These blessings are gone as a vision of the night : the memory of them will always be upon my mind, during the remainder of my journey; through which I must now travel alone. But I need not be solitary, if the Word of God be my companion, and his Holy Spirit my guide, till I shall once more join my departed saint, never more to be separated; which God grant in his own good time!

I am your faithful and afflicted friend,

William Jones.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES

OF THE

WRITERS FROM WHOM THE LETTERS ARE SELECTED.

ARBUTHNOT, John,-a celebrated physician, scholar,

and wit, was born, soon after the Restoration, at Arbuth not, near Montrose; and died in London, on the twenty seventh of February, 1735.

Dr. Johnson, in his life of Pope, describes the character of Dr. Arbuthnot in the following striking terms. "Arbuthnot was estimable for his learning, amiable for his life, and venerable for his piety. He was a man of great comprehension, skilful in his profession, versed in the sciences, acquainted with ancient literature, and able to animate his mass of knowledge by a bright and active imagination: a scholar with great brilliance of wit; a wit, who, in the crowd of life, retained and discovered a noble ardour of religious zeal." He was much beloved and esteemed by the most eminent persons of his time. "He has more wit than we all have," said Swift, "and his humanity is equal to his wit."

His principal work is "Tables of ancient Coins, Weights, and Measures." He published also some professional treatises; and several pieces of wit and humour. -His letters, contained in Pope's Epistolary Correspondence, are written with ease and beautiful simplicity. His thoughts seem to drop from his pen as they rise into his mind. "One of the most interesting and manly letters in the collection addressed to Pope," says Mr. Hayley, "is the last of Arbuthnot's," (inserted in this volume,) "containing the dying advice of that genuine, accomplished friend, to the too irritable poet."

ATTERBURY, Francis,-bishop of Rochester, was born on the sixth of March, 1662. He was, from early youth, distinguished by his fine talents, great learning, and aspiring mind. In 1713, he was advanced, by queen Ann, to the episcopal dignity. On the accession of king George the first, he gave strong proofs of disaffection to the government. In 1722, he was committed to the Tower, on suspicion of being concerned in a plot in favour of the pretender; and in the following year, he was deprived, by a special act of parliament, of all his offices, benefices, and dignities, and was banished the realm. He spent the remainder of his days in exile; and died, at Paris, on the fifteenth of February, 1732.

The character of Atterbury, both in a moral and a political point of view, has been variously represented; but it is universally agreed that he was a man of uncommon abilities, a fine writer, and an eloquent preacher.—His works are, chiefly, Sermons in four volumes octavo, and controversial pieces. His letters, published in the Epistolary Correspondence of Mr. Pope, are remarkable for their ease and elegance; and they exhibit him, in a pleasing light, both as a writer and as a man.

BARKER, John,-a dissenting minister in London, and author of two volumes of sermons. The rev. Mr. Stedman, editor of "Letters to and from Dr. Doddridge," says that he had endeavoured, but in vain, to procure some biographical information respecting Mr. Barker.His pious and beautiful letter to Dr. Doddridge, which is inserted in this volume, was written during the last illness of that excellent man. He shed tears on the perusal of it; and was deeply affected with the friendship which it expressed, and with the divine consolations, which it administered.

BEATTIE, James,-an eminent poet and moral philosopher, was born on the twenty fifth of October, 1735,

at Lawrencekirk, in the county of Kincardine, in Scotland. His parents kept a small retail shop in his native village: they were poor, but honest and respectable. He received his early education at the parish school of Lawrencekirk; and, by means of a bursary, he was enabled to pursue a course of academical studies in Marischal college, Aberdeen. When he left the university, he was appointed parochial schoolmaster at Fordoun, a small village near Lawrencekirk. He continued there about five years; and then went to Aberdeen, where he spent the remainder of his life. On the eighth of October, 1760, he was installed professor of moral philosophy and logic in Marischal college; and, during a long course of years, he was indefatigable in the discharge of all the duties of that important and honourable office. By the gentlest means, he preserved the most exact discipline. He took particular pains deeply to impress the precepts of morality and religion on the minds of the young men committed to his charge. His mild manner, his amiable disposition, and his fine talents, rendered him the object of their mingled love, respect, and admiration.

In 1770, he published his first work, (except some juvenile poems,) his celebrated "Essay on the nature and immutability of Truth, in opposition to Sophistry and Scepticism;" and, soon after, his beautiful poem of "The Minstrel" appeared. In testimony of high approbation of these works, particularly of the " Essay on Truth," he received, in 1773, the honorary degree of doctor of laws from the University of Oxford, and a pension of two hundred pounds a year from the king.

In the latter years of his life, Dr. Beattie experienced great afflictions, which he endured with Christian patience and resignation. His wife had sunk into a state of incurable derangement, which wholly deprived him of her society and assistance: his own health was very infirm: and he lost his two sons, the darling objects of his affection; the elder at twenty two, and the younger at seven

Q

teen years of age *. The death of the latter of them, Montagu Beattie, who was his last surviving child, took place in 1796: it seemed almost to overwhelm him; and, from that time, his health and faculties declined so rapidly, that he became incapable of all application to study or business. After repeated paralytic attacks, he had a severe stroke on the fifth of October, 1802, which deprived him altogether of the power of motion. He languished till the eighteenth of August, 1803, when it pleased the Almighty to remove him from this world, in the sixty eighth year of his age, without any pain or apparent struggle.

Virtuous tenderness of heart, and acute sensibility, were distinguishing traits in the character of Dr. Beattie. His gratitude for favours received, seemed to know no bounds. His piety was ardent. He discharged, in the most affectionate, conscientious, and exemplary manner, all the relative duties of a son, a brother, a husband, a father, and a friend.

The works of Dr. Beattie, besides those already mentioned, are: "Miscellaneous Poems;" "An Essay on Poetry;" "Dissertations Moral and Critical;" "Evidences of Christianity," a popular and highly useful little treatise; and "Elements of Moral Science."-A considerable collection of his familiar letters is' contained in his life, published by his friend and executer, sir William Forbes, in two volumes quarto; from which the preceding account is extracted.

BOYSE, Samuel,—an ingenious poet, was born at Dublin, in the year 1708. He was the son of a respectable dissenting minister. He received a liberal education; his talents for poetry procured him, in early life, considerable patronage; and he had many opportunities of

*Of these two promising young men an account is given in “True Stories, or, Interesting Anecdotes of young Persons.”