324 Analysis of Books, 8fc. 



ting Mr. Thompson's, at the age of fourteen, it appears that he was 

 more or less versed in Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Hebrew, Persian, 

 and Arabic ; and had laid the foundation of that calligraphic skill 

 for which he was afterwards so remarkable, and in which he rivalled 

 even the neatness and beauty of the pen of Person. 



He was about this time attacked by symptoms of what his friends 

 feared to be incipient consumption, but by the attention of his uncle 

 Dr. Brocklesby, and Baron Dimsdale, his health was restored ; his 

 indisposition scarcely interrupted his studious labours, and it is said 

 that ' he merely relieved his attention by what to him stood in the 

 place of repose a course of Greek reading in such authors as 

 amused the weariness of his confinement.' 



In the year 1787, he met, at the house of a relation, a friend of 

 Mr. David Barclay, of Youngsbury, in Hertfordshire, who was then 

 wishing to form an arrangement for the education of his grandson ; 

 and it was at length agreed that the youths should pursue their stu- 

 dies together, under a private tutor in Mr. Barclay's house. The 

 tutor, however, did not come, and Young, who was only a year and 

 a half older than his companion, took upon himself provisionally the 

 office of preceptor. They were afterwards joined by Mr. Hodgkin, 

 author of the * Calligraphic Grseca,' who was of somewhat maturer 

 years, and then seeking to perfect himself in the higher branches of 

 classical attainments. But Young did not relinquish the task he had 

 undertaken, and continued to be the principal director of the studies 

 of the whole party. 



Thus passed the five years from 1787 to 1792, the summers being 

 spent in Hertfordshire, the winters in London, and with no other 

 assistance than that of a few occasional masters, when in London, he 

 had rendered himself singularly familiar with the great writers of 

 antiquity, keeping ample notes of his daily studies. ' His reading 

 was not,' says his biographer, ' for the purpose of merely gaining 

 words and phrases, and the minuter distinctions of dialects, but was 

 invariably also directed to what was the end and object of the works 

 he laboured through ; ' he had drawn up an admirable analysis of 

 the various conflicting opinions of the ancient philosophers, and it is 

 probable that the train of thought into which this led him was 

 not without its effect in mitigating his attachment to the peculiar 

 views of the Quakers. He had now acquired great facility in writing 

 Latin ; composed Greek verses, which were well received by the dis- 

 tinguished scholars of the day, and applied himself assiduously to the 

 higher mathematics. To the studies of botany, zoology, and espe- 

 cially of entomology, he at the same time paid considerable attention. 



In the winters of 1790 and 1791, he attended the chemical lec- 

 tures of Dr. Higgins, and having previously prepared himself by 

 reading on the subject, he began to make simple experiments of his 

 own. But he is said to have been at no period of his life fond of 

 repeating experiments, or even of originating new ones ; ' consider- 

 ing that, however necessary to the advancement of science, they 



