lished a statement of the motives which had led to his conduct; and, coming to London, in 1776, he studied medicine, and, having obtained a diploma from St. Andrew's, was admitted a licentiate of the College of Physicians, and practised his new profession with tolerable success. Equally open in his political and religious opinions, he took an active part in the discussions respecting the war with America, and was a frequent speaker on that subject at the various meetings which were held in the metropolis. He died deservedly respected and esteemed, on the 2nd of March, 1786; and a collection of his works, with memoirs of his life, was published, by Dr. Disney, in three volumes, octavo, in 1787.

ZOUCH, (THOMAS,) was born at Sandal, in Yorkshire, in 1737, and educated at Wakefield, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated B.A. in 1761; became a fellow of his college in 1763; and, having taken orders, was, in 1770, presented to the rectory of Wycliffe, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. In 1791, he was appointed deputy-commissary of the archdeaconry of Richmond; and, in 1793, chaplain to the master of the Rolls, and rector of Scrayingham. In 1795, on the death of his brother, the Rev. Henry Zouch, he succeeded to an estate at Sandal, where he resided till his decease. In 1805, Mr. Pitt gave him the second stall in Durham Cathedral; and, in the same year, having previously proceeded M. A. and B. D., he took his degree of D.D. In 1808, he declined the profferred see of Carlisle, on account of his age, and died, at his native place, on the 17th of December, 1815. He was a learned, pious, and amiable man, and obtained merited reputation by his several publications. Besides the Crucifixion, a poem that gained the Cambridge University Seatonian prize, and some anonymous publications, he printed An Inquiry into the Prophetic Character of the Romans, as described in Daniel; The Good Schoolmaster, exemplified in the Character of the Rev. John Clarke; An Attempt to Illustrate some of the Prophecies of the Old and New Testament; A Memoir of the Life and Writings of Sir Philip Sidney; also of John Sudbury, Dean

of Durham; besides Anecdotes of Izaak Walton's Love and Truth; and also of his Lives of Donne, Watton, Hooker, Mr. George Herbert, and Sanderson; together with a Life of Walton himself. He was likewise the author of some assize and other sermons, which are printed.

GEDDES, (ALEXANDER,) the son of humble parents, of the Roman catholic persuasion, was born in Banffshire, Scotland, in 1737. He received the rudiments of education at a free Roman catholic seminary, at Scalan, in the Highlands, and, at the age of twenty, was removed to the Scotch College, at Paris, where he studied divinity, and made himself master of the Greek, Latin, French, German, Spanish, and low Dutch languages. He returned to Scotland in 1764, and was ordered to Dundee, to officiate among the catholics at Angus. In 1765, he became chaplain to the Earl of Traquaire, but left that nobleman, in consequence of his vow of celibacy being in danger from an attachment he had formed to a relative of the earl. After passing some time in Paris, he, in 1769, accepted the charge of a congregation at Auchinhalrigg, in Banffshire, where he remained till 1779, when the University of Aberdeen conferred on him the degree of LL.D., being the first catholic to whom it had been granted since the Reformation. In 1780, he came to London, with a view of carrying into effect his long-cherished design of a new translation of the Bible; in which, though opposed by the majority of his own persuasion, he was encouraged to persevere by Lord Petre, who allowed him £200 per annum. He published the first volume in 1792, and the second in 1797; but displayed such latitude of opinion, particularly with respect to the divine mission of Moses, that he was suspended from his ecclesiastical function, and both catholics and protestants looked upon him as an infidel. He replied to the animadversions which the work called forth, with a power of irony and argument by no means contemptible; and, in 1800, he published his first and only volume of Critical Remarks on the Holy Scriptures, corresponding with his new translation. He died on the 26th of February, 1802; leaving behind him,

in addition to the works before-mentioned, a variety of tracts, some indifferent poems, three papers inserted in the Transactions of the Edinburgh | Antiquarian Society; besides numerous contributions to the various newspapers and magazines of the day; and a Translation of the Psalms, as far as the Hundred and Eighteenth, printed after his death. His life has been written by Dr. Mason Good, who thus describes him on his first introduction. "He was disputing," says the doctor," with one of the company when I entered; and the rapidity with which, at this moment, he left his chair, and rushed, with an elevated tone of voice, and uncourtly dogmatism of manner, towards his opponent, instantaneously persuaded me, that the subject upon which the debate turned was of the utmost moment. I listened with all the attention I could command; and, in a few minutes, learned, to my astonishment, that it related to nothing more than the distance of his own house in the New Road, Paddington, from the place of our meeting, which was in Guildford

Street.'

TOWERS, (JOSEPH,) was born in 1737, at Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, but, according to some accounts, in Southwark, where his father dealt in secondhand books. He received no regular education, and is said to have acquired his first taste for literature by listening to the conversation of Hawkesworth and others, who used to meet at the shop of Goadby, the bookseller, in the Royal Exchange. In 1754, he was apprenticed to a printer, at Sherborne, and, on coming again to London, he for some time supported himself as a journeyman in that trade. In 1763, he published his first work, entitled A Review of the Genuine Doctrines of Christianity; and, subsequently, contracting a profitable marriage, he opened a bookseller's shop, in Fore Street; but, in 1774, he resigned his business, and became a dissenting preacher. He was, in the same year, chosen pastor of a congregation of dissenters at Highgate; and, in 1778, was elected one of the ministers at Newington Green. In 1779, the University of Edinburgh conferred upon him the degree of LL.D., from which time he continued to publish, at inter

vals, a variety of pamphlets, up to the period of his death, in June, 1799. Exclusive of the share he had in the Biographia Britannica, and the British Biography, of which he composed the greater part, most of his works will be found in three volumes of pamphlets, printed, by subscription, in 1756. He also wrote Memoirs of the Life and Reign of Frederick the Third, King of Prussia, in two volumes, which reached a second edition. Dr. Towers, who is said to have been a modified Arian, was an industrious and forcible writer; but the bias of his own political and religious opinions, is too apparent in his biographical compilations, and renders them but an exceptionable authority in regard to character.

MACPHERSON, (JAMES,) a native of Inverness, was born in 1738, and educated at Aberdeen and Edinburgh, where he attracted the notice and curiosity of the literary world, in 1760, by the publication of his Fragments of Ancient Poetry, collected in the Highlands of Scotland, and translated from the Gaelic, or Erse Language. They were received with mingled suspicion and applause, and Dr. Blair and others enabling the author, by means of a subscription, to pursue his researches in the highlands, he produced, successively, in 1762 and 1763, his Fingal, and Temora, and other poems, all professedly translated from the Gaelic of Ossian, the son of Fingal, a prince of the third century. These publications gave rise to a literary controversy, which ended, if it may be said to have yet terminated, in contributing to the fame, without either satisfactorily establishing or destroying the credit, of the subject of our memoir. Whether authentic or not, they certainly contain many passages of pure poetry, and, in general, forcibly remind us of the sublime style of the Bible, and Homer. Many of the ideas of Byron, and other of our subsequent poets, may be traced to the poems of Ossian, though we are inclined to question both the originality and fidelity of Macpherson, in some of his passages. The following, delivered by Oithona, "Why did I not pass away in secret, like the flower of the rock, that lifts its fair head unseen, and strews its withered leaves on the blast?" only

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

great applause. He next wrote The Romance of an Hour, and The Man of Reason, and appears to have been called to the bar about three years previous to

Ruin seize thee, ruthless king,

Confusion on thy banners wait!

of February, 1777. He left five children and a widow, for whose benefit his play of A Word to the Wise, was performed

the exclamation

Confusion pursue thee over thy plains!

Ruin overtake thee, thou king of the world!

Mr. Macpherson went out to Florida, in 1764, as secretary to Governor Johnstone, and was subsequently appointed agent to the Nabob of Arcot, and sat in parliament from 1780 to 1790. He died in February, 1796, leaving behind him, in addition to the works before-mentioned, The Highlander, a poem ; a prose translation of Homer's Iliad; An Introduction to the History of Great Britain and Ireland; The History of Great Britain, from the Accession, to the House of Hanover; besides some historical collections and political pamphlets.

KELLY, (HUGH,) was born in Ireland, in 1739, and apprenticed by his father, who was of good family, but in reduced circumstances, to a stay-maker in Dublin, whence, on the expiration of his indenture, he proceeded to London, and commenced business on his own account. Meeting, however, with no success, he became clerk to an attorney; and, subsequently, turning his attention to literature, was employed as editor to The Ladies' Museum, and other periodical publications. His industry and prudence keeping pace with his ability, he was soon enabled to marry; after which, politics and the drama, as well as literature, occupying his attention, he published, in succession, A Vindication of the Administration of Mr. Pitt, a collection of essays, called The Babbler; Louisa Mildmay, a poem; and False Delicacy, a comedy, which was acted with success. It was followed by A Word to the Wise, and a tragedy, called Clementina; but both were unsuccessful, in consequence of a supposition that he was employed to write for the ministry, and he was, in consequence, induced to get a friend to assume the authorship of his next piece, The School

also published, in quarto, with a like of the author. None of his pieces keep possession of the stage, but most of them may be read with pleasure; they are deficient, perhaps, in energy and point, but are pathetic and interesting, and ingeniously written.

VINCENT, (WILLIAM,) the son of a merchant's packer, was born on the 2nd of November, 1739, in Lime Street Ward, London. In 1748, he was sent to Westminster School, and from thence elected to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1761. M.A. in 1764, and obtained a fellowship. He had, in the meantime, been appointed an usher of Westminster School; and, in 1771, was made second master. Having been previously chosen chaplain in ordinary to the king, and taken the degree of D. D., he was, in 1777, appointed sub almoner to his majesty; and, in the following year, obtained the rectory of Allhallows, but resigned it at the end of five years. In 1788, he was made head master of his school; in 1801, a prebend; and, in 1802, Dean of Westminster; six years after which, he presented himself to the rectory of islip. He died on the 21st of December, 1815, having acquired some fame as an author by his Commentary on Arrian's Voyage of Nearchus, and his Periplus of the Erytherean Sea; the former of which was translated into French, by Billecoq. He also published A Tract on Parochial Music, The Greek Verb Analysed, A Defence of Public Education, and A Charity Sermon. He likewise wrote several articles in The British Critic, and a volume of his discourses, with a memoir of his life, was published posthumously. He was married to a Miss Wyatt, by whom he left two sons.

PIOZZI, (HESTER LYNCH,) was born at Bodvel, Carnarvonshire, in

1739. She was the daughter of John Salisbury, Esq., and was early distinguished, in fashionable life, by her personal charms and mental accomplishments. In 1763, she married Mr. Thrale, a brewer of great opulence, and then member of parliament for Southwark; and soon after, she commenced that acquaintance with Dr. Johnson, which has given the chief notoriety to her name. On the death of her husband, in 1781, she retired to Bath; and, in 1784, gave her hand to a Florentine, of the name of Piozzi, by which union she greatly offended the doctor, though he does not seem, as stated in various accounts, to have discontinued his intercourse with her altogether. Shortly after her marriage, she accompanied Mr. Piozzi to Florence, and there joined Mr. Merry and others in the production of a collection of pieces, in verse and prose, called The Florence Miscellany. On her return, she devoted herself to the pleasures of literary society, and published, successively, a tale, in imitation of La Fontaine, called The Three Warnings; a translation of Boileau's Epistle to his Gardener; Observations made in a Journey through France, Italy, and Germany, two volumes, octavo; British Synonymy, two volumes; and Retrospection, or a view of the most striking events which the last one thousand eight hundred years have presented to the view of mankind, two volumes, quarto, 1801. She survived her second husband, and died at Clifton, on the 2nd of May, 1821, having, a few moments before her death, says the author of Piozziana, suddenly sat up, and, with a piercing aspect, and slow, distinct utterance, said, "I die in the truth, and the fear of God." As an authoress, Mrs. Piozzi held but a very inferior rank among the writers of her age; and, from the specimen given in the work just mentioned, her conversational sallies do not seem to have been of the wittiest kind. The writer of Piozziana, however, gives her a very high character for learning and generosity; telling us, in proof of the former, that she read and wrote Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and, for sixty years, had constantly and ardently studied the Scriptures, and the works of commentators, in the original languages.

Of her greatness of mind, he tells the following anecdote:-When Gifford had abused her, in his Baviad and Mæviad, as Thrale's grey widow, she contrived to get herself invited to dine at the same table with him, just after the publication of his poem, when she sat opposite to him, and removed his perplexity by proposing a glass of wine as a libation to their future good fellowship.

BOSWELL, (JAMES,) born at Edinburgh, on the 29th of October, 1740, was the son of Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, one of the judges of the supreme courts of session, in Scotland. He received his education at the school and university of his native city, and there, as well as at Glasgow, studied civil law. His own desire seems to have been for a military life, but, in compliance with his father's request, he followed the profession he had studied; for improvement in which he proceeded to Utrecht, in 1763, having, in his way thither, been introduced to Dr. Johnson, in London. While abroad, he visited Switzerland and Italy, and became intimate with General Paoli, at Corsica, a memoir of whom he subsequently published, together with an account of that country. In 1766, he returned to Scotland, and was called to the bar of advocates, and about the same time gained some creditable notoriety by the publication of a pamphlet, under the title of Essence of the Douglas Cause. In 1773, he accompanied Dr. Johnson in his celebrated tour to the Hebrides; and having, in 1782, succeeded to his family estate, he, shortly afterwards, procured his admission to the English bar, and devoted himself to literary leisure. The fruits of his connexion with Dr. Johnson appeared in 1790, when he printed, in two volumes, quarto, his celebrated life of that great man. Boswell was also the author of a series of essays in the London Magazine, entitled The Hypochondriac; of several fugitive pieces in prose and verse; two political pamphlets; and was made recorder of Carlisle some time previous to his death, which took place on the 19th of June, 1799. His Life of Johnson, and the various criticisms upon it, are too well known to need a dilation in this place, either upon the style or contents of the work. It is universally acknowledged as one