The Sun.
London, England, 1812-10-03 00:00:00

JOHN lIOANE TOOKE,

. For the followiti'g, smaeterly delineation of the
charactercondutt, and 141bours, intellectual Aild
political, of this. man, which is founded upon a lite
of him, lately published, but of which only a pass-
ing. notice is taken, we.are indebteci'to -The Quar-
terly Review,
-[Concluded from our Paw of Yesterday.]

Mi. Tooke Was possessed of considerable learn-
ing, as indeed his writings sufficiently shenvn - To
other moral casual acquirements, he acquired a very
extensive acqitaintance:with: the GOthic diaiects,
of- which he has so.! copiously and so judiciously
availed himself in hi§-etviirologleal researches ; and
it seems probable that the leading ideas of his.phi-
losophical work first 'presented themselves to his
mind whilst he was pursuing this comparatively
,unfrequented track of literature. lie :was ex
tremely well versed in thelaw, a* science which,
both in theory and practice, was -particularly con-.
- genial to his mind, and which he had once studied
with prolessional accuracy 'in the, hope of being
called to the bar. We are. unable to state with
precision what was the anioant of his attainments
in classical learning, but we apprehend he by no
means possessed that accurate acpnaintance• with
'the literature-of ancient Greece and Rome which
is necessary to cthistitute a' great scholar., in the
ordinary acceptation of the term;,. lie was faini.lar
with 'tut our best writers, most so with-those of
an early date. Isis knowledge of modern languages
was considerable, and he was particidarly well
read in Ital an authors. On the Whole; exclusively
of philoioPhy and politics,: he tvoul,l have passed
for it very accomplished 'man.;
One of the taxes Which 'hien payJorJheing
eminent is to-have their private as well as: their,
ptiblie conduct made the'sublect of criticism-; we
shall therefore offer no apology for adding a fens
such remarks as our information enables -us to
supply upon that of Mr.. Tooke. In'the-essea-
tial particulars of truth;., honour, 'and justice, in
all that ilia popular sense, forms the morality of
a gentleman, he stood we believe,' uniinptachadlo;
at least no:-c-harge against hini for- the violation of
it was ever substantiated, alibiing'', be lived for
ball a century:exposed to .the public, eye, and he-
set by the vigilant hostility of itetive .andpOwer-
,' ful vnemies. His great -fault,- as a private man,
was alillertinisrnsin.hishaliits and discoursetehi€h
in WLiab3e his nharacter, his* professiOn, and lat-
terly, hiS asre. It may. seem an uncharitable auS-
.) b• •
ut we,are really afraid-that the tendency
of which we complain, was rather increased than
checked by the profession to which, howeveram-
wilngly, he belimged: lie had ag6rts of spite at
all its restraints.. Many of thein he c 641 never
throw off ;..bat he was an*iians to :shety that in li-
centiousness at least.he could he a layman..
In the ordinary intercourse of life he was
kind, friendly, and hospitable. We doubt whether
his temper was naturally good ; but if it was not,
he had a merit the mote ; for he had- so cora-
. pletely 'subdued it by care and Self controul as
never 'to betrap under any provocation, the
slightest mark of that irritability which often ac-7
coinpanes-taierni, and which gains so rapidly up-
on those who know,not .hots to guard against its
apin oaches. Indeed the aspect under which he
appeared ii private was by no means such as the
stern cynicism .and ferocious, turbulenCe of his
public conduct Wou/d have led one to expect; and
those, whose opinion of him has been formed ex-
chisively upon his political character and his writ-
ings, will have some di/lc-Idly in believing that
the curate of Brentford was one of the best bred
Eentleinen of. the age. In this.respect,be was a
sort of Phenomenon: Ile was born in a low sta-
. ton ; -at no period did he appear to have possessed
any remarkable advantages by the study of good
breeding ; on the contrary, the greater, part aids
life was spent in constant intercourse with coarse,.
vulgar, and uneducated men. Yet his natural
taste was so good, and he had profited so judi-
ciously by whatever opportimies be enjoyed, that
Corms and 113,,h stations have seldoM produced a

better example-. of polite and elegant behaviour
than wTas 'exhibited by the asociate of Messrs.
klars'eyhaA'Thewall. Indeed his manner had al-
Aiost every excellence that manner. can display,
grace, frankness, and dignity. • Perhaps,
indeed, in its outward forins, 'and in that which is
purely con'i,entional, 'his courtesy wore the air of
the cola,' and was rather more elaborate
than is consistent with the practice of this loung-
ing uncereinbnions age : but it was never forced or
constrained, and it 'sat not ungracefully upon an

old man.
It has been remarked -of some very eminent Men,
that, eiller from bashfulnes, or pride, or indiffe-
rence,' or I.‘%itit. cif a readyc..zumand of their'faeult
ties, their coaversatiOn frequentlirdisapPointed the
expectations which their charaCters had raiedi---
Mr. Tooke was not one- of- that clats. He never
anpeered to great& advantage than in conversation.
He-was naturally of a -social and convivial turn.
His animal spirits were strong, the promptitude of
his understanding was equal to its'vi ours and he
•tvas by no nacan4 too proud to receive Z;'itll,satisfac
tion.the too small, bet binned-tate reward. of rip,
probation and good will, Which 'is always cheer-
filly paid to the display of agreeable qualities in-
s miety. .
Au attenti t-c, and mute observation of the world,
had furnished him with a N-Is.t store of information
and remark, whirh he was all'vs ready to commu,
nicate, but never ziesired to obtrude upon his hearers.
The everts of his political life had, brought him
into' personal intercourse with many-of the most
considerable men of his thn'e, and he Wtis minute-
ly acquainted with the history of them all. It is
true, indeed, as we have already had occasion to
observe, that few of the nutnber had the goad for-:
tune to'il'e the objects -cif his'. regard or' approba-
tion ; and as candour wtl7; not a virtue he much
affected, it was .therefore'llecessary to receive his
account of their actions .t..!(1 .-character with all

_lnaginable caution, and allt..‘vance. But if he
vas not a faithful portrait pal,ater, he was at least
an admirable caricaturist ; for the pur-
poses of mere entertainment,:, did quite 39 well;
and it Inuit be owned, that his, representations,
• though harsh and untavourahlr, alwaiis • bore a
striking and amusing resemblance, to the arigi-

LONDON Printed bY THOMAS WOOD, of N 0.35, Maideu-lane, Covent-garden; •n I Published by WILLIAM AIi.MIGI4T -SCRIPPS 'South Molto

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the 1,1:11 ult. at rloorftoym, in the t;ount.:
• : ." R.Oiard tom. TY z eii, Esq. of the City of o•thlin,
to _Elizabeth :41art144, eldest daughter 0f1'n,&•,,,
'gin' of INlooret.,‘,-u, in the Coupty of Meath.
. ?stll tilas-ov;;, Mr. Oliphant, of 'CLeaps-)fle,
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to )•`; ' r;le En..zoerplacF.
: ot• ;!odde jr7. Hertz., Lieutenant
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