21. 



Neglected Biography ^ hy Dr. Watkins. [Aug. 1 , 



It fcems the prefeiit Nabob h:is not 

 much trouble in governinj; his dominions, 

 ilie Eufi, India Company, out of pure, 

 good-nature, haviiia; taken tlie guidance 

 eniirely on ihcnil'clves ; and to ilievv 

 their genciodty liili luithcr, have allowed 

 bim a very comtbrtable ialary to li\e on 

 in his own calile, wlierc they alto permit 

 him to have guards to attend upon him ! 

 I'liouSjh his power is circumfcnbed, he is 

 paid every exterior mark of refpect ; the 

 red flas; is hoified, and lie is faiuted at 

 the fort when he comes to pay a formal 

 vilit. Many ftories are told of the ridi- 

 culous pride of fome of the former Na- 

 bobs, fuch as their cauling a herald to 

 proeliiim every day alter dinner, that 

 " his Highnefs having dined, all other 

 princes, "potentates, inc., in the world 

 may now dine as foon as they pleafc !" 



in moft parts of India, but at Madras 

 particularly, you can never Itir out except 

 in a palankeen, or bandy, and the foil 

 bein? iiiofUy of red fand about this place, 

 the i-e(lectio"^n of the Sun is dreadful, and 

 coups de/okil'-dre very frequently receiv- 

 ed by walking only from the beach to the 

 Black Town. The palankeen is however 

 a very plcafant conveyance ; and with 

 eight bearers, which are generally futVi- 

 cient, colls about 2^ rupees, or tis. 6d. 

 per day. — [To he coniiuued in our mat.'] 



For the Muntlili/ Magazine. 



■' NEGLECTED BIOGRAl'lIY. 



THOMAS CORY AT. 



IT is oftentimes very unpleafant whep. 

 our curiolity is excited refpeCting cha- 

 racters w ho have left memorials of them- 

 felves, not to find any account of them in 

 thofe cimipilations which make aprofef- 

 lion of giving a general or univerfai view 

 of ancient and modern biography. The 

 editors of fuch colleftions are certainly 

 not warranted in rejctting any remark- 

 able pcrfoiis, merely becaufc in ihcir own 

 judiinieiit tliey were not of futiicient im- 

 portance to entitle them to a place in 

 their work. Many readt i-s may have a 

 ditferent opinion ; and tliofc who profefs 

 to give general information ought not to 

 omit what many may think worthy of in- 

 quiry. All the biographical collection's in 

 this comitiy are abundant in defects ; 

 find undoulitedly it is not to be expected 

 that any fhould "be without thein, becaule 

 the moll afliduous induftry will oi"ten be 

 unavailing to procure the information nc- 

 cellary even to form a biographical out- 

 line of many perfons deferving of honour- 

 able diftinciion in the temple of Tame. 

 1 



But furely fuch coUcftors are inexcufable 

 in rejecting the attual memoirs of men 

 who have been renuukaiilc in their gene- 

 ration, and with whole literary remains 

 we arc occalronaliy amufed. A man who 

 wifhes to felect any particular character 

 to illullrate or to vindicate, is at full li- 

 berty to make his felcction. But he who 

 undertakes to compile a book of biogra- 

 phical or hiftorical reference, has no more 

 right wantonly to omit diitinguilhed per- ' 

 foils of whom memoirs may be obtained, 

 than the grammatical lexicographer has 

 to leave out words in ordinary accepta- 

 tion or occafional ufe. 



It is our intention to hiing forward 

 from time to time authentic and interell- 

 ing particulars of characters who hava 

 been improperly omitted or llichtly men- 

 tioned in biographical collections of pon- 

 derous fize and price. The fubject of the 

 prefent memoir was a man of moft ex- 

 traordinary turn, and his adventures, 

 though perfectly true, of fo romantic a 

 cafr, that one lliould have fuppofed an 

 account of him would have been introdu- 

 ced into all biographical collections, if it 

 had been only for the purpofe of givin<» 

 fome plcafant entertainment in the midll 

 of much dry, profcllional, and fcholallic 

 detail. Yet fo it is that his name rarely 

 occurs in our modern compilations. 

 Granger, indeed, in his Biographical In- 

 dex of Portraits, liivs given a brief notice 

 of him ; but the General l^o^raphy, 

 thouiih voluminoHs and expenfive, is en- 

 tirely filent with refpect to him, while at 

 the fame time it lenathens, aifd often- 

 times to a confiderable extent, memoirs 

 of many perfons not a wliit more inte- 

 rcfting to nine-tenths of their readers. 



Thomas Coryat was the fon of George 

 Coryat, prebendary of York, and rettor 

 of ddcombc in Somerfetlliire, in the par- 

 fonagc-houfe of which pariih the fon was 

 born in the year 1077. After receiving 

 a preparatory education, probably under 

 his father, who wiis a good Latin poet, he 

 was removed, at the age of nineteen, to 

 Glouceitcr Hall, in the Univerfity of Ox- 

 ford, where he continued about tliree 

 yeare, and, by the help of ii greatmemo- 

 ry, attained a conlidcrable knowledge of 

 the Latin and Greek languages, with 

 other branches of learning. Afterwards 

 he returned home, and having refided 

 there fome time, obtained a licuatiou in 

 the houfehold of Henry Prince of Wales ; 

 " at which time (lays Wood,) tailing into 

 the company of the wits, who found him 

 little better tiiaa a fool iii many refpeCts, 



made 



