CHARACTERS. 
fessors, I should gradually have 
risen from translations to originals, 
from the Latin to the Greek clase 
sics, from dead languages to living 
science; my hours would have been 
occupied by usetul and agreeable 
studies, the wanderings of fancy 
would have been restrained, and [ 
should have escaped the temptations 
of idleness, which finally precipi. 
tated my departure from Oxtord. 
The. first tutor into whose hands 
I was resigned appears to have 
been one of the best of the tribe : 
Dr. Waldegrave was a learned and 
- pious man, of a mild disposition, 
strict morals, and abstemious life, 
who seldom mingled in the polis 
tics or the jollity of the col- 
Jege. But his knowledg> of the 
world was confined to the univer- 
sity; his learning was of the last, 
rather than of the present age; his 
temper was indolent ; his faculties, 
which were not of the, first rate, 
had been relaxed by the climate, 
and he was satisfied, like. his fel- 
lows, with the slight and superfi- 
vial discharge of an important trust. 
As soon as. my tutor hud sounded 
the insufficiency of his disciple in 
school-learning, he proposed that 
we should read every morning from 
ten to eleven, the comedies of Te- 
rence. The sum of my improve- 
gent in the university of Oxford 
js confined to three or four Latin 
plays; and even the study of an 
elegant classic, which might have 
been illustrated hy. a comparison of 
ancient and modern theatres, was 
reduced to a dry and literal in. 
terpretation of the auythor’s text. 
During the first weeks I constantly 
attended these lessons in my tus 
tor's room; but as they apneared 
equaily devoid of profit and plea. 
sure, I was once tempted to try 
a 
© 
[327 
the experiment of a formal apo- 
logy. ‘The apology was aévepted 
withasmile. I repeated the offence 
with less ceremony ; the excuse was 
admitted with the same indulgence : 
the slightest motive of Jaziness or 
indisposition, the most trifling avo- 
cation at home or abroad, was al- 
lowed as a worthy impediment ; 
nor did my tutor appear conscious 
of my absence or negleét. Had the 
hour of Je¢ture been constantly 
filled, a single hour was a small 
portion of my academic leisure. 
No plan of study was recommended 
for my use ; no exercises were pre- 
scribed for his inspection; and, at 
the most precious season of youth, 
whole days and weeks were suf. ° 
fered to elapse without labour or 
amusement, without advice or ac- 
count. I should have listened to the 
voice of reason.and of my tutor; 
his mild behaviour had gained my 
confidence. I preferred his society 
to that of the younger students ; 
and in ourevening walks to the top 
of Heddington-hill, we freely cons 
versed on a varicty of subjects. 
Since the days of Pocock and Hyde, 
oriental learning has always been 
the pride of Oxford, and I once 
expressed an inclination to study 
Arabic. His prudence discouraged 
this childish fancy; but he ne- 
glected the fair occasion of directing 
the ardour of a curious mind. Dur. 
ing my absence in the summer va- 
cation, Dr. Waldegrave accepted 
a college living at Washington in 
Sussex, and on my return home I 
no longer found him at Oxford. 
From that tise I have lost sight of 
my first tutor; but at the end of 
thirty years (1781) he was still 
alive; and the praétice of exercise 
and temperance had e.titled him to 
healthy old age. 
Y4 The 
