228 Literary Notices. 



fortunate enough to see the collection, the peculiar methods which 

 Mr. Waterton adopted. Mr. Waterton belonged to a class of 

 eccentric characters, found more often in out-of-the-way* country 

 places than in towns. When, as was the case with him, these 

 singular specimens of humanity are remarkable for benevolence as 

 well as for intelligence, no one has a right to criticise their pecu- 

 liarities harshly. The manners and modes of thought of our age 

 tend too much to destroy individuality, and we ought to be thankful 

 that a few persons stand out from the monotonous ranks, winning 

 respect for their substantial goodness, and reminding us that 

 humanity in a civilized country need not be reduced to a series of 

 mechanical imitations of a few favourite types. Doubtless Mr. 

 Waterton would have been a greater naturalist and a greater man 

 if something like a crack or craze had not run through his character, 

 but his life was a useful and valuable one, and he had the great and 

 rare merit of being true to himself. With great physical courage, 

 and that sort of moral courage which enabled him to pursue his 

 own course in defiance of what Mrs. Grundy, and even more 

 rational authorities might think expedient, he was nevertheless in 

 bondage all his life to superstitious ideas, and he had not the 

 slightest notion of the way in which free political and religious 

 systems contributed to human advancement. His mind was 

 mediaeval rather than modern, and new processes and improvements 

 in agriculture seem to have been viewed by him as heresies to be 

 avoided rather than as practices to be pursued. His body he called 

 his " ass," and he took care that it should never be pampered. An 

 old suit of clothes, a " shocking bad hat," with ventilating apertures 

 worn in its crown, and a plentiful coat of dirt adhering to its 

 surface, formed his regular costume. He slept on a board, with a 

 log for a pillow, and a rough wrapper for a covering. When very 

 ill, he would, under medical orders, betake himself to a sofa, but a 

 bed he would not enter, as he considered that would be indulging 

 the body more than was necessary for good health. Ordinary 

 visitors were rigidly excluded from his domains, but he would 

 admit large parties to occasional picnics in his park ; and if per- 

 suaded that any one really wanted information on natural history 

 or taxidermy, he was happy to afford it, on condition of the re- 

 cipient's repaying his teacher with an abundance of reverence and 

 faith. He was rigid in all the fasts which the Roman Catholic Church 

 ordained, and his favourite remedy for any kind of illness was 

 copious bleeding from the arm. That he should have survived this 

 treatment to extreme old age is a proof of the wonderful strength 

 of his constitution, and, indeed, in all physical matters he was an 

 extraordinary man. 



" Mr. Waterton," says Dr. Hobson, " during his long life, never 

 partook of either wine, spirit, or malt liquor. In addition to simple 

 water, a cup of excessively weak black tea was his favourite, indeed 

 his only, beverage, on all occasions, into which he put a large 

 quantity of sugar, but no cream." He went to bed about nine 

 o'clock, and rose at half-past three, when he lighted his own fire, 

 which had been laid for him the previous evening, and began some 



