BIRTH AT SELBORNE 17 



following that of his marriage he and his wife were 



' staying with his father at Selborne Vicarage ; and 



in this house, on July 18th, 1720, was born his eldest 



son ;t who, though he lived the quiet life of a 



; scholar and naturalist, was destined to make the 



name of his secluded and obscure native village a 



household word wherever the English tongue is 



I spoken ; to link it with his own, and to achieve 



posthumous fame as Gilbert White of Selborne. 



t Fide Gilbert White's little poem, **The Invitation to Selborne," 1. 61 

 et seq. — 



" Nor be the Parsonage by the muse forgot, 

 j The partial bard admires his native spot." 



He was christened in Selborne Church on August 1st, 1720. It has been 

 j assumed, but without any real authority, that he was a godson of the vicar, 

 ' who mentions one grandson only, John, as "my godson " in his will. 



VOL. I. 



