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I have full as much ennui as yourself, tho' much less dissipation, but I can not make this my excuse for being
silent, for I write to you pour me desennuyer, tho' I have little enough to say. I know not, whether I am to
condole with you on this Canterbury Business, for it is not clear to me, that You or the Church are
any great Losers by it. if you are; be so good to inform me, & I will be sorry. however there is one good thing in it: it proves
the Family are mortal.
You do not seem to discover, that Mons: Mallet is but a very small Scholar, except in the erudition
of the Goths. there are a-propos two Dissertations on the Religion & Opinions of the Gauls, publish'd in the Memoires de l'Acad. des Belles-Lettres & des Inscriptions, Vol. 24me. 4to. one by the Abbé
Fenel, in wch he would shew, that about Tiberius, and Claudius times the Druids, persecuted &
dispersed by the Romans, probably retired into Germany & propagated their doctrines there. this is to account for some similitude
to the Gaulish notions wch the religion of Germany seems to bear, as Tacitus has described it, whereas J: Cæsar makes them extremely
different, who lived before this supposed dispersion of ye Druids. the other by Mons:r Freret is to
shew the reverse of all this, that there was no such dispersion, no such similitude, and that if Cæsar & Tacitus disagree, it is
because the first knew nothing but of those Nations that border'd on the Rhine, & the other was acquainted with all Germany. I do
not know, whether these will furnish you with any new matter, but they are well enough wrote & easily read. I told you before (that
in a time of dearth) I would venture to borrow from the Edda without entering too minutely on particulars: but if I did so, I would
make each image so clear, that it might be fully understood by itself, for in this obscure mythology we must not hint at things, as we
do with the Greek Fables, that every body is supposed to know at school. however on second thoughts I think it would be still better to
graft any wild picturesque fable absolutely of one's own invention upon the Druid-Stock, I mean upon those half-dozen of old fancies,
that are known to have made their system. this will give you more freedom & latitude, & will leave no hold for the Criticks to
fasten on.
Pray, when did I pretend to finish, or even insert passages into other people's works? as if it were equally easy to pick holes, & to mend them. all I can say is, that your elegy must not end with the worst line in it. it is flat, it is prose, whereas that above all ought to sparkle, or at least to shine. if the sentiment must stand, twirl it a little into an apophegm, stick a flower in it, gild it with a costly expression, let it strike the fancy, the ear, or the heart, & I am satisfied.
Hodges
is a sad Fellow, so is Dr Akenside, & Mr Shenstone, our friends & companions. your story of G:ck is a good one; pray, is it true, & what came of it? did the tragic Poet call a
Guard?
It was I, that hinder'd Mr Brown from sending the Pamphlet. it is nonsense, & that nonsense all stole from Dr Stukely's book about Abury & Stone-henge. yet if you will have it, you may.
I wish you may come with Mr H:d, but I don't expect it.