the characters of the living or the dead; but though I will not indulge myself in conjectures, I will not turn afide from facts; and neither from affectation of candour, nor dread of recrimination, waive the privilege which I claim for myself, in every page of this history, of fpeaking the truth from my heart. I may not always fay all that I could, but I will never knowingly fay of any man what I should not.

"As I am defcended from ancestors illuftrious for their piety, benevolence, and erudition, I will not fay I am not vain of that distinction; but I will confefs, it would be a vanity ferving only to expose my degeneracy, were it ac companied by no worthier passion.”

After Mr. C. has given us this his mental picture at the commencement of the work, of which we have traced the greater part, because it fhows the dif pofition with which he began it, he proceeds to ftate fome account of his family.

This he commences with a literary fketch of that truly excellent prelate, Dr. Richard Cumberland, elected Bishop of Peterborough 1641, who was his great grandfather. "He was," fays Mr. C., author of that excellent work, entitled De Legibus Nature, in which he effectually refuted the impious tenets of Hobbs ;" and confequently not only re-evidenced the truth of the Chriftian religion, in oppofition to the atheistical and profane, though claffical, notions, difplayed in the Leviathan; but publicly cenfured the philofopher, and tacitly the Monarch who had protected and rewarded him. This work was of effential fervice to the caufe of truth, as it in a great degree refcued the learned from the errors of dangerous doctrines, and equally dangerous examples.

The notice of this Prelate is followed by that of Dr. Richard Bentley, the maternal grandfather of the author; to whom we must fay, that had it been poffible for him to have chofen his ancestors, he could not have fixed upon any that have acquired or deferved more celebrity.

Refpecting, as we do, the genius that has long distinguished the family of Bentley, of which fome elegant (though political) fpecimens have within thefe few years been exhibited, we fhall gratify ourselves with the extraction of the following paffage, and then make fome fhort remaiks upon it.

"Of Dr. Richard Bentley, my maternal grandfather, I fhall next take leave to fpeak. Of him I have a perfect recollection. His perfon, his dignity, his language, and his love, fixed my early attention, and ftamped both his image and his words upon my memory. His literary works are known to all. His private character is still mifundertood by many. To that I fhall confine myfelf; and, putting afide the enthufiafm of a defcendant, I can affert, with the veracity of a biographer, that he was neither cynical, as fome have reprefented him, nor overbearing and fal tidious in the degree as he has been defcribed by many. Swift, when he foifted him into his vulgar Battle of the Books, neither lowers Bentley's fame, nor elevates his own; and the petulant Poet, who thought he had hit his man. ner when he made him haughtily call to Walker for his bat, gave a copy as little like the character of Bentley as his tranflation is like the original of Homer. That Dr. Walker, Vice-Master of Trinity College, was the friend of my grandfather, and a frequent guest at his table, is true; but it was not in Dr. Bentley's nature to treat him with contempt, nor did his harmless character infpire it. As for the bat, I must acknowledge it was of formidable dimenfions; yet I was accustomed to treat it with great familiarity; and if it had been even further from the hand of its owner than the peg upon the back of his great arm chair, I might have been difpatched to fetch it, for he was dif abled by the palfy in his latter days; but the hat never strayed from its place, and Pope found an office for Walker that I can well believe he never was commiffioned to in his life."

Leaving Pope to that caftigation which his obfervation upon the pruning of Paradife, and his other notices of Dr. Bentley, may deferve from one of his defcendants, we would, though with fome diffidence, with to offer a word in favour of another genius, for whose effufions, nay for whole whims, we have the greatest veneration. Mr. C. will here anticipate, that we mean Dr. Swift, who, we will venture to affert, had a far higher opinion of the genius and learning both of Dr. Bentley, and his colleague, Mr. Wm. Wotton, than the latter, with the concurrence of the former, feems to imagine.

"For" (fays Mr. W.) "admitting

that

that this writer intended to make himself and his readers fport, by exerciling his wit and mirth upon a couple of pedants, as he esteems Dr. Bentley and myself, &c."†

The abufe of learning, by fuffering it to run to waste in fireams of inftances and quotations upon the most trivial occafions, is certainly pedantry; and if in this refpect they have erred, Swift never fpares either Dr. Bentley or his affociate. But if Mr. C. reflects a little upon the eccentric character of the Dean, he will difcover that he had, among his other oddities, a fingular attachment to his friends and patrons, and a refentment nearly as ftrong.

Sir William Temple had been attacked in, perhaps, his only vulnerable part, his literary character; and Swift, with that keennefs which is always the concomitant of exceffive, we might almoft fay morbid, fenfibility, oppofed his field of irony against the darts of the affail

ants.

This is, we believe, the original ground upon which Dr. Bentley and Mr. Wotton were introduced into the Tale of a Tub and the Battle of the Books; but in the violence of their refentment, they mistook the character of the man whom they cenfured, if they fuppofed that he had a mean opinion of their talents. Had that been the cafe, both of thefe confpicuous combatants in the latter work would have refted upon their arms, and been paffed unnoticed by him. On the contrary, he, on the part of his patron, was hurt by the dexterity with which they flung their mifiles. Yet in his refentment he betrays no deep malignity; he merely cenfures harmless foibles, and foibles, by-thebye, which are frequently the concomitants of genius. His cenfure in thefe refpects is FAME. Whether thefe obfervations upon his writings deferve the fame appellation, Mr. C. knows

better than ourselves.

For the further history of the family of the author, having noticed two diftinguished members of it, we must refer the reader to the work.

Denison Cumberland, the father of Mr. C., was educated at Wellininfter, and from that feminary admitted Fellow Commoner of Trinity College, Cambridge.

The author of the Tale of a Tub. + Defence of Reflections on Ancient and Modern Learning.

On the 19th day of February, 1732," (fays Mr. C.,) "I was born in the Malter's Lodge of Trinity College, inter fil-vas Academi, under the roof of my grandfather Bentley, in what is called the Judge's Chamber. Having, therefore, prefaced my history with thefe few faint fketches of the great and good men whom I have the honour to number amongit my ancestors, I must folicit the attention of my rea ders to a much humbler topic, and proceed to speak profeffedly of myfelf."

This is, in fact, the opening of the life of Mr. C.

When turned of fix years of age, we find that he was fent to the fchool at Bury St. Edmund's, then under the Matterhip of the Rev. Arthur Kinf man, a gentleman who formed his fcholars upon the fyftem of Westminfter, and who feems to have been properly imprefed with the idea of dignity appertaining to the office with which he was endued.

The anecdotes of the fchool boy days of Mr. C. are, in our opinions, very entertaining. We think with him, that fuch notices of early life are abfolutely neceffary in all memoirs of individuals; therefore we are forry that our limits will not permit us to introduce more than a glimple of them into this fpeculation, which, like a reflecting glafs, only difplays the outline of the fhadow, and confequently only catches the most prominent features of the fubject.

We find that Mr. C., at a very early period of his life, began to try his mental ftrength in feveral attempts at dramatic writing: "and," as he fays, «Shakspeare was molt upon my tongue, and nearest to my heart. I fitted and compiled a kind of Cento, which I entitled Shakspeare in the Shades, and formed into one act, felecting the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia, Romeo and Juliet, Lear and Cordelia, as the perfors of my drama, and giving to Shakspeare,

who

who is prefent throughout the piece, Ariel as an attendant fpirit, and taking for the motto to my title-page, -Aft alii fex,

Et plures, uno conclamant ore

This work, confidered as the production of a boy only in the twelfth year of his age, feems to us a molt aftonishing effort of the mind, whether we contenplate the apposite quotations, their poetical connexion, or the general arrangement of the piece. In thefe requilites, this Cento exhibits ftrong indications of that genius of which we have frequently feen and admired the maturer effufions.

We foon after find Mr. C. tranfplanted to Weitmintter. "Cracherode, the learned collector, and munificent benefactor to the Royal Mufeum, was in the head election, and at that time as grave, ftudious, and referved, as he was through life, but correct in his morals, elegant in his manners; not courting a promilcuous acquaintance, but pleafant to thote who knew him; beloved by many, and esteemed by all. At the head of the town boys was the Earl of Huntingdon, whom I thould not frame as a boy, for he was, even then, the courtly and accomplished gentleman, fuch as the world faw and acknowledged him to be. The late Earl of Britol, the late Earl of Buckinghamshire, and the late Right Hon. Thomas Harley, were my form-fellows; the prefent Duke of Richmond, then Lord March, Warren Haltings, Colman, and Lloyd, were in the under-fchool; and, what is a very extraordinary coincidence, there were then in the fchool together three boys, Hinchliffe, Smith, and Vincent, who afterwards fucceeded to be feverally Head-matters of Westminster School, and not by the deceafe of any one of

them."

Of that highly refpectable and highly refpected character, the Dean of Welt. mintter, one of his cotemporaries, the author fpeaks in terms which at once thow the warmth of his friendship and the correctnefs of his judgment. To which we may add, that ftill warm and animated in whatfoever concerns the intereft of the fchool, and confequently the happiness of the rifing generation, Dr. Vincent has the pleasure of behold ing the measures which he adopted, the regulations which he made, influencing the conduct of, perhaps, the tons of his

former fcholars, and on a spot endeared to him by long refidence, on a spot where his virtues are venerated by every individual, of enjoying that dignity and eafe, that a life, in the progrels of which the efforts of genius and learning have been dedicated to a sedulous courie of affiduity and labour, molt certainly merits.

We should not have mentioned that the author removed from the boardinghoufe where he was firft placed, to the fpacious houfe of Edmund Ashby, Esq., in Peter-Street, three doors from Collegeftreet, but to correct a mistake in the firit inftance; which is, that there is no part either of Great or Little Peter itreets that is fo near College treet. The house of Mr. Atby, who was a very fagular character, mult have been three doors from Great Smith-freet; a place cell kasten to Mr. C.: and fecondly, which is indeed of more importance, as it probably had an influence upon his future purfuits, to introduce him for the first time to the theatre: his obfervations upon the caft and performance of the Fair Penitent are au uting.

"I was treated with the fight of Garrick in the character of Lothario. Quin played ratio; Ryan, Altamont; Mis. Cibber, Califta; and Mrs. Pritchard condefcended to the bumble part of Lavinia. I enjoyed a good view of the ftage from the front row of the gallery, and my attention was rivetted to the fcene. I have the fpectacle now before my eyes. Quin prefented himfelf, upon the rifing of the curtain, in a green velvet coat embroidered down the feams, an enormous fo.bottomed perriwig, rolled flockings, and highheeled square-toed hoes. With very little variation of cadence, and in a deep full tone, accompanied by a fawing kind of action which had more of the tenate than of the ftage in it, he rolled out his heroics with an air of dignified indifference, that feemed to dildain the plaudits that were bestowed upon him. Mrs. Cibber, in a key highpitched but fweet withal, fung, or ra ther recitatived, Rowe's harmonious train, fomething in the manner of the Improvifatories: it was fo extremely wanting in contrast, that, though it did not wound the ear, it wearied it. When the had recited two or three fpeeches, I could anticipate the manner of every fucceeding one: it was like a long old legendary ballad, of innumerable itan

zas,

žas, every one of which is fung to the fame tune, eternally chiming in the ear, without variation or relief. Mrs. Pritchard was an actress of a different calt, had more nature, and of course more change of tone, and variety both of action and expreffion: in my opinion, the comparison was decidedly in her favour. But when, after long and eager expectation, I firft bebeld little Garrick, then young, light, and active in every mufcle and every feature, come bound. ing on the ftage, and pointing at the wittol Altamont and heavy-paced Horatio Heavens! What a tranfition! It seemed as if a whole century had been stepped over in the tranfition of a fingle fcene. Old things were done away, and a new order at once brought forward, bright and luminous, and clearly deftined to difpel the barbarity of a taftelefs age, too long attached to the prejudices of cuftom, and fuperftitiously devoted to the illufions of impofing declamation. This heavenborn actor was then struggling to emancipate his audience from the flavery they were refigned to; and though, at times, he fucceeded in throwing fome gleams of new-born light upon them, yet, in general, they feemed to love darkness better than light, and in the dia logue of altercation between Horatio and Lothario, beftowed a far greater thow of hands upon the master of the old fchool than upon the founder of the new. I thank my tars, my feelings at thofe times led me right; they were thofe of nature, and therefore could not err."

Nature, we muft obferve, has little to do either with the compofition or verfification of the Fair Penitent. In Maf finger's Fatal Dowry, there is, if we recollect right, a varied and extensive fcope for the ebullitions of the paffions, while in Rowe's Tragedy the workings of nature seem to be facrificed to melody: the ear is tickled; but though the story is domestic, the heart is little affected. As a poem, it is in many parts beautiful; but it is in all, if we may be allowed the expreffion, too operatic; and therefore we much doubt if, even now, thofe fpeeches which, from the general coldness of their deli.

Field joined with Malfinger in the writing of this play. The idea of Charlois offering himtelt as a ransom for the corpfe of his father, is taken from Cymon, in Val. Max. lib. 5, cap. 4, ex 9. VOL. L. JULY 1806.

very, cause the scenes to flag upon the audience, would not have a far greater effect if recited in the ftile of high-toned declamation of the old school, which Mr. C., as a governing principle, fo properly reprobates.

In this tragedy paffion frequently Jeeps; therefore the idle void" might be very well filled by declamation, by a chorus, or even by recitative, if the ftate of our drama would in this inftance allow of fuch an innovation. Something too much of this fubject in this place, which we should like to discuss with the author more at large.

Mr. C., we find, paffed through school and college with great credit, both to his preceptors and to himself. Of the generally monotonous life of ftudents at the latter it is not neceffary to take notice. Mr. C., we find, though only in his fourteenth year, was admitted of Trinity College, Cambridge; whence, after a long, affiduous, and elegant course of study, of which he gives us an accurate and entertaining account, he launched into the great world. Of his political debût he speaks in the following terms:

"Whilft I was preparing to resume my studies with increased attention, and repair the time not profitably part of late, I received a fummons which opened to me a new scene of life; I was called for by Lord Halifax to affume the office of his private confidential Secretary. It was confidered by my family, and the friends and advisers of my family, as an offer upon which there could be no hesitation."

Although, at the inftance of his family, Mr. C. undertook this important office, we believe that the bent of his genius impelled him much more strongly toward literature than politics.

"I was not" (fays he) "fitted for dependance"-"I had an ardent with to earn a name in literature. I had ftudied books. I had not studied men." He therefore for a great part of his life feems to have been fteering his vessel against the wind of his own inclination. Yet in his public fituation few men have acquitted themselves better. We lament that he has not been in this refpect rewarded in any degree equal to his merit. But upon this fubje&t we fhall have an opportunity to say a word or two more before we conclude.

As we would wish to make this fpeculation, like the work which, with feeble fteps, it attempts to follow, both inG Kructive

structive and entertaining; and as there are no fubjects that fo much contribute to both as the characters of great men when faithfully drawn, we fhall quote that of his patron, as fketched by Mr. C., probably from the first impreffion made upon his mind by that Nobleman, and finished in his maturer years, when time had corrected the contour, and blended the colours.

"I had no acquaintance with the Noble Lord who now invited me to fhare his confidence, and receive my deftiny from his hands. My good father did what was perfectly natural for a father to do in the like circumftances; he availed himself of the opportunity of placing me under the patronage of one of the moft figuring and rifing men of his time. There was fomething extremely brilliant, and more than commonly engaging, in the perfon, manners, and addrefs of the Earl of Halifax. He had been educated at Eton, and came with the reputation of a good scholar to Trinity College, where he established himself in the good opinion of the whole fociety, not only by his orderly and regular conduct, but in a very diftinguished manner by the attention which he paid to his ftudies, and the proofs he gave in his public exercifes of his clathical acquirements. He was certainly, when compared to men of his condition, to be dittinguished as a fcholar above the common mark. He quoted well, and copioufly, from the belt authors, chiefly Horace. He was very fond of English poetry, and recited it very emphatically, after the manner of Quin, who had been his mafter in that art. He had a partiality for Prior, which he feemed to inherit from the celebrated Lord Halifax, and would rehearfe long paffages from his Solomon and Henry and Emma, with the whole of his verfes, beginning with Sincere, O tell me, and thefe he would fet off with a great difplay of action, and in a file of declamation more than fufficiently theatrical. He was married to a virtuous and exemplary lady, who brought him a confiderable fortune, and from whom he took the name of Dunk, and was made a freeman of London, to entitle him to marry, in conformity to the conditions of his father's will. His family, when I came to him, confifted of this lady, with whom he lived in great domeftic harmony, and three daughters. There was an elderly Clergyman of the name

of Crane, an inmate alfo, who had been his tutor, and to whom he was most entirely attached. A better guide, and a more faithful cour fellor, he could not have; for amongst all the men it has been my chance to know, I do not think I have known a calmer, wifer, more right-headed man, in the ways of the world, the politics of the time, and the characters of thofe who were in the public management and refponfibility of affairs. Dr. Crane was incomparably the best fteerfman that his pupil could take his courfe from, and fo long as he fubmitted to his temperate guidance he could hardly go aftray. The opinions of Dr. Crane were upon all points decifive; becaufe, in the first place, they were always withheld till extorted from him by appeal; and, fecondly, because they never failed to carry home conviction of the prudence and found judgment they were founded upon."

On the arrival of Mr. C. in town, he waited upon Mr. John Pownall, then acting Secretary to the Board of Trade, at which it was the duty of Lord Halifax to prefide. It is to the asperity of his obfervations on the manner of that gentleman that we directed our attention in the former part of this fpeculation. The trite adage, De mortuis nil nifi bonum, is, while we remark on the characters of the dead, very frequently of confiderable importance to the living: at the fame time we must observe, that this blemish, as we have termed it, is the only one of the fame nature that we have discovered in the work.

We now see our author afloat upon the political ocean, whereon, (leaving the tranctions at Cambridge, which are enlivened with feveral characters and anecdotes, to the readers of the work,) we thall, in our next, endeavour to fail after him.

If in this fpeculation we have freely indulged ourfelves in the flowery paths of quotation, it is, because we think, and we know, that our readers will be of the fame opinion, that the effufions of Mr. C. are more agreeable to them than our own. We fhall therefore, keeping in view our contracted limits, proceed in the fame course, and draw upon him as a literary banker, from whofe circulating medium the public has, for a long teries of years, derived both pleafure and inftruction

(To be continued.)

Memoirs