moreland; that he practised as a physician there with considerable success, and, on his establishment in London, was visited by all who were distinguished for learning, and curious in the fine arts. Dr. MEAD Supported him with a sort of paternal zeal; nor did he find in his protegé an ungrateful son*. Few minds were probably more congenial than were those of Mead and Askew : the former had, if I may so speak, a magnificence of sentiment which instilled into the latter just notions of a character aiming at intellectual fame. Dr. Askew, with less pecuniary means of gratifying it, evinced an equal ardour in the pursuit of books, MSS. and inscriptions. I have heard from a very worthy old gentleman, who used to revel 'midst the luxury of Dr. Askew's table, that few men exhibited their books and pictures, or, as it is called, shewed the Lions, better than did the Doctor. Of his attainments in Greek and Roman literature it becomes not me to speak, *See The Director, vol. i. p. 309. when such a scholar as Dr. PARR has been most eloquent in their praise. I SHOULD add that the MSS. of Dr. Askew were separately sold in 1781, and produced a very considerable sum. The Appendix to Scapula, published in an 8vo. volume, in 1789, was compiled from one of these MSS. Published by LONGMAN, HURST, REES, and ORME, Paternoster Row; J. HATCHARD, Bookseller to Her Majesty, 190, Piccadilly; and WILLIAM MILLER, Albemarle Street. Printed by William Savage, Bedford Bury. THE DIRECTOR, No. 22. SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 1807. One great amusement of our household was, THOMSON'S Castle of Indolence, Stanz. xlix. It was in one of those beautiful evenings of autumn, when the stillness of the surrounding scene, and the varied hues of the distant landscape, excite an indescribable pleasure in the contemplative mind, that I retired to an alcove, situated on an eminence at the extremity of my garden. In my way thither, a thousand amusing objects pre sented themselves to my view-the reapers were carrying away their last harvest load, the hedges were beginning to shew their winter-fruit berries, and, what was still more interesting to my feelings, I could discover numerous groups of gleaners, picking up the grain which the husbandmen had spared, and, with their loads upon their heads, marching homewards in all the glee of perfect happiness. 6 I HAD left upon my table Sir Thomas More's Commonwealth of Utopia,' which had occupied me for the last two hours; and, meditating upon the fanciful things contained in that performance, I sat down quietly within my alcove, resolved to indulge the variety of imagery which was crowding upon my fancy. In this thoughtful mood, interrupted only by the hum of the beetle, and warbling of the robin, I continued probably about half an hour, when sleep surprised me; and in my slumber I was amused by the following dream. METHOUGHT I was gently lifted from the ground into the air, by a being of very superior size, but of an inexpressible sweetness of countenance. Although astonished by the singularity of my situation, I was far from giving way entirely to fear; but, with a mixture of anxiety and resignation, awaited the issue of the event. My Guide or Protector, (for so this being must now be called) looked upon me with an air of tenderness, mingled with reproof; intimating, as I conceived, that the same superior Power which had thus transported me above my natural element, would of necessity keep me in safety. This sentiment quieted my apprehen sions. We had travelled together through an immensity of space, and could discover the world below as one small darkened spot, when my guide interrupted the awful silence that had been preserved, by the following exclamation: Approach, O man! the place of thy desti |