Now, though I do not say it is altogether orthodox, yet it certainly is not inadmissible in this free country, where a translation of the whole Bible is published in the vernacular tongue, by royal authority, for any man to build upon those scriptures a theory of his own, in conformity to that which he may conceive to be their true and recondite meaning; always, however, I most implicitly allow, in perfect submission to the laws and police of the country. As a matter most in point, I shall beg leave to instance the very numerous and very discordant commentaries which have been written, more in this kingdom than in any other, on the prophecies contained in the Old and New Testaments. I shall be bold to say, that by the very canons of the Anglican church, the authenticity of the prophecies themselves is put out of all doubt; all the difference that can exist in opinion must necessarily be on the score of intrepretation. "One man finds the whole of their mysterious and hidden allusions to bear exclusively on Rome, and another on Turkey. France is by some deemed the grand theatre of their denunciations; by others, perhaps Germany or Poland; but if one solitary individual happen to pitch on Great Britain as the destined spot for the elucidation of these enigmatical predictions, surely it is not unreasonable that he should request cool and dispassionate investigation of the grounds of his assertion, before you condemn him to fire and faggot. We have all heard and thought that persecutions for religious opinions were annihilated in England, and that toleration was everywhere making a rapid progress. This toleration is what I now solicit; not immediately on Mr. Brothers' account, but on my own." It never rains, but it pours. A perfect crowd of witnesses came to the rescue of the sorely beleagured prophet-but some also testified against him. Amongst the latter was one who in her letter addressed to Mr. Halhed designated herself simply as "An old woman." As the reviewer of her letter (1795) remarked, she was a sensible good sort of old woman, who had read her Bible to very good purpose, and minded the apostolic precept, not to give heed to old wives' fables. She pronounced Mr. Brothers mad-and produced what appeared stubborn facts in confirmation of her assertion. She then proceeded to shew the absurdity of applying the prophecies of the 18th of Revelations exclusively to London, as Mr. Halhed had done, and to rally him pretty handsomely on his making Brothers a second Moses, and on his eloquent harangue upon the subject in the House of Commons. Mr. Halhed, however, was not convinced at all, and held out stoutly for his own convictions. The members of his family, and some of his staunchest friends viewed all with infinite pain. His brothers remonstrated to a degree that he considered unwarranted, and estrangement ensued that lasted for some years. It preyed deeply on his sensitive mind, and the effect of this, as well as of his pecuniary losses in France, and his inability to live in that easy and liberal style he had been accustomed to, was to make him withdraw altogether from general society for a period of some fourteen years, ranging from 1796 to 1808. During this season of suffering, self denial, and seclusion, his course cannot be very clearly traced— since he entirely gave up writing, even to Mr. Hastings, or the Impey family, with the exception perhaps of Elijah. This state of things could not fail to cause sincere concern to his friends, who nevertheless scarcely knew how to deal with the poor, but proud man, shrinking from all approach to obligation save such as might be acknowledged by a gentleman without a wound to his amour propre. He persisted, therefore, in standing entirely aloof from society, with a philosophical determination of remaining in that state of self exile until he could enter his circle again, upon more equal terms than were then within his reach. However justified to themselves they might have felt in intention, his brothers at length made the requisite advances to a reconciliation, and admitted frankly that they had been in the wrong, expressing regret that their zeal for his own welfare, and that of his family, had carried them too far. This simple admission was all their warm-hearted relative sought for. It re-established perfect and affectionate union between them, to be interrupted no more, but by death. There is evidence in the correspondence, not only of this cordial readjustment of difference, but of acts of substantial kindness and service on their part, springing from this restored confidence. During the whole time of his seclusion, there is every reason to believe that he was any thing but idle. He had always some speculative field of his own to range, or some attractive intellectual object in view. He certainly wrote a great deal, at the same time that he had an undefined horror of publishing. Repeatedly we find Mr. Hastings expressing regret that some of his ingenious friend's beautiful compositions would never be seen beyond a circle of three or four. The family of his Maecenas, as he loved to call Mr. Hastings, that of the Impeys, and one or two relatives, came at length to form his little public, beyond which he had no desire that his fugitive compositions should be known. In the days of their prosperity Mrs. Halhed was a good deal about the Court, and on terms of easy intimacy with the late Princess Elizabeth, who presented her with many valuable marks of regard. Of her Royal Highness' goodness and their grateful appreciation of it, many traces exist in the correspondence. At last Mr. Halhed emerged from his state of voluntary exile, although his increasing deafness, there is reason to infer, enhanced his reluctance to quit it. There is, however, a radiation of kindness centering from several points, that like the magnet island of the Arabian tale, loosens the iron rivets of the sternest resolution. Halhed's heart was not a stern one, and could not remain inflexible to the love of so many true friends. It is impossible to contemplate this man of true genius during his isolation of so many years, under the pressure of adverse fortune without a feeling of deep sympathy and respect. How many, under circumstances of a similar nature, have, to "drown care," as the phrase is, sought relief in intemperance! How mournfully frequent have been the instances, when owing to that Circean refuge the wreck of fortune has been embittered by the wreck of reputation! It is in no ungenerous spirit that we would here compare the two school fellows, each so gifted, but each coming so differently out of the fiery ordeal-Sheridan and Halhed. Requiescant in pace. The latter came out of the vale of tribulation without stain on his integrity of purpose, or conduct, under the guidance of uncompromising conscientiousness. Among the scraps of his composition, we find the following lines, never meant for any eye but his own, and which may be accepted as a true transcript of his state of mind. They are dated 3rd July, 1806, and are simply entitled in his own hand writing N. B. H.'S PRAYER. "I ask not life, I ask not fame, I ask not gold's deceitful store; The charms of grandeur's wealth and name To do thy will, oh God I ask, By faith o'er life's rough sea to swim, During the eclipse of his fortunes there were no vain complaints, no murmuring, no unmanly querulousness. He bore all with the dignity of quiet Christian fortitude-the truest and best of all philosophy. He was no grievance monger, that most intolerable of bores, laying hold of the button of all he meets, like that unhappy "Ancient Mariner" whom Coleridge has immortalised. At this time too, which may well be called his passage through the "slough of despond," he had to bear with the irritating impertinences (for such they must not unfrequently have been,) of a number of uneducated admirers, or followers of the pseudo prophet, who clung tenaciously to the skirts "of one of us"—and he a member of Parliament. It is high time, however, that we proceed to lay before our readers portions of the correspondence in our possession. In the letters to Mr. Hastings, there is ever a deferential, not to say filial tone, the honest tribute of a grateful and highly cultivated mind; while on the part of the Daylsford family we recognize an earnest desire to anticipate little wants in a delicate spirit of genuine neighbourly kindness. The following letter to Mr. Hastings was written with reference to a political mission to the Court of the Nabob Vizier of Oude. He asks for instructions and terminates with an effusion in verse, allusive to Mr. Hastings' departure for England. "Muzafferpore, 9th November, 1784. "HONOURABLE SIR,-It is usual for embassadors, charges d'affaires, and public agents of all kinds to forward to the Court whither they are bound, copies of those credentials and authoritative instructions which entitle them to a confidential reception at the said Court, and of which they are bound to present the originals in person. In conformity to established precedent, therefore, I take the liberty to enclose copies of two letters which came to hand this day from the Nabob Walajah and Sir Edward Hughes. I may perhaps venture on the strength of this circumstance to intreat the favour of you to permit me to be the channel of any communications you may be pleased to make to his highness; and to solicit the honour of your instructions for an answer to the Nabob from myself, so far as may relate to the style which it is proper for me to hold under the connection which his highness' letter so flatteringly supposes. I shall not acknowledge the receipt of this august epistle till your commands reach me. "I have waited hitherto for a farther answer from Major Palmer respecting the terms which I plainly told him were the necessary preliminary to my engagements with the Vizier. His answer might have reached me to-day and has not. But as I would lose no time in accomplishing the object of my wishes, should the result be favourable, I mean to leave this place to-morrow, (where we have been for a few days on a visit to Grand) and proceed immediately to Benares. Wilkins has discovered three very ancient Hindoo inscriptions at Chunar, which he is to have copied, and of which we will take the first opportunity to forward you the explication, should they not be inexplicable. I would now, honourable Sir, take the liberty to request a few words of advice and information from you as to the tenor of the several documents, with which it will be proper I should be furnished by the Vizier, whether I should have a public and authoritative letter to the Company-whether to the king-whether to Mr. Pitt? In what strain they should run? Whether indicative of already established independence, or applicatory for unconditional resignation of all hitherto exercised influence and control? I doubt if we shall ever be able to discriminate all these minutiæ properly at the Court of Oude, unless you will condescend to enlighten Major P—and myself,-with a set of joint instructions. I would also submit to your judgment whether it would be decent, or advisable, or salutary to the general cause, or consistent with my probable en gagements in Oude, (which however I am sanguine enough in consequence of Mr. Palmer's letter to imagine almost beyond the reach of interested malice to circumvent or overthrow), that I should offer to become also agent for the Nabob Walajah in England. It is now the only service I have to offer, and I mean it merely in the event of no such designation having been thought of for or by Major Grattan. "I am rendered exceedingly happy in the observation that each successive packet from England brings an addition of strength, or at least a presumption of such addition to your arm and to your cause. The prospect of daily invigorating influence will at all events throw a brighter lustre on the remaining products of your labours, and cast a rich tint of sunshine on your final arrangements. "But ah! when from the parting vessel's stern, A nation's woes shall in your bosom burn; Your gardener hand, dear Sir, first gave it root, "Mrs. Halhed begs leave to present her best respects, and I have the honour to remain, with the sincerest gratitude and esteem, Hon'ble Sir, Your most faithful and devoted, humble servant, N. B. HALHED." Benares, 12th November, 1784. "HONOURABLE SIR,-I have hit upon a source of perpetual amusement on an inexhaustible subject: "The abuse of language in modern poetry, by introducing the idioms and expressions of the poetic language of the antients into modern verses.' I have taken the liberty to subjoin a few stanzas by way of specimen: and I hope I am not presumptuous in requesting your assistance, when you feel a necessity. of relaxing a little from the toils of empire, in adding to my humble effort, which has only the merit of being so lax and disjointed, that it will admit a stanza on any subject in any part where you may be pleased to put it. And I will venture to say you have only to open any book whatever of modern rhymes, to find in the first ten lines twenty expressions or thoughts that your taste will feel fully worthy of being exposed in my new pillory for poets, as the matter is infinite. You will not be surprised that my essay has no close, and as it is particularly calculated for being filled up by fits and starts, as the maggot bites, the want of connexion is no blot- so here goes— |