‘My dear Sir,—I think myself very unlucky during
my two excursions to town, short as they were, to have seen you only once, and
that in a crowd. It was not my fault. I called upon you several times, and at
all hours, but you were not stirring, or just gone out earlier than usual, or
not returned; in short, never to be found. On Friday, the day before I left
town, I made a last attempt and the most unfortunate of them all. In spite
154 | ROGERS AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES |
1 A reference to the preparations for the fireworks in the Park. |
UVEDALE PRICE | 155 |
‘tous mes sens se glacent à
l’approche Du griffonnage affreux, qu’il a toujours en poche. |
‘You have not quite escaped, and, seriously, as the
whole of this griffonage does not amount to more than a dozen pages, I should
be very glad if you would take the trouble of looking it over. The subject, I
think, is curious, and I rather believe it has not been treated; it is on the
application of the terms that answer to beautiful in ancient and modern
languages; that is in those with which I am at all acquainted. I have shewn it
to a few learned and ingenious critics, who have liked it more than I expected,
and have thought the argument drawn from it very convincing. My knowledge of
Greek, as you know, is very scanty indeed, and my reading as confined. The
examples I have given are chiefly from Homer, the only book in the language with which I am even
tolerably acquainted; they are, however, the most material of any. Now, I could
wish for some others from later poets and from the prose writers, or at least
to be assured whether in them there are any applications of the word that
essentially differ from those in Homer. I believe you are
well acquainted with Dr. Burney, with
whom my acquaintance is but slight, and it would be a great piece of service to
me if you could induce him to look over and consider what I have written;
supposing that after you have read it yourself you should think it at all worth
his notice. I feel that I am imposing a heavy task on you, and shall not be
surprized or in the
156 | ROGERS AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES |
‘I shall not be in any hurry to have the MS. returned, and it may be sent to Foxley in two or three covers.’