168 MEMOIR OF DIt WRIGHT. 



highly instructive ; and the grateful task of doing- 

 justice to the memory of Dr Wright would have 

 been left imperfect, if, by any omission on the part 

 of him who has been entrusted with its execution, it 

 could have been supposed that this good and vene- 

 rable man had ever ceased to cherish that purest of 

 all earthly passions, the desire of posthumous dis- 

 tinction. But although always impressed with a be- 

 coming sense of what was due to his own reputation, 

 he was never known to trench, in the slightest degree, 

 on the rights or privileges of others. 



The kind and even anxious interest which he 

 continued to take in the prosperity and comfort of 

 his friends, was perhaps as perfectly social in its 

 nature, and as free from any reference to self, as 

 it is given to mortals to enjoy. The last letter 

 which he ever penned, affords indeed a double source 

 of interest. It was dated on the 3d of Septem- 

 ber 1819, within a few days of his death, and 

 bears internal evidence of the calmness and compo- 

 sure with which he contemplated his approaching dis- 

 solution. But it is chiefly remarkable for the proof 

 which it affords of the unimpaired possession of all his 

 faculties, and for the undiminished ardour with which, 

 till the latest period of his life, he continued to apply 

 the energies of his mind, and the influence of his 

 name and character, to the advancement of the im- 

 mediate interests of his neighbours and his friends. 

 The letter is addressed to a Member of the Legisla- 

 ture, connected by ties of friendship with the head of 

 the Government ; and its object was, to bespeak the 



