From the letters, he appears to have been very tall; he was frequently called “Brother Bonaventura,” and as his humour was variable, at times “Monsieur du Poivre,” at others “Monsieur du Miel!”
DR. GREY
The next letter to her father thanks him for a design he had made for an apron for the duchess, with which she was delighted, and—
“if the work could be as elegant as the drawing, would be the most finished apron for the most finished Duchess. Lord Oxford and George Vertue[133] arrived here last night after a ramble which the best geographer could hardly describe; they have been haunting church-yards, and reading the history of mankind upon the gravestones. Dr. Grey[134] is employed in a work which to make its appearance in public you would not easily guess at. I believe ’tis no perplexity upon Mysteries, no refutation of the doctrine of Transubstantiation, no explanation of the Catechism, but a thing for which his serious qualifications do not seem very fit. He is writing upon Hudibras!”
[133] George Vertue, eminent engraver, archæologist, and author; born 1684, died 1756.
[134] Rev. Dr. Zachary Grey, author, died 1766.
CHAPTER III.
IN LONDON, KENT, AND AT BULLSTRODE, 1741–42. BEGINNING OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH MRS. DELANY.
The last letter of the year 1740 is written to Mr. Freind on December 29—
“Next Sunday I quit the peaceful groves and hospitable roof of Bullstrode for the noisy turbulent city; my books and serious reflections are to be laid aside for the looking-glass and curling irons, and from that time I am no more a Pastorella, but propose to be as idle, as vain, and as impertinent, as any one; if you will come to town Mrs. Freind and you will find me, however, as like myself as to be your sincere friend.”
1741