WHERE IZAAK WALTON DIED 179 



as he was a naturalist. In Mulso's correspondence with 

 his friend there are several allusions to the classic 

 History of Selborne, which appeared in 1788. Writing 

 to Gilbert White from his residence in the Close, he says : 

 " Your book was mentioned with Respect by our 

 Chapter (a full one) and the volume ordered to be bought 

 for the Library." Again : " Mr Lowth and Dr Sturgess 

 (both able men) admire your book, particularly the 

 Natural History. Among others Dr Warton is exces- 

 sively pleased with it." The copy " ordered to be 

 bought " is still in the Cathedral Library, a first edition 

 of the immortal work. Another interesting association 

 with John Mulso's residence is the fact that his sister, 

 Mrs Hester Chapone, was accustomed, after the death 

 of her husband, to spend much of her time in the Close 

 at Winchester. In her earlier days she had contributed 

 to the pages of Dr Johnson's Rambler, and was soon 

 recognised as an accomplished member of the blue- 

 stocking circle. Richardson delighted in her sprightly 

 conversation, and she frequently visited the novelist at 

 North-End. She was the author of a large number of 

 essays, but her most noteworthy performance, written 

 for the instruction of her niece, John Mulso's daughter, 

 was an educational work, entitled Letters on the Im- 

 provement of the Mind, which passed through many 

 editions. Gilbert White was on terms of close friend- 

 ship with Mrs Chapone, and it is likely that they often 

 met in John Mulso's residence beneath the shadow of 

 the Cathedral. 



Our last prebendary must be Dr Warton, the famous 

 headmaster of Winchester College, " a man of greater 

 celebrity, as regards his general reputation, than any 

 other who has filled that station." He was appointed 



