The sexagenarian; or, the recollections of a literary life (Volume 2 of 2)

THE SEXAGENARIAN; OR, THE RECOLLECTIONS OF A LITERARY LIFE.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
London: PRINTED FOR F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON, NO. 62, ST. PAUL’S CHURCH-YARD; By R. and R. Gilbert, St. John’s Square, Clerkenwell
1817.

Pelliculam veterem retinens et fronte politus
Astutam vapido gestas sub pectore vulpem.
The next personage of whom some detached and mutilated memorandums present themselves, must be an object of conjecture, but the peculiarities concerning him are very striking, and the changes of his character and conduct so very considerable, that it may not be unamusing to some readers, to look back on the last twenty-five years, and endeavour to discover to whom they will apply.
The individual alluded to in our Manuscript, is mentioned as having been educated in the principles of the Dissenters, and to have officiated in earlier life as a clerk in some manufactory, or with some merchant, at Liverpool. It may be questioned, whether he ever entirely got rid of his former prejudices, but on some occasion or other, he chose to offer himself to the Bishop of Landaff as a candidate for orders. By him he was ordained, and he rendered himself so acceptable to the Bishop, that he made him his Chaplain. Preferment he had none to give him, at least no opportunity of making provision for his Chaplain presented itself, and the subject of this article was for a long series of years confined to a scanty income, obtained from laborious curacies, and from the not much more tolerable labour of pen-drudgery for booksellers.
With his entrance into holy orders, the spirit of orthodoxy and loyalty did not immediately accompany him. His more intimate associates were still those, who, on all occasions, avowed and practised hostility to the Established Church, and friendship for French principles; and he so far forgot himself, that for a time, at least, he was an active member of the famous, or rather infamous, Corresponding Society. His very particular friends were Mr. Stone, Helen Maria Williams, Mr. Holcroft, Mrs. Wolstoncroft, Dr. Priestley, Dr. Kippis— et id genus omne .