y" took a walk, came in again and eate a farthing Loaf, y1 dress'd me, red a Chapter in ye Bible, and spun till One, y" dined temperately viz: on Puddin, Bread and Cheese; spun again till Fore, took a walk, y" spun till half an hour past Five; eat an Apple, Chattered round ye Fire; and at Seven a little boyl'd Milk; and y" (takeing my leave of Cards y° night before) spun till nine; drank a Glass of Wine for ye Stomack sake; and at Ten retired into my Chamber to Prayers; drew up my Clock and set my Larum betwixt Six and Seven.

Thursday call'd up to Prayers, by my Larum ; spun till Eight, collected ye Hens' Eggs; breakfasted on Oat Cake, and Balm Tea; yn dress'd and spun till One, Pease Porrage, Pottatoes and Apple Pye; y1 turned over a few pages in Scribelerus; eat an Apple and got to my work; at Seven got Apple Pye and Milk, half an hour after eight red in yo Tatlar and at Ten withdrew to Prayers; slept sound; rose before Seven; eat a Pear; breakfast a quarter past Eight; fed y Cats, went to Church; at One Pease Porrage, Puddin, Bread and Cheese; Fore Mrs. Chappells came, Five drank Tea; Six eat half an Apple; Seven a Porrenge of Boyl'd Milk; red in yo Tatlar; at Eight a Glass of Punch; filled up ye vacancies of ye day with work as before.

Saturday Clock being too slow lay rather longar y" usal; said my Prayers; and breakfasted at Eight; at One broth, Pudding, Brocoli and Eggs, and

Apple Pye; at Five an Apple; seven Apple Pye, Bread and Butter; at Nine a Glass of Wine; at Ten Prayers.

Sunday breakfast at Eight; at Ten went to ye Chappell; 12 Dumplin, red Herring, Bread and Cheese; two to ye Church; read a Lent Sermon at Six; and at Seven Appel Pye Bread and Cheese. Excuse hast, being very cold.

ERASMUS, ÆTAT. 16, to SUSANNAH DARWIN.

DEAR SISTER,

I receiv'd yours about a fortnight after ye date yt I must begg to be excused for not answering it sooner: besides I have some substantial Reasons, as having a mind to see Lent almost expired, before I would vouch for my Abstinence throughout ye whole and not having had a convenient oppertunity to consult a Synod of my learned friends about your ingenious Conscience, and I must inform you we unanimously agree in ye Opinion of ye Learned Divine you mention, that Swine may indeed be fish but then they are a devillish sort of fish ; and we can prove from ye same Authority that all fish is flesh whence we affirm Porck not only to be flesh but a devillish Sort of flesh; and I would advise you for Conscience sake altogether to abstain from tasting it; as I can assure You I have done, tho' roast Pork has come to Table several Times; and for my own part

have lived upon Puding, milk, and vegetables all this Lent; but don't mistake me, I don't mean I have not touch'd roast beef, mutton, veal, goose, fowl, &c. for what are all these? All flesh is grass! Was I to give you a journal of a Week, it would be stuft so full of Greek and Latin as translation Verses, themes, annotation Exercise and ye like, it would not only be very tedious and insipid but perfectly unintelligible to any but Scholboys.

I fancy you forgot in Yours to inform me yt your Cheek was quite settled by your Temperance, but however I can easily suppose it. For ye temperate enjoy an ever-blooming Health free from all ye Infections and disorders luxurious mortals are subject to, the whimsical Tribe of Phisitians cheated of their fees may sit down in penury and Want, they may curse mankind and imprecate the Gods and call down y parent of all Deseases, luxury, to infest Mankind, luxury more distructive than ye Sharpest Famine; tho' all the Distempers that ever Satan inflicted upon Job hover over ye intemperate; they would play harmless round our Heads, nor dare to touch a single Hair. We should not meet those pale thin and haggard countenances which every day present themselves to us. No doubt men would still live their Hunderd, and Methusalem would lose his Character; fever banished from our Streets, limping Gout would fly ye land, and Sedentary Stone would vanish into oblivion and death himself be slain.

I could for ever rail against Luxury, and for ever panegyrize upon abstinence, had I not already encroach'd too far upon your Patience, but it being Lent the exercise of yt Christian virtue may not be amiss, so I shall proceed a little furder-

[The remainder of the letter is hardly legible or intelligible, with no signature.]

P.S.-Excuse Hast, supper being called, very Hungry.

Judging from two letters-the first written in 1749, to one of the under-masters during the holidays, and the other to the headmaster, shortly after he went to Cambridge, in 1750-he seems to have felt a degree of respect, gratitude, and affection for the several masters unusual in a schoolboy. Both these letters were accompanied by an inevitable copy of verses, those addressed to the head-master being of considerable length, and in imitation of the 5th Satire of Persius. His two elder brothers accompanied him to St. John's College, Cambridge; and this seems to have been a severe strain on their

father's income. They appear, in consequence, to have been thrifty and honourably economi

cal; so much so that they mended their own clothes; and, many years afterwards, Erasmus boasted to his second wife that, if she cut the heel out of a stocking, he would put a new one in without missing a stitch. He won the Exeter Scholarship at St. John's, which was worth only £16 per annum. No doubt he studied the classics whilst at Cambridge, for he did so to the end of his life, as shown by the many quotations in his latest work, 'The Temple of Nature.' He must also have studied mathematics to a certain extent, for, when he took his Bachelor of Arts degree, in 1754, he was at the head of the Junior Optimes. Nor did he neglect medicine; and he left Cambridge during one term to attend Hunter's lectures in London. As a matter of course, he wrote poetry whilst at Cambridge, and a poem on The Death of Prince Frederick,' in 1751, was published many years afterwards, in 1795, in the European Magazine.

In the autumn of 1754 he went to Edinburgh to study medicine, and while there, seems to have been as rigidly economical as at Cambridge; for amongst his papers there is a receipt for his board from July 13th to October