MEMOIR. xix 



the character of author, Gilbert White had acquired and 

 kept up a close and friendly communion with men who 

 had distinguished themselves in the cultivation of litera- 

 ture and science, and that not only in his correspondence, 

 but in personal intercourse, such an association formed 

 a considerable element in the happiness of his life. In 

 the whole tenour of his well-known work, in the few 

 existing records of his own life, and no less in his 

 private letters, will be found the same unambitious and 

 gentle tone, combined, however, with a degree of decision 

 and solid judgment which effectually prove that inter- 

 course with the great world is not required to elevate or 

 strengthen the character. 



The following passages from a very brief unpublished 

 memoir of him by his nephew, the Rev. Edmund White, 

 who, for the last nine years of his uncle's life, was vicar 

 of the contiguous parish of Newton Valence, and who 

 probably knew him more intimately than any other 

 person, will be read with interest, as affording a close 

 insight into his character, attested by one who, from 

 his boyhood, was the object of his constant care and 

 affection. 



" His kind, admonitory letters to me when I first went 

 to the university, which were continued during my resi- 

 dence in college, made the first impression on my mind 

 of his kindness of heart, and of his pure Christian and 

 religious principles, and prepared me to enjoy with more 

 than common satisfaction the good fortune which befell 

 me upon my quitting college, of residing upon my living, 

 which is the adjoining parish to Selborne. This circum- 

 stance I have always regarded as a most fortunate event 

 in my life, as it led me to the closest intimacy and friend- 

 ship with a man whose conversation was always enter- 



