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yor Lop information of there correspondences on this or the other side of the sea, wh I should most willinglie have imparted if anie such thing had beyne knowen. The eminent persones in this service for ye king were wt the Leu.-Gen. the Duke of Hamiltone, the Earles of Athol, Linlithgow, Airlie, (whoes troupe gave ye first and successful chairge) and Kellie; the Lords Rosse, Madertie, and Cocharan, with the Viscount of Kingstoune. In ye tyme of ye conflict, Sir James Turner escaped from his keepers. The prime actors in this rebellion have beene silenced ministers, and the chiefe sufferers, such as were conform. So have I given yor Lp a true report, and als full satisfaction to the demand of yor lre, as possible could be done, by, my Lo. yor Lopps affectionat brother and humble servant, Geo. Edinburgen.

Endorsed.

The Bp of Edinburgh, Relation of ye totall rout given to ye Scotch Rebels, Nov. 29, 1666.

This is a book that we have had much pleasure in looking over. It contains a selection from the voluminous Correspondence of the late Dr Lettsom, with some of the most celebrated men of their day, on literary, scientific, and miscellaneous subjects.

Among the names of the writers, we find those of Linnæus, Zimmerman, Jacob Bryant, Granville Sharpe, Lord Landsdowne, the Earl of Buchan, Dr Franklin, Dr Cumming, Dr Cullen, Dr Guthrie, Dr Fothergill, Dr Waterhouse, Dr Rush, Dr Lathrop, Dr Falconer, Dr Jenner, Cumberland, Boswell, Pratt, &c.—The correspondence seems to have been judiciously selected and arranged; and it is preceded by a memoir of the life of Dr Lettsom, which furnishes little else than a detail of his numerous and successful efforts to establish various useful and charitable institutions; and of his endeavours to improve the condition of his fellow-creatures, by all possible means, and in all places. For his benevolent and enlightened views were far from being confined to the country in which he lived,—his correspondence extended to all parts of civilized Europe, and to America,—and wherever it did extend, it was employed in endeavouring to make mankind wiser and better, and happier.

Dr Lettsom was born of opulent and respectable parents, at Little Vandyke, one of the West India islands, in the year 1744. He was not intended for the profession which he afterwards followed; but was, at an early age, sent to England for education. In consequence of his father dying while young Lettsom was in England, and of changes which took place in the family, he was, in 1761, apprenticed to an apothecary in the country. At the end of his apprenticeship he went to London, where he appears to have studied his profession with considerable industry. But these studies were suddenly interrupted by his returning to the West Indies, to take possession of some property left him by his father. This property consisted of slaves, all of which he is said to have emancipated immediately on his arrival; and in the words of his biographer, "he became a voluntary beggar at the age of twenty-three."

At Tortola, Lettsom commenced practising as a physician, and in a short time amassed a sum of money, with which he returned to England in 1768. After travelling on the Continent, and taking his degree of M.D. at the University of Leyden, he at length settled in London in 1770, and commenced practice under the patronage of the celebrated Dr John Fothergill. From this time the life of Dr Lettsom seems to have been one uninterrupted series of acts of benevolence and utility; and he was fortunately enabled to indulge in his inclinations for pursuits of this kind, by his rapidly extending practice, and his matrimonial connexion with a lady of considerable property.

The Sea-bathing Infirmary at Margate—the General Dispensary, which was the first institution of its kind—and the Medical Society—owe their establishment chiefly to Dr Lettsom's exertions. Besides these, he was connected, in some way or other, with most of the benevolent and useful in-

1. ↑ Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the late John Coakley Lettsom, M.D. LL.D. F.R.S. &c. with a Selection from his Correspondence; by T. J. Pettigrew, F.L.S. &c. &c. 3 vols 8vo. Longman & Co. London. 1817.