364 
tic, prefenting Apollo with a very fevere 
cenfure upon an excellent poem, was 
afked for the good things in that work ; 
but the wretch anfwering, he minded only 
the errors, Apollo ordered a fack of un- 
winnowed wheat to be brought, and the 
critic to pick out and take all the chaff for 
his pains. 
ORIGINAL LETTERS. 
EXTRACTS of LETTERS from DR. MID- 
_DLETON f0 LORD HERVEY. 
Communicated by his Lordjhip’s Brother to 
the Rev. William Talbot, Rector of 
Kideton, Warwickfbire. 
July 1, 1733.—It is my misfortune 
to have had fo early a tafte for Pagan 
{cienice, as to make me very {queamifh in 
my Chriftian fludies. — - . 
Aug. 25th, 1733.—I had pleafed myfelf 
with the thoughts of fpending one day phi- 
Jofophically with Chubb. 
September 15th, 1733.—The orthodox 
think to tame me as they do wild-beafts, 
by fuffering them to take nore&; but I 
fhall have grace ftill to follow my own rea- 
fon in fpite of all their nonfenfe, and am 
more thankful to God for what I do not 
believe than for what Ido. In the one I 
may poilibly be biafled by cuftom, au- 
thority, intereft ; but the other is the tri- 
umph of my reafon over prejudices that 
involve the greateft part of mankind. If 
Iam fo happy as to pleafe by my perfor- 
mances, I can-only fay, ecce opus manu- 
zm tuarum. An inviolable attachment 
to her Majefty and her family is the only 
merit and virtue pretend to. 
O&. 21, 1733.—Dr. Berryman’s Pre- 
face is void of ali candourand good fenfe. 
Dr. Waterland’s great Importance of the 
Do&trine of the Trinity is a furprizing 
piece of non‘enfe and irreligion. 
Avg. roth, 1734.—Sunday is my only 
day of reft, but not of liberty; for I am 
bound to double attendance at church, to 
wipe off the (tain of infidelity. When I 
fhajl have recovered my credit (in which | 
freedom; but at preient the fubjection I 
am under of ufing all forms, obliges me to 
put an end to your Lordfhip’s trouble. 
July 27th, 1735.—I like both the de- 
ficn and the doétrine of Bilhop Hoadley’s 
piain Account of the Sacram<nt, as I do 
every defign of uniting Teligion with rea- 
fon ; or, where that cannot be, of bring- 
ing them as near together as poflible. — 
His enemies will infult him wifh the 
charge of leflening Chriftian piety ; but 
the candid will {ce that he feeks only to 
Imake daily progref:) I may: ufe more 
From the Port-felio of a Man of Letters. 
[May 3, 
‘deftroy a fuperftitious devotion, by efta= 
blifhing a rational one in its place. But 
as, by throwing down the fhrines and al ~ 
tars of the church, he will raife no fmall 
ftir from the men of crafc, fo I rejoice 
much, with your Lordthip, that he has fe- 
cured the good caftie of Farnham fora , 
retreat. 
Feb. 8th, 1735-6.—You would advife . 
him (Dr. Hoadley) to wafte no more of 
his time in controverfy, which, generally 
fpeaking means nothing more, at the heft, 
than to make plaufibie to weak men what - 
is contemptible to men of fenfe. 
March 30th, 1736.—(On Lord Ichefe. 
ter’s marriage to a great heirefs.)—-This- — 
happy event will, T hope, convince hing 
that whatever elfe is tranfacted there, 
matches, at leat, are made in heaven. 
Sept. 13th, 1736.—Thofe fiumberers ~ 
in falls fufpec&t me very unjuftly of ill. 
defigns againft their peace. For though 
there are many things in the church that 
I wholly diflike, yet while I am content 
to acquieice in the ills, I fhould be glad to 
tafte a little of the good, and to hare 
fome amends for the ugly affent and con-* 
fent which no man of fenfe can approve. 
We read of fome of ‘the earlieft difciples 
of Chrift, who followed him, not for his 
works, but his loaves. Thefe were cer- 
tainly blameable, becaufe they faw his 
miracles; but to us, who have not the 
honour to fee the one, it fhould be allowed 
to have fome inclination to the other.— 
Your Lordfhip knows a certain prelate, 
who, with a very low notion of the 
church’s moft facred bread, has a very 
high relith, and a very large thare, of her 
temporal. My appetite.to both is equal- 
ly moderate, and would be farisfied almoft. 
with any thing but mere emptinefs. I 
have no pretenfions to riot in the feaft, 
with the ele&t ; but with the finner only, 
in the gofpel, to gather up the crumbs that 
fail from the tabie. 
Two LETTERS from DAVID HUME 7a 
DR. HUCH BLAIR, on the SUBJECT of 
OSSIAN’S POEMS. 
DEAR SIR, 
I LIVE in a place where I have the 
pleafure of frequently hearing juftice 
done to. your differtation ; but never 
heard it mentioned in acompany, where 
fome one perfon of other did not exprefs 
his doubts with regard to the authenti~ 
city of the poems which are its fubjeét 5 
and I cften hear them reje&ted with dif- 
dain and indignation as a palpable and ~ 
moft infamous forgery. This opinion has 
indeed become very prevalent among the 
mea 
