Correspondence of Lieut.-Col. J. L. Philips. ly 



This letter had evidently not come under the notice of 

 that careful biographer of Dr. Clarke, Mr. John Eglinton 

 Bailey, and it helps to fill a gap in the record. Mr. Bailey 

 points out that, after Clarke's residence in Liverpool for a 

 year or two, he was apparently again established in 

 1794 in Manchester as a schoolmaster at 12, Spring 

 Gardens. The above letter indicates that he left Liver- 

 pool early in that year. The reference at the begin- 

 ning of the epistle is to his Tabula? Linguarum, which 

 was published in 1793. The letter shows that at this 

 time (at the age of 51) he was apparently on the point of 

 abandoning the scholastic profession for ever. It seems 

 probable that he found occupation in connection with the 

 Manchester New College. The memoir in the Gentleman's 

 Magazine, quoted by Mr. Bailey, states that during this 

 period he made a collection of philosophical instruments, 

 and he appears to have removed to Bristol about 1797. In 

 1802 he was Professor of History, Geography, and Experi- 

 mental Philosophy at the Royal Military College, Great 

 Marlow, which was subsequently removed to Sandhurst ; 

 and in the same year he received the degree of LL.D. from 

 the University of Edinburgh. The caligraphy of the letter 

 is remarkable for its copper-plate-like character and ela- 

 borate flourishes, in keeping with Mr. Bailey's description 

 of Clarke's signature in the marriage register of the Old 

 Church (Manchester), as " the unmistakeable hand of a 

 Dominie." - 



The writer of the following letter was the Hon. Sir John 

 Talbot Dillon, Knight and Baron of the Holy Roman 

 Empire, who was elected an honorary member of the Society 

 in 1784. Dillon was a traveller, critic, and historical writer. 

 He spent much of his time in travelling in Italy and Spain, 

 and residing in Vienna. He was created a Baron of the 

 Holy Roman Empire by the Emperor Joseph II. "in 

 recognition of services in behalf of his Roman Catholic 

 B 



