In the party was Dr. ----, an Arian minister, and Mr. ----, a Socinian
minister. One of the party seeing Parr was on friendly terms with the
above gentlemen, said, "I suppose, sir, although they are heretics,
you think it is possible they may be saved?" "Yes, sir," said he,
adding with affected vehemence, "but they must be _scorched_ first."
Parr talked of economy; he thought that a man's happiness was secure,
in proportion to the small number of his wants, and said that all his
lifetime it had been his object to prevent the multiplication of them
in himself. Some one said to him, "Then, sir, your secret of happiness
is to _cut down_ your wants." _Parr._ "No, sir, _my_ secret is, _not to
let them grow_."
The doctor used, on a Sunday evening, after church, to sit on the green
at Hatton, with his pipe and his jug, and witness the exertions of his
parishioners in the truly English game of cricket, making only one
proviso, that none should join the party who had not previously been to
church. It is needless to say his presence was an effectual check on
all disorderly conduct. The skittle-grounds were deserted, and a better
conducted parish was rarely seen than the worthy Doctor's.
Dr. Parr was one of the enthusiastic admirers of Shakspeare, who fell
upon their knees before Ireland's MSS., and by their idolatry inspired
hundreds of others. Still, Parr attempts to explain this in a note
to the catalogue of his library at Hatton, as follows:--"Ireland's
(Samuel) Great and Impudent Forgery, called 'Miscellaneous Papers and
Legal Instruments, under the hand and seal of William Shakspeare,'
folio, 1796. I am almost ashamed to insert this worthless and
infamously trickish book. It is said to include the tragedy of _King
Lear_, and a fragment of _Hamlet_. Ireland told a lie when he imputed
to me the words which _Joseph Warton_ used, the very morning I called
on Ireland, and was inclined to admit the possibility of genuineness
in his papers. In my subsequent conversation I told him my change of
opinion. But I thought it not worth while to dispute in print with a
detected impostor.--S. P."
Parr, it will be recollected, was an everlasting smoker--he smoked
morning, noon, and night. Once at a Visitation dinner in Colchester,
he had the impudence to call for his pipe; but Dr. Hamilton, the
archdeacon, told him there were other rooms in the house where he might
enjoy himself without annoying others. Of a piece with this was his
behaviour at a literary club in Colchester. Knowing the temper of the
man, a pipe and bottle (contrary to the law of the club) were placed
on the table, and he did ample justice to both; for he smoked and
drank the whole night, and talked so incessantly that Dr. Foster, the
president, sat silent, like one who had lost the use of his tongue.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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