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THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For JANUARY, 1802.

ART. I. The Works of James Harris, Esq. With an Account of his Life and Character, by his Son the Earl of Malmesbury. 2 Vols. 4to. 31. 138. 6d. Boards. Wingrave. 1801. RECOLLECTING with gratitude the satisfaction and improvement which we had formerly derived from a perusal of Mr. Harris's works,-his Hermes, or Inquiry into Universal Grammar, three Treatises, Philosophical Arrangements, and Philological Enquiries, we took up the present volumes with eagerness, because they promised us an account of the life and character of that learned and ingenious writer. This promise interested us the more, also, as it proceeded from the pen of his son; whose talents, so conspicuously exerted in public life, we have often viewed with esteem and deference. We have now to state that the noble editor has ably executed the task in which he engaged: but we must add the expression of our sincere regret that he has not indulged his own feelings, and those of the public, in delineating at greater length a character which united, in a remarkable degree, the amiable and the respectable virtues; and in expatiating more on the occur rences of a life which was spent in promoting the best interests of society. The memoirs of such a man were not likely, however detailed, to be tedious; and Lord Malmesbury has made them too concise to be perfectly satisfactory. We rise from a perusal of this biographical sketch discontented, not with what has been done, since the account is written with much feeling and propriety, but because more has not been performed.

The memoirs are prefaced by the following observations:

There are few readers, I believe, who do not desire to know something more of an author than is commonly to be learned merely from his own writings. What he has been in private life, and in his domestic retirement: what appear to have been his habits of study, and of relaxation; how he has conducted himself as a mem:ber of society, so as to have deserved either praise or blame ;-all these are natural topics of enquiry concerning every writer who has attained considerable literary eminence. To gratify a curiosity so iVo XXXVII. reasonable,

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reasonable, is one motive which has engaged me in the present undertaking: but, I will confess, it is not the only one.

The pride which I feel in being the son of such a father, and the gratitude and affection with which I must ever recollect him, have also powerfully induced me to pay this public tribute of respect to his memory. To his early care of my education, to his judicious introduction of me to respectable friends and patrons, to his constant good advice and excellent example, I am fond of attributing whatever credit I may have acquired in the various active employments that have fallen to my share.

I reflect with the highest pleasure on his having seen me, during many years, engaged in the service of my country; and I can with truth say, that such advantages of rank or distinction as I have been fortunate enough to acquire, which he did not live to witness, have, from that very circumstance, lost much of their value in my estimation.'

Such sentiments reflect distinguished credit on the heart of - Lord Malmesbury; and they are very different from the cold suggestions of a prudential selfishness, which we have observed scattered through the life and correspondence of a late celebrated historian. As we proceed in this interesting memoir, we are informed that Mr. Harris was the eldest son of James Harris, Esq. of the Close of Salisbury, by his second wife, the Lady Elizabeth Ashley, who was the third daughter of Anthony Earl of Shaftesbury, and sister to the celebrated author of the Characteristics, as well as to the Hon. Maurice Ashley Cooper, the elegant translator of Xenophon's Cyropædia;-that he was born July 20th, 1709;-and that he received the early part of his education under the Rev. Mr. Hill, master of the grammar school at Salisbury, who was long known and respected in the West of England as an instructor of youth. At school, Mr. Harris remained till the age of : sixteen; he was then entered as a gentleman commoner at Wadham college, Oxford; and having completed his academical studies, his father removed him to Lincoln's Inn, intending him for the bar, but, as was then a common practice, meaning to make the study of the law a part of his edu- cation.'-When he had attained his twenty-fourth year, he had the misfortune of losing his father: but this event, by making him independent, enabled him to engage in those pursuits, and to adopt that mode of life, which were best suited to his inclination.

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The strong and decided bent of his mind,' observes Lord M. had always been towards the Greek and Latin classics. These he preferred to every other sort of reading; and to his favourite authors he now applied himself with avidity, retiring from London to the house in which his family had very long resided in the Close of Salisbury. His application during fourteen or fifteen years to the best writers of

antiquity

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antiquity continued to be almost unremitting, and his industry was such as is not often exceeded. He rose always very early, fre quently at four or five o'clock in the morning, especially during the winter, because he could then most effectually insure a command of time to himself.'

Though Mr. Harris afterward became so distinguished for his intimate acquaintance with, and attachment to, the Aristotelian philosophy, yet the following anecdote assures us that his study of the Stagirite did not commence very early:

I have heard my father say, that it was not until many years after his retirement from London that he began to read Aristotle and his commentators, or to enquire, so deeply as he afterwards did, into the Greek philosophy. He had imbibed a prejudice, very common at that time even among scholars, that Aristotle was an obscure and unprofitable author, whose philosophy had been deservedly superseded by that of Mr. Locke; a notion which my father's own writings have since contributed to correct, with no small evidence and authority.'

Mr. Harris's fondness for the cause of literature did not detach him from more important pursuits; he acted regularly and assiduously as a magistrate for his own county, and gave in that capacity occasional proofs of a manly spirit and firmness, without which the mere formal discharge of magisterial duty is often useless and insufficient.'-His first literary production was printed in the year 1744, and contained three treatises, Ist.concerning Art,-2d. Music, Painting, and Poetry, -and 3d. on Happiness. We remember the pleasure which we received from the perusal of these essays, and particularly of the last; which appeared to us at that time, (and we have since seen no reason for altering our opinion,) to give a very satisfactory view of the Stoical system on that important topic; and Lord Monboddo, speaking of the Dialogue on Art, praises it as containing "the best specimen of the dividing, or diæ retic manner, as the antients called it," that was to be found in any modern book with which he was acquainted.

In July 1745, Mr. Harris married Miss Elizabeth Clarke, daughter, and eventually heiress, of John Clarke, Esq. of Sandford near Bridgewater in the county of Somerset, by whom he had five children; two of these died at an early period; James, now Earl of Malmesbury, and two daughters, have survived their father.-In 1751, he published his Hermes, or a Philosophical Inquiry concerning Universal Grammar. Of this work we gave an account in our sixth volume, and we feel no inclination to retract the praise which we then bestowed; though we are aware that of late years the merit of this elaborate performance has been minutely examined, and much

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