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1902.] 
evening with him, He propofed a con- 
neétion (not a partnerfhip) which. -P :ac- 
cepted, and which continued, with {mail 
Variations, according to the mutations of 
time, till the day of his death. From that 
date, perhaps, I have paid. him) sool. a 
year, upon the average, and always. with 
pleafure, which proves’.this.fimple ‘point, 
I was.treated «with honour. During. this 
long courfe.of 45 years he never gave me 
one caufe of complaint. » His 4oxour, and 
peaceable temper, will farther appear from 
a remark he made while we travelled in a 
chaife from Wolfey-bridge to Tamworth, 
in O&eber 1795—he had then been in 
partnerfhip with a perfon in another.con- 
cern near. 15 years—‘‘ that they never had 
ene word of difference :fince they met.””., 
His. generous caft of mind will appear 
from two, among many, incidents. T-acci- 
dentally remarked that,‘‘1 had feen a diftant 
relation’ of nis, who was out of employ- 
ment.’’-—‘* Give him, (/ays he) upon. my 
account (though he did not know him) 
five fhillings a week till. he gets; into 
work.””?. When the ricters, in 1791),had 
eruelly deftroyed my property to a large 
amount, and obliged me, with my family, 
to run away without a fhilling, and. none 
durft take us in, we drove, among other, 
places, to the Caftle at Tamworth. . I 
afked the people of thé inn if they. knew 
me? ‘© No,’—** I have no money to pay 
my wav, or property to pledge.°’ 
looks fells. ‘* Iam known to Mr. Bage, 
of Elford, whom I will requeft to pay my 
bill.” Their looks and-my credit rofe 
together. He cheerfully paid it, blamed 
me for not coming to his houfe,and I could 
never prevail upon him to accept areturn. 
With all thefe rich talents and), rare 
endowments he was mild in the extreme; 
an enemy tono man, and, I believe, never 
had one himfelf. feat o 
His reafon for becoming an author was 
fingular, and fuch as would have driven 
another out cf authorfhip. I fhall flate 
the caufe, and deliver the refult as given 
me by himfelf in the chaife above-men- 
mentioned. About the year 1765 he was 
induced to enter into partnerflip with 
three gentlemen in a wholefale iron-manu- 
factory. The purfuit contineed about 14 
years, then diflolved, when it appeared he 
had loft a fum, which I have now forgot- 
ten, perhaps 1500]. Fearing the diffrefs 
of mind would overcome him, te took up 
the pen to turn the ftream of forrow into 
that of amufemént; a fcheme worthy a 
philofopher. His fir produétion was 
‘ Mount Heneth, in 1781, which he fold 
- 
Memoirs of Mr. Bage. 
Their . 
s 
479 
for 30l.° His fucceeding works followed . 
nearly upon the fame terms, “The public 
are in poffeffion of his writings, and have 
given'him an ample return of praife. Ex- - 
cellent as they are, yet, in my opinion, 
his private letters, of which I mutt have 
received more than a thoufand, furpafs 
them. -They are replete with vivacity, 
witty turns, and fine bumour, fponta- 
neovfly fpringing, without effort, from 
the: heart. Firsts 
A tketch of this amiable man may be 
feen in Hutton’s Hiftory of Derby, 1791, 
where he pofleffes a niche among the wor- 
thies of that place. I fhall tranfcribe the 
paflage. Rig oe evened 
‘© If we find a pleafurein drawing a va- 
luable character which has deff the face, 
that pleafure mult be double when we 
treat of thofe who ftill adorn it; becaufe 
we revere both the character and the man. 
Tias, ivthe prefent cale, is my pleafing 
tafkz2 Tie man I now delineate is a na- 
tive of Derby, but left it at.an early pe- 
riod, He amufes the world and himflf 
with novel produétions of a {uperior'clafs, 
as Mount Heneth, Barham Downs. The 
Fair Syrian,.James Wallace, &c. wherein 
is an excellent piGture of life;ra full dif- 
play of character and featiment.: Thefe 
have travelled to the continent,’ paffed 
through the Frankfort- prefs, and appeared 
to the world in-a German habit. 
«© Although fortune never made him 
confpicuous in the great world, fhe gave 
him what was preferable, affluence and 
content. In directing a paper-mill may’ 
be found that head which is able to direét 
empires; that. judgment, which can de. 
cide in difficult cafes; a penetratien, 
which can fathom the human heart, and 
comprehend various fy{ftems of knowledge; 
a genius, which conftitutes the companion 
- for Newton in philofophy, for Handel in 
mufic, for Euclid in mathematics; a 
mafter of the living and dead languages, 
‘and all, like the wealth of 4 merchant 
who rifes from nothing, acquired by bim- 
felf.. Nay, I fhould even ‘rank him with 
that, learned body, the phyficians, if he 
were not defective in the art of killing.— 
That rectitude, which is rarely found, is: 
here ob{cured from the public eye, but is 
a pearl of great price, and a credit to our 
fpecies. “Vhough a diminutive figure, yet 
one of the moft amiable of men; andthough 
barely a Chriftian, yet one of the beft. I 
have known him‘ fifty-fix years; his 
friend{lip is an honour; J have long pof- 
fefled it; to which I fall add another, 
by writing his name with my own. eae 
é 
