With these, and many other methods of composition we are acquainted, but that of a great part of The Farmer's Boy,' in my opinion, stands first on the list of literary phenomena. Sir, Mr Bloomfield, either from the contracted state of his pecuniary resources to purchase paper, or for other reasons, composed the latter part of his 'Autumn,' and the whole of his 'Winter,' in his head, without committing one line to paper! This cannot fail to surprise the literary world, who are well acquainted with the treacherousness of memory, and how soon the most happy ideas, for want of sufficient quickness in writing down, are lost in the rapidity of thought! But this is not all, he went still a step farther :he not only composed and committed that part of his work to his faithful and retentive memory, but he corrected it all in his head !!!—and, as he said, when it was thus prepared, 'I had nothing to do but to write it down.' By this new and wonderful mode of composition, he studied and completed his Farmer's Boy' in a garret, among six or seven of his fellow-workmen, without their ever once suspecting or knowing any thing of the matter!" Bloomfield continued to employ his poetical powers, and, besides contributing several pieces to The Monthly Mirror,' published three volumes of poems, in 1802, 1804, and 1806, successively. In 1811 appeared his Banks of the Wye,' the result of a tour made by him into South Wales, the mountain scenery of which country made a novel and pleasing impression on his mind. Not long afterwards, owing to his engaging in the book trade, he became a bankrupt; and about the same time, suffering much from the dropsy, he left London and took up his abode at Shefford in Bucks, for the benefit of his health. His death took place at Shefford, on the 19th of August, 1823. He left a widow and four children; and had published, shortly before his death, May Day with the Muses,' and Hazlewood Hall,' a village drama, in three acts. . The characteristics of The Farmer's Boy' are well-known. Parr, Southey, Aiken, Watson, and all our most eminent critics have praised it. Dr Drake, in his 'Literary Hours,' says, "such are its merits, that, in true pastoral imagery and simplicity, I do not think any production can be put in competition with it since the days of Theocritus." Edward Jenner. BORN A. D. 1749.-DIED A. D. 1823. At an EDWARD JENNER was born at Berkeley, in Gloucestershire, where his father, Stephen Jenner, was vicar, on the 17th May, 1749. early period of his life he lost his father, and at the age of eight years he was put to school at Wotton-under-Edge, and soon after at Cirencester under the care of Dr Washbourn. One of his early propensities was for the study of natural history, and the hours usually devoted to play were spent by him in collecting fossils or studying the habits of birds and insects. His professional education commenced under the care of Mr Ludlow, a surgeon at Sudbury, near Bristol. His apprenticeship being finished, he went to London, and had the good fortune to be taken under the care of the celebrated John Hunter, with whom he resided. Under these favourable circumstances his zeal for natural history could not fail to be increased, his views became more enlarged, and his talents and industry progressed in a like proportion. Between such congenial spirits as those of John Hunter and Edward Jenner, a friendship of the closest description was, notwithstanding the disparity in years, unavoidable; and though the amount of benefit received was on the side of Jenner much the greater, there is not a doubt that the great master found in the rising talents of his favourite pupil a reward which fully recompensed him for all that he bestowed. So long as Mr Hunter lived their correspondence was uninterrupted, and the respect of the pupil was never diminished. The recommendation of Mr Hunter procured for Jenner, in 1771, the task of arranging the collection of specimens of natural history of Sir Joseph Banks, when Captain Cook returned from his first voyage of discovery. His reputation being thus increased, he was requested to accompany the expedition of 1772 as naturalist; but a desire to return to his native place led him to decline the tempting offer. He returned accordingly to Berkeley, where he settled as a general practitioner, and soon acquired a high reputation and an extensive practice. He continued to improve every advantage which presented itself for the study of his favourite science, and prepared a paper on the Cuckoo, which was read before the Royal society in 1788, and appeared in their transactions. He used to indulge himself occasionally in writing poetry; many of his little pieces display considerable feeling and versatility of talent. About 1778 Jenner took an active part in the formation of a medical society, intended to promote at the same time medical science, conviviality, and good fellowship. He is known to have communicated some very valuable papers to this society, some of which were unfortunately dispersed and could not be recovered. Of another society in Alviston he was an active member, and first made known to the members of it his views on the prophylactic virtues of cow-pox, but did not receive that encouragement which he so eminently deserved. On the 6th of March, 1788, he married Miss Catharine Kingscote, daughter of Anthony Kingscote, Esq., a kinsman of the great Sir Matthew Hale. This marriage proved the source of much happiness to him. In 1792 he resigned his general practice as being too fatiguing, and, obtaining the degree of M. D. from the university of St Andrews, practised afterwards only as a physician. In 1794 he suffered severely from typhus fever, along with several other members of his family. In 1798 the first part of his Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of Variola Vaccina' was laid before the public. This was the result of much labour and long experience, and on account of it the name of Jenner will ever stand high on the list of the benefactors of the human race. An account of the history of the cow-pox can no where be with more propriety introduced than in connection with the name which it has rendered illustrious. The history of the origin and progress of Dr Jenner's discovery is very well given by his biographer, Dr Baron; and perhaps the best thing that can be done here will be to give an analysis of that portion of the work of Dr Baron. The attention of Jenner was drawn to the subject while he was yet little more than a boy, by the observation of a country woman, in whose presence the subject of small-pox was meu tioned, "I cannot take that disease, for I have had cow-pox." This shows that the notion was a popular one, and though it takes away from Jenner the merit of actual discovery, it does not at all detract from the honour which has been so long acknowledged as justly and peculiarly his own. His mind became first alive to the possibility of averting the evils arising both from the natural and the inoculated small-pox, and he exerted his powers to the utmost, in the face of neglect and ridicule, to convince the world of the efficacy of the means he proposed. John Hunter was early made acquainted with the ideas of Jenner on this subject, and though not impressed so fully with the importance of them, he did not fail to give the young student every encouragement to perseverance, and to communicate his notions to other men of science. To most of these the evidence seemed unsatisfactory, and it was not till 1780 that Jenner was able to acquire sufficient information to confirm his own confidence in the new means he proposed for guarding against this dangerous disease. In that year he communicated his information to his friend Edward Gardner. Among the difficulties which at different times impeded his progress, was one which arose from a considerable similarity between two diseases, both of which were commonly called the cow-pox, but which differed in this essential point, that the one did, and the other did not, afford a protection against the contagion of small-pox. Fortunately he discovered in a disease called the grease, affecting the heels of horses, the origin of the true cow-pox, as he denominated that which was the object of his researches, in contradistinction to the false, which did not produce the same beneficial effects. In 1788 he got a drawing of the disease, as produced on the hands of milk-women when the cows are affected, and showed it to Sir Everard Home, who gave him every encouragement to proceed in his researches. It was not till the 14th May, 1796, that he was enabled to make an experiment, which decided the virtues of his method. It remained to be proved whether the disease propagated from one human being to another continued to produce the same desirable effect upon the constitution, as that obtained directly from the diseased animal. This was completely decided by the experiment now referred to. In May the matter taken from the hand of a woman was used to inoculate a boy of eight years of age. The pustule was produced, and run its course in a regular manner. In July variolous matter was taken from a pustule and inserted in several places under the skin of the boy, and the gratification of Jenner may well be conceived, when the result is stated-no disease followed. "I shall now," he said, in a letter to a friend, “pursue my experiments with redoubled ardour." In 1798 Dr Jenner repaired to London for the purpose of making an experiment in order to satisfy his medical friends there. It will hardly be credited that in the space of three months he could not procure one person on whom he might exhibit the disease. It is to the honour of Mr Cline, surgeon of St Thomas' hospital, that he exerted himself in favour of Jenner and his views. Much opposition had to be encountered from the less liberal members of the profession; but Jenner lived to see his triumph over it all. It was the opinion of Dr Jenner that the cow-pox and smallpox are modifications of the same disease. Of course the discussion of that question does not belong to this place. In 1798 he fell in with Dr Ingenhousz, with whom he had a contro versy on the subject, the details of which do no honour to the foreign physician, whose name stands otherwise high as a man of science. In the same year Dr Pearson exerted himself to forward the cause of vaccination, with considerable success. Experiments were made in the small-pox hospital, but from the want of attention to many important particulars, they failed. In 1799 the researches of Jenner became known at Geneva, Hanover, and Vienna. In December of the same year, application was made to Jenner, from the Princess Louisa of Prussia, for vaccine matter, whereby the disease was introduced into that country. In the same year, through the exertions of Dr Pearson, the London Vaccine Institution was founded, and Dr Jenner was appointed extra-corresponding physician to the infant establishment. The fame of Dr Jenner was now established; the duke of York recommended the introduction of vaccination into the army; and the duke of Clarence honoured Jenner with a personal interview, wherein he conversed with him on the subject. In 1800, March 7th, he had an interview with the king, to whom he presented his treatise on the cow-pox, and was graciously received. In February, 1801, Dr Trotter, physician to the fleet, in conjunction with the other officers of the navy, presented Dr Jenner a gold medal, as a proof of their admiration of the man, and their confidence in the means he proposed. The obverse exhibits Apollo, as the god of physic, introducing a sailor recovered from vaccination to Britannia, who holds out a civic crown inscribed with the name of 'Jenner.' Below is the appropriate motto, " Alba nautes stella refulsit.' On the reverse is an anchor, and above it "Georgio Tertio Rege;" below, "Spencer Duce." A diploma, constituting him M. D. of Oxford, was also presented to Jenner by that learned body. As a proof of the zeal of Dr Jenner for the good of the human race, may be quoted an offer of £1000, which he made towards the furtherance of a proposal for sending out the cow-pox to Ceylon. This liberality was rendered unnecessary by the success of another plan. During the years 1799, 1800-1-2, the method of Dr Jenner spread over America, France, Spain, the Mediterranean, Constantinople, Bombay, &c. For information respecting the progress of it in these places, the work of Dr Keir on the introduction of the cow-pox into Bombay, and that of Dr de Carro, published at Vienna in 1804, may be referred to. Not less favourable was the reception which it met with in the north of Europe; an institution was founded in Berlin, and a medal struck in honour of Jenner. By the exertions of an Austrian nobleman, the people of Bremen in Moravia were made partakers in the benefit of Dr Jenner's discovery, and their gratitude to the founder of the system was testified by erecting a temple dedicated to Jenner. On the 10th August, 1802, the empress of Russia wrote a letter to Jenner, signed with her own hand, and sent along with it a valuable diamond ring. He replied in a letter of thanks, and sent a copy of his works on vaccination to the empress. About the same time he was elected an honorary member of the Royal society of Gottingen. He received also a service of plate from his friends in Gloucestershire, among whom Earl Berkeley was most active in promoting the subscription. While Jenner was thus covered with honours, he was labouring entirely for the public good, to the detriment of his own private fortune. The constant change of residence between Berkeley, Cheltenham, and London, effectually de stroyed his private practice, and he was likely to have become a loser by his philanthropy. After due consideration, therefore, parliament was petitioned on his account, and after the house of commons had received the evidence of the first men of science in the kingdom, the very inadequate sum of £10,000 was voted to him. In 1807 an additional sum of £20,000 was voted. Little more can be said of this valuable man. The incidents of the life of a man of science are seldom numerous or interesting, except in so far as they appear in connection with his discoveries. After having achieved a most important benefit for man, having lived to witness the gratitude of the world, having been covered with honours by sovereigus and by learned men, the illustrious Jenner was called from the world in February, 1823. He was then 74 years old, and the cause of his death was a sudden attack of apoplexy. His name will never be forgotten, and he will for ever remain, in the words of Rudolphi, "dear to the human race." Anne Radcliffe. BORN A. D. 1764.-died a. D. 1823. THIS distinguished novelist was born in London in the year 1764. Although her immediate progenitors were engaged in trade, they were of no plebeian descent, a branch of the celebrated Dutch family of the De Witte being to be found among her remoter ancestry, and several individuals of consideration being her near connexions. Educated rather after the more business-like style of our ancestors than in the manner in which it has now become fashionable for young ladies to be 66 finished off," she was married at Bath in her 23d year to Mr William Radcliffe, a graduate of Oxford, and at that time a student at one of the Inns of Court. The young pair, shortly after their marriage, having come to reside at London, Mr Radcliffe became proprietor and editor of the English Chronicle;' and it was owing, we are told, to his frequent absence from home till a late hour, that his wife, to beguile the time, was first induced to resort to the practice of composition, and the invention of those romantic fictions from which she afterwards derived so large a revenue of fame. It was her husband's encouragement, too, which first prompted her to adventure upon the hazard of publication; and the suggestion of a heart which might naturally enough have been suspected of some degree of partiality, was very soon confirmed in a manner the most decided and most gratifying, by the award of the public approbation. · 6 Excited in this way, both by the voice of domestic affection and the intoxication of successful authorship, it is no wonder that a mind like that of Mrs Radcliffe's gave forth for a time ungrudgingly of its fulness. It was, in fact, in the course of a very few years of her life that all the works for which the world is indebted to her pen were written; The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne,' her first production, having appeared in 1789, The Sicilian Romance' in 1790, The Romance of the Forest' in 1791, The Mysteries of Udolpho' in 1794, and The Italian in 1797. This was her last publication,-although to the list · |