aving distinguished himself by his
pleasing compositions in the "Adventurer," was chosen to draw up the
narrative of Cook's discoveries in the South Seas. The pictures of a
new world, the description of new manners in an original state of
society, and the incidents arising from an adventure which could find
no parallel in the annals of mankind, but under the solitary genius of
Columbus--all these were conceived to offer a history, to which the
moral and contemplative powers of Hawkesworth only were equal. Our
author's fate, and that of his work, are known: he incurred all the
danger of giving the result of his inquiries; he indulged his
imagination till it burst into pruriency, and discussed moral theorems
till he ceased to be moral. The shock it gave to the feelings of our
author was fatal; and the error of a mind, intent on inquiries which,
perhaps, he thought innocent, and which the world condemned as
criminal, terminated in death itself. Hawkesworth was a vain man, and
proud of having raised himself by his literary talents from his native
obscurity: of no learning, he drew all his science from the
Cyclopaedia; and, I have heard, could not always have construed the
Latin mottos of his own paper, which were furnished by Johnson; but
his sensibility was abundant--and ere his work was given to the world,
he felt those tremblings and those doubts which anticipated his fate.
That he was in a state of mental agony respecting the reception of his
opinions, and some other parts of his work, will, I think, be
discovered in the following letter, hitherto unpublished. It was
addressed, with his MSS., to a peer, to be examined before they were
sent to the press--an occupation probably rather too serious for the
noble critic:--

"_London, March 2, 1761._

"I think myself happy to be permitted to put _my MSS. into your
Lordship's hands_, because, though it increases my anxiety and my
fears, yet it will at least secure me from what I should think _a
far greater misfortune_ than any other that can attend my
performance, _the danger of addressing to the King any sentiment,
allusion, or opinion_, that could make such an address _improper_.
I have now the honour to submit the _work_ to your Lordship, with
the dedication; from which the duty I owe to his Majesty, and, if
I may be permitted to add anything to that, the duty I owe to
myself, have concurred to exclude the servile, extravagant, and
indiscriminate