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MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF

“ Clifton is situated on the top of a hill, commandinga view of Bristol and its neighbourhood, convenientlyelevated above the dirt and noise of the city. Here arehouses, rocks, woods, town and country, in one smallspot; and beneath us, the sweetly flowing Avon, socelebrated by the poets. Indeed, there .can hardly be amore beautiful spot: it almost rivals Penzance , and thebeauties of Mount’s Bay.

u Our house is capacious and handsome; my roomsare very large, nice, and convenient; and, above all, Ihave an excellent laboratory. Now for the inhabitants,and first, Dr. Beddoes , who, between you and me, isone of the most original men I ever saw—uncommonlyshort and fat, with little elegance of manners, andnothing characteristic externally of genius or science;extremely silent, and in a few words, a very bad com-panion. His behaviour to me, however, has been par-ticularly handsome. He has paid me the highest com-pliments on my discoveries, and has, in fact, become aconvert to my theory, which I little expected. He hasgiven up to me the whole of the business of thePneumatic Hospital, and has sent to the editor of theMonthly Magazine a letter, to be published in Novem-ber, in which I have the honour to be mentioned in thehighest terms. Mrs. Beddoes is the reverse of Dr. Beddoes —extremely cheerful, gay, and witty; she isone of the most pleasing women I ever met with.With a cultivated understanding, and an excellentheart, she combines an uncommon simplicity of man-ners. We are already very great friends. She hastaken me to see all the fine scenery about Clifton; /orthe Doctor, from his occupations and his bulk, is unableto walk much. In the house are two sons, and a