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^ nftfi Lady Kerrey ' s picture of the ti&es t&a * there is Uttle new under the « un > " wUi frequently occur to the reader of tiria volume , Th # d ^ e of J 822 , would suit the following ex&ract as well as that of 1744 , when it was penned :
« I find by your letters both to my son and me , that you are in a .. patriot fright , which , on this occasion , is synonymous to a panic fright on any other . I wish you were here ; you would make a mo in the pathetic , political performance
I hear every noon , which I sometimes hiss and sometimes parody—what should be great I turn to farce : if I did not , the tragedy would be too deep to hear repeated every day . I hope things are better than my tragedians represent them , and have one reason to hope it ; which
is , that above five-and-twenty years ago I heard the same dreadful prophecies from the same dreadful prophets , and was advised to sell immediately out of the stocks , for there would come a sponge in less than a year . That year and four-and-twenty more are passed without the sponge ,
therefore , dum spiro sperabo : my reason , my experience and my spirits , ( which latter , I thank God , are not English , ) all concur in enabling me to do so . Had I cried for my country as long as Lord Bristol has been telling me I ought to do so , I
should not by this time have had an eye left to cry with ; and now 1 have two , and a mouth to laugh , which I am resolved to make use of as long as I can . f don ' t know whether this is philosophy or madness ; but , if it be the latter , I
may say , with Torresmond , ' There is a pleasure in being niad , which none but mad folks know ; ' and if any wisely endeavour to cure me of it , I shall say with the Argive lunatic , Pol , me occidistis , non
servastn : When 1 remind Lord Bristol how long it is since he bespoke my tears for my ruined country , he shakes his head , and says , « Ay , Madam ! but it is nearer and nearer , and must happen at last : ' therefore , according to his method
, one should begin to weep for one's children as soon as they are born ; for they must die at last , and every day tarings them nearer to it . Let his Lordship be a disciple of Heraclitus if he will ; I pre-| er Democritus , and should be glad to have you of the same sect . Ride * l sains r bp . 60—82 ! -
The period Comprised I between the ^ cession of Chfrrlefc . and \ that of JJO- . HI ,, vtas ^ tfce reig 0 of pain-PW * t $ /> Forthete ^ h ^ fkht ^ y , po-««¦* warfare has Men chiefly earned
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on by means of newspapers * These Letters shew the interest taken in the writer ' s day , in the former species of ephemeral- literature . She mentions , and with becoming disapprobation , ( p . 19 , ) a political parody , of the Te Deura , of which , she says , that-the wit does not compensate the impiety .
Several heterodox divines and ( proh pudorl ) bishops are brought forward iu this volume . Lady Hervey praises or blames them according to their individual merits : her Editor , who is probably a clergyman , takes uniform offence at the name of an unsound
churchman . The story of Dr . Thomas Rundle is well-known . In 1733 , Lord Chancellor Talbot recommended him for the see of Gloucester ; but the heads of the English Church resisted the appointment , and Rundle " was obliged to content himself with the lucrative
bishopric of Deny , in Ireland . " Rundle is described , by Lady Hervey , as the greatest flatterer and greatest talker she ever knew . ( P . 51 . ) Her ladyship speaks with great respect of
Bishop Hoadly : not so , her Editor , who complains of Queen Caroline ' s being somewhat of a latitudinarian , and using her influence to raise prelates of suspicious orthodoxy to the bench . Of Hoadly , he says , in this
connexion , * " His Lordship was almost a Dissenter , or , at least , what would now-a-days be called a very liberal Christian . When . some Free-thinking writers were mentioned before Archbishop Seeker as being Christians , ' Yes , ' said he , in allusion
to the principles of the Bishop , and the title o £ the books printed for Winchester School , * Yes , Christians secundum uswn JVinton T And yet we find that the orthodox Archbishop himself has not escaped similar and even worse iraputa- * tions . I have read somewhere that Seeker
was an Atheist !"—P . 94 , Note . Dr . Conyers Middleton has been before mentioned as the friend of Lord Hervey . To this nobleman he dedicated his great work , the Life of Cicero . He \ vas on terms of
friendship with Lady Hervey , wuo appears to have , embraced his principal opinions . The Letters shew ait incessant interest , and even anxiety , with regard to his vakibua controversial publications . This displease ? the Editor , who will not allow Middleton ta
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RevytiJ- ^ It&tters ofJMfury Lepel 9 ti € tiyJivrveg . !< JS
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1822, page 103, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2509/page/39/
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