is so. He earnestly wishes his father might be pleased to ask after
him; for you must know he has not yet done this, nor is, in my
opinion, like to do it. And it has been said farther, that upon a
late application made to him on the behalf of his son, he desired
that no more might be said to him about it. How true this may be I
cannot as yet be certain; all I shall say is, it seems not improbable
. . . I heartily wish the ancient man's heart may prove tender toward
his son; _though_, _knowing him so well_, _I can scarce hope to hear
such desirable news_."

Eleven days later he writes:

"I have now the pleasure to acquaint you, that the late Dr. Young,
though he had for many years kept his son at a distance from him, yet
has now at last left him all his possessions, after the payment of
certain legacies; so that the young gentleman (who bears a fair
character, and behaves well, as far as I can hear or see) will, I
hope, soon enjoy and make a prudent use of a handsome fortune. The
father, on his deathbed, and since my return from London, was applied
to in the tenderest manner, by one of his physicians, and by another
person, to admit the son into his presence, to make submission,
intreat forgiveness, and obtain his blessing. As to an interview
with his son, he intimated that he chose to decline it, as his
spirits were then low and his nerves weak. With regard to the next
particular, he said, '_I heartily forgive him_;' and upon 'mention of
this last, he gently lifted up his hand, and letting it gently fall,
pronounced these words, '_God bless him_!' . . . I know it will give
you pleasure to be farther informed that he was pleased to make
respectful mention of me in his will; expressing his satisfaction in
my care of his parish, _bequeathing to me a handsome legacy_, and
appointing me to be one of his executors."

So far Mr. Jones, in his confidential correspondence with a "friend, who
may be trusted." In a letter communicated apparently by him to the
_Gentleman's Magazine_, seven years later, namely, in 1782, on the
appearance of Croft's biography of Young, we find him speaking of "the
ancient gentleman" in a tone of reverential eulogy, quite at variance
with the free comments we have just quoted. But the Rev. John Jones was
probably of opinion, with Mrs. Montagu, whose contemporary and
retrospective