THE EEV. GILBERT WHITE. XV 



Thus, Madam, have I given you a faithful account of my 

 satisfactions and sorrows, the latter of which are mostly upper- 

 most. You are a lady, I understand, of much sensibility ; let me 

 therefore make my case your own in the following manner, and 

 then you will judge of my feelings : suppose you were to be 

 kidnapped away to-morrow in the bloom of your life to a land of 

 tortoises, and were never to see again a human face for fifty 

 years ! ! ! Think on this, dear lady, and pity, 



Your sorrowful Reptile, 



TIMOTHY. 



This much is known of Mr. White. [Further particulars 

 of him must be sought in his Diaries, his History of 

 Selborne, and in his Correspondence. He was, strictly 

 speaking, an out-door naturalist, following the pursuit with 

 unwearied diligence, and enjoying the charms of rural scenery 

 with unbounded admiration. 



" Me far above the rest, Selbornian scenes, 

 The pendant forests, and the mountain greens, 

 Strike with delight : there spreads the distant view, 

 That gradual fades till sunk in misty blue ; 

 Here nature hangs her slopy woods to sight ; 

 Kills hurl between and dart a quivering light." 



MB. WHITE. 



His Diaries were kept with unremitting diligence ; and 

 in his annual migrations to Oriel College, and other 

 places, his man Thomas, who seems to have been well 

 qualified for the office, recorded the weather journal. The 

 state of the thermometer, barometer, and the variations 

 of the wind are noted, as well as the quantity of rain 

 which fell. We have daily accounts of the weather, 

 whether hot or cold, sunny or cloudy : we have, also 

 information of the first tree in leaf, and even of the 

 appearance of the first fungi, and of the plants first in 

 blossom. We are told when mosses vegetate, and when 



