A SHORT BIOGRAPHY 



/ 



OF 



THE REV. GILBERT WHITE. 



IT is impossible for any one to read that charming book, 

 "The Natural History of Selbourne," or Selborne, as it is 

 now generally spelt, without wishing to know something of its 

 author, the Rev. GILBERT WHITE. "We regret, however, 

 that from his secluded habits in his favourite village, and the 

 monotony of his life, little is known of him. That little we 

 will now lay before our readers, which we are the better 

 enabled to do from having had in our possession for some 

 years the Diaries of Mr. White, which he kept with great 

 care and neatness. From these Diaries, a pretty correct 

 idea may be formed of Mr. White's habits of life. It 

 is evident that he was strongly attached to the charms of 

 rural life, and the tranquillity afforded by his favourite 

 village, where " he spent the greater part of his time 

 in literary occupations, and especially in the study of 

 nature." 



Gilbert White was born at Selborne, at the house where 

 he afterwards lived and died, on the 18th of July, 1720. 

 This house was then the residence of his grandmother, his 



