xlii MEMOIR. 



his letters to his brother John, he contrasts Lever with 

 Pennant in the following words: " Lever is a generous 

 man, and is of great service to you by lending you all 

 his books. I hope Mr. P. will bethink himself, and wipe 

 off all the imputation of selfishness that he lies under;" 

 and in another letter to his brother, referring to some 

 drawings belonging to Pennant, is the following sen- 

 tence: "The long contested drawings are lodged 

 in Thames Street, in order to be sent down to you. 

 I wish they had been better executed, and the owner 

 had behaved more like a gentleman on the occasion/' 



In an unpublished passage of Letter XXII., however, 

 he gives Pennant credit for readiness to acknowledge 

 his mistakes : " In your letter of June 28, 1768, I 

 could but admire with how much frankness you acknow- 

 ledge several mistakes in your ' Zoology ' with respect to 

 some birds of the Grallce order. Candour is a very es- 

 sential part of a naturalist ; and this accomplishment our 

 great countryman, Mr. Ray, possessed in an eminent 

 degree." In a subsequent portion of the same letter, also 

 withheld from publication, he makes a kindly acknow- 

 ledgment of the satisfaction he derives from the study 

 of Pennant's book : " I often take up your 'Zoology ' for 

 an hour, and entertain myself with comparing your de- 

 scription with those of the authors that have written on 

 the same subject ; and am pleased to find that my 

 friend has through the whole acquitted himself so much 

 to advantage." 



The Hon. Daines Barrington, to whom no less than 

 sixty-six of the published letters are addressed, was the 

 son of the first Viscount Barrington, and brother of the 

 Bishop of Durham. He was born in 1727, was edu- 

 cated at Oxford, called to the bar in 1740, and, after 



