
Quin hue inanes, si potes, vertis minas,
Et me remorsurum petis ?
Nam qualis aut Molossus autfulvus Lacon,
Arnica vis pastoribus,
Agam per altos aure sublata nives,
Quacunque prcecedet fera.
Tu cum timenda voce comptesti nemus,
Projectum odoraris cibum.
StUl all is not told. The Bishop was not very discriminating to
wards his opponents ; it was high treason in the Republic of Let
ters to contradict him, and the best of those, who did so, could only
bark. The same offensive passage is also appended to the first
Part of the above Remarks."
P. 299. Read thus,-6'«i which others in all probability may easily
explain : instead of the words, but which are in all probability capa
ble of an easy reconciliation.
P. 340. On the introduction of bells into our places of worship
the reader will find some curious information in the Rev. W. L
Bowles's recent and very entertaining Parochial History of Brem-
hill in thS'County of Wilts p. 255. One extract may be appropri
ately given here in illustration of the matter in the text of the
Parriana : —
" The bells, to which we are now listening, are so weU in tune,
that the commonest ear would pronounce them musical. The rea
son is not generaUy known, but church-beUs have a sensible effect
on the ear, according as they are more or less perfectly tuned.
Here are six bells, which would be pronounced by every ear a mu-

XXIV ADDENDA ET
sical peal ; but no set of beUs are ever cast quite in tune — in ge
neral, the third is too flat and the fourth too sharp, the effect of
which is doubly discordant. The only certain mode of having a
peal perfectly harmonious is to tune the bells by a monochord di
vided into intervals. A peal of beUs can be thus brought to mu
sical perfection ; and any one without knowing the reason, would
perceive the sweet effect. This mode of after-tuning is never prac
tised, and therefore a peal gives aU its discord, often for centuries,
as the beUs happened to be cast. A late friend of mine, Lawson
Huddleston of Shaftesbury, with many and extraordinary accom
plishments, had a kind of passion for beUs. To obUge any clerical
friend, who had six bells in his church, he would pass days and
weeks in the belfry, chipping, and modulating the sound of every
bell, tUl they answered exactly the intervals of the monochord.
The beUs of the parish of Knoyle were so tuned by him ; those of
Shaftesbury ; of St. Cuthbert at WeUs. I had often heard of the
music of Colerne beUs, a smaU vUlage about six mUes from Bath.
No one could tell why their sounds were so pleasing. It is be
cause they are perfectly tuned ; and I was much gratified in tra-
veUing the road with the late Sir John Hippisley, the companion
and friend of Huddleston in early life, speaking of his genius, and
talents in general, he said — 'Now I wUl teU you what I believe
' no one knows but myself— poor old Lawson was sent to school at
' the parish on the top of that hiU, Colerne, and Colerne-beUs were
' ihe first he tuned: Colerne is a living belonging to New-CoUege,
aud, perhaps, some future Vicar may be gratified in hearing this
anecdote ! The same gentleman was in the habit of tuning, to ex
act musical scale, the sheep-beUs of many of his agricultural
friends. They are tuned according to the chords, namely ^- key
note, third, fifth, and eighth. The effect, when they are heard,
sometimes three or four, and sometimes aU together, with the key
note, and connecting chords, is particularly pleasing ; but there
wiU always be a sensible unperfection in the want of a key-note,
when that key-note is not heard. I should therefore recommend
at least four sets of beUs; and four additional lower, or key-nqte
bells, to every set, otherwise the sound, wanting the binding note,
wiU appear meagre and unpleasing."
With regard to the vibration of steeples and towers durmg the

CORRIGEDA. XXV
time of ringing the beUs, which are hung in them, with what Mr.
Boyd states, in the Parnawap. 388, about one particular bell in the
Church of St Nlcaise at Rheims, the reader should compare an ar
ticle in the Gentleman's Magazine foo- March, 1828. p. 218, where
the writer contends that it is caused by the clumsy way, in which
some beUs are hung in their frames or sockets. About the time
when the church-wardens, alarmed by such vibrations, stopped the
chiming of Bow-Bells, some articles were inserted in the Times
Newspaper, (which I transcribed, but unluckUy have mislaid,)
where the inteUigent writer argued that aU steeples or towers
vibrate more or less, without any dangerous result, during the
times of chiming or bell-ringing.
" Sir Symonds d'Ewes, who was Lord of the Manor of Laven-
ham in Suffolk, and one of the most learned antiquaries of his time,
was a beU-ringer, as was Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of
the Common Pleas. WiUiam CecU, High Treasurer of England,
was also a beU-ringer." The Times, Febr. 18, 1828.
In that exquisite little piece of original, simple poetry, caUed
The Beath of Cock Robin, we have these lines :
Who'UtoUthebeU? I, said the BuU,
Because I can puU ;
So, Cock Robin, fareweU !
No one, who has read the following story, wiU be inclined to breathe
a doubt of the historical fact, or of the campanological powers of
Mr. BuU : — "It was to Worcester-CoUege that our hero was re
moved by election, and put under the care of Dr. Gower, the then
Provost. Gower was a man of considerable learning, but rather of
a grave, pedantic turn of mind; and pedantry was to Foote an ir
resistible bait for every kind of wit and humour : he sought for no
thing but the ridiculous in every man's character ; and having once
ascertained this point, he fiUed the canvass by means of his own lux
uriant imagination. One of the first tricks he played upon the Doc
tor, was the foUowing: — The church belonging to the coUege front
ed the side of a lane, where cattle were sometimes turned out to graze
during the night, and from the steeple hung the beU-rope, very low
in the middle of the outside-porch. Foote saw in this an object Ukely

XXVI ADDENDA ET
to produce some fun, and immediately set about to accomplish his
purpose. He accordingly one night slUy tied a wisp of hay to the
rope, as a bait for the cows in their peregrination to the grazing
ground. The scheme succeeded to his wish. One of the cows
soon after smeUing the hay, as she passed by the church-door, m-
stantly seized on it, and, by tugging at the rope, made the beU
ring, to the astonishment of the sexton and the whole parish.
This happened several nights successively, and the incident
gave rise to various reports, — such as not only that the church
was haunted by evU spirits, but that several spectres were seen
walking about the church-yard, in aU those hideous and frightful
shapes, which fear, ignorance, and fancy, usuaUy suggest on such
occasions. An event of this kind, however, was to be explored,
for the honour of phUosophy, as weU as for the quiet of the parish.
Accordingly the Doctor and the sexton agreed to sit up one night,
and, on the first alarm, to run out and drag the culprit to condign
punishment. Their plan being arranged, they waited with the
utmost impatience for the appointed signal : — at last the beU be
gan to sound its usual alarm, and they both saUied out in the dark,
determined on making a discovery. The sexton was the first in
the attack. He seized the cow by the tail, and cried out, ' It was a
gentleman commoner, as he had him by the tail of his gown ; '
whUe the Doctor, who had caught the cow by the horns, at the
same time, immediately repUed, , ' No, no, you blockhead, 'tis the
postman, and here I have hold of the rascal by his blowing-horn.'
Lights however were immediately brought, when the character of
the real offender was discovered, and the laugh of the whole town
was turned upon the Doctor." W. Cooke's Memoirs of Samuel
Foote 1, 23.
P. 353. On the subject of Dr^- White's Bampton-Lectures I will
add an interesting communication from a most inteUigent friend : —
" March, 14, 1828. The little, that I know of Gabriel's dispute
with White, I will relate. I was too young to be the depositary
of much confidential information, and indeed the particulars of the
conference at Bath were not communicated to any person. A bond
for £500 was given by White to Badcock. The question was for
what services was this bond given ? White maintained that it was
for services promised, for future contributions to his Mgyptian

CORRIGENDA. XXVli
History, for assistance to be furnished. Gabriel was Miss Badcock's
friend, and her brother had been Gabriel's assistant at the Octagon-
Chapel at Bath. It was maintained on the other hand that the
Lectures contained a part of the services, for which the bond was
given ; and this enquiry laid open all the literary connection be
tween White and Badcock. I have not Gabriel's pamphlet. How
the services were made out to be equivalent to the sum specified
in the bond, I do not know. A conference took place at Bath, at
which were present White, and his friend, PhUip Smith of New-
CoUege, and Dr. Gabriel, and Dr. Falconer. I was desired to copy
out a Sermon from Badcock's MS. The Sermon had been preached
by Badcock at South-Moulton upon the death of a young person.
White omitted the occasional and local topics and aUusions, and
preached it at Oxford, where it was much admired. I was to write
out a copy of this Sermon as fast as I could, and I made some
blunders, which constituted variations, and on the strength of these
differences White maintained that it was not the same Sermon, that
he preached, and that I had copied ! White was not a man to give
£500 for anything, in prospect, of a literary kind, indefinite in
quantity, and uncertain whether it could be supplied. A person
at Oxford, who knew White, says that there never was a greater
impostor except Mahomet him.ielfJ Did White write the Mgyp-
tiaca himself.'' Parr's constant defence of White was that he was
a fool for asking for assistance ; for he could have written the
Lectures without it. If Parr had said, or could have said, that the
man, who wrote the latter Sermons, was a fool for asking for as
sistance in the former, he would have proved his remark to be just ;
but the man, who could write the latter Sermons, would have
written without assistance the former likewise. Gabriel had assist
ance in writing his pamphlet, and it was natural that he should
lay his MS. before some friend, and no friend so likely to be con
sulted as Parr. I think Parr's sUence on this occasion was most
singular, and nothing accounts for it but his previous acquaintance
with the contents of Gabriel's pamphlet. I suspect also that Parr
knew more of White's proceedings than any other person in Eng
land. I believe that Parr wrote the Inaugural Speech, except the
note, whei-e the Arabic citation appears, which he delivered, when
he was made Laudian Professor. "The fifth of November Discourse
was Parr's. The Sermon on the Consecration of an American Bishop

xxviu Addenda et
was Parr's. Are you reduced to the shift of examining a few pri
vate Letters to find out what White's talents were, and what his
style } He is not worth the trouble of such an analysis. Do you
intend to teU the public how he bilked a class of 70 academics,
who had assembled to form a body of students, under his auspices,
of the Hebrew language, and expected him to give a course of
Lectures ? The less you say of this man, the better. Valpy can
teU you how he whUed away the hour in cutting a pen, and form
ing specimens of the letters, and all the trifling of the promise he
made and never kept of meeting them again. I can conceive no
sin, that he could commit in his capacity of Professor, greater than
this." " May 9: I believe that Gabriel had some assistance from Parr
in the preparation of his pamphlet, and from no other person, and
I am persuaded that he would not have ventured to print anything
without Parr's knowledge and privity. I am only surprized that
Parr, who liked enquiry, and testimony, and discussion, did not
propose to White to settle his dispute by the assistance of friends
in private, and to avoid the appeal to the public. Dr. Parr's part
in that business I have not the means of understanding and ex
plaining. He thought that he had offended White ; for in his
pamphlet against Curtis, (Sequel to a printed Paper p. 108,) when
he enumerates the guests at a dinner-party at a bookseUer's in
London, he says of White, ' the celebrated Dr. White, whom I
' have yet the pleasure to caU my friend.' I know that Dr. Parr
maintained White's abUity to write the Lectures ; but I never
heard that he produced any proof of that ability. Did White
himself say anywhere but in his title-page, that he wrote any one,
any half iectereofthe ten Lectures? I should think that the
Rev. Philip Smith of New-CoUege, but who is beneficed in Shrop
shire, might furnish, if he would, some curious particulars about
White. Parr he disliked very stongly. Indolence alone was not
White's fading. Indolence may be overcome by the necessity of
exertion. Such necessity occurred in White's case ; but he went
to Parr to help him to overcome it. I mean when he undertook
to preach a Consecration- Sermon at Lambeth, which Sermon wUl
make one of Parr's coUection, not an addition to the Bampton-
Lectures of White. Surely no man could write those Lectures,
who had not been excercised in writmg something of more vigour.

CORRIGENDA. Xxix
and thought, and' research, than eloquent Letters, and for many
years ; for style is not the acquirement of two or three years'
practice. If your copy of the Bampton-Lectures of White is
marked by VThite's pamphlet, where the shares are assigned to
Parr and Badcock, you wUl see that Badcock excels Parr in beauty
of style, and expression, and harmony of periods. Gabriel was a
friend of Dr. Parr ; for it was at his house in Bath, when Dr, Parr
was upon a visit to him, that my father first became acquainted
with Dr. Parr, and Dr. Parr had a very sufficient opportunity of
measuring my father's powers of resistance, and of observing his
disposition and temper in a very angry debate, on Dr. Parr's part,
on the fi,rst Regency, when he expected the completion of aU his
sanguine hopes."
P. 356. The remark of the writer that Dr. Parr had a great
dislike to the orthodox toast of ' Church and King,' ' the King and
his Friends' etc., is fuUy confirmed by the following extract from
Mr. Field's Memoirs ofthf Ufe of Br. Parr p. 309. : —
" It happened, at this period, that, dining in a public company.
Dr. Parr was caUed upon to drink Church and King, — the watch
word of a party, and the reigning toast of the times. At first he
resolutely declined. But the obligation of compliance being ur
gently pressed upon him, — rising at length with firmness and dig
nity, — with a manner of impressive solemnity, and with a voice
of powerful energy, he spoke thus — ' I am compeUed to drink the
' toast given from the chair ; but I shall do so with my own com-
' ment. WeU, then, gentlemen. Church and King. Once it was
' the toast of Jacobites ; now it is the toast of incendiaries. It
' means a Church without the Gospel ; and a King above the Law! '
The wit of this cutting reproof may claim to be admired ; but the
manly and noble spirit, which dared, at this season of popular fury
and frenzy, to espouse the cause of the persecuted, and to rebuke
the insolent triumph of the mad persecutors, demands to be grate-
fuUy and fervently applauded."
Mr. Field has overlooked Dr. Parr's aUusion to this circum
stance in a note to the Sequel to a Printed Paper, p. 196, edn. 2. : —
" On the day of the riots, I dined with the President and FeUows
of Magdalen-College, Oxford, and sure I am that the kingdom can
not furnish a body of men more sincerely attached to our civU and
ecclesiastical constitution. I do not, however, suppose that they

XXX ADDENDA ET
would have joined in the savage yell of Church and King, id est,
a Church WITHOUT Christianity, and a King above law. Such a
Church and such a King, however popular among rioters and the
abettors of riot, are unknown among learned academies, who un
derstand what they approve, who reverence public regulations for
their public utility, and who, in defending the privUeges of their
governors, would be ashamed to invade the rights of their feUow
citizens." P. 359. Read: (An Essay  p. 129.)
P. 405. Let the reader contrast Dr. Parr's testimony to the in
tellectual and the moral merits of Dr. Routh wj^h the recent tes
timony of Sir Francis Burdett, in which the worthy Baronet also
intimates his feeUngs at the non-pbomotion of this exceUent per
son : — "It has been my lot to find some of my earliest and most
valued friends amongst the Ministers of the Established Church ;
and now that I have touched upon this topic, 1 cannot refuse my
self the satisfaction of boasting of my friendship with a distin-
giushed ornament of the Establishment, — an individual, who,
however he may be hid in retirement, can never be concealed in
obscurity, — a man adorned with the greatest talents and the high
est virtues, — and never was strong ability and deep learning ac
companied by more perfect candour and sincerity in the investiga
tion of truth, than in the case of the esteemed person, to whom I
have aUuded, and whom I shaU now take the liberty to name, —
his name being indeed his best panegyric, — I mean Dr. Routii,
the Head of Magdalen-CoUege, Oxford. I know not. Sir, whether
my mention of his name in this public manner may not be offensive
to this distinguished and respected ornament of his sacred profes
sion." 5'«-J'}-anm.BM?-rfe«, in the Debate on the Roman Catholics,
Courier, May 9, 1828.
P. 409. There is yet one other publication respecting W. H.
Ireland's Shakespeare- Forgeries, which should have been noticed.
" Amongst other gentlemen, who came to view the MSS., were
Dr. P— r, and Dr. W— n. I was in my father's study at the time
they passed the highest encomiums on the style of the papers ui
general; and I particularly weU remember, after havmg heard read
theProfession of Faith, one of them used the following words to my
father : — ' Mr. Ireland, we have very fine things in our Church-
' service, and our Litany abounds with beauties ; but here is a man.

CORRIGENDA. XXXi
' has distanced us aU.' I scarce could refrain from laughter on
hearing such praises lavished on myself, particularly on a compo
sition not even studied, when wrote. I was, however, struck with
astonishment at having attracted the applause of two such learned
men ; — then I first began to think I had any abUities." W. H.
Ireland's Authentic Account of the Shakesperian MSS. etc. 1796.
8. p. 16.
In an article on the Bibliotlieca Parriana, extracted from the Sun
Newspaper, which I have cited in p. 540, the writer states that
Dr. Parr worshipped on his knees the Shakespeare-Forgeries, when
the truth is that that extravagant act of adoration was, according
to the Confesssions of W. H. Ireland himself, (quoted by me in p.
411,) performed by James Boswell.
P. 439. The Rev. Henry Meen was Fellow of Emmanuel Col
lege, and Minor Canon of St. Paul's ; and according to the testi
mony of my worthy friend, the Rev. D. Roderick, finished Fawkes's
posthumous Translation of the Argonautics of Apolhnius Rhodius,
(which was published in 1780, 8vo. by Mr. Green of Emmanuel
CoUege.) He was a man of great simplicity. Parr had, it seems,
occasionally met him. " Some years ago," says Mr. Roderick in
a Letter to me dated March 23, 1828. " Meen being in company
with Dr. Parr in London, told him that he had a design to under
take an edition of Lycophron. Parr advised him by all means to
set about it ; ' for,' said he, ' many books have been very well
' edited by men, who were no scholars.' " A punning friend, on
hearing this, remarked that it must necessarUy have been ' a mean
edition.' Meen, however, was not deterred by this sarcasm from
pursuing his object ; and, though he never completed an edition of
Lycophro, yet he in 1800, did publish in 8vo. a pamphlet entitled
Remarks on the Cassandra of Lycophron ; they were " originaUy
published in the European Magazine, and afterwards reprinted in
a distinct form," says Dr. Watt Bibl. Brit., who also assigns to
the pen of Mr. Meen a work published under this title — Succisivm
Operm, or Selections from Ancient Writers, Sacred and Profane, with
Translations and Notes, Lond. 1815. 8vo. *
P. 442. In a Letter from the same inteUigent friend, dated April
23, 1828. occur these words: —
" Referring again to your Letter, Mr. Leman was not related
to the Bishop of Cloyne; but they were very great friends for many

XXXU ADDENDA ET
years, and explored the Roman roads together. Mr. Leman wag
Chancellor of Cloyne. Did I give you Mr. Leman's motto right ?
Volens, semperque juvare paratus,"
In an elegant Oration by Mr. Hunter, entitled The Connec
tion of Bath with the Literature and Science of England, read before
the Literary and Philosophical Association, Nov. 6, 1826. Mr. Le
man is thus mentioned p. 18 : — " And last, only because he was
the last, who ceased to pour upon the world of the Ughts of his
antiquarian and historical knowledge, must be named that care
ful investigator of one very important branch of our national an
tiquities, the early roads and other earth-works, which are scat
tered in such abimdance over the surface of this island, the Rev,
Mr. Leman, a founder and original Trustee of this institution,
and who has marked his sense of its usefulness and permanency
by making its library the depository of many volumes of Genealo
gical Collections in his own neat and beautiful hand, and many
scattered, but precious notices of various EngUsh antiquities.
Few are the works in English topography, that have appeared in
his time, that have not owed something to the assistance, ever so
kindly rendered, of Mr. Leman.
P. 494. See p. 549. I had overlooked the foUowing note on
Hampton's Polybius, which is decisive as to the opinion of Dr.
Parr :^
"Polybius, translated by Mr. Hampton, 4 vol. 1761. 8. 'The
gift of my illustrious friend, James Mackintosh, Nov. 26, 1794.
I was very little acquainted with the merits of this work tUl they
were pointed out by Jebb. The Preface was certainly revised and
improved by Johnson'. S. P." Bibliotheca Pai-riana p. 226.
P. 508. The word evr) should, I suppose, be evfj, inerat.
%* If any mistalces should be discovered by the reader, and
communicated to the Author, publicly or privately, with any ad
ditional matter, respecting any facts, circumstances, or individuals
referred to in this work, the Author wUl, in the Second Volume,
be happy to avail himself of the information from whatever quar
ter it may proceed.
He has not had leisure to examine the Volume carefuUy for
the purpose of noting down errours of the press ; but he hopes and
believes that none of any importance will be found.
May ^6, 1828.

PARRIANA: OR NOTICES
OF THE
REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D.

I.
In this collection the following biographical article, from
its well-known authenticity, is entitled to the first place.
It is extracted from the European Magazine and Lm-
don Review for Aug. Sept. and Oct. 1809.

Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel Parr, LL.D.
Dr. Parr was born at Harrow-on-the-Hill,
January 15th, O. S. 1747. He was the son of
Ann Parr, the daughter of Elizabeth Bates, of
Stamford, Lincolnshire, and Leonard Mignart,
who was descended from aFrench refugee family,
was related to Mignart the painter, of whom
some account is given by Lord Orford, and prac
tised as an apothecary at Harrow-on-the-Hill.
The doctor's father was Samuel Parr, the third
and youngest son of the Rev. Mr. Parr, vicar of
B

'^ PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Hinckley, and Stoke, Leicestershire, and of Do
rothy Brokesby, a daughter of the Rev, Francis
Brokesby, who was once a member of Trinity
College, Cambridge 5 who was afterwards Rector
of Rowley, Yorkshire ; who communicated to
Mr. Ray, when preparing the second edition of
his Collection of English Proverbs, a very large
catalogue, and some very ingenious interpreta
tions of old words used in the north of England ;
who in 1715. published the Life of the celebrated
Henry Dodwell ; and is said to have been, like
several of Mr. Dodwell's friends, a very conscien
tious and inflexible non-juror.
Robert Parr, the doctor's great uncle, who
lived at Hinckley, but had preferment in War
wickshire, was an excellent Greek scholar, and
a most orthodox divine. The same praise is due
to the doctor's uncle, Mr. Robert Parr. This
gentleman stood high in the esteem of Dr. Snape,
once Master of Eton, and afterwards Provost of
King's College, Cambridge ; was himself a Fellow
of that society, and was presented by it to the
rectories of Horstead and Coltishall, in Norfolk,
where his literary attainments, unblemished in
tegrity, and unfeigned piety, will be long re
membered. The doctor's father succeeded Leonard Mig
nart,- as a surgeon and apothecary at Harrow,
and died there January 23, I766. having lost his

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 3
first and justly beloved wife, Ann, by death,
November 5, I762. Mr. Parr was distinguished
by great professional knowledge, by strong com
mon sense, by a correct taste in the English and
Latin languages, by fidelity and activity in his
business, by the rectitude of his principles, by
a manly and dignified independence of spirit,
and by a noble disregard to the accumulation of
wealth. As the doctor himself is well known in
the world by a steady and disinterested adhe
rence to the tenets of whiggism, it may be pro
per to remark, that his family, in all its various
branches, and for several successive generations,
were firmly attached to toryism, in church and
state. Through the changes of public affairs,
their political tenets have always been unfavour
able to their personal interests ; and from a lau
dable inflexibility of spirit, those interests have
never deterred them from the avowal of their
respective tenets. The grandfather, Brokesby,
resigned the living of Rowley ; the uncle Robert
Parr could not accomplish his wishes of being
elected to a fellowship of Eton -, and the doctor
is not unlikely to remain a country-clergyman.
The doctor, from his infancy, gave manifest
indications of his thirst for knowledge, and of his
ability to acquire it. At Easter 1752. he was
admitted on the foundation of the free school
raised and endowed by John Lyon, at Harrow.
B2

4 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
He passed through the different classes with
great approbation from his teachers, and became
the head-boy January I76I, when he had not
completed his fourteenth year. He always speaks
with filial regard and thankfulness of the kind
treatment he received from the Rev. Dr. Thack
eray, who resigned the mastership in the sum
mer of 1760, and died in the succeeding autumn.
While Dr. Parr was a boy, he formed a close
and lasting friendship with his schoolfellows, the
celebrated Sir William Jones, and the learned
Dr. Bennet, now Bishop of Cloyne. The lite
rary curiosity of the three boys extended far be
yond the regular business of the school, and in
fluenced their harmless, and even useful amuse
ments. They assumed the office of sovereigns ;
they took ancient names ; and, with little regard
to chronology or geography, they selected their
dominions from the neighbouring fields. Thus
Jones was called Euryalus, King of Arcadia ;
Bennet, Nisus, King of Argos ; Parr, Leander,
Prince of Abydos and Sestos ; and it is probable
that these places, and these names, were sug
gested to the minds of the young men by forci
ble impressions made upon them, while their
imaginations were active, and before their judg
ment was mature. In those fields, which they
visited while other boys were intent upon diffe
rent amusements, they were often engaged in

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 5
intellectual competition. They acquired the art of
logic, and disputed in syllogism, sometimes upon
subjects of natural history, and sometimes upon
metaphysical questions, which were suggested to
them by Dacier's Translation of Plato's Dialo
gues. They displayed their oratory, such as it
was, in lively debates, upon the interest s of their
ideal kingdoms, and triumphant descriptions of
their success in trials of skill and strength with
some of their brave and sturdy schoolfellows.
The doctor and Sir William Jones wrote tragedies
upon some of the stories, by which they had
been interested in the course of their reading.
They had a custom of attempting to imitate any
English writer, by whose excellencies of style
they had been powerfully impressed ; and the
doctor is known to speak with rapture of his en
deavours to rival Sir William Jones in the short
and abrupt sentences of Phalaris's Epistles, and
Bennet in the gaudy and captivating diction of
Harvey's Meditations. While they excelled in
the ordinary exercises of the school in the learned
languages, they improved their English style by
a diligent perusal of Addison, Johnson, and other
elegant authors, whose comparative merits they
discussed in conversation, and whose peculiar
forms of writing they selected, as models for imi
tation, according to their different judgments.
To these early and singular operations of their

^3 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
understandings may, in a great degree, be ascri
bed the eminence, which they have since reached
in the republic of letters. But for the regula
rity and the rapidity of their progress in classical
learning, they were yet more indebted to the in
struction of Dr. Robert Sumner, who in I76O.
became thesucce&sorof Dr. Thackeray, and whose
character is beautifully described by Sir William
Jones, in his Preface to the Commentaries upon
Asiatic Poetry. It was the happier lot of Sir
William Jones and Bishop Bennet to remain for
several years under the care of Dr. Sumner.
Dr. Parr enjoyed this advantage only from the
summer of I76O. to the spring of I76I, when he
was removed from school, and employed in the
business of his father. But the progress which
he made in the writings of antiquity, and the ha
bits which he had formed for the cultivation of
his mind, enabled him to continue his studies with
unwearied industry, and with increasing effect.
In the midst of the duties, which were imposed
upon him by his father, he read the best authors
in Greek and Latin. He appHed himself most
earnestly to those philological inquiries, which
have since occupied so large a portion of his time.
He indulged the fondness, which he had felt very
early for metaphysical investigation. He fre
quently wrote upon classical subjects, both in
verse and prose. He improved his talent for

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 7
English composition by two series of moral es
says, in which his style was gradually formed into
that resemblance, which it has since preserved,
to the energy of Johnson's language, and the
harmony of his periods.
Observing the ardour of his son's spirit, and
the vigour of his understanding, the father, after
instructing him in the elementary parts of medi
cine, sometimes meant to place him in the shop
of Mr. Trusdale, in London, where his experience
would be more extensive ; and sometimes he
permitted the young man to indulge the expec
tation of prosecuting his studies upon a more
enlarged scale in one of the Scotch universities.
But the doctor was never reconciled to any class
of the medical profession, and obtained leave from
his father to enter at Emmanuel College, Cam
bridge, in the summer of 1765. The doctor began
his academical residence in the autumn of that
year, and had the good fortune to be placed under
the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Hubbard, and the Rev.
Mr. Farmer, for both of whom, as men of letters
and men of virtue, he entertained the most pro
found respect. During his continuance at Cam
bridge, his spirits were lively, and his temper was
social ; but his companions were few ; his plea
sures were innocent. His application was inces
sant ; and his obedience to the established dis
cipline of his college was most exemplary. The

o PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
force of his mind was chiefly directed to classical
and philological reading; yet he at the same time
had formed the most serious determination to
prepare himself for his degree ; and he secretly
aspired to a high class in those academical ho
nours, which are bestowed upon great proficiency
in mathematical knowledge. But these prospects,
which delighted his ambition and animated his
diligence, were of short duration. The fortune
bequeathed to him by his father was very scanty ;
the college, in which he was placed, afforded him
no chance of a fellowship. His abilities and his
worth had recommended him to the notice of Dr.
Summer ; at whose pressing solicitation he, in
January 1767. accepted the office of first assistant
in Harrow school. His habitual prudence and
his invincible firmness enabled him to overcome
all the disadvantages of his youth. The toils,
which he underwent in performing the public
business of the school, and in communicating in
struction to private pupils, neither impaired his
health nor obstructed his studies. By night and
by day he was intent upon the improvement of
his own mind. He extended his researches in
classical authors, in the writings of commentators
and critics, both ancient and modern, and in the
most celebrated works of metaphysicians and the
ologians. In Dr. Sumner, he found a wise coun
sellor, a zealous protector, and a most faithful and

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 9
affectionate friend. When, with the highest cre
dit to himself, and the greatest satisfaction to
his employers, Mr. Parr had nearly for five years
sustained the office of an assistant. Dr. Sumner,
in the autumn of 1771? was carried off by an
apoplexy. Mr. Parr was a candidate for the
head-mastership, and his youth was pleaded by
the governors as a reason for rejecting his pre
tensions. The boys, whom he had instructed
with so much activity, and governed with so much
wisdom, were anxious for his success; and when
the election fell upon the learned Mr. Benjamin
Heath, the young gentlemen endeavoured to
avenge the cause of their favourite master by overt
acts of violent rebellion. Mr. Parr instantly re
signed his assistantship. He opened a school at
Stanmore on the 14th of October 1771 ; he carried
with him about forty boys from Harrow. He,
without submitting to the degrading toil of re-ite
rated solicitation, obtained from Dr. Terrick,
the then Bishop of London, a licence, which had
been at first refused to him with peculiar circum
stances of contumely and unkindness ; and he
finally triumphed over the calumnies of those
persons, who had basely represented him as an
encourager of the disturbance. It is difficult to
describe the anguish of his honest and ingenuous
mind, when he had been thus forcibly driven
from the place, in which he had drawn his first

10 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
breath, in which he had received his earliest
education, in which he had formed the most
endearing connections, and in which he had
faithfully discharged the most important duties.
In November 1771. Mr. Parr married Miss
Jane Marsingale, a lady maternally descended
from the ancient family of the Maulevelers, in
Yorkshire, and much admired for the soundness
of her judgment and the keenness of her pene
tration. While the doctor continued at Stan-
more, the number of his scholars never exceeded
sixty, and the profits of his severe labours were
exhausted by the heavy debts, which he was com
pelled to contract in the purchase of a house and
furniture, and in making proper accommodation
for the reception of his scholars. But his spirits
were not broken down, either by former disap
pointment or by former distresses. He taught
the young men committed to his care with his
usual earnestness and usual ability ; and it de
serves to be remembered, that, in the presence
of Sir William Jones, Mr. Bennet Langton, and
other well-known scholars, they performed the
GEdipus Tyrannus, and the Trachinians of So-
phocles. The choruses were omitted ; but the
dialogue was spoken in the most judicious and
impressive manner by the different performers.
The scenes were furnished by Mr. Foote ; the
dresses by Mr. Garrick ; and some particular

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 11
robes, which the doctor's erudition pointed out
to him as necessary for the representation of a
Greek play, were prepared, under his directions,
by his own family. The doctor has often expresed
a wish that similar experiments were made in
our public seminaries, where detached and select
speeches from the best writers are now delivered.
His scholars, as he observed, with greater ease
conquered the difficulties, of which young men
complain, when their minds are first turned
towards the dramatic writings of antiquity. Their
attention to Greek phraseology and Greek metre
was invigorated ; their views of the plans and
characters in the Greek drama became more cor
rect and enlarged ; and their recitation in dia
logue was found to be very efficacious in quick
ening their sensibility, strengthening their me
mory, and refining their taste.
Oppressed by the prevalence of the old and
extensive interests, which supported the neigh
bouring school at Harrow, and desirous to pro
cure some settled situation, Mr. Parr, in 1776.
accepted the mastership of Colchester school,
which had become vacant by the death of the
Rev. Mr. Smythies. He went thither in the
spring of 1777- He repaired the school-house ;
he took a neighbouring house for the reception
of scholars ; and though the success of his endea
vours to establish a flourishing seminary was

12 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
very inconsiderable, he always looked back with
pleasure to that period of his life, in which he
had an opportunity to cultivate the friendship
of the Rev. Thomas Twining and the Ret. Dr.
Nathaniel Forster. The society of Mr. Twining
was exquisitely agreeable to the doctor, from the
simplicity of his manners, from the exactness of
his taste, from the elegance of his wit, and from
those abundant stores of classical learning, the
fruits of which are well known to scholars, in a
translation of Aristotle's Poetics, which is equally
distinguished by correctness and perspicuity, and
in the notes to that work, where consummate
judgment is united with various and recondite
erudition. The conversation of Dr. Forster was
peculiarly interesting to Dr. Parr, from his deep
and clear views upon metaphysical and political
subjects ; nor was their harmony for one moment
disturbed by difference of opinion, upon the
grounds of the American war, and the measures
of Lord North's administration. Each respected
the talents, and each confided in the candour of
the other.
In the summer of 1778, the head-mastership
of Norwich school became vacant by the resigna
tion of the Rev. Mr. Lemon, author of an Ety
mological Dictionary. As Mr. Parr was not
without agreeable connections in Norfolk, and
was most affectionately attached to his cousin

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 13
Mr. Robert Parr, who resided in Norwich, he
became a candidate for the free school in that
city, was elected in the autumn of 1778, and re
moved thither in January 1779- He introduced
many useful improvements in the instruction and
government of that school, and remained there
till Michaelmas 1785, when he resigned his
office. The frequent change of situation, the ex
pense of successive removals, the contracted plan
upon which he was doomed to act, and an habi
tual disregard to pecuniary concerns, made it
impossible for the doctor to accumulate any large
savings from his meritorious labours. The min
gled love and fear with which he inspired his
scholars ; the attention which he paid to their
intellectual and moral improvement ; the friend
ships which he contracted with many of them ;
and the numerous instances of respect and grati
tude which he experienced from them, were a
recompense most ample to his enlarged and ge
nerous mind. He has often declared, that upon
his intentions and exertions as a teacher and go
vernor of youth, he must to the latest hour in his
life look back with the purest satisfaction. He
professed himself an advocate for the old and
salutary discipline of our public schools. He re
sisted all the specious arguments, which are em-
ployed in vindicating those refinements, which the
partiality of parents, the ingenuity of experiment-

14 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
alists, and the growing luxury of the age, have
introduced into the education of our youth. He
stoutly appealed to his own personal experience,
and to the established practice of our most cele
brated seminaries, in favour of those rules, which
for many ages have produced the best scholars,
the finest writers, the most useful members of
society in private life, and the most distinguished
characters in public. Though strict in enforcing
the laws, which appeared to him necessary for
awakening attention in the indolent, and anima
ting perseverance in the ingenious, he was always
liberal of praise, and always anxious to rescue
those, who were placed under his care, from all
seriousconsequences of their juvenile indiscretion.
He secretly respected the judgment, which young
men might be disposed to form of his talents,
principles, and temper. He encouraged in them
the noblest sentiments of honour, and an unsha
ken regard to truth. He took in a wide, but
accurate, view of the causes, by which their fu
ture conduct was to be regulated, and their future
happiness promoted. He was not only a learned
instructor, but a faithful adviser, and a steady
friend. Such were the opinions and such the measures
of Dr. Parr, in that humble path of life, in which
he was doomed to tread, while the companions
of his youth were pushing forward with distin-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 15
guished, but merited success in that wider field,
which was open to them for the display of their
great talents, and the gratification of their honour
able ambition. The doctor, it must be remem
bered, was always eager to do justice to the merit
of contemporary teachers; and he conceived that
their qualifications in the present age were suffi
cient to support the credit of classical learning,
and, by the diffusion of it, to correct the mischiefs,
which sometimes arise from that superficial and
desultory reading, which is now become fashion
able, under the imposing name of general know
ledge. He praised the proficiency made in the
Greek language by the scholars of Dr. Raine, at
the Charter-House. He thought that in compo
sition Etonians were distinguished by correctness,
and Wykehamists by elegance; and he with mark
ed approbation would expatiate upon the Win
chester-practice, which directs boys frequently
to recite very large portions of Greek and Latin
verses. He maintained that inquisitive and in
genious boys, after repeating passages, which they
have not regularly learnt, would be anxious to
understand what they had read, would remember
with ease what, of their own accord, and by their
own efforts, they had understood ; and that by
this process they laid up for themselves a copious
and varied- supply of poetical imagery and poet
ical expression. He suspected that the minds of

16 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
very young boys were seldom improved by writ
ing or reading epigrams ; and he contended, that
the Psalms and scriptural history were unfit to be
translated by beginners, while their stock of La
tin words was very small, and while the mecha
nical structure of hexameters and pentameters
was not very familiar to their ears. But the chief
defects, which he imputed to our public semina
ries, were that sufficient portions of Latin prose,
especially in Cicero and Caesar, were not read ;
that too little time was bestowed upon prose-
composition in that language ; and that boys
were called upon to invent, before materials for
invention could have been collected.
Having been in his boyhood the pupil, and
afterwards the occasional companion of Dr. Parr,
the writer of this article can vouch for the accu
racy of the foregoing statement. He supposes
that readers, who reflect upon the importance of
education, will have some curiosity to know the
sentiments of a man, who, like Dr. Parr, added
long experience to great sagacity, and who, in
the general turn of his mind, was solicitous to
correct, rather than to abolish, the institutions
of civilized life.
I shall hereafter state such particulars as will
enable the reader to form a just estimate of the
doctor's character as an ecclesiastic and a writer.
As the academical studies of Dr. Parr had been

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 17
interrupted by his acceptance of the head-assist-
antship in Harrow School, I767, he, of course,
could not proceed regularly to the degree of
A.B. He kept, however, his name upon the books
of Emmanuel CoUege, and he intended to per
form his exercises for a bachelorship in divinity,
which, according to the customs of the Universi
ty, was granted to non-resident members, who
had been in holy orders for ten years. But, in
1771. when he became a candidate for the mas
tership at Harrow, he found it necessary to have
the degree of A.M. as required by the will of
the founder ; he therefore applied to the Duke
of Grafton, chancellor of Cambridge, who, with
the greatest kindness, recommended him to the
heads of colleges. They afterwards put their
names to the proper papers ; the royal signature
was obtained for a mandate ; and in the winter
of 1771. the doctor was made a master of arts.
Supposing that a doctor's degree would be cre
ditable to him, as a teacher, and wishing to get
it by the earliest opportunity, he, in opposition
to the advice of his much-respected tutor, Mr.
Hubbard, went over to the law-line. Hence in
proceeding to the degree of doctor, he, for the
first time, brought his erudition and his talents
within the view of the university. The subject
of a thesis which he delivered July 6, I78I. was
this — Hoeres ex delicto defuncti non tenetur : and
c

18 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
on the succeeding Friday he read another thesis
upon the following subj ect — Jus interpretandi
leges privatis, perinde ac principi, constat. The
schools were unusually crowded for both days :
and when the disputation began, the doctor
shewed, that his long absence from the university
had riot lessened his talent for promptness of
reply, and subtlety of distinction in the logical
forms of academical exercise. But the attention
of his hearers was chiefly excited by the variety,
and, in some instances, the novelty, of the argu
ments, which he adduced in his theses, by the
copiousness of his diction, by the harmony of
his sentences, and by his extensive knowledge of
those historical facts and legal principles, which
were connected with his questions. In the first
of his theses he paid many splendid compliments
to the memory of Mr. Charles Yorke; opposed
the doctrines, which that celebrated man had de
fended in his book upon the Law of Forfeiture ;
and resisted the authority of eveiy passage quot
ed by Mr. Yorke from the correspondence be
tween Cicero and Brutus, on the ground, that
the correspondence itself is not genuine. The
mind of the doctor had been previously impres
sed by the reasoning of Mr. Markland, with
whom he sided against the learned Gesner. Dr.
Hallifax, then professor of law, was delighted
with the unusual elegance of the composition de-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 19
livered by Dr. Parr in the law-schools ; and at
the close of what is called the professor^s deter
mination, earnestly entreated the doctor to com
mit them to the press. With this request the
doctor, for some unknown reasons, did not com
ply ; but was content to complete his degree at
the commencement of 1781.
As public curiosity takes more or less interest
in all the events of such a man's life, I shall now
proceed to give some account of him as an ec
clesiastic. At Christmas I769. he was ordained
deacon by Dr. Terrick, Bishop of London, upon
the curacies of Willsden and Kingsbury, in Mid
dlesex, to which he had a title from the incum
bent, the Rev. Moses Wight,. The difficulty of
serving them, while he was assistant at Harrow,
frprn which they were disfaiit nearly six miles,
induced him to resign them at Easter 1770-
Afterwards, when he went to Colchester ,1777>
he, at the request of his friend Dr. Forster, en
tered upon the curacies of the Hythe and Tri-
iiity Church, in that town, and \y:as ordained
priest by Bishop Lowth, in the summer of 1777-
Here it may be worth while to remark, that, at
Colchester, he generally preached extempore.
He, had .begun to do so, ^hile.he was a curat? in
Middlesex ; and at a later period^ the writer of
this article has often had occasion to a:dmire the
fluenqy, correctness,, and energy of his eloquence,
in these extemporaneous effusions.

20 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Much, doubtless, is to be ascribed to the na
tural force of his understanding, to the variety
and extent of his researches, to the earnestness
of his mind upon every subject, on which it was
employed, and to the habit of communicating
oral instruction, as a teacher of youth. But in
answer to the inquiry of his friends, the doctor,
I have been told, has sometimes declared, that
for the quick succession, and even methodical ar
rangement of his ideas, and his words, he thinks
himself much indebted to the early practice of
making speeches on the various topics, which in
terested him, when, as a school-boy, he had to
contend with such rivals as Sir William Jones
and Bishop Bennet.
Soon after his removal to Norwich, he was
curate to the Rev. William Tapps, and served
the churches of St. George Colgate and St. Sa^
viour. Here he preached some well-written dis
courses ; of which it has been said, that they
were now and then above the level of the appre
hension of his hearers. But he frequently ad
dressed them without preparation, and was ac
customed to select for illustration some difficult
passage, or some striking event, in the Lessons
or the Gospel, or the Epistle of the day. Find
ing the labour of these curacies too severe for a
mind, which was daily employed in the duties of
a school and in private studies, he did not hold
them more than a twelvemonth.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL..D 21
In the spring of I78O. he was presented by
Jane Lady Trafford to the rectory of Asterby, in
Lincolnshire ; and this first preferment was be
stowed upon him, in consequence of his atten
tion to her only son, Mr. Sigismond Trafford,
with whom his friendship is known to continue
to this day. In 1783. the same patroness gave
him the perpetual curacy of Hatton, in War
wickshire. He resigned Asterby, which Dr.
Thurlow, Bishop of Lincoln, had advised him to
resume ; and he persuaded Lady Trafford to con
fer the living upon his curate, the Rev. Mr.
Fowler, of Horncastle, who had no other prefer
ment, and who, having kept Asterby till the
lease upon an enclosure expired, has since found
it far more valuable to himself than it had been
to his predecessor. From Asterby, the doctor,
as I have heard, after paying all necessary ex
penses, never cleared more than thirty-six pounds
per annum ; and even from the perpetual cura
cy of Hatton, while he held it, the yearly profits
fell short of one hundred pounds.
Early in 1783. the doctor was presented to the
prebend of Wenlock Barnes, in St. Paul's Cathe
dral, vacant by the death of the Rev. Dr. Wick-
ins ; and for this prebend he had been recom
mended to Bishop Lowth by the late Earl
pf Dartmouth, several of whose sons had been
educated by the doctor. For nearly twenty-

22 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
one years, the reserved rent for Wenlock
Barnes was less than twenty pounds. But the
doctor seeing little probability of his own pro
motion in the church, did not grant any new
lease ; and therefore, by living to 1804, he be
came entitled to the whole profits of the preben-
dal estate, which, after several expensive surveys,
was let upon new leases, at an improved rent.
The doctor, who had begun to reside at Hat
ton about Easter I786, exchanged, in 1791, his
perpetual curacy there for the rectory of Wad-
denhoe, Northamptonshire, and stipulated for
his continuance at Hatton, and the undisturbed
exercise of his ministerial functions, with his suc
cessor, the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Bridges. In 1801,
the late Lord Chedworth offered Dr. Parr the
vicarage of Winterborne-Stoke, in Wilts. The
doctor declined taking it as untenable with Wad-
denhoe, but prevailed upon his honoured friend
to bestow Winterbourne upon a friend, whose
face Lord Chedworth had never seen, but in
whose situation he became interested, upon hear
ing from the doctor that the person recommended
by him had reached his fiftieth year without any
preferment in the church ; that he was burthen-
ed with a large family; that his moral character
was quite irreproachable ; and that to sterling
sense he united a very laudable share of useful
knowledge. In 1802. Sir Francis Burdett, with

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 23
whom the doctor had scarcely any connexion,
either personal or political, was pleased to pre
sent him to the rectory of Graff'ham, in Hunt
ingdonshire. This unexpected and unsolicited
patronage does very high honour to the discern
ment and generosity of Sir Francis. Mr. Coke,
of Holkham, Norfolk, in the summer of 1803,
spontaneously offered the doctor the living of
Buckingham, the value of which far exceeded the
separate profits of Waddenhoe or Graff hanr, and
the tenure of which required the resignation only
of one of his livings. But as residence was ne
cessary in a large town, as the parsonage was in
a ruinous state;, as no room was left for building
a new one with any convenience, and as the doc
tor had formed many agreeable connexions in
Warwickshire, he, in terms of the most ardent and
sincere gratitude, acknowledged the kindness of
Mr. Coke, and at the same time assigned his rea
sons for not accepting, the preferment, which
that highly-distinguished gentleman wished to
bestow upon him.
During, the. contest about the regency, several
pieces of preferment were assigned to the doctor
by .public rumour. But I have been credibly
informed, that' no direct negociation ever passed
between the doctor and his friends, who were
then expected to come into power ; that the
doctor himself derided the notion of being a,p-

24 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
pointed to the mastership of Trinity College,
which abounded, as he affirmed again and again
with men eminently qualified to fill that high of
fice ; that the bishoprick of Bristol, which, upon
a change of ministers, might have become vacant
by the promotion of Dr. Wilson, was designe4
for Dr Chevalier, then master of St. John's Col
lege, Cambridge ; and that there was a remote
probability of Dr. Parr's being advanced to the
residentiaryship of St. Paul's. The doctor has
been heard to remark, that before this time he
did not fuUy understand the firmness of his own
mind; that, from motives of delicacy, he disdained
to trouble his political friends with any request ;
that he would thankfully have accepted such pre
ferment as it might have been convenient or
agreeable for them to bestow upon him ; and,
that his disappointment, in the first chance he
ever had of an ecclesiastical dignity, did not, for
one moment, give him the slightest uneasiness.
It is generally supposed, that, if Mr. Fox had
lived, the doctor would have been raised to some
great situation in the church ; and it has been
rumoured, that after the death of Mr. Fox, an
excellent person, who well knew the respect of
that great statesman for Dr. Parr's abilities and
virtues, recommended the doctor to the minis
ter. The immediate answer given to that re
commendation is unknown, I have heard, to the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 25
doctor himself; and the subsequent overthrow
of the administration put an end to expectations,
which were of very short continuance, and which,
in all probability, had not taken any strong hold
upon the mind of the doctor. In every part of
life, he had abstained even from those honour
able measures, which are usually employed for
acquiring dignities in the church, and, reposing
on the consciousness of his own unshaken firm
ness and unsullied honour, he, in a spirit of calm
and dignified content, is now enjoying those com
forts, which had for many years been denied to
him, and which have at last been abundantly
supplied to him by two rectories, the prebend of
Wenlock Barnes, and a few other inconsiderable
resources. It is scarcely necessary to mention that, upon
coming to Hatton, the doctor derived his chief
support through every passing day from the care
of private pupils, and that he continued this useful,
but laborious practice for the space of fourteen
years ; when the influence of political animosities
roused his indignation, and determined him to
give up the advantages of an employment, for
which he had been most insultingly proclaimed
unfit, in consequence of his undisguised adhe
rence to the opinions of Mr. Fox.
That the doctor should not h^ve reached any
high station in the church, will not appear sur-

26 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
prising to persons, who are acquainted with those
political tenets, which he disdained to dissemble,
or those political connexions, which he never de
serted. But it is somewhat, remarkable, that a
man, whose learning, sense, probity, and bene
volence, are respected by his acquaintance, and
acknowledged even by his enemies, should have
been doomed to inaction in those concerns of
private life, which seem to have little. or no rela
tion to his sentiments upon politics. By his cle
rical superiors he has never been called upon to
preach at a visitation ; nor has he been permitted
to be useful to his neighbourhood, in the capacity
of a country-magistrate. It were to be wished,
however, that party-animosity had been satisfied
with these and similar instances of studied neg
lect. No man of sense expects preferment from
the members of an administration, which he has
avowedly opposed ; and a man of spirit would feel
himself debased by asking, or perhaps accepting
it, under such circumstances. But political en
mity is not wholly without boundaries from mag
nanimity, or at least decorum ; and surely there
are some indignities, which the inhfibitants of
free and civilized countries ought not to offer to
their fellow-subjects, on account of mere differ
ence of opinion upon the dubious and transiei).t
politics of the day.
The doctor now resides in a parsonage, which

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 27
he has enlarged and improved ; and probably no
¦ecclesiastic was ever more fondly attached to the
place of his residence than the doctor is to Hat
ton. His library consists of near five thousand
books, replete with instruction to classical scho
lars, to critics, to theologians, to antiquaries, and
to metaphysicians. He lives with great hospital
ity, and his house is often honoured by the pre
sence of men eminently distinguished by rank, or
by learning. His attention to the comforts and
the morals of his parishioners is most praise-wor
thy ; and it may be said, with truth, that no man
was ever more punctual and zealous than the
doctor is, in performing the various offices of a
parish-priest. His discourses are very instructive ;
his delivery is animated ; and in his manner of
reading the prayers of the established church,
correctness, ardour, and reverence are happily
united. The most careless hearer would be
struck with awe at the solemn and authoritative
tone, in which he delivers the decalogue ; and his
method of administering the sacrament must call
into action the very best feelings of the most de
vout Christian. It may be readily supposed,
that before a country-congregation, such a man
as Dr. Parr studiously abstains from those con
troversial subjects, which perplex rather than
edify common hearers ; and that, while he en
forces the great principles of virtue and genuine

28 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
piety, he never gives the slightest encourage
ment to superstition, fanaticism, bigotry, or un-
charitableness. His well-meant labours are am
ply repaid by the constant attention of his parish
ioners : and the effects of his precepts are visible
in their improved manners, in their habits of in
dustry and regularity, and in the exercise of that
peaceable and neighbourly disposition, which
their pastor inculcates with peculiar earnestness.
His kindness to the poor, his vigilance and acti
vity in the management of parochial charities, and
his good-natured, and almost parental, behaviour
to persons of every class, have justly procured
for him the affection, confidence, and sincere
respect of all his parishioners. It cannot be im
proper to add, that the generosity and taste of
the doctor have been employed in the choice of
painted windows arid other decorations for his
parish-church, and that he has frequently levied
contributions upon his pupils and his friends,
when he has been forming plans for adorning his
favourite place of worship.
The doctor, though a strenuous and avowed
advocate for toleration, is firmly attached to the
interests and honour of the established church ;
and perhaps it is to be ranked among the most
valuable properties of his mind, that the con
sciousness of great erudition and great abilities
has not slackened his diligence in those humbler

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 29
duties, which alone he has been permitted to
discharge, as an ecclesiastic.
It is well known, that the intellectual powers
of the doctor are very strongly marked in his
conversation ; that he readily communicates his
knowledge to those who consult him ; and that
he lives upon terms of the closest friendship with
men of sense and virtue, whether churchmen or
sectaries, whigs or tories.
The abhorrence, which he feels, of cruelty to
animals, and the disapprobation, with which he
looks upon the rigorous treatment of offenders
against the laws, are visible in his publications ;
and to his well-wishers it must afford high salis-
faction, that, in the exercise of mercy, his ac
tions are in unison with his opinions.
In the common concerns of life, whether they
relate to amusement or business, the doctor is a
strict exactor, and a most strict observer, of
punctuality ; and perhaps there is no human
being, whether the occasion be great or little,
who adheres to truth more uniformly and inflexi
bly. He gives indeed no quarter to what, in his
lofty way of talking, he calls deliberate exagger
ation, or assiduous ambiguity ; nor is there any
subject, upon which he expatiates more indig
nantly, than the meanness, insecurity, and mis
chievous consequences, of all falsehood what
soever.

30 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
The regularity of the doctor's conduct in the
earlier period of his life, aided by the natural
strength of his constitution, has preserved him
from those maladies of mind and body, to which
studious persons are unfortunately exposed. He
rises early ; and after taking his breakfast, which
rarely continues ten minutes, he retires to his
books, or writes to his numerous correspond
dents. He is utterly, a stranger to the rural
amusements of shooting and hunting,^Jbut pre
serves his health by gentle riding. His after
noons he hkes to spend in the society of his ac
quaintance or his family ; and, though he has
now relinquished those severe and dangerous
studies, which the necessary business of every
revolving day formerly compelled him to prose
cute till midnight, yet, upon some occasions,
his mind is employed with great activity till ten
or eleven o'clock in the evening. The habits of
industry, which he acquired in boyhood, are in
deed quite undiminished; his curiosity for the
attainment of fresh knowledge is unabated ; and
such is his perseverance, even on the threshold
of his grand climacteric, that, when perplexed
by the construction of a sentence, or the signi
fication of a single word, he will instantly con
sult ten or twenty authors, till his doubts are
removed. The general course of his reading lies in those

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR. LL.D. 31
books, which hold the chief rank in the libraries
of scholars, and which require the severest exer
cise of the understanding. But, when modern
publications are recommended to him, as worthy
of his periisal, he reads them with eagerness, and
converses upon their contents with his usual
acuteness and vivacity. His remembrance of
events and names, his readiness and accuracy in
quoting pertinent passages from authors both an
cient and modern, were surpassed only by the
wonderful, and perhaps unparalleled, faculties of
the same kind in Mr. Professor Porson. The ra
pidity, with which the doctor composes or dic
tates upon every subject, which interests him,
would be almost incredible to those, who have
not been immediate observers of the fact. But,
when his eyes are directed towards his own con
fused hand-writing, evident marks of shame and
regret may b& observed in his countenance ; and
to his most confidential companions he has re
peatedly declared, that Ihe perplexity, which he
finds in reading what he has formerly put to pa
per, in his own scrawl, and the difficulty, which
he experiences, in getting precarious, irregular,
and soirietimes reluctant assistance from his vi
sitors, are among the chi«f causes of his disincli
nation to lay before the world the results of his
laborious and various enquiries. He is well
aware how much the scantiness of his publica-

32 P.\RRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
tions has been blamed by friends and strangers ;
and so far as his inability to write intelligibly has
occasioned that scantiness, it seems to be lamented
quite as seriously by himself as by other men.
The minuteness of the foregoing detail will not
be condemned by those readers, who recollect
that events, which pass unheeded in the bulk of
mankind, become interesting and instructive,
when they are associated with the example of
men deservedly eminent for their proficiency
in learning, or their usefulness in common life.
Dr. Johnson in his Lives of the English Poets,
has occasionally recoTded their infirmities and
singularities ; and probably some future biogra
pher will think it worth his while to collect and
describe those, from which Dr. Parr is not ex
empt. The most remarkable, which have fallen
under my notice, are his fits of slovenliness and
pomp in matters of dress ; his aversion to the
taste of cheese ; his fondness for smoking tobac
co; his extraordinary skilfulness in ringing
church-bells ; and his whimsical, but invincible,
resolution of playing for a nominal stake only at
games, which he understands very well, and in
which he confessedly finds the most agreeable
relaxation for his leisure-hours.
Of the doctor's publications 1 have, after seve-
veral inquiries, been enabled to make out the
following catalogue : — In I78I. he published

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 33
l^wo Sermons at Norwich ; in 1783, a Discourse
which is called Philoleutherus Norfolciensis, and
which he is said to consider as nearly his best
composition ; in 1785, a Sermon upon Education,
with learned and copious notes ; in 1787, the
Preface to Bellendenus de Statu ; in 1788, the
TVarhurtonian Tracts ; in 1792, Irenopolis ; in
1801, a Spital Sermon ; in 1804, a. Fast Sermon ;
in 1809, Philopatris Varvicensis. In 1792, and
in 1795, the doctor was engaged in controversy
with two respectable individuals, whom it is un
necessary to name ; and, though the immediate
subjects of his pamphlets were unlikely to create
a general interest, the fertility of his mind en
abled him to interweave many valuable observa
tions upon politics and criticism. The quick
ness of his resentments is well known to be ac
companied by a most amiable placability ; and
they who have access to the real feelings of liis
heart, will hear without surprise, that he fre
quently visits one of the gentlemen, who had
formerly given him offence, and speaks with
esteem and kindness of the other.
The doctor has occasionally written in the
Monthly Review, and the British Critic ; and in
the last-mentioned publication are inserted some
learned observations upon passages in Horace,
which the doctor supposes to be spurious. The
share he had in the Bampton Lectures, has been
D

34 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
already stated with fidelity by the very learned
Professor White. The doctor has written many
Latin epitaphs. Those which have come to
my knowledge, were upon the late Dr. Sum
ner, of Harrow ; Dr. Samuel Johnson ; Mr.
Gibbon, the historian ; Mr. John Baynes, a
celebrated member of Trinity College, Cam
bridge ; the acute and learned Mr. Daniel
Gaches ; Dr. Lubbock, a much-respected physi
cian, at Norwich ; Dr. Percival, of Manchester ;
the late Mr. Felix Vaughan ; and Mr. John
Smitheman, who died while a pupil of the doc
tor's at Hatton. The style of these epitaphs is
various ; some are embellished with the most co
pious and magnificent diction ; and in others
the doctor has preserved that plainness and
simplicity, which he is supposed to admire in
the Latin inscriptions of antiquity, and of which
he deserves, perhaps, to be considered the first
systematic and professed imitator, that has ap
peared in this country. The epitaph upon Dr.
Johnson in St. Paul's does not retain the same
form, in which it was originally composed. In
consequence of several objections, which were
started by the admirers of Dr. Johnson, some
alterations were made, which, in the doctor's
opinion, destroyed the uniformity of the style.
It has fallen in my way to see two or three En
gUsh epitaphs, which bear very strong marks of

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 35
the doctor's language. But he seems to be par
ticularly successful in that, which he wrote for
the late Mrs. Coke, of Norfolk. I have been
told, that the whole force of his mind has been
employed in Latin inscriptions upon three illus
trious statesmen of our own age. But upon the
merit of performances, which have not yet seen
the light, it is impossible to form any precise
opinion. It is not unknown to the doctor's
friends, that his papers contain many discussions
and observations upon subjects of theology, cri
ticism, and metaphysics ; but the strong and
peculiar reluctance, which he feels to publica
tion, will, it is thought, prevent him from com
mitting any of those works to the press, how
ever elaborate they may be in themselves, and
however worthy they may be of the writer's lite
rary reputation. Men of letters have already
formed their judgment upon those writings,
which the doctor has laid before the public ; and
it seems to be generally agreed, that, in their
matter and style, they evince the depth of his
learning, the correctness of his taste, and the
liberality of his principles.

D 2

•36 P.\RRIANA : OR NOTICES OF

II.
A Sketch of Dr. Parr, by Miss Seward.

" LETTER 59. [vol. 3. p. 195.]
« To Mr. Saville,
Wellesbourne, Dec. 17, 1792.
In this interesting * scene of friendship, litera
ture, and the arts, I have been introduced to
that intellectual luminary, Dr. Parr. When I
had the honour of a visit from Dr. Parr, he staid
two days and nights at Wellesbourne. I was
prepared to expect extraordinary colloquial pow
ers, but they exceeded every description I had
received of them. He is styled the Johnson of
the present day. In strength of thought, in
promptness and plenteousness of allusion, in wit
and humour, in that high-coloured eloquence,
which results from poetic imagination — there is
* " The seat of Court Dewes, Esq., near Stratford upon
Avon,'' — S.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 37
a very striking similarity to the departed despot.
That, when irritated, he can chastise with the
same overwhelming force, I can believe ; but
unprovoked. Dr. Parr is wholly free from the
caustic acrimony of that splenetic being. Be
nign rays of ingenuous urbanity dart in his smile,
and from beneath the sable shade of his large
and masking eyebrows, and from the fine orbs
they overhang. The characters he draws of dis
tinguished people, and of such of his friends,
whose talents, though not yet emerged, are con
siderable, are given with a free, discriminating,
and masterly power, and with general independ
ence of party-prejudices.
If he throws into deepest shade the vices of
those, whose hearts he thinks corrupt, his spirit
luxuriates in placing the virtues and abilities of
those he esteems, in the fairest and fullest lights ;
a gratification, which the gloomy Johnson sel
dom, if ever, knew.
Dr. Parr is accused of egotism ; but, if he
often talks of himself, all he says on that, as on
every other theme, interests the attention, and
charms the fancy. — It is surely the dull and
the envious only, who deem his frankness vanity.
Great minds must feel, and have a right to avow
their sense of, the high ground on which they
stand. Who, that has a soul, but is gratified by
Milton's avowal of this kind, when, in the civil

38 PARRIANA ¦ OR NOTICES OF
wars, exhorting the soldier to spare his dwelling,
the poet declares his powers to requite the cle
mency, to spread the name of him, who shewed
it, over seas and lands,
In every clime the sun's bright circle warms }
Dr. Parr is a warm whig, loves our constitu
tion, and ardently wishes its preservation ; but
he says malignant and able spirits are at work
to overthrow it, and that with their efforts a fatal
train of causes co-operates.
I saw him depart with much regret, though
his morning, noon, and evening pipe involved us
in clouds of tobacco while he staid, but they were
gilded by perpetual vollies of genius and wit.
Adieu ! It delights me that you have been so
tolerably well, since I left the spiral precincts.'*

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 39

IIL
PARRIANA,
By the Rev. John Stewart, Curate of Sporle cum
Palgrave, in the County of Norfolk, communicated te
me at my own request in September, 1827.

It was in 1809, that I first corresponded with
Parr. As " Philopatris Varvicensis," he had
just published " Characters of Fox ;" and in that
work passed a marked compliment on my poem
of " the Resurrection."* A justly-celebrated
* [It may be convenient to the reader to be presented with
a list of my amiable and talented friend, Mr. Stewart's writings,
and I therefore subjoin it.
1. The Pleasures of Love, (a Moral Poem,) 1806. 8vo. pp.
1 1 7. Mawman, pr. 6^.
2. The Resurrection, a Poem in Jive Books, 1808. 8vo. pp.
253. Longman, pr. 7s,
3. Genevieve, or, The Spirit of the Drave, with other Poems,
1810. 8vo, pp.-328. Longman, pr. 9s.
4. Alhagranza ; a Moorish Metrical Romance, in ten Cantos,
1816. 4to. pp. 446. pr. £2. 2s.
5. Two Sefynons on the Fall and Final Restoration of the
Jews, 1826. 8vo. pp. 88. Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, pr. 3s. 6d.
6. Bible Gems, illustrative of the Leading Beauties of Scrip
ture-History, 1S27. 8vo, pp. 401. pr. 8s.

40 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
northern Dignitary, himself eminent for talent
and learning, having informed me that Doctor
Parr was the author, I lost no time in acknow
ledging the honour of his attention. This opened
The work last mentioned was puhli.shed in November of the
present year, (1827.) The Poem on the Resurrection drew
from the late Bishop Percy the high and sententious eulogy,
' that the genius of the author did honour to the place of his
tirth.' The following is the passage, which was quoted by
Dr. Parr in his Characters of Fox, 1, 134. : —
" Mr. Stewart, author of an elegant Poem, called The Resur
rection, after paying a just and solemn tribute of praise to the
memory of Archdeacon Paley, Hussey Burgh, and Mr. How
ard, writes of Mr. Fox as follows, p. 91 . : —
' With these, the Man, his mourning country's pride,
' Whose acts diffused beneficence so wide ;
' Who strove to calm a warring world to peace,
' And bid the horrors of dissention cease !
' From East to Western worlds where Indus glows,
' Or wild Ohio's beauteous current flows,
.11
' Or where Emana's hills of green appear,
' Or winds Sclavonian chill the stunted year ;
' His gen'rous soul, by distance unconfin'd,
' Felt for the varied woes of human kind,
' And toil'd with pious zeal and patriot worth,
' To make the olive shoot its scions forth.'
" The following Note, p. 234. is subjoined by the author : —
' Chables James Fox, whose eloquence and commanding ta-
' lents were uniformly directed to every humane and liberal
' object. The giant powers of his mind, far from being con-
' fined to any isolated spot, embrace'd the Universe in their
' exertion. Asia, America, Europe, and Africa, they have suc-
' cessively, and some of them successfully, advocated. His

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 41
the way to our intercourse, and he urged me to
pay him a visit at Hatton;* and as if unconscious
that his society alone must at all times have con
stituted the paramount attraction, he sought to
allure me by volunteering to become my guide
to some very fine and venerable relics of the
" olden time," scattered in its vicinity. I can
• famous India-Bill, his Plan of Conciliation to America, his
' recent endeavours to give peace to Europe, and his death-bed
' legacy of liberty and happiness to Africa, emblazon a recorded
' glory to his memory as imperishable as the existence of
• virtue and principle.' " E. H. B.]
* The following is the Letter alluded to in the text, and the
reader may well suppose that, after the lapse of so many years,
the person addressed has somewhat improved his style of
poetry. "Hatton, Febr. 21, 1811.
" Sir, I read with great pleasure the polite and well-
written Letter, which sometime ago was forwarded to me by
your order from Loudon, and I now desire to make my thank
ful acknowledgments for the honour you have done me in
sending me your Poems. I did not know your name, when
I commended one of your former publications. But the little
volume, which I have lately received, convinces me that I am
justified in the favourable opinion I had formed of your abili
ties. The merit of all the Poems neither is, nor can be equal ;
but their aggregate merit will procure for you an honourable
place among your contemporaries. You have great richness,
vivacity, aud poetical expression. The poetical imagery is
copious, and sometimes splendid. But you will forgive an
old, and perhaps a morose sort of reader, for telling you that

42 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OP
never be insensible to the debt of gratitude I owe
to Archdeacon Wrangham, for his having been
unconsciously instrumental in thus making Parr
and me known to each other. To me, at least,
that acquaintance uniformly proved to be a
source of pride and pleasure ; and cold, and sel
fish, and narrow must have been the heart, that
derived neither benefit nor delight from the ac
quirements and friendship of such a character.
Many years elapsed before I could avail myself
of the invitation to Warwickshire. But in 1820,
I resolved to pay my visit.
The day before I started from town, I dined,
tete-a-tete with a gentleman of much celebrity,
in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, when the subject of my
your versification, though very good, is capable of being made
better — that your diction might now and then be improved in
correctness — and that in your metaphors there is a luxuriance,
which it might not be amiss for you occasionally to prune.
After all, I have to impute to you only such faults, as generally
accompany the earlier efforts of a vigorous intellect, and such
as are abundantly compensated by concomitant excellencies.
" I wish you health, prosperity, and fame, and if you should
ever come into Warwickshire, while I am at Hatton, I shall
be glad to shake you by the hand at ray parsonage, and to con
verse with you unreservedly upon your own poetry, and that
ot your contemporaries. I have the honour to be. Sir,
Your very respectful and obedient humble Servant,
S. PARR."
" To John Stewart, Esq."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 43
next day's journey came naturally on the tapis.
I was asked — " had I ever met Parr ?"  " Ne
ver." " Well, then, thank your stars that you
" have met with one able to furnish you with
" useful hints about him. He has no manners ;
?• you must expect none. He is a bear 1 Where-
" ever hegoes,jyou are suffocated with his beastly
" use of tobacco. To be sure, he is a lump of
" learning ; and when I have said that, I have
" said all. I repeat. Sir, you will see a lump of
" learning — nothing more !"
This intimation, however oracular, did not
daunt me. I have long ceased to take character
upon trust. I decided to see with my own eyes,
and judge from personal observation. Besides,
I considered, however correct my narrator might
be, still I was sure of seeing, at least, a Colossus
of Literature ; and that object, in my mind, was
well worth the journey. However, I had some
grounds to suspect, that the medium, by which
the Philosopher of Hatton was thus presented to
me, was not a quite unjaundiced one. And, in
so far as the generous and valuable feelings of our
nature are susceptible of delineation in corres
pondence, I was already prepared to question
the justice of the sentence, now pronounced,
d,nd to ascribe the moral and amiable disposi
tions of Parr to a very elevated range of virtue.
It was about noon when I first reached Hat-

44 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
ton. I was ushered into a parlour lined with
books. At a table, sat the late Rev. John Bart-
lam, formerly of Merton, Parr's favourite and
'\fidus Achates." It was not long before the sage
himself appeared. I happened to be seated with
my back to the door, when a quick rustling made
me turn round, and at that inst^t. Parr, full-
dressed at all points, came sliding in with a ra
pid, noiseless step ; gave me a cordial and sinewy
squeeze as he passed ; seated himself in the next
moment by my side ; entered at once deeply
into conversation, and our personal intimacy
was made ! In a few minutes we were old friends.
Nothing could surpass the unaffected benevo
lence and gracious urbanity of my reception.
The first marked peculiarity, that struck me in
his face, was the shaggy curtain of his eyebrows.
His eyes had occasionally a half-downcast, half-
sidelong glance ; and the general mould of the
head had in it something cumbrous, while he
paused in conversation, or mused upon a point.
But every thing was changed, the moment that
the fires of intellect, or the benignity of his
heart, lit up the expression of his eye. Then it
flashed with the combinations of transcendent
powers, or shone radiant with the reflections of
his virtues. At such times, I have confessed that
Parr was equally invincible in the loftiness of his
genius, and exalted in the morality of his nature.

THE REV. SAMUBL PARK. LL.D. 45
I have neither the design nor presumption to
attempt the span of such a master-mind. Others,
far better qualified, have tried it ; others, yet,
may try it. In my present observations, I seek
to do justice to the man, rather than the scho
lar ; and to assay the sterling value of the metal,
whose purity has been arraigned, and whose
dross has been magnified, by those ignorant of
its worth, or interested to underrate it.
Doctor Parr was habitually humane and polite.
So far from his prodigious acquisitions being his
sole merit, had he never been eminent as a scho
lar, he must have been estimable as a man. Too
learned to be a pedant, and too pious to be a
pretender, he freely poured forth the copious
stores of his exhaustless knowledge, to improve
his fellow-men, and hung up the blazon of his
honours in the shield of his liberality. His grand
ambition, (and could there be a nobler ?) was, to
make his singular attainments, as much as pos
sible, beneficial to others ; and to amend the
heart, while he embellished the understanding.
There was in all he said, of men and things, a
candour, which elicited confidence, and a Ro
man sincerity, which told you it never could be
abused. It is true that, upon various occasions,
against trading politicians, and such as he con
ceived to be notorious hypocrites and voluntary
ertorists, — whether in politics, or religion, or li-

4() PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
terature, or philosophy — he was wont to exer
cise those tremendous weapons of language,
which are suitably a giant's arms, and perhaps
without much of a giant's forbearance ; yet did
no person wince under them, whose motives
were suspected to be pure, or whose principles
were believed to be honest. It was only when
the rein of his strong good sense was flung loose
to his fiery indignation, that he so effectively,
and (too often) unsparingly, brandished the
scalping-knife ; that his overleaping eloquence
swept away all opposed to it with the impetuosity
of the cataract, and stunned with the thunders
of its fall. But Parr scrupulously dispensed
justice, even when he allotted punishment ;
and conscientiously meted out the extremest
pretensions of individual merit, even to his most
virulent adversaries. Opposed as he was to
the Ministers of the day, upon general grounds,
he scorned to divest them of those personal
qualities, which threw a redeeming lustre on
their names; or to stint the measure of his
praise, because they dissented from his opi
nions. Often and often would he wind up
a philippic against their official measures, by
a delicate eulogy on their private virtues. After
he had rung against them, very sharply, the
usual changes practised by opponents, often has
he conferred upon them, in my hearing, the dis-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 47
tinction, of being " good men." This was the
very acme of Parr's commendation. His man
ner of bestowing it gave it double effect. Af
ter having visited any of these distinguished
Statesmen with strictures, in no very measured
terms, he would next compress his lips, look
solemnly grave, give a significant nod, and, in
a subdued tone, as if reading a parenthesis,
would impressively ejaculate, " But, he is a good
man." In sketching character, he employed a tact
peculiarly his own. It is the ordinary practice
to put the favourable points forward in the first
instance ; and, then, to dash them with the dark
shadows of imperfections, faults, and crimes. By
such means, the brighter tints are often lost ;
while the sombre are preserved with too terrible
a fidelity. But Parr's limning went on principles
diametrically opposite. He, in the first place,
arranged and criticised, pungently, the catalogue
of faults, without mitigating one of them, or
screening one of them ; — and then he relieved
it by every agreeable light, that an anxious and
unswerving justice could be authorized to admit.
Whatever talents, accomplishments, or valuable
dispositions appertained to each, were conspicu
ously arrayed, with a solicitude truly admirable,
and beyond all praise.
It is most erroneous to accuse Parr of being

18 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
negligent of the essential forms of polished life;
or of wilfully offending against even the very
punctilios of etiquette. No such thing. Parr's
inclination and habit were indisposed to all such
violation. It is true he now and then " disclosed
a bold neglect," but the rareness of the excep
tion establishes my point. The prevalent ru
mours to the contrary must therefore have been
circulated by persons, who boasted of admission
to a society, to which they never had access ; or
by those, who adopted without examination,
some travelling on dits ; or again, by such as
malignantly lent themselves to the vile purposes
of slander. Few have been more misunderstood
or maligned than this celebrated scholar.
It has been objected to him, and probably with
some justice, that he was too prone to engross
conversation. Still, even upon occasions, when
he hardly ceased talking, he never uttered a
word but was worth remembering. Some time
before his decease, he had made the acquaintance
of a most learned, and exemplary Prelate of the
sister kingdom, who had souglit the Chalybeate
of Leamington for the restoration of health.
The Archbishop dined at Hatton, and the doc
tor shewed oft' upon the occasion in a style to
distance all competition. His volubility was so
extreme, and the transition from one important
topic to another so rapid, while every subject

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 49
almost within the grasp of his mighty mind was
so accurately and profoundly handled, that the
Prelate ceased to do honour to the substantial
repast before him, crossed his knife and fork
upon his plate, and sat in mute astonishment at
the phenomenon, to whom he listened. Few
men have ever known so much — fewer still have
ever expressed themselves so well.
No man, elevated to such lofty distinction by
the sheer force of such intellectual endowments,
could have borne his faculties more meekly, un
less when his path was crossed by pedants, pre
tenders, or parasites. Even against these, justice
compels me to admit that the sting of hi-s satire,
and the lash of his ridicule were, perhaps, too
unmercifully applied, and too long persisted in.
But this was not invariably the case. And I
have known him to endure much from indivi
duals, incalculably beneath him upon every score
of merit, to whom from multitudinous favours,
his peculiar irascibilities ought to have been sa
cred ; and his virtues, by which they had profited,
atoning. Nay, I have been along with him in
moments, when he has been so assailed, and assail
ed too unjustly, by one whom he had fostered
in his bosom ; but, the assailant was safe — " the
lion preys not upon carcasses ! " This storm
of pettish impatience he bore without the dis
composure of a muscle, and looked down upon

50 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
his dwarfish antagonist in the calm majesty of a
superior spirit, (hat but pitied the weakness it
might so portentously have crushed. In the
society of those too, whose judgmentherespected,
and whose esteem he prized, he would frequently
lay aside the abstruseness of ethics, the pro
foundness of ratiocination, and the caustic of
criticism, and condescend to desert the banners
of philosophy and literature for a season, to
mingle in the coruscations of wit, and the flirt
ings of fancy, and the sportive badinage of the
circle. He was perfectly versed in the public
and private memoirs of almost every distinguished
individual, who figured in the annals of rank and
science, and his conversation was rich in the
raciness of anecdote. He retailed it well, and
enjoyed it heartily. And if sometimes the ar
dour of his nature hurried him into too great
breadth of colouring, the disposition was in the
succeeding moment corrected. He seldom per
mitted in himself, or sanctioned in others, the
slightest infringement on the most sensitive deli
cacy. Of course, I now speak of Parr as Parr,
in a state of quiescence, when the torrent of irre
pressible argument and of overwhelming lan
guage rolled no longer — when Parr was arranged
for social happiness, and determined to be
happy. But Doctor Parr was no sample of human per-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 51
fection : he was not exempt from serious fail
ings ; and which, if they could not overlay his
talents, or extinguish his genius, or deface his
merits, yet, it cannot be denied, formed a
heavy dra\vback upon all.
He was irascible to a proverb. I could com
pare his bursts of passion to nothing but the hur
ricane of the tropics, so fierce, so appalling, and
so sudden. The metamorphose, indeed, from
calm to storm in him was frequently so instanta
neous, so unlooked for, that the victim was
beaten to the ground before he could see an arm
raised to threaten him : no warning preluded the
change. At other times he was so fitfully testy,
and, as must often happen, too, in such a case,
so unreflectingly, that those, who had innocently
excited his indignation, were generally uncon
scious of all intentional offence, and first heard
their crime in their punishment. Here there
was no distant rolling of the thunder : it burst
upon the head at once. To be sure, the tem
pest was short-lived : this was the sole negative
consolation. It occurs to ine, that Parr was more than
properly anxious to monopolize attention in com
pany ; and I think I have more than once traced
a flying displeasure cross his brow, when any
very particular notice has been bestowed upon
others in his presence. This feeling seemed
E 2

52 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Utterly incomprehensible to me. So far did he
overtop all others, whom I have met with him,
that his and their relative pretensions were irre
ducible to any common standard. However I
may have been wrong in this observation, and
wrong, too, I ought to have been, because few
indeed dare venture to compete, and fewer still
had any chance of success in competition with
such a man.
The alleged pomposity of Parr's manner was,
to a certain extent, true ; very often it was only
assumed. This a famdiar observer could not
fail to perceive ; and its sure indication was a
concluding, ill-suppressed chuckle, which, in
despite of him, would force its way, at recollec
tion of the cast of character he had just been re
hearsing. At the same time I may remark, that
the consciousness of such transcendent powers
of mind, of such accumulations of varied, and
profound, and extensive knowledge, seldom fails
to impress the possessor very deeply with his
own indisputable pre-eminence.
Irritable, however, as he constitutionally was,
and injudiciously as he has suffered that irritation
to master him, rather than submit it to the curb
of a wholesome discretion, stiU I have witnessed
him evince a self-command on some delicate
occasions, as I have before hinted, almost mira
culous in his case, and truly difficult in any.

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 53
These specimens of self-discipline and controul
made me regret that an early and dignified
restraint had not deprived his enemies of the ca
pability of attacking him where he, assuredly,
was most vulnerable. Had he, in his outset of
life, adopted such a plan, what a desirable eu-
crasy might he not have exhibited !
Parr and I were on a visit, about twenty miles
from Hatton. One day we were sumptuously
regaled with part of a fat buck, from the park of
a neighbouring nobleman. The dish was in high
repute with the Doctor, and the fiattering polite
ness of the donor, the cordiality of our host, and
the excellence of the venison, combined to make
Parr more than usually brilliant over this favou
rite repast. He left table in one of his happiest
tempers. During coffee he placed himself on a
sofa, among a bevy of young ladies, and in his
loudest key, summoning me from the opposite
end of the room, thundered forth — "Stewart,
do you mean to play the fool to-night ?" " No,
Doctor, I do not feel inclined." " I don't be
lieve you, and for two reasons ; the first is, be^
cause you are an Irishman ; the second is, be
cause you are a man of genius. As for myself,
I hope I shall play the fool as long as I live."
Soon after, the card-tables were arranged. Parr
sat down to his rubber, and, unluckily, had for
partner a person, who presumed too much on

54 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
the Doctor's attachment to him. Upon his sci
entific precision at whist Parr prided himself not
a little. It was the laudable pride of a man,
whose mind prompted, and whose abilities justi
fied him in seeking to excel at every thing, which
required combination of ideas and accuracy in
their exercise. I think I never saw a genuine,
fame-loving whist-player except Parr. Victory
was his sole aim. The spoils of it he left to
others. One rubber always amused him — he
seldom played a second — he paid always, when
he lost — he never accepted payment, when he
won, in so far as I have seen him. It so hap
pened that, upon the night in question, Parr's
partner ruinously finessed, and Parr remonstrated.
The former, who had hoped to " shadow himself
with laurels," felt compelled, on the contrary, to
" pass under the yoke." To extenuate his own
disgrace, he flew at a noble quarry, and made a
sharp and offensive retort. As he waxed warmer.
Parr became cooler, until the latter had finally
reasoned down his temper to the most enviable
repose. For some time he remained silent ; but
it was an eloquent silence, felt as well as seen ;
and when at last he did speak, in place of the
terrible chastisement fairly earned, and by me
anticipated. Parr coolly reviewed and pointedly
censured his faults, both of play and temper, de
monstrated, triumphantly, his egregrious blun-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 55
ders in each, and made him the slave of his pity
rather than his anger. Nothing ever exalted
Parr more in my estimation than his behaviour
on this occasion. He was imperturbably resolute
that no provocations should make him descend
from the dignified attitude he had assumed ; and
he distinctly shewed the aggressor, that while
he could not wink at his impudence, yet he
freely forgave it. He knew the feebleness of his
assailant, and he spared him. The integrity and
benevolence of Parr's nature furnished truly a
beautiful exemplification of that evangelical cha^
rity, which ranks deservedly as the first of the
virtues. It always occurred to me, that he was less in
accessible than most persons may have supposed
to the attentions of rank and fortune. I beg not
to be misunderstood. I do not m^an that Parr
would not have preferred, at all times, the ho
mage of original talent, and genius, and profound
research, but still, I do say, that the attentions
of those, by common parlance 'yclept great,
seemed more than ordinarily acceptable to him.
As we journeyed together between Hatton and
Alcester, he was indefatigable in pointing out to
my notice every object, that could afford any in
terest, even to the style of architecture belong
ing to the age of James II., which was chiefly
observable. He was sedulous in calling my at-

5G PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
tentioH to the wood, then .spread before us,
where Shakspeare shot the deer ; to the plain on
the Avon's banks, where the Jubilee was held ;
and to the scite, consecrated by the remnant-
stump of his famous mulberry-tree. Arrived at
Stratford, we alighted while changing horses,
and the Doctor's arrival being expected, the
pipes, tobacco, and paper-matches, were in due
attendance. While thus occupied himself, he
did not forget me. A summons brought in the
maitre-d' hotel, to whom the selection of an intel
ligent conductor to the house, where the Bard of
Avon had been born, was in proper form en
trusted. Full of poetic thought, I sallied forth
with my guide, and having done homage to the
Lares of Genius, rejoined Parr just as he was
ready to wish for me. We proceeded on our
journey, and I was becoming, mile by mile,
more deeply his debtor — he was loading me
with the most particular and incessant favours,
and I could not be insensible to the very least of
them. How nobly did they reply to his calum
niators !
When we passed through Warwick, the I^on-
don-papers, that arrived that day, had been put
into the coach at the post-office, and I had occa
sionally read parts of them aloud as we proceeded
to Stratford. Upon leaving the latter place.
Parr did me the honour to bear a too partial tes-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 57
timony to my reading. " Stewart," (said he,)
"you are a superior reader — you read most dis
tinctly. I tell you. Sir, you are both an agree
able and energetic reader. Proceed ; it gives me
pleasure to hear you." In the course of skim
ming over one of these prints, some observation,
(I think it was,) in a paragraph touched upon
dreams. It became the signal of a very animated
discussion. The paper was soon laid aside, and
the conversation as to the cause of dreams grew
inexpressibly interesting : Parr entered into it
with the acumen of a logician, and the diffidence
of a christian.
I can have little doubt of a general coincidence
between him and our amiable Addison upon the
intricate subject. He repeatedly interrogated
me, if I had lately thought upon Addison's
paper. No. 487. of the Spectator, in reference
to our opinions ? I had not read it since my
leaving college, twenty years ago. He therefore
pressed me to read it without delay, and grew
solicitous for an opportunity to put it into my
hands. Nor was this anxiety the mere excite
ment of the moment — nor was the wish neu
tralized by any change of society and topics.
The very next morning after we reached Alces
ter, and in all the bustle of arranging his Will,
he sought for the volume, and having secured it,
proceeded to put it into my hands, open at the pa-

58 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
per in question, and gave orders for my being
uninterrupted, while I carefully read it. He
immediately left me with my companion.
Some time before dinner he came to seek me.
His eye was brimful of expression, and a half-
smile curled his lip. He enquired — had I read
it properly, thoroughly, effectively ? " I replied,
" I had perused it with deep interest." Never
shall I forget the intellectual glance he threw
upon me, or the speaking smile, which accom
panied it. He stood full opposite to me, with
out changing either, for about a minute, and
stedfastly examining me, when he slowly and
thoughtfully quitted the room, without uttering
another word. *
* [To gratify the curiosity of the reader without giving to
him the trouble of a reference, I will transcribe the paper in
question : — "No. 487. Thursday, Sept. 18, 1712.
Cum prostrata sopore
Urget membra qiiies, et mens sine pondere ludit.
Petr.
' While sleep oppresses the tir'd limbs, the mind
'Plays without weight, and wantons unconfin'd.'
" Though there are many authors, who have written on
dreams, they have generally considered them only as revela
tions of what has already happened in distant parts of the
world, or as presages of what is to happen in future periods of
time.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 59
Christmas-eve, at the Parsonage, brought an
order for all the guests to attend Ihe Major-
Domo to the kitchen, to be regaled with the
melody of the village-choristers. Parr on this
" I shall consider this subject in another light, as dreams
may give us some idea of the great excellency of the human
soul, and some intimation of its independency on matter.
" In the first place, our dreams are great instances of that
activity, which is natural to the human.soul, and which it is
not in the power of sleep to deaden or abate. When the man
appears tired and worn out with the labours of the day, this
active part of his composition is still busied and unwearied.
When the organs of sense want their due repose and necessary
reparations, and the body is no longer able to keep pace with
that spiritual substance, to which it is united, the soul exerts
herself in her several faculties, and continues in action until
her partner is again qualified to bear her company. In this
case dreams look like the relaxations and amusements of the
soul, when she is disencumbered of her machine, — her sports
and recreations, when she has laid her charge asleep.
'' In the second place, dreams are an instance of that agility
and perfection, which is natural to the faculties of the mind,
when they are disengaged from the body. The soul is clogged
and retarded in her operations, when she acts in conjunction
with a companion, that is so heavy and unwieldy in its mo
tions. But in dreams it is wonderful to observe with what a
sprightliness and alacrity she exerts herself. The slow of
speech make unpremeditated harangues, or converse readily in
languages, that they are but little acquainted with — the grave
abound in pleasantries — the dull in repartees and points of
wit. There is not a more painful action of the mind than in
vention J yet in dreams it works with that ease and activity,
that we are not sensible, when the faculty is employed. For
instance, I believe every one, some time or other, dreams that

60 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
occasion looked the patriarch. He alone was
seated. A chair was placed for him in the cen
tre of the circle. The hymns were repectably
sung, and when the singers ended. Parr play-
he is reading papers, books, or letters ; in which case the in
vention prompts so readily, that the mind is imposed upon,
and mistakes its own suggestions for the compositions of an
other. " I shall, under this head, quote a passage out of the Reli-
gio Medici, in which the ingenious author gives an account of
himself in his dreaming and waking thoughts : —
' We are somewhat more than ourselves in our sleeps, and
' the slumber of the body seems to be but the waking of the
' soul. It is the ligation of sense, but the liberty of reason ;
' and our waking conceptions do not match the fancies of our
' sleeps. At my nativity my ascendent was the watry sign of
' Scorpius ; I was born in the planetary hour of Saturn, and
' I think that I have a piece of that leaden planet in me. I am
' no way facetious, nor disposed for the mirth and galliardize
' of company : yet in one dream lean compose awhole comedy,
' behold the action, apprehend the jests, and laugh myself
' awake at the conceits thereof. Were my memory as faithful
' as my reason is then fruitful, I would never study but in my
' dreams ; and this time also would I choose for my devotions ;
' but our grosser memories have then so little hold of our ab-
' stracted understandings, that they forget the story, and can
' only relate to our awakened souls a confused and broken tale
' of that, that has passed. — Thus it is observed that men
' sometimes, upon the hour of their departure, do speak and
' reason above themselves ; for the soul beginning to be freed
• from the ligaments of the body, begins to reason like herself,
' and to discourse in a strain above mortality.'
" We may likewise observe in the third place that the pas
sions affect the mind with greater strength, when we are asleep.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 61
fully levied a contribution for his rustic eUoes
from all his visitors, handed over the amount to
the performers, and the performers themselves
to the freedom of his larder.
than when we are awake. Joy and sorrow give us more vi
gorous sensations of pain or pleasure at this time, than at any
other. Devotion likewise, as the excellent author above-men
tioned has hinted, is in a very particular manner heightened
and inflamed, when it rises in the soul at a time that the body
is thus laid at rest. Every man's experience will inform him
in this matter, though it is very probable that this might hap
pen differently in different constitutions. I shall conclude this
head with the two following problems, which I shall leave to
the solution of my reader. Supposing a man always happy in
his dreams, and miserable in his waking thoughts, and that
his life was equally divided between them, whether would he
be more happy or miserable ? Were a man a king in his
dreams, and a beggar awake, and dreamt as consequentially,
and in as continued unbroken schemes as he thinks when
awake, whether he would be in reality a king or a beggar, or
rather whether he would not be both ?
" There is another circumstance, which methinks gives us
a very high idea of the nature of the soul, in regard to what
passes in dreams : I mean that innumerable midtitude and va
riety of ideas, which then arise in her. Were that active
watchful being only conscious of her own existence at such a
time, what a painful solitude would her hours of sleep be ?
Were the soul sensible of her being alone in her sleeping mo
ments, after the same manner that she is sensible of it while
awake, the time would hang very heavy on her, as it often ac
tually does, when she dreams that she is in such solitude :
 semperque relinqui
Sola sibi, semper longam incomitata videtur
Ire viam. Virg. Mn. 4, 446.

62 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
It would be unjust to the memory of this ex
cellent man to pass by in silence the great im
provements, (almost the rebuilding,) which he
effected nearly, if not altogether, at his private
But this observation I only make by the way. 'W^hat I would
here remark is that wonderful power in the soul, of producing
her own company on these occasions. She converses with
numberless beings of her own creation, and is transported into
ten thousand scenes of her own raising. She is herself the
theatre, the actors, and the beholder. This puts me in mind
of a saying, which I am infinitely pleased with, and which Plu
tarch ascribes to Heraclitus, That all men, whilst they are
awake, are in one common world, but that each of them, when
he is asleep, is in a world of his own. The waking man is con
versant in the world of nature ; when he sleeps, he retires to
a private world, that is particular to himself. There seems
something in this consideration that intimates to us a natural
grandeur and perfection in the soul, which is rather to be ad
mired than explained.
"¦ I must hot omit that argument for the excellency of the
so\d, which I have seen quoted out of TertuUian, namely, its
power of divining in dreams. That several such divinations
have been made, none can question, who believes the holy
writings, or who has but the least degree of a common histo
rical faith ; there being innumerable instances of this nature in
several authors, both ancient and modern, sacred and profane.
Whether such dark presages, such visions of the night proceed
from any latent power in the soul, during this her state of
abstraction, or from any communication with the Supreme
Being, or from any operation of subordinate spirits, has been
a great dispute among the learned ; the matter of fact is, I
think, incontestible, and has been looked upon as such by the
greatest writers, who have been never suspected either of su
perstition or enthusiasm.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 63
expense, in Hatton-Church. In these there
was no evidence of a stingy doling out of parish-
funds ; no pitiful subscription of grudging pa
rishioners. His own purse was opened with a
liberality emblematic of his heart, and applied
with a taste worthy of his judgment. I defy any
person of proper feeling or ordinary discernment
to have entered that church, so adorned by his
bounty, without experiencing the convictions of
the power of some extraneous circumstances,
even of the " dim, religious gloom," to aid the
devotion of the heart. The chaste beauty and
the solemn grandeur of the pile, dedicated to
the worship of the Almighty, impress insensibly
many a person with a religious sobriety, who
might have been slow to share it, under other
" I do not suppose that the soul in these circumstances is
entirely loose and unfettered from the body; it is sufficient, if
she is not so far sunk and immersed in matter, nor entangled
and perplexed in her operations, with such motions of blood
and spirits, as when she actuates the machine in its waking
hours. The corporeal union is slackened enough to give the
mind more play. The soul seems gathered within herself, and
recovers that spring, which is broke and weakened, when she
operates more in concert with the body.
" The speculations I have here made, if they are not argu
ments, they (delej are at least strong intimations, not only of
the excellency of a human soul, but of its independence on
the body; and if they do not prove, do at least confirm these
two great points, which are established by many other reasons,
that are altogether unanswerable." E. H. B.]

64 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
less touching appearances. What a contrast did
this church exhibit, under Parr's presiding care,
to the melancholy wreck of but too many village-
churches, which I have seen nearly in ruins !
Parr's pure ambition sprang from the desire of
having the temple as little as possible unworthy
of the Divine Being, to whose honour it was
erected. The neat and regular white marble-
monuments, that decked the walls, the freshness
and brilliancy of the stained windows, the holy
gloom from the pictured glass thrown upon the
altar, the mellow little organ, with its scarlet-
curtains, in front of the gallery ; the respectable
brass-branches, the handsome pulpit, and desk,
and altar, dressed in ruby velvet and broad gold-
fringe, the universal good state and uniformity
of the pews, &c. rendered Hatton-Church very
interesting; creditable to the parish, and ho
nourable to its Pastor. Its bells also were par
ticularly attended to by Parr ; they were musi
cally sweet to his ear, and he often mentioned,
with a laudable complacency, that few village-
churches in England could excel his in that re
spect. One very fine window of stained glass,
now in Hatton-Church, had been the property of
a lady, (the late Mrs. Price of Baginton, near
Warwick,) whom the doctor persuaded to present
it to the house of God. It contains, (I think,)
six compartments, in which are represented the

, THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 65
twelve Apostles, two in each, with an ornamental
separation. They occupy the entire width of the
Gothic window, the narrow vacant space, at the
top and bottom of the lancet-arch, being striking.
The colours are vivid, the countenances expres
sive, and the attitudes dignified. The name of
each, in Latin, occupies a scroll, in keeping with
the drapery. The Doctor had pleasure in rela
ting the particulars of this donation. Two fine
heads of Cranmer and Tillotson occupied the
centre of two handsome smaller windows of
stained glass, opposite each other ; and these
Parr seldom passed without recording the piety
and devotedness of the eminent prelates. The
first he characterized as the father of the Pro
testant religion in Britain, the latter as the con-
firmer of that restoration, which the former had
begun. A painting over the altar represents the
Saviour on the Cross, St. John on one side, and
(I believe) the Virgin Mother on the opposite.
The verdure of Calvary is well relieved by the
deep purple of the sky reflected on the distant
landscape, and is again favourably contrasted
by the rich embrowned foliage of the surround
ing trees. The expences of Parr in the repair
and embeUishment of this church, I am told, fell
little short of £1,000. Nor were these the only
purposes, to which he devoted a large portion of
his income. During the year of my first visit to
F

66 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
him, (1820,) he had advanced to his poorer par
rishioners, and most likely to other indigent and
meritorious objects, considerable sums, in the
way of loan, to help them to meet the casualties
of an unfavourable season. I happened to be
alone with him, when an application from a new
candidate for such a grant was made to him ;
and, unconscious of my presence, upon his break
ing the seal, he inadvertently muttered the im
possibility of acquiescence, with this further re
mark, (in an under tone,) that he had already
lent, on similar apphcations, in the course of
twelve months, upwards of £700. Such a man
was indeed a blessing to his flock, and an honour
to human nature. He required no mitre to dis
tinguish him.
The morning of the sabbath, at Hatton, was
invariably sacred to Parr's privacy, until the
hour for divine service was near. He usually
breakfasted alone in his library about 7 o'clock.
A little before 11, he proceeded with his family
and visitors to church. While there, he dis
charged every sacred duty, not as the " hireling,"
but the " true shepherd." The first time I saw
him officiate, he very much astonished me by
his occasional pauses, as he went through the les
sons, in order to explain to the congregation the
correct meaning of any ambiguous passage, or
make critical comments on any faulty translation.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 67
But the interruption was far from agreeable, and
its effects far from devotional. When ascending
the pulpit, he carried in his hand a small printed
octavo, in brown binding, from which he pro
nounced a discourse. His delivery was always
animated; at times, somewhat fierce. In early
life he had been admired as an energetic preach
er, and, I have no doubt, justly. Throughout
the entire service his face beamed with an ardent
piety ; and, while he subsequently administered
the sacrament, it assumed an intenseness of de
votion — even a sacred sublimity of expression.
One morning, I hastily entered his library,
and found him calmly occupied in dictating to
two amanuenses at the same moment. He ap
peared the very personification of the " clarum
et venerabile nomen ; enjoying " otium cum di-
gnitate." Seated in his easy chair, and crowned
with his bonnet rouge, with paper-matches, a
lighted candle, and ammunition-saucer of prime
Nicotiana, upon a very small table to his right,
there he held his long pipe with a graceful non
chalance ; awaiting in a half-recumbent pos
ture of tranquillity and self-possession, the tran
scription of his thoughts. His whole expres
sion of face seemed an expansion of intellect,
and his ideas to be concentred in even more than
an usual profundity of reflection. 1 was ashamed
to have broken in upon him ; but he did not
F2

68 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
manifest the slightest displeasure ; silently bowed
me into a chair opposite, and left me to the un
disturbed observation of what was passing. I
noticed that according as each amanuensis fi
nished copying the portion repeated, Parr pro
ceeded directly, without pause or embarassment,
to dictate farther to whichever of the two might
require it first. I remarked, with admiration,
that the intervention of the one or the other had
no effect to snap or even entangle the respective
threads of his communications. The same dis
tinctness, and acuteness, and energy, were ex
ercised in speaking to each. No matter whether
the first he dictated to, was the first to have done,
or, vice versa ; it was quite the same to Parr.
At last, there was, of necessity, a stop. The
sage's tube had to be cleared by a couple of
smart taps on the small table, before he could
enter upon the process of replenishing ; and
while the interludelasted, he thus accosted me : —
" My friend, mind ! — Voltaire could occupy
three secretaries at the same time. I am able to
cut out work for two ! " The pipe was already
renewed ; its active fragrance was felt ; and
Parr's eye bent on me, and his finger al the same
instant pressed upon his lips, significantly en
joined silence. I readily obeyed the warning,
while business progressed rapidly, regularly, and
without an apparent effort.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 69
Upon one occasion, I accompanied him to
Leamington, where we dined, at the house of
a physician of merited celebrity. Parr enacted
there in perfection the part of master of the ce
remonies, and made my individual introduction
quite a scena. He had previously honoured me
in a similar manner, on our journey through
Warwick. This practice was Parr's amiable
forte. I never knew a man more delighted to
bring forward such as he believed or knew to
have any pretensions, into respectable or useful
notice. He did good for the pure love of doing
good. This generous principle gave a complex
ion to all his actions. He was a prompt friend
to the friendless ; his purse was as ready as his
counsel. To those anxious for, and susceptible
of, education, struggling amidst pecuniary obsta
cles to obtain, and yet unable to secure it, he
held out the golden talisman, before which diffi
culties vanish. Virtuous poverty never found a
more apt advocate than in him. Against the
semblance of oppression, in any rank, or under
any pretence, his whole mighty spirit rose up in
arms, uncajoled by any sophistry, and unintimi-
dated by any Goliah. To his well-adjusted mind,
it mattered not whether the tyrant was patrician
or plebeian ; it was quite enough that he was a
tyrant. At this Leamington-dinner, Parr was
the presiding genius, and I was told that the

70 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
bill of fare, and the mode of cooking, had been
previously sanctioned by his fat — that a redun
dant dish had been censured — and that the list
of to-be-invited was very usually laid before him,
before the final decree for ensuring their society
was issued, at the houses of some of his particu
lar friends. This evening he amused himself at
quadrille. Parr was a great and stirring enemy to all la
vish expenditure of time at the breakfast-meal.
Often have I seen the slap on the shoulder, and
heard the call away from it, bestowed on some
scions of Alma Mater, visitors under his roof:
" To the library — the library!" was the sum
mons. He always sharply censured the loss of
this morning-hour, so misapplied, and at a period
of the day so invaluable for mental improvement.
I quite agree with him, although I must confess,
that a short sojourn at the Parsonage breakfast-
table was likely to prove a momentous sacrifice
to any college-gourmand. Warwickshire is pro
verbial for the excellence of its pork-pies, and
Hatton-Parsonage was proverbial, even in War
wickshire, for their manufacture. These and a
sightly pyramid of Shrewsbury-brawn, you were
generally sure to meet at Parr's dejeune ; and he
himself boasted of both, and relished both. Af
ter dinner, in his latter years, he was much in
the habit of dozing for a quarter of an hour, and

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 71
usually with his tube of enjoyment between his
fingers, and often at such times have I contem
plated the reposing mass of intelligence before
me, and delighted to exercise my ingenuity, in
extricating his pipe without disturbing him.
The most important festival observed at Hat
ton, was now fast approaching. The sage's
birth-day was the 21st of January. It was cus
tomary, at this time, for a large party of distin
guished men, from various places, to meet at the
Parsonage. Those invited had a long notice given
them. Notes of invitation were issued, (if I rightly
recollect,) not less than three months before the
birth-day; as well, to obviate all chance of pre-
engagements, as to make the Doctor happy in
the assurance of meeting his contemporaries. I
was pressed to remain for it, and I was anxious
to do so ; but urgent business refused to indulge
me. However, I promised that my heart should
be amongst them, and it was.
In the country. Parr had a perplexing habit,
when asked out to dinner, of going himself, and
taking along with him his visitors, hours before
the appointed time, I have reached the friend's
house, under his pilotage, before two o'clock,
when four or five was the dinner-hour, and when
the family, on a morning excursion to some
neighbouring ruins, or romantic drive, had not
yet returned to dress. On such occasions, I sen-

72 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
sibly felt that the custom was an awkward one,
equally to the inopportune guest and the intended
entertainer. But as for Parr, it was all in his
way ; he never thought of anything awkward in
it, nor supposed that any such feeling could dis
tress others. To be sure, he was privileged.
His society was too much courted, and his con
versation too valuable, to cause an extra-portion
of it to be disesteemed. The custom may, per^
haps, have appeared for a moment extraordinary;
but his whole composition was gigantically so.
Two of our present prelates, I believe, were
at one time his pupils. One, at least, I am sure
was. . Parr used to exult in the narrative of the
sound birchings he conferred on him — rehearse
it with his hands, and chuckle during the re
hearsal. This very circumstance augers well of
the prelate's merit! While Parr wielded the
ferule, his invariable rule was, never to punish
lads of stunted capacity, nor try to extort, from
mediocrity of talent, treasures which nature had
not been prodigal enough to bestow. No, the
really talented he attacked — to those, nature
had been bountiful — and resolute Parr was to
make her gifts be cultivated. There is a distin
guished divine of the day, justly respected for
his attainments and merits, who was mainly in
debted to Parr's instruction for his celebrity.
For some time after he entered the seminary,

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 73
over which this great scholar ruled, the lad was
classed as a " mediocre ;" and engaged in con
sequence the comparative amnesty extended to
that grade. It happened, however, that one even
ing, (after school-hours,) the head-assistant called
to acquaint Parr with the momentous discovery
that, " from some recent observations, he was
led to conclude * * * * was a lad of genius."
" Say you so?" (roared out Parr, in one of his de
lighted chuckles,) — " then begin to flog to-mor
row morning! ! !" — The distinctive birch was,
1 learn, not forgotten. The eclipse of genius
speedily wore off.
The period was now arrived, when I was con
strained to bid farewell, for a time, to the hospi
talities of Hatton-Parsonage. It was the week
after Christmas, and the ground was coated with
frost and snow. From the moment I fixed my
departure, the Doctor became singularly inter
ested for the safety and comfort of my journey;
urging the inclemency of the season, and enjoin
ing repeated precautions against it. The cold
of that winter (1820,) was very intense. The
day before we parted, he boldly attacked me on
this point : — " Now, my friend, I am unreason-
" able and despotic enough to demand of you
" implicit obedience in two particulars, about
" neither of which I will explain a word until full
" obedience is promised. Yes, you may look — "

74 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
(here I smded) " that will serve you nothing.
" Promise, promise. Sir. I must have it. It is
" true I keep you in darkness ; but a chain is
" equally strong, equally binding, whether worn
" in darkness or sunshine ; perhaps it is even
" more felt, stronger, in the latter case." "At
" once I promise." " Good ! — then you assure
" me that you will take half a glass of brandy in
" your latest cup of tea to-morrow morning,
"before you enter the coach! — Will you?"
" Why — I never before have done so; — to gra-
" tify your wishes, I will try a little." " No, no !
" do promise me you will take half a wine-glass
" full." " Weil, my considerate guardian, posi-
" tively, I wiU." " That's right, now — that's
" right. Come, agree to my second stipulation !"
"Its nature?" "Wear two waistcoats, or two
" shirts, which of these you prefer, during your
"journey. Your society has been pleasing —
" more than that, it is agreeable to me. I
" am anxious for your welfare. I know my
" present injunction to be most salutary in tra-
" veiling. Do you promise to observe it?" "I
" do." — And Parr actually seemed to be made
happy by my acquiescence ; and terminated the
negociation by the impressive — "Now, remem
ber!"— Is it asked, why I detail these apparently tri
vial reminiscences ? I reply — because minute

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 75
occurrences form the most infalUble guide to the
natural dispositions of the heart. They are al
ways valuable, as characteristic of men, elevated
by justly-acquired fame, above the ordinary
standard of human growth. They are points,
not arranged like grander features for public ef
fect, but suffered to develope themselves agree
ably to nature and truth. And I was the more
resolved not to be accessary to the concealment
or loss of a single one of these, because the indi
viduals, who have misrepresented him, whether
from ignorance or design, have pressed into their
service the minutice of his private hours, to ar
raign the amiableness of his private dispositions.
Upon the evening before I left him. Parr was
very thoughtful. Contrary to my almost invari
able custom, I made up the rubber for him, and
was his partner. Mrs. Parr enquired, " What
sort of game I played?" " Why, d, la, la game,
— but I can bear any thing unless a conceited
player. Ignorance in the imperative is indeed
intolerable." The rubber ended. Parr's usual
hour of retiring was nine o'clock. But nine
struck, and he did not move. Ten o'clock came
— a quarter past ten — and still he lingered. At
last, he quickly arose from his chair, passed the
rest of the company, and silently pressed on to
where I sat. With a warm pressure he grasped
my hand, and said in a broken voice — " Take

76 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
" my blessing — a good man ! — Farewell, fare-
" well — May God bless you — I do. Remem-
" ber — write, write, the moment you reach
" town." Before day-light, on a piercingly-cold Decem
ber morning, (the last of the year,) I descended
to breakfast. Sam, the Doctor's confidential
Sam, was already sentinel at the door of the
breakfast-parlour. This long-tried domestic was
not an undignified personage in his way — of
measured step, solemn deportment, and rather
consequential manner. On the present occasion
he seemed labouring with importance. Silently
he arranged my chair in the " canniest nook" —
saw me proceed with my breakfast without a
word, until he perceived me pouring out my se
cond cup of tea ; when dreading he might be too
late, if he waited longer, he, in due form, recited
his commission : — " Sir, after my master was in
" bed last night and just before I left him, he
" called me, and desired me, without fail, to re-
" mind you this morning of your engagements ;
" to assure myself that you had put on the se-
" cond waistcoat ; and to see myself to your put-
" ting the half-glass of brandy into your last cup
" of tea." Sam immediately stept aside, poured
a half-glass of brandy, critically measured, into
my tea-cup, and resumed his stand behind my
chair. I could not but admire the tact, with which

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 77
the thing was done. I left an assurance for my
host that the treaty had been rigidly observed
with all possible good faith by me, and I en
tered the coach.
The gratifying favours I have enumerated,
were clearly the offspring of Parr's pervading be
nevolence. They could spring from no other
source, and are referable to no other cause.
Neither were these fickle in their nature or du
ration. They continued to distinguish me with
out a shadow of a change, in every moment of
our future intercourse, until his death. Indivi
dually, I dare not arrogate bul the most slender
claims to such regard; unless, indeed, in my
grateful attachment to his person, and my pro
found admiration of his wonderful endowments
and colossean talents. That our intercourse
might not flag from absence, he established a
rule, never to be infringed by me, of writing to
him, in full confidence, upon every subject, (pub
lic or private,) upon the 20th of each month,
regularly, and as often, too, besides, as my occu
pations would permit. Even during the two
closing years of his life, when his thoughts be
came gradually more and more abstracted from
worldly objects, and at a time when increasing
bodily infirmities combined with these better
inclinations to make him contract the extended
circle of his correspondents, I had the proud sa-

78 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
tisfaction of being one of those unaffected by the
change. He still did me the honour of pressing
me to continue to write to him, " because," (he
was kind enough to add,) "your Letters both re
fresh and delight me."
The next time I met him, was about fifteen
months afterwards, in the spring of 1822. He
arrived in town for the purpose of assisting the
election of a valued friend to a Preachership, or
Chaplaincy, of repute, in the metropolis. He
had advised me of his intended arrival ; and
owing to some misconception of his address, he
had been some days in town, before I could meet
him. He sent me an, upbraiding note. How
ever, I saw him afterwards every succeeding
morning at eight, during his stay in town. . It
was the only time, when we could indulge in con
fidential intercourse without interruption ; so
much was his society in request during the re
mainder of the day. At this period I was soli
cited by an accomplished scholar of celebrity in
his Greek translations, and amiable in his private
character, to effect his introduction to Parr.
The latter had read some of his productions
with pleasure, and always expressed his high
opinion of the virtues of their author. I took an
opportunity of mentioning the Grecian's wish,
and Parr promptly proposed to accompany me to
visit him, on the first morning he could snatch

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 79
from business. But Parr was suddenly summoned
into Warwickshire before the acquaintance could
be made, and I much regretted the diappoint-
ment. In a Letter I subsequently received from
Hatton, Parr regretted likewise that the inter
view did not take place, and again paid the Gre
cian many valuable compliments. I had no fu
ture opportunity of remedying this.
Upon the often-discussed subject of clergymen
acting as magistrates Parr expressed a very strong,
opinion. He considered it one of grave impor
tance, and connected with the serious interests
of religion.
Some time before we last met, I had told him
of some very discreditable outrages committed
on a vicar of the diocese, to which I belonged ;
and who, for many years, had been in the com
mission of the peace. Parr attributed the out
rage, (and perhaps justly,) to the unpopularity
caused by his magisterial duties. " Tell him,"
(said he,) " in the^r«^place,to give up his lay-em
ployment — to retire, altogether, from the com
mittee-room. Clergymen have no business there.
The squires are delighted to throw the burthen
of committees and punishments on the shoulders
of the clergy. His retirement will be a great
point gained. At his rubber, he may amuse
himself every night except Sunday, and no odium
can attach to that. But as things stand at pre-

80 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
sent, old-age creeps upon him ; and old-age and
dissension agree ill with the decline of life and
the calm of a Christian."
In discourse upon the subject. Parr was quite
energetic. He said he had long thought that no
minister ought to be a magistrate, the functions
of the two being totally opposite; — that the
" gospel of love," and the " mittimus" of the
" Bench," savoured little of each other ; and the
work of a " minister of wrath" and that of an
" evangelist" could not, with any propriety, be
the office of one and the same person. " What
relation," (he asked,) " has the ' executioner of
the law,' and the ' dispenser of pastoral com
fort,' to each other ? The harshness of the one
destroys the influence of the other. Ought this
to be? — Assuredly not. My objections to this
anomalous character are adopted on inexpug
nable grounds. In our own day we have
seen the church literally militant. Think of
1798, in Ireland, when " ministers," under the
effigy of the great seal, headed armed bodies
against their own parishioners. Yes, I have been
told they were then seen mounted on dragoon-
horses, or at least on chargers, caparisoned for
battle, bolstered, belted, arid branded, as parti
san cavalry 1 O, for the pen of a Swift, or a
Byron ! Every day shews me the growing unpo
pularity of clerical magistrates, and the ungene-

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 81
rous efforts repeatedly made to drag them before
the public, as men departing from a gospel-sim
plicity and pre-disposed to be tyrannical. No pro
per union can exist, and no union at aU ever will
exist, with impunity, between the pastoral and
magisterial offices. No, Sir, even the infiiction
of a wholesome severity, by the hand of a clergy
man, is out of place."
He repeatedly enforced, that, if a christian pas
tor would try to act up to the engagements he
contracted at ordination, he could not possibly
afford leisure for intermeddling in secular con
cerns. He urged that the commission to preach
the doctrines of divine mercy, would be ill as
sorted with passing sentence, clothed in the ri
gours of human law, from an earthly tribunal ;
and that proselytes to religion- could seldom be
gained by a parson, whose instruments of con
version were the dungeon, exile, and the gibbet!
He knew, (he averred,) the two offices to be so
incompatible, that they could not beneficially,
and ought not at all, to co-exist in the same in
dividual. " No matter," (proceeded he,) "how
meritorious may be the exercise of the magiste
rial duties by a clergyman — no matter, how
amenable to justice the delinquents may be; still,
the duty, on the minister's part, is an unnecessa
ry and invidious one, and severs the ties of affec
tion that, for the best purposes of Christian
G

82 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
usefulness, should always subsist between the
shepherd and his flock. From the loss of those
ties, every thing akin to confidence, mutual con
fidence, would be lost ; and disunion, dislike, re
sentment, and injuries, would inevitably prevail.
He considered this to be a natural state of things
between the parties, and that, in despite of the
criminality of the culprit, or the rectitude of the
magistrate, still heart-burnings, bickerings, and
perhaps a neglect of the House of God, would not
fail to be a common result of the rupture.
I ventured to suggest that, admitting the co
gency of his arguments for a moment, I must
suppose any sudden and general removal of the
present clerical magistracy, might be deeply in
jurious to society; that their local knowledge ad
mirably fitted them for the office ; and their edu
cation and profession afforded the best security
for a conscientious and enlightened discharge of
it ; and that highly as I estimated the lay-gentry,
(and no one could do so more highly,) stiU, that
it was with me a question, how any selection of
the latter could at once compensate for the loss
of the former. To all this Parr turned a deaf ear ;
he would not admit any such possible conti-
gency. He insisted that the exclusive attain
ments of the clergy might have been a saving
argument a hundred or even sixty years ago,
but as an argument now, it was utterly worthless ;

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 83
that barely to meet such a topic at this day,
would be a libel against the mass of intellect
abroad in all directions, and that every corner of
the land could readily supply an abundance of
country-gentlemen able and willing substitutes^
and every way qualified to do credit to the un
paid magistracy : and that, were all the clerical
justices at one brush to be swept away, not an
hour's inconvenience would be felt throughout
England." He then added, " that he had good
reason to know he was by no means solitary in
his opinions — that three most influential mem
bers of the cabinet," (and these he named,)
*' were with him ; and he could not doubt but the
nation would shortly release the clergy from the
onerous inquietude, that such conflicting princi
ples of action were so well calculated to pro
duce." The last time I saw this truly great and amia
ble man was at the close of the autumn of 1824,
but a very few months before his decease. For
many weeks his Letters had excited my uneasi
ness, from the settled tone of conviction that
pervaded them as to his speedily being removed
from us ; and I found it impossible to conquer
my apprehensions, or the peculiar impatience I
felt to see him once more. Fortunately for my
object, I was at this period called to Ireland,
and I took Warwick en route. I found, however,
02

84 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
upon my arrival there, that Parr was not yet
returned from Worcestershire ; that he had been
detained by serious illness ; and although now
slowly recovering, was as yet unequal to the
journey to Hatton. Under these circumstances,
I crossed the Channel, consoling myself with the
probable opportunity of making amends for the
disappointment upon my return ; nor was I de
ceived. After an absence of six weeks, I found
myself again at the porch of the philosopher,
and understood that his arrival had preceded
mine but by a single day. I had reason to con
gratulate myself I had reached the parsonage
in the first days of October ; it was about noon
when I called upon him, and he had retired to
take some repose, a custom which I then learned
to have been forced upon him by the sensible
decay of his physical powers. This of itself
spoke volumes. The instant we met, I was elec
trified by the alteration so perceptible in his per
son. No change, indeed, had taken place in the
warmth of his feelings, or in the cordial cheer
fulness of his welcome ; these were still as I
found them in my last visit ; but the usual di
mensions of his person seemed actually contrac
ted. The outlines of his frame appeared as if
reduced to a similar size — cast in a miniature-
model. The entire muscular fulness was shrunk,
and yet without any very visible impairment of

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 85
wonted activity or rapid strides to debility.
These were but my first impressions ; they be
came soon sensibly qualified by maturer observa
tion. It could not be long before significant
symptoms of a change in these, too, was forced
upon me. The idolatry to his favourite tobacco
was now relinquished, on the remonstrance of
his physicians ; and the use of dried chamomile
substituted. His appetite, which had been so
long excellent, was gone. In conversation, in
deed, the blaze of his intellect was still inextin
guishable ; but its former magnificence was now
reduced into a more mellowed grandeur, and
some portion, (however slight,) of that superla
tive selection of words and phrases, which had in
other days established his masterdom and ren
dered him inimitable, could not so clearly be
traced. The capacious calibre of his mind was
not at all narrowed ; the expansion of his mighty
genius was equally illimitable; the treasury of
his vast knowledge was as abundantly supplied,
and its doors stood as open for all to share it ; —
but the lassitude of years, the desertion of appe
tite, the advance of disease, and the absorbing
resignation to his great approaching change,
made him feel as though his divorce from time
was already commenced, and the putting forth
of his strength no longer an object for his care.
Upon this occasion, he gave into my hand

86 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
a paper, which a young amanuensis was in the
act of transcribing fairly as I joined them in the
library. To my surprise, I found it to be his
latest instruction about the place of his inter
ment, together with the epitaph — plain, simple,
and admonitory — which he designed for his own
place of rest. It affected me much. He noticed
my feelings, and repaid them with the richness of
a smile, that seemed to say : — " Why do you
" grieve ? Death has no terrors for me. I know
" that I must pass through the grave and gate of
"death to my joyful resurrection!" Again, I
began to read over the epitaph, when, in good-
humoured raillery, he exclaimed to his young
friend — " Take it away, take it away! do not
" let him read it again ; his retentive memory
" will purloin it."
Doctor Parr retained a love for poetry to the
last. His taste was exquisite, his judgment infal
lible. How delightful was this bewitching relax
ation to a mind, that was so much wont to expa
tiate among the researches of philosophy — to be
immersed in the depths of metaphysics I It was
when on my last visit to him, that he ordered a
port-folio to be brought forth, from which he
took a MS. poem of considerable extent, and
paid me the compliment to solicit my opinion of
it, significantly assuring me, that few indeed
had ever seen it." I read it aloud. It betrayed

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 87
the towering independence of Parr, in the ner
vous eloquence of Dryden. It revealed its au
thor. I characterised it in the language of truth.
He was very reserved about it.
In a late periodical work, containing details of
Dr. Parr, his opinion of the living poets is given.
The account is perfectly correct as far as it goes.
It contains the truth, but not the whole truth.
I shall briefly state his conversation with me on
the subject.
One morning he sent for me to attend him in
his library. I found him seated at one side of
the fire, Mrs. Parr leaning against the mantle
on the opposite, and a chair placed for me be
tween them. " Mrs. Parr," (he began,) " you
" have seen Moore in this spot, some time ago ;
" you now see Mr. Stewart. The race of true
" poets is now nearly extinct. There is you,"
(turning to me,) and Moore, and Byron, and
" Crabbe, and Campbell, — I hardly know of an-
" other. You, Stewart, are a man of genius, of
" real genius, and of science, too, as well as ge-
" nius. I tell you so. It is here, it is here,"
(shaking his head, and sagaciously touching his
forehead with his finger,) " I tell you, again, it
"is here! As to Walter Scott, his jingle will
" not out-live the next century ; it is namby pam-
" by. I do not enumerate him with poets !"
He told me that upon a late memorable occa-

88 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
sion, and during the fever of party-excitement,
he had business in London. It happened that
he was in company with a noble dignitary, who
took a very different side in politics from himself.
They had last parted on peculiarly gracious
terms, and Parr now approached him with the-
same unaffected esteem. Not so the other. " In
" place of meeting me as I met him," (said Parr,)
" he freezingly threw me a half-nod, half-bow,
" meaning anything or nothing. Speaking was
" out of the question. I carried this nod-bow
" home with me, and carefully kept it until I
" might want it. The time arrived. I was
" again in town, where our respective duties
" brought us in contact. By this time the cur-
" tain had dropped — the tragedy was over —
" there was no longer occasion for acting. The
" noble friend approached me with much graci-
" ousness, his face was in smiles — ' I am glad to
" see Doctor Parr — Doctor Parr is well, &c. &c.'
" My part was clear. I threw him back his
" half-nod, half-bow, exactly as I received it.
" It was his own, not mine ; and it was now my
" turn to observe profound silence. I have not
" seen him since. But I know," (and here he
gave a wise nod, half-closing his eyes, at the
same instant,) " I know how to manage such
cattle !"
In this case. Parr considered it due to the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 89
peculiar character he had to support, to make
the retort courteous ; but this had no reference
whsttever to any party-hostility either in religion
or politics. He owned no such meanness of sen
timent; so far to the contrary, that an honest
difference of opinion never in the least affected
his attachments. He and I dissented upon some
cardinal points ; points, too, that admitted but lit
tle likelihood of our ever approximating ; yet
this decrepance cast not even a shadow on our
friendship. He was far from too loftily-minded
not to respect scruples conscientiously maintain
ed, however erroneous he might deem them.
Upon an infinite majority of cases I would have
distrusted my own decisions incalculably rather
than his ; and when principle taught me to be
thus tenacious, he well knew that in venturing to
oppose him I could be actuated by a sense of
rectitude alone. His esteem, consequently, was
never withdrawn from me.
It was long after my arrival before we found our
selves occupied, confidentially, in a most solemn
conversation respecting his state of health, and
the probability of his approaching end. Far from
shrinking, he evidently courted such a discus
sion ; and canvassed its trials, without a single
apprehension. His tone and manner were equal
ly distinct from the presumption of the self-right
eous, and the gloom of the fanatic. During this

90 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
interview his uplifted eyes were directed to his
God, and the aspirations of a soul-speaking piety
quivered on his lips. He looked and expressed
himself with the calmness of a philosopher, the
intrepidity of a man, the humiKty of a sinner,
and the glowing energy of a christian. I have
met with few instances, where the descent to the
grave has been made so pleasingly familiar, where
dust and ashes have discussed so calmly their
own decidence, and where the settled hope of an
other and imperishable being has shone with
more serenitude. Wilh Parr, the king of ter
rors was converted into an expected friend, who
is waited for, not with impatience, but with
cheerfulness, as the appointed companion of a
long and momentous journey.
Parr had lost nothing of the amiable conde
scension, which first attached me to him. I was
to officiate in his church upon the next Sunday,
and the circumstance seemed to occupy him
much. On the day before, he sent for Osborn,
his clerk. In due time and form the latter was
ushered into the Hbrary. Osborn was a fine pu
ritanical specimen of Walter Scott's descriptive
pencil. His face was serene and pale ; and his
grizzled-hair, critically divided by a seam on the
top of his head, was sleekly arranged on each
side. He lowly, but stiffly made obeisance to his
leige lord, as though he could have regretted

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 91
that the flection of his muscles so aptly respond
ed his involuntary homage. " Osborn, mind f
" this gentleman, a friend, not only a friend, but
** a particular friend of mine," (this drew from
Osborn a second bend turned fuU upon myself,)
" preaches in my pulpit to-morrow. Let it be
" put in the best order. Dress out the church.
*' Have nothing wanting. It is for a minister,
" who will become it. — Go!"
Sunday-morning came. I was summoned early
before him. Sam, the important Sam, was call
ed. " Bring my best gown, and air it, Sam, at
this fire." Again the bell rings. " Send up
Mary Fennel," (a female servant, who had long
resided at the parsonage,) " I want her." She
soon appeared. " Tie on Mr. Stewart's band —
so — there." It was methodically arranged.
"Now, Sam, Sam, the gown!" Sam dressed
me in it. During this important preparation.
Parr, in the unsophisticated goodness of his
heart, sat and superintended it with a minute
ness of care, as though his time was to be devoted
exclusively to that object. I was now required
to stand up for his inspection, and a fond father
could not have evinced more apparent pride in
me. It was the first occasion of his seeing me
in canonicals, as I had taken orders since our last
meeting in town ; and in that ordination he had
professed a lively interest. He now turned me

92 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
round and round, gave a nod of gratified appro
val, and murmured, involuntarily, " a respectable
man, a respectable man!"
As I have often mentioned the library, a des
cription of it may not be out of place here. I am
not scientific enough to state its precise dimen
sions, but it was a spacious, pleasant room. Its
windows gave the prospect of the garden and the
green fields beyond. As Parr always concluded
every thing connected with study or correspon
dence before dinner, that meal was invariably
riably served up in the library, and he constantly
dressed for it, in a manner suited to the dignity
of his station and character. He was averse to
carving, and was accused by Mrs. Parr, too, of
carving clumsily ; so that he never, while I have
been present, did the honours of the table. Parr
ate heartily, but he was no glutton — he liked to
feed daintily, but he was no Epicurean. His
table it was his delight to see surrounded by
attached friends and talented and respectable
strangers. His amenity of manner, and his cor
dial hospitalities soon made every one at ease ;
and his instructive and amusing conversation
rendered it a truly Attic repast. By me they can
never be forgotten.
Porson, Burney, and Lowth graced the li
brary-mantle. The Doctor's usual seat was an
ordinary, elbow-chair, with an indifferent green

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 93
cushion, and placed with the back to the win
dows. I think he occasionally used a sofa, for
the convenience of supporting his leg, which for
years had been a victim to erysipelas. His
morning-dress, until about two o'clock, was a
dingy suit of brownish black, clerical stockings,
hanging in wrinkles, easy shoes, and a well-worn,
red night-cap. His faithful pipe was ever at his
side, as well as his tiny table, candlestick, and
fuses. His favourite posture was leaning back
wards ; and when on active duty, his pipe was
displayed between two fingers.
The beau ideal of a dandy-penman would
shrug his shoulders to contemplate Parr's writ
ing-apparatus and materials. In that library he
could meet with no splendid writing-table, nor
desk of satin-wood inlaid with silver or ivory;
nor tortoise-shell inkstand with burnished ap
pendages. Parr contemned every thing of the
sort. He never wrote upon any kind of desk ;
he always laid his paper flat on the table ; there
was no other preparation. Upon a long deal-
table, whose site was between the windows,
commonly stood a supply of ragged-edged fools
cap, and which Parr could convert, with the
dexterity of a juggler, into the pabulum pro-
prium pennce. The mode of operation was
this ; — when he himself was to be the scribe,
this foolscap was transferred to the round table.

94 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
which stood in the centre of the room. He would
then detach a sheet, pass it neatly and lightly
between his lips, divide it, fold up each leaf
double, and thus you had in a moment, the
sheet of foolscap transformed into something
like two passable sheets of pigmy letter-paper,
with all its roughness preserved. There was no
occasion for paper-cutters, or penknives. The
inkstand was en suite : it was, I think, of tin ;
but so battered and grim from age and service,
that its original composition was doubtful. The
stumps it usually contained, were sacred to the
Doctor's hieroglyphics ; few beside could use
them. A bundle of pens was mostly thrown
down for any other writer's use, and a box of
wafers and a wafer-seal, a stick of wax and Parr's
own armorial signet, were at your option.
What a homely contrast to Mrs. Parr's splendid
writing-apparatus, in the adjoining room !
The walls of this spacious library were not only
covered with valuable books, but with the very
best editions of them, as were also other rooms,
and the lobbies, from top to bottom. In parts
of the room were various small deal packing-
cases, chiefly under and near the table ; these
were depositaries of confidential papers, or of
Letters from correspondents high in his favour.
Some of these packets were farther particularized
by tapes.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 95
At this period Parr had become less agile in
shifting his books from place to place, and which
exercise was in frequent operation. He had,
therefore, taken into drill for the oflSce a tall,
slim, gawky rustic, and Parr's temper was not
the best qualified for the occupation of training
him. He had regularly dubbed him with the
title, (very likely a legitimate patronymic,) of
Booby. But however characteristic the name,
Booby was, by habitude, a Stoic, and could meet
rebuff's with the most provoking indifference.
His step was leisurely and shuffling, and he held
the even tenor of his course, unwarped by scold
ings or directions. He passed the latitude of
storms without manifesting the slightest flurry.
Mutatis mutandis had Parr encountered him in
other days, he might have been admitted to the
order of the birch, and Parr have new-moulded
Booby's destiny. He was quite a gem in his
way. On the day of my departure. Parr and I set off"
from Hatton, to dine in Warwick with a clerical
intimate of his. As I was to start by the night-
mail, my travelling trunk was put into the Doc
tor's coach, to accompany us. I demurred to its
introduction, reluctant to intrude such an in
cumbrance. Suddenly he fired at my false deli
cacy, (as he termed it,) and became satirically
indignant at what he christened my fastidious-

96 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
ness : " Are you afraid," (cried he,) " that a
snake will spring out of it upon us ? " " No, no,
far from it. Doctor. You overlook that I am fresh
imported from the Isle of Saints. No venomous
reptile harbours in its sacred soil ! A dove, per
haps, might nestle here — for a dove is the em
blem of affection and constancy." " Right, right.
Sir," (he exclaimed,) " I love the people, and
their land." He extended to me his hand, smiled
good-humouredly ; and the summer cloud on his
brow had passed away.
After dinner I rose to take leave. He parted
from me with a powerful presentiment that we
were never again to meet in this life. The irre
sistible conviction at the moment quite overcame
him. His voice faltered  His eyes were full of
tears. " I shall see you no more," he said ; and
in that upraised look of resignation, which har
monized with the words, was conveyed also the
prayer for my future happiness. A second time
he called me to him, grasped convulsively both
my hands in his, pressed them to his heart, re
peated, with a solemn affection — " It is our last
" meeting, I know; I feel that our present sepa-
" ration will be final : — deliver, in person, this
" Letter to the Duke of Sussex — take it your-
" self to Kensington — unless you do, I never will
" consent to receive another line from you."
This conversation took place in presence of the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 97
dinner-circle. I punctually obeyed his wishes;
I redeemed the pledge I here gave to him. It
was his parting request.
In less than six months afterwards, his antici
pations and my fears were fatally verified, and
this pre-eminently accompHshed scholar and most
virtuous man, had disappeared from the theatre
of time.From so recent an intimation to me, of his de
sign to be interred in Devonshire, and of other
particulars relating to that event, I was surprized
that his remains were to be deposited at Hatton.
But when I recollected the attachment and high
character of his executors, I could refer the adop
tion of the latter spot to one of two causes,
either of which would be. authority sufficient.
Even in the short period that elapsed, between
my last interview with him and his death, he
might have altered his intention ; or, in the event
of his not having done so, still he might have left
it optional with his surviving relatives to choose
between Warwick and Devon. In giving a pre
ference to the former, I am sure they exercised
a sound discretion, and consulted the high claims
of justice. Who, indeed, could so properly be
the mourners at the bier of Parr, as the flock,
who for more than forty years had grown in
grace under their venerable pastor ; who so long
had heard his pious eloquence, witnessed his mo
ll

98 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
ral life, benefitted by his wise counsel, and shared
in his overflowing bounty ? What cold soil of a
stranger-county could have appreciated the ho
noured relics ? What mausoleum could so nobly
have enshrined his ashes, as the temple by him
self re-built and beautified, to the glory of the
Creator, and for the best interests of man ?

[The attention of the reader has in p. 58, been called to
Addison's paper on Dreams, and this may be a convenient op
portunity for submitting to his consideration the theory of
Mr. Green, of Ipswich, as contained in the Extracts from the
Diary of a Lover of Literature, published in 1810. 4to.
p. 193: —
" Newton remarks, that our sensations are more
vivid in dreams than when awake ; and repre
sents Milton as ascribing it to the action of some
spiritual being on the sensory. I see no reason
to alter the opinion I long since formed upon this
subject. Of the fact itself, there can be no question —
it must have fallen, I should suppose, within al
most every one's experience ; and this superior
susceptibiUty seems by no means confined to im
pressions from the fair and beauiful, but to ex-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 99
tend to every species of emotion whatever. If
it be a scene of horror — if we are encountered,
on a trackless heath, by some dire form — if it
hunts us, with a murderer's knife, to the edge of
some hanging precipice — if we struggle to shriek
for some near help, and utterance is denied,
there is a degree of anguish and wretchedness in
our sufferings, and a prostration of all manly
energy under an irresistible and overwhelming
terror, exceeding far, I conceive, what any mor
tal ever endured from real apprehension. If it
be a scene of sensibility — if we recognize some
long-lost friend — if we meet, after hapless sepa
ration, the dear object of our tenderest affection —
if we hold sweet intercourse — if we mingle heart
with heart, and pour out all our fondest wishes,
the melting soul dissolves in a deliquium of ten
derness and delight, which I doubt whether the
warmest friend or most passionate lover ever ex
perienced. We feel when we awake from such
glowing visions, and while their effects still vi
brate on the mind, that every thing in this life is
stale and flat and tasteless on the comparison. It
is related of the celebrated Tartini, that he once
dreamed he had entered into a compact with the
Devil, who, to exhibit a specimen of his powers,
played him a solo so divinely on the fiddle, that
the musician waked with transports, seized his
violin, and tried to catch the fleeting idea, but
H2

100 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
felt his utmost efforts at imitation so tame and
unavailing, that he dashed his instrument in de
spair to the ground ; and ever after declared, he
should never have brought himself to touch cat
gut again, could he possibly have gained a liveli
hood without it. This story is by no means in
credible: though, probably, had Tartini heard,
when awake, the same notes, which ravished him
in vision, he would have formed a very different
estimate of their merit. I have always found,
at least, when successful in calling any specific
object — a piece of poetry or eloquence, for in
stance, which delighted me beyond measure in
a dream — that it has appeared on the revision
very puerde or uncouth. For a time indeed,
and whilst the intense idea still breathes its
charms or its horrors on the mind, the delusion
may continue, but it soon vanishes : and had we
an opportunity of making the comparison, I su
spect we should invariably discover, that the
strength of the emotion in our dreams, was quite
disproportionate to the apparent occasion, which
produced it.
This curious phgenomenon, which seems to
have escaped investigation, may perhaps admit
ef the following easy and simple solution. In
sleep, not only are our senses closed against all
impressions from without, but the command,
which we possess over the train of our ideas,

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 101
when awake, seems entirely suspended ; nor do
these ideas appear to suggest many of the vari
ous associations, with which on other occasions
they are usually combined : of course, whatever
image is presented to the imagination under
these circumstances, must exert its whole infiu-
ence on the sensibility, undiminished by any dis
turbing action whatever ; and enjoying full occu
pation of the mind, must excite there all the ef
fect, which such a cause operating on such a sub
stance is capable of producing. The case is ob
viously very different, when we are awake ; since,
to say nothing of the constant importunity of
what is passing around us, some voluntary or
some spontaneous suggestion is for ever mingling
with the immediate object of our thoughts. If
we are assailed by distress, the mind naturally
turns to its resources ; it looks backward, it looks
forward ; it adopts some fortifying reflection, it
encourages some soothing hope ; and contrives
to abate its present suffering, by the powers of
consolation, or the prospect of deliverance. In
our happiest moments, on the other hand, our
delight is not unadulterated : some obtrusive
care, some obscure suspicion, some cruel jealousy
or apprehension, the mere reflection that all
this bliss must soon end, and may be interrupted,
alloys and vitiates our very purest enjoyments.
We are more poignantly affected in our dreams

102 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
than when awake, not because our sensibility is
more acute, or the objects presented to it are
more forcible and impressive than in real life ; —
for the contrary may rather be presumed; — but
because whatever affects us in this state, operates
undisturbed by the various interfering influences,
which are perpetually mingling with the proper
current of our ideas when awake, and abating the
force of the predominant impression, which ob
tains there. A consideration of two or three
cases, something analogous to dreaming, will per
haps throw some additional light and evidence on
this attempted explication.
I. The susceptibility of little children to gra
tification or distress, is obvious to every one.
Children have little to look back upon ; and they
look forward, stUl less ; nor is their attention di
verted by any of those associations, which farther
experience contracts : their minds are almost en
tirely engrossed with the occupation, whatever
it be, of the moment. The morning of life, there
fore, is something like a dream ; and real exist
ences affect us, in this state, much in the same
manner as visions do in sleep. A child, who has
its favourite plaything taken away, suffers more
than a monarch from the dismemberment of his
emphe. The monarch, indeed, by summoning
before him, in succession, all the consequences
of his loss, his diminution of revenue, of power.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 103
and reputation, may protract his sufferings longer,
but it is impossible not to think, that the little
urchin, who shrieks, and stamps his foot, and is
convulsed with grief, endures, for the time, more
real vexation and anguish, than the unhappy
sovereign, who eats his dinner very calmly, and
partakes, though somewhat cloudy perhaps, of
his ordinary amusements. ' I despair,' says
Mr. Burke, in his introduction to the Sublime.
and Beautiful, ' of ever receiving the same de
gree of pleasure from the most excellent perform
ances of genius, which I felt, at that age, from
pieces, which my present judgment regards as
trifling and contemptible.' Mr. B. ascribes this
principally to the fastidiousness, which a mind
acquires from cultivation. And in some mea
sure, no doubt, this accounts for the phaenome-
non ; but not, I think, completely. There are
many persons, who pass in the world for men of
fair understandings and competent taste, who are
just as incapable, I apprehend, of discovering
the blemishes of a first-rate composition, as a
child is, of detecting the nonsense of Tom
Thumb ; yet I much question whether such a
reader would derive half the gratification from the
first perusal of the JEneid, which infant curiosity
eagerly extracts from the life and achievements of
the other ill-fated hero. It is not merely that
in early youth we are blind to defects, but that

104 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
we enter with an entire and cordial interest into
whatever captivates the imagination. When I
first read Robinson Crusoe, (the remembrance
of it is still delightful, and refreshing to the
spirits,) I went along with him completely —
I was absorbed in his adventures — I sailed with
him on the raft — I saw the print of the foot upon
the sands — I prattled with Friday. The most
devoted novel-reader, in maturer life, I should
suppose, never attains to such a perfection of il
lusion and interest. It is indeed scarcely possi
ble that he should. As we advance in years, a
thousand collateral considerations, the fruits of
our knowledge and experience, break in upon
our thoughts, and mingle their influences with
whatever engages our attention ; that integrity
of feeling, which gave to youth its frankness and
its fire, its keen susceptibility and ardent passions,
gradually yields to the temperament of sugges
tions, which at once abate our joys and sorrows,
our pleasures and our pains ; and life insensibly
assumes, under this equalising process, that sub
dued tone and evenness of tenor, which distin
guish old-age, and for which a mere decay of
sensibility, or of the stimulus of novelty in the
objects, which act upon it, (though these causes,
no doubt, co-operate,) will be found, in them
selves, very insufficient to account.
IL Intoxication, like sleep, induces an obh-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 105
vion of the past and neglect of the future ; dis
solves the associations, by which our ideas are or
dinarily combined ; and disposes us to a vivid
perception of the images and feelings of the mo
ment, by obstructing the avenues to other im
pressions. I am not sure that it materially pro
motes hilarity in any other than this negative
way ; for those, who besot themselves privately,
are often sufficiently grave, and conscious of no
other effect from the stimulus of their potations,
than the dispersion of care. Men assemble at
the table on purpose to be gay; and festivity
usually accompanies the social circulation of the
bottle : our hearts expand ; trifles delight us ; an
ordinary anecdote assumes poignancy and spirit;
we are enchanted with a joke, which our return
ing reason disdains ; our mirth is intemperate,
boisterous, and absurdly disproportionate to the
occasion. It is not however to joyous emotions,
exclusively, that wine quickens us, but as we
should naturally expect from the influence of
such a cause, to the predominant impression,
whatever it may be. Joy commonly prevails at
the table, because it is preconcerted that it should
do so : this convivial arrangement, however, is
sometimes disturbed : men are often exquisitely
sore and irascible in their cups, whether replen
ished with Falernian or Champaigne ; and,
though certainly more rare, and somewhat ridi-

106 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
culous, I have witnessed scenes of drunken grief
and tenderness, surpassing, to all appearance,
what sober sensibility ever felt, and which the
parties concerned have compared, on recollection,
to the vivid mockery of dreams.
III. Though it be difficult to speculate on a
condition of our unhappy species, which we never
experienced, and whose afflicting presence,
wherever it prevails, we approach with trem
bling and horror, yet, as we can explore this ob
scure and dreadful visitation, there seems a stri
king analogy between insanity and dreaming. In
both cases, an unreal vision is presented to the
fancy, which extinguishing memory and fore
sight, and arresting the whole attention of the
mind, induces the deluded patient to think and
reason and act, in a way, which, however con
sistent with the scene before him, appears to the
waking and rational spectator in the highest de
gree incoherent and 'preposterous. In dreams,
indeed, these apparent extravagancies are usually
veiled ; they are not however always so. There
are persons, who preserve in sleep a sufficient
knowledge of their actual situation, to rise, dress
themselves, and perform many of the common
offices of life, though actuated all the time by a
phantastic illusion. Such persons, on such oc
casions, exhibit the picture of madness. When
Lady Macbeth, under the visitation of those

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 107
' terrible dreams' that ' shake her nightly,' seizes
her taper and stalks forth ; when she sees
and smells the blood upon her hand, which is
not there ; when, in vacancy, she communes with
her husband, so express an image does she pre
sent of mental alienation, that an audience, not
previously prepared for the purpose, would natu
rally conclude that the great master of the hu
man heart designed to exhibit, in her person, the
hideous, but less original and striking spectacle,
of a mind impelled to distraction, and perma
nently deranged, by the complicated pangs of hor
ror and remorse. The maniac, indeed, perceives
more distinctly than the somnambulist, the real si
tuation of things around him : his external senses
are commonly perfect and acute; nor is there
visibly any thing in the construction of his or
gans, calculated to distort the representations
they transmit. It is the vision within, that dis
turbs him. Partly, this vision confounds the
real representation, and assimilates it to its own
ideal forms ; partly, it should seem incapable of
completing the delusion. The lunatic discovers
that things about him are not, as according to
the phantasm, that possesses his mind, they ought
to be: this distracts his hurried fancy; every
thing around, seems wild and discomposed ; his
dearest friends appear his bitterest enemies ; the
order of nature, to his imagination, is subverted;

180 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
he feels oppressed by a general conspiracy of his
species ; and is filled with those dark, jealous,
and malignant suspicions, which are considered,
I believe, by those conversant with this dreadful
calamity, as, above all others, the most decisive
tokens of insanity. As insanity bears this resem
blance to dreaming, so it seems to partake of
that extreme susceptibility, and to be exposed
to those excesses of delight and sorrow, which
form so remarkable a feature in our dreams.
That there are 'joys in madness, which none but
madmen know,' has been affirmed by one, who
is supposed to have felt them ; and is attested
by the tumultuous and frantic transports, which
some maniacs exhibit. We shudder, indeed, at
beholding them ; and Gray's image, of
Moody Madness, laughing wild
Amidst severest woe,
is amongst the most affecting that poetry pre
sents : the woe, however, seems altogether con
fined to the spectator, who is naturally shocked
at witnessing such insensibility to the heaviest
affliction, with which it has pleased the Almighty
to humble the arrogance of man : the maniac
himself seems perfectly and eminently happy.
As there occurs, in some sorts of madness, a
vacancy from care and a swelling rapture of
heart, surpassing, apparently, the most pleasu
rable emotions a sane mind ever feels, so, in

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 109
other descriptions of this deplorable malady, we
behold a settled and brooding melancholy, a deep
despair, whose gloomy horrors no art can assuage,
and of whose unutterable anguish, the sound
imagination, it may be presumed, can form no
conception whatever. The mind shrinks with
dismay from the aspect and contagion of a woe,
which, as it springs from no visible cause, ad
mits of no discoverable relief; nor can we easily
account for the exorbitance of misery, any more
than for the extravagance of joy, in disordered
intellects, but by supposing (as in dreams) a to
tal absorption of the soul in the scene presented
to it, and an entire seclusion from the influence
of those palliative principles, which, in a waking
and sober and rational agent, produce a sort of
equanimity through all the vicissitudes of exist
ence ; and if they deaden our sensibility to some
of the most endearing and exalted pleasures of
life, seem designed, too, in the constitution of
our being, to mitigate its insupportable afflictions.
The poignancy of existence, no doubt, is de
graded by their action : but hope, which may
be regarded as a kind of voluntary and flattering
dream of the future, still remains, our last best
friend, to triumph over experience ; and by an
ticipating only the bright side of the prospect
before us, to shed a ray of interest upon scenes,
which, were they presented to the mind with all

110 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
the drawbacks, that we are morally assured must
attend the actual accomplishment of our fondest
wishes, would stifle every generous exertion,
and sink the human heart in listlessness and de
spondency."]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. Ill

IV.
Extract from the Birmingham Cfironicle,
March 10, 1825.

** JBeatl^, antr 3$fosrapftical Notice,
OF THE
REV. DR. PARR.*

At length the hopes and fears, which the ill
ness of this great and good man has for several
weeks excited through the county, are terminated
by his dissolution, which took place on Sunday
* " Bust of the late Dr. Parr, By Mr. Clarke.
We have been favoured with a sight of the Bust of the late
reverend and venerable Dr. Parr, now nearly completed by
Mr Clarke, of this town, who intends shortly to offer it to the
notice of the public. The Doctor sat to Mr. Clarke some time
ago, and an excellent resemblance was produced ; but, as in a
character of such peculiar interest every minute perfection was
desirable, permission was requested and granted to make a
model in plaster after his death. By this means the entire

112 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
last at six o'clock in the evening, in the 79th
year of his age ; and it is pleasing to consider
that the anxiety, which has been so universally
manifested respecting him, is a tribute, which no
elevation of rank or station could have called
forth, but which is only to be commanded by the
pre-eminence of moral and intellectual worth.
Dr. Samuel Parr was born at Harrow. His
father was a surgeon in that place, and his pater
nal grandfather was Rector of Hinckley, in Lei
cestershire. He was at the head of Harrow-
School in his 14th year, and on the death of the
Rev. Dr. Sumner, who strongly recommended
him as his successor, he was not appointed to the
head-mastership on account of his yovithful age.
At Harrow was formed his friendship with the
celebrated Sir William Jones and the Right Rev.
Dr. Bennet, late Bishop of Cloyne ; and almost
all the boys in the upper part of this school ac
companied him, when he removed to establish
himself as a Teacher at Stanmore, in Middlesex.
form of the head was most accurately preserved, and some
minor corrections in the features effected, so that the resem
blance, by those who best knew the Doctor, is now considered
perfect. But we are not content with bestowing on the ingenious
artist the praise of simply producing a, facsimile of nature; —
a landscape may be faithfully sketched by a person of correct
eye, but wanting imagination and genius, and the resemblance
may be universally but frigidly acknowledged. But how dlf-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 113
He was successively Master of the Grammar-
Schools of Colchester and Norwich, and in I78O,
received his first ecclesiastical preferment, the
Rectory of Asterby, in the Diocese of Lincoln.
In the year 1785, the exchange of Asterby for
the perpetual Curacy of Hatton, brought him
into Warwickshire, where he continued to reside
till the day of his death. The Rev. Dr. Parr was
twice married, first to Jane, of the ancient House
of Mauleverer, in Yorkshire, and afterwards to
Mary, sister of the late Rev. James Eyre, of Soli
hull, in this county. By his first wife he had
several children, all of whom died in their infancy,
except Sarah and Catharine. Of these daughters,
ferent is the result, when the very same outlines are filled up
by one, who has taste to discern, and skill to embody the happy
moment, when the early ray of morning sweetly and softly
irradiates the scene ; or when the rich evening-sun showers
down its. lavish gold on every object! So in the human
countenance, the true artist will study the form before him ; —
will make it his principal object to catch the moment of bright
and Characteristic, though, perhaps, evanescent effect.
Mr. Clarke has, we think, happily succeeded in that, which,
renders an effort of imitation eminently a work of art, in pre
serving the character, moral and intellectual, of his subject.
The expression of benignant placidity, which so often dwelt on
the features of the deceased ; — the quiescent, but easily-exci
ted smile of playful thought and vivid and rapid fancy, which
illuminated his countenance ; — the head slightly inclined,
the eye looking forwards, but in a downward direction, from
beneath the projecting, but not severe brow ; consistently with
I

114 PARRIANA* OR NOTICES OF
both of whom he survived, the former was mar
ried to John Wynne, Esq. of Garthmeilio, in
Denbighshire, and left two daughters, now living,
Caroline and Augusta, the eldest of whom is the
wife of the Rev. John Lynes, Rector of Elmley-
Lovett, in Worcestershire, In addition to the
small benefice before, mentioned, Dr, Parr held
the living of Graffham, in Huntingdonshire, to
which he was presented by Sir Francis Burdett.
Through the kindness and interest of the present
Earl of Dartmouth's grandfather, he also obtain
ed from Bishop Lowth, a prebend of St. Paul's
Cathedral, which, though for many years of lit
tle value to him, was happily the means of se-
the character of him, who sought not always for excitement
from external objects ; all these are perpetuated by the sculp
tor, and give life and animation to his material.
The busts will be presented in two forms. The one in the
usual professional costume ; the shoulders clerically draped,
and the head enveloped in its technical load of foreign curls :
these are addressed to those intimate friends, who will love to
see him they esteemed, live as he was wont to do in their sight.
The other is of the antique character and terminal form, par
tially clothed in a simple drapery, falling in well-arranged and
sober folds, — the head bare, exhibiting the fine and bold con
tour of that seat of acute reflection and multifarious acquire
ments. This is addressed to the world at large. The one is
Doctor Parr, the Warwickshire Divine, the delight of the
friendly circle ; — the other is PARR, the philosopher, the
philanthropist, the friend of all the virtuous and independent,
the citizen of the world. — Utrum horum mavis, accipe."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 115
curing him, to an ample degree, otium cum di-
gnitate, in the decline of his life. He was thus
indebted for all his preferment to the affection
of private friends ; for, though he was animated
by an ardent, but liberal, and enlightened, at
tachment to our civil and ecclesiastical Constitu
tion ; though he was distinguished by unparal
leled learning, by gigantic strength of intellect,
by the most unblemished morals, and by pro
found unaffected piety, he was never patronised
by the government of his country. This is a cir
cumstance, which many will perhaps consider
explained by his own words in his admirable
work on the Character of Mr. Fox, in which he
truly states of himself that ' from his youth up-
' ward, he never deserted a private friend, or
* violated a public principle — that he was the
' slave of no patron, and the drudge of no party
* — that he formed his political opinions without
' the smallest regard, and acted upon them with
' an utter disregard, to personal emoluments and
' professional honours,' He further adds, (what
his friends must rejoice at,) ' that, although for
' many and the best years of his life he endured
' very irksome tod, and suffered very galling
' need, he eventfully united a competent fortune
' with an independent spirit — and that looking
' back to this life and onward to another, he pos-
' sessed that inward peace of mind, which the
12

116 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' world can neither give nor take away.' Nor
will this be wondered at by those, who know
that his long residence at Hatton was spent by
him in diligently performing all the duties of a
Parish-priest, in assisting, advising, and befriend
ing the poor, in the exercise of a generous hos
pitality, in encouraging and patronising merit, in
communicating knowledge, whenever required,
from his own inexhaustible stores, in contribut
ing, by a most extensive correspondence, to the
general illumination of the literary world, in
manifesting by his words and deeds that he cul
tivated a spirit of unbounded philanthropy as
the practical essence of our holy rehgion, and in
endeavours to promote from the pulpit and the
press whatever is most conducive to the public
and private welfare of mankind. It need not be
added that such a man was venerated for his wis
dom and beloved for his goodness by all, who had
the happiness of knowing him. He accordingly
died as a righteous man ought to die, in peace
and charity with all men, and in a firm reliance
on the precious promises of the gospel ; nor can
it be doubted that by those, who are capable of
appreciating true greatness of character, he wiU
ever be considered not only as an ornament to
this county, but an honour to his country, and
to the human race."
R. K.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 117

V.

Extract from the Birmingham Chronicle,
March 17, 1825.

" jTumral of t\)t Eeb, Br* ^arr,
AT HATTON,
ON MONDAY LAST, MARCH 14.

Dr. Parr, with that greatness of mind, which
can anticipate calmly and cheerfully the last aw
ful change of mortal man, gave previously to his
illness, minute directions respecting his funeral.
They were characteristic of many of the amiable
features of his character, indicating his affection
to his surviving friends and neighbours, and
the joyful hope in God, which accompanied his
meditations on the prospect of death. These di
rections were dutifully observed by his executors.
His remains were attended on foot by nearly 40
gentlemen in mourning, consisting of the clergy
of the surrounding parishes, and of some of the

118 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
principal inhabitants of his own parish, of the
medical men who attended him during his iUness,
of his own and Mrs. Parr's relations, and of some
of his more intimate friends, together with a con
siderable number of individuals, chiefly dissenters
from the Church of England, who, though un
invited, were desirous of testifying their sense of
his great public worth, and especially of the en
larged Christian benevolence and enlightened
piety, which he always manifested by extending
his kind feelings and generous countenance to
persons of every religious denomination, and by
shewing himself to be superior, as he taught them
to be superior, to the narrow bigotry of sectarian
prejudice. The whole of his parishioners, and
probably many from theadjoiningcountry, formed
a rustic assemblage, whose decent, but varied and
even gay attire produced a pleasing contrast with
the sombre character of the procession, and at
the same time reminded the spectator of the holy,
useful, and affectionate labours, which had occu
pied half the life of this aged pastor of the mour
ning flock. Immediately as the procession began
to move, the bell ceased to toll, and successive
peals of soft and cheerful melody were heard from
the grey tower. In these sounds, for which he
himself made provision. Dr. Parr in his life always
took delight ; and on this occasion they were, no
doubt, designed by him to produce the same

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 119
happy frame of mind, with which his hearers had
been accustomed to enter the house of prayer,
and to tell them that to the Christian, death is no
cause of grief, but the appointed and desired ex
change of earthly for celestial blessings. A pause
for reflection was afforded at two or three places,
which he had specified, probably with the kind
intention of relieving the bodily fatigue of those,
who carried his remains. The church, which his
own bounty enlarged, decorated, and in a great
measure re-built, was darkened so as to resemble
a capacious vault, a few rays only escaping through
the painted windows, the admission of which,
though accidental, had a beautiful effect. As the
eye gradually adapted itself to the funereal light
of the numerous wax-tapers, the marble monu
ments, which enrich the walls, became conspi
cuous. Agreeably to his express direction, the burial
service was read by the Rev. Rann Kennedy,
Minister of St. Paul's Chapel, in Birmingham,
and we may truly say it was read in the most so
lemn, feeling, and impressive manner. The rus
tic choir of singers, in performing at intei'vals
some simple pieces of music, were accompanied
by a small sweet-toned organ, placed in the church
by Dr, Parr. Agreeably to the custom at ' fune
ral obsequies' in former times, a sermon was
preached by the Rev, Dr. Butler, Vicar of Kenil-

120 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OP
worth, and Head-Master of Shrewsbury-School.
This was introduced after the reading of the les
son. It was a masterly and eloquent delineation
of the character of the great scholar and generous
friend, whose coffin was before him. The preach
er began by apologizing for the appearance of
presumption in undertaking so arduous a task,
but stated as his reason for engaging in it the
earnest entreaty and ' express command' of his
revered friend. He omitted not to notice the
defects of the character, which he was about to
describe, and thus rendered more valid the splen
did eulogy which followed. He spoke, in terms
adapted to the occasion, of the gigantic intellect
of the deceased ; of his retentive memory, his
exuberant imagination, and his profound and sa
gacious judgment ; of the vast extent and variety
of his erudition ; his supremacy as a classical
scholar ; the ease, with which he appropriated to
himself the learned stores of ancient and of mo
dern times ; his intimate acquaintaince with the
writings of the Greek philosophers, especially
those ofthe Academic and Peripatetic schools, and
with all the metaphysical phdosophy of modern
ages ; his minute knowledge of English history,
more especially of the history of the established
church, of its liturgy, its doctrines, and its articles;
of the great men, who first framed and defended
its constitution, of its voluminous and masculine

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 121
authors, who adorned the 17th century, and of
the controversies, which it has sustained with the
various bodies of dissenters. After speaking of
him as a scholar and divine, the learned preacher
dwelt upon the great and moral qualities of the
deceased ; his ardent love of liberty, and his
hatred of oppression ; his resolute independence,
and invincible integrity ; the warmth of his
friendship, which through five-and-twenty years
the speaker had himself experienced; and his
affectionate and unremitting kindness, manifested
during forty years to those of his parishioners and
neighbours, who were now assembled at his
grave. Due praise was also bestowed upon his
bountiful zeal for the improvement of the edifice,
which was at last to be still further consecrated
by becoming the depository of his mortal frame;
upon his important assistance, often rendered
without any expectation of acknowledgment, to
the labours of literary men ; and upon his pe
cuniary munificence, continually bestowed upon
persons of all descriptions, who needed it, but
especially upon young men of merit in aid of
their professional. studies. The enumeration of
these and other excellencies was summed up by
a brief description of that piety to the supreme
Being, unostentatious, but fervent, profound,
and habitual, by which they were controuled,
animated, and exalted. The discourse was pre-

122 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
faced and concluded by the portion of scripture,
which Dr. Parr directed to be inscribed upon his
monument, and by which he will continue to
address his former hearers, * What doth the
Lord, thy Ood, require of thee, hut to do justice,
to love mercy, and to walk hu/mhly with thy Ood?'
At length his honoured remains were deposited
in the chancel ofthe church ; and v/hilst the peal
of beUs was again heard, the numerous congre
gation, which had witnessed the solemnity, de
parted to their homes with no expectation of
beholding a second time a man so highly and
nobly endowed."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 123

VI.

Extract from the Monthly Repository of The
ology and General Literature, No. 231. V. 20.
March, 1825. p. 184.

** Cunriusfwn of a ^eriixxm
PREACHED BY MR. YATES, AT THE NEW MEETING-HOUSE,
BIRMINGHAM,
On Sunday, March 13(A, on occasion of the death of the
REV. DR. PARR.

" To the views, which I have set before you
(on the evils of sectarian animosity,). my own
mind has been led by the feelings of solemn and
affectionate reverence for the character of that
distinguished minister of religion in the Church
of England, whose life diffused instruction and
delight amongst us, and whose death has occa
sioned a general regret throughout this neigh
bourhood. I need not apologize for introducing
to a dissenting congregation the praise of a man,
whose extensive attainments and wonderful

124 PARRUNA : OR NOTICES OF
energy of character and understanding, joined
to the most manly independence and the noblest
virtues, rendered him an ornament to the Chris
tian church, to his country, and to mankind.
But, since his philanthropy was bounded by no
sectarian prejudice, and extended its vital warmth
and beneficial influence far beyond the circle
of his own denomination, it becomes us to re
member him as he would have wished us to re
member him — as our friend and brother. Tliis
congregation more especially owes to him a
large debt of gratitude and admiration. Let me
recall to your memory those dreadful times, when
the spot, where we are now assembled, was co
vered by a heap of ruins. How nobly did he
then come forward to vindicate your body from
unmerited reproach, and at the same time to
preserve them by his earnest and affectionate
entreaties, and his solemn and powerful admoni
tions, from rashly exposing themselves to a re
petition of the same evils, under which they
were still suffering : and, when the upright
Christian philosopher, to whom this bereaved
congregation then looked with sorrowing an
xiety, was assailed from every side by the shafts
of misguided rage and cruelty, how equitable,
how kind, and how courageous was the support,
which he received from the same nervous and

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 125
discriminating pen ! * Dr. Parr was then in the
prime of life ; and had he put forth one-tenth
part of his power in the methods usually adopted
by ambitious ecclesiastics, he would have risen
by easy and rapid strides to the highest honours
and emoluments of his church. But he not only
scorned to rise by defaming and oppressing his
neighbours ; he was always ready to clear the
defamed, and to succour the oppressed : and the
greatness of his mind appeared in this, that hav
ing resolved never to seek promotion at the ex
pense of his independence and integrity, or by
the violation of truth and charity, he remained
to the end of his life satisfied with his choice,
and continued his clerical labours in a compari-
tively humble rank, witnessing with a benevo
lent pleasure the success of those around him,
but never complaining that he was left behind.
Entertaining the most enlarged and enlightened
views of the welfare of mankind, which were the
result of profound and vigorous reflection, and
* " The allusion is here more particularly to one of the most
beautiful and elegant of Dr. Parr's compositions, his ' Letter
from Irenopolis to the Inhabitants of Eleutheropolis, A. D.
1792,' and to the admirable remarks on the character of Dr.
Priestley in that publication. After the death of Dr. Priestley,
Dr, Parr obliged the same congregation, and renewed his testi
mony to the virtues and attainments of their former pastor, by
furnishing the inscription for the monument erected by them
in their place of worship."

126 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
which were accompanied by an intenseness of
benevolent feeling, he manifested the sincerity
of these philanthropic views by his actions and
habits of life. He delighted in society as the
means of promoting mutual affection. He loved
to bring together men of different religious
sentiments, and by shewing to each the estima
ble qualities of the rest, to induce them to think
well of one another. The flow of his kind and
friendly feelings was strong and full as the con
ceptions of his mighty understanding, and un-
confined as his ideas of the divine benevolence.
He uniformly studied to efface those unhappy
distinctions and antipathies, which separate man
from man, and to diffuse around him by his
preaching and his conversation, his influence and
his example, the spirit of candour, moderation,
and forbearance, and the blessings of Christian
charity. " It becomes us to be grateful to God for
raising up so great and good a man as our late
nerated neighbour, and, according to our humble
powers and limited opportunities, to endeavour
like him to . assuage among Christians the vio
lence of sectarian animosity, and to practise
ourselves and inculcate upon others the, same
spirit of universal benevolence."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 127

VII.
Extract from the Monthly Repository of The
ology and General Literature, No. 232. V. 32.
April, 1825. p 249.

" ^artirularsi of i\^t jTumral
OF THE LATE
REV. DR. PARR.
From the Warwick Advertiser, March 19.

The mortal remains of Dr. Samuel Parr, —
in whom the republic of letters has lost one of its
brightest ornaments — the church one of its most
eminent divines — the country one of its greatest
patriots — society one ofthe best of men, — and
civil and religious liberty, one of its most eloquent
advocates, — were, on Monday last, interred,
without pomp or ostentation, though with becom
ing solemnity, in the parish-church of Hatton;
where, for the long period of forty years, both
by precept and example, he had approved him-

128 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
self a faithful pastor over the flock committed to
his care, as well as an able and successful minis
ter of that gospel, which proved to him a source
of unfailing consolation' through life, and amidst
the struggles of expiring nature.
The funeral, superintended by Mr. Bayly, of
this place, was arranged, even in the most minute
particulars, agreeably to the directions, which
the deceased had left behind him.
At one o'clock, the bells of the parish-church,
which had tolled, at intervals, throughout the
day, suddenly ceased ; and a peal of cheerful
melody from its humble tower, soon put the
whole line of procession, which had previously
been formed in front of the house, in motion.
The Rev. Dr. Butler, and the Rev. Rann Ken
nedy, headed the mournful cavalcade. Two
clergymen, who had occasionally discharged the
duties of the ministry for their deceased friend
during his last illness, next followed ; then came
two other gentlemen, his friends, and four me
dical attendants, walking two and two.
The body of the deceased was borne from the
parsonage-house — where he had closed his long
and valuable life — by eight of his parishioners.
These were afterwards relieved, at the church
yard, by eight others, who conveyed the sacred
burden to the grave; and happy indeed were
those, who were permitted to perform this last

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 129
sad office for their beloved friend and benefactor.
The pall was supported by seven clergymen, and
one dissenting clergyman, of the neighbourhood,
attired in the habits of their sacred office.
The chief mourner, the Rev. John Lynes,
grandson to the deceased, supported by six of
the late Doctor's friends, dressed in mourning
cloaks, immediately followed the body ; and
though the executors had, in compliance with
the directions of the deceased, strictly confined
their invitations to the persons already noticed,
a long train of gentlemen, dressed in black, with
hatbands and scarfs, many of whom had come a
considerable distance to pay the last tribute of
respect to departed worth, were, at their own
particular desire, allowed to join the mournful
procession. The whole was closed by the do
mestics of the deceased, attended by all the in
habitants of the parish as mourners, except in
deed those, whom necessity, age, or sickness,
confined at home. Business was entirely sus
pended in Hatton ; and even many of the inha
bitants of the surrounding towns were not back
ward in testifying their respect and unfeigned
sorrow on this melancholy occasion.
The proper Psalms and Lesson in the Burial
Service having been read by the Rev. Rann
Kennedy, a sermon was preached, according to
the particular desire of the deceased, by his
K

130 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
learned and highly-valued friend, the Rev. Dr.
Butler, from the following text : — " He hath
shewed thee, O man, what is good ; and what
doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly,
and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy
God?" Micah Vi. 8.
In the progress of his discourse, which did
equal credit to the talents and feelings of the
preacher, the Rev. Doctor pronounced, in a
strain of uncommon eloquence, a just and strik
ing eulogy upon the character of the illustrious
dead; pointing out his piety, his moral recti
tude, his profound learning, his unbounded be
nevolence, and the many rare virtues, by which
he was so pre-eminently distinguished. Nor
were the frailties of the deceased forgotten ; they
were delineated with all the feeling of a man,
and the fidelity of a Christian ; thus rendering
more powerful and striking the splendid eulo-
gium, which preceded. The sermon concluded
with the words of the text, which the deceased
has directed to be inscribed upon his monument,
and by which he will continue to address his
former parishioners.
The sermon being ended, the remaining part of
the sublime service, which our Church hath ap
pointed to be used at the Burial of the Dead,
was then read ; the coffin was lowered into the
vault, where the ashes of the late Mrs. Parr and

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 131
her daughters are deposited ; and, after an ap
propriate anthem had been sung by the choir,
the funeral obsequies were closed with the apos
tolic benediction.
The congregation then separated, and suc
cessive peals from the muffled bells ended the
melancholy solemnities of the day.
The church, which the Doctor's piety and
munificence had beautified and enlarged at so
much cost, was lighted up with numerous wax-
lights ; the windows being darkened, so as to
give the edifice the appearance of a capacious
cemetery. The altar and eommuniou-rails were
covered with black cloth ; the latter being orna
mented with several escutcheons of the deceased.
The reading-desk and pulpit, in which the vene
rable Doctor never entered without claiming un
common attention, from his unfeigned piety, his
solemn deportment, and the great evangelical
truths, which he delivered with so much energy
and impressiveness, also exhibited the same sym
bols of mourning. The brilliancy of the lights,
contrasted with the sable hangings ofthe church,
and the funeral habiliments of the mourners,
could not but impress the minds of all present
with serious and awful sensations. The few rays
of rainbow-varied light, which escaped here and
there through the richly-illumined windows, and
rested upon the sculptured marble, which en-
K2

132 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
riches the sides of the sacred edifice, produced a
grand and pleasing effect.
The great concourse of persons of all ranks
and denominations, that witnessed the funeral
solemnities, and the extreme sensibility, with
which they listened to the truly affecting and im
pressive discourse, delivered on this solemn occa
sion, are a strong eulogy on the life of the de
ceased, and evince how much he was revered as
a minister, and beloved as a man. And though
the tomb has closed upon his remains, he has
left a name, that will never die among men, as
long as religion and learning shall be respected.
— The words written by the poet upon the death
of a celebrated statesman, may with equal justice
be applied to our lamented friend —
' A patriot's even course he steered,
'Mid faction's wildest storms unmoved :
By all, who marked his mind, revered;
By all, who knew his heart, beloved.'
Fitzpatrick."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 133

VIII.
Extract from the Monthly Magazine, V. 59.
No. 408. April 1, 1825.

"REV. DR. PARR.
Died, at Hatton-parsonage, near Warwick, on
the evening of Sunday the 6th inst., in his 79th
year, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Parr, Prebendary of
St. Paul's, Rector of Graffham, in Huntingdon
shire, &c., after an illness of about two months'
continuance ; during which the affectionate sym
pathy of his friends was not less assiduous than
the prayers and supplications of his parishioners,
for the prolongation of the life of their most va
lued friend and pastor.
Rarely does it fall to the lot of men in general
to witness such a splendid combination of talent,
learning, and moral worth, as the character of
Dr. Parr presented. In intellect, he was a giant,
revelling and glorying in that strength, by means
of which he was able to defy opposition, to over-

134 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
throw all competitors, to break them to pieces,
and to trample them to dust, if they besought
not that forbearance, which he refused to no man.
Occasionally he might be thought, by some per
sons, to wanton in power — to assume the scep
tre, and put on the purple ; for, .enthroned in in
tellectual might, he dreaded no rivalry : — but let
all remember, that he was incapable of the slight
est feeling of jealousy at other men's claims, or
victories ; he rejoiced in their powers, and aided
their triumphs ; and seldom, indeed, has the
world possessed a man, who has contributed so
frequently, so essentially, and with so much de
light, to the success of all, who sought his aid.
He was not lo be vexed by ignorance, irritated
by dulness, or provoked by folly : for he always
made unasked allowances for every man's situa
tion, circumstances, capacity, or want of capa
city; and it was only when ignorance presumed
to teach — when dulness pretended to be wit, or
folly domineered, that his ire was kindled ; and
he inflicted unforgotten,unforgiven wounds upon
the self-love of persons, who neither knew him
nor themselves.
The majesty of mind beamed in his eye, and
was stamped upon his forehead, and required
none of those external indications of coronets and
mitres, which supply the absence of realities in
the ' little great ;' — exhibiting the shadow with-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 135
out the substance — the attestation without the
signature. His knowledge of the human character, in all
its varieties, appeared to have been intuitive.
He marked the eye ; he read the countenance ;
and the prophet of old did not more fully com
prehend the hand-writing upon the wall, than he
all the latent, as well as all the obvious, features
ofthe mind.
Endowed with that indispensable requisite to
literary eminence, which is found in a memory at
once retentive and exact, he extracted the pure
ore from all that he read, and all that he heard.
If any mind might be pronounced magnetic, it
was his.
Possessing, in the stores of his capacious mind,
the essence of all that the Fathers wrote ; pro
foundly skilled in all the best comments upon
Jewish history and Christian doctrine ; master of
all systems of divinity ; versed in all creeds, as
well as in the decisions of councils and synods ;
and equally well acquainted with the great con
troversies, which have agitated the Greek, the
Latin, and the Protestant Churches ; as also
those, which have, at various periods, divided the
literary world ; being a most learned philologist,
erudite classical scholar, and profound metaphy
sician ; skilled in general science, and more espe
cially in the principles of legislation ; deeply read

136 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
in ecclesiastical and general history, as well as in
the systems of ethics aud philosophy, of all ages
and nations ; — the " spirits of the mighty dead"
might be said to come at his call ; and the poets,
the orators, and philosophers of antiquity, men
tally appeared at the invocation of a genius tran
scendent as themselves. To estimate his acqui
sitions to their full extent was impossible ; know
ledge in him was an ocean, the boundaries of
which no one ever discovered — the depths of
which no one ever fathomed.
Such a man, enjoying unabated vigour of in
tellect, and undecaying firmness of purpose,
though almost on the^verge of his eightieth year,
was a spectacle sublime as that of the polar sun
blazing at midnight, and pouring forth floods of
light, when the ordinary laws of nature decree
darkness. That such talents and such learning should be
accompanied by a commensurate kindness of
heart and urbanity of manners, is not more than
thinking men would expect, nor less than good
men would desire. He was the personal friend
of his humblest parishioners ; and to them he
was an expounder of Scripture, alike able, zea
lous, and faithful ; and- whilst he taught them to
abhor every species of hypocrisy and fraud, they
witnessed that his practice and his precepts were
in exact accordance. Religion in him had no

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 137
taint of superstition or bigotry : he believed that
the fold of Christ included all that have faith in*
his mission, and obey his precepts ; and the rest
of his fellow-beings he presumed not to judge.
He soothed the afflicted, advised the friendless,
consoled the widow and the fatherless, and sought
to lighten the captive's fetters ; he was, indeed,
the friend of those, " who had none beside to
help them." His conversational intercourse was
instructive and delightful, almost beyond paral
lel : the hospitality of ancient times prevailed at
his table, and his hourly liberality proved his
contempt for riches.
Dr. Parr was born at Harrow : his father was
a surgeon of that place ; and his paternal grand
father was rector of Hinckley, in Leicestershire.
He was at the head of Harrow-School in his
fourteenth year ; and would, on the death of
Dr. Sumner, who strongly recommended him as
his successor, have been appointed to the head-
mastership, had it not been for the immaturity
of his age. At Harrow, he contracted a friend
ship with Dr. Bennet, late Bishop of Cloyne,
and the celebrated Sir "Wm. Jones. When he
removed from Harrow, to establish himself as a
teacher at Stanmore, almost all the boys of the
upper school accompanied him. He became
successively Master of the Grammar-Schools of
Colchester and Norwich ; and was preferred, in

138 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
1780, to the rectory of Asterby, in the diocese
of Lincoln. This, in 1785, he exchanged for
the perpetual curacy of Hatton, in Warwick
shire. In addition to the benefice above-men
tioned, the Rev. Dr. Parr held the living of
Graffham, in Huntingdonshire, which was pre
sented to him by Sir Francis Burdett. Through
the present Earl of Dartmouth's grandfather, he
also obtained, from Bishop Lowth, a prebend of
St, Paul's Cathedral. Dr. Parr was twice mar
ried — first to Ann, of the ancient house of
Mauleverer, in Yorkshire ; and afterwards to
Mary, sister ofthe late Rev. James Eyre, of So
lihull, in Warwickshire. By his first wife, he
had several children, all of whom died in their
infancy, except Sarah and Catharine, both of
whom he survived : the first was married to
John Wynne, Esq. of Garthmeilio, in Denbigh
shire, and left two daughters, now living --- Ca
roline and Augusta ; the eldest of whom is the
wife of the Rev. John Lynes, Rector of Elmley
Lovett, in Worcestershire.
Dr. Parr was not doomed to experience libe
rality, where it ought to have been most exhi
bited. He was never patronized by the govern
ment; but derived his preferments, and that
competence, which so happily gilded the sun
set of his life, and which he so nobly united with
mental independence, from his own exertions,

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 139
and those of private friendship. Distinguished
as Dr. Parr was for his moral character, his per
severing exercise of all the duties of his station
as a parish-pastor, and his zealous and enlightened
attachment to our civil and religious constitution,
this neglect of him, by the ruling powers, is ob
viously traceable to the known independence of
his character. The, secret, indeed, may be ex
plained by an extract from his admirable work
on the Character of Mr. Fox ; in which he
states, that, " from his youth upwards he never
deserted a friend, nor violated a public principle;
that he was the slave of no patron, and the
ORGAN OF NO PARTY ; that he formed his politi
cal opinions without the slightest regard, and
acted upon them with total disregard to personal
emolument and professional promotion ! "

140 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF

IX.
Extract from the Sunday Times, March 13,
1825.

" Dr. Parr  This literary veteran breathed
his last on Sunday the 6th inst. For some weeks
past, all hopes of his recovery were at an end.
But though borne down with years, and exhaust
ed with the acutest pain, the extraordinary vigour
of his mind, and his moral fortitude remained un
shaken. Dr. Samuel Parr was the son of a sur
geon, who practised with considerable reputation
at Harrow-on-the-Hill. The place of his birth
became the scene of his early attainments. At
the age of fourteen he was at the head of the
school, and in a very few years Dr. Sumner made
him one of the sub-preceptors ; and upon the
death of that learned individual, he became a
candidate for the place of Master ; and he was
only unsuccessful, because he was too young.
Foiled in this subject. Dr. Parr established a
school at Stanmore, which place he left in 1777>
to become Master of the endowed Grammar-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 141
School at Colchester ; and in the following year
he was promoted to the still more important
School at Norwich. Though he had been for
some years in priest's orders, it was in this city
that he first ascended the pulpit, for the benefit
ofthe charity-schools there. His discourses up
on these occasions were universally admired, for
soundness of doctrine, touching invocation, and
perspicuity and force of language. These ser
mons were afterwards printed, and are supposed
to have paved the way to a prebendal stall in the
cathedral of St. Paul. Upon his retiring from
Norwich, having been first admitted in the year
I78I, by the University of Cambridge, to the de
gree of LL.D. he took up his abode in the
peaceful village of Hatton, in Warwickshire,
where he limited himself to the instruction of.
seven pupils. Hitherto the literary fame of the
Rev. Doctor had been. comparatively limited;
but, upon the appearance of his Preface to the
Bellendenus de Statu, and his Dedication for each
part, he became an object of general inquiry.
All good judges of whatever party conceded the
pre-eminence of the style of this performance in
strength of sentiment, purity of (Miction, and fe
licity of expression. They are unquestionably
among the most finished pieces of our modern
Latinity ; but the happiest and most popular spe
cimen of his English composition, is the Dedica-

142 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
tion and Preface to the Tracts by Warburton
and a Warburtonian. He was induced to this
publication, by the marked neglect ofthe bishop
of Worcester, by whom the tracts were omitted
in his superb edition of Warburton's Works,
The death of Dr. Parr closes the train ofthe old
school. His erudition was extensive, and his
memory was a boundless treasure of classical
riches ; and they were always at his command.
His mind was of the very first order ; grappling
and subduing every thing, and succumbing to
nothing. His liberality was equal to his learn
ing, and, could he have overcome his contempt
of political servility, he might long since have
been a bishop. His ardent love of civil and re
ligious liberty could not be restrained, even
though a clergyman ; and in the warm periods of
our political struggles, when Horsley was at the
head of the church, and Pitt was revelling in his
apostacy, he was suspected of being something
of a heretic, both in his religion and in his poli
tics. But it was in the domestic circle, where
his merits were most conspicuous ; and here it
was that he delighted to live and move. In
struggling with an adversary in debate, he would
occasionally hit too hard ; even with his gloves
on, he prostrated every antagonist ; and at times
he appeared more solicitous to be acknowledged,
than felt a great man. In this respect he had

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 143
more of vanity than pride. In politics he uni
formly thought and acted with Charles James
Fox ; and in theology he candidly admitted that
the articles and creed of his church were suscep
tible of improvement. Had the Whigs remained
in office longer, or bishops been less tenacious
of living, he would have had the first vacant
see assigned to him. This would have been
more profitable, but less gratifying, than the libe
ral provision, that Sir Francis Burdett subse
quently made for him, by introducing hin to one
of his choicest livings. Dr. Parr was in the 77th
year of his age, and was twice married."

144 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF

X.

Extract from the New Monthly Magazine, and
Literary Journal, No. 52, April 1, 1825.

" biographical PARTICULARS OF CELEBRATED PERSONS LATELY
DECEASED.
REV, DR. PARR.
On Sunday the 6th ult. at six o'clock in the
evening, the Rev, Samuel Parr, LL.D. He was
born at Harrow. His father was a surgeon in
that place, and his paternal grandfather was Rec
tor of Hinckley, in Leicestershire. He was at the
head of Harrow-School in his fourteenth year ;
and on the death of the Rev. Dr. Sumner, who
strongly recommended him as his successor, he
was only not appointed to the head-mastership
on account of his youth. At Harrow his friend
ship commenced with Sir William Jones, and the
Right Rev. Dr. Bennet, late Bishop of Cloyne.
Almost all the boys in the upper part of Harrow-
School accompanied him, when he removed to
establish himself at Stanmore soon afterwards.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 145
He was successively Master of the Grammar-
schools of Colchester and Norwich; and in 1780,
received his first ecclesiastical preferment, the
rectory of Asterby, in the diocese of Lincoln.
In the year 1785, the exchange of Asterby for
the perpetual curacy of Hatton, brought him
into Warwickshire, where he continued to reside
till his death. Dr. Parr was married first to Jane,
of the ancient house of Mauleverer, in York
shire ; and afterwards to Mary, sister of the late
Rev. James Eyre, of Solihull. By his first wife
he had several children, all of whom died in their
infancy, except Sarah and Catharine, Of these
daughters, both of whom he survived, the former
was married to John Wynne, Esq. of Garthmei
lio, in Denbighshire, and left two daughters, now
living, Caroline and Augusta, the eldest of whom
is the wife of the Rev. John Lynes, Rector of
Elmley Lovett. In addition to the small bene
fice before mentioned. Dr. Parr held the living
of Graffham, in Huntingdonshire, to v/hich he
was presented by Sir Francis Burdett. Through
the kindness of the present Earl of Dartmouth's
grandfather, he also obtained from Bishop Lowth,
a prebend of St Paul's Cathedral ; which, though
for many years of little value to him, was happily
the means of securing him, to an ample degree,
otium cum dignitate, in the decline of his life.
He was thus indebted for all his preferment to
L

146 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
the affection of private friends ; for though he
was animated by an ardent, but liberal and en
lightened attachment to our civil and ecclesiasti
cal Constitution ; though he was distinguished
by unparalleled learning, gigantic strength of in
tellect, the most unblemished morals. Christian
humility, and profound unaffected piety, he was
never patronized by the government of his coun
try. This circumstance is easily explained by
his own words in his Characters of Mr. Fox, in
which he truly states of himself that ' from his
youth upward, he never deserted a private friend,
or violated a public principle ; that he was the
slave of no patron, and the drudge of no party ;
that he formed his political opinions without the
smallest regard, and acted upon them with utter
disregard, to personal emoluments and profes
sional honours.' He further adds, (what his
friends must rejoice at,) ' that although for many
and the best years of his life he endured very
irksome toil, and suffered very galling need, he
eventfully united a competent fortune with an in
dependent spirit, and that, looking back to this
life and onward to another, he possessed that in
ward peace of mind, which the world can neither
give nor take away.' Nor will this be wondered
at by those, who know that his long residence at
Hatton was spent by him in diligently perform
ing all the duties of a parish-priest, in assisting.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 147
advising, and befriending the poor ; in the exer
cise of a generous hospitality; in encouraging and
patronising merit; in communicating knowledge,
whenever required, from his own inexhaustible
stores ; in contributing, by a most extensive cor
respondence, to the general illumination of the
literary world ; in manifesting by his words and
deeds, that he cultivated a spirit of unbounded
philanthropy as the practical essence of our holy
religion; and in endeavours to promote from the
pulpit and the press whatever is most conducive
to the public and private welfare of mankind.
He was not less distinguished by his learning
than his virtues ; by his ardent love of civil and
religious liberty, than by the benevolence and
toleration of his principles. His classical know
ledge, which, however, formed but a part of his
many and great attainments, placed him far above
all his contemporaries in that department of
learning ; and his death has occasioned a chasm
in literature, which it will be easier to lament
than supply. In the course of his long-protracted
illness, appearances were, more than once, so
favourable as to excite, in the minds of his family
and his physicians, the strongest hope of his re
covery ; and to diffuse, through a large circle of
those, who loved and honoured him, a joy, pro
portioned to the distress, which alarming reports
had previously produced. But about twelve or
L2

148 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
fourteen days before his death, all these flattering
hopes took their flight. From that time he gra
dually declined, the vital powers slowly, almost
imperceptibly wasting, till exhausted nature
sunk : and he gently expired — having comple
ted his 78th year on the 26th of February. His
mind, whenever itself, during the solemn closing
period, was serene and placid — calmly, even
cheerfully resigned. It was most gratifying, said
his weeping relatives and attendants, to hear,
mingled with the devoutest breathings of pious
acquiescence in the will of Providence, the warm
and glowing expressions, which often broke from
his lips, of the same intense feeling of generous
concern he ever evinced for the welfare of his
friends, his numerous acquaintance, his country,
and his fellow men. Even in his last hours, it
seemed to be still his delight, as it ever was in
life, to range through the whole compass of ratio
nal creation : embracing, within his kindest
thoughts and wishes, all human beings ; and in
teresting himself in every event, in every part of
the world, which wore a favourable aspect on
human improvement and human happiness. With
that greatness of mind, which can anticipate
calmly and cheerfully the last awful change of
mortal man, he gave minute directions respect
ing his funeral. His remains were attended on
foot by nearly forty gentlemen in mourning, con-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 149
sisting of the clergy of the surrounding parishes,
&c. Among the pall-bearers was one dissenting
clergyman; and the coffin was borne by the
Doctor's parishioners, named by himself for the
purpose. Agreeably to his express direction, the
burial-service was read by the Rev. Rann Ken
nedy, Minister of St. Paul's Chapel in Birming
ham. A sermon was also preached by the Rev.
Dr. Butler, Vicar of Kenilworth, and Head-Mas
ter of Shrewsbury School. This was introduced
after the reading of the lesson. The warmth of
his friendship, which through five-and-twenty
years the speaker had himself experienced, and
his affectionate and unremitting kindness, mani
fested during forty years to those of his mourn
ing parishioners and neighbours, who were assem
bled at his grave, were particularly dwelt upon.
Dr. Parr directed to be inscribed upon his monu
ment, ' What doth the Lord thy God require of
thee, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God?' On the following Sun
day a funeral sermon was preached for him by
the Rev. Dr. Wade, Vicar of St. Nicholas, War
wick, which was attended by an immense con
course of persons of all ranks and parties. Many,
who were opposed to Dr. Parr in opinion, has
tened to bear testimony to the impress his me
mory had made, by attending this service. All
confessed that a chasm was made in society that

150 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
could not be filled up — an old landmark re
moved for ever ! At the High-street dissenting
Chapel a funeral-sermon was also preached for
him on the same day.
Dr. Parr wrote a Sermon on Education preach
ed at Norwich. A Sermon called ' Phileleuthe-
ros Norfolciensis,' which the writer considered
as his best composition. A second and much
larger Discourse on Education, with copious
notes. These were published during his resi
dence at Norwich. After his residence at Hat
ton, he published — A Spital Sermon, which,
with the notes, would form a common 8vo. vol.
A Fast- Sermon. A Letter from Irenopolis to
the Inhabitants of Eleutheropolis. A Letter to a
neighbouring Clergyman, in which a variety of
topics, literary and political are discussed. A
larger work, addressed to a co-editor, in which
he vindicates his honour from unjust aspersion,
and delivers his opinion upon many interesting
topics of literature and criticism. Tracts of
Warburton and a Warburtonian, of which the
Preface and Dedication abound with proofs of
his erudition, taste, and wit, and of which the
composition has been much admired. A Latin
Preface to some learned tracts of Bellendenus.
Philopatris Varvicensis. Characters of Charles
James Fox, 2 vols. 8vo. of which the first volume
closes with a portrait of that greatest of modern

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 151
statesmen, pleasingly and powerfully delineated
by the editor himself; and the second, consisting
wholly of notes, contains, amidst much valuable
instruction on many interesting and important
subjects, a masterly discussion of a question, in
which the justice, the policy, and the humanity
of the country, are equally and highly concerned,
viz. the state of its criminal code. In the Monthly
Review and British Critic are several articles
from his pen. But he is indebted for much of his
literary fame to his great skill in writing Latin
and English inscriptions, of which the number
known amounts to thirty, and amongwhich, three
to the memory of Mr. Gibbon, Dr. Johnson, and
Sir John Moore, are highly distinguished ; and
two to the memory of Mr. Burke and Mr. Fox,
are said to be written with great effect, but have
not seen the light. His MS. sermons and dis
cussions upon many points of literature and
metaphysics are known to his friends to be nu
merous, but he seems to have had a peculiar and
almost invincible dislike to pubhcation; and
there is, unhappily, a rumour that he has directed
all his papers to be burnt after his decease."

152 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF

XI.
Extract from the Lady's Magazine, No. 29.
May, 1825.

" iMtmoir of ti&e ^eb» Br* ^am
Dr, Parr was not, perhaps, a man of high or
commanding genius ; but he was an elegant scho
lar, an able instructor of youth, a respectable
parish-priest, and a friend of mankind ; and, if
we do not say, with his zealous friends, that his
death has made a chasm in society, we may at
least regret, with some marks of feeling, the loss
of so distinguished a man.
Harrow, famous for its school, was the birth
place of Samuel Parr ; and the time, when he en
tered the world, was early in the year 1747. His
father, who practised as a surgeon and apothe
cary, was, (to use the son's words,) *a man of a very
robust and vigorous intellect.' The family was
very respectable, but lost the greater part of its
property, and in some measure its importance,

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 153
by persisting in its attachment to the declinifig
cause of the Pretender. The boy, therefore,
imbibed the principles of a Tory, which were
first loosened or shaken by his father's inconsi-
derateness, in putting Rapin's History qf Eng
land into his hands. According to his own ac
count, he had a 'very precocious intellect,' and had
attained an uncommon knowledge of Latin atfour
years of age. Once when called from his boyish
play to compound medicines, he shewed his cri
tical accuracy in pointing out to his father a mis
take in the Latin prescription, which drew from
the angry apothecary this authoritative injunc
tion : ' Sam, d — n the language of the prescrip
tion, make the mixture.'
Young Parr, in 1758, was placed at Harrow-
School, where several of the most distinguished
political characters of the times were his contem
poraries and friends ; and there was first formed
his friendship with Sir William Jones. His first
literary attempt, executed in the spirit of boyish
rivalry, was reported by himself to have been a
drama from the Book of Ruth ; and he scrupled
not to say that, had he been born in Milton's age,
he should have been a poet. It is said that at
the early age of fourteen he was head-boy, and
particularly attracted the notice of Dr. Sumner,
the principal master. Al what period he left the
school is unkno-jvn, but it is believed that he

154 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
quitted it early ; and, for two or three years, he
attended to his father's business.
He had a strong desire to enjoy the advantages
of academical education ; but his step-mother was
opposed to the expense, and influenced his father
to make the condition of his going to the Univer
sity his entry as a sizar.* This was what his in
dependent spirit could not brook after quitting
his schoolfellows as an equal : his father gave
him a month to determine whether he would ac
cept the proposed terms, or relinquish the idea
of being a collegian. He chose the latter alter
native ; but parental pride subsequently raised
a small sum, which, on his admission into Emma
nuel College, the youth confided to the care of
his friend and schoolfellow Bennet, afterwards
Bishop of Cloyne. His pecuniary necessities,
however, soon became pressing, and he resolved
to leave the University rather than to borrow.
On balancing his accounts he found, to his ex
treme surprise, that he had 31. 17*. over and above
the full payment of his debts, and he now said,
had he previously known of any such sum, he
would have remained longer ! In one of his print
ed sermons he pathetically laments his inability
to continue where his talents and acquirements
seemed to promise him distinction and success.
* " A student, who, like an Oxford servitor, is obliged, on
some occasions, to wait upon the rest."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 155
Dr. Sumner, in I767, appointed him a sub-
preceptor of Harrow-School; and while he acted
in that capacity, he received the most flattering
marks of regard from that distinguished scholar,
who, after the boys had been sent to bed, was
accustomed to send for Parr into his study, where
their literary and theological discussions, in a
great degree, formed and confirmed those prin
ciples, which afterwards governed his whole life.
On the death of Dr. Sumner, in I771, the Rev.
Mr. Parr, (for he was ordained at the usual age,)
became a candidate for the head-mastership ;
and, although sanguine hopes were entertained
by his friends of his success, his youth, and other
influence, prevailed against his nomination, to
the extreme disappointment of the scholars,
whose dissatisfaction was manifested in his favour
in some overt acts of insubordination. Resign
ing his place, he organised a private academy at
Stanmore, accompanied by many ofthe Harrow-
boys. It seemed to be a necessary consequence
of this plan, that he should be married : love had
been no stranger to his heart, although a stran
ger to his marriage. He then contracted ma
trimony with Miss Marsengale, because he wanted
ahouskeeper; she married him because she want
ed a house. She was an only child, bred up by
three maiden aunts, as she said of herself, 'in rigi
dity and frigidity,' and she described him as

156 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' born in a whirlwind and bred a tyrant.' Such
discordant elements were not likely to end in
harmony. Her disposition, it is said, was bad and
malignant. She lost few opportunities of vexing
her husband, which a strong understanding and
caustic powers of language afforded her more
than ordinary facilities of accomplishing : she
always preferred exposing his foibles and ridi
culing his peculiarities in the presence of others.
These domestic matters are now only referred to
as explaining some subsequent circumstances of
the life and reputation of Dr. Parr. His mind
and temper were kept in perpetual irritation ; he
was driven to the resources of visiting, and to
the excitement of that table-talk, which unfortu
nately superseded efforts of more lasting charac
ter. The advantages of his school not being equal
to his expectations, he accepted the mastership
of an endowed School at Colchester, whence he
removed to a similar establishment at Norwich.
Here he published some sermons, which excited
great attention. In I78O, he received his first
ecclesiastical preferment, the rectory of Asterby,
in the diocese of Lincoln ; and the patronage of
Bishop Lowth, obtained by the extraordinary me
rit of his first sermon, presented him with a pre
bend in the cathedral of St. Paul. He was ad
mitted, in I78I, to the degree of doctor of laws ;

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 157
and he soon after proved, by an admired sermon,
that he was worthy of academical honours.
In 1783, lady Trafford, whose son he had edu
cated, bestowed on him the perpetual curacy of
Hatton, then worth about 1 001. per annum, and he
removed to that seat of hospitality, where he spent
the remainder of his days, devoting his leisure to
the private tuition of a limited number of pupils.
In 1785, appeared his ' Discourse on Education,
and on the Plans pursued in diarity Schools,'
and about a thousand copies of it were sold in a
short time. It is an able and masterly argument
for popular education and improvement, and had
the distinguished merit of being one ofthe first
publications, which concentrated public attention
on the very important subject of the moral and
intellectual instruction of the people.
In 1787j he assisted the Rev. Mr. Homer in
a new edition of the three books of Bellenden,
a learned Scot, master of requests to James I.
These he respectively dedicated to Mr, Burke,
Lord North, and Mr, Fox, He prefixed a Latin
Preface, with characters of those distinguished
statesmen, the style of which is perhaps the most
successful of all modern imitations of Cicero.
How far the Preface was appropriate may be
doubted, Bellenden had intended a large work,
De Tribus Luminibus Romanorum, or 'the Three
Lights of Rome, Cicero, Seneca, and the elder

158 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Pliny,' whence Dr. Parr conceived the idea of
delineating the characters of the three, (as he
thought,) most eminent senators of Great-Britain.
But, however great the inappropriateness of the
modern appendage to Bellenden may have been,
the taste and character of the composition, and
the singular discrimination in the portraits, cre
ated an extraordinary sensation in the literary
and political world. He had thus fully commit
ted himself on the side of the popular party.
This naturally terminated all hope of church-pre
ferment from the court ; and such was the low
state of his pecuniary resources, that a subscrip
tion was made by the leading Whigs of the day,
and a well-merited annuity of £300. was secured
to him for life.
In 1789, appeared ' Tracts by Warburton and
a Warburtonian.' Although personal feelings
toward Bishop Hurd are thought to have given
origin to this volume, yet it contains some admir
able critical remarks. It produced a reply,
which was not very forcible.
In 1790, Dr. Parr exchanged the curacy of
Hatton, though he still continued to reside there
as deputy-curate, for the rectory of Waddenhoe,
in Northamptonshire. In the same year he be
came acquainted with Dr. Priestley . For this in
timacy he thus apologises : — ' I am at a loss to
see why a clergyman of the church of England

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 159
should shun the presence of a dissenting minis
ter, merely because they do not agree on doctri
nal points, which have long divided the Christian
world ; and, indeed, I have always found, that,
when men of sense and virtue mingle in conver-
sation, the harsh and confused suspicions, which
they entertained of each other, give way to more
just and more candid sentiments.'
In 1791, happened the riots in Birmingham,
when the library and philosophical apparatus of
Dr. Priestley were destroyed, and the mob, hear
ing that Dr. Parr had been visiting the sectarian
divine, made known their determination to pro
ceed to Hatton, and burn his house and library
also. For three days and nights he and his family
were agitated with consternation and dismay ;
but, before the mob could accomplish their pur
pose, the soldiery put an end to their horrible
proceedings. In that unexampled period of na
tional excitement, when political and religious
prejudices raged together. Dr. Parr acted amanly,
a decided, and a perfectly honourable part. He
ardently strove to conciliate the divided parties
of his countrymen, undismayed by the dangers
ofthe attempt, andthe unpromising consequences
to his worldly interests. It is well known that
the pretext for these outrages was a meeting of
the dissenters in celebration of the French Re
volution. In consequence of a report that a party

160 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
remained stubborn enough to meditate another
commemoration, the Doctor in one day began
and finished his ' Letter from Irenopolis, to the
Inhabitants of Eleutheropolis, or a Serious Ad
dress to the Dissenters of Birmingham, by a Mem
ber ofthe Established Church. This extraordi
nary pamphlet produced an advertisement from
the dissenters, in which they disclaimed all in
tention of meeting again on such an occasion.
As a composition, it is distinguished by spirit
and elegance.
An account of a controversy, into which our
author now rushed, may serve to amuse the
reader. Having received two anonymous Let
ters, he made no secret of attributing the fabri
cation of them to the Rev. Mr, Curtis. The
grounds of this surmise rested on a few slight
coincidences, which suspicion, as usual, magni
fied into proof. There is strong reason for be
lieving that these Letters emanated from Dr.
Parr's own pupils, who were fond of encouraging
literary warfare. Mr. Curtis having contradicted
the charge, the Doctor published a pamphlet en
titled A Sequel to the printed Paper lately circu
lated in Warwickshire by the Rev. Charles Cur
tis, Brother of Alderman Curtis, a Birmingham
Rector, &c. Though the subject was little wor
thy of our modern Aristarchus, its pages contain
some admirable remarks on the political and

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. l6l
religious topics ofthe day. So open to ridicule,
however, was this publication, that it tempted
Cumberland to enter the field with a humorous
pamphlet called Curtius rescuedfrom the Gulf, or
the Retort Courteous to the Rev. Dr. Parr. This
mode of animadversion was so offensive to the
vanity of our learned divine, that he frequently
spoke of it in terms of disgust and indignation,
and characterised Mr. Dilly'« authors as ' hornets
and scorpions,'
At Easter, in the year ISOO, Dr. Parr preached
his justly-celebrated Spital- Sermon ; and it was
published with copious notes and profuse illus
trations. By some animadversions, which he
tlien threw out, he incurred the censure of many
persons, as having fostered the popular preju
dices against Godwin, for whom he had formerly
professed considerable friendship and respect.
This occasioned the author of the Political Jus
tice to publish a pamphlet in reply, and a suspen
sion of intercourse was the consequence.
In 1802, he was presented by Sir Francis Bur
dett to the Rectory of Graffham in Huntingdon
shire. For this preferment, which relieved him
as to pecuniary resources, he always expressed a
due sense of the kindness of the worthy baronet.
Still, however, he continued attached to his re
sidence at Hatton, where he had secured, and con
tinued to maintain, the esteem of all ; nor would

162 P.VRRIANA : OR NOTICES QF
he have quitted this spot for any preferment short
of a mitre, which in 1807, had nearly adorned his
manly brows  ' Had my friends,' he once said,
' continued in power one fortnight longer, it
would have been all settled: Dr. Huntingford
was to have been translated to Hereford, and I
should have had Gloucester. My family-arrange
ments were made ; and I had determined that no
clergyman in my diocese, who had occasion to
call upon me, should depart without partaking of
my dinner.' After a momentary pause he ob
served : — 'In the house of peers I should sel
dom have opened my mouth, unless any one had
presumed to attack the character of my friend,
Charles Fox ; and then I would have knocked
him down with the full torrent of my impetu
osity. Charles Fox was a great man ; — and so
was William Pitt ; — and I can tell you, that if
I had them both in this room, and only we three
had been together, I would have locked the
door, but first would have had plenty of wine on
the table, and depend upon it we should not
hav6 disagreed ! '
On the death of Mr. Fox, many of his friends
seemed to expect an authentic and spirited ac
count of his life from the pen of Dr, Parr ; but
he answered the call in a very imperfect manner.
He produced two volumes, in one of which he
added, to a series of extracts from the public

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 163
journals, an original character of his eloquent
friend, in the form of an Flpisth to Mr. Coke,
while the other was devoted to religious liberty
and a reform of the penal code.
These and other publications evince both his
talent and learning:; but it is to be lamented
that he did not undertake some work of a supe
rior kind, calculated for permanent utility and
more durable fame. It is hinted, however, by
a. periodical writer, that he ' could not produce
more creditable works.' The grounds of the
opinion are thus stated : — ' He was, as it were,
overlaid with acquired knowledge : the flood of
his memory burst in on his own original powers
and drowned them. He never could clear his
mind of its recollection of the modes of the an
cients '¦. he could not elect from the number and
value of the precious stones : it was a diffidence
of his ability, which ruined his publications : he
should have trusted more to himself, and less to
others. He never divested himself of the swad-
dhng-clothes of his education. In his mental
powers and erudition he resembled Milton, (he
himself said SO;) in the use of them he was like
Prynne, of the latter of whom it was said, that
a marginal note would serve for a winding-sheet,
and that his works were like thick-skinned fruits,
all rind. Dr. Parr disappointed his reader by
substituting other men's opinions for his own :
M 2

164 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
his works resemble those ofthe man of learning
described by Osborn, as so overawed by antiqui
ty, that he dared present nothing to the public
but what old authors had left them already pub
lished ; and whose sentiments were put into old
forms, patched up with sentences, which una
voidably imake a rent in the author's own style.
In short, he had powers, which he dared not
use, — armour, which he would not put on. This
regret, however, for the comparatively little
product of his mind, must not be allowed to ex
tinguish our acknowledgements of his various
contributions to the works of others. He was
no antiquarian miser in knowledge ; his genero
sity in communicating his own inexhaustible
stores was even prodigal ; and many have reaped
the reputation of his labours. He was the patron
and benefactor of needy men of letters and ge
nius, and his correspondence was extensive and
often laborious. He particularly delighted in the
society and improvement of young men, and
many an ardent and superior mind was ignited
at his intellectual flame.'
Of his mental powers his friend Dr. Butler
speaks in high terms  ' He was,' (says that
divine,) ' gifted by nature with a most powerful
and capacious intellect, which he cultivated by
early and diligent application. His memory was
almost miraculous ; and the stores, which he

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. l65
could pour forth from it, on every subject of
literature, were perfectly inexhaustible. In
abstruse and metaphysical inquiries he had no
superior. The quickness of his perception led
his mind to remote and occult causes and their
consequences, and the soundness of his judgment
enabled him to discriminate between truth and
error, between hypothesis and fact. Deeply
versed in the writings ofthe ancient philosophers,
and especially in those of the Academic and Pe
ripatetic schools, and intimately conversant also
with all the eminent writers on moral and meta
physical subjects in modern times, he could
pierce into the most secret recesses of the human
mind, and trace its passions and its habits, its
virtues and its vices, to the very source, from
which they spring.* He combined in himself a
rare and happy union of qualities, that are sel
dom compatible with each other ; quick percep
tion and sound judgment, retentive memory and
vivid imagination, unwearied assiduity and accu
rate research.'
With regard to his preaching, we are informed
* " Without meaning to derogate from Dr. Parr's abilities
or penetration, we may safely affirm that he could not do what
is here ascribed to him : the human mind cannot be effectually
fathomed even by the most acute observers of the behaviour
and conduct of others, or by the most confident pretenders to
intuitive sagacity. — Edit."

166 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
that it was very frequently unpremeditated ; and
it is remarked by one of his friends, that the
* ardor of his temper, the fulness of his know
ledge, and the strength of his understanding,
always readily Supplied him with matter perti
nent, forcible, and abundant. He preached
without any preparation whatsoever, and his
custom was to select his subject from that, which
struck him in the lessons, epistle, and gospel, or
psalms ofthe day. There was always method in
these extemporaneous effusions. They were fre
quently accompanied with critical remarks ; and
they were delivered with an earnestness of man
ner, and a correctness and vigour of diction,
most interesting to the hearers, and equal to the
highest expectations, which could be formed of
his powers, by men most prejudiced in his fa
vour, and most accustomed to his conversation.
At Hatton he generally took up a sermon writ
ten by Clarke, Balguy, or Jortin, or some other
distinguished divine. But his own observations
were always introduced ; and, from the peculi
arity of his thinking and his style, the difference
was easily discerned by an intelligent hearer.
Such, indeed, was his readiness of his copious
ness, that of sermons, which continued for half
an hour or forty minutes, the parts, which he
merely read, scarcely occupied five or six pages.
He has been heard to attribute this talent partly

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 167
to the habit, which he had formed when a young
man, of speaking with the late Sir William
Jones and the late Bishop of Cloyne, in a ficti
tious character, upon various subjects of history,
ethics, and politics ; and partly to the necessity,
which had been imposed upon him, of communi
cating oral instruction in his schools. The same
talent often appeared with great lustre, when he
threw oiit his thoughts upon any intricate and
important topic in the presence of his friends.
His views were most comprehensive, his argu
ments most acute : his diction correct without
stiffness, and his imagery splendid without glare.'
But, whatever was the respectability of his
character, we are not to suppose that it was free
from inconsistencies and imperfections. ' The
richest mines,' (says another friend,) ' abound
with the greatest faults and derangement of
strata; and analogically it would appear, that
the highest class of intellectual and moral cha
racter is subject to peculiar and humiliating
weaknesses. Dr. Parr, though he never feared
to look truth in the face, was frequently afraid
of treading on her heels. ,His physical courage
was far below his intellectual intrepidity. He
would often recommend, but not so often sup
port. Although his penetration into character
was at first sight almost miraculous, yet inter
cept his microscopic vision by the'most minute

168 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
matter, and this power vanished. His preju
dices being once excited, his jutlgment took its
leave. He was always the easy prey oi minions ;
not that he had a taste for degraded intellect, but
he was its unconscious dupe. It is said of the
whale, that he is steered in his course by a fish of
very contemptible dimensions, and that a yet
more insignificant one will alter the course of a
ship. He delighted in cabals, or else he was their
most unlucky victim : he believed in any tales,
however ridiculous, against his oldest friends,
when inoculated upon him by cunning ; and, in
any neighbouring family-quarrels or local feuds,
he instantly took the field, (on the side he hap
pened to enter it,) with the appetite of an Irish
man, who, arriving at a row, is said to rush into
the thick of it with the pious exclamation, God
grant I may take the right side ! This may be
attributed to the natural simplicity of his mind,
and the warmth of his temper. The constancy
of his friendships was far from equalling their ar
dor. His best friends could not always evade
his determination to quarrel. The subject of his
advice was a fearful cause of rupture ; for he in
sisted that the whole should be taken, on pain of
losing his friendship. His friends did not quar
rel with him, but he with them. His placability,
however, was equal to his irascibility ; and, when
the tornado was over, the serenity ofthe natural

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 169
atmosphere returned. He not only forgave his
supposed injuries, but he forgot them. He
greatly resembled Goldsmith — he was no man's
enemy but his own. Godwin said of him, that
his friendships were far too easdy gained and too
easily lostto beof much consideration to any man.
Nor was this infirmity of mind confined to his
friendships. The most violent bursts of grief
were often instantly succeeded by absurd and lu
dicrous ideas, and loud bursts of laughter ; so
rapid and instantaneous were his associations.
The wisdom of enlightened conversation occa
sionally gave way to the most frivolous prating,
and his judgment seemed to be absorbed in the
vortex of absurdity.' "

170 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF

XIL
Extract from the Rev. William Field's History
of Warwick.

" Hatton is a small village, but highly distin
guished as the chosen residence, for so many
years, of one of the greatest scholars, and most
enlightened men of the present age. It is hard
ly necessary to subjoin the name ofthe Rev. Dr.
Parr — of whom, it still remains to be regretted
that no literary work has yet proceeded from his
pen,* worthy to transmit a name of so much ce-
* " Yet the following, it must be gratefully acknowledged,
is no scanty list of works, with wliich the learned Doctor has
already favoured the public. A Sermon on Edueatioji, preached
at Norwich. — A Sermon, called Phileleutherus Norfolciensis,
which the writer is said to consider as his best composition. —
A second and much larger Discourse on Education, with copious
notes. These were published during his residence at Norwich.
Since his residence at Hatton, lie has published a,Spital-Sermon,

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. I7I
lebrity, with all its due honour, to a distant pos
terity. The parsonage-house, where in studious
and dignified retirement he has so long resided,
is a commodious dwelling, and contains one noble
room, built by himself, richly furnished with an
extensive and valuable library, in which a fine
collection of all the great works in the depart
ment of verbal criticism, classical literature, and
theology, hold a pre-eminent station.
" At a small distance from the parsonage-house
is the pleasing village-church ; in which this very
learned divine performs clerical duty, with all
the attentive regularity, and all the solicitous
care, of the most exemplary parish-priest. The
interior is embellished, chiefly by his taste and
which, with the notes, would form a common 8vo. vol. — A
Fast-Sermon. — A Letter from Irenopolis to the Inhabitants of
Eleutheropolis. — A Letter to a Neighbouring Clergyman, in
which a variety of topics, literary and political, are discussed.
— A yet larger work, addressed to a Co-editor, in which he
vindicates his honour from unjust aspersion, and delivers his
opinion upon many interesting topics of literature and criti
cism. — Tracts of Warburton and a Warburtonian, of which
the Preface and Dedication abound with proofs of his erudi
tion, taste, and wit; and of which the composition has been
much admired. — A Latin Preface to some learned Tracts of
Bellendenus. — Characters of Charles James Fox, 2 vols. 8vo.
of which the first volume closes with a portrait of that greatest
of modern statesmen, pleasingly and powerfully delineated by
the Editor himself; and the second, consisting wholly of notes,
contains, amidst much valuable instruction on many interest-

172 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
liberality,. with every suitable decoration; espe
cially in the beautiful painted glass, with which
the windows are adorned. Of the numerous
monumental inscriptions, suspended round the
walls, several are proved by their classical purity
and elegance to be the production of his pen ;
and of these, three are consecrated to the memo
ry of the members of his own family, all of whom
it is his melancholy fate to survive."
" Subjoined are copies of the inscriptions, in
Hatton-Church, alluded to in the note to the
foregoing article : — I.
' Catharine Jane Parr, youngest Daughter of
ing and important subjects, a masterly discussion of a question,
in which the justice, the policy, and the humanity of this
country are equally and highly concerned, viz. the state of its
criminal code. — In the Monthly Review and British Critic,
are also several articles from his pen. — But he is indebted
for much of his literary fame to his great skill in writing Latin
and English inscriptions, of which the number already amounts
to thirty; and among which, three, — to the memory of Mr.
Gibbon, Dr. Johnson, and Sir John Moore, are highly distin
guished; and two, — to thememory of Mr. Fox and Mr.Burke,
are said to be written with great effort, but have not seen the
light. His MS. sermons and discussions upon many points of
literature and metaphysics, are known to his friends to be nu
merous ; but he seems to have a peculiar and almost invincible
dislike to publication, and there is unhappily a rumour that all
his MSS. are, ordered to be destroyed after his decease.''

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 17^
' Samuel and Jane Parr, was born at Norwich,
' June 13th, 1782, died at East-Teignmouth, De-
' von, Nov. 22, 1805, and on Dec. 9, was buried
' in this Chancel, where the Remains of her afflict-
' ed Parents will hereafter be deposited, at the Re-
' quest of a most beloved Child, whom they hope
' to meet again, at the Resurrection of the Just
' to Life everlasting.
' Quee templo Catharina in hoc sepuUa est,
' Prudens, casta, decens, severa, dulcis,
' Discordantia qua solent puiari,
' Morum Commoditate copulavit.
' Nam vitce comites bonce fuerunt
' Libertas gravis et Pudor facetus.
' His est junctus Amor pius suorum,
' Et Cura ex Animo Deum colendi.'

IL
' Mrs. Sarah Ann Wynne, the ingenious and
' beloved Daughter of Samuel and Jane Parr,
' was born at Stanmore, in Middlesex, Dec. 31st,
' 1772; died at Hatton, July 8th, 1810, and was
' interred in this Chancel, between the Remains
' of her Sister Catharine Jane Parr, and her third
' Daughter, Madalina Wynne, who departed this
' Life, May 26th, 1810, aged 2 years, 8 months,
' and 9 days.

174 PARRIATVA : OR NOTICES OF
IIL
joanni- smitheman
QVI- VIX- ANN- XV- MENS- vTil- DIEB- XVll- HOR- IU-
DECESSIT- Vin- ID- MART- ANNO- SACRO

MDCC-LXXXXIin-
JOANNES- ET- MARGARETTA- SMITHEMAN
PARENTES- INFELICI3SIMI
VNICO- ET- CARISSIMO- FILIO
H- M-
CONTRA- VOTVM- POSVERVNT

IV.

p-
THOMAS- NELSON- A- M-
VIR- FRVGI- INTEGERRIMVS
SACERDO'TALIEVS- IN- HAC- ECCLESIA- MVNERIBVS
IN- EXEMPLVM- PERFVNCTVS
ET- DE- SVCCESSORIBVS- SVIS
QVORVM- REDITVS- AVGENDOS- CVRAVERAT
B- M-
DECESSIT- PRID- NON- OCTOBR-
ANNO- SACRO- M-T7Uc-LXX-
AETAT- SVAE- LXJ-
" In exemplumi : this phrase is seldom or never
to be found in the writings called classical ; but
it is perfectly correct in inscriptions upon monu
ments, as we were told by the learned writer, by

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 175
whom we were referred to p. 89- of the elegant
Inscriptions, written by Stephen Anthony Mor
cellus 1783. Morcellus not only defends and
explains, but employs the expression in his own
inscription upon Cardinal Zeladas. There is a
passage inVelleius Paterculus" [2,116.] "which
approaches the above-mentioned : Adolescens in
omnium virtutu/m exempla genitus.
" The lines in inverted commas are taken from
Sidonius Appollinaris Epist. 8, 2. 1415. Poet.
Latin." [Mr. Field appears to have misapprehended
the meaning of Dr. Parr. The phrase in exem-
plum, or ad exemplvm, ' so as to be or become a
model or example,' is neither incorrect, nor doubt
ful, nor impure, nor inelegant Latin ; it needs no
quotation to defend it, when it is used with an
adjunct, as in the passage quoted from Velleius
Paterculus. But in the inscription it is used ab
solutely, without any adjunct, and that usage
requires the defence and illustration, which it has
received from M^cellus. Suetonius says,- Claud.
20. Superposuit altissimam turrim in exemplum
Alexandrini Phari : Plant. Trin. 4, 2, 75. Ch.
At enim multi Lesbonici sunt hie : nisi nomen pa-
tris Dices, non monstrare possum istos homines,
quos tu quoeritas. Qtiod ad exemplum est ? con-
jectura si reperire posswmus. Sy. Ad hoc ex
emplum est, Char. Ch. an Chares ? an Charide-

176 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
onus? num Charmides? Plant. Pers. 3, 1, 7'
Ea caussa ad hoc exemplum te exornavi ego : (for
which exempli causa, Cic. Phil. 13, 2. proMur. 12.
exempli gratia, ^e^os Ly.mndro c. 2. :) Quin til. 10,
2. Assumere aliquid in exemplum, et, intueri
aliquid in exemplum : Plant. Mil. 3, 1, 162. Fit
pol illud ad illud exemplum ; ut docte et perfecte
sapit ! Terent. Hec. 1, 2, 88, Ad exemplu/m am-
barum mores earum existimans. These examples
occur in the Lexicon of Forcellinus, and the Tlie-
saurus of Gesner, but not one of them is to the
purpose. In the inscription of Morcellus the
words are,
SVMMIS- REI" CHRISTIANAE- HONORIBVS
ET- MVNERIBVS
IN- EXEMPLVM- FVNGENTI.
Here the words are used absolutely, without
an adjunct, as in the inscription of Dr. Parr, and
this absolute use alone requires vindication. The
note of Morcellus is this : — " In exemplum, i. e
ea prsestantia, ut ipsum maxime imitari posteritas
debeat. Sic apud Gruterum pr388. n. 2. Paren-
tibus in exemplu/m piissimis, et apud Velleium
(2, 116,) Adolescens in omnium virtutum exem
pla genitus. Idem porro et illud Gruterianum
p. 457. n. 6. Curatori maximi exempli, et alia
hujusmodi, p. 428. n. 1. etc." Of these exam
ples the first only vindicates the Latinity of Mor
cellus and Dr. Parr.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 177
The lines of Sidonius Apollinaris, applied by
Dr. Parr to his daughter, Catharine Jane Parr,
with some little variation, run thus in the origi
nal: —
0 casM celeri feroque raptam
Natis quinque patrique conjugique.
Hoc Jientis patricB manus locarunt
Matronam Filimatiam sepulchro :
O splendor generis, decus mariti,
Prudens, casta, decens, severa, dulcis,
Atque ipsis seniorihus sequenda :
Discordantia qua solent putari
Morum commoditate copulasti.
Nam vitce comites bona fuerunt,
Libertas gravis, et pudor facetus.
Hinc est quod decimam tuce saluti
Fix actam trieteridem dolemus,
Atque in temporibus vigentis eevi,
Injuste tibi justa persoluta.
The above-quoted extract from the Rev. W.
Field's History of Warwick brings to my recol
lection an interesting passage, which occurs in
his Funeral Discourse on Occasion of the much-
lamented Death of Mr. W. Parkes, delivered in
tlie High-Street Chapel, Warwick, July 13, 1 806.
p. 36., and which, referring to Dr. Parr, may with
much propriety be introduced into this work : —
" But, though he, (Mr, William Parkes,) was
not a member of the Establishment, yet I need
not assure you that he numbered many, who are
N

178 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
SO, among the best of men, and the best of friends.
His acquaintance was sought, and valued, not
only by some of the most respectable members
of the church, in and near the place of his resi
dence, but also by some of the most eminent di
vines, of which that church has to boast. And
one of these, as you perhaps already know, has
offered a last testimony of that esteem and friend
ship, with which he ever honoured him, in a most
respectful and affectionate tribute to the memo
ry of his deceased friend, written with all his
usual fervour of feeling, and energy of expression,
which has now been given to the public. The
biographical Memoir alluded to is here added ;
and, with the greatest pride and pleasure, I sub
join the name of a most kind and valuable friend,
in that of its writer, the truly learned, and highly
eminent. Dr. Parr : —
' This excellent man discharged all the various
' and sacred duties of domestic life with the most
' irreproachable exactness and amiable tender-
' ness. He was intelligent, punctual, and dili-
• gent, in conducting the numerous and impor-
' tant concerns of a very extensive business, and
' unwearied in his endeavours to relieve the indi-
' gent, and to protect the oppressed. The acti-
' vity of his benevolence was unrestrained by any
' narrow and invidious distinctions of sect or
' party. His equanimity v/as alike undisturbed

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 179
' by adverse and prosperous fortune. His pa-
* triotism was firm and temperate, and his piety
' was rational and sincere. By constancy in his
' friendships, by placability in his resentments, by
' the ingenuous openness of his temper, by the
' manly independence of his spirit, and by the
' general conformity of his moral habits to his
< religious principles, he obtained, and deserved
' to obtain, the esteem of his neighbours, the con-
' fidence of his employers, and the unalterable
' regard of an enlightened and respectable ac-
' quaintance. The memory of such a person will
' ever be dear, and his example instructive tothe
' poor, who shared his bounty, and to every class
' of men, that had opportunities for contemplat-
' ing his virtues. For the space of twelve months
' he laboured under a lingering and complicated
' malady, of which neither the causes could be
' ascertained, nor the effects resisted by the most
' skilful physicians, both in the capital and in the
' neighbourhood. But he supported, with un-
' shaken fortitude, the pains of disease and the
* languor of decay, and with the unfeigned resig-
' nation of a Christian, he looked forward to death,
' as the passage appointed by heaven to a glorious
' immortality.' " What an interesting and delightful object
of contemplation, to every generous and elevated
mind, is presented in that of profound learning,
N 2

180 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
great genius, and distinguished eminence —
spurning at all the little, narrow, but generally
powerful prejudices of sect and party, which so
often bind and fetter the exercise of benevo
lence even among enlightened men — demanding
justice, and claiming praise, for merit, whereso
ever merit is to be found — at one time, doing
homage at the tomb of private worth — at an
other time, rendering deserved honors to the
shades of are illustrious, though calwmniated name
— utterly and nobly regardless of every other ex
cept the great, essential, and eternal distinction
of intellectual, moral, and religious excellence !
Of this superiority of mind, — this large expan
sion of benevolent sentiment, the above-cited
Memoir affords one most pleasing instance : an
other, and a rare indeed, and memorable exam
ple is exhibited, when, with a sincere and a fer
vent admiration of his vast talents, his high
attainments, and his moral purity and greatness.
Parr is beheld recording, in a monumental in
scription, the praises of Priestley !"
In a publication bearing the following title.
Letters addressed to the Calvinistic Christians of
Warwick, occasioned by the Rev. Evan Herberts
Publication, entitled — ' The Antidote, or Unita-
' rians proving themselves to be Infidels, by denying
'the Doctrines qf the Bible.' By an Unitarian
Christian. Warwick, 1820. 12mo, pp. I70, and

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 181
written by the Rev. William Field, occur the
following notices respecting Dr. Parr : —
P. 63. " My fifth testimony I produce with no
small degree of pride and pleasure — it is that
of a high and splendid name — reflecting bright
est lustre on the elevated station he held in the
church, to which he belonged — a name so often
appealed to, in the course of these pages, and
never to be appealed to on any important ques
tion of truth and right but with profoundest re
verence, and with almost unbounded confidence.
Speaking of the late Duke of Grafton, Bishop
Watson thus expresses himself, (Lift 1» 75.) ' I
' never attempted to encourage or discourage
' his profession of Unitarian principles ; for I
' was happy to see a person of his rank professing,
* with intelligence and sincerity. Christian prin-
' ciples. If any one thinks that a Unitarian is
' not a Christian, I plainly say, without being a
' Unitarian myself, that I think otherwise.' If
we seek — where shall we find ? — a name more
worthy to be associated with the great name of
Watson — or from which any honourable testi
monial could derive more powerful support —
than that of a living divine, highly enlightened,
profoundly learned, and deservedly celebrated ;
whose long residence, in this immediate neigh-
bourhood, has conferred on it its highest distinc
tion, I hardly need add the name of Dr, Parr ;

182 P.-VRRTANA: OR NOTICES OF
from whom I shall take leave to borrow, and who,
I am sure, would not refuse to lend, his wiUing
testimony — in the following eloquent eulogy on
the character of Dr. Priestley — written, too, at a
time, when that great and good man was more
than usually the object of bitter, often mistaken,
but often malignant, calumny: — 'Let not his at-
' tainments be depreciated, because they are nu-
' merous, without a parallel — let not his talents
' be ridiculed, because they are superlatively
* great — let not his morals be vilified, because
' they are correct, without austerity, and exem-
• plary without ostentation, — because they pre-
• sent, even to common observers, the innocence
• of a hermit, and the simplicity of a patriarch,
' and because a philosophic eye will at once dis-
' cover in them the deep-fixed root of virtuous
' principle, and the solid trunk of virtuous
' habit.'* Again, speaking of the same extraor
dinary man, whose acquaintance, while living, he
cultivated, and whose memory, after his death,
he honoured with a monumental inscription,
penned with great vigour, and elegance, and pa
thos, thus he expresses himself, {Sequel to a
* " Letter from Irenopolis to the Inhabitants of Eleuthero
polis p. 18. This admirable Letter, addressed principally to
the Unitarian Dissewiers of Birmingham, begins thus : *¦ Gen-
' tlemen, permit me to address you in the spirit of candour and
' respect, under the sacred and endearing name otfellow-citi-
' zens wnA fellow-christians.' "

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 183
Printed Paper p. I07.) * I cannot think his reli-
• gion insincere, while he worships one Deity in
' the name of one Saviour : nor do I suppose that
' his acts of justice, temperance, and charity have
' the * nature qfsin,' because they sometimes flow
' more immediately from reason, as absurdly dis-
* tinguished, in scholastic language, from faith.'
And again : ' I know that his virtues in private
' life are acknowledged by his neighbours, ad-
' mired by his congregation, and recorded almost
' by the unanimous suffrage of his most powerful
' and most distinguished antagonists."'
P. 66. " Having said so much, in this Letter,
on the liberal spirit ofthe times, I cannot think
of concluding it, long as it is, without bearing my
humble testimony to the high degree, in which
that noble spirit prevails in the town, where, for
many years, it has been my lot to live. Perhaps
there are few towns of the same population,
where more varieties of religious opinions exist;
and yet where all the inhabitants dwell together,
in greater harmony and peace. Here are to be
found Churchmen, Independents, Calvinists, Uni
tarians, Baptists, Quakers, Wesleians, and
Catholics, intermingling in all the offices of social
life, and feeling towards each other friendly es
teem and affection, in many cases ; and respect
ful, neighbourly regard in all. This is to be as
cribed much, no doubt, to the benign and happy

184 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
influence of his own liberality of sentiment, and
his own benevolence of spirit, which a great
DIVINE, living in our immediate vicinity, exerts
and diffuses, in a wide circle, all around him.
Much also, very much is to be ascribed to that
good sense, and right feeling, which the mem
bers of the Establishment at Warwick have, for
a long time past, very generally displayed —
guided, no doubt, and animated by the instruc
tions and the example of their clergy, whose
characters, for wise moderation and amiable can
dour, stand, at this moment, on a proud emi
nence. Of these clergymen, one has shewn the
superiority of his mind to the little narrow views
and prejudices of party, by instituting and zeal
ously supporting a school, in this psrish, on the
plan of schools for all : and though another has
given the preference to the more exclusive plan
of national schools, yet it is only just to acknow
ledge that this preference admits of explanation,
quite consistent with the mild and liberal spirit,
which he has evinced on so many other occasions.
It would be shameful indeed, if the moderation
and the liberality, which thus honourably mark
the general character of churchmen at Warwick,
were not to be found exerting their happy influ
ence, amongst the members of other religious
communities ; and in fact, though differing much
in opinion, we do live harmoniously together, in

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 185
the exercise of kind and friendly regards : nor
has anything of that virulent and abusive bigotry
been for a long time seen amongst us, of which
the reverend stranger, lately settled here, has
given so frightful an example. But, we believe,
that example obtains little admiration. It may
be very taking with a few very ignorant people ;
but the wise of all parties despise it as foolish,
and the good of every sect detest it as wicked.
" Instances of the liberal spirit of Warwick are
too many to be enumerated, at the close of a
Letter ; but one recent instance presses so much
upon my mind, that I will gratify my feelings and
those of my friends, and put it down. When, in
some late repairs of our chapel, a great expence
was incurred, very considerable indeed were the
sums, most liberally given, towards defraying it,
by the members of the church, and in one or two
cases, by those of other churches. How delight
ful is it to record such instances of generous
kindness and candour among Christians — divided
indeed in opinion, but all actuated by one and
the same spirit of piety to God, and reverence to
Christ — and all united together in the bonds of
social and Christian benevolence !
" And here having mentioned the subject of
Christian benevolence, I cannot help noticing that
some little time ago, our pecuniary aid, under
some heavy losses, was solicited in behalf of the

186 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
reverend predecessor of the very man, who now
so cruelly attacks and reviles us. On looking
over the list of contributors, it rejoiced my heart
to observe how nobly religious distinctions were
forgotten, and how Christians of all denomina
tions — clergymen of the Establishment taking the
lead — hastened to the help of a worthy, but un
fortunate man : and I will venture to say that
none gave, on that occasion, with more sincere
pleasure, than my friends and myself." E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 187

XIII.
Extract from the Imperial Magazine, or Com-
pendiwn of Religious, Moral, and Philoso
phical, Knowledge. April 1825. p. 306.

" i¥U"mm'r of Samuel parr, %%M*
The family of this distinguished scholar was
originally of Devonshire, where some branches
of the stock yet remain at Exeter, and in its
neighbourhood. The grandfather ofthe Doctor,
however, became possessed of the vicarage of
Hinckley, in Leicestershire, where he reared
and provided for a large family, on a very mode
rate income. One of his sons was bred to the
medical profession, in which capacity he settled
at Harrow-on-the-Hill, in Middlesex ; and there
Samuel Parr was born, January 26, 1746. At
a very early age he was sent to the celebrated
school, founded in his native village by John
Lyon, at the beginning of the sixteenth century.

188 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
When young Parr entered this seminary. Dr.
Thackeray was the master : but he died soon
after, and was succeeded by Dr. Robert Sumner,
a man of great learning and most aimable man
ners, who soon discerned the extraordinary ta
lents of his pupil, and fostered them with pater
nal attention.
Few schools in the kingdom could boast of such
a triumvirate as, at the same time, adorned the
head-class of Harrow. These were, William
Jones, the famous orientalist, William Ben
net, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, and Samuel
Parr. The bond of friendship, by which these
youths were cemented in early life, continued
unshaken, when they were separated, and cast
into situations widely apart from each other.
While at Harrow, Jones invented a dramatic
piece, taken from the Iliad, and the play
ground being allotted for its representation, the
principal characters were performed by the author
and his two associates, Bennet and Parr. As the
latter was a native of Harrow, and his family were
far from being in affluent circumstances. Dr.
Sumner chose him for one of his assistants, before
the completion of his sixteenth year. By this
means he was enabled to follow his friend Bennet
to Emmanuel-College, Cambridge ; but, though
he regularly kept his terms there, he still conti
nued his employment as usher at Harrow, till Dr.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 189
Sumner's death. On that event, though an un-
der-graduate, and not of age to be ordained, he
offered himself as a candidate for the mastership ;
but without success. This disappointment, which,
in fact, ought neither to have created surprise
nor resentment, was felt so sorely by Parr, that
he threw up his subordinate station, and resolved
to embark in the academic line upon his own
bottom. This bold undertaking he soon after
wards carried into effect, by opening a boarding-
school at Great-Stanmore, within sight of Har
row ; and so highly was he esteemed, that many
of the junior boys actually followed, to have the
benefit of his tuition. In I769, he was admitted
to holy orders upon a curacy in the neighbour
hood of Stanmore ; and in 1771» he married a
young lady of the ancient family of Mauleverer,
in Yorkshire. Though this alliance did not en
rich him with the goods of fortune, it proved be
neficial in other respects ; as the lady was not
only an excellent manager, but well qualified by
her classical attainments to assist her husband in
the labour of teaching. The income of a private
academy being precarious and fluctuating, Mr.
Parr was persuaded, in 1777> to accept the mas
tership of the endowed Grammar-school at Col
chester ; from whence, in little more than a year,
he removed to take charge of a similar, but more
important, foundation in the city of Norwich.

190 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Here his fame, as an instructor, rose high, and
he brought up many scholars, who attained con
siderable eminence in the literary world. Among
these was the late Rev. William Beloe, who be
came his assistant in the school at Norwich ;
though in the memoir of his own life, that gen
tleman has drawn a very austere picture of his
old preceptor and superior, who, according to
that account, was another Orbilius in discipline.
In I78O, the small crown-living of Asterby, in
Lincolnshire, was bestowed upon Mr. Parr ; who,
in the year following took the degree of Doctor in
civil Law, at Cambridge, but without any parti
cular mark of distinction. It is not a little sin
gular, that throughout the whole period of his
connection with the University, from the time of
his being matriculated up to the completion of
his graduation, he never once came forward as a
candidate for the peculiar honours of his alma
mater. At a subsequent period, indeed, he as
tounded the sophs, tutors, professors, and heads
of houses, by preaching to them a sermon in
Greek ; to which sort of exercise few men, per
haps, besides himself, in that famous seat of
learning, were then equal. - What it was that
stimulated the Doctor to make this extraordinary
display of his erudition, we know not ; but a like
instance never before occurred, we apprehend,
in a British University. Something of the sort

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 191
took place at Paris in the year 1687, when the
learned M. Lancelot delivered a Greek discourse
to the fraternity of the Holy Sepulchre of Jeru
salem, on the day when that society celebrated
the anniversary of their foundation, in the mo
nastery of the Cordeliers. The oration of Lance
lot was very short ; but that of our countryman
extended to more than half an hour ; and, as we
have been told, for we heard him not ourselves,*
it might have stood a fair comparison with
the purest discourses of Nazianzen or Chrysos-
tom. Of the utility of such exhibitions, how
ever, we have our doubts ; since sermons, to be
useful, should be understood by the whole audi
ence, which could not well be the case in the
present instance. For the purposes of edification
it could have no effect ; and in the way of exam
ple it could not operate, since it must have been
obvious, that, in the whole body of hearers,
scarcely one would ever have occasion to write,
much less to speak Greek. But the circumstance
shewed that the orator was capable of doing what
no one else had the talent to perform ; and, in
this respect, the exertion was not a whit better,
than that made by the learned Dr. William Wot-
* [No such sermon was ever delivered, though it is true
that Dr. Parr preached a sermon in the University-church, in
which he introduced some quotations from Greek authors. E. H. B.]

192 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
ton, who, in one of the city-churches, preached
a Welsh sermon, on St. David's day, to convince
the ancient Britons that an Englishman could
rival them in their own language.
About the year 1782, the late Earl of Dart
mouth, a man of whom it may be truly said, that
to praise him, is to praise virtue itself, introduced
Dr. Parr in such terms to Bishop Lowth, that
the prelate shortly afterwards presented him to
a vacant prebend in his cathedral of St. Paul's.
This preferment was not, at that time, of much
value, but the possession of it was a mark of dis
tinction ; and as it was bestowed by one of the
greatest scholars in Europe, it acquired in that re
spect a double interest. Many years subsequent
to the death of Bishop Lowth, this prebend, by
the falling in of the leases, placed Dr. Parr in a
state of independence. In 1783, he gave up the
school at Norwich, and, two years afterwards,
exchanged the rectory of Asterby for the perpe
tual curacy of Hatton, near Warwick ; where, by
way of addition to the income, which was but
small, he took a limited number of pupils, and
continued to do so for the greater part of his life.
On some account or other, he was induced to
quit Hatton for Waddenhoe, in Northampton
shire ; by an exchange with Dr. Brooke Bridges ;
but being dissatisfied with the situation, he re
turned to the former place, as assistant to the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 193
new incumbent. Such was the limited routine
of the Doctor's ecclesiastical progress, with the
exception of the rectory of Graff'ham, in Hunt
ingdonshire, to which he was presented in a very
handsome manner, some years since, by Sir
Francis Burdett.
It has been a matter of wonder with many,
how a man of such talents and connexions never
attained any higher elevation in the church.
Upon a little consideration, perhaps, this astonish
ment will cease. What was said in the like case
of Dr. Samuel Ogden, of Cambridge, was strictly
appropriate, in regard to Dr. Samuel Parr, for he,
no more than the other, was a " presentable
man." The manners of Parr were far from being
attractive, and though his powers of mind in
conversation were commanding, those, who lis
tened to the richness of his language with admira
tion, felt little disposed to cultivate his acquaint
ance. A few, indeed, sought his intimacy on
account of his varied knowledge, and others at
tached themselves to him, because they professed
the same political creed. Here, again, was an
other remora, to impede his ecclesiastical ad
vancement. Parr set out at an early period, as an avowed
partizan, which character he maintained through
out the whole of his life, without paying any re
gard to common prudence ; and, it may be truly
O

194 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
affirmed also, without properly consulting what
was due to his profession, either as a teacher of
youth, or the pastor of a parish. It is not meant
by this remark, to insinuate, that a divine or pre
ceptor should look with apathy upon the passing
events of his time ; neither would we deny to the
clergy the common right of all citizens, to take
an active part upon great and momentous occa
sions, when the public weal is at stake. Patri
otism is as much the duty of a minister as of any
other man ; but then it must be sanctified by pu
rity of motive, tempered by charity, and regulated
in such a manner as to avoid giving offence.
To be a lover of one's country, it is not neces
sary that a man should belong to a cabal ; and it
is quite indecorous in a preacher of the gospel, to
enrol himself as a member of tavern-clubs. At
the commencement ofthe last century, such con
duct might, and no doubt did, tend to ecclesias
tical preferment, and Bishop Hoadly, among
the rest, was a remarkable instance of it ; but,
from the accession, of his late Majesty to the pre
sent time, there have been few cases, wherein
clergymen have been indebted to their political
zeal for their promotion to the higher dignities
of the church. On the contrary, those divines,
who have distinguished themselves above their
brethren by a warm attachment to parties in the
state, and by engaging actively in poKtical dis-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 195
putes, have generally, in the end, experienced
little gratitude from the men, whose cause they
have zealously espoused. Many instances might
be adduced of this neglect in our own day, but
that of Dr. Parr is exactly in point ; for, when
the Whigs, to whose club he belonged, and in
whose behalf he had so often wielded his magic
pen, came into power, a clergyman, who had
been famous only for his pugilistic exercises, his
establishment of newspapers, and his theatrical
connections, was covered with honours and loaded
with preferment, while his great compeer was to
tally forgotten.
It is weU observed, by a great writer, speaking
of these political theologians, as he calls them,
* that the cause of civil liberty, and civil govern
ment, gains as little as that of religion, by this
confusion of duties. Those, who quit their pro
per character, to assume what does not belong
to them, are, for the greater part, ignorant both
of the character they leave, and of the character
they assume. Wholly unacquainted with the
world, in which they are so fond of meddUng,
and inexperienced in all its affairs, on which
they pronounce with so much confidence, they
have nothing of politics, but the passions they
excite.' We have been impelled to say thus much on a
subject, which could not be altogether avoided,
O 2

196 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
in a biographical sketch of such a man as Dr.
Parr ; but there were other circumstances, which
concurred, with what has been already mentioned,
in keeping him in the vestibule, when he might,
by a different application of his extraordinary
powers, have occupied one of the principal sta
tions in the hierarchy. What these causes were,
will partly appear from a review of the literary
history of Dr. Parr. And here it affords matter
of concern and surprise, that, a mind stored with
intellectual treasures, almost to a degree of luxu
riance, should have produced so little, compara
tively, either in the line of theology, general
knowledge, or classical criticism. The first pub
lication, which we can trace to the Doctor with
any certainty, (for most of his performances have
been issued into the world anonymously, or with
fictitious appellations,) was a sermon, preached at
St. Edmund's Bury, in 1779, for the benefit of
the charity-children of that town. The second
was a sermon, preached on the fast-day, in I78I,
and printed in the same year, under the name of
Phileleutherus Norfolciensis. This was followed,
in 1786, by a tract " on Education, and the Plans
pursued in Charity-Schools." The next publi
cation of Dr. Parr was one, that excited much
notice at the time, and merited it on various
accounts ; though, in the main, it was but a re
print of an extremely scarce volume, containing

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 197
three Latin treatises on the science of government,
written at the beginning of the seventeenth cen
tury, by William Bellenden, or, as he is com
monly called, Guliel7nusBellendenus,aScotchmai\,
and professor of classic literature in the Univer
sity of Paris,
The late Dr. Warton, of Winchester, first drew
public attention to the works of this obscure au
thor, in his excellent " Essay on Pope ;" where,
however, he only glanced at the use made of
Bellenden's tracts by Dr. Conyers Middleton, in
his Life qf Cicero. Stimulated by curiosity. Dr.
Parr sought for this volume, and having ascertain
ed, beyond all doubt, the justness of the charge
of plagiarism against Middleton,he resolved upon
a republication of the original. This design he
accomplished in an octavojvolume, elegantlyprint-
ed, in I787. The Three pieces of Bellenden are,
" Ciceronis Princeps," — " Ciceronis Consul," —
and " Liber de Statu prisci Orbis ,- " and as that
author had intended another work, on a more
extended scale, under the denomination of " De
Tribus Luminibus Romanorum," his present edi
tor from thence caught the idea of making his
preface thevehicle of hisown political sentiments,
in a panegyric upon the three luminaries of his
party. Fox, Burke, and Sheridan, [Lord North.]
The eloquent preface to the tracts of Bellenden
was soon afterwards published in an English trans-

198 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
lation, and in a separate form ; but, while readers
of taste admired its spirit, and approved the ani
madversions bestowed upon Middleton, for his
meanness in stealing the finest portions of his va
luable history from a book buried, as he thought,
in total oblivion, it struck many, that the learned
editor had himself incurred a charge little less
serious. At the time when Dr. Parr sent this impassi
oned peformance into the world, the public mind
was much agitated by the charges brought against
the late governor Hastings, and an impeachment
of that gentleman was then actually about to
commence, before the highest tribunal of the
country, for crimes and misdemeanors alleged to
have been committed by him in the East-Indies.
Now, whatever might be the demerit of Mr.
Hastings, none ofthe matters charged upon him
were as yet proved ; and no man in this country
had any better authority for believing him guilty,
than the ipse dixit of his great accuser, Mr.
Burke. The speeches of that wonderful man, in
the House of Commons, excited great indigna
tion ; and when Fox and Sheridan opened the
following charges, in a strain of highly-figured
declamation, the world was reminded ofthe pow
erful effect produced by Cicero, in his accusation
of Verres. " But, while the business as yet stood
sub judice, it certainly iU became a minis-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LLJ). 199
ter of the gospel, or indeed any other man, to
embark, sponte sua, in a cause, of which he
could know little or nothing but from ex-parte
pleadings, destitute of evidence.
The next publication of Dr. Parr was also cal
culated to excite mixed feelings of admiration
and concern. Dr. Hurd, the venerable bishop
of Worcester, having completed his long-pro
mised and anxiously-expected edition of the
works of his early patron. Bishop Warburton,
published it in a splendid manner in 1787- In
forming this collection, it so happened, for what
cause it is impossible to account, two of Warbur
ton's earliest performances were omitted. This
editorial oversight, whether arising from want
of taste or forgetfulness, was certainly no very
heinous offence in itself; yet it was so treated by
Parr, who, soon afterwards, supplied the defi
ciency, in a volume entitled " Tracts by War
burton and a Warburtonian." In reprinting the
neglected productions of Warburton, a service
was rendered to literature ; but it required some
strong reasons to justify the revival of two fugi
tive essays, written and published anonymously,
by a living author, who had himself, long before,
endeavoured to suppress them. The attachment
of Hurd to Warburton is well known, and, it
cannot be denied, that this friendship was marked,
at one period, by too much servility. Warbur-

200 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
ton was a tyrannical^ despot in literature, who
could not bear a rival, but expected that all his
compatriots should take the law from his lips.
Several persons equal to him, at least in extent
of knowledge, and far his superiors in genius,
spurned at this usurpation of arbitrary authority,
and boldly asserting the right of mental freedom,
continued to oppose the decrees of the self-cre
ated dictatm\ Among these were Dr. John Jor
tin, and Dr. Thomas Leland. Dr. Jortin, in the
last of his Six Dissei'tations, ventured to call in
question what Warburton had laid down as the
basis of his work on the Divine Legation of Mo
ses, that the doctrine of a future state did not
form a necessary part of faith in the ancient
world, and that the representations of it in Ho
mer and Virgil were the mere figments of ima
gination. Jortin, on the contrary, proved, very
clearly, that the two poets, whatever additions they
might have given to this article, by the power of
imagination, did not invent the doctrine itself,
which was much older than either of them, being
received from patriarchal tradition. Warburton
felt sore for the credit of his system, but not
being willing to hazard his reputation in a ren
contre with Jortin, of whom he was, in fact,
afraid, he devolved the task of answering him
upon Hurd, who performed the ta,sk more tothe
satisfaction of his employer, than to that of the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 201
learned world, in a Seventh Dissertation, on the
Delicacy qf Friendship. A few years after this,
Warburton published his Doctrine of Grace, in
which he advanced some singular paradoxes re
specting the inspiration ofthe apostolical writers.
These notions Dr. Leland thought proper to con
trovert, with great modesty, in a Dissertation on
the Principles of Human Eloquence ; to which
Hurd replied, in a very long and laboured Letter,
containing more declamation than argument.
It will be seen, that we are far from taking the
part of either of these distinguished Prelates; and,
in regard to the questions at issue between them
and their opponents, we have no hesitation in ex
pressing our confident persuasion, that both War
burton and his obsequious apologist stood upon
fairy ground. Notwithstanding this, as the two
tracts, written to support the dreams of Warbur
ton, were consigned to obscurity by the author ;
and as, confessedly, they had nothing in them
worthy of a better fate, we must, in strict justice,
condemn the conduct of Dr. Parr, in reviving
them, for the sole purpose of making them the
vehicle of a coarse attack upon the author. They
were still the property of the Bishop, and the
only two persons ever affected by them were no
longer in the land of the living. For what pur
pose, therefore, could a third person, no way in
terested in matters, which had so long passed

202 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
away without notice, make them the occasion of
a direct insult to the only man likely to be made
uneasy by the publication ?
Dr. Parr, however, was not only at the trouble
and expense of reprinting these forgotten pam
phlets, hut he ushered them into the world with
a Dedication to the author, written in a strain of
furious invective, and intermixed with a profusion
of Greek and Latin quotations ; some sufficiently
pointed and well aimed, but the greater part in
aptly chosen, and as indiscreetly applied. It is
impossible for any reader of discernment to pe
ruse this violent diatribe, without, at once, see
ing that the author was in a state of uncommon
irritation, when he delivered it to the world. He
appears, indeed, like a lion springing from his
lair to attack the passing traveller, not through
the impulse of hunger, but out of resentment, the
cause of which may be conjectured, but cannot
be ascertained. We know that controversy is
apt to grow hot in proportion to the lengthened
state of the dispute. But, in the present case,
there was no subject of controversy at all between
the Doctor and the Bishop. They were both
members of the same college, and, till this period,
their mutual friends were unapprized of any oc
currence, that could have given rise to a coolness
on either side. It has been supposed, that the
Prelate was, in some way or other, instrumental

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 203
in preventing the advancement of his old fellow-
collegian ; which offence the latter never forgave,
and took the first opportunity to retaliate. The
manner, in which he performed this, however,
did less injury to the Bishop than to himself; for
such was the estimable character of Dr. Hurd,
among persons of all ranks and denominations,
that the attempt to depreciate him in the public
opinion, was generally viewed with indignation ;
and it is a certain fact, that personages of the
highest rank, who would otherwise have been
ready to patronize the Doctor, declined doing so,
merely on account of his treatment of the vene
rable Prelate.
But his advancement was further hindered by
the freedom of his langiigae, and the peculiar
character of his connexions, at the beginning of
the French revolution. His association with Dr.
Priestley, and other men of distin guished promi
nence among that class C2i^edi political reformers,
naturally brought him under suspicion ; and this
made him so unpopular at Birmingham, that,
when the riots broke out there, in the summer of
1791, his house at Hatton was actually threat
ened with destruction, bul was saved, very for
tunately, by the interposition of the military.
In the following year, a report having got into
circulation, that the reformers at Birmingham
were about to celebrate the annual return of the

204 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
French revolution, which had already produced
such dreadful effects, Dr. Parr published a small
pamphlet, to prevent that injudicious measure.
To this performance, he gave the quaint title of
A Letter from Irenopolis to the Inhabitants of
Eleutheropolis ; or, A Serious Address to the Dis
senters qf Birmingham. By a Member of the
Established Church. In this seasonable remons
trance, the learned author endeavoured to mode
rate the resentment subsisting between different
parties in religion and politics, by leading them
to reflect, that the principles, on which they
agreed, v/ere of a more exalted rank, and of more
extensive importance, than those, on which they
differed. He, therefore, solemnly called upon
them to regulate their conduct by the sound law
of discretion, and to forbear from any proceed
ings, that might disturb public tranquillity.
Of the next publication by Dr. Parr, we are
sorry not to be able to speak in the same unqua
lified terms of approbation. At the time when
he produced the preceding address, the flame of
discord still raged furiously in Birmingham, and
the asperity, with which Dr. Priestley and his ad
herents attacked the whole body of the clergy
of the Established Church, in newspapers and
other publications, produced replies, in some of
which Dr, Parr was mentioned with little re
spect. Instead of treating these ephemeral

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 205
squibs with that silent contempt, which became
his station in the world of literature, the Doctor
thought proper to fix his suspicions upon the
Rev. Charles Curtis, rector of one ofthe parishes
in Birmingham ; and immediately charged him
with being the author ofthe offensive paragraphs.
Mr. Curtis not only denied the accusation, but
actually took an oath that he neither wrote the
articles fathered upon him, nor knew by whom
they were composed. With this asseveration
Dr. Parr ought to have been satisfied ; especially
as he had nothing beyond mere surmise to op
pose to a solemn declaration. But, being resol
ved not to be convinced, he continued, in defi
ance of every principle of natural justice, to
maintain that the oath of Mr. Curtis was of less
weight than the circumstantial evidence, which
had been adduced against him. Influenced by
this extraordinary persuasion, the Doctor pub
lished a bulky pamphlet, entitled A Sequel to
ihe Printed Paper, lately circulated in Warwick
shire. By the Rev. Charles Curtis, Brother to
Alderman Curtis, a Birmingham Rector, ^c.
In this singular performance, the author, after
castigating with a heavy hand the object of his
displeasure, proceeded to discuss a great variety
of important subjects, relating to social rights,
and the various political questions, which had
arisen out ofthe tremendous revolution in France.

206 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
To this multifarious piece was subjoined an ex
cellent Letter written by Dr. William Thomson,
on the Nature and End qf Civil Society; which,
for depth of thought and felicity of illustration,
well merited the distinction it received.
In thus tracing the literary course of Dr. Parr,
it is painful to observe, how generally his publi
cations, though rich in language, and excellent
in argumentation, were deformed by the acri
mony of private resentment.
Scarcely had he closed his dispute with the
Birmingham-Rector, when another subject of
contention arose, of an opposite description.
Mr. Henry Homer, formerly fellow of Emanuel-
College, who had materially assisted the Doctor
in his republication of Bellendenus, having un-^
dertaken a Variorum edition of Horace, on a
magnificent scale, for the London-booksellers,
naturally called upon his friend for aid in the
prosecution of the work. This was very readily
conceded ; but the health of Mr. Homer being
indifferent, he took for his immediate co-adjutor,
the late Dr. Charles Combe, of the British Mu
seum, Under the joint management of these two
gentlemen, the edition went on, till the fourth
book of the Odes was advanced in the press,
when Mr. Homer died. This was in 1791, and
then Dr. Combe became the sole proprietor of
the work, nor does it appear that Dr. Parr, after

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 207
the loss of his friend, took the smallest interest
whatever in the concern. At the beginning of
the year 1794, this edition came out in two
splendid quarto-volumes, with a Dedication to
the great Lord Mansfield. A little before this,
the British Critic had been established by Mr.
Archdeacon Nares, the Rev. William Jones of
Nayland, and the Rev. William Beloe. The last-
mentioned gentleman, as we have already ob
served, had been the pupil and assistant of Dr.
Parr, at Norwich ; it therefore became an object
with him, on the institution ofthe new journal,
to procure for it occasional contributions from
his old friend and preceptor. The publication
ofthe Variorum Horace was just adapted to give
an eclat to the review, and at the same time, to
gratify the private feelings of Dr. Parr. Accord
ingly an article on the edition appeared in the
third volume of the Critic, and extended to
seventy-one closely printed pages. Perhaps a
raore valuable body of classical criticism and pro
found remarks cannot be found in any language ;
but it is obvious, throughout the whole of this
voluminously-laboured performance, that the au
thor's aim was to demolish the reputation of the
work, on which it was expended. In this he so
completely succeeded, that Dr. Combe was com
pelled to print a Narrative of Facts relative to the
Behaviour of Dr. Samuel Parr ; who was accused

208 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
of having acted with duplicity throughout the
whole period of his connexion with Mr. Homer,
as far, at least, as regarded the edition of Horace,
This pamphlet immediately called forth a reply
from Dr. Parr, under the title of Remarks on the
Statement of Dr. Charles Combe. By an Occa
sional writer in the British Critic .- in which the
most serious articles of charge were satisfactorily
refuted ; and here the dispute terminated.
Soon after this, public curiosity was roused in
a very extraordinary manner, by the pretended
discovery of a number of manuscripts, purporting
to be the genuine productions of Shakspeare.
These papers drew crowds of visitors to the house
ofthe fortunate proprietor, Mr. Samuel Ireland,
in Norfolk-street, and, among the rest, Dr. Parr
became a frequent visitor, and a zealous believer
in the authenticity of the literary relics. He
even went so far as to subscribe his name, in at
testation of his firm conviction that the entire
collection of plays, poems, letters, and other
documents, emanated from the genius ofthe im
mortal bard, whose name they bore. At length
the spell was dissolved, and Dr. Parr, as the great
Samuel Johnson had done before him, in the
case of Lauder, assisted in drawing up an apolo
getic confession for the unhappy person, through
whom he owned he had been so grossly imposed
upon. Here, by the bye, it deserves notice, that

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 209
though the acuf;e Richard Porson seemed to think
theShakspearian papers genuine, yet, when called
upon by Parr to follow his example, he said : ' No,
Doctor ; you know I have scruples against sub
scription to articles of faith.'
Hitherto we have seen little of Dr. Parr in his
clerical character ; but, in the spring of 1801, he
drew general attention in the metropolis, by his
famous Spital sermon, preached at Christ Church,
Newgate-Street, before Harvey Christian Combe,
Esq. the Lord Mayor. The church, though large,
was crowded to excess, and the Doctor gratified
the more intelligent portion of his hearers by a
discourse, in which he happily combated the de
lusive dogmas of those philosophers, who ascribe
all benevolence and justice to a selfish principle.
This sermon was soon afterwards printed, with a
number of curious notes, manyof which, however,
have little relation to the main subject. On the
appearance of this volume, it was attacked, in a
tone of indignant sarcasm, by Mr. William God
win, who, conceiving himself to have been allu
ded to in the discourse and notes, retorted upon
the author the charge of inconsistency.
In 1808, Dr. Parr printed a sermon, preached
on the preceding fast-day, in his parish-church of
Hatton ; and the year following, he ushered into
the world two heterogeneous volumes, under the
title of ' Characters of the late Charles James
P

210 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Fox, selected, and in part written, by Philopatris
Varvicensis.' The first volume contains various
panegyrics upon the great statesman, which ap
peared soon after his death in the newspapers and
magazines. To these characters, few of which
were worth preserving as compositions, one was
added by the Doctor himself, written in an admi
rable style, and superior to all the rest. The
second volume is made up of notes, printed in a
smaller type, and some of them, particularly that
on penal law, well worthy of a more conspicuous
situation. In 1823, Dr. Parr edited, with appropriate
notes, four scarce Sermons, two by the learned
Dr. John Taylor, and the others by two succes
sive Bishops of London, Dr.HayterandDr.Lowth.
With this publication, we close our notice of the
literary performances of our author, as far as they
have come to our knowledge ; but it is possible,
as he generally sent his productions into the
world without a name, that one or two fugitive
pieces may have escaped our inquiry. The Doc
tor, we know, contributed very liberally to the
works of some distinguished writers, particularly
the Bamptonian Lectures, delivered at Oxford in
1784, by Dr. Joseph White. We have reason
to think, also, that occasionally, though not
latterly, he wrote for the Monthly Review ; and
it is certain that several of his papers are in

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 211
the Classical Journal published by Mr, Valpy.
In 1804, the Doctor lost his old and most inti
mate friend. Lord Chedworth, whose singular
disposal of his property to entire strangers, became
the subject of a litigation respecting the sanity of
the testator In the course of this law-suit. Dr.
Parr, who had been led to expect a considerable
legacy from his lordship, gave such a testimony as
to incur some strong animadversions.
Such is the brief outline of the life of this emi
nent scholar, who, for extent and variety of know
ledge, has left few equals, and no superiors.
He closed his mortal career at Hatton, on Sun
day, the 5th of March, in his eightieth year.
The Doctor was twice married, and by his
first lady he had several children, two only of
whom grew to maturity, but neither survived
him. Sarah, the eldest, became the wife of John
Wynne, Esq. of Garthmeilio, in Denbighshire ;
the youngest, Catharine, died unmarried. The
second wife ofthe Doctor was Mary, sister ofthe
Rev. James Eyre, of Solihull, by whom he had
no issue.
It has been observed, and, we have reason to
believe, very justly, that the long residence of
Dr. Parr at Hatton was spent in diligently per
forming all the duties of a parish-priest, in assist
ing, advising, befriending the poor ; in the ex
ercise of a generous hospitality ; in encouraging
p2

212 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
and patronizing merit ; in communicating know
ledge, whenever required, from his own inex
haustible stores ; in contributing, by a most ex
tensive correspondence, to the general illumina
tion of the literary world ; in manifesting, by his
words and deeds, that he cultivated a spirit of
unbounded philanthropy, as the practical essence
of our holy religion, and in endeavours to pro
mote, from the pulpit and the press, whatever
is most conducive to the public and private wel
fare of mankind.
Of the liberality of Dr. Parr we could give
many instances, but shall content ourselves with
only mentioning his uncommon generosity to
wards the late Mr. Maurice, of the British Mu
seum. When the Doctor heard of the distressed
state, into which the mother of Mr. Maurice had
fallen, by imprudently marrying a worthless
man, he took this youth into his house at Stan
more, though he could ill afford such a charge at
that time. After supporting and giving his pro
tege an excellent education, he procured for him
an Exhibition at University-College, Oxford,
where he distinguished himself in a manner,
which gave great satisfaction to his patrons and
superiors. In regard to the literary character of Dr. Parr,
we shall content ourselves with observing, that
his style was vigorous and copious ; but some-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 213
what too glittering in phraseology, and affected
in construction. Like Dr. Johnson, he was ex
cessively attached to antithesis, but he did not,
in imitation of that writer, seek new words to ex
press common ideas ; neither did he often indulge
in archaisms, and epithets compounded from the
learned languages. The Latin of Dr. Parr is such,
as would have commanded admiration in the pu
rest ages of Roman literature. J, W."

214 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF

XIV.
Extract from the Catalogue of Five Hundred
Celebrated Authors of GreatBritain, now living,
Lond. 1788. 8vo.

" ^arr, ^amml, %%M*
A clergyman of the most distinguished ability.
He was originally one of the under-masters of
Harrow-School, and in that situation had the ho
nor of sharing in the education, among others, of
Mr. Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Upon a vacancy
in the head-mastership in 1770, Doctor Parr be
came a candidate for that office, and his party was
so warmly espoused by many of the boys of the
school, as to occasion very riotous and turbulent
proceedings. Doctor Parr, having failed in the
election, retired to a village at a small distance
from Harrow, and opened a school, to which he
was followed by a kind of secession ofthe Harrow-
scholars. Having been chosen by the Earl of
Dartmouth to superintend the education of his
eldest son. Lord Viscount Lewisham, he resigned

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 215
his school, and fixed his residence at Colchester
in Essex, to which he was attended by his Lord
ship and one or two other pupils. At the expir
ation of this engagement. Doctor Parr was chosen
Master ofthe Free-School at Norwich. He is now
settled in the neighbourhood of Warwick, where
he has a few private pupils, and particularly the
only son of Mr. Sheridan.
Doctor Parr's first publications consisted of
Fast-Sermons preached at Norwich during the
American war, two of them published with his
name in 1780, and a third under the appellation
of Phileleutherus Norfolciensis, in I787. They
are not more distinguished by liberality of senti
ment, than by profundity of reasoning and energy
of expression. He published in I786, a fourth
Sermon, characterized by the same excellencies,
on Education and the Plans pursued in Charity-
Schools. But the most celebrated performance
of Doctor Parr is a Preface to an edition of the
works of William Bellenden, written in Latin,
and published in the year I787. This Preface is
chiefly political, consisting of a retrospect of the
internal transactions of Great Britain from the
close of the year 1783. Doctor Parr presents us
with an animated panegyric upon the characters
of Lord North, Mr. Fox, and Mr. Burke, whom
he styles tria Lfumina Britannioe ; and a glow
ing invective against the base and unworthy me-

216 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
thods, which, in his opinion, were employed, to
deprive them of the share they lately held in the
government of their country. Doctor Parr's La
tin, like his EngUsh style, is strong, manly, and
beautiful ; but the parts of it do not always seem
aptly fitted to each other, and they certainly pos
sess less of grace and elegance, than of energy."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 217

XV
Extract from the Literary Memoirs of Living
Authors of Great Britain, Lond. 1798. 8vo.
V. 2. p. iii.

" Eeb» ^amiiel parr, %%M.
A most elegant and profound scholar, very
highly celebrated for his knowledge of the Greek
language. He was originally one of the under-
masters of Harrow-School, and in that situation
had the honour of sharing in the education, among
others, of Mr. Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Upon
a vacancy in the headmastership, in 1770, Dr.
Parr became a candidate for that office, and his
cause was so warmly espoused by many of the
boys of the school, as to occasion very turbulent
proceedings. Proving unsuccessful, he retired
to a village at a small distance from Harrow, and
opened a school, to which he was followed by
many of the Harrow-scholars. Dr. Parr was af
terwards appointed, by the Earl of Dartmouth, to
superintend the education of his eldest son. Lord

218 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
Viscount Lewisham, in consequence of which he
resigned his school, and fixed his residence at
Colchester, where he was attended by his Lord
ship, and one or two more pupils. At the expi
ration of this engagement, he was chosen Master
ofthe Free-School at Norwich, which he conduct
ed with great reputation, and has now been set
tled, for some years, in the neighbourhood of
Warwick, in the occupation of educating private
pupils. Dr. Parr's first publications were. Sermons
preached at Norwich during the American war.
Of these, two appeared with his name in I78O,
and a third, a Fast-Sermon, under the name Phil
eleutherus Norfolciensis, in the year following.
The last of these is particularly excellent. In
1786, he published a fourth Sermon, preached for
the benefit of the Charity-Schools in Norwich.
It was in the year following this, that he publish
ed a new edition in an octavo-volume, ofthe three
books oi de Statu of Bellendenus, (Master ofthe
Pleas to James I.,) and prefixed a most elegant
Preface. Few pieces of composition in Latin,
have been more admired than this masterly Pre
face. It was reprinted, separately, in the year
following its first publication. It consists chiefly
of a political retrospect of the internal transac
tions of Britain, since the year 1783, and presents
us an animated panegyric of Lord North, Mr.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 219
Burke, and Mr. Fox, with a glowing invective
against the methods employed to deprive them
of the share they held in the government of
their country. The Latin, as well as the Eng
lish style of Dr. Parr, is always strong, manly,
and beautiful, but perhaps it possesses, upon the
whole, less of grace and elegance than of energy.
In 1789, Dr. Parr published « Tracts by War
burton and a Warburtonian, not admitted into
the Collection of their respective Works,' in an
octavo volume. Almost every reader will con
demn the poignancy of language, which is used
in the Preface to this volume, against the vene
rable Bishop of Worcester, while he will confess,
with pleasure, that the characters of Jortin, Le
land, and Warburton, are amply and beautifully
delineated. In the year 1792, Dr. Parr pub
lished an octavo-pamphlet, entitled, ' A Sequel
to the Printed Paper lately circulated in War-
wiskshire, by the Rev. Charles Curtis, Brother qf
Alderman Curtis, a Birmingham Rector, ^c'
which reached a second edition. This was occa
sioned by a suspicion, that Mr. Curtis had writ
ten certain anonymous Letters, which were sent
to the Doctor ; that he had uttered certain re
flections upon him, in his pulpit-discourses ; and
that he had sent the Printed Paper, which ap
peared (auctior et emendatior) in an evening-
Newspaper. The same year produced Dr. Parr's

220 PARRMNA : OR NOTICES OF
celebrated and excellent Letter from Irenopolis to
the Inhabitants of Eleutheropolis, which is a seri
ous address to the Dissenters of Birmingham,
written in consequence of a report that they in
tended a second commemoration of the French
Revolution, and was published in a shiUing-
pamphlet. For an account of Dr. Parr's literary
association with the late Mr. Homer and Dr.
Combe, relative to the publication of an edition
of Horace, we refer the reader to our memoir of
the last-mentioned gentleman ; where he will
also see the occasion, which produced Dr. Parr's
excellent pamphlet, entitled, ' Remarks on tlie
Statement of Dr. Charles Combe, by an occasional
Writer in tlie British Critic'
It may very reasonably be questioned whether
the services, which Dr. Parr has done to the world,
have been adequate to his ability, or his know
ledge. Much is to be allowed, however, for
that want of leisure and opportunity, which every
man of letters must feel, whose constant and ne
cessary occupation is the instruction of youth.
To the character of a profound scholar, though
the printed testimonies he has afforded us may
have been slender, none shall dare to dispute his
claim ; and, were our remaining possessions of
Greek and Latin Authors to share the fate ofthe
celebrated Alexandrian library, we believe that
this gigantic proficient could afford us, from re-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 221
collection, a very tolerable idea of Grecian and
Roman literature. Of the English style of Dr.
Parr it has been said, that it unites the strength
of Johnson with the richness of Burke. "

222 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF

XVI.
Extract from tlie Biographical Dictionary ofthe
Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland,
Lond. 1816. p. 262.

" mmml ^arr, %%M.
This learned divine was born at Harrow-on-the-
HiU, Jan. 26, 1746. He received his education
at Harrow-School, from whence he removed to
Emmanuel College, Cambridge : but before he
was twenty, he became assistant in the school,
where he had been bred. On the death of Dr.
Sumner, the Master, he offered himself as candi
date to succeed him, but being rejected on ac
count of his youth, he removed from Harrow,
and opened as eminary at Stanmore. In 1769,
he entered into orders, and in 1777. he went to
Colchester on being appointed Master of an en
dowed Grammar-School in that town. The year
following, however, he removed to Norwich, to
superintend a similar establishment in that city.
In 178 1, he took his doctor's degree at Cam
bridge, and in 1783, Bishop Lowth bestowed up
on him a prebend in the cathedral of St. Paul,
In 1785, Lady Trafford presented him to the per-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 223
petual curacy of Hatton, near Warwick, to which
place he retired shortly after, adding to his pa
rochial duties the charge of a few private pupils.
The riots at Birmingham in 1791, had nearly
proved destructive to the property of Dr. Parr,
in consequence of his intimacy with Dr. Priest
ley, and perhaps on account of his known politi
cal sentiments. Luckily, however, the mischiev
ous design of the mob was frustrated in this in
stance ; and the next year Doctor Parr exchanged
the Curacy of Hatton for the Rectory of Wad
denhoe, in Northamptonshire. Early in 1793, he
embarked as a voluntary writer in the British
Critic, where he reviewed Dr. Combe's Variorum
Edition of Horace, with such acuteness and
learning as completely demolished that showy
and expensive work. This critique has been re
printed in the Classical Jou/rnal, with additions.
This produced a bitter attack on the Doctor, by
the Editor, who made no scruple of charging him
by name as the critic. To this a reply was made,
in which the lash was repeated, with still greater
severity. In 1802, Dr. Parr was presented, by
Sir Francis Burdett, to the Rectory of Graffham
in Huntingdonshire ; and we have heard, that,
when the party of Mr. Fox came into power, an
application was made for the elevation ofthe Dr.
to a dignity in the church, which, however, met
with such opposition as to prove of no effect.

224 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
In 1771, he married Miss Marsendale, by whom
he has had several children, none of whom are
living. The Doctor is as great a smoker as the
learned Dr. Isaac Barrow was, and we have been
told, that he has emptied twenty pipes of an
evening. His literary performances are, A Dis
course on tlie late Fast, by Phileleutherus Norfol
ciensis, 4to. I78I. — On Education andthe Plans
pursued in Cliarity Schools, 4to. I786. — Bellen
denus de Statu, with Dedications, S^c. 8vo. 1787-
— Tracts by Warburton and a Warburtonian,
8vo. 1789. — Sequel to the Printed Paper lately
circulated by tlie Rev. Charles Curtis, 8vo. 1791.
— Letter from Irenopolis to the Inhabitants of
Eleutheropolis, or, A Serious Address to the Dis
senters qf Birmingham, by a Member ofthe Esta
blished Church, 8vo. 1792. — Remarks on tlie
Statement of Dr. Charles Combe, by an occasional
Writer in tlie British Critic, 8vo. 1795. — A
Spital Sermon, preached before the Lord Mayor
and Aldermen qf London, at Clirist Chu/rch,
Newgate- Street, 4to. 1800  Sermon preaclied
on the Fast-day, at Hatton, 4to. 1808  Charac
ters ofthe late Charles James Fox, published un
der the name oi Philopatris Varvicensis, 2 vols.
8vo. 1809 — And occasional contributions in the
Classical Journal."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 225

XVII.
Recollections of Dr. Parr by a Pupil, in Letters
addressed to the Editor.

Jan. 24th, 1827.
Dear Sir,
I am sorry that I have nothing ofthe late
Dr. Parr's in my possession, which can be useful
to you in your design of giving his character to
the public ; however I cannot forbear saying
that I feel an indelible impression ofthe benefits,
which I received under his tuition. Since that
time, having seen him only occasionally, when he
favored his Norwich-friends with a short visit,
my knowledge of his various excellencies must be
scanty ; consisting of school-boy recollections,
and such generally known particulars, as will be
long remembered by those, who love his name
and memory. You will, I doubt not, collect a
rich and interesting store. I hope you will be
able to place his character as a divine on a level
with his other splendid attainments. This is the
Q

226 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
only point, on which I feel any uneasiness con
nected with his memory. He would often speak
of orthodoxy with a sneer ; but this might arise
from a consciousness of his vast superiority above
others, rather than from any disbelief of its great
truths. Every boy in his school must have observed
one trait in his character, that he had a manner
peculiarly serious, when correcting violations of
truth and moral duty: we would all have encoun
tered the severity of his rod, rather than the anger
of his eye and voice. I cordially wish you success
in your undertaking, and remain.
Dear Sir,
Your obedient Servant,

April 25th, 1827.
Dear Sir,
I am very sure that you are in good ear
nest about the subject of your Memoir, from your
attempting to pump one who can yield so little.
From the same circumstance I predict the success
of your undertaking : since the Doctor in free
conversation with his numerous friends, must
have left upon their minds the strongest traces
of his own character. It seems that my warm

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 227
expressions of regard have led you to think that
I have more to communicate than is really the
case. Though I can neither retract nor modify
those expressions, yet when I state that I was
the Doctor's pupil only about two years, and
those the last of his residence in Norwich, you
will be prepared to receive with indulgence the
puerile and scanty details of this Letter. As to
the benefits, that I received under his tuition,
results of this kind are not easily traced up to all
their causes. When I entered the school, I was
placed at the bottom ofthe fifth class, which with
the sixth was so entirely under his care, that I
do not remember a single lesson being said to any
person but himself; except some mere repetitions
in a morning before brealdast, when the Doctor
seldom appeared. I was not fitted by previous
instruction to improve all the advantages of my
new situation ; but as the soundest principles of
knowledge and taste were daUy inculcated, with
severity enough to keep all but arrant dunces on
the alert, an attentive boy, beginning to think
for himself, could not fad to receive great advan
tage. What most of us got, was chiefly by hearing
and noting down what passed. The lessons were
generally gone oyer by three or four ofthe higher
boys. I well remember their names, and one of
them is among the most distinguished scholars of
the present day. One or other of them would
Q2

PARRIANA ; OR NOTICES OP
complete our preparation by construingthe lesson,
which was truly formidable, especiaUy to the low
er boys, but I believe the Doctor saw it, and
would kindly soften the matter ; I found particu
lar kindness in this respect. All the boys, who
were at all attentive, seemed to have the gram
mar at their tongue's end ; the rule being re
quired for every thing in the words ofthe gram
mar. I had never been accustomed to this, and
always found akind indulgence, but none beyond.
As the best boys were generally in requisition at
lesson, of course they came under more frequent
rebuke of the rod ; but for the most part we all
had our share ; when a question was not answered
in the first instance, it was put to every boy with
' you,' ' you,' ' you,' &c. and the result too of
ten was, ' I'll flog you all :' this was immediately
done, and it was my business, as the last in the
form, to assist in the operation ; and then I came
to the slaughter last, like Ulysses, but ere this the
hand of the executioner was wearied, or his dis
pleasure abated, and it became more a brushing
than a flogging. I should not call the Doctor's
flogging generaUy severe ; it was characterized
more by frequency than by anything else, as we
had never any guarantee for our skin but in the
Doctor's good humour. He would often say, '/
never flog you in a passion.' His fame for seve
rity spread a sort of panic through the city, espe-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 229
cially among the mothers, who would sometimes
interpose a remonstrance, which occasioned a
ludicrous scene, but seldom availed the culprit ;
while the wiser were willing to leave their boys
unconditionally in his hands, especially when they
understood that he was so good-natured as to al
low us to fill his wig with twisted papers, ' like
quills upon the fretful porcupine.' However, I
have occasionally seen a terrible execution, but
it was for some gross moral delinquency, when the
Doctor assumed a most serious air. I recollect
one of the bigger boys for his own purpose had
copied the Doctor's hand- writing ; when the dis
covery was made, the Doctor brought the paper
into the school, and summoning the offender,
soon brought him to tears ; he pointed to the
writing, saying, ' These scratches are more like
gallows than my hand, and the gallows are like to
be,' ^c. 4"c. ; he was held out and flogged in the
most severe manner, while some keen reproof
accompanied every blow. I believe the Doctor
retained his principles on this subject, and if re
port says true, his practice also, after he ceased
to keep a public school : I have heard hints of a
slaughter-house at Hatton ; and some years ago,
when I asked him whether he did not feel some
compunction for having given us so much torture,
he replied in a loud and good-natured tone, ' You
rogue, it would be worse for you, if I had you
now.'

230 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
I mentioned that the time of my pupillage was
the two last years of the Doctor's residence in
Norwich ; as the circumstance was weU known,
it naturally occasioned some relaxation unfavour
able to our progress ; of this I recollect one amu
sing instance. Our exercises were generally col
lected by one of the upper boys, and presented
at the Doctor's call ; they had accumulated to an
unusual degree ; and as many of us were behind,
and all expected a speedy emancipation, we
agreed to destroy the whole produce of our brains,
and to take the consequences, which being the
last had neither much of shame, nor much of
suffering. We were ordered to furnish ourselves with a
common-place book and a Greek-grammar ; but
very few insertions were made in the former, and
none in the latter. However, the Doctor seemed
willing to crowd into the latter part of the time
all he could : we were introduced to some new
authors, particularly Lucan and Lucretius, from
which he gave us select passages ; supposing, I
doubt not, that a taste of these authors would
excite a desire after more. This was more an
amusement and pleasure, than almost any thing
I can remember at school : indeed it was hardly
school, after what we had been accustomed to :
the Doctor seemed to be leading us into pleasant
paths more as a guide than a master. It is cer-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 231
tain that the Doctor's attention was particularly
directed towards those boys, whom he saw wil
ling to learn ; the dunces might be dunces for
him. I have known boys, who had not even the
book we were reading, but one a,bout the same
size. The Doctor would frequently give us our
themes in English with appropriate Latin turns ;
and sometimes infuse a little of the mirthful and
a^lusing into his instructions. I recollect a beau-
tifid application of Virgil's lines. Hi motus ani-
morum,, Sfc. to the burial of some restless hero or
turbulent demagogue ; and how much he was
delighted with the story of vEschines reciting
his own and Demosthenes's oration to his scho
lars. He would call for authors on the books we
were reading ; when we were on that part of Ho
race, Hurd had many a sneer, though I do not
recollect the particular occasions. We were al-
wa,ys expected to be ready at school-hours ; and
the Doctor was not pleased that any. of these
should be sacrificed to personal accompUshments.
We had sometimes ludicrous scenes, when the
absent boys were compelled by a close examina
tion to confess that they had been at dancing-
school. Certainly the Doctor exhibited an amus
ing contrast to the dancing-master : but so polite
and well-bred a man could not object to these in
ferior things, unless they interfered too much with
Latin and Greek. The Doctor's hours in school

232 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
were not very regular; we were often summoned
to the study ; and the lessons there, were less
severe than those in the usual place. The upper
day-scholars were required to attend at the cathe
dral on sunday-mornings ; when we first went
into school, and the Greek gospel was read, and
the defaulters were desired to remind him to flog
them on the morrow. We were sometimes de
sired to attend him at church and sacrament,
when he officiated, which I believe he did fre
quently ; and I have heard of a most severe and
pointed rebuke, which some genteel females re
ceived for improper behaviour, while he was
preaching. I remember the case of poor Barker ; and was
on the Castle-hill, when his execution was ex
pected : the Doctor was said to have taken great
pains on this occasion, and procured him a free
pardon, as he was some time after in the family,
and acted as a sort of lictor bearing the rods.
Mr. Howes was a clergyman residing in Nor
wich ; he published a learned work in four vo
lumes, entitled Critical Observations on Ancient
and Modern Books : when the Doctor intro
duced him to Mrs. Parr, he is said to have observ
ed. There is one learned man in Norwich. His
executor was a brother of the Rev. F. Howes,
whom you mention. Neither of these could, I
think, know any thing of the Doctor. Mr. H.'s

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 233
books were sent to London, and sold by auction ;
I had one volume, Horsley's Britannia Romana,
which has a few marginal remarks, with two or
three of the Doctor's sermons. There was a gen
tleman at Norwich, and I believe now living there.
Counsellor Cooper, who had an exceUent library,
and we were often laden with books to and fro' ;
I should think this gentleman could furnish you
with some valuable particulars.
One ofthe Doctor's favourite pupils, the Rev.
J. Brown, now resides at Hingham, Norfolk ; but
his chief correspondent in Norwich was the late
Rev. C. Chapman. At parting, the Doctor re
commended several books ; among the rest, 'Fki-
quiry into the Life qf Homer,' ' Court of Augus
tus,' 'Dutens's Enquiry, S^c' 'Middleton's Life qf
Cicero,' 'Harris's Hermes' The boys, who most
feared the Doctor, esteemed and loved him : a
relative of mine, who continued at the school
after the Doctor left it, expressed himself lately
lo this purpose, as he felt at the time, that an
object of terror was gone, but the glory of the
place was gone with it.
I fear that I have already wearied you with my
pueriUties ; and yet cannot be confident that the
Uttle, which remains, wdl be much better.
When I ceased to be the Doctor's pupil, I viewed
him of course in a somewhat different light ; not
with diminished regard, but with greater freedom

234 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
of thought and more extended reference. At
our entering on Ufe, we generaUy adopt the opi
nions, which prevail around us. It is happy
when these prepossessions are on the side of
truth ; 'which I am persuaded is the case with
the generaUy-received doctrines of Christianity ;
but we do not travel far without meeting with
adversaries in the garb of friends, and many a
projector, who, dissatisfied with the old fabric of
religion, buUds new ones, which make a very fan
tastic appearance by the side of that venerable
structure left by our Reformers. At the Uni
versity I recollect how much that body was in
sulted from its own pulpit by the discourses of
Mr. Frend : there were several others there of
considerable repute, whose disciple he was
thought to be.
When I began to prepare for orders, it was very
natural that I should wish to know the sentiments
of my former teacher : that wish I did not soon
lose, and it was never fuUy satisfied by any thing,
that feU in my way. When the Doctor visited
Norwich, he would make and receive frequent
visits, and I had a few opportunities of convers
ing freely with him. He said many exceUent
things on religion and the Scriptures, but no
thing amounting to the disclosure, which I de
sired. I never understood clearly what he thought
on the subject of the Greek article, as explained

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 235
and applied by GranviUe Sharp. I do not pre
tend to be any judge on the general subject, and
can only say that as the Doctor taught his pupUs
Greek, it seems impossible to understand some
of the passages from the New Testament in any
other sense, than that which Mr. Sharp has
given. In a short conversation with the Doctor
on the interpretation of certain of the 39 Arti
cles, then warmly controverted, he spoke, in the
most respectful terms, of several early and modern
Calvinistic Divines of the English Church : at
the same time he assured me that he could soon
settle the question ; it was not difficult to per
ceive on which side his decision would have been ;
and though by no means equally confident of his
success, I expressed a wish that he would un
dertake so good a work. The less sanguine
among us look only for an irenicum ; it would
have been worthy of the Doctor's powers to set
the matter at rest for ever ; as he did not, sub
judice lis est. A friend of mine, with whom I
was in the habit of reading the Greek Testament,
and whose father had been very intimate with the
Doctor, shewed me a copy of Dr. Chauncy's
book, on the Salvation of all Men,* in a blank
* [The work alluded to bears the following title : — " The
mystery hid from Ages and Generations, made manifest by the
Gospel-Revelation ; or. The Salvation of all Men, the grand
Thing aimed at in the Scheme of God, as opened in the New-

236 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
leaf of which was a remark to this effect : ' It is
the opinion of Dr. Parr that the criticisms on the
word aiiimg are decisive.' Though there are many
persons, who find it more easy to yield to great
names than to think for themselves, yet truth can
never suffer either from fair discussion or due au
thority. It would be the height of folly to undervalue
criticism, without which the meaning of words
cannot be ascertained ; at the same time I cannot
but think that verbal criticism is inadequate to
the decision of such a question, which affects not
any separable part, but the whole spirit of reve
lation : besides as the word aJciwog must express an
undefined period, it seems unwarrantable in the
disciples to weaken the force of those sanctions,
with which their Master has thought fit to arm
his laws.
I have heard of, at least, one period in the Doc
tor's life, in which there seems to have been a
probability of his being raised to the Episcopal
Bench ; itwas during the last short Administration
of Mr. Fox. He told me he was to preach the
Testament Writings, and entrusted to Jesus Christ to bring
into Effect. By Charles Chauncy, D. D. of Boston, in New
England. London, 1784." Also, by the same Author, "The
Benevolence of the Deity considered, Boston, 1784.' They
are mentioned in p. 438. of Dr. Southwood Smith's Divine
Government, ed. 4. Lond. 1826. E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 237
Spital Sermon in the mayoralty of Alderman
Combe, and that he should do two things — get
a new wig, and make a new sermon. When I
saw him next after the death of Mr. Fox, he men
tioned having met that statesman at some public
dinner, and that they retired to some quiet part
of the room, and conversed on subjects of Greek
literature; which, said the Doctor, very few prime
Ministers can do : adding at the same time : ' If
Mr. Fox had lived, I should have been made a
Bishop.' The Doctor's pupils in and about Norwich
wished to present him with a piece of plate. We
had a small committee to conduct the business ;
and found it less difficult to raise the money than
to provide an appropriate inscription. One pro
duced a scrap of Greek, another a sentence of
Latin. The Doctor having an intimation of
what was going forward, relieved us by sending
an inscription with three superlatives, doctissimo,
Optimo, integerrimo, in which we readily acqui
esced. I believe the Doctor was a man of real bene
volence ; but his pathies and antipathies would
sometimes a little weaken its sensibilities. I re
collect his being at Norwich soon after the exe
cution of Bellingham ; he favoured me one morn
ing with a call, when the conversation turned
upon that unhappy man and his hallucination.

238 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
(the word he employed putting his finger to his
forehead;) the Doctor was full of invective
against the judge, the jury, and almost every
body concerned in the issue ; but not a word of
compassion did I hear for that excellent man,
who might perhaps be the victim of a madman's
fury. This made some impression on my mind:
and I could not but perceive that great minds
have their fetters, and that man is a poor crea
ture, when left to the strong emotions of his own
breast. But it is time that I should relieve you. I
wish you every success in your undertaking ; and
hope that the remains and memorials of this ex
traordinary man, which you may give to the
public, will, among other exhibitions of fair and
valuable character, shew him in the paramount
one of a consistent Minister of a Church, whose
principles are too plain to be misunderstood and
too solid to be shaken.
I beg to return you thanks for your interesting
remarks on Junius, I know little of the subject
beyond what is found in the edition by Almon,
who gives the Letters to Mr. Boyd in defiance of
strong opposing evidence from the age, the ta
lents, and the habits of that gentleman. Surely
Junius could hardly be a spendthrift of 24 ! It
seems to me that the author as such has never
been named. I think you have fairly stript Sir

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 239
Philip of his laurels ; whether you have placed
them on the right brows, perhaps your future in
quiries may discover. I remain.
Dear Sir,
Your obliged Servant,

July, 20, 1827,
My Dear Sir,
As you are pleased to attach some in
terest to my poor communications, I should feel
it a want of courtesy, did I not, once more, sum
mon my recollections ; I say once more, because,
ere I have done, you will perceive I am drawn to
the dregs. In your wide correspondence you
muct collect some very valuable materials ; and
though the Doctor may now appear in the midst
of them, like Lear, a king of shreds and patches,
your skilful hands will form out of them a robe,
a sceptre, and a crown, suited to his royal digni
ty. When I was in town a few days since, I in
quired after those Numbers ofthe New Monthly
Magazine, to which you refer ; and, as my book
seller assured me that he could furnish me with
them all, I took no further trouble ; but his par
cel, which followed me home, contained only that
for Dec. last ; it afforded me much entertainment.

240 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
I shall not soon be in town to renew my inquiries ;
and if you really think it worth while, and that
the Parriana in the other Numbers might by a
sort of mental contact jog my dormant re
collections, you will have the goodness to
convey them to me. In the above Number
there are two or three small inaccuracies re
specting some individuals at Norwich. Leman's
Dictionary is, I believe, in many respects ex
cessively absurd and nearly allied to some of
Person's celebrated derivations. I did not know
that Leman had been so savage, but I perfectly
recollect an Usher in the school being dismissed
for hurting a boy's head. Such, we may be sure,
was not our friend, the Doctor ; the head was
too hallowed a part for him to injure ; it was his
aim to stock, not to hurt it : he would sometimes,
indeed, touch it, but very gently. At lesson we
sat or stood around his desk: he would often
leave his seat and advance towards us, and when
anything beautiful occurred, he would touch our
forehead with his knuckle, and say, ' Boy do you
feel that?' I never remember seeing him with
any instrument of correction except the rod ; and
that uniformly applied secundum artem, where it
could do the brain no harm. It would have
amused any body, except the parties immedi
ately, and others not very remotely concerned,
to have seen the Doctor receive the bundle of

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 241
rods and select a few twigs for present execution,
while a peculiar expression of complacency sat
upon his countenance, as if fully satisfied of the
usefulness of the infliction, and resolved to do
his duty every way, in spite of vulgar clamour.
The Doctor would sometimes be a little violent ;
to throw a book at a boy would have been un
worthy of him ; but to hurl a book to the further
end of a large school-room with strong gesticu
lations aud a violent outcry against dunces was
something quite in character. I believe he never
brought passion or even caprice into his disci
pline ; however severe, it was a necessary part
of his system ; and is perhaps, as many of the
wisest men have always thought, best adapted to
human nature in its earliest stages. I do not
know that an objection to the flogging system
could take better ground than that afforded by
the beautiful sentiment. Maxima debetur pueris
reverdntia. As, however, the Doctor's capacious
mind took in every thing, that had been said on
the subject, in all its bearings, as well as any
seeming opposition between the different parts,
I take it for granted, that he saw no real incon
gruity between the above admired maxim and
his ovm daily practice. In this matter he was
inflexible to the last; whatever restrictions he
might impose upon himself, (such as not to flog
a boy twice at the same lesson, or the like,) he
R

242 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
would never surrender his disputed prerogative
to any. Not long before he left the school, one
ofthe higher boys refused submission to the usual
punishment ; and persisting in that refusal, was
ordered to leave the school.
The Doctor abounded in good humour, and
seemed to know more about his scholars than
could have been imagined. When I was to be
flogged for the first time, after a train of my se
niors, who had neither real nor artificial excuses
to plead, and it came at length to my turn, the
Doctor paused ; and calling a boy from the lower
end of the school, desired him to come up ; 'J
have a great mind,' said he to the trembling lad,
who had been longer in the school than myself,
*/ have a great mind to flog you, for not telling
yov/r cousin to\ plead his first fault.' I was dis
missed with a very intelligible admonition, that
there would be no more first faidts !
You happen to mention the subject of conversa
tion between the Doctor and Mr. Fox, with an ac
knowledgment of mistake on the part ofthe former.
Perhaps on Greek metre both these great men
might be mistaken ; as a reason, I can give you no
thing better than a school-boy recollection. This
same subject was very formidable to us in those
early days ; it puzzled the scholars, and perplexed
the master. We used to think the Doctor him
self was sometimes embarrassed ; neither dimeter

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 24<3
nor trimeter, nor any other meter, was always of
exact capacity to receive the poetic tide : the de
ficient, the full, and the redundant, like so many
unskilful midwives, brought their aid in vain, and
the poet's strongest throes often issued in abor
tion. There was another subject equally, or even
more terrible, for, however intricate, being more
defined, the delinquent was more sure to suffer.
I mean the use of the subjunctive mode. This
elegant pretender was a favourite with our mas
ter, who, of course, knew perfectly well how to
manage him, but to us he was excessively trou
blesome. If at any time we passed him by with
out due notice, he was sure to cry for vengeance;
if we paid too much court to him, it was an of
fence against the other branches of the family ;
the latter course seemed the safer, and though
well watched on every side, we were in danger
of transferring too much of our devotion to this
insidious friend.
The Doctor taught us by his example, when
to laugh and when to weep. In reading Horace,
Sat. 1, 7> his mirthful feelings, visible through a
smile, began at the first line, and increasing with
the humour, notwithstanding our provocations,
burst out at the close into a loud laugh ; the last
lines were irresistible : —
per magnos. Brute, Deos le
R2

244 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Oro, qui reges oonsuesti tollere, cur non
Hunc regemjugulas ? Operum hoc, mihi crede, lucrum est.
Here the Doctor raised his arm, as if he had had
a dagger in his hand and a tyrant at his feet.
But all was moving, when the bard laments his
Eurydice,
Te dulcis conjux, te solo in littore secum,
Te veniente die, Sfc.
I cannot answer for his very words, but the pic
ture was, solitude of place and of mind ; desola
tion without and within. And when Philomela
mourns her lost brood,
quos durus arator
Aut puer implumes nido detraxit,
the remark was on the tender word, implumes ;
and StiU more strongly on detraxit, as if the little
creatures, clinging to the nest, must be drawn
out with violence.
I should scarcely have dared to mention the
Doctor's love of good eating, had I not seen it
brought forward in the Magazine. I can testify
to this under circumstances not quite so legiti
mate as those, which attend the dinner-table.
The Doctor would sometimes bring with him
into the school a mince-pie, or some such morsel,
and enjoy his lunch by the fire-side : here we
sometimes had our repetitions; two or three
steps rose on each side, and while the boy en
gaged stood below, another, from above, held an
open book ; here also it was that the Doctor's

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 245
wig received those tokens of attention ; which he
often took with him through the street into the
house, to the no small amusement of Mrs. Parr.
The system of monitorship and fagging was
not carried to any great extent. I remember
having a boy or two to carry my books home ;
and I well recollect one or two tyrants armed
with a delegated authority, often more severe,
and always more intolerable, than when in the
hands of the principal.
The Doctor was prodigiously averse to pro
vincial dialects ; and it may be supposed that we
were not aU free from this, till we were laughed
out, it not being a fiogging matter. I had rather
more than my due of this correction, for having
made some slips of this sort, whenever anything
of the kind happened, the Doctor would call me
for an explanation. One boy, who is now a Ba
ronet, used to plague me terribly on this head ;
but I owe much thanks to the Doctor, and to him
for all their pains with me ; though I then thought
it hard to be flogged for mistaking the Greek dia
lects, and laughed at for speaking my own !
The Guild-day, when the Mayor is sworn into
his office, is a high-day at Norwich, and every
body appears abroad in his best attire. The
Corporation attend divine service at the Cathe
dral, and the procession halting before the school-
porch, a Latin speech is addressed to the new

246 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Praetor. On this occasion the Doctor used to
appear in his full canonicals, and, I suppose, ge
nerally attended the dinner, which the Mayor
gives to all the fashion in the city and county.
There is an amusing story of a Mayor, whose
monosyllabic name happening to resemble aLatin
syllable of frequent recurrence, he was observed
to bow his head, when that sound occurred. I
recollect the Hon. Mr. Legge, (I think, the late
Bishop of Oxford,) delivering the oration.
When the Doctor had done with the upper
classes, he would cast his eye towards the lower
end of the school, where the usher sate ; and if
he saw the boys at lesson, he would call out,
*Mr. Walters, send those boys to me to finish'; the
compassionate usher could sometimes say, 'Doc
tor, they have just done' : if there was no excuse,
or he happened to be out of humour, they were
immediately transferred to the Doctor, with a
sure foresight of the consequence.
The Doctor's entrance into the school was
sometimes rather terrific ; his appearance aided
by a loud-resounding door, caused a dead sUence
for a few moments ; but I have often seen him
make a very different exit, when with ears stopped
and a quickened step, he hurried away from the
rattling of lockers and other sounds of noisy joy
at breaking up.
The upper boys were frequently employed as

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 247
his amanuensis. I think three of them once
translated a very scarce book for him. If I re
collect rightly, it was a grammar in French, La
tin, and Greek; the Doctor would have disdained
to do what a celebrated contemporary scholar
did in the public library at Cambridge ; it is said,
that he excavated a rare book and restored the
shell to its place, where it long remained a silent
witness, till some body else had occasion to con
sult it.
I think, that I have now fairly got out of the
school-regions. Had it been possible to forget
such a one as the Doctor, he would not allow us
to do so, several times afterwards we heard from
him, through his chief correspondent, the Rev.
C. Chapman.
The Doctor was, I believe, fond of embellish
ing his church ; at one time he solicited aid for
a painted window ; at another time for bells, or
an organ. I need not say that it gave us plea
sure to gratify him in these respects. He was
also zealous, when he could serve his friends. On
a vacancy in the Chemical Professorship, he in
terceded with us for Mr. Tennant, who, I believe,
lost his life by accident in France ; on a like oc
casion, he acted the same kind part for the Mar
garet Professor of Divinity, Dr. Marsh, the pre
sent Bishop of Peterborough.
There is a pleasant story reported ofthe Doc-

248 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
tor, when on a visit to Dr. Farmer, at Emmanuel-
Lodge. He had made free in discourse with
some ofthe Fellow-Commoners in the combina
tion-room, who not being able to cope with him,
resolved to take vengeance in their own way ;
they took his best wig, and thrust it into his
boot : this indispensable appendage of dress was
soon called for, but could nowhere be found, till
the Doctor, preparing for his departure, and pro
ceeding to put on his boots, found one of them
pre-occupied, and putting in his hand, drew forth
the wig with a loud shout, — perhaps ivgri-M.
When the late Dr. Watson presided in the di
vinity-schools, at an act kept by Dr. Milner, the
place was filled with the senior and junior mem
bers of the University. One of the opponents
was Dr. Coulthurst, and the debate was carried
on with great vigour and spirit; when this oppo
nent had gone through his arguments, the Pro
fessor rose as usual from his throne, and taking
off his cap, cried out.
Arcades ambo
Et cantare pares, et respondere parati.
We juniors, who happened to be present, were
much pleased with the application ; soon after,
being in the Doctor's company, I mentioned how"
much we were entertained with the whole scene,
particularly with the close ; he smUed and said,
' It is Warburton's', where I soon after found it.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 249
You enquire of me, what were the theological
sentiments of the Doctor ? This is the point,on
which I look for some satisfaction from your la
bour and skill indecyphering, &c, : when these re
sults appear, I hope we shall not be left to dubi
ous conclusions. He might be the friend of
Priestley, and might panegyrize Mr. Fellowes
without being like-minded with either in matters
of religion. He might at the same moment
abhor the outrages offered to the former, and the
principles, which he made it the business of his
life to propagate. What the Doctor ought to
have been, is plain from his profession and rank
in the church ; what he really thought on some
high and essential points, I could never discover,
though I have sometimes almost ventured upon
his displeasure in the pursuit. I endeavoured to
conduct my inquiries with deference and respect,
but they were always baffled. He once said to
jjjg^ < # # * ^ yQ,^^^ jfgy yjont unlock my bosom' ;
perhaps he thought me too inquisitive. I cer
tainly thought that he was too reserved; though
on some occasions studied silence is as plain an
index ofthe mind as open avowal. Had I asked
the Doctor to explain the difference between the
systems of Democritus and Plato, he would
readily have done it ; yet these are mere intel
lectual amusements and trifles compared with
those divine truths, of which he was an autho-

250 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
rized teacher, I had very few means of forming
a correct judgment.
Bishop Home was a general favourite with the
members ofthe Church of England, particularly
at Norwich. In one of his pieces the Doctor
employed some rather odious epithets respecting
the Commentary on the Psalms : this provoked
the Bishop's biographer, who treated our friend
very roughly. I recollect another violent attack
upon him by Dr. Magee, the present Archbishop
of Dublin, occasioned, I believe, by some high
panegyric on one, who, if we may judge from his
works, was certainly a Socinian, and whom the
Doctor somewhere compares with Grotius. At
a friend's house in Norwich, the conversation
turned upon the Christian doctrine of the incar
nation. From what the Doctor said I understood
him to mean, that nothing more was intended
than an ordinary birth. I took a much higher
position, and, convinced of the strength of my
ground, asked him whether it was possible that
the Evangelist, in penning the sentence, ' The
Word was made flesh, Sfc.,' could mean no more
than the conception and birth of a mere human
being? Without pursuing the subject, he merely
s aid, ' You, are right, you are right.'
I had once the pleasure of driving, the Doctor
a few miles into the country, to visit a former
pupil. When we returned together, it was a

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 251
bright starlight night, and the beauty of the
scene over our heads led me to ask him, with
reference to the Mosaic record, how long, in his
opinion, those orbs had rolled and glittered. He
made some remarks on the term (created) em
ployed by the sacred penman, distinguishing
between creation, strictly understood, znAfor-
m,ation, or putting the then chaos into its present
order. I did not then admire the distinction,
which throws back the creation to an indefinite
period, and thrusts the Creator from what seems
his proper place; and if Moses should faU us here,
and the same mode of criticism be adopted in other
parts of Scripture, I fear we shall have no proof
of the creation ofthe material world at least ; in
this case we must take up with a classical deity,
a sorry one indeed, though perhaps the best of
the bunch, who finding matter in his way, did
the best he could with it. I was then quite un
acquainted with the mysteries of geology, which
out of the above distinction has constructed a
formidable battery against Moses, and seems to
be one ofthe strong-holds of infideUty. I should
like to know what the Doctor thought of this
science in its present matured state, as trans
planted from a foreign sod, and almost naturalized
among us. It has ensnared some exceUent di-
vmes, who teU us, with seeming gravity, how
many thousands or myriads of years elapsed be-

252 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
fore the fiat went forth. Let there be light, and
ofthe prodigious space of time employed in the
hexaemeron; and the proofs of these discoveries
lie a little below the surface of the earth.
Perhaps I have wandered from theology, to
which I would advert once more, though with
out intending any application to our friend, ex
cept what stubborn facts extort. Many men of
great talents and acquirements seem to be in the
sentiment ofthe late Bishop Watson, who in the
outset of his Apology, in order perhaps to con
ciliate the infidel Historian, commends ' the
moderation of the Church of England, by which
she permits every individual, et sentire quce velit,
et quce sentiat dicere.' This extraordinary pas
sage means either what is nothing to the purpose,
or what is very disgraceful to the Church of
England. Certainly, untU a man avows himself
her member or teacher, she claims no authority,
leaving conscience and disquistionfree; but, when
men have in almost a score of instances solemnly
declared their assent and consent to certain Ar
ticles, does the same Church then permit every
such individual, et sentire, ^c. ? Still, however,
neither his conscience nor researchare atall fetter
ed; for, should any one in the pursuit of divine
truth happen to change his opinions, what has he to
do but to retrace his steps, and quit a communion,
whose worship he now considers offensive and

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 253
idolatrous ? As to worldly advantages, I should
blush to mention them to an upright man. It
were far better, in such a case, to sweep the
streets for bread, than to wear lawn-sleeves and
eat the Church's meat. He would, indeed, in my
opinion, turn his back on God's truth, and he must
answer to God ; but in the sight of men he would
save his honesty, without which truth itself is no
better than a lie.
I remember an instance of the Doctor's at
tachment to his friends. At table after dinner,
the servant brought him a note, on reading
which he cried out, ' Jemmy is come' and rising
from his seat, soon left his boys, before I had
exhausted half my quiver of queries. How it
would have been, had not dinner been served up,
I can only conjecture ; but in this post-prandine
state of affairs no time was lost. The fact is,
that Mackintosh had come to Norwich, and
learning where the Doctor was, had sent him this
notice. I accompanied him to the inn, and left
him in the company of Mr. and Mrs. M. and
Charles Marsh, not without some regret that I
could not be allowed to hear the evening's con-
versation. It appears that the Doctor had a high regard
for the author ofthe Rambler : I heard him say
once, that his powers were never more called
forth than in conversation with Johnson.

254 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
When the Doctor laid down such exceUent
rules for the coinage of new words, (New Monthly
Magazine, Dec. 1826.) I wish he had noticed
with rebuke the outrages committed on some of
our good old words, by new pronounciations. I
have often been entertained, of late years, by this
union of ignorance and affectation. These sounds
were very odd to my ears, and but for the deco
rum of a public meeting, I should have started
from my seat and burst into a laugh ; however
my pedantry was soon checked by the applause,
which the sentiment produced, and in which I
cordially joined ; for sentiment is better than
sound, though there can be no objection to their
union. Style is a kindred subject, and perhaps
spelling is not too insignificant for notice, since
alteration here may efface the steps, by which
words descend to us. Never, elsewhere, do I
remember to have read sentences constructed
like some of those, which appear in Mitford's ela
borate History of Greece ; where the spelling of
some words, (adopted, I suppose, under the di
rection of the author,) is also new. I should like
to know whether all this be right ? Should you
have any thing of the Doctor's on these points,
his authority might be useful to confirm what is
allowable, or to check what is faulty, and thus re
tard the corruption of a noble language, which
folly and bad taste would precipitate.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 255
We used to be told, that the Doctor had a hand
in many works, which appeared under other
names, particularly in the Translations of Mr.
Beloe, and the celebrated Bampton-Lectures of
Professor Wliite ; perhaps you know or can find
where lie his disjecta membra. I know, that he
was solicited by his friends at Norwich to print,
and he once said that he would search his chest
of MSS,, and prepare some Sermons for publica
tion ; but there was no prevailing with him : nor
do I wonder at this ; such a man must be moved
from within, in order to move with anything like
conscious grace or dignity. It may be doubted
whether he would ever have consented to let all
that appear, which will now appear as his.
I have sometimes entertained my fancy with
the idea of a noble work from his pen ; I suppose,
A Defence of our common Christianity, which
would have been quite worthy of him from the
importance of the subject, as well as the talents
and learning of some of its assailants. But it was
the gratification of a moment ; and 1 could never
hush the thought, that in his mind there was an
indecision on the subject, or a consciousness of
dissent from popular opinion, which fettered his
nervous arms. Nothing can be well done, that
is not done with the united energies of head and
heart. Whatever might have been the later sen
timents of Milton, surely none can doubt his

256 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
creed, when he wrote Paradise Lost ; had he
changed his opinion at any stage of that great
work, there must have been a dead stop, or a
blight on all that followed.
But it is time that I should relieve you by con
cluding my miscellany, to some parts of which
the theme intended to have been most prominent,
is, I fear, but slightly attached. On the literary
subjects, with which the Doctor's name will be
long and honourably connected, I presume not to
judge ; and with regard to that, which, being su
perior to all human authority, admits neither
silence nor concealment, I hope you will not think
that I seek occasion against him, or love hasty
judgment. I have simply noticed the impressions
made on my mind. His biographers and editors
will, doubtless, consult his reputation by every
honourable means. I hope his name wiU not be
found to sanction error, since many will feel
themselves secure beneath his wing, not suffici
ently aware that truth in the human breast is a
plant of purely divine origin. You will perceive
the suspicion, that hangs over my mind. Allow
me, then, before I close, to state a few particu
lars of too sacred a nature to admit a moment's
compromise. It was, undoubtedly, with reference to such
high concerns, that Moses speaks in commenda
tion of Levi ; ' Who said unto his father and to

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 257
his mother, I have not seen him ; neither did he
acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his oivn
children : ' Deut. 33, 9. On such grounds I
must protest against deism, under all its forms,
from the reveries of its philosophers and moral
ists to the blasphemy of Hone, and the atheism
of Carlisle ! I class these together without any
hesitation. The theism, which was venerable in
an ancient philosopher among his atheistical
brethren, would now be a downright denial of
Jehovah. I must also protest against Unitarian-
ism, in every gradation, from the low position
taken by the Humanitarian to that of the tower
ing Arian, who thinks he does enough by plac
ing his Saviour at the top of creation ; when, in
truth, there is but the difference of an atom and
a span between the creatureof yesterday and the
creature of a thousand generations. Once more
I must protest against that abuse of science,
which makes men infidels, and that perversion of
learning, which indisposes them for the study of
scripture. In this volume three things strike me
with irresistible evidence — its inspired truth, —
its obvious interpretation, — and its supreme im
portance. Here is full room for adversaries, and
they are sufficiently active. The deist attacks
the citadel without disguise; the heretic endea
vours to poison its magazines and springs ; and
the worldling cares for none of these things, be-
s

258 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
cause disobedience to God is no hanging matter,
and, will, probably neither impair his credit, nor
injure his fortune; but, if we cannot make out
these three points, not only above all reasonable
objection, but with triumphant certainty, what
are we the better for that, which, by a misnomer,
has been called revelation? Either the great
light has not shined upon us, or we will not see
it ; we do not dwell in the quiet resting-places
promised by the prophet, but amidst ungovern
able disorder ; we have not dropped oiir anchor
in the peaceful waters of a secure haven, but are
still on the angry Tyrrhene of this world, where
Una Eurusque Notusque ruunt creberque procellis
Africus,
and threaten us with instant shipwreck. But
can this be ? In our vaunted circumstances,
that we live in the 19th century of Christianity,
and in the fourth of the Reformation, have we
no advantages above a little civilization and re
finement ?
Mri yhomX ThcGospel opcus a retreat from every
human woe ; it presents a perfect panacea ; it
is a celestial vortex, which, by its power of mo
ral absorption, draws all and assimilates all : to
use its own unparalleled sentiment and diction,
it is mighty through God to the pulling down
strongholds, and bringing every thought to the
obedience of Christ.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 259
Although your favor of the 7th inst, came to
hand before the foregoing sheet was written, I
went on to finish as I had intended, reserving
an observation or two and my thanks for this
place. As to the extract from the Doctor's MS.,
I should be diill, if I did not admire the colour
ing, and unjust, if I did not commend it. Still
with the New Testament in my hand, which is
my dictotum, I think I could convince you, that
the portrait is, at least, defective, and infinitely
below the dignity of the great original. The
Doctor has evidently drawn from his own stores,
rather than those of inspiration ; he has viewed
his subject too much with an eye of flesh, and
has sketched it accordingly ; and by a process
easy to his mind, by separating the blemishes,
and heightening and combining the perfections
of humanity, he has delineated a most accom
plished Being, but not the only begotten of the
Father. He, that would describe the Redeemer
of the world, and the Heir of all things, must
take a loftier flight, and ascend far above all the
moral and mental scenery of earth. He must
gaze upon the eternal throne, and dipping his
pencil in colours, not mixed by a created hand,
exhibit the perfections of the manhood, blended
with, but never lost in the glories, which are di
vine ! *
* [ The passage alluded to was an extract from a MS. Ser-
S2

2()0 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
On looking over your last Letter but one, I
find some particulars, which require notice. I
shall be happy to see you, whenever conveni
ent to you. My contemporaries at school, to
whom I refer as bearing the burden of those
days, were chiefly Messrs. Girdlestone, Maltby,
and Goddard. The former of these, afterwards,
I think, studied the law; of course you are no
stranger to Dr. Maltby; the latter, from the
best information I can obtain, is Dr. Goddard,
mon of Dr. Parr, which was preached in St. Paul's Cathedral,
and from which my excellent friend, Basil Montagu, Esq.,
then his host, (to whose kindness I am indebted for the know
ledge of it,) was permitted to take the extract, which may be
found in his learned work entitled. Some Enquiries into the
Effects of Fermented Liquors, by a Water-Drinker, 2d. Edn.
1818. 8vo. p. 230. : —
" With some defects inherent in the system of Quakerism,
with the remembrance that from the exclusion of most of the
pleasures of taste and imagination, the Quakers must, almost
unavoidably, occupy their minds in less refined pursuits, there
does not, perhaps, exist upon earth a class of men, who more
aspire to be virtuous than the Society of Friends ; who endea
vour, without regarding the false estimates of the vulgar, to
attain in sentiment, in language, and in conduct, what the
highest wisdom has in all ages sanctioned as most excellent —
they are practical Christians — they may be seen in the an
nexed portrait, taken from an unpublished Sermon of a cele
brated Divine : —
' I now go on, in the last place, to consider in what man-
' ner out Blessed Lord performed the will of the Father, who
' sent him, and thus encouraged us to partake of that spiritual

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 261
now Arch-deacon of Lincoln. I did not hear
the exact words, in which the Doctor rebuked
the females, it was not at the Cathedral, but at
one of the Parish-Churches at Norwich, that
this happened.
I recoUect nothing further about Matthew
Barker except that Lord Sydney was Minister at
the time,
I fear you will not be able to recollect a Me
moir of Mr. Howes ; if you understood me to
' food, which giveth life eternal. Would we learn, then, from
' Christ himself in what the will of our Maker consists, let us
' contemplate it in the whole tenor of his instructive and won-
' derful life. Did he fulfil that will by pompous and formal
' displays of superior wisdom, by austere and arrogant preten-
' sions to superior righteousness, by solicitude for ritual ob-
' servances, by dogmatism upon abstruse speculation, by a su-
' percilious contempt of ignorance, or a ferocious intolerance
' of error ? No ; — but the will of God, such at least as was
' that which he exemplified, is to be found in lessons of virtue
' attractive from, their simplicity,impressive from their earnest-
' ness, and authoritative from the miraculous evidence, which
' accompanied them, — in habits of humility without mean-
' ness, and of meekness without pusillanimity — in unwearied
' endeavours to console the afflicted, to soften the prejudiced,
' and to encourage the sincere, — • in unshaken firmness to
' strip the mask from Pharisaical hypocrisy, and to quell the
' insolence of dictatorial and deceitful guides, — in kindness
' to his followers, in forgiveness to his persecutors, in works of
' the most unfeigned and unbounded charity to nwu, and in
"¦ <i spirit of the purest and most sublime piety to his Father
' and his God.' " E. H. B.]

262 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
mean that I had any Sermons pubUshed by him,
I must have expressed myself inaccurately, as I
never saw but one Visitation-Sermon of his;
those, to which I referred, were Sermons of the
Doctor's presented to Mr. Howes.
I hope you wiU excuse any remarks, which may
appear either unfounded or irrelevant. I must
also apologize for delay. I did intend immediate
reply, but it is a peace-meal business, and many
things have occurred to prevent me.
With wishes for your success,
I remain, Dear Sir,
Yours respectfully.

Sept. 28, J 827.
Dear Sir,
I return you the enclosed with my best
thanks ; they have afforded me very great en
tertainment, and it is, 1 think, almost impossi
ble to read them without wishing to have the
fuUest account, that can be obtained, of a man
so much raised above his fellows. I wish that
I could make you an adequate recompense in
kind ; but your papers shew me how little I know
of the Doctor ; and if I resume for a moment

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 263
the subject of our former correspondence, it must
be chiefiy through the medium of your interro
gatories and magazine-articles, which will re
strain my wanderings and relieve my vacuity.
If I have omitted to notice many of your que
ries, it is not because they were overlooked, but
because I had nothing to communicate on those
subjects. None of the circumstances of Gerrald's doleful
history, nor even his name did I know, till I saw
them in the Magazine ; it is easy to foresee what
the Doctor's enemies will insinuate on this sub
ject, though I am persuaded that he was far from
a republican. After looking over the Catalogue, [the Biblio
tlieca Parriana,'] it cannot, I think, be difficult
to form a tolerably correct idea of the theology
of our friend. Till I read the Preface, which hap
pened to be the last, I was disposed to blame
the executors for suffering so many personalities
to appear ; they seem, however, to have excul
pated themselves ; but many angry storms must
be expected to arise, which will not, I hope,
beat on you as one of them has done already.
On Paley you have done the best that could be
done, as an advocate, rather than a judge ; and
I suspect that his Right Rev. friend will not be
quite satisfied, as the Doctor's censure partakes
too much of a moral stain to admit entirely of
your distinction.

264 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
A few things have occurred to me, while read
ing your papers ; should they be trivial, they
wiU better suit the former, and it is now too
late to make apologies,
I remember hearing my mother relate that,
when the Doctor first came to Norwich, his
manner excited a good deal of notice and sur
prise ; his gait would be alternately slow and ra
pid ; as if some thought, suddenly sobering or
quickening his mind, had communicated itself
to the outward man,

• scepe velut qui

Currebat fugiens hostem, perscepe velut qui
Junonis sacra ferret.
I weU remember a balloon-story, but not that
mentioned in the Magazine ; mine is simply
this, — that the Doctor, with many others of
less dimension, repaired to a heath at a little dis
tance from the city, to witness an ascent, which
had been publicly announced : it turned out to be
a hoax, and though the Doctor kept aloof from
the gazing crowd, he could not escape observa
tion : this was perhaps the best part ofthe story,
for no one could be either ashamed or angry,
when so wise a man was taken in the same snare
with the simple sort.
I was once introduced to the Doctor's young
est daughter, as one of his pupUs ; she was said
to be very sensible and agreeable, and would

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 2(J5
sometimes entertain her companions with anec
dotes of the Doctor ; his letters to her, which
she was frequently obliged to carry to Mr. Chap
man for interpretation, generally began with
Miss Saucebox, or some such word. One story
I recollect ; she was employed to read to her
father, and on one occasion the fair reader at
tempted a manoeuvre, in order to abridge her
toil, and thinking that the Argus's eyes were
asleep, when they were only closed, turned over
a score leaves at once. This violent solution of
continuity roused the Doctor, who, with a ter
rific voice, soon brought back the young lady to
the page, from which she had so excusably wan
dered. 1 had no knowledge of Beloe ; he was one of
the two ushers, and left the Doctor soon after I
became his scholar. However, I remember a
violent quarrel between them, (but not the occa
sion,) and Beloe's pacing up and down the school,
displaying a white handkerchief and muttering
his anger, while the Doctor with a smile saw
and heard all that passed. Beloe's father was a
very respectable tradesman in Norwich, and
kept a china-shop, on the upper side of the mar
ket-place, I never heard with certainty what
broke off Beloe's connection with the British
Museum. The Doctor seems to have been fond of one

266 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
domestic animal at least, which was suffered to
purr upon his shoulder. I do not mention the
following story in disproof of this. A house ad-""
joining the school was occupied by an elderly
clergyman, who was prodigiously fond of cats,
and kept an unusual number of those animals.
Mr. Beloe, in his Sexagenarian, has celebrated
him for this peculiarity. These animals annoyed
the boys within the range of their nightly peram
bulations, and broke the silence of those hours,
which some might choose for study : of course
they were objects of persecution, and seldom
stirred abroad without being pelted by the boys.
I do not know that the gentleman ever presented
a formal complaint against the boys, but he often
muttered his indignation in passing by, at their
inhumanity, and that of their master, for not
teaching them better.
I had once the pleasure of dining in company
with Porson, in Benet-Combination, when I was
a Fellow. This most extraordinary man, who
could instruct and delight the most cultivated
minds, could also make himself a very nuisance
by certain degrading habits. After dinner he
took a small book out of his pocket, containing
some of his writing, (in which he was exquisite
ly skiUed,) and it was handed round the table,
for us to look at. In the evening he entertained
us with an account of some Greek MSS., till they

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 267
got him down to the card-table, which soon al
most neutralized this great man. Owing to his
habits, it was almost as much desired to be rid
of him at a seasonable hour, as to enjoy his ear
lier conversation. One of the company, now a
Bishop, undertook as a great favour to carry
him off in good time ; without this precaution
he would have stayed tiU the morning. As I had
never been in his company before, I pleaded that
he might be allowed to stay and to drench him
self with water, which he would do, when no
thing else was before him, I offered, for one, to
sit up, not to talk with him, but to hear him
talk, and was very sorry that I had none to second
me. But what has this to do with the Doctor ?
Very little, I own. I mentioned afterwards
some of these circumstances to our friend, who,
much as he admired Porson, could not but ex
press himself as greatly grieved and shocked.
I fear that you will not be able to obtain suffi
cient materials for a Memoir of Mr. Howes ; he
was a man of reserved habits ; his chief places of
resort were the Coffee-room, and the Public Li
brary, Being acquainted with the Rev.F. Howes,
io whom he bequeathed his books, I frequently
saw the old gentleman's apartments, and were
I to describe them, I should say that they had
but a miserable appearance ; the room containing
the literary treasures of one of the greatest scho-

268 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
lars in Europe, was a poor place indeed. There
was a great quantity of his work on " Book.<i" in
sheets in a garret, which was sent to Valpy ; the
books were conveyed to London, and, if I recol
lect rightly, did not fetch £800. Among them
was a copy of Taliacotius, (Hudibras, Canto 1,
281,) which Mr. Howes told me he should send as
a most acceptable present to Dr. Routh of Oxford.
I see 'PalcBoromaica' in the number of the
Doctor's books. I have sometimes wished that
he had taken up his pen to chastise the saucy au
thor ; it would have been no more than a skirmish
for him ; but perhaps he thought that the writer
was dishonest, and did not believe his own para
doxes. I picked up the other day in town, a
short, but very interesting essay on the subject,
by Dr. Maltby, in the form of a Visitation- Sermon,
and he seems to promise a fuller discussion.
The Doctor was more fond of knowing the
theological sentiments of others, than of declaring
his own ; a friend of mine, who paid him a visit
at Hatton, told me that on entering the room the
Doctor addressed him thus : Mr. E. are you a
Calvinist, or an Armininn ?
Our friend was sometimes very full of humour;
I heard him once entertain some company with
a ludicrous account of his wardrobe, going through
almost every part of male apparel, not forgetting
the number and dimension of his witrs.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 269
But my buckets will fetch up no more, and I
must come to a close. I have received much
entertainment from the papers, which you were
so kind as to send me ; though I cannot say with
truth that my doubts have been removed on the
great point stated at the outset of our correspond
ence. I shall ever esteem and revere the Doctor,
though I cannot take him for my guide in theo
logy, because that, which I consider as most
vital andonly vital, seems to be forgotten; besides
I am utterly at a loss to conceive how a cordial
assent to the 39 Articles can consist with the
approbation of any one tittle in the divinity of
Dr. Priestley or Mr. Belsham. If persons ofthe
same mental standard, possessing like means of
information, with equal teachableness of heart,
and desire after the knowledge of God and what
will please Him, can sit down to the study of
the Bible, and rise from it with sentiments so op
posite as those, controverted between us and the
Unitarians, this fact must certainly annihUate
our veneration for the book as an infallible stand
ard of truth. If, on the other hand, God did
indeed send his own Son to die for the removal of
human guilt, this stupendous transaction must fix
every heart, and be the centre of all good in time
and through eternity. Thus cultivated, the wild
and bitter plant of human nature thrives and grows,
Miraturque novas frondes, et non. sua pninri.

270 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
But I beg pardon for this, and beg leave to say
that I look for your book of Parriana with much
pleasure and profit. You may make what use
you please of my papers, only let me appear as
a ' Pupil' simply. I remain, dear Sir,
Your friend and servant.

[Much will depend on the light, in which the
subscribing persons view these 39 Articles.
Johnson on this subject was pre-eminently libe
ral : — "Boswell. Is it necessary. Sir, to believe
all the 39 Articles ? Johnson. Why, Sir, that
is a question, which has been much agitated.
Some have thought it necessary that they should
all be believed ; others have considered them to
be only Articles of Peace, that is to say, you are
not to preach against them." Boswell's Life of
Dr. Johnson, 2, 99. (4th ed. 1824.) Mr. Malone
has subjoined this Note : — " Dr. Simon Patrick,
(afterwards Bishop of Ely,) thus expresses him
self on this subject, in a Letter to the learned
Dr. John Mapletoft, dated Febr. 8, 1682-3. 'I
' always took the Articles to be only Articles of
' Communion, and so Bishop Bramhall expressly
? maintains against the Bishop of Chalcedon, and
' I remember well that Bishop Sanderson, when
' the King was first restored, received the sub-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 271
' scription of an acquaintance of mine, which he
' declared was not to them as Articles of Faith,
' but Peace. I think you need make no scruple
• of the matter, because all that I know, so un-
' derstand the meaning of subscription, and upon
' other terms would not subscribe.' The above
was printed some years ago in the European
Magazine, from the original, now in the hands
of Mr. Mapletoft, Surgeon, at Chertsey, grand
son to Dr. John Mapletoft."
" Locke, though indeed of Oxford — who pe
netrated the most secret recesses of the human
understanding," says my amiable friend, Mr.
George Dyer, " manfully opposed himself — and
indeed, how could he do otherwise ? to all those
fetters, with which inquisitorial men, with more
cunning than wisdom, have been accustomed to
torment and confine it. What he thought of such
torturings of the human understanding, suffici
ently appears from his Letters on Toleration.
From his school proceeded many Cambridge-
men, — Hartley, Law, Paley, Jebb, and Tyr-
whitt, the last of whom, as we have already shown,
was desirous of proposing, and of having con
firmed by the Senate, a grace for having sub
scription entirely abolished, at the time of taking
degrees. " Those acquainted with the principles and
character of Dr, Paley, wUl not be surprised to

27^ PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
find his name in this list of our testes libertatis,
notwithstanding what he says on religious esta
blishments and subscription to Articles in Bk. 3,
2, 6, 10. of the Moral Philosophy. Indeed,
over all that he advances on tests and subscrip
tions the veil thrown is so flimsy, that every body
sees through it : he does not say enough to con
vince any one ofthe truth of the Articles to be
subscribed, but raore than enough to convince
every one, that he did not believe them himself
What, however, he does say, relates not to candi
dates for degrees in our University, but to those
for the ministry in the Church ; and even for them
it is clear he does not approve of the present
form of numerous Articles merely as Articles of
Peace. As to a subscription for degrees, on that
he says not a word ; but by his friends, and we
have had the honour to know some of his most
intimate friends, — it was well-known that he
sided in the University with Mr. Tyrwhitt, Dr.
Jebb, Bishops Law and Watson, who were for
the abolition of subsriptions for the purpose of
degrees : and all advanced by him on the present
form of clerical subscriptions is a string of so
phisms, which wss unravelled by himself in a
pamphlet vindicating Bisliop Law, who had writ
ten against subscription, and published by Dr.
Paley himself, though without a name, in 1774.
" The high estimation, however, in which tlie

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 273
principles of Dr. Paley are held in the University
of Cambridge, is a proof that the age of bigotry
at leaist is gone by, and that this is the age of li
berality, though it may be difficult to foresee,
when that of reformation, which Mr. Locke and
others might look for, will arrive.
" Dr. Paley closes the pamphlet, just aUude.d
to, as follows : — ' After returning thanks in the
• name of the fraternity, to him,' (to Dr. Ran
dolph, who had wxitteu A Reply to Bishop Law,)
' and to all, who touch the burden of subscription
' with but one of their fingers, I would wish to
' leave with them this observation that, as the
' man, who attacks a flourishing establishment,
' writes with a halter round his neck, few ever
' wiU be found to attempt alterations, but men of
' more spirit than prudence, of more sincerity
* than caution, of warm, eager, and impetuous
' tempers — that, consequently, if we are to wait
' for improvement till the cool, the calm, the
' discreet part of manldnd begin it, till church-
' governors solicit, or ministers of state propose
' it, I will venture to pronounce that, (without
* his interposition, with whom nothing is impos-
' sible,) we way remain as we are, till the reno-
•' vation of all things.' "
Academic Unity, being the Substance of a General
Dissertation, contained in the ' Privileges of the
University of Cambridge^ as translated from the
original Latin, with various Additions, Lond.
1827. 8vo. pp. 171. 191.

274 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
If, then. Dr. Paley could without just censure
subscribe the 39 Articles rather as Articles of
Peace than as Articles qf Faith, and could in his
Moral Philosophy rather contend for the expedi
ency, than vindicate the propriety of them. Dr.
Parr needs no defence. He was a latitudinarian
divine, and this must be always remembered by
those, who are disposed to blame his conduct. I
will conclude this note with a quotation from the
notice of the Bibliotheca Parriana, which was
inserted in the Monthly Review, No. 27. Nov.
I827. p. 305. : —
" Dr. Bell's Attempt to ascertain and illustrate
the Authority, Nature, and Design ofthe Institu
tion of Christ, commonly called the Communion
and the Lord's Supper, is inserted in the Cata
logue. ' On the Sacrament my serious opinion,'
says Dr. Parr, ' agrees with those of Hoadly,
Bell, and John Taylor of Norwich.' He pro
nounces Dr. Balguy's Charge to the Clergy of
the Archdeaconry of Chester, in 177^, to be 'ex
cellent.* Cassander's work, De OflUcio Pii et Pub-
liccB Tranqudllitatis vere amantis in hoc Religi-
onis Dissidio, is, says Dr. Parr, ' replete with
' various learning, and true and evangelical piety;
' it contains the genuine opinions of the best
' men on the most important matters, — opinions
' ever dear to my heart, and perfectly according
' with the precepts of Christ himself ' Why,'

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 275
says the good Doctor in a subsequent page, ' do
' the Romanists and Protestants revile each
' other ? My prayer is that God may bless both ! '
In one of the Doctor's Letters, published by Mr.
Butler in the second Part of his Reminiscences,
the Doctor unequivocally acknowledges himself
to be one of the latitudinarian divines." (P. 229.
' There is much good sense in the Historical
Minute of Religious Tolerance and Intolerance.
The Nonjurors remained in Scotland for these
twenty years, but they are now melted down.
I like your account of the latitudinarian divines,
and you may put me down in the number.' Mr.
Butler adds in a note : — ' The ever-memorable
John Hales of Eaton seems to have been the pa
triarch of these illustrious men. An account of
their school would be a valuable present to the
literary world.') " Mr. Gibbon describes that
celebrated succession of learned and liberal men,
as deriving their origin from Erasmus, as having
subsequently appeared among the disciples of
Arminius, and as being found, towards the end
of the reign of James I, in the Colleges of Cam
bridge. In the account given of them by Bishop
Burnet, they appear to great advantage. Perceiv
ing that the minds of men required to be more li
berally enlightened, and their affections to be more
powerfully engaged on the side of religion, than
had been thought necessary, ' they set them-
t2

276 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' selves,' as the Doctor expresses it, ' to raise
' those, who conversed with them, to another
' sort of thoughts, and to consider the Christian
' religion as a doctrine from God, both to elevate
' and to sweeten human nature. With this view
* they laboured chiefly to take men from being
' in parties, from narrow notions, and from fierce-
' ness about opinions. They also continued to
' keep up a good correspondence with those, who
• differed from them in opinion, and allowed a
* great freedom, both in philosophy and divinity.'
Probably most of our readers will think that it
does Dr. Parr no discredit to have enroUed him
self among these honourable and amiable divines.
His avowal ofthe coincidence of his own opinion
with those of Bishop Hoadly, Dr. Bell, and Dr.
Taylor, on the real presence, seems to confirm Mr.
Gibbon's assertion of the actual prevalence, among
the reformed Churches, ofthe opinion of Zuing-
lius, that the sacrament of the altar ' is no more
than a spiritual communion, a simple memorial of
Christ's death and passion.' We wish Dr. Parr
had expressed himself more fully on the Charge
of Dr. Balguy in 1772, which he so highly com
mends : his wish for peace between Protestants
and Romanists cannot be too loudly praised.
When Erasmus published his first edition of the
Greek Testament, he presented it to the Arch
bishop of Mentz. In return for it, the Archbishop

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 277
wrote him an obliging Letter, and sent to him
with it a golden cup ' of great size and weight,'
says Erasmus, ' and of excellent workmanship.
* He moreover assigned to it a name ; he called
• it Poculum Amoris, the Cup of Love, and said
* that it cemented together all, who drank from
' it, in mutual benevolence.' We wish this cup
to be in the hand of every Christian of every de
nomination. We intreat them to forget their
feuds, and to unite in defence of their common
Christianity. When Bayle's Dictionary first ap
peared, the celebrated Nicole is said to have ob
served ' that the contests between Catholics and
Protestants were at an end ; as the sole contest
would thenceforth be whether Christianity should
exist or not.' " E. H. B.]

" Febr. 1, 1828.
" As to any further notices of the Doctor from
me, it is well that you will be contented with
trifles. Much has been said about the Doctor's pow
erful eye: he was aware of this, and had a favo
rite expression on the subject, which a relation
of mine heard him employ. The Doctor had
been at the Royal Chapel to hear a distinguished

278 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Prelate. * I sat,' he said, ' near the pulpit ; and,
when the preacher ascended, I inflicted my eye
upon him, and I am sure he felt it.'
As to his vanity of dress, I know nothing ; but
as to his love of praise, it is apparent in every
place, and to the great amusement of his friends,
he often fell into their snares. A relation thus
wrote from Cambridge : — ' We have had the
Doctor here, smoking, talking, and feasting, with
as much activity as ever, and, when he was ex
pected at a college-dinner, the compliments were
frequently preconceived, and acknowledged by
the stretching forth of his little hand.' Hactenus
hcec.
I hope you, or somebody else, will favour us
with a sketch of Hatton-Parsonage, if not of the
Church also. I should like to have an ichnogra-
phy of the dwelling-house, to know where the
venerable chair and the more venerable man
were to be found ; with the library etc.
 juvat ire et Dorica castra,
Desertosque videre locos, littusque relictum ;
Hie Dolopum manus ; hie scevus tendebat Achilles ;
Classibus hie locus ; hie acies certare solehant.
And then that sacred spot at the end of the
garden, now puUed down by unhaUowed hands,
would form as interesting a vignette, and as clas
sical an embeUishment, as can weU be imagined.
I should have been glad of more materials on

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 279
a level with my poor praise. It would be idle in
me to commend the splendid talents, the vast
attainments, and the various accomplishments of
such a man. It would be unjust to withhold the
praise of many amiable and estimable qualities.
I never can forget, and never will disown the
obligations, under which I lie to him for the ru
diments of learning at a public school during the
short pupillage of about two years.
That after so great a lapse of time, I should
now find myself at a vast distance from him on a
subject of eternal importance, is to me a matter
of painful reflection ; not because I suspect the
soundness of my own principles, but because I
tremble at the consequences of his. I intend no
reference to any thing of a political nature ; nor
to any of those lesser differences, which divide
the body of Christ, and amidst which that body
is still one and undivided ; but to that dissolute,
and, I might say, rebellious humour of man, dis
dainful of the restraints of heaven itself, which
admitting the Reformation to be some improve
ment upon Popery, looks forward with a delirium
of fancied joy to the gradual improvement of the
Protestant faith, until all mysteries disappear,
and man, chiefly by his native wisdom and good
ness, attain his highest end. This is the idol of
the present day, and I fear, too common among
men of letters ; but it is an idol, that must fall ;

280 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
and being lifted up higher perhaps than any
other, must fall with a more dreadful ruin.
When Mr. Field's performance was an
nounced in the public papers, I ordered the
book. I must own that your communications
have again fiUed me with the Doctor. Though
with the same desire to find him innocent ofthe
great offence, I entertain less hope of success
than ever. As matters now stand, (vide Field's
Memoirs, ch. 19th, at which I have just arrived,)
the public mind can no longer waver. If you,
or any other person, have a corps de reserve to
turn the scale of victory, I shall be very glad*
Our iUustrious friend may be every thing else,
which his warmest admirers can wish, but as a
divine he must be taken from the shelf, or placed
with his admired Jones and Belsham ; his roar
and his laugh, his serious and convivial hours,
and his voice from the tomb unite their suffrage
on the same side. Men of zeal, like the British
Critics, (Jan. 1828,,) must be forgiven, if they
grow warm on this subject : truth will not allow
of indifference, and has no need of raUing. I
fear they will judge it needful, in vindication of
insulted truth, to employ keener weapons in their
next RevieNv. Abating of some acrimony, I must
own their general deduction to be just. I do
not see any excess of orthodoxy, and gladly miss
some high-c|iurch strains, with which that publi-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 281
cation used to abound. Perhaps, if I had looked
into another article, I might have been less for
tunate, such men as Scott and Milner being al
most as much out of favour with those gentle
men as the Doctor himself.
I have been much entertained with Mr.
Field's Memoirs, having never before seen so
full a detail of the leading events of the Doctor's
life, or of his political and literary connections.
Here he appers with an honest, as well as open
face ; but we want much more of the interior of
the man, and of his communications, than Mr.
Field has given, or could be expected to give,
and you need not fear being superseded. I cer
tainly do not like to find the Doctor in such hands ;
they have discomposed his canonicals, and some
what ruffled his ecclesiastical plumes ; and I shall
be gratified, if you can take him honestly from
their grasp, and set him right again.
In the Memoirs there is some common cant
about Whig politics, and a great deal more on
liberality towards Unitarian Dissenters. With
several contemporaries, (the Doctor's pupils,) I
have generally acted with those, who adminis
tered public affairs for the time being. The
Doctor would often laugh at us as ultra-Tories ;
in this he did us some wrong. If I may speak
for one, I do not easily perceive how a true and
consistent Englishman can be other than a Whig,

282 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
in the genuine sense of that word ; unless we are
to consider the glorious Revolution as an unhal
lowed breach in the walls of our Hi on — which
having once admitted liberty, must be remem
bered with shame, and studiously closed up for
ever. I love Whiggism in its native strength
and vigour ; neither bloated with popular ho
mage, nor shrivelled by the breath of preroga
tive, I love it as it came from the hands of those
great men, deservedly dear to England, who
fostered her religion and her liberties together ;
and with a rare mixture of wisdom and zeal, of
moderation and firmness, spared the venerable
trunk, when they lopped away the blighted
branch. On the subject of liberality towards the Uni
tarians, the cant is abundant, and almost insuffer
able ; it is diffused over the book, and for the
present almost concentrated in chapter 19th : I
expect more as I proceed. Your friend was per
fectly right in attributing to them a diligent use
of the drag. Some of the little fry in the shal
lows of Norfolk and Warwickshire have been
brought up already, and preparation for a stronger
cast in the deeper waters, which will, no doubt,
follow, in order to fetch up the mighty monarch
ofthe stream. I would hope that the nets may
break : but, should they bring him gasping to
the shore, I must leave him a fair prey

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 283

oiuvoiai n vaai.

xvnseiv

For the honour of consistency I should hope that
Mr. Field has sometimes deceived himself by
rushing too hastily upon his conclusions. I am
sure he does deceive himself, if he imagines that
a disavowal ofthe acknowledged principles of any
Church by its own members, while they so con
tinue, can make any man estimable to any party ;
least of all, the ministers of the sanctuary, who
have the most sacred of all trusts committed to
them ; and whose engagements are often inter
woven with an easy competence, and not unfre-
quently with a splendid income. I will not be
lieve that these instances are many, till I see
better proof than has hitherto been brought for
ward. As to a defaulter to this extent, here and
there, the anomaly must be put to the account of
that deplorable weakness and corruption of our
nature, which they, who most strenuously deny,
do frequently, most awfully exhibit. It is amus
ing to observe with what complacency Mr. Field
records the Doctor's approbation of Popish in
flexibility, while nothing seems to please the
writer more than the flexibility of Churchmen.
AU this must be brought into the account,
and what will a discerning public say, when fur
ther told of this man that his great ambition was
to sit on the Episcopal Bench ! The reason of

284 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Mr. Fox's hesitation on this point is certainly ra
ther ridiculous, and can only be explained by sup
posing that Mr. Fox considered all religion as a
mere state-engine, and that the Doctor was not suf
ficiently pliant to his purpose. This is to his ho
nour ; but alas ! what shall be said to the aggre
gate proof, which increases with every page?
The Doctor is not only a proselyte himself, but
brings his dear friend. Sir Wm. Jones, with an
assurance from his own knowldge that Sir WiUi
am was aUnitarian, and, as their opinions accorded
on the essentials of religion, what can be plainer
than the conclusion? The only question is whether
Sir William, like his friend, continued in the com
munion ofthe national Church. If he did, then
this brUliant planet suffers a woeful eclipse ; and
must henceforth be thrust to a far greater dis
tance from the source of light, to roll in a remoter
orbit, where little indeed of his warmth can be felt.
But it is time that I should take my leave of
the Memoirs, which I do with new thanks for
much interesting and entertaining information.
Mr. Field has presented us with the crambe re-
cocte to satiety, and will, no doubt, serve it up
to the end Ofthe repast. But he has acted con
sistently and openly, and no man can possibly
doubt that his reformation amounts to this, that,
of what is now standing, not one stone shall be
left upon another.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 285
On opinions, which differ from my own, I
have always been anxious to obtain the best books.
This has led me to Dr. MUner's End of Religi
ous Controversy, and to Berington's Faith of
Catholics, both extolled so much by Mr. Butler.
I have done the same in many instances, and of
ten with such complete disappointment, though
certainly not without some satisfaction, that I
ought to have been more cautious upon this ut
terly desperate case of Popery. However, the
curiosity, which might mingle in my mind, has
been satisfied. Some of their books are better
than others ; but all of them, for the most part,
little short of contemptible, as low in argument
as they are high in pretension, and fit only for
those dark ages, which by magnifying some ob
jects of religion, and obscuring others, favoured
the anti-christian reign of ignorance and terror.
When I saw the Doctor's Letter to Doctor Mil
ner at a shop-window in Ludgate-HiU, I in
stantly seized upon it, hoping that he might have
lifted up his spear against the head of this enemy;
but he has only touched his heel : like the British
Critics, I was much disappointed. Their infer
ence, however, never entered into my thought.
It would have been a much fairer conclusion,
especially as he has so completely established his
own intention — that similar success would have
attended a fuller examination of MUner's work.

286 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
Though there may be parts of it not unworthy
of a scholar's rebuke, still the folly, credulity, and
jargon, with which it abounds, are enough to
disgust any well-informed Protestant. The most
amusing, and certainly not the worst of his ar
guments, is that prodigious tree, whose perfect
straightness forms a complete contrast to the
crookedness of every thing in Popery. This is
the book extolled by Mr. Butler. Such logic in
the 19th century must certainly strike every
thinking man dumb for ever."
[" In (the Bibl. Parr.) p. 553.," says the
British Critic p. 123., " we have the following
note on Dr. MUner's End of Religious Contro
versy, the work, which gave occasion to the Let
ter to the Roman Catholic Bishop, Dr. Milner : —
" ' Milner put forth his whole strength in this
' book, but he does not profess to have made one
' convert among his correspondents. He has
' been guilty of three most audacious and malig-
' nant calumnies. First, with an ostentatious,
' but very disputable exception of Bishop Hors-
' ley, and a few others, he accuses the great body
' of the English Clergy of Socinianism, and he
' unjustly revUes Bishop Hoadly as a Socinian.
' Secondly, he perfidiously betrays private con-
' versation between himself and the learned Dr.
' RenneU, Dean of Winchester, and imputes to
' him a leaning towards Popery, though it is well

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 287
' known that Dr. Rennell preached five elaborate
' Sermons in the Temple-Church, upon the Ro-
' man Catholic Question. Thirdly, he in three
' places accuses Bishop Hallifax of confessing
' upon his death-bed, that he was a convert to
' the Church of Rome : he mentions some in-
' former, but suppresses the name, and does not
' pretend to have made further enquires. It is
' a wicked, as well as a false accusation ; and be
' it remembered, that Hallifax, in his Warburto-
' nian Lectures, at Lincoln's-Inn, had, with
' considerable ability, controverted the doctrines
' ofthe Church of Rome. Dr. Parr prepared a
' book of expostulation with Milner, and was
' prevented from publishing it, not by any dis-
* trust in his cause, but by his habitual dislike to
' theological controversy.'
" This is very like a tacit admission on the part
of Dr. Parr, that he felt himself unequal to con
tend with Milner on theological grounds. The
presumption that this was really his feeling on
the subject, is increased almost to certainty by
the perusal of his Letter. ' I leave it,' he says,
p. 11, " Reverend Sirs, with many learned, saga-
' cious, and truly pious members of the Church
' of England, to discuss the merits of your cause,
• the accuracy of your statements, and the vali-
' dity of your arguments upon the foUowing par-
' ticulars:' — and then he goes on through nearly

288 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
16 pages with a dry enumeration of some of Dr.
MUner's most remarkable positions, without one
single attempt to confute his reasonings, or to
expose his fallacies, on any of the fundamental
questions at issue between the rival Churches of
Rome and England. In ' profound erudition
* in various and extensive knowledge, and in
' glowing and majestic eloquence,' Dr. Parr, (we
quote with the sincerest pleasure a part of his
own heart-felt and noble panegyric on the late
lamented Rennell,) was by infinite degrees supe
rior to the Roman Catholic Bishop ; but surely,
when he thus declined the controversy, it was
from a secret consciousness that he was unable
to wield to advantage the massive weapons of
theological warfare, against that dexterous and
veteran polemic. When he encounters him on
other grounds, it is only to erect for himself the
trophies of decisive victory."
1. The Reviewer has in this, as in many other
instances, drawn very unfair inferences.
2. When Dr, Parr states ' that he had prepared
a book of expostulation with Milner,' as to the
' three most audacious and malignant calumnies'
about the English Clergy, Bishop HaUifax, and
Dr. RenneU, and « that he was prevented from
' publishing it not by any distrust in his cause,
' but by his habitual dislike to theological contro-
' versy*' he has given a most satisfactory and a

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL^D. ^89
most becoming reason for silence altogether; this
silence was not broken by himself ; , the MS. saw
not the light, whilst he lived. On his decease,
however, his executors, in the exercise of a
sound discretion, in respect both to the impor
tance of the matter and to the memory of Dr.
Parr, published the paper.
3. When men, whose general conduct in life
has been perfectly honourable, and who are lia
ble to no fair grounds of suspicion in the case
under consideration, have assigned a good reason
for what they have done in that particular case,
my sense of propriety, my habits of caution, my
Christian charity do not permit me to question
the validity of it.
4. Dr. Parr is entitled to full credit for his de
claration, not only because he in point of fact
did suppress a book, by the publication of which,
manifesting as it did his good-will to the esta
blishment, and his desire to vindicate two most
able and illustrious members of it from " most
audacious and malignant calumnies," he might
have gained for himself the approbation of the
wise and the applause of the orthodox, but be
cause he had never in the whole course of his
life published any work involving that 'theologi
cal controversy,' to which he, in the passage
cited, professed ' his habitual dislike,'
.5. That passage assuredly does not contain
U

290 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
anything ' like a tacit admission on the part of
' Dr. Parr that he felt himself unequal to con-
' tend with Milner on theological grounds.' The
only ' grounds' stated are the ' three most auda-
' cious and malignant calumnies,' and I must so
lemnly protest against the unwarrantable exten
sion of these ' grounds,' by the Reviewer, to all
the other matters, contained in Dr. MUner's
work. In point of fact Dr. Parr declares that he
' had no • distrust in his cause'; in point of fact
he did * contend with Dr. Milner on the very
* grounds,' on which alone he professed to con
tend; and in point of fact the Reviewer himself
admits, that, • when Dr. Parr encounters Dr.
' Milner on' these ' grounds, it is only to erect
• for himself the trophies of decisive victory.'
6. " The presumption," says the Reviewer,
" that this was really his feeling on the subject,
is increased almost to certainty by the perusal of
his Letter." I do most unfeignedly admire the
talents of the Reviewer in running so rapidly to
a conclusion, through ways unknown to other
reasoners. His ' presumption' is without the
shadow of fair argument to support it, and his
* certainty* is based on what Junius by a solecism
caUs * a false fact.' He quotes from Dr. Parr's
Letter p. 11. the following words : — 'I leave
' it. Reverend Sir, with many learned, sagacious,
' and truly pious members of the Church of Eng-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 291
' land, to discuss the merits of your cause, the
' accuracy of your statements, and the validity
' of your arguments upon the following particu-
' lars.' Now Dr. Parr in these words does not
decline any controversy with Dr. Milner about
' the particulars' referred to^ no reader but the
Reviewer can so understand them; Dr. Parr
does not indeed choose to enter into the discus
sion of these topics with Dr. MUner, and his
reason, though not stated in those words, is suf
ficiently apparent from two considerations, (1.)
that he wished to confine himself to those points
only, which had induced him to prepare the
book, viz. the ' three most audacious and malig
nant calumnies,' (2.) that he has in the Biblio
theca Parriana p. 553, professed ' his habitual
dislike to theological controversy.'
7. The Reviewer proceeds : — " And then
Dr. Parr goes on through nearly 16 pages with
a dry enumeration of some of Dr. MUner's most
remarkable positions, without one single attempt
to confute his reasonings, or to expose his falla
cies, or any ofthe fundamental questions at issue
between the rival Churches of Rome and Eng
land." Christian charity requires that Dr. Parr
should not be blamed for having omitted to do
that, which he never undertook to do, which it
was against his avowed habits to do ; he could
not deviate from this determination by any ' sin-
u 2

292 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
gle attempt to confute Dr. MUner's reasonings,'
or to expose his fallacies ;' if he had so deviated
in one instance, he would not have stopped
short, but have gone into the examination of all
the objectionable matter referred to. But,
though Dr. Parr doSs not examine this objection
able matter, he has ' enumerated Dr. MUner's
most remarkable positions ;' he has performed a
good service to the Church of England even by
that ' dry enumeration' of those ' most remark
able positions,' because he has invited the atten
tion of ' learned, sagacious, and truly pious mem
bers of the Church of England' to the several
subjects, — of those members, who had not the
same ' habitual dislike to theological controver
sy,' which alone deterred him from attempting
the confutation of Dr. M.'s reasonings and the
exposure of his fallacies ; yea, even by that ' dry
enumeration of those most remarkable positions,'
he has very inteUigibly hinted to his reader what
he thought of those 'positions' — the suppressed
sneer, the smothered laugh, the inward chuckle
is perceived by the reader, — and Dr. Parr has,
by prefixing to his book such a woeful catalogue
of extravagancies in Dr. MUner's work, well pre
pared his reader to receive, with the greatest sa
tisfaction his observations on the ' three most
audacious and malignant calumnies,' which Dr.
Parr alone undertook to refute. It could not

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 293
have been more ' daintily contrived,' (to use
an expression of Lord Bacon,) than first to
cover with ridicule for his absurdities him,
whose mischievous representations Dr, Parr
next proceeded to expose to public indignation.
8. The Reviewer thus continues : — " ' In pro-
" found erudition, in various and extensive know-
" ledge, and in glowing and majestic eloquence,'
" (Dr. Parr, we quote with the sincerest pleasure
" a part of his own heart-felt and noble panegyric
" on the late lamented Rennell,) was by infinite
" degrees superior to the Roman Catholic Bishop,"
Dr. Parr was infinitely superior in four other
most important respects, viz, in the art of reason
ing and the power of discrimination, in readiness
of wit and severity of ridicule.
9, The Reviewer adds : — " But surely, when
he thus declined the controversy, it was from a
secret consciousness that he was unable to wield
to advantage the massive weapons of theological
warfare, against that dexterous and veteran
polemic." Risum teneatis, amici ? Dr. Parr is admitted
to be infinitely superior to Dr. Milner in erudition,
knowledge, and eloquence ; he was, undoubtedly,
as infinitely superior in reasoning and discrimina
tion, in wit and ridicule ; he was himself no in
experienced controversialist, and dreaded no en
counter with any man, however gifted, (unless

294 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
it were Charles Fox,) in common conversation ;
be was a man of the greatest intellectual courage,
and a most fearless maintainor of moral and reli
gious truth ; he was perfectly well acquainted
with ecclesiastical history, with the doctrines of
all churches, and the opinions of all sects. How,
then, was it possible for him to decline the con
troversy with Dr. MUner from any such * secret
consciousness,' as the Reviewer strangely and
most unwarrantably supposes ? What laurels had
Dr. Milner won in theological controversy to
entitle himself to be considered in Dr. Parr's es
timation as an antagonist so formidable ? The
body of Roman Catholics should feel themselves
highly indebted to the Protestant Reviewer for
entertaining such an exalted opinion of their
great champion, as to set him far above Dr. Parr
as a controversial divine I It is certainly the
highest, if not the justest, compliment, which
Dr. Milner ever received ; let it be inscribed in
letters of gold on his tomb, and blazoned forth
to posterity, that his transcendental merits ex
torted such a glorious panegyric from a zealous
opponent of his church !
10. The goodly services to the Church of Eng
land performed by the dissenter-loving, un-ortho-
doxical, heretical. Unitarian Dr. Parr, in vindi
cating three of her distinguished sons. Bishops
Hoadly and Halifax, and Dr. RenneU, as well

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 295
as ' the great body of the EngUsh Clergy,' from
• most audacious and malignant calumnies,' has
received no suitable acknowledgment of obliga
tion from this Reviewer, who at once represents
in his own person, and exemplifies in his own
conduct, the tolerant principles of protestantism,
the flaming zeal of orthodoxy, and the concentra
ted essence of high-churchism !
I am tempted to exhibit to the curiosity ofthe
reader another sample of reasoning, selected
from the stock of the Reviewer, more particu
larly as it is connected with the Letter to Dr.
Milner, and is an important topic connected with
Dr. Parr's biography.
" We have already remarked," says the Re
viewer p. 121, " that it is sometimes very diffi
cult* to discover what were Dr. Parr's real opi
nions, or whether he had any settled opinions or
not, on important topics. His frank confession
of his sentiments on the nature of the Holy Eu
charist appears indeed sufficiently explicit: —
' On the Sacrament my serious opinions agree
* with those of Hoadly, BeU, and John Taylor
' of Norwich.' (P. 20.) This very candid avowal
occurs in a note to Dr. Wm, Bell's Attempt to
Ascertain and Illustrate the Authority, Natu/re,
and Design ofthe Institution of Christ, commonly
called the Communion and the Lord's Supper.
But what then are we to make of the foUowing

296 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
remarks on Dr. Waterland's Christian Saoriflce f
The subject, he says, is ' well explained and
well defended :' to which he adds : ' Every seri
ous and intelligent Christian ought to read atten
tively this learned and argumentative work of
Waterland's,' p. 593. We find ourselves at a
loss to reconcile this glaring inconsistency. Are
we to suppose that, when he first read this
Charge of Waterland's, he was seriously convinced
by its clear and powerful reasoning ; and that, at
a subsequent period, he adopted the opposite
opinions of Hoadly and Taylor of Norwich?
But, if so, what shall we say to the foUowing
passage, which occurs in the last thing he ever
wrote, his Letter to the Roman Catholic Bishop,
Milner, not published till after his deceas^ ?
' The adamantine and imperishable wotk of
' Hooker in his Ecclesiastical History, and the
' controversial writings of Jeremy Taylor, fraught,
* as they are, with guileless ardour, with peerless
' eloquence, and with the richest stores of know-
' ledge, historical, classical, scholastic, and theo-
' logical, may be considered as irrefragable proofs
* of theirpure, affectionate, and dutiful attachment
' to the Reformed Church of England. Why,
' then, should I dissemble that in the words of
* these excellent men, as quoted by yourself,
' are contained the opinions, which I hold, upon
' a part of the controversy, which has long sub-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 297
' sisted between Romanists and Protestants,
' about the consecrated elements of the Commu-
* nion ? •
' The object of their, {the Catholics,) adoration
' in the Sacrament is the only true and eternal
' God, hypostatically united with his holy liuman-
' ity, which humanity they believe actually present
' under the veil qf the Sacrament ; and, if they
' thought him not present, they are so far from
' worshipping the bread, that they profess it idola-
' try to do so.' Dr. Jer. Taylor's Liberty qfPro-
' phesying, s, 20. I wish men would give them-
' selves more time to meditate with silence on what
' we have in the Sacrament, and less to dispute on
* the manner how. Sith we all agree that Christ
' by the Sacrament doth really and truly perform
' in us his promise, why do we vainly trouble our-
' selves with so fierce contentions, whether by con-
' substantiation, or else transubstantiation?' Eccl.
Pol. 5, 67. (See Letter to Milner p. 10 — 11.)
" This Letter to Milner was written June 1819,
and if Dr. Parr at that time coincided with
Hooker in acknowledging the real presence of
Christ in the Eucharist, we need hardly say that
his ' serious opinions' must have undergone a
total change since that period, when he agreed
with Hoadly in his notions concerning that
holy Sacrament. Glad should we be, could we
fully satisfy ourselves that on this momentous

298 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
subject, as well as on others of equal magnitude,
he finally acquiesced in the declared opinions of
the Church of England, and of the whole Primi
tive and Apostolic Church : and we need not
dissemble that this little pamphlet contains other
indications, that wOuld lead us to this desired
conclusion. But the editors of the Catalogue
wiU not permit us to indulge so pleasing a delu
sion. For in his unhappy note on Belshara's
Translation of St. Paul's F^istles, — a work, be it
observed, which was not published till 1822, three
years after the date of the Letter to Milner, — we
find the Doctor bestowing the most extravagant
praise on ' the diligence, judgment, erudition,
and piety' of the Unitarian translator ; though he
acknowledges there are some doctrinal points, on
which he does not entirely agree with him. What
can we make of all this heap of inconsistencies,
but either that the opinions of this 'great divine'
changed almost with the changing moon ; or
that in reality he had no serious opinions on
these vital questions ? And what shall we say
ofthe executors, who have allowed their friend
and relative to be exhibited to the world in these
unfavourable colours ?"
1. When a divine of intellect and discrimina
tion, of knowledge and erudition, of firmness and
decision, like Dr. Parr, declares that ' his serious
opinions on the Sacrament agree with those of

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 299
Hoadly, BeU, and John Taylor of Norwich,'
there can be no doubt with any candid and im
partial and justly-reasoning man, that opinions
so frankly declared had been deliberately formed
in the mind, and sentiments so strongly express
ed had long reigned in the heart of the writer.
2. If, after having read such words, I meet
with any matter of different tendency in the
works of the same writer. Christian candour and
habitual caution alike warn me against attribut
ing to that writer the inconsistency of opinions
and sentiments, for which I perhaps may not my
self be able to account, but which are in all pro
bability capable of an easy reconciliation.
3. When Dr. Parr says that the subject ofthe
Christian Sacriflce is ' well explained and well
defended ' by Dr. Waterland, there is no contra
diction whatever between these words and those,
in which he represents his ' serious opinions, on
the Sacrament' as ' agreeing with the opinions of
Hoadly, BeU, and John Taylor of Norwich.'
Dr. Parr dealt out a liberal measure of praise to
the writers of ingenious or learned works, whom
he considered to have failed in establishing the
points, which they undertook to prove ; Dr.
Parr thought the subject ' well explained and
weU defended' by Dr. Waterland, and he was
glad to record his opinion of the book in these
respects, but he has carefully avoided expressing

300 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
any assent to the doctrine, laid down by Dr. Wa
terland, and therefore is not fairly chargeable
with any inconsistency. His liberality in com
mending a work, while he disapproved of the
doctrine maintained in it, has very naturally sub
jected him to the charge of inconsistency with a
Reviewer, whose mind, unaccustomed to such
liberality, could form ho just estimate of that ge
nerous and magnanimous virtue. When Dr,
Parr says that ' every serious and intelligent
Christian ought to read attentively this learned
and argumentative work of Waterland,' he has
still expressed no assent to the doctrine main
tained by Dr. Waterland ; and, whether the ' se
rious and intelligent Christian' were disposed to
follow the opinions of Hoadly, Bell, or John
Taylor of Norwich, Dr. Parr would still have
given to him the same advice : — "Read attentive
ly the learned and argumentative work of Water-
land' — that is a great work on the subject, (to
expand Dr. Parr's meaning — ) you cannot read
it without admiration of the writer, however you
may hesitate to assent to his opinions, you are
very certain to derive from it much valuable
information, whatever side you take in the con
troversy — you wdl see the best arguments
brought forward to uphold the doctrine of the
established Church, and if you are dissatisfied
with those arguments, you will find no abler

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 301
writer on that side of the question. If you want
to know my 'serious opinions on the Sacrament,'
they are the same as those held by Hoadly, Bell,
and John Taylor of Norwich. I have never
wavered since I read their books. My opinions,
at least on sacred subjects, are formed with too
much deliberation, after too extensive and deep
a course of" reading, to be liable to change. I
have read, have examined, have decided, and
change not."
4. When Dr. Parr, in the Letter to Dr. Mil
ner, does not ' dissemble that in the words of
' Jeremy Taylor and Hooker, (as quoted by Dr.
' Milner,) are contained the opinions, which he
' holds upon a part of the controversy, which
• has long subsisted between Romanists and Pro-
' testants, about the consecrated elements in the
' Communion,' he has still, whatever the Re
viewer may assert, said nothing in contradiction
to his declared approbation of the opinions held
by Hoadly, Bell, and John Taylor of Norwich.
The words of Jeremy Taylor are these : —
" The object of this (the Catholics') adoration
in the Sacrament is the only true and eternal
God hypostatically united with his holy huma
nity, which humanity they believe actually pre
sent under the veil of the Sacrament ; and, if
they thought him not present, they are so far
from worshipping the bread, that they profess it

302 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
idolatry to do so." These words were at all times
approved by Dr. Parr, and the approbation
involves no contradiction to anything, which he
ever wrote on the subject.
The words of Hooker are these : — "I wish
men would give themselves more time to me
ditate with silence on what we have in the
Sacrament, and less to dispute on the manner
how. Sith we all agree that Christ, by the Sa
crament, doth really and truly perform in us his
promise, why do we vainly trouble ourselves
with so fierce contentions, whether by consub-
stantiation, or else transubstantiation?" Now
I would ask the Reviewer what contradiction
there is between these words fairly interpreted,
and any thing written by Dr. Parr ? " This
Letter to Milner," saith the Reviewer, " was writ
ten June 1819, and if Dr. Parr at that time co
incided with Hooker, in acknowledging the real
presence of Christ in the Eucharist, we need
hardly say that his ' serious opinions' must have
undergone a total change since the period, when
he agreed with Hoadly in his notions concerning
that holy Sacrament." The heart of Dr. Parr
rejoiced in this quotation, not because it * ac
knowledges the i;eal presence of Christ in the
Eucharist,' — not because it unfolds any doctrine
of belief maintained by Hooker, and assented to
by Dr. Parr, — but because it contains that good

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 303
sense about the subject, in which Dr. Parr
agreed with Hooker, viz. in respect to the
wickedness and folly of these 'fierce contentions,'
and that Christian charity, in which he sympa
thised with Hooker, viz. in respect to the desire
of uniting all Christians, of every denomination,
in the bond of affection, and that devout feeling,
in which he harmonised with Hooker, viz. in
respect to the holy meditations, which the Com
munion is calculated to inspire, on the death
and the passion of Christ ; on the object of his
mission ; on our belief in his gospel ; on our
obedience to his commands ; on our faith in his
promises ; on our thankfulness for the mercies
of God, and on the glory which shall be revealed
in time and for eternity. This is " what we have
in the Sacrament," and not " the real presence
of Christ," which the Reviewer first strangely
supposes Hooker to avow in the passage cited,
and then stUl more strangely attributes to Dr.
Parr ; thus himself creating the very inconsis
tency of opinion, for which he most unjustly
blames the Doctor.
5. The Reviewer next proceeds to say : —
" Glad should we be, could we fuUy satisfy our
selves that on this momentous subject, as well as
on others of equal magnitude, he finally acqui
esced in the declared opinions ofthe Church of
England, andofthe whole Primitiveand Apostolic

304 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Church ; and we need not dissemble that this
little pamphlet contains other indications, that
would lead us to this desired conclusion. But
the editors ofthe Catalogue will not permit us to
indulge so pleasing a delusion. For, in his un
happy note on Belsham's Translation qf St. Paul's
Epistles, — a work, be it observed, which was not
published till 1822, three years after the date of
the Letter to Milner, — we find the Doctor be
stowing the most extravagant praise on ' the di
ligence, judgment, erudition, and piety' of the
Unitarian translator, though he acknowledges
there are some doctrinal points, on which he does
not entirely agree with him," Now, as Dr. Parr,
in speaking of Mr. Belsham's performance, makes
no mention whatever of the Sacrament, I do
most solemnly protest against the conduct ofthe
Reviewer in connecting the praise and the cen
sure of Mr. Belsham with this subject ofthe Sa
crament, and thus again himself creating the very
inconsistency, which he imputes to Dr. Parr.
6. The Reviewer completes the climax of his
absurdities with the following words : — " What
can we make of all this heap of inconsistencies,
but either that the opinions of this * great divine'
changed almost with the changing moon, or that
in reality he had no serious opinions on these
vital questions ? And what shall we say of the
executors, who have allowed their friend and re-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 305
lative to be exhibited to the world in these un
favourable colours ?" If the Doctor is not guilty
of the inconsistency imputed to him, (and I have
proved that he is not,) the censure of the exe
cutors falls to the ground. When the Reviewer
speaks of ' this momentous subject' ofthe Sacra
ment, of ' these vital questions,' he makes the
very common and serious mistake of reasoning
from the Articles and Liturgy of our Establish
ed Church, instead of arguing from the New
Testament, on which they areprofessedlyfounded.
Whatever importance our Church and the Church
of Rome may attach to the doctrine ofthe Sacra
ment, (however right or wrong they may be in
their notions,) the New Testament assuredly
does not make the communion a ' momentous
subject' or a • vital question ' — let me hot be
misunderstood — I mean not either to underva
lue, or to overvalue its scriptural importance ;
but I am not prepared to say that its importance
is so great as that evidently assigned to it by the
Reviewer. The simple institution is a comme
morative rite, as founded by Christ himself, and
as enjoined by St. Paul — and we must not con
found the general injunction on all Christians in
every age, to observe this simple rite, with the
particular injunctions of St. Paul addressed solely
to those Corinthian converts, who had so per
verted this simple institution, as ' to eat and
X

306 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
drink their own condemnation.' This makes all
the difference between the Articles and Liturgy
of our Church, and the New Testament. The
mystery of the Sacrament is among the corrup
tions of Christianity, because, as founded by
Christ himself, there is no mystery whatever.
On referring to the Works ofthe amiable and
the charitable and the learned Thomas Emlyn
3, 255. (Lond. 1746. 8vo.) I find a passage, which
will so advance the Reviewer in his study of the
ology, that I shall quote it for his benefit, as well
as for the confirmation of my own opinion : —
" It must always be remembered that Bap
tism and the Lord's Supper are but rituals, or
positive institutions of Christ, and are not natu
ral essential branches, or inseparable from a good
man, as the love of God and our neighbour, the
worship of God, and the doing justice, mercy,
and faithfulness^ We ought, therefore, to lay
more stress upon the substantial duties of holi
ness and virtue, than upon these external rites,
which can never save us without the other,
though it is very possible a man may be a good
and holy man, and consequently may be saved
without these. These rites, however, are cer
tainly very useful, since appointed by him, who
put down all other as beggarly and burdensome
elements, and had not ordained this, if it had
not been very proper and expedient ; I say, this

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 307
one ofthe Lord's Supper, for Baptism is but once
to be administered, whereas this is of standing
reiterated use all along, which is implied in the
words. As oft as ye do this, thereby intimating
that it was to be done again and again. Now
therefore, when this single rite is pitched upon
for Christian practice, there is the more ground to
suppose it contains in it something useful above
the ordinary nature of common ceremonies."
Here it may not be amiss to observe : — " That
the institution is a very plain, obvious business,
no dark mysterious matter, but set forth with
all simplicity and easiness to be understood —
bread broken to represent a broken, wounded
corpse, and wine poured out to represent the
shedding of blood : — true, it has the symboli
cal meaning of signs, but then this meaning is
expressed clearly, and the signs are as natural as
well can be, without any need of subtle exposi
tions. So that I see no reason why the ancient
Christians should represent this Supper as such a
mystic business, and make such a secret of it to the
catechumens, as if some mighty, abstruse myste
ries were wrapt up in it, as in some of the Pagan
rites ; and indeed it seems to have been so from
an affectation to conform Christianity to their
former Pagan notions and customs, for which they
might retain some fondness here, as in other
things. And no doubt but they, who could find
X2

308 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
or fancy they found so much mystery in such a
plain simple fact, as the Lord's Supper, could
easily find or make a great number of mysteries
in matter of speculation, though the plainest ar
ticle of faith." Thomas Emlyn's Works* 3, 234.
* There is so much good sense, and unambitious eloquence,
and Christian charity, and riglit divinity in what this excellent
man has written on this subject, that 1 am tempted to make
two more extracts from this Sermon, in the hope of enlighten
ing the Reviewer : —
P. 233. " The matter This, (Do this,J as if he had said.
This same that we are now doing ; take bread, break it and
eat, — take wine, pour it out and drink, — give thanks to God.
This is all, which St. Paul relates of the last Supper ; all other
circumstances of persons, posture, time, and place he omits,
and limits the injunction to the substantial part of it, which
shews that Christ's meaning was not to tie us up to all the
circumstances of his example, which were indifferent. It is
not worth disputing, whether it must be done sitting, stand
ing, or kneeling, whether with leavened or unleavened bread,
so much controverted between the Roman and Greek churches,
whether common bread or round cakes, whether in the morn
ing or evening, on a full stomach or fasting, or the like. These
are no more necessary to consult Christ's example about, than
about the upper room, the number twelve, and them men
only, and other immaterial circumstances of the first institu
tion, which trivial minds may spend their ignorant zeal about.
No, Do this is a command, that we meet and take these ele
ments with holy benediction and thanks to God, with the ac
tions of eating and drinking to the end we may commemorate
our blessed Lord and his death. All this whole act becomes
our Lord's body and blood, that is, it figures and represents

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 309
To these words Dr. Parr would have most cor
dially subscribed, as I can assure the Reviewer
from my own knowledge.
his death, not the bread and wine alone, but thus managed,
broken and poured out.''
Again, p. 244. " A second end may be assigned of this or
dinance, which is rather the good use it may serve for, than
the principal reason why it was instituted, viz. as a badge of
Christian communion or union : but this not being mentioned
by the Apostle in this place, where it was so proper for the
cure of their animosities, I conclude it was not the great end
of the institution, only what it may by consequence be im
proved to, as the Apostle seems to argue in the tenth chapter
of this Epistle, v. 17. that being the servants of one com
mon Lord, for whom in common he died, and who are fed at
his table, we should be one body, as Israel were one national
church by all joining in one public institution of the passover ;
one, I say, though eaten at their several houses. Just so,
though Christian societies are separated in place, yet they are
one body, and have truly but one table, and not any proper br
divided inclosures ; so that their eating together is a symbol
and means of friendship and endearment.
" But alas ! how has this end been perverted ? Instead here
of, the Lord's Supper is generally become the great engine of
division and schism throughout Christendom; it is made the
badge of every party, and an enclosure about every little fac
tion. Here one says, I am oi Luther, and there another, 1 am
oi Calvin, and a third, I am of Rome, and none must commu
nicate without becoming of their sect, and owning it as a dis
criminating test and livery of their several clans, and must be
inclosed in their narrow folds alone, disclaiming catholic com
munion wilh the rest, as \ihere only, or there only Christ was,
by which means Christians are led to hate and censure each

SlO PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
In short, Dr. Parr concurred, and justly con
curred with Zuinglius, (referred to by the Month
ly Reviewer,) in considering the Sacrament as no
other, as not fit to be of the Christian flock, or to eat together
in love at the same feast ; whereas in truth we should give this
cup of wine with the same charity, that Christ speaks of giving
a cup of cold water to a disciple in the name of a disciple, or
on that account only, not respecting so much their consent in
other opinions as in this, that they believe in Christ Jesus, and
are his willing obedient servants. The Apostle's argument
Rom. xiv. 3. For God hath received him, should prevail here.
" I think it a great usurpation in men to make this commu
nion the bond of any particular church, or of a private cove
nant, which should be for our communion with Christ, both
their Lord and ours, and all his body or members. To rnn
into clans and sects, to pin men up in their narrow folds, when
the good shepherd has provided large and common pasture
for all his sheep, is injurious, first to our common Lord by
narrowing and limiting what he has not enclosed ; for I pray,
whose Tahle is it ? Is it your own or your little party's Table,
or is it the Lord's Table ? If the Lord's, who should dare to
deny any of his servants their portion ? What steward should
be so unjust, as to thrust away any guest invited by his master
and acceptable to him ? And then it is injurious to our fel
low-Christians also, by denying them brotherly communion,
as if they had no part in our common Lord and the fruits of
his death.
" Thus it is men have abused both Baptism and the Lord 's
Supper, making one the entrance into, and the other the en
tertainment of their little family instead of God's ; and have
occasioned such debates and uncharitable animosities about the
appropriation of these ordinances to their own particular sects,
as if they baptized men with the waters of strife, and ate the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 31 1
more than a spiritual communion, a simple me
morial of the death and passion of Christ, a com
memoration of the benefits derived from his mis
sion, a recognition of his Gospel, and an acknow
ledgement of our thankfulness to God for the
revelation, which he has vouchsafed to make to
us. During my long residence at Hatton, Dr. Parr
bread of violence ; and while in a figure they break Christ's
natural body, they without any do truly break and tear his
mystical body into scraps and pieces, and as plainly deny the
Catholic Church in their practice, as they put it into their
creed. And is Christ indeed divided ? Or are we not bap
tized into one body ? Are we baptized into Paul, or any
particular Pastor ? Are our Sacraments oaths of fidelity to
the leader of a little flock, or to the captain of our salvation ?
''Alas ! how is the Christian Church torn in pieces at this day
to the scorn and derision of infidels, while a people, the badge
of whose religion is mutual love, do little else but censure and
wrangle, breathe out threatnings and slaughter, anathemas and
mutual excommunications ? Salvation and communion is an
nexed to a set of opinions or little modes, and on pretence of
purity, brotherly love is extinguished, which is one of the no
blest instances of Christian holiness ; and sacrifice, nay, a ce
remony is preferred to mercy. The communion of saints is
scarce to be found ; it is not as saints, but as saints of such a
mode, and not for the image of Christ, but for the stamp of a
party, that men are received ; and a brother to be beloved has
as narrow a meaning among Christians, as ever it had among
the Jews, nay narrower, and the Church more limited, than
among the Donatists themselves. And how should it be other
wise, when this very symbol of love and union is made the
great bone of contention, and is set up as a military standard

312 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
not only administered the Sacrament with the
greatest devotion, but invariably addressed in
the Sermons, which he delivered on those occa
sions, the strongest exhortations and the most
earnest encouragements to his parishioners to
communicate at the Lord's Table. These ad
dresses were generally extemporaneous. But he
composed several Sermons on this subject — he
to gather party against party, or as a wall of partition between
brethren ?
'' For our part, be it known, we disclaim this fatal practice,
let no man be excluded our Communion, who loves our Lord
Jesus in sincerity, who owns him as Lord and Mediator, and
is willing to learn and know his will, and obey accordingly ,:
and yet we tie him not to our society but to Christ, nor will
we exclude ourselves from the communion of any other such,
who impose not their particular opinions upon us, and so
make our hypocrisy necessary to their communion.
" Why can't all, who love our blessed Saviour, and are willing
to honour him as the Son of God and the Redeemer of the
World, join together in an honorary memorial of him, in which
they are all agreed ? Agreed, I say, in the end and design of
the institution, and therefore should agree in the practice, if
the Apostle's advice might be observed. Nevertheless, whereto
we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us
mind the same thing, Phil. iii. 16. and the terms of commu
nion made so wide, as to admit all sober Christians of whatever
denomination ; as wide as in those primitive times, when all
that was required, was to believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of
God. Acts viii. 37. But alas ! some seem to take great pride
in monopolizing the divine favours, and are fond to be thought,
at least by themselves, a chosen separate people from all other
Christians."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 313
revised several — and whether he was composing
or revising, he wrote with the greatest delibera
tion, and requested me to fetch from his Library
into the sacred little room in his garden many
books, which he carefully consulted. His opi
nions on the question never wavered — his re
examinations only served to confirm him in the
conclusions, to which he had long before come ;
and I greatly doubt whether there was any im
portant point of speculative theology, which he
had not most maturely " revolved in his capa--
cious mind."
In dismissing this topic, I should say to the
Reviewer that my interpretation of Dr. Parr's
words about Dr. Waterland, and the Christian
Sacriflce, is abundantly confirmed by what Dr.
Parr has said on another question. Dr, Balguy,
in 1772, published a Charge, entitled Thoughts on
the Dangers apprehended from Popery and Secta
ries by Abolishing Subscription to the 39 Articles,
mentioned in the Bibliotlieca Parriana p. 544.
In p. 576, Dr. Parr styles this " a masterly Visi
tation-Charge." A very kind and intelligent
friend, in a Letter addressed to me on Dec. 29,
1827, says : — " Our friend's orthodoxy was
questionable enough, and I confess I cannot un
derstand his strong commendation of Archdeacon
Balguy's Charge in 1772, which is an artful de
fence of subscription." The truth is that Dr.

314 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Parr never wavered on the important question of
subscription, any more than he did about the
doctrine of the Sacrament. He was, however
opposed to Dr. Balguy on the point, ready to
acknowledge the ' masterly" mind, which per
vaded this composition, and his acknowledg
ment was not meant to be extended to the doc
trines laid down in the composition. E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 315

XVIII.
Extract of a Letter from the Rev. William Shep
herd of Gateacre, Liverpool, addressed to the
Editor, and dated July 16, 1826.

" You ask me whether ' there be any points
respecting the Dissenters, on which I wish to
make any remarks?' On this I have only to
say that, as is well known. Parr was very kind and
courteous to Dissenters and Dissenting Minis-
teos ; but, as far as my own observations have
extended, in his intercourse with them he never
in the slightest degree compromised himself as a
Churchman. He was attached to the established
Church, and most sincerely so. He was fond of
its splendour, and like Laud, would have increas
ed rather than diminished it. He venerated its
gradations of rank as stimuli to sound learning,
and though as a Churchman he was neglected, I
never heard him speak ill ofthe system, nor did
he whine and complain like Bishop Watson. I
once said to him : — ' My only regret as a Dis-
* senter is that I was deprived ofthe advantages of

316 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' an Oxford or Cambridge-education,' ' You are
' right,' said he, ' brother Shepherd. If you had
• studied at either of those places, you would have
' acquired an accuracy and a finish in some points
* of scholarship, in which I presume by your re-
' marks you feel your deficiency. But never mind,
' the education of Dissenters is to its extent solid
' and good, and well adapted to the purposes of
' life. Sir, an education, which could produce
' the Life ofPoggio, is not to be quarrelled with.'
" He told me once he respected the Dissenters,
but did not wish their increase. ' Sir,' said he,
' I rob you as much as I can, by persuading your
' rich folks to send their sons to our Universities,
and then, you know, you lose them.'
" He was delighted with the preaching of Mr.
Hawkes, a Dissenting Minister of Manchester,
and of one or two more of my brethren, whom
he had occasionally heard ; but he generally
wound up his commendation by saying that they
preached like Clergymen of the Establishment.
" I once dined with him at Mr. Roscoe's. Lord
Sefton, and Sir James Smith the Botanist, and
others were of the party. After dinner his pipe
was brought as usual, when he said : — ' Mr. Ros-
' coe, I will not smoke here — I will withdraw
' into the little room,' Mr, Roscoe replied — ' I
' am sure. Doctor, Lord Sefton and the rest of
' the gentlemen will have no objection to your

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 317
' castomary luxury.' ' No,' replied the Doctor,
' I will not smoke here. I am sensible of the ci-
' vUity of your Lordship and your other guests ;
' but Sir James Smith, I know, is asthmatic,
' and, though he says nothing, I am sure my
' pipe will be annoying to him. So I will retire,
' and will take my brother Shepherd here to keep
' me company.'
We accordingly withdrew, and after he had
puffed out several whiffs, and taken a glass of
port, he said very oracularly : — ' Shepherd, the
• age of great scholars is past. I believe I am the
• only one now remaining of that race of men,
' who could sit down with pleasure to devour a
* folio. Literature is, however, of late years,
• widely diffused. The generality of the public
' are now much better informed than they were
• in my early days. Knowledge, and useful
* knowledge, is spread and beaten out to an eX;
• tensive surface ; but it is not collected, as it used
' to be, in masses, and on the whole the world
' has improved by the change,'
" ' Doctor,' said I, * the public are aware of
' the depth and the extent of your erudition ;
* and many of us have wondered that yoU were
• never made a Bishop.' ' Aye, Sir,' replied
he, with much animation, • I think I have stuff
' in me to make a Bishop of But, Sir, I have
' barred my promotion by my independent

318 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' spirit. Sir, I would always speak my mind.
' I burnt my quarters with the old gentleman,
' (Geo. III.) by loudly protesting against that
' wicked American war, and with the young gen-
' tleman, (Geo. IV.) I have ruined myself by
' taking part with his much-injured wife. If I
' had been promoted to the Bench, Sir, I would
' have restricted myself to my Episcopal duties^ —
' I would have looked well to my Clergy — and
' would have been very civil to you Non-cons.
' Sir, I would have often invited them to my table,
' and would have rubbed off their rust, and their
' asperities. But I would have been sparing of
' my speech in the House of Lords, The less we
' say there, the better. A prating Bishop, Sir,
' is much disliked.'
" These reminiscences crowd into my mind,
as I write currente calamo."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 319

XIX.
Communications addressed to the Editor by a Mi
nister qf the Established Church.

August 14, 1826.
" Sir, It was not till Saturday last that I re
ceived the honour of your Letter of the date of
July 22nd. As we have been travelling for the
benefit of my health for some weeks past, Mr. G.
S. could not forward your communication till he
knew my address. Thus much by way of apology
for the tardiness of answer ; and now to the sub
ject of your Letter.
" You have been mis-informed respecting my
connection with Dr. Parr : I was never his Cu
rate, nor did I ever reside at Hatton, My ac
quaintance with theDoctororiginated at B., when
I was Curate of S. P. There it was that I was
introduced to Parr in one of his frequent visits to
the  . It was not till some years subsequent
to this that I became intimate with him. Ex-

320 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
cessive fatigue from very laborious duty, a natural
timidity, a sense of my own comparative inferi
ority, a dread of his political prejudices, a disin
clination to be subjected to his occasional irregula
rities, and his vehement ebullitions of impassioned
eloquence, in which friend, as well as foe, was
indiscriminately overwhelmed — these for a time
deterred me from availing myself of the frequent
opportunities of enjoying the benefits of his soci
ety. By degrees, however, these impediments
were surmounted, and a gradual intimacy com
menced. The flattering attentions I received
from Parr, were not to my learning and talents —
these in his estimation must have been of very
inferior, nay of no consideration at all ; but I
believe, verily, to my disinterested zeal in the
duties of a Parish-priest, He looked down upon
me with affection and complacency, and always
seemed pleased to have me near him. I know
nothing of his private life and family, but only
such conversational anecdotes, as I picked up in
occasional parties, or at private interviews. Of
these I unfortunately made no written memorials,
and cannot give them in chronological order.
" I say nothing of the peculiarity of his man
ners, his conversational powers, his looks of fero
city, and his fascinating smUe of benignity and
playfulness. These must be as well, perhaps
better known to you than myself. I proceed to

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 321
such Parriana, as I can recoUect, after an inter
vening interval of 23 years ; for during that lat
ter period of our lives I have seen nothing of Dr.
Parr. " Speaking of Dr. Johnson, he said : — ' Once,
* Sir, Sam and I had a vehement dispute upon
* that most difficult of all subjects, the origin of
' evil. It called forth all the powers of our
* minds. No two tigers ever grappled with more
' fury ; but we never lost sight of good manners.
* There was no Boswell present to detail our con-
* versation : Sir, he would not have understood
* it And then. Sir, who. do you think was the
* umpire hetween us ? That fiend Horsley.'
He said of the late Bishop Porteus : — ' Sir, he
* is a poor, paltry Prelate ; proud of petty popu-
' larity, and perpetually preaching to petticoats.'
This seems to have been one of those ebullitions
of fancy, in which he indulged his wit at the ex-
pence, if not of truth, at least of his more sober
judgment. " Hence it was that under a simUar mood, and
to indulge this peculiarity of character, he would
give vent to his prejudices and partialities about
different Colleges. It was at a dinner-party at
Dr. E.  that he said to the Rev. Thomas P.,
son of my venerable instructor, the late Head-
Master of the S. in B, : — ' Mr. P., give me
* leave to ask of what College at Oxford you were
Y

322 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' a member ?' ' Of Christ-Church, Sir.' (Now
I have do doubt that Parr knew this ; but he^
must have his joke.) ' Of Christ-Church ! ' His
eye-brows were lifted up, and displayed the fe
rocious indignity of an offended lion. ' Then,
' Sir, let me tell you that I make a point of perse-
' cuting that CoUege, and all its members, with
* the most unceasing and the most unrelenting as-
' perity : ' still fastening his eyes upon him. I
could not but look at him — I saw it was all play.
Poor Mr. P. was in speechless terror. When he
had had his joke, and it was time to relax, he said:
— 'But come. Sir, notwithstanding this, I'll drink
' a glass of wine with you; not, you dog, because
* you are of Christ-Church, but because you are
• the son of that good man, your father, and he
' was of Magdalen.* This was his favourite Col
lege, of which his friend Routh is President.
" It was at the same party that the same gen
tleman, (Mr. P.) asked him if he knew Sir Wm.
Jones ? ' Know him. Sir ? ' (Another look of
serious, contending passions.) ' Who did not
* know him ! Who did not bend in devout re-
' spect at the variety and depth of his learning,
' the integrity of his principles, and the benevo-
* lence of his heart ! Know him ? Yes, yes,
' Mr, P.. : ' here he paused, waving his body back
wards and forwards in his chair, — one leg
crossed upon the knee of the other, — his hand

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 323
patting the leg in a quickening, perturbed emo
tion, — tears rolling down his cheeks in fond re
membrance of the friend of his childhood. We
all looked at him in silent veneration. I heard
him drop indistinctly words something like these
— ' If not the same cradle, yet we had from
• earliest life one and the same heart, one and
* the same soul I ' I cannot here speak correctly ;
for I did not hear distinctly.
" I once asked his opinion ofthe Methodists ^
does the good or evil preponderate ? After a
a pause of reflection, he replied : — ' Sir, they
• are the most hypocritical, they are the most blas-
* phemous, they are the most carrion-like scoun-
' drels upon the face of the earth.'
" Twice he did me the honour to preach for
me. The first text was from the words — ' My
meat is to do the will of him that sent me.' At
first he gave some learned observations on the
metaphorical language of the Scriptures — an
application to the metaphor in the text — then
followed an animated description of the bitter
animosities between the Jews and Samaritans.
* There was, however, one subject, upon which
' they could lay aside all their national antipa-
' thies, their political animosities, and their reli-
' gious prejudices. My present hearers wiU
' readily understand me, when they are told that
* that object was gain,' Remember he was ad-
Y 2

324 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
dressing an audience of manufacturers. In the
latter and greater part of his Sermon he described
in the finest style of eloquence, that ever flowed
from mortal pen.* I have seen nothing from
Parr, that exceeded this Sermon ; perhaps not
equalled it : I hope it will be found among his
papers, and find a due place in his Works.
" The other Sermon was preached on Easter-
day : text, the last verse of the chapter in the
funeral Service — ' Wherefore be ye stedfast, im
movable,' etc. I take shame to myself that I
have no other recollection of it, than that it was
less splendid than the other, more abstruse, and,
I thought, far above the capacity of his hearers.
" Left to himself Parr was a sloven ; but he
was very punctilious, when he meant to be dres
sed. He plumed himself much upon the ful
ness of his gown, and bade me admire it. In
the vestry he bade me examine his dress to see
that aU was correct. Observing sometimes, what
did not please him in the buckling of his shoes,
he put up his foot, and with a smile said —
• Here, you dog, alter this.'
" Before service commenced, he desired me
to command the clerk not to trip upon his heels
in the Lord's Prayer, and the Nicene . Creed.
The man was offended; but I begged him to
* [ In the hurry of writing, the author has omitted a few
words specifying the thing described. E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 325
submit in silence. In some part of the Creed,
however he forgot, and bolted out a few words.
The Doctor stopped, and silenced the culprit
with a look. The clerk's voice after this would
have been dreadfully discordant ; he could not
follow him through inability. The cart-horse
might at well have attempted to imitate the high
bred racer. He read the Creed with great deli
beration, making long pauses between each
clause : thus ' God — of God, light — of light,
very God — of very God.'
" This brings to my recollection the funeral of
Dr. E.'s first wife : itwas upon a very grand and
extensive scale. The bearers were all clergymen :
by a mistake their scarves were made up as for lay
men ; but the Doctor would have them altered.
It was necessary to send to B. for fresh silk : this
caused a delay of near two hours. When we had
set out, he bade me, (we were in the first coach,)
look out and tell him the exact order of the ca
valcade. As we approached near A. Church,
a viUage in the neighbourhood, of which Dr. S.
was the Vicar, whom we expected would attend
and read the service, * Do you,' says he to me,
* ask his permission to officiate upon the occa-
* sion ; for, if that booby reads the service, he
' will spoil all.' Luckily he did not attend, and
all went on well. Here I had the same orders to
give the clerk.

326 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
" Never, never. Sir, can I forget his impres
sive solemnity. Instead of reading the appointed
sentences, as he preceded the corpse, he stopped,
turned round, looked at the coffin, and then at
the bearers, in long and solemn meditation. He
repeated in a tone of triumph, ' / com the resurrec
tion,' etc. We then moved forward a few yards,
a similar turn and pause ensue. Then he ex
claimed in a tone of tremulous joy, ' I know that
my Redeemer liveth,' etc. The third and last
sentence brought us in a similar manner to the
Church-door, where he concluded that part of the
service. My feelings had hitherto been so much
excited, that I was afraid for the effects of the
grand lesson, but I know not how it was, he did
not impress so deeply in this ; but at the grave we
were electrified. He was in silent tears, while
the corpse was laid in the vault. When he be
gan, the beatings of his swollen heart bespoke
his inward anguish. In the last prayer he pro
nounced these words, * As ou/r hope is, that this
owr sister  . — DOTH ;' making a long pause,
and throwing a mighty emphasis on the word
doth, by which the mind was naturaUy forced to
contemplate the soul of the deceased as then in
the enjoyment of bliss with the departed saints in
paradise. " I forgot to mention, when speaking of dress,
that the Doctor always used the academical

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 327
gown, and not the full sleeve, which indicates no
degree. " I have several short Notes written entirely
by Parr : these are of no value, but as being spe
cimens of his penmanship. I have three or four
Letters upon interesting subjects : these are
written by his amanuensis. And I have a fuU
and very flattering testimonial by him in my fa
vour in the form of a Letter, addressed to the
Trustees of the Ch. at H. in S., for which I was
a candidate. As a composition it is a great cu
riosity, which I value more than the mitre of
Canterbury. None of these have I by me : they
are packed up with my luggage. I know not
when they will reach me : we are not resolved
where we shall finally reside. Most likely it wiU
be B. You shall have copies of them, if you wish
it, when I can send them.
" Among them I recollect are some observa
tions about bells. Of these he was very fond.
He knew the history of most of the principal
bells in the kingdom, and possessed the rare fa-
cully of telling the weight of a bell from its sound.
He much disliked the tenor-bell at S. P. B., and
wished me to get the four larger bells in the
tower re-cast into one. ' You can do what you
' like in the parish,' said he * call a meeting, and
' propose this. I will give a written document
' upon the subject.' It contains very minute

328 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
particulars expressed with great accuracy — the
expences, — the value of the old clappers ; and
these four large bells were to be supplied by four
lively tinklers, in order to keep up the number,
and to preserve the good humour of the ringers.
His observations upon the majestic solemnity of
the great bell, which would be the largest in any
parish-Church in the kingdom, would be very
useful from its centrical situation as a clock to the
manufacturers, and very solemn for the funerals
ofthe more opulent, are worthy of notice.
" Thus, Sir, have I endeavoured to comply
with your wishes, to the best of my power. You
are at liberty to make what use of this you may
wish, with the restriction only of keeping in pro
found secrecy the name of
Your respectful Servant,

" BELLS.
" The tenth or largest bell in the tower of S, P.
was particularly grating to the delicate ear of Dr.
Parr. He urged me to caU a vestry, and to pro
pose an alteration in this offensive beU. 'Sit
down. Sir, with your pen, and I wiU give you
materials for your proposition and address' : —
" ' Gentlemen, — The subject, upon which I

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 329
• have troubled you thus to assemble, concerns
' in no small degree the respectability of your
' Church, and therefore cannot be unreasonable.
' It has been suggested to me by a gentleman of
' very high respectability that the tenor-bell in
' the tower is exceedingly grating to the ear, and
' therefore very offensive. I rely with the fullest
' confidence on his judgment. He knows the
' history of most of the great bells in the king-
' dom, and has the very uncommon faculty of
• declaring, from the sound of a bell, the weight
' of its metal.
" ' To relieve the ear, to render the bells more
' worthy the elegant fabric of your Church, and
' the majestic dome, which they occupy, it is
' proposed to take down the seventh, eighth,
' ninth, and tenth, and melt them into one.
' The tenor-bell is 27 hundred weight ; the 9th,
' 20 ditto ; the Sth, 16 ditto ; the 7th, 13 ditto.
' In melting, the waste may be eight or nine hun-
' dred weight, which must be replaced, and will
' cost fourscore or ninety pounds : to this add the
* expence of re-casting. The expence of this huge
' bell, nearly equal in size to the great bells at
' Gloucester and Canterbury wiU not exceed
' £260 or £270 ; it cannot exceed £300. The
* new clapper must be made out of the materials
' ofthe old clappers. The space, now occupied by
* the four bells, will contain the large bell; though

330 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' it were desirable to place it in the centre, so
' that the motion of it may bear equally on the
' tower in all directions. Care should be taken
' to raise the wood-work above the frames of the
' other bells ; for several fine tenors, especially
' that of St. Peter's at Norwich, are heard indis-
' tinctly from hanging rather too low. It wiU be
' very proper, both for the credit of the Church,
* and the satisfaction of the ringers, to have 10
' bells ; and the four new leaders being very smaU,
' may be obtained at a small expence. The sixth,
* which is now in the steeple, will be a good tenor ;
' the whole peal will be very lively ; and form
' an excellent contrast with the peal at S. M. It
' will be right to let the bell-caster have some of
' the bells sent to Gloucester, in order to preserve
' the notes accurately.
" ' To employ any ofthe four great bells in ma-
' king the four new ones would be dishonourable,
' and destructive ofthe grandeur ofthe great bell ;
' and it cannot be necessary to avoid the expence
' of the four small leaders. Much of the wood
' will do to work up again in strengthening the
* supports of the great bell. The chimes may
' remain as they are, by shortening the hammers of
' the four bells, and the materials of those clappers
' will work up again.
" 'This bell will bethe largest by far, that adorns
' any parish-Church in the kingdom. It will be

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 331
* inferior only to that at Exeter, St. Paul's, Lin-
' coin, and Christ-Church. The note will pro-
' bably be B, and the bell-caster should be in-
' structed to make it fill, distinct, long, and exact
* in all the concords.
" ' N. B. As the whole number of bells is pre-
' served, and as the materials of the four great ones
' are to be melted into a large eleventh bell, there
' will be no occasion for expence in obtaining a
' faculty from the Ecclesiastical Court.
" ' The sixth being the tenor of 10 will be quite
• solemn enough for funerals in general, and the
' great new bell may be toUed with uncommon
' solemnity for the funerals of more opulent per-
* sons.' " The address about the bells I have filled up
from a rough document. The novelty of the
subjectwill entertain you: it gives a new feature to
his genius and character. I wish I had followed
his advice. At that time I could have carried any
point ; but I was afraid of an open rupture with
my Rector. He would have opposed it, and he
had his spcophants to second him. I wished to
avoid creating a party, and therefore it dropped."

[ The subjoined matter on this subject, addressed to me by
my learned aud worthy friend, Hugh Stuart Boyd, Esq. may be
acceptable to some companologists, as it contains many cu
rious particulars in a small compass.

332 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
" Wednesday-Evening, Dec. 26, 1827.
" Dear Sib, I know very little of Paley, or Watson. As to
Porson, I do not think I can know any thing of importance,
with which you are unacquainted. I could not help smiling
at your telling me, that Parr knew the weight of the most ce
lebrated bells, both in England and on the Continent. I wish
that you were here ; I could tell you not only the weight of
the principal bells both here and abroad, but in many cases
the character at the bottom, and in almost all cases the key
note. I would also tell you off-hand, some of the principal
dimensions of many famous parish-Churches in England, and
of most ofthe famous Cathedrals both in England and on the
Continent, also the dates of their building. I am afraid it will
tire you ; but I cannot resist the desire of giving you some spe
cimens. I assure you, on my honour, that I shall state them
without referring to any book, oi other document, trusting to
my memory alone. I also assure you, that I could give many
more instances than those, which I am going to set down.
I will begin at Norwich, though I never was there. At St.
Peter's Mancroft there is a very fine peal of 1 2 bells. The te
nor formerly weighed 41 cwt. An unlucky boy, tolling for
the death of the Princess Charlotte, cracked it. The new te
nor weighs 42 cwt. The note is C. At York -Minster, in the
south-west tower, there is a fine peal of ten bells. The tenor
is in the note of C, the diameter 5 feet 3 inches. It weighs
53 cwt., and 25 lbs. ; 3 lbs. more than the famous peal at
Bow-Church, Cheapside, of which peal that at York is the fac
simile. — At the Abbey-Church of Bath, is a peal of 10 bells,
the tenor in C. It is said to weigh 41 cwt., but does not
weigh quite so much. Its diameter is 5 feet, 1 inch, — At
Canterbury is a peal of 8 bells, which I am told has been in-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 333
creased to 1 0. They are in the south-west tower. The tenor
is about 31 cwt., and is in D. On the top of the tower, under
a shed, is a large bell weighing 70 cwt. Its diameter is 5 feet,
9 inches. I would give you off-hand an account of all the
principal peals in London, the weight ofthe tenors and the key
note ; but I must be brief. The great bell of St. Paul's
weighs 6 tons j 9 lbs. more or less, I am not certain which.
I should guess that its diameter is about 6 feet and a half. —
I was going to talk of Great Tom of Oxford, and of some great
bells on the Continent ; but as I am come to the third page, I
must say a little of dimensions. I must select a single Church
as a specimen. Canterbury is in length 510 feet, being 10
more than St. Paul's, and 5 less than Winchester. The
height to the vaulting is 80 feet j 19 less than York, and 21
less than Westminster-Abbey. The height of the north-west
tower, is 100 feet; of the south-west, 130. The height of
the great central tower, is 235 feet ; ten more than Glouces
ter, of the same height as St. Bride's, London ; 53 feet less
than the great tower of Lincoln, 1 64 less than Salisbury-spire j
217 less than Vienna j 225, less than Strasbourg, and 285
less than old St. Paul's was. The north-west tower is very
ancient, but I am afi-aid to say its exact date. The south-west
tower was built by Archbishop Chichelli, about 1460. The
great tower was built, I think, by Prior Selling, Prior Gold-
stone, and Archbishop Morton, and finished in 1509. It is,
of course in the florid gothic. The nave was built in the 15th
century, about 200 years after the naves of Ely, Westminster-
Abbey, Salisbury, and Amiens in France. It is, of course, in
the ornamental gothic. That part of the Cathedral, from the
great transept to the east-end, was built in the 12th century,and
is in that style, which is vulgarly called Saxon, but ought to be
called Norman. If you were here, I should go on till you were
quite wearied, but I must now stop. If you were here, j'ou
would probably find that I remember minute events in my
life, and their dates as well as Parr did. You might also find

334 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
that I know by heart as much Greek, or a little less, or a
little more, than Parr knew. If you can form an idea of the
length of the longest passage, which he knew correctly, and
how many long passages he knew, I might be able to judge.
I am anxious to know, if you can forgive this strange and pro
lix Letter. What is its object ? To prove that my memory
is perhaps equal, perhaps superior to Parr's. Yet I would ¦
not for an instant compare it with Person's.
Yours very sincerely,
H. S. Boyd. "
Malvern- Wells, Worcestershire.

" Thursday-Morning, Dec. 27, 1827.
" Having said so much, I think it better to do the thing
completely, or nearly so. As I intend to pay the postage as a
matter of duty, I shall feel anxious to know if you get this
safely. I again assure you on my honour, that I write from
memory only. In cases, where I am not quite positive, I shall
say I think or I believe.
" In China there are one or two stupendous bells ; but
they are of a strange shape, have a hole at the top, and per
haps do not deserve to be called bells. — The largest bell in
Europe, is in a Church at Moscow - it weighs 57 tons. I
think the diameter is 13 feet. I shall not speak of that im
mense bell at Moscow, which never could be used. — At
Rouen there is a very large bell ; I think that the weight is
33,000 lbs., and the diameter 1 1 feet. — I think that the
great bell at Rheims weighs about 32,000 lbs. — At Notre-
Dame, in Paris, there is, or there was, a large bell weighing
30,000 lbs. I think the diameter is 10 feet. — There is an
immense bell somewhere in Germany, but I forget where. —

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 335
The largest bell in England is Tom of Oxford. It is said to
weigh 17,000 lbs., but I believe that its real weight is about
15,500 lbs. I believe the diameter is about 7 feet and a half.
It is not a fine bell. — Some say that the great bell at Exeter
weighs 4 tons ; others say that it weighs 6 tons. If this last
be true, it is the second largest in England. — Then comes St.
Paul's, and then great Tom of Lincoln. This last is the
most harmonious of all our large bells. I think that its
weight is not quite 94 cwt. — Then comes a large bell at Tong,
in Shropshire, which is said to weigh about 4 tons. — Next to
it is the great bell in Gloucester, which weighs, I believe, 65
cwt. I have already spoken of the tenors of York and Bow-
Church, London. This last is, I believe, the finest bell in
London. There is a very fine peal of 10 bells at St. Michael's,
Coventry ; the tenor weighs about 31 cwt, and is in the key of
D. The chimes there are very good, but the finest chimes in
England are at St. Philip's, Birmingham j the bells are 12 in
number, and the tenor weighs 36 cwt. — At Cirencester the
bells are of the same number, and the tenor of the same
weight — At Wells' Cathedral there are eight bells; the tenor
is in C, and weighs about 50 cwt. I believe this is the heavi
est peal of 8 bells in England, — The heaviest peal of 6 bells,
in England, is at Sherborne, in Dorsetshire. The tenor is
said to weigh from 45 to 50 cwt. — At Painswick, in Glouces
tershire is a fine peal of 10 bells, which has been increased to
12. Some years ago the tenor was cracked. It weighed 28
cwt. and it was, I believe, in i). The new tenor weighs about
25 cwt. I suppose it is in E, — At Litchfield, in the south
west tower, is a peal of 10 bells ; the tenor about 31 cwt. —
The finest peal in all England is perhaps that at Norwich. —
Let us now return to London. I have already spoken of the
fine peal at Bow-Church. But the finest peal in London, is
Christ-Church, Spital-Fields ; there are 12 bells ; the tenor
is in C, and weighs 44 cwt. — At St. Saviour's, Southwark, is
a deep peal of 12 bells ; the tenor is in C, and weighs about

336 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
50 cwt. — At St. Michael's, Cornhill, is a fine peal of 12 bells ;
I think that the tenor weighs about 41 or 42 cwt. At St.
Martin's, in the Fields, are 12 bells; the tenor weighs 34 cwt.
— At St Leonard's, Shoreditch, are 12 bells ; the tenor is 32
cwt. These bells, though nearly of the same size, have a
deeper sound than those of St. Martin's. — The smallest peal
of 12 bells in London, is that of St. Bride's ; the tenor weighs
about 27 cwt. — There is another peal of twelve bells, some
where in London, the tenor weighing about 41 cwt.; but I
forget in what Church they are. — At St, Clement Danes are
8 bells ; the tenor weighs only 20 cwt., and yet its diameter
is more than 4 feet. The reason is that the bell is thin. — I
could tell you of more bells, both in town and country ; but
I have surely said enough.
" St. Paul's great bell was cast by Phelp, or Phelps, White-
chapel, London. So also were the bells of St. Martin's. Those
at Bow-Church, York, Norwich, and several other places were
cast by Leslie and Pack, Whitechapel. I think, that the bells
at York cost £2,000. I beg you to observe that most of the
printed accounts ofthe weight of St. Paul's and other bells are
incorrect. So also are most of the accounts of the dimensions
of St. Paul's Cathedral. I was going to give you a full account
of them, from the extreme length and height of the building,
to the length of the minute-hand, the hour-hand, and the
figures on the dial-plates of the clock. Now, tell me candidly,
whose knowledge of bells is the greater, and more extensive ?
Do not think that I wish to detract from the merits of so great
and eminent a character as Dr. Parr : I do not wish it. But,
when you gave as a proof of his great memory, something iu
which I am at least equal, and perhaps superior, I could not
help putting in my claim. As all our faculties are the gifts of
God, I ought not to be vain. Memory is a noble faculty ; and
I hope it may please God to preserve mine, as well as my other
faculties, and my health, for some years to come. I am curious
to know whether you will be able to wade through all that I

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 337
have written, or whether you will fling it down in disgust,
perhaps into the fire. Again believe me your's, very sin
cerely, Hugh Boyd."
P. S. I could give you the dimensions of many Churches,
both at home and abroad. Let me give one of the latter.
The exquisite Cathedral of Rheims is in length 455 feet ; the
height of the west towers is 253 feet. It was begun, I think,
in 1211, that is four years before the nave of Ely, and nine years
before the naves of Westminster-Abbey, Salisbury, and
Amiens. I may as well fill up the sheet, and add that St.
Michael's, Coventry, is 300 feet long, and 300 high ; Boston
is 300 high ; Lowth 282. I think that St. Martin's and the
towers of Westminster-Abbey are of the same height ; that
is, 221 feet; and Bow-Church 224."

" Tuesday -Afternoon,
IReci- Jan. ith, 1828.]
" My wear Sir,
When I was writing a long Letter to you, on a
subject which you did not ask about, and which might, per
haps, prove a bore to you, I think it would have been incor
rect not to pay the postage.' I now write to answer your
questions, as well as I can. You ask me about the tenor-bell
at Harrow. I do not profess to give an account of all the bells
in England, but of those only, which are famous. I can, how
ever, say something about several, which are not famous.
Do not be offended, if I begin with Beverley. In the north
west tower I think there is a peal of eight bells : the tenor
has been said to weigh 50 cwt. It is nearly 20 years since I
was there. From the idea, which I now have, of the sound of
the bell, when the clock struck, I should think that it did not
weigh more than 32 cwt., or 36 cwt. at the most. It is possi-
Z

338 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
ble, however, that the clock strikes on the largest bell but one.
This is the case, or at least it used to be, at Dartford, in
Kent. The clock strikes on the seventh bell. At Hereford
the clock strikes on one of the smaller bells. Surely this is
most absurd. The tenor is a heavy bell, for it weighs, I
think, 44 cwt. If the clock struck upon it, it would surely
be heard for some miles round Hereford. I think that at War
wick there are 10 bells, and that the tenor weighs 28 cwt.
I know nothing of the effect of vibration upon steeples. I
am not a man of science. When I was a boy, I got hold of a
work translated from the French, called Nature Displayed.
In the eighth volume, (I think it was the eighth,) there was a
print of the beautiful west-front of St. Nicaise at Rheims,
which was destroyed during the French Revolution : the print
was given to illustrate a curious phenomenon. There were
several bells. When one particular bell was rung, one of the
buttresses of the tower moved to and fro', and was quite agi
tated. In the book there is a full account of it, andofthe
experiments made on it by scientific men.
You ask me about incorrect accounts of bells. Almost all
the printed accounts of St. Paul's great bell make it to be only
84 cwt. I told you its real weight in my last Letter. At the
same time. Great Tom of Oxford is said to weigh more than
it really does.
Dr. Parr and I certainly appear to have been cast in the same
mould, as far as bells are concerned. When quite a child, I
had an ardent desire to see the inside of a steeple, and I re
member something of the delight, which I felt, when my wish
was first gratified. I have often stood in the belfry at Mar
gate, when the bells were being rung, but I never rung, except
by myself. The tenor of Margate is a noble bell. It is in E.
It weighs 23 cwt. and about 50 lbs, and its diameter is, I think,
four feet and two inches. I have raised this bell myself, and
have rung it out, when raised.
Before I have done with bells, I will mention one thing.

THE REV; SAMUEL PARR, LL.D, 339
which ought to be generally known. Let us suppose, that at
Thetford, or any other place, the bells are old and rather worn.
Let us suppose, that the parish is poor, and cannot afford the
expence of new bells. By spending a few pounds, they can
make- the bells as good, or nearly as good, as at first. Let
them be turned in their sockets, about one quarter of the
whole circumference ; the clappers will then strike upon a new
part. It would be better that the bells should be turned one
sixth part of the circumference ; for, in that case, they could
be turned another sixth part at some future period.
From childhood I have been passionately fond of architec
ture. I think that the Roman is fine, that the Grecian is
very fine, but that the Gothic transcends them almost infi
nitely. I do not know if you are aware that the late Mr.
Lowry was a man of profound science, as well as a great artist.
Itwas his opinion that considered, on thewhole,Beverley-Min-
ster was the finest Gothic building in England. I prefer Lin
coln, and then York.
You ask me to tell you something about Hurd and Warbur
ton. You do not know what a confined mind I have. I ne
ver troubled my head about either of them, and scarcely ever
about Paley or Watson.
You must surely allow that to repeat long passages word
for word, is a greater thing, than to remember the mere sub
stance and matter of books. Yours very sincerely,
H. S. Boyd."
Malvern- Wells, Worcestershire.

" Wednesday -Evening, Jan. 9, J 828.
" It runs in my head that, when I sent you the double Let
ter about bells, I made a slight mistake. When speaking of
Z2

340 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
the comparative weight of our heaviest bells, I think that I
placed Gloucester next to Tong. On referring to the foolscap-
sheet, you will perceive that the great bell at Canterbury is
heavier than that at Gloucester.
You have said that in your Parriana you will record what
I have said of bells. It must give me great pleasure to be men
tioned by you even on that subject ; but I hope you will not
forget my Select Passages. To have translated Chrysostom's
Oration on Eutropius, and to have endeavoured to bring both
him, and Gregory, and Basil into public notice, is, I think, a
real honor. I have lately had read to me some of Chrj'sostom,
and a good deal of the other two. It really grieves me to
think of what an immensity of pleasure learned men deprive
themselves through their prejudices. Besides the eloquence,
which is great, and the learning, which is profound, Gregory's
two Orations against Julian contain several instances of shin
ing wit, and cutting satire. I am not a great laugher, but
I could not hear some passages read without feeling my risible
muscles a good deal distorted. Of these two Orations there
is an excellent edition in small 4to., printed at Eaton in
1610." E. H. B.]

" September 20th, 1826.
" My Dear Sir,
I am not a little gratified that my
Letter found from you a favourable reception.
I have not been in haste to reply, because you
did not seem to think it absolutely necessary.
UnwiUing, however, to be thought inattentive,
I again take up the pen, though I am not able
to send you the precious MSS. You shall receive

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 341
them as soon as we can unpack our luggage. In
the mean time you must be content with such
scraps of Parriana, as I can muster. I shall
give you them as they occur.
" The Doctor begged me one morning to take
him into S. P.'s belfry. Secured from interrup
tion, he proceeded to his intended object, which
was to raise, and fuU scientifically, the tenth or
largest bell : he set to work in silent, solemn for
mality. It took some time, I suppose a full
quarter of an hour ; for there was the raising,
the full funereal toll, and the regular toll. When
it was over, he stalked about the belfry in much
pomposity. At re-composing himself, he looked
at me with a smile, and said — ' There, what
think you of that?' He was evidently very
proud of the effort. It was this said tenor-bell,
that he could not bear to hear : he said it was
inharmonious, harsh, flat, and cut his ear. His
ear was indeed delicate in its perception of sound.
I believe I told you before that from the sound
of a bell he would tell you what weight of metal
it contained. " He was very fond of good music. There
was in my day a very eminent piano-forte player,
of Merton-College : I think his name was Hicks.
He was once upon a visit at  . The organ
at the old Church, S, M.'s, was very good, much
better than ours at S. P.'s. We accompanied

342 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
the Doctor down there to hear Hicks display the
beauties of this instrument. We sat at the altar,
the utmost distance from the organ. Parr said
to him, before he began, ' I desire you'U stop,
when I bid you ; for I will not be glutted.'
"I am anxious to communicate to you an.
event, which at the time caused me some morti
fication and pain. My Rector was a very ele
gant and able scholar. He was the most fasci
nating preacher, that ever entered a pulpit ; but
withal proud as Lucifer. Politics ran high at the
time ; Pitt was in his zenith ; Parr devoted to
Fox. Hence it was that my Rector, when in
residence at B., would not notice Parr. But
that made no difference to me. Once, and but
once, they met in S. P.'s vestry. I introduced
Parr, fully expecting that my Rector would re
ceive him with courtier-like graciousness ; but
no, nothing like it. For his usual, dove-like
meekness, there were assumed the peacock's
pride and consequential strut. He artfully took
special care to let Parr see that he intended to
treat him with contempt. However he appeared
to disregard, nay not to see it. Parr must have
felt stung to the quick. Had it been from Cur
tis, the Rector of St. Martin's, Birmingham,
Parr would have given him a second edition of
Peeping Charles of Coventry. But my Rector
was far more formidable. By the peculiar tact of

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 343
a thorough-bred courtier, he could assume a re
pulsive power, which neither Parr nor Johnson
could resist. After service was over, as we
walked along the churchyard in our way to
Dr,  , I stopped, (for I was bursting with
indignation, and could refrain no longer:) ' I
* cannot describe my mortification at the treat-
' ment you have received this afternoon.' ,He
had seen and marked it, and would doubtless
remember it. But there was no resentment, no
surprise, no comment : he took hold of my hand,
and with a benignant smile said : — * In your
' knowledge of the world you are a mere child ;
* with my age and my experience you will know
' the world better. Come along, lad, and think
' no more about it.' I do not recollect that during
the evening the subject was renewed : I have no
doubt that during their secret confabs he would
name it to 
" I remember on a Good-Friday, in the even
ing, about seven o'clock, he paid me an unex
pected, solitary visit. I was in my study, having
on a cottpn-dress. ' What, Sir ? clad thus, and
* on so holy a day ? ' ' The services ofthe day
' are over, and I am glad to sit at my ease.' ' Aye,
« aye — thus it is with you all — all eager to throw
' aside your canonicals. Not so when I was
' young : then the clergy were always in charac-
' ter. Why, even so lately as when I was Mas-

344 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' ter of the School at Norwich, I was never seen
' without a gown and cassock. Next in time
' they were worn only on visits and special occa-
' sions. Now they never appear but on Sundays,
' and are confined within the walls ofthe Church.
' This negligence in externals is injurious to the
' cause of religion. Sir, when you observe those
* holy lines of distinction, you at once make others
' respect you, and you at the same time respect
' yourself.' A great deal more was said, wliich
I have forgotten.
" It was on the same evening that the Doctor
for a long time kept his eyes stedfastly fixed on
a fine print of a crucifix suspended over the fire
place. I could not but notice the solemnity and
earnestness of his gaze. At length I ventured to
say : — ' May I presume. Sir, to request your
opinion upon that extraordinary personage?'
The Doctor started from his reverie, and with
vehement anger replied, ' I am surprised. Sir,
at the indelicacy of your request,' and then with
the finger's ends of one hand pointing to his
breast, he waved backward and forward in his
chair in much agitation. Thus he continued for
a considerable time. I was speechless, and
astounded with fear.
" Saturday, Sept. 23. I have been prevented
from finishing my Letter by company and busi
ness. I had, in compUance with your request.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 345
noted down several events, and many particular
observations, as they occurred to my mind from
time to time : not one of which I have inserted
in this sheet. Why not ? When I took up the
pen, my mind was occupied with what you wUl
find on this sheet, and I was unwilling to check
the rising current of my thoughts.
" You must excuse my saying more at the pre
sent than that I am, with great respect.
Your sincere friend.

Dec. 15, 1826.
" Let me now proceed to send such memora
bilia, as occur to my mind.
" Warburton and Tucker, as you know, were
contemporary. Bishop and Dean of the same Ca
thedral. Both were eminent, but very different
in the line of their studies. For many years they
were not even on speaking terms. It was on a
Good-Friday, not long before Warburton's death,
they were at the holy table together : before he
gave the cup to the Dean, he stooped down, and
said in tremulous emotion — ' Dean Tucker, let
this cup be the cup of reconciliation between us.'
There, Sir, is a precious morsel for you. It had
the intended effect : they were friends again to
their mutual satisfaction.

346 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
" I am not sufficiently conversant in War bur-
bur ton's writings, so as to speak of him with con
fidence. I do not think that he will long conti
nue to be much read. He will live to reflect
honour on our national literature ; but still he
has had his day. I often smile at Bishop Hurd's
servile adulation of hira. He wishes to descend
arm in arm to posterity with this great friend.
The volume of their Letters is poor, meagre
stuff: what an eternal bandying of silly compli
ments ! Then the exhibition of their portraits,
cheek by jowl ! The first sight of them excited
laughter and pity, and perhaps a degree of con
tempt. What a mixture of iblly and wisdom do
we see often in the same man ! Thus it is more
or less with us all. *
* [One of the most curious articles in the book is the men
tion of Noah's Ark, Warburton thus writeth p. 113. (Edn.
2d.) in Letter 4Gth, dated Bedford-Row, June 13, 1752. : —
" But you was made for higher things ; and my greatest plea
sure is that you give me a hint, you are impatient to pursue
them. What will not such a capacity and such a pen do, ei
ther to shame or to improve a miserable age ! The Church,
like the ark of Noah, is worth saving; not for the sake of the un
clean beasts and vermin, that almost filled it, and probably
made most noise and clamour in it, but for the little corner of
rationality, that was as much distressed by the stink within, as
by the tempest without." In Letter 47th, dated Prior-Park,
July 5, 1762. the facetious, but profane Bishop renews the
subject : — " You mention Noah's Ark. I have really forgot
what I said of it. But I suppose I compared the Church to it.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 347
" A friend has sent me from London a copy
of a book in duodecimo, Aphorisms, Opinions,
and Reflections of the late Dr. Parr, with a
Sketch of his Life, printed for J. Andrews, I67
New Bond Street. The Life is, for that of such
a man, below contempt : it can give a stranger
no correct idea of the Doctor. The selection
as many a grave divine has done before me. The Rabbins
make the giant Gog or Magog contemporary with Noah, and
convinced by his preaching. So that he was disposed to take
the benefit of the Ark. But here lay the distress ; it by no
means suited his dimensions. Therefore, as he could not en
ter in, he contented himself to ride upon it astride. And
though you must suppose that in that stormy weather he was
more than half-boots over, he kept his seat, and dismounted
safely, when the Ark landed on Mount Ararat. Image now
to yourself this illustrious Cavalier mounted on his hackney,
and see if it does not bring before you the Church, besfrid by
some lumpish minister of state, who turns and winds it at his
pleasure. The only difference is that Gog believed the preach
er of righteousness and religion."
Should William Hone, the bookseller, have been tried for
political parodies ? when Bishop Warburton could write in this
manner aboiit biblical history, and when Bishop Hurd 41
years afterwards gravely, and with one leg in the grave, says
in the advertisement prefixed to the volume : — " These Let
ters give so true a picture of the writer's character, and are be
sides so worthy of him in all respects, (I mean if the reader
can forgive the playfulness of his wit in some instances, and
the partiality of his friendship in many more,) that, in honour
of his memory, I would have them published after my death,
and the profits arising from the sale of them, applied to the
benefit of the Worcester-Infirmary.''

348 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
from his works is made apparently at random,
without method, taste, or judgment. You must
have seen this catchpenny-thing, which I should
not have noticed but to explain to you a circum
stance respecting Parr and White, the late Ara
bic and Hebrew Professor at Oxford. In this
little book are several quotations from White's
Bampton-Lectures. Why this ?
" White was a very extraordinary man, of great
profundity as an Asiatic linguist. He was first
discovered by the late Dean Tucker, working as
a poor apprentice to a poor weaver in a village
either in Gloucestershire or Somersetshire.* At
this village at a certain day was to be a dinner-
* [This account, which is probably the more correct, does
not agree with the statement in Chalmers's Biographical Dic
tionary, (where the Gentleman's Magazine V. 84. is referred
to : — ) " Joseph White, an eminent oriental scholar. Canon
of Christ-Church, Regius Professor of Hebrew, and Laudian
Professor of Arabic in the University of Oxford, was born
in 1746, of parents in low circumstances in Gloucester,
where his father was ajourneyman-weaver, and brought up
his son to the same business. Being, however, a sensible
man, he gave him what little learning was in his power at
one of the Charity-Schools at Gloucester. This excited a
thirst for greater acquisitions in the young man, who em
ployed all the time he could spare in the study of such
books, as fell in his way. His attainments, at length, at
tracted the notice of a neighbouring gentleman of fortune,
who sent him to the University of Oxford, where he was
entered of Wad ham-College." E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 349
party. The Dean, strolling about before dinner,
chanced to go into the poor weaver's shop. He
picks up a dirty, shattered Greek Testament.
' How comes this here ? Who reads this book.?'
' Sir, my lad is always poring over such books.'
On speaking to the lad, he found him well versed
in Greek and Latin. By appointment he waited
upon the Dean in the afternoon, who introduced
him to the company. Some collection v/as made
for him. Tucker undertook the care of him ;
put him to school at Gloucester, and from thence
sent him to Oxford. Here he gradually rose in
academical success — Fellow of Wadham, Pro
fessor of Arabic, Canon of Christ-Church, He
brew Professor. But I hasten to bring White in
contact with Parr.
"White, while Fellow of Wadham, was appoint
ed to preach the Bampton-Lectures. Much and
varied learning was expected from him ; but his
friends trembled for his English ; not supposing
him capable from want of habit of English com
position. But, to the surprise of the literary
world, he came forward, exhibiting a most
splendid specimen of pure, elegant English ;
more elaborate than Addison, — less sonorous
indeed, but not less dignified than Johnson, ¦ —
equal to Parr in purity of diction, though it must
be confessed far his inferior in splendour of ima
gery, in variety of style, in varied and unusual

350 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
phraseology, in originality, which surprises with
unexpected delight, and in that perpetually va
rying order in the construction of his sentences,
in the collocation of his words, by which he sum
moned afwill to his service troops of metaphors
and old words, made to express new ideas. If
White does not astound his reader with awe, like
Johnson, — if, with Parr, he does not captivate
with new and unexpected delight, he is that
well-bred, that elegant English gentleman, who
is received everywhere with profound respect,
and with a smile of grateful welcome, because
he pleases all, and because he benefits all.
" But I crave mercy, — let me not lose sight
of Parr. The first question, after surprise had
subsided, was. Whence hath this man all this
eminence in style ? For a time all was mystery
— at length it was cleared. It seems that White,
sensible of his own inability, applied to the late
Mr. Badcock for assistance. Badcock having
conducted the Monthly Review for 50 years,* was
well versed in the art of composition. Of this
Parr [[White] was fully aware : he applies to
Badcock — terms are settled — and the bargain is
made. Great secrecy is enjoined. Though
White had the simplicity of a child from his ig
norance of tiie world, yet he shews upon this
* [Badcock was a considerable contributor to this peri
odical, but not the conductor. E. H, B.J

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 351
occasion much cunning. To avoid suspicion,
the Lectures, as they were forwarded from Bad
cock, were not delivered to him at CoUege, but
he walked on the Abingdon-road to meet the
coach, and receive the expected MSS. from the
coachman. Observe that this was sometimes on
Sunday-morn, when he was to preach : so you
see, he drove fine, to a hair ! Simple, thought
less, imprudent man ! Sometimes he by this
means kept them waiting for him at St. Mary's.
All this, and more than this, I remember being
the subject of conversation, when I was a young
ster and an under-graduate ; and therefore it is
that I am somewhat prolix.
" At length the secret came out, and thus it
was. After Badcock's death, in examining his
papers, his sister found that White owed her
brother a certain sum, the remainder of what was
unpaid for the job, or assistance given in the
Lectures ! She wrote to White, who at that time
was Poverty personified. Unable to pay, he he
sitates, demurs, denies, or refuses ! In reading
this, who does not blush, and lament that the
fine gold is become dim ? The secret once out,
became the subject of general conversation ; but
White never sunk, but still kept his head firmly
aloft, and was still generally beloved and re
spected. In the materials he had given Bad
cock abundance of learned lore, and the skele-

352 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
ton of each Sermon was minutely exact, copious,
and the parts judiciously arranged. He gave
directions as to the difference of style, which
each Lecture would require, and was very par
ticular that Badcock should reserve all the powers
of his eloquence for the conclusion of the fifth
Lectv/re. " But in his solicitations for assistance, he did
not confine himself to Badcock. The whole
work was finally sent to Parr for the last exquisite
polish. He added a new conclusion to the fifth,
and supplied many copious notes : among these,
those upon miracles must be especially noticed,
" While poor White was thus stripped of his
borrowed plumes, there was a certain Dr. Ga
briel of Bath, who came forward, and put in his
claims, and with unblushing impudence asserted
that he wrote the fifth.* Here Parr could no
longer refrain  'It was never my intention,'
said he, ' to make known my secret services to
' White ; but this Gabriel forces me. Rather
' than let that lying coxcomb thus claim what
' is not his own, I must speak out ; I wrote the
' conclusion of the fifth. He write it indeed!'
It was at this very time White and Gabriel were
* [" Gabriel, however, a man neither of literary talents nor
character, was at the head of an envious junto, who were de
termined to injure Dr. White, if they could." Chalmers's
Biogr. Diet. E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 353
forced into close contact in the Convocation-
house at an election for a Vinerian scholarship.
I was near them, and was entertained with
White's ¦ sort of bullying grunt, and Gabriel's
puffing pomposity.
" I have reason to believe that Parr afforded
some aid to Kett in his Bampton-Lectures. I
remember that the Doctor, in speaking of Kett,
shewed evidently that he was not partial to him.
' When I am with Kett,' said he, ' / am never
otherwise than wary.'
" He was in the Theatre, when Richards re
cited his Prize-poem, The Aboriginal Britons.
He listened with delight, and observed that there
was a happy medium between Pope and Dryden.
" I believe I have now nearly exhausted my
budget. I see but two items left in my little
paper-strip of memorabilia.
" One is that I was surprised to see so many
strange people call upon Parr, when at Dr. — ^'s :
these not gentlemen of literature, but mere
tradesmen, political friends, whom he received
with the political slang of ' citizen, ' or ' brother.'
I should think that he dropped these latterly,
provided they would let him drop them. A Mrs.
B., the widow of an attorney, whom he had once
visited in his prosperity, among others frequently
called upon him. She was a vain, talkative, sUly
woman, and had a very lovely daughter, who
A 2

354 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
was upon sale. But our host was shy, and was
always annoyed by her visitations. She was an
nounced one morning : we were in the back-par
lour. Our poor host was convulsed with anger
and passion — Parr pacified him — ' Come, never
mind, I'll go to her.' Our host must indeed have
been much inconvenienced by the numerous vi
sitors, which Parr in his very frequent visits
brought to his house.
" In speaking of the prints of him, that had
been published, he observed — ' All the artists,
' to whom I have sat, faU in one feature — none
' of them give me my peculiar ferocity.' O that
an artist had taken him, when he had assumed
the ferocious in S. P.'s pulpit ! M. G. and W. D,,
two. young bankers, were quizzing him, as he
mounted the pulpit — his figure, his wig, the
fulness of his dress, &c, : they still kept playing
the fool, after they were discovered. The Doc
tor set them like a pointer ; but stUl they were
undismayed. At length the singing is ended, —
there is silence, — no preacher's voice is heard,
— all eyes are directed to the pulpit, — there
stands the Doctor ; he turned direct to the offen
ders, ferocious as a lion ready to dart at his prey.
The poor puppies are soon abashed, chop-faUen,
and have no courage to lift up their heads during
the remainder ofthe service. Here was his fero
city in aU its wUdest grandeur. An artist could

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 355
not express it, while it was dormant. To express
it properly, he must have seen it, as when ex
cited into fuU action in S. P.'s pulpit.
" To me he never appeared more striking than
when some emotion induced him to throw up his
eye-brows, and exhibit his eyes. Thus have I
seen him sometimes fascinate with a bewitching
smUe — sometimes you gazed in amaze, while he
laughed outright — his whole frame then shook
in convulsive motion — he did not, as somebody *
observed of Johnson, ' laugh like a rhinoceros ; '
no, it was aU good-humour without any sarcastic
sneer. Sometimes when thus with brows ele
vated, he appeared absorbed in some secret ad
miration — the sentiment, which he then inspired,
was awe — it forbade a word, or a breath — but
the flash of his anger was inexpressibly terrific.
" The prints, that I have seen of him, as like
nesses, are very defective. The first is too se
raphic, — not sufficiently mortal ; the second
bears a somewhat better resemblance ; the third
is the best by far. There you have the real man ;
but stUl there is somewhat of the caricature.
You see genius, good-humour, and all the fea
tures well expressed — all/hese I must have, but
I must also have more, a something to inspire
me with respect. The print affixed to this book
is copied from the last-published print ; but it
* [Tom DavieSj mentioned by Boswell. E. H. B.]
2 A2

356 PARRIANA ; OR NOTICES OF
differs in this respect : here the face is turned to
the left, in the large print he is more easy, and
turned to the right. The large print is the best
of the two. I once heard him lament that no
artist had ever given a good likeness of him :
' Sir, they wUl not express my ferocity.' On this
he seemed to pride himself.
" He had a great dislike to infuriated, high-
church politics. Hence at dinner-parties his
aversion to the toast of ' Church and King,' ' the
King and his friends,' etc, etc. His favourite
toast was ' Old England.'
" What he drank was chiefly before the cloth
was drawn. He soon took his pipe, with which
he took weak wine and water : he was temperate,
but not abstemious.
" Like Johnson, he loved good living, though
he professed to disregard it. He was fond of a
shoulder of mutton roasted. I have heard him
give directions that it should be sent to table, co
vered with a brown incrustation of salt and flour.
His favourite part ofthe joint, to which he Uked
to help himself, was that which contained no
thing but fat — it lies opposite the part that is first
carved. This he would cut not into slices, but
into a large circular lump : he caUed it a ' hunch.*
" I have already observed that he loved good
music, and would enjoy a song, during which he
would occasionaUy introduce a few notes, as
counter-tenor, tenor, or bass.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 257
" The Doctor was rather fond of a rubber at
whist at a party. Before the game began, he ob
served : ' Gentlemen I never play higher than a
penny-corner.' At this rate he would always
pay and be paid.
" If he had smoked much, and the room was
warmj he would frequently refresh himself with
a water-glass and a napkin.
" I never sat in a pew with him at Church, and
therefore cannot speak of him from personal ob
servation ; but our host told me that he was very
attentive, and at parts of the conclusion of the
Litany seemed by his motions to be in a sort of
extatic convulsion.
" You wUl see in one or two of the Letters
that my Rector's rudeness had made a deep im
pression upon Parr's mind, and that in few words
he delineates his character with the pencil of a
master. " I was once surprised to hear Parr not speak
as I should have expected on the acquisition of
the knowledge of Hebrew. I lamented to him
my total ignorance of it, and that my heavy pro
fessional engagements, together with the cursed
system of visiting, in which I was necessarUy in
volved, deprived me of most of my time, so that
I had little or no leisure for any private study.
To my observation respectingHebrew, and that we
ought to be as conversant in the original language

358 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
of the Old Testament as of the New, he made
a scornful reply, — a mere pish at it. This
surprised me in such a man as Parr ; but it struck
me at the time that he might thus speak, and
thereby justify his own partial knowledge of that
language. I have reason to think his knowledge
of it was very superficial.
" The following is a MS. Prayer by Parr, to be
used before the Sermon — Kett gave it to me as
Parr's, but I know not its date : —
' Almighty and ever-lasting God ! who art al-
* ways more ready to hear than we to pray, and art
' wont to give more than either we ask or de-
' serve, pour down upon us the abundance of thy
' mercies, — increase our faith, — confirm our
* hope, — enlarge our charity — Preserve us, we
' beseech me, from the numberless temptations
' of a most corrupt world — Give us attention to
' hear thy holy word, wisdom to understand, and
' steadiness to follow it — And finaUy, we beseech
• thee, O Lord God of mercies ; to deliver us
' from the guUt and misery of aU sin, through the
' merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, in obedi-
' ence to whose command, and by the aid of
' whose instruction, we thus caU upon thee — Our
' Father, etc.*
* [A very intelligent clergyman, a very liberal-minded man,
and a very excellent friend, to whom I am indebted for much
information respecting Dr. Parr, thus writes in a Letter dated
Febr. 1828 : —

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 359
"I know not how Dr. Parr came to send the fol
lowing interesting observations on the Prayer in
our Liturgy, 0 God, whose nature and property
" You enquire of me about his opinions on theological sub
jects. His Catalogue, I conceive, displays almost circumstan
tially his very free and liberal sentiments. And yet in some
of his tracts he speaks of the ' wilds of latitudinarianism.' I
write now from memory. This is not quite consistent with
what so frequently escaped him In conversation. One speci
men I can give, which occurred when he was last at my house.
He observed that the Lord's Prayer was evidently designed
for his disciples ; though by a parity of circumstance it might
be accommodated to and adopted by every Christian. The
dffJ ro3 wowjgoij he understood to mean ' the human perse
cutor,' and I believe thought very lightly of Satanic influence.
He was aware that the hints did not shock his hearer, who had
accustomed himself to think religionem simplicem et incorru-
ptam nisi salva libertate stare non posse."
In a very recent Letter from the same friend, dated Febr.
18, 1828. occur the following words : — " With regard to Dr.
Parr's theological opinions, I know that he was a complete la
titudinarian. You suppose that he might imbibe his sentiments
of Satanic influence from a book by Mr. Richard Wright."
An Essay on the Existence of the Devil, and his Influence on
the Human Mred, Liverpool, 1810. 12mo. ; it is mentioned in
the Bibliotheca Parriana p. 129.) " I should rather think he
would take his ply from an admirable Essay by Mr. Simpson of
Bath," (who published Thoughts on the New Testament Doc
trine of Atonement, 1802. 8vo. ; An Essay on the Duration of
a Future State of Punishments and Rewards, 1803. 8vo. ; Es
says on the Language of Seripture, 2 vol. Bath, 1808. 8vo. ;
Additional Essays on the Language of Scripture, 1810. 8vo.
The two last-mentioned works occur in the Bibliotheca Parr-

360 PARRIANA ; OR NOTICES OF
is ever to have mercy and to forgive I' I suppose
I might have asked his opinion about its proper
place : —
iana p. 98. with this notice, ' The gifts of the amiable and
intelligent author. S.P.')
" I scarcely need remind you that in his excellent Letter
from Irenopolis, which 1 deem the best of his publications, after
paying a just tribute to the high worth of Priestley's character,
he avowed a dissent from him in toto on the doctrine of ' the
pre-existence.' What his opinion might be subsequently, I
would not venture to decide, but latterly he became more than
tolerant to ' the heretics.' This it is, which the high-church
folk have pounced upon. The article in the British Critic I
have not a doubt proceeds from the virulent temper of N. of
Hackney. A more thorough-paced bigot I never conversed
with ; and yet in private life I am told he is benevolent and
amiable. Such is too often the inconsistency of human nature!"
The passage, to which my friend adverts, does not occur in
the Letter from Irenopolis ,- but I suppose the following words
to be his allusion : — " Besides paying and receiving all these
visits, I have condescended to accept from Dr. Priestley some
of his controversial publications ; I have dared to write to him
three or four Letters, and vouchsafed to receive from him four
or five ; nay, I have carried my complaisance so far, as to ex
amine with great accuracy, and with little or no change of my
original and orthodox opinion, the dispute in which this He-
resiarch was engaged with an Illustrious Prelate. Upon one
topic, (I mean the scriptural evidence for the miraculous con
ception,) where my fixed belief is diametrically opposite to that
of Dr. Priestley, I confessed myself dissatisfied with some ar
guments used by his antagonist. Upon other topics, I con
demned the austerity of that antagonist's spirit, though I have
always given him just and ample credit for mathematical know-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 361
' Dear Sir, You wiU hear what I have to say on
' the conversation between Dean Tucker and
' Mr. C.
' Nichols speaks ofthe Prayer for Pardon as
• introduced in the time of King James, and
' standing originally after the second Prayer in
' the Ember-weeks, but placed by a blunder of
* the printers in 1662, after the Prayer for all
' Conditions, when the Commissioners made them
' strike it out, and print a new leaf, where it was
' placed before the Prayer for the Parliament.
' I can account for the blunder of the printers
' in the transposition. The Prayer originaUy
* was at the end of the Collects ; the Prayers for
• the Parliament andfor all Conditions wereadded
' at the last review, as was also the general
' Thanksgiving, and the printers stiU wished to
' keep the Prayer in question at the end of the
• Collects. ' Wheatley agrees with Nichols as to the time
ledge, for classical erudition, for acuteness of reasoning, and
for splendour of diction.'' A Sequel to the printed Paper p.
103. edn. 2.
I may conclude this note with the remark that, when Dr.
Parr states his ' fixed belief on the scriptural evidence for the
miraculous conception' to be ' diametrically opposite to that of
Dr. Priestley,' but at the same time declares his ' dissatisfaction
with some arguments used by his antagonist,' the expressed
' dissatisfaction' would be of itself no more a proof of his he-

36^ PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' and circumstance of the transposition, and the
' order ofthe Commissioners ; but he says p. 186,
' that it was added in the second book of Edward
• Vlth, and not by order of James I. But, whUe
' he corrects Nichols's mistake, he himself faUs
' into another, and in p. 535, he informs us that
' the Prayer was first added in Queen Elizabeth's
' Common-Prayer.
' Comber has paraphrased the Prayer, and in
* p. 368, he says : — It is an appendix ofthe Li-
' tanies of the Western Church, and retains the
' marks of primitive devotion. This position
' he would Ulustrate first by quoting from Theo-
* doric, Ut quern delictoru/m catena constringit,
' magnitudo tuce pietatis absolvat ; and secondly,
* by referring to the Sarum-Missal p. 66, where
' is the Gregorian Sacrament. Lhave not the
* Sarum-Missal ; but I have a fine coUection of
' Liturgies by Muratorius, published at Venice
' in 1547, and there is the Sacramentarium Gre-
' gorianum, sive Sacramentorum Ordo, composed
terodoxy on that point, than his declaration, that ' the argu
ments' of Bishop Burgess on the Trinity ' do not convince him,'
is of itself a proof that Dr. Parr rejected the doctrine ; and yet
Mr. Bewley, (on good grounds supposed to be a fictitious cha
racter, and referred to in Mr. Field's Memoirs of Dr. Parr,
1, 301. as a real name,) in the Gentleman's Magazine, reasons
just as if the declaration of non-conviction as to certain argu
ments were tantamount to the rejection of the doctrine in
volved in them.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 363
' by Pope Gregory I. In the Sacramentarium
' there are many vestiges ofthe matter, which we
' read in the Collect for Pardon. Thus in p.
' 343. : JEterne Deus, cui proprium est ac singu-
' lare, qusd bonus es, et mdla umquam a te es
' commutatione diversus, propitiare, qu^sumus,
' supplicationibus nostris, et ecclesice tu,ce miseri-
' cordiam tuam, quam deprecatur, ostende, etc.
' This you see resembles the opening of the
' Prayer, and is appointed in the Missal for the
' Nativity of Christ. But the very words of our
' Collect are to be found in p. 248, in a long ca-
' talogue of Prayers pro Peccatis : Deus, cui
' proprium est miser eri et par cere, suscipe depre-
' cationem nostram, et quos delictorum catena con-
' stringit, miseratio'tu^ pietatis absolvat.
* Now, my friend, I have brought you to the
* fountain-head ofthe objection.
' The Dean of Gloucester, probably, knew
• only what he had read in Comber ; but I pro-
' duce the very words from a Romish Liturgy.
' What then ? There is no matter in them par-
' ticularly Romish, and I should say the same of
' many other Prayers, which precede, and which
* follow it. Yet, as it first was adopted from a
' Romish Liturgy in the contentious days of Eli-
' zabeth, our forefathers shewed their usual wis-
' dom in not commanding, but permitting this
' Collect to be read — Yet their successors thought

364 PARRIANA ; OR NOTICES OF
• it a good Prayer, and not only retained it, but
' were anxious to preserve its original, and there-
' fore right place in our Liturgy, But who would
• cry out Popery against him, who used it ? I
' should pardon a Dissenter, but not a Dean for
' doing so.
' Are you PapisticaUy incUned, because you
' read our Sacramental service ? Behold what
' Gregory writes in this very Sacramentarium
' p. 1. : Vere dignum etjustu/m est, cequum et sa-
' lutare, nos tibi semper et ubiqus gratias agere,
• Domine sancte. Pater omnipotens, ceterne Deus,
' per Christum Dominum nostrum. Some matter,
* which follows these words, is Papistical, and
' therefore our excellent forefathers have omitted
' it; but in the Collect for Pardon there is no
' doctrinal matter, which called for omission,
' You and I shall continue to use the Collect,
* though for reasons given by Wheatley and Ni-
' chols, we should read it before the Prayer for
' Parliament, if it be worth whUe to alter a harm-
' less custom.
* Now in this very Sacramentarium there are
* five Prayers to be used in time of war, and I
• think four of them preferable to the Prayer in
' our Liturgy ; the three, which occur in p. 358,
' (or 858,) and the first, which occurs in p. 67,
' are more satisfactory to my judgment, and yet I
' would not innovate, though I am conscious of

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 365
' no Papistical propensities in approving of them.
' Tell Mr. C. that to an edition of Aratus, pub-
' lished at Oxford in I672, I have three Greek
' Hymns, marked with Greek notations. The
' Hymns are from Dionysius : there is also part
' of one of Pindar's Odes, to which are affixed the
' Greek musical marks. They are in the Lydian
' mode. ' I am truly your friend, and obedient servant,
S. Parr.'
'Nov. 24.'

" I send you a short Letter, without date, con
taining observations on the character of the late
Dr. Johnstone of Worcester, father of the gen
tlemen at Birmingham : —
' I am exceedingly concerned for the loss the
' Dr. Johnstones have sustained by the death of
' their celebrated father. The length of his ex-
' perience, the soundness of his judgment, the
' vigour of his understanding, and the variety of
' his knowledge, wiU always make me consider
' him as a man* far raised above the generality of
' his medical brethren, and entitled to the respect
* of every man distinguished by literary or intel-
' lectual exceUence.'
" I send you also Dr. Parr's character ofthe
candidate for Aldridge-School : —

366 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' Dear Sir,
* This Letter wUl be delivered to you by
' Mr. Mac Evoy, who is candidate for a School
' at Aldridge, the mastership of which is now va-
' cant ; and to whom I entreat you to do any ser-
• vice, that may be in your power. His father
' lives at Kyneton in Warwickshire, where he
'serves three Churches, and from his laborious
' exertions is entitled, as a brother clergyman, to
' my good-wishes. The bearer was educated in
' the excellent School of Christ's Hospital, and
' left it when he was fifteen ; he continued un-
' der the care of his father tUl he was seventeen ;
* and though circumstances did not admit of his
' being sent to either of the Universities, he was
' in my judgment very properly employed for the
' improvement of his mind, and the increase of
' his knowledge. Afterwards he lived with a
' printer at Dudley for two years and a half; he
' has a Testimonial from Dr. Booker, in favour of
' his conduct, and I need not explain to a man of
' your learning and sagacity, that a young person
' might in such a situation have many opportuni-
' ties for directing his attention, very dUigently
' and very profitably, to the cultivation of his in-
' tellect. From Dudley he went to Castle-Brom-
' wich, where he was teacher of the Latin lan-
' guage, and from whence he removed, because
' the master ofthe academy found it convenient

THE REV, S.'VMUEL PARR, LL.D. 367
' to femploy a foreigner in the double capacity of
' a French and Latin teacher. Since that time
' he has kept a School in Birmingham, and I
* should suppose that he can be furnished with
' proper recommendations from his employers in
' that town. Upon conversing with him I have
' sufficient reasons to believe that he is amply
' qualified for the situation, in which he wishes
« to be placed at Aldridge, and my earnest request
' is that you would have the goodness to recom-
' mend him to any ofthe electors, with whom you
' may happen to the acquainted. I understand
' that Mrs. S. is one of them, and I am sure that
' your wishes will have great influence in deter-
' mining her choice upon such an occasion. He is
* a married man, and this circumstance will appear
' to you, as well as to myself, of considerable im-
' portance. If it were my fortune to know person-
' ally any of the electors, I should write to them
' in behalf of Mr. Mac Evoy, and as it is not, I
' leave you at liberty to communicate this Letter, —
' a proof, not only of my earnest wishes for his suc-
' cess, but of«my firm conviction that he deserves
' to be successful.
' I thank you, dear Sir, for your kind Letter,
' and on Monday next I shall be with you at B.
' I have the honour to be, with great respect,
'Your much obliged Friend,
' And most humble Servant,
'March '25th, 1802.' S. Parr.'

368 PARRIANA ; OR NOTICES OF
" Here ends my budget. Nothmg else occurs
at present. You are at fidl liberty to make what
use you may think proper of what I have com
municated. " In the bundle oi Letters you are to receive,
you wiU have new lights thrown upon Parr's
character, I have never seen any of his lighter
Letters, when the mind is unbent, and the wri
ter is without restraint, and lets you see his in
most soul, and the man without disguise. The
Letters of Pope, Warburton, Swift, and Hurd,
are stUf, and do not shew the real man. But in
the Letters of Johnson in general, and especiaUy
in those to Mrs. Thrale, you have the artless
lucubration of an honest, generous, and noble
heart, — without disguise, and without hypo
crisy. " If I have anything more to send about Parr,
you may depend upon having it. I am sensible
that what I have sent you from time to time, is all
true ; and however meagre, stUl it may afford you
materials, upon which to enlarge, as occasion may
require. I am anxious for the speedy appearance
of your work, because the smaU two-penny book,
to which I have aUuded, and others are not only
to be regretted, but may damp the ardour of the
public for more general and respectable biography.
I hope the Doctor's Works will contain all, and
I hope that the Executors will not omit the Sequel.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 369
" Now, my good Sir, I congratulate you on at
length coming to an end of a long and tedious
Epistle. I have complied with your requests to
the best of my power, and sincerely lament that
my efforts are not better worthy your acceptance,
and more conducive to your benefit in the pro
secution of your work. May health and happi
ness and success attend yourself, and family, and
aU your honest undertakings ! I speak in sincerity ;
for, as the friend of Parr, you must be a good
man. And what more than 1 hat I conclude with
my signature, and the usual, but in this instance
not complimentary phraseology ?
' Your friend and admirer,
* * * "
" Nov. 7th, 1826.
" I have at last been able to get at my papers,
and find that I have more MSS. by Parr to send
you than I expected. I am so bewildered by the
multiplicity of papers before me, that I hardly
know what to select first in preference. Impri
mis : the Testimonial from the great Doctor in
my favour. As a composition, it possesses such
superlative excellence, and so great is my own
interest in the preservation of so highly flattering
a paper, that I cannot prevail upon myself to
trust a document, to me of infinite value, to the
precarious mode of conveyance by coach, or
2B

370 PARRLVNA : OR NOTICES OF
through the medium of friends. I, therefore, to
satisfy my own fears, and to ensure its security,
shall in this sheet send you an exact and literal
copy : — ' Hatton, May 2, 1802.
' Gentlemen, ' Though I have not the honour to be per-
' sonally acquainted with you, yet I trust that you
' wUl excuse the liberty I take in bearing my
' sincere and decided testimony to the character
' of Mr  , who is now a candidate for the va-
' cant Chapel of H. I am happy and proud to
' caU him my friend ; for I have heard his public
' instructions, — I have been pleased by his pri-
' vate conversation. Therefore I know the purity
' of his principles upon subjects the most inte-
' resting to the honour of the Established
' Church, and to the influence of religion upon
' the understandings and the hearts of those, by
' whom it is reverentially considered as the rule
"of their actions, and the foundation of their
* hopes. ' With unfeigned and serious approbation I
' have long observed his diUgence ^nd zeal in the
' discharge of his clerical duties. They have
' impressed me more strongly, because they were
' unaccompanied with selfish views, or ostenta-
' tious display ; because they were uniformly

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 371
' directed to the improvement both of the rich,
' and of the poor, and above all, because they
' were enforced by the authority of virtuous ex-
' ample. ' Few Clergymen have more deservedly, and
' more extensively obtained the esteem of their
' hearers, and the confidence of their friends; and
' sure I am that, if Mr.  should be thought
' worthy of your support, his good sense, his
' good manners, the uprightness of his intentions,
' and the activity of his exertions, will amply
' justify your choice, as well as my own recom-
' mendation. ' I have the honour to be. Gentlemen,
' With great respect,
' Your most obedient humble Servant,
Samuel Parr.'
' To the Trustees of the Chapel of H. S.'
" There, Sir, though it be only a transcript,
its internal evidence testifies its authenticity.
For the author must be aut Parr aut Diabolus /*
* [Wlien my learned friend, the Rev. Thomas Kidd, now
Master of Wymondham-School, was a candidate for the Mas
tership of Lynn-School, Dr. Parr thus powerfully and justly
urged Mr. Kidd's claims in a Letter addressed to a friend, who
has obligingly favoured me with the extract : —
" July 1, 1818'. You well know the interests, which I take
in the cause of education, and the length of time, during
which I was myself employed as a teacher of youth. You
2B2

372 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
" I have studied, with some degree of atten
tion, the genius and gradual history of the Eng
lish Language, and do not hesitate to say that by
Johnson and Parr it has been brought to its pre
sent high state of perfection. Johnson at times
astounds by his awful solemnity : Parr captivates,
delights, enraptures his reader by sudden bursts
of heavenly splendour, never before beheld by
will, therefore, in my name, respectfully communicate to the
electors of Lynn-School the testimonial I am going to bear to
the merits of Mr. Kidd, as a candidate for the Mastership now
vacant. "¦ I can from direct personal knowledge assure the electors
that Mr. Kidd is one of the best scholars in this kingdom.
His acquaintance with the writings of the most celebrated
critics is very extensive ; his judgment on their comparative
excellencies is correct ; his memory is ready and exact on the
most abstruse questions of philology. His erudition far ex
ceeds what, in the ordinary course of instruction, can be re
quired from the Head-Masters even of Eton, or Winchester,
or Harrow. He was highly esteemed by the late Professor
Porson, and by our common friend. Dr. Charles Burney. He
has deservedly obtained the praise of scholars, English and
Foreign, by his publications, — some valuable writings of
Ruhnken, which he has edited, and on which his notes are
judicious, — some writings of Porson, which he has occasion
ally illustrated, and the famous book of Richard Dawes, to
which he has made some useful additions, which do credit to
his learning and acuteness. I have to add that his manners
are quite unaffected, his temper mild, and the general charac
ter of his mind ingenuous and benevolent."
Mr. Kidd was elected, and in all probability this Letter se
cured his election. E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 373
mortal eye. In the style of Parr there is a great
er variety and originality ; he has twisted our lan
guage into an endless diversity of fascinating
delusions ; he has made it express more than
ever Johnson did. General utility predominates
in the Johnsonian scale ; he balances his sen
tences with the nicest accuracy. So also does our
Grecian sage ; but he often makes one scale kick
the beam by his sudden corruscations of wit, his
V matchless union of Athenian elegance with Eng
lish manliness, of Spartan simplicity with English
policy and English liberty. But I check my pen :
I am swerving from the point, which ought alone
to direct me."
[The subject was thus resumed in the Letter
dated Dec. 15, 1826. E. H. B.]
" Parr certainly had read more, and was con
sequently conversant with more and various
writers. These he retained, and seems to have
quoted them with ease. He had, beyond all com
parison, more classical learning. Here he was
quite at home ; and had used playfuUy to say
— ' Porson is the flrst Greek scholar; I am the
second.' Their hearts — it is not so easy to speak
upon this topic. When we speak of a man's
heart, we include his moral and religious con
duct, and necessarUy must refer to much secret
feeling and private principle : it is difficult to as
certain these with certainty, in some instances

374 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
not at all. Both abounded with the milk of hu
man kindness ; both liberal with their purse, and
that too at a time when they were harassed with
poverty ; and both ever ready to assist their lite
rary friends with advice and the pen. Of their
writings, I think it must be allowed that Johnson
is more generaUy useful, because he is more in-
teUigible to common minds. Not so Parr : — he
is almost always to be considered as a scholarwrit-
ing to scholars. Of their style, Johnson, with aU
his gloomy notions, has showed more wit than
Parr. In his Rambler he is serious, solemn, and
awful. The papers want to be enlivened by va
riety and lighter subjects, such as are exhibited
in the Idler. I do not say that he knew human
life better than Parr ; but he has certainly given
us numberles specimenss of real life in endless va
riety. In this respect Parr is certainly his infe
rior. In reading Parr I do not remember that he
ever excited a smUe, never but once a laugh, and
that was in the Sequel : as he returned from the
interview at Dr. Marsh's at Coventry, (I think
that was his name,) he amused himself by draw
ing a comparison between Peeping Charles, (Cur
tis,) and Peeping Tom of Coventry.* In their
* [" On Monday the 7th of November," says Dr. Parr p.
32. edn. 2d. " I went to Coventry, where I found that Mr. C.
had caused his paper to be circulated, and, upon this occasion,
I hope to be excused for a little relaxation of my gravity, when

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 375
characters these men differed widely. Johnson,
unless when excited by some external means,
was always morose and gloomy ; Parr had nothing
of this, but was always cheerful. Each had his
peculiarities : in Johnson we see perpetually oc
curring an unreasonable, ridiculous prejudice
against the Scotch, which his better sense re
jected : the foibles of Parr consisted of political
antipathies — to be a friend of Pitt was sure to
incur the thunder of Parr's vengeance. To do
him justice, it must be allowed that Parr had
more liberality than Johnson with respect to our
Universities ; he was the steady, uniform cham
pion of both." *
I tell my reverend brother of a harmless conceit, which played
around my fancy, as I was passing from the town, and for
which a reader, who has seen Mr. Curtis's statement, will ea
sily account, without being very profoundly versed in Hart-
ly's doctrine of association. It struck me, then, that our
reverend inspector, fi. e. of Dr. Priestley's Letters,) felt more
than an ordinary degree of satisfaction in sending that state
ment to a place, where his favourite passion of curiosity is
brought home to the recollection of the multitude, by an an
nual celebrity in honour of a well-known lady, who could not
escape the peering eyes of a well-known cobler. Now the
love of posthumous fame is common to all men ; the cause of
the Rector of St. Martin's is more popular than that of the
Coventry-hero ; and who knows but that the good people at
Birmingham may be persuaded to reward the zeal of their pas
tor by instituting a rival procession to the memory of Peeping
Charles ?"'\
* [On Jan. 3, J 828. a very enlightened friend, with whose

376 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
[In these communications from my inteUigent
correspondent, there has been much reference
to the conduct of the Rector towards the writer,
his Curate, and also towards Dr. Parr on one parti
cular occasion, and therefore it may be proper to
introduce the following quotations from two Let
ters of Dr. Parr addressed to the Curate, but without
any date ofthe year, in which they were written : —
opinions on this subject I do not agree, wrote thus to me : —
" Parr's literary celebrity was not great ; those, who took an
interest in him, were not numerous ; his observations were
mostly confined to books and literary characters ; his collo
quial powers were rather shewn by brilliancy of language than
depth of thought, or remarks, ingenious or profound, on life
and manners. In all these respects he differed from Dr. John
son. He, therefore, attracted much less of the attention of
the public. Hence biographical notices of him, and of what
he did or said, should be on a'smaller scale. I believe the Phi
lopatris Varvicensis had at most a limited sale : yet Fox was
the subject, and Parr the writer. I spent some time in Nor
wich and its neighbourhood soon after Dr. Parr quitted that
city : much was said of his merciless severities to his scholars."
(On this topic, one of Dr. Parr's Norwich -pupils, whose Jie-
collections have been given in an earlier part of this work, has
written copiously and satisfactorily.) "I have often heard that
Dr. Charles Burney and Mr. Porson did not think highly of Dr.
Parr's knowledge of the Greek language. I observed in my
conversations with him that nothing fell from him, which
shewed he had been a constitutional reader, or that he was
much conversant with the writings of the ancient GreekFa-
thers. I never remarked his saying in company what was
offensive, except too gross abuse of his present Majesty. His
high eulogium of Queen Caroline was childish." E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 377
" Jan. 31. Most assuredly I shall always be
interested in the happiness of so worthy a man
as yourself, and therefore I was very anxious to
know the result of your correspondence, and
your conference with a certain person. Your
description of the interview is animated, and
your remarks upon it are just. I rejoice at the
increase of your income, and I approve of the
spirit, with which you asserted your claims.
I know, my friend, that if hostility or coldness
be the consequence, the blame wiU not lie
with you, and perhaps I am glad that a person
who, like yourself, having the best intentions, is
unlikely to suspect duplicity or meanness in others,
has had a fresh opportunity for penetrating,
through the veU of ostentatious and artificial
politeness, into the real character of a specious
and bowing priest. As to the incivility, of which
he spoke, when we accidentally met in the vestry,
you know from immediate observation, and of
course you wUl take care to state upon proper
occasions, that I am a man onore sinned against
than sinning. I once received him at my house
with great politeness — I have never intentionally
given him offence — I have spoken of him with
respect in a weU-known and well-received publi
cation, and surely under aU these circumstances
I was entitled to more courtesy than I expe
rienced. I do not, however, complain, but am

378 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
anxious only to prove that I have done nothing
worthy of censure."
In a second Letter, dated May 13th, Dr. Parr
writes : — " I am afraid nothing has been done
for the melody of your steeple, and when you
retire, there may be much talk, but there wiU
be very little exertion for the good ofthe Church.
My mind is very deeply impressed with the loss
of that iUustrious man. Dr. Johnstone of Wor
cester. Keep up your spirits, and remember
that what has passed between you and your Rec
tor, will add materiaUy to your knowledge of
mankind, — wUl teach you to distinguish between
plausible appearances and solid realities, — and
wUl enable you to set a right value on that calm
ness of mind, and dignity of character, which
are the proper rewards of sincerity and firmness,
such as belong to yourself." E. H. B.]
" Nov. 7, 1826.
" I have a glorious historical anecdote to send
of the unhappy end of a pupil of the Doctor's,
whose life was sacrificed to the laws of his coun
try, for the murder of his intended wife's father
in a sudden paroxysm of phrensy. You must
know the whole ofthe story ; but you had it not,
like myself and K., told con amore by the Doc
tor. The minuticB of detail, — the perturbed
agitation of the narrator's feelings, — his varied

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 379
and expressive action, — the long, procrastinated
pause, — the deeply impressive emphasis, — the
bursts of indignant passion, — his acute know
ledge of human nature, as exemplified in his art
ful endeavours to elicit certain particulars from
the poor, hapless, condemned criminal, — his de
scription of the celebration of the Eucharist, but
ten minutes before the final exit, — all, aU was
told in a manner so simple, and at the same time
so nervously and so impressively, that it would
have done honour to Garrick and Siddons in the
zenith of their splendour."
" Account qf the Trial and Death of a young
Gentleman, a quondam-PMj»'t7 of Dr, Parr.
My wife thinks his name was Oliver ; but I
know not for certain.
" K. and I called one morning upon Parr at
He was alone, and in a pleasant, com

municative humour. I know not what led to the
subject, but so it was. ' Sir, he was a pupil,
' whom I ardently loved : had he been my own
' child, he could not have been more dear to me.
' He was on the eve of marriage, and was visiting
* at the lady's house. Preliminaries were all set-
' tied. John and his intended father-in-law had
* passed the morning with their dogs and guns.
' Summoned by the dinner-bell, they return to
' the Hall. As they walk up an avenue or ter-
' race, without a previous word of anger or mis-

380 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' understanding, John turns short upon the old
' gentleman, and in a moment shoots him dead
' upon the spot. He immediately walks through
' the house, goes to the nearest magistrate, con-
' fesses and surrenders. He was tried at Stafford
' in the Church ; for it was at the time when the
' new jail was being built. We did all in our
' power to save him ; but many obstacles were
' against liim. His having been a pupil of mine
' was enough to brand him as a Jacobin ; it was
' at an early period of the Revolution. Well,
' Sir, I examined the Jury with all my powers of
' discrimination, chaUenged and rejected several;
' but all our efforts were ineffectual : the Court
' was incensed, and determined upon his con-
' demnation. ' I swore that insanity was in his family, and
' that he had been deranged, while under my tu-
' ition. • Dr. John Johnstone of Birmingham
' gave it, as his professional opinion, that no man,
' in whose famUy was derangement, and who had
' himself been deranged, ought ever to be con-
' sidered as capable of a legal act. Doctor, is
' that your professional opinion? said Judge
' Heath. It is, my Lord. Then let me tell you,
' Doctor, that I dij^r from you in toto7 The
' public expression stung Dr. Johnstone. He
' wrote and published a pamphlet, caUed Medical
' Jurisprudence, sent a copy to the Judge, who

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 381
' had the liberality in a reply to confess his error
' as expressed in Court, and to say that he was
' a convert to Dr. J. Johnstone's opinion.
' WeU, Sir,' continued Parr, in a state of in
creasing agitation ; ' as he was condemned, aU
' that remained was to endeavour to prevent mis-
' chief, and to make his mind for the short re-
' mainder of his time as easy and composed as
' possible. To this end I obtained permission of
' the Chaplain to attend him officially, and I
' knew the delicacy of his feelings, and his ar-
' dent spirit, that, if the Chaplain had attempted
' to talk to him in the usual way, he would have
' done mischief.
' I obtained permission, and attended. Oh, it
' was a most heart-rending interview ! I assumed
' a gay vivacity, ill according with the sorrows of
' my heart. We were as cheerful as ever, as if
' nothing had happened, — talk upon various, in-
' different subjects, and even laugh heartily. But
' it was time to be serious. Well now. Jack, an
' end to trifling. I know the high tone of your
' mind, and that you will not submit to the ig-
' nominy of a public execution. I wish to con-
' suit you upon the best expedient to anticipate
' the executioner. Whateveryoumay do, take care
* not to involve your keeper, as guUty of negli-
* gence ; for he must pass the night in the
' room with you. I soon saw I had gained his

382 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' confidence, and I knew he would not deceive
' me. He then pointed to the cuff of his coat.
' Doctor, I have here concealed a lancet, with
' which I mean to open the jugular vein. That
< wiU do, that wUl do. Jack. But do not do it tiU I
' have seen you again, which wUl be to-morrow.
' This he promised : I was satisfied. The conver-
' sation then resumed its former cheerfulness. I
' did not at that time venture to obtrude serious
' and religious subjects ; for I was fearful, lest I
' should vex and depress him,
' The next day our interview was cheerful, and
' similar to that of the preceding day. I waited
' a considerable time to see whether he would
* advert to his present unhappy situation ; but
* no, not a word. It was time, therefore for me
' to begin. My plan of operation required much
' prudence and gentleness. My first object was
' to prevent the act of suicide. My dear feUow,
' reflect that by such a deed you would totally
' blast your character, — though under temporary
' degradation, you have stUl a character, — have
' many, many friends, who love and respect you :
' all these you wUl by such a deed distress and
' offend. Your remains wUl be dishonoured :
' hence another source of sorrow. It may mate-
' riaUy affect your property. It wUl confirm the
' public opinion of the reality of your Jacobin-
' ism, and consequently of your infidelity. No,

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 383
' no. Jack — this will never do — you must
' shew your patriotism by dutiful submission
' to the offended laws of your country. And
' then, Sir, I did not omit the more weighty
' arguments to be deduced from the Christian
' code. I did not forget that I had to sus-
' tain the character of a Christian priest. With
' affection, with solemnity, and with pathos, I
' depicted the example of the willing submis-
' sion of him, who knew no sin, and yet suffered
' an ignominious death. My own awakened sen-
' sibilities roused him into a state of evident emo-
' tion — he wept and sobbed. I was not less af-
' fected ; for I felt a reciprocal impression of my
' own precepts upon my own breast. After pas-
' sion had subsided, he looked at me, — put his
' hand to his sleeve, took out the concealed lan-
' cet, — snapped it to pieces in a moment, —
' threw it down, and added : / give you my ho-
' now; Dr. Parr, that I will not do it .- I was sa-
' tisfied, and said no more on the painful subject.
' And now. Sir, on the next day came the final
' trial. It was necessary that he should join in
' the celebration of the holy Communion. But
' this was too much for me to attempt. No, no
« — my heart was already bleeding. I could not
' have administered : the disturbed state of my
' mind would have most unseasonably agitated
' and discomposed him. I therefore called in

384 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
* the regular Chaplain, and communicated with
' them. After I had received the elements, and
' he had taken the bread, I ventured to take hold
' of his hand, gently pressed it, and had courage
' to look at his face. The tears were rolling
• down his cheeks.' Here Parr was dread-
fuUy agitated, — walking impetuously, — roUing
in various directions, — now he resumed his
seat, — crossed one leg over the knee of the
other, — tapt it with a more and more quickened
motion, — at length with a tremulous voice he
repeated : '' Yes, Sir, the tears were fast rolling
' down his cheeks, and — and — and jn ten mi-
' nutes he was gone ! '
" He pronounced these words in a loud, ago
nized tone, such as would reverberate over the
house. We were astounded, and unable to speak,
nay, so paralysed with fear, as to be afraid to
speak. We looked at each other, and then at the
Doctor, and with little or nothing said, bowed
respectfully and left,
" The scene exhibited this morning was one
of the most impressive I had ever witnessed.
Though so many years have intervened, it is stUl
vividly enforced on my imagination. It raised
him higher in my estimation as a man, than any
other feature I had observed in his character.
The solemnity of the subject, — the deep inten
sity of his grief, — his knowledge of character, —

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 385
the happy success of his manceuvering to ex
tort from the poor young man his secret design,
the cogency of his arguments to prevent it, all
proclaim at once the greatness of his mind, and
the gentle benevolence of his heart. I have
given you a faithful detail — it is cold and
meagre. " Neither Garrick, nor Kemble, nor Siddons,
could have done the recital so much justice.
They would have acted a feigned part, — dis
played a perturbed and agitated bosom ; but in
Parr it was the reality of nature faithfully deli
neated — it was unpremeditated, and therefore
undesigned. Here was the living man, at once
a Raphael and a Garrick, without the servility of
an imitator ; original in each department, and in
each superior to all ! "
[The circumstances here so interestingly and
vividly detailed are not mentioned by Mr. Field,
in his Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Opi
nions of the Rev. Samuel Parr, LL.D., where
(p. 373.) he gives the following account ; nor
does he represent Mr. Oliver to have been a pu
pil of the Doctor : —
" Early in the year 1797> the attention of Dr.
Parr, in consequence of the representations of
some common friend, was drawn to the melan
choly case of Mr. Oliver, a surgeon of great re
spectability at Burslem, in Staffordshire ; who
2C

386 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
appears to have been remarkably distinguished
by serious religious principle and correct moral
conduct, by mild and benevolent dispositions,
and pleasing and engaging manners. This un
fortunate gentleman had paid his addresses to
Miss Wood, the daughter of a considerable pot
ter, in that neighbourhood ; and his proposals
were favourably received by herself, and were
approved, at first, by her father and her friends.
Afterwards, however, Mr. Wood thought proper,
for reasons, which do not appear, to withdraw
his consent, and to forbid all further intercourse
between the parties. The disappointment preyed
upon a mind subject, in a high degree, to mor
bid irritability ; and in the anguish of his spirit,
Mr. Oliver was urged on to the dreadful resolu
tion of destroying himself. For that purpose,
and, as he always affirmed, for that purpose only,
he borrowed pistols, cast bullets, and proceeded
with all the cool deliberation, which in such cases
is not uncommon.
" On the morning of the day, which he had
fixed for the last of his life, he went to the house
of Mr. Wood, with two loaded pistols concealed
about his person ; and having obtained an inter
view with that gentleman in the presence of his
clerk, Mr. Bathwell, he inveighed, in strong
terms, against the wrong and the cruelty of first
encouraging, and then, for no just cause, rgect-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 387
ing his proposals to his daughter. He was heard
with indifference, or with contempt ; when —
continuing his remonstrance with increasing
warmth — he vehemently declared that his life
was become insupportable ; and finaUy protested
that he was determined to die, and to die at that
very instant, in that very house. In a moment,
eagerly and hurriedly, he drew out one of his
pistols ; and presented it, with the butt-end, to
Mr. Wood, passionately imploring death at his
hands. Mr. Wood, perhaps, considering the
whole as an attempt to terrify him, pushed away
the pistol, with some expressions, either of cut
ting reproach, or of sneering insult. All this
was more than Mr. Oliver, in the high-wrought,
half-frensied state of his mind, could bear. He
was stung, as he himself said, almost to mad
ness ; and, in the moment of extreme irritation,
reversed his pistol, and fired. Mr. Wood fell,
mortally wounded. The wretched perpetrator,
struck with horror at his own dreadful and un
premeditated deed, instantaneously pulled out
his second pistol ; and, in the very act of dis
patching himself, was seized, disarmed, but over
powered by Mr. Bathwell. Then, exclaiming,
' Oh ! what have I done !' — ' what misery have
I brought upon this family and upon myself!' —
he sat down in a agony of grief and distraction,
passively waiting the arrival of the officers of
justice. 2 c 2

388 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
" He was committed for trial, to Stafford-Jail.
There, in consequence of his own earnest solicita
tion, he was visited by Dr. Parr ; to whom he
disclosed all the circumstances of his case, with
an urgent request that the whole might he put
into a form of defence, to be read at his trial.
The request, with every assurance of compassion-
ale concern, was granted.
" Dr, Parr, on his return to Hatton, summon
ed to his aid the present writer as an amanuen
sis ; and for the greater part of two days, and
almost the whole of the intervening night, they
were occupied in arranging and preparing the pro
posed defence. He, who nowrecords the affecting
story, well remembers Dr. Parr's distressful feel
ings on the occasion, and his devoted attention
to the task, in which he so benevolently engaged.
All the powers of his mind seemed to be stretch
ed in full and vigorous action. In the midst of
his labours, as if to excite himself to the greatest
exertion, he often exclaimed, 'Ah! let us do our
best ! ' — ' It is a work of justice, as well as of com
passion.' — ' Let us struggle to save, if not the life,
at least the character, of an unfortunate, more than
a guilty man.' In the course of the second
day the defence was completed. The facts of
the case were detailed in a clear and striking
manner: much strong reasoning, and many forci
ble observations were introduced ; and the whole

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 389
was skilfully directed to the point of proving a
case of that extreme provocation, to which the
lenient spirit ofthe English law extends merciful
indulgence, imputing the crime to infirmity ra
ther than malignity; and instead of wilful mur
der, construing it into the milder offence of man
slaughter. The closing appeal to those, on whose
verdict the awful sentence of life or death de
pended, was powerfully pathetic, and reminded
the writer of a similar address, composed by Dr.
Johnson, for the unfortunate Dr, Dodd.
" The defence, thus anxiously prepared, was,
however, not called for. Though a strong case
of gross provocation was fairly made out, yet, on
careful reconsideration, under legal advice, it
was thought, that resting as it did, almost entirely
on the statement of the accused, unsupported by
other evidence, it would fail of producing the in
tended effect. It was finally determined, there
fore, to change the ground of defence into a plea
of insanity ; for which, it was believed, that suf
ficient evidence would be found, in the fact of
hereditary mental malady, and in the deranged
state of the prisoner's mind, during his confine
ment, and some time before it, as attested by
the evidence of his servants, several of his friends
and neighbours, and especially by that of two
eminent physicians, Dr, Arnold of Leicester, and
Dr. E. Johnstone of Birmingham. The plea.

390 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
so suppotted, did not, however, avaU. The ac
cused was found guilty and received sentence of
death.* " Dr. Parr arrived at Stafford a day or two be
fore the commencement of the trial ; and passed
almost all his time in visiting, advising, and con
soling the unhappy man ; and when every hope
of life was extinguished, he exerted all his re
maining efforts in administering to him the sup
ports of friendly sympathy and of religious con
solation. He passed with him almost the whole
of his last day, and nearly the whole of his last
night. " His behaviour, as Dr. Parr often related,
was, to an astonishing degree, calm, coUected,
and even cheerful; except when, indeed, his
unfortunate attachment was alluded to, either by
himself or others ; for then he was greatly agi
tated — his countenance was convulsed — and
his whole appearance completely maniacal. But
at other times, he had generaUy the look, and
even the smile of complacency, and seemed not
to feel the least wish for life, nor the least dread
of death. He acknowledged the criminality of
the act, as the effect of sudden and ungovernable
passion ; but utterly and steadily repelled the
imputation of every thing like preconceived ma-
Uce, or premeditated design. Having retired
* " See the Trial, published at Stafford."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 391
for a few hours, long after midnight, Dr. Parr
returned once more to his unhappy charge, early
on the morning of execution ; assisted him in the
last awful preparations ; accompanied him to the
foot of the scaffold ; and there took of him a so
lemn and affectionate leave. The unhappy man
died with perfect composure and submission;
and never after was his name mentioned by Dr.
Parr, but with deep commiseration for his fate,
intermingled with regret, which all must feel for
his crime."
In a Letter now lying before me, dated Au,-
gust22, 1797- Dr. Parr writes thus : — "I shall
this very morning set off for Staffordshire, to as
sist at a trial, where the accused person has little
chance of justice in consequence ofthe political
prejudices, that have gone forth against him.
He is charged with murder. But the real ground
of his offence is, that he used to drink Fox's
health, — that he condemned the war, — and
that some writings of Tom Paine were found in
his house, when he had been committed to pri
son. He has a most exceUent character, and
his principles, both moral and religious, are very
sound. I am sure, quite sure, that he is a ma
niac. His grandfather and his aunts were ma
niacs. Two of his sisters have shewn symp
toms of maniacal hallucination, and the whole
of his conduct, from disappointed love, is marked

392 PARRIANA OR NOTICES OF
with insanity. I think he will be condemned,
and shall try to instruct and comfort him in his
last moments. I have most rigorously explored
his mind, and I am quite at ease about his doom
at a higher tribunal. This office of humanity
will prevent me from looking into your book till
my return ; and you, who love practical virtue,
will pardon the delay."
In a Letter, dated March 21, (1797-) which
Dr. Parr addressed to the late R. B. Sheridan,
Esq., and with the loan of which I was yesterday
{March 2, 1828,) favoured by his youngest and
only surviving son, (and my zealous, and active,
and inteUigent, and acute fellow-labourer in pro
moting the Greek Cause,) Charles Brinsley She
ridan, Esq., occur the following words : —
" I must call in your aid to the case of Mr.
Oliver, who is in Stafford-Jail for killing a Mr.
Wood, under circumstances, in which you and
I in all probability should have done the same.
There never was a more distressing case to sen
timent, a more venial case in morals, or a more
dubious case in law. He is next week to be tried
by Judge Lawrence ; and Lawrence, with a very
good understanding, is in the first class of those
judges, who are not scholars, — not citizens, —
not philosophers, — not Christians, — not men,
but short-sighted, and sharp-sighted, and flinty-
hearted lawyers. Now Wood, the person kiUed,

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 393
was a Methodist ; and Methodists unite the lan
guage of saints with the tempers of fiends. They
are not social, but gregarious, and as they wage
war against the common sense and common feel
ings of mankind, they make common cause
among themselves upon all occasions. Monkeys
imitate men, and in the same way sectarian
tribes imitate thatform of a commonwealth, which
one of the seven Greek sages recommended, and in
which the leading rule was, — wrong done to one
citizen should be punished and resented by aU.
When Oliver had been sent to prison, an imper
tinent and unprincipled attorney went to his
house without any authority, and with the in
tention of taking it for his brother, who might
succeed Oliver in his business as a surgeon. To
secure the succession, it was necessary to get
Oliver hanged, and to get Oliver hanged was
more easy by first rousing the hue and cry against
his character as a Painite : he found Paine's
Age of Reason in the house. The law-child of
Beelzebub joined forces with the Gospel-brood
of Satan; and the story ran like wild-fire. It
was sent to London-Newspapers, and to many
County-Newspapers, and even to the Monthly-
Magazine. What the law prescribes for such
enormities, I know not ; but the Gospel, I thank
heaven, gives them no countenance. However,
the consequences are serious, Oliver at first

394 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
was treated very civilly in the jaU. But, when
the tale about Paine's book got wind, the magis
trates, who think a Painite much blacker than a
murderer, took the alarm, and one of them, whose
name I will tell you when it is safe, sent an order
to the jaUer to treat Mr. Oliver according to the
rules of the jail. It is true that Oliver has al
ways opposed the war ; — it is not true that he
is an irreligious, or an immoral man. But the
effect of this calumny is so wide and so strong,
that his friends mean to ground upon it an appli
cation to the Judge to defer the trial till this
storm is blown over. Now, my dear Sir, if you
are acquainted with any sensible and worthy ma
gistrates in Staffordshire, I entreat you, for hea
ven's sake, to interpose ; but you must do so
warily ; for in this, as in other matters, we can
not complain of persecution without irritating the
persecutors. If with caution, — the utmost cau
tion, — you can serve us, pray do."
In a postscript to the Letter, Dr. Parr adds : —
" Help Oliver, pray do. Can you assist in a Peti
tion, if he is condemned ? Mrs. Sheridan would
weep, if she knew half of what I know about this
melancholy case." On the cover of the Letter,
to crown the deed of mercy, he pathetically adds :
— "I conjure Mr. Sheridan to read this Letter
immediately — it is a question of life and death."
Mr. Buckingham's Aihenceum, Jan. 9> 1828.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 395
quotes the above-cited words, and subjoins : —
" We have to add, of our own knowledge, that
the mother of the unhappy man lived many years
after his execution, and that her friends suc
ceeded in keeping her ignorant, through life, of
the circumstance of her son's unfortunate end."
In further iUustration of Dr. Parr's humane
conduct on such occasions, I may cite the case
of Masters, the Hatton-Organist. My excellent
and enlightened friend, the Rev. Dr. Wade of
Warwick, in a Letter dated 40 Tavistock- Street,
Covent- Garden, London, Jan. 1, 1828. writes
thus to me : —
" I have obtained from the Rev. John Kendall
all the papers I mentioned to you in my last
Letter. They are sent herewith, and it gives me
great pleasure to be able to procure you them, as
I think the papers valuable as to the following
objects, viz. shewing Dr. Parr's character in a
pre-eminent point of view over Dr. Johnson's.
The former wrote a speech for poor Dr. Dodd ;
the latter for the boy named Masters ; Dr. John
son had the applause of all the world ; Dr. Parr
was satisfied with the approbation of his God
and his conscience. Again, the Letter, dictated
by Dr. Parr, is a compendium of all the best
feelings, that can animate a neighbour, — a
Christian — a Christian pastor. While he speaks
of his unfortunate Organist, his soul seems filled

396 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
with heavenly harmony, and if one or two severe
passages, (' the same punishment hangeth over
the head of another base, mischievous, calumni
ous, and perfidious ingrate,') occur, they are no
less true to nature ; for the very flats in the mu
sical scale, which of themselves are discordant,
yet when placed in a flood of melody, are resting-
places to enable the understanding to overtake
and join with the spirit of love."
My kind friend, the Rev. John KendaU, in
a Letter dated Warwick, Jan. 16, 1228. commu
nicated to me the foUowing particulars : — " The
crime of Masters, the Hatton-Organist, was bur
glary. He and a simple ploughboy, whom he
had drawn in to accompany him, broke, in the
dead of night, into the mansion of Lord Dormer
at Grove-Park, then occupied by Mr. Arundel,
and carried off some articles of no great value, be
longing to the Miss Arundels. Lord Dormer, Dr.
Parr, and myself appeared to his character. The
youth, being found guilty, received sentence of
death, which, through the lenity of the Judge,
was commuted into one year's imprisonment.
Shortly after the expiration of that term, he en
listed into the army, and became one of the
Band, His parents have left this neighbourhood,
and I have heard nothing of him since."
Masters, when caUed upon to say why sentence
of death should not be passed upon him, was di-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 397
rected by Dr, Parr ' to fall upon his knees, and
' slowly and seriously pronounce the underwrit-
' ten words :
' My Lord, ' I do not presume to find fault with
' the verdict given by the Jury. I gratefully ac-
' knowledge the candour and tenderness of Mr.
' Arundel in his evidence. I most humbly im-
• plore mercy from your Lordship. I deeply
' feel the guilt of my own behaviour ; and I most
• sincerely hope that, with the assistance of God
* Almighty, I shall in future prove myself a pe-
• nitent not unworthy of pardon at his awful tri-
' bunal, — make amends to society for the wrongs
' I have already done, — and, by a course of so-
• briety, industry, and honesty, shew myself truly
' thankful for that lenity, which in your wisdom
' it may be the good pleasure of your Lordship to
' grant to a misguided and most afflicted youth.'
This address was, I believe, published at the
time in the Warwick- Advertiser.
The Letter of Dr. Parr above referred to, of
which a copy is now lying before me, is address
ed to the Rev. Dr. Bridges, and dated Hatton,
May 18, 1816. I shall present to the reader that
portion of it, which relates to the unfortunate
convict in question : —
" Knowing the humane and truly Christian
interest, which you take in the case of our young

398 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
mis-guided Organist, I have now to inform you,
that all my endeavours to avert a capital indict
ment were frustrated, not so much by the rapa
city of the Birmingham-thieftaker, prowling for
a large reward, as by the cool malignity of a cer
tain magistrate, and the weakness of the prose
cutors in suffering themselves to be influenced
by the perverse and spiteful suggestions of a cer
tain professor of patriotism and philanthropy ; —
that the attempts of the judge to obtain a ver
dict not for the burglary, which he said was im
perfectly proved, but for the larceny, which was
proved clearly, were defeated by the vulgar stu
pidity of the jury ; — that sentence of death was
passed upon the poor lad, while his wicked asso
ciate escaped with impunity ; — thatMr. Arundel,
in aU probability said something favourable to Ba
ron Richards; — that I wrote to him earnestly, ex
plicitly, solemnly ; — that his answer was replete
with good sense and lenity ; — that he informed
me confldentially of the commutation, which he
intended to propose to the Prince Regent ; —
and that yesterday an official order arrived, not
for sending the offender to Botany-Bay, but for
imprisoning him one year in the house of correc
tion. These glad tidings 1 have to day commu
nicated to the parents, as I yesterday did to the
boy, and the communication was accompanied
by most serious advice. Your heart will be glad-

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 399
dened, not only by his escape from death and
transportation, but by the testimony I bear to his
deep and unfeigned penitence, to the kind exer
tions and religious instructions of the parochial
priest, Mr. KendaU, and to the meritorious wis
dom and exemplary tenderness of the Gaoler and
his excellent wife, who have anxiously separated
Masters from the society of felons, employed
him in various kinds of easy manual labour,
checked every approach even to foUy, encou
raged every symptom of returning virtue, and
appointed him to be the teacher of 10 or 12 young
offenders, who yesterday in my hearing read very
correctly, answered questions upon spiritual sub
jects, and on their bended knees chaunted the
praises of that God, whose name they had for
merly profaned, or to whose holy will their heads
and hearts had been long strangers. Oh, Dr.
and Mrs. Bridges, I wish you had been with me
at the awful and instructive scene I I cherish
the hope that you wUl console and instruct young
Masters, when you visit him in the prison, and
this is a Christian duty, which both of you v/Ul
be glad to perform."
Mr. James Sharp, in a Letter, dated Priory-
Road, Warwick, Oct. 8, 1827, obligingly made
to me the following communication : —
" I learn from Dr. Wade that you are prepar-

400 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
ing for the press a work respecting the late Dr.
Parr, and thinking the foUowing might not be
altogether unacceptable to you, I have subjoined
it. It was written on the fly-leaf of a copy of
Nelson's Companion for the Festivals and Fasts
ofthe Church qf England, which Dr, Parr, pre
sented to the Governor of the County-Gaol, as
a mark of his approbation for his very humane
and considerate behaviour to an unhappy convict,
(Masters,) then in his custody, and once a pa
rishioner ofthe learned Doctor's : —
' As a teacher in the venerable Church of Eng-
' land, and a sincere well-wisher to every class of
' my fellow Christians, and fellow creatures, I de-
' sire Mr. and Mrs. Tatnall to accept this Book
' for a testimony ofthe serious approbation, which
' I feel of their judicious, active, and humane
' attention to the reasonable comforts, and the
' intellectual, moral, and religious improvement
' of those young persons, who, by the authority
' of the laws, are committed to their charge in
' the County-Gaol of Warwick.
' To Sir Samuel RomiUy, and other enlight-
' ened friends, I shall state my fixed opinion,
' that the complicated and arduous concerns of
' a prison are nowhere conducted with more dis-
' cretion, more vigilance, more benevolence, or a
' larger share of all the other laudable properties.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 401
' by which the Manager of a Gaol can promote
• the best purposes of public justice. ' Samuel Parr,'
' Hatton-Parsonage, ' Sept. 10, 1816.'
Many other instances of similar conduct ob
served by Dr. Parr in similar circumstances
might be given ; but the reader is referred to the
case of Joseph Gerrald, which will be stated m
a subsequent page. E. H. B.] " Febr. 6, 1827.
" Dear Sir,
I feel strong compunction at my procras
tinated silence. I am culpable, and sorry for my
unjustifiable neglect of you. Now I have resumed
the pen, I am somewhat at a loss ; for you have
exhausted my stock.. o£ memorabilia about Parr.
I wUl not say that you resemble the Egyptian
task-masters, who required bricks, without af
fording the proper materials. My materials are
meagre and scanty : you must be satisfied with
such work as I can manufacture.
" I am not surprised that Parr's character
should have been so little known, and underva
lued. What men do not understand, they do not
praise. It is not with philosophers, as with some
public characters, such as players, singers, fid-
lers, and dancers. Here fools are carried down
2D

402 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
the stream of fashion, loving and admiring what
is above their comprehension, and what is in
itself really contemptible. Besides, there is, you
know, such a faculty as taste. The different
pursuits of men necessarily lead the mind into
a diversity of opposite reflections. Prejudice and
personal feeling have no small weight in the es
timation of character. Politics and party-spirit
sadly bias and gangrene the mind. These, and
a thousand causes, operate on our consideration
of character. " Your correspondent appears actuated by vani
ty in his views of Parr and Mackintosh. He supe
rior to Parr in argument ? He either has not read,
or does not understand our beloved phUosopher.
I have just finished the Sequel. Even in that
strange medley of a work, in which the reader
might expect to find nothing more than a deserv
ed chastisement of folly and impertinence, are
to be found, and that not here and there, thinly
scattered, but blazing exceUencies, such a rich
display of splendid eloquence, and such profound
reasoning on political subjects, as have no equal
from any other pen. Is proof wanted ? Look at
the character given of Dr. Martin Routh.* Poor
* [" The same has been my conduct," says Dr. Parr (p. 109.
ed. 2d.) to Dr. Martin Routh, President of Magdalen-College,
Oxford — Let me pause at the mention of this venerable name.
Amidst the dreary prospect, which lies before me, when I am

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 403
Curtis viewed in contrast, how keen the satire,
how merited the eastigation! Scholarship with
him is out of the question. One of his Curates
once gagged him, as he was indulging in a pom
pous panegyrick of the Church, and virulent
abuse of the Dissenters : ' Stop, stop, Charles,
' no more of this infuriated zeal — do you see yon-
' der Spire? (Saint Martin's.) Born and bred as
* you were a Presbyterian, it was that Spire, which
to return to Mr. Curtis, I find myself refreshed with the recol
lection of Dr. Routh ; and why should I deny myself the sa
tisfaction I must feel in saying of him here, what of such a
man I should say everywhere, with equal justice, and with
¦equal triumph ? The friendship of this excellent person, be
lieve me, reader, will ever be ranked by me among the sweet
est consolations and the proudest ornaments of my life. He,
in the language of Milton, (see the Sonnet to Mr. Lawrence,)
is ' the virtuous son of a virtuous father,' whose literary attain
ments are respected by every scholar, to whom he is known, —
whose exemplary virtues shed a lustre on that Church, in which
thev have not been rewarded, — and whose grey hairs will never
descend to the grave, but amidst the blessings of the devout,
and the tears ofthe poor. He fills a station, for which other
men are sometimes indebted to the cabals of parties, or to the
caprices of fortune, but in which he was himself most honour
ably placed from the experience his electors had long had of
his integrity, and the confidence they reposed in his discern
ment, in his activity, and in his impartiality. The attachment
he professes to academical institutions, proceeds' — not less
from a sincere conviction of their utility, than from a deep re
verence for. the wisdom of antiquity in the regulations it has
made for preserving the morals of youth, and for promoting the
2D 2

404 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
converted you ! ' As long as Parr's name is had in
honour, so long will his correction of the Rector
of St. Martin's be had in grateful remembrance.
" Why, this correspondent of your's is strange
ly at war with facts. Who could express his
thoughts with more strength, and with more pre
cision ? Who could balance with more nicety
the varied excellencies of different writers and
different characters ? Or play one off against the
cultivation of learning. His government over the affairs of a
great and respectable College is activewithout officiousness,and
firm without severity. His independence of spirit is the effect —
not of ferocious pride, but of a cool and steady principle, which
claims only the respect it is ever ready to pay, and which equally
disdains to trample upon subordination, and to crouch be
fore the insolence of power. His correct judgment, liis
profound erudition, and his various knowledge, are such as sel
dom fall to the lot of man. His liberality is scarcely surpassed
even by his orthodoxy, and his orthodoxy is — not the tumid
and fungous excrescence of prejudice, but the sound and mel
lowed fruit of honest and indefatigable enquiry. In a word,
his mind, his whole mind, is decked at once with the purest
crystals of simplicity, and the brightest jewels of benevolence
and piety. ' His life is gentle, and the elements
' So mix'd in him, that Nature may stand up
' And say to all the world. This is a man.'
The reader, if he be a man of letters, and a man of virtue,
would perhaps wish me to pursue this digression yet farther;
and, at all events, he will excuse me for detaining hira from a
dry detail of petty facts, to contemplate for a while so noble a
character, as that of Dr. Martin Routh."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 405
other with more humour, or more happy effect ?
" Of his political principles, their uniformity
and his disdain to act the courtly parasite, are
best testified by the uniform neglect, which he
experienced from those' in power. He never,
like his friend Jemmy, sacrificed his duty to his
interest. Dearly as Parr loved his friend Mack
intosh, the tender ties, that had so long united
them in heart and hand, were dissolved by his
abandonment of his former honourable sentiments
of action.
" It is true. Parr did indeed change his opinion
upon one subject. When experience convinced
him of the mischief, that might arise from the
abolition of the Corporation and Test-Acts, he
manfully avowed his change, and assigned his
reasons.*
Dr. Parr's work was published in 1792, and yet, though in
the present year of 1828, the ' exemplary virtues' of Dr. Routh
still ' shed a lustre on the Church of England,' we may never
theless re-echo the regret of Dr. Parr that ' in that Church
they have not been rewarded.' E. II. B.]
* [In the Bibliotheca Parriana p. 615, is mentioned a work,
entitled The Right of Protestant Dissenters to a complete
Toleration, second Edn. corrected, 1789. On the fly-leaf
Dr. Parr has written the following note : — " This very able
book was published on the application 'of the Dissenters for the
repeal of the Test-Act. It has been ascribed to Serjeant Hey-
wood, who probably was assisted by lawyers and dissenting
clergymen. It is the only powerful book produced by the ap-

406 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
" That he ' wished the aristocracy to govern
the King and the people,' is a bold assertion,
which every work he has published, will abun
dantly disprove. 'Praise liberty,' — yes, to be sure,
he would, and would soar in its praise with the
bold flight ofthe eagle. Here he was more con
sistent than his quondamr-friend ; he was no apos
tate, but practised what he professed.*
plication, and it wrought a total change in Dr. Parr's mind
on the general principle of tests. He always disapproved of
the sacramental test, and he now sees the inefficacy and the in
justice of all religious tests whatsoever. S. P." E. H. B.]
* [Two extracts from the Sequel to a Printed Paper pp.
51. 53. will sufficiently confirm the statement in the text.
" ' The liberty,' say I with Mr. Burke, the only liberty, ' I
' mean, is a liberty connected with order, and that not only
' exists with order and virtue, but cannot exist at all without
' them. It inheres in good and steady government, as in its
' substance and vital principle.' Burke's Appeal p. 35. ' To be
' possessed,' as Mr. Burke elsewhere says, ' it must be limited ;
' but it is a good to be.improved, not an evil to be lessened.
' It is not only a private blessing of the first order, but the vital
' spring and energy of the state itself, which has just so much
' life and vigour, as there is liberty in it.' These two passages
occur in Mr. Burke's Thoughts on the Cause of tlie present
Discontents p. 57. 58 ; and they are very judiciously quoted
in Sir Brooke Boothby's very candid and sensible Letter to Mr.
Burke p. 92.
" My political creed lies in a short compass, and I will tell
it to the reader in better words than my own :
Tols jxev eXevOepia '^v^vkcrQa fieTo, ^aa-CXiKrjS ap'xjris,
Tols Se apX'? v-rrevdwos ^aaiXiKrj, Be<r7ro^6vTa)v vofjuwv

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 407
" If he was the dupe of Ireland's forgery, upon
its detection he was as ready to avow his decep
tion as was Johnson in the affair about Milton,*
rccv re aKKcov TroXtT&v Kal ra>v ^acriKeoiV avT&v, av
Ti irapavoixov TrpaTTwcn. Plato Epist. 8. V. 3. p. 366.
ed. Serr.
" Such, if I have read to any purpose, is the spirit of the
English constitution, and such too the very letter of the En
glish law. Rex, says Bracton 2, 16., sub Deo et lege. Rex
habet superiorem Deum, item legem, per quam factus est rex,
etc." E. H. B.]
* If' The testimonies here adduced," says Mr. Ireland, ('Vin
dication of his Conduct, respecting the Publication of the
supposed Shakspeare-MSS., being a Preface or Introduction to
a Reply to the Critical Labours of Mr. Malone, in his 'Enquiry
into the Authenticity of certain Papers,' etc. Lond. 1796. 8vo.
p. 19.) " it were difficult to resist. But these were not all, by
which my conduct was governed in this transaction. I invited
to my house all, who wished to gratify their curiosity, by an
inspection ofthe papers. Of these, the greater part consisting
of the most celebrated literary characters this age has produced,
expressed their opinions, not in the phrase of mere assent, but
in the unequivocal language of a full and overflowing convic
tion. Some were even desirous of subscribing, without solici
tation, their names to a certificate, in which their belief might
be formally and permanently recorded. The first of this re
spectable list was the Rev. Dr. Parr. I informed this gentle
man, that the late James Boswell, Esq. had requested my per
mission to annex his name to a certificate, vouching for the va
lidity of the papers, and which he drew up for that purpose.
When I shewed the Doctor, at his request, what Mr. Boswell
had written the day before, he exclaimed with his characteristic
energy and manner, that it was too feebly expressed for the

408

PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF

What was it but sagacity, that enabled him so
admirably to criticize the Works of Warburton and
Hurd ? To separate the chaff from the wheat ?
importance sf the subject ; and begged that he might himself
dictate to me the following form of a certificate, to which he
immediately subscribed his own name, and which afterwards
received the signatures of the other respectable characters, that
are annexed to it.
' We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, have, in the
' presence and by the favour of Mr. Ireland, inspected the
' Shakspeare-Papers, and are convinced of their authenticity.'

Samuel Parr
John Tweddell
Thomas Burgess
John Byng
James Bindley
Herbert Croft
Somerset Is. Heard, Garter King of
Arms
F. Webb
R. Valpy.

Lauderdale Rev. J, Scott
Kinnaird
John Pinkerton
Thomas Hunt
Henry James Pye
Rev, N. Tliornbury
Jon". Hewlett, Translator of
old Records, Common- Pleas
Office, Temple
Mat. Wyatt
John Frank Newton.

James Boswell
" Mr. Boswell, previous to signing his name, fell upon his
knees, and in a tone of enthusiasm and exultation, thanked
God, that he had lived to witness this discovery, and exclaimed
that he could now die in peace.''
From the Confessions of William Henry Ireland, containing
the Particulars of his Fabrication of the Shakspeare-MSS., to
gether with Anecdotes and Opinions, (hitherto unpublished,)
of many distinguished Persons in the Literary, PoUtical, and
Theatrical World, Lond, 1805. 12mo. p. 66. I shall make the
following extracts : —

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL,D. 409
And what but the most refined spirit of criticism
cotild have produced so accurate, and at the same
time so pithy a character of our first prose- writers
from ' the clear and luminous galaxies of imagery
" Doctors Paub and Wakton on the Profession of
Faith.
" Ofthe persons, who visited Mr, Samuel Ireland, when the
manuscripts were not very voluminous, the above gentlemen
were among the most conspicuous. On their arrival, Mr. Ire
land was alone in his study to receive them ; but, by the desire
ofthe visitants, I was shortly after summoned before them, to
answer interrogatories. I confess I had never before felt so
much terror; and would almost have bartered my life to have
evaded the meeting : there was, however, no alternative, and
I was under the necessity of appearing before them. Having
replied to their several questionings as to the discovery of the
manuscripts and the secretion of the gentleman's name, one
of these two inspectors of the manuscripts addressed me,
saying, ' Well, young man, the public will have just cause to ad-
' mire you for the research you have made, which will afford so
¦ much gratification to the literary world.'
" To this panegyric I bowed my head, and remained silent."
" Perusal of the Profession op Faith. — While Mr. Ire
land read aloud the profession of faith. Doctors Parr and
Warton remained silent, paying infinite attention to every
syllable, that was pronounced ; while I continued immovable,
awaiting to hear their dreaded opinion. This effusion being
ended, one of the above gentlemen, (who, as far as my recol
lection can recal the circumstance, I believe to have been Dr.
Parr,) thus addressed himself to Mr, Ireland : — ' Sir, we have
very fine passages in our Church-service, and our Litany
abounds with beauties ; but here, Sir, here is a man, who has
distanced us all!' When I heard these words pronounced.

410 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' diffused in the W^orks of Bishop Taylor' down
to the * majestic energy of Johnson'? See the
Warburtonian Tracts p. 151,
" I have devoted more space to the observa-
I could scarcely credit my own senses ; and such was the ef
fect they produced upon me, that I knew not whether to
smile or not. I was, however, very forcibly struck with the
encomium ; and shortly after left the study, ruminating on
the praise, which had been unconsciously lavished, by a person
so avowedly erudite, on the unstudied production of one so
green in years as myself.
" Incitement of Vanity. — On entering the back dining-
room, which was contiguous to Mr. Ireland's study, I reclined
my head against the window-frame, still ruminating on the
words I had heard ; when vanity first took possession of my
mind, to which every other consideration yielded. Fired with
the idea of possessing genius, to which I had never aspired,
and full of the conviction that my stj'le had so far imitated
Shakspeare's,as to deceive two persons of such allowed classical
learning as Doctors Parr and Warton, I paid little attention
to the sober dictates of reason, and thus implicitly yielded my
self to the gilded snare, which afterwards proved to me the
source of.indescribable pain and unhappiness."
In the Bibliotheca Parriana p. 522. we read : ¦^-
" Ireland's (Samuel) ' great and impudent Forgery called,
' Miscellaneous Papers and Legal Instruments under the Hand
' and Seal of William Shakspeare, foi. 1796. lam almost
' ashamed to insert this worthless and infamously-trickish book,
' It is said to include the Tragedy of King Lear, and a Frag-
' ment oi Hamlet, Ireland told a lie, when he imputed to me
' the words, which Joseph Warton used the very morning I
' called on Ireland, and was inclined to admit the possibility

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 411
tions of your correspondent than I can afford ;
but I must have done with him.
" Another anecdote of Parr : — Some years ago
Dr. E. Johnstone's two little daughters were upon
' of genuineness in his papers. In my subsequent conversa-
' tion I told him my change of opinion. But I thought it not
' worth while to dispute in print with a detected impostor.
' S. P.' "
The statement of W. H. Ireland respecting Mr. Boswell is
this : —
" As the circumstances," says he in the Confessions p. 95,
" attending Mr- James Boswell's inspection ofthe manuscripts,
have been variously represented, and as I was present on that
occasion, I shall state the facts as they really occurred.
"¦ On the arrival of Mr. Boswell, the papers were as usual
placed before him, when he commenced his examination of
them ; and being satisfied as to their antiquity, as far as the
external appearance would attest, he proceeded to examine the
style of the language from the fair transcripts, made from the
disguised hand-writing. In this research Mr. Boswell conti
nued for a considerable length of time, constantly speaking in
favour ofthe internal as well as external proofs of the validity
of the manuscripts. At length, finding himself rather thirsty,
he requested a tumbler of warm brandy and water ; which hav
ing nearly finished, he then redoubled his praises of the manu
scripts ; and at length, arising from his chair, he made use of
the following expression : ' Well ; I shall now die contented,
since I have lived to witness the present day.' Mr. Boswell
then, kneeling down before the volume containing a portion of
the papers, continued : ' I now kiss the invaluable relics of our
bard, and thanks to God that I have lived to see them ! ' Hav
ing kissed the volume with every token of reverence, Mr. Bos
well shortly after quitted Mr. Ireland's house ; and although I

412 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
a visit at Parr's. They were mere children. Du
ring their visit one of them unfortunately died.
The first time I saw the Doctor after the child's
death, I asked the great man how the surviving
believe he revisited the papers on some future occasions, yet
that was the only time I was honoured with a sight of Mr.
James Boswell."
" On the Certificate Subscribed by Staunch Believers
OF THE Mss.'' he says p. 114.
" When the influx of persons to inspect the manuscripts was
very great, Mr. Samuel Ireland, by the advice of several gen
tlemen, who were most strenuous in their belief of the papers,
drew out a kind of certificate, stating that the undersigned
names were affixed by gentlemen, who entertained no doubt
whatsoever as to the validity of the Shaksperian production,
and that they voluntarily gave such public testimony of their
ideas upon the subject. To this certificate several names were
affixed by persons as conspicuous for their erudition, as they
were pertinacious in their opinions. There is scarcely need to
add, that, upon my confession of facts, 1 had no right to expect
mercy from the above gentlemen, who were by that means held
up to the taunts of Mr, Malone and his inveterate friends, the
critics." " Sheridan was one of the sceptics in regard to the au
thenticity of the Ireland-Papers from the very fixst, although
the critical acumen and learning of Dr. Parr were wholly at
fault with respect to that notorious imposition. Indeed the
Doctor's enthusiasm in favour of its merits was extraordi
nary, and ardently he strove to make Sheridan a convert to
his opinion. After much argument in their favour, Sheridan
so far conceded the point as to say : ' Shakspearc's they
' may be; but if so, by G — , he was drunk, when lie wrote
' them.' " New Monthly Magazine for July, 1827.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 413
child bore the loss. They were of nearly the same
age, had never been separated, and had had no
other acquaintance. ' Sir, at first she felt acutely,
' and wept bitterly ; but the paroxysm soon went
There is here, if not some wilful fabrication, at least an
accidental mis-representation ; for, according to the state
ment of W. H. Ireland himself, though Sheridan did not sign
the Testimonial, he does not appear to have disbelieved in
the genuineness and the authenticity of the papers. The
words are p. 137. : —
" Me. Sheridan's opinion op Shakspeare. When it was
agreed that Vortigern and Rowena should be represented at
Drury-Lane theatre, Mr. S. Ireland had very frequent conver
sations with Mr. Sheridan respecting the transcendent genius
of our bard ; and one day in particular, after Mr. S. Ireland
had been as usual lavish in his encomiums, Mr. Sheridan re
marked, that, however high Shakspeare might stand in the
estimation of the public in general, he did not for his part re
gard him as a poet in that exalted light, although he allowed
the brilliancy of his ideas, and the penetration of his mind."
" Opinions on Vortigern. Previous to the agreement's
being signed respecting Vortigern and Rowena with the mana
gers of Drury-Lane theatre, Messrs. Sheridan and Richardson
waited upon Mr. Ireland, to inspect the fair copy ofthe play,
which had been made from the manuscript as produced in
the disguised hand. After having perused several pages, Mr.
Sheridan came to one line, which was not strictly poetic ; up
on which, turning to Mr. Ireland, he remarked — ' This is
' rather strange ; for though you are acquainted with my opi-
' nion as to Shakspeare, yet, be it as it may, he certainly al-
' ways wrote poetry.' — Having perused a few pages further,
Mr. Sheridan again paused, and, laying down the manuscript,
spoke to the following effect: — 'There are certainly some

414 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' off. Some childish trifle took possession of her
' thoughts : she soon laughed and played just as
' if nothing had happened. Sir, the infantine
' mind is a very curious subject for speculation :
' bold ideas, but they are crude and undigested. It is very
' odd : one would be led to think that Shakspeare must have
' been very young, when he wrote the play. As to the doubt-
' ing whether it be really his or not, who can possibly look at
' the papers, and not believe them ancient ? '
" Agreement for the Play op Vortigern. After the
most unaccountable procrastination, the terms of the deed,
as to the purchase of the Vortigern by Mr. Sheridan, were
agreed upon, and the papers drawn up by Mr. Albany VVal-
lis, of Norfolk-Street ; Mr. S. Ireland being made trustee for
me, as I was then under age. The terms of the agreement
were, that Mr. Sheridan should pay down three hundred
pounds, and that the profits of the performance for the first
sixty nights, (that I believe to have been the number,) should
be equally divided between Mr. Samuel Ireland and Mr.
Sheridan, after deducting the necessary expenses of the the
atre ; which sum was also specified, but has now entirely
escaped my memory. The three hundred pounds were paid
in notes of hand, at short dates, drawn upon Mr. Hammersly
the banker, out of which I received sixty pounds."
The disbelief of Porson in the genuineness and the au
thenticity of the papers is generally contrasted with Parr's
belief, to the disparagement of Parr's critical sagacity and
solid judgment. A witticism of Porson is cited in proof of
the fact; but the witticism by no means proves Person's
disbelief, aud from W. H. Ireland's Confessions it appears,
not that Porson was more sag-dcious than Parr, — not that
Person disbelieved the antiquity of the papers, but that,
though he was inclined to believe in their antiquity, he was

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 415
* it is altogether anomalous : you can never de-
* pend upon them. Their passions strong, and their
' minds always active, they are mere creatures of
' impulse, and fluctuate with every gale.' This,
more wary than Parrin declining to record his belief. The
words of W. H. Ireland p. 69. are these : —
" Mr. Porson and the Profession of Faith. — For the
accuracy of the following statement I cannot avouch, not
having been present upon the occasion ; but, from what was
frequently stated, I was given to understand that thn above
gentleman, after inspecting all the manuscripts then in Mr.
Ireland's possession, appeared so perfectly well satisfied re
specting them that Mr. Ireland was emboldened to de
mand of him whether he felt reluctance to subscribing his
name among the list of believers in the validity of the manu
scripts : upon which occasion Mr. Porson very drily made
•answer, ' I thank you. Sir ; but I never subscribe my name
' to professions of faith of any nature whatsoever.' "
The question itself was one, on which Porson was better
qualified to give an opinion than Dr. Parr, because Porson
was accustomed to handle, examine, and collate old MSS.,
and though Parr was a great admirer of Shakspeare, yet
Porson was a greater admirer, and he had a more intimate
acquaintance with the avowed productions of his immortal
pen. Now if Porson entertained any opinion in favour of
the genuineness and the authenticity ofthe papers in ques
tion. Parr may be excused for entertaining a stronger opinion
on those points — Parr rivalled Johnson himself in venera
tion for truth ; and the unsuspecting simplicity of his heart
made him on this occasion a readier dupe of artifice — the
general powers of criticism aud judgment in Dr. Joseph
Warton and Dr. Parr are no more questionable, because
they were deceived on this occasion, than were the powers

416 PARRIANA; OR NOTICES OF
and much more, which I cannot remember — after
wards a fine historical description of the progress
ofthe human mind from the earlier dawn of reason
to the fuU maturity of the intellectual faculties.
of Johnson, because he was deceived by the specious forge
ries of Lauder. I consider that the public has been very
unjust towards Dr. Parr and others on account of this de
ception, aud therefore I wish to write very emphatically
about the matter. Suppose that the papers had been sud
denly laid before Dr. Parr, and that he after a cursory in
spection had pronounced them to be forgeries'? The event
would have justified his judgment, it is true; but is there
any value to be set on a hasty judgment ? Is it not likely to
be incorrect as correct, whatever may be the talents ofthe
speaker? Dr. Parr examined the papers once, and once
only — the examination in the presence of Dr. Joseph Warton
was necessarily of a cursory sort, and therefore little depend
ence could he placed on the judgment pronounced at the
time. In judging of the genuineness and the authenticity
of wrilings numerous circumstances have to be well consi
dered by the critic, if he intends todeliver a sound judgment;
and such nicety is required in the critic, so difficult is it to
find in any individual the right combination of qualities for
forming a consummate critic, that men apparently of great
sagacity and discrimination are frequently deceived iu a re
markable and almost incredible manner. The annals of clas
sical criticism and philology would supply abundant instan
ces to confirm the truth of this observation; but it will be
sufficient for me to refer to the controversy about the author
ship of Junius's Letters. I am perfectly willing to allow
that, if Dr. Parr had been asked to examine the papers with
great care, and when Ire was at full leisure, and if he had
pronounced a mature, deliberate, decided opinion in favour

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 417
" My old school-master, the Rev. Mr. J.,
second Master ofthe School at B., told me as one
cause of Parr's dislike of Hurd, that in some Tes
timonial, which Parr presented to the Bishop,
the latter objected to the signatures upon the
ofthe genuineness and the authenticity ofthe papers, assign
ing his reasons for the opinion, there would have been a fair
ground for impeaching his general judgment in such matters.
But in plain truth the hasty opinion, which he did deliver,
marks — not want of judgment, but want oi discretion.
" Ireland's Shakspeare-Forgeries. These original Papers
and Legal Instruments are to be sold by Evans, in the collec
tion belonging to the late John Dent, Esq. They are, per
haps, the most astonishing forgeries ever produced, and beat
all the bank-note imitations of modern days. Here are the
pretended Legal Instruments , under the hand and seal of Wil
liam Shakspeare, including the Tragedy of King Lear, a Frag
ment of Hamlet, etc.. Articles of Agreement between Shak
speare and H. Condell, Lease to Fraser, etc. and Anna
Hatherwaye's Lock of Hair given by her to Shakspeare. Those
are the identical papers, which caused so much controversy in
the literary world some years ago. W. H. Ireland has given
a full account of the fabrication in his Confessions.'' The
Norwich Mercury , April 28, 1827.
" The following lot, which excited great curiosity, was sold
yesterday at IWr. Evans's : ' The original Forgeries of Mis
cellaneous Papers and Legal Instruments, under the hand
and seal of Wtn. Shakspeare, by W. H. Ireland; including
the Tragedy of King Lear, — a Fragment of Hamlet, — the
Tragedy of Vortigern and Rowena, — Articles of Agreement
between W. Shakspeare and H. Condell, — Lease to Fraser, —
Common-Place Book, — and Deed of Gift to Ireland, — Anna
Hatherwaye's Lock of Hair, — Portrait of Shakspeare, — a
2 E

418 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
plea of informality. Parr fired, took up the paper,
abruptly left the room, indignantly exclaimed —
That gentleman's name. Dr. Hurd, is as respec
table as your own.
" Let your correspondent, — you see I am
Drawing,' etc. etc. M. Tunno became the purchaser of it at
44 guineas. The late Mr. Dent, we believe, gave 130 gui
neas for it." The Times, May 4th, 1827.
In a Notice of the Rev. Wm. Field's Memoirs of Dr. Parr,
in Mr. Buckingham's Athenceum, No. 2, Jan. 9, 1828. I read
these words ; — " The mode, in which the writer before us
speaks ofthe Shakspeare-Papers of Ireland, is natural enough
as the friend of Dr. Parr, who was one of the illustrious
dupes ; but we cannot avoid expressing our opinion, that
the persecution, which VV. H. Ireland has endured through
life, for an extraordinary exercise of boyish ingenuity, is
one of the most absurd and inhuman quackeries, that the
history of literature presents."
Whether the critic will be better pleased with my ' mode,'
I cannot say ; but I beg to be considered not as Dr. Parr's
apologist, but as the advocate of truth and justice.
" Porson. The following is a curious and characteristic
Epistle from the late Cambridge Professor to a very eminent
Surgeon, with whom he was on terms of intimacy for many
years : —
' Dear Sib,
I should be very happy to obey your obliging sum
mons — I should equally approve ofthe commons, the com
pany, and the conversation ; but for some time past, my
face, or rather my nose, whether from good living or bad
humours, has been growing into a great resemblance of ho
nest Bardolph's, or, to keep still on the list of honest fel-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 419
at him again, — say what he will, I never heard
' scurrility of abuse ' from Parr.
" And so forsooth, ' he spoke English, as he
wrote Latin, in recollected terms' ! Why, what
is this, but to make him a mere automaton?
Come, Mr. Doctor, speak ; let us have for our
amusement some of your best set phrases ; se
lect some respectable antagonist, whom you fear,
because you cannot vanquish — come, out with
lows, of honest Richard Brinsley 's. I have, therefore, put
myself under a regimen of abstinence till my poor nose reco
vers its quondam-co\ouv and compass ; after which I shall
be happy to attend your parties on the shortest notice.
Thank you for returning Mr. Ireland's, whom you justly
call an amiable youth, and I think you might have added, a
modest. Witness a publication of his that appeared iu 1804,
entitled, Rhapsodies, by W. H. Ireland, Author ofthe Shaks
perian MSS., etc. where he thus addresses his book : —
' As on thy title-page, poor little book !
' Full oft I cast a sad and pensive look,
' I shake my head, and pity thee ;
' For I, alas ! no brazen front possess,
' Nor do I ev'ry potent art profess,
' To send thee forth from censure free ! '
Though I cannot help looking upon him as too modest in
the 41h verse, he certainly under-rates the amount and extent
of his possessions. He is by no means poor in his own brass.
I was going to conclude with, ' And now to dinner with what
appetite you may ;' but first I bethought me of a question
— Do you see nothing extraordinary in the Note'? Nothing,
perhaps, you will say. Why then be amazed ; for it is
written with a pen from the wing of an eagle. Ay, aud
2E 2

420 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
your artUlery, and bespatter him with plenty of
your low scurrUity.
" When I have heard him read the Liturgy,
I heard no ' tones ', and saw no ' manner, that
indicated dissatisfaction' : quite the contrary : it
seemed to occupy his whole soul. I told you be
fore with what prodigious emphasis he marked
passages in the Nicene Creed: thus, 'God —
OF God  VER F God OF very God —
and was made MAN. '
oi an Irish eagle too, dear joy. So no raore at present, but
rests yours sincerely, R. Porson."
The Times, July 17, 1826.
"'At the decease of Mr. Addison in 1719, the Estate
(at Bilton,) came to his Widow, the Countess of Warwick,
from whom it devolved on their daughter, the present Mrs.
Addison, whom I had the honour of seeing, at this visit,
with no small degree of respect and veneration. This lady
was born about a twelvemonth before the death of her fa
ther, who, as some vague reports in the country say, left a
large trunk of MSS., with a strict injunction that they should
not be opened till her decease; if this be true, the polite
and learned may, at a future day, expect what may yet fur
ther magnify the revered name of Addison.' Ireland's Pic
turesque Views on the Upper or Warwickshire- Avon. An inge
nious friend has suggested that it was probably the accidental
circumstance of this iron-chest first gave to Mr. Ireland the
idea of the Shakspeare-Papers." Addisoniana, 2, 5. But
we must not forget that the latter work was the compositiuu
ofthe son, whereas the former, the Views, was the pioduc-
tiou of the father. E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 421
" Let Parr say what he may,* no head of a
College in my time could be compared with Dr.
Cyril Jackson. All his time and thoughts, and
cares were devoted to his College, and the general
welfare of the University. He well knew the
character of all the members. There was a sys
tem of espionage transmitted in various ways, ori
ginating with the Dean — ^ then to his favourite,
a young man, then only a bachelor, called Ca-
rissime Carey to distinguish him from another
Carey, a translator of Italian poetry. Well, Ca-
rissime Carey had his spies, graduating down to
the lowest servants. No man had more influence
with the present King than had Cyril Jackson.
Hence he was enabled to get his brother, Wm.
* [In the Sequel to a Printed Paper ^^p, 105.213^Dr. Parr
has made very honourable mention of Dr. Cyril Jackson ; —
" Did not the Dean of Christ- Church, with his usual sagacity
and good-humour, call Dr. Priestley a Trinitarian in Politics,
and a Urdtarian in religion, when they saw each other at Ox
ford ? "
" Having lately heard that this observation was made by
some other person in the presence of the Dean of Christ-
Church, 1 shall state the passage, which induced me to im
pute it to him : — ' In a conversation I had last summer, at
' which Dr. Jackson, Dean of Christ-Church, Oxford, was pre-
' sent, I maintained the importance of three different powers in
' everywell balanced State, with so much earnestness, that with
' great good humour, he and the rest of the company rallied
' me, as being a Trinitarian in politics, though an Unitarian
' in religion.' Familiar Letters to the Inhabitants of Birming
ham, by Dr. Priestley, p. 80." E. H. B.]

422 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Jackson, promoted to the See of Oxford, and
his Carissime to a StaU at Westminster, to the
Head-Master's place at Westminster-School, and
finaUy to the See of Exeter.
" Merit he always eulogised and rewarded. A
young man, an unusually excellent scholar, very
humble, and very amiable, was on the eve of
going to Christ-Church in some inferior situation.
' Can nothing be done for him ? ' A subscription
was made, — not enough to maintain such a young
man, — ' but send him up ; I can upon emer
gency as easily raise in my College £1,000 as
sixpence ! '. The Dean was a parent to him, and
supplied all his wants ; made him student of
Christ-Church, Tutor to Lord Francis Spencer,
and Domestic Chaplain at Blenheim, Through
his interest with More, his Grace procured
him a Prebendal Stall at Canterbury. Before
the young man went to Blenheim, the Dean
gave him instructions for the regulation of his
conduct : — ' You will find the Duke an excel-
' lent scholar, and most amiable man, — make
? him your friend, — be open, and without dis-
' guise, — consult him upon all occasions, — you
' will find him steady and sincere. But beware
* of the Duchess ; she is the very Devil incar-
' nate, — her manners most fascinating and ele-
' gant, — then she is most to be dreaded, — then
' be most upon your guard, for she is plotting

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 423
' against you, — above all, be cautious what you
' say before her, — never lay down a word, which
' you cannot at any time take tip again', (quoting
' a Greek proverb.) Mr. Brown found the truth
and utility of tjie Dean's observations and ad
vice. " Mark upon one occasion how admirably the
Dean managed her Grace. He was at Blenheim.
Lord Francis had been ill : he was going out to
take the air, but she could not prevail on him to
put on a great coat. ' Now Mr. Dean, don't you
' think that Lord Francis had better?' ' Upon
' my word I cannot tell ; but let us consult Betty
* the maid.'
" You have heard ofthe famous theatrical fetes
at Blenheim. Upon one of those occasions the
Duchess wished her son's absence for a week.
The Dean consented upon condition that he re
turned to College every night : he had no restric
tions as to time, but he must return ; ' for I allow
' none of my young men to sleep out of College.'
She begged, and begged again : the Dean would
perhaps have given way to any one else, but not
to her. ' If Lord Francis does not return to
' College to-night, he need not return in the
' morning.' This gagged her effectually.
" I have heard Brown talk in admiration of
the Dean's general knowledge ; — the more he
saw, the more he admired. I should like to haAC

424 PARRIANA ; OR NOTICES OF
seen Parr and Jackson in duet. His brother,
William Jackson, was Greek Professor, a stupid,
muzzy man, fond of tippling in solitude.*
" Kett was my Tutor, a strange compound, —
his Classical Lectures excellent, — his Bampton-
Lectures of the first order. His gravity was un
natural for his years. When not 30 years of age,
he was called ' Father Kett.' He was industri
ous, and very persevering in his study. Thus
far all was well. But, as he advanced in years,
he advanced in folly ; he affected to be a man
of the world, the gay Lothario, and to dance at
tendance upon the ladies. We were amused at
beholding trophies of gaUantry suspended about
his paintings and prints — here a piece of green,
there blue, and there a piece of pink ribband.
To add to the ludicrous, he put himself in Lon
don under the tuition of a dancing-master. You
may trace the same graduation of folly ; for after
his Bampton and other Lectures, and his three
Volumes on Prophecies, he published Juvenile
Poems, his Novel of Emily, and his Flowers qf
Wit, He lost his former character, was an ob
ject of general ridicule, despised in his own Col
lege. He was senior-Fellow, Twice the head-
* [It was said at the time, when he was raised to the Epis
copal Bench, that his present Majesty had hailed the mention
of his name for the vacant See in these words : — ' He shall
be a Bishop — he has compoRTcd himself well ! ' E. H. B.]

THE REV. S.\MUEL PARR, LL.D. 425
ship became vacant, and twice he lost his elec
tion. This mortification was too much for his
mind : for some time he was under the care of a
medical friend. But he was miserable in the head
and heart. At length he married. I never knew
why he had not a College-Living ; for he reject
ed many. He had no preferment, and no fortune
but what he had saved and got from his Works.
He had not been married long, when he destroyed
himself This I was told by a bookseller in Pa
ternoster-Row, Poor man ! vanity and the world
gained an undue ascendency — at length reason
tottered, and the anchor of the soul was lost!
Alas poor Kett ! I often think of him with amaze
ment and pity.
" This Letter really is not worth your accept
ance ; for I have no more to say about Parr. O
yes — I hear that he said, ' The Church of Eng-
' land had three enemies in three of her Bishops,
' one was afanatic, another a dandy, and the third
avaricious, [[a miser,"} Lichfield and Coventry,
Lincoln, and Winchester. I hear from Winches
ter-people much of his meanness and love of mo
ney — I know not how such men view Christian
principles. Tomline has not been idle, but has
employed his talent well. As to the dandy at
Lincoln, he was fit for nothing but a dinner-party,
ball-room, and court. Thank God that the Church

426 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
is at length rid of them. Lichfield is, I believe,
a good and active man.
I will now gladly lay down my pen, and relieve
you from the troublesome perusal of a duU, un
interesting scroll ; but you have to thank yourself
for it ; for you make me write.
Your respectful and obliged
Friend and Servant,

"Sept. 24, 1827.
""You will be sorry to hear that you have ex
hausted my stock of Parrian anecdotes. I can
not call to mind any untold particulars. Yes —
there are two circumstances, which I wiU state,
though they must be well known to you. The
one is the want of personal cleanliness. This at
some times was exceedingly offensive. I have
seen him at a party sit down to the supper-table
by himself, eat promiscuously, then leave the table
and the dishes, etc. in great disorder.
" It just strikes me that Dr. Bridges and he
had made a sort of exchange of Livings, it was
agreed that Bridges was to have permission, every
year, of officiating a month at Hatton ; ' for he
' could not conscientiously altogether neglect the
' souls of his dear people at Hatton.' ' Nay,

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 42?
• nay,' says Parr ; * now. Bridges, none of that.
• Remember that, when you and I exchanged
• Livings, it was a mere rascally Jewish truckle,
* and that spiritualities had nothing to do with
' the business.' "

428 PARRIANA ; OR NOTICES OF

XX.
Letters addressed to the Editor by George Dyer,
E,sq. of CliflPord's Inn, Fleet- Street, London.

" March 16, 1827.
" Dear Sir,
I cannot boast of having a very inti
mate acquaintance with your learned friend ; but
I have certainly known, in the various situations,
in which I have been placed, many of his friends,
and it occurs to me that at the end of his Spital-
Sermon he has done me the honour to call me
his 'friend.' Without more introduction, then,
I send you, agreeably to your request, a few par
ticulars, very imperfect as they are.
Dr. Parr had, I suppose, either known, or
heard of me in very early life at Dr. Askew's.
I became acquainted with that gentleman about
1770, or 1771> and used to visit him in Queen-
Square very frequently, particularly during the
holiday-time of his two eldest sons, one of
whom was at the time with Dr. Parr at Stanmore,

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 429
the other under Dr. Davis al Eton, when I read
the classics with them.
Parr was, you know, a native of Stanmore, and
was at first a pupil of, and afterwards an assist
ant to Dr. Sumner. Dr, S, died in 1771. The
flower of Harrow-School were Sir Wm. Jones,
the Bishop of Cloyne, Dr. Parr, and Warburton
Lytton, Esq., all of whom were not only contem
poraries, but continued friends for some years af
terwards till a disagreement took place between
Mr. Lytton and Dr. Parr. Lytton went to Uni
versity-College, Oxford, during the residence
there of Sir William Jones. Great friendship
lasted between them, which continued till Sir
Wm. Jones went to India. He went to India in
1784, with a salary of £8,000, was there seven or
eight years, and made a fortune of about £70,000.
I have alluded to him in my Poets Fate :
' Yet Jones was blest with learning, taste, and sense,
' Courted the Muse without neglecting pence.' *
I have also said something concerning him in
the Cambridge-Fragments, in the Privileges of
* [Aliquid humani passus est vir doctissimus mihique ami-
cissimus. The lines, at least in the second edition, run thus :
P. ' Yet Jones was blest with learning and with pelf;
' Courted the Muse, without forgetting self;
' And Rogers is a bard of fair renown :
' See Memory fly like lightning through the town.
X. ' But whence their wealth? WasJowe* the Mu.ses' grudge?
' Jones shone in India, — was an ermin'd Judge ;

430 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Cambridge, where also I inserted a beautiful
little Poem of his, (not in his Poems :) 1 had
previously inserted it in the Cantabrigiana of
the Monthly Magazine, all of which (the Canta
brigiana) was written by me.
Of all these gentlemen I have had some know
ledge. The Bishop of Cloyne I used to visit till
nearly the last. He was my tutor in CoUege.
And with Mr. Lytton I possessed a very inti
mate acquaintance for several years. He was a
man of good fortune, and a great linguist both in
ancient and modern languages, though he never
published any thing. He had composed a mo
dern Greek Grammar, and presented me with
' Mid circling Nabobs liv'd at small expense,
' And, though a poet, had some common sense :
' And Rogers, if he share the town's regard,
' Was born a banker, and grew up a bard.'
" Sir William Jones, the author of Asiatic Researches, pub
lished a volume of Eastern Poems, long before he visited the
East. In 1784, he was appointed Chief-Judge in India, with
an annual salary of £8,000. In 1794, he died, and left behind
him a fortune of £60,000. In India he passed his life as an
economist, and a philosopher. The Poems alluded to in the
text, are not those published in the Asiatic Miscellany, printed
at Calcutta, but Poems consisting chiefly of translations from
the Asiatic language, which possess much true poetry." I
know not whether it was the fact ; but it is not improbable
that the economy, attributed to Sir Wm. Jones, proceeded more
from his studious habits, which required retirement, than from
any serious intention of hoarding wealth. E. H, B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 431
£10, — he was in the habit of making me kind
presents, — to bring it through the press. This
was a little before his death. The MS. passed
into the hands of his executors, and, though I
applied to one of them repeatedly for it, I could
never learn what became of it.
On October 13, 1771, Dr. Parr began his
school at Stanmore with 60 scholars, who sepa
rated from Harrow, and as he was now entering
on house-keeping. Dr. Askew introduced to him
the lady, whom he married. Miss Maisendale.
He had under his care at this time several
gentlemen, who, I think, have distinguished
themselves in the literary world.
Thomas Maurice, with whom I was much ac
quainted at the time, (for he had formerly been
of Christ-Hospital,) wrote a Poem, I recollect,
entitled the School-Boy, in imitation of Phillips's
Splendid- Shilling. In this he humorously cha
racterised Dr. Parr, and some of his more eminent
pupils : he describes himself as
' Maurice far renowned for drinking port. '
I have no doubt you might glean from it, some
anecdotes relating to Dr. Parr's more distinguish
ed pupils at that time : I do not possess the Poem ;
at least I cannot find it. The only names of Parr's
pupils at that time, which occur to me, besides
that of Mr. Askew's, are those of Mr. Pollard,
the Honourable Mr. Legge, Mr. Gerrald, Mr..

432 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Maurice, Mr. Beloe, (Editor ofthe British Cri
tic,) and Mr. Street, (Editor of the Courier.)
Pollard was at Emmanuel College, while I was
there. I had no acquaintance with him. He
was, I have heard, a Creole, and reckoned an ex
cellent scholar. He had property in America,
which was confiscated by the American Govern
ment. Mr. Pitt gave him some place under Go
vernment. Legge was at Oxford with Maurice ;
but I never knew him. Maurice became a stu
dent of University-College. When Maurice came
to London, (during his being under the care of
Parr,) which he often did, we used to spend many
a social evening together. Dr. Parr introduced
him to Dr. Johnson ; and I remember his telling
me that Parr was very intimate with Johnson,
and not only his great admirer, but very mani
festly his imitator ; it must have occurred to you
that your friend retained not a little of the John
sonian manner and character, though not the
toryism, to the last. ¦
I think it certain that I must often have met
your friend in these early days, as I used to visit
so much at Dr. Askew's and at the house of Mr.
Maurice's Guardian, Mr. Wells. But, though
I may have met him frequently, it could have
been only incidentally — otherwise I should have
recollected some of the more striking circum
stances, that would have attended our interviews.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 433
as I did of his friends, who visited in Queen-
Square. But it will be recollected that I was but
an
Imberbis juvenis nundum custode relicto,
and that Parr was then but a young man, just rising
into reputation as a school-master, and probably
too much confined by the concerns of a great
school to pay frequent visits to the Metropolis :
Though of course I used to hear a great deal
about him and his school-discipline, more parti
cularly from his two scholars, Maurice and young
Askew, and much more than I remember at pre
sent. But of one part of his school-discipline,
I should say, speaking according to my present
feelings and convictions, that I must not wholly
approve it. He carried the flogging system too
far ; and I myself recollect hearing him defend
it in a most serious manner, as from principle.
At the same time it must be admitted that he pos
sessed a kind, paternal heart, and was in great
earnest in advancing the literary improvement of
his scholars ; nor do I ever remember to have
met with one pupil of Dr. Parr's, who did not
retain a strong affection for his old preceptor, and
Dr. Parr, I believe, from every thing I have
heard, possessed a proportionate regard for his
quondam-^u^'ds :
DU majorum umbris tenuem et sine pondere terram,
Sperantesque crocos, et in urna perpetuum ver,
2F

434 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Qui prmceptorum sancti voluere parentis
Esse loco .'
I have frequently dined at Dr. Askew's with
several learned persons, with whom Dr. Parr wa,s
probably well acquainted. Of this number were
Dr. Lort, Greek Professor at Cambridge, well
known as an antiquarian ; George North, A. M.
Rector of Codicote, formerly of Benet-CoUege,
a great medallist : he drew up Dr. Mead's Catalo
gue of Medals, and left his own collection between
Dr. Lort and Dr. Askew. Mr., afterwards Dr.
Farmer, -v^as a frequent visitor in Queen-Square,
and if I mistake not, often made it his residence,
when in London. Of him more presently.
Parr took his Master-of-Arts degree (per re-
gias literas,) in the year 177^, from Emmanuel-
College, and I suppose, from his engagements
at Stanmore, did not reside there a very long
time : long enough, however, to become well ac
quainted with the principal members ofthe So
ciety, His old school-fellow, Bennet, had taken
his Master-of-Arts degree there two years before,
and if I mistake not, the Doctor revisited the
College occasionally, as several of his own scho
lars were entered there.
The principal members at the time were Dr.
Richardson,* the Master, who was, however,
* [In Mr. Dyer's Cambridge-Fragments, p. 58. (in the Pri
vileges of the University of Cambridge,) there is a pleasant

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 435
just going off the stage of life. He was, I under
stand, a good-humoured man, a great Tory, and
a strict disciplinarian. He had been a King's-
Chaplain, and had acquired from his office very
expensive habits at his table, for which he and
his heir. Dr. Robert Richardson, who was Chap
lain to Sir Joseph York, at the Hague, paid
very dearly. He was not highly distinguished
for learning or talents, but he re-edited Bishop
Godwin's famous book dePrcesulibusAnglicB, etc.
in a new form, rendering it a very useful publi
cation, and it was indeed the most magnificent
volume, which had ever been printed at the Cam
bridge University- Press before.
Next to him may be mentioned Mr. Henry
story connected with the name of Dr. Richardson, which, as
a lover of facetiousness, and an encourager of good-humour,
I will transcribe : — "Dr. Burton of Oxford was once dining
with Dr. Richardson, a late Master of Emmanuel, and editor
of Godwin de Prasulibus Anglia: the latter, when the cheese
was brought on table, like a true Cambridge-man, began to
be full of the praises of Cottenham-cheese, (a village a few-
miles from Cambridge, celebrated for its excellent cheese.)
' Dr. Burton,' said Richardson, ' you know we are famous
' for our Cottenham-cheeses ;• and this, I think, is as excel-
' lent a one as was ever set upon a table.' I do not perceive,'
said Dr. Burton, ' any thing extraordinary in this cheese, Doc-
' tor.' ' Do you not?' continued Richardson; 'I wish you
' would send me a better.' ' I will engage so to do,' said
Burton ; ' and, if I do not, Dr. Richardson, I will eat it.' '•
E. H. B.]
2F2

436 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Hubbard, who had formerly been Mathematical
Tutor. He had been reckoned a good preacher,
which I can easily believe ; for he was considered
very orthodox, had a good voice, and some dig
nity in his appearance, and I have heard him
spoken of very respectably as a Tutor. All the
remembrance, which I had of him at College, was
that he was a decrepit old gentleman, but still
very regular at Chapel, and in the College-Hall
at dinner. I am not aware that he ever pviblished
anything, except it might be a single Sermon ;
but I think I have seen in the CoUege-Library,
or in Dr. Farmer's Catalogue, three volumes of
his Prcelectiones. And he also left many good
books to the College-Library. Parr, I have heard,
used to be fond of engaging in dispute with this
gentleman. Farmer succeeded a Mr. Buckham as Classical
Tutor. He was a most facetious, kind-hearted
man, and a good scholar, and from his Epitaph
written by Dr. Parr, I suppose he was in great
estimation with that learned gentleman. He at
length succeeded, as you know, to the Mastership,
and obtained eventually very good preferment in
the Church, and I have been informed might
have obtained stUl higher. He twice refused a
Bishopric, when offered him by Mr. Pitt. But, —
nosti hominem, — he preferred his Residentiary-
ship at St. Paul's, as by holding that he could

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 437
keep in connection with the literary Clubs, with
which he was connected in London, and not be
held too rigidly to the gravity of the Episcopal
character. I need say nothing to you of his so
much-admired Essay on the Learning of Shaks
peare. I paid my tribute of respect to Dr. Far
mer, as being my old Tutor and Master of the
College, by writing a Memoir of him in the An
nual Necrology for 1797-8j and I remember
taking considerable pains with the article. Dr.
Farmer died, I believe, poor, notwithstanding
his ample preferments : he had always been care
less about money-matters, and had been particu
larly generous towards his relations. Mr. Cra-
dock, who had been his townsman, afterwards
Fellow-Commoner of Emmanuel-College, to whom
Farmer dedicated his Essay on the Learning of
Shakspeare, told me that he died worth very little
besides his books. Dr. Farmer, previously to his
succeeding to the Tutorship, had offered pro
posals for publishing the History of Leicestershire,
but on becoming Public Tutor ofthe College, he
abandoned the undertaking. He died in 1797-
Mr. Bennet, Dr, Parr's old school-fellow, suc
ceeded Farmer as Classical Tutor : he was allow
edly an elegant scholar, and admired as a preacher,
when he appeared in St. Mary's pulpit. He was,
besides being the College-Tutor, private Tutor
to the present Lord Westmoreland, and the pre-

438 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
sent Archbishop of Canterbury, He went out,
as you know, to Ireland, as Secretary to Lord
Westmoreland, and became first Bishop of Cloyne,
and afterwards Bishop of Cork. I used to visit
him occasionally in Montagu-Square in London,
where he resided the greatest part of the year,
and where, I think, he died. His old school-fel
low. Dr. Parr, read the funeral service over him
in the Church of  ; I think the Bishop's native
place, a few miles from London. I am not aware
that Bishop Bennet ever presented the world with
any work of his own. And I have told you all
I know of his communications to other works on
the subject of the Roman roads in this country,
with which he was better acquainted perhaps than
any man of his time.*
* [The Letter referred to was received in the beginning of
June 1826: — ¦" I thought Dr. Farmer was good-natured even
to excess, and was very friendly to the last to me, as also was
Bishop Bennet, whom I also visited to the last. What you en
quired about relating to the Itinerary, was printed in a work
entitled The Description of Britain translated from Richard of
Cirencester, with the original Treatise, London 1809. (by the
bye, some doubt whether this work is original.) There is much,
too, in Lysons's Britannia Magna on Roman roads, that was
communicated by Dr. Bennet ; and in a work, published by a
Mr. Reynolds, I think, on Roman roads, which I have seen
at Mr. Lytton's. I know not whether he ever published any
thing else.''
In another Letter without date Mr. Dyer says : — " Henry
Hubbard was a Suffolk-man. I know nothing of his friends.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. iS9
I am not aware that there was any other very
memorable person at Emmanuel-College at the
time aUuded to, except it might be Mr. Meen.
(dead and gone long since.) He was chosen Fellow of Em
manuel in 1 732, and as Lady Margaret's Preacher, University-
Registrar, and Tutor of Emmanuel-College, I have always
beard him spoken of in a respectable manner. I have not
heard that Mr. Hubbard published anything but the Sermon.
He left his library to Emmanuel-College, and in Dr. Farmers
Bibliotheca there are three volumes quarto of Hubbard's Pra-
lectiones to No. 8009. When I was of Emmanuel-College,
the old gentleman was on his last legs, and all that I know of
him was, that he appeared very dignified and devout at Chapel,
and was understood to take his full share of sweet veal-pie on
gaudy days, etc. in the Hall."
My excellent and enlightened friend, the Rev. Joseph Hun
ter of Bath, has furnished me with some interesting notices of
Mr. Leman and the Bishop of Cloyne, which I shall subjoin : —
" Nov. 15, 1827. I knew (the late Rev. Thomas) Leman,
and used to sit with him sometimes in his study. He left par
ticular directions respecting his tomb, which was to be enriched
with a number of heraldric ornaments. I was desired to su
perintend the execution of these directions, and Mrs. Leman
sent me as an acknowledgment, and as a memorial of Mr.
Leman, his copy of Whittaker's Whalley, in which are a few
of his pencil-notes.
" Mr. Leman had a pretty good collection of historical and
topographical works. He had several volumes of genealogy,
which he has left with some of his annotated books to the Li
brary of our Institution. But they are chiefiy transcripts from
printed works, or from MSS., which are easily accessible. I
have often borrowed books of him, and I cannot say that I have
found, what some say of him, that he was an unapproachable

440 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
But I do not think Dr. Parr was acquainted with
him. Mr. John Askew was a Fellow, a relation of Dr.
man. His literary strength lay in roads, and generally Richard
of Cirencester, who was his oracle. It is supposed that the
Edition of Richard, (Translation rather,) published above 20
years ago, was prepared chiefly by him. His own copy is left
to the Institution with many notes. His attention was par
tially directed to other departments of our history and anti
quities ; but in the latter part of his life he was rather cele
brated for his parties than his literature. Plis house was
open once a week to all comers, and on the other evenings to
some. It is said that he left about £150,000.
" His tomb was in good taste ; — an altar-tomb of the old
fashion with shields within quaterfoils on the sides and ends ;
an inscription on the upper surface — the inscription was writ
ten by the Bishop, and was kept many years in Mr. Leman's
hands. It was to be placed in a Church in Suffolk ; Wenhas-
ton, I think. But he was buried at Bath."
" Febr. 19, 1828. Mr, Leman's own best transcripts, gene
alogical and topographical, are divided between our Institu
tion-Library, and Sir R. C. Hoare, who was long a great friend
of Mr. Leman. I have had for about six months a quar.to
volume of Notes on Roman Roads in the hand-writing of the
Bishop of Cloyne ; — an indigested mass with nothing useful
for the part of the kingdom I am illustrating. You will find
much on this subject communicated by the Bishop and Mr.
Leman to the Messrs. Lysons for their Magna Britannia.
The Translation of Richard of Cirencester was chiefly the work
of Mr. Leman. He could scarcely hear with patience any hint
of suspicion that Richard is not what he pretends to be. My
friend, Mr. Couybeare, on the other hand, was confident that
the work was a modern forgery, and meditatedli paper on the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 441
Askew's. He succeeded to the Living of North-
Cadbury in Somersetshire : this Living is now
worth £700 or £800 per ann., the next best Living
to Loughborough, Leicestershire, that is in the
gift of Emmanuel-College--
subject for the Archtsologia, which if he had lived, might by this
time have been completed. He says the Latinity of Richard is
not that of the Mth or 1 5th century, but of the Preface-writers
of the 18th. In Nichols's Leicestershire, and I believe in other
works of topography published during the last 30 years, will be
found communications respecting the Roman antiquities of
Britain from Mr. Leman and his friend. Strange to say, I have
preserved no copy of the inscription on Mr. Leman's monument,
but it is in the Church of Wenhaston, Suffolk, whence it may
be easily obtained. I superintended the heraldric part ; but
there is one shield, in which the engraver has not conformed
to my instructions.
" There was an elegance running through everything about
Mr. Leman. His hand-writing was correct and beautiful :
his mode of expressing himself in conversation or in writing,
expressive and happy without being either adorned or having
the appearance of an intention to convey more than he felt.
His house was furnished in excellent taste; his study re
tired and quiet, — an irregular room, or rather two rooms
thrown into one, — the inner separated from the other by a
slight paling, in which was a sort of door. He had some good
paintings : amongst them a full length of Sir Robert Naunton,
who was an ancestor of his. (Is there not a Memoir oi Sir
Robert Naunton published, or privately printed by Mr. Le
man ?) His drawing-room was painted en fresco with the
sceneiy around Lake Leman : in this there was perhaps
something of affectation. I never saw it lighted up ; but the
effect in the day-time was good. He received all strangers of

442 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
I shaU now. Sir, proceed to give you a short
account of the few interviews, which I have had
with your learned friend.
The first time, that I have a distinct recollec
tion of paying my respects to him, was when I
resided in Carey-Street, Lincoln's-Inn-Fields.
Dr. Parr had taken a lodging for a short time in
Portugal-Street just by. I think that it was at
the time when Mr. Joseph Gerrald was under
confinement. He had been, you know, a favou
rite pupil of Parr's, and I think our conversation
turned upon that gentleman, and Mr. Gilbert
Wakefield. I have a recollection, too, of having
met him at Mr. Basil Montagu's, at which time
eminence. His mode of receiving was not to dinner, but to
evening-parties, so that he saw a great deal of company at little
expense. He usually rode out in a morning on horseback.
His house, (you must excuse me for rambling from one sub
ject to another,) was in the Royal Crescent, and was perhaps
one ofthe best houses there. He had a pretty numerous esta
blishment of servants. He was for many years in the receipt of
a considerable income, and is said to have left a large sum of
ready-money among his relations. The old Baronet-family
(now extinct) of Leman, and he were of the same stock. With
the present Baronet of that name he claimed no alliance. In
one of his genealogical volumes, bequeathed to the Institution,
is a full account of the several branches of his own family.
Semper juvare paratus was his motto.
" Perhaps these imperfect hints may assist in preparing a
Memoir of Mr. Leman; if that is your intention, J think more
should be said of him than has yet been said." E. II. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 443
also he spoke of Mr. Wakefield in terms of the
highest praise, and I have always heard it men
tioned to the honour of your learned friend, that
he was ever disposed to pay the respect due to
talents and learning, wherever he found them.
I have often heard Mr. Wakefield speak of this
as a prominent feature in his character.
But the time, when I had an opportunity of
surveying him more nearly, was in the year 1798,
when I made a pedestrian tour of North and
South Wales. In my way I called at Hatton in
Warwickshire : it was on a Sunday. I went into
the Church, and was struck with the taste dis
played there, which is much greater than what
is usually seen in the Church of a country-vUlage.
Dr. Parr was in the pulpit, reading from a printed
book. I had the honour to dine with him, when
he informed me that the sermon he had been read
ing was on moderation, by Dr. Jortin. He was high
in the praise of Jortin, and asked me if I knew a
better subject than moderation?* He entered
* [In an earlier Letter from my excellent friend, Mr. Dyer,
he had said : — "It is more than 20 years since I made a pe
destrian tour, and passed through Hatton on my way to North-
Wales. It was on a Sunday, and arriving there in the time
of service I went to Church. I was surprised, not to say di
verted, or indeed rather pleased to see the Doctor reading from
a tolerably-sized printed volume. (I think a quarto.) I intro
duced myself to him after service ; he received me most cour
teously, and I had the honour of dining with him. I remember

444 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
very warmly into political subjects. His eldest
daughter seemed a shrewd young person, and to
take a wicked pleasure in opposing her father.
We dined in his library, and he pointed out to
me some curious books, and in his good-hu
moured way noticed his heretical authors. From
a recollection of what I saw of Dr. Parr at Hatton,
I wrote those lines in a Poem entitled The Poets
Fate, (Lond. 1797- edn. 2. p, 9.)
' Parr Lords and Dukes are forward to commend ;
' But who appears at Court the Doctor's friend ?
' Books are his riches, — and his only rule
' A village-pulpit, or a country school ! ' *
From something, too, which had occurred at
Hatton, I wrote a few lines relating to Dr. Parr,
speaking in approbation of what I heard him deliver at Church,
though rather jokingly, perhaps knowing that Dr. Parr followed
some conviction of his own, and that he could not be in want
of sermons of his own composition ; when he asked — ' What
' could I preach better than a sermon of Dr. Jortin's on tole-
' ration' or ' moderation ? ' I forget which. AVhat diverted
me, was the open Roger de Cover ley -m&nner, (as in the Spec
tator,) ofthe Doctor's bringing forward his favourite preacher.
Dr. Jortin."
* [" Dr. Parr^ the celebrated Grecian," says Mr. Dyer in a
note, " a learned and benevolent man, editor of Gulielmi Bel-
lendeni de Statu Libri III. To the work is prefixed a Preface,
not likely to recommend the Doctor to the present ministry,
written in the most elegant Latin. In this Preface are traced
the features of three great political characters, accom]janied
with the highest strains of panegyric ; the ])resent minister

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 445
which are printed in a volume of Poems, which
I published in 1801. 8vo. (p. 168.)*
I met him again on this tour, in Monmouth-
receives the severest eastigation. Are Dr. Parr's services to
literature to be measured by his observations on Combe's Ho
race, or his attack on a Curtis ? Certainly not. But of a per
son, who has been so industriously and successfully employed
in the education of youth as Dr. Parr, I cannot allow myself
to speak as a modern satirist — In nullum reipublicce usum
ambitiosa loquela inclaruit .- ' He has acquired reputation
' through ambitious querulousness, without doing the least
' service to the community.' In the early part of life, the
Doctor was second Master at Harrow-School; in a subsequent
period he conducted, with great reputation, a classical school
at Norwich. He now resides not over-burthened with pre
ferment, in the neighbourhood of Warwick ; and were he
unknown as a man of letters, he mi^ht be beloved as a friend
to the distressed."
* [" Ofthe talents and learning ofthe Editor of Bellendenus
it was unnecessary to say anything. The lines were written
on receiving an account ofthe very benevolent exertions of Dr.
Parr on many occasions, more particularly on one, and of the
malignant conduct of an insignificant persecutor : —
" TO DR. SAMUEL PARR,
Of Hatton, near Wanmck.
Parr, men like you, of noble mind,
A feeble foe may well defy ;
Firm as he hears the passing wind,
Or distant views a lowering sky.
What tho' the lily's slender head
May droop beneath the drenching showers .'
Tho' bends the rose on lowly bed.
The queen, th' unrivalled queen of flowers .'

446 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
shire, at the house of a gentleman, w'ho was a
great admirer of Charles Fox. The conversation
took a turn about that gentleman, and Dr. Parr

Yet spreads the oak its giant arms ;
Yet smiles the cedar's reverend form ;
The tempest wakes no wild alarms ;
Secm-e they stand, and brave the storm.
And mark where foaming torrents roar
Down the steep rock's unalter'd side ;
The pearly snows arc seen no more,
But perish in the boist'rous tide.
But, shall the hoary mountain dread
Or beating rain, or thunder nigh .''
Still, as in scorn, it rears its head ;
Still looks in triumph to the sky.
For me ; — tho' I may still revere
Stern wisdom in her hermit-cell,
Yet to my heart is far more dear.
The breast, where gentlest virtues dwell.
'Tis thus I love some Alpine height,
And bless each tree, that clothes'the side :
Yet humbler vallies more delight.
Than all the mountain's varied pride.
There breathe the garden's richer sweets ;
There livelier songsters carol gay ;
There breathe, amid the blest retreats,
The shepherd's pipe, the lover's lay.
Thus have I rang'd the breezy shore.
And, rapt in thought poetic, stood,
To hear the ocean's solemn roar,
Or gaze on Severn's stately flood.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 447
grew very warm. A young spark, who was pre
sent, ventured to oppose him, and was for going
into some argument. ? Sir', said the Doctor, ' is
' that your opinion ? And do you wish to argue
* the point with me ? I do not use reasoning
' with such boys as you ; but, if I had a rod here,
' Sir, I would give you a good flogging.'
But Avon, softly flowing, pours
A stream less stately, yet more bright.
And fresh with dews, the genial flowers
Smile on the bank, and charm the sight.
Here Shakspeare, Nature's fondest child.
First rov'd, a little thoughtless swain ;
Here breath'd his native wood-notes wild,
And tried the soft impassion'd strain.
Here, too, collecting sweets, I stray'd,
From flowers, with mildest tints that glow'd.
And blest thy Hatton' s humble shade ;
For it was Mercy's meek abode,
A river Avon, (for there are several of that name in England and Scot
land,) passes by Stratford, in Warwickshire, which is, therefore, called
Stratford-on-Avon, the birth-place of Shakspeare. Hatton is a village
about two miles from Warwick."
The amiable author of these lines had written thus in a pre
vious Letter to me : — "I remember hearing something about
this time, that was very honourable to Dr. Parr, though I for
get the particulars. His situation as Curate of Hatton, must
have been better suited to him than if he had been Rector, or
Vicar, or even Bishojj, as it brought him into an intimate
acquaintance with the more interesting concerns of the parish,
without involving him in disputes about tithes, etc. I have

448 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
On my arrival at Oxford, I met the Doctor
again, and spent the evening with him, in com
pany of rather a large party of University-gentle
men, (they were of Whig principles,) Dr. Smith,
late Master, (I think,) of Queen's College, Dr.
Hughes, late President of Jesus, and, if I am
not mistaken, Dr. Routh,* and Mr. Crowe, the
Public Orator, wereof the party with others. I
infer that the two last-named gentlemen were of
the party, from the uniform kindness, which they
have since manifested towards me on my occa
sional visits to Oxford. A member of Parliament
also was of the company. Their conversation
was a good deal on the politics of the day, and
rather general ; I have at least forgotten the lite
rary subjects, which were most probably discuss
ed on that occasion ; and I was struck with the
deference, which was paid to your Doctor.
heard he was particularly attentive to the poor, and that he
recovered some money or land, to the poor of this pari.sh,
which had been improperly applied. The lines enclosed I have
had copied from a volume oi Poems, which I published in 1801.
What did Dr. Parr honour, was the part taken by him in the
case alluded to, and the course the opposite party took to re
sent it."
* [In a Letter, which my friend addressed to me in Nov.
1825. he writes : — " I have been both to 0.\-ford and Cam
bridge, since I last wrote to you. I had much conversation with
Dr. Routh of Magdalen College, Oxford, and Dr. Cory of

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 449
I once dined in company with him at a Cap
tain Browne's, at Knightsbridge, near London.
This gentleman was author of a work entitled
Hermes Unmasked. He was a man of genius,
and carried Home Tooke's principles of "ETrea
nrepoevra farther than Tooke carried them him
self.* I returned home in a coach with the
Emmanuel about Dr. Parr ; but I could glean nothing from
them but what you know. Dr. Routh mentioned one or two
smart speeches of his, as an instance of his independent spirit ;
— one to a great personage, who invited him to dine with him
to meet two or three learned Noblemen, among whom was
LordT., of whom his Grace observed : 'You know. Dr. Parr,
' Lord T. is a good Scholar.' Dr. Parr excused himself
by saying, ' And please your Grace, I do not choose that
' Lord T.'i ignorance should be the measure of my know-
' ledge.* " E. H. B.]
• [ In the foUowing work. An English Prologue and Epi
logue to the Latin Comedy of Ignoramus, written by George
Ruggle, with a Preface and Notes, by George Dyer, Lond.
1797. 8vo. p, 15, occur these lines : —
' Ye book-learn'd pedagogues, of solemn brows !
' To whom, as custom leads, our reason bows,
' Who, with birch-law, ten parts of speech dispense,
' And every rule, but that of common sense ;
' Why scowl, grave doctors, with polemic frown,
' And swear the world is turning upside down,
' Because ViGERUsis not worshipp'd still,
' And some may even question Walker's skill .'
' Hoffmann, Henninius, now neglected lie,
' (Few read them, but dull things, as you and I,)
' As though dame Science should not walk your schools,
' And none shall enter there but Grammar-Suks.
* Oh ! see, (and time shall all things bear away,)
' Your parts of speech take wing and fly away ;
2G

450 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Doctor to Portugal-Street ; and a particular cir
cumstance led to a conversation on the female cha
racter, in which Dr. Parr impressed me with the
liberality of his sentiments, and the benevolence
of his heart.
I once made a caU on him, when on a visit to
your friend. Dr. Davy, Master of Caius-CoUege.
' Busbies and Lillies shall expire with years ;
' E'en Hermes now unmask'd, a dunce appears.
' These young Philosophers! then let them pass ;
' And be not like old Balaam with his ass :
* Hast thou not heen mine ass this many a day ?
' Lest some good Angel should obstruct your way,
' And, brandishing his sword of logic high,
' Should cleave you down for boobies, and ye die.'
" John Home Tooke's celebrated work," says Mr. Dyer,
"¦ entitled ^'Eirea TlrepoevTa, or. The Diversions of Purley,
goes to establish this doctrine, ' that in English and in all
' languages there are only two sorts oi words, which are
' necessary for the communication of our thoughts,' or in
other words, in opposition to the notion of there being eight
parts of speech, that there are only two, viz. the noun and the
verb. The principles of Hermes, or, A Treatise on Philoso
phical Grammar, a work of equal authority almost with Law
and Gospel, till attacked by the author of the Diversions of
Purley, have been attacked again with infinite wit by Captain
Browne, whose Hermes Unmasked ' attempts to show that
' there is in reality but one sort of word, and that there is no
' distinction originally between the noun and verb.' I wish
all schoolmasters, some politicians, and as many grammarians
and metaphysicians, as have common sense and humility,
would read Hermes Unmasked, or. The Art of Speech, founded
on the association of words and ideas.'' E, H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 451
It was only a morning-call, and our interview was
but short, though I had the pleasure of seeing
him smoke out a good orthodox pipe of tobacco,
which reminds me that I once saw lying in the
Chapter-Coffee-house, the Doctor's Spital- Ser
mon, with a comical caricature of him, in the
pulpit, preaching and smoking at the same time,
with exfumo dare lucem issuing from his mouth.
The last time I had the honour of being in the
Doctor's company was at Lord Hutchinson's in
Bulstrode-Street. It was a dinner-party. All,
except Dr. Parr and myself, were Irishmen ;
and as they were all alike of Whig principles, the
conversation took a political turn. The com
pany consisted ofthe late Earl of Donoughmore,
Lord Hutchinson, (the present Earl of Donough
more,) Mr. H. Hutchinson, Member for Cork,
brother of the above, and a Dr. Macdonald, a
physician. I remember being struck with the
contemptuous manner, in which our learned
friend spoke of the Irish literature, considering
that all addressed were Irish. Dr. Macdonald
was very warm in opposing him. Lord Hutchin
son too, I believe, was not well pleased. For in
speaking of the Doctor afterwards, he has often
said of him, that he thought him a man more
distinguished for extraordinary talents than pro
found learning.*
* [In an earlier Letter Mr. Dyer had observed : — " The
2G 2

452 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
I have thus. Sir, endeavoured to comply with
your request, though whether exactly in the way
you wished, I do not know. You have, no
doubt, by this time made a plentiful harvest of
biographical particulars among Dr. Parr's more
intimate friends, in addition to those, which
arose out of your own personal knowledge.
At the end of the second volume ofthe Pri
vileges of Cambridge, are many anecdotes of
Cambridge-men, who were among the friends or
acquaintance of the Doctor. There is a most
admirable Poem of Sir Wm. Jones, (who, I think,
was admitted ad eundem at Cambridge,) not in
his W^orks, which I communicated to the Monthly
Magazine, and afterwards inserted in the Cam
bridge-Fragments (p. 124.)* There is also a copy
last time I met him, was, I think, at Lord Hutchinson's, when
he was very eloquent, very witty, and very good-humoured, with
the exception that he bore somewhat too hard on the state of
Irish literature, which, though what he said, might be true,
was done in too direct a manner, considering the whole com
pany was Irish." E. H, B.]
* [" LINES BY SIR WILLIAM JONES.
Sir William was a man as amiable as he was learned. No
tice was just since taken of his Specimen Poesms Asiatics.
The following delicious lines were his composition ; and the
insertion of them here requires no apology. They were writ
ten in the honesty and gaiety of his heart, in the earlier part
of life, though after he had taken his Master's degree.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 453
of verses of Dr. Farmer's, addressed to the Duke
of Newcastle, which shews that he had a taste
TO THE NYMPH OF THE SPRING,
Written near a Spring between two Hillocks, in the Neighbour
hood of the River Tivy, in Pembrokeshire.
Why should old 'Kvy, boys, claim all our duty paid.
And no just homage be to charming youth and beauty said .'
See where the Nymph of Spring sits inviting us.
With charming water crystalline, refreshing and delighting us.
What, though his margin broad be rocky, oak'd and willowy .'
And what, though his ozier banks be spacious, deep, and billowy ?
She, from her sweet paps, Hlied and roseal.
Lies feeding all her laughing buds, with dew-drops ambrosial.
Then, with sweet melody, carol to the fountain-nymph.
Far sweeter than a sea-nymph, and milder than a mountain-nymph.
Long may her streams gush, lucid and nectarious.
And long may her banks be decked with flow'rets multifarious ;
Long o'er her arched grot may purple-winged Zephyrus
Come leading on his wanton bands of breezes odoriferous.
Yearly to the Naiad shall the roundelay repeated be.
And by the chorus jubilant her liquid silver greeted be.
Say, can we better, boys, chace dull idle Care away.
Than thus by passing hours of mirth in harmony and roundelay ?
Stretch'd on that green hillock's bank, around her rosy nipple, boys,
We merrily wUl sing and laugh, and merrily we'll tipple, boys ;
Drinking to damsels, lovely and delicious ;
Oh heavens ! would they smile on us, like deities propitious.
And, mark ! if any rebel here shall miss the cup or mutiny,
Amerc'd shall be the miscreant without appeal or scrutiny.
These lines are original — they are not in his Works — they
were written on a tour in company with some gentlemen, after
going the circuit — I was favoured with them by a gentleman,
the late Mr. Justice Nares, who was of the party. But, judg
ing only by Sir William's translations, we are of opinion that
he has produced no specimen of Asiatic poetry superior, if
equal, to this. It is in the true spirit of Hafez, and resem-

154 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
for poetic composition, as well as antiquities. *
There is also an account of Cole, the Cambridge-
bles most of those pieces of Asiatic poetry, which by some
are thought to have an arcane signification . Vide Specimen
Poes. Asiat."
In a Letter from Mr. Dyer, received in June 1 826, he writes
thus : — "I remember a copy of verses, relating to Sir Wil
liam Jones, written by Lytton, which I communicated to the
Monthly Magazine from Mr. Lytton, and another beautiful
copy of verses, written by SirWm, Jones, written on the circuit,
and communicated to me by Mr, Nares, who was on the circuit
with him,"
* [With respect to Dr. Farmer," says Mr. Dyer iu a Let
ter to me, " he seems to have rested his fame on his short,
but excellent Essay on Shakspeare. I never heard that he
meditated any thing else, (but the History of Leicestershire.)
The History of Leicestershire he dropped on his becoming
Tutor of Emmanuel-College. I perceive in his Cata
logue, No. 8015, among the MSS., History and Antiquities
ofthe County of Leicester, from the Collections of various An
tiquaries, by Dr. Farmer, and 8016. 8017. containing AfS.
Collections relating to Leicester ,- and, if I mistake not, they
were purchased by Mr. Nichols at Dr. Farmer's sale. I
cannot perceive either from his printed books or his MSS.
that he ever meditated any thing besides ; but he had a po
etical turn, when younger, I have read a good copy of
verses by him in the Gratulationes Cantabrigienses, which
I have given in the Cambridge-Fragments, in the Privileges
of Cambridge. Mr. Hubbard had been, I understood, a
good disciplinarian : Dr. Farmer was quite the reverse, even
to negligence and excess of good-nature. He had a brother,
1 think, a Colonel Farmer, and a nephew, who, I think, is a
City-Hector. If I mistake not, the latter was his executor."
Mr. Dyer says in the Cambridge-Fragments, in the Privi-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 455
antiquary, who was much acquainted at Emma
nuel-College ; and likewise of Dr. Askew, of
Emmanuel-Library, and of the Picture-Gallery,
vileges of the University of Cambridge, p. 16. : — "A little
while after the late Dr. Farmer published his Essay on the
Learning of Shakspeare, — an ingenious pamphlet, that settles
the controversy concerning the literary character of ouf im
mortal Dramatist, — he was visited by Dr. Johnson at Cam
bridge. Farmer observes in this Essay ' that an article of
' faith hath been usually received with more temper and
' complacence, than the unfortunate opinion, that he defend-
' ed.' Johnson, therefore, conversing with Farmer, on the
agitations, that this pamphlet had caused among the critics,
justly admonished him in some such words as these : — 'Fear
' them not, Mr. Farmer; you have cut oflFaJimb, and must
' expect the flesh about it to tremble.' "
The verses alluded to by Mr. Dyer occur in p. 96. : —
"Dr. Farmer is only known as a Commentator on Shakspeare.
The following lines, written by him, when a young man, shew
that he might have been a poet, had he cultivated his talent.
They are extracted from the Gratulationes et Luctus, pub
lished at Cambridge in 1755. As the original work is in
the hands of few people, the ensuing extract may probably
be not unacceptable. They are addressed to Thomas Holies,
Duke of Newcastle, when he visited the University, for the
purpose of authorizing the repair and enlargement of the
PubUc Library. Haste, young-eyed May, and gently pour
From bosom green thy^balmy store ;
Bid violets paint their azure beds.
And daffodils, with painted heads,
And tulip gilt, and primrose fair,
Sweetly catch the laughing air :

456 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
also of some curious books and MSS. there, with
other matters relating to Cambridge.
I may, perhaps, just add in passing, that I
Bring Joy along, thy eldest born.
And Plenty, with her flowing horn ;
Whilst birds of many a various wing
To Cam in wildest wood-notes ring.
Who sees approach his sedgy throne
The state's great patron, and his own.
Hail, Pelham, by whose favourite hand
Peace yet strews olives round the land.
See Europe's groans betray despair !
Her trembling balance asks thy care ;
And, if no human art can guide
The pendant weight on either side —
If sacred George at length shall cease
To bid the world he blest in peace —
Of crowns in vain shall Lewis dream .
His scale shall mount and kick the beam.
Whence, then, Britannia, the big tear.
Least song detain thy patriot's ear ?
His noble breast at once is free
To guard the much-lov'd Muse and thee.
See learning mark his chosen way,
With many a beam of early day !
And cow'ring Ignorance give place
To Science, with averted face !
While Pelham bids the column rise.
And tell his bounty to the skies.
Now smiles old Cam, and scatter'd finds
His Gothic dust the sport of winds.
Nor envies Isis, who ere while
Boasted her mausoleum pile .
On domes depends not Pelham's fame.
But be they founded on his name !
Haste, ye Muses, to prepare
Sweet flow'rets for your guardian's care 1
Beneath his banner safe engage,
And brave the Vandals of the age !

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 457
have known, more or less, in the course of my
life, several of the Doctor's acquaintance, and
probably something may have passed in conver
sation, relative to him ; but of any such obser
vations I have no distinct recollection. With
Dr. Priestley I was a good deal acquainted, when
For him your choicest laurels bring,
Who lifts e'en me on fancy's wing !
For him let Nature's face be gay.
All he mirth and holiday.
But when the ruddy eve steals on.
And tips the grove with mantle brown.
When swings the solemn curfeu slow.
Far absent be, thou bird of woe !
Nor close the day with darkness drear.
This fairest daughter of the year ! "
" The homeliness of Dr. Farmer's external disappointed
me, who, from what 1 heard, expected to see him in little
less than l-awn sleeves. He delighted me at my father's
table, when the report was alluded to that Sir Joshua Rey
nolds shared the gains of his man Ralph in shewing his
pictures, by quoting the lines from Hudibras : —
' A squire he had, whose name was Ralph,
' Who in th' adventure went his half.'
The pleasure of such aptitude is not to be defined; but
it is very great. Besides this, I recollect his saying of Dr.
Parr, — and I print absolutely ignorant whether it be praise
or censure, — ' that he seemed to have been at a feast of
learning, from which he had carried off all the scraps.'"
Anecdotes, Biographical Sketches, and Memoirs, collected by
Lcetitia Matilda Hawkins, V. 1. p. 14.
On the liberality of Dr. Farmer see the Memoirs of Gilbert
Wakefield I, 95. 106. 176. E. H. B.]

458 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
he resided at Hackney ; I was very intimate with
Mr. Wakefield. I once passed part of a day with
Dr. Bridges, at a village near Thrapston, and
dined with him at Magdalen-College, Oxford.
I have occasionaUy dined in company with Mr.
Porson, at Dr. Raine's, and Porson used fre
quently to take his mutton-chop with me. From
what I knew of the latter and his writings, and
two or three hints from Dr. Raine, I wrote Mr.
Person's Memoirs, in the Public Characters. I
may add also Mr. Home Tooke, though from
what the latter gentleman said, I should think
no great cordiality subsisted between him and
Dr. Parr.
And now you see how large an F^istle I have
written to you. Though not important, it is
original ; not derived from any ofthe Parriana,
which have lately appeared. Icannot object to
your proposal of subjoining my name to such
parts of this communication as you may approve,
nor of omitting such parts, against which you
may find objections. * Indeed it wiU not escape
you, that without some acknowledgment it would
appear that I had, like a rook, been robbing your
nest, when I came to buUd one of my own. You
wiU perceive. Sir, that the preceding effusions
form rather a combination of circumstances, or a
* [The Letter is given entire. E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 459
statement of occurences, than a delineation of
character, or any high co f panegyric.
Mrs. Dyer unites will kind respects,
and I remain, Dear Sir, yours faithfully,
George Dyer."

460 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF

XXI.
Extract from the ' Whig- Club, or, A Sketch of
Modern Patriotism,' Lond. 1794. 8yo.

" Haying bestowed so much time on the Laity,
we cannot refuse some moments to one of the
Clergy. Doctor Samuel Parr may boast the same ex
traction as Cardinal Dubois, and is the son of a
man, who united the two advantages of practising
as an apothecary, and keeping a boarding-house
at Harrow. It was at that school this colossus of
Grecian literature received his education ; his
application early distinguished him ; and he was
chosen to supply the vacancy of one of the under-
masters : from this situation he graduaUy advan
ced until he was promoted to the peculiar care
of the fourth form. At this period he had the
singular faculty of acquiring the affection of the
scholars, with the esteem ofthe head-master. The
death of the master. Dr. Sumner, which promised
to promote, was ultimately fatal to his hopes ; he

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 461
aspired to be his successor ; but the governors
thought themselves justified in calling Mr. Heath,
from Eton, to that station. The boys were ex
asperated at this insult offered to their favourite ;
a rebeUion broke out, which will be long remem
bered at Harrow. It was above three weeks
before order could be restored; and then Mr.
Parr retired with about fifty of the head-boys to
Stanmore, where he opened a new school.
Though this measure was countenanced by
Doctor Askew, andsomefew ofthe Grecianfriends
of the Doctor, it was far from being generally ap
proved. It was observed, that however the
ardour of the boys in favour of their preceptor
might be amiable, it was neither prudent nor
decent in him to avaU himself of it ; that it was
relaxing the springs of discipline ; and sanction
ing that turbulent spirit, which has too often
disgraced our great schools.
To the imprudent part of the conduct Mr.
Parr was soon awakened; most ofthe boys, who
had seceded with him, were approaching the pe
riod, when they were to remove from school to
coUege ; and the influence, which he even pos
sessed over the juniors, began to decline: though
the solemnity of his character was increased by
the new dignity of Doctor, to which he was ad
mitted about that time at Cambridge, it could
not overawe the spirit of faction, which began to

462 PARRIANA 5 OR NOTICES OF
arise. A marriage, which he contracted with the
house-keeper of some obscure citizen's widow,
added fuel to the flame. This wife had been re
commended by Doctor Askew; for Sammy was
too much immersed in Greek to look out for one
for himself. Her sordid economy was displeasing
to the boys, and her cockney dialect was grating
to the ear of the Doctor. He lamented that he
had not paid his addresses to the celebrated Miss
Carter, whom he might have courted in Greek ;
and she did not condescend to conceal her vex
ation at having chosen for her bedfellow a pedantic
pedagogue, instead of an East- India Captain, who
might have brought muslins and chintzes.
The decline of the school at Stanmore admo
nished Dr. Parr to quit it ; he afterwards tried
Colchester and Norwich, but not with more suc
cess. The fame of his learning has, indeed,
spread wider and wider ; but with his renown his
arrogance has increased ; all his attainments are
poisoned by a supercilious disposition ; a less
compliment than that from Catullus,
Ille mi Par esse Deus videtur ;
Ille, si fas est, superare Divos —
he would turn from with scorn. From lashing
boys he presumed to lash men ; and his Preface
to Bellendenus launched him forth as one of the
most daring adventurers on the ocean of political
controversy : but the boldness of the attempt is

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 463
more to be admired, than the execution is to be
praised. Even the purity of the Latin has been
severely criticised; and the pompous phraseology,
in which his ideas are clothed, announces a mind
inflated by the opinion of its own superiority. It
attracted the attention of the public for some
time, rather from its scurrility, than its severity ;
but it has been long since consigned to oblivion ;
to the same oblivion, to which Dr. Parr's attacks
on Mr. Curtis, and Dr. Combe, are rapidly hast
ening. Yet, though Dr. Parr's character has suffered
from acting a part so inconsistent with a minister
of peace, it is not destitute of worthy and brUliant
qualities. As a Greek scholar he stands unrivalled;
and those, who have had the pleasure of sharing
in his conversation, must acknowledge that he
is gifted with an eloquence clear and captivating :
it is the unhappy subject of politics, that has
cramped his faculties, and proved a torpedo to
his genius. We regret to find a pen, that can
discourse sweet language, clothe wisdom in her
fairest attire, give morality a charm to make in
struction lovely, can elevate the humblest subject,
and adorn the sublimest, prostituted to the worst
of services, the service of a faction; we are grieved
to behold a man, pure in his own morals, the ad
vocate of a profligate crew sunk in vice and sen
suality ; and instead of aspiring by the open road

464 PARRUNA : OR NOTICES OF
of learning to the highest dignities of the profes
sion he has entered into, treading the dark and
intricate paths of party, to attain to the degrading
station of Chaplain of the Whig Club."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 465

XXII.
Extract from a Letter to T. W. Coke, Esq. M.P.
on the Tendency of certain Speeches, delivered
at the County-Meeting, in the Shire-Hall, Nor
wich, on Saturday, April 5th, 1817, by a
Clergyman, (Burgess,) Norwich, I8I7. 8vo.
53-4. pp.

" I wish. Sir, we all knew our strong grounds,
and could better turn our best virtues to accompt
than we do. Your strong ground is where — I
would to God every man's was — at home. There
you are unassailable — there you are intrenched
so powerfully, that you may laugh to scorn all
the malice and machinations of your enemies —
there you may defy even the parasite himself to
do you injury. I cannot help picturing to my
self those hospitalities, to which you are indebted
for much of that popularity you possess — to a
purer source of popularity it is scarcely in any
man's power to be indebted. I see you sur
rounded by your friends — rejoicing in their joy-
sharing in their misfortunes — and identifying
2H

466 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
yourself with their best feelings, and in their hap
piest hours, by a thousand good offices, for
which language has no name, but which are
stamped in eternal characters upon a grateful
heart. I know the princely demeanour you have
long been in the habit of preserving towards all
your connections. Every thing about you asso
ciated with home is one strong circle of enchant
ment. There you are the mighty magician, that
can caU up visions of delight to the way-faring
man, and spread before him Elysian prospects at
your pleasure. Your festivities have been with
out pomp, and your kindnesses without restraint.
You have tempted to your table, with a sweet
seducement, the great and the learned, the
lowly and the good. In your society the indus
trious farmer, and the useful mechanic have for
got their littleness, and domesticated themselves
with your splendor, without losing their respect
for your rank.
" At such a board every man has been proud to
sit, and there too, in better days sat one, of whom
even such a board might, in return, be proud !
Often have you been gratified by his keen poli
tical remark, running sometimes, it may be, in
impure channels, but still flowing over beds of
gold. Often have you witnessed his polished
diction, his exquisite imagery, his fine grada
tions of thought, poured from a clear, full, fer-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 467
tUizing urn. Often have you travelled with
him through the records of generations past and
forgotten, and feasted on his recondite researches,
freely spread forth, like the light of heaven, to all
around him. But when, with a fascination hardly
to be conceived, he struck into new paths, which
he trod without leaving a trace behind, and in
troduced his auditors to grand and solemn sce
nery — when he led them to fresh fountains, and
unlocked the springs of ancient lore, and display
ed the rich materials of an imagination, crowded
with ' thoughts that breathe and words that burn'
— when, finally, with a conscious, daring hand,
he snatched the pencil of genius, and presented
his delineation of character, where the figure
starts from the canvass, and becomes a ' living
soul,' I behold attention absorbt in wonder, and
and admiration converted into idolatry.
Nee tantum Phcebo gaudet Parnassia rupes ;
Nee tafktum Rhodope miratur et Ismarus Orphea.
But these Athenian hours are, alas ! no more.
The eagle hath deserted his ancient eyrie, and the
tomtit twitters in his place. Dr. Parr was the clas
sic soul of the Holkham-hospitalities. It is sui
cide to recollect who is !"

2H 2

468 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF

XXIII.
Copy of a Letter from C. J. Ashley, Esq. the
well-known Performer on the Violoncello.

" London, June 9th, 1827.
" Dear Sir,
It will always give me very great plea
sure to do anything in my power to serve any
of my late most respectable and worthy friend,
Mr. Mauley's famUy, and I had great pleasure in
procuring the inclosed paper from Mr. Ashley.
I beg that you will present my best respects to
Mrs. Barker and her sisters, with my most sin
cere good wishes for their welfare and happiness.
" I am, dear Sir,
" Your very obedient humble Servant,
" Wm. Jones."
« To E. H. Barker, Esq."
" 5, Garden-Row, Southwark.
June 6th, 1827.
" Sir, Annexed you have the best answers I
can give to the questions propounded in the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 469
Letter, the contents of which you did me the
honour to communicate from Mr. Barker.
" I am. Sir,
" Yours respectfully,
" C. J. Ashley."
" To Wm. Jones, Esq."
" Early in life I had the pleasure of being ac
quainted with the Rev. Dr. Parr, when he re
sided at Stanmore, in which neighbourhood I and
my brothers used to visit constantly.
" As to teaching him the violonceUo, I merely
put some strings, and called occasionally, and
tuned an old instrument he had, when I was in
the village. His performance consisted in merely
holding the instrument by the head, and sound
ing the open strings, and singing with great ani
mation and power of voice Greek verses or
choruses, as he called them ; — shifting the
fingers, he said, was useless, and merely a French
innovation. " His ear for music I cannot decidedly speak
upon further than I should think he possessed a
correct one, as he always expressed himself de
lighted with the simple and sublime style of
Handel's compositions.
" Dr. Parr often conversed upon the music of
the ancients ; but, as his remarks were too learn
ed for me, (then only a boy,) to comprehend, I

470 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
am not able to state the scale of Greek music,
I only recollect that upon my meeting him at
an Oratorio I conducted at Norwich in 1807,
and enquiring if he stUl continued practising
the violoncello, he very seriously replied that as
he could not accomplish the Greek scale, he
had been reluctantly compelled to resign his mu
sical studies.
" Any anecdotes I recoUect, are merely school
boy reports, and far too trifling to afford any en
tertainment, and I fear too ridiculous to be in
serted in such a work as Mr. Barker's. The
following may probably not be unworthy of
notice. " The Doctor in order to keep his imagination
awake, and his memory retentive, requested an
old cobbler, who was a great theologician, to give
him a text every time he performed duty at Stan
more. The cobbler regularly attended the pulpit-
stairs, and as the Doctor ascended, delivered him
a paper, upon which he preached extemporarily.
Some of these were extraneous portions of Scrip
ture ; but so great were his powers, that he never
was known to be at fault, or experienced the
least hesitation in the delivery of his discourses.
" The only gentlemen I recollect, as intimate
with the Doctor, were the Rev. Archdeacon Ib-
botson, the Vicar of  ; M. Madan Esq.,
son of the Rev. M. Madan, (of the Lock,) R.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 471
Graham, Esq. Apothecary to Chelsea-Hospital ;
the Rev. David Roderick,* Assistant to the Doc
tor ; and Mr. Blake, the Dancing-master, all of
whom I am sorry to say are deceased."
* [Happily Mr. Roderick still survives, and to him I am
indebted for much interesting information respecting Dr.
Parr. E. H. B.]

472 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF

XXIV.
Letter from J. A. Holmes, Esq. Master of an
Academy at Stratford-onAvon, addressed to
the Editor,

" Statford-on-Avon, Nov. 26, 1826.
" My Dear Sir,
Since I communicated to Mr. Palmer,
the worthy Rector of Alcester, my intention of
speedily sending to you any relicts, which I might
have preserved of the conversations, etc. of our
deceased and regretted friend. Dr. Parr, my time
has been so fully occupied by the avocations of my
school, and the languor produced by a tedious
illness, from which I am as yet not quite reco
vered, that till now I have been rendered inca
pable of putting my intention into execution.
Lest, however, you should judge me to be a man
more ready to make, than to fulfil promises, I
hasten to devote the only leisure-hours I have
for some time enjoyed, to the purpose of writing
to you, and endeavouring to remove any unfa-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 473
vourable impressions, which my apparent neglect
may have excited in your mind.
It gives me the highest satisfaction in having
an opportunity of expressing to you, as a favoured
friend of the Doctor, and to the world at large,
the deep and grateful recollection I do, and ever
shall, retain of the very many and great kindnesses
I have received at his hands. For years he was
to me rather as a father than a friend, and I ever
felt for him all the affection of a son. He sought
me out in my humble situation, and introduced
me to men eminent for their talents, acquirements,
and virtues. Whatever of good he thought he
had discovered in my character, he established
and invigorated by well-timed and j udicious praise,
and my faults he corrected with the earnestness,
yet tenderness of a parent. I can with truth
affirm that but few days of my life pass by, in
which I do not find occasion to call to mind, and
to put in practice some wise and virtuous precept,
which I have received from his lips. There is a
passage in a Letter, written by the younger
Pliny (2, 1.) on the death of his friend and pa
tron, Virginius Rufus, to Voconius Romanus,
so applicable to our departed friend, and so con
sonant to my own feelings, that I trust I shaU
be pardoned for quoting it : — ' Quibus ex cau-
' sis necesse est tanquam immaturam mortem ejus
' in sinu tuo defleam : si tamen fas est aut flere.

474 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
' aut omnino mortem vocare, qua tanti viri morta-
' litas magis flnita quam vita est. Vivit enim,
' vivetque semper, atque etiam latius in memoria
' hominum et sermone versabitur, postquam ab
' oculis recessit.'
The observations below on a paper in Hawkes-
worth's Adventurer, were dictated to me by the
Doctor, as he was one evening calmly smoking
his pipe in my study, with no one present but
ourselves. I was telling him that two of our
common friends had decided from internal evi
dence that No. 87 in that work was not written
by Warton, as the signature Z indicated, but by
Johnson. ' Reach your Adventurer from the
' shelves,' said the Doctor, ' and read the paper
' to me.' When I had done so, he said : — ' Now
' sit down, and write on the blank leaf of the
' volume what I shall dictate to you ; and remem-
' ber never to part with that book, nor suffer the
' leaf, which you have written, to be torn out,
' but preserve it as a memorial of your cordial
' and sincere friend, when I shall be numbered
' with the dead.' What the Doctor dictated, is
as follows : —
' May 19, 1808. Number 87 of the Adventu-
' rer was written by Johnson, not by Dr. Warton.
' It has internal evidence sufficient to shew who
' was, and who was not the writer. Instead of
' T the signature of Johnson, Z the signature of

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 475
' Warton was by an error of the press inserted in
* the earlier editions, and has since continued.
' Boswell, when coUecting Johnson's papers in the
' Adventurer, looked only to the signature T, and
' not finding it to No. 87, he did not assign that
• paper to Johnson. Warton was more likely to
' keep a good account than Johnson, and Dr.
' Wooll, in his Life of Warton, does not include
' No. 87, among the papers written by Warton.
' Dr. Parr, who gave me this information in May
' 1 808, was quite satisfied with the internal evi-
' dence as supplied by the style and the matter.
' Boswell's silence proves nothing except his want
' of vigilance, or his want of acuteness ; but
' WooU's sUence is decisive, more especially as
' Boswell has left the paper open to a claim from
' Dr.Warton, who happily had too much honour to
' appropriate the composition of another man.'*
* For the convenience of the reader I shall introduce the
paper alluded to.
" Number 87- Tuesday, Sept. 4. 1753.
Iracundior est paulo ; minus aptus acutis
Naribus horum hominum; rideri possit, eo quod
Rusticius tonso toga deftuit, et male laxus
In pede calceus htEret : — at ingenium ingens
Incutto latet hoc sub corpore  HoK.
Your friend is passionate ; perhaps unfit
For the brisk petulance of modern wit :

476 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
[ I remember that the circumstance referred
to took place at Alcester, when my correspon
dent resided there, aud I have a faint recoUec
tion that Dr. Parr dictated to me a paper on the
subject, addressed to the Monthly Magazine, and
His hair ill cut, his robe that aukward flows,
Or his large shoes, to raillery expose
The man. 
But underneath this rough, uncouth disguise,
A genius of extensive knowledge lies. Francis.
" There are many accomplishments, which, though they are
comparatively trivial, and may be acquired by small abilities,
are yet of great importance in our common intercourse with
men. Of this kind is that general courtesy, which is called
Good Breeding; a name, by which, as an artificial excellence,
it is at once characterised and recommended.
" Good Breeding, as it is generally employed in the gratifica
tion of vanity, a passion almost universally predominant, is
more highly prized by the majority than any other ; and he,
who wants it, though he may be preserved from contempt by
incontestible superiority either of virtue or of parts, will yet
be regarded with malevolence, and avoided as an enemy, with
whom it is dangerous to combat.
" In some instances, indeed, the enmity of others cannot be
avoided without the participation of guilt ; but then it is the
enmity of those, with whom neither virtue nor wisdom can
desire to associate : and good breeding may generally be prac
tised upon more easy and more honourable terras, than acqui
escence in the detraction of malice, or the adulation of servility,
the obscenity of a letcher, or the blasphemy of an infidel. Dis
agreeable truths may be suppressed ; and, when they can be
suppressed without guilt, they cannot innocently be uttered ;
the boast of vanity may be suffered without severe reprchen-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 477
signed P. V., (i. e. Phileleuthei^us Varvicensis,)
or P. W. in which periodical it will probably be
found. The following words appear in Dr. Parr's
copy of the Adventurer .• —
sion, and the prattle of absurdity may be heard without ex
pressions of contempt.
"¦ It happens, indeed, somewhat unfortunately, that the prac
tice of good breeding, however necessary, is obstructed by the
possession of more valuable talents ; and that great integrity,
delicacy, sensibility, and spirit, exalted genius, and extensive
learning, frequently render men ill-bred.
" Petrarch relates, that his admirable friend and contempora-
ry,Dante Aligheri,one ofthe most exalted and original geniuses
that ever appeared, being banished his country, and having re
tired to the court of a prince, which was then the sanctuary of
the unfortunate, was held at first in great esteem ; but be
came daily less acceptable to his patron by the severity of his
manners, and the freedom of his speech. There were at the
same court, many players and buffoons, gamesters and debauch-
ers, one of whom, distinguished by his impudence, ribaldry, and
obscenity, was greatly caressed by the rest , which the prince
suspecting Dante not to be pleased with, ordered the man to
be brought before him, and having highly extolled him, turned
to DantBj and said, ' I wonder that this person, who is by some
' deemed a fool, and by others a madman, should yet be so ge-
' nerallypleasing, and generally beloved ; when you, who are ce-
' lebrated for wisdom, are yet heard without pleasure, and coin-
' mended without friendship.' ' You would cease to wonder,
replied Dante, ' if you considered, that a conformity of cha-
' racter is the source of friendship.' This sarcasm, which had
all the force of truth, and all the keenness of wit, was intoler
able ; and Dante was immediately disgraced and banished.
" But by this answer, though the indignation, which produced

478 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
" No. 87, is marked by the general signature
of Warton. I do not see in it the style of thinking
or writing, which I find in the other papers of
Warton. I do see the mind and the language of
it, was founded on virtue, Dante probably gratified his own
vanity, as much as he mortified that of others : it was the petu
lant reproach of resentment and pride, which is always retorted
with rage ; and not the still voice of Reason, which is heard
with complacency and reverence : if Dante intended reforma
tion, his answer was not wise ; if he did not intend reforma
tion, his answer was not good.
" Great delicacy, sensibility, and penetration, do not less ob
struct the practice of good breeding than integrity. Persons
thus qualified, not only discover proportionably more faults
and failings in the characters, which they examine, but are
more disgusted with the faults and failings, which they disco
ver. The common topics of conversation are too trivial to en
gage their attention ; the various turns of fortune, that have
lately happened at a game at whist, the history of a ball at
Tunbridge or Bath, a description of Lady Fanny's jewels, and
Lady Kitty's vapours, the journals of a horse-race or cock-
match, and disquisitions on the game-act or scarcity of par
tridges, are subjects, upon which men of delicate taste do not
always choose to declaim, and on which they cannot patiently
hear the declamation of others. But they should remember,
that their impatience is the impotence of reason and the pre
valence of vanity ; that, if they sit silent and reserved, wrapped
up in the contemplation of their own dignity, they will in their
turn be despised and hated by those, whom they hate and de
spise ; and with better reason, for perverted power ought to
be more odious than debility. To hear with patience, and to
answer with civility, seems to comprehend all the good breed
ing of conversation ; and in proportion as this is easy, silence
and inattention are without excuse.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 479
Johnson. Once I thought it impossible for the
paper to have been originally written by Warton,
who was likely enough to select such a subject,
and to have been materiaUy corrected and im
proved by Johnson. BosweU, who had no taste
nor sagacity, and was guided merely by the sig
natures, does not ascribe this paper to his sage.
But my suspicions are confirmed by WooU's Life
qf Joe Warton. Wooll was guided in all proba
bility by written memorandums, and in the enu
meration of Warton's contributions to the Adven
turer he does not mention this paper. I add that
mistakes in the signatures may often happen in
periodical publications written by different per-
" He, who does not practice good breeding, will not find
himself considered as the object of good breeding by others.
, There is, however, a species of rusticity, which it is not less
absurd than injurious to treat with contempt. This species of
ill breeding is become almost proverbially the characteristic of
a scholar ; nor should it be expected that he, who is deeply
attentive to an Eibstruse science, or who employs any of the
three great faculties of the soul, the memory, the imagina
tion, or the judgment, in the close pursuit of their several
objects, should have studied punctilios of form and ceremony,
and be equally able to shine at a rout, and in the schools. That
the bow of a chronologer, and the compliment of an astrono
mer, should be improper or uncouth, cannot be thought
strange to those, who duly consider the narrowness of our
faculties, and the impossibility of attaining universal excel
lence. " Equally excusable, for the same reasons, are that absence

480 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
sons. Thus in No. 293, ofthe Spectator, T is put
for L, and L it is in folio and in the 8vo. of 1712,
and it is printed as Addison's by Tickell in the
3d. vol of his edn. o? Addison's Works. 297 L,
or London House, is T in the folio. But in the
Svo. and 12mo. it is properly L, No. 265, is in
folio signed T, but in the editions of 1712 it is C.
Thus 3 Nos. written by Addison have met with
erroneous signatures, which would lead us to
ascribe them to other writers. No. 261, has
Addison's signature of C, and was reprinted as
such by Tickell in Addison's Works, but it was
not Addison's. It is said that some other papers,
of mind, and that forgetfulness of place and person, to which
scholars are so frequently subject. When Lewis XIV. was
one day lamenting the death of an old comedian, whom he
highly extolled, ' Yes,' replied Boileau, in the presence of
Madam Maintenon, ' he performed tolerably well in the de-
' spicable pieces of Scarron, which are now deservedly forgot-
' ten even in the provinces.'
" As every condition of life, and every turn of mind, has
some peculiar temptation and propensity to evil, let not the
man of uprightness and honesty be morose and surly in his
practice of virtue ; let not him, whose delicacy and penetra
tion discern with disgust those imperfections in others, from
which he himself is not free, indulge perpetual peevishness
and discontent ; nor let learning and knowledge be pleaded as
in excuse for not condescending to the common offices and
duties of civil life : for, as no man should be well-bred at the
expence of his virtue, no man should practice virtue, so as to
deter others from imitation. Z."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, L.LD. 481
which I have not enumerated, have Addison's
signature, though they were written by other
persons. I made these extracts from a late edi
tion of the Spectator, which belongs to Mr. Bart-
lam of Alcester. The instances I have produced,
are sufficient to . establish my position, that
wrong signatures will sometimes occur in peri
odical works, where different signatures are em
ployed by different writers. Boswell was pur
blind in not seeing that the No. in the Adventu-
rersigned Z, has every internal mark of Johnson's
style ; but he was honest in not claiming it.
Dr. Warton, who seems to have kept a copy of
his contributions, was very honourable in not
claiming the paper in question." S. Parr.
" I am convinced that Warton had no share
whatever in the paper, of which I am speaking.
It was Johnson's originaUy, and entirely." S. Parr.
E. H. B.]
" I am sorry that I have not treasured up in
my memory more of the Doctor's remarkable
sayings : one, however, which I remember, is, I
think, worth preserving. Myself and a common
friend were sitting with him in his library, and
in conversation the name of a gentleman, who
was said to be a hard reader, was mentioned.
' He reads hard,' said the Doctor, 'but his men-
' tal digestion is defective ; it turns every thing
:.'I

482 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' to curds and whey.' The same common friend,
who is now no more, once communicated to me
a very remarkable expression of the Doctor's.
The Doctor and he had been deeply engaged in
a conversation on the character of Christ, and
the Doctor concluded the conversation with an
expression, which to people in general would
probably be deemed too light and frivolous for
so serious a subject. He said : 'Jesus Christ,
Sir, was a perfect gentleman,' It is to be observ
ed, however, that the word gentleman in the
Doctor's vocabulary comprehended not only
every thing, which in man was amiable and at
tractive, but all that was pure, virtuous, and
holy. " I wish that with propriety I could have
sent you some passages from Letters, which I
have at various times received from the Doctor ;
but there are very sufficient reasons why I
should abstain. Of what I have written, you
will make such use, as you deem proper. I
have now only to request that you will write and
inform me, if you receive this paper safe, and to
subscribe myself " Yours very truly,
" J. A. Holmes."
[In the Doctor's copy of the Adventurer there
is also the following note : — " No. 132. on Ca-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 483
razan, see Kant de Sensu Sublimitatis et Pulcri-
tudinis 4, 227. of Bern's Latin Translation. The
signature of Dr. Johnson is not affixed to No.
132. But there are many strong internal marks
in the thoughts and the language, that Johnson
had improved it largely."
' Dr. Parr adds : _ " In No. 76. signed Z.
there are frequent and decisive marks of John
son's pen."* * " Number 132. Saturday, Febr. 9, 1754.
 Ferimur per opaca locorum. Virg.
 Driv'n thro' the palpable obscure.

" Carazan, the merchant of Bagdat, was eminent throughout
all the East for his avarice and his wealth : his origin was ob
scure, as that of the spark, which by the collision of steel and
adamant is struck out of darkness ; and the patient labour of
persevering diligence alone had made him rich. It was remem
bered that, when he was indigent, he was thought to be gene
rous ; and he was still acknowledged to be inexorably just.
But whether in his dealings with men he discovered a perfidy,
which tempted him to put his trust in gold, or whether in
proportion as he accumulated wealth, he discovered his own
importance to increase, Carazan prized it more, as he used it
less ; he gradually lost the inclination to do good, as he ac
quired the power ; and, as the hand of time scattered snow
upon his head, the freezing influence extended to his bosom.
" But, though the door of Carazan was never opened by hos
pitality, nor his hand by compassion, yet fear led him con
stantly to the Mosque at the stated hours of prayer ; he per
formed all the rites of devotion with the most scrupulous
punctuality, and had thrice paid his vows at the Temple of the
212 -

484 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Hampton's Translation qf Polybius, which
first appeared in 1756, 4to., is thus characte-
Prophet. That devotion, which arises from the Love of God,
and necessarily includes the Love of Man, as it connects
gratitude with beneficence, and exalts that which is moral to
divine, confers new dignity upon goodness, and is the object
not only of affection, but reverence. On the contrary, the
devotion of the selfish, whether it be thought to avert the
punishment, which every one wishes to be inflicted, or to in
sure it by the complication of hypocrisy with guilt, never fails
to excite indignation and abhorrence. Carazan, therefore,
when he had locked his door, and turned round with a look of
circumspective suspicion, proceeded to the Mosque, was fol
lowed by every eye with silent malignity ; the poor suspended
their supplication when he passed by ; and though he was
known by every man, no man saluted him.
" Such had long been the life of Carazan, and such was the
character, which he had acquired, when notice was given by
proclamation, that he was removed to a magnificent building
in the centre of the city, that his table should be spread for
the public, and that the stranger should be welcome to his bed ;
the multitude soon rushed like a torrent to his door, where
they beheld him distributing bread to the hungry, and apparel
to the naked, his eye softened with compassion, and his cheek
glowing with delight. Every one gazed with astonishment at
the prodigy J and the murmur of innumerable voices increasing,
like the sound of approaching thunder, Carazan beckoned with
his hand ; attention suspended the tumult in a moment, and
he thus gratified the curiosity, which had procured him audi
ence. " To Him, who touches the mountains and they smoke. The
Almighty and The Most Merciful, be everlasting honour ! He
has ordained sleep to be the minister of instruction, and his

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 485
rised by Gibbon : — " The English Translator
has preserved the admirable sense, and improved
the coarse style of his Arcadian original. A
visions have reproved me in the night. As I was sitting alone
in my Harem, with my lamp burning befoi-e me, computing
the product of my merchandise, and exulting in the increase of
my wealth, I fell into a deep sleep, and the hand of him, who
dwells in the third heaven, was upon me. I beheld the Angel
of Death coming forward like a whirlwind, and he smote me,
before I could deprecate the blow. At the same moment I
felt myself lifted from the ground, and transported, with asto
nishing rapidity, through the regions of the air. The earth
was contracted to an atom beneath ; and the stars glowed
round me with a lustre, that obscured the sun. The gate of
Paradise was now in sight ; and I was intercepted by a sudden
brightness, which no human eye could behold : the irrevocable
sentence was now to be pronounced ; my day of probation was
past : and from the evil of my life nothi ng could be taken away,
nor could anything be added to the good. When I reflected that
my lot for eternity was cast, which not all the powers of
nature could reverse, my confidence totally forsook me ;
and, while I stood trembling and silent, covered with confusion
and chilled with horror, 1 was thus addressed by the radiance,
that flamed before me.
" ' Carazan, thy worship has not been accepted, because it
' was not prompted by Love of God : neither can thy right-
' eousness be rewarded, because it was not produced by Love
' of Man : for thy own sake only hast thou rendered to every
' man his due ; and thou hast approached the ALMIGHTY
' only for thyself. Thou hast not looked up with gratitude, nor
' round thee with kindness. Around thee, thou hast indeed,
' beheld vice and folly ; but, if vice and folly could justify thy
' parsimony, would they not condemn the bounty of Heaven ?

486 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
grammarian, like Dionysius, might despise Poly
bius for not understanding the structure of
words, and Lord Monboddo might wish for a
version into Attic Greek."
' If not upon the foolish and the vicious, where shall the sun
' diffuse his light, or the clouds distil their dew ? Where shall
• the lips ofthe spring breathe fragrance, or the hand of autumn
' diffuse plenty ? Remember, Carazan, that thou hast shut
¦ compassion from thine heart, and grasped thy treasures with
¦ a hand of iron : thou hast lived for thyself; and therefore,
' henceforth for ever thou shalt subsist alone. From the light
' of heaven, and from the society of all beings, shalt thou be
' driven ; solitude shall protract the lingering hours of eternity,
' and darkness aggravate the horrors of despair.' At this mo
ment I was driven by some secret and irresistible power through
the glowing system of creation, and passed innumerable worlds
in a moment. As I approached the verge of nature, I perceived
the shadows of total and boundless vacuity deepen before me,^
a dreadful region of eternal silence, solitude, and darkness !
Unutterable horror seized me at the prospect, and this excla
mation burst from me with all the vehemence of desire : — ' O !
¦ that I had been doomed for ever to the common receptacle of
' impenitence and guilt ! There society would have alleviated
' the torment of despair, and the rage of fire could not have
' excluded the comfort of light. Or, if 1 had been condemned
' f o reside in a comet, that would return but once in a thousand
' years to the regions of light and life, the hope of these pe-
' riods, however distant, would cheer men in the dread interval
' of cold and darkness, and the vicissitude would divide eternity
• into time.' While this thought passed over my mind, I lost
sight of the remotest star, and the last glimmering of light was
quenched in utter darkness. The agonies of despair every mo
ment increased, as every moment augmented my distance fron*

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 487
Mr. Beloe writes thus : — "Of the merit of
Hampton's Translation of Polybius, it cannot now
be necessary to say anything. Its reputation
has been long estabUshed, and many succeeding
editions prove the extensiveness of its circula
tion. One thing relating to it, however, may
not have been a circumstance of general remark,
and this is that the style of the Dedication to
Lord Henley, who was at that time Lord Chan
cellor, as well as that of the Work itself, has
not precisely the same character, which distin-
the last habitable world. I reflected with intolerable anguish
that, when ten thousand thousand years had carried me beyond
the reach of all but that Power, who fills infinitude, I should
still look forward into an immense abyss of darkness, through
which I should still drive without succour and without society,
farther and farther still, for ever and for ever. I then stretched
out my hand towards the regions of existence with an emotion,
that awaked me. Thus have I been taught to estimate society,
like every other blessing, by its loss. My heart is warmed to
liberality ; and I am zealous to communicate the happiness,
which I feel, to those, from whom it is derived ; for the society
of one wretch, whom in the pride of prosperity I would have
spurned from my door, would, in the dreadful solitude, to
which I was condemned, have been more highly prized than
the gold of Africa, or the gems ofGolconda.
" At this reflection upon his dream, Carazan became suddenly
silent, and looked upward in ecsfacy of gratilude and devotion.
The multitude were struck at once with the precept and exam
ple ; and the Caliph, to whom the event was related, that he
might be liberal beyond the power of gold, commanded it to
be recorded for the benefit of posterity."

488 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
guishes the Preface. This idea is by no means
my own, nor is it altogether novel. A learned
friend some years since suggested to me that the
outlines ofthe Preface were drawn up by Hamp
ton himself, and that the composition had received
its finishing polish from the pen of Dr. Johnson.
Nothing can be more certain than that the cha
racters of two minds are easily discernible ; and
perhaps, in one or two instances, that want of
uniformity may be distinguished, which really
exists in the Bampton-Lectures of Dr. White, but
" Number 76. Saturday, July 28, 1753.
Due me. Parens, celsique dominator poli,-
Quocunque placuit ; nulla parendt mora est ;
Adsum impiger. Fac nolle; comitahor gemens,
Malusque patiar, quod hono licuitpati. Seneca ex Cleanthe.
Conduct me, thou of beings cause divine,
Where'er I'm destin'd in thy great design !
Active, I follow on : for should my will
Resist, I'm impious ; but must follow still. Harris.
" Bozaldab, Caliph of Egypt, had dwelt securely for many
years in the silken pavilions of pleasure, and had every
morning anointed his head whh the oil of gladness, when
his only son Aboram, for whom he had crowded his trea
sures with gold, extended his dominions with conquests,
and secured them with impregnable fortresses, was suddenly
wounded, as he was hunting, with an arrow from an unknown
hand, and expired in the field.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 489
which at the time of their publication wholly
escaped the penetration and sagacity of certain
learned critics, who were pleased to infer the au
thenticity of the Sermons from the regularity of
" Bozaldab, in the distraction of grief and despair, refused
to return to his palace, and retired to the gloomiest grotto
in the neighbouring mountain. He there rolled himself on
the dust, tore away the hairs of his hoary beard, and dashed
the cup of consolation, that Patience offered him, to the
ground. He suffered not his minstrels to approach his pre
sence ; but listened to the screams ofthe melancholy birds
of midnight, that flirt through the solitary vaults and echoing
chambers of the pyramids. ' Can that GOD be benevolent,'
he cried, ' who thus wounds the soul, as from an ambush,
' with unexpected sorrows, and crushes his creatures in a
' moment wilh irremediable calamity 'i Ye lying Imans,
' prate to us no more of the justice and the kindness of an
' all-directing and all-loving Providence ! He, whom ye pre-
' tend reigns in heaven, is so far from protecting the misera-
' ble sons of men, that he perpetually delights to blast the
' sweetest flowerets in the garden of Hope; and, like a ma-
' lignant giant, to beat down Ihe strongest towers of Hap-
• piness with the iron mace of his anger. If this Being pos-
' sessed the goodness and the power, with which flattering
' priests have invested him, he would doubtless be inchned
¦ and enabled to banish those evils, which render the world
' a dungeon of distress, a vale of vanity and woe. — I will
' continue in it no longer ! '
" At that moment he furiously raised his hand, which
Despair had armed with a dagger, to strike deep into his
bosom ; when suddenly thick flashes of lightning shot
through the cavern, and a being of more than human beauty

490 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
the style. One thing is incontrovertible. No
man living could have written the Preface to the
Translation of Polybius, whose mind had not
an extensive and steady view ofthe subject, which
and magnitude, arrayed in azure robes, crowned with ama
ranth, and waving a branch of palm in his right hand, ar
rested the arm ofthe trembling and astonished Caliph, and
said with a majestic smile, ' Follow me lo the top of this
mountain.' " ' Look from hence,' said the awful conductor; ' lam
' Caloc, the Angel of Peace ; look from hence into the
• valley.' " Bozaldab opened his eyes and beheld a barren, a sultry,
and a solitary island, in the midst of which sat a pale, mea
gre, and ghastly figure : it was a merchant just perishing
with famine, and lamenting that he could find neither wild
berries, nor a single spring in this forlorn, uninhabited desert;
and begging the protection of heaven against the tigers, that
would now certainly destroy him, since he had consumed the
last fuel he had collected, to make nightly fires to affright
them. He then cast a casket of jewels on the sand, as trifles
of no use; and crept, feeble and trembling, to an eminence,
where he was accustomed to sit every evening to watch the
setting sun, and to give a signal to any ship, that might haply
approach the island.
" ' Inhabitant of heaven,' cried Bozaldab, ' suffer not this
' wretch to perish by the fury of wild beasts.' ' Peace,
said the Angel, ' and observe.'
" He looked again, and behold a vessel arrived at the deso
late isle. What words can paint the rapture of the starving
merchant, when the captain offered to transport him to his
native country, if he would reward hira with half the jewels
of his casket? No sooner had this pitiless commander re-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 491
Polybius has discussed ; and this praise surely
belongs to Hampton. Neither could any man
have written it, whose taste had not been early
formed by the best models of antiquity, in com-
ceived the stipulated sum, than he held a consultation with
his crew, and they agreed to seize the remaining jewels, and
leave the unhappy exile in the same helpless and lamentable
condition, in which they discovered him. He wept and
trembled, intreated and implored in vain.
" ' Will Heaven permit such injustice to be practised,' ex
claimed Bozaldab. — * Look again,' said the Angel, ' and
' behold the very ship, in which, short-sighted as thou art,
' thou wishedst the merchant might embark, dashed in
' pieces on a rock : dost thou not hear the cries of the sink-
' ing sailors? Presume not to direct the Governor of the
' Universe in his disposal of events. The man, whom thou
' hast pitied, shall be taken from this dreary sohtude, but
' not by the method thou wouldst prescribe. His vice was
• avarice, by which he became not only abominable, but
• wretched ; he fancied some mighty charm in wealth, which,
' like the wand of Abdiel, would gratify every wish, and ob-
' viafe every fear. This wealth he has now been taught,
' not only to despise, but abhor : he cast his jewels upon
' the sand, and confessed them to be useless ; he offered
' part of them to the mariners, and perceived them to be
' pernicious ; he has now learnt, that they are rendered jise-
' ful or vain, good or evil, only by the situation and temper of
' the possessor. Happy is he, whom distress has taught
' wisdom ! But turn thine eyes to another and more inte-
• resting scene.'
" The Caliph instantly beheld a magnificent palace, adorned
with the statues of his ancestors wrought in jasper; the
ivory doors of which, turning on hinges of the gold of Gol-

492 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
position, and in criticism; and here also the claims
of Hampton are indisputable. At the same time
there is a profoundness of thinking, an energy of
expression, a regularity of cadence, very dissimilar
conda, discovered a throne of diamonds, surrounded with
the Rajas of fifty nations, and with ambassadors in various
habits, and of different complexions ; ou which sat Aboram,
the much-lamented son of Bozaldab, and by his side a
princess fairer than a Houri.
" ' Gracious ALLA ! — it is my son,' cried the Caliph —
¦ O let me hold him to my heart ! ' ' Thou canst not grasp
' an unsubstantial vision,' replied the Angel : ' I am now
' shewing thee what would have been the destiny of thy son,
' had he continued longer on the earth.' ' And why," re-
' turned Bozaldab, 'was he not permitted to continue?
* Why was not I suffered to be a witness of so much felicity
'and power?' 'Consider the sequel,' replied he, that
dwells in the fifth heaven. Bozaldab looked earnestly, and
saw the countenance of his sod, on which he had been
used to behold the placid smile of simplicity, and the vivid
blushes of health, now distorted with rage, and now fixed in
the insensibility of drunkenness : it was again animated with
disdain, it became pale with apprehension, and appeared to
be withered by intemperance ; his hands were stained with
blood, and he trembled by turns with fury and terror : the
palace, so lately shining with oriental pomp, changed sud
denly into the cell of a dungeon, where his son lay stretched
out on the cold pavement, gagged aud bound, with his eyes
put out. Soon after he perceived Ihe favourite Sultana, who
before was seated by his side, enter with a bowl of poison,
which she compelled Aboram to drink, and afterwards,
married the successor to his throne.
" ' Happy', saidCaldoc, ' is he, whom Providence has by

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 493
from the structure ofthe sentences in the Trans-
lation, and very similar to the best peculiarities of
Johnson's phraseology. With respect to the
Translation itself, whoever will be at the pains
to compare it with the original, wUl doubtless, as
must be unavoidable in such undertakings, be able
to detect some mistakes ; but none, it may be
' the Angel of Death snatched from guilt! From whom that
' power is withheld, which, if he had possessed, would have
• accumulated upon himself yet greater misery, than it could
' bring upon others.'
" ' It is enough,' cried Bozaldab; ' I adore the inscru-
' table schemes of Omniscience !  From what dreadful
' evil has my son been rescued by a death, which I rashly
' bewailed as unfortunate and premature; a death of inno-
' cence and peace, which has blessed his memory upon earth,
' and transmitted his spirit to the skies ! '
" ' Cast away the dagger,' replied the heavenly messenger,
' which thou wast preparing to plunge into thine own heart.
' Exchange complaint for silence, and doubt for adoration.
' Can a mortal look down, without giddiness and stupefac-
' tion, into the vast abyss of Eternal Wisdom? Can a
' mind, that sees not infinitely, perfectly comprehend any
' thing among an infinity of objects mutually relative ! Can
' the channels, which thou commandestto be cut to receive
' the annual inundations of the Nile, contain the waters of
' the Ocean ? Remember, that perfect happiness cannot be
' conferred on a creature; for perfect happiness is an attribute
' as incommunicable as perfect power and eternity.'
" The Angel, while he was speaking thus, stretched out his
pinions to fly back to the empyrean; and Ihe flutter of his
wings was like the rushing of a cataract. Z."

494 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
asserted, of very material importance. The body
of the style is firm and compact, full of sinews
and muscles, and with such evident marks of
talent, as must impress the reader with the most
exalted ideas of Hampton's erudition, as well as
judgment." Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce
Books 5, 286.
This ' learned friend ' in all probability was
Dr. Parr; for in August 1825, when I was vi
siting an enlightened and excellent friend, in
Warwickshire, he informed me in conversation
that Dr. Parr considered the Preface in question
to be the composition of Johnson, and as de
cidedly proving the original tendency of John
son's mind to Whig principles. E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 495

XXV.
Letter addressed to the Editor by T. G.
Street, Esq,

" 20 Portland-Terrace, Regent's Park,
July 20, 1826.
" Sir, Having been out of Town, I was not
favoured with your Letter till the day before yes
terday. It is now nearly 30 years, or rather be
tween 25 and 30 years, since I was honoured with
frequent communication and intercourse with Dr.
Parr. Our intimacy fell off without blame on
either side, at least I trust without blame on mine.
He resided chiefly in the country — I was a con
stant resident in London, and had, besides, my
whole time occupied by the Courier, of which I
was sole editor and part-proprietor. Our political
principles, which began about the years 1798 or 9,
to be diametrically opposite, contributed probably
to our estrangement; but I trust itwas an estrange
ment without animosity on his side, though he

496 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
was bitter against my falling off from the good
cause, as he called it. From the period, to which
I have aUuded, we never met, even by chance ;
but never could I, or can I view his character
without the highest admiration and reverence.
To him may be applied the brief, but expressive
words, which Gerard Hamilton used in speaking
of Dr. Johnson : — ' Johnson is no more ; — let
' us go to the second best ; — there is no one to
' supply his place.' I quote from memory, and
perhaps not quite correctly.
Our correspondence related chiefly to a pam
phlet he was about to publish against aMr. Curtis,
a Warwickshire-clergyman ; and as he lived at
Hatton, and his pamphlet was printed in London,
the proof-sheets were sent to me, and I corrected
the press, — a task, which you must know was
neither easy nor pleasant ; for the Doctor's hand
writing was only inferior in illegibility to that of
the late Mr. Sheridan, and besides, there was
plenty of Greek quotations ! His Letters related
to little else, and I am sorry to say I have not
kept one of them, nor have I kept any Letter from
any ofthe eminent men, with whom I correspond
ed during the 20 years I conducted the Courier,
My work about Louis XVI, (I will not dignify
it by the name of History,) was written, when I
was scarcely 24. I never published but one vo
lume, and of that I have not preserved one copy.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 497
I shall be glad to be able to forget that I ever
wrote it. But fortunately it did not excite the
public attention, and, like the Vicar of Wake
field's Treatise on Monogamy, was read only by
the happy few. Dr. Parr read it in MS. , and in
a note in his pamphlet about Mr. Curtis alluded
to it. It was written with too great a bias to
the French Revolution, — a blot in my political
career, which I have endeavoured to wipe away
by the zeal, the steadiness, and the constancy,
with which from the period I became proprietor
of the Courier in 1799, I opposed revolutionary
doctrines. So many years have elapsed without any cor
respondence or communication with Dr. Parr,
that I have preserved but few of his sayings, and
of these few there may be some, which may al
ready have come to your knowledge.
Mr. Paradise, Sir James Mackintosh, and my
self accompanied the Doctor to hear Dr. Horsley
preach, before the House of Peers, the Sermon
on the Martyrdom of King Charles, a few days
after the murder of Louis XVI, in 1793. We
took our station in the aisle, and Dr. Parr fronted
the Bishop, who frequently cast a glance at him,
as he proceeded in his Sermon. Dr. Parr be
came restless and indignant during its progress.
It concluded with these expressions. — ' Let us
' pray that the thoughts of their hearts may be
2K

498 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' forgiven them.' Dr. Parr instantly exclaimed :
' Damnable doctrine! Master Horsley, damnable
' doctrine ! ' Many persons around us could hear
those expressions. The Doctor then turned to
Mr. Paradise, and continued his angry comments
in Greek.
Soon after this I went with him to the gallery
of the House of Commons. Sir James Mackin
tosh, I think, went with him. The debate was
of great importance. The Doctor sate in the
side-gallery, from whence he could see and be
seen by the leading Members of the Opposition.
Mr. Fox rose, and spoke. The Doctor's eyes
sparkled with animation. As Mr. Fox proceed
ed, the Doctor grew more animated, and at last
rose as if with the intention of speaking. He was
reminded of the impropriety, and immediately
sat down. After Mr. Fox had concluded, he
exclaimed : — ' Had I followed any other profes-
* sion, I might have been sitting by the side of
' that iUustrious statesman ; I should have had
* all his powers of argument, — all Erskine's elo-
' quence, — and all Hargrave's law.'
I once asked him his opinion of the three pro
fessions. ' Physicians,' he said, ' were the most
' learned, — lawyers the most entertaining, —
' then comes my profession.'
Speaking of Greek, I wished to know how he
classed Dr. Burney. ' Porson, Sir, is the first, —

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 499
* always the first : we all yield to him. Burney
* is the third. Who is the second, I leave you
* to guess.'
When I was at Hatton for a short time, I was
with him every day. He was fond of speaking
of the late Mr. Sheridan. Tom Sheridan was
under his care. Tom, he said, has as warm a
heart as his father, and has a good share of
pleasantry and humour ; but, if he survive his
father, it will never be said of him :
Sol occubuit — nox nulla secuta est.
Tom soon afterwards left Flatten in conse
quence of a dream of his father ; for Sheridan
had some superstition in his composition. He
dreamed that Tom fell off from a tree, and broke
his arm. He disregarded the dream at first —
he dreamed it a second time, and immediately
sent for Tom from Hatton.
He would sometimes be a day or two without
examining his scholars ; but then on a sudden
he would send for them, and in general they were
sufficiently prepared. Tom Sheridan was an un
lucky wight. One day the Doctor was going to
dine at Lord Dormer's. ' Now, Tom,' he said,
'' I know you will do something in my absence,
' that will deserve a flogging ; but I shall be tired,
' when I return. Had you not better be flogged
* now ? ' ' By all means,' replied Tom ; ' for
2K2

500 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' then I shall have a furlough for the day.' The
Doctor laughed, and set off upon his visit.
With respect to Gerrald, I have but few anec
dotes of him. I have often heard Dr. Parr say
that he was the most elegant scholar, that had
ever been under his tuition. He was a most
eloquent man — keen and sarcastic, when roused,
but in general very good-humoured and pleasant.
He was dissipated in his habits, — careless in his
dress, — frequently most melancholy and despond
ing. He had been in easy circumstances, and
bore his altered fortunes with a fierce impatience.
Next to Dr. Parr, to whom he had a filial affection,
he was most attached to Porson, by whom he was
highly admired. I have often thought that he
would never have become a member ofthe Scotch
Convention, or at least that he would not have
attended their deliberations, had it not been for a
disappointment he had met with. There was a
lady, to whom he was tenderly attached, and of
whose fidelity he had strong suspicion. From
that time he became more careless, more indiffe
rent. He disliked the Ministry, without being
attached to the Opposition, of whom he often
spoke in severe terms. He would sometimes at
tack them before Dr. Parr. The Doctor would
say : — ' Aye, Master Gerrald, I'll suffer you to
' do this, because I'll suffer you to do anything ;
' but let any one else attempt it, and I would

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 501
' empty my whole pickle-salmon tub of invective
* upon his head :' This was an expression, which
he sometimes used, when he was in high good-
humour. * Did you argue with him. Doctor ? '
(Speaking of a particular person.) ' No, Sir, I
' never condescend to argue with him, — I pour
' my pickle-salmon tub upon him at once, — I
' drown him.'
This is a long Letter with very little in it.
However I would not delay sending it you as
soon as possible, that I might not appear to be
guilty of neglect. I wish you all possible success
in a work, which I am sure could not be in bet
ter hands, andwhich cannot fail to be useful to the
learned, and interesting to the general reader.
Should I recoUect any more anecdotes or say
ings, I will not fail to transmit them to you.
I am. Sir,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
T. G. Street."

•502 PARRIANA OR NOTICES OF

XXVI.
Letter from George Newnham Collingwood, Esq,
addressed to the Editor.

" Moor-House, Haw khurst, Kent, Nov. 21, 1823.
" Sir, I received the Letter, which you did
me the honour to write to me respecting my late
venerable tutor. Dr. Parr, and I should have been
very glad, if I could have realized in any degree
the expectations, which my friend has led you to
entertain, that I could contribute anything mate
rial to the work, which, I rejoice to find from you,
you have now in hand.
Nobody, I think, could have felt for Dr. Parr
a sincerer affection than I did, or can now cherish
his memory with deeper veneration ; for I knew
him most intimately for years, and had abundant
opportunities of appreciating his talents and vir
tues. Yet I am not aware that I am in possession
of any information respecting him, of which you
are not already apprised. I am unfortunately

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 503
not in the habit of preserving the Letters, which
I receive, and although perhaps I may still find
one or two from Dr. Parr among my papers, yet
his correspondence was in general so free and
unguarded, that I doubt much whether there
would be anything, that could be rendered fit for
the public eye. In his character there was such
simplicity and so entire an absence of all affecta
tion and concealment, that few persons failed to
seize at once its peculiar and characteristic traits,
and I should have little hope of being able to add
anything to the Memoir, which Miss  has
drawn up with such just discrimination, and with
such remarkable power of vigorous and appropri
ate language. Miss Augusta Wynne, who is now
staying at my house, has been so good as to lend
me that young lady's elegant composition, which
I have read with very great pleasure.
The warmth of his temper, the richness of his
eloquence, and the bursts of indignation, which
the first mention of political or moral delinquency
never failed to produce, were noble parts of Dr.
Parr's character, and obvious to all ; but even
these high qualities led him not unfrequently into
exaggeration, and made those, who took him at
his word, conceive at times an unjust opinion of
his heart and judgment. But in his cooler mo
ments there was no man more tolerant and mild,
and you and I must have seen many instances.

504 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
where he has uttered the deepest denunciation of
vengeance and hatred against those, whom he
would not only have abstained from injuring, if it
had been in his power, but have gladly admitted
to share his benevolence, if not his friendship.
Perhaps this tone was more frequently to be found
in his correspondence, than even in his conversa
tion; and I hope you will forgive me, if I say that
from these circumstances I think that a selection
cannot be made from his Letters without great
delicacy and extreme caution.
It is most grateful to me to add my testimony
to the character, which Miss  has drawn of
his ' private liberality.' I was his pupil during a
time, when his fortune was at his lowest ebb, about
the year 1798. Indeed I owe to this circumstance
the high gratification of having been under his
instruction ; for he had before given up receiving
pupils, and itwas nothing but the pressure of pe
cuniary matters, which induced him to take me,
whose famUy were then perfect strangers to him.
During my stay with him I wrote almost all the
Letters, which he sent, and as he was frequently
absent on visits, when I did not chuse to accom
pany him, he used to desire me to open all those,
which came for him, and extract such parts, as I
might think required his immediate attention. I
hadthusafuU opportunity of knowing everything,
that occurred during my stay ; and I often thought

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 505
with wonder then, and continue to do so now, of
the incredible number of applications, that were
made to him at times for pecuniary aid, at others
for his mediation in family-disputes, in short for
the constant exertion of his benevolence and
friendship. It was rarely indeed that any such request was
denied, and I have known many a time, when
the indulgence of his charity to others has drawn
the pudding from our frugal table for a full week.
I remember once he desired me to write for him
a Letter to a lady, which was couched in such
respectful language, that I concluded that it was
addressed to a person, who had been his benefac
tress, and almost doubted whether he would have
used similar expressions to any minister, who
might have given him a- Bishoprick. It was,
however, to the aged widow of a once very opu
lent clergyman, to excuse himself from being
unable to send her more than a guinea ; and
when I took it myself to the old lady, (for it
was in London,) I found that she and her late
husband had known the Doctor only by name.
But this munificent spirit of charity was not only
prompted by a^iesire to alleviate the sufferings of
others, but connected with a great ruling princi
ple of his conduct, which he himself denomina
ted theopathy, by which his mind was perpetu
ally turning upwards to the Author of all Good,

506 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
and embracing every cheerful and happy moment
with an almost heavenly feeling of love and
thanksgiving. I shall never forget some years
ago, when he had occasion to tell me of an act
of kindness, which he had done to a young man,
and I could not forbear from expressing my ad
miration of the benevolence, which could thus
proceed unchecked by the numerous instances of
ingratitude, which I am sorry to say I had too
frequently witnessed towards him, with how de
lightful a spirit he replied — ' Say no more, say
' no more ; it is but a feeble effort on my part to
' shew my gratitude to that Being, who has bles-
' sed me far beyond my deserts.'
Of the instances of his learning the want of
correct notes at the time, and the discontinuance
of those studies with me, woidd render me, I fear,
a very unfaithful narrator ; but I will mention
one fact of this kind, because I am not without
hope that the original may still be found among
his papers.
Mr. Richard Parry, of Trinity-College, Cam
bridge, paid the Doctor a visit, while I was his
pupil, and brought with him from College, among
other matters, a Prize Greek Epigram, written
by Mr. WUliam Frere, now Master of Downing,
on the subject of Muta Eloquentia, which begins
^Ipos, ecov dyXwaaos, ivl TpioSoiai, KddrjTai
IlTa)')(evaiu k. t. A,.*
* [The title ofthe Epigram in question, of which the date

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 507
Mr. Parry was praising it highly, while we were
sitting at our wine after dinner, and endeavour
ing in vain to persuade the Doctor into similar
feelings of approbation, and at last we said —
' Well, Sir, could you make a better ? ' ' Why,'
replied the Doctor, ' if I could not, that would
' be no proof that this is good ; but, as you put
' me to the trial, I will see if I cannot make a
' better, and do you,' (addressing himself to me,)
' get pens and paper.' I did so, and after a few
minutes he choose the story of Phryne, who,
when unable to persuade the judges of her fa
ther by her eloquence, displayed her bosom, and
conquered their obduracy by her beauty. In
about half an hour he had finished 10 or 12 hex
ameters and pentameters, which I wrote down
from his dictation, and of which 1 have unfortu
nately lost the copy, which I long retained ;
but I hope that one may be found among his pa
pers. I do not recollect more than five of the
lines, but will write them down, that you may
recognize the original, if it should fall into your
hands. Phryne had in vain implored,
Kal TTo'Kkas e^erdvvaae ')(epas,
but when she exhibited the charms of her person,
is Trin. Coll. Cam. 1796, is this —
Xpj; criyav, fj Kpeiacrova cri'yris Xeyeiv.
It is inserted in the Musce Cantabrigienses, Lond. 1810. Svo.
p. 224.]

508 PARRIANA ; OR NOTICES OF
Tolov diro <TT7)dS)v atraXSiV icmX^eTO icdWos,
Kal roiov ireiOovs ofifiaaiv avOos evr),
that they could not resist her appeal :
OvTcos 17 (pevyovcr aTro^evyeiv irapdevos 'pSei
H yvfiVT] viKav, rj T aKeovaa \eyeip.
It is, I dare say, unnecessary to mention that
he explained (j^evyeiv « to be the defendant,' and
diro^evyeiv ' to be acquitted.'
There was a branch of his learning, of which
he threw out a great deal in conversation, — I
mean that respecting the structure and philoso
phy of the Greek language, and I never quite
knew whether this was derived from his own
conceptions, or from the rare and curious works,
which he was perpetually reading. You must
have often heard him speak on the subject, and
your own extensive researches will, no doubt,
have enabled you to decide how much of it was
original. It has often given me much pleasure
to think that you will probably have preserved a
great deal of this interesting lore, of which he
was so full. As an instance, I would mention
the manner, in which he used to trace the com
parative and superlative in many words, as in
KaXKos, KaXK-iwv, ' going on to a greater degree
' of beauty,' KaW — la-ros, ' coining to the stand-
• still of beauty.' Again, Kokhs, koXo — erepos,
' another and greater degree of beauty,' and then
Ka\o — Taros, again a form of 'laTTjui.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 509
The Doctor's critical acumen, (if I may venture
to express such an opinion,) was too apt to waste
itself in following up and recording the simUar
use of words in different writers ; but I have often
(in common with his other friends,) admired the
instances, in which his criticism and taste took a
wider and a nobler flight. Of this sort I think
would be found many of the Letters, which he
wrote to the late Mr. Payne Knight, and proba
bly also to Mr. Uvedale Price.* To the former
of these gentlemen I remember his addressing a
long paper on the imperfect manner, in which
Mr. Gray has transfused the spirit and beauty of
Pindar's image ofthe eagle sleeping on the hand
of Jove. He particularly objected to the feeble
ness and debility, which Gray had introduced by
the expressions with ruffled plume and flagging
wing, instead of the unimpaired majesty and
strength, which in Pindar is described as lulled by
the influence of musick into momentary repose.
* [I have good reason to believe that Dr. Parr only occa
sionally corresponded with Mr. Payne Knight, and by an
application to his brother, Mr, A. Knight, I learnt the un
pleasant intelligence that Mr. Payne Knight left no Letters
of any sort behind him. Dr. Parr's correspondence with Sir
Uvedale Price consisted of a few Letters connected with
those subjects, in which Sir Uvedale has taken so deep an
interest, and when he is prepared to lay before the public
the fruits of his useful labours, we may entertain a reasonable
hope of perusing in his work this correspondence. E. H. B.]

510 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
For this purpose he enlarged much on the fine
passage,
6 Se Kvcoaaav
'Typbv vS>rov aicopeo, reatf
'PiTralcn KaTacr-^ofievos.
and showed how vypbs meant ' softness and flexi-
' biUty,'* and anything but a riffled state. I had
* [The note of Heyne is this : — "'Typov vcotov. Per
se et origine sua to vypov nihil aliud aut fuit aut esse
potest quam humidmn, liquidum. Accessere inde notio-
nes, ut fit, ab adjunctis; ut sit molle, hinc ut sit flexile,
mobile, fere quod Latinorum lubricum. 'Typdv p'w)(iv
equi dixit Tryphiod. 79. Etiam h. 1. vwtov vypov per se
et vi vocis nihil aliud esse potest, quam flexile, inflexum.
(Theocr. 25, 206. Kepas vypov, flexum.) Nam quod intu-
muit, addunt VV. DD. tacite ex altera voce alaipel.
Nee magis vi vocis vypov esse potest tumidum quam fluc-
tuans. 'Typd KsXevOa daXdaarjs ex antique sermone
servarunt poetse, ut tot alia, tanquam perpetua nomina :
in quibus si aliam rationem tenere vellemus, in argutias
et tricas innumeras nos essemus illaqueaturi." Damm's
explanation in his Lexicon Pindaricum is this: — " 'T-
ypos, humidus. 'Typov vcotov, Pyth. I, 17. a somno ri-
gatum quasi dorsum, evSi^d^xyrov vtto rfhovrjs, etremissum.
In sensu metapliorico, et ad animum translate, to vypov
notat fluxum, dissolutum quid." Dr. William Barford,
in a tract entitled In Pindari Primum Pythium Disserta-
tio habita Cantabrigia in Scholis Publicis VII Kal. Jul.
A, D. 1750. 4to. p. 3, has the following observations : —
" Schmidius pessime mtenpretatur vypov delectationepei'-
fusum : alii metaphoram dithyrambicam vocabulo subesse

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 511
this paper, but have lost it. But, if it be not
among Dr. Parr's papers, I can hardly doubt that
Mr. Andrew Knight retains the original Letter,
as his brother's executor.
I have thus. Sir, hastily thrown together a few
of the things, which have passed across my
memory.
volunt; profecto quid htec sit metaphora dithyrambica,
mecum ignorant. Ipse, eiiBid-xyTov in Scholiis secutus,
puto poetam intellexisse dorsum sinuosum, subsidere sci
licet aquilse corpus alternis vicibus et attoUi, aut recipro-
cari inter dormiendum reddito et recepto spiritu. Inter-
pretationem banc satis tuetur Xenophon de R. E, p. 950.
Leuncl., Typolv Se toIv aKeKolv yavpiwfievos (pepeTai,
(ubi et vypa 6a(f>vs, to vypov tov ')(aXivov etc. occur-
runt,) et apud Longinum deSubl. 34. (vide et Pearcii not.
in locum,) vypov Trvev/jia videtur significare istiusmodi
animum, qui se facile in diversas partes trajicit, MvOo-
Xoyrjcrai Ke')(yfievos, Kal ev iiypw TTvevfJuaTi hte^ohevcrai
en evKafiTrijs aKpccs." The interpretation of Schmidius,
to which Dr. Barford objects, delectatione perfusus, is
founded on the words of the Scholiast, evSid'yvTos iitto
rjBovfjs, Barford takes from the Scholiast the word evBid-
yvTos, without regarding the accompaniments, vtto
^Bovrjf, and supposes it to justify the very fanciful inter
pretation, which he has ofi^ered himself. He had not a
right perception of the words in Xenoplio. We read
thus in the Lexicon Xenophonteum : — " 'Typos, mollis.
Hesych. vypov fxaXaKov. a) De membris corporis, 'Itt.
1, 6. iypd TO, a-KeKrj. Oppon. crKXrjpd. 7, 6. vypd rj Kvrjfjir).
0pp. aKXrjpd, 11, 2. to, a-KeXr) vypd  ocrcjivv vypdv.

512 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
The task of doing justice to the head and heart
of Dr. Parr could not have fallen intp worthier
hands than those of Dr. John Johnstone, who, as
you tell me, is to write the Memoir ; and I wUl
beg the favour of you, when you see him, to give
him my very best regards ; for, although many
years have elapsed since I saw him, I enjoyed
his friendship too much and too long not to
K. 4, I. Tpaj(fiXovs vypoijs  fJbrjTe vypds Xiav Xayo-
vas. 5, 10. 30. s. 31. ipse lepus vocatur animal vypov.
Sed potest saltern in multis horum locorum explicari agi-
lis, ut nr. 4. b) De freno, 'Iir. 10. 8. ¦x^aXivol vypol
"(TTacrav: s. 10. vypov tov ¦^aXivov icTTlv, OTav ol droves
eiipeias Kat, Xeias e')(ci}ai rds crvfi^oXds. Cf. quse sequiin-
tur. f 4) flexibilis, agilis. 'Itt. 7, 7. hel tov 'nnria Kal
TO dvcaOev tS)v eavTOV i<r'^l,Q}v crcofia a>s vypoTaTov
idi^ebv elvai. 10, 4. tu crKeXrj vypd p,eTea>pL^eL, t^v Se
ovpdv dvo). Ubi fere accipi potest pro vypas, ut s. 15.
16. vypolv Tolv (TKeXoiv yavpi,difievos <j)ipeTai. Cf, nr.
3. a." " 'TypoTTjs, agilitas, mollifies. A. 5, 8, 6. in fri-
gore TO Kiveiadai Trapet^e depfiacrlav Tivd Kalvyporr^Tar
" ' TypS)s,molliter, facile. 'Itt. 1, 5. yovaTa^v ^aSi^mv 6
"TraXos vypas KdfnrTrj  vyporipcos KdfiiTTovaiv iv
Tois yovaac. 10, 15. vypas to2s crKeXeaiv iTTTrot ^pmi'-
Tai." The adjective vypos, when it is applied to limbs
of the body, means ' softness, flexibility, suppleness, agi
lity ;' when it is applied to animals in motion, it means
' the ease, lightness, agility, with which they move ;' when
it is applied to powerful animals at rest, it means ' the in
dolence of reposing strength,' ' the suppleness of relaxed
energy.' E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 513
preserve for him the highest sentiments of re
spect and esteem.
I have the honour to be. Sir,
Your very obedient humble Servant,
G. Newnham Collingwood.

2L

514 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF

XXVII.
Letters from John Symmons, Esq. addressed to
the Editor.

" Abermarlais, Llandovery, S. W. Aug. 27, 1827.
" My dear Sir,
I beg most sincerely to apologize for
not having attended sooner to your request. I
have been, and stUl am so unwell, that the state
of my health furnishes the cause of my silence,
whether or no the excuse will rest with your
equanimity, magnanimity, and other virtues end
ing in ity. The misfortune, my dear Sir, is that
after all I have nothing worth supplying ; but,
however, of that you must be the judge. I shall
have done my duty, when I have done all in my
power to shew you my wish to comply with your
desires. There are few things I look back to with
greater pleasure than I do to a visit I made our
much esteemed friend at Hatton in the summer
of 1803. As I approached the house in a chaise
from Warwick, I met the Doctor taking his ride.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 515
mounted on a stout pony, and habited in a loose,
zebra-striped great-coat, — stripes brown and
white, — a dress weU known in aU the neighbour
hood. I mention this apparently trifling circum
stance, as every thing about our departed friend
is interesting ; and his dress was pecuUar, and
emphatically his own, and many endearing re
collections are attached in my mind to that zebra-
striped coat; I do not know if it survived to your
time my dear Sir. He also attached importance to
what he was habited in, and shewed me his
wardrobe, in which there was a great assortment
of clothes, velvets, silks, etc.
After recognizing and welcoming me, he con
tinued his ride, and left me to proceed to the
house, where in a large, bright, airy library,
looking to the garden, three sides of which were
covered with the well-chosen and well-assorted
library of such a scholar, were seated Mrs. Parr,
and her daughter. Miss Catahrine Parr, — both
very remarkable and distinguished ladies, very
witty and well-informed, natural and unaffected,
and who promised, (what turned out to be the
case,) to be most agreeable accompaniments to
the intellectual feast I expected from the Doctor;
nor was it only an intellectual, but a convivial
treat, that that day awaited me. There was a large
dinner-party, which, through a thing not in itself
very agreeable to me, who was at that time shy
2 L2

516 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
in strange company, yet was rendered very agree
able by the Doctor, who in every society I ever
saw him, was all in all. Whether the party were
large or small, learned or unlearned, he always fil
led it upbyhimself by the superiority of his talents,
and likewise pervaded it with his peculiar ame
nity and benevolence ; so that all the little awk
wardnesses so common in mixed company, and
the littlenesses so common particularly in the
societies of literary pretenders and sciolists, etc.,
were merged, lost, and extinguished in his great
ness. For really a great man he was, my dear
Sir. Woe to the mediocres and pretenders ! who
came within his grasp, — those persons, who fre
quently bear down modest men of real learning
and genius, as ^neas and his companions did
the Greeks by assuming their arms, ( Graiarum
errore jubarum.) All such persons naturaUy dis
liked him in proportion as all those, who v/ere
really gifted both in endowments of head and
heart, loved and esteemed him. You might al
most say, a man was honest and good, who loved
Parr ; — you might be sure that he was sincere
and unpretending, and that he actually knew
what he assumedto know. Why need I de
scribe to you, my dear Sir, who have so often
been witness yourself of the heart-gladdening
scene ? Parr seated in the middle of a long table,
full of animation , and conversation on the most

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 517
common, as well as the most elevated subjects, —
every eye around him lighted up with pleasure,
as hin, beaming with intelligence and benevolence
from beneath his grey eTnaKvvtov, and like a So
crates, Tavprjhov vTroj3XeTro)v, sought round the cir
cle the immediate object of his address, some
times serious, sometimesjocose.
You give me TrappTja-ia : so to use it, and give
you an instance of the latter, (he was always fond
of little skirmishes in conversation,) I remember
his turning round from one end of a table to the
other, where sat a rather proud and stately cler
gyman, and Parr cried out, speaking of some
one else — ' Not quite so orthodox as you and I,
holy and reverend brother.' I remember another
time the same clergyman, who was on the most
friendly and intimate footing with Parr, (and
therefore all that passed between them was in
good part,) having applied the word foolish or
folly to something the Doctor had said. Parr
turning to me, who was his led Grecian at that
time, and who, he knew, enjoyed a line of
Greek, cried out playfully,
Sy^eSov Ti ficopols fj,Q)plav 6(pXiaKdvo),
to which the clergyman replied equally good-
humouredly, but eager, I thought, to shew he
understood the Greek : 'Doctor, you are wel-
' come to call me a fool in any language you
' please.' This clergyman was an excellent man.

518 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
but rather stiff, starch, and shy, and though ve
ry fond and tolerant of Parr, yet this sort of sal
lies, particularly before strangers, such as I was
then, called the eloquent blood into his cleri
cal cheeks, which mantled with a momentary
flush. These trifles are instanced only because
I happen to remember them, and they must
give a very imperfect idea of his playfulness
amongst his friends. A child could not have
been more playful, or more natural, and all this,
it must be remembered, was exhibited by an or
acle of erudition, a deep polemic, and exercised
rhetorician; for such he really was.
I have heard a vague charge of pedantry ad
vanced against him by those, who did not know
him, or were bad judges. I have seen fops,
chymists, sciolists, and fine ladies pedantick ;
but I never saw the shadow of it in this truly
and eminently learned man. His thoughts
were natural, easy, and unaffected ; and the pe
riods, in which they were delivered, would, if
taken down, from his mouth, have formed a
piece of finished composition. Mrs. Parr, I re
member, told me he had studied much to attain
such perfection of delivery ; but, if it was so,
art had become a second nature, and he must
also have been eminently qualified by nature for
so extraordinary an eloquence, which never fad
ed, and was never forgotten even in the mo-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 519
ments of haste, sudden business, domestic ha
rangues, scolding servants, and what not? It
might be said of him that he always used the right
and appropriate word on every occasion, inso
much so that in endeavouring to decipher his
hand, which was perfectly GEdipodean, I was
always directed by the exactness of the style
velut ad amussim. I remember one day having
occasion to lecture his clerk, he did it in the
most impressive manner, and though it was on
a subject purely domestic, and concerned I be
lieve, the contents of the pantry,* there was the
same flow and propriety of language, of which
Parr of all men was the only possessor since the
days of Johnson. His manner, not only to his
servants, but to all the common people of the
neighbourhood, excited much attention, as dif
fering from the reserved and unmeaning dis
tance generally observed : he talked to them, as
they should be talked to, and preached extem
pore sermons, the most sensible and best adapted
to a country-congregation I ever heard, and
though extempore, never for a moment was he
at a loss for a word. On these occasions his
style is equally terse, but not so elaborate, (and
perhaps the better for it, ) as that of his famous
Spital Sermon, of the style of which he is re
ported to have said after its delivery, whUst un-
* [Osborn, the clerk at Hatton, was a baker. E. H. B.]

520 PARRIANA. OR NOTICES OF
robing himself in the vestry ' I have not the
' monotonous pomposity of Johnson ; I have not
• the Asiatic efflorescence of Burke.'
Ever yours,
John Symmons."

" Sept. 23, I827. But he was not satisfied with
merely his Sermons, and the routine of Church-
service — he was always attentive to his parish
ioners, accessible to them in his own house, and
visiting them in their's, always administering to
them whatever they stood in need of, temporal or
spiritual assistance, advice, instruction, comfort,
and charity.
I regret much not being able to remember more
of his conversation, and that T did not do as Xe
nophon did by Socrates, and Boswell by Johnson :
Diog. L. (2. p. 120.) Kal TrpajTOs VTrocrrjfiei^acrd-
jxevos Td Xeyojjieva, els dvOpwirovs rjyaye, dTrofivTjfiovev-
fiuTa i7n,ypd-\lras.* I can only say he fully and am-
* [ See A. C. Eschenbach's Dissertt. Acad. Noribergs 1705.
J2mo. p. 227, (Anthon and Barker's edition of Lempriere's
Classical Dictionary p. 964.) and J. N. Funccius's De Scriptura
Veterum Commentatio, Marburgi et Rintelii 1743. 12. p. 176.
Gisbert Cuper in his Observationum LibrilV. Lipsise 1772.
p. 108, has these words : — " Nam quod diroarifieiovv et
VTVoarfjj.eiovv confundit (D. Heins. ad Horat. Sat. 2, 4.)
et eadem esse vult, in eo aliquid humani passus est.; illud
enim ad adnotationem, quae quomodo sit facta, mox pluribus

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 521
ply deserved it. I lament that I cannot say with
Laertius : @r\<Top.at, Se koX ras KvpLas airrov Bo^as,
Kat, el Ti eBo^ev eKXoyfjs d^iov, dvecpdeyx^Oai, <S(TTe
iravTa'ypOev KaTa/juaOelv tov dvSpa.
Every one knows his reputation as a Grecian ;
his knowledge in that department was accurate,
minute, and comprehensive ; in short, more like
the scholars of two centuries ago, than the more
superficial and less laborious ones of the present
day. But great as he was, he allowed, I am told,
the palm to Porson in the Attic Greek, but not
' in the whole scope of the language.' t Indeed
dicemuSj hoc ad scribendi rationem refertur, qua verba reci-
tantis notis excipiebant. Plane id adstriiit Diog. L. in Vita
Xenophontis : K.al TrpaTos VTrocrij/Meicoad/Mevos k. t. X.
' Primus omnium, quse dicebantur, notis excepta in publicum
edidit, commentarium inscribens.' " E. H. B.]
t [The following speech (with some variations ofthe words,
has been frequently attributed to the Doctor : — ' Sir, there
' are three Greek scholars, and three only in this country, Por-
' son, Charles Burney, and I leave you to guess the third.'
But the Doctor did not mean these words, if used by him, to
be taken in their strict sense. He did not rank either Porson
or Burney above himself; he knew the extent and the limij
of their reading ; he knew that they had nearly confined their
range to the Greek Tragedians and Comedians, and that in
reading beyond them they chiefly looked for materials of cri
ticism on them ; he would have denied to them any intimate
acquaintance with the Historians and the Orators and the Phi
losophers of Greece in all ages ; he would have felt his own

522 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
I think I remember one day, when out riding,
his switching his pony with a sudden impulse,
and saying — ' Porson has more Greek, but no
' man's horse, John, carries more Latin than
intellectual superiority in those important respects ; he would
have had the full consciousness that he had the command of
the language, and a knowledge of its writers in every class and
every age, and a philosophical view of its structure and its
terms ; he would never have made the same remark, which Por
son once made to my friend, Mr. Thomas Taylor, the Platonist,
at a book-sale, when he took up and read a fewpages of Maximus
Tyrius, ' I did not think that he could have written at the
' period, in which he flourished, such good Greek ; ' Dr. Parr
would never have made to the same gentleman the reply, which
Porson modestly and correctly made, when Mr. Taylor asked
him what he thought of Plutarch, ' Aye, he is too much for
me.' I remember that I once asked Dr. Parr what he thought
of Porson. ' Why,' says the Doctor with his usual discrimi
nation and fairness, ' Professor Porson is the best Attic Greek
scholar in Europe ; ' and verily it was in intimate knowledge of
Attic Greek that Porson and Burney particularly excelled ; it
was here that the former triumphed over the Doctor, if there
was any right of triumph, but even here the Doctor quite
equalled and perhaps excelled the latter. Even for the lan
guage imputed to him, there would have been classical autho
rity. Pyrrhus, as Plutarch writes in the Life of Pyrrhus, said
of Hannibal, <TVfnrdvT(ov direipyve rwv (TTpaTrjySnv Trparov
e/iTTetp/a Kal BeivoTrfTt, IlKnrleova Be BevTepov, eaVTov Be
TplTOV. Between Porson and Parr, between Burney and
Parr, the difference was as great as between a mineralogist
and a geologist, a pugilist and a pentathlete. Justice will be
awarded to each, if we say that Porson was the belter critic,
Parr the greater scholar. E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 523
' mine ;' which, though playfully said, was strictly
true. I doubt whether, since Latin has been a
dead language, any one ever wrote such pure
Latin prose as Parr,* or such good Latin poetry
as Milton. I know it is the fashion to give the
palm of writing Latin to the modern Italian poets.
No doubt, many great geniuses adorned Italy in
the days of Lorenzo de Medici and Leo X ; but
still, in my opinion, the Latin poets of those bright
periods must yield to our illustrious countryman,
both in poetical, and what is the immediate sub-
* [ " Highly as I am gratified by the approbation of Mr.
Heyne, I by no means aspire even to the qualified praise be
stowed on those writers, who are known by the name of Cice-
ronians. Instead of imitating, as some scholars have professed
to do, the manner of Terence or Tacitus among the ancients,
or of Lipsius and Strada among the moderns, I have endea
voured, as far as my slender abilities would permit me, to make
the style of Cicero a general model of my own ; and, at the
same time, I have avowedly followed the example of many
learned men in the occasional use of words, which are not
found in the writers of the Augustan age. Even in the cor
rected Pre/ace to Bellendenus I have discovered some faults ;
and I have no hesitation in saying that I think my own talent
for Latin composition very inferior to that of Sir W. Jones,
Bishop Lowth, Dr. Philip Barton, Dr. Lawrence, and Sir G.
Baker." Dr Parr's Remarks on the Statement of Facts by Dr.
Combe, p. 82. Had Dr. Parr extended his commendation to
foreigners, he would have placed David Ruhnken at the head
of the foreign list ; he has by accident omitted the name oiDr.
Robert Sumner. E. H. B.]

524 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
ject before us, in purity and propriety of Latin.
Many of Parr's Epitaphs are known, and surely
they are more classical than any modern ones I
have ever met with, and in that respect much
excel, for instance, Johnson's on Goldsmith, or
Bentley's on Stillingfleet. He repeated to me
one he had made on Burke, but it had never been
made public. Have you it ? I only remember
a part, which ran thus :
Oratori
Qui ornate, copiose, splendide dicendo effecit,
Ut omnes Artes ELuquentioe se prceherent
Comites ac Ministras.
Politico
Alas ! I remember no more.
He used frequently to talk to me about the
usage of tit, qui, etc, with a subjunctive mood, the
niceties of which construction, he said, were not
observed by the generality of scholars, Vy^ho wrote
Latin. (To give an example, these two lines of
Pamphilus Saxus,
Quo cecidit fato nosiri decus Angelus cevi,
Ge?itis et Etruscee gloria, scire cupis.
He showed me some passages of Propertius,
where this rule was disregarded ; but both in
construction and metre, (witness his so frequent
close ofthe pentameter with a quadrisyllable,)*
Propertius was an imitator of the Greeks.
* [" One peculiarity," says my learned friend. Professor
Aiithon, (in his edition of Dr. Lempriere's Classical Diction-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 525
I remember his settling at once the disputed
quantity of the last syllable of temere by a line
from Seneca :
Sic temere jactiE colla perfundant comee.
At that time thehedMtifxA Epitaph on his daugh
ter was not put up in Hatton-Church ; for she
was then enlivening us all with her wit and viva
city, and the eyes of her father had often perhaps
glanced over the lines of Sidonius Appollinaris,
without the sad anticipation of the application,
that was to be made of them. It is really remark
able that so peculiar a character as that of Miss
Catharine Parr should have been so appropriately
delineated by a writer so many hundred years
before her birth. I never saw any of his Greek
compositions, though I longed much to do so ;
but either I was too feeble in the request, or he
was too resolute in the refusal. Others have been
more fortunate ; for I heard before of some Greek
iambics made by him, as I understood, as a pa
rody or burlesque of some speech in Parliamentt
ary^ " distinguishes the versification of Propertius from that
of all the other Latin poets : his pentameters often terminate
in a polysyllable, while those of Tibullus and Ovid end almost
always in a word of two syllables, forming at one time an
iambus, at another a pyrrhic. Critics are not agreed whether
this is the result of accident or design on the part of Proper
tius. It is certain, however, that the plan pursued by Tibul
lus and Ovid, is far more conducive to harmony." E. H. B.]
t [ " But if the censorious spirit of Bishop's Horsley's reli-

526 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
He was certainly not only the best writer, but
the best judge and critic of Latin, and as such
was considted by all, who in that language wrote
Inscriptions or Epitaphs. They all sent Beo-Kpo-
irovs 'xprfa-op^evovs. Sometimes it has happened that
the vain, who sent only to be flattered, and not
corrected, returned disappointed and mortified.
I remember once being consulted about the Lati
nity of an Inscription, made by a gentleman then
in office, whilst his son, who consulted me, and
who was joint in the authorship with his father,
and I were perusing it, and weighing particular
gion," (says Mr. Field in the Memoirs ofthe Life, Writings, and
Opinions of Dr. Parr, p. 298,) " vvas an object of abhorrence
to Dr. Parr, equally so was the arbitrary spirit of his politics.
It is impossible ever to forget, and it will be difficult even to
forgive, the treasonable offence, committed against the sacred
rights of men and Britons, by that amazing and monstrous de
claration, uttered in his place in Parliament, ' that the people
have nothing to do with the laws but to obey them.' The
strong indignation, excited in the mind of Dr. Parr, by so ex
treme an outrage against all the natural feelings and constitu
tional principles of Englishmen, burst forth in a keen and
cutting remonstrance, addressed to the mitred pleader for
Ottoman law on British soil. It was armed with a threefold
sting, such as the bitterest terms from the three languages,
most sacred to freedom, could supply ; and was composed in
the triple form of English blank verse, Latin iambics, and
Greek hexameters. He denominated Horsley, in the Greek
verses, 'Ittttwtijs. (New Monthly Magazine, Aug. 1826.)"
E. H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 527
expressions, he said — ' It is necessary to take all
? this trouble, whilst there are such men as Parr :'
not that our joint efforts could have made it
proof against the 'touch of his enchanted spear.'
Will you forgive me, my dear Sir, if I men
tion myself in the Omnifarious mess, which I am
sending you, — in this heap of trifles, and half-
animated reminiscences, (where nothing is im
portant but the subject, the 6 Belva,) not as a be
ing worthy of being introduced on my own me
rits, but that you may see reflected through me
the frankness, candour, and plain-dealing of our
friend ? One morning at breakfast he said ab
ruptly — ' John, you know nothing ofthe Greek
accents ?' To which I replied, I believed I did ;
on which to try me, he gave out several words,
one after the other, and asked what accent, and
on what syllable in each word it was placed ? I
answered seriatim, and happUy I was right, at
which he was much pleased. Indeed so this truly
worthy and excellent man expressed himself with
me on many occasions. I remember another lit
tle circumstance. A clergyman, at whose house
we were dining and conversing very pleasantly,
repeated a Greek translation made by some one,
I forget whom, of the celebrated distich :
Node pluit tola, redeunt spectacula mane ;
Divisum imperium cum Jove Ccesar habet.
It ran thus : —

528 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
NvKTos vet, Trdarjs, dvLaai ded/MaTa Trpw'i,
'Apxvv P'etpofx.ivTjv avv Ait Kalcrap e%6(..
I observed that I did not know the word dviaai,
which the Doctor overruled, saying that, though
it might not be Attic, it was admissible Greek,
and occurred in later writers.* As the lawyers
say, I took another objection, viz. to fj^eipofiivrjv,
as neither the right word nor the right tense,
and proposed to substitute ¦^p,i/iepf}, which correc
tion the Doctor approved, and highly commended
me : — Trifles, which I mention to shew he was
forward and earnest and even prodigal in com
mendation, though he was by no means indiscri-
minating ; for no man had a quicker eye to see
to the bottom of shallow pretensions on literary
topics, nor was he backward, or over-delicate
perhaps in exposure, which I put down to the
score of two prominent virtues in his character,
honesty and intrepidity. Hence it happened
* [The sole question is whether the simple form 'iaai, sunt,
emit, is Hellenistic and Attic ? If it be, (and there is no doubt
that it is,) there will be no occasion to look for examples to de
fend the same form in the case of the compounded verb. Scho
lars often give to themselves very unnecessary trouble to justify
the grammatical form of a compound, when there is no doubt
about the similar use of the simple verb. H. Stephens ob
serves that e^iaa-L, exeunt, is frequently employed by Aristo
phanes, and he cites from Demosth. c. Mid. Traplacn Betj-
crojjievoi, in medium prodibunt. E. H. B.]

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 529
tliat so many wounded vanities opened a cry of
misrepresentation and repeated charges of his
being overbearing, and endeavoured to avenge
themselves by exaggerating what they called his
peculiarities. I saw pre-eminence in everything
he said and did, not peculiarity. He, who on
most occasions of life acts and talks better than
others, will be different, and as such may be
considered as peculiar. I can only say that dur
ing aU my stay I had to admire his many virtues,
his active benevolence, his manly character, his
firm and sanguine temperament, and his unvary
ing good-temper, the fruit of an excellent con
stitution, which he had received from nature,
and which he had not hurt by intemperance. If
Apostolo Zeno, Dissert. Voss. 2, 348. thinks it
not to be omitted in the eulogium of Hermolaus
Barbarus, (chi visse ^ mori virgini,) I do not see
why the same should not be recorded as an in
stance of rare virtue in our friend up to the day
of his marriage. I had the fact from his own
mouth, and for which I much admired him. You
remember what your own Tacitus says of the
Germans, (ch. 20.) Sera juvenwm Venus, eoque
inexhausta pubertas.
Nothing can be more distressing to a bystander
than to be witness to conjugal disagreements.
During my whole stay our friend and Mrs. Parr
lived certainly in an independent, but apparently
2M

530 PARRIANA i OR NOTICES OF
in an amicable and easy manner together ; nor
was there the slightest appearance of ill-nature or
disagreement, but sometimes a playful and enter
taining encounter of their wits, which neither
ruffled the temper of one, nor the other, and in
which the rest of the party joined. I mention
this, as I have heard there were disagreements
between him and Mrs. Parr. I believe that in
this, as well as in other circumstances relating to
him, there were great exaggerations, and from
the causes I have hinted at above :
Urit enim fulgore suo.
It is not in human nature but that so superior,
so intrepid, so plain-spoken a man as Parr, must
have excited envy, and raised detractors ; — a
man so declared and devoted an advocate of a
particular party in politics. Those, who could
not see his merits, had scope of vision enough to
scan his peculiarities. These detractors did not
in aU instances invent, but what they found in
existence, they distorted ; what was jocose, they
made serious ; what was plain-spoken, they rough
ened into asperity; and trifles they magnified
into importance. Besides, cold-blooded critics
made no allowance for the play of his sanguine
and joyous temperament, the mere ebullition of
which in animal spirits might at times and by Ul-
natured persons be construed into exultation over
a defeated adversary. It certainly sometimes

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 531
broke out into those delightful eccentricities,
which you and I, my dear Sir, would love in
him, as exhibiting that play of vivacity, that
sportiveness, with which men of genius indulge
themselves, and exhilarate their friends. It must
be owned that one has in society at different
times met with very respectable persons, who
neither in talents nor virtues had passed the
equator-line of mediocrity, who could not un
derstand or digest Parr's ; he was the judicial
corsned, which stuck in their throats; he was
too honestfor some, — too disinterested for others,
— and too deeply learned for others, and so on ;
and the elevation of his talents and virtues cast
a shude, by which inferior pretensions were un
willingly obscured. I am sorry I can give you
nothing more particular, or more worth record
ing of this illustrious character, to whom, ' take
him aU in all', in moral and intellectual excellence
combined, we shall see in our days nothing
simile aut secundum. He has lived.
You, no doubt, are rich in recollections of
your own and your friends. I congratulate you
on the receipt of the Parriana from your friend
in Norfolk. If I had thought we were to lose
him, and that that was my only opportunity, I
should have put down in writing many passages
of his conversation. To go now to domestic
trifles, which after all lay more hold on the
2M2

532 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
heart, and consequently on the memory, than
Greek and metaphysics :)
I remember our pleasant rides ; for he had
procured me a horse, with that minute attention
to the comforts of his friends, which character
ized him, so that in no house I ever was in,
were my comforts more attended to, and not
neglected, as commonly supposed, because he
was a scholar. He had bargained for the price
with that earnestness and yet playfulness of man
ner, which, while it executed the business, and
did substantial service, yet interested and a-
mused ; business, which in the mouth of most
men is intolerably irksome, in his was attractive,
recommended by the play of his vigorous fancy,
and set off by his clear and scholarlike elocution.
This business was transacted with many a knock
of the pipe, many an emphasis on the table,
(which, you remember, he was fond of doing,
when animated, or bringing up the round of a
long period to a conclusion,) many a roll of his
(paiBpov ojifjLa, on a bright summer-morning in
his furthest sanctum sanctorum, — a room in the
garden with a fire-place, where he used to retire,
he said, i^ S^^Xov koI Oopv^ov Kal TraToyov ¦)(VTpel,ov.
Whoever, studiously inclined, has been in a
small house too near the clatter of plates and
dishes, and the talk of servants, must fully un
derstand his feelings. WeU, the day was fine ;

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 533
the steed was brought ; we saUied out, and then,
and frequently afterwards, paid our visits, when
every door was thrown open with gladness to
welcome him :
AvTofiaTOL Be vvXai fivKov.
I never saw the spirit of true English hospita
lity, of which one has heard so much, but in
those happy meetings of Parr and his friends. In
every house, instantly the Doctor was out of his
stirrups, 'the calumet of peace' was lighted;
for not bringing in the pipe was considered an
act of hostility. Lady D., I was told, fearing
for her damask-curtains, chose to forget the ce
remony ; and the Doctor told me of a gentle
man, (I think a high and stiff clergyman,) who
omitted this attention after dinner, on which a
coolness ensued, for which the gentleman was
afterwards sorry. On which story I observed
that he had done as JEneas to Diana : —
''H XdOeT fj ovK ivoTjcrev, ddcrcraTO Be /liya Oeiov.
f
The Doctor much enjoyed the ready and unex
pected application of the line in Homer, as it
certainly was quite in point ; it involved also the
idea of ' sacrifice' or ' incense.'
On the day of one of our sallies, behold us at
the door, the Doctor mounted, when Mrs. Parr,
after trying to persuade the Doctor to change his
hat, which was certainly worn, and very white.

534 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
went herself up to his capacious wardrobe, where
lay his et/iara a-iyaXoevTa, (silks, satins, and -vel
vets,) fetched down a newer and blacker hat, and
after a playful contention between them, he hold
ing his old hat on his head, and both, indeed all
the party laughing, she succeeded at last in put
ting the new one on, and returned to the house
with the old one in triumph.
Have you seen an article in the Sun, Sept. 8,
headed Bibliotheca Parriana, one of the most
absurdly reasoned articles I ever saw ? * It
* [ This article, as a curious specimen of perverted reason
ing, a neat sample of newspaper logic, a grand display of
peremptory criticism, and a memorable instance of mis-under
stood character, is subjoined.
" LITERATURE.

" BIBLIOTHECA PARRIANA.
1 Vol. J. BoHN. London, 1827.
" The celebrated Library, of which this corpulent quarto is
the catalogue, was collected by the late Dr. Parr with infinite
expence, after years of the most assiduous perseverance. It
was said, by those, who had seen it, and devoutly believed by
those, who had not, to contain accumulated treasures in almost
every department of literature : scholars coveted it, antiquari
ans dreamed of it, authors meditated petty larcenies upon it,
patriots proposed purchasing it for the public, and even Sir
Thomas Lethbridge, though there were not two books in the
whole, that he could read, and not one, that he could under
stand, was heard to pronounce it rather a creditable collection
for a Whig parson. Yet what after all is the fact ? Why this.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 535
underrates Parr's literary merit : why ? Be
cause in his large collection he possessed some
books of not the first-rate importance. One of
that, though voluminous, it is far from valuable ; consisting for
the most part of dull, obsolete, verbal criticisms, (MSS. and
otherwise,) on the classics ; musty, theological, and philologi
cal tracts, bound up in quaint volumes ; editions of Latin and
Greek writers, selected as much with a view to their scarcity
as their value ; and curious old manuscripts picked up, no
matter at what cost, in order that Dr. Parr might be enabled
to say, ' I am the only scholar in Europe, who possesses them.'
" It was well observed by the late C. Mills, that a man's
mind may in nine cases out of ten be judged of by his library ;
apply the test to Dr. Parr, and it will prove him just what he
really wbs, an erudite, but not an enlarged scholar, an exem
plary grammarian, a shrewd verbal critic, a conscientious, but
useless party-man. There was no book in the Greek, Latin,
or English languages, that he had not read, or could not in
some degree discuss. His memory was a vast storehouse of
facts, opinions, and anecdotes^ all which he retailed in the
same dry, faithful manner, that he had received them. Hence
his conversation, replete with matter, was delightful, but want
ed that inexpressible charm, which learning, when warmed by
genius, never fails to impart. He would sit for hours busily
engaged smoking his pipe, and entertaining his admiring listen
ers, (for the Doctor, we should premise, had all that pride of
conversation so characteristic in the Johnsonian school,) with
anecdotes or opinions of his most distinguished contempo
raries ; language and correctness of fact were never wanting
to lend them importance ; yet he knew not how to draw an
inference, or to render his stories illustrative of peculiar theo
ries or arguments : he technically related one, then paused,
shook the ashes from his pipe, and proceeded to another. As

536 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
these is Mawe's Gardener. Did you ever hear such
folly ? What an inference to draw ? It puts me
in mind of a Welch story. As you say you like
a scholar, he possessed a vigorous appetite, but a weak diges
tion. He committed whole volumes to memory, yet rarely
meditated upon one. They oppressed, not nourished his mind,
like the food of the Anaconda, beneath the weight of which he
lies inert and useless. Look, for instance, at his far-famed
Preface to Bellendenus. Though correct, indeed, almost
faultless in composition, it is merely ingenious patch-work,
every word, every sentence, every peculiar or striking passage,
being modelled on, and selected from Cicero. Look again
to his Spital Sermon, which the Edinburgh-Reviewers so hu
morously handled. It is replete with learning, full even to
an overflow with quotation, yet where is the thought, where
the power of imagination, which should turn such acquire
ments to account, convert them into a healthy mental chile,
and then send them forth regenerated, strengthened, and full-
informed, with the reader's own peculiar ideas ? Dr. Parr,
though a bold man and exemplary scholar, was but a shallow
thinker ; he merely adopted opinions as he found them in
books, unmodified and unamended, and without reference to
time or circumstance.
" On running through the present Catalogue, we find that
it fully warrants us in our notion of Dr. Parr as a scholar. It
is voluminous enough for a public library, yet abounds for the
most part in trash. The classical and theological portion are
decidedly the best ; yet even here there is an immensity of
lumber, such as ' C. T. Amman, Summa Theologice ChristiaruB'
— a treatise filled with the common places of theology ; ' Ap-
thorpe's Observations on Gibbon — dull enough to be episco
pal ; ' Bellamy's Remarks on his Translation of the Bible ;
' Various Readings on the Text of the Apocalypse ,•' and Ser-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 537
Welch Greek, you shall have it — it is quite in
point. A countryman brought a horse for sale
to Dr. PhUlips, a sort of wag. The Doctor
mons by Matthew Booker,' childish and feeble, though somewhat
grandiloquent j together with an infinity of others of the same
caUbre in point of value. In the classical department we find
first and foremost Tragedies and Fragments, edited by Dr.
Butler, and manifestly praised on account of their being a pre
sentation-copy, to which a flaming inscription in honour ' Or-
natissitni Samuelis Parr,' is attached. Such, in fact, was the
Doctor's vanity — such his inordinate swallow, that he could
digest the most brazen compliment. Two friends of ours, one
an excellent classic, but a vile writer of English tragedies, the
other a compiler of ethics, dispatched their respective works to
Hatton, with hyperbolical compliments, (partly in joke,) at
tached to them. Meanwhile a bet was made between the
parties, that the Doctor's gratitude would, if possible, exceed
their admiration, and accordingly a few day's post brought
them both the expected answers ; in one the Doctor made use
of the terms ' learned, ornate, eloquent, and transcendent,' in
the other he spoke of his being ' almost a proselyte to the exr
quisite powers of logic possessed by his gifted friend.'
" To resume : — Under the imposing head of ' History,'
we find such trash as ' The History of Birmingham ; — ' Jona
than Boucher's View of the American Revolution,' a compound
of prejudice and stupidity ; — ' Chateaubriand's Travels to
the Holy Land,' (a work filled with affected piety and maudlin
sentiment, where the tinsel politician, ' every thing by turns,
and nothing long,' drivels through nearly half a volume
over the crusade-struck Lewis, his own birthday on board
ship, and the nettle which grew on the tomb of Leonidas —
a work, in short, which a school boy out-grows with his first
long-tailed coat;) ; — an ' Abridgment of Bruce's Travels,' for

538 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
wanted a draught-horse, and so asked the ques
tion, • If he would draw?' The countryman
answered —' Yes. ' 'Could he draw a cart, a
schools ; • — an 'Account ofthe Opinions of the most Distinguish
ed English Writers on the French Revolution,' published before
Burke's noble Rejections appeared — a wretched ' Translation
of Froissart,' the most chivalrous and untransferable of chro
niclers — ' Hawkesworth's Voyages,' a book full of mis-state
ments, and written solely for the trade — ' Maurice's History
of Hindostan,' a pompous, but superficial production —
' Street's Reign of Louis XVI.,' the very quintessence of com
mon-place both in style andmatter — ' Taylor, (thePlatonist's,)
Dissertation on the Eleusinian Mysteries,' a work more mys
terious than the mysteries themselves — ' A Guide to Exeter
Cathedral' — ' Gibson's History of Glasgow' — ' Substance of
a Speech delivered at Maidenhead by Juniades' — 'A Pocket
Companion for Oxford,' — together with an hundred others of
the same stamp, ' quos nunc prcescribere longum est.' Under
the head ' Metaphysics,' we have ' Beattie's Essay on Truth,'
a much over-rated work ,- — ' Philosophical Re/lections on the
Virtues of Tar-Water,'' which reminds us of Dr. Macgiun's
philosophical reflections on seeing a Hottentot in top-boots ;
— ' Co Hard's Logic for Schools,' (what sort of logic is that?) —
' A Portable French Dictionary of Philosophy,' wherein every
thing relative to this world and the next, is disposed of within
the compass of an ordinary coat-pocket ; ' Geddes' Essay on
Original Genius,' which Dr. Parr has praised, but which goes
to prove that genius is nothing more than an acquaintance with
the Greek and Latin Grammars ; — ' John Fearn s Demon
stration of Necessary Connection,' a somewhat equivocal title ;
¦ — ' Hervey' s Meditations^ a work, in which, to the best of our
recollection, the sentiment of Sterne, blended with the diction
of Ossian, is wedded to the twang of the conventicle, (though

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 539
gig,' &c. ? was asked repeatedly, and as often
answered in the affirmative eagerly by the Welch-
man, who wanted to sell him. ' Could he draw
the author, we believe, preceded all three ;) — ' Hill's Plan
for Instructing Boys in Large Numbers; ¦^' Knox's Essays,'
the most trite and common-minded of its class; — ' Ozell's
Logic,' a quaint ordinary treatise by, if we mistake not, the
Editor of Sir T. Urqhwart's Rabelais, an author duly noticed
in the Dunciad — ' Watts' s Logic,' a dry scholastic, but per
haps useful (to those, who can wade through it,) treatise ; —
and, lastly, ' Wootton's Ancient and Modern Learning,' a pro
duction, which Swift has so justly, but unsparingly tomahawk
ed, in his ironical and comprehensive Tale of a Tub. In the
' Natural History,' we find, ' Abbot's Account of the Flowers,
that grow in Bedfordshire ; — ' Dodson's Rules for Learning
common Arithmetic ¦ — ' Goldsmith's Animated Nature,' an
amusing, but deceitful guide ; — 'Knight's Treatise on Apples •
— ' Lambe's Cautions against Water-Pipes and Cisterns ¦ —
' Leybourn's Mathematical Questions proposed in the Ladies'
Diary ;' — and ' Mawe and Abercrombie' s Gardener.' Among
the ' Books of Pleasantry,' we find the following exceedingly
funny works : ' Buchanan's Paraphrase of the Psalms ,•' —
' Coleridge's Greek Prize-Poem ;' — ' Dantisci Joannis Poe-
mata et Hymni ;' — ' Delicim Poetarum Belgicorum; — 'A
very Humourous Dissertation, in which Anonymous endeavours
to prove that Women are not Men, and to which a Woman
replies that they are ,¦ — ' Hobbes' s (ThomasJ Ecclesiastical
History in. Verse ;' ' Hermanni, (Parr's idol,) Poesis Sacra,'
— ' Hoogeveen Carmina Elegiaca ,¦' — 'Hoveri ' Tragcediee;' —
'Milton's Sampson Agonistes ¦ — and ' Sacra Lyrica.' Among
the ' English Miscellanies,' we discover ' The So7is of Erin,
or. The Cause of the Greeks, by a Native of Bengal,' a Trage
dy, in which a woman hanging her head, is beautifully com-

540 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
an inference ?' the Doctor then asked. ' Oh, yes,
' your Honour ; I will answer for him — he wdl
' draw anything.' I think the article answered.
pared to a bunch of unripe grapes ; — 'a Miss Carter's
Poems; — ' Florence- Miscellany ^ a notable specimen of the
Delia Crusca School ; — ' Glover s Leonidas,' an epic now
deservedly forgotten ; — ' Ireland's Shakspeare-Forgeries,'
which Dr. Parr worshipped on his knees ; — ' Poems by
Chandos Leigh,' sad stuff; — ' Zeluco,' a very over-rated
picture of life ; — ' Pizarro, and the Virgin ofthe Sun,' two
dismal German melo-drames ; — ' Watt's Lyric Poems ¦ and
' Gustavus Vasa,' by an ingenious Eton-Boy.
" Such taken from Dr. Parr's own Catalogue, is a fair
sample of its value. We should add that he praises those
only among his contemporaries, who lavishly return the
compliment. He prefers Hermann to Porson, because the
former larded him with eulogy. He bestows notices on the
most worthless works of the day ; while Burke, Sir James
M'Intosh, (whose well-known ' Vindicice Gallicce,' is passed
without a word, though immediately afterwards, Godwin's
pompous Pol. Justice, is introduced with respect,) and
Gibbon, men who were really scholars in the most enlarged
sense, are not even mentioned or alluded to. The truth is.
Dr. Parr, throughout his life, was an infinitely over-rated
man. He did nothing for his age, he has done as much for
posterity : at the very hey-day of his fame he was at best but
a literary gourmand .- the learning of others assumed no new
shapes, no new combinations in his mind ; it was not, as
with Burke and Johnson, impregnated with thought and
sentiment ; as his information was received, so also in due
season was it reproduced — a shapeless, unformed mass. In
his private character, however, the Doctor was all that
could be desired. He was an excellent husband, (and in

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, L.LD. 541
Just such an inference, as this horse of Dr.
PhUlips could draw, the writer of the article in
the Sun Newspaper of Sept. 8. has drawn." *
" Abermaiiais, Oct. 13, 1827. I do not know
the story of George Harvest. Dr. Phillips might
have borrowed the wit he played off on the
this instance he was sadly tried;) an indulgent father; a
devout, but not an austere. Christian ; a conscientious par
tisan; and, except where his vanity was concerned, a staunch,
enthusiastic friend. With this praise let his admirers rest
contented." We have all heard of Single-Speech Hamilton; and as
this critic disposes of all the authors, whose books he enu
merates in a most concise and sententious and summary way,
he might be called Single-Sentence. E. H. B.]
* [In replying to this communication I observed to my
amiable and learned friend, that the story, here attributed
to Dr. Phillips, was first told ofthe celebrated George Har
vest, of whom Dr. Parr was accustomed to relate this with
other stories. George had defined man to be the only ani
mal, which could draw an inference, A waggish friend con
troverted the point, and undertook to convince the metaphy
sician of his errour, if he would only step into the street.
"A/j,' eiros, 'dfji 'epyov : the simple-minded George followed
him thither. Luckily for the wag, a rustic was at hand with
his cart, and he was asked whether his horse could draw 1.
« Aye, to be sure it can,' replied the rustic. ' Well, but can
it draw a consequence ?' ' Aye, ought at all.' ' There now,'
said the wag to George Harvest with great gravity ; I hope
that you are satisfied that your definition is erroneous.'
E. H. B.]

542 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Welchman ; but the fact was as I stated it.
When I was at Cheltenham last summer, I saw
a book through a window, entitled Porsoniana,
with a print of Porson as a frontispiece, priced
7*., anonymous. I am sorry I did not get it. *
Do you know the story of Parr's asking Porson
his opinion about the existence of moral and phy
sical evil ? Did you hear that Mrs. Parr said —
' During the three weeks Porson was at Hatton,
* more brandy was drijnk than during all the
' time she had kept house'?
Parr's gluttony, (at least when I have seen him)
was nothing but good appetite. He used to
remark that particular tastes in eating went with
scholarship, such as liking fries'and stews, cr-n-xdy-
Xva Traa-avTo, liver, heart, etc., whilst whole joints
are the favorites of men of grosser propensities.
Posidonius says that in his time the barbarians of
the North used to dine on whole joints brought
to tablet Did you ever get your cook to dress
you a Opiov, according to the receipts in Schol.
Aristoph. and in Julius Pollux ? The latter is
appended to Elmsley's Acharnenses.
* [My bookseller, after much enquiry, could learn no
tidings of any such book. E. H. B.]
t {In the Havamaal, or Sublime Discourse of Odin, occurs
the following maxim : — ' The gluttonous man, if he is not
* upon his guard, eats his own death ; and the gluttony of
• a fool makes the wise man laugh.' M. Mallet's Northern
Antiquities, Edinb. 1809. V. 2. p. l.^iC, E, H. B.]

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 543
" Paris, Nov. 30, 1827. These littie things
are every thing in the seeing, and nothing in the
telling. The story, of which you say you have but a
confused notion, about Parr, Porson, and moral
evil, I have heard in this way — wherever it was,
does not signify ; but there was a large company,
and the Doctor addressed Porson nearly in these
words : — '¦ Mr. Porson, pray what do you think
• about the introduction of moral and physical
* evil into the world ?' This was a knotty ques
tion.
Conticuere omnes, intentique ora tenebant.
Porson, after a moment's pause for reflection,
answered with great solemnity, or dryness of
manner : — ' Why, Doctor, I think, we should
' have done very well without them.'
I do not remember talking with the Doctor
about our great English worthies, of whom you
enquire. On my asking him one evening if
Plato was what he would call a metaphysical wri
ter, he answered quite readily : — ' If I were
' to say that a great many parts of Plato were not
* metaphysical, and deeply metaphysical, I should
' be misleading you. Right or wrong, — those
' Greeks have a prodigious power of reasoning.
' No modern writers exhibit such deep power of ar-
' gumentation. Plato sometimes reasons wrongly

544 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' but does so knowingly, and sometimes out
' of pleasantry, as in his Euthyphron, which,
' though it may be considered as a piece of so-
' phistical pleasantry, yet exhibits wonderful
' powers of logical dexterity.'* The Doctor was
right : since the time I speak of, the French
translator of Plato, (I forget his name,) makes
out that the greater portion of modern metaphy
sics are fragments of the leavings of Plato,
Xev^ava rS>v ITXaTaiviKwv BeiTrvociv. This proneness
to argumentation and sophistical subtlety in the
ancient phUosophers and sophists of Greece,
shewed itself afterwards in those theological dis
putes, which, at different times and under diffe
rent modifications, lasted from the age of Con-
* [ I shewed this passage from the Letter of my learned
friend, Mr. Symmons, to my philosophical friend, Thomas
Taylor, Esq., and be, who has spent a long life iu the exclu
sive study of ancient philosophy, is privileged to pass judg
ment on Dr. Parr, who bestowed only occasional attention'
on the subject, whose reputation, in the radiancy of intellec
tual excellence, needs no meretricious glare of unjust praise,
and who, amid the stores of vast erudition, could aflFord to be
ignorant of some things. I subjoin Mr. Taylor's satisfactory
reply to ray communication : —
" Manor-Place, Walworth, Dec. 14, 1827.
" Dkar Sir,
Dr. Parr was no less right in asserting that he
had found in Aristotle the germ of almost all modern disco
veries, than he was wrong, when he says ' that Plato some-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D, 545
stantine to the termination of the Greek em
pire. As I have just said, I do not recollect our
haying had any conversation about Jeremy Tay-
' times reasons wrongly, but does so knowingly, and sonie-
' times out of pleasantry, as in his Euthyphron, which, though
' it may be considered a piece of sophistical pleasantry, yet
' exhibits wonderful powers of logical dexterity.' TheDoc-
tor, in this latter assertion, has committed a more egregious
blunder than Dr. Dibdin, who ranks Plato, the prince of
philosophers, among the philologists ; and he also discovers
a profound ignorance of the dialectic of Plato, which is very
different from vulgar dialectic, as the latter is solely conver
sant with opinion, and is accurately investigated in the Topics
of Aristotle. For the business of this summit of the sciences,
is to employ divisions, analyzations, and demonstrations, as
primary sciences in the investigation of causes ; imitating
the progression of beings from the first principle of things,
and their continual progression to it, as the ultimate object
of desire. ' But there are three energies,' (says Proclus in
Parmenid. L, 1.,) ' of this most scientific method ; the first
• of which is adapted to youth, and is useful for the purpose
' of rousing their intellect, which is, as it were, in a dormant
• state ; for it is a true exercise of the eye of the soul in the
' ' speculation of things, leading forth, through opposite po-
' sitions, the essential impression of fortns, which it contains,
• and considering not only the divine path, as it were, which
' conducts to truth, but exploring whether the deviations
¦ from it contain anything worthy of belief; and lastly sti-
' mulating the all-various conceptions of the soul. But the
' second energy takes place, when intellect rests from its
' former investigations, as becoming most familiar with the
¦ speculation of beings, and beholds truth itself firmly esta-
2N'

546 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
lor, Hooker, Warburton, Lowth, or any others,
of whom you enquire. Would we had had some,
or that I could recollect them ! But at that time
I was more acquainted with Greek than with
' bHsbed on a pure, holy foundation. And this energy, ac-
• cording to Socrates, by a progression through ideas evolves
' thewholeofan intelligible nature till it arrives atthis, which
• is first ; and this, by analyzing, defining, demonstrating, and
• dividing, proceeding upwards and downwards, till having
' entirely investigated the essence of intelligibles,it raises itself
" to a nature superior fo beings. But the soul being per-
' fectly established in this nature as her paternal port, no
' longer tends to a more excellent object of desire, as she
' has now arrived at the end of her search ; and you may
' say that what is delivered in the Phadrus and Sophista, is
' the employment of this energy, giving a two-fold division
' to some, and a four-fold to other operations of the dialectic
' art ; and on this account it is assigned to such, as pbiloso-
• phise purely, and no longer require preparatory exercise,
' but nourish the intellect of their soul in pure intellection.
' But the third energy purifies from two-fold ignoranc'e,'
(two-fvld ignorance, according to Plato, is when a man is
ignorant that be is ignorant, but simple ignorance is when a
man, who is ignorant, is conscious that he is ignorant,) ' when
' its reasonings are employed upon men full of opinion; and
' this is spoken of in the Sophista.' Hence it appears that
the dialectic energy of Plato is triple, either subsisting
through opposite arguments, or alone unfolding truth, or
alone confuting falshood. According to the first of these
energies, Socrates in Plato exercises young men, surveying
the arguments on both sides ofthe question, and examining
whether that, which appears to be true to each, is really so
or not, as in the Thecetetus, whether science is iense or not.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 547
English writers, and as to a Grecian I came, to
see and consult the Doctor, — as a Philhellen, I
was received, entertained, and introduced into
the house, — I insinuated myself into the house,
and in the Lysis, investigating what a friend is, at one time
he confutes the opinion of Empedocles, that any kind of si
militude is sufficient to produce friendship, and at anothei:
the opinion of Hesiod and Heraclitus, that dissimilars are
friendly to each other ; purifying through this confutation
his young auditors from false opinions. The Gorgias also,
the Protagoras, and other Dialogues of Plato, are full of
this Socratic dialectic. Of this kind, likewise, are the con
tests, in the first Book of the Republic, with the savage
Thrasymachus, who, however, was at length famed by the
mighty Socrates. The Euthyphron belongs to the third di
vision of Plato's dialectic, and is therefore .^taXoyos'JSXeY-
KTVKos : for its design is to confute the false opinions of
Euthyphron concerning sanctity . For this sophist conceived
that, what is asserted by all those, that were wise in divine
concerns, (iraai rols rd deia ero<pols,) among the Greeks,
respecting the sections, (TO/ial,) ofthe intellectual Gods, is
to be understood literally. This ignorance, however, ofthe
recondite meaning of the theological fables of the Greeks,
which formerly existed among some of the Grecian sophists,
is at present universally prevaleut. Hence the moderns
have not even a dreaming conception of the sublime truths,
which these fables occultly indicate, but are so infatuated
as to understand them according to their apparent significa
tion, not knowing that every fable has an inward, different
from its outward, meaning; for, if this is not admitted, it is
no longer a fable. Plato, in consequence of well knowing
this distinction, banished Homer from his Republic, which
was calculated to produce the most excellent, and the most
2N2

548 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Xeyav as juXAdrjvaios rjv v7rep<f>va>s, and was re
ceived by Mrs. Parr with, ' So, Sir, I find you
are a Grecian,' and, if I may be allowed to joke
about a lady I respected so much, she ran to her
philosophic characters, assigning as a reason for so doing,
' that the youthful part ofthe community would not be able
' to distinguish what is allegorical from what is not.' He
dismisses Homer, however, as a divine person, pouring oil
on his head, and crowning him with wool, both which it was
lawful to perform to statues in the most holy sacrifices, as
we are informed by the Greek Scholiast on this part of the
third Book ofthe Republic.- Mvpov KaTa'yeeiv tSjv ev tols
dyuoTdTois lepols dyaXfidjcov Oifiis ^v, epi(p Te c7Te(f>eiv
avTa, Kal tovto KaTd Tiva lepaTiKov vofiov, ws 6 fieyas
IIpoKXos ^crlv.
When Dr. Parr also in his Catalogue ranks Gray the poet
among those, who best understood the writings of Plato, he
betrays the most extreme ignorance of the doctrines of that
divine philosopher, as must be immediately obvious to every
tyro in Platonism, who reads the remarks of Gray, as pub
lished by Mathias, on the works of Plato. So that Dr. Parr,
in both these instances, has shown himself to be much below
par J This great ignorance .of Gray I may, perhaps, hereafter
expose to the public. I remain, with great esteem.
Yours very sincerely,
Thomas Taylor."
The passage in the Bihliotheca Parriana, to which Mr.
Taylor refers, occurs in a note on Floyer Sydenham's Synopsis,
or, General View ofthe Writings of Plato, 1749. 4to. p. 328. :
— "I possess, and have elsewhere inserted, some of the Dia
logues of Plato, translated by this very learned, very ingenious,
and very unfortunate author. No man living understood

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 549
cupboard for the brandy-bottle, as she associated
the idea of brandy and Greek together, from the
quantities used, when Porson visited there. My
questions were, therefore, principaUy directed in
Plato better than Mr. Sydenham and Mr. Gray : and among
the best translations in the English language, I reckon Twin-
ing's Translation of Aristotle' s Poetics, Sydenham's Dialogues
of Plato, and Hampton's Translation of Polybius. S. P."
The other notices respecting Sydenham are, p. 457.: —
" Sydenham's Diss, on the Doctrine of Heraclitus, so far
as it is mentioned or alluded to by Plato, 1775. 4to. ' Syden
ham's Diss, is most profound. S. P.' " In p. 677, the Diss.
is again introduced, and characterised as ' excellent and pro
found,' and in p. 637," Synopsis of Plato's Works, 1759."
I had observed to Mr. Taylor that Dr. Parr had once re
marked to me that in Aristotle he had found the germ of al
most all modern discoveries : and to this Mr. T. alludes at the
commencement of his Letter.
"^ On different occasions I have conversed much with Parr
upon the subject of metaphysics. He strongly condemned the
material philosophy. Reid on the Intellectual Powers of
Man he instanced as a satisfactory refutation of that debasing
doctrine. The mortality of the soul, he said, was a necessary
consequence from its materiality. The soul is a spirit, which
must be immortal, because it is exempted from all the quali
ties, which generate corruption. It is an uncompounded es
sence. How can that be dissolved, which has no parts ? For
dissolution is only the separation of one part from another ;
but that, which has no parts, cannot be dissolved. The hope
of futurity was infused into man at his creation ; it is his
earliest, his fondest, his last aspiration. Such a desire would
not have been given us in vain. All the great lights of the
ancient world believed in the immortality of the soul, from this

550 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
that channel, and these were, chiefly, purely
phUological, and not such as would extract from
our friend observations on the style, character,
and general merits of the great classic authors,
inherent desire of beautitude. Hence the Pythagorsean doc
trine, the Elysian fields, and the Tartarus of the poets.
Hac iter Elysium nobis, at lava mtdorum, etc.
I observed that in some of his writings Aristotle seemed to
doubt. He said, ' No such thing. Sir.' He quoted the
Treatise upon Animals, to show that he had distinctly as
serted the soul's distinct existence and immortality, and de
sired me to reach him the Ethics. He then referred to the
ninth and tenth Chapters V)f that Treatise, where he deduces
the immortality of the soul from her natural desire of future
happiness. Aristotle, he said, had been supposed to hold the
soul to be mortal, by those, who did not rightly understand his
philosophy. The mistake arose from his speaking of the opera
tions of the soul as corporeal. In this sense he often applied
the word ei'TeXe^eta, or intellect, as a corporeal instrument
depending only on phantasy. But he then means only the
passive intellect, or thinking faculty, which is corporeal, but
subordinate to a superior intellect, which is indestructible.
This conversation was fixed in my memory, because it led me
to a more careful perusal of the Ethics, and convinced me of
the accuracy and extent of Parr's knowledge." Parriana in
the New Monthly Magazine, Nov. 1, 1826.
" The anecdote respecting the Brahmin of Ceylon, alluded
to by Mr. Brougham in his last speech, (on the state of the
laws,) is recorded in the Asiatic Journal for June, 1827, as
follows : — After the introduction of juries into Ceylon, a
wealthy Brahmin, whose unpopular character had rendered
him obnoxious to many, was accused of murdering his nephew,
and put upon trial. He chose a jury of his own caste ; but

THE RE\< SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 551
which would have been more easy to remember,
and more interesting to record.
You ask me for any reminiscences of Porson ;
— as I said before, it would be worth your while
to get the Porsoniana ; it may be a catchpenny
thing, yet still it must contain many Cambridge-
stories ; any crumb picked up about such a man
would be valuable. I saw the book at WiUiams's
library, Cheltenham. I lament to say, I only
saw this wonderful man thrice. I was at those
times a boy at school, and a student at college.
so strong was the evidence against him, that twelve, (out of
thirteen) of the jury were thoroughly convinced of his guilt.
The dissentient juror, a young Brahmin of Ramisseram, stood
up, declared his persuasion that the prisoner was the victim
of a conspiracy, and desired that all the witnesses might be
recalled. He examined them with astonishing dexterity and
acuteness, and succeeded in extorting from them sueh proofs
of their perjury, that the jury, instead of consigning him to an
ignominious death, pronounced him innocent. The affair
made much noise in the Island, and the Chief Justice, (Sir
Alexander Johnston,) sent for the juror, who had so distin
guished himself, and complimented him upon the talents he
had displayed. The Brahmin attributed his skill to his study
of a book, which he called Strengthener of the Mind. He had
procured it, he said, from some pilgrims at Ramisseram, who
obtained it from Persia, and he had translated it from the
Sanscrit, into which it had been rendered from the Persian.
Sir A. Johnston expressing a curiosity to see this book, the
Brahmin brought him a TamulMS. on palm-leaves, which Sir
Alexander found, to his infinite surprise, to be the Dialectics
of Aristotle: " The Times, March 6, 1828. E. H. B.]

552 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
His very look impressed me with the idea of his
being an extraordinary man : what is called, I
believe, by artists in the Hercules ' the repose of
strength,' appeared in his whole figure and face.
All I remember of him the first time, which was
at dinner at Mr. Edwards's in Pall-Mall, (where
were present my father. Dr. Burney, and Mr.
Fuseli,) was his receiving me, then a school-boy,
very graciously, I might say politely, when Mr.
Edwards very civilly said, * I was highly spoken
of by Dr. Vincent,' my most worthy and respect
able master, for whom I shall always be happy
to testify the great esteem I bore him, in com
mon indeed with all those, who were educated by
him. AU I remember of Porson, besides, on
that day, was his saying : — Somebody, (whose
name, . if he mentioned it, I forget,) having been
asked for an Horatian motto for a pair of breeches,
gave,
Quos et aqucB subeunt et aura. rOd.3,4,7.J
Whether this happy application was an exterrppore
of his own, or whether he only repeated another's
jest, you, my dear Sir, will know better than I.
It was not one of the days, on which Porson dis
played himself — the hour was too early, or the
wine did not circulate abundantly enough. It
was, therefore, not one of the nodes Atticce, of
which 1 have heard so much. It was not one of

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 553
those nights, in which he repeated the greater
part ofthe Rape qf the Lock, making observa
tions as he went, and noting the various read
ings, of which one ofthe company said, — ' Had
' it been taken down from his mouth, and pu-
' blished, it would have made the best edition of
' that poem yet published.'
My friend, Mr. James Boswell, told me he
was present one night, when Porson made a most
wonderful display on parts of Bentley's- Phalaris,
of which he only remembered the next day one
particular, which related to that passage, where
Bentley rates and ridicules Boyle for his mis-quo
tation of a chapter of Stobffius by such a number,
(I forget the number,) when no such number
existed. Person observed that Boyle was led into
the errorby using such an edition, (mentioning it,)
where the numbers ofthe chapters were continued,
or rather there was a confusion in the numbering.*
I have now drawn towards the conclusion
* ^" To shew Stobseus's approbation of Phalaris's Epistles, I
had observed that he quoted three of them under the title Pha-
laris. The gentleman adds one more ; and I should thank him
for his liberality, had not any one of those three I mentioned,
been sufficient for my purpose. But when he says, p. 31. ' 'Tis
' Tit. 218, and again in the coUection of Antonius and Maximus,
' and that I overlooked it,' for that I must beg his pardon. For I
could hardly overlook the 218th Title of Stobaeus, where there
are but 121 in all. 'Tis not Title 218, but p. 218, (Ed. Genev.
1609,) and not of Stobaius, but of Antonius, that is printed at

554 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
of my poor, jejune, and inadequate reminiscences
of Parr: OapaeiTe cplXot,, yrjv 6pa>. As you intend
publishing it as it is, I suppose I must send a
formal conclusion, which will be my next and
last. The best heifer in Theocritus was only
good is Tpls d/iiXyeiv, and you have milked me
more than thrice. But you know I am joking,
and you know that you may command my ser
vices, as I am really happy to do anything to
comply with the wishes of a man like you."
" Paris, Jan. 8, 1828. And now, my dear Sir,
the end of him. But tlie Title of Stobajus, that the Examiner
would cite, is 84. How far the assistant, that consulted books
for the Examiner, may be chargeable with this mistake, or how
far it goes towards a discovery, that Mr. B. himself never looked
into Stobseus, I will leave it for others to determine." Bentley's
Dissertation on Phalaris p. 20.
" Person's defence of Boyle and his friends against Bentley,"
says my learned and excellent friend, the Rev. Thomas Kidd
in a Letter dated Wymondham, March 1, 1828. " to which your
friend alludes, I transcribed from the Professor's autograph on
the fly-leaf of a copy of Bentley's Answer, and is as follows : —
' P. 20- 15. ed. Dr. Salter, 1777- Mr. Boyle and his associates
' are so often in the wrong, that it is barely doing justice to
' defend them, when they are in the right. Boyle used the
' Pranckfort-edition of Stobaeus foi. 1581, in which the collec-
' tions oi Stobceus, Antonius, aaiMaximus are blended together,
' so that the Title of Stobaeus, where the quotation from Phalaris
' occurs, is in other editions the 84th, but in the Franckfort
' the 218th. The 217th Title belongs to Antonius and Ma-
' ximus, and there is found the same quotation. The singular
' coincidence of the number 2 18, led Bentley into this mistake.' "

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 555
I must reluctantly take leave of a subject, up
on which I could dwell perpetually with plea
sure, and on which, to my shame be it spoken !
I have retained so few, and relatively insignifi
cant materials. That you, from your own recol
lections, and from your industriously-collected
ma,terials, may amply supply my^ deficiency, and
that you may be the means of affording me the
exquisite gratification of seeing my excellent
friend's luminous and beautifully-finished mind
reflected from that of yours, and his numerous
friends and admirers, who loved and enjoyed him,
whilst he lived, and now venerate him since his la
mented loss, is the sincere prayer of, my dear Sir,
Your sincere and obliged friend,
John Symmons."

556

PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF

XXVIII.
Letters f '0771 John Feai^n,* Esq. addressed to the
Editor ; containing Mr. Fearn's Correspond
ence with Dr. Parr, and Dugaid Stewart, Esq. ;
also Lady Mary Shephei'd's Remai'ks, and Mr.
Fearn's Reply.

" London, Sept. 17, 1827.
" My dear Sir, When a man enters upon a course of
literary pursuit, whatever may be his natural reluctance
tobringhimself, (alongwith his writings,) before the public,
* " London, Oct. 11, 1827.
" My DE.4R SiB,
The following is a coiTect list of all my printed writings,
up to this date, Oct. 1827.
1. An Essay on Consciousness, 2d edn. 1812. 4to. pp.380.
2. A Review of First Principles of Bishop Berkeley, Dr. Reid,
and Professor Stewart, 1813. 4to. pp. 40.
3. A Demonstration of Necessary Connexion, 1815. pp. 16.
4,. A Demonstration of the Principles of Primary Vision, 1815.
4.to. pp. 35.
5. A Letter to Professm' Stewart on the Objects of General Terms,
and tlie Axiomatical Laws of Primary Vision, 1817. 4to. pp.32.
" Note : — All the above are out of print. But the substance of
the four small Tracts is embodied in the First Lines, with the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 557
he must be liable to a variety of emergencies, which may
force him to come forward, in a greater or less extent.
exception ofthe subject of General Terms, which last is entertained,
though in a different way, in the concluding chapter o£ Anti-Toolce.
6. An Essay on Immortality, 1814. Svo. pp.328.
7. An Essay on the Philosophy of Faith, 1815. Svo. pp.221.
8. First Lines of the Human Mind, 1820. Svo. pp.602.
9. Anti-Tooke, or an Analysis ofthe Principles and Structure of
Language, Vol. 1. 1824. Svo. pp. 366.
10. .^Anti-Tooke,  Vol.2. 1817. Svo. pp. 438.
" The whole of these are, and always have been, published by
Longman and Co., Paternoster-Row ; R. Hunter, St. Paul's
Churchyard ; and Parbury, Allen, and Co., Leadenhall-Street.
" I have never published so much as a line, upon any subject,
except the above and my Letters to Professm' Stewart in the News
papers. And I have never, in a single instance, submitted a line
of my writings to any person whatever, until it appeared before
the public, except in the case of tliose papers, which I have re
cently furnished you to insert in your book. Which facts I men
tion, in case it may ever be made a question ; I mean in case any
writing should be attributed to me, of which I am not guilty. Even
in the suggestion or design of any of my writings, I have never had
a monition, or a hint from any one. (The monitions in the
Letters of our exceUent deceased friend are in a different sense ;
and therefore do not contradict my assertion.) My speculations,
whatever else they are, are the result of the most solitary, un
aided, and uncommunicated course of thinking, that ever was
followed. And in this character they differ, remarkably, from
the precept, (and in general a most wise precept,) of Locke, that
a man ought not to have the temerity to hazard his thoughts be
fore the public, until he has submitted them to the ordeal of some
friend. My proceeding, however, is to be attributed at least as
much to the circumstances in which I have been placed, as to any
overweening of my own strength to fly alone ; and my case wiU
apologise for what cannot be justified.
" Some ofthe small Tracts were republished in some ofthe peri
odical works of the day. The same modification or manner of

558 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Accordingly it has happened that the remarks, which Dr.
Parr has left in the copy of the Essay on Imnwrtality
presented to him, (havingbeen published in his Catalogue,*
and republished in several periodiceds of the day,) have
placed me in this predicament. An acknowledgment, from
a churchman of Dr. Parr's reading and attainments, that
treating the subject in the paper on Necessary Connexion has not in
deed been introduced into ihe First Lines. The fact is, it was only a
crude precursor of what I had intended, after due correction, to
make a part of the second volume of the First Lines ; which se
cond volume will (now) never exist. I had intended therein to
say much upon real efficiency ; and what I have said, in the paper
alluded to, I consider to be tenable.
" I think this memorandum makes up all the particulars, upon
which you wished to be informed ; and I remain, my dear Sir,
Yours very sincerely,
JOHN FEARN.
" I merely notice that, most of the publications mentioned
above, are named also in a foot-note in my reply to Lady
Mary Shepherd ; and I hope it may not be considered as an obtru
sive repetition, as it was unavoidable in that reply.
" I have already mentioned to you that the InteUectual Physics,
an Essay concerning the Nature of Being, named among my writ
ings in Dr. Vaxr's Catalogue, are not my property. I have looked,
as you desired, but cannot find the note, which I mentioned, in Mr.
Stewart's book, concerning that work. But I think he speaks of
it as a work ' not destitute of merit ;' and ascribes it to the late
Governor Thomas PownaU. I never saw the work."
In the Bibliotheca Parriana p. 435, the date assigned to it is
" Bath, 1795. 4to." In Dr. Watt's Bihliotheca Britannica it is in
serted, in the list of Governor Pownall's voluminous and miscella
neous writings, as published in 1803. 4to., which was probably a
reprint. B. H. B. j
* CSee the Bibliotlieca Parriana p. 434, where is inserted the
following extract from a Letter of Mr. Fearn addressed to Basil
Montagu, Esq. (dated Craven- Street, Oct. 6, 1814.)

h

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 559
my treatment of the subject of that Essay had afforded
HIM larger views of it, and had strengthened his faith, is,
it may be believed, solemnly and deeply precious to
me. But the accompanying stricture, which he has ex
pressed, upon the ' uncouthness' ofthe style, (althougli
I freely acknowledge that stricture to be a very just
one,) has reduced me to the necessity of saying some
thing to obviate any unfavorable impression, which
might otherwise arise, with regard not only to the style,
but also to the philosophical language of my later writings ;

" My best acknowledgments are claimed by your remembrance
of me ; and I lose no time in availing myself of your kind sugges
tion. I had meditated and mentioned to Mr. Dawe my intention
of presenting a copy of the Essay on Immortality to Dr. Parr, but
was in fact afraid of exposing my emptiness. Your Note has en
couraged me, and I now send the only bound copy in my posses
sion, which I beg to present to Dr. Parr in testimony of my respect,
as well as of my sense of the distinguished commendation he was
pleased to bestow on my former publication. With regard to the
Tpresent Essay, the subject itself is doubtless ofthe first magnitude;
and notwithstanding the poverty and lameness, with which my
scanty means enable me to treat it, I consider the philosophic
ground therein broached as claiming a deeply preponderating in
terest with all those, who have hitherto built their hopes, or their
fears, upon the evils of human life ; and these, you know, form the
general bulk of mankind, as well high as low. I therefore do hope,
on every account, it may find the sanction of the world. One
point I have already attained ; for ordinary readers oppress me
with approbation: but yet 'all this availeth me nothing,' unless
sanctioned by the higher Powers; and you will judge how much I am
pleased to learn that Dr. Parr approves it. I shall still wait, how
ever, with fear and trembling, tiU I may be favored with your
final report."
" Such is the humble and diffident manner, in which Mr. Fearn
speaks of his own abilities, and such is the serious and earnest

560 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
which I certainly do not consider as being open to the
charge of not being adapted to the subjects : though 1
have in those later writings desired to express nothing
but plain, unornaraented strength and perspicuity of
language, together with logical precision in the use, or
suggestion, of what may be caHeA. technical phraseology,
as distinguished from what is in ordinary understood by
the word style. These two last-mentioned considerations
are things so entirely distinct, that I have deemed it re
quisite to allude to them in the conclusion oi Anti-Tooke
tone, which he justly assumes upon the importance of his subject.
Scanty might be the external means, which books afforded him ;
but his own vigorous and reflecting mind supplied him with mate
rials copious and useful. He might have been prejudiced or per
plexed by a larger acquaintance with the writings of other men ;
but he knew well how to avail himself ofthe ojiportunities, which
his own peculiar situation presented to him for contemplating the
ways of God, and the condition of man. Without the wayward
ambition of distinguishing himself by novelty or singularity, he,
by the guidance of his own mind, was led to a very original view
of many circumstances in the moral world, which in my opinion
are better understood and better illustrated by him, than by some
of our ablest advocates for a future life. He is singular, but not
visionary ; he is firm, but not dogmatical ; his reasoning is close,
his spirit is candid, and his piety, I am sure, is sincere. I gi-ant
that his style in the scientific part of his book is very uncouth ; and
yet I prefer it to the rhetorical diction of the second part. But
even in the gaudy and sometimes ranting diction, I trace moral
properties, which more than expiate the defects of the composition ;
for they shew the sincerity of the writer in his pursuit of truth,
and the ardour of his feelings, when he supposes himself to have
reached, or to have approached it. I love Mr. Fearn, and am glad
to record my gratitude to him for turning my attention to subjects,
which I had before seen dimly and confusedly, and for strength
ening my belief in a world to come. My general faith has indeed

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 561
in a passage, which I shall transcribe here. Having, in
the place altuded to acknowledged that the Analysis of
Language in question is not one of those pretensions to
never wavered ; but I am accustomed to weigh carefully and to
welcome gladly every additional argument, by which that faith may
be confirmed and invigorated." S. Parr, Oct. 13, 1814. {April
13, 1815.)
The extract from Mr. Fearn's ieWer, and Dr. Parr's observations
on the extracts, were transcribed into the Catalogue from the fly
leaf ofthe Essay on Immortality, and they are, I believe, in my
own hand-writing. The observations were also, at a subsequent
period, dictated to me in a Letter, which was intended to be sent or
shewn to Mr. Fearn himself, which circumstance accounts for the
double date given above. One could scarcely have imagined that
observations written in such a generous spirit, and with such devout
feelings, well becoming him as a man, a scholar, and a Christian, and
containing a declaration, so interesting to men of every church and
sect, that Dr. Parr, the pre-eminently intellectual and learned Dr.
Parr, had never wavered in his ' general faith,' and implying that his
late convictions, after full examination into the reasonableness and
the truth of Christianity, not less than his early prejudices in its
favour from careful and pious education, one could scarcely have
thought that these observations would have excited a sneer even
from any cold-hearted and narrow'-minded critic. " The foUowing
long and eccentric note," (says a modern Aristarchus in an article
entitled Dr. Parr's Marginal Notes, and inserted in the London-
Magazine No. 33. Sept. 1, 1827.) " on some metaphysical works of
Mr. Fearn, presented by the author to Dr. Parr, affords a tolerable
specimen of Dr. Parr's style, and some idea of his faith."
Mr. Fearn, as appears from the Bibliotheca Parriana p. 435, pre
sented his First Lines ofthe Human Mind " to the Rev. Dr. Parr,
an offering of profound respect from the author."
Extract from a Letter addressed to Mr. Fearn by a lady, dated
Oct. 6, 1813. : —
" Dear Sir, Mr.  ¦ is, as usual, very busily employed, and, as
usual, I have the honom- of being appointed to the ofiice of secre
tary. He desires me to tell you that upon visiting our friend, Dr.
2 0

562 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
genius that are thrown off, section by section, in a
finished state ; but was the result of a series of approxi
mations, which took up no less than many manuscript
editions of the whole ; I have subjoined the following ob
servation : —
' One of the causes, which have induced these repeti-
' tions of labor, is deserving of being particularly noticed
' here, on account of its importance to the subject. This
' cause was not, as might perhaps be supposed, the mere
' search after principles ; nor yet, the tracing of these to
' conclusions ; but, along with these, it was the attainment
' of PRECISION IN TERMS AND PHRASEOLOGY. To what
' extent 1 have succeeded, at last, is a question to be de-
' cided by the event. But those, who have any compe-
' tent tact in the subject, will not confound what is here
' meant, with the notion of what is understood by styk.
' And those, who might otherwise be inclined to suppose
' I have been, in any case, either loose or arbitrary, in
' phraseology, or in What may be called philosophical
Parr, he found him deeply engaged in reading a quarto-volume.
An Essay on Consciousness, ' written by a Mr. Fearn, who woidd
• one day be appreciated as he deserved.' This was the Doctor's
first salutation. I cannot ' in one short day' repeat aU, or indeed
half of the handsome expressions he made use of, in speaking of your
work ; and when a proper deduction is made for his rounded sen
tences and his animated enthusiasm, enough still remains to gratify
your warmest friend. I have copied on the other side an extract,
which was given me by his executor, and I am happy that your
work is mentioned in his Will.
(Copy) ' I do hereby authorise and direct my Executors to give
' a ring, after my death, to Mr. Fearn, the common friend of BasU
' Montagu and myself, as a mark of my respect for him as a pro-
' found philosopher, and my regard for him as an honest man. May
' God bless hun ! S. Parb, Sept. 22, 1813.' " E. H. B.^

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 563
' language, may be induced, by this explanation, to con-
' sider well as often as they pronounce me faulty in this
'particular; which, , doubtless, I suppose, I sometimes
' have been, after all.'
With regard to the passage now quoted, I would wish
it to be understood, that I consider it as applying in ge
neral to the First Lines, as well as to the Anti-Tooke.
And I have been borne out, by public criticism, in the essen
tial consideration, that the matter in question has been ex
pressed in a way to be very precisely apprehended. With
equal justice, I acknowledge, that the literary defects of
my preceding publications are such as I have no wish to
defend; and there is nothing in those writings, to which
I look back with satisfaction, except the mass of facts and
admissible inferences, which I believe them to contain.
As for the cause of the defectiveness, to which I thus ad
vert; I shall only say that it arose from accidents, which,
if it were requisite to explain, would be found to involve
nothing, that I need have any wish to withhold from pub
lic curiosity.
Having deemed it necessary to advert to the foregoing
consideration, I shall embrace this opportunity to touch
upon another, which has, for various reasons, become of
greater interest to me in proportion as the course of my
speculations has been progressive. When I relinquished
the improvement of my fortune, to devote myself to phi
losophical pursuits, I was not insensible to the sacrifice
made; while, on the other hand, I was fully aware that, if
accompanied by the manifestation of any tolerable capacity,
such a sacrifice was the indisputable price of an admission
into that class, which is constituted by the few; nor do I
deny the estimation, in which I hold this species of barter.
With this view of the course, which had been chosen, I
20 2

564 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
did not feel myself called uppn to make the additional sa
crifice of submitting to the bonds of patronage ; far less,
of laying myself out for this predicament. I am suflB-
ciently sensible that the advancement of my views has
been very materially retarded by my acting upon this
feeling, in all its various bearings upon persons and cir
cumstances ; but such was my sense of its fitness, that I
look back upon it with peculiar satisfaction.
You will naturally suppose that I made Dr. Parr an
exception to the general rule ; and, certainly, on account
of his age, his erudition, his moral worth, and the very
material additional circumstance that he spontaneously,
and wholly unexpected hy me, took what may truly be
called a paternal interest in my views, I, to a certain ex
tent, made a difference M'ith regard to him. But the
truth is that, when 1 made him the offer of inscribing to
him, jointly, the First Lines, * I freely communicated
* [[The dedication is as foUows : —
" To the Rev. Dr. Samuel Parr, and BasU Montagu, Esq.
" Much revered Sirs,
In dedicating to you the fruits of my more mature
labor, and the present time being one in which the sentiments of
every individual appear to be pregnant with some consequence, I
first desire to prostrate myself with ineffable gratitude and adoration
to Almighty God, for having bestowed upon me, together with ex
istence, three of the most precious gifts, which any sublunary being
can enjoy ; — a desire to contemplate the general laws of his Pro
vidence ; — an age and country, in which I have liberty to express
my conceptions of them ; — and means to relinquish other pursuits
in favor of this bent, without stooping to soUcitation, or dependence
upon aid, which might have prevented my choice, or biassed my
opinions. WhUe I trust the avowal of this feeling wiU not be
unacceptable to you, inasmuch as it is a test ofthe spirit, in which
the present offering is made, I begto assure you, it has never tended
to diminish my sensibility to friendly manifestations of any sort.

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 565
to him my sentiments on this point ; and the terms, in
which that work is inscribed, will bear testimony to my
independence : although I once complimented Dr. Parr,
(and this very deservedly,) with the name of Patron;
which he, probably from knowing my sentiments, de
clined to arrogate to himself.
The acknowledgments, which I have at any time of
fered to Dr. Parr, cannot exist under a doubt with regard
to the feelings, which have dictated them. And, upon
the same principle I shall always appreciate the moral
and far less could it operate to make me overlook what I conceive
to be a debt, both of a private and a public nature. If the foUowing
volume should be found to contain any new truths, worthy the
phUosophical consideration either of our contemporaries, or of those,
who shall come after us, I desire it may bear testimony that to you
I stand particularly indebted for a warm and uniform interest dis
played for the success of these inquiries. To one of you I am obUged
for that spontaneous and unequivocal approbation of my earlier
endeavours, which, when I reflected upon the pre-eminence of
erudition whence it came, was sufficient to encourage my perseve-
^¦ance against a very rare combination of forbidding circumstances.
• To the commendation, received from such a quarter, my best ac
knowledgments are certainly due. Tothe other the circumstance
of locality has admitted of my being additionally indebted for the
edification and pleasure received in his converse, and for a course
of obliging civUities, during a series of years ; which have proved
at once a stimulus to my endeavours, and a solace underthe languor
induced by them. Among the few external circumstances, that
could have made me proud, is the reflection that to thesepursuits,
and to no other origin, I owe the honor of your friendship. And
I shall consider it among the most gratifying events of my life, if
I continue, during the remainder of it, to possess any share of your
regard. I am, gentlemen, with much veneration, your faithful
servant, John Fbabn." E. H. B.3

566 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
actions of all, who have, like Dr. Parr and yourself, ma
nifested a disposition congenial with my views.
1 remain, my dear Sir,
Very truly yours,
John Fearn."
" To E. H. Banker, Esq."
" My DEAR Sir,
As, upon one hand, I could do no other,
(when called upon by the favor of your Letter,) than
contribute something toward the biography of our deceased
venerated and excellent friend, Dr. Parr, as proposed to
be written by you, (especially as the few documents,
which I have in contemplation to furnish, are evidences
of the amount of gratitude, which I owe to him, for a
warm and generous encouragement, bestowed unsought
upon my earliest and subsequent labors ;) so, upon the
other, I am bound by what is due to a philosophical sub
ject at issue, and in some degree to myself, to think that
the Letters, to which I now allude, should not go forth
to the public without being accompanied by some obser
vations upon their coiitents. I am, therefore, induced
to hazard the following ; which I submit to your pleasure
and discretion. In so doing, it is requisite 1 should beg,
in the first place, to apprize you, that, owing to the in
capability, which I have continued to labor under, (since
the publication of a recent work,) of entering, to any
considerable extent, into intellectual exertion, it will be
impossible for me, on this occasion, to do justice to the
philosophical subject in question ; or, indeed, to enter at
any length into its merits.
There can be but one opinion, that the general literary
advice conveyed in the Letters of Dr. Parr, to which

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, L.LD. 567
these observations refer, was as wise and salutary, as it
was kind and parental. It was also most fit and season
able, as coming from a friend so much older than myself.
Nevertheless, on account of what is at stake, it is neces
sary to remark, that our respected friend was not at all
aware of the rigor, with which it has been my general
habit to revise, very repeatedly, the process and restJts of
my speculations on the subject in research.
To come at once, however, to the most important, by
far, of the metaphysical problems in question, I have now
to solicit your attention to the following passage in one
of Dr. Parr's Letters ; in which, speaking with allusion
to a matter advanced and insisted upon in my First Lines
ofthe Human Mind, he says : — ' And though my judg- i
* ment does not go along with you, yet my affections sym-
' pathise with you, and my imagination, at least is strongly
* acted upon by your representation of the Deity as visi-
' ble in his works.' Previously to this, in the same T^et-
ter, he seems to think that I had rested something upon
Sir William Jones ; who, he remarks, was not profound as
a metaphysician ; and whom, in this instance, he supposes
to have been misled by the 'mystical philosophy of the east.'
Ihavequoted these passagesfor the purpose of remarking
upon their merits ; as I might, else, have reason to fear,
that the general readers of your work on Dr. Parr's biogra
phy, who might not otherwise be disposed to inquire into
the subject itself, might imbibe a persuasion, that my
humble labors, in this department, have been as loose and
illusory, as the bulk of learned men in Europe unhappily
suppose all those of the East to have been ; and their re
sults not more solid or satisfactory, than the passing opi
nion of a refined scholar, in an elegant contemplation of
Asiatic remains.

568 P.VRRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
With regard to the opinion of Dr. Parr himself; al
though he was the warm advocate of my general cast of
speculation, and although 1 very gratefully subscribe my
acknowledgments that, if I have done anything worthy of
consideration, my resolve to persevere in such a course
has been, in great part, owing to the encouragement of
his approbation, when my exertions were interdicted by
unexampled difSculties and neglect; it has, at the same
time, been unfortunate that, before I had the happiness
to be known, or to submit my views, to him, he had at
tained that stage of life, when, (it is well known,) the
Ivuman mind, becomes extremely inductile to the pressure of
any new evidence upon metaphysical topics of tlie nature
now under consideration. Accordingly, I feel a convic
tion, arising from long application to the subject, that,
after our erudite friend had once admitted, (as by his
Letters you perceive he has done, although this only gra
dually and with a tardiness behind public criticism and all
the private opinions, which I have received on the subj ect, )
the jormises, namely — that perceived extension and
FIGURE, WHEN PERCEIVED, ARE demonstrated to be
states OR affections of THE PERCEIVING MIND ITSELF,
and when not perceived, are nowhere, that is have no
EXISTENCE WHATEVER, it could not have been his unbi
assed judgment, but only his judgment under the controul
of his formed, fixed, and long-indurated imagination,
that could have warped him to reject the certain legiti
mate consequence that we have no evidence for the as
sumption, or supposition, of any such thing as dead
matter in the world ; but that, on the contrary, we are
furnished, by these premises, with a most pure philo
sophical inference, that aU our external perceptions are
caused by the energies of so.me extended being.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 569
exerted from various distances in space ; which being,
must, IN kind, be of one nature with our own sentient
principle. It is to be lamented, indeed, that the hopes and the
patience of the learned, in the western world, had been
completely exhausted by the successive failures and dis
appointments of theorists, from the Grecian philoso
phers downwards, before the requisite steps were attained,
which terminate in this momentous conclusion ; insomuch,
that the grand difficulty, now, is to revive curiosity on
the subject. In this state of public opinion, however, it
is to be recorded, to the honor of Dr. Parr, that he did
not despair; neither did he look with a cold apathy
upon the matter. On the contrary, it was with
reference especially to the result of my speculations in
this direction, that he has left on record ' his most
poignant sorrow" that he could not induce Professor
Stewart to avow his ' dissent, or his consent' to the
principles, which I had advanced. And here it forms a
striking example of the uprightness and magnanimity of
character displayed by our departed friend, that, notwith
standing his avowed and high admiration of Mr. Stewart,
superadded to personal friendship, as expressed in his
Letters to myself, he has not refrained from recording
that judgment, which he has pronounced between us.
The judgment of Dr. Parr, however, it appears, is
qualified by the opinion implied in one of his Letters, that
my ' last publication,' (meaning the First Lines,) had
furnished Mr. Stewart with some reason to be ' hos
tile, or shy.' And, therefore, it is incumbent upon me,
on this occasion, to point out a very remarkable, and
to me very important, oversight in our venerable friend's
view of the matter at issue. In what he has expressed of

570 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
his representations to Professor Stewart concerning my
views, and of his sorrow that Mr. Stewart would not re
cognize them, Dr. Parr had no thought of any farther
harm being done to me, than the harm upon general
ground. He had, by some unaccountable accident, en
tirely overlooked the painful and intolerable situation, in
which Mr. Stewart had placed me, with regard to my
right of priority; which Mr. Stewart had pertinaciously,
and to the last, refused to acknowledge in any public
manner. The undubitable effect of Mr, Stewart's pro
ceeding was, not only to take possession of my originality
in the subject, but, also, to make every reader of my
writings set me down for a mean plagiarist, as well as a
person, whose powers and application were alike unwor
thy of the least degree of philosophical consideration.
And, although I have not appealed with the imputation
that Mr. Stewart was actuated by any unworthy motive ;
yet, I have no hesitation to declare, that, by the accident
of his mentioning as much ofthe subject as appears in his
Dissertation, and no more, the subject itself was as fatally
placed in an insignificant light, shorn of all its real im
portance, and my philosophical claims, together with my
moral character with regard to it, as much lowered to a
state of revolting debasement, as could have happened, if
the proceeding had been the planned result of the most
consummate wisdom. Had Mr. Stewart, in his Disserta
tion, but hinted a single syllable, that he had actually in
his house, when he was writing it, the publication of a
recent author, professing to be a suggestion of certain Laws
of Primary Vision, on the very ground of a variety of
colors, into (one part of wliich publication Mr. Stew
art has since confessed he ' had dipped,') he would, by
that single syllable of recognition, have performed an

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 571
important and a bounden duty to the philosophical com-
mnnity, as well as to me ; and have thereby prevented all
the evils, to which his subsequent refusal to acknowledge
my priority have given rise. But Mr. Stewart has since
declared that, he only ' dipped,' and this, too, into the
frst and incipient oi these advances in the science of per
ception, amc?, that he has never looked into a single page of
the others. Let the concurrent suffrages of public critics,
which have been given with regard to these Laws of Vi
sion, be taken as evidences, how far Mr. Stewart stands
justified to the world, which he was professing to teach,
any more than to me, for his contemptuous resolve not to
look into the papers in question.
If, then, the upright mind of Dr. Parr had adverted to
such a proceeding as this, he would never have thought it
much in me to feel sore that Mr. Stewart has never since,
in the least degree, listened to any appeal, that he should
set me right with the public, and wipe away the reproach
of my being a plagiarist and an insignificant dabbler in
a subject ineiBably beyond my real pretensions, — a
soreness, which our venerable friend thinks 1 have evinced
in my various strictures on Mr. Stewart's writings ; but
which, however, I must serenely declare, I never have.
I have certainly felt a deep sense of the situation, in which
Mr. Stewart has placed me. But the high respect, with
which it had been my previous habit to think of him, has
totally prevented that sort of feeling, which can deserve
the name of soreness, or which, in the least degree, leads
us to lessen the merits, or the fortunes, of another. In the
matter at issue, indeed, I was struck by Mr. Stewart's
insisting upon considering me as feeling offended. This
proceeding of his roused my reflection to the fact, that, it
would manifestly serve to call off attention from the real

•572 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
merits of the case, if Mr. Stewart could fix upon me the
charge of taking offence, whatever might be the extent
of harm suffered. I therefore met that figment, in the
very beginning; and am convinced that the contrary will
be evident throughout the whole case.
After this explanation, I hardly need say that, in any
future edition, I should think it so far derogatory to my
character, to 'soften' any strictures, which I have advanced
upon Mr. Stewart's writings, that, I solemnly declare, I
have in those strictures expressed myself with much less
severity, than I think his method of philosophising, as
well as his philosophical principles, have deserved. This
assertion, moreover, is confirmed by the strictures, which
I have hazarded, in my several publications, upon the
writings of Dr. Reid and of Mr. Home Tooke ; against
neither of whom I can be supposed to have any personal
feeling. And it is farther confirmed by various hand
some expressions with regard to Mr. Stewart, embodied
with the strictures in question. It is indeed no small in
ducement to me to give up to you, and to the public, the
Letters of Dr. Parr, that they contain matter in praise of
Mr, Stewart, at the same time that they support my
claims. In fine; it will now be seen, from the statements
quoted by me from Professor Stewart's writings and
shewing the impossibility of disputing the point at issue,
that I could, if 1 had been so disposed, have brought the
matter forward with much stronger features than I actu
ally did in any of tlie successive applications, private and
public, which I made to Mr- Stewart, And it will be
impossible for his warmest admirers to deny, (what pub
lic criticism indeed has expressly and fully admitted,)
. that, throughout the business, 1 have evinced every con
sideration for him.

THE REV. .SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 573
Considering the sphere of estimation, which Professor
Stewart had gained, it was certainly very handsome to
ward me, and very noble in Dr. Parr, to express what
he has done. And it is very obvious why he might, from
friendly motives to both parties, wish to repress any ten
dency in me to feel sore in the matter ; and even think I
did feel thus, when he was perusing any of my criticisms
upon Mr. Stewart's method of philosophising. But it
would be great injustice^ to the case at issue to suppose
that Dr. Parr's view of it embraces anything like all its
merits. For, most certainly, he never embraced the serious
matter at issue, involving both my right and my proKty :
(and why should not probity be as dear to me as to Mr.
Stewart?) and what is more, he never had the whole cir
cumstances ofthe case to refer to, such as will be laid be
fore the public on the present occasion. He was not at
all aware that Professor Stewart had, in his last IjCtter to
me, shut the door against all farther private correspon
dence, and had thus driven me before the public with my
^peal; and that h« had done this with the degrading in
timation that he did not deem it worthy to read any one
of my publications. After such a proceeding as this, for
the proof of which I shall furnish a copy of Mr. Stewart's
Letter, it is to be regretted that, from the hurry of other
avocations, our excellent friend should have fallen into the
supposition that, it was my publication, that gave rise to
hostility. And now, soliciting here only a reserve of their judg
ment, from all candid readers of this Letter, until they
shall have examined the several documents, which are
intended to follow, I desire to give forth my very marked
and earnest acknowledgments of the generous conduct of
Dr. Parr towards the writer ; and wish that a record of

574 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
his great moral rectitude may be found in anything of
mine, which may deserve to live. Along with this, also,
I must entreat, my dear Sir, that you will accept my
distinct record of your having, (no doubt with a special
dfesire of deposing to the exalted character of Dr. Parr,)
but also, I am convinced, with a similar disposition with
his for the advancement both of general truth and indivi
dual justice, manifested a most liberal and disinterested
course of action in the matter, which claims my very
particular thanks and respect.
One observation only remains to be offered here,
which, I think must carry weight with every reader ; and
it consists in the following questions — Can it be doubted
that the 16,000 impressions of my two Letters to Mr.
Stewart, in the Newspaper, contain matter, which it
must be deeply desired by Mr. Stewart's friends should be
answered? And can it, therefore, be doubted that Mr,
Stewart, or his friends, would have denied my asser
tions in these Letters, if they had found it possible to
show that they are open to exception in any respect? My
own judgment ofthe subject must be manifest in the fact,
that I most earnestly, and by every means, have sought its
publicity. Mr. Stewart, on the contrary, has, so far as
in him lay, avoided bringing the attention of the public
at all to the subject. Let the following documents decide,
what have been our respective motives for this opposite
conduct. 1 now subscribe myself, my dear Sir, with a full sense
of your friendly feeling in the subject, in which you cer
tainly have no interest but what must be very honorable
to your nature. Very sincerely yours,
John Fearn."

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D 575
" P. S, The state of my health must apologise for the
state of this Letter. ,
« To E. H. Barker, Esq."

Four Letters fro7n Dr. Parr to Mr. Fearn.
" Hatton, May 16, 1818.
" Dear Mr. Fearn,
I have long anticipated the increase of your
renown as an original thinker, whose understanding was
peculiarly adapted to metaphysical investigations. My
predictions about you have been progressively verified,
and I trust that my friend. Professor Stewart, to whom
I have mentioned you more than once with great appro
bation, will with his usual ingenuousness avow his dissent
or his consent upon the strictures you have passed upon
himself and Dr. Reid. The day before yesterday came
to me your work on the Objects of General Terms, etc.
I have read it with great attention. I am nearly a con
vert to you upon your most acute and happy solution of
figure, and I admire your extension ofthe principle shortly
stated by Proclus. And here, Mr. Fearn, let me tell you
that by perseverance you cannot fail to acquire very con
spicuous and permanent fame as a philosopher. You and
I have met only in the tumults of company. But with
such a man as you I should like to spend three or four or
five mornings in examining any work, which you are pre
paring for the press. I know not who wrote in the Monthly
Review ; but he often advances my own opinions. For
many years I have been a nominalist, and you will not be
sorry to hear that Dr. Copleston of Oxford is of our sect.

576 PARRIANA. OR NOTICES OF
Now I agree with your Reviewer that you have been
most happy about duration as measurable. But you have
not yet said enough to elucidate the analogy to extension.
I do not see the necessity, for which Stewart contends,
that, if the idea of duration were got merely by the suc
cession of ideas, that succession must appear to ourselves
equally quick at all times. How does this equality follow ?
Might not one idea remain perceptibly longer in the
mind than the other, which succeeds it, just as the per
ception of any visible object may be longer than the per
ception of another object? I grant that our ideas mea
sure duration, and I hold with you that duration does re
semble sensations, of which we are conscious. But my
puzzle is about the equality of duration in each succes
sion. Can you explain this for me ? I am with you in
your distinction between perceived 'figure and external
figure. But I find myself cramped in a Letter. Now,
dear Sir, I desire you to send me two of your publica
tions, the book on Immortality, and the second improved
edition of the Principles of Primary Vision. We shall
hold together on your just and interesting statement that
the benevolence of the Creator is proved by the happi
ness of brutes. But you seem to me to have underva
lued the happiness of man, and upon this point I refer
you to Abraham Tucker's Light of Nature,* Go on,
*[[Dr. Parr's opinion may be weU Ulustrated by the foUowing
interesting and beautiful extract from the admirable work of Dr.
Southwood Smith on the Divine Government, Edn. 4, Lond. 1826.
p. 82: —
" The second fact, upon which the benevolence of the Deity is
founded, is that there is more happiness than misery through the
whole of the animal creation. Were it not so, we should see aU
animals tired of life, and eager to throw off the burthen of existence.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 577
go on in the increase of your mighty power upon the
most abstruse, and some of them the most interesting
questions, which can employ the human mind. 1 have
But the reverse is the fact. What exertions do they not all make to
prolong their being ! How are all their faculties continuaUy upon
the stretch to preserve themselves from danger ! How various, how
wonderful are their resources ! How tenaciously do they cling to
existence even to its latest moment !
" What a scene of enj oyment does the tribe of insects, of fishes, of
all the inferior animals, exhibit from the beginning to the end of
life ! Those whose conformation fits them for motion,how delighted
are they to run, to fly, to leap, to swim ; how incessantly are they
gUding from place to place, without any apparent object, deriving
gratification from the mere exercise of their limbs ! Those which
delight in rest, how happy are they in the loneliness of the shade ;
in basking in the sun, or grazing in the field ! In a summer-evening
how exhilarating is it to the spirits, to leave for a while ' the busy
hum of men,' and wander beneath the clear blue sky, and amidst
Nature's own works ! What millions of happy creatures every
where surround us ! Above, around, beneath, every thing is in
motion, and every thing is happy. The air, the earth, the water,
every tree, and every shrub, and every little blade of grass, teems
with delighted existence. Scarcely can we fix the eye upon a single
spot, in which there is not life and happiness ! Which of the mil-
Uons of creatures, that press upon our sight, is in pain ? Which of
them does not by every movement declare, that, to the full measure
of its capacity, it is happy ?
" This felicity seems to belong to, and to characterize animal life,
during the period of its existence. It is exempt from almost all
the sources of infelicity, which impair the happiness of man, and
fiU him with gloom and sorrow. It is not subject to much disease,
and that, which accident or natural decay does induce, is of short
continuance. It spends the measure of its days in sportiveness and
pleasure, and when its last moment comes, it arrives without giving
any previous indication of its approach, and all consciousness ceases
suddenly, and with little pain.
" Now when we consider the extent and the fulness of creation ;
2P

578 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
to add that the moral character of your mind always ap
pears to advantage. I should break a lance with you on
your exclusive compliment to the Hindoos ; for many
when we remember that it is scarcely possible, as has just been
observed, to fix the eye upon the minutest spot, where there is not
life ; when, under this impression, we endeavor to calculate how
many creatures there sometimes are upon one single leaf, upon aU
the leaves on one tree ; how many, therefore, in one field, how
many in all the fields, which the eye can take in at a single glance,
how many in aU the fields in one country ; when we remember that
each of these creatures is in a state of positive happiness, and then
endeavor to calculate the coUective sum of enjoyment in one coun
try — can we help exclaiming, what an effort of benevolence was
creation ! Can we doubt the goodness of its author ?
" Even among men there is in reality much less misery than is
commonly imagined. Many persons can recount every period of
their life, in which they were unhappy : others can scarcely mention
a single misfortune, which ever befel them ; and those, on whom
the afflictive dispensations of heaven have faUen more heavUy, how
distinctly are these days of visitation marked in their memory !
But can they recount with equal facility their days of happiness ?
Can they number up, not their moments or their hours, but even
their weeks and their months of enjoyment ? They have forgotten
the periods of their happiness : they remember those only, in which
they were miserable. The reason is obvious. The one is a com
mon occurrence, the usual and ordinary state of things ; the other
is a singular event ; it happened only at distant intervals, was quite
out ofthe general course, and therefore the mind distinctly marked,
and the memory retains it. We notice an eclipse, we talk of it, but
we do not so much observe the daUy splendor ofthe sun. We may
enjoy its light and heat many months without thinking of it, and
the reason is the same in both cases. We observe what is unusual,
but that which is famUiar makes no remarkable impression. This
consideration alone is sufficient to convince us, that we enjoy infi
nitely more than we suffer.
" But we are able to go much further, and to affirm, that even in
those periods, few as they are, in which we were unhappy, and

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 579
modern European philosophers hold the same principle.
With your aid we shall make advances on the great ques
tion, whether matter can be so modified as to constitute
mind, and by your guidance I h^ve already been relieved
from some perplexities about Berkeley's system. Pray
which we have been accustomed to consider as distinguished by
misery alone, we really suffered very little compared with what we
have been in the habit of believing. We are seized, let us suppose,
with an acute disease. It attacks some vital organ, induces extreme
debUity, and threatens the speedy extinction of life. All this time
the bodUy suffering inflicted is often slight. The most violent dis
eases, that is, those, which most surely and suddenly destroy life,
are by no means painful : indeed those, which occasion great pain,
are remarkably few ; and those, which produce both severe and
constant pain, are still more rare. Yet from the general mode of
expression, and perhaps from the prevaUing impression of the mind,
it would seem as if much suffering were experienced from the com
mencement tiU the complete termination of a disease ; but this is
certainly not the case. In many diseases of a most afflicting nature,
hour after hour passes away without any thing being felt, which can
justly be termed pain : paroxysms of suffering sometimes occur,
but it is seldom that they last long : rest and ease speedUy succeed ;
and indeed exacerbation implies remission. Nor ought it to be
forgotten, that these intervals are often amongst the sweetest and
most valued moments of existence, the preceding pain giving a
keen and exquisite relish for enjoyment ; whUe the thoughts, with
which the mind amuses itself in sickness, the hope of recovery, and
the attentions of kind and tender friends, greatly lessen and coun
terbalance the actual sum of misery endured. Indeed, disease,
taking the most extensive view of it, seems destructive to the life,
rather than to the enjoyment, of the sentient being ; and in fact,
the first is the final cause of disease, the second is only an acci
dental consequence.
" These observations may be applied with equal justice to the
afflictions of the mind. Whatever be the nature or magnitude of
the calamitv, with which it is visited, it is never constantly, nor
2 P 2

580 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
remember me to Basil and Mrs. Montagu. I have the
honour to be with regard, respect, and admiration.
Your well-wisher and obedient Servant,
S. Parr."
even for a long period together, under its influence. Whoever
wiU consider the conduct of his mind under the severest misfortune,
wiU soon be convinced of this fact- He wiU perceive, that a thou
sand objects came in to attract his attention from the subject of
his sorrow, of which he was unconscious at the time, and to which
he yielded without knowing it ; that the mind has numberless
sources of pleasure, to which in its most gloomy hour it soon spon
taneously betakes itself, and that it is impossible to chain it down
to perpetual afflictive thought. If he wiU carefuUy compare the
number of minutes, in which he is sure that his attention was fixed
on the subject of his misfortune, with those, in which he is satisfied
that it was occupied with other objects, he will be so far from be
lieving he contemplated it incessantly, that he will wonder he
thought of it so little. At particular periods, indeed, he dwelt
upon and felt all his wretchedness : these periods, perhaps, are
distinctly marked in his memoi-y, but he has forgotten the hours
of abstraction from his sorrow, which intervened, and for the same
reason that he has forgotten so many of his peaceful days. Now
the bestowment of this constitution of mind is of the very essence
of benevolence. Language cannot express the kindness there is
in it, nor are we at all able to estimate the relief we owe to it from
the afflictions, which befal us.
" Thus, then, it appears, that pleasure not only preponderates over
pain, but that this is often the case even in the most unhappy pe
riods of existence. And in the ordinary circumstances of life, how
great is that pleasure, how various, how exquisite, how far sur
passing our ability to estimate ! Contemplate a person placed in
the ordinary circumstances of life ; suppose him addicted to no
particular vice, nor practising any exemplary virtue ; neither highly
favored with the gifts of understanding nor of fortune ; of what
pleasure is he capable, and what pleasure does he actually enjoy !

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 581
" August 9, 1820.
" Dear and excellent Mr. Fearn,
I received your Letter. I feel the importance
of its contents. I cannot in the bustle of this Town form
such an opinion as I ought to do upon such interesting
subjects. 1 shall take your papers with me into the
country. You know the deep and sincere concern, which
I feel for your fame. Next Tuesday-morning I will give
you one hour, and I beg of you to call upon me at 6
Cumberland- Place, New Road, precisely at half-past
nine in the morning. You have not in the world a greater
admirer, or more faithful friend, than yours,
S. Parr."
What gratification does he every hour receive from his different
senses ; from the exercise of his inteUectual faculties ; from his
social affections ; from the relations, which connect him with his
feUow-beings, those relations so dear and sacred, which constitute
him a father, a husband, a brother, a friend !
" But suppose him not only addicted to no vice, but highly virtu
ous, to feel a deep sense of his obligations to the Supreme Being,
to love him, to take a sincere pleasure in learning and obeying his
laws, and in preparing to meet him in those blissful regions, where
he will enjoy such superior displays of his perfections and glory ;
suppose him to consider aU his fellow-creatures as brethren, to
feel for them a real and fraternal affection, and to delight in doing
them all the good offices in his power ; in a word, suppose him to
be a sincere disciple of Jesus Christ, what exquisite felicity does
such a being enjoy ! How sublime in its nature ! How immortal
in its duration ! How nearly does it assimilate him to the Supreme
Being himself ! Who can believe that such faculties and such
happiness can be bounded by the current of time, or swept away
amidst the low and frivolous objects, which it is bearing to eternal
oblivion ; that they are imparted only to give dignity to the triumph
of death, and importance to the spoU of the grave, and that the
very benignity of their author is questionable ?" E. H. B.]]

582 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
" You will do me real honour and great service by de
dicating to me your work." * " October W, 1820.
" Dear and excellent Mr. Fearn,
Last night 1 returned from Birmingham,
Your interesting and friendly Letter was sent to me in
the morning thither, I hasten to answer it. Pray send
me the three books, which you mention, two in boards,
one bound : send them by Stone's Flying Waggon, and
direct them to be delivered with expedition, 1 rejoice
to hear that you have given us your judgment on gram
mar as connected with philosophy.f I shall soon write
* " This Letter was in reply to one from me, in which I asked
my venerable friend, if it would be agreeable to him that I should
inscribe to him, (jointly with another friend,) my 'First Lines.'
I was phased at the characteristic warmth, with which it ap
pears he has written over again that he should be 'much' gratified."
J. Fearn.
t " It is material I should explain that the allusion here to my
judgment on grammar does not refer to Anti-Toolce, since published;
but refers to the Chapter on the Philology of the Verb, inserted in
tlie First Lines ofthe Human Mind; which Chapter was indeed
the precursor of my work on the stmcture of language. Unfortu
nately, Dr. Parr did not live to peruse, although he lived to receive,
a copy of Anti- Tooke. His final sentence upon the perusal of that
work would have been most estimable, if it had not come too \a.ie.
It is to be observed that Dr. Parr had not yet seen even the Chap
ter on the Verb in the First Lines, when he wrote this Letter : he
only alludes to my having informed him that I had treated on the
verb ; he says, ' I rejoice to hear.' It is necessary for me to point
this out, for the purpose of shewing that the march of my labor has
been exposed to very tantalising circumstances, over and above aU
drawbacks. The truth is that in the expression ' your judgment on
grammar,' 1 think our excellent friend evinces no very high expee-

THE Rev. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 583
again. God bless you ! With a deep and respectful
sense of your talents and virtues, I sincerely subscribe
myself your friend,
S. Parr."
" Hatton, Jan. 10, 1822.
" Dear and excellent Mr. Fearn,
My parsonage has been crowded with
Christmas-festivities, and the whole of my time has been
employed upon some important concerns of other persons,
upon some elaborate compositions, and upon two or three
literary subjects, which required the utmost attention.
I was delighted with your friendly, artless, and virtuous
Letter ; and I shall now answer it fully. Somehow or
other the Review, which you consigned to the care of my
sagacious and inestimable friend, Wm. Lowndes, has not
tation of what I should do on grammatical ground. And as, upon
one hand, I feel assured that Professor Stewart, when he read
the Essay on Consciousness, did not think I should persevere to
the production oi the First Lines; so, on the other, I think Dr. Parr,
with aU his approbation of my views on Pneumatology, would
as soon have anticipated the millenium, as my writing such a work
on language as Anti- Tooke. I am far from intending to arrogate
any positive value to those latter labors, when I point to the cer
tain fact, that in them I had far outworked the expectations, which
the former had given rise to ; which I mention here as being a
real and great disadvantage to an author, until he has actually
changed the estimation, which was previously made of his capability.
As an example of this, I feel convinced that, if Professor Stewart
had anticipated the natureof thei^'ir^iZ/mw, he never would have
forced upon me the necessity of the foUowing discussion. I bear
testimony, with aU due mortification, that the Essay on Conscious
ness was a pi'oduct of Anglican barbarism, with almost no phUoso
phical reading, and quite no grammar at aU." J- Fear.v.

584 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
reached me. I shall write to him to-day, 1 did not
know the existence of a New Edinburgh Review ; but I
shall enquire about it. My friend, I have felt most poi
gnant sorrow at the reluctance of Dugaid Stewart to treat
your publications, as in my opinion they deserve to be
treated. You, certainly, have that property of cool and
patient thinking, which adorned Mr. Locke and Sir Isaac
Newton, and upon which Dugaid has bestowed very
marked and verjr just commendation. If I lived nearer
to you, I might be of some use to you in conversing with
you upon some abstruse topics, which for many years
have engaged your attention, and I should endeavour to
render you a yet greater service by struggling with some
scruples and fears. Pursue your speculations — throw
your thoughts as they successively arise, upon paper —
reconsider, three or four times, all that you have publish
ed, and all that you have written. This process will be
very useful, and, in the long run, very agreeable to you.
You know that you have progressively found your way
to, your old opinions ; and it must be pleasant for you to
retrace your steps. Again, I say, persevere. Doubt
less, you have to contend with some peculiar disadvan
tages — you belong to no philosophical sect — you have
opposed some of the most celebrated metaphysicians —
you want the advantage, such as it is, of a pre-established
reputation, and a widely-spread name. But what then ?
Truth yet lies before you, and the sense of peculiar dif
ficulties should animate your exertions. Sir William
Jones, with his splendid talents, and with acquirements
altogether unparallelled, was almost a stranger to meta
physical researches ; and he may now and then be misled
by his fondness for the mystical philosophy, as well as
the literature of the east. But you were certainly right

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 585
in pointing out the similitude between your own notions
and oriental theism. There are later systems of philoso
phy, which seem to resemble those notions, and some of
them approach too nearly to the system of Spinoza. No
man, however, will impute to you the smallest leaning to
atheism ; and, though my judgment does not go with you,
yet my affections sympathise with you, and my imagina
tion at least is strongly acted upon by your representa
tion of the Deity, as visible in his works. You write,
not for sustenance, but for honourable reputation ; and
convinced I am, no man of good sense ever looked into
your writings without seeing and respecting your great
perspicacity and acuteness. Upon metaphysical subjects,
such as those you discuss, there ever has been, and ever
will be difference of opinion. Before your last publication
there was not the shadow of a reason for Dugaid Stewart
to be hostile or even shy. The field was open to both of
you ; but you must excuse me for confessing that in your
last book you shew too many marks of soreness, when
Dugaid Stewart was present to your mind. Pray, ex
amine the passages and soften them ; and if Stewart deals
out a scanty measure of justice to you, leave him thus
far to the disapprobation of wise and good men. At the
same time, dear Sir, I do not desire you in matters great,
or matters small, to dissemble your own dissent. Most
assuredly in England, as in Germany, philosophers, like
theologians, are divided into sects, 1 have not entered
my name on the list of any, and therefore I am quick-
sighted to the influence of the sectarian spirit. My re
verence, 1 own, and my admiration are tributes, which 1
pay more largely to Dugaid Stewart and Sir James Mac
kintosh than to any of my contemporaries ; and with oc
casional difference of opinion from Dugaid Stewart upon

586 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
the merits of David Hartley and Abraham Tucker, and
two or three other authors, I rank Dugaid's last Disser
tation among the noblest efforts of the human mind. I
cannot name the book, by which I was so much instruct
ed, or so much interested. Still I am not satisfied with
his treatment of you, and I also am not quite pleased with
your tartness towards him.
I never was fond of writing for Reviews, and some
years ago I determined to write no more. If this deter
mination did not stand in my way, I should be your critic
in the Monthly Review, which I am told has a less rapid
sale than formerly, but which has lost no portion of its
former excellencies. You have too much good sense to
dispute with Reviewers ; and, to say the truth, I should
be sorry to see you engaged in direct controversy with
Dugaid Stewart, or any other celebrated writer. My
own reading is, perhaps, extensive and diversified; but
in the long run, I have often seen, and often lamented
the growth of a disputatious spirit in both parties. The
disputants imperceptibly grow fonder of victory than of
truth. They magnify the importance of their own opi
nions, because their passions have been roused in the de
fence of them ; they grow more and more dim to the rea
sonings of their opponents ; and they are misled by false
lights upon their own proofs. Well, then, avoid, if you
can, the rocks and shoals of controversy, but do notsculk
into port. Launch out courageously, but warily — let
down your line, and mark the soundings.* In other
words — think on, write on, but do not be in haste to pub
lish. Throw away none of your materials : to-morrow
* I^As Dr. Parr was addressing a gentleman, who had begun
life in the royal navy, these metaphorical aUusions to the sea-
service were very appropriate. E. H. B.^

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 587
you may find more use in them, and more connexion be
tween them than you see to-day. Continue your contri
butions to the general stock of knowledge. You have
been particularly successful in your little black line, I
have long been a sceptic upon what is called magnitude,
and I think that Hutton is right in his account of volume.
As to colour, Iflgure,'] * I hold with you that we get our
notion of it by contrast with different colours, I must
not forget to say that in the course of your reflections,
you have had opportunities to overcome the inconvenien
cies, to which you were once exposed from your very li
mited reading. A man so qualified as you are for reflec
tion upon his own thoughts, must find his own knowledge,
not only encreased, but purified by the writings of other
men. Do not, dear Sir, honour me with the name of a
patron. I am an attentive and an impartial reader. I
think of your talents with very great respect indeed, and
perhaps of your genuine and numerous virtues with
greater. You will, therefore, believe me, when I sub
scribe myself, with most sincere esteem and regard,
Your admirer and your friend,
S. Parr."

Correspondence between Professor Stewart and Mr. Fearn.
" Exeter, December 17, 1818.
" SlE, Your Letter ofthe 28th Nov. was forwarded
to me from Edinburgh to Devonshire, where 1 have been
* " Our venerable friend must have meant figure, and not
color ; as a proof of which, we need only refer to his former Letter,
wherein he says, (under date May 1818.) ' I am nearly a convert
' to you upon your most acute and happy solution of^^ure.' Indeed,
the four laws of primary vision, (which constitute this solution,)

588 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
advised by my physicians to pass the winter with a view
to the re-establishment of my health. I have been strongly
urged at the same time to discontinue, at least for some
months, my favorite pursuits, and to give up my mind as
much as possible, to relaxation and amusement. In these
circumstances, I must decline at present entering in to any
literary discussions. As to the former Letter, which you did
me the honour to write me, I left it unread in Scotland,
among my other papers : the state of my health at that
time having led me to avoid every species of mental exer
tion. I can, however, very truly say that, if any expres
sion in my Dissertation has given you a moment's unea
siness, no offence was intended on my part, either to
yourself, or any other living author.
I have the honor to be. Sir,
Your most obedient and most humble Servant,
DuGALD Stewart."
" To J. Fearn, Esq. London."
" London, April 7, 1819.
" Sir, Having deferred writing four months, with a
view to consult your leisure, I now beg to acknowledge
the answer, which you did me the honor to write, to my
Letter of Nov. 28th last. With regard to the disavowal
wbich you have therein been pleased to express, of any
intention to have given me uneasiness by the matter, (con
cerning 'a variety qf colors',) suggested in your Disserta
tion, I beg leave to observe that I have never made any sup
position of the contrary ; nor could I think of any such
thing, while I expect from you such a public explanation,
as remains in your power to give. But I most earnestly
have been fully admitted by public critics as comprising a demon
stration." J. Fearn.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 589
beg to represent to you, that the evil accruing to me from
the fact, as it now stands, is of the very last importance to
my prospects, and of course to my happiness, not only
inasmuch as it bears upon my exertions past, but because,
unfortunately, it forms a complete bar to my hopes of fu
ture utility. For it is obvious that no person can be ex
pected to grant even a perusal to any speculation, which
I might offer, on a subject so little generally understood,
after the public has once received an impression, from so
distinguished an authority as your own, that a matter,
which 1 had already urged for notice, as being equally
original and important, was known to Professor Stewart
' more than forty years,' and known only as a barren, in
consequential fact. In a case, therefore, which bears
with such an intolerable pressure upon my endeavours, I
am sure you will consider it very natural, when I say
that every other object has become of secondary estima
tion, in my mind, to your acknowledging my priority, by
adequately adverting to the subject in some vehicle of
as extensive a circulation, as that in which it has been over
shadowed. In the second Dissertation, which it is un
derstood you intend to give to the public, and in that
alone could the evil, which has accrued to me, be any
thing like adequately counteracted : and, as there is time
for this, I now most earnestly appeal to your justice, to
secure therein to me, and to the"subject, a fair considera
tion from the public.
The anxiety, which urges me on the present occasion,
could indeed have been produced by nothing short of a
conviction, strengthened on various hands, that the pro
blem concerning perception is at length completely solved
in those Principles of Vision, which I have so repeatedly
endeavored to call to the honor of your attention.

590 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
And, unless anything can be shewn to the contrary, I am
convinced you will not deem it a matter, that ought to
labor under a moment's obscurity; nor be offended that
a stake of such magnitude should urge me to assert its
claims. I have the honor to be. Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
John Fearn."
" To Dugaid Stewart, Esq."
Extract from a prior Letter, from Mr. Fearn to Pro
fessor Stewart, dated Nov. 28, I8I8. in order to shew,
farther, that Mr. Fearn had, from the beginning, imputed
Mr. Stewart's proceeding to no other cause than mere
unintentional accident : —
In prejudice of this claim, however, it is quite manifest
that ' the very important class of persons, who read your
' Dissertation, must suppose that I have no right to this
' originality ; and, indeed, they can hardly stop short of
' an imputation on my veracity, unless the matter be
' fully explained. In this case, therefore, I confidently
' look to the high mind of Professor Stewart to place my
' humble efforts in that situation, which they, unquestion-
' ably, ought to have occupied, had he been aware of
' my several prior publications.'
Extract of a Letter from Mr. Fearn to Mr. Stewart, dated London,
Aug. 1820.
' In April, 1819, I addressed a Letter to you at Exeter,
' being the third, which I had the honor of writing to you,
' upon the same subject, at large intervals.
' Having received no answer to the Letter now alluded
' to and, I believe, five years having elapsed, during

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 591
' which length of time both my subject and myself have
' been distinctly suffering, under the assertion contained
' in your first Dissertation ; I might reasonably have con-
' eluded, you intended to terminate the appeal in this way,
' As, however, I consider it due to you to leave nothing
' in doubt, I now request to inform you, that I have printed
' another statement of my Analysis of Perception, embrac-
' ing some additional modifications of that subject, and
' some other matter, which I expect will be out in a
' fortnight. And I have to add, that it is impossible I
' should appear before the public without offering a full
' explanation of the matter above referred to,
' P. S. I solicit the favor of your answer within the
' time specified in my Letter,'
The publication alluded to, in Mr. Fearn's ie^fer above,
is the First Lines; which work came out soon afterwards.
And this Letter, which is the last autograph from Mr.
Fearn to Mr. Stewart, produced that from Mr. Stewart,
of which the following is a full transcript : —
" Kinneil- House, near Bo-ness, N. B. Aug. 31, 1820.
« Sir, lam just now honored with your Letter of Aug,
24th, and have to apologise for my long silence, after the
repeated communications, with which you have already
favored me. To a stranger to my personal habits it would
be useless to plead the aversion to Letter-writing, which
I have felt from my earliest years, and which has now
become almost invincible in consequence of the indolence
incident to old-age. To my intimate friends it is well
known, that I have some other occupations, to which I
am anxious to devote every moment of health and of lei-

592 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
sure I can command. The plans, which I long ago ven
tured to announce to the world, yet remain unexecuted;
and I have but little time in prospect for the accomplish
ment of my task.
In the present instance, however, since you will force
me to acknowledge it, I must own that I have had other
reasons for my delay. You seem to complain of some
injury, which I have done you in the First Part of my
Dissertation ; and I can, with the most perfect sincerity,
declare, that to the best of my recollection, neither you,
nor any of your writings once occurred to my thoughts,
while I was employed in the composition of that work.
You refer to something I have said about varieties of colour ;
and call on me to ' acknowledge your priority.' The only
passage I can discover, in which I have used that expres
sion, is in pp. 100. lOI, where I have mentioned as a self-
evident proposition that ' if there had been no variety in
' our sensations of colour, and still more, if we had no
' sensation of colour whatsoever, the organ of sight could
' give us no information with respect to figures or distan-
' ces; and of consequence, would be as useless to us, as
' if we had been afflicted, from the moment of our birth,
' with a gutta serena.' If this be the passage, which has
given you offence, I must take the liberty of observing,
that I have taken no credit to myself for the novelty ofthe
remark, which I have stated as a manifest truth, and which
is to be found in various books written 50 years before
I ever heard of your name. I shall only mention the first
volume of Lord Monboddo's Origin and Progress of
Language, where it is expressly said, that ' colour is the
' primary perception of the sense of seeing, and that the
' others are only consequential.' ' Figure and magnitude,'
(be adds,) ' are nothing else but colour of a certain extent,

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 593
' and terminated in a certain manner.' (V. 1. p. 26. edn.
2. Edinb. 1774.) should this really be the observation you
allude to, (and I cannot possibly think of any other,) you
have my free consent to take the credit ofthe discovery;
nor shall I ever dispute your claims to originality. I
have only to request on the other hand, that you shall not
insist on any acknowledgement on my part, that I learned
it from your publications. If from this principle, which
has so long remained barren in the hands of others, you
have been able to deduce any important consequences,
the greater is the praise due to your inventive powers,
and to your philosophical sagacity.
Before I conclude, L must beg leave to assure you,
that I am much less acquainted with your works, than you
are pleased to imagine. I have spent much more of my life
in thinking, than in reading; and this disposition grows
upon me every day, as I advance in years. I was led,
indeed, by curiosity to dip into your volume on Conscious
ness, where I saw evident marks of an acute and pene
trating, though somewhat too self-confident genius ; but
from the moment I found it stated as your serious opi
nion that ' the human mind is a flexible spherule,' I was
satisfied that your views and mine concerning the proper
object of this branch of science were so diametrically op
posite, that I resolved to employ my time in what ap-
.peared to me, (perhaps very erroneously,) more profita
ble studies. Since that period I do not recollect to have
ever read a single page of any one of your books ; not
-even excepting that, which you have done me the honour
to address to me through the medium of the press.
I have only to add, that if I have now said any thing dis
pleasing to you, you have compelled .me to do so in my
own defence. I have done all I could, to avoid a corres-
2Q

594 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
pondence, which I foresaw from the beginning, was more
likely to widen than to heal the breach, which you con^
ceived to exist between us ; and which, I assure you, has
given me no small concern, after the flattering accounts,
which I have received from some of our common friends,
of your amiable temper and character.
Were we living in the neighbourhood of each other, I
should have much pleasure in cultivating your acquaint
ance ; and I have no doubt that we should find many sub
jects for our conversation of a more agreeable nature, than
those,' which have given occasion to this Letter, and on
which I despair of our ever coming to a better understand
ing by any argumentative discussions.
I am. Sir, with sincere regard.
Your most obedient and faithful Servant,
DuGALD Stewart.
To J. Fearn, Esq.
My dear Sir,
The last Letter from Mr. Stewart, dated Aug,
1820, having closed the door against any farther private
appeal ; and it being written seriously with the advised
contemplation of my adverting to it in the publication,
which I was about to bring forth ; it only remained for me
to prefix to that publication, (namely the First Lines,) a
Letter of remonstrance to Mr. Stewart, as has been done.
That Letter is much too long for convenient insertion
here. But a great part of the substance of it is given in
the two Letters, which I have since addressed to Mr. Stew
art in the Newspapers, copies of which are here to be
submitted ; and something of it appears farther, in the ex
tracts to be given from the Reviews of my work. The
remainder of it may be consulted, in the work itself, by

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 595
those, who may deem it requisite. But, as an evidence
of the tone of appeal, even after all the treatment of my
preceding applications, 1 deem it proper to give the fol
lowing extract : —
" Now, Sir, I will only suppose that any reader, who
had been perusing one of my prior publications of the
Analysis of Perception, fin which the fact qf 'a variety
OF COLORS,'. /brajs the fundamental principle,) had taken
up your ' dissertation,' and had read the foot-note in
question, and I will then leave it to the judgment of any
impartial person, or to your own candor, if they must not
have been struck with violent doubts of my originality,
and even of my ingenuousness of character ? As, from
your last Letter, you altogether admit that there is no hint
of any such matter, as the operation of a variety of co
lors in perception, in any one of your prior writings, up
to the appearance of your Dissertatian, in the year 1815,
it must be allowed to have been a most unfortunate acci
dent for me, that you should have brought before the
public, a claim to a long antecedent knowledge of the fact
in question, just after I had made two or three successive
attempts td bring the matter into notice, as my own ori
ginal suggestion. And it must also be admitted, that to
those, who may have perused my statements, it was
giving the matter an aspect of some implied particular
meaning, that you deemed it worth your while to bring
the matter forward in a work professedly only historical,
when you had never thought it worthy of notice in any
of your volumes, which treat directly of the subject. I
must, however, request you to observe, that I have never
at all imputed to you any intention to injure me by this
proceeding ; on the contrary, I have throughout the dis
cussion, I hope with the utmost consideration for your
2Q2

596 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
station and character, always made the supposition of its
being merely an accidental co-incidence. But I cannot
help expressing my surprise that you should have been
so slow to understand, what I have repeatedly endeavour
ed to impress upon your attention, namely, that, although
I never was ' offended.^ nor supposed injury to have been
meant, I was unfortunately labouring under an intolera
ble pressure from what you had published, which, until
it should be removed by your explanation in some public
channel, must actually amount to a suffocation of my past
and future endeavors, and that, too, attended with addi
tional very painful feelings."
And now, my dear Sir, having manifested a uniform
great respect for Mr. Stewart, up to this point of the dis
cussion, and being still, as you will perceive from my
following public Letters to him, resolved to follow out
the matter with the utmost possible decorum, I cannot
but feel it due to myself to remark, at this stage of the
matter, that the suppliant and deferring tone of appeal,
which 1 have observed towards him, was not the result
of any feeling of abasement, or of not having done in
philosophy what was momentarily deserving of Mr.
Stewart's consideration; as some voucher of which, I am
obliged here to subjoin extracts from the channels of pub
lic criticism. And if for a moment we turn from what
has been done to the motive of action for laboring, I cannot
think thatMr. Stewart will assume the having made greater
sacrifices, of fortune, of health, or of any meaner interest,
to the advancement of general knowledge, than I have.
It is impossible I should feel second to him upon this
ground. Let those, therefore, who can enter into the
merits of such a case, pronounce if it was fit that Mr,
Stewart, (although with various handsome expressions,)

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 597
should ignominiously, in his Letter, state what he rated
as being the death-blow of my pretensions to science;
while, in pity, he extended the proffered anodyne of his
private acquaintance. No man is more capable of appre
ciating such treatment, than is Mr. Stewart himself.
My dear Sir, yours very sincerely,
John Fearn.
To E. H. Barker, Esq.

Extractfrom an Account ofthe 'First-Lines ofthe
Human mind,' given in the 'Monthly Review,
for Febr, 1822.'
Of the very able article, in question, no farther is quoted here
than what bears indispensably upon the case between Mr. Stewart
and Mr. Fearn. And it is declared by Mr. Fearn that the writer
of the article and the proprietors of the Review were totally
unknown to him : —
" Our next step in the vindication of this writer from
most undeserved neglect, is to give a short account of his
correspondence, (for controversy it cannot be called,)
with Professor Stewart, on the subject of the claim of
Mr, Fearn to the original discovery of a very curious
fact in the analysis of perception, and from which, if it be
duly and fully established,* the most important conse
quences must flow to the whole cast and character of men-
ted philosophy. The fact in question is briefly this ; —
* " Of this result we have ourselves no doubt ; and in this in
troductory part of the present article, we run the risk, for the
sake of clearness, and on account ofthe little attention, which has
been paid to the subject, of repeating a portion of our foi-mer
strictures."

598 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
that ' a variety of colours is necessary for the perception
' of visible outline,' In the year 1812, in his Essay on
Consciousness, Mr. Fearn first stated this idea; but, in
1813, he published a much clearer statement of his prin
ciple ; and, subsequently, (but still before any notice of
it in any other quarter,) he deduced from the foregoing
position his three other Laws of Vision, as entirely ori
ginal, and as exclusively his own property, as the first
principle in question.
" In I8I5, in the Dissertation prefixed to the fifth
edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Professor Stewart
threw out a suggestion, that a ' variety of colours is neces-
' sary to the fact of perceiving visible figure or outline ; '
following up this suggestion in the text, by a note
(p. 1 01,) in which he stated ' that a discussion of Reid's
' concerning the perception of visible figure has puzzled
' him for more than forty years,' and concluding by say
ing that ' to his apprehension nothing can be more mani-
» fest than this, that if there had been no variety in our
* sensations of colour, and still more, if we had no sensa-
' sation of colour whatever, the organ of sight could have
' given us no information either with regard %o figures, or
' to distances'
" Mr. Fearn very naturally felt it incumbent on him,
having sent to the Professor his Essay on Consciousness
in the year 1812, to defend himself from the obvious im
putation of having borrowed from the Professor's writings,
or at all events from some previous metaphysician, the
ideas, which he had published as original on this phseno-
menon of perception. Mr. Stewart, in a Letter to Mr.
Fearn, admits ' that there is no hint of any such matter
' as avariety of colours in perception,' (we quote from the
present volume,) ' in any of his prior writings up to the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 599
'appearance of the Dissertation in 1815;' but he adds
' that he takes no credit to himself for the novelty of the
' remark, which is to be found in various books written
* fifty years before he ever heard of Mr. Fearn's name.'
He then specifies Lord Monboddo, and only Lord Mon
boddo, whose words are these : — ' Colour is the primary
' perception of the sense of seeing; and the others are
' only consequential. Figure and magnitude are nothing
' else but colour of a certain extent, and terminated in a
' certain manner.' To this sole authority adduced by the
Professor in support of his assertion, Mr. Fearn most
satisfactorily thus replies : — 'Does the assertion thatfigure
' and magnitude are nothing else but color of a certain
' extent, and terminated in a certain manner, furnish the
' most distant hint of the manner, in which color is ter-
' minated ? Does this assertion of Lord Monboddo dis-
' tinctly approach the fact, that a variety of colors is ne-
' cessary for the formation of every visible figure, or
* outline ; or the consequence deduced from it,' (and not
pretended, as far as we know, to have discovered
by any previous metaphysician,) ' that visible figure, or
' outline, is purely a relation of contrast between two of
' our own ideas?' — A consequence, which, if the present
author has indeed succeeded in legitimately drawing it
from his premises, will ' transfer,' as he is sanguine in
hoping it will do, ' the subject of perception out of phy-
' sical into demonstrative science ; ' and thus assist in
raising a superstructure of mental philosophy, to a height,
which neither the author of Ancient Metaphysics, nor any
of the luminous school of Reid ever dreamed of attaining.
" To this preliminary statement of facts and dates, we
shall only add, on this part of the subject, that the attack
here made on the very fundamental principles of the phi-

600

PARRMNA : OR NOTICES OF

losophy of Reid seems to us to demand, more imperatively
than ever, an answer from Professor Stewart, — the ac
knowledged head of pneumatological opinions and honours
of his celebrated friend and predecessor,
" Our readers will bear in mind, or refer to, the con
cluding paragraph of the quotation already made from
Mr, Stewart's note to p, lO"!, of the Dissertation; and
they will then compare that paragraph with the following
passage from the third section of the first chapter cf his
Elements. The Professor states that, from Reid's view
of the subject of perception, it follows ' that, although,
' by the constitution of our nature, certain sensations are
' rendered the constant antecedents of certain perceptions,
' yet it is just as difficult to explain how our perceptions
' are obtained by their means, as it would be upon the
' supposition, that the mind were all at once inspired with
' them, without any sensation whatever,' In reply Mr,
Fearn says, he concludes that Professor Stewart call re
concile these apparent contradictions, if he chooses; but
that, if he does not judge this to be necessary, he (Mr,
F.) is satisfied. Well may he be so, in our opinion. In
one word, the Professor's credit as a philosopher is com
pletely at stake ; and, if he does not defend it, neither
the respect, with which the present author is laudably dis
posed to treat his venerable name, nor our own sincere
admission of his great talents and acquirements, can pro
tect him from the imputation of shrinking from an attack,
which is renewed most vigorously in various parts of this
volume, and which aims at neither more nor less than the
overthrow ofthe very foundations of his, or rather Reid's,
school of philosophy. In our judgment, the Body Politic
of Scotland was never wounded with a severer blow, or
threatened with a more complete revolution, from the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 601
arms of Edward and the intrigues of Elizabeth, than that,
to which her Body Metaphysical has been exposed in the
work before us."
Mr. Fearn has omitted several expressions in the above
quotation ; and would equally have left out the concluding
opinion expressed by the Reviewer, (as very unbecoming
him to copy,) were it not necessary to show how deep
must be the interest of Mr. Stewart, to hope that Mr.
Fearn's pneumatological principles should not come into
general consideration.

Detached Extracts from an Account ofthe 'First
Lines,' in the 'New Edinburgh Review for Oct.
1821,' given as bearing upon the present case ;
the writer and editor of which Review, Mr.
Fearn affirms were unknown to Imn.
" He reviews the ideal theory, and specifies its various
modifications, discusses the opinions of Dr. Reid, and
gives an account, as a historical fact, of the change of this
philosopher, from the idealism of Berkeley to his own the
ory ; shews the fallacy of the generally received opinions
upon the subject, and states his own ideas as discoveries
of considerable importance in. the philosophy of the mind.
Thus, he lays down four laws of primary vision, as the
result of his analysis of perception of outline or figure ;
and we readily admit they appear to us to be highly cu
rious and worthy of consideration, the first law is,"
etc. " The reader will probably have some difiiculty in an
ticipating the consequences, which the author draws from

602 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
the principles now enumerated. One of them, indeed,
appears to be within the boundaries of legitimate philo
sophy, and is stated to be, that of transferring the subject
of perception from the province of mere inductive science,
to which it had, without any exception, been always sup
posed to belong, to science that is generically mathematical
or demonstrative ; but the others, we are constrained to
say, have no small claims to be considered as belonging
rather to the regions of fancy."
" It is due to Mr. Fearn to notice also his intimation,
that the denial of a material world is not a denial of an
external world, but is a vastly different thing, and that
the result, which he contemplates, is only this : — ' If the
' existence of matter should be logically <f««/irat;ee?, the phi-
' losophical part of mankind will rejectthe belief of matter,
' both in speculation and in practice ; and all that they will
' retain upon this subject, will be an irresistible belief, not
' IN MATTER, but in AN EXTERNAL WORLD OF SPIRITUAL
' BEINGS AND THEIR ENERGIES; which energies must, in
' their operation, have the same effect upon us, that the
' qualities of matter could have, if they existed.' "
" Impressed with these views of Mr. Fearn's merits,
we proceed to notice his controversy with Mr. Stewart,
and in doing so, we think it best to allow him to speak for
himself. Prefixed to the work is a Letter addressed to
this eminent individual, in which the author says, —
' Whenever the public perceive I am endeavouring to
' advance any matter, as deduced from the generic principle
' o/" A VARIETY of COLORS, they caunot choose but throw
' the thing from them with unqualified disgust, under the
' impression that 1 was attempting to impose upon them, as
' an original matter of my own, a thing which had been
' known to Professor Stewart more than forty years.'

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D 603
" Mr. Fearn, on the other hand, endeavours to shew
that Lord Monboddo's observations do not ' furnish the
' most distant hint of the manner, in which color is termi-
' nated;' the discovery of which fact, he maintains, is the
point of chief importance, and which he affirms has been
first made by himself. We cannot follow him into this
discussion, nor is it necessary to do so ; for the reader will
be able, from the statement already given, to form his own
opinion as to the extent of Mr. Fearn's pretensions to
originality. For our own part, we have not scrupled to af
firm that they are well founded. We conclude with a single
sentence in recapitulation. The theory of Primary Vision
proposed by this gentleman, appears to us the most satis-
fectory yet suggested; and, although we do not attach ail
the importance to it, that he does, and must differ, toto
ccelo, from many of his conclusions, nevertheless his inge
nuity is unquestionable, and his call upon public attention
so reasonable, and so just, that in giving publicity to his
views, we conceive ourselves to be only discharging an
imperative duty to him, and to our readers."
The distinct, and never contradicted awards, pronounced
by the Monthly Reviewer and the New Edinburgh Re
viewer, both strangers to Mr. Fearn, and, he believes, to
each other, having produced no recognition on the part of
Mr. Stewart, who, it was announced, was too ill to enter at
all into literary discussions; and Mr. Stewart having, not
withstanding his supposed state of health, since come forth
with a Third Volume of his Elements, while Mr. Fearn
was still labouring under the pressure of the matter at
issue ; ho course was left to him, but the necessity of an
appeal to the public in the two Letters, published in the
Sunday-Times Newspaper for April 15, and 22, 1827, of
which the following are copies. In. yielding to this ne-

604 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
cessity, Mr. Fearn thinks he may, immeasurably with
more propriety, employ the words of Mr. Stewart's last
Letter, namely — ' If I have said anything displeasing to
' you, you have compelled me to do so in my own defence.'
" TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUNDAY TIMES.
Sir, Observing that you afford cognizance to matters in
philosophy, as in the case of Mr. Herapath, I may hope
from your liberality an insertion of the following Letter. J. F.
TO DUGALD STEWART, ESQ. &c. &c. &c.
Sir, In yielding to the unavoidable necessity of this ap
peal, after every other endeavor through a protracted
period of ten years has failed to relieve me from a pres
sure of the most extraordinary complexion, I am, from
the insuperable limits of a public journal, reduced to
very great disadvantage, in being obliged to omit every
circumstantial detail of the case at issue ; and all that is
open for me here, is to refer to publications, in which the
subject has been noticed, and otherwise to confine myself
to the scrutiny of one or two of its most prominent con
siderations. Having just come before the public with
the sequel of a work, which has cost me much and in
tense labor, and which, very probably, is the last of any
serious extent, that may be in my power to execute, I
should quit the world under a very deep sense of having
been a sacrifice to injustice, if my endeavours at utility,
through a period of 25 years' severe application, comld re
main marred, or blighted, by the proceeding, which I am
herein obliged to resist. And, although I cannot in this
place take room to explain the various bearings of that

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 605
proceeding on my case, the fact is rendered sufficiently
manifest in my Letter to you, prefixed to the First Lines
ofthe Human Mind; to which Letter, therefore, I must
beg to direct the attention of all, who may be interested.
For the same, reason, also, I must solicit attention to the
article, which has been furnished on the First Lines, in
the Monthly Review for Febr, 1822; and a similar reference
may be had, though in less extent, to the late New Edin
burgh Review for Oct, 1821. And here it is impossible
for me to refrain from the remark that, if the matter at
issue had been an estate, or inheritance, and if the differ
ent critics in question, (utter personal strangers to me,)
had been jurors on the cause, it is indisputable you must
have given instant possession. Nor must I omit to ob
serve that, besides these impartial jurors, a common friend,
— a man of no less moral rectitude and knowledge than the
late Dr. Parr, — though he forbore to avow himself strictly
on this issue, has expressed his having written and spoken
to you concerning my labors; andhis'mostpoignantsorrow'
at your determined silence with regard to them. To which
he adds — ' If Stewart deals out a scanty measure of jus-
' tice to you, leave him, thus far, to the disapprobation of
' wise and good men.' These documents, from quarters
so different, form a set of vouchers, which it will be im
possible for you to treat with silence, now that they are
placed in the view of the public. And, having of neces
sity referred to them, I proceed to a statement of quota
tions from your own writings, which, if I mistake not,
will admit neither doubt nor hesitation; but which, if
they do, it must be in your power to explain.
The essential point, to which I shall confine the object
of the present Letter, is the evidences, negative and po
sitive, to be found in your writings concerning your

606 PARRIANA , OR NOTICES OF
assertion, that you knew of a certain generic fact for forty
years previously to my having taken the same to serve as
the basis of a theory of perception. On a future occasion,
I shall consider your assertion that, by the mention of this
general fact in your First Dissertation, prefixed to the Sup
plement ofthe Cyclopcedia Britannica, published in tlie year
1815, you did not offer it as being any discovery of your
own, but had found it in other authors of long standing.
The most concise method I can adopt in this case, is to be
gin by quoting your last Letter to me dated ^m^'. 30, 1820.
' You refer to something I have said about Varieties of
' Colour ; and call on me to acknowledge your priority.
' The only passage I can discover, in which I have used
' that expression, is in pp. 100, 101, where I have men-
' tioned, as a self-evident proposition, \iiat if there hadbeen
' no variety in our sensations of colour, and still more if we
' had no sensation of colour wJiatever, the organ of sigM
' could give us no information either with respect to figures,
' or distances. If this be the peissage, which has given you
' offence, I must take the liberty of observing that I have
' taken no credit to myself for the novelty of the remark,
' which I have mentioned as a manifest truth, and which
' is to be found in various books written fifty years before I
' ever heard of your name.'
Now, Sir, I trust it is needless for me to assert here,
by the way, that I shall most certainly prove you have
not shown you had the fact in question from any ' book,'
unless you had it from mine : because I am proceeding
to show, indisputably, that several passages in your writ
ings, unless they can be shown to admit of two different
interpretations, in a very remarkable manner make against
your own knowledge of this fact at any epoch preceding
the year 1815.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, L.LD. 607
First, then, with regard to negative evidence. Suppo
sing, as you aflSrm, that you knew this fact for 40 years —
Is it not then wonderful that, in all the five successive edi
tions of your 2?/e»jew^s (Vol, I,,) published in the course
of those very 40 years, you have not been able, in your
answer to me, to appeal to the statement of any such fact,
which, most certainly, it must be believed you would have
mentioned, in bar of my claim, if it were to be found in
any of those editions ? And here it must be of no small
importance to remark, that you have not pretended that
any hint of such a fact is to be found in Locke, in Berkeley,
or in Reid. If, then, the fact in question be ' a manifest
truth,' which, as such, yourself and other authors could
never have overlooked, is it not wonderful that no mention
of it is to be found in any of the writers above-named,
and this, especially, since the knowledge of this fact must
inevitably produce a great revolution in the science of
Pneumatology ? Had you not well known that such first-
rate geniuses as Locke and Berkeley are utterly dark
with regard to the fact at issue, you would never have re
sorted to Lord Monboddo in order to find it. And, when
I come to examine that resort, I think you will have little
cause to hail the event. If, however, you Aac? shown that,
either from Lord Monboddo, or of yourself, you had for
40 years known the most important generic fact, that ever
was adverted to, or applied, in pneumatology, how, then,
could you have been able to answer to the world, for omit
ting to mention it in a prominent way in your Elements ?
But I pass on, from the negative to the positive evidences
contained in your Elements ; and, in ihe first place, it is to
be stated that, in ihe fourth edition of your first Volume,
published in the year 1811. p. 92, you have the following
position on the nature of perception : — ' Although, by

608 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
' the constitution of our nature, certain sensations are
' rendered the constant antecedents of our perceptions,
' yet it is just as difficult to explain how our perceptions
' are obtained by their means, as it would be on a suppo-
' sition that the mind were all at once inspired with them,
' without any concomitant sensations whatever.' To this
position, also, you immediately add — ' These remarks
' are general, and apply to all our various perceptions ;
' and they evidently strike at the root of all the common
' theories on the subject.'
Yet, Sir, it is in the face of the passages just quoted,
that you have affirmed you knew, for forty years, as a
manifest self-evident proposition that without a variety in
our sensations of color, any perception of visible figure
must be impossible.
In the name of truth, may I not be allowed to ask —
Would not the understanding of mankind be insulted, to
the last degree, if they were subjected to be told, on the
one hand, that perception of figure is a fact as inexplica
ble to us as inspiration would be without any accompany
ing sensation whatever; and then, in the face of this, on
the other, to be informed of certain specific conditions of
sensation, without the existence of which conditions it is
' a self-evident proposition,' that any such perceptions must
be impossible ? Could any man, that ever lived, claim
for himself our acquiescence in his assuming the exercise
of such conflicting positions ?
But, conclusive as the foregoing passages of themselves
would be for the establishment of my claim, these passa-
gesst and not alone, or as a solitary proof of -what I affirm.
Very far from this, I have to urge, in the second place,
that we have in the same page — namely in p. 92 of the
1st vol. of your Elements, published as ' corrected' in the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 600
year 1811, the following distinct and separate assertions of
one of your two contending doctrines. Speaking of per
ception, you say, ' that all the steps of this process are
' equally incomprehensible ; and that, for anything we can
' prove to the contrary, the connexion between the sen-
' sation and the perception, as well as that between the
' impression and the sensation, may be both arbitrary ! '
May they so indeed ? Then, Sir, I call on you to explain
how it was possible you could have known all along, ' as
a self-evident proposition,' or known at all, that if there had
been no variety in our sensations of color, the organ of
sight could give us no information with respect to figure ?
Sir, I will not trust my pen with a word of comment on
what may have been the cause of the apparent incompati
bility of these your different doctrines ; but deem it alto
gether best, as well as most decorous, to leave the matter
to the impartial judgment of the public. I have, indeed,
sufficiently manifested, that I all along thought it due to
a person of your high general character, to seek for, and
await, your own construction of the passages in question.
But, if you do not, at this late and critical period, come
forward with any answer to these statements, I may at
least dwell with confidence on having the public sentence,
that I have established my claim to the discovery and ap
plication of that generic fact, whose nature and conse
quences will soon prove whether they are deserving of
being promulgated.
I must, however, yet proceed to quote a third distinct
proof of what is the doctrine in your Elements. In con
tinuation of the passage last quoted, you go on to say —
' That it is therefore by no means impossible that our
' sensations may be merely the occasions, on which the
' correspondent perceptions are excited.' Is this, indeed,
2R

t>10 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
the fact ? If it is so, then, the question returns on you a
third time, in all, and more than all, its former force, — By
what means was it possible you could know, for forty
years, ' as a self-evident proposition,' or know in any man
ner, that it is impossible to perceive visible figure without
a variety in our sensations of color ? *
My limits in space oblige me here to break off. In my
next Letter, I shall prosecute the subject by examining
* To some readers, it may be very material to state the matter
thus : — The loose expression of the fact, by Mr. Stewart in 1815,
resolves itself self-evidently into this strict result, viz. that a-visi-
ble line is the edge of a sensation of one color, met by the edge of
a sensation of another color — the two edges, when they coincide,
forming but one line, viz. a breadthless and colorless Une ; and the
result in question possessing the noveJ: and double nature of being
both a physical law and a necessary law. Hence it foUow s that Mr.
Stewart speaks truly, when he asserts, in substance, that without
some two different colors, it must be impossible to perceive visible out
line. Now, in order to deny to me the discovery of this isthmus or
vinculum, which connects a, perceiving mind with the external world
around it, Mr. Stewart has placed himself in the situation of
asserting that, he knew this precious result more than 40 years ;
whUe, along with this, he has, during these same 40 years, con
tradicted that assertion, through five editions of his Elements ; in
aU which he reiterates, with great applause, the doctrine of Reid,
that the connexion between colors and a visible Une, may be only
a mere ' occasion,' i. e. a mere concomitancy ; — may be merely
' arbitrary ; ' — and that, the cause or rationale of this result
is, so inexplicable, that, for anything we can affirm to the contrary,
we might perceive visible lines with our eyes shut, i. e. during a
total exclusion of all sensation of color whatever ! ! Ought the
metaphysical labors of a lifetime to lie suflFocated under such a
blazon as this? Or ought we to yield to it, in dumb humility? What
a spectacle for the philosophers of Germany, — to improve theirpre-
sent estimation of the metaphysicians of Britain !
April 23, 1828. John Fearn.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 611
what fruits you have derived from throwing yourself on
the authority of Lord Monboddo — a maintainer of extend
ed ideas after Locke ; against which creed, although it is
a most demonstrably true creed, your whole writings on
perception, in common with those of Dr. Reid, have been
expressly directed. In that Letter, also, I hope to have
room to explain, in brief, what is the nature of that revo
lution, which the fact of a variety of colors must shortly
produce in the science of pneumatology.
On the present occasion I shall only add that, while I
have been suspending the prosecution of my claim for
several years, under a belief that your state of health ren
dered you incapable of defending your own cause, I now
find that health has enabled you to carry a third volume of
your Elements through the press, without adverting to the
subject. Let it be judged, therefore, if I could postpone
this appeal for another moment of your, or of my own
existence. — I am. Sir, your very obedient servant,
John Fearn,
London, April 6, 1827,
TO DUGALD STEWART, ESQ, &c. &c. &c.
Sir,
In following out the subject of my Letter in the
Sunday-Times ofthe 15th inst., I have to observe, first,
with regard to your assertion that, in your statement of
the fact of avariety of colors, in your Dissertation in 1815,
you ' took no credit to yourself for the novelty of the remark.'
You will permit me, therefore, to remark, that you have,
in page 100, stated the fact in the following manner : —
In asserting that sensations of color are nothing but 'signs
' indicating to us the figures anddistances of things external,'
vou sav ' of their essential importance in this point of view
^ ^ 2 R 2

612 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
' a clear'idea may be formed, by supposing for a moment
' the whole face of nature to exhibit only one uniform
' colour, without the slightest variety even of light and
' shade. Is it not self-evident that, on this supposition,
' the organ of sight would be entirely useless, inasmuch as
' it is by the variety of colour alone, that the outlines or
' visible figures of bodies are so defined, as to be distin-
' guishable one from another?' Now, with this extract
before you, let me next solicit your attention to one taken
from my Essay on Consciousness ; a copy of which work
I sent to you in the year 1812, and which you afterwards
did me the honor to inform me you had ' dipped into : '
and then let me ask you, if it is not hard you should, for
10 years, resist all endeavors to obtain your acknowledg
ment of my priority on this ground ; especially, as I shall
most amply prove you never got it from Lord Monboddo,
any more than from any other writer ?
In the work just mentioned, p. 46, 47, in speaking with
regard to a position of your own, that ' it is by no means
' equally certain whether the idea of motion presupposes
' that of extension, or that of extension the idea of motion,'
lhave thus offered a suggestion, in what manner we might,
in given circumstances, acquire the idea of extension. —
' If a man were so kept as never to see any color but the
' bliie expanse of sky, he would not only remain ignorant
' of externality, but, also, such unvaried sensation would
' fail to afford him any abstract consideration of either ex-
' tension or color. But if, instead of the single-colored sky,
' he were to behold the heavens studded with the moon,
' and stars of various tints, he might be led to compare,
' or contrast, the blue with the white and copper luminaries ;
' and thus, by the presence of several colors and several
' extensions, the man would be able to conceive color and
' extension, as attributes, by themselves.'

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 613
Sir, I need not re-state the mass of matter, on this sub
ject, which I have advanced in the same place ; it being
altogether manifest that you have taken up my prior
ground, and have even employed my very conceptions to
illustrate it, I must repeat, therefore, that it was hard,
after your acknowledgment of your having ' dipped into'
that work, that you should not therein have fallen on the
matter in question. You have, indeed, been so flattering
as to write to me that, in thus ' dipping,' you ' saw evident
' marks of an acute and penetrating genius' But, if it be
so, I know not in what part of that work the germ of this
genius is to be found, if it be not in the place referred to ;
nor can I conceive any part so likely to have attracted
your earliest notice.
I proceed, next, to your appeal to Lord Monboddo, in
which you say, ' I shall only mention the first volume of
' Lord Monboddo's Origin and Progress of Language,'
where it is expressly said, that ' colour is the primary per-
' ception of the sense of seeing,' and that ' the others are
' only consequential.' ' Figure and magnitude,' he adds,
' are nothing else but colour of a certain extent, and ter-
' minated in a certain manner.' Now the first thing,
which obtrudes itself here, is, that you, as a strict disciple
ofthe school of Reid, should ever think of throwing your
self, in any case, for support, on an assertion that color is
an extended thing. If the statements in your Elements, as
quoted in my former Letter, have filled me with the ut
most wonder, I declare, here, that I know not what to
conceive of your resort for authority to Lord Monboddo.
It appears to me most manifest that a man cannot compa
tibly quote, as his authority, any fact, whose truth he has
through his whole life denied. At the same time, it is
certain you have uniformly joined with Dr. Reid in deny-

614 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
iug and scouting the notion, that sensation of color is a
thing spread out or extended. You will never deny your
being aware that Lord Monboddo, (as a Lockeian,) means
sensation of color, when he talks of ihe primary perception
of seeing. How then. Sir, was it possible for you, as the
most eminent of Reideians, to quote as your authority for
the fact in question Lord Monboddo's position, (though
I repeat it is a most true position,) that our ' sensations of
' color are things extended, figured, and terminated in a
' certain manner ? ' As a matter of far more importance,
however, I now proceed to show that, while you have
thus identified yourself with Lord Monboddo, he does not
in the least give any authority, or light, concerning a ' vari
ety of color.' In doing which, I shall embrace a number of
considerations, in the shortest compass, by stating in sub
stance, though with some requisite alteration and addi
tion, a part of my printed Letter to you in 1820.
With regard to the ' discovery ' of the generic fact in
question, I freely acknowledge, it is so ' self-evident ' a
thing, that I shall never plume myself on the discern
ment of it, unless from the negative consideration that it
never has been adverted to by those, who have gone be
fore me. And, as the deduction of the four specific laws
of vision is the matter, in which all the importance of the
subject resides, and there is no fear that I can be depri
ved of the originality of these laws, it would certainly not
be worth a controversy to insist on my claim to the mere
generic fact. But, as I feel it to be absolutely incumbent
on me to justify my own repeated assertions on the sub
ject, and as what you have stated must seriously tend to
keep my advances in the matter in obscurity, while you
have not consented to admit any notice of the subject in
any of yoiur printed writings, which would have instantly

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 6l5
brought the attention of the scientific world to its merits,
— I deem it necessary to offer this public answer to your
Letter. First, as you say the generic fact is to be found ' in
various books,' and have quoted Lord Monboddo's work
as a particular instance, it may be presumed you had no
better one in your recollection at the moment. You
must then. Sir, allow me to express my surprise that you
should, for an instant, offer the passage from Lord Mon
boddo's work, as an instance of an assertion that a ' variety
of color is necessary to the perception of visible outline,'
You have quoted the passage correctly. But, does the
assertion, that 'figure and magnitude are nothing else but
' colour of a certain extent and terminated in a certain man-
" ner,' furnish the most distant hint of the manner, in
which color is terminated?
And here I must observe, after many years' study of
this part of our constitution, that there is a very curious
subtilty in the phenomena of vision, which renders the
self-evident fact in question by no means infallibly mani
fest ; but, on the contrary, extremely difficult to hit, wih-
til after it is pointed out. The fact is, that very few per
sons can apprehend the nature of a visible line, after it is
only once pointed out ; it requires some study to do it, al
though it afterwards appear.s to be one of the most
simple and manifest of truths. That every philosopher,
from Aristotle down to Reid, has entertained the fact, as
a creed, that sensation of color is extended a?id figured,
and, that not one of these has ever discovered the means
ofdemonstratuig this fact, by showing that figure is a self-
evident line of meeting between two sensations of colors, is
a truth, which, after the defence you have made, I can
not for a moment fear will ever be disputed. And here

616 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
I must observe that, had any philosopher ever hit on such
a demonstration, he would, by that step, in the most fa
tal degree, have exploded the theory of Dr. Reid ; and
have^r ever barred the door against any such scheme as
his attempt to put visible figure out ofthe mind and at a dis
tance from it, while he justly entertained sensation of color
as being a ' modification, or state, of the mind itself,'
Here, therefore, every person must discern a powerful
reason, why a philosopher, holding your doctrine of per
ception, (although I leave to the public entirely to judge,
if you have been actuated by this feeling,) might wish
that my theory, founded in a variety of colors, should
not gain general attention.
In fine, however, with respect to Lord Monboddo. —
When a writer on the subject in question, (as was his
case,) makes use of such a phrase as ' terminated in a cer
tain manner,' there are but two possible reasons why he
could adopt it. He thereby either betrays, (notwith
standing the word ' certain,') that he does not know tlie
certain manner, in which the fact takes place ; or, else,
a description of the inanner would take up some words,
which he saves by the phrase adopted. Now I put it to
the common sense of every reader, whether, if any wri
ter, who had a knowledge of the fact, that visible outline
is a line of meeting between two colors, would ever have
expressed himself in a phraseology so unexplicit, and dark,
as well, as so stff, pompous, and unnatural, as to say that
color is ' terminated in a certain manner ; ' and especially
this, unless such writer has revealed the secret of the man
ner, in some part of his context ; which I must presume
Lord Monboddo has not done. And here it may be pro-
per to impress on your attention, that there is an infinite
difference between a truth's being ' self-evident,' when con-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 617
templated, and its being infallibly manifest before it is
pointed out ; for this is the case of some of the most mo
mentous truths, that lie at the foundations of philosophy :
than which, I know of none that is more so than the fact
of a ' variety of colors,' owing to the consequences deduci-
ble from it.
I will myself mention to you an author, who has ap
proached far more nearly to the fact in question than
Lord Monboddo; but who is yet, in effect, infinitely
distant from this fact. Bishop Berkeley is the author, to
whom I allude. And yet, although he has done much in
the department of ' secondary' vision, he is so completely
in the dark with regard to the faei of primary x'\9,ion, (now
in question,) that he conceived all visible lines to be colored.
In treating ofthe difference between visible lines and tan
gible lines, for example, he says — A blue and a red line
I can conceive added together and making one sum.' From
which it is most manifest, Berkeley never so much as
suspected that a visible line is nothing but a colorless (that
is, a breadthless,) line of meeting between some two sensa
tions qf color : because the moment we make the step,
which discerns that visible lines are without color, and
therefore without breadth, we must intuitively discern that
the narrowest stripe of color in the world is not a line, but
a surface : in other words, we must thereby discern, that
a visible line, and a visible, surface, possess respectively
the very same definitions as a mathematical line, and a ma
thematical surface ; in short, we thereby gain admittance
.Into a totally new Science of Perception, whose nature
and consequences are altogether unlike those of any pre
vious scheme of the subject. In a word : — Since the ur
gency of the case, and the mischievous obstacles, which
have hitherto prevented its promulgation, will not suffer
_me to forego the assertion, I am compelled to affirm that

618 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
all either Bishop Berkeley, or any other writer, knew of
what is usually, but falsely, called external perception,
becomes, to the last degree, nugatory, it sinks immea
surably below even the a, b, c, of science, from the mo
ment we show that, what we call ihe figures or outlines of
external objects, are nothing but lines of contact of sensa
tions of various colors, in a percipient mind : because, by
this step, we have reduced to demonstration a great fun
damental principle of pneumatology — namely — the exten
sion ofthe percipient ; which, although it was all along be
lieved, as a creed of philosophers in general, was never re
duced to proof; and, therefore, the science of pneumatology
was always left open to such schemes of perception, as that
by which Dr. Reid has disturbed the uniform current of
philosophical opinion, and brought on a most morbid and
deplorable stagnation of public interest, in this most im
portant subject.
It only remains now to point out, what is the principal
proximate result of the solution of the problem of percep
tion. And here, therefore. Sir, I would earnestly solicit
your attention, and that of all pneumatohgists, and all
religionists, to the nature of the subject. The result in
question, then, is that the moment we liave grounded the
fact of the extension of the percipient on the proof de
scribed, (or on any certain proof whatever, ) it becomes
a strictly legitimate philosophical conclusion, under the
Newtonian ride for the assigning of causes, that the exter
nal unperceived cause of our sensations, (in as much as a
collection of reason proves satisfactorily that it also is an
extended substance, being the thing we call body,) is of
the same nature or essence as our own extended spiritual
substance — that is, it is inind. From this it follows that
so-called ' matter ' is nothing in the world but a chimera of
ignorance and vulgar imagination ; and that the whole of

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D, 619
infinite space is filled with the substance of the Creator,
and that of finite spirits. This conclusion, the moment it
is embraced, constitutes the foundation of a most sublime
Natural Theology, And, from the period, when pneu-
matologists and ^-eligionists shall form a re-union on this
ground, it most certainly must be impossible for atheism
to have any position to rest on. To explain the subject,
farther, in this place, is utterly impracticable ; but, it
being the most desired object of my life to bring its merits
into general consideration, and as I may at least set up the
claim of having devotedperhaps a more undivided atten
tion to the subject than was ever afforded to it by any
other individual, I have furnished a succint re-statement
of it, in the chapter 'ow the Ultimate Philosophy of Signs'
in the second volume of the work recently laid before the
public, to which I would seriously draw the attention of
all concerned. May I seize this occasion to inform you,
that, in the two volumes of the work, now referred to,
(An Analysis of Language, entitled ' Anti-Tooke,' ) ihere is
much that concerns your views as a philologist and gram
marian, in case you should not now, as you did me the
honor to signify to me prior to the publication of my
First Lines, deem it a sacrifice of your valuable time to
look into any writiiig of mine.
Sir, 1 have indeed to thank you for having offered me,
instead ofthe public acknowledgment I required, the ho
nor of your private converse ; an honor, which, I as
sure you, I was not disposed to undervalue, or deem of
small account. But I had staked my life at far higher
objects ; and he knows me little, who thinks I am of a
cast to sell my birthright for a mess of pottage.
I am, Sir,
Your very obedient Servant,
John Feakn.

620 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
TO E. H. BARKER, ESQ.
London, April 28, 1823.
My dear Sir,
Having placed the foregoing correspondence,
with Professor Stewart, in a channel so peculiarly fit and
effective, as your Parriana, it will be manifest that, the
matter in question has for its object the two-fold purpose,
not only of security, or protection, to private right, but
at the same time, also, of resuscitating a public interest in
a walk of philosophy, whose very essence had well nigh
become extinct, in the serious consideration of English
men ; in so much that, the following passage, which I quote
from Mr. Buckingham's Athen jsum, as taken from ' Un
published Lectures on Periodical Literature,' may be
deemed a fair specimen of the general estimate, which is
now formed of the subject, in Great Britain : — ' Of the
' next branch, or that of moral literature, it may safely be
' asserted that, as a distinct branch of national literature,
' it never was at a lower ebb. Of metaphysical writers,
' we cannot mention one single distinguished name, or,
' at least, one that is attached to a work of importance ;
' and it would appear as if the study of mental philosophy
' were to be banished from England, which, we believe,
' it would be, were it not for the labors of our Scottish
' friends, or the occasional importation of some German
' treatise.' I know not, whether you would have me subscribe to the
truth of the melancholy assertion contained in the above
passage, while I altogether confess that it reflects with
greatdiscredit,eitherupon my powers, or upon the country,
in which I have labored ; but, of this, at least, I am per
suaded, that the gentleman, who has advanced it, has done
so fairly,Jrom having no knowledge to the contrary. In

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 621
THIS instance, therefore, as in various others, which will
appear, it becomes indisputable that I, and the subject
along with me, have justly to arraign the conduct of
Professor Stewart, for his pertinacious refusal to render
unto both the smallest respiration of public justice, or, in
other words, to make the public, in the least degree, aware
of what was going forward.
Resting, now, in the fuU confidence, that Mr. Stewart
will never be able to refute any statement in my foregoing
Letters, any more than he will, for a moment, impeach
their veracity ; I beg to call your attention, and that of
your readers, back to the Letter of Dr. Parr, wherein you
will now discern that his observations are directed entirely
to general grounds, namely, to Mr. Stewart's not deign
ing to come into the arena of philosophical discussion
with me, and, to induce me to avoid the consequences of
getting into doctrinal controversy. And, here, even
upon this general ground, it has appeared. Dr. Parr has
recorded his sentiments in these expressive terms : —
' If Stewart deals out a scanty measure of justice to
' you, leave him, thus far, to the disapprobation of wise
' and good men.'
At the same time, it is now conspicuously in evidence
that Professor Stewart has moT placed it in my power io act
upon the forbearing precept of our venerable friend. For
Mr. Stewart has not ' dealt out to me' so much as the most
' scanty portion of justice.' Let 'wise and good men,'
therefore, judge him, — I say — amen. And I need only
add that, it is conclusively manifest. Dr. Parr had not, for
the object of his remarks, the more deep and serious
question of moral right as affecting Mr. Stewart; nor has
he ever seen Mr. Stewart's Letters, which let in the re
quisite light upon that matter.

G22 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
And now, leaving this statement in your Parriana., for
a record, which, I trust, can need neither gloss nor addi
tion, the most precious reflection, to me, is that, if Pro
fessor Stewart can make his own cause appear a just one,
(in which, for the sake of our country, and our species, and,
of a truth, for that of such a man himself, I pray God to
grant him success,) it could not in the least diminish the
success of my cause, nor detract from the justice, with
which 1 have followed it out to its present consummation.
I have not arraigned Mr. Stewart's conduct, if his printed
wi'itings do not arraign it. And, whether they do so, or
not, is for the judgment of the world.
In fine, with every good wish, I remain,
My dear Sir, very sincerely yours,
John Feahn.

TO E. H. BARKER, ESQ.
London, July 1827.
My dear Sm,
Some correspondence and discussion having taken
place between Lady Mary Shepherd and myself, in result
of her Ladyship'shavingappeared on metaphysical ground,
in the production of two works, which have recently issued
from the press, I consider the following extract, from
one of my Letters to her Ladyship, which more immedi
ately led to the publication of the subjoined papers, as
forming at once a fair and a requisite preface to her La
dyship's criticisms, and my reply to them.
' In writing the paper of criticisms, your Ladyship is
' perfectly correct. It was I that suggested the matter ;
' and this with a view to your Ladyship's publishing the
' same. But, when I wrote to your Ladyship to this effect,
' 1 only supposed we differed concerning the spirituality

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D, 62'5
' of the external world. The case became essentially
' altered, when I found, from farther explanation, what
' is your Ladyship's determined doctrine of extension :
'because, I instantly discovered how vastly this would
' place our respective views in opposition ; while, I own,
' I entertained not a doubt of the consequences of discus-
' sing the subject. I still think that the publication of
' your Ladyship's paper, (which your Ladyship has been
' please^ to leave to my discretion,) is the best way of
' doing justice to your Ladyship's exertions; and, upon
' the whole, the least evil ofthe two'
To this extract, it may be proper to subjoin the follow
ing one from a Letter, which I wrote previously, on re
turning the rough MS, paper, which her Ladyship had
sent for my perusal.
But 1 must beg leave to state that our respective views
on this part of philosophy are, if possible, far more op-
' posite than north and south. While it is perfectly
' manifest, I cannot treat your Ladyship's positions, as I
' would those of a mere author.'
The result of these demurs has been, that her Ladyship
has claimed to be treated as an author, and not to be ex
cluded from efficient discussion on account of her sex.
Nor can any person fail to admire the spirit of such a
resolve ; although it must impose a very unwilling duty
upon those, who are bound to yield to it. The greater
evil, to be avoided, is that of leaving her ladyship to think
that I was desirous of withholding publicity from her lady
ship's doctrines, or from her subsequent criticisms upon my
own writings. My dear Sir, very sincerely yours,
John Fearn.

624 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Obse.rva.tio7is by Lady Mary Shepherd on the ' First Lines
of the Human Mind.'
" Mr. Fearn's book. First Lines of tlie Human Mind,
although it contains many ingenious observations, great
subtilty of reasoning, and the important truth,- ' that visible
'figure can only arise as the result of conscious contrasting
' colors,' — ^ yet is radically unsound in the process of its
reasoning upon the subject of extension. — The main
causes of this deficiency appear to me, to be the two fol
lowing : —
I. An entire absence ofthe knowledge ofthe nature of
cause and of its manner of action ; by which means it comes
to pass, that he makes no distinction between the defini
tions, which ought to belong io perceived internal qualities,
the EFFECTS of external qualities ; and the external aggre
gates of qualities themselves, which form the determining
causes of these on the mind ; and which also possess other
properties in relation to other senses, and other external
objects; — -wh\(^ properties are always implied in the ge
neral nomenclature of those causes,
II. That there are no regular definitions attempted
whatever, of the great objects of controversy discussed,
neither previously to the reasoning, nor subsequently in
tended by the reasoning, as a posterior statement of logical
conclusions. For this reason the great doctrine, which he conceives
it important to have discovered, and happy in having
arrived at, namely — ' that the sensations of color and of
' touch are themselves extended as well as the mind, in
' which they inhabit,' becomes merely an illogical conclu
sion from ambiguous premises; a conclusion capable of
bearing out so many ludicrous corollaries, that, should Mr.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 625
Fearn ever perceive them himself, he will be the first to
laugh, that he could ever sit down soberly to support
them. Now extension is a word applied to that external
object, or cause, which is capable of determining its own
peculiar sensible qualities to the mind ; and that not only
to one mind, but to many minds. This object, capable
of producing such effects, is also capable of admitting mo
tion, (i. e. unperceived motion, whatever that quality may
be, when unperceived,) and of determining the sense of
IT to many minds also.
It has dimensions, therefore, and which dimensions,
when void, are capable of admitting the powers of solidity,
and when applied to solidity, become capable of filling
the dimensions of that void.
This definition will not apply to the mere sensation
of extension itself; for this sensation will wo^ admit of mo
tion ; — will not fill up empty place ; — admits not of the
measurement of any dimensions. Were it possible that
it should do so, then the sensation of a fat man would
itself be fat. The idea of his being extended ' two cubic
inches'* every way beyond the size of another man,
would render it requisite to provide two cubic inches far
ther of empty space, for the occupation of the ideas ofthe
lean man, who was thinking of a fat man, or who was
perceived by him, as well as for the fat man himself per
ceived. Mr, Fearn admits the reality ofthe extension of space ;
and as a reality supposes ' a bird to move through it from
London to York,' f Now, can a bird fly through his idea
or perception of the distance between London and York ?
He admits the reality of that empty space, which may be
filled by two solid cubic inches of what he terms ' the ener-
* See Lines of the Human Mind. t Ibid.
2S

626 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
gies of the Deity' under the forms of two dice. Will two
cubics of such solid energies find room in his ideas of two
cubic inches of empty space ? — Or will his ideas of those
solid energies require two cubic inches of empty space,
and be efficient to the filling of them ?
Whenever words are ambiguously used, whenever ob
jects containing different qualities are defined as though
they were the same and similar words used for various
aggregates of qualities — absurd and contradictory conclu
sions, from principles holding such, must be the result.
External objects, (or certain aggregates of external
qualities,) are named by certain names, not only on ac
count of the sensible perceptions they can determine on
the mind, by one or even more senses, but by their joro-
perties, when meeting with other objects in nature, of
which also we can judge by the effects determined upon
the mind by those further mixtures. Wind, for instance,
is not merely the sensation of wind, by means of its sound,
or its coldness, etc., but by its effects on those other ob
jects called trees, ships, the ocean, etc. ; for which reason
it would be very absurd and contradictory to consider the
sensations of wind, as being themselves windy. The pro
perties of wind belong not to their definitions. The noise
and coldness of wind, are but effects of an external
cause, capable of producing many other effects and per
ceptions, which themselves cannot perform : — the same
reasoning applies to every other quality determined by
the organs of sense. In as much as the sensation of wind,
therefore, is itself not windy, because it cannot swell the
sails of a ship, or raise the waves of the ocean ; no more
is the idea of heat, in a man's mind, an object, which is hot,
for it cannot warm another's sensations; the feeling of
the sharp edge of a razor, is not in its own nature the

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 627
sharp edge of a razor, it not being possible for it to per
form the office of that instrument. The mere sensation of
blue in one man, will not enable another to take notice of
it. Nor can the comprehension of all the colors of the
prism, which any single individual may perceive, and
understand the nature ofj render the ideas themselves such,
as will reveal the objects of his thoughts to the know
ledge ofthe keenest observer. My sense ofthe song of
the nightingale, will not be heard or responded to by an
other warbler; its ideas of those sweet sounds are not
themselves so clear and hud, as to be heard by him : — In
like manner, my notion of a high mountain vidll inspire no
fear, nor can any man climb up its barren and rugged
sides : — Whatever size may he the perception of the ex
tended ocean, no ship could sail thereon, or find suffi
cient depth in its ideas of it.
The conception of the distance between these and the
Indian shores will occupy no time to travel through, nor
will my dream of a palace, make the idea, swell until the
cottage is too small to hold me.
Thus the sensation of extension is on the same footing,
as all the others, which are yielded to the mind by means
of the organs of sense ; — a certain definition belongs to the
external cause, which determines theeffect in question; —
and this definition is according to i!^e whole known proper
ties, general anA particular, belonging to it. The esteemed
cause for the sensations by touch and color, admits of
measurement, and of ' motion ; — if empty, of receiving
solidity ; — if solid, of filling the vacancy. Whilst the
ideas and sensations of extension, of whatever large things
they may relate to, require no empty space for their habi
tations, nor however empty ideas may be, will they give
place to more solid materials. M. S."
2S2

628 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OP
Reply to the Criticisms of Lady Mary Shepherd on the
- First Lines : ' — With Observations on her Ladyship's
Views with regard to the Nature of Extension, as con
tained in her 'Essays cm the Perception of an External
Universe.'
The event of a Lady's having appeared on the arena
of the most abtruse metaphysical discussion, and this
with great brilliancy and depth in her opposition to a host
of philosophers, while it is manifest that she has been
actuated to this by no other motive than a love of truth,
and a laudable ambition of being its champion, is a phe
nomenon, which was little to be expected at any time,
and far less at the present epoch. In two successive
piiblications, recently issued from the press ; — the one
on Cause and Effect, in 1824 — the other on the Percep
tion of an External Universe, 1827 ; — the world has been
presented with the philosophical speculations of Lady
Mary Shepherd, concerning which it is no more than
just to pronounce, in general terms, that they evince an
intellectual capacity, which, under a requisite course of
application, might have rendered her Ladyship fully com
petent to the trial of breaking a lance with the proudest
of those great and celebrated names, whose doctrines she
has had the courage to impugn. As, however, this philo
sophic Lady has professedly written, and published, before
she had very seriously studied the writings of other au
thors, or, in other words, has trusted almost entirely to her
own original powers, it would have been, miraculous, if
this cause had not exposed her to some very profound mis
takes, over and above any oversights, into which, in com
mon with all writers on the subject, she must have been
liable to fall, from biases and other causes.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 629
Her Ladyship's speculations, at the same time, occasion
a dilemma, one or other point of which it is not very easy
to escape. If, upon one hand, they be treated as the
production of one of the other sex, and one who had added
a sufficient course of study to the gift of an original cast,
and if, along with this, they should be considered with the
rigor due to the vast moment of the subjects, and to the
consequences, which they involve, they must be exposed
to a severity of criticism, to which it would be extremely
repugnant, or rather impossible, to subject the meritorious
labors of a Lady, and a Lady, too, whose exertions in
the cause have proceeded from the avowed and unques
tionable motive of opposing the progress of atheism and
scepticism. If, upon the other, those, who may be called
upon to adjudge such labors, should refuse or decline this
duty, either for the above-mentioned reason, or from not
chusing to enter into discussions of the subject with a
fresh and ungradiiated -writer,, her Ladyship might well
complain of it, as being both a hardship and an injustice,
to have her exertions thus excluded from the fields of
discussion on account of her sex. It could indeed be no
other than a manifestation either of arrogance, or of fear,
in any author, to refuse to consider her Ladyship's specu
lations; while, on the other hand, his taking them up, in
a proper manner, would be embracing one of the few
means, which are left, in these countries, of bringing the
subject to popular attention, and of beginning to instil
into the minds of the general mass of readers some definite
and tenable notions of a subject, on which even the higher
classes are deplorably negligent and at fault. It is not
by locking himself up, exclusively, in voluminous treatises,
that the philosopher of mind can hope to render the sub
ject familiar to the bulk, even of intelligent persons : on

630 P.\RRlANA : OR NOTICES OF
the contrary, it is by the collision and vivacity of occasional
particular discussions, which, if rightly conducted by
either of the parties, must gradually diffuse light into the
minds of their readers with an increasing relish for the
subject, in proportion as it becomes understood. If a re
puted philosopher wield the weapon of truth in his reason
ings, this will give him dignity, whatever may be the
theatre of discussion. And, if he has been in error, the
shielding of his error from examination, under the plea,
express or tacit, of his dignity, would exhibit only a spec
tacle of mockery, which ought not to impose upon the
world. To proceed, therefore, to the subject. The summation,
which her Ladyship professess to give, of the First Lines
ofthe Human Mind in the foregoing paper, in as much as
it is intended merely with a view to introduce her Lady
ship's objections to some of the reasonings, with regard to
the nature of our ideas, contained in that work, is not to
be considered as being faulty, although it affords not the
most distinct conception of the subjects treated in the
course of that volume. The only matter for analysis, in
the present case, is the singular notion, which her Lady
ship has formed qf the nature qf extension ; and the rea
sonings, which she h£is advanced in the paper referred to,
as well as in her book, in support of her opinion. First,
therefore, it is to be noticed, in objection to that essential
difference of nature, which this author has asserted as ex
isting between the extension qf external objects and the
ideal extension of our sensations, that all philosophers, of
CA'^ery age and sect, are against her Ladyship's way of
thinking. The ancients, who admitted, (although they
never demonstrated,) that we perceive nothing beyond our
own sensations, were so satisfied that these have reed length

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, L.LD. 631
and breadth, that, in order to render it possible for us to
have such extended ideas in the mind, they supposed us
to have two souls — naraelj a sentient extended soxA, and an
intellectual inextended one. The moderns, (vidth the ex
ception of Berkeley,) have admitted the very same truth,
ofthe real extension of our sensations. Locke and Hume,
any more than Des Cartes, never doubted that our sensa
tions are really extended ; although, like the ancients,
they never fell upon the means of demonstrating that they
are so. And, consequently, Hume has expressly asserted
that, if the mind be assumed to exist at all, it is extended.
Lastly, though the school of Reid has taken the singular
cast, against all these authorities, ofdenying the extension
of color, as contradistinguished from figure, yet, it is cer
tain that, if it had admitted, agreeably with the concurrent
positions of Bishop Berkeley, Lady Mary Shepherd, and
the author ofthe First Lines, that 'all the perceived furni-
' ture of heaven and earth' is nothing but groups and suc
cessions of sensations in our own minds, it would never
for a moment have denied that these sensations, and the
mind, which contains them, must be extended. Nor does
Bishop Berkeley in any manner favor the view of her
Ladyship, by supposing any difference between ideal ex
tension and external extension ; for Berkeley is at least
consistent, although his notion of extension violates the
natural reason of mankind to the last degree, and destroys
all the grounds of ratiocination, that is— he denies all
HE Ai^ extension, whether within or without the mind ; and
affirms that all the furniture of heaven and earth, and all
tlie space beyond, is only ideally, and not really spread out.
In the face of all this, however, her Ladyship, although
she rationally admits that external unperceived objects or
causes, and external space beyond them, have an extension

632 I'ARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
really spread out, confidently, at the same time, insists
that all the seemingly-extended things, which we perceive,
and which we call heaven and earth, in as much as these
things are nothing but sensations in our minds, are not
REALLY spread out. This monstrous inconsistency is to
be found in the speculations of her Ladyship alone. No
thing to countenance it appears in the writings of the
most extravagant, or opposed philosophers.
There is a certain disorder of the intellect, incident to
all human minds, even to those of the most acute philoso
phers : it has, perhaps, never had a name ; but it may well
be caW.eA. philosophical enchantment. One species of this
disorder appears to have been the case of Bishop Berkeley.
And it may strongly be suspected that an early scholastic
prejudice ofthe inextension ofthe mind, (as being supposed
necessary to its simplicity or unity of consciousness,) may
have led to this disorder in him. If, therefore, it has
happened that the earliest instructor of Lady Mary Shep
herd Wcis a scholastic person, who believed in the inexten
sion of the mind, and who, consequently, would denounce,
as being pregnant with all the horrors of materialism, any
supposition of its being extended, we need, in this case, be
at no loss to conceive how it may possibly have happened
that her Ladyship has exhibited the singular spectacle of
taking up half the mantle of Berkeley, and leaving the
OTHER HALF BEHIND. Those, who have attended to the
statement, given in the First Lines, of the fact of Dr.
Reid's going over from the system of Berkeley, impelled
by an avowed fear of consequences, and of the curious di
vision, which Dr. Reid contrived to make of the common
stock, when he broke up the co-partnership, namely,
that of turning his master's visible figures out of the mind,
while he still retained our sensations of red, blue, yellow.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D 633
etc. within the mind, will never wonder at any effect of
philosophical enchantment, which can be exhibited of the
mind of a philosopher.
But, to proceed from authority, (which her Ladyship
frankly acknowledges to be altogether against her, but to
which she heroically refuses to yield any deference,) to
the positions and the reasonings, which she has advanced
for the support of her doctrine, in her book, as well as in
the foregoing paper : — the sweeping assertion, which her
Ladyship has made of, 'an entire absence ofthe knowledge
' of cause and of its manner of action, in the First Lines
' qfthe Human Mind,' could only have resulted from her
Ladyship's imagination having been charged with her
own views, and, therefore, her having glanced over that
work with a rapidity, which has induced a complete mis
apprehension of both its scope, and its nature. Not only
has the Theory qf Perception, laid down in tlie First Lines,
been recognized by different public critics as a Demon
stration qf necessary efficient Causation, attended with no
less a consequence, than that of transferring the Science
of Perception, from being, as heretofore, considered to
belong to the province of Physical Science, over to that
of Mathematical or Demonstrative; but, besides this, as
being only a particular feature of that work, the great
bulk of it is devoted to the purpose of introducing to phi
losophy a most comprehensive general system of Real
Efficiency, comprised in au analysis of the Category of
Relation, — a matter never adverted to, either by Mr.
Hume, or by any other writer, and which, it is conceived,
unless it shall be confuted, of itself alone entirely changes
the face ofthe subject of causation. The oversight of her
Ladyship, herein, is the more entirely the effect of haste,
in as much as her Ladyship has, on another occasion, ex-

634 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
pressly admitted that the structure of the Category of
Relation, as laid down in the First Lines, is vahd ; and
that of the old or accredited logic proportionately errone
ous. To these general remarks it is only requisite to
add that, the whole structure of philosophical grammar,
contained in Anti-Tooke, is founded entirely in reasoning
a priori upon the very structure of Relation now in ques
tion; and that the general tenor of both works is princi
pally made up of a course of demonstration of Necessary
Efficiency, concerning the cogency of which, as the evi
dences are ofthe very same nature as that of mathematical
truth, there can be no dispute among those, who are com
petent to the subject: although it is not here assumed that
there may not be particular instances of error, concern
ing which, if there be such, all parties can soon decide.
What, then, is to be expected from her Ladyship's at
tention, when she could see, in all this, only ' an entire
' absence of the knowledge of cause, and of its manner
' of action 9 '
A principal reason, therefore, for entertaining her
Ladyship's speculations here, is in order to do justice to
her very laudable merits, in havilig, from the best motives,
given herself to think on subjects very far removed from
the general bent of female studies, and having evinced a
very remarkable acumen therein : without which last, her
Ladyship certainly could not have acquired such a tact, of
the various subjects in her work, as has enabled her, with
whatsoever mistakes, to impugn philosophers on every side.
Along with this, also, it may be of service in a country,
wherein the subject is so very little understood by readers
in general, to afford a notion of its real merits ; since,
from the deplorable state of popular knowledge in this
direction, her Ladyship's notions with regard to exten-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 635
sion, are of that aspect, which, if they could, from any
collateral circumstances, acquire influence, might serve
for a net to catch the understanding of those thinkers, who
conceive it necessary to assert mind as having no simili
tude to the thing, which they suppose to be matter. Un
fortunately for her Ladyship's views, however, they fall
conclusively through the conception, which the pure
scholastic immaterialists form of mind, by her admitting
that mind has locality. As, for example, in p. 261, she
says : — ' The mind, in this landscape, is taken as an un-
' extended centre, ready to go forth amidst the surround-
' ing scenery.' And in p. 386, she says : — ' Though sen-
' sation does not occupy space as solid extension, yet it
' has a necessary relation to space by requiring space in
' which to exist.' After this position, therefore, it is to
the last degree inconsistent to deny that the mind is ex
tended. The genuine scholastic high immaterialists ne
ver, for a moment, admit locality or relation to place as
being an attribute of mind, well knowing that this would
be to admit its extension. The admission of the mind's
locality, therefore, by her Ladyship, (which she has done
unequivcoally in various places,) ought to save all farther
discussion on the subject.
But to come to her Ladyship's aguments : — in the first
place, nothing could be more foreign to the question,
than the assertion that, (according to the conclusion of
Mr, Fearn,) ' the sensation of a fat man would itself be
'fat;' and ' the sensation of wind itself be windy.' To
talk ofthe ' sensation of a fat man,' or of any man, is as
utterly out of the pale of pneumatology, as to talk of the
sensation of an epic poem. That, when we look at a fat,
or a lean man, we have a sensation — a complex sensation —
of colors limited by figure — is certain. And we have a

636 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
facsimile of this sensation, when we look at a reflection
of this man in a mirror. The like, nearly, also takes
place, when we contemplate a good joaiw^m^' of this man.
But it would be as utterly out of the science of pneuma
tology to affirm, or suppose, that our whole complex
notion of the man, (including his fatness, or leanness,
and all his other attributes, corporeal and mental,) enter
into the complex visual sensation, which we have, when
we look at this man, as it would be out of the science of
physics to assume that a painting of this man contains all
the solidity or depth, and all the other attributes, of the
man. What a painting is to an external real man, any
visual idea of him, in the mind, is to our whole complex
notion of him. The comparison, indeed, is not here sup
posed to be scientifically correct ; but the difference in
question is as great, and the analogy is tolerably correct,
for the present argument.
For the sake of general readers, in the present state of
pneumatological knowledge, it may not be superfluous to
add, here, that our notion of a man, whether fat or lean,
is constituted by a synthesis in the mind, of many very
different ideas. And in this synthesis there is, and can
be, no such thing as a sensation of fat: — Nay, more, if
we were even to look at a lump of fat itself, we must, in
like manner, institute, in our mind, a synthesis of various
ideas, in order to make up the notion of fat. If we look
at a mass of fat, we have a sensation of color, figured ; but
this sensation is no more an idea, or notion, of fat, than
it is of a snow-ball: and, to this visual sensation, we must
add, in the way of synthesis, the various notions of solidity
or depth, gravity, texture, infiammableness, unctuosity,
neutrativeness, taste, eic. Now, solidity is not the notion
of solidity ; — gravity is not the notion of gravity ; — and

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 637
so on. But the real fact in nature is that, when we look
at a mass of fat, we have a figured sensation of color ; and
UNDER, or behind, this sensation of color, as if it were an
envelop, or veil, we, in our conception, pZace all the supposed
other attributes of this mass. In this account, of the last
• stage of the process in question, has been, in a small de
gree, anticipated a statement of the general fact of our
THINKING IN COLORS — a matter, which is designed, by
the writer of this statement, to form a future paper in
pneumatological science, intended to be submitted to the
public eye, in the present, or in some other channel. As
for the synthetical process, herein adverted to, Lady Mary
Shepherd, in the remarks she has stated, has evinced her
being aware of the fact. And yet her Ladyship talks of
the ' sensation of fat,' — the ' sensation of wind,' — and
the ' sensation of extension.' It can hardly be necessary
to add that the notion of wind, as well as that of fat, is
made up by a synthesis, namely, that of the ideas of par
ticles possessed of certain attributes and of their motion.
But it may be of some service to the general reader to
learn that there is no such thing as a sensation qf exten
sion, except that of a mere sensible point, (although sen
sations are extended both in length and breadth;) because
the notion of field-extension is 7nade up synthetically, by
adding together, in idea, many sensible points qf color, or
of touch, and thus forming an ideal surface. And this is
true, because we can always analyse every field of color,
or of touch, into mere sensible points.
It must appear to be altogether unavoidable, in reply
ing to her Ladyship's criticisms, that the principles ad
vocated must be insisted upon decidedly, in order not to
sacrifice the subject. And it is, therefore, fortunate that
her Ladyship's tone of criticism demands a proportionate

638 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
degree of decision in reply. It is, at the same time, encou
raging, too, that, though her Ladyship's wont, in philo
sophy, is to tilt at outrance, her onset is ever in play,
and she will not object to be met in her own style, with
whatever inferiority in the art.
Secondly, to talk, as her Ladyship does, of a lean
man's requiring to be extended two cubic inches, every
way, beyond his own size, in order to enable him to per
ceive another man, who is two cubic inches every way
larger than he, is an extravagance, which, in any writer
of less meritorious general claims, would deserve no seri
ous reply. And here, as being vital to the subject, it is
impossible to avoid calling attention, to what may be af
firmed, without any fear of controversy, — a truth, which
the ancient atomic philosophers believed, when they sup
posed the mind to touch external objects through the eye as
with a staff, although they never fell upon the means of
reducing the fact to proof, — namely, that by the Laws of
Primary Vision it is now reduced to matter of strict
science, that the Sentient Principle or Mind operates by
the medium of a surface, which it presents to the im
pressions of the corporeal or nervous system. And, this
result having been determined by a kind of evidence un
deniably superior to that, which we have for those truths
in astronomy, which command universal credence, a host of
analogies leave nootherreasonable supposition with regard
to the FIGURE of the mind, than that of a globule, that
is to say, taken in some modificatiori of such figure, with
out any definite assumption here. In the case, therefore,
of the convex surface of a globule's being impressed
from without, it is self-evident that the Andes at any
given visible distance, and a gnat at any other given
visible distance, must produce an image on the surface

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 639
of this globule, of a size compoundly proportionate to
the external object, the direction of the rays of light,
the direction of the nervous fibres, and the convexity or
size of the globule itself, a fact in the physiology of the
subject, which it may be important to state here, for the
sake of readers in general, as well as for that of her Lady
ship. Thirdly, when her Ladyship talks of a ' solid', it is
out of the question, unless she means the word ' solid' in
the mathematical sense, namely, third dimension or depth.
And, even in this case, it is altogether foreign to the sub
ject, because it is a fact, which has been reduced to proof,
that we never perceive third dimension or depth itnmediately,
as we do surface. We apprehend depth only consequently
by a collection of reason. Accordingly, therefore, although
we can entertain the idea or image of a horse, galloping
on the surface of the mind, we certainly cannot actually
turn this ideal horse in the direction of the mind's depth,
and make hira gallop into or through the globule percipient.
In like maimer, her Ladyship would not for a moment
deny that the reflected image, on the surface of a mirror,
of a horse galloping, is really extended and really in mo
tion, although this image could not be made to turn
round, and gallop into the interior of the mirror. And
it is here equally cogent to add, that the image of a fat
man, reflected in a mirror, is not fat; although her Lady
ship would not deny that it is really extended.
Fourthly, her Ladyship asserts, that ideal extension, or
figure, cannot be measured, and she makes this the grand
objection against the reality ofthe extension qf our sensa
tions ; because she assumes that, in order to measure
things, it demands motion, and she denies that the images
of things move in the mind. Her Ladyship altogether and

640 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
wonderfully forgets her own continual doctrine, (which
all along follows in coincidence with the Laws of Pri
mary Vision as delineated by Mr. Fearn,) that all per
ceived motion, all perceived measuring, all the perceived
furniture of heaven and earth, including all their extended
figures and motions, are nothing but sensations in the mind;
although shejustlyadmits, and insists, that these sensations
have extended external causes. What, then, could exceed
the irrationality ofdenying the real extension of our figured
sensations, which her Ladyship insists are the only figured
things, that we ever do, or can perceive ; and yet, at the
same time, affirming the real extension of their external
causes, which she acknowledges we never perceive, and
concerning whose nature we never can have any evidence
but what is deduced, by a collection qf reason, as a conse
quence ofthe known nature of our sensations ?
Here, for the sake of the subject, it is indispensable to
offer a criticism upon her Ladyship's method; because
this, in a very serious manner, affects the whole course
of her speculations. Never having taken up the settled
and incontrovertible rule of philosophising, of reasoning
from our sensations, — which are effects, which we inti
mately know, — to their inferred external cause, which we
never can know with the same kind or certainty qf evi
dence, her Ladyship makes a show of defining the un
perceived extended external cause, and makes this definition
her standard of eoctension ; while she condemns, with great
decision, the procedure of those, who have treated the
perception of extension, when no regular definitions what
ever are attempted. It must be confessed that no per
son ought to write on philosophy, who does not thoroughly
appreciate the value of definitions, and of adhering to
them, after having occasion to lay them down. But, of

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 641
all the definitions in philosophy, one should think that a
regular definition of extension is the last that any writer
would dream of; and, for this reason, among others, —
namely — that a regular definition of extension, in all its
three different modes, — a line, — a surface, — and a solid,
— has been for ages prefixed to treatises on Geometry,
and it must be a thrice-gifted philosopher, who will ever,
by means of a definition, make mankind comprehend the
notion of extension better than they always have done ;
although it is one thing to understand what extension is,
and a vastly different thing to demonstrate, or understand,
upon what principles an extended figure is perceived. And
here her Ladyship might be reminded, with great effect,
that every individual geometrical figure, which we employ
Eis the subject of our reasoning in that science, is conse
quentially admitted by her Ladyship to be a figure in the
mind: while she will justly insist that every such figure
has an external extended cause, such as a diagram marked
out on paper, or on sand. Now it is self-evidently im
possible we could ever arrive at the inference, that a per
ceived triangle, or square, in the mind, is caused by an
unperceived triangle, or square, out of the mind ; except by
reasoning from the nature of the figure, which we perceive,
and inferring, (which is a vastly different thing from per
ceiving,) that the external cause is a corresponding figure.
In order to confirm this truth, it only needs here to be
suggested that, if the human eye were capable of receiv
ing images, on its retina, of a mile in diameter, but, at
the same time, if the nervous fibres of the optic trunk were
to converge, so as to discharge their impressions upon the
mind in a mere point, in this case, we never could by the
organ of sight have apprehended the idea of any figure, or
extension whatever : which self-evident truth furnishes a
distinct conclusive test, that v^'e never could so much as
2T

642 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
imagine such a thing as extension, or figure of any kind, if
we did not contemplate it in the figures we perceive.
If the love, which her Ladyship has manifested, for
laying out the subject in a course of technical phraseology,
and an array of defining, had been no more hurtful than
mere form, it might have been passed over, without pre
judice to the subject. But, the fact is, she has made her
definition of a thing, certainly far less known, the starting-
post, from which to reason toward perceived extension —
a thing certainly far more and most intimately known ;
which procedure is a total violation of the indisputable
rule of philosophising. In consequence of this proceeding,
therefore, she has been betrayed into a train of contradic
tory positions, the bare statement of which will form a
conclusive mass of proofs of the visionary nature of her
views. Thus, in p. 185, of her Essays on an External
Universe, she says — ' The organs of sense convey senti-
' ent existences internally to the inmost recesses of the
* soul, the understanding re-acts upon them, and places
' all things without it, in similar proportions.' Now, with
regard to the first part of this passage, it is not according
to fact, hecaMse sensations are never conveyed ; ihey start
originally up in the mind, a consequence of the operation
of an organ of sense, operated upon by an external cause.
But we understand what her Ladyship means ; and, there
fore, it is only necessary to note her assertion that, ' the
' understanding places all things without it in similar pro-
' portions' What similar proportions? Why, the si
milar proportions of the cause without, to the sensations
within. And, what can this mean, or imply, but that the
sensations within are extended, as well as the cause or thing
without. Again, her Ladyship says that ' colouring is
* placed in proportion to the positions of things among
' themselves ; and such positions are the capacities of dis-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 643
' tance, and the powers of motion in relation tons, as well
' as among themselves: What do, or can, the words ' co-
' louring placed in proportion to the positions' mean here,
if it is not another way of signifying the proportionate
extension of colors to their extended external causes. Again,
in p. 172, her Ladyship says : — ' Objects are therefore
« beings like ourselves, plus or minus the differences ; in as
* much as they are the proportional causes ofthe sensations,
' which they create,' Again, p, 260 : — • Unperceived
• motion truly goes forth to unperceived extension,' P,261,
' The mind perceives itself amidst the algebraic equations,
' the simple quantity, which never varies.' These passa
ges are given partly for the purpose of exhibiting the
abstruseness and technicality of phraseology, in which her
Ladyship has thought well to envelop the subject, instead
of rendering it plain by the most familiar terms and ex
amples. And this is the general tenor of her Ladyship's
language, not a little heightened, on many occasions, to
the utmost pitch of abstractness ; but which, when inter
preted into plainer terms, and weeded of the most extra
ordinary contradictions, resolves itself into no other than
a continued assertion of the extension of the human mind,
and ofaU mind. To justify these last remarks, her Lady
ship says in p, 406, ' The beginning of motion amongst
' bodies must, I think, be the same as that hetween mind
' and matter,' And in p, 386, where she says, — ' Though
' sensation does not occupy space as solid extension, yet
' it has a necessary relation to space by requiring space in
' which to exist : ' she adds — ' In this light each particular
* sensation must be the unextended quality of some kind
* of extension,' . What her Ladyship can mean, by ' the
* unextended quality of some kind of extension,' is what
the writer of these remarks cannot possibly comprehend.
And, after quoting such a passage, were it not for the ge-
2T2

644 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
neral claims of her Ladyship, it must be deemed that an
apology was necessary for going into any consideration of
the subject. The state of pneumatological knowledge in
the public mind, however, besides the merits of her Lady
ship, will serve for such an apology. Lastly, in p. 390,
her Ladyship talks of ' the Universal Mind, the infinite
' space for his residence,' etc. etc. And thus, losing sight,
for the moment, of her resolute assertion ofthe inextension
of the human mind, her Ladyship at length drops at once
into the grand conclusion ofthe extension ofthe Universal
Mind. This vast inconsistency is a lesson, which, we may
trust, cannot be lost upon the dullest reader of pneumato
logy. And yet those, who know any thing at all of the
History of Philosophy, will not be much surprised, if her
Ladyship should be enabled, hereafter, to find reasons,
which she may sincerely think valid, for denying that the
Universal Mind is extended ; for such has been the re
peated procedure of the human mind in similar situations.
Her Ladyship, however, has closed the door against all
retreat from this position, if positive expression could
close it. For in p. 400, she illustrates her meaning by
saying ofthe Deity, in making man after his own image : —
' He created organs, which might be the means of trans-
' fusing those qualities into minor portions of mind, by
' whose junction finite perception might take place ; qua-
' lities like in kind, but not in degree, to his own, which
* already united ' (to) ' and filling infinity, could stand in
' need of no organs in order to their determination.' Nor
would it be justifiable, on a subject of such moment, to re
frain from giving yet another instance of the same kind.
Thus, in pp. 190, 191, her Ladyship asks the questioii .-
' Shall God be either limited, or divisible, by senses that
' cannot detect his presence, although known by the
' understanding that he needs must exist, and be in

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL,D, 645
' all times and places, ready to appear to his creation ? '
But with regard to these disasters now unavoidably
pointed out, her Ladyship may be consoled by the as
surance, that no human intellect ever had power to avoid
' the like, in any attempt to maintain the ground, which
she has advocated. Her Ladyship's enterprise can only
be compared to one of those attacks in warfare, which no
man ever did, or could, outlive. In fact, the whole tenor
of her Ladyship's writings on perception appear to accord,
to such an extent, with the views of that subject stated in
the First Lines, and in several preceding publications
by Mr, Fearn, in the course of the last fifteen years,
(although treated in a very different manner,) that they
seem to differ almost in nothing, except in the opposition
of two of their principal conclusions — namely — : the na
ture of ideal extension, and the nature of external body :
although the statement of this fact is not intended to
question the assurance, whicih has been expressed by her
Ladyship, that she had never seen the First Lines, nor
any of the other publications in question. Her Ladyship's
manner of treating the subject, indeed, or, in other words,
the arguments, which she employs against the theory of
' Dr, Reid, display nothing but what her evinced general
acumen may well be credited for having produced. And,
as she has not interfered seriously with the Laws of Vision,
which chain of propositions forms the only system of evi
dence, that could ever put an end to the Succession of
logbmachies, which constitutes the whole history of per
ception, from the days of Plato and of Aristotle down to
the beginning of the present century, there can be no
misunderstanding with regard to the very remarkable
train of coincidences, which her Ladyship's speculations
certainly exhibits.
In one place, to be sure, her Ladyship has approxima-

646 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
ted to one of t^e Laws of Vision, in the following assertion ;
which, for a reason to be explained, cannot be passed over
without notice. In p. 261, she says: ' Visible figure is
' thus truly nothing more than a conscious line of demar-
' cation between two colours, and so must itself be colour.'
This amount of coincidence, added to all the other in
stances, might, fi-om the nature of the subject, appear very
surprising. But her Ladyship is defended from any sup
position of her taking it from the First Lines, by her pro
found mistake in concluding that a visible line must be
itself color — a mistake, into which her Ladyship never
could have fallen, had she previously perused the Laws of
Vision with any attention. As a fact in the history of
pneumatological science, however, her Ladyship's approx
imating to the matter at all claims particular notice here,
because it is perfectly manifest that Professor Stewart, in
defending his own proceeding, has not been able to adduce
any one instance of any writer's having ever taken up the
same ground ; or, else, it is plain he would never have
resorted to the palpable darkness of that passage, which he
has brought from Lord Monboddo for the purpose. And
this, his failure, proves that the nature of a visible line,
however simple it is, wlien discerned, is enveloped in a won
derful subtilty, which has had a most surprising power of
escaping detection by mankind. The author of the First
Lines has treated the nature of visible lines, as resulting
from a variety of colors, in five successive publications,
up to the year 1820> And her Ladyship's mention ofthe
subject has appeared in the year 1827. In this case, no
misunderstanding can possibly arise upon the subject. And
it only remains that her Ladyship may affirm, that she
• Esmy onCmsciaumess, 1812, — Kevieni of First Principles o{ Bishop Berkeley, I)r.
Reid, and Professor Stewart, 1813, — Demonstration of the Principles of Primary Vi
sion, ISli,— Letter to Professor Stewart on the Axiomatical Laws of Vision, 1817. —
First Lines of the Human Mind., 1820.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 647
makes one other person, among all the writers on pneuma
tology, whom the nature of a visible line had not altogether
escaped. Perhaps there is not a more surprising fact, in
the whole history of mental philosophy, than the escape
of this simple basis of Pneumatological Science from all
detection, until so late an epoch as that, at which it has
occurred. And certain it is that the Physiological nature
of the human mind, and that of the External Universe,
flows from the nature of visible lines with a consecutive-
ness, and a kitid of evidence, which is second to none in
any department of physics.
It is to be observed, farther, in her work— her Ladyship,
with a view to a particular doctrine, resumes the subject
of a visible line's being the result of two colors, in which
place she asks : ' For what is it makes the visual figure
' of an object, but a line of demarcation between it and
' some surrounding object of another colour?' Now, who
ever has read any of the successive publications of the au
thor of the First Lines, on the subject, wherein there is
a repetition of such passages as the following, must think
that these views of her Ladyship present, certainly, a
very remarkable agreement; and this the more so, as it
has been shewn how wonderfully the matter has escaped
writers in general. ' All visible figures are perceived
' only by the addition of some field of extended color be-
' yond them, A house, or a tree, may represent them
' all ; and if we look at a tree, with a wall, or with the shy
' beyond it, we habitually think that the figure we see, is
' that of the tree exclusively. But, in truth, it no more
' belongs to the tree, than to the sky beyond. Thus no
« visible object has any figure exclusively its own; for
' every two adjoining objects have but one line to serve
' both.' Review of First Principles of Bishop Berkeley,
Dr. Reid, and Professor Stewart, 1813.

648 PARRIANA OR NOTICES OF
But all that could be desired, here, was to state the
passages, now quoted, (as has been done,) and to express
the perfect satisfaction of the author of the First Lines in
the co-incidence.
One thing, with regard to the matter, is altogether evi
dent, namely — that, had Professor Stewart discharged
the office to the world, (which he was professing to teach,)
of affording the least public intimation with regard to the
advances, which the author of the First Lines had been
making in the subject, it is impossible her Ladyship could
have thought and written, in the same country, and yet
have been ignorant that the ground was fully occupied,
with gradual and labored steps of definite progression,
with that subject, which her Ladyship has touched upon
incipiently, and mentioned as if it were an original con
sideration. It is quite manifest that the subject has been
kept back, at least ten years, for want of that respiration,
which Mr. Stewart, in his station and circumstances, was
called upon to afford to it.
To take leave ofthe subject, which, after the present
discharge of a bounden and required duty, it is not pro
posed to let degenerate into any farther plea, or contro
versy, it is fortunate that her Ladyship has been forced
into the repeated assertion of the extension of the Great
Mind. For it is as manifest, as any axiom in geometry,
that this admission involves that of the extension of finite
minds. Utterly hopeless, therefore, would be the strug
gle, if her Ladyship should struggle, to avert this conse
quence by any power of human acumen. And, as her
Ladyship must relinquish one, or other, of her contending
positions on this ground, she will consult her own judg
ment, whether, or not, she can hope to disturb that foun
dation of Natural Theology, which, it is conceived by
the author of the First Lines, is indisputably laid in the

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 649
Laws of Primary Vision. At the same time, the men
tion of this consideration is not at all with a view to
deprecate the attempt, or to dull her Ladyship's genius,
should she entertain any such hope ; but is meant, entirely,
to draw her full attention to the real merits of the subject.
The vast moment of the subject has imposed an un
avoidable office. And it is most pleasing, now, to turn to
a consideration of the true light, in which her Ladyship's
exertions ought to be viewed. Who, then, is there, that
can fail to admire that one of her Ladyship's sex and rank,
should.evince both the bent and the energy to engage in
such discussions, as those, which she has not shrunk from
entertaining ? Her Ladyship has entered, with brilliancy
and decision, into most of the dark and difficult questions in
metaphysics ; wherein she has felt no hesitation in assail
ing the doctrines of all, who have gone before her ; and
has even not refrained from pronouncing on the 'pu
erility' of Newton, in believing that God could have cre
ated a world other than the present one. All this evinces
a fine and very extraordinary mind. Can it, then, be
wondered at, that her Ladyship, who soars, like the eagle,
should have viewed, with no great desire of imitation,
that creeping, like the tortoise, in which Newton found his
glory, and which, alone, will ever secure to us the con
summations of philosophy ? But let not this, which was
so nearly unavoidable in her Ladyship's circumstances,
be suffered to detract from her real and great claims to in
tellectual capacity. Without here attempting to give
the measure of what she has achieved, but strongly com
mending her speculations to the perusal of readers on this
subject, it may safely be affirmed that her Ladyship is
very rarely gifted.
In fine : — in the close of her criticisms, (which are rich
alike in the playful and the poignant,) her Ladyship says,

650 PARRIANA: OR NOTICES OF
' Nor, however empty ideas may be, will they give place to
' more solid materials.' It is to be feared that this last blow
cannot altogether be warded off. And nothing is left for
the object of it, but to throw down his arms and surren
der at discretion to one, of whom it must at all events be
said, ' she has wrestled well, and overcome more than her
enemies.' The following question, however, may be left for her
Ladyship's mature consideration, on account of the mo
mentous consequences, which it involves. After her
Ladyship has conclusively admitted that the ' fnfinite
Mind fills all infinity' — ' exists in all times and places' —
that ' we are minor portions of mind' — having ' qualities
like in kind,;' — after this decisive admission of sublime
and beautiful truth, what could be the possible use of mat-
TER ; or for what purpose would the Deity create an in
sentient thing, to serve as a mere medium of impulse — a
cushion of dead mechanism — between His extended sub
stance, and that of his sentient creatures, when, being like
in kind to our own extended substance, he can immediately
and continually impress all his creatures, with all the va
rious modes of pleasure and pain ? To think that God
would create anything that cannot feel, unless there were
a demonstrated necessity for his so doing, is the last de
gree of absurdity. And it is demonstrated that there is
neither a necessity for, nor so much as the shadow of a
utility in, such a creation ; not to mention the continual
and decisive evidences from mechanical philosophy, that
the thing called Matter is neither solid nor inert. Let her
Ladyship bend her fine understanding upon this consider
ation, viith the intensity that it demands ; and the mo
ment she discerns the necessity for acknowledging the
extension of the human mind, she will also discern that
for the explosion of a belief in matter.

THE REV, SAMUEL PARR, LL,D. 651

XXIX.
Synoptical Minute qf 'Anti-Tooke,'

The second and concluding Volume of this Analysis
of Tjanguage, being now before the public, and the lead
ing title of the work being both unattractive and liable to
* j^" Mr. Fearn is not content to shake and overthrow the fabric
of current notions about grammar, but he opposes the reasoning of
those, who have commented upon them. He has not only faced
the tide of the prejudice of the vulgar, but he wages war with the
refinement of the philosopher ; thus arraigning at once the two
parties ; throwing the gauntlet to the one, and sUghting the assist
ance or protection of the other. He has chosen to encounter a
powerful and well-regulated body of enemies, and at the same time
deliberately to cut off his retreat : and yet he flatters himself, and
if we are not egregiously mistaken, not without reason, that in
several cases of importance, though opposed to theories, which are
nominally received by the majority, he has yet the universal tacit
consent of all mankind in his favor. It is well known that no sort
of consistency is to be expected/rom those, who receive opinions
on the mere authority of other men ; in spite of an absurd rule,
which they profess to act up to, they will and must follow the un
conscious impulse of sound reason and instinct or discernment."
Notice oi Anti-Toolce, or An Analysis of Language, inihe Inspector
No. 17. Sept. 1827. p. 411. The principles, which Mr. Fearn has
laid down as fundamental truths of universal grammar, are there
clearly stated p. 414 — 15. The writer ofthe Notice is said to have
been Dr. Wurm ofthe University of Tubingen. E. H. B.']

652 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
be mis-apprehended until the nature of its principles be ge
nerally known, it is deemed advisable to furnish, here, a
copy of some of the more material articles in its Table of
Contents omitting, for the sake of brevity, a number of
intermediate heads ; and to enumerate a few of its results.
Volume First,* containing pp. xxii. and 366.
Chapter 1. — fntroductory View of the Nature of
Signs, — Of the Proper Object of the Philosophical
Grammarian. — Comparison of Ordinary Language with
Algebraical Notation. These two apparently different
Kinds of Signs generically and specifically identical. — Of
the Different Methods, which have been pursued by Phi
lologists, withaview to solvethe Problem of Language; and
especially of that, which has been followed by Mr. Tooke.
— Ofthe General Cause of past Failure in the Subject of
Language. — Analysis of the Generic Structure of Re
latives and Relation,-]- as forming the Primary Logical
Structure of Things in the Universe and the Foundation
of Language. — Collateral Statement of that Structure
of Relation assumed by Grammarians and Logicians,
Vast Incompatibility of these two Structures,
Chapter 2, — Of Verbs, — Ofthe General Nature and
Office of Verbs. — Of the Doctrine of Grammarians, that
Verbs are not Copulas between a Nominative and an Ac
cusative or Following Noun. — Statement of the Funda-
* A very able and particular article, on the First Volume, has
appeared under the head Philology, in the CYCLOP.a?DiA Edinensis :
which may be consulted in the absence of any critique in the lead
ing periodicals.
t This is an abridged Analysis of Relation, done from a much
more extended one in the First Lines of the Human Mind, pubUshed
in 1820 ; in which work the present principles of langu^e were
incipiently broached.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 653
mentail Principle of Language. — Suggestion of the
Principle of Alternation of a Verb in a Sentence. — Of
the Universal Neutrality of Verbs. — Brief Analysis of
the Nature of Physical Action, as being the Object sig
nified by a large Proportion of Verbs. — Of the Division
of the Objects of Language into Action itself; the State
of One Co-agent, with Respect to Action ; and the State of
the Other Co-agent, usually called the Patient : And of
the consequent Foundation and Use of a Principal Class
of Adverbs. — Of the Principle and the Act of Assertion.
Profound Error of Locke and other Grammarians, acqui
esced in by Mr. Tooke, in their asserting that the Verb
Substantive is the General Sign of Affirmation. — Con
cerning some Strictures, which have been offered by Pro
fessor Stewart, upon the Doctrine of Mr. Tooke, that
every Word in Language belongs, in all Situations, abso
lutely and unchangeably, to One and the Same Part
of Speech. — Of So-called Participles : and of Tense,
Mode, Voice, Number, and Person. — Of Auxiliary
Verbs- Chapter 3, — Of Minor Verbs, by Grammarians call
ed Prepositions, — Of the General Nature and Office of
Minor Verbs. — General Remarks on the Doctrine of
Grammarians with Regard to the Nature and Use of Pre
positions, here called Minor Verbs. — Mr. Tooke's The
ory of Prepositions more detrimental to Grammar than
that advanced by Mr. Harris. — Suggestion of the Tri
plicate Structure of Action, Upon which Structure is
founded a Principal Class of Minor Verbs, or So-called
Prepositions. Volume Second, containing pp. 438.
Continuation of Chapter 3. — Of the So-called
Infinitive Mode and its Signs. — Suggestion and Proofs

654 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
that the So-called Prepositions in those Two Prime Au
thorities for the Present English Language. — Chaucer
and Barbour — are disguised Words in ing — namely,
are disguised (and often not disguised,) Infinitives,
equivalent to So-called Progressive Participles, — in Con
currence with what has been maintained throughout. —
Of the Derivation of certain deformed and disguised So-
called Prepositions or Minor Verbs — namelj'', the Mi
nor Verbs In, With, From, and By. — Together with
Grammatical Considerations involved in this Research. —
Final Illustration of the Nature of So-called Prepositions
or Minor Verbs, and of the Law of Alternation of these
in series. — Conclusion of the Analysis of Minor Verbs.
Chapter 4. — Of Nouns, — Of their General Nature.
Of Number and Gender. Of the Accident, by Gramma
rians called Case. — Of Pronouns, divided into Leading,
Repeating, and Conventional.
Chapter5. — Of the words called conjunctions,
AND OF limited SILENCE, CONSIDERED AS AN ELEMENT
OF LANGUAGE. — Of the respective Offices of Adverbials,
of So-called Participles, and of So-called Adjectives, when
employed Conjunctively.
Chapter 6. — Of Abbreviation. — Of Breves, by
Grammarians called Adverbs.
Chap. 7. Of the ultimate philosophy of signs,
in so far as concerns the nature of ordinary
language. — Ofthe Views of Modern Philosophers with
regard to the Nature of Terms, both General and Parti
cular, stated here as preparatory to the Proposal of Dif
ferent Principles. — Of So-called External Perception ;
and of the Nature of So-called External Objects, consi
dered as forming a Part ofthe Foundation of Language. —
Of the Nature of Names or Terms, both Particular and

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 655
General, And of the Process of Reasoning, in the Em
ployment of each Kind.
A table of philosophical grammar. — AN example of
grammatical resolution. — conclusion of the work.

The following, which form some of the more prominent
results of the Series of Analyses, that constitute the work,
may serve in part to furnish a general notion of its bearing.
I. The Provinces, respectively, of the Inductive Ety
mologist and the Philosophical Grammarian, are altoge
ther distinct and several ; that of the former being the
History qf an Art, founded in empiricism, and therefore
ever varying from itself; while the latter forms a Pure
Science, of its own kind, deduced by reasonings a priori,
from the Unalterable Structure of Relatives and Rela
tion, The Principles of the Art, and those ofthe Science
in question, ought strictly to coincide, but they are hi
therto at variance, in a large and humiliating extent, in
the case of every language, as Languages are interpreted.*
The English Language, in its reaZ, but mistaken Structure,
is admirably adapted to be parsed according to the rules
of Scientific Grammar, without altering its present ex
press forms ; although it cannot boast of absolute perfec
tion, until some few of its idioms be corrected. The
* Mr. Tooke has aflirmed, with great truth, that, when he began
to write, ' all was darkness ' in Grammar. Yet, his meritorious
labors, seconded by those of his illustrious followers, have not effect
ed so much as a single change, either in the Number, the Names, or
the Definitions, of the admitted Parts of Speech, in the General
Rules of Syntam, or in the Principles of Parsing ! The Defini
tions, the Syntax, and the Parsing, in Bishop Lowth's introduc
tion, have not been surpassed in the proportion of one per cent, in
an approach to Science, in any English Grammar written since his
time. But, if Etymology had been of the genus of Grammutical

656 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
Hindostannee and the Malayan appear to possess some
advantage, even over the English Language. The Hin-
dostannee's having but one cory'ugation of verbs ; and its
affirming in the Progressive Participial Form, without
the Verb Substantive, are beautiful instances of a strict co
incidence of an Actual Language with the Philosophy of
Grammar. 2. The Philosophical Structure of Speech is eminent
ly simple. The whole universe, considered as form
ing the Objects of Language, is made up of only two
Categories or Predicaments, namely, of Co-agents,
and of Logical Actions, which are Links of Logical Con
nection between these Co-agents ; and Verbs are the Signs
of Actions, while Nouns are the Signs of Co-agents, Every
Speech, therefore, is, of necessity, of the Structure
OF A Bridge, (simple or complex,) connecting the two
Banks of a River; every Y^'KBheing a Simple Bridge
or Copula, supported by a Noun Substantive on either
side in the office of a Pier or Abutment, express or under
stood. All the Books in the world express nothing but
a succession of chains of Speech, consisting, alternately,
of Noun Verb, Noun Verb, Noun Verb, — mixed up
with Abbreviated Signs of Signs, resolvable, in like man
ner, into Noun and Verb. The Points of Grammar are
Virtual Speeches, in like manner resolvable into Nouns
and Verbs.
light, we could not, (in the current rage for applying Mr. Tooke's
discoveries,) have failed to improve our Grammar, in essentials, to
an extent far other than contemptible. The Grammars, which
would exclude the Participle from the Verb, and which make con
junctions connect single words, are more dark than that of
Lowth. It is impossible to deny that Etymology is the Pool of
Tantalus to the improvers of Grammar.

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR. LL.D 657
III. It is but a partial expression of the above-men
tioned principle, that, when Verbals come together in a
sentence, every Verbal, whether present or past, must
serve alternately as Noun and as Verb in that sentence.
This is a most important Principle in Grammar, result
ing from the Structure of Relation; and its real exist
ence is virtually recognised in English Grammar ; although
it stands therein deplorably as a mere anomaly, namely,
that by which Verbals in ing are often situated and parsed
as Nouns, and yet have the Regimen of a Verb,
IV, Verbs are all of One Kind, and One Species, un
der Two Varieties, namely. Major Verbs and Minor
Verbs; the latter differing from the former in nothing
but in the circumstance of depending upon and defining
them in a sentence. The Verb Substantive differs in nothing
from any other Verb : it never couples a Nominative with
a Verb, but it invariably couples a Nominative with time,
or SPACE, as in, — lam walking, — it means, lexist in spacej
(or in the STREET,) Walking, The Hindostannee says,
NOT — I walk, or / AM walking; but I walking. In point
of fact. Englishmen affirm always in the Participial Form,
without knowing that they do so. For, / walk, is (purely)
I walking, since the form of the Infinitive carries one same
grammatical import, as that of a word in ing. The past
error, concerning this Principle, hasbeenagreatstumbling-
block in Grammar.
V. The So-called Parts of Speech — ¦ that is So-called
Substantive and Adjective, Noun and Verb, Preposition
and Adverb, possess no absolute nature, but change their
office accordingly as they are arranged in association with
other words. In fact. Associated Position is almost every
thing in Grammar : which follows necessarily from the
Structure of Relation.
2U

658 PARRIANA . OR NOTICES OF
VI. The Languages of the World exhibit the specta
cle of Classes of Verbs, that are parsed without any Fol
lowing Noun, either express or understood : which is the
very same amount and kind of absurdity, as if we were to
state a Mock Algebraical Formula, consisting of Signs of
Quantities, between Some Twos of which there is, (as there
ought to be,) a Sign of Operation, but between Other Twos
NO SIGN OF OPERATION I than which no imaginable fact
could place the existing state of Grammar, both Verna
cular and Universal, in a predicament more humiliating
to the logical pretensions of mankind.
VII. All So-called Prepositions are MinorVerbs.
Every Verbal in ing may be, and often actually is, em
ployed propositionally. And this is the perfection of
Language in the Department of Verbs.
VIII. No So-called Preposition ever proceeded from
Corruption : although the express forms of hacknied Pre
positions have become corrupted, through the attrition of
use. It would be no greater absurdity to assume that any
of the Signs of Operation in Algebraical Notation proceed
from Corruption, than it is to assume that a So-called
Preposition can so proceed. The So-called Prepositions,
IN, with, from, and by, mean the living and uncorrupted
Verbals — One-ing, Tying, Beginning, and Touching
or Nearing: And they must be so parsed, — Any So-called
Preposition construed as a Noun, or yet as an Imperative,
is the grossest of absurdities. To assume that it would
be stiff, awkward, or affected, to construe So-called Pre
positions for what they really are, is a profound darkness
in Grammar. It was nothing but the error of mistaking
these Words for Nouns and Imperatives, that gave rise to
that dark assumption.
IX. So-called Articles and Adjectives are Ele-

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 659
ments of a Noun Substantive. These three, (taken in
versely,) demand the logical names of a Nouri Generic, a
Noun Specific, and a Noun Particular or Concretive. There
are no Abstract Terms in Language. Words standing
in a Lexicon, in as much as they are insular and not as
sociated, are indeed abstract terms; but, thus situate, they
are no part of a Fabric of Language : they are merely pre
pared masses of lingual material, and they bear only the
same relativeness to speech, that sionesheum out to adapt
ed shapes in a quarry, or types distributed in the boxes of
the compositor, have to any building, or book, in which
they are afterwards to be fitly placed. And, in the very
placing of them thus, they must be expressed, or under
stood, as being attached to some Noun Concretive ; which
leavens the whole composite Noun, and turns it into a Con
crete. The Composite Noun, — A White Man, — must be
parsed as a Noun Substantive, naming the three elements,
distinctly, in a way analogous to that, in which that most
absurd thing, a So-called Compound Verb — is parsed in
Accredited Grammar. It is a striking contrast in Philo
sophical against Accredited Grammar, that AU Nouns
Substantive, except Verbals, when they serve for such, must
be parsed as compounds; and Verbs, universally, as sim
ple. -^— Auxiliaries are all distinct Verbs ; and they alter
nate in a sentence, like other Verbs.
X. So-Called Prepositions are an Element of Speech
most different, in their Grammatical Mechanism, from
the Words called Conjunctions, The assertion of Mr.
Tooke, that they are, or ever were, in themselves. One
Same Part of Speech, is a thick darkness in the Philosophy
of Lingual Signs.
XI. In the department of Nouns, the Doctrine of
case, (derived from the Ancient Grammarians,) is a
2U2

660 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
crying absurdity in Language. Speech is not a stream
any more than it is a Coach or Carriage, as Mr. Tooke
has called it : But it is a road — a road of continued
bridges standing upon piers. No Word, therefore,
can ever come within the analogy of falling, in the
sense of a stream, or a stone, falling from a precipice. But
every Noun Substantive in a Sentence is analogous to a
Pier, or a Bank, and is therefore, purely, a Leading Noun,
or a Following Noun.
XII. Abbreviation is a System of Mechanism dis
tinct from the Essential Structure of Language. But
Abbreviations are not analogous to " icings:" because
Language is not analogous to a flying thing, nor to any
thing that moves.
The statements, now given, are manifestly designed to
vouch or arrogate nothing. It is intended that their in
ternal evidence alone should enable those, who are com
petent, to discern what is their general nature and ten
dency. Nothing is here averred, except only that the
work has formed the exclusive principal labor of the au
thor during nearly seven years, — which, indeed, may mark
the degTee of his trust in its scope and validity. Among
the readers of Dr. Parr's biography there must be a large
number, who are especially competent to perceive what
is the real complexion of the work. And these must be
aware, from the existing bent of popular taste, that the
leading periodicals may, naturally, be slow to examine
lobors, so far diverging from the ordinary track.
Independently of the considerations above mentioned,
there is a collateral propriety in the insertion of these
statements in the Parriana. Dr. Parr having, in the
Bibliotheca Parriana, expressed an avowal, upon a point
far too solemn for him not to have been deeply in earnest.

THE REV. SAMUEL PxVRR, L.LD. 661
regarding an early work of the author, and amounting
to an implied promise for the cast of his onward labors,
it is proper, in case Anti-Tooke may prove to be the last
of these, that a Work on Dr. Parr's biography should con
tain some evidence, as to whether, or not, his pledge has
been redeemed; because any utility, which may follow
from these researches, ought to be associated with the
name of him, who has thus aided in their promulgation.
NOTE.
It is so very material that the attention of philosophical
readers should be called to the nature of tliat ground of
departure from the old scheme of relation, which is here
supposed to give validity to the structure of language de
lineated in Anti-Tooke, (seeing that the latter must either
carry or sink under so extensive a fabric as that of lan
guage, and, indeed, that of Universal Logic along with it,
which last mentioned science manifestly cannot have at
tained so much as a healthy infancy, if the accredited
scheme of relation has been proved erroneous,) that the
following remarks may, perhaps, be of essential service,
in rousing the curiosity, and exciting the interest, of those
who are in any way concerned for these two sciences.
The very competent writer of the article on the first
Volume of Anti-Tooke, under the head Philology, in the
Cyclopcedia Edinensis, while he fully embraces, as founded
in a mathematical analysis, that scheme of relation, which
the work in question suggests, at the same time appears
confident, that a co-incident view of relation has not
escaped the notice of various original writers; although
he admits that no evidence of any dissent from the old
scheme is to be found in the ordinary Treatises of Logic,
Accordingly, this gentleman, (with whom, it appears, the
subject has long been a favorite pursuit,) has searched;

662 PARRIANA : OR NOTICES OF
and, in the very beginning, has laid his hand on the Me-
dicina Mentis of Langius, in which the thing is spoken
of in terms, that have been rendered into English thus : —
' Relation is a mode, by which, on account or by means
' of a certain link, or foundation, one thing regards ano-
' ther, as a related thing is referred to its correlative ; —
' for example, between a teacher and his scholar there
' subsists a relation by means of the link or foundation of
' teaching. — Compare here the vulgar systems of logic,
' and see their absurd confusion.'
While the author of Anti-Tooke was, certainly, not in
the least aware of the above, or of any other such co-in
cidence, and is by state of health prevented from any
search for similar authorities, he desires to thank the truly
philosophical writer in the Cyclopcedia ; and seizes upon
the matter, in order to hold it up, that it may operate upon
the minds of some readers, who might otherwise be less
prompt in discerning the real force of the subject. In
deed, while it cannot be doubted that a logical tie of some
sort or other is darkly implied in every account of relation
extant, the express assertion of this tie was a step to
ward removing the darkness. But the vacillation, between
the word ' link^ and the word 'foundation.^ proves that the
Medicina Mentis had not removed the cloud, in any degree,
so as to lead to the production of science. And the great
and mischievous darkness, which required to be cleared
away, was with regard to the logical structure or mechan
ism of the tie in question.
ThefoUowing^of-Mofeinthe Diversions of Purley,
1, 20. in which Mr. Tooke darkly jests with what may be
called the \ ery pith of the philosophy of language, may be
made to emit much valuable light on what is said above.
* The Latin Grammarians, (says he,) ' amuse themselves

THE REV. SAMUEL PARR, LL.D. 663
' with debating whether a-vvSe<T/u.os should be translated
' convinctio or conjunctio. The Danes and the Dutch
' seem to have taken different sides of the question ; for
' the Danish language terms it bindeord, and the Dutch
' kopplewourd,' — On this note it is to be observed that
the Dutch have adopted a most just or philosophical view
ofthe Grammatical tie in question, though, probably, they
knew not the logical ground — namely, the true structure
qf relation — on which they preferred it. Mr. Harris,
(with the Danes,) has considered so-called Prepositions as
bindeords : while Mr. Tooke, (we see, ) has laughed at any
distinction's being made between uniting and coupling
in Grammar !
One experiinentum crucis, by which the structure of
Relation, laid out in Anti-Tooke, may be put to the test,
is to compare it with Algebraic Notation, and to mark that
these two structures are mathematically t^v^ and arche
type, one to the other ; while the structure of verbal
language, deduced from that of Relation, is rigorously a
type of both the former — it differing only as a variety, and
not as a species, from the language of Algebra.
John Fearn.

END OF VOL. /.

SVVAFFHAM, NORFOLK:
PRINTED BY FREDERICK SKILL.

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