of Claverton rectory; Malthus, the political economist, who ‘was taught little but Latin and good behaviour;’ and Prince Hoare, the artist. Through his preferments and scholars he gradually acquired considerable means, and among his purchases was the manor of Combe in Combe Monckton, Somersetshire. In frame he was short and slender, and he was eccentric both in dress and gait, but his features were expressive and his conversation was marked by a sportive gaiety. This ‘amiable, well-read, and lively old man … was known to all the frequenters of Bath,’ and it was amusing ‘to see him on the verge of ninety walking almost daily to Bath with the briskness of youth.’ A zealous churchman and a whig in politics, he mixed in all shades of society. He was a frequent guest of Allen or the Warburtons at Prior Park, and contributed to the vase at Lady Miller's house at Batheaston. Shenstone paid him repeated visits at Claverton, between 1744 and 1763. Malthus attended his old master during his last illness, and administered the holy sacrament to him. Graves died on 23 Nov. 1804, and was buried in the parish church on 1 Dec., a mural tablet being placed there to his memory. His wife died in 1777, aged 46. In a niche on the south wall of Claverton chancel he placed ‘a handsome festooned urn on a small plain pedestal’ bearing the inscription, ‘Luciæ coniugi carissimæ Ricardus Graves coniux infelicissimus fecit et sibi, ob. Cal. Maii 1777, æt. 46.’ The urn is said to be now in the vestry. Their children were five sons and one daughter. His portrait, painted by Gainsborough when in Bath, was engraved by Basire and Gainsborough Dupont; a second portrait by Northcote was engraved by S. W. Reynolds, 1800.
Graves from early life wrote verses for the magazines. Some of his poems appeared in the collections of Dodsley (iv. 330–7) and Pearch (iii. 133–8). His prose works were more elaborate, and as they were written in a clear and lively style, attained considerable popularity in his day, but are now forgotten, with the exception of his novel, the ‘Spiritual Quixote.’ He was the author of: 1. ‘The Festoon; a Collection of Epigrams’ (anon.), 1766 and 1767. 2. ‘The Spiritual Quixote, or the Summer's Ramble of Mr. Geoffry Wildgoose, a Comic Romance’ (anon.), 1772, 1773, 1774 (two editions), 1783, and 1808, as well as in Mrs. Barbauld's ‘British Novelists,’ and in Walker's ‘British Classics.’ It ridiculed the intrusion of the laity into spiritual functions and the ‘enthusiasm’ of the methodists with a severity asserted even then to have been excessive. The hero has been identified with Sir Harry Trelawny (an assertion refuted by chronology), Joseph Townsend, rector of Pewsey, Wiltshire, and his own brother Charles Caspar Graves, and the novel is said to have originated in the intrusion into the parish of Claverton of a shoemaker from Bradford-on-Avon, who held a meeting in an old house in the village. The plot is skilfully devised, and many of the incidents are amusing. The rambles brought Wildgoose to Bath, Bristol, the Leasowes of Shenstone, and the Peak. A key to several of the personages was supplied by Sir Alleyne Fitzherbert, Lord St. Helen's, to Croker. His own love adventures are portrayed in vol. ii. 3. ‘Galateo, or a Treatise on Politeness,’ translated from the Italian of Giovanni della Casa, archbishop of Benevento, 1774. 4. ‘The Love of Order; a Poetical Essay, in three cantos’ (anon.), 1773. Dedicated to William James of Denford, Berkshire. 5. ‘Euphrosyne; or Amusements on the Road of Life,’ 1776; 3rd edition vol. i. 1783; 2nd edition vol. ii. 1783, with appendix of pieces written for the Poetical Society at Batheaston. 6. ‘Columella; or the Distressed Anchoret, a Colloquial Tale,’ 1779. In praise of an active life as superior to that of a small country gentleman, and probably suggested by the career of Shenstone. 7. ‘Eugenius; or Anecdotes of the Golden Vale’ (anon.), 1785, 2 vols. A tale of life in a Welsh valley. 8. ‘Lucubrations, consisting of Essays, Reveries, &c., by the late Peter of Pontefract,’ 1786. 9. ‘Recollections of some particulars in the Life of the late William Shenstone, in a Series of Letters from an intimate Friend of his [i.e. Graves] to … esq., F.R.S. [William Seward],’ 1788. The fourth elegy by Shenstone is ‘Ophelia's Urn. To Mr. G——’ [Graves], and the eighth elegy is also addressed ‘To Mr. G——, 1745.’ Numerous letters from Shenstone to Graves are in vol. iii. of the former's ‘Works;’ a letter addressed to Mr. —— on his marriage, written 21 Aug. 1748, probably refers to Graves. In the ‘Works,’ ii. 322–3, are ‘To William Shenstone at the Leasowes by Mr. Graves,’ and ‘To Mr. R. D. on the death of Mr. Shenstone,’ signed ‘R. G.’ For the statement by Graves in the ‘Recollections of Shenstone’ that the latter had a share in the compilation of the ‘Reliques,’ Bishop Percy obtained ‘a letter of retractation in form.’ Shenstone's letter to Graves on the death of Whistler is among the manuscripts of Mr. Alfred Morrison. 10. ‘The Rout; or a Sketch of Modern Life, from an Academic in the Metropolis to his Friend in the Country,’ 1789. 11. ‘Plexippus; or the Aspiring Plebeian’ (anon.), 1790, 2 vols. 12. ‘Fleurettes; a translation of Fénelon's “Ode on Solitude.”’ 13. ‘Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius
