with persons who had attended a caravan, and that he learned from them
what he narrated in the account of Gaudentio. This passage is cited in
Southey's _Common-place Book_, p. 204; but the work is manifestly
fictitious, and it does not appear that Berkeley, though he twice
visited the Continent, was ever out of Europe.

The date of the publication of Gaudentio is quite consistent with the
authorship of Berkeley, who died in 1753; but the notice in the
_Gentleman's Magazine_ only proves the existence of a rumour to that
effect; and the authentic _Life of Berkeley_, by Dr. Stock, chiefly
drawn up from materials communicated by Dr. R. Berkeley, brother to the
Bishop, and prefixed to the collected edition of his work (2 vols. 4to.
Lond., 1784), makes no allusion to Gaudentio. There is nothing in the
contents of this work which renders it likely that the authorship should
have been carefully concealed by Bp. Berkeley and his family, if he had
really been the author. The literary execution of Gaudentio is good; and
it is probable that the speculative character of the work, and the fact
that Berkeley had visited Italy, suggested the idea that he had composed
it. The belief that Bishop Berkeley was the author of _Gaudentio di
Lucca_ may therefore be considered as unauthorised.

The copy of the edition of _Gaudentio_ of 1786, which is preserved in
the British Museum, contains in the title-page the following note, in
pencil:

"Written originally in English by Dr. Swale of Huntingdon. See
_Gent. Mag._ 1786."

The _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1786 does not, however, contain any
information about the authorship of _Gaudentio_; and the name of Dr.