mpudence, that the Royal
Society would not admit him as a member. He pretends to give a
secret anecdote to explain the cause of this rejection. Hill,
in every critical conjuncture of his affairs, and they were
frequent ones, had always a story to tell, or an evasion,
which served its momentary purpose. When caned by an Irish
gentleman at Ranelagh, and his personal courage, rather than
his stoicism, was suspected, he published a story of _his_
having once caned a person whom he called Mario; on which a
wag, considering Hill as a Prometheus, wrote--

"To beat one man great Hill was fated.
What man?--a man whom he created!"

We shall see the story he turned to his purpose, when pressed
hard by Fielding. In the present instance, in a letter to a
foreign correspondent, who had observed his name on the list
of the _Correspondents_ of the Royal Society, Hill said--"You
are to know that _I have the honour NOT to be a member of the
Royal Society of London_."--This letter lay open on his table
when a member, upon his accustomed visit, came in, and in his
absence read it. "And we are not to wonder," says Hill, "that
he who could obtain intelligence in this manner could also
divulge it. _Hinc illae lachrymae!_ Hence all the animosities
that have since disturbed this philosophic world." While Hill
insolently congratulates himself that he is _not_ a member of
the Royal Society, he has most evidently shown that he had no
objection to be the member of any society which would enrol
his name among them. He obtained his medical degree from no
honourable source; and another title, which he affected, he
mysteriously contracted into barbaric dissonance. Hill
entitled himself--

_Acad. Reg. Scient. Burd. &c. Soc._

To which Smart, in the "Hilliad," alludes--

"While _Jargon_ gave his titles on a _block_,
And styled him M.D. Acad. Budig. Soc."

His personal attacks on Martin Folkes, the president, are
caustic, but they may not be true; and on Baker, celebrated
for his microscopical discoveries, are keen. He reproaches
Folkes, in his severe dedication of the work, in all the
dignity of solemn invective.--"The manner in which you