ADVERTISEMENT. Ill 



Benjamin Stillingfleet, Esq. in 

 whom were joined the best heart and the 

 ablest head. Benevolence and innocence 

 were his inseparable companions ; retire- 

 ment his choice, from the most affection- 

 ate of motives.* How great, yet how un- 

 necessary, was his diffidence in public ! 

 How ample his instruction in private ! 

 How clear his information ! How delicate 

 the conveyance ! The pupil received ad- 

 vantage, edified by the humility of the 

 master. Thoroughly imbued in Divine 

 Philosophy, he had an uncommon insight 

 into the uses of every object of Natural 

 History ; and gave sanction to those stu- 

 dies, which, by trivial observers, were held . 

 most contemptible. The end of his labors 

 was the GOOD OF mankind. He attempt- 

 ed to destroy the false shame that attend- 

 ed the devotee to Ornithology, the chace 

 of the Insect, the search after the Cockle, 

 or the poring over the Grass. He proved 

 every subject to be of the greatest service 



* Mr, Gray's Letters, 288. 



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