He was Kind and Beneficent to his Relations,
Benevolent to the Poor,

and deservedly respected by all his Friends and Neighbours.
He was born July 18th, 1720, O.S.,
And died June 26th, 1793.

Nec bono quicquam mali evenire potest,
nec vivo, nec mortuo."

The foregoing simple sketch of the life of Gilbert White, imperfect and unsatisfactory as it is, serves to bring before the readers and admirers of his book some traits of his mind and character which harmonize perfectly with those which are less obviously developed in his writings. The same combination of simplicity and refinement, the same acuteness of observation, the same humility and absence of all ostentation and self-consciousness which together constitute the great charm of his work, are equally conspicuous in his familiar correspondence and the everyday habits of his life. Anecdotes which have formerly been told me show that, besides the qualities to which I have alluded, his temper was particularly placable and forgiving. An amusing instance of this was related to me by his own nephew. His old servant, Thomas (who, it would appear, was somewhat spoilt by indulgence), came one day to his master and Rebecca (Mrs. Snooke); Dorothea, who became the wife of her father's successor as vicar of the parish; and Elizabeth, who married her second cousin, the Rev. Charles White, Rector of Bradley, who, as has been before stated, left the Selborne house to Gilbert, who had been his curate. Charles was therefore his uncle only by marriage. In the church register at Selborne I find the following entry:— 1738. William Henry Cane, Vicar of Selborn, and Mrs. Dorothea White were married Jan. 3rd."

66

"The Rev. Charles White, Rector of Bradley, and Mrs. Elizabeth White, of this parish, were also married on the same day, Jan. 3rd, 1728."

30

said, "Please, sir, I've been and broke a glass."

"Broke

a glass, Thomas! How did you do that?" "I'll show you, sir." So he went and brought a wine-glass in his hand, which he threw down on the floor, saying, "That's how I broke it, sir." "There, go along, Thomas! you his master, and then muttered, "And I was as great a one for asking such a foolish question."

are a great fool," said

own verses.

Before closing this memoir it may not be irrelevant to bestow a brief consideration on the subject of his poetical taste, and the manner in which it is manifested in his That he had formed his judgment on an extensive acquaintance with the best poets of this country, as well as those of ancient Greece and Rome, is evidenced by his letters to his younger relations; and more particularly in two of those to his nephew Samuel Barker, of a somewhat didactic character, will be found indications of a sound judgment in poetical criticism. There is much that is pleasing in several of his own productions; and I may especially mention the "Invitation to Selborne," and with still higher praise his charming "Naturalist's Summer-Evening Walk "*. In an unpublished note by his nephew Edmund, the Vicar of Newton Valence, I find the following high appreciation of this poem by one whose approval was no slight testimony to its merits :-" Dr. Joseph Warton (head master of Winchester), calling upon me after Gilbert White's death, said to me, Mr. White, I quite envy your uncle the "Summer-Evening Walk." It is a charming production; and the classical allusion at the end is the happiest I know in our language.'" Dr. Joseph Warton, himself a poet, had been early educated by his father,

* See the XXIVth letter to Pennant.

Thomas Warton, then at Basingstoke, under whom, as has been stated, Gilbert White also received his school education, preparatory to his entering the University. Joseph Warton had removed to Winchester, and there the poet Collins was his intimate friend, and the intimacy continued when they were both at Oxford. Through this association with Warton, White became acquainted with Collins. How far his intimacy with the two poets may have influenced his taste for poetry we know not; but I have sometimes fancied that the versification of the little poems above mentioned possessed a good deal of the ring of Collins's, especially of his eclogues. Some years after Collins's lamentable death, Gilbert White wrote anonymously to the Gentleman's Magazine giving a short but affecting account of his eccentric life and its sad close. I find a copy of this letter amongst his papers.

Gilbert White's personal appearance has been described to me by his nephew, the late Rev. Francis White, who remembered him well. He was only five feet three inches in stature, of a spare form and remarkably upright carriage. He never would sit for his portrait. The supposition of some persons that the clergyman represented in the large frontispiece to the first edition of his work was intended for him is therefore erroneoust. The expression of his countenance was, as those who knew have recorded, intelligent, kindly, and vivacious; his constitu

* 1781.

+ It may be interesting to those who possess either of the 4to editions of the work, to be informed who were the persons represented in the frontispiece. The first is the Rev. Robert Yalden, the Vicar of Newton Valence; second, Mr. Etty, the brother of the Vicar of Selborne; third, Mrs. Yalden; and the fourth, Thomas Holt White, Gilbert's brother.

tion sound and vigorous; his manners courteous and affable.

I feel that I cannot better close this memoir than in

the words of a mediæval poet :