JENYNS, (SOAME,) son of Sir Roger Jenyns, was born in London. in 1704; and, in 1721, became a fellow commoner of St. John's, Cambridge, where he remained till his marriage, in 1725, with a lady of fortune, who subsequently eloped from him. After having justified his pretensions to the character of a beau, by the publication of a poem On the Art of Dancing, he, in 1741, came into his paternal estate; and being returned to parliament for the county of Cambridge, obtained a situation in the board of trade, by his adherence to Sir Robert Walpole. He lost this office, on its abolition, in 1780; having, in the meantime, published a variety of works, and died in 1787, leaving a second wife, whom he had married in 1753. His principal works, which have been collected into four duodecimo volumes, are, Free Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Evil; View of the Internal Evidences of the Christian Religion; Disquisitions on Various Subjects, which gave rise to Mason's satire of The Dean and the Squire; and Thoughts on Parliamentary Reform. He also wrote some pamphlets, and miscellaneous poems, and was author of some spirited papers in The World. His Inquiry lost much of its reputation after it had been criticised by Dr. Johnson and others; but his View of the Internal Evidences, &c., has acquired for the author a more lasting fame. His chief proposition is, that the Christian religion must of necessity be divine, because, containing a system of ethics, superior to any that could have entered into the mind of man. The style and manner of the work are highly seductive; and, indeed, Mr. Jenyns, in all his productions, seldom fails to charm, if he be not powerful enough to convince.

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BIRCH, (THOMAS,) the son of a coffee-mill maker, was born in London, in 1705, and was destined to follow his father's business; but, on his undertaking to support himself by his own exertions, was allowed to follow the bent of his own inclinations for a literary life. He was, however, probably maintained by his father up to the year 1728, when he married the daughter of a clergyman; and, in 1730, though originally a Quaker, he himself took

orders in the church; and, in 1732, was presented to a living in Essex. His last preferment was to the united rectory of St. Margaret Pattens, and St. Gabriel Fenchurch, London, and the rectory of Depden, in Essex. He was created D. D., by diploma, in 1753, and was chosen a fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies, and a trustee of the British Museum, some time previous to his death, which took place on the 9th of January, 1766. Besides the share he had in writing the General Historical and Critical Dictionary, and editing the prose works of Milton, Thurlow's State Papers, &c., he published Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth; The Life of Henry, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King James the First; of Dr. John Ward; of Archbishop Tillotson; and the biographical sketches which accompany the heads of illustrious persons of Great Britain, engraved by Houbraken and Vertue. Dr. Birch was a faithful and industrious writer, and a vast quantity of information is to be found in his works, which writers, possessed of more judgment and discrimination, may use to great advantage. Dr. Johnson often derived assistance from the researches of Birch, though he is said to have considered him but a feeble writer; and to have remarked, "Tom Birch is as brisk as a bee in conversation; but no sooner does he take a pen in his hand, than it becomes a torpedo to him, and benumbs all his faculties." Dr. Birch left his library, together with a very valuable collection of manuscripts, to the British Museum.

HOADLEY, (BENJAMIN,) eldest son of the celebrated Bishop of Winchester of that name, was born in London, on the 10th of February, 1706. He received the early part of his education in Dr. Newcome's school, at Hackney; whence, about the year 1722, he removed to Benedict College, Cainbridge, where he studied under the blind professor, Saunderson, and acquired great proficiency in mathematics. Dr. Snape, who was opposed to his father in controversy, is said not only to have behaved with great rudeness to him. but to have pointedly omitted his name on the list for doctor's degrecs, when George the Second visited the university in 1728. He was, how

ever, made M. D by royal mandate, shortly afterwards, doubtless through his father's interest. Having settled, as a physician, in London, he soon became a fellow of the Royal Society; and, in June, 1742, was appointed physician to the king's household, having been previously made registrar of Hereford, while his father held that see. In 1746, he was appointed physician to the Prince of Wales's household; and, mingling with the highest society of talent and rank, he became the intimate companion of Hogarth and Garrick; for the first of whom, he arranged the greater part of his Analysis of Beauty. The work by which he is principally known is his comedy of The Suspicious Husband, one of the most exhilarating comedies that had ever been produced. The whole merit of the production consists in the skilful arrangement of the plot, and a lively ease of dialogue. It is superficial, however, in its satire, and deficient in its delineation of character; and, though now occasionally performed, is growing daily more obsolete. Mrs. Inchbald has pithily given an idea of its merits, by observing that next to Ranger, the principal individual in the comedy is Ranger's hat." It is a fact, not generally known, that he wrote another comedy, entitled The Tatlers, which was found at his decease, and performed, many years after, on the 29th of April, 1797, for the benefit of Holman, the actor. In addition to these, the doctor wrote Three Letters on the Origin of Respiration, previously delivered as the Gulstonian lectures for 1737, which Haller has characterized as " a very ingenious defence of a bad cause;" The Harveian Oration, written in elegant Latin, and delivered in 1742; and, in conjunction with Mr. Wilson, Observations on a Series of Electrical Experiments. He died, at his father's palace at Chelsea, on the 10th of August, 1757, having been twice married. Dr. Hoadley was a humane, lively, well informed man, whom strong sense induced to make the most of his numerous worldly advantages.

GRIERSON, (CONSTANTIA,) the wife of Mr. Grierson, for whom Lord Carteret obtained the patent of king's printer, and to distinguish and reward

her uncommon merit, had her life In serted in it," was born in Ireland, in the year 1706. Her attainments were both extraordinary and unaccountable; for, though she was the daughter of poor, illiterate parents, and, according to her own statement, only received some little instruction from the minister of the parish, when she could spare time from her needle-work, she became mistress of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and French, and a tolerable proficient in mathematics. Mrs. Pilkington, who speaks of her, at eighteen years of age, as a young woman who was brought to her father to be instructed in midwifery," describes her as a perfect miracle of learning; and says, that some of the most delightful hours she ever passed, were in the conversation of this female philosopher. She unfortunately died, in 1733, at the age of twentyseven; having given a proof of her knowledge in the Latin tongue, by her dedication of the Dublin edition of Tacitus to Lord Carteret, and of Terence to his son, to whom she also addressed a Greek epigram. Several of her poems have been printed with those of Mr. Barber; according to whom, Mrs. Grierson "was not only happy in a fine imagination, a great memory, an excellent understanding, and an exact judgment, but had all these crowned by virtue and piety."

BROOKE, (HENRY,) was born in Ireland, in 1706; and, after having completed his education at Trinity Col lege, Dublin, was entered a student of the Temple; but instead of practising at the bar, returned to his native country, and married a young lady, with the guardianship of whom he had been intrusted, and who became a mother in her fourteenth year. His increasing family again induced him to visit London, where he wrote his poem On Universal Beauty, and his tragedy of Gustavus Vasa, and derived great profits from its publication, in conse quence of the refusal of government to allow its production on the stage. An introduction to Frederick, Prince of Wales, seducing him into expensive habits, he returned to Ireland, and wrote, during a period of rebellion, his Farmer's Letters; for which he was rewarded, by the lord-lieutenant, with

the post of barrack-master. His next performance, that excited particular notice, was his novel of The Fool of Quality, which appeared in 1766, and procured him high and merited reputation. Pecuniary embarrassments, soon afterwards, obliged him to sell his paternal estate, and retire to a small house, at Kildare, where the loss of his wife gave a shock to his intellects, that ended in total imbecility, of which he had previously given some indications in his last works of Juliet Grenville, and The Redemption, a poem. He died in 1783, survived by only two out of seventeen children; one of whom published his works, with the exception of his novels, in four octavo volumes, in 1792. Mr. Brooke's talents were of a high order; and both himself and his writings were esteemed by Pope, Swift, and other eminent literati of his age.

WEST, (GILBERT,) was born in 1706; and, after having studied at Eton and Oxford, entered the army, as lieutenant in a troop of horse; but soon laid down his commission for an occupation which would enable him to devote more of his time to literature. When Lord Townshend was secretary of state, he accompanied him to attend the king at Hanover; and, in 1729, his lordship nominated him to be clerkextraordinary of the privy-council; but it was some time before a vacancy admitted him to profit. On his marriage, he retired to Wickham, in Kent; and, devoting himself to learning and piety, published, in 1747, his Observations on the Resurrection; for which the University of Oxford created him D. D., by diploma, in the following year. In 1752, he was appointed clerk of the privy-council, and, shortly afterwards, treasurer of Chelsea Hospital; and died on the 26th of March, 1756. Besides the work above-mentioned, he wrote a poem, entitled The Institution of the Garter; a translation of some of the Odes of Pindar; and some Imitations of Spenser. Mr. West was the friend of Lyttleton and of Pitt (afterwards Earl of Chatham;) and it is said, that his frequent conversations with the former, formed the ground-work of Lyttleton's celebrated Dissertation on St. Paul.

BROWNE, (ISAAC HAWKINS,) was

born at Burton-upon Trent, in 1706, and educated at Lichfield and Westminster Schools, and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1727, he was entered a student of Lincoln's Inn, but relinquished the bar for literature, which the possession of a moderate fortune enabled him exclusively to cultivate. The publication of some poems, among which, one, entitled The Pipe of Tobacco, obtained great popularity; was succeeded by his marriage in 1744; and, in 1748, by his entrance into parliament as member for Wenlock, in Shropshire; but his timidity prevented him from affording the house one specimen of that eloquence which he was well known to possess. In 1754, he, at once, established his literary reputation, by his Latin poem of De Animi Immortalitate, modelled upon the style of Lucretius and Virgil, of whom the production would not have been pronounced unworthy. Its various beauties were universally acknowledged, and fully justified the numerous translations by which it was followed. Mr. Browne died, highly respected, in 1770, leaving an only son, who published an edition of his father's poems; many of which are also to be found in Dodsley's Collection.

WHITEHEAD, (PAUL,) the son of a tailor, was born in London, on the 6th of February, 1710. He was educated at Hitchin, in Hertfordshire, and apprenticed to a mercer in London; but was subsequently induced to abandon trade, and enter himself as student of the Middle Temple. Among his acquaintances, at this time, was Fleetwood, the manager of Drury Lane Theatre, who persuaded him to join him in a bond for £3,000, which Whitehead was subsequently called upon to pay. This, however, he refused to do, though he was well able, having, in 1735, married Anna, daughter of Sir Swinnerton Dyer, Baronet, of Spains Hall, Essex, with whom he received a fortune of £10,000. He was, in consequence, committed to the Fleet Prison, where he underwent a long confinement, and it does not appear by what means he was at length released, without payment, as it is said he was. In the meantime, he had produced, successively, three satirical poems, entitled The State Dunces, Manners, and Honour; in the two former of

which, he vented his spleen against the reigning family, and attacked, with great virulence, Sir Robert Walpole and his party. A prosecution was in consequence commenced against Dodsley, the publisher of Manners, who was, for a short time, imprisoned, by order of the house of lords. In 1744, he published his Gymnasiad, a just satire on the savage amusement of boxing. In 1749, he was an active partisan in the contested election for Westminster, which led to the imprisonment of the Honourable Alexander Murray; and the political squibs, &c. he wrote on this occasion, raised him high in favour of the Prince of Wales's court, at Leicester House. His circumstances having been rendered more than easy by his appointment to the place of deputy-treasurer of the chamber, he retired to Twickenham, but died, at his lodgings in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, on the 30th of December, 1774. He left his heart to his patron, Lord Le Despenser, with a request that it might be inurned in his lordship's mausoleum at High Wycombe, where it was accordingly deposited, with all the pomp and ceremony of a theatrical exhibition. Whitehead, it is said, was an infidel, and shared in those scenes of blasphemy and debauchery, which were enacted at Medmembam Abbey, exposed, out of pique against one of the members, by Wilkes, who was himself a party. Sir John Hawkins, however, represents him as, by nature, a friendly and kind-hearted man; and says that, at Twickenham, he manifested the goodness of his nature in the exercise of kind offices, in healing breaches, and composing differences between his poor neighbours. Of his character as a poet, he was himself very careless. His lines are generally harmonious and correct, sometimes vigorous; but his popularity, though he must be allowed, in his satires, to be a most successful imitator of Pope, rests chiefly on the personal calumnies, with which they abound, against the leading men of rank and political importance of his day. His poems were appended to the last edition of Dr. Johnson's collection; but no persuasion could ever induce him to collect them himself.

HAMMOND, (JAMES,) was born about the year 1710, and educated at

Westminster School, and the University of Cambridge; but it does not appear that he took any degree. He formed an early intimacy with Lords Cobham, Chesterfield, and Lyttleton, and divided his time between books and pleasure. His manners and connexious recommended him to the Prince of Wales; through whose influence, he was, probably, in 1741, elected member of parliament for Truro, in Cornwall. He died in the June of the following year; his dissolution, it is said, being hastened by a hopeless attachment, to which we are indebted for his Love Elegies, the only poems of which he is known to be the author. They were published after his death, with a preface by Lord Chesterfield, who speaks of them in terms of unqualified approbation. Johnson treats them with contempt; they are, obviously, imitations of Tibullus, but display much originality of sentiment, and warmth of imagination; and are, at least, something beyond "frigid pedantry." Shiels, who wrote the chief part of what is called Cibber's Lives of the Poets, says, "Mr. Hammond seems to have been one of those poets who are made so by love, not by nature;" but, as love, although a subject for, does not constitute, a poet, Mr. Hammond is entitled to higher praise than the above observation appears intended to convey.

MELMOTH, (WILLIAM,) the son of an eminent advocate, who wrote a still popular work, entitled The Great Importance of a Religious Life, was born in 1710. He early attached himself to literary pursuits; and, in 1742, published a volume of Letters, under the name of Fitzosborne, which displayed much elegance, taste, and judgment. A translation of the letters of Pliny, which appeared in 1747, was equally well received, though he is considered to have somewhat enfeebled the energy of the Latin diction, by the extreme care and polish, which he has used in endeavouring to render the construction and phraseology purely English. In 1753, he added considerably to his already high reputation, by giving to the world one of the most elegant translations of the Letters of Cicero, that had ever appeared. It was published in three volumes, octavo; and, in 1773

and 1777, he rendered into English, successively, two of the most pleasing of Cicero's productions, entitled Cato, or an Essay on Old Age; and Lelius, or an Essay on Friendship. The literary and philosophical remarks with which both were accompanied, added greatly to their value; and his refutation, in the latter, of Shaftesbury's imputation on Christianity, because it gave no precepts in favour of friendship, obtained particular approbation. His last work, an account of the life of his father, under the title of Memoirs of a late eminent Advocate and Member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Iun, was published in 1796. Mr. Melmoth died at Bath, in 1799, highly respected for his private virtues. He had been twice married: first, to the daughter of Dr. King, principal of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford; and, secondly, to an Irish widow, but it does not appear that he had any issue.

O'HARA, (KANE,) born in Ireland, some time after the commencement of the last century, was the author of those two popular burlettas, Midas, and Tom Thumb. The former was acted at Covent Garden, in 1764, and the latter in 1780, and both met with a degree of applause, with which they have continued to be received. Little more is known of the au hor, except that he died in June, 1782, and wrote, besides the above pieces, The Golden Pippen, April Day, and The Two Misers.

SALE, (GEORGE,) was born about the commencement of the eighteenth century, but of the history of his life nothing is known, except that he was one of the founders of the Society for the Encouragement of Learning, established in 1786, and died in the same year. He was a principal writer in The Universal History, and one of the compilers of the great General Dictionary; but the work, by which he is chiefly known, is his translation of the Koran into English, from the original Arabic, with a preliminary discourse. This publication is yet popular, and may be said to form a part of our national standard literature.

PILKINGTON, (LETITIA,) the daughter of Dr. Van Lewen, a phy

sician of Dublin, was born in that city in the year 1712. At an early age she attracted many admirers by the charms of her conversation and an engaging sprightliness, which captivated, among others, the Rev. Matthew Pilkington, author of a well-known volume of Miscellanies, to whom she gave her hand. Conjugal dissension soon followed her marriage, which ultimately ended in a separation between the parties, neither of whom appear to have been free from blame. According to her own statement, her husband was envious of her superior abilities, and had no reason for jealousy on other accounts; even though, as she herself confesses, she was so indiscreet as to permit a gentleman to be found in her bedchamber at an unseasonable hour, and to lodge with him, for the remainder of the night, after both had been turned out of Mr. Pilkington's house. The small allowance she received from her husband, threw her into great distress; and, if we may credit her own account, exposed her to temptations, by yielding to which she might have prevented her subsequent confinement in the Marshalsea, for debt. She was released from prison through the assistance of Colley Cibber, who procured for her a subscription of about fifteen guineas, with which sum she opened a book shop in St. James's Street; and afterwards, going to Dublin, she died there, on the 29th of August, 1750. She was the author of a comedy, called The Turkish Court, or -London Apprentice; The Roman Father, a tragedy; The Trial of Constancy, and other poems; but her most interesting performance is an account of her own life, in two volumes, written with somewhat indecent freedom, but displaying great knowledge of the world, and shrewd and entertaining throughout. The work is interspersed with several small pieces of poetry, of which both the style and matter are extremely praiseworthy. Mrs. Pilkington was the intimnate friend of Swift, who thought very highly of her intellectual faculties, of which her power of memory would seem to have been the most remarkable, if it be true, as stated, that she was able to repeat almost the whole of Shakspeare by heart,