orks_, edit. Bowles; vol. v.,
232. Let the reader consult also Dr. Pegge's _Anonymiana_,
in the passages referred to, in the truly valuable index
attached to it, concerning Hearne. Thus much, I submit, may
be fairly said of our antiquary's labours. That the greater
part of them are truly useful, and absolutely necessary for
a philological library, must on all sides be admitted. I
will mention only the _Chronicles of Langtoft and Robert of
Gloucester_; _Adam de Domerham, de rebus Glastoniensibus_;
_Gulielmus Neubrigensis_; _Forduni Scotichronicon_; and all
his volumes appertaining to _Regal Biography_:--these are,
surely, publications of no mean importance. Hearne's
prefaces and appendices are gossiping enough; sometimes,
however, they repay the labour of perusal by curious and
unlooked-for intelligence. Yet it must be allowed that no
literary cook ever enriched his dishes with such little
piquant sauce, as did Hearne: I speak only of their
_intrinsic_ value, for they had a very respectable
exterior--what Winstanley says of Ogilvey's publications
being, applicable enough to Hearne's;--they were printed on
"special good paper, and in a very good letter." We will now
say a few words relative to Hearne's habits of study and
living--taken from his own testimony. In the preface
prefixed to _Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More_, p. xix.
(edit. 1716), he describes himself "as leading the life of
an ascetic." In the preface to the _Annals of Dunstable
Priory_, his bibliographical diligence is evinced by his
saying he had "turned over every volume in the Bodleian
Library." In one of his prefaces (to which I am not able
just now to refer) he declares that he was born--like our
British tars--"for action:" and indeed his activity was
sufficiently demonstrated; for sometimes he would set about
transcribing for the press papers which had just been put
into his hands. Thus, in the _Antiquities of Glastonbury_,
p. 326, he writes, "the two following old evidences were
lent me _to-day_ by my friend the Hon. Benedict Leonard
Calvert, Esq." His excessive regard to fidelity of
transcription is, among many other evidences that may be
brought forward, attested in the following passage: "Have
taken particular care (saith Mr. Harcourt, in his letter to