J821.J Original Letter of Bishop Warburton. j]9 
exertion of our journey, and the keen 
and exhilarating mountain air, had 
sharpened our appetites. We did not, 
therefore, reject a proposal made by Mr. 
W. that we should seek one of the nu¬ 
merous wells with which the mountain 
abounds, and by its brink discuss the 
contents of a basket which the guide 
had brought from Dolgelly. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
sin, 
AVING read several curious let¬ 
ters of distinguished individuals, 
with fac-similes of their hand-writing, 
never before given to the public, in some 
of your late numbers, I am led to ima¬ 
gine something of a similar nature may 
not be wholly unacceptable. I have at 
present in my hands a little volume in 
duodecimo, published by the learned 
Dr. Warburton, in 1724, intitled “Mis- 
ceilanous Translations in prose and 
verse, from Roman Poets, Orators, and 
Historians.” On inspecting the title 
page, I found this copy had belonged to 
the great com men tator Edmund Malone. 
There is a little frontispiece in the be¬ 
ginning, exhibiting an engraving of an 
urn, in the centre of which is seen the 
Bishop’s arms, and the surrounding 
paits in the form of a book-case, the 
hacks of the books visible, so as at once 
to convey an idea of the bishop, the scho¬ 
lar, and the mortal. Under the coat of 
arms is a small inscription or motto: 
“ Fidel's ad Urnamf 
Underneath which again is written 
Edm. Malone, et Amicorum. 
and lower down, but on the same plate 
an observation from Menage: 
u La premiere chose qu’on doit faire 
quand oh a emprunte un livre, cTst de le 
lire, aGn de pouvoir le rendre plutot.”— 
“ The first thing you ought to do when 
you borrow a book is to read it, that you 
may return it as soon as possible to the 
owner.” 
On the opposite page we find written 
in Malone’s hand: 
u This was I believe the first piece pub¬ 
lished by Dr. Warburton. His second 
publication was, I have heard, a small tract 
on Prodigies and Miracles , printed in 
1727.” E. M. Nov. 1775. 
Immediately after this follows : 
“ The author was son of George War¬ 
burton, attorney and town clerk, of Ne- 
wark-upon-Trent, (who died in 1706) by 
Elizabeth, daughter of William Hobman, 
alderman of Newark .”—■“ See a very curi¬ 
ous letter in MS. at the end of this volume. }> 
This very curious letter , accordingly 
I found written on a few leaves pasted 
in the end of the volume. It seems 
chiefly to consist of a criticism on 
Addison’s play of Cato, with the 
writer’s remarks on his imitations, and 
those of many of his contemporaries. 
We give it as exactly as possible, with 
its grammatical peculiarities, from a 
copy of the original. It is as follows : 
LETTER from MR. W. to MR. M. CON- 
CANEN. 
dear sir. —Having had no more 
regard for those papers which I spoke 
of and promised to Mr. Theobald, than 
just what they deserved, I in vain 
sought for them through a number of 
loose papers that had the same kind of 
abortive birth. 1 used to make it one 
good part of my amusement in reading 
the English poets, those of them I mean 
whose vein flows regularly and con¬ 
stantly, as well as clearly, to trace 
them to their sources; and observe 
what oar, as well as what slime and 
gravel they brought down with them. 
Dry den, I observe, borrows for want of 
leisure, and Pope for want of genius; 
Milton out of pride, and Addison out of 
modesty. And now I speak of this 
latter, that you and Mr. Theobald may 
see of what kind those idle collections 
are, and likewise to give you my notion 
of wha* we may safely pronounce an 
imitation ; for it is not, 1 presume, the 
same train of ideas that follow in the 
same description of an ancient and a 
modern, where nature, when attended 
to, always supplys the same stores, 
which will authorize us to pronounce 
the latter an imitation ; for the most 
judicious of all poets, Terence, has ob¬ 
served of his own science, Nihil est 
dictum quod non sit dictum prius : for 
these reasons, I say, I give myself the 
pleasure of setting down some imita¬ 
tions 1 observed in the Cato of Addison. 
Addison. A day, an hour of virtuous 
liberty 
Is worth a whole eternity in bondage. 
Act 2, scene 1. 
Tully. Quod si immortalitas conseque- 
retur presentis periculi fugam, tamen es 
majus ea fugienda ope videretur, quo diu- 
turnior esset servitus. 
Philipp. Or. 10. 
Addison. Bid him disband his legions, 
Restore the commonwealth to liberty, 
Submit his actions to the publick censure, 
And stand the judgment of a Roman senate, 
Bid him do this, and Cato is his friend. 
Tully. Pacem vult ? Arma deponat, roget, 
deprecietur. Neminem equiorem reperiet 
quam me. Philip f 5. 
Addison. 
