LECTURE I. 3 



words and phrases seemeth insipid and jejune; for 

 words being but the images of tilings, to be given 

 up wholly to their study, what is it but to verify 

 the folly of Pygmalion^ to fall in love with a 

 statue, and neglect the reality! The treasures 

 of Nature are inexhaustible : there is enough for 

 the most indefatigable industry, the happiest op- 

 portunities, the most prolix and undisturbed va- 

 cancies." 



Such appears to have been the opinion of Mr, 

 Ray. 



I shall next observe that the celebrated poet 

 Gray was in a peculiar manner devoted to the 

 study of Natural History; as appears from the 

 testimony of his friend Mr. Mason, who assures 

 us that Gray frequently felicitated himself on 

 having been early introduced to so delightful a 

 science^ and which improved in so remarkable a 

 manner the general tenor of his health and spirits. 

 I might also here mention, as a circumstance not 

 generally known, that Gray translated the Lin- 

 naean Genera or Characters of Insects into elegant 

 Latin hexameters, some specimens of which have 

 been preserved by his friends, though they were 

 never intended for publication. 



