1758 VICAK OF SELBORNE DIES 95 



cure residence had never hitherto been considered 

 ;l condition of appointment, and that the new stipu- 

 lation ought not to set aside his claim to hold it 

 upon the customary conditions. Though he occa- 

 sionally visited, he never resided at Moreton 

 Pinkney ; which continued to be served by a curate, 

 whose stipend left some £30 to the holder of the 

 living, who was formally licensed to it in London, 

 by the Bishop of Peterborough, in May, 1758. 

 On June 10th, 1758, Mulso writes : — 



'' Me thinks I see you very busy at your Father's map of 

 France, tracing out the environs of St. Malo and Brest. We 

 liave very favourable accounts at present from all quarters. 

 . . . The year is as beautiful as ever I saw. I long to be in 

 your Grotto [The Hermitage] — ^elidis sub montibus Hcemi 

 is your situation." 



In July, 1758, the Vicar of Selborne, Dr. Bristowe, 

 who had been for some time incapacitated, died. 

 Mulso, after condolences upon the death of such an 

 old friend, remarks, on July 13th, 1758 : — 



"I suppose you have the care of the church upon you 

 till the successor arrives. I beg of you to contrive to get 

 a great estate, to be enabled to live on at Selbourne, to be 

 the friend of the Poor, who have now lost one, and may 

 in a few years lose another [i.e. Gilbert White's father] ; and 

 prevent that sweet place from decaying into the very Den 

 of Poverty and misery: capable as it certainly is of the 

 highest improvements, and of being one of the most en- 

 chanting spots in England." 



During the summer the improvements at Selborne 

 continued. The zigzag path received a cleaning. 



