G R A 



G R A 



jifation of producing periodical oblalions of conn inoeiifi-. 

 The odes jtill mentioned were much lefs popular than ihe 

 elegy : many could not underftand them, fomc ridiculed 

 them, and in general they were more theobjeftsof afloniih- 

 nient than of rapturous feeling ; iieverthclefs, among per- 

 fons of real literary tafte, they raifed the author's poetical 

 charafter to a level with that of the fuil poets of his country. 

 In the year 1759, Mr. Gray varied the uniformity of his 

 life by a refideuce, wliich continued three years, in lodgings 

 near the Britifh Mufeuni, chiefly for the purpofe of confult- 

 kig curious books and manufcripls in that great national re- 

 pofitory. In 1765 he took a journey into Scotland for 

 his health, was iiitroduccd to the moil eminent literati in 

 that. co\uitry, and fed his imagination with thofe fcencs of 

 natural fublimity and beauty which no man was better qua- 

 lified to tallc, and to improve. He had, previoufly to this, 

 iought for the profeiTorihip of modern hillory at Cambridge, 

 but either his application v.as too late, or the patron, lord 

 Bute, bad other intereils to ferve ; it was given to another 

 candidate. A fecond vacancy occurred in 176;-, wlien it 

 was conferred upon liim, unfolicitcd and miexpectcd, in the 

 molt handfume way pofliblc, by the duke of Grafton, who, 

 notwithlianding fome defefls in the former part of his lilc, 

 has always been capable of doing noble things in a noble 

 manner. The place was worth 400/. pir aim. an<l Gray 

 made a voluntary return for the favour by an " Ode to 

 Mnfic," for the inllallation of that nobleman, as chancellor 

 of tlieimiverfity in 1769. His new office laid him under an 

 obligation to iome exertions : he might indeed have flieltered 

 himfelf by the example of his predeceffors, arid received the 

 emoluments without paying any regai-d to its duties, but 

 the idea of retaining a perfeft fmecure did not accord with 

 his temper; he immediately fct about preparing for adtive 

 fervice, he ftietched an admirable plan for his inauguration 

 fpeech, in which, after enumerating the preparatory and 

 auxiliary ftudies requilite, as ancient hillory, geography, 

 chronology, &c. he defcended to tlie authentic fources 

 of the fcicnce, fuch as public treaties ; ftate records, pri- 

 vate correfpondence of Embaffadors, &c. He alfo drew up 

 and laid before the duke of Grafton, three different fchemes 

 ior regulating the method of clioofing pupils privately to be 

 luftrudled by him, which were highly approved, and if he 

 had been accuftouicd, by general habits, to thofe exercifes 

 which he ielt would have been beneficial to the improvement 

 of his pupils, much might have been expetled from his 

 lectures, but with a mind replete with the llores of know- 

 ledge, ancient and modern, he was totally unable, through the 

 baneful effefts of habitual literary indolence, to bring his vail 

 acquiiitions to ufe on demand; and after many uiieafy llrug- 

 gles, he proceeded no farther than to iketch out a plan. 

 His health was indeed rapidly on the decline ; low fpirits, 

 " the indo'ent fcholar's familiar malady," feized him ; an 

 irregular hereditary gout made more frequent attacks than 

 ufual on his feeble conftitution : at length a fuddcn naufea, 

 with v.'hich he was affefted while dining in the College Hall, 

 indicated tli.at the difeafe had left the extremities and 

 eilabhiheditfelf in the ftomach. He died July 30th 1771, 

 ift the fifty-fifth year of his age. He was fenlible to the 

 laft, aad aware, through the whole of the difeafe, of his 

 great danger, but exprelTed no vifible concern at the thoughts 

 of his approaching dilToIution. With a warm imagination, 

 Mr. Gray had cool atledtions, anda calm fedate difpolition. 

 He was attentive from economy, yet wholly void cf avarice : 

 he was generous, even when his circumftances were the mod 

 narrow. He was careful of himfelf, and fo timorous, that 

 it is aflcrted, fome cf the lined views in a tour to the Lakes 

 efcaped him, becaufe he did not choofe to venture to thofe 



fpots whence they were to be feen. This want of pcrfonal 

 courage is a fmgular contrail witli the manly and martial 

 llrains of his poetry. In morals he was temperate, up- 

 right, and a conllant friend to virtue. Hii religious opinions 

 were not known, but he aKvays abhorred the dilfemination 

 of fcepticifm and infidelity. Few men of his reputation 

 have had lefs vanity, and he bore with g<!od-lumiour and 

 eafy negligence all the criticiirns upon liis compoiitions. 

 The learning of our poet was general and deep : it com- 

 prifed almoil every topic of human enquirv, excepting what 

 belonged to the fcicnces properly fo called. As a poet his 

 name mull defcend to the latell poilcrity, at lead, as long 

 as there is talle enough left to ieel and enjoy elegant 

 writing. No one appears to have poffcfTed more of that 

 faculty of poetical perception which diitinguiflies among all 

 the objects of art and nature what arc iitttil for the poet's 

 ufe, together with the power of difplaying them in their 

 richcll colours. According to a critic, Mr. Gray "did 

 not excel in pure invention, neither is he highly pathetic or 

 fublimc, but he is fplendid, lofty, and energetic ; generally 

 corrcit, and richly harmonious. Though lyric poetrv is that 

 in w hicli he has chiefly cxercifed himfelf, he was capable of 

 varying his manner to fnit any fpecies of compoiltion. Per- 

 haps he was bell of all qualified for the moral and didaftic, 

 if we may judge from his noble fragment of " An Effay on 

 the Alliance of Education and Gosernmcnt." As a writer 

 of Latin verfe he is perhaps fiirpalTed by few in clafllc pro- 

 priety. His letters are entertaining and inltruCtive ; free 

 from all parade ; they polTefs a fund of pleafantry, v,hich will 

 ever render them popular among thofe of his countrymen, 

 who are at all imbued with the principles of literary tafte. 

 By a friend who has detcribed his character it is faid that 

 " perhaps he was the moll learned man in Europe ; he was 

 equally acquainted with the elegant and profound parts of 

 Icience, and that not fuperficially but thoroughly. He knew 

 every branch of hillory both natural and civil, and had read 

 all the original hiilorians of England, France, and Italv ; and 

 was a great antiquarian. Criticifm, metaphvlics, morals, and 

 politics, made a principal part of his plan of iludy ; 

 voyages and travels of all forts were his favourite amufe- 

 ment, and he had a fine tafte in painting, prints, architefture, 

 and gardening : with fuch a fund of knowledge, his convcr- 

 fation mufl have been equally inilruftive and entertaining ; 

 but he was alfo a good man, a well bred man, a man of 

 virtue and humanity. There is no ch.araiter without fome 

 fpeck, fome imperfection ; and I think the greateil defect i:i 

 his, was an allegation in delicacy, or rather effeminacy, 

 and a viiible fallidioufnefs or contem.pt anddifdain of his in- 

 feriors in fcience. He alfo had in foir.e degree that weak- 

 nefs which difgulled Voltaire fo much in Mr. Congrcve ; 

 though he feemed to value others chiefly according to the 

 progrefs they had made in knowledge, yet he could not bear 

 to be confidered himfelf merely as a man of letters ; and 

 though witliout birth, or fortune, or ilation, his defire wa-s 

 to be looked upon as^ a private independent gentleman. ' 

 Mafon's Life and Letters of Gray, four vols. 8vo. 1778. 



Gray, or Grey, a mixed colour, par.aking cf the two 

 extremes, black and white. In dyei::g, many of the 

 varieties of grey, iron-grey, flate colour, Uq. are given by 

 procefies, in general, limilar to thofe for black, but with 

 Imaller quantities of the ingredients, and f fpecially a fliorter 

 time of immerfion. They are often fini.licd with a weak 

 bath of weld, cochineal, Brazil-wood, and other liveher 

 colours to give fomc particular tints. 



In the ]\lnnene tliey make feveral forts of grays : as the 

 ln:iid:d ov bLickaird grzj, which has fpots quite black, dif- 

 perfed here and there. The iM^^lcd gtRy» wLicli has fpots 



cf 



