Hiflory of Great Britain. His accefs to the public libraries, and the means of fupplying the materials which thefe did not afford bim, were from that time used with so much diligence and prefeverance, that the first volume of his Hiftory in quarto was published in 1771, and the fecond in 1774, the third in 1777, the fourth in 1781, and the fifth (which brings down the Hiftory to the acceffion of Henry VII) in 1785. The fubject of thefe volumes comprehends the most intricate and obfcure periods of our hiftory; and when we confider the fcanty and fcattered materials which Dr Henry has digested, and the accurate and minute information which he has given us under every chapter of his work, we must have a high opinion both of the learning and induftry of the author, and of the vigour and activity of his mind: efpecially when it is added, that he employed no amanuenfis, but completed the manufcript with his own hand; and that, excepting the first volume, the whole book, fuch as it is, was printed from the original copy. Whatever corrections were made on it, were inferted by interlineations, or in revifing the proof-fheets. He found it neceffary, indeed, to confine himself to a first copy, from an unfortunate tremor in his hand, which made writing extremely inconvenient, which obliged him to write with his paper on a book placed on his knee instead of a table, and which unhappily increased to fuch a degree, that in the last years of his life he was often unable to take his victuals without affiftance. An attempt which he made after the publi. cation of the fifth volume to employ an amanuenfis did not fucceed. Ne-mitted his works to the public, he has ver having been accuffomed to dictate his compofitions, he found it impoffble to acquire a new habit; and though he perfevered but a few days in the attempt, it had a fenfible effect on his health, which he never afterwards recovered.—An author has no right to claim indulgence, and is ftit lefs en titled to credit from the public for any thing which can be afcribed to negligence in committing his manu fcripts to the prefs; but confidering the difficulties which Dr Henry fur mounted, and the accurate refearch and information which distinguish his hiftory, the circumftances which have been mentioned are far from being uninterefting, and must add confiderably to the opinion formed of his merit among men who are judges of what he has done. He did not profefs to ftudy the ornaments of language; but his arrangement is uniformly regular and natural, and his ftyle fimple and perfpicuous. More than this he has not attempted, and this cannot be denied him. He believed that the time which might be spent in polifhing or rounding a feptence was more ufefully employed in inveftigating and afcertaining a fact and as a book of facts and folid information, fupported by authentick documents, his history will ftand a comparison with any other hiftory of the fame period. But Dr Henry had other difficulties to furmount than thofe which related to the compofition of his work. Not having been able to tranfact with the bookfellers to his fatisfaction, the five volumes were originally publishe at the risk of the author. When the firft volume appeared, it was cenfured with an unexampled acrimony and perfeverence. Magazines, reviews, and even newfpapers, were filled with abufive remarks and invectives, in which both the author and the book were treated with contempt and fourrility. When an author has once fub no right to complain of the just fevcrity of criticifm. But Dr Henry had to contend with the inveterate fcorn of malignity. In compliance with the ufual cuftom, he had permitted a fermon to be published which he had preached before the Society in Scot land for Propagating Christian know- ceeded. The book, though printed ledge in 1773; a compofition containing plain good fenfe on a common fubject, from which he expected no reputation. This was eagerly feized on by the adverfaries of his Hiftory, and torn to pieces with a virulence and afperity which no want of merit in the fermon could justify or explain. An anonymous letter had appeared in a newspaper to vindicate the Hiftory, from fome of the unjust cenfures which had been publifhed, and affert ing from the real merit and accuracy of the book, the author's title to the approbation of the public. An anfwer appeared in the course of the following week, charging him, in terms equally confident and indecent, with having written this letter in his own praife. The efforts of malignity feldom fail to defeat their purpofe, and to recoil on thofe who direct them. Dr Henry had many friends, and till lately had not difcovered that he had any enemies. But the author of the anonymous vindication was unknown to him, till the learned and refpectable Dr Macqueen, from the indignation excited by the confident petulance of the anfwer, informed him that the letter had been written by him. Thefe anecdotes are still remembered. The abufe of the Hiftory, which began in Scotland, was renewed in fome of the periodical publications in South Britain; though it is juftice to add (without meaning to refer to the candid obfervations of English critics,) that in both kingdoms the afperity originated in the fame quarter, and that paragraphs and criticisms written at Edinburgh were printed in London. The fame fpirit appeared in Strictures pubiifhed on the fecond and third volumes; but by this time it had in a great meafure loft the attention of the public. The malevolence was fufficiently understood, and had long before become fatal to the circulation of the periodical paper from which it originally pro for the author, had fold beyond his most fanguine expectations; and had received both praife and patronage from men of the firit literary charac ters in the kingdom: and though, from the alarm which had been raised, the bookfellers did not venture to purchafe the property till after the publi cation of the fifth volume, the work was established in the opinion of the public, and at laft rewarded the author with a high degree of celebrity, which he happily lived to enjoy. In an article relating to Dr Henry's life, not to have mentioned the oppofition which his Hiftory encoun tered, would have been both affectar tion and injuftice. The facts are fuf ficiently remembered, and are unfortunately too recent to be more minutely explained. That they contris buted at first to retard the fale of the work is undeniable, and may be told without regret now that its reputation is established. The book has raised itfelf to eminence as a History of Great Britain by its own merits; and the means employed to obftruct its progrefs have only ferved to embellifl its fuccefs. Dr Henry was no doubt encouraged from the first by the decided ap probation of fome of his literary friends, who were allowed to be the moft competent judges of his fubje&t ; and in particular by one of the moft eminent hiftorians of the prefent age, whofe hiftory of the fame periods juftly poffeffes the highest reputation. The following character of the first and fecond volumes was drawn up by that gentleman, and is well entitled to be inferted in a narrative of Dr. Henry's life. "Thofe who profes a high esteem for the firft volume of Dr Henry's hiftory, I may venture to say, are almost as numerous as those who have perufed it, provided they be competent judges of a work of that nature, and are acquainted with the difficulties which attend fuch an un der. dertaking. Many of thofe who had been fo well pleafed with the first were impatient to fee the fecond vo Jume, which advances into a field more delicate and interefting; but the Doctor hath fhown the maturity of his judgment, as in all the reft, fo particularly in giving no perfor. mance to the public that might appear crude or hafty, or compofed before he had fully collected and digefted the materials. I venture with great fincerity to recommend this volume to the perufal of every curious reader who defires to know the ftare of Great Britain in a period which has hitherto been regarded as very obfcure, ill fupplied with writers, and not poffeffed of a fingle one that deferves the appellation of a good one. It is wonderful what an inftructive, and even entertaining, book he Doctor has been able to compofe from fuch unpromifing materials :Tantum feries juncturaque pollet. When we fee those barbarous ages delineated by fo able a pen, we admire the oddnefs and fingularity of the manners, customs, and opinions, of the times, and feem to be introduced into a new world; but we are fill more furprifed, as well as interefted, when we reflect that thofe ftrange perfonages were the ancestors of the prefent inhabitants of this ifland.-The object of an antiquary hath been commonly diftinguifhed from that of an hiftotian; for though the latter fhould enter into the province of the former, it is thought that it fhould only be quanto basta, that is, fo far as is neceffary, without comprehending all the minute difquifitions which give fuch fupreme pleafure to the mere antiquary. Our learned author hath fully reconciled these two characters. His hiftorical narratives are as full as thofe remote times feem to den and, and at the fame time his enquiries of the antiquarian kind omit nothing which can be an object of doubt or curiofity. The one as well as the other is deli G VOL. XIV. No. 79. vered with great perfpicuity, and no The property of the work had hi- therto remained with himself. But thing remains unfinished but the two in April 1786, when an octavo edition was intended, he conveyed the property to Mrs Cadell and Strahan; referving to himself what still remained unfold of the quarto edition, which did not then exceed eighty-one complete fets. A few copies were afterwards printed of the volumes of which the first impreffion was exhausted, to make up additional fets: and before the end of 1786, he fold the whole to Mofis Cadell and Stra. han. By the first tranfaction he was to receive 1ccol. and by the fecond betwixt 3col. and 40cl. about 1400l. in all. Thefe fums may not be abfolutely exact, as they are fat down from memory; but there can not be a mistake of any confequence on the one fide or the other.-Dr Henry had kept very accurate accounts of the fales from the time of the original publication; and after his laft tranfaction with Meffrs Cadell and Strahan, he found that his real profits had amounted in whole to about 3300 pounds: a friking proof of the intrinsick merit of a work which had forced its way to the public efte em unprotected by the intereft of the bookfellers, and in fpite of the malignant oppofition with which the first volumes had to struggle. The profecution of his hiftory had been Dr Henry's favourite object for almost 30 years of his life. He had naturally a found conftitution, and a more equal and larger portion of animal fpirits than is commonly poffeffed by literary men. But from the year 1785 his bodily ftrength was fenfibly impaired. Notwithstanding this, he perfifted fleadily in preparing his fixth volume, which brings down the hiftory to the acceffion of Edward VI. and has left it in the hands of his executors almost compleated. Scarcely any fhort chapters on arts and manners; and even for thefe he has left materials and authorities fo dillin&tly collected, that there can be no great difficulty in fupplying what is wanting. It is hoped that this volume may be ready for publication fome time in the winter or fpring 1792; and that it will be found intitled to the fame favorable reception from the public which has been given to the former volumes. It was written under the disadvantages of bad health and great weakness of body. The tremulous motion of his hand had increafed fo as to render writing much more difficult to him than it had ever been: but the vigour of his mind and his ardour were unimpaired; and, independent of the gcral character of his works, the pofthumous volume will be a lasting monument of the ftrength of his faculties, and of the literary induftry and perfeverance which ended only with his life. Dr Henry's original plan extended from the invafion of Britain by the Romans to the prefent times. And men of literary curiofity mult regret that he has not lived to complete his defign; but he has certainly finished the most difficult parts of his fubject. The periods after the acceffion of Edward VI. afforded materials more ample, better dişéfted, and much mcte within the reach of common readers. Till the fummer of 1790 he was able to parfue his fludies, though not without interruptions. But at that time he loft his health entirely; and, with a conflitution quite worn out, died on the 24th of November of that year, in the 754 year of his age. He was buried in the church-yad of Foimont, where it is propiled to erect a monument to his memory. An 51 An Interefting Dialogue between the lat: Dr Johnson, and Mrs Knowles the Quaker. HY Mrs K. Tidefires her kind refpects been thy duty to have remained a to thee, Doctor. Dr. J. To me!-tell me not of her! I hate the odious wench for her apoftacy and it is you, Madam, who have feduced her from the Chriftian. Religion. Mrs K. This is a heavy charge, indeed. I must beg leave to be heard in my own defence: and I entreat the attention of the prefent learned and candid company, defiring they will judge how far I am able to clear myfelf of fo cruel an accufition. Dr J. (much difturbed at this unexpeated challenge) faid, You are a woman, and I give you quarter. Mrs K. I will not take quarter. There is no fex in fouls; and in the prefent caufe I fear not even Dr Johnfon himself. ("Bravo!" was repeated by the company, and filence enfued.) Dr J. Well then, Madam, I perfil in my charge, that you have feduced Mifs H- from the Chrif tian Religion. Mrs K. If thou really knewest what were the principles of the Friends, thou would'it not fay the had departe ed from Christianity. But, waving that difcution for the prefent, I will take the liberty to obferye, that the had an undoubted right to examine and to change her educational tenets whenever the fuppofed the had found them erroneous: as an accountable creature, it was her duty fo to do. Dr J. Phaw! pfhaw!-an ac countable creature!-girls accountable creatures!-It was her duty to remain with the Church wherein the was educated; fhe had no bufinefs to leave it. Mrs K. What! not for that which The apprehended to be better? According to this rule, Doctor, hadft Mahometan, notwith@tanding Chriftian evidence might have wrought in thy mind the cleareft conviction; and if f, then let me afk, how would thy confcience have answered for fuch obftinacy at the great and laft tribunal? Dr J. My confcience would not have been anfwerable. Mrs K. Whofe then would ? Dr J. Why the State's, to be fure. In adhering to the Religion of the State as by law eftablished, our ime 1 plicit obedience therein becomes our duty. Mrs K. A Nation or State, having a confcience, is a doctrine entire ly new to me, and, indeed, a very curious piece of intelligence; for I have always underfood that a Government, or State, is a creature of time only; beyond which it diffolves, and: becomes a nonentity. Now, Gentlemen, can your imaginations body forth this monftrous individual, or being, called a State, compofed of millions of people? Can you behold it (talkingforth into the next world, loaded with its mighty confcience, there to be re-. warded, or punished, for the faith, opinions, and conduct, of its conftituent machines called men? Surely the teeming brain of Poetry never held up to the fancy fo wondrous a perfonage! Dr J. (when the laugh occafioned by this perfonification was fubfided, very angrily replied,). I regard not what you fay as to that matter. I hate the arrogance of the wench, in fuppofing herfelf a more competent judge of religion than those who cducated her. She imitated you, no doubt; but he ought not to have prefumed to determine for herself in fo important an affair, |