Shakspeare; J. P. Kemble, esq. not only an excellent Critick and Collector of dramatic curiosities, but himself (perhaps with the exception of his Sister only) the best living exemplar of Shakspeare's text; the Rev. H. J. Todd, the illustrator of Milton and Spenser, to whom he left a legacy for his trouble in superintending the sale of his library; Francis Newbery, esq. of Heathfield, co. Sussex; Richard Sharp, esq. M. P. for Castle Rising; and George Nicol, esq. the judicious purveyor of literary curiosities for the King. Some of these gentlemen were members of a select dining-club, of which he had from its origin been the President. On the bed of pain and anguish, another of his oldest friends (though unable to hold a pen) feels a soothing satisfaction in dictating this last tribute of respect to so exemplary a character. He died Jan. 5, 1807, at his chambers in Staple-inn, of which honourable Society he had long been one of the antients, worn out by natural debility, which for the last two or three years had rendered his hands unable to do their office, though his mind retained its original firmness *. Mr. Reed left considerable property to some relations, and small pecuniary remembrances to most of his friends. J. N. * His remains were interred at Amwell, agreeably to his own request, on Tuesday the 13th of January, attended by Mr. Braithwaite, Thomas Green, esq. and George Nicol, esq.; and his relations, Mr. Aubrey Joseph Lum and Mr. Robert Lum. See the article in the European Magazine already referred to. + See a copy of Mr. Reed's will, with Twelve Codicils, in the Monthly Mirror, 1807, p. 130.-The first of these Codicils contains only, "I give to Mr. John Nichols, Printer, two guineas." The third, "I revoke the legacy given to John Nichols. I. R. See additional codicil, dated 7th August 1799. I. R." No codicil, however, of such date appears; nor am I conscious of ever having given him the slightest offence. I have, therefore, every reason to believe that he intended to have augmented the legacy. END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. NICHOLS and SON, Printers, Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London. No. XIV. ADDITIONS to DR. LORT. In a former article respecting this learned and very eminent Divine, is a concise Essay, communicated by himself, on the Author of "The whole Duty of Man*;" to which, from the Collection of Mr. Gough, I now subjoin a correspondence of Dr. Lort with Mr. Prichard, a Herefordshire gentle See before, p. 597. And see in Gent. Mag. for April 1812, p. 314, some remarks, collected by him, on Antient Manners. "Mr. Prichard was a gentleman of fortune at Ledbury in Herefordshire. He was a great Freethinker, and fond of communicating his notions in all companies. He had a particular spleen to David's character, which he was known to have drawn at length; and was therefore supposed to have been the author of the History of The Man after God's own Heart; but this he always denied, and I believe, justly. In 1763 or 4, he went into the South of France for the recovery of his health, where he died, and was buried, by his own desire, in consecrated ground.— I saw him at Malverne Wells in 1761; and, in company with Mr. John Yorke, was invited to breakfast with him at his house near Ledbury, where he had an excellent garden, with every thing in great perfection. His letter to me, he says, was written by his servant; that is, by a woman whom others called his mistress. M. L." 1. "SIR, Trinity College, Cambridge, Sept. 10, 1761. "Mr. Yorke was pleased to tell me that you had shewed him a copy of Collins's Discourse on Freethinking, in which the famous passage of Idiota Evangelista, quoted by that writer, was left untranslated; and thence concluded, that Dr. Bentley had very unfairly triumphed over him, on a presumption of his having rendered it Idiot Evangelists. Was this really the case, I should have the most contemptible opinion of Dr. Bentley's understanding, as well as morals; for nothing could equal the wickedness of so gross a misrepresentation, but the silliness of supposing it could be long undiscovered. "In the copy which I have of Collins's book, the passage is actually translated; and Bentley has quoted it very fairly in his Remarks. But the mystery lyes here--Collins had this book more than once re-printed abroad, though in the title-page said to be at London; and, besides several considerable additions, the translations of the Authors quoted are in several places corrected from Dr. Bentley's Remarks, and some references are made to those Remarks. "This is asserted in Collins's Life in the General Dictionary, which has many partial things in his favour. Indeed his moral character was never, that I know of, impeached by his antagonists; VOL. II. Xx on man, on a remarkable passage in Collins on "Freethinking," and the two following very handsome complimentary addresses to Dr. Lort, by young Students who have since most highly distinguished themselves in the Republic of Letters: "Reverendo Doctissimoque Viro MICHAELI LORT, S. T. B. hujusce Collegii è Senioribus Sociis, et Mæcenati suo quamplurimùm colendo. Cùm sacras hasce, Vir spectatissime, intueor ædes, loci religionem, quotque qualesque et nunc et olim optimis feliciter inclaruere studiis, animus mihi se quadantenus subducit, et ingenii, ut ut sint exiguæ, vires quasi retrudit suas. Spe tamem benignitatis tuæ adducor (cujus non mediocris egeo) ut conatu in arduo eam exoratum veniam.-Tu, cùm Juventutem in Doctrinæ ipso peregisti sinu, eam, per optimarum rerum studium dignitatem meruisti, unde Particeps on the contrary, was well spoken of by some of them: yet I know not how to reconcile a shuffling management of this sort, which has, I doubt not, imposed upon others as well as you, Sir, to the strictness of such a character; or to that love of truth, and consequently openness to conviction, which I shall ever honour wherever they are found. I flatter myself that I need seek for no apology for troubling you with this; if I did, the place from whence it is dated, to which Dr. Bentley did so much credit, will furnish me with a very good one. I cannot conclude without returning you my thanks for the civilities which you were pleased to shew at Malverne, to, Sir, "Your most obedient humble servant, M. LORT. "To G. Pritchard, Esq. near Ledbury, Herefordshire." 2. "I am much obliged for the favour of your letter. Receiving information must always be agreeable to me, as I hope truth will always be the end I aim at in iny enquiries. I own I am puzzled in regard to the passage of Idiotis Evangelistis in Collins and Bentley, which you say is actually translated in the copy which you have of Collins's Book. Before I proceed, excuse a short query; whether you do not quote from memory, rather than the book itself? as you term it, "the famous passage of Idiota Evangelista;" whereas, both in Collins and Bentley it is in the ablative, Idiotis Evangelistis I hope you will not imagine that this is mentioned by way of finding fault; for I will own that I am often guilty of little inadvertencies, and who is not? But what can be said in regard to this difference? You say that the mystery lies in "Collins having his book more than once reprinted abroad, though in the title-page said to be at London; and besides seve ral præ evaseris Judicii per gravissimos Viros agendi de "Sum Tibi omni obsequio devinctissimus, * ral considerable additions, the translations of the Authors quoted are in several places corrected from Dr. Bentley's remarks, and some references are made to those remarks." Now my book of Collins's seems to have all the signs of a first edition: there are no such signs as you mention; so far from it, that several crcumstances plainly indicate the improbability of its being one of those re-printed books; as, upon examination, I find it to answer exactly in the several pages to Bentley's quotations; which, if there had been several considerable additions, it could not well have done, especially as my edition is in Svo, as it was first printed, and in a large print. Then here are no places, which I can find, corrected from Dr. Bentley's Remarks (unless you suppose this passage in dispute to be so), or any references made to any Remarks. And it really seems very extraordinary to suppose Mr. Collins should, in the same year in which he published his book (which was in 1713, which is likewise the date of mine), publish another edition *, only to alter two words, and indeed two words of very little consequence, and at the same time make no other alterations, by the additions, corrections, &c. you mention, though the same reason must then subsist for his making such as did at the time of any other edition in which you say he did so; as Bentley's Remarks must have been then published, if Collins altered Idiot Erangelists to Idiotis Evangelistis in pursuance of those Remarks. And besides, there certainly was another edition, in 12mo, printed at the Hague in this year 1713, that has those additions, &c. you mention; so I cannot avoid repeating, that it must seem very extraordinary that a book should be printed in 1713, and various Remarks made upon it by Dr. Bentley, and then immediately another edition of this book should come out with two words only, of trifling consequence, altered according to those Remarks; though certainly there was another edition of this book the very same year published by the author with several Is it not most probable that Mr. Collins had the single leaf only cancelled, in which the offensive words occurred?" J. B. N. x x 2 additions. "Reverendo Doctissimoque Viro MICHAELI LORT, S. T. B. hujusce Collegii è Senioribus Socio dignissimo. Unicuique profectò est aliquid quo tendit, et in quod arcum dirigit. Varia autem hominum sunt studia, diversi etiam mores. Qui tamen in re unâ, qualiscunque sit, curam, quam potest, impendit, in pretio habetur. In Olympico certamine victorem palmâ donatum laudamus; sed nec Musis amico sua negatur fama: illi licèt sub sole additions, and several translations candidly corrected from those Remarks. Thus, Sir, I must leave it to you; and, as I hope from your apparent candour, that Dr. Bentley's great learning has not biassed you to be an implicit admirer of him, I will venture to mention an answer I had from a worthy Dignitary of the Church, upon my mentioning this Idiotis Evangelistis affair to him; which was, That nothing was too impudent for Dr. Bentley. And give me leave to add that, in my life, I never read any book so pedantically affected, awkwardly witty, overbearing, and scur rilous (I cannot find epithets sufficient) as Phileleutherus Lipsiensis. I am certain I need not point out to you, Sir, the places, to prove what I say. But, if the particular fault wherewith Dr. Bentley has been charged does not belong to him, let him be cleared; for I would not be willing that even the Devil himself should be made to appear blacker than he really is. Indeed, if any thing comes near the Doctor's way of writing, it is a paper in the Guardian, vol. I. No. 3, which attacks the Author of the Discourse of Freethinking in a pretty kind of tragi-comic manner. If you have forgot it, let me recommend the re-perusal, as it will afford an odd kind of amusement. Be pleased particularly to attend to the place where p. 136 of Collins is quoted, and turn to that page. I hope this is the only book wherein people are treated with contempt for being sober wretches in their religion, and for not having fire enough to be any farther de bauchees than merely in principle. You will excuse my freedom. I consider myself as familiarly talking to my friend, which I sincerely desire you to be, for I am, Sir, “Your obliged and most obedient servant, GEO. PRICHARD. Hope-end, near Ledbury, in Herefordshire, 22d Sept. 1761. "If you see Mr. Yorke, I beg you will present my most respectful compliments to him. I thought it would not be disagreeable to have my letter copied by my servant, as I begin to find a great defect in the steadiness of my hand. If I am faulty in my address in the superscription, pray let me know it. G.P." S." SIR, Trinity College, Cambridge, October 12, 1761. I have your favour of the 22d of September, to which I should sooner have returned an answer, but that I waited in hopes to |