Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel Parr
Ch. XXVIII. 1800-1807
Samuel Parr to William Roscoe, 17 December 1797
“I am determined to lose no time in acknowledging my
good fortune upon the acquisition of a correspondent, whose candour is worthy
of his talents, and whose letters are fraught with all the elegance and all the
vigour which decorate his publication.”—“I rejoice, Sir, not so
much upon your account, as upon that of your readers, to whom you have opened
so large and so delightful a field of entertainment and instruction, when you
tell me
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that the life
of Lorenzo has already gone through three editions, and that it will
soon appear in an octavo form. The edition open before me is that of 1796. I
borrowed it from the learned librarian of New College, Oxford; and I shall
return it next week, because it belongs to a society, where you will have many
readers very capable of appreciating your merit, and well disposed to
acknowledge and to proclaim it.”—“By what the ancients would have
called the afflatus divinus, I
anticipated your willingness to let me speak with freedom; and your letter
justifies me in ascribing to you that candour, which is the sure criterion and
happy effect of conscious and eminent worth. Indeed, Sir, I saw in your work
vestiges of excellence, which, in my estimation, is of a much higher order than
taste and learning. I found deep reflection; and, therefore, I expected to find
a dignified and virtuous moderation in the science of politics. I met with
sentiments of morality, too pure to be suspected of hypocrisy, too just and
elevated to be charged with ostentation; and give me leave to add, that they
acted most powerfully on the best sympathies of my soul. If, in this season of
old corruptions and new refinements, a Fenelon were to rise up among us; and, if by a conversion in
the understandings and hearts of sovereigns, not less miraculous than that
recorded of Paul, he were appointed to train up the heir of a throne to solid
wisdom and sublime virtue, sure I am that he would eagerly put your book into
the hands of his pupil, and bid him— Noctuma versare manu, versare diurna.— |
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I am no stranger to the sweets of literary and social
intercourse between kindred spirits; and, therefore, I wonder not that you call
Dr. Currie your friend. Present my
best compliments to him; and believe me, with just and sincere respect, dear
Sir, your very faithful and obedient servant,
S. Parr.”
Hatton, Dec. 17, 1797.
James Currie (1756-1805)
Scottish physician educated at Glasgow University; he practised in Liverpool and was the
editor and biographer of Robert Burns.
François Fénelon (1651-1715)
Archbishop of Cambray, the author of the didactic prose epic,
Telemaque (1699).
