WHITE OF SELBORNE 



THE Rev. Gilbert White was born in the village of 

 Selborne, in Hampshire, on the 18th of July, 1720, 

 hi the house where afterwards he lived, and where he 

 died, a bachelor, in the 73rd year of his age, on the 

 26th of June, 1793. 



He lived in seclusion, occupying himself by keeping 

 his diaries, studying all the life of his parish, per- 

 forming light clerical duties, and corresponding with 

 his friends : and little is known of him, though his 

 letters on the natural history of Selborne have brought 

 him immortal renown. 



It is in those letters that the man himself is best 

 revealed : a good, kindly man, cheerful and social, 

 very temperate in habits, full of wonder and admiration 

 at the works of Nature, a friend of the poor, much 

 respected by his neighbours, a scholar and a gentleman. 

 His lite passed with scarcely any other vicissitudes, 

 we are told, than those of the seasons. His love of 

 his beautiful native village, and its wild life, made him 

 decline all offers of preferment. Few personal reminis- 

 cences remain : among the most pleasing of them is 

 the humble testimony of an old dame who had nursed 

 several members of the family, that he was a " still, 

 quiet body," and that " there wasn't a bit of harm in 

 him, I'll assure you, sir there wasn't, indeed ! " 



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