HIFFERNAN. 315 was against his being much of a hero; but then, there was Garrick, whom all the world admired.” He therefore generally consoled his pupil, l e t him b e o f what size o r figure h e might be, with the superiority which merit has over a l l external qualifications; concluding with Churchill upon the same subject, “Before such merit a l l distinctions fly, - Pritchard's genteel, and Garrick's six feet high.” I n this wretched manner did our author while away the greater part o f a life, which, with becoming industry, and his stores o f information, might have been made useful t o the world and respectable t o himself. He never, how ever, wholly gave u p the trade o f book-making, every now and then producing some original matter, o r translation from the French. The next thing o f any consequence that engaged the doctor's attention, was a work called “Dramatic Genius,” which h e dedicated t o Garrick, his friend and patron through life. The subscriptions h e gained b y this work were very considerable, a s Garrick exerted himself amongst his friends for the author, and who could refuse Garrick o n the subject o f the stage 2 The amount o f these subscriptions we d o not exactly know, but should suppose i t t o b e from one hundred and twenty t o one hundred and fifty pounds; a temporary mine t o such a man a s Hiffernan, who lived s o much with the public, and who i n h i s interior life, there i s every reason t o suppose, practised a rigid economy. With this money h e emerged a little more into life, quitted the old English dress, (as h e used t o call his seedy clothes,) for a new suit o f black, and knocked a t the doors o f his friends, with all the confidence o f a successful author. His next production was a thing which h e called “The Philosophic Whim,” and which h e ironically dedicated t o the univer sities o f Oxford and Cambridge. This i s such a jumble o f nonsense, that there i s n o reading o r defining i t
i f i t aims a t any thing, i t appears t o b e a laugh against some branches o f modern philosophy; but s o miserably ex ecuted, a s t o warrant a supposition, that the man must b e
