31S 
which occupied his pen, in later years, 
were of a nature the moft congenial to his 
feelings. And in the fevera] voluines of 
Father's. Infirudivons and Moral Diffrta- 
tions, which have appeared at different 
petiods, through a fpace of twenty-five 
years, and which were originally conceiv- 
ed w:th the defign of exciting in the hearts 
of his children a defire af knowledge and 
a love of virtue, there is to be found as 
much of pure flyle, genuine feeling, re- 
fined tafte, apt illuffration, judicious en- 
‘forcement, and pious refleétion, as can 
eafily be difcovered, in the fame compafs, 
in any didactic compofition. Perhaps it 
is not in the reach of human ingenuity 
to execute fuch a work in a manner better 
adapted to its objeét ; and, certainly with- 
in the range of human feleétion,.tkere can 
be no objeét of higher importance than that 
which the author held in view, the intel- 
jJeétual, moral, and religious improvement 
of the rifing peneration. This, indeed, 
was the object always neareft to his 
thoughts. To this he dire&ted the powers 
of his fancy, the ftores of his memory, and 
the refults of his learning.- And hence 
thefe invaluable productions, whilft they 
are intelligible and impreffive to the young, 
are edifying to the adult, and interefting 
and delightful to all.. In every fentiment 
the author is felt, becaufe he fpeaks from 
the heart; in every precept he perfuades, 
becaufe utility 1s his end; in every argu- 
ment ke convinces, becaufe truth is his 
guide. The merit of this colleS&tive work 
can be duiy appreciated only by thofe 
who have carefully perufed its feveral 
parts ; acd of thofe who have, it may fafe- 
ty be pronounced, that not one capab'e of 
arelith for what is beautiful in writing, 
and juft in thinkicg, has ever clofed thele 
voluines without finding his heart improv- 
ed, his judgment rectified, and his taie 
refined. In addition to the wks al- 
ready mentioned, numerous papers, on 
various fubje&s, ali having the imprefs of 
the cleareft underft-nding and the moft 
perfpicuous flyle, have at fundsy times 
adorned the pages of the publications of 
the Literary and Philofophical Society at 
Manchefter—an inftitution to whole ef- 
tablifhment and fame he contributed in an 
eminent degree, and which did not ceale 
to manifelt ics grateful fenfe of his merits 
by the continued appointment of him to 
the prefidency, from the date of its incor- 
poration. Several fmaller pieces alto, 
fome of them indicating the command of 
an elegant and claffical latinity, have been 
handed about amongft his friends; and it 
were to be wifhed that in fome complete 
Account of Dr. Thomas Percival. 
-~which he excelled. 
[Nov.1, 
colle&tion of the author’s produftions 
thefe may be permitted to fee the lighr. 
But though the writings of Dr. Perci- 
val are fuch, and fo many, as muf fecure 
to his name the moft honourable and laft- 
ing remembrance in the republic of let- 
ters, yet they are far from conveying an 
adequate idea of his literary quaiifications 
and his various accomplifhments as a 
{cholar. A con‘titution origmally deli- 
cate and unequal to laborious exertion, 
whether mental or corporeal; frequent and 
pericdical returns of acute headache, and 
above all, a weaknefs in the vifual organs, 
which, fer the grea‘er part of his life, 
rendered him, both in reading and writ-— 
ing, entirely dependant upon the aid of 
others: thefe, joined to the occupations of 
a profeffion, in which his celebrity allow- 
~ ed him but few intervals of Jeifure, formed 
a combination of circumftances in every 
way unlavourable to the purfuits of an 
author. And we fhould have reafen to 
wonder, that, with fuch obftacles to be 
furmounted, he could have given fo much 
to the prefs, if we did not know that his 
time was always arranged with the moft 
exact regularity, and that he felt it to be 
a duty that no part of it fhould be ex- 
pended but for purpofes of morai ufeful- 
neis or healthful relaxation. The facility 
of compofition, alfo, which he enjoyed, 
converted that into an amufement which 
to others might be an eitort; efpecially 
as ior the molt part hia pen was employed 
but io give form and extention to thofe 
traics of thought which were familiar to 
his mind and endeared to his reflection. 
‘The communications cf epiflolary in- 
tercourfe and the fhort exerciies of liter ry 
converfation were, hawever, the bett 
fuited to thofe fcattered vacancies, thole 
fubfeciva tempora which alone remained 
from his various avocations. In thefe he 
delighted to indulge; and in thefe he 
difplayed with peculiar felicity thofe 
pure and natural ornaments of diétion in 
was div rfified and diffuive, extending to 
the moft eminent and worthy amongé the 
literary characters of the age, although for 
many years almof unavoidably conducted 
through the medium of an amaauenfis, to’ 
whom he always di€tated with a prompt 
fluency and a claffical exaétnefs. 
In tecial difcuffion he pofl-fled powers 
of a very uncommon itamp, combining 
the accuracy of fcience and the ftriStett 
precifion of method with the graces of a 
copious and unftudied elccution. * Learn-’ 
ing wita fome is the parent of mental ob- 
fcurity, and the muitipliaity of ideas 
which 
His correfpondence | 
