This is well illustrated in a short but excellent Commentary by my late worthy friend, the Reverend Dr. Lort, of whom it may truly be said, Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit. It is remarkable that Waller, in his Reflections on the several Petitions, in that sacred form of devotion, has understood this in the same sense;--
'Guard us from all temptations of the FOE.'
BOSWELL. Dr. Lort is often mentioned in Horace Walpole's Letters. Multis ille quidem flebilis occidit,' comes from Horace, Odes, i. xxiv. 9, translated by Francis,--
How did the good, the virtuous mourn.'
For Dr. Hurd see ante, p. 189.
[897] There is a curious anecdote of this physician in Gent. Mag. 1772, p. 467.
[898] See ante, p. 166. He may have taken the more to Fox, as he had taken to Beauclerk (ante, i. 248), on account of his descent from Charles II. Fox was the great-great-grandson of that king. His Christian names recall his Stuart ancestry.
[899] Horace Walpole wrote on April 11 (Letters, viii. 469):--'In truth Mr. Fox has all the popularity in Westminster; and, indeed, is so amiable and winning that, could he have stood in person all over England, I question whether he would not have carried the Parliament.' Hannah More (Memoirs, i. 316) in the same month wrote:--'Unluckily for my principles I met Fox canvassing the other day, and he looked so sensible and agreeable, that if I had not turned my eyes another way, I believe it would have been all over with me.' See ante, p. 279.
[900] Dr. John Radcliffe, who died in 1714, left by his will, among other great benefactions to the University of Oxford, 'L600 yearly to two persons, when they are Masters of Arts and entered on the physic-line, for their maintenance for the space of ten years; the half of which time at least they are to travel in parts beyond sea for their better improvement.' Radcliffe's Life and Will, p. 123. Pope mentions them in his Imitations of Horace, Epistles, ii. i. 183:--
'E'en Radcliffe's doctors travel first to France, Nor dare to practise till they've learned to dance.'
[901] What risks were run even by inoculation is shewn in two of Dr. Warton's letters. He wrote to his brother:--'This moment the dear children have all been inoculated, never persons behaved better, no whimpering at all, I hope in God for success, but cannot avoid being in much anxiety.' A few days later he wrote:--'You may imagine I never passed such a day as this in my life! grieved to death myself for the loss of so sweet a child, but forced to stifle my feelings as much as possible for the sake of my poor wife. She does not, however, hit on, or dwell on, that most cutting circumstance of all, poor Nanny's dying, as it were by our own means, tho' well intended indeed.' Wooll's Warton, i. 289. Dr. Franklin (Memoirs, i. 155), on the other hand, bitterly regretted that he had not had a child inoculated, whom he lost by small-pox.
[902] See post, before Nov. 17, and under Dec. 9, 1784.
[903] 'I am the vilest of sinners and the worst of men.' Taylor's Works (ed. 1864), iii. 31. 'The best men deserve not eternal life, and I who am the worst may have it given me.' Ib. p. 431--'He that hath lived worst, even I.' Ib. vii. 241. 'Behold me the meanest of thy creatures.' Ib. p. 296.
[904] 'You may fairly look upon yourself to be the greatest sinner that you know in the world. First, because you know more of the folly of your own heart than you do of other people's; and can charge yourself with various sins that you only know of yourself, and cannot be sure that other people are guilty of them.' Law's Serious Call, chap. 23.
[905] 1 Timothy, i. 15.
[906] See post, v. 68, note 4.
[907] 'Be careful thou dost not speak a lie in thy prayers, which though not observed is frequently practised by careless persons, especially in the forms of confession, affirming things which they have not thought, professing sorrow which is not, making a vow they mean not.' Taylor's Works, ed. 1865, vii. 622.
[908] Reynolds wrote:--'As in Johnson's writings not a line can be found which a saint would wish to blot, so in his life he would never suffer the least immorality or indecency of conversation, [or anything] contrary to virtue or piety to proceed without a severe check, which no elevation of rank exempted them from.' Taylor's Reynolds, ii. 458. See ante, iii. 41.
[909] No doubt Mr. Langton.
[910] Dr. Sheridan tells how Swift overheard a Captain Hamilton say to a gentleman at whose house he had arrived 'that he was very sorry he had chosen that time for his visit. "Why so?" "Because I hear Dean Swift is with you. He is a great scholar, a wit; a plain country squire will have but a bad time of it in his company, and I don't like to be laughed at." Swift then stepped up and said, "Pray, Captain Hamilton, do you know how to say yes or no properly?" "Yes, I think I have understanding enough for that." "Then give me your hand--depend upon it, you and I will agree very well."' 'The Captain told me,' continues Sheridan, 'that he never passed two months so pleasantly in his life.' Swift's Works, ed.