PE

DETER DOLLOND, of whom a striking likeness is prefixed to this short Memoir, was the eldest son of John Dollond, the celebrated inven. tor of the Achromatic Refracting Telescope, and was born Feb. 24, 1731, in Spital-fields, where his father was a silkmanufacturer. The son was brought up to the same occupation, and for several years they carried on their manufactures together in Spital fields. But that employment," as is justly said in the Life of John Dollond,* neither suited the expectation nor the disposition of the song who, having received some information upon philosophical subjects from his father, and observing the great value which was set upon his father's knowledge in the theory of optics by professional men, deter mined to apply that knowledge to the benefit of himself and his family."

Accordingly, under the direction of his father, he commenced optician in 1750, and established himself in Vinestreet, Spital-fields, in a house suited to the smallness of his capital, and the bumility of his pretensions. But, in the year 1752, the father, who, till that time, had pursued his original occupation, grew weary of pursuits so little congenial with his mind, and became optician, in partnership with his son, in a house near to Exeter-'Change, in the Strand.

In that humble situation it was, that the father, constantly assisted in his labours by the subject of this Memoir, began and continued that course of

By the Rev. Dr. Kelly, Rector of Copford and Vicar of Ardleigh, in Essex.

experiments, which, in the month of June 1758, led to the memerable conclusion on which was founded the con struction of the achromatic refracting telescope. In the following April, a patent was obtained for the exclusive sale of such telescopes: and it is painful to relate, that, so limited were the circumstances of the author of this discovery, he was compelled to sell to an optician the moiety of its value for the purpose of defraying the expense of the patent. Accordingly, on the 29th of May 1753, a connexion was formed between John Dollond and the purchaser, and telescopes were constructed for their joint interest upon the achromatic principle.

But, however singular it may appear; and how much soever it may be lament ed, it is certain that an invention which excited the doubt and wonder of the illustrious Clairaut and Euler, which commanded the attention of all the scientific men in Europe, that grand desideratum in optics, whose practical application and ensuing advantages were secured to the inventor by the King's Patent, was so little known or valued by the community at large, that, for many years, it produced very small benefit to his family. Himself it could not greatly benefit; for, in the year 1761, he died of an apoplectic fit, leaving a widow, a son, and three daughters, to the protection of his eldest son, the subject of this Memoir.

The partnership which had been formed by the father with the optician who paid for the patent, was continued by the son who administered to his father's effects. But the connexion was of short

themselves men of distinguished eminence, elected Peter Dollond a member of their Society; and this distinction, it may fairly be presumed, was not the Jess honourable and gratifying from its being unsolicited, and sanctioned by the honoured uame of Benjamin Franklin, About the year 1766, the optical business of Mr. Dollond's house had been removed from the Strand to St. Paul's Church-yard; where, becoming at length extensive and prosperous, John Dollond, the brother of our artist, who had acquired great skill and shewn great industry under his instruction, was admitted to a share of the profits. At this place the brothers resided during almost 40 years, living together in great harmony, and applying every skilful and honourable effort to improve and extend each branch of the profession : with what success, the fame and opu lence which followed their exertions furnish an evidence not to be resisted. This fraternal union was unhappily des troyed in 1804 by the premature and lamented death of the younger brother.

In 1805, bis place was supplied by their nephew, George Huggins, who had been educated under their auspices, and who, being admitted to a partnership with the subject of this memoir, changed his name to Dollond. The term of their partnership having expired in November, 1819, the whole interest of the concern remained with him; and to our artist it was a matter of heartfelt joy, that the prosperity and honour of his bouse, the creation, as it were, of his own hands, were transferred to a favorite nephew, whose attainments and virtues were so well fitted to support and extend them.

Having thus traced our subject from early youth to an advanced age, from humility and poverty to elevation and opulence, it remains to be observed, that in the year 1817 he took up his residence at Richmond Hill, where he lived in great ease, and comfort, and respectability, till the 24th of June 1820. Having then removed to Kennington Common, being arrived at his 90th year, and nature being quite exbausted, he breathed his last on the 2d of July, in one deep sigh, and, without a struggle, closed his eyes on this world for ever..

It may be expected that, in the life even of an artist, some notice should be taken of his religion, his morals, his manners, and his disposition.

In early life he accompanied his father to the religious meeting of the dissenters, where the celebrated Lardner and Benson were the alternate preachers. But, as he was a zealous enquirer after truth, he attended occasionally the service of the establisbed church, and once, at least, visited the chapel in Surrey Road, where he witnessed the promulgation of opinions which, to use his own words, filled him with amazement. He listened with more satisfaction to the discourses of the Doctors Disney and Rees, which, as he said, maintained opinions more accessible to his mind, more congenial with those impressions which he had already received, and more pondent with the principles which induced his ancestors to leave France.

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Of that man's morals, who supplied the poor with bread, by whom the fatherless was reared, the widow sustained, the aged comforted, and whose integrity was as pure as his charity was unbounded, no further question will be asked-he had " a heart open as day to melting.charity,"

In his manners, he was simple, unaffected, kind, and obliging. He possessed an habitual gravity of countenance and deportment-serious,not morose, grave, yet decently cheerful; firm in his opinion, which was always the result of thought and enquiry, but modest in asserting it. In conversation he was mild, and rather sparing than redun dant; he never spake upon subjects of which he was ignorant, and, possessing great clearness of understanding, never said any thing that was not sensible and judicious.

In his disposition he was gentle and humane; a dutiful and affectionate son, an indulgent father, a generous brother, a kind master, and a sincere friend.

Such was Peter Dollond, the subject of this memoir, of whom the writer, after an habitual intercourse for more than thirty years, cans safely testify, that, in goodness of temper, he was never exceeded by a human being, and that his excellencies were tempered with fewer weaknesses than usually fall to the lot of imperfect humanity.

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Two daughters survived him eldest was married to the Rev. Dr. Kelly, Rector of Copford and Vicar of Ardleigh in Essex; the youngest to the Rev. George Waddington, Rector of Blaby in Leicestershire, and Vicar of Tuxford in Nottinghamshire.

THE

HE Wool Fair, which was held at the Bear Inn, ia Lewes, on Wednesday, the 26th of July, was nume rously attended by the Wool-growers of the county, and also by several principal Wool-staplers and Buyers from London, and different parts of Eng land. After dinner the healths of "The King and Royal Family"—"The Lord Lieutenant"-" The Earl of Chichester" "The Members for the County, and Borough of Lewes," were proposed by the President, the Earl of Sheffield. Sir George shiffner returned thanks for himself and his colleague, and concluded with proposing the health of the Hon. Member for Surrey, "Mr. Holme Sumner" (who had honoured the meeting with his company), which was received with much satis. faction. Mr. Sumner then rose, and, in returning thanks, expressed his readiness at all times to advocate the cause of the agricultural interest. He lament ed the ill success of the late exertions in Parliament on their behalf, but expressed a hope that some good might arise from a calculation of the averages being taken on the quantity, as well as on the price. Much, however, he said, on this point, depended on themselves on their seeing that the persons who were appointed to make the returns of the market, made them fairly and honestly. This might be productive of great advantage-and if their petitions were repeated, he had no doubt that they would eventually engage the attention of Parliament, and the relief they prayed for would be granted. The health of The Founder of the Meeting, the Earl of Sheffield,” was then drank with three times three, who rose and made his annual Report, as follows:

Since I had the honour of last ad dressing you, a most unexpected and unreasonable attempt, unsupported by any thing like argument, had been made by the manufacturers, to do away the protection which the ruinous state of agriculture had at length obtained from

Parliament, and to procure the repeal even of the inadequate duty on the importation of foreign wool. Looking on the one hand to the situation of the British grower-on the other to the state of the trade in wool, the effect of the import duty on the manufac ture, and the period of its commencement, it was with difficulty I could per suade myself that such an attempt would have been made. Though the duty had not taken place until the 10th of October, in respect to Europe, and until the 5th of January last, in respect to the rest of the world, and though the returns of the importations were only made to the latter date, and the duty had existed but for a single quarter, and that only for Europe, when consequently no opportunity of a trial had been given, and when it was impossible to form any conclusions with regard to the effect of the duty, yet the attempt was made. It was made too, when it was generally supposed that three years' consumption of foreign wool was in the country, and so large a quantity of British grown wool on hand, that the better sorts did not bear half the price they had done but a few years past.

Notwithstanding the market at home was thus overstocked with the raw ma. terial of British growth, and the price in consequence thus (beyond all precedent) reduced, it was pretended, that any duty on the import of foreign wool was inexpedient and ruinous; and the depression of the woollen manufacture was most falsely imputed to this cause. That this, however, is mere unfounded assertion, is obvious from the depres sion having existed previously to the imposition of the duty. It is also ob vious, from our experience of the past, that the exportation of the manufacture is comparatively little influenced by the import of foreign wool. We appeal from the speculation to facts.

During the ten first years of the last century, when woollens were considered as our great staple manufacture, and in a very flourishing condition, the annual average import of wool was 677,525lbs. and the official value of woollens exported amounted to nearly three millions sterling, or 2,883,5431.

On an average of the eight years pre viously to the French Revolution, the annual import of wool was 2.660,000lbs. and the official value of woollens exported was 3,581,7017.