Dr. Hurd, when he got the Delicacy of Friendship copied at Norwich in 1781.* He had evidently no dislike of Dr. Hurd, when he wrote the Notes to Rapin in 1783; and yet, when he came to reside at Hatton, he writes the bitter satire contained in the edition of the Warburtonian Fracts, with a gorgeous phrase of qualified approbation tacked to it occasionally; but only so tacked, when he had rent asunder the whole texture of the Bishop's literary character. Be it remembered, likewise, that Hurd had at this time kept back his Life of Warburton. Parr, therefore, had no pretence for attack on the particular ground that his patron, Bp. Lowth, had been abused by faint praise, however he might have deemed himself bound to him by general partizanship. Had the Life of Warburton been published, Parr would have had some reason for vindicating the character of his patron from the contemptuous expressions and sneers of Hurd, who says:This edition of 1765, besides many other improvements, 'with which it was enriched, is further distinguished by 'a remarkable discourse, printed at the close of the last ' volume, and entitled An Appendix concerning the Book of Job. In this short piece, (which is exquisitely written,) he repels an attack made upon him by Dr. 'Lowth. The dispute was managed, on both sides, 'with too much heat; but on the part of the Bishop, 'with that superiority of wit and argument, which, to say the truth, in all his controversial writings, he could 'not well help. Dr. Lowth, afterwards Bishop of London,

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*[Perhaps this is inferring too much; for Dr. Parr was at all times in the habit, (the Bibl. Parr. supplies many proofs of the fact,) of getting scarce printed tracts copied for him for various literary purposes. E. H. B.]

' was a man of learning and ingenuity, and of many vir

tues; but his friends did his character no service by 'affecting to bring his merits, whatever they were, into 'competition with those of the Bishop of Gloucester.

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His reputation, as a writer, was raised chiefly on his • Hebrew literature, as displayed in those two works,— 'his Latin Lectures on Hebrew Poetry, and his English • Version of the Prophet Isaiah. The former is well and elegantly composed, but in a vein of criticism not above 'the common; the latter, I think, is chiefly valuable, as ' it shows how little is to be expected from Dr. Kenni'cott's work, (which yet the learned Bishop pronounces 'to be the greatest and most important, that has been un'dertaken since the revival of letters, Prel. Diss. p. 62,) ' and from a new translation of the Bible, for public use. • On the subject of his quarrel with the Bishop of Glou'cester I could say a great deal ; for I was well acquainted ' with the grounds and the progress of it. But, besides ⚫ that I purposely avoid entering into details of this sort, I know of no good end, that is likely to be answered by exposing to public censure the weaknesses of such 'men.'* (P. 94.) There is here some ground for complaint; but perhaps he would have been still less spared, had his remarks on Archbishop Secker + come under the

*[I remember a pleasant story, which Dr, Parr used to tell. Warburton and Lowth once met in a public room i and some gentleman, disposed for mirth, cunningly asked Warburton if he had seen an attack, which had been just then made on him in one of the public prints. 'Not I indeed,' replied Warburton, glancing at Lowth; the scavengers of literature 'have been flinging dirt at me for these 20 years.' E. H. B.]

+ [ P. 82. "Dr. Warburton had now, for some time

observation and the lash of Parr. To talk of the narrow walk of literature he most affected, that of criticising the Hebrew text,' etc., when applied to such a man as Secker, is surely monstrous; and Parr, after the publication of the Life, often exclaimed that all scholars would now justify him.' Doubtless he would have been more justified, had he waited for the publication of the Discourse, and still more had Hurd then unfolded his Warburtonian Letters. Yet even then should I have exclaimed to him, Et nomen pacis dulce est, et res ipsa salutaris. Beautiful and excellent are these compositions; yet I must be allowed to wish that the Dedication at least had never been written!

preparing, and in 1758, he printed a correct and improved edition of the first volume of the D. L. The Notes to this edition are numerous and large; some of which are answers to objections made to him by Archbishop Secker. 'Where 'you find me,' says he in a Letter to one of his friends, (P. P. April 19, 1758.) 'speaking, in the Notes, of objections, ' that have been made, understand them of the present Archbishop's, who formerly gave me some sheets of them, which 'I have still by me, and have in this edition considered all I 'thought worth observing.' Dr. Secker was a wise man, an edifying preacher, and an exemplary Bishop. But the course of his life and studies had not qualified him to decide on such a work, as that of the D. L. Even in the narrow walk of literature he most affected, that of criticising the Hebrew text, it does not appear that he attained to any great distinction. His chief merit, (and surely it was a very great one,) lay in explaining clearly and popularly, in his Sermons, the principles delivered by his friend, Bishop Butler, in his famous book of the Analogy, and in shewing the important use of them to religion."]

“The Tracts, it is true, were scarce; but they elucidated no important points of controversy, nor of character. Warburton's Tracts are confessedly of no importance for substantiating his fame; neither, as the compositions of a young man, do they lessen his reputation. As means of comparison, they may be of some curiosity; but they are neither very learned, nor very instructive. The Delicacy of Friendship, published without a name, was not ingenuously ushered into the world; and, as it was also an instrument of flattery to a patron, and as its tendency was to decry that patron's antagonist, it was not very creditable to the moral sense of the writer. But surely, with these exceptions, there is little mischief done by it. Jortin's character, though sneered at, could not be laughed down, even if ridicule were allowed to be the test of truth; and Lowth and Brown had sufficiently chastised these sneers by their reprobation. But, though they spoke out, Warburton was not convinced by their arguments or expostulations, and hugged with the fondness of a father this sycophant production. Dr. Parr, by a thousand delicate hints, insinuates the undermining of other men's fame, and sneering at their merits. Prove the fact, and let due punishment be awarded for the offence. But is there in the Delicacy of Friendship, or the Letter to Leland, anything more than sycophancy proved to conviction? No:- there was disingenuousness in concealing the name of the writer there was a wrong spirit in the manner. And did these deserve condign punishment? Contemptuousness indeed is, of all methods of expressing dislike, the meanest. Sitting in the seat of the scornful has been always so characterized. It is the truest sign of a mean understanding, and of a cold heart. Hurd, in the

beginning of his career, had not cast off the slough of his early education. It required all his original capacity and good sense to do it. But he did it at last; and then came out the elevated character, which disdained the ignoble strife, and even the most splendid gains of ambition.* The Political Dialogues prove his great improvements, as well as his accomplishments; and these, the old King exclaimed, made Hurd a Bishop. But to have been the friend and companion of Yorke, and Murray, and Warburton, prove incontestably the merits of the man, and the elegance of the scholar; and whatever were the demerits, and even the vices that produced these works, where was the use in bringing them forward, when most of the parties concerned were laid low in the grave? Was it necessary to lift them up as a beacon to warn others? Or were they so important in themselves, as to be memorials for future generations?

"There can be no doubt, Sir,' (says Dr. Lucas, or perhaps Bishop Hurd himself,) but all the learned dispu'tants, concerned in this controversy, gave a common and 'a generous consent to the quiescence of the subject. 'In the strength and vigour of intellect, men of learning ' and ability seize the opportunities, that offer for display'ing them; and, in the cause of what they deem the 'truth, they are anxious, and sometimes even angry, in 'the struggle. The hand of time, however, softens and quiets the disposition for combat, and even for victory. "The fermentations of dispute, like the grosser particles in the composition, sink gradually to rest, under the mild and clearer influence of religion and philosophy. That

*" Dr. Hurd was offered, and declined, the Archbishopric of Canterbury, on the death of Dr. Cornwallis."