THE CENTKNARY ANNEVERSARY OF GILBERT WHITE. 207 



" the still owl skims round the grassy mead, 

 And eke the timorous hare limps forth to feed, 

 We see the swallow sweep the darkening plain, 

 Belated, to support her infant train ; 

 Or mark the swift, in rapid, giddy ring, 

 Dash round the steeple, unsubdued of wing." 



And the invitation which follows reads most appropriately — 



" While deepening shades obscure the face of day, 

 To yonder bench, leaf-sheltered, let us stray, 

 Till blended objects fail the swimming sight, 

 And all the fading landscape sinks in night." 



These considerations appear to outweigh any that could be 

 advanced in behalf of a site in the town. 



As to the form which the memorial should take, no doubt 

 opinions will differ. The idea of a stained-glass window, or a 

 marble monument in a church, could hardly be entertained, 

 except upon the understanding that the memorial should be 

 erected at Selborne. Elsewhere a marble bust, or full-length 

 figure of the man whom it is intended to honour, naturally 

 suggests itself. 



But here a difficult}' arises in the fact that no portrait of 

 Gilbert White exists. We know that in height he was only five 

 feet three inches ; that he was of spare form and upright 

 carriage ; that the expression of his countenance was intelligent, 

 kindly and vivacious. All this we know from the relation of his 

 own nephew ; and we know, moreover, the characteristic dress of 

 a clergyman of the last century. But what sculptor could 

 venture, on this bare description, to chisel out of marble the 

 lineaments of a face of which no actual portrait has been pre- 

 served ? It has been suggested that as the sculptor's art might 

 achieve everything but the features, these might be left to imagi- 

 nation, and be artistically concealed by the device of flexing one 

 arm across the face, while in the extended hand of the other arm 

 might lie the dead body of some favourite bird. This would 

 mark a pleasing trait in the character of the Hampshire natura- 

 list, and at the same time point that moral which it was always 

 his endeavour to inculcate. At his feet might be represented 

 the old tortoise, "Timothy," of which he has left so amusing an 

 account. 



