pleasing companion I ever knew. He has also, I fear, made a chasm in society which it will be difficult to fill.
Mason, I thank fate, I only knew by his writings, which are alone sufficient to ensure the regret of any man who pretends to the smallest degree of note. As for Dr. Warren, death owed him a grudge for the numerous victims rescued from his dart; and at last revenged himself by that fatal blow on the stomach.
Toward the end of the year Malone, as already hinted, found an assailant in a pamphlet concerning the papers of Aubrey in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. It was said he had acquired permission from the authorities to copy them to the exclusion of a Mr. Caulfield, although their transcription had been accomplished by him before, and their exterior expressly marked—“These fragments collected and arranged by E. M. 1792.” But the charge came from a portion of the Ireland party.
Letters from various correspondents at this time indicate something of his various pursuits. Jeremy Bentham writes to know whether the charter of Queen Elizabeth for the foundation of Westminster School can be seen anywhere, in print or manuscript, without formal application to the Dean and Chapter. The no less celebrated John Wilkes assures him that every assistance shall be rendered to his “curious researches” that can be given by the city authorities, superiors, and subordinates. Lord Charlemont says he has picked up an old play in Dublin, which, not being in any of the collections sent him from London, he presumes to be scarce:—A Chaste Mayd in Cheapside, by Thomas Midelton, Gent., 1630. A criticism follows upon Love in Ruins, which is
