xviii MEMOIR. 



greater part of his life in the retirement of his native 

 village (the uniformity of his habits varied only by 

 occasional visits to his friends), that he published an 

 account of the natural history and antiquities of the 

 place of his residence, and died there at a good old age 

 these are the meagre outlines of a life which no 

 lights and shadows can elaborate into such a picture as 

 would satisfy the curiosity of the numbers who have 

 dwelt upon his writings with delight, and who naturally 

 long for some characteristic traits of his mind and 

 habits. The Editor of the present impression of his 

 works therefore, in endeavouring to furnish some memo- 

 rials of his author, feels that he lies under a disadvantage 

 which no diligence can obviate and no ingenuity can 

 conceal, while the ' Annals of the Parish ' in which it 

 is his own pleasant lot to reside afford but scanty 

 materials to aid him in his facts. 



But if the tranquil flow of a contemplative life, un- 

 broken by startling incident and unvaried by travel, 

 fail to interest the feelings or to satisfy the cravings of a 

 sensational and restless age, it may yet be useful to show 

 by such an example that the love of nature and its pure 

 and holy study may not only be consistent with, but 

 may itself be the cause of a true and enduring happiness 

 which the excitement and turmoil of debated theories, 

 and the gratification of personal ambition, even in pur- 

 suits important and praiseworthy in themselves, have 

 no power to confer. 



Nor is it a necessary concomitant of such a life of 

 quiet, that it should be one of indolence and seclusion, 

 or inconsistent with the most cheerful association with 

 the world of intellect and learning. It appears, on the 

 contrary, that, wholly independent of his assumption of 



