. If he never quite reaches in
letters the famous passages of the Diary, describing the
great Fire, and Whitehall on the eve of Charles the Second's
mortal seizure, he sometimes comes near to this, and
diffuses throughout a blend of humanism, and humanity, of
science and art, which is very agreeable. His wife also was
no mean letter-writer, but only one of the minor stars of
that day round the moon, Dorothy Osborne, to whom we come
next. Of Evelyn's own letters several are specially
tempting. His curious plan (a particularly favourite craze
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) for a small
"college" or lay convent of ladies and gentlemen, a sort of
miniature "Abbey of Thelema" is one. His magnificent eulogy
of the Duchess of Newcastle (Lamb's "dear Margaret"), which
puzzled his editor Bray (from this and other notes a rather
stupid man), is another: and his very interesting letter to
Pepys on Dreams (Oct. 4, 1689) a third. But on the whole I
have preferred the following, which may remind some readers
of Mr. Kipling's charming poem on the wonderful things our
fathers did and believed, with its invaluable reminder that
after all it would be lucky for us if we were no worse than
they. The date is not given: but the letter is printed
between one of August and one of September, 1668. [Greek:
kollourion] = Collyrium = "eyewash." "Stillatim" = "drop by
drop." "Lixivium" (Fr. "lessive") = "lye," "soapwater."
"Catoptrics" and "otacoustics" (though the "ot" = "ear" has
gone)--are fairly modern words, "phonocamptics" scarcely so.
In fact, I do not remember seeing it elsewhere. It does not
appear to be a classical Greek compound, but should mean
"the art of guiding and managing the voice."[100] The Tom
Whittal story shows that Evelyn, though given to
seriousness, could (God rest his soul) be a merry man
sometimes. The other proper names, from Mr. Oldenburg to
Thom. Fazzello, could be expounded without difficulty, but
with unnecessary expenditure of space.

13. JOHN EVELYN TO DOCTOR BEALE

Sir,

I happened to be with Mr Oldenburg some time since, almost upon the
article of his receiving the notice you sent him of your fortunate and
useful invention; and I remember I did first of all incite him, both to
insert it into his next transactions, and to provo