PREFACE. 



IN publifhing thefe Memoirs of the Life 

 and Writings of Dr. Darwin, I am con- 

 fcious of their defects ; that they do not 

 form a regular detail of biographical cir- 

 cumftances, even in that moiety of his pro- 

 feffional exiftence formed by his reiidence 

 at Lichfield ; while of that which pafled 

 at Derby I am qualified to prefent no more 

 than a merely general view. 



My work confifls of the following par- 

 ticulars : the perfon, the mind, the temper 

 of Dr. Darwin ; his powers as a Phyfician, 

 Philofopher, and Poet; the peculiar traits 

 of his manners ; his excellencies and faults ; 

 the Petrarchan attachment of his middle 

 life, more happy in it's refult than was that 

 of the Bard of Vauclufe*; the beautiful 

 poetic testimonies of it's fervor, while yet 

 a 3 it 



