particularly Dr. Tiffot, Profeffor Bonnett, Dr. Macard, Dr. Lettfom, and the celebrated Mr. Deluc, her Majefty's librarian at Windfor, his only relief against the melancholy and vexation that oppreffed his mind. There is an art in being happy, which every man, who enjoys health, leifure, and competency, may in all places attain, omne folum eft patria fortis; but every perfon is not poffeffed of it; and there are, indeed, men of very extraordinary talents, and great abilities, who are fometimes fo weak, or rather fo foolish, as to defpife it. It is eafy to image the happiness of particular conditions until we can be content with no other; but there is no condition whatever under which a certain degree of happiness may not be attained by those bwho are inclined to be happy. The great Haller conceived it to be of as much importance to happiness to gain the esteem as the admiration of man-kind; and Zimmerman might upon this fubject have followed, with infinite advantage, the example of his illuftrious friend, who, by condefcending to indulge the innocent humour and frailties of thofe around him, rendered himself beloved by all who knew him; and by this means, while he promoted the happiness of others, infured his own. "But a man of letters," as Dr. Johnfon obferves, "for the most part fpends in the privacies of study that feafon of life in "which the manners are to be foftened "into ease, and polished into elegance; "and when he has gained knowledge enough to be refpected, has neglected "the minuter acts by which he might "have pleased." Zimmerman, indeed, frequently blamed himself for indulging this faturnine difpofition, and was far from confidering retirement as a duty; but he feldom had courage enough to renounce the pleasures it beftowed on him; and it was by reflecting deeply on its effects, that he was enabled fo juftly to appreciate its advantages. The love of Solitude, which this dif pofition fo ftrongly engendered in his mind, was not, however, fuffered to interrupt in any degree the regular dif charge of his profeffional duties; all appearance of depreffion vanished the mo ment he approached the bed of fickness; and he feldom vifited a patient whom he did not afterwards find a friend. Under thefe circumftances, this excellent and able man paffed fourteen years of an uneafy life; but neither his increafing practice, the fuccefs of his literary pursuits,* the exhortations of his friends, nor the endeavours of his family, were able to remove the melancholy and difcontent that preyed continually on his mind. The theatre on which he acted feemed too confined for the exercife of his great and extraordinary talents; and his friends conceiving that his mind might be reftored to its former tone, by changing the fcene, and enlarging his fphere of action, endeavour+ ed to procure him promotion. After The following is a correct lift of his writings in the order in which they appear to have been published. 1. Differtatio Inauguralis de Irritabilitate, 4to. Gottingen, 1751. 2. The Life of Profeffor Haller, 8vo. Zurich, 1755. fome fruitless efforts to pleafe him, he was, in the beginning of April, 1768, appointed, by the intereft of Dr. Tiffot, and Baron Hockfletten, to the poft of principal Phyfician to the King of Great Britain, at Hanover; and he departed from Brugg, to take poffeffion of his new office, on the 4th of July, in the fame year. But the hopes with which his friends had fondly flattered themfelves upon this fubject, were, alas! in a 4 3. Thoughts on the Earthquake which was felt on the 6. Effay on National Pride, 8vo. Zurich, 1764. 10. Effay on Lavater's Phyfiognomy, Hanover, 1778. 11. Effays, confifting of agreeable and inftructive Tales, 8vo. 1779. 12. Converfations with the King of Pruffia. 13. Treatife on Frederick the Great, 1788. 14. Select Views of the Life, Reign, and Character of Frederick the Great. A Variety of Works published in the Helvetic itry Journal, and in the Journals of the Phyfiological Society at Zurich. 16. A Work on Zoology. fhort time, forrowfully disappointed. The carriage in which he and his family were conveyed to their new refidence was overturned juft as it was entering the gates of Hanover, and his wife's mother received a compound fracture in her leg. In three days after his arrival death deprived him of a valuable friend, one of the Lords of the Regency, who had long entertained for him a fincere affection, and moft cordial efteem. His colleague, jealous of his fuperior merit and increafing fame, contrived to vex and thwart him in the discharge of his official duties. A local diforder, under which he had laboured for many years, and which was frequently attended with excruciating pain, grew worfe; and, to add still more to his misfortunes, the health of Madame Zimmerman, which always very confiderably influenced his own, vifibly declined. Happily, amidst this variety of vexations, his extraordinary merit forced him into very great and extenfive practice, which, together with the company and correfpondence he regularly maintained with |