1804.] 
condition that he fhould aé& in a fubordi- 
nate capacity ; when, conceivirg him- 
felf not altoge*her treated upon this ecca 
fion in a liberal minner, he had too 
much fpirit to accede to the pr pofal, 
From that time the work has been at a 
fiand. 
As a teftimony of approbition of his 
tract refpeéting Hume’s Hittory, as well 
as from his holding the rank he did in this 
laborious undeitaking, the Univerfity of 
Edinburgh, altogether unfolic.ted on his 
part, by diplomi, dated the 20th day of 
November, 1779, conferred upon him 
the deoree of Doctor of Laws, which, 
while it was a mark of refpect he well me- 
rited, reflected honour on the Univerfity 
that beftowed it. 
The only feparate and acknowledod 
publication which came from the pen of 
our author, inthe year 1779, was a fhort 
Oration, delivered on the 29th day of July 
in Bunhill-ficlds bur, ing-ground, at the 
int rment of his wife’s relation, Dr. Ca- 
Jeb Fieming 3 t contains a jult eulogium 
on the deceaf'd, and many firking ob- 
fervations well {uit.d to the o-cafion, con. 
veyed in a file at once iinpreffive and 
energ-tic. 
In the year 1780, came out, as men- 
tio. ed in the note, the fecond volume of 
the Bigraphia, which muft nave occupied 
mucn ef his care and attention ; it ap- 
pearing that he contributed no lefs than 
twelve lives, with additions to two more, 
towards its completion. ' 
We do not find that Dr. Tewers 
brough’ out any other literary work for 
a confiderable*time afterwards ; but from 
this, however. it muit not be inferred 
that he remained ina&tive or unemployed ; 
in no part of his tiie was this the ca‘e. 
it has aleady been obferved thzt his 
mind was conitantly exe:cifed in labour- 
ing to obtain, as well as to communicate, 
knowledge ; and no day, we are perfuac- 
ed, ever pafled in which thefe objeéts 
were wholly out of fight. Numerous 
were the compofitions of his friends on 
which his known abilities led them to 
confult him: he correéted and prep ired 
for the prefs, about this time, feveral 
extenfive and valuable works, which 
gained the writers reputation, and cauled 
him labour, with ulually no other re- 
compence on his parr, than the pleafure 
he derived from having effentially ferved 
thofe whoin he efteemed. Many inftances 
of this kind might be fpecified, but itis 
not neceflaty, nether would it be proper, 
on this peint to be particular. 
Ta the year 1780, he was engaged to 
Memoir of the late Dr. Fofeph Towers. 
545 
undertake a confiderable and material part 
in a wo.k, called the NewAnnual Regiiter. 
The department affigned to our author 
was thac of the Britifhand Foreign Hit 
tory; he alfo compofed the account of 
foreign literature ; all of which were 
completed with great judgment, in the 
three firit volumes, for the years 1780, 
1781, and 1782 3 added to this, he com- 
piled the chronic'e for the two Airft of 
thefe volumes, and alio for part of the 
third. For his labours on this occafion 
he obtained an adequate compentation, 
and the work, which was well received, 
ftill retains its former reputation. The 
reafon why our anthor did not preferve, 
for a longer period, this beneficial en- 
gigement, are not fully known ; but we 
hive reafon to think that the principal 
caufe was ad fference of opinion between. 
him and one, if no‘ more, of hismoft valued 
friends, on a recent and important politi. 
cal tranfa&tion, which he could not, con- 
fittently with his decided fentiments, but 
have reprefented in this publication wide- 
ly different from their views of: the fub- 
je&, and in a manner which would be by 
them much difrelifhed ; nor could he, as 
he thought, refrain from ftrongly cen- 
furing the conduét of the principal party 
inthe affair alluded to, if he retained bis 
fituation as a writer in this work, and, 
therefore, he was induced to decline it. 
Confidering the circumétances of the 
cafe, how far it was prudent in him fo 
to do, we pretend not to determine ; it 
is, however, certain, that he had a high 
fenfe of honour, which made him tena- 
cious of his literary character, and pecu- 
liarly careful to avo:d the Jealt appear- 
ance of duplicity in any part of his con- 
du&+: nor could any intereft whatever 
detach him from the caufe of truth. 
Our author’s next publication made its 
apoearance near the clofe of the year 
1782, being * A Letter to the Earl of 
Sheiburne, Firft Lord of the Treafury,”” 
with the following motto, from Virgil : 
‘¢ Ille dolis inftra€tus, et arte Pelafga.™ 
This pamphlet is written with greater 
warmia than our author had uiually dif- 
covered ; it was; however, wedoubt not, 
diétated by honeft feelings. In point of 
compofition, this performance is pecu- 
liarly intitled to praife. 
This year, alfo, there came from the 
pre's another political pamphlet, written 
by our author, occafioned by a “ Trea- 
~tife on Civil Government,’” written by 
* Furnifhed with wiles, and Grecian artifice. 
4 Aas Dr. 
