gether with Ingratitude, Ferocity, and Lying, I need not mention Eloquence and Invention, form the whole of the Composition. When he arrived at Paris, all my friends, who were likewise all his, agreed totally to neglect him: The public too disgusted with his multiply'd and indeed criminal Extravagancies, show'd no manner of concern about him. Never was such a Fall from the time I took him up, about a year and a half before. I am told by D'Alembert and Horace Walpole, that sensible of this great alteration, he endeavoured to regain his credit by acknowledging to every body his fault with regard to me: But all in vain: He has retir'd to a village in the mountains of Auvergne, as M. Durand tells me, where nobody enquires after him. He will probably endeavour to recover his fame by new publications; and I expect with some curiosity the reading of his Memoirs, which will, I suppose, suffice to justify me in every body's Eyes, and in my own, for the publication of his letters and my narrative of the Case. You will see by the papers that a new letter of his to M. D. which I imagine to be Davenport, is published. This letter was probably wrote immediately on his arrival at Paris; or perhaps is an effect of his usual inconsistence: I do not much concern myself which: Thus he has had the satisfaction, during a time, of being much talk'd of, for his late transactions; the thing in the world he most desires: But it has been at the Expense of being consign'd to perpetual neglect and oblivion. My compliments to Mr. Oswald; and also to Mrs. Smith. I am Dear Smith, Yours sincerely. (Sd.) London, 8. of Oct. 1767. ter. DAVID HUME. P. S. Will you be in town next Win ADDRESS TO THE ORANGE TREE BOURBON, WHICH IS WHEN France with civil wars was torn, One Bourbon, in unalter'd plight, Thou, leafy monarch, thou alone, And when the great Nassaus were sent The House of Orange. To tell what changes thou hast seen, Might puzzle those who don't conceive Westminster-hall, whose oaken roof, Existed but in stones and trees Chaucer, so old a bard that time AT VERSAILLES, CALLED THE GREAT ABOVE 400 YEARS OLD. And Gower, an older poet, whom The Borough Church enshrines, (his tomb Liv'd in thy time-the first perchance Who shook beneath this very tree Was caught and eaten. Thou wert of portly size and look, And eagles in thy boughs might perch, What numerous namesakes hast thou seen There is a tradition, (though not authenticated) that Chaucer was fined for beating a friar in Fleet Street. Whilst thou, serene, unalter'd, calm, Hast year by year renew'd thy flowers, Thou green and venerable tree! Remember that a rhymester brought To heav'n! (English Magazines, for November 1821.) Biography OF REMARKABLE CHARACTERS RECENTLY DECEASED. THOMAS PLEASANTS, ANAME never to be forgotten in the annals of charity and be nevolence; when time shall have drawn the curtain of oblivion, before the records of wit, learning, and talent, his name shall live in the breast of virtue, and cheer distant generations by monuments of utility. ders attending such privations. consequence of such complicated miseries, the woollen weavers and the artisans concurred in 1899, in presenting a memoir to their landlord the Earl of Meath, the Farming and Dublin Societies, the lord mayor, and other distinguished personages, praying them to take into consideration their distressed state; and to adopt some measures, whereby their warps, wool, and cloth, might be dried in the winter and wet weather. For this purpose, many meetings took place, and it was at length determined, that an application should be made to the Imperial Parliament, for about £3,500 sterling, which they supposed might be sufficient for a building to answer the purposes prayed for. Accordingly, this affecting appeal was laid before the Dublin Society, 2d of March, 1809, who admitted, that the importance of the subject demanded their protection and recommendation, but that they could not at present make an application to parliament on the subject, and finally postponed its consideration to a future day. It was then proposed to raise the sum by shares on transferable debentures of ten pounds each. This proposal also failed, though it held out the probability of its proving productive of emolument to its humane and patriotic pro He was born in the county of Carlow, and died in Dublin, in the ninetieth year of his age, March 1st, 1818; was educated for the bar, but never practised. He possessed strong powers of mind, and great classical attainments, and profound knowledge of the laws of his country. Enjoying independent property in the shades of retirement, he considered how he might employ it usefully, encourage industry, and mitigate distress. But here it may be necessary to advert to the wretched state of the woollen weavers in the populous and manufacturing districts of the city, and Earl of Meath liberty adjoining. It has been calculated, that about twenty-two thousand persons supported themselves by this branch of trade, during those seasons of the year in which they could dry the wool warps and cloths in the open air; but in the winter, when rain, snow, or frost set in, they were thrown out of employ, and then suffered all the miseries of hunger, cold, and the usual disor moters. In short, nothing towards the relief of this complicated misery was effected, until Thomas Pleasants, before whose name, no most noble, or right honourable caught the admiring gaze, purchased these titles in perpetuity, from every being who bows at the shrine of virtue, from every heart that expands at the touch of feeling, humanity, or charity. He purchased a piece of ground, April, 1814, and proceeded to the erection of that useful and elegant fabric, the Stove Tenter House, at an expense of upwards of £14,000, being four times the amount of the sum solicited as a subscription amongst wealthy individuals and patriotic societies!!! This admirable fabric is two hundred and sixteen feet long, and twenty-two wide, it has three lofts, supported by iron pillars, with floors of the most ingenious construction; the admirable yet simple manner with which the iron tenters, stoves, and other apparatus are combined, exhibits skill and strength that cannot be surpassed; it is likewise rendered fire-proof. A few hours now effect, in perfection, what heretofore could not be attained in an imperfect manner in many days. In various parts of the building are appropriate mottoes cast on plates of iron, to attract the attention of the artisans employed, and impress on their minds the maxims of industry, sobriety, and morality. The Meath or County Hospital, situated in the same populous district, from want of sufficient funds, could not af ford relief to the numbers who claimed it; and there being no operating room, the surgeons and patients were distressed by the necessity of performing all in the open wards. Mr Pleasants could not contemplate, unmoved, such calls on humanity, and at one time he sent the sum of £6,000—£4,000 of it 352 to build an operating roo the interest of the residue for ever to purchase wine a cessaries for the afflicted. sented the Dublin Society worth of valuable books; and, at the expense of near £700 he erected the beautiful gates and lodges at their botanical garden, at Glassnevin, near the city. It is impossible to enumerate the extent of his private charities-he seemed only to exist for the purpose of benevolence and liberality, and to diffuse comfort in the habitations of the wretched. By his will, after legacies to a surviving brother, to some other relations, his law agent, surgeon, apothecary, and domestics, he appoints three trustees, to whom he gives £100 per annum each, for life, in consideration of their trouble; and, after their decease, the same sum to the senior curates of St. Peter's and St. Brides's parishes, who are to be trustees for ever. To these trustees he bequeaths his house and garden in Camden-street, and £15,000 to found a school for protestant females, where as many as the funds will permit are to be lodged, dieted, clothed, and educated, so as to render them useful members of society, and the trustees are to be residuary legatees to all his remaining property for the funds of this school. To the schools and alms-houses of St. Brides's parish he bequeathed £6,000. the parishes of St. Luke and St. Catherine £1,000 each, and the same sums to the Fever and Meath hospitals. His fine collection of paintings, by Rubens, Vandyke, Schalken, Rembrandt, &c. to the Dublin Society for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Ireland, that country he so much loved, and of which he was one of the brightest ornaments. To MRS. SARAH BOND. DIED, Oct. 7, 1821, Sarah Bond, an old maiden lady, upwards of 70 years of age. She was a most singular character. She kept no servant, associated with none of her neighbours, and her only intimate was a favourite cat. Her doors and windows were kept constantly secured, and the signal of the milkman, or any one applying for admission, was by throwing a stone against the door or window. A neigh bour's daughter was in the habit of going every morning to procure her wa ter; but on the 8th inst. after repeated ignals she could get no entrance. The girl went for her mother, and with a diamond ring they cut a pane of glass, got admission, and proceeded up stairs. There they found the old lady, by the side of her bed, with her clothes on, and a small piece of cat's meat in her hand. They soon discovered that she was dead. It is supposed she died of apoplexy, as no marks of violence appeared, nor was any of the property disturbed. From the abstemious manner of her living, it was supposed her circumstances were very limited; but on examining her drawers, Stock Receipts and Government Securities were found to the amount of near £100,000 sterling! She always declared she would make no will, for "the King" should have all her money. Every search has been made but no will found. Her sister died a few years ago and left her £7,000, which it now seems, she at first declined, saying she was not in want of money. The death of this eccentric woman created a great sensation in the neighbourhood where she lived, among such of her own sex as now and then could get a bird's-eye glimpse of her while living; one lamented that she was not so fortunate as to have proffered her services; another that she had not offered to make her bed, and assist her in her domestic arrangements, &c. so as to have a chance of coming in for some part of her immense wealth. In 1812, it is said she had £30,000 in the funds, and the same year she had £15,000 left her; at that time she had sunk £12,000 for a proportionate life annuity. Living in so abstemious a manner, no doubt the interest and compound interest of all her money have ever since been accumulating. BE GODFREY MIND, THE CAT PAINTER. EFORE speaking of a man whose whole life was spent in the company and contemplation of cats, I am tempted to offer a few observations upon the singular fate of these animals, who have experienced such various treatment from mankind, and upon whom such dissimilar and clashing opinions have been entertained. Idolized by one people, contemned by another; classed by naturalists in the rather unamiable family of lions and tigers; gifted with the boss of murder by the craniologists of these latter days; cats, if they were endowed with the faculty of reflection, might, with good reason, feel astonished at the strange and capricious destiny reserved to them. It was the custom formerly, in some cities of Europe, to burn on St. John's day one of these animals, with all the honours of an auto da fè. The Egyptians, on the contrary, worshipped them as gods. In their ancient catacombs the mummies of cats are found in such immense numbers, that one is led to suppose that the individuals of the feline race must have been amongst the most distinguished benefactors of the human kind. If we be lieve Herodotus, when the house of an Egyptian took fire, he first hastened to convey his cats to a place of security, and afterwards looked about for his wife and children. The father of his tory has, perhaps, a little exaggerated the love of the Egyptians for their fourfooted favourites; yet some are bold enough to assert, that, even at the present day, there are persons who, though otherwise excellent good Christians, would, under similar circumstances, become Egyptians. One is inclined to think that the Greeks, who were indebted for so many things to the inhabitants of the land of pyramids, would have also inherited their affection for these animals; but it is rather surprising that there is not a single passage concerning them in any of the Greek naturalists. Plutarch, who wrote a treatise upon the instinct of beasts, tells several anecdotes of the sagacity of most species of animals. He speaks of a goose that evinced the most tender attachment to an Egyp tian young man; and of an elephant, which every morning paid his addres ses to a flower girl, to the very great annoyance of the grammarian Aristo phanes, his rival. But Plutarch observes the most profound silence with regard to cats. It appears that this animal was not domesticated amongst the Greeks. Probably the Boileaus of Athens often said, in their satires upon that city, Je pense qu'avec eux tout l'enfer est chez moi ; L'un miaule en grondant comme un tigre en furie, L'autre roule sa voix, comme un enfant qui crie." They were, perhaps, of opinion, that the cat was 66 a selfish and faithless servant, that conformed to some of the habits of society, without being imbued with its spirit, and whose predatory and robber-like disposition had not been totally eradicated, but only modified, by a careful education, into the flattering duplicity of a knave." Frown not, fair readers; these are the words of Buffon, and not mine. This judgment, it must be allowed, is rather uncharitable: the more courteous authors of the new French Dictionary of Natural History have thought proper to mitigate its severity. I am far from wishing to enter the lists for the rigid Buffon against his more indulgent successors. I should dread, by taking such a part, to find myself opposed to the sentiments of the fairest portion of my readers. Rousseau, it is said, preferred the cat to the dog, because the one has preserved its freedom and independence, while the other has willingly entered into bondage. The cat is by no means devoid of qualities capable of inspiring attachment. Petrarch, whose heart was full of Laura as his mind was full of poetry, entertained the most lively affection for a cat, the companion of his solitude. On visiting the country-house in which he dwelt, near Padua, one of the first objects that attract attention, is a glazed niche in one of the apartments, inclosing an embalmed cat, whose demurely proud regard seems to say to the traveller, "And I also was beloved by Petrarch." The cat has succeeded in gaining the affections of a much less gentle and amiable person than Laura; namely, Mahomet, who preferred cutting off the sleeve of his robe to dis 2W ATHENEUM VOL. 10. turbing the repose of his favourite Grimalkin, that had fallen asleep upon it. I shall here state an anecdote related by M. Ladoucette :-" Madame Helvetius had a wild cat that continually lay at her feet, seemingly always ready to defend her. It never shewed the least hostility to the birds which Madame H. kept; and it would receive food and caresses from no one but its mistress. At the death of this excellent and amiable woman, the poor animal was removed from her apartment, but it contrived, the next morning, to make its way thither; it went into the bed, sat upon her chair, slowly and mournfully paced over her toilet, and seemed, by its plaintive cries, to be calling or regretting its lost friend. It afterwards escaped from the house, fled to the cemetery, and, laying itself down upon the grave of its mistress, expired apparently from grief and despair." form a not disreputable library of the Another of their This artist who died at Bern about eight years ago, was He was the named Godfrey. Mind. who found him while yet a boy in a son of a poor carpenter. A painter, state of misery and starvation, took compassion on him, gave him some lessons in drawing, and aroused a latent taste which he had for that art. Young Mind shewed a marked predilection for sketching the figures of animals; but his progress at first was slow, as all his time was occupied in colouring plates for an engraver of Bern, with whom he worked by the day. He had so little capacity for any other kind of instruction, that he could scarcely learn to write his name. Wearied at length with colouring engravings from morn till night, he quitted his employer's house, and established himself for the |