a printing-house was opened with much ceremony at Montevideo, on the river La Plata, in South America, when in the possession of the British fleet and army. The first printing performed at the press in this place was the Prospectus of a Gazette. The commander in chief, the admiral, and other principal officers of the province were present. The first sheet from this press was presented to the governor, the second to the admiral, and so according to their rank. William Scollay, a young gentleman from Boston, educated at Cambridge, Massachusetts, was appointed conductor of the press, and the editor of the Gazette, for which he received a very liberal salary."
1807, June 4. Died, Edward Dilly, one of the most eminent and generous booksellers of his time. He was born May 22, 1739, at Southill, in Bedfordshire, where his family were of some consequence in the higher ranks of old English yeomen; and for which county his eldest brother, John Dilly, esq. who cultivated the paternal inheritance at Southill, served the office of high sheriff in 1783, and died March 18, 1806, aged seventy-five. Edward Dilly, the next brother, has already been noticed at page 744, ante.—So extensive were the connexions of Edward, as a bookseller, that he was happy to avail himself of the assistance of his brother Charles; who, after making a short tour in America, became a partner in Edward's trade; which, by his regular assiduity, was considerably extended. With the fortune of Edward, Charles inherited also his good qualities. Though neither of them had much pretensions to literature, they were zealous in cultivating the friendship of the literati. Their purchases of copyright were in such a princely style as had before their time been wholly unknown. To young and inexperienced authors, Mr. Charles Dilly, in particular, was a kind and faithful adviser; and to those who had occasion for it, his purse was at all times easy of access. In 1782, on a vacancy of an alderman for the ward of Cheap, Mr. Dilly was invited to accept the scarlet gown; but declined that honourable office in favour of Mr. Boydell. That of sheriff he escaped on the plea of non-conformity. The hospitable table, which Edward was famed for spreading, was continued by Charles—not with a prodigal, but with an unsparing hand. His parties were not large, but they were frequent; and in general, so judiciously grouped, as to create a pleasantry of intercourse not often to be found in mixed companies. Here Johnson and Wilkes forgot the animosities of Whig and Tory.[1] Here high-church divines and pillars of the meeting-house relinquished their polemicks, and enjoyed uninterrupted conviviality. Here Cumberland, whilst he contributed his full proportion to the general hilarity of conversation, stored his own mind with some of those valuable observations which have both entertained and instructed an admiring public. Here Knox planned and matured not a few of his valuable Essays. Here Isaac Reed[2] (than whom no visitor was more cordially welcomed by Charles Dilly) was sure to delight, whether in the mood to be a patient hearer, with now and then a short oracular response; or occasionally displaying those rich stores of erudition which he possessed. Here Crakelt refined on the labours of an Entick. Here many a writer of less eminence, after comfortably enjoying a mental and bodily repast, engaged in his task with double pleasure, from the satisfaction he experienced in the liberality of his employer. If ever the strict rule of decorum was by chance infringed on, it was on those occasional days when, unavoidable business preventing the master of the house from sitting so long with his guests as he could wish, the pleasure of entertaining them was deputed to his kind-hearted and pleasant friend James Boswell, who sometimes, in that capacity, has tried the strength of the oldest binn. After a life of uninterrupted labour for more than forty years, Mr. Dilly, almost on a sudden, relinquished business; which he disposed of, of terms mutually beneficial, to Mr. Joseph Mawman, at that time high in the same profession in the city of York. But the trapsilion was too abrupt for Mr. Dilly. He found himself a solitary being, without the resource of an affectionate family to cheer his vacant hours; and, in the midst of affluence, he soon began to regret the loss of the counting-house and very pleasant rooms
- ↑ "To almost every part of Johnson's distinction of a Whig and Tory," says Dr. Parr, "I assent; there is no part which does not contain judicious remarks and useful information. 'A wise tory and wise whig,' he says, 'I believe agree.' Their principles are the same, though their modes of thinking are different. A high tory makes government unintelligible; it is lost in the clouds. A violent whig makes it impracticable; he is for allowing so much liberty to every man that there is not power enough to govern any man. The prejudice of the whig is for innovation. A tory does not wish to give more real power to government, but that government should have more reverence. Then they differ as to the church. The tory is not for giving more legal power to the clergy, but wishes they should have a considerable influence founded on the opinion of mankind; the whig is for limiting and watching them with a narrow jealousy."
It is said in the Spectator that the whig and tory are two creatures who are born with a secret antipathy to each other, and engage as naturally when they meet, as the elephant and rhinoceros. - ↑ Isaac Reed was the son of a baker in the parish of St Dunstan in the West. London, and his early attainments were marked with that enthusiasm which frequently prevails in a strong uncultivated mind. He commenced his public life as a solicitor and conveyancer. But the law, however alluring its prospects, had not charms sufficient to engage his whole attention. His intimate knowledge of ancient English literature was unbounded; and there scarcely appeared any literary work in this country, of the least consequence, that required any extensive research, which had not the advantage of his liberal assistance. Even the labours of Dr. Johnson were benefited by his accuracy. His collection of books, which were chiefly English, was perhaps one of the most exensive in that kind that any private individual ever possessed. His own publications, though not very numerous, were all valuable. If ever there was a mind devoid of guile, it was Isaac Reed's; and an attempt to make "the worse appear the better cause," would have been with him a breach of moral obligation. He died at his chambers in Staple Inn, January 5, 1807, and was buried at Amwell. See Bibliotheca Reediana; a catalogue of the curious and extensive library of the late Isaac Reed, Esq. of Staple-Inn, deceased, comprehending a most extraordinary collection of books in English literature, &c.; sold by auction by Messrs. King and Lochec, November, 1807. 8vo.
